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September 14, 2014

 

How little is written or spoken by preachers and saints about consecration to Christ. Why? Why are people a little embarrassed about using the word “consecration”? — I do not know, but the most likely reason is that we know little, if anything, about it.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of September 14-21, 2014

Sunday                Amos 1-5                              Thursday       Micah 6-Nahum 2

            Monday                      Amos 6-9                              Friday             Nahum 3-Habakkuk 3

            Tuesday                    Obadiah 1-Jonah 4            Saturday                    Zephaniah 1-Haggai 1

            Wednesday  Micah 1-5                              Sunday                      Haggai 2-Zechariah 4

 

·      I am scheduled to preach Thursday night for Zebulon Baptist Church in Pikeville, Kentucky, where Bro. Tom Harding is pastor. — Friday night and Saturday morning I am scheduled to preach for Grace Baptist Church in Dingess, West Virginia, where Bro. Gary Vance is pastor.

 

Happy Birthday! Regina Henson-20th

 

Nursery Duty this Week

Today: Jenny Bartley (AM)  — Stephanie Wall PM)  — Tuesday: Debbie Bartley

 

Salvation for a Guilty Race Don Fortner

(Tune: #190 — We Bless the Name of Christ the Lord —LM)

 

 

1.    Salvation for a guilty race,

Contrived by wisdom, done by grace;

The gift of God, purchased by blood,

Gives comfort, while it honors God.

 

2.    God’s just salvation suits my need,

Eternal, just, gracious, and free!

Election and redemption bring

Eternal glory to my King!

 

3.    Bestowed without money or price,

The poor, the vile may now rejoice, —

Pardon, and life, and grace are free,

To wretches poor and vile as me!

 

4.    Salvation! What a joyful sound,

The church redeemed and Jesus crowned!

Proclaim it to a fallen race, —

Salvation’s free, the gift of grace!

 

 

“The more faithful the Lord is to bless us, the more prone we are to take His favor for granted. I pray that He will not need to take away any of His mercies from us, in order to remind us from whence they come.”

 — Pastor Chris Cunningham

 

 

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“The Manifold Wisdom of God”

Redemption — The Revelation of God’s Glory

Ephesians 3:10 — Isaiah 43:21

 

The Lord God has made all things for himself, for his own praise and glory. And all things in creation and providence serve that purpose. In one way or another all his works praise him. God’s glory is revealed in them all. But as one star differs from another in glory, so the glory of God shines more brightly in some of his works than in others. All God’s other works are stars of light, for which we are very thankful; but redemption is like the sun shining in its strength to show forth the great glory of God.

      In Ephesians 3:10 the Spirit of God declares that the redemption of our souls is the showing forth of “the manifold wisdom of God.” Here is the manifold wisdom of God. — Redemption reveals the manifold wisdom of God, for our redemption in and by the Lord Jesus Christ secures God’s universal and eternal praise as the greatest possible revelation of his glory.

      In Ephesians 1 the Apostle Paul tells us three times that the whole purpose of God in the covenant of redemption is that we who are redeemed should be to the praise of his glory (vv. 6, 12, 14).

      In Isaiah 43, we see Israel in captivity and bondage. But their bondage was not by accident. Yes, it was the result of their unbelief and sin. God brought Israel under the yoke of the Babylonians because of their sin. But long before Israel sinned against him, and long before the king of Babylon captured them, God determined to glorify himself in the redemption of his elect nation from Babylonian captivity. He says, in verse 21, “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”

 

A Chosen People

There is an elect multitude of men and women in this world, whom God has formed for himself. They are, like all other people, fallen, depraved, condemned sinners by nature, in bondage to sin and Satan, “children of wrath, even as others.” But God says, concerning this elect multitude, “They shall show forth my praise.” God’s saints show forth his praise in many ways. Our faith in Christ shows forth God’s praise. God’s saints show forth his praise in their manner of life, living “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.” The consecrated life of the heaven-born soul shows forth praise to the God of all grace. And we show forth the praise of our God as we bear witness of Christ and the Gospel of the grace of God.

      But the Lord God is not talking about us showing forth his praise by something we do for him. That fact is made obvious in verses 22-26. Here the Lord God declares that we show forth his praise by the great work he does for and in us — Redemption. The redemption of sinners in, by, and for the Lord Jesus Christ shows forth the praise, honor, and glory of the triune God.

 

God’s Work

 

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Redemption glorifies the triune God because redemption is God’s work alone. “Redemption signifies the obtaining of something by paying a proper price for it” (John Gill). Generally, when we talk about redemption, we limit our thoughts to the price that Christ paid for our ransom upon the cross. We think only about the suffering and death of Christ. But that is a mistake. Redemption is a term that is almost synonymous with salvation. Certainly, our redemption was obtained by the precious blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:12). But redemption is more than the death of Christ for us. It encompasses all the glorious consequences of Christ’s death, which are effectually and infallibly applied to God’s elect by his grace. This redemption, from beginning to end, is the work of God alone.

 

Always Effectual

Throughout the Word of God, wherever redemption is spoken of, wherever it is spoken of prophetically, portrayed in type, and taught, it is set forth as an effectual work of God’s almighty grace. It is not the work of man’s will, or man’s decision, or man’s obedience. It is the work of God alone. God chose the people he would redeem. God provided the Redeemer. God accomplished the work of redemption. And God applies the redemption he accomplished to the people he has redeemed.

 

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“Thou hast despised Mine holy things.”

Ezekiel 22:8

 

It is impossible for me to understand how men and women who claim to love Christ and the Gospel of his grace can willingly absent themselves from the ministry of the Word. It is one thing to despise the labors of a pastor who faithfully seeks a message from God and diligently preaches the Gospel, (That itself is horrible!), but a willing neglect of the Gospel is much, much more than despising the labors of a man. It is despising God’s holy things: his Word, his ordinances, his praise, and his people. The Lord Jesus promised that wherever and whenever two or three gather together in his name, he will be with them, in the midst of them. To neglect that assembly is to despise Christ’s company! That is the charge God laid against Israel of old; and that is the charge that must be laid against all who despise the worship of God today.

      If that charge stings you, I am very thankful. I am thankful to know that you are not without sensitivity to these things. “It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness...and make not provision for the flesh” Romans 13:11-14). If you are too busy to attend the worship of God, you are too busy! If you are too tired, you need to give something up, but not the worship of God! If you despise God’s holy things, he will take them away from you and give them to someone else (Romans 11:21).

 

 

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The Grace Bulletin

 

September 14, 2014

 

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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