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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

September 10, 2017

 

Either all for whom the Lord Jesus Christ made atonement at Calvary shall be saved by the merit and efficacy of that atonement, or none will. If any perish for whom Christ died, his death is meaningless and he is a failure.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of September 10-17, 2017

Sunday                Daniel 11-Hosea 1       Thursday Amos 1-5

      Monday                Hosea 2-7                                   Friday                   Amos 6-9

      Tuesday              Hosea 8-14                                Saturday              Obadiah 1-Jonah 4

      Wednesday        Joel 1-3                                             Sunday                      Micah 1-5

 

á      I am scheduled to preach Thursday night for Zebulon Baptist Church in Pikeville, KY, where Bro. Tom Harding is pastor. I am scheduled to preach Friday night (7:00 PM) and Saturday morning (11:00 AM) for Grace Baptist Church in Dingess, WV, where Bro. Gary Vance is pastor.

 

Happy Birthday!  Jamie (Whop) Abell-12th    Jenny Bartley-14th

Nursery Duty This Week

Elizabeth Peterson (AM) — Debbie Bartley (PM) Tuesday: Shelby Fortner

 

Blood Atonement Don Fortner

(Tune: #17 — Come, Thou Fount  — 87.87.87)

 

  1. See, my soul, salvation flowing through ChristÕs sin-atoning blood;

Pardon, peace, and life bestowing, from the just and holy God! —

Blood atonement, blood atonement, precious, sin-atoning blood!

 

  1. God the Son has undertaken to redeem the chosen race;

And His love could not be shaken when he suffered in our place.

He is faithful, He is faithful, to the objects of His grace!

 

  1. He Who ransomed us by dying, for His ransomed ones now lives,

Hears the soul for mercy crying, and that mercy freely gives.

His atonement, His atonement, every ransomed soul revives!

 

  1. His rich blood the Spirit sprinkles, on our sin-polluted hearts,

Leaving neither spot nor wrinkle, and eternal life imparts.

He Who suffered, He Who suffered, wears our names upon His heart!

 

  1. Now, no more a victim-bleeding, but exalted on His throne,

Ever living, interceding, waiting to receive His own, —

All He ransomed, all He ransomed, shall be jewels in His crown!

 

ÒWe, according to the Scriptures, plainly believe that Christ hath, by his righteousness, merited for us grace and glory; that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings, in, through, and for him; that he is made unto us righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that he hath procured for us, and that God for his sake bestoweth on us, every grace in this life that maketh us differ from others, and all that glory we hope for in that which is to come. He procured for us remission of all our sins, an actual reconciliation with God, faith, and obedience.Ó — John Owen

 

 

For whom did Christ die?

 

ÒThe Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. — Ye are not of my sheepÓ (John 10:11-26)

 

The question is often asked, ÒDid the Lord Jesus Christ die for all men, or did he die only for a certain chosen number?Ó ÒDid Christ die for all, or only for GodÕs elect?Ó

Most religious people and most preachers, teachers, and theologians assert, and assert with furious dogmatism, that whether a person is actually saved or not depends not upon what Christ has done, but upon whether that person receives Jesus as his Savior. Such doctrine undermines the power of our LordÕs work at the cross. It asserts that Christ sought to do something that he failed to accomplish. It teaches that all Christ did at the cross was to remove obstacles to salvation and make men savable.

Then, there are those who speak of the general, universal sufficiency, but limited efficiency, of the atonement. While ChristÕs death is sufficient to save everybody, they say it is only efficient for those who believe, making manÕs act of faith, not ChristÕs atonement, the effectual power of redemption, grace, and salvation.

Still others rationalize that Christ died for the Adamic sin of all men, but for the personal sins of only those who believe. All such doctrine, any doctrine that suggests in any way that there is a sense in which Christ died to redeem and save sinners who perish at last under the wrath of God, is utterly without basis in Holy Scripture. You canÕt find one bit of Scripture to support it.

Every text of Holy Scripture, every chapter, every verse, every statement, every type and picture of redemption and atonement given in the Book of God, Old Testament and New, limits the atonement to a specific people. In every place where our blessed SaviorÕs sin atoning work upon the cursed tree is spoken of and explained, it is limited to a specific people, his elect, his church, and his sheep, those who are actually saved by his blood. There are no exceptions.

á      Christ died for the transgressions of his people (Isaiah 53:8).

á      The Lord Jesus came into this world in human flesh to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

á      The Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:11).

á      Christ loved the church and gave himself for the church (Ephesians 5:25).

á      The Son of God laid hold on the seed of Abraham to save them (Hebrews 2:16).

These are plain, clear, unmistakable declaration of limited atonement, given to us in the Word of God by God the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ died with a specific people in view, a people who had been set apart by the Triune Jehovah for salvation before the foundation of the world. Christ did not merely render them savable; but he effectually redeemed then, obtained eternal redemption for then, and guaranteed that they would all be saved by GodÕs omnipotent mercy and grace at his appointed time of love.

 

Atonement and Love

Romans 9:13

 

You cannot separate the sin-atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ from the love of God. The atonement of Christ is the revelation of the love of God (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; 1 John 3:16; 4:9-10). The atonement reaches as far as the extent of GodÕs love, that far and no further. So, if the atonement is universal, the love of God is universal. If the atonement is limited to specific, chosen sinners, the love of God is limited to specific, chosen sinners. The two cannot be separated.

            Religious charlatans, being ignorant of the Scriptures, go around telling everyone they meet, ÒGod loves you.Ó You read bumper stickers, billboards, and church signs everywhere that say, ÒSmile, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.Ó Preachers tell sinners, ÒGod loves you so much that he gave his Son to die for you. WonÕt you let him save you?Ó

What does the Book of God say about his love? If God loves everybody and has a wonderful plan for their lives, he has a very strange way of showing it. Ask those who perished in NoahÕs day. There was no room in the ark for anyone except those who entered the ark. There was plenty of room for those eight souls, but no room for anyone else. It was fire that God rained from heaven upon the inhabitants of Sodom, not love.

God tells us plainly that his love is limited to his elect alone (Psalm 5:5; Romans 9:13). No, God does not love everyone. He hates the wicked. And the redemption of the Son is limited to those God elected in love and predestinated to salvation in love before the world began (Ephesians 1:3-7). ÒBut are not all wicked?Ó you may ask. — Not GodÕs elect, not in Christ! In Christ, GodÕs elect are redeemed, justified, righteous, sanctified, holy, glorified, and saved from eternity (Romans 8:29-30; 2 Timothy 1:9). As such, they are accepted, beloved, and blessed of God in Christ with all spiritual blessings from eternity (Ephesians 1:3-7).

 

Atonement and Intercession

John 17:9

 

You cannot separate the atonement of Christ from the intercession of Christ. In Hebrews 7 we read that Christ, our High Priest in heaven, is always interceding for us. But our Savior tells us in John 17, that he only makes intercession for his elect. There he says, ÒI pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thineÓ (v. 9).

ThatÕs pretty clear, isnÕt it? The intercessory work of Christ is based upon his atonement, just as the intercession of the Old Testament priest was based upon the sacrifice (Numbers 6:24-26).

That means that if the Lord Jesus Christ does not pray for the world, the world can never be saved. If he prays for you, you cannot not be saved. If he died for you, you cannot not be saved!

 

 

 

 

The Grace Bulletin

 

September 10, 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

 

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