CALL TO WORSHIP

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

(Words by Winston Pannell)

What a friend we have in Jesus;

He the sinner's only plea

Bore the sins of all His people

When He died on Calvary.

He who knew no sin, for sinners

By God's hand who made Him sin,

Satisfied God's law and justice,

Perfect righteousness brought in.

Laid aside His reputation

Round the Throne of Glory there,

Deity and flesh united,

He our sins and grief's did bear.

Smitten by God's hand at Calvary,

As the sinner's Substitute,

He, a righteousness perfected,

Which God freely there imputes.

In the Son of God our Savior

Righteousness for us prevails

To provide what God requireth

To redeem our soul from hell

If His righteousness imputed

Is your one and only plea,

It alone doth freely give you

Life and that eternally.

Bible Study 10 AM. Video sermon by Pastor Bill Parker

Today's Speaker: Brother Winston Pannell will conduct the 11:00 am service today. Pray for him as he delivers God's word.

Message: "THE FRIEND OF SINNERS"

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

Birthdays: Dawson Young - Sept. 23^rd.

THE KINSMAN

"If any of your Israelite relatives go bankrupt and are forced to sell some inherited land, then a close relative, a kinsman redeemer, may buy it back for them." Leviticus 25:25

Reader, your heart is hidden from man's view. But surely you are one of human race, and, therefore you partake of human need. Sin is your birth-place, and your cradle, and your native air. It is the stream, on which you naturally glide; and its course tends to ruin's depths, except some helper intervene.

But help is ready in the Savior Christ. There is more power to Him to rescue, than in sin to slay. Say, are these tidings music to your ears? If so, each image will be dear, which shows some feature of delivering grace. This is the value of the Bible-page. It is an ever-varying picture of one precious scene. Faith cannot look, but some new beauty of the beloved Lord appears.

An instance meets us in the Kinsman's rights. The tale is simple. One of Israel's sons is destitute. His goods-his lands-are torn away. The creditor demands. The claim is just. All must be yielded. But is there some Kinsman, whose heart feels pity, and whose means abound? Then he has right to pay the price, and to buy back the forfeited estate. He may not be denied. He speaks, and restitution must be made. Redeeming privilege is his.

Such is the statute of the Jewish realm. But it is more than tender mercy to those in distress. It shows far more than civil remedy for helpless debt. It is bright transcript of the work of Christ.

Mark the clear parallel. He saw our misery. He felt that no one but a Kinsman could redeem. He tarries not. He puts on our flesh. He visits earth, as man; and so is qualified to rescue our estate. Thus He stands forth the end and substance of the Kinsman's type.

HENRY LAW
(1797-1884)

OUR SABBATH?

What is the Sabbath? It is rest. What is Jesus? He is rest. God rests in Him. Souls rest in Him. Eternity is rest with Him. God rests in Him. Each attribute here gains repose. Justice has claims. Each sin is debt, which must be paid. Jesus pays all; and justice is content. Truth finds in Him complete fulfillment of its every word-and asks no more. Holiness is more than satisfied; for every sin is washed from the redeemed, and all shine bright in righteousness divine. Mercy and love here trace a passage for their fullest exercise. Their arms embrace a family of ransomed souls. In Christ they sing an endless hymn, and enjoy an endless joy. No more is sought. God is well pleased. Christ is this Sabbath throughout heaven.

Souls rest in Him. When once the eyes are open to the realities of sin, the torpor of indifference ceases. "What must I do to be saved?" absorbs the man. Duties, and penitence, and ritual strictness, present no mountains, which the feet refuse to scale. But efforts like these remove no load of guilt. They guide to no peaceful haven of repose. The wearied soul becomes more weary. But when the Spirit leads the anxious trembler to the cross, then all disquietude is gone. Here is the needed rest. What more can be required? Jesus brings in one flood of peace. The search is over. All is obtained. Jesus is all for everlasting rest. The husks are left. Refreshing food is found. Faith ceases from all empty drudgery, to take up healthy toil for Him.

Heaven is one ocean of repose. No billow heaves. No storm affrights. No foe can enter. No change can cloud the calm expanse of the unruffled sky. But what is heaven, but to see Christ, as He is-to gaze forever on His unveiled beauty-to sit with Him-to realize, that never for one moment can there be absence from Salvation's home? Heaven is heaven, because it is an eternal Sabbath by the side of Jesus.