June 2, 2013

Church Website: sermonaudio.com/dleeb

Hymn for the Day

Sinner, is your soul now weary
From your toils in Satan’s chains?
Are you laden with the dreary
Load of legalist demands?
Hear the call of Christ the Savior:
“Come to Me, I’ll give you rest!”
Come to Him for saving favor;
Come to Him, and you’ll be blessed.

You will find His heart is lowly –

He is gentle to console;
If you come in faith most holy,
He will give rest to your soul.
Hear the call of Christ the Savior:
“Come to Me, I'll give you rest!”
Come to Him for saving favor;
Come to Him, and you’ll be blessed.

By Daniel E. Parks

(Tune: ‘Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing’#17)

"Faith Cometh by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God" (Rom 10: 17). Hearing is the only one of our five senses that requires us to do nothing in order to do it. And hearing is the only one of our five senses that requires us to do something in order not to do it.

We who are believers in the absolute Sovereignty of God find such comfort and assurance in God acting like God. What is the alternative? Luck, good or bad, depending on how you look at it; mother nature...accidents...fate...destiny...karma...is it the cards you draw?

But how blessed we are who have been taught by the Holy Spirit of God that He is ruling, governing and “doing according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and NO MAN CAN STAY HIS HAND or say unto him what are you doing”!

To be able to get up in the morning and know that the day belongs to God and he will do exactly what is right for me and mine, because he is all wise and will do nothing that is not according to his nature for any soul on this earth. To know my time is in his hands not mine, not in my will but his...my soul rest right here.

Bless His name, this sovereign God is my God and Saviour. He is in the heavens and is doing as he pleases.

- Pastor

And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized! There are people in our assemblies who have heard the Gospel of Christ with the heart. They believe Him, they love Him, and they truly rest in Him as Lord and Redeemer; but they have not confessed Christ in believer's baptism. The question is asked, "Why tarriest thou?" I believe I can answer for them.

l. They are troubled by the presence and strength of indwelling sin - "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing."

2. They are shocked by the weakness of their faith.

3. They fear that they will fail and dishonor the Lord and embarrass the church.

4. They are waiting for greater assurance and more grace.

5. They are by nature very timid and shun public demonstrations.

But no such reasons are valid; for in baptism we are not confessing our holiness, but His; not our strength, but His; not our life, but His! "We are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

- Henry Mahan

The preaching of Christ Jesus and Him crucified is hated by this religious world. But those who believe, and are saved, love it with a perfect love. It is our only hope, our Salvation. If we compromise on this to please the people of our day, we compromise the Gospel, and make the death of our Lord Jesus Christ of none effect. We have no Salvation. We have no hope. We will stand before a thrice Holy God with a hope only in what we can do to satisfy His justice.

We will be obligated to pay our sin debt with the works of the
flesh, while the Scriptures declare that "By the works of the flesh shall no man be justified in His sight." What hope is there in this? None whatsoever.

- Pastor Milton Howard

~~~ O ~~~

Contrary to the opinions of many, God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” The holy, just, and true Lord God did not pretend to make his Son sin for us. He did not pretend to punish his Son in justice to the full satisfaction of justice. He did not pretend to put away the sins of his people. And he does not pretend to make every chosen, redeemed sinner the very righteousness of God in Christ. God’s works are real. God’s grace is real. And God’s salvation is real. There’s nothing pretend about it!

- Pastor Don Fortner

~~~ O ~~~

At the Appearing of Jesus Christ

The “trial of our faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire” is “found unto praise and honor and glory” when Christ appears in the midst of the fire with us like he did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (1 Pet 1: 7; Dan 3: 24-25)