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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

June 30, 2019

All Services Live Streamed At

www.youtube.com/c/gracebaptistchurchofdanvilleky

 

The scorn of men should mean nothing to those who live under the smile of God.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of June 30-July 7, 2019

Sunday                Psalm 120-135                                Thursday       Proverbs 8-11

      Monday                Psalm 136-144                                Friday             Proverbs 12-15

      Tuesday              Psalm 145-Proverbs 2                   Saturday                    Proverbs 16-19

      Wednesday        Proverbs 3-7                                     Sunday                      Proverbs 20-22

 

á      Shelby and I wish to thank everyone for your cards, generosity, and expressions of kindness to us as we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. We are so thankful for GodÕs mercy and goodness to us these many years.

á      We will have our Quarterly Fellowship Dinner following our morning worship today. I hope you can stay with us for lunch and a time of fellowship this afternoon. — There will be no service here tonight.

 

Nursery Duty Today Ruth Wall

Happy Anniversary: Jim & Susan Grant-4th

Church Cleaning in July: Rex & Debbie Bartley

 

Glory to thÕ Eternal Three Don Fortner

(Tune: #233 — Depth of Mercy — 77.77)

1.    Holy Father, let Your love

Rest upon us from above;

Teach us to approach Your throne,

And through Christ Your children own,

2.    Precious Savior, ZionÕs King,

Of Your glorious work we sing.

Spread the triumphs of Your grace

Over all Your chosen race.

3.    Lord, YouÕve taught us to expect

Promised grace for Your elect.

Make our SaviorÕs fulness known;

Holy Spirit, teach Your own.

4.    Triune God, Your covÕnant love,

Faithful to the end shall prove.

All things rest on Your decree;

Glory to thÕ Eternal Three.

 

ÒA House not Made with HandsÓ

In this the saints have a present interest. They have it already built and prepared for them. They have an indubitable right and title to it through the righteousness of Christ. They have it secured to them in Christ, their head and representative. And they have the earnest of it, the Spirit of God in their hearts. Of all which they have sure and certain knowledge: Ôfor we know.Õ They are well assured of the truth of this from the promise of God, who cannot lie, from the declaration of the gospel, the testimony of the Spirit, and the close and inseparable connection there is between the grace they have already received and the glory that shall be hereafter.                                                                                                                           — John Gill

 

A Tribute to a Faithful Pastor

Pastor Henry T. Mahan

August 19, 1926 — May 31, 2019

 

It seems to me that in every generation God raises up one specific man by whose voice he leads and instructs his church. Oh, there are many, many others, faithful, gifted men by whom God speaks to his people. But they, too, are taught and led of God by his singular, gifted messenger to that generation. Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul are all biblical examples of such men.

 

      In my opinion, Bro. Henry Mahan was that voice in his generation, at least in the United States, if not the entire English-speaking world. That statement will raise many questioning, if not disdaining, eyebrows. But, in my opinion, the statement is not an exaggeration. I know of no single man who was more widely used of God for the furtherance of the gospel than Pastor Henry Mahan. I know of no single man to whom so many preachers and so many churches are so greatly indebted.

 

      Bro. Mahan was pastor to GodÕs saints in Ashland, Kentucky for 54 years. In all those years he proved himself faithful to Christ, faithful in preaching the gospel of GodÕs free and sovereign grace in Christ, and faithful to the people he served. He was equally faithful to other gospel preachers and other gospel churches. He gave himself tirelessly to the work of the ministry. He was generous to his own injury. I never knew him to say or do anything to promote or enrich himself. I know that he did much to promote other men and their ministries. He and the congregation he served so faithfully generously supported gospel preaching missionaries, pastors, and churches around the world.

