December
8, 2013
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
LOCATION
Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd Floor
150 Washington Street
Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 08553
Clay Curtis, pastor
Telephone: 615-513-4464
Schedule of Services
Sunday 10: 15 AM Bible Class
Sunday 11:00 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7: 30 PM Midweek Service
Order
of service, announcements, nursery schedule, etc., are in attachment. All articles in the bulletin are by the
pastor unless otherwise noted.
What
Is True Faith?
True faith throbs in a person’s
pulse; Looks out of His eyes; Lights up his countenance; Softens his touch;
Mellows his voice; Bows his head
Bends his knee; Opens his hand; Humbles his
heart; Curbs his tongue; Orders his steps; Opens his ears to the Word; Forgives
and forgets the offence; and gives his conscience peace. Henry Mahan
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WORKS OF
THREE GRACES
1
Thessalonians 1: 3: Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour
of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and
our Father;
Wherever the
Spirit has given life, God gives the gift of faith, love and hope. (Eph 2: 8-9)
Work of Faith
Faith’s chief
work is to believe on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Jn 6: 28-29) Faith rests in Christ for complete acceptance
with holy God, believing Christ has "justified us from all things from
which we could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13: 39; 1 Jn 2: 1-2;
1 Jn 1: 9; Rom 3: 26) Secondly, faith’s work is to live day-by-day by faith.
(Heb 10: 38; Gal 2: 16-21) Thirdly, faith’s work is to stand steadfast. (Eph 6:
13-18) This is why faith’s work is
described as a fight. (1 Tim 6: 12) We face much opposition and conflict: our
own unbelief and sins, the influence of an ungodly world, the subtlety of Satan. But the
confidence of faith is that we shall overcome by Christ the Captain of our
warfare. (1 Jn 5: 4-5; Rom 8: 37)
Labor of Love
Wherever the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by
the Holy Ghost, the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the object of our love. Our love
is very feeble at best. But true
God-given love labors, constrained by
the love of Christ for us. (2 Cor 5: 14-15) Love puts the one it loves
first, no longer living for self, but for Christ who lived and died for us.
When we love someone, above all things, we desire to be pleasing to that one.
We know God’s love is everlasting, unchangeable, sovereign love toward his
elect. So we do not labor to keep him loving us. But knowing his love does not change makes
the believer love Christ even more. We want the constant presence of the Lord,
to hear his Voice, to have the approval of our Beloved. His smile is our only reward. So
this labor of love is first, a labor against the coldness and hardness of our
flesh. We labor to show our love to
Christ by submission to his will, by adorning the doctrine of Christ in our
walk, by making his glory our supreme aim
Secondly, this
labor of love is toward our brethren. (Heb 6: 10) Believers are so one with
Christ that what we do to them we do to him.
Therefore, those born of Christ love those begotten of him. (1 Jn 5: 1)
We seek the good of our brethren: sympathizing with them in trouble, rejoicing
when they rejoice, bearing one another’s burdens, seeking their spiritual
benefit and profit. True love lays aside malice, guile and hypocrisy because
true God-given love hates strife and division and loves unity. Though we meet
with every kind of opposition from without and within, true God-given love
never fails because of his love for us. Love will remain when faith and hope
become sight. (1 Cor 13: 13)
Patience of
Hope
Patience
includes meekness, quietness, submission, resignation to the will of God and endurance. (Heb 12: 1) Moses
"endured as seeing him who is invisible." (Heb 11: 27) When a father is carving the turkey at
Thanksgiving, the children have their plates ready. But each child has to wait on their
father. The father fills each plate in
the order he will: the sick child first, perhaps he makes the stronger child
wait, but he has a choice piece for each child in particular. Yet, each child has to wait patiently to get
that part reserved just for them. So it
is that God our Father, in all his providential dealings with his children, has
just the right portion designated for each of his children as we need it at the
right time. We must patiently wait upon
the Lord. (Ja 5: 7-11) Job endured the loss of all his children, all his
property, the assault of Satan, reviling from his wife and fleshly pain in body
and spirit but in the end the Lord crowned him with the crown of life. The Lord
is very pitiful and of tender mercy toward his elect, redeemed, children.
Hope is
described as the helmet in God’s armor. (1 Thess 5: 8) A helmet covers
the head. Hope is the protector of the conscience against despair. Our own
carnal reason is the enemy of hope.
Natural reason is contrary to spiritual mysteries. (1 Ti 3:16) The trinity of God is a mystery,
the Son of God made flesh is a mystery, Christ made sin is a mystery, Christ
raised from the dead is a mystery, sinners made the righteousness of God and
one in Christ is a mystery, Christ our Head in heaven feeding a multitude in
the earth by his gospel, as he did the fish and loaves, is a mystery. These
mysteries are contrary to natural reason and natural sight. But God said, “as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is 55: 9)
Hope is
compared to an anchor (Heb 6: 19-20) An anchor on a boat works unseen in the
depths. The harder the waves, the stronger the opposition, the more firmly an
anchor holds. Our hope is in Christ therefore we have an anchor within the veil
for our souls. Dwelling on past miseries is the enemy of hope. But dwelling on
past and present mercies is the strength of hope. (Lam 3: 18-26) The patience of hope makes us cleave to God, rather than
giving up and turning again to this world. (1 Jn 3: 2-3)
These graces
are strengthened by God exercising us in them. So as your faith is tried look
to Christ the Faithful, as your hope is tried look to Christ who for the joy
set before him patiently endured the cross and is now seated at God’s right
hand and as your love is tried look to Christ who loved us and gave himself for
us. And as we behold the works of these
three graces in our brethren, let us give thanks to God always for them,
knowing that these graces are of God and are the fruit of their election of
God. (1 Thess 1: 2, 4)
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TRUSTING GOD, NOT MEANS
The Lord used ravens to feed Elijah, but Elijah never thought of trusting in
the ravens. If we lean on instruments instead of the hand that used them, we
bring down a curse upon ourselves, for it is written, “Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the
Lord.” Scott Richardson
*******
Isaiah
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.