Discern

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Questions About Forgiveness

Psalms 130

“If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” — Psalm 130:3-4

Satan is a master deceiver. He is such a subtle, crafty deceiver that he often uses the Word of God itself to confuse people. He is particularly good at using Scripture texts as stumbling blocks, which he piles in the path of sinners seeking the Lord, or to trip and harass God’s pilgrims as they seek to follow Christ through this world. In this study, I hope to clear away some of those stumbling blocks, by answering some questions about forgiveness. I cannot here answer all the questions people have asked me about the forgiveness of sins. It would be futile for me to attempt that. However, I have carefully and prayerfully chosen seven questions which I want to answer.

1 Are there varying degrees of sin, of guilt, and of punishment?

Without question, the Word of God clearly teaches that there are no varying degrees of innocence, righteousness, or holiness, and no varying degrees of reward for the righteous in heaven. The teaching of decrees of reward in heaven is totally contrary to the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. However, the Scriptures do teach us that there are varying degrees of sin, of guilt, and of eternal punishment. Continue reading →

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THE CHURCH OF GOD

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“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”                                                                                                                                         — Acts 20:28

Believers cannot exist in this world in spiritual health without the strength, ministry, support, and help of a local church family. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that every child of God know the purpose and value of the church of God in this world and commit himself to it.

The text, which heads this page, is taken from the Book of Acts. One great purpose of that book, which is really a brief history of the early church, is to show us how God works in this world through his church. It is the inspired record of the progress of the church during its first thirty years of existence in this world. The most prominent figure in the church during those first thirty years was the Apostle Paul. It is this man, Paul, who is speaking in chapter 20. He is giving a solemn charge to the elders at Ephesus regarding their responsibilities as the servants of God. He says, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

What is the Church of God? Continue reading →

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What is it to preach the Gospel?

 PrairieChurchBaja

 Reading: Romans 10:1-17

Introduction:

I received a letter from a preacher yesterday. I want to read a portion of it to you, because it is directly related to my message this morning.

“Dear Pastor Fortner,

I really appreciate being able to come to you with some questions that have arisen in my spiritual life and ministry. I really have no pastor to ask these things. They have somewhat disowned me. When you have time could you please help me with the ending of a message, preaching the gospel, compelling men and women to come to Christ? Do you have an inquiry room such like Spurgeon did? Do you ask troubled souls to maybe seek you out?

I know for sure we can’t save them nor make them. I am totally against this ‘soul winning’ foolishness. I do believe we are to witness and warn sinners of the wrath of God and plead to men and women to flee to Christ our hiding place. Do you wait until the sinner receives assurance from the Lord that they have been saved, then make that profession public?

Thanks for any help you may be able to give. S___ B_______”

This is what I wrote in response.

“Every faithful Gospel preacher is troubled by these matters of great importance. The great problem is in us. We have a great desire, inspired of God, to see sinners converted by his grace. Therefore we pray and study with diligence, and ardently devote ourselves to the preaching of the Gospel. We have another fleshly, carnal lust for success, desiring to see things happen. Therefore we are tempted to employ the use of carnal pressures to get people to make a profession of faith. We need to remind ourselves incessantly, asking God the Holy Ghost to burn it in our hearts, that it is Christ who builds his Church and adds to it daily such as should be saved. This he does by the preaching of the Gospel. Continue reading →

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BIBLE DOCTRINE? WHY STUDY DOCTRINE?

Psalms 11 v 3

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalms 11:3

Why should we study doctrine?

People often object to any talk about doctrine and the study of doctrine, because they wrongly imagine that it is an unnecessary cause of strife and division. The fact is, we cannot have any unity at all if we do not have doctrinal unity. Doctrine is not everything in Christianity; but nothing is more important than doctrine. Gospel doctrine is the foundation of all true faith, the basis of all real comfort, and the inspiration for all worship, obedience, and devotion.

I often hear people say, “Let’s not discuss doctrine. Let’s just get on with evangelism.” “Let’s not talk about doctrine. Let’s just worship the Lord.” “Don’t preach doctrine. Just preach Christ.” That makes about as much sense as a basketball coach saying to his team, “Boys, don’t worry about the baskets, or the ball, or those lines out there on the court. Let’s just play basketball.” You cannot have basketball without the baskets, the ball, and the lines; and you cannot have evangelism, worship, and Christianity without doctrine.

