GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE November 28, 2010 _____________________________________
One of Satan’s most crafty devices by which he keeps people from truth is the lies by which weak men who oppose the truth, slander the names of faithful men and the truth they proclaim. _____________________________________
Assurance – Don Fortner (Tune: #405 – My Soul, Be On Thy Guard -- SM )
1. The sinner who believes In Christ’s atoning blood Is justified from all things and Saved by the grace of God.
2. Yet, sin within remains! When vile corruptions rise, Then Satan tempts us to despair And God’s free grace despise.
3. Our flesh with him agrees, And says we cannot be Partakers of God’s saving grace, And yet such sinners be.
4. But faith looks out of self And trusts in Christ alone. Our hope is not in what we do, But what our Lord has done!
5. His blood and righteousness, The anchor of our souls, Assures us in the teeth of sin Free grace has made us whole! ______________________________________
Just Earthen Vessels 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
We must all face the fact that flesh is flesh. Though all who believe are saved by the grace of God, washed in the blood, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, so long as we are in this world, we are just earthen vessels. When Paul talks about that salvation which brings into our hearts “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” he reminds us that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
The more we think of the utter weakness of our flesh, the more thankful we are that our security and preservation in Christ is not dependent upon our own weak nature, but upon God’s constant power and sustaining grace. We are so feeble that if the matter were left in our hands, we would all fall and perish very soon. Many cannot endure the teachings of Holy Scripture regarding this matter of our security and preservation in Christ, because it makes the whole of salvation a work of divine grace from beginning to end. It allows no room for human merit and works.
We do not pretend to live above sin. Sin is a sadly common fact of life. You will never find one of those men who lived and walked with God in the Bible bragging about his righteousness or his perfection. In fact, they all struggled with sin in their flesh. All of God’s people are like Paul. We have two natures within us, two principles struggling for supremacy; the one is good, the other evil; the one is righteousness, the other sin; the one is spirit, the other flesh. If we could avoid it, we would never sin. We abhor our sin as an infinitely evil thing! We long for the day when we shall be totally free from sin. But, for now, we have the treasure of God’s saving grace in these earthen vessels, so that the excellency, the greatness, the power, and the glory of our salvation may be attributed to the Triune God alone and not to us.
Israel may flee before her enemies at times; but she enters the land of promise triumphantly when her journey is over. So, too, the true believer falls many times; but the Lord raises him up, and he shall finally enter into heaven triumphantly through the blood, the righteousness, and the grace of Christ. It is utterly unthinkable that one of God’s elect should fail to enter into eternal glory. Like Jonah, we all may at times flee from the will of God; but grace will pursue us, preserve us, and cause our hearts to return to him who loved us and gave himself for us.
I am like you, a man struggling with sin. At times, my sinful thoughts and my sinful deeds almost cause me to despair. But I am reminded by the gospel and by the Spirit of God that his grace is sufficient even for me. My salvation and my acceptance with God is not in myself, but in my Substitute. Like you, I am just an earthen vessel; but Christ is the Lord our Righteousness. He is all my Salvation, all my Desire, and all my Assurance. I hang all my hope upon him. Do you? ______________________________________
“What about this verse?” — 1 Peter 1:20
When confronted with the plain truth of God, those religious people who oppose the gospel of the grace of God tear a passage of Scripture from its context, and smugly ask, “But what about this verse?” Hear this word from God and learn what it means. — "No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." That statement found in 2 Peter 1:20 simply means that anyone who honestly interprets any passage of Holy Scripture interprets it contextually.
I cannot and do not desire to stop the cavils of people who will not bow to the Word of God; but I do want to help you who may be confused and disturbed by those who point to, or partially quote certain verses of Scripture as proof texts against the blessed doctrine of the gospel you have learned to love.
No verse of Scripture is to be interpreted privately, isolated from its context, or from the context of the whole Word of God. If we are honest with the Scriptures, we always endeavor to interpret them contextually. We do not pull isolated verses or phrases from the Word of God and use them to prove or disprove anything. Instead, honest people read and study the Scriptures, asking God the Holy Spirit to teach them the truths contained in the passage they are reading, and to show them how that passage meshes with the rest of Scripture.
That which is the biggest obstacle to the unbelieving religionist is the greatest joy to the child of God: – Particular and Effectual Redemption. Therefore, the unregenerate, in their vain attempts to prove that Christ’s blood was, after all, shed in vain for some, love to point us to texts with the words “all” and “world” in them. Do not allow them to disturb you. There is not a single word in Scripture, interpreted contextually, that even hints at the remote possibility that Christ’s may have died for some who perish under the wrath of God in hell.
The plain, clear, universal testimony of Holy Scripture is that Christ died for, effectually accomplished, and infallibly secured the eternal salvation of God’s elect, for whom alone he makes intercession as their great High Priest (John 17:9, 20). Every text where the atonement is taught declares that fact with unmistakable clarity. There are no exceptions. (Read a few of them: Isaiah 53:8-11; Matthew 1:21; John 10:9-18; Romans 5:8-11; 8:33-34; Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 9:11-12; 10:10-14; 1 Peter 2:24-25; 3:18; Revelation 1:5-6; 5:9-10.)
Every Old Testament type of redemption, grace, and salvation show that these things were designed by God for a specifically chosen people. The innocent victims in Eden were slain and made clothing for Adam and Eve. Noah’s ark was built to save eight souls. The ram caught in the thicket was sacrificed for Isaac. The paschal lamb was slain for Israel alone. The high priest wore only the names of God’s chosen upon his breastplate. The tabernacle, the altar, and the mercy-seat were established nowhere, except in Israel.
This is the teaching of Holy Scripture: — God loved and chose, Christ died for and redeemed, and the Holy Spirit regenerates and preserves the world of his elect, all the elect, and none but the elect. ______________________________________
THE GRACE BULLETIN November 28, 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
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