I have heard someone say that the age of the local church is past and<\/p>\n
that there is no longer any use for God-ordained Pastors. It is easy for<\/p>\n
a weed to speak this way, because it can thrive upon that which is<\/p>\n
natural, without any tending, but the flower of God\u2019s planting is not<\/p>\n
so. It is what it is because of the continual attention and masterful<\/p>\n
touch of the Husbandman.<\/p>\n
The Master Gardener takes great care to continually water, prune,<\/p>\n
protect, defend from parasites and walk among His garden. He uses the<\/p>\n
same means He always has in order to accomplish this: Ephesians 4:11 And<\/p>\n
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and<\/p>\n
some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the<\/p>\n
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we<\/p>\n
all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of<\/p>\n
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness<\/p>\n
of Christ.<\/p>\n
Since God gave gifts unto men, and men as gifts in order to accomplish<\/p>\n
these spiritual things, are we expected to believe that He no longer<\/p>\n
desires to bring His people to maturity, unity and greater knowledge in<\/p>\n
Christ, or that He has found a better way to do it that He has not<\/p>\n
revealed in His Book? The language of the goat is absurd to the sheep.<\/p>\n
The goat may wander and scrounge and eat whatever scrap lay in their<\/p>\n
path, but the great Shepherd tenderly loves His sheep, and so He still<\/p>\n
says to His men, in the timeless language of His glorious word, \u201cIf you<\/p>\n
love Me, feed my sheep.\u201d Chris Cunningham.<\/p>\n
Doing And Teaching<\/p>\n
Matthew 5: 19:\u2026But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be<\/p>\n
called great in the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n
Only the believer understands how holy, just and good the law of God is;<\/p>\n
only the believer establishes the law through faith in Christ; only the<\/p>\n
believer has a God-wrought desire to honor the law in all areas of his<\/p>\n
life. God’s true ambassadors are the only ones who truly teach others<\/p>\n
the necessity of perfect obedience which no sinner can do which required<\/p>\n
God’s Son living and dying as the Representative and Substitute of those<\/p>\n
given him before the foundation of the world.<\/p>\n
When God gave the law to Moses, God knew when he said “this do and live”<\/p>\n
that not a sinner in time would ever do his law. But God was not unjust<\/p>\n
in saying it. The weakness was in us, not in the law. So it is in this<\/p>\n
verse when our Lord says, “whosoever shall do and teach shall be called<\/p>\n
great in the kingdom of heaven.” It is not that there is a sinner, who<\/p>\n
himself, can do the law. But we “do the law” by trusting Christ who did<\/p>\n
it for us. We teach by declaring to others the demands of holy law, that<\/p>\n
others might trust Christ as well. When the Spirit of God makes a sinner<\/p>\n
to behold the spirituality of the law, that it condemns even the<\/p>\n
thoughts and intents of the heart, that it must be upheld in absolute<\/p>\n
perfection, then the sinner is brought to cast all their care on Christ.<\/p>\n
This is what we do and what we teach.<\/p>\n
We teach that by faith in Christ the believer is dead to the law and<\/p>\n
married to Christ. The believer walks in newness of life under the law<\/p>\n
of, the rule of, Christ, not the oldness of the letter of the law of<\/p>\n
Moses. The law is not dead our old carnal man is dead. In our new<\/p>\n
resurrected nature we are married–ONE–with Christ. Therefore the fruit<\/p>\n
we bring forth is of Christ’s production. Through the Spirit of God in<\/p>\n
us, through the doing and dying of our Savior, the righteousness of the<\/p>\n
law is fulfilled in us and all our works are accepted of God.<\/p>\n
Therefore, believers no longer use the law of Moses to bind, drive or<\/p>\n
motivate but now use the law for the purpose in which Christ gave it, to<\/p>\n
give the knowledge of sin to those who think they have acceptance with<\/p>\n
God by their works of law-obedience<\/p>\n
Clay Curtis.<\/p>\n
When He is Nothing<\/p>\n
For if any man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he<\/p>\n
deceiveth himself- Galatians 6:3<\/p>\n
If we can learn that we are NOTHING, then we have learned something. But<\/p>\n
if we think we are something, then we have learned nothing. Scripture<\/p>\n
says so. Scripture says if we think ourselves to be something when (we)<\/p>\n
are nothing we are deceived. In other words, we are not special, unique,<\/p>\n
invaluable nor irreplaceable (in spite of what our mothers may think.)<\/p>\n
Each of us is just one sinful human being among billions of others just<\/p>\n
like us. We are born sinful, rebellious, ignorant and totally dependent<\/p>\n
upon the grace and mercy of God to teach us, change us, and give us any<\/p>\n
value or worth in this life. Apart from God’s revealing, teaching grace<\/p>\n
we know nothing. Apart from God’s constraining grace we can do nothing.<\/p>\n
Apart from God’s keeping grace we will amount to nothing.<\/p>\n
Matthew Henry once said, “Since God made everything out of nothing, if<\/p>\n
he is going to use us, we are going to have to be nothing. God made<\/p>\n
everything from nothing, that way he gets all the glory. There were no<\/p>\n
natural materials to work with, no means to use which could share in His<\/p>\n
creative glory. He simply spoke everything into existence. So it is in<\/p>\n
salvation. God finds nothing in the sinner to work with. No faith, no<\/p>\n
knowledge, no mind or heart to seek Him, so He simply must speak (by His<\/p>\n
Word) our salvation into existence. He must simply (yet powerfully)<\/p>\n
command us to hear, see, repent, come, LIVE! God gets all the glory!<\/p>\n
There was nothing to work with and no one helped Him in the work of our<\/p>\n
