When the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel<\/p>\n
(J. C. Philpot)<\/p>\n
We often know the theory<\/strong> of the gospel, We often receive the doctrines of grace into We therefore need to be . . .<\/strong> When the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel<\/strong> God’s promises!<\/p>\n <\/strong>from Spurgeon’s sermon, “Three Precious Things” #931 God’s promises<\/strong> are precious because they tell of They deal with every great thing which the soul can need: In this blessed book you have…. You have so many promises, that all the There is always a promise in the volume of Make the Lord’s promises your delight and your Search the Scriptures, and you shall meet with a As if the tailor had measured you from head to foot, The promises are precious in themselves…. “…He has given us His very great and precious promises<\/strong>…” Christ is Our Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n James Smith, 1842 It is a matter of infinite consequence . . . Nothing on earth can exceed the blessedness of such a happy believer; he . . . He sees that His peace was planned in the everlasting covenant, between the Glorious Three<\/em>; in consequence of which it is now called “A covenant of peace.” Isaiah 54:10. He knows that peace was predicted and promised, because the God-man stood engaged to make it; and that, at the incarnation of Immanuel, the angels sang, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” He believes that the labors of the Redeemer’s life, and the agonies of His death \u2014 were to make peace on honorable terms, and to base it on an immutable foundation. He hears the gospel as the good news of peace and reconciliation, and rejoices that Jesus now, by His gospel, preaches peace to them who were afar off, and to those who were near. He experiences the operations of the Holy Spirit in His heart, leading him to . . . He realizes the blessedness of receiving peace from Jesus as a gift, and finding it surround his soul as a sacred guard to keep him, Philippians 4:7. He looks for peace in <\/em>Jesus and from <\/em>Jesus; not from his duties, experience, or labors; and triumphs in this, “He is our peace.”<\/p>\n And now, children of my God, let me exhort you, at all times \u2014 to look to Jesus as your peace. He has made peace by the blood of His cross; and every poor believer, however tried, tempted, troubled, or perplexed \u2014 is at peace with God, through Him; though all do not enjoy it.<\/p>\n Should sickness <\/em>seize your frame, and lay you on a bed of languishing \u2014 then look to Jesus as your peace.<\/p>\n Should Satan <\/em>beset you with his soul-distressing temptations and fiery darts \u2014 still view Jesus as your peace.<\/p>\n Should you be left to pace the barren wilderness of desertion<\/em>, where only briars and thorns appear to grow \u2014 still hold this fast, Jesus is my peace.<\/p>\n Should persecution <\/em>light its fires or brandish its weapons of war \u2014 still Jesus is your peace.<\/p>\n Should trials <\/em>in the family, the business, or the church of God, press you down \u2014 yet remember Jesus is your peace.<\/p>\n Oh, never forget this soul-supporting, heart-cheering truth, “This man shall be the peace!” Micah 5:5. And when death <\/em>shall come to visit you at the command of Jesus, (and remember it is at the command of your loving, tender, compassionate Jesus, that he does come,) still look to this, “He is my peace;” not my attainments, not my comfort, not my duties \u2014 but Jesus is my peace<\/em>. He made <\/em>it, secured <\/em>it, revealed <\/em>it, bestowed <\/em>it, confirms <\/em>it, and gives <\/em>it \u2014 and He shall be glorified <\/em>for it. Nothing can possibly destroy it, unless it can . . . Consider, believer, if you are at peace with God \u2014 you have no real cause to fear; nothing shall by any means hurt you. God being at peace with you, angels attend upon you, and all the dispensations of Divine providence, and the designs of Satan \u2014 are made to subserve this glorious purpose of our God. “All things work together for your good!” Rejoice then in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Rejoice in Christ Jesus, having no confidence in the flesh. You shall enter into peace, you shall rest in your beds, each one walking in His uprightness. Isaiah 57:2. Look, look then, for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God, our Savior Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Jesus, whose blood so freely streamed, No drop <\/em>remains of all the curse, Peace by such means so dearly bought, Let foes in horrid league agree! THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL GIVE YOU A SIGN<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaiah 7: 14<\/strong>: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.