{"id":6027,"date":"2021-05-03T07:26:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T07:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6027"},"modified":"2021-05-03T07:26:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T07:26:12","slug":"bulletin-edition-may-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6027","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition May 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Great is the mystery of\ngodliness; God was manifest in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A mystery indeed it is, a great, a deep, an unfathomable\nmystery; for who can rightly understand how the divine Word, the eternal Son of\nGod, was made flesh, and dwelt among us? “Who shall declare his\ngeneration?” (Isa. 53:8;) either that eternal generation whereby he is the\nonly-begotten Son of God, or the generation of his sacred humanity in the womb\nof the Virgin, when the Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Highest\novershadowed her? These are the things “which the angels desire to look\ninto;” which they cannot understand, but reverently adore. And well may we\nimitate their adoring admiration, not attempting to understand, but believe,\nlove, and revere; for well has it been said, “Where reason fails, with all\nher power–there faith believes, and love adores.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor, if rightly taught and spiritually led, shall we find this a\nbarren, dry, or unprofitable subject. It is “the great mystery of\ngodliness;” therefore all godliness is contained in it, and flows out of\nit. The whole of God’s grace, mercy, and truth is laid up in, is revealed\nthrough, is manifested by, the Son of his love; for “it pleased the Father\nthat in him should all fullness dwell;” and this as Immanuel, God with us.\nThus his sacred humanity, in union with his divine Person, is the channel of\ncommunication through which all the love and mercy of God flow down to poor\nguilty, miserable sinners, who believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of\nGod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If blessed, then, with faith in living exercise, we may draw\nnear and behold the great mystery of godliness. To tread by faith upon this\nholy ground is to come “unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living\nGod, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the\ngeneral assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, and to\nGod the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus\nthe mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks\nbetter things than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:22-24); for every blessing of\nthe new covenant, if we are but favored with a living faith in an incarnate\nGod, is then experimentally as well as eternally ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one, precious, all absorbing theme!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

from “The Precious Things of God” by Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Word of God must ever be transcendently<\/p>\n\n\n\n

precious to the believer. The Bible is, from its<\/p>\n\n\n\n

commencement to its close, a record of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Jesus. Around Him the divine and glorious<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word centers; all its wondrous types, prophecies,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and facts gather. His Promise and Foreshadowing,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His holy Incarnation, Nativity, and Baptism, His<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obedience and Passion, His Death, Burial, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resurrection, His Ascension to heaven, His Second<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming to judge the world, are the grand and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

touching, the sublime and tender, the priceless<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and precious truths interwoven with the whole<\/p>\n\n\n\n

texture of the Bible, to which the Two Witnesses<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of Revelation, the Old and the New Testaments<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bear their harmonious and solemn testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beloved, let this be the one and chief<\/p>\n\n\n\n

object in your study of the Bible-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the knowledge of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible is not a history, a book of science,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

or a poem; it is a record of Christ. Study it to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

know more of Him, His nature, His love, His<\/p>\n\n\n\n

work. With the magnanimous Paul, “count<\/p>\n\n\n\n

all things but loss for the excellency of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then will God’s Word become increasingly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

precious to your soul, and its truths unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every page you will,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

trace the history of Jesus,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

see the glory of Jesus,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

admire the work of Jesus,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learn the love of Jesus, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

hear the voice of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole volume will be redolent of His<\/p>\n\n\n\n

name, and luminous with His beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, what is the Bible to us apart from its<\/p>\n\n\n\n

revelation of a Savior! Is there not great<\/p>\n\n\n\n

danger of studying it merely intellectually<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and scientifically, of reveling among its<\/p>\n\n\n\n

literary beauties and its grandeur, blind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to its true value, and without any desire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to know that precious Savior who died for<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sinners, that Divine Redeemer who<\/p>\n\n\n\n

purchased the ransom of His Church<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with His own blood; that Friend who<\/p>\n\n\n\n

loves us; that Brother who sympathizes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with us, that enthroned High Priest who<\/p>\n\n\n\n

intercedes for us within the veil?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we study the “Word of Christ” spiritually<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and honestly, as those whose souls hunger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and thirst for this the bread and water of life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we search it diligently and earnestly as<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for hidden treasure; treasure beyond all price?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we say with David, “O how love I your<\/p>\n\n\n\n

law! it is my meditation all the day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we read it with a child like mind, receive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it with a believing heart, bow to its teaching<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with reverence of soul, and receive its<\/p>\n\n\n\n

decisions in all questions of faith and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

practice as decisive and ultimate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a word, do we search the Scriptures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

humbly, prayerfully, depending upon the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

guidance of the Spirit, to find Jesus in them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these Scriptures He is the Alpha and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omega, the substance, the sweetness, the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

glory, the one, precious, all absorbing theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Lord! Your word is precious to our souls,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

because it reveals to us Your glory, and tells<\/p>\n\n\n\n

us of Your love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His master-purpose!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Charles Spurgeon, “Christ’s Incarnation, the Foundation of\nChristianity”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us gather with grateful boldness around the infant in the\nmanger, and behold our God! “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall\nsave His people from their sins!” Matthew 1:21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great object of our Lord’s coming here was not to live, but\nto die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He appeared, not so much to subdue sin by His teaching, or to\nmanifest goodness, or to perfect an example for us to imitate\u2014but “to put\naway sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern teachers of error would thrust the substitutionary\nsacrifice of Jesus into the background\u2014but our Lord placed it in the forefront.\nHe came to take away our sins. Do not think of Jesus without remembering the\ndesign of His coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We preach Christ\u2014so do a great many more. But, “we preach\nChrist crucified!” 1 Corinthians 1:23. We preach, concerning our Lord\u2014His\ncross, His blood, His death! Upon the blood of His cross we lay great stress,\nextolling much “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish\nand without spot.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” by\nputting away their sin “by the sacrifice of Himself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will not deny, or conceal, or depreciate His\nmaster-purpose\u2014lest we be found guilty of trampling upon His blood, and\ntreating it as an unholy thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,\nthat Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners\u2014of whom I am chief”\n1 Timothy 1:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fixed and fastened by an Almighty hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Truth, as it stands in the naked word of God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is lifeless and dead\u2014and as such, has no power<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to communicate what it has not in itself\u2014that is,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

