Rescue Baptist Church
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Preaching God's Sovereign, Electing Grace

   

 

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WELCOME TO RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH

 August 5, 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                       

   “My Faith Has Found A Resting Place”                          Page 405

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SCRIPTURE READING 

     Psalm 117 and Psalm 118  

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OFFERTORY

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WORSHIP HYMN 

   “I Am His, And He Is Mine”                                            Page 490 

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SPECIAL MUSIC 

     To be announced.

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Message Title 

     “Jesus Christ, The Prince of Peace”  

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CLOSING HYMN 

   “It Is Well With My Soul”                                               Page 493

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“The Prince Of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) 

   “Everything connected with Christ as the Prince and King of the universe shows him to be the Prince of Peace.  His kingdom lies not in meat and drink but in joy and peace in the Holy Ghost.  The Sceptre of his kingdom is the golden sceptre of mercy and grace.  His Throne is the throne of grace.  His Royal Proclamation is the gospel of peace.  The Fruit of his Spirit is love, joy, and peace.  And the Subjects of his kingdom are both peaceable and peacemakers.  He is called the Prince of Peace because it is his sovereign prerogative to speak peace to his people.  And there is no real peace in the world but that which he bestows.  Christ the Prince of Peace gives ‘peace which passeth all understanding’ to those who trust him.  He who made peace with God for sinners by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:20; II Cor. 5:18-21) freely gives peace to sinners by his almighty grace.

     CHRIST BESTOWS PEACE UPON ALL WHO COME TO GOD BY HIM THROUGH THE GRACIOUS INFLUENCE OF HIS SPIRIT (Rom. 5:1-5).  ‘He is our Peace.’   No one will ever apply to Christ for peace until they are in trouble and distress of soul, made to feel the danger, bitterness, and consequences of sin, and made to see the impossibility of helping themselves.  But when weary, heavy laden sinners seek him, Christ hears their prayers and gives them peace. He steps out upon the bow of their troubled, tempest tossed ship, reveals himself in boundless, almighty grace, and says to their raging souls, ‘Peace be still.’  And immediately there is a great calm.

     CHRIST MAKES PEACE BETWEEN PEOPLE WHO ARE NATURAL ENEMIES (Eph. 2:14-20; Col. 3:11).  In Christ racism, social prejudices, and natural barriers are broken down.  His people dwell together in peace.  Where the Prince of peace reigns there is peace.

     THE PRINCE OF PEACE GIVES PEACE TO ALL THE SUBJECTS OF HIS KINGDOM BY GRACIOUSLY INVITING AND ENABLING US TO CAST ALL OUR CARES UPON HIM (James 5:6-7; Prov. 3:5-6).  He manages and rules all things for our good.  Even his afflictions are tokens of his love, and as such yield to us the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  Christ teaches us how to live in peace by his Word, his Example, and his Spirit.  When his people draw near to death he floods their hearts with peace (Psa. 37:37).  And when he calls his ransomed home the Prince of Peace will bring us into heaven, the kingdom of his eternal peace (Heb. 4:9-11).” 

Pastor Don Fortner

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“There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21). 

     Our Lord plainly states that there is no peace to the wicked.  WHO ARE THE WICKED?  ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 4:23).  “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecc. 7:20).  “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19).  WHO ARE THE WICKED?  You!  Me!  ALL of us are in that camp.  There’s NO PEACE in the heart of any unregenerate person.  How does anyone find peace with God?  Trying to gain favor with God by our own polluted works of self-righteousness is not the answer.  Being encouraged to make a decision for Jesus by one of the prophets of Baal is not the answer.  Holding up your ‘Certificate of Baptism’ is not the answer.  “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost: which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:5 - 6).  Peace with God is found only in Jesus Christ who “is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).  God’s eternal love was set on a particular people that He chose in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:3 - 5).  God’s elect were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Rom. 5:9 - 10).  In our state of spiritual deadness, we were ignorant of the perfect redeeming work of Christ our Savior.  Matter-of-fact, the true Gospel  of God’s amazing grace was foolishness to our carnal minds (1 Cor. 2:14).  But in His own appointed time, our Great Sovereign Merciful God brought us under the preaching of His Gospel.  And, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, He “came and preached PEACE to us (Eph. 2:17).  When we heard that Christ our Savior, by Himself, purged our sins from God’s sight forever (Heb. 1:3; 10:10 - 17), peace which passeth all understanding (Phil. 4:7) flooded our soul, filling our heart with joy unspeakable and full of glory.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts, Jesus Christ The Prince of Peace, who is seated in the heavens on the throne of David, is the One who performs this miracle of The New Birth.  And the enlightened minds that are fixed on Jesus Christ will be kept IN PERFECT PEACE (Isaiah 26:3), giving our Great Triune God all the glory for all eternity

Pastor

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

ð  Our monthly Fellowship Dinner is scheduled for this afternoon following this morning’s worship service.  A warm invitation is extended to all our visitors.

ð  During our worship service this afternoon, following our fellowship dinner, we will come to The Lord’s Table (DV).

