{"id":6989,"date":"2026-01-27T08:52:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6989"},"modified":"2026-01-27T08:52:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:52:36","slug":"bulletin-edition-january-2026-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6989","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition January 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Abel was a keeper of sheep.” Genesis 4:2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a shepherd, Abel sanctified\nhis work to the glory of God, and offered a sacrifice of blood upon his altar,\nand the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. This early type of our\nLord is exceedingly clear and distinct. Like the first streak of light which\ntinges the east at sunrise\u2014it does not reveal everything\u2014but it clearly\nmanifests the great fact that the sun is coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we see Abel, a shepherd <\/em>and\nyet a priest<\/em>, offering a sacrifice of sweet smell unto God\u2014we\ndiscern our Lord, who brings before His Father a sacrifice to which Jehovah\never has respect. Abel was hated by his brother\u2014hated without a cause; and even\nso was the Saviour. The natural and carnal man hated the accepted man in whom\nthe Spirit of grace was found, and rested not until his blood had been shed.\nAbel fell, and sprinkled his altar and sacrifice with his own blood, and\ntherein sets forth the Lord Jesus slain by the enmity of man while serving as a\npriest before the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The good Shepherd lays\ndown His life for the sheep.” Let us weep over Him as we view Him slain by\nthe hatred of mankind, staining the horns of His altar with His own blood.\nAbel’s blood speaks. “The Lord said unto Cain\u2014The voice of your brother’s\nblood cries unto Me from the ground.” The blood of Jesus has a mighty\ntongue, and the import of its prevailing cry is not vengeance<\/em>\u2014but mercy<\/em>.\nIt is precious beyond all preciousness to stand at the altar of our good\nShepherd! to see Him bleeding there as the slaughtered priest<\/em>, and\nthen to hear His blood speaking peace to all His flock, peace in our\nconscience, peace between man and his offended Maker, peace all down the ages\nof eternity for blood-washed men. Abel is the first shepherd in order of\ntime\u2014but our hearts shall ever place Jesus first in order of excellence. Great\nKeeper of the sheep, we the people of Your pasture bless You with our whole\nhearts\u2014when we see You slain for us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not what my hands have done<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can save my guilty soul<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not what my toiling flesh has\nborne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can make my spirit whole<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not what I feel or do<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can give me peace with God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all my prayers and sights and\ntears<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can bear my awful load<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thy work alone, O Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can ease this weight of sin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can give me peace within<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thy love to me, O God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not mine, O Lord, to Thee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can rid me of this dark unrest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And set my spirit free<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thy grace alone, O God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me can pardon speak<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thy pow’r alone, O Son of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can this sore bondage break<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other work, save Thine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other blood will do<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No strength, save that which is\ndivine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can bear me safely through<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bless the Christ of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rest on love divine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with unfalt’ring lip and\nheart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I call this Saviour mine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cross dispels each doubt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bury in His tomb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each thought of unbelief and fear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each ling’ring shade of gloom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I praise the God of grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I trust His truth and might<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He calls me His, I call Him mine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My God, my joy, my light<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Tis He who saveth me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And