A\nsense of God in the heart will burst out in life. Where there is no reverence\nof God in the life, it is easily concluded that there is less in the heart\n(Titus 1:16). Pastor Scott Richardson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n The Scripture declares, \u201cThe steps of a good man\nare ordered by the LORD: and He delighted in his way\u201d Ps. 37:23. Knowing that\nthe course of a believer\u2019s life is graciously ordered by the Lord according to\nthe counsel of His own will, God\u2019s people, those who possess a heart of\nobedience to Him, willingly bow to the admonition of the Holy Spirit who\ncommands, \u201cCommit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring\nit to pass\u201d Ps 37:5. Child of God, wait on the Lord, believe and trust Him,\n\u201ccasting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you\u201d 1 Pet. 5:7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n \n \n \n \n \n MS <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Miracle of Hearing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n God-called gospel preachers spend a lot of time in prayer and\npreparation of the Word. They are deeply concerned with being clear and\nfaithful to preach Christ and Him crucified. \u201cHow shall they hear without a\npreacher<\/em>\u201d Rom. 10:14. Paul asked rhetorically, \u201cwho is sufficient for\nthese things<\/em>\u201d? I Cor. 2:16. All that being so, the real miracle in\npreaching is in the hearing<\/strong>. The most well prepared and well delivered\nsermon can have no effect on the hearts of men, while a message labored through\ncan be used of God to the glory of Christ and to saving of mens\u2019 souls. It is\nnot the voice of a man that speaks to the heart. It is the voice of God. The\nreal miracle in preaching is in the hearing<\/strong>. Let him who has ears to hear,\nhear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches. ~GE<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe shall not Fail\u201d\nIsaiah 42:4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We trust an undefeated and undefeatable Savior; \u201cHe shall not\nfail!\u201d The Son of God can never be frustrated in his purpose, defeated in his\ndesign, or hindered in his work. Christ was not conquered at Calvary. He\nconquered. He did not die as the helpless victim of circumstances. He died as\nthe Lord of all things, the one who rules all circumstances. And he will not be\ndefeated in the end; \u201cHe shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be\nsatisfied!\u201d The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a\nmiscarriage. The Lion of the tribe of Judah must prevail. The Word of God\nuniversally proclaims the infallible efficacy of Christ\u2019s atonement. That which\nthe Son of God accomplished at Calvary was an effectual atonement for all the\nsins of God\u2019s elect. The gospel of God is the revelation of the glorious,\nabsolute, saving efficacy of Christ\u2019s atonement. All for whom the Son of God\nsuffered the wrath of God shall be made the righteousness of God in\nhim! ~Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n LUKE 15:1-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n (1)\nThen drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. (2) And\nthe Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and\neateth with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nimagination can hardly form to itself a more striking portrait than what those\nverses represent. Figure to yourself, Reader, a company of poor, despised\noutcasts of society, in a<\/p>\n\n\n\n body,\nof publicans and sinners, drawing nigh, with looks of hope and desire to CHRIST, as if to say,\nCan there be mercy for us? And on the other side of the representation, look at<\/p>\n\n\n\n the\nproud, disdainful, self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes withdrawing from the LORD, with\ncountenances of the most sovereign contempt, as if JESUS and his company\nshould pollute their holiness. This man (say they) receiveth sinners, and eateth with\nthem. Precious\nJESUS! Well is it for\nme that thou dost; for what must have become of me had this not been the case?\nHow truly lovely doth the SON of God appear<\/p>\n\n\n\n by\nsuch marvellous condescension! And what can more endear CHRIST to his people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The doctrines of the Gospel, commonly known as the\ndoctrines of grace, are distinguished for this peculiarity above every other,\nnamely, that they sink the creature very low, and present the Lord Jehovah\nbefore us as sitting on a Throne, high and lifted up. So true is\nthis, that the most uneducated Christian may, even if he is incapable of\nrefuting an erroneous discourse, always be able to discover the untruthfulness\nif it glorifies man at the expense of God. The merest babe of grace\nmay carry this test with him. In the midst of the diversity of\nopinion which he is surrounded, he may always judge, and judge infallibly too,\nof the truth or falsehood of a doctrine by testing it thus \u2013 DOES IT GLOIFY\nGOD? If it be so it is true. Does this exalt man? Then\nit must be false. On the other hand, does it lay man very low, and\nspeak of him in terms which tend to make him feel his guilt? Then\ndoubtless, it is full of truth. And does it put the crown upon the head of God,\nand not upon the head of man\u2019s free will, or free agency, or good\nworks? Then assuredly it is a doctrine according to godliness, for it is\nthe very truth of the Lord our\nGod. –\nCharles Spurgeon <\/em> A sense of God in the heart will burst out in life. Where there is no reverence of God in the life, it is easily concluded that there is less in the heart (Titus 1:16). Pastor Scott Richardson The Scripture declares, \u201cThe steps of a […]<\/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-5490","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\/5490","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=5490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5491,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5490\/revisions\/5491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMONSTROUS IMPLICATIONS
\nLet me say at the outset, the Bible does not teach or imply that Christ died\nfor all men without exception. He died for the elect, His sheep, His\nchurch. Yet most of what goes on under the name of Christianity teaches\nHe died for all men without exception. There are even men who say\nthey believe in election who still believe His blood was shed for all men\nwithout exception. Such teaching and preaching has these six\nmonstrous implications\u2026.
