SEPARATED
\nActs 13: 2-3
\nOver time, the Holy Spirit worked in Barnabas and Saul and proved,
\nbefore the others in the church at Antioch, that these were two men whom
\nthe Lord had chosen, filled, made faithful and who were proven faithful.
\nIn the beginning, Barnabas was faithful to do what the Lord enabled him
\nto do where the Lord had placed him (Acts 4: 37.) Later, the Holy Spirit
\nput in the hearts of the saints at Jerusalem to send Barnabas to Antioch
\nwho went faithfully. The Lord used Barnabas to bring Saul to Antioch.
\nWhen the saints determined to send relief to the church at Jerusalem
\nduring the famine, the Holy Spirit put it in their hearts to send their
\ngift by the hand of these the two men. They did so faithfully,
\nseparating themselves from all worldly distraction to the work given
\nthem by the Holy Spirit. Then, after Barnabas and Saul returned from
\nJerusalem, as they continued together at Antioch with the other
\nministers and saints, in worship, in fasting from the cares of this
\nworld, the Holy Spirit speaks to the heart of these ministers and the
\nsaints at Antioch saying, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
\nwhereunto I have called them. (Acts 13: 2.) Sanctification is being set
\napart for God’s use and being made willing to spend and be spent for the
\nservice of Christ Jesus the King of glory. May the Lord use these two
\nmen as examples by which to truly separate us for this great work.
\nClay Curtis.<\/p>\n
Come With Us and We Will Do You Good
\nDrew Dietz
\n\u201cAnd Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses\u2019
\nfather in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said,
\nI will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the
\nLord hath spoken good concerning Israel\u201d. (Numbers 10:29).<\/p>\n
Now I implore you, whoever you are, where ever you are; do this if you
\ncan do nothing else: Come with the people of God and hear of our Gospel,
\nour God and our substitute, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ! Wayward
\nsaint, troubled believer, come often, come frequently to the house of
\nGod to hear of the Good things God has for you bundled up in the Son of
\nHis Love! Lost, helpless and dying sinner; your only hope is to \u2018look
\nand live\u2019 upon the Redeemer as He is revealed and preached here in this
\nplace every Sunday and Wednesday; come here and we will do you good. The
\nsaints of God are a lot which care like no other people, have
\nexperienced many things and can comfort like no other people and will do
\nall they can to promote God\u2019s glory and your benefit like no other
\npeople! Why? Because we know that we are of all people the chief of
\nsinners saved by the unmerited favor of the Sovereign and majestic
\nSaviour! If He has called us, He can call anyone, we leave the matter in
\nHis ever compassionate hands! Yet, come with us and we will do you good
\nas we have opportunity!<\/p>\n
WHY SHOULD WE SUPPORT MISSIONARIES?
\n(III John 6-8)
\nMany answers are given to that question in the Word of God. But the
\nApostle here gives four excellent reasons for doing so. Having commended
\nGaius for his good work in this regard, John encourages him to continue
\nwith these reasons:
\n1. IT IS A WORK PLEASING TO GOD. John told Gaius that when one of God’s
\nservants came through town, not only was he to care for him while he was
\nthere, but he was to “bring forward” on his journey. That is to say, he
\nwas to provide such things as the preacher needed to carry on his
\nmission. This is a \u201cgodly sort” of work. The margin reads, “worthy of
\nGod”. It is a work with which God is pleased. God delights to see those
\nwho love Christ showing their love by generosity toward his servants.
\n2. WE SHOULD DO IT “FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE”. There is one thing that
\ncompels the true servant of God to take his wife and children to a far
\noff place to preach the gospel, leaving relatives and friends behind. He
\nhas a burning jealousy for the name of Christ. He preaches the gospel so
\nthat men everywhere may bow down, trust, and worship at the name of
\nChrist (Rom. 1:1, 5). Our Lord is so highly honored by the service of
\nsuch men that he says that, what we do for them, we do for him (Mt.
\n10:40-42).
\n3. THEY HAVE NO OTHER MEANS OF SUPPORT. “They went forth taking nothing
\nof the Gentiles.” Our Lord expressly forbids his servants to beg for
\nsupport, especially from the unbeliever (Mt. 10:5-10; Luke 10:1-7). And
\nPaul condemned those pretentious servants of Christ who merely peddled
\nthe gospel (II Cor. 2:7; I Thess. 2:5-9). You can mark this down, if God
\nis in a work, God will support it through the generosity of his people.
\nAnd no servant of God should have to provide a piece of bread for
\nhimself. The people of God ought to take care of him. What man goes to
\nwar at his own expense? Surely, the laborer is worthy of his reward!
\n4. What is more, by our loving, and generous support of God’s servants –
\nWE BECOME “FELLOW-HELPERS TO THE TRUTH” When we supply a man’s needs so
\nthat he can preach the gospel, we become allies with him in the work:
\nWhat a privilege!
