April 22, 2018
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.
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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 11: 10: When it goeth well
with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is
shouting. 11: By the blessing of
the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the
wicked.
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If it was God’s desire to save all of
Adam’s posterity, all would be saved, for it is written: “But He (God) is in
one mind, and who can turn Him? and what His soul desireth, even that He doeth”
(Job 23:13). Pastor Gene Harmon
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CALLED AND SEPARATED
Romans 1:1: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,…
Recently,
I read that when John Gill was given an honorary doctorate of divinity, he
said, “I neither thought it, sought it nor bought it.” That is what Paul is
saying concerning God calling and separating him unto the Gospel. It is what every
true servant of Christ says. “I neither
thought it, sought it nor bought it. He called me and separated me unto the
gospel of God.”
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“In so far as the believer’s
acceptance with God is concerned, he has no more confidence in the best work he
ever performed, than in the greatest sin he ever committed. — Christ is our
Righteousness, our only Righteousness, all our Righteousness!” Pastor
Don Fortner
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CONDEMNED OR JUSTIFIED
There are just two kinds of people in
this world; those who justify themselves before God and those who are justified
by God in Christ. Those who justify themselves are always condemned before God.
Those who condemned themselves are always justified before the Lord by His
grace (Rom. 3:24; Titus 3:7). In Luke 18 the Pharisee justified himself and was
condemned. The publican condemned
himself and was justified (Luke 18:13-14). Which one are you! Grace is for the
guilty!
“And he said unto them, (the
Pharisees) Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth
your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the
sight of God” (Luke 16:15).
The Lord Jesus had the sharpest rebukes and the strongest warnings to
those who went about to seek salvation by the deeds of the law. He never had a kind
word of mercy or a word of grace to those Pharisees who stood on the ground of
their merit and self-righteousness. He called them on another occasion, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how
can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matt. 23:33).
But oh how kind, longsuffering and gentle the Lord is to sinners who are
seeking mercy through Him and in Him; I have never read in scripture of the Lord
Jesus Christ turning a mercy beggar away empty or disappointed (Heb. 4:16). He
always encouraged sinners to come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28). He always
pointed to Himself as the way of salvation (John 14:6). The Lord always
declared and commanded the thirsty to come to Him and drink (Isa. 55:1; John
4:14: John 7:37). The scripture even declares that the Lord Jesus Christ healed
all those that had need of healing (Luke 9:11).
Now by the Lord’s grace let us seek mercy where it is found (Micah
7:18). Let us seek comfort from the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Let us
seek grace from the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:10). Let us seek forgiveness
from all our sin from the only one who has power to forgive sin (Luke 5:24;
1John 1:7).
Oh, may God be pleased to bless us to see the Lord Jesus Christ as all
our salvation, righteousness and redemption before God (1 Cor. 1:30-31). Everything
else is an abomination in His sight; everything else that is highly esteemed
among men is filthy rags (Isa. 64:6); everything else is smoke in His nose
(Isa. 65:5); everything else is nothing but dung.
Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him (Phil. 3:7-9). Pastor Tom Harding
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GRACE TO SUBMIT
God is King.
That is who God is. We are creatures made of dust. That is who we
are. The only proper relationship the creature can have with God the
Creator is to bow and submit to Him.
What do I do when
God’s way of salvation by grace through faith in Christ crosses the desire of
my flesh to be saved by works? If I would be saved I must SUBMIT.
No one will be saved until they submit to God. “For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
(Rom. 10:2-3)
What do I do when
the way God has arranged the events of providence crosses the desire of my
flesh and even hurts my flesh? I must SUBMIT. When the Lord
killed the two sons of Aaron for offering strange fire before the Lord, “Aaron
held his peace” and didn’t say a word. (Lev. 10:3) When the Lord sent word
to Eli that He was going to kill both of Eli’s sons, Eli said, “It is the
LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.” (I Sam. 3:18) When the Lord
took away nearly everything that Job had, Job said, “the LORD gave, and the
LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) Oh
Lord, give me a submissive attitude! Pastor
Frank Tate
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FOR WHOM HE DID FOREKNOW
Romans 8: 29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren.
“Foreknow” is translated from the
Greek word “proginosko.” It is where we get the word “prognosis.” It is to know
before.
Most mistakenly think it means “what God did foresee” instead of “whom God
did foreknow.” The great lie many teach
is that God foresaw some would believe therefore God chose them. That is to make God’s election to be due to the
sinner when scripture declares God’s election is due entirely to the grace of
God. When the Spirit reveals to us how totally ruined we became in Adam, we certainly
do not want God to choose or refuse us based on what God foresees in us. Speaking of “what” God “foresaw” when he
looked upon us from heaven, two places in scripture says, “God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for ALL flesh
had CORRUPTED HIS WAY upon the earth”; “God looked down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there were any
that did understand, that did seek God. EVERY ONE of them is GONE BACK: they
are ALTOGETHER BECOME FILTY; there is
NONE THAT DOETH GOOD, NO, NOT ONE.” (Gen 6: 12; Ps 53: 12) Besides that, if God foresaw some would
believe then there would have been no need for God to predestinate anyone to be
conformed to the image of his Son.
When it says “whom God did
foreknow” it means God knew his people in Christ before the world was made,
everlastingly loved them particularly in Christ, accepted them in Christ and ordained
them to eternal life in Christ. Therefore, it says “whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to
the image of his Son…” That is why
Jeremiah said, “The LORD hath appeared of
old unto me, saying, Yea, I
have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I
drawn thee.” (Jer 31: 3) It is why when the apostle Paul preached the
gospel to the Gentiles, we read, “…as
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed.”
Thankfully, all God’s eternal blessings toward his people come from God
alone in Christ according to his free and sovereign grace and not because of
anything in his people or done by his people.