Religion is to know biblical facts; life is\nto know God (I John 5:20). Religion is to know what I believe; life is to know\nWhom I believe (II Timothy 1:12). Religion is to be baptized into the church;\nLife is to be baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3). Religion is to be reformed,\nlife is to be regenerated (John 3:3). Religion is to be a new convert; life is\nto be a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). A man was asked, \u201cAnd\nwhat is your religious persuasion?\u201d He replied, \u201cI am persuaded that nothing can\nseparate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d (Romans\n8:38-39). \n \n \n ~Henry Mahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some preachers want\nto arouse man\u2019s activity. We want to kill it once and for all, to show\nhim that he is lost and ruined, and that his activities are not able to save\nhim. Some seek to make the man stand up. We seek to bring him\ndown and make him feel that he is in the hands of God and that his business is\nto submit to God, bow to the claims of Christ, and cry, \u201c Lord save me or\nI perish.\u201d We hold that a man is never so near grace as when he feels\nthat he can do nothing at all but cry for mercy. But, when he says, \u201cI\ncan pray, I can believe, I can do this or that,\u201d the marks of self- sufficiency\nare still on his brow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Henry Mahan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who Must\nWe\nKnow? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John\n17:3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nrecent weeks and months I have read numerous articles and heard several sermons\non the general subject, “How Much Must You Know Before You Can\nBe Saved?” In essence the men were attempting to prove that Arminians,\nfree-willers and legalists are saved people and are to be embraced as brethren.\nUpon the surface that seems to be a charitable thing. And I am sure it is the\nintention of those men to be charitable. But I fear their charity is a\ndelusion. I know it is contrary to both the spirit and letter of Holy Scripture\n(Rom. 11:6; Gal. 1:6-9; Phil. 3:18; Col. 2:23; Gal. 5:1-4). Anyone who\nbelieves that salvation is determined by his free will rather than God’s\nsovereign will is lost. Anyone who believes that salvation is dependent upon\nhis works to any degree rather than upon Christ’s finished work alone is lost.\nTo tell them that they are saved is not charity, but cruelty! Would you think a\ndoctor charitable who saw a man dying with cancer, if he told the man he was in\ngood health, because he did not want to hurt his feelings? Of course not! Only\nin the name of religion can a man be applauded for such senseless cruelty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nissue of a man’s salvation has nothing to do with how much he must know. The\nissue is who we must know! No man can be saved who does not know the one true\nand living God as he is revealed in Christ by the gospel. And the Arminian,\nfree-will, works religionist does not know the living God, his Christ, or his\ngospel. GOD IS SOVEREIGN. If the god you worship can be resisted, defeated, or\ncontrolled, you worship a false god, an idolatrous figment of your own\nimagination. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS GOD ALMIGHTY. If the Christ you trust is\na failure, he is not God, he is a false Christ. If he lived and died to redeem\nand save a multitude of sinners whom he fails to save, he\nis a failure. And a failure cannot be God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ngospel of the grace of God is the revelation of God in Christ. It is a\ndeclaration of Christ’s finished work of redemption for sinners. The gospel\ndoes not present the possibility of salvation upon some condition to be met by\nthe sinner. It declares the accomplishment of salvation by Christ for every\nsinner who trusts him. Salvation is not in how much you know, but in who you\nknow. Do you know the Christ of God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the vast majority of\nreligious people throughout the United States and the world are promoting and\nglorying in a \u201clesser god or gods,\u201d gods that have desires and plans, but can\nonly fulfil them by man\u2019s permission and cooperation, I am so very thankful for\nthe one true and living God of Holy Scripture, the One who is absolutely\nsovereign over all things. I was by nature spiritually dead, and He gave me\nlife. I was without repentance and faith, and He miraculously worked both in\nme. I am unable to keep myself from falling, but He keeps me safe under the\nshadow of His wings. I could never raise my dead body from the grave, but by\nHis almighty power and grace, He will \u2013 according to His promise, which by His\ngrace I believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear soul, think about it: if\nthere is one germ somewhere out there in the universe that is not under His\ncontrol, then my health, my life, is just a matter of chance or fortune – good\nor bad! If there is one demon spirit out there some place that is not\nunder God\u2019s control, then my hope of salvation would dry up like Jonah\u2019s\ngourd. I would have no assurance at all, for I have no confidence in me\n(Phil. 3:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am so thankful that when the\nreligious heathen ask me about my God, I can answer with the psalmist, \u201cOur God\nis in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased\u201d (Psalm 115:2,\n3). It hath pleased Him to save His people (Matt. 1:21); and He shall not\nfail (Isa. 42:4). \u201cSalvation\u201d in its entirety, \u201cis of the Lord\u201d (Jonah\n2:9; Phil. 1:6). The God of the Bible \u201cworketh all things after the counsel of\nhis own will\u201d and makes \u201call things work together for good to them that love\nGod, to them who are the called according to his purpose\u201d (Eph. 1:11; Rom.