ð  Our worship service for this evening has been cancelled.

ð  Our monthly Music & Testimony Night is scheduled for next Sunday evening.

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SUGGESTED BIBLE READINGS FOR THIS WEEK

Monday                           Wednesday               Friday

Psalm 34                          Psalm 35                    Psalm 36

Genesis 49                       Genesis 50                 Exodus 1

Revelation 10                   Revelation 11              Revelation 12

2 Corinthians 5                 2 Corinthians 6           2 Corinthians 7                    

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

WOE IS UNTO ANYONE WHO DISREGARDS

THE GOSPEL

   “I say this in closing, ‘Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:16).  But, woe is unto you if I preach it and you do not believe it.  You may not understand it.  It may not fit in with your tradition, with your denominational pattern.   And I am sure if it is the gospel it won’t, because Christ didn’t fit the denominational pattern when He came down here either. He didn’t fit into their religious theology, their tradition, or their mold; and they crucified Him!  My message may not fit what your mother taught you, but she wasn’t sent of God to preach the gospel – I am.  If I didn’t believe that, I would quit.  Do you see what I am saying?  I am saying, ‘Woe is unto you, and woe is unto everybody under the sound of my voice, if I preach the gospel and you don’t believe it.’

Pastor Henry Mahan

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“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

   “To be without Christ is to be without anything of value. To be without Christ is to be an unpardoned condemned sinner.  The day will come when that person without Christ will be cast into Hell.  To be without Christ is to be sick with a disease that is killing you, with no remedy.  Sin will be your ruin, because you have no Saviour.  You will soon die without Christ.  You will go into eternity with no one to lean on.  None will comfort you.  To die is to live again, either in eternal life or eternal death.  But without Christ there is none that will say to the storm, ‘Peace, be still’.” 

Pastor Milton Howard

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“FIT FOR GLORY” 

   “Are the children of God right now fit for heaven, or is there some process to pass through which will, by and by, render us worthy of paradise, ripe for glory and fit for the presence of God?  Is there some sort of spiritual progress we are to make before we are deemed fit and pronounced qualified to dwell in the presence of the Lord?  The Word of God gives us the answer: ‘Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light’ (Colossians 1:12).  All who are brought to saving faith in the Lord Jesus are made fit, that is, are worthy and qualified right now for entrance into everlasting glory.  Our standing is complete in Christ Jesus and shall never change.  We are ‘accepted in the Beloved’ (Ephesians 1:6).  Paul told the Corinthians believers, ‘ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11).  Our sins which are many are all pardoned.  The Lord has stripped us of our robes of self-righteous rags and clothed us in the garments of Christ’s righteousness.  Such is our fitness for the presence of God that even now we are admonished to ‘come boldly to the throne of grace’, with no fear of rejection (Hebrews 4:15 - 16).  So let this be clearly understood: in no sense whatsoever is there some sort of additional qualifying process required in order to make believers fit for the everlasting kingdom of our God.  Christ is now, and always shall be our fitness!” 

Pastor Jim Byrd

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The Atonement of Christ

 

   “WHICH exalts Christ more?  Which demonstrates more the value and efficacy of Christ’s atonement: that which effectually secures the actual salvation of every one for whom it was made?  Or that which ends in the great majority of those for whom He shed His precious blood being eternally punished in hell?  Surely none with any spiritual discernment can fail to see which view is more glorifying to the Redeemer.  And if we call to mind the nature of His satisfaction, that it was a paying of their debts, a suffering the law’s curse in their stead, in order that they might go free; and when we remember that the Judge of all accepted this atonement, was satisfied with the price Christ paid... then, where would be God’s honor, His justice, His faithfulness, were He, to yet punish millions of those for whom His Son bled and died?  If Christ died for all men universally, then all men universally must be saved.  There is no other possible alternative, except to say that God will punish twice, first in the person of Christ the Surety, and then in the persons of those for whom He was already punished.

     I am sure none of us is lacking in compassion to his fellow-man, yet we must not allow our pity for men to lead us to make God almighty to be like us in any way, nor the death of Christ to be ineffectual.  Others may speak for themselves, but I would not dare trust my salvation to a Saviour who was unable to save those for whom He died.  If it were true that Christ shed His blood for those who are now in hell, what guarantee would I have that I shall not go there?  An atonement, that fails to atone, a sacrifice, which fails to deliver, is worthless.  To say that salvation turns upon the sinner’s own acceptance of Christ would be like offering a sum of money to a blind man upon condition that he would see.

     Many believe in an atonement made for everybody; but then, their atonement is just this; that Judas was atoned for as much as Peter, that the damned in hell were as much an object of Jesus Christ’s satisfaction as the saved in Heaven.  In believing that Christ atoned for everyone they must mean that, in the case of multitudes, Christ died in vain, for they say He died for all, and yet so ineffectual was His dying for them, that many are damned afterwards.  Now, such an atonement I despise – I reject it.  I had rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all for whom it was intended, than an universal one that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of man be joined with it.”

 Pastor Donnie Bell