Of Providence: God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[i]
Dear Friends:
Perhaps no principle of early American life was more motivational, more blessed, and more fixed in the minds of the men and women who forged this nation than the doctrine of the providence of God. Pilgrim Pastors, Patriot Preachers, and Founding Fathers alike spoke and wrote regularly and often about the providence of God. They wrote and spoke of the “kind providences of God,” of their firm reliance on “Almighty Providence,” and of the “many merciful providences” with which He has blessed our people.
The providence of which they spoke was not some blind, clock-like mechanism of a distant deity, but the direct interposition of the Triune God by which He sustains, cares for, and governs the world which He has made.
This understanding of “Almighty Providence” was not only true for our puritan preachers, but our most esteemed Founding Fathers. Though they chose not to make sectarian religious tests a prerequisite for holding federal office, our Founding Fathers nonetheless envisioned and established a national government on a distinctively Trinitarian, Christian law order. This is clear from their proclamations and official acts, as well as the supreme law of the land, the Constitution (and the Declaration of Independence, its preamble) signed in the year of our Lord (Jesus Christ), as well as those treaties which were made in pursuance thereof.
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For the Founding Fathers, the doctrine of the providence of God was inextricably linked to the idea that Jesus Christ was the Creator who decrees law and sustains life. It was these men who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, having acknowledged their “firm reliance on divine Providence.” It was these men who repeatedly passed laws calling for days of national thanksgiving, humiliation, and prayer in response to the work of providence which they specifically defined in their official acts in terms of Jesus Christ and the moving of the Holy Spirit. It was these men who officially recognized the Trinitarian view of providence when they signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783 on behalf of the United States, “In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, It having pleased the divine Providence...”
THANK YOU, LORD, for OUR SON, PROVIDENCE MATHER PHILLIPS
The providence of God is more than a distant, unattainable doctrine professed by ancient clerics. It is a living, breathing reality which should fire the spiritual passion and calm the soul of every true believer in Jesus Christ. It is motivation for the believer. It is hope. It is life.
And for the Phillips family, it is even more: It is the peace of a newborn baby. It is the hope of future generations. It is the beauty of a child.
On December 11, 2003, at 4:35 in the morning, God brought into this world and to the Phillips family a blessed answer to prayer, our fourth son and seventh child, Providence Mather Phillips. He was born in the comfort and safety of our home, assisted by the able hands of our midwife. We thank God for that “kind and special providence” of Christ to so privilege us with the responsibility and joy of such a gift. May the glorious name of Jehovah be praised in the life of this boy.
On January 7, we asked a small handful of brothers and sisters in the Lord to join us for an evening of blessing, of covenantal commitments as a family, and for the announcement of the name of God’s new gift to the Phillips household.
For the better part of an hour, we read from Scripture of the providence of God, we spoke of the multi-generational Mather family who kept covenant one with another for at least four generations and who Washington once described as America’s true founding fathers.
We read from a rare and ancient Bible — the first “free” family Bible published in the United States — the introduction of which was written by John Witherspoon himself, the clergyman who trained approximately one sixth of the members of the Constitutional Convention in Reformation principles of law and government, and who introduced to the Declaration of Independence the phrase, “with a firm reliance on divine Providence.”
We lifted our child to the Lord and prayed for his soul, his life mission, his future spouse, and the generations yet to be born who might proceed from him. My sons prayed over him and purposed to stand with their father as we together raise Providence in the fear and nurture of the Lord. And dear men prayed for my son — blessed men. Friends who have stood with us after the birth of each of our children since moving to Texas.
A MOTHER’S POEM and PRAYER
My own bride read the following poem, quoted from her book, Verses of Virtue:
I hold within my arms to-day
A priceless bit of mortal clay,
Divinely fashioned, and so fair,
The angels well may kinship share.
My soul with gratitude is filled,
My heart with mother love is thrilled,
My eyes brim o’er with new-born joy,
While gazing on my cherub boy.
O precious one! Through tears I see
A mighty task awaiting me.
My happy sky grows overcast,
Life’s duties loom so grand, so vast.
To shield from wrong, to right incline,
This little life now linked to mine—
Divine the gift. Oh, may the mould
A heart of truth and honor hold!
Help me, kind Heaven, to know the way
From out the tangle of each day,
To guide him safe to manhood’s prime,
And all the glory shall be Thine.
— Quoted from M.I. Piatt
On behalf of the Phillips family, I want to not only thank our Savior for His gift of Providence, but for the many hundreds of you who have prayed for us and stood with us in the birth of this child. May God bless you, even as you have blessed us. May God bless Providence Mather Phillips.
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Your Yokefellow in Christ, |
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Doug Phillips
President, The Vision Forum, Inc. |
P.S. To read more information about the naming of the babies, my thoughts on midwifery homebirths, and the doctrine of the providence of God, please visit Doug’s Blog over the next few days. A new article will be posted each day.
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