SHREVEPORT GRACE CHURCH
2970 Baird Rd., Shreveport, LA 71118
CHRIST ALONE - SCRIPTURE ALONE - GRACE ALONE
March 2, 2008
SUNDAY
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Psalm 88 (Layne)
Call to Worship: ‘How sweet and precious is the name’
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Philippians 4 (David)
Hymn: # 127- ‘Hallelujah! What a Savor
Message: ‘BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY- Revelation 22:7-21
Hymn: # 152- ‘Lo! He comes, With Clouds Descending’
Hymn: # 17- ‘ComeThou Fount’
Scripture Reading/Prayer: Job 9 (Jim Pennywell)
Hymn: # 209- ‘Grace Greater Than Our Sin’
Message: THE MERCIFUL GOD - Deuteronomy 4:29-39
Hymn: # 235- ‘Pass Me Not’
WEDNESDAY
7:00 PM - Mid-week meeting
Nursery care available during all services; for ages 4 and younger.
Ken Wimer, Pastor- ( (318) 687-4943
E-Mail: pastor@shrevegrace.org
Web Site: http://www.shrevegrace.org
Audio Messages Available On-Line; Updated weekly
Radio Broadcast: 9:00 AM (CST) Sunday on KWKH;
AM Radio 1130, Shreveport, LA area or LIVE streaming at http://www.kwkhonline.com/common/gap_streamer.php
CALL TO WORSHIP
(Tune: #48- His Matchless Worth)
1 – How sweet and precious is the name
Of Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Lamb,
To sinners in distress!
A name just suited to their case;
Pregnant with mercy, truth, and grace,
With strength and righteousness. (Repeat)
2 – His name, as Jesus, suits them well
He saves from sin, wrath, law, and hell,
From guilt and slavish fears.
His name is Wonderful indeed;
An able Counselor, to plead,
Just suits a case like theirs. (Repeat)
3 – Immanuel is a glorious name!
The God we trust is still the same!
An endless Father, He;
A most illustrious Prince of Peace;
A Tower, a precious Hiding-place,
Is Jesus Christ to me. (Repeat)
4 – Yes, if His name be Lord of Hosts,
Of his almighty power I’ll boast;
He all my foes shall quell;
He’s all the helpless soul can need;
No ointment put on Aaron’s head
Could give so sweet a smell. (Repeat)
5- In Him the Gentile church shall trust;
Of Him shall sing; of Him shall boast;
On Him cast all their care;
He is their God, and they shall know
What His almighty power can do.
Nor death, nor danger fear. (Repeat)
GOD’S SOVEREIGN WORK OF SALVATION
“That he should gather together in one, the children of God who were scattered abroad,” John 11:52
|
T |
o read the words of this scripture text, one might think that they were spoken by a Gospel preacher. They are actually words spoken by Caiaphas the High Priest, an enemy of Christ, and yet by God’s sovereign will and purpose forced to state the truth, in spite of his own unbelief. Just because a man states some true things, however, does not make him a Gospel preacher. Christ may be preached by wicked, lost men, and yet, truth is truth whether from the tongue of an enemy or not. Is not the majority of the book of Job, from the pen of his friends against whom the Lord was angered and for whom Job was to pray and offer a burnt offering? Job 42:8. Was not Balaam, a charlatan, constrained to speak the truth, even though lost and condemned? Numbers 23:19-21. Did not Judas preach, and yet he was a son of perdition? John 6:70.
This does not excuse men being lost even though they may preach some truth. Yet, it does teach us that God is sovereign. He has, will, and does use all things for His glory, even though it may not fit a pattern that we think consistent with His character. Nonetheless, we are never to put men above His Word, however respectable they may appear in our eyes, nor follow them simply because of their longevity in the ‘ministry’. We are to value the truth above all!
What is certain, first of all, is that although the whole world lies in wickedness, it is still GOD’s world. He has chosen a particular number, who are called the children of God. They were predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, Ephesians 1:5. Secondly, these children are said to be scattered abroad. This has been so since their fall in Adam, each one having turned his own way in sin and shame, Isaiah 53:6. They were by nature children of wrath even as others, Ephesians 2:3. Thirdly, it is said that Christ should gather them into one. Christ Himself declared this in John 10:16, as the Good Shepherd, laying down His life for His sheep, and by that redeeming, justifying work, fully, freely, and finally once for all uniting in one ALL His elect by His obedience unto death- Hebrews 9:14. As the Good Shepherd, He cannot lose one, and therefore, by His Spirit even now is gathering to Him His poor, scattered, lost sheep who are yet in ignorance, darkness, and rebellion.
Has He called you by the grace of His Gospel, and by the power of His Holy Spirit out of free-will, conditional works, and ceremonial religion, to His Person and blessed finished work accomplished at Calvary, alone? It is not until or unless Christ has gathered you that you can say that you are His.
KEN WIMER
NO CHANCES WITH GOD
|
I |
t should be clear that if Christ died for his people in their stead [place], then those people are saved from wrath. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he SHALL save his people from their sins (Matthew 1.21).” The prophet Isaiah spoke of this long before the birth of the blessed Savior, “He shall see of the travail [suffering] of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53.11).” Man contributes nothing to his justification or standing before God. Man’s justification before a holy, righteous, and perfect God is completely dependent on what Jesus Christ did two thousand years ago on the cross at Calvary. “Who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification (Romans 4.25).” “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (Romans 5.10-11).” Simply put, all those for whom Jesus died are actually and really saved from their sins. They appear righteous and sinless in the eyes of God because of what his Son did. Jesus did not die for all mankind because all mankind will not be saved. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat (Matthew 7.13
Worldly religionists cannot stomach this doctrine even though it comes straight from the word of God itself. They claim that it does not give everyone an opportunity to be saved. No opportunities are found in scripture concerning salvation. If not for the finished work of the Son of God none could be saved. Thanks be to God that because of the sufferings of Jesus, all for whom he died are saved without exception. There are no chances with God, and there is no chance that even one of his chosen and foreknown will ever be lost.
C.C. MORRIS