{"id":2897,"date":"2014-06-14T09:33:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-14T09:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2897"},"modified":"2014-06-14T09:35:36","modified_gmt":"2014-06-14T09:35:36","slug":"bulletin-edition-215-june-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2897","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition #215 June 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supernatural light<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Joseph Philpot, “The Heir of Heaven Walking in
\nDarkness, and the Heir of Hell Walking in Light”)<\/p>\n

“For God<\/strong>, who commanded the light to shine out \u00a0of darkness, has shined in our hearts<\/strong>, to give the \u00a0light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the \u00a0face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6<\/p>\n

Until, then, this supernatural light<\/strong> of God enters into the soul, a man has no saving
\nknowledge of Jehovah. He may . . .
\nsay his prayers,\u00a0\u00a0read his Bible,\u00a0\u00a0attend preaching,\u00a0\u00a0observe ordinances, \u00a0 bestow all his goods to feed the poor, \u00a0 or give his body to be burned;but he is as ignorant of God as
\nthe cattle that graze in the fields!<\/strong><\/p>\n

He may call himself a Christian, and be thought such by others, talk much about Jesus Christ, hold a sound creed, maintain a consistent profession, pray at a prayer meeting with fluency and apparent feeling, stand up in a pulpit and contend earnestly for the doctrines of grace, excel hundreds of God’s children in zeal, knowledge and conversation.<\/p>\n

And yet, if this ray of\u00a0supernatural light<\/strong> has never shone into his soul, he is only twofold more the child of hell than those who make no profession!<\/p>\n

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

—<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

CHRIST THE BELIEVER’S LIFE<\/strong>
\nby Archibald Alexander<\/p>\n

Jesus is the believer’s life, because he has redeemed him from death<\/em>. The sentence of death, eternal death, has gone forth against every sinner. “The wages of sin is death.” “Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.” >From this curse all believers are delivered by Christ, who endured the curse for them. To such “there is no condemnation;” and they are adapted into the family of God, and made heirs of eternal life. They stand completely justified on account of the perfect righteousness of their Surety. This exemption from death, and title to life, could in no other way be obtained than by Christ’s making a sacrifice of his own precious life.<\/p>\n

Christ is held forth as a Redeemer, and his great work as a redemption. The people redeemed are condemned criminals, who can be released in no other way than by the payment of a ransom. This Christ has paid, satisfying, by his “obedience unto death,” both law and justice. Thus the believer has life, not by virtue of his own obedience, but only through Christ. His union with Christ gives him a title to the life which he has procured.<\/p>\n

Again, Christ is the source of spiritual life <\/em>to the believer. By nature all men are dead in trespasses and sins. Spiritual life was lost to the whole human race by the transgression of Adam. If there were only a spark of life left in the human soul, it might be nourished, and by assiduous culture, might grow to maturity. But in man’s corrupt nature there dwells no good thing. All the thoughts and imaginations of his heart are “only evil continually.” To introduce life into the depraved soul, as much requires the exertion of omnipotence as to create man at first. God, who caused light to shine out of darkness, must shine into the heart. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sends forth, the soul is united to Christ, and from him derives life. Just as the branch derives nutriment from the vine, so the believer receives from Christ, his spiritual head, vital influences, by which he lives. This communication of life is called regeneration<\/em>, or the new birth. People who experience this change are “born of the Spirit,” “born from above.”<\/p>\n

And as Christ is the author of this life in its commencement, so he is the cause of its preservation and growth<\/em>. Every kind of life requires nourishment; and this spiritual principle, called by the apostle “the new man,” must be fed. Christians are compared to “new-born babes,” who naturally thirst for the pure milk of the word, that they may grow thereby. Their growth depends very much on their increase in knowledge; the word of God, therefore, is the means of the believer’s advancement in the divine life. By the Spirit of Christ the word is made effectual; and Christ himself is the sum and substance of the word. The word testifies of him. The word exhibits Christ as “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” As the body is supported and made to grow by bread, which is called “the staff of life,” so Christ is “the bread that came down from heaven.” The believer eats his flesh and drinks his blood, “not after a corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith.” “The flesh profits nothing.” Christ guards against any gross interpretation of his words by saying, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Spiritual life cannot be nourished by flesh.<\/p>\n

Another respect in which Christ is the life of the believer, is the resurrection of the body<\/em>. “I am,” says he, “the resurrection and the life.” “He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The bodies of believers are united to Christ as well as their souls. The saints do therefore wait and hope for “the redemption of the body,” and they shall not be disappointed. For we “look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”<\/p>\n

Finally, Christ will be the source of the believer’s life through eternity<\/em>. The union between Christ and his members shall never be dissolved. He will forever be the fountain from which their happiness flows. “He that has the Son, has life.” “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” How emphatically may it then be said, that Christ is the believer’s life. He is indeed “all in all.” And they who have received the Lord Jesus, possess everything which they can really need. They are complete in him; for “of God, he is made unto them wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” “All things are theirs, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are theirs: and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”<\/p>\n

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

—<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

THE GRACE OF GOD
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Don Fortner-
\n<\/em>
\nIf you search the Scriptures you will find four things which always
\ncharacterize the GRACE OF GOD. Any doctrine that is inconsistent with
\nthese four things is a denial of the doctrine of the grace of God.<\/p>\n

1. THE GRACE OF GOD IS ETERNAL (II Tim. 1:9).
\nGrace did not originate in time, and it cannot be merited, directed,
\nor controlled by anything in time. All that grace does for any sinner
\nin time, it has done for that sinner from eternity in the infinite
\nmind and infallible purpose of almighty God (Rom. 8:28-30).<\/p>\n

