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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

March 22, 2015

Don’t ever attempt to show the world that you are a Christian, or that you are righteous, or that you are godly, or even that you are different from others. Lost people cannot see godliness.

Happy Birthday!  Bobbie Estes-24th

Nursery Duty this Week

Today: Jenny Bartley (AM)  — Mindy Peterson (PM)  — Tuesday: Stephanie Wall

Kept by the Power of God — Don Fortner

(Tune: Stand Up and Bless the Lord #33 — SM)

1.    Chosen by God’s free grace,

Redeemed by Jesus blood,

Believers all are kept in grace,

Kept by the pow’r of God.

2.    Not one can e’er be lost.

We rest upon God’s Word.

(Shall Satan cheat the Holy Ghost?)

We glory in the Lord!

3.    Our weaknesses and sin

Shall not undo God’s work.

God will not cease what He began,

Or break His faithful Word!

4.    Saved by God’s sov’reign grace,

And kept by His great pow’r,

We’ll reach at last His holy place,

And live for evermore!

One Sacrifice for Sins

“This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)

Pastor David Pledger

This verse tells us much about the death of Christ upon the cross. His death was a sacrifice for sins. He did not die a martyr nor to set an example, but he offered himself as the sin offering that God required to save his people for their sins. This man is truly the Son of God, and “he gave himself for our sins.” (Galatians 1:4). Paul speaks of the fact that his offering shall never be repeated. It is “forever.” He has accomplished all that he intended by his sacrifice. As the hymn writer said: “It shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.” He is seated at the right hand of God, the place of power and dignity. He will come again to receive those for whom he gave himself a sin offering and not one of them shall be missing.

“Sanctify Them”

John 17:17

In this portion of his prayer our Savior is specifically making intercession for his disciples, those who were present with him on the earth at that time. Then, in verse 20, he tells us that the blessing he sought for them he requested for us as well. So that which our Lord Jesus sought for those disciples, he sought for all who would in time be given faith in him by the Spirit of God. In other words, this is our Savior’s prayer for us, God’s elect, for every redeemed sinner, for all who are called of God and born again by his omnipotent grace. — “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

By nature we are all unrighteous and therefore unfit to inherit and inhabit the kingdom of God. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). These three things are essential elements of God’s saving grace. Without them no one is or can be saved.

Washed

We must be washed, redeemed by the blood of Christ. This redemption, the atonement for our sins, was accomplished for all God’s elect when Christ died at Calvary. — “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

Sanctified

We must be sanctified by God the Holy Spirit. There is no salvation apart from sanctification. We must be made holy, or we cannot see God (Hebrews 12:14). This sanctification is accomplished for us and in us experimentally in regeneration, the new birth, “by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,” when we are made new creatures in Christ and made to be partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Justified

We must be justified before God by his grace. Our justification was accomplished by the Lord God freely and graciously. He has imputed the righteousness of Christ to us, declaring us to be righteous before him. As our sins were imputed to Christ though he could never sin, so his righteousness has been imputed to every believer though we could never do righteousness. — We are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). — “For he hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We do not wash ourselves, sanctify ourselves, or justify ourselves. God almighty, by distinct acts of grace, has washed us, sanctified us, and justified us. All three of these works of grace belong to all believers, without exception. The person who lacks any of these works of God’s saving grace has not yet entered into the kingdom of God. He is lost, undone, and perishing in his sins. If you or I die without being washed, sanctified, and justified by the grace of God, we will not be numbered with God’s saints in the last day.

“Sanctify Them through Thy Truth”

John 17:17

We have very little difficulty discussing the matter of being washed by the blood of Christ and justified by his righteousness. Particular, effectual redemption and free justification are matters in which we all rejoice. But when it comes to sanctification, our thinking may not be as clear. Many, I fear, are still confused and a little uncomfortable. Because we are so much influenced by false religion, many of God’s saints still imagine that sanctification is something beyond their reach. If you are God’s, if you trust Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, your Savior, your Advocate, your great High Priest, asks the Father to sanctify you. — That means sanctification is yours. You are sanctified. If you trust Christ, God the Holy Ghost declares in 1st Corinthians 6:11 — “Ye are sanctified!” That means you are sanctified. Christ is made of God unto you Sanctification. Christ is your Sanctification. He is God’s Truth; and he is your Sanctification. But what does that mean? What does it mean to be sanctified? What was our Savior asking for us when he prayed, “Sanctify them”?

Set Apart

The first meaning of the word “sanctify” is “to set apart,” particularly, “to set apart for God or for divine service”. Sanctification is taking something that is common and ordinary and setting it apart, separating it unto God’s service alone. This is the first and primary meaning of the word as it is used in the Bible (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 13:2; 29:44). It is in this sense that our Lord Jesus Christ says he was sanctified by the Father and sanctified himself (John 10:36; 17:19). He was set apart from all other men to do the will of God by God the Father. And in this sense our Savior sanctified himself to do the work he was sent to do, to accomplish his Father’s will in the redemption and salvation of his people (John 17:19). — God’s elect were set apart for God from eternity in the purpose of God (Jude 1).

Regard as Holy

Second, as the word “sanctify” is used in the Word of God, it means “to regard as holy,” “to treat as holy,” and “to declare that a person or thing is holy.” — For example: God himself is frequently said to be sanctified by his people. We do not make God more holy! And we do not separate God unto himself. But we do regard him as holy, treat him as one who is holy, and declare that he is holy. That is what it is to sanctify the Lord God in your heart. — The Lord God commands us to regard him as holy (Isaiah 8:13). — God regards his people as holy through the sin-atoning blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:10-14).

Make Holy

The third meaning of the word “sanctify” is “to actually purify something and make it holy”. — This is more than a declaration. This is an actual change in the nature of things. The thing sanctified is not only set apart for God and declared to be holy, it is actually made holy (Exodus 19:10-11; Joshua 3:5). — The Lord God makes his elect holy by making every heaven-born soul “a new creature” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, making us “partakers of the divine nature,” creating us anew “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), forming “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27)

The Grace Bulletin

March 22, 2015

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 576-3400 — 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

Pastor Fortner’s

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