{"id":5702,"date":"2020-04-25T22:43:35","date_gmt":"2020-04-25T22:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5702"},"modified":"2020-04-25T22:43:35","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T22:43:35","slug":"bulletin-edition-april-2020-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5702","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition April 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Consider Jesus\u2013 as Forsaken by God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octavius\nWinslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My\nGod, my God, why have You forsaken me?” \u2013Matt. 27:46<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My soul!\nwas it not enough that your Lord should be forsaken of man in His sorrow? Was\nit essential to the accomplishment of your salvation, and to your support and\ncomfort in seasons of soul desertion and darkness, that He should likewise be\nforsaken of God? Yes! it must be so. The history of the universe never\npresented such an abandonment–a being so holy, and yet so entirely and so\nseverely forsaken of God and man–as that which Jesus was now experiencing upon\nthe accursed tree. With what a depth of emphasis that word must have sounded\nfrom His pale lips, quivering with agony–“‘My God, my God, why have YOU\nFORSAKEN me?’ You, my Father–You whose glory I am vindicating, whose\ngovernment I am honouring, whose Name I am glorifying, whose Church I am\nredeeming–why, my God, my God, have YOU forsaken me? I can endure to be\nabandoned by man, but to be forsaken by YOU, my Father, in the hour of my\ndeepest sorrow, at the moment of my keenest suffering, is the bitterest\ningredient in my cup of bitter, the darkest hue in my cloud of darkness.”\nLet us devoutly consider Jesus as passing through this eclipse of His soul, and\nreceive the holy instruction and comfort the spectacle was designed to convey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of WHOM\nwas Jesus forsaken? His Father. And when, O my soul! you walk in a sense of\ndivine desertion, who is it that says to you, “For a small moment have I\nforsaken you, but with great mercies will I gather you?” \u2013it is your\nFather in heaven. It is a Father’s momentary withdrawment; and although this\nthought adds keenness to the discipline and intensity to the cloud, is there no\nconsolation in knowing that the hiding is paternal–a Father secreting Himself\nfrom His child–and but for a moment? Thus, though He hides Himself, He is a\nFather still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, what\nwas a cloud of thick, all-enshrouding darkness to Jesus is salvation’s light to\nus. Even as His sorrow is our joy, His wounds our healing, His death our\nlife–so His abandonment on the cross, as a foreign divine expresses it, is\n“our bridge to heaven; an unfathomable abyss for all our sins, cares, and\nanxieties; the charter of our citizenship, the key whereby we may open the\nsecret chamber of communion with God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, if\nyou are, O my soul! walking in darkness and have no light, let the thought be\nas a ray playing on the brow of your cloud, that, it is not the darkness of\nhell and condemnation, but the darkness only through which all the ‘children of\nlight’ more or less travel–the darkness with which the Sun of Righteousness\nHimself was enshrouded–and which, when it is past, will make the sunshine of\nGod’s love and the Saviour’s presence all the sweeter, dearer, brighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how\ndid Jesus deport Himself in this season of Divine forsaking? What supported and\ncomforted Him during this total and dreadful eclipse through which His sinless\nsoul passed? He trusted in God. His faith could still exclaim, “MY God, MY\nGod.” So lean upon your covenant God, O you children of light walking in\ndarkness. As the veiling clouds, though they hide, cannot extinguish the sun,\nneither can your gloomy seasons of Divine desertion extinguish one beam of the\nSaviour’s love to you. If all is dark–a hidden God, an absent Saviour, a\nfrowning providence–now is the time to have faith in God. “Who is among\nyou that walks in darkness, and has no light? let him trust in the name of the\nlord, and stay upon his God.” Stay yourself upon His covenant faithfulness\nand unchanging love, and believe that Jesus intercedes for you in heaven, and\nthat soon you shall reach that blissful world where your sun shall no more go\ndown, nor your moon withdraw itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Through\nwaves, and clouds, and storms,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gently\nclears your way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O Wait His\ntime–your darkest night<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shall end\nin brightest day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supernatural\nlight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Joseph\nPhilpot, “The Heir of Heaven Walking in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darkness,\nand the Heir of Hell Walking in Light”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For\nGod, who commanded the light to shine out<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of\ndarkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

light of\nthe knowledge of the glory of God in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

face of\nJesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until,\nthen, this supernatural light of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

enters\ninto the soul, a man has no saving<\/p>\n\n\n\n

knowledge\nof Jehovah. He may . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

