September 3, 2006

 

The object of faith is a whom, not a what. The matter that must be settled is not ÒWhat do you believe?Ó or ÒWhen did you first believe?Ó or even ÒHow did you come to believe?Ó but — ÒDost thou believe on the Son of God?Ó

 

Daily Readings for the Week of September 3-10

                           Sunday                                  Ezekiel 42-44                                                                                                                            Thursday                             Daniel 4-5

                           Monday                               Ezekiel 45-47                                                                                                                            Friday                                     Daniel 6-8

                           Tuesday                               Ezekiel 48-Daniel 1                                                                                 Saturday                              Daniel 9-10

                           Wednesday                       Daniel 2-3                                                                                                                                      Sunday                                  Daniel 11-Hosea 1

 

á          There will be no service here tonight or Tuesday night.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Nancy Criss-5th  Klaus Peterson-8th  Evelyn Clark-10th

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY:  David & Betty Burge-7th   Lance & Robin Hellar-7th

NURSERY DUTY TODAY:

Regina Henson & Melissa Reed (10:00)  Vicci Rolley & Amy Coleman(11:00)

 

Father, we give You thanks! — Don Fortner

(Tune: #46 — O For a Thousand Tongues — CM)

 

1.       With Jesus we rejoice and sing,

ÒFather, we give You thanks!Ó

For all Your free and sovÕreign grace,

ÒFather, we give You thanks!Ó

 

2.       The mystÕries of redeeming love

YouÕve hidden from the wise;

And the simplicity of Christ

Is folly in their eyes.

 

3.       But unto babes You still reveal

Salvation in Your Son! —

The wonders of Your love and grace,

To us You yet make known!

 

4.       Fresh mercies Lord reveal today

In Jesus crucified. —

Send us rejoicing to our homes

As sinners justified!

 

The gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus is not a thing to be proved, but truth to be believed. It is not submitted to our reasoning powers as a subject for critical examination. The gospel is a message from God, addressed to the conscience, feelings, and affections. For this reason, men fond of argument and proving everything by strictly logical deduction generally make very poor preachers. In the Scriptures, God does not argue, He proclaims!"                            J.C. Philpot

 

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September Meetings

 

I am scheduled to preach in the following places in the next few weeks.

 

Saturday (AM) – Sunday (AM) —September 16-17

Grace Baptist Church, Taylor, AK — Contact Winston Warlick 870-859-3306

Sunday (PM) and Monday (PM) — September 17-18

Grace Fellowship, Wichita Falls, TX — Contact Jim Wilson 940-855-6505

Thursday (PM) — September 28

Zebulon Baptist Church, Pikeville, KY — Tom Harding, Pastor 606 631-9053

Friday (PM) – Saturday (AM) — September 29-30

Grace Baptist Church, Dingess, WV — Gary Vance, Pastor 304 752-7287

 

 

Four Great Dangers

 

2 Corinthians 11:2-3

 

Natural men and women, unsaved, unregenerate professors of religion, sometimes become excited and zealous about Christ and the gospel of GodÕs free and sovereign grace in him. In a sense, they often get just as excited about the doctrines of grace as true believers do, maybe even more so, at least for a while. But after a while the luster and beauty of grace grows dim in their eyes, the glory of substitution is lost to them. After a while, the lost religionist gets tired of the gospel of Christ. He wants something new, something more profound, something mysterious. Like the children of Israel in the wilderness, the natural man has no real taste and relish in his soul for the manna of heaven. He soon longs for the leeks and onions of Egypt.

                           Such people may or may not openly deny the gospel. But, in time, they get tired of hearing the sweet message of Christ crucified. They grow weary of hearing about grace, free, sovereign grace, and nothing but grace. The manna of heaven tastes stale to them. I have seen this happen so many times that it frightens me. I am fearful for you who read these lines, just as Paul was for the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:2-3).

