HALLELUJAH!\nWHAT A SAVIOUR!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Believer, what a\nSaviour God has provided for His people (Gen.22:8; Matt. 1:21)! The Almighty\nGod (John 1:1), yet all tender Saviour and Good Shepherd who laid down His life\nfor us (John 10:11; Psa.23:1). How well-fitted Jesus Christ is to be our Great\nHigh Priest (Heb. 2:17; 4:14-16). How sufficient is He to supply our every need\naccording to His riches in glory (Col. 2:9-10; Phil. 4:19). How complete His\nwisdom and grace to provide for us perfect atonement and full justification\nfrom all our sin (Heb. 9:12; Rom. 3:24). How gracious the Lord is to impute His\nrighteousness to us freely by His grace forever (Rom. 4:6; 2Cor. 5:21). He sets\nguilty, poor and lost sinners free by His almighty power and sovereign grace\n(Luke 4:18; Rom. 9:13-16). I say again, hallelujah what a Saviour we have in\nthe Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 7:9-10;\n19:6). Pastor\nTom Harding<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n God commands the impossible. Believe, come, repent, abide are all\ncommands that the natural man is incapable of doing. What God requires; God\nmust provide. How wise is our God who makes all of our salvation His doing.\nCause me to hear thy lovingkindness. Ps. 143:8. Turn us again, Oh God, and\ncause Thy Face to shine; and we shall be saved. Ps. 80:3. We come to Christ for\nfaith, not with faith. Truly, He gets all the glory in all of our salvation.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Greg Elmquist<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are no two things in the Bible more different than LAW and\nGRACE, which is nothing more than salvation by our works or salvation by free\ngrace through the obedience and death of our Lord Jesus. The first assignment\nin learning the gospel is to learn the difference between law and grace. He who\nlearns the lesson well can call himself a theologian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul calls the story of Sarah and Hagar an allegory (Gal. 4:24).\nAn allegory is a story in which the characters are used to picture other real\ncharacters and real actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God promised Abraham a son by his true wife, Sarah. Time passed\nand no son was born; so Sarah gave her servant, Hagar, to Abraham to bear him a\nson. Ishmael was born to Hagar by Abraham. In due time the promised son, Isaac,\nwas born to Sarah. The son of the servant, Hagar, mocked Isaac and proved that\nthe two could not live together; so Hagar and Ishmael had to be put out of the\nhousehold. Isaac reigned alone as the heir of Abraham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Paul said that these two women represent the two covenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hagar, the servant, represents the covenant of law, works, and\nceremonies from Mt. Sinai. In the covenant of law and works God says, “Do\nthis and live.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarah, the true wife of Abraham, represents God’s eternal covenant\nof grace in Christ Jesus. This covenant was first, was from all eternity, was\nnot made between God and men but between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Heb.\n7:22; Heb. 13:20; John 17:2-3). The covenant of grace says, “Do this, O\nChrist, and men shall live.” God gives eternal life without works from men\n(Rom. 3:19-24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Though Hagar bore the first son, as the covenant of works gave\nus fallen Adam and a depraved race, yet Sarah was the original and first wife\nof Abraham, as the covenant of grace was the first covenant. The covenant of\nworks was REVEALED first: but before there was ever a sinner, there was a\ncovenant of grace and its surety, Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain\nbefore the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8; Rev. 17:8; I Peter 1:18-21). We\nwere chosen in Christ before the world began (Eph. 1:3-4: II Thess. 2:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Hagar was never intended to be the wife of Abraham, nor was\nIshmael THAT SEED which was promised. Hagar was the handmaid of Sarah. So the\nlaw was never given nor intended to save anyone. It was only a handmaid to\ngrace to point men to Christ, the seed (Gal. 3:21-29; Gal. 3:16). The law\nproperly used is a blessing. It shows our sins, our inability; it shuts men up\nto Christ. If the law is the servant to grace, that’s well and good; but when\nthe law tries to be the master or on equal footing with grace, it must go!\n(Gal. 4:30-31.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Hagar was never free and Sarah was never in bondage. The.\ncovenant of works and none of her children are free. All who live by the law\nare under the curse (Gal. 3:10-13). But the seed of Abraham by faith are free:\n“for if the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Hagar must be cast out as well as her son (Heb. 10:1-10). The\ncovenant of works has ceased, being fulfilled by Christ. It cannot have a place\nin the redemption and reign of Christ Jesus. Nor is he a son of Abraham who is\none by flesh or natural birth. He is a son of Abraham who is one by faith in\nJesus Christ (Rom. 2:28-29: Gal. 3:7-9, 16, 29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. As the two women are types of the two covenants, so the two\nsons are types of those who live under each covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ishmael is the man who trusts his works and seeks a righteousness\nbefore God bv his deeds. Isaac is the man born supernaturally of God (John\n1:13), brought to faith in Christ, and walks in the Spirit, not the flesh,\nwhose wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption is Christ (I Cor.\n1:30;. Col. 2:9-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ishmael is the older, as the old man is older than the new man\ncreated in Christ Jesus. We are all born flesh first, then born again with that\nnew nature which lives forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ishmael is the son of the flesh; Isaac is the son by Divine power.\nWe are all born sons of men, then sons of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ishmael’s attitude toward Isaac (Gal. 3:29) is the same attitude\nthe legalist displays toward sons of grace today. You will never find a\nfree-will legalist to be tolerant toward the gospel of grace. The gospel of\ngrace destroys his very foundation, which is MERIT, not MERCY!