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Grace Baptist Church of Danville

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Christ in you, that new man created in righteousness and true holiness in the new birth, is that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. He who is our Wisdom, Righteousness, and Redemption is our Sanctification (Holiness) too.

Daily Readings for the Week of October 20-27, 2019

Sunday Luke 10-11 Thursday Luke 17-18

Monday Luke 12 Friday Luke 19-20

Tuesday Luke 13-14 Saturday Luke 21-22

Wednesday Luke 15-16 Sunday Luke 23

Nursery Duty Today — Molly McCormack

To Know the Love of Christ — Don Fortner

(Tune: #497 — When I Can Read My Title Clear— CM)

1. How bless’d are they who know the love

Which moved the Son of God

To undertake their cause above,

And ransom them with blood!

2. Its length and breadth, its depth, and height,

Surpass all human thought;

Its sov’reign acts, its conquering might,

Are by His Spirit taught.

3. O God, my God, I long to know

My dear Redeemer’s love: —

His cov’nant bonds! — His work below! —

His deeds of grace above!

4. It is eternal, matchless, free,

Immutable, and strong!

I know it, for it conquered me;

And now it is my song!

Limited Atonement

We believe, rejoice in, and preach without apology the great and glorious gospel doctrine of particular and effectual redemption accomplished by the precious, sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ — Limited Atonement.

I defy anyone to find any place in the Book of God that even hints at the possibility that Christ shed his blood for those who perish in hell as well as those who are saved by it. Everywhere in Scripture, in every place, every chapter, every verse, every prophecy, every picture, and every type which speaks of or in any way explains the great and glorious redemptive work of Christ, it is always set before us as the redemption of a specific people, and a redemption that was effectually accomplished, a redemption by which specific people (God’s elect) are actually redeemed.

“Partakers of the Divine Nature”

2 Peter 1:4

As all men were created in and simultaneously with the first Adam, all God’s elect were created new and simultaneously with the last Adam, Christ. As we had being in Adam from the beginning of creation, all God’s elect have had being with Christ from eternity. Being born of Adam in natural generation, we necessarily partake of Adam’s nature. And being “born of God” in regeneration, we are made “partakers of the divine nature.” As the seed of the first Adam partake of his nature, the seed of the last Adam partake of his nature.

Two Natures at War

The children of the first Adam are born of the flesh and are earthy in all their thoughts, feelings, and affections. The children of the last Adam are born of the Spirit and are spiritual and heavenly in all their thoughts, feelings, and affections. The children of the first Adam are born for the earth. The children of the last Adam are born for heaven.

These two men, the old and the new, Adam and Christ, flesh and spirit, dwell in every child of God in this world; but they do not dwell together. They are in a state of perpetual warfare (Romans 7:14; Galatians 5:16-25). The flesh, the old man, is altogether sinful and corrupt. It can do nothing but sin. The spirit, the new man, that which is born of God, is altogether righteousness and cannot sin (1 John 3:5-10).

Ruined in Adam

Our existence in Adam was a representative existence, yes; but it was more. It was a real, vital existence. We had being in our father Adam from the beginning, being created in him and with him. Our union with him in the Garden was real. When he sinned, we sinned in him. When he died, we died in him. It is not merely that we were reckoned to have sinned and reckoned to have died. — We sinned in Adam and we died in Adam, because we were one with Adam from the beginning.

Made Fit in Christ

Now, here’s the good news. — Our existence in Christ from the beginning, before the foundation of the world, our eternal union with Christ, was and is a real, vital existence with the God-man, our Mediator, Surety, and Savior. When he stood forth as our Surety before time began and was accepted of God as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8), we were accepted in him and blessed with all spiritual blessings in him (Ephesians 1:3-6).

Yet, before we could enter heaven as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, something more must be done. Justice satisfied does not make anyone fit for heaven. Righteousness imputed does not make the ransomed sinner worthy of heavenly glory. It is only when redeemed sinners are made “partakers of the divine nature” in the new birth that the righteousness of Christ is imparted to them and they are, by the grace and gracious operations of God, made “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). The imputed righteousness of Christ in redemption makes us worthy of heaven. The imparted righteousness of Christ in regeneration makes us fit for heaven.

“Who were Before of Old Ordained to this Condemnation”

Jude 4

I will make no attempt to pry into things beyond me; but I will not make Jude’s words say less than they do. Here, God the Holy Ghost tells us that those apostate heretics who slither into local churches and lead spiritually ignorant souls away from the simplicity of the gospel are men “who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.”

God’s Decree

I am fully aware that the word here translated “ordained” means “written beforehand.” Many use that fact to try to make Jude’s words less offensive or even to make it appear that Jude is not talking about God’s eternal decree. But that is exactly what Jude is talking about. Just as our Lord Jesus was betrayed and delivered up to the hands of wicked men by the purpose of God, so our trials, even those that come by the infiltration of false prophets and their heresies, are according to God’s eternal purpose and sovereign decree (Psalms 76:10; 109:7-8; Proverb 16:4; John 17:12; 19:11; Acts 2:23; Romans 9:17; 11:33-

36).

Either “all things are of God,” as the Book says they are, or they are not! The condemnation of these men was written in a book, the book of God’s eternal predestination, before the world began. They were “of old,” that is from eternity, “ordained to this condemnation.” That is exactly how the words “of old” are used in Proverbs 8:22.

Jude is assuring us that though they creep in unawares to us, they do not take God by surprise. His purpose is not altered by their evil deeds, but perfectly fulfilled. They were written down in God’s book for judgment, or condemnation.

I am also fully aware of the fact that those who oppose God’s absolute sovereignty of God respond to what I have just stated (to what God the Holy Spirit here declares) like this. — “That makes God the author of sin.” James tells us that is not the case (James 1:13). Doesn’t he?

Others will say, “Well, if they were ordained to this condemnation, they had no choice in the matter.” But, again, the Scriptures tell us that while the actions of such wicked men are “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,” they are the deeds of their own wicked wills (Acts 2:23), actions for which they alone are responsible.

The Condemnation

To what does Jude refer when he speaks of “this condemnation”? Let the text itself answer that question. The condemnation to which they were ordained is the condemnation of the apostasy described in this Epistle.

Because they suppress the truth in unrighteousness, God gives them over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:18-32). Because they receive not the love of the truth, God sends them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they might be damned (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). The condemnation to which all apostates, all who will not hear and obey the gospel, are of old ordained is the everlasting wrath of God spoken of by Enoch (Jude 1:14-15).

The Grace Bulletin

October 20, 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