August 31, 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
Sermons on Video @
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTMz0BLtC8MXNnhcHi_KXjA
Be sure to check the order of service, announcements,
nursery schedule, etc., in the attachment.
All articles in the bulletin are by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
Please, no drinks or food in the service.
Also, we
have a nursery equipped with a digital flat screen television broadcasting all
services live, for children four and under.
?-----------------------------?
True preachers of God do not
spiritualize the scriptures. God does
that. The word of God is spiritual and
God must be worshipped in spirit. The
problem is carnal men “carnalize” the scriptures.
?-----------------------------?
HE HATH MADE US
Ephesians 1: 6…wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
If we look
for something we have done to give us assurance, we only find things which discourage
us. Full assurance of salvation is in the goodness and grace of God our Father
given to us before he ever even made the world.
He hath made us—Verses 3-6
tell us what God the Father did before the foundation of the world. God’s love for his elect goes beyond the
dimensions of time. From everlasting to
everlasting, our holy God and heavenly Father embraced us with unchangeable
love and satisfaction. God the Father blessed us with all spiritual blessings. What
he did in eternity can never be undone in time; what was done before Adam cannot
be undone by Adam.
Accepted—means, before God our
Father, we came forth into the earth holy and without blame from our mother’s
womb. “Accepted” means, before God our
Father, we have honored and magnified the spirit of his holy law all our days,
believing and loving him perfectly, as well as our brethren. “Accepted” means
that our person, our character, our motives are all consistently perfectly one
with God our Father therefore our God and our Father considers us worthy of his
praise. That is what the word “accepted” means.
But how can all these things be said of me the sinner?
In the Beloved—The
acceptance of our persons by God the Father is not because of anything in us
but because of everything in Christ the Beloved. When God the Father put his
elect in Christ, God our Father put the beauty of his beloved Son on us, "And
thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect
through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God."
(Ezekiel 16:14.) Before making the world, God the Father made each of his elect
eternally, inseparably one with Christ and received each elect child with the same
love, favor and delight that he has for his only begotten Son. Each elect child
is the favorite of God our Father like Christ is his favorite, “Thou hast loved
them as thou hast loved me.” (Jn 17: 23) God the Father considers each elect
child as worthy of his praise as Christ his Son. Our union to Christ is a union
that makes necessary our regeneration and salvation. (Eph 1:23; 4: 13).
Therefore, God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come
to repentance and all shall come to repentance and none shall be lost by his
sovereign, effectual grace. (2 Pet 3: 9)
My prayer is that God our Father would give you this fear, enlightening
your eyes to see how ordered he has ordered, how sure he has made sure, our
salvation in the Beloved. Someone said, “You cannot drown a man’s foot unless
you can drown his head; and if our Head is in heaven, we are safe. And he, our
Head, is there.” In Christ we are safe and secure from all harm. We will never
have peace until we simply believe God. In humble faith, trust the word of God.
?-----------------------------?
MYSTERY
One of the great mysteries of the
gospel is how God can be just and justify a sinner. Anybody who knows anything
about the character of God realizes He is HOLY. "Holy, Holy, Holy is the
Lord of Host." God will never, neither could he, justify a single sin. "Every transgression
and disobedience received a just recompense (penalty, punishment) of
reward" (Heb.2:2). God has and will punish sins. He must do it or cease to
be an Holy God. Not one sin shall escape his Holy eye and his glittering sword
of justice. And God has punished sins. He did it in his incarnate Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord on Calvary’s tree. He was smitten of God and afflicted. For the
transgression of his people he was stricken. Sin has been punished and put away
in a manner in which justice is absolutely and eternally satisfied. Now God
can, for the sake of Christ, save, justify, forgive, be merciful etc. The good
news of the gospel is this: "Every sin will be adequately punished;
blessed be God, not every sinner." Bruce Crabtree, Pastor of Sovereign
Grace Church, New Castle, IN
?-----------------------------?
Avoid any advice that you cannot see is taken
clearly and unquestionably from the word of God. There are many experts. There is one truth. Chris Cunningham, Pastor of College Grove
Grace Church, College Grove, TN
?-----------------------------?
ANY RELIGION
Any religion, which claims that salvation
depends upon man to make a decision to accept salvation, is preaching a god who
cannot save and they are not preaching man as he is either. Scripture declares
God to be sovereign, doing His good will without ever consulting man, saving
whom He will, when He will (Daniel 4:35, Rom 9:15). Scripture also declares man to be incapable
of deciding to do anything holy or right because all men died spiritually when
Adam fell (Rom 4:12). Dead men cannot
decide to do anything because they are dead.
The only thing a dead man can do is stink. So if scripture is true, man is completely
dependent on God to save us. Man is the
one who is waiting on God not the other way around. “So
then, it is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy” (Rom 8:16) Frank Tate,
Pastor of Hurricane Road Grace Church, Ashland, KY