SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH

2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118

CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE

SEPTEMBER 17, 2006

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORSHIP

SUNDAY

WEDNESDAY

7:00 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: #49-‘Our Great Savior’) Words by William Gadsby

 Thou lovely, lovely Savior,

Bless us with a solemn frame,

Teach us now, henceforth, and ever,

To adore Thy matchless name.

Give us, blessed Jesus, give us,

A sweet glimpse of Thy sweet face;

From all sinful care relieve us;

Fill us with Thy boundless grace.

Let the unction of redemption

Supple every conscience well;

Give us now a sweet exemption

From the rage of sin and hell,

Tell us, Lord, and make us feel it,

We are Thine, for ever Thine,

Take each wounded heart and heal it,

Let Thy glory in us shine.

Plunge us in that crimson ocean,

Thy sacrifice made for sin;

Freed from trusting empty notion,

May we feel Thy power within.

With Thy presence, Lord, refresh us,

Aid and keep us by Thy power;

May we ever be ambitious

Thee to love, crown, and adore

 

REJOICE EVERMORE

t is God’s revealed will that we rejoice always; pray continually for ourselves and one another, and GIVE THANKS! (I Thess. 5:16-18)  What we are, have, and WHERE we are, is ALL of God’s sovereign, perfect, unerring will for us, and therefore to be prayerfully received with rejoicing and thanksgiving, whether in prosperity or adversity.  To pray without ceasing is to be brought willingly to commend all things to our Lord- living in an attitude of TOTAL dependence on Him, EVEN when we have no particular apparent need or request.  God has already given us the greatest standing one could ever imagine in the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus.  Talk about a sure hope of eternal life in Christ!  Don’t allow anything then in this temporal life to overshadow that truth, and gift of grace.  Why should I complain when I am an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ- Romans 8: 28ff?                                                                                                                                                                                                                       KEN WIMER

THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death,”                                                                           Proverbs 12:28

ighteousness is the result of two things: Christ perfectly obeying God from His heart and secondly, Christ enduring the penalty of all those chosen by God in eternity. Righteousness is not pretend or partial, but complete and absolute obedience. Such righteousness is altogether outside the experience of man. To try to take something outside the experience of man and force it into the experience of man is to abuse it, dilute it, pervert it, and make it something that it is not. Such righteousness is altogether outside the experience of both in its establishment and application.  The application of this righteousness is by imputation and imputation is solely an act of God. Its objects were not consulted. They were not advised nor were they called upon to make a decision or do a deed in order to obtain it.

The doctrine simply says Christ earned and established righteousness and God took this righteousness and charged it to all the accounts to those He chose from eternity. This imputation of righteousness exclusively justified all for whom Christ died. If He died for all men generally, then all men were justified. If He died for a select, definite, limited number then those were justified before His eyes. Justification is as broad as election. Election is as broad as the predestination of God. And the predestination of God is as broad as the love of God. It was the love of God that brought about the predestination of God. It was the predestination of God that brought about the purpose of God in the righteousness and, therefore, the justification of sinners. To make justification broader than the love of God or more narrow than the love of God is again to pervert the wisdom of God in what He has done to bring about salvation for His people.

Imputation is only connected with but one thing- THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST. Therefore Christ is the only condition of the Law for justification and all other saving benefits, namely forgiveness, reconciliation, sanctification and adoption. This is the message of God’s righteousness.

DAVID SIMPSON, Powell, TN

RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,” Matthew 7:2.

Literally that reads, “With what ‘for’ judgment ye judge…”  In other words, by whatever standard you use for judgment – ye shall be judged accordingly.  When He says “with what measure ye mete” – that word “mete” simply means measure.  So, again, He is saying by whatever standard you make this measurement, it shall likewise be applied to you. 

In all that Christ had said up until this point in His sermon, He set forth the standard of judgment for entrance into His kingdom, and it is unambiguous.  He made clear in Matt. 5:20 that unless your righteousness exceeds the best of the best, the Scribes and Pharisees put together, you’ll not enter the kingdom of heaven.  He then proceeded to point out the extent of the law, telling them how even their ill will (anger) toward their worst enemy would place them as liable before a Holy God as if they had committed the outward act of murder.  This shows plainly that our sinfulness and unfitness goes way beyond our outward actions. 

He had shown that for any to be judged righteous before God, it must be based upon a righteousness outside of themselves – one provided for them and freely made theirs by God’s merciful application of it to them – by imputation – the charging of it to their account.  Remember what Christ Himself said He came to do in Matt. 5:17-18? It was to fulfill the law perfectly, every jot and tittle.  And then He summarized in Matt 5:48 just how righteous they would have to be if they were to meet the conditions for their own salvation when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 

RANDY WAGES, Albany, GA