April 15, 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: 9: An hypocrite with his
mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be
delivered.
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Our exalted King, Jesus Christ the
Glorified God-man, holds the keys of
hell and death in His Sovereign Hands (Rev. 1:18). The
Blessed Redeemer of His chosen people is the only One who can unlock the door
of THE PRISON HOUSE OF UNBELIEF
and set the prisoner free! Until He does, not only will hell-deserving
sinners be held by the power of spiritual darkness, they love that darkness and
have no desire to be set free (John
3:19 - 20). OH! how blessed God’s children
are! and how thankful we are to our
Sovereign God who has delivered us
from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:12
- 14). Pastor Gene Harmon
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JACOB HAVE I LOVED!
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom.
9:13 / Mal.1).
The word “hated” does not imply a positive hatred, which involves contempt,
anger, and wrath. Rather it is, as John
Gill rightly observed, a “negative hatred, which is God’s will not to give
eternal life to some persons; a neglect of them; taking no notice of them;
passing them by when he chose others. So
the word ‘hate’ is used for neglect; taking no notice.”
This is the way our Lord used the word in Luke 14:26, “If any man come to me and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
We are not commanded to treat our families and our own lives
contemptuously, with anger and wrath.
But we must, as we seek to follow Christ, give no consideration to our
earthly relationships. We must pass by
them and choose Christ. That is what the
word “hated” means in our text. God passed by Esau, giving him no
consideration. His only consideration
was for Jacob. God loved Jacob. He considered Jacob. He chose Jacob. The wonder of this text is not that God “hated,” or passed by, Esau. The amazing thing is that God loved Jacob.
Paul is using Jacob as a representative of all God’s elect, and Esau as
the representative of all who are not among the elect, the reprobate of the
world. He writes to show us that the
purpose of God, according to election, stands upon the footing of grace alone,
and that it is not in any way determined by, or dependent upon, our works. And, the grace by which we have been chosen,
redeemed, and called, springs from the love of God for Jacob, that is to say,
His elect. The love of God is His
eternal benevolence, “His everlasting will, purpose, and determination to
deliver, bless and save His people” (Augustus Toplady).
“God is love” (I John 4:8-16). John does not tell us that the God of heaven
and earth is a loving God, or a God of love.
Love is an attribute of God’s Being.
Because God is love, God must and will love. But we fall into grave and serious error if
we attempt to measure and understand God’s love by our own. Our love is a passion to be loved. God’s love is a determination to bless and
save. Our love is caused by something
worthy of love in the ones we love.
God’s love is caused by His love.
“God’s love is not drawn out by our being loveable, but springs up like
an artesian well, from the depths of his nature.” (Alexander MacLaren). Pastor
Don Fortner
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NO KING, NO RULE, NO RIGHT, NO WRONG
“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was
right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25
This scripture clearly describes the day in which we live. These days
there is no absolute Sovereign God being preached; no Creator, no Owner, no
Judge; no Law, no Lord on the throne; no fear of God; so there is no right nor
wrong, no sin, no punishment for sin; everyone is free to do anything they
like. Blame it on the pulpit. Blame our sick society on the many false
preachers who have told everyone for so long now how much God loves them all,
no matter who they are or what they are doing; no matter that they live like
hell and hate God in Heaven . . . he loves you anyway (they say). So men and
women believe these liars and live as they please, with no fear of God, and no
fear of any consequences for sin. O the
dreadful realization, the great and terrible surprise people shall have when
they face the true and living God; the God of the Bible; the Holy and Righteous
Lord and King of the universe Who hates sin.
May the same Lord unite our hearts to fear His Name, and call upon Him
to have mercy upon us all. And may we
NOT fear to condemn the world, warn our fellows, and urge them to call upon the
Lord for mercy. Pastor Paul Mahan
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Weeping Endureth for A Night...But Joy Cometh
in the Morning! Psalm 30:5
Their mourning shall last but till
morning. God will turn their winter’s night into a summer’s day; their sighing
into singing; their grief into gladness; their mourning into music; their
bitter into sweet; their wilderness into a paradise. The life of a Christian
is filled with interchanges of sickness and health, weakness and strength, want
and wealth, disgrace and honor, crosses and comforts, miseries and mercies,
joys and sorrows, mirth and mourning; all honey would harm us, all wormwood
would undo us. A composition of both is the best way in the world to keep our
souls in a healthy constitution. It is best for the health of the soul that the
south wind of mercy and the north wind of adversity do both blow upon it, and
though every wind that blows shall blow good to the saints, yet certainly their
sins die most and their grace thrives more when they are under the drying,
nipping north wind of calamity, as well as under the warm, cherishing south
wind of mercy and prosperity. - Thomas Brooks
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"Say unto my soul, I am thy
salvation." Psalm 35:3
To keep water sweet, it must be
perpetually running; and to keep the life of God up in the soul, there must be
continual exercises. This is the reason why the Lord's people have so many
conflicts, trials, painful exercises, sharp sorrows, and deep temptations,—to
keep them alive unto God; to bring them out of, and to keep them out of that
slothful, sluggish, wretched state of carnal security and dead assurance in
which so many seem to have fallen asleep—fallen asleep like the sailor upon the
top of the mast, not knowing what a fearful gulf is boiling up below. The Lord,
therefore, "trieth the righteous." He will not suffer his people to
be at ease in Zion; to be settled on their lees, and get into a wretched
Moabitish state. He therefore sends afflictions upon them, tribulations, and
trials, and allows Satan to tempt and harass them. And under these feelings the
blessed Spirit, from time to time, raises up in them this sigh and cry,
"Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." None but thyself, Lord, can
save me; nothing short of thy voice can whisper peace to my conscience; nothing
short of thy blood can speak away guilt from lying as a heavy burden upon my
heart; nothing short of thy love shed abroad by the Holy Ghost can make my soul
happy in thyself. JC Philpot
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THE CHIEF REASON
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.
The chief reason God chose a people
to save is not for us but for his Son, “that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren”, “that in all things he
might have the preeminence.” (Rom 8: 29; Col 1: 18) Sinner, if you reject the gospel of unmerited
grace you reject Christ having the glory as the Firstborn. Satan and a host of
angels tried that and God cast them out forever. Those saved sing “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his
Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1: 5-6)