November 21, 2021

HYMN OF THE DAY
Ancient Hymn

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, I felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU, was nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion did roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU – ‘'twas nothing to me

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see,
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU my savior must be.

My terrors all vanished before His sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink from the fountain, life-giving and free;
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU is all things to me!

Tune: “How Firm a Foundation,” p.268

What is a preacher? A preacher is a nobody, who tells everybody, about Somebody, who can save anybody. – Scott Richardson

SOVEREIGNTY, MEANS, THANKSGIVING

"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" 2 Thess. 2:13.

There are three things here which deserve special attention.

First, the fact that we are expressly told that God's elect are "chosen to salvation." Language could not be more explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries (arguments) and equivocations of all who would make election refer nothing but external privileges or rank in service! It is to "salvation" itself that God hath chosen us (John 15:16).

Second, we are warned here that election unto salvation does not disregard the use of appropriate means: salvation is reached through "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." It is not true that because God has chosen a certain one to salvation that he will be saved willy nilly, whether he believes or not: nowhere do the scriptures so represent it. The same God who predestined the end, also appointed the means; the same God who "chose unto salvation", decreed that his purpose should, be realized through the work of the Spirit and belief of the truth (2Tim. 2:25; Titus 1:1).

Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is a profound cause for fervent praise. Note how strongly the apostle expresses this, "we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation", etc. Instead of shrinking in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer himself (Eph.1:3-6). - A.W. Pink

“I am poor and needy,” David said, “Yet the Lord thinketh upon me” (Ps. 40:17). In this world the rich and famous get all the attention, but in the kingdom of Christ it's the poor and needy who command the thoughts of our Lord.

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them” (Ps.139:17). Can you imagine the everlasting God having precious thoughts of you dear child of God? “If I could count them,” David continued to say (Vr.18), “They are more in number than the sand.” Could we count the grains of sand on the beaches? No way. Neither can we count the number of precious thoughts the Lord has of his own.

Well, that is the testimony of the Lord's people, but what does God himself say of his thoughts toward them? “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts

of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer.29:11). Let your poor, tried, and tired heart meditate on that.