{"id":462,"date":"2011-01-02T14:33:30","date_gmt":"2011-01-02T14:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=462"},"modified":"2011-01-02T14:33:59","modified_gmt":"2011-01-02T14:33:59","slug":"bulletin-articles-issue-52-january-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=462","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Articles Issue #52 January 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

And we know that God causes everything to work
\ntogether for the good of those who love God and
\nare called according to His purpose for them.”
\nRomans 8:28<\/strong><\/p>\n

(adapted from Octavius Winslow’s, “All Things Working for Good”)<\/p>\n

It is palpably clear and emphatically true that all
\nthat occurs in the Lord’s government of His people
\nconspires for, and works out, and results in, their
\nhighest happiness, their greatest good.<\/p>\n

The gloomiest and most painful circumstances in
\nthe history of the child of God, without a solitary
\nexception, are all conspiring, and all working
\ntogether, for his real and permanent good.<\/p>\n

The painful and inexplicable dispensations, which
\nat the present moment may be thickening and
\ndeepening around your path, are but so many
\nproblems in God’s government, which He is working
\nout to their certain, satisfactory, and happy results.<\/p>\n

And when the good thus embosomed in the lowering
\ncloud of some crushing providence, accomplishes its
\nbenevolent and heaven sent mission, then trial will
\nexpand its dark pinions and fly away; and sorrow will
\nroll up its somber drapery and disappear.<\/p>\n

All things under the government of an infinitely great,
\nall wise, righteous, and beneficent Lord God, work together
\nfor good. What that good may be, the shape it may assume,
\nthe complexion it may wear, the end to which it may be
\nsubservient, we cannot tell. To our dim view it may appear<\/strong>
\nan evil<\/strong>, but to God’s far seeing eye it is a positive good.<\/p>\n

Oh, truth most divine!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, words most consolatory!<\/strong><\/p>\n

How many whose eye traces this page, it may be whose
\ntears bedew it, whose sighs breathe over it, whose prayers
\nhallow it, may be wading in deep waters, may be drinking
\nbitter cups, and are ready to exclaim: “All these things
\nare against<\/strong> me!”<\/p>\n

Oh no, beloved of God, all these things are for<\/strong> you!<\/p>\n

Do not be afraid!<\/p>\n

Christ restrains the flood upon whose heaving bosom
\nHe serenely sits. Christ controls the waters, whose
\nsounding waves obey the mandate of his voice.<\/p>\n

Christ’s cloudy chariot is paved with love!<\/p>\n

Then, fear not!<\/p>\n

Your Father grasps the helm of your storm tossed
\nbark, and through cloud and tempest will steer it
\nsafely to the port of endless rest.<\/p>\n

Will it not be a good, if your present adversity results in…
\nthe 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?<\/p>\n

Will it not be a real good if it terminate…
\nin a revival of God’s work within you;<\/p>\n

in stirring you up to more prayer;
\nin enlarging your heart to all that love the same Savior;
\nin stimulating you to increased activity…
\nfor the conversion of sinners,
\nfor the diffusion of the truth,
\nand for the glory of God?<\/p>\n

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

Bitter repentance shall end in the experienced sweetness of Christ’s love.<\/p>\n

The festering wound shall but elicit the healing balm.<\/p>\n

The overpowering burden shall but bring you to the tranquil rest.<\/p>\n

The storm shall but quicken your footsteps to the Hiding place.<\/p>\n

The north wind and the south wind shall breathe together
\nover your garden, and the spices shall flow out.<\/p>\n

In a little while; oh, how soon! you shall pass away
\nfrom earth to heaven, and in its clearer, serener light
\nshall read the truth, often read with tears before,
\n“And we know that God causes everything to work
\ntogether for the good of those who love God and
\nare called according to His purpose for them.”<\/p>\n

PROVIDENTIAL OVERRULING<\/strong><\/p>\n

“All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” \u2014Romans 8:28
\nMy soul! Be still! You are in the hands of your Covenant God. Were all the strange circumstances in your history the result of accident, or chance, you might well be overwhelmed. But “all things,” and this thing (be what it may) which may be now disquieting you, is one of these “all things” that are so working mysteriously for your good. Trust your God! He will not deceive you\u2014your interests are with Him in safe custody. When sight says, “All these things are against me,” let faith rebuke the hasty conclusion, and say, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” How often does God hedge up your way with thorns, to elicit simple trust! How seldom can we see all things so working for our good! But it is better discipline to believe it. Oh! for faith amid frowning providences, to say, “I know that your judgments are good;” and, relying in the dark, to exclaim, “Though He slays me, yet will I trust Him!”
\nBlessed Jesus! to You are committed the reins of this universal empire. The same hand that was once nailed to the cross, is now wielding the scepter on the throne\u2014”all power in heaven and in earth is given unto you.” How can I doubt the wisdom, and the faithfulness, and love, of the most mysterious earthly dealing, when I know that the Roll of Providence is thus in the hands of Him who has given the mightiest pledge Omnipotence could give of His tender interest in my soul’s well-being, by giving Himself for me?
\nby John MacDuff, 1849<\/p>\n

