Trusting God, Not Means<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord used ravens to feed\nElijah, but Elijah never thought of trusting in the ravens. If we lean on\ninstruments instead of the hand that used them, we bring down a curse upon\nourselves, for it is written, \u201cThus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusted\nin man, and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the LORD.\u201d\nJeremiah 17:5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Richardson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God never said, \u201cDo the best you\ncan do.\u201d God said, \u201cYe shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.\u201d\n(Leviticus 19:2) \u201cIt shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish\ntherein.\u201d (Leviticus 22:21). Perfection can never come at the hand of the\nsinner. Perfection comes at the hand of Christ the perfect Saviour. That is why\nHis grace is always sufficient. For His strength is made perfect in our\nweakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David Eddmenson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Art thou become\nlike unto us?” Isaiah 14:10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What must be the apostate\nprofessor’s doom when his naked soul appears before God? How will he bear that\nvoice, “Depart, you cursed; you have rejected me, and I reject you; you\nhave played the harlot, and departed from Me\u2014I also have banished you forever\nfrom my presence, and will not have mercy upon you!” What will be this\nwretch’s shame at the last great day when, before assembled multitudes, the\napostate shall be unmasked? See the profane, and sinners who never professed\nreligion, lifting themselves up from their beds of fire <\/em>to\npoint at him, “There he is,” says one, “will he preach the\ngospel in hell?” “There he is,” says another, “he rebuked\nme for cursing, and was a hypocrite himself!” “Aha!” says\nanother, “here comes a psalm-singing Methodist\u2014one who was always at his\nmeeting; he is the man who boasted of his being sure of everlasting life\u2014and\nhere he is!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n No greater eagerness will ever\nbe seen among Satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the\nhypocrite’s soul down to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with the solemn\ngrandeur of poetry, when he speaks of the back-way to hell<\/em>. Seven\ndevils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged him from the road to\nheaven, in which he had professed to walk, and thrust him through the back-door\ninto hell. Mind that back-way to hell, professors!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Examine yourselves,\nwhether you be in the faith.” Look well to your state; see whether you are\nin Christ, or not. It is the easiest thing in the world to give a lenient\nverdict <\/em>when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just and true here. Be\njust to all\u2014but be rigorous in judging yourself. Remember if it is not a rock\non which you build, when the house shall fall\u2014and great will be the fall of it.\nO may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day,\nhowever evil, may you be led to turn aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n C.H.Spurgeon<\/p>\n\n\n\n “For\nThe Truth’s Sake” <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2\nJohn 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndo not exaggerate, even slightly, when I say that the truth of God revealed in\nHoly Scripture means no more to the average church member than the words of\nShakespeare to an infant. The church of this generation is very pragmatic. She\nbecomes all things to all men that she might be any means increase her\nmembership and fill her coffers. The house of worship has become a theatre for\nentertainment, a family life centre with some new, featured attraction every\nweek or two. This religious generation has been brainwashed, both the pulpit\nand the pew, into believing that bigger is better and that God’s blessings can\nbe measured by the number attending their services. The church of the twentieth\ncentury has therefore surrendered the truth of God, the worship of God and the\nglory of God. Her buildings may be filled to capacity with immortal souls, for\nwhose everlasting destruction she is responsible, but God is not in her midst!\nHer name is Ichabod!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nsingular mission of the church of Jesus Christ is to\nglorify God. She can fulfil her mission only as she and her children “walk\nin truth” (III John 4) and “earnestly contend for the faith which was\nonce delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). It is the responsibility of the\nchurch in every age to preach and defend “the faith,” the glorious\ndoctrines of the gospel of the grace of God, the truth of God. The truth that\nhas been preserved and passed along to us by preceding generations of faithful\nmen and women, must be preserved by us and passed along to the generations to\ncome. We must add nothing to it. We must take nothing from it. Our business is\nsimply to declare it without compromise. Particularly, those areas of Divine\nTruth most vehemently attacked by religious infidels must be sternly defended\nby us and declared most constantly – Divine Sovereignty – Human Depravity –\nUnconditional Election – Limited Atonement – Irresistible Grace – Perseverance\nof the Saints. We cannot bend. We cannot compromise. We cannot cease to declare\nthe whole truth of God. Not one point can be given up or even toned down. We\nmust do what we can “for the truth’s sake.” To compromise God’s truth\nis to compromise God’s glory! For the sake of God’s truth and his glory we must\nbe absolutely intolerant of heresy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We walk by\nfaith, not by sight.” 2 Cor. 5:7.