May 11, 2008
Sunday 10:00am WLEX TV Channel 18

It is requested that children under the age of five stay in our nursery
so there will be no distractions during the preaching of the Gospel.

Hail, mighty Jesus! How divine
Is Thy victorious sword!
The stoutest rebel must resign
At Thy commanding word.

Deep are the wounds Thy arrows give
They pierce the hardest heart
Thy smiles of grace the slain revive
And with Thee give a part.

Still gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh
Ride with majestic sway
Go forth, sweet Prince, triumphantly
And make Thy foes obey.

And when Thy victories are complete
When all the chosen race
Shall round the throne of glory meet
They’ll sing Thy conquering grace.

O may my blood-washed souls be found
Among that favored band!
And I, with them, Thy praise will sound
Throughout Immanuel’s land.

(Tune: “According to Thy Gracious Word” p. 192)

*****

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL JUNE 24 – 26 (10:30am – 1:30pm)

We welcome Pastor Henry Mahan and his wife Doris who are with us today. He will bring the message this morning.

Birthdays
11th – Kate Hands 12th – Nora Squires
13th – Annie Charron 17th – Isaac Meek

“It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.” - Proverbs 25:27

*****

FOUR WARNINGS

In Revelation 2 and 3, we read seven letters written by Christ Himself to the seven churches of Asia. He is giving these churches both commendations and warnings. Evidently they did not heed His warnings because none of those churches are with us today! It is only through giving heed to these warnings that you and I will persevere in the faith. There are at least these four warnings to the seven churches.
1) Losing your first love (Rev. 2:4). When we lose our first love, we no longer hear the Gospel as a sinner. We become like the man in James 1:23-24 who beholds himself in a mirror, and he goes away and forgets what manner of man he was. We then hear the Gospel as a critic, a judge, or in indifference.
2) The spirit of toleration (Rev. 2:14-15; 2:20). The churches at Pergamos and Thyatira were rebuked, not for what they did, but what they tolerated. When we loose our first love, under the guise of unity and charity, we tolerate that which is contrary to Christ
3) Living in the past (Rev. 3:1). “Thou has a name that thou livest, and art dead.” A living faith is always present tense. When I have to go back to past experiences for assurance, it is because of the present deadness of my heart. Who are you looking to right now?
4) Lukewarmness (Rev. 3:15-17). Being neither cold nor hot - everything is alright. I’m o.k. You’re o.k.
These are the attitudes of the beginning of the end. May Christ preserve us from these things and cause us to persevere all they way to the end.

*****

By God’s all-wise appointment, our assemblies are the life, the food, and the nourishment of our souls. It is the main way whereby we publicly identify with Christ and His Gospel. We evidence our love for Christ by our loyalty and support of one another in opposition to all false worship. Many things will rise up in competition to the diligent attendance of our assemblies. We must recognize and refuse to give in to anything that is opposed to what Christ commands. The total falling away of a graceless professor always begins with this neglect, this disassociation with God’s people (Hebrews 10:25).
– John Owens (1650)

 

In Micah 6:8, God has three requirements for us, “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.” 1) Know the truth 2)Love the truth 3)Walk in the truth. (He is the way, truth, and life.) Being a sinner and yet JUST before a Holy God is the heart of the Gospel. Every child of God knows this. Yes, but if this is just a mere understanding of the doctrine, that is of no use, for devils believe and tremble (James 2:19). A child of God also LOVES the Gospel and is glad in God’s mercy and grace, rejoicing in it! (Phil. 3:1; Phil. 4:4) Any man can say he believes it, and claim he loves it (James 2:14; Matt 6:22-24), but if it’s not reflected in a changed life (WALKING HUMBLY) then it’s all mere words! Only a child of God can walk humbly, in the works He has prepared for us (Eph. 2:10), for only the Gospel of Grace can produce such miracles of humility! - Paul Walmsley

*****

MADE PERFECT IN CHRIST

“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did” (Heb. 7:19). God’s law is holy, just, and good…but we are sinners incapable of keeping the law, therefore the law cannot save us, but only condemns us. But the bringing in of a better hope did…Christ perfectly obeyed God’s holy law, establishing a righteousness for His people…. And Christ died under the penalty of the law, when He bore the sin of His people and died in their place. So knowing of this better hope, I can read the first part of this verse in this light…. “For the law (Christ’s obedience of the law, and Christ’s death under the penalty of the law) made nothing (every elect sinner in and of themselves) perfect (holy and righteous in Christ)……” This is the saving grace of God, who sent His Son to live and die under the law, to turn a bunch of nothings into a bunch of somethings, made perfect in Christ. – Brian DuFour

*****

Those who have been saved are those who are “being saved” (I Cor. 1:18; Phil 2:12,13). Those who have learned of Christ are those who “are learning” of Him (John 6:45; Matt. 11:29). Those who truly know the Lord are those who “desire to know Him” (Phil 3:7-10). Those who have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ are those who continue to cry unto the Lord, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory” (Ex. 33;18). These are the people who say, from the heart, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalm 17:15). – Pastor Maurice Montgomery