GOSPEL PREACHING ONLINE

www.freegraceradio.com

 

December 3, 2006

 

ÒThy God reigneth!Ó

 

Daily Readings for the Week of December 3-10

        Sunday                    2 Cor 12-Galatians 1                         Thursday               Ephesians 6-Phil. 2

         Monday                  Galatians 2-4                                             Friday                       Philippians 3-Col. 1

           Tuesday                  Galatians 5-Ephesians 2                Saturday                 Colossians 2-4

        Wednesday         Ephesians 3-5                                           Sunday                    1 Thessalonians 1-5

 

á           Bros. Larry Brown, Roland Browning, Pastor Chris Cunningham and I will visit our missionaries in Mexico, Walter and Cody Groover, this week.

á           Pastor Todd Nibert, Todds Road Grace Church in Lexington, will preach the gospel to you Tuesday night.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

David Burge-4th Jesse Rice-9th Alexis Mason-10th Darvin Pruitt-10th

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Skip & Sandy Gladfelter-1st Mark & Regina Henson-29th

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Laura Peterson (AM) Debbie Bartley (PM) Tuesday: Ruth Wall

 

Force Me to be Saved by Grace Don Fortner

(Tune: #169 — Holy Spirit, Faithful Guide — 77.77D)

 

  1. O my God, what can I do? You alone can mercy show.

You can save my soul this hour. I have neither will nor powÕr.

SovÕreign over all You are, even of my sinful heart!

Make Your saving power known, — Take away my heart of stone.

 

  1. Come, subdue my lusts obscene; make this filthy sinner clean!

Make me willing to believe! Life eternal, Savior, give!

Force me, make me willing now; force my stubborn will to bow!

Grace almighty, Savior, show, make this wretch a creature new!

 

  1. Nothing is too hard for You; work in me Your will and do.

Let my prayer not be denied, — Grant repentance, break my pride.

Stop the madness of my will; speak, and bid my heart stand still.

Your Salvation let me see, — Jesus crucified for me!

 

  1. Bow the heavens, Lord come down; take me, Savior, for Your own.

Wretched unbelief oÕerthrow; lay the highest mountain low.

Conquer me, oh, conquer me; get Yourself the victory!

Save the vilest of the race, force me to be saved by grace!

 

 

December Schedule

 

December 10th Shelby and I want all of you to join us after the service next Sunday night for an open house gathering at the parsonage.

December 17th — Christmas dinner following our morning worship service. There will be no service in the evening.

December 24th — No Evening Service on Christmas Eve

 

 

1

ÒThe End of All MenÓ

Ecclesiastes 7:2

 

Jeremiah wrote ÒMy strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in meÓ (Lam. 3:18-20). — ÒThe joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dimÓ (Lam. 5:15-17).

              None of us would ever choose to visit the house of mourning, if we did not have to do so; but the Word of God tells us plainly that it is good for us to have our merriment interrupted and our dancing turned into mourning, that it is good for eternity bound sinners to be found in the house of mourning, because Òthat is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heartÓ (Ecc. 7:2-4). We go to the house of mourning because we are compelled to go by the arrangement of GodÕs wise and good providence. In the house of mourning, as we view the cold, dead body of a mortal, we are forced to face the fact that death is the sure and certain Òend of all men.Ó — ÒIt is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.Ó Will you lay these things to heart?

 

Are You Afraid to Die?

 

I have watched a lot of people die, some young and some old, some believers and some infidels, some with no hope, some with a false hope, and some with a good hope. I have seen some die in utter terror and some with great comfort, some in brazen blasphemy and defiance, and some with peace and joy. How will it be for you when you come to deathÕs chilly waters? I know a good many men and women who do everything they can to avoid visiting a rest home, a hospital, or a funeral parlor. They simply cannot face the fact that they, too, must soon die. Even now, the fear of death terrorizes them. I ask of you what Jeremiah asked long ago. If sickness and death torment you now, Òthen how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?Ó Are you afraid to die?

