{"id":6488,"date":"2023-11-06T08:41:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T08:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6488"},"modified":"2023-11-06T08:41:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T08:41:25","slug":"bulletin-edition-november-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6488","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition November 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Invincible grace!<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\nHow mighty Thou art, O Lord, to convert;
\nThou only couldst conquer so stubborn a heart,
\nFor Thy love to lost man alone could constrain
\nSo stiff-necked a rebel to love Thee again.
\n
\nThro’ Thee I embrace the ransoming grace,
\nOf Him who has suffered and died in my place,
\nTho’ I strove to withstand the force of Thy hand,
\nThy Spirit would conquer, and I was constrained.
\n
\nIn vain I withstood, and fled from my God,
\nFor mercy would save me thro’ Jesus’s blood,
\nI felt it applied, and I joyfully cried,
\nMe, me Thou hast loved, and for me Thou hast died.
\n
\nFor sinners like me Thy mercy is free,
\nWho hunger and thirst for redemption by Thee.
\nLord gather in more; make this the glad hour;
\nCompel them to yield in the day of Thy power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Toplady<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A late eminent person used\nfrequently to say, that “Every faithful minister is immortal, until his\nwork is done:” and it may as truly be asserted of every elect sinner, that\nhe is immortal, until he is born again. It is impossible that any of God’s\npeople should die in their sins: for whom he did predestinate, them he also\ncalled: and Christ’s sheep must be brought home to him in regeneration. (Ro\n8:30) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augustus Toplady<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey shall never perish\u201d \u2013\nJohn 10:28.<\/strong> If salvation and eternal life in Christ are the fruits and\nresults of our faith in Christ and obedience to the gospel, then assurance and\nsecurity are impossible, because man is fickle. Those who preach salvation\nconditioned upon man cannot honestly preach security to anyone. But if, as the\nBible declares, our faith and obedience are the fruits of salvation, the\nresults of eternal life, and the gifts of God, then assurance and security in\nChrist are well-founded, for the gifts of God are without\nrepentance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

FAITH BELIEVES WHAT IS\nIMPOSSIBLE TO MAN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 4: 19: And being not\nweak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an\nhundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara\u2019s womb:\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God promised Abraham that Sara\nwould have a child.  God waited until it was impossible for Abraham and\nSara.  Carnal reason would say impossible.  But against hope, Abraham\nbelieved God.  Therefore he did not consider his own body nor the deadness\nof Sarah\u2019s womb.  When God promises a blessing for his people, he does it\nin a way to make us know that God alone did it. God said Joseph would reign\nover his brothers. But first Joseph was enslaved, carried to Egypt, and\nimprisoned.  Then God raised him. God declared Moses would deliver Israel.\nBut first the infant Moses is cast into the river to die.  Then God used\nPharaoh\u2019s daughter to save him, Pharaoh\u2019s riches to raise him and his own\nmother to nurse him. Then God called and used him to deliver his people. \nGod promised redemption for his people by Christ. But first Christ is despised,\nrejected of men, crucified on a cursed tree and buried in a tomb. Then Christ\narises declaring he has made his people the righteousness of God in him. \nGod promises to give his people faith.  Then God uses helpless nothings to\npreach to helpless sinners. God gives us ability to do what we have no ability\nto do, believe Christ.  By the same Power, faith ceases not believing when\nthings appear impossible. Faith is itself \u201cthe substance of things hoped for<\/em>\u201d\nand \u201cthe evidence of things not seen<\/em>.\u201d  Faith believes God with\nwhom nothing is impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWork out your own salvation\nwith fear and trembling.\u201d Philippians 2:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will not debate with the\nfree-will works religionist who claims that the above verse of scripture proves\nthat salvation is accomplished by a \u201cwork of righteousness\u201d that the sinner\ndoes. Paul resolved that argument in the very next sentence of his letter to\nthe church at Philippi. \u201cFor it is God which worketh in you both to will and to\ndo of his good pleasure.\u201d (Philippians 2:13) No sinner can \u201cwork out,\u201d what God\nhas not \u201cworked in.\u201d It is impossible for a spiritually dead man and woman to\ndo anything without first being made alive by God. Aren\u2019t you thankful that\n\u201cSalvation is of the Lord?\u201d\n                         \n~David Eddmenson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Mahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We preach election because there is not a single blessing that\ncomes to us from the hand of our Redeemer that is not stamped with the hand of\nGod’s electing love. The Scriptures say, God hath blessed us according as He\nhath chosen us. Again, He hath chosen us that we should be holy. Again, The God\nof our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know His will. It is not in\nourselves that these blessings are contained. We have them because of OUR UNION\nWITH CHRIST, and we are united with Christ because of the Father’s divine and\nsovereign choice. Let us never imagine that the atoning sacrifice of Christ was\nintended to make an angry God willing to be merciful. That is not the truth.\nJesus Christ died, not to create mercy and love in the heart of God, but to\nopen a just and righteous way for that mercy and love which is there from all\neternity. God’s mercy and love went forth to us before the Saviour came. THAT’S\nWHY HE CAME! Spiritual blessings are heavenly blessings. They come from heaven\nand are of a heavenly nature. We enjoy these in Christ because He has purchased\nthem for us and has gone there to possess them for us in His own name. All\nthings are yours and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. It all starts with\nGod’s sovereign choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why so offensive in men eyes does God\u2019s election seem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it because they think they are so wise that they have chosen\nHim?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is Christ\u2019s righteousness a point so little known?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it because men think they possess a righteousness of their\nown?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effectual atonement, why so angry are some to hear or speak?
\nDo they think it takes works they do, to make His work complete?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not so, the needy helpless soul cries out to God in prayer,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and looks only to Christ Who works the whole and finds salvation\nthere.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Election, grace, Christ are words divine, the Lord I plainly see<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had not Your choice proceeded mine, I would never have chosen\nThee.        \n   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Hart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gracious To Others<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we see the great grace that God has shown to us, we will be\ngracious to others. If we know something of what He has forgiven us, we will\nfind no difficulty in forgiving others. And if we learn that God has loved us\nwithout any merit or cause on our part (loved the unlovable, one who hated\nHim), we shall be able to love others even as He has loved us for Christ\u2019s\nsake. The one who cannot do these things has never really seen himself.  \n              <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~Henry Mahan (1926-2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He loved\nthem unto the end.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 13:1<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The love\nof Christ for his elect is immutable and incessant. It is love surpassing\nthought. There is nothing like it in this world below. The narrow,\nself-centered thoughts, and words, and deeds of humanity cannot comprehend it.\nOur Savior knew that his disciples would all soon forsake him. Yet, he loved\nthem to the end. His love for us is from everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3). His love\nfor us is unto everlasting (Romans 8:39). Our Lord Jesus Christ delights to\nreceive sinners and save them by his grace (Luke 15:2). And once he has\nreceived a sinner, he will never reject him or cast him away for any reason\n(John 6:37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he first loved us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Spurgeon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We love him <\/strong>because\nhe first loved us<\/strong>.<\/strong>” -1 John 4:19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no light in the planet but that which proceeds from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the sun; and there is no true love to Jesus in the heart but<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that which comes from the Lord Jesus himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From this overflowing fountain of the infinite love of God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

