{"id":6847,"date":"2025-05-25T11:12:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6847"},"modified":"2025-05-25T11:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:12:01","slug":"bulletin-edition-may-2025-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6847","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition May 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sin is so evil that\nthe Good God made a hell for the ones who commit sin to spend eternity! \nSin is so evil that nothing but the death of the Son of God on the cross could\nput it away!  Sin is so evil that it deceives us and makes us hardened toward\nthe commission of it!  How thankful we are for the Gospel promise, \u201cThou\nshalt call His Name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins\u201d\n(Matthew\n1:21).                    <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd\nNibert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nwill not have peace of mind unless and until we come to believe that salvation\nis, indeed, entirely a matter of God\u2019s grace from beginning to end. This is why\nthe judgmental are always so fearful and angry and never at peace \u2013 one simply\nshould not be judgmental of others while relying entirely on the grace of God\nfor\nhimself.                                                                       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe\nTerrell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Substitution; The Heart of The\nGospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018good news\u2019 of the Gospel is\nthat there is a Substitute who has stood in the place of every repentant sinner\nand bore the wrath of God in his place. He did this for all whom the Father had\ngiven Him from all eternity. It is for them that He prays in John 17. They are\n\u2018His sheep\u2019, the Father gave them to Him, and He died for them (John 10:15,\n29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Substitution is at the very heart\nof the Gospel. Christ did not simply give His life to make salvation possible\nfor those who contribute their part to what He has done by repenting and\ntrusting Christ. He it is that gives repentance and faith (2 Timothy 2:25;\nEphesians 2:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ did not say to the\nreligious Jews of His day that they were not of His \u2018sheep\u2019 because they did\nnot believe; rather, He says, \u2018Ye believe not, because you are not of my sheep\u2019\n(John 10:26). If they had been His sheep they would have believed. The \u2018good\nnews\u2019 is that all whom the Father has given to the Son, and for whom He died\nwill believe and manifest true repentance and faith. This they will do\nwillingly and with gratitude in their hearts. It is God\u2019s work. He cannot\nfail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill Clark<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice sheaths its\navenging sword in His heart!<\/strong>
\n
\n(Henry Law, “Gleanings from the Book of Life”)<\/em>
\n
\n“<\/strong>For he hath made him to be<\/em> sin for us, who knew\nno sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.<\/strong>”\n2 Cor. 5:21<\/strong>
\n
\nIt is a comforting thought, that the sins thus
\nremoved from the guilty <\/strong>and transferred to the
\nguiltless<\/strong>, leave the real transgressor relieved
\nfrom the weight of evil.
\n
\nThus unrighteousness is removed.
\n
\nJesus thus laden with iniquities, endures
\nall that sin merits and the law denounces.
\n
\nHe approaches the altar of the Cross.
\n
\nHe there presents Himself the willing victim.
\n
\nHe there lays down His life, the all sufficient sacrifice.
\n
\nHe there sheds His blood, worthy to make atonement.
\n
\nWrath pours out on Him all its vials.
\n
\nJustice sheaths its avenging sword in His heart!<\/strong>
\n
\nThe law pours on His head its total curse.
\n
\nHe endures to the uttermost all that justice required.
\n
\nWhere now are the believer’s sins?<\/strong>
\n
\nThat which is blotted out can no more be found.
\n
\nNone who are washed in His most precious blood
\ncan be borne off to hell. Satan can offer no charge
\nagainst those on whom no sin is found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘He appeared to put\naway sin’ Heb 9:26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In his life of obedience to\nthe law of God Christ established righteousness for us. But that righteousness\nis not sufficient, in and of itself, to make us acceptable to God. Sin must be\npunished. Justice must be satisfied. Every guilty sinner must be put to death.\nThe only way God could both punish us for sin and save us from sin was by the\ninfinitely meritorious, voluntary and efficacious death, burial and\nresurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Substitute. For the accomplishment\nof our salvation Christ became ‘obedient unto death, even the death of the\ncross’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God made his Son to be sin\nfor us. Christ had no sin of his own. He had no original sin and no actual sin.\nHe was ‘holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sin.’ Yet he was made sin.\nBy divine imputation, all the sin of all God’s elect was laid upon Christ our\nSubstitute. Christ ‘his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree’.\nThis transfer of sin from us to our Substitute was so real and complete that\nthe Son of God became sin for us! He even claimed our sin as his own, willingly\nassuming all responsibility for the sins of his people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God the Son, being made sin,\ndied as our Substitute. When God found sin on his Son, he cried out to his own\nholy law and inflexible justice: ‘Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and\nagainst the man that is my fellow \u2026 smite the shepherd!’ Then and there all the\nsin of all God’s elect was slain, annihilated forever and taken away. Justice,\nbeing fully satisfied, forever sheathed its dreadful sword. Wrath, being\ncompletely spent upon Christ, is altogether absorbed in Christ for all his\npeople. In so far as God’s law and justice are concerned, all of God’s elect\nhave died. We died in Christ our Substitute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Christ all who believe\nare completely justified. His precious blood has forever washed away our sins,\nso that we are justly pardoned and forgiven. His life of righteousness has been\nimputed to us, so that we are perfectly holy in God’s sight. In Christ we have\nall that God in his law demands for our acceptance, complete satisfaction for\nsin and perfect righteousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\n<\/strong>\u201cThe Scapegoat\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leviticus 16:8<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scapegoat beautifully portrays our dear Saviour, the Lord\nJesus Christ. As the slain goat portrays him as the Lamb sacrificed for our\nsins, the scapegoat portrays him as the sacrifice accepted. The scapegoat is a\npicture of the complete removal of our sins by Christ. The first goat, the\nLord\u2019s goat, the slain victim, gave us a picture of the atonement. The second\ngoat, the scapegoat, gives us a picture of the result of the atonement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fit Man<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all the sins of Israel made his, the scapegoat was taken\naway by a fit man. That fit man is the Judge of all the earth who must do\nright, the very justice of God. The scapegoat is borne beyond the camp\u2014beyond\nall sight\u2014beyond the track of man\u2014to the far borders of an uninhabited land.\nReleased, it disappears in rocks and thickets of an uninhabited desert. Unseen,\nunknown, forgotten, it departs from mortal view. It is now buried in oblivion’s\nland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Pardon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no brighter picture of the full pardon of all sin in\nChrist. Christ bore the accursed load of all my sin and guilt away, as far away\nas the east is from the west; and God’s all-seeing eye cannot find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, precious tidings! Oh,\nheart-cheering truth! Oh, wondrous grace! God the Spirit, by the testimony of\nthe gospel, proclaims this good news and confirms it in the soul by the gift of\nlife and faith in Christ. God has cast our sins, all our sins, behind his back\nand into the depth of the sea of infinite forgetfulness! As we watch that fit\nMan and the Scapegoat, Christ Jesus, the horizon recedes. Infinite separation\nhas infinitely separated our transgressions from us! Christ, our Scapegoat, has\nborne our iniquities away (Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we recover what the ocean\nburies? No line can reach to the unmeasured depths. It has sunk downward,\nnever to arise. Deep waters hide it; and it must be hidden. Such is the grave\nof sin. Our Scapegoat drowned it in a fathomless abyss. The word is sure.\n“Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea!<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can that be seen to which the eye\nof omniscience is blind? Are objects visible which are behind your back? Our\nScapegoat has cast our sins behind God\u2019s back! He has blotted out, as a thick\ncloud, our transgressions (Isaiah 44:22), and can never find them (Jeremiah\n50:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Remembered<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That which Christ has taken away, blotted out, and removed by\nhis precious, sin-atoning blood, God cannot and will not remember. He promised,\n“I will remember their sin no more<\/em>” (Jeremiah 31:34). Do you\nneed comfort? Drink deeply from this stream of joy. Lay down in this green\npasture of delight. Your sins, so many, vile, and hateful, your Scapegoat has\ntaken away. All your blemishes, defects, iniquities, transgressions, and sins\nare forever gone! And God your Saviour. God, who cannot lie, says to you, \u201cThou\nart all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee<\/em>\u201d (Song of Solomon 4:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


\n
\nAll glory to the gospel of Free Grace!<\/strong>
\n
\n(Henry Law, “The Raven” 1869)
\n
\nChrist is<\/strong> the sum and substance of the Bible!<\/strong>
\n
\nChrist . . .
\n  chosen,
\n  sent,
\n  anointed,
\n  accepted of God.
\n
\nChrist wondrous in His person<\/strong>, the mighty
\nGod, therefore infinitely glorious to save.
\n
\nChrist loving<\/strong> from everlasting to
\neverlasting, with love knowing . . .
\n  no origin,
\n  no end,
\n  no intermission,
\n  no degrees;
\nwith love always . . .
\n  unchangeably the same,
\n  perfect,
\n  pure,
\n  intense,
\n  enduring.
\n
\nChrist hanging on the accursed tree, laying
\ndown His life a sufficient ransom price.
\n
\nChrist by His death<\/strong> . . .
\n  closing the gates of hell,
\n  quenching God’s fiery wrath,
\n  paying all demands,
\n  satisfying every claim,
\n  glorifying every attribute,
\n  washing out each crimson stain of all His ransomed flock.
\n
\nChrist gloriously fulfilling every iota of the glorious
\nLaw, saying to each command, ‘I fully have obeyed’;
\nand then transferring the vicarious obedience, as
\ndivine righteousness, to His bride the Church, as
\nher robe for heaven; her lustre in the courts above.
\n
\nChrist purchasing the Holy Spirit<\/strong>, and sending
\nHim to bless the Church with all His powers . . .
\n  to teach,
\n  to sanctify,
\n  to comfort,
\n  to adorn,
\n  to beautify.
\n
\nChrist rising <\/strong>from the grave, a proof that God is
\nsatisfied, and all redemption fully earned; a pledge
\nthat the ransomed in their turn shall put on the
\nbeauties of a resurrection body, worthy of a
\nresurrection state.
\n
\nChrist ascending<\/strong> . . .
\n  to the right hand of the Majesty on high;
\n  representing all His people in Himself;
\n  bearing their names upon His heart;
\n  receiving all gifts for them;
\n  pouring down all blessings on them.
