Witnessing ( Matthew 10 v 32 - 39 )

Derek Tidball writes the following, ' In an age of user friendly' evangelism, perhaps we should  be more prepared to accept that the cross will cause offence to some, and that many ,even among our family and friends, will reject its message. Not everyone can be won to Christ by affable evangelism and genial  friendship.' Many years ago in a church were I was  a joint minister,I witnessed to a man, his mother attended the church. I left it at that ,of course I prayed about it. Shortly after this my fellow minister reproached me for witnessing  to that man. I can only think that man had complained to his mother and she had told my fellow minister, who if truth were told had it in for me. He said that I had to earn the right to witness to that man, looking back I feel so sad that a supposed evangelical ,reproached me for witnessing to someone. One should never have to apologise for witnessing to anyone,nor will anyone be reproached or condemned by our Saviour, for witnessing,but it may be when many so called ministers  and Christians will be reminded of their failing in not witnessing to others.,when they hear the Lord saying,''WELL''.

He knows what's best. ( Acts 16 v 7 )

When we entered Bible college we believed that we were going to be missionaries in Brazil,so we applied to two missions and were turned down. Our desire to serve God was strong so we continue to seek a way forward,we made inquires, we applied to different missions,but every door remained shut,  it was heartbreaking at times. Considering all we had gone through one wondered why? ,yes why was a door not opening for us we were willing to go anywhere. Yes we prayed how we prayed crying unto God ,oh yes a way did open eventually,but it was not where I would have chosen.It is said that we only understand Gods providence with hindsight,yes as I look back now, I can see that He knew what was best for my wife and me,and yes for my Children also.

Going to Church ( John 14 v 6 )

I try to  go for a walk each day,and as  I walk I pray,one day,praying I sensed someone behind me,it was bit unexpected.The man reassured me he did not mean to scare me,will I told him that as I walked I was praying, he responded by saying he was doing as much himself. I asked him if he was a Christian?. So the conversation started up,he spoke of a minister he knew who said that he wasn't going  heaven,I asked what reason did he give,he told me it was because I didn't go to church.Well I told him was not right,so I went on to explain to him what stops one going to heaven.The answer is sin ,very simple ,and that one needs one's sin forgiven, by accepting Christ as their  Saviour  ,and then one will get to heaven..

Answers ( Psalm 23 v 1 )

Many years ago my then wife Eileen and  I ,had a desire to go into full time ministry, we had three children.We sought advice and were told we needed training ,and that I needed to go to Bible,college so I applied and was accepted. It meant leaving my employment, we were faced  with a large difficulty,we had absolutely no savings. Yet believing it was Gods will, we went forth in faith,trusting God to supply,our faith was at times severely tried, it was no picnic,but we got through.Then my wife went to Bible college for one year,again we had no savings,again we went forward in faith,and to Gods glory we got through.So many times we were put to the test but God was faithful, our needs were met,I stress needs.You see God does answer prayer.

We do not know whats best. ( Romans 8 v 26 -27 )

Yesterday we sought to stress the importance of the will of God when we pray for certain things,this is  is not meant to discourage us as regards making requests to God.In fact the word of God tells us clearly to let our requests be made unto God  ( Philippians  4 v 6 )We are all familiar with the words of the Lords prayer it has requests ( Matthew 6 v 11 - 12 ). We are encouraged to ask....for everyone who asks receives (  Matthew 7 v 7 - 8 ).So there is an assurance given that we can ask and our prayers will be answered.But let us return to the words in 1 John 5 v 14 ,were we have the words ,'according to  his will'. Barnes .writes the following on these words,'This expression must limit the answer to prayer, to what he sees as best for us. Of that we are not always good judges.rightly so,as we read in Romans 8 v 26 that we do not know what we ought to pray. But we are reassured that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. He the Holy Spirit knows what is best for us ,He will as it were translate our prayers to God for us.

Amazing ( John 1 v 9 - 13 )

Galatians 3 v 26 reads,'You are all sons of God through faith in  Christ Jesus'. what wonderful words,yet it raises the sad fact ,that many believe they are sons of God who have never put their faith in Christ Jesus.They believe that they are in the family of God but they are not,they are in the family of mankind, but that is all.John writes the following,'Behold what manner of love the Father hath the bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God'  (  1 John 3 v 1 ) In these words uttered by John there seems to me a sense of  amazement ,and rightly so,of all the experiences one may ever , come into this is it. Nothing can come close to this wonderful experience,that of knowing you are a child of the living God. It means we have a loving heavenly Father,we can pray with confidence,and rejoice, He  loves us eternally, and loves us continually.It is all possible because of Jesus,who death   removed the barrier that separated us from knowing God as a Father, that barrier was our sin.When we trust Jesus our sins are forgiven and we are welcomed into the family of God.

