SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH

2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118 

CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE

 APRIL 22, 2007

 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: #46-‘O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing’)

O Christ of never-ceasing grace, Thy saints' exhaustless theme;
Great object of immortal praise, essentially supreme.

 We bless Thee for the glorious fruits Thine incarnation gives;
The righteousness which grace imputes and faith alone receives.

 In Thee we have a righteousness by God Himself approved;
Our rock, our sure foundation this, which never can be moved.

Our ransom by Thy death was paid, for all Thy people giv'n;
The law Thou perfectly obeyed, that they might enter heav'n.

 As all when Adam sinned alone in his transgression died,
So by the righteousness of One are sinners justified.

SEEKING AND FINDING RIGHTEOUSNESS

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ⁸For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened,”   Matthew 7:7,8 

This is all about seeking God’s righteousness, Matthew 6:33. We can’t isolate this act of “seeking” from that which is being sought, (His righteousness), then any who so seek realize that this search automatically excludes the asking, the seeking, and the knocking as having any causal role in the receiving or finding – for His righteousness is the perfection before God merited by Christ alone and nothing can be added to contribute additional merit to that.  His work at Calvary finished the job, meriting all of salvation, including the gift of faith and repentance.  And that faith is given, not in order to acquire Christ and His righteousness, but simply to behold it.  He has already shown in Matthew 5 and 6 the futility of thinking we can contribute one iota toward that.  He told us in Matthew 5:17 that He would do it all – every jot and tittle, not one iota left to be done!

RANDY WAGES, Albany, GA

LED INTO TRUTH AND TAUGHT OF HIM

“Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day,” Psalm 25:5

When the Lord began that good work of grace in me a number of years ago, I learned not just the doctrine of depravity, but was made to see my own wretched sinfulness before a holy God.  I was taught of the Spirit not merely the truth of electing grace, but was made to know that I was indeed one of the multitude that God the Father from eternity chose out and gave to His Son as my Surety and Representative.  Through the Word, the Spirit of God taught me not just the truth of Christ’s particular redemption, but the particularity of the work of Christ in His death and the necessity of His shed blood to redeem me and satisfy God’s law and justice on my behalf.  I was truly and definitively humbled at the mercy seat and before Him who is seated upon the throne of grace.  Nonetheless, for some time, like a young child, I foolishly thought that I had learned all there was to learn of Christ and the Gospel, and unwittingly made the knowledge of the truth the basis of my salvation, rather than seeing it, as it is in truth, a gracious evidence of the work of the Spirit in the heart because of God’s salvation already accomplished for me at Calvary.

  As time goes on, I am now more and more conscious of my daily need for the Lord to continue to lead me in His truth, even as David prayed, and to learn of Him as to His person and work, and salvation accomplished by His obedience unto death for a sinner such as I am.  Truly, He is the God of my salvation, but O, how little I still know of Him, and pray that daily He might be pleased to give more and more light to shine on the face of Jesus Christ as He is revealed in His Word, and to be found in Him, having that righteousness imputed as my ONLY hope of salvation, Philippians 3:9.  The fact is that most of God’s redeemed can testify to having first of all embraced the truth as it is in Christ.  After the doctrine had for some time settled in their minds, the Lord graciously caused that knowledge to inhabit their hearts and begin to germinate. As grows the knowledge of the Word, so grows the blessing, comfort, and assurance in the soul.  I find that as the Spirit of God graciously continues to teach a sinner as myself, He brings me more and more into the knowledge of the truth, and shows me even more plainly the absolute necessity of Christ as Mediator, having accomplished my salvation by His blood and justifying righteousness, imputed at Calvary.  

Do you find, as I do, that the truth of Christ and Him crucified only draws the heart out increasingly, although imperfectly to Christ in faith, hope, and love?  Pray that the Spirit of God so lead you into His truth, and teach you.  As He does, He will certainly reveal to your heart the virtue of Christ’s death and the efficacy of His righteousness imputed as ALL your righteousness before God.  As the hymn writer of old wrote, “This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus; this is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus.”                                                                                                      KEN WIMER

 

JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST FREELY AND FULLY

“Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good,” Romans 7:12. 

The law here is the body of law, most particularly the Law of Moses.  The commandment means each law in particular.  The phrase ‘holy, just and good’ describes law and commandment which describe the character of God. What is holy opposes all that is sinful and what is approved by God.  Just describes demands that are consistent with God and perfect obedience.  Everything else is a trespass. As sinful creatures, mankind is due the justice of God. Raw justice without grace is punishment and condemnation. ‘Good – promotes order and happiness as seen in each of the Ten Commandments.  The three may refer to the three divisions of the Law: ceremonial, judicial, moral.  These three qualities are so because their author is God, they reveal the character and will of God, and they are impartial without regard to any external concerns.  Their result is to condemn violations or violators, but also justify those who keep them.  However, no man can keep them; therefore he must have a Justifier

Justification by righteousness imputed does not degrade God’s Law. Righteousness is obedience to the Law. Righteousness was earned by Christ’s perfect obedience to the Law. Righteousness was established (caused to stand up, which had never happened previously) in that God accepted it. Righteousness was imputed by grace alone, without regard to external considerations, i.e. race, social standing, economic levels, intelligence or education, etc. Righteousness was imputed to all the elect at the same time and place, so there could be no boasting on our part before God or His Law.

DAVID SIMPSON, Powell, TN