Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Free Grace Media

Of Princeton, New Jersey

 

AuthorClay Curtis
TitleWeekly Bulletin 12-25-2011
Bible Text1 Peter 5:6-10
Date24-Dec-2011
Article Type Bulletin
PDF Format pdf
Word Format doc
Audio HI-FI Listen: Humble, Cast, Be, Resist, Know (32 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
Audio CD Quality Listen: Humble, Cast, Be, Resist, Know (128 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
 

December 25, 2011

 

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

 

********

 

Psalm 55: 22: Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

 

*******

 

Proverbs 22: 6: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We grandparents often think we would make better parents if we had it to do over.  Well, if we could take our knowledge and experience, we probably could do better, but I’m sure we would still make plenty of blunders. But one thing I think I would do better: I think knowledge and experience has taught me to love better.  It is not that I didn’t love my children, I did and do.  But time and experience has taught me how precious life is.  When I was a young parent I didn’t have a lick of sense as to how precious life was.  Everything was about me.  Even when I corrected my children it was often for my satisfaction and not necessarily for their future good.     But now it seems that I can look at one of my grandchildren and truly feel what a precious life that child is.  A young parent may know it but time and experience makes one feel it more deeply.  And this is why I think I could love better.  Not so much more but better. It may sound strange but loving better makes it easier to correct your children.  It used to be hard because I was considering my own selfish feelings, “I don’t want to make my child mad at ME.  I don’t want to drive the child away from ME”, etc.   But now I could think, “What a precious life!  What a gift from God.  How careful I must be to give this child my best love and care.  I must never leave this precious life to go in the way he may want to go and ruin himself.  I must always train him in the way he should go.  It doesn’t matter if he wants trained or not . . . it’s not an option.  I love the child better than he loves himself.  It doesn’t matter what he thinks of me now or says of me; it’s not about me, it’s about this child . . . this precious, precious life!” Oh, if I had it to do over I could love better, I’m sure of it.  And loving better I could listen better and play better and enjoy better and laugh better and pray better too.  And I could be better thankful that God had entrusted me with one of His precious gifts . . . A CHILD!                Bruce Crabtree

 

 

HUMBLE, CAST, BE, RESIST, KNOW

1 Peter 5: 6-10

My brethren, these are five words which call for action in us as the true children of God.  We cannot do any except by the mighty hand of God but by the mighty hand of God let us strive to actively do all.

 

Humble Ourselves. It does no good to resist God.  Self-will, self-righteousness, self-wisdom is pride.  “God resisteth the proud and gives grace to the humble.”  Let us humble ourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.  God’s hand is mighty to accomplish his own righteousness, mighty to call out all in his house, mighty to provide all provision for his own, mighty to destroy all enemies, and mighty to give more grace to the humble.  All God’s children shall be exalted by God in due time.  May the Lord help us to get that—by God in God’s time.

 

Casting our Care. What am I casting?—all my care.  Not some, not most—ALL OUR CARE.  Someone might say, “Brother, I have a lot of care!”  You have the care of the justice of God being satisfied on your behalf.  Has it been taken care of by Christ Jesus? (Romans 8: 33-34.) You have the care of being made the righteousness of God. Has it been taken care of by the Spirit of God robing you in the righteousness of Christ Jesus? (Ro 5:19; 8:4; 10:4.)  If these greatest cares are taken care of by our God are there any lesser cares that our God has not already predestinated to our good? “For he careth for you”--get that personally into your heart, believer—“he careth for you!”

 

Be & Resist. Pride is an intoxicant as much as wine.  Let’s not be drunk with either but vigilant. We have a very real adversary.  Faith gets behind Christ our Shield and Defender, under God’s mighty hand where Satan cannot harm us.   It is Christ who conquered our adversary by putting away all our sin and it is Christ who puts out all the devil’s fiery arrows of accusation against us.

 

Knowing.  Brethren, it is easy for us to exalt ourselves over our brethren even by thinking our afflictions differ from theirs.  But as brethren we are each suffering the same afflictions.  You may look at my affliction, having already passed through something like it, and think my affliction is really not that great. But it is the worst thing I have been through, yet.  I may look at your affliction, and having never passed through it, not understand how you are suffering. But it is the worst thing you have suffered, yet.  God only allows us to be tried in proportion to what each of his children is able to bear. At the time it is the worst thing our brother or sister has borne yet.  Knowing this will help us not to use our afflictions to exalt ourselves over one another.

 

And notice these are “afflictions accomplished.”  Just as Christ accomplished our redemption making exact satisfaction to the Father for his elect, suffering precisely what was owed, likewise, in our suffering, God shall accomplish his purpose exactly for us.  There is an exact amount of suffering every individual believer will suffer in each trial and in this life.  It shall be brought to its end when God has accomplished what he purposed by it.  The accomplishment is always his glory and our good (1 Peter 2: 21-25; 4: 12-13; 5: 10-11.)