{"id":6107,"date":"2021-11-09T06:24:03","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T06:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6107"},"modified":"2021-11-09T06:24:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T06:24:03","slug":"bulletin-edition-november-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6107","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition November 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is the blood of Jesus, applied\nby the Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Octavius Winslow)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a perpetual proneness to seek our fruitfulness from\nanything but a close, spiritual, and constant dealing with the cross of Jesus.\nBut as well might we expect the earth to clothe itself with verdure, or the\ntree to blossom, and the blossom ripen into fruit, without the sun’s genial\nwarmth \u2014 as to look for fruitfulness in a regenerate soul, without a constant\ndealing with the Lord Jesus Christ. For just what the sun is to the kingdom of\nnature, Jesus the Sun of righteousness is to the kingdom of grace \u2014 the blessed\nsource of all its verdure, fragrance, and fruitfulness. Then, let all your\nexpectations be centred here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No real good can come to you, no healing to your spirit, no\nfruitfulness to your soul, from a perpetual living upon convictions of sin,\nlegal fears, or transient joys \u2014 the Divine life can derive no nourishment from\nthese. But live upon the atoning blood of Jesus \u2014 here is the fatness of your\nsoul found. This is that which heals the wound, wins the heart, and hushes to\nrepose every fear of condemnation. This is that which enables a poor sinner to\nlook fully at God \u2014 feeling that justice, holiness, truth, and every Divine\nperfection are on his side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the blood of Jesus, applied by the Spirit \u2014 which moistens\neach fibre of the root of holiness in the soul, and is productive of its fruitfulness.\nThis is that which sends the warm current of life through every part of the\nregenerate man, quickening the pulse of love, and imparting a healthy and\nvigorous power to every act of obedience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when the spiritual seasons change \u2014 for it is not always\nspring-time with the soul of a child of God; when the summer’s sun withers, or\nthe autumnal blast scatters the leaves, and winter’s fiercer storm beats upon\nthe smitten bough \u2014 then the blood and righteousness of Christ, lived upon,\nloved, and cherished \u2014 will yet sustain the Divine life in the soul, and in due\nseason the spring blossom and the summer fruit shall again appear, proving that\nthe Divine life of a believer is “hid with Christ in God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then shall be said of you, as was said of the church by her\nBeloved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song 2:10 My\nbeloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song 2:11 For,\nlo, the winter is past, the rain is over and<\/em> gone;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song 2:12 The\nflowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds<\/em> is come,\nand the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song 2:13 The fig\ntree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with<\/em> the tender grape\ngive a good<\/em> smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then let your heart respond, Song 4:16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south;\nblow upon my garden, that<\/em> the spices thereof may flow out. Let my\nbeloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were dead men rotting in a dunghill of sin!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Charles Spurgeon, “Treasury of David”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Lord raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth\nthe needy out of the dunghill!” Psalm 113:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a gracious stoop of love! He frequently lifts the lowest of\nmankind out of their poverty and degradation, and adopts them into His family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His gracious Spirit is continually visiting the down-trodden,\ngiving beauty for ashes to those who are cast down, and elevating the hearts of\nHis mourners until they shout for joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These upliftings of grace are here ascribed directly to the\ndivine hand, and truly those who have experienced them will not doubt the fact\nthat it is the Lord alone who brings His people up from the dust of sorrow and\ndeath. When no hand but His can help, He interposes and the work is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And lifts the needy from the dunghill” whereon they\nlay like worthless refuse, cast off and cast out\u2014left as they thought, to rot\ninto destruction, and to be everlastingly forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How great a stoop from the height of His throne, to a dunghill!\nHow wonderful is that power which occupies itself in lifting up beggars, all\nbefouled with the filthiness in which they lay! For He lifts them out of the\ndunghill, not disdaining to search them out from amidst the base things of the\nearth\u2014that He may bring to nothing the great ones, and pour contempt upon all\nhuman glorying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a dunghill was that upon which we lay by nature!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a mass of corruption is our original estate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a heap of loathsomeness we have accumulated by our sinful\nlives!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could never have risen out of this corruption by our own\nefforts\u2014we were dead men rotting in a dunghill of sin!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almighty were the arms which lifted us, which are still lifting\nus, and will lift us into the perfection of Heaven itself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hidden life!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(From Winslow’s “The Solitude of the Cross”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with Christ in God.” Col. 3:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Divine life in the believer, the life of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God in the soul of man, is a hidden life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is it invisible to the world, except<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in its outward actions, and these are often<\/p>\n\n\n\n

