^{Aug 6 2017}

HYMN OF THE DAY
What A Gathering

Before time, God chose a people
To be the heirs of His grace.
Sinners, ungodly, and feeble,
Were the ones Christ came to save.
He put away sins, bore its wrath:
It was the debt they deserved.
And now there is joy for their path,
For their sin stain has been purged.

God now looks from His blessed throne
With His Son at His right side.
At His right side are all His own;
In His Son they now abide.
O, What joy there is in heaven
When one sinner does repent.
They will dwell with Him forever,
Clothed in His own righteousness.

What a gathering there will be
When God calls His people home!
They'll give praise, honor, and glory,
To King Jesus on His throne.
Songs of grace fill the atmosphere;
The Great Preacher speaks to all.
The shout of vict'ry they will hear,
God's dear Son is All in All.

Tune: "Come Thou Fount” Pg. 17
By Gary Spreacker

THE MATCHLESS LOVE OF JESUS
Eph. 3:14-19

The apostle, in praying for the saints at Ephesus, asked the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would grant according to the riches of His glory that they might be, “Strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man.” "That Christ might dwell in our hearts by faith” and being ROOTED and GROUNDED IN LOVE may be able to comprehend the love of Christ, to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. The saints of God know and also pray for others to know, the love of Christ, for there is nothing wider, longer, deeper, or higher than the love that Jesus has for poor sinners whom He died for. His love is matchless! When I say matchless, I mean just that, it is matchless! The love of man for a woman cannot match it. The love of a mother for her child cannot match it. There is no love known in the universe, which can match the love of Christ for His people!

1. His love is matchless because it is ETERNAL (Jer. 31:3). It has no beginning and no ending. It is eternal in its consequences, He loved us before the world began and the end of the world will not stop it.

2. His love is matchless because it is FREE (Hos.11: 4). This is a stumbling stone for the vast majority of mankind, for they believe they must earn His love, but it is freely given to sinners and sinners freely receive it.

3. His matchless love is FAULTLESS. Even in chastening those whom He receives, He does it in love (Heb. 12:6-7).Search it, examine it, you cannot doubt it.

4. His love is DISCRIMINATING (Rom. 5:6-8).Not as men think of discrimination, He loves and receives sinners out of every kindred, tribe and tongue of people. But He only loves sinners, beggars, lepers, and the vilest.” this man receiveth sinners!”

5. His love is FAITHFUL, it does not change because of anything in us, or because of any­thing we do. His love was faithful to Peter who denied Him, went back fishing, and warmed his hands at the fires of His Lord’s enemies. - Pastor

A GARDEN ENCLOSED
Song of Solomon 4:12

Our Lord compares His church to a garden in these verses. He calls His church His sister, His spouse. “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse;” we are His next of kin, He is our ­Brother. We have the same Father; we are God’s children by adoption. “My spouse” my nearest and dearest. What our Lord is saying is that the most precious bonds of love unite us to Him. Beloved, we are a garden enclosed; enclosed by the eternal, electing, effectual love and grace of our covenant God. Just as a garden is a piece of ground taken out of common ground, and appropriated to more special use than the rest. The church is taken out of the common mass of mankind to be a garden of the Lord’s planting.

We are a garden enclosed by the absolute so of God. The ground of a garden is as barren and unprofitable as the rest of the ground. In a garden, no fruit grows of itself, it must be sown or planted. The only reason we are His garden enclosed is because “it pleased Him to make us His people”, as nothing spiritual grows of itself, so nothing spiritual grows in our hearts till planted by sovereign grace.

There are many different flowers and plants in a gardeneach having their different colors and fragrances; so it is in the Lord’s garden. We are all different and that is what makes the garden so pleasant to be in.