April 20, 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
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.
So that the preaching of the glory of Christ is the full
focus of our attention, for those attending with children 4 and under, we have a nursery equipped with a
digital flat screen television broadcasting all services, with faithful ladies
to care for the little ones.
*******
Do I hear anyone say perhaps as he grows older the power of sin will
grow weaker? I have heard that suggestion many times but my solemn conviction
is that if you want the worst of man, you will find them, amongst the oldest of
men; and if you seek a confirmed criminal, you most generally find him with
grey hairs upon his head. Have you never noticed in the annals of the Church
who were the men that fell most grievously? I never read in all God’s Book of
such instances of foul defection among young believers as I do among the
venerable sires whose names had come to be like a tower of strength in their
generation. The youths were weak and knew it, and God kept them. But Lot was an
old man when he committed incest; even as Noah before him had long years, ripe
experience, and rich honors on his side when he defiled himself with
drunkenness. David was far past the prime of life when he coveted Bathsheba,
and slew Uriah, her husband, with the sword of the children of Amman. Peter,
when he denied his Master, was no raw recruit; his Master had pronounced on him
high encomiums, and endowed him with rich blessings. The fact is, when we begin
to lean on experience, we grow weak. Temptation, instead of getting weaker with
our age, gets stronger; the passions which we thought would expire when the
heat of youth had evaporated, become more fierce as we grow more infirm, till
some lusts are more rampant in those who have the least power to gratify them.
In whose breast does avarice rage with the most unquenchable ardor, but in that
of the man who is lingering on the margin of life, about to quit the world? He,
forsooth, in the course of nature, is the most loath to part with the gold that
he has scraped together. Portray the miser. Do you not picture to yourselves
the skeleton with bald scalp, wan visage, and withered fists, knocking at
death’s door? Ah! No, the devil does not release his grasp, because our eyes
wax dim and our senses grow dull. Instead thereof, he seems to hold the victim
more tightly. The hralldom of a man does not slacken as his vital powers wane.
If one passion expires then another takes its place. Could we imagine that the
power of evil might sometimes sleep, we might imagine that the man might
escape? Thus we read of giant Despair in the Pilgrims Progress, that in the
night Christian and Hopeful, when the Giant was taken with a shivering fit,
made their escape. Ay, but they were children of God, and not mere natural men.
In the case of the sinner there is no sleeping of the foe. The power of evil
has the sinner under its control, and never refrains its dreadful watch. He is
held, whether he be alone or in public — he is watched by night and by day, nor
is it possible by accident or stratagem that the captive should get free. Charles
Spurgeon
*******
All the Saints in Christ Jesus
Who are these saints and how did they
get to be saints? Saint is short for
sanctified one. Those who are saints
became saints as the result of Gods intervention. In Jude, verse 1, they are described as sanctified
by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ and called. To be a saint is to be the eternal object of
Gods love, mercy, and grace. It is to be
sanctified by God the Father in divine election, sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10: 10) "And
called with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. (II Timothy 1: 9)
To be
a saint is to be made meet (able) to be a partaker of the inheritance of
enlightened saints. (Colossians 1:
12) Sainthood is neither won nor lost
but is the gift of God. It is a divine
work and therefore cannot fail. Darvin
Pruitt
Only by Pride
Proverbs 13:10: Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well
advised is wisdom.
If I repeat things about my brother in Christ, rest assured, pride is
the cause—“only by pride cometh contention.”
The believer has been “well-advised” by Christ our Wonderful
Counselor. Believer, what have we been
“well advised of”?
We have been well advised that we have no reason to exalt self—“In my
flesh dwells no good thing”—therefore if I believe God’s counsel against my
flesh then I will be wise not to exalt myself over my brethren. Grace well-advises me I am the chief of sinners—“Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”—so if I really believe
God’s counsel against me then I will be wise not to be surprised at the sins of
my brother because my own are far worse. Grace well advises me—“as [Christ] is,
so [is my brother] in the earth”—so knowing that my brother is perfectly
righteous and holy in Christ I will be wise not to expose his faults with my little hell-bent tongue to
everyone that will listen. Christ my King well-advises me that—“Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me”—so that makes me know I would be wise to no longer exalt myself in pride
over my brother because I do not want to be contentious toward Christ my
Master.
“Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
*******
As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall
submit themselves unto me. (Psalm 18:44)
People sometimes
wonder why I only preach Christ. The
answer is simple. The only way a sinner
will ever be saved is by hearing Christ preached, and the only way God’s sheep
will be fed is by hearing Christ preached.
The psalmist says that strangers to Christ (those who do not know
Christ) will submit themselves to Christ as soon as they hear of Christ with
the ear of faith. Rebels will stack
their arms in surrender as soon as they hear of Christ. Rebels will only submit themselves to the
righteousness of Christ when they hear of Christ.
People may
wonder why I don’t preach more rules to
live by. Again the answer is
simple. An unbeliever will only render
obedience to the gospel when they hear of Christ. To obey the gospel is simply to repent and
believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Godly obedience is not cleaning the outside of the cup and platter. Godly obedience is heart repentance toward
God and heart faith in Christ. It is the
same message of Christ that will cause a believer to walk in obedience to the
revealed will of our heavenly Father. As
soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.
The same message that feeds God’s sheep saves the lost. Frank Tate