salvation. If any think they made a decision, let God into their heart,<\/p>\n
made Jesus lord, accepted him as savior, that person DECEIVETH HIMSELF.<\/p>\n
One more time, For by GRACE ARE YE SAVED through faith; and that NOT OF<\/p>\n
YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD. (Ephesians 2:8)<\/p>\n
Paul Mahan.<\/p>\n
When Paul sent a rod to the church at Corinth, it was not in a<\/p>\n
self-exulting, self-righteous spirit, but “out of much affliction and<\/p>\n
anguish of heart, with many tears,” and when his reproofs were blessed<\/p>\n
to their repentance, he was “filled with comfort, and was exceeding<\/p>\n
joyful in all his tribulation.” (2 Cor. 2:4; 7:4.) What an example of<\/p>\n
the highest faithfulness blended with the tenderest affection! He is<\/p>\n
slow to wound and swift to heal; last with the rod and first with the<\/p>\n
kiss; angry with the sin, but tender over the sinner\u2013 jealous for the<\/p>\n
Lord’s glory, but mindful of his grace; careful for the purity and<\/p>\n
profit of the flock, but yearning to bring back the wandering sheep.<\/p>\n
Were pastors Pauls, and churches epistles of Christ, there would be<\/p>\n
fewer divisions, and those sooner healed. But when an unyielding,<\/p>\n
unforgiving spirit is manifested on either side, when churches cannot<\/p>\n
bear with the infirmities of their minister, and ministers will not give<\/p>\n
way where they are evidently in fault, a smoldering volcano lies under<\/p>\n
pulpit and pew which will one day burst forth into unquenchable flame,<\/p>\n
in this life. “If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be<\/p>\n
not consumed one of another.”<\/p>\n
We may be certain that the precepts of the New Testament for mutual love<\/p>\n
and forgiveness cannot be slighted and neglected with impunity. Our<\/p>\n
stubborn temper and unforgiving spirit may refuse to listen to the word<\/p>\n
of God, but we cannot, except to our own cost, set aside Scripture<\/p>\n
precepts and Scripture practice because our corrupt nature withstands<\/p>\n
them. God’s ways may not please our carnal mind, but he will not alter<\/p>\n
them for that reason. If we walk contrary to him he will walk contrary<\/p>\n
to us, and if we are disobedient we shall reap its bitter fruits. If sin<\/p>\n
be at one end of the chain, sorrow will surely be at the other. If we<\/p>\n
sow to the flesh, we shall most certainly of the flesh reap corruption;<\/p>\n
but if we sow to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.<\/p>\n
But what we chiefly need, and that to which our prayers and desires<\/p>\n
should be directed, is the pouring out of the Spirit upon pastors and<\/p>\n
churches, and the whole church of God. No other means will avail. For<\/p>\n
lack of this we are continually in extremes. We see this in the ministry<\/p>\n
of the present day, for the ministry is but a reflection of the times.<\/p>\n
Some are all for doctrine. Doctrine, doctrine, doctrine, and all in the<\/p>\n
hardest, driest form, is their unvaried staple. Most sweet and precious<\/p>\n
are the doctrines of the gospel when distilled into the soul by the Holy<\/p>\n
Spirit; but delivered in a cold systematic way as a mere creed, they are<\/p>\n
made a substitute for vital godliness, and thus become a curse instead<\/p>\n
of a blessing. Others, seeing the neglect in our day of practical<\/p>\n
religion, urge the precept continually, but in a spirit so legal, and<\/p>\n
with a temper so harsh, that grace seems almost thrust out of sight, and<\/p>\n
the poor hearers are ever filled with bondage and slavish fear. And<\/p>\n
others, who preach experience, dwell so much on the workings of sin as<\/p>\n
almost to omit the workings of grace, and, pointing out the malady,<\/p>\n
almost forget to dwell on the remedy.<\/p>\n
But all these, and innumerable other evils under which Zion now labors,<\/p>\n
can only be remedied by the pouring out of the Spirit from on high. From<\/p>\n
Him alone comes a true sight of sin, repentance for it, confession of<\/p>\n
it, and turning from it. Then will Zion repent and abhor herself in dust<\/p>\n
and ashes; then will confession flow forth to God and the brethren; then<\/p>\n
will love and union be revived between ministers and churches; and then<\/p>\n
will the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep their hearts<\/p>\n
and minds through Christ Jesus. Until that happy time arrive, our wisdom<\/p>\n
and mercy will be to avoid strife and contention.<\/p>\n
A sight and sense of the evils in ourselves and others should teach us<\/p>\n
mutual forbearance. We are all in the hospital, and shall we quarrel<\/p>\n
with our fellow-patients? Should we not rather sympathize with each<\/p>\n
other’s complaints, and be looking out for the arrival of the Physician<\/p>\n
who alone can cure each and all? On this common ground, even in the<\/p>\n
present dark and gloomy day, all the living family may meet. But if we<\/p>\n
cannot keep out of contention, and desire a matter of strife with the<\/p>\n
brethren, let this be our ground of dispute. Who is the greater sinner;<\/p>\n
who owes most to the Savior; who shall live most to his glory.<\/p>\n
J.C.Philpot (1853).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have heard someone say that the age of the local church is past and that there is no longer any use for God-ordained Pastors. It is easy for a weed to speak this way, because it can thrive upon that which is natural, without any tending, but the flower of God\u2019s planting is not […]<\/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-4108","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\/4108","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=4108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4109,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions\/4109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}