|
“Faith never stands around with its hands in its pockets. When the prayer of faith goes to market, it always takes a basket.”
Pastor E. W. Lucas
Daily Readings for the Week of November 5-12
Sunday John 15-17 Thursday Acts 4-5
Monday John 18-19 Friday Acts 6-7
Tuesday John 20-Acts 1 Saturday Acts 8-9
Wednesday Acts 2-3 Sunday Acts 10-12
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Cliff & Martie Hellar-10th Bob & Mary Lou Duff-19th
NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK
Today: Shante’ Birchum (AM) Pam Wood (PM) Tuesday: Shelby Fortner
In the Lord Rejoice — Don Fortner
(Tune: #42 — All Hail The Power Of Jesus Name — CM)
Lift up your heart, brother, and sing,
And sing, with cheerful voice,
The glories of your Savior’s name,
And in the Lord rejoice!
Though low may be your earthly state,
And darkness thick abounds,
Your Savior yet remains the same. —
So in the Lord rejoice!
Till God can change, His love is sure,
His mercy varies not,
His grace forever is the same! —
So in the Lord rejoice!
Neither your sins, nor death, nor hell,
Can tear you from His heart,
Or make Him care the less for you! —
So in the Lord rejoice!
Your Lord, who put away your sin,
And bought you with His blood,
You know, will only do you good. —
So in the Lord rejoice!
“Regeneration is not the eradication of the sinful nature, but the impartation of a new nature — a sinless nature. The saved man has been born two times, and has a twofold disposition or nature. This creates a conflict between the fleshly and spiritual natures (Gal. 5:17). Paul had this conflict in his own experience. He delighted in the law of God after the inward man, but was conscious of another law or force, so that he could not do the good he desired to do (Rom. 7:14-25).”
C. D. Cole
Five Holdfasts
2 Timothy 1:6-14
Recently, I pulled out one of Pastor Henry Mahan’s old church bulletins (Thirteenth Street Baptist Church Bulletin — May 19, 2002). It contained several short articles about preaching and one titled “The Musing of A Pastor,” written by C. H. Spurgeon in 1878, I found it almost prophetic. Spurgeon wrote…
“I sometimes think if I were in heaven, I should almost wish to visit this congregation to see whether it will abide the test of time and prosper in the work of our Lord when I am gone. Will you keep to the truth? Will you hold to the grand old doctrines of the gospel? Or will this church, like so many others, go astray from the simplicity of its faith and set up gaudy services and false doctrine? God forbid it!”
When I read that short article, I immediately thought of Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-14. Paul was a prisoner at Rome. He knew that the time of his departure was at hand. Being very concerned for his son in the faith, Timothy, for the church of God, the glory of God, and the truth of God, knowing that this would be his last inspired epistle, his last word of instruction to God’s saints, he urged Timothy and urges us to remain faithful to the gospel. — “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us” (vv. 13-14). In verses 9 and 10, as he describes that Gospel of which he urges us never to be ashamed, that gospel which is “the power of God unto salvation,” he specifically tells us five things to hold fast.
1. The gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, is a message of pure, free, sovereign grace. — God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
2. The gospel is a declaration of an eternally accomplished salvation. — This salvation was accomplished and all the grace of God was given to us “in Christ Jesus before the world began,” as the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 4:3, “the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Rom. 8:29-31; Eph. 1:3-6). This salvation and grace is in Christ Jesus. It was accomplished and bestowed upon us by the will of God in eternity in Christ our Surety, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
3. This eternally accomplished salvation and grace was made manifest in and by the incarnation, obedience, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. — It “is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death” (1 Tim. 3:15-16). But salvation accomplished by the grace of God in eternity and accomplished by the work of Christ in his life, death, and exaltation is not all there is to salvation.
4. This great salvation is revealed and made manifest to every saved sinner by the gift of immortal life in Christ. — In the new birth, by the power and grace of his Spirit, our blessed Savior has “brought life and immortality to light” in us by the revelation of Christ and the forming of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” causing chosen, redeemed sinners to be made “partakers of the divine nature.”
5. And this he does “through the gospel,” by the preaching of the gospel, by which he gives the blessed gift of faith in Christ. — Let us hold fast that form of sound words. Let no man move you from those things God the Holy Spirit taught us in the beginning, concerning the Father’s accomplishments of grace in eternity, Christ’s accomplishments of grace at Calvary, and the Holy Spirit’s accomplishments of grace in us.
Ascending to the House of God -Our Hope
Psalm 130
Psalm 130 describes our hope. It is the hope of grace and forgiveness through redemption. Robert Hawker wrote, “This most precious psalm contains the deep breathings of the soul under a sense of sin, the holy triumphs of the soul in the view of the propitiary, the redemption by Jesus, and the earnest recommendation of a soul that, having found mercy himself, hold forth encouragement to others.” This sweet psalm contains much that calls for relentless meditation and praise.
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” — The soul convinced of sin is in the depths of utter despair. It is God the Holy Spirit who graciously brings the lost soul into such depths. That same divine Comforter puts in the heart the cry for mercy. And he who puts us in the way will lead us to the end, giving us the blessed assurance of mercy in Christ.
“If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” — If the holy Lord God marks our iniquities against us, we must perish forever. “But there is forgiveness with thee!”— Sweet assurance of redemption! Blessed be his name forever, there are some against whom God does not and will not mark sin (Jer. 50:20; Rom. 4:8). There is forgiveness with our God; and that forgiveness is Christ, the propitiation for our sins. God is a great forgiver because he is “a gracious and merciful God” (Neh. 9:31; Micah 7:18). He forgives naturally (Ex. 34:6), constantly (John 1:29), and abundantly (Isa. 55:7). As we multiply sins, he multiplies pardons!
“That thou mayest be feared.” — He forgives us our sins to teach us to worship him. If there were no forgiveness with God, no man would worship him. All would fly from him in terror, as all do who know not his forgiveness, and dread him as an angry tyrant. But obtaining complete and unalterable forgiveness through the blood and righteousness of Christ, believing sinners gladly put themselves into the hands of strict justice, in confident expectation of mercy, and worship the God of all grace as his own dear children.
“Let Israel hope in the Lord.” — All who have been made by grace princes with God have reason to lift their hearts to the holy, triune God in confident hope, as Jude puts it, “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
“For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plenteous redemption.”— Did you catch those two words: “plenteous redemption!” My heart begins to dance when I think of it. – “With him is plenteous redemption!” This psalm is a prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and that sure, effectual redemption which he accomplished for sinners at Calvary – “He shall redeem Israel (those he has chosen) from all his sins.” This is what the psalmist is telling us – The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely full, meritorious, and effectual.
Well may the redeemed of the Lord sing, as we ascend to the house of God to worship such a gracious, forgiving God, who has redeemed us by the blood of his own darling Son with a “plenteous” redemption! I have found redemption through Christ precious blood, and have found it “plenteous” redemption indeed to my soul. Let none despair, for I, “the chief of sinners,” have experienced it!
3
Grace Bulletin
November 5, 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
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.
Web Pages
http://www.donfortner.com
http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm
http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp
|
|