Grace Baptist Church of Danville

October 14, 2012

 

He who “delighteth in mercy” is never niggardly in dispensing mercy.

 

 

Daily Readings for the Week of October 14-21, 2012

            Sunday                      Mark 15-16                                                    Thursday            Luke 6-7

            Monday                      Luke 1                                                                        Friday             Luke 8-9

            Tuesday                    Luke 2-3                                                        Saturday                    Luke 10-11

            Wednesday  Luke 4-5                                                        Sunday                      Luke 12

 

 

·      It is our privilege to have Pastor Linwood Campbell here to preach the Gospel to us today in our pastor’s absence. Bro. Campbell is pastor of the Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Boonville, NC.

·      Bro. Todd Nibert, pastor of Todds RD Grace Church in Lexington, KY, will preach here Tuesday night.

·      The Lord willing, Shelby and I will be home late Thursday night. I am scheduled to preach Friday night in the annual conference at College Grove Grace Church in College Grove, TN, where Bro. Chris Cunningham is pastor. Other speakers are: Pastors John Chapman, David Eddmenson, and Todd Nibert. — I will drive home on Saturday to preach here on Sunday.

·      Our Quarterly Fellowship is scheduled for October 28. Plan to have lunch and spend a portion of the afternoon together.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Jonathan Warta-19th    Ruth Wall-19th

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY:  Walter & Betty Groover-19th

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Alexis Mason (AM) Ruth Wall (PM)          Tuesday: Mindy Peterson

 

“I Change Not!”Don Fortner

(Tune: #249 — Just As I Am —LM)

 

1.    Sons of Jacob, saved by grace,

Our God’s the God of sov’reign grace!

He will perform His wise designs, —

And will not, cannot change His mind.

 

2.    Though thrones, and empires lie forgot,

God is the same. — He changes not.

And though we oft unfaithful prove,

He loves us with unchanging love!

 

3.    Our comforts often ebb and flow,

Our God no variation knows!

Though we are sinful, base, and vain

His mercy, grace, and love remain!

4.    This sacred truth my heart will cheer,

`Til sun and moon have disappeared;

And when the plains of bliss I range,

I’ll praise my God, who cannot change!

 

19

The Great Exchange

 

He hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

In this marvelous sentence of Inspiration God the Holy Spirit tells us of the great exchange made at Calvary by my Savior: my sin for his righteousness. — O sweet exchange! This statement contains the most wonderful, God-exalting, soul-comforting truths God has revealed to man. What a profound truth, what stupendous grace, what wondrous mystery these words contain no mortal can fully tell. — “He,” God the Father, — “hath,” in holy justice and infinite mercy, — “made,” caused to become, created,— “Him,” the Lord Jesus Christ, His infinite, well-beloved, only begotten, immaculate, darling, holy Son, — “sin,” an awful mass of iniquity, — “for us,” helpless, condemned, sinful rebels!

 

            The Word of God does not tell us that the Lord Jesus was made a sinner. It tells us that he was made something far worse than a sinner. — The Sinless One was “made sin for us!” Should I see a sick man convulsively vomiting, his appearance might be repulsive to me, but it would provoke in me sympathy and incline me to run to the man’s aid. If, however, all I could see were the vomit, there would be no sympathy, no inclination to run to it, but just the opposite. I would be entirely repulsed and turn from it.

 

            Repugnant as that image is it is infinitely less repugnant than the image before us in this portion of Holy Scripture. God’s darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy, spotless, sinless Lamb of God, he who did no sin and knew no sin, he who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners was “made sin for us.” When he was “made sin for us,” he was abandoned by his Father and cried from a heart broken by our reproaches made his, “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?

 

      This is the greatest transaction that ever took place upon the earth, the most marvelous sight that men ever saw, and the most stupendous wonder that heaven ever executed. — Jesus Christ our Lord was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. — Jesus Christ, the spotless Son of God, was made sin!

 

      If ever we find rest, peace, and joy in our souls, if ever a sinner is made to be of good cheer, having the blessed knowledge of the forgiveness of sin, it must be fetched from that which is declared in this revelation of grace. — “He hath made him sin for us.” No sinner will ever find real rest for his soul, a bed that he can stretch himself upon, and a cover broad enough to wrap himself in, but this. — “He hath made him sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

 

20

“God that Beareth Iniquity”

 

He hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

The Lord Jesus is not here said to have our sin imputed to Him, though sin was, indeed, imputed to our Substitute. It was justly laid to his charge. That is because “He hath made him sin for us.” But as far as the words of Holy Scripture are concerned, it is nowhere stated in the Book of God that sin was imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is not a single passage in the Bible that speaks of our sins being imputed to our Savior.

 

      In Romans 4 the word “imputation” or its equivalent (accounting or reckoning) is used seven times. It is mentioned again in chapter 5 (v. 13). But in those places God the Holy Spirit speaks of sin not being imputed to us and of righteousness being imputed to us. Yes, our sins were imputed to our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he was made sin for us, and because “He hath made him sin for us.” But the Word of God never uses the word impute, or any word like it, to speak of sin being imputed to Christ.

 

      The Book f God declares, “He hath made him sin for us.” I am fully aware that natural reason opposes it. And many have endeavored to make the Word of God say something else. We are told that Christ had sin imputed to him, that he bore the guilt of sin, that he was charged with the debt of our sins, that he became accountable for our sins, that he bore all the effects of our sins, and that he was treated as if he were sin. But this plain, straightforward, blessed statement of Holy Scripture is almost universally denied by men. — “He hath made him sin for us.” Still, there it stands.“He hath made Him sin for us.” How can this be? What can it mean?

 

In human law and reason, among men, I fully acknowledge that guilt cannot be transferred, but only its effects. Among the sons of men, a third person may cancel my debts, but not my crimes. But this text of Inspiration is not describing things men can, or may do. It tells us what our God has done. And in this great affair of salvation our great God stands infinitely alone. In this, his most glorious work, there is such a display of justice, mercy, wisdom, and power as never entered into the heart of man to conceive. In fact, the Lord God declared by his prophet Habakkuk that this wondrous work of his would not be believed, though most plainly declared. — “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you” (Habakkuk 1:5). This wondrous work of our God has no parallel in the actions of mortals. — “Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me” (Isaiah 45:21). Truly, there is none like our God, “a God that beareth iniquity!” That is what the prophet Micah declares. — “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth (BEARETH) iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy (Micah 7:18).

 

21

The Grace Bulletin

 

October 14, 2012

 

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 in Danville

 

Channel 6 — Sunday Morning 7:45 A.M.

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

Channel 6 — Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.

 

Television Broadcasts in Harrodsburg

Channel 6 — Sunday Afternoon 3:00 P.M.

Channel 6 — Friday Evening 6:00 P.M.

 

Web Pages

http://www.DonFortner.com

http://www.FreegraceRadio.com

http://www.Grace-eBooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com