December 1,
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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Proverbs 14: 8:
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the
folly of fools is deceit.
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LOVE NOT THE WORLD!
Nothing is more dangerous to the
souls of men than the love of the world. Nothing more effectually chokes out
the influence of the gospel in a man's heart than the cares of this world.
Nothing is more difficult to avoid than an undue attachment to this world.
Therefore, John sets these four words up as a beacon. They stand in blazing
letters to warn us of great danger. "LOVE NOT THE WORLD:"
Beloved, this world and all that it
offers is no more than a bubble that soon must burst. Your money, your farms,
your houses, your influence, your families, everything here is temporary. It
will all vanish away. We laugh at the small child who cries when the bubbles he
is playing with burst. But, for a rational man to be so attached to a bubble is
a most irrational thing.
Are you God's child? Are you risen
with Christ? Do you live in the hope of eternal glory? Then count this world to
be a dead thing. Live no longer for this world. Set your heart on things above.
Live above this pile of rubbish that must soon burn. Live to do the will of
God, seek the glory of Christ, further the gospel of the grace of God, and
serve the people of God. Quit seeking those things for which unbelieving men
live; and seek those things which are above: life, immortality, and glory.
"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
May the Lord God graciously burn
these words into your heart and mine - "LOVE NOT THE WORLD!"
Pastor Don Fortner
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THE ORDINANCE OF GOD
Romans 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth
the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation.
God
has ordained order and authority in His world. Even in nature we see
this. Also, in our homes, in our society and in the church. To
rebel against God’s established authority is to rebel against God Himself.
That simple. Authority and submission begin in the home.
Children are to obey their parents in the
Lord, simply because it’s right (Eph 6:1). You do not need another reason,
nor an explanation. All rebellion against all authority is outward
expression of a heart that is rebellious against God. We all are born
with such a heart. Children do not have to be taught to rebel; they do it
naturally. They must be disciplined and taught that there are consequences
to rebellion. The word “damnation” in the verse means “judgment,” and in
the home this is what I like to call a good spanking. Don’t listen to
what modern parenting experts say. Listen to what God says (Prov
23:13-14).
Unrestrained children grow up to be unruly
adults, and then what seemed like small compromises and leniency out of
kindness, all of a sudden has much greater consequences. Childhood willfulness
becomes adult rebellion which can often very quickly spiral out of control
until there is bitter sorrow and spanking doesn’t seem that brutal anymore. God
says, Train up a child in the way he
should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Prov 22:6).
It may seem like a joke to some to say of
a wife, “well, we know who wears the pants in that family,” but it is not funny
when God has clearly ordained that a man be the head of his house (Eph
5:22-23), and that order is refused and overturned. Many will be the
sorrow that will result from it.
In God’s church, He has raised up Pastors,
to have authority, in love and out of a desire for Christ to be exalted,
worshipped and glorified in the church, and for God’s people to be edified,
blessed, taught and mature in the faith. All of this comes by the
preaching of Christ crucified by a man who by God’s grace is determined to know
nothing else. Pastor Chris
Cunningham
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GOD HONORS THOSE WHO HONOR HIS SON
Genesis
35: 2: Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put
away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your
garments. 3: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an
altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in
the way which I went. 4: And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which
were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob
hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
Jacob’s dear wife Rachel brought an idol
out of her father’s house into Jacob’s house when she married Jacob. Now, thirty
years later, Jacob’s whole family was worshipping strange gods. Jacob had
turned a blind eye to it all. But when God makes his word effectual, he says to
his child, “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.” So
Jacob essentially said to his family, “Put away all these idols, we are going
to God’s house to worship through Christ our Altar.”
Sinner’s must be granted repentance from dead idols by the Holy Spirit’s
inward washing. The garment of Christ’s
righteousness must be put upon us through faith in Christ. By God’s grace when
the inside is made new the outward will follow. The babe in Christ will begin to turn from his
idols, his sinful deeds and the love of this world that he might follow Christ
and adorn the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But Jacob could not produce that in the hearts of those in his house!
No, but God could! All Jacob was responsible to do was to declare the Truth to those
in his house and bring them to the house of God. Jacob honored God by doing so and God honored
Jacob by making his house obedient—“And they gave unto Jacob all the strange
gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears;
and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.”
Here is the lesson: let us take sides with God, bring our families under
the gospel and teach them the truth of Christ. We might be surprised to see God
bless it so that our loved ones repent and believe God. It is no guarantee that
God will save all in our house. But this
much is certain, God honors those who honor his Son (1 Sam 2:30).