{"id":1304,"date":"2011-09-24T05:41:16","date_gmt":"2011-09-24T05:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1304"},"modified":"2011-09-24T05:41:16","modified_gmt":"2011-09-24T05:41:16","slug":"bulletin-articles-issue-89-september-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1304","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Articles Issue #89 September 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christ is our Jonah!<\/strong><\/p>\n

(William Dyer, “Christ’s Famous Titles”)<\/p>\n

“Then they picked up Jonah <\/em>and threw him into the sea–and the sea stopped its raging!” Jonah 1:15
\nChrist is our Jonah<\/strong>, who threw Himself into the sea of His Father’s wrath<\/em>–to save us from everlasting perdition.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh! what a pillow <\/em>on which to rest your aching head! <\/strong>(John MacDuff)<\/p>\n

“If need be!” <\/em>1 Peter 1:6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Three gracious words!<\/em><\/p>\n

Not one of all my tears <\/em>has been shed for nothing! Not one stroke <\/em>of the rod has been unneeded \u2014 or might have been spared! Your heavenly Father loves you too much, and too tenderly \u2014 to bestow harsher correction than your case requires!<\/p>\n

Is it loss of health<\/em> \u2014 or loss of wealth<\/em> \u2014 or loss of beloved friends<\/em>? Be still! there was a needs be!<\/em> We are no competent judges of what that “needs be” is; often through aching hearts we are forced to exclaim, “Your judgments are a great mystery!” But God here pledges Himself, that there will not be one unnecessary thorn<\/em> in the believer’s crown of suffering. No burden<\/em> too heavy will be laid on him; and no sacrifice <\/em>too great will be exacted from him. God will “temper the wind<\/em> \u2014 to the shorn lamb.”<\/p>\n

Whenever the “need be” has accomplished its end \u2014 then the rod <\/em>is removed, the chastisement <\/em>suspended, and the furnace <\/em>quenched!<\/p>\n

“If need be!” Oh! what a pillow <\/em>on which to rest your aching head<\/strong> \u2014 that there is not one drop <\/em>in all your bitter cup \u2014 but what a God of love saw to be absolutely necessary!<\/p>\n

Do not too curiously be prying into the “WHY <\/em>it is?” or “HOW <\/em>it is?” But be satisfied that “SO<\/em> it is,” and, therefore, that all must be well!<\/p>\n

Trust His loving heart<\/em> \u2014 even though you cannot trace His mysterious hand!<\/em><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because He loves you… <\/strong><\/p>\n

From Spurgeon’s sermon, “CHASTISEMENT”<\/em><\/p>\n

When God afflicts his child, the chastisement is applied in love,
\nand his strokes are, all of them, put there by the hand of love.<\/p>\n

The rod has been baptized in deep affection before it is laid on
\nthe believer\u2019s back. God does not afflict willingly, nor grieve us
\nfor nothing, but out of love and affection, because he perceives
\nthat if he leaves us unchastised, we shall bring upon ourselves
\nmisery ten thousand-fold greater than we shall suffer by his slight rebukes, and the gentle blows of his hand.<\/p>\n

He is chastising you, not punishing you; he is correcting you in measure, he is not smiting you in wrath. There is no hot displeasure in his heart.
\nEven though his brow may be ruffled, there is no anger in his breast; even though his eye may have closed upon you, he does not hate you- he loves you still. It is simply because he loves you, because you are sons, that he therefore chastises you.<\/p>\n

Bend meekly down before his superior wisdom, and say-
\n\u201cO God I believe that in the darkness you are brewing light,
\nthat in the storm-clouds you are gathering sunshine,
\nthat in the deep mines you are fashioning diamonds,
\nand in the beds of the sea you are making pearls.
\nI believe that however unfathomable may be your designs,
\nyet they have a bottom. Though it is in the whirlwind and in
\nthe storm, you have a way, and that way is good and righteous
\naltogether. I would not have you alter one atom of your
\ndispensations, it shall be just as you will. I bow before you,
\nand I give my ignorance the command to hold its tongue,
\nand to be silenced while your wisdom speaks words of right.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

THE FAREWELL GIFT<\/strong><\/p>\n

“This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose”\u2014<\/p>\n

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” John 14:27<\/p>\n

No shadow of the figurative grove of Elim is more grateful to the children of humanity than this. It is in Jesus alone, and in His finished work, that the beautiful words of the Evangelical Prophet are fulfilled in the case of every pilgrim to the true Canaan\u2014”My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” <\/em>(Is. 32:18).<\/p>\n

The circumstances in which the Savior uttered the words of our motto-verse were interesting and peculiar, and give an intense poignancy to His declaration. It was at a time, one would have thought, of the deepest unrest and anxiety to His own soul; a time when the saying, “My peace I give to you,” would have seemed a strange and doubtful blessing: for the shadows of the cross were gathering around Him. Some consolation, higher than earth could afford, was needed, when the Shepherd was about to be smitten and the sheep to be scattered. In the clouds of that dark, troubled horizon, He set the bow of covenant Peace. <\/em>His utterance was more than a promise\u2014it is expressed in the formula of a last Will\u2014a Testamentary deed. It is the dying legacy which the Prince of Peace bequeaths to His Church and people in every age. Let us note some of its characteristics.<\/p>\n

