The “full assurance of faith” by which we draw near to God is not a feeling of assurance, or assurance mustered from within. Our assurance of acceptance with God in Christ is the Revelation of God in Holy Scripture. Believing the Revelation of God, we draw near to him in confident faith through the sacrifice of his dear Son.
Embarked Across the Stormy Sea — Don Fortner (Tune: #118 — When I Survey — LM) 1. Embarked across the stormy sea, Within the good ship Grace, I see That both the ship and stormy seas Are ruled by Him Who pilots me.
2. Upon the billows of the sea, Lord Jesus, Savior, pilot me! Your love, and grace, and tender care Is all that keeps me from despair.
3. My Pilot will His Word perform: — He’ll not forsake me in the storm, But make each raging billow blest. Christ gives me peace. He is my Rest.
4. When I have reached the other side, I’ll see each roaring billow’s tide Was needed to bring me, at last, Into my Pilot’s land of rest.
NO TOLERANCE! — In this day of relentless compromise, I hear constant pleas for toleration. We are urged to see things as others do and respect their opinions. In civil and political matters such admonitions and practices are both necessary and good. But in the things of God the least toleration is treason. In this place, in this house of worship we will not tolerate any doctrine that exalts the flesh, honors man, or diminishes the glory of God in salvation. Let men say what they will and do what they will, in every relationship this congregation has with other churches, pastors, missionaries, etc. our fixed policy is “T.U.L.I.P. or termination.” Arminian, freewill, works religion is an abomination we will not tolerate.
Seven Marks of True Revival
Isaiah 32:1-20
Though this chapter is applicable to Hezekiah and his reign, it is clearly a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ and his reign today as our great King. The King here spoken of is Christ. The kingdom described is the Gospel Kingdom, the Church of God. The time referred to is this present gospel age.
I do not pretend to understand much about revival; but I seriously question what men commonly call “revival.” When I hear men talk about or I read about the “great revivals” of the past, I am convinced that the things they are talking about are nothing but religious delusions. Men who should know better speak of fits of religious ecstasy as signs of revival.
This much I do know, if the message preached is not the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ, the result is not revival, but delusion. The preaching of heresy is damning, not saving. The preaching of Arminian, freewill, works religion never results in revival. — Wherever there is true reviva1, a genuine restoration of divine worship, the seven things spoken of in Isaiah 32 will be evident.
1. Christ is exalted as Lord and Savior (vv. 1-2). — There is no revival where the mediatorial offices of Christ are not known. Wherever Christ rules in the heart he is known, used and enjoyed as the sinner's all-sufficient Substitute.
2. True prophets are restored to God's church (vv. 3-8). — In times of spiritual darkness vile, covetous men fill the pulpits of churches and are looked upon as good men. When revival comes, faithful pastors rule as princes in the house of God, teaching his truth, the gospel of his free and sovereign grace in Christ.
3. God's saints repent, lamenting and confessing their sins (vv. 9-14). — It is our carnal ease, presumption and neglect of Christ that makes us desolate. When the Lord God pours out his Spirit upon his people, he causes us to know and confess the evil that is in us.
4. The Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church (vv. 15-16). — Where once there was emptiness, barrenness and desolation, there is fulness, fruitfulness and joy.
5. The work of Christ is magnified (v. 17). — The work of his righteousness, not ours, is peace. The effect of his righteousness, not ours, is assurance forever. It is his work that is our salvation, brings us joy and glorifies God.
6. The worship of Christ is restored (vv. 18-19). — Sinners are gathered into the church and the saints of God dwell together in peace.
7. The gospel is preached near and far (v. 20). — Whatever revival is, it certainly results in the church of God being filled with a sense of urgency in evangelism and missionary work. We must preach the gospel to every creature. When God moves upon his church, his church moves the world. Without him, we only amuse it!
Eight Stubborn Statements
Isaiah 8:20
Here are eight, stubborn, irrefutable statements. They go right to the heart of true Christianity. You will either accept or reject these eight statements. There is no middle ground; and you will find it impossible to be indifferent regarding them. There is no room for compromise on any of these eight points.
1. Either the Bible is in its entirety the holy, inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God, or it is in its entirety a lie by which the souls of men are eternally deceived and damned. If the Bible not the Word of God, throw it away. But if it is, as it claims to be, God’s Holy Word, we better pay attention to it. It claims, as such, a total sway over our lives. It must be our only rule of faith and practice.
2. Either God almighty is absolutely sovereign, in total control of all things, at all times, or there is no God. Again, there is no middle ground between these two poles, between God’s absolute, total sovereignty and absolute, total atheism. To speak of a god who is not totally sovereign is utter nonsense. Atheism is far more sensible than Arminianism. If God is, he is sovereign!
3. Either man is totally depraved, utterly dead in trespasses and in sins, or there is nothing wrong with him and he needs no Savior. There is no such thing as partial depravity or partial goodness before God. Either we are totally sinful and depraved, or we are totally righteous and good. There is no middle ground.
4. Either God chose to save some of Adam’s fallen race to salvation and eternal life in Christ before the world began, as the Bible says he did, or no salvation is possible for any man. Salvation is God’s prerogative, not man’s. Grace is God’s gift, not man’s choice. If God does not choose to save and choose whom he will save, no sinner can ever be saved.
5. Either the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is altogether and alone the effectual Redeemer and Savior of his people, or he is a fraud and a failure. Again, there is no middle ground, no room for compromise. Either Christ did what he came to do, or he is a failure. If he is a failure, he is not God, and we have no Savior.
6. Either we are regenerated and called to life and faith in Christ by the irresistible power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, or there is no such thing as salvation. The only hope for a dead sinner is free and sovereign grace, grace that asks for nothing and gives everything, grace that waits for nothing and does everything.
7. Either God’s people are entirely free from the law, as the Scriptures declare us to be, or we are yet under the bondage of the law and entirely obligated to keep it perfectly. There is no such thing as being partially under the law and partially free from it, not in biblical terms. The only way the sinner can satisfy, fulfill, and establish the law is by faith in Christ (Rom. 3:31).
8. Either every saved sinner shall persevere to the end, being preserved and kept by God’s infallible, immutable grace, or none shall. The perseverance of the saints is demanded by the purpose of God, the purchase of Christ, and the power of the Spirit.
GRACE BULLETIN May 4, 2008 GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE 2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438 Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail don@donfortner.com Donald S. Fortner, Pastor Schedule of Regular Services Sunday 10:00 A.M. Bible Classes 10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service 6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service Tuesday 7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service Web Pages http://www.donfortner.com http://www.freegraceradio.com http://www.sovereign-grace.com/gracechurch.htm
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