Bulletin Edition #288 February 2016

The Beautiful Feet of Preachers

Maurice Montgomery

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth” (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:13-15).

Note in the verse above that “Thy God reigneth” is an integral part of the gospel. To the degree that preachers have lost sight of the exalted, glorified, sovereign Christ – to the same degree they have let the gospel slip away. The gospel is gospel or “good news” only in the context of Christ’s sovereign power and ability to save sinners who are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1; John 5:21,25; Rev. 1:17,18).

“Thy God reigneth” is the very heart of the gospel hope to conscious, convicted sinners. They need a new heart, a new nature, they need LIFE! And no earthly ecclesiastical powers can help them. Only God can give life. Only One who is “mighty to save” can encourage their heart.

Apart from “Thy God reigneth” there is no good news for sinners, Adam’s fallen race. But with the sovereign Christ of Scripture, there is hope for a Saul of Tarsus, for the most obstinate and vile sinner on the face of the earth, for He is able to pursue, subdue, and renew; and He never fails! Lost soul, call upon Him. Call upon Him now. He is a suitable and sufficient, an able and willing Saviour.

A naked sinner can be clothed, but a sinner covered with his own righteousness must be stripped. This is always true. We must be stripped of all that has to do with self or we cannot be clothed with that which pertains to God. We are called to live by faith; we can see nothing with the eye of sense. The Lord Jesus has gone up on high, and we are told to wait patiently for His appearing. God’s Word carried home to the heart in the power of the Holy Spirit is the basis of confidence in all things: temporal and spiritual, present and future. He tells us of Christ’s completed sacrifice. We by grace believe and commit our souls to the efficacy thereof, and we know we shall never be disappointed.

Pastor Scott Richardson

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet. 1:5)

When one considers the keeping power of God, for all that He has eternally loved, the new heart is made to bow in adoration to Him who is omnipotent. We know, at best, only in part but we know that we’ve been kept from the damning power of sin…kept from the prince of darkness who would devour us if he could and though we’re in this world we’re kept from the evil of it. Take heart brethren, there’s coming a day when we shall see Him as He is and in that day, we shall look upon Him by whom we were surely kept. MS

CONVENIENT WORSHIP

The sin of Jeroboam is mentioned seventeen times. It is the measuring stick of a description of a bad king. Jeroboam feared losing his position as king over Israel if men went to Jerusalem for worship. So he set up two cities which were more convenient to commute to. The money- changers and those that sold sacrificial animals in the temple did so for the convenience of the people. And Christ drove them out with a whip. Beware of a worship that is more convenient and requires less effort. Beware of a worship that is easier to fit into life’s busy schedule. Convenient worship is an abomination to God.The wicked King Jeroboam said, “It is too much to you to go up to Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was the place God ordained, but Jeroboam made it more convenient by setting up a place in Bethel and Dan. This is what is known as “The sin of Jeroboam”. He started a religion of convenience. May we never fall into the sin of Jeroboam. If personal convenience enters our thinking in the worship of God, it is evil. It tells what our attitude about worship is. God is not interested in us squeezing in some time for Him in life’s busy schedule. David said, “I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing.” If personal sacrifice is not involved in all of our acts of worship, it shows how little we value worship. But be sure of this, God values it even less. Todd Nibert, pastor of Todd’s Road Grace Church, Lexington, KY

“Hallowed be thy name.” (Mt 6:9)

God’s saints are worshippers of God. Our Master taught us that when we pray we are to acknowledge that God’s name represents God’s very being. He is holy. We gladly glorify him as such. Our chief desire is for God’s name to be honored, magnified and glorified. “The LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” (Lev 10: 3) Since he has taught us the great things he has done for us in his beloved Son, we call none holy and reverend but our God and Father in heaven. “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” (Ps 111: 9) The very purpose for which God sent his Son into this earth was to hallow his great name! In his high priestly prayer, Christ said, “I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (Jn 17: 4)

One of the saddest, surest indications that we live in a godless generation is how often we hear God’s name dishonored in everyday speech. We have even invented new ways of taking his name in vain. Everyday people everywhere text those three letters “omg.” It is amazing that so many hate God, even claiming God does not exist, yet his name is vainly on their tongues every other breathe. Boys and girls, men and women, never ever use God’s name in any vain way! God is holy! “Hallowed be thy name!”

