Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

Psalm 48:1-3

Rejoice

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).

Did you know that the word “REJOICE” is used ten times in the book of Philippians? I pray that we may learn the word in heart and experience as well as in doctrine. There is always cause to “REJOICE IN THE LORD!”

Rejoice in His blood, which cleanses 1 John 1:7). Rejoice in His righteousness, which sanctifies (1 Cor. 1:30). Rejoice in His providence, which works all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28). Rejoice in His intercession, which is continual and effectual (Heb. 7:25). Rejoice that your names are written in the Book of Life Phil. 4:3). “I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1986)

Christ Hath Redeemed Us

Here is a word from God that should brighten the day for you – "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." When the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hung upon the cross, he was made to be a curse, an object of Divine wrath and Judgment, so that we who believe might never endure the curse of God's wrath. He did not simply make it possible for us to be redeemed. He did not simply make us redeemable. The text says, "Christ Hath redeemed us from the curse of the law!" This redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the central theme of Holy Scripture, the foundation of our faith, and the only hope we have of eternal salvation. Pastor Don Bell

THE EFFECTUAL ATONEMENT OF CHRIST

Christ shedding His blood assures that every elect person will be brought to faith in His blood. There are those who believe that their faith makes the death of Christ effectual. That Christ died for all men without exception - as much for one as the other - the only difference being that one believes, and the other does not. But it is not faith that makes the death of the Lord Jesus effectual, but it is the death of Christ that assures us that every elect soul will be justified by faith in time. Listen to this Scripture; “He (God) shall see of the travail of his (Christ) soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge SHALL MY RIGHTEOUS SERVANT JUSTIFY MANY; FOR HE SHALL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES.” Why is any man justified by faith? Because Jesus Christ bore his iniquities. Christ shedding His blood assures that every elect person will be brought to faith in His blood.

Bruce Crabtree

Christ – Our Sinless, Substitute

How can a believer doubt when he knows that he is represented before the throne of God by an advocate, even Jesus Christ the Righteous?

It is the privilege of the very feeblest believer to know that he was represented by Christ on the cross, that all his sins were confessed, borne, judged, and atoned for.

This is a divine reality; and when laid hold of by faith, it must give peace; but nothing short of it can ever give peace.

There may be earnest, anxious, and most sincere desires after God; there may be pious and devout attendance upon all the laws, offices, and forms of religion; but there is no possible way in which to get the sense of sin entirely removed from the conscience but by seeing it judged in the person of Jesus Christ as a sin offering on the cursed cross.

If it were judged there once for all, it is now to be regarded by the believer as a divinely, and therefore, eternally settled question; and it was so judged, as proven by the resurrection of the Surety.

Pastor Scott Richardson

Complex but Not Complicated

Complex means consisting of many different and connected parts. God uses the whole Bible to declare His Gospel. It cannot be whittled down to a few phrases or clichés`. But it is not complicated. It is simple. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. God is absolutely sovereign in all things. Men are totally depraved and totally unable to save themselves. God before time began chose who He would save. Christ actually saved those people by His life, death, and resurrection. Grace actually saves. The one evidence that God elected you, Christ died for you, and the Holy Spirit has given you life by His grace is if you persevere all the way to the end, looking to Christ only. Every statement is simple and easy to understand. You may not like it, but you understand it. Call any of these statements into question and you fall into a maze of complications and contradictions.