{"id":6252,"date":"2022-10-11T12:40:11","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T12:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6252"},"modified":"2022-10-11T12:40:11","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T12:40:11","slug":"bulletin-edition-october-2022-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6252","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition October 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n The foulest filth under the cleanest cloak
\n
\n (J. C. Philpot, “New\n Years’ Address, 1858<\/a>“)
\n
\n “Take heed unto yourselves!” Acts 20:28
\n
\n There are few Christians who have not ever found
\n SELF to be their greatest enemy. The pride, unbelief,
\n hardness, and impenitence of a man’s own heart; the
\n deceitfulness, hypocrisy, and wickedness of his own
\n fallen nature; the lusts and passions, filth and folly of
\n his own carnal mind; will not only ever be his greatest
\n burden, but will ever prove his most dreaded foe!
\n
\n Enemies we shall have from outside, and we may
\n at times keenly feel their bitter speeches and cruel
\n words and actions. But no enemy can injure us like
\n ourselves! In five minutes a man may do himself
\n more real harm, than all his enemies united could
\n do to injure him in fifty years!
\n
\n To yourself you can be the most insidious
\n enemy and the greatest foe!
\n
\n In all its forms, SELF in its inmost
\n spirit is still a . . .
\n   deceitful,
\n   subtle,
\n   restless,
\n   proud, and
\n   impatient
\n creature; masking its real character in a
\n thousand ways, and concealing its destructive
\n designs by countless devices.
\n
\n We have but to look on the professing church to find . . .
\n   the highest pride under the lowest humility,
\n   the greatest ignorance under the vainest self-conceit,
\n   the basest treachery under the warmest profession,
\n   the vilest sensuality under the most heavenly piety,
\n   and the foulest filth under the cleanest cloak.
\n
\n “Take heed unto yourselves!” Acts 20:28\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The Awful Sin of Judas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto\nthe chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver\nhim (Jesus) unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver\u201d\n(Matthew 26: 14-15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since he \u201cbetrayed innocent blood\u201d (Matthew 27: 3, 4),\nselling the Lord Jesus to the highest bidder, the name Judas has been a byword,\nsymbolic of the worst form of treachery and deceit known to man. However,\nthough he stands out in history as unique and his crime the most sinister, his\nsin is still among us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man who identifies with and\/or supports, in any way,\npreachers, churches and ministries which, in their preaching, deliver Christ\ninto the hands of His enemies to do with Him as they will; auctioning Him off\nto the sinful crowd; selling Him out at a price agreeable to fallen man\u2019s\nsinful will \u2013 that man is a Judas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any preacher or pastor, who, to get his people to be\nfaithful, frightens them with the hounds of hell, drives them with the whip of\nthe law, or bribes them with promises of exalted positions and great rewards in\nheaven \u2013 that preacher or pastor is a Judas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the Lord Jesus Christ such an ugly, unattractive,\nundesirable Husband that His bride will not love nor serve Him unless she is\ndriven or bribed? What a dishonouring thought! What a blasphemous thought!\nThose who truly know the Lord Jesus, love Him. Those who love the Lord Jesus,\ndesire to honour and serve Him. Those who desire to honour and serve Him do so,\nas willing and thankful servants, constrained by the knowledge of His great\nlove for them, and the love which they, in return, have for Him (II Corinthians\n5:14; I John 4:19). To all who know Him, Christ is \u201caltogether lovely,\u201d and\ndesired above any other, and all else!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A mother sin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbelief is a mother sin\u2014a breeding sin. It does\nnot remain in the heart alone, but gives birth to thousands of sins, all\nspringing up out of its prolific womb\u2014like the fabled sea monsters. We see in\nthe wilderness how all through all their journeyings the crying sin of the\npeople of Israel was unbelief. It was the parent of all their fretfulness,\nmurmuring, and rebellion\u2014it lay at the root of everything done by them\ndispleasing to God\u2014gave birth to all their idolatry and all their other\nsins\u2014and eventually shut out all but Caleb and Joshua from the promised land.\nTheir carcasses fell in the wilderness through unbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of\ndarkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the\nglory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6
\n
\nOctavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That God was under any obligation or necessity to reveal\nHimself to man, is an idea that cannot for a moment be seriously entertained.\nIt will follow, then, that such a revelation of Himself, His mind and will, to\nfallen creatures, having been made, it must be regarded as an astounding act of\nHis sovereign mercy, irrespective of any claim whatever arising from the\ncreature man. The source where it originates must be entirely within God\nHimself.
