WELCOME TO RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH
August 19, 2012
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SCHEDULED MEETINGS
Sunday Morning Bible Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:00 AM
Sunday Morning Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:00 AM
Sunday Evening Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:30 PM
Friday Night Bible Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 PM
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OPENING HYMN - DOXOLOGY
“We Have Come Into His House” Page 588
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SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 119:17 - 32
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OFFERTORY
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WORSHIP HYMN
“Who Is On The Lord’s Side” Page 484
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SPECIAL MUSIC
Fill My Cup, Lord Sung by Mike Loveless
Judy Harmon, pianist
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Message Title
“The Return Of God’s Remnant”
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CLOSING HYMN
“Amazing Grace” Page 202
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Free-Will Or Free-Grace?
--Romans 9:16--
“The great contest between the religion of the world and the religion of Jesus Christ is just this - Who is entitled to the praise and glory of the sinner's salvation? Your answer to that question will be determined by your answer to this one - Is salvation by free-will, or by free-grace? To answer these questions, I make no appeal to the preachers and theologians of the past, though I thank God for what he has taught me through the writings of those faithful men who served him in past generations. And I make no appeal to the preachers and theologians of the present, though I truly thank God for his faithful witnesses who minister to my soul. To find the answer to these questions, I turn to the Book of God, the Bible, our solitary rule of faith and practice. ‘If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’
Who is entitled to have the praise and glory of salvation? What does the Bible say? ‘Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake.’ ‘He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.’ ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.’
Is salvation by the free-will of man, or by the free-grace of God? What does the Bible say? ‘It is not of him that willeth,nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.’ Salvation is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.’
What does that vile, ugly, reprehensible term, ‘free-will’ represent? Free-willism is the religion of man. It represents anything decided, determined, or done by man to attain salvation. Free-willism is the religion of satan. Lucifer was the first free-willer (Isa.14:13- 14). Free-willism was the religion of those men who crucified the Lord of glory (Mk. 15:9-15). Free-willism is the religion of Babylon and the religion of antichrist.
What is represented by that glorious, God-honoring, Christ exalting term, ‘free-grace’? Free-grace represents everything decided, determined and done by almighty God to bestow salvation upon his elect. Free-grace is the sovereign, voluntary, eternal, immutable, unconditional, uncaused, uncontrolled, gratuitous bounty of God's goodness, by which salvation, in all its branches, is accomplished. It is this grace that reigns unto the eternal life of chosen sinners through Christ (Rom. 5:21).”
Pastor Don Fortner
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GOD’S CHOSEN REMNANT
--Romans 11:5--
The word remnant is used many times in the Holy Scriptures, many of which has reference to God’s elect. Our Lord Jesus was referring to His elect, a remnant, when He told Elijah that He had reserved unto Himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal (1 Kings 19:18). The Apostle Paul used those words that God spoke to Elijah to draw our attention to this blessed God-honoring truth: “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). Election is a Biblical doctrine. God has a remnant He has reserved unto Himself, a particular people who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:3 - 4). It doesn’t matter what the works religionists, the advocates of free-will doctrine, say about the election of God’s grace. Let them deny it if they will, let them twist the Scriptures to their own destruction by their false teachings concerning election, the truth cannot be altered. In every generation there has always been a remnant according to the election of grace. And if election is according to God’s grace, IT CANNOT BE ACCORDING TO MAN’S DOINGS! Grace ceases to be grace if the least little bit of the polluted, sinful works of man enters into the picture.
But as precious as the Biblical doctrine of God’s electing grace is, it would be of no value to the remnant if Jesus Christ had not paid the ransom price for us, for His elect. If our Savior had not become a man, and had not redeemed us with His own precious blood, God’s remnant could not have been saved. God’s holy law had to be kept perfectly, and His holy justice had to be satisfied. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, did just that by His perfect obedience to His Father’s will, and by the sacrifice of Himself on that cruel cross on Mt. Calvary. He did that for His remnant; His elect, for us, for you, for me, if our faith is ONLY IN CHRIST!
But something else is necessary before any hell-deserving sinner can benefit by God‘s electing, redeeming grace. As Pastor Don Fortner stated: “We must be saved by the blessed work of God the Holy Spirit in the experience of grace” (Titus 3:5-7). If God the Holy Spirit does not come to us, and by His life-giving Power make us partakers of His Divine Nature, the truths of the Gospel will just be empty words to our darkened minds. We MUST experience the miracle of the new birth or we’ll never be allowed to enter into God’s kingdom. Christ in us is the hope of glory.
THEREFORE, the salvation of God’s remnant, His elect, is the work of our great Triune God. Every aspect of our salvation is essential. Nothing can be omitted. Election by God the Father; Redemption by God the Son; and regeneration by God the Holy Spirit is the Gospel.
