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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

December 15, 2013

Hirelings and false prophets change their doctrine like most men change their shirts, to suit their present place and company.

·      Shelby and I would like for you to join us for our Annual Open House at the Parsonage following our morning worship service. — No service here tonight.

Happy Birthday!  James Jordan-16th    Celeste Peterson-16th   Bettina Criss-22nd

Nursery Duty this Week

Today: Jayalita McCormack               Tuesday: Stephanie Wall

See the Savior Full of Grace – Don Fortner

(Tune: #93 – Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – 77.77.77)

1.    See the Savior full of grace come to earth, the Prince of Peace.

He of whom the prophets spoke came as Man in flesh and blood.

Though the world no beauty sees, neither form, nor comeliness,

There’s a people taught by grace — We know who Immanuel is.

God, almighty God is He, God in our humanity!

2.    Though the world accounts Him base, we see mercy in His face.

Prostrate at His feet we fall, and own Him the Lord of all!

Christ’s obedience and His blood reconciled us to our God.

Jesus, Savior, Prince of Peace, full of truth and full of grace,

Reign o’er us by mighty grace `til in heav’n we see Your face!

A Just Salvation

Pastor Milton Howard

When we come to peace with God it is not over the ruins of a broken Law, but we come to the Holy God in a holy way.  Sinners are forgiven in a righteous way.  The unjust are reckoned as just in a just way.  There is no restraining or covering of the justice of God.  It is completely satisfied.  He is just, but He is the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.  What a joy it is to look on the holy, perfect character of our Redeemer.  If there could have been found a fault or flaw in Him, He would not have been a suitable Substitute.  If He had committed a single sin, He could not have taken our sins upon Himself, nor could He have paid their penalty and put them away.  Give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.”

1 Peter 2:7

This is not some far-fetched, fanatical notion. It is a fact. God the Holy Ghost has caused it to be written in the volume of inspiration as the truth of God. It is confirmed by the history of the Church from Abel to Malachi, from John the Baptist to John the Beloved. It is confirmed by those martyrs who suffered imprisonment and death from Stephen to Polycarp, from Latimer and Ridley to Bunyan. The blood of God’s saints cries out from the ground, from the dungeons of Rome, and from the torture chambers of the Pope’s inquisition — “Christ is precious!” And it is confirmed by the experience of all who believe. From their inmost soul, God’s elect all agree, “He is precious.” This is faith’s estimation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Precious in Himself

When we think of our Savior’s glorious person, we say, “He is precious.” He is the God-man. Jesus Christ is himself God Almighty, the eternal Son of the eternal Father. The brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his Person is Christ our Savior. And he is man, the perfect man, “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” He is precious in himself, intrinsically precious. He is the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, the Fairest among Ten Thousand. He is Altogether Lovely. Who can compare with this glorious person? He is precious.

Precious to Me

And when I recall what he has done for my soul, I am overwhelmed with his love and grace. Beholding Christ as my redeeming Substitute, my heart is constrained to say, “He is precious.” In love he chose me and became my Surety in the covenant of grace. He lived upon the earth, in conformity to the law of God, to accomplish righteousness for me. And he died in my stead upon the cursed tree, putting away all my sin. Being made sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God in him, the Son of God bore all the fury of God’s infinite wrath unto the full satisfaction of divine justice on my behalf. For me he arose and assumed the throne of universal dominion. Behold, O my soul, Jesus Christ your crucified, risen, exalted, reigning Redeemer, and know this, “he is precious!”

Precious to You

Is Christ precious to you? If he is, you are a true believer. If he is not, you do not have the faith of God’s elect. Do you believe in Jesus for life and salvation? If you do, he is precious to you. He is precious in himself, and God’s gift of faith working in you makes him precious to you. Is the Lord Jesus precious in his person, precious in his work, precious in his offices, precious in his relations, precious in his whole character? Do you know him, so as to love him, to live to him, to rejoice in him, and to cast your whole soul upon him, for life and salvation? Do you accept him as the Father’s gift, the Sent, the Sealed, the Anointed, the Christ of the Father? Is he so precious, that there is nothing in him but what you love, nothing you would change? His cross is precious, as well as his crown! Afflictions with him are sweeter than prosperity without him.

No Other

Pause, my soul, to think about these things. There is nothing out of Christ that can be truly satisfying. Your dearest earthly relation, however sweet, has some tinge, some alloy, something impure, something bitter. But there is no mixture of impurity or bitterness in Christ. All he is is pure, and lovely, and transcendently glorious. He is, as one of old described him, “a sea of sweetness, without a single drop of gall.” — “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious!”

“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, the Lord Jesus 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).

Real Union

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.

            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).

Made Fit

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 Christ 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.

The Grace Bulletin

December 15, 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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