{"id":6978,"date":"2025-12-30T06:28:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6978"},"modified":"2025-12-30T06:28:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:28:58","slug":"bulletin-edition-december-2025-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6978","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition December 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ebenezer!<\/strong>
\n
\n(John MacDuff, “Ripples in the Twilight” 1885)
\n
\n“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and\ncalled the named of it ‘Ebenezer’, <\/em>saying, Hitherto hath the\nLord helped us!” 1 Samuel 7:12
\n
\nWhat a retrospect will that be at the end of life’s journey! The rough paths,\nthe jagged precipices, the valleys of humiliation \u2014 all will be seen to have\nbeen bathed in the luminous light of God’s love and wisdom. There will be\nnothing more but to erect earth’s farewell monument<\/em>, and to carve\nupon it, “Ebenezer!<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And we\nknow that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who\nare the called according to his<\/em> purpose.!” Romans 8:28<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A medicine essential\nfor our spiritual health and happiness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Isaiah 51:12), “I, even\nI, am He who comforts you!”
\n 
\nHow does God comfort us? Suppose you are in some great trouble – how will God\ncomfort you?
\n 
\nGod comforts us by showing us the necessity <\/strong>of that trouble.\nDo you ever think of this: that there is NO CHANCE? Not a pang can pierce the\nheart of His redeemed child, for which there is not a needs-be! 
\n Not an ache<\/em> can gnaw the frame;
\n not a grief<\/em> can pierce the heart;
\n not a shadow<\/em> can darken the soul,
\n which is not permitted because there was a needs-be!
\n 
\nIt is comfort to know that no affliction is random<\/em>, that no\nbereavement is by accident<\/em> – but that each is sent because\nit was a medicine<\/em> essential for our spiritual\nhealth and happiness<\/strong>. Thus God comforts us.
\n 
\nGod comforts us in affliction, by revealing to us what is the source <\/strong>of\ntrouble. We are told that not a  trouble<\/em> can befall us\nthat has not been first in God’s bosom; that not a tear<\/em> can\nstart in the eye that He has not first planned, and estimated, and weighed, and\npronounced to be expedient for us.
\n 
\nAdmit for one moment, that CHANCE is the parent of your troubles – that  accident <\/em>is\nthe author of your bereavements – and what a gloomy place must this world be!\nWhat a sad heart must the mourner’s be! What an unhappy man must the victim of\ntrouble be!But when we know that the blow that strikes the heaviest, is from\nour Father’s hand<\/strong>; that the sorrow that pierces the heart with the keenest\nagony, lay in His bosom before it received its mission to touch us<\/strong> –\nthen surely it is a truth, “I, even I, am He who comforts\nyou!” <\/em>God comforts us by showing us the end <\/strong> of that\ntrouble. If the sorrows, bereavements, disappointments, griefs, secret and\nopen, had no end<\/em>, and no grand object<\/em>, and no\ngreat purpose<\/em> to accomplish – then they would be intolerable.\nBut He tells us, “Though no tribulation for the present seems joyous, but\ngrievous – yet afterwards it works out the peaceable fruits of righteousness to\nthose who are exercised thereby.” He tells us that, “Our light\nafflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding,\neven an eternal weight of glory.” “And we know that God causes all\nthings to work together for good, to those\nwho love<\/em> God, to those who are called<\/em> according\nto His purpose.”
\n 
\nAnd therefore the necessity<\/em>, the source<\/em>, and the end <\/em>of\nour troubles, revealed to us by God – take away the edge of them, and make at\nleast tolerable that which, if inexplicable, would be altogether intolerable.
