{"id":6413,"date":"2023-02-27T01:58:17","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T01:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6413"},"modified":"2023-02-27T01:58:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T01:58:17","slug":"bulletin-edition-february-2023-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6413","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition February 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IS JESUS CHRIST YOUR SUBSTITUTE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A certain man was drafted into the French army in the\nearly-1800s. A friend volunteered to serve in his place. The substitution was\naccepted. The substitute was killed in a battle. Later, the first man was\ndrafted again. He went to the draft board and told them that they could not\ndraft him because he was already dead, having died on the battlefield. They of\ncourse did not believe him, for he was very much alive and standing before\nthem. However, he insisted that they would find in their records that he was\ndead. They looked in their records, found his name, and read beside his name\nthe name of the substitute who had died in his place and stead. The case was\nsent to the emperor, who examined the evidence and then pronounced: \u201cThrough a\nsubstitute, this man has not only fought, but has died in his country\u2019s\nservice. No man can die more than once. Therefore, the law has no claim on\nhim.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This principle of substitution is found also in the Holy\nScriptures, especially in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah\u2019s prophecy. This\nScripture declares that Jesus Christ is the substitute for \u201cmany\u201d whom God\nidentifies as \u201cMy people\u201d. God took their sins from them and laid them on\nChrist their substitute, who suffered God\u2019s wrath against their sins, and died\nin their place and stead. All for whom Jesus died are justified and healed by\nGod. It is as though God says of each of them, \u201cThrough a substitute, this\nperson has died for his sins. No one can die more than once. Therefore, the law\nhas no claim on this person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friend, you and I and every other person is a sinner before God\n(Romans 3:23). We all deserve the penalty of death for our offenses (Romans\n6:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you believe the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ, you\nare assured that you already died for your sins in the person of Jesus Christ\nyour substitute, and that you are justified by God. God is righteous, and\ntherefore does not punish the same sins twice. No one who has Jesus Christ for\nhis substitute will suffer the penalty of death \u2013 for such a one has already\nsuffered death\u2019s penalty in his substitute!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the Holy Scriptures\u2019 emphatic declaration that Jesus\nChrist is the substitute for the \u201cmany\u201d who are called by God \u201cMy people\u201d\n(Isaiah 53:8, 11, 12), some say He is the substitute of all, including those\nwho are not God\u2019s people. Then they say that those who do not believe in their\nsubstitute will be punished for their sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They thereby commit two grave errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, they deny the very principle of substitution, and that\nJesus Christ is truly the substitute for those for whom He died. For when a\nsubstitute performs the obligation of another, the one who owed the obligation\nmust not be required to perform it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, they would make God to be vindictive and unjust. For if\nGod should punish those for whom Jesus Christ is their substitute, He unjustly\ndemands that the same obligation be performed twice \u2013 first by the substitute\nwho performed the obligation, second by the one who owed the obligation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is as though they make God say, \u201cAlthough Jesus Christ is\nyour substitute and suffered and died for your sins, I will make you suffer and\ndie for your sins again if you do not believe in Him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God forbid! God is just, and Christ is truly a substitute, and\nall who have Him for their substitute are justified by God through Him (Isaiah\n53:11). No one having Jesus Christ for his substitute will suffer and die for\nhis sins, for he has already done so in his substitute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may know that Jesus Christ is our substitute if we rightly\nand faithfully answer the question in the first verse of Isaiah chapter\nfifty-three: \u201cWho has believed our report?\u201d \u2013 this glorious gospel of Jesus\nChrist the substitute!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Jesus Christ your substitute?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Daniel E. Parks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and gain I say,\nRejoice!” Philippians 4:4<\/a>
\n
\nJust so, “sorrowful\u2014yet always rejoicing,” says Paul,\nspeaking of his own experience. The believer’s joy does not exclude sorrow, but\n. . .
\n  attends <\/em>it,
\n  sustains <\/em>under it,
\n  and raises <\/em>above it.
\n
\nJoy in the Lord should be constant\u2014for He is the same.
\nThere is as much ground for joy in Him in the winter of\nadversity<\/em>\u2014as in the summer of prosperity<\/em>.
\nHe is as good when he chides <\/em>us\u2014as when\nHe comforts <\/em>us.
\nHe is as gracious when He lays us low\u2014as when He raises us up.
\nHe is as kind when He takes away\u2014as when He gives.
\n
\nIf our joy springs chiefly from creature good and agreeable\ncircumstances\u2014then it must be fluctuating at the best, and at times it will\nentirely dry up. But if our chief joy is in God, then the spring of it never\nfails!
\n
\n“When all created streams are dried,
\n His fullness is the same!”
\n
\nObserve, my soul, that joy in the Lord is not only\nencouraged\u2014but commanded<\/em>. After once giving the admonition, the\napostle says, “Again I say, Rejoice.” The Lord would have His\nchildren . . .
\n  happy in His love,
\n  restful under the shelter of His wings,
\n  and peaceful in the midst of storms.
