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August 25, 2013

 

Any preacher who tells you how you can make yourself more righteous than Christ has made you knows nothing of the righteousness of God and the Gospel of the grace of God.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of August 25-September 1, 2013

Sunday                Ezekiel 20-21                                               Thursday       Ezekiel 30-32

            Monday                      Ezekiel 22-23                                               Friday             Ezekiel 33-34

            Tuesday                    Ezekiel 24-26                                               Saturday                    Ezekiel 35-37

            Wednesday  Ezekiel 27-29                                               Sunday                      Ezekiel 38-39

 

Our Bible conference begins Friday at 7:00 PM. — There will be no service here Tuesday night. If you can help with the final things that have to be done, setting up the dining hall, arranging extra chairs, final cleaning, etc. we will meet Thursday night at 6:00 PM.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 Casey Henson-27th    Elizabeth Warta-28th     Mark Henson-30th    Norma Rankin-1st

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: David & Betty Burge-7th

CHURCH CLEANING IN SEPTEMBER:  Ron & Pam Wood

NURSERY DUTY TODAY: Vicci Rolley (AM)  Stephanie Wall (PM)         

 

Hail, Sovereign Grace, Eternal, Free! — Don Fortner

(Tune: #400 — Jesus, And Shall It Ever Be? — LM)

1.    Hail, sovereign grace, eternal free,

So bountif’ly bestowed on me!

Grace chose me in eternity,

And sent my Lord to die for me!

 

2.    ‘Twas grace, God’s free and sovereign grace,

That stopped me as to hell I raced,

And sweetly forced me to confess

My sin so vile, my wretchedness!

 

3.    Grace gave me eyes and made me see

What Christ, my Lord, has done for me.

He ransomed me with His own blood

And reconciled me to my God.

 

4.    Let heav’n and earth my song now hear,

Come, ransomed sinners, sing with cheer —

Hail, sovereign grace, eternal, free,

So bountif’ly bestowed on me!

 

Spurgeon on the Word Baptize

 

“The word ‘baptize’ has but one meaning, and cannot bear another. Throughout all the classics, without exception, it is not possible to translate it correctly, except with the idea of immersion.”

 

22

“Sound Doctrine”

1 Timothy 1:10

 

There are but two forms of religion in the world. One is true. The other is false. One is saving. The other is damning. Those two forms of religion are free-grace and free-will. Free-grace declares that salvation is the work of God alone. Free-will declares that salvation is, at least in part, the work of man. Free-grace declares that salvation is conditioned upon the obedience of Christ alone as the sinner’s Substitute. Free-will declares that salvation is ultimately and finally conditioned upon the obedience of the sinner himself. Any doctrine that makes salvation, eternal life, acceptance with God, and the reward of the heavenly inheritance to be dependent upon, or determined by you, at any point or in any measure, is contrary to sound doctrine. To receive, believe, or embrace such doctrine will be damning to your soul (Read Galatians 5:1-4).

 

Here are five points of Divine truth by which all doctrine must be examined. Anything that is contrary to, or in any measure diminishes these five points of sound doctrine must be rejected as heresy.

  1. Total Depravity All men by nature are both sinful and helpless, because all are spiritually dead (Matthew 15:19; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-4).
  2. Unconditional Election God, from eternity, chose a people in Christ whom he determined to save, without consideration of anything in them or anything that might be done by them (John 15:16; Romans 8:29-30; 9:11-18; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).
  3. Limited Atonement — The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, died for and redeemed his elect, all his elect, and only his elect. The benefits of Christ’s death are limited to the elect; and his death effectually secures all those benefits to them in complete, everlasting salvation (Isaiah 53:8-11; John 10:11, 15; Hebrews 9:12).
  4. Irresistible Grace God the Holy Spirit calls sinners from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ by omnipotent mercy, giving to all who are born again by him the gift of faith in Christ, by the operations of his almighty grace, which cannot be successfully resisted (Psalms 65:4; 110:3; John 6:63; Ephesians 2:8-9).
  5. Perseverance of the SaintsEvery sinner chosen by God in election, redeemed by Christ at Calvary, and called by the Spirit in grace shall persevere in grace unto eternal glory, because they are all preserved and kept by grace (John 10:27-30; Jeremiah 32:38-40).

 

Every man who preaches in this pulpit, every missionary supported by this congregation, every church and ministry recognized, supported, and recommended by this church and its pastor fully subscribes to these basic points of Gospel doctrine. If any man preaches anything contrary to these things, he is a false prophet and a deceiver of men’s souls. Let him be damned (Galatians 1:6-8).

 

23

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

1 Corinthians 15:10

 

Paul knew nothing of human merit. He knew that he did not even deserve to be considered by God. He had been before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious. “But”, he wrote, “I obtained mercy...and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” For the apostle Paul, there was no confession more suitable to his own experience than this: — “By the grace of God I am what I am.” And it is equally appropriate to all who have experienced the grace of God. Every believer, every heaven born soul, being taught of God in the sweet experience of his saving mercy, gladly ascribes his entire salvation to the grace of God.

 

Our Doctrine

This is our doctrinal confession. — “By the grace of God I am what I am.” If you are saved, you do not owe your salvation to anything you have done. And for you who are not converted, if ever you are to be saved, it will not be because of any goodness in you. We must deny our own merits, or we cannot have the merits of Christ. The source of God’s goodness to us lies altogether in his sovereign mercy. Everything in salvation was accomplished for us and in us by Christ alone. He chose us, he redeemed us, he justified us, and he called us. And it is Christ alone who preserves us unto eternal glory.

 

Our Experience

This is our constant experience. —By the grace of God I am what I am.” Being made to know something of the depravity of our own hearts, we do with weeping eyes testify that we are what we are by the grace of God. When we feel the power of lusts within us and temptations from without; when we see others we have esteemed highly for their profession fall and turn from the faith, when we have ourselves been restored to fellowship with Christ after a fall, and when we are made to rejoice in the fulness of God’s mercy, love, and grace in Christ, we rejoice to say, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

 

Our Acknowledgement

This is our grateful acknowledgement. —By the grace of God I am what I am.” We realize that the only distinction between us and all other people is the distinguishing grace of God. As we read the black catalogue of human sin, let us never forget these words, “And such were some of you.” But now, by the grace of God, we are washed, we are sanctified, and we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Realizing what we were, we rejoice to say, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” With grateful hearts, we lift our eyes to heaven, to the God of all grace upon his throne, and sing with David, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake!”

 

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Don Fortner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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