\n 
\nLastly, He will comfort us by delivering us from all our troubles, and\nintroducing us into a glorious rest –\nmore bright and beautiful than eye has seen, or ear has heard, or man’s heart\nin its happiest imaginings has ever conceived!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 John Cumming (1807-1881)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 CHRIST, THE END OF THE\nLAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man may work from sun to sun,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for those in Christ the work\nis done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He rescued His sheep at His\nFather’s request<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caused them to lie down and gave\nthem rest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Him shall all nations of the\nEarth be blessed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ, the end of the law for\nrighteousness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man may work from sun to sun,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet merit nothing from the Holy\nOne!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the people of God Christ\nfulfilled the law,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atoned for their sin and paid it\nall<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Him shall all nations of the\nEarth be blessed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ, the end of the law for\nrighteousness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man may work from sun to sun,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But God’s people count all their\nworks as dung,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work of Christ does their\nheart enthrall<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They rejoice in their Savior, for\nHe is all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Him shall all nations of the\nEarth be blessed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ, the end of the law for\nrighteousness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregory Cooper <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nHeavens Do Rule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel\n4:26<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sooner or later God is going to make everyone see and\nacknowledge what he taught the proud king of Babylon – \u201cTHE HEAVENS\nDO RULE!\u201d<\/em><\/strong> You may, in your great depth of imaginary wisdom, <\/em>presume\nthat you could run this world better than God does. Could not the Almighty\neasily put an end to s<\/strong>ickness, poverty and war, crime and disease,\nfamine, earthquakes and death? Indeed, he could. But God almighty will not be\ndictated to by us! Who are we to dare set ourselves up as instructors to the\nall-wise God? He \u201cworketh all things after the counsel of his own\nwill.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. GOD\u2019S PROVIDENCE IS\nMYSTERIOUS <\/strong>(Rom. 11:33-36).His judgments are a\ngreat deep. His ways are past finding out. But I know this – God always has his\nway. His ways are not our ways. But his way is always right and best. We simply\nmust not question his will, his ways, or his works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. GOD\u2019S PROVIDENCE IS MINUTE <\/strong>(Matt.\n10:30). “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.\u201d<\/em> Imagine\nthat! So minute is the providence of God that he, before the world began,\nnumbered and determined the hairs which would be on your head at every stage of\nyour existence, from infancy to the grave! Divine providence is all inclusive!\nGod rules everything, great and small, everywhere, and always! He is in control\nof all inanimate matter<\/strong>. He who created\nthe world out of nothing, commanded a flood to drown all who lived upon the\nearth at one time. He divided the waters of the Red Sea with the wind. God\ncaused the earth to swallow up the sons of Korah. He dried up the Jordan river\nto make a path for his people. He made the fiery furnace a cool fire for his\nservants. Our God has his way in the whirlwind and everywhere else! Our great\nGod is in total control of all irrational\ncreatures<\/strong>. The flies, frogs, and locusts came and went at the will\nof God. He prepared a great fish to swallow up his servant Jonah and carry him\nto Nineveh. He caused an ass to speak to Balaam and a rooster to crow on cue\nfor Peter. \u201cThe LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; his\nkingdom ruleth over all!\u201d <\/em>Our God and heavenly Father controls,\n(absolutely and totally), all rational creatures\ntoo. <\/strong>He controls all men and women everywhere, good and bad, in\nthe good they do and in the evil they perform. All angels, all demons, and\nSatan himself are under the total control of our God. (Psa. 76:10; Isa.\n14:24-27). Many have a lot of trouble with this. They do not understand that\nGod truly is God, as fully in control of hell as he is in heaven, as totally in\ncontrol of wickedness as of righteousness (Prov. 16:4, 33; 21:1; Acts 2:23;\n4:27-28).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. GOD\u2019S PROVIDENCE IS GOOD! <\/strong>\u201cAll\nthings work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called\naccording to his purpose.\u201d<\/em> All things work together for good to God\u2019s\nelect eternally, spiritually, and collectively. Whatever God uses to accomplish\nthe salvation of his people is good! At your leisure, read Psalm 107 again.\nThere we are given a detailed view of God\u2019s providence. \u201cAll things\nwork together for good.\u201d<\/em> Our God is King in Heaven. And \u201cthe\nheavens do rule!\u201d <\/em><\/strong>That is exactly as it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Walking dunghills!
