The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. Psalm 21:1-3
We have started working on a YouTube Channel for our church. We are currently posting TV sermons preached by Pastor Henry Mahan. Here is the website link: https://www.youtube.com/@ZebulonGraceChurch. Please pass this information to your family and friends!
A Prayer
“Lord, give me freedom from covetousness and envy. Let me be content with what you have given me. Let me say that others may have what they will and I will not envy them, for I am satisfied with GOD’S PLACE FOR ME! Lord, give me such a love for Thee and my brethren that I can rejoice in their blessings and weep at their misfortunes; and the more joy and success they have, the more I am glad of it. It is true that my candle will not burn less brightly because another outshines it, and my work is not less important because another does and gives more. Oh, envy! Oh, covetousness! Oh, God, deliver me from them and impress upon my heart that my inheritance in glory is something the world does not know and cannot give, so that I can look on everything in this world and say that IT IS NOTHING! Christ is all and in all.” Pastor Henry T. Mahan
THE MIRACLE OF REPENTANCE
True repentance is an amazing thing, revealing and manifesting an amazing change in those who possess it. It is nothing short of a miracle. In fact, other than “God manifest in the flesh,” I can think of no miracle so powerful, so amazing, and so mysterious. Somehow, God in His amazing grace, as a heavenly visitor, comes to the sinner with quickening power and works such a change in him that he begins to see what he is before God, and hates what he sees. He is learning self to abhor and Christ to adore! He lives in a state of godly sorrow before the Lord, not merely for things he has done or left undone, but because of what he is – sin!
No man can work this repentance in himself or another. Neither can this repentance be wrought in one through threats of the law or fear of Hell. It seems to me that repentance has something to do with love to God, and love toward God will never come to a sinner’s heart except through the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified, the gospel. There is no true repentance at Mount Sinai, only at Mount Calvary. That is where sinners are given a new nature, whereby they can and do repent, and keep on repenting. Do you desire repentance? Do not look to yourself, nor to Mount Sinai, but to the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. As you begin to see Him, you will see yourself; as you learn to love Him, you will learn to repent; and as you are learning repentance, you are learning to love the Savior. These three, repentance, faith and love, go together. Do not ever bother yourself about when you may have received these saving gifts of grace, just be sure you have them, and look to Christ for an increase. And be thankful!
Pastor Maurice Montgomery
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Romans 2:4
THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING CHRIST Philippians 3:1-11
I know that there are some things that are important to us; there are some people that are important to us. However, in light of our great need of Christ nothing else is that important. We need His blood for cleansing, His righteousness for acceptance, His intercession for forgiveness; the list goes on. We need Him. As the woman with the issue of blood said, “If I can but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole.” Without Him we are lost, undone, and unaccepted by the Father. There is no material thing or human relationship that can supply my spiritual need; however, in Christ we are complete. In Christ we have all that we need to stand in God’s presence accepted. I cannot express how important it is to know Christ; all material things will burn up, and all fleshly relationships will be dissolved. However, our relationship with Christ will never be dissolved nor diminished, and it will only grow sweeter. Judge the importance of everything in light of Him.
Pastor John Chapman
REBUKE
“Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.” (Proverbs 9:8).
Someone has said, “Faithful reproofs, if they don’t profit you will provoke you.” God’s prophet, John the Baptist, faithfully rebuked Herod for taking his brother’s wife (Matthew 14:4). Herod’s response to the truth of God was anger and murder toward God’s prophet. On another occasion, the prophet of God, Nathan, rebuked King David for taking Bathsheba to be his wife and for the murder of Uriah the Hittite, her husband (2 Samuel 12:7-14). David, instead of being angry, was humbled and confessed before God that he was a sinner and begged for mercy. David expressed this in Psalm 51, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” Now here is the question for us. How do we react to the rebuke of Holy Scripture? Are we humbled and broken hearted? Do we beg God for mercy and forgiveness or do we get angry and upset? Believers are humbled before God; those who don’t believe God are only angered and enraged before God’s sovereign word and will (Rom. 8:7).