January 5, 2020
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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SAVE THE DATE
Friday, January 10, 2020, 7:00 pm—Friday night youth bible class. Adults are welcome to watch sermon on TV in
auditorium during class.
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Proverbs 14: 13: Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of
that mirth is heaviness.
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Come To Christ
Christ told us “If any man thirst, let him come unto
me, and drink” (John 7:37). And “Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Isaiah
prophesied “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that
hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price.” ANY, ALL, and EVERY ONE; come thirsty,
tired and burdened. Come to Christ now, without any payment of your works, and
enter into true rest! Pastor Kevin Thacker
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“Salvation is of the Lord.” The word “salvation” means one is in such a dire
straight that another must do everything involved to save him. If I can contribute then I do not need salvation,
I only need help. But sinners are dead
in sins. We can do nothing to save
ourselves; we cannot even contribute. Thankfully,
salvation is of the Lord. The Lord does
everything involved to save his people.
The Father chose who he would save by free grace. The Son accomplished our redemption freeing
us from the curse of the law, making us the righteousness of God in him. The Spirit gives each redeemed child all
things that pertain to life and godliness.
God which begins this work in his children shall continue it until each child
is with him in glory. Even our
presentation to God in that day will be of Christ who shall present us holy,
unblameable, unreprovable in God’s sight.
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HIGH TIME TO AWAKE
Romans 13: 11: And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep:
Have
you ever been in a state physically where you were almost asleep but you were
still awake? Therefore, when you heard
someone call for you, you made excuses to yourself why you can’t get up?
Believers
do that same thing toward Christ. We are
awake spiritually; the Spirit of God has regenerated us. But our flesh makes us sleep. When we hear Christ speak, in our conscience,
we justify ourselves in whatever we are doing contrary to his will. But Christ puts his hand in through the door
and awakens his bride—Song of Solomon 5: 2: I sleep, but my heart waketh: it
is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my
love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with
the drops of the night. 3: I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I
have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4: My beloved put in his hand by
the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 5: I rose up to open to
my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling
myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
When Christ awakens us then we see how far
removed we are. Christ sends his pastor—his
watchman, the keeper of the walls—with a word from God through which Christ
rebukes and chastens us. Then the Spirit
makes us long for Christ with great desire, urgency and love—6: I opened to
my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed
when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he
gave me no answer. 7: The watchmen that went about the city found me, they
smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. 8: I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if
ye find my beloved that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
Oh, that Christ would awaken us and make
us sick for his love! He said that we
will find him when we seek for him with all our heart. Thank God his preserving grace makes us yearn
for him whole heartedly! May Christ come
now and do this work in his slumbering bride, teaching us “that, knowing the
time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep!”
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PRIDE
Every time someone has
offended me it was only the pride of my sinful flesh thinking that I deserve
better. Christ made himself the very
least—from an infant in the virgin’s womb to separation from God on the cross
to a dusty borrowed tomb. Christ did this
to save a wretch like me. How dare I be
bloated with self-conceit so as to think I deserve to be treated better by
anyone? My Savior teaches me that
greatness in the kingdom of God is to make ourselves the least.
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SPIRITUAL HEALTH AND SICKNESS
We tend to think we
are healthy spiritually so long as we assemble to hear the preaching of the
gospel of Christ. But if we have
bitterness in our hearts toward a brother or sister then we are spiritually
sick. When God gives instruction to
husbands and wives to be of meek and quiet spirit he gives this cause “that
your prayers be not hindered” (1 Pet 3: 1-7).
God instructs us that when chastened we should look diligently unto
Christ “lest any fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” This root of bitterness is dire because
the devil turns our focus from Christ to the flesh. He would have us cast off our brethren in defense
of ourselves.
But anything we want contrary to God’s
word is not of God. It is of our
flesh. James contrasts that which is of
God with that which is of the devil and our flesh, saying, "Who is a
wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying
and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom
descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying
and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” (Jas
3:13-18)
Thankfully, God gives grace to his child which we so
often withhold from our offenders. He makes
us put off our old man with his sinful deeds and put on the new man that we be
spiritually healthy and follow Christ by being gracious and merciful to those
who offend.