t                   oPastor John and wife Kathy  
 

 
 

Preaching God's Sovereign, Electing Grace   

RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH

June 2, 2019

“ And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me..”

2 Corinthians 12:9

Message

“Strength Made Perfect”

WHO DOES THE SEEKING AND SAVING?

Luke 19:10

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

     I remember working with a man who came into work on a Monday morning gleaming and smiling from ear to ear. I asked him, “Why are you so happy?” He proudly said, “I found Jesus yesterday.”

 This is the subtlety of Satan in works religion. Lost sinners think they did the seeking, the finding and the saving. But how can they seek, find and save anyone, especially themselves, when they are dead?

This seemingly innocent and sincere statement is taught in religion to promote the will, work and way of a fallen sinner. If a sinner “found Jesus,” then they have ultimately saved themselves.

Christ was helpless to save until they found Him! If you “found Jesus” then you were not only able to contribute to your salvation, you were the cause of your salvation.

To indicate that you “found Jesus” insinuates that He was lost and helpless until you found Him. To imply that you “found Jesus” suggests that the sinner has some ability and power above God Himself.

 But that is not what the Bible teaches. Christ Jesus came to SEEK and to SAVE that which was lost and every one of them (His elect) will be sought, found and saved. (John 6:37) I am so glad and relieved that Christ my Lord does the seeking, the finding and the saving. For if He hadn’t, I would still be lost!     

                     Pastor David Edmenson

“YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM”

(Colossians 2:10).

   “The believers standing in Christ does not fluctuate with his feelings, not even the increase or decrease of his faith or understanding or anything else.  He stands complete in Christ. God would never trust any of His children to stand before him at any time in their own selves - that is, in their merits or certain good frames of mind.  He knows our frame.  He remembers that we are yet dust.  Therefore, He has on purpose provided for them this perfect standing in Christ Jesus.  ‘Ye are complete in Him’, the Holy Ghost said.  He says in another place, ‘Ye are perfect in Christ Jesus’, (Col. 1:28.)  The very nature of our God requires us to be perfect and complete before Him at all times.  He, out of necessity, therefore provided all this for His children: a perfection, a completeness, which can never be diminished.  It is as unchanging as God himself, (Heb. 6:17; 13:8).  Every true believer may walk through this world in perfect liberty, free from anything and everything - yes, even his sin, fear of condemnation, and all else that would cause him to doubt of his completeness. He may freely come to God, worship Him, call Him ‘Father’, and this he may do at all times with the utmost confidence and thankfulness, because in Christ he stands, first and foremost and always, complete before God.  O thanks be to God for Jesus Christ.”                                                      

              Pastor Bruce Crabtree

Let your love be sincere

 (Romans 12:9 - 19)

   “Believers will love all people.  There is no room in a regenerate heart for hate, grudges, and bigotry.  There is a special love for those who are called brethren (Gal. 6:10).  In making others happy, we find happiness; in giving, we receive; in promoting another’s welfare and honor we are honored!  A man’s character is not always revealed in what others say about him, but in what he privately says about others.”

Pastor Henry Mahan

ANNOUNCEMENTS

·       Join us for our FELLOWSHIP DINNER concluding this morning service.

·       We will come to THE LORD’S TABLE during our afternoon worship service, Lord willing

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Whatever length of time a person may spend in this world, be it twenty, forty, or eighty years, if he is to be approved of God and escape His just judgment, every minute of that time must be spent without sin, and in perfect righteousness - perfect heart obedience unto God.  Now I am sure that every honest person will conclude that this leaves us (the whole human race), in and of ourselves, without any hope of God’s acceptance and headed for everlasting destruction from God’s presence.  We were born into this world, sinners by nature and practice.  And we have never done a single thing or had a single thought that was not filled with sin.  Our very lives are a sinful existence, naturally odious to our God. 

