December 9, 2007

 

“The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that he sunk himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding.”                              Martin Luther

 

Daily Readings for the Week of November December 9-16

            Sunday                      Colossians 2-4                                             Thursday                   2 Timothy 1-4

            Monday                     1 Thessalonians 1-5                       Friday             Titus 1-Philimon

            Tuesday                    2 Thess. 1-1 Timothy 1                   Saturday                        Hebrews 1-5

            Wednesday  1 Timothy 2-6                                               Sunday                        Hebrews 6-8

 

·      Our service tonight will begin at 5:30 P.M. Following the service, Shelby and I want all of you to plan to join us for our CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE FELLOWSHIP at the parsonage.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Alexis Mason-10th Darvin Pruitt-10th LeAnn Duff-12th

David Coleman 13th James Jordan-16th

 

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Laura Peterson (AM) Shelby Fortner (PM) Tuesday: Jayalita McCormack

 

Behold the Virgin’s Infant Child — Don Fortner

(Tune: #90 — It Came Upon A Midnight Clear — CMD)

 

1.    Let ev’ry ransomed sinner sing

And praise the triune God.

With grateful hearts, your honors bring.

Let us extol our God!

The Father gave His darling Son

To ransom His elect.

The Lamb was slain ere time begun

Or we incurred our debt.

 

2.    In the fulness of time, Christ came,

(God’s Son in human flesh!)

That He might put away our sin

And bring in righteousness.

Praise God the Holy Spirit, too,

For His almighty grace,

Who sprinkles Jesus’ blood on you

And gives your conscience peace.

 

3.    Behold the virgin’s infant child

Was Jesus come to save!

He was, and ever will abide,

The God-man who can save!

Immanuel, the God-man died

And rose again for us,

With His own blood appears on high

And claims heaven for us!

 

16

A Virgin, or A Young Woman?

Isaiah 7:14

 

About 700 years before the incarnation, the prophet Isaiah made several remarkable prophecies, giving specific details about the virgin birth, humble and holy life, substitutionary, sin-atoning death, resurrection, and glorious exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ. These prophecies have all been fulfilled to the letter. Isaiah 9, 32, and 53 cannot be explained in honesty except by the fact that these were divinely inspired prophecies of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

However, we must never expect skeptics and infidels to be bothered by facts or honesty. Faith is never produced by proving infidels wrong. Faith is the gift of God. Divine truth cannot be understood or believed on the basis of science, logic, history, or human learning. The only way anyone can ever understand anything in the Book of God is by believing God. And the only way any sinner can ever believe God is by the gift and operation of God in the new birth. While I have no delusions about convincing unbelieving men and women of divine truth, it is always beneficial to God’s elect to see how easily the skeptic’s brilliant objections to Divine Revelation are foiled.

 

            One of the most commonly attacked statements of the Old Testament is Isaiah’s declaration: – “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” We are told that the word “virgin” simply means “young woman” and that if Isaiah had really meant to say “virgin” he would have used another word. But the skeptic has a problem. The word Isaiah used for “virgin” is found eight times in the Old Testament, and is translated “damsel,” “maid,” and “virgin.” Yet, the dominant translation of the word is “virgin,” and there is no indication any of those “young maidens” were not young virgins. In fact, the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the Old Testament) always translates the Hebrew word used for “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 by a Greek word which cannot mean anything except “virgin.”

 

            When we refer to the irrefutable fact of our Lord’s incarnation and his entrance into the world through Mary’s virgin womb, we often speak of what we call “the virgin birth of Christ.” That phrase is really a little misleading. The fact is, our Savior’s birth was as ordinary as ordinary can be. He was born in a cow stable by the normal biological process of birth.

 

The amazing thing is not how he came out of his mother’s womb, but how he entered it. The account given in Holy Scripture is emphatic. That “holy thing” formed in the virgin’s womb was conceived in her virgin womb by God the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). That “body,” in which the Son of God was able to bear our sins and suffer the wrath of God as our Substitute, was prepared by God the Holy Spirit in Mary’s virgin womb (Hebrews 10:5). Thus, it came to pass, “when the fulness of time was come, that God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5). It came to pass exactly as God the Holy Spirit said it would more than seven hundred years earlier by the prophet Isaiah.

 

17

Go to Bethlehem

 

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

                                                                                                                                    (Isaiah 7:14)

 

Go down to Bethlehem, and, in company with the wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, behold him who is born King of kings and Lord of lords, and joyfully remember our Savior’s birth. I hope that you can by faith claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6)

 

Bethlehem’s Babe

Who is this babe of Bethlehem? Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our Brother and Friend, Let us adore him. His name is Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature. That one who was carried in Mary’s womb for nine months is Mary’s God. That one who came forth from Mary’s womb is Mary’s Creator. It is true that his human body was miraculously conceived in the womb of a virgin by the overshadowing power of God the Holy Spirit. As to his human nature, our Lord was born as the Seed of woman. — “Unto us a child is born.”

      But do not ever think that Mary is the mother of God. That notion of the papists is blasphemy. As to his divine nature, the prophet does not say that he was born, but rather, — “Unto us a Son is given”. The Lord Jesus Christ is himself God the eternal Son. In the incarnation God the Son took into union with himself our nature. He is as truly God as though he were not man, and as truly man as though he were not God. Our Redeemer is the God-man, the Man-God, Mediator, — Immanuel. The sweetest word in all the English language is that golden name, — Immanuel! God has come in human flesh to redeem fallen man!

 

His Mission

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ come to this earth? Upon what mission was he sent? Our Lord did not assume our nature to establish an earthly kingdom in which the Jewish nation might rule the world. We are expressly told that he came to save his people from their sins, according to the will of God. — “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). — “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). Immanuel is God come to save. The Son of God assumed our nature at Bethlehem for the express purpose of redeeming his people at Calvary, dying in our place under the wrath of God, as our Substitute.

 

Mission Accomplished

Has Immanuel done what he came here to do? Has he accomplished his mission? Indeed, he has! He has redeemed his people. As a real man the Son of God lived in this world for thirty-three years, perfectly fulfilling the righteous requirements of God’s holy law. He established a perfect righteousness as the Representative of his people, bringing in an everlasting righteousness for us, righteousness such as God is pleased to accept. Then, at the appointed time he laid down his life as our Substitute at Calvary, satisfying the wrath and justice of God against his people. By his righteous obedience to the law and his sin-atoning sacrifice, the God-man, Immanuel, has accomplished his Father’s will and redeemed unto himself a people.

 

King of Glory

Where is Immanuel today? That very Babe who was born at Bethlehem, lived in the regions of Judea for thirty-three years, and died at Calvary to redeem his people, is now seated upon the throne of universal dominion. He is the King of Glory! With sovereign, universal power, he is ruling this world to accomplish the salvation of those very people he has redeemed. God has “given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life unto as many as his Father has given him” (John 17:2). “O come, let us adore him!” Immanuel, the God-man, is our Savior and our King!

 

18

Grace Bulletin

 

December 9, 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.freegraceradio.com

http://www.sovereign-grace.com/gracechurch.htm

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com