April 3, 2005

 

Our hope of eternal salvation and acceptance with God is altogether outside our experience. It is totally in the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of April 3-10

        Sunday            2 Samuel 4-6-                                  Thursday        2 Samuel 15-17

        Monday          2 Samuel 7-10                                 Friday             2 Samuel 18-19

        Tuesday          2 Samuel 11-12                               Saturday          2 Samuel 20-21

        Wednesday     2 Samuel 13-14                               Sunday            2 Samuel 22-23

 

·         I am preaching today for Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia, where Bro. Mark Daniel is pastor. Bros. Larry Criss and Ron Wood will preach the gospel to you today.

 

Let Me Never, Never Doubt It Don Fortner

(Tune: #185 — Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken — 87.87D)

 

1.        See our Savior groaning, bleeding,

With our names upon His breast

In the garden hear Him praying,

Falling to the ground distressed.

Angels must have been confounded,

As they heard the Savior cry,

Bleeding from His heart so wounded,

As He thus prepared to die!

 

 

 

2.        On the cross, our sins there bearing,

Hear Him cry in agony,

When made sin, as He was dying, —

“Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Then, at last, His work completed,

“It is finished!” was His cry.

Sin atoned and hell defeated,

Jesus bowed His head and died.

 

 

 

3.        See Him now enthroned in heaven

Risen and exalted high!

Proof that all my sin’s forgiven —

Justice has been satisfied!

Let me never, never doubt it,

But believe my blessed Lord.

Never reason more about it,

Savior, I believe Your Word.

 

The great danger of Diotrephes is not so much his stated doctrine, but his hidden motive, his insatiable desire for preeminence.

 

13

He Hath Made Him Sin

Blessed Consequences

2 Corinthians 5:21

 

Because Christ was made sin for us, because he bore our sins in his own body on the tree and bore them away, the Lord God almighty declares that all who trust him have no sin. (Ps. 103:12, Mic. 7:18-19; Jer. 50:20; 1 John 3:5; Rom. 4:8).

 

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. — Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. — And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. — Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

 

        Because “He hath made him sin for us” all who believe on the Son of God are made “the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

 

        Because the Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s Righteous Servant, has fully obeyed his Father’s will in putting away our sins by the sacrifice of himself, because he was made sin for us, because he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, because he paid all the debt for our sins and put them away completely and forever, he now assures sinners everywhere of this glorious truth by the gospel. — “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37-40).

 

        Come to Christ, no matter who you are, no matter how vile your transgressions are, and he promises that he will receive you, just as you are, and that he will never cast you out, that he will give you eternal life, that you shall never perish. Come, then, to Christ without any preparations making you fit to come. Come to Christ without attempting to change yourself and make yourself qualified to come to him. Come to Christ without delay. Sinners, come and welcome! The Savior calls, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

 

“To understand these terms aright, this grand distinction should be known —

Though all are sinners in God’s sight, there are but few so in their own.

To such as these our Lord was sent. They’re only sinners who repent.

 

What comfort can a Savior bring to those who never felt their woe?

A sinner is a sacred thing; the Holy Ghost has made him so.

New life from Him we must receive before for sin we rightly grieve.”

 

14

Justification In Time

 

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

(Romans 3:24-28)

 

Eternal justification no more diminishes the necessity of justification in time than eternal adoption diminishes the necessity for the experience of adoption in time. All who were justified in the purpose of God must and shall be justified by the purchase of Christ’s blood and the power of his grace as well.

 

Justification Finished

 

All of God’s elect were justified by the blood of Christ when he died as our Substitute (Rom. 3:24-26). When the Son of God cried, “It is finished,” the work of our justification was fully accomplished. When he paid the price of our ransom, we were delivered from the penalty of the law. When he was made to be sin for us, we were made the righteousness of God in him. When he was made a curse for us, we were delivered from the curse of the law. When he was declared to be free from our sins in his resurrection (Rom. 4:25), we were declared to be free from sin!

 

Be sure you understand this ― We were made righteous by a marvellous transaction of grace called “imputation.” As Christ was made to be sin for us, though he could not and did not sin, by having our sins made his, so we were made the righteousness of God in him, though we have not done and can never do anything righteous, by having his righteousness made ours (2 Cor. 5:21).

 

Justification Received

 

We receive justification by faith (Rom. 3:28). When the Bible talks about justification by faith, the teaching is not our faith is the source, cause, or grounds of justification. Faith is the channel through which justification comes, not the cause of it. Faith is the hand that embraces justification, not the hand that accomplishes it! For example, should you ask, “How do you irrigate your garden?” I would probably say, “By the water hose.” But you would know my meaning. The hose is the instrument not the cause of the irrigation. It is only a channel through which water flows to irrigate my garden. The cause of our justification is the grace of God. The grounds upon which we are justified is the blood of Christ. The reception of justification is by faith in Jesus Christ. If you trust Christ, you are justified. Your faith in him is the fruit, evidence, and manifestation of justification.

 

15

Grace Bulletin

 

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 236-8235 - 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

                                      6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service

            Tuesday              7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service

 

 

Television Broadcasts

 

Danville         Channel 6-Sunday Morning                       8:00 A.M.

                        Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening               6:00 P.M.

                        Channel 6 - Friday Evening                         7:00 P.M.

Harrodsburg Channel 6 - Friday Evening                         7:00 P.M.

 

Web Pages

http://www.donfortner.com

http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm

http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp