{"id":5724,"date":"2020-05-30T08:14:18","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T08:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5724"},"modified":"2020-05-30T08:14:18","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T08:14:18","slug":"bulletin-edition-may-2020-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5724","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition May 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“They shall come\nwith weeping, and with supplications will I lead them.” \u2013Jeremiah 31:9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Until God is pleased to pour\nout upon us the spirit of grace and of supplications, we cannot worship him\naright; for God is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in\nspirit and in truth; nor can we without this spirit offer up that spiritual sacrifice\nwhich is acceptable to him through Jesus Christ. When this spirit has been once\ngiven and kindled in a believer’s breast, it never dies out. It is like the\nfire upon the bronze altar, which was first given by the Lord himself from\nheaven, and concerning which God gave this command\u2014”The fire shall ever be\nburning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Lev. 6:13). This fire\nmight sink low; it might be covered with the ashes of sacrifice, but it never\nwas allowed to go out for lack of supply of fuel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So at times it may seem to\nyou as if there were scarcely any spirit of prayer alive in your bosom; and you\nmay feel as destitute of a spirit of grace and of supplications as if you had\nnever known its lively movements and actings. But you will find it drawn out\nfrom time to time by circumstances. You will be placed under peculiar trials,\nunder which you will find no relief but at a throne of grace; or God will in\ntender mercy breathe again upon your soul with his own gracious Spirit, and by\nhis quickening breath will revive, I will not say kindle, for it is not gone\nout, that holy fire which seemed to be buried under the ashes of corruption,\nthat inward spirit of prayer which he gave you at regeneration, and which will\nnever cease until it issue in everlasting praise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best and the only\nsufficient expositors of Scripture!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Letters of John Newton)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When the Spirit of\ntruth comes \u2014 He will guide you into all the truth.” John 16:13<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 25:14, “The\nsecret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His\ncovenant to them” \u2014 not notionally, but experimentally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes of the\nSpirit’s teaching will furnish us with more real, useful and experimental\nknowledge \u2014 than toiling through whole folios of commentators! It will be our\nwisdom to deal less with the streams \u2014 and be more close in applying to the\nfountain-head. The Scripture itself, and the Spirit of God \u2014 are the best and\nthe only sufficient expositors of Scripture. Whatever men have valuable in\ntheir writings \u2014 they got it from Scripture; and the Scripture is as open to us\n\u2014 as to any of them. There is nothing required but a teachable, humble spirit;\nand academic learning, as it is commonly called, is not necessary in order for\nthis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learn more, and more\neffectually, by one minute’s communication with God through the medium of His\nwritten Word, than we could from an assembly of theologians, or a library of\nbooks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Open my eyes, that I\nmay behold wondrous things out of Your law!” Psalm 119:18<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Teach me Your\nstatutes!” Psalm 119:12 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let us be glad and\nrejoice, and give honor to him\u2014for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his\nwife has made herself ready.” \u2013Revelation 19:7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

We need two things to take\nus to heaven; a title to it, and a fitness for it. Our only title to heaven is\nthe blood and righteousness of the Son of God\u2014that blood which “cleanses\nfrom all sin,” and that righteousness which “justifies us from all\nthings from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Nothing\nunclean or defiled can enter heaven. This is God’s own testimony\u2014”Nothing\nimpure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or\ndeceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of\nlife.” (Rev. 21:27). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But besides the title, there\nmust be also a fitness for this heavenly city, according to the words of the\napostle\u2014”Giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us fit to be\npartakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12). While here\nbelow, then, we must learn to sing some notes of that joyous anthem which will\nissue in full, uninterrupted harmony from the hearts and lips of the redeemed\nin the realms above, when that glorious company will ever cry, “Alleluia!\nSalvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God.” If we\nare to sit down among those blessed ones who are called unto the marriage\nsupper of the Lamb, not only must we be “arrayed in fine linen, clean and\nwhite, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints,” but we must\nhave had “the kingdom of God, which is righteousness and peace and joy in\nthe Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17), set up in our hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mysterious Spirit of the\nLiving God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

It may be, that during a\nsermon two men are listening to the same truth; one of them hears as\nattentively as the other and remembers as much of it; the other is melted to\ntears or moved with solemn thoughts; but the one though equally attentive, sees\nnothing in the sermon, except, maybe, certain important truths well set forth;\nas for the other, his heart is broken within him and his soul is melted. Ask me\nhow is it that the same truth has an effect upon the one, and not upon his\nfellow\u2014I reply, because the mysterious Spirit of the Living God goes with the\ntruth to one heart and not to the other. The one only feels the force of truth,\nand that may be strong enough to make him tremble, like Felix; but the other\nfeels the Spirit going with the truth, and that renews the man, regenerates\nhim, and causes him to pass into that condition, that gracious condition which\nis called the state of salvation. This change takes place instantaneously. It\nis as miraculous a change as any miracle of which we read in Scripture. It is\nsupremely supernatural. It may be mimicked, but no imitation of it can be true\nand real. Men may pretend to be regenerated without the Spirit, but regenerated\nthey cannot be. It is change so marvelous that the highest attempts of man can\nnever reach it. We may reason as long as we please, but we cannot reason ourselves\ninto regeneration; we may meditate until our hairs are gray with study; but we\ncannot meditate ourselves into the new birth. That is worked in us by the\nsovereign will of God alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it;\nrather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” \u2013Galatians 1:12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