freely pardon gives<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love because He loveth me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I live because He lives<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Lessons from Cain and\nAbel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heb. 11:4 By faith Abel<\/strong> offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than\nCain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his\ngifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some very\nimportant lessons for us in the things recorded in the Book of God about Cain\nand his brother Abel. They are important and practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Public worship is\nnow and always has been the ordinance of God<\/strong>. \u2014 Let self-serving men say\nwhat they dare against it. God has always ordained the assemblying of sinners\nin the name of his Son for worship. Adam and Eve set a time and place for\npublic worship, and taught their children to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The only way\nsinners can approach and find righteousness with God is by the shed blood of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ, by faith in him<\/strong>. \u2014 Cain was rejected of God because\nhe trampled under his feet the blood of Christ and sought to climb into heaven\nby the merit of his own works. Abel was accepted because he trusted Christ\nalone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. There are only\ntwo religions in the world<\/strong>. \u2014 The Religion of Cain and The Religion of\nAbel. \u2013 Works and Grace. \u2013 Carnal and Spiritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Our acceptance\nwith God precedes our faith in Christ<\/strong>. \u2014 Abel did not earn divine approval\nby bringing his sacrifice of faith. His sacrifice of faith was the witness of\nhis righteousness, not the cause of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Salvation is by\ngrace alone<\/strong>. \u2014 Grace does not flow in bloodlines. Grace does not depend\nupon works. Grace is the sovereign prerogative of God and the work of God (Rom.\n9:15-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. \u201cWhatsoever is not\nof faith is sin<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d \u2014 Cain\u2019s worship, his sacrifice, that very thing by\nwhich he hoped to be accepted of God, was as much an act of sin as rape and\nmurder, a sin of much greater portion than rape and murder. His worship was and\nact of defiant unbelief and rebellion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. That which\ndistinguishes one man from another is the grace of God and the grace of God\nalone <\/strong>(1 Cor. 4:7)\u2014 Electing\nGrace! \u2013 Redeeming Grace! \u2013 Regenerating Grace! \u2013 Keeping Grace! All believers\ngladly acknowledge, \u201cBy the grace of God I am what I am!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaught have I gotten, but\nwhat I received,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace hath bestowed it since\nI believed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boasting excluded, pride I\nabase,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m only a sinner saved by\ngrace!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Christ\nIs Better<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hebrews\n12:24<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout\nthe Book of Hebrews the Holy Spirit\u2019s purpose is to show us the superiority of\nthis gospel age to that of the Old Testament. A key word in these 13 chapters\nis the word \u201cbetter.<\/em>\u201d It is used repeatedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ is better than the\nangels. \u201cBeing made so much better than the angels, as he hath by\ninheritance obtained a more excellent name than they\u201d<\/em> (1:4). \u2015\nChrist has given us better things, things that accompany salvation. \u201cBut,\nbeloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany\nsalvation, though we thus speak\u201d<\/em> (6:9). \u2015 Christ, our Melchizedek, is\nbetter than Abraham. \u201cAnd without all contradiction the less is blessed of\nthe better<\/em>\u201d (7:7). \u2015 Christ gives us a better hope (\u201ca good hope through\ngrace<\/em>\u201d), than the law could ever give. \u201cFor the law made nothing\nperfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we\ndraw nigh unto God<\/em>\u201d (7:19). \u2015 Christ is the Surety of a better covenant. \u201cBy\nso much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament<\/em>\u201d (7:22). \u2015 Christ is\nthe Mediator of a better covenant.   \u201cBut\nnow  hath  he obtained  a more excellent\nministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was\nestablished upon better promises<\/em>\u201d (8:6). \u2015 Christ is a better\nsacrifice. \u201cIt was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in\nthe heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves\nwith better sacrifices than these\u201d<\/em> (9:23). \u2015 Christ gives us a better,\nenduring, heavenly inheritance. \u201cFor ye had compassion of me in my bonds,\nand took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye\nhave in heaven a better and an enduring substance<\/em>\u201d (10:34). \u2015 In Christ we\nare made citizens of a better country. \u201cBut now they desire a better\ncountry, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be\ncalled their God: for he hath prepared for them a city<\/em>\u201d (11:16). \u2015 Christ\ngives us hope of a better resurrection. \u201cWomen received their dead raised to\nlife again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they\nmight obtain a better resurrection<\/em>\u201d (11:35). \u2015 God has provided for us\nbetter things in Christ. \u201cGod having provided some better thing for us, that\nthey without us should not be made perfect<\/em>\u201d (11:40). \u2015 Christ\u2019s sacrifice\nand blood speaks better things than the blood of Abel and his sacrifice. \u201cAnd\nto Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that\nspeaketh better things than that of Abel<\/em>\u201d (12:24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming to\nChrist <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd <\/em>(ye\nare come) to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.<\/em>\u201d \u2015 Faith is\ncoming to Christ. All who are born of God and taught of him come to Christ. But\ncoming to Christ is not at all what people imagine it to be. Coming to Christ\nis an act of faith. It is altogether something that is done in the heart. It is\naltogether a spiritual thing. Many came to Christ physically, touching him, and\nbeing touched by him, who never came to him. \u2013 \u201cIt is the spirit that\nquickeneth. The flesh profitteth nothing.<\/em>\u201d Multitudes come to\nChrist outwardly, by profession, in the place of public worship, who never come\nto him (Ananias and Sapphira \u2014 Simon Magus). Faith is a heart work. It is\ncoming to Christ with a sense of need. It is coming to him as the One, the only\nOne, who has infinite fulness to meet our souls\u2019 need. This faith is the gift\nand operation of God\u2019s almighty, omnipotent, irresistible, efficacious grace.\nFaith is coming to Christ and no one else. It is coming to him alone for\neverything (1 Cor. 1:30-31). It is coming to Christ as a poor, helpless,\nbankrupt, naked, needy sinner. It is coming to Christ with no aide, no\nassistant, no mediator, no priest, and no sacrifice. It is coming to Christ\nbringing nothing of your own to ingratiate you. It is coming to Christ bringing\nnothing but your filth for him to cleanse, your sin for him to forgive, your\nnakedness for him to cover, and your need for him to meet. To all who come, our\nSavior promises, \u2015 \u201cHim that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Divine\nGift <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ngift of faith is the great privilege of God\u2019s elect. It is the blessing of\nblessings. All who are given this great boon of grace are saved, safe, settled,\nsecure, and at peace. They can want no good thing, for all things are theirs.\nWe have free access to God through Christ, and a right to all privileges of the\nsons of God in him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


\nCain, Esau, Saul, Ahab, Judas<\/strong>
\n
\n(J.C.Philpot)
\n
\n“For godly sorrow<\/strong> worketh repentance to\nsalvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh\ndeath.”
\n    2 Cor. 7:10
\n
\n <\/sup><\/strong>These two\nkinds of repentance <\/strong>are to be carefully distinguished\nfrom each other; though they are often sadly\nconfounded. Cain, Esau, Saul, Ahab, Judas,<\/strong> all<\/strong> <\/strong>repented.<\/strong> But their\nrepentance was the remorse of natural\nconscience, not the godly sorrow of a broken heart\nand a contrite spirit. They trembled before God as an\nangry Judge, but were not melted into contrition
\nbefore Him as a forgiving Father.
\n
\nThey neither hated their sins nor forsook them.
\n
\nThey neither loved holiness nor sought it.
\n
\nCain <\/strong>went out from the presence of\nthe Lord.
\n
\nEsau<\/strong> plotted Jacob’s death.
\n
\nSaul<\/strong> consulted the witch of Endor.
\n
\nAhab<\/strong> put honest Micaiah into prison.
\n
\nJudas<\/strong> hanged himself.
\n
\nHow different from this forced and false repentance of a reprobate, is the repentance of a child of God; that true repentance for sin, that godly sorrow, that holy mourning which flows from the Spirit’s gracious operations!
\n
\nGodly sorrow<\/strong> does not spring from a sense of the wrath of God in a broken law, but from His mercy in a blessed gospel; from a view by faith of the
\nsufferings of Christ in the garden and on the cross; from a manifestation of pardoning love; and is always attended with self-loathing and self-abhorrence; with deep and unreserved confession of sin and forsaking it; with most hearty, sincere and earnest petitions to be kept from all evil; and a holy longing to live to the praise and glory of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Abel was a keeper of sheep.” Genesis 4:2 Octavius Winslow As a shepherd, Abel sanctified his work to the glory of God, and offered a sacrifice of blood upon his altar, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. This early type of our Lord is exceedingly clear and distinct. Like the first […]<\/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-6989","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\/6989","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=6989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6990,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions\/6990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}