{"id":3451,"date":"2015-10-24T09:39:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-24T09:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=3451"},"modified":"2015-10-24T09:39:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-24T09:39:37","slug":"bulletin-edition-272-october-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=3451","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition #272 October 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.\u201d Exodus 15:27
\nA great wilderness lay between Israel and Canaan; a vast unfriendly, harsh land that stretched out before them across which they could not survive without the presence and power of God. This wilderness is in figure a picture of this world. What they experienced physically all believers experience spiritually. Spiritually there is nothing in this world to sustain, nourish, or preserve the child of God. Everything he needs must be supplied of God and come to him by sovereign irresistible grace. It is exactly the harsh environment of this wilderness that brings to the believer\u2019s heart the sweet experience of grace. Elim offers nothing to the intellectual; just palm trees and wells. Elim offers nothing to the mystic; its waters and trees were just waters and trees. But, oh, to the man whose tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth, to the sojourner whose back had been burnt under that blazing son; to him those seventy palms and twelve wells was nearly Canaan itself. Looking at Elim as a place of refreshing in the wilderness I see it manifest in figure three ways.<\/p>\n

First, I see this blessed place of rest in the wilderness represented in Christ. \u201cCome unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u201d (Matthew 11: 28) It is Christ himself who is our rest. It is his blessed person that refreshes the heart and satisfies the soul.<\/p>\n

Secondly, Elim and its refreshing wells are represented to us in this gospel age as the local church. God\u2019s church is the pillar and ground of the truth. He has put them strategically so that all who journey through this wilderness, on their way to Canaan, are sure to drink from its wells and rest in its shade.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, Elim is represented is our day by the regenerating, renewing, and converting work of the Holy Spirit of God. All of the refreshing waters of Christ are drawn up for us by his presence and power.<\/p>\n

It is the wilderness experience that makes Elim\u2019s water so precious. Never till we are weary and heavy laden will we appreciate Elim\u2019s rest. Thank God for dry sand and deep wells. – Darvin Pruitt<\/p>\n\n\n<\/col>\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n
I am with you always<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you<\/em>. Do not be dismayed,
\nfor I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you.
\nI will uphold you with My victorious right hand.” Is. 41:10<\/p>\n

The Divine presence is . . .
\nthe believer’s strength in weakness;
\nhis support in suffering;
\nhis consolation in the hour of death.<\/p>\n

The blessed assurance, “I am with you,” <\/em>is sufficient to
\nenliven every scene, and sweeten every condition. Its
\nrealization opens springs of joy in the cheerless waste
\nof this desert world. The Divine presence . . .
\ndissipates the thickest darkness,
\nsoothes the anguish of the keenest affliction, and
\nlightens the heaviest load of poverty and distress.<\/p>\n

Reader, be anxious to possess an abiding consciousness
\nof the great truth\u2014that the eye of God is ever upon you!<\/em>
\nWherever you are, and whatever you are doing\u2014set the
\nLord always before you. Having Him at your right hand,
\nwhatever difficulties and dangers may surround your
\npath\u2014you shall not be moved.<\/p>\n

“Be sure of this: I am with you always<\/strong>, even to
\nthe end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 MacDuff<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/col>\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n
\nIf God had not helped us!<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I was pushed back and about to fall \u2014 but the Lord helped me!<\/strong>” Psalm 118:13<\/p>\n

The psalmist had been reviewing <\/em>his toils, his trials, and his dangers; he commemorates <\/em>his deliverances, his conquests, and his triumphs; and he ascribes the whole, to the help of God!<\/em> If God had not helped him \u2014 his faith <\/em>would have failed, his expectations <\/em>would have been disappointed, and his foes <\/em>would have prevailed. Through the Lord, he did valiantly; and now, with joyful heart, he records the loving-kindness of the Lord.<\/p>\n

How sweet to look back <\/em>upon the rough road<\/em>, the bloody battle-field<\/em>, the scenes of peculiar trial<\/em>. Then, if ever, gratitude <\/em>will work within us, and praises <\/em>will flow from our tongues and hearts. Delivered from the mouth of the lion, and the paw of the bear \u2014 we thankfully acknowledge, “The Lord helped me!”<\/em><\/p>\n

In looking back we see that we have needed <\/em>help \u2014 and more help than any mere creature <\/em>could afford us!<\/p>\n

The daily cross,
\nthe inward conflict,
\nthe domestic troubles,
\nthe perplexities of business,
\nthe state of the church,
\nthe affairs of the world \u2014
\nhave all combined to teach us that Divine help was necessary!<\/em><\/p>\n

If God had not helped us<\/strong> . . .
\nwe would have fallen into sin,
\nwe would have disgraced our profession,
\nwe would have been crushed by our foes,
\nwe would have fainted under our trials,
\nwe would have apostatized from the faith!<\/p>\n

God alone knows what would have been the result \u2014 if we had been left to our own resources. We needed help in infancy, in youth, in manhood. We needed help in prosperity \u2014 and in adversity! We needed help in temporals \u2014 and spirituals. We found our own strength \u2014 <\/em>to be weakness, and our own wisdom \u2014 <\/em>to be folly.<\/p>\n

The feeblest of our foes \u2014 <\/em>would have been more than a match for us!<\/p>\n

The least corruption <\/em>in our hearts \u2014 would have overcome us!<\/p>\n

And we need help now \u2014 <\/em>as much as we ever did; for, unless the Lord helps us<\/em> . . .
\nour foes will yet triumph over us,
\nour crosses will yet prove to be too much for us,
\nand we shall yet faint in the day of adversity!<\/p>\n