\n
\nChrist coming<\/strong> . . .
\n  to institute a glorious reign,
\n  to change the living,
\n  to raise the dead,
\n  to execute eternal judgment,
\n  to fill all heaven with glory,
\n  to awaken the eternal song of never ending hallelujahs!
\n
\nO my soul, what a flood of tidings of great joy!<\/strong>
\n
\nAll things are yours!
\n
\nThe world!
\n
\nThings present!
\n
\nThings to come!
\n
\nAll are yours!
\n
\nAll glory to the gospel of Free Grace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\n
\nIf you want to see what sin really is<\/strong>
\n
\n(<\/strong>J.C.Philpot, <\/strong>“Sin\nCondemned and Righteousness Fulfilled”)<\/strong>
\n
\nTo cast the sinning angels <\/strong>out of heaven;
\nto banish Adam<\/strong> from Paradise;
\nto destroy the old world <\/strong>by a flood;
\nto burn Sodom and Gomorrah<\/strong> with fire from heaven\u2013
\nthese examples of God’s displeasure against sin<\/strong> were
\nnot sufficient to express His condemnation of it. He
\nwould therefore take another way of making it manifest.
\n
\nAnd what was this?
\n
\nBy sending His own Son out of His bosom, and offering
\nHim as a sacrifice for sin upon the tree at Calvary, He
\nwould make it manifest how He abhorred sin, and how
\nHis righteous character must forever condemn it.
\n
\nSee here the love of God to poor guilty man<\/strong> in not
\nsparing His own Son; and yet the hatred of God against
\nsin, in condemning it in the death of Jesus.
\n
\nIt is almost as if God said, “If you want to see what
\nsin really is<\/strong>, you cannot see it in the depths of hell. I
\nwill show you sin in blacker colours still \u2013 you shall see
\nit in the sufferings of My dear Son; in His agonies of
\nbody and soul; and in what He as a holy, innocent
\nLamb endured under My wrath, when He consented
\nto take the sinner’s place.”
\n
\nWhat wondrous wisdom<\/strong>,
\nwhat depths of love<\/strong>,
\nwhat treasures of mercy<\/strong>,
\nwhat heights of grace
\n<\/strong>were thus revealed and brought to light in God’s
\nunsparing condemnation of sin, and yet in His
\nfull and free pardon of the sinner!
\n
\nIf you have ever had a view by faith of the suffering
\nSon of God in the garden and upon the cross; if you
\nhave ever seen the wrath of God due to you, falling
\nupon the head of the God-Man; and viewed a bleeding,
\nagonising Immanuel; then you have seen and felt in
\nthe depths of your conscience what a dreadful thing
\nsin is.  <\/strong>Then the broken-hearted child of God looks
\nunto Him whom he has pierced, and mourns and grieves
\nbitterly for Him, as for a firstborn son who has died.
\n
\nUnder this sight he feels what a dreadful thing sin is.
\n
\n“Oh,” he says, “did God afflict His dear Son? Did
\nJesus, the darling of God, endure all these sufferings
\nand sorrows to save my soul<\/strong> from the bottomless pit?
\nO, can I ever hate sin enough? Can I ever grieve and
\nmourn over it enough? Can my stony heart ever be
\ndissolved into contrition enough, when by faith I see
\nthe agonies, and hear the groans of the suffering,
\nbleeding Lamb of God?”
\n
\nChristians hate their sins. They hate that sinful, that
\ndreadfully sinful flesh of theirs which has so often,
\nwhich has so continually, betrayed them into sin.
\nAnd thus they join with God in passing condemnation
\nupon the whole of their flesh; upon all its actings and
\nworkings; upon all its thoughts and words and deeds;
\nand hate it as the prolific parent of that sin which
\ncrucified Christ, and torments and plagues them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It quenches the thirst\nof the soul<\/strong>
\n
\n(Horatius Bonar, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”)
\n
\n“My blood is drink indeed!<\/strong>” John 6:55
\n
\nThe blood of the Lamb contains the true drink for the
\nsoul. It quenches the thirst of the soul<\/strong>\u2014the thirst
\nof parching produced by an evil conscience and a sense
\nof wrath. It removes the wrath and the sense of wrath,
\nby showing us that wrath transferred to the Substitute.
\n
\nIt relieves the conscience when first we come into
\ncontact with it; and it keeps it relieved from day
\nto day, as we drink it by faith.
\n
\nIt is ‘the true drink.’
\n
\nIt calms!
\n
\nIt revives!
\n
\nIt refreshes!
\n
\nIt soothes!
\n
\nIt is like cold water to the thirsty lips under a
\nscorching sun. Nothing but the blood can allay
\nthis thirst; nothing else can be . . .
\n  drink for the soul,
\n  drink for the intellect,
\n  drink for the conscience,
\n  drink for the heart!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sin is so evil that the Good God made a hell for the ones who commit sin to spend eternity!  Sin is so evil that nothing but the death of the Son of God on the cross could put it away!  Sin is so evil that it deceives us and makes us hardened toward 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-6847","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\/6847","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=6847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6848,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847\/revisions\/6848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}