{"id":6180,"date":"2022-03-20T22:50:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T22:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6180"},"modified":"2022-03-20T22:50:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T22:50:01","slug":"bulletin-edition-march-2022-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6180","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition March 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE UNLIMITED OFFER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John MACDUFF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If any man thirsts \u2014 let him come unto Me, and\ndrink.” \u2014 John 7:37<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the most gracious “words” which ever\n“proceeded out of the mouth of God!” The time that it was uttered was\nan impressive one; it was on “the last, the great day” of the Feast\nof Tabernacles, when a denser multitude than on any of the seven preceding ones\nwere assembled together. The golden bowl, according to custom, had probably\njust been filled with the waters of Siloam, and was being carried up to the\nTemple amid the acclamations of the crowd, when the Saviour of the world seized\nthe opportunity of speaking to them some truths of momentous import. Many,\ndoubtless, were the “words of Jesus” uttered on the previous days \u2014\nbut the most important is reserved for the last. What, then, is the great\nclosing theme on which He rivets the attention of this vast auditory, and which\nHe would have them carry away to their distant homes? It is, The freeness of\nHis own great Salvation, “If any man thirsts \u2014 let him come unto Me, and\ndrink.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reader, do you discredit the reality of this gracious offer? Are\nyour legion sins standing as a barrier between you and a Saviour’s offered\nmercy? Do you feel as if you cannot come “just as you are;” that some\npartial cleansing, some preparatory reformation must take place before you can\nventure to the living fountain? No, “If any man.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is freer than water? \u2014 The poorest beggar may drink\n“without money” from the wayside pool. That is your Lord’s own\npicture of His own glorious salvation; you are invited to come, “without\none plea,” in all your poverty and need, in all your weakness and\nunworthiness. Remember the Redeemer’s saying to the woman of Samaria. She was\nthe chief of sinners \u2014 profligate, hardened, degraded \u2014 but He made no\ncondition, no qualification; simple believing was all that was required,\n“If you knew the gift of God,” you would have asked, and He would\nhave given you “living water.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is there not, after all, one condition mentioned in this\n“word of Jesus?”, “If any man thirsts.” You may have the\ndepressing consciousness that you experience no such ardent longings after\nholiness \u2014 but only of your need of the Saviour. But is not this very\nconviction of your need \u2014 an indication of a feeble longing after Christ? If\nyou are saying, “I have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep,”\nthen He who makes the offer of the salvation \u2014 will Himself fill your empty\nvessel, “He satisfies the longing soul with goodness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Jesus stood and cried out.” It is the solitary\ninstance recorded of Him, of whom it is said, “He shall not strive nor cry\nout, nor raise His voice in the streets.” But it was truth of surpassing\ninterest and magnitude He had to proclaim. It was a declaration, moreover,\nespecially dear to Him. As it formed the theme of this ever-memorable sermon\nduring His public ministry, so when He was sealing up the inspired record \u2014 the\nlast utterances of His voice on earth, until that voice shall be heard again on\nthe throne, contained the same life-giving invitation, “Let him that is\nthirsty come \u2014 and whoever will, let him take of the water of life\nfreely!” Oh! as the echoes of that gracious saying \u2014 this blast of the\nsilver trumpet \u2014 are still sounding to the ends of the world, may this be the\nrecorded result, “As He spoke these words \u2014 many believed on Him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If Thou Knewest the Gift of God”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to\nthee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have\ngiven thee living water.\u201d (John 4:10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two sweet, precious, instructive views of our Lord\nJesus Christ, which he held before the Samaritan woman, by which he graciously\nand effectually endeared himself to her. Let us ever behold our Saviour in\nthese two aspects of his character as our God-man Mediator: (1.) All that he is\nin himself, and (2.) the fact that he is the gift of God. These two things give\npoor, needy sinners both a reason to trust our Lord Jesus Christ and a divine\nwarrant for faith in him. Ignorance of these two great things is the cause of\nmuch misery in those poor souls tortured with the guilt of sin, and the cause\nof much discomfort in believing sinners. Ignorance of these two, sweet\nrevelations of grace greatly hinders our enjoyment of our interest in and union\nwith the Lord Jesus Christ. \u201cIf thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is\nthat saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he\nwould have given thee living water.\u201d \u2014 May God the Holy Spirit give us grace to\nprove these words of our Saviour to ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\u2019s Person and Work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, consider who and what the Lord Jesus is in himself.\nConsider his magnificent Person and his mediatorial work as the God-man, our\nSavior. In all that he is, in all that he performed, in all that he\naccomplished, and in all that he obtained as the God-man, he acted as the\nSurety of his elect. And in all the fulness which is treasured up in him, by\nvirtue of it, we have all things. None of the virtue, merit, and power of his\nwork or being as the God-man is for himself, but for us. He does not and cannot\nneed it. We do! \u201cSo that,\u201d as Robert Hawker wrote, \u201ca poor sinner is as much\nsuited to Jesus for him to give out of his fulness, as Jesus is suited for a\npoor sinner to supply his emptiness.\u201d If we thus know him and come to him, we\nfind that he is as eager and anxious to receive every poor, needy sinner and to\ngive out of his fulness, as that poor, needy sinner is to come and take!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gift of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, our Lord Jesus declares that he is, in all his\nmediatorial work and being, \u201cthe gift of God.\u201d Here we are given a warrant from\nGod to come to Christ. God himself gives sinners command to believe on his Son\n(1 John 3:23). That is the warrant of faith. That is the sinner\u2019s right and\nauthority to trust Christ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you know who Christ is and\nwhat he has done for sinners, if you know that Jesus Christ the Saviour is the\ngift of God, make use of him as such. Use him for every need of your poor soul.\nChrist is the only Sacrament there is. We receive grace only in and by him. He\nis he only Way sinners can come to God and find acceptance with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      May God the Holy Spirit enable us\never to keep in view that Christ is the gift of God and that God is honoured by\nus when we honour his dear Son, by believing \u201cthe record, that God hath given\nto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The thirst of our\nsouls cannot be quenched from any pool that depends upon dry or wet seasons;\nbut only from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who gives living water, and is\nhimself that everlasting living spring of water in our souls, springing up into\neverlasting life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace, ’tis a charming sound \u2014 harmonious to the ear!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(“Every Day!” Author unknown, 1872)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By grace are you saved through faith \u2014 and that not of\nyourselves. It is the gift of God \u2014 not of works, lest any man should\nboast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Grace, ’tis a charming sound \u2014 harmonious to the\near!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace pitied us in our guilty, helpless condition \u2014 and provided\na Saviour for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace instituted the ministry of gospel reconciliation \u2014 and\nbrought the tidings of divine mercy to our ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace opened our blind eyes \u2014 and led us to see and feel our\nneed of the precious blood of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace led us to cast away the filthy rags of our own\nrighteousness \u2014 and to receive with thankfulness and joy, the spotless robe\nthat Jesus wrought for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace brought us to the footstool of mercy, with the cry of the\npublican, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace enables us to live a life of dependence on Jesus alone,\nfor all spiritual supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace has begun a good work within us \u2014 and grace will perform\nit until the day of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By grace we are saved! “We are justified freely by His\ngrace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus!” Romans 3:24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  ‘Tis not by works of righteousness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Which our own hands have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  But we are saved by sovereign grace,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Abounding through His Son!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will love them FREELY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

