There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:18)
\nCommenting upon this verse J.C. Philpot said,
\nThose who have every reason to fear as to their eternal state before
\nGod, have for the most part, no fear at all. They are secure, and free
\nfrom doubt and fear.
\nThe depths of human hypocrisy, the dreadful lengths to which profession
\nmay go, the deceit of the carnal heart, the snares spread for the unwary
\nfeet, the fearful danger of being deceived at the last; these traps and
\npitfalls are not objects of anxiety to those dead in sin.
\nAs long as they can pacify natural conscience, and do something to
\nsoothe any transient conviction\u2014they are glad to be deceived!
\nGod does not see fit to disturb their quiet. He has no purpose of mercy
\ntowards them; they are not subjects of His kingdom; they are not objects
\nof His love.
\nHe therefore leaves them carnally secure, as in a dream\u2014from which they
\nwill not awake until the day of judgment.
\nFriend, is not this a terrible condition; to be left alone by God with
\nno thought of eternal destiny, no concern for your never-dying soul? How
\nmany slip into eternity with no substantial hope in this world and none
\nfor the world to come? Such is the spiritual ignorance of natural man,
\nthe blindness of the flesh.
\nHow blessed we are if the Lord is merciful to stir up our spirit, shake
\nour ignorant peace, arouse lethargic carelessness, pierce our heart with
\nwell-aimed arrows and convict us of our sin. Blessed, I say, even if we
\nfail at first to recognise His grace, even when the flesh resists and
\nrecoils against it, as it surely will.
\nThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom says the Psalmist. Holy
\nFather, send thy convicting Spirit. Rouse the sleeper! Show me my need
\nfor Christ! Then show me my Saviour, and the glorious accomplishments of
\nHis perfect love.
\nPeter Meney, \u201cNew Focus http:\/\/go-newfocus.co.uk\u201d<\/p>\n
Salvation; A Heart-Work
\n\u201cAnd I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they
\nshall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto
\nme with their whole heart\u201d Jer 24:7.
\nNo one by natural birth has a heart for the true and living God. One may
\nbe religious and even come into agreement, superficially, with Biblical
\ndoctrine, yet never embrace and love Christ and his gospel. Those that
\nhave no heart for Christ take great comfort and assurance in WHAT they
\nknow – \u201cHe answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of
\nyou hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their
\nlips, but their heart is far from me\u201d Mark 7:6, while those that love
\nChrist find their only comfort and hope in HIM who has given them a
\nheart to know him – \u201cI know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
\nhe is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
\nday\u201d 2 Timothy 1:12.<\/p>\n
In order for any one, with love and desire, to embrace and commit
\nthemselves, and be committed to Christ and his gospel, God, in sovereign
\ngrace and mercy must give them a new heart. Sound doctrine is vital ,
\nyet, the true doctrine of God will never be known and embraced apart
\nfrom a living, vital union with Christ. The natural heart is so full of
\nself and so deceitful that it will continue to go on in unbelief even in
\nthe face of Truth unless halted by Omnipotence – \u201cThe heart is deceitful
\nabove all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it ?\u201d Jer 17:9.
\nBeing unable to have sufficient desire to have a desire to be faithful
\nand committed to Christ and his gospel is reason to be alarmed. When the
\ncares of this life begin to hinder, and the comforts and pleasures of
\nthis life bring more satisfaction than the beauty and joy of the worship
\nof Christ in the gospel we are in trouble. Salvation is a heart work of
\nGod, and a work in the heart wrought by God. May God give us a heart to
\nlove Him!
\n\u201cWhen thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, thy face,
\nLORD, will I seek\u201d Psalms 27:8
\nTommy Robbins<\/p>\n
Calling the Dead to Live
\nIf you\u2019re going to command a lame man to take the first step . . . If
\nyou\u2019re going to call upon dead sinners to live . . . If you\u2019re going to
\ninsist that a maniac make a right decision . . . you\u2019d better have a
\nGospel that is the power of God unto salvation, or else you mock the
\nsouls of men. You\u2019d better be speaking for the One, of the One, and with
\nthe power and blessing of the One Who is able to save to the uttermost
\nthose who come unto God by him. Salvation is not in the ability of the
\npreacher, nor is it contingent upon what men will do, but it is sure to
\nall of God\u2019s elect, because of Christ and what He did do. Christ does
\nnot taunt the lame with the bargain that if they will only take a step,
\nHe will save them. He saves them, by the preaching of the gospel, and
\nthen they leap and shout and praise God.
