GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE May 15, 2011 ________________________________________
God gave His dear Son up to die in the place of sinners. The Son of God assumed our nature, brought in everlasting righteousness for and willingly laid down His life at Calvary to redeem poor, needy sinners with His precious blood. God the Holy Ghost has been sent by the enthroned Christ to regenerate, call, comfort, and keep sinners by His omnipotent grace. What do those facts tell you? — “He delighteth in mercy!” __________________________________________
Waiting to be Gracious — Don Fortner Isaiah 30:18 (Tune: #477 — When I Can Read My Title Clear — CM)
So great the love, so rich the grace of our eternal God, — He waits to save a ruined race with efficacious blood.
He waits, while they His grace defy, until th’ appointed hour, (Fixed in the council held on high), of mercy, love, and pow’r.
He waits to show His saving name and make His mercy known: He waits His ransomed to reclaim and gather in His own.
My God, and did You wait for me, to manifest Your love? Teach me to wait in hope to see my Savior’s face above.
God’s waiting to be gracious still, though clouds may hide His face: I’ll wait the wonders of His will and sing His matchless grace! ______________________________________________
Recently my friend, Professor Peter Barnes (Sydney, Australia), reminded his readers, “When war broke out in 1939, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones asked: ‘Have we a right to expect God to preserve a state of peace merely to allow men and women to continue a life that is an insult to His holy name?’” Lloyd-Jones’ question is as penetrating today as it was in 1939. Let us pray not merely for the preservation of our nation and for its protection from those who would destroy us, but for the reviving of our nation, begging our God to destroy the idolatry of our land and correct the moral decadence of our people that is screaming for Divine judgment. _______________________________________________
Discovering Christ in the Gospel of Mark Now Available
Pastor Fortner’s latest book, Discovering Christ in the Gospel of Mark, has just been released by Go Publications. This 600 page hardback book is a homiletical commentary on Mark’s Gospel. It can be ordered from any bookstore. As with all our pastor’s book, Discovering Christ in the Gospel of Mark can also be ordered from our church offices at our cost — $30.00 plus $5.00 for shipping. Please make your check for $35.00 to…
Grace Baptist Church of Danville 2734 Old Stanford Road Danville, Kentucky 40422 ______________________________________________
Ten Words of Comfort Exodus 3:7-22
Exodus 3 gives a brief account of some of the circumstances that preceded God’s deliverance of the children of Israel from their captivity and bondage in Egypt. But we must not forget that these things were written “for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “They are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Here are ten words of comfort, ten declarations of mercy that fell from the lips of our dear Savior for the comfort of His people in the midst of great trouble. If you can hear them, they are written here in the Book of God specifically for you.
1. “I have surely seen the affliction of My people” (v. 7). — Though in our troubles and sorrows we often forget our God, He never forgets us.
2. “I have surely seen the affliction of My people” (v. 7). — He thoroughly observes our affliction; and He is moved by what He sees. It is written, “In all their afflictions, He was afflicted.” And He is bent upon delivering us from our sorrows.
3. “I know their sorrows” (v. 7). — When crushing sorrow lies like ice on your heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the grief you bear, Christ can and does! He who once bore my sins also carried my sorrows and is touched with the feeling of my infirmity. His tender eyes were once dim with weeping, too!
4. “And I am come down to deliver them” (v. 8). — He who sees our affliction, hears our cries, and knows our sorrows rises from His lofty throne, not to command the armies of angels that surround His throne to fly to the relief of His suffering children, but to come down from heaven, in His own Person to deliver us! Thus He came down in His incarnation. Thus He comes down in His saving grace. Thus He comes down in His wise and good daily providence.
5. “Certainly, I will be with thee” (v. 12). — The Lord your God promises you that He will be with you always, to strengthen and help you, to encourage and comfort you, to keep and protect you. His oft repeated promise to His chosen is, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Isaiah 41:10; 43:1-5; Hebrews 13:5).
6. “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (v. 12) — The Lord God promised Moses that he and the children of Israel would serve Him upon Mount Horeb (Sinai), as they did at the giving of the law. There they built an altar upon a hill and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings (Exodus 24:4-5). So it shall be with you, my brother, and with you, my sister. The high mountain of sorrow and trouble that rises before you shall be made a mountain of praise upon which you shall offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise to your God.
7. “I AM THAT I AM” (v. 14) — What a great word of comfort this is! “I AM” is the name of God our Savior. He is the eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient God, the Being of beings. He comprehends the past, the present, and the future. I do not merely mean that He knows the past, present, and future. I mean He comprehends it. It all exists in Him! Yet, there is more. This name, by which our God reveals Himself, “I AM THAT I AM,” means, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am. In a word, it declares He is the constant, invariable, immutable, faithful God. Our Savior here declares that His name, “I AM THAT I AM,” is the sure foundation upon which we may rely. The mighty I AM will do all that He has said!
8. “I will bring you up out of the affliction” (v. 17) — He purposed it. He promises it. And He will do it. And when He does, He will bring you into “a land flowing with milk and honey.” He squeezes milk and honey out of every hard rock of adversity and causes the milk and honey to flow with such abundance into our souls that the rock of adversity from which it flows is soon forgotten.
9. “Ye shall not go empty” (v. 21) — You know how the Egyptians loaded the sons of Jacob with everything they would need in the wilderness, when the Israelites fled from them. So it shall be, child of God, with you, when the Lord God delivers you from any trial by which He may momentarily crush your heart. You shall not go out empty, but enriched by the experience (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; 1 Peter 1:3-9; James 1:12).
10. “And ye shall spoil the Egyptians” (v. 22) — Just as Israel took everything worth having out of Egypt, so it shall be with us at last. In that great day that knows no night, when God our Savior has made all things new, when all His elect have at last been made possessors of their heavenly Canaan, they shall come from all the nations of the earth, bringing the spoils of the nations with them (Revelation 21:22-27; Zechariah 14:1, 9, 20-21). _____________________________________________
THE GRACE BULLETIN May 15, 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
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