Psalm 72:11-14

Submit

“God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. Submit yourself, therefore, to God.” (James 4:6-7).

The way to overcome pride, envy, and the spirit of carnal ambition is to submit yourselves to God! Submit to His will and purpose regarding gifts, talents, and possessions; to His place of service, be it lowly or great; to His will to prosper or empty us, to honor or humiliate us.

There is ONE NAME to be praised, ONE WILL to be done, ONE LIFE to be imitated, ONE PERSON who must have the preeminence; our LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1987)

“Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth” (Rom. 9:18).

The carnal heart hears the Gospel and says, “How can anyone trust in a God that is so unfair as to choose to sovereignly save one sinner by irresistible grace and then sovereignly pass by another and justly leave that unrepentant sinner in the hardness of reprobation?”

On the other hand, the vessel of God’s mercy declares, “How is it that a just and holy God could show mercy and compassion to such a worm as I am…one who deserves, because of sin, to be cast out of His presence for all eternity…one who was found to be fulfilling the desires of his flesh and was by nature a child of wrath even as others? How can I not but trust Him who has been pleased to sovereignly show mercy to a worm like me and not leave me to the hardness of my own nature? Pastor Marvin Stalnaker

Oh, The Wonder Of It!

Ephesians 1: 6-7

When I think of the wonder, majesty, and glory of God, I can hardly believe that such a worm as I am should be called to be an heir of His grace. Yet, it is just this vast difference that manifests the glory of His grace. He who is the highest, the holiest, and the greatest has set His affection on the lowest, the most sinful, and weakest. It is "to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

Pastor Darvin Pruitt

I Think Myself Happy

“I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews” (Acts 26:2).

When the apostle Paul stood before king Agrippa he had been in prison for two years (Acts 24:27). The Lord now opens the door for Paul to declare the gospel unto both Festus the governor and Agrippa the king and he does so by first declaring that he was a happy man. Paul was saying that he was abundantly blessed of God that is the reason even though in bondage he was rejoicing in the Lord. He writes to the Philippians from prison in Rome as says, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).

That is the exact case of every believer. Even though we live in this body of sin and in the bondage of death and are plagued by many trials, heartaches and much grief we should always consider our case to be the same as Paul, “I think myself happy.” Believers are abundantly blessed in Christ above all people of the earth and have every reason to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ and be of good cheer (John 16:33; Eph. 1:3-7).

Consider what David says in the Psalms about those who are blessed of God:

Psalm 32:1-2 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”

Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”

Psalm 65:4 “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee.”