So obvious to the believer in the Lord Jesus\nis the presence of the old man within and therefore his own doubts concerning\nhis sincerity to Christ, that the finds himself continually flying back to\nChrist Jesus, his only Hope of security, assurance and comfort. While the\nnatural man finds false peace in his own works of self-righteousness, the\nvessel of God’s mercy is given faith to believe the word of the Lord, “All\nthe Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that come to Me I will no wise\ncast out” John 6:37.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Marvin Stalnaker<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJesus is the Christ\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 20:31 But these are\nwritten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and\nthat believing ye might have life through his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah,\npromised by God in all the Old Testament prophets. Peter\u2019s confession, \u201cThou\nart the Christ, the Son of the living God<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 16:16), is the basis of\nall true Christianity, the foundation upon which the church of God is built,\nand vital revelation of the gospel of God. If Jesus of Nazareth is not the\nChrist, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, then…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 He is not\nthe Son of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 His\nobedience to God is of no benefit to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 His birth\nis of no greater importance than the birth of any other great and noble man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 His death\nupon the cross has no saving virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00b7 And we are\nyet in our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter said, \u201cWe believe\nand are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God<\/em>\u201d (John\n6:69). Can you say the same? Are you really sure? There have been many others\nwho have claimed to be Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the\nworld. Perhaps it would be good for us to ask of Jesus of Nazareth what John\nthe Baptist asked of him \u2014 \u201cArt thou he that should come, or do we look for\nanother<\/em>?\u201d (Matthew 11:3). How can we know that Jesus is the Christ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The man Gabriel appeared to\nDaniel, assuring him of the coming of Christ and of our Savior\u2019s great\naccomplishments as our Saviour at God\u2019s appointed time (Daniel 9:20-24). By the\naccomplishment of these six great feats of grace, \u201cMessiah the Prince<\/em>\u201d\nis identified. He who accomplished these things is the Christ, the Son of God,\nour Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Transgression Finished<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First<\/em>, Gabriel told Daniel that when the Christ appeared, he would,\nby the sacrifice of himself, \u201cfinish the transgression<\/em>.\u201d That is\nprecisely what our blessed Saviour did when our transgressions were laid on him\nand borne by him, and he carried them all away in the stream of his precious\nblood when he made satisfaction for us. They shall never be seen or brought up\nagain!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sins End<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Second<\/em>, the Lord Jesus came here in our flesh to \u201cmake an end of\nsins<\/em>.\u201d Yes, our blessed Saviour abolished the sins of his people forever\nwhen he paid to the full the price of our ransom, by the sacrifice of himself!\n\u2014 He made an end of all the sins of all his redeemed forever (1 John 3:5; Psalm\n32:1; Romans 4:8; Numbers 23:21, 23). No charge can be brought against us. No,\nthe curse of the law cannot reach us. No sentence of the law can be executed\nupon us. No punishment can be inflicted upon us. We are entirely and completely\nsaved from all our sins and all the evil consequences of them forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reconciliation for Iniquity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Third<\/em>, the Son of God came into the world to save his people from\ntheir sins by making \u201creconciliation for iniquity,<\/em>\u201d by making blood\natonement for it. By his precious blood, by the sacrifice of himself, by his\nsufferings and death, the law and justice of God were fully satisfied; full\nreparation was made for the injury done by sin (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). For all\nour iniquities, our dear Savior has made complete reconciliation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everlasting Righteousness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fourth, <\/em>our dear Saviour came here \u201cto bring in\neverlasting righteousness<\/em>\u201d for his elect, righteousness by which he\nmagnified the law and made it honourable. He brought in this perfect\nrighteousness for us by his perfect life of obedience to the law and will of\nGod as our Representative, even his obedience unto death as our covenant Surety\nand Substitute. This is the righteousness he bestows upon his redeemed, the\nrighteousness we have received by faith in him, that everlasting righteousness\nin which we stand and shall forever stand before the holy Lord God in the\nperfection of beauty! This righteousness is a robe of righteousness that will\nnever wear out. Its virtue to justify will continue forever. It is perfect\nrighteousness, the very righteousness of God; and it is ours in Christ Jesus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seal Up the Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifth<\/em>, by his obedience unto death and his resurrection from the\ndead, our Lord Jesus Christ \u201csealed up the vision and prophecy<\/em>.\u201d That is\nto say, he fulfilled it all \u2014 All the Law \u2014 All the Prophets \u2014 All the Types \u2014\nAll the Promises \u2014 All the Old Testament!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anoint the Most Holy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sixth, <\/em>Christ came here \u201cto<\/em> anoint\nthe most holy<\/em>.