St. Pete Grace Church

09/07/2026

God’s Eternal Purpose of Grace

Not even human sin thwarts or hinders God’s purpose. God is not the author of sin. Those who attempt to deny his sovereignty by making that charge against it are guilty of the most vile blasphemy imaginable (James 1:13). Yet we must never think that man’s sin has taken the Almighty by surprise or that it is somehow beyond the control of sovereign omnipotence. Even man’s willful, unconstrained sin is included in God’s eternal plan and purpose of grace. God could have prevented the fall of Adam, just as he prevented Abimelech’s sin (Genesis 20:6), but that was not his purpose. Instead, the Almighty purposed to use man’s defiance of his will to accomplish his will. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain” (Psalm 76:10). Carefully read Genesis 45:8; 50:20; Acts 2:23 and 4:27-28, and understand that your heavenly Father allows nothing to happen in heaven, earth, or hell except that which he has from eternity sovereignly ordained to use for the salvation of his elect and the glory of his Son. That revealed fact may rattle your brain a little; but if you believe it, it will comfort your heart like nothing else.

Don Fortner

09/07/2026

9/6/26… John 19:28-30

Billy Argiropoulos | St. Petersburg, Florida

09/06/2026

Pride
Pride is a groundless thing. We have reasons for almost everything, but we have no reason to be proud. Pride should be unnatural to us, for we have nothing to be proud of. Our CREATION ought to humble us, for we are frail creatures who are here today and gone tomorrow. Our IGNORANCE should be sufficient to lay us low. We spend a lifetime trying to learn a few things in part; then, in old age, we can’t remember where we left our glasses. Our SINS should lay us in the dust, for it would be embarrassing for the most trusted friend to view our hearts. Our BLESSINGS ought to humble us; for the more we have, the more we are in debt to God who makes us to differ. A great debtor has no cause for pride. Certainly a believer has no cause for pride, for our SALVATION is all by grace! Mephibosheth accurately summed up our confession, “What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?” Let us pray to be delivered from pride, for it is such a subtle enemy that only the Lord can deliver us; but we MUST be delivered, for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.
~Henry Mahan (1926-2019)

09/05/2026

~~ Robert Hawker

CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN

“But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory….”
—Galatians 4:23-24
“Cast out the bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman.” The law can make nothing perfect; justification can never be obtained by the deeds of the law, and therefore it is rejected. Pause now, my soul, over this sweet allegory, explained as it is by the Holy Ghost Himself, and ask to which family does thou belong? To both you can not, for that is impossible. Whosoever seeketh justification by the deeds of the law, denies the merit and efficacy of Christ’s blood and righteousness. “For if righteousness come by the law, then is Christ dead in vain.” Oh! For grace to discover, faith to enjoy, the same blessed assurance as the apostle did, when summing up the whole conclusion of this scriptural allegory; “So then, brethren, we are not of the bond-woman, but of the free.”

09/05/2026

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11

09/04/2026

~~ Johnathan Edwards

God may deny salvation to any natural person without any injury to the honour of his righteousness. If he does so, there is no injustice nor unfairness in it. There is no natural man living, let his case be what it will, but God may deny him salvation, and cast him down to hell, and yet not be chargeable with the least unrighteous or unfair dealing in any respect whatsoever. This is evident, because they all have deserved hell: and it is no injustice for a proper judge to inflict on any man what he deserves. And as he has deserved condemnation, so he has never done any thing to remove the liability, or to atone for the sin. He never has done any thing whereby he has laid any obligations on God not to punish him as he deserved.

09/04/2026

Carest thou not that we perish? Mark 4:35-41
The disciples were in a very bad storm. They were taking on water and thought they would drown—perish. Our Lord was in the hinder part of the ship asleep which was a demonstration of what perfect faith looks like. What a terrible question they asked. The very One they accused of not caring had come into the world to die in their place, to bear the wrath of God they deserved, and to bring them safely to glory. Perish the thought that Christ would ever cease to care for His own. As Peter later wrote, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). We must never allow our circumstances to determine what we believe about God's care for us. “…having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. John 13:1
~John Chapman
Reprinted from GGC bulletin 8.2.2026

09/03/2026

9/2/26… Acts4:21-37

Billy Argiropoulos | St. Petersburg, Florida

09/01/2026

“According To His Purpose” - Romans 8:28

Everything that comes to pass in time is brought to pass “according to his purpose,” according to the sovereign, eternal, unalterable purpose of God “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11). The Word of God assures us that behind and beneath all the apparent confusion of this world lies the purpose of God. It is God’s purpose to perfect the people he has chosen and restore the world he made to himself through the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ. To this end, he arranged all the affairs of human history from eternity and sovereignly brings them to pass in time. History is “His Story!” Nothing happens in his story by accident. Nothing comes to pass that he has not purposed. Nothing can thwart, or even hinder his purpose. ~Don Fortner (1950-2020)
Reprinted from GGC bulletin 10.08.2023

08/30/2026

8/30/26… Dueteronomy 31:30-32:4

Billy Argiropoulos | St. Petersburg, Florida