GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE
April 3, 2011
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Our preaching should always move the souls of those who hear us Godward.
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The Brazen Serpent — Don Fortner
(Tune: #118 — When I Survey — LM)
1. Uplifted at the Lord’s command,
Behold the brazen serpent stand,
That Israel’s tribes may look and live,
And glory to Jehovah give.
2. Thus Christ was preach’d to Jacob’s race,
Thus guilty sinners taste His grace:
One look at Jesus crucified,
Makes all the pains of guilt subside.
3. Lift up the Savior, lift Him high: —
Tell sinners they can never die
Who look by faith to Christ alone!
He loves them and He’s on His throne!
4. Oft as I feel the serpent’s bite,
My bleeding Savior kept in sight,
Heals all my wounds and gives me peace,
Assuring me of life and grace!
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“ARISE, AND BE BAPTIZED!” — If the Lord God has given you life and faith in Christ, you should confess Him as your Lord and Savior in the public ordinance of believer’s baptism, publicly identifying yourself with the Lord Jesus, His Gospel, and His people, being buried with Him in the watery grave, arising to walk with Him in the newness of life.
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Preaching from the Heart
Bro. Scott Richardson once described preaching like this: “Preaching is getting a message from God’s heart to my heart, and from my heart to your heart.” When I hear a man preach, I want to hear a man preach from his heart. When I preach, I want to preach from my heart; and I want to speak to your heart. Anything less is not preaching, but just filling time with religious exercise.
Let no one mistake my meaning. I do not suggest or imply that doctrine is secondary. It is not. Gospel doctrine is vital. But the Gospel must be preached from the heart, passionately, with fire in the soul. It is written, “He maketh His ministers a flame of fire” (Hebrews 1:7).
Two hundred years ago John Rusk wrote, “I want an experimental preacher, one who, when he has had one meal, is tried how he shall get the next; one who is tormented with devils fit to tear him limb from limb; one who feels hell inside himself and every corruption in his nature stirred up to oppose God’s work; one who feels so weak that every day he gets over he views it as next to a miracle; one who is hated with perfect hatred by the flying troop of hypocrites in our day.”
I don’t know how to explain what it is to preach under the unction of the Holy Ghost, but I know what that unction is. I know when it is present and when it is absent; and I want never to preach again without it!
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Four Stages of Grace
“They shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.” (Isaiah 14:2)
In the Scriptures the work of God in the salvation of our souls is set before us as the deliverance of captives by God’s omnipotent grace into “the glorious liberty of the sons of God.”
State of Captivity
Grace finds us in a state of bondage and captivity. All men like to boast of their freedom. They like to flatter themselves with the idea that they are morally, spiritually and intellectually free. But the fact is every man by nature is in a state of bondage and captivity. If you are without Christ, you are a bondman, a slave, held in captivity to the world, the flesh, and the devil. You are a slave to sin and a slave to Satan, taken captive by him at his will. And you are a prisoner, shut up under the curse of God’s holy law, a captive waiting execution (Ezekiel 18:20). Grace finds us in a state of bondage and captivity, lost, helpless, ruined, and justly condemned. This is the condition of all men by nature.
State of Deliverance
Grace brings us into a state of deliverance (Isaiah 61:1-3). We are by nature the house of a strong man armed. But when Christ comes in, by the power of His omnipotent grace, He binds the strong man, casts him out, and takes the spoils of victory (Isaiah 49:24-26).
This deliverance is the work of God alone. As soon as a person is born of God, as soon as Christ is revealed in the heart, as soon as you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by the irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit, you are saved. Deliverance is accomplished (Isaiah 40:1-2).
State of War
We are saved, if we trust Christ, saved forever. But our deliverance is not yet complete. Like the children of Israel, after they had crossed the Red Sea, we have many enemies to face, many conflicts to endure, and many battles to fight in this wilderness, before we can enter the promised land of rest. But I want you to know that grace sustains us in a state of war.
The believer in this world is not in the land of peace. We are at war with the world, the flesh and the devil. The world allures us, the flesh opposes us, and the devil tempts us. But, blessed be God, grace sustains us (Philippians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 12:9).
If you trust Christ, I do not promise you a life of ease, peace and tranquility. I promise you nothing in this world but pain, conflict, tribulation, and war. But in the midst of that warfare, I promise you peace with God and the assurance of victory at last.
In this world we have trials and tribulations to endure. We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. But whatever the trial may be, however severe the tribulation, the Lord will sustain you. Indeed, the very trials themselves are means by which the Lord God works our salvation (Isaiah 43:1-7).
In this world we must endure manifold, and sometime great, temptations. As our Lord was tempted in all points, so must we be. Satan will not leave us alone. When it appears that he has, we are in real trouble. But when we are tempted, our God will not forsake us! (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will hold us up. When we fall, He will raise us up again. When we sin, He will forgive us (1 John 1:9; 2:1-2).
And while we live in this world, we must endure a constant inner warfare with sin (Romans 7:22-24; Galatians 5:17). The flesh and the spirit are at war with one another in my soul. And I know that as long as I live in this body of flesh, this warfare will continue. But God will sustain me by his grace. And I think I know, at least in part, why these things are so. — God will not let us trust in ourselves. He will ever make us aware that we are saved by grace alone. He will make His own tender with one another. And He will make His own to know that Christ is all
State of Victory
Grace shall deliver us into a state of victory and dominion. Look at Isaiah’s prophecy again (Isaiah 14:2-3, 24-27). Soon we shall be free! The God of Peace will bruise Satan under our feet shortly! In the end we will rule over our oppressors. “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest” (Revelation 7:14-16; 21:1-5; 22:1-6). He will give you victory over all your sorrows, all your fears, all your sins, and all your hard bondage forever!
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THE GRACE BULLETIN
April 3, 2011
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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