O, God, my heart is fixed on Thee, to sing and give Thee praise;
I’ll praise Thee, Lord, among Thy saints, as we our anthems raise.
As we our anthems raise; as we our anthems raise.
I’ll praise Thee, Lord, among Thy saints, as we our anthems raise.
I’ll praise Thee for Thy mercy great, that reaches down to me
In Christ my Savior, I am blessed with all salvation free.
With all salvation free; with all salvation free.
In Christ my Savior, I am blessed with all salvation free.
I’ll praise Thee for Thy righteousness as sent from Thee above;
Thy law and justice satisfied in union with Thy love.
In union with Thy love; in union with Thy love;
Thy law and justice satisfied in union with Thy love.
I’ll praise Thee for Thy cleansing Word that sanctifies my soul;
As in my heart Thou art glorified in Christ who makes me whole;
In Christ who makes me whole; in Christ who makes me whole;
As in my heart Thou art glorified in Christ who makes me whole.
TODAY’S SPEAKER: Eager Avenue Grace Church extends a warm welcome to Jim Byrd. Jim is pastor of First Baptist Church in Almont, Mi. He will conduct both the 10:00 am and 11:00 am services today. Pray for him as he delivers God's Word.
Television Broadcast: Our Reign of Grace Television program is being broadcast on WFXL Fox 31, Channel 4. The program will air every Sunday morning at 11 AM. Pray that God will use it for His glory.
Radio Broadcast:Sunday morning at 9:30am on 98.7 FM –WISK. To hear sermons on your computer click on www.americusradio.com
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28)
The blood by which the people of God were redeemed was that of One who was both the Son of God and the Son of Man. The blood of a mere creature would not be sufficient to answer the demands of a broken law. It must be the blood of One who was God and Man, in the same person. It was this that gave His blood sufficient virtue to make such a remarkable purchase. He had to be equal to the One against whom we have sinned, and He must be our "kinsman Redeemer," related to those He represented. He must be God of very God, and yet bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He must be, at the same time, our Lord and our Brother.
The price of redemption was His own blood, which price was paid into the hands of God whose justice we offended and whose law we have broken. He is the One against whom we have sinned and such is His holy character that He will not clear the guilty apart from restitution being made to His inflexible justice that requires death for sin. Abraham reminds us that God must always do that which is in accordance with His righteousness, saying in Genesis 18:25,"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" It is impossible for Him to do otherwise. If God is to remain just and yet justify the ungodly, satisfaction must be made to His righteous demands.
Be it clearly understood, therefore, that the price of redemption was paid to the Father, by which redemption from vindictive justice was actually obtained. "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:12). Christ did not make an effort to redeem His people; it was not a redemption that He attempted, but one which He actually "obtained." "Obtained," means acquired and secured. The Amplified Bible correctly reads,"...not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves (by which to make reconciliation between God and man), but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption-an everlasting release (for us)."
Pastor Jim Byrd
ALL SHALL COME
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "All," not one, or two, or ten, or a million only, but "all." And observe wherefore? They are the Father’s gift to Jesus, and therefore they must come. He said elsewhere, "that I should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me" (John 17:2). Hence, therefore, there is a blessed provision, a blessed security, that they shall come; for they are the Father’s gift to Christ, as well as the purchase of Christ’s blood; and the promise is absolute in the charter of grace; "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power" (Psalm 110:3). And, to give every possible encouragement to the poor coming sinner, whom God the Holy Ghost is leading by the hand to the all-precious Jesus, He adds,"And him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
Robert Hawker
Digged Deep
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. Luke 6:46-48
Notice that our Lord likened the wise man (Mt. 7:24) who built His house upon the rock (the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) to one who “digged deep.” But also note that the reason the house withstood the storm was not because of the digging, but rather because of the foundation that was unearthed – “for it was founded upon a rock.” It’s not the digging deep that makes the difference, yet all whom God justified by the blood of Christ and who shall so stand at the judgment, will ultimately be drawn by God’s irresistible grace in their respective lifetimes to persist in seeking (or digging) until they find. In the day of His power, God reveals to them that one foundation, “a tried stone” who produced the very righteousness necessary and satisfactory to the judgment of God, a “sure foundation” (Isa. 28:16), the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners are commanded to “strive to enter in the strait gate” (Lk. 13:24), to dig deep so to speak in seeking “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Mt 6:33). And all for whom Christ lived and died shall do just that. All that the Father giveth Him shall come to Him (Jn 6:37) – to Christ, the solid rock!
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