Less we forget ( John 3 v 16 )

Presents,food ,drink,one can be cynical of much that goes on at Christmas, in a world were many are so needy,and yet it does encourage many to help those in need..The church that I attend raised money that will go to  a children's mission to buy shoes, for children.Their is an increase awareness as regards the homeless ,yes there is over indulgence ,by most of us,but most people are to a degree more generous, which cant be a bad thing.Yes it  gives us who are Christmas an opportunity to remind the world about a special child ,called Jesus. This child would grow up with a special mission in mind, for He knew why He had come, to save people from their sins.We move away from the secondary things to the reality that we are sinners, and our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven. May we who Christians never loose sight of this ,not just at Christmas, but everyday we live,that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  ( John 3 v 16 )

Our chief end. ( Romans 8 v 18 )

I read the following in a devotional called ,Streams in the Desert', by L.B.Cowman.When Dr Moore ,of Brighton ,England, was suddenly struck down with blindness, he said,''Lord ,I accept this 'talent  ' of blindness  from You. Help me to use it for your glory so that when You return , you may receive it 'back with interest' ( Matt 25 v 27 )'' Then God enabled him to invent the Moon Alphabet for the blind, through which thousands of blind people were enabled to read the word of God and thereby come to the glorious saving knowledge of Christ'

Our chief end. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 10 )

I wonder have you ever thought about the apostle and the thorn in the flesh,which he had to live with,even though he prayed,and prayed,and prayed,for God to remove it.Many Christians gloss over this ,it does not fit in with,their not so balanced views,on healing. The fact is few people are healed and the many have to accept,accept what?, Gods will.Read the life of Fanny Crosby,the blind hymn writer,blinded by a doctor's mistake, it was obvious that she was not bitter,instead she used her God given talent of hymn writing to bless others,and glorify God.It is said that our chief end is to glorify God,and enjoy Him for ever. The one who glorified God the most, was Jesus and that was from a cross.

If it be ( Luke 22 v 42 )

I want you to consider the following words from Johns epistle, 'This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know know that we have what we asked of him.' ( 1 John 5 v 14 - 15 ) Now my own experience is ,God has answered many prayers for me,many, but if I was being truthful there are prayers that he has not answered.I am sure most of us can say that,these words from 1 John,underline something that is very important the will of God.Often if we are truthful we are not sure what the will of God is,but we pray for healing,for the removing of a thorn in the flesh,and it does not happen, why ? ,because it is not Gods will. We cannot make things happen if it is not Gods will, it is when we bow before God and pray to save us from whatever,let us remember what our Saviour prayed,'' Father, if you are willing , take this cup from Me, yet not my will , but yours be done''.

Losers. ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 26 - 31 )

Derek Tidball writing about Peter's  failure when he did the one thing he said he would never do,that of denying his Lord ,says this,'Peter's failure was precisely God's opportunity. It shattered his illusion about himself, and the way he would have liked others to think of him, there was no better place than on the way to the cross.....as the cross always does, for it' forces us to see ourselves as we really are, not as we would like to be seen'. The cross demonstrates that only losers  succeed in Christ's kingdom.'  DT  goes on to say,' In order to lead, one has to have confidence in Christ and His word, not in oneself and ones abilities'

All things were changed. ( John 14 v 6 )

A minister in India told of seeing Hindu worshippers topping on a tree and stones and whispering,'are you there, are you there'.It  seems to me that everything is a god to a Hindu,but of course everything is not a god,be it a tree,a stone,a monkey,a rat.Surely they don't believe that, oh yes they do.The darkened minds of people can be subject to their deceitful hearts,leads them astray,as it did me before I came to the Lord,,'Like a blind man who walks in the darkness,I had searched for the light.Then I met the Master,now I walk no more in the night . For all things were changed when He found me, a new day broke thru all around me.For I met the Master, now I belong to Him. Words by Mosie Lister

Serving ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote wonderful books ,but he suffered from ill health,and he went to live in Samoa.He must have been a lovely person,he had a house built,the first night he went into his house   he felt exhausted .he wished he had the forethought to have asked his servant to bring him coffee and cigarettes. Just as he was thinking that, the door opened and the native boy came in with a tiny tray  carrying cigarettes and coffee. Robert said to him,in the native language, 'Great is your forethought'; the boy corrected him, and said, 'Great is the love'.Like that servant boy,may all our service to others be that of love.

Our times are in His hands. ( Hebrews 1 v 1 - 4 )

I meet up with friend every other week  ,he is a godly man, like myself he was a minister,on my last he shared with me the time he had an operation. Before the operation the  consultant wanted him to sign a consent form,before he did he spoke to him,that behind the surgeon  there was one who was in control guiding the surgeons hands.The surgeon asked who that was?,my friend answered ,Jesus, yes it is important to remind ourselves that Jesus is in control,of our lives. He is our sovereign Lord,whose got the whole world in his hand.So let us rest easy, and let us have faith ,in the one who has  got the whole world in His hand..

Enigmatic. ( Hebrews 1 v 1 - 4 )

What does the word enigmatic mean?,and who can we apply it to?, Jesus, for it means someone who is mysterious,and difficult to understand..In Luke 8 v 22 - 25,Jesus  was in a boat asleep and a severe  storm arose,the disciples became afraid for the boat was being swamped ,and they thought they were going to drown.So the woke Jesus up,with the words,''Master,Master,we'er going to drown''. Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters,and the storm subsided,and all was calm.Jesus challenged his disciples with the words,''where is your faith''.It was missing they only saw the storm,instead of total trust in the one who was in the boat Jesus.What Jesus had an affect on them, in fear and amazement they asked one another,''Who is this ?,He commands the winds and the water, and they obey Him.''Yes who is this mysterious person,this difficult person we find hard to understand, this Jesus,a person who could command nature ,who performed miracles,who raised the dead,who did what God  alone could do,forgive sins,yes who is He?.