Clay Curtis

Beautiful for situation

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of The Great King.” Psalms 48:2

There are several definitions for “situation”. The Greek definition for this word in the context of this passage of scripture is “elevated” or “Lifted up”. The English definition is “current conditions that characterize somebody’s life or events in a particular place”. Zion, the church of the Living God, is gloriously exalted in the perfections of the Great King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The beauty of the saints radiates His beauty as His creation and workmanship.

The condition of the church is righteous, holy and just as she abides in Him.

The position of the redeemed is one of infinite elevation – He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” Eph 2:6.

Zion, the city of The Great King, is the residence of The Great King as well – “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God” Re 21:3. The Light of the city of The Great King is none other than the Lamb Himself – “The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” Re 21:23.

Zion is so situated that everywhere you look you see the beauty of the King, the Lamb in the midst of the throne – “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty …” Isa 33:17. The Lord Himself looks upon Zion admiring her and “presents it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” Eph 5:27.

Tommy Robbins

Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.

(Song of Songs 2:13)

The business of the church is to worship the living God through Christ Jesus. It is not her job to moralize or socialize the world, though wherever she is found there is a good affect on morals and society. Actually, it is not her job to strive with the powers of this world at all. Rather, she is to worship her husband, the Lord Jesus Christ.

She does this by gathering on a regular basis to read His word, listen to it preached and offer her prayers of supplication, praise, and thanksgiving. She worships her Lord in public by declaring His glory to all who are willing to listen as did the woman of the Song of Solomon: when asked how her beloved was better than others, she responded with a list of His glories, ending with, “He is altogether lovely.”

In private worship her thoughts go to her beloved and she enters in the spiritual bedchamber of the saints of God and there delights in the all the glories of her Husband which she has told the world of. In worship, whether private or public, the subject is Christ and Him alone.

Joe Terrell

WHOSOEVER WILL

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. (Rev. 22:17))

Those that love and preach the message of God’s sovereign saving grace in Christ alone are often accused of not believing “whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely”. I say, how can anyone whom God has taught by His Holy Spirit believe anything other than this? It is clearly taught in scripture! The unregenerate falsely say that because we accept the truth of God’s electing grace, we preach a message that excludes some men from coming to Christ even if they want to. The problem is not the call to come, but man’s willingness and ability to come. When the Lord Jesus cried in the last day, that great day of the feast (Jn. 7:37), “if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink,” why did men refuse to come to Him to drink of the water of life? I will tell you why: they did not want to come! Men by nature are just not willing to come to Christ as He is revealed in scripture! (Jn. 5:39-40)

Now hear the sweet message of God’s grace to an undeserving people: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” (Psalm 110:3) Those whom the Holy Ghost effectually calls willingly come to Him as spiritual beggars in need of a Savior! They come because they now see the hopelessness of salvation without Christ the Mediator between God and themselves. They have been given a new heart to come to Christ for mercy. They willingly come to Christ as their Surety, their Representative, and their Substitute before God.

I leave you with these questions. Do you want to come? If you do, believe me, it is not because you decided to exercise your free will, because your natural will is the slave of sin! Will you be saved by His grace alone? If you will, it is because you have seen your works of self-righteousness to be unacceptable before God because of sin. Do you know by faith that the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus can robe you for justification before God’s law and is the only covering of eternal hope? Will you come to Christ as the One who was made a curse for you at Calvary? If you will, COME! If you have no desire to come to Christ like this and you perish in your sins, it is your own fault. But, if you willingly come, it is because you see by faith your need of Christ for life by His shed blood, because God has shown mercy by giving you a new heart to come, and has been pleased to not leave you to yourself.

Marvin Stalnaker

Comments are closed.