{"id":6214,"date":"2022-07-15T06:50:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T06:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6214"},"modified":"2022-07-15T06:50:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T06:50:48","slug":"bulletin-edition-june-2022-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6214","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition July 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“I believe that every particle of dust <\/strong>that\ndances
\nin the sunbeam does not move an atom more or
\nless than God wishes; that every particle of spray
\nthat dashes against the steamboat has its orbit
\nas well as the sun in the heavens; that the chaff
\nfrom the hand of the winnower is steered as
\nsurely as the stars in their courses; that the
\ncreeping of an insect over a rosebud is as much
\nfixed as the march of the devastating pestilence;
\nand the fall of leaves from the poplar is as fully
\nordained as the tumbling avalanche.
\nHe who believes in God must believe this truth.
\nThere is no standing point between this and Atheism.
\nThere is no halfway between an Almighty God, who
\nworks all things according to the good pleasure of
\nhis will, and no God at all!”  -Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monarch of our affections!<\/strong>
\n(the following is by Don Fortner)
\n
\nNothing  is so precious to Christ as His people.
\n
\nThere is nothing so precious to
\nthe true believer as Christ himself.
\n
\nKnowledge of Christ creates an ardent love for Christ.
\n
\nTo truly know him is to love him.
\n
\nIt is not possible for a person to have a saving
\nknowledge of Christ without a true heart of love
\nfor Christ.
\n
\nIf you do not love Christ, truly, sincerely, and
\nabove all others, you simply to not know Christ.
\n
\nJesus is the Lord of every believer’s heart.
\n
\nHe is the monarch of our affections!
\n
\nHis rich, free, eternal, redeeming love has bound
\n me hand and foot, so that I cannot leave him.
\n
\nI am his totally and unreservedly. I belong to him.
\n  He may do with me what he will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHRIST IS ON HIS\nTHRONE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my mind’s eye, I see the Lord Jesus Christ sitting upon his\nthrone in glory, in the blessed serenity of his total sovereignty. He is not\nweak, frustrated, and anxious, as some have pictured him, not knowing if he\nwill be able to accomplish his purpose. Rather, he is calm, content, and\npeaceful, knowing that by virtue of his sovereign power “the pleasure of\nthe Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul,\nand shall be satisfied.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Behold\nhis transcendent glory! He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the\nsovereign Monarch of heaven and earth. His empire is as limitless as the\nUniverse. His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting. His kingdom ruleth\nover all! Everything belongs to him. Everything is governed by him. Everything\ndoes his bidding. He is God over all and blessed forever. Standing before his\nthrone are all those angelic, heavenly creatures, who anxiously worship and\nserve him. They cast their crowns before him in adoring reverence. In that same\ngreat assembly, I see all of God’s elect who have already entered the heavenly\ncity. They too cast their crowns before his feet and sing the songs of\nredeeming love. I see beneath his blessed feet the earth, which has become his\nfootstool. His saints upon the earth worship, adore, and honour him as the\nrightful sovereign of the universe and the rightful Lord of their hearts. They\nlive in hopeful expectation of his glorious advent. But then, I see before this\ngreat King all the elements of the world, all the beasts of the field, all\nthose fallen sons of Adam who wage their warfare against his throne, all the\nspirits of the damned in hell, the demons of hell, and the prince of darkness\nhimself. My heart begins to melt in fear for the safety of the great King’s\nthrone, his kingdom, his glory, and my own soul. But all my fears are\nimmediately silenced. All those evil men, the demons of hell, those forces of\nevil, and Satan himself have a bit of iron in their mouths and a bridle of\nsteel; and he who holds the reins of that bridle is the King himself! CHRIST\nIS ON HIS THRONE!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cMy Sheep\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a blessed title for sinners! The Son of God has assumed the\nposture of the Good Shepherd, whose work and responsibility it is to secure the\nsafety and eternal salvation of his sheep. There is a people in this world,\nchosen from among the fallen race of Adam, of whom Christ says, \u201cThese are my\nsheep. They belong to me; and I shall not lose one of them.\u201d There are others\nof whom he says, \u201cYe believe not, because ye are not of my sheep\u201d (John 10:26).\nWho are those people whom Christ calls his sheep? The Good Shepherd\u2019s sheep are\nthose who were given to him in eternal election, redeemed by him at Calvary,\nand called to him by the irresistible grace of his Spirit.      \n                   ~Don\nFortner (1950-2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\n“King of kings and Lord of lords!<\/strong>” Revelation\n19:16<\/a>
\n
\nThe kingship of Christ<\/strong> is full of sweet consolation to
\nthe tried family of God. As Zion’s enthroned King, He
\nsupplies His people out of His own inexhaustible fullness!
