March 30, 2014
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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The Good News of Representation
Genesis 3: 6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat. 7: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they
knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons.
When Eve took the forbidden fruit nothing happened. God made Adam to be her head so God looked to
Adam not to Eve. Eve’s disobedience
could not bring her under God’s judgment because her righteousness depended entirely
upon the works of another, her head, Adam.
Thus, it was only after Adam ate that Eve became unrighteous before God.
Likewise, God made Christ the Head of his elect when he blessed us with
all spiritual blessings according as he chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. (Eph 1: 3-6)
God looks to Christ, not to his people.
Just as we were made sinners by the disobedience of our first head,
Adam, so by the obedience of Christ, our last Head, every believer is made the
righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5: 21; Rom 5: 19)
The believer disobeys God when we sin and God chastens his child for our
sins. But our disobedience can never
bring us under God’s judgment because our righteousness is another, our Head,
Christ Jesus.
Believer, rejoice, just as Eve’s transgression brought about no change
in her standing before God because she was in her head, Adam, likewise, the
believer’s transgressions bring about no change in our standing before God
because we are in Christ our Head. Before
the all-knowing eye of God, in Christ our Righteous Head we are righteous; in
Christ our righteous Head we have no sin; in Christ our righteous Head we cannot
sin. (1 Jn 3: 5, 9) Oh, thank God for
the good news of representation!
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What Aileth Thee?
Genesis 21: 17: And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God
called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear
not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
In our “Questions” series, this is the next question which God asked a
sinner. So far, with each question, God has brought the sinner to the knowledge
of their sinfulness and of God’s faithfulness.
Now, we know that while in Abraham’s house, Ishmael, born of Hagar the
bondwoman, is an allegory of works while Isaac, born of Sarah the freewoman, pictures
a child of promise born of God into the freedom of God’s grace. (Gen 21: 9-13 Gal
4: 28-31; Rom 9: 7-8; Gal 3: 7, 29; Rom 4: 13-14; Eph 1: 3-14) Yet, as we look
at God’s dealing with Hagar and Ishmael, after they were cast out of Abraham’s
house, we also see a shadow of God’s grace toward his lost, cast out, elect
child.
1) God saves by
covenant grace— God told Abraham, “And also of the son of the bondwoman
will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.” (Gen 21: 13) Every sinner comes into this world, cast out sons
of the bondwoman, in the bondage of our sin. The work of making his elect his
holy nation is the work of God, according to God’s promise to Christ Jesus,
because his elect are Christ’s seed. (Gal 3: 16)
2) God draws his lost child to Christ--“Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave
it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away:
and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.” (Gen 21: 14) While
in our rebellion, Christ our Husband provided all for us. We had
our earthly bread and water; our so-called fruit, as Hagar her child; we
thought we were free, as Hagar did. Yet, in our sin, we were in bondage with a
heavy load pressing hard upon on our shoulder. We did not know Christ on whose
shoulder the government of God rests, who finds his lost sheep and carries us
on his shoulders. (Is 9: 6; Lu 15: 5) Yet, like as Abraham sent Hagar toward
the well of Bersheeba, (the well which Abraham gave seven ewe lambs in covenant
to keep) all the while God was drawing us to Christ our Lamb, our Covenant, our
Well of salvation. (Gen 21: 22-34; Gal 3: 24-25; Jn 6: 44)
3) God brings us to
the end of ourselves— “And the
water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And
she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a
bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over
against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.” (Gen 21: 15-16) When God brought
us to see our temporal things could not save us, when God brought us to cast
away our fleshly fruits, when God brought us sit down in the dust, when we
could do nothing else then we cried out for God to have mercy on us.
4) Christ brings us
to confess our sin—Christ, the angel of the Lord, asked her, “What aileth
thee?” Hagar had to answer, “Me.” The
problem is us, our flesh. We have to be
saved from us. “If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1: 9)
5) Christ mediates
between God and his child—“Fear not; for God hath heard the lad where he
is.” (Gen 21: 17) The good news Christ Jesus brings us when we cry out in mercy
is that God has heard. It is because Christ is our Advocate with the Father and
God the Father always hears Christ “where he is” at God’s right hand. (1 Jn 2:
1-2; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 9:24; Ephesians 2:18)
6) Christ speaks to us in effectual power—“Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him
in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and
she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and
gave the lad drink.” (Gen 21: 18-19) Christ, by his effectual command, is our strength
to “Arise,” to lay hold of Christ, to lift up Christ in saving faith to the Father,
instead of coming in our works. For Christ opens our eyes to behold Christ the
Fountain of living waters. (Jer 17: 13; Jn 7:38)
Then we drink in faith and God enters
covenant with us, promising to save us, for God will make Christ a great nation
made up of his redeemed.
7) In the end, we
shall see God fulfill all his promises to us. “And God was with the lad; and he grew, and
dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness
of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.” (Gen 21:
20-21) Everything Christ promised Hagar, he brought to pass. So it is with the elect of God whom Christ
has redeemed and the Spirit has called. “For
all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God
by us.” (2 Cor 1: 20) We will see all along our triune God was with Christ; we will
see the fullness of his body grown up into Christ our Head as all his elect are
called into the unity of the faith; we will know Christ our Rest in the wilderness
of Paran (the wilderness of Paran is where the children of Israel rested 18
times on their way to the promised land); we will see Christ our Mighty Archer
whose arrow of grace always hits its mark; we will behold Christ’s bride
completely saved out of this sinful Egypt. Now and forever we will praise God our Savior
who saved us from our sins by his grace. (Rev 5: 12-13)
Sinner, “What aileth thee?” By God’s
covenant grace, Christ is the cure!