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Grace Baptist Church of
Danville April 2, 2017 Is
salvation by the free-will of man, or by the free-grace of God? What does the
Bible say? ÒIt is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy!Ó Daily Readings for the Week of
April 2-9, 2017 Sunday
2 Samuel
1-3
Thursday 2 Samuel 13-14
Monday
2 Samuel 4-6
Friday
2 Samuel 15-17
Tuesday
2 Samuel
7-10
Saturday
2 Samuel 18-19 Wednesday
2 Samuel
11-12
Sunday
2 Samuel 20-21 á I am scheduled to preach
Friday and Saturday at the Hurricane
Road Grace Church Bible Conference in Ashland, KY, where Bro.
Frank Tate is pastor. Happy Birthday! Lindsay Campbell-6th
Sally Poncer-7th Klaus Peterson-9th Nursery Duty This Week Debbie Bartley (AM) —
Celeste Peterson (PM) Tuesday: Shelby Fortner Press on! The Prize is Just in
View! —
Don Fortner (Tune: #414 —
Am I a Soldier? — CM) 1. Beloved of God, redeemed,
elect, WeÕre precious in His sight. Fear not, dear saints, God will protect His chosen, day and night. 2. Your fiery trials and your
foes, And all the tempterÕs snares; Your deep distress, your Savior knows. On Him cast all your cares. 3. This is no strange thing, saints
of old Passed through the fire to God. This is the way, as we are told, The consecrated road. 4. Press on! The prize is just in
view! The struggle canÕt be long! Almighty grace shall bring you through, To join the ransomÕd throng! ÒPartakers of the Divine
NatureÓ Evangelist B. B. Caldwell -
1899-1976 This
divine nature befits us for heaven. Without it, heaven would be hell. If an
unregenerated person should go to heaven without bring born again, without
this Divine nature, heaven would be a hell to him, and not only that, but he
would make heaven a hell for everybody else. How do you think an ungodly
person would feel in a holy heaven, in the presence of a holy God, and in the
presence of holy angels with all of the saints and the angelic hosts singing
ÒHoly, Holy, Holy is the Lord
of Hosts?Ó You see we must have a nature to befit us for heaven. This
nature is given us in the new birth! Forgiveness Psalm 32:1-2 Pastor Terry Worthan - Calvary
Baptist Church, Winston, Georgia ÒBlessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.Ó Forgiven, covered, not
imputed! The accumulation of these synonyms not only sets forth various
aspects of pardon, but triumphantly celebrates the completeness and certainty
of the gift. Forgiven, to lift and bear away a
load or burden. Covered, to cover over, as one
might do with some foul-smelling odor. What do you do with a dead, rotten
foul smelling carcass? Dig a hole and drop it in and cover it over. So a
manÕs sin is covered over and ceases to be an evidence before the Divine Eye
that sees all things. He himself casts a merciful veil of the blood of Jesus
over it and hides it from himself. A similar idea is included in
that last word not imputed; the sin is not reckoned or charged. God does not
write it down in his great book on the debt side of the manÕs account. These set forth the great and
blessed truth that a manÕs transgressions may become, in so far as the Divine
heart and the Divine dealings with him are concerned, non-existent! ÒTrue religion is a union of the soul with God, a real
participation of the divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the
soul, or, in the apostleÕs phrase, ÔIt is Christ formed within
us.ÕÓ
Henry Scrougal - 1650-1678 Wondrous Mystery 2 Peter 1:4 What a great, wonderful, glorious mystery the mystery of
the Gospel is! ÒGod was manifest in the flesh!Ó Our Lord Jesus Christ
became one of us, lived, acted, obeyed, suffered, died, and rose again for
us, his people, Òaccording to the Scriptures.Ó Redemption He came down to earth that we might go up to heaven. He
suffered that we might reign. He became a servant that we might become kings
and priests unto God. He died that we might live. He endured the death of the
cross that our enmity might be slain and our sins put away. He loved us that
we might love God. He who was rich became poor that we, who are poor, might
be made rich. He descended into the grave that we might sit together with him
in heavenly places. He emptied himself that we might be filled. He made
himself of no reputation that we might be made honorable. He became a worm
and no man that we, who are but sinful worms, might be made princes with God,
and exalted to the highest glory. He was made a curse for us that we might
receive the blessing of his salvation, all the blessings of the everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Though heir of all things, he
was willingly despised of the people that we, who were justly condemned,
might obtain an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and fades not away.
His death was the satisfaction of divine justice, the ransom for us, the
propitiation for our sins, the sweet-smelling savor to God, that we, who were
an offence to God, might be freed from sin. He was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Though Lord of all, he took
the form of a servant that we, who were the servants of sin, might be made
servants of God. He drank the bitter cup of GodÕs indignation and fury that
we might forever draw water from the wells of salvation. He hungered that we
might eat the Bread of Life. He thirsted that we might drink of the river of
the Water of Life. He was numbered with the transgressors that we might be
numbered among his saints. Though he is eternal, from
everlasting, from the beginning, before ever the earth was, yet he became a
helpless infant that creatures of yesterday, sentenced to death, might live
forever. He wore a crown of thorns that we might wear a crown of life. He wept
tears of anguish that he might wipe all tears from our eyes. He bore the yoke
of obedience unto death that we might bear the easy yoke of his grace. He
poured out his soul unto death, laid three days in the heart of the earth,
then burst the bars of death and arose to God that we, who through fear of
death were all our lifetime subject to bondage, might obtain the victory over
death, hell, and the grave and become partakers of his resurrection. He
exhausted the penalty of the law that his redeemed might have access to GodÕs
inexhaustible treasures of mercy, wisdom, faithfulness, truth, and grace in
him. Though a Son, he became a
voluntary exile that we, who were afar off, might be brought nigh by his
blood. His visage was so marred more than any man that his ransomed ones
might be presented before God without spot, or blemish, or wrinkle, or any
such thing. He was forsaken of God that we might never be forsaken. He was
hung up naked before his insulting foes that all who believe on his name
might wear a glorious wedding garment of spotless righteousness forever. Regeneration Wonderful mystery! ÒGod was manifest in the flesh!Ó
— But of all the wonders of this great mystery of the Gospel, none is
more wondrous than this. — The Son of God took our nature that we Òmight
be partakers of the Divine nature!Ó That is what God the Holy
Ghost tells us in 2 Peter 1:4. All who are born of God are, by the mighty
operation of his grace in the new birth, made Òpartakers of the divine
nature.Ó I have studied,
meditated on, and rolled around in wonderful revelation of God for many
years. I have quoted these words hundreds of times, asserting that all who
are born of God are, by the regenerating grace and power of God the Holy
Ghost, Òmade partakers of the Divine nature.Ó It is indescribably
beyond the reach of my mind; but it is not beyond the reach of my heart. That which is stated in
this passage is so obvious that Peter tells us three times in this chapter
that he is not telling us anything new, or anything not commonly known among
GodÕs saints, but that he is simply putting us in remembrance (vv. 12, 13,
15) of things we know. — These are things that every saved sinner
knows. All who are taught of God are born of God; and they all know these
things by revelation and by experience. You may not yet know how to
understand these things, or how to explain them to others; but, as you hear
them, if you are born of God, you will see that these are things you have
known all the days of your life as a believer. The
Grace Bulletin April 2, 2017 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 Web Pages http://www.DonFortner.com http://www.FreegraceRadio.com http://www.Grace-eBooks.com Don Fortner |
Pastor
FortnerÕs |