\u201d Christ\u2019s ransomed ones, God\u2019s elect, his church (poor,\nruined, wretched sinners like you and me), are here called \u201cthe most holy.<\/em>\u201d\n\u2014 Imagine that! Washed in the blood of Christ, clothed with his righteousness,\nand sanctified by his Spirit, we are in union with the Lamb of God, \u201cthe\nmost Holy!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith His spotless garments on,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holy as the Holy One!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rejoice, O my soul, rejoice, and\ngive praise to God forever! \u2014 \u201cWe believe and are sure that thou art\nthe Christ, the Son of the living God!<\/em>\u201d Jesus of Nazareth, the son of\nJoseph and Mary, who was crucified at Jerusalem two thousand years ago, is\nindeed the Christ, the Son of the living God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n FINAL REST AND BEATIFIC\nPRESENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John MacDuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Come to Me, all you who\nare weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/sup><\/strong>But\nwhen the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew\nnot that it was Jesus. 5 <\/sup><\/strong>Then\nJesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. <\/p>\n\n\n\n John 21:4-5<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weary and burdened with new\napprehensions and desponding thoughts were these pilgrims of Galilee. Even\nPeter, despite of former protestations, now chafing under deferred and\ndisappointed hope, seems to say, “I can wait on no longer; I shall resume\nthe old daily occupation I had readily surrendered for a nobler, diviner\nmission. I am going fishing.” And the others followed suit. It was a night\nof unremunerated toil. When their boat was drawing near to the western shore, a\nFigure stood out in the tender mystery of the dawn–the dim morning light that\nwas breaking over the hills of Naphtali. At first the jaded toilers knew Him\nnot. The very tones of His voice seemed unfamiliar, even though the well-known\ngreeting, “Children,” reached their ears. But the Bidder of welcome\nwas in due time recognised. The word passed from lip to lip, “It is the\nLord!” A meal was ready spread on the shore; while a miraculous draught\ncorroborated their surmises, and crowned the unrecompensed labor of “a night\non the deep.” The net was dragged ashore with its encumbering load, and\nthe Lord of love was once more surrounded with loving hearts. It was parable\nand miracle in one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After our night, too, on the\nworld’s sea of trial, life’s varied and chequered appointments, there is to be\na blessed day-dawn for all those that “love His appearing.” In the\nmorning of immortality, Jesus will meet us on the heavenly, as He did His\ndisciples on the earthly shore, with the same gracious welcome. The prize which\nstrewed the margin of the Lake of Galilee will have its emblematic counterpart\nin the recompense for faithful, though in the case of some it may be fruitless,\nlabour. As with the miraculous draught, then at least nothing will be lost,\nnothing lacking in the final gathering–no baffled hopes, or frustrated toil,\nor impeded work. “And for all there were so many, yet was not the net\nbroken.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In His own beatific Presence,\ntoo, the feast will be spread. That Presence and Love will consecrate and\nglorify the banquet–this not for a fleeting hour, but for eternity. Paul, in\nhis great eighth chapter of Romans, ascends to the highest Hospice built on\nthis side of heaven; and reaching these serene heights, where the toiling\npilgrim breathes the air of the everlasting hills, he exclaims–“Who shall\nseparate us from the love of Christ?” In that “morning without\nclouds” will the challenge attain its highest meaning and significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord Jesus, Giver of Rest and\nPeace, let me hear Your voice even now on the celestial shore, saying,\n“Come unto Me, you weary ones, and I will refresh you.” Let me see in\ntheir spiritual symbolism (it may be yet dimly discernible) the lighted coal-fire,\nthe fish laid thereon, and bread. Let the thought of that glad morning\nreconcile to all present experiences–storms, and buffetings, and\nnight-watchings. Let the restful lullaby close alike this meditation and our\nvolume\u2013 “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the\nmorning.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “What time I am\nawake I am still with You.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “This is the rest\nwherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing.”\nIsaiah 28:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The night is over, the\nsleep is slept, Blessed be the Lord, that hath\ngiven REST unto His people Israel, according to all that He promised: there has\nnot failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of\nMoses His servant. (1 Kings 8:56.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Jesus who cried to\nthem, “Children, have you any meat?” It was he who said, “Bring\nof the fish which you have now caught.” It is he who gives the invitation,\n“Come and break your fast.” Jesus is Master of the feast. He\ncondescends to the feast. Is it not wonderful that the Holy Lord should have\ncommunion with his faulty followers? Yet he will breakfast with us – with us\nwho doubted him, as Thomas did; with us who denied him, as Peter did; with us\nwho forsook him and fled, as all the rest did. He, always sinless, was now\nwithout physical necessities. He had risen from the dead, and he did not need\nto eat, yet did he still have familiar fellowship with sinful man. On one\noccasion he ate a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb; and I suppose\nthat on this occasion he also ate with them; for one does not ask others to\ncome and dine, and then himself refrain from eating. He communed with them by\nthat bread and by that fish. It was wonderful condescension. But will the Lord\nstill come and commune with us? Will he, “without whom was not anything\nmade that was made,” have fellowship with a sinful mortal like me? Take\ncomfort, you who are conscious of sin, from the fact that his last near\ncompanion here below was a thief, and the first that passed the pearly portal\nwith him and entered into his kingdom, was that self-same justly executed one.