May 6, 2007

 

No man sent of God needs to promote himself.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of May 6-13

Sunday          1 Chronicles 14-17             Thursday       1 Chron. 28-2 Chron. 1

Monday         1 Chronicles 18-21             Friday             2 Chronicles 2-5

Tuesday        1 Chronicles 22-24             Saturday        2 Chronicles 6-7

Wednesday  1 Chronicles 25-27             Sunday          2 Chronicles 8-11

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! William Stewart Hacker-10th

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Klaus & Ruth Peterson-4th Billy & Jayalita McCormack-14th

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Shante’ Birchum (AM) Emily Rice (PM) Tuesday: Shelby Fortner

 

I need Thee, Precious JesusFrederick Whitfield (1855)

(Tune: #378 — Stand Up for Jesus — 76.76D)

 

1.    I need Thee, precious Jesus, for I am full of sin;

My soul is dark and guilty, my heart is dead within.

I need the cleansing fountain where I can always flee,

The blood of Christ most precious, the sinner’s perfect plea.

 

2.    I need Thee, blessed Jesus, for I am very poor

A stranger and a pilgrim, I have no earthly store.

I need the love of Jesus to cheer me on my way,

To guide my doubting footsteps, to be my strength and stay.

 

3.    I need Thee, blessed Jesus; I need a friend like Thee,

A friend to soothe and pity, a friend to care for me.

I need the heart of Jesus to feel each anxious care,

To tell my ev’ry trial, and all my sorrows share.

 

4.    I need Thee, blessed Jesus, and hope to see Thee soon,

Encircled with the rainbow and seated on Thy throne:

There, with Thy blood-bought children, my joy shall ever be

To sing Thy praise, Lord Jesus, to gaze, my Lord, on Thee.

 

The Old Man and the New

 

A man that is regenerate and born of God consisteth of two men, namely the “old man,” and the “new man.” So that one man, inasmuch as he is corrupt with the seed of the serpent, is an “old man;” and inasmuch as he is blessed with the seed of God from above, he is a “new man.” Inasmuch as he is an “old man,” he is a sinner and an enemy to God. So, inasmuch as he is regenerate, he is righteous and holy and a friend to God, so that he cannot sin. One man therefore which is regenerate well may be called always just, and always sinful: just in respect of God’s seed and his regeneration; sinful in respect of Satan’s seed and his first birth.                                                                                                                                          John Bradford

 

Note: John Bradford (1510-1555) was burned at the stake January 31, 1555, along with a much younger martyr, John Leaf. Just before the tormentor set them on fire, Bradford said to Leaf — Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!

 

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God’s Work and the Means He Uses to Perform It

 

Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Let my son go.

(Exodus 4:17)

 

Why do you suppose the Lord did not speak to Pharaoh himself? Why did he send Moses to declare his message? He made the work all the more glorious and all the more glorifying to him by using a man to do it. And in the salvation of his elect, in calling chosen, redeemed sinners from death to life in Christ by his Spirit God has chosen to make his wondrous work of grace all the more glorifying to himself by using men to preach the word of life to them (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).

 

            Why doesn’t God speak to every sinner directly, and save his chosen without the use of men? Certainly, he could do so. But when he condescends to use poor mortals, who have tasted his grace, he uses weak things to confound the mighty and foolish things to confound the wise, making his wonders of grace all the more admirable.

 

God’s Work

 

Every believer recognizes and rejoices in the fact that “Salvation is of the Lord.” It is God’s work and God’s work alone. It is in no way dependent upon, conditioned upon, or determined by anything in man or done by man. We contribute nothing to the salvation of our souls; and we contribute nothing to the salvation of others. It is entirely God’s work. — “Salvation is of the Lord!” That cannot be stated too strongly, too often, or too fully. — None “can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (Psalm 49:7). And “none can keep alive his own soul” (Psalm 22:29). Salvation is God’s work (John 1:12-13; Romans 9:16).

 

God’s Means

 

Every believer understands that salvation is God’s work alone, but many fail to realize that, in his infinite sovereignty, the God of heaven condescends to use saved sinners to save lost sinners, to use the preaching of the gospel as the instrument by which he saves his elect, though this is clearly taught in Holy Scripture (Romans 1:14-17; 10:13-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25). — “It pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

 

            All the works of God redound to his glory; but when the instruments he uses appear to be totally inadequate to do the work he performs by them, our reverence is excited, while our reason is awed, and we marvel at the power we cannot understand. It was by Moses alone that God brought Israel out of Egypt. It was by Moses alone that God led and instructed Israel.

 

            Every time they imagined that God spoke to them by another, they got into trouble. When they thought God spoke to them by Aaron, they found themselves dancing naked around a golden calf, while pretending to worship Jehovah! When

 

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many of them looked upon Korah as God’s prophet, the Lord killed them and their self-appointed prophet!

 

Gospel Preachers

 

So it is today. God saves his people, instructs them, guides them, edifies them, and feeds them by his Spirit by the preaching of the gospel. He puts the treasure of his grace in earthen vessels of flesh, to make the treasure shine more gloriously (Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17).

 

            Once Moses was convinced that he was sent of God, sent to carry God’s Word to men, he was fearless before Pharaoh, Egypt, and Israel. Insignificant as he was in and of himself, the very fact that God sent him to speak for him silenced his fears. Being sent of God, he was absolutely assured of success. — Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land” (Exodus 6:1).

 

            With that sweet assurance, Moses steadily kept at his work, until he saw God’s salvation accomplished. He persevered with diligence in the work God sent him to perform, until his work was done. And, in the end, he led the people of God out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, triumphing over Pharaoh and Egypt.

 

 

Observations from Others on the New Birth

 

“When God works in us, the will, being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts, not from compulsion, but responsively.”

Martin Luther

 

“Regeneration is creating a new life, a new birth, a new nature. — “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Titus 3:5). God grants to all his renewed members the sweetest testimony in their own experience to this most blessed truth, that they may know that they are born again, “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of our God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).

Robert Hawker

 

“Regeneration is a new birth. It is expressed in Scripture by being born again (John 3:7), born from above, so it may be rendered (John 3:2, 7, 27), being quickened (Ephesians 2:1), Christ formed in the heart (Galatians 4:12), a partaking of the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Charles Buck

 

“The more I hear men say that they don’t believe in a new nature given in the new birth and the more I observe “how” they say it, the more I’m afraid that, though they do not disprove it, they prove they have never experienced it.”

Pastor Gary Shepard

 

 

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Grace Bulletin

 

May 6, 2007

 

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 in 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

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com