Is. 35:10 And the ransomed\nof the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon\ntheir heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall\nflee away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A hundred doctrines\nfloating in the head<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By five minutes real\ncommunion<\/em> with the Lord\u2014we learn more, we know more, we receive\nmore, we feel more, and we experience more than by a thousand years of merely\nstudying the Scriptures, or using external forms, rites, and ceremonies. One\ntruth written by the Spirit in the heart, will bring forth more fruit in the\nlife, than a hundred doctrines floating in the head<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saving faith is not based upon\none\u2019s feelings but upon God\u2019s faithfulness. It is able to embrace and\nrejoice in the promises of God. It needs no evidence or proof, only a\nword from the living God; being \u201cFully persuaded that what God has promised, He\nis able also to perform\u201d (Romans 4:21); and realising that the only difference\nbetween God\u2019s faithful promise and its perfect fulfilment is just a bit of\ntime\u2026. His appointed time! \n \n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maurice Montgomery<\/p>\n\n\n\n More about\nthe Infiltrators<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jude 4<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n False prophets are cunning infiltrators. Jude identifies\napostate preachers as men who slither into churches \u201cin unawares<\/em>.\u201d Their\nplan is to subtly infiltrate the kingdom of Christ. The Greek verb translated \u201ccrept<\/em>\u201d\nis never used anywhere else in the New Testament. It is a very rare word that\nhas to do with cunning speech and clever debaters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, the word is used in extrabiblical literature in a\nlegal sense to speak of someone who pleads a case very cleverly, with guile. It\nis used to represent a lawyer who plants a thought in the minds of a judge or a\njury by trickery. It is used to describe a criminal who secretly slips back\ninto the country after being exiled from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word \u201ccrept\u2019<\/em> means \u201centered in secretly.\u201d That\nis precisely what false prophets do. Deceivers have a real problem with\ntruthfulness, openness, and honesty. They never come in announcing, \u201cI am a\nmessenger of Satan, and I would like to join your church.\u201d This word \u201ccrept<\/em>\u201d\nliterally means, \u201cto go down into and alongside.\u201d False prophets go down into\nthe church and get alongside believers. They pretend to believe; but they are\nSatan\u2019s counterfeit prophets. As his servants, it is their determination to\ndestroy the work of God. Such infiltration had already begun in Jude\u2019s day.\nFalse prophets had moved into the church and were beginning to sow lies about\nwho Christ is, what he has accomplished, and how he saves sinners. That form of\nattack is nothing new. It has gone on through the centuries, is still going on\ntoday, and will continue to go on until Christ comes again. The Puritan Thomas\nManton wrote\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the Christian church\nbegan\u2026there were adverse powers without ready to crush it, and Libertines who,\nlike worms bred within the body, sought to devour the entrails and eat the very\nbowels of it. The first ringleader was Simon Magus, and there followed\nmany\u2026who, being once turned aside from the truth and the fellowship of the\nfaithful, lost all awe of God, and were given up to a sottish judgment to\nbelieve all kinds of fables and fancies….In succeeding ages the devil hath\noften played over the old game, sometimes oppressing the church by the tyranny\nof pseudo-Christians…at other times corrupting the truth by error, or\nrendering it suspicious by the divisions about it. Heresies revolve as\nfashions, and in the course of a few years antiquated errors revive again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are like those adversaries of Israel described in Ezra 4:2,\nwho came to Zerubbabel saying, \u201cLet us build with you: for we seek your God,\nas ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him,<\/em>\u201d though it was their intent to\ndisrupt the work. They are like Simon Magus in Acts 8, who wanted to be\nbaptized and acknowledged as a follower of Christ, though he was an enemy to\nChrist. Peter\u2019s words have come to pass. \u2014 \u201cThere were false prophets also\namong the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily\nshall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and\nbring upon themselves swift destruction<\/em>\u201d (2 Peter 2:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their\nreligion is hollow, unsubstantial, and unreal<\/strong> The\nserpent’s poison taints infant veins<\/strong> Morality\nwill keep you out of jail<\/strong> This\nis one of the most foolish of all lies!<\/strong> Jude 4 For there are\ncertain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this\ncondemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,\nand denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we read such a passage as this and see it fulfilled before\nour eyes, we often ask, \u2014 \u201cHow could this have happened?\u201d That is because we\nfail to give proper consideration to the most significant words in Jude 4\nconcerning the heretics who infiltrate gospel churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Divinely Purposed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jude tells us that these serpentine preachers \u201cwere before of\nold ordained to this condemnation.