It can be hard. ( Psalm 51 )

Saying sorrow can sometimes be very difficult,oh yes it is easy if it is a trivial thing,like walking in front of someone,or if you bump into someone,but there are times when it is not easy. Recently I got annoyed about something that someone was doing something that effected me, my wife challenged me said the way I spoke to the person was unkind. I sought to explain to her why I had said what I did,but she would have none of it,told me I needed to apologise.I  continued to dig my heels in,but eventually I did somewhat reluctantly go to the person and say  was sorry,I found it hard, but I did it. But of course it did not stop there,I had to ask God to forgive me ,many people apologise to other people and never give a thought for God.ultimately sin is an offence against a holy God, consider what David prayed when he confessed his sin to God,''Against you,you only ,have I sinned and done what was evil in your sight'' ( Psalm 51 v 4 ) By all means apologise to someone you have hurt tell them you are sorry, but seek God and ask His forgiveness.

It is serious ( John 3 v - 16 )

I mentioned recently some aspects of Christmas,some good some bad,but let us consider whats sad and even serious. It is sad that many only see the baby,ah he is lovely, most of us like babies,it is lovely when they give you a smile.Yes the baby in the manger was lovely,but what about the man He   became?what about that man hanging on a cross?.Very sad because the baby could not do anything for you,but He has done something for you, through His death on the cross we can be forgiven all our sins. For Jesus is a Saviour brought into this world  by God,to bring us to God. Yes it is sad ,but it is also serious,the consequences of rejecting Him,have eternal consequences,Hell beckons,it is not to late,stop  ignoring Him, turn to the man Christ Jesus to be truly blessed',

The scapegoat (Psalm 103 v 21 - 23 )

Now consider that other goat the one that would be known as the scapegoat ( Leviticus 16 v 10 ),Well this what would happen to it.The high priest would lay both his hands  on its head ,and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites - all their sins-and put them on the goats head. He then would send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man.The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man will release it into the desert' ( Leviticus 16 v 20 - 22 ) All this reminds us of that greater work of forgiveness,by Christ,we are told in 1 Peter 2 v 24, that Christ Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree ( Cross).Leon Morris write',He means that Jesus death endured the penalty for our sins the result being,because He suffered we do not suffer.Our sins are forgiven and not only are they forgiven they are removed by our scapegoat Jesus ,it is what Psalm 103 v  21 - 23  is about.'For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him,as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.' Our sins are all forgiven and are gone'.

The blood. ( Hebrews 10 v 1 - 18 )

When the Jews occupied the promised land they continued to keep the Passover,and also there was a day of atonement once a year two animals were brought one was sacrificed  the other was known as the scapegoat .The one that was slain would be sacrificed as a sin offering ,the blood of the animal would be sprinkled within the sanctuary,in the book of Hebrews 9  v 22 we read,'without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.This was inactive every year ,an animal sacrifice was only a  type a shadow,it could not once and for deal with sin.This would only happen when Christ ,on the cross became the sacrifice that would effectively deal with the sin, of all those who put their faith in Him,the result was no more sacrifices are needed .Isaac Watts wrote,'Not all the blood of beasts,on Jewish altars slain,could give the guilty conscience peace,or wash away the stain. But Christ, the heavenly  Lamb,takes all our sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name,and richer blood than they'.

What can I do (

There is such need in this world, what can we do?,sometimes we cant seem to do very much ,but pray. One writer has written the following,'Even if we are separated from people,  and even if there is no other gift we can give to them, we can surround them with the strength and the defence of our prayers'.,Gregory of  Nyssa .has written the following about prayer.' The effect of prayer is union with God, and if someone is with God ,he is separated from the enemy........It will refresh you when you  are weary and comfort you when you are sorrowful'.  We read in Isaiah 40 v 29 - 31,'He giveth power  to the faint; to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run , and not be weary; and the shall walk, and not faint.'

Love ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

A person I know, took and elderly person to the hospital for tests,after the tests were finished the news was not good,but the person with the elderly person told how kind the doctor was. After telling the elderly person, the results of the tests, she said she was sorry, and gave her a little kiss,she was a lady doctor. What a lovely thing to do, it reminded me of the words in 1 Corinthians 13, which  reminds us, that no matter what service we  give,be it a great preacher a great whatever,if we do not have love,in Gods eyes we are nothing .So many people grave for power and when they get that position of power,they manifest cruelty,and love is absent,they are pathetically weak.

Christmas ( Isaiah 9 v 6 - 7 )

In case you didn't know its that time of the year, Christmas,is coming,I wonder how you feel about it,what does it mean to you? For most people it means spending,buying presents,buying a lot more food,going to office parties,going out for that Christmas meals.We can easily criticise the commercialisation of Christmas,but there are good aspects of Christmas,people are inclined to think of positive ways of helping the needy.We get to watch the Wizard of Oz,and many other old movies,Pantomime is very popular.People consume a lot more alcohol,well we live in a consumer society.Of course families get together, that cant be a bad thing.The down side is many feel lonely all families don't meet together,for many it is a time sadness due to a bereavement. Many people do attend a church service,to sing carols,and to see a nativity scene,acted out by little children. So that's all there is to Christmas,let's continue this next time.

