The all-wise God, whose never-failing providence ordereth every event, usually makes what we set our hearts upon unsatisfactory; and sweetens what we feared: bringing real evil out of seeming good; and real good out of seeming evil; to shew us what short-sighted creatures we are, and to teach us to live by faith upon his blessed self.
\nAugustus Toplady<\/p>\n
To Him Give All the Prophets Witness<\/strong> If we would understand, profit from, and rightly use the Word of God, we must understand everything written in the Sacred Volume as it relates to the glorious Person and saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never be satisfied with your understanding of any text in the Book of God until in it you have \u201cfound him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus,\u201d the Christ, the Son of God. The Book of God is a Book about Him!\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 Don Fortner<\/p>\n God chose to save his people through preaching that he might be glorified in the glorification of Christ, our Prophet, Priest and King. Christ says, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD HATH ANOINTED ME TO PREACH GOOD TIDINGS unto the meek; HE HATH SENT ME to bind up the brokenhearted, TO PROCLAIM liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; TO PROCLAIM the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, THAT HE MIGHT BE GLORIFIED.\u201d (Is 61:1-3) “The Gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus is not a thing to be proved, but truth to be believed. It is not submitted to our reasoning powers as a subject for critical examination. The gospel is a MESSAGE FROM GOD, addressed to the conscience, feelings, and affections. For this reason, men fond of argument and proving everything by strictly logical deduction generally make very poor preachers. In the Scriptures, God does not argue, He proclaims!” “Seven elements which distinguish the real gospel, the new covenant, from imitations:<\/p>\n the free grace of God as the cause of salvation; Whosoever will<\/strong> I See Him<\/strong> The believer is perfect in Christ, but in himself is a poor, feeble creature, ever liable to fall. Oh, the blessedness of having One who can manage all his affairs for him at the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens: One who upholds him continually by the right hand of His righteousness: One who will never let him go: One who is able to save to the uttermost: One who is the same yesterday, today and forever: One who will bear him triumphantly through all the difficulties and dangers that surround him and finally, present him faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy. Blessed forever be the grace that has made such ample provision for all our sins in the Blood of a spotless victim and the intercession of a Divine High Priest. The all-wise God, whose never-failing providence ordereth every event, usually makes what we set our hearts upon unsatisfactory; and sweetens what we feared: bringing real evil out of seeming good; and real good out of seeming evil; to shew us what short-sighted creatures we are, and to teach us to live by faith upon his […]<\/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-4237","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\/4237","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=4237"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4239,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions\/4239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPeter in Acts 2, Stephen in Acts 7, and Paul in Acts 13 delivered sermons that summarized the entire history of the Old Testament. And the subject of each of their sermons was the Lord Jesus Christ. How I wish that all men and women could see this blessed fact: \u2014 Jesus Christ and him crucified is the theme of Holy Scripture! \u2014 \u201cTo him give all the prophets witness!\u201d And to him give all the apostles witness. Every book of the Bible speaks of Christ. Let me show you just one thing revealed about Christ in each of the 66 books of Holy Scripture. Christ is the theme of every text, the subject of every page, and the message of every subject set forth in Holy Scripture. But space will permit me to show you just one thing revealing Christ in every book of the Bible.
\nIn Genesis He is the Seed of the Woman
\nIn Exodus He is the Paschal Lamb.
\nIn Leviticus He is the Atonement for Sin.
\nIn Numbers He is the Brazen Serpent.
\nIn Deuteronomy He is the City of Refuge.
\nIn Joshua He is Rahab\u2019s Scarlet Cord.
\nIn Judges He is the Angel of the Lord.
\nIn Ruth He is our Kinsman Redeemer.
\nIn 1st Samuel He is the Slayer of our Enemies.
\nIn 2nd Samuel He is the Gracious King.
\nIn 1st Kings He is the Builder of His Temple.
\nIn 2nd Kings He is the Great Prophet.
\nIn 1st Chronicles He is the Ark of Blessing.
\nIn 2nd Chronicles He is the Defender of His People.
\nIn Ezra He is the Restorer of His People.
\nIn Nehemiah He is the Rememberer of His People.
\nIn Esther He is the Preserver of His People.
\nIn Job He is the Daysman.
\nIn Psalms He is the Good Shepherd.
\nIn Proverbs He is the Wisdom of God.
\nIn Ecclesiastes He is the Teacher of Wisdom.
\nIn Solomon\u2019s Song He is the Beloved of His Church.
\nIn Isaiah He is the Substitute for Sinners.
\nIn Jeremiah He is the Lord our Righteousness.
\nIn Lamentations He is the Lord our Portion.
\nIn Ezekiel He is the Glory of the Lord.
\nIn Daniel He is the Messiah the Prince.
\nIn Hosea He is God my Husband.
\nIn Joel He is the Hope of His People.
\nIn Amos He is the Sifter of His People.
\nIn Obadiah He is the Searcher of Hearts.
\nIn Jonah He is the Sovereign Deliverer.
\nIn Micah He is Bethlehem\u2019s Infant.
\nIn Nahum He is the Great One.
\nIn Habakkuk He is the Faithful One.
\nIn Zephaniah He is the Mighty One.
\nIn Haggai He is the Desire of All Nations.
\nIn Zechariah He is the Fountain Opened for Sinners.
\nIn Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness.