life and power to the hearts of God’s people. It<\/p>\n\n\n\n

stands there in so many letters and syllables, as<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lifeless as the types by which they were printed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when the incarnate Word takes of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

written word, and speaks it home into the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

heart and conscience of a vessel of mercy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

whether in letter or substance\u2014then He endues<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it with divine life\u2014and it enters into the soul,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

communicating to it a life that can never die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eternal realities are then brought into the soul,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fixed and fastened by an Almighty hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conscience is made alive in the fear of God;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the soul is raised up from a death in sin, to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a heavenly, new, and supernatural life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This baffles all our comprehension!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(John MacDuff, “Clefts of the Rock” 1874)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    John 1:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a transition!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a stoop for that Infinite Being who proclaimed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Himself the Alpha and the Omega \u2014 for “The Ancient<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of days” to assume the nature and take the form of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a cradled infant, sleeping on a virgin mother’s bosom!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have no plumb line to sound the depths of that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

humiliation. We have no arithmetic by which it can<\/p>\n\n\n\n

be submitted to any process of calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we can entertain for a moment, the shocking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

supposition of the loftiest created spirit in Heaven<\/p>\n\n\n\n

abjuring his angel nature, and becoming an insect<\/p>\n\n\n\n

or a worm \u2014 then we can, in some feeble degree,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

estimate the descent involved in Jesus’ humiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, for the Illimitable, Everlasting Jehovah,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Himself to become incarnate . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  the Creator \u2014 to take the nature of the created;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  the Infinite \u2014 to be joined with the finite;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Deity \u2014 to be linked with dust;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

this baffles all our comprehension!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can only lie in adoring reverence, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

exclaim with the apostle, “O the depth!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wonderful text!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is from Spurgeon’s, “Christ’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incarnation, the Foundation of Christianity”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is a wonderful text in Galatians 1:4,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

did you ever meditate upon it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Who gave Himself for our SINS…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus never gave Himself for our RIGHTEOUSNESS,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but He did give Himself for our SINS!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sin is a horrible evil, a deadly poison, yet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it is this which gives Jesus His title of Saviour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when He overcomes it. What a wonder this is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first link between my soul and Christ is-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not my goodness, but my badness;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not my merit, but my misery;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not my standing, but my falling;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not my riches, but my need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He comes to visit His people, yet not to admire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their beauties, but to remove their deformities;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not to reward their virtues, but to forgive their sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fully, Entirely and Perfectly!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is from Spurgeon’s book, “Christ’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incarnation, the Foundation of Christianity”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You Shall Call His Name Jesus: For He SHALL SAVE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His People From Their Sins.” Matthew 1:21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JESUS is nothing at all if He is not a SAVIOUR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is anointed to this very end. His very Name is a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sham if He does not SAVE His people from their sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Jesus of Nazareth, the King of kings, and Lord of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lords, is the one and only Saviour. He, and none but He,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shall save His people. He, and not another, shall save<\/p>\n\n\n\n

them by His own act and deed. Singly and unaided, He<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shall save His people. Personally, and not by another,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in His own Name, and on His own behalf, He shall, by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Himself, purge away His people’s sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shall do ALL the work, and leave none of it undone;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shall begin it, carry it on, and complete it; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

therefore is His Name called Jesus, Saviour, because He<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shall Fully, Entirely, and Perfectly, Save His People<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from Their Sins!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save those who were<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lost. If He does not save, He was born in vain, for the object<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of His birth was the salvation of sinners. If He shall not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

be a Saviour, then His mission in coming to this earth has<\/p>\n\n\n\n

missed its end, for its design was that lost sinners might<\/p>\n\n\n\n

be saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lost one, lost one, if there were news that ‘an angel’ had<\/p>\n\n\n\n

come to save you, there might be some good cheer in it;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but there are better tidings still. God Himself has come!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Infinite, the Almighty, has stooped from the highest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

heaven that He may pick you up, a poor undone and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

worthless worm!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal, spiritual, experimental<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

knowledge of Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

It is our dim, scanty, and imperfect knowledge of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Lord Jesus Christ in His eternal love\u2014and in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His grace and glory\u2014which leaves us so often cold,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lifeless, and dead in our affections towards Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there were more blessed revelations to our soul<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of the Person and work, grace and glory, beauty and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

blessedness of the Lord Jesus Christ\u2014it is impossible<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but that we would more and more warmly and tenderly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fall in love with Him\u2014for He is the most glorious object<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that the eyes of faith can see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He fills heaven with the resplendent beams of His<\/p>\n\n\n\n

glorious majesty\u2014and has ravished the hearts of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

thousands of His dear family upon earth by the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

manifestations of His bleeding, dying love. Just in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

proportion to our personal, spiritual, experimental<\/p>\n\n\n\n

knowledge of Him, will be our love to Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh.” 1 Timothy 3:16 J.C.Philpot A mystery indeed it is, a great, a deep, an unfathomable mystery; for who can rightly understand how the divine Word, the eternal Son of God, was made flesh, and dwelt among us? “Who shall declare his generation?” (Isa. […]<\/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-6027","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\/6027","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=6027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6028,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6027\/revisions\/6028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}