{"id":1998,"date":"2012-05-06T12:18:12","date_gmt":"2012-05-06T12:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1998"},"modified":"2012-05-09T12:48:31","modified_gmt":"2012-05-09T12:48:31","slug":"bulletin-articles-issue-121-april-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=1998","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Articles Issue #121 May 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mighty Magnet<\/strong><\/p>\n

“And I, if l be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me”
\n(John 12:32).<\/p>\n

Come, ye workers, be encouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior; for this is the greatest “draw” that was ever yet manifested among men. What drew you to Christ but Christ? What draws you to Him now but His own blessed self? If you have been drawn to religion by anything else, you will soon be drawn away from it; but Jesus has held you and will hold you even to the end. Why, then, doubt His power to draw other? Go with the name of Jesus to those who have hitherto been stubborn and see if it does not draw them.<\/p>\n

No sort of man is beyond this drawing power. Old and young, rich and poor, ignorant and learned, depraved or amiable–all men shall feel the attractive force. Jesus is the one magnet. Let us not think of any other. Music will not draw to Jesus, neither will eloquence, logic, ceremonial, or noise. Jesus Himself must draw men to Himself; and Jesus is quite equal to the work in every case. Be not tempted by the quackeries of the day; but as workers for the LORD work in His own way, and draw with the LORD’s own cords. Draw to Christ, and draw by Christ, for then Christ will draw by you.<\/p>\n

Charles Spurgeon<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

EVERLASTING LOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

“How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!”<\/p>\n

I have loved you, My people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself.<\/em> Jeremiah 31:3<\/p>\n

Here we have an everlasting thought of God, “in the beginning, before ever the earth was.” Believer, travel back in imagination to the ages of the past. Before the trance of eternity was broken by any visible manifestation of power\u2014before one temple was erected in space, before one angel waved his wing, or one note was heard of seraph’s song\u2014when God inhabited alone these sublime solitudes\u2014then there was a thought of you, and that thought was\u2014Love!<\/em><\/p>\n

Think of the sovereignty<\/span> of that love. He says not, ‘You have loved Me with your poor earthly love, therefore have I drawn you.’ No, no! It is from nothing in you\u2014no foreseen goodness on your part. Grace is the reason of all He has done\u2014”God who is rich in mercy for His great love with which He loved us.” “I will have mercy,” is His own declaration\u2014on whom I will have mercy.” “Jacob,”<\/em> (that cunning, scheming, crafty youth,) “I have loved.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Manasseh,<\/em> (that miserable man who has defiled his crown, dishonored his throne, and deluged Jerusalem with blood,) “I have loved.”<\/em> That dying thief<\/em>\u2014fresh from a life of infamy, breathing out his blasphemies on a felon’s cross\u2014“I have loved.” <\/em>And why<\/em>, let each of us ask, am I not a Cain or a Judas? <\/em>Why am I not a wrecked and stranded vessel, like thousands before me? Here is the reason; “Yes, I have loved you.” Before you had one thought of Me, yes, when your thoughts were those of hatred, rebellion, enmity\u2014My thoughts towards you were thoughts of love!<\/p>\n

And that Sovereign love, as it is from everlasting, so is it to everlasting<\/span>\u2014endless in duration\u2014enduring as eternity. The love of the creature is but of yesterday\u2014it may be gone tomorrow\u2014dried like a summer-brook when most needed. But the love of God is fed from the glacier summits\u2014the everlasting hills. We may estimate its intensity, when the Savior could utter regarding it such a prayer as this, “That the love with which You have loved Me, may be in them.”<\/p>\n

Oh, amid the often misgivings of my own doubting heart, with its frames and feelings vacillating as the shifting sand, let me delight to ponder this precious thought\u2014the long line of unbroken love\u2014every link love\u2014connecting the eternity that is past with the eternity to come\u2014God thinking of me before the birth of time\u2014even then mapping out all my future happiness and heavenly bliss\u2014and standing now, with the hoarded love of that eternity in His heart, seeking therewith to “draw” me!<\/p>\n

It is “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus”\u2014the moral gravitation-power of the cross, by which His true people have ever been drawn. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” Draw me, Lord, and I will run after You. Show me Your loving-kindness thus enshrined and manifested in Your dear Son. Constrain me to love You in Him, because You have first loved, and so loved, me.”<\/p>\n

How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings.<\/em> Psalm 36:7<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Sir, We Would See Jesus<\/p>\n