The Lord has promised <\/em>help. He has said, “Fear not \u2014 for I am with you; be not dismayed \u2014 for I am your God! I will strengthen <\/em>you; yes, I will help <\/em>you; yes, I will uphold <\/em>you with the right hand of My righteousness!” And because His people feel <\/em>themselves to be vile, weak, and incompetent; He stoops to speak to them according to their own views of themselves and says, “Do not be afraid, O worm <\/em>Jacob, O little <\/em>Israel \u2014 for I Myself will help you! declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel!”<\/p>\n

Oh, precious promise, of a good and gracious God!
\nIt extends to all times<\/em>,
\nit embraces all circumstances<\/em>,
\nit belongs to all believers<\/em>, and
\nit ensures us triumph over all our foes!<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, the strength of Jesus has been perfected in our weakness! We have found His grace to be sufficient for us; and to the praise of His glorious grace, in reference to all our trials, troubles, and conflicts \u2014 we can truly say, “The Lord helped me!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, beloved, it is an unspeakable mercy to have God <\/em>for our helper!<\/p>\n

James Smith<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n<\/col>\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n
All trials, all temptations,
\nall strippings, all emptyings<\/strong><\/p>\n

The very trials<\/strong> and afflictions<\/strong>, and the sore
\ntemptations<\/strong> through which God’s family pass,
\nall eventually endear Christ to them.<\/p>\n

And depend upon it, if you are a child of God,
\nyou will sooner or later, in your travels through
\nthis wilderness, find your need of Jesus as “able
\nto save to the uttermost.”<\/p>\n

There will be such things in your heart, and such
\nfeelings in your mind\u2014the temptations you will
\nmeet with will be such\u2014that nothing short of a
\nSavior that is able to save to the uttermost
\ncan save you out of your desperate case and
\nfelt circumstances as utterly lost and helpless.<\/p>\n

This a great point to come to. All trials, all
\ntemptations, all strippings, all emptyings<\/strong>
\nthat do not end here are valueless\u2014because
\nthey lead the soul away from God.<\/p>\n

But the convictions, the trials, the temptations,
\nthe strippings, the emptyings, that bring us to
\nthis spot\u2014that we have nothing<\/strong>, and can do
\nnothing<\/strong>, but the Lord alone must do it all\u2014these
\nhave a blessed effect, because they eventually
\nmake Jesus very near and dear unto us. J.C.Philpot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Your present adversity<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28<\/p>\n

It is palpably clear and emphatically true, that all that occurs in the Lord’s government of His people conspires for, and works out, and results in, their highest happiness and their greatest good. The gloomiest and most painful circumstances in the history of the child of God, without a solitary exception \u2014 are all conspiring, and all working together, for his real and permanent good.<\/p>\n

The painful and inexplicable dispensations, which at the present moment may be thickening and deepening around your path, are but so many mysteries in God’s government<\/em>, which He is working out to their certain, satisfactory, and happy results. And when the good thus embosomed in the lowering cloud of some crushing providence, accomplishes its benevolent and heaven-sent mission, then trial will expand its dark pinions and fly away \u2014 and sorrow will roll up its somber drapery and disappear!<\/p>\n

All things, under the government of an infinitely great, all-wise, righteous, and beneficent Lord God, work together for good. What that good may be \u2014 the shape <\/em>it may assume \u2014 the complexion <\/em>it may wear \u2014 the end <\/em>to which it may be subservient \u2014 we cannot tell. To our dim view<\/em> it may appear an evil \u2014 but to God’s far seeing eye it is a positive good. Oh, truth most divine! Oh, words most consolatory!<\/p>\n

How many whose eye <\/em>traces this page, it may be whose tears <\/em>bedew it, whose sighs<\/em> breathe over it, whose prayers <\/em>hallow it \u2014 may be wading in deep waters, may be drinking bitter cups, and are ready to exclaim, “All these things are against <\/em>me!” Oh no, beloved of God \u2014 all these things are for <\/em>you! Do not be afraid! Christ restrains the flood upon whose heaving bosom He serenely sits. Christ controls the waters, whose sounding waves obey the mandate of His voice. Christ’s cloudy chariot is paved with love! Then, fear not! Your Father grasps the helm of your storm-tossed vessel \u2014 and through cloud and tempest, will steer it safely to the port of endless rest!<\/p>\n

Will it not be a real good, if your present adversity<\/strong> results . . .
\nin the dethronement of some worshiped idol?
\nin the endearing of Christ to your soul?
\nin the closer conformity of your mind to God’s image?
\nin the purification of your heart?
\nin your more thorough fitness for heaven?
\nin a revival of God’s work within you?
\nin stirring you up to more prayer?
\nin enlarging your heart to all that love the same Savior?
\nin stimulating you to increased activity for the conversion of sinners, for the diffusion of the truth, and for the glory of God?<\/p>\n

Oh yes! good, real good, permanent good must result from all the Divine dispensations in your history.<\/p>\n

Bitter repentance,<\/em> shall end in the experienced sweetness of Christ’s love.
\nThe festering wound,<\/em> shall but elicit the healing balm.
\nThe overpowering burden<\/em>, shall but bring you to the tranquil rest.
\nThe storm<\/em>, shall but quicken your footsteps to the Hiding Place.
\nThe bitter-cold north wind and the balmy south wind, shall breathe together over your garden \u2014 and the spices shall flow out.<\/p>\n

In a little while \u2014 oh, how soon! you shall pass away from earth to heaven, and in its clearer, serener light shall read the truth, often read with tears before, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Octavious Winslow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.\u201d Exodus 15:27 A great wilderness lay between Israel and Canaan; a vast unfriendly, harsh land that stretched out before them across which they could not survive without the presence and power […]<\/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-3451","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\/3451","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=3451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3452,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions\/3452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}