The Holy Spirit. ( Ephesians 5 v 18 )

How can we live the Christian life ?,it is a massive challenge ,what are the challenges?, forgiveness,  it is not easy to forgive,some people live with unforgiveness, Yes awful things happen to people ,things that are hard to forgive,yet the challenge is to forgive.Then there is the challenge to love,now of course the word love rolls of peoples lips so easily,the apostles  description in 1 Corinthians 13 is mind blowing.Or the words that our Saviour said in reply to Peters question as to how often are we to forgive someone ,he put a limit on it, but Jesus must have rocked Peter back on his heels,when he replied there is no limit on forgiveness (  Matthew 18 v 22 ).As I said the challenge of the Christian life  seems  impossible  ,how can I even attempt it? That's a good place to start ,remember what Jesus said,''Apart from Me you can do nothing ( John 15 v 5 ) . If we are Christians we all have the Holy Spirit ,He will help us to live the Christian life,and enable us to show Christ in our lives. Here is a little prayer I read recently,I have started to pray it,it reads,' Dear Holy Spirit ,as the sun is full of light,the ocean full of water,Heaven full of glory,so may my heart be full of thee' Amen

Truth ( Psalm 119 v 157 - 160 )

I heard these words recently,'Truth can be cruel', and of course we know the other saying,'The truth  hurts'.Truth is important, but ,ah that but,many so called ministers,(to many),are failing in their responsibility to speak the truth.Many shying away from what the Bible teaches,and let me say this,the Christian minister and all of us as Christians, should stand for what the Bible says ,from Genesis to Revelation,this involves creation,not evolution,humanities sinful condition,the need of salvation,  through Jesus, heaven ,hell,a moral universe. There are many other things we could mention, so you get the picture. In a court of law one puts their hand on the Bible and swears to tell the truth,the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That is exactly what  all Christians are called to do,to believe the whole truth of the  Bible, and proclaim the truth that is in the Bible. Nothing has changed, or will ever change,for truth does not change,and our responsibility to stand for truth,and proclaim the truth, will never change.

The Christian Passover. (Isaiah 53 )

 One of the first things the Jews were told to do ,was in take a lamb ,it was to become a meal for the whole family On the night of the Passover the the lamb would be killed ,cooked and eaten,and this was the vital part, the blood from the lamb would be on the tops and sides  of the doors.That night the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and struck down every firstborn,the only ones who did not suffer were those who had put the blood around their doors. Now lets move forward to the time of Christ and John the Baptist ,John sees Christ ,and he declares,''Look ,the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world'' ( John 1 v 29 )In other words Jesus would become the Christian Passover ,He would be slain and His blood would be shed ,the result would be,that all who trust in Him,and His shed blood,would not come under judgement ,for judgement is coming ( Hebrews 9 v 27 ). We must takes this serious, God must and will judge sin,but He has made away out for all,by Jesus bearing the judgement for sin on the cross ,and shedding His precious blood.

The Passover. ( Exodus 12 )

Every year the Jewish people celebrate the Passover, a remembrance feast that reminds them of the time when ancient Israel, were delivered from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. It is in the New Testament we have these words written,'Christ ,our Passover Lamb , has been sacrificed'.( 1 Corinthians 5 v 17 ) .Both events speak of deliverance,one speaks of deliverance from slavery,The  first one reminds the Israelites of the physical slavery,were they endured great hardship from their cruel Egyptian masters.The second Passover reminds us of our slavery from sin,  we are all sinners,and whosoever committed sin is a slave of sin ( John 8 v 34 ).On the night of the Passover in Egypt a lamb had to be slain  and the blood painted on the the door frames of their homes, The other Passover the Christian one includes the sacrifice of a person, Jesus,the lamb of God who would deal with sin.(John 1 v 29).The first Passover reminded people of a people who were slaves,and how God saved them ,they had to obey Him and how he instructed them. We will consider this next time.

Old Sins ( Hebrews 7 v 25 )

In one of the episodes of Poirot  the Belgium detective ,he is heard saying, ''Old sins cast long shadows'', so true. Consider that sin in Eden a long time ago indeed ,that sin still casts a long shadow  over this present time.The shadow of death ,of sickness,of sinful behaviour lies heavy on us all at times,but it does not have to be that, for Christ is a Saviour,if we ask him he can save us.In Hebrews 7 v 25 ,we read,' He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him.' No matter how long  a shadow your sin is,Jesus can forgive you and set you free from it.

Money ( Matthew 25 v 31 - 48 )

A famous footballers mother became upset when she heard how much he was being paid,but her son said to her,''mother ,as long as I am receiving the money I will make sure that I will use it for good. It is not wrong to be rich  it is what one does with the money we have. That goes not only for the very rich but for all of us,we are all responsible as to what we do with our money.Jesus said the poor we will have with us always,could that be that God has planned it that way in order to test us, to see what we will do.

