December
23, 2018
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
MEETING LOCATION
251 Green Lane
Ewing, NJ, 08368
Clay Curtis, pastor
Telephone: 615-513-4464
Clay@FreeGraceMedia.com
MAILING ADDRESS:
7 Birch Street
Pennington, NJ, 08538
Schedule of Services
Sunday 10: 15 AM Bible Class
Sunday 11:00 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7: 30 PM Midweek Service
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NURSERY
We have a nursery equipped with a digital flat screen television
broadcasting all services live, for children four and under.
All articles by the pastor unless
otherwise noted.
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SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE WEBSITE: The
videos are now listed as individual sermons, as well as full services—click here.
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ANNOUNCEMENT
This Thursday, December 27, Kevin Thacker is
scheduled to preach the mid-week service.
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SUNDAY’S
READING IN PROVERBS
Proverbs
12: 17: He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false
witness deceit.
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Isaiah
7: 14:
Behold, a virgin…shall call his name Immanuel.
When did the virgin call Jesus, Immanuel?
“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Saviour.” (Lu 1:46-47)
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JOY TO THE WORLD
I love to sing the hymns about the
Savior’s birth. The world associates
these songs with Christmas, but they are not Christmas carols. They are songs rejoicing in the birth of
Christ the Savior. The joy found in
these songs is not that a cute baby was born.
The joy in these songs is in why that baby was born. God was born as a man so He would be able to
establish righteousness as the representative of His elect who were sinful men
and women. God was born as a man so He
could be the substitute for His elect who were sinful men and women, and by His
sacrifice for them, put their sin away.
None of that would have been possible unless God became a man. Pastor
Frank Tate
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Matthew 1: 21: And she shall bring forth a
son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from
their sins.
As you enjoy time with your families this week thank God for sending his
only begotten Son. God was made flesh. He took the form of a servant that by his
obedience God’s elect would be made righteous.
We rejoice that Christ was born. But
the great message of the gospel is that Christ willingly was crucified and by
his blood accomplished our eternal redemption!
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THREE
THINGS DECLARED IN CHRIST’S BIRTH
The
birth of Jesus Christ declares three great truths.
One,
the birth of Christ declares his people were dead in trespasses and in sins, incapable
of justifying ourselves by the works of the law. (Rom 3: 10-22) Nothing less than the Son of God coming in
human flesh and laying down his life for his people could justify us from our
sins.
Two,
the birth of Christ manifests the love of God for his elect. God’s love is only in his Son toward those
God chose in his Son. (Rom 8: 39; Eph 1:
3-6) We know God’s elect are the “us” to
whom God manifested his love because Christ accomplished that for which God
sent him: Christ propitiated God for us so that God gives each of his people eternal
life through him—"In this was
manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but
that he loved us, and sent his Son to
be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jo 4:9-10).
Three,
the birth of Christ declares God is righteous.
Christ was born to die that he might declare God’s “righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus” (Rom 3: 26). God
would not justify his guilty people at the expense of his justice because God
is righteous. Therefore, God sent his
own Son who took flesh and upheld the law by bearing our sin and curse on the
cross. God spared not his own Son but
delivered him up for all his people—that is how righteous God is (Rom 8: 32). The birth of our Lord Jesus that he might die
as the Substitute of his people declares it was a necessity, due to the holy
and righteous character of God, that God justify his people in harmony with his
justice. Thanks be to God, Christ succeeded,
“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other” (Ps 85: 10).
So
if anyone asks you why the Lord Jesus was born into this world these are three good
reasons that you can give them.
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OUR GIFT GIVING AND GOD’S GIFT GIVING
As we give our gifts to one another over the next few days, remember
that God’s gift of eternal life is like our gift giving in at least three ways.
