{"id":6620,"date":"2024-04-28T09:09:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T09:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6620"},"modified":"2024-04-28T09:09:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T09:09:21","slug":"bulletin-edition-april-2024-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6620","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition April 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n THE ROCK\n OF MY SALVATION<\/strong>\n On Christ\n the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. I am completely\n assured, that my salvation was purposed by God, before a star ever twinkled\n in the sky (Eph.1:4). How can I be so sure you say? God\u2019s word say\u2019s so! And\n I believe God\u2019s word! You see that\u2019s the real difference between the true\n children of God, and the rest of the religious world! God\u2019s people believe\n God\u2019s word! We believe we are broke and have nothing to offer God! We believe\n our salvation is of God alone, through Christ alone! We believe it is not of\n our will, but of God who sheweth mercy (Rom.9:16). And the Lord\u2019s word say\u2019s\n that \u201cFAITH IS A GIFT\u201d (Eph.2:8,9). God chose a people, in Christ before the\n foundation of the world, Christ paid the price of their sins, by sacrificing\n Himself on that cruel cross! He then arose, death could not hold Him, and he\n sit\u2019s on His throne today, making intersession for all those that the Father\n hath given Him! My salvation is Rock solid, because      \n           SALVATION IS OF THE\n LORD!       \n                                               \n Pastor John Reeves\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The Lord was pleased to take brother Joe Terrell last Monday\nmorning. What hope we have, knowing that no matter the circumstances or\nmourning here on this earth, our friend is seeing Christ face to face and is\nmade like Him! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Terrell\u2019s last sermon \u201cCraving Flesh\u201d Numbers 11 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttp:\/\/www.sermonaudio.com\/jumpto.asp?m=s&k=421242353291755\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here is an edited transcript of the last 15 minutes of his last\nmessage. May the Lord bless the parting words of His servant to the hearts of\nthe brethren remaining here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please pray for the the congregation at Grace Community Church\nRock Valley, Iowa, and the brethren in Jackson Missouri, and in College Grove\nGrace Church and the many others of our family in Christ who weep with those\nwho weep at this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The keys of the kingdom were given to the apostles and what they\nbound was bound and what they let go was let go, therefore, what things were\nforbidden were forbidden and what is OK are OK. The apostle said \u201cthis is true\nand this is not, this is right and this is wrong\u201d and when they finished\nwriting they didn\u2019t pass the keys to anybody else. We look to the scriptures\nand see what they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mixed multitude amongst the Jews started this disruptive\ncampaign. Many people were infected by it and the Lord\u2019s people began to\ncomplain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is how the Lord dealt with it. He caused the quail to fall\nsuch that there was a great abundance \u2018he that gathered least gathered 10\nhomers\u201d Num 11:32 (Homer = 220 litres).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had quail in the morning, quail in the evening, quail, quail,\nquail. For a whole month you will have quail and you will eat until \u201cit comes\nout at your nostrils\u201d Num 11:20 You\u2019ll be vomiting quail – if this is what you\nwant – here it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a disease came through the people (maybe from the quail) –\nthose who craved the quail died of the disease and were buried and left behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this testing and discipline of the Lord many were restored\nand survived and helped bury the dead and they moved on. Such a process is both\na judgment and a mercy – judgment to the cravers who died, but it is a mercy to\nthe people of God. Though it may be a very distressing time in the life of a\nchurch. It is an act of mercy when God causes these cravers to raise up and\ncause some trouble but He causes it to happen to get them out. What has been\ngoing on underneath, the undermining is brought to the surface, so that it will\nbe seen and be eliminated. It is a mercy to the sheep because this is one of\nthe ways that God separated the sheep from the goats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord will ultimately separate the sheep from the goats but\nthis process has been going on since the beginning. One way He does so is\nthrough the preaching of the gospel. The sheep are brought to the Lord\u2019s sheep\npen and if the goats follow along then the Lord brings up trials and the goats\nleave. We don\u2019t like seeing anybody leave – it\u2019s tough but if the Lord culls\nfrom the herd it is for the protection of the herd, to keep the infection from\nspreading, it is to preserve His sheep these trials come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God has not made me the judge of any man\u2019s soul, the older I get\nthe less I want to do that. I used to have strong opinions \u201cyou can\u2019t be a\nChristian and do that\u201d – and then I would do it and have to rethink my stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it takes no special gift to recognise that many churches\npay scarce attention to the things of Christ. Indeed in such places one will\nfind those who went along with the people of God but could not be satisfied\nwith the food designed by God for His sheep. And sometimes what happens is\nthere are more goats than sheep in the congregation and so when the goats rise\nup and demand more, it is the sheep who must leave – an assembly of goats is\nnot the Lord\u2019s assembly. When God works it that way and the people must leave,\nwhat is left behind? Nothing but Kibroth-hat-ta-a-vah the grave of craving. You\ncould rename that church \u201cGrave of Craving Baptist Church\u201d and it is full of\ndead people who wanted something more than Christ – it is their grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could point out some of the things people crave and leave good\nchurches and go to faulty churches. They may crave an certain kind of music,\nmusical programmes, singing old hymns, or just singing the Psalms only. They\nmay crave a bigger church \u201cI don\u2019t agree with the teaching down there, but I\nlike to be in bigger group. Youth programmes for the youth – they don\u2019t preach\nsovereign grace down there but they have a good programme for the youth.           \n   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could have a really nice restaurant but if they are feeding\nyou poison, what is the use of going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could pick on those things but that would not say anything to\nus, would it? Because we don\u2019t have the flashy programmes, well organised youth\nprogrammes, we\u2019re not big and we could boast in being small. There are people\nwho desire small churches – they are more intimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t choose where you go by the size of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can crave things that are good, there is nothing wrong with\nquail, wanting it is OK but saying \u201cI\u2019m not going to stay with these people\nunless we have some\u201d is another matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can crave and not be satisfied with Christ. You can crave\nthings like the doctrines of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love the doctrines of grace and I would not attend a church in\nwhich this is not part of their message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a distinction between the doctrines of grace and the One\nwhom they are taking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of people who love these doctrines and would not\nattend a church where they are not preached but they have made an idol out of\nthe doctrine rather than worshipping the One the doctrines describe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can be in love with sovereign grace and have no desire for the\ngracious sovereign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can hold firmly to unconditional election and have no love in\nyour heart of the elector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can hold firm and defend particular redemption and yet never\ntrust the successful redeemer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can love the doctrine of irresistible grace while all the time\nbeing stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and mind and as Stephen said \u201cyou\ndo always resist the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can crave your faithful attendance, is it good to attend\nfaithfully? – yes. But that is not what you are trusting in. Don\u2019t worship your\nattendance. There are other people who crave a particular translation of the\nbible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we deal with this? Remember this happened within the\npeople of God, this wasn\u2019t the Philistines or the Canaanites going astray, this\nwas the Jews and the mixed multitude among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cannot go around trying to figure out who are the mixed\nmultitude – they will reveal themselves at the proper time when God reveals\nthem. You just keep walking but the only way you can avoid this is by the grace\nof God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feed on Christ and nothing else and when that desire comes for\nsomething more, spiritually speaking, it is like food we love but know it is\nnot good for us. Spiritual speaking, if something other than Christ is served –\nI\u2019ll pass on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They called that place Kibroth-hat-ta-a-vah, the grave of craving\nand then it is written that they abode at Hazeroth – a place in the wilderness\n– this is where we live. It is true that we have entered the promised land in\nChrist and yet our experiences in this life are among all the people of this\nworld – where are we living? We are out here in the wilderness and we should\nnever expect that it will be anything other than that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only two places are mentioned in this story, the grave of\ncraving and the place in the wilderness. It may not be much fun in the\nwilderness but it is surely better than a grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May God preserve us because if He doesn\u2019t preserve us we will not\nbe preserved and may our hearts always be looking for and satisfied with that\ntrue bread from heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord bless you. \n   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no argument among religious people over the fact that\nGod shall make a distinction among men. The only argument concerns the basis\nfor that distinction. Shall it be by what men have done (works) or <\/p>\n\n\n\n

