|
|
April 30, 2006
What happens in the new birth is that God the Holy Spirit brings into existence a person who never existed before, a new person, a new creation, “which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Pastor Donnie Bell
Daily Readings for the Week of April 30-May 7 Sunday 2 Kings 23-24 Thursday 1 Chronicles 8-10 Monday 2 Kings 25-1 Chronicles 2 Friday 1 Chronicles 11-13 Tuesday 1 Chronicles 3-5 Saturday 1 Chronicles 14-17 Wednesday 1 Chronicles 6-7 Sunday 1 Chronicles 18-21
· CONGRATULATIONS to Klaus and Ruth Peterson who will celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary on May 4th. We will have lunch in their honor following the service this morning. Everyone is invited to stay to celebrate this happy occasion. There will be no service here tonight.
O The Sweet Wonders of the Cross! — Don Fortner (Tune: #308 — Higher Ground — LMD )
1. O the sweet wonders of the cross, the cross where God, my Savior, died! Eternal life my spirit draws from Jesus Christ, the crucified. Oh, let the praises of His name forevermore engage my tongue! Adore, my heart, and trust the Lamb, the Lamb who sits upon the throne!
2. Love, beyond conception great, that found a Ransom for my soul, By which God can, by truth and grace, in sov’reign mercy make me whole! In Jesus crucified I see how grace abounds and justly reigns To save a guilty wretch like me, while God his justice yet sustains.
3. Yes, justice reigns, and mercy too. In Jesus crucified they meet. He paid to justice all its’ due, and fills with grace the mercy-seat! Such are the wonders of the cross, and God’s amazing love and grace, Which saved me from eternal loss, shining in my Redeemer’s face!
“Judas, One of the Twelve” Luke 22:47 I fear there are multitudes today like Judas who fill the pulpits of churches. They may be said to have “obtained part” (Acts 1:17) with us, but only the outward part. They are ordained by men, but not by God the Holy Spirit. They are talented, but not gifted with grace. They are forceful, but not faithful. Their doctrine may be profound and precise, but it is not pure. It may elevate your thinking, but it will not edify your soul. It may swell your head, but it will not sanctify your heart. We should never be surprised by the appearance of such men, or surprised that they go undetected, even by the faithful (Matt. 7:22-23).
25 “Joint-heirs with Christ”
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:17)
If we are the children of God, we shall possess all the inheritance of the saints in light. That is only reasonable. But here the Spirit of God tells us that all who live by faith in Christ, walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit, being totally free from all sin and from all fear of condemnation, or even the possibility of it, live in the constant, immediate hope and expectancy of the glorious liberty of the sons of God, as “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” That means, being one with Christ, all God’s elect shall fully possess all that Christ himself has earned and possesses as the God-man, our Mediator. The Savior himself declares that the glory God the Father gave him as the reward of his obedience (John 17:4-5) he has given to us (John 17:22).
If there were no other statement regarding the heavenly inheritance of God’s saints with Christ, this one statement shows the utter folly of those work-mongers, who, constantly seeking a place for works in the kingdom of grace, teach that there are degrees of reward in heaven. The doctrine of degrees of reward for God’s elect in heaven is as foreign to the Bible as the papists’ doctrine of purgatory. It exists without a shred of evidence in Holy Scripture. I have no idea who concocted this doctrine; but whoever he was, he was totally ignorant of the gospel of the grace of God.
Without question, the Scriptures teach that there are degrees of punishment for the wicked (Matt. 11:20-24). Those who are given greater light and despise it shall have greater condemnation in hell than those who sinned against less light. Those who go to hell, as it were shoving God out of their way by despising the gospel, will suffer greater wrath than those who go to hell rejecting only the light of creation. There shall be degrees of punishment, because there are degrees of wickedness and guilt.
Not only do the Scriptures not teach the doctrine of rewards in heaven, the doctrine is contrary to and contradicts everything taught in the Bible about grace and the believer’s acceptance with God in Christ. How can there be degrees of joint-heirship with Christ? To be a “joint-heir” is to be a co-possessor of the inheritance.
The doctrine of degrees of reward among the saints makes the inheritance of eternal glory a matter of works. Those who teach it try to say “grace”, but it comes out “works.” They tell us, “We are saved by grace; but after we are saved, we must earn our crowns and positions in heaven by our own faithfulness and obedience to the will of God.” In other words, they would have us believe that God gets us started toward heaven by grace, through the merits of Christ’s blood
26 and righteousness; but we earn the ultimate glory and blessedness of heaven by our own merits! The Lord our God does not give grace, and then make us earn glory. It is written, “The Lord will give grace and glory!”
The doctrine of degrees of reward in heaven denies the completeness of Christ’s atonement for sin. The Lord Jesus did not make atonement for some of his people’s sins, but for all of their sins: past, present, and future. There is not one iota of difference between this and the Roman doctrine of purgatory. It teaches that the believer must suffer for his sins (failures, lack of faithfulness, etc.) forever in heaven. What utter nonsense!
The doctrine of degrees of reward in heaven denies the gospel doctrine of imputed righteousness. The Holy Spirit tells us that all who trust Christ are, presently and forever, worthy of the inheritance of God’s saints (Col. 1:12). We are worthy of that inheritance which is the very glory of Christ our Mediator (John 17:22), because his righteousness is our righteousness before God. Just as Christ was made sin for us, and was justly rewarded for our sin with wrath, condemnation, and death, all who are made the righteousness of God in him shall be justly rewarded with eternal life, in all its fulness, possessing the very glory of heaven! Our sins were not partially imputed to Christ; and his righteousness is not partially imputed to us (Jer. 23:6; 33:16; 50:20).
Did Ye Never Read? Mark 21:42
What an infuriating accusation to these who considered themselves Bible experts. Does this uneducated carpenter’s son suggest that we are ignorant of the scriptures, who have given ourselves to the study of them and have earned letters?
The problem with these pompous doctors of divinity, and their modern like, is that they are ever learning, yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2Tim 3:7). They pride themselves on their knowledge, yet that is the very thing in which they lack ability. They puff themselves up and take upon themselves to “correct” every word or phrase that does not line up with their doctrine, to the end that they might catch the in their words (Mk. 12:13) What a frightening role to take!
This “I know more than you” attitude is as ridiculous as it is obnoxious. I know of no one else who had it on this wise, but these Pharisees Christ dealt with so severely, unless it be the Romish reprobates who considered their opinions to be law, and condemned and punished all who disagreed.
Let me ask the know-it-alls a question or two. Did ye never read in the scriptures, be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you (Eph 4:32)? Did ye never read, if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know (1Cor 8:2)? One more question: Did God put you here to debate and determine who all agrees with you, or to simply proclaim the glories of the Saviour, and what He did for sinners? Did ye never read? Pastor Chris Cunningham
27 Grace Bulletin
April 30, 2006
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
DanvilleChannel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M. Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M. Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.
Web Pageshttp://www.donfortner.com http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp
|
|