This is mercy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Letters of William Romaine, 1714-1795)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so\nmuch as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be\nmerciful to me a sinner!” Luke 18:13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee\nwith lovingkindness and tender mercies;” Psalm 103:4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dear friend,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What thanks ought we to give to our gracious Lord for all of His\nmercies to us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can look back upon every part of my life, and upon it all I can\nwrite, “This is mercy!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, it is all, from first to last, to those who are chosen and\ncalled and believe and live by faith in the Son of God, MERCY\u2014from everlasting\nto everlasting! Mercy before time, mercy in time, mercy beyond time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where is the fountainhead, the spring of this mercy? What gives\nrise to it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nothing but the sovereign grace and free love of the purpose and\nheart of God Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But on whom do the streams of this fountain flow with their\nquickening, comforting, sanctifying, glorifying streams?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the miserable sinner, and none else; for none else are the\nobjects of mercy. On such as you and me! Mercy has made a rich provision . . .\nto supply all our needs, to pardon all our sins, to save us from all\npunishment, to entitle us to all glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever!” Psalm\n89:1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,\nthat ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,\nwhich is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE DIMENSIONS OF CHRIST\u2019S LOVE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ephesians 3: 18: May be able to comprehend with all saints what is\nthe breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19: And to know the love of\nChrist, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness\nof God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 103 gives the dimensions of Christ\u2019s love<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 The height\u2014Ps 103: 11: For as the heaven is high above the\nearth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 The breadth\u2014Ps 103: 12: As far as the east is from the west, so\nfar hath he removed our transgressions from us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 The depth\u2014Ps 103: 13: Like as a father pitieth his children, so\nthe LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14: For he knoweth our frame; he\nremembereth that we are dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 The length\u2014Ps 103: 17: But the mercy of the LORD is from\neverlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At no time is it ever acceptable to sin. All sin is an infinite\nevil. When Christ cried from the darkness of the cross, \u201cMy God, My God, why\nhast Thou forsaken Me\u201d, it was because of sin. There are no little\ninconsequential sins. John said, \u201cThese things write I unto you that you sin\nnot.\u201d In the world to come God\u2019s elect will no longer be sinners, but while in\nthis world it is always good to be a sinner. It is not good to commit sins! But\nit is good to be a sinner. Why? It is sinners that Christ came to save! It is\nsinners Christ came to call! He was called the friend of sinners. The only way\nyou can hear the Gospel as the Gospel is if you hear as a present tense sinner.\nThe only way you can trust Him as your righteousness is if you have none of\nyour own. You only trust Him as all when He is all you have. I really believe\nwhat the hymn writer said \u2013 \u201cA sinner is a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost hath\nmade him so.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
~~Todd Nibert (TRGC, KY bulletin 2.23.2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST \u2013 A MYSTERIOUS CREATURE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The path of the Christian is indeed a mysterious one, full of\nharmonious contradictions and heavenly paradoxes. He is never easy when at\nease, nor without a burden when he has none. He is never satisfied without\ndoing something, and yet is never satisfied with anything that he does. He is\nnever so strong as when he sits still [Isaiah 30:7], never so fruitful as when\nhe does nothing, and never so active as when he makes the least haste [Isaiah\n28:16]. All outstrip him in the race, yet he alone gains the goal, and wins the\nprize. All are sure of heaven but himself, yet he enters into the kingdom,\nwhilst they are thrust out. He wins pardon through guilt, hope through despair,\ndeliverance through temptation, comfort through affliction, and a robe of\nrighteousness through filthy rags. Though a worm and no man, he overcomes\nOmnipotence itself through violence; and though less than vanity and nothing\n[Isaiah 40:17 2 Corinthians 12:11], he takes heaven itself by force [Matthew\n11:12.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus amidst the strange contradictions which meet in a believing\nheart, he is never so prayerful as when he says nothing; never so wise as when\nhe is the greatest fool; never so much alone as when most in company; and never\nso much under the power of an inward religion as when most separated from an\noutward one. Strange mysterious creature! He cannot live without sinning, yet\ncannot live in sin; cannot live without prayer, and yet for days together\ncannot pray; continually finds religion a burden, yet would not part with it\nfor the world; lusts after sin as a delicious morsel, yet hates it with a\nperfect hatred; esteems Christ the Chiefest among ten thousand, and yet is at\ntimes tried with doubts whether He is a Saviour at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
J.C. Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Put to death by His own creatures!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Spurgeon, “The Great Mystery of Godliness”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The condescension of Christ became most<\/p>\n\n\n\n extraordinary when, at last, our Lord stooped<\/p>\n\n\n\n to be put to death by His own creatures!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arraigned before human tribunals, condemned<\/p>\n\n\n\n as guilty of the gravest crimes, He is fastened<\/p>\n\n\n\n to the accursed wood, and put to a death of<\/p>\n\n\n\n deepest shame, and bitterest torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What a wondrous sight was the dying Redeemer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus comes to save His people from their sins,<\/p>\n\n\n\n by taking the sins of His people upon Himself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a mystery surpassing all comprehension!<\/p>\n\n\n\n O you whose loving eyes have looked upon the<\/p>\n\n\n\n ensanguined rills which gush from the wounds<\/p>\n\n\n\n of your bleeding Lord, and have delighted to<\/p>\n\n\n\n behold the Lily of the valleys reddened into the<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rose of Sharon with the crimson of His own blood;<\/p>\n\n\n\n behold in the writhing form of the Crucified Man<\/p>\n\n\n\n at once the vengeance and the love of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Behold divine power sustaining the load of<\/p>\n\n\n\n human guilt, and divine compassion enduring<\/p>\n\n\n\n such agonies for rebels so ill deserving!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why was His soul troubled?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Octavius Winslow, “CONSIDER JESUS” 1870)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow<\/p>\n\n\n\n to the point of death.” Mark 14:34<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this lay our Lord’s greatest suffering:<\/p>\n\n\n\n His soul sorrow. Compared with this . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n the lingering, excruciating tortures of the cross,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the extended limbs,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the quivering nerves,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the bleeding wounds,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the burning thirst;<\/p>\n\n\n\n were, as nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So long as our blessed Lord endured the gibes<\/p>\n\n\n\n and insults and calumnies of mere men, not a<\/p>\n\n\n\n complaint escaped His lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, when the wrath of God, endured as the<\/p>\n\n\n\n Substitute of His people, entered within His<\/p>\n\n\n\n holy soul, then the wail of agony rose strong<\/p>\n\n\n\n and piercing, “My God, My God, why have<\/p>\n\n\n\n You forsaken Me?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why was His soul troubled?<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was now bearing sin and, consequently,<\/p>\n\n\n\n the punishment of sin; the wrath of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n overwhelming His soul. Divine justice, finding<\/p>\n\n\n\n the sins of God’s elect meeting on His holy soul,<\/p>\n\n\n\n exacted full payment and inflicted the utmost<\/p>\n\n\n\n penalty!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Bag, a Book, and a Bottle!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Don Fortner)<\/p>\n\n\n\n God takes great care to comfort His people in their many trials\nand sorrows in this world. One of the goals which He commands His preachers to\nhave, is the comfort of His people. He says, “Comfort, comfort My\npeople.” Here are three things described in the Word of God that should be\nof great comfort to every believer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. God has made A BAG FOR OUR SINS. Job said, “My\ntransgression is sealed up in a bag, and you sew up my iniquity.” In\nancient times when men died at sea, their bodies were placed in a weighted bag\nwhich was sewn together and sealed. Then they were cast into the depths of the\nsea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is what God has done with our sins. They are cast\n“into the depths of the sea.” When Christ died for our sins which\nwere imputed to Him, He put them all away. They were buried in the sea of God’s\ninfinite forgiveness, put away never to be brought up again. God almighty will\nnever charge us with sin, impute sin to us, remember our sins against us, or\ntreat us any less graciously because of our sin. That is the forgiveness of\nGod! “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The Lord has written A BOOK FOR OUR NAMES. Take heart child\nof God. Your name is written in the book of God! Before the worlds were made,\nthe Lord God inscribed the names of His elect in the Lamb’s book of life. In\nthat book God has recorded, not only the names of the chosen heirs of Heaven,\nbut also all things pertaining to them. The Lamb’s book of life is the book of\nGod’s eternal purpose of grace, predestination, and election. The fact that our\nnames are written in that book means that our salvation is a matter of absolute\ncertainty, and that all things work together for our good by God’s arrangement\nto secure our predestined end, which is perfect conformity to Christ. When our\nLord says, “Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven,” He is\ntelling us that we have nothing to fear. All is well with those whose names are\nwritten in Heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Moreover, the Lord God keeps A BOTTLE FOR OUR TEARS.\n“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your\nbottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.” It was customary at\nancient Egyptian funerals for mourners to have a small cloth or sponge to wipe\naway their tears. Then they were squeezed into a small vial, a tear bottle, and\nplaced in the tomb with the dead, symbolizing the care the mourners had for the\none who had died. Even so, the Lord our God, our heavenly Father, our almighty\nSavior, and our holy Comforter tenderly cares for us. We are the very apple of\nHis eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord our God has . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n put our sins in a bag and buried them,<\/p>\n\n\n\n written our names in a book to remember them, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n placed our tears in a bottle to show His tender care for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could anything be more comforting in this world of sin, sorrow,\nand death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”\nIsaiah 53:6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n How shall we account for the sufferings of Christ, which were\nintense, and mysterious, if not on the ground of their vicarious character?\nThose sufferings were intense in the extreme. There was a severity in those who,\nif not required by Divine justice, would be perfectly unaccountable. Heaven,\nearth, and hell, all were in league against Him. Survey His eventful history-\nmark every step which He took from Bethlehem to Calvary; and what do we learn\nof His sufferings, but that they were of the most extraordinary and intense\ncharacter. His enemies, like dogs of war, were let loose upon Him. His\nprofessed followers themselves stood aghast at the scenes through which their\nLord was passing- one betraying Him, another denying Him, and all, in the hour\nof His extremity, forsaking Him. Is it any wonder that, in the anguish of His\nsoul, His suffering humanity should exclaim, “Father, if it be possible,\nlet this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” In that\nawful moment, all the waves and billows of God’s wrath, due to the sins of His\npeople, were passing over Him. The Father, the last resource of sympathy,\nveiled His face, and withdrew from Him His sensible presence; and on the cross,\ndraining the cup of sorrow, He fulfilled the prophecy, which spoke of Him-\n“I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there were none\nwith me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n His sufferings, too, were mysterious. Why a holy, harmless\nbeing, whose whole life had been one act of unparalleled beneficence, should be\ndoomed to persecution so severe, to sufferings so acute, and to a death so\npainful and ignominious, the denier of the atonement must be embarrassed to\naccount. But the doctrine of a vicarious sacrifice explains it all, and\npresents the only key to the mystery. “He was made sin for us, who knew no\nsin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” “Christ\nhas redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” All\nthe mystery now is gone. He was “made sin for us.” He was “made\na curse for us.” He bore the sin, and consequently the penalty of sin. Had\nwe been left, Christian reader, to bear our sins, we must inevitably have borne\nalone the punishment of our sins. But Jesus took upon Him our sins. For this,\nHe became a party in the covenant of redemption; for this, He assumed our\nnature; for this, He sorrowed in Gethsemane; for this, the law of God exacted\nits utmost claim; and for this, the justice of God inflicted the utmost\npenalty. Oh, what a truth is this! The Son of God offering Himself up a\nsacrifice for sin! He who knew no sin- who was holy, harmless, and undefiled-\nnot one thought of evil in His heart, yet made sin, or a sin-offering! Oh the\ngreatness of the thought! If God had not Himself declared it, we could not have\nbelieved it, though an angel’s tongue had announced it. God Himself must\nproclaim it; and because He has so proclaimed it, we believe it. And God alone\ncan write it upon the heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is mercy! (Letters of William Romaine, 1714-1795) “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner!” Luke 18:13 “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;” Psalm […]<\/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-5799","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\/5799","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=5799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5800,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5799\/revisions\/5800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}