August 21,
2005
“The whole creation, from the seraph down to the indivisible atom, ministers to the Supreme Will, and is under the special observation, government, and direction of the Omnipotent Mind who sees all, himself unseen; who upholds all, himself unsustained; who guides all, himself guided by none; and who changes all, himself unchanged.”
Augustus
Toplady
Sunday Ezekiel
9-12 Thursday Ezekiel 20-21
Monday Ezekiel
13-15 Friday Ezekiel 22-23
Tuesday Ezekiel 16 Saturday Ezekiel 24-26
Wednesday Ezekiel 17-19 Sunday Ezekiel 27-29
·
I am
preaching today for Mid-south Baptist Church in Merigold, MS,
where Bro. Bruce Gresham is pastor. Bro. Larry Criss will preach
the gospel of our all-glorious Redeemer and Savior to you today.
·
Missionary Offering Today
NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK
Today: Debbie Bartley (AM)
Pam Wood (PM) Tuesday:
Jenny Bartley
Though Sins and Fears
Relentless Rise — Don Fortner
(Tune: #273 — The Solid Rock LM)
Savior, to You I lift my eyes, and to the throne of grace I fly.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.
My hope is built upon Your
Word, the Word that built both earth and sky.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.
His grace omnipotent He gives; and in His grace I am secure.
Not death itself, the last of foes, shall break that union so divine!
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.
“To say that Christ was not actually made sin for me would be to say that
I am not actually a sinner. To say that
He was not really made sin for me would be to say that God unjustly killed Him
for it is the ‘soul that sinneth’ that ‘shall surely die.’ To say that He was not truly made sin would
be to deny what is represented in the Old Testament sacrifice when the priest
actually laid his hands on the head of the sacrifice and confessed the sins of
the people. To say that Christ’s
identifying with me the sinner was only legal and not actual would leave me
only legally righteous and therefore not righteous so as to be able to enter
God’s heaven personally.” Gary
Shepard
22
“Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our
Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.”
(Jude 1:24-25)
Let
us join God’s servant Jude in extolling our great God and Savior who is able
both to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of
his glory.
Remember
the circumstances influencing Jude’s mind when he wrote these words. In writing
his short, but very full and instructive Epistle, Jude was led by God the Holy
Spirit to discuss the very grievous falls and faults of many. While
contemplating the failures of others and the judgments of God upon them, Jude
writes to encourage God’s elect, saying, our great and gracious God and Savior
is “able to keep you from falling.”
Israel was destroyed in the
wilderness (v. 5). The angels who followed Satan’s revolt are forever fallen
and condemned (v. 6). Those who follow the way of Cain, Balaam, and Core (v.
11), the self-righteous, self-serving, proud religious rebels who will not bow
to the truth of God, surrender to the rule of Christ, or yield themselves to
the will of God, stand as glaring beacons to warn us.
It
is against this gloomy, dismal background of apostasy and rebellion that Jude
writes out this instructive doxology, both to encourage true believers and to
extol, magnify, and praise the Lord our God, the God of all grace, by whom we
are saved and kept safe unto eternity! In the midst of great adversity,
opposition, and danger, all who trust Christ are completely safe and secure in
grace, because God our Savior is “able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his
glory with exceeding joy.”
He will make you persevere to the end, because he
has loved you with an everlasting love. He chose you in Christ unto eternal
salvation before the world was made. He made a covenant with you in him in his
Son, a covenant of grace, peace, salvation and life, ordered in all things and
sure. He put you into the Surety’s hands, making you his care and
responsibility. Christ has redeemed you by his blood. He intercedes for you,
and is making preparations for you in heaven. You are united to him and built
on him, the Rock, the sure Foundation Stone. And the Spirit of God has begun
that good work in you, which shall be performed until the day of Christ.
God your Savior, the triune God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit will make stand in the day of judgment with intrepidity and without
shame, being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Yes, my brother, yes, my
sister, Christ shall have you as diadems and jewels in his crown. He shall give
you the crown of righteousness in that day and take you with himself into his kingdom
and glory. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I call grace!
23
“Let
him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands
the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” (Ephesians 4:28)
Several years ago, a friend who
lives in an area where there is no gospel church and no gospel preacher, wrote
to me. He had planned to hire a
replacement worker for a few days so that he could bring his family across the
state to hear me preach in a meeting. He
wrote to apologize for the fact that he could not attend the meetings as
planned because of his work. He
wrote, “I am chained to this job”.
I very much appreciated my friend’s thoughtfulness in writing to me to let me know that he could not be with us in the meeting; but there was no need for him to apologize. I have never been one to upbraid people for missing a worship service because they have to work. I know what that is like. You who feel guilty about sometimes having to miss services because of your work should be aware of these two facts:
1.
Faithfulness
in work is every bit as important as faithfulness in public worship.
That
man who will not hold down a job and work to support his family, even if he
pretends that his reasons are noble and spiritual, is an infidel at heart (1
Tim. 5:8). Believers, true believers, are the best employees any
employer has. They recognize that
their service is to God, not to their employer.
Consequently, they serve with their hearts fixed upon God, as doing his
will, and thus worship as they work. Public
worship must not be neglected. Any
believer who is able to arrange his schedule at work, should arrange it around
the services of public worship. However,
for some that is not practical, and sometimes not possible, but if a person does not worship God
in the factory and in the field, he does not worship God in the church house.
2.
Were it
not for laboring people who give of their means to support the gospel, God’s
servants would not be able to give themselves to the work of the ministry.
Someone has to pay the bills! One reason why believers ought to work and work with an eye toward success in their field, is that they may have the means with which to meet the needs of others, especially their spiritual needs (Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11). I am able to travel around the world preaching the gospel of Christ freely, and am allowed to give myself entirely to the work of the ministry, because of God’s people who work and give. I thank you, and thank God for you!
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Grace Bulletin
August 21, 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