Bulletin Edition #350 May 2017

Gladness and Singleness of Heart

“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking

bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and

singleness of heart. ” (Acts 2:47). Gladness means good cheer, joy,

mirth, gladness of heart. I do not know of anybody who does not want

gladness to be the characteristic of their life. But there will be no

gladness without “singleness of heart.” Single as opposed to double.

When the aim of your heart is single; the glory of Christ….you will

necessarily have gladness. It can be none other. But when your interests

are divided, un-gladness is sure to follow! Remember, “No servant can

serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other:

or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve

God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).

Todd Nibert

A Credible Witness

Criminal investigators learn that a false witness will describe the

facts in great detail, in a logical, chronological, precise manner. A

true witness will not be as precise but will include the senses of

experience: their sorrow—has the prick of the Holy Spirit made you

mourn?; the taste—have you tasted that the Lord is gracious?; the

smell—have you smelled the myrrh, and cassia of Christ’s garments; the

touch—has his hand settled you comfortably in the full assurance that

Christ is able to keep you? We do not put our hopes in feelings or

religious experiences but the believer’s witness is not in dead facts

but from seeing the Person. It is his power that exercises our senses to

discern both good and evil, the Person from mere facts. The believer is

a credible witness!

Clay Curtis.

THE APOSTLES’ DOCTRINE

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and

fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

What is the Apostle’s doctrine? 1 Tim 6:3 If any man teach otherwise,

and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus

Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness. The

Apostle’s doctrine was “even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What

is our doctrine? Church tradition (1 Peter 1:18)? The commandments of

men (Matt. 15:9)? Have we concocted a set of doctrines that reflect our

depraved sense of justice, or is it thus saith the Lord? Do we trust our

“interpretation” of the Bible or believe God?

How important is doctrine? The books of Timothy are the old and wise

Apostle, teaching and exhorting the young preacher Timothy regarding the

ministry, and the word “doctrine” is in his letters to Timothy twelve

times. (1 Tim 4:16) Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine;

continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt oth save thyself, and

them that hear thee.

Doctrine is not salvation, Christ is salvation, but you are not saved

without doctrine. Some say things like, don’t preach doctrine, just

preach Christ. This is like saying, don’t get in the water, just swim.

Doctrine means “teaching.” Christ said, (Matt. 11:29) Take my yoke upon

you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall

find rest unto your souls. For you to learn of Christ, someone is going

to have to teach you.

What is it to continue in the doctrine? They continued to hear it. God’s

sheep don’t ever tire of hearing the truth. We are diligent seekers of

and lovers and students of the truth. What could be better, more

interesting, more profitable, more enjoyable than the truth of God in

Christ? Truth never changes, like God Who is truth, it is immutable.

They continued to learn it and pursue it. Acts 17:11 These were more

noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with

all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those

things were so. They continued to embrace it. They were steadfast and

were not carried about with every wind of doctrine. (Eph. 4: 14) That we

henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about

with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning

craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. They continued to walk

in it. “Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Tit. 2:10).

If we truly believe what we say we do, we will act like it. Many in

studying the word of God make separation between what is called the

doctrinal and the practical teachings of scripture. They can be

distinguished, but not be separated. Every truth taught, and learned,

affects the walk of those taught.

We do emphasize that a man can know doctrine, and believe all the things

that we believe, and miss Christ. But, I believe, by far more to the

point in my generation, is that men and women cannot believe on the

Christ, of whom they have not heard (Rom. 10:14).

Chris Cunningham.

If God is sovereign is man responsible

Yes. I do not understand how God is absolutely sovereign, the first

cause of everything, yet I do neither more nor less than what I want to.

My actions are mine. I do not understand how both of those things are

true, but they are. An if you do not believe in both God’s absolute

sovereignty and man’s complete responsibility, in reality you believe

neither.

A belief in God’s absolute sovereignty and man’s complete responsibility

is essential in a sinner asking for mercy. You have never asked for

mercy until you see you are in the hands of a sovereign God and you have

no control. If you fail to see your own responsibility for your actions,

you become a victim of God’s sovereignty. You will not truly ask for

mercy when it is not your fault. But when you see that you are in the

hands of an absolute Sovereign, and that all your sin is all your fault,

then and only then will you sue for mercy.

