January
13, 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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SUNDAY’S
READING IN PROVERBS
Proverbs
12: 20: Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the
counsellors of peace is joy.
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HOLY SOVEREIGNTY
We find great comfort in the fact that God is
sovereign. But the comfort in God’s sovereignty
is in God being holy. If the devil had
absolute sovereign power it would not be his sovereignty alone that would cause
us fear. If he were holy we would have
no cause to fear. It is the fact that he
is sinful and hates righteousness therefore he would use that power for evil
purposes. The thing that comforts us
about God’s sovereignty is that he is holy so that he only uses his power to do
what is right. This is how “we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”
(Rom 8: 28.)
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A CHILD’S CRY
A
baby does not have to be taught how to cry for momma. A baby has a natural instinct to cry when
something is wrong. A baby also does not
have to be taught to have a “hurt cry” or a “hungry cry”. The baby just cries
out of need and momma instinctively knows her baby’s cry.
This is the way a child of God cries out to our Father. Our cries for mercy, grace, help, or comfort
do not have to be intelligent cries with wonderful reasons given that will
cause our Heavenly Father to hear us.
All a child of God has to cry is “Abba, Father” and our Father knows
just exactly what we need. Pastor Frank Tate
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WHERE
IS THE BLESSEDNESS?
Galatians 4: 12: Brethren, I beseech you, be
as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 13: Ye know how through infirmity of the
flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14: And my temptation which was in my flesh
ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as
Christ Jesus. 15: Where is then the
blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you
record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes,
and have given them to me. 16: Am I
therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
When Paul first came preaching the gospel of
Christ to the Galatians they were so blessed by the gospel that they were not
distracted by the infirmity in his flesh.
They were even willing to pluck out their own eyes and give them to
Paul. But by the time Paul wrote this
letter their countenance had changed so much toward Paul that he asked, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I
tell you the truth?” Paul’s gospel
had not changed. But their attitude
toward Paul had changed dramatically. The only thing the Galatian believers had done
was give ear to men they thought were true messengers of Christ who, in reality,
were messengers of satan.
Listen
carefully. We know we the devil is beguiling
us when we begin finding fault with brethren that we once loved. That is the devil’s method of operation. He is the accuser of the brethren. We will think the reason for which we are
accusing is just and right for the glory of God. But whatever the reason we accuse, the
reality is, the devil has turned our eyes from Christ to our brethren. Doing so, the devil has turned us into a
raging Pharisee: watching, accusing, exalting ourselves in our hearts.
Brethren,
if one of us begins accusing brethren and our countenance changes toward those we
once would have plucked out our eyes for, know that the devil is having a time with
us. Take your brother or sister to
Christ. Ask him to turn them back to
himself. With every opportunity, speak
of Christ to that brother or sister. But
never let it cause you to join in in accusing brethren.
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NO OTHER SALVATION
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
There is no other SAVIOR but Jesus Christ to
look to for salvation (Isa. 45:21-22; Matt. 11:25-28; John 14:6). There is no other SACRIFICE but Jesus Christ
to cleanse us from all sin (1 John1:7; 1Peter1:18-20). There is no other SUBSTITUTE but Jesus Christ
to redeem us from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13; 2Cor. 5:21). There is no other SERVANT but Jesus Christ to
honor and establish righteousness for us (Isa. 42:21; Matt. 5:17; Phil. 3:7-9; Rom. 4:6).
There is no other SURETY but Jesus Christ to guarantee all the terms of the everlasting covenant of grace
(Heb. 7:22; Heb. 9:12; Heb. 13:20). There
is no other SHEPHERD but Jesus Christ that can effectually justify and bring the lost sheep home (Psalm
23; John 6: 37-39; 10:11; Matt.1:21 1
Peter 3:18). There is no other SURE
FOUNDATION but Jesus Christ where weary sinners can find safety, salvation and
secure refuge (Psalm 46:1; Isa. 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11; 1 Peter 2:6). There is no
other SCEPTER but Jesus Christ to rule and reign for the good of the elect and
the glory of God (Ro. 8:28; Acts
2:36;Phil. 2:7-9). There is no other SEED OF WOMAN but Jesus Christ to bruise
the serpent’s head and crush the dominion of evil (Gen. 3:15; Col. 2:15; Heb.
2:14-17). Pastor Tom Harding
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PEACE, LOVE, FAITH, GRACE
Ephesians
6: 23: PEACE be to the
brethren, and LOVE with FAITH, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24: GRACE be with all them that
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. « To the Ephesians
written from Rome, by Tychicus. »
These are four blessings from God that every
poor, believing sinner rejoices in.
Every
believer has peace: peace with God, peace in our conscience, peace between our
brethren and we seek to live peaceably with all men. Christ is our Peace. He made peace between for us with God by establishing
the law and reconciling us when as yet we were enemies. (Rom 5: 8-10) The
Spirit created peace in our conscience by purging our conscience with the blood
of Christ through the preaching of this good news. This is the peace that only Christ gives, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (Jn 14: 27) In Christ, God has made the
covenant of peace with us promising to always keep us in Christ, multiply us in
Christ and keep Christ in our midst forevermore (Eze 37: 26). We have peace with our brethren because Christ
gives us “unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace” (Eph 4: 3). This is what we
desire from God when we say, “Peace be to
the brethren.”
Also, every believer has love and faith.
These two are inseparably united, “For
in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but
faith which worketh by love” (Gal 5: 6).
When God gives faith in Christ, God gives love for Christ and love for
brethren (1 Jn 4: 21; 5:1). Faith rests entirely in Christ. Christ said if God is our Father then we will
love him (Jn 8: 42). He increases faith
and love in us by growing us in knowledge that we did not love God, but that
God loved us, and sent his only begotten Son to die that we might live. As he increases our faith and love in Christ the
more we are constrained by the love of Christ so that “faith worketh by love.” That
is, the more we see Christ’s faith and love toward us, the more we see nothing
in ourselves, finding all in our Redeemer.
Therefore, the less we desire to be served and the more we desire to
serve those Christ gave himself for.
The
origin of these three is “from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” by his grace (Eph 6: 23-24). The best questions we can continually ask
ourselves is, “Who maketh thee to differ from
another? what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou
glory, as if thou hadst not received it” (1 Cor 4: 7). Every good gift comes from God in Christ by
his grace; we have no room to boast. There
are only two kinds of people in this world: those saved by God’s grace and
those lost in rebellion; those born of his Spirit by grace, and those dead in
Adam; those who are sincere by grace and those who are hypocrites. To those who reject Christ, Paul said, “Let him be Anathema Maranatha.” (1 Cor 16:
22). To the others, he says, “Grace be
with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.”
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