{"id":6789,"date":"2024-11-19T08:38:10","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T08:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6789"},"modified":"2024-11-19T08:38:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T08:38:10","slug":"bulletin-edition-november-2024-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6789","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition November 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Faith and Repentance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If our faith be of\nGod, it is evidenced by our turning away from all hope of salvation outside of\nChrist. Saving faith can have no confidence in the flesh. It is a complete\nrejection of our will, our works, or our wisdom having any contribution in our\nsalvation. It confesses clearly and loudly; \u201cChrist is all and in all.\u201d True\nfaith and true repentance are never separated. You cannot walk in one\ndirection, without at the same time, be walking away from the opposite\ndirection.                                                   \n             Greg\nElmquist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 a\nbright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a\nvoice out of the cloud, which said,\nThis is my beloved Son, in whom I am well\npleased; hear ye him. Matt. 17:5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men only counterfeit\nthat which has value. Is there anything on earth of more value to mortal man\nthan a message of salvation from The Eternal, Immortal God of Heaven? The\nevidence of its value is seen in the abundance of its counterfeits. Many false\nprophets have gone out into the world. The problem is not that God has not\nspoken. He spoke clearly. The problem is that man does not want to hear what\nGod has said. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Believe on the\nLord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved. The Word of God became flesh and\ndwelt among us. God is pleased only with Him. The message from God is clear and\nsimple. It does not require a high IQ.  It does require \u201cI will\u201d. That\nmust come from God. Left to ourselves we will not have that man reign over us.\nGod has spoken. Hear ye\nHim.                      \n             <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Encouragement For Weary Pilgrims<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David’s pen never wrote more\nsweetly than when dipped in the ink of affliction. The hot furnace is our\nLord’s workshop; the most excellent vessels of honour are formed there.\nAffliction is God’s forge, where He melts and softens the hard heart. There is no\ndealing with the iron while it remains in its native coldness and hardness; put\nit in the fire, melt it, and you may stamp it into any figure you please. Job\nsaid, “God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me” (Job\n23:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those whom He loves, He takes to\npieces and then puts them together again. We rise in glory as we sink in pride,\nbut our Lord must perform the work. Whoever heard of a calf weaning itself\nvoluntarily? The husbandman plows his lands, and the gardener prunes his trees\nto make them fruitful. The jeweller cuts and polishes his diamonds to make them\nshine the brighter. The refiner flings his gold into the furnace that it may\ncome out purer. And our God afflicts His people to make them better. To thank\nGod for mercies is the way to increase them; to thank God for miseries is the\nway to remove them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author Unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private prayer is very important.\nPrivate devotion is very important. However, the gathering of God\u2019s people\ntogether to worship the Lord is far more important. Psalm 87:2  \u201cThe LORD\nloveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.\u201d Let us love\nwhat our LORD loves more than all else, our gathering together to worship Him\nin Spirit and in truth.         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~John Chapman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peculiar People<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Who gave himself for us,\nthat he might redeem us from all iniquity,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and purify unto himself a\nPECULIAR PEOPLE, zealous of good works.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    -Titus\n2:14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy Spirit declares that\nGod\u2019s elect, once they are called and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

converted by his sovereign\ngrace, are made to be a ‘peculiar people’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cpeculiar\u201d (v. 14)\nmeans \u201cdistinctively excellent, valuable,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and honourable.\u201d We are\nChrist\u2019s portion, the lot of his inheritance,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the jewels of his crown, his\nfullness (Eph. 1:23), his peculiar people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace has distinguished God\u2019s\nelect from all others-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are a people loved by God\nwith a peculiar love (Jer. 31:3),<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with a love which he does not\nhave for the rest of Adam\u2019s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let men talk all they wish\nabout \u201cuniversal benevolence,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cuniversal grace,\u201d and\n\u201cuniversal love,\u201d -the Word of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

declares plainly that God\u2019s\nlove for his own people is a peculiar,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

distinct love (Isa. 43:3-4;\nRom. 9:13). It is the distinctiveness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of God\u2019s love for us, who\ndeserve his wrath as fully as Satan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

himself, which forms the great\nmotive for our consecration to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

