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Grace Baptist Church of Danville August 18, 2013
No greater blasphemy ever spewed from the pit of hell than the blasphemous assertion that Christ died to redeem the multitudes who there suffer the wrath of God.
Daily Readings for the Week of August 18-25, 2013 Sunday Lamentations 3-5 Thursday Ezekiel 13-15 Monday Ezekiel 1-4 Friday Ezekiel 16 Tuesday Ezekiel 5-8 Saturday Ezekiel 17-19 Wednesday Ezekiel 9-12 Sunday Ezekiel 20-21
· Bro. Frank Hall is preaching today for Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. · The dates for our 34th Annual Sovereign Grace Bible conference are August 30 - September 1. — The dates for next year’s conference are August 29-31, 2014.
NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK Today: Jennifer Pruter (AM) Dee Dee Raneri (PM) Tuesday: Mindy Peterson
The Power of Redeeming Love — Don Fortner (Tune: The Doxology — LM)
1. Anchored I am and shall remain In Christ the Lamb for sinners slain, In cov’nant love He stood for me, My Surety eternally.
2. When heav’n and earth have fled away God’s mercy shall unshaken stay, For Jesus’ blood above the skies, “Mercy, eternal mercy,” cries!
3. When hell assails my soul I flee To Christ Who bore God’s wrath for me; Looking upon His wounds I say, “No sin shall e’er be charged to me!”
4. Though every earthly joy be gone, And every comfort be withdrawn, Steadfast on Christ I will rely; Trusting God’s Son I cannot die!
5. Though my heart fails and flesh decays, Before God’s throne on judgment day Holy and faultless I will prove The power of redeeming love!
19 “I will allure her.” Hosea 2:14
In Hoses 2:6-23 the Lord God himself is speaking. The subject about which he is speaking is the salvation of his elect as it is portrayed in the love of Hosea for Gomer and his goodness to her. In verse 14 our great God shows us five things about his saving grace.
The Wonder of Grace The wonder of grace is demonstrated in the words “Therefore, behold.” These words in this context refer to the horrible crimes we have committed against our God. Here is the wonder of grace: — The God of all grace finds a reason to be gracious when there is none! He overrules our sins, the reasons for his wrath, and makes our very sinfulness a reason for his grace. Grace is for the guilty, the needy, the sinful!
The Will of Grace The will of grace is the “I will” of Almighty God. In the Bible nothing is ever attributed to the will of man but sin. Salvation is by the will of God. Grace is caused, governed, directed, and exercised, not by the dictates of man’s free will, but by the dictates of God’s sovereign will (Romans 9:15-18). Twenty times in this chapter God says, “I will.” And the result of God’s “I will” is the salvation of his elect.
The Wooing of Grace The wooing of grace is seen in the word “allure.” I like that word. God does not say, “I will drag her,” or “drive her.” No. God will not have any until he has their hearts. He says, “I will allure her,” court and woo her until I win her heart. He reveals himself in her heart by the revelation of Christ’s glorious Person and work. And his wooing is always effectual. It is the work of his Spirit.
The Work of Grace The work of grace is revealed in the words, “I will bring her into the wilderness.” If he wills, he allures. If he allures, he brings his own into the wilderness. Like a bridegroom takes his bride away from family and friend to an isolated place to be with him alone, Christ Jesus separates his own elect, all those redeemed by his blood, from all others and causes us to dwell with him alone by faith. It is in the wilderness that he provides for, protects, guides, and instructs us.
The Word of Grace The word of grace is “I will speak comfortably unto her.” God says, when I allure her and bring her to myself, I will speak to the heart of my beloved. And my word to her will always be the word of comfort and grace, spoken to her heart. I will speak to my own of hope and joy (v. 15), marriage and forgiveness (vv. 16-17), and of covenant mercy (vv. 18-22) and blessed assurance (v. 23).
20 Was Jesus Christ a failure? Isaiah 42:4
Does that question shock you? It should. Yet, there is a notion commonly accepted by devoted religious people which asserts that the Son of God was an utter failure. The notion is that Christ died to redeem and save all people. That he died in vain for the many who perish in hell is nothing less than the assertion that the Lord Jesus Christ utterly failed in his work of redemption.
My first theology professor at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO was Noel Smith. He was for many decades the editor of The Baptist Bible Tribune, and a very highly esteemed Fundamentalist. This is what Mr. Smith wrote about the failure of God our Savior.
“What is hell? It is an infinite negation. And it is more than that. I tell you, and I say it with profound reverence, hell is a ghastly monument to the failure of the triune God to save the multitudes who are there. I say it reverently, I say it with every nerve in my body tense; sinners go to hell because God almighty himself couldn’t save them! He did all he could, he failed!”
Few will-worship Arminians would be honest enough to openly make such assertion; but that assertion by Mr. Smith is exactly what all believe who teach that Christ died to redeem and save those who ultimately perish under the wrath of God.
The Bible speaks of the redemptive work of Christ as an accomplished, effectual work, a sacrifice made for a particular, elect people (Isaiah 53:8; Matthew 1:21; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 5:9). Nowhere in the Book of God is there even a hint of universal atonement.
To say that Christ died to redeem and save all men is to declare that man is his own savior. If Christ died for everyone, those who perish as well as those who are saved, the difference between the saved and the lost is not the blood of Christ, but the decision of the sinner. If so, salvation cannot be attributed to Christ alone. The sinner himself must be given an equal share of praise.
To say that Christ died to redeem and save all men is to deny that Jesus Christ is God. If he died to save all and some are not saved, then he is a failure; and a failure is not God. It is no more blasphemous and no more a denial of Christ’s Godhood to deny the virgin birth than it is to deny the efficacy of our Savior’s redemptive work.
“He shall not fail!” — That is the doctrine of Holy Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ died to redeem those who actually are redeemed and saved by his blood. Do you know and worship this Christ? He alone is the Christ of Holy Scripture, the Savior of sinners. The commonly accepted doctrine of universal atonement is utter blasphemy, a complete denial that Jesus Christ is God, for it asserts that he is a failure!
21 The Grace Bulletin
August 18, 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
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Pastor Fortner’s
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