{"id":5741,"date":"2020-06-30T15:40:12","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T15:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5741"},"modified":"2020-06-30T15:40:12","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T15:40:12","slug":"bulletin-edition-june-2020-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5741","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition June 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is this babbler trying to say?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Letters of John Newton)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What is this babbler trying to say?”\nActs 17:18<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apostles were accounted as foolish\nbabblers. We are no better than the Apostles; nor have we reason to expect much\nbetter treatment\u2014so far as we walk in their steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, there is a way of speaking\nof God, and goodness, and benevolence, and morality\u2014which the world will bear\nwell enough. But if we preach Christ as the only way of salvation, lay open the\nhorrid evils of the human heart, tell our hearers that they are dead in\ntrespasses and sins,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mystery to yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

“I find then, the law that, to me, while I\ndesire to do good, evil is present.” Romans 7:21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you not often a mystery to yourself? Warm\none moment\u2014cold the next! Abasing yourself one hour\u2014exalting yourself the\nfollowing! Loving the world, full of it, steeped up to your head in it\ntoday\u2014crying, groaning, and sighing for a sweet manifestation of the love of\nGod tomorrow! Brought down to nothingness, covered with shame and confusion, on\nyour knees before you leave your room\u2014filled with pride and self-importance\nbefore you have got down stairs! Despising the world, and willing to give it\nall up for one taste of the love of Jesus when in solitude\u2014trying to grasp it\nwith both hands when in business!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a mystery are you! Touched by love\u2014and\nstung with hatred! Possessing a little wisdom\u2014and a great deal of folly!\nEarthly-minded\u2014and yet having the affections in heaven! Pressing forward\u2014and\nlagging behind! Full of sloth\u2014and yet taking the kingdom with violence! And\nthus the Spirit, by a process which we may feel but cannot adequately\ndescribe\u2014leads us into the mystery of the two natures perpetually struggling\nand striving against each other in the same bosom\u2014so that one man cannot more\ndiffer from another, than the same man differs from himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the mystery of the kingdom of heaven is\nthis\u2014that our carnal mind undergoes no alteration, but maintains a perpetual\nwar with grace. And thus, the deeper we sink in self-abasement under a sense of\nour vileness, the higher we rise in a knowledge of Christ, and the blacker we\nare in our own view\u2014the more lovely does Jesus appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost saved!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

“Then Agrippa said to Paul: You almost\npersuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 26:28<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be almost saved \u2014 is to be altogether lost!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many in Hell who once were almost\nsaved \u2014 but who are now altogether damned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of that, you who are not far from the\nKingdom. It is being in the Kingdom that saves the soul \u2014 not being near the\nKingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You are not far from the Kingdom of\nGod.” Mark 12:34<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is from Don Fortner-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religion of the world, the religion of man,\nthe religion of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

antichrist is man-centered, man-exalting, and\nman-pleasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religion of the Bible is exactly opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear the words of God by the Prophet Isaiah, as\nhe describes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what happens in the day God saves a sinner by\nhis almighty grace–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,\nand the haughtiness of men<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be\nexalted in that day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GRACE IS HUMBLING<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TO MAN AND EXALTS THE LORD ALONE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural men rebel against sovereignty, denounce\npredestination,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and ridicule God’s immutable purpose of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proud men can never rejoice in a sovereign God,\nbecause the fact<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of God’s sovereign purpose robs man of all\npossibility of adulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE GOSPEL IS DESIGNED TO STRIP MEN OF ALL\nPRIDE AND<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TO EXALT THE LORD GOD\nALONE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a test, by which you may prove every\ndoctrine and every<\/p>\n\n\n\n

preacher you hear– if the doctrine you hear\ncauses your face<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to glow with pride, it is not of God. Anything\nthat lifts up man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

anything that lowers God, is not of God and is\nnot the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gospel of the grace of God abases the flesh\nand glorifies God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Christ came to save everybody except the\nself-righteous.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are not a sinner, there is nothing in\nthe gospel for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you are a sinner, I have good news for\nyou – Christ died for sinners –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ saves sinners. Your sinfulness will\nnever keep you from Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only your “goodness” can do that.\nYour sin will never keep you out of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

heaven. Only your righteousness can do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is pardon for the guilty!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a robe for the naked!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is bread for the hungry!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is water for the thirsty!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is rest for the weary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is grace for the needy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is cleansing for the dirty!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is help for the fallen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is nothing in the gospel, not one\nword of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

good news, for the good, the great, and the\nrighteous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gospel is addressed to sinners who are\nspiritually dead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Eph. 2:1-3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about helpless! What is more helpless than\ndeath?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about hopeless! What is more hopeless than\ndeath?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about obnoxious! What is more obnoxious\nthan death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is not a complimentary, dignifying,\nhonorable word<\/p>\n\n\n\n

between the covers of the Bible to fallen man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want a picture of humanity, as the Bible\ndescribes man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you must go to the cemetery, dig up a coffin,\nopen the box,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and look upon the rotten, decayed body of\ncorruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unconverted man’s works are dead works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unconverted man’s religion is dead\nreligion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unconverted man’s doctrine is dead\ndoctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unconverted man’s faith is dead faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O, what slow learners!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

