{"id":6031,"date":"2021-05-03T07:31:13","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T07:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6031"},"modified":"2021-05-03T07:31:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T07:31:13","slug":"the-one-precious-all-absorbing-theme%ef%bb%bf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6031","title":{"rendered":"The one, precious, all absorbing theme!\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

from \u201cThe Precious Things of God\u201d 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, \u201ccount<\/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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then will God\u2019s 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 \u201cWord of Christ\u201d 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, \u201cO how love I your<\/p>\n\n\n\n

law! it is my meditation all the day.\u201d<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The one, precious, all absorbing theme! from \u201cThe Precious Things of God\u201d by Octavius Winslow The Word of God must ever be transcendently precious to the believer. The Bible is, from its commencement to its close, a record of the Lord Jesus. Around Him the divine and glorious Word centers; all its wondrous types, prophecies, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-octavius-winslow","category-christ-his-person-and-excellencies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6031","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=6031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6032,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6031\/revisions\/6032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}