The same man who said: \u201cI be nothing\u201d (2 Cor. 12:11) said: \u201cChrist is
\nall!\u201d (Col. 3:11) Every true child of God enters in to what the apostle
\nsaid, and totally agrees! I am the chief sinner; He is the Chief
\nShepherd and Saviour of sinners! I am vile and wicked; He is Holy and
\nJust! I am absolute weakness; He is infinite strength! I must decrease;
\nHe must increase! I am worthless vanity; He is unsearchable riches! I
\ndeserve wrath; He deserves Honour! I deserve DEATH; He deserves GLORY! I
\nAM NOTHING; and CHRIST IS ALL!<\/p>\n
But do you know what the glory of the gospel is?… He traded places
\nwith me.
\nPastor Gabe Stalnaker<\/p>\n
Only those who have experienced the miracle of the new birth know the
\ndifference between professing Christ and possessing Christ. Pastor Gene
\nHarmon<\/p>\n
EVERYONE CAN\u2019T BE RIGHT
\nSome think that it does not matter what a man believes so long as he is
\nsincere. The average person thinks that all religions are right. \u201cYou go
\nto your church and I\u2019ll go to mine, you believe what you think is right
\nand I\u2019ll believe what I think is right, and we\u2019ll meet in heaven someday
\nand rejoice in our respective saviors.\u201d<\/p>\n
No! My friends, we cannot all be right when we contradict one another
\nso. It is imperative that we search the Scriptures and see what God
\nsays. A doctrine is not true because I believe it or because you believe
\nit, but it is true only if God says it!<\/p>\n
I do not ask whether you believe what I preach; perhaps you do not. But
\nI ask you to search the Scriptures and determine whether these things be
\nso. I am not afraid to submit my belief in God\u2019s immutable sovereignty,
\nman\u2019s total fall and ruin, God\u2019s elective grace, Christ\u2019s effectual
\natonement, the Spirit\u2019s invincible call, and the perseverance of the
\nsheep to THE WORD OF GOD!<\/p>\n
Pastor Henry Mahan<\/p>\n
No Prerequisites<\/p>\n
Acts 16:31
\nThere are no prerequisites to faith in Christ. God does not tell sinners
\nthey must know this or that doctrine before they can believe. God does
\nnot tell us that we must experience certain feelings before we can
\nbelieve. God does not tell us that we must pass through great times of
\ndarkness before we can believe. God does say in his Word to poor, lost,
\nruined, doomed, damned sinners, \u201cBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
\nthou shalt be saved!\u201d<\/p>\n
Self-righteousness is like the pesky mole. Drive it out of one hole and
\nit will quickly find another in which to make its den. We have fairly
\nwell beaten it out of the den of good works as a ground of hope before
\nGod. But it has found another hiding place. The dark den where
\nself-righteousness hides with little possibility of detection is called
\nby many names: \u201cFitness for Faith,\u201d \u201cConditions of Conversion,\u201d
\n\u201cSuitability for Salvation,\u201d and \u201cQualifications for Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
No matter what name you hang over the hole, it is a den of iniquity. It
\nteaches sinners that in order to have true faith in Christ there are
\ncertain conditions that must be met. The doctrine goes like this:
\n\u201cSalvation is by grace alone. It is not what you do, but what Christ has
\ndone that saves you. But before you can truly trust Christ and be saved,
\nyou must be terrified with conviction, you must weep and mourn over your
\nsin, you must desire holiness, you must repent, you must long for
\nChrist, you must come to see yourself as a lost sinner, and then
\nearnestly seek the Lord.<\/p>\n
That is a round-about way of preaching salvation by works. There are no
\nprerequisites, no conditions, no qualifications to be met by sinners
\nbefore they trust Christ. The gospel of Christ is addressed to sinners
\nas sinners, not awakened sinners, not sensible sinners, not convicted
\nsinners, not lost sinners, not repentant sinners, just sinners! God does
\nnot command sinners to feel a certain way, experience something, or come
\nto realize something about themselves. God commands sinners to \u201cbelieve
\non his Son, Jesus Christ.\u201d The moment a preacher places any condition or
\nqualification of any kind upon the sinner before he can trust Christ and
\nbe saved, he ceases to preach a gospel of pure grace. Repentance,
\nconviction of sin, lamentation and sorrow over sin are not prerequisites
\nfor coming to Christ and trusting him. These things do not precede
\nfaith. They are the results of faith (Zechariah 12:10; John 16:7-14).<\/p>\n
\u201cWherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of
