Central Grace Church
3596 Franklin Street . Rocky Mount, Virginia
July 10th, 2016
9:30 am _________________________________________Grace and Truth – John 1:14-18
10:00 am __________________________________________I Will and You Shall – Ezekiel 36
Lord willing, we will have a church get-together (cook-out) next Sunday, July 17th (after services) at Waid Park. The church will provide drinks, ice, plates and utensils. There is a sign-up sheet downstairs. Any questions, talk to Mary Parks..
Nursery Today: Second Service: Janine , Alt. -- Aimee
Cleaning Schedule: This week - Stan & Cherrie, Next Week: Mac & Margaret
Birthdays: July: 11th – Stan Anderson, 12th – JohnThomas Polk, 14th – Daisy Hudson, 19th – Mary Parks
Humbled Or Angered
“Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee” (Proverbs 9:8). Someone has said, "Faithful reproofs, if they don't profit you will provoke you." God's prophet, John the Baptist, faithfully rebuked Herod for taking his brother's wife (Matt. 14:4). Herod's response to the truth of God was anger and murder toward God's prophet. On another occasion, the prophet of God, Nathan, rebuked King David for taking Bathsheba to be his wife and for the murder of Uriah the Hittite, her husband (2Sam. 12:7-14). David, instead of being angry, was humbled and confessed before God that he was a sinner and begged for mercy. David expressed this in Psalm 51, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me”. Now here is the question for us. How do we react to the rebuke of Holy Scripture? Are we humbled and broken hearted? Do we beg God for mercy and forgiveness or do we get angry and upset? Believers are humbled, those who don't believe God are only angered and enraged. – Thomas Harding
What It Is To Confess Christ – By Henry Mahan
Our Lord said, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew 10:32). What is it to confess Christ?
1. It is to have an understanding in the mind of WHO Christ is, WHAT Christ did, and WHERE Christ is. "The Son of God has come and given us an understanding...." (I John 5:20).
2. It is to believe Christ in the heart. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation." (Romans 10:9-10) To receive Christ with a sincere and genuine heart love, and committal as Lord and Saviour, Prophet, Priest, and King.
3. It is to confess Christ openly and publicly in believer’s baptism. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Baptism does not save nor add anything to the Saviour’s work; but it is a confession of, identification with, and testimony of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, and our own death to sin and resurrection TO WALK WITH HIM.
4. It is identification with the church of our Lord Jesus, the people who love Him, and the preachers who preach His Gospel of free and sovereign Grace. Paul said to Timothy, "Be not ashamed of the testimony (Gospel) of our God, nor of me His servant, but be ready yourself to partake (be identified) of the afflictions of the Gospel." Where the Gospel is preached, where the true people of God meet to worship, where the name of Christ is worshipped and
exalted, THERE I WANT TO BE! And if I truly love Christ and confess Christ, THERE I WILL BE!
Too long church members have called preachers to run their pagan programs, and preach to them what they want to hear. Is there not a prophet who will call Herod "a fox," the Pharisees "whited sepulchers,"—and call on men to bow to the claims of Christ? I believe you are one and by God's grace I intend to be a prophet of God. If I don't have the courage to tell men the truth about God, about themselves and about salvation; I will turn in my papers and go fishing! God's preachers please no one but God! It is tough to stand alone, to be hated by people you're trying to help, to preach a message despised and discarded; but every man God has ever used was hated while he lived and praised after he is dead!
We might try to disguise the message and slip up on their blind side but we are fooling no one, not even ourselves. When the enemies of grace find out what you are saying, you'll discover that they don't have a blind side; they hate the God of the Bible on every side. Preach the Word as it is to men as they are, and depend on the Holy Spirit to call out God's elect. - H.T.M.
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