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August 13, 2006 False prophets are concerned about the goods of men, not
about doing good for men. — They seek to be served, not to serve. Daily Readings for the Week of August 13-20 Sunday Jeremiah
42-45 Thursday Lamentations
1-2 Monday Jeremiah
46-48 Friday Lamentations
3-5 Tuesday Jeremiah
49-50 Saturday Ezekiel
1-4 Wednesday Jeremiah
51-52 Sunday Ezekiel
5-8 á
I am scheduled to preach Monday through Wednesday for
the Sovereign Grace Fellowship
in Booneville, NC, where Bro. Linwood Campbell is pastor, and Thursday and Friday for Covenant of Grace Baptist Church in North
Wilkesboro, NC, where Bro. Mike Walker is pastor. — Bro. Todd Nibert, pastor of Todds
Road Grace Church in Lexington, KY will
preach for you Tuesday night. My God, the Triune God, I'll praise — Don Fortner (Tune: #327
— O for a Faith that will not Shrink — CM) 1. Why did my God reveal in me My Savior's smiling face, And give me His salvation free, The bounty of His grace? 2. How could Christ so sweetly smile On such a wretch as me, — A fallen sinner, base and vile, In thought, and word, and deed? 3. It was because He loved my soul, With everlasting love, That Jesus died to make me whole, And came to me in love! 4. In love my God predestined me, And chose me as His own. That same eternal love, so free, Has brought me to His Son! 5. His Spirit sheds His love abroad, And gives sweet confidence That I'm redeemed, a child of God, Faith is the evidence. \ 6. My God, the Triune God, I'll praise, In ever grateful song, Till I can give Him perfect praise, With all the blood-bought throng. 19 Righteousness
Rewarded "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant...enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:21) In the last day, every believer shall enter into heaven
and obtain the inheritance of everlasting glory; and that will be
righteousness rewarded. Immediately after the resurrection we must all be
judged by God, according to the record of our works (Rev 20:12-13). "It is appointed unto men once to
die, but after this the judgment" (Heb
9:27). The Judge before whom we must stand is the God-man, whom we have
crucified (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 2 Cor 5:10). We will be judged out of the
books, according to the record of God's strict justice. The Books In the Scriptures God is often represented as
writing and keeping books. And, according to these books, we all shall be
judged. I realize that this is figurative language. God does not need books
to remember man's sins. However, as John Gill wrote, "This judgment out of
the books, and according to works, is designed to show with what accuracy and
exactness, with what justice and equity, it will be executed, in allusion to
statute-books in courts of judicature." What
are the books? — The Book of Divine Omniscience (Mal. 3:5) — The
Book of Divine Remembrance (Mal. 3:16) — The Book of Creation (Rom.
1:18-20) — The Book of God's Providence (Rom. 2:4-5) — The Book
of Conscience (Rom. 2:15) — The Book of God's Holy Law (Rom. 2:12)
— And the Book of the Gospel (Rom. 2:16). No Iniquity Found But there are some against whom no crimes, no sins,
no offenses can be found, not even by the omniscient eye of God himself!
"In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,
the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the
sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I
reserve" (Jer 50:20). Their names
are found in another book, a book which God himself wrote and sealed before
the worlds were made. It is called, "The Book of Life." In this book there is a record of divine election,
the name of Christ our divine Surety, a record of perfect righteousness (Jer.
23:6, Cf. 33:16), a record of complete satisfaction, and the promise of
eternal life. The
question is often raised, "Will God judge his elect for their sins and
failures committed after they were saved, and expose them in the Day of
Judgment?" The only reason that
question is ever raised is because many retain a remnant of the Roman
doctrine of purgatory, by which they hope to hold over God's saints the whip
and terror of the law. There is absolutely no sense in which those who trust
Christ shall ever be made to pay for their sins! Our sins were imputed to
Christ and shall never be imputed to us again (Rom. 4:8). Christ paid our
debt to God's law and justice; and God will never require us to pay. God, who
has blotted out our transgressions, will never write them again. He who
covered our sins will never uncover them! 20 The
perfect righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us. On the Day of
Judgment, God's elect are never represented as having done any evil, but only
good (Matt. 25:31-40). The Day of Judgment will be a day of glory and bliss
for Christ and his people, not a day of mourning and sorrow. It will be a
marriage supper. Christ will glory in his Church. God will display the glory
of his grace in us. And we will glory in our God. Only the Worthy Those who are found perfectly righteous, righteous according
to the records of God himself, shall enter into eternal life and inherit
everlasting glory with Christ. They
that have done good, nothing but good, perfect good, without any spot of sin,
wrinkle of iniquity, or trace of transgression, shall enter into everlasting
life (Rev 22:11). Only those who are worthy to do so shall enter into heaven. Who
are these perfectly righteous ones? They are all who are saved by God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rom. 8:1, 32-34). Though there shall
be degrees of punishment for the wicked in hell, because there are degrees of
wickedness, there shall be no degrees of reward and glory among the saints in
heaven, because there are no degrees of redemption and righteousness. —
No degrees of worthiness! Heaven
was earned and purchased for all God's elect by Christ. We were predestined
to obtain our inheritance from eternity (Eph. 1:11). Christ has taken
possession of heaven's glory as our forerunner (Heb. 6:20). We are heirs of
God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). Our Savior gave all the
glory he earned as our Mediator to all his elect (John 17:5, 20). And in
Christ every believer is worthy of heaven's glory (Col. 1:12). Glorification
shall be but the consummation of salvation; and salvation is by grace alone!
That means no part of heaven's bliss and glory is the reward of our works,
but all the reward of God's free grace in Christ! All spiritual blessings are
ours from eternity in Christ (Eph. 1:3), and all shall be ours forever in Christ,
by Christ, and with Christ. A Matter of Justice The pardon, which God gives us, is not a smothering-up of our sins, nor a blinding of justice. God is as just in his pardons as in his punishments. It shall be seen at the last, when believers enter into their glory, that they rise there by law, just as surely as the lost sink down to hell by law: that is to say that the Lord Jesus hath rendered to the law such recompense by his perfect obedience, and his matchless atonement, that it shall be as just on God's part to save his elect as to condemn the unbelieving world. C. H. Spurgeon 21 Grace Bulletin August 13, 2006 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
DanvilleChannel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M. Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M. 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 |
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