Green pastures

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(J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psalm 23:1-3

The shepherd takes care that his sheep are well fed. Christ also feeds His people, and leads them out to find pasture.

The Bible is His pasture-land, and the pasturage there is always good. Every chapter is a field of rich grass. Some of these fields seem at first to be bare and sterile; but even in the barest--there is enough pasture to feed a hungry soul.

Then there are the pasture-fields of prayer. These lie very close to the border of Heaven. They are always up in the quiet valleys among the mountains. The Good Shepherd leads us to them through the gates of prayer. We bow down in lowly humility, and enter with Him into the green pastures, and feed our souls until their hunger is satisfied.

The church is another of our Shepherd's pasture-fields. We enter the gates of the sanctuary, and at once we find spiritual food. We find it in the preaching of the Scriptures, in the ordinances, and in the fellowship of other believers.

In our common life in this world, if we are faithfully following Christ, we are continually in fields of rich pasture. Christ never leads us into any places in which there is nothing to feed us. Even in the hot plains of trial and sorrow--there is food. We sometimes think there is only barrenness in our toilsome life, filled with temptations, cares and sacrifices; but the Good Shepherd is ever with us--and there is always pasture.

Thus the whole world is a rich field--when Jesus leads His flock. If any Christians are not well fed--it is because they will not feed. The trouble must be that they do not hunger for spiritual food.

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Christ—our substitute

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Suggested Further Reading: Isaiah 53:10-12
In no sense is he ever a guilty man, but always is he an accepted and a holy one. What, then, is the meaning of that very forcible expression of my text? We must interpret Scriptural modes of expression by the words of the speakers. We know that our Master once said himself, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood;” he did not mean that the cup was the covenant. He said, “Take, eat, this is my body”—none of us conceives that the bread is the literal flesh and blood of Christ. We take that bread as if it were the body, and it actually represents it. Now, we are to read a passage like this, according to the analogy of faith. Jesus Christ was made by his Father sin for us, that is, he was treated as if he had himself been sin. He was not sin; he was not sinful; he was not guilty; but, he was treated by his Father, as if he had not only been sinful, but as if he had been sin itself. That is a strong expression used here. Not only has he made him to be the substitute for sin, but to be sin. God looked on Christ as if Christ had been sin; not as if he had taken up the sins of his people, or as if they were laid on him, though that were true, but as if he himself had positively been that noxious—that God-hating—that soul-damning thing, called sin. When the judge of all the earth said, “Where is sin?” Christ presented himself. He stood before his Father as if he had been the accumulation of all human guilt; as if he himself were that thing which God cannot endure, but which he must drive from his presence for ever.
For meditation: God regarded Christ crucified just as if he were sin, not Son. The substitutionary atonement is the key which enables the Christian to make use of the description “Just as if I’d never sinned.”
Sermon no. 310
16 April (Preached 15 April 1860)
C.H. Spurgeon

An easy, self-indulgent life!

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(J.R. Miller)

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

We cannot live a life that will please Christ--without great cost to ourselves. It is never an easy thing, to be a disciple of Christ. An easy, self-indulgent life--can never be a Christ-like life.

It was not easy for Christ to redeem sinners. From beginning to end of His earthly ministry, He poured out His own precious life. The people thronged about Him with their sins, their sorrows, and their needs--and virtue went out of Him continually to heal them, to comfort them, to feed their heart-hunger. He utterly forgot Himself--and gave His life and love without stint to every one who asked. At last He literally gave Himself, emptying out His heart's blood--to give eternal life to sinful and dead souls. His sufferings were finished, when He bowed His head on the cross.

It is now our privilege to suffer for Him--to perpetuate the self-sacrificial love of Christ on this earth. Only in so far as we do this, are we living a life that will please Him.

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." Philippians 3:10

"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:38
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The parable of the sower

“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:5-8
Suggested Further Reading: Colossians 1:1-10
The ground was good; not that it was good by nature, but it had been made good by grace. God had ploughed it; he had stirred it up with the plough of conviction, and there it lay in ridge and furrow as it should be. And when the Gospel was preached, the heart received it, for the man said, “That’s just the Christ I want. Mercy!” said he, “it’s just what a needy sinner requires. A refuge! God help me to fly to it, for a refuge I sorely want.” The preaching of the gospel was the vital thing which gave comfort to this disturbed and ploughed soil. Down fell the seed; it sprung up. In some cases it produced a fervency of love, a largeness of heart, a devotedness of purpose, like seed which produced a hundredfold. The man became a mighty servant for God, he spent himself and was spent. He took his place in the vanguard of Christ’s army, stood in the hottest of the battle, and did deeds of daring which few could accomplish,—the seed produced a hundredfold. It fell in another heart of like character;—the man could not do the most, still he did much. He gave himself, just as he was, up to God, and in his business he had a word to say for the business of the world to come. In his daily walk, he quietly adorned the doctrine of God his Saviour,—he brought forth sixtyfold. Then it fell on another, whose abilities and talents were but small; he could not be a star, but he would be a glow-worm; he could not do as the greatest, but he was content to do something, even though it were the least. The seed had brought forth in him tenfold, perhaps twentyfold.
For meditation: Quantity of fruit is desirable, but quality of fruit is essential—fruit that has gone mouldy is useless. The Lord Jesus Christ is looking for fruit in quantity and fruit which lasts (John 15:5,16).
Sermon no. 308
15 April (1860)
C.H.  Spurgeon

Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church
1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501
April 14, 2013          
 Newsletter Number 411

Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor                    Brother Ronnie Henderson, Song Director
Pastor E-Mail: pastor@sgmbaptist.com          Web Site: www.sgmbaptist.com

"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, Junior Baldridge, Frankie Baldridge and daughter, Buckie Thompson, Frank & Sonya Trusty, 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, Ronnie Henderson Jr. & Children, Ricky Henderson and Family, Jacie Henderson, Velma Hammond, Charles, Don Hammond and Families, Archie & Barbara Griffin, Bro. & Sister Bob Keller, Mary Ramsey, Donna Johnson, Fay Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Timothy and Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jerry Hughes, Sister Nita Bookout, Teresa Bookout, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Imajo Tracy, Linda Hughes, Roy Lemmon, Rosie Tomlin, Lee Mollette’s Daughter & Granddaughter Kristal, Pat Abercrombie, Barbara Brewer, Donna Jones, Dale and Linda Trahan, Ricky and Margaret McCoy, Brother David O’Neal, Gina, Ryan, and Mallary Peel, Tommy Walker and family, Dina Thomas, Brother Steve McCool and the work in Canada, Brother Curtis Pugh, Brother Dan Sullivan and the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania, and Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

A Thought From Our Pastor:

The Majesty Of God

"And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying," Genesis 17:3

We often find ourselves worshiping God with little reverence. Sometimes doing something everyday such as prayer or going to church several times a week can turn into a routine rather than an honor. We all need to work on being most honored when we pray because it is an honor to visit with the Lord whether in person or in prayer. Here we see Abraham getting a visit from the Lord and when God spoke to him he fell on his face at reverence toward the Most High. Abraham recognized his unworthiness of such a visit from God. Folks we are the same way, we are all unworthy to visit with God. We always need to recognize the blessedness in our ability to talk to God and reverence all our time visiting with Him. We need to always recognize having such favors bestowed upon us is an act of grace in which we can never repay God for. I feel such an honor and at the same time such an unworthiness to pastor one of the Lords churches and to be able to be use in speaking His blessed word to His church. Any believer, whether being used greatly or being used in smaller ways ought to always consider the honor to be used of God. Whether we are called to work in His church or to die for His blessed name it is all an honor and should be treated with reverence. God did not have to use Abraham and He does not need you. Abraham was not the only one to show honor in falling on their face before God many others did the same.

“God talked with him” wow what this must have been like to have not only been visited by God but to also have had a one on one conversation with the Most High. I just cannot imagine what it is going to be like to visit with the Lord in person for the very first time. A time when it is no longer by faith, but now a reality. The reality settling in that Jesus is soon to return and I may actually be blessed with that blessed event my forefathers only dreamed of; and that is being alive when the Lord returns. All of them with the Lord as He returns, but us being raptured or being caught up to meet the Lord in the air is a dream all believers have had since Jesus was resurrected and ascended. But imagine what it is going to be like to actually see and speak to God not in faith or prayer but face to face; oh what a blessed thought. While Abraham and others alike spoke with God and fell on their faces to do so, we to will also be blessed in seeing and speaking with the Lord. What blessed day we have ahead of us.

For Our Weekly  Meditation:

The Way You Must Go
“And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.  And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:3-5) 

This is such a wonderful picture of salvation through Jesus Christ, who is the Covenant of the LORD our God.  Why?  What is the revelation of the “ark of the covenant”?  Notice: “…the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat;” (Heb. 9:4b-5a)  The ark, its contents, and the mercyseat were designed to be direct types of Jesus and the way of salvation through him.  The only way one must go to be saved! 

“Manna” is in reference to Jesus being the bread that gives eternal life by which He said, “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” (Jn. 6:50)  The cut off “rod that budded” (“…shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…” Dan. 9:26)) is pointing to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the Branch that was cut off, yet he lives forevermore.  The “tables of the covenant” reveal Jesus, the Word, as the everlasting covenant of God.  “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” (Heb. 13:20)

Over all of this, one will find the “mercyseat” where the grace of God is gifted through the sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb.  The ungodly have never passed this way before, but God by direction has shown Jesus to be the only way one must go to reach the mercyseat.

By Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

Notice:

We want to thank all the men that turned out for our work day. It was a most blessed morning and we thank God.

We will have our church business meeting at 4:00 this afternoon. Please plan to discuss any church business then.

God Routs Fear:

"Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel" Num. 23:23

How this should cut up root and branch all silly, superstitious fears! Even if there were any truth in witchcraft and omens, they could not affect the people of the Lord. Those whom God blesses, devils cannot curse.

Ungodly men, like Balaam, may cunningly plot the overthrow of the Lord's Israel; but with all their secrecy and policy they are doomed to fail. Their powder is damp, the edge of their sword is blunted. They gather together; but as the Lord is not with them, they gather together in vain. We may sit still, and let them weave their nets, for we shall not be taken in them. Though they call in the aid of Beelzebub, and employ all his serpentine craft, it will avail them nothing: the spells will not work, the divination will deceive them. What a blessing this is! How it quiets the heart! God's Jacobs wrestle with God, but none shall wrestle with them and prevail. God's Israels have power with God and prevail, but none shall have power to prevail against them. We need not fear the fiend himself, nor any of those secret enemies whose words are full of deceit and whose plans are deep and unfathomable. They cannot hurt those who trust in the living God. We defy the devil and all his legions.

By Charles Spergeon from his “Faith's Checkbook” series.