November 10, 2019
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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Proverbs 14: 5:
A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
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WHO IS PREACHING TODAY?
Isaiah 61: 1:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound. 2: To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3: To appoint unto them that
mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
This is the prophecy Christ read in the synagogue.
He concluded by saying, “This day is
this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Lu 4:17-18, 21) Christ declared that
he is that Prophet sent of God. The Lord
God anointed Christ Jesus, not only to accomplish the work of the Gospel, not
only to be the Gospel, but also to preach the Gospel. The Father anointed
Christ to comfort ALL that mourn. After arising
to the right hand of the Father, Christ sent forth another Comforter. But it is Christ, through the Holy Spirit,
that comforts ALL that mourn because the Holy Spirit speaks of and by Christ our
Prophet (Jn 16:13). The same is true of
each of these other blessings. Through
the preaching of the gospel, Christ preaches good tidings to ALL his redeemed,
to ALL the meek, binds up ALL the brokenhearted, proclaims liberty to ALL the
captives and so on. Let us be sure to
get what this means. Our glorified
Prophet sends his preachers who stand in a pulpit and preach the word that Christ
lays on our hearts. But it is Christ who
preaches through his servants, making the word effectual in the hearts of his
redeemed through the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33).
Brethren,
if we knew Christ would be in the worship service preaching the gospel to us,
would we ever miss an opportunity to hear him?
He is!
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UNTO THE MEEK
Isaiah 61: 1:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek.
These poor and meek sinners are described in the
rest of this passage. They are the
brokenhearted, captives, those who mourn with the spirit of heaviness, all due
to our sin. The meek are brought low by God in their
thoughts of themselves. God has made
them bow before the Lord Jesus in humility knowing their own insignificance,
worthlessness, and sin.
True
preaching is not persuading proud, self-righteous men to do something for God. It is proclaiming what God has done for poor
sinners in his Son. God needs nothing
from sinners and we can give God nothing (Ps 50:12-15). Telling sinners what they must do for God to
be saved is not glad tidings! Glad
tidings declare that Christ crucified is Life for the lifeless, forgiveness for
the transgressor, grace for the guilty, mercy for the miserable, and salvation
for sinners. Are there any true sinners reading this? Any who are nothing,
deserve nothing and can do nothing to save yourselves? If so, Christ has glad
tidings for you!
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BIND UP THE BROKENHEARTED
Isaiah 61: 1:…He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted…
Our Lord’s physical miracles were indeed amazing.
But they are not nearly as amazing as
this spiritual miracle. He gives a new
heart (Eze 11:19-20)! The first thing Christ
does in that new heart is break it by revealing to us that we are sin and can
do nothing but sin. And Christ continues
this work in the believer. Christ sent
Nathan to David who was guilty of adultery and murder, declaring, “Thou art the
man!” He broke David’s heart all over
again. The result was David begged God for
mercy, for God to purge him of his sin and create in him a clean heart (Ps 51:
15-17). David said, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
Repentance and faith are a heart work.
Has
Christ broken your heart convincing you of sin?
The glad tidings are that Christ came to heal the brokenhearted. “The LORD
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a
contrite spirit.” (Ps 34: 18) As Spurgeon said, “Heart disease is Christ’s
specialty!”
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PROCLAIM LIBERTY
Isaiah 61:
1:…to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound.
Captivity under the curse of God’s broken law
and captivity to our sin-nature is far worse than any physical prison. But here is the good news for real captives, “Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal
3:13). Christ satisfied the justice of
God. He paid the wages of sin that his people owed by dying in our place. Therefore, there has been a change of ownership.
His people are now Christ’s purchased possession. Therefore, Christ comes to
proclaim liberty. A “proclamation” is
not a suggestion. When Christ proclaims “liberty to the captives” then
immediately “sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the
law, but under grace.” He opens the
prison and sets us free to serve him in newness of spirit. Then we rejoice
singing,
Free from the
law Oh happy condition
Jesus has
died and there is remission,
Cursed by the
law, slain by the fall
Christ hath
redeemed us once for all.
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PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF JUBILEE
Isaiah 61: 2:
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, the day of vengeance of our God.
“The acceptable year of the LORD” was the year
of jubilee. Every 50th year on
the day of atonement a trumpet was to be blown proclaiming liberty to all
slaves in Israel, all debts were to be cleared, all property and possessions
were to be restored and the land was to rest.
Christ blows the gospel trumpet declaring that God took vengeance on his
elect in Christ so that full atonement has been made for our sins. Therefore, Christ proclaims to us jubilee! He frees us from slavery to sin, clears all
our debts, gives us full restoration and rest through faith in him. Our gracious Redeemer gives us even more than
we lost in Adam: eternal righteousness, eternal holiness, eternal redemption,
eternal life and eternal rest in him.
This is how he comforts us. Having
HIM he gives us “beauty (life) for ashes (death), the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness.” This all the work of Christ
Jesus our God and our Savior “that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”