March 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 12: 28: In the way of righteousness is
life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
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HE
LEFT THEM, BUT NOT US
One of
the most sobering verses for will-works religionists is found in Mark’s gospel.
We read “he left them” (Mark 8:13). They were certain they needed nothing from
Christ. So rather than seeking
understanding, they came with insincere questioning. They came seeking a sign, but how many signs
had they already seen? They had seen a withered hand stretched forth and made
whole. They witnessed a completely lame
man let down through a roof forgiven of his sins, healed, rise up and carry his
bed home rejoicing. They saw the blind made to see, the deaf to hear and the
dumb to speak. The sick were healed,
demons were cast out and a young girl was raised from the dead and returned to
her parents. Even if they didn’t see each one for themselves, there were often
Pharisees present watching him to see what he would do that they might accuse
him. They saw the works of God performed
by him.
So sincerely we ask, what sign could be
shown? What word spoken will make a dead sinner believe that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ sent of God to deliver his people? Without grace, there is none. Such is the dead, corrupt heart of man. And in Mark 8:13 we see the Lord Jesus Christ
say very little to them. Instead he turned around and “he left them” in that dead state of unbelief. He didn’t move past the Pharisees and speak to
others in that land. He simply turned
around and left them.
Without the grace of God, we can do nothing.
We are as ignorant, dead and foolish as
those vainly-wise Pharisees. But when our “time
was the time of love” (Ezekiel 16:8), we were made alive by Christ’s seed. We were washed in his blood. We were made to know our need and that he
alone is the one to satisfy our need. Thank
God, that Christ didn’t leave us to ourselves. Thank God that Christ will never leave us now. “For he
hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).
Pastor Eric Lutter
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HOW IS A SINNER SAVED?
How is a sinner saved? The apostle Paul very
plainly tells us how! In Ephesians 2:8 he said, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God:” Salvation is a work of God’s grace. It was God’s grace
that chose the sinner before the foundation of the world. It was God’s grace that
sent Christ in due time to die on the cross as a substitute for all of His
chosen people. And it is God’s grace that sends His Holy Spirit to each one of
those particular people with the gift of faith. Faith believes totally on
Christ. Faith believes His Word. Faith causes sinners to believe that The
Father did all of the choosing in salvation, and The Son did all of the
redeeming work in salvation. Faith causes sinners to cry: “It is not of ourselves… it is of Christ alone!” A truly saved
sinner will know that he cannot take any credit for any part of his salvation,
not even for the faith that believes. Even that is “the gift of God”.
Pastor Gave Stalnaker
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GREAT GAIN
“Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1
Tim 6:6)
“Godliness” is produced in a sinner by God making
us his new creation. It is Christ having
all preeminence in our hearts so that we live unto him. “Contentment” is translated “sufficiency” in
2 Corinthians 9:8. This is why and how God’s child has contentment no matter what
we face in this life: “God is
able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all SUFFICIENCY
in all things, may abound to
every good work.” Of the sinner who looks
to himself, Gods says “in the fulness of
his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall be upon
him” (Job 20:22). But for his elect,
of his fulness, Christ provides a perfect and entire supply sufficient to meet our
each and every need. Concerning our eternal
needs, the Lord Jesus laid down his life freely supplying all that we need for
eternal, never ending acceptance and communion with holy God. Concerning our temporal needs, our risen
Redeemer is always present, never leaving nor forsaking us, fully providing for
each and every need. Brethren, knowing we
“shall always have all sufficiency in all
things” because “God shall supply all
your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”, every believer
can truly say with the apostle Paul “I
have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith
to be content” (Php 4:11). This is why “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
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No matter how it may appear to us, there is
only one place God makes his people dwell.
“I will both lay me down in peace,
and sleep: for thou, LORD, ONLY MAKEST
ME DWELL IN SAFETY.” (Ps 4:8).
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THE CONSTRAINING LOVE OF CHRIST
2 Corinthians 5: 14: For the love of Christ
constraineth us;
When it came to believing and preaching
Christ, some accused the apostle Paul of being beside himself. Others accused him of being too serious. But by the Holy Spirit of God, he answered, “Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober,
it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us” (2Co
5:13-14). The love of Christ toward
his people constrains every believer to do all that we do for God and for our
brethren.
We
see Christ’s love for God his Father and his brethren on the cross. “Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man may down his life for his friends” (Jn
15:13). The greatest love of all is the
love of Christ manifest when he laid down his life to declare God the Father the
Justifier of his elect while justifying his people. Christ’s love is the love of the law that he
declared to be the fulfillment of the law! When this love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, Christ constrains his redeemed to believe on him and
to love our brethren for whom Christ redeemed by his precious blood. Faith in Christ and love toward our brethren is
lived out as we, the church and body of Christ who he has fitly framed together,
assemble ourselves together under the preaching of Christ crucified. In love to our brethren we do for one another
whatever our Head enables us to do so that our brethren can focus on Christ
rather than the trials of life which are so distracting. At the same time, in faith to our Lord, we trust
our brethren to their own Master, knowing that Christ alone is able to make
them stand and shall make them stand (Rom 14: 4).
Does
the love of Christ really accomplish this in his people? Did Christ’s love for Paul really make him
forsake will-works religion and publicly identify himself with the church of
our Redeemer? Did the love of Christ
really constrain Paul to never forsake assembling together with his brethren under
the preaching of the gospel? Did Christ’s love really constrain Paul to
hazard his own life as he preached the unsearchable riches of Christ? This is
not a theory to those Christ has united.
It is not merely a doctrine to those in whom Christ dwells. This is a sure and certain reality that
Christ’s sanctified people experience from the first hour he calls us to the
last. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every
one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (1 Jn
5:1) Christ’s great love for us really
constrains his people to persevere in faith and love, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph
4:3).
Let
folks say we are crazy or let them say we are too serious. We say with Paul “the love of Christ constraineth us!”
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“But
covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal. And though I have the
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing. And though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing…now abideth faith, hope, charity,
these three; but the greatest of these is
charity.” (1Co 12:31-13:13).