\n
\nTo Him, as our enthroned King, we give the allegiance
\nof our hearts. Before His feet, as our rightful Sovereign,
\nwe humbly lie. And we beg of Him, as possessed of all
\npower, to subdue our iniquities and rebellious lusts, and
\nsway His peaceful scepter over every faculty of our soul.
\n
\nThe kingship of Christ <\/strong>is a blessed subject of meditation,
\nwhen we consider its bearing upon our helpless, defenseless
\ncondition. We stand surrounded by foes . . .<\/strong>
\n internal,
\n external,
\n infernal,
\nall armed against us with deadly enmity!
\n
\nEvery child of God is surrounded by a multitude of enemies
\nwithout and within, who, unless they are overcome \u2014 will
\nmost certainly overcome him. And to be overcome is to be
\nlost, forever lost, and to perish under the wrath of God!
\n
\nWhat hope or help can we have, but in . . .
\n that all-seeing eye<\/strong>, which sees our condition;
\n that all-sympathizing heart<\/strong>, which feels for us;
\n that all-powerful hand<\/strong>, which delivers the objects of
\nHis love from all the snares and traps \u2014 and defeats all
\nthe plans and projects of these mighty, implacable foes?
\n
\nWe daily and hourly feel the workings of our . . .<\/strong>
\n mighty sins,
\n raging lusts,
\n powerful temptations,
\n besetting evils,
\nagainst the least and feeblest of which, we have no strength!
\n
\nBut as the eye of faith views our enthroned King,
\nwe are led by the power of His grace to . . .
\n look unto Him,
\n hang upon Him, and
\n seek help from Him.
\n
\nTrials in providence,
\nafflictions in the family,
\nsickness and infirmities in the body,
\nopposition and persecution from the world,
\na vile, unbelieving heart, which we can neither sanctify nor subdue,
\na rough and rugged path, increasing in difficulty as we journey onward,
\ndoubts, fears, and misgivings in our own bosom,
\ninward slips and falls,
\nwanderings,
\nstartings aside,
\nhourly backslidings from the strait and narrow path,
\njealous enemies ever watching for our halting,
\nwith no eye to pity, nor arm to help \u2014 but the Lord’s!<\/strong>
\n
\nHow all these foes and fears make us feel our need
\nof an enthroned King, Head and Husband . . .
\n whose tender heart<\/strong> is soft to pity,
\n whose mighty arm <\/strong>is strong to relieve!
\n
\nWe should be ever looking up to our enthroned King,
\nnot only that He might sway His scepter over our hearts,
\ncontrolling our rebellious wills, and subduing us to His
\ngentle might; but as King over all our enemies \u2014 of which
\nour internal<\/strong> foes are much more numerous and mighty
\nthan any external <\/strong>enemies!When we feel the power of sin, the tyranny of our vile
\nlusts and passions, and what our nature is capable of
\nif left to its own will and way \u2014 how sweet and suitable
\nis the promise, “You will again have compassion on us;
\nYou will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their<\/strong> sins into\nthe depths of the sea!” Micah 7:19<\/a>
\n
\n2Chr. 20:12 O our God, wilt thou not\njudge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against\nus; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are<\/em> upon thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The\nLord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, He will save!”
