{"id":5435,"date":"2019-09-17T10:14:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T10:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5435"},"modified":"2019-09-17T10:14:12","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T10:14:12","slug":"bulletin-edition-september-2019-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5435","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition September 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Salvation, eternal life is nothing less than the life\nof God in you! It is \u201cChrist in you, the hope of glory<\/em>.\u201d Colossians 1:27<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the religions of this world focus on preparing people to\nlive in this world. The gospel of Christ focuses on preparing people to live in\nthe world to come.               \n                    Pastor\nDon Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law and Grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few contrasts between law and grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law manifests what is in man\u2014sin;  \n            Grace\nmanifests what is in God\u2014love;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law demands righteousness from men;\n         Grace brings righteousness to\nmen; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law sentences a living man to death; Grace brings a dead man\nto life; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law speaks of what men must do for God:    Grace\ntells of what Christ has done for men; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law gives a knowledge of sin;\n                      \nGrace puts away sin; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law brings God out to men;\n                         \nGrace brings men into God.               \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Scott Richardson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing God John 17:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really stamps man’s character and condition is his\nignorance or knowledge of God. That marks his character here and fixes his\ndestiny hereafter. Is he evil in his thoughts, evil in his words, evil in his\nactions? It’s all the result of him being ignorant of God. On the other hand,\nis he pure in thoughts, gracious in actions? It is but the practical result of\nhis knowledge of God. To know God is the solid ground of endless joy. To know\nHim not is everlasting destruction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The knowledge of God is everything. It quickens the soul,\npurifies the heart, satisfies conscience and sanctifies the entire character\nand conduct. I cannot know God and not have life. The loss of the knowledge of\nGod by Adam was death to him, but the knowledge of God is life\u2026\u201cAnd this is\nlife eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,\nwhom thou hast sent\u201d (John 17:3). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mission of the Son of God, who came from the heart of\nthe Father, was to reveal what God the Father really is (grace and truth)\u2026the\nvery thing which man lost in the fall. Truth reveals God as He is, and this\ntruth is connected with the revelation of perfect grace. When the sinner finds\nthat the revelation of Who God is becomes the basis of his eternal salvation,\nthat revelation is unspeakably joyful. \u201cThis is life eternal that they might\nknow Thee.\u201d He can only be known in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the\nexpress image of the invisible God. We’d better find out who God is. \n                     \n                     \n                 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Pastor Scott Richardson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might preach until our tongues rotted, until we should\nexhaust our lungs and die\u2014but never a soul would be converted without the Holy\nSpirit\u2019s power attending the Word.  If the Holy Spirit does not renew the\nhearts of our hearers, we cannot do it.  If the Holy Spirit does not\nregenerate them, we cannot.  If He does not send the truth home to their\nsouls, we might as well speak into the ear of a corpse. \n                 \n              <\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. H. Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some preachers want to arouse man\u2019s activity.  We want\nto kill it once and for all, to show him that he is lost and ruined, and that\nhis activities are not able to save him.  Some seek to make the man stand\nup.  We seek to bring him down and make him feel that he is in the hands\nof God and that his business is to submit to God, bow to the claims of Christ,\nand cry, \u201cLord, save me or I perish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Henry Mahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CALLED UNTO THE FELLOWSHIP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Corinthians 1: 9: God is<\/em>\nfaithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ\nour Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union with Christ is the only way we can\nhave spiritual life.  Christ said,  \u201c<\/em><\/strong>Abide in me,\nand I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the\nvine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the\nbranches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much\nfruit: for without me ye can do nothing\u201d (Jn 15: 4-5)<\/em>The\nbranch does not give life to the root but the root the branch. So it is when\nGod the Father calls us into fellowship with Christ. We receive spiritual life\nfrom Christ the Life (Jn 17: 21-23)  Believer, you are a \u201chabitation of\nGod through the Spirit!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This is as\namazing, as it is essential, when God forms Christ in us then we become \u201cpartakers\nof the divine nature.\u201d (2 Pet 1: 4)<\/em> Only by partaking of Christ\u2019s divine\nnature do we escape \u201cthe corruption that is in the world through lust.\u201d<\/em>We partake of all that Christ is and all that he accomplished by his\nobedience.  This blessing of the last Adam is figured in the first. \nWhen Adam broke the law, all Adam\u2019s children were in Adam\u2019s loins. \nTherefore, we all became unrighteous by Adam\u2019s disobedience. Once born of Adam,\nwe became partakers of Adam\u2019s sinful nature. The result is our nature is enmity\nagainst God.  So all the credit goes to Adam for making us unrighteous and\nunholy by his disobedience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Likewise, when\nChrist fulfilled the law, all his children were in Christ\u2019s loins. \nTherefore, we became righteous by Christ\u2019s obedience.  Once born of\nChrist, we became partaker of Christ\u2019s holy nature. So Christ gets all the\nglory for making us righteous and holy by his obedience(Rom 5: 19).The result is that we believe and confess Christ and love God and our\nbrethren. \u201cHerein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and\nsent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,\nwe ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love\none another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know\nwe that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his\nSpirit.  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to\nbe the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of\nGod, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the\nlove that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in\nGod, and God in him\u201d (1Jo 4:10-16).