all our love to God must spring. This must ever be a great<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and certain truth, that we love him for no other reason than<\/p>\n\n\n\n

because he first loved us. Our love to him is “the fair<\/p>\n\n\n\n

offspring” of his love to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cold admiration, when studying the works of God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

anyone may have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the warmth of love can only be kindled in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the heart by God’s Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How great the wonder that such as we should ever have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

been brought to love Jesus at all! How marvellous that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when we had rebelled against him, he should, by a display<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of such amazing love, seek to draw us back. No! never<\/p>\n\n\n\n

should we have had a grain of love towards God unless it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

had been sown in us by the sweet seed of his love to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our love, then, has for its parent the love of God shed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

abroad in the heart: but after it is thus divinely born, it must<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“be divinely nourished”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love is an exotic– it is not a plant which will flourish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

naturally in human soil, it must be watered from above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love to Jesus is a flower of a delicate nature, and if it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

received no nourishment but that which could be drawn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from the rock of our hearts it would soon wither.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As love comes from heaven, so it must feed on heavenly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bread. It cannot exist in the wilderness unless it be fed by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

manna from on high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love must feed on love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very soul and life of our love to God is his love to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I love you, Lord, but with no love of mine,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For I have none to give;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love you, Lord; but all the love is yours,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For by your love I live.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am as nothing, and rejoice to be<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in you.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Christ has our love…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Christ has our love he has our all; and Christ never has what<\/p>\n\n\n\n

he deserves from us, until he has our love. True love withholds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nothing from Christ, when it is sincerely set upon him. If we<\/p>\n\n\n\n

actually love him, he will have our time, and he will have our<\/p>\n\n\n\n

service. He will have the use of all our resources, and gifts,\nand<\/p>\n\n\n\n

graces. Indeed, then he shall have our possessions, and our<\/p>\n\n\n\n

very lives, whenever he calls for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, when God loves any of us, he will withhold<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nothing from us that is truly good for us. He does not hold<\/p>\n\n\n\n

back his own only begotten Son, Rom.8:32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Christ loves us, he gives us everything we need– his<\/p>\n\n\n\n

merits to justify us, his Spirit to sanctify us, his grace to\nadorn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

us and his glory to crown us. Therefore, when any of us love<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ sincerely, we lay everything down at his feet, and give<\/p>\n\n\n\n

up all to be at his command and service. “…they did not\nlove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Rev. 12:11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Invincible grace! How mighty Thou art, O Lord, to convert; Thou only couldst conquer so stubborn a heart, For Thy love to lost man alone could constrain So stiff-necked a rebel to love Thee again. Thro’ Thee I embrace the ransoming grace, Of Him who has suffered and died in my place, Tho’ I strove […]<\/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-6488","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\/6488","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=6488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6489,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6488\/revisions\/6489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}