Articles

Bulletin - April 3, 2022

Hymn of the Day

(tune: "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood"p.222)

 

How vast the benefits divine, Which we in Christ possess!

We are redeemed from guilt and shame, And called to holiness.

But not for works which we have done, Or shall hereafter do,

Hath God decreed on sinful men, Salvation to bestow.

 

The glory, Lord, from first to last, Is due to Thee alone;

Aught to ourselves we dare not take, Or rob Thee of Thy crown.

Our glorious Surety undertook, To satisfy for man,

And grace was given us in Him, Before the world began.

 

This is Thy will, that in Thy love, We ever should abide;

That earth and hell should not prevail, To turn Thy Word aside.

Not one of all the chosen race, But shall to heav’n attain,

Partake on earth the purposed grace, And then with Jesus reign.

 

-----0-----

 

Today’s Hymns

All the Thrills My Soul Is Jesus – 463

Blessed Redeemer - 112

Grace Greater than Our Sin – 209

 

Special Dates:

Barney Drenth – 4 ~ Jason Scholten – 6 ~ Maria Vlastuin – 7

Gerald and Elaine – 8 ~ Cody Vande Hoef – 10 ~ Fred Vlastuin – 10

 

-----0-----

 

We give thanks to God for the gift of faith given to Barney Drenth to call upon the Name of the Lord for salvation. D.V., he will confess the Lord by baptism after the morning service next week, April 10. We will have a fellowship dinner following the baptism.

 

-----0------

 

On many occasions I get a thankyou from you for remaining faithful to the message of the cross over the years. But it is not often that I return my word of thanks for YOUR faithfulness over these years. I do so much appreciate the fact that the gospel of the Lord Jesus is of such importance to you that you are committed to the work here in supporting it with your presence and gifts all through our ups and downs. This is of the Lord, and to Him belongs the ultimate thanks, but just as you are thankful for me, so am I thankful for you!  -Joe

 

-----0-----

 

Salvation is of the Lord – Jonah 2.9

 

But Israel shall be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever.  ~Isaiah 45:17

 

One of the recurring controversies in Christendom is whether a person can lose his salvation. My answer to that question has often surprised people:

 

“Not only CAN a person lose his salvation, he WILL lose his salvation, and the sooner he does so, the better, for unless and until he loses his salvation, he will never have the Lord’s salvation.”

 

If a person claims to have been saved, the question of whether he can lose that salvation rests entirely on who it is that “saved” him. The certainty of salvation lies in the power and will of the “saver,” not the “savee.” Therefore, if any of a person’s salvation arises from something that person, himself, did, then that salvation is certain to fail, for the person, himself, is certain to fail. This also holds true if any part of a person’s salvation was initiated, appropriated, or applied by any other son of Adam. “To be accepted, it must be perfect,” is the rule for things offered to God, and none of the sons of Adam can offer anything perfect.

 

But, if a person’s salvation is “of the Lord – that is, if every aspect of His salvation is a product of the will and power of God, then such salvation cannot be lost. The person saved played no part in gaining that salvation, so it is impossible that he can lose it, and God, who is responsible for every aspect of that person’s salvation, simply cannot and will not fail.

 

You say you have been saved. Can you ever be lost again? That depends entirely on who it is that saved you.  -Joe

 

-----0-----

 

The prevalence of unbelief and indifference in the present day ought not to surprise us. It is just one of the evidences of that mighty foundation-doctrine, the total corruption and fall of man. How feebly we grasp and realize that doctrine is proved by our surprise at human incredulity. We only half believe the heart’s deceitfulness. Let us read our Bibles more attentively and search their contents more carefully. Even when Christ wrought miracles and preached sermons there were numbers of His hearers who remained utterly unmoved. What right have we to wonder if the hearers of modern sermons in countless instances remain unbelieving? ‘The disciple is not greater than his Master.’ If even the hearers of Christ did not believe, how much more should we expect to find unbelief among the hearers of His ministers? Let the truth be spoken and confessed: man’s obstinate unbelief is one among many of the indirect proofs that the Bible is true.   -JC Ryle

 

-----0-----

 

Follow Me is the command Christ gives to all of His disciples.  We have a tendency to think that means to imitate Him.  We should imitate Him in all that He does, but that is not the idea conveyed in following Him. If you follow someone, you keep your eyes on them.  If you look down at your feet you cannot follow them.  If you look to the side of someone else you are not following them.  If you look behind you to a past experience you cannot follow them.  To follow someone is to keep your eyes glued upon them. Have you ever been in a crowded and unfamiliar place, where you had to keep your eyes on the one you were following?  If you take your eyes off of them for even a second, you will lose them!  To follow Christ is to look to Him, and you continue looking to Him by continuing to look to Him only.  If we make following Him anything else, we will take our eyes off of Him and look somewhere else!   -Todd Nibert