Money ( James 1 v 9 - 11 )

I like football,when I was young I played for a team, and even help manage a young team,football has changed or should I say the rewards for playing for top teams have escalated.People are earning what amounts to a kings ransom,many people feel that this is immoral even obscene,the question is it?, I think that attitude is a bit hypocritical ,when millions of people do the lottery , a couple have just won over a 100 million pounds,.Is it wrong to be rich ?,should we give all our saving away,no,but it could  be  that because of our wrong attitude towards  money we may be challenged by God to give it away. The word of God tells   us that the love of money is the root of  all evil ,( 1 Timothy 6  v 10) the result is in their eagerness for money they have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with may griefs.Our Saviour told us,''No one can serve two masters,Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. ( Matthew 6 v 24 )

Not a good luck charm. ( Psalm 48 v 14 )

I ask myself how have I survived till now?,I am 75, by chance?,good fortune?,or was a greater power looking after me?. Now of course does that mean that if I had died earlier, God was not looking after me?.  I was a premature baby,how did I survive, my mother had a baby after me,he died shortly after birth.Why did I escape drowning when I was a young lad?,well so we go on asking questions,I am a child of God,I believe there are no second causes,only God. That does not mean to say I have not had difficulties,disappointments, there are those who blindly teach and proclaim a health and wealth Christianity,and ignore what the word of God teaches,as regards suffering,of course there Christianity comes with a price tag on it, paid for by their deluded followers.Gods providence leads in different paths,it is Peter Lewis who comments,'God is our deliverer but he is not a good luck charm, He gives us protection,but not  immunity,hope in trouble,but not freedom from trouble'

Evil (2 Timothy 4 v 1 )

Writing on the problem of evil Peter Lewis wrote the following,' Always it is always God who  is central . Evil is not ultimate, inevitable or final. The first and last word is with God'.When one thinks of the evil that has been perpetrated,in the past, the evil that is being perpetrated,and will be perpetrated,it appears there is no end to it.We cant even begin to write the list of types of evil that humanity is guilty of,it appears sometimes that evil is on the throne.It must appear to many people that evil does have the last word,but no, there is a sovereign God ,who will have the first and last word.. For evil whatever way it is dressed up ,is sinful,and God will be heard,will be seen,and most definitely will deal with all sin,yes the final and last word is always with God.

Perfect, no,Imperfect ,yes. ( Philippians 3 v 12 - 14 )

Sometimes you feel like the apostle Paul who said ,''What a wretched man I am'', (Romans 7 v 24 ) or the prophet  Isaiah who cried out,''Woe is me'', (Isa 6  v 5 ). Yes we can all feel like that ,but I read these words ,'Imperfect, but following on', yes we are all in the same boat,struggling on the sea of life. Let us not despair ,for Christ did not save perfect people,the gulf between what we are and what we should be,will always be there.We will always need Christ as Saviour,we will always be those sinners saved by grace.Only until we arrive in heaven will we be without sin,and we shall be what we should be. So now it is,'Imperfect  but following on'.

Who is responsible?. ( Habakkuk 1 )

I suppose what causes people to stumble at the doctrine of the sovereignty of God is the problem of evil. Now the Bible is not fairy tale it is about real lives ,real situations. It tells us many things that are challenging,bad things,God doing things that we struggle with, the prophet Habakkuk struggled with what God was going to do.The old hymn has those memorable words,'God moves in mysterious ways',reminds us that we will not always understand why certain things happen.Peter Lewis writes,'The Bible never allows us to consider the problem of evil apart from the problem of sin- and our  own status as sinners'.We live in a fallen sinful world ,God did not cause man to sin, it is a choice we made and we will always be responsible ,for what happen in Edens garden, and what has followed.

God is ( 1 John 4 v 8 )

I wonder what many people think of when they consider the sovereignty of God, is it a cold and very calculating God,who runs rough shod over us?, in other words it appear to be  uncaring. Consider the  following,loving, forgiving,faithful, compassionate,caring,just, merciful,these are some of qualities of God. He will not go outside whom he is. Perverted and wrong ideas often arise out of ignorance and a bias against God. Stop and consider John 3 v 16.'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'

Is he God? ( Hebrews 11 v 6 )

Is God sovereign?, the point is this ,if He is not sovereign, He is not God,and were does that lead us?,but we believe that He is God.  On Gods providence the Westminster  Confession of Faith declares the following.'God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold ,direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge,and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice,goodness, and mercy'.

Who is in control? ( Romans 11 v 13 )

 Early on in my Christian life, a little book by Pink influenced me greatly it is called ,'The sovereignty of God'. My life verse is Romans 8 v 28, 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God' When we consider His sovereignty we must take on board His providence It is Peter Lewis who comments on this subject,he writes,'Who dares speak of the sovereignty of  God after a century that has two world wars,scores of millions killed in their youth and their prime, the Jewish Holocaust and the genocides of more recent years?'And so we could go on rolling out tragedies ,life is full of so many, so very many. If God is sovereign why, ?rolls of the lips of many,and even more so in hearts of hurting people. You may be one of those people ,we will consider this over the next few days, may God the Holy Spirit help and guide us ,in Jesus name we ask this.Amen

Eight days to live. ( Luke 12 v 13 -21 )