\nIn Matthew He is the Son of David.
\nIn Mark He is the Son of Man.
\nIn Luke He is the Son of God.
\nIn John He is the Lamb of God.
\nIn Acts He is the Ascended Lord.
\nIn Romans He is the Just God our Savior.
\nIn 1st Corinthians He is the Power of God.
\nIn 2nd Corinthians He is the Reconciler.
\nIn Galatians He is the End of the Law.
\nIn Ephesians He is the Effectual Savior.
\nIn Philippians He is the Joy of Saints.
\nIn Colossians He is the Pre-eminent One.
\nIn 1st Thessalonians He is the Hope of Salvation.
\nIn 2nd Thessalonians He is the Coming Lord.
\nIn 1st Timothy He is the Preacher\u2019s Doctrine.
\nIn 2nd Timothy He is the Eternal Surety.
\nIn Titus He is the Grace of God.
\nIn Philemon He is the Intercessor.
\nIn Hebrews He is the Fulfillment of the Law.
\nIn James He is the Giver of Grace.
\nIn 1st Peter He is the Effectual Redeemer.
\nIn 2nd Peter He is the Longsuffering Lord.
\nIn 1st John He is the Propitiation for Our Sins.
\nIn 2nd John He is the Doctrine of God.
\nIn 3rd John He is the Truth of God.
\nIn Jude He is Our Security
\nIn Revelation He is the Fulness of God<\/p>\n
\nClay Curtis.<\/p>\n
\nJ.C. Philpot<\/p>\n
\npeace with God as the result of salvation;
\nChrist as the heart of salvation;
\nChrist’s death and resurrection as the means of salvation;
\ndeliverance as the hallmark of salvation;
\nthe will of God as the source of salvation
\nthe glory of God as the purpose of salvation.”
\n“The gospel is of divine origin, made known to Paul ‘through the revelation of Jesus Christ’. It is revealed, unique, Christ-centred, perfect, complete and eternal in its conception, validity and effects. This revealed gospel differs from all ‘gospels’ of human origin in that its purpose is to glorify God, rather than to please man.”
\nEdgar Andrews
\nExtracts from the book “Free in Christ”.<\/p>\n
\nThose that love and preach the message of God\u2019s sovereign saving grace in Christ alone are often accused of not believing in \u201cwhosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely\u201d. How can one that God has taught by His Holy Spirit believe anything other than this? It is clearly taught in scripture! The unregenerate falsely say that because we accept and preach the truth of God\u2019s electing grace, we proclaim a message that excludes some men from coming to Christ even if they want to. The problem is not the call to come\u2026the problem is man\u2019s willingness and ability to come. When the Lord Jesus cried in the last day, that great day of the feast (Jn.7: 37) \u201cif any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink\u201d\u2026why did men not come to Him to drink of the water of life? I\u2019ll tell you why\u2026they didn\u2019t want to! Men by nature are just not willing to come to Christ as He is revealed in scripture! (Jn.5: 39-40)
\nHear the sweet message of God\u2019s grace to an undeserving people\u2026\u201dThy people shall be willing in the day of thy power\u201d. (Ps.110: 3) Those that the Holy Ghost effectually calls, willingly come to Him as spiritual beggars in need of a Savior! They come because they now see the hopelessness of salvation without Christ the Mediator between God and themselves. They have been given a new heart to come to Christ for mercy. They willingly come to Christ as their Surety, their Representative, and their Substitute before God.
\nI leave you with these questions. Do you want to come? If you do, believe me, it\u2019s not because you decided to exercise your free will, because your natural will is the slave of sin! Will you be saved by His grace alone? If you will, it\u2019s because you\u2019ve seen your works of self-righteousness to be unacceptable before God because of sin. Do you know by faith that the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus to robe you for justification before God\u2019s law is the only covering of eternal hope? Will you come to Christ as the One who was made a curse for you at Calvary? If you will, COME! If you have no desire to come to Christ like this and you perish in your sins, it\u2019s your own fault. But if you desire to willingly come because you see by faith your need of Christ for life by His blood, it\u2019s because God has shown you mercy by giving you that new heart to come and has been pleased to not leave you to yourself.
\nMarvin Stalnaker
\nWhosoever
\nIt does not matter who you are, what you\u2019ve done, how evil you have been or how far from God you find yourself, believe the gospel, come to Christ and ask Him for mercy, and you shall have it. Our Lord Jesus Christ has never yet turned away a sinner who has called upon Him.
\nChris Cunningham<\/p>\n
\nA true revelation of Christ will take care of some unpleasant things that we see. I see sin in myself but I also SEE HIM as my righteousness and sin offering! I see trial and sorrows everyday but I also SEE HIM caring for me and in His good providence working them all together for my good! I see death and judgment approaching but I also SEE HIM, my Justifier, my resurrection, and my life! I see friends and neighbors in darkness, ignorance, and unbelief, but I also SEE HIM who is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him! I see Satan and the forces of evil seeking the destruction of Christ\u2019s church but I also SEE HIM who is the conqueror of the prince of this world and remember His promise, \u201cThe gates of hell shall not prevail.\u201d My friends, if you can see Him, you will find that one sight will make amends for the dark things you see (I Jn. 5:11-13).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pastor Henry Mahan<\/p>\n
\nPastor Scott Richardson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"