Ephesians 3:8 – “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ”.
As he languished physically in a Roman prison, Paul soared spiritually as he reflected on his calling as an apostle and his privilege as a minister. Jesus had set him apart as His chosen vessel to preach the gospel to the empire (Acts 9:15), and so the one time persecutor of Christians (I Corinthians 15:9) became a proclaimer of Christ’s gospel. He was to tell the world about Jesus and declare to tell them that Jesus offers to all “unsearchable riches”!
We, at Providence Baptist Church, want to pick up the baton, and we know we must run the same race Paul ran! We must declare to our generation those same “unsearchable riches” which are to be found in Christ.
The riches are “unsearchable” – the word means, “unfathomable, inexhaustible, incalculable, boundless, blessings which cannot be measures”. The riches of Mr. Gates or Mr. Buffett are paltry and pathetic compared to the treasures we find in Christ!
The riches are in “Christ” – the Italian musician Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) conducted a concert to wildly enthusiastic appreciation. To give the audience perspective he said: “I am nothing; you are nothing; but Beethoven, he is everything”. In truth, Christ is everything. No one else! Christians sing: “I nothing lack if I am His, and He is mine forever”. In Christ, and in no one else, are these “unsearchable riches” to be found.
Saving riches: in Jesus we have “the forgiveness of our sins” (Eph 1:7) and thus the Lord Jesus deals with the fundamental human problem. We are “sinners in the hands of an angry God” and we need forgiveness. The name Jesus means, “God saves”, and that is what Jesus does.
Sanctifying riches: through His word, by the power of His Spirit, and using the ministry of local churches, Jesus, having made His people legally holy, He gradually makes them personally holy (John 17:17; II Thess 2:13).
Relational riches: becoming a Christian means that we have intimate access to God (Eph 2:18), it means that Jesus, metaphorically, sits down to a meal with us (Rev 3:20), the Spirit of God lives within us (I Corinthians 6:19, 20), and we can call God “our Father” (Matthew 6:9).
Practical riches: Jesus gives us “abundant life” (John 10:10); He gives us “rest” (Matthew 11:28); He gives us “joy” (John 15:11); He gives us “peace” (John 14:27); He gives us “contentment” (Phil. 4:11-13); He gives us “strength” (Phil. 4:13); He gives us “wisdom” (James 1:5); He gives us “eternal riches” – for Paul tells us that what awaits Christians in heaven is the presence of Jesus (Phil 1:21) and the experience of “an eternal weight of glory” (II Cor 4:17).
We live in a dark and troubled world. It is, in truth, a “vale of tears”. But the privilege and responsibility granted to every believer, and every local church, is to stand before the watching world and offer Jesus to them, this Jesus in whom is found such astounding and “unsearchable riches”. To this great task we pledge ourselves as a church. God grant that we shall always be preaching the “unsearchable riches of Christ”.
Our History
How does a local church begin. Surely we may point to any number of factors, but at the end of the day, if it is a true Christian local church, it begins as a result of the work of God. God establishes local churches. And this is why our church is called “Providence” Baptist Church. The word “providence”means something like this: “the almighty, everywhere present power of God, whereby….by His Hand, He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed all things, come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand” (Question and Answer 27 of the Heidelberg Catechism). In other words, God sees to it that everything that happens in human history happens just as He has planned it!
And so it was that, having together come through a furnace of affliction which need not be described, a number of us met together for worship on the morning of Sunday, June 27, 2021. We met at Hidden Valley Park in Burlington and that service would prove to be the first of several during which we were favoured with beautiful weather and blessed fellowship in the presence of God. In time, the kindness of the saints at the Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Church was extended to us and we began meeting at their facility on Sunday, July 18. The providence of God controls the weather and utilizes the kindness of the saints.
We, who had been meeting, believed that the Lord’s will for us was that we should seek to establish a new local church. Seeking the face of God in prayer, and seeking the counsel of others in conversation, we set about the task God had set before us. The providence of God encouraged us in our endeavour through the support of any number of loving Christians, directed us to believers whose generosity would expedite the process whereby we become a legally recognized church, upheld us through the wise and prayerful counsel of believers, with the result that it is no wonder that we should call ourselves “Providence” Baptist Church. The truth of God’s wonderful providence pervades the early days of our existence.
We chose as our motto text the words of Paul in Ephesians 3:8, where he says that he has been called to preach to the world “the unsearchable riches of Christ”. We believe that to be our privileged calling and responsibility.
We can say, with the saints of old, “till now, the Lord has helped us” (I Samuel 7:12), and we have no doubt that He will continue to do so through all the days of our pilgrimage as a congregation. And we trust that He will enable us to set before this needy world the “unsearchable riches of Christ”, for the benefit of our generation, and for the glory of our God.