'What you do if you had eight days to live?', these are the words I heard from my TV, what would one do?.Well one could look at this in different ways,one may be bitter and curse whatever,one may be very passive,it is an intriguing question. The point is this ,that we are all going to die, yes we are ,we are mortal,even if its eight days, or eight months,or eight years.If you are not a Christian I would urge you to trust Christ, as your Saviour, consider what He said, ''I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me,though he die,yet shall he live''( John 11 v 25)When one trusts Jesus ,He forgives us our sins, and we receive the gift of eternal life ( Romans 3 v 36 )

The mysterious One. ( Matthew 28 v 16 - 20 )

 Isaac Watts, wrote the following, 'Where reason fails and all her powers,/ There faith prevails and love adores.' It is said that in mathematics ,one plus one plus one equals three. but in theology one plus one plus one equals one,the implication is that theology, especially trinitarian theology, is illogical,self-contradictory and absurd.But the teaching is not that God is mathematically three in one but that  he is personally three in one,that the one God exists eternally as three persons. ........God is'The undivided  Three / And the mysterious One. 'When reason fails and all her powers,/ There faith prevails and love adores'. ( Taken from Peter Lewis writings )

Change ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 )

My old granny came to know the Lord under the ministry of W.P.Nicholson  ,a Presbyterian minister, whom God used in a mighty way in Ulster. His nickname was ,' The tornado of the Pulpit', he was man filled with the Holy Spirit, and many thousands came to know Christ,under his ministry. People go on about the environment ,the need of change,and rightly so,we all should be concerned as regards the environment. But I believe the greatest change comes when people are changed by Christ, as a Christian  minister I believe that with all my  heart. What changed me for the better was Christ, he alone can heal the brokenness of humanity, He alone can bring forgiveness  to people,and through Christ changing people ,families will be changed,society will be changed.For the Bible tells us if  any person trusts Christ ,they become new creations ,we receive  a new nature,and our lives will never be the same.

Confucius ( 1 Corinthians 2 v 18 - 25 )

 The word of God tells us we are all sinners, that is serious,because any sin,makes it impossible for us to have a relationship with God who is holy. That means we cannot enter heaven,but we will go to Hell,serious stuff,we have to say it the way it is,no fudging ,no ducking the issue,it is the biggest challenge that mankind has to face.But what if we were to get all the brainiest  people in the world  and  lock them in a room and ask them to solve this problem,no matter how long it takes.But alas they would not be able to solve that problem ,even if Einstein was one of those brainy people.Do world religions have the answer? A Chinese Christian leader,C.K.Lee spoke to an American audience and afterwords invited questions. A student asked this question,'Why should we should we send Christianity to China when it has Confucianism?Mr  Lee replied;'There are three reasons. , First of all, Confucius was a teacher and Christ is a Saviour. China needs a Saviour more than she needs teacher. In the second place, Confucius is dead and Christ is alive China needs a living Saviour. In the third place, Confucius is one day going to stand before Christ and be judged by Him.China needs to know to know Christ as Saviour before she meets Him as Judge''What applies to China applies to every human being,yes even you.

Coalface. ( Ephesians 6 v 18 - 20 )

I remember reading  George Orwell's book ,The road to Wigan Pier' ,the author wrote a searing account of the dreadful conditions in the heart of England's industrial heartland. This included ,social injustice, cramped slum  housing conditions,injustice,squalor, hunger, and growing unemployment. One of his investigations took him down a coal mine,and there he witnessed,the awful conditions, and the dangers involved. It was dreadfully hard work,those working at the coalface worked on their knees , the term working at the coalface ,is about those who  are at most danger, and experience the hardest tasks.Every day I pray for many dear Christian who are at the coalface, they are continually in danger, many suffer beatings ,imprisonments and even death. In Hebrews 13 v 3, we are exhorted ',to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison,and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Worthlessness ( John 3 v 16 )

In his book ,The Message of the Cross', Derek Tidball  writes,''There is a danger of unhealthy attitudes to oneself and to people in general,as in Elizabeth  Clephne's otherwise beautiful hymn, 'Beneath the cross of Jesus'.  It includes the words, 'Two wonders I confess-/ The wonder of redeeming love,/ And my own worthlessness in view of the doctrine of creation and the cost of redemption, it is surely wrong to speak of our 'worthlessness'. We should readily sing of our 'unworthiness',but not of our worthlessness'. I have sung that lovely hymn many times,yet it is only as I read  Derek Tidballs  words did I  see the truth of what he says. We are not worthless ,so many feel they are worthless, and it effects them ,they feel unloved ,and it effects their whole life,the unsaved person may feel ,that God would never accept them,because they think they are worthless. Even Christians may feel that they are worthless,and they live under a cloud, every person in Gods sight is precious, and are loved by God. When we trust Jesus as our Saviour, our sins will be forgiven,and no matter how unworthy we are,we will be welcomed into the family of God.

Change ( 1 Thessalonians 1 v 9 )

Returning to the movie Aeronauts ,the scientist wanted do something that would help mankind,and their is a point in the movie where someone uttered these words,'' Few are given opportunity to change the world''.I believe as a Christian we have the opportunity to change maybe not the world,but were we live,were we work,or wherever God has placed us.We have a message that can effectively change people for the better, and that's why we should support ministries that are being used by God to transform lives.As a parent you have been given an opportunity to point your children to Christ, who will change their lives for the better.Let us pray to God,to use us in a way that will change,situations,and people for the better.

