{"id":5522,"date":"2019-12-01T11:41:11","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T11:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5522"},"modified":"2019-12-01T11:41:11","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T11:41:11","slug":"bulletin-edition-november-2019-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5522","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition November 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gospel Distinctives by\nDon Fortner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know that the things we\nbelieve and preach, place us in direct conflict with the religious world around\nus. That really shouldn’t surprise us. When our Lord Jesus told the religious\nleaders of his day the things I am about to tell you, they started grabbing\nrocks to stone him to death. So we must never be surprised when lost\nreligionists get upset with us for preaching the gospel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are four things which\nplace us in direct conflict with the entire religious world– <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. What we believe and\npreach about GOD himself is the primary, basic difference between us and those\nwho do not believe the gospel. We believe, according to the plain statements of\nHoly Scripture that the one true and living God, the God of the Bible, the God\nand Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN of the universe\n(Ps. 115:3; 135:6). That simply means that God is God. He does, he always does,\nexactly what he will everywhere, with everyone and everything! God always has\nhis way. God always does all his pleasure. None can stay his hand. None can\nresist his will. In heaven, earth, and hell GOD RULES!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This great, sovereign God is\nabsolutely, perfectly, immaculately HOLY. Everything he does is holy.\nEverything he requires is holy. He is so perfectly, absolutely, inviolably holy\nthat he cannot and will not accept anything or anyone who is not perfectly\nholy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our great, sovereign, holy\nLord God is immutably JUST. God our Savior declares himself to be both “a\njust God and a Savior.” His justice is unbending and unbendable. He will\nnot forgive sin, except upon the grounds of strict justice. The just God must\nand shall punish all sin. He cannot forgive sin until full satisfaction for sin\nhas been made. And this gloriously just God cannot charge any sin upon any\nsinner for whom atonement has been made. Justice, once satisfied, demands the\nrelease of all for whom satisfaction has been made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. That which we believe\nabout MAN also separates us from the entire religious world around us. We\nbelieve, according to the plain statements of Holy Scripture, that all men and\nwomen are sinners, born in spiritual death, corrupt at heart, inclined toward\nevery evil, incapable of doing good, and totally incapable of changing their\ncondition. In a word, fallen man is “dead in trespasses and sins,”\nlost, justly condemned, under the wrath of God, doomed, damned, willfully\nignorant of all things spiritual; without Christ, and without hope, apart from\nGod’s sovereign mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Everything we believe\nabout the LORD JESUS CHRIST sets us apart from the religious world in which we\nlive. Unlike most religious people, we actually believe the Bible. We believe\nall that the Bible reveals about the Son of God. We really do believe that\nJesus Christ is God, God in human flesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-That he is the eternal\nSurety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-That he brought in\neverlasting righteousness for his elect by his obedience to God as our\nRepresentative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-That he fully satisfied the\njustice of God for the sins of his people, which were imputed to him, when he\ndied as our Substitute at Calvary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-We believe that all for\nwhom the Lord Jesus Christ died must and shall be saved, because he cannot\nfail. He is an almighty, effectual Redeemer, an omnipotent Savior, an unfailing\nAdvocate, and an all-prevailing High Priest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Believing what the Bible\nteaches about SALVATION also separates us from the lost religionists of this\nworld, who foolishly imagine that God’s salvation depends in some way, or to\nsome degree, at some point upon the will, work, or worth of man. It does not!\n“Salvation is of the LORD!” Salvation is accomplished, in its entirety,\nby the free, sovereign, irresistible grace and power of God Almighty, through\nthe person and work of his dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the omnipotent\noperations of his Holy Spirit, who alone can raise sinners from death to life,\nreveal Christ in them, and give them the gift of faith in him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every aspect of God’s\nsalvation is by GRACE alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we ‘chosen’ of God? We\nwere chosen unto salvation by the election of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we ‘redeemed’ by the\nblood of Christ? We were redeemed because God the Father gave us to God the Son\nin the covenant of grace before the world began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we ‘called’, ‘born\nagain’? We are born again by the Spirit of God, who called us from death to\nlife in Christ by the power of his omnipotent grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we ‘justified’? We are\njustified by grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we ‘sanctified’? We are\nsanctified by grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we ‘kept’? We are kept\nby the power of God’s grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no place between\nthe pit of hell and the gates of pearl, where salvation depends on us. It is\nwritten in the Book of God in bold, capital letters– “BY GRACE YOU ARE\nSAVED!” That is the message written upon every page of the Bible. Any\nreligion, any doctrine, any preacher, any religious teacher, anything or anyone\nwho contradicts that message contradicts the Word of God. Salvation is by the\ngrace of God, entirely by the grace of God. Human works, human effort, and the\nwill of man has absolutely nothing to do with it. “Salvation is of the\nLORD!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know that men object to\nthese things. I know preachers everywhere deny them. I know that proud men are\noffended by them. But I am not running for political office. I am here to\nproclaim the truth to eternity bound sinners for the glory of God. That which\nwe have heard and learned of the Father, we must declare. I must be true to\nGod, true to the Scriptures, and true to your souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religion of JOY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Octavius Winslow, “The\nSympathy of Christ”) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religion of Christ is\nthe religion of JOY. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse,\nto unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word,\nto give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of\nheaviness. Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure,\nso lasting? There is every element of joy; deep, ecstatic, satisfying,\nsanctifying joy in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a\nhappy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are\nforgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are\nblessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is\na heaven of inconceivable, unthought of, untold, and endless blessedness. With\nsuch a God, such a Savior, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a\njoyful man? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solemn sham and an\nimpudent mockery!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Charles Spurgeon)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rend your heart–and\nnot your garments!” Joel 2:13<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garment-rending and other\nexternal signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are frequently\nhypocritical. True repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less\ncommon. Unsaved men will attend to the most multiplied and minute religious\nceremonies and regulations–for such things are pleasing to their flesh. But\ntrue godliness is too humbling, too heart-searching, too spiritual for the\ntastes of carnal men! They prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and\nworldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

