How sweet it is to awake every day knowing\nthat God my Saviour is on his throne, that he has purposed all that the day\nshall bring forth, and that he has purposed it for me, for my everlasting good.\ngood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don Fortner <\/p>\n\n\n\n
PEACE IN BELIEVING<\/strong> John MacDuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the\nknowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”<\/em> 2\nPeter 1:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we do not know Jesus for ourselves, by some spiritual\ndiscovery of his Person and work, what testimony have we of a saving interest\nin his grace? Because, there is no grace except that which flows through him,\nfor “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” This is what we should\never labor after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our daily, hourly desire and prayer should be, to have spiritual\ndiscoveries of Christ; to see him by the eye of faith; to enter into his\nglorious Person and finished work; to realise his presence, taste his love, and\nknow him and the power of his resurrection. This is what Paul so earnestly\nlaboured after (Phil. 3:10); and for the excellency of this knowledge he\nsuffered the loss of all things, and counted them but dung that he might win\nChrist. To know him as our Surety and Sin-bearer, our Advocate and Intercessor,\nour Friend, Husband, and Brother; to know our saving interest in him, and our\nunion with him; our place in his heart, our name on his breast, our memorial on\nthe palms of his hands–what can surpass the blessedness of such a knowledge as\nthis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through this spiritual, experimental knowledge of him, grace\nflows. As a watercourse opening upon a river brings down its irrigating stream\ninto the parched meadow, so a knowledge of Christ opens up a channel through\nwhich the grace that is in him flows into the barren, parched soul. Thus, as\nthrough grace alone we know him, so every fresh communication of grace not only\nmakes him better known, but flows in through that very knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The grace that comes through this knowledge of him brings also\npeace; for he is “our peace.” He has “broken down the middle\nwall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of\ncommandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of two, one new\nman, so making peace.” He, therefore, came and preached peace “to\nthose who were afar off and to those who were near.” His blood speaks\npeace to a guilty conscience; his voice says peace to the winds and waves of\nthe surging heart; his last legacy was, “Peace I leave with you, my peace\nI give unto you;” his dying promise was, “In me you shall have\npeace;” and, as the Prince of peace at God’s right hand, he is able to\nfill us with “all joy and peace in believing,” for his kingdom is\n“righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” And thus,\nthrough a knowledge of him as our Lord, “grace and peace” are both\n“multiplied.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My Peace I Give\nUnto You” <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 14:27<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is a peace that transcends\nall others, a peace that “passeth understanding.” It is the\npeace which the man Christ Jesus enjoyed perfectly and fully when he lived upon\nthis earth. And it is a peace which he freely bestows upon his believing people\nin this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT IS THIS PEACE? (1.) It is the\npeace of a conscience that never felt a shadow of a sense of guilt; the peace\nof a man who knew no sin. (2.) It is the peace of a man who was always\nperfectly submissive and obedient to the will of God, one who could always\ntruthfully say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God!” (3.) It is the\npeace of a man who was assured of both his sonship and his immutable acceptance\nwith God the Father, the peace of one who heard God declare, “This is my\nbeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (4.) It is the peace of one who\nwas assured of everlasting life and eternal glory, while living in this world.\nAnd (5.) it is a peace that could never be destroyed, or taken away. It was\ntempted in the wilderness, but not destroyed.It was subjected to poverty, pain,\npersecution, sorrow, and bereavement, but not broken. It was tried in\nthe garden of Gethsemane, but not taken away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the peace of the man\nChrist Jesus. Ands this is Christ’s gift to his own. What a priceless treasure!