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This walk of faith takes in\nall the minute circumstances of every day’s history; a walking every step by\nfaith; a looking above trials, above necessities, above perplexities, above\nimprobabilities and impossibilities, above all second causes; and, in the face\nof difficulties and discouragements, going forward, leaning upon God. If the\nLord were to roll the Red Sea before us, and marshal the Egyptians behind us,\nand thus hemming us in on every side, should yet bid us advance, it would be\nthe duty and the privilege of faith instantly to obey, believing that, before\nour feet touched the water, God, in our extremity, would divide the sea and\ntake us dry-shod over it. This is the only holy and happy life of a believer;\nif he for a moment leaves this path and attempts to walk by sight, difficulties\nwill throng around him, troubles will multiply, the smallest trials will become\nheavy crosses, temptations to depart from the simple and uptight walk will\nincrease in number and power, the heart will sicken at disappointment, the Holy\nSpirit will be grieved, and God will be dishonored. Let this precious truth\never be before the mind, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Octavius Winslow<\/p>\n\n\n\n All are more or less\ndeeply infected with it<\/strong> “And seekest thou\ngreat things thyself?<\/strong> Job’s\nreligion<\/strong> J.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDeceitful\nWorkers\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2\nCorinthians 11:13<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In his\n\u201cHistory of Middle Tennessee Baptists\u201d J. H. Grime writes about a faithful\npastor, (W.H. Haile). Near the end of Haile\u2019s life and ministry, after\nlabouring faithfully as pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church, near Hartsville,\nTN for 30 years (1851-1881), one of those \u201cdeceitful workers<\/em>\u201d, we are\nwarned of so often in Scripture (J. H. Jackson), wormed his way into the church\nand into the pulpit. Grimes wrote, \u201cHe was a very bewitching speaker and had\nall the brass, deception, and treachery, which usually belong to false\nteachers. He soon succeeded in deceiving the majority of the congregation.\n\u201cWounded and forsaken by his brethren, to him dearer than life itself, for the\nsake of a glaring fraud, broken hearted, this father in Israel,\u201d the faithful\nPastor Haile, was compelled to leave his \u201cunfaithful brethren and children in\nthe Lord, and the scenes of his life\u2019s work.\u201d A short while later, at age 78,\n\u201che died in the blissful hope of immortal glory; but with a heart saddened by\nhaving been wounded in the house of his friends.\u201d \u2014 Let every local church and\nevery child of God be warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beware\nof any man who seeks to worm his way into any pulpit<\/strong>. Any man who is\nanxious to be made your pastor has not been sent of God to be your pastor and\nshould never be put in the office, no matter how attractive his gifts or his\npersonality may appear to be. The man who is called and sent of God will not\nseek to make a way for himself. He will wait for God to put him where he would\nhave him serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beware\nof any man who seeks to turn you against the man by whom God was pleased to\nteach you the gospel. <\/strong>Rarely, will a man openly oppose the pastor he\nseeks to supplant. False prophets usually exercise great subtlety and \u201ccunning\ncraftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive<\/em>.\u201d They are skilled in the\nart, being directed by the Deceiver. If God has used a man to reveal Christ to\nyou, to teach you, your children, and your children\u2019s children the gospel, you\nwould be wise to hold any man and any doctrine in suspicion by which you are\ninclined to disavow your allegiance, devotion, and gratitude to one who has\nspent his life faithfully serving your soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beware\nof any man who seeks to enrich himself by the gospel<\/strong>. Faithful men do not\nseek their own things; and they certainly do not seek the things of others.\nThose who follow Christ serve. Those who follow Satan seek to be served.\nFaithful men spend themselves and gladly have their lives spent in the cause of\nChrist. False prophets manipulate others into lavishing riches upon them.\nFaithful men are men who are used. False prophets are men who use others to\ntheir own advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAs you care for your soul, \u201cBeware of false prophets, which come to you in\nsheep\u2019s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\nFortner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trusting God, Not Means The Lord used ravens to feed Elijah, but Elijah never thought of trusting in the ravens. If we lean on instruments instead of the hand that used them, we bring down a curse upon ourselves, for it is written, \u201cThus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusted in man, […]<\/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-7065","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\/7065","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=7065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7066,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7065\/revisions\/7066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nJ.C.Philpot<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n Seek them not!”<\/strong> Jeremiah 45:5
\n
\nAs we are led aside by the powerful workings of our corrupt nature, we are often seeking<\/strong> <\/strong>great things for ourselves.<\/strong>
\n
\nRiches, worldly\ncomforts, respectability, to be honoured, admired, and esteemed by men, are the objects most passionately sought after by the world. And so far as the children of God are under the influence of a worldly principle, do they secretly desire similar things.
