{"id":5904,"date":"2021-01-24T22:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T22:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5904"},"modified":"2021-02-13T20:10:34","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T20:10:34","slug":"bulletin-edition-january-2020-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5904","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition January 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

            <\/em><\/strong>\n“Hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigns!” <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

       \n                     \n       (Revelation 19:6)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


\n        Believer! what can better support\nand sustain you amid the trials of your pilgrimage, than the thought that you\nhave an Omnipotent arm<\/strong> to lean upon? The God with whom you\nhave to do, is boundless in His resources! There is . . .
\n  no crossing His designs<\/em>,
\n  no thwarting His purposes<\/em>,
\n  no questioning His counsels<\/em>.
\n
\nHis mandate is law! “He speaks–and it is done!” Your need <\/em>is\ngreat. From the humblest crumb <\/em>of providential goodness, up to\nthe richest blessing of Divine grace–you are hanging from moment to moment,\nas a poor pensioner on Jehovah’s bounty!<\/em>
\n
\nBut, fear not! “I am the Almighty God! Finite necessities can never\nexhaust My infinite fullness!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\nMacDuff<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water to Wine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst miracle our Lord performed in his earthly ministry was at a wedding feast\nwhen he turned water into wine.  Clearly the water represents everything\nGod has revealed in His Word. \u201cThat he might sanctify and cleanse it with the\nwashing of water by the word.\u201d Eph. 5:26. The wine pictures the shed blood of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. Without the shedding of which there is no remission of\nsins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nsame miracle is performed over and over again every time the Bridegroom gets\ntogether with His bride.  He sends His Spirit in power, and in opening the\neyes of our understanding He takes the water of His Word and turns it into\nblood. To see Christ and Him crucified in the scriptures is the first miracle\nof grace in the salvation of a sinner. \u201cExcept a man be born of water and of\nthe Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.\u201d John 3:5.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg\nElmquist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tender God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry\nthem in His bosom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and He shall gently lead those that are with\nyoung.” Isaiah 40:11<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How soothing, in the hour of sorrow, or bereavement,\nor death–to have the countenance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend.\nReader, these words tell you of One nearer, dearer, and tenderer still–the\nFriend who never fails–a tender God! By how many endearing epithets does Jesus\nexhibit the tenderness of His relation to His people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does a shepherd watch tenderly over his flock?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does a father exercise fondest solicitude (care)\ntowards his children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I will be a Father unto you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does a mother’s love exceed all other earthly types\nof affection?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As one whom his mother comforts–so will I\ncomfort you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the ‘apple of the eye’ (the pupil) the most\nsensitive part of the most delicate bodily organ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He guards His people “as the apple of His\neye!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Shepherd and Guardian of souls finds the\nredeemed sinner, like a lost sheep, stumbling on the dark mountains–how\ntenderly He deals with him! There is no look of wrath–no word of upbraiding;\nin silent love “He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reader, are you mourning over . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the weakness of your faith;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the coldness of your love;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