Fear ( 1 Corinthians 2 v 3 )

I  have a fear of heights, I don't know  why I have this fear,it does not effect me flying,or indoors, but it appears to kick in in very exposed places. Now I have just been to see a movie called,'The Aeronauts', it seemingly is based on a true event. There are two main characters in the movie and one is a scientist. He wants to prove that if one goes high enough one can forecast the weather.So this is what they do,but to my surprise as they ascended into the atmosphere ,I felt fear,I wondered will I be able to stay in the cinema ,but I did,and in spite of my fear I enjoyed the movie,and encourage you to go and see it. Now of course I am a Christian a minister,should fear grip me?, should I feel condemned ?,no, thankfully it does not effect my life,I am not going to take up mountain climbing.All I know is I have fear as regards certain aspects of heights, it is part of my frail humanity,God understands,and loves me,and he loves you to, in spite of your fears.

Opposites ( Lamentations 1 v 12 )

I read something that was very meaningful by Elie Wiesel when he said,'The opposite of love,is not hate,its indifference'.Now I know hate is a powerful emotion ,but when one thinks about indifference, we can see that it is very prevalent .How many people view disasters on the TV with indifference, how many pass homeless people in the street without a thought.In many countries many Christians are hated and persecuted for their faith , in the west the vast number of the population are indifferent to the Christian message. In Lamentations 1 v 12 we  have the prophet Jeremiah crying  out, ' Does it mean nothing to you ,all you who pass by'. Now  the traditional meaning  is, that of  a cry towards those who are indifferent to the suffering that Jerusalem had experienced. Many have applied these words to those who are indifferent to the suffering of Christ.Lets be honest many wear a cross who have no feelings as regards the suffering of  Christ.Many will look on a babe in a manger, and give no thought of the Christ on the cross. Indifference can be classed often as a sin of omission,in other words we looked on suffering, on the needs of others the pain of others, and we did nothing, felt nothing.The other possible meaning to Lamentation 1 v 12 ,that it is cry, a warning  a pleading ,to not let such suffering befall on those looking on.

Small and insignificant .( Matthew 6 v 28 - 34 )

I  sent a text to an old friend,she is living in a residential home ,this is what I said,''We may be small and insignificant ,but the One whose eye is on the sparrow is watching over us''.To God our loving heavenly Father we are precious,how do I know that ?,how do you know it?,the answer is simple yet profound,Calvary. We are told,'He did not spare his own Son,but gave him up for us all' ( Romans 8 v 32 ).Imagine that, amazing,words fail me when I read those words,what do these words tell us?,they tell us that we are precious to God,that He values us immensely,and so we read ,'the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer.' ( 1 Peter 3 v 12 ) Now of course God is not a man ,he has no physical body,but He does see,and hear,and speak ,the Bible uses terminology in ways that we can understand .The truth  this verse is telling us, is of an almighty God who is watching over us,and listening to us when we pray to Him,always.

A Promise

We have all made promises,and have not always kept them,one of the charges made against politicians is,they don't keep their word.Someone has said ,'A promise can never be an end in itself, it must be fulfilled'.This is so true, a promise that is unfulfilled is of no use, unlike us ,God always keeps His word ,always.If He says He will do something ,He will do it, the greatest and most important promises was,the promise of a Messiah, a Saviour,consider the  dilemma  if that had never happened, no forgiveness ,no heaven,only guilt and judgement would be our portion. But the wonderful thing is He did keep His promise ,and what a blessing that continues to be.The Bible tells us that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved ( Romans 10 v 13 ).

An Irish Greeting. ( Romans 8 v 31 ff )

I come from Ireland,but I cannot speak the Irish language, most people speak the English language , I have a dear friend and he taught me an Irish greeting. It is spelt ,'Dia  duit ', it simple means ,'God be with you'.It is a lovely greeting ,in any language, for if God is with us we are blessed indeed. If only this could be said of all men,but alas the vast majority of people keep God out of their lives.They do not want Him to walk with them,and so they forfeit  the greatest blessing anyone can experience. If you  want God to  be with you ,then trust Jesus,the one who will bring you into a relationship with God,and be truly blessed.

Come ( 1 John 1 v 7)

Isaiah 40 is one of the most wonderful chapters in the Bible, it is written to Gods people,who have suffered greatly for their sins,but God the God of all comfort,speaks tenderly to them.He proclaims that their time of suffering has passed  ,they have been punished,but now they will experience restoration.God will make a way,all obstacle's will be removed,he will make a way.They had sinned grievously and  had paid the penalty,the Lord is a forgiving God , like Israel of old we can be forgiven,we can be restored,right at the beginning of Isaiah we have a wonderful verse it reads,'Come now,and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet,they shall be as white as snow.Though they are red like crimson ,they shall be as wool ( 1 v 18 ),Why don't you come and experience this wonderful forgiveness,whoever you are,remember that through Christ all sins can be forgiving.