\n
\nSeek then to know more of Him, live upon His fullness, dwell on\nHis unchanging grace\u2014and so will you be joyful in Him even in the midst of\ntribulation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the\nthings which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the\nthings which are not seen are eternal\u201d 2 Corinthians 4:18
\n
\nThe men of this world fix their gaze on things below\u2014and their\ndesires are bounded by the limits of time and sense.
\n
\nBut the people of God look beyond the things that are seen\u2014to\nthe things that are not seen; for they know that “what is seen is\ntemporary\u2014but what is unseen is eternal!”
\n
\nMy soul, be it your employ to look by faith at the things which\ncannot be seen by the eye of sense. Turn away your eyes from beholding\nvanity\u2014to the glorious realities of the world to come. Fix your gaze upon the\ncity which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God\u2014upon the inheritance\nwhich is incorruptible and undefiled, and that never fades away.
\n
\nLook chiefly on eternal things<\/strong>\u2014and so\nwill you be enabled rightly to view the things of earth, and safely to pass\nthrough the things which are temporal. All that is beautiful and pure of\npresent things\u2014you will then regard as emblems of the glorious realities to\ncome. And all that is evil and sinful\u2014you will loathe, as utterly opposed to\nthe excellent things your affections are set upon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rejoice evermore!” 1 Thessalonians 5:16<\/a>
\n
\nYou have good reason to rejoice, dear reader\u2014if Christ is yours,\nand you are His. For in <\/em>Him you are blessed with all spiritual\nblessings; and with<\/em> Him you will share the joy and glory of\nthe eternal inheritance!
\n
\nYour pathway here on earth may be one of difficulty and\ntrial\u2014yes, you may at times be called to drink deeply of the cup of sorrow.\nStill have you good reason to rejoice in your present possession and in your\nfuture prospects. To assist your joy, dwell\nless on your trials\u2014and more on your mercies<\/strong>. Think\nwhat you are saved from:
\n  the curse of the law,
\n  the burden of guilt,
\n  the darkness of nature,
\n the bondage of Satan,
\n  the dominion of sin, and
\n  the eternal prison of Hell!
\n
\nThink what you are in possession of:
\n  the love of God,
\n  the spirit of adoption,
\n  a title to Heaven,
\n  and a fitness for it.
\n
\nThink what you are traveling to:
\n  your Father’s house,
\n  your Savior’s presence,
\n  the society of just men made perfect,
\n  fullness of joy, and
\n  pleasures for evermore!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How ravishing is the thought!<\/strong>
\n
\nJ.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:<\/strong>
\n therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.”
\n    Jeremiah 31:3
\n
\nHow ravishing is the thought<\/strong> of eternal\nlove!<\/strong>
\nTry to drink it in–if you are a believer in Christ
\nyou were loved before time began its cycles; in
\nthat old eternity, before the earth was born, you
\nwere beloved of the Lord!
\n
\nYou were dear to Jehovah\u2019s heart when this great
\nworld–the sun, the moon, the stars, slept in the
\nmind of God–like unborn forests in an acorn-cup.
\n
\nHe loved you with an everlasting and infinite love.
\nRejoice in this and let your souls be glad. Never
\nforget that the special electing love of God<\/strong> is
\nthe source of every blessing.
\n
\n“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:<\/strong>
\n therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.”
\n    Jeremiah 31:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These fugitive, transitory things<\/strong>
\n
\nJ.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The world passeth away and the lusts thereof: but he that\ndoeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:17
\n
\nThere is a reality <\/strong>in true religion, and\nindeed,
\nrightly viewed, a reality in nothing else. For every
\nother thing passes away like a dream of the night,
\nand comes to an end like a tale that is told. Now
\nyou cannot say of a thing that passes away and
\ncomes to an end\u2014that it is real. It may have the
\nappearance of reality\u2014when in fact it is but a shadow.
\n
\nMoney, jewels, pictures, books, furniture, securities,
\nare transitory. Money may be spent, jewels be lost,
\nbooks be burnt, furniture decay, pictures vanish by
\ntime and age, securities be stolen.
\n
\nNothing is real but that which has an abiding<\/strong> substance.
\n
\nHealth<\/strong> decays,
\nstrength<\/strong> diminishes,
\nbeauty<\/strong> flees the cheek,
\nsight<\/strong> and hearing<\/strong> grow dim,
\nthe mind<\/strong> itself gets feeble,
\nriches <\/strong>make to themselves wings and flee away,
\nchildren<\/strong> die,
\nfriends<\/strong> depart,
\nold age<\/strong> creeps on,
\nand life<\/strong> itself comes to a close.
\n
\nThese fugitive, transitory things <\/strong>are\nthen mere shadows.
\nThere is no substance, no enduring substance in them. They
\nare for time, and are useful for a time. Like our daily food
\nand clothing, house and home\u2014they support and solace us
\nin our journey through life. But there they stop\u2014when life
\nends they end with it.
\n
\nBut real religion\u2014and by this I understand the work of God
\nupon the soul\u2014abides in death and after death, goes with
\nus through the dark valley, and lands us safe in a blessed
\neternity. It is, therefore, the only thing in this world of
\nwhich we can say that it is real<\/strong>.