Our brother Patrick recently stepped behind our pulpit, directed our attention to John 12:21, and announced he would preach to us on \u201cSir, we wish to see Jesus.\u201d
\nHe certainly and immediately had my attention \u2013 for \u201cSir, I wish to see Jesus!\u201d
\nJesus is the only subject I desire to hear from a man behind a pulpit. Jesus is the only person I desire to be set forth by such a man. \u201cSir, I wish to see Jesus!\u201d
\nLet the preacher expound whatever Biblical text he chooses, but please show to me Jesus in it. Let the preacher explain whatever Scriptural doctrine he chooses, but please show to me Jesus as its center. Let the preacher employ whatever illustration he chooses, but please let it direct me to Jesus. Let the preacher quote whatever mortal he will, but only to the honor of Jesus. \u201cSir, I wish to see Jesus!\u201d
\nI have no desire to see any other person or thing exalted. Let others preach themselves, exalt their \u201cfreewill\u201d, boast of their works. But I will refuse to hear them. If they ask for my reason, I will reply, \u201cSir, I wish to see Jesus!\u201d
\nI want every preacher who steps behind our pulpit to look upon our congregation and read in our eyes \u201cSir, we wish to see Jesus!\u201d
\nTo aid in this desire I have attached a small placard to our pulpit, visible to every preaching stepping behind it, reading \u201cSir, we wish to see Jesus!\u201d
\nI am happy to report that when our brother Patrick concluded his recent message, my Beloved and I responded, \u201cSir, we saw Jesus!\u201d
\nI hope and pray this will be your response every time I preach: \u201cSir, we wished to see Jesus, and you showed Him to us!\u201d — Daniel E. Parks<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The Man Jesus Christ<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.\u201d (1 Timothy 2:5)<\/p>\n

This Man is no ordinary man. This Man is himself God. He is the God-man. He became a man that he might redeem men. He lived in this world as the Representative Man, the Representative of God\u2019s elect. He lived the full age of a man in perfect obedience to the will and law of God to establish righteousness for men, even the righteousness of God, by magnifying the law and making it honorable. Then, when his hour had fully come, this Man, the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, died upon the cursed tree as our Substitute, \u201cthe just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.\u201d Now, this Man, who as a man put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, is seated upon the very throne of God in glory, accepted as a man, with God! Hear the good news of that fact. \u2014 Since there is a Man in glory, accepted of God, there may be another, and another, and another! Because this Man, the God-man, is in glory, \u201cHe is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him!\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is he?<\/p>\n

This man, the Lord Jesus Christ, is \u201cthe brightness of God\u2019s glory and the express image of his person.\u201d Christ is both God himself and the singular revelation and expression of the glory of God. \u201cThe reference,\u201d Henry Mahan wrote, \u201cis to the sun and its rays. The Father and the Son are the same as the sun and its rays. One is not before the other, and they cannot be divided or separated. He is the perfect revelation and the exact image and character of the Father (Isa. 9:6; John 1:1-3; 10:30; 14:8-10; Matt. 1:21-23).\u201d<\/p>\n

What has he done?<\/p>\n

Much needs to be said in answer to this question; but allow me to simply declare that which is the essence of all our Savior did as the God-man, our Mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ has \u201cby himself purged our sins!\u201d The Lord Jesus, of himself, by himself alone, and by the sacrifice of himself, made atonement for all the sins of God\u2019s elect. He took our sins upon himself, bore them, and died under the penalty of them, thereby abolishing them completely and forever (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26; Col. 1:19-22; Isa. 53:4-6).<\/p>\n

Where is he now?<\/p>\n

He is yonder in glory, where more than two thousand years ago \u201che sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.\u201d The \u201cMajesty on high\u201d is God the Father to whom majesty belongs and who is clothed with majesty. His right hand is the place of power, greatness, acceptance, and glory. There sits the Man, Christ Jesus, and all his elect in him. We have been made to sit down with him in heavenly places!<\/p>\n

\u201cThere, like a man, the Saviour sits; the God, how bright he shines;
\nAnd scatters infinite delight on all the happy minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you see him?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe head that once was crowned with thorns, is crowned with glory now;
\nA royal diadem adorns that mighty Victor\u2019s brow.
\nNo more the bloody crown, the cross and nails no more:
\nFor hell itself shakes at his frown, and all the heavensadore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don Fortner.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

“Lay your foundations with sapphires<\/strong>.” Isaiah 54:11<\/p>\n

Not only that which is seen <\/em>of the church of God\u2014but that which is unseen<\/em>, is fair and precious. Foundations <\/em>are out of sight, and so long as they are firm\u2014it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah’s work, everything is costly, nothing skimped, nothing cheap.<\/p>\n

The deep foundations of the work of grace<\/strong>, are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the lifetime of the Almighty.<\/p>\n

Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus<\/strong>, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth’s ever rolling ocean\u2014and the azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the ruby as He stood covered with His own blood\u2014but now we see Him radiant with the soft blue of love\u2014love abounding, deep, eternal.<\/p>\n

Our eternal hopes are built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God<\/strong>, which are as clear and cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law suspending its operations. No! We defy the eagle’s eye to detect a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence\u2014our foundation is of sapphire, and will endure the fire.<\/p>\n

The Lord Himself has laid the foundation of His people’s hopes. It is matter for grave inquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires\u2014but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they laid by God\u2014but by our own conceit. Foundations will all be tried before long\u2014woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down with a crash, because based on quicksand! He who is built on sapphires\u2014may await storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test! C.H.Spurgeon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mighty Magnet “And I, if l be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me” (John 12:32). Come, ye workers, be encouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior; for this is the greatest “draw” that was ever yet manifested […]<\/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-1998","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\/1998","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=1998"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2012,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998\/revisions\/2012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}