January
13, 2013
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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A Personal
Story by William Gadsby
Whenever it comes to this, poor child of God,
whenever you begin to swell with your great I, what I will do and
what I will not do, depend upon it, death is at the door; there will be
something that will bring the sentence of death upon all your comfortable
feelings and enjoyments…
I was a youth
between 17 and 18 years of age, and very moderate in my living; and I looked
upon anyone that conducted himself with any degree of immoderation as proving
that they had not vital godliness. Two old men I cut off entirely; one for
going to sleep in prayer, and the other because he told me that he should not
wonder if I became intoxicated that week...“What! I get intoxicated,
when God has been so gracious as to stop me in my mad career, and give me
pardon, and a sweet, conscious enjoyment of it!” I could not believe it; and I
could not believe he had the life of God in his heart, because he could think
it possible.
And so I went
singing on. But before the week was out, there was poor I, intoxicated!...I did
not take anything you would think was drinking to excess; for I had only had
one three-halfpenny worth of stuff. But there, all my comfort was gone and
enjoyment gone. Then I thought, one night, I would put out my light and go upon
my knees by my bedside, and never cease praying all that night until God
pardoned me. You see there was a little I still. So on my knees I went
with a determination to pray all night. Sometime in the morning I awoke, and
found I had been asleep on my knees; and so there was poor I, who had
cut off one poor old man for going to sleep in prayer and another for saying he
should not wonder if I got intoxicated, actually getting intoxicated, and going
to sleep in prayer myself into the bargain.
There was
the sentence of death upon all my joy and all my comfort; and for several
months after that, I walked in the very depth of agony and distress, such as I
could never describe; so much so that if any child of God came into my company
who knew the preciousness of Christ, I believed they would see…that I should go
wandering about like Cain with a mark upon me; and so I kept out of their
company. And then the enemy of souls would come in: “Where is your peace with
God now? Where is your power in prayer now? Where is your
meekness, your humility, and your tenderness of conscience now? Where is
your hope in the Lord now? Where is your trust in the God of Israel now?
And where are you?” “Ah!
Lord,” I was obliged to say, “I do not know where I am, nor what I am,
nor what the end will be.” The sentence of death was passed upon the whole.
And, perhaps,
here is some poor soul who really has had the sentence of death upon all he has
had and all he has enjoyed, upon all he has done and all he thought he was
capable of doing. “Well,” say you, “that is just my case.” Then if you have
passed through this path and had your hopes of a religious nature (as far as
they have been formed in flesh) all cut off, and the sentence of death has come
upon you and mowed you down and rooted you up, and made you feel as dry as the
bones in Ezekiel's vision, I believe he will come in his own blessed time, and
that the sentence of death is found upon you that you may not trust in
yourself, but be brought feelingly and spiritually to trust in the living God.
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Christ Heals Through the Gospel
John 4: 43-54
It is for the honor of Christ Jesus the Lord and him alone that it pleased God
to save by the means of preaching. Christ Jesus is the Word. Christ Jesus is the
Prophet. In our text, Christ the Prophet
came preaching the word about the Word—Christ gathers us to literally to hear
the word about Christ the Word from Christ our Prophet.
Christ Uses
All Things to Bring us to See Our own Sickness
Where Christ has sent his gospel, Christ uses all things in his providence to gather
those he will save through his word. The
nobleman was drawn to Christ by God giving him a sick son. Is there any reading this
with loved ones who are sick?—sin sick?
It could be that the Master is doing for you what he was doing for this
nobleman. The nobleman only thought his
son was sick but did not know he was. May every parent come to Christ carrying our little ones for
mercy, but may
we first learn something of our own need. There are times when I am sure the Lord
uses our loved ones to draw us personally to him. We think the problem is only with them but I
wonder how often there may be a worse problem in our own hearts. Instead of first asking our children to
acknowledge what the Lord may be teaching them, we would do better to first ask
ourselves that question.
Christ Heals
by Speaking to the Heart
Oh, to find someone as wise as this nobleman.
He heard that Jesus was come. Have you heard that Jesus has come? Have you gone to him? But there was something amiss in what the
nobleman asked the Lord--He besought him
to come down. Christ Jesus must have
preeminence; we are the ones who must come down. The Lord said, “Except ye see signs and
wonders, ye will not believe.” Until
Christ speaks the word, until the Holy Spirit enters within us, giving life and
faith to truly believe Christ, we will not believe Christ heals by his word and
we will instead insist on outward signs.
But notice it is the nobleman’s unbelief that was healed by the Lord’s word—“Jesus
SAITH unto HIM, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the MAN BELIEVED THE WORD THAT
JESUS HAD SPOKEN UNTO HIM, and he went his way.” The sign and miracle of God’s
grace is that sinners are healed inwardly and made to believe one way—by Christ
the Prophet and Word speaking the word into our hearts.
Christ Heals through a Messenger
The nobleman had thought Christ must be present bodily to heal. Christ healed the nobleman of that by
speaking his word. Then when the
nobleman’s servants came telling him his son was healed the day before at that
very time, the nobleman told them the gospel of what Christ had done by his
word, “and his whole house [believed].” Christ worked this miracle of grace the
same as the other. Our Prophet is doing
the same now from heavens glory without being present in body using those he
has already made to believe. It is through his gospel that Christ the Prophet
and the Word makes true noblemen. (1 Thess 1:5; Mk 13:10; 16:15; 2 Thess 2:14;
1 Cor 14: 22; Rom 10: 17)
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Relevant or
Irrelevant?
By Todd
Nibert
Many churches advertise themselves as being able to make
the Bible relevant for practical living for today. The moment a man or church
does that, they become truly irrelevant. We make no attempt to make the truth
culturally relevant or package it in a way to make it more easily or readily
received. The Word of God does not need our help. We preach God's Word in its
naked simplicity, knowing that it is through His Word that life is begotten. "Of
His own will beget He us with the Word of Truth" (James 1:18). If
we really believe that, His Word is all we will preach.