\n
\n“The world passeth away and the lusts thereof: but he that\ndoeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 “But now they desire a better country, that is, an\nheavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has\nprepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:16<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In desiring a better country these ancient pilgrims wanted\nsomething heavenly, something that tasted of God, savored of God, smelt of God,\nand was given of God–a heavenly religion, a spiritual faith, a gracious hope,\nand a love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit–something which came\nfrom heaven and led to heaven; which gave heavenly feelings, heavenly\nsensations, heavenly delights, and heavenly joys, whereby the heart was\npurified from the love of sin, carnality, and worldliness by having something\nsweeter to taste, better to love, and more holy to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is these heavenly visitations, droppings-in of the favor,\ngoodness, and mercy of God, which keep the soul alive in its many deaths,\nsweeten it amid its many bitters, hold it up amid its many sinkings, and keep\nit from being drowned while conflicting with many waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A carnal mind has no taste for heavenly things, no sweet delight\nin the word of God; no delight in the Lord Jesus as revealing himself in the\nword; no delight in closet duties, secret meditation, searching the Scriptures,\ncommunion with God, or even in the company of God’s dear family. There must be\na ‘heavenly element’ in the soul to understand, realize, enjoy, and delight in\nheavenly things. The Holy Spirit must have wrought in us a new heart, a new\nnature, capable of understanding, enjoying, and delighting in heavenly\nrealities, as containing in them, that which is sweet and precious to the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They desired, therefore, a better country, that is, a heavenly,\na city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God; where pleasures\nare at God’s right hand for evermore; where the pure river of the water of life\never flows; where the tree grows on which are found leaves for the healing of\nthe nations; such a city as John describes in the book of Revelation, where all\nis happiness, harmony, and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heb. 11:10 For he looked\nfor a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is<\/em> God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith lives in expectation of eternity, looking for that which\nGod has promised. The life of faith is a life of hope, the hope of\nglory. Abraham sojourned here; but he lived for eternity. “For he\nlooked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God<\/em>.”\nThat keeps things in perspective!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cHeaven hath foundations,\u201d\nwrote John Trapp, \u201cearth hath none, but is hanged upon nothing, as Job\nspeaketh. Hence things are said to be on <\/em>earth, but in <\/em>heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The\nspies who went in to spy out the land with Joshua and Caleb saw nothing but\ngiants in the land. They were terrified by what they saw. Abraham looked not at\nthe giants but at the promise of God and fully expected God to fulfill his\npromise in spite of the giants. He believed God. He saw the same thing John\nsaw, The New Jerusalem. He walked with it ever before him, seeing it as a City\nthat hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith\u2019s Expectation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When God the Holy Spirit tells us that Abraham \u201clooked for a\ncity<\/em>\u2019, he does not mean for us to understand that Abraham was searching for\nthat city, but that he expected it. He fully expected to enter into and take\npossession of the heavenly Jerusalem as a rightful heir to it. This was not a\nmatter of presumption, but of faith. You see Abraham really did believe God. Do\nwe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Has not God promised eternal\nlife and heavenly glory to every sinner who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ?\nIndeed, he has (John 3:14-16). Does the Lord God not declare that every sinner\nwashed in Christ\u2019s blood and robed in his righteousness is worthy to enter into\nand take possession of the inheritance of the saints in heaven? He clearly does\n(Col. 1:12). It is, therefore, most reasonable that we should expect all the\nfullness of heavenly glory if we trust the Son of God, just as Abraham did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City\u2019s Foundations<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the foundations of that City? We are told that the\nfoundations of the city have inscribed upon them the names of \u201cthe twelve\napostles of the Lamb<\/em>\u201d (Rev. 21:14). That is to say, the City of God, the\nHeavenly Jerusalem, is a city built upon that which the twelve apostles of\nChrist taught, the gospel of God\u2019s free and sovereign grace in him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Heaven is a city built upon\nthe foundation of God\u2019s everlasting purpose of grace in Christ (Rom. 8:28-31;\nEph. 1:3-14; 2 Tim. 1:9). The foundation of the City is God\u2019s everlasting love\nfor his elect, his eternal covenant of grace, his sovereign election, his\nabsolute predestination, his unalterable Word, the precious blood of Christ,\nand his almighty, free grace. In a word, the foundations of the City are those\nfoundations of grace and truth in Jesus Christ crucified (Eph. 2:20). Let us\never keep the City in sight! Don\u2019t look at the giants in this dark land,\nbut set your heart on things above (Col. 3:1-5, 15-17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don Fortner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IS JESUS CHRIST YOUR SUBSTITUTE? A certain man was drafted into the French army in the early-1800s. A friend volunteered to serve in his place. The substitution was accepted. The substitute was killed in a battle. Later, the first man was drafted again. He went to the draft board and told them that they could […]<\/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-6413","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\/6413","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=6413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6414,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6413\/revisions\/6414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}