Grace Baptist Church of Danville
NO PUBLIC WORSHIP SERVICES UNTIL
SUNDAY MORNING — APRIL 5th
We will Live stream
Sunday — March 29th — 10:30 AM
Tuesday — March 31st — 7:30 PM
At
www.youtube.com/c/gracebaptistchurchofdanvilleky
If the God of Glory declares that his elect are by the new birth made “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), all who are born of God are made “partakers of the divine nature.”
Daily Readings for the Week of March 29-April 5, 2020
Sunday 1 Samuel 18-20 Thursday 2 Samuel 1-3
Monday 1 Samuel 21-24 Friday 2 Samuel 4-6
Tuesday 1 Samuel 25-27 Saturday 2 Samuel 7-10
Wednesday 1 Samuel 28-31 Sunday 2 Samuel 11-12
Church Cleaning in April: Billy & Jayalita McCormack
Nursery Duty Today — Diane Campbell
Sweet Communion — Don Fortner
(Tune: #233 — Depth of Mercy —77.77)
1. Christ, Who died and has redeemed,
Calls us to remember Him,
As we at His table meet
And enjoy communion sweet.
2. As we take the bread and wine,
Savior, give us joys divine;
Make Your presence with us here
Known to each, our hearts to cheer.
3. Give to faith Your flesh for food,
Let us drink Your precious blood,
As we here remember You,
Give us sweet communion too.
The Evidence
Hebrews 11:1
The only evidence I have of my saving interest in Christ is faith in Christ. All other evidence, all other confidence, all other assurance, I altogether repudiate. When Satan accuses me, when my own heart condemns me, when my sin torments me, when I examine myself, and I do so constantly, I find comfort, peace, and assurance only by faith in Christ. I have no evidence of a clear title to heaven but by faith. And faith is evidence enough. God says that it is enough. And my conscience says it is enough. — “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I have blessed confident assurance that my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that I am chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, born again, called, sanctified, and preserved unto life everlasting because I believe that Jesus is the Christ.
A God Wrought Salvation
Isaiah 26:12
“Salvation is of the Lord!” — No matter what aspect of salvation is under consideration, Jonah’s words are applicable. — “Salvation is of the Lord!” God the Father planned and purposed the salvation of his elect before the world began (Ephesians 1:3-6). God the Son earned and purchased the salvation of all who were predestinated to the adoption of sons by his holy life and vicarious death as our Representative and Substitute (Ephesians 1:7-12). God the Holy Ghost reveals God’s salvation to every chosen, redeemed sinner, works it in them by his almighty, irresistible grace, and thereby seals to chosen, redeemed sinners all the blessings of the everlasting covenant (Ephesians 1:13-14). In its planning, in its purchase, in its performance, in its preservation, and in its perfection — “Salvation is of the Lord!”
Every work that is in anyway associated with salvation is, throughout the Bible, ascribed to the triune God. Nothing is ever ascribed to man but sin and unbelief. — “Thou hast wrought all our works in us!”
Election was God’s work. In everlasting love, before the world was made, he chose the people he would save (John 15:16).
· Predestination was God’s work. From eternity, before ever the earth was made, God predestined all things that ever come to pass for the salvation of his chosen (Romans 8:28-31).
· Regeneration, the new birth, is God’s work (John 3:8; 6:63; James 1:18).
Conviction is the work of God the Holy Ghost (John 16:8-14).
Repentance is the gift of God (Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25).
Faith in Christ is something sinners must exercise. Yet, we can do so only by the gift and operation of God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8; Colossians 2:12).
Spiritual understanding is the work and gift of God’s grace (John 6:44-45; 1 John 2:20-27; 5:20).
Perseverance is God’s work, the result of God’s preservation (Malachi 3:6; 1 Peter 1:5).
· Sanctification is God’s work alone (Jude 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Hebrews 10:10-14).
Good works, which every believer is to maintain, are the results of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Spiritual fruit is the produce of God the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
· The resurrection will be God’s work (1 Corinthians 15:1-58).
Ours is a God wrought salvation. If God did not work all our works in us, we would all perish in a heartbeat. But God, in his free and sovereign grace, has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. We gladly confess, “Salvation is of the Lord!” — “Lord, thou hast wrought all our works in us!” — “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy!”
Three Witnesses to the Believer’s
Saving Interest in Christ
1 John 5:8
“And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the Water (the Word), and the blood: and these three agree in one.” — The witnesses to redemption’s accomplishment are first, the Father, then the Son, and then the Spirit (1 John 5:7). The witnesses to Christ’s deity are first, the Word, then the blood, and then the Spirit (1 John 5:8). The witnesses to our saving interest in Christ are first, the Spirit, then the Word, and then the blood.
Witness of the Spirit
A saving knowledge of Christ begins with the revelation of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). No one on earth can know and be firmly persuaded that he is one of God’s elect, one of those for whom Christ died, but by the special revelation of God the Holy Spirit. No man can, nor should one man try to convince another of his salvation in Christ. Only the Spirit of God can convince (John 16:8-14). And if he convinces, you are convinced.
He is called the Comforter, because he conveys to our hearts the comfort of our election, redemption, salvation, and eternal acceptance with God. — “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:14-17). At the time appointed, he manifests the glory of Christ’s person and the merits of his work, creating faith in the hearts of all chosen, redeemed sinners (2 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 1:15; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; Titus 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:18-20).
Witness of the Word
This saving knowledge of Christ is based upon the record of the written Word of God, symbolized by water (Titus 3:5). The Spirit never operates independently of his written Word. He supernaturally reveals Christ in the hearts of God’s elect. But he reveals Christ only through the instrumentality of gospel preaching. He takes the record of God in his Word and makes it the voice of God in a man’s heart. He declares in our hearts that our redemption is accomplished by Christ’s obedience and death as our Substitute (Hebrews 9:12-14).
Witness of the Blood
This saving knowledge of Christ is neither more nor less than faith in his blood. It is the result of his blood sprinkled on the conscience pronouncing free and complete justification and righteousness, giving us peace with God (Romans 4:25 - 5:11). Faith is the echo of my heart to the voice of God’s Spirit speaking to me by the gospel. The warrant of my faith is the Word of God alone. And the warrant of my assurance is faith alone (1 John 5:9-13). Faith fetches full assurance to the believer’s heart, not from within, but from without, from the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the naked Word of God.
The Grace Bulletin
March 29, 2019
Grace Baptist Church of Danville
2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Telephone (859) 576-3400 — E-Mail don@donfortner.com
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor
Schedule of Regular Services
Sunday
10:00 A.M. Bible Classes
10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service
Tuesday
7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service
Web Pages
http://www.DonFortner.com
http://www.FreegraceRadio.com
http://www.Grace-eBooks.com