say his\nprayers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

read his\nBible,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

attend\npreaching,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

observe\nordinances,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bestow all\nhis goods to feed the poor,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

or give\nhis body to be burned;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but he is\nas ignorant of God as<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the cattle\nthat graze in the fields!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He may\ncall himself a Christian, and be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

thought\nsuch by others, talk much about<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus\nChrist, hold a sound creed, maintain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a\nconsistent profession, pray at a prayer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

meeting\nwith fluency and apparent feeling,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

stand up\nin a pulpit and contend earnestly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for the\ndoctrines of grace, excel hundreds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of God’s\nchildren in zeal, knowledge and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet,\nif this ray of supernatural light has<\/p>\n\n\n\n

never\nshone into his soul, he is only twofold<\/p>\n\n\n\n

more the\nchild of hell than those who make<\/p>\n\n\n\n

no\nprofession!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behold,\nthe eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him, upon those who hope in his\nmercy; To deliver their soul from death. Psalm 33:18-19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octavius\nWinslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A FATHER’S\neye beaming with tenderness upon a rebellious, wandering child, inviting,\nwelcoming his return\u2014what adamant can resist it? The deepest, bitterest, truest\ngrief for sin is felt and expressed beneath God’s eye alone. When the wakeful\npillow of midnight is moistened, when the heart unveils in secret to the eye of\nJesus, when the chamber of privacy witnesses to the confidential confessions\nand pleadings of a contrite heart, there is then felt and expressed a sorrow\nfor sin, so genuine, so touching, as cannot but draw down upon the soul a look\nfrom Christ the most tender in its expression, and the most forgiving in its\nlanguage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us\nalways endeavour to realize the loving eye of Jesus resting upon us. In public\nand in private, in our temporal and spiritual callings, in prosperity and in\nadversity, in all places and on all occasions, and under all circumstances, oh!\nlet us live as beneath its focal power. When our Lord was upon earth, “a\nman of sorrows,” His eyes were dim with grief; but now that He is in heaven,\nthey are as “a flame of fire,”\u2014to His saints not a burning, consuming\nflame, but a flame of inextinguishable love. Deem not yourself, then, secluded\nbeliever, a banished and an exiled one, lost to all sight. Other eyes may be\nwithdrawn and closed, distance intercepting their view, or death darkening\ntheir vision; but the eye of Jesus, your Lord, rests upon you ever, with\nunslumbering affection. “I will guide you with mine eye,” is the\ngracious promise of your God. Be ever and intently gazing on that Eye\u2014”looking\nunto Jesus.” He is the Fountain of Light; and in the light radiating from\nHis eye you shall, in the gloomiest hour of your life, see light upon your\nonward way. “By His light I walked through darkness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Bend\nnot your light-desiring eyes below,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There your\nown shadow waits upon you ever;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But raise\nyour looks to Heaven\u2014and lo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nshadeless sun rewards your weak endeavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who sees\nthe dark, is dark; but turns toward the light,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you\nbecome like to that which fills your sight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\nall, with open face, beholding, as in a glass , the glory of the Lord, are\nchanged into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the\nLord.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And\nthere was evening, and there was morning\u2014the first day.” Genesis 1:5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C.H.Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was it so\neven in the beginning? Did light and darkness divide the realm of time in the\nfirst day? Then little wonder is it\u2014if I have also changes in my circumstances,\nfrom the sunshine of prosperity to the midnight of adversity. It will not\nalways be the blaze of noon even in my soul concerns, I must expect at seasons\nto mourn the absence of my former joys, and seek my Beloved in the night. Nor\nam I alone in this, for all the Lord’s beloved ones have had to sing the\nmingled song of judgment and of mercy, of trial and deliverance, of mourning\nand of delight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is one\nof the arrangements of Divine providence, that day and night shall not cease\neither in the spiritual or natural creation, until we reach the land of which\nit is written, “there is no night there.” What our heavenly Father\nordains is wise and good. What, then, my soul, is it best for you to do? Learn\nfirst to be content with this divine order, and be willing, with Job, to\nreceive evil from the hand of the Lord as well as good. Study next, to make the\noutgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice. Praise the Lord for the\nsun of joy when it rises, and for the gloom of evening as it falls. There is\nbeauty both in sunrise and sunset, sing of it, and glorify the Lord. Like the\nnightingale, pour forth your notes at all hours. Believe that the night is as\nuseful as the day. The dews of grace fall heavily in the night of sorrow. The\nstars of promise shine forth gloriously amid the darkness of grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue\nyour service under all changes. If in the day your watchword be labor, at night\nexchange it for watch. Every hour has its duty, so continue in your calling as\nthe Lord’s servant until He shall suddenly appear in His glory. My soul, your\nevening of old age and death is drawing near\u2014dread it not, for it is part of\nthe day; and the Lord has said, “I will cover him all the day long.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\ndoctrine, all experience, all precept<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(J. C.\nPhilpot, “The Precepts of the Word of God”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\ndoctrine, all experience, all precept centre, as one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

