CALL TO WORSHIP
(Tune: “I Love Thy Kingdom” – p. 188)

Thy Works, not mine, O Christ,
Speak gladness to this heart;
They tell me all the work is done,
They bid my fear depart.

Thy cross, not mine, O Christ,
Has borne the awful load
Of sins that no, none else could bear,
But our incarnate God.

Thy death, not mine, O Christ,
Has paid the ransom due;
Ten thousand, thousand deaths like mine
Would have been all too few.

Thy righteousness, O Christ,
Alone can cover me;
No righteousness can satisfy,
Save that which is of Thee!

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Today: Bible Classes – 10:00 a.m. – Jim Casey;
Morning Worship – 11:00 a.m. - Jason Renfroe

Television Broadcast: Reign of Grace Television
Sunday morning on WALB-TV @ 9 AM.

Live Streaming – 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. – Sermon Audio web site
Web Sites: Reign of Grace: www.rofgrace.com
Sermon Audio: www.Sermonaudio.com\reignofgrace

Birthdays: Mills Fuller – Mar. 31^st

I am preaching today in Ruston, LA, at Grace Baptist Church, where Brother Richard Warmack is pastor. Debbie and I will return to Albany (DV) tomorrow. – The Pastor

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

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THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE

The term “book of life” is found in the Bible seven times (Php. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:18; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27). Each time it describes God’s elect, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and who in time are brought by the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ. It shows God’s sovereign, electing love and grace as the only source and cause of our salvation. God’s will, not ours, saves us eternally. It is “the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). This shows how Christ’s righteousness imputed, worked out by Him as the Substitute and Surety of His people in His death on the cross, His blood alone saves us eternally. This verse shows how the names of all who do not worship “the beast” of Revelation 13, one of Satan’s agents of opposition to Christ and His people, were written there “from the founda­tion of the world,” i.e. the beginning of creation. The names of all who insist on worshipping the beast were “not written in the book of life.” In Revelation 3:5, the Lord speaks of God’s elect, true believers who by the grace of God overcome the evils that threaten them, and who are “clothed in white raiment,” i.e. the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed. Christ says, “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Some be­lieve this proves one’s name can be written in the book and then erased. To show you how man by nature will always pervert God’s Word so as to make salvation conditioned on His own will or works, I heard a popular TV preacher say, “We can speculate. When you are born, God writes your name in the book of life. Once you choose to sin, your name is erased, but once you choose to believe in Christ, God writes your name back in the book of life.” His first mistake is in “we can speculate.” Speculation is never a right way to interpret God’s Word. Secondly, he failed to recog­nize all the other scriptures dealing with this subject and what they teach. Thirdly, Revelation 3:5 does not teach any possibility of one’s name being blotted out. It teaches the opposite – Once God wrote their name in the book of life, their names cannot be erased or blotted out of that book. They will be saved and eternally secure by the will and grace of Almighty God through the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. -- Pastor Bill Parker

IS MY NAME WRITTEN THERE?

A question we all should consider is this – IS MY NAME WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE. The Bible is clear. The evidence of my name written indelibly in the Lamb’s book of life is faith in the Lamb, trusting Christ for all salvation, forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life, and glory. Do not speculate or wonder if your name is written there. SEEK THE LORD; LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST; BELIEVE IN HIM AND RE­PENT OF ALL SIN, DEAD WORKS, AND IDOLATRY. You see, all whose names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life HAVE LIFE FROM GOD. The evidence of this life is clinging to the Lamb and plead­ing His blood, His righteousness, as the only ground of our salvation. Those who have this life follow Christ and rest in Him knowing that their salvation was the work of God alone, His will and power, to bring them to Jesus Christ as a willing, loving bondservant of Christ. You may ask, “Do I have this life?” Do you see yourself as a sinner without hope in yourself, your own will and works? Do you see that if God leaves you to yourself, you will perish in unbelief? Do you see that Christ alone is your only hope of salvation, that His blood alone cleanses sinners from all sin, that His righteousness imputed alone justifies sinners before God? “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:12-13).

– Pastor Bill Parker

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The Lamb of God, once upon the cross, is now the Lamb upon the throne, possessing and exercising all power in heaven and in earth. Yet, He is still mindful of those for whom He suffered; His heart is made of tenderness; His bowels melt with love; He appears in the presence of God for them, as their great High Priest, Advocate, and Intercessor.

– John Newton