{"id":6970,"date":"2025-12-15T03:35:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T03:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6970"},"modified":"2025-12-15T03:35:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T03:35:07","slug":"bulletin-edition-december-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6970","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition December 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Walking\nwith God…<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Don Fortner<\/em>
\n
\n“Enoch WALKED with God….” Genesis 5:24
\nMy heart is motivated, driven and governed by FOUR GREAT
\nCONCERNS. Here are four things I want more than anything
\nin this world.
\n
\nI am not an ambitious man. But I am ambitious for these four
\nthings. For the attainment of these four things I am prepared, by
\nthe grace of God, to sacrifice everything else. I count all other
\nthings to be but rubbish by comparison.
\n
\n1. I want to know Christ (Phil. 3:10).
\nYes, I believe that in measure I do know him. God has revealed
\nhis grace and glory to me in the Person of his dear Son. Still, I
\nwant a growing, spiritual, experimental knowledge of the Lord
\nJesus Christ. I want to know all that he has done for me. I want
\nto know him. I want to know him fully.
\n
\n2. I want to be totally committed to Christ.
\nI want to totally lose my life to Christ and in Christ, so that I can
\ntruthfully say with the Apostle Paul, “For me to live is Christ.” I
\nwant to be committed to Christ as he was to the Father, so that
\nmy heart says to him in all things, “Not my will, thy will be done”
\nIt is my continual prayer that God will give me a heart–
\ncommitted to the Lord Jesus Christ,
\ncommitted to his will,
\ncommitted to his gospel,
\ncommitted to his people,
\ncommitted to the cause of his glory in this world.
\n
\n3. I want to be like Christ.
\nMy heart longs to be like him, conformed to him, made into his
\nlikeness. I want to be like him love, tenderness, and
\nthoughtfulness, in zeal, dedication, and devotion, purity, holiness,
\nand righteousness.
\n
\n4. I want to live in communion with Christ.
\nLike Enoch of old, I want to walk with God.
\n
\nI know these goals are not attainable in this life. Yet, they are the
\nthings for which my soul hungers and my heart thirsts. I cannot
\nbe satisfied with less. “I count not myself to have apprehended:
\nbut this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
\nand reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
\ntoward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
\nJesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). “I shall be satisfied when I awake with
\nChrist’s likeness” (Psa. 17:15), but not until then.
\n“Enoch WALKED with God….”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I will walk\nbefore the Lord in the land of the living.” \u2013Psalm 116:9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a distinction\nbetween walking before <\/em>God and walking with <\/em>God.\nTo walk before <\/em>God is to walk with an abiding sense of God’s\neye being upon us; to walk with a desire to do those things which are pleasing\nin his sight; to walk in his ordinances blameless; to walk before his people\nwith our garments unspotted by the world; in a word, to walk before him in\nprivate as in public, alone and in company, before the Church and the world, by\nday and by night, as we should walk if we had a personal view of his glorious\nmajesty in heaven before our eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now if you carried about\nwith you a deep and daily sense that God saw every thought, marked every\nmovement, heard every word, and observed every action, this sense of his\npresence would put a restraint upon your light, trifling, and foolish spirit.\nYou would watch your thoughts, your words, your actions, as living under a\nsense of God’s heart-searching eye. This is to walk before <\/em>God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we read of Enoch that he\n“walked with <\/em>God.” This is a more advanced stage of\nthe divine life. To walk with <\/em>God is to walk with him in sweet\nfamiliarity, in holy confidence, in a blessed sense of a saving interest in his\nlove and grace, and thus to walk with him and talk with him as a man walks and\ntalks with his friend. There are some who walk before God, but how few walk\nwith God! Many live under a more or less deep and daily sense of God’s\nheart-searching presence, who are not admitted into this sweet familiarity, nor\nenjoy the blessedness of this heavenly communion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The doctrine of creature\nmerit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Octavius Winslow, “The\nGod of Grace”)
\n
\n“Salvation is of the Lord!” Jonah 2:9<\/strong>
\n
\nSalvation is but the unfolding of the boundless grace of God\u2014to\nlost, vile, and Hell-deserving sinners.
\n<\/strong> <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>All the religions of men; and their name is\n“legion”; are based upon the principle\nof human merit<\/em>.
\n
\nAll are founded upon some ‘imagined good and power’ in the\ncreature, the effect of which is totally to set aside the Atonement of Christ\nand the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul.
\n
\nIn fact, the\ndoctrine of creature merit<\/strong> is\nthe fatal element ofman’s religion\u2014the\nmoral poison of his soul; the remedy for which, is only found in a believing\nreception and heart-felt experience of the free grace<\/strong> salvation<\/strong> of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ.
\n
\nThe whole plan of salvation is based upon free grace\u2014or, in other words, God’s\nunpurchased favour to sinners.
\n
\nThis idea, of course, repudiates and ignores all worth and\nworthinesswhatever on the part of the creature, man.
