Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

August 28, 2022

 Weekly Schedule of Services

Proverbs 19:2: Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

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A Man there is, a real Man,

With wounds still gaping wide,

From which rich streams of blood once ran,

In hands, and feet, and side.

(’Tis no wild fancy of our brains,

No metaphor we speak

The same dear Man in heaven now reigns,

That suffered for our sake.)
This Wondrous Man, of whom we tell,

Is true Almighty God;

He bought our souls from death and hell;

The price, His own heart’s blood.

That human heart He still retains,

Tho’ throned in highest bliss;

He feels each tempted member’s pains;

For our affliction’s His.

Come, then, repenting sinner, come,

Approach with humble faith;

Owe what thou wilt, the total sum

Is canceled by His death.

His blood can cleanse the blackest soul,

And wash our guilt away;

He will present us sound and whole

In that tremendous day.

–Joseph Hart

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THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH
(Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38)

1. Faith is the rule by which a sinner approaches God.  Hebrews 11:6: He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him;
2. Faith is the rule by which we have access into all grace.  Romans 5:2: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand , and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3. Faith is the rule of justification.  Acts 13:39: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
4. Faith is the rule of sanctification.  Acts 26:18: To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
5. Faith is the rule God has given for continuing to stand. Romans 11:20: Thou standest by faith,
6. Faith is the rule God we walk by.  2 Corinthians 5:7: We walk by faith, not by sight;
7. Faith is the rule by which we pray. Matthew 21:22: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
8. Faith is the rule of everlasting life and resurrection in the last day. John 5:40: And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Galatians 5:6: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

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When the consciousness of guilt and wrong-doing burdens the soul, and causes it to tremble and be afraid, then does the vision of Jesus as the sin-offering, the Lamb of God, the burden-bearer, the all-prevailing Intercessor, impart peace and joy. The Christian is enabled to look at himself, even when he knows his own sinfulness, as accepted with the Father, because he can believe that he is joined by faith to Christ Jesus. He can take up the language of the apostle, “Who loved me, and gave himself for me.” There is the happy, peaceful consciousness that sin is pardoned—that guilt is blotted out—that iniquity is done away; and, filled with a joy with which a stranger cannot understand, the believer starts afresh in the journey of life—having, like the fabled pilgrim, dropped his burden at the foot of the cross.

     Nor is this all. The sense of pardon and acceptance through the blood and righteousness of Christ—of guilt forever cancelled—of sin freely forgiven—may well fill the heart with joy. But still there remain the seeds of evil, the sources of disquietude, in the best of God’s children. All our doings are defiled with imperfection—the very holiest act we perform has need to be atoned for by the atoning blood of Christ before it can find acceptance with God.

     And it is only the vision of Christ which can remove the burden of self-condemnation and shame which presses on the renewed heart. Oh, how comforting is the thought—that, weak, sinful, erring as we are, “in the Lord our Righteousness we have strength!” Christ has obeyed the law for us—Christ has fulfilled its every tittle of demand, as well as its every tittle of penalty. He has completely obeyed the law for us, and “is made of God unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption.”

     Oh, Christian! cling to this blessed truth! Look ever to Jesus as your Righteousness, as well as atonement, and you will find that, in the exercise of a living faith, it will become to you the element of a joy such as earth can never give nor take away…It will impart to you the power of trusting ever to a Savior’s faithfulness and grace…going to Him with that which you can reveal to none other on earth...seeing Him even in crosses, temptations, sicknesses, and sorrows…that every grief and care is but a necessary instrument in His hand, engraving upon you some feature which is to reflect His glory. 

–John MacDuff