by what God has done (grace)! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Terrell <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many kinds of faith, each suitable to its own\npurposes; but God-given, saving faith is known by this: it always looks to the\nblood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is sometimes\naccompanied with feelings, sometimes with unusual displays of God’s working. We\ncertainly enjoy such times. But, neither feelings nor experiences can be\ntrusted as proofs of saving faith. If your hope is in the blood and\nrighteousness of Christ, then your faith is genuine, no matter how you feel or\nwhat you experience. Only trust Him!            \n                     \n         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 ~Joe Terrell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law calls unclean every issue from the body – that is, every\nissue but one: tears.  It seems to be the only thing that we humans\nproduce that is not repulsive to God.  Tears are precious to Him.  He\nis even said to collect them in a bottle. (Psalm 56:8)  Hezekiah’s tears\nwere counted on a level with his prayers. (Isaiah 38:5).  Tears were\nconsidered suitable to bathe the feet of the Master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tears of repentance are pleasing to the\nLord.  Each drop is a testimony of a work of His grace that has brought\nthe rebel to bay, reconciled the heart of an enemy, and called His prodigal\nhome. Do not fear to shed them and never despise them in another.  If ever\na holy thing came out of a man or woman, it must be those tears that flow from\na heart broken by God’s grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tears of sorrow catch His attention.  We\nthink to impress the Lord with lofty language and ingratiate ourselves to Him\nwith flattering words.  But the most poetic prayer ever uttered by men has\nnot so much force as a tear shed in His presence. “In all their distress\nHe too was distressed.” (Isaiah 63:9)  Many a prayer is made of sobs\nand tears without words and the Lord hears with understanding and sees with\nmercy and He is moved with compassion for them.  Such tears shed at the\nthrone of grace stir up Divine mercy to help us in time of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tears of love, gratitude and praise are sweet to\nHim.  The sinful woman bathed the Lord’s feet with her tears and though\nthe tearless Pharisee was offended at her presence, the Lord was glad to have\nher loving service and He blessed her by repeating to her that she had been\nforgiven and her faith had saved her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Do not despise tears! The Lord doesn’t. Do not\ndespise your tears or the tears of others.  Sweet they are to God. \nLet them flow, for they are signs neither of weakness, unbelief nor\nimmaturity.  They are powerful testimonies before the Lord. The Lord\nJesus, Himself, prayed with crying and tears, and was heard. (Hebrews 5:7)\n Let us follow His example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Terrell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

