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Elder Bryce Lowrance

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Jesus Is Our Counselor

25 December 2013

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

Early on in Job’s troubles, he realized something very important. He desired to speak with God but he understood that God was too holy for him to approach. Job said,

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand on both. - Job 9:32-33

At this point in Job’s hardships, he understood two very important things:

God is not just an ordinary man. Therefore, we cannot approach Him as such.
There is no lawyer or mediator (daysman) among men that can reconcile us to God so that we can approach Him.

Our ability to even be in the presence of God, much less live with Him for eternity, is a legal matter. We have offended a Holy God. We have violated His law. He is a God of justice, and so, justice must be done. But we cannot pay. Even if we had the desire to pay (which we would not have except for His grace), we do not have the ability. No matter good we would live our lives, that righteousness would never outweigh the fact that we have offended a perfect God.

So what hope do we have? If there is no way man can reconcile himself to God, what can be done? Our only hope is that Son that was given, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came to save us from this hopeless condition. His perfect life and death on the cross reconciled sinful to men to a Holy God. Our court hearing became His trial. Our sins were counted against Him and He died the death for us. His perfect and righteous life is counted to us. His resurrection from the dead declared that God was satisfied with the sacrifice and we were pronounced just based upon the righteousness of Christ. What we could not do, God accomplished through the work of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul put it this way,

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

It took nothing less than God's creative power to reconcile us to Himself. He created a relationship from nothing in us. He did it all through the work of Jesus, our Counselor!

In short, Paul tells us, "God did it all by His grace, now it is your job to reconcile that in your mind!"

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Welcome

Brentwood Hills Primitive Baptist Church is a community of believers working together to transform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. We believe it is our duty and privilege to live the gospel of the doctrines of grace in such a way as to edify the families within our church and other children of God in our community. Through regular worship based on strong Biblical principles, fellowship, admonishment, and outreach, we glory in the grace of the sovereign God working in our lives thereby showing the Spirit of God in the world.

Brentwood Hills was organized in 1906 in Fort Worth, Texas as Laodicea Primitive Baptist Church. You can find much of the history of the church, as well as other churches here: Primitive Baptist History Database

We identify ourselves as an old-line Primitive Baptist church. If you read our Articles of Faith, you’ll see that we hold to such doctrines as the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. We recognize the King James Version (KJV) as the only English translation worthy of being called the Bible. We believe in salvation solely by the grace of a sovereign God. We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came to the earth to do the will of His Father, which was to deliver from the sentence of death all those the Father gave Him before the world began. We believe that Jesus fully satisfied the Father by atoning for all the sins of all His people. In time, we believe the Holy Spirit comes to each person that belongs to Jesus and regenerates them. Then (and only then) can anyone have faith, which is a fruit of the Spirit, by which you are able to believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not you ever hear the gospel, or believe it if you did hear it, or obey it if you did believe it, rest assured that Jesus will remain forever faithful to you because, if He died for you, He will never deny that you belong to Him.

We believe that everyone for whom Christ died will without fail be raised again from the dead to a glorified life. Even if we are alive when He returns to raise the dead, we shall be changed to a glorified life. All the Redeemed will meet the Lord in the air. Then He will take us to Heaven and there we shall forever be with the Lord. The wicked will be raised at the same time as the righteous, but the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment along with Satan and his angels. Until that glorious day when Christ returns to raise the dead, He has provided a place for His people to find rest for their souls. This place is the Church. Jesus Christ set-up His church on this earth before His death on the Cross. The church is there for those of His people who have come to believe that God saved them by His Son, Jesus Christ. To believe that Christ “paid it all” gives believers the strongest motivation to serve Him. Once enlightened to this glorious truth, then the child of God should feel an obligation to become and remain an active member of the His church. To serve the Lord in His church makes for one of the great blessings to experience this side of Heaven. It fulfills you to serve in His church and it gives your life purpose and meaning.