GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH OF DANVILLE
May 22, 2011
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To preach the Word of God is to preach the Gospel of Christ (1 Peter 1:25). If the Gospel has not been preached, the Word of God has not been preached, no matter how true the preacher’s words have been.
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LANTANA GRACE CHURCH of Crossville, TN will host its 28th Annual Bible Conference June 17-19. SCHEDULED SPEAKERS: Wayne Boyd, Bruce Crabtree, Milton Howard, and Todd Nibert. Bro. Donnie Bell is the host pastor.
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Salvation’s of the Lord! — Don Fortner
(Tune: #477 — When I Can Read My Title Clear — CM))
Let ransomed sinners praise and own
Their faithful covenant God;
Of Him, through Him, to Him alone, —
Salvation’s of the Lord!
Of God the Father’s sov’reign choice,
Of God the Savior’s blood,
Of God the Spirit’s quick’ning voice, —
Salvation’s of the Lord!
Through God the Father’s faithfulness,
Through God the Spirit’s might,
Through God the Savior’s righteousness, —
Salvation’s of the Lord!
To God the Father praise belongs,
To God the Son we’ll sing;
To God the Spirit (Three in One!) —
Salvation’s of the Lord!
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Mercy — Not Merit
“…This grace wherein we stand…” (Romans 5:2)
Our standing before God is not based upon what we deserve. God the Holy Spirit stresses this fact over and over. In Romans 5:8-10 He inspired the Apostle Paul to write, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by Hs blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Paul’s argument is clear. — Since God saved us and gave us eternal life in Christ by His sovereign grace “when we were enemies,” He will surely keep us in salvation by that same sovereign grace. He who has done the greater will surely do the lesser.
In the Book of Hebrews God the Spirit assures us that it is impossible for one of God’s elect to be lost, because Christ is both “the Author and the Finisher of our faith.” Child of God, the whole course of our salvation is Divinely planned and Divinely guided. Our salvation is not according to our merits in its commencement, in its continuance, or in its consummation. —“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The sovereign love and unmerited grace of God is the cause of our salvation. Since His mercy, love, and grace are unchangeable, the effects must be unchangeable. That is to say, God constantly communicates His mercy, love, and grace to every believer. Once His mercy is given, once His love is revealed, once His grace is bestowed, He never takes them away: “for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
God was not moved to bestow his grace upon us by anything which He saw meritorious or attractive in us. And the absence of everything good in us will not cause God to withdraw the grace He has bestowed. When He first bestowed grace upon us, the Lord knew that we were totally depraved and sinful. He knew that we were full of evil and void of good. And though, since our conversion, we have all been guilty of ingratitude, unfaithfulness, and sin of every kind, these things do not provoke the Lord our God to change His mind and withdraw His sustaining grace. He knew what we would be before He saved us. He chastens us because of our sin, like the loving Father He is; but He never withdraws His love. If He had not intended, from the beginning, to bear with our sin in longsuffering and patience and to forgive our sin for Christ’s sake, He would never have saved us and called us in the first place.
This is what I am saying: — The cause of our salvation is entirely in God. His electing love, redeeming grace, and saving power were given to us by an act of His sovereign goodness, without any consideration of what we were or might become. There was nothing in us to attract His grace. And there is nothing in any true believer’s heart or conduct which can ever cause the Lord our God to alter His purpose of grace and withdraw His love from us. This is what God himself says about the matter: — “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will have mercy upon thee, saith the Lord my Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee” (Isaiah 54:7-10).
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Christ Made Sin
2 Corinthians 5: 21
Pastor Darvin Pruitt
“For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son) to be sin for us (ruined sinners), who knew no sin; that we (all those for whom He died) might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
Any man who sees no more in this than a legal transfer of guilt has not yet seen the glory of God in Christ. He is still looking with legal eyes at the animal sacrifices which could never take away sins. I do not imply that Christ had original sin; nor that He ever committed any act of sin, had desire for sin, or thought of sin. I do not imply that He in any way compromised His holy nature in His work as our Substitute. But, if words mean anything, this text declares that He took upon himself the sins of His elect and both He and the Father treated those sins as His own. He prayed in Psalms 40:12 concerning these sins and referred to them as “mine iniquities”. I cannot explain it or comprehend it but I do believe it and rejoice in it. Because in Him I can truly see how God can be just and yet justify all those who believe. “He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” (Proverbs 17: 15) I do not see a just man wrongfully accused dying an unjust death; but one with whom I was quickened from all eternity and made one with and one who assumed all responsibility and accountability on my behalf.
I have no other basis to plead to sinful rebels than the love of God that spared not His own Son; but delivered Him up for us all. He was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:15); made to be sin for us, that (in order that) we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). If I cannot see my sins truly, justly, and fully laid on Him, neither can I truly, justly, and fully believe that His righteousness is my own righteousness before God and that God treats me with the full satisfaction and acceptance of my Surety who has entered into heaven’s glory as the firstfruits of His accomplished redemption. If God will recompense His wrath for my sins upon his Son, surely He will recompense His righteousness upon those for whom he died!
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THE GRACE BULLETIN
May 22, 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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