“ORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE”
\nActs 13:48<\/p>\n
Paul had preached the gospel clearly in power of the Holy Spirit. When
\nthe Jews heard the message, they walked out in angry protest; but the
\nGentiles desired that it be declared to them again (v. 42). When the
\nJews heard the story of substitutionary redemption, “they were filled
\nwith envy and spoke against those things…contradicting and
\nblaspheming”; but when the Gentiles heard it “they were glad” (w. 45,
\n48). When the Jews heard the gospel of the grace of God, they despised
\nit, rejected it, and put it away from themselves, judging themselves to
\nbe unworthy of everlasting life; but the Gentiles “glorified the Word of
\nthe Lord” (vv. 46, 48). What made the difference? Luke gives the answer
\nin plain, simple, unmistakable words: “As many as were ordained to
\neternal life believed.” The doctrine of the text is undeniable – All who
\nbelieve the gospel were from eternity ordained by God to eternal life.
\nAnd all who were ordained by God to eternal life shall believe the
\ngospel. God will save his own elect.
\nDon Fortner.<\/p>\n
I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not
\nfulfill the lust of the flesh. ~Galatians 5.16<\/p>\n
No amount of goodness on the part of the unbeliever can unite him to God
\nand His blessings, and no amount of sin on the part of a believer can
\nseparate the believer from God and His blessings. The natural man cannot
\nreceive this glorious truth taught by the Spirit of God, and, since it
\nsounds like foolishness to him, he rejects it in favor of some
\nlegalistic system of self-produced righteousness. The legalist thinks
\nthat such a message will lead people to indulge their flesh in a flood
\nof sinful activity. What he does not realize is that, while it would
\nlikely lead him to such a life, it would never lead a child of God to
\nthat sort of life.<\/p>\n
In truth, it is exactly the opposite as the legalist believes:
\nConcerning the one who has been born again by the Spirit of God, the
\nmore he is able to lay hold of the truth of God\u2019s great grace toward
\nhim, the less he is likely to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, for
\nbelieving the gospel of grace and approaching God on no other foundation
\nother than His grace in Christ is exactly what it means to walk in the
\nSpirit \u2013 to believe that our actions can neither help nor hinder our
\nsalvation for all has been accomplished by Jesus Christ. It is a miracle
\nof grace that the more we are able to lay hold of the truth that, in
\nChrist, our sin cannot harm us, and our righteousness cannot help us in
\nany eternal sense, the less we will pursue a sinful course.<\/p>\n
So, child of God, would you like to be less troubled by temptation and
\nsinful failure? Then fully lay hold of the truth that, in Christ, you
\nhave no sin! ~Joe Terrell<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Wisdom and spiritual understanding\u201d Col. 1:8<\/p>\n
Which comes first, understanding or believing? Most would assume you
\ncannot believe that which you don’t understand. This reasoning puts man
\nas the standard of truth. He judges what is worthy to be believed by
\nwhat he is able to understand. Adam\u2019s fall in the garden was motivated
\nby a temptation to be God. Nothing has changed. Men are still standing
\nin judgment of God, putting their reason above God’s revelation. God
\nsays; If you will not believe, you shall not \u201cbe established\u201d
\n(understand) Is. 7:9b. Truth is, nothing we believe can be fully
\nunderstood. However, the understanding God gives us only comes after the
\nheart is brought to bow in submission of faith. God\u2019s prophets and
\npreachers have never been called on by God to prove anything to men.
\nThey are called of God to preach, proclaim, herald, declare, “thus
\nsayeth the Lord”. God’s sheep, when given a heart to believe, hear His
\nvoice and follow Him. The \u201cpotsherds\u201d (shards of broken clay pots) of
\nthe earth will always strive with their Maker. Is. 45:9. The vessels of
\nhonor will always be pliable clay in the hands of the Potter. ~Greg<\/p>\n
CHRIST REVEALS HIMSELF
\nChrist reveals himself to his chosen vessels of mercy. He will not leave
\nthem in darkness. They shall know they are his. \u201cThat thou mayest say to
\nthe prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves\u201d
\n(Isaiah 49:9). Christ sought her out when she was healed. He would have
\nher to know she is his Daughter. So it is for every sinner saved. They
\nshall know that Christ died for them. He paid for them by shedding his
\nown blood to put away their sins. He made a covering with his own
\nprecious blood to hide us from the wrath of God. He clothes us in the
\nwhite robe of his righteousness. We shall not need to hide in fear or
\nshame before God who sits on the throne to judge the hearts and deeds of
\nmen. We shall be joyfully presented to the Father unashamed, for Christ
\ndied to cleanse us of our iniquity. And Christ arose from the grave to
\ngive us life in him. \u201cIn the body of his flesh through death, to present
\nyou holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight\u201d (Colossians
\n1:22). \u201cTo the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness
\nbefore God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with
\nall his saints\u201d (1 Thessalonians 3:13). Pastor Eric Lutter<\/p>\n
Augustine once said: \u201cTo be assured of our interest in Christ is not
\narrogance, it is FAITH. It is not pride; it is DEVOTION. It is not
\npresumption; it is GOD\u2019S PROMISE.\u201d If assurance of salvation rested in
\nmy works, it would be presumption (even foolishness); but we believe God
\nwill receive all who come to Him in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n
Do You Believe on the Son of God?
