“The church of God, which he has purchased with his own\nblood.” Acts 20:28
\nAtonement for sin stands or falls with the Deity of Christ. If we deny
\nhis Deity, we must deny the atonement, for what value or merit can there
\nbe in the blood of a mere man that God, for its sake, should pardon
\nmillions of sins? This the Socinians clearly see, and therefore deny the
\natonement altogether. But if there be no atonement, no sacrifice, no
\natoning sacrifice for sin, where can we look for pardon and peace?
\nWhichever way we turn our eyes there is despair.
\nBut when by the eye of faith we see the Son of God obeying the law,
\nrendering, by doing and dying, acting and suffering, a satisfaction to
\nthe violated justice of the Most High and offering a sacrifice for sin,
\nthen we see such a glory and such a value breathing through every
\nthought, word, and action of his suffering humanity, that we embrace him
\nand all that he is and has, with every desire and affection of our
\nregenerated soul. All our religion lies here; all our faith, hope, and
\nlove flow unto, and are, as it were, fixed and concentrated in Jesus
\nChrist, and him crucified; and without a measure of this in our heart
\nand conscience, we have no religion worth the name, nothing that either
\nsaves or sanctifies–nothing that delivers from the guilt, filth, love,
\npower, and practice of sin–nothing that supports in life, comforts in
\ndeath, or fits for eternity.
\nThe way, then, whereby we come to a knowledge of, and a faith in, the
\nDeity of Christ is first by feeling a need of all that he is as a
\nSavior, and a great one, and then having a manifestation of him by the
\nblessed Spirit to our soul. When he is thus revealed and brought near,
\nwe see, by the eye of faith, his pure and perfect humanity and his
\neternal Deity; and these two distinct natures we see combined, but not
\nintermingled, in one glorious Person, Immanuel, God with us. Until thus
\nfavored we may see the Deity of Christ in the Scriptures, and have so
\nfar a belief in it, but we have not that personal appropriating faith
\nwhereby, with Thomas, we can say, “My Lord and my God.”
\nJ.C.Philpot
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nThat having to make our peace with God when we die is a poor business. I
\ndo not like the expression. I like far better the language of a poor
\nbricklayer who fell from a scaffold, and was so injured that he was
\nready to die. The clergyman of the parish came, and said, \u201cMy dear man,
\nI am afraid you will die. You had better make your peace with God.\u201d To
\nthe joy of the clergyman the man said, \u201cMake my peace with God, sir?
\nThat was made for me upon Calvary’s cross eighteen hundred years ago;
\nand I know it.\u201d Ah! That is it – to have a peace that was made by the
\nblood of Christ all those years ago – a peace that never can be broken.
\n
\nC.H. Spurgeon
\n
\n
\n
\nThe believer\u2019s eternal union with Christ is a subject that few seem to
\ngrasp, though it is written as with a sunbeam upon the pages of Holy
\nScripture. We are \u201cAccepted in the Beloved,\u201d and have been from
\neternity. That union of our souls with our Savior was made by the triune
\nGod Himself before the world began, and can never be dissolved or even
\naltered. The Lord God sees us in His Son, as one with His Son, and as
\nHis Son, because we really are in His Son, as one with His Son, and as
\nHis Son. Therefore, it is written, \u201c\u2026. as He is so are we.\u201d As no spot,
\nblemish, or any such thing is in Christ, but only perfection, His Father
\nis well pleased in Him, and with all who are in Him. The Book of God
\ndeclares, \u201cHe hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen
\nperverseness in Israel\u201d (Numbers 23:21). Therefore, we shall \u201cHave
\nboldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is so are we in this world.\u201d
\nDon Fortner
\n
\n
\nTHE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST
\n
\nGalatians 1:11-12 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was
\npreached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man,
\nneither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
\n
\nNo one has ever found the true interpretation of any passage of
\nscripture until they have found in it somewhere a revelation of the Lord
\nJesus Christ. Christ is the message and the subject of all the
\nscriptures. That is why we preach, \u201dChrist and Him crucified.\u201d The
\nBible, God\u2019s inspired Word is truly a \u201crevelation of Jesus Christ.\u201d
\nPastor David Eddmenson
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nWhere is Christ in your theological system?
\n
\n(Charles Spurgeon)
\n
\n“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them
\nwhat was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27
\n
\n“These are the Scriptures that testify about Me!” John 5:39
\n
\nTake this Book and distill it into one word\u2014and that one word will be
\nJESUS! The Bible itself, is but the body of Christ, and we may look upon
\nall its pages as the swaddling bands of the infant Savior\u2014for if we
\nunroll the Scripture, we come upon Jesus Christ Himself.
\n
\nWhere is Christ in your theological system? He Himself is . . .
\nthe Doctor and Doctrine,
\nthe Revealer and Revelation,
\nthe Illuminator and the Light of men.
\n
\nHe is exalted in every word of truth, because He is its sum and substance.
\n
\nHe sits above the gospel, like a prince on His own throne.
\n
\nDoctrine is most precious, when we see it distilling from His lips and
\nembodied in His person.
\n
\nSermons are only valuable, in proportion as they speak of Him and point
\nto Him!
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nIt is the blood of Jesus, applied by the Spirit
\n(Octavius Winslow)
\nThere is a perpetual proneness to seek our fruitfulness from anything
\nbut a close, spiritual, and constant dealing with the cross of Jesus.
\nBut as well might we expect the earth to clothe itself with verdure, or
\nthe tree to blossom, and the blossom ripen into fruit, without the sun’s
\ngenial warmth \u2014 as to look for fruitfulness in a regenerate soul,
\nwithout a constant dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ. For just what the
\nsun is to the kingdom of nature, Jesus the Sun of righteousness is to
\nthe kingdom of grace \u2014 the blessed source of all its verdure, fragrance,
\nand fruitfulness. Then, let all your expectations be centered here.
\nNo real good can come to you, no healing to your spirit, no fruitfulness
\nto your soul, from a perpetual living upon convictions of sin, legal
\nfears, or transient joys \u2014 the Divine life can derive no nourishment
\nfrom these. But live upon the atoning blood of Jesus \u2014 here is the
\nfatness of your soul found. This is that which heals the wound, wins the
\nheart, and hushes to repose every fear of condemnation. This is that
\nwhich enables a poor sinner to look fully at God \u2014 feeling that justice,
\nholiness, truth, and every Divine perfection are on his side.
\nIt is the blood of Jesus, applied by the Spirit \u2014 which moistens each
\nfiber of the root of holiness in the soul, and is productive of its
\nfruitfulness. This is that which sends the warm current of life through
\nevery part of the regenerate man, quickening the pulse of love, and
\nimparting a healthy and vigorous power to every act of obedience.
\nAnd when the spiritual seasons change \u2014 for it is not always spring-time
\nwith the soul of a child of God; when the summer’s sun withers, or the
\nautumnal blast scatters the leaves, and winter’s fiercer storm beats
\nupon the smitten bough \u2014 then the blood and righteousness of Christ,
\nlived upon, loved, and cherished \u2014 will yet sustain the Divine life in
\nthe soul, and in due season the spring blossom and the summer fruit
\nshall again appear, proving that the Divine life of a believer is “hid
\nwith Christ in God.”
\nThen shall be said of you, as was said of the church by her Beloved:
\n“Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers
\nare springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing
\nof turtledoves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and
\nthe fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, My darling! Come away
\nwith Me, My fair one!”
\nThen let your heart respond, “Awake, north wind! Rise up, south wind!
\nBlow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into Your
\ngarden, my Beloved \u2014 taste its finest fruit
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n“The light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of\nGod.” 2
\nCorinthians 4:4
\nOh! what beauty and blessedness shine forth in the gospel, when we view
\nit connected with the Person and work of the Son of God! Take the
\ndoctrines of grace isolated from the Person of Christ; they are
\nscattered limbs; there is no beauty in them; but view the truths of the
\ngospel, in connection with the Person and work of the Son of God, what a
\nheavenly light, what a divine glory is cast upon every truth connected
\nwith his sacred Person, atoning blood, finished work, and dying love!
\nThis is the way to receive the gospel–not as a thing of shreds and
\npatches, a mere collection or scheme of certain doctrines floating up
\nand down God’s word, as waifs and strays from a stranded ship; but as
\none harmonious gospel, full of grace, mercy, and truth, impregnated with
\ndivine blessedness, and all connected with, all springing out of, the
\nPerson of the God-man.
\nHow it seems to lift us up for a time, while the feeling lasts, above
\nsin, misery, and wretchedness, to view our completeness in Christ, to
\nsee our saving interest in his finished work, to behold ourselves
\nmembers of his mystical body, to triumph in his holy triumphs, to
\nrejoice in his victories, and to ascend with him above the smoke and
\nstir of this dim spot that men call earth. As one might rise out of a
\nLondon fog into a pure atmosphere, and bask on some mountain-top in the
\nbright beams of the sun, so the dear saint of God, when he is privileged
\nto read his title clear, see his name in the book of life, feel the love
\nof God in his heart, and rejoice in Christ, is lifted up above the fog
\nand smoke of this dim spot, and sitting with Christ in heavenly places,
\nhe feels a sweet victory over every foe internal, external, and infernal.
\nAnd there is no other way whereby we can get out of it. Like a man in
\nthe London fog, struggling on with fog in the east, west, north, south,
\nfog and smoke all around; so it is while we are struggling onward with
\nsin and self–north, south, east, and west, there is nothing but fog,
\nfog, deep and dense. We must be raised out of it to the mountain-top,
\nand this only can be by being lifted up by a sweet testimony of saving
\ninterest in the blood and love of the Son of God. This lifts up, this
\nlifts out; this gives strength, and this alone will give victory; and so
\nfar as we fall short of realizing these precious things, we grope for
\nthe wall like the blind, and stumble in desolate places like dead men.
\nIt is true that for the most part the saints of God only have a little
\nof these blessed things, from time to time, just brought in and taken
\naway, but sufficient to taste their sweetness, to know their beauty, to
\nsee their glory, and therefore sufficient, while they last, to help them
\nonward in their course, and keep them struggling on, until they reach
\nthat eternal glory.
\nJ.C.Phipot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28 Atonement for sin stands or falls with the Deity of Christ. If we deny his Deity, we must deny the atonement, for what value or merit can there be in the blood of a mere man that God, for its sake, […]<\/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-5413","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\/5413","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=5413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5414,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413\/revisions\/5414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}