Todd Nibert

The Remembrancer of CHRIST JESUS

“Reader! here is one of the sweet offices of GOD the HOLY GHOST,

particularly endeared to us. You, and I, are forgetful of divine things.

JESUS saith, that the HOLY GHOST shall bring all things to our

remembrance, whatsoever he himself hath said unto us, John 14:26. And

shall not you and I look up to that gracious, and loving Teacher, and

say, LORD! be thou the Remembrancer of CHRIST JESUS; that none of his

precious words, and the glorious things belonging to his Almighty

Person, and offices, may at any time slip from our minds?” -Robert Hawker

Commonest Things Blessed

Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy

water. (Exodus 23:25)

What a promise is this! To serve God is in itself a high delight. But

what an added privilege to have the blessing of the Lord resting upon us

in all things! Our commonest things become blessed when we ourselves are

consecrated to the Lord. Our Lord Jesus took bread and blessed it;

behold, we also eat of blessed bread. Jesus blessed water and made it

wine: the water which we drink is far better to us than any of the wine

with which men make merry; every drop has a benediction in it. The

divine blessing is on the man of God in everything, and it shall abide

with him at every time.

What if we have only bread and water! Yet it is blessed bread and water.

Bread and water we shall have. That is implied, for it must be there for

God to bless it. “Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy waters shall be

sure.” With God at our table, we not only ask a blessing, but we have

one. It is not only at the altar but at the table that He blesses us. He

serves those well who serve Him well. This table blessing is not of debt

but of grace. Indeed, there is a trebled grace; He grants us grace to

serve Him, by His grace feeds us with bread, and then in His grace

blesses it. C.H.Spurgeon. (faith’s checkbook)

The Gospel In Person – The Doctrine Of God

Tommy Robbins

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated

unto the gospel of God, (Which He had promised afore by His prophets in

the holy scriptures,) Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord …” Romans

1:1-3

Before the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh the gospel of

God was in promise by oath, or covenant, Christ being the Surety and

Substance of that promise – “Who hath saved us, and called us with an

holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own

purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world

began” 2Timothy 1:9.

HE IS THE PROMISE of the gospel. The gospel and Christ are synonymous.

He is the mystery of the gospel revealed to His people – “But we speak

the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God

ordained before the world unto our glory” 1Corinthians 2:7. The

preaching of the gospel is the declaration of Christ, Who has come into

the world and effectually put away the sin of His people by the

sacrifice of Himself.

The Lord Jesus Christ IS the Good News. Make no mistake, if the message

which we preach is not saturated, permeated, with the person of Christ,

we have not preached THE GOSPEL. He is our doctrine! The Lord Jesus

Christ is not revealed in the doctrine of God, the doctrine of God is

revealed in HIM! If we preach the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in

the scriptures our doctrine will be correct. Confused? Let me simplify

it; “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and

unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews

and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” 1Co 1:23-24.

The gospel is concerned with the Lord Jesus Christ, all He is, all He

has done, and all He is doing. He has preeminence in all things. It is

vital to be doctrinally correct. However, there is no correct doctrine

apart from Christ our Lord. Whether one labels me as a Calvinist or not,

is of no concern to me. I pray that it may be said of all who hear me,

“He determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and

Him crucified” 1Corinthians 2:2.

Bread or Poison?

Clay Curtis

Malachi 1:7: Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say,

Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is

contemptible.

The next time you are baking a fresh loaf of homemade bread, mix in rat

poison. Do you think you could obtain life by eating it? Why not, there

will be good bread in each bite? The problem is that the whole loaf is

contaminated by the poison. We would not even call such mixture bread,

we would call it poison.

There is no doubt that the Pharisees used the good food of the

scriptures. The Judaizers in Galatia even used that good name of Christ

Jesus the Bread. They added many good ingredients of true doctrine. Yet,

insisting there is something the sinner can do to make himself more holy

than Christ does, they denied that God put away the sin of his people

according to his holy justice; that he by himself justified each child

whom he saves in the person of his Son; they sprinkled in the poison of

man’s free will contaminating the whole. The apostle Paul called it,

“another gospel.” The Lord called it, “the leaven of the Pharisees.”

Believers call it poison.

According to his word, a sinner can as soon expect life from eating rat

poison as from eating such polluted bread. The Lord Jesus Christ saves

in power, in righteousness and in truth or he does not save at all.

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