{"id":1787,"date":"2012-01-14T02:43:40","date_gmt":"2012-01-14T02:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1787"},"modified":"2012-01-14T02:43:40","modified_gmt":"2012-01-14T02:43:40","slug":"bulletin-articles-issue-105-january-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1787","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Articles Issue #105 January 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can we forget such mighty grace?
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nSpurgeon’s book, “The Saint and His Savior”
\n<\/em>
\nExperience of the love, tenderness, and faithfulness
\nof our Lord Jesus Christ will weld our hearts to him.<\/p>\n

The very thought of the love of Jesus towards us is
\nenough to inflame our holy passions, but experience
\nof it heats the furnace seven times hotter.<\/p>\n

He has been with us in our trials, cheering and
\nconsoling us, sympathizing with every groan, and
\nregarding every tear with affectionate compassion.
\nDo we not love him for this?<\/p>\n

He has befriended us in every time of need, so
\nbounteously supplying all our needs out of the
\nriches of his fullness, that he has not allowed us
\nto lack any good thing. Shall we be
\nunmindful of such unwearying care?<\/p>\n

He has helped us in every difficulty, furnishing us
\nwith strength equal to our day; he has leveled the
\nmountains before us, and filled up the valleys; he has
\nmade rough places plain, and crooked things straight.
\nDo we not love him for this also?<\/p>\n

In all our doubts he has directed us in the path of
\nwisdom, and led us in the way of knowledge. He
\nhas not allowed us to wander; he has led us by a
\nright way through the pathless wilderness.
\nShall we not praise him for his.<\/p>\n

He has repelled our enemies, covered our heads in
\nthe day of baffle, broken the teeth of the oppressor,
\nand made us more than conquerors.<\/p>\n

Can we forget such mighty grace? <\/strong>
\nIn no single instance has he failed us.<\/p>\n

He has never been unkind, unmindful, or unwise.<\/p>\n

The harshest strokes of his providence have
\nbeen as full of love as the softest embraces
\nof his condescending fellowship.<\/p>\n

We cannot, we dare not find fault with him.
\nHe has done all things well.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Christ must be all!<\/strong><\/p>\n

from Octavius Winslow’s, “Morning Thoughts”<\/em><\/p>\n

We cannot keep our eye too exclusively
\nor too intently fixed on Jesus.<\/p>\n

All salvation is in Him.<\/p>\n

All salvation proceeds from Him.<\/p>\n

All salvation leads to Him.<\/p>\n

And for the assurance and comfort of our salvation
\nwe are to repose believingly and entirely on Him.<\/p>\n

Christ must be all!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christ the beginning;
\nChrist the center; and
\nChrist the end.<\/p>\n

Oh sweet truth to you who are sensible of
\nyour poverty, vileness, and insufficiency,
\nand of the ten thousand flaws and failures
\nof which, perhaps, no one is cognizant but
\nGod and your own soul!<\/p>\n

Oh, to turn and rest in Christ;
\na full Christ;
\na loving Christ;
\na tender Christ,
\nwhose heart’s love never chills,
\nfrom whose eye darts no reproof,
\nfrom whose lips breathes no sentence of condemnation!<\/p>\n

Christ must be all!<\/strong><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

Growing worse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(John Angell James, “Christian Progress” 1853)<\/p>\n

One of the last lessons we effectually learn, is
\nthat true godliness is a constant conflict in a
\nbeliever’s heart–between sin and holiness.<\/p>\n

Some sincere believers mistake a clearer view, and
\ndeeper sense of their depravity, for an actual increase
\nof sin. The Christian seems sometimes to himself, to
\nbe growing worse<\/strong>, when actually it is only that he
\nsees more clearly what in fact he really is!<\/p>\n

In the early stages of our Christian life, we have
\nusually but a slender acquaintance with the evil
\nof our sinfulness, and the depravity of our heart.
\nThe mind is so much taken up with pardon and
\neternal life, that it is but imperfectly acquainted
\nwith those depths of deceit and wickedness,
\nwhich lie hidden in itself.<\/p>\n