One, when we give a gift we give it to
whomsoever we will. Likewise, God gives
eternal life to whomsoever he will (Jn 17: 1-2; 9, 24). Two, when we give a gift we purchase it ourselves. Likewise, God sent his Son who paid the
purchase price—his precious blood—to give his people eternal life in him. (Lev 17:11; Heb 9: 22; Acts 20: 28; Job 33: 24). Three,
when we purchase a gift we give it to the one it is meant for. We sit it on a shelf, hoping someone will claim
it. We make sure the one for whom we
bought it get our gift. So does God (Jn 3: 5; Jn 6:53; Eph 2:8; Gal 4: 4-6). He even has
to give us life and faith to receive it.
Then through faith, God gives us the gift of eternal life in his dear
Son.
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I once read about a farmer who was drafted
for service during the American Civil War. His name was Blake. The news brought him great grief of mind for
his wife had already died and if he were to be killed; his children would be
left orphans. The day before he was to
leave for the army, his neighbor, Charlie Durham, came to visit him. “Blake,” he said, “I’ve been thinking: You’re
needed here at home, so I’ve decided to go in your place.” Blake was speechless. The offer seemed too good to be true. He grasped the hand of the young man and
praised God that he was willing to serve as his substitute. Charlie Durham went to the front lines and
fulfilled Blake’s responsibilities. But
he was shot and killed in his first battle.
When
Blake heard the news, he immediately saddled his horse and rode out to the
battlefield and there found the body of his friend. He arranged to have it buried in the
churchyard near the spot where they had often stopped to talk after the
services. On a piece of marble, he
carved an inscription with his own hands. It was roughly done, but with every blow of
the hammer on the chisel, tears fell from his eyes. He placed the marker on the grave of his
devoted substitute. The inscription was
brief, but there was never an inscription carved on a tombstone that was more
honoring to the man of whom it spoke or more heartfelt by the man who did the
engraving than this one. It read, “HE
DIED FOR ME.” Pastor Don Fortner
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After I read that story, I wondered what
would have happened had Blake received another draft notice. Could he not have said, “I was drafted some
time ago, and I served at the Battle of Such and Such and there I was shot and
killed in fulfillment of my duty to my country.
I am no longer subject to the draft.
I am dead even though I live.
Yonder, there, is my grave”?
I
doubt that the government of that day would have accepted Blake’s argument and
would have drafted him a “second” time.
But God is just and righteous in all of His works. If Christ died for me as my Substitute in
fulfillment of my duty to God’s justice and righteousness, then God shall never
call upon me to die the death of the wicked; He shall never punish the same
sins twice.
If
you have trusted Christ as the Savior of your soul, that is evidence that
Christ died as your Substitute. Faith
does not make Christ’s death effective; His death was effective all on its own. But God-given faith in Christ is given only
to those for whom Christ died.
Therefore, if you trust is in Christ and Him alone, it is the evidence
of things not seen (Heb 11:1) – things such as your inclusion in Christ before
the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), your predestined adoption as sons of God
and, therefore, heirs of God, (Eph 1:5, Rom 8:17), and your redemption from the
law, sin and death (Eph 1:7, Rom 8:2). Even more, it is the evidence that you
died and your life is hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3). God will never again bring you into a
condemning, fear-inducing sense of guilt over your sin. If your trust is in Christ, the only ones who
will put you in fear of hell again are Satan (called the Accuser of the
Brethren) and his agents occupying the pulpits of legalistic religion (Rev
10:9-11; 2 Cor 11:14, 15). And when
Satan accuses you before God by the mouth of one of his hellish prophets, you
may point to the cross and to the tomb and say, “There I died and there I was
buried and I am no longer subject to accusation or condemnation.” You may boldly proclaim, “Who is he that
condemns me? Christ died for me, even
more, is raised from the dead and is seated at God’s right hand interceding for
me. (Rom 8:34) I am crucified with Him, so leave me alone!” And, like believers of all ages, you will
have overcome that foul spirit by the word of your testimony and the blood of
the Lamb. (Rev 12.11) Pastor
Joe Terrell