{"id":3304,"date":"2015-05-30T07:43:42","date_gmt":"2015-05-30T07:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=3304"},"modified":"2015-05-30T07:43:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-30T07:43:42","slug":"poor-naked-penniless-worthless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=3304","title":{"rendered":"Poor, naked, penniless, worthless?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poor, naked, penniless, worthless?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Octavius Winslow, \u201cMorning Thoughts\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell you the truth, a time is coming and has \u00a0now come when the dead will hear the voice
\nof the Son of God and those who hear will live.\u201d
\nJohn 5:25<\/p>\n

There is the special, direct, and effectual call of the Spirit, in the elect of God, without which all other calling is in vain.\u00a0 The Spirit effectually works in the soul with an inward, supernatural, secret power. There is an energy put forth with the call, which . . .
\nawakens the conscience, \u00a0 breaks the heart, \u00a0 convinces the judgment, \u00a0 opens the eye of the soul, and \u00a0 pours a new and an alarming sound \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 upon the hitherto deaf ear.<\/p>\n

Mark the blessed effects . . .
\nthe scales fell from the eyes, \u00a0 the veil is torn from the mind, \u00a0 the deep fountains of evil in the heart are broken up.<\/p>\n

The sinner sees himself as . . . \u00a0 lost and undone \u00a0 without pardon, \u00a0 without a righteousness,
\nwithout acceptance, \u00a0 without a God, \u00a0 without a Savior, \u00a0 without a hope!<\/p>\n

Awful condition!<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat shall I do to be saved?\u201d is his cry! \u201cI am a wretch undone! I look within me, all is dark
\nand vile; I look around me, everything seems but the image of my woe; I look above me, I
\nsee only an angry God. Whichever way I look, is hell! And were God now to send me there,
\njust and right would He be.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, blessed be God, no poor soul that ever uttered such language, prompted by such
\nfeelings, ever died in despair! That faithful Spirit who begins the good work, effectually
\ncarries it on, and completes it.<\/p>\n

Presently He leads him to the cross of Jesus and unveils to his glimmering eye of faith a . . .
\nsuffering, \u00a0 wounded, \u00a0 bleeding, \u00a0 dying Savior; and yet a Savior with outstretched arms!<\/p>\n

That Savior speaks; oh, did ever music sound so melodious? \u201cAll this I do for you . . .
\nthis cross for you, \u00a0 these sufferings for you, \u00a0 this blood for you, \u00a0 these stretched out arms for you. Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Look unto Me, and be saved! Are you lost? I can save you! Are you guilty? I can cleanse you! Are you poor? I can enrich you! Are you sunk low? I can raise you! Are you naked? I can clothe you! Have you nothing to bring with you?
\nNo price? \u00a0 No money? \u00a0 No goodness? \u00a0 No merit? I can and will take you to Me, just as you are . . .
\npoor, \u00a0 naked, \u00a0 penniless, \u00a0 worthless; for such I came to seek, for such I came to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLord, I believe,\u201d exclaims the poor convinced soul! You are just the Savior that I need. I needed one
\nthat could and would save me . . . \u00a0 with all my vileness, \u00a0 with all my rags, \u00a0 with all my poverty. I needed one that would . . .
\nsave me fully, \u00a0 save me freely, save me as an act of mere unmerited, undeserved
\ngrace! I have found Him whom my soul loves! and will be His through time, and His through eternity!\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus effectually does the blessed Spirit call a sinner, by His especial, invincible, and supernatural power,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poor, naked, penniless, worthless? (Octavius Winslow, \u201cMorning Thoughts\u201d) \u201cI tell you the truth, a time is coming and has \u00a0now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.\u201d John 5:25 There is the special, direct, and effectual call of the Spirit, in the elect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-octavius-winslow","category-grace","category-total-depravity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304","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=3304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3305,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304\/revisions\/3305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}