\n<\/strong> <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Human merit, therefore, is entirely\nexcluded as an element entering into our salvation; the whole scheme, from\nfirst to last, being by grace!
\n
\n“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise\ngrace is no more grace.” Romans 11:6
\n
\nChrist died, not for saints\u2014but for sinners<\/em>.
\n
\nHe receives, not the worthy\u2014but the unworthy<\/em>.
\n
\nHe came to heal, not the whole\u2014but the sick<\/em>.
\n
\nHe came to call, not the righteous\u2014but sinners<\/em>, to\nrepentance!
\n
\nSalvation, from first to last, is of free grace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Enoch\nWalked With God”      <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis\n5:24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This\nis an astounding statement: “Enoch,” a sinful man like you and me,\n“walked with God!” And “he had this testimony, that he pleased\nGod.” In his daily life Enoch walked in company with the living God,\nliving in God’s presence as his constant Friend, IN WHOM HE CONFIDED AND BY\nWHOM HE WAS LOVED. What kind of man was Enoch? What kind of life did he live?\nThe answer is clear: Enoch was a man of faith; and he lived a life of faith. He\nwas not a sinless man. He did not live a higher life, a deeper life, or a\nholier life than anyone else who lives by faith. IT WAS NOT ENOCH’S CONDUCT,\nHIS PERSONALITY, OR HIS DISPOSITION THAT PLEASED GOD, BUT HIS FAITH IN CHRIST\n(Heb. 11:5-6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     There\nwas nothing at all remarkable about the character or works of this man, Enoch,\nby nature, which caused God to look upon him with pleasure. Enoch did not win\nGod’s favour by something he did. GOD WAS PLEASED WITH ENOCH BECAUSE ENOCH\nBELIEVED GOD. He believed that which God has spoken. Enoch’s faith was the same\nas Abel’s before him and Noah’s after him. The faith by which Enoch walked with\nGod and pleased God was the same faith that the dying thief possessed. And it\nis the faith of God’s elect today. My friend, WALKING WITH GOD IS NEITHER MORE\nNOR LESS THAN BELIEVING GOD. The only way anyone can walk with God and please\nGod is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. NO MAN PLEASES GOD, BUT HIS SON. NO\nMAN WALKS WITH GOD, BUT HIS SON. THE ONLY WAY ANY FALLEN CHILD OF ADAM CAN\nPLEASE GOD AND WALK WITH GOD IS BY FAITH IN HIS SON, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Our\nsanctification, like our justification, is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.\nWe grow in grace as we grow in faith. Having begun in the Spirit, we are not\nnow made perfect by the flesh. We do not begin and go a certain distance by\nfaith in Christ, and then finish our course by the works of the law. TO WALK\nWITH GOD IS TO CONTINUE AS WE BEGAN. BY FAITH IN CHRIST. “As ye have\ntherefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built\nup in him, and stablished in the faith.\u201d Col 2:6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

On our learning this\nlesson, depends our comforting walk heavenward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Letters of William\nRomaine, 1714-1795)
\n
\nWhen the Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ and preaches\nthem to the heart\u2014oh, what a sweet peace follows! The believer then finds\nhimself saved from all the miseries of sin, and entitled to all the blessings\nof eternal glory.
\n
\nBeing thus persuaded of his safety by believing in the\nsin-atoning death of our Great High Priest, the Holy Spirit then teaches\nhim how to live upon Christ, and how to make use of Christ’s\nfullness. <\/em>On our learning this lesson,\ndepends our comforting walk heavenward<\/strong>. For Christ does not\ngive us a stock of grace and expect us to improve it by being faithful to grace\ngiven. No, no, that is not His way. Our souls must depend upon Him, just as our\nbodies do upon the elements of this world. We must\nlive by faith in Jesus, and be every moment receiving grace upon grace out of\nHis fullness.
\n
\nAnd this is our happiness\u2014to have all in Christ!
\n
\nA beggar in myself, but rich with unsearchable eternal riches in\nHim.
\n
\nIgnorant still in myself, but led and taught by His unerring\nwisdom.
\nA sinner still, but saved by His blood and righteousness.
\n
\nWeak and helpless still, but kept by His Almighty love.
\n
\nNothing but sorrow in myself, nothing but joy in Him.
\nOh, this is a blessed life!<\/em>
\n
\nNo tongue can tell what a Heaven it is, thus to live by\nfaith in the Son of God. <\/em>Thanks be to Him, that I do know a little of\nit. Surely I could not have thought, some years ago, that there was such\na Heaven upon earth<\/em> as I now find.