misunderstood and misinterpreted; but very<\/p>\n\n\n\n

much so to the saints also. It is often but<\/p>\n\n\n\n

dimly perceived, and we are slow to recognize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is of all things the most deeply veiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its existence and aspirations, its depressions,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

defeats, and victories, are known only to Him<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in whom that life emphatically lives and moves<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and has its being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, then, touching the growth of this hidden<\/p>\n\n\n\n

spiritual life; it is in the solitude of the Cross<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that it derives its strongest impulse, and exhibits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

its mightiest development. The Divine life in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

believer is a divine plant which only grows beneath<\/p>\n\n\n\n

this sacred shadow. If we would advance in grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we must recede frequently from the sun’s heat of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

this world, and dwell amid the solemn shadows of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gethsemane and the deeper solitude of Calvary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewless as the wind, silent as the dew, is that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

influence which the most vitalizes and promotes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

our real sanctification. Oh, how blessed to sit there,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with myriads like ourselves, silently growing in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

heavenliness near that marvellous Cross; frail and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

feeble tendrils entwining around the stem of that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

glorious Tree of Life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us often heed the invitation of our Lord, “Come<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rest,” gently led by His outstretched hand to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

solitude of His Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union with Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Newton’s Letters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Sir,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union of a believer with Christ is so intimate, so\nunalterable, so rich in privilege, so powerful in influence, that it cannot be\nfully represented by any description or similitude taken from earthly things.\nThe mind, like the sight, is incapable of apprehending a great object, without\nviewing it on different sides. To help our weakness, the nature of this union\nis illustrated, in the Scripture, by four comparisons, each throwing additional\nlight on the subject, yet all falling short of the thing signified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our natural state, we are driven and tossed about, by the\nchanging winds of opinion, and the waves of trouble, which hourly disturb and\nthreaten us upon the uncertain sea of human life. But faith, uniting us to\nChrist, fixes us upon a sure foundation, the Rock of Ages, where we stand\nimmovable, though storms and floods unite their force against us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By nature we are separated from the divine life, as branches\nbroken off, withered and fruitless. But grace, through faith, unites us to\nChrist the living Vine, from whom, as the root of all fullness, a constant\nsupply of sap and influence is derived into each of his mystical branches,\nenabling them to bring forth fruit unto God, and to persevere and abound\ntherein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By nature we are hateful and abominable in the sight of a holy\nGod, and full of enmity and hatred towards each other. By faith, uniting us to\nChrist, we have fellowship with the Father and the Son, and joint communion\namong ourselves; even as the members of the same body have each of them union,\ncommunion, and sympathy, with the head, and with their fellow-members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our natural estate, we were cast out naked and destitute,\nwithout pity, and without help, Ezek. 16:1-63; but faith, uniting us to Christ,\ninterests us in his righteousness, his riches, and his honors. Our Redeemer is\nour husband; our debts are paid, our settlements secured, and our names\nchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus the Lord Jesus, in declaring himself the foundation, root,\nhead, and husband, of his people, takes in all the ideas we can frame of an\nintimate, vital, and inseparable union. Yet all these fall short of truth; and\nhe has given us one further similitude, of which we can by no means form a just\nconception until we shall be brought to see him as he is in his kingdom. John\n27:21: “That they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you;\nthat they also may be one in us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well may we say, What has God wrought! How inviolable is the\nsecurity, how inestimable the privilege, how inexpressible the happiness, of a\nbeliever! How greatly is he indebted to grace! He was once afar off, but he is\nbrought near to God by the blood of Christ: he was once a child of wrath, but\nis now an heir of everlasting life. How strong then are his obligations to walk\nworthy of God, who has called him to his kingdom and glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, I feel my own utter helplessness!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(J. C. Philpot, “Sending Out of Light and Truth” 1841)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“O send out Your light and Your truth,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 let them lead me.” Psalm 43:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Christian is often dissatisfied with his state. He<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is well aware of the shallowness of his attainments<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the divine life, as well as of the ignorance and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

blindness that are in him. He cannot perceive the path<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of life. He sees and feels so powerfully the workings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of sin and corruption, that he often staggers, and is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

perplexed in his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And therefore, labouring under the feeling of . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  his own shortcomings for the past,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  his helplessness for the present,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  and his ignorance for the future,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

