Hymn of the Day
(tune: "O Could I Speak the Matchless Worth"p.48)
(words to our other hymns for today's worship can be found at the end of this bulletin.)
From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath not the Father put to grief,
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men,
Condemn me for that debt of sin,
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?
Complete atonement Thou hast made,
And to the utmost Thou hast paid,
Whate'er Thy people owed;
How then can wrath on me take place,
If sheltered in Thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with Thy blood?
And sprinkled with Thy blood?
If Thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured,
The whole of wrath divine;
God, payment, cannot twice demand,
First at my bleeding Surety's hand,
And then again at mine.
And then again at mine.
Turn then, my soul, unto thy rest!
The merits of thy great High Priest,
Have bought thy liberty;
Trust in His efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.
Since Jesus died for thee.
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Today's Hymns
Sitting at the Feet of Jesus - #329
My Hope Is in the Lord #cb5,
Chosen In Jesus #cb13
Special Dates: Elayna Vlastuin – 9 ~ Morgan Van Der Brink – 11
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"He has done all things well."
Mark 7.37
This morning, I was reading a letter that I wrote to a classmate from my first year in Bible School. In it, I related the major events of my life since we had last seen each other nearly 50 year ago in 1974. I recall that I enjoyed writing the letter for I was able to reminisce all those years and recount the ins and outs of providence in my life. Usually, in the present moment, we can make no sense of what God is bringing to pass in our lives. Sometimes this bewilders us; sometimes it discourages us; sometimes The Adversary is able to make good use of our confusion and discouragement and make us wonder whether God cares for us or whether we are truly the objects of His grace. It can go so far as to make us wonder whether there is a god at all! So, it is good for us occasionally to look in the rear-view mirror of our lives and see how wisely God has worked to bring us to this point.
As I was wrapping up my letter to my friend, I wrote a one-sentence paragraph:
"I have made many mistakes; my Lord has made none."
I read that line from a year or so ago, and it was only with great effort that I avoided breaking down in tears – not of sorrow but of relief. I have made so many mistakes, countless in number: Mistakes due to selfishness, mistakes due to lack of wisdom, mistakes due to nothing other than my wickedness. I have heard people say, "I want to live in such a way that I will hear the Savior say to me, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'" I once had such thoughts. But now, whenever I consider my ways, I am moved to wonder if I am His servant at all.
But, herein is my comfort, "I have made many mistakes; my Lord has made none." So great has been His work that He has accomplished His will, not simply overcoming my mistakes, but actually using them. What wonder!
So here I am, much more of my life and ministry behind me than ahead of me. It is much too late to think of "doing great things for God." In fact, my years have taught me that no one does great things for God. I most certainly have not done any great things for God, and I am quite convinced I never shall. But those words I wrote a year ago brought comfort to me once again. Jesus Christ did not come so that I could do great things for Him; He came to do great things for me! The demoniac of Mark 5 begged to go with Christ – to be His follower. But Jesus did not let him but, instead, told him to go to his family and neighbors and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him.
So, for the time, I am not troubled about my many mistakes. I have made a mess of many things, but I am not thereby discouraged. It has never been about me – whether I have done poorly or well; it has always been about Him. And, indeed, "He has done all things well!" -Joe
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Do not let us think of prayer as the coaxing or the conquering of a reluctant friend, but rather as the confident appeal to One who is always wise, and always willing to give us what is best for us. -copied
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Brethren, the time is short: it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep, as though they wept not, and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy, as though they possessed not. ~1 Corinthians 7:29-30
Every worldly relationship, sorrow, joy, possession and care is fading and perishing (Job. 1:21). Nothing about this world is permanent nor lasting. We may weep, but weeping endures for the night; joy comes in the morning. We may rejoice in earthly treasure, but only temporarily. We may buy and sell, but we really own nothing. Let us use the world and its material and physical qualities with a loose hand, neither too much depressed by its sadness nor too much elated over its joys. It will all pass away. –Henry Mahan
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The sovereignty of God may be defined as the exercise of His supremacy. Being infinitely elevated above the highest creature, He is the Most High, Lord of heaven and earth. Subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him. So His own Word expressly declares: "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10); "He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand" (Daniel 4:35). Divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact, as well as in name, that He is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things "after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11). – A. W. Pink
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Words for Today's Hymns
Sitting at the Feet of Jesus
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Oh, what words I hear Him say!
Happy place! so near, so precious!
May it find me there each day.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
I would look upon the past;
For His love has been so gracious,
It has won my heart at last.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Where can mortal be more blest?
There I lay my sins and sorrows,
And, when weary, find sweet rest.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
There I love to weep and pray,
While I from His fullness gather
Grace and comfort every day.
Bless me, O my Savior, bless me,
As I sit low at Thy feet.
Oh, look down in love upon me;
Let me see Thy face so sweet.
Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus;
Make me holy as He is.
May I prove I've been with Jesus,
Who is all my righteousness.
My Hope Is in the Lord
My hope is in the Lord,
Who gave Himself for me,
And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.
For me He died; For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light,
He freely gives.
No merit of my own,
His anger to suppress,
My only hope is found in Jesus' righteousness.
And now for me He stands,
Before His Father's throne;
He shows His wounded hands,
And names me as His own.
My Lord has done it all.
No work is left for me.
In this I rest; my soul is blest eternally.
Chosen In Jesus
Chosen in Jesus, before earth was made,
Destined to glory that never shall fade;
Holy and blameless before Him I'll be;
For God's rich blessings have fallen on me.
'Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For, Lord that could not be,
This heart would still refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me;
My heart owns none before Thee,
For Thy rich grace I thirst,
This knowing: if I have loved Thee,
Thou must have loved me first.
Dead in transgressions wherein I once trod,
Dead to the knowledge of my sin and God,
Captured by Satan, in bondage was I,
Wrath was my portion, till Jesus came by!
Your love had no beginning,
No cause in me was found,
That you should choose to save me,
A sinner strongly bound;
But grace not earned or sought for,
Was purposed for my soul,
For me salvation bought, for Christ
Has paid the awful toll.
God, who, in mercy, had pity on me;
Punished my sins in, his Son on the tree;
In heav'nly places, I'm seated with Him,
For I was chosen, predestined in Him!
'Twas sov'reign mercy called me,
And taught my op'ning mind;
The world had else enthralled me,
To heav'nly glories blind.
Thou from the sin that stained me,
Hast cleansed and set me free,
Of old thou hast resolved for me
That I should live to Thee.