“God is the Lord, who has showed us light.”<\/em> Psalm 118:27<\/p>\n

The Psalmist was clearly possessed of light, for he says, “God is the Lord, who has showed us light.” He was evidently, then, possessed of light; and this light was in him as “the light of life.” This light had shone into his heart; the rays and beams of divine truth had penetrated into his conscience. He carried about with him a light which had come from God; in this light he saw light, and in this light he discerned everything which the light manifested. Thus by this internal light he knew what was good and what was evil, what was sweet and what was bitter, what was true and what was false, what was spiritual and what was natural.<\/p>\n

He did not say, This light came from creature exertion, this light was the produce of my own wisdom, this light was nature transmuted by some action of my own will, and thus gradually rose into existence from long and assiduous cultivation. But he ascribes the whole of that light which he possessed unto God the Lord, as the sole Author and the only Giver of it. Now, if God the Lord has ever showed you and me the same light which he showed his servant of old, we carry about with us more or less a solemn conviction that we have received this light from him.<\/p>\n

There will, indeed, be many clouds of darkness to cover it; there will often be doubts and fears, hovering like mists and fogs over our souls, whether the light which we have received be from God or not. But in solemn moments when the Lord is pleased a little to revive his work, at times and seasons when he condescends to draw forth the affections of our hearts unto himself, to bring us into his presence, to hide us in some measure in the hollow of his hand, and give us access unto himself; at such moments and seasons we carry about with us, in spite of all our unbelief, in spite of all the suggestions of the enemy, in spite of all doubts, fears, and suspicions that rise from the depths of the carnal mind, in spite of all these counter-workings and underminings, we carry about with us at these times a solemn conviction that we have light, and that this light we have received from God. And why so? Because we can look back to a time when we walked in no such light, when we felt no such light, when everything spiritual and heavenly was dark to us, and we were dark to them.<\/p>\n

J.C. Philpot 1893<\/p>\n

Isaiah 50:4\u00a0(King James Version)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.<\/p>\n

Believest thou this!<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Ask, and it shall be given you.” Matthew 7:7<\/p>\n

We know of a place in England still existing, where a dole of bread is served to every passerby who chooses to ask for it. Whoever the traveler may be, he has but to knock at the door of St. Cross Hospital<\/em>, and there is the dole of bread for him. Jesus Christ so loves sinners that He has built a St. Cross Hospital<\/em>, so that whenever a sinner is hungry, he has but to knock and have his needs supplied.<\/p>\n

Nay, He has done better; He has attached to this Hospital of the Cross\u2014a bath. Whenever a soul is black and filthy, it has but to go there and be washed. The fountain is always full, always effectual. No sinner ever went into it and found that it could not wash away his stains. Sins which were scarlet and crimson\u2014have all disappeared, and the sinner has been whiter than snow!<\/p>\n

As if this were not enough, there is attached to this Hospital of the Cross\u2014a wardrobe, and a sinner making application simply as a sinner, may be clothed from head to foot! And if he wishes to be a soldier, he may not merely have a garment for ordinary wear\u2014but armor which shall cover him from the sole of his foot\u2014to the crown of his head. If he asks for a sword, he shall have that given to him, and a shield too. Nothing that is good for him shall be denied him. He shall have spending-money so long as he lives, and he shall have an eternal heritage of glorious treasure when he enters into the joy of his Lord.<\/p>\n

If all these things are to be had by merely knocking at mercy’s door<\/em>, O my soul, knock hard this morning, and ask great things from your generous Lord. Do not leave the throne of grace until all your needs have been spread before the Lord, and until by faith you have a comfortable prospect that they shall be all supplied. No bashfulness <\/em>need retard when Jesus invites. No unbelief <\/em>should hinder when Jesus promises. No cold-heartedness <\/em>should restrain when such blessings are to be obtained!<\/p>\n

