pastor fortner

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PREACHING CHRIST

 

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And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. (Acts 5:42 )

That which separates the truth from a mere religion is that the truth concerns a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. This may seem a trite and worn out phrase, but it is true that salvation is a Person, not a doctrine. The longer I preach, the more I see the importance this distinction.

There are doubtless many who would find fault with such a generalization saying that one cannot preach without preaching doctrine. In this they would be correct, for doctrine is simply teaching. I would be impossible to preach the Person without preaching doctrine. However, it is quite easy to preach doctrine and never preach the Person.

Allow me to illustrate: Truth is, in some ways like a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle is made of many parts, each one important. The puzzle could not be complete if any individual part were missing. Yet, we all realize that the value of such a puzzle does not lie in the individual pieces, but in the image that is made when all these pieces are joined together in their proper relationship. Even though an unassembled jigsaw puzzle contains the very same materials and pieces as an assembled one, we recognize that there is a great difference between the two: the assembled puzzle gives us an image, a picture to enjoy. An unassembled puzzle is just a box of cardboard pieces.

The truth of God is similar: It is made of many parts, each one important. Yet the value of these parts lies not in themselves, but in the image they create when “assembled” through preaching. All the doctrines of the Scriptures are pieces of a Divine “puzzle” which, when assembled, provide us with an image of the Lord Jesus. One may emphasise the various individual “pieces” of this puzzle, and become quite expert in them, and never see the image which they were designed to create. As the Lord said to the Pharisees:

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39) Continue reading →

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New Pocketsize Edition – Discovering Christ Day by Day

Pastor Fortner’s Devotional

 

Discovering Christ

Day by Day

 

New Pocketsize Edition

From GO Publications

 

This is a beautiful soft-bound tan/brown edition designed to slip in a purse or jacket pocket. It includes a place marking ribbon and a gift presentation page.

New Pocketsize Edition

“Go through the whole Bible in a year with a daily reading scheme and a devotional portion for each section read. Pastor Fortner’s clear emphasis on the sovereign grace of God in Christ is always on view. He shows how the Lord Jesus is present in type, prophecy, and picture throughout the whole of the Bible. An excellent daily reading book with the added benefit of covering the whole of God’s Word in one year.” — Publisher

North American Orders

 

S18.00 per copy plus $3.00 Shipping and Handling

 

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road — Danville, KY 40422

European Orders

Price £13.99 + £2.80 p&p

GO Publications — New Focus Magazine                     Ossett Christian Bookshop

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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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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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Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures – FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD BY Don Fortner

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FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD BY Don Fortner – Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures

Summary

This is a Bible Survey type of book, with 67 chapters, an introduction and one on each book of the Bible. The main focus of this work is to see Christ in each book of Scripture. Pastor Fortner  does a good work in this book.

Chapter 1
GENESIS
The Book of Beginnings (Exert)

I want to take you through the entire Volume of Holy Scripture, book by book, show you the message of each book and its
relation to the whole Word of God. That will be the easy part. Here’s the tough part—I plan to cover one entire book in each
of the succeeding chapters. We will begin, of course, with Genesis, the book of beginnings.

What I hope to do in these studies is to give you a zoomlens view of Holy Scripture. I trust the Lord will use them to help you see clearly that the message of this Book, from beginning to end is Jesus Christ and him crucified, and that you will be able to grasp more fully the whole truth of God, the whole of Divine Revelation.

We read in Genesis 1:1-3—”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God
said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Continue reading →