September
23, 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 11:00 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7: 30 PM Midweek Service
Order of service, announcements, etc, are in
attachment.
WHY ARE WE DIFFERENT?
Titus 3: 1-8
Believers are to maintain good works
in this life. When the believer
encounters foolish and disobedient sinners, malicious and hateful men and
women, what is the chief constraint that causes the believer to deal gently and
in meekness? Here are three things to
remember.
Remember What We Were (Titus 3: 3)
What will bring a believer down from
thinking ourselves to be something when we are nothing? Remember what we were (Rom 3: 9-19; Eph 2: 2;
Mk 10: 18; Rom 3: 23; Ec 7:20; 1 Jn 1:10; Mt 5: 21-22; 27-28; Mk 7: 21-23; Ec
9:3). Believing fathers, we are given
this word of instruction (Ti 2: 2). As we endeavor to serve God as the head of our
house where will we get this soundness, this love, this patience? Believing mothers, young believing women, you
are given this word of instruction (Ti 2: 3-5).
When you are opposed what keeps you from speaking evil and becoming a
brawler with your tongue? What will keep the young believer as you are
pressured to pursue the things the world teaches you to pursue? Remember what you were (Ti 3: 3). We were
God-haters, hating God and hating one
another.
Remember Who Made Us to Differ (Titus 3: 4-6)
After all our rebellion the love and kindness of God our
Savior appeared. Was it because we
straightened up our act? No, it was not
by works of righteousness which we have done. But the kindness and love of God
appeared in our heart personally, according
to his mercy. It was mercy given us before the world began and given us in
time through the gospel (Ti 1: 2-3). Believing
young men here is your instruction (Ti 2: 6-8). What will make you obey God
rather than this ungodly world? Remember
the love and kindness of God who together with the word sent the Holy Spirit who
washed and renewed us (Jn 3: 5; Ps 119: 50; 1 Cor 4: 15; Ja 1: 18; Jn 6: 63; 1
Thes 1: 5; Jn 15: 3; Ti 3: 5). For believers working at our jobs, here is our
instruction (Ti 2: 9-10). What do we
remember we when face difficulty at work?
Remember this mercy which was shed on us abundantly by Jesus Christ: the
mercy of the gospel which is of Jesus Christ and him crucified (2 Ti 1: 8); the
mercy from God the Father which came to us by Jesus Christ (2 Ti 1: 9); the
mercy of the work accomplished on our behalf by Jesus Christ (2 Ti 1: 10); the
grace communicated in regeneration out of Christ's fullness (Jn 1: 16); and
every supply of grace, by which the work is carried on in us by Christ's hands
(Eph 2: 10). Here is instruction for
every believer as citizens (Ti 3: 1-2). What if we have unbelieving civil
leaders? In all these things remember
what you were, remember who made you to differ and remember something else.
Remember What We Now Are (Titus 3: 7)
Every believer born of God is
justified from all of our sin—past, present, and future—by his abundant mercy (Ro 8: 1). As if that were not
mercy enough, we are also now heirs of God. We were heirs from eternity past by
adoption. Now are we the sons of God and
joint heirs with Christ by the Holy Spirit.
We have the hope of eternal life—Christ
in you the hope of glory. His grace
has taken us from being rebels to regenerated children, from rebels to being
made the righteousness of Christ, from rebels to heirs of eternal life! May his grace make us careful and loving in
our daily lives (Ti 3: 8).
*******
Spurgeon, “Brethren, Calvary is no
nearer to heaven than Sinai, if the Spirit of grace work not in us. If Christ
be not crucified in us, his being crucified for us will be of no avail; we must
have Christ formed in us the hope of glory.”
*******
HAPPY HOMES DON’T JUST HAPPEN—THEY ARE MADE!
By Henry
Mahan
Paul speaks to wives and says, “Submit yourselves to your husbands.” This
subjection is not only in body but in heart and spirit. Wives should love,
think well of husbands, speak respectfully of them, and to them, take care of
family matters according to the husband’s will, imitate him in that which is
good, and bear patiently that which is not so agreeable. Paul adds, “As unto
the Lord.” The Lord has designated authority in the husband and commands
obedience to and respect for that authority. To the husbands the apostle simply
says, “Love your wives.” This is still and always will be the key to any happy
relationship! Because we love Christ, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
If a husband loves his wife, he will show affection for her, delight in her,
seek her happiness and contentment, speak kindly to her, conceal her faults,
and prefer her above his parents, children, and friends! You don’t need to go
to a marriage counselor to solve your differences, you need to go to the cross
and learn the meaning of LOVE.
*******
AND HAVE NOT CHARITY
By Todd Nibert
Paul spoke of some very wonderful things he could do:
speak with the tongue of an angel, have the gift of prophecy, understand all
the mysteries of Scripture, possess miracle working faith, give all to feed the
poor, and be burned at the stake as a martyr. But if he did not have charity,
it was all meaningless. This charity or love is a supernatural thing. It is a
fruit of the Holy Spirit and is not found in the natural man. Love can be known
only by the actions it prompts. God’s love to us is seen in the gift of His
Son. Our love to Him is seen in how we treat His people: the love that is not
in word “but in deed and truth.” This
is the will of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning all His loved ones – “A new commandment I give unto you, that you
love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”