your manifold spiritual declensions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear not! He knows your frame! He will give ‘feeble\nfaith’ tender dealing. He will “carry” those who are unable to walk,\nin His arms; and will conduct the burdened ones through a path less rough and\nrugged than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the lion or the bear comes, you may trust the\ntrue David, the tenderest of Shepherds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you suffering from outward trial? Confide in the\ntenderness of your God’s dealings with you. The strokes of His rod are gentle\nstrokes–the needed discipline of a father yearning over his children, at the\nvery moment he is chastising them. The gentlest earthly parent may speak a\nharsh word at times; it may be needlessly harsh. But not so with God. He may\nseem, like Joseph to his brethren, to speak roughly; but all the while there is\nlove in His heart!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ‘pruning knife’ will not be used\nunnecessarily–it will never cut too deeply!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ‘furnace’ will not burn more fiercely than is\nabsolutely required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of\nits flames!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what, believer, is the secret of all this\ntenderness? “There is a Man upon the Throne!” Jesus, the God-Man\nMediator; combining with the might of Godhead–the tenderness of spotless\nhumanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is your heart crushed with sorrow? So was His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are your eyes dimmed with tears? So were His!\n“Jesus wept!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethany’s Chief Mourner still wears the Brother’s\nheart in glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others may be unable to enter into the depths of\nyour trial–He can, He does!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such a “tender God” caring for me,\nproviding for me, watching my path by day, and guarding my couch by night,\n“I will both lie down in peace and sleep, for Thou alone, Lord, makest me\ndwell in safety!” Psalm 4:8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry\nthem in His bosom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and He shall gently lead those that are with\nyoung.” Isaiah 40:11<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John MacDuff, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.\u201d \u2013\nPsalm 138:18<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes,\nthese are the words of David, but they are also the words of the Lord Jesus\nfrom the cross. He owned the sins of the elect as His own. My\nconfession of sin always feels inadequate and my sorrow over my sin is not\nsorry enough. My confession of sin and sorrow for sin is sin! He is\nthe only one who truly confessed sin aright and had genuine sorrow for\nit. Just as we are justified by the faith of Christ, we look to Christ for\nthe true confession of sin and sorrow over sin. All that God requires of\nus, He looks to His Son for. All that God requires of us, we look to His\nSon for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd\nNibert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faithfulness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is required in a steward that a man found faithful\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfaithful man is the man who believes and can be believed. He trusts and he can\nbe trusted. He relies and he can be relied on. There is nothing more\nbeautiful and beneficial than faithfulness. Faithful to the Gospel of\nChrist. Faithful to believe all that is written. Faithful to view\nhimself as a sinner. Faithful in humility. Faithful in whatever the\nLord puts in his hand to do. Faithful to prayer and reading the Word. Faithful\nto attend worship services. Faithful in giving. Faithful in\nloyalty. Faithful as the friend who loveth at all times. May the Lord\nenable us and may we seek to be faithful. Joshua and Caleb were the only\nadults over 20 years old that entered the Promised Land. Joshua is the Hebrew\nword for Jesus, the Saviour. Caleb\u2019s name means faithful dog. Oh, for\ngrace to be a faithful dog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nlong as two men are walking together, you cannot tell which one of them\nthe dog belongs to. But let the two men part company and it then becomes evident;\nthe dog will follow his master!  The dog does not hesitate, debate,\nor remain undecided; he quickly follows the one he loves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where\nChrist and men separate; where the Word of God and the traditions of men\ndivide; where the ways of God and ways of the flesh part, the servant of Christ\ndoes not hesitate, debate, or remain undecided; he follows Christ, whom he\nloves, regardless of the cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmaster may go to a simple cottage, a meal of dry bread, and a lonesome\nexistence while his companion enjoys all the luxuries of the world. But\nthe faithful dog cares little for these things so long as he is with his\nmaster.                                   \n        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry\nMahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider\nJesus\u2013 as Afflicted<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He was\nafflicted.” \u2013Isa. 53:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this Jesus was born.\nHis mission to our world involved it. In the righteous arrangement of God, sin\nand suffering, even as holiness and happiness, are one and inseparable. He came\nto destroy the works of the devil; and sin, being Satan’s master-work, Jesus\ncould only destroy it as He Himself suffered, just as He could only ‘abolish\ndeath’ as He Himself died. He was truly “a man of sorrows, and acquainted\nwith grief.” In the gospel according to Isaiah–the fifty-third chapter of\nwhich might have been written by a historian recording the event of the\nSaviour’s sufferings after it had transpired, rather than by a prophet\npredicting it seven hundred years before it took place–the circumstances of\nour Lord’s afflictive life are portrayed with a fidelity of narration and\nvividness of description which can only find their explanation in “the\nSpirit of Christ, which was in him, testifying beforehand of the sufferings of\nChrist and the glory that should follow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He was afflicted.”\nWhat touching and expressive words are these! Consider them carefully, my soul.\nAttempt, if it be possible, an analysis of your Lord’s afflictions. And the\nfirst feature that presents itself is, that He was afflicted BY GOD. How\nclearly is this fact put–“We did esteem Him smitten by God and afflicted.\nIt pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief.” Was Jesus,\nthen, afflicted of God? So are we! The God that smote Him, smites us; the\npaternal hand that mingled His cup, prepares ours. O my soul! refer all your\ntrials to God. Be not tossed about amid the troubled waves of second causes,\nbut trace all your afflictions, however dark, bitter, and painful, directly to\nthe wisdom, righteousness, and love of your Father in heaven. “Himself has\ndone it.” Enough, Lord, if I but see Your hand and Your heart guiding,\nshaping, and controlling the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was afflicted BY MAN.