April 15, 2007

The violent opposition of will-worshipping Arminians to election and predestination will never alter the fact that our Savior declares, “I have chosen you and ordained you” (John 15:16).

Preaching Schedule April 15^th – 24^th

April 15^th (PM) Bro. Ron Wood

April 17^th Pastor Tommy Robins, Fairmont Grace Church, Sylacauga, AL

April 22^nd (AM) Bro. Darvin Pruitt

April 22^nd (PM) Bro. Ron Wood

April 24^th Missionary Cody Groover, Yucatan, Mexico

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Betty Groover-17^th Melissa Reed-18^th

Wherever Faithful Men Are Found — Don Fortner

(Tune: Majestic Sweetness #52 — CM)

1.    Father of mercies, hear our prayer

For those who preach Your Word,

Those special, chosen messengers,

Anointed of the Lord.

2.    Wherever faithful men are found

Proclaiming sov’reign grace,

May Your almighty power abound

To give Your Word success.

3.    In faithfulness they sow the seed

Immortal souls to gain;

And as they seek Your saints to feed,

Let not their work be vain.

We believe and preach the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. Every missionary we support and every ministry we promote preaches the same message: T.U.L.I.P. — Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints. I have preached these grand, old gospel truths for forty years. I have preached these things in every place I have preached throughout those years. And God helping me, there will be no change tomorrow.

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Meetings in Ireland and England

Shelby and I will leave this afternoon for meetings in Great Britain. We plan to return on Friday the 27^th of April. We ask that you pray for us, as the Lord enables you. We will have a full schedule, travelling many miles almost every day. — “Pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” Here is our itinerary.

·      April 17^th Ballymoney, North Ireland — Preaching in Ballymoney Town Hall, meeting arranged by Bro. Russell Smyth.

·      April 18^th Teesdale, England — Egglesburn Baptist Church, Pastor Peter Meney.

·      April 19^th Wolverhampton, England — West Park Church, contact Bro. Jim Gough.

·      April 20^th -22^nd Welwyn, England — Campus Church, Pastor Stephen Bignall.

·      April 23^rd Honiton, England — Preaching at Honiton Motel, contact Bro. Ian Potts.

·      April 24^th (AM) Honiton England — Ministers Meeting, Pastor Fred Serjeant.

·      April 24^th (PM) Honiton England — Preaching at Honiton Motel, contact Bro. Ian Potts.

·      April 25^th London, England — Westminster Baptist Church, Pastor John Graham.

·      April 26^th London, England — Ridley Hall, Pastor John Graham.

“Now shalt thou see what I will do.”

Exodus 6:1-8

It is only when we focus on ourselves, look to ourselves, seek satisfaction in ourselves, try to find a reason for hope in ourselves, and trust in ourselves that we meet with disappointment and failure. Job 29 gives a picture of Job in his most pitiful state. Defending himself before Bildad, he gloried in what he had done. In 25 short verses he used the words “I,” “me,” and “my” thirty-nine times. In Ecclesiastes 2 Solomon spoke of all that he had seen and learned. He used those same three words: “I,” “me,” and “my,” thirty-eight times. But it was all vanity, nothing but vanity. Our thoughts are terribly low, when we think about ourselves. And our words are most vulgar, when we begin to talk about ourselves.

            None but God can rightly and truly speak much of “I.” And when the Lord God speaks to his chosen in mercy, when he speaks of his salvation, we rejoice to hear him use those blessed words — “I,” “me,” and “my”! He used those words 19 times in these eight verses to quieten Moses’ fearful heart and assure him of his salvation. Our Savior’s “fear nots” are always followed with “I”. He says, “Fear not, It is I.” — “Fear not, I have redeemed thee.” — “Fear not, I am with thee.” — “Fear not, I will help thee.” — “Fear not, I will uphold thee.” — “Fear not, I have loved thee.” — “Fear not, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” — “Fear not, I will keep thee.” — “Fear not, I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.” — “Fear not, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” I love to hear our God and Savior say, “I”! Don’t you?

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“Let My People Go”

“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.”                                                                    (Exodus 5:1)

As God’s servants, Moses and Aaron, stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, they had only one thing to say. Their issue before the king of Egypt is the singular, unambiguous demand of the King of Heaven. — “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness!”

      What a volume of rich instruction those words contain! It is given in plain and forcible language. It sets before us the purpose of the Lord God of Israel to have his people completely delivered from Egypt and separated unto himself, in order that they might feast with him in the wilderness. Nothing could satisfy his heart with regard to his covenant people, but their complete emancipation from the land of death and darkness. He would free them not only from Egypt’s brick-kilns and task-masters, but from its gods and its temples, its altars and its customs, and its people and their way of life. The Lord God was determined to deliver the chosen nation from Egypt, from the land of Egypt, the bondage of Egypt, the people of Egypt, and the life of Egypt. In a word, they had to be thoroughly separated from Egypt, before they could worship him in the wilderness.

      Thus it was with Israel, and thus it is with us. We, too, must be a fully and consciously delivered people before we can worship, serve, and walk with God. We cannot worship God until we are sanctified by him, separated from Egypt by his omnipotent grace. We must know the forgiveness of our sins and our entire freedom from guilt, wrath, judgment, and condemnation. But there must also be a separation, a complete deliverance from this present evil world.

      The world is to us what Egypt was to Israel. As Israel left Egypt, we must leave the world. God demands a real, out-and-out, thorough separation of our hearts from Egypt. He says, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.”

      In a word, our God demands, and will not rest until he has accomplished the complete sanctification of his elect, the complete separation of his people unto Christ. This separation from the world may involve physical things, but it is not a physical separation. It is not a separation to be displayed before men by the clothes we wear, the things we eat and drink, or places in which we eat and drink. That kind of separation is nothing but a pharisaical show of hypocrisy. The separation (sanctification) of God’s elect to Christ is a spiritual separation, a separation of our hearts to our Savior. It is a separation touching every aspect of our lives. He says, “Give me thine heart” (Proverbs 23:26). What does the husband want from his wife? — Her heart. What does the wife want from her husband? — His heart. And that which Christ wants, and will have, from his people is their hearts. If he has my heart, he has everything. If my heart is not his, nothing about me, nothing possessed by me is his.

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Grace Bulletin

April 15, 2007

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.

Web Pages

http://www.donfortner.com

http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm

http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp

Don Fortner

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com