SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH

2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118 

CHRIST ALONE-SCRIPTURE ALONE-GRACE ALONE 

MAY 27, 2007 

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 lmessages now available on-line.

RADIO BROADCASTS: 9:00 AM Sunday on KWKH, 1130 AM, Shreveport, LA or live streaming at http://www.am1130thefan.com/pages/listen_live.html  

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 (Tune: # 142- ‘Jesus Shall Reign’) 

Jesus, the Lord, enthroned on high,

To Thee we look, to Thee we cry;

We long to view Thy lovely face,

And sweetly sing Thy matchless grace. 

Thou hast redeemed our souls from death,

And blessed us with a living faith;

And Thou wilt safely lead us home,

Where sins and sorrows never come. 

Dear condescending God, appear,

And bless us with a holy fear;

Give solid joy and sacred love,

And every idle thought remove.

 

WHAT DID CHRIST ACCOMPLISH BY HIS DEATH?

He has "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself," Hebrews 9:26; He has "finished transgression and made an end of sin,” Daniel 9:24. He has "redeemed us from all iniquity;" He has "redeemed us from the curse of the law," from destruction and from the power of the devil; He has "obtained eternal redemption for us," Hebrews 9:15. He has "redeemed us to God." To the honor of the Eternal Trinity it is said, not that the redeemed shall have a chance, but that the redeemed shall "come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away," Isaiah 35:10. 

The Lord Jesus Christ has done this "great" work; and He has gone to heaven shouting "Victory," for "God is gone up with a shout; the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." He rose from the grave as a demonstrative proof that sin was destroyed, the law satisfied, God honored, His people eternally and everlastingly saved. And the immortal honors of God unite in their salvation; therefore, He ever lives at the right hand of the Father to make intercession.                    WILLIAM GADSBY

NOT UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE

“For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace,” Romans 6:14

Paul here makes one of the most fundamental and pivotal statements that  could be made by any human being stating, “for you are not under the law, but under grace.”  The seeds of antinomianism (a disregard and despite for God’s law) and legalism (attempts to keep the law for salvation) are both present in all of us by nature and therefore very natural to all of us. 

                As a gospel believer, I espouse neither.  I hold to a liberty, won by a perfect and imputed righteousness.  I have no desire to fulfill the lusts and corruption that are natural to my flesh.  I do not wish to use the liberty that has been gained by this imputed righteousness as a license to fulfill my depravity, though it is natural to me.  And yet, I am not under the law.  So these words are a comfort to me.  Consider what it means then, ‘you are not under law but under grace.’ 

Who are the ‘you’ referred to here? He means those of you identified in the first chapter as the ‘called,’ ‘the beloved of God,’ ‘the saints.’  ‘YOU’ who were under condemnation because of Adam’s sin; ‘YOU’ who are now justified because of Christ’s obedience, blood, and imputed righteousness to your account; YOU are not (present tense- as in even now) under the law. 

What does the word ‘under’ mean?  It is a word that means to be under the authority of another.  Therefore, it means that you are not answerable to.  You are either answerable to one or the other, law or grace.  Here it says you are not answerable to, or under the authority of the law.  In the original language there is no definite article, ‘the.’  When the article is there it refers to a specific designation as in ‘the Williams, the Mostellers, the Browns.’  Without the article it means essence.  So Paul is not here referring to THE LAW, as in the law of Moses, but rather the essence of the law, as in any requirements or conditions that any might impose.  That’s what the essence of the law is.  The law had many parts, but all of them are summed up in two things- conditions and requirements.  

So ‘law’ without the article means that you are not under the essence of law or anything that is in essence made a part of the law; BUT (in the strongest sense) under (answerable to) grace- that unearned, undeserved, unmerited, uncoerced, unconditioned, unsought, saving favor from God.  Merit is accounted, but not conditioned upon human works or the human will.   A requirement is conditioned upon something a human being does.  As soon as you make something a condition or requirement, that’s a law.  Grace, however, is merit accounted or conditioned on Christ alone.  That’s what grace does.  It is God’s unmerited favor granted freely to the sinner, conditioned on Christ and His finished work alone. It is to this grace only, and not to rules and conditions accomplished by us, that the Gospel believer answers-Grace and grace alone.

T. DAVID SIMPSON, Knoxville, TN

 

CONTINUING IN THE FAITH

‘Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in THE FAITH…”  Acts 14:22

The Apostle Paul made it a practice to return again and again to those that the Lord drew to Christ under his preaching, and encourage and exhort them to continue in THE FAITH.  These follow up visits were in no way mere religious pep rallies, but a continuance of the same method and message of preaching that the Lord used to convert them in the first place.  Their turning to Christ was not the result of an orchestrated production of singers and testimonies; followed by a public invitation as so many are doing today.  NO!  It was the clear, simple, and exclusive declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Person and Work, accomplished and imputed to the account of sinners, completed at Calvary, and now made known through the preaching of men like Paul whom the Lord raised up, Titus 1:3.

                The need for Paul to return and encourage them and ‘confirm’ (literally to strengthen) the souls of the disciples was because of the opposition that their identification with the truth engendered.  Paul himself had just been stoned for declaring the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, equal with God, and salvation purposed, accomplished, and revealed in, by, and through Him exclusively (vv. 19, 20).  He did not hesitate to declare to his hearers that they were to repent of the vanities of their false worship, and turn to the living God, who is the giver, procurer, sustainer, and source of all life, physical and spiritual, v. 15.

                The apostles charge to these disciples to continue in the faith, was not merely a call to perseverance, but rather to a whole hearted adhesion to THE FAITH (that body of truth revealed in the Gospel in connection with Christ and His death), which declares the only salvation of God for sinners- purposed in eternity, procured at Calvary, persuaded by the Spirit of God, and proclaimed through the Gospel.  You can’t continue in what you have never known or heard.  On the other hand, if the Lord has been pleased to reveal Christ and His righteousness established, accomplished, and imputed at Calvary (THE FAITH), you will not be persuaded otherwise, and hearing it again and again, will certainly be a strengthening and comfort to your soul.                                                                                                               KEN WIMER

 

NOTES

·                     CLEANING SCHEDULE: Carters (5/127-6/1)

·                     NURSERY: Please take responsibility for your own children today.  Thanks!

·                     BIRTHDAYS: Elizabeth Strange-5/9; Jeremy Wimer-5/18; Rachel Denton-5/19; Layne Denton-5/23; Luke Pennywell-5/29

·                     FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP: At the Atchisons’ following our time of worship