\nChris Cunningham<\/p>\n
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17
\nWhen the gospel comes “not in word only, but also in power,” it comes
\n“in the Holy Ghost,” that is, in and with the teaching and testimony of
\nthe Holy Ghost. It is this coming “in the Holy Ghost” which gives truth
\nin its power such a sanctifying influence on the heart.<\/p>\n
But you will ask, perhaps, What is a sanctifying influence? It is the
\ncommunication of holy feelings, heavenly desires, and gracious
\naffections; in a word, it is the breathing into the soul of that sweet
\nspirituality of mind which is life and peace. If we are among the people
\nof God, he chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that
\nwe should be holy and without blame before him in love.” If he chasten
\nus in this time-state, it is “for our profit, that we might be partakers
\nof his holiness” (Heb. 12:10). It is this holiness of heart, this
\nheavenly-mindedness which I mean when I speak of the sanctifying
\ninfluence of truth in its power.<\/p>\n
Now did truth ever come into your soul with any measure of this
\nsanctifying influence? Did you ever long to get away from the chapel, go
\nhome to your room, fall upon your knees, and have blessed fellowship
\nwith the Father and his Son Jesus Christ? And were you ever so favoured
\nwhen you did get home? Or sometimes when alone, in reading, or
\nmeditation, or secret prayer, did the word of God ever come into your
\nsoul with that sweet unction, savour, and dew that it seemed to make the
\nvery room in which you were holy ground?<\/p>\n
I remember when God was pleased to reveal his dear Son to my soul in my
\nsick room many years ago, I was afraid almost to go out of my room lest
\nI should lose the sweet, holy feelings and blessed spirituality of mind
\nwhich I then and there enjoyed. Depend upon it, there is a holiness of
\nheart and affection, an inward holiness, without which no man shall see
\nthe Lord; and depend upon it, whenever truth comes into a believer’s
\nsoul, it comes with that sanctifying influence, which not only gives him
\na meetness for, but is a blessed foretaste of the inheritance of the
\nsaints in light.
\nJC Philpot<\/p>\n
AS WE HAVE RECEIVED MERCY
\n(2 Corinthians 4: 1-7.)
\nGod makes his preachers able to minister only the message of Christ by
\nmaking them experience that Christ is the Power and Wisdom of God
\nthrough the ministry of the message of Christ. Through this ministration
\nof righteousness the Holy Spirit overwhelms God’s ministers with the
\ngift of spiritual life which no hidden, dishonest, crafty, deceitful
\nministries were ever able to accomplish in them. Therefore, having
\nreceived this ministry from Christ, in the very same plain speech with
\nwhich they received this mercy so they minister to others. They do not
\ngrow weary of manifesting the single message that Christ is the
\nRighteousness, the Power and the Wisdom of God unto salvation. Being
\npersuaded so fully that God saves through this open, honest, single
\nmessage of their Reigning King they know with all confidence that if
\ntheir gospel remains hid from some, it is hidden to them that are lost.
\nThe god of this world blinds the lost man so that he does not realize
\nthat he rejoices not in the unhidden gospel but loves the hidden things
\nof dishonesty. Still, for the sake of Jesus Christ their Lord, God’s
\nmessengers do not faint from preaching Christ crucified, rather than
\nthemselves. They know the only hope of the lost is that God will shine
\nthe light of the gospel of Christ into their heart causing them to
\nbehold the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. God has given his
\nministers this treasure in powerless flesh so that the Power which
\nexcels unto salvation may be of God and not of them.
\nClay Curtis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:18) Commenting upon this verse J.C. Philpot said, Those who have every reason to fear as to their eternal state before God, have for the most part, no fear at all. They are secure, and free from doubt and fear. The depths of human hypocrisy, […]<\/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-4808","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\/4808","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=4808"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4811,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808\/revisions\/4811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}