GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE
February 5, 2012
If the Lord Jesus Christ ever puts you in Babylon, there he will deliver you (Micah 4:10).
Our Rest is Christ Enthroned! — Don Fortner
(Tune: #497 — When I can Read My Title Clear — CM)
1. Elect of God, oh how we’re blest! —
Chosen in sov'reign love,
And called into sweet gospel rest,
The pledge of rest above!
2. Jehovah's purpose, work, and grace,
Revealed, applied, received,
Give us a blessed resting place,
When we on Him believe.
3. Safe in the Ark amidst the flood,
In peace though war goes on;
Redeemed and saved by precious blood,
Our rest is Christ enthroned!
BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER are not options. Both are ordinances of Divine worship practiced and commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ. Both ordinances are for believers only, not for believers and their children. To be baptized and/or receive the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper without faith in Christ, convincing yourself that all is well, when nothing is well with your soul, is to bring damnation upon yourself (1 Corinthians 11:29).
But if God has given you faith in Christ, it is your privilege and responsibility to confess your Lord in believer’s baptism and to remember him in the regular observance of the Lord’s Supper. And it is your privilege and responsibility to observe these blessed ordinances as your Lord observed them and teaches you in his Word to observe them.
Sin Laid on Jesus
C. H. Spurgeon
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
Sin was made to meet upon the suffering person of the innocent substitute. I have said “the suffering person” because the connection of the text requires it. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.” It is in connection with this, and as an explanation of all his grief, that it is added, “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
The Lord Jesus Christ would have been incapable of receiving the sin of all his people as their substitute had he been himself a sinner: but he was, as to his divine nature, worthy to be hymned as “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth!” And, as to his human nature, he was by miraculous conception free from all original sin, and in the holiness of his life he was such that he was the spotless Lamb of God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and therefore he was on all accounts capable of standing in the room, place, and stead of sinful men.
The doctrine of the text is, that Jesus Christ, who was man of the substance of his mother, and who was, nevertheless, very God of very God, most true and glorious Creator, Preserver, did stand in such a position as to take upon himself the iniquity of all his people, remaining still himself innocent; having no personal sin, being incapable of any, but yet taking the sin of others upon himself — it has been the custom of theologians to say — “by imputation;” but I question whether the use of that word, although correct enough as it is understood by us, may not have lent some color to the misrepresentations of those who oppose the doctrine of substitution.
I will not say that the sins of God’s people were imputed to Christ, though I believe they were; but it seems to me that in a way more mysterious than that which imputation would express, the sins of God’s people were actually laid upon Jesus Christ; that in the view of God, not only was Christ treated as if he had been guilty, but the very sin itself was, I know not how, but according to the text it was somehow laid upon the head of Christ Jesus: “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Is it not written, “He shall bear,” not merely the punishment of their sin, nor the imputation of their sin, but “He shall bear their iniquities”? Our sin is laid on Jesus in even a deeper and truer sense than is expressed by the term imputation. I do not think I can express it, nor convey the idea that I have in my own mind, but while Jesus never was and never could be a sinner, — God forbid that the blasphemous thought should ever cross our lips or dwell upon our heart! — yet the sin of his people was literally and truly laid upon him.
(Taken from Spurgeon’s sermon on Isaiah 53:6 — Sermon #694
Preached Sunday Morning — June 10, 1866)
Christ Died for His People
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
The objects of redemption are described by such words and characteristics as show them to be a special and distinct people. Those who are the objects of redemption are called the people of God our Savior. “For the transgressions of my people,” says the Lord our God, “was he stricken,” stricken by the rod of Divine justice to make satisfaction for our sins and to redeem us from them.
My People
When he was about to come and redeem us, Zacharias said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people.” Thus he prophesied that God would redeem and save his elect by sending Christ, the Dayspring from on high. He visited his people in the flesh and redeemed us by his blood (Luke 1:68, 78). Therefore the angel of God told Joseph to call the Savior’s name “Jesus,” and gave this as the reason: “for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Not All
Someone may say, “All people are the people of God.” In a sense that is true, inasmuch as they are his creatures. Yet, the Scriptures expressly tell us that they are not all his redeemed people. Those who are redeemed by Christ are redeemed “out of every people” (Revelation 5:9). The redeemed are God’s covenant people, of whom he says, “They shall be my people, and I will be their God.” We are his portion and his inheritance, a people near and dear unto him, a people given to Christ to be redeemed and saved by him, of whom it is said, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power” (Psalm 110:3).
Limited Atonement
Redemption is not universal, but special. By the precious blood of Christ, atonement has been effectually accomplished and redemption has been obtained for God’s elect. Christ is not the Redeemer of all men, but of many. — If the redeemed are those who are the objects of God’s special love and favor, then not all men are redeemed. There are some of whom it is said, “He that made them, will not have mercy on them; and he that formed them, will show them no favour” (Isaiah 27:11). — If, as the Scriptures teach, the redeemed are the elect of God and them only, then not all men are redeemed; for all are not chosen. “The election hath obtained it, and the rest are blinded” (Romans 11:7). — If only those are redeemed for whom Christ became a Surety, then not all men are redeemed. Christ did not engage to pay the debts of all men. — If the redeemed are his people, then not all are redeemed. There are some on whom God writes a “Loammi”, saying, “Ye are not my people; and I will not be your God” (Hosea 1:9). — If the redeemed are the sheep of Christ to whom he gives eternal life, then the goats who go into everlasting punishment are not redeemed. — If the redeemed are the children of God and the church and spouse of Christ to whom he gives the gift of faith, then not all men are redeemed, “For all men have not faith!”
All honest men and women who read the Bible must acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ died for and redeemed his people alone, with the special, effectual purchase price of his own precious blood!
THE GRACE BULLETIN
February 5, 2012
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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