January
29, 2012
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 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7 PM Midweek Service
Proverbs 13:20: He that walketh
with wise men, shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
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To complain of the second
cause is about as sensible as the conduct of the dog, which bites the stick
with which it is beaten. It owes no anger to the stick, but to the person who
uses it. Is there evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it? Whoever is
the instrument, the Lord overrules. In our heart of hearts our rebellion is
against the Lord himself. We have not quite honesty enough to rail against God
openly and avowedly, and so we hypocritically cover up our repining against him
by murmuring against some person, occasion, or event. “If I had not happened to
go out on such an occasion I might not have had that cold and been laid aside.”
Thus we blame an accidental circumstance, as if it were not part of the divine
arrangement. Is this complaining of the second cause better than railing
against God? I trow not, for, in very deed, it is railing against God.
C.H. Spurgeon
*******
Children of God, the paths of our lives
are well ordered; for they are ordered by our heavenly Father, who is too wise
to err, too strong to fail, and too good to do wrong.
Don Fortner
SUBSTITUTION
Matthew 27:15-26
The
gospel is good news because it is the truth of how notably guilty sinners go
free because a Substitute died in their place.
If you ever find yourself to be the sinner on God’s death row then you
will no longer kick against God’s free grace but go out with rejoicing.
A Notable
Prisoner (Matthew 27:15-16)
In your mind are there certain names in history that are
synonymous with horrible crimes? What
about your own? Barabbas was a notable prisoner, bound, unable
to break the chains and bars that held him.
That is where every sinner is as we are born in our flesh (Mat 5:21-22,
15:19; Jer 13:23; Gal
3:10, 22-23). Does that describe you? A sinner never knows
the love of God in Christ, the joy of justice satisfied by Christ, until we
know ourselves to be the notable prisoner.
Christ the Just Man (Matthew 27:15-19)
Jesus
is the Christ; God come in human flesh.
Jesus is the Savior “for he shall save his people from their sins”. Jesus took the nature of his children to
honor the law, satisfy justice, and set his elect free by laying down his life
in their place. All the charges against
Barabbas were true but all the charges against Christ were false (Mat 3:17; Heb
7:26). Why was it a must that the One
who would die in the place of his people have no sin? Only one without sin could willingly be made
sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor 5:21).
The Spirit of Anti-Christ (Matthew 27:20)
The
chief priests and elders hated God and loved their vain show of religion so
much that they would rather change the truth into a lie, set a guilty criminal
free and crucify the Prince of life. The
spirit of antichrist would rather make sinners gods, set them free to their own
will and destroy Truth rather than for God to be God. Declaring Christ died for all men and that
sinners make his blood effectual by an act of their will or that sinners add
something by their works is as much a desire to destroy the Prince of life as those
whose own muscles moved the hammer to drive the nails. This delusion which reduces God’s love to
insignificant, ineffectual nothingness is proof that depravity is not merely a
doctrine but the very heart of enmity that prevents a sinner from submitting to
the word of God. But this dark desire to
attribute to ourselves the glory of God is the wicked heart from which God the
Holy Spirit irresistibly, invincibly, successfully saves Christ’s redeemed. It is the very sin of every heart from which
God-given repentance turns. Be honest
right now, are you abased to rejoice that salvation is of the Lord or are you screaming
to defend your will and destroy the Prince of Life? Know this, the absolute
sovereign God of glory is able to make even the wrath of man praise him! In
their rebellion the man-exalting spirits of antichrist who screamed for
Christ’s destruction only did exactly what God determined before to be done (Is
53:9-10).
Christ Died in Place of His People (Matthew 27:21-26)
Put
your place in that cell with Barabbas. He hears his name shouted by the crowd.
Then he hears, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
He is convinced he is a dead man walking. The jailor opens the door to
his cell. But instead of dragging him to
the cross, the jailor unlocks Barabbas' shackles announcing that Christ Jesus
has taken his place on the cross; therefore, Barabbas is a free man. That is the good news of substitution! Every chosen child for whom the Son of God
shed his blood at Calvary shall be set free by the Spirit of regeneration
through the key of the gospel of the free grace of God. It is not possible for
the law to punish the Substitute and punish those for whom he died. The truth of the successful particular redemption
of chosen sinners is the gospel which manifests the righteousness of God—all
others are not another. He has seen the
travail of his soul and is satisfied. Is
this news good to you or do you scream unfair? Do you think Barabbas screamed
unfair? Do you think he argued that
there was something yet that he must do?
Do you think he had to be persuaded out of that jail cell? Many convicts
have had to be hog-tied to get them in a prison cell, not one pardoned prisoner
has had to be coerced to go free. Has
the Spirit of God entered into your heart with this gospel, unlocked your bars
of spiritual death with life, un-shackled your chains of unbelief with the gift
of faith? When death-row sinners behold
the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus it is the Light of the open door
on the eternal day of blessed pardon. Picture
Barabbas dancing and singing, “Redeemed!
Redeemed! Free! Free!” Oh, may God have mercy today and make us sing
that joyful song!