{"id":6453,"date":"2023-07-09T07:15:23","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T07:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6453"},"modified":"2023-07-09T07:15:23","modified_gmt":"2023-07-09T07:15:23","slug":"bulletin-edition-july-2023-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=6453","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition July 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Head\nor Heart?<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n<\/em>(From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Coming of the<\/em>
\n<\/em>Lord in its Relation to Nominal Christianity”)<\/em>
\n<\/em>
\nA person may have well balanced theology, and
\nhis general views of truth would be considered
\nevangelical and orthodox. And yet, thus far may
\nhe proceed in the deepest ‘self deception’.
\nWith all this “form of knowledge,” this lodgement
\nof the truth in the understanding, this subscription
\nof the intellect to the doctrines of revelation, he
\nis an utter stranger to that ‘heart transformation’,
\nthat inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, without
\nwhich the soul is spiritually dead, the heart is
\nunrenewed and unholy, and the whole man is
\nunfit for the kingdom of heaven.
\n
\nIn short, we have here the case of one who, while
\nhis judgment assents to the truth, his heart entirely
\nrejects it. The Gospel is to him a thing of intellectual
\nsubscription, and not of heart experience. Not a single
\ntruth of the Bible has become an element of life and
\nholiness in his soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cNow when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet\nlackest thou one thing:..\u201d \u2013 Luke 18:22<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That one thing this young man lacked was not religion, he had\nthat. And he didn\u2019t lack riches because he had that too. Though he didn\u2019t know\nit, the one thing he lacked was the one thing he needed the most: Jesus Christ\nhimself. The one thing needful to give him acceptance with the Holy God, he did\nnot have. The One whom God makes to be the wisdom, and righteousness, and\nsanctification, and redemption of every believing sinner, he did not have. The\nOne thing essential to be presented faultless before God, he did not have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Christ is the One thing needful because Christ is all and\nthose who are in him are complete. When time shall be no more, and the dead,\nsmall and great are standing before God, and multitudes are being cast into the\nlake of fire, because they lacked the One thing needed to enter glory, what\neverlasting joy it will be for all those who are found in Christ, lacking\nnothing!             <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 ~Larry Criss<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n The decipherer…<\/strong>
\n <\/strong>
\n by Toplady<\/em>
\n
\n To unconverted persons, a great part of the Bible
\n resembles a letter written in ciphers.
\n
\n The blessed Spirit’s office is to act as God’s decipherer<\/strong>,
\n by letting His people into the secret of celestial
\n experience, as the key and clew to those sweet
\n mysteries of grace which were before as a garden
\n shut up, or as a fountain sealed, or as a book
\n written in an unknown character.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The Bible!<\/strong>
\n
\n(Henry Law<\/a>, “Beacons of the Bible” 1869)
\n
\nThe Bible<\/strong> is the richest treasure\nof the world!
\n
\nWithout it, the palace <\/em>is a dark blank.
\nWith it, the poor cottage<\/em> sparkles with\ncelestial light.
\n
\nIt is the transcript of God’s heart.
\n
\nIt tells what human reason is too weak to find.
\n
\nIt is pure truth without one shadow of error.
\n
\nIt gives knowledge on all things needful for time and for\neternity.
\n
\nIt is a safe guide through life’s entangled path.
\n
\nIt is a compass . . .
\n  through shoals and rocks;
\n  amid winds and waves;
\n  to Heaven’s eternal rest!
\n
\nThe sage is ignorant without it.
\n
\nThe peasant learns from it salvation’s road.
\n
\nIt is a solace for every hour.
\n
\nIt is a companion always ready to converse.
\n
\nIt cheers when other comforts fail.
\n
\nIt is arrayed in every charm for the intellect.
\n
\nIt never wearies.
\n
\nIt is always fresh.
\n
\nIts oldest truths cannot grow old.
\n
\nIts readers become more wise \u2014 and more holy.
\n
\nOther books may puzzle and corrupt.
\nThe Bible is from Heaven, and leads to Heaven.
\nIt enters the heart with purifying grace.
\n
\nThe more you search the Bible \u2014 the more your minds will wonder,\nand your hearts will love.
\n
\nRead it as literally true. Then no human philosophy will beguile\nyou.
\n
\nPonder its characters. You will find on them the intrinsic stamp\nof truth.
\n
\n
\n“The Bible is . . .
\n  an armoury of heavenly weapons,
\n  a pharmacy of infallible medicines,
\n  a mine of exhaustless wealth,
\n  a guidebook for every road,
\n  a chart for every sea,
\n  a medicine for every malady,
\n  and a balm for every wound!
\nRob us of our Bible, and our sky has lost its sun!” (Thomas\nGuthrie)<\/em>
\n
\n<\/em>
\n“Oh, how I love Your Law! It is my meditation all the\nday!” Psalm 119:97
\n
\n“Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was\nunto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart!” Jeremiah 15:16<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sun of righteousness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Spurgeon, “The Sun of Righteousness” #1020)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But unto you who fear my name shall the Sun of<\/strong>
\n righteousness<\/strong> arise with\nhealing in His wings.”