When I speak of a revelation of Christ, I am not contending for\nanything visionary. Dreams, voices, appearances in the air, sights and sounds,\ncrosses in the sky, and apparitions at the bedside, I must leave to others. I\nbelieve that for the most part they are the portion of dreamers and\nenthusiasts, for we have all these in the visible Church of God, as well as\nPharisees and hypocrites, Arminians and Antinomians. I will not indeed deny\nthat the Lord may have wrought by them in some peculiar instances, as in the\ncases of Augustine and Colonel Gardiner. But taking the generality of God’s\npeople and the ordinary mode of divine operation, the revelation of Christ to\nthe soul is a gracious internal discovery by the power of the Spirit, revealing\nhim to the eyes of faith. Nothing is seen or heard by the bodily senses; and\nyet his glorious Person is as much seen, and his voice as much heard, as though\neye and ear beheld his glory and listened to his words. It is altogether of\ngrace, wholly heavenly and divine, and therefore nature, sense, and reason have\nno place here. It is a divine bringing into the heart of the power and presence,\ngrace and glory, love and blood of Christ in a way that may be felt but never\ndescribed. Under these spiritual operations and influences\u2014for it is the\nSpirit’s work to take of the things of Christ and reveal them to the soul; it\nis his covenant office to testify of Jesus\u2014under these sacred influences,\ndivine anointings, and gracious operations, Christ is made known unto the heart\nand looked unto, according to his own word\u2014”Look unto me and be saved, all\nthe ends of the earth.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE DISTINGUISHING GRACE\nOF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor who makes you different\nfrom anyone else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you have that you\ndid not receive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you did receive it,\nwhy do you boast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as though you did not?\u201d 1\nCor. 4:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only difference there is\nbetween the believer and the unbeliever,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

between the righteous and\nthe wicked, between the seed of Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the seed of the serpent,\nis the difference which grace has made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This we must acknowledge-\n“By the grace of God I am what I am!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God’s grace is always\nparticular, distinctive, and distinguishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who are saved by the\nfree grace of God in Christ have been<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and forever are\ndistinguished from those who are lost by these<\/p>\n\n\n\n

five distinct acts of\ngrace–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first distinguishing act\nof God’s grace is his ETERNAL ELECTION.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can, with the eye of\nfaith, trace every spiritual blessing that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you now enjoy, and those\nwhich you hope to enjoy, back to the place<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of their original source,\nthe place of their origin would be spelled<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“E L E C T I O N”\n(Eph. 1:3-4; 2 Thess. 2:13; Jer. 1:4; 31:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second act of grace by\nwhich God has distinguished his elect<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from the rest of mankind is\nEFFECTUAL REDEMPTION.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By his precious blood,\npoured out unto death upon the cross, the Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Christ has effectually\nransomed and redeemed God’s elect from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the hands of divine justice,\nby satisfying the claims of justice against us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Isa. 53:8-11; Gal. 3:13;\nHeb. 9:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third act of grace by\nwhich the Lord has distinguished us from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the rest of the world is his\nADORABLE PROVIDENCE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our God governs all the\naffairs of this world. And he has governed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

all the affairs and\ncircumstances of our lives to bring us to the place<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where we now are, and to\neternal glory in Christ and with Christ in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

heaven (Matt. 10:29-31; Rom.\n8:28).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth act of grace by\nwhich we are distinguished from all other<\/p>\n\n\n\n

men is GOD’S SOVEREIGN WORK\nOF REGENERATION.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only thing that makes\nyou different from any other being on this<\/p>\n\n\n\n

planet, if you are born\nagain, is the fact that God has saved you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gave you life and faith\nin Christ by the irresistible power and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

grace of his Holy Spirit\n(Eph. 2:1-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth act of grace by\nwhich God distinguishes his elect from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the unbelieving is his\nMERCIFUL PRESERVATION.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only thing that keeps us\nin grace is grace itself. The only thing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that holds us to Christ is\nChrist himself (Jer. 32:38-40). The Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus says, with regard to\nall his people, \u201cI give unto them eternal life,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and they shall never\nperish.\u201d The salvation he gives is eternal salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The life he gives is eternal\nlife. That means that all who are saved by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

him are saved forever!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them.” \u2013Jeremiah 31:9 J.C. Philpot Until God is pleased to pour out upon us the spirit of grace and of supplications, we cannot worship him aright; for God is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth; […]<\/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-5724","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\/5724","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=5724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5725,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions\/5725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}