Birthdays: Leigh Ann Flynn – July 27th – Jackie Renfroe – July 28th
Jake Jones – July 30th – Jermaine Harpe – Aug. 1st.
NO FEAR OF DEATH
" Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15). It is only because of the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ that believers may face death without fear. Death, the penalty of sin, has already been endured for us by the Savior. In fact, rather than us dying, the Savior said to Martha, in John 11:26, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" When believers pass from this life, they "sleep in Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 4:14); the soul goes to paradise and the body sleeps in the dust, awaiting a glorious resurrection. "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the everlasting dawn has finally arrived. Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied" (Matthew Henry). It doesn’t matter where you die, when you die or how you die; all that is important is to die in Christ.
--- Pastor Jim Byrd
THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us" (Ephesians 2:4). The love of God to His chosen people is very great, if it be considered Who it is that has loved them, God and not man, Who is an infinite, unchangeable, and sovereign Being. His love is like Himself, for God is love. It has heights and depths, and lengths and breadths immeasurable. It admits of no variation nor alteration and is altogether free, arising from Himself and not from any motives and conditions in men. If the persons themselves are considered, who are the objects of it, they are sinful men, unworthy of the divine notice and regard and these are loved personally, particularly, and distinctly, and not others. They are loved, not for anything in them or done by them, and that notwithstanding their manifold sins and transgressions. To which may be added, that this love is represented as a past act; and indeed, it is from everlasting and is antecedent to their being quickened, and was when they were dead in trespasses and sins. This is the source and spring of the blessing next mentioned, the grace of God. "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved" (Ephesians 2:5).
--- John Gill
DOCTRINAL ERROR
All doctrinal error can be traced to a twofold ignorance: [1] not knowing who God is and what His attributes are and [2] not knowing what happened in the fall and the devastating effect it had upon all men. It is in the Word of God that we find the Lord identifying Himself, and it is in this same book that the Lord describes all mankind as being spiritually dead sinners. If we have shallow thoughts about God and His holy character, then we will have shallow thoughts about our depravity and guilt. If we do not have some understanding of the perfections of God, then we will have wrong thoughts about our own sinfulness and corruption. If we do not perceive God to be holy and just, we will consequently have wrong views about the way He saves sinners. Holding unscriptural beliefs concerning God and sinful self always leads to wrong conclusions about salvation. It is only in the light of God’s holiness that we see and know what sin is and it is only in the Book of God that the way of sin’s removal is set forth in a manner consistent with His law and justice. The reason men staunchly maintain their beliefs in free-willism, justification by works and salvation accomplished by man is because they lack a Biblical knowledge of God and a Biblical knowledge of themselves. Every man by nature has too low an opinion of God and too high an opinion of self, and those errors always lead to wrong conclusions about the way of salvation. It is only when the Spirit of Illumination shows us from the Scriptures something of the purity of God that we will see our own sinfulness and realize that salvation has to be all of grace, fully accomplished line by Jesus Christ and His triumphant work of redemption. Until then, men will continue to try and establish a righteousness of their own and refuse to submit to righteousness established by the Savior when He died as God’s sacrifice for sin and the Substitute of His people.
--- Pastor Jim Byrd
GOD JUSTIFIED HIS ELECT
"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth." (Romans 8:33)
He against whom sin is committed, the Lawgiver, and the righteous Judge, justifies them from every charge; not by teaching them the way of justification, nor by infusing righteousness into them, or on account of any works of righteousness done by them, but by pronouncing them righteous through the imputation of the righteousness of His Son unto them: observe, that "God’s elect," as such, are the objects of justification; which proves the eternity of it; the speciality of it as belonging to particular persons, and the everlasting security and continuance of it.
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