External religious rituals\nare temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and\nself-righteousness is puffed up. But they are ultimately delusive, for at the\nday of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than religious\nceremonies and rituals to lean upon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from vital\ngodliness–all religion is utterly vain! When offered without a sincere heart,\nevery form of religious worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the\nmajesty of God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heart-rending is divinely\nwrought–and solemnly felt. It is a secret grief which is personally\nexperienced, not in mere form–but as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy\nSpirit upon the inmost heart of each believer. It is not a matter to be merely\ntalked of–but keenly and sensitively felt in every living child of the living\nGod. It is powerfully humiliating and sin-purging! But also, it is sweetly\npreparative for those gracious consolations which proud unhumbled souls are\nunable to receive! This heart-rending distinctly belongs to the elect of\nGod–and to them alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text commands us to rend\nour hearts–but they are naturally as hard as marble! How then, can this be\ndone? We must take them to Calvary! A dying Savior’s voice rent the rocks\nonce–and it is just as powerful now. O blessed Spirit, let us effectually hear\nthe death-cries of Jesus–and our hearts shall be rent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religion of a dead\nprofessor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How different the religion\nof a child of God is, from the religion of a dead professor! The religion of a\ndead professor\u2014begins in self, and ends in self\u2014begins in his own wisdom, and\nends in his own folly\u2014begins in his own strength, and ends in his own\nweakness\u2014begins in his own righteousness, and ends in his own damnation! There\nis in him never any going out of soul after God, no secret dealings with the\nLord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the child of God, though\nhe is often faint, weary, and exhausted with many difficulties, burdens and\nsorrows\u2014yet he never can be satisfied except in living union and communion with\nthe Lord of life and glory. Everything short of that leaves him empty. All the\nthings of time and sense leave a child of God unsatisfied. Nothing but vital\nunion and communion with the Lord of life, to feel His presence, taste His\nlove, enjoy His favor, see His glory\u2014nothing but this will ever satisfy the\ndesires of ransomed and regenerated souls. This the Lord indulges His people\nwith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

True or False?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(by Don Fortner)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. False faith may be\ngreatly enlightened<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and knowledgeable of gospel\ntruth. Judas was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith receives the love\nof the Truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. False faith excites the\naffections, like<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the stony ground hearers of\nthe parable,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and causes people to spring\nup like<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shooting stars, only to fade\nquickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith is the abiding,\ngrowing gift of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. False faith reforms the\noutward life and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

causes people to live better\nbefore men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith arises from a\nregenerate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

heart and causes people to\nseek the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will and glory of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. False faith may speak\nwell of Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as the Jews did. True faith\nloves Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. False faith confesses\nsins, like King Saul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith confesses sin,\nlike David. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. False faith may humble\nitself in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sackcloth and ashes, like\nAhab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith humbles itself\nbefore God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. False faith may repent in\nterror, like Esau<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and Judas. True faith\nrepents in contrition,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

being convinced of God’s way\nof salvation in Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. False faith often\nperforms religious works<\/p>\n\n\n\n

very diligently. Saul of\nTarsus did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith is a faith, which\n“works by love.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. False faith is sometimes\nvery generous and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

