SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH
2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118
CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE
JANUARY 22, 2005
SUNDAY
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Psalm 128 (David)
Call to Worship: ‘How blest the man who fears the Lord’
Scripture Reading/Prayer: 1 Kings 18 (Mike)
Hymn: #474- ‘Only a Sinner Saved by Grace’
Message: WHY GOD’S SON WAS FORSAKEN BY GOD?- Matt. 27:46
WEDNESDAY
6:30 PM- Mid-week Service
Join us as we study through 1 Thessalonians
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: ‘Doxology’
Words by Henry Francis Lyte, 1834, based on Psalm 128
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ow blest the man who fears the Lord,
Who walks by His unerring word;
His labors find a full increase,
His days are crowned with health and peace.
Domestic comfort builds her nest,
Beneath his roof, within his breast;
And earth’s best blessings hourly rise
To cheer his pathway to the skies.
But earth’s best gifts are poor to those
The Spirit on his soul bestows;
The earnest here of joys above,
The foretaste of eternal love.
Onward he goes from strength to strength,
Till heav’ns bright morning breaks at length,
And calls him to his full reward-
How blest the man who fears the Lord!
A PURCHASED PEOPLE
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people…” 1 Peter 2:9
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he word ‘peculiar’ in this verse means ‘purchased’ or ‘procured.’ As I contemplated the significance of this truth, that Gods’ people are a purchased people, and the implications concerning our righteousness which God has imputed to us as a result of being purchased, I thought of how in this life when a transaction is made with so called ‘dirty money’ the purchase is not considered honorable. Here, however, because of whose blood it is, it was an honorable purchase, in every way satisfactory to Gods’ law and justice. What a blessed thought that we are His because Christ purchased us honorably, and therefore we are not our own, but HIS; not only by election, but through redemption and justification accomplished at the cross. How can any say we need (or have) a righteousness that is our very own, or in addition to that righteousness which He has already imputed at the cross, when Gods’ Word declares that we are not our own, but bought with a price? I Corinthians 6:20. I want no other righteousness than Jesus Christ THE Righteous. Therefore, we glorify God for that righteousness alone, that Christ has wrought for us, and the Father imputed to us in the death of His Dear Son!
LAYNE DENTON, Huffman, TX
ELECTION AS TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE
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lection has its ground, not in anything belonging to the sinner, but ONLY in the purpose and will of God from eternity (2Ti 1:9; Ro 8:30-33; compare Lu 18:7; Eph 1:4; Col 3:12). Acts 13:48 shows that all faith on the part of the elect, is the result of God the Father having ordained sinners to believe, and in time giving them faith to submit to Christ and His righteous obedience unto death. Sinners do not become elect by their faith, but receive faith, and so become believers, because they are elect.
1. It is a special gift of grace, and is the evidence of Christ’s redeeming grace at the cross (Eph. 2:8). Faith proves itself to be a genuine grace of the Holy Spirit, for it submits to and trusts in the righteousness of God in Christ for justification, His blood for pardon, and His all-prevailing merits and intercession for life (2 Peter 1:4). We are not justified by believing, but being justified by the death of the Lord Jesus (Romans 5:9-11), we are caused to see the glory of Christ and His finished work at Calvary, and granted repentance to bow to Him as Savior and Lord. Faith glorifies the Lord Jesus as God’s High Priest who put away sin, and honors Him as King to rule and govern, and yields obedience to Him as God’s prophet to instruct in the truth.
2. It is unto the acknowledging of the truth, which is how the Bible describes repentance- 2 Timothy 2:25. It is not only the acknowledging of our sinfulness, and worthiness of God’s just condemnation, had He so purposed, but the recognition and full discernment of the truth void of conditions of men. It is synonymous with God given, Spirit wrought faith, Acts 20: 21. The believing soul is stripped of every self-righteous plea, and is humbled and submitted to Christ and His imputed righteousness as its only hope for life and salvation.
3. It is after godliness Titus 1:1. Godliness means reverence for God! It presupposes knowledge given by the Spirit through the doctrine of Christ that causes affection for Christ and His Gospel, dependence on His grace, submission to His imputed righteousness, and gratitude for God’s mercies in Christ, and obedience to the truth as it is in Christ. It is opposed to any knowledge that is not founded in the truth, both doctrinal and practical (Tit 1:11, 16; 1Ti 6:3) and anything tending to ungodliness whether in doctrine or practice (2Ti 2:16; compare Tit 2:11, 12).
4. It is in hope of eternal life- Titus 3:7. This includes, not only the salvation of the soul and its eternal keeping, but also the resurrection of the body and the final glorification of every sinner whom the Father chose, and for whom Christ died. It is a true hope, a sure hope, and a good hope, because of Him who IS OUR HOPE- 1 Timothy 1:1
KEN WIMER
IT WAS NOT THE NAILS! By J. C. Philpot
"My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Mark 15:34
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t was not the nails driven through His hands and feet; it was not the crown of thorns placed upon His brow; it was not the stripes which mangled His back; it was not the languor and faintness under which He suffered--which caused the Lord to die. It was not the mere bodily agony of the cross; it was not the mere pain, though most acute and severe, of the nails driven through His sacred hands and feet. It was not the being stretched upon the cross six hours that constituted the chief part of the Redeemer's suffering. But it was the almost intolerable load of IMPUTED SIN--the imputed sins of millions. It was the tremendous pouring of the wrath of God into His holy soul; it was the hiding of His Father's face, and the very pangs of hell that there caught hold of Him.
Our suffering Savior drank the cup of the wrath of God to the very dregs--when our vile, dreadful, and horrible sins were LAID UPON Him!
"Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Isaiah 53:4 “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin." Isaiah 53:10
WAVE UPON WAVE OF GRACE
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God of grace teach me to know that grace precedes, accompanies, and follows my salvation; that it sustains the redeemed soul that not one link of its chain can ever break! From Calvary's cross, wave upon wave of grace reaches me, deals with my sin, washes me clean, renews my heart, strengthens my will, draws out my affection, kindles a flame in my soul, rules throughout my inner man, consecrates my every thought, word, work, and teaches me Your immeasurable love. How great are my privileges in Christ Jesus! Without Him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast. In Him I draw near and touch His kingly scepter! Without Him I dare not lift up my guilty eyes. In Him I gaze upon my Father-God and friend! Without Him I hide my lips in trembling shame. In Him I open my mouth in petition and praise! Without Him all is wrath and consuming fire. In Him is all love, and the repose of my soul! Without Him is a gaping hell below me, and eternal anguish. In Him its gates are barred to me by His precious blood! Without Him darkness spreads its horrors before me. In Him an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon! Without Him all within me is terror and dismay. In Him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace! Praise be to You for grace, and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus! "By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Cor. 15:10
GRACE GEMS