Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Free Grace Media

Of Princeton, New Jersey

 

AuthorClay Curtis
TitleWeekly Bulletin 4-22-2018
Bible TextRomans 8:29
Date21-Apr-2018
Article Type Bulletin
PDF Format pdf
Word Format doc
 

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

 

Services Broadcast Live @ www.FreeGraceMedia.com/live

 

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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 servicesclick 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.