Bulletin Edition January 2024

Fading Glory and Lasting Glory

For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.” II Corinthians 3:11.

It is only the greater and lasting glory of Christ and His Gospel that will convince a person to let go of whatever weak and temporary glory he presently clings to.  Is a man enamoured of the law?  He will remain so until the glory of the Gospel eclipses that glory of the law.  Is a man absorbed with the subject of his own righteousness?  That shall remain unchanged until the glorious Son of Righteousness rises on his soul.  A man never gives up anything until something better comes along. The Gospel is that something better.  When the Gospel is preached, those whose eyes the Spirit has opened see the greater glory of it and gladly embrace it while letting go of what they previously held.  Until the greater glory is revealed, men will cling to their lesser glories.                   ~Joe Terrell

Two Mountains

    When the fire of God’s justice fell on the sacrifices at Mount Carmel, and Mount Calvary there were two strikingly different outcomes. Upon Mt. Carmel, the sacrifice that Elijah prepared, God consumed the wood, rocks, dust, water, and the sacrifice. There was nothing left. God’s justice against sin could not be satisfied. 

    However, upon Mt. Calvary and the Sacrifice that God made, the wrath, judgment and justice of God was exhausted and extinguished, while the Sacrifice remained. That means that when Christ said, “It is finished,” that “God was satisfied.” Thank God for Christ, the One Sacrifice that was made for sin forever. (Hebrews 10:12)                                        ~David Eddmenson

“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20

J.C.Philpot

There are three kinds of righteousness, or at least three kinds of righteousness which bear that name. There is inherent righteousness, of which we have none. There is imputed righteousness, which is all our justification. And there is imparted righteousness, when God the Spirit makes us new creatures, and raises up in the heart that “new man, which after God” (that is, “after the image of God”) “is created in righteousness and true holiness.” When the Lord, therefore, said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven,” he did not mean only an external righteousness wrought out by his obedience to the law for them, but an internal righteousness wrought out by the Holy Spirit in them. Thus we read of the inward as well as the outward apparel of the Church, “The King’s daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold.” Two kinds of righteousness belong to the Queen; her imputed righteousness is her outward robe, “the clothing of wrought gold;” but imparted righteousness is her inward adorning, which makes her “all-glorious within.” This inward glory is the new man in the heart, with all his gifts and graces, what Peter calls “the divine nature,” “Christ in the heart, the hope of glory.”

At the cross alone

(J.C.Philpot, “Meditations on the Blessed Redeemer”)

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption 1 Corinthians 1:30 

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14

An experimental knowledge of crucifixion with his
crucified Lord, made Paul preach the cross–not only
in its power to save, but in its power to sanctify.

The cross is not only the meritorious cause of all
salvation–but is the instrumental cause of all
sanctification. As there is no other way of salvation
than by the blood of the cross–sothere is no other
way of holiness than by the power of the cross.

Through the cross, that is, through union and
communion with Him who suffered upon it, not
only is there a fountain opened for all sin–but
for all uncleanness!

All our . . .
  pardon and peace,
  acceptance and justification,
  happiness and holiness,
  wisdom and strength,
  victory over the world,
  mortification of the body of sin and death,
  hope and confidence,
  prayer and praise,
  gracious feelings,
  spiritual desires,
  warm supplications,
  honest confessions,
  godly sorrows for sin,
spring from the cross!

At the cross alone can we . . .
  be made wise unto salvation,
  become righteous by a free justification,
  receive of His Spirit to make us holy, and
  be redeemed and delivered from . . .
    sin, Satan, death and hell.

To the cross we are to bring . . .
  our sorrows,
  our trials,
  our temptations,
  our sufferings,
to get life from His death,
pardon and peace from His atoning blood,
justification from His divine obedience, and
resignation to the will of God from His holy example.

At the cross alone is . . .
  the world crucified to us, and we to the world;
  sin mortified, and its reigning power dethroned;
  the old man crucified and put off, and the new man put on.

For the most part, it is only through a long series of . . .
  afflictions,
  bereavements,
  disappointments,
  vexations,
  illnesses,
  pains of body and mind,
  hot furnaces, and
  deep waters,
as sanctified to his soul’s profit by the Holy Spirit,
that the child of God comes to the cross.

