October
22, 2006
CALL TO
WORSHIP
(Tune: Majestic Sweetness)
O
mystery of love divine that thought and thanks o'erpowers;
Lord
Jesus, was our portion Thine,
And
is Thy portion ours. (R)
Didst
Thou fulfil each righteous deed, God's perfect law express,
That
we the sinful ones might plead
Thy
perfect righteousness. (R)
Our
load of sin and misery didst Thou, the Sinless bear;
Thy
spotless robe of purity
Do
we the sinners wear. (R)
(Psalm 13:5-6)
“But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall
rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing
unto the LORD, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.”
______________________________________________________________
TODAY’S SPEAKER: Brother Randy Wages will conduct the 11:00 am
service today. Pray for him as he delivers God’s word.
Happy Birthday: Greenlie Young –Oct. 23rd, Mike Lee -Oct. 24th.
Jim Casey – Oct. 27th.
Guest Speaker: Make plans to attend services on
Nov. 5th. Our guest speaker
will be David Simpson, Pastor of Providence Grace Church, Claxton, Tn.
The Place of Faith
Faith Is the Means of Our Receiving the Knowledge and Comfort Of Our Justification; therefore, when Christ, by His Spirit and Word of truth, declares and reveals to a soul that all his sins are forgiven and washed away in the blood of Christ, etc., it is a certain truth, and it is "the Holy Spirit Who bears witnesses because the Spirit is truth," 1 John 5:6. Therefore, seeing we are justified by Christ before we believed it, may we not believe that faith in us was either a cause or a means, or any instrument of it, but only a means of our receiving the knowledge of it, and of our enjoying the comfort of it.?
--- Samuel Richardson
THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST’S
WORK
The
Scripture is abundantly clear that the salvation of the LORD’s elect is wrapped
up in JESUS CHRIST alone. If any man
possesses the ability to come into the presence of GOD, he has received such
ablilty by the gift of HIM who has trod the winepress of GOD’s wrath without
any assistance and who has purchased the redemption of HIS own people by HIS
own blood. When anybody’s message is
CHRIST plus something it is too much or if it is less than CHRIST alone then it
is too little. The most common error of
the day is that men are taught that CHRIST has done all HE could do to redeem
the whole world but now it is up to men to allow HIM to save them by believing
that HE did it for them. This is called
“accepting CHRIST”. It is almost a
universal error that crosses denominational lines. Most so called “believers” are taught that
their sins are taken away at the “moment” they believe. Even many who teach the doctrine of
particular redemption are swept up into this same error. They would teach that man’s belief in the
“gospel” is the moving cause of the imputation of his sin to CHRIST and the
righteousness of CHRIST to his account.
The gospel is indeed a powerful message.
But the gospel cannot and does not
confer life to the
unregenerate, nor does the belief of the regenerate cause a change in sin’s
imputation in the courts of heaven.
--- Mike McInnis, Grace Chapel
Seeking & Entering
In Matt. 6:33, Christ commanded, “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…” Then in Matt. 7:7-8, Christ declared, “…seek, and ye shall find … <and> …he that seeketh findeth…” Contrast this with the discourse recorded in Luke 13:23-24 where Christ was asked, “…Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” On one hand, He asserts “He that seeks finds” and yet on the other He indicates that many “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” – seeking after eternal life yet failing to find it. So this can’t be referring to the irreligious or indifferent but rather to religionists for they are seeking a way of salvation. They want to enter in; they desire heaven’s glory, but not God’s way.
So we see that simply desiring salvation and fellowship with God, in and of itself, will not insure an effectual search for the truth. That’s not necessarily searching for Christ – the way (Jn 14:6). We must seek the truth—salvation God’s way, to the exclusion of any other way. Who then, as described in Matt. 7 “seeks and finds.” In the context, we see that they are those who “seek…the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” (Matt 6:33) – the satisfaction to God’s justice rendered by Christ and imputed to sinners at the cross of Calvary. These strive to enter in at the strait gate – that is, based solely upon the Person and work of Christ alone with no contribution from the sinner. Since the “seeking” cannot be isolated from that which is being sought, then to seek salvation God’s way, (by Christ alone, the strait gate, based solely upon the righteousness He produced) would exclude the false notion of imagining that the “seeking” itself plays any causal role in the “finding. To strive to enter into fellowship with God based upon anything other than (or in addition) to the finished work of Christ is to be unable. It is to fail to find eternal life and favor with God. So, “Enter ye in at the strait gate…” (Mt. 7:13).
--- Randy Wages, Eager Ave. Grace Church
EAGER
AVENUE
GRACE
CHURCH
1102
Eager Drive
Albany, Georgia 31707
(Office)
229-432-6969
------
“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our
Lord.” –
Romans 5:21
|
WORSHIP SERVICES SUNDAY – 10:00 A.M.
– 11:00 A.M. |
WEBSITE E-MAIL |
|
|
|
|
||