So completely was Jesus bent upon saving\nsinners by the sacrifice of Himself; that He created the tree upon which He was\nto die, and nurtured from infancy, the men who were to nail Him to the accursed\nwood! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
~Octavius Winslow (1808-1878)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May we sit at the foot of the cross and there learn\u2026 what sin\nhas done, what justice has has, what love has done<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there\nam I in the midst of them.\u201d Mt. 18:20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time I read this\nverse I\u2019m reminded of the glorious privilege of public worship. While many are\nsatisfied to go through life seeking only the fleeting cares of this world, I\u2019m\nthankful for every sinner, especially me, that desires to be found among the\npeople of God\u2026hearing the glorious Gospel proclaimed and being found where He\nhas revealed Himself to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marvin\nStalnaker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone Can\u2019t All Be Right<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some think that it does not\nmatter what a man believes so long as he is sincere. The average person thinks\nthat all religions are right. \u201cYou go to your church, and I\u2019ll go to\nmine, you believe what you think is right and I\u2019ll believe what I think is\nright, and we\u2019ll meet in heaven someday and rejoice in our respective saviors<\/em>.\u201d\nNo! my friends, we cannot all be right when we contradict one another so.\nIt is imperative that we search the Scriptures and see what God says. A\ndoctrine is not true because I believe it or because you believe it, but it is\ntrue only if God says it! I do not ask whether you believe what I preach \u2013\nperhaps you do not. But I ask you to search the Scriptures and determine\nwhether these things be so. I am not afraid to submit my belief in God\u2019s\nimmutable sovereignty, man\u2019s total fall and ruin, God\u2019s elective grace,\nChrist\u2019s effectual atonement, the Spirit\u2019s invincible call, and the\nperseverance of the sheep to THE WORD OF<\/p>\n\n\n\n GOD! Pastor\nJohn Chapman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The sword of Divine justice buried in His sinless heart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Holy Father, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that\njustifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans\n4:5<\/strong> 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\nbelieve.” “Then, Lord, I do believe,” exclaims the soul in a\ntransport of joy; “help my unbelief.” This, reader, is faith\u2014faith,\nthat wondrous grace, that mighty act of which you have heard so much, upon\nwhich so many volumes have been written, and so many sermons have been\npreached; it is the simple rolling of a wounded, bleeding heart upon a wounded,\nbleeding Savior; it is the simple reception of the amazing truth, that Jesus\ndied for the ungodly\u2014died for sinners\u2014died for the poor, the vile, the\nbankrupt; that He invites and welcomes to His bosom all poor, convinced,\nheavy-laden sinners. The heart, believing this wondrous announcement, going out\nof all other dependencies and resting only in this\u2014receiving it, welcoming it,\nrejoicing in it, in a moment, all, all is peace. Do not forget, reader, that\nfaith is but to believe with all the heart that Jesus died for sinners; and the\nfull belief of this one fact will bring peace to the most anxious and\nsin-troubled soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have I then no work to work in this great matter of my pardon?\nNone! What work can you work? What work of yours can buy Divine forgiveness\u2014or\nmake you fit for the Divine favour? What work has God bidden you work in order\nto obtain salvation? None. His Word is very plain and easy to be understood,\n“To him who works not\u2014but believes in Him that justifies the ungodly, his\nfaith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). There is but one work by\nwhich a man can be saved. That work is not yours\u2014but the work of the Son of\nGod. That work is finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Horatius Boner<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, what a glorious truth is this!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n C.H.Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n “You are altogether beautiful, my love \u2014 there is no\nflaw in you!” Song of Songs 4:7 “Except Your\nRighteousness Shall Exceed The<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Righteousness Of The\nScribes And Pharisees”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matt. 5:20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The scribes and pharisees\nwere the most righteous men, outwardly, who ever lived. They lived by\nthe ten commandments. According to the letter of the law, they were\nblameless. They paid tithes of all they possessed, fasted twice a week, and\nprayed three times a day. Yet, our Lord tells us that we must be more righteous\nthan them, or we “shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”\nThe fact is that without perfect righteousness no one can ever enter into\nheaven (Rev. 21:27; 22:11-14). The righteousness required by God is a\nperfect righteousness, a righteousness which no mere man can produce. In order\nto enter that perfect kingdom we must be made perfectly righteous by the\nrighteousness of Christ (Rom. 5:19; II Cor. 5:21). All who believe\nare made the righteousness of God in Christ by two distinct acts of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n l. The righteousness\nof Christ is imputed to us in justification (Rom. 4:3-8). Our sin was\nimputed to Christ at Calvary. Though he never committed sin, he was made\nto be sin, and became responsible under the law for our sins, as our\nSubstitute. In exactly the same way, the righteousness of Christ has been\nimputed to us, though we never have performed a righteous deed. Just as the law\npunished Christ for our sin, which was legally imputed to him, the law of God\nrewards every believer for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The\nrighteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration (II Pet. 1:2-4; I\nJohn 3:4-9). “If any man be in Christ, he is a new\ncreature: old things are passed away; behold, all things\nare become new” (II Cor. 5:17). If I am born again by the Spirit of\nGod, I have a new nature created in my soul, a righteous nature is\nimparted to me, by which I reign as a king over the lusts and passions of my\nflesh. Yes, God’s people do sin. Sin is mixed with all we do, so long as we\nlive in this body of flesh. But sin no longer reigns over us. We are no longer\nunder the dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14-16; Gal. 5:22-23). The\nbeliever’s life is a life of faith, godliness and uprightness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd Be Found In Him\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pilippians\n3:9<\/p>\n\n\n\n What man, except the\nGod-man, was more exemplary in self-denial and devotion than the Apostle Paul?