WHEN THE LORD SPEAKS<\/p>\n
Acts 2:37<\/p>\n
When the Holy Spirit pricks a sinner in the heart, beginning in<\/p>\n
regeneration and throughout the life of the believer, we cease to hear<\/p>\n
the words of a man. We hear the words of our Lord himself. That is what<\/p>\n
happened on the day of Pentecost. An earthen vessel was speaking, but<\/p>\n
whose word was being preached? It was a sinner preaching but whose<\/p>\n
Spirit sent forth the Word? Who did they hear? They heard what the<\/p>\n
apostles heard, the Lord Jesus Christ say, “Follow me.” Sinners always<\/p>\n
obey his voice.<\/p>\n
Clay Curtis.<\/p>\n
One of the prevailing errors of our day is that your heart can be right,<\/p>\n
even though your head is wrong. Or, you can believe in your heart what<\/p>\n
you do not believe in your head. This thinking is used for so many<\/p>\n
different reasons. But the naked truth about this is that it is man’s<\/p>\n
attempt to excuse his own refusal to bow to what God says in His Word.<\/p>\n
“My heart can be right, even if my head is wrong.” You cannot believe in<\/p>\n
your heart what you do not believe in your head any more than you can<\/p>\n
come back from a place you have never been. Remember, unbelief and false<\/p>\n
doctrine are not intellectual problems. They are born from sin and<\/p>\n
rebellion.<\/p>\n
Todd Nibert<\/p>\n
The heart and the mouth<\/p>\n
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and<\/p>\n
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.<\/p>\n
The faith itself is not righteousness, but it is UNTO righteousness<\/p>\n
because it connects us to Christ, Who is our righteousness. Salvation is<\/p>\n
an eternal act of God\u2019s will in its origin and it is a powerful work of<\/p>\n
God on the heart of a sinner, in its application. With the heart man<\/p>\n
believeth. Not with the heart of flesh, for the flesh profiteth nothing<\/p>\n
(John 6:63). But that new heart that God promised He would give His<\/p>\n
people. The new man is the one who believes, not the old. The one<\/p>\n
created in Christ Jesus unto good works.<\/p>\n
And then, what happens in the heart is expressed by the mouth. The<\/p>\n
Psalmist exhorted in Psalm 107:2, Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so].<\/p>\n
And we do and shall. The Lord instructed the man, out of whom He had<\/p>\n
cast the legion of devils, \u201cGo home to thy friends, and tell them how<\/p>\n
great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on<\/p>\n
thee.\u201d And we do and shall.<\/p>\n
Confession includes everything that is believed. It is owning our sin as<\/p>\n
Job did when he said, \u201cbehold, I am vile!\u201d It is acknowledging our<\/p>\n
helplessness as Peter did, when he cried, \u201cLord, save me!\u201d It is<\/p>\n
declaring His sufficiency as the leper did who begged, \u201cLord, if you<\/p>\n
will, you can make me clean.\u201d It is proclaiming the power of His blood,<\/p>\n
like the publican who prayed, \u201cGod, be propitious to me, the sinner.\u201d It<\/p>\n
is bowing to His sovereignty as the thief who said, \u201cLord, remember me,<\/p>\n
when you come into your kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Cunningham<\/p>\n
Circumcision of the Heart<\/p>\n
Tommy Robbins<\/p>\n
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and<\/p>\n
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Php 3:3<\/p>\n
Circumcision was the distinguishing mark of the Jewish nation. It was a<\/p>\n
physical reminder of God\u2019s covenant with Abraham. It had a spiritual<\/p>\n
meaning as well. It signified purification of the heart, inward<\/p>\n
circumcision effected by the Spirit of the Living God. Although Paul was<\/p>\n
a Jew, he was making reference to the latter. This inward circumcision<\/p>\n
of the heart has at least three characteristics which distinguishes the<\/p>\n
\u201cHoly Nation\u201d of God from all others, even the earthly Jewish nation.<\/p>\n
The first thing we see is that only the true, Spiritual circumcision<\/p>\n
worship the true and living God. All others worship false gods. Only<\/p>\n
those whom God has given Spiritual life in His Son in regeneration<\/p>\n
worship Him. And they all worship Him in spirit and in truth.<\/p>\n
Secondly, we see that Spiritual Israel rejoices in Christ Jesus. The<\/p>\n
true child of God joys in Christ and salvation in Him – \u201cWhom having not<\/p>\n
seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye<\/p>\n
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory\u201d 1Peter 1:8. Worshipping<\/p>\n
God and rejoicing in Christ Jesus is truly a heart work gendered by the<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit of God. It is not a ceremonial or physical effort.<\/p>\n
Thirdly, we see that those who worship God in Spirit and rejoice in<\/p>\n
Christ Jesus have no confidence in the flesh. The flesh is the natural<\/p>\n
man – our self. To have confidence in self as pertaining to salvation in<\/p>\n
any respect is to have no confidence in Christ. The true circumcision<\/p>\n
looks to Christ alone by God given faith in regeneration. We look upon<\/p>\n
the flesh as vile, deplorable, wretched and miserable. The flesh is not<\/p>\n
to be trusted – \u201cThe heart (the natural man) is deceitful above all<\/p>\n
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?\u201d Jeremiah 17:9. These<\/p>\n
three characteristics are the undeniable marks of a true child of God.<\/p>\n
We worship God in Spirit and in truth, and rejoice and have confidence<\/p>\n
in Jesus Christ alone.<\/p>\n
Born Again<\/p>\n
I cannot recall the exact words, but John Owen once said something like<\/p>\n
this: \u2018The two greatest soul damning delusions in the world are: (1) Men<\/p>\n
and women think they can be in the kingdom of God and go to God\u2019s heaven<\/p>\n
without being born again; (2) Men and women that think they can be born<\/p>\n
again and not be new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ.\u2019<\/p>\n
This, sad to say, describes the majority of Baptists in our day. They<\/p>\n
teach (and practice!) that sinners may enter the kingdom of God through<\/p>\n
a simple change of mind, giving mental assent to a few chosen verses of<\/p>\n
Scripture, and\/or repeating some form of a so-called sinner\u2019s prayer.<\/p>\n
But the Scripture is plain and clear, \u201cYou must be born again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Furthermore, they teach that once the sinner has gone through this<\/p>\n
ritual of decision making, then he or she is certain for heaven, though<\/p>\n
they show no interest in God, His Word, His gospel, His glory, or His<\/p>\n
people. But the Scriptures are plain and clear, \u201cIf any man be in<\/p>\n
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold; all<\/p>\n
things are become new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Precious soul, if the faith you have has not caused you to think<\/p>\n
differently, love differently and live differently than you did before<\/p>\n
you possessed it, then the sooner you get rid of it the better. God\u2019s<\/p>\n
people are born again, born of the Spirit of God, created in<\/p>\n
righteousness and true holiness. That precious faith which God gives to<\/p>\n
His elect is a \u201cworking faith,\u201d a faith which \u201cworks by love\u201d (Galatians<\/p>\n
5:6; I Thessalonians 1:2-10).<\/p>\n
Maurice Montgomery<\/p>\n
All Spiritual Blessings<\/p>\n
“Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath<\/p>\n
blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in heavenly places IN CHRIST.”<\/p>\n
Eph. 1:3<\/p>\n
The Holy Spirit uses this phrase over and over again – IN CHRIST. The<\/p>\n
whole of the word of God is to reveal to us the Lord Jesus and his<\/p>\n
accomplished salvation. The whole of God’s word is to teach us what we<\/p>\n
have IN CHRIST.<\/p>\n
When Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Come unto me, and you shall find rest<\/p>\n
for your souls” He is telling us there is no other place, other than in<\/p>\n
Him, to find rest for our soul – rest from the guilt and power of sin.<\/p>\n
When Christ said, “Come unto me”, He didn’t say come to a particular<\/p>\n
position on doctrine, come to election, or come to imputed<\/p>\n
righteousness. He didn’t say come to total depravity, or to God’s<\/p>\n
Sovereignty. He told sinners to COME UNTO ME! Why? Because when a sinner<\/p>\n
comes to Christ they receive all that he did in his work, all that he is<\/p>\n
in His person. We were chosen in HIM, and accepted in HIM. Redemption is<\/p>\n
through HIS blood, we obtained an inheritance in HIM, and we were<\/p>\n
quickened together with HIM, raised up to sit together in heavenly<\/p>\n
places in HIM. The long and the short of it beloved is that if we have<\/p>\n
Christ we have ALL WE NEED, and we have it where it counts, before God<\/p>\n
Almighty who demands perfection. Blessed be his name for he has provided<\/p>\n
us perfection IN CHRIST. “And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head<\/p>\n
of all principality and power”.<\/p>\n
We need righteousness – Christ is our righteousness. We need wisdom –<\/p>\n
Christ is our wisdom. We need sanctification – Christ is our<\/p>\n
sanctification. We need redemption and Christ is our redemption. God<\/p>\n
made Him so unto us (1Cor. 1:30).<\/p>\n
Christ said: COME UNTO ME, in coming to Him you will have all that is IN<\/p>\n
HIM and you will spend the rest of your life learning about all you have<\/p>\n
IN HIM!<\/p>\n
Don Bell<\/p>\n
THE mere presentation of truth to the unrenewed mind, either in the form<\/p>\n
of threatening, or promise, or motive, can never produce any saving or<\/p>\n
sanctifying effect. The soul of man, in its unrenewed state, is<\/p>\n
represented as spiritually dead; insensible to all holy, spiritual<\/p>\n
motion. Now, upon such a mind what impression is to be produced by the<\/p>\n
mere holding up of truth before its eye? What life, what emotion, what<\/p>\n
effect will be accomplished? As well might we spread out the pictured<\/p>\n
canvas before the glazed eye of a corpse, and expect that by the beauty<\/p>\n
of the design, the brilliancy of the coloring, and the genius of the<\/p>\n
execution, we would animate the body with life, heave the bosom with<\/p>\n
emotion, and cause the eye to swim with delight, as to look for similar<\/p>\n
moral effects to result from the mere holding up to view divine truth<\/p>\n
before a carnal mind, “dead in trespasses and sins.” And yet there are<\/p>\n
those who maintain the doctrine, that divine truth, unaccompanied by any<\/p>\n
extraneous power, can effect all these wonders! Against such a theory we<\/p>\n
would simply place one passage from the sacred word: “Except a man be<\/p>\n
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The sacred word, inspired<\/p>\n
though it be, is but a dead letter, unclothed with the life-giving power<\/p>\n
of the Holy Spirit. Awful as are the truths it unfolds, solemn as are<\/p>\n
the revelations it discloses, touching as are the scenes it portrays,<\/p>\n
and persuasive as are the motives it supplies, yet, when left to its own<\/p>\n
unaided operation, divine truth is utterly impotent to the production of<\/p>\n
spiritual life, love, and holiness in the soul of man. Its influence<\/p>\n
must necessarily be passive, possessing, as it does, no actual power of<\/p>\n
its own, and depending upon a divine influence extraneous from itself,<\/p>\n
to render its teaching efficacious. The three thousand who were<\/p>\n
converted on the day of Pentecost were doubtless awakened under one<\/p>\n
sermon, and some would declare it was the power of the truth which<\/p>\n
wrought those wonders of grace. With this we perfectly agree, only<\/p>\n
adding, that it was truth in the mighty hand of God which pricked them<\/p>\n
in the heart, and wrung from them the cry, “Men and brethren, what shall<\/p>\n
we do?” The Eternal Spirit was the efficient cause, and the preached<\/p>\n
truth but the instrument employed to produce the effect; but for His<\/p>\n
accompanying and effectual power, they would, as multitudes do now, have<\/p>\n
turned their backs upon the sermon of Peter, though it was full of<\/p>\n
Christ crucified, deriding the truth, and rejecting the Savior of whom<\/p>\n
it spoke. But it pleased God, in the sovereignty of His will, to call<\/p>\n
them by His grace, and this He did by the effectual, omnipotent power of<\/p>\n
the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of a preached gospel.<\/p>\n
Octavius Winslow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHEN THE LORD SPEAKS Acts 2:37 When the Holy Spirit pricks a sinner in the heart, beginning in regeneration and throughout the life of the believer, we cease to hear the words of a man. We hear the words of our Lord himself. That is what happened on the day of Pentecost. An earthen vessel […]<\/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-4250","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\/4250","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=4250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4251,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4250\/revisions\/4251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}