October 22^nd , 2017

9:30 am ------------------------------Three Things The Spirit Convinces Of – John 16:8-11

10:00 am ------------------------------------------Compelled To Bear His Cross -- Mark 15:21

THE BLANKET OF GRACE!

“And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.” (Ruth 3:9)

The skirt of God’s grace is a blanket of goodness and mercy to a sinner in need. Job said: “Naked came I into this world and naked shall I return.” Every sinner will stand before God! All those outside of his grace will stand there naked, destitute, and rejected! But every sinner who receives the blanket of grace (and that blanket is the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ himself) will stand there covered, secure, and accepted! – Gabe Stalnaker

Eternal Security

My eternal security is rooted and grounded not in what I have done, but in where I have been placed. I am too weak and frail, vacillating and mutable; there are too many ups-and-downs and ins-and-outs for me to find stability in myself. No, my stability is in the unchanging, everlasting covenant of the immutable Jehovah. Bless God for the sweet doctrines of election and predestination; they are graciously given as mighty stabilizers. – Terry Worthan

He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE” – John 3:36

The text does not say, “He that believeth on the Son SHALL HAVE LIFE”, but rather. . . “HATH LIFE”. He that believeth already has eternal life. That is why he believeth! Faith is proof of life. Just as a dead man cannot breathe, neither can a dead sinner believe. Just as a dead man cannot speak, neither can a dead sinner call on the Lord. Just as a dead man cannot see, hear nor feel, neither can a dead sinner see God’s glory, hear God’s Word, nor feel his need of Christ. Just as natural life begins at conception, even so, spiritual life begins when the Seed or Word of God is conceived in the heart by the Spirit of God. And that Word is of Christ, the Word incarnate. That Word planted in the heart is the life giving gospel of Christ. That gospel takes root in the heart, breaks the heart over sin, fills the heart with “new things”, i.e.. love for God, love for Christ, longings for God, Christ, salvation; yes, SPIRITUAL LIFE has begun, “a new creature” has been formed much like that new fetus in a mother’s womb.

You see, faith is not life giving, but proof of life. Faith is not a work for salvation, but a work of salvation. Faith is not what saves us, but is certain proof God has saved us. Faith is not a condition we meet, but the condition God’s Spirit puts in us to “make us meet” (Col.1:12). Is all this important? Do we split theological hairs here? NO! NO! For the Glory of God is at stake! That other (false) gospel says faith is man’s work, man’s will. But no, faith is “not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph.2:8). Faith is “according to the working of His mighty power” (Eph.1:19). Therefore, it is “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Eph.1:6) . . . and not rather “to the praise of our faith.”