August 11, 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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COLD WATER FOR THE THIRSTY
2 Peter 2: 17: These are wells without water, clouds that are carried
with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
Throughout scripture, “water” is used as a metaphor for spiritual life by
Christ by the Holy Spirit by the gospel. “And in that day thou shalt say, O
LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned
away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will
trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my
song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water
out of the wells of salvation.” (Is 12: 1-3; De 8: 7) In this verse, the Spirit
of God describes false teachers as being absent of this water.
A Great Contrast
The believer is opposite those
described here. False teachers and
unbelievers are “wells without water”; but of those made righteous by Christ
alone we read, “The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life” (Pro 10: 11;
18: 4) Those without Christ are described here as “clouds…carried with a
tempest”; but Christ gives true ambassadors “That we henceforth be no
more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive;” (Eph 4:14) The false teachers are those “to whom the
mist of darkness is reserved forever”; but the believer is raised with Christ “To
an inheritance incorruptible…reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time.” (1Pe 1:4-5) Rejoice for only grace makes us to differ.
No Water by Nature
Every sinner is a “well without water”
by nature. What good is a well without
water? Life is in the water. Many think
they will find the water of life in this world. A person gets their education,
lands the big job, but they find a dry well.
Folks get married, build a house, and have kids still no life. Some look to the retirement years then the
health goes so the body proves a dry well.
A man may accumulate much like a well can have a nice well-house, the
best pump money can buy, a bucket covered in gold. Yet, if there is no water it
is useless! Without the indwelling Holy
Spirit, Christ formed in us, we are dry wells, dead, and good for nothing but to
be capped off.
Christ is the Fountain of Living Waters
Christ is that Rock smitten from whom
the water of life flows freely; that Cloud full of rain. “And a man shall be as
an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” (Is 32:
2) God the Father ordained before the
world was that the Lord Jesus Christ would be to his chosen race that one fountain
of all salvation, righteousness, sanctity, grace and truth. (Col 1: 19) “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst
anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Rev
7: 16; Jn 1: 16)
The
Gospel is Water to our Souls
God makes each elect to hear his
gospel like the Samaritan woman came to Jacob’s well and met Christ the Living
Water. Through the gospel the Holy Spirit makes us behold Christ. Our soul
becomes thirsty. (Ps 32: 4) Christ speaks, “If any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and drink. (without money, without price) He that believeth on me, as
the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
(Jn 7: 37; 4: 14) The Gospel becomes good news, “As cold waters to a
thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” (Pro 25: 25) We find
ourselves believing, crying, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is.” (Ps 42: 2; 63 1; 143:6) Christ enters in “And the
parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in
the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.”
(Is 35: 7; 41: 18; Rev 22: 1) For the
first time, we honor God for his free, unmerited grace just as he said, “The
beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give
waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my
people, my chosen.” (Is 43: 20)
Showers of Blessing
God plants us by his well of water, under
his cloud to continue giving the gospel.
He says, “I will make them and the places round about my hill a
blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall
be showers of blessing.” (Eze 34: 26)
When we wonder if the Lord will call out another sheep, “Thus saith the
LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help
thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For
I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I
will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And
they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water
courses. (Is 44: 2-4) He instructs us, “Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of
the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of
rain, to every one grass in the field.” (Zech 10: 1) He instructs us, “Be
patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the
husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient;
stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” (Jam 5: 7-8)
The Purpose of a Well of Water
A well is made to provide water to
others. Brethren, we are made wells of water
in a dry and thirsty land for others to drink from. Only a believer daily taught the dry death we
are, without Christ, is capable of teaching others the flesh profits nothing; only
you who find holiness, righteousness and redemption in his Christ only are able
to teach others that “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Mt 5:6) A life which adorns our
doctrine, a walk consistent with the love of God shed abroad in our hearts,
steadfastness in spreading his gospel through this dry desert world, these are
ways God uses us as wells as God calls out his lost sheep.
Wells Are Replenished by Their Source
The more water a well gives the more
water it is given by the hidden spring. “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth.”
(Pro 11: 24) God replaces more than we ever dispense, “of his fullness have we
all received grace for grace.” "When
the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for
thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I
will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I
will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of
water." Is it raining in your heart?
If so, to God be the glory! Our great Fountain of grace says, “Freely ye
have received, freely give.”
To Dry Sinners
Let me ask you poor child of dust, why
do you seek water where it is not? The mist of darkness—hell—will be flamed by a
consciousness of all that could have been yours freely but which you refused
for a momentary 70 or 80 years of dry dust.
What you thought an oasis will prove a mirage. You will cry, “Send someone ‘that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame.’” (Lu 16:24) What’s the price for this water? Free. You can give nothing to God, but he can
give you everything. What must I possess? Only thirst! Now come! (Rev 22: 17)