2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118
CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE
OCTOBER 2, 2005
SUNDAY
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Psalm 119:113-120 (David)
Call to Worship: Thy Law Do I Love
Scripture Reading/Prayer: 1 Kings 4 (Mike)
Hymn: #449- ‘To God Be the Glory’
Message: Found in Him- Philippians 3:9
WEDNESDAY
6:30 PM- Mid-week Service
Nursery care available for all services for ages 4 and younger.
Ken Wimer, Pastor- ( (318) 687-4943
E-MAIL: pastor@shrevegrace.org
WEB SITE: http://www.shrevegrace.org Updated weekly with audio messages now available on-line.
CALL TO WORSHIP
(Tune: #293- ‘The Lord’s My Shepherd’) Based on Psalm 119:113-120
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hate the thoughts of vanity,
But love thy law do I.
My shield and hiding-place thou art:
I on thy word rely.
All ye that evil-doers are
From me depart away;
For the commandments of my God
I purpose to obey.
According to thy faithful word
Uphold and stablish me,
That I may live, and of my hope
And ashamed never be.
Hold thou me up, so shall I be
In peace and safety still;
And to thy statutes have respect
Continually I will.
For fear of thee my very flesh
Doth tremble, all dismayed;
And of thy righteous judgments, Lord,
My soul is much afraid.
AN EFFECTUAL OFFERING UNTO THE LORD
“And He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord” Lev. 16:7
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he Old Testament sacrifices were before the Lord, or unto the Lord. So was the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ before the Father. He was not just dying for His people, although that is definitely a part of it. He died as a sin-payment to God the Father. He died to vindicate God’s justice. God is holy and just and cannot look upon sin with favor. How could He then save sinners? It would have to be through a just sacrifice, and that’s what our Lord Jesus did. He offered Himself before the LORD. He vindicated the Father’s justice. Before the cross, God was saving all of the Old Testament saints, Abel, Abraham, Isaac. They’ve all gone to heaven, but it was only because of a covering. These sacrifices were but a covering (atonement), until Christ came and satisfied God’s law for them. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not merely make an ‘atonement’ (covering) for sin. He actually PUT AWAY the sin of His people, at one time, by the sacrifice of Himself, and that before the Lord, Hebrews 1:3.
MIKE CARTER, Shreveport, LA
GOD’S BETHEL
“Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there…” Genesis 35:1
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fter years of exile, the Lord purposed to bring Jacob back to the place where He had some 20 years earlier revealed Himself unto Him, Genesis 28:16-19. Although it would prove to be a place of continued trial and heartache for him, yet God had ordained it as a resting place, for there it was that he had erected an altar unto the Lord, a type of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.
Sinner, if you are one of the Lord’s sheep, no matter how long you have lived in this life’s journey, the Lord must and will bring you again to worship Him in the way He first revealed Himself to you in truth. Consider when the Lord first opened your eyes to Christ. Where was it He caused you to look? Was it not outside you to the glorious Savior, Redeemer, and Substitute? And if ever in life’s busyness, and earthly pursuits, you wander from the truth, being a child of God, and a loving Father, He must chasten you, for “whom the Lord LOVES, He chastens.” Hebrews 12:6. Such chastening is designed with one purpose, beloved sinner; to drive you back to the only place of refuge and salvation we have- the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
The evidence that Jacob was the Lord’s and led of the Spirit is in that He obeyed God’s command to dwell there in Bethel (the house of God),a type of our Lord Jesus. Note briefly four characteristics of one who is so led of the Spirit of grace.
1. REPENTANCE- Gen. 35:2- “Jacob said unto his household,…put away the strange gods that are among you…” Where God draws the heart to Christ, there is a renouncing of every false way, owning the ONE TRUE and LIVING GOD ALONE.
2. SUBMITTING TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST- Gen. 35:2- “Be clean, and change your garment.” It does not say, ‘cleanse yourself,’ but BE clean. In this, the sinner is passive. God must do the cleansing. There is also a changing of garments- casting away all works of self-righteousness, and submitting to, acknowledging and owning for oneself the garment of righteousness of the Lord Jesus, established, accepted and imputed at the cross- 2 Cor. 5:21.
3. WORSHIPPING GOD IN THE SACRIFICE OF HIS SON- Gen. 35:3- “I will make there an altar unto God.” All who are drawn to Christ by the Spirit of truth, worship Him in truth and the truth is that of God’s complete satisfaction with those for whom Christ died, every last one. As the God of Jacob, we as sinners also find comfort in knowing that He has justified a people by the death of His Son, and what a REST there is in Him because of His finished work at Calvary. Thank God for His Spirit who has so directed you to Christ, if you are one of His Jacob’s. “Jacob have I loved”- Romans 9:13
KEN WIMER
TRUSTING IN YOURSELF THAT YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS
“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others,” Luke 18:9.
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ike the Pharisee, many trust in themselves that they are righteous. It extends to more than those who openly admit that salvation is by works, or whose doctrine is so obviously that of salvation conditioned on the sinner in some way. Christ is exposing the Pharisee who trusted in himself that he is righteous. However, the Pharisee did not assume that his righteousness was of His own making. He ascribed thanks to God for it, all the while trusting in it., and despising the Publican.
This parable is not only addressed to such who trust in themselves that they are righteous, but also that despise others. Those two attitudes go hand in hand. That word “despise” means “to hold in disdain, or to look down upon, to think less of.” You see, if we find something meritorious in us toward our acceptance with God, that we think we are able to produce, or that we think is found within us, and even if we credit that righteousness as not being of our own making, we still are looking to something within us that would merit God’s favor.
It is just such a thing that some would promote in stating that we have the very righteous, holy nature of Christ within us, but then will go on to quickly say, ‘But I’m not saying that it is meritorious!” But if such righteousness were in us, could that righteous, holy nature of Christ, all of His being, wherever it exists, NOT be meritorious? Why if it’s not meritorious wherever it is found, then it was not meritorious when it was worked out in His life on this earth. Therefore, these statements not withstanding, if you say you have within you the very righteous nature of Christ, you do make it meritorious grace within you, and thereby you distinguish yourself from others. And with that distinction, you inevitably despise others. It doesn’t mean you outwardly hate them, but you look down on them, you have less regard for those who don’t have what you presume to have. You may even say something like this of others, “They’re missing something.” The standard then becomes a relative one and not the imputed righteousness of Christ alone. 2 Corinthians 10:12 says that men that measure themselves by themselves are not wise.
RANDY WAGES, Albany, GA