{"id":6898,"date":"2025-10-14T04:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T04:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6898"},"modified":"2025-10-14T04:42:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T04:42:55","slug":"bulletin-edition-october-2025-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6898","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition October 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2 Tim. 1:12. I know\nWHOM I have believed\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WHAT of the Gospel, (the historical\nevents concerning the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ); and\neven the WHY of the Gospel, (the precious doctrinal truths concerning sovereign\nelection, effectual atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the\nsaints); are all things men can learn from an honest study of the Bible. The\nWHO of the Gospel, (the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ) can only be\nknown by Divine Revelation.      This is life\neternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom\nthou hast sent<\/em>.\n              <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

How little we\nunderstand of God\u2019s dealings with us!  If we suffer the slightest set-back\nin this world\u2019s goods or pleasures, we take it as a sign of God\u2019s judgment and\ndisfavour.  If we prosper in this world, we believe that it is evidence of\nGod\u2019s pleasure with us.  But, it is likely the opposite. When God would\nvisit a man with judgment aimed at his destruction, He withholds not the goods,\nbut the spiritual ones; and the one He truly loves is often deprived of worldly\ngoods so that he will more readily seek spiritual goods. Which would you rather\nsuffer, blindness of eyes or blindness of heart? Which would you rather have,\nriches in gold or riches in grace?  Then, let each of us learn to not\njudge God\u2019s ETERNAL dealings with us by His TEMPORAL dealings with us.  I\nknow that this is hard to do; but it is the essence of living faith to judge,\nnot by what is seen, but by what is not seen, to live by faith in God\u2019s\npromises, not by sight.     Joe Terrell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you know the love of\nChrist which surpasses knowledge!<\/strong>
\n
\n(“Every Day!” Author unknown, 1872)
\n
\n“May you know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge!<\/strong>“
\n
\nChrist’s love surpasses knowledge! Blessed fact! His love is so vast, so full,\nso free – that it cannot in its completeness be comprehended by finite minds.\nBut enough of it may be known to satisfy our longing hearts, and to fill us\nwith joy and peace.
\n
\nLet it be our constant desire to know and feel the Saviour’s love. Let us dwell\nwith wonder and delight on that marvellous manifestation of it – the\nsin-atoning sacrifice of Himself for us! What love must that be, that led Him\nto die, even the death of the cross, for our sins! “Greater love has no\nman than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” – but Jesus\ndied for His enemies!
\n
\nDid He die for us as His enemies – then what is His love to us now that we are\nHis friends? It is unutterable!
\n
\nMay the Holy Spirit reveal Christ’s love to us now in such measure as we may be\nable to understand and enjoy it; but the full disclosures of it await that\nperiod when we shall be with Him, and shall see Him as He is!
\n
\n“May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and\nlength, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth\nknowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God!” Ephesians\n3:18-19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 “The secret\nthings belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong\nunto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this\nlaw” (Deuteronomy 29:29).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many things\nthat I do not understand, cannot comprehend, and God has not revealed. But He\nunderstands, comprehends, and knows them. I may not know what He is doing, but\nHe does, and I trust Him. He is and whatever He does is right because He is\nGod! And we leave it there! Not with a sullen resignation, but with joy and\nconfidence in Him! “The secret things belong to the Lord.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are also\nthe things which are revealed. Whatever He has revealed we are bound to believe\nand obey. He has revealed that “whosoever shall call upon the name\nof the Lord shall be saved.”<\/em> Rather than grappling with questions\nthat we cannot answer, we are to call on His Name to save us. That can be said\nregarding all that He has revealed. We are called upon to trust Him in what we\ndo not see, and obey Him in what we do see. Oh, for grace to trust Him in what\nwe do not see and obey Him in what we do see! \n                                        \n           \n            Todd\nNibert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A\nreal influence!<\/strong>
\n(John Newton)
\n
\n“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature<\/em>. :\nold things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2\nCorinthians 5:17
\n
\nThe saving grace of God has a real influence<\/strong> upon the whole\nman. It . . .
\n  enlightens the understanding<\/em>,
\n  directs the will<\/em>,
\n  purifies the affections<\/em>,
\n  regulates the passions<\/em>, and
\n  corrects the different excesses to which different people are by\nconstitution or habit inclined. It does not impart any new natural powers,\nthough it teaches the use and improvement of those we have received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That soul never perished,\nthat felt itself to be vile, and Jesus to be precious!<\/strong>
\n
\n(Octavius Winslow)
\n
\nWhat are YOU to yourself? Worthless? Vile? Empty?
\n
\nWhat is JESUS to you? Precious? Lovely? All your salvation? All your desire?
\n
\nWhat is SIN to you? The most hateful thing in the world?
\n
\nWhat is HOLINESS to you? Most desired? Most longed for?
\n
\nWhat is the THRONE OF GRACE to you? The most attractive spot?
\n
\nWhat is the CROSS to you? The sweetest resting place in the universe?
\n
\nWhat is GOD to you? Your God? Your Father? The spring of all your joys? The\nfountainhead of all your bliss? The centre where your affections meet?
\n
\nIs it so? Then you are a child of God! Those low views of yourself-that\nbrokenness, that inward mourning, that secret confession; that longing for more\nspirituality, more grace, more devotedness, more love-does but prove the existence<\/em>, reality<\/em>,\nand growth <\/em>of God’s work within you.
