{"id":614,"date":"2011-07-09T05:14:40","date_gmt":"2011-07-09T05:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=614"},"modified":"2011-07-09T05:14:40","modified_gmt":"2011-07-09T05:14:40","slug":"bulletin-articles-issue-77-july-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=614","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Articles Issue #77 July 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

That Heavenly Teacher<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Philpot<\/a>, “Daily Words for Zion’s Wayfarers”)<\/p>\n

We do not learn that we are sinners<\/strong> merely
\nby reading it in the Bible. It must be wrought,
\nI might say, burnt into us.
\nNor will anyone sincerely and spiritually cry for
\nmercy<\/strong>, until sin is spiritually felt and known . . .
\nin its misery,
\nin its dominion,
\nin its guilt,
\nin its entanglements,
\nin its wiles and allurements,
\nin its filth and pollution, and
\nin its condemnation.
\nWhere the Holy Spirit works<\/strong>, He kindles . . .
\nsighs,
\ngroans,
\nsupplications,
\nwrestlings, and
\npleadings
\nto know Christ<\/strong>, feel His love, taste the efficacy
\nof His atoning blood, and embrace Him as all
\nour salvation and all our desire.
\nAnd though there may, and doubtless will be,
\nmuch barrenness, hardness, deadness, and
\napparent carelessness often felt; still that
\nheavenly Teacher<\/strong> will revive His work, though
\noften by painful methods; nor will He let the
\nquickened soul rest short of a personal and
\nexperimental enjoyment of Christ and His
\nglorious salvation.<\/p>\n

He puts us in our right place!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>(J. C. Ryle, “Having the Spirit<\/a>“)
\n“When He comes, He will convict the world about
\nsin<\/strong>, righteousness, and judgment.” (John 16:8)
\nAll who have the Spirit are convinced by Him of sin<\/strong>.
\nHe alone can open a man’s eyes to the real extent of
\nhis guilt and corruption before God. He always does
\nthis when He comes into the soul. He puts us in our
\nright place!<\/strong> He shows us the vileness of our own hearts,
\nand makes us cry with the publican, “God be merciful to<\/p>\n

me a sinner!” He pulls down those proud, self-righteous,
\nself-justifying notions with which we are all born–and
\nmakes us feel as we ought to feel–“I am a sinful man,
\nand I deserve to be in hell!”
\nSin is no more pleasant to those who are taught by the
\nSpirit. It is their sorrow when tempted by it. It is their
\nshame when they are overtaken by it. Their desire is to
\nbe free from it altogether. Their happiest times are when
\nthey are enabled to walk most closely with God. Their
\nsaddest times are when they are furthest off from Him.<\/p>\n

“When He comes, He will convict the world about
\nsin<\/strong>, righteousness, and judgment.” (John 16:8)<\/p>\n

The Life Giver<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may take a corpse, you may dress it in all the garments of eternal decency; you may wash it with the water of morality; yes, you may adorn it with the crown of profession, you may put on its forehead a tiara of beauty, you may paint its cheeks, until you make it almost lifelike. But remember, unless the Spirit is there, the worm will feed on the painted cheek, and corruption will soon seize the body. It is the Holy Spirit that is the one who gives life.\u00a0 Charles Spurgeon.<\/p>\n

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2<\/strong><\/p>\n

The interpretation we propose for the adoption of the reader is that which regards the “law of the Spirit of life,” as describing the gospel of Christ, frequently denominated a “law”\u2014and emphatically so in this instance, because of the emancipation it confers from the Mosaic code, called the “law of sin and death,” as by it the knowledge of sin, and through it death is threatened as the penalty of its transgression. But in what sense is the believer free from this deadly law? As a covenant he is free from it. The believer’s union to Christ frees him from the condemnatory power of this law. He looks not to it for life; he rests not in it for hope; he renounces it as a saving covenant, and under the influence of another and a higher obligation\u2014his union to Christ\u2014he brings forth fruit unto God. Was ever liberty so glorious as this\u2014a liberty associated with the most loving, cordial, and holy obedience? Not a single precept of that law, from whose covenant and curse he is released by this act of freedom, is compromised. All its precepts, embodied and reflected in the life of Christ\u2014whose life is the model of our own\u2014appear infinitely more clear and resplendent than ever they appeared before. The obedience of the Lawgiver infinitely enhanced the luster of the law, presenting the most impressive illustration of its majesty and holiness that it could possibly receive.<\/p>\n

The instrument to whose agency this exalted liberty is ascribed is the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” The term law is forensic; though not infrequently used in God’s word to designate the gospel of Christ; indicating it in the text, as the great instrument by which this freedom is obtained. The gospel is the law which reveals the way of salvation by Christ. It is the development of God’s great expedient of saving man. It speaks of pardon and adoption, of acceptance and sanctification, as all flowing to the soul through faith in His dear Son. It represents God as extending His hand of mercy to the vilest sinner; welcoming the penitent wanderer back to His home, and once more taking the contrite rebel to His heart. It is also a quickening law\u2014emphatically the “law of the Spirit of life.” What numbers are seeking sanctification from the “law of sin,” and life from the “law of death”! But the gospel speaks of life. Its doctrines\u2014its precepts\u2014its promises\u2014its exhortations\u2014its rebukes\u2014its hopes\u2014are all instinct with spiritual life, and come with quickening power to the soul. “The words that I speak unto you,” says Jesus, “they are spirit and they are life.” Oh, there is life in the gospel, because it is the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” It testifies of “Christ who is our life.” It declares that there is no spiritual life but in Him. And although “the letter kills,” working alone, yet in the hands of the Spirit it gives life. Thus clothed with the energy of the Holy Spirit, the gospel proves a “savor of life unto life,” to all who believe in it to the saving of the soul.<\/p>\n

Believer; a holy, filial, joyful liberty is your birthright. It is the liberty of a pardoned and justified sinner; of a reconciled, adopted child; of one for whom there is “now no condemnation.” Yet how few of God’s people walk in the full enjoyment of this liberty! How few pray, and love, and confide, as adopted children! Oh, sons of God, rise to this your high and heavenly calling! Your freedom was purchased at a high price\u2014undervalue it not. It is most holy\u2014abuse it not. It binds you by the strongest obligations to yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead. Be these the breathings of our soul: “Lord! my sweetest privilege is obedience to You; my highest freedom wearing Your yoke\u2014my greatest rest bearing Your burden. Oh, how love I Your law after the inward man! I delight to do Your will, O my God!” John MacDuff<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That Heavenly Teacher (Philpot, “Daily Words for Zion’s Wayfarers”) We do not learn that we are sinners merely by reading it in the Bible. It must be wrought, I might say, burnt into us. Nor will anyone sincerely and spiritually cry for mercy, until sin is spiritually felt and known . . . in its […]<\/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-614","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\/614","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=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions\/616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}