CALL TO WORSHIP (Tune – Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus – p. 257)
Great Jehovah, our salvation, God of mercy and of grace; Who sent Christ to save His nation, His dear sheep from every race.
REFRAIN: How we love Him, Christ our Savior, He who reigns o’er all to bless All His people with salvation; Praise the Lord our righteousness.
There’s a peace that knows no ending In the Savior’s loving arms; With our precious Lord’s attending, Keeping safe from all alarms.
We rejoice in our redemption Earned by Christ, our Great High Priest, He who reigns without exemption Intercedes for us to plead.
TODAY’S SERVICES – Messages by Pastor Bill Parker
BIBLE CLASS – 10:00 a.m. –
Objections to Sovereign Mercy (1) – Romans 9:14
MORNING WORSHIP – 11:00 a.m –
OPENING – Psalm 40:1-5
CALL TO WORSHIP (above)
HYMN – Only a Sinner – p. 474
READING – Hebrews 6:9-20
MESSAGE – God-given Faith and Patience – Heb. 6:10-12
CLOSING HYMN – Hallelujah, What a Savior! – p. 127
Birthdays: Charlotte Pannell – Aug. 19th | Kathryn Cox – Aug. 19th Jane Sparks – Aug. 19th | Mariel Moore – Aug. 20th
A PRAYERFUL HEART
“We are but dust and ashes, Thou the Great God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! We are vile sinners, Thou art a Holy God! We are as poor, crawling worms, Thou art the omnipotent Creator! MAY OUR HEARTS BE WITHOUT WORDS, O LORD, RATHER THAN OUR WORDS WITHOUT HEART! Give us therefore the true spirit of prayer which is more precious than thousands of gold and silver." -John Bunyan
ELECT OR NON-ELECT?
Someone said, "If I knew I were one of God's elect, I would come to Christ; but I fear I am not." To you I answer – Nobody ever came to Christ because he knew himself to be of the elect. It is quite true that God has of His good pleasure elected some to everlasting life, but they never knew it until they believed in Christ. Christ nowhere commands the elect to come to Him. He commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel. The question for you is not, "Am I one of the elect? But, "Am I a sinner? Am I in need of the blood of Christ to wash away my sins? Am I in need of His righteousness to clothe my nakedness? Is He my one and only hope for salvation?" Christ came to save sinners. —Robert Murray McCheyne
We are saved out and out at once and wholly by what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, without ourselves having a hand in it. Outside of us is the blood that cleanses from all sin. Outside of us is the obedience which fulfills the law, earns our salvation, and cries, "IT IS FINISHED." OUTSIDE! We have only to look on Christ to be saved. —George Bishop
Sin discovered in its vileness makes Christ to be desired in His fullness! It is Christ's infinite righteousness which must atone for our sins, for it is an infinite God whom we have sinned against! If ever your sin is pardoned, it is Christ's infinite mercy which must pardon it! If ever you are reconciled to God, it is Christ's infinite merit which must do it! If ever your heart is changed, it is Christ's infinite power which must affect it! If ever your soul escapes hell and is saved at last, it is Christ's infinite grace which must save it!
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)
—Matthew Meade (1661)
WHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH MY SINS?
"My sin is ever before me," (Psalm 51:3) we cry with the fathers. What is to be done about my sins? It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. It is evident that the law justifies no man. The tears of Esau would not restore his birthright. The water of baptism left Simon Magus in the gall of bitterness. Judas' confession that he had betrayed innocent blood only led him to suicide. Christ called the “wonderful” works professed in Matthew 7 "works of iniquity.""How can he be clean that is born of a woman?" (Job 25:4) Here is the answer: "HE (the Lord of glory) APPEARED (came to earth in flesh) TO PUT AWAY SIN (all sin – past, present, and future) BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF." (Heb. 9:28)"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit," (1 Peter 3:18).—Copied
Anyone who denies, or even diminishes, the glory and necessity of the Holy Spirit’s work in salvation does not know the glory and necessity of Christ’s Person and finished work in salvation. Both are glorious and necessary to bring sinners to God for salvation and eternal blessedness. Both are works of free, sovereign grace done FOR and IN God’s chosen people. As we are taught in John 12:32, the work of Christ on the cross is the ground of salvation – “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth;” the work of the Spirit in the new birth (John 3:3-7) is the fruit of salvation – “will draw all men unto Me.” The obedience unto death of Christ as our Surety, Substitute, and Redeemer is our righteousness before God by which we are justified. The work of the Spirit in giving us spiritual life and bringing us to faith in Christ and true repentance is the result of righteousness worked out and established upon the cross (Rom. 8:10). The blood of Christ shed for us is the righteousness of God imputed to us. Spiritual life imparted to us by the Holy Spirit brings us to glory in and rest in Christ alone for all righteousness (Php. 3:3). The righteousness of Christ imputed to us qualifies and makes us fit for the kingdom of heaven. The life of Christ imparted to us by the Holy Spirit brings us to “see” (John 3:3) and “enter” (John 3:5) the kingdom of heaven. The first and foremost evidence of the Holy Spirit’s powerful and necessary work within us is to bring us to glory only in Christ and His powerful and necessary work for us. —Pastor Bill Parker
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