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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

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My relationship with the eternal God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with God.

Daily Readings for the Week of March 10-17, 2019

Sunday Joshua 11-14 Thursday Joshua 23-Judges 1

Monday Joshua 15-17 Friday Judges 2-4

Tuesday Joshua 18-20 Saturday Judges 5-7

Wednesday Joshua 21-22 Sunday Judges 8-9

Happy Birthday! Debbie Bartley-13^th Shante’ Birchum-17^th Eric Wall-17^th

Nursery Duty Today: Molly McCormack (AM) — Debbie Bartley (PM)

There is a Warfare in My Heart — Don Fortner

(Tune: #77 — Sun of My Soul —LM)

1. There is a warfare in my heart.

Both flesh and spirit take their part.

Both seem resolved in me to reign,

And thus a daily war maintain.

2. Grace bids me seek the Lord by prayer.

Sin almost drives me to despair. —

Grace bids me rise to Christ on high.

Sin drags me down and makes me sigh.

3. Grace makes me love the saints of God,

His house, His service, and His Word;

But sin, the old man, always tries

To turn my wand’ring heart aside.

4. Grace gives me sweetness, peace, and joy.

Still, sin within would God destroy! —

Sin is resolv’d to hold me fast;

But grace shall conquer sin at last!

Believer’s Baptism

This gospel ordinance was established by our Lord as a clear line of separation between his church and the world. By our immersion in the watery grave, believers confess their faith in Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice (his death, burial, and resurrection in our place) as our only basis of hope before God. Rising out of the watery grave, we confess our hope of the resurrection and our consecration to Christ, our resolve to walk with him in the newness of life. Thus, confessing Christ as our Lord, we declare that all our former religion and religious works were but the uncleanness of idolatry, identifying ourselves with Christ, his people, and his gospel.

“Salvation will God Appoint for Walls and Bulwarks”

Isaiah 26:1

What walls and bulwarks are to a fortress, an enclosure of safety, salvation is to the church and people of God. God’s saints, those who are born into his church and kingdom, are kept eternally secure in his salvation. The believer’s safety and security is not his will, his works, his worth, or even his faith, but God’s salvation.

We believe in the infallible security, the perseverance and preservation of every believer, because we know that salvation is God’s work alone. And we “know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). Salvation is the work of the triune God. That is our security.

God the Father

Salvation is the work of God the Father (Ephesians 1:3-6). He planned it, purposed it, devised a means to accomplish it, and predestinated us unto it. The cause of our salvation is the love of God, which is unchangeable. The foundation is the purpose and will of God, which is unalterable. The source of salvation is the election of grace, which is free and unconditional. The ground upon which it stands is the covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure. And the condition of its security is the power of the omnipotent God.

God the Son

Salvation is the work of God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7-12). His blood has satisfied the justice of God and put away our sins. His righteousness has been imputed to us to give us free justification with God.

We believe in limited atonement. That is to say Christ died for his elect alone. And that is to say that his death upon the cursed tree effectually accomplished the redemption of all for whom he died.

His mediation for us in heaven, as our Advocate and High Priest, secures our perpetual forgiveness and acceptance. His power defends and protects us from all enemies. His promise, which cannot be broken, is, “They shall never perish.”

God the Spirit

Salvation is the work of God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). The new birth is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Conviction is the work of the Spirit. Faith in Christ is the gift of the Spirit. And his gifts are without repentance. The Spirit of God effectually applies all the blessings of grace to God’s elect, making all redeemed sinners “partakers of the divine nature.” He forms Christ in us, imparting to us his righteousness, creating in us that “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” and seals us in grace, in Christ, until the day of our resurrection in everlasting glory.

Until God’s purpose, Christ’s blood, and the Spirit’s work can be nullified, God’s elect are safe and secure. These are the walls and bulwarks of salvation!

“Perfect Peace”

Isaiah 26:3

This promise of God’s Word is made to every believer in Christ, for all the promises of God in him are yea and amen. — “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

God’s Gift

Peace is God’s gracious gift to faith. That is to say, as God gives us faith in Christ, he gives us peace. Peace was made for us by Christ when he reconciled us to God by his blood. And this peace is bestowed upon us as we trust him. Sprinkling our hearts with the blood of Christ, the Lord God proclaims peace in our hearts by his Spirit.

Like Abel, we obtain from God the witness that we are righteous, made the righteousness of God in Christ (Hebrews 11:4). Like Enoch, we obtain testimony from God that we please God because Christ is made of God unto us “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (Hebrews 11:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:30).

The Peace Promised

The peace that is promised to us is “perfect peace.” Do not let those words throw you. Isaiah is not telling us that unless we have peace perfectly at all times, we do not have faith and are lost. God gives us perfect peace. But we do not always enjoy that peace perfectly. In fact, we never enjoy that peace perfectly in this world. We are kept by grace in the blessed perfect peace of salvation accomplished by Christ. But that peace is not perfectly manifest, felt, and enjoyed in this life. There is a vast difference between being kept in perfect peace and having peace perfectly.

“Perfect peace” is true peace. The peace which God gives to faith is real and true, not false and imaginary. And the word “perfect” has the idea of “completeness” and “abundance.” We have peace now. But, oh, what an abundant, complete, blessed peace our God will give us in heaven! There it will be perfectly enjoyed forever (Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 72:7).

The Beneficiaries

This peace is promised to those whose minds are stayed upon the Lord. This is the promise of grace. — “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Believers are the beneficiaries of this blessed promise of grace.

To have your mind stayed upon Christ is to have your heart fixed on him with confident faith, being persuaded of your interest in him. To be stayed upon Christ is to trust him alone as your Savior (Psalm 112:7-8). It is to trust his blood for forgiveness, his righteousness for justification, his intercession for preservation, his providence for daily care, and his power for protection. — “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” — Fix me, blessed Spirit of God, stay me upon my dear Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lean me only upon him, always upon him, by the unceasing gift of faith in him, and keep me in “perfect peace!”