CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: "Doxology")

We give Thee thanks, O God on high,

For Jesus Christ, the crucified;

He is the Lord our Righteousness,

And in Him all Thy people bless.

Thank Thee, O Lord, for precious blood,

Of Christ when in our place He stood;

The Substitute for sinners died,

Thy law and justice satisfied.

Thank Thee, O God, Thy saints preserved,

And for Thy mercies undeserved;

Salvation sure so full and free,

By Christ alone, our perfect plea.

Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

MORNING WORSHIP:

10:00 Bible Study: Video sermon by Richard Warmack

11:00 Service: Brother Winston Pannell will conduct the 11:00 am service

today. Pray for him as he delivers God's word.

Radio Broadcast: Sunday morning at 9:30am on 98.7 FM -WISK

You can also hear the sermons on your computer. Just click on

http://www.americusradio.com/

Birthdays: Sarah Hall - May 27^th.

Judgment and Righteousness

"But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream."

Amos 5:24

"Let judgment run down as waters." Water seeks its own level. It always runs down hill. It destroys everything in its path. You can slow it but you can't stop it until it reaches its own level, until it has finished its course. So it is with justice. God may delay it but we can be sure it will be executed. Justice must be satisfied. God can no more overlook sin than He could cease to be God. There is no escaping the judgment of God. "The wages of sin is death." Where sin is found, justice is extracted. God is a just God.

Where do we see most clearly the demonstration of God's justice: At the cross. There, a Just God poured out His wrath on His only Begotten and well beloved Son when sin was imputed to Him. He "Made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin." God the Father charged God the Son with the sins of every sinner He represented. They were imputed to Him judicially and He was made a curse for those he represented, because it is written in Galatians 3:13; "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."

Judgment ran down on Him like waters until He had satisfied and honored the Law and justice of God in precept and penalty.

"Let righteousness run down as a mighty stream." There is no separating justice and righteousness. Where you find one, you find the other. God is a just God and Savior. Just as sin was imputed to the only One who is "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," His righteousness is imputed to a multitude of guilty, hell deserving sinners out of Adams fallen race. Sin imputed to Him demanded His death. Righteousness imputed to those He represented, who are nothing but sin, demanded their life.

The mighty stream of righteousness is as the waters of judgment; it doesn't stop until it is satisfied, until it has run its course, until it has covered every sinner for whom the precious blood of Christ was shed to establish this righteousness. The mighty stream of righteousness, which He established in His death, is the only salvation for the sinner who is void of God's righteousness and seeking to establish one of his own. The waters of judgment, called the "overflowing scourge" in Isaiah 28:15 will sweep away all those who are in a refuge of lies but the mighty stream of righteousness is a security for those redeemed by the blood of Christ. His righteousness is the only safe harbor from the wrath of God.

Lord, let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Winston Pannell - Eager Ave. Grace Church

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Our freedom from the curse is a spiritual blessing in our covenant Head. Paul felt it, and said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." The spirit of liberty, gospel freedom, sweet peace in the conscience, pardon and redemption is all in Christ, my friends. And if we are blessed with these spiritual blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are safe and secure to all eternity. The soul that has a saving interest in Christ, the great Redeemer, is as sure of heaven as if he were there already. It is not as some freewillers wickedly tell their hearers: "There are thousands in hell for whom Christ shed his blood." O no, this can never be the case; for the Father has declared of the Son, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." He could never be satisfied if the purchase of his blood, the ransom of his life, were to be lifting up their eyes in hell. "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isa. 35:10) It is in Christ, my friends. The Lord keep you and me looking by precious faith to the Person of the great Redeemer, to his blood shedding and justifying righteousness, for peace and salvation. It is the test of the household of faith.

John Kershaw - Preached at Zoar Chapel, London 1853

Excerpt from Comfort My People

That God has a people in the world is evident from His acknowledgment of them as His own possession, "MY PEOPLE." They are the people of His choice, and blessed according to His choice of them in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world, (Eph. 1:3,4). They are the Father's gift to Christ their Surety, to be saved, solaced and secured from wrath to all eternity. They are the Son's property as the purchase of His blood, the fruit of the travail of His soul, the bride of His heart, His body, His flesh, His bones. They are claimed and inhabited by the Holy Spirit as His temple, in whom He, with the Father and the Son, will be worshiped and glorified.