July 29, 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
Are you in the dungeon of doubt with your
hands and feet held fast in the shackles so that you can’t take a step? You see the light through the window. You admire
the joy of those set free. The question is not, “Will Christ provide?” or “Will
Christ deliver you?” God answers that
for us plainly, saying, “I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct
all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for
price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Is 45: 13) The question is, “Do you believe the true and
living God?”
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The Bible is Not to Be Proven but to Be Believed
I listen carefully when our men make brief
comments during the scripture reading and I am blessed by them. One such comment was made by Brother Art last
week and I am paraphrasing, “Why should the burden lie on the believer to prove
that the Bible is the inspired word of God?
If a burden of proof lies on anyone, it lies on the unbeliever to prove
it is not.”
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The Bible--The Miracle Of It
The Word of
God, by virtue of its very existence, is the greatest miracle in the world. The
Book of God was written in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), by
about forty different authors, who lived on two separate continents, over a
period of more than sixteen hundred years. Parts of it were written in palaces,
parts in prisons. Some of it was written by well educated men in great cities.
Other parts were written by shepherds and fishermen. Parts of it were written
during times of war, pestilence, and danger, other parts during times of
ecstatic joy. Those who wrote the words of this Book were taken from virtually
every walk of life: judges, priests, kings, prophets, prime-ministers,
herdsmen, scribes, fishermen, soldiers, and fishermen. Yet, in spite of all the
varying circumstances, conditions, workmen, and ages of time employed in the
production of Holy Scripture, it stands as one Book. It is perfectly one in all
its parts. It is free of error and free of contradiction. The more I think
about that fact, the more amazing it appears.
A.W. Pink He wrote, “Imagine forty
persons of different nationalities, possessing various degrees of musical
culture, visiting the organ of some great cathedral and at long intervals of
time, and without any collusion whatever, striking sixty-six different notes,
which when combined yielded the theme of the grandest oratorio ever heard;
would it not show that behind these forty different men there was one presiding
mind, one great Tone-Master? As we listen to some great orchestra, with its
immense variety of instruments playing their different parts, but producing
melody and harmony, we realize that at the back of these many musicians there
is the personality and genius of the composer. And when we enter the halls of the
Divine Academy and listen to the heavenly choirs singing the Song of
Redemption, all in perfect accord and unison, we know that it is God himself
who has written the music and put this song into their mouths.”
There
is only one sane explanation for the existence of the Bible. "For the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost."
If the Bible is indeed the Word of
God, its authority cannot be questioned. Its teachings cannot be disputed. All
that it says must be received as true. All that it demands must be submitted
to. All that it requires must be obeyed. Its words must be candidly, honestly,
and faithfully interpreted. There must be, on our part, a docility of spirit
before God’s holy Word. We must bow before God, as he speaks in his Word, with
hearts willing to be taught of God, crying with Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for thy
servant heareth” (1 Sam. 3:9). Every time we open God’s Word, either in private
reading or to hear it expounded, we ought to pray, "Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. 119:18). As the
Bible is a miracle of providence, an understanding heart is a miracle of grace.
Don Fortner
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The Atonement of Christ
WHICH exalts Christ more? Which demonstrates more the value and efficacy
of Christ’s atonement: that which effectually secures the actual salvation of
every one for whom it was made? Or that which ends in the great majority of
those for whom He shed His precious blood being eternally punished in hell?
Surely none with any spiritual discernment can fail to see which view is more
glorifying to the Redeemer. And if we call to mind the nature of His
satisfaction, that it was a paying of their debts, a suffering the law’s curse
in their stead, in order that they might go free; and when we remember that the
Judge of all accepted this atonement, was satisfied with the price Christ
paid...then, where would be God’s honor, His justice, His faithfulness, were
He, to yet punish millions of those for whom His Son bled and died? If Christ
died for all men universally, then all men universally must be saved. There is
no other possible alternative, except to say that God will punish twice, first
in the person of Christ the Surety, and then in the persons of those for whom
He was already punished.
I am sure none of us is lacking in compassion to his fellow-man, yet we
must not allow our pity for men to lead us to make God almighty to be like us
in anyway, nor the death of Christ to be ineffectual. Others may speak for
themselves, but I would not dare trust my salvation to a Saviour who was unable
to save those for whom He died. If it were true that Christ shed His blood for
those who are now in hell, what guarantee would I have that I shall not go
there? An atonement, that fails to atone, a sacrifice, which fails to deliver,
is worthless. To say that salvation turns upon the sinner’s own acceptance of
Christ would be like offering a sum of money to a blind man upon condition that
he would see.
Many believe in an atonement made for everybody; but then, their atonement
is just this; that Judas was atoned for as much as Peter, that the damned in
hell were as much an object of Jesus Christ’s satisfaction as the saved in
Heaven. In believing that Christ atoned for everyone they must mean that, in
the case of multitudes, Christ died in vain, for they say He died for all, and
yet so ineffectual was His dying for them, that many are damned afterwards.
Now, such an atonement I despise – I reject it. I had rather believe a limited
atonement that is efficacious for all for whom it was intended, than an
universal one that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of man be
joined with it. Donnie Bell