The study of doctrine is important, because it is foundational. In Psalm 11:3, David asked, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Obviously, we recognize that “the foundation of God standeth sure” (2 Tim. 2:19). Yet, we also know that in this dark, apostate age in which wicked religious men and women walk in darkness, without knowledge and without understanding, “all the foundations of the earth are out of course” (Ps. 82:5). The religion of the world constantly attacks, assaults, and seeks to destroy the foundation of doctrinal truth. When men seek to destroy the very foundations of our faith, what can the righteous do? Here are three things we can and must do… Continue reading →

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The Sovereignty of God By Don Fortner

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“Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places.”  With these words David declares the sovereignty of God and calls for us to give him praise. ( Psalms 135:6 )

There are no attributes of God more comforting and delightful to his children than his great and glorious sovereignty.  Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, and when enduring the most heavy trials, we rejoice to know that our God has sovereignly ordained our afflictions; that he sovereignly overrules them, and that he sovereignly sanctifies them to our good and his own glory.  Every believer rejoices in the sovereignty of God. There is no truth of Holy Scripture for which we must more earnestly contend than God’s dominion over all creation, his sovereignty over all the works of his hands, the supremacy of his throne and his right to sit upon it.

God’s saints rejoice to hear him say, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” (Matt. 20:16).  Nothing is more comforting to God’s saints in this world than the knowledge of the fact that “Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Ps. 115:3).  We rejoice in God’s sovereignty!  But there is nothing revealed in the Bible that is more despised by worldlings and self-righteous religionists.  Natural, unregenerate, unbelieving men and women are happy enough to have God everywhere, except upon the throne of total, universal sovereignty.  They are happy to have God in his workshop, creating the world and naming the stars.  They are glad to have God in the hospital to heal the sick.  They are pleased to have God in trouble, to calm the raging seas of life.  And they are delighted to have God in the funeral parlor to ease them of pain and sorrow.  But God upon his throne is, to the unregenerate man, the most contemptible thing in the world.  And any man who dares to preach that it is God’s right to do what he will with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he sees fit, and save whom he will, will be hissed at, despised, and cursed by this religious generation.  Be that as it may, it is God upon the throne whom we love, trust, and worship.  And it is God upon the throne that we preach. Continue reading →

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Christ our Example

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Chapter 92

Christ our Example

“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15)

What is the believer’s rule of life? By what standard must our lives be governed, as the children of God in this world? How should we behave? What principles are we to live by, as we walk before God and men in this world? By what law are we to live?

These are questions which concern all of God’s children. None of God’s people are lawless, rebellious antinomians. All who trust Christ want to honor God. All who are born of God want to do the will of God. We want to do what is right before God and men. The grace of God experienced in the soul teaches us to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12). As we are admonished in Holy Scripture, saved sinners want to “be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

A man or woman who is chosen, redeemed, and regenerated by the grace of God has a principle of godliness and righteousness created in his or her heart. Such a person wants to live in a manner that will be pleasing and honoring to God, for the glory of Christ. If you do not love God’s law, you neither know God nor love God. Your religion is a refuge of lies. Your pretense of faith is a delusion. Continue reading →

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New ! Discovering Christ Day by Day – by Don Forter PDF Book

Discovering Christ Daily Readings Image Don Fortner

Via Email from Pastor Don Fortner

Dear Family,

As you know, I completed the book of Daily Readings (Discovering Christ Day by Day) on December 31st and will no longer send these out, as I did last year. The book is now at the publishers and should be released in a few months. However, Bro. Larry Brown has put the entire year’s readings together in *.PDF format. I have attached it to this email.

I am sending this to all on our church family mailing list and to a few friends who have expressed an interest in having it. Please feel free to give the attached file to anyone who wants it.

Thank you, Larry, for putting these readings together.

Reply to:     don@donfortner.com

Web Pages : www.DonFortner.com

www.FreeGraceRadio.com

www.Grace-eBooks.com

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road

Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Here is the PDF version : Discovering Christ Day by Day 1 OR click on the Image of Pastor Don to get the PDF Book . 