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clay Curtis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE FELLOWSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Corinthians 1: 9: God is<\/em> faithful,\nby whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When God gives us the same faith, by the\nsame Spirit, by the same Truth, by the same grace then \u201cwe have fellowship\nwith the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ\u201d<\/em> and \u201cfellowship one with\nanother, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin\u201d (1 Jn\n1: 3-7).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The fellowship of\nbelievers is in God\u2019s Son, Jesus Christ in the gospel. (Php 1: 5)  Having\nbeen given the Light of Christ, we have \u201cno fellowship with the unfruitful\nworks of darkness\u201d (Eph 5: 11)<\/em>.  Christ is the tie that binds us in\nSpirit and in Truth.  Fellowship with Christ means each believer jointly\npartakes of everything that Christ possesses. When the Son of God took on him\nthe seed of Abraham under the law, his life was our life, his suffering our\nsuffering, his death our death, his resurrection our resurrection. Now, through\nthe new birth and faith in Christ, we experience the truth that his\nrighteousness is our righteousness, his holiness our holiness, his acceptance\nwith the Father our acceptance, his inheritance our inheritance\u2014\u201cye are\ndead, and your life is hid with Christ in God\u201d (Col 3:3). <\/em>  Every\nchosen, redeemed, regenerated child of God is one, even as Christ and the\nFather are one!  This is what makes our assembly a peaceful place. We are\nnot in competition with each other. We are not trying to earn better rewards\nthan one another.  We are one!  Therefore, we \u201cfellowship in\nministering to the saints\u201d (2 Cor 8: 4)<\/em>. We seek the good of one\nanother.  When one suffers, we all suffer; when one rejoices, we all\nrejoice.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \nKnowing what great inseparable unity God has graciously given us in and by his\nSon, Christ Jesus our Lord, let us endeavour to keep this precious unity. \n\u201cNow I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye\nall speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye\nbe perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment\u201d (1 Cor\n1: 10).  <\/em>How could we do otherwise, knowing that it is through the\nprecious blood of our Redeemer who laid down his life for us that God has\ncalled us unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Who loved me,\nand gave himself for me.” Gal. ii. 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See, my soul, how Paul is for ever\nusing Jesus, and feasting for ever upon him. Oh! seek grace to do the same. He\nsaith, Jesus loved him; Jesus, the Son of God, loved Paul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now love from any object is\nvaluable, but from the first, and best, and greatest of all Beings, what\ninvaluable love is this? And who did Christ love? “Why me,” saith\nPaul: “who was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious.” And how do\nyou know, Paul, that Jesus loved you? ” He gave himself for me,”\nsaith Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 “Gave\nhimself?”  Yes, himself. Not his gifts only, not his grace, not his\nmercies, though all creation is his. And whatever he gave must have been an\nundeserved mercy; for I merited hell, when he bestowed upon me heaven. But even\nheaven, with all its glories, is nothing, saith Paul, to what Jesus gave me;\nfor he gave “himself for me.” Oh! my soul, wilt thou not look up,\nwilt thou not be encouraged to hope, to believe, to hang upon Jesus, for the\nsame. Oh! for faith to believe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Precious Jesus! thou author and\nfinisher of faith, grant me this mercy! And while I read these sweet words\nconcerning thee, who loved and who gave thyself for poor lost sinners – Oh!\nlike Paul, and with the same assurance of faith, cause me to add me, me: Jesus\n“loved me, and gave himself for me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Hawker<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“BELIEVE ON\nTHE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED”<\/strong>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acts 16:31<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salvation is obtained by faith\nalone. It is not obtained by faith and baptism, faith and obedience, faith and\nexperience, or even faith and faithfulness. Salvation is obtained by faith alone,\nfaith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true, faith is obedient. Faith is\nconfessed in baptism. Faith does bring both feeling and experience, and cause\nfaithfulness. But these things come as the result of salvation and life in\nChrist. They are not the cause (Eph. 2:8-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

           \nWhat is this faith? The Amplified Version gives a helpful translation of this\nverse. “Believe in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, thatis give\nyourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself\nto His keeping, and you will be saved.” Believing on Christ is not “a\nbare historical faith, as only to believe that he was the Son of God, and the\nMessiah, and that he was come in the flesh, and had suffered, and died, and\nrose again, and was now in heaven at the right hand of God, and would come\nagain to judge the quick and the dead, for there may be such a faith and no\nsalvation” (John Gill). Paul’s commandment, “Believe on the Lord\nJesus Christ”, requires us to LOOK TO CHRIST ALONE FOR SALVATION AND\nLIFE, TO RELY UPON CHRIST, TRUSTING HIM AND COMMITTING THE CARE OF OUR IMMORTAL\nSOULS TO HIM, AND TO EXPECT PEACE, PARDON, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ETERNAL LIFE FROM\nHIM. <\/strong>To believe on Christ is to TRUST HIM, VENTURE EVERYTHING UPON HIM,\nCOMMIT EVERYTHING TO HIM, AND RECEIVE HIM. FAITH IS LEAVING OUR SOULS IN THE\nHANDS OF CHRIST.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

           \nTHIS FAITH IN CHRIST IS THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD<\/strong> (I John 3:23). I see no\nreason why I should be allowed to believe, to trust Christ and be saved by him.\nBut God commands me to do so. Therefore I do believe. Without anything to\ncommend myself to God, I trust Christ. Live or die, sink or swim, I trust him.\nAnd doing what God himself has commanded me to do, I cannot perish! THE SURE\nRESULT OF FAITH IS ETERNAL SALVATION<\/strong>. “Believe on the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and THOU SHALT BE SAVED<\/strong>.” You cannot believe Christ and\nperish!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Don Fortner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salvation, eternal life is nothing less than the life of God in you! It is \u201cChrist in you, the hope of glory.\u201d Colossians 1:27 All the religions of this world focus on preparing people to live in this world. The gospel of Christ focuses on preparing people to live in the world to come.    […]<\/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-5435","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\/5435","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=5435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5436,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions\/5436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}