\n<\/strong>
\nfrom Spurgeon’s sermon, “EBENEZER!”
\n<\/em>
\nBrethren, let us Recollect Our Sins.
\nThey will serve as a black foil on which the
\nmercy of God shall glisten the more brightly.
\n
\nThat God should be so good is marvellous, but that he should
\nbe so good to you and to I, who are so rebellious, is a miracle
\nof miracles! I know not a word which can express the surprise
\nand wonder our souls ought to feel at God’s goodness to us!
\n
\nOur hearts playing the harlot;
\nour lives far from perfect;
\nour faith so feeble,
\nour unbelief often prevailing;
\nour pride lifting up its accursed head;
\nour patience a poor sickly plant,
\nalmost nipped by one night’s frost;
\nour courage little better than cowardice;
\nour love lukewarmness;
\nand our ardor but as ice.
\n
\nOh, my dear brethren, if we will but think what a mass of Sin we
\nare, if we will but reflect that we are after all, walking dunghills<\/strong>,
\nwe should indeed be surprised that the sun of divine grace should
\ncontinue so perpetually to shine upon us, and that the abundance
\nof heaven’s mercy should be revealed in us.
\n
\nIt is the Lord’s rule to bring good out of evil,
\nand so to prove his wisdom and magnify his grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hitherto!
\n
\n<\/strong>(Charles Spurgeon<\/a>)
\n
\n“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and\ncalled the name of it Ebenezer<\/em>, saying, “Hitherto has\nthe Lord helped us.<\/strong>” 1 Samuel 7:12
\n
\nThe word “hitherto<\/strong>” seems like a hand pointing in the\ndirection of the past<\/strong>.
\nTwenty years or seventy, and yet, “hitherto the Lord has helped us!”
\n  Through poverty and through wealth,
\n  through sickness and through health,
\n  at home and abroad,
\n  on the land and on the sea,
\n  in honour and in dishonour,
\n  in perplexity and in joy,
\n  in trial and in triumph,
\n  in prayer and in temptation,
\n“Hitherto has the Lord helped us!”<\/em>
\n
\nWe delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from\nend to end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching\npillars and its arches of leaves.
\n
\nIn the same way, look down the long aisles of your years<\/em>, at the\ngreen boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of loving-kindness and\nfaithfulness which bear up your joys. Are there no birds in yonder branches\nsinging? Surely there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received\n“hitherto.”
\n
\nBut the word hitherto <\/strong>also points forward<\/strong>. For\nwhen a man gets up to a certain mark and writes “hitherto,” he is not\nyet at the end, there is still a distance to be traversed.
\n  More trials and more joys;
\n  more temptations and more triumphs;
\n  more prayers and more answers;
\n  more toils and more strength;
\n  more fights and more victories;
\nand then come sickness, old age, disease and death!
\n
\nIs it over now?<\/em>
\n
\nNo! there is more yet:
\n  awakening in Jesus’ likeness,
\n  glorious thrones,
\n  heavenly harps and songs,
\n  white clothing,
\n  the face of Jesus,
\n  the society of saints,
\n  the glory of God,
\n  the fullness of eternity,
\n  the infinity of bliss!
\n
\nO be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise your\n“Ebenezer,” for He who has helped you hitherto-will help you all your\njourney through! When read in Heaven’s light, how glorious and marvellous a\nprospect will your “hitherto” unfold to your grateful eye!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life is like a painted\ndream!<\/strong>
\n(Octavius Winslow, “This God is Our God”)
\n
\n“For this God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto\ndeath.” Psalm 48:14
\n
\n“The world passes away.”
\n
\nEverything here in this present world is changing.
\n
\n“Life is like a painted dream<\/strong>,
\n Like the rapid summer stream,
\n Like the fleeting meteor’s ray,
\n Like the shortest winter’s day,
\n Like the fitful breeze that sighs,
\n Like the waning flame that dies,
\n Darting, dazzling on the eye,
\n Fading in eternity.”
