December 16, 2012
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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What is Your Comfort?
Henry
T. Mahan
Are you happy? Yes! But I am not without times of sorrow. Like any
human, I weep over loved ones, friends, sickness, death, and disappointment.
But I sorrow not as those who have no hope. CHRIST IS MY HOPE! He loved me,
gave Himself for me, and will make ALL
THESE THINGS work together for my eternal good.
Are you at rest in your soul? Yes! But I am not free from
concern and conviction over my sins and my infirmities. I love Christ but not
as I should or as I desire. I am satisfied with Him, His mercy, His grace, and
His love; but I will never be totally satisfied until I wake with His likeness.
Do you have peace? Yes! But that peace with God, peace of
conscience, and peace in any situation or condition is not based on my merit,
feelings, nor religious duties. CHRIST IS MY PEACE! He said, "In ME ye
have peace. In the world ye shall have trouble."
Any man or woman who claims continual,
uninterrupted joy, rest, and peace in this world is either not telling the
truth or has no connection with reality! True joy, rest, and peace are things
we enjoy in Christ IN THE MIDST of troubles, afflictions, and infirmities.
Paul's exhortation was "rejoice
in the Lord." When I am conscious of my weakness, failures, and sins, I
rejoice in Christ, my righteousness. When I am concerned about food, clothing,
and shelter, I rejoice in Christ, my provider. When I am sick, Christ is my
healer. When I am grieved, Christ is my comfort. When I am faced with death,
Christ is my life! So it is not necessary to put on a false face and deceive
others. We are still human; but our peace, rest, and joy is Christ."Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee.”
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FOUR GREAT PROMISES
Genesis 28: 15
Jacob was alone in the wilderness like all unregenerate sinners. (Gen
28: 10) His own sin had separated him
from his father’s house just as sin separates the sinner from God. He lighted upon a certain place which was to
him as good a place as the next, like many in religion, but he was in the dark. He took stones of that place for his pillow
and lay down in that place to sleep. But God appeared to Jacob, revealing the
great mercy of God in Christ toward him. (Rom 9: 11-13) If ever God comes to you dear sinner, this is
where he will find you, asleep in your sin and rebellion in the dust of your
own darkness.
The ladder Jacob was shown is a picture of Christ Jesus the Son of God. (Gen
28: 12) The Lord Jesus said of himself, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of man.” (Jn 1: 51)
The Lord stood above it as the ladder reached down to Jacob picturing Christ
who is God and Man, who brings God and his children together in One. God’s elect have transgressed his law. Christ is the Way God can be just and the
Justifier of all who believe in Jesus. (Rom 3: 24-26)
Christ is the Seed in whom God makes his everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, in the newly created heart of each of his elect. (Gen
28: 13-14; 2 Cor 1: 18-20) Verse 15
gives us four promises full of comfort from God to the believer. These promises to you who believe are not yea
and nay, they are yea and Amen in Christ Jesus.
I Am With Thee
The great I AM is with you, believer. Moses concern was, “If thy presence go not
with us…” Here, God our Savior promises,
“I Am with you.” Ask this question, “Who am I?” Have you
ever asked this question of yourself, “Who am I?” When God the Holy Spirit makes us honest
about who we are then we will rejoice that the great I AM promises, “I Am with
thee.” We are dust and ashes. (Gen 18:
27) We are impotent earthen vessels. (Ex
3: 11) Everything we have comes from God’s
hand. (1 Ch 29: 14) We are the least.
(Eph 3: 8) But our Savior is God the
great I AM! Because God is with us, God gives us favor with men. (Gen 39: 21) He is our strength for every battle. (Ju 6:
16) The counsel of our enemies shall come
to nothing because God is with us. (Is 8: 10)
I Will
Keep Thee
God our Savior keeps us by going before us, by going
behind us, and by standing between us and our enemies. (Is 52: 12; 58: 8; Ex
14: 20) Most importantly Christ keeps us eternally. (Jn 6: 37-40) My brothers and sisters, do you become faint and weary in your mind at times? We do find ourselves troubled and perplexed. (2
Cor 4: 8) If God sees a need for it, we
suffer heaviness through multiple trials. (1 Pet 1: 5-6) But let not your heart be troubled, Christ will
keep us. (Jn 14: 1-3)
I Will Bring Thee
The land of Canaan pictures the great
promised land in heaven’s glory with our great Shepherd. Jacob was in Canaan at this time but he had
to leave and it would be many years before he would see it again. In the will and purpose of God, every elect
child of God has been with God in the heavenly land of promise from eternity.
(Eph 1: 3-4) But we have to wander in
this land of exile for many years.
Still, God promises, I will bring thee again into the land I promised
you. He fulfilled his promise to Jacob. God exercised great patience toward Jacob who
was slow of heart to believe. Through
all Jacob’s ups and downs, God’s love for him changed not. God showed Jacob faithfulness which no
unfaithfulness in Jacob could change. In
the end, God brought him again to that land and the worm Jacob was turned into
Israel, the prince of God. So too, one day, every regenerated child of God
shall see Christ face-to-face and be like him because Christ shall bring us
again to the land of promise. (Ps 17: 15)
I Will
Not Leave Thee
The Lord God brought all this to pass for Jacob because
God told Jacob he would. Salvation
begins, continues and ends with the Word of God! You can read the rest of this
passage later but I will give you a summary of what happened to Jacob when this
revelation of Christ came into his heart. First, Jacob woke up. Wouldn’t it be amazing if that happened today
for some unconverted sinner! Secondly,
Jacob found himself in the house of God in the presence of God; he went from
being in the land of separation to being separated from the world of unbelief into
the house of God, Bethel. Thirdly, Jacob began really worshipping God at Christ
our Altar. He was consecrated to God and
willing to serve him with all God had given him the rest of his days.
Brethren, simply believe the Word of God.
He promises us, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall
not pass away.” (Mt 24: 35; He 13: 5) Rest
in Christ, trust that his finished work is our finished work, consecrate yourselves
to his cause and remember these four great promises of our God. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who
also will do it.” (1 Thess 5: 24)