from Spurgeon’s, “GRACE ABOUNDING”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I will love them freely.” \u2014 Hosea 14:4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No LABOR of man can procure the Grace of God;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and no EFFORT of man can add to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is good from the simple necessity of his nature;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let them alone!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(John Newton, “The imminent danger and the only sure\nresource of this nation”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They are joined to their idols\u2014let them alone!” Hosea\n4:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God sometimes leaves men to themselves\u2014their furious passions\nare unchained, and they are given up, without restraint, to the lusts of their\nown evil hearts! A more dreadful judgment than this, cannot be inflicted on\nthis side of hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A thin slice of godliness over a mass of carnality!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spurgeon, “Constancy and Inconstancy: a Contrast.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“…what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For your goodness vanishes like the morning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosea 6:4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, beware of pious veneering!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beware of the religion which consists<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in putting on a thin slice of godliness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

over a mass of carnality!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must have thorough going work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

within; the grace which reaches the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

core, and affects the innermost spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is the only grace worth having.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of the Holy Spirit is the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

great cause of religious instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beware of mistaking ‘religious excitement’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for the Holy Spirit, or your own resolutions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for the deep workings of the Spirit of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that human nature ever paints, God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will burn off with hot irons. All that human<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nature ever spins he will unravel and cast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

away with the rags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must be born from above, you must<\/p>\n\n\n\n

have a new nature wrought in you by the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

