Apr 26
19
Is. 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Is. 62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
Is. 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
Is. 62:7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Is. 62:8 The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:
Is. 62:9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
We are so thankful to our gracious sovereign Lord God Almighty that He purposed to send one of His watchmen to preach the Lord Jesus Christ to us at this special time in our lives. We are delighted that Donnie and Shirley are with us, bringing good news from a far country and the sweet fellowship that the gospel promises to bring among His sheep gathered to Him.
We are mindful of the church in Crossville as they send their pastor to us. May the Lord bless them at this time, and know of our thankfulness.
Why does God do all He does?
“For Mine Holy Name’s sake” Ezekiel 36:22
Known unto God are all His works from the foundation of the world. Acts 15
“For My Holy Names sake”
Blessed Substitution
John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
The heart of the glorious gospel of Christ is His blessed substitution for His sheep. Christ, the Lamb of God, took all their guilt and became legally what they were by nature – sin! All that the Father chose (the sheep), He gave to Christ to redeem, and they were redeemed with His own precious blood. Every drop of Christ’s blood was shed effectually for all that would be brought by the hearing of His voice through the message of Him. There is one voice (the Spirit-blessed Gospel), one fold (the body of Christ), and one Shepherd (the One Who laid down His life for the sheep). Marvin Stalnaker
Preachers Needed and Sent
Romans 10:13-17
In order to hear the gospel, someone must preach the gospel to you. — “How shall they hear without a preacher?” God will not reveal the gospel to men by supernatural agencies. Someone must make the truth known to men. They cannot learn without being taught. So, let us carry the Word of grace to perishing men.
Preachers Needed
Preachers are needed. I have, for many years, regularly travelled many miles to preach to churches that have no pastor. Many who speak of being called to preach the gospel are aware of the need, but are not willing to go to unappealing places. How sad! I pity such men. God’s servants go wherever the Lord God is pleased to send them, without consideration for their own welfare and desires.
Let us heed our Lord’s command and pray incessantly that the Lord of the harvest will send forth labourers into the field to gather in his harvest by the preaching of the gospel.
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are his witness, and you should be his preacher. You may never stand in a pulpit, but you should be a preacher of the gospel. You do not have to have any great learning or unusual gifts to preach the gospel. If you know the gospel, you can tell it to others. You can tell sinners what Christ did at Calvary. And you can tell people what God has done for you by his grace. Usually, it is not a lack of ability that keeps us from witnessing to men; it is a lack of concern for their souls, and a lack of love for Christ.
When you have told a sinner the story of the cross, you have fulfilled your responsibility to him. This is a debt we owe to all men. Make it your business every day to tell some perishing, eternity bound sinner the way of life. It is a shameful pity that any man should live and die without hearing the gospel.
Preachers Sent
In order to preach the gospel, a man must be sent of God. — “How shall they preach except they be sent?” No man can truly preach the gospel in the power of God the Holy Ghost except he be sent of God. Here are four things that are true of every gospel preacher.
1. He has a message to deliver. He is an ambassador with a message.
2. He must deliver the message God has given him. There is an impulse within. He carries with him the burden of the Lord. It is like fire in his bones.
3. He will deliver his message with the authority and power of heaven’s eternal throne.
4. He will return to his Master to give a report of his labor.
Will you pray for your pastor, and for every man called and sent of God to preach the gospel, that every time they stand before eternity bound sinners to open the Book of God they may be at that hour sent of God? Every time you are privileged to hear a man preach the gospel, pray that God will graciously send him with a message to you. If he does, the gospel will come to you, not in word only, but “in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”
Don Fortner
The Best Friend
The Best Friend you can have on this earth is one who will tell you the truth. One who will not help make you comfortable in a refuge of lies. One who speaks the truth to you in love. One who will continue to do so though you may not appreciate his doing so. May I be such a friend that the blood of others be not on my hands.
Don Bell
How am I to worship God?
Horatius Bonar
Man asks,
“How am I to worship God?“
And he has answered it also in his own way: “In the gorgeous temple, in
the pillared cathedral, with incense, and vestments, and forms, and ceremonies,
and processions, and postures!” he says.
But these performances are the ‘will worship’ of self righteousness, not the
obedient service of men worshiping God in ways of His own choosing.
