• I am scheduled to preach Friday and Saturday for SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH in Mercer County, where Bro. Bill Eldridge is pastor. — Telephone 859-366-4479.
• ZEBULON BAPTIST CHURCH in Pikeville, KY will host a Bible conference July 24-26. Speakers: Todd Nibert and Paul Mahan. Bro. Tom Harding is pastor. — Telephone: 606 631-9053 — Email: taharding@mikrotec.com

Force Me to be Saved by Grace — Don Fortner
(Tune: #352 — Jesus, Lover of My Soul — 77.77D)

1. O my God, I bow to You! You alone can mercy show!
You can save me, if You will. I am Yours to save or kill.
Sov’reign over all You are, — (Greater than my sinful heart!)
Let Your pow’r on me be shown. Take away this heart of stone.

2. Take away my guilt and sin; make this sinner whole again!
Make me willing to receive all Your goodness has to give:
Force me, Lord, with all to part. Tear each idol from my heart.
Seal to me the cov’nant new; and Your grace almighty show.

3. Holy Spirit, make me new. Do what only You can do, —
Break my horrid, rebel pride. Save me, Jesus crucified!
Stop the madness of my will. Speak, and bid the storm be still;
Love, eternal love, bestow. Make me now a creature new.

4. Arm of God, Your strength put on. Bow the heavens, and come down;
All my unbelief o’erthrow. Break my pride and lay me low.
Conquer Your worst foe in me. Get Yourself the victory.
Save the vilest of the race, — Force me to be saved by grace!

“He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” (John 7:18)

Multitudes there are, like Diotrephes, who fill the pulpits of churches in every age. Craving the honor of men and loving to have pre-eminence, they exalt and promote themselves. Such men are crafty, self-serving users of men. Our Lord Jesus was not such a preacher; and those who serve Him are not such. — “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).

That man who is called of God to preach the Gospel is deeply sensible of his Savior’s majesty and his own infirmity. He sees in himself nothing but sin, unworthiness and insufficiency. He knows that he is less than nothing (1 Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8). When he expresses such thoughts about himself, he does not do so in a pretentious show of humility, but with an overwhelming sense of awe that the Lord God would be pleased to use such a person as he knows himself to be for the furtherance of the Gospel, the glory of Christ and the everlasting salvation of His elect (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

But that man who knows that he is not motivated by Christ, that he is not led by the Spirit of God, that he has no regard for the glory of God, tries to cover his defects by exalting his name. Like the Scribes and Pharisees of old, he seeks the praise of men. Therefore, he arranges his message to suit the minds of those to whom he preaches, making whatever adjustments in doctrine they might require, so that he can maintain their favor.

Such self-serving, self-promoting men do whatever they can, with great subtlety, to tear down the reputations of others, that they might direct attention to themselves. They are quick to criticize and quick to slander. They are cheats, deceivers and self-serving liars. No one should be surprised to find them walking in craftiness and handling the Word of God deceitfully (1 Corinthians 4:2).

God’s servants are not such men. They do not exalt themselves and promote themselves. To suggest or imply in anyway that a man is a self-exalting, self-promoting man is to imply that he is a false prophet.

God’s servants exalt the Triune God, uplifting the crucified Christ, crying, “Behold the Lamb of God!” Faithful preachers exalt and promote the Gospel of Christ, preaching it tirelessly. They do whatever they can, using every means at their disposal, to promote the church and kingdom of God. And faithful men, the servants of God, seize every opportunity to promote the ministries of other faithful men, especially the ministries of those who labor in isolated places and are less known than others, just as Paul praised and promoted Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25; 4:18, 23), Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:16; 4:19) and Epaphras (Colossians 1:7; 4:12; Philemon 1:23).

Three Sweet Facts from the Book of Life

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8)

In this blessed verse John casually reminds us of three comforting, assuring, soul-cheering truths taught throughout the Word of God. In the midst of this vision of darkness and woe (Read the chapter!), we are given three bright, shining lights of joy, three sweet facts revealed in the Book of Life.

Eternal Election

First, the Book of Life shows us the eternal election of grace. It is called “The Book of Life.” The Spirit of God tells us about some whose names are written in the book and others whose names are not written in it. We are here assured that there is a book in which all the names of God’s elect are registered and have been registered “from the foundation of the world”. It is called “The Lamb’s Book of Life” in Revelation 21:27. It is mentioned here to remind us that, as long as the world stands, there will be “a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). Even in the darkest days of apostasy, though the world is engulfed in the religion of anti-christ, God has an elect people whom He will save, a people who cannot and will not perish with the world (Matthew 24:22-24). It is God’s eternal election of grace that secures His people from the delusion of false religion (2 Thessalonians 2:11-14).

Eternal Redemption

Second, John’s inspired description of the Book of Life speaks about the eternal redemption of God’s elect. John describes our Savior as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” In doing so he is telling us, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that redemption was accomplished for God’s elect before the world began, for Christ is slain before the world was made. Had it not been for the eternal accomplishment of redemption in the covenant of grace, before the world began (2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 8:29-30), God would have immediately destroyed the race as soon as Adam sinned. God’s longsuffering is the result of His eternal grace toward his elect, the result of eternal redemption. And His longsuffering results in the salvation of all those sinners eternally redeemed by Christ, the Lamb of God “slain from the foundation of the world” (2 Peter 3:9, 15). God tolerates reprobate men upon the earth for the sake of His elect, for whom the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, who must be saved.

Eternal Security

Third, eternal election and eternal redemption assure us of the eternal security of God’s elect. Those whose names were written in the Book of Life, for whom the Lamb was slain, cannot perish. We are saved with an eternal, everlasting salvation.