Pastor
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
ð We will come to The Lord’s Table during our worship service this evening, God willing.
ð Cleaning duty this week: Gene & Judy Harmon.
Our sincere condolences to Norm and Nancy Wells, and members of their family, over the recent death of Nancy’s father.
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SUGGESTED BIBLE READINGS FOR THIS WEEK
Monday Wednesday Friday
Psalm 40 Psalm 41 Psalm 42
Exodus 5 Exodus 6 Exodus 7
Revelation 16 Revelation 17 Revelation 18
2 Corinthians 11 2 Corinthians 12 2 Corinthians 13
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“Be ye kind one to another” (Ephesians 4:32).
Under the preaching of His glorious gospel, God sends the Spirit of His Son into the hearts of His chosen, blood-bought children, making us Partakers of His Divine Nature. Because of that new nature, we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we love His Gospel, and we love His people. But we have an on-going problem with that old sinful nature that will be with us until we’re delivered from the body of this death. Our faults offend others. Their faults offend us. But the love our Lord has put in our hearts causes us to overlook the faults of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us. Love just works that way. Love is a barrier Satan cannot penetrate. That old serpent would love to get us to turn against one another. It’s his desire to cause division amongst the brethren. But when he sees true love in action, love that does not render evil for evil, love that keeps us from bad mouthing one another with sinful gossip, he turns tail and runs. God gives grace to the humble. If we resist the devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7). God help us to humble ourselves before Him, and cry out for grace to help in our time of need.
Pastor
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Spiritual Blindness
“It is not merely that the sinner cannot come to Christ, but he will not come to Christ that he may have life; it is not merely that he cannot see the truth, but that he loves darkness rather than light, and does not want to see. Sinners are not willing to see. The natural will itself is in bondage. It takes the divine will of God to overcome the wicked will of man by creating life where there was no life. This blindness is more than blindness of the natural eye. It is blindness of heart, blindness of will, blindness of conscience, blindness of understanding, blindness of all things spiritual. You who are yet blind may raise your objections to my gospel but you are as unqualified to express an opinion about something you have never seen as a blind man is to argue with you about the color of an object.”
Pastor Clay Curtis
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“To be saved is to be loved and chosen by God, justified in Christ, born again by the Holy Spirit, pardoned of all wrong doing, received into the family of God, accepted in the beloved. If I am saved, I am an heir of God, joint heir with Christ. If I have salvation, I have all wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption in Christ.”
Pastor Milton Howard
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“It is one thing to mourn for sin because it exposes us to hell, and another to mourn for it because it is an infinite evil; one thing to mourn for it because it is injurious to ourselves, and another to mourn for it because it is wrong and offensive to God. It is one thing to be terrified; another to be humbled.”
--G. Spring
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“God’s elect worship and serve Him with willing hearts. We willingly believe, willingly worship, willingly give, and willingly do what we can for the glory of God. It is God Who, by effectual grace, makes us willing; but we are willing servants of the Most High God! Any worship, service, or gifts offered to God that is not done with a willing heart is an abomination to Him.”
--Brother Scott Richardson
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“As long as we are in this flesh, we will have misunderstandings among us, unpleasantnesses, and even injustices (we will feel that our rights have been violated and others have been wrong in what they have said and done). What is to be our attitude? It is to be twofold: “FORBEARING” one another and “FORGIVING” one another. To FORBEAR is to control our emotions, surrendering our rights for the time being in patient hope that God will reveal His purpose and will. To FORGIVE is actually to put the misunderstanding out of mind and restore a state of love and fellowship. Our Lord FORBEARS, that is, He is longsuffering and patient with us; and He FORGIVES, remembering our sins no more.”
Pastor Henry Mahan
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THE TWO I’S IN EVERY BELIEVER
“The child of God feels evident principles of a different nature and tendency within him. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would (Gal. 5:17). So that there are two ‘I’s’ in every renewed man’s nature. There is the I which serves the law of God (Rom. 7:22). And there is the I which serves the law of sin (Rom. 7:23). And painful and humbling as this review is, yet is it a blessed discovery, which can never be made but by the Spirit’s teaching. The carnal, unawakened, unregenerated man knows it not; yea, indeed, it is impossible he should, for he feels it not, neither doth it exist in him. His spiritual part is unawakened, but remains as he was born, dead in trespasses and sins. So that there is no conflict in his heart. A dead soul can make no opposition to a living body, wholly employed under one form or other, in making provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. It is only when by the quickening and regenerating influences of the Holy Ghost, the soul, which by nature is dead in trespasses and sins, is brought forth unto life that the warfare begins, and which never ends until the body drops into the grave.”
--Robert Hawker (1753 - 1827)
