July 30, 2017
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
MEETING LOCATION
251 Green Lane
Ewing, NJ, 08368
Clay Curtis, pastor
Telephone: 615-513-4464
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.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE WEBSITE: watch videos of our full services—click here.
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I believe many things recorded in Scripture not because I can explain their rationale, but because I know that God cannot lie. Arthur Pink
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THE FINAL JUDGEMENT
By Daniel E Parks
2 Corinthians 5:10-11: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
The Final Judgment is described in chiefly three passages. In the present passage it is identified as the Judgment Seat of Christ.
In Revelation 20:11-15, the Final Judgment is identified as being at the Great White Throne. It is a throne because the Judge is also the King. It is white because this color suits the incorruptible purity and majesty of Him who occupies it. It is great because the Judge is God Himself (v.12).
In Matthew 25:31-46, the Final Judgment is identified as being at the Throne of the Son of Man’s Glory. The Son of Man is Christ, and Christ is God. (“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” [John 5:22f].)
I. The Final Judgment will be a glorious event (Matthew 25:31): “When the Son of Man comes in His glory [and ‘in the glory of His Father’ (16:27)] ..., then He will sit on the throne of His glory.” He who was thought to be inglorious in His first coming (Isaiah 53:2f) will be in His second coming the most glorious sight ever seen! Words fail to describe His divine glory.
II. The Final Judgment will be a universal event (Matthew 25:32): “All the nations will be gathered before Him.” All who are alive at that moment will, of course, be there. All who died prior to that moment will also be there, for John the apostle says, “I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God .... The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them” (Revelation 20:12f). All mankind will be there, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
God keeps a record of all that we have done, for John says “books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12).
III. The Final Judgment will be a separating event (Matthew 25:32f): “[Christ] will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” Christ’s sheep are those who heard His voice through the preaching of His gospel, and believed in Him for salvation and ever afterward followed Him (John 10:27). The goats are those who disregarded Him and would not trust in Him for salvation nor follow Him.
I have often tried to envision this separating event. Christ the Judge says to one person, “You believed My gospel, and faithfully served Me. Stand on My right hand.” He says to another, “You did not believe My gospel, and would not serve Me. Stand on My left hand.” He does this in turn to everyone at the Final Judgment, until everyone is either on His right hand as believing sheep or on His left hand as unbelieving goats.
O Sir or Madam! Where will you stand in that day? With believers on Christ’s right? With unbelievers on His left?
IV. The Final Judgment will be a blessed event – for believers (Matthew 25:34, 46): “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ ... the righteous [will go] into eternal life” (cp. 1 Corinthians 2:9).
V. The Final Judgment will be a terrible event – for unbelievers (Matthew 25:41, 46): “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels ....’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment’” (cp. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10).
Now do you understand why gospel preachers say, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men”? “God ... commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30f).
Will the Final Judgment be a blessed or a terrible event for you?
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“For the love of Christ Constraineth Us” II Corinthians 5:14-15
By Pastor Henry Mahan
All ministers of Christ and all believers in the Lord Jesus are under the strongest and most compelling constraint to do what they do and live as they live. They are motivated by "THE LOVE OF CHRIST"-His love for them and their love for Him! It is not the fear of hell, nor a desire for special rewards, nor to establish a righteousness that they engage in worship, works of faith, and labors of love. It is Christ's eternal love, which led Him to redeem them by His life and death, and the love of God for Christ and His church and kingdom which is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. "All the law is fulfilled in one word– "LOVE GOD AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER" (Gal. 5:14). It is unreasonable to suggest that an unworthy sinner, loved with an everlasting love, chosen in Christ, redeemed by His blood, and called with a holy, heavenly calling, would disregard the commandments of His Lord and live a selfish, self-centered, and worldly life! "For the love of Christ constraineth us...that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again."
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“Whosoever shall Call Upon the Name of the Lord”
Romans 10:13
By Don Fortner
Paul here shows us the way of salvation. — “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I like that word “whosoever.” Anybody, any sinner in all the wide world, who does but call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is the promise of our God in Holy Scripture. If I call upon the name of the Lord, I am saved. If you call upon the name of the Lord, you are saved.
Salvation comes by calling upon the name of the Lord. Salvation does not come by walking a church aisle, talking to a priest, or a preacher, or saying a certain prayer. Salvation comes by calling upon the name of the Lord. Salvation does not come by calling on the name of the Lord and sincerely trying to live for God. Salvation comes by calling on the name of the Lord. Salvation does not come by dreams and visions. Salvation comes by calling upon the name of the Lord. Salvation does not come by feelings and experiences. Salvation comes by calling upon the name of the Lord.
Knowledge
If I am to call upon the name of the Lord, I must know who he is (Romans 10:14-17). I cannot call upon an unknown God. I cannot trust an unrevealed Savior. I cannot believe an unspoken promise. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? What has he done? Why did he do it? Where is he now? What is he doing there? These things must be known before a person can call upon the name of the Lord. Christ must be made known to you before you can call upon him.
Worship
What does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord? Look into the Book of God to see. To call upon the name of the Lord is to worship God (Genesis 4:26). Whosoever worships God, in God’s appointed way, by God’s ordained Mediator, shall be saved.
Pray
To call upon the name of the Lord is to pray (1 Kings 18:24). Whosoever shall pray unto the living God from his heart shall be saved. Prayer is the sure sign of life in the heart.
Trust
To call upon the name of the Lord is to trust the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:2). The leper came to Christ knowing his need, knowing Christ’s power, submitting to Christ’s rule, and trusting Christ’s mercy.
Confess
To call upon the name of the Lord is to publicly profess his name before men, confessing him in believer’s baptism, being immersed, buried with him in baptism (Acts 22:16; Galatians 3:27). Baptism has no saving efficacy whatsoever. It has no merit with God. But baptism is an act of obedience to Christ. It is the King’s command. It is therefore something we are obliged to require of men (Mark 16:16).