Our work is great\u2014our time is short\u2014and the consequences of our\nlabours are infinite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is astonishing that I\nshould so be one with Christ, that all that He is becomes mine; and all that I\nam becomes His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\nglory mine; my humiliation His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\nrighteousness mine; my guilt His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\njoy mine; my sorrow His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\nriches mine; my poverty His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\nlife mine; my death His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\nheaven mine; my hell His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ndaily walk of faith is a continuous development of the wonders of this wondrous\ntruth. That in traveling to Him empty; I should return from Him full. That in\ngoing to Him weak; I should come away from Him strong. That in bending my steps\nto Him in all darkness, perplexity, and grief; I should retrace them all light,\nand joy, and gladness. \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Octavius\nWinslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adored be the grace which . . .
\n keeps us from falling, seeks us when we are\nwandering,
\n heals our soul-sicknesses, and
\n pardons our innumerable follies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why\ndid Jesus Christ Die?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Contrary\nto popular opinion, Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to make an offer <\/strong>of\nsalvation, to be accepted or rejected by men. He died to make Himself an offering<\/strong> to\nHis Father for the sins of His people. Heb.9:14. He died to satisfy God\u2019s holy\njustice and put away the sins of His people by the sacrifice of Himself.\nHeb.9:26. His Father saw the \u201ctravail of His soul and was satisfied\u201d. Is.53:11.\nHis resurrection from the dead is proof that He accomplished exactly what He\ncame to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Greg\nElmquist<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I am redeemed from eternal\nmisery by the blood of Jesus, and if He is now preparing a mansion for me near\nHimself, that I may drink of the rivers of pleasure at His right hand for\nevermore; then the question ought not to be: How may I pass through life with\nthe least inconvenience? John Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nonly smile worth having<\/strong> More scarce and precious than a bar of gold!<\/strong> “My sheep hear<\/em> My\nvoice, and I know them, and they follow<\/em> Me.” John\n10:27<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christian, your whole life\nis to be one continuous following of the Lord. Christian, should your eye\never be withdrawn from the cross, you will be sure to go backwards, to grow\ncold, and to forget that you were purged from your old sins (2 Peter 1:9). That\ncross is life, health, holiness, consolation, strength, joy; let nothing come\nbetween it and you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christian, your life is a\nbook; it may be a volume of larger or smaller size. Conversion is but the\ntitle-page or the preface. The book itself remains to be written; and your\nyears and weeks and days are its chapters and pages and lines. It is a book written\nfor eternity; see that it be written well. It is a book for the inspection of\nenemies as well as friends; be careful of every word. It is a book written\nunder the eye of God; let it be done reverently; without levity, yet without\nconstraint or terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The grace of God is your\nstrength, as it is your joy; and it is only by abiding in it that you can\nreally live the life of the redeemed. Be strong, then, in this grace; draw your\njoy out of it; and beware how you turn to anything else for refreshment, or\ncomfort, or holiness. Though a believing man, you are still a sinner; a sinner\nto the last; and, as such, nothing can suit you but the free love of God. Draw\ncontinually on Christ and His fullness for this grace. This abounding grace,\nrightly understood, will not make you sin; it will not relax morality or make\ninconsistency a trifle. It will magnify sin and enhance its evil in your eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Horatius Bonar <\/p>\n\n\n\n If I wash myself with\nsnow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By nature, man knows nothing\nof the purity and perfection of God\u2014or the deep sinfulness and\ncorruption of the creature. <\/em>There is a veil over man’s heart\u2014a veil of\nignorance\u2014of delusion\u2014of unbelief\u2014of self-deception as regards the nature of\nsin. No man is vitally and experimentally acquainted with\u2014its hideous\nnature\u2014its awful depths\u2014its subtlety\u2014its workings\u2014its movements\u2014its\ncravings\u2014its lustings\u2014the heights to which it rises\u2014the depths to which it\nsinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when the Lord the Spirit\ntakes a man really and vitally in hand\u2014and He truly begins His sovereign work\nof grace upon the soul\u2014He commences by opening up to the astonished eyes of the\nsinner, something of the real nature of sin. He