grand\nharmonious whole, in the glorious Person of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Son of\nGod. From Him they all come; to Him they all flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Severed\nfrom Him . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

doctrine\nis seen to be but a withered branch;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

experience\nbut a delusive dream;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

precept\nbut a legal service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But His\nlight enlightening, His life quickening, His power<\/p>\n\n\n\n

attending\nthe word of His grace\u2014doctrine is seen to be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

no longer\ndoctrine dry and dead, but glorious truth;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

experience\nto be not a mere matter of fluctuating feeling,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but a\nblessed reality, as the very kingdom of God set up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with a\ndivine power in the heart; and obedience not a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

legal\nduty, but a high, holy, and acceptable service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nIf you want to see what sin really is<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Philpot,\n“Sin Condemned and Righteousness Fulfilled”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To cast\nthe sinning angels out of heaven;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to banish\nAdam from Paradise;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to destroy\nthe old world by a flood;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to burn\nSodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

these\nexamples of God’s displeasure against sin were<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not\nsufficient to express His condemnation of it. He<\/p>\n\n\n\n

would\ntherefore take another way of making it manifest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what\nwas this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By sending\nHis own Son out of His bosom, and offering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Him as a\nsacrifice for sin upon the tree at Calvary, He<\/p>\n\n\n\n

would make\nit manifest how He abhorred sin, and how<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nrighteous character must forever condemn it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See here\nthe love of God to poor guilty man in not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sparing\nHis own Son; and yet the hatred of God against<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sin, in\ncondemning it in the death of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nalmost as if God said, “If you want to see what<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sin really\nis, you cannot see it in the depths of hell. I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will show\nyou sin in blacker colors still\u2013 you shall see<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it in the\nsufferings of My dear Son; in His agonies of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

body and\nsoul; and in what He as a holy, innocent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamb\nendured under My wrath, when He consented<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to take\nthe sinner’s place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nwondrous wisdom,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what\ndepths of love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what\ntreasures of mercy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what\nheights of grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

were thus\nrevealed and brought to light in God’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

unsparing\ncondemnation of sin, and yet in His<\/p>\n\n\n\n

full and\nfree pardon of the sinner!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\nhave ever had a view by faith of the suffering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Son of God\nin the garden and upon the cross; if you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

have ever\nseen the wrath of God due to you, falling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

upon the\nhead of the God-Man; and viewed a bleeding,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

agonizing\nImmanuel; then you have seen and felt in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the depths\nof your conscience what a dreadful thing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sin is.\nThen the broken-hearted child of God looks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

unto Him\nwhom he has pierced, and mourns and grieves<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bitterly\nfor Him, as for a firstborn son who has died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under this\nsight he feels what a dreadful thing sin is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Oh,”\nhe says, “did God afflict His dear Son? Did<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, the\ndarling of God, endure all these sufferings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and\nsorrows to save my soul from the bottomless pit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O, can I\never hate sin enough? Can I ever grieve and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mourn over\nit enough? Can my stony heart ever be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

dissolved\ninto contrition enough, when by faith I see<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the\nagonies, and hear the groans of the suffering,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bleeding\nLamb of God?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians\nhate their sins. They hate that sinful, that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

dreadfully\nsinful flesh of theirs which has so often,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

which has\nso continually, betrayed them into sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And thus\nthey join with God in passing condemnation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

upon the\nwhole of their flesh; upon all its actings and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

workings;\nupon all its thoughts and words and deeds;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and hate\nit as the prolific parent of that sin which<\/p>\n\n\n\n

crucified\nChrist, and torments and plagues them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consider Jesus\u2013 as Forsaken by God Octavius Winslow “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” \u2013Matt. 27:46 My soul! was it not enough that your Lord should be forsaken of man in His sorrow? Was it essential to the accomplishment of your salvation, and to your support and comfort in seasons of soul […]<\/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-5702","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\/5702","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=5702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5703,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5702\/revisions\/5703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}