SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH
2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118
CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE
MARCH 12, 2006
SUNDAY
BIBLE CLASS- 10:00 AM
Parable of Seed Cast into the Ground- Mark 4:26-29
MORNING WORSHIP- 11:00 AM
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Psalm 135 (David)
Call to Worship: ‘O praise the Lord with one consent…’
Scripture Reading/Prayer: 2 Kings 3 (Mike)
Hymn: #67- How Can It Be?
Message: THE ELECT OF GOD AVENGED- Revelation 6:9-17
Hymn: #277- ‘O Thou, in Whose Presence’
AFTERNOON WORSHIP – 12:30PM
Hymn: #66- ‘Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts’
Scripture Reading/Prayer: John 18 (Jim)
Hymn: #235- ‘Pass Me Not’
Message: REBELLION AGAINST THE LORD- Num. 16:1-35
Hymn: #352- Jesus, Lover of My Soul
WEDNESDAY
6:30 PM- Mid-week Service
Nursery care available for all services for ages 4 and younger.
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 – ‘Majestic Sweetness’ # 52) Psalm 135 by Tate and Brandy-1696
O
Praise the Lord with one consent,
And magnify His name;
Let all the servants of the Lord
His worthy praise proclaim. [Repeat]
Praise Him all ye that in His house
Attend with constant care,
With those that to His outmost courts
With humble zeal repair! [Repeat]
For God His own peculiar choice
The sons of Jacob makes;
And Israel’s offspring for His own
Most valued treasure takes. [Repeat]
Let all with thanks His wondrous works
In Sion’s courts proclaim!
Let them in Salem, where He dwells,
Exalt His Holy name! [Repeat]
IF GOD SHOULD DAMN YOU FOR ALL ETERNITY
I
f the death of Christ was that which satisfied God for all the sins of the elect, then certainly there is an infinite evil in sin, since it cannot be expiated but by an infinite satisfaction. Fools make a mock at sin, and there are but few people who are duly sensible of, and affected with--the evil of sin.
If God should damn you for all eternity, your eternal sufferings could not pay for the evil that is in one vain thought! It may be you may think this is harsh and severe--that God should hold His creatures under everlasting sufferings for sin. But when you have well considered, that the One against whom you sin is the infinite blessed God, and that sin is an infinite evil committed against Him; and when you consider how God dealt with the angels that fell, for one sin--you will alter your minds about it!
O the depth of the evil of sin! If ever you will see how dreadful and horrid an evil, sin is, you must measure it either by the infinite holiness and excellency of God, who is wronged by it; or by the infinite sufferings of Christ, who died to pay its penalty; and then you will have deeper apprehensions of the evil of sin. JOHN FLAVEL
OUR ONLY CONFIDENCE NOW AND FOREVER
"In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved." --Psalm 30:6
H
ow easy it is, in the day of prosperity, to feel ourselves safe and comfortable! The problem is that such feelings are nothing more than a disposition of self-confidence, rather than leaning solely upon God and His sovereign goodness and mercy toward us in His Son.
Spiritually, it is a danger to feel ourselves prospering, under the false impression that we have attained a certain degree of holiness or moral purity in our hearts, rather than seeing and acknowledging that it is God alone who has kept us from certain temptations and falls, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. We should never assume that seasons of prosperity are because of anything in us, or that somehow we can maintain such a level of comfort by what we do or don’t do. Why?
1. Because we are still depraved in our flesh, and we are at every moment susceptible and prone to falling. The only reason we don’t is because it has pleased the Lord to keep us from falling- Psalm 56:13.
2. We are to live in constant dependence upon our Lord, looking to Him alone, and giving Him the glory, learning to pray- ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’ Matthew 6:13.
The only true foundation of our confidence must be in God’s sovereign will toward us and what His blessed Son our Savior accomplished for us in His death upon the cross. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his,” 2Ti 2:19. He has known us from eternity, having purposed to save us in His Son by a just and legal satisfaction in His death, that has forever put us, as His elect, on a sure and everlasting foundation. Neither prosperity nor adversity can move us from Him. All whom He has known in His Son, He has forever justified and wholly sanctified by Him and to Him; therefore, we shall not be moved! Romans 5:9-11; Hebrews 10:14.
David exclaimed, “I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” It is not our faith that keeps us, but the Lord. It is not us looking to the Lord that is our salvation, but rather the Lord ever looking upon us, and keeping us from the evil of our sin, and from falling away, because of His shed blood, and God’s faithfulness in according us all the grace and mercies necessary for each moment to keep us unto glory, Jude 24.
KEN WIMER
TRUE HAPPINESS
T
he secret of true happiness lies in a cordial acquiescence in the will of God. It is sweet to lie passive in His hand--and know no will but His! The doctrine of a 'particular providence' is precious to the Christian's heart. It enables him to see the hand of God in every event. Hence the sinfulness of a repining, discontented, unsubmissive temper. It is difficult to reconcile the habitual indulgence of such a sinful disposition--with the existence of grace in the heart. The first emotion of the new-born soul is submission to the will of God.
We are prone to lose sight of the 'hand of God' in the little difficulties and perplexities which are of every-day occurrence, and to look only at 'second causes'. We often do the same, in more important matters. When we are injured or insulted by others, we are disposed to murmur and complain, and give vent to our indignation against the immediate causes of our distress; forgetting that these are only the 'instruments which God employs' for the trial of our faith, or the punishment of our sins.
In this doctrine of the secret agency of divine Providence, we have the strongest motive for a hearty and cheerful resignation to all the troubles and difficulties, trials and afflictions, which come upon us in this life--whatever may be their immediate cause. We know that they are directed by our heavenly Father, whose "tender mercies are over all His works," and who "does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." Whatever may be our afflictions, so long as we are out of hell, we are monuments of His mercy. "Why does a living man complain--a man for the punishment of his sins?" We are assured "that all things work together for good, to those who love God." The afflictions of this life are the faithful corrections of a kind and tender Father. "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives." How consoling the reflection--that all our sufferings are designed to mortify and subdue our corruptions, to wean us from the world, and lead us to a more humble and constant sense of dependence upon God! How ungrateful for a child of God to repine at the dealings of such a tender and faithful Father!
HARVEY NEWCOMB- 1843