not only shows him the huge,\nhigh, wide-spreading branches of sin\u2014but bids him look down and see how\ndeeply-rooted sin is in his very being\u2014that sin is not an accident\u2014a faint blot\nthat may soon be washed out\u2014a something on the surface, like a skin disease\nthat may be healed by a simple ointment. He shows him that sin is seated in his\nvery bones\u2014that this deep-rooted malady has taken possession of him\u2014that he is\na sinner to his very heart’s core\u2014that every thought,<\/em> every word,<\/em> every action<\/em> of\nman’s whole being\u2014is one mass of sin, filth, and pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if he attempts, as most\nawakened sinners do attempt\u2014to purify himself\u2014to ease his guilt by lopping off\na few external branches\u2014if he attempts to wash himself clean from iniquity, the\nSpirit will teach him the meaning of Job’s words, “If I wash myself\nwith snow water<\/strong>, and make my hands never so clean, yet shalt Thou plunge me\nin the ditch and mine own clothes shall abhor me.” (Job 9:30, 31). Until\nat last God brings him to this spot\u2014that he is a sinner throughout\u2014yes, that he\nis the chief of sinners\u2014that every evil lodges in his heart\u2014and the seed of\nevery crime dwells in his fallen nature. When a man is brought here, he is\nbrought to the place of the stopping of mouths\u2014his own righteousness is\neffectually cut to pieces\u2014his hopes of salvation by his works are completely\nremoved from under him. Those rotten props are cut away by the hand of the\nSpirit from the sinking soul, that he may fall into himself one mass of\nconfusion and ruin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And until he is brought\nhere, he really can know nothing\u2014of a free-grace salvation\u2014of the\nsuperaboundings of grace over the aboundings of sin\u2014of God’s electing love\u2014of\nChrist’s substitution and suretyship\u2014of His atoning blood\u2014of His justifying\nrighteousness\u2014of His dying love. He can know nothing of the rich provisions of\nalmighty power and eternal mercy that are lodged in the fullness of Christ. He\nhas\u2014no eyes to see\u2014no ears to hear\u2014no heart to feel\u2014no arms to embrace a whole\nChrist\u2014a precious Christ, a Saviour from the wrath to come\u2014who has stood in the\nsinner’s place and stead\u2014made full atonement for sin\u2014fulfilled the law\u2014brought\nin everlasting righteousness\u2014and justified the ungodly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who\nHas Ears to Hear?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\nthat hath ears to hear, let him hear. Then drew near unto Him all the publicans\nand sinners for to hear Him.\u201d \u2013 Luke 14:35-15:1<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Who\nwas it that needed ears to hear? All of the publicans and sinners. If I am\nhearing the Gospel, and receiving no blessing, it is because I am not hearing\nas a sinner! Not hearing as a sinner prevents me from hearing the Gospel as\nGood News. It is only hearing as a sinner that I can discern error where it is\npreached. When I am not hearing as a sinner, salvation by works is palpable to\nme. It is only hearing as a sinner that the Gospel is Good News and the error\nof salvation by works can be discerned. Whatever objections one may have to\nthis, it is still taught in this passage. If we ever grow beyond, \u201cChrist\nJesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am <\/em>(not was) chief,\u201d <\/em>we\nare rendered unable to hear the Gospel or discern a false gospel.\n ~Todd Nibert<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is\nastonishing that I should so be one with Christ, that all that He is becomes\nmine; and all that I am becomes His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\nglory mine; my humiliation His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\nrighteousness mine; my guilt His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\njoy mine; my sorrow His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\nriches mine; my poverty His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\nlife mine; my death His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n His\nheaven mine; my hell His!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ndaily walk of faith is a continuous development of the wonders of this wondrous\ntruth. That in traveling to Him empty; I should return from Him full. That in\ngoing to Him weak; I should come away from Him strong. That in bending my steps\nto Him in all darkness, perplexity, and grief; I should retrace them all light,\nand joy, and gladness. \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Octavius\nWinslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n Godly Fear <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every believer fears the removal of\nGod\u2019s presence and power. David prayed \u201cTake not Thy Holy Spirit from me.\u201d\n(Psalm 51:11) Paul feared that, \u201cwhile preaching to others, I might be found a\ncastaway.\u201d (1 Cor. 9:27) My thoughts are that this condition is manifested in\nthe following ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. We begin to experience no\nblessing nor benefit from reading or preaching of the Word. When the Word ceases to\nconvict, rebuke, burn in my heart, ands cause me to rejoice in Christ, then God\nis not speaking to me; for God speaks through His Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. We are in trouble when we\nfeel satisfied with our spiritual progress and become puffed up with knowledge.