Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Free Grace Media

Of Princeton, New Jersey

 

AuthorClay Curtis
TitleWeekly Bulletin 4-20-2014
Bible TextProverbs 13:10
Date19-Apr-2014
Article Type Bulletin
PDF Format pdf
Word Format doc
 

April 20, 2014

SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

 

LOCATION

Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd Floor

150 Washington Street

Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 08553

Clay Curtis, pastor

Telephone: 615-513-4464

 

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

 

Be sure to check the order of service, announcements, nursery schedule, etc., in the attachment.  All articles in the bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.

 

So that the preaching of the glory of Christ is the full focus of our attention, for those attending with children 4 and under, we have a nursery equipped with a digital flat screen television broadcasting all services, with faithful ladies to care for the little ones.

 

*******

 

   Do I hear anyone say perhaps as he grows older the power of sin will grow weaker? I have heard that suggestion many times but my solemn conviction is that if you want the worst of man, you will find them, amongst the oldest of men; and if you seek a confirmed criminal, you most generally find him with grey hairs upon his head. Have you never noticed in the annals of the Church who were the men that fell most grievously? I never read in all God’s Book of such instances of foul defection among young believers as I do among the venerable sires whose names had come to be like a tower of strength in their generation. The youths were weak and knew it, and God kept them. But Lot was an old man when he committed incest; even as Noah before him had long years, ripe experience, and rich honors on his side when he defiled himself with drunkenness. David was far past the prime of life when he coveted Bathsheba, and slew Uriah, her husband, with the sword of the children of Amman. Peter, when he denied his Master, was no raw recruit; his Master had pronounced on him high encomiums, and endowed him with rich blessings. The fact is, when we begin to lean on experience, we grow weak. Temptation, instead of getting weaker with our age, gets stronger; the passions which we thought would expire when the heat of youth had evaporated, become more fierce as we grow more infirm, till some lusts are more rampant in those who have the least power to gratify them. In whose breast does avarice rage with the most unquenchable ardor, but in that of the man who is lingering on the margin of life, about to quit the world? He, forsooth, in the course of nature, is the most loath to part with the gold that he has scraped together. Portray the miser. Do you not picture to yourselves the skeleton with bald scalp, wan visage, and withered fists, knocking at death’s door? Ah! No, the devil does not release his grasp, because our eyes wax dim and our senses grow dull. Instead thereof, he seems to hold the victim more tightly. The hralldom of a man does not slacken as his vital powers wane. If one passion expires then another takes its place. Could we imagine that the power of evil might sometimes sleep, we might imagine that the man might escape? Thus we read of giant Despair in the Pilgrims Progress, that in the night Christian and Hopeful, when the Giant was taken with a shivering fit, made their escape. Ay, but they were children of God, and not mere natural men. In the case of the sinner there is no sleeping of the foe. The power of evil has the sinner under its control, and never refrains its dreadful watch. He is held, whether he be alone or in public — he is watched by night and by day, nor is it possible by accident or stratagem that the captive should get free. Charles Spurgeon

 

*******

All the Saints in Christ Jesus

     Who are these saints and how did they get to be saints?  Saint is short for sanctified one.  Those who are saints became saints as the result of Gods intervention.  In Jude, verse 1, they are described as sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ and called.  To be a saint is to be the eternal object of Gods love, mercy, and grace.  It is to be sanctified by God the Father in divine election, sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10: 10)  "And called with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.  (II Timothy 1: 9)

     To be a saint is to be made meet (able) to be a partaker of the inheritance of enlightened saints.  (Colossians 1: 12)  Sainthood is neither won nor lost but is the gift of God.  It is a divine work and therefore cannot fail.  Darvin Pruitt                                                                                                                                                      

 

Only by Pride

Proverbs 13:10: Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

     If I repeat things about my brother in Christ, rest assured, pride is the cause—“only by pride cometh contention.”  The believer has been “well-advised” by Christ our Wonderful Counselor.  Believer, what have we been “well advised of”? 

     We have been well advised that we have no reason to exalt self—“In my flesh dwells no good thing”—therefore if I believe God’s counsel against my flesh then I will be wise not to exalt myself over my brethren.  Grace well-advises me I am the chief of sinners—“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”—so if I really believe God’s counsel against me then I will be wise not to be surprised at the sins of my brother because my own are far worse. Grace well advises me—“as [Christ] is, so [is my brother] in the earth”—so knowing that my brother is perfectly righteous and holy in Christ I will be wise not to expose  his faults with my little hell-bent tongue to everyone that will listen. Christ my King well-advises me that—“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”—so that makes me know I would be wise to no longer exalt myself in pride over my brother because I do not want to be contentious toward Christ my Master. 

     “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”


*******

As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. (Psalm 18:44)

     People sometimes wonder why I only preach Christ.  The answer is simple.  The only way a sinner will ever be saved is by hearing Christ preached, and the only way God’s sheep will be fed is by hearing Christ preached.  The psalmist says that strangers to Christ (those who do not know Christ) will submit themselves to Christ as soon as they hear of Christ with the ear of faith.  Rebels will stack their arms in surrender as soon as they hear of Christ.  Rebels will only submit themselves to the righteousness of Christ when they hear of Christ.

     People may wonder why I don’t  preach more rules to live by.  Again the answer is simple.  An unbeliever will only render obedience to the gospel when they hear of Christ.  To obey the gospel is simply to repent and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Godly obedience is not cleaning the outside of the cup and platter.  Godly obedience is heart repentance toward God and heart faith in Christ.  It is the same message of Christ that will cause a believer to walk in obedience to the revealed will of our heavenly Father.  As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.  The same message that feeds God’s sheep saves the lost.   Frank Tate