<\/em>\u201d Their infiltration is by divine design.\nThey could not find their way into Zion if the Lord our God did not wisely\nordain it for good reasons. One of those reasons is stated plainly in 1\nCorinthians 11:19. When heretics come among us, the Lord makes manifest who are\nhis. His sheep hear the Good Shepherd\u2019s voice and follow him. They hear not the\nvoice of strangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey creep into the church and worm their way into people\u2019s affections by\npretense and insinuation (2 Timothy 3:1-7). They claim to promote righteousness\nand truth. Yet their doctrine is so corrupt and their motives so vile that they\nknow their success depends entirely upon deceit. It is no marvel that Paul\nwrote as he did in 2 Corinthians 11, warning us to mark those who seek to\ndestroy our souls with their beguiling doctrines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our most dangerous enemies are\nnot godless politicians, but godless preachers, subtle enemies inside the\nchurch (2 Peter 2:1; 1 Timothy 4:1-3). In the night, when men sleep, Satan sows\nhis tares among the wheat, that he might corrupt the church. His messengers\ncreep into the church unsuspected, under falsely professed faith (Matthew 7:15;\n2 Corinthians 11:13-15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n No Harm Done<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, there is no cause for alarm. They shall cause no real harm.\nThe church and kingdom of Christ, God\u2019s elect, are kept safe and secure. God\u2019s\npurpose is not overthrown, or even hindered by our foes, but only served.\nEverything about them, including their work and their end, is according to the\ndeterminate counsel and eternal purpose of our all-wise and sovereign God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jude tells us that these false\nprophets \u201cwere before of old ordained to this condemnation<\/em>.\u201d Heresies\nand errors do not fall out by chance, but according to the certain and eternal\npurpose of our God. Nothing can come to pass without his will; and nothing can\ncome to pass against his will. And nothing will injure his church and kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cZion stands with hills surrounded;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zion, kept by pow’r divine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All her foes shall be confounded,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the world in arms combine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy Zion, Happy Zion,<\/p>\n\n\n\n What a favoured lot is thine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don Fortner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is. 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. A hundred doctrines floating in the head By five minutes real communion with the Lord\u2014we learn more, we know more, we […]<\/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-7008","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\/7008","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=7008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7009,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7008\/revisions\/7009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em>(From Winslow’s, “Christ’s Intercession for Tried\nFaith”)<\/em>
\n<\/em>
\nThe most beautiful ritual,
\nthe most accurate creed,
\nthe most costly religion,
\nthe most splendid profession,
\nwithout Christ in the heart,
\nis but as fuel preparing for the
\nfinal and eternal conflagration.
\n
\nWhat, my reader, if your religion
\nshould prove to be nothing but chaff?
\nDoes the bare probability startle you?
\n
\nAh! there are multitudes whom it might well
\nstartle; for multitudes are thus deceived.
\n
\nNot a grain of saving grace is found in their souls.
\n
\nThere is….
\nno vitality in their faith,
\nno solidity in their profession,
\nno substance in their religion.
\n
\nBefore every wind of false doctrine they bend, and
\nby each blast of temptation they are carried away.
\n
\nThe stubble of the field, and the chaff of the
\nthreshing floor (fit emblems of their profession),
\nare not more unsubstantial and fleeting than it.
\n
\nAll is woeful deception!
\n
\nThey have substituted….
\na form of godliness for its power;
\nunion to the church for union to Christ;
\nthe baptism of water for the regeneration of the Spirit;
\ngospel ordinances for sanctifying grace;
\nworks of benevolence for faith in the Lord Jesus.
\n
\nAnd thus their\nreligion is hollow, unsubstantial, and<\/strong>
\nunreal<\/strong>; possessing a “name to\nlive, they are dead.”
\n
\nAnd what will be the end of such?
\n
\nDeparting into eternity in this state of soul deception;
\nbuilding their hope of heaven upon this false foundation;
\nin their sad experience must be realized the awful
\ndescription which the evangelist gives of the judgment
\npower of Christ; “whose fan is in his hand, and he will
\nthoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into his
\nbarn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable\nfire.”
\n
\nThus will perish….
\nall human religions,
\nall false hopes,
\nall hollow professions,
\nall soul destroying doctrines;
\nthe ‘wood, the hay, the stubble,’ of a
\nform of godliness, destitute of the power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n(Henry Law, “Numbers” 1858)
\n
\nAlas! what broods of vileness nestle in man’s heart! As wave\nsucceeds to wave, sin presses on the heels of sin. If a brief calm seems to\ngive peace, a fiercer storm soon rises. The seeds of evil, for a while\nconcealed, revive as weeds in spring. All human history proves this.
