CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: How Firm A Foundation - Pg. 176)

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,

The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue;

Thy grace, oh so free, from the first to the last,

Has won my affections and bound my soul fast.

Thy mercy in Jesus has saved me from hell;

Its glories I'll sing and its wonders I'll tell;

‘Twas Jesus, my Lord, when He hung on the tree,

That opened the fountain of mercy for me.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,

And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;

All praise to the spirit, whose calling Divine,

Makes wisdom, and pardon, and righteousness mine.

(Psalm 22:30-31)

A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this.

MORNING WORSHIP:

10:00 Bible Study: Video sermon by David Simpson

11:00 Service: Speaker Winston Pannell, Eager Ave. Grace Church

Birthdays: Patricia Pannell - Dec. 30^th.

The Lord's Table: We will have the Lord's Table immediately following the 11am service.

Radio Broadcast: Sunday morning at 9:30am on 98.7 FM -WISK

That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him

Though God loved His elect with an everlasting love and chose them as the heirs of eternal salvation, God could not and would not have them unless they were made to be perfectly righteous in His sight. And He could not make them righteous without the satisfaction of His justice. But His holy justice could not slay His innocent Son for He had sinned not. The sword of justice could never slay an innocent Substitute. Before God could cry, "Awake, O Sword, against my Son," the Son of God must be made to be sin for the elect! And when the Son of God was made to be sin for them by taking their sins upon Himself, they were then made righteous. The believer's sins were forever erased from the presence of God. The sins of God's elect were dwelt with fully on the cross. And as a result of His work on the cross, the elect of God are made "complete in Him".

Doug Weaver - Pastor of Millsite Baptist Church, Cottageville, WV.

THE SON OF GOD MADE TO BE SIN

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

what a glorious truth to learn that the very Son of God on behalf of His people settled the matter of sin and righteousness upon the cross. So absolute is the work of imputation, (the sinner's sin to Him and Christ's righteousness to the sinner), that ALL whom Christ redeemed have ALL together been already pronounced righteous by the Eternal Judge, Ephesians 2:5,6. There is no sin laid to their charge because it was all laid to His, Isaiah 53:5, 6. There is complete righteousness before God's law because He worked it out and the Father has imputed it to their account.

Sin was not infused in Christ, but rather charged to His account. The same is true with regard to the imputation of His righteousness. It is not infused into the sinner, but charged to his account, whereby God declares such a one righteous before Him. All for whom the Son of God was made sin, will in time be made to see that their sin put Him to death, but glorious thought, His righteousness was made to be theirs also, by grace alone.

Ken Wimer - Pastor of Shreveport Grace Church

THE POWER OF GODLINESS - 2 Timothy 3:5

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."

Jesus warned his hearers in Matthew 10:33 that "whosoever shall deny me before men, his will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven," This of necessity leaves every sinner either denying or demonstrating the power of godliness. What is godliness and what power does it wield? Webster defines godly as divine, devout. Sinners are not divine but they are devout, they are devoted either to false religion or true religion. What is the difference: the power of godliness. True godliness (devotion) to God is the power (dunamis) of God to transform the sinner's mind to agree with God concerning the basis of his acceptance with God. True godliness has its source only in God. True godliness is the fruit ad results of Christ's satisfaction to law and justice for all our salvation. True godliness is bestowed at regeneration and conversion, enabling the believer to see that Christ's righteousness imputed saves us, justifies us and ensures our final glory in heaven without any "works of righteousness, which we have done." (Titus 3:5)

Those with only a form of godliness deny the very truths revealed to and believed by the justified sinner. They make their acceptance with God based on something done in them, by them or through them. They "are lovers of their own selves" (2 Timothy 3:2), they love the contribution they insist on making to Christ's finished work of salvation and will not abandon it. The Lord will deliver His sheep from a mere form of godliness. He will deliver us from the denial of, to a demonstration of godliness through the Spirit and His power." (1 Corinthians 2:4)

His sheep experience "godliness with contentment which is great gain." (1Timothy 6:6)

They are content to rest in Christ's finished work for all their salvation. All others deny the power of godliness. They are ungodly.