August 23, 2009
Sundays 11:00 am Channel 36 WTVQ
It is requested that all children under the age of five stay in our nursery
so there will be no distractions during the preaching of the Gospel.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Precious Saviour, friend of sinners
We, as such, to Thee draw near
Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
With that love that casts out fear.
Matchless Saviour, let us know Thee
As the Lord our Righteousness
Cause our hearts to cleave unto Thee
Come, and with Thy presence bless.
Open now Thy precious treasure
Let Thy Word here freely flow
Give to us a gracious measure
‘Tis Thyself we long to know.
Come and claim us as Thy portion
Let us all find rest in Thee
Leave us not to empty notions
We would find our hope in Thee!
(Tune: “Jesus Calls us” p. 374)
*****
There will be a Bible Conference next weekend at Grace Fellowship Church in
Wheelersburg, Ohio. Speakers are Donnie Bell, Greg Elmquist, Paul Mahan, and
Todd Nibert. Services will be Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday and Sunday
morning at 10:00am.
We extend our sincere sympathy to Julie Morris on the death of her father
this past week.
Birthdays
23rd – Mike Carver 23rd – Rych Byrd 24th – John Greenleaf
24th – Don Willis 25th – Elisabeth Marsh
“The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honour
is humility.” & nbsp; - Proverbs 15:33
*****
DELA Y
“Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy
liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me.”
- Exodus 22:29
It is sad that such a command is necessary. To delay means to procrastinate.
; Behind the procrastination is an unwillingness to obey the command. Hoping
that perhaps circumstances will change to where obedience to the command is
not necessary. It grieves me to see such a spirit in myself. The Lord gave
all for me. How He loved me and loves me. And to serve Him in such guarded
and measured ways. Lord, deliver us from that kind of half-hearted service.
“Draw me, we will run after Thee.”
*****
The believer’s eternal union with Christ is a subject that few seem
to grasp, though it is written as with a sunbeam upon the pages of Holy Scripture.
We are “Accepted in the Beloved,” and have been from eternity.
That union of our souls with our Savior was made by the triune God Himself
before the world began, and can never be dissolved or even altered. The Lord
God sees us in His Son, as one with His son, and as His son, because we really
are in His Son, as one with His Son, and as His Son. Therefore it is written,
“…as He is so are we.” As no spot, blemish, or any such
thing is in Christ, but only perfection, His Father is well pleased in Him,
and with all who are in Him. The Book of God declares, “He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel”
(Numbers 23:21). Therefore, we all “Have boldness in the day of judgment:
because as He is so are we in this world.” - Pastor Don Fortner
A SUCCESSFUL SALVATION
A salvation that is full and free, that can really save, requires both a perfect
sacrifice and a perfect priest to offer it. It is not good news if I have
to gain that sacrifice through my own efforts and contributions, or somehow
appropriate if by “applying” my faith. Anything to do with me,
would be the weak link – a soggy paper chain!
No, in Christ we have both the supreme offering, and the supreme offerer.
It is double good news! Likewise, not only do we have a full ransom, but the
only one who can deliver that ransom for us! A full ransom is indeed good
news, but to have the ransom paid in, and delivered on our behalf (an effectual
payment), is double good! For many a human ransom may be lost or stolen before
delivery, or dropped off in the wrong place. But not so with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He provides the ransom sum and delivers it up to God, for all His
people.
- Paul Walmsley
*****
PARTICULAR REDEMPTION
Some insist upon it that men are redeemed not because Christ died, but because
they are willing to give efficac y to the blood of Christ. He died for everybody
according to their theory. Why, then, are not all men saved? Because all men
will not believe? That is to say that believing is necessary in order to make
the blood of Christ efficacious for redemption. Now we hold that to be a great
lie. We believe the very contrary, namely, that the blood of Christ has in
itself the power to redeem and that it does redeem and that faith does not
give efficacy to the blood, but is only the proof that the blood has redeemed
that man. Hence we hold that Christ did not redeem every man, but only redeemed
those men who will ultimately attain unto eternal life. We do not believe
that He redeemed the damned; we do not believe that He poured His life blood
forth for souls already in hell. We never can imagine that Christ suffered
in the room and stead of all men, and that then afterwards these same men
have to suffer for themselves, that in fact Christ pays their debts, and then
God makes them pay their debts over again. We think that the doctrine that
men by their wills give efficacy to the blood of Christ is derogatory to the
Lord Jesus, and we rather hold to this, that He laid down his life for His
sheep, and that His laying down His life for the sheep involved and secured
the salvation of every one of them. We believe this because we hold that –
“Of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.” - C. H.
Spurgeon