With  thanks and gratitude to  Don Fortner for the permission to place the PDF book on our website. We pray many will be blessed by the material.  Also see  Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures – FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD BY Don Fortner

Please visit the above websites for more Biblical edifying material by Don Fortner.

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The Flattering Tongue

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Flattery is to compliment excessively and often insincerely given, especially in order to win favor.  Sincerity is sorely lacking in human relations today.  Flattery or sweet talk, which is another way that the tongue can be used for evil. People flatter continually starting from home to workplace. In the work place and offices people continually involved in internal politics and flattering in order to seek favour or, to get promoted to higher level.

Flattery is also a sin of the tongue. The Bible speaks of flattery as a characteristic of the wicked and of a sinful person. People from different walks of life trying to keep a record of the flattering speeches and conversations. Flattery is just a form of lying, and it has no place in the life of a Christian. It is an another produce of the misuse of the tongue.

He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery,
(Daniel 11:32-34 ESV)

We are encountering people with flattering nature everywhere, speaking something before us and contrarily with others, in other occasions, in order to please others or to fulfil their self-centred wishes. Continue reading →

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ECCLESIASTES All Emptiness Under the Sun All Fullness In The Son

Ecclesiastes 1 verses 1 to 2

Discovering Christ In Ecclesiastes ~ Don Fortner 

Listen to sermon

It comes as a great surprise to many that the Word of God was deliberately written in such a way as to confuse unbelieving people. To the believer, to the sinner who has been born of God and granted eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to believe, it is a Book unsealed, open, and clear. To the unbeliever, it is a book of confusion.

This fact is nowhere more obviously demonstrated than in the comments generally given about the Book of Ecclesiastes. The vast majority of that which I have seen written about and heard spoken about this Book describes it as a book of pessimism. Most tell us that this Book of Solomon’s wisdom is little more than the rantings of a disappointed man, frustrated with life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

One thing that makes this Book so confusing to many is that it is a Book full of errors. It is divinely inspired; but it is full of errors. Let me show you.

In chapter 3 Solomon tells us that there is no difference between men and beasts, and that man dies like a dog and returns to dust (vv. 19-20). Continue reading →

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The Psalms

the Psalms

 Don Fortner – Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures

PSALMS

God’s Book of Praise

The Book of Psalms is the largest Book in the Word of God. It is a Book about the worship of God. The word “psalms” means “praises.’’ The Book of Psalms is “the Book of Praises.” It is God’s Book of Praise. That which is essential in the praise of God is dominate in these 150 psalms—Worship.” “Worship” means ‘‘prostration.’’ To worship and praise the Lord our God is to prostrate ourselves before him, taking our place in the dust before him as we acknowledge and adore his supremacy, perfection, and work.

This is where we must begin. After describing Christ as the perfect man in Psalms 1 and declaring him to be the exalted King in Psalms 2, we are called to worship him in Psa_2:11-12. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

Worship

The Book of Psalms teaches us to worship our God, to be ever occupied with him. Just in proportion as our hearts and minds are occupied with Christ, we worship him (Col_3:1-3). Here we are taught to treasure his Word, delight in his providence, remember his works, speak of his greatness, trust his care, glory in his gospel, and celebrate his praise continually. We are here taught to find strength for life’s labors, comfort for life’s troubles, and solace in life’s sorrows by continually prostrating ourselves before the throne of grace, seeking mercy and grace from our great God in time of need.

In this Book we have Continue reading →

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Salvation is of the LORD!

Jonah 2 ; 9

“Salvation is of the Lord!”

Jonah 2:9

“Salvation” is a big word. It includes much more than a believer’s initial experience of grace in regeneration and conversion. It includes everything required to bring fallen men from the pit of the damned into the eternal presence of God’s glory in heaven. And, from first to last, it is the work of God’s free grace alone. Man does nothing. Man contributes nothing. Nothing is determined by or dependent upon the will of man or the works or worth of man. “Salvation is of the Lord!”