\nWho ever had such rich experiences of grace as him? Who was more gifted and\nmanifestly useful? He was once caught up to the third heaven and saw things no\nhuman language can describe. He laboured more abundantly than all the other\napostles. Still, his heart\u2019s desire was that he might win Christ and be found\nin him, with no righteousness of his own, but only the righteousness of God in\nChrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nrenounced as dung all imaginary inherent righteousness and all his own works of\nrighteousness, in which every Pharisee and legalists clings. He was a man who\nhad experienced grace abundant. Yet, the grace he experienced was not to him a\nbasis of confidence before God. He was a man obedient to the will of God, whose\nlife was marked by that \u201cfaith which worketh by love.<\/em>\u201d Still, nothing he\nhad done was looked to, relied upon, or trusted by him in any measure. He\ndesired never to stand at the bar of God with any of those things, but only in\nthe righteousness of God in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\nthe Holy Spirit gave him precious faith in a precious Savior. Therefore, he\nlooked out of himself, out of all that was wrought in him and done by him. He\npassed it all by and looked through it all to Christ alone. He renounced all\npersonal worth, merit, and righteousness before God, hoping only to be found in\nChrist. He put the matter of his eternal life and salvation upon being found in\nChrist, being found only in his infinitely perfect and glorious righteousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nlaw and justice of God, once revealed, pursued Paul as a manslayer to Christ as\na city of refuge. He desired to be found in the City of Refuge. This man\nknew that Christ\u2019s perfect obedience unto death, and that alone, entitles\nredeemed sinners to heaven and makes us \u201cworthy to be partakers of the\ninheritance of the saints in light<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From\nPaul\u2019s desire we learn that the singular Object of faith for a sinner,\nconvinced of sin and righteousness and judgment by the Spirit of God, is\nChrist. The object of our faith is not what we are, or what we have\nexperienced, or what we have done; but what Christ is, what he experienced, and\nwhat he has done. The only Object of faith, wholly and exclusively, is the\nperson and work of the Son of God. If we have the faith of God\u2019s elect, we rest\nthe hope of our souls only upon Christ, and desire to be found in him in life,\nin death, and at the judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does\nthis mean that the grace we experience and the works we are enabled of God to\nperform are nothing? Of course not! They are nothing in the point of our\njustification before God. Yet, the grace we experience, giving us life and\nfaith in Christ, is the fruit and evidence of our redemption, righteousness,\nand justification by Christ. The works others see done by us are evidences to\nthem that our faith is real and that our claim to Christ is genuine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These\nthings do not justify (or even sanctify) us before God. Yet, they do justify\nour professed faith in Christ and clear the gospel of the grace of God from the\nlegalists\u2019 slanderous charge of licentiousness. \u201cLet your light so shine\nbefore men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is\nin heaven<\/em>\u201d (Matt. 5:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice of Himself; that He created the tree upon which He was to die, and nurtured from infancy, the men who were to nail Him to the accursed wood! ~Octavius Winslow (1808-1878) May we sit […]<\/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-6557","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\/6557","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=6557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6558,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6557\/revisions\/6558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWe blush to lift up our eyes unto You, O God of all grace and love. Shame and\nconfusion of face humble us to the very dust. Wherever You have been boundless\nin mercy<\/em>\u2014we have been abundant in sin!<\/em> We cannot measure\nour ingratitude. We cannot estimate our vileness. Each day has added to our\nguilt. Each scene has witnessed our wicked hearts<\/em>, our straying\nfeet<\/em> and our offending tongues<\/em>. What is there in heaven or\nin earth, above, around, without, or within\u2014which condemns us not? The sun <\/em>condemns\nus, which has seen our misdeeds; the darkness<\/em>, too, which hides\nnothing from Your all-penetrating eye!
\nThe cruel accuser<\/em> justly accuses us.
\nYour righteous law,
\nYour holy Word,
\nour sin-soiled consciences,
\nour public and our private hours
\n\u2014write dark things against us! We make no denial<\/em>. We frame no excuse<\/em>.\nWe confess, Father, that we have sinned against heaven and before You\u2014and are\nnot worthy to be called Your sons! But still we live!
\n
\nWe live to fly as contrite penitents to Your extended arms!
\nWe know that You will not cast us off\u2014for Jesus brings us near.
\nYou will not condemn us\u2014for Your dear Son died in our place.
\nYou will not mark the mountains upon mountains of our sins\u2014for the Savior has\nremoved them all.
\nHis precious blood has washed out every crimson stain!
\nChrist’s spotless robe of righteousness, covers all our deformities! We put it\non by the hand of faith<\/em>\u2014and we rejoice that we are lovely in His\nprecious loveliness, and beauteous in His matchless beauty.
\n
\nOpen widely the eyes of our faith<\/em>, that we may see all our justly\nmerited curse, expended on the faultless head of our precious sin-atoning\nSavior, and the sword of Divine justice buried in His sinless heart!<\/strong>
\n
\nWe come to You . . .
\n clinging to His cross,
\n sheltered by His side,
\n hidden in His wounds,
\n cleansed in His blood,
\n covered by His spotless robe,
\n beautified in His salvation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nOctavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nAlthough a poor tried child of God may feel the force of his inbred sin and\nhave to continually struggle with it \u2014 and though he may, from day to day, be\nconscious of his many imperfections \u2014 yet before those eyes<\/em> which\nsee everything, there is no flaw to be seen upon the believer in Christ. I mean\nno flaw in this respect \u2014 that he can never be condemned or punished for his\nsin. His sin is finally<\/em> and fully<\/em> and forever<\/em> pardoned!
\n
\nOh, what a glorious truth is this!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n