|
|
Grace Baptist Church of Danville June 21, 2009 Holiness
(sanctification) is not accomplished by human effort, but by sovereign grace. Daily
Readings for the Week of June 21-28 Sunday Psalm
69-73 Thursday Psalm
93-102 Monday Psalm
74-78 Friday Psalm
103-106 Tuesday Psalm
79-86 Saturday Psalm
107-113 Wednesday Psalm 87-92 Sunday Psalm
114-118 HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Evan
Rolley-22nd
Bob Duff-24th Josh Peterson-25th Ruth Peterson-25th Walter Groover-25th Mary Lou Duff-28th
Covenant Love — Don
Fortner (Tune: #228 — My Faith has Found a
Resting Place — CMD) 1. Oh,
let JehovahÕs covÕnant love To us, employ our breath!
— Eternal, changeless, covÕnant
love, — The same, in life and death. Elect and precious in His
sight, Before all worlds we stood; Our souls were always His
delight, — The purchase of His blood. 2. BelovÕd
and precious while we live, And precious when we die; So precious, that to us HeÕll
give Those precious crowns on high! So precious, that His grace and
power Conspire to make us blest; So precious in our dying hour, HeÕll take us to His breast! 3. So
precious, that He has engraved Our names upon His hand; So precious that we shall be
saved, And in His presence stand. Hear, O my soul, what Jesus says, And fear not to depart; — For all His saints, in life and
death, Are precious to His heart! Baptism is
the believerÕs public confession of faith in Christ. By his burial in and
resurrection from the watery grave the heaven born soul shows, in this
divinely ordained symbol, the fulfillment of all righteousness by Christ, the
sinnersÕ Substitute (Matthew 3:13-17). 22 Christ
and the Scriptures — Ambrose
Serle (1742-1812) Considering
Christ, which indeed we ought, as JEHOVAH; his Name is like Ointment
poured forth, in all the Scriptures; because all the Scriptures,
as himself hath shewed, might be expounded concerning him and his Name
(Luke 24: 27). They are every way full of Christ; and, if we were full of him
too, we should see more, and enjoy more of him and of them. His
Name is excellent in the Scriptures; and, if we had made greater Attainments in
the Excellency of his Knowledge, we should be ready to say to him, with David,
O JEHOVAH our Adonai, how excellent is thy Name in all
the earth! The very Life, Substance and Spirit of
Prophecy is the Testimony of, or concerning, Jesus; (Rev. 19: 10 The
Words are otherwise translated in our Bible, but the critics have justly
observed, and among them Dr. Hurd (now Bp. of Worcester), that the
text, according to the Greek idiom, should have been transposed as above)
without which, for its Object and End, it would not only have been futile,
but false as futile. There could have been no Purpose, for which
the Scriptures should have been written at all, but for the Purpose of
displaying Man's Redemption; and, therefore, if their principle Scope had not
been to exhibit the Author of this Redemption, they would have been
impertinent Fables or idle Curiosities. They might have amused
us, like the Writings of the Literati ; but they could never have made
us happy, or wise unto Salvation. Welcome Relief ÒO that
thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until
thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my
change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire
to the work of thine hands.Ó (Job 14:13-15) For
the believer the death of the body is the freeing of the soul. It is a
welcome relief (Philippians 1:21-23; Revelation 14:13). While living in this
world, we seek to be content with GodÕs wise and good providence. We want to
glorify our great God by living before Him in faith, resigning all things to
His will. We would not change our lot in life, even if we could. Our heavenly
Father knows and always does what is best. Life a Burden Yet, life in this world, at best, is a burden to the heaven born soul.
In this tabernacle we groan (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). We groan for life! Our
hearts cry, ÒO wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body
of death!Õ In this body we struggle with
sin. In heaven we shall be free from sin. — In this body we are tempted
and often fall. In heaven we shall never be tempted and shall never fall. —
In this body we weep much. In heaven we shall weep no more. — In this
body we long to be like Christ. In heaven we shall
be like Christ. — In 23 this body we long for ChristÕs presence. In heaven we shall forever be
with Christ. We have many friends in heaven whom
we dearly love. We miss them. But we do not sorrow for them. We envy them!
The believer, as long as he is in this world, is like an eagle I once saw
while visiting a zoo. He sat on an iron perch, with a chain holding him to
the earth, gazing into heaven. It appeared that he longed to soar away into
the distant clouds; but the chain held him fast to the earth. When
an eagle is happy in an iron cage or chained to an iron perch, when a sheep
is happy in a pack of wolves, when a fish is happy on dry land, then, and not
until then, will the renewed soul be happy in this body of flesh. Death for
GodÕs saints will be a welcome relief (Psalm 17:15). Where?
The Scriptures tell us plainly that
GodÕs saints, as soon as they die, enter into heaven, and that death for the
believer is a welcome relief. But, where have our departed friends gone? I
have already shown you that they have gone to heaven. They have not gone to
purgatory. They are not in limbo. They are not floating around in the air.
Their souls are not asleep. Our friends who have left us are in heaven. But
where is heaven? That is a question I cannot answer. God has not told us.
Heaven is a place somewhere outside this world, somewhere outside time. But
it is a place, a real place. Heaven is the place where Christ is. Heaven is
the place to which he has promised to bring us (John 14:1-3). Heaven is the
place where our departed friends are right now (Hebrews 12:22-23). Our House in Heaven In 2nd Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul tells us several things about
the believerÕs death and entrance into heaven. Death is the dissolving of
this earthly body. This body is of the earth. It is only suitable for the
earth. It must return to the earth. And the dissolution of this body is no
cause for sorrow. Richard Baxter wrote,
ÒIt will be like taking off a shoe that hurts my foot — a welcome
relief! It will be like laying aside a tool that is no longer needed because
its work is done.Ó It will be like tearing down a tent to move into a house. In
heaven we shall have another house for our souls. — ÒIn my FatherÕs
house are many mansions,Ó houses,
dwelling places. Whatever our house in heaven shall be, it shall be a house
not made with hands, a house prepared by Christ, and a house suitable to our
life in glory. As
soon as this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we shall enter that house
Christ has prepared for our souls in heaven. There will be no lapse of time,
no delay between the dissolving of this body and our entrance into our house in
glory. This is not a matter of conjecture, but of certainty. ÒWe know,Ó Paul says. We who are taught of God know these
things by the revelation of God in his Word, by the earnest of the Spirit (v.
5), and by virtue of our faith in Christ (v. 7). What happens to the believer
after death? Do you ask, ÒWhere have our departed friends gone?Ó They have
gone to heaven. They have gone home. They have gone to be with Christ! 24 Grace Bulletin June 21, 2009 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 |
|