\n
\nNor does this ambition depend upon station in life. All are more or less\ndeeply infected with it<\/strong>, until delivered by the grace of God. The poorest man in these towns has a secret desire in his soul after “great things,” and a secret plotting in his mind how he may obtain them.
\n
\nBut the Lord is determined that His people shall not have great things. He has purposed to pour<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>contempt upon all the pride of man. <\/strong>He\ntherefore nips all their hopes\nin the bud, crushes their
\nflattering prospects, and makes them for the most part, poor, needy, and despised in this world.
\n
\nWhatever schemes or projects the Lord’s people may devise that they may prosper and get on in the world, He rarely allows their plans to thrive. He knows well to what consequences it would lead; that this ivy creeping round the stem would, as it were, suffocate and strangle the tree.
\n
\nThe more that worldly goods increase . . .<\/strong>
\n the more the heart is fixed upon them,
\n the more the affections are set upon idols,
\n the more is the heart drawn away from the Lord.
\nHe will not allow His people to have their portion here below. He has in store for them a better city,
\nthat is a heavenly one, and therefore will not allow them to build and plant below the skies.
\n
\nA child of God may be secretly aiming at great things, such as respectability, bettering his condition in life, rising step by step in the scale of society. But the Lord will usually . . .
\n disappoint these plans,
\n defeat these projects,
\n wither these gourds,
\n and blight these prospects.
\n
\nHe may reduce him to poverty, as He did Job; smite him with sickness, as He did Lazarus and Hezekiah; take away wife and children, as in the case of Ezekiel and Jacob; or He may bring trouble and distress into his mind by shooting an arrow out of His unerring<\/strong> <\/strong>bow<\/strong> into the\nconscience.
\n
\nGod has a certain purpose to effect by bringing this trouble, and that is to pull him down from \u201cseeking great things.” For what is the secret root of this<\/strong> <\/strong>ambition? Is it not the pride of the\nheart?<\/strong> When the\nLord, then, would lay this ambition low, He makes\na blow at the root. He strips away fancied hopes,\nand breaks down rotten props, the great things\n(so through ignorance esteemed) sought for\npreviously, and perhaps obtained, fall to pieces.
\n
\n“And seekest thou great things for thyself?<\/strong>
\n<\/strong> Seek them not!<\/strong>” Jeremiah 45:5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n“Oh that I knew where I might find Him!” Job 23:3
\n
\nWhat a mere shallow pretence to vital godliness satisfies most ministers, most hearers, and most
\ncongregations!
\n
\nBut there was a reality in <\/strong>Job’s\nreligion<\/strong>.<\/strong>
\n
\nIt was not of a flimsy, notional, superficial nature. It was not merely a sound Calvinistic creed, and
\nnothing more. It was not a religion of theory and speculation, nor a well-compacted system of
\ndoctrines and duties. There was something deeper, something more divine in Job’s religion than any
\nsuch mere pretence, delusion, imitation, or hypocrisy.
\n
\nAnd if our religion be of the right kind, there will be something deeper in it, something more powerful, spiritual, and supernatural, than notions and doctrines, theories and speculations, merely passing to and fro in our minds, however scriptural and correct.
\n
\nThere will be a divine reality in it<\/strong>, if\nGod the Spirit be the\nauthor of it. And there will be no trifling with the solemn things of God, and with our own immortal souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n