FEBRUARY 26, 2006

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORSHIP

SUNDAY

WEDNESDAY

6:30 PM- Mid-week Service

Nursery care available for all services for ages 4 and younger.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Ken Wimer, Pastor- ( (318) 687-4943

PO Box 5028, Shreveport, LA 71135

E-MAIL: pastor@shrevegrace.org

WEB SITE: http://www.shrevegrace.org Updated weekly with audio messages now available on-line.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Tune: # 10- ‘O God, Our Help in Ages Past’

Words by C.M. based on Psalm 133

ehold, how good a thing it is,

And how becoming well.

Together such as brethren are

In unity to dwell.

Like precious ointment on the head,

That down the beard did flow,

E’en Aaron’s beard, and to the skirts

Did of his garments go.

As Hermon’s dew, the dew that doth

On Sion’s hill descend:

For there the blessing God commands,

Life that shall never end.

THE GREATEST JUDGMENT

n ancient writer once said, ‘The greatest judgment God Himself can,  in this present life, inflict upon a man or woman is to leave them in the hand of their own boasted free-will.’  May the Lord grant us repentance of any thought, ambition, or motive, that seeks His favor and blessing on any other condition than Christ alone, and His blood and righteousness fully established, accepted, and imputed only  in Christ at the cross.                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           COPIED

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH- Romans 4:13

ow can faith, our faith, even God given, be considered righteous?  The righteousness of faith must and can only refer to THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH. The body of truth and method, as it were, by which God can be just to justify the ungodly. Faith is in contrast to law, and “the faith” is our Lord Jesus Christ and all that He accomplished, culminating in the cross, on behalf of His people.  Therefore “salvation by faith” is not salvation of faith, or coupled to our so called faith, but simply SALVATION BY CHRIST. Philippians 3:9.                                 LAYNE DENTON, Huffman, TX

AN APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH

“It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment.”

  Hebrews 9:27.

e all die because we are sinners, born in sin due to our fall in Adam from the beginning of creation.  Read Romans 5:12 with Romans 3:23- It could be translated “all did sin…” Like it or not, when Adam fell, all fell in him and are therefore worthy of judgment.  

Someone may ask, “Why should I suffer the consequences of another man’s sin?”  Well, dear friend, what you see as bad news is really good news, if you think about it.  If I was made a sinner by representation in Adam, that means that if God declares me righteous, it will be by representation in the Lord Jesus. Read 1 Cor. 15:45.  On what ground was the thief on the cross granted acceptance with God?- Luke 23:43- It was by the doing and dying of another.  His hands and feet were nailed (unable to do anything).  He had nothing in his past to recommend him.  But the Lord Jesus came to save sinners and He saved the thief by His death on the cross, just as He saved every one of the elect.  Even David, a man after God’s own heart, cried in Psalm 130:3- “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”  But then the truth is, ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord:  for WITH THE LORD there is mercy, and with HIM is plenteous redemption! Psalm 130:7.

Although as redeemed ones we may have to answer the appointment to die physically, we will never have to die the second death (eternal separation from God) because that appointment was already cancelled by the obedience of Christ unto death in our place, Revelation 20:6. When He died, we for whom He died judicially died with Him.  When He was raised, we were raised with Him, by representation, and therefore, death’s sentence can no longer be executed against any for whom He died.  

However, apart from the blood and righteousness of Christ imputed at Calvary and revealed at regeneration by the Spirit through faith, not only will you have to answer the appointment to die physically, but afterward the judgment, the second death.  May it be, in the Lord’s mercies, that you are one of the redeemed, and so the Lord is pleased to grant you repentance unto life, Acts 11:18!

                                   KEN WIMER

THE GRACE OF SOUND DOCTRINE

he doctrine of Christ gives such enlarged views of the holiness of God as to lead those who receive it so to feel the hidden abominations of their own hearts in contrast therewith as to destroy all confidence in any of their own acts, and to pant after more holiness in heart and life. In addition, sound doctrine gives such a view of the riches of the love and grace of God towards vile, unworthy sinners, that whenever faith gives a glimpse of it, every power of mind is captivated thereby, and they are made earnestly to desire to glorify God in their bodies and in their spirits which are His.

    Again; a belief in this doctrine, by giving us a deep sense of the deceitfulness of our hearts, and the depravity of our natures, leads us to be guarded against trusting to our own hearts, or depending on our own resolutions and strength, and to seek frequent supplies of grace and strength to resist temptations, and to overcome the corruptions of our nature, and to do that which is right. And what was Paul's experience, is the experience of every believer, "When I am weak, then am I strong." II Cor.12:10. And again, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Phil.4:13. Whenever we go forward carelessly or with self-confidence, we are sure to come short or fall; but none is ever confounded whilst, sensible of his weakness, his heart truly trusts in God.

SAMUEL TROTT, Centreville, VA- 1845