Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Free Grace Media

Of Princeton, New Jersey

 

AuthorClay Curtis
TitleWeekly Bulletin 10-14-2012
Bible TextGenesis 1:1
Date12-Oct-2012
Article Type Bulletin
PDF Format pdf
Word Format doc
Audio HI-FI Listen: Work of Three Graces (32 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
Audio CD Quality Listen: Work of Three Graces (128 kbps)  /  [go to notes]
 

October 14, 2012

 

SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

 

LOCATION

Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd Floor

150 Washington Street

Rocky Hill, New Jersey, 08553

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, etc, are in attachment.  All articles in the bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.

 

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Any earthly relationship or thing that causes us to compromise or neglect the gospel of the full atonement Christ accomplished for his elect has taken preeminence in our heart over Christ. (Mt 10: 38-39)

 

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I am not sure just how long after the Lord had called out that one thief on the cross that he fell asleep and had a glorious reception in Heaven. I do know this: the majority of his life was spent in sin and degradation! The amazing thing is this: one minute of grace will far outreach a whole lifetime of corruption! Five minutes before death (or not much more than this), this man was a gracious recipient of the free sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus. Do we linger until death to call upon the Redeemer? Do we wait until the last hour to speak His wonderful name? Absolutely not, yet this case most certainly shows us that Grace is free, Grace is unmerited, Grace is divine and Grace is supernatural! Bless His wonderful name that it is so and will always be so; all to the glory and praise of His great name.                       Pastor Drew Dietz

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THE DIFFERENCE IS LOVE

It matters little to you if someone speaks lies to you about someone else’s father.  But let them speak against your own father and it is a different matter altogether.  You love him.  Before God quickened and called me, I had learned the doctrine of grace.  I enjoyed debating doctrine with others.  Yet, it was not offensive to me when a person claimed Christ died for all men or if they exalted man’s will over God’s will.  I had no love for God.  In all other matters of my daily life truth was truth and lies were lies, as John says, “no lie is of the truth.” But when it came to spiritual matters, I thought truth was relative because I was under the delusion of my deceitful heart which convinced me that all men were worshipping the same God, regardless if one person’s doctrine set forth a god entirely different from the God of the scriptures.   I had never experienced the power of the Holy Spirit teaching me the Truth in the heart so I did not understand what the Lord meant when he said “they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”  But after the Spirit of God gave me a new heart then the love of my Redeemer for me filled my heart with love for him.  From then on I could no longer remain indifferent to false doctrines because now they are speaking of the one that I love.  Some claim to believe the truth, who say they do not speak the truth openly out of love for those who disagree.  But there is no love apart from “speaking THE TRUTH in love.” If you were about to drink from a cup that I knew was full of poison yet when I told you the truth you argued that it was not poison, would I love you if I set aside the truth so we could get along as I watched you drink the poison? Intentionally setting aside of the truth is not love or faith it is the “deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the LOVE OF THE TRUTH, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The love of Christ constrains believers to lay down our life—that life that would rather not suffer the rejection of men. (Mt 16: 21-25)  But we do so, declaring the truth because by that same means the love of Christ, in truth, convinced us to trust Christ. If God creates a new heart in those who hear us then shall they be filled with this love which persuades us that “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Then—and only then—will they begin to understand, the difference is love.


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HE NEVER CHANGES


Hebrews 13:8 : Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.


I am so thankful that as I grow older and things change, inside and out, that there is one who never changes.


1. His love never changes with time, for he loved me with an everlasting love that knows no change.


2. His power never changes. He is just as able to keep me from falling today as when I first began.


3. His Word never changes: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19) Has he not magnified his word above his name?


4. His election of me shall never change. He will never cast off those whom he has chosen, for they will never do anything that he did not know about and has not already taken care of.


5. The Power of His Blood shall never change. It still cleanses from all sin. No matter how deep the stain has gone, his blood washes it away.


6. His Sacrifice will never change; it will never lose its effectiveness because it is always fresh in the midst of the Throne of God: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,…” (Revelation 5:6) We have a living sacrifice standing in the midst of the Throne of God.


When we rise out of our beds in the morning and go through our changes, just remember that there is one who remains the same yesterday, today and forever: The Rock Christ Jesus.                           

                    
John Chapman is pastor of Ashland Grace Church, Ashland, KY