SUNDAY MAY 2, 2021
JOHN 10:27-30
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
WELCOME TO RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH
“Sinners are welcome at this church. We are a local body of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you spend time with us, you’ll soon discover we’re an imperfect church, with an imperfect pastor, yet by God’s undeserved grace, we preach, believe, and know the perfect gospel of our never-failing Lord Jesus Christ. We call His name Jesus for He shall, (not might, not maybe) but shall save His people from their sins, and every sinner that trusts in Christ is complete in Him, saved to the uttermost” HEBREWS 7:25 (copied)
SCHEDULED MEETINGS
Sunday Morning Bible Study 10:00 AM
Simon Peter an Apostle of Christ (pt97)
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 AM
Friday Night Bible Study 7:30 PM
OPENING HYMN PAGE 190
ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD
SCRIPTURE READING
PSALMS 78
WORSHIP HYMN PAGE 508
I WILL SING OF MY REDEEMER
DEVOTIONAL
MESSAGE
INIQUITIES FORGIVEN
CLOSING HYMN PAGE 358
I AM THINE O LORD
The Substitute – One Who Stood In My Place
Everywhere in the scriptures the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth as the work of a substitute. You all know that a substitute is one who stands in the place of another. This is the great foundation doctrine of the Bible. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, stood in the place of sinners, so that all who trust in him might eternally stand accepted before God. Since I do fully trust my soul upon the merits of Christ, and him alone, resting upon him for everything before God, I have good reason to believe that he is my Substitute.
He stood as my Substitute in eternity past as my Surety in the everlasting covenant of grace. “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament” (Hebrews 7:22). Before I had ever sinned, he stood as my Ransom. Before I ever broke God’s law, he stood as my Righteousness. God the Father gave my soul, along with all the hosts of his elect, into the hands of Christ as the Surety of the covenant before the world began. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9).
Christ stood in my place as my Federal Head and Representative as he lived in this world. The sinless life of Christ was as necessary for my redemption as his death. In his life, Christ fulfilled the holy law of God, establishing perfect righteousness for me, without which I could never be accepted before God. By his life, he brought in an everlasting righteousness for his people. His name is “The LORD our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).
The Son of God stood in my place at Calvary. He died under the penalty of God’s law, bearing my sin, my shame, my guilt, and the wrath due to me. He died in my place, so that I would never be required to die. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus Christ the Righteous stands in my place today as my Advocate in heaven. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). His five precious wounds, the merits of his righteousness, and the merits of his blood effectually secure my present and eternal welfare. God will not charge me with sin, and the law cannot require punishment upon me, because Christ, the risen Lord, my Substitute, stands today as my Advocate with the Father.
And the Lord Jesus Christ himself shall stand in my place as my Substitute before God in the day of judgment. When God examines me, he will behold no spot or blemish in me, because his own Son performed in my place perfect righteousness and obedience, and thoroughly washed away my sins. Trusting Christ as my Substitute, I fully expect to hear him say to me, “Well done!”
Don Fortner (Grace Bulletin 4/10/86)
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” - Phil 3:13,14
Brethren, as we leave one year behind us and enter in to another year ahead of us, let us (now more than we ever have before) press the necessity and importance of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s press the necessity and importance of hearing, believing, and gathering together in worship. Let’s press it to ourselves, our children, our parents, our siblings, our friends and our acquaintances. It is truly the one thing that is needful.
With another year gone, it only means that time is running out. Let’s redeem it! While there is still breath in us, our responsibility in this life on earth is to glorify and praise our
Redeemer and King; and to tell all who will listen how great
things He has done for us! Our God said that it has pleased Him to use the means of preaching His accomplishment on the cross to call His chosen people from darkness to light. So, while it is still today, let’s witness His glorious victory with all of our ability.
When we feel tired, let’s encourage each other. When we feel weak, let’s strengthen each other. When we feel lost, let’s point each other back to Christ. Let’s not put any stock in last year’s faith or faithfulness. Today is the day of salvation for ALL of us. May God, for Christ’s sake, give us more fervency than we had last year. May God give us more heart for Christ and the things concerning Him than we had last year. May God give us a deeper need; a more urgent cry; and may He cause us to see His
Word to not only be true, but LIFE!
Lord, show us the Mark! Reveal the Prize! Cause us to reach forth! Press us and we’ll be pressed!
Pastor Gabe Stalnaker
“If Christ were mere man I would not have the confidence to encourage you to trust Him. No matter how holy He might be, there would be no power in His blood to save. But Christ was "very God of very God." Can you imagine the value of the blood of God's own dear Son? He is "God over all, blessed for ever." Because of who He is, He is ‘able to save to the uttermost, them that come unto God by him’.”
Pastor Milton Howard
ANNOUNCEMENTS
*Join us for our FELLOWSHIP DINNER following this morning message
* Lord will we will come to the Lord’s Table after a short message
* Friday night bible study will resume this Friday 5-7-2021
Psalm 22: 28: For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations.
