Central Grace Church
3596 Franklin Street Rocky Mount, Virginia
Website: www.centralgracechurch.com Email: pedm55@gmail.com
March 12th 2023
9:30 am --------------------------------------------------------Supper or Sop – John 13:18-30
10:00 am ---------------------------------------- The LORD’s Spokesman – Exodus 4:10-17
Condescending Love
When my daughter and granddaughters were very young, quite often you would find me down on the floor playing with them . . . even talking ‘baby talk’ to them. What would make me get down on the floor like a little child? What would make a grown man stoop so low? Love! . . . Condescending love.
In a great display of His incomparable love, the Son of the Most High God, the Crown Prince of Glory, the King of kings and Lord of lords; yea, He Whose Name is the Everlasting Father . . . condescended to be a man, a worm, a creature of the dust. No one has ever stooped so low. And He did it because of the great love wherewith He loved us. And He spoke to us in a language we understand, as to little children. Thank God He stooped so low. Thank God for coming down to our level. Thank God our Father, He . . . pitieth His children and remembereth our frame (Ps.103:13).
Do You Find Delight In The Gospel? – by Henry Mahan
HE things that are written and that are preached by us concerning salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ are not only written and preached to encourage sinners to believe Him and come to Him that they might be saved, but the gospel is written and preached to you who believe that you may have confidence and assurance of your interest in Christ, and having come to Him, you are still coming. How is faith confirmed? How is faith increased? Even by the preaching of the gospel, by having the person and work, the righteousness and sacrifice of our Lord explained to us again and again. Eternal life is to be found nowhere but in Christ. And in order that those who are already in Christ through faith might have assurance and grow in grace and the knowledge of him, the preacher is to magnify over and over again the gospel of our blessed Lord!
The Plague & Perplexity Of Sin
“O LORD, Why hast Thou made us to err from Thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?” – Isaiah 63:17
Every true child of God is plagued and perplexed by his own sinfulness. Every saint cries out with the apostle, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Every believer knows and experiences something of the exceeding sinfulness of sin in himself. It plagues him, pursues him, hounds and perplexes him.
Knowing that our God is absolutely sovereign over ALL THINGS, even the hearts of men, the child of God cannot help but wonder and cry out with the prophet: O, LORD, why hast Thou made us to err from Thy ways? . . .” We should never excuse ourselves, nor blame God for our sinfulness, but (I write this very fearfully and carefully) we may wonder why God allows or permits us to sin, when He could sovereignly prevent us from doing so.
The full results or ramifications of all things, even our sins, are not fully known until sometime later (sometime never in this life), the answer to the question of our sins can be somewhat known by the entrance of SIN into the world, and why God allowed it. It has something to do with our humility and everything to do with “the praise of the glory of His grace.”
17th CENTURY PRAYER
Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others’ pains, but help me to endure them with patience. I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessened cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lessons that occasionally I may be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint - some of them are so hard to live with. But a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the Devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And give me, 0 Lord, the grace to tell them so. Amen! – From Lantana Grace Church Bulletin