t                   oPastor John and wife Kathy  
 

 
 

Preaching God's Sovereign, Electing Grace   

RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH


WELCOME TO RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH  

Sunday Morning, March 4, 2018

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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

 

  “Praise Him!  Praise Him!”                                              Page 106

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SCRIPTURE READING

 

    Psalm 74

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OFFERTORY

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WORSHIP HYMN

 

  “Hallelujah, What a Savior!”                                           Page 175

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SPECIAL MUSIC

 

    To be announced.

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Message Title

 

  “His Name Shall Be Called The Everlasting Father”

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CLOSING HYMN

 

  “It Took a Miracle”                                                          Page 524

 

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The doctrine of grace

 

  “God ‘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).  It may seem strange to some, but Paul’s method of establishing Timothy in confidence and boldness was not to assure him of the rewards of the faithful, or the morality of suffering for a noble cause.  Instead, in order to excite Timothy to boldness and to keep him constant in the faith, Paul instructs him in the great doctrine that the grace of God reigns in the salvation of sinners.  Many suggest that the doctrines of grace will kill a church, destroying evangelistic zeal and the motive for personal holiness.  Paul was not of this opinion.  When he was concerned for the future life and ministry of his beloved friend, Timothy, he felt that the surest way to secure his faithfulness was to instruct him in the doctrine of God’s free and sovereign grace.

    We should never doubt the power and usefulness of truth. Usually men look upon doctrinal truth as nothing more than unpractical theory. We sometimes think that legal precepts are more effective than gospel truth to produce obedience in the saints. I am persuaded that the very root and vital energy of practical holiness is the truth of the gospel.  To teach people the truth that God has revealed in his Son is the surest way of leading them to obedience and perseverance in love, faith and holiness.

    In this verse we are plainly taught that salvation is of the Lord. Human merit has nothing to do with it!  God chose us in Christ, redeemed us in Christ, regenerated us and called us in Christ.  And the grace that we now enjoy was given to us according to his own gloriously sovereign purpose in Christ before the world began. There is no doctrine more practical than this.  It strips away human pride. It gives a sure ground of confidence and assurance to our faith.  It most highly exalts and honors the name, person and work of Christ.  This doctrine alone gives hope to sinners and encourages evangelism.”

 Pastor Don Fortner

 

  “Blessed Lord Jesus!  Was there ever condescension like thine, to marry our nature?  To pass by the nature of angels, and to take on thee the seed of Abraham!  And didst thou, Lord, so fix thy love upon thy church, that though thou knowest from the beginning that our whole nature would deal very treacherously, yet this did not prevent thy gracious design, but thou didst determine to pay our dreadful debt, to rescue us out of the hand of every enemy, to disannul our agreement with sin, and to call back thy spouse, the Church, who, as a treacherous wife, had departed from her first husband?  Did Jesus indeed, in the prosecution of this great design, send forth his servants in all ages of the Church; Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles, to call home his own, and to bring all his redeemed to the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven?  Oh! peerless, unequalled love!  Oh! matchless sovereign mercy!  Lord Jesus! grant that when thou comest in at the last day to see thy guests at thy table, my poor soul may not be found like the man without a wedding garment, and from being Christless now, I should be speechless then.  But oh! thou dear Lamb! may my soul be found of thee in that all-decisive hour, so adorned in thy spotless righteousness, that both now, and then, my soul may sing the holy triumphs of the Church, and find the blessedness of it.  “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD: my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath cloathed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels” (Isaiah 61:10). 

    Dearest Lord Jesus! while Pharisees, and Herodians, and Sadducees, all confederate against thee; Oh! do thou cause my poor soul to be attached to thee more and more.  Give me to enter into a proper apprehension of all the mysteries of faith, and the doctrine of the resurrection; that, convinced of an interest in the covenant of redemption made with Abraham, and the heirs with him of the promise, I may make the study of Christ, and the knowledge of Christ, the great essentials of everlasting life - and esteem Christ, and him crucified, the one thing needful, beyond all the knowledge of the earth.  Oh! the blessedness of this living to Christ, and rejoicing in Christ, and making him, what God hath made him, the Alpha Omega, the beginning and the end of salvation; convinced that there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

--Robert Hawker

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Our monthly Fellowship Dinner is scheduled for this afternoon following this morning’s worship service. A warm invitation is extended to all our visitors.
  • God willing, we will come to The Lord’s Table during our afternoon worship service following our fellowship dinner.
  • Our worship service for this evening has been cancelled.