\n    Malachi 4:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The golden tressed sun is the most glorious<\/strong>
\nobject in creation; and in Jesus the fullness
\nof glory dwells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun is at the same time the most influential<\/strong>
\nof existences, acting upon the whole world; and
\ntruly our Lord is, in the deepest sense, of this
\ngreat world both eye and soul. He with benignant
\nray sheds beauty, life, and joy from above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun is, moreover, the most abiding<\/strong> of\ncreatures;
\nand therein it is also a type of Him who remains
\nfrom generation to generation, and is the same
\nyesterday, today, and forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ‘king of day’ is so vast<\/strong> and so bright<\/strong> that
\nthe human eye cannot bear to gaze upon him.
\nWe delight in his beams, but we would be blinded
\nshould we continue to peer into his face. Even yet
\nmore brilliant is our Lord by nature, for as God he
\nis a consuming fire, but He deigns to smile upon
\nus with milder beams as our brother and Redeemer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, like the sun, is . . .
\n  the centre<\/strong> and soul<\/strong> of\nall things,
\n  the fullness<\/strong> of all good,
\n  the lamp<\/strong> that lights us,
\n  the fire<\/strong> that warms us,
\n  the magnet<\/strong> that guides and controls us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is the source and fountain of all . . .
\n  <\/strong> life,
\n   beauty,
\n   fruitfulness,
\n   and strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is . . .
\n  the fosterer of tender herbs of penitence<\/strong>,
\n  the quickener of the vital sap of grace<\/strong>,
\n  the ripener of fruits of holiness<\/strong>, and the\nlife of
\neverything that grows within the garden of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas to adore the sun would be idolatry;
\nit is treason not to worship ardently the divine
\nSun of righteousness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the sun is the centre<\/strong>, so is Christ to His\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the sun is the great source of power<\/strong>,
\nso is Christ to His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the sun is the fountain from which
\nlight, life, and heat <\/strong>perpetually flow,
\nso is the Saviour to His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the sun is the fructifier<\/strong> by which fruits
\nmultiply and ripen, so is Christ to His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enthrone Jesus as the central sun of your hearts.
\nBask in his beams<\/strong>, and let Him rule your\nentire
\nbeing; enlightening your understanding; warming
\nyour hearts; filling all your powers, passions, and
\nfaculties with the fullness of his presence. Come
\nand lay your souls beneath His divine influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come, plunge into this sea of sweetness,<\/strong>
\ndive deep into this abyss of happiness!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holy posture!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Octavius Winslow, “Evening Thoughts”)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then said I, woe is me! For I am undone; for I am<\/strong>
\n<\/strong> a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a<\/strong>
\n<\/strong> people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have<\/strong>
\n<\/strong> seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 6:5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What prostrated his soul thus low in the dust?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What filled him with this self abasement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What overwhelmed him with this keen sense of his vileness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, it was the unclouded view he had of the
\nessential glory of the Son of God! And thus
\nwill it ever be. The beaming forth of Christ’s
\nglory in the soul reveals its hidden evil; the
\nknowledge of this evil lays the believer low
\nbefore God with the confession, “I abhor myself.
\nWoe is me! for I am undone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beloved, let this truth be ever present to your
\nmind, that as we increasingly see glory in Christ,
\nwe shall increasingly see that there is no glory<\/strong>
\nin ourselves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is the Sun which reveals the pollutions
\nand defilements which are within. The chambers
\nof abomination are all closed until Christ shines
\nin upon the soul. Oh, then it is these deep seated
\nand long veiled deformities are revealed; and we,
\nno longer gazing with a complacent eye upon self,
\nsink in the dust before God, overwhelmed with
\nshame, and covered with confusion of face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holy posture!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blessed spectacle!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soul prostrate before the glory of the incarnate God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All high and lofty views of its own false glory
\nannihilated by clear and close views of the true
\nglory of Jesus. As when the sun appears, all the
\nlesser lights vanish into darkness, so when Jesus
\nrises in noontide glory upon the soul, all other
\nglory retires, and He alone fixes the eye and
\nfills the mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Above it stood the seraphims: each one had
\n six wings: with twain he covered his
\n face, with twain he covered his feet and with twain he did\nfly”. Isaiah 6:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their own perfections and beauty were not to
\nbe seen in the presence of the glory of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much more profound should be the humility
\nand self abasement of man! Have we covered
\nourselves; not with the pure wings of the holy
\ncherubim, but with sackcloth and ashes before the
\nLord? Have we sought to veil; not our beauties,
\nfor beauty we have none; but our innumerable
\nand flagrant deformities, even the sins of our
\nbest and holiest things; and, renouncing all self
\nglory, have we sunk, as into nothing before God?