\n
\nThe only full and perfect revelation of the glory of God is seen in the Lord\nJesus; and apart from a spiritual and experimental knowledge of the Son there\ncan be no true, adequate, and saving knowledge of the Father. “No man has\nseen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the\nFather, he has declared Him.” The vast importance of a correct knowledge\nof God is a truth which finds an assent in well-near every judgment. Every\nawakened conscience desires it; every believing mind admits it; every tried\nsoul feels it. It lies at the basis of salvation; it forms the material of\nhappiness; it supplies the true motive to holiness; it is the ground-work and\nthe prelude of future and eternal glory.
\n
\nAs all knowledge of God out of Christ is defective and fallacious, examine\nclosely, and in the light of the revealed word, the source and character of\nyour professed acquaintance with the nature, character, and perfections of God.\nPonder seriously this solemn declaration of Christ Himself. “No man knows\nthe Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he\nto whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” Has your knowledge of God\noverwhelmed you with a sense of your sinfulness? Have you caught such a view of\nthe Divine purity, the immaculate holiness of His nature, as to compel you to\nexclaim, “Woe is me! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean\nlips,\u2026for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts; why I abhor myself,\nand repent in dust and ashes?” Has your study of His law forced upon your\nmind the deep and solemn conviction that you are a fallen, ruined, lost,\nguilty, condemned sinner, at this moment lying under the wrath of God, and\nexposed to future and everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and\nthe glory of His power? Has it laid you beneath the cross of Christ? Has it\nbrought you to His blood and righteousness for pardon and acceptance? Has it\nled you utterly to renounce all self-trust, self-confidence, self-boasting, and\nto accept of Jesus, as “made of God unto you wisdom, and righteousness,\nand sanctification, and redemption”? If it has not wrought this for you,\nyour knowledge of God is but as “sounding brass or a tinkling\ncymbal.” “This,” says Christ, “is life eternal, that they\nmight know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”\nIf you know not the Son, you know not the Father. “No man knows the\nFather, but he to whom the Son shall reveal Him,”\u2014Jesus Himself has\ndeclared. Consider well the mercy of having transactions with such a God, in\nsuch a Christ. A God so holy and just, so good and wise, in a Christ so truly\nhuman, so spotless, so near, so dear and precious! God in Christ! Oh the\nimmensity of the truth! Oh the glory of the revelation! That God reconciled,\none with the believer; all His feelings love, all His thoughts peace, and all\nHis dealings parental; each perfection harmonising in the most perfect\nagreement with all the others, to secure the highest amount of good here, and\nof happiness unspeakable and eternal hereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Unbelief Of\nMan             <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 22:67<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     If I understand the Word of God,\nthe greatest, most abominable evil in this world is the horrible sin of\nunbelief. I would rather stand before God guilty of any crime known to man than\nstand before him guilty of having heard and refused to believe the gospel of\nhis dear Son. Why? Because unbelief is man’s wilful declaration that God\nhimself is a liar (I John 5:10). UNBELIEF IS THE MOST DARING AND THE MOST\nOBNOXIOUS EVIL IN THE WORLD. Yet, unbelief is natural to man. It is the bent of\nthe human will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Yes, UNBELIEF IS AN ACT OF THE\nWILL. Our Lord said, “Ye will not believe.” Both faith and unbelief\ninvolve the will. I know that faith is the gift of God, effectually wrought in\nhis elect by the Holy Spirit.And I know that no man can, by nature, believe\nGod. But I also know that believing is an act of the will. No one believes without\nwilling to believe. Faith is God’s gift wrought in us, not upon us.He works in\nus both to will and to do of his good pleasure. God gives us the will to\nbelieve. Yet, faith is a voluntary thing. If I believe God, I do so willingly.\nAnd unbelief is a voluntary thing. If you refuse to believe God, you do so\nvoluntarily, you choose to do so. Your unbelief is your own fault. It is a\ncrime for which you must bear all blame and guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     WHY DO MEN REFUSE TO BELIEVE GOD?\nThe fact is, unregenerate men prefer to embrace and trust any form of darkness\nto believing the revelation of God. How readily man receives the changing\nspeculations of science, myths of mysticism, and opinions of\n“learned” men. Man prefers feelings to faith. Therefore, emotional religion\nis appealing. Men prefer faith in themselves to faith in Christ. Therefore,\nfree-will, works religion is attractive. Men prefer visions, signs, miracles,\nand experiences to divine revelation. Therefore charismatic religion is\naccepted. And men prefer the pretence of intellectualism to the simplicity of\nfaith. Therefore intellectual religion, whether liberal or conservative,\nArminian or Calvinistic, is applauded. Why do men and women refuse to believe\nGod and the gospel of his free grace in Christ? The answer is simple: FAITH IN\nCHRIST BEGINS WITH AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PERSONAL SIN, DEPRAVITY, GUILT, AND\nINABILITY. No unregenerate man will make such an acknowledgement. His pride,\nself-righteousness, and love of self keep him from believing God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

