GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE
December 19, 2010
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Every sermon ought to be prepared and preached as if the preacher knew that all who hear him are on the brink of eternity.
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Christ is Born in Bethlehem — Don Fortner
(Tune: #99 — Angels, From the Realms of Glory — 87.87.87)
1. Lo! the Son of God, assuming
Human nature, stoops to earth;
Heavenly hosts proclaim His coming,
And a Virgin gives Him birth.
Angels tell us, angels tell us,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
2. Now God’s promise He’s fulfilling,
Jesus Christ, the woman’s Seed,
To redeem our souls, is willing
To perform what He decreed:
And the shepherds, lowly shepherds,
Worship Christ in Bethlehem.
3. All the prophets to Him pointed;
Types and sacrifices said,
That on Christ, the Lord’s Anointed,
Our offences must be laid:
To fulfil them and redeem us
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
4. Satan trembles, though he rages,
Bruised by Zion’s mighty King;
Saints shall, through eternal ages,
This triumphant anthem sing: —
“Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Christ was born in Bethlehem!”
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“What Must I Do To Be Saved?”
Acts 16:30
Some, when seized by terror under a sense of God’s wrath, thinking they can and must do something to appease God’s wrath and save themselves, ask, “What must I do to be saved?” To such people we must respond, “Do?” You can do nothing to be saved! Salvation is by grace! The Philippian jailor, however, was not of this mold. His cry, “What must I do to be saved?” was the cry of a helplessly lost man. He was so filled with despair that he was about to take his own life! When God’s servants heard his hopeless, helpless cry, they answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!”
You have heard the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. You know that salvation is by grace alone and that there is nothing you can do to earn or merit God’s favor. Yet, you know that you dare not sit down and just wait for God to save you. There is something you must do. — You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must personally trust Christ as your Lord and Savior. It is promised, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” I urge you to do so now. According to the Word of God that involves three things.
1. Surrender — To believe on Christ is to bow to and surrender your life to the rule and dominion of Christ as your Lord. It is losing your life to Christ. No one will ever be saved until he raises the white flag of surrender to Christ in his heart (Mark 8:34-38; Luke 14:25-33).
2. Trust — Faith in Christ is trust. You must trust the blood of Christ as your only atonement for sin. You must trust the righteousness of Christ as your only righteousness before God. You cannot be forgiven of sin, but by his blood. You cannot be accepted of God, unless you are robed in his righteousness. However, all who trust him are freely forgiven and fully accepted as justified in God’s sight (Romans 3:24-26).
3. Confession — The proof of faith is confession (Matthew 10:32-33; Romans 10:9-10). And the believer’s first act of confessing Christ is baptism. Baptism will not save you. But without baptism, faith is not complete. Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Until it is done, your conscience will give you no peace. If you believe, you must be baptized (Mark 16:15-16).
Merry Christmas!
Shelby and I are thankful to our God for making you so much a part of our lives. We are truly thankful and honored that it is our privilege to serve the cause of Christ with you. As you gather with your families to celebrate our Savior’s incarnation and redemptive accomplishments as our Substitute, we wish you a very merry Christmas.
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“Call His Name JESUS” — Matthew 1:21
These were the words of the angel of the Lord to Joseph concerning the incarnation, birth, and work of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ: — “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Why did the Son of God come into this world?
It seems to me that anyone who reads or hears that the Son of God assumed human flesh and came into the world as a man would want to know why he did so. The angel of the Lord tells us plainly that God the Son came into this world for a specific purpose, to do a specific thing, on a specific mission. Hear it again: — “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” The Lord of glory, the Son of God, assumed our nature and came into the world to save his people from their sins. This is the Father’s will, which he came to perform (Hebrews 10:5-14; John 6:39). This is the stipulation of the covenant, which he came to fulfill (Hebrews 13:20; Isaiah 49:8). This is the commandment of God, which he came to obey (John 10:16-18).
My mind is lost in wonder and admiration when I think of the fact of Christ’s coming into this world. Is it not astonishing to you that the Son of God would become the Son of Man, that he who created all things would become the woman’s Seed, that he who is Lord of all would take upon himself the form of a servant to be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and that his purpose in doing so was that in the fulness of time he might die the painful, shameful, ignominious death of the cross in the place of guilty sinners? These things utterly astonish me! I say with Paul, “Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh!”
Who is this Jesus?
That may seem to be a strange question. You have heard about Jesus all your life. Perhaps you think, “Everyone knows who Jesus Christ is.” You are mistaken. The fact is, very few people in this world know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. The Christ that is worshipped in the average church is nothing but an idolatrous figment of man’s imagination. Our Lord himself warned us of these days, saying, “There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” So when men come to you and say, “Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not” (Matthew 24:24, 23).
That makes this question very important: — Who is this Jesus? Who is the Christ of the Bible? We must know, trust, and worship this Christ if we would know God and be accepted of him (John 17:3). If we trust a false Christ, no matter how sincere we are, we are lost and under the delusion of Satan. If you care for your soul, you will search the Scriptures, asking God the Holy Spirit to show you who this Jesus is, of whom it is written, “He shall save his people from their sins.” This man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is God the Son, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the sinner’s only Savior.
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THE GRACE BULLETIN
December 19, 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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