                           Satan is a crafty, subtle deceiver. He does not care what the issue is by which men and women are beguiled, so long as they are beguiled. He does not care what he gets you to embrace, so long as he gets you to turn away from Christ. When the fiend of hell turns anyone away from Christ, he has won the day. That frightens me.

There are four dangers to which we are all naturally susceptible, four snares of Satan by which multitudes have been deceived. Many men who were once so promising, so encouraging, so impressive have been turned away from Christ by one of these four satanic snares. Mark them and be warned.

 

Worldliness

 

Worldliness is a very great danger. We are warned to beware of it in the strongest terms possible (Matt. 13:22; 1 John 2:15-17). The care of this world and the  deceitfulness of riches, the love of the world (its riches, its power, its acceptance, its pleasures), have slain many in time. Usually, these weeds do their work slowly, but they do it effectively. Beware, of worldliness!

 

Arminianism

 

Arminianism is also a great danger to us, because we are all proud Arminians by nature.  No  matter how thoroughly convinced we are of free grace, our proud, sinful

 

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nature still cries up freewill. We all want to build the altar at which we worship by our own hands (Ex. 20:24-25). We all want to think that salvation, at least some part of salvation, at least in some measure, is of our own doing.

                           Arminianism is a monster with many heads. Every time it raises one of its ugly heads cut it off quickly. Do not endure for a moment any thought that promotes manÕs dignity, or any thought that robs God of his glory. — ÒSalvation is of the Lord!Ó — ÒIt is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy!Ó

 

Intellectualism

 

Being proud, arrogant worms, we all have to face the danger of intellectualism, too. Satan knows how proud we all are of our puny brains. Because we are so very proud of our mental abilities, we vainly imagine that by much study and diligent research we can find out all things. We foolishly imagine that we can by searching find out God! I have even heard some men boast that they came to know the gospel, not by divine revelation, but by their own great brilliance and disciplined study!

Proud flesh always loves to study and learn Òsome new thing.Ó So we give ourselves to answering one question, then another, and then another. How often individuals, pastors, churches, and denominations become consumed with the study of prophecy, creeds, morality, church order, political issues, family issues, etc. Those who give in to this lust of the flesh soon make the gospel of Christ a sideline, because there is no end to foolish questions. And when the gospel of Christ becomes a sideline in any church or ministry, Satan has won the day (1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 2:23; Tit. 3:9).

 

Legalism

 

We also face the constant danger of legalism. It is more difficult for a person to be weaned from legalism than from any other tendency of human nature. The spirit of bondage and legality is more frequently and more forcefully dealt with in the New Testament than any other error. To one degree or another, worldliness, Arminianism, and intellectualism all have their roots in the spirit of legality.

Legalism is any attempt to bring the people of God back under the bondage of the law, any doctrine or religious system that teaches that man can be justified before God by something he does, or makes sanctification and holiness something a man does for himself, or teaches that man can put God under obligation to him, that man can, by something he does, merit GodÕs favor.

 

                           This demon of legality must be exposed and eradicated. ÒCast out the bondwoman and her child.Ó Nothing is more harmful, or more deadly than this foolish attachment of sinful men to the law. It promotes pride and self-righteousness. It turns a manÕs eyes away from Christ to himself. It causes strife and division among GodÕs people, causing sinful man to think he is something when he is nothing! It destroys every foundation of true peace and assurance before God. It is in direct opposition to the plainest statements of Holy Scripture. We who believe on Christ, we who are saved by the free grace of God in Christ are not under the law in any sense, to any degree, for any reason. We will not, we must not allow anyone to bring us under the yoke of bondage to the law. (Rom. 6:15; 7:4; 10:4; Gal. 3:1-3, 13, 24-25; 5:1-4; 6:12-13; Col. 2:16-17; 1 Tim. 1:5-10). There is no room in the house of grace for the whip of the law.

 

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Grace Bulletin

 

September 3, 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

 

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