     That, my friends, is the truth which God reveals to all of His children, and a truth and reality which they live with.  That is why they long for and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ.  He, as the God-appointed, God-approved, effectual and successful substitute for His people, performed FOR them, all that God requires OF them, and He is TO them all their hearts desire.  He lived to make them righteous, died to make them free, and lives again as their hope of eternal glory.  By the free and sovereign, gracious revelation of God, they SEE Him, they KNOW him, they LOVE Him, they BELIEVE Him, they TRUST Him; and very soon they shall be WITH Him and LIKE Him.

             Maurice Montgomery

In election the Lord set us apart to be His children.                                                                                                                  In adoption He gave us the relationship of children.                                                                                                                 In regeneration He gave us the privilege of being His children.                                                                                                In justification He gave us the perfect standing of children.                                                                                                         In glorification He will give us the inheritance of children.

                                                                                 --Copied

“I remember thee.”

--Jeremiah 2:2--

     “Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity ‘his delights were with the sons of men’; his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world; he viewed them in the mirror of his foreknowledge. ‘In thy book’, he says, ‘all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them’ (Psalm 139:16). When the world was set upon its pillars, he was there, and he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Many a time before his incarnation, he descended to this lower earth in the similitude of a man; on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18), by the brook of Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho (Jos. 5:13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. 3:19, 25), the Son of Man visited his people. Because his soul delighted in them, he could not rest away from them, for his heart longed after them. Never were they absent from his heart, for he had written their names upon his hands, and graven them upon his side. As the breastplate containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names of Christ's elect were his most precious jewels and glittered on his heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the perfections of our Lord, but he never ceases to remember us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness and pray for grace ever to bear him in fondest remembrance. Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of thy Son.”

                                                    --C. H. Spurgeon

CHOOSE YE THIS DAY

Joshua 24:15

And if it seem evil unto you serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

If Adam in his perfect perfection did not choose God over Eve, but ate the forbidden fruit and plunged all of mankind into rebellion against God then how can an imperfect man choose God.

Isaiah 64:7,9

And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

And the very LORD JESUS CHRIST said in….

John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

You see, salvation is a gift, given by the will of God not commanded by the whims of man.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not or yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Man will always choose that which sounds, looks or feels right in their own eyes and disregard that what God declares pleases himself.

Salvation is not your decision to choose God, but God’s good pleasure to choose you.

And if chosen you will serve Him and not He you.

                                                          -- Elder Bill Silva

June 9, 2019

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 

Luke 12:51

Message

“Christ Divider of Men”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Church cleanup is scheduled for Saturday June 22

Our sincere condolences to the family of Henry Mahan, who went on to be with our Lord May 31, 2019.

Pastor Mahan instituted the Sovereign Grace Conferences at Rescue 34 years ago. We thank our God for His work in this man.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“IN CHRIST”

   “God's love for us in Christ; God's choice of us in Christ; God's righteousness fulfilled for us in Christ; God's acceptance of us in Christ is all our salvation – not our works, feelings, nor our righteousness. ‘My God, when I approach Thy throne and all Thy glory see, this is my stay and this alone, that Jesus died for me’.”

                                     Pastor Henry Mahan

GOD IS GOD INDEED!

   “I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes, that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens, that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as surely as the stars in their courses, that the creeping of an insect over a rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence , and the fall of leaves from the poplar are as fully ordained as the tumbling avalanche. He who believes in God must believe this truth. There is no standing point between this and atheism. There is no halfway between an Almighty God who works all things according to the good pleasure of His will, and no God at all.”

--C. H. Spurgeon

June 16, 2019

For 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. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11 – 13 

Message

“Honoring The Son”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

Saturday June 22nd is our Church workday starting at 9 AM 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The pastor ought to have two voices:

one for gathering sheep;

and another for driving away wolves.

– John Calvin (1509-64), Switzerland

TWO NATURES IN ONE PERSON

The eternally begotten Son of God necessarily from eternity possesses the divine nature – that of His Father. When the Son of God in His incarnation became Son of Man, He received the human nature (but not its Adamic sin). He did not cease to be the Son of God. Nor did He become devoid of the divine nature. Nor was the divine nature changed into the human nature. Rather, He remained one person but now had two natures: the divine nature as the Son of God, and the human nature as the Son of Man.