our God and his glory (Rom.\n12:1-2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are the objects of God\u2019s\npeculiar delight-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord God has made us\n\u201caccepted in the Beloved.\u201d Being accepted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in Christ, because of Christ,\nand for Christ\u2019s sake, washed in his<\/p>\n\n\n\n

blood and robed in his\nrighteousness, we are a people with whom God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is well pleased, even delighted\n(Zeph. 3:17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being the objects of his love,\nchosen to eternal salvation and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

accepted in Christ, every\nbeliever has been blessed with all<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the peculiar blessings of God\u2019s\nfree, covenant grace from eternity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Eph. 1:3-4), and supplied with\nall the provisions of the Father\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

house day by day and forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every believer has been\nSEPARATED from the world by peculiar grace-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electing grace (2 Thess.\n2:13-14), redeeming grace (1 Cor. 6:19-20),<\/p>\n\n\n\n

regenerating grace (Isa.\n43:1-5), preserving grace (1 Pet. 1:5),<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and providential grace (Rom.\n8:28-30), are the things which make<\/p>\n\n\n\n

us to differ from the rest of\nthe world. The distinction is not the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

work of our will or of our\nobedience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the work of God\u2019s grace\nalone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Zealous of Good\nWorks”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, Christ\u2019s peculiar people\nare made by the grace of God to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

zealous of good works. God the\nFather ordained that we should walk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in good works (Eph. 2:10). God\nthe Son redeemed us that we should<\/p>\n\n\n\n

walk in good works. And God the\nHoly Spirit effectually teaches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

every chosen, ransomed sinner\nto be zealous of good works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Who\nby him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory;\nthat your faith and hope might be in God.” 1 Peter 1:21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Observe\nthe special mark which is here given of those for whom Christ was manifested.\nIt is said of those who “by him they believe in God.” If this be\ntheir distinctive mark, we may well inquire what is intended by it. It must\nsurely be a very great thing to believe in God with a faith that brings\nsalvation with it. It is easy to believe that there is a God in nature, or a\nGod in providence, or a God in grace, according to the mere letter of the word,\nand this is what thousands do who have no manifested interest in redeeming love\nand atoning blood. In fact, it is the great delusion of the day, the religion\nof that religious multitude who know neither God nor themselves, neither law\nnor gospel, neither sin nor salvation. All this is a believing about<\/strong> God,\nor a believing of God, such as that he exists, or that he is such a God as the\nScriptures represent him to be; but this is a very different thing from\nbelieving in<\/strong> God. This is a special and peculiar faith, and\nimplies a spiritual and saving knowledge of God, such as our Lord speaks of\n(John 17:3); and as none can thus know him unto eternal life but from some\ndiscovery of himself, some personal manifestation of his presence, some coming\nnear of himself in the power of his word and the operations of his grace, so\nnone can believe in him without a faith of divine operation. To believe,\ntherefore, in God is not an act of the natural mind, but it is the gift and\nwork of God, bestowed upon us through the mediation of Christ, and therefore,\nas the Apostle says, “given in the behalf of Christ” (Phil. 1:29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But\nwe see Jesus.” Hebrews 2:9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Did your\neyes ever see him? Do look into conscience–did your eyes ever see Jesus? I do\nnot mean your natural, your bodily eyes; but the eye of faith, the eye of the\nsoul. I will tell you what you have felt, if you ever saw Jesus. Your heart was\nsoftened and melted, your affections drawn heavenward, your soul penetrated\nwith thankfulness and praise, your conscience sprinkled with atoning blood,\nyour mind lifted up above all earthly things to dwell and centre in the bosom\nof the blessed Immanuel. Do you think, then, you have seen Jesus by the eye of\nfaith? Then you have seen the perfection of beauty, the consummation of pure\nloveliness; you have seen the image of the invisible God; you have seen all the\nperfections and glorious character of the Godhead shining forth in him who was\nnailed to Calvary’s tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am\nsure such a sight as that must melt the most obdurate heart, and draw tears\nfrom the most flinty eyes; such a sight by faith of the beauty and glory of the\nonly-begotten Son of God must kindle the warmest, holiest stream of tender\naffection. It might not have lasted long. These feelings are often very\ntransitory. The world, sin, temptation, and unbelief soon work; infidelity soon\nassails all; the things of time and sense soon draw aside; but while it lasted,\nsuch, in a greater or lesser degree, were the sensations produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, if\nyou have ever seen Jesus by the eye of faith, and ever had a tender affection\ngoing out toward him, you will see him in glory. But you will never see him in\nglory, if you have not seen him in grace; you will never see him eye to eye in\nthe open vision of eternal bliss, unless you have seen him now upon earth by\nthe faith of God’s elect in your heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Fools\ndie for want of wisdom.” <\/em><\/strong>Proverbs 10:21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