2. THE GRACE OF GOD IS FREE (Rom. 3:24).
\nWhen God declares in his Word that grace is free, he is telling
\nus that there is no cause for grace except his own purpose.
\nFree grace is unqualified grace.
\nFree grace is unconditional grace.
\nFree grace is unchangeable grace.<\/p>\n

THE GRACE OF GOD IS SOVEREIGN (Rom. 3:21).
\nGrace reigns!
\nIt reigns everywhere and over all things.
\nIf grace reigns, then it reigns from a throne.
\nAnd the One who sits upon the throne is sovereign.
\nThe throne of the sovereign God is called,
\n“the throne of grace” (Heb.4:16).<\/p>\n

When the Bible declares that grace is sovereign it is declaring
\nthat God is gracious to whom he will be gracious (Rom. 9:11-18).
\nSalvation and eternal life is the gift of God (Rom. 6:23).
\nIf it is a gift, it cannot be claimed as a right.
\nIf it is a gift, it cannot be earned by works.
\nIf it is a gift, the Giver is free to bestow it upon whom he will.<\/p>\n

4. THE GRACE OF GOD IS DISTINGUISHING (I Cor.4:7).
\nIt is true, “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10: 34). What could
\na sinful man do to win the respect of the holy God? God has no respect
\nfor anything man is, does, or gains, by which he sets himself apart from
\nother men. But God does have his favorites, whom he has, from eternity
\nsingled out from the rest of Adam’s race, to whom he will be gracious.
\nHe distinguishes them from all others by–
\neternal election (II Thess. 2:13),
\nsovereign predestination (Rom. 8:29),
\neffectual redemption (Tit. 2:10), and
\nregenerating grace (Eph. 2:1-5).
\nNothing so riles man’s hatred of God as
\nthe declaration that his grace is–
\n-eternal,
\n-free,
\n-sovereign, and
\n-distinguishing.
\nThis message of grace is abasing to human pride,
\ngives no merit to human righteousness, and makes man
\nutterly dependent upon the goodness of God for salvation.
\nProud men hate it.
\nSaved men love it.<\/p>\n

This new spiritual life<\/strong><\/p>\n

(James Smith, “The Way of Salvation Set Forth”)<\/p>\n

By nature we are all dead in trespasses and sins. <\/em>There is . . .
\nno breath <\/em>of prayer,
\nno sight <\/em>of God,
\nno listening <\/em>to the voice of mercy,
\nno power <\/em>of faith;
\nbut we are alienated <\/em>from the life of God, through the ignorance <\/em>that is in us. In this state we live \u2014 until God who is rich in mercy with the great love with which He loved us, quickens <\/em>us together with Christ, and saves us by His grace. The Holy Spirit imparts a new, a divine life. In consequence of this, we . . .
\ndiscover our lost state,
\nfeel our dangerous position,
\nfear the wrath of God,
\ndesire true holiness, and
\nflee to Jesus for full salvation.<\/p>\n

This life coming from God \u2014 always leads us to God.
\nBeing holy \u2014 it produces earnest longings for holiness.
\nBeing spiritual \u2014 it can only be satisfied with spiritual blessings.<\/p>\n

Jesus becomes the food, the repose, the delight of the soul. To Jesus the spiritual life always tends; on Him it feeds; and of Him alone it boasts.<\/p>\n

This new spiritual life<\/strong> is imparted <\/em>in regeneration, and reveals <\/em>itself in conversion to God. Its manifestations<\/em> are . . .
\nrepentance <\/em>for sin,
\nfaith <\/em>in Jesus,
\nlove <\/em>to God, and
\nearnest longings <\/em>for holiness of heart and life.<\/p>\n

It is this spiritual life <\/em>which distinguishes the real believer from the mere professor<\/em> of religion. It makes him a new man, and leads him to prove the truth of the Apostles words, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new!” 2 Corinthians 5:17<\/p>\n

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

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

—<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

The religion which I want<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Letters of J. C. Philpot)<\/p>\n

I am quite sick of modern religion<\/strong>\u2014it is such
\na mixture, such a medley, such a compromise.
\nI find much, indeed, of this religion in my own
\nheart, for it suits the flesh well\u2014but I would
\nnot have it so, and grieve it should be so.
\n
\nThe religion which I want<\/strong> is that of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

I know <\/strong>nothing but what He teaches me.<\/p>\n

I feel <\/strong>nothing but what He works in me.<\/p>\n

I believe <\/strong>nothing but what He shows me.<\/p>\n

I only mourn <\/strong>when He smites my rocky heart.<\/p>\n

I only rejoice <\/strong>when He reveals the Savior.<\/p>\n

This religion I am seeking after, though miles and
\nmiles from it\u2014but no other will satisfy or content me.<\/p>\n

When the blessed Spirit is not at work in me,
\nand with me, I fall back into all the . . .
\ndarkness,
\nunbelief,
\nearthliness,
\nidleness,
\ncarelessness,
\ninfidelity, and
\nhelplessness
\nof my Adam nature.<\/p>\n

True religion is a supernatural and mysterious thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supernatural light (Joseph Philpot, “The Heir of Heaven Walking in Darkness, and the Heir of Hell Walking in Light”) “For God, who commanded the light to shine out \u00a0of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the \u00a0light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the \u00a0face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. […]<\/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-2897","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\/2897","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=2897"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2899,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2897\/revisions\/2899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}