October 25^th , 2015

Today’s Services:

9:30 am Bible Study-------------------------------------- The Quick & Powerful Word of God – Hebrews 4:12-13

10:00 am Worship ---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- - Bless The Lads – Genesis 48:16

Nursery Today: Second Service: Jill Ogle , Alt. Melanie

Cleaning Schedule: This Week: Mahans - Next Week: Ogles

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Birthdays: November: 8^th – Dan Ogle & Kevin Berry, 9^th – Gabe Stalnaker, 13^th – Aimee Poff

“Gather Not My Soul With Sinners.” – Psalm 26:9.

Fear made David pray thus, for something whispered, “Perhaps, after all, thou mayest be gathered with the wicked.” That fear, although marred by unbelief, springs, in the main, from holy anxiety, arising from the recollection of past sin. Even the pardoned man will enquire, “What if at the end my sins should be remembered, and I should be left out of the catalogue of the saved?” He recollects his present unfruitfulness – so little grace, so little love, so little holiness, and looking forward to the future, he considers his weakness and the many temptations which beset him, and he fears that he may fall, and become a prey to the enemy. A sense of sin and present evil, and his prevailing corruptions, compel him to pray, in fear and trembling, “Gather not my soul with sinners.” Reader, if you have prayed this prayer, and if your character be rightly described in the Psalm from which it is taken, you need not be afraid that you shall be gathered with sinners. Have you the two virtues which David had – the outward walking in integrity, and the inward trusting in the Lord? Are you resting upon Christ’s sacrifice, and can you compass the altar of God with humble hope? If so, rest assured, with the wicked you never shall be gathered, for that calamity is impossible. The gathering at the judgment is like to like. “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” If, then, thou art like God’s people, thou shalt be with God’s people. You cannot be gathered with the wicked, for you are too dearly bought. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, you are His forever, and where He is, there must His people be. You are loved too much to be cast away with reprobates. Shall one dear to Christ perish? Impossible! Hell cannot hold thee! Heaven claims thee! Trust in thy Surety and fear not! -- Spurgeon

‘Thomas, Called Didymus’ – John 11:16

Thomas, the disciple of the Lord, is called ‘Didymus’, throughout the gospel of John (20:24, 21:2). Didymus means ‘twin.’ Apparently Thomas had a twin brother or sister. There is no mention of Thomas’ twin. Where was that twin? Who was he or she? Was he or she dead? Dead in sin? Lost? An unbeliever? And yet, Thomas was a disciple, follower, believer and lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? . . . Because the Lord loved Thomas first, chose him, called him, drew him, taught him, redeemed him and kept him. Like so many before him (and since), he was the object of sovereign love and election while a brother or sister was passed by. Abel was chosen while Cain was not. Jacob was loved while Esau was not. Solomon was an object of God’s mercy while Absalom was not.

What about you? Do you have a brother or sister who does not know and love the Lord, and yet you do? Do you have a sibling, a twin, who was born and raised just like you . . . and yet the Lord revealed Himself to you and not them? If an only child, you certainly have many brothers in Adam that are just like you (by nature). What mercy, what undeserved grace, what kindness he has shown to the people of His choice. O’ Who maketh thee to differ from another? Does a day go by that we do not thank Him for choosing us and not leaving us to ourselves?