\nDon Bell<\/p>\n
Has God the Holy Spirit given you faith in Christ? Do you suddenly,
\nunexplainably find yourself trusting Christ, looking to him for
\nsalvation? If you do, it is because God has given you his gift of
\neternal life. \u2014 \u201cHe that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting
\nlife\u2026Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ hath everlasting
\nlife.\u201d You could not and would not believe were you not born of God. You
\ndo not need to know when you began to believe, who was preaching when
\nyou began to believe, whether you have repented enough to be a believer,
\nor whether you believe enough to be a believer. \u2014 \u201cDost thou believe on
\nthe Son of God?\u201d If you do, if you find yourself trusting Christ, I say
\nto you as Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus, who suddenly found himself
\nbelieving on the Son of God, \u201cThe God of our fathers hath chosen
\nthee\u2026arise, and be baptized.\u201d Do not delay. Obey your Lord and Savior,
\nidentify yourself with him and confess him. \u2014 \u201cHe that believeth and is
\nbaptized shall be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
THEY FOLLOW ME
\n\u201cMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.\u201d (JOHN 10:27)
\nBeloved, we follow Him. Why do we follow Him? Why do we follow the LORD
\nour righteousness? Because beloved, as the Psalmist puts it ever so
\nblessedly He \u201cset us in the way of His steps\u201d (PSALM 85:13). How does He
\ndo that? Beloved, He grants His sheep to hear His word, to hear His
\nvoice and are made to know the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, He goes
\nbefore us; indeed, every step we take the Lord took first and we follow
\nHim who is our righteousness. AMEN! Pastor Joseph Murphy<\/p>\n
SIN IS IN THE HEART OF FLESH
\n\u201cSon of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put
\nthe stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be
\nenquired of at all by them?\u201d (Eze 14:3)<\/p>\n
God is speaking of the elders of Israel that came each day and sat
\nbefore Ezekiel to hear a message from God. (v1) They came with the
\nofferings God commanded in his law. Outwardly, they appeared to be true
\nworshippers of God. Yet, God looks, not on the outward appearance, but
\non the heart. God said that though they appeared outwardly to worship
\nGod, in their hearts they had set up their idols and put the
\nstumblingblock of iniquity before their face.<\/p>\n
Though they pretended to sit in God\u2019s house and hear God\u2019s prophet and
\nseek God\u2019s counsel, they set their idol god before their face. The
\n\u201cstumblingblock of their iniquity\u201d God called \u201cthe greatness of thy
\nway.\u201d No matter what God\u2019s messenger declared to be the word of God,
\nthey preferred their own word, their own wisdom, their own will, their
\nown traditions, their own ways and rejected the clear declaration of
\nGod\u2019s word: they sought other places to assemble rather than with God\u2019s
\npeople (Is 57: 5); they exalted themselves and their understanding of
\nGod\u2019s word rather than bow to God\u2019s word (Is 57: 7); they hid the truth
\nof God behind the doorpost while they embraced every false way for the
\nsake of gain (Is 57: 8); they used means and methods of worship which
\nwere not ordained by God (Is 57: 9-10); they found life by their own
\nhand therefore they were not grieved over their sin (Is 57: 10); they
\nfeared man\u2014father, mother, son and daughter\u2014and were more fearful of
\noffending them rather than fearing God and being fearful of offending
\nhim (Is 57: 10). God called their iniquity a stumblingblock because they
\nnot only caused themselves to stumble by their perversity but they
\ncaused others in their sphere of influence to stumble.<\/p>\n
Brethren, each depraved sinner has a god crafted in the imagination of
\nhis own heart. Every unregenerate sinner, though he may profess to
\nbelieve the true and living God in truth, thinks the true and living God
\nis like the idol he has carved out in his own heart. Never think that
\nidolatry\u2014or any other sin\u2014is only sin when it is manifest outwardly.
\nOutwardly these men appeared genuine. The sin was in their heart.
\nDepraved man always looks to himself: his wisdom and word rather than
\nChrist our Wisdom who is the Word of God, his works rather than Christ
\nour Righteousness, his holiness rather Christ our Sanctification, his
\nbondage rather than Christ our Redemption. The law only works in his
\ndepraved heart concupiscence\u2014the desire for the very thing the law
\nforbids\u2014which is summed up on the first commandment which he breaks\u2014he
\nmakes himself to be his god. God must create in us a new man, giving us
\na new spirit, which is after God created renewed in knowledge after the
\nimage of Christ who created him.
\nClay Curtis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“ORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE” Acts 13:48 Paul had preached the gospel clearly in power of the Holy Spirit. When the Jews heard the message, they walked out in angry protest; but the Gentiles desired that it be declared to them again (v. 42). When the Jews heard the story of substitutionary redemption, “they were filled […]<\/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-5130","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\/5130","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=5130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5131,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5130\/revisions\/5131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}