March 17, 2013
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
Order of service, announcements, nursery
schedule, etc., are in attachment. All
articles in the bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
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Dead To The Law
“I through the
law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God” (Gal. 2:19); “I am become
dead to the law by the body of Christ, that I should be married to another,
even to him who is raised from the dead, that I should bring forth fruit unto
God.” (Rom. 7:4).
As a believer in Christ, the law is
dead to me, and I am dead to it, for as such I am delivered from the law, that
being dead wherein I was held, that I should serve in newness of Spirit and not
in the oldness of the letter (Rom. 7:6). The apostle has so clearly and
beautifully opened up this subject, that I feel I cannot do better than follow
his line of argument in Rom. 7:1-4. He assumes that a believer in Christ
is like a woman who is remarried after the death of her first husband; and he
declares that “she is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth”;
but that “if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her
husband.” Of course the first husband is the law, and the second husband
is Christ. Now, adopting this figure of the apostle’s, may we not justly
ask, “Which is to be the rule of the wife’s conduct when remarried, the
regulations of the first or of the second husband?” The first husband may have
been extremely harsh and have ruled her as with a rod of iron, always keeping
her in bondage and terror. Now, when he is dead, have not all his rules
and regulations died with him? And is not his wife entirely liberated
from his control? If he is dead to her, she is equally dead to him.
All his authority, then, over her has ceased. And what should we think
naturally of a wife who, instead of seeking to please her present husband, was
always referring to the rules and regulations enforced upon her by her former
partner, especially if her first husband was a cruel tyrant, and her second
husband a most affectionate and loving spouse? Is not the rule of love,
as the rule of the second marriage, in every respect superior to the rule of
command, which was the rule of the first? But apart from the distinct
nature of the two rules, the believer being dead to the law, and the law being
dead to him, the first marriage is wholly at an end. As, then, the wife
is no adulteress, though she be married to another man, so the believer is not
to be charged with transgression if, being dead to the law by the body of
Christ, he casts aside its rule in consequence of his union with and his love
to the Lord Jesus. For this second marriage is not like the first,
unfruitful, but brings forth fruit unto God. I wish that you might read
this portion of Rom. 7 in the light of the Spirit, and then you would see how
thoroughly dead the believer is to the law, both as a covenant and a rule, by
virtue of his union to him who is raised from the
dead. J.C. Philpot
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O! what acclamations of joy will there be, when all the
children of God shall meet together, without fear of being disturbed by the
antichristian and Cainish brood!
John Bunyan
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WHY DO BELIEVERS WORK?
Acts
20: 35; Ephesians 4: 28
Why do believers work each day at our
jobs? What motivates a believing mother
to go about her daily work? Before God
called us, our reasons were many. Now, the child of God beholds what Christ has
done for us. Believers work so we can
support the church, our families and others in need of the gospel because we
know it was by our Savior’s work that he provided for us.
Poor, Weak, Needy Sinners
We came into this world sinners with no Bread from heaven,
no Water of Life, no coat of righteousness, and unable to work to obtain life
by the work of our own hands. (Ps 86: 1; 1 Tim 1: 15) We were a shameful thing, oppressing the poor
and needy, attempting to rob the very glory of God? We were too proud to beg
for mercy and too depraved to provide by the works of our hands.
Christ Worked for Us
Christ said, “I must work.” (Jn 9: 4) His everlasting
love for the Father was constraining love. For his Bride, Christ said, “I must
work!”; for his children, Christ said, “I must work!” Christ said, “I must work the works of him
that sent me.” His Father sent him to fulfill his engagements as Surety, to
glorify his Father, fulfill the law, make an end of sins, and bring in an
everlasting righteousness. So Christ said, “I must be about my Father’s
business.” !” Time was of the essence to our Redeemer, “I
must work the works of him that sent me the works of him that sent me, while it
is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” For the honor of his Father he would not rest
till he could say, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do.” (Jn 17:4) Out of love for of his bride and
his needy children he would not sit down until he could cry from the cross, “It
is finished!” Brethren, this is why we
work. His church must be supported, our own bride must be fed and clothed, our
children must have shelter, not only daily necessitates, but as sinners in need
of the unsearchable riches of Christ! It
is not only in our own homes but wherever our sphere of influence reaches. Time is of the essence. This is the day of grace.
Night is coming.
Honorable Work
The position our Savior took for his work was very lowly.
(Php 2: 5-7) He possessed the glory of God yet God the
Son made himself of no reputation but took upon him the form of a servant,
obedient unto the death of the cross (Heb 10: 7) Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Has there ever been a position ever taken by a man as
honest, as honorable, as highly esteemed by God as the work Christ performed?
Never! Yet it was position of no reputation. It was a work despised and
rejected of men. But that which men reject, God highly esteems. Do we have to
have work that exalts us before men? The mother who gets her house all in order
so she has time to teach her child the scriptures holds the most honorable
position, though few may notice. That father working two low paying jobs which
the world puts no importance own so he can put food on the table and talk to
his children about the spiritual reasons why he does what he does, holds a
place of honor before God. When brethren provide a house to worship in where we
can spread this feast and call the poor,
the maimed, the lame, the blind:--who can’t recompense a dime it is
well-pleasing to God. (Lu 14:13) However this world may disregard us, the work
that is done for his glory and the salvation of poor and needy sinners is honorable
and highly esteemed by God. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mt 20: 28) “For
ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Co 8:
9) As much happiness as we get in receiving these riches from our Redeemer, the
only thing that compares is giving them to another poor sinner. Is it possible
to lose by giving for the furtherance of God’s glory? Never! (2 Cor 9: 8)
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Brethren, the sea is salt as a whole,
and every drop of it is salt in its degree: if the whole work of salvation be
of grace, every detail of that work is equally of grace.
Charles Spurgeon