\n Zephaniah\n3:17<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ must be all!<\/strong>
\n(Octavius Winslow, “Morning Thoughts”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\ncannot keep our eye too exclusively
\n   or too intently fixed on Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nsalvation is in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nsalvation proceeds from Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nsalvation leads to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for\nthe assurance and comfort of our salvation
\nwe are to repose believingly and entirely on Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\nmust be all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\nthe beginning;
\nChrist the center; and
\nChrist the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh sweet\ntruth to you who are sensible of
\nyour poverty, vileness, and insufficiency,
\nand of the ten thousand flaws and failures
\nof which, perhaps, no one is cognizant but
\nGod and your own soul!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, to\nturn and rest in Christ;
\n    a full Christ;
\n    a loving Christ;
\n    a tender Christ,
\nwhose heart’s love never chills,
\nfrom whose eye darts no reproof,
\nfrom whose lips breathes no sentence of condemnation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\nmust be all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nUnconquerable King! (part 2)<\/strong>
\n(adapted from Spurgeon’s sermon, #949
\n“The Unconquerable King” Daniel 4:34,35)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Events\nappear to fly at random like the
\ndust in the whirlwind; but it is not so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rule\nof the Omnipotent God extends
\n  over all things at all times!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing\nis left to its own chance, but
\n in wisdom all things are governed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is\nreigning amid all the calamities
\nwhich sweep the globe, as much as He
\nshall be in the halcyon days of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never is\nHis throne vacant!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never is\nHis scepter laid aside!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jehovah\nis always King, and shall be King forever and forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nunconquerable King sits securely on His throne!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\nno doctrine to the advanced Christian
\nwhich contains such a deep sea of delight as this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord\nreigns!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord\nis King forever and ever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why,\nthen all is well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh,\nhappy subjects, who have such a throne to look lo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh,\nblessed children, who have such a King to be your Father!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan. 4:34 \u00b6 And\nat the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and\nmine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised\nand honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is<\/em> an everlasting\ndominion, and his kingdom is<\/em> from generation to generation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan. 4:35 And\nall the inhabitants of the earth are<\/em> reputed as nothing: and he doeth\naccording to his will in the army of heaven, and among<\/em> the inhabitants\nof the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examine Yourselves<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExamine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith\u201d II Corinthians\n13:5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually when we think of examining ourselves we think of\nexamining our lives. How are we dealing with besetting sins?  Are we\nreading the Bible to our spiritual profit?  Are we spending time in prayer\nand communion with the Lord?  What does our daily lives say about our love\nto Christ?  Can others see that we are Christians?  What did Paul\nsay?  Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith: if we gain assurance\nby how well we are performing, it is a false, works based assurance.  If\nwe conclude we must not be saved by our failures in these things we are once\nagain making salvation dependent upon our performance.  Do you believe\nthat Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that when He said, \u201cIt is\nfinished\u201d the salvation of all the elect was accomplished?  Are you\nrelying on who He is and what He did as all you have for acceptance with\nGod?  Then you are \u201cin the faith\u201d and a true child of God.    \n                     \n         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd Nibert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who WEARY of hearing the Gospel, who LOSE INTEREST in\nhearing the Gospel, and LOSE THEIR NEED of hearing the Gospel of Christ, and\nHis redeeming love and grace, have never REALLY heard the Gospel at all. If one\ncan leave Christ, he has never truly met Him! (John 6:65-69). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                 \n                     \n                     \n         ~Maurice Montgomery (1939-2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s Golden Chain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.\nHow shall they call upon Him whom they have not believed?\u201d Rom 10:13-14. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t miss the simplicity of the order here. No one can call\nwithout first believing. Calling on the name of the Lord is the result and\nevidence of salvation, not its cause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The links in God\u2019s unbroken golden chain of salvation have a\ndefinite order. Rom. 10:13-15. Calling is linked to believing. Believing is\nlinked to hearing. Hearing is linked to preaching. Preaching is linked to being\nsent. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. To have any of these links\nin any other order will result in a broken chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg Elmquist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Free Will Denies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we can see what free will denies, we first have to know\nwhat is meant by free will. Free will says that a man\u2019s destiny is dependent\nupon the choice he makes. His will is free to choose to allow God to save him\nor reject God\u2019s offer of salvation. His eternal destiny is determined by his\nfree will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I believe my will is free, there are three things I deny. (1)\nI deny that God is sovereign. I say His sovereignty does not extend to my will.\nThat is a complete denial of His sovereignty. (2) I deny that I am a sinner in\nthe Biblical definition of the word. According to the Bible, men are dead in\nsins (Ephesians 2:1).  That means they are completely unable to do\nanything to save themselves. Free will is a denial of that. (3) Free will is a\ndenial of free grace. You cannot believe in salvation by grace and free will.\nFree will is nothing less than salvation by works. The teaching of free will is\na denial of the Gospel!                \n                     \n                     \n             <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~Todd Nibert<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes; that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens; that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as surely […]<\/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-6214","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\/6214","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=6214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6216,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6214\/revisions\/6216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}