Good News for Believers TUNE “Softly and Tenderly” 11.7.11.7. WORDS BY JIM BYRD
1. God was made flesh what a wonderful story, Made flesh for you and for me; Sent by the Father, the Word came in mercy, Mercy for you and for me.
CHORUS: Sing praise, sing praise, Lift up your voices and sing; Magnify Jesus, extol God our Savior, Sing praise to Jesus our King.
2. All of the law Jesus honored completely, Kept it for you and for me; Perfect obedience He rendered it fully, Fully for you and for me. CHORUS
3. Christ was made sin for His spiritual fam’ly, Made sin for you and for me; He was our Substitute there on Mount Calv’ry, He died for you and for me. CHORUS
4. Risen, He entered again into glory, Entered for you and for me; He is our Advocate, in Him is safety, Safety for you and for me. CHORUS
5. Soon He is coming, our Lord Who is mighty, Coming for you and for me; Just to be with Him, O that will be glory, Glory for you and for me. CHORUS ***** SCRIPTURE READINGS: MORNING: 1 Corinthians 13 EVENING: Acts 13:1-13
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness”
“The servants of the Lord are to sing His praises in this life to the world’s end; and in the next life, world without end” (copied).
WE BELIEVE “We believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69). Ah! It is this that rivets the believing soul to Christ - the certain conviction that Christ is a divine Savior. If Christ were only a man like ourselves, then how could He be a Surety for us? He might suffer in the stead of one man, but how could He suffer in the stead of thousands? Ah! But I believe and am sure that He is the Son of the living God, and therefore I know He is a sufficient Surety for me. To Whom else can I go for pardon? If Christ were only a man like ourselves, then how could He dwell in us or give the Spirit to abide with us for ever? But we believe and are sure that He is that Christ, the Son of the living God, and therefore we know He is able to dwell in us, and put the Spirit in us for ever. To Whom, then, can I go for a new heart but unto Christ? O dear brethren! Have you been taught? Then blessed are ye, “for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Hold fast by this sure faith for you cannot be too sure; and then you will never, never go away from Christ. –Robert Murray M’Cheyne
“He MUST Increase, But I MUST Decrease” (John 3:30). This was spoken of the Redeemer by His forerunner John. And it is not to be considered as the language of complaint or sullen agreement as if he would say, “I dislike it; but it is unavoidable. It is my grief; and I must bear it.” No. It was as agreeable to his feelings as it was firm in his belief. And it showed a fine and a noble soul in John. The spirit that is in us lusteth to envy. We love to be distinguished above others. We wish to rise, even by the fall of others. It is trying, even to a good man, to withdraw, and see a successor filling his place better than himself, and, as the honors he has worn are transferred to another, to say, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” It is not an easy thing to go down well, or for a setting star to exult in a rising sun. But it was thus to John. He knew his rank and approved his place. He was the servant, not the Master: the friend, not the Bridegroom; the sinner, not the Savior. The church was not married to him. “He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom: but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Written by William Jay, son of John Jay, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.) *****
“Hath not the potter power over the clay...” By the power the potter has over the clay to shape it in what form he pleases, and out of it to make what vessels he pleases, and for what purposes he thinks fit, which will be most to his own advantage, the apostle expresses the sovereign and unlimited power which God has over His creatures. Here God is represented as the potter and men as clay in His hands. Now, if the potter has such power over the clay which he did not make, only has made a purchase of, or has it in his possession, much more has God a power, Who has created the clay, to appoint out of it persons to different uses and purposes, for His own glory, as He sees fit; even “of the same lump, to make one vessel to honor, and another to dishonor.” –John Gill
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