\nAnd it is the earnest of an even greater peace to come. Great as this peace is,\nit cannot even be compared to the peace that our Savior\nnow has in heaven, the peace that he holds in store for his own elect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOW CAN I HAVE THIS PEACE? It is a\npeace that only Christ can give. But it is a peace he has promised to give to\nall who come to him in faith (Matt. 11:28). Horatius Bonar wrote,\n“The result of our `receiving Him,’ or `believing on his name,’ is to\nbring us into that same state of conscience and that same kind of peace which\nHe who knew no sin possessed. Our vessels are indeed small, and can contain\nlittle. His was large and could contain much. But the kind, or\nquality of that peace which fills them is the same. He has made peace by the\nblood of His cross. Indeed, He is our peace. And as soon as we come to know\nthis and take Him as our peace, we are made partakers not merely of peace, but\nof that which He here calls, `my peace!'” What a blessed gift of grace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contrary Not Complicated<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gospel does not remain a mystery to the natural man because\nit is complicated. The gospel remains a mystery because it is contrary to\neverything he believes to be true. It is contrary to his view of God. He will\nhonour God with his lips but believe in his heart in a god that is not God. All\nmen by nature set themselves up on the throne of God. They make God dependent\nupon their will or works to save them. The gospel is contrary to what the\nnatural man believes about himself. He does not believe himself to be dead in\nhis trespasses and sins. He believes that he holds the power of salvation in\nwhat he decides. Until the Lord gives the spirit of repentance (changed\nmind), the simple, clear gospel of God\u2019s free grace in the glorious person and\naccomplished work of Christ will remain a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Greg Elmquist <\/p>\n\n\n\n ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Bell<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eph. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and father of our Lord\nJesus Christ, who hath blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in heavenly\nplaces IN CHRIST.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Holy Spirit uses this phrase over and over again IN CHRIST.\nThe whole of the word of God is to reveal to us the Lord Jesus and his\naccomplished salvation. The whole of God\u2019s word is to teach us what we have IN\nCHRIST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Our Lord Jesus Christ said, \u201ccome unto me, and you shall\nfind rest for your souls\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is telling us there is no other place other than In Him, is\nthere rest for a soul, rest from the guilt and power of sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Christ said; “come unto me”, He didn\u2019t say come\nto a particular position on doctrine, come to election, or come to imputed\nrighteousness, he didn\u2019t say come to total depravity, or to God\u2019s Sovereignty,\nHe told sinners to COME UNTO ME! Why? Because when a sinner comes to\nChrist they receive All that he did in his work, All that he is in His person.\nWe were chosen IN HIM, accepted IN HIM, redemption is through his blood, we\nobtained an inheritance IN HIM, we were quickened together with him, raised up\nto sit together in heavenly places IN Him. The long and the short of it beloved\nis that if we have Christ we have ALL WE NEED, we have it where it counts,\nbefore God Almighty who demands perfection. Blessed be his name he provided us\nperfection IN CHRIST. “And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of\nall principality and power”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need righteousness – Christ is our righteousness. We need\nwisdom – Christ is our wisdom. We need sanctification – Christ is our\nsanctification. We need redemption and Christ is our redemption. God made Him\nso unto us (1Cor. 1:30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ said: COME UNTO ME, in coming\nto Him you will have all that is IN HIM and you will spend the rest of your\nlife learning about all you have IN HIM! <\/p>\n\n\n\n “But we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like\nHim.” 1 John 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n This leads our minds far away from the things of time, and from\nthe narrow bounds of sense, to that glorious period when our Lord shall come to\ngather together all the jewels which shall sparkle in His glorious crown, to\ngather together all His Father’s eternally-loved ones, the fruit of His\nsufferings, the purchase of His blood, and to carry them up to the heights of\nglory, there to spend an eternity of bliss and blessedness with Him. Blessed be\nGod! Then and there we shall be like Him. Ay, and “we know” that it\nwill be so by the Spirit which He hath given us. The CONTINUOUS DESIRES OF THE\nREGENERATE SOUL IS TO BE LIKE HIM. Turn to Romans 8:29,30. Here we have\npresent-tense realities. “For whom he did foreknow, He also did\npredestinate conformed to the image of His Son.” Read this portion without\nthe italics, “to be.” Conformed by eternal predestination, in the\neverlasting covenant of grace, to the image of His dear Son, “that He\nmight be the firstborn, or chief, among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate,\nthem He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He\njustified, them He also glorified.” You see, in the purpose of God, all\nthe elect are predestinated, called, justified, and glorified in the person of\nGod’s Christ, and conformed to His image. “We shall be like Him,” ay,\nand we are like Him according to the decree of the Father, the demand of the\nSon, the determination of the Spirit, and the declaration of the Gospel in our\nhearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas Bradbury<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut as many as received him, to them gave he power to become\nthe sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of\nblood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d Jn.