\nWe become authorities instead of leaners; having arrived, our humble spirit is\nin creed alone, not experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. We can be absent from the\nfellowship of believers and worship of the Lord without feeling a great loss\nand an empty heart. A man who can be warmed by his own fire isn either dead or\ndying spiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. We begin to be critics and\nfind fault in others. The Spirit of God leads a man to feel that he is \u201cless\nthan the least,\u201d the \u201cchief of sinners.\u201d When the Spirit of God is not present,\nwe become judges and fault finders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. When our souls are not vexed\nby the sin within us and the conversation of men about us, when we3 can feel\ncomfortable in the presence of those who never knew our God, when we can\nconform to the ways of natural men and the trend off materialism, the light of\nGod is dim or extinguished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. When our thoughts become\nself-centred and the general welfare, well-being, and joy of others is of no\ngreat concern to us, we are certainly not motivated by the Spirit of God.\nSelfishness, like self righteousness, is not of God. The heart filled with God\u2019s\nlove and grace dwell on others; rot make them happy is to be happy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Mahan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our work is great\u2014our time is short\u2014and the consequences of our labours are infinite. John Newton It is astonishing that I should so be one with Christ, that all that He is becomes mine; and all that I am becomes His! His glory mine; my humiliation His! His righteousness mine; my guilt His! His joy […]<\/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-6896","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\/6896","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=6896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6897,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6896\/revisions\/6897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRather, the question should be: How may my little span of life\nbe made most subservient to the praise and glory of Him who loved me and gave\nHimself for me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n<\/strong>(J.C.Philpot)
\n
\nAll the vain applause of mortals<\/strong>, and all
\nthat is called popularity<\/strong>, I think little of.
\nIt leaves an aching void, and often a guilty
\nconscience. The blessing of the Lord makes
\nrich, and all else is poverty, rags, and shame.
\n
\nNot he who commends himself is approved,
\nbut whom the Lord commends. God’s smile,
\nnot man’s, is<\/strong> the only smile worth\nhaving<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/strong>
\n<\/em>from Octavius Winslow’s, “The Redeemer, the<\/em>
\n<\/em>Revelation of the Father’s Glory” October, 1844<\/em>
\n
\n“<\/strong>Behold, the days come,\nsaith the Lord God,<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>that I will send a famine in the land,<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for\nwater,<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>but of hearing the words of\nthe Lord:<\/strong>“<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Amos 8:11<\/strong>
\n
\nAlready has this famine of the true word of God commenced!
\n
\nHow few, forming their ministry upon the apostolic
\nmodel, can affirm with Paul, “My speech and my
\npreaching are not with enticing words of man’s wisdom,
\nbut in demonstration of the Spirit and of power!”
\n
\nHow few, disdaining artificial embellishment, and
\nscorning the applause of men won by a vain show
\nof intellect and eloquence, preach that simple truth
\nof which Jesus is the Author, the Substance, the
\nGlory, the Power, and the End; purely, boldly,
\nfaithfully, affectionately, uncompromisingly!
\n
\nHow few who honestly and heartily desire to lift up
\ntheir Lord and Master; themselves lost behind the
\nglory of His person and the splendours of His cross!
\n
\nHow sadly, how painfully, is the Lord Jesus Christ
\nkept in the background! How is His glory obscured,
\nHis beauty veiled, His honour withheld!
\n
\n“The time will come, when a faithful minister
\nof the Gospel will be more\nscarce and precious<\/strong>
\nthan a bar of gold!<\/strong>”\nJohn Owen
\n
\n“<\/strong>Behold, the days come,\nsaith the Lord God,<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>that I will send a famine in the land,<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for\nwater,<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>but of hearing the words of\nthe Lord:<\/strong>“<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Amos 8:11<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nYou began with turning your back upon the world, and ‘looking to\nJesus’; keep ever thus. Looking to Him brought rest to you at first, and healed\nyour soul; so, looking to Him daily will maintain your rest and perfect your\nspiritual health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n