******  Cleaning duty this week:  John and Kathy Reeves ******

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SUGGESTED BIBLE READINGS FOR THIS WEEK

Monday                           Wednesday                     Friday

Psalm 10                          Matthew 19                    `1 Peter 4

Psalm 11                          Matthew 20                     1 Peter5

Psalm 12                          Matthew 21                     2 Peter 1

Psalm 13                          Matthew 22                     2 Peter 2

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Self-righteous  free will works religionists are constantly saying, “Look what I’ve done for the Lord”.   Sinners saved by God’s sovereign grace through the perfect redeeming work of Jesus Christ consider it a great honor to tell others what the Lord has done for them.  Mr. Charles Spurgeon said: “Faith is not self in action but self forsaken, self abhorred, self put away that the soul may trust in Christ, and trust in Christ alone”.   

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“I WILL LOVE THEM FREELY” (Hosea 14:4)

 

  “This is the only way in which God can love such as we are, who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after it.

    Freely means that which is given without money and without price opposed to all ideas of bargaining.  God accepts no works; God will receive no love as a recompense for His love; God will love them, unworthy and sinful though they be.  Love for His chosen people existed before there was any man.  He loved them before any one of them had been created, before the world had been made.  He set His heart upon His beloved and ordained them unto eternal life.”

 Pastor Terry Worthan

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“And their sins and iniquities will I remember NO more.”

--Hebrews 10:17--

 

  “What could you ask more?  Where else would you camp your heart and soul?  In every situation and in every trial, breathe these words, sing these lines and whisper this phrase: ‘And their sins and iniquities will I remember NO more.’  Surely this is the chorus of heaven to all the redeemed.  This is the Psalm of every child of grace.  Learn its meaning, enjoy its comfort and marvel in its adorable simplicity and singularity.”

Pastor Drew Dietz

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     “The ‘Sovereignty of God.’  What do we mean by this expression?  We mean the SUPREMACY of God, the KINGSHIP of God, the GODHOOD of God.  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that GOD IS GOD!  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, ‘doing according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest Thou?’ (Dan. 4:35).  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the possessor of all power in heaven and earth so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, nor resist His will (Psalm 115:3).  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is ‘the governor among the nations’ (Psalm 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleases Him best.  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the ‘only potentate, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords’ (1 Tim. 6:15).  Such is the God of the Bible.”

--A. W. Pink

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“Abraham was fully persuaded that, what God had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21).

  “It is true that the word of God gives assurance and confidence to faith, but FAITH IS IN OUR GOD!  It is the character of our God that makes His word infallible and unchangeable.  It is because WE BELIEVE GOD and know His Sovereignty that we can rest on His promises in Christ.  ‘Hath He spoken and shall He not bring it to pass?’ (Isaiah 46:11).”

Pastor Henry Mahan

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ACCURSED FROM CHRIST (Romans 9:3) 

  “Oh, the sorrow that Paul was feeling at this time for his loved ones! Which of you who have been brought to an understanding of what salvation is, according to the Scriptures, have not had this same sorrow for our loved ones? What one of you would not step into death, if it were possible, to save our mate, or a sibling, or any one of those we might love? Yet, knowing what salvation is, is to know that ‘One’, that One who could be a substitute for another! The only one who ever qualified for that position is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, only He (as the God-man) could walk in perfect righteousness, so as to establish a righteousness for His elect! Only He, who knew no sin, could be made to be sin that we would be made righteous in Him. Only He could be the perfect sacrifice, so as to pay the redeeming price for His chosen people! Only He was made a curse, so we would be made nigh unto Him!  And only He is sitting at the right hand of God, making intersession for all of us whom the Father hath given to Him! If our loved ones are to be saved, they must come to Christ. And if they do, it’s because Christ has come to them! So we go about our days, as Paul did, telling those we love and care about who our Savior is, and what He has done for us!”

 John Reeves

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  “Every religion except one puts you upon doing something in order to recommend yourself to God.  ...  It is the business of all false religion to patch up a righteousness in which the sinner is to stand before God.  But it is the business of the glorious gospel to bring near to us, by the hand of the Holy Spirit, a righteousness ready wrought, a robe of perfection ready made, wherein God’s people, to all the purposes of justification and happiness, stand perfect and without fault before the throne.”    

                       --Agustus Toplady

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  “In so far as the believer’s acceptance with God is concerned, he has no more confidence in the best work he ever performed, than in the greatest sin he ever committed. — Christ is our Righteousness, our only Righteousness, all our Righteousness!”

Pastor Don Fortner