\nthese things, though ye know them, and be established in the present
\ntruth.\u201d 2 Peter 1:12<\/p>\n
As the Holy God: He is angry with the wicked every day.<\/p>\n
As the God of justice: He requires full satisfaction for our sin.<\/p>\n
As the God of judgment: He will by no means clear the guilty.<\/p>\n
As the God of truth: He must carry out His threatening of judgment.<\/p>\n
As the God of love: He sent His beloved Son into the world.<\/p>\n
As the God of grace: He made His beloved Son sin for us.<\/p>\n
As the God of mercy: He gave us Christ\u2019s perfect righteousness.<\/p>\n
As the Sovereign God: He does all these things on purpose.<\/p>\n
~David Eddmenson<\/p>\n
The only way a person can be accepted by God is by having a perfect
\nsacrifice. The sacrifice is of God\u2019s own providing. The Lord Jesus
\nChrist is the sacrifice that God has provided, and what He provides, He
\nwill accept. If you persist in working with the hope of being saved by
\nyour doing, let me warn you one more time that you are running after a
\nscheme which God has solemnly declared He will never accept. \u201cBy the
\ndeeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight.\u201d ~Scott
\nRichardson<\/p>\n
Here I Stand
\nHere I stand, I can do no other! Let others waver, compromise, or cover;
\nbut I preach what Spurgeon, Luther, Calvin, Augustine, Paul, the
\napostles, and the prophets preached; \u201cSalvation is of the Lord.\u201d Christ
\ndied in the stead of His people; and, as God is just, He will not and
\ncannot punish one soul of Adam\u2019s race for whom Christ died. There is not
\none sin in the book of God against any believer. Our sins were laid on
\nHim, the law is honored, the justice of God satisfied; and, inasmuch as
\nsin condemned Him, sin cannot condemn us! This is my hope, comfort, and
\nmy security; that all my sins, transgressions, and iniquities were
\natoned for before they were even committed! This, indeed, is good news
\nfor the guilty! ~Henry T. Mahan<\/p>\n
EVERYTHING that God requires, God MUST provide; and God ONLY accepts
\nthat which He provides. ~Greg Elmquist<\/p>\n
OUR STRENGTH IS THE LORD
\nEphesians 6: 10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the
\npower of his might.<\/p>\n
Every elect child, born of God, is in a warfare. But our strength for
\nthis war is not of us but of God. Believers have no strength in us. None
\nof the gospel exhortations given us by Christ are performed in our own
\nstrength.<\/p>\n
Our strength is the Lord Jesus Christ, \u201cbe strong in the Lord, and in
\nthe power of his might.\u201d The Lord told the apostle Paul, \u201cMy grace is
\nsufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.\u201d We
\nare strong by the power of Christ resting upon us. When we are weak so
\nas to look only to Christ then are we strong. (2 Cor 12: 9-10) \u201cIn all
\nthese things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.\u201d
\n(Rom 8: 37)<\/p>\n
A branch gets all its strength from the vine. Separate the branch from
\nthe vine and it withers away because it is cutoff from its life and
\nstrength. Likewise, the believer\u2019s life and strength is from Christ who
\nlives in us. Our Lord said, \u201cAbide in me, and I in you. As the branch
\ncannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can
\nye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
\nabideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
\nwithout me ye can do nothing.\u201d (Jn 15: 4-5)
\nSo the Holy Spirit turns us to our strength, \u201cPut on the whole armor of
\nGod.\u201d (Eph 6: 11) Our armor for this fight is of God: God provides it,
\nGod gives it, God is the sum of it and God is the efficacy of it. \u201cThe
\nweapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
\npulling down of strong holds.\u201d (2 Cor 10: 4)
\nClay Curtis.<\/p>\n
JOSEPH HART wrote,<\/p>\n
Gird thy loins up, Christian soldier;
\nLo! thy Captain calls thee out;
\nLet the danger make thee bolder;
\nWar in weakness, dare in doubt.<\/p>\n
Buckle on thy heavenly armour;
\nPatch up no inglorious peace;
\nLet thy courage wax the warmer,
\nAs thy foes and fears increase.<\/p>\n
Now I saw in my dream, that by this time the pilgrims were got over the
\nEnchanted Ground, and entering into the country of Beulah, whose air was
\nvery sweet and pleasant, Isaiah 62:4-12; Song 2:10-12; the way lying
\ndirectly through it, they solaced themselves there for a season. Yea,
\nhere they heard continually the singing of birds, and saw every day the
\nflowers appear in the earth, and heard the voice of the turtle in the
\nland. In this country the sun shineth night and day: wherefore this was
