{"id":7387,"date":"2026-11-10T09:33:42","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=7387"},"modified":"2026-11-10T09:33:42","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:33:42","slug":"bulletin-edition-november-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=7387","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition November 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COMPLETE IN CHRIST<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power\u201d<\/strong> <\/em>(Col. 2:9-10).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that is necessary to secure and to complete our eternal salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil.3:7-9; 4:19). There is a completion or a complete filling up in Him, so as to leave nothing lacking in the sinner. In the Lord Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of God (John 1:16). He is perfect and the believer stands perfected in Him (1Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:22). All that is lacking in us by our ruin and sin in Adam is abundantly, freely and eternally supplied to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound<\/em>” (Rom. 5:19-20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Christ\u2019s perfect obedience is our righteousness (Phil. 2:7-8). His sacrifice for sin is our atonement (Heb. 2:17). His word is our instruction (2Tim. 3:16). His wisdom is our direction (Col. 2:3). His power is our protection (1Peter 1:5). His blood sacrifice is our justification (Rom. 5:9). His grace is our salvation (Rom. 3:24). His eternal love is our security (Rom. 8:32-39). His everlasting mercy is our hope (Lam. 3:22-26; Titus 3:5). His fullness is our completeness (John 1:16). His immutability is our strength (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). His resurrection is the guarantee of our final glory (Rom. 4:25; Rev. 1:18). His intercession is the assurance of all our deliverance from sin (1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Tell me my friend, what could we possibly want for, when all the Godhead is engaged to make the believer complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, to His eternal glory (Rom. 8:29-30; Jude 1:24-25). Being found in Christ, having eternal union with Him, we have all things and all spiritual blessings in Christ now and forever (John 17:21-24; 1 Cor. 1:30-31; Eph. 1:3-7; Phil. 4:19).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Harding<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTHING TO PAY
<\/strong>
Luke 7:42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gospel of God\u2019s free grace by Jesus Christ is indeed good news. But like those debtors the Lord spoke of, it is only good news to those who have nothing to pay. As long as a person believes that the salvation of their souls is an easy thing, something they can do for themselves, they will never feel their need of mercy. How sad it is to be told that the grace of God that brings salvation is no more than making a decision, or repeating the sinner\u2019s prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In answer to the question; \u201cWho can be saved?\u201d the Lord Jesus Christ answered that \u201cWith men it is impossible.\u201d An old hymn asked the question: \u201cWhat comfort can the Savior bring to those who\u2019ve never felt their woe?\u201d And most preaching today does nothing to make men see their need of grace. They\u2019re told again and again that salvation is as \u201ceasy as ABC.\u201d There is nothing in such a message to make anyone concerned or to feel their helpless case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Thank God for that gospel that strips sinners, brings them down, and makes them debtors and beggars before God. Until I\u2019m convinced that I have nothing to pay, I\u2019ll never cry, \u201cGod be merciful to me the sinner.\u201d But when we\u2019re made to beg for mercy, then Jesus Christ freely forgives us of all our sins! Thank God when we\u2019re made to feel that we have nothing to pay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Criss<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity\u201d (1 Cor. 13:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three main graces…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1). FAITH, by which we look to Christ, receive Christ, and live upon Him (Rom. 5:1; Heb. 12:2). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2). HOPE, by which we wait for the fulfilment of every promise in Christ  (Rom. 8:24; Col. 1:27; 1 Thes. 2:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3). LOVE to God and men. Yet LOVE exceeds the others as to its duration and use (1 John 4:19-21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAITH will give way to sight one day, and HOPE will become reality; but LOVE SHALL ONLY EXPAND!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry T. Mahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE JUSTICE OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Justice and judgement are the habitation of Thy throne!” \u2014 <\/em>Psalm 89:14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Justice <\/em>of God is “His Holiness in exercise.” Let us go to the spot marked out as the scene of its most solemn manifestation. In the depths of eternity past, the summons was heard, “Awake, O Sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man who is My Fellow!” That mysterious commission has been fulfilled. The Shepherd has been smitten. Myriads of condemned spirits could not have borne God’s inexorable rectitude as when, on the cross of Calvary, One lone voice sent up the wailing cry, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Believer, rejoice! Justice<\/em>, which before had demanded the execution of a righteous doom upon lost millions \u2014 can now unite with Mercy <\/em>in sheathing the avenging sword and exulting over redeemed myriads. The Law <\/em>which brought in a whole world “guilty before God,” can exult with Mercy \u2014 in seeing its every requirement obeyed, its every demand fulfilled; the Lawgiver Himself “the Just and yet the Justifier;” unloosing every chain of condemnation, and pronouncing “Not guilty!” “O Law!” says Luther, “I drown my conscience in the wounds, blood, death, resurrection, and victory of Christ!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wondrous thought! \u2014 Justice, the very attribute which excluded <\/em>the sinner \u2014 has become the first to throw open a door of welcome; proclaiming that infinite merit \u2014 has cancelled infinite demerit; infinite holiness \u2014 has covered infinite sin! While “righteousness and justice” are the habitation of God’s throne, provision has been made whereby, in perfect consistency with every principle of His moral government, “mercy and truth” may go continually before His face!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reader, it is well for you often to thus devoutly dwell on the inflexible Justice <\/em>of your God. It will magnify and enhance to you, the riches of His grace, the glories of redemption, and the preciousness of Jesus. If the sinner is to be saved, “judgment must be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet!” Says Lefevre, “The Sinless One must be condemned \u2014 if he who is guilty is to go free. The Blessed One must bear the curse \u2014 if the cursed ones are to be brought into blessing. The Life must die \u2014 if the dead are to live!” “In prayer one evening,” says Henry Martyn, “I had such near and frightening views of God’s judgment upon sinners in Hell, that my flesh trembled for fear of them. I flew trembling to Jesus Christ, as if the flames were taking hold of me! Oh! Christ will indeed save me \u2014 or else I must perish!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My soul! take hold of that touchingly simple assurance to which Justice has appended its seal, “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish!” “Not perish!” Justice, and a God of justice, proclaiming so great salvation \u2014 safety from the terrors of a violated law \u2014 rest from the accusations of a guilty conscience \u2014 calmness in the prospect of death! Grace here! Glory hereafter! Oh, what more can the sinner need \u2014 or God bestow! “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.<\/strong>” \u2014 Psalm 4:8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John MacDuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” Isaiah 53:10<\/strong>

