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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

September 25, 2016

 

ÒTrue religion is a serious and a personal concern. It arises from a right knowledge of God and ourselves.Ó John Newton

 

Daily Readings for the Week of September 25-October 2, 2016

Sunday                Matthew 1-4                                Thursday Matthew 13-14

      Monday                Matthew 5-7                                Friday                   Matthew 15-18

      Tuesday              Matthew 8-10                              Saturday              Matthew 19-21

      Wednesday        Matthew 11-12                           Sunday                Matthew 22-23

 

á      I am scheduled to preach Friday-Sunday for Fairmont Grace Church in Sylacauga, Alabama, where Bro. Larry Criss is pastor.

 

Happy Anniversary!

Walter & Betty Groover-19th    Andrew & Brittany Torson-14th

Nursery Duty this Week

Nicole Abell (AM) —Debbie Bartley (PM) — Tuesday: Stephanie Wall

 

The Triune GodÕs Our Sovereign King Don Fortner

(Tune: #400 — Jesus, and Shall It Ever Be? — LM)

1.    Father, we glory in Your choice.

Savior, we in Your work rejoice.

O Holy Ghost, Your powÕr we sing. —

The Triune GodÕs our SovÕreign King!

 

2.    Father, itÕs in Your love we rest.

Savior, in You our souls are blessÕd.

O Holy Ghost, Your powÕr we own,

Which makes JehovahÕs glory known!

 

3.    The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

AdorÕd by all the heavenly host,

Is ZionÕs Triune God and King! —

Let all the Church His praises sing!

 

Satisfied with Christ

ÒMy people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.Ó

 (Jeremiah 31:14).

Pastor Frank Tate

The longer I live and the more I learn about myself the more I see that I cannot be satisfied with anything that I am or do.  I am not satisfied with my works, my repentance, my faith, my love or my prayers.  If I am not satisfied with me, I am confident that God is not satisfied with me!  But what joy fills my soul to find my satisfaction in Christ!  I am satisfied that the obedience of Christ is enough to make me righteous.  I am satisfied that the blood of Christ is enough to cleanse me from all my sin.  I thrilled to know that the Father is completely satisfied with Christ and that He is satisfied with me in Christ without any works of my own.  I am satisfied to have my only hope of eternal life be Christ and Christ alone.

 

 

The Holy Trinity — A Gospel Doctrine

 

ÒThere are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.Ó                                                              (1 John 5:7)

 

All three Persons in the Godhead are equally gracious. This is one of the many great Gospel truths the Holy Spirit shows us in the first chapter of Ephesians. As the three Persons of the eternal Godhead are equal in Divinity, but distinct in personality, so all three of the Divine Persons are equal in grace, but distinct in the operations of grace.

 

God the Father – The Fountain of Grace

God the Father is set before us as the Fountain of all grace (Ephesians 1:3-6). It was God the Father who, in the covenant of grace, proposed redemption, devised the plan, and chose the people he would save by his almighty grace. He found a way whereby his banished ones could be brought back to him and never expelled from his presence. Then, Òin the fulness of time,Ó he sent his Son to be the Medium or Mediator of grace to his chosen (Galatians 4:4-6).

 

God the Son — The Channel of Grace

God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Channel of all grace (Ephesians 1:7-12). All grace comes to sinners through Christ the Mediator. In that first chapter of Ephesians, Paul tells us fourteen times that everything God requires of sinners, does for sinners, and gives to sinners is in Christ. Apart from Christ there is no grace! God will not deal with man, but by Christ. Man cannot deal with God, but by Christ. Christ is the Revelation of God, the incarnation of God, and the only way to God.

      Are we chosen of God? We are chosen in Christ. Are we blessed of God? We are blessed in Christ. Are we predestinated by God? We are predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. Are we adopted as the children of God? We are adopted in Christ. Are we accepted of God? We are accepted in Christ. Are we redeemed by God? We are redeemed in Christ. Are we forgiven by God? We are forgiven in Christ. Are we justified before God? We are justified in Christ. Are we sanctified by God? We are sanctified in Christ. Do we know God? We know him in Christ. Do we have an inheritance from God? We have it in Christ. Are we called of God? We are called in Christ.

