Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church "Where The Truths Of God’s Word Have Been Taught For More Than Fifty-Five Years” 1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501 November 20, 2016            Newsletter Number 595 Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor                   Brother Ronnie Henderson Sr., Song Leader Pastor E-Mail: pastor@sgmbaptist.com                                          Web Site: www.sgmbaptist.com “A Church Seeking To Please God In Prayer, Song, Preaching, And Worship.”

Our Prayer Request:   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,  Johnnie Stephens, Alecia Stephens, and children, Frankie Baldridge and daughter, Buckie Thompson, Frank & Sonya Trusty, Frank & Dawana Reigel, Andrew Preston, Larry & Martha Mollette and Her Family, Tyrell Loyd, Bonnie, Ted O'Bonion, Larry Mollette II & Family, Kerry Adcock, Kim Poole, Danny & Nita Mollette, The Muncy Family, Mary Mollette, Wendell Henderson, Joshua Kidd, Matthew Kidd, Ronnie and Sarah Henderson, Ronnie Henderson Jr. & Children, Ricky Henderson and Family, Jacie Henderson, Velma Hammond, Charles, Don Hammond and Families, Vickie Adkins, Archie & Barbara Griffin, Donna Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Timothy Fails, Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jerry Hughes, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Linda Hughes, Rosie Tomlin, James and Lynn Tomlin, Pat Abercrombie, Donna Jones, Brandy Sullivan, Gina, Tammy Hairston and family, Brother Kelley and Sister Hinson, Manual Seymour, Sr, Dewayne Sewell, The Harris Family, The Morris Family, Teresa Bookout, Little Titan Thomas (Trent and Tiffane Thomas child), James – Diane and Brooke Thomas, Jace Fails, Steve Sparks, Sister Ann McSwain, Brother Archie and Barbra Griffin, Brother Curtis Pugh, Brother Dan Sullivan and the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania, Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

A Thought From our Pastor:   Frustrating God  “He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 4:8   This week we want to look again at the word “frustrate” taken from Galatians 2:21 where Paul wrote "I do not frustrate the grace of God..." that is, he will not render the grace of God worthless or bring it to naught by saying that salvation is by works. Because it cannot be by both works and grace because one makes the other worthless. This week we see the word “despiseth” which is the same Greek word as frustrate. Here Paul writes that “He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God…” Despising God here is disobeying what God commands. When Christians disobey God’s word they are not despising or rendering man’s words worthless, but rather God’s. Your Pastor does not preach, nor did the Apostle Paul write our own words but the words of God, therefore to render them useless by disobeying them is to frustrate God. See God is Sovereign and when people do not recognize God as Sovereign then they in reality render God useless. People who does not recognize His word as His Own Sovereign Word, then they fail to recognize His authority. It is the same in salvation, when men make-up their own salvation then it renders God’s salvation as worthless, therefore rendering God useless. God designed salvation to bring Himself and His Son Jesus The Christ glory. Therefore, every time a sinner is saved then the Angels in heaven rejoice in their praise to God because He has graciously saved a sinner. This giving all glory to God, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for their miraculous act in combining to save a sinner. Now let us explore some ways that God is frustrated or rendered useless by Christians, churches, and Pastors, today. When God is taken out of salvation then God is no longer needed in order for a sinner to be saved. In other words, if a Preacher is good at convincing a sinner to choose to repent and the sinner makes that decision, then who is to be praised? Why would the Angels in heaven rejoice over that? They are created to praise God, not man. Ah, then in this type of salvation the sinner and the Preacher are to be praised and not God. God said in Romans 1:24 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:" because they no longer worship God, but themselves leaving God out of salvation altogether. According to them their salvation is to their praise and glory because God had nothing to do with it, rendering Him useless. God said in Romans 1:25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Now if you look at real salvation everything praises God, The Father chooses and predestinated everything, The Son died to furnish the sin cleansing blood, and the Holy Spirit delivers salvation to the sinner, this renders man useless instead of God. See God is King in all things and this is a truth some people have forgotten, refused to believe, or simply have ignored this truth. God said that salvation “…it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Romans 9:16 Therefore God saves whomever He chooses. See, God has that right since He is the creator of all things, He has the right to make a vessel unto honor like Jacob, and one unto dishonor like Esau, whether man likes it or not. Romans 9:21 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Rendering God useless in salvation is rendering man’s salvation worthless. God saves sinners and man has nothing to do with it. God blesses us in allowing us to preach the gospel, but God saves sinners and He does not need man to get it done. Therefore, while so many render God useless we as Sovereign Grace Baptist praise God and we render man useless. God needs no one to accomplish His will.

LOOKING FOR MY FREE WILL By Curtis Pugh I keep hearing about this thing they call free will. I can't find mine. True, I have a will, but it is a part of me and my heart – desires and emotions – are evil. The prophet wrote in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” My will is to act according to my heart. I sin because it is my will to sin. If my will was free from my nature I could will to stop sinning and do so, but I cannot.   I have studied the Bible for many years and talked to many people about this thing called free will. None of them have been able to show me even one verse in the Bible that says that we humans have a free will. I cannot find such a verse either. And since I am not the only one who commits sin, I think it must be that everyone has a “deceitful” and “wicked” heart as the verse quoted above says.   Jesus said to some very religious people, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” (Matthew 12:34). Another place the Lord said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies,” (Matthew 15:19). So while I may want to do what is right, my will is not free from my heart and I still sin.   Since I cannot remember having a free will, I do not remember losing it. It seems to me that Adam and Eve had free wills because they were created in untested holiness. So I think Adam must have lost free will for himself and all his posterity in his fall.   Jesus said: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life,” (John 5:39-40). The people to whom Jesus spoke these words had a problem. They did not have a will to come to Christ. And not having a free will to enable them to come in a saving way to Him, they could not come because their will was bound to their heart. That is why Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day,” (John 6:44).   If anyone can tell me how to get a free will, I would be glad to hear from them. If you know of anyone who has a free will, or if you have a free will, please tell me how you know your will is free from your evil heart. A person who has a free will and is therefore sinless should be able to tell me how they got their free will and should no longer sin.

Church Notices;   Elder Dan Sullivan Missionary to Thailand will be here Wednesday night November 23 at 6:00 Please come and join us. Also if you would like to help Brother Dan with a love gift please bring it with you.