Central Grace Church
3596 Franklin Street Rocky Mount, Virginia
Website: www.centralgracechurch.com Email: pedm55@gmail.com
January 29th 2023
9:30 am --------------------------------------- The Hebrews in Egypt #1 – Exodus chapter 1
10:00 am -------------------------------------------- Anointing Christ’s Feet – John 12:3
Wednesday: 7:00 pm
Our sincere sympathy and prayers are for our three sisters, Debra, Polly and Teresa, upon the passing of their father, Hugh Peters, last Tuesday. Mr. Peters was 91 years old.
Quotes:
“Measure not God's love and favour by your own feeling. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof. . .”
“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. . .”
“Whatsoever is good for God's children they shall have it, for all is theirs to further them to heaven; therefore, if poverty be good, they shall have it; if disgrace be good, they shall have it; if trials be good, they shall have them; if misery be good, they shall have it; for all is ours, to serve for our greatest good. . .”
-- Richard Sibbes, England (1577-1635)
“What is the cause of all God's purposes towards us? Himself. There is no other cause.”
“The Indwelling of Christ by faith is to have Jesus Christ continually in one’s eye, a habitual sight of Him. I call it so because a man actually does not always think of Christ; but as a man does not look up to the sun continually, yet he sees the light of it. So you should carry along and bear along in your mind’s eye the sight and knowledge of Christ. . .”
-- Thomas Goodwin, England (1600-1680)
True Faith
Faith without works of obedience is no more than the faith of devils who are damned. “You believe there is one God; you do well” for there is but one God, proved by the light of nature, creation, providence, and Scriptures. But the devils also have this same historical faith and knowledge. True saving faith produces works of obedience, love, and grace. Faith which has no works is dead faith, and works which are not the results of true faith are dead works! Good works are second acts necessarily flowing from the life of faith. Good works are not infallible proof of genuine faith; but the absence of works is certain proof of the absence of faith. – Henry Mahan
Fellowship
“Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ”– 1 John 1:3
There are few terms in such common use and so little understood as ‘fellowship.’ In numberless cases, it merely indicates the fact of a mere membership in some religious denomination . . . a fact which furnishes no guarantee whatsoever of living communion with Christ, or personal devotion to His cause.
What is fellowship? It is, in its very highest expression, having one common object with God, and taking part in the same portion; and that object, that portion IS CHRIST! . . . Christ known and enjoyed through the Holy Ghost. This is fellowship with God. What a privilege! What a dignity! What unspeakable blessedness! To be allowed to have a common object and a common portion with God Himself! There can be nothing higher, nothing better, nothing more precious than this. Not even in Heaven itself shall we know anything beyond this. Our own condition will, thank God, be vastly different. We will be done with a body of sin and death and be clothed with a body of glory. We shall be done with a sinful, sorrowful, distracting world, where all is directly opposed to God and to us, and we shall breathe the pure, invigorating atmosphere of that bright and blessed world above.
If our fellowship is real, it is now as it shall be then, “with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
-- C.H. Mackintosh, Ireland (1820-1896)