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Mahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n Believers And Their\nAfflictions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul wrote that God\nafflicts us \u201cfor our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness\u201d (Heb.\n12:10). \u201cIt is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy\nstatutes\u201d (Psa. 119:71). Someone said, “The flowers smell sweetest after a\nshower, and trees bear more fruit if they are pruned.” Afflictions and\ntrials are God’s furnace by which He PROVES OUR FAITH. The sturdy vessels of\nfaith are able to do business in deep waters. They are not shaken and destroyed\nby the storms of life. Faith in Christ will cry with Job, “Though he slay\nme, yet will I trust in him” (Job 1:21). Afflictions and trials give birth\nto SYMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING. We can weep with those who weep only if we have\nwept alone. We can more readily forgive the fallen from their fallen position\nif we have fallen and have experienced forgiveness. It is difficult to\ncriticise a fellow cellmate and impossible to cry “unclean” of a\nfellow leper. Yes, afflictions and trials are\ngood. \n \n ~Scott Richardson<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nNecessity Of Faith In Christ <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hebrews 11:6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Why is faith in Christ necessary?\nWhy must sinners trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as Savior and Lord? Much\nneeds to be said in this regard, but three facts will suffice to show the\nnecessity of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. THE ONLY WAY FALLEN MEN AND WOMEN\nCAN EVER PLEASE THE HOLY LORD GOD IS BY FAITH IN CHRIST (Heb. 11:6). No man\nsince the fall of Adam has ever pleased God, or done anything acceptable and\npleasing in God’s sight, except by faith in Christ. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham,\nMoses, and all the great champions of faith listed in Hebrews 11 were pleasing\nand acceptable to God, not because of what they did, but because of Christ whom\nthey trusted. You and I, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, are accepted in\nthe same way and in the same measure. Every sinner who trusts Christ alone as\nhis Savior and Lord pleases God and is accepted in the Beloved, because we\nfulfill the law of God by faith in him (Rom. 3:31; 8:4), giving him everything\nhe requires from men: righteousness and satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. THERE IS NO TRUE HUMILITY APART\nFROM FAITH IN CHRIST (Zech. 12:10). God gives grace to the humble (James\n4:6). But the only truly humble person in this world is one who trusts Christ\nalone for salvation. Everyone else proudly holds some work, feeling, or\ngoodness by which he imagines himself worthy of God’s acceptance. Only\nbelievers are truly humble. We come to God as empty-handed, bankrupt paupers,\nknowing that we must have grace, knowing our need of a Substitute. We receive\nChrist and the grace of God in him as a free gift, not a wage or reward. We\ntrust Christ alone for our total, everlasting acceptance with God (I\nCor. 1:30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FOR A\nSINNER TO COME TO GOD AND BE SAVED (Acts 4:12). Salvation is by\n“faith that it might be by grace” (Rom. 4:16). Christ alone is\nthe Door by which men enter into life (John 10:9). Christ alone is the Way in\nwhich to walk to God and with God (John 14:6). You cannot be saved by legal\nobedience (Gal. 3:10). You cannot be saved by religious works, rituals,\nand sacrifices (Isa. 1:10-15). You can only be saved by faith in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n What God Has Promised,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n He Is Able To Perform<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “And being fully\npersuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”<\/em> Romans\n4:21<\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nAbraham was an old man and his wife Sarah was well passed the age of bearing\nchildren, God made him a promise. He promised Abraham a son by his wife Sarah,\nthrough whom his Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come, who would bring\nupon all the nations of the earth the blessing of God’s eternal salvation. And\nAbraham believed it, because he believed that God was able to perform what he\npromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE TRIALS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Faith\nmust be tested, tried, and proved; and God tried Abraham\u2019s faith. Many years\npassed. Still, Abraham believed God. Many trials had to be endured. Yet,\nAbraham continued to believe God. The older he and Sarah got, the less likely\nit appeared that they would have a son. The promise was contradicted by all\npast history, all human reason, and all the apparent circumstances of\nprovidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faith\nbelieves God without evidences and in spite of obstacles. It was\n“biologically” impossible for such an old couple to have a son. And\nit was even more insane, (according to all human reason), to expect that one of\nAbraham’s descendants would be God in human flesh, the Savior of the world.\nYet, Abraham “staggered not at the promise of God through\nunbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully\npersuaded that, what he had promised, he was able to perform.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Abraham\nacted according to his faith. He believed that God Almighty was able to give\nhim a son, that with him nothing is impossible. His faith had the omnipotent\nGod for its Object. And when he was a hundred years old God gave him a son\nthrough the womb of Sarah, his ninety year old wife, according to his promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE LESSON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This\ngreat work of God, and Abraham’s faith in him, is not recorded for Abraham’s\nsake alone, but for ours, that we might also believe God. All the promises of\nGod to his people in Christ Jesus are yea and amen (2 Cor. 1:20). Because God\nis almighty, omnipotent, we can confidently trust him to do all that he has\npromised. Let us ever believe him, and act according to faith. All that he has\npromised of temporal good, providential good, spiritual good and eternal good,\nhe will do for all who believe him. And by believing him we glorify him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n