\n“He was despised and rejected by men.” Beloved, how many of our\ntrials, and how much of our wounding, springs from the same source! This should\nteach us to cease from man, and to put no confidence in the arm of flesh, since\nofttimes the staff we thought so pleasant, and on which we leaned so\nconfidingly, is the first to pierce the hand that too fondly and too closely\npressed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was afflicted IN THE\nSOUL. “My soul is sorrowful, even unto death.” Is not soul-sorrow our\ngreatest, even as the soul is the most spiritual, precious, and immortal part\nof our nature? Is your soul-sorrowful? Are you conflicting with sin, harassed by\ndoubts, depressed with fears, sorrowful almost unto death?–consider Jesus as\nhaving passed through a like soul-discipline, and uplift your prayer to\nHim–“My heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock that is higher than\nI.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus was BODILY afflicted.\nWe do not read of actual disease of body, but we do read of bodily suffering\nsuch as infinitely surpasses all to which we can possibly be subjected; and\nendured, be it remembered, O my soul! for YOU! This may be the Lord’s\naffliction in your case. A diseased body, distressing nervousness, extreme\ndebility your daily cross. Be it so–it is all the fruit of everlasting and\neternal love. Receive it believingly, endure it patiently, and be anxious only\nthat the rod thus laid upon you by a Father’s hand should bloom and blossom\nwith holy fruit to the glory of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affliction was a SCHOOL for\nJesus. “He LEARNED obedience by the things which He suffered.” Not\nless is it ours. We enter it, for the most part, with but a mere notional,\ntheoretical acquaintance with God, and with Christ, and with our own selves;\nbut sorrow’s hallowed discipline transforms us into experimental Christians,\nand, gazing upon the lowly Savior, we exclaim–“I have heard of You by the\nhearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and\nrepent in dust and ashes.” O my soul! if this be the result of affliction,\nlet the scythe mow you, the furnace dissolve you, the flail thrash you, the\nsieve sift you; it will but conform you the more closely to your once afflicted,\nsuffering Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\never-present Christ!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cLo (surely) I am with you\nalway \u2014 even unto the end of the world!” Matthew 28:20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our natural state, we\nhave very dark, and indeed dishonorable thoughts of God \u2014 we conceive of Him as\nat a distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when the heart is\nawakened, we begin to make Jacob’s reflection, “Surely the Lord is in this\nplace \u2014 and I knew it not!” Yes, though we cannot see Him \u2014 He sees us, He\nis nearer to us than we are to ourselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when we are saved, we\nbegin to know this ever-present Christ; that the government of Heaven and\nearth, the dispensations of the kingdom of nature, providence, and grace \u2014 are\nin His hands; that it is He with whom we have to do \u2014 who once suffered agony\nand death for our redemption, and whose compassion and tenderness are the same\nas when He conversed among men in the days of His humiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus Jesus is made known to\nus by the gospel, in the endearing views of a Shepherd, a Husband, a Friend.\nWith humble confidence, we may enter into the holiest of all, and repose all\nour cares and concerns upon the strength of that everlasting arm which upholds\nHeaven and earth, and upon that infinite love which submitted to the shame,\npain, and death of the cross \u2014 to redeem sinners from wrath and misery!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a height, a\nbreadth, a length, and a depth, in this mystery of redeeming love, exceeding\nthe comprehension of all finite minds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“May you experience\nthe love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!” Ephesians\n3:19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Avoid Times of Depression<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jude 1:20-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone asked, “How can I avoid these times of\ndepression, indifference, and bad attitude toward others?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no perfection in the flesh! We do not\napprove of our infirmities, failures, evil thoughts, or back-sliding\u2019s, but we\nare aware of their source, the flesh, and we are aware of the fact that this\nconflict and warfare will be with us until death. However, the next time you\nare plagued with coldness of spirit, prolonged bad attitude, and worldly\nspirit, check and see if you are not neglecting the means of grace and your\nfellowship with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find that when I am walking with Christ in sweet communion,\nfrequently engaging in private prayer, participating in worship services and\nBible study, and reading the Word of God, it is easier to forgive others;\neasier to overcome pride, envy and jealousy; and I am less interested in\nmaterial things and more interested in that which is of the Spirit. But if I\nneglect these means of grace suddenly I become more interested in those things\nwhich I really despise and begin acting in a way that is not glorifying to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we will learn the power of His precious blood,\ndwell in Him, feed upon His Word, and seek to occupy our thoughts with His\ngracious presence, we will see our tempers controlled, our hearts filled with\nlove for Him and others, and our feet and hands swift to do works of faith and\nlabours of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on\nyour most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of\nGod, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”\n(Jude 1: 20-21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Mahan <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

             “Hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigns!”                                       (Revelation 19:6)         Believer! what can better support and sustain you amid the trials of your pilgrimage, than the thought that you have an Omnipotent arm to lean upon? The God with […]<\/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-5904","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\/5904","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=5904"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5919,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions\/5919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}