March 4, 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
WHERE ARE YOU?
Genesis 3:9
This is first question asked a fallen sinner by God. Have
you heard the Voice of the LORD God call unto you, personally? Has the LORD God said to you, “Where art thou?” Every sinner whom God saves will be saved
through the Voice of the LORD, through the Truth of the gospel, which shall
bring his child from the death of our sin into the Life of his Son.
Characteristics of the Call (Genesis 3:8-9)
First, it is THE VOICE OF
GOD. THE VOICE is the Word which was
made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-18).
God in sovereign power sends forth pastors after his own heart just as
he did John to announce the arrival of Christ (1 Col 1:21). But make no mistake it is THE VOICE of the
LORD by whom a man is called in irresistible grace (Jn 1:23; Is 52:6-8). Secondly,
this call of grace is particular. There were two calls in the garden. At first Adam heard the voice and hid—a
general call goes out to all. Then God called Adam and Eve
particularly. True, they were the only
two sinners in the world. But God comes to each of his elect as particularly as
if you were the only sinner in the world (Jn 10:3). Thirdly, the call of God is
effectual; it gets the job done! As soon
as God called, Adam answered (Jn 5:25).
Fourthly, this call brings the sinner to confess his sin to God. You and
I cannot hide our sin from God (Ps
139:7-12). If we ever stand
before the just Judge of heaven and earth, no excuses will do, the only words
the just Judge hears are those three little words—I did eat—guilty!
Good News of the Call (Genesis 3:14-15)
The good news of the gospel is
that the Judge is also the Advocate. Do not misunderstand, Adam sinned and
death passed upon all men because all have sinned. Between the time Adam sinned and God came
calling, we see an example of how our sin has separated us from God. Adam would not have sought God had God not
sought Adam. After this, Adam and Eve
were told how they each would suffer in their body, how the ground was cursed
for Adam’s sake, and they were driven out of the garden—showing the
condemnation upon all men born under the curse of the law because of Adam’s
transgression (Romans 3:23; 5:12, 17, 19).
But when God called Adam and Eve personally, made them confess their
sin, God declared what he declares in the hearts of those he calls. He pronounced the serpent cursed and gave our
first parents the promised Seed—Christ Jesus.
God provided his own Son who bore the justice of God in place of his
children. Satan bruised Christ’s heel,
but Christ’s obedience unto death crushed the serpent’s head (Galatians 3:13;
Hebrews 2:14-18). In Christ, God is a Just God AND a Savior. He is the only One who has made justice and mercy
meet in perfect harmony (Ps 85:10; Is 45:21; Rom 3:24-26). The good news to those whom come confessing
their sin to God, is that God delights to show mercy for Christ’s sake.
Gift Given by the Call (Genesis 3:20)
Adam heard the word of God’s
promise that his righteousness was in Christ alone—the Seed of Woman. Adam believed God. The fruit of his faith was that Adam named
Eve according to the promise of THE LIVING—Christ the Resurrection and the
Life. Christ the Life in whom all the
elect of God are preserved alive from the fall; Christ the Living One by whose
stripes all the elect of God are justified and made the righteousness of God;
Christ the Life in whom all the elect of God are called to Life. We see that Eve believed the promise because
she thought she had given birth to the promised Seed when she gave birth to Cain
(Gen 4:1). The good news of the gospel
of Christ is the very call by which God gives faith and Christ is the substance
of that faith.
Covering of the
Call (Genesis 3:21)
We see in Adam and Eve, the same as with Abraham and all
who believe. They believed God and it
was counted unto them for righteousness, not by their works, but by the grace
of God (Ro 4:3-5). Adam was first stripped
of his own righteousness, made willing to put all trust in Christ Jesus the
Promised Seed who God slew in place of his people (2 Cor 5:21) and the Lord God
robed them both in the righteousness of Christ their Surety (Is 61:10). Sinner, where are you? Are you trying to hide yourself with your own
bloodless, leafy robe? Where do you want
to be found? (Phil 3:9) Where do you want to be hidden? (Col 3:3)
*******
The Day of
Small Things – Zechariah 4:10
God delivered a nation from 400
years of bondage with a shepherd’s staff. He slew a giant and saved that
nation with a sling and a stone. He turned the world upside down with
eleven simple, plain men – and the illustrations that “Little is great when God
is in it” are numberless, but we must not just apply this truth to the
instrument God uses, but should apply it also to the task. It is true
that God uses humble men to perform great works for His glory – but God also
uses His servants to teach the little children, to pastor the small assembly,
to witness to one Ethiopian, to offer a prayer, to provide an unrecognized and
often an unknown service! Most of us are willing to be “humble men” doing
great works, but how many of us “great men” are willing to do humble work?
It is most doubtful that our Lord will
trust us with any great responsibility until it has been proven that we are
faithful in few things! It has been my understanding from the Scriptures
that those whom God trusted with great responsibility were content with where
they were and with what they were doing. Examples: Moses, David and
Joseph. It would be refreshing, instead of hearing what one used to do or
what one plans to do and be, to see one dedicated to being what he is and doing
with joy and zeal what is at hand! Christ may come today and I could die
today, but I’m not sure that He would accept my explanation that I was
preparing myself for great things and would have been a teacher if there had been
an opening, or a pastor if there had been a church available, or a martyr if
men had still been dying, a deacon, an elder, or a church leader after I had
aged a bit. Would He? Or would He ask, “What servant chooses his
own task? His own place of labor? His own time of service?”
Does not the faithful servant ask, “Lord, what would you have me to do?”
Everybody wants to take the floor, few care to sweep it. The returning
prodigal did not labor as a hired servant, but he was willing. --
Henry Mahan