Today's Speaker: Brother Mark 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.
Birthdays: Kathryn Wages - Aug. 19th. , Mariel Moore - Aug. 20th.
Guest Speaker: Pastor Gary Shepard will be our guest speaker on Aug. 23rd.
Dinner: Winston and Patricia have given us an opportunity for fellowship and food at their home on Saturday evening, Aug. 22nd. Please let them know before next Tuesday if you will be able to attend. This will give them an idea of the amount of food to prepare.
Noah, a Type of Christ
Noah had a covenant made with him, and in this he may be viewed as a type of our Lord, with whom the covenant of grace was made by Jehovah the Father ; whose language on this subject is too plain to be mistaken, and too positive to be denied : " I have made a covenant with my chosen ; I have sworn unto David my servant; thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations." This is not to be understood of David, the son of Jesse ; but of him who is the root and offspring of David, whose goings forth were of old, from everlasting ; and who in his official character, was set up from ever lasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. To him, as the head of the church, the promises were made; and with him the covenant of promise was established before the giving of the law; before the promise was made to Abraham; yea, before the almighty Creator stretched out the north over the empty place, and hung the earth upon nothing. This is fully demonstrated by apostolic language "according to the hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began;" "according to his purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ; " "who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus;" " to the intent, that unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." These declarations all imply a covenant of an eternal date, made with Christ; because whatever the church has in him, whatever she receives from him, and whatever he has done and does for her, is in consequence of, his being given by the Father for a covenant of the people. Isaiah, xlii. 6, 7 ; xlix.8,9
Job Hupton - 1762-1829
WITHOUT FAULT BEFORE GOD
There is no flaw in God's account. God looks upon weak saints in the Son of His love -- and sees them all lovely. Ah, poor souls! You are apt to look upon your spots and blots, and to cry out with the leper not only "Unclean! unclean!" but "Undone! undone!" Well, forever remember this -- you stand before God in the righteousness of Christ; upon which account you always appear before the throne of God without fault; where you are all lovely, and where there is no flaw in you. "For they are without fault before the throne of God" (Rev. 14:5).
Thomas Brooks
Complicity with King Uzziah
But when he Uzziahwas strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
2 Chronicles 26:16
The seriousness of King Uzziah's sin is due to the fact that the priestly office he dared to fulfill was a foreshadowing of Christ in His priestly office as the one mediator between God and men. While many, like me in years past, never would openly deny my need for Christ as a mediator or even recognize that fact within my own heart and mind, my doctrine exposed no less. My doctrine, my gospel at that time, didn't really require the mediation of Christ. Instead, I imagined the pivotal issue in my salvation hinged upon that which I would do for myself so as to appropriate God's blessing - not upon the work of Christ, the one and only Mediator.
Well, as sinners born in darkness, we are unaware of our complicity with Uzziah unless and until God graciously confronts us with the true Gospel. We only become aware by God-given faith under the sound of the true gospel. This religious pride we all possess in common with Uzziah should be evident in the honest answers (whether openly admitted or simply held close, harbored within one's heart) to the question concerning the basis of their hope. Why do you believe you will be eternally blessed in heaven's glory or what distinguishes you from those who perish? Let me ask you, would your honest answer be like one of the answers that I once would have given and that so many would give even now if they were honest with themselves. Is your real hope (if you are honest) derived from things such as the following?:
1. I remember when under great conviction, I walked down a church aisle and professed faith in my Christ before men and I was baptized to profess the same.
2. I'm truly sorry for my sins - even sorry enough to actually reform. I've cried genuine tears of remorse over my sins and asked God to forgive me.
3. I prove my faith by my pocketbook - putting my money where my mouth is. 1 donate money to the church (a tithe or more than a tithe)
4. I walk my talk - I'm moral and truly sincere about my faith.
5. Because I believe - pure and simple
And the list could go on (fervently pray, read my bible daily, etc.). While most if not all those things are admirable in and of themselves, if you take comfort from any of those things as playing any causal role in your acceptance before God - if things such as these (things done by you, in you, or through you the sinner - form any part of the ground or cause of your salvation, (whether you openly acknowledge it or not - but if in your heart of hearts you know that to be case), then I pray you'll see from the story of King Uzziah, that such notions place you in his company, for you to have dared to usurp the role that God the Father appointed to be accomplished by the one and only mediator, the God-man, the Lord Christ Jesus, for you've presumed to make the difference that only He could and did make in His obedience unto death - by the shedding of His precious blood.
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