<\/strong> Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>When Christ walked this earth, Pharisee\u2019s came to him saying, \u201cMaster, we would see a sign from thee.\u201d (Mt 12: 38) But Christ would not give them their request. Why? Years before, through the prophet Isaiah, the LORD told king Ahaz to ask for a sign. Under pretense of piety, Ahaz refused. Isaiah declared, \u201cTherefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.\u201d<\/p>\n When the virgin conceived, it was the Lord himself giving you a sign that he is the Seed of woman which was promised in the garden. (Gen 3: 15; Jer 31: 22; Mt 1: 18-20) His being conceived of the Holy Ghost, rather than of the corrupt seed of man, was the Lord himself giving you a sign that he is the only holy Man ever born; thus he was fit to lay down his life in place of his sinful brethren. (Lu 1: 35; Heb 2: 14) By commanding his name be called Immanuel, it was the Lord himself giving you a sign that he is God with us, providing himself a Lamb. (Gen 22: 8; 2 Cor 5: 19) When he ascended, after three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, it was the Lord himself giving you a sign that he is both, just and the Justifier of him which believes in Jesus. (Mt 12: 39-40; Rom 3: 26)<\/p>\n The Lord gave the Pharisee\u2019s no other sign, because Christ is himself the sign.\u00a0 Ahaz\u2019s refusal of the Sign, as well as the Pharisee\u2019s request for another, were rejections of Christ himself. Left to ourselves, every sinner will do the same. Then how shall each of God\u2019s elect be brought to believe? \u201cThe Lord himself shall give you a Sign.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Clay Curtis<\/p>\n THE WONDER OF ANGELS!<\/p>\n <\/strong>Spurgeon, “Christ’s Incarnation, the Foundation of Christianity” We don’t know how the information was first communicated What! was it true that HE, whose crown was all How their wonderment must have increased as the details And when He descended from on high, they followed Him; Do you see Him as, on that day of Heaven’s eclipse, Can you conceive what must have been the astonishment of the And now wonder, you angels, as you see He, upon whose shoulders the universe does hang, He, who created all things by the word of His power, and Wonder, you angels that knew Him in His RICHES, Where SLEEPS the newborn King? Nor does He rest long there; on a sudden, His mother must When the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel (J. C. Philpot) We often know the theory of the gospel, before we know the experience of the gospel. We often receive the doctrines of grace into our judgment, before we receive the grace of the doctrines into our soul. We therefore need to be . . . […]<\/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-3139","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\/3139","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=3139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3142,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139\/revisions\/3142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nbefore we know the experience<\/strong> of the gospel.<\/p>\n
\nour judgment<\/strong>, before we receive the grace of
\nthe doctrines into our soul<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nbrought down,
\nhumbled,
\ntried,
\nstripped of every prop;
\nthat the gospel may be to us . . .<\/strong>
\nmore than a sound,
\nmore than a name,
\nmore than a theory,
\nmore than a doctrine,
\nmore than a system,
\nmore than a creed;
\nthat it may be . . .<\/strong>
\nsoul enjoyment,
\nsoul blessing,
\nand soul salvation.<\/p>\n
\nto the poor in spirit, the humbled, stripped,
\nand tried–it is a gospel of glad tidings indeed
\nto the sinner’s broken heart.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\n“…He has given us His very great and precious promises<\/strong>…”
\n2 Peter 1:4<\/p>\n
\nexceeding great and precious things. We have
\npromises in the Bible which time would fail us to
\nrepeat, which for breadth and length are immeasurable.<\/p>\n
\npromises of pardoned sin,
\npromises of sanctification,
\npromises of teaching,
\npromises of guidance,
\npromises of upholding,
\npromises of ennobling,
\npromises of progress,
\npromises of consolation, and
\npromises of perfection.<\/p>\n
\npromises of the daily bread of earth;
\npromises of the bread of life from heaven;
\npromises for time;
\npromises for eternity.<\/p>\n
\nconditions and positions of the believer are
\nmet. I sometimes liken the promises to the
\nlocksmith’s great bunch of keys, which he brings
\nwhen you have lost the key of your treasure chest,
\nand cannot unlock it. He feels pretty sure that out
\nof all the keys upon the ring some one or other
\nwill fit, and he tries them with patient industry.
