UPCOMING
·
Friday
and Saturday, August 10-11, Pastor Darvin Pruitt and I are scheduled
to preach at Grace Baptist Church of the Ozarks in Nixa, Missouri for the
ordination of Pastor Eric Lutter.
·
Wednesday,
August 29, I am scheduled to preach for Katy Baptist Church in Fairmont, WV
where Brother Marvin Stalnaker is pastor.
·
Friday–Sunday,
August 31–September 2, I am scheduled to preach in the conference at Grace Baptist
Church of Danville, KY where Brother Don Fortner is pastor. Brother Kevin Thacker is scheduled to preach
here Thursday, August 30th.
Brother Bob Coffee from Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport,
TN is scheduled to preach here Sunday, September 2.
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SUNDAY’S READING IN PROVERBS
Proverbs
11:28: He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall
flourish as a branch.
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“To
what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?” (Isaiah 1:11).
Our
Lord asked the people of Judah and Jerusalem this question by the prophet
Isaiah. It’s a question that reveals what’s in our hearts by nature.
Religious people look to their service to God as a sign that they are children
of God. They take pride in their church membership, the strength of the
heritage of that church and the education of the man they call their Pastor or
even Priest. They trust in their confessions, their attendance, their
participation, their bible reading, their prayers and their witness to others
about Jesus. These are among the many sacrifices they make for God, and if they
are being honest, they put a lot of confidence in their sacrifices.
Without doubt, most are very sincere, but our Lord called them “your
sacrifices” (Isaiah 1:11). He did not own them as his own, which they
were bringing to him.
Our
God has a single eye to one sacrifice. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the one sacrifice his people rest in. For the Father said “This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). All our service,
hope and life springs forth from the sacrifice Christ made of himself to the
Father, as his people’s substitute. Christ is the Lamb of God without spot or
blemish. Our Lord and Savior alone “did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). Orderly public worship is
important, but do not put your trust and confidence in that. Religious
people put confidence in the outward form and even sneer and mock others as a
sign of their own faithfulness. But for many, it is carnal and fleshly
religion and nothing more. Look to Christ alone for your
righteousness. Concerning Christ we are told “He that hath received
his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true” (John 3:33). God the
Father delights in his Son. Coming to the Father in Christ, the Lamb of
God, we shall never be ashamed. For the Father will always receive and
delight in that sacrifice. –Pastor
Eric Lutter
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JOSHUA
LEFT NOTHING UNDONE
“As
the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did
Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses” (Joshua
11:15).
Joshua
was the successor to Moses. He was the man the Lord raised up to bring
the children of Israel across the River of Jordan and into the land of Canaan
to defeat the enemies of God in the land and to give it to Israel for an
inheritance (Joshua 1:6; 11:23). The word of the Lord declares the
success that Joshua was given. Of all that Moses commanded Joshua to
accomplish, he left nothing undone, nothing unfilled and nothing unfinished. He
indeed was a very successful leader of the Lord’s people.
We know that Joshua is a personal type of the greater Joshua the Lord Jesus
Christ. How much more can we declare that of all He has undertaken for us
with complete success; He too left nothing undone of all that the Father
commanded Him to do. All that the Father gave our Saviour to do He fully
accomplished without fail. The scriptures declare of Him that He cannot fail,
failure was never an option. “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he
have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law”
(Isaiah 42:4).
All
the Father’s redemptive will and all His eternal purpose in salvation was
finished by Christ (John 4:34; John 17:4). All the promises of God were
completed in the coming of the Lord Jesus (Gal. 4:4) and in His atoning death
for His people (Gal. 3:13). He said upon the Calvary tree, “It is finished”
(John 19:30).
I am sure the children of Israel were thankful unto the Lord for sending them
Joshua, the faithful servant of the Lord. But how much are we thankful
for the greater Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ; He has loved us with an everlasting
love (Jer. 31:3); He has saved and justified us with His own blood (Rom. 5:6-8;
Heb. 9:11-2), He has given to us His perfect righteousness before God and an
eternal inheritance (Rom. 4:6-8; Rom. 8:17; 2 Cor. 5:21). Let us always
rejoice in the Lord and bless His holy name. “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. (Psalm 103:1). –Pastor Tom
Harding
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Physical sickness is an instrument by
which God makes his saints more healthy. By weakness he makes us strong. By
need he teaches us to pray. By great sorrow he opens the door for great
comfort.
–Pastor Don Fortner
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SET
THINE HOUSE IN ORDER FOR THOU SHALT DIE
Isaiah
38:1: In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the
son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine
house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
In
December of 2014, I was flying back from preaching in Mexico. At Houston
airport, I called my dad. I was calling to talk like so many times
before. This time, he told me he had colon cancer. The news told
hold of me so strongly that I did not even notice my plane board and fly
away. If I was that shaken by his news, how alarming it must have
been for my dad. We have brethren, family and friends who have
received this news. My grandfather, who was a believer, said his hands
began to tremble uncontrollably when the doctor told him the cancer would take
his life within a few months. You simply do not know how shocking this
kind of news is until you receive it. Imagine the report coming to you, “Set
thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.”
Sinner, this is true of you right now, “Thou shalt die, and not live.”
Now is the time to heed this word. It does not matter how old or
how young you may be. While in college my best friend was only
twenty years old when he was told he had cancer. We had plans for that
weekend. Instead, my friend was in surgery. For the next six
months, I watched a strong young man become too frail to lift his head, much
less get out of bed. This news comes to the young, as well as the
aged. Our house is a dying house. Sin causes us to begin dying the
moment we are born. We live in a house of dust and unto dust it shall return.
Yet, those who believe on Christ can rejoice that “if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor 5:1) Oh, sinner do not
delay! Set your house in order now. For it is certain concerning
our flesh, thou shalt die and not live.
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AFTER
THIS LIFE IS ETERNITY
This
life is not the end. We all will spend eternity somewhere glorifying God:
either glorifying his grace for saving us or glorifying his justice for justly
for condemning us. Some of you are already making plans for where you will
spend your spring and summer break next year. Others have spent their lives
preparing for how and where they will spend our retirement years. “Whereas
ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a
vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (Ja 4:14)
Yet, we all know we shalt die. But who is making plans for where they will
spend eternity?