\n8:28). <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hold onto the Lord as tightly\nas I can,<\/p>\n\n\n\n But my assurance is that I am in\nHis hand!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maurice Montgomery<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most\nexcellent study for expanding the soul!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n C.H.Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nproper study of God’s elect, is God. The highest science, the loftiest\nspeculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a\nchild of God-is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the\nexistence of the great God whom he calls his Father! <\/em>There is\nsomething exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity.\nIt is a subject so vast<\/em>, that all our thoughts are lost in its\nimmensity; so deep<\/em>, that our pride is drowned in its infinity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other\nsubjects we can compass and grapple with, in them we feel a kind of\nself-contentment, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am\nwise!” <\/em>But when we come to this master-science, finding\nthat our<\/em> plumb-line <\/em>cannot sound its depth, and\nthat our<\/em> eagle eye <\/em>cannot see its height-we turn\naway with the thought <\/em>that vain man would be wise, but he is\nlike a wild donkey’s colt; and with the solemn exclamation<\/em>, “I\nam but of yesterday, and know nothing!” No subject of contemplation will\ntend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most\nexcellent study for expanding the soul<\/strong>, is the science of Christ and\nHim crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity.\nNothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing will so magnify the whole soul\nof man-as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of\nthe Deity. While humbling <\/em>and expanding<\/em>, this\nsubject is eminently consolatory<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh,\nthere is in contemplating Christ<\/em>, a balm for every wound!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nmusing on the Father<\/em>, there is a quietus for every grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the\ninfluence of the Holy Spirit<\/em>, there is a balsam for every sore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would\nyou lose your sorrows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would\nyou drown your cares?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then go,\nplunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be lost\nin His immensity, and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed\nand invigorated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know\nnothing which can . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nso comfort the soul,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nso calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nso speak peace to the winds of trial,<\/p>\n\n\n\n as a\ndevout musing upon the subject of the Godhead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm\n115:3 “But our God is in the Heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath\npleased!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm\n135:5-6 “For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is greater\nthan all gods! Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in Heaven, and in\nearth, in the seas and all deep places!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hell is\nfull of the Divine holiness!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Winslow,\n“Holiness, the Fruit of the Chastening of Love”)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hell is\nfull of the Divine holiness<\/strong>; holiness<\/p>\n\n\n\n in the\nmanifestation of justice; holiness in<\/p>\n\n\n\n its most\nglorious exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How\nfearfully are the lost now learning this truth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think it\nnot a trifling matter, unconverted reader,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to look\ninto the bottomless pit, and to know that<\/p>\n\n\n\n there is\nbut a step and you are there! You walk to<\/p>\n\n\n\n the end\nof the treacherous plank, and you are gone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n O solemn\nthought! but one step between you and<\/p>\n\n\n\n the\nquenchless flame! but one step between you<\/p>\n\n\n\n and\nendless torment!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout\neternity the lost soul will be testifying<\/p>\n\n\n\n to this\ntruth: “God is holy; I was a sinner; I rejected<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\nsalvation, I turned my back upon His gospel,<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndespised His Son, I hated God Himself, I lived in<\/p>\n\n\n\n my sins,\nI loved my sins, I died in my sins, and now<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am\nlost! to all eternity lost! And God is righteous<\/p>\n\n\n\n in my\ncondemnation!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHoly,\nholy, holy is the Lord of hosts.