February 9, 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
Order of service, announcements, nursery schedule, etc.,
are in attachment. All articles in the
bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
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“Pride breeds in wealth as the worm doth in the apple,…he
is a great rich man indeed and greater than his riches, that doth not think himself
great because he is rich.” John Trapp
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Isaiah 53: 11: He shall see of the
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12: Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with
the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered
with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for
the transgressors.
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A GOOD HOPE
It is only when our Lord in grace and
mercy takes away our imaginary strength that we truly look to Him and trust
Him. This we do not learn in creeds and confessions of faith. This we are
taught by Him in personal relationship in the experience of grace. I only find
hope in Him when there is no hope anywhere else. It is easy to learn correct
doctrine, but faith, hope, comfort, rest in Christ is a living experience.
Justification, redemption, atonement, sanctification and glorification are not
only doctrinal truths believed in the heart, they are truths experienced in the
heart in regeneration. Our Lord is our life, and all that is in Him is ours.
There is no hope in what I know, my only hope is in Him and what He has done.
May God in mercy shut us up to Christ alone!
- Tommy Robbins
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SOVEREIGN GRACE AND EVANGELISM
The preaching of Sovereign Grace is not an enemy of true evangelism. Let
me hasten to say that the preaching of Sovereign Grace will kill, deader than a
doornail, the message and method of present-day evangelism! And some of us believe with deadly intensity
that the false message and method must be killed before the true message and
method can become effective. We further
believe that the only way this can be done is by the preaching of the truth
about God, the truth about man, and the truth about Christ, who died and lives that God might be just and
justifier!
These lines will appeal to no one who is happy about the results of evangelism
today; but should you be one of many who mourn here, you will join in the task
of raising up again the standard of Sovereign Grace.
A sovereign Christ is almost unheard of in church circles today – a
Christ into whose hands all things
have been given, who has all authority, who gives life and quickens whom He
will, who decides the destinies of all men, who is Lord over all flesh. Present-day evangelism, for the most part, poses
the question, “What will you do with Jesus?”
Bible or true evangelism poses the question, “What will the sovereign
Christ do with me?” Present-day evangelism says to men, “Believe and be born
again.” Bible evangelism says to men,
“Be born again so you can believe.” The
one makes the new birth depend on an act of man, the other an act of God.
Present-day evangelism takes for granted God’s mercy and grace, rather than
marveling at them in adoration and worship.
Hear Paul say, “I obtained mercy.”
Hear Peter say, “to all who have obtained like precious faith.” How I
long to hear this note in the churches today! Rolfe Barnard
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A friend is one to whom you never
need to explain yourself, one who always puts the best construction possible
upon your actions and words, one who is always ready to help. A friend is
someone who steps in when everyone else walks out. I pray for grace to be
such a friend. – Don
Fortner
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TRUE GREATNESS
Mark 9: 35: And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them,
If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of
all.
This was the Lord’s answer to
the disciples when they asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Some erroneously teach this as punishment,
saying that you will be permitted into heaven but because you wanted to be
first you will be last and forced to serve all.
No one will be punished in heaven and no one will be considered last by
others. The Lord is saying that if any man desires to be what God regards as
first then let him desire to be last of all and servant of all.
In order to see how this applies to Christ read Philippians 2: 5-9. The apostle Paul even says, “Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Christ Jesus is God and therefore equal with God. But Christ made
himself of no reputation. Instead, he took the form of a servant, was made in
the likeness of men, humbled himself and served God the Father in perfect
obedience as the head and representative of his people, serving his people as
he ministered grace to them. He did so
even unto the death of the cross whereby Christ put away the sin of all God’s
elect and brought in everlasting righteousness for his people. By thus humbling
himself and becoming the least, Christ highly exalted God, “Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Php
2: 9)
When the dead sinner is born of the Holy Spirit we are given the mind of
Christ in the inward man. As God grows us
in grace, the Holy Spirit teaches us in the new man that if we would have the
mind and spirit of Christ (which God regards as first, as greatest) then we are
not to seek a reputation among men. True
greatness with God is not to desire to be served but to be a servant of God and
our brethren. It is to obey God in
faith, like a very little child obeys its father. When Christ made himself the very least he fully
redeemed his people, making us the righteousness of God in him so that Christ’s
faithfulness to God highly exalted God.
Wherefore, in God’s time, God also highly exalted Christ. So the scripture teaches all who rest
complete in Christ that instead of exalting ourselves by making a reputation
for ourselves, “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that
HE MAY EXALT YOU IN DUE TIME: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for
you. (1 Pet 5: 6-7)
The reward of heaven will be Christ.
There will be only true righteous humility for all will have Christ,
with a total absence of pride, only desiring the other to be first and Christ
to be All! And all, loving to be last
and to serve all, will be first.