Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com

 

 

 

 

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

April 9, 2017

 

God, by the wondrous work of his grace, has made heaven-born souls Òpartakers of the divine natureÓ (2 Peter 1:4), putting a new nature in us, a new man, Òcreated in righteousness and true holinessÓ (Ephesians 4:24), that cannot sin, a new man that can do nothing but righteousness (1 John 3:9); and that new man is ÒChrist in you the hope of gloryÓ (Colossians 1:27).

 

Daily Readings for the Week of April 9-16, 2017

Sunday                2 Samuel 20-21                               Thursday       1 Kings 4-6

      Monday                2 Samuel 22-23                               Friday             1 Kings 7-8

      Tuesday              2 Samuel 24-1 Kings 1            Saturday              1 Kings 9-10

      Wednesday        1 Kings 2-3                                       Sunday                      1 Kings 11-12

 

á      I am scheduled to preach Saturday and Sunday for Sovereign Grace Church in Nixa, Missouri.

 

Happy Birthday!

Sophia Peterson-12th   Jayalita McCormack-14th   Denise Ranier-15th

Nursery Duty This Week

Stephanie Wilkerson (AM) — Diane Campbell (PM) Tuesday: Ruth Wall

 

For Mercy, Lord, I Plead Don Fortner

(Tune: #52 — Majestic Sweetness — CM)

 

1.    O God, look on this sinner, poor,

Who bows before Your feet!

A beggar knocking at Your door,

For mercy, Lord, I plead.

 

2.    By nature guilty, cursed, and dead,

Deserving wrath and hell;

But Christ, the sinnerÕs Surety, bled,

Made sin on CalvÕryÕs hill!

 

3.    Free mercy, Lord, mercy, I crave,

Mercy to meet my case.

O God, be merciful and save,

A wretch who needs Your grace!

 

4.    My God, I bring no other plea,

But that which YouÕve revealed:

I plead the blood of Calvary,

ChristÕs blood for sinners spilled!

 

I am often asked, ÒWho should receive the LordÕs Supper?Ó The answer is in the question. It is the LordÕs Supper, not the churchÕs supper. If it were the churchÕs supper, only the members of the church serving it, or their invited guests are welcome. But since it is the LordÕs Supper, all who are in the LordÕs family are welcome.

 

ÒPartakers of the Divine NatureÓ

2 Peter 1:4

 

ÒPartakers of the divine nature.Ó — Those are bold words. But bold as they are, startling as they may sound, there they stand. — ÒPartakers of the divine nature!Ó Bold as PeterÕs divinely inspired words are, shocking as they are to some, they only declare the teaching of the whole New Testament and the experience of every saved sinner. — Sinners saved by the grace of God, in the new birth, receive into their spirits a real communication of the life of God.

 

The Life of God

The new birth is nothing less than, as Henry Scrougal put it more than 400 years ago, Òthe life of God in the soul of man.Ó What else does our being Òthe sons and daughters of the Lord AlmightyÓ mean? What else does the new birth mean? What else do ChristÕs frequent declarations that he dwells in us and we in him, as the branch in the vine and as the members in the body, mean? What else does Òhe that is joined to the Lord in one spiritÓ mean?

      In some real sense the very purpose of God in sending his Son, the very purpose of God the Son becoming a man in the incarnation, is that we, poor, sinful, weak, limited, ignorant creatures as we are, may be lifted up into that solemn and awful elevation, and receive in our trembling and yet strengthened souls the life of God. This is the aim of the gospel, the end of all the promises of God. — ÒThat ye may be partakers of the Divine nature!Ó

 

The New Birth

Read the Scriptures carefully. The first four verses of 2nd Peter 1 are one sentence, all dealing with one thing. In those four verses, in that one, magnificent sentence, Peter declares the wonder of the new birth, the glorious work of regeneration. The first word of verse 4 refers us back to the call of God the Holy Ghost. It is by the call of God the Holy Spirit that God bestows those great and precious promises of his grace, making us Òpartakers of the Divine nature

      It is God the Holy Spirit who, by his regenerating grace giving life to spiritually dead sinners, discovers to us and reveals GodÕs eternal, electing love and ChristÕs redemption of our souls by his precious blood. The promises of God which have resulted in us being born again are the promises of God declared in the gospel, the promises of the sure and everlasting covenant of grace (Titus 1:1-3; 1 Peter 1:18-21; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-26; 37:12-14).

 

New Creatures

When the Lord God raises a sinner from death to life by the power and grace of his Spirit, when he sprinkles our hearts with the clean water of his grace and puts a new spirit in us, when he makes us new creatures in Christ, when sinners are born again by his omnipotent grace, we are made Òpartakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.Ó God made his covenant promises to us in Christ our Covenant Head before the world began, so that we might, at the appointed time of love, be made Òpartakers of the divine nature

 

 

What does this mean?

 

ÒWhereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.Ó (2 Peter 1:4)

 

What does God the Holy Spirit intend for us to understand when he tells us that in the new birth he has made us Òpartakers of the divine nature?Ó Obviously, he does not mean that we have become God. He does not mean that we have become partakers of the divine essence. And he does not mean that we now possess the attributes of divinity. So, what do these words mean? Let the Scriptures answer.

 

The Word Used

The word that is here translated ÒpartakersÓ is the word from which we get the word Òfellowship.Ó It basically means Òfellowshippers,Ó or Òpartners,Ó or Òcompanions.Ó In fact, that is the way this word, in its many different forms, is most commonly used; but it must not be limited to that meaning. Here are just a few passages in which this same word is used in a much broader way: 2 Corinthians 1:5-7, Philippians 1:7, and Hebrews 2:14-15. As we are partakers (possessors) of the consolation of the gospel, so we are Òpartakers of the divine nature.Ó As we are partakers (possessors) together of the grace of God, so we are Òpartakers of the divine nature.Ó As our Lord Jesus Christ was made a partaker (possessor) of flesh and blood, so we are Òpartakers of the divine nature.Ó

 

ChristÕs Nature

This divine nature is the nature of Christ, the holiness of God. It is to have Christ himself imparted to us and formed in us by God the Holy Spirit in the new birth (Colossians 1:27). It is Christ in us, this divine nature of which we have been made partakers (possessors), that makes us fit for heaven (Colossians 1:14).

      We are members of the body of Christ, Òmembers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.Ó The same life that quickens the Head, quickens his body. ÒYe are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.Ó We are married into Christ. He has betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in faithfulness; and as the bride must be a partaker of the same nature as the husband, so Jesus Christ first became partaker of flesh and blood that he and his people might be one flesh. Then he makes his church partakers of the same spirit, that we may be one spirit; for Òhe that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit

 

Wondrous Mystery

Oh, wondrous mystery! We look into it; but who can understand it? One with Jesus Christ our Lord, by eternal union one, married to him and married into him, so truly one with him that the branch is not more truly one with the vine than we are one with the Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our God! Rejoice in this, children of God, you are Òpartakers of the divine nature!Ó That is precisely the teaching of 2 Peter 1:4, and the teaching of the entire volume of Holy Scripture (John 14:22-23; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 3:14-19; 4:21-24; Colossians 1:27; 1 John 4:4; Revelation 3:20). How sweet, how blessed, how glorious is that almighty violence of grace (Mark 3:27) that has put Christ in us!

 

 

 

The Grace Bulletin

 

April 9, 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

7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service

 

Web Pages

http://www.DonFortner.com

http://www.FreegraceRadio.com

http://www.Grace-eBooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pastor FortnerÕs

 

Audio Sermons

Video Sermons

Books

Itinerary