\n1:12-13. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, a sinner must \u201creceive\u201d (which is to believe on) Christ for\nall the hope of their salvation. For without faith it is impossible to please\nHim: for he that cometh to God must believe\u2026\u201d. Heb. 11:6. How can one who is\nspiritually dead and at enmity with God believe on Christ? The answer is above\nin verse 13. Which WERE (past tense) born, not of blood (Descent), nor of the\nwill of flesh (Dedication), nor of the will of man (Decision), but of God. In\nGod\u2019s order The New Birth necessarily precedes faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Greg Elmquist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SURETY OF A BETTER TESTAMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.\u201d\n(Heb. 7:22)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Father made His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the surety\nof the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is better than the\ncovenant of the law in every way. The law can only reveal our\nguilt. The covenant of grace makes sinners to be not guilty by the\nsacrifice of Christ. The law can only demand our death. The\ncovenant of grace demands life for God\u2019s elect because Christ already died for\nthem. The law can never forgive sin, but the covenant of grace demands forgiveness\nof all the sin that was laid on Christ. Thank God that Christ did for His\npeople everything that the law cannot do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frank Tate<\/p>\n\n\n\n NONE BUT CHRIST<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you any other rock but Christ? I do not ask you, whether\nyou <\/p>\n\n\n\n have a feeling enjoyment of it? I know you will rejoice in Jesus\nwhen <\/p>\n\n\n\n the Holy Spirit enables you. But have you any other refuge? Can\nyou <\/p>\n\n\n\n go into eternity, resting upon any other rock but the Lord Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christ? Have you any other righteousness but His? Can you\nlean <\/p>\n\n\n\n upon, desire, or want any other than Christ’s righteousness?\n‘No,’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n says the soul, None but Christ! None but Christ! Bless your\npoor <\/p>\n\n\n\n heart, then, you shall have it as sure as God has wrought the\ndesire<\/p>\n\n\n\n in your conscience, and brought you to trust alone in Jesus for\nrefuge, <\/p>\n\n\n\n righteousness, and salvation, by stripping you of all false\nprops and <\/p>\n\n\n\n dependencies. Such a soul as this will trust in the Lord,\novercome all <\/p>\n\n\n\n opposition, and be more than a conqueror through Him that hath\nloved him…<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Warburton <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How sweet it is to awake every day knowing that God my Saviour is on his throne, that he has purposed all that the day shall bring forth, and that he has purposed it for me, for my everlasting good. good. Don Fortner PEACE IN BELIEVING “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give […]<\/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-6631","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\/6631","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=6631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6632,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6631\/revisions\/6632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world\ngiveth.” (Jn 14:27)
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\n“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.”\n“Perfect peace!”\u2014what a blessed attainment! My soul! is it yours? I\nam sure it is not, if you are seeking it in a perishable world, or in the\nperishable creature, or in your perishable self. Although you have all that the\nworld would call enviable and happy, unless you have peace in God, and with\nGod, all else is unworthy of the name\u2014a spurious thing, which the first breath\nof adversity will shatter, and the hour of death utterly annihilate! Perfect\npeace! What is it? It is the peace of forgiveness. It is the peace arising out\nof a sense of God reconciled through the blood of the everlasting\ncovenant\u2014resting sweetly on the bosom, and the work of Jesus\u2014to Him committing\nyour eternal all.
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\nMy soul! stay yourself on God, so that this blessed peace may be yours. You\nhave tried the world. It has deceived you. Prop after prop of earthly scaffolding\nhas yielded, and tottered, and fallen. Has your God ever done so? Ah! this\nfalse and counterfeit world-peace may do well for the world’s work, and the\nworld’s day of prosperity. But test it in the hour of sorrow; and what can it\ndo for you when it is most needed? On the other hand, what though you have no\nother blessing on earth to call your own? You are rich indeed, if you can look\nupwards to Heaven, and say with an unpresumptuous smile, “I am at peace\nwith God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n