At first we seem to feel as if the serpent <\/strong>were killed.
\nBut we soon find that he was only asleep–for by the
\nwarmth of some fiery temptation, he is revived and
\nhisses at us again! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing astonishes an inexperienced believer more
\nthan the discoveries he is continually making of the
\nevils of his heart. Corruptions which he never dreamt to
\nbe in him, are brought out by some new circumstances.<\/p>\n

It is like turning up the soil<\/strong>, which brings out worms
\nand insects, which did not appear upon the surface.<\/p>\n

Or to vary the illustration, his increasing knowledge
\nof God’s holy nature, of the perfect law, and the
\nexample of Christ–is like opening the shutters, and
\nletting light into a dark room<\/strong>, the filth of which,
\nthe inhabitant did not see until the sunbeams
\ndisclosed it to him.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Christ and Him Crucified<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified (I Corinthians 2:2)
\nThe apostle Paul declared to a heathen world, and a church being led astray by foolish pride and worldly wisdom, that he preached Christ and Him crucified. The gospel is a person. He was a person in eternity, as the Son of God, the second person<\/span> of the Godhead. He was appointed as a mediator and surety of an everlasting covenant and as such stood as a person. In every Old Testament prophecy He is set forth as a person. When He appeared on this earth in Bethlehem\u2019s manger he was a person. He lived as a servant under the law of God and was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin as a person. His suffering was real. He hung on a cross and died a real death. He was raised the third day as a person who ate and drank. He had scars to prove himself to be the resurrected Christ. The disciples watched as He ascended into glory as our Great High Priest where He sits at the right hand of God.<\/p>\n

Faith lays hold of the person who loved them and gave himself for him. Faith rests in Him as it is persuaded of the greatness of His person. Salvation is not a system or a plan or an offer: It is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. \u201cLook unto me<\/span> and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.\u201d (Isaiah 45: 22) Darvin Pruitt<\/em><\/p>\n

—<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GOSPEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

There is much more involved in preaching the gospel than simply repeating the historic facts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The demons of hell acknowledge these facts; and every reasonable man must do so. To preach the gospel is to declare the spiritual meaning of these facts. The gospel is not preached until we have told men Who Christ Is – What He Did – Why He Did It – And Where He Is Now. To preach the gospel is to declare the message of salvation accomplished by the grace of God, through the mediatorial work of Christ. Here are five things which will always characterize the preaching of the gospel.<\/p>\n

1. THE GOSPEL IS A MESSAGE THAT HONORS GOD’S HOLY LAW. <\/strong>God would not and could not tarnish his holy law in order to forgive sin and save sinners. God is willing to be merciful; but his righteousness must be established, his holy law must be fulfilled. This is one part of our Savior’s work. He brought in an everlasting righteousness by his perfect obedience to God’s law as our Representative. He is “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” <\/strong>(Jer. 23:6; Rom. 1:16-17; 3:24-26).<\/p>\n

2. THE GOSPEL IS A DECLARATION OF SATISFIED JUSTICE. <\/strong>This is the doctrine of substitution. God satisfied the infinite demands of his own justice by the substitutionary sacrifice of his Son. Someone said, “God cannot suffer, and man cannot satisfy; but the God-man both suffered and satisfied.” That’s the gospel, Jesus Christ has fully satisfied the penalty of sin for every believer! (Gal. 3:13)<\/p>\n

3. THE GOSPEL OF GOD IS A PROCLAMATION OF SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE (<\/strong>Eph. <\/strong>2:8-9; II Tim. 1:9). God would have all men to know that the sinner’s standing before him is altogether a matter of pure, free grace. Man gets nothing from God, and man cannot be accepted before God, except by grace. Every idea of human merit is contrary to the gospel. If your own works ever enter into your heart as a grounds of acceptance before God, for anything, you have missed Christ (Gal. 5:2).<\/p>\n

4. THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF GRACE FREELY BESTOWED<\/strong> UPON MEN. <\/strong>There are no conditions for the sinner to meet, no works for the sinner to do, no emotions for the sinner to feel, in order for him to prepare himself to believe on Christ. In preaching the gospel we freely invite all who will to believe on Christ and be saved. No sinner is excluded from the gospel except those who exclude themselves by their unbelief (Rom. 10:11,13).<\/p>\n

5. THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD DECLARES THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF ETERNAL SALVATION. <\/strong>We have no partial salvation to preach. We preach an almighty Savior, who saves for ever (John 10:27-31).<\/p>\n

Don Fortner.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Two seeds?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spurgeon, “In the Garden with Him.” #2106. <\/em><\/p>\n

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you
\nhave done this, you will be punished…
\nAnd I will put enmity between you and the woman,
\nand between your seed and her seed…” Genesis 3:14-15<\/p>\n

There are two seeds<\/strong> in the world- the seed
\nof the woman, and the seed of the serpent.<\/p>\n

And if the seed of the serpent never hisses at you,
\nyou may be afraid that you do not belong to the
\nseed of the woman. God has put an enmity between
\nthe serpent and the woman; between the serpent’s
\nseed and the woman’s seed.<\/p>\n

And so it must be till the end of time.<\/p>\n

Take any opposition that you get from worldlings as
\na token for good, a sign that you are of a different
\nrace from those who despise you, a testimonial to
\nyour character from those whose homage to goodness
\nembodies itself in persecution. That is the way in which
\nthey compliment us.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Even your own relatives think you are almost insane<\/p>\n

(J. C. Philpot, “The Abiding Comforter<\/strong>” 1858)<\/p>\n

“The Spirit of truth. The world<\/strong> cannot receive Him,
\nbecause it neither sees Him nor knows Him<\/strong>.”
\nJohn 14:17<\/p>\n

The world<\/strong>\u2014that is, the world dead in sin, and the
\nworld dead in profession\u2014men destitute of the life
\nand power of God\u2014must have something that it can <\/strong>
\nsee<\/strong>. And, as heavenly things can only be seen by
\nheavenly eyes, they cannot receive the things which
\nare invisible.<\/p>\n

Now this explains why a religion that presents itself
\nwith a degree of beauty and grandeur to the natural
\neye will always be received by the world<\/strong>; while a . . .
\nspiritual,
\ninternal,
\nheartfelt and
\nexperimental
\nreligion will always be rejected.<\/p>\n

The world can receive a religion that consists of . . .<\/strong>
\nforms,
\nrites, and
\nceremonies.<\/p>\n

These are things seen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Beautiful buildings,
\npainted windows,
\npealing organs,
\nmelodious choirs,
\nthe pomp and parade of an earthly priesthood,
\nand a whole apparatus of ‘religious ceremony’,
\ncarry with them something that the natural eye can
\nsee and admire. The world receives all this ‘external
\nreligion’ because it is suitable to the natural mind
\nand intelligible to their reasoning faculties.<\/p>\n

But the . . .
\nquiet,
\ninward,
\nexperimental,
\ndivine religion,
\nwhich presents no attractions to the outward eye, but
\nis wrought in the heart by a divine operation\u2014the world
\ncannot receive this\u2014because it presents nothing that
\nthe natural eye can rest upon with pleasure, or is
\nadapted to gratify their general idea of what religion
\nis or should be.<\/p>\n

Do not marvel, then, that worldly professors despise a
\nreligion wrought in the soul by the power of God. Do not
\nbe surprised if even your own relatives think you are
\nalmost insane<\/strong>, when you speak of the consolations of
\nthe Spirit, or of the teachings of God in your soul. They
\ncannot receive these things, for they have no experience
\nof them; and being such as are altogether opposed to
\nthe carnal mind, they reject them with enmity and scorn.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

