June 23, 2019
SOVEREIGN GRACE
BAPTIST CHURCH
MEETING LOCATION
251 Green Lane
Ewing, NJ, 08368
Clay Curtis, pastor
Telephone:
615-513-4464
Clay@FreeGraceMedia.com
MAILING ADDRESS:
7 Birch Street
Pennington, NJ, 08538
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.
All articles by the pastor unless otherwise noted.
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SUBSCRIBE TO OUR
YOUTUBE WEBSITE: The videos are now listed as individual
sermons, as well as full services—click here.
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REMEMBER
·
Sunday,
July 7, Jeff Moyer, Joyce Moyer and Greg Cooper are scheduled to confess Christ
in believer’s baptism. In August, Cyril
and Lenore Rennels are scheduled to do so in the Doodnath’s pool.
·
Our
conference is scheduled for July Friday, July 19—Sun, July 21. We will have services Friday night, Saturday
morning and night, and Sunday morning. I
have invited four faithful pastors who each will preach two sermons for us: John
Chapman, David Eddmenson, Don Fortner, and Paul Mahan.
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Proverbs 13: 13: Whoso despiseth the
word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
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Did Lazarus receive life when he came
forth from the grave? That is what men claim when they walk an aisle to come to
Christ. They believe that walk gives them eternal life. Lazarus was four days dead
and could NOT come forth until Christ gave him the command, the power and the life
to come. The scripture says that our Lord, “cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth.” (John 11:43-44) It
was the effectual call of the Lord Jesus that gave Lazarus the ability to walk,
the “walk” didn’t give life,” it was the result of the life given. The coming
forth was the result of the call and command that Christ gave. Let us not get
the cart before the horse. With the command of Christ to come, comes the power of
Christ to come. But a dead man cannot take the first step. Pastor David Eddmenson
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Christ’s sheep contribute none of
their own wool to their garments of salvation. They wear only the fine linen of
Christ’s obedience. Pastor Don
Fortner
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THE GOSPEL: COMMAND OR OFFER?
Romans 10: 16: But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Notice the words “obeyed the gospel.” Do we obey an
offer? No, we obey a command. Men and women in military, did you have
“offering officers” or “commanding officers?”
When you got off the bus at bootcamp did your drill sergeant “offer” you
opportunity to do a million a push-ups or “command” you? The gospel is not an offer, it is a command
from God.
First, the gospel is a command due to the nature of our relationship to
God. God is the Creator, we are his creation;
God is the Ruler, we are subservient to God. Therefore, God has always commanded us. (Ge
2:17; 3:11; 6:22; 7:16; 1 Jn 3:23-24).
Secondly, the gospel is a command so that we know we are obligated to
obey. If I invite you to my home then you
are not obligated. Invitations say things
like “we humbly request your presence if you will kindly accept our
invitation.” But if you are commanded
then you are obligated. Worship of God’s
Son is a command from God the Father, not an option. God commands all men to repent and believe on
his Son. (Acts 17: 30) We are obligated
to do so.
Thirdly, the gospel is a command to honor Christ as Prophet, Priest and
King. When God first ordained prophets
they were esteemed higher than kings. They
ruled God’s nation. It exalted Christ our
Prophet. By Christ, the gospel comes
into the hearts of those he redeemed effectually so that his people are made
willing to give Christ all glory for our obedience. The gospel command honors Christ our High Priest. During the Levitical priesthood, all obeyed the
priest because he told Israel how they could come to God. Christ transferred the sins of his people to
himself, Christ made the sacrifice to God, Christ entered the holiest with his
blood, Christ made atonement and represents his people to God. The gospel is a
command to honor Christ our High Priest.
The gospel is a command to honor Christ our King. Servants in a kingdom are not offered the
invitation to obey a sovereign king; they are commanded. Christ our King is sovereign over heaven,
earth and hell. The gospel is a feast to
which we are obligated to attend, else we incur the King’s displeasure (Luke 14: 16-24).
By calling the gospel an offer preacher’s take away the authority of God
and exalt the sinner. They tone down the
sinner’s disobedience. God does not
humbly request your presence before his throne if you will accept his offer. He
commands you kiss the feet of his Son lest he be angry and ye be cast out! If we hear a preacher call the gospel an offer,
it should alert us that he will most likely misrepresent Christ and his accomplished
redemption of God’s elect.
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WHAT IS DISOBEDIENCE TO THE GOSPEL COMMAND?
Refusal
to obey the gospel command is direct disobedience to God.
One, disobedience to the
gospel command is refusal to bow to God as God. By refusing to
believe on the Son of God, a sinner refuses to own God as his God. He rejects
God’s authority over him. In Psalm 14:1
the words “there is” are added by the translators. They were not in the original. The fool has not said there is no God. “The fool hath said in his heart, No God!” To refuse to obey God’s command to believe on
his Son is to say, “No, God, I will not have this man reign over me” (Lu 19:14)!
Two, disobedience to the
gospel command is to question the motive of the sender. God sent the gospel because he loves his elect freely
without a cause in us. He chose us by
his free and sovereign grace. Therefore,
God purposed to save his people simply because he would by his free grace. The gospel is God declaring to us the sovereign,
unchangeable love of God for his elect. Therefore,
to reject God’s command to believe on Christ is to question God’s motive in
sending his Son; it is to call God a liar (1 Jn 5:10).
Three, disobedience to the
gospel command is to reject the unspeakable gift of God, Christ Jesus his Son. Amazing
love! Amazing grace! God gave his only begotten Son to save worthless
sinners like us. Oh, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ! Though he was rich,
yet for the sakes of his poor people, he became poor, that we through his
poverty, might be rich (2 Cor 8: 9). How
would you feel if you spent your hard-earned money to purchase a valuable gift
for someone you love, only to have that person reject your gift? To disobey God’s command to believe on his
unspeakable gift, Christ Jesus, is to spit in God the Father’s face by spitting
in his Son’s face. Unbelief says, “I
would rather spend eternity in hell than to be saved by this gift of God, Christ
Jesus his Son!”
If we obey the gospel command it is to the
glory of God’s grace. But if we disobey there
is no one to blame but ourselves. It is
the depraved will of man to disobey God’s gospel command the same as it is the depraved
will to disobey the commands of God’s law.
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“They have not all obeyed the gospel…” (Rom 10: 16)
Obeying
the gospel is not merely hearing and agreeing the gospel is true. It is believing on God’s Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as God commands. It is to repent—to
have a radical change of mind—concerning God’s holy requirements, my inability,
and Christ as Salvation. It is to
renounce self’s righteousness and confess self’s guilt. It is to publicly confess Christ in believer’s
baptism, unite with brethren under the gospel and become a disciple (student)
of Christ for life. May God make us obey
the gospel command today.