Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church 1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501 May 06, 2012            Newsletter Number 365 Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor                    Brother Ronnie Henderson, Song Director Pastor E-Mail: sgmbcpastor@baptistsonline.org          Web Site: www.baptistsonline.org/sgmbc "Where The Truths Of God’s Word Have Been Taught For More Than Fifty Years”

You Were Asked To Pray For: All of Our Military, Their Family’s & All the Civilian Workers in The Middle East, Zee Mink Fuller and Family, Her son’s Bryan Armstrong and Hunter Hackie, Daughter Shannon, and Brother Philip & Sondra Thornsberry, Sister Alice Hoskins, Joyce Gomez , Frank & Sonya Trusty, Bryndon Thomas, Frank & Dawana Reigel, Andrew Preston, Larry Mollette, Larry Mollette II & Family, Kerry Pennington, Kim Poole, Danny & Nita Mollette, Wendell Henderson, Judy Dunn, Martha Gray, Joshua Kidd, Matthew Kidd, Dina McCray, Ronnie Henderson Jr. & Son Kevin Henderson, Ricky Henderson and Family, Jim Stagner, Bro. & Mrs. Hammond, Don & Neil Hammond, Charles Hammond, Archie & Barbara Griffin & son Daniel, Bro. & Sister Bob Keller, Kathy Rosinbaum, Mary Ramsey, Donna Johnson, Fay Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Brother Curtis Pugh, Timothy and Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jim & Linda Meier, Brother Manuel Seymour, Letha Langford, Brother & Sister Kelley Hinson and Kelley Lee, Jerry Hughes, Sister Nita Bookout, Justin Bookout, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Imajo Tracy, Linda Hughes, Roy Lemmon, Lee Mollette’s Daughter & Granddaughter Kristal, Dale Barnes, Tammy Hairston, Tommy Lee Walker, Linda Mollette, Pat and Waymon Abercrombie, Barbara Brewer, Michelle Knowlton, Donna Jones, James Hedges, Gina Peel, Frank Roberts, Brother Sullivan and the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania,  and Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

The Pastors Corner: “The Lord Jesus Christ ”  Part 1 Our study this week brings us to the subject of Jesus Christ whom is the second part of the Trinity. When we look at Jesus Christ we actually must look at Him in two ways; (1.) as the Son of God, and (2.) as the Son of man, now most people will ask “aren’t they one in the same” and the answer would be yes they are, except they must be separated if one is to have a good understanding of who He truly was and is. Jesus Christ was born with two actual natures (1.) the Son of God and (2.) the Son of man and they are actually like two separate beings in one single body. To explain in a little more detail I will use a few examples; the Son of God had no beginning and the Son of man did; The son of God cannot change in any way and the Son of man changed much over the years; the Son of God cannot die and the Son of man gave Him life to save sinners. These are a few basic examples of showing the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. We learn in Philippians 2:6 – 8 "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7.) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8.) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." As well as many other scriptures prove that the Son of God was Incarnation with the Son of man. The main issue so many have is that they cannot separate the two natures in their minds and therefore they speak out of ignorance and say “God died on the cross” when He did not because God cannot die but the Son of man can and did. There must have been a temporal separation of Deity and man on the cross which explains His cry on the cross "...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46. This is the reason for the necessity of the incarnation. The suffering for sin will be both body and soul in hell for all eternity and if Jesus Christ was going to suffer our penalty for sin this then was the requirement also for Him and the Son of God could not do that because He has no body and cannot suffer death. Matthew 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." It was necessary that He have a body that He might be in all points tempted like as we are in these bodies. The writer to the Hebrews wrote this conclusion; "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15 we simply cannot say Jesus cannot empathize with man because He most certainly can. While He was not born a sinner and never sinned He was tempted in the flesh just as we were. It was necessary that He have a body to be tested in the flesh, and render perfect obedience to the law, in order that there should be wrought out a righteousness that could be imputed to us. The incarnation was also necessary to His ministry of teaching, His selecting the twelve apostles and founding the church, and His setting for us an example of perfect obedience to the will of God. We all must have a proper understanding of Jesus Christ and in doing so we can have a greater understanding of how precious our Saviour is to us. The suffering by Jesus Christ was real, He felt the same pains we would have and as He drew closer to death He felt the very same as anyone dying today. He felt the beatings and everything else that went with it. John the Revelator said "And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." Revelation 4:2 and next to Gods throne sits the Son of man Jesus the Christ. This is not to belittle God and insert man over God because let us never forget HE IS ALSO GOD but He is also man. We will look deeper into this subject next week. I would like to conclude with this; “thank you Jesus for dying on that wicked cross for my sins”!!

For Our Weekly  Meditation: Sincerity “It does not matter what you believe as long as you are sincere in what you believe.”     This is the prevailing and popular philosophy in contemporary Christendom. This philosophy is an outgrowth of the soul destroying error which teaches, “It does not matter what a person believes about religion, as long as he is sincere in his belief.” The person who believes a lie can be just as sincere about it as if it were the truth. The charge of insincerity cannot justly be made against the Muslims or Buddhists, yet their utter sincerity does not compensate for the soul damning error which they believe. Thus it was with Eve in the garden of Eden, she believed the devil’s lie, and was most sincere in what she believed. Yet her sincerity in believing a lie did not win for her the least measure of favor in the court of divine justice. The threatened penalty was executed; Eve lost her exalted position in the Edenic economy, and became the first woman sufferer on earth.    In matters of religion the Pharisees of Jesus’ day have had none to excel them in sincerity. Christ speaking of their sincerity, said, “... Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte (Christ did not stop with that remark, but went on to state the effect of their ill directed sincerity), and when he is made ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15). There is no excuse for insincerity, and it is certainly not our aim to belittle sincerity, for there is so much sham, pretense, and hypocrisy in Christendom that it appears as if true sincerity has all but taken leave of the earth. So it is today a real blessing to find a person who is sincere in his moral practices. But in matters relating to the eternal destiny of the soul, sincerity apart from divine truth is a tool of the devil to further aggravate the already condemned state of fallen men. All men need to take sincere heed to the twice repeated warning of God, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25).    Let us be genuinely sincere, but let us make sure that our sincerity does not lead us to such a woeful end as is appointed unto all those who are sincere in what they believe, but have believed the devil’s lie as to the way of salvation. Jonah was truly, and fearfully sincere when he said, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). And any gospel which calls for creature contribution to the redemptive work of Christ, be it ever so sincere, is another gospel, which in the true sense is not a gospel, but the sincere work of Satan to damn the souls of men. Often the pathetic, too late, and sincere lament is, “I did not know the gun was loaded.” But the person’s sincerity provides no comfort to the bereaved. Many have been the sincere intentions to start going to church, and begin a new life, but in spite of their sincere intentions many of these same people will stand before God eternally condemned. The above article was by Brother Oscar B. Mink former Pastor at our church.

Church News: The church will hold her next monthly business meeting on May 13th at 4:00 please plan to attend because we have some important discussions upcoming.