{"id":5974,"date":"2021-03-15T23:43:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T23:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5974"},"modified":"2021-03-15T23:43:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T23:43:33","slug":"%ef%bb%bfthe-supreme-investiture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5974","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffTHE SUPREME INVESTITURE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>THE SUPREME INVESTITURE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John MacDuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll power in heaven and in earth is given unto Me!\u201d \u2014 Matthew 28:18<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What an empire is this! Heaven and earth \u2014 the Church militant \u2014 the Church triumphant \u2014 angels and archangels \u2014 saints and seraphs are under Christ\u2019s supreme authority! At His mandate: the billows were hushed \u2014 demons crouched in terror \u2014 the grave yielded its prey! \u201cUpon His head are many crowns!\u201d He is made \u201cHead over all things!\u201d Yes! over all things, from the minutest \u2014 to the mightiest. He holds the stars in His right hand \u2014 He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, feeding every candlestick with the oil of His grace, and preserving every star in its spiritual orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Prince of Darkness has \u201ca power,\u201d but it is not an \u201call power.\u201d Satan is potent \u2014 but not omnipotent. Christ holds him on a chain! He has set bounds that he may not pass over. \u201cSatan,\u201d we read in the book of Job, \u201cwent out (with permission) from the presence of the Lord.\u201d Satan \u201cdesired\u201d to have Peter that he might \u201csift him;\u201d but there was a mightier agency at hand: \u201cI have prayed for you,\u201d Jesus said to Peter, \u201cthat your faith will not fail!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Believer, how often is there nothing but this grace of Jesus, between you and everlasting destruction! Satan\u2019s key may be fitting the lock in your wayward heart \u2014 but a stronger than the strong man is barring him out! The power of the adversary fanning the flame \u2014 the Omnipotence of Jesus quenching it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you even now feeling the strength of your corruptions, the weakness of your graces, the presence of some outward or inward temptation? Look up to Him who has promised to make His grace sufficient for you; \u201call-sufficiency in all things\u201d is His promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is power, too \u2014 in conjunction with tenderness. He who sways the scepter of His universal empire \u201cgently leads\u201d His weak, and weary, and burdened ones! He who counts the number of the stars \u2014 loves to count the number of their sorrows! Nothing is too great \u2014 and nothing is too insignificant for Him! He paves His people\u2019s pathway, with love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessed Jesus! my everlasting interests cannot be in better or in safer keeping, than in Yours. I can rely on the all-power of Your Godhead. I can sweetly rejoice in the all-sympathy of Your Manhood. I can confidently repose in the all-wisdom of Your dealings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSometimes,\u201d says one, \u201cwe expect the blessing in our own way \u2014 but He chooses to bestow it in His way.\u201d But His way and His will must be the best! Infinite love, infinite power, infinite wisdom \u2014 are surely infallible guarantees! Nothing can alter His purposes. His promises can never fail. His Word never falls to the ground. \u201cHeaven and earth shall pass away \u2014 but MY WORDS shall not pass away!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE SUPREME INVESTITURE John MacDuff \u201cRemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,\u201d \u201cAll power in heaven and in earth is given unto Me!\u201d \u2014 Matthew 28:18 What an empire is this! Heaven and earth \u2014 the Church militant \u2014 the Church triumphant \u2014 angels and archangels \u2014 saints and seraphs are under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-john-macduff","category-christ-his-person-and-excellencies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5974","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=5974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5975,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5974\/revisions\/5975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}