“Conversion is not the smooth, easygoing\nprocess some men seem to think it otherwise man\u2019s heart would never have been\ncompared to fallow ground and God\u2019s Word to a plough.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-John Bunyan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Truth!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A sacred regard to the authority of God ought to lead us<\/p>\n\n\n\n to reject an error, however old, sanctioned by whatever<\/p>\n\n\n\n authority, or however generally practiced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The truths that I know best<\/strong> I\nhave learned<\/p>\n\n\n\n on my knees. I never know a thing well, till<\/p>\n\n\n\n it is burned into my heart by prayer.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n -John Bunyan<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE BELIEVER\u2019S RULE OF LIFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n I left the pulpit one night and a fellow asked me, \u201cDo you\nbelieve \u2018the law\u2019 to be a believer\u2019s rule of life?\u201d He seemed surprised when I\ntold him I did not. His very next question was, \u201cHow do you know how to live?\u201d\nI told him immediately that I lived just as the Apostle Paul, \u201cThe life that I\nnow life, I live by the faith of the Son of God\u201d (Gal. 2:20). This was the rule\nof life for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Abel and all others who have nothing\nbut Jesus Christ to live upon. Someone would say, \u201cYou mean you live as you\nwant to?\u201d I wish I could: I\u2019d be filled with the Spirit, I would never sin\nagain, all my motives would be pure, I\u2019d be delivered from this body of death.\nOh, I wish I could live just like I want to. The closest thing I have found to\nliving just like I\u2019d like to is living by faith upon Jesus Christ the Dear and\nBlessed Son of God. \u2013 Pastor Bruce Crabtree<\/p>\n\n\n\n *So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice\nof Himself\u2014that He created the tree upon which He was to die, and nurtured from\ninfancy, the men who were to nail Him to the accursed wood!<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Christ took your cup of grief, your cup of the curse, pressed it\nto his lips, drank it to its dregs\u2014then filled it with His sweet, pardoning,\nsympathizing love, and gave it back for you to drink, and to drink forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Christian! God is near at hand whenever you approach Him in\nprayer. Oh, comforting truth! You have a God at hand . . . *Seasons vary, circumstances change, feelings fluctuate,\nfriendships cool, friends die\u2014but Christ is ever the same!<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Unaccompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit–the Bible is\ninactive, inoperative; a mere dead letter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I am black, but lovely!” Song of Solomon 1:5<\/p>\n\n\n\n The believer pictures her state. It is a seeming paradox. The\nextremes of lowliness and greatness are combined. She presents two aspects:\ndeformity and loveliness compose the portrait. “I am black, but lovely!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blackness is frightful and repulsive. No eye can rest on it\ncomplacently. But blackness is the emblem of our state by nature. We are\nconceived and born in sin; and sin is most hideous wherever it appears. The\nSpirit has revealed this truth to each enlightened convert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sees it;<\/p>\n\n\n\n he feels it;<\/p>\n\n\n\n he owns it;<\/p>\n\n\n\n he bewails it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is his constant misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When he would do good, evil is present with him. He hates and\nloathes and abhors himself in dust and ashes. Surveying the innate corruption,\nwhich is his, he mournfully confesses, “I am black! I am vile!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he looks off to Christ. He sees the precious blood washing\nout every stain and obliterating the crimson dye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blackness disappears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Christ he is whiter than the whitest snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He puts on Christ, and adores Him as made sin for us, that we\nmight be made the righteousness of God in Him. He sees His pure and perfect\nobedience wrought out as a robe to hide his every defect, so bright, so lovely,\nand so glorious, that it exceeds all admiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He feels that this righteousness is through grace imputed to\nhim. He knows that he is lovely through divine loveliness. Thus clothed and\ndecked, he triumphantly tells his friends, “I am black, but lovely!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “You are absolutely beautiful, My beloved! There is no spot\nin you!” Song of Solomon 4:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Law 1879<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe Will Be Glad And Rejoice In Thee\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song of Solomon 1:4<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another year is dawning. We who are the children of the living\nGod will not open the gates of the new year in sorrow and mourning. We will\nsing unto our God. With joy in our hearts and gladness in our souls, we will\nmake known his lovingkindness, his faithfulness, and his grace. \u201cWe will be\nglad and rejoice in thee!\u201d The eternal God is our Father. The Holy Spirit is\nour Comforter. The blessed Son is our Savior. Why should we not rejoice? We\nwill rejoice. We are determined. Our God must have the crown of our hearts\u2019\npraise. We will be glad because of all that he has done. And we will rejoice\nbecause he is who he is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will rejoice because our God is God. \u201cOur\nGod is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased\u201d (Psalm 115:3).\nGod our Father rules this world. He is the inexpressibly majestic sovereign of\nthe universe. He rules absolutely, and he rules absolutely well. All that he\ndoes, or allows to be done, is positively good for his people. He does all\nthings for the salvation, the spiritual good, and the eternal felicity of his\nown elect. And he does all things for his own eternal praise and glory. We want\nno more than this. \u201cWe will be glad and rejoice in thee!