\n
\nCheer up, precious soul! That soul never perished, that felt itself to\nbe vile, and Jesus to be precious!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When\nHe, The Spirit Of Truth, Is Come…”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jn.\n16:12-14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Lord Jesus Christ\ndescribes the office work of the Holy Spirit in a fourfold manner. He is to\nGod’s elect a Comforter, a Convictor, a Guide and a Glorifier. He comforts\nchosen, redeemed sinners by convicting them of sin pardoned, righteousness imputed\nand judgment finished. He convicts by showing us the things of Christ. He\nguides every believer into all needful truth. And in doing all these things he\nconstantly glorifies Christ in the hearts of his people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     “HE\nSHALL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH.” It is foolish to imagine that a person\nmust know “all truth” before he can be saved. Before a person is\nsaved he does not know any spiritual truth! And saved men and women are\nignorant of many things in this world. These disciples were saved. But they had\nmuch to learn. Yet, saved men and women do, by the Spirit of God learn the\ntruth of God. And, learning it, they bow to it. God’s people do not rebel\nagainst his Word. They submit to it, receive it, and rejoice in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Matthew\nPoole tells us that the word here translated “guide” implies that the\nHoly Spirit both reveals the truth to God’s saints and bows our wills to the\ntruth he reveals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Though\nthis text is primarily a declaration of apostolic inspiration, it clearly\nhas application to all believers. The Spirit’s work in a person is not over\nwhen he has been convicted. The Holy Spirit graciously guides all believers\ninto all truth that is needful, useful and profitable for them. He does so\nthrough the ministry of the Word, causing saints to grow in the grace and\nknowledge of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). This is not a promise of universal,\nspiritual knowledge. But it is a promise of true spiritual knowledge. As the\nSpirit of God, through the Word of God, shows us the things of Christ, he\nguides us into truth, for Christ is “all truth” (John 14:6). And all\nwho are saved by his grace bow to, receive and love his truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     “HE\nSHALL GLORIFY ME.” Here our Savior tells us that “all truth”\nrevealed and taught by the Spirit of God glorifies Christ. Anything that is of\nGod glorifies Christ, not the preacher, not the church, not a man, but\nChrist. By this you may determine whether any doctrine or ordinance, religious\nwork or religious experience is of God: Does it, or does it not glorify Christ\nalone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Experimental knowledge<\/strong>
\n
\n(J.C.Philpot, “Letters & Memoirs” 1840)
\n
\n“<\/strong> <\/sup><\/strong>And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only\ntrue God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.<\/strong>”\nJohn 17:3
\n<\/strong>
\nAn experimental knowledge<\/strong> of Christ in
\nthe soul, is the only relief for sin’s . . .<\/strong>
\n  poverty,
\n  guilt,
\n  leprosy,
\n  bankruptcy,
\n  and damnation.
\n
\nThis is the true way of preaching Christ crucified;
\nnot the mere doctrine of the Cross, but a crucified
\nJesus experimentally known<\/strong> to the soul.
\n
\nI am deeply conscious of my own . . .
\n  baseness,
\n  ignorance,
\n  blindness
\n  and folly.
\nBut my malady is too deeply rooted to be healed by
\ndry doctrines and speculative theological opinions.
\n
\nThe blood of the Lamb, spiritually and supernaturally
\nsprinkled and applied, is the only healing balm for a
\nsin-sick soul.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gospel fruit<\/strong>
\n
\n(J.C.Philpot, “Meditations on 1 Peter”)
\n
\n“<\/strong>Either make the tree good,\nand his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for\nthe tree is known by his<\/em> fruit.<\/strong>”\nMatthew 12:33<\/strong>
\n
\nGospel fruit<\/strong> can only grow upon a gospel tree<\/strong>,
\nand thus the fruits of a holy and godly life must
\nspring out of the divine operations of the Holy
\nSpirit upon the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SALVATION\nIS KNOWING CHRIST<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nlong as men are ignorant of the Lord Jesus Christ they cannot be saved. It is\nnot enough that men and women be sincere. They must know Christ as he is\nrevealed in Holy Scripture, or they will perish in unbelief. Our Lord himself\ndeclares, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true\nGod, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). In order to have\ntrue, saving faith in Christ a man must have a true gospel knowledge of\nChrist. GOSPEL KNOWLEDGE IS ESSENTIAL TO SAVING FAITH<\/strong> (Rom. 10:9-17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith knows, acknowledges, and trusts the Lord Jesus Christ\nin THE SUPREME DIGNITY OF HIS PERSON<\/strong>. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the\ninfinite, incomprehensible, eternal Gods who is moved by nothing and touched by\nnothing. He is also God incarnates God in our nature, bone of our bone and\nflesh of our flesh, the man who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities,\nbecause he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith knows, embraces, and trusts Christ, receiving THE\nSALVATION DONE BY HIS PERFORMANCE<\/strong>. Faith does not, in anyway, accomplish\nsalvation. Our salvation was accomplished entirely by the work of our Lord\nJesus Christ. Faith, trusting Christ, simply receives what he has done as our\nSubstitute. We receive his righteousness, the righteousness which he performed\nfor us, by faith. We receive redemption and the forgiveness of sins, that which\nhe purchased by his precious blood, by faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saving faith knows Christ as Lord and bows to him in THE\nSOVEREIGN DOMINION OF HIS POSITION<\/strong>. Faith submits to the sovereign rule of\nthe sovereign Christ, willingly. Faith does not rebel against sovereignty, it\nrejoices it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True faith knows Christ and rests in THE SURE\nDELIVERANCE OF HIS POWER<\/strong>. He cannot fail. He is able to save to the\nuttermost all who come to God by him. All power is in the hands of him who is\nour Savior. Therefore our hearts safely trust him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 Tim. 1:12. I know WHOM I have believed\u2026 The WHAT of the Gospel, (the historical events concerning the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ); and even the WHY of the Gospel, (the precious doctrinal truths concerning sovereign election, effectual atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints); are all things men can learn […]<\/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-6898","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\/6898","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=6898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6899,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6898\/revisions\/6899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}