Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

January 22, 2017

Nothing so quickly exposes the enmity, the bitter hatred, of the heart of man toward God as the declaration of his absolute sovereignty in the exercise of his grace, having mercy on whom he will have mercy and hardening whom he will harden; and nothing more rejoices and humbles the heart of those who are born of God.

Daily Readings for the Week of January 22-29, 2017

Sunday Exodus 13-14 Thursday Exodus 25-27

Monday Exodus 15-17 Friday Exodus 28-29

Tuesday Exodus 18-21 Saturday Exodus 30-32

Wednesday Exodus 22-24 Sunday Exodus 33-34

· I am scheduled to preach Tuesday and Wednesday for the San Diego Grace Fellowship, where Bro. Eric Richards is pastor. — Bro. Todd Nibert, pastor of Todds Road Grace Church in Lexington, will be here to preach the Gospel to you Tuesday night.

· We will have our quarterly fellowship dinner together following the service today. There will be no service here tonight.

Happy Birthday! Jim Grant-26^th Teresa Coleman-29^th

Nursery Duty This Week: Jayalita McCormack (AM) Tuesday: Elizabeth Peterson

“Dost Thou Believe?” — Don Fortner

(Tune: #514 — Am I a Soldier — CM)

1. Whose voice is this I hear, which says,

“Dost thou believe in Me?”

Tis His, Who well deserves my praise,

To Whom by faith I flee.

2. Do you now trust God’s darling Son

And on His grace rely? —

Yours is eternal life begun,

And you shall never die.

3. “Dost thou believe?” Though once you thought

By works you might be saved?

Then, you are by Jehovah taught;

To you this faith He gave!

4. “Dost thou believe?” — “But, how,” say some,

“With such a heart as mine?”

Yes, sinner, come, to Jesus come,

And you’ll salvation find!

5. If sin you hate, if now you grieve,

And mourn your heart depraved,

If Christ alone you will believe,

By Him you have been saved!

Deserved Hatred

Romans 9:13

God’s hatred of Esau was a negative hatred in his everlasting decree; but it was, in time, a deserved hatred, a just and righteous hatred. Do not imagine that Esau or any other sinner is damned and goes to hell because of Divine predestination. Nobody goes to hell because God predestinated that they go to hell. Reprobate sinners go to hell because they have earned the wages of sin which must and shall be paid — death, everlasting death in hell (Romans 6:23)

God’s Decree

Yes, without question, God predestined the everlasting damnation of the wicked, just as he predestined the everlasting salvation of the righteous (1 Peter 2:8; Jude 4). But he predestined the damnation of the wicked by their wickedness, just as he predestined the salvation of the righteous by righteousness. God predestined the means as well as the end, both of grace and of judgement.

Vessels of Mercy

The elect, Jacob, described as “vessels of mercy” (v. 23), obtain the riches of the glory of God in Christ, being “afore prepared unto glory” by him. God’s elect are prepared unto glory and made fit for heaven through the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ (2 Peter 1:2), through the sanctification (regeneration) of the Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13), through belief of the truth, by faith in Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:13), and through the preaching of the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). God’s elect, Jacob, are made fit for heaven in Christ by God’s mighty operations of grace for us and in us (Colossians 1:12-14).

Vessels of Wrath

The reprobate, Esau, described as “vessels of wrath” (v. 22), are “fitted for destruction,” made fit for hell by their willful rejection of the light God gives them, by their sin, by their unbelief, despising the goodness of God and the Son of God (John 3:36; Proverbs 29:1; Proverbs 1:23-35).

If you go to hell, you will go to hell fighting and scratching and clawing, doing everything you can to push God out of your way. If you go to hell, it will be your own fault alone; and God’s everlasting hatred of you will be a hatred that is fully deserved.

God hated Esau because Esau despised Christ, represented in the birthright he sold to Jacob for a bowl of pinto beans. Esau went to hell because he chose to pursue the lust of his flesh and despised the Lord Jesus Christ. He went to hell because he fully deserved to go to hell. And, if you go to hell, you will go to hell, not because of Adam’s sin, not because of your father’s sin, and not because of God’s decree, but because of your own sin (Ezekiel 18:20), because you fully deserve to go to hell. Like the salvation of God’s elect, the damnation of the wicked is always a matter of strict justice.

Judgment is always just; but it is his strange work (Isaiah 28:21). Blessed be his name, he “delighteth in mercy!” Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and God will save you by his grace in strict justice, because he has in, by, and with Christ prepared you for glory, by eternal grace.

“Esau have I Hatred”

Romans 9:13

God’s hatred of Esau was an eternal, sovereign, negative hatred. He Loved Jacob and chose him. He hated Esau, passed by him, and left him to himself. In time, because God just left him alone, Esau earned and deserved God’s hatred by his own sin, by his own choice, by his own will, and by his own works. So it is with all whom God leaves to themselves!

Positive Hatred

The Scriptures also teach us that God’s hared of Esau, God’s hatred of any sinner, is a positive hatred. It is his positive will to justly punish and destroy sinners who despise his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Psalms 5:5; 7:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12; Malachi 1:1-5). If you refuse to trust God’s Son, if you refuse to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God may deal with you as he did with Esau. He may fix it so that you cannot believe. God shut the door of the ark before there was a cloud in the sky, before a drop of rain fell from heaven (Genesis 7:16). He still does (Matthew 7:13-14). Be warned! The Lord God says…

“Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” (Proverbs 1:23-33)

Everlasting Hatred

God’s hatred of Esau is an everlasting hatred. It is a mutual hatred; and it is an everlasting hatred. Esau hated God, and still hates him; and God hates Esau forever. Against the reprobate, against Esau, “the Lord hath indignation forever” (Malachi 1:4). Hell is forever! The anger and hatred of the Almighty shall fall upon the wicked forever! If you go to hell, you will go to hell because you fully deserve it. And in hell you will forever acknowledge that you deserve it and that God is just in your damnation; but your hatred of God will only intensify, and Esau shall be hated still.

Will you go on hating Christ and go to hell; or will you now come to Christ and be saved by him? As God’s ambassador, I call you to come. God the Holy Spirit says, “Come.” All the saints of God, every sinner saved by his matchless, free grace in Christ, says, “Come.” God calls you to come, and promises salvation full and free to all who come (Isaiah 55:1-11).

The Grace Bulletin

January 22, 2017

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