In the person and work of Christ the holiness of God is revealed with equal power and lustre. It is only through this medium that we possess the most clear and perfect demonstration of this divine and awful perfection. Where was there ever such a demonstration of God’s infinite hatred of sin, and His fixed and solemn determination to punish it, as is seen in the cross of Christ? Put your shoes from off your feet; draw near, and contemplate this “great sight.” Who was the sufferer? God’s only-begotten and well-beloved Son! His own Son! In addition to the infinitely tender love of the Father, there was the clear knowledge of the truth, that He, who was enduring the severest infliction of His wrath, was innocent, guiltless, righteous\u2014that He, Himself, had never broken His law, had never opposed His authority, had never run counter to His will; but had always done those things which pleased Him. At whose hands did He suffer? From devils? from men? They were but the agents; the moving cause was God Himself. “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” His own Father unsheathed the sword: He inflicted the blow: He kindled the fierce flame: He prepared the bitter cup. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, says the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd.” “The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And what were the nature and degree of His sufferings? Imagine, if we can, what must have been the outpouring of God’s wrath upon the whole church for all the sins of that church, through eternity! Can you compute the amount of her transgressions? can you conceive the degree of her punishment? can you measure the duration of her woe? Impossible! Then, who can tell what Jesus endured, when standing in the place and as the Surety of His church, in the solemn hour of atonement, and in the day of God’s fierce anger? Never had God so manifested before, and never will He so manifest again, His essential holiness\u2014His spotless purity\u2014the inconceivable heinousness of sin\u2014His utter hatred of it\u2014and His solemn purpose to punish it with the severest inflictions of His wrath; never did this glorious perfection of His being blaze out in such overwhelming glory, as on that dark day, and in the cross of the incarnate God. Had He emptied the vials of His wrath full upon the world, sweeping it before the fury of His anger, and consigning it to deserved and eternal punishment, it would not have presented to the universe so vivid, so impressive, and so awful a demonstration of the nature and glory of His holiness, of His infinite abhorrence of sin, and the necessity why He should punish it, as He has presented in the humiliation, sufferings, and death of His beloved Son. What new and ineffably transcendent views of infinite holiness must have sprung up in the pure minds even of the spirits in glory, as, bending from their thrones, they fixed their astonished gaze upon the cross of the suffering Son of God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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