There is\nsuch a connection between true wisdom, which is “a knowledge of the\nholy” (Prov. 30:3), and the fear of the Lord; and such a connection\nbetween ignorance of the Lord and sin, that saved saints are called\n“wise,” and lost sinners are called “fools,” not only in\nthe Old Testament, as continually in the Proverbs, but in the New. Many of the\nLord’s people look with suspicion upon knowledge, from not seeing clearly the\nvast distinction between the spiritual, experimental knowledge for which we are\nnow contending, and what is called “head knowledge.” They see that a\nman may have a well-furnished head and a graceless heart, that he may\nunderstand “all mysteries and all knowledge,” and yet be\n“nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2); and as some of these all-knowing professors\nare the basest characters that can infest the churches of truth, those who\nreally fear the Lord stand not only in doubt of them, but of all the knowledge\npossessed by them. But put it in a different form; ask the people of God\nwhether there is not such a divine reality, such a heavenly blessing, as being\n“taught of God” (John 6:45); having “an unction from the Holy\nOne, whereby we know all things” (1 John 2:20)–knowing the truth for\noneself, and finding it makes free (John 8:32); whether there is not a\n“counting of all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of\nChrist Jesus our Lord,” and a stretching forth of the desires of the soul\nto “know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his\nsufferings;” whether there is not “a knowledge of salvation by the\nremission of sins” (Luke 1:77); “a knowledge of the glory of God in\nthe face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6); a being “filled with the\nknowledge of his will” (Col. 1:9); an “increasing in the knowledge of\nGod” (Col. 1:10); “a growing in grace and in the knowledge of the\nLord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18);–ask the living family of\nGod whether there be not such a knowledge as this, and if this knowledge is not\nthe very pith and marrow, the very sum and substance of vital godliness, and\nthey will with one voice say, “It is!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chasing\nbubbles on perdition’s brink?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Henry\nLaw, “The Golden Lampstand”)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without\nChrist, the affairs of this world are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but a\npuzzled maze. Poor blinded man sees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

nothing\nas it really is.<\/strong> He does not know the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

true end\nof his being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nimagines the tinsel to be gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ncounts the true gold as dross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ntreasures up the chaff as wheat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nhis view <\/strong>is bounded by time’s narrow line!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nhis heart <\/strong>is fixed on vanity’s vain trifles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He chases\nbubbles on perdition’s brink!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nprofits no one and he ruins himself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will\nbe lost if you trust to your good works,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as\nsurely as if you trusted in your sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\na road to perdition along the ‘highway of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

morality’,\nas surely as down the ‘slough of vice’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Spurgeon)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brazen\nHypocrisy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\n13:2<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing\nin all the world is more corrupt or more callous than the heart of a hypocrite.\nThere sat Judas at the table with the Son of God and his disciples. But he had\nalready struck his deal with the Jews\u2019 priests to betray the Saviour. \u2014 What\nbrazen hypocrisy! Judas stands as a beacon to warn us of what deep corruption\nmay be found in the hearts of very religious people. Still, we must not be\noverly disturbed when we find such hypocrites among God\u2019s saints. Not all who\nare washed in the waters of baptism have been washed in the blood of Christ\n(John 13:10). \u2014 \u201cThey are not all Israel which are of Israel<\/em>\u201d (Romans\n9:6). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Faith and Repentance If our faith be of God, it is evidenced by our turning away from all hope of salvation outside of Christ. Saving faith can have no confidence in the flesh. It is a complete rejection of our will, our works, or our wisdom having any contribution in our salvation. It confesses clearly […]<\/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-6789","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\/6789","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=6789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6790,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6789\/revisions\/6790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}