Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Free Grace Media

Of Princeton, New Jersey

 

AuthorClay Curtis
TitleWeekly Bulletin 8-7-2016
Bible TextMatthew 18:21-35
Date06-Aug-2016
Article Type Bulletin
PDF Format pdf
Word Format doc
Audio HI-FI Listen: Forgive Without Limit (32 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
Audio CD Quality Listen: Forgive Without Limit (128 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
 

August 7, 2016

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

 

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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.  

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All articles by the pastor unless otherwise noted. As you read the bulletin at home with your children be sure to look up the scripture references.

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Modesty is the hedge of chastity, and therefore ought to be very carefully preserved and kept up by both sexes.  Matthew Henry

 

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An accountant told of a client who was insolvent.  The accountant saw it coming well in advance and warned the man. But the man did nothing about it. At last, the accountant opened his ledger books and made the man read what was written so he would see he had nothing with which to pay his debts. Still, from the time the accountant told his client that he was insolvent until the man finally admitted it, over twelve months had passed. The accountant said it was nothing unusual. In his experience, the average time it takes for a person to admit he is insolvent is well over a year. 

    Immediately, I thought about sinners.  As long as we imagine there might be some little way we can pay our debt to God, our vain pride will not let us confess that we are hopelessly insolvent.  We hear the preacher warn us. We read it in the word of God. Still, we go on in our vain delusion, too proud to confess we have nothing with which to pay the debt we owe.  It is only when God the Holy Spirit convinces us of sin and we hear the high court of heaven declare us bankrupt that we will finally confess we need Christ to pay all we owe! 

 

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Proverbs 21:9: It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

 

Throughout scripture, the church of God is portrayed as a faithful, modest and chaste bride in submission to Christ our Husband.  The false church is compared to a rebellious, brawling harlot.  Applying those comparisons to this verse is very instructive. It is better to be in a small house which is Christ’s true church, faithful, merciful and forgiving, than in a large house which is the harlot bride, full of brawling, contentious finger-pointing and blame.  A peaceful, forgiving house—whether it be the Lord’s house or our own—is more conducive for seeking the Lord and his righteousness than a house full of brawling.

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FAITH COMES BY HEARING

 

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

 

The preaching of the gospel of Christ is the soul-saving ordinance. It is not through the eye but rather through the ear that salvation comes to men. "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God".

 

In every age God has raised up men to faithfully pro­claim His gospel of grace. Elijah may ascend but his mantle fell to Elisha. Paul may die but not until Timothy is trained and on the field.

 

The true preacher of God’s gospel has a rightful claim on your attention. If God has sent him, men should - and must - hear him for he who preaches Christ crucified has life flowing from his lips. And he who hears will find life flowing in his heart and soul. "God hath chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Cor. 1:21). Pastor Henry Mahan

 

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On occasion, I read or hear men speak contrary to scriptural teaching concerning the means God uses to save.  They say things such as “That is God’s usual means but not always the means.”  Would we say that about the scriptural teaching of God’s sovereign election? Or Christ’s limited atonement?  Or the necessity of the Holy Spirit’s effectual call?  Every doctrine of God, including the means God uses to call his people, glorifies Christ and Christ alone!  There must always be a nagging, troubling uneasiness for any who profess to be saved contrary to God’s ordained way which gives Christ all the glory!  But there is great peace in hearing every doctrine of God proclaimed and being able to say, “Amen! To God be the glory!”

 

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Blessed is the man whose delight is in the Word of God (Psalm 1:1-2)

 

He delights to read the Word, to hear the Word preached, and to meditate upon the Word day and night. The Word of God is bread for the believer, giving strength to his faith and hope! Meditation is his very character, for he knows that “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he!" After hearing an old saint quote the 23rd Psalm, a famous orator was asked to explain the difference in style. He replied, "I know the Psalm; he knows the SHEPHERD.” Pastor Henry Mahan

 

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FORGIVE WITHOUT LIMIT

 

A child of God, forgiven by God for the sake of Christ, will forgive offending brethren, and that, without limit. When the apostle Peter asked the Master how many times he should forgive an offending brother, Christ answered, “Seventy times seven” or without limit.  (Mt 18: 21-22) Why?

  One, God has forgiven me without limit. The Lord gave a parable illustrating the massive debt each saint personally owed to God. (Mt 18: 23-35) By God teaching in the heart, the child of God will hear Christ’s parable and know that is me.  I owed that debt to God. Yet, for the sake of Christ who paid all my debt, God forgave me and continues to do so. It is certain that however my brother has offended me, it is nothing in comparison to how I offended God. Shall I go to my brother who owes me far less than I owed to God, refuse him forgiveness and insist that he pay me when I know that God not only forgave me a far greater debt but also paid all that I owed?

   Two, God reminds his child that my brother is one whom God has forgiven even as God has forgiven me. God loved him from eternity. The Father sent his only begotten Son for that brother. The Son of God gave his life, suffering the cruel death of the cross for that brother. Knowing God has justified him and now says ‘who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect’, shall I be so peevish as to charge him rather than forgive him? (Rom 8: 33)

   Three, if I am truly one with my brother, born of the same Spirit and redeemed by the same blood then the love of God, in which I am begotten, will constrain me to love my brother by forgiving him for Christ’s sake.  In Christ’s parable, our Lord shows us his own character.  When the servant fell on his face and begged mercy, his lord was “moved with compassion.”  When the master dealt with the ungrateful servant he said, “Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”  God is love.  Every one that is born of God is a partaker of the divine nature. Therefore, the true believer loves God who begat him and also loves those begotten of God.  We learn to love by how God loved us. God’s love is manifest toward us by God sending his Son and forgiving us freely for Christ’s sake. God did not do this when we loved him but when we hated him. The Spirit says to every believer “if God so [after this manner] loved us, we ought also to love one another.” The Spirit also says if I will not love by forgiving those who offend me then I do not have the love of God in me because those begotten of God who is love, will love as God loves but “he that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love.” (1 Jn 4: 7-11) 

   So will a child of God forgive an offending brother for the sake of Christ?  So long as God’s grace and love constrains him in the heart, yes, and without limit!