            Likewise, naturally begotten sons of men necessarily from birth possess the human nature – that of their fathers. When sons of men in their regeneration become sons of God, they receive the divine nature (but not its essential deity). They do not cease to be sons of men. Nor do they become devoid of the human nature. Nor is the human nature changed into the divine nature. Rather, they remain one person but now have two natures: the human nature as sons of men, and the divine nature as sons of God.

            This is the state of all who have become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). They now have within their one person two natures: both “the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” and “the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22, 24). These two natures in man are in constant conflict with each other (Romans 7:15-25) – for the old nature can do nothing but sin, and the new nature can do nothing but righteousness. But the child of God delights in knowing that in the sight of God “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed [the divine nature] remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9).                                              

                                                             Daniel Parks (2011)

June 23, 2019

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

                                                              Isaiah 58:11 

Message

“Great Things”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

·       Special meetings this Friday night

·       Next Sunday Lord willing we will come to the Lords Table after brief intermission

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“To those who truly believe, those who have this precious faith, ‘HE IS PRECIOUS’ (1 Peter 2:7).  This is one way I know that God has given me this faith.  The faith which I have will not permit me to look to, trust in, rest upon, live upon, or have any hope in anyone but Christ, and Christ alone!  Unto me HE IS PRECIOUS!”

                                             Pastor Maurice Montgomery

Our Assemblies

“By God’s all-wise appointment, our assemblies are the life, the food, and the nourishment of our souls.  It is the main way whereby we publicly identify with Christ and His Gospel.  We evidence our love for Christ by our loyalty and support of one another in opposition to all false worship.  Many things will rise up in competition to the diligent attendance of our assemblies.  We must recognize and refuse to give in to anything that is opposed to what Christ commands.  The total falling away of a graceless professor always begins with this neglect, this disassociation with God’s people (Heb. 10:25).

                                                             John Owen 1616-1683)

“My view of the way in which I became a Christian must satisfy the test that it promotes and gives all glory to God.  Salvation comes to us in spite of ourselves; we are nothing.  We are not Christians because of our particular character or because of anything that we have done.  It is all of God.  ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast’ (Eph. 2:8).  There is to be no self- glorying, no man must glory in himself.”

                                                              Martyn Lloyd-Jones

June 30, 2019

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Ephesians 1:18-19

Message

“Dost thou believe?”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

·       We will have a brief intermission this afternoon then Lord willing we will come to the Lord’s Table of Remembrance

·       Our 34th Summer conference begins this Thursday July 4th with a Hot Dog BBQ at 3:30 PM

·       Services begin at 6:30 PM

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Leave Them There

I know my sins, but I rejoice in His grace. I know my weakness, but I rest in His strength. I know my emptiness, but I am complete in Him. “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,” all because we do not cast our sins, our souls, on Christ and LEAVE THEM THERE

                                                                   Pastor Henry Mahan

GRIPPED IN UNBELIEF:

 Many outside of Christ live in this world often lost in a religion of man’s own crafting. They have no real fear of God for they lack true Wisdom concerning HIM. “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”! It starts there!

(Proverbs 9:10) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”

(1Corinthians 1:30) “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption”

The knowledge of God’s holiness is understanding. He must be seen HIGH and LIFTED UP sitting upon His Sovereign Throne. Governing all things! And if He is seen in this fashion, … THEN reverence (fear) follows naturally! Then we see ourselves in His hands, in a world of uncleanness, dependent totally upon His mercy! Read (Isaiah 6:5) We see HIM, … then understanding follows! Without sight! (LIFE IN CHRIST) we are simply too ignorant to KNOW better! .... SPIRITUALLY DEAD AND BLIND TO TRUTH!

                       ~ Exert of FreeWillard by Mike Loveless - Elder