 

      More than any man known to me in history, since the apostles, Pastor Henry Mahan taught this generation, and taught us correctly, that Jesus Christ and him crucified is the message of Holy Scripture. Almost every conservative pastor or theologian acknowledges that Christ is the central message of the Bible. But the Scriptures clearly teach that he is more than the central message of Scripture. — Jesus Christ and him crucified is the singular message of Holy Scripture (Luke 24:25-32, 44-47). In the Book of God, ÒChrist is All

 

      The Lord God graciously brought three men into my life at crucial, decisive times, whose influence upon me has not ceased. In 1969, when I was nineteen, years old, I met Pastor Ron Rumburg who taught me by word and by example the necessity of study. A faithful pastor must be a man of relentless study, one who diligently prepares to preach. That same year I met Pastor Harry Graham who, by word and by example, taught me that a preacher must be a man of unbending boldness. In 1976 God graciously brought Pastor Henry Mahan in my life. By word and by example, he was used of God to exemplify and reinforce the necessity of study and of boldness. But Bro. Mahan taught me a third lesson, one every preacher must learn. At the end of my first visit with him in his office at Ashland, he pointed me to those words in Colossians 3:11, ÒChrist is all,Ó and said, ÒYoung man, if you ever learn that, you will learn what it is to preach the gospel; and the Lord might use you.Ó

 

Immeasurable Gain

Philippians 1:21-23

 

Every believing sinner, as soon as he dies, is taken to be with Christ in Paradise (Luke 23:43). Paradise is heaven, the garden of God (Revelation 2:7). It is the third heaven to which Paul was raptured for a brief visit (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) during his pilgrimage here. Paradise is the place of the divine Majesty, the place of happiness, pleasure, and endless delight. It was to Paradise that Christ went as soon as he died, having obtained eternal redemption for us (Luke 23:43; Hebrews 9:12). Paradise is a place of assured blessedness, promised to sinners who seek the mercy of God in Christ. The dying Savior said to the dying thief, who had just been converted by his omnipotent grace, ÒToday (immediately, as soon as this ordeal of death is over) shalt thou (most assuredly) be with me (in my full presence and company forever) in paradise (Heaven).Ó

 

Immediately with Christ

That is immeasurable gain! Yes, death for the believer is gain, infinite, immeasurable gain. Paul was confident that as soon as he departed from this world he would immediately be with Christ in blessed communion in heaven. Believing the Word and promise of God, he looked upon death as a desirable thing. Every believer, as soon as he leaves this body, enters into heavenly glory with a heavenly body with Christ. Their souls exist in a recognizable form. Moses and Elijah stood upon the mount of transfiguration in a recognizable form (Matthew 17:3). When the rich man saw Lazarus in AbrahamÕs bosom, he saw and recognized him as the very same man who laid by his gate upon the earth (Luke 16:23). It is this assurance of heavenly glory and bliss that makes death a desirable thing for the believer (2 Corinthians 4:17-5:9).

 

Intermediate Body

God the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to tell us plainly that as soon as this earthly house is dissolved, we have a Òhouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.Ó What is that house? Some say the house is heaven itself. Perhaps, Paul is saying, Òwe have a heaven in the heavens,Ó but I do not think that is his meaning. Others suggest that this Òhouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavensÓ refers to the resurrection body; but Paul is not speaking here of the resurrection. He is telling us about the state of GodÕs saints immediately after the death of the body. It seems obvious to me that the Apostle is here declaring that as soon as we drop this earthly house of clay, we enter into another house for our souls, an intermediate body that is specifically prepared for that blessed state.

      Every word here shows a distinct contrast between this new house and the old one. The old is a tent. The new is a building. The old, though not made with hands, was made what it is, a house of death, defiled and made defective by the sin and fall of our father Adam. The new is GodÕs work and GodÕs gift. The old is temporal and perishing. The new is eternal. This house is a new body, replacing and surpassing the old. It is in the heavens in the sense that it is GodÕs gift, something he has for us where he is, and which we shall wear there. ÒWe have itÓ means Òit is ours.Ó

 

 

 

 

The Grace Bulletin

 

June 30, 2019

 

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

 

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