he wants to go forward wholly and solely<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the strength of the Lord, to be . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  led,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  guided,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  directed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  kept,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not by his own wisdom and power\u2014but by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the supernatural entrance of light and truth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

into his soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When thus harassed and perplexed, he will at times<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and seasons, as his heart is made soft, cry out with<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fervency and importunity, as a beggar that will not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

take a denial, “O send forth Your light and Your truth,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

let them guide me!” As though he would say, “Lord,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel my own utter helplessness! I know I must go<\/p>\n\n\n\n

astray, if You do not condescend to guide me. I have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

been betrayed a thousand times when I have trusted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

my own heart. I have been entangled in my base<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lusts. I have been puffed up by presumption. I have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

been carried away by hypocrisy and pride. I have been<\/p>\n\n\n\n

drawn aside into the world. I have never taken a single<\/p>\n\n\n\n

step aright when left to myself. And therefore feeling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

how unable I am to guide myself a single step of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

way, I come unto You, and ask You to send forth Your<\/p>\n\n\n\n

light and Your truth, that they may guide me, for I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

am utterly unable to lead myself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The child of God\u2014feeling his own ignorance, darkness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

blindness, and sinfulness\u2014causes him to moan, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sigh, and cry unto God\u2014that he might be . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  led every step,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  kept every moment,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  guided every inch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“O send forth Your light and Your truth,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 let them guide me.” Psalm 43:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that\njustifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans\n4:5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith has to do with the understanding and the heart. A man must\nknow his lost and ruined condition before he will accept of Christ; and how can\nhe know this, without a spiritually enlightened mind? What a surprising change\nnow passes over the man! He is brought, by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit,\nto a knowledge of himself. One beam of light, one touch of the Spirit, has\naltered all his views of himself, has placed him in a new aspect; all big\nthoughts, his affections, his desires, are diverted into another and an\nopposite channel; his fond views of his own righteousness have fled like a\ndream, his high thoughts are humbled, his lofty looks are brought low, and, as\na broken-hearted sinner, he takes his place in the dust before God. Oh\nwondrous, oh blessed change! to see the Pharisee take the place, and to hear\nhim utter the cry, of the Publican\u2014”God be merciful to me a\nsinner!”\u2014to hear him exclaim, “I am lost, self-ruined, deserving\neternal wrath; and of sinners the vilest and the chief.” And now the work\nand exercise of faith commences; the same blessed Spirit that convinced of sin\npresents to the soul a Savior crucified for the lost\u2014unfolds a salvation full\nand free for the most worthless\u2014reveals a fountain that “cleanses from all\nsin,” and holds up to view a righteousness that “justifies from all\nthings.” And all that He sets the poor convinced sinner upon doing to\navail himself of this, is simply to believe. To the momentous question,\n“What shall I do to be saved?” this is the only reply\u2014”Believe\nin the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” The anxious soul\neagerly exclaims\u2014”Have I then nothing to do but to believe?\u2014have I no\ngreat work to accomplish, no price to bring, no worthiness to plead?\u2014may I come\njust as I am, without merit, without self-preparation, without money, with all\nmy vileness and nothingness?” Still the reply is, “Only believe.”\n“Then, Lord, I do believe,” exclaims the soul in a transport of joy;\n“help my unbelief.” This, reader, is faith\u2014faith, that wondrous\ngrace, that mighty act of which you have heard so much, upon which so many\nvolumes have been written, and so many sermons have been preached; it is the\nsimple rolling of a wounded, bleeding heart upon a wounded, bleeding Savior; it\nis the simple reception of the amazing truth, that Jesus died for the\nungodly\u2014died for sinners\u2014died for the poor, the vile, the bankrupt; that He\ninvites and welcomes to His bosom all poor, convinced, heavy-laden sinners. The\nheart, believing this wondrous announcement, going out of all other\ndependencies and resting only in this\u2014receiving it, welcoming it, rejoicing in\nit, in a moment, all, all is peace. Do not forget, reader, that faith is but to\nbelieve with all the heart that Jesus died for sinners; and the full belief of\nthis one fact will bring peace to the most anxious and sin-troubled soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is the blood of Jesus, applied by the Spirit (Octavius Winslow) There is a perpetual proneness to seek our fruitfulness from anything but a close, spiritual, and constant dealing with the cross of Jesus. But as well might we expect the earth to clothe itself with verdure, or the tree to blossom, and the […]<\/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-6107","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\/6107","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=6107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6108,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6107\/revisions\/6108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}