September 29, 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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ANNOUNCEMENT
Mid-week
service this week is scheduled for Wednesday, October 2. I am scheduled to go to Houston Thursday to
preach for Lincoln Wood Baptist Church where brother David Pledge is pastor. Also, mid-week service is scheduled for Wednesday,
October 16. I am scheduled to go to Tennessee
Thursday to preach for College Grove Grace Church where brother Chris Cunningham
is pastor.
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Proverbs 13: 25: The righteous eateth to the
satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.
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WHERE IS THE WISE?
1 Corinthians 1: 19: For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20: Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is
the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
From the Jewish scribe to the Grecian
sophist to every self-made religionist and philosopher in the world God has
made foolish the wisdom of the world. But apply this to you and I called by God’s
grace. Among Christ’s true people where
is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer in Christ’s church?
Christ’s true people do not boast of knowing Christ by self-wisdom. God is our
Teacher. Christ is our Prophet (Jn 6: 45) Therefore, true believers do not
boast that we taught ourselves his word!
Nor are Christ’s people debaters and disputers. We have experienced
Christ’s Power and Wisdom in our hearts through the preaching of the gospel so that
we now know that Christ will reveal himself when it pleases him in whom it
pleases him through the simple declaration of the truth of the gospel. We are
not talking about all who call themselves by Christ’s name. But in the heart of
Christ’s true people, God makes foolish the wisdom of this world each time he
regenerates one of his elect to eternal life.
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I DON’T
FOLLOW ANY PREACHER!
We have all heard religious people make that
statement, and others like it. Perhaps we have even used it ourselves. If by
that statement a person means, “No man is perfect and infallible; therefore I
must search the scriptures for myself to see what is true,” then the statement
is both wise and good. I want every person who hears me preach, or reads what I
write, to search and see if what I am saying is according to the Word of God.
It is your responsibility to do so.
But
if by that statement a person means, “The preacher is just another man, and his
opinion is worth no more than anyone else’s; therefore I will not be obedient
to any preacher,” I am afraid that it reveals both a rebellious and a foolish
heart.
It is true,
the best and most faithful preacher in the world is, after all, just a man – a
sinful man. But he is a man with a commission from God. He is a man dedicated
to Christ, his gospel, and his people. He is a man sent from God, with a
message to deliver for the glory of Christ. Such men, Paul says, are to be
esteemed “very highly for their work’s sake.” (I Thess. 5:13). Do not make the
preacher more than he is. But do not be so foolish as to treat him or his
message lightly. He is not a lord over God’s heritage. But he is an ambassador
of God Almighty! It would be wise to treat him as such.
I speak not
of every preacher. But I do say these things about every preacher who is
faithful to Christ, faithful to the gospel of God’s grace and glory, and
faithful in the diligent exercise of the ministry. If God so highly favors a
church with such a pastor, the men and women of that church will be very wise
to submit to that man’s ministry. How? God himself tells us. “Obey them that
have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with
grief; for that is unprofitable for you. (Heb. 13:17). Believing people are not
self-willed rebels. They submit to authority.
Pastor Don Fortner
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One ancient Jewish writer points out
that when the Lord sent Rome who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, by destroying
their temple and its vessels, their outward ceremonies, their books, and all their
so-called wise men, all the wisdom of natural Israel was taken away because all
their wisdom was in men and in carnal works which they could see and touch and
feel. This is not a problem when you worship
God in spirit. “We are the
circumcision, which worship God in spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh” (Php 3: 3).
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FIVE REASONS GOD SAVES THROUGH PREACHING
Here are five reasons why God chose
the means of preaching to save his people.
One, preaching is how God destroys the wisdom of the wise and prudent—“For
it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where
is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this
world?” (1 Cor 1: 19-20)
Two, God chose to save through preaching because it pleased God—“For
after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (1 Cor 1: 21)
Three, this is how God makes Christ the Power and Wisdom of God unto us—“For
the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and
the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the
weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor 1: 22-25)
Four, it is the means whereby God makes his people nothing so that none
of us can glory in God’s presence—“For ye see your calling, brethren, how
that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised,
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that
are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Cor 1: 26-29)
Five, this is the means whereby
God brings all his children to glory only in the Lord—“But of him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1: 30-31)
Those are five excellent reasons why
every called child of God, taught of God in the heart, bows to God and rejoices
that God has chosen the means of preaching Christ’s person and work to save his
people.