VESSELS OF WRATH AND VESSELS OF MERCY

Romans 9:21-24′

Why is it that all men are not saved? Why does God endure “with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction”, when he certainly has the power, were it his purpose to do so, to save them? Paul tells us very plainly that the reason is, GOD IS WILLING TO SHEW HIS WRATH AND MAKE HIS POWER KNOWN BY THE VESSELS OF WRATH. Every creature must form a step to the Creator’s throne. Though many would rob God of his glory if they could, they will be to the praise of his glory. All who persist in their rebellion and unbelief, refusing to bow to Christ as Lord and trust him, are FITTING THEMSELVES FOR DESTRUCTION. But their unbelief, rebellion, and sin will in no way affect God. His purpose shall stand, and his name shall be magnified, even in the vessels of wrath. God’s enemies shall yet praise him. They all shall stand as monuments, eternal monuments, to the wrath and power of God, even as Pharaoh of old. Hear this and be warned: “The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of (judgment)” (Prov. 16:4).

But GOD HAS CHOSEN SOME OF ADAM’S RACE AS VESSELS OF MERCY. These vessels of mercy are God’s elect, chosen in eternity, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and PREPARED BY GOD’S OWN GRACE FOR GLORY, God’s reason for making these vessels of mercy is to show forth “the riches of his glory”. Particularly, Paul is talking about the glory of God’s sovereignty. We could not know God’s sovereignty, were there not both vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. Both are the same by nature. Both came from the same lump of clay. But God made a difference between his elect (the vessels of mercy) and the reprobate (the vessels of wrath) (I Cor. 4:7).

Who are these vessels of mercy? “EVEN US WHOM HE HATH CALLED.” If you are called of God from death to life, you are a vessel of mercy! If God the Holy Spirit has called you by his almighty grace to Christ and given you faith in him, you are a vessel of mercy. It is grace that has made you to be a vessel of mercy. God has done this for us “that (we) should show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light” (I Pet. 2:9).

Don Fortner

The absolute Monarch of the universe!
The following is by Don Fortner
To worship a god…
…whose purpose can be defeated,
…whose will can be thwarted,
…whose work can be overturned, and
…whose grace can be frustrated is to worship an idol.
Such a god is no GOD at all!

Jesus Christ our Lord is the unrivalled Sovereign of the
universe (Matt. 28:18; John 17:2). He who is God our
Saviour does as he will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. He makes one a vessel of
honour and another a vessel of dishonour, one a vessel of
mercy and another a vessel of wrath, one to show forth
the riches of his grace and another to show forth the severity
of his justice, exactly as it pleased him from all eternity.

To deny that Christ created all things and rules all things
is to deny that he is God. To deny that he is God is to
mock him, blaspheme him, and attempt to deny him his glory.

To deny that Christ is God, sovereign upon his throne is to
deny hope to needy sinners who look to him alone for grace,
salvation, and eternal life (John 17:2; Rom. 14:9).

None but an absolute sovereign Lord can save.
None but an absolute sovereign can be trusted implicitly.
None but an absolute sovereign will be worshipped.
Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, rules all things absolutely
(Ps. 76:10; 115:3; 135:6; Pro.16:1, 33; 21:1).

Jesus Christ is the absolute Monarch of the universe!
Our Saviour is the great King! Nothing more fully shows
forth the unrivalled excellence of Christ than his total
sovereignty, “upholding all things by the word of his power.”


The greatest wonder in heaven, or earth, or even in hell!
The following is from Spurgeon’s sermon,
“Open House for All Comers”  No. 665. Luke 15:2.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
       -Luke 15:2

Jesus receives sinners into his heart’s love!
This is the greatest wonder in heaven,
  or earth, or even in hell!

There is no marvel like the truth that He who ever
lives bowed his head to die for sinners; and having
made atonement for sin, now receives the very chief
of sinners into his heart’s love, and makes us his
  companions and his friends!

He takes us from the dunghill and
 wears us as jewels in his crown!

He plucks us as brands from the burning, and
preserves us as precious monuments of his mercy!

None are so precious in his sight as the sinners for whom he died!

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