\n
\nWe are pilgrims journeying through a wild wilderness. It is\ninfested with the old serpent and his brood. At every step, at every turn, we\nmeet some forked attack. Each day the mischief taints our veins. Satan’s least\ntouch is fatal venom. In Eden he began his murderous work. And still his fiery\ndarts fly round.
\n
\nNo mother’s son escapes.
\n
\nThe serpent’s poison taints infant veins.<\/strong>
\n
\nAll earth is perishing, but earth brings no relief.
\n
\nSELF has no help.
\n
\nThe LAW is no physician. Its glance detects disease. Its voice\nproclaims the hopeless state. But it holds no cordial remedy in its stores . It\ndenounces the leprous spots. It sternly sentences, and leaves the wounded to\nexpire.
\n
\nMAN cannot help himself; or save his brother.
\n
\nNo rites,
\nno forms,
\nno services,
\ncan suck out sin’s poison.
\n
\nAll are surely lost, unless God had decreed to heal. So all the\n‘serpent-wounded’ upon earth must surely have sunk down to hell, unless free\nmercy had most freely pitied. But He who said, ‘Raise up a serpent on the\npole’, said also, ‘Lift up My Son upon the accursed tree.
\n
\n“And as Moses lifted up the serpent on a pole in the\nwilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever\nbelieves in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:14-15<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n(C.H.Spurgeon)
\n
\nMorality will keep you out of jail<\/strong> \u2014\nbut only the blood of Jesus will keep you out of Hell!
\n
\n“<\/strong>He that believeth on\nthe Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see\nlife; but the wrath of God abideth on him.\u201d<\/strong> John\n3:36<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n(Spurgeon, “Life’s Ever Springing Well” #864)
\n
\nSome of you think, perhaps, because you have been to a place of worship from your youth up, and have\nbeen doing your best to\nlead reputable and respectable lives, that\nperhaps you shall obtain salvation as a\nmatter of course; but it is not so.
\n
\nYou must learn that saving grace can only <\/strong>come\nto you as the gift of mercy.
\n
\nI have heard it said, and I have been horrified <\/strong>when\nI have heard so gross a falsehood,\nthat there is in man something<\/strong> <\/strong>good,\nnoble, spiritual<\/strong>; and that the object of\nthe Christian minister in delivering the gospel\nis to take away the ignorance and folly\nthat may overlay this innate nobility,
\nand so to bring out and train up the precious\nvital spiritual life which lays latent\nwithin the human heart.
\n
\nThis is one of the most foolish of all lies!<\/strong>
\n
\nThere is nothing spiritually good in man whatever by nature. The carnal mind is at enmity against God. We might rake the\nash heap of human nature a long time\nbefore we found the priceless jewel
\nof spiritual life concealed within it.
\n
\nMan is dead <\/strong>in sin.
\n
\nHow long will you search the sepulcher before you shall discover life within the
\nribs of death?
\n
\nLong enough may you ransack yonder mouldering\nbones in the cemetery, before you\nshall discover the germs of immortality within\nthe ashes of the departed.
\n
\nIf man were but faint<\/strong>, we might, perhaps, by a sort of ‘spiritual friction’ or electricity, arouse him to life.
\n
\nIf he were lying in a state of coma<\/strong>, we might, by some ‘gracious surgery’, at length rekindle the embers, and make the\nlife burn forth in its strength.
\n
\nBut when we are informed, over and over\nagain, by the Holy Spirit himself, that\nman is not only dead<\/strong>, but that he is corrupt<\/strong>,\nwhere is the hope of finding spiritual\nlife within him?
\n
\nThe living and incorruptible seed of grace\nis not produced in men, by efforts of\ntheir own, through the imitation of good\nexample, or through early instruction, or\nthrough gradual reform.
\n
\nThough for centuries the dead should be located in the neighbourhood of the living, they will not thereby come to life. For many a day might you read a homily upon life in the ears of the corpse before you shall thereby cause the skeleton to make any effort towards vitality.
\n
\nSpiritual life is a gift, wholly a gift. It is given according to the good will and purpose of God. If the Lord gives this spiritual life to some and not to others, he is perfectly free to do as he wills with his own.
\n
\nGod will be debtor to no man. He\nowes nothing to sinful man but wrath! Justice\nawards me nothing but death. Sovereign\ngrace alone can bring me life. If\nGod chooses according to his good pleasure
\nto give a new and spiritual life to his chosen, none shall dare to question him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/strong>\u201cOrdained of God\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n