\nAt last! yes! that is it, he has moved the bolt,
\nand you can get at your treasures!<\/p>\n
\ninspiration suitable to your present case.<\/p>\n
\ncounselors, and they will befriend you at every turn.<\/p>\n
\npromise which will be so applicable to you as to
\nappear to have been written after your trouble
\nhad occurred! So exactly will it apply, that you
\nwill be compelled to marvel at the wonderful
\ntenderness and suitableness of it.<\/p>\n
\nso exactly shall the garment of the promise befit you.<\/p>\n
\nfrom their suitability to us,
\nfrom their coming from God,
\nfrom their being immutable,
\nfrom their being sure of performance, and
\nfrom their containing wrapped up within themselves
\nall that the children of God can ever need.<\/p>\n
\n2 Peter 1:4<\/p>\n
\n“He is our peace.”<\/em> Ephesians 2:14<\/p>\n
\nto be at peace with God, and to walk with Him in a state of reconciliation;
\nto know that there is nothing in the divine mind against us \u2014 but that all condemnation is removed from us;
\nto see God in Christ smiling upon us, and to know that He orders all His dispensations in reference to us for our good.<\/p>\n
\nis at peace with God,
\nhas peace in His own conscience,
\nand shall enjoy peace forever.<\/p>\n
\nthe blood of atonement,
\nthe testimony of God, and
\nthe throne of grace for peace.<\/p>\n
\nundo His work,
\nrevoke His promise,
\nand change His changeless mind.<\/p>\n
\nTo satisfy the law’s demand;
\nBy You from guilt and wrath redeemed,
\nBefore the Father’s face I stand.<\/p>\n
\nFor wretches who deserved the whole;
\nNo arrows dipped in wrath, to pierce
\nThe guilty \u2014 but returning soul.<\/p>\n
\nWhat rebel could have hoped to see
\nPeace by His injured Sovereign wrought,
\nHis Sovereign fastened to the tree!<\/p>\n
\nThey may assault, they may distress;
\nBut cannot quench Your love to me,
\nNor rob me of the Lord, My Peace<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nHow surprised the ANGELS must have been when they were
\nfirst informed that Jesus Christ, the Prince of life,
\nintended to shroud Himself in clay, and become a human
\nbabe, and live and die upon the earth!<\/p>\n
\nto the angels; but when the rumor began to circulate among
\nthe shining hosts, we may imagine what strange wonderment
\nthere was in their lofty minds.<\/p>\n
\nbejewelled with stars, would lay that crown aside?
\nWhat! was it certain that HE, about whose shoulders
\nwas cast the purple robe of universal sovereignty,
\nwould become a man, dressed in a peasant’s garment?
\nCould it be true that HE, who was everlasting
\nand immortal, would one day be nailed to a cross?!<\/p>\n
\nof the Savior’s life and death were made known to them.
\nWell might they desire to “look into” these things,
\nwhich were so surprising and mysterious to them.<\/p>\n
\nfor Jesus was “seen of angels,” and seen in a very special
\nsense; for they looked upon Him in rapturous amazement,
\nwondering what it could mean when He, “who was RICH,
\nfor our sakes became POOR.”<\/p>\n
\nHe did, as it were, ungird Himself of His majesty?
\nCan you conceive the increasing wonder of the heavenly
\nhosts when the great deed was actually done, when they saw
\nHis priceless tiara taken off, when they watched Him unbind
\nHis girdle of stars, and cast away His sandals of gold?<\/p>\n
\nangels when He said to them, “I do not disdain the womb of
\nthe virgin; I am going down to earth to become a man”?<\/p>\n
\nthat THE INFINITE HAS BECOME AN INFANT!<\/p>\n
\nhangs at His mother’s breast!<\/p>\n
\nwho bears up the pillars of creation, has now become so
\nweak that He must be carried in the arms of a woman!<\/p>\n
\nwhile you behold Him in His POVERTY!<\/p>\n
\nHas He the best room in Caesar’s palace? Has a cradle of
\ngold been prepared for Him, and pillows of down, on which
\nto rest His head? No! in the dilapidated stable where the
\noxen stood, and in the manger where they fed- there the
\nSavior lies, swathed in the swaddling bands of the children
\nof poverty!<\/p>\n
\ncarry Him to Egypt; He must go there, and become a stranger
\nin a strange land. When He came back, and grew up at Nazareth,
\nthe angels must have marveled to see HIM THAT MADE THE WORLDS
\nhandle the hammer and the nails, assisting His reputed father
\nin the trade of a carpenter!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"