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will be glad because of all that God has\ndone for us in Christ. \u201cCount your many blessings, name them one by one; and it\nwill surprise you what the Lord has done!\u201d He chose us as the peculiar objects\nof his grace in eternal, electing love. He redeemed us by the blood of his own\ndear Son. He has forgiven us of all our sin and justified us by his grace. He\npreserved us, even in our rebellion, unto the day of his grace. He regenerated\nus, called us, and gave us faith in Christ. God has saved us by his matchless\ngrace. Oh yes, \u201cWe will be glad and rejoice in thee!\u201d Don Fortner <\/p>\n\n\n\n What is it to preach the gospel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Salvation is, in its entirety, the work of<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Election, redemption, justification, sanctification,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and preservation are all works of grace alone, in no way<\/p>\n\n\n\n conditioned upon the will, works, or worth of the sinner.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Is it to Preach the Gospel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To preach the gospel is to tell the truth about MAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the truth about man? “All flesh is grass,”\n-withering,<\/p>\n\n\n\n worthless, insignificant grass (Isa. 40:6-8). All men are\nfallen,<\/p>\n\n\n\n depraved, helpless, guilty sinners, without the least\ninclination<\/p>\n\n\n\n or ability to do good, seek God, or know God (Rom. 3:9-18),<\/p>\n\n\n\n dead in trespasses and in sins (Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n To preach the gospel is to tell the truth about GOD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God is is the eternal, holy, sovereign Monarch of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is he who made all things, rules all things, and disposes of\nall<\/p>\n\n\n\n things (including you and I) as he will. “All things are of\nGod.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing in this universe writhes or wiggles apart from God’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n purpose, predestination, providence, and power (Rom. 11:36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is this great and glorious Lord God who lifts his hand and\nsays,<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will\nhave<\/p>\n\n\n\n compassion on whom I will have compassion.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n To preach the gospel is to tell the truth about the LORD JESUS\nCHRIST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord Jesus Christ is God in human flesh, God come to save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was called “Jesus” because he is Jehovah our\nSavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He came here on an errand of mercy, with a commission from<\/p>\n\n\n\n God the Father as our covenant Surety to save his people from<\/p>\n\n\n\n their sins (Matt. 1:21; John 10:16-18); and when he left here,<\/p>\n\n\n\n all that he came to do was done! Righteousness was established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justice was satisfied. The sins of God’s elect, which were<\/p>\n\n\n\n imputed to him, were put away. His people were fully and<\/p>\n\n\n\n forever redeemed, justified, and sanctified by his blood<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Heb. 10:10-14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n To preach the gospel is to tell the truth about SALVATION.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does it take to save a sinner? It takes a work of God’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n sovereign, eternal, electing love and predestination (Eph.\n1:3-6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It takes a work of effectual, blood redemption, the satisfaction\nof<\/p>\n\n\n\n divine justice by an infinitely meritorious Substitute– the\nLord<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24-26). It takes all the work of God’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n universal providence (Rom. 8:28-30). It takes the infallible,<\/p>\n\n\n\n irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit in<\/p>\n\n\n\n regeneration and effectual calling, by which chosen, redeemed<\/p>\n\n\n\n sinners are raised from the dead and given faith in Christ (Eph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1:17-20; Psa. 65:4). It takes a work of immutable grace,\npreserving<\/p>\n\n\n\n the called ones in life and grace, causing them to persevere<\/p>\n\n\n\n in faith, keeping them unto the end (Phil. 1:6). It takes a work\nof<\/p>\n\n\n\n resurrection glory, by which these bodies sown in corruption<\/p>\n\n\n\n shall put on incorruption, mortality shall put on immortality,\nand<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s elect shall enter into that eternal state of bliss called<\/p>\n\n\n\n “the glorious liberty of the sons of God” (1 Thess.\n4:13-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This salvation, in its entirety, is found in the Lord Jesus\nChrist<\/p>\n\n\n\n alone (1 Cor. 1:30-31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n The love of the truth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (J. C. Philpot, “The Valley of Achor” 1861)<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They perish because they did not receive the love of<\/p>\n\n\n\n the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thess. 2:10<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a receiving of ‘the truth’, and a receiving of<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘the love of the truth’. These two things widely differ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To receive the truth will not necessarily save; for many<\/p>\n\n\n\n who receive the truth, never receive ‘the love of the truth’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professors by thousands receive the truth into their<\/p>\n\n\n\n judgment, and adopt the plan of salvation as their creed;<\/p>\n\n\n\n but are neither saved nor sanctified thereby. But to receive<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘the love of the truth’ by Jesus being made sweet and<\/p>\n\n\n\n precious to the soul, is to receive salvation itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Yes, He is very precious to you who believe.” 