\nDon Fortner<\/p>\n
Come Here and Hear
\nJoshua 3:9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and
\nhear the words of the LORD your God.<\/p>\n
The nation of Israel has been brought to the brink of Jordon by the
\npurpose and providential care of God. Before they began to cross over,
\nJoshua has some urgent, necessary and encouraging words. He tells them
\nto \u201cCome hither and hear the words of the LORD your God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friends these are the words that our Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ,
\ncommands His people. Notice that Joshua did not say, come if you want
\nto, come if you feel like it, but COME and HEAR the words of the Lord
\nyour God. If you look closely at the next verses Joshua\u2019s command is for
\ntheir good and God\u2019s glory. In verse 10 of Joshua chapter 3, he
\nencourages them with the words, \u201cHereby ye shall know that the living
\nGod is among you.\u201d Has God revealed to you that He is always among you?\u201d
\nHe is among you to do you good! We have come nigh unto God. Ephesians
\n2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh
\nby the blood of Christ. God is among you dear believer and that is not
\nall! He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and
\nthe Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites,
\nand the Amorites, and the Jebusites. All our enemies will be driven out
\nfrom BEFORE US! And that means all of our enemies. SIN, is removed and
\nput away in Christ. CONDEMNATION, is no longer found on those who are in
\nChrist Jesus. (Romans 8:1) THE LAW, is fulfilled in Christ, and though
\nit was once our schoolmaster, it has now brought us to Christ. (Gal
\n3:24) DEATH and the GRAVE, have no sting or victory. (1 Cor. 15:55) THE
\nWORLD, though we are in it, we are not of it. We have also been
\ndelivered from our biggest enemy, OURSELVES. Romans 7:24-25 O wretched
\nman that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I
\nthank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
\nDear child of God, Come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God.
\n–David Eddmenson<\/p>\n
He that knoweth God heareth us
\nJoe Terrell
\nWe are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us.
\n(1 John 4:6)
\nJohn gives us several ways by which we may prove that we are of God:
\nmatters of both faith and practice. How can we know if others are of
\nGod? The answer is simple: those that know God are willing to hear us.
\nThey hear us with understanding, acknowledgement, and faith. It is not
\nas though we are the standard. Rather, God’s truth is the standard. But,
\nif we are of God, it is certain we will tell the truth of God. Since we
\ntell the truth of God, all others who are of God will rejoice in the
\ngospel we preach. We do not need to examine the lives of others, nor
\ndelve deeply into their theology. We need only plainly proclaim what God
\nhas taught us. If he has taught them also (and all God’s people are
\ntaught of God) they will agree. If God has not taught them, they will
\nnot agree.<\/p>\n
John Bunyan-(extract from) The Pilgrims Progress
\nwhen night was come, and when Mrs. Diffidence and her husband the giant
\nwas got to bed, they began to renew their discourse of their prisoners;
\nand withal, the old giant wondered that he could neither by his blows
\nnor counsel bring them to an end. And with that his wife replied, I
\nfear, said she, that they live in hopes that some will come to relieve
\nthem; or that they have picklocks about them, by the means of which they
\nhope to escape. And sayest thou so, my dear? said the giant; I will
\ntherefore search them in the morning.
\nWell, on Saturday, about midnight they began to pray, and continued in
\nprayer till almost break of day.
\nNow, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed,
\nbrake out into this passionate speech: What a fool, quoth he, am I, thus
\nto lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have
\na key in my bosom, called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any
\nlock in Doubting Castle. Then said Hopeful, That is good news; good
\nbrother, pluck it out of thy bosom, and try.
\nThen Christian pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the
\ndungeon-door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door
\nflew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he
\nwent to the outward door that leads into the castle-yard, and with his
\nkey opened that door also. After he went to the iron gate, for that must
\nbe opened too; but that lock went desperately hard, yet the key did open
\nit. They then thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed; but
\nthat gate, as it opened, made such a creaking, that it waked Giant
\nDespair, who hastily rising to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs to
\nfail, for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after
\nthem. Then they went on, and came to the King’s highway, and so were
\nsafe, because they were out of his jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
Christ Comes First
\nTodd Nibert
\nChrist said, \u201cAll that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers (John
\n10:8).\u201d Obviously, anybody coming before Him who claimed to be the
\nMessiah was a thief and robber. But He also means that anything that
\ncomes before Him in any aspect of salvation is a thief and robber. It is
\ntrue that God chose me in eternal election, but it is because He saw me
\nin Christ. Nothing comes before Him in redemption. He did not first see
\nmy faith before redemption could be applied to me. He redeemed me. He
\ncomes first in regeneration. I do not live because I decided to believe.
\nI believe because He gave me life! \u201cFor of Him, and through Him, and to
\nHim are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36).\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEPARATED Acts 13: 2-3 Over time, the Holy Spirit worked in Barnabas and Saul and proved, before the others in the church at Antioch, that these were two men whom the Lord had chosen, filled, made faithful and who were proven faithful. In the beginning, Barnabas was faithful to do what the Lord enabled him […]<\/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-4939","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\/4939","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=4939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4940,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4939\/revisions\/4940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}