Charles Spurgeon<\/p>\n

WHAT it is for Christ to manifest Himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christ manifests Himself\u2014when He makes a clearer revelation unto His disciples of the excellency of His person; when He further unveils Himself and lets forth some beams and rays with greater luster and brightness, to reveal more of the radiance and transcendence of His soul-ravishing beauty unto them, of which they had but a dimmer light and darker apprehensions before. And this is done when Christ more fully imparts the Spirit of wisdom and revelation unto them. Upon this account, the Apostle prayed on behalf of the believing Ephesians that the Lord would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to enlighten their understandings in the knowledge of Him, Ephesians 1:16-18. They had the Spirit and some knowledge of Christ before\u2014but he prays that God would give them a fuller measure <\/em>of the Spirit to make a clearer discovery <\/em>of Christ\u2014that the eyes of their understandings might be more and more enlightened unto a more spiritual discerning of the surpassing beauty and excellency in Christ’s person, in the knowledge of whom the most enlightened Christians are capable of further growth unto the end of their life. Hence that exhortation of the Apostle Peter, 2 Peter 3:18, “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”<\/p>\n

Christ manifests Himself when He makes a deep impression and gives a sweet sense to His disciples, of His presence. Christ is never really absent from those who love Him\u2014but He may seem <\/em>to be so sometimes. They may apprehend Him to be afar off. He may, and often does, withdraw the sense <\/em>of His presence, Song of Solomon 5:6, “I opened to my beloved\u2014but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone!” Christ manifests Himself when He draws near to His people, and makes them feel that He is near; giving them a sweet sense of His presence through the powerful breathings of His Spirit upon them, whereby their hearts are quickened, enlarged, and drawn forth towards Himself, and their graces excited unto powerful exercise.<\/p>\n

And, chiefly, Christ manifests Himself when He makes revelation of His love unto those who love Him; when He gives them to see not only the beauty <\/em>of His face\u2014but also the smiles <\/em>of His face; when He gives them to behold the amiableness of His countenance; when He sheds abroad the sense of His love into their hearts, giving them a full persuasion of His special love unto them, and also a sweet sense thereof.<\/p>\n

Thus Christ sometimes looks and speaks kindly unto His people; and this sweet language is not spoken to the bodily ear\u2014but inwardly by His Spirit to their souls when He says to the soul, “I am your salvation and your Savior! I have loved you with an everlasting love, and My love is unchangeable. The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed\u2014but My loving-kindness shall never depart and be removed from you. I have given Myself for <\/em>you, and I have given Myself to <\/em>you, and I will never repent of this gift. I have chosen you for Myself, called and joined you unto Myself, and I will never repent of this choice, nor allow you to be disjointed from Me forever. I have you upon My heart and keep you in My hand\u2014and no powers of earth or hell shall be able to pluck you from there! I have given you My grace, and I will show you My glory! Before long, I will appear in the world and receive you to Myself that, where I am, there you may be also. Dry up, then, your tears! Clear up your countenance, banish your fears, droop no longer, despond no more\u2014but be of good cheer! Your sins are forgiven! Your name is written in My book, which none can blot out. You have a true love for Me, and My Father Himself loves you, and I love you with a most endeared love, and therefore, do not question or doubt My love any more!”<\/p>\n

(Extract from) Christ\u2019s manifestation of Himself unto those who love Him<\/p>\n

By Thomas Vincent (1634-1678)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowing The Secrets of God <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026..and Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace\u201d. (Genesis 41:16)<\/p>\n

God\u2019s will and purpose shall be known by the sons and daughters of Adams race, but how and by whom shall God reveal such wonders of his grace and mercy? Joseph was the only<\/em><\/strong> one in the kingdom that understood and then revealed the perfect will of God to this sinful man. Our blessed and sovereign Redeemer is the only<\/em><\/strong> one that reveals and opens our hearts and minds to the will and purpose of the God of all glory.<\/p>\n

To know or be known of God is our basic and most urgent necessity and only in the person and by the worth of Jesus of Nazareth can we know our great God. We are totally without sight (spiritual) in the things of God; we are totally without understanding in the truth of God; and we are totally without grace apart from the workings of Christ revealing and creating life within us.<\/p>\n

God, through Joseph revealed his truth to the king and showed him those things \u2018which must shortly come to pass.\u2019 God in like manner, through that most blest Son of Righteousness, shows unto his chosen bride, those things which we must have and possess whereby we are made \u2018accepted in the Beloved\u2019. I often hear people talk about coming or learning of \u2018god\u2019 by their own efforts or by some other way than that<\/em><\/strong> way<\/em><\/strong> purposed and prescribed by Jehovah and this I know can never be so.<\/p>\n

God will not be known apart from His Son and those to whom he reveals <\/em>himself by the blood of Jesus Christ . . . that great Revealer<\/em><\/strong> of the secrets of God.<\/p>\n

Drew Dietz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 (adapted from Octavius Winslow’s, “All Things Working for Good”) It is palpably clear and emphatically true that all that occurs in the Lord’s government of His […]<\/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-462","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\/462","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=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}