Our Rallying Point
Isaiah 11:10
In times of peace and plenty foolish men
fight among themselves. In time of war they gather as one around one banner and
are prepared to lay down their lives in one great cause. Two soldiers in a
foxhole have no interest in one another's race, social standing, political
preferences, or material wealth. Their lives are at stake! Their country is at
stake! For the sake of this one great concern they have put aside all lesser
concerns.
Shall we not do the same? How sad it is to
see men and women who profess to be the children of God and claim to seek the
glory of Christ squabbling over petty, personal lusts! The time has come for
men and women who are called of God to quit insisting on everyone conforming to
their whims! We have a warfare to wage. The souls of
men, the truth of God, and the glory of Christ are at stake. For the sake of
this one great concern, let us put aside all lesser concerns.
I raise the ensign before you. Our banner
is the cross of Christ, the glorious gospel doctrine of substitutionary
atonement, the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified. I call for all who love Christ
and the gospel of the free grace of God in him to rally around this banner. Let
us count as our friends all who rally around this banner and count them to be
our enemies who oppose it.
The banner of the cross, against which all
the world is set in array is the glorious gospel message of PARTICULAR,
EFFECTUAL REDEMPTION, THE SATISFACTION OF DIVINE JUSTICE BY THE SHED BLOOD OF
JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD. Let us unite together as
one under this banner. Put aside all lesser concerns, so that we may make known
to this generation the Christ of God, who has put away the sins of his people
by the sacrifice of himself according to the will of God. The message of the
cross, the message of Christ, the message we must declare is ETERNAL REDEMPTION
(Heb.
Don Fortner