\nbeyond the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and also out of the reach of
\nGiant Despair; neither could they from this place so much as see
\nDoubting Castle. Here they were within sight of the city they were going
\nto; also here met them some of the inhabitants thereof; for in this land
\nthe shining ones commonly walked, because it was upon the borders of
\nheaven. In this land also the contract between the Bride and the
\nBridegroom was renewed; yea, here, “as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the
\nbride, so doth God rejoice over them.” Here they had no want of corn and
\nwine; for in this place they met with abundance of what they had sought
\nfor in all their pilgrimage. Here they heard voices from out of the
\ncity, loud voices, saying, “Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy
\nsalvation cometh! Behold, his reward is with him!” Here all the
\ninhabitants of the country called them “the holy People, the redeemed of
\nthe Lord, sought out,” &c.
\n(extract from) The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan.<\/p>\n
In The Beginning
\nAll things begin with God – \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word
\nwas with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with
\nGod. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made
\nthat was made\u201d (John 1:1). All things that follow stream from his
\neternal purpose which will ultimately be accomplished.<\/p>\n
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not just enter into the scheme of things in
\ntime, he is the eternal Son of God from everlasting which was manifest
\nin the flesh, in time. Neither God nor his Son has a beginning, yet all
\nthings have their beginning in the Godhead. This Biblical truth is the
\nquintessence of all truth. If this be not so then Divinity has no real
\nmeaning, value or merit. I believe that is why, by Divine inspiration,
\nHoly Writ begins thusly – \u201cIn the beginning God.\u201d In respect to this
\nrevelation of God in Christ the child of God has great interest,
\nprimarily because in him who is the beginning of all things our
\nsalvation originates or has it\u2019s beginning – \u201cBut of him (God) are ye in
\nChrist Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
\nsanctification, and redemption\u201d (1 Cor. 1:30).<\/p>\n
If it be so that the beginning of our salvation is Christ and is in
\nChrist, who is the Alpha, then all our salvation to the end is in him
\nwho is the Omega as well. Not only was he in the beginning, he is the
\nbeginning! And He never changes! – \u201cJesus Christ the same yesterday, and
\ntoday, and forever\u201d (Heb. 13:8). The word \u201cbeginning\u201d is strictly to
\naccommodate us mere mortals because with God all things are in the
\neternal present.<\/p>\n
The way we, by faith, see this great and wonderful mystery revealed is
\nthat in the beginning, before the foundation of the world, God the
\nFather chose his people in Christ unto salvation. In time the Son of God
\nwas manifest in the flesh to begin and accomplish eternal redemption for
\nus. In time the Lord Jesus Christ in the Person of His blessed Spirit
\nbegun a good work in us and will perform it unto perfection. Dear
\nreader, what we experience now and will experience in the future, as the
\nchildren of God, is a work finished from the beginning – \u201cFor we which
\nhave believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my
\nwrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were
\nfinished from the foundation of the world\u201d (Heb. 4:3).<\/p>\n
In this context our great comfort is twofold. 1.) God never begins
\nanything that he doesn\u2019t finish. 2.) All that he does for his people is
\nin Christ, who is the beginning.<\/p>\n
You agnostics perish with your vain thoughts. . . You who know Christ
\nrejoice with great joy that all things are in him.<\/p>\n
Tommy Robbins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The same man who said: \u201cI be nothing\u201d (2 Cor. 12:11) said: \u201cChrist is all!\u201d (Col. 3:11) Every true child of God enters in to what the apostle said, and totally agrees! I am the chief sinner; He is the Chief Shepherd and Saviour of sinners! I am vile and wicked; He is Holy and […]<\/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-5085","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\/5085","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=5085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5086,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions\/5086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}