Worshiping from Home | Sunday, April 26, 2020
April 24th, 2020We are praying that our explanations and encouragements in these pastoral letters are proving helpful to you week to week. We consider it a wonderful privilege to offer care for your souls by way of pointing you to God’s sufficient Word of truth, especially so at this time of extraordinary difficulty and distress sweeping our community and our globe.
The book of Job and the life we see Job living out before the Lord teach us that trouble, tribulation, and turmoil are all unavoidable realities for every person this side of heaven, and that God is over, in, and always good in the process of all of the trials of this life:
“For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:6-7).
When you view this current pandemic through the lens of faith and a sufficient Bible, you can ask, “what is the Lord teaching me about the focus of my heart, my walk with Him, my habits and priorities, and especially about my commitment to the spiritual priorities closest to God’s own heart?”
In 1986, John MacArthur preached a message titled “The Purpose of Trials”. He outlined eight purposes God has in bringing trials into our lives. I’ll simply list them here:
- Trials test the strength of our faith.
- Trials humble us.
- Trials wean us from worldly things
- Trials call us to an external hope
- Trials reveal what we really love
- Trials teach us to value God’s blessings
- Trials enable us to help others in their suffering
- Trials produce endurance and strength
Our encouragement? Pick one and spend a day, a few days, or more praying and reflecting on how God is working in your life to accomplish this purpose, and how you can better humble yourself and obey Him in this spiritual work of specific refinement in Christlikeness.
In study #2 this week, R.C. Sproul deals with elements of God’s providence. The doctrine of providence “is God’s preserving his creation, operating in every event in the world, and directing the things in the universe to his appointed end for them” (Biblical Doctrine; MacArthur/Mayhue).
On page 10 of R.C.’s study guide, question #4 asks, “Have you ever experienced a tragedy that caused you to question God’s providential care? How did God see you through this period?”
That question captures much of the aim we have in doing this study with you. And not because we believe you are questioning God’s good providence, but because the world around you is, many Christians are, and because we all need to reassure our hearts of God’s good and sovereign control in and over the details of our lives and of this planet.
We are praying fervently for you, beloved. And our prayers are for your spiritual welfare even as we ask the Lord to keep you from physical harm. May His will be done in each life for His greater glory.
Please reflect on Isaiah 45:7 as you come to listen to R.C.’s lecture:
“I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.”
The most important phrase in that sentence is, “…I am the Lord.” We need to remember and to rehearse to our hearts who He truly is as He has made Himself known to us. He is God, the Lord of glory, the everlasting God, Maker of heaven and earth. He has this! He loves you!
We hope to see you all Sunday evening as we fellowship and as we discuss these awesome truths about our awesome God.
In the love of Jesus,
Greg and Jeff
Teaching link (for Sunday’s Zoom discussion):
When Worlds Collide: Peace and Calamity (Lecture 2)
Suggested live-streamed worship service links:
Faith Bible Church (10:30am ET, John Crotts, pastor)
Grace Community Church (1:30pm ET, John MacArthur, pastor)
Grace Immanuel Bible Church (10:45am ET | Jerry Wragg, pastor)
Parkside Church (9:45am ET, Alistair Begg, pastor)