\n
\n“I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and\ngave Himself for me!” Galatians 2:20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIVE REASONS NOT TO FEAR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cFear thou not; for I am\nwith thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I\nwill help thee; yea, I will uphold<\/p>\n\n\n\n

thee with the right hand of my\nrighteousness.\u201d (Isaiah 41:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.     \u201cFear thou not;\nfor I am with thee.\u201d Most fear is caused by being alone. The child of God\nshould not fear because they are never alone. Our Lord said, \u201cI will never\nleave thee nor forsake thee.\u201d (Hebrews 13:5) \u201cLo, I am with you alway, even to\nthe end of the earth.\u201d (Matthew 28:20) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.     \u201cFear thou not,\nfor I am thy God.\u201d The child of God does not rest in human strength, but in\ndivine mercy. The believer is saved and kept by the power of God in the Lord\nJesus Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.     \u201cI will\nstrengthen thee.\u201d We are weak but He is strong. His grace is sufficient, and\nHis strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Jesus Christ\nis our strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.     \u201cI will help\nthee.\u201d Moses didn\u2019t go to Pharaoh alone. David didn\u2019t face Goliath alone.\nJoshua didn\u2019t fight the battle of Jericho alone. Samson didn\u2019t defeat the\nPhilistines all by himself. God doesn\u2019t just help us; He does for us that which\nwe cannot do for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.     \u201cI will hold\nthee with the right hand of my righteousness.\u201d The keeping of ourselves is not\ndone by us. \u201cNot by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of\nhosts.\u201d (Zechariah 4:6) How does God uphold us? How does God keep the believer?\nThey are kept by the power of God. (1 Peter 1:5) They are kept with the right\nhand of God\u2019s righteousness. They know WHO that is.  It is the Lord Jesus\nChrist our Righteousness.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 David Eddmenson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What About You?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI am not satisfied\nwith my faith,\u201d says one.  No, of course you are not nor will you ever be;\nat least I hope not! The Bible does not say, \u201cTherefore being satisfied with\nour faith we have peace with God.\u201d  It says, \u201cBeing justified by faith we\nhave peace with God.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI am not satisfied\nwith my repentance.\u201d  That is wonderful! What would you do with your\nrepentance if you were satisfied with it? Would you find peace in repentance?\nOh, what pride and self-righteousness must be in any person who is satisfied\nwith his repentance and faith! That person could never find true peace, for\nsuch a refuge of lies must fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI am not satisfied\nwith my love.\u201d What? Did you expect on this earth, to be satisfied with any\ngrace found in you? Was it your love for Christ or His love for you that gave\nyou peace at first?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now then, there is\nbut one thing with which Almighty God is satisfied \u2013 and that is the Person and\nwork of His Son. It is with Christ that we must be satisfied, not with\nourselves, nor anything about us! When we cease from ALL our labours, and ALL\nour righteousness, and ENTER INTO HIS REST, pardon and peace will come without\ndelay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horatius Bonar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Armageddon”                 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revelation\n16:16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     What\nis Armageddon? The whole world is convinced that it is some kind of nuclear\nholocaust that will take place in the middle east just before the\nsecond coming of Christ. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject.\nMovies have been made about it. But I have seen, heard and read very little\nabout Armageddon that makes sense, has any biblical foundation, or contains any\nspiritual message for my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     If\nwe want to understand what Armageddon is, we must begin by reading Judges 5.\nThe Canaanite king, Jabin, oppressed and persecuted the children\nof Israel, ravaging their fields and plundering their crops. The Jews were\nterrified and went into hiding. At last they came to Deborah. She told them,\n“The Lord God of Israel will deliver Jabin and Sisera into your\nhand.” And the princes of Isachar, with Deborah and Barak defeated Jabin,\nSisera and the Canaanites in the Valley of Megiddo (v. 19).\n“They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against\nSisera.” The Lord God of heaven fought for and delivered his people from\nthe hands of their enemies at Megiddo. That is the lesson taught in Judges\n5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Armageddon\nis not some future military conflict between earthly nations. It is not a\nmilitary invasion of Israel by Russia. It is not a nuclear war,\nthough all those things appear to be inevitable. Armageddon is a spiritual\nconflict. It is represented in every battle throughout history between Christ\nand Satan, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the kingdom of\nlight and the kingdom of darkness, the church and the world, righteousness and\nevil, truth and error, the worshippers of God and false religion. Whenever the\nsaints of God are oppressed and persecuted, the Lord reveals his power and\ndefeats our enemies.That is Armageddon. It is a battle which began in\nthe garden of Eden, has continued throughout the ages, and shall be consummated\nat the glorious second advent of Christ (Rev. 19:11-21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     When\nChrist comes to judge and make war Satan’s opposition to him and his\nchurch shall cease forever. Satan’s power will be completely destroyed. His\npower to hurt God’s creation shall be forever ended. Every influence of the\nevil one shall be cast with him into hell! Armageddon will be the triumph and\nglory of Christ and his church!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Walking with God… by Don Fortner “Enoch WALKED with God….” Genesis 5:24 My heart is motivated, driven and governed by FOUR GREAT CONCERNS. Here are four things I want more than anything in this world. I am not an ambitious man. But I am ambitious for these four things. For the attainment of these four […]<\/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-6970","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\/6970","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=6970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6971,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6970\/revisions\/6971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}