As a congregation we affirm the exhaustive and complete sovereignty of God. We have done so in an era when many within the church at large dispute it, and so many of us have been in debates on this subject. But men are not the only ones who might test or probe the depth of our convictions with pointed questions.
God presents us with these hard questions as well, and they come to us with every hard providence. At the heart of every question, in every trial, is this one. “Do you trust Me?”
Within the last year, God has visited our congregation with a number of such hard providences. So we will see now, here, whether we believe these doctrines only enough to argue about it with other saints, or whether we believe them in our spiritual bones.
Trials are from the hand of God, and He cares for us. He is our loving Father, and we acknowledge this as we think of those in our midst who are suffering. And of course, those that come to mind are not the only trials among us. Think for a moment: If such dealings are not from the hand of God, then where can we hide?
Two things: with these visitations in mind, we are to take refuge in the worship of the living God, and we have that opportunity before us this morning. He is our judge, He is our lawgiver, He is our Lord; and He will save us. Then, having worshiped Him, we turn to one another in order to encourage, strengthen, establish, and love one another — and all on the basis of what we truly believe. God is the only God, and we worship Him.