1 Peter\n2:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and\ntruth!” John 1:14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Charles Spurgeon)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Believer, you can bear your testimony that Christ is the only\nbegotten of the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can say, “He is truly divine. He has done that for me,\nwhich none but a God could do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n subdued my stubborn will,<\/p>\n\n\n\n melted a heart of adamant,<\/p>\n\n\n\n opened gates of brass,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and snapped bars of iron!<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has turned my mourning into laughter, and my desolation into\njoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has made my heart rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of\nglory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let others think as they will of Him\u2014to me He must be the only\nbegotten of the Father!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And He is full of grace. Ah! had He not been, then I would never\nhave been saved! He drew me when I struggled to escape from His grace; and when\nat last I came all trembling like a condemned culprit to His mercy-seat He\nsaid, “Your sins which are many, are all forgiven!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n And He is full of truth. True have His promises been, not one\nhas failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I bear witness that . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n never any servant had such a master as I have;<\/p>\n\n\n\n never any brother had such a kinsman as He has been to\nme;<\/p>\n\n\n\n never any spouse had such a husband as Christ has been to\nmy soul;<\/p>\n\n\n\n never any sinner had a better Savior;<\/p>\n\n\n\n never any mourner had a better comforter than Christ has\nbeen to my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I desire none beside Him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In life, He is my true life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In death, He shall be the death of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In poverty, Christ is my true riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In darkness, He is my sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is my manna in this poor wilderness world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He shall be heavenly manna when I come to the heavenly Canaan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is to me . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n all grace, and no wrath;<\/p>\n\n\n\n all truth, and no falsehood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And of grace and truth He is full, infinitely full!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and\ntruth!” John 1:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you depend on?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n from Spurgeon\u2019s, “THE CEDARS OF LEBANON”<\/p>\n\n\n\n O Christian. You are to live expecting nothing<\/p>\n\n\n\n from man, and you shall never be disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are to live looking upon the Lord alone, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n there again disappointment shall never come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understand that one of God\u2019s objects with you is to<\/p>\n\n\n\n knock away every prop from you, to take away every<\/p>\n\n\n\n buttress, and to make you lean upon God alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is the round world, what bears it up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n God hangs the world upon nothing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are what you should be, you are just like that earth \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n you have no visible support \u2014 there is nothing upon which<\/p>\n\n\n\n you can depend that the carnal eye can see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But yet as the earth moves not and falls not from her orbit, so\nyou,<\/p>\n\n\n\n by the power of faith, shall be maintained and kept just where\nyou are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they<\/p>\n\n\n\n that wait on the Lord shall not lack any good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a life\u2019s work to learn independence of the creature, and\nalmost<\/p>\n\n\n\n another life\u2019s work to learn dependence upon the Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To wean us from the breasts of this world is a long and painful\nprocess;<\/p>\n\n\n\n to get us clean rid of that walking by sight, which is the\ndisease of man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and to bring us to walk by faith in the Spirit, which is the\nglory of a<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christian, this is a work well worthy of a God, and blessed is\nthe man<\/p>\n\n\n\n who has this work to a great extent accomplished in himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best Christians are those who are most<\/p>\n\n\n\n delivered from confidence in the creature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In proportion as men become little in self and little in\ncreature love and<\/p>\n\n\n\n creature trust, they become great and mighty in their doings for\nthe Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do feel, brethren, more and more, that my soul must wait only<\/p>\n\n\n\n upon the Lord, and that my expectation must be from him alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You too, must come here, and learn that the Lord will provide,\nbut<\/p>\n\n\n\n it is only in the mount of the Lord that this sweet truth can be\nseen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Conversion is not the smooth, easygoing process some men seem to think it otherwise man\u2019s heart would never have been compared to fallow ground and God\u2019s Word to a plough.” -John Bunyan Truth! A sacred regard to the authority of God ought to lead us to reject an error, however old, sanctioned by whatever authority, […]<\/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-6126","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\/6126","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=6126"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6148,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6126\/revisions\/6148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nto listen to the softest breath of prayer,
\nto listen to every confession of sin,
\nto listen to every cry of need,
\nto listen to every utterance of sorrow,
\nto listen to every wail of woe,
\nto listen to every appeal for counsel, strength, and support!<\/p>\n\n\n\n