“So Jesus said, Do you also still not\nunderstand?” Matthew 15:16<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What lessons we need day by day to teach us\nanything aright, and how it is for the most part, “line upon line, line\nupon line; here a little, and there a little.” O, what slow learners!\u2014what\ndull, forgetful scholars!\u2014what ignoramuses!\u2014what stupid blockheads!\u2014what\nstubborn pupils! Surely no scholar at a school, old or young, could learn so\nlittle of natural things as we seem to have learned of spiritual things after\nso many years instruction\u2014so many chapters read\u2014so many sermons heard\u2014so many\nprayers put up\u2014so much talking about religion. How small, how weak is the\namount of growth, compared with all we have read and heard and talked about!\nBut it is a mercy that the Lord saves whom He will save\u2014and that we are saved\nby free grace\u2014and free grace alone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time of love!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a day appointed by God for the\nsalvation of his elect,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a day fixed from eternity when grace will come\nto the chosen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sinner, an hour determined before the world\nbegan when the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Shepherd will seek out and find his lost\nsheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a time fixed before time began, called\n“the time of love,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when the predestined child, the elect sinner,\nredeemed by the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

blood of Christ, must be saved. At that hour,\nsalvation must<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and shall come to the soul loved of God with an\neverlasting love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one thing is really important in this\nmatter, only one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

question must be answered, only one issue must\nbe settled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you believe on the Son of God?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will know that God has saved you, that you\nare chosen,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

redeemed, and called by grace, when you find\nyourself believing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the gospel. Do you believe? If you do, the Lord\nhas sought you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

out and found you by his grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No fear!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

“There is no fear of God before their\neyes.” Romans 3:18<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who have every reason to fear as to their\neternal state before God, have for the most part, no fear at all. They are\nsecure, and free from doubt and fear. The depths of human hypocrisy\u2014the\ndreadful lengths to which profession may go\u2014the deceit of the carnal heart\u2014the\nsnares spread for the unwary feet\u2014the fearful danger of being deceived at the\nlast\u2014these traps and pitfalls are not objects of anxiety to those dead in sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as they can pacify natural conscience,\nand do something to soothe any transient conviction\u2014they are glad to be\ndeceived! God does not see fit to disturb their quiet. He has no purpose of\nmercy towards them\u2014they are not subjects of His kingdom\u2014they are not objects of\nHis love. He therefore leaves them carnally secure, as in a dream\u2014from which\nthey will not awake until the day of judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why a man is saved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is from Spurgeon\u2019s sermon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Minister’s Stock-taking\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are asked why a man is saved, the only\nScriptural answer is-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSovereign grace\u201d \u2014 grace, unmoved by anything\nin the creature,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

flowing spontaneously from the mighty depths of\nthe divine heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is this\u2013 because God willed it that\nway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe will have mercy on whom he will have mercy,\nand he<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will have compassion on whom he will have\ncompassion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not of him that wills, nor of him that\nruns,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but of God that shows mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any man is saved, it is not because he\nwilled to be saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any man be brought to Christ, it is not of\nany effort of his,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but the root, the cause, the motive of the\nsalvation of any one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

human being, and of all the chosen in heaven,\nis to be found<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the predestinating purpose and sovereign\ndistinguishing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will of the Lord our God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is God who quickens the souls of those who\nbelieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If men be saved all the glory must be unto God\nfrom first to last,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and not an atom nor a particle attributed to\nthe goodness, or the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

power, or the will of the creature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a doctrine which some people have not\nlearned very fully yet,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but they will have to learn it if they are\nGod\u2019s people. Jonah, you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

know, had never learned it from the schools,\nbut when the Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n

got him in the whale’s belly, at the bottom of\nthe sea, with the weeds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

wrapped about his head, then it was that he\nsaid, \u201cSalvation is of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Lord;\u201d and often some sore trials and\nterrible afflictions are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

necessary schoolmasters to teach us this\nlesson, that salvation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is of the Lord alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is one of the instinctive apprehensions of every\nenlightened<\/p>\n\n\n\n

man\u2019s mind, that if he is saved, it is because\nof God\u2019s mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Idling life away like an idiot or a\nmadman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

When one is spiritually reborn, he sees at one\nand the same moment God and self\u2014justice and guilt\u2014power and helplessness\u2014a\nholy law and a broken commandment\u2014eternity and time\u2014the purity of the Creator,\nand the filthiness of the creature. And these things he sees\u2014not merely as\ndeclared in the Bible\u2014but as revealed in himself as personal realities,\ninvolving all his happiness or all his misery in time and in eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus it is with him as though a new existence\nhad been communicated, and as if for the first time he had found there was a\nGod! It is as though all his days he had been asleep, and were now\nawakened\u2014asleep upon the top of a mast, with the raging waves beneath\u2014as if all\nhis past life were a dream, and the dream were now at an end. He has been hunting\nbutterflies\u2014blowing soap bubbles\u2014fishing for minnows\u2014picking daisies\u2014building\nhouses of cards\u2014and idling life away like an idiot or a madman. He had been\nperhaps wrapped up in a religious profession\u2014advanced even to the office of a\ndeacon, or mounted in a pulpit. He had learned to talk about Christ, and\nelection, and grace, and fill his mouth with the language of Zion. But what did\nhe experimentally know of these things? Nothing, absolutely nothing! Ignorant\nof his own ignorance (of all kinds of ignorance the worst)\u2014he thought himself\nrich, and increased with goods, and to have need of nothing\u2014and knew not that\nhe was wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is this babbler trying to say? (Letters of John Newton) “What is this babbler trying to say?” Acts 17:18 The Apostles were accounted as foolish babblers. We are no better than the Apostles; nor have we reason to expect much better treatment\u2014so far as we walk in their steps. On the other hand, there […]<\/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-5741","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\/5741","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=5741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5742,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5741\/revisions\/5742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}