\n
\nA rope of sand,
\na spider’s web,
\na silken thread,
\na passing shadow,
\nan ebbing wave,
\nare the most fitting and expressive emblems of all things belonging to this\npresent time’s state.
\n
\nThe homes<\/em> that sheltered us in childhood we leave.
\n
\nThe land<\/em> which gave us birth we leave.
\n
\nTheloved<\/em>ones<\/em>who encircled\nour hearths pass away.
\n
\nThe friends<\/em> of early years depart.
\n
\nAnd the world that was so sunny, and life that was so sweet, is all beclouded\nand embittered; the whole scenery of existence changed into wintry gloom.
\n
\nSuch are the saddening, depressing effects of life’s vicissitudes.
\n
\nBut in the midst of all, “This God is our God FOREVER AND EVER!”
\n
\nAll beings<\/em> change, but God.
\n
\nAll things<\/em> change, but Heaven.
\n
\nThe evolutions of time revolve, the events of earth go onward-but He upon whom\nall things hang, and by whom all events are shaped and controlled, moves not.
\n
\n“I, the Lord, do not change.”
\n
\nOur affairs<\/em> may alter.
\n
\nOur circumstances<\/em> may change.
\n
\nOur relations<\/em> and friends<\/em> may depart one by\none.
\n
\nOur souls<\/em> in a single day pass through many fluctuations of\nspiritual feeling.
\n
\nBut He who chose us to be His own, and who has kept us to the present\nmoment, is our covenant God and Father forever and ever, and will\nnever throw us off and cast us away.
\n
\n“For this God is our God forever and ever-He will be our guide even to the\nend!” Psalm 48:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So mighty \u2014 yet so\nloving!<\/strong>
\n
\n(John MacDuff, “Ripples in the Twilight” 1885)
\n
\nWhat a wonderful Saviour! So mighty \u2014 yet so loving!<\/strong>
\n
\nSpurning<\/em>, indeed, all baseness and vileness, all mere lip-homage and\nhypocrisy.
\nUpsetting all false human ideals and empty philosophies.
\nAt war with conventional empty religious rituals.
\nDenouncing every white-washed sepulcher that serves only to screen spiritual\nrottenness.
\n
\nBut welcoming . . .
\n  many of those who were looked at askance by their fellows;
\n  some who were the subjects of social ostracism;
\n  those deemed fit only to be trampled, as bruised battered flowers,\nunderneath the feet;
\n  the repentant harlot and sinner, the prodigal, the outcast, the lost.
\n
\nHis heart is a very hive of tenderness<\/em> . . .
\n  washing His disciples’ feet in token of humility;
\n  standing by the grave of buried affection;
\n  wiping away the tear of bereavement;
\n  calming the paroxysms of untold sorrow;
\n  arrested by the penitential sighings of the contrite spirit.
\n
\nIn a word, imparting . . .
\n  rest <\/em>to the weary and heavy-laden,
\n  hope <\/em>to the desponding,
\n  sympathy <\/em>to the mourner,
\n  healing <\/em>to the brokenhearted; and
\n  finally showing, in the scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary which\ncrowned that Incarnation of suffering love<\/strong> \u2014 what He the\nDivine Man could do and dare for perishing sinners.
\n
\nThe kindness of the kindest on earth <\/em>has a limit \u2014 His had\nnone.
\nHuman affection and love may come and go \u2014 but His flows on forever!
\n
\n“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with\nlovingkindness have I drawn you!” Jeremiah 31:3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ebenezer! (John MacDuff, “Ripples in the Twilight” 1885) “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called the named of it ‘Ebenezer’, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us!” 1 Samuel 7:12 What a retrospect will that be at the end of life’s journey! The rough paths, the jagged precipices, 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-6978","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\/6978","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=6978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6979,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6978\/revisions\/6979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}