establish the work of our hands for us-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

yes, establish the work of our hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~Psalm 90:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember a saying from my youth:  I know not what\ntomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow.  This saying becomes more\nmeaningful the less \u201ctomorrows\u201d one sees in his future.  Time and\nexperience are great teachers; some say they are the ONLY teachers.  But\nif a man is taught well by these Professors of Truth, then he will learn with\nincreasing clarity that he has virtually no control over anything.  He\nwill learn that, while it is wise to plan, it is wiser still to preface all his\nplans with, \u201cIf the Lord wills\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the ungodly learn a faithless version of this and they\ncurse the fate they cannot overcome.  But the child of God who has been\ntutored in the Lord\u2019s school not only realises his own powerlessness, but\nlearns to be content with the Lord\u2019s direction of his life and finds a peace\nthat passes understanding in the unfolding of the providence of the God he\ntrusts.  How important then that His favour rest upon us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Terrell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRUE SAVING FAITH <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The faith of the natural man, the unregenerate man, is <\/p>\n\n\n\n

reasonable and logical, and often very influential (Matt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7:21-23); but the faith of a Christian is a gift of God, a <\/p>\n\n\n\n

miracle, and always produces a radical change in those<\/p>\n\n\n\n

who possess it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man cannot possibly possess saving faith, whose <\/p>\n\n\n\n

thinking and attitude has not been radically changed <\/p>\n\n\n\n

concerning God and righteousness, man and sin, and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ and grace (II Cor. 5:14-17). The difference between<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the two kinds of faith, natural and spiritual, biblical and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

spurious, is the difference between shadows and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

substance, words and reality. Natural faith believes, but<\/p>\n\n\n\n

saving faith knows. Natural faith merely acknowledges<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what saving faith experiences. As J.C. Philpot once said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe religious professor receives doctrines because he <\/p>\n\n\n\n

sees them in the Bible. The believer not only sees them in <\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Book, but he feels them in his heart, put there by the <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holy Spirit.\u201d So you see, the difference is great. The <\/p>\n\n\n\n

difference is the difference between a professor of Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and a possessor of Christ, one who believes in the Son and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

one who \u201chath the Son.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world is filled with religionists who \u201cbelieve in Jesus\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and live as if He were dead; (Their Jesus is dead, a mere <\/p>\n\n\n\n

figment of their imagination) but the child of God has<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fellowship with the resurrected, living Lord Jesus who sits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

upon His sovereign throne of glory and grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Maurice Montgomery <\/p>\n\n\n\n

IS SALVATION A CHOICE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, salvation is a choice. Salvation is the choice of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have\nmercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is\nnot of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth\nmercy\u201d (Romans 9:15-16). God the Father elected a people whom He would save by\nthe obedience and sacrifice of His Son. God the Son came in the flesh to\nwillingly suffer and die to put the sin of His people away. God the Holy Spirit\nmoves when and where He will to give life and faith to God\u2019s elect through the\npreaching of the Gospel. Salvation is all by the will (the choosing), the\ndoing, and the application of God. -Pastor Tom Harding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE ROCK OF MY SALVATION On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. I am completely assured, that my salvation was purposed by God, before a star ever twinkled in the sky (Eph.1:4). How can I be so sure you say? God\u2019s word say\u2019s so! And I believe God\u2019s word! […]<\/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-6620","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\/6620","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=6620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6621,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6620\/revisions\/6621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}