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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

June 23, 2013

No man serves God on his own terms, but in the place where God puts him, with the gifts God gives him, to do the work for which God condescends in great mercy and grace to use him. Being so highly honored of God, God’s servant serves his Master willingly, with all his heart and all his might.

·      Bro. Frank Hall is preaching today for Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, KY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Bob Duff-24th  Josh Peterson-25th  Ruth Peterson-25th

Walter Groover-25th  Mary Lou Duff-28th  Stacey Hall-29th  Dee Dee Raneri-29th

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Celeste Peterson (AM) Ruth Wall (PM)     Tuesday: Mindy Peterson

What Wonders in My Savior Meet! — Don Fortner

(Tune: #131 — Lift Up, Lift Up Your Voices Now — LM)

1.    What wonders in my Savior meet —

His head, His hands, His side, His feet

Present to my astonished view,

Eternal glories, ever new!

2.    Poor and despised, yet rich and loved;—

Humbled to death — His throne unmoved!

God’s Servant and our sov’reign Lord,

Reviled and murdered, yet adored!

3.    Pardon and life are His to give;

He died that God’s elect might live,

Became a curse to bring us grace —

He is the Lord our Righteousness!

4.    He had not where to lay His head,

Although the worlds were by Him made!

He hungered, though He thousands fed,

Sinless, and yet for sin He bled!

5.    The Father’s co-eternal Son

Made sin for us — The Holy One!

The Portion all believers crave,

He’s Man to suffer — God to save!

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“Partakers of the Divine Nature”

2 Peter 1:4

As all men were created in and simultaneously with the first Adam, all God’s elect were created new and simultaneously with the last Adam, Christ. As we had being in Adam from the beginning of creation, all God’s elect have had being with Christ from eternity. Being born of Adam in natural generation, we necessarily partake of Adam’s nature. And being “born of God” in regeneration, we are made “partakers of the divine nature.” As the seed of the first Adam partake of his nature, the seed of the last Adam partake of his nature.

Two Natures

The children of the first Adam are born of the flesh, and are earthy in all their thoughts, feelings, and affections. The children of the last Adam are born of the Spirit, and are spiritual and heavenly in all their thoughts, feelings, and affections. The children of the first Adam are born for the earth. The children of the last Adam are born for heaven.

            These two men, the old and the new, Adam and Christ, flesh and spirit, dwell in every child of God in this world; but they do not dwell together. They are in a state of perpetual warfare (Romans 7:14; Galatians 5:16-25). The flesh, the old man, is altogether sinful and corrupt. It can do nothing but sin. The spirit, the new man, that which is born of God, is altogether righteousness and cannot sin (1 John 3:5-10).

Fallen in Adam

Our existence in Adam was a representative existence, yes; but it was more. It was a real, vital existence. We had being in our father Adam from the beginning, being created in him and with him. Our union with him in the Garden was real. When he sinned, we sinned in him. When he died, we died in him. It is not merely that we were reckoned to have sinned and reckoned to have died. — We sinned in Adam and we died in Adam, because we were one with Adam from the beginning.

Accepted in Christ

Now, here’s the good news. — Our existence in Christ from the beginning, before the foundation of the world, our eternal union with Christ, was and is a real, vital existence with the God-man, our Mediator, Surety and Savior. When he stood forth as our Surety before time began and was accepted of God as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8), we were accepted in him and blessed with all spiritual blessings in him (Ephesians 1:3-6).

Righteousness Imparted

Yet, before we could enter heaven as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, something more must be done. Justice satisfied does not make anyone fit for heaven. Righteousness imputed does not make the ransomed sinner worthy of heavenly glory. It is only when redeemed sinners are made “partakers of the divine nature” in the new birth that the righteousness of God is imparted to them, and they are, by the grace and gracious operations of God, made “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). The imputed righteousness of Christ in redemption makes us worthy of heaven. The imparted righteousness of Christ in regeneration makes us fit for heaven.

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“What about this verse?”

2 Peter 1:20

I cannot and do not desire to stop the cavils of people who will not bow to the Word of God; but I do want to help you who may be confused and disturbed by the verses of Scripture they point to, or partially quote as “proof texts” against the blessed doctrines of the gospel you have learned to love.

No Private Interpretation

No verse of Scripture is to be interpreted privately, isolated from its context, and from the context of the whole Word of God. If we are honest with the Scriptures, we always endeavor to interpret them contextually. In other words, we do not pull isolated verses or phrases from the Word of God and use them to prove or disprove anything. Instead, honest people read and study the Scriptures, asking God the Holy Spirit to teach them the truths contained in the passage they are reading, and to show them how that passage meshes with the rest of Scripture. The biggest obstacle to the unbelieving religionist is the greatest joy to the child of God – Limited Atonement, Particular and Effectual Redemption. Therefore, the unregenerate, in their vain attempts to prove that Christ’s blood was, after all, shed in vain for some, love to point us to texts with the words “all” and “world” in them. Do not allow them to disturb you.

Not Even a Hint

There is not a single word in Scripture, interpreted contextually, that even hints at the remote possibility that Christ may have died for some who perish under the wrath of God. The plain, clear, universal testimony of Holy Scripture is that Christ died for, effectually redeemed, and infallibly secured the eternal salvation of God’s elect, for whom alone he makes intercession as their great High Priest (John 17:9, 20). Every text where the atonement is taught declares that fact with unmistakable clarity. There are no exceptions. (Read a few of them – Isaiah 53:8-11; Matthew 1:21; John 10:9-18; Romans 5:8-11; 8:33-34; Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 9:11-12; 10:10-14; 1 Peter 2:24-25; 3:18; Revelation 1:5-6; 5:9-10.) Every Old Testament type and picture of redemption, grace, and salvation shows that these things were designed by God for a specifically chosen people. The innocent victims in Eden were slain and made clothing for Adam and Eve. Noah’s ark was built to save eight souls. The ram caught in the thicket was sacrificed for Isaac. The paschal lamb was slain for Israel alone. The high priest wore only the names of God’s chosen upon his breastplate. The tabernacle, the altar, and the mercy-seat were established nowhere, except in Israel. The words “all,” “world,” and “every” do not normally mean all without exception, even as we use them today. They normally mean all of a specific group (Mark 1:5; Luke 2:1). If I walked into a diner and said, “I am buying lunch for everyone,” no one in his right mind would presume that I intended to buy lunch for everyone in the world, without exception! This is the teaching of Scripture – God loved and chose, Christ died for and redeemed, and the Holy Spirit regenerates and preserves the world of God’s elect.

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The Grace Bulletin

June 23, 2013

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 7:45 A.M.

Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M.

Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.

Television Broadcasts in Harrodsburg

Channel 6 - Sunday Afternoon 3:00 P.M.

Channel 6 - Friday Evening 6:00 P.M.

Web Pages

http://www.DonFortner.com

http://www.FreegraceRadio.com

http://www.Grace-eBooks.com

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s

Audio Sermons

Video Sermons

Books

Event Calendar