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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

September 20, 2015

 

God’s grace is not an offer, but an operation. It is not a passion in God desiring the salvation of sinners, but the operation of God performing the salvation of sinners.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of September 20-27, 2015

Sunday                Zephaniah 1-Haggai 1                   Thursday       Malachi 1-4

      Monday                Haggai 2-Zechariah 4                    Friday             Matthew 1-4

      Tuesday              Zechariah 5-9                                   Saturday                    Matthew 5-7

      Wednesday        Zechariah 10-14                              Sunday                      Matthew 8-10

 

Happy Birthday!  Larry Brown-24th    Noah Duff-26th

 

Nursery Duty Today:  Jenny Bartley

 

Eternal Spirit, Heavenly WindDon Fortner

(Tune: #109 — Ride on, Ride on in Majesty -LM)

 

1.    Eternal Spirit, heav’nly Wind,

Breathe on Your slain (These dead in sin!),

Bid the dry scattered bones revive,

And make the dead in sin alive.

 

2.    Behold how cold and dead we lie,

Send quick’ning unction from on high;

The dead in sin can never live,

Till You the breath of life shall give!

 

3.    Like rushing wind Your power controls,

Your still small voice can comfort souls:

O, breathe upon our souls today,

In grace Your sov’reignty display!

 

4.    Awake, O Wind, and raise the dead!

Bring grace from Christ, our Cov’nant Head,

Refresh the trees of righteousness,

And all God’s saints with comfort bless!

 

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Isaiah 53:10 and 2nd Corinthians 5:21

2nd Corinthians 5:21 is the inspired commentary of God the Holy Ghost on Isaiah 53:10. He tells us that in order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be our sin-offering he had to be made sin for us. Justice could never have punished him as a sin-offering had he not been made sin for us. — “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!

 

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Satan Bound — Revelation 20:1-3

 

The whole purpose of the Book of Revelation is to assure God’s children in this world of their ultimate conquest over the world, the flesh, and the devil. This blessed book is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” By revealing to us who he is and what he does, our Lord calls for us to ever look unto him with confident faith, and assures us that we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Revelation 20:1-3 reveals the binding of Satan by our all-glorious Christ, the almighty Angel of God’s presence, the Angel of the Covenant. John saw the Lord Jesus come down from heaven with a key to lock the bottomless pit and a chain to bind the devil (9:1, 11; 11:7).

            Remember, this is only a picture, a figurative symbol, nothing more. But it tells us of the work of Christ. He laid hold upon Satan, overpowered him, rendered him helpless, and bound him securely with the mighty chain of his sovereign power. He cast him into the bottomless pit, locked the lid, and sealed it for a thousand years, more literally, “for the thousands of years,” the whole Gospel Age.

      What does this mean? How did this binding of Satan take place? You will remember that when our Lord Jesus began his public ministry, the Pharisees accused him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. His answer was, “How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house” (Matthew 12:29). That word “bind” is exactly the same in Matthew 12:29 and in Revelation 20:2. And it is talking about the same thing.

 

In the Wilderness

The binding of Satan began when our Lord triumphed over him in the wilderness of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). When Satan met Christ Jesus in the wilderness, he was foiled by the Word of God. As a result of this triumph, our Lord, having bound the strong man, began to spoil his goods, casting out demons. Thus, as William Hendriksen observed, “The power and influence of Satan over the deluded masses was beginning to be curtailed.”

 

In Gethsemane

In the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus again broke the power of Satan by faith and prayer (Matthew 26:36-46). In that dark, cold night, Satan came to oppose our dear Savior, taunting him with the hideous load of sin that must be put upon him and made his, tormenting him with the anticipation of being made sin, becoming vile (Lamentations 1:11), being made to suffer the wrath of God, and being forsaken by his Father. He was trying to keep the Lord Jesus from the cross. And our Savior’s tender, holy, human soul was crushed with sorrow. But he rose in triumph after he prayed (Hebrews 5:7-9). In confident faith, he rose up to lay down his life for his sheep (Hebrews 12:1-2).

 

The Cross

Then, our great Savior crushed the serpent’s head, bound him as a wild beast, and cast him into the bottomless pit by his glorious, triumphant death upon the cross (John 12:28-32). By his death upon the cursed tree, our Lord Jesus broke the arms of Satan’s usurped dominion over the nations of the world, and began to draw all men unto himself, God’s elect scattered among the nations of the world, Gentiles as well as Jews. The light was taken from the Jews who despised it and sent to the Gentiles who never before had it, that God’s elect in every nation might see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and be saved.

 

His Ascension

When our Savior ascended up to heaven and was exalted as King over all things, he brought Satan into captivity under his sovereign rule (Psalm 68:18-19; Colossians 2:13-15; Revelation 12:5-11).

      The Son of God has always ruled Satan, as he has ruled all things, by virtue of his total sovereignty as God. But now, he has, as the God-man our Mediator, taken away Satan’s power to deceive the world so that he might gather his elect out of every nation in the world.

      Every text of Scripture which speaks of the binding and captivity of Satan refers to and is associated with our Lord’s first advent, his life, his death, and his exaltation. This is a glorious, comforting gospel truth which few people seem to apprehend. The 1000 year period set before us in Revelation 20 does not follow our Lord’s Second Advent. It precedes it. We are not awaiting the day when Satan shall be bound and Christ shall be King. Jesus Christ is the sovereign King over all things today! And Satan is bound already!

 

No Harm

Our Lord Jesus Christ has so thoroughly bound the prince of darkness that he has total dominion over him. Our great adversary is under the total rule and control of our dear Savior. — He cannot harm God’s elect (Isaiah 54:10). His temptations are under the rule of Christ. His assaults are under the rule of Christ. Even his roars are under the rule of Christ. This binding of Satan is not his destruction. That comes later, at the Day of Judgment.

 

Power Restrained

This binding of Satan is specifically the restraint of his power to deceive the nations. Satan’s influence in the world is not destroyed, but curtailed, so that he is unable to prevent the spread of the gospel, the salvation of God’s elect, and the progress of Christ’s kingdom in the nations of the world. Satan cannot prevent, or withstand, the increase and completion of Christ’s Church in this world (Matthew 16:18; Luke 10:19.

      Satan is bound in this Gospel Age by the power of Christ, through the preaching of the gospel (Luke 10:16-20). As we preach the Gospel of the grace of God, when it is effectually applied to the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners by God the Holy Spirit, Satan is bound and his house is spoiled! I do not say, by any means, that Satan is bound with reference to all men. But, in so far as God’s elect are concerned, Satan is bound everywhere. He cannot stop the progress of the gospel until the thousand years are finished, until the Church of Christ is complete, and all God’s elect are saved.

 

 

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The Grace Bulletin

 

September 20, 2015

 

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 576-3400 — 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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