GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE
October 17, 2010
“Neither Jew nor Gentile, Papist nor Protestant will stand accepted before God without the imputed righteousness of Christ to justify and the regenerated life, created life, which the Holy Ghost imparts to qualify for the enjoyment of God.” — Joseph Irons
• I am preaching today for GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH in Taylor, AR, where Bro. Darvin Pruitt is pastor. Bros. Larry Criss and Ron Wood will bring the messages here today.
• COLLEGE GROVE GRACE CHURCH, College Grove, TN will host its annual sovereign grace Bible conference October 22-24. Scheduled speakers are: David Eddmenson, Todd Nibert, Paul Mahan, Chris Cunningham, and Don Fortner. — Bro. Chris Cunningham is the host pastor. Telephone: 615-368-7853 — Email: cunninghamtn@gmail.com
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Am I Called? — Jane Gray
(Tune: #303 — Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me 77.77.77)
1. Am I called? And can it be! Has my Savior chosen me?
Guilty wretched as I am, has He named my worthless name?
Vilest of the vile am I, dare I raise my hopes so high?
2. Am I called? I dare not stay, may not, must not disobey;
Here I lay me at Thy feet, clinging to the mercy-seat:
Thine I am, and Thine alone; Lord with me Thy will be done.
3. Am I called? What shall I bring, as an offering to my King?
Poor, and blind, and naked I, trembling at Thy footstool lie;
Nought but sin I call my own, nor for sin can sin atone.
4. Am I called? An heir of God! Washed, redeemed by precious blood!
Father, lead me in Thy hand, guide me to that better land
Where my soul shall be at rest, pillowed on my Savior’s breast.
BELIEVER’S BAPTISM — Baptism is the symbolic picture of righteousness fulfilled and brought in for God’s elect by Christ’s obedience unto death (Matthew 3:15). By this blessed ordinance our Lord Jesus commands all who trust him to confess him before men (Romans 6:4-11).
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Children Blessed of the Lord — Pastor Bruce Crabtree
“He took them up in his arms, put his hands upon
them and blessed them.” Mark 10:16
This was by no means a mere Jewish ritual or symbolic of a blessing bestowed. No! The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory “blessed them,” and they were blessed; and no man could reverse it. It would have been rewarding to follow these children unto adulthood and watch as the blessings were revealed. These were no carnal blessings. Christ would have dismissed such a request with a “having food and raiment let us be content”. These were spiritual blessings. — Blessings from heaven above! From a child Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures, what a blessing! Some of these children perhaps became preachers of the same Christ who had blessed them. — What a blessing! Some, perhaps, became godly mothers, loving their husbands and guiding the home. — What a blessing! They all became good citizens of their country. They all became believers and worshipers of the living God. They all lived and died in faith and hope. They are all in heaven today! — What a blessing! Jesus blessed them and none could reverse it.
The blessing may have seemed slow in coming to some. A mother watched her son go off into open sins, the tempter telling her the blessing had been made void. But in her eye of faith she still sees the Lord Jesus taking her son up in his arms and blessing him. Her faith is strengthen, she believes and prays and waits patiently, and lives to see the blessing fulfilled, and mother and son rejoice together. — “The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
You and I cannot see the Lord Jesus, but this should not stop us from taking our children to him in faith. — “They brought young children to him.” And how did they do it but in faith? Take them to him in prayer. Take them to him in his Word and point him out to them. Take them to him in public worship. Take them to him in a spiritual song. If the Lord blesses them, they shall be blessed.
“I think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How he called little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with them then.
I wish that His hands had been placed on my head,
That His arm had been thrown around me,
And that I might have seen His kind looks when He said
‘Let the little ones come unto me.’”
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Saving Faith
“Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.” (Luke 18:42)
Some men preach as if they are scared to death one of the non-elect might get saved! They throw up barbed wire, razor fences all around the gospel, doing everything they can to keep sinners from believing on the Son of God.
I never cease to be amazed that the heads of sinful men often swell with such dizziness, under the intoxication of heart-pride, that they imagine themselves smarter than God and presume to assert that that the very language of Holy Scripture is heretical and blasphemous, if not qualified by their own “explanations.” Recently, an imaginary theologian, who thinks he has come to “new light,” has vehemently asserted that anyone who uses the terms “saving faith” and “effectual faith” is a blaspheming heretic. Were his assertions not so serious and deluding, they would be laughable.
God’s Gift
We recognize and rejoice in the fact that faith in Christ is the gift and operation of God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:12). No sinner can or will believe on the Son of God, except God the Holy Spirit graciously causes him to do so by omnipotent, effectual grace (John 5:40; 6:37, 44; Psalms 65:4; 110:3). Every gospel preacher proclaims, and every saved sinner knows that it is Christ (the solitary object of our faith) who has redeemed, justified, and saved us by free grace alone. He has reconciled us to our God. Yet the Word of God plainly declares that we receive the atonement by faith in Christ (Romans 5:10-11). We have the peace of complete justification and reconciliation to our God, by faith in Christ. Yes, faith in Christ is effectual and saving in the experience of it. — “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Our Faith
Faith in Christ is not a notion, or a doctrine, or a principle. It is the heart confidence of every needy sinner who looks to Christ as his only Savior that causes him to confess, “My Lord, and my God” (John 20:28). Yes, it is God’s gift and God’s operation in us. Faith is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:23). Yet, it is our faith. If God gave it to me, that makes it mine.
Necessary Faith
The breath in my lungs is God’s gift. He enables me to breathe. Yet, it is my breath and my breathing that is the evidence that God still gives me life. And the breathing of my body is as necessary to my living as God’s gift of life. The two cannot be separated. If you doubt that, try putting a plastic bag over your face and see if you can live without breathing! So it is with faith. We “are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). The Holy Spirit tells us plainly that the faith you have by his grace is “your faith in Christ” (Ephesians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 1:4; 2:5). It is God’s gift; and because God gave it to you, it is “your faith.” And “your faith in Christ” is just as necessary, just as vital to your everlasting salvation, and just as precious (2 Peter 1:1) as God’s decree of election, Christ’s accomplished redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s effectual call. — “Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Two Questions
Do you, like the Philippian jailer of old, ask, “What must I do to be saved?” I do not hesitate to answer with Paul and Silas, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31). Do not allow anyone to put you looking to yourself and your experience. — “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” and salvation is yours. Do you ask, “How can I know that I am saved?” Answer this one question — “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” (John 9:35) It does not matter whether you can answer “What did you know when you first professed faith in Christ?” or “Was the man preaching a sound gospel preacher?” or “When did you believe?” Those questions are totally irrelevant. Worse than irrelevant, — they are a satanic attempt to turn your eyes away from Christ to yourself. This is the only question to be answered: — “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” If you now trust the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation is yours. As for those imaginary theologians who are offended by these things, as far as I am concerned, if men find the language of Holy Scripture offensive, I do not hesitate to offend them. As Bro. Gary Shepard put it, “It is not blasphemy to say what God has said. It is blasphemy to replace what God has said with the words and wisdom of man. What he says plainly is what he means and all else is blasphemy!” Be assured, that which men call “new light” is old satanic darkness!
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THE GRACE BULLETIN
October 17, 2010
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
Television Broadcasts in Danville
Channel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M.
Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M.
Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.
Television Broadcasts in Harrodsburg
Channel 6 - Sunday Afternoon 3:00 P.M.
Channel 6 - Friday Evening 6:00 P.M.
Web Pages
http://www.DonFortner.com
http://www.FreegraceRadio.com
http://www.Grace-eBooks.com
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