Think on this, brethren. Our Substitute who put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself, our Advocate who ever lives to make intercession for us, our Judge who declares we are completely innocent of all guilt before his holy judgment seat, is also our Governor constantly governing with equity all our interest in this present evil world. For each of his own, our Governor will execute judgment and do only what is best for us. He will not deny his governing hand to those he has washed in his blood. And that is not all. “The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.” (Ps 9:9) Who will enter this Stronghold? “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee” (Ps 9: 10).
David Eddmenson
RESERVED
“I have reserved to myself seven thousand men” (Rom. 11:4).
“What is most amazing about this verse is not how many! Although seven thousand men is no number to shake a stick at, that is not the important message our Lord is pleased to reveal here. ‘I have reserved’ is the message to take away from this! God’s sovereignty is declared above all things, he is the one who reserved those men, by keeping them from bowing their knees, or even praising the idol of Ba-al as it states in 1 Kings 19:18. If you changed that number to two, would it make a difference? NO! It has become a praise of men, to declare the number of souls they have won for the lord. They say their numbers are the result of their preaching or witnessing, their so-called truth! They declare they must be teaching the truth, look at the numbers. But what saith the scriptures? Verse 5 “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace”. The word remnant means “a portion of” or “what’s left over of”, or another words, the seven thousand men were but a small portion, compared to all that had bent their knee to Ba-al. By GOD’S GRACE, there is a remnant he has reserved unto himself. Verse 6 “And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace”. Numbers are not the issue! GOD’S GRACE IS!”
John Reeves
THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON
Galatians 4: 6: And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Romans 8: 15: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8: 26: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27: And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This is too wonderful for me! But it is so because God says it! In Galatians 4:6 it is the Spirit of his Son himself within our hearts, crying Abba, Father. In Romans 8: 15 the Spirit of adoption make us cry. Then in Romans 8:26 when we cannot pray, the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which we cannot utter and God, who knows our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit within us because the Spirit makes intercession according to the will of God.
Is this not the only reason why the apostle Peter’s faith failed not? Is it not the only reason our faith fails not? Even when Peter appeared outwardly to have denied the Lord, Christ prayed for him, not only at God’s right hand but also within his heart. This is an illustration of what Paul meant when he said, “the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the FAITH OF THE SON GOD…” The Spirit of God’s Son within us is the Faith of our faith, even when unbelief makes it appear we believe not. With the Spirit of Christ in us we are so one with Christ that by the Spirit of the Son crying, Abba, Father we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit within makes intercession for us even when we know not what we should pray for as we ought and cannot utter a word. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2 that we have the mind of Christ. Here he says God who knows our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit within us because the Spirit makes intercession for us according to God’s will. This is more than this sinner can understand. But I am so thankful it is so! Christ is the Faith of our faith and the Intercessor of our prayers.
Clay Curtis
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy”. Romans 9:16
REPENTANCE
“For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!” (2 Cor. 7:11).
Now Paul gives us seven evidences of true, sincere and genuine-godly repentance that is the gift of God.
1). What carefulness (eagerness, diligence and haste) it wrought in you; to correct our behavior before God and to avoid future offences, diligence and carefulness; as opposed to our past negligence in the gospel and in spiritual matters. (1Thes. 1:4-9).
2). What clearing of yourself; not by denying our sin, (what we are before God) and our guilt (because of our transgressions against God), but rather by confessing and owning them and seeking forgiveness for them only thru Christ; (1John 1:7-9; Heb. 9:12-14).
3). What indignation, (righteous anger), not against God's holy law, nor against God's servant for declaring the truth, but rather against our
own selves, because of our own sin and foolishness. For true repentance is taking God's side against ourselves because of our own folly and sin. (Job 42:5-6; Isa. 6:5; Rom. 7:24-25).
4). What fear; (alarm) not of eternal condemnation; (Rom. 8:1); no condemnation to them that are in Christ, but rather of the Father's disapproval and chastisement, and the fear of bringing reproach on the gospel of Christ. Prov. 16:6; "By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil." What fear and reverence the Lord does give us when He grants unto us repentance; (Psalm 111:9).
5). What a vehement desire; (longing for) to honor God and to live for His glory in the present evil world. When God gives repentance He changes our desires, of self-glory, self-centeredness, self-righteousness to seeking His glory; (Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:7-14).
6). What zeal; to promote God's gospel; (1 Peter 2:9). To stand for the true gospel of grace in Christ, having nothing to do with those who promote salvation by deeds of the law; (Gal. 1:7-10; 2:16).
7). What revenge; not against any person in a private way, for vengeance belongs unto God, but rather against anything contrary to the gospel of Christ; (Psalm 119:104). These sweet and gracious effects wrought in us spring from the first great cause, God's sovereign grace in Christ. They come from God and always lead to Him. "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance" (Rom. 2:4).
Pastor Tom Harding