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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

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When God has grace to convey to his elect, he always sends a messenger to speak for him. He always sends a preacher to the lost one he will save, the languishing one he will revive, and the fallen one he will restore. — “How shall they hear without a preacher?”

Daily Readings for the Week of August 25-September 1, 2019

Sunday Ezekiel 20-21 Thursday Ezekiel 30-32

Monday Ezekiel 22-23 Friday Ezekiel 33-34

Tuesday Ezekiel 24-26 Saturday Ezekiel 35-37

Wednesday Ezekiel 27-29 Sunday Ezekiel 38-39

· There will be no midweek services here this week or next. We will meet Thursday evening at 6:00 PM to make final preparations for our conference. Conference will begin Friday night at 7:00 PM.

Happy Birthday! Andrew Torson-27^th Mark Henson-30^th Norma Rankin-1^st

Church Cleaning in September: Mark and Regina Henson

Nursery Duty Today — Debbie Bartley

God’s Faithfulness I must Proclaim — Don Fortner

(Tune: #52 — Majestic Sweetness — CM)

1. God’s faithfulness I must proclaim,

His truth and mercy sing. —

All glory to the sacred name

Of Israel’s God and King!

2. He spoke in love, ere time began,

His purposes of grace,

Which formed the glorious gospel plan

To save His chosen race.

3. His promises, Yea and Amen,

Scattered throughout His Word,

I’ve proved, and proved, and proved again,

In Christ His Son, my Lord!

4. God’s faithfulness I must proclaim!

(Jehovah cannot lie!)

His faithfulness my soul sustains

Who for this sinner died!

When the Gospel Comes in Power

The Apostle Paul speaks of the gospel coming to men and women. But he also speaks of the gospel coming “not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). And there is a difference, a great difference. When the gospel comes in power, God speaks, conviction is wrought in the heart, Christ is revealed, life is given to dead sinners, faith is given to those who had no faith, and God is glorified in the hearts of men. When the gospel comes in power, the saints of God are comforted, reproved, encouraged, rebuked, humbled, and edified. Oh, how I pray that as I preach to you this hour the gospel will come to you in the life-giving power of God the Holy Ghost and in much assurance!

Sins Exposed

2 Peter 1:19-21

One of the greatest evidences of inspiration is the fact that the Bible makes no attempt to conceal the sins of God’s most eminent servants. Rather, it plainly exposes them and makes no excuse for them.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord; but one day, while he lay in a drunken stupor, one of his own sons defiled him. Abraham was the friend of God; but he lied to Abimelech, subjected his wife to adultery, and took Hagar. Moses was the meekest man who ever lived; but he once smote the Rock, the token of God’s presence, which typified Christ, in a fit of anger. Aaron was God’s high priest; but he once led Israel in idolatry. David was a man after God’s own heart; but he took Uriah’s wife and had his faithful servant murdered to cover his adulterous theft. Peter was a chosen apostle of Christ; but he denied his Savior three times in one dark, dark night. Paul was, it appears, the most widely used, most influential of all the apostles. Yet, even Paul briefly fell into the snare of legalism at Jerusalem.

Why has the Holy Spirit so plainly recorded the sins of God’s most eminent saints upon the pages of Holy Scripture? Why is there no attempt made to cover, minimize, or in some way excuse their sins? I can give you four reasons.

1. These things are written to teach us that God’s saints in this world are sinners still. When a sinner is saved by the grace of God, he is made a new creature in Christ, given a new nature “created in righteousness and true holiness,” and made a partaker of the divine nature. But God’s saving grace does nothing to our old, fallen, depraved nature.

2. These things are written in the Book of God to teach us that salvation is by the grace of God alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). We stand before God as guilty sinners upon the footing of free grace alone. Grace chose us. Grace called us. Grace keeps us. And when we fall, grace restores us (Psalm 37:23-24; Proverbs 24:16).

3. Holy Scripture constantly exposes the sins of God’s most eminent saints and our sins to teach us that the whole of our acceptance with God is the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are “accepted in the Beloved,” Christ alone is our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. God the Holy Ghost has preserved the most vile and base sins of the most eminent examples of faith and faithfulness to teach us that we must never trust in ourselves and always trust Christ alone.

4. The Word of God constantly exposes the sins of God’s elect, past and present, to teach us always to be gracious, long-suffering, and forgiving with one another. We are all naturally blind to our own faults, but quick to see the faults of others. That ought not be the case. We should be quick to see and acknowledge our own and blind to the faults of others. We ought to be severe with ourselves and lenient with others. Oh, Spirit of God, teach me to be lenient, merciful, and forbearing toward my brethren. If I have any severity, let it be directed against myself. Teach me to forgive, overlook, and excuse the weaknesses and failings of my brethren.

Antinomianism

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4)

Faithful gospel preachers are often charged with antinomianism, being against the law and turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, because we assert that sinners are saved by grace alone, without works, and that God’s saints in this world are free from the law. These things are so plainly and universally taught in Holy Scripture that they cannot be refuted.

Consequently, those who will not bow to Holy Scripture seek to overthrow the Revelation of God by scandalizing faithful gospel preachers by throwing verbal excrement upon their names. But, in this portion of Inspiration, God the Holy Ghost tells us plainly what antinomianism is.

Ungodly Men

Against whom does Jude lay this charge? Who is it that turns the grace of God into lasciviousness? Read Jude’s short Epistle, and you will see that he says nothing to imply that these were men of flagrant immorality, using the grace of God as an excuse and covering for acts of licentiousness.

Those who turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness are those work-mongers and religious legalists who assert that the preaching of absolute free grace, the believer’s absolute freedom from the law and freedom from all possible condemnation will open the flood gates to sin and lead people to live in decadence.

The ungodliness by which Jude tells us they are condemned is their imaginary righteousness, their self-righteousness by which they deny “the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” — All who claim a righteousness of their own deny their need of Christ, who is “the Lord our Righteousness.”

Beware of such men and such doctrine. It creeps into churches under the guise of godliness and true holiness. But the Spirit of God here asserts that it is ungodliness. That which turns us away from Christ and teaches us to look to (to trust in) ourselves is ungodliness pretending godliness.

Christ Alone

If God has, by his grace, put us into union with his dear Son, Jesus Christ is all our Wisdom, all our Righteousness, all our Sanctification, and all our Redemption; and we glory in him alone (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; Philippians 3:3).

Faith looks out of self to Christ. We trust Christ alone. He is all our hope and our only hope of everlasting salvation. Apollyon, the deceiver, the fiend of hell, always seeks to turn sinners away from Christ to themselves, sending preachers of righteousness teaching sinners to make themselves righteous by their works.

If you fall for Satan’s lie, if you seek to find righteousness, holiness, sanctification, acceptance with God, assurance, or peace with God by your works, your experiences, your devotion, your feelings, or even your faithfulness, “Christ shall profit you nothing” (Galatians 5:1-4).

The Grace Bulletin

August 25, 2019

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