WHEN IS A SINNER BORN\nAGAIN?          Galatians\n1:15-16<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no interest in answering the foolish questions of men\nabout the chronological sequence of events in a man\u2019s salvation. I will leave\nthat to theologians who have nothing better to do than dissect the scriptures.\nBut I do want to tell you when a person may with confidence say, \u201cI am born\nagain by the grace of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The\nApostle Paul tells us that he was saved, born again \u201cwhen it pleased God\u201d.\nSalvation comes to chosen sinners at \u201cthe time of love\u201d appointed by\nGod in sovereign predestination before the world began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new birth is wrought in chosen, redeemed sinners by the\nirresistible power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, who have been \u201cseparated\u201d by\nhim from their mothers\u2019 wombs. Those who are the objects of God\u2019s grace are\nunder the special care and protection of the angels of God (Heb. 2:14) and the\nprovidence of God (Hos. 2:6-23; Rom. 8:28) until the appointed time of their\ncalling. It is in that sense that God\u2019s elect are secretly separated from their\nmothers\u2019 wombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new birth is wrought in those sinners separated from\ntheir mothers\u2019 wombs by God, when the Lord God, by the power of his Spirit is\npleased \u201cto reveal his Son in\u201d them. Christ must be revealed to us by\nthe preaching of the gospel; and he must be revealed in us by the sovereign\noperations of the Holy Spirit. No one is, or can be, born of God until he\nreveals his Son in them. This is the doctrine of Holy Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you know Christ, you are born again. The Lord\nJesus Christ said, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee\nthe only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”  (John\n17:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you believe on Christ, you are born again. \u201cWhosoever\nbelieveth in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.\u201d “He\nthat believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the\nSon shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” “Look\nunto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is\nnone else”(John 3:15, 36; Isa. 45:22). We are not born again by believing\non Christ. We cannot believe on him unless we are born again Faith is the\nfruit, not the cause of the new birth. If you trust Christ, this is the\nassurance of the gospel – You are born of God – You have everlasting life in\nChrist!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have Christ, you are born again. “He that\nbelieveth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not\nGod hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of\nhis Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and\nthis life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath\nnot the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that\nbelieve on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal\nlife, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John\n5:10-13). Get Christ and you get life. Miss Christ and you miss life. \u201cChrist\nin you\u201d is the hope of glory. Life, eternal life is not getting the right\ncreed, but getting the right Christ. CHRIST IS LIFE! WITHOUT CHRIST THERE IS NO\nLIFE!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Invincibly and irresistibly drawn
\n
\n(J.C. Philpot<\/a>,\n“True\nDiscipleship<\/a>“, 1869)
\n
\nAs the Lord is pleased to enlighten his mind, the Christian sees . . .
\n  such a beauty,
\n  such a blessedness,
\n  such a heavenly sweetness,
\n  such a divine loveliness,
\n  such a fullness of surpassing grace,
\n  such tender condescension,
\n  such unwearied patience,
\n  such infinite compassion,
\nin the Lord of life and glory\u2014that he is as if invincibly and irresistibly\ndrawn by these attractive influences to come to His feet to learn of Him.\nSo far as the Lord is pleased to reveal Himself in some measure to his soul, by\nthe sweet glimpses and glances which he thus obtains of His Person and\ncountenance, he is drawn to His blessed Majesty by cords of love to look up\nunto Him and beg of Him that He would drop His word with life and power into\nhis heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men as well as children, may be pleased with trifles!
\n
\n(John Newton<\/a>)
\n
\nMen as well as children, may be pleased with trifles. However one object may\ndrive out another \u2014 it is but an exchange of trifles.
\n
\nA believing view of the land that is far off, where the King reigns in His\nbeauty \u2014 will wean our affections from the trifles of this world!
\n
\nNothing can turn out the love of the world, but the love of God shed abroad in\nthe heart. Wherever the love of God is so shed abroad in the heart as to become\nthe ruling principle \u2014 there the world loses its hold. The light of His glory,\nas it shines in the face of Jesus Christ \u2014 casts shame and disgrace on all\nworldly vanities!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The foulest filth under the cleanest cloak (J. C. Philpot, “New Years’ Address, 1858“) “Take heed unto yourselves!” Acts 20:28 There are few Christians who have not ever found SELF to be their greatest enemy. The pride, unbelief, hardness, and impenitence of a man’s own heart; the deceitfulness, hypocrisy, and wickedness of his own fallen nature; the […]<\/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-6252","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\/6252","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=6252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6253,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252\/revisions\/6253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}