Believer’s baptism (immersion) is not a “Baptist Distinctive,” but a New Testament distinctive. In the New Testament all who believed were buried with Christ in baptism; and none were baptized except those who professed themselves believers.
Our Father’s in Control! — Don Fortner (Tune: #497 — When I Can Read My Title Clear — CM)
1. Who dares dispute Jehovah’s right To universal rule? This is our comfort and delight — Our Father’s in control!
2. Rejoice, rejoice, our Father reigns; Heav’n, earth, and hell, shall know That what His sov'reign will ordains No pow’r can overthrow.
3. All worlds obey our .Father’s nod, And His decrees fulfil; The arm of Israel’s cov’nant God, Performs His sov’reign will.
4. Then all is well, though man complains In unbelief and pride, Since God our Father ever reigns, Beneath His wings we’ll hide!
“It’s just as impossible to come alive spiritually by the will of the flesh as it is to come alive physically by the will of the flesh. Can you imagine any professing Christian attributing their physical life to a decision they made? Yet, most believe they have come alive spiritually by ‘accepting Jesus’. Believing that Jesus Christ was God in human flesh, obtaining eternal life for His people by His perfect work of redemption, is the work of God the Holy Spirit. He reveals the Gospel to those who are already quickened by Him before they believe. ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see (perceive) the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). I challenge anyone to find one thing our Lord Jesus told Nicodemus to do in order to be ‘born again’.” — Pastor Gene Harman
“He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” Hebrews 10:9
In this 10th chapter of Hebrews the Holy Spirit shows us the purpose of God in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He declares that the Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, is the only sin-atoning High Priest there is. The whole chapter is a declaration of the fact that the Son of God has finished His work of redemption and has perfectly fulfilled all that portrayed Him and His work in the Old Testament. That is the doctrine of Hebrews 10.
First, God gave Israel the law, the priesthood, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, and the services of that carnal age, by which they might know and worship Him in type and imagery until Christ came. Then Christ came to do the will of God, to do what those things could only portray and typify, to accomplish the redemption and salvation of God’s elect. Thus, He took away the first that he might establish the second (Hebrews 10:9-22).
Our blessed Redeemer took away the old ceremonies, sacrifices, priesthood, and ordinances of carnal worship, when He came to do the will of God. While they lasted, those things were good. “The law is holy, and just, and good.” During that age of legal, ceremonial worship, those things were both useful and good. But when Christ came, He took them away. He took them away because they were no longer needed. The types served their purpose; but now Christ has come. Who needs a picture? The God-man Himself is here! The Savior is present with us.
Christ took those things away because the observance of those things now are forbidden. God destroyed the temple, the altar, the priesthood, the ark, the mercy-seat, every particle of law and the carnal worship of that age to keep us from returning to legality, and to keep us from ritualism and idolatry. The destruction of every particle of the Old Testament legal system is a declaration that redemption’s work is done! Christ has finished the work. If we still had those carnal implements of worship, they would only take our minds off of our Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:10-23). When our Lord Jesus took away the types, He brought in and established something far better. He brought in real, perfect, complete, everlasting atonement (Daniel 9:24).
He took away the first that He might establish the second; and this is far, far better. The first was good; but God saved the best until last. Once we have seen Christ, we do not miss Aaron. Once we have experienced the simplicity of the Gospel, we never pine for the complexity and bondage of the law. If ever a sinner enters into the holy place, he will not wish to re-hang the veil! No one who has experienced the liberty and freedom of grace will ever return to the bondage and terror of the law (Galatians 5:1-4).
Here the Holy Spirit gives us both a word of assurance and a word of warning. — “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” The assurance is this. — Justice is satisfied! Redemption is accomplished! Sin is pardoned! But, be sure you hear the warning. We dare not seek to re-establish any ordinance of the law, lest we build again that which God has cast down. We dare not seek to establish any ordinance of worship which God has not established in His Word, lest we be guilty of idolatry. We dare not tolerate any notion that the second can fail. — “He shall not fail!” His blood shall not fail to atone! His righteousness shall not fail to satisfy! His intercession shall not fail to prevail! His grace shall not fail to save!
A Pattern of God’s Work “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” (Hebrews 10:9)
This is a pattern of God’s work among the sons of men. — He takes away the first, that He may establish the second. That which is first, once its purpose has been fulfilled, has to be taken away, so that that which is second may be brought in and established. Both in this world and in the world to come, the Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, gives the best things last. That is exactly what we are taught in Hebrews 10:9. There are many, many examples of this mentioned in the Book of God. Let me just call your attention to four of them.
1. The earthly paradise has been taken away by sin; but the Lord God has given us salvation in Christ, and heaven (Psalm 69:4). 2. The first man, Adam, failed miserably as our representative; but Christ, the last Adam, has represented us perfectly, and still does (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 47, 49). 3. The first covenant, that legal covenant of works, has been broken and is forever cast aside; but the second covenant, the everlasting covenant of grace, has been brought in and gloriously replaces the first (Galatians 4:22-31; 2 Samuel 23:5; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Jeremiah 32:38-40). 4. The first temple, with all its symbolic glory and splendor, has been thoroughly destroyed; but there is a spiritual house being built by God our Savior, which can never be destroyed (Zechariah 4:6-10).
This is also the pattern of God’s work in the blessed experience of His saving grace. — “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” It is a painful thing to experience, but it is necessary. If God did not take away the first, He would never establish the second. Our first righteousness has been taken away by the conviction of the Spirit; but the righteousness of Christ is established by the same grace and the same Holy Spirit conviction (Romans 7:7-9). Our first peace has been dashed in pieces like a broken vessel; but we have found real peace in the Rock of Ages. Our natural, carnal joy He turned into bitterness, but now our dear Savior has given us the blessed joy of faith. This is joy indeed! What a joy it is to trust Christ, His blood, His righteousness, His providence, and His promises! Christ took away our endless, meaningless wandering and vain conversation; but He brought us into the way of life, gives us the direction of His Spirit, and holds us in the path of faith. Blessed be the name of God, our Savior! “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” And this is our hope of better things to come. — “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” This body of flesh is decaying and dying now. God is taking it away. But it shall be renewed in the image and likeness of Christ. “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:49). This tabernacle of clay must be dissolved, that we may “have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
THE GRACE BULLETIN August 21, 2011
GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE 2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438 Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail [email protected]
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor
Schedule of Regular Services
Sunday 10:00 A.M. Bible Classes 10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service 6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service
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