July 25^th, 2021

9:30 am ------------------------------------------------------------Receive Thy Sight – Luke 18:35-43

10:00 am ------------------------------------------------When Is A Person Saved? – Romans 8:29-30

Wednesday: 7:00 pm

Comfort in The Sovereign God

There is nothing more comforting to believers than God’s sovereignty over all things. Under the most adverse circumstances and in the most severe trials, we believe that God has ordained our afflictions, that God overrules them, and that God will sanctify them for our good and his glory. 270There is nothing for which we ought to contend more earnestly than the truth of God’s rule and reign over all things, all creatures, and all their actions. The throne of God, his right to sit on that throne, and his right to do with his own what he will is what we believe and what we preach. Let us be accused of over-emphasizing the majesty and power of the living God, but never let it be said that we underestimate his glory. – Henry Mahan

Abide Here Fast By My Maidens – Ruth 2:8

Sheep are social creatures. They need the flock. If a sheep is found alone it is because it is sick or wounded. Ruth wanted the flock. She said to Naomi, “thy people shall be my people.” Believers need the church. I am suspicious of folk who talk about joining a church because they feel like they can help it out. The church is a hospital for sinners. It is a well for the thirsty. It is a breadbox for the hungry. It is sought out, entered, and resided in because of need. Believers don't attend to help, they come to get help. If providence has made you hungry, providence will guide you to the place where the bread is. What of those who believe grace but cannot seem to be part of an assembly? I have no answer, but I've never known one who has the joy of true and lasting fellowship who is not in the house of God, with the people of God worshipping the true and living God. There is where the sheep gather in one fold with one shepherd. The church is not an organization; it is an organism. It is not a business; it is a family. It is not a building; it is a body. Nothing is more detrimental to the heart and spirit of a believer than neglect of God's house (Hag. 1:4-6). Two things are found to be true concerning the members of the churches of God: Every member is a believer, and every member has confessed Christ in baptism. – Tim James

Man Can Only Look Upon the Outward

The Lord sees not as a man sees for man looks upon the outward appearance

but the Lord looks upon the heart. 1 Samuel 16.7

Preachers and other believers do not have such a spirit of discerning that they can determine who is a believer and who is not. We know experimentally what true faith in Christ is in the internal exercises of it. Yet these graces we can neither feel nor see in the heart of someone else. Outward manifestations and appearances we can readily see, but the Word of God plainly states that this way of judging what is in a person is uncertain and liable to deceive, “He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes nor reprove after the hearing of his ears.” (Isaiah 11.3) Eyes and ears are poor judges and dangerous counselors in soul cases. People who are quick in determining another person’s state before God betray one of three things: 1) they have little experience; 2) they are persons of weak understanding, or 3) they have great pride, self-confidence, and ignorance of themselves. Wise and experienced believers will proceed with great caution in these matters. -- Jonathan Edwards

Whosoever Will and God’s Election