December 11, 2016
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
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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.
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All articles by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
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ANNOUNCEMENT: Services are scheduled as normal for Sunday, December 25th
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For over nine years, our congregation has anticipated this day when we would meet for the first time in a building we can call our own. Now, here we are at our new address, 251 Green Lane, Ewing, New Jersey, 08368. We are bound to give thanks.
First, we thank God for providing us this place in his time. God has shown us once again that every promise of God toward to his people is yes and amen in Christ Jesus to the praise of the glory of his grace. He has done so, not only by providing this building, by growing this congregation in faith, hope and love in Christ Jesus our Lord. How we do thank God for all his free, abundant blessings in and for and by the Lord Jesus Christ!
Also, we thank our brethren in our sister churches for all your help. You have truly caused us to glorify God for your subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your generosity toward us. One of the greatest gifts God gives to his saints on our pilgrimage through this wilderness is brethren with whom we are one in Christ in the unity of the Spirit.
Lastly, I personally thank each member of this congregation for giving of your money, time and talents so that we can have a quiet place to hear the gospel of Christ without distraction. There is nothing as important in this world as assembling together to hear Christ speak from heaven through the preaching of his gospel. We know that Christ is the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man and it is Christ alone who builds up his people as living stones into his temple for his habitation. But concerning this little building and all our provisions let us always remember what king David acknowledged, “O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.” (1 Chronicles 29: 13-16)
Now, may our great Sovereign be pleased to exalt the name of our gracious Redeemer in this place, in the hearts of our sons and daughters as well as our own, for as long as it pleases him.
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God hath never yet out-promised himself, but of all his good promises, not a word hath failed. Thus, in the experience of the past, faith finds the greatest encouragement for all that is to come. And while we look to God's faithfulness, may we look to him for grace also for our own [faithfulness]! This is to have our heart perfect with the Lord. Robert Hawker
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SUNDAY’S READING IN PROVERBS
Proverbs 2: 10: When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11: Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; 13: Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; 14: Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; 15: Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: 16: To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17: Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18: For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. 19: None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. 20: That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. 21: For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. 22: But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
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Once death was the penalty of sin; sin being forgiven, the penalty ceaseth, and Christians do not die now as a punishment for their sin, but they die that they may be prepared to live. Charles Spurgeon
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The Holy Scriptures make no distinction between secular and spiritual. God’s sanctified child does not divide his life by being spiritual on certain days of the week while engaging in spiritual activity and secular the rest of the week while engaging in sin with the world. Christ is either All and in all at all times as it is with those God has sanctified or Christ is nothing at all at any time as it is with every unregenerate sinner.
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WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING
Ephesians 4: 1: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,…
By the free and sovereign grace of God, we have been called out of sin and death into the “fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” God has called us into the family of those who are God’s “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.” (1 Cor 1; 9; 1 Pet 2: 9) What if some great earthly king freed us from prison and made us citizens in his kingdom amongst the most distinguished dignitaries in the world? For the sake of that most valuable calling we would put forth our best in every way. Believer, Christ has called us out of the prison of sin and death into his kingdom, reconciled to God his Father, united in a family far more distinguished than any this world has ever known. The worth of this calling cannot be calculated! Brethren, this is why we are beseeched to “walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” (1 Thess 2: 12)
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ENDEAVOUR TO KEEP PEACE
Ephesians 4: 2: With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3: Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
To walk “with all lowliness and meekness” is the opposite of being proud and insistent; it is to be gentle and mild in disposition. “With all longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” is to be patient with one another, as we carry one another’s burden. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” is to actively let nothing divide us from one another. We behold all this in Christ. From the first hour to the last, our Lord Jesus says to us, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls.” He succeeded in uniting his people with God and one another by resigning himself entirely to his Father’s will in lowliness and meekness, by suffering long with his people until at last he bore away our sin on the cross. Lord make us endeavor to keep this unity by laying down our lives, our way, and our insistences, by resigning ourselves, our brethren and everything about our peace into your hand who alone keeps us in peace according to your will.
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Read This Carefully!
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
The churches and religious organizations in our land are quite impressive. They occupy a very influential position in our society. No official or public person will dare to speak disrespectfully or criticize any form of religion today. True believers can often be heard to say, "Well, they do say some good things and who am I to judge?" And even the agnostic will speak softly of today's religion, lest the wrath of God come upon them.
Where would we be today if Luther, Calvin, Zwingle, and the Reformers had adopted this position? Our Lord said, "Ye have made my house a den of thieves”. He called out false preachers as wolves in sheep's clothing who, like their father Satan, have transformed themselves into ministers of righteousness.
Let us not be deceived by the subtlety of Satan or by the so-called zeal and sincerity of today's religious hucksters; "if they speak not according to the law and the prophets it is because there is no light in them." To expose a religious thief is no more than to expose any other common thief. To expose a religious quack is no more than to expose a medical quack. Don't be awed by the fact that they claim the power of God to be on their side. Examine all that you hear by the Word of God and don't be afraid to "try the spirits whether they be of God".
Challenge my message or any man's message in the Spirit of God and by the Word of God! You never have to worry about incurring the wrath of God when you are sincerely seeking Him and His glory! Pastor Henry Mahan