Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church

"Where The Truths Of God’s Word Have Been Taught For More Than Fifty-Six Years”

1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501

January 14, 2018          

 Newsletter Number 653

Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor                   Brother James Thomas, 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.”

Please Join Us As We 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,  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, Lee & 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, Archie 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, Donna Jones, Gina, Brother Kelley and Sister Hinson, The Harris Family, Teresa Bookout, Little Titan Thomas (Trent and Tiffane Thomas child), James – Diane and Brooke Thomas, Jace Fails, Steve Sparks, Sister Ann McSwain, Elaine Sparks, James daughter’s mother-in-law, Danny Hammond,  Brother Curtis Pugh, Brother Dan Sullivan the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania, Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

A Thought From our Pastor:

We Are Nothing Outside Of Jesus Christ!

 “We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.” 1 Corinthians 4:10

As believers in Jesus Christ we quickly understand that He is our all and in all, we are nothing outside of Him. We see here that the Apostle Paul is speaking about himself and all the others with Him. People want to believe that they are someone wise, good, strong, and able, but this could not be farther from the biblical truth. God said he chose the foolish, weak, and unacceptable of the world for His own. But one might ask, was Saul of Tarshus those thing before salvation, and the answer would be absolutely not. Saul was a very intelligent as was Luke, Mark, and etc. etc. etc. as was also Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jews. God never said He did not choose great and smart people, but all these great and smart people were ignorant of Jesus Christ and His salvation. See salvation is like Jesus Christ, both are rejected by mankind. People who do not trust Jesus Christ for their salvation are unsaved and ignorant of God’s salvation. You can be like Saul of Tarshus, Nicodemus, or have a collage education or even a PhD and it matters not scripturally. And on the other hand, you can be a nobody with little or no education and have a masters in biblical studies. See, it is not who or what you are in this world, it is what God has made you scripturally. Paul was a man who truly understood this, because as smart as he was as a Jew, he had to become a biblical fool to understand Jesus Christ and God’s word. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.” People attempt to use their human logic and worldly education in a biblical work and they fail. If you do not become a fool, you will never learn the bible. Paul wrote in our text that “…but ye are wise in Christ…” and only is Christ. So, while some people may flash around their worldly education, and brag about their worldly knowledge, they are nothing but lost fools heading for the fires and flames of the eternal hell. It is not until you are “in Christ Jesus” that you can be smart. Worldly intelligence is of no value without faith in Jesus Christ. You can sit in the assemblies of masses and megachurch status for decades listening to the men with PhD’s for years, die and go to hell for you troubles. And on the other-hand, you can sit under a Master of the scriptures and be saved and spend eternity with Jesus Christ. Now, when I say, “master of the scriptures” I do not mean they are Theologians but rather well learned of the scriptures. The next thing we realize is “…we are weak, but ye are strong…” but only in Christ. As with our education in the scriptures we also learn that we are unable to do anything about salvation. People who are saved without the faith of Jesus Christ in their hearts are lost and heading for the flames of hell. In this flesh we are weak, fleshly we may believe we are strong, and that we can accomplish anything we set our minds too. However, in Christ we realize how weak and foolish we were in the flesh. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2 - 5 “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified…And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling…And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” Only in Christ, and by the power of God through the work of the Holy Spirit can we ever accomplish anything spiritually. In Christ we realize that we are no longer foolish, weak, but rather smart, strong and honorable but to the world we are foolish, weak, and despised, as Paul put is in our text. As Christians we must never forget who we are and what we are in Christ. However, we must never forget who we are to the world, foolish and hated. Beloved, no matter what others think of you, always remember who you are in Christ, and remember you are a Christian because of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

Led By The Spirit:

By Brother Curtis Pugh

Romans 8:14 says: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” While several other evidences of true son-ship are given in the Bible this one cannot be ignored. They are true sons who experience the leadership of the Holy Spirit in their lives. He is the Holy Spirit – not an unholy Spirit.  He promotes holiness, leading the children of God in right paths. As the author of the Bible, He never leads contrary to the Scriptures.

There are two common Greek words translated sons: “teknon” which has to do with being a “born one.” But the word here is “huios” (pronounced “WHEE ohs”) which carries with it the idea of not only being a born one, but of also being in some measure like the parent. We say, He's the “spit and image” (actually spirit and image) of his father or grandfather, etc. The Holy Spirit is God and leads the born again one to grow in likeness to God: in godliness. He is also called “the Spirit of Christ” and leads one to be like Christ. Thus “...it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure,” (Philippians 2:13).

For the Holy Spirit to lead an individual, that person must first be indwelt by Him. “..Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his,” (Romans 8:9). This indwelling of the Spirit in the child of God begins at the new birth: the commencement of spiritual life in the experience of every child of God. Jesus likened the Spirit in his birth-work to the uncontrolled wind, saying, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit,” (John 3:8).

This indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is the cause of the new birth is a sovereign act of God. That is, the new birth or regeneration is not something that a sinner brings to pass by anything that he does. Remember these words about those born from above: “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,” (John 1:13).

The Spirit of God leads to liberty for we read: “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law,” (Galatians 5:18). In John 20:22 we read that Jesus' disciples received the Holy Spirit to indwell them. Prior to that time the Holy Spirit had come on men for service and had left them at His will. We read of Christ thus: “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Since that time this glorious privilege has been the reality experienced by those born again. Are you led by the Holy Spirit?