Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Free Grace Media

Of Princeton, New Jersey

 

AuthorClay Curtis
TitleWeekly Bulletin 8-20-2017
Bible TextEphesians 4:28
Date19-Aug-2017
Article Type Bulletin
PDF Format pdf
Word Format doc
Audio HI-FI Listen: Robbers Restored to be Restorers (32 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
Audio CD Quality Listen: Robbers Restored to be Restorers (128 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
 

August 20, 2017

SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

 

MEETING LOCATION

251 Green Lane

Ewing, NJ, 08368

Clay Curtis, pastor

Telephone: 615-513-4464

 

MAILING ADDRESS:

7 Birch Street

Pennington, NJ, 08538

 

Schedule of Services

Sunday 10: 15 AM Bible Class

Sunday 11:00 AM Morning Service

Thursday 7: 30 PM Midweek Service

 

Services Broadcast Live @ www.FreeGraceMedia.com/live

 

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NURSERY

We have a nursery equipped with a digital flat screen television broadcasting all services live, for children four and under.  

All articles by the pastor unless otherwise noted.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE WEBSITE: watch videos of our full services—click here.

 

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SUNDAY’S READING IN PROVERBS

 

Proverbs 9: 13: A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing. 14: For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, 15: To call passengers who go right on their ways: 16: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 17: Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. 18: But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

 

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WHOM”

By Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

 

All error (false faith) is evidenced when a person is trusting in and clinging to a “What.” True, saving faith believes: “WHOM!” The apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:12, “for I know WHOM I have believed!”

 

·        Baptism - is a “what.”

·        Walking down an aisle - is a “what.”

·        Giving your heart - is a “what.”

·        Making a decision - is a “what.”

·        Abstaining from certain foods or drinks - is a “what.”

·        A certain standard of morality - is a “what.”

 

But if a sinner ever sees “WHOM!” If a sinner ever sees CHRIST! That sinner will stop looking at every “what” that the law presents to him, and he will cry: “I know WHOM I have believed, and am persuaded that HE IS ABLE to keep that which I have committed unto HIM against that day!

                                                        

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Do you understand why the Son of God had to lay down his life?  All those God saves were guilty. God’s law demanded we die and God’s justice must be upheld. So by Christ’s taking the place of his people God satisfied his own justice toward his elect and justified us of our sins. Now God can show his people mercy and remain just. (Rom 3: 26)
               

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THAT’S YOUR INTERPRETATION

By Pastor Frank Hall

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. —2 Peter 1:20

 

“Well, that’s your interpretation.” Unbelievers commonly employ this religious catch phrase in their foolish attempts evade the truth, to justify their unbelief, and to excuse themselves from the obvious claims of God upon them. God forbid that we should give anyone our interpretation of God’s Holy Word! Peter nips this nonsense in the bud, saying, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” John Gill tells us that the words may be rendered “of one’s own interpretation.” No human being possesses the right to give his or her private, personal interpretation of any text of Holy Scripture; however, all of us must search out the God-given interpretation of the text in question. This can only be accomplished under the supervision of God’s Spirit, by comparing scripture with scripture, and by unlocking every text with the universal key—Christ crucified. The word of God simply is not open for private, personal interpretation. To justly interpret the scriptures is to find out what God means in any given text of scripture. All who say, “Well, I think this is what this verse means,” dishonor God and do themselves and their hearers a tremendous disservice. That is not interpreting the scripture; that is handling the word of God foolishly, devilishly, dangerously, and deceitfully. There are two important rules we should always follow when interpreting the scriptures. Firstly, our interpretation must never conflict with any other portion of God’s word and never contradict any other text in the Book of God. If it does, it is wrong. Secondly, if we do not see Christ in the text, we do not understand the text. Christ is always the interpretation! Anything less or other than Christ crucified is a private, personal, incorrect interpretation, and we know that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  

 

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ROBBERS RESTORED TO BE RESTORERS

Ephesians 4: 28: Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

 

This is not law; this is grace.  The law which God gave at Mt. Sinai said, “Thou shalt not steal.” (Ex 20: 15) That is it! No grace, no spiritual discernment and no constraining love is given by the law.  This is a gospel exhortation given in light of Christ’s labor and gift to us. The Holy Spirit teaches this exhortation effectually in the new spirit of believers. He teaches us we were thieves of God’s glory.  By grace, God makes us restorers, giving all glory to Christ.  Not only this, he makes us restorers to needy sinners, both by the gospel we preach and from the constraint of love in the new heart which makes us cheerful givers. The believer is a robber restored to be a restorer.  In this exhortation, let’s see how much more grace teaches than law.

 

Grace Teaches Us We Are Robbers

 

The first thing grace does in the heart is convince God’s child that in Adam we broke the whole law of God—“Let him that stole…”  (Rom 5: 17, 19)  When God gave the law at Mt. Sinai, by Adam’s transgression, every sinner had already broken every commandment, even “Thou shalt not steal.”  Why then did God give the law—“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.” (Rom 5: 20)  God called the ten commandments graven in stone “the ministration of condemnation” and “the ministration of death because God gave the law for the Holy Spirit to convince his people that we came under condemnation and died when Adam sinned in the garden. (2 Cor 3:9; Rom 5: 12; Jn 16: 8-11)  When Adam robbed God of the glory due unto him, all men stole God’s glory in Adam. (Ro 3:19, 23)  Even when we thought we were keeping the law, we were stealing from God. (Rom 3: 20; 1 Jn 1: 10)  Grace uses the law to teach us we are robbers.

 

Grace Teaches Us Christ is the Righteousness of God

 

Grace teaches each believer that Christ alone is he who perfectly labour[ed], working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.  God requires not only that the law be kept but God requires restitution by the thief to those whom he robbed. (Lev 6: 4-5) We robbed God and we robbed ourselves. Christ Jesus never stole anything from God or man. Yet, Christ made restitution to God on behalf of his people, “I restored that which I took not away.” (Ps 69: 4) In a sense, Christ even made restitution to us above and beyond what we robbed ourselves of by making us eternally righteous and holy before God’s holy law and by sanctifying us in true righteousness and true holiness so that we shall never be separated from God. (Rom 8: 35-39)  Christ did this for us “by working with his hands the thing which is good.”  He said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” (Jn 9: 4)  He finished by saying, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (Jn 17: 4) Christ did this “that HE may have to give to him that needeth.”  The one in need are his poor, guilty people who are robbers! But Christ has all spiritual blessings to give us everything we need for acceptance with God forever!

 

Grace Teaches Us a New Motive

 

In light of what Christ has done for us “the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Cor 5: 14-15) Now when we hear an exhortation like “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” we understand it in the light of God’s grace in Christ who did this in righteousness, making us completely restored in him.

       Now, as we consider how fervent Christ was in laboring to work out a righteousness for us, his love for us constraints us to be “Not slothful in business; [but] fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;…Distributing to the necessity of saints.” (Rom 12: 11, 13)  By his grace, we work our day-to-day jobs “in singleness of heart, fearing God…heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” (Col 3: 22-23)  Christ has made us willing to do so that we might be able to give cheerfully, sacrificially to those in need—especially through the furtherance of the gospel—because we understand the great love wherewith God loved us in Christ.

     The law does not teach this.  Only grace teaches this!  Law without grace leaves a man a robber.  Grace in Christ makes us robbers restored to be restorers.