3/22/20
Call To Worship

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Earth and heaven in sweet accord;
Join to tell Jehovah's praises,
Tell the glory of the Lord.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Magnify Jehovah's name;
Praise the living God, our Saviour
All that breathe, His praise proclaim

Praise the God of all creation;
Praise the Father's boundless love;
Praise the Lamb, our expiation,
Priest, and King enthroned above.

May the grace of Christ, our Saviour;
And the Father's boundless love,
With the Holy Spirit's favor,
Rest upon us from above.

(Tune: "Jesus Calls Us" pg. 374)

------------

Remember In Prayer This Week:
Tracey Riedstra; Gina and Graham Dison; Kim Mullings; Pam Austin;
Sarah Caniano; Judy Ward; Leroy Moore; Stanley Dison; Monica Aaron;
Tye Wilson; Lael Pedersen; Devonne Lewis; Jackie Gaddis;
Dusty Adams;Ashton Ward; Rayna Kay Bartley; Diane Balsamo

--------------

"Imputation" by Isaac Chauncy
It’s our sins and our sins in the highest degrees and aggravations that Christ was accountable to God for, and that he bore them in this sense, by way of Imputation, though none of the spot or stain by way of inherent pollution or defilement fell upon Him, nor could cleave unto Him. And we defend the position as the Spirit of God everywhere states it.

-------------------

Because of the ongoing Corona virus across our country, we WILL NOT have our normal services again until further notice. I encourage all those from Grace to use the source of our Sermon Audio Live Stream and watch our services. That website address is: https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/graceofruston/webcast/

Bro.Richard

-----------------

Excerpt from "Mason's Spiritual Treasury" by William Mason

"I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy: and I will say to them which were not my people, thou art my people; and they shall say, thou art our God." Hos. 2:23.

Declarations of grace depend not on the will of the flesh for their accomplishment. Sovereign power brings sovereign purposes to effect. Human will can neither forward nor frustrate them. So the Lord raises up and forms a people, for his glory on earth, and the Redeemer's crown in heaven. See the process of it. (1st.) "I will sow her." This alludes to the word Jezrael in the last verse, which signifies the seed of God. God's people are his own precious seed: he sows them in the earth. (2d.) "Unto me." As they are sown by him, they spring up unto him. Though they lie long under the clods of nature's darkness and corruption, and for a while spring up only to the world, the flesh, and the devil, yet there is a set time to favour them; a fixed day of power, to come upon them. Men do not sow their precious seed, and care no more about it: neither doth the Lord. For, (3d.) "I will have mercy upon her who had not obtained mercy." His eye of care preserves, till his day of mercy comes. It is as impossible for an elect, redeemed soul to perish without mercy, as for the truth of God to fail. "It is impossible for God to lie." (Heb. 6:18.) The truth of God is the joy of faith. St. Paul, though exceeding mad against Christ, obtained mercy from him: the thief on the cross obtained mercy at the last hour: your soul, mine, and every soul that is called, converted, and justified by the faith of Christ, obtains this from mere mercy, just in the same way. Because justice is satisfied with Christ, mercy flows from God through him to us. (4th.) "I will say to them which were not my people, thou art my people." God's voice of love comes to us, his grace challenges us, his power apprehends us, before we apprehend him. We are children of wrath, by nature: we are at enmity against God, and fly from God. But the good Shepherd seeks us: he claims us as his own sheep "as the gift of his Father", as the purchase of his blood: he manifests himself to us, and gives us faith in his name. Then, (5th.) "They shall say, thou art my God." My God - O, how much is contained in this! Now, there is peace in the conscience, love in the heart, and joy in the soul. The sinner can never be happy, till he thus appropriates the Lord to himself. Then, the soul is inspired with a holy, loving fear, and excited to a cheerful walk: a hope, full of immortality, is in the heart: this is ever in the eye, "All is of God, who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 5:18.

---------------

Who Is Like Our God?

"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he will subdue our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."Micah 7:18,19.

My soul! hast thou ever duly and thoroughly pondered over the several interesting volumes of grace recorded in this glorious scripture? If not, make them the subject of this evening's, song. Let every chapter contained in them, pass and re-pass in review before thee, and see whether, in the close of the whole, the astonishment of the man of God is not thine also; crying out, "Who is a God like our God? a God in Christ, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin!" And, first, "He pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his people." Yes; in Jesus, the Son of his love, he hath done all this, and more than this, for he hath taken the objects of his clemency into favour. Secondly, the cause of all these unspeakable felicities is assigned; "because he delighteth in mercy." It is from himself, and his own free sovereign grace, that these blessings flow. Not what the highly-favoured objects merit, but what grace can do for them. Not what claims they have to his bounty, but how his grace can best be magnified in their salvation. Sweet and precious consideration to the breast of every poor sinner! My soul! I hope that thou canst truly participate in the delightful thought. Thirdly, he that delighteth in mercy, will delight to "turn again" to his people. He will turn their hearts to himself, and then his returns to them will sweetly follow, to their apprehension, and to their joy. "Fourthly, he will not only pardon their iniquity, but "he will subdue their iniquities: not only take away the guilt of sin, but also destroy the dominion of sin; not only cast their sins behind his back, but "cast them into the depths of the sea:" and so effectually shall they be lost, that if the sin of Judah be sought for, it shall not be found. The depths of the sea, that fountain which God hath opened in the Redeemer's blood, shall more completely bury them, than the congregated waters of the ocean cover any mountain or hill cast into them. Say now, my soul! dost thou not look up to a God in Christ, and cry out, with the prophet, in the same holy rapture and astonishment, "Who is a God like unto thee?"