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

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

The life-boat of free grace!<\/strong><\/p>\n

(James Smith, “The Complaint!” 1864)<\/p>\n

“I am cast down!” <\/em>And why <\/em>are you cast down?<\/p>\n

“My heart is burdened with a sense of my short-comings!
\nEvery duty <\/em>I perform is so imperfect.
\nEvery purpose <\/em>I form is so soon frustrated.
\nEvery hope <\/em>of seeing better days is so soon beclouded.
\nMy heart <\/em>is so fearfully depraved.
\nMy life <\/em>is so unlike the life of Jesus.
\nMy temper <\/em>is so unholy.
\nMy prayers <\/em>are so brief and heartless.
\nMy praises <\/em>are so feeble and fitful.
\nI do <\/em>so little good.
\nI live <\/em>to so little purpose.
\nMy evidences <\/em>are so dim.
\nMy prospects <\/em>are so overcast.
\nI am harassed sometimes with the fear of death<\/em>.
\nI cannot realize the glories of Heaven<\/em>.
\nI am dissatisfied with the world<\/em> \u2014 and yet glued to it!
\nI hate sin<\/em> \u2014 and yet fall into it!
\nI am a riddle, a mystery, a mass of inconsistency! <\/em>
\nIs it, then, any wonder that I am cast down?”<\/p>\n

No, if you look at yourself<\/em>, and pore over the things you have named \u2014 then it is no wonder that you are cast down! They are enough to cast anyone down! But if you carry them to the throne of grace<\/em>, if you there confess <\/em>them before God, if you look to Jesus<\/em> to save you from them \u2014 then, in spite of them \u2014 you will not long be cast down.<\/p>\n

I know it is difficult to do this. There is a natural proneness<\/em> to pore over such things. One feels at times a secret liking <\/em>to indulge in gloomy thoughts.<\/p>\n

But we must look away from self<\/em> \u2014 for if we do not, we shall become anxious, doubting and gloomy! We must run the race<\/em>, not looking at our <\/em>imperfections, short-comings, and failures \u2014 but looking unto Jesus<\/em>. He knows what we are<\/em>. He knew what we would<\/em> be<\/em> \u2014 before He called us by His grace; yes, before He shed His blood for us!
\nHe loved <\/em>us, as sinners.
\nHe died <\/em>for us, as sinners.
\nHe called <\/em>us, as sinners.
\nHe saves <\/em>us, as sinners. He will have all the glory of saving us, and He will get great glory by doing so, because we are such great sinners;<\/em> and do not, cannot, do <\/em>anything to repay<\/em> Him for His wondrous love! Salvation is by free grace<\/em> \u2014 from first to last! Believe this, and it will raise up your drooping mind!<\/p>\n

The life-boat of free grace<\/strong> has put you on board the vessel of salvation<\/em>, and that will convey you safely to the port of glory! <\/em>Do not look at your spiritual destitution, or feebleness, or incapacity, or imperfections \u2014 but trust in your Pilot<\/em>, rely on your Captain<\/em>, and expect His mercy and merit to land you safe in Heaven at last!<\/p>\n

As imperfect as you now are<\/em>, and as imperfect you will be<\/em> \u2014 your dying prayer<\/em> will still be, “God be merciful unto me \u2014 a sinner!”<\/p>\n

<\/em>Hope in God!
\nHis mercy <\/em>is great unto the heavens,
\nHis grace <\/em>is as free as the air,
\nHis love <\/em>is as changeless as His nature,
\nHis promise <\/em>is as immutable as His love.<\/p>\n

Hope in God, for you shall yet praise Him. He will save you for His own sake, and present you before assembled worlds as a monument of His mercy,<\/em> and a trophy of His grace!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can we forget such mighty grace? Spurgeon’s book, “The Saint and His Savior” Experience of the love, tenderness, and faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ will weld our hearts to him. The very thought of the love of Jesus towards us is enough to inflame our holy passions, but experience of it heats the furnace […]<\/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-1787","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\/1787","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=1787"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1789,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions\/1789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}