It is the vile monster!<\/strong>

(Henry Law, “Family Prayers”)

God Almighty, holy Father,
We beseech You to deepen in our hearts – the abhorrence of all evil.

May we hate sin with perfect hatred. It is the vile monster<\/strong> which . . .
  defies Your power,
  casts off Your yoke,
  treads down Your lovely law,
  defiles our nature,
  spreads misery throughout this earth,
  brought death into the world, and
  nailed the spotless Lamb of God to the accursed tree!

Teach us to look to Jesus on the cross<\/em> – and so to estimate our sin’s loathsome guilt in Your sight.

There could be no pardon of our sin – but through Your dear Son’s death!

No cleansing could wash out our sin’s filth – but Jesus’ precious blood!

No atonement could expiate the evil of our sin – but the shame, the agony, the bruises of the incarnate God!

We see the boundless price<\/em> – may we read therein our boundless guilt!<\/em>

In the infinite payment<\/em> – show us our infinite debt!<\/em>

Thus may we . . .
  discern the deadly viper <\/em>in its real malignity,
  and tear it with holy indignation from our hearts,
  and resolutely turn from its every snare,
  and refuse to hold polluting dalliance with it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Oh wretched man that I am!” Romans 7:24  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principle of substitution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John MacDuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the innocent suffering for the guilty\u2014is one undreamed of in earthly philosophy. It is enough for us to accept the glorious revealed truth, that the principle is one recognised and sanctioned in the Divine economy\u2014that here, at least, is one way, and it is the only one, by which the God who has so solemnly averred that He “can by no means clear,” can clear the guilty\u2014yes, and who, moreover, in doing so, can pour the lustre of a high vindication around every perfection of His nature, and every requirement of His law. For dreadful as would have been the testimony to the Divine Holiness and Justice and Truth, if sinners had been shut up in the fold of destruction, and the cry had been heard, “Awake, O sword, against these sheep”\u2014not so dreadful an attestation would it have been, as when from His own lips proceeded the gripping words, “Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow!” The Shepherd has been smitten\u2014the Divine honour has been upheld. Mercy and truth have been betrothed before the altar of Calvary; God has joined them together for the salvation of the human race, and that marriage-covenant never can be disannulled. Justice is now equally interested with Love, in the rescue of the fallen. God is the just God, and yet the Saviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My warrant is the Word of God, naught else is worth believing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though all my heart should feel condemned for want of some sweet token.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is One greater than my heart, whose Word cannot be broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll trust in God\u2019s unchanging word, til soul and body sever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For, though all things shall pass away, His Word shall stand forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Luther<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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COMPLETE IN CHRIST \u201cFor in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power\u201d (Col. 2:9-10). All that is necessary to secure and to complete our eternal salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil.3:7-9; 4:19). There is […]<\/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-7387","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\/7387","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=7387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7388,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7387\/revisions\/7388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}