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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

July 24, 2016

To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man Jesus of Nazareth actually accomplished all that the prophets of God in the Old Testament said Messiah would accomplish (Daniel 9:24). All who deny that he did so are antichrists (1 John 2:18-22).

·      Conference Offering Next Week

·      Our pastor is preaching today for Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Princeton, New Jersey, where Bro. Clay Curtis is pastor.

·      We are honored to have Bro. Mike Walker and his wife, Sandy, with us again today. Bro. Walker is pastor of Millsite Baptist Church in Cottageville, West Virginia and a cherished friend of this congregation for many, many years. We welcome him to our pulpit again.

·      I am scheduled to preach at Todds Road Grace Church in Lexington, KY Wednesday night. Bro. Todd Nibert is the host pastor.

Nursery Duty this Week

Gina Brice (AM) — Jayalita McCormack (PM) — Tuesday: Stephanie Wall

Waiting to be Gracious — Don Fortner

Isaiah 30:18

(Tune: #477 — When I Can Read My Title Clear — CM)

1. So great the love, so rich the grace of our eternal God, —

He waits to save His chosen race with efficacious blood.

2. He waits, while they His grace defy, until th’ appointed hour,

(Fixed in the council held on high), of mercy, love, and pow’r.

3. He waits to show His saving name and make His mercy known:

He waits His ransomed to reclaim and gather in His own.

4. My God, and did You wait for me, to manifest Your love?

Teach me to wait in hope to see my Savior’s face above.

5. God’s waiting to be gracious still, though clouds may hide His face:

I’ll wait the wonders of His will and sing His matchless grace!

An old preacher addressed a few believers who had confessed the Lord in baptism and said to them, “My dear brethren, you have today professedly put on the Lord Jesus Christ. God help you to be circumspect in your walk and conversation. The church will watch you, the world will watch you, your doubting friends will watch you, and enemies of the truth will watch you. God help you to watch yourselves, to look to him to keep you, to support you, and to succor you.”               — Henry Mahan

Doing, Done, Shall Do

Romans 8:28-30

God declares that done which he is going to do. Then he does it (Isaiah 46:9-10). He declares it done and then does it. In Romans 8:28 Paul tells us that God rules the universe according to his purpose of grace. In verse 29 he tells us that God’s purpose of grace is the absolute, complete salvation of his elect, the conformity of all he loves with an everlasting love to Christ. That is what he is going to do. Now, in verse 30, he tells us that it is all done. We have not experienced it all yet; but it is done. Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it. It is done, and done forever, from eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

“Them He Also Called”

Romans 8:30

This text is not talking about the general call that is issued to sinners to come to Christ every time the gospel is preached (Matthew 22:14). And it is not talking about the effectual, irresistible call of the Holy Spirit in omnipotent grace, by which God’s elect are brought to Christ in faith. Those who are “the called” in verse 28 are those who are separated and distinguished from all others by the saving operations of God’s grace in time. But that is not what is spoken of in verse 30.

Done from Eternity

This text is talking about a call made by God almighty in his eternal decree. What can that be? Let the Scriptures answer for themselves. Before the world began God saved and called his elect with a calling of grace given us in Christ from eternity (2 Timothy. 1:9-10).

Named Children

The word that is translated “called” in Romans 8:28 means “invited, summoned, or selected.” But that is not the word used in Romans 8:30 and 2 Timothy 1:9. The word translated “called” in these verses means “named, made to bear a name, or saluted by a name.” The word here distinctly means “named out.”

In old eternity the Lord God called all his elect the sons of God, and named us out as his sons (1 John 3:1-2). As such, we were sanctified, set apart from all others, and made holy by the eternal decree of God. Being sanctified by the Father’s decree, we were preserved in Christ through all the ages of time unto the appointed time of our calling (Jude 1). At the appointed time of love, we were called (commanded by the irresistible power of his grace) to life and faith in Christ by his almighty grace (Jude 1).

“Them He Also Justified”

Romans 8:30

Being called the sons of God in the eternal decree of God, we were justified in Christ then, in God’s eternal decree. All who were called were, at the same time, by the same decree, justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption of Christ’s blood as the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. We were declared just with God, absolved of all sin and guilt, forgiven of all iniquity, made righteous and accepted as perfectly righteous in the Beloved, in Christ our Surety, before God spoke the world into being!

Finished before Time Began

Try to get hold of Paul’s doctrine if you can. If this won’t put a “Hallelujah” in your soul, I don’t know what will. ― When the Lord God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son, he called us his sons and justified us in his eternal decree, looking on us in his dear Son! The whole work was finished before time began. Our sins were canceled before they were committed. Our debt was paid before it was incurred. The curse was removed before it came. The law was mended before it was broken. Justice was satisfied before it was offended. We were justified in Christ before we were fallen in Adam. We were accepted in Christ before we were banished in Adam!

      Yes, redemption was done when God looked upon Christ as our Surety and accepted his sacrifice as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Isaiah 53:4-10).

Bible Doctrine

Without question, there is a sense in which our justification by the grace of God is an eternal act. That is Bible doctrine, not the doctrine of a man made creed or confession, but the doctrine of God. This is not just a logical inference drawn from the Scriptures. It is a doctrine plainly taught in the Word of God, stated precisely in the very language of your Bible. In Romans 8:30 Paul is talking about the eternal purpose of God by which he rules all things in providence. His subject matter is not prophetic, but historic. When God the Holy Ghost speaks prophetically in Holy Scripture, he speaks in the future tense. When he speaks of something already done, he speaks in the past tense. In the purpose of God all his elect were justified from eternity in Christ.

We were “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6) from everlasting. If we were accepted in him, we were righteous in him. If God looked upon us as righteous, he looked upon us as justified. The only righteousness we could have possessed was a divinely bestowed righteousness.

Justification is one of those “all spiritual blessings” with which God’s elect were blessed in Christ before the world began (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Timothy. 1:9). The whole package of salvation was given to us in Christ in the covenant of grace before the foundation of the world. As Thomas Goodwin put it, “We may say of all spiritual blessings in Christ what is said of Christ, that ‘his goings forth are from everlasting.’”

The Grace Bulletin

July 24, 2016

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

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http://www.DonFortner.com

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http://www.Grace-eBooks.com

Don Fortner

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