December
11, 2011
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
LOCATION
Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd Floor
150 Washington Street
Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 08553
Telephone: 615-513-4464
Schedule of Services
Sunday 10:15 AM Bible Class
Sunday 11:00 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7:00 PM Midweek Service
The Character
of a Disciple of Christ
It is the character of a disciple of Christ who sits at
the feet of the Divine Master to be taught, not to demur, much less dispute,
least of all to deny any branch of Divine truth because it is not explained in
the manner or circumstance of its existence.
There is no man who is convinced of the infinite disparity between him,
and the Most High God who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in
heaven that will venture to contend with Him on any testimony of His word
because he cannot understand how the thing attested is true. It is sufficient to him that God speaks. Once, he might have called it fanatical
fancy, but now the glory of the Divine character so occupies and satisfies his
mind that he feels it to be the noblest act of reason to place implicit
confidence in the testimony of Him who is the first cause and last end of all
things. And the more salvation of Christ
is enjoyed in his soul, the more this temper prevails in his bosom. In his religious profession there is no
temporizing hesitancy, but a steady firmness that is honorable to the truth on
which he depends—a firmness that is not shattered with the frowns, nor melted
by the favors of those around him, because it is supplied by the fullness of
Christ. The truth, he feels to be the
ground of his confidence and of his solid hope for time and Eternity. Being brought to the full assurance of understanding
to the “acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and the Father, and of Christ,”
from thence he shall never be moved, because the Lord is on his side.
Robert Hawker
ALL YOUR NEED
Philippians 4:19
The believer needs what a newborn baby needs: to be
cleaned, clothed, fed, and sheltered.
Our needs may take on more complexity, but this is the essential need
from the first hour to the last.
We Need to be
Cleaned
All God’s elect children are born filthy in sin (Ez
16:4-9). Spiritual life begins with the washing of regeneration (Ti 3:5). When
the Spirit washes us we behold we are washed by the blood of Christ (1 Co 6:11;
He 9:26; Is 4:4; Zec 13:1). How often
the believer finds ourselves defiled in sin but the Lord will not allow his
child to look to any other fountain for cleansing (Ps 51:7; 1 Jn 1:7). God is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin, cleansing us and speaking to our
hearts, “Your sins and iniquities I
remember no more.” Paul says to you who are washed in the blood of the
Lamb, “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by
Christ Jesus.”
We Need to be Clothed
God clothes us in the righteousness of Christ Jesus (Ez
16:8; 2 Co 5:21). In the garden God not
only slew the animal and made coats of skins, but God clothed them. God puts the best robe on his prodigal
sons—Christ our Righteousness (Is 61:10; Ro 4:6-7). Paul says of every believer whom our Lord has
clothed in this seamless garment, “my God shall supply all your need according
to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
We Need to be
Fed
The child of God needs to be brought up in the nourishment
and admonition of the Lord, the gospel of the grace of God in truth (Col 1:6). Even as the new birth is through his Word (1
Pet 1: 23-25) so too, God grows us by the sincere milk of the Word (1 Pet 2:2-3). We never stop needing to eat the Bread from
heaven. Our Lord has shown us an example
of it in the natural order of things. The mother feeds her newborn baby milk
which comes from food she has eaten which was given her by her husband. Even as the child grows she continues to put
food on the table provided by her husband. So the family grows. Christ is the Husband of his bride who
provides food for each believer through the gospel and our Husband births his
elect to newness of life and continues to nourish as only he can so that from
“the Head all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and
knit together, increaseth with the increase of God” (Col 2:19). Paul says of
all the children whom the Lord has given this hunger for the infinite feast
which finite bread can no longer satisfy, “my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
We Need to be
Sheltered
The storms of life become more complex. They take on various forms, within and
without. But no matter if the believer is increased of the Lord with material
possessions in this world or if it is the will of our Lord that we possess
little; no matter if it is the will of the Lord that we are in good health or
otherwise; the believer’s Shelter is always the same—the Lord our Refuge (Is
8:13-14; Ps 46:1-2; Pr 18:10). Our closest loved ones may cause our greatest
sorrow for a woman may forget her suckling child. But our Lord, never! (Is
49:15; Ps 27:10; He 4:16; Phi 4: 6-7, 19) Paul says to you whom the triune God of glory
has saved out of the field of loathing into the warmth and protection of our
heavenly Father’s house, “my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
*******
Someone wrote long ago, “The more any object is to us a
source of sweet delight and contemplation, the more strongly do we desire its
presence, and the more restless are we in its absence.” How true of the believer’s desire for
uninterrupted communion with our blessed Redeemer!