June 5, 2005
Righteousness imputed is our justification. Righteousness imparted is our sanctification. Righteousness rewarded shall be our glorification.
Daily Readings for the Week of June 5-12
Sunday Job
8-11 Thursday Job 28-31
Monday Job
12-15 Friday Job 32-36
Tuesday Job
16-21 Saturday Job 37-40
Wednesday Job
22-27 Sunday Job 41-Psalm 5
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I am preaching today at Bethel Baptist Church in
Spring Lake, NC, where Bro. Rupert Rivenbark is pastor. Bro. Ron Wood
will preach the gospel to you today.
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Our Quarterly Fellowship Dinner is scheduled for Sunday, June 19th.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Oscar
Bailey-6th Nathaniel
Duff-6th Roger Criss-11th David Peterson-11th
Today:
Shelby Fortner (AM) Pam Wood (PM) Tuesday: Jenny Bartley
Daystar, Arise and Spread
Your Cheer — Don Fortner
(Tune: #183 — Faith of Our Fathers — 88.88.88)
1. Savior, Whose glory fills the skies,
Blest Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Light of the world, my only Light,
Dispel the dark and gloomy night.
Dayspring from on High, now be near!
Daystar, arise and spread Your cheer!
2. Dark is the rising of the sun,
When it appears that I’m alone.
Until Your mercy beams I see,
The lightest trial burdens me;
Arise, O Lord, Your Light impart,
Bring sunshine to Your servant’s heart!
3. Shine bright in this dark heart of mine,
And flood my soul with Light divine!
Dispel the gloom of sin and grief,
And take away my unbelief!
Your smiling face, O Lord, display,
Shining unto the perfect day!
The Lantana Grace Church of Crossville, TN invites you to attend their Annual Bible Conference June 17-19, Friday through Sunday. The church is located at 5108 Lantana Rd., 4 1/2 mi. SW of Crossville, which is also State Route 101 South. Scheduled preachers are: Bruce Crabtree, Don Fortner, Milton Howard, and Charles Pennington. For more information please contact Pastor Donnie Bell: Telephone — (931) 788-6195, Email — dlb50@frontiernet.net.
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“Therefore
say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the
LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 1:3)
I presume
that you are reading this article because you have some interest in your
immortal soul, some interest in knowing God, some interest in eternal matters,
because you have some interest in what the Word of God calls “salvation.”
You want to know the answer to this question — “What does God require of me?” Does he require that I go to church, get
baptized, reform my life, start serving the Lord, or obey the law? “What does
God require of me?” That question is answered clearly by the Lord God himself.
— “Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord
of hosts.”
This word from our God, “Turn ye unto me,” is not merely an offer of mercy, or merely an invitation of grace. It is a command from God to you and me. The verb “Turn” is in the imperative mood, indicating an order or a command. There are many other passages in Holy Scripture like this. Turn to them and read them (Isa. 45:22; 55:1, 6; Matt. 11:28; John 7:37; Rev. 22:17). As you read these sweet, gracious, gospel calls to you, understand that in every case the verbs used by our God, by which he sweetly calls sinners to repentance and faith in Christ are, like the word “Turn” in Zechariah 1:3, in the imperative mood, indicating an order or a command, an order or command from the triune God to lost, ruined, straying sinners.
The one thing God requires of you and me is that we trust his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. — “This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23). The one issue between fallen man and the holy Lord God is his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:18, 36; 6:27-29).
Salvation is not a legal work, but a work of grace alone, received by faith alone, in Christ alone. That statement would be redundant were it not for the fact that many (Indeed, most!) religious people have a foolish and deadly enchantment with the law of God. In many places of worship the ten commandments are written out in large, bold letters and hung on a wall in some conspicuous place for all to read. There are some churches where every Sunday the congregation mournfully chants, “Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep thy law.” Some are even so foolish as to enter into a covenant for their children and vow before God that, “They shall keep God’s holy commandments, and walk in them all the days of their lives.”
The pulpit, which should proclaim freedom and liberty in Christ, lays a heavy yoke of bondage upon men, which they cannot bear. Men and women are taught from their youth up to groan under the yoke of the law and to labor after
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righteousness at
the foot of Mt. Sinai, where it can never be found. If I had my way, wherever
there is a plague hanging with the ten commandments, I would hang another,
larger plague inscribed with these words: — “By
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified.”
The law of God, specifically the ten commandments, was never intended by God to produce righteousness of any kind, to justify sinners, or to be a rule of life for God’s people in this world. The law was given to convince us of our sin, to condemn us for sin, and to show us our need of a Substitute. Nothing else!
It was never intended to be a means of attaining righteousness. Just the opposite is true. The law was given to convince us of the impossibility of attaining righteousness by our own works. — “As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal. 3:10).
Churches all over the world preach up works, declaring either that you are justified by works, or that you are sanctified by works. Read any newspaper on any day of the week, and you will see the result. This world of freewill/works religion has spawned a generation of godless, immoral reprobates who vainly imagine that they have God in their hip-pocket and that eternal salvation is theirs because they have done something for God. What a sad commentary this generation is on the preaching they hear. If the message of the pulpit is not all gospel, all mercy, all grace, all Christ, there is no soundness in it.
Christ’s Obedience
I want to turn you entirely
away from yourself, and so lift up Jesus Christ before you in his redemptive,
saving glory that you cannot help looking to him alone and trusting him alone
to save you. I do not ask you to produce any obedience whatsoever to the law of
God. I call upon you to trust the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
sinner’s Substitute. I do not set before you the commandments of the law, or
the commandment of churches. Rather, I set before you this day the blessed
commandment of the gospel, God’s sweet commandment. — “Turn ye unto me,
saith the Lord of Hosts.” — “This
is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” This is the one commandment you
must obey. And if you obey this commandment you will live forever, for the Lord
of host has sworn, “and I will turn unto you!”
The one thing God requires of every sinner is faith in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” That is the one issue that must be settled. — “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” It is written in the Book of God, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
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Grace Bulletin
June 5, 2005
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
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
Channel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M.
Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M.
Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.
http://www.donfortner.com
http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm
http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp