{"id":1693,"date":"2011-12-27T10:28:25","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T10:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2011-12-27T10:28:25","modified_gmt":"2011-12-27T10:28:25","slug":"bulletin-articles-issue-102-december-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1693","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Articles Issue #102 December 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

None of us know what month of the year the Son of God was born of a virgin. And you and I don\u2019t wait until the 25th of December to celebrate it. We rejoice to hear of the incarnation all the year long. But still, I love the Christmas season. We hear more of Christ coming to earth this time of year than any other time, and for that I am thankful. Any time our memory is turned to the wonderful person of the Son of God I am glad.
\nIt is this time of the year we hear those blessed hymns that we seldom hear at other times. “Veiled in flesh the God-head see, Hail th\u2019 incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.” Oh, that song should be sung often but it is only at this time of the year we hear it.<\/p>\n

It is this time of year that we see more good will and cheer among our fellow man. This can be a sad and sorry world we live in. There are trials and heart aches in the family and some times there are hurt feelings and even offenses. Christmas time seems to have a tendency to soften our affections and we can truly wish one another well. And for this I am thankful. I wish it could be Christmas year around.<\/p>\n

I wish all of you a merry Christmas. Where ever you find yourself in this season and what ever your circumstances may be, it is my desire and prayer that the message proclaimed by the heavenly host will resound in your heart with heaven\u2019s power; “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,…For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bruce Crabtree<\/p>\n

LOVE HIM!
\n<\/strong>
\n-Spurgeon, “Holy Work for Christmas”
\n<\/em>
\nThose who come nearest to Jesus,
\nand enter most closely into fellowship with Him,
\nwill be sure to be the most engrossed with Him.<\/p>\n

Beloved, remember what He has done for you–
\nMake your heart the golden cup to hold the
\nrich recollections of His past loving-kindness.<\/p>\n

Make your heart a pot of manna to preserve the heavenly
\nbread whereon saints have fed in days gone by.<\/p>\n

Let your memory treasure up everything about
\nChrist which you have either heard, or felt, or known-
\nand then let your fond affections hold Him close
\nforevermore.
\n
\nLove him! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Pour out that alabaster jar of your heart,
\nand let all the precious ointment of your affection come
\nstreaming on His feet.<\/p>\n

If you cannot do it with joy, do it sorrowfully–
\nwash His feet with your tears,
\nwipe them with the hair of your head;
\nbut love Him.<\/p>\n

Love the blessed Son of God,
\nyour ever tender Friend.<\/p>\n

Christmas Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>During this festive holiday season, everyone is compelled to think about the fact that Jesus Christ once lived in this world, walked among men, and died as a cursed felon upon a Roman cross. I am thankful for that fact. Here are four questions which every thoughtful person ought to seek satisfactory answers.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?<\/strong> Men everywhere talk about Jesus. They write songs about him, make movies about him, and write books about him. But who is he? For the answer to that question we must look to the pages of sacred scripture. Jesus Christ is himself the eternal God.<\/strong> The scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments proclaim that Christ is God (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1; Romans 9:5). He is God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is God our Savior. While He was upon the earth, our Lord claimed to be God; and His apostles worshipped Him as God. Jesus Christ is God the Eternal Son–equal in power, wisdom, glory, and Being with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Let others deny His divinity, if they dare. Every true believer knows that “in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”<\/em> We have this witness in our hearts which we cannot deny (I John 5:10). And our Savior is the perfect man.<\/strong> He is the God-man, our Mediator. We do not pretend to understand the mystery of the incarnation. But we do believe it and rejoice in it (Philippians 2:6-8). As a real man, our Lord lived upon the earth in perfect righteousness, died, rose again, and ascended into glory.<\/p>\n

WHY DID THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, COME INTO THIS WORLD?<\/strong> He came to do His Father’s will (Hebrews 10:7). He came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1: 21; I Timothy 1: 15). He came to lay down his life for His sheep (John 10: 11, 14,19). The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came into the world to die as a substitute in the place of chosen sinners, delivering us from the curse of the law (Galatians 1:4; 3:13).<\/p>\n

WHAT HAS THE SON OF GOD DONE?<\/strong> He has finished the work committed to Him by His Father. He has accomplished His Father’s will. He fulfilled everything required by the righteousness and justice of God for the salvation of sinners (John 17:4). The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished perfect righteousness for us. He died in the place of sinners, satisfying the claims of justice, the penalty of the law, and the wrath of God for us, putting away our sins. In a word – He “obtained eternal redemption for us.” <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

WHERE IS THIS CRUCIFIED SUBSTITUTE NOW? <\/strong>The God-man, our Savior, is exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high (Hebrews 10: 11-14). Today, Jesus Christ sits in heaven as the High Priest in Zion, making intercession for His people. He sits upon the throne of sovereign dominion, ruling all things as King of kings and Lord of lords for the salvation of God\u2019s elect. In sovereign serenity the King sits upon His throne awaiting the fulfilling of all things, the salvation of all His people, and the defeat of all His enemies. Do you know this Christ, this Savior, this King, this God? Do you trust Him?<\/p>\n

Don Fortner<\/p>\n

THE PROMISES OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

“For all of God’s promises <\/strong>have been fulfilled in him.” 2 Cor. 1:20<\/p>\n

God has made a Will, or Testament, in behalf of His people! It is signed and sealed. It cannot be altered- nothing can divest us of our inheritance. The bequest is His own “exceeding great and precious promises.” What a heritage! All that the sinner requires- all that the sinner’s God can give. In this testamentary deed there are no contingencies- no peradventures. The testator commences it with the sure guarantee for its every jot and tittle being fulfilled, “Verily, verily, I say unto you!” He endorses every promise, and every page, with a “Yes, and Amen.” “God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath.” But, who provided such a rich Promise Treasury? What is the source, where is the fountain-head, from which these streams of mercy flow to the Church? “In HIM.” Believer! from Jesus every promise is derived- in Jesus every promise centers. Pardon, peace, adoption, consolation, eternal life- all “in Him.” In Him you are “chosen,” “called,” “justified,” “sanctified,” and “glorified.” You have in possession all the blessings of present grace; you have in reserve all the happiness of coming glory. And “He is faithful that promised.”<\/p>\n

Your friend may deceive you- the world has deceived you- He never will! Myriads in glory, are there to tell how not one thing has failed of all that the Lord their God has spoken. Rely on this faithfulness. He gave His Son for you. After the greater blessing, surely, for subordinate ones, you may trust Him. And where do these promises beam most brightly? Like the stars, it is in the night! In the midnight of trial- when the sun of earthly prosperity has set- when deep is calling to deep, and wave to wave; when tempted, bereaved, beaten down with “a great fight of afflictions,” the spiritual firmament with its galaxy of Promises is brightest and clearest!<\/p>\n

“Oh! who could bear life’s stormy doom,
\nDid not Your Word of Love
\nCome brightly bearing through the gloom
\nA palm branch from above?
\nThen sorrow touched by You grows bright,
\nWith more than rapture’s ray;
\nAs darkness shows us worlds of light
\nWe never saw by day!”<\/p>\n

But do not be deceived; the night of sorrow cannot ‘in itself’ give you the comfort of the Divine Promises. It may be night, and yet the stars invisible. It is only “in Him” these promises can be discerned in their luster. Reader! if you are “out of Christ,” these stars of Gospel promise shine in vain to you; they have, to the unspiritual eye, no beauty or brightness. In the midnight battle of Barak, “the stars in their course fought against Sisera.” They shone on Israel, but denied their light to the enemies of God. The guiding pillar, so lustrous to the chosen people, was a column of portentous gloom to Pharaoh’s host. But “in Him,” as “heirs of God,” you are inheritors of “all the promises.” All the promises! Oh! with such a pillow whereon to rest your aching head, you may well resume your nightly song\u2013 “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8<\/p>\n

THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THE PROMISES
\n<\/strong>
\nBy Spurgeon<\/em><\/p>\n

The promises of God<\/strong> are to the believer an ‘inexhaustible
\nmine of wealth’. Happy is it for him if he knows how to
\nsearch out their secret veins and enrich himself with
\ntheir hidden treasures.<\/p>\n

They are an ‘armory’, containing all manner of offensive and
\ndefensive weapons. Blessed is he who has learned to enter
\ninto the sacred arsenal, to put on the breastplate and the
\nhelmet, and to lay his hand to the spear and to the sword.<\/p>\n

They are a ‘pharmacy’, in which the believer will find all
\nmanner of restoratives and blessed elixirs; nor lacks there
\nan ointment for every wound, a cordial for every faintness,
\na remedy for every disease. Blessed is he who is well skilled
\nin heavenly pharmacy and knows how to lay hold on the
\nhealing virtues of the promises of God.<\/p>\n

The promises are to the Christian a ‘storehouse of food’.
\nThey are as the granaries which Joseph built in Egypt, or as
\nthe golden pot wherein the manna was preserved. Blessed is
\nhe who can take the five barley loaves and fishes of promise,
\nand break them till his five thousand necessities shall all
\nbe supplied, and he is able to gather up baskets full of
\nfragments.<\/p>\n

Yes, they are the ‘jewel room’ in which the Christian’s crown
\ntreasures are preserved. The regalia are his, secretly to
\nadmire today, which he shall openly wear in Paradise
\nhereafter. He is already privileged as a king with the silver
\nkey that unlocks the strong room; he may even now grasp
\nthe scepter, wear the crown, and put upon his shoulders the
\nimperial mantle.<\/p>\n

O, how unutterably rich are the promises of our faithful,
\ncovenant-keeping God! If we had the tongue of the mightiest
\nof orators, and if that tongue could be touched with a live
\ncoal from off the altar, yet still it could not utter a tenth
\nof the praises of the exceeding great and precious promises of
\nGod. Nay, they who have entered into rest, whose tongues
\nare attuned to the lofty and rapturous eloquence of cherubim
\nand seraphim, even they can never tell the height and depth,
\nthe length and breadth of the unsearchable riches of Christ
\nwhich are stored up in the treasure house of God–
\nthe promises of the covenant of His grace.<\/p>\n

Christ in the Manger, year after year after\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.<\/p>\n

This is the time of year when we see nativity scenes of the birth of Christ most everywhere we go. And always in the middle we see the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. I never gave much thought concerning that until God revealed to me who that baby was. Most people are content to leave him in the manger year after year and never consider who that child really was. But reader you do no prophet to your soul when you do not know who he is.<\/p>\n

God sent His Son into the world to redeem His people, His Elect from their sin. This baby is God in the flesh. He is a man\u2019s man. He is a perfect man, and most importantly, HE IS THE GOD-MAN. Why did he come into the world? Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. He did not stay in that manger, but he came to do what God called him to do. He was always about his Father\u2019s business and he lived his days on this earth perfectly, kept God\u2019s law perfectly, and worked out a perfect righteousness for his chosen people. He became what I was, sinful, so that I could become what he is, perfectly holy and righteous.<\/p>\n

The Gospel is not about the birth of Jesus, it is about the sacrifice of God\u2019s precious Son who gave himself for His sheep. Most people spend this Holiday Season buying gifts for each other, but few consider the GREATEST GIFT ever given. That is, CHRIST and he gave his perfect righteousness and holiness to elect, undeserving sinners.<\/p>\n

Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:<\/p>\n

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David\u00a0 Eddmenson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas None of us know what month of the year the Son of God was born of a virgin. And you and I don\u2019t wait until the 25th of December to celebrate it. We rejoice to hear of the incarnation all the year long. But still, I love the Christmas season. We hear more of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1694,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions\/1694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}