\nCome along with you, you child of God, conscious of your gross unworthiness;\ncome, for he invites you now to feast with himself. This shall be your nourishment,\nnot alone the food which he prepares for you, as his own company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n C.H.Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n “But my God shall\nsupply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”\nPhilippians 4:19 Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such a\ndead dog as me!<\/strong> So obvious to the believer in the Lord Jesus is the presence of the old man within and therefore his own doubts concerning his sincerity to Christ, that the finds himself continually flying back to Christ Jesus, his only Hope of security, assurance and comfort. While the natural man finds false peace in his own […]<\/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-6879","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\/6879","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=6879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6880,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6879\/revisions\/6880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThey are called from the shadowy place;
\nThe Pilgrims stand in the glorious land,
\nAnd gaze on the Master’s face.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nFor all the exigencies of the Christian journey God has amply\nprovided. The Lord Jesus being the believer’s “way,” all nourishment\nfor the pilgrimage of the saints is laid up in Him. All supply of wisdom for\nthe perplexing way, of strength for the wearisome way, of grace for the\nperilous way, of sympathy for the trying way, is in Jesus. In Him has the\nFather laid up the provision for the wilderness journey. And what storehouses\nof nourishment\u2013both testifying of Jesus\u2013are the word of God and the covenant of\ngrace! How full, how rich and ample the supply! All the soul-establishing\ndoctrines, all the sanctifying precepts, and all the precious, comforting\npromises go to make up the nourishment for the wilderness journey. Sometimes\nthe Lord brings us into the very heart of the wilderness, just to prove to us\nhow easily and how readily He can provide a table for us even there. And when\nall other resources are exhausted, and all supply is cut off, and every spring\nof water is dried up, lo! He opens the eye of our faith to see what His heart\nof love has prepared.
\n
\nAre you, dear reader, sitting down to weep like Hagar, or to die\nlike Elijah, in the wilderness\u2013desolate, weary, and exhausted? Oh, see what\nappropriate and ample nourishment your God and Father has provided for you. The\nAngel of the covenant touches you with the right hand of His love, and bids you\nrise and eat and drink, yes, to “drink abundantly.” In the glorious\ngospel are “all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old,” which the\nLord has laid up for His people. “Go your way, eat your bread with joy,\nand drink your wine with a merry heart,” for all this storehouse of\nnourishment, this table of provision, is for you. All the love that is in God’s\nheart, all the grace that is in the Saviour’s nature, all the comfort that is\nin the Spirit’s tenderness, all the sanctifying truths, free invitations, and\nprecious promises which cluster in the Gospel of Christ, all are yours\u2013the\nsacred nourishment provided for the your journey to the mount of God. Listen to\nthe voice of Jesus, saying to you, as of old, “Come and dine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n(C.H.Spurgeon)
\n
\n\u201cAnd he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou\nshouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am!<\/strong>“2\nSamuel 9:8
\n
\nIf Mephibosheth was thus humbled by David’s kindness-then what\nshould we <\/em>be in the presence of our gracious Lord?
\n
\n<\/em>The more grace we have-the less we shall think of ourselves<\/em>; for\ngrace, like light, reveals our sinfulness.
\n
\nEminent saints have scarcely known what to compare themselves\nto, as their sense of unworthiness has been so clear and keen. “I\nam,” says holy Rutherford, “a dry and withered branch, a piece of\ndead carcass, dry bones.” In another place he writes, “I am\nessentially no different than Judas and Cain.”
\n
\nThe basest objects in nature appear to the eminent Christian, to\nbe better than himself, because they have never contracted sin. A dog<\/em> may\nbe greedy, fierce or filthy-but it has no conscience to violate and no Holy\nSpirit to resist. A dog may be a worthless animal, and yet by a little kindness\nit is soon won to love its master, and is faithful unto death. But we often\nforget the goodness of the Lord, and follow Him poorly.
\n
\nThe term “dead dog” is the most expressive of all\nterms of contempt-but it is none too strong to express the self-abhorrence of\neminent believers. They do not affect mock modesty; they mean what they say;\nthey have weighed themselves in the balances of the sanctuary, and found out\nthe vanity and depravity of their hearts.
\n
\nAt best, we are but clay, animated dust, mere walking dirt!<\/em>
\n<\/em>But viewed as sinners-we are monsters indeed!<\/em>
\n
\n<\/em>Let it be published in Heaven as a wonder, that the Lord Jesus\nshould set His heart’s love upon such as we are! Dust and ashes though we are,\nwe must and will magnify the exceeding greatness of His grace.
\n
\nCould not His heart find rest in Heaven? Must He needs come to\nthese black tents of Kedar for a spouse, and choose such an unlovely bride? O\nheavens and earth, break forth into a song, and give all glory to our sweet\nLord Jesus!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"