finger of God himself, for of all his saints<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it is written, “You are his workmanship,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

created anew in Christ Jesus.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, but, everywhere I fear there is an<\/p>\n\n\n\n

absence of the Holy Spirit! There is much<\/p>\n\n\n\n

getting up of a tawdry morality, barely<\/p>\n\n\n\n

skin deep, much crying “Peace, peace,”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where there is no true peace. There is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

very little deep heart searching anxiety<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to be thoroughly purged from sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hopes of many hypocrites are flimsily<\/p>\n\n\n\n

formed, and their confidences ill founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is this which makes deceivers so plentiful,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and fair religious shows so common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is love, simply because it is his essence to be so,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and he pours forth his love in plenteous streams to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

undeserving, ill-deserving, hell-deserving objects,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

simply because he “Will Have Mercy on Whom He Will<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have Mercy, and He Will Have Compassion on Whom Will<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have Compassion,” for it is not of him that wills,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how vile, and black, and foul, and godless,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

men may be, God will have mercy on whom he will have<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mercy; and that free, rich, overflowing goodness of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

his can make the very worst and least deserving,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the objects of his best and choicest love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wilderness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(J. C. Philpot, “The Valley of Achor” 1861)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hosea 2:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children of God would not voluntarily go into the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

wilderness–it is a place too barren for them to enter,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

except as allured in a special manner by the grace of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God, and led by the power of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor do they for the most part know where the Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is taking them. They follow His drawings; they are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

led by His allurings; they listen to His persuading<\/p>\n\n\n\n

voice, trusting to Him as to an unerring Guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they do not know the ‘place of barrenness’ into which<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is bringing them–this the Lord usually conceals from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their eyes. He allures and they follow, but He does not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tell them what He is going to do with them, or where<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He intends to take them. He hides His gracious purposes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that He may afterwards bring them more clearly to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at the place where He brings His people–the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

wilderness. This is a type and figure much used by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Holy Spirit, and conveys to us much deep and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

profitable instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wilderness is an isolated, solitary spot, far, far<\/p>\n\n\n\n

away from cities, and towns, and other busy haunts of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

men–a remote and often dreary abode, where there is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

no intruding eye to mark the wanderer’s steps, where<\/p>\n\n\n\n

there is no listening ear to hear his sighs and cries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord, when He puts forth His sacred power upon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the heart, to allure His people into the wilderness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

brings them into a spot where in solitude and silence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

they may be separated from everyone but Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ‘wilderness’, we take as an emblem of being alone<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with God–coming out of the world, away from sin and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

worldly company, out of everything carnal, sensual, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

earthly, and being brought into that solemn spot where<\/p>\n\n\n\n

there are secret, sacred, and solitary dealings with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That hideous idol SELF in his little shrine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(J. C. Philpot, “Israel’s Departure and Return” 1849)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never again will we say any more to the work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of our hands\u2014”You are our gods!”  Hosea 14:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The besetting sin of Israel was the worship of idols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps, if you have walked into the British Museum,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and seen the idols that were worshiped in former days<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the South Sea Islands, you have been amazed that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rational beings could ever bow down before such ugly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

monsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But does the heart of a South Sea Islander differ from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the heart of an Englishman? Not a bit! The latter may<\/p>\n\n\n\n

have more civilization and cultivation\u2014but his heart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is the same! And though you have not bowed down to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

these monstrous objects and hideous figures\u2014there<\/p>\n\n\n\n

may be as filthy an idol in your heart! Where is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

there a filthier idol than the lusts and passions of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

man’s fallen nature?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need not go to the British Museum to see<\/p>\n\n\n\n

filthy idols and painted images. Look within!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is there a more groveling idol than Mammon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the covetousness of our heart? You need not<\/p>\n\n\n\n

wonder at heathens worshiping hideous idols\u2014when<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you have pride, covetousness, and above all that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

hideous idol SELF in his little shrine, hiding himself<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from the eyes of man\u2014but to which you are so often<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rendering your daily and hourly worship!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a person does not see that the root of all<\/p>\n\n\n\n

idolatry is SELF, he knows but little of his heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE UNLIMITED OFFER John MACDUFF “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,” “If any man thirsts \u2014 let him come unto Me, and drink.” \u2014 John 7:37 This is one of the most gracious “words” which ever “proceeded out of the mouth of God!” The time that it was uttered was an […]<\/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-6180","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\/6180","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=6180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6181,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6180\/revisions\/6181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}