All True Doctrine

This is the essence of all true doctrine. Continue reading →

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The Heresy Of Today’s Free-willism : Pelagius’s Legacy

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By Robert Truelove

Augustine vs. Pelagius

We will now move in our studies to a doctrinal controversy that occurred during the fifth century between Augustine bishop of Hippo and Pelagius, a British monk. Pelagius was the father of the doctrines now referred to as Pelagianism, which Augustine argued against and considered destructive of the gospel. In this short article, we will give a brief overview of their positions and point out the error of the Pelagian system. This is an issue that strikes at the very heart of the gospel message. I would ask that everyone who reads this would consider the practical importance of a proper understanding of sin and grace.

Pelagius taught that Adam was created neither good nor evil, but was created neutral. His will was completely free to choose to sin or not to sin. He also believed that whether Adam sinned or not he was still mortal and would one day die. He therefore denied that man was created holy and that by Adam’s sin, death entered into the world. As a matter a fact, he went so far as to say that man is born in the same condition as Adam was before the fall; that is, he is born without sin. The only difference, according to Pelagius, between him and Adam is that Adam did not have the example of sin before him whereas his posterity does. Pelagius therefore did not believe Continue reading →

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“Messiah the Prince”

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Daniel 9:25

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
(Daniel 9:25 KJV)

The man Gabriel appeared to Daniel, assuring him of the coming of Christ and of our Savior’s great accomplishments as our Savior at God’s appointed time (Daniel 9:20-24). By the accomplishment of these six great feats of grace, “Messiah the Prince” is identified. He who accomplished these things is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.

Transgression Finished

First, Gabriel told Daniel that when the Christ appeared, He would, by the sacrifice of Himself, “finish the transgression.” That is precisely what our blessed Savior did when our transgressions were laid on Him and borne by Him, and he carried them all away in the stream of His precious blood when He made satisfaction for us. They shall never be seen or brought up again!

Sins End Continue reading →

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Whosoever Will Revelation 22 : 17

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Tim James

Many times when I have spoken to someone about the electing grace of God, the response has been, “I believe in WHOSOEVER WILL.” I suppose that such a response is meant to imply that these two Bible teachings are mutually exclusive of one another or perhaps even diametrically opposed. Everyone who preaches the electing love of God believes that THE ELECT WILLINGLY COME TO CHRIST! The fact is that not only do I believe WHOSOEVER WILL. I know WHO they are! Our Lord said, “All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Our Lord said, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:45). Our Lord said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). The heavenly Father said to His beloved Son, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power” (Psalm 110:3). Who will come to Christ? Those who have been given to Christ, taught of the Father, and made willing in the day of our Lord’s power. They are His sheep! Continue reading →

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The Gospel Invitation To Sinners

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Sermon # 94

Title: Come To Jesus

Text: Revelation 22:17

Subject: The Gospel Invitation To Sinners

Date: Sunday Evening – December 11, 1988

Revelation 22:17 KJV And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Introduction:

It is my blessed privilege and honor to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to lost men and women, urging them to come to Christ and be saved. It is my happy employment to find arguments from the Word of God to persuade fallen, depraved sinners to be reconciled to God by faith in Jesus Christ. Tonight, I want to try, one more time, to persuade you who are lost to Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus Christ and live. How can I persuade you to come?

1. First, hear this: God has planned, purposed, and predestinated the salvation of a great multitude of sinners. God will save some men and women. That is certain (Rom. 8:29-30). He saves them by grace alone, without condition or qualification. If God has purposed to save some, perhaps I am one, perhaps you are one. It may be that he has kept you alive these many years so that he may be gracious to you tonight.

2. Second, the Lord Jesus Christ has fully met and satisfied every requirement of God for the salvation of his elect. There is nothing for you to do, nothing for me to do. Jesus Christ has done it all. All who are saved are saved upon the basis of and by the merits of Christ’s obedience to God as the sinner’s Substitute (Rom. 5:19).

– He has finished the work of righteousness (John 17:4).

– He has finished the work of redemption (John 19:30).

3. Third, God the Holy Spirit will effectually regenerate and call every elect sinner to life and faith in Christ (Psa. 65:4; John 6:63). Christ will save his sheep. Not one God’s elect will perish. The Son of God shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Christ’s blood was not shed in vain. God’s purpose will not be overturned. The grace of God cannot be frustrated.

4. Fourth, every sinner who comes to Christ in faith is saved.  Continue reading →