O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Psalm 98:1-4
We Can’t All be Right
Some think that it does not matter what a man believes as long as he is sincere. The average churchgoer thinks that all religions are right. “You go to your church and I’ll go to mine. You believe what you think is right and I’ll believe what I think is right and we will all meet in heaven.”
My friends, we cannot all be right when we contradict one another so. It becomes every person to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES and see what God has said concerning eternal life, the person and work of His beloved Son, and how He can be both just and justifier.
Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1986)
SALVATION IS A HEART WORK
We don't give altar calls at the end of a service, nor do we invite sinners to come down front and pressure them into some religious profession. There are several reasons why. CHRIST JESUS IS OUR ALTAR and High Priest; He made sufficient sacrifice and atonement for sin (Heb. 2:17). The commandment of the scripture is to look to Him and be saved, not come forward (Isa. 45:22). The reason we don't pressure sinners to make a decision is because SALVATION IS A HEART WORK between the Saviour and the sinner, not a decision (Phil. 1:6). The command and example of the scripture for publicly confessing Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour is BAPTISM (Acts 8:37-38). If the Lord has revealed to your heart that Jesus Christ is all in salvation and has given you faith to believe on Him for all of your salvation, the first act of obedience to your Lord is to publicly confess Him in believer's baptism. Let me know if the Lord has worked salvation in you, and I will rejoice to baptize you.
TRUSTING CHRIST
It is not true faith to trust Christ ONLY WHEN YOU FEEL YOU ARE SAVED. True faith is to trust Christ AT ALL TIMES, whether you feel like you are saved or not, when you have a deep consciousness of your sin and when you don't, when you have assurance of faith and when your faith is so weak you wonder if you have faith at all. A person is not saved because he feels saved nor because he is aware of his sinfulness. A person is saved when he trusts Christ--His blood for redemption and forgiveness of sin, His righteousness for acceptance with God--when he commits all to Him as the "AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH." Our feelings may change by the hour, but our salvation is not dependent on our feelings; it is dependent solely on Him Who never changes--"JESUS CHRIST THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER."
Pastor Charles Pennington
CONTINUE IN PRAYER
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2).
Our Lord said in Luke 18:1,"That men ought always to pray and not to faint." Prayer is not a mechanical performance to be seen of men; the Pharisees prayed that way and were not heard before God (Matt. 6:5). Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude of the heart and a dependence of the soul upon Almighty God. It is also seeking to spread out our heart's desire before God and asking it to be granted according to His sovereign purpose. Real prayer is communion with God through the only Mediator, Jesus Christ the Lord, who is sitting at God's right hand making intercession for us (Heb. 7:25; I Tim. 2:5).
Prayer is never intended to change the purpose of God, but rather to make us know and realize what the purpose of God is. I have often heard people say, "Prayer changes things." I hope it changes our wrong attitudes, our sinful desires, and our ungodly conduct; but prayer never changes the purpose of the eternal God (Isa. 46:9-12). He said, "I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT" (Mal. 3:6).
Well then, since God is sovereign and has decreed all things, why are we instructed to pray? God has decreed all things, but all He has decreed come to pass through the means He has ordained (Acts4:27-28). God has elected a people unto salvation (II Thess. 2:13); but He has also decreed that His people shall be saved from their sin by the appointed means, Jesus Christ, His grace and sacrifice (Rom. 3:24).
The gospel then is one of the appointed means to accomplish His eternal purpose and prayer is another. Even the prayers of His people are included in His eternal purpose (Isa. 46:9-12; Eph. 1:11). Therefore, instead of prayers being useless and vain, they are part of the decrees by which God exercises His eternal purpose. I hope you can all say, "LORD TEACH US TO PRAY" (Matt. 6:9-15).
ZEBULON
GRACE
CHURCH
“We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Older
Top
