April 13, 2014
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
Be sure to check the order of service, announcements,
nursery schedule, etc., in the attachment.
All articles in the bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
So that the preaching of the glory of Christ is the full
focus of our attention, for those attending with children 4 and under, we have a nursery equipped with a
digital flat screen television broadcasting all services, with faithful ladies
to care for the little ones.
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JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH
Galatians 4: 4: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5: To redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6: And because ye
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. 7: Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son,
then an heir of God through Christ.
The Spirit of God tells the believer through the apostle John not to
believe every preacher but to try preachers. (1 Jn 4: 1-3) The Holy Spirit says we will know they are
speaking by the Spirit of God when they confess Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh. But isn’t everyone confessing
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?
No! Confessing Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is more than merely expressing the fact. It is confessing who
Christ is, why he came, and what he accomplished and for whom. These things are what we find in Galatians 4.
Christ Came By God’s Appointment
“When the fullness of the time was
come, God sent forth…” Christ came into this earth, at the time set between God
and his Son in the covenant and council of peace in eternity. God does nothing by accident. It is not as some vainly imagine, that God’s
first plan did not go accordingly therefore he sent Christ into the world. God purposed for his Son to come from
eternity. The work which Christ came to accomplish was purposed from eternity.
And God purposed the exact time his Son would come. That lets us know that the fall of Adam in the garden by which he
plunged the human race into sin and death was no surprise to God. It was according to God’s purpose to glorify
his holy name in the salvation of chosen sinners by the work of Christ Jesus
his Son. The salvation of God’s people
is ordered in all things and sure in Christ from all eternity. To
preach Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is to preach that the purpose and
time was set by God in eternity.
Brethren, amidst all our failures, isn’t it a comfort to know that our
God is so absolutely sovereign? “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely
as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall
it stand.” (Isaiah 14: 24; 46: 10)
Christ is the GodMan
“God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman…” What a mystery and manifestation
of amazing love. God sent his Son. Jesus
Christ is Immanuel, God with us. (Jn 8:42; 1 Jn 4: 9-10, 14-15) Jesus is unlike
any other man because he is the Seed of woman, meaning he was not of Adam’s
corrupt seed. (Gen 3: 15) He was conceived of the Holy Ghost in the womb of a
virgin who had never known a man. Therefore, from conception, the Lord Jesus was
holy, whereas all other men are conceived in sin and corrupt from the womb. (Lu
1:35) God the Son joined his divine nature with holy human nature to be our
High Priest to make reconciliation for the sins of his people and that he might
be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. (Heb 2:14-18; Heb 5: 1-2; Heb 9: 22; Ps 22: 14-15; Lam 3;
1-19; Is 53: 3-4; Heb 4: 14-15)
Christ Redeemed His People
Christ was “made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law.” He succeeded.
The children he came to save were under the curse of the broken law, so
he was made under the law and made a curse for us. (Gal 3: 13) When he cried “it is finished” it
meant the condemnation was over for his people. (Rom 8: 1-3) Christ cursed our
curse, condemned our condemnation, made our death die. Now the righteousness of the law is fulfilled
in us, who are born of his Spirit because the sins of his elect were put away
by Christ. We are not trying to fulfill
the law. The believer has fully established the law through faith in Christ who
fulfilled it. Being justified the law
will never say that there is sin in us but it will always say of the believer,
we are righteous. Not because we did
anything to make it so, but because Christ has done it all!
By Christ’s Death Each Are Born Again to Faith in Christ
Christ accomplished this work “that we might receive the adoption
of sons.” It was when Christ agreed in eternity to lay down his life to redeem
us that God predestinated his children to the adoption. (Eph 1:5-6) It does not
say we became sons by being born again, it says “because ye are sons.” It was because God chose us and Christ
redeemed us and rose again to send forth the Spirit that each of us who believe
are born of God. This is our assurance
that each of Christ’s redeemed shall be born again to faith in Christ. We did not birth ourselves to life and faith
but “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
Believer, rejoice! Our Savior is God from eternity, one with us in our
humanity, who has redeemed us and given us life. Now, we are sons and heirs of God with
Christ. “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ.” “In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That
we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” (Eph 1:
11-12)
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh!