The sins and slips of the saints?-JCP<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Scriptures faithfully record
\nthe falls of believers . . .
\nthe drunkenness of Noah,
\nthe incest of Lot,
\nthe unbelief of Abraham,
\nthe peevishness of Moses,
\nthe adultery of David,
\nthe idolatry of Solomon,
\nthe pride of Hezekiah,
\nthe cowardice of Mark and
\nthe cursing and swearing of Peter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why has the Holy Spirit left on\nrecord
\nthe sins and slips of the saints?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, that it might teach us that they\nwere
\nsaved by grace as poor, lost, and ruined sinners;
\nin the same way as we hope to be saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secondly, that their slips and falls\nmight be
\nso many beacons and warnings, to guard the
\npeople of God against being overtaken by
\nthe same sins; as the apostle speaks, “All
\nthese events happened to them as examples
\nfor us. They were written down to warn us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And thirdly, that the people of God,\nshould
\nthey be overtaken by sin, might not be cast
\ninto despair; but that from seeing recorded
\nin the Scripture the slips and failings of the
\nsaints of old, they might be lifted up from
\ntheir despondency, and brought once more
\nto hope in the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the\ngreat mirror of eternity!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (John\nMacDuff, “The Faithful Promiser”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “You\ndo not realize now what I am doing \u2014 but you will understand hereafter.”\nJohn 13:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the\nnatural sun sometimes sinks in clouds \u2014 so, occasionally, the Christian who has\na bright rising, and a brighter meridian, sets in gloom. It is not always\n“light” at his evening time; but this we know, that when the day of\nimmortality breaks, the last vestige of earth’s shadows will forever flee away!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the\nclosing hour of time, Divine Providence may be to him a baffling enigma; but\nbefore the first hour has struck on Heaven’s clock \u2014 all will be cleared up! My\nsoul! “in God’s light, you shall see light.” The Book of His decrees\nis a sealed book now! “A great deep” is all the explanation you can\noften give to His mysterious ways. The why and the wherefore, He seems to keep\nfrom us . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n to test\nour faith,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to\ndiscipline us in trustful submission,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to conform\nus to the image of Christ, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n to lead us\nto say, “May Your will be done!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n But rejoice\nthat ‘hereafter’ \u2014 light awaits you! Now we see things imperfectly as in a\ncloudy mirror \u2014 but then, face to face! In the great mirror of eternity \u2014 all\nthe events of this chequered earthly scene will be reflected. The darkest of\nthem will be seen to be bright with mercy; the severest of His dispensations\nwill prove to be “only the severer aspects of His love!” Pry not,\nthen, too curiously! Do not judge too censoriously on God’s dealings with you.\nWait with patience, until the grand day of disclosures; one confession shall\nthen burst from every tongue, “He has done all things well!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n We must be\ntaught of God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “No\nman can come to Me, except the Father who sent Me draws him.” John 6:44<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four\nthings are absolutely necessary to be experimentally known and felt before we\ncan arrive at any saving or sanctifying knowledge of the truth\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Divine\nlight in the understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.\nSpiritual faith in the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Godly\nfear in the conscience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.\nHeavenly love in the affections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without\nlight we cannot see. Without faith we cannot believe. Without godly fear we\ncannot reverentially adore. Without love we cannot embrace Him who is the way,\nthe truth, and the life. We must be taught of God and receive the kingdom of\nheaven as a little child\u2014or we shall never enter therein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n Salvation\nby Grace!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n by\nSpurgeon-<\/p>\n\n\n\n No sinner\nwill ever come to Christ apart from the quickening,<\/p>\n\n\n\n enlightening,\ndrawing, converting power of the Holy Spirit,<\/p>\n\n\n\n supernaturally\nexercised upon the conscience and heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until\ngrace comes into our souls we have no heart for the things<\/p>\n\n\n\n of God. We\nmay be fussily religious so far as to be attentive to<\/p>\n\n\n\n every\n‘outward form of worship’; but there is no heart-work, no<\/p>\n\n\n\n light of\ntruth in all our devotion. But when once the divine light<\/p>\n\n\n\n comes in,\nthen we become intensely real in our dealings with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the\ngrace of God comes, the Holy Spirit brings us out from<\/p>\n\n\n\n under the\ndominion of the old nature by creating within us a<\/p>\n\n\n\n new life,\nand he brings us out from under the tyranny of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prince of\nDarkness by opening our eyes to see, and our minds to<\/p>\n\n\n\n understand\ncelestial truth. The opening of our blind eyes and<\/p>\n\n\n\n the\npouring in of the light of truth are from the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nentrance of God’s word into the mind by the power of the Holy<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirit\ngives us light as to– ourselves, our sin, and our danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this\ncomes light as to the way of salvation through Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ,\nand light as to the mind of God concerning our<\/p>\n\n\n\n sanctification.\nTrue knowledge takes the place of ignorance,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and a\ndesire for purity becomes supreme over the love of sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all\nthe temptations of life, nor all the terrors of death,<\/p>\n\n\n\n nor all\nthe furies of hell, shall prevent any soul upon whom God<\/p>\n\n\n\n has begun\nhis work of grace from reaching eternal salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What a\nblessing is this, and what a comfort it is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The\nsalvation of the righteous is of the Lord.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n John\nNewton’s Letters<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the\ngradual increase of gospel illumination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear Sir,<\/p>\n\n\n\n The day is\nnow breaking: how beautiful its appearance! how welcome the expectation of the\napproaching sun! It is this thought makes the dawn agreeable, that it is the\npresage of a brighter light; otherwise, if we expect no more day than it is\nthis minute, we should rather complain of darkness, than rejoice in the early\nbeauties of the morning. Thus the life of grace is the dawn of immortality:\nbeautiful beyond expression, if compared with the night and thick darkness\nwhich formerly covered us; yet faint, indistinct, and unsatisfying, in\ncomparison of the glory which shall be revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is,\nhowever, a sure pledge: so surely as we now see the light of the Sun of\nRighteousness, so surely shall we see the Sun himself, Jesus the Lord, in all\nhis glory and luster. In the mean time, we have reason to be thankful for a\nmeasure of light to walk and work by, and sufficient to show us the pits and\nsnares by which we might be endangered: and we have a promise, that our present\nlight shall grow stronger and stronger, if we are diligent in the use of the\nappointed means, until the messenger of Jesus shall lead us within the veil,\nand then farewell shades and obscurity for ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can now\nalmost see to write, and shall soon put the extinguisher over my candle: I do\nthis without the least reluctance, when I enjoy a better light; but I should\nhave been unwilling half an hour ago. Just thus, methinks, when the light of\nthe glorious Gospel shines into the heart, all our former feeble lights, our\napprehensions, and our contrivances, become at once unnecessary and unnoticed.\nHow cheerfully did the Apostle put out the candle of his own righteousness,\nattainments, and diligence, when the true Sun arose upon him! Phi. 3:7-8. Your\nlast letter is as a comment upon his determination. Adored be the grace that\nhas given us to be like-minded, even to “account all things but loss for\nthe excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n While I am\nwriting, a new luster, which gilds the house on the hill opposite to my study\nwindow, informs me that the sun is now rising; he is rising to others, but not\nyet to me; my situation is lower, so that they enjoy a few gleams of sunshine\nbefore me: yet this momentary difference is inconsiderable, when compared to\nthe duration of a whole day. Thus some are called by grace earlier in life, and\nsome later; but the seeming difference will be lost and vanish when the great\nday of eternity comes on. There is a time, the Lord’s best appointed time, when\nhe will arise and shine upon many a soul that now sits “in darkness, and\nin the region of the shadow of death.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have\nbeen thinking on the Lord’s conference with Nicodemus; it is a copious subject,\nand affords room, in one part or other, for the whole round of doctrinal and\nexperimental topics. Nicodemus is an encouraging example to those who are\nseeking the Lord’s salvation: he had received some favorable impressions of\nJesus; but he was very ignorant, and much under the fear of man. He dared only\ncome by night; and at first, though he heard, he understood not: but He, who\nopens the eyes of the blind, brought him surely, though gently, forward. The\nnext time we hear of him, he dared put in a word in behalf of Christ, even in\nthe midst of his enemies, John 7:50-53; and at last, he had the courage openly\nand publicly to assist in preparing the body of his Master for its funeral, at\na time when our Lord’s more avowed followers had all forsook him, and fled. So\ntrue is that, “Then you shall know, if you follow on to know the\nLord;” and again, “He gives power to the faint; and to them that have\nno might, he increases strength.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hope then,\nmy soul, against hope; though your graces are faint and languid, he who planted\nthem will water his own work, and not allow them wholly to die. He can make a\nlittle one as a thousand; at his presence mountains sink into plains, streams\ngush out of the flinty rock, and the wilderness blossoms as the rose. He can\npull down what sin builds up, and build up what sin pulls down; that which was\nimpossible to us, is easy to him; and he has bid us expect seasons of\nrefreshment from His presence. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor\nyou are my lamp, O Lord; and the Lord will lighten my darkness.\u201d 2 Samuel 22:29<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Octavius\nWinslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n BLESSED\nLord! You are my light. Accepted in Your righteousness, I am \u201cclothed with the\nsun.\u201d Dark in myself, I am light in You. Often have You turned my gloomy night\ninto sunny day. Yes, Lord, and with a love not less tender, You have sometimes\nturned my \u201cmorning of joy\u201d into a \u201cnight of weeping.\u201d Yet have You made my very\ngriefs to sing. Many a dark cloud of my pilgrimage has You fringed with Your\ngolden beams. \u201cIn Your light have I seen light\u201d upon many a gloomy and\nmysterious dispensation of my covenant God. \u201cBy Your light I have walked\nthrough darkness,\u201d many a long and lonely stage of my journey. Oh, how have You\ngone before me each step You do bid me to travel. You, too, did pass through\nYour night of solitude, suffering, and woe. But You were deprived of the\nalleviations which You do so graciously and tenderly vouchsafe to me. Not a\nbeam illumined, not a note cheered, the midnight of Your soul. The light of the\nmanifested Fatherhood was hidden from Your view, and in bitter agony did You\nexclaim, \u201cMy God, my God, why have You forsaken me?\u201d And all this did You\nwillingly endure, that I might have a song in the night of my grief. Thus Your\ndarkness becomes my light; Your suffering my joy; Your humiliation my glory;\nYour death my life; Your curse my crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n O Lord!\nthat is a blessed night of weeping in which I can sing of Your sustaining\ngrace, of Your enlivening presence, of Your unfaltering faithfulness, of Your\ntender love. In Your school how well have You instructed me! How patiently and\nskillfully have You taught me! I could not have done without Your teaching and\nYour discipline. With not one night of suffering, with not one chastising\nstroke, with not one ingredient in my cup of sorrow, could I safely have\ndispensed. All was needful. And now I can see, as faith, with a reflex action,\nsurveys all the past, with what infinite wisdom and skill, integrity and\ngentleness, You were appointing all, and overruling all the incidents and\nwindings of my history. With not less shame and self-abhorrence do I cover my\nface, and lay my mouth in the dust before You, because You has brought light\nout of my darkness, and educed good from my evil, and overruled all my mistakes\nand departures for my greater advance and Your richer glory, and are now\n\u201cpacified towards me for all that I have done.\u201d I have stumbled, and You have\nupheld me. I have fallen, and You have raised me up. I have wandered, and You\nhave restored. I have wounded myself, and You have healed me. Oh, what a God\nhave You been to me! What a Father! What a Friend! Shall I ever distrust You,\never disbelieve You, ever wound You, ever leave You more? Ah! Lord, a thousand\ntimes over, yes, this very moment, but for Your restraining grace. \u201cHold You me\nup, and I shall be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sins and slips of the saints?-JCP The Scriptures faithfully record the falls of believers . . . the drunkenness of Noah, the incest of Lot, the unbelief of Abraham, the peevishness of Moses, the adultery of David, the idolatry of Solomon, the pride of Hezekiah, the cowardice of Mark and the cursing and swearing […]<\/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-5676","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\/5676","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=5676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5677,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions\/5677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}