\n1. If Christ died for all men without exception and all men without exception\nare not saved, then He failed in His intentions. 2. If He died for\nall men without exception and some that He died for are not saved, His death\ndoes not saved. 3. If He died for the sins of all men without\nexception and some of those men are still punished for their sins God is not\njust. He punishes the same sin twice! 4. If Christ died for man that\nGod loved and they are not saved, God\u2019s love is meaningless. He can\nlove you and you can still be damned. 5. If God loves all\nmen and Christ died for all, God is not immutable. He changes in His\ndisposition toward the men that are under His wrath. 6. If Christ\ndied for all men without exception and all without exception are not saved,\nsalvation is by works. Christ\u2019s death did not make the difference,\nbut what the sinner does or fails to do.
\nUniversal redemption is more than a mistake in theology. It is a\ndenial of the Gospel and a message of salvation by works. The implications of\nsuch teaching are truly monstrous.
\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nThe sovereignty of God is the stumbling block on which thousands fall and\nperish; and if we go contending with God about His sovereignty it will be our\neternal ruin. It is absolutely necessary that we should submit to God as an\nabsolute sovereign, and the sovereign of our souls; as One who may have mercy\non whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will.
\n– Jonathan Edwards<\/em>
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\nFaith is not understanding God or figuring Him out\nintellectually. Faith is simply believing with our hearts and minds\nthat everything God has recorded and promised in His Word is true even if we do\nnot understand it.
\n– David Eddmenson<\/em>
\n
\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAll of the adjectives we use for grace like sovereign, free, and saving are\ninherent in the word. When we speak of the Biblical word grace, it\nis always the grace of God that loves, elects, predestinates, justifies,\nredeems, calls, regenerates, preserves, and glorifies. Any use of\nthe word grace that does not comprehend all of those things is not the grace of\nGod. It is the word grace without the meaning of grace.
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\nThe sovereignty of God is the stumbling block on which thousands fall and\nperish; and if we go contending with God about His sovereignty it will be our\neternal ruin. It is absolutely necessary that we should submit to God as an\nabsolute sovereign, and the sovereign of our souls; as One who may have mercy\non whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will.
\n– Jonathan Edwards<\/em>
\n
\n
\nFaith is not understanding God or figuring Him out\nintellectually. Faith is simply believing with our hearts and minds\nthat everything God has recorded and promised in His Word is true even if we do\nnot understand it.
\n– David Eddmenson<\/em>
\n
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\nSo great is the depravity of unregenerate man that, although there is nothing\nthat he needs more than the Gospel, there is nothing that he desires less.\n – Copied<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n The\nmost humbling and challenging thing that I face\u2026the great concern of my\nheart\u2026.is that my generation experience a return to the preaching of the Gospel\nof God\u2019s grace. This generation is plagued with a gospel of works\nand are strangers to the Gospel of redemption. I want a return to\nthe message that takes away all of the glory and dignity of the flesh and\nproclaims the redemptive glory of Christ. The results of this\nmessage will be a sense of the awesome holiness of God, the inability and\nsinfulness of the flesh, and the total sufficiency of the Person and work of\nChrist. Perhaps once again we will hear men and women cry\u2026.\n\u201cDepths of mercy can there be, mercy still reserved for me? Can my God His\nwrath forbear, and me, the chief of sinners,\nspare?\u201d –\nHenry Mahan <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"