\nOh, we are yet strangers to the vision of Christ’s
\nglory, if we have not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the constellation of human gifts and attainments,
\ndistinctions and usefulness, on which unsanctified
\nand unmortified self so delights to gaze, have not
\nretired into oblivion, the Sun of Righteousness has
\nyet to rise upon our souls with healing in His wings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But unto you who fear my name shall the Sun of\nrighteousness arise with healing in his wings.” \u2013Malachi 4:2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.C.Phipot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the sun rises in the east and gradually mounts up into\nthe meridian sky, dispersing with every ray light, warmth, and gladness; so\nthis blessed Lord Jesus, as the Sun of righteousness, is ever dispersing the\nbeams of his grace and the rays of his favor; and whenever those beams come,\nand those rays fall, there is light and life, and everything to make the soul\nholy and happy. Now a man would act very foolishly if, wishing to have light in\nhis room when the sun was shining at noonday, he should shut all the shutters,\nand strike a match to give him a little light for a few moments. Let us not\nthen be so foolish as to look for happiness or comfort in our own performances\nwhen the glorious Sun of righteousness is at the right hand of God, and shining\nthence upon believing hearts. But when the veil is over the heart, it is like\nshutters in a room–there is no light to show who, what, or where Jesus is. And\nthen need we wonder that men strike a light and make a fire, that they may\n“walk in the sparks of their own kindling?” But what is God’s word\nagainst all such? “This shall ye have of mine hand: ye shall lie down in\nsorrow” (Isaiah 50:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“God is the Lord, which has shewed us light.”<\/em><\/strong> Psalm\n118:27<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Psalmist was clearly possessed of light, for he says,\n“God is the Lord, who has showed us light.” He was evidently, then,\npossessed of light; and this light was in him as “the light of life.”\nThis light had shone into his heart; the rays and beams of divine truth had\npenetrated into his conscience. He carried about with him a light which had\ncome from God; in this light he saw light, and in this light he discerned\neverything which the light manifested. Thus by this internal light he knew what\nwas good and what was evil, what was sweet and what was bitter, what was true\nand what was false, what was spiritual and what was natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not say, This light came from creature exertion, this\nlight was the produce of my own wisdom, this light was nature transmuted by\nsome action of my own will, and thus gradually rose into existence from long\nand assiduous cultivation. But he ascribes the whole of that light which he\npossessed unto God the Lord, as the sole Author and the only Giver of it. Now,\nif God the Lord has ever showed you and me the same light which he showed his\nservant of old, we carry about with us more or less a solemn conviction that we\nhave received this light from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will, indeed, be many clouds of darkness to cover it;\nthere will often be doubts and fears, hovering like mists and fogs over our\nsouls, whether the light which we have received be from God or not. But in\nsolemn moments when the Lord is pleased a little to revive his work, at times\nand seasons when he condescends to draw forth the affections of our hearts unto\nhimself, to bring us into his presence, to hide us in some measure in the\nhollow of his hand, and give us access unto himself; at such moments and\nseasons we carry about with us, in spite of all our unbelief, in spite of all\nthe suggestions of the enemy, in spite of all doubts, fears, and suspicions\nthat rise from the depths of the carnal mind, in spite of all these counter-workings\nand underminings, we carry about with us at these times a solemn conviction\nthat we have light, and that this light we have received from God. And why so?\nBecause we can look back to a time when we walked in no such light, when we\nfelt no such light, when everything spiritual and heavenly was dark to us, and\nwe were dark to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n The old cellar?<\/strong>
\n <\/em><\/strong>
\n <\/em>From Spurgeon’s sermon, “The Prodigal’s Return”<\/em>
\n <\/em>
\n When the ‘light’ of God’s grace comes into a person’s heart,
\n it is something like the opening of the windows of an
\n old cellar that has been shut up for many days.
\n
\n Down in that cellar<\/strong>,\n which has not been opened for many
\n months, are all kinds of loathsome creatures, and a few sickly
\n plants blanched by the darkness. The walls are dark and damp
\n with the trail of reptiles; it is a horrid filthy place, in\n which no one
\n would willingly enter.
\n
\n You may walk there in the ‘dark’ very securely, and except now
\n and then for the touch of some slimy creature, you would not
\n believe the place was so bad and filthy.
\n
\n But once open those shutters, clean a pane of glass,
\n let a little light in, and now see how a thousand noxious
\n things have made this place their habitation.
\n
\n Surely, it was not the ‘light’ that made this place so\n horrible,
\n but it was the light that showed how horrible it really was!
\n
\n So let God’s grace just open a window and let the light into a
\n man’s soul, and he will stand astonished to see sinful he\n really is.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Head or Heart? (From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Coming of the Lord in its Relation to Nominal Christianity”) A person may have well balanced theology, and his general views of truth would be considered evangelical and orthodox. And yet, thus far may he proceed in the deepest ‘self deception’. With all this “form of knowledge,” this […]<\/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-6453","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\/6453","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=6453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6454,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453\/revisions\/6454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}