4/5/20
Call To Worship
With sin and guilt poor Zion toils,
And labours hard for peace;
But till the Lord the Saviour smiles,
Her conscience gets no ease.
[Her efforts all abortive prove;
Her working makes her worse;
Nought but the Saviour's flesh and blood
Can save her from the curse.]
The Lord the Saviour is her rest;
On Him she casts her cares;
By faith she leans upon His breast,
And banishes her fears.
But till the Holy Ghost applies
The Saviour's precious blood,
Above her guilt she cannot rise,
Nor lean upon her God.
(Words by William Gadsby)
(TUNE: "Amazing Grace", pg.236)
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Remember In Prayer This Week:
Bea Reeg; 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;
ALL THE BRETHREN effected by this virus
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Happy Anniversary
Russell and Sue Barfield - April 7
Happy Birthday Today:
Taylor Crain
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William Mason's "Morning Thought"
"Even WE have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ." Gal. 2:16.
We therefore do make this definition of a Christian, that he is not one who is without sin, but one to whom God imputeth not his sin through faith in Christ. Here we must be nothing at all, but only receive the treasure, which is Christ, and apprehend him in our hearts by faith, though we feel ourselves to be never so full of sin. Thus God will glorify his Son, and be glorified in us through him." Thus speaketh Luther. Having the same spirit of faith, we thus speak, make the same confession, rejoice in the same hope, are justified by the same Jesus, comforted by the same truth, sanctified by the same Spirit, are heirs of the same promises, and entitled to the same kingdom. And ever remember, all is of free grace. Here the most dignified apostle, as well as the most obscure sinner are upon a level. There is no difference. Both have the same evils to be delivered from, the same object to be saved by, both believe in one Jesus to the same blessed end, to enjoy peace and pardon from God the Father. In the knowledge of this consists all our comfort; and for this, as poor needy sinners, we are constantly to cleave to Jesus from hour to hour. Have we believed many years since, that we might be justified? True, once justified, and ever so; never after condemned, as viewed in Jesus in the sight of God. "For who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?"Rom. 8:33,34. But how is it now in our consciences? Faith is a rooted grace; it cannot be lost. Love is its inseparable companion; sweet peace its blessed fruit. But "Do ye NOW believe?" said Jesus. Have you the love of God NOW in you? Doth the sense of peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, now abide in the heart? If not, intervening clouds, from the world, sin, Satan, or the law, intercept the light of God's countenance, and the sunshine of his love. What then? must we live and die without hope? No: blessed be God, he rests in his love: it is ever the same. Jesus ever lives and prays: gospel-grace is still proclaimed to the wretched. Come, as at the beginning, to Jesus, owning sin, grieving for folly, and believe in him that we may be justified in our consciences, and have a fresh sense of pardon and peace. "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."Psalm 9:10.
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Excerpt from Joseph Iron's sermon entitled: "Justification"
"One of the most affecting displays of the gross ignorance of man under the fall, relative to God's method of saving sinners, is that, after the lapse of almost nineteen hundred years from the days of Christ on earth, there should be such multitudes professing and calling themselves Christians, who determine to reject God's only method of saving sinners, and cling to the system which can only curse and condemn them; still ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own, "refusing to submit to the righteousness of God."
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Excerpt from Joseph Iron's sermon entitled: "Justification"
"If you look at our Lord's exposition of the law in its spirituality, in which He tells us that covetousness is idolatry, then, I ask, where is the man who never had a covetous feeling or thought? Again, He tells us that a lustful look is adultery; and where is the man who is exempt? Then He analyses the whole law, and tells us that it is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We go, therefore, beyond external manifestations, and ask what goes on in the poor depraved heart of man? One uninterrupted, unremitting scene of rebellion against God's command and will. Yet, with all this incapability of man to do ought but sin in his fallen state, THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE LAW ARE NOT ABATED. I dwell upon this point because the professors of modern divinity state that they are abated; that if man does his best, if he is sincere in his obedience as far as it goes, and if he avoids all the evil that he can, even though he cannot come up to the mark, yet God is merciful and abates the rest, especially if he brings in the merits of Christ to make up the deficiency. Such is the sum and substance of the modern gospel; and a most deceptive thing it is, the truth being, that the holy law of God is, like Himself, immutable; that its obligations are the same, and that you and I must find the whole amount of its demands, the very last mite, somewhere or other, or perish under its curse. NOW I HAVE FOUND IT! But, mind you, NOT IN MYSELF, and not in any creature. The whole is paid, the entire demand, the perfect cancelling, the going to the end of it, the magnifying of it in the person of Him who is at once Law-maker, Law-giver, and Law-fulfiller. Glory to His name, that there we have it in full."
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