      Do you see this? All grace comes to chosen sinners through Christ. There is no other way the grace of God can reach a sinner. Let no rejecter of GodÕs Son imagine that he shall be the beneficiary of GodÕs grace. It is the work of Christ upon the cross which has brought grace and justice together in the salvation of sinners. It is through his blood, only through the blood of the cross that Òmercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each otherÓ (Psalm 85:10). Blissfully lost in the contemplation of GodÕs matchless grace in Christ, John Bunyan penned the following rapturous wordsÉ

 

ÒO thou Son of the Blessed! Grace stripped thee of thy glory. Grace brought thee down from heaven. Grace made thee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of curse as are unspeakable. Grace was in thy heart. Grace came bubbling up from thy bleeding side. Grace was in thy tears. Grace was in thy prayers. Grace streamed from thy thorn-crowned brow!  Grace  came forth with the nails that pierced thee, with the thorns that pricked thee! Oh, here are unsearchable riches of grace! Grace to make sinners happy! Grace to make angels wonder! Grace to make devils astonished!Ó

 

God the Spirit — The Administrator of Grace

The Fountain of all grace is God the Father. The medium of all grace is God the Son. And God the Holy Spirit is the Administrator of all grace (Ephesians 1:13-14). It is God the Holy Spirit who effectually applies the blood of Christ to chosen, redeemed sinners. He regenerates the dead by omnipotent power (John 6:63). He calls the redeemed with irresistible grace (Psalms 65:4; 110:3; John 16:8-11). He gives faith to the chosen by almighty operations of grace (Ephesians 2:1-9; Colossians 2:12). He seals GodÕs elect unto everlasting glory.

      Redemption was effectually accomplished for GodÕs elect by Christ at Calvary; and it is effectually applied to all the redeemed by God the Holy Spirit in effectual calling (Hebrews 9:12-14). Without the sovereign, gracious operations of God the Holy Spirit in conversion no sinner would ever become the beneficiary of grace. He takes the things of Christ and shows them to his people. He quickens those the Father chose, reclaims those the Son redeemed, and leads to the Good Shepherd every one of those lost sheep for whom the Good Shepherd laid down his life (John 10:11). ÒHe,Ó as C. D. Cole wrote, Òconquers the stoutest hearts and cleanses the foulest spiritual leper. He opens the sin-blinded eyes and unstops the sin-closed ears. The blessed Holy Spirit reveals the grace of the Father and applies the grace of the Son.Ó

 

The Whole Being of God

All three Persons in the Godhead are equally gracious; and all three must be equally praised. In fact, whenever the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are presented together in the Scriptures, it is always in connection with redemption, grace, and salvation. I have not found an exception.

      Sometimes God the Father is presented alone, as when he stood upon Mt. Sinai, clothed with thunder and lightning, delivering the law to Moses. So terrible was his presence that the very mountain shook in the prospect of GodÕs awesome judgment (Exodus 20:18).

      Sometimes God the Son appears alone, as when he appears in his glorious second advent. Then men and women who have despised and rejected him will cry for the mountains to fall upon them and pray in terror that they might be saved from Òthe wrath of the LambÓ (Revelation 6:16).

      When God the Holy Spirit is represented alone, the consequences are the same. Those who blaspheme him, committing that sin which can never be forgiven, are reserved as reprobates unto everlasting judgment (Matthew 12:31-32). Whenever one Person in the Trinity is presented alone, the result is judgment.

      However, when all three of the Divine Persons are set before us together, the consequence is always mercy, grace, redemption, and salvation (Ephesians 1:3-14; Revelation 1:4-6). In other words, — The whole Being of God, in all his attributes, in all his glory, in the Trinity of his Persons, is set for the everlasting salvation of his elect (Jeremiah 32:41; Romans 8:28-32).

 

 

 

The Grace Bulletin

 

September 25, 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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