charitable (Ananias and\nSapphira). True faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

causes ransomed sinners to\nbe generous,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

willingly, constrained only\nby love and gratitude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. False faith may tremble\nat the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word of God, like Felix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith trembles and\nbows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. False faith often\nexperiences much in religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith trusts no\nexperience, no matter how<\/p>\n\n\n\n

great, and looks to Christ\nalone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. False faith often enjoys\ngreat religious<\/p>\n\n\n\n

privileges, like Lot’s wife.\nTrue faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

places no confidence in the\nflesh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. False faith may preach,\nperform miracles,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and cast out demons, like\nJudas. True faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rejoices in having one’s\nname written in heaven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. False faith often\nattains high office in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

church, like Diotrephes, and\nwalks with great<\/p>\n\n\n\n

preachers, as Demas walked\nwith Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith is honored to\nkeep the doors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of God’s house and walk with\nChrist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. False faith may be\npeaceful and carnally<\/p>\n\n\n\n

secure, like the five\nfoolish virgins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith presumes nothing,\nbut looks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

constantly to Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separation from the\nUngodly World by Octavius Winslow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Therefore, come out\nfrom them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy\nthings, and I will welcome you.” 2 Cor. 6:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is not a stronger mark\nof the Lord’s people than their separation. They are separated from the world,\nseparated from their families, separated from their own righteousness, and\noften separated from the religious world–a godly people whom the Lord has set\napart from all others, that He might set them apart for Himself. Now, it is\nthis distinctive badge of separateness the Lord will have His saints retain in\nall their Christian course. We are very apt to forget it. We live in the world,\nmix with the world, hold transactions with the world, and, in some measure, are\nguided by the conventional habits of the world. Still, we have need to be\ncontinually reminded that, though living in the world, and, of necessity,\ncompelled to conform to its proper and lawful customs, we yet are not OF the\nworld. “I have chosen you OUT OF the world,” says the unworldly,\nloving Savior to His disciples; “therefore the world hates you.”\n“You are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Now, in\nwhat sense, oh my soul, and to what extent, does your loyalty to Christ demand\nyour separation from the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The words which suggest the\npresent reflection are, by a slight variation, taken from the prophet Isaiah\n52:11, and originally were applied to the captive Jews in Babylon, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Depart, depart, go out\nfrom there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry\nthe vessels of the Lord.” Now, Babylon, a city of proud, unclean\nidolaters, and opposed to God, was an emblem of this ungodly, Babylonish world,\nin which the saints of the Most High dwell, but from which they are called to\ncome, and from whose inhabitants they are called upon to separate themselves,\ntouching not the unclean thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religion of Christ is\nnot ascetic and monkish. It knows nothing of “nunneries,” or\n“monasteries,” or “retreats.” These are all opposed to the\ngenius and requirements of Christianity–its divine, social, and spiritual\nnature. Our blessed Lord, the Divine Founder of our religion, expressly warns\nHis disciples of this perversion of His gospel–“Wherefore if they shall\nsay unto you, Behold He is in the desert; go not forth–behold, He is in the\nsecret chambers; believe it not.” It enjoins nothing like this upon its\ndisciples, “for then must you needs go out of the world,” says the\napostle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it does teach\ncrucifixion to the world, nonconformity to the world, spiritual and marked\nseparation from the world, from its pleasures, its gaieties, its principles,\nits religion. We are the professed disciples of an unearthly Christ, the\nfollowers of an unworldly Savior. “Let us go forth, therefore, unto Him\noutside the camp” (of the Babylonish world), “bearing His\nreproach,” keeping our consecrated garments unspotted from the world, touching\nnot the unclean thing. Then will Jesus, our Lord, receive us, and infinitely\nmake amends for all we have lost of power and wealth and honors, for His holy\nand precious Name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let our separation from the\nworld be our closer union and fellowship with the Church of Christ in its every\nbranch, and with Christ Himself, the one Head of the Church. This will tend\nmore strongly to define and sharpen the line of demarcation between us and an\nungodly world. Association with the saints will render us a more marked and\ndistinct people. The world will take account of us that we are the Lord’s. O my\nsoul! come away from an unclean and defiling world. “If any man loves the\nworld, the love of the Father is not in him.” Lord! by Your cross may I be\ncrucified to the world, and the world to me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gospel Distinctives by Don Fortner I know that the things we believe and preach, place us in direct conflict with the religious world around us. That really shouldn’t surprise us. When our Lord Jesus told the religious leaders of his day the things I am about to tell you, they started grabbing rocks to stone […]<\/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-5522","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\/5522","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=5522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5523,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5522\/revisions\/5523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}