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Isaiah\n6:3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nIsaiah saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up, he heard the\nseraphims continually chanting one to another and in unison, \u201cHoly, holy,\nholy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.<\/em>\u201d\nThese seraphims represent God\u2019s messengers: prophets, apostles, evangelists,\npastors, and missionaries. In every age, in every place, God\u2019s messengers are\nsent into the world to declare who God is and what he has done, so that men and\nwomen might know him, the only true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom he\nhas sent. It is this knowledge of God which is eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of\nGod\u2019s servants have the same message. Their message is, \u201cHoly, holy, holy,\nis the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory<\/em>.\u201d What\ndoes this message tell us about the character of God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. \n There are three Persons in the Godhead.<\/strong> \u2014 We worship one God\nin the trinity of his sacred Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.\n\u201cThe Lord of hosts<\/em>\u201d is one God. But in that one God there are\nthree separate and distinct Persons (Revelation 4:8). All God\u2019s messengers and\nall God\u2019s people are Trinitarians (1 John 5:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. \n This great and glorious triune God is the sovereign ruler of the\nuniverse.<\/strong> \u2014 He is here called \u201cthe Lord of hosts<\/em>.\u201d\nThat is to say, he is the Lord of all creatures, the Lord of all beings, the\nLord of all things. He who is \u201cthe Lord<\/em>\u201d (Jehovah) is Lord of\nall. That means, God is in absolute control of all things at all times. Any man\nwho preaches a god who is something less than a total, absolute sovereign is a\nfalse prophet. And the god he preaches is no God at all. The God of the Bible\nis an unrivalled sovereign; and all his messengers always declare his glorious\nsovereignty (Isaiah 46:9-11; Daniel 4:35-37; Romans 9:11-24; 11:33-36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. \n And the whole earth is full of the glory of God. <\/strong>\u2014 God\u2019s\nmessengers see God\u2019s glory everywhere and declare plainly that everything in\nGod\u2019s creation is but the reflection of his glory and shall be the praise of\nhis glory (Revelation 4:9-11). God\u2019s creation is full of his glory. God\u2019s\nprovidence is full of his glory. And God\u2019s salvation is full of his glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n On our\nlearning this lesson, depends our comforting walk heavenward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n William\nRomaine<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the\nHoly Spirit takes of the things of Christ and preaches them to the heart-oh,\nwhat a sweet peace follows! The believer then finds himself saved from all the\nmiseries of sin, and entitled to all the blessings of eternal glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being\nthus persuaded of his safety by believing in the sin-atoning death of our Great\nHigh Priest, the Holy Spirit then teaches him how to live upon Christ,\nand how to make use of Christ’s fullness. <\/em>On our learning this\nlesson, depends our comforting walk heavenward<\/strong>. For Christ does not give us\na stock of grace and expect us to improve it by being faithful to grace given.\nNo, no, that is not His way. Our souls must depend upon Him, just as our bodies\ndo upon the elements of this world. We must live by\nfaith in Jesus, and be every moment receiving grace upon grace out of His\nfullness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this\nis our happiness-to have all in Christ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A beggar\nin myself, but rich with unsearchable eternal riches in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ignorant\nstill in myself, but led and taught by His unerring wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sinner\nstill, but saved by His blood and righteousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weak and\nhelpless still, but kept by His Almighty love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing\nbut sorrow in myself, nothing but joy in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, this\nis a blessed life!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n No\ntongue can tell what a Heaven it is, thus to live by faith in the Son\nof God. <\/em>Thanks be to Him, that I do know a little of it. Surely I\ncould not have thought, some years ago, that there was such a Heaven\nupon earth<\/em> as I now find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith\nof the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!” Galatians 2:20 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Religion is to know biblical facts; life is to know God (I John 5:20). Religion is to know what I believe; life is to know Whom I believe (II Timothy 1:12). Religion is to be baptized into the church; Life is to be baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3). Religion is to be reformed, life is […]<\/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-6786","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\/6786","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=6786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6787,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786\/revisions\/6787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}