Man cannot teach man how to worship God. When he tries it he utterly fails. He
distorts worship. He misrepresents God, and he indulges his own sensuous or
self righteous tastes. His “dim religious light” is but a reflection
of his own gloomy spirit, and an ignorant misrepresentation of Him “who is
light.”
God’s answer to man’s question is
given in the Lord’s words, “they that worship Him, must worship Him in
spirit and in truth.” John 4:24
The vestments may or may not be lovely–that matters not.
The music may or may not be beautiful.
The knees may or may not be bent.
The hands may or may not be clasped.
The place of worship may or may not be a cathedral, or a consecrated building.
These are immaterial things;
mere adjuncts of religion, not its essence.
The true worship is that of the inner man–and all these other exterior things
are of little importance.
As it is with love, so it is with worship. The
heart is everything!
God can do without the bended knee, but not without the
broken heart!
“My son, give Me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways!” Proverbs
23:26
That I may win Christ
What does it mean to WIN CHRIST? It doesn’t mean that we can win His favour, or win His blessings by some act that we do, nor does it mean that we can win His special attention and get Him to do something special for us because we have done something to receive special treatment from Him. That can’t possibly be what it means; for that is earning not winning Christ. You may say, “Well, preacher, if it doesn’t mean these things, what does it mean?”
When the apostle talked about his desire to WIN CHRIST, I believe he meant mainly one thing. It was that Christ Himself was the prize; Christ Himself was the goal for him. Christ became all in all. In the light of our Lord’s glorious Person and His accomplished redemption, Paul counted everything else but dung and rubbish; willing to lose all, his own ambition, opportunities and attainments in the world. He counted anything that would detract from Christ’s glory, that would hinder his conformity to His Lord as loss.
Our Lord Jesus Himself said it like this, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:35-36).
“If you don’t count all loss for Christ in this world, it will be your eternal loss.”
Don Bell
Walking with God and the Work of the Ministry
Ephesians 4:11-16
The Lord’s Gifts
“He gave some, Apostles.” — The Lord Jesus Christ himself appointed chosen men and gave them gifts that qualified them to be his Apostles. This was the first and chief office in the Church. They were called by Christ, had their doctrine directly from him, and had power to work miracles to confirm their doctrine (Hebrews 2:3-4). — This office is now ceased.
“And some, Prophets” — extraordinary preachers, exceptionally gifted men of God in the early Church, who had a particular gift to interpret Scripture (especially the prophecies of the Old Testament) and of foretelling things to come, such as Agabus (Acts 11:27-30; 21:10-13).
“And some, Evangelists” — preachers of the Gospel who were traveling missionaries, going from place to place to establish local churches and to assist struggling churches and pastors.
“And some, Pastors and Teachers” — Pastors/Teachers are men appointed of God to preach the Gospel, teaching the Scriptures, shepherds who guide the flock of God in the Scriptures, rulers who rule the house of God by the Word of God, leading God’s people in the way of the faith. Each pastor is God’s appointed teacher, the angel of God, in the local church over which the Holy Ghost has made him the overseer.
Their Work
The reason Christ gave his Church these men, the reason he gives pastors to his Church is for “the perfecting of the saints,” for the spiritual growth and maturity of God’s children.
“For the work of the ministry,” — to preach the Gospel to the lost (2 Timothy 2:10), to oversee the Church (1 Peter 5:1-4), to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5), and to teach the things of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).
“For the edifying of the body of Christ.” — to strengthen, build up, and give comfort and assurance to the people of God.
The Lord Jesus gave his Church these men to pray, preach, and teach, until all the elect come to saving faith and are perfectly united in him. Blessed be his name, our God will continue to supply his Church with faithful, gifted pastors throughout the ages of time, until all Christ’s redeemed ones are united to him in the perfection of life eternal in the heavenly glory, teaching believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 13-16). God’s servants will be found in this world faithfully preaching the Gospel, until all of the elect are made to behold his glory, and trust in him.
Pastors and Peace
Remember, Paul is urging us to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” And he tells us plainly that our unity in the Spirit and our peace as a Church family is directly and inseparably connected with this blessed gift of Christ to his Church (1 Thessalonians 5:11-13).
Don Fortner