 

A reasonable fear

 

The fear of death is a very natural thing to sinful men. If you are without Christ, you have reason to be afraid. Soon you and I must die. Long ago, a dying man requested that the words below be inscribed upon his tombstone. He wanted all who passed by his grave to be reminded of the brevity of life and the certainty of death. We would be wise to lay them to heart.

ÒPlease view my grave as you pass by,

For as you are so once was I,

And as I am soon you must be,

So make your plans to follow me.Ó

              Because of your sin and guilt before God, you must die. But death will not end your existence. You will stand before a holy, just, and righteous God in judgment. And you will reap the exact penalty due for your sin, the infinite, eternal wrath of God in hell (2 Cor. 5:10-11; Rev. 20:11-15). This is Òthe second death,Ó the everlasting death of your soul in hell. It is a torturous death that never dies!

 

No Reason to Fear

 

2

For the believer things are indescribably different. In Hebrews 2:14-15 the Holy Spirit tells us that one great purpose of our SaviorÕs incarnation was that He might destroy Satan and deliver his elect from the fear of death. The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world for this purpose, that he might Òdeliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage

              Being washed in the blood of Christ and living by faith in him, we should have no fear of death. Certainly, we must not expect to have dying grace until our time to die has come. Yet, we ought not live out our days on this earth clinging to the vanity of mortality and fearing its end. Christ came not only to deliver us from death, but from the very fear of death. He does so by effectually teaching us the gospel, giving us the blessed confidence of faith in himself as our all-sufficient Savior.

              Our Savior destroyed the power of death by dying in our place and rising again. Since all of GodÕs elect were partakers of flesh and blood, under the dominion of death, Christ became a man to suffer and die for us. It was not possible for our Representative to satisfy the claims of divine justice against us unless he lived and died in our nature. By his substitutionary death on the cursed tree and his triumphant resurrection, the Son of God destroyed the power of Satan and the power of the grave over us. We are now more than conquerors in him. Why then should we fear death?

              The Lord Jesus delivers us from the fear of death by removing our sin. ÒThe sting of death is sin.Ó It is sin which causes men torment in death. But in Christ we have no sin. In him we are fully forgiven. By his blood, our sins are washed away. If we are born of God, we are in Christ; Òand in him is no sinÓ (1 John 3:1-5). Be sure you have the forgiveness of sin by faith in Christ, and fear death no more. To die forgiven, Òaccepted in the Beloved,Ó is not really to die at all. It is simply the departure out of this world into the FatherÕs house.

              The law of God held us in bondage to the sentence of death and condemnation; but ÒChrist hath redeemed us from the curse of the lawÓ (Gal. 3:13). ÒChrist is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believethÓ (Rom. 10:4). He is the end of the lawÕs power to condemn. In the book of GodÕs holy law there is no legal claim of condemnation upon any believer. Christ satisfied that claim for us. Why then should we fear? If I am in Christ, I am dead to the law (Romans 7:4; 8:1-4).

              The Lord Jesus Christ delivers us from the fear of death by changing the character of death. For the unbeliever, death is a horrible thing. For the unbeliever, anything short of death is mercy. But, for the believer, death is a great blessing. John Trapp wroteÉ

ÒTo those that are in Christ death is but the day-break of eternal brightness; not the punishment of sin, but the period of sin. It is but a sturdy porter opening the door of eternity, a rough passage to eternal pleasure.Ó

              Why should Israel be afraid to cross the swelling Jordan into the land of promise with the ark of God before them? The fact is believers do not die in the sense that others do. Our Lord said, ÒWhosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die.Ó To the ungodly, death is the penalty of sin; but to the believer, it is just a change of location. Death to the wicked is the execution of justice, but to the believer, it is a deliverance from sin. To the worldling, death is the beginning of sorrows, but to the believer, it is admission into glory. To the rebel, death is imprisonment, but to the believer, it is freedom.

 

3

 

 

Grace Bulletin

 

December 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