It is a purchased<\/em> peace. That palm whispers pre-eminently “the name of Jesus”\u2014”Peace through the blood of His cross.” In no other way could it have been procured. By no other could it be bestowed. No voice but the voice which exclaimed in dying accents, “It is finished,” can say to the troubled tempest-tossed soul\u2014”Peace, be still!” In the familiar Bible narrative, we see the heathen sailors rowing hard to bring the vessel to land, in whose hold was the fugitive prophet. It was in vain. “The sea was getting rougher and rougher”\u2014wave after wave baffled strength of oar and muscle. What was their expedient? The sacrifice of the one life was demanded and surrendered for the sake of the others!<\/p>\n

So it was with the true Jonah.<\/em> When He was taken and cast into the deep, that deep was hushed into a calm, its fury stilled, every tumultuous billow was rocked to rest\u2014”The raging sea grew calm.” “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He has done all, and suffered all, and procured all for us\u2014left nothing to be supplemented by human merit. In the words of an old theologian, “We who have believed do enter into rest, and that by ceasing from our own works, as God did from His.”<\/p>\n

It is a perfect<\/em> peace. It is no simulation\u2014no counterfeit. There is no flaw in these title-deeds. It is a peace founded on everlasting truth and everlasting righteousness, securing alike the vindication of the Divine law and the manifestation of the Divine glory. It is a peace with God<\/em> above, and peace with conscience<\/em> within\u2014peace secured by the Redeemer on the Cross, and ratified by the Kingly Intercessor on the Throne. Like the weary bird, after tracking its way across leagues of vast ocean, the believer can enter the opened window of the True Ark, and sing the song of an older heir of covenant blessings, “Be at rest (Peace), O my soul.”<\/p>\n

It is a permanent <\/em>peace. As such, it is “not as the world gives.” Many of the world’s best blessings, those which are considered to minister most effectually to outward happiness and inward peace, ours today, may be gone tomorrow\u2014we have no pledge or guarantee for their continuation. They are fed from the low marshy grounds of earth, dependent on fitful seasons and capricious showers. But the peace of Christ, being from heaven, is a perennial stream; it is fed from surer supply than glacier Alps, and it rolls on in undiminished fullness and volume, in summer’s drought and in winter’s cold. It is irrespective and independent of all outward accidents. It bears up and sustains in the midst of the harassments of business, the crushing of poverty, the weariness of sickness, the pangs of bereavement, the shadows of death. Well may the author of “The Pilgrim’s Progress” give the name of PEACE to the chamber in which Christian lay, and whose window opened toward the sunrise!<\/p>\n

It is said of Goethe, the great German, that in one of those dark, unsatisfied hours in which his mighty intellect and soul groped after the true Rest, he thus recorded his undefined longings for that which he had failed to attain\u2014<\/p>\n

“Fairest among heaven’s daughters, Thou who stillest pain and woe,
\nPourest Thy refreshing waters On the thirsty here below:
\nWhither tends this restless striving? Faint and tired, I long for rest.
\nHeaven-born peace, \u00a0Come and dwell within my breast!”<\/p>\n

These words were found on a scrap of writing paper lying on his writing table. A devoted friend of similar intellectual pursuits, but one who had personally experienced the shade of the Elim grove and tasted its perennial springs, and who therefore knew what alone could quench these ungratified aspirations, wrote on the other side, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”<\/em><\/p>\n

PEACE\u2014true<\/em> peace. Intellect cannot bestow it; wealth cannot purchase it. Men, in their quest of it, surround and fortify themselves with creature comforts, and away from corroding care; invite the angel of peace to come and over downy couches to sing the longed-for lullaby! The lullaby is sung, “Peace, peace,” but often it is only to awaken the echo of dissatisfaction, “No peace.”<\/p>\n

Speed your flight, O weary wanderer, under the shelter of this heavenly Palm. The bough on which your earthly nest was built may have been felled by the axe or broken by the storm; but “He is our peace.” And as driven by the windy tempest your cry is, “O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant me Your peace!” may it be yours to listen to the glad response, “My peace I give unto you”\u2014”Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.”<\/p>\n

“We ask for peace, O Lord!
\nThy children ask Thy peace:
\nNot what the world calls rest\u2014
\nThat toil and care should cease;
\nThat through bright sunny hours
\nCalm life should haste away,
\nAnd tranquil night should fade
\nIn smiling day\u2014
\nIt is not for such peace that we would pray.<\/p>\n

“We ask Thy peace, O Lord!
\nThrough storm, and fear, and strife,
\nTo light and guide us on
\nThrough a long struggling life;
\nTo lean on Thee, entranced,
\nIn calm and perfect rest\u2014
\nGive us that peace, O Lord!
\nDivine and blest,
\nThou keepest for those hearts that love Thee best.”<\/p>\n

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John MacDuff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christ is our Jonah! (William Dyer, “Christ’s Famous Titles”) “Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea–and the sea stopped its raging!” Jonah 1:15 Christ is our Jonah, who threw Himself into the sea of His Father’s wrath–to save us from everlasting perdition. — Oh! what a pillow on which to rest […]<\/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-1304","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\/1304","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=1304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1305,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions\/1305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}