It is coming. ( John 3 v 16 )

Climate change is causing world wide problems, strong destructive winds ,and flooding,many people are very concerned,much of it is caused by humanity.. There are many who are in denial ,in spite of the reality,and evidence  that's staring them in the face. It reminds me of one of the greatest causes of cancer ,smoking,so many people would not accept that smoking could cause cancer,some still don't. When one buys a packet of cigarettes there is graphic warnings on the pack,but still people smoke.In Genesis 19 we read how Lot was warned that because of  their sin,God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah ,he was warned to leave with any family he had,so Lot went to his sons -in - law,to warn them, but they laughed thinking he was joking,and so they perished.Many do not heed warnings as regards their health,and a multitude of other things ,and suffer unnecessary. In Matthew 3 v 7,John  the Baptist declares to a group of religious people ,'' To flee from the coming wrath''   There is wrath coming for all humanity, like John the Baptist I would solemnly warn you to flee from the wrath that's coming, flee to Christ the only one who can save  from the wrath that is coming.

Do not go gentle. ( 1 Corinthians 15 )

Death we are told is our enemy,the good news one day death will die,will be no more ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 26 ),we were not created to die, our sin has caused death.There are many things one can say about death, for some it is a happy release,from an awful illness.For others it is just something that happens to everyone,for others it is filled with despair and angry.The poet Dylan Thomas wrote a poem about how one should face death, called,' Do not go gentle into the good night',each verse ends with the following lines,' Rage ,rage, against the dying of the light'.Some describe the poem as a defiant attitude towards death. I remember driving past the cemetery were my first dear wife was buried,and shaking my fist at death,not at God. I am  sure we can justly be angry at death, our enemy,but do not let us become bitter. I want to turn your thoughts to a certain  young man, a lovely young man,he is on cross,he has been flogged,beaten, mocked. Yes there he was suffering untold agony,a horrible sight,and yet even in that awful state,a beauty and nobility shown through.A thief hanging beside him, saw in that wounded ,blooded person,hope for him,of life beyond death,so he called out to him,''Jesus Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,and Jesus replied    ''Don't worry, I will.Today you will join me in paradise''.( The message ) When we put our faith in Jesus,death has not got the last say.

I don't need this ( Deuteronomy 8 v 1 - 3 )

I wonder have you ever said these words,' I don't need that'', they are words of frustration,maybe even despair,something has come into your life, and is like the proverbial,' straw that broke the camels back'. A verse in the Bible which reads,' My God shall supply your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus' ( Philippians 4 v 19 ) In context it is to do with God supplying our material needs,and often I have claimed that wonderful promise,and saw God fulfilling His word. But  what about those words ,'I don't need that',? a good question,of course we need material  needs to be met. In Deuteronomy 8 v 3 a verse our Saviour quoted when he was starving in the wilderness ( Matthew 4 v 4) it goes like this,'Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that comes from  the mouth of  God'. This verse reminds us that our needs go further than what we eat and what we wear,oh yes we do need those things. Recently I notice a food shop selling specialised  food ,it had a sign in the window which read,' Soul Food'.The only food that will feed our souls is God's word, we neglect it to our cost.

A Choice ( Luke 10 v 25 - 37 )

I  heard these words while watching a popular movie,'' We all face a choice, to choose between what is right and what  is easy'',quite provoking these words in relation to many situations. It is easy to go along with the crowd,our Saviour told a story of man who was attacked and robbed him,and left him half dead. As he lay there two religious people passed by,they saw him ,but that's all they did,yet they left him,why ?.One could speculate ,it is apparently easy to be religious,religiosity can cover a multitude of sins, consider the evil being perpetrated by religious people in Islam, but I can assure you that religious people of all different persuasions have committed  awful evils.Its not only that they choose the easy way they choose the evil way. There the man lay half dead, ,but then we read a certain Samaritan passed by, now the religious people ,and the man that was half dead were Jews,and the Jews  hated the Samaritans. It would have been easy for this Samaritan to pass by,but he didn't, he did the right thing,it seems for the many in this world it is easier to hate ,than it is to love.It is easy to justify not helping, because we consider that its their fault,maybe  it is, It may be easy to not forgive, but it is not right ,it may be easy to not witness for Jesus,instead of  making some effort to tell people  the good news. Yes we all will face a choice ,to choose between what is right, and what is easy.,you can be sure of that.

Unthinkable ( Exodus 33 v 1- 6 )

We considered how far Israel had turned from God when they choose a cow instead of Him.let me stress,  that when we act in a sinful way even as believers,there are consequences.And the consequences foe Israel was dire,disastrous and unthinkable,We move to Exodus 33 v  1- 6 , they are told by God to leave and go up to the promise land , but here is something unthinkable,God tells them He will not go with them. .Sin can  alienate us from God,and effect our relationship with Him, imagine the promised land without the presence of the Lord, Peter Lewis writes,'What would it be without the gracious presence of the Lord in our lives? God knows, but you and I may have an inkling, So when Satan offers you the golden calf of an alternative loyalty, when you are tempted to turn your back on all the kindness and grace of the One God, when you are tempted by the world to ' chuck' Christianity, remember it is a thousand times better to ' chuck' the golden calf'.

They worshiped a ( Romans 1 v 25 )

Everything was going well for Israel God had wonderfully rescued them from a lifetime of slavery,     they had witnessed the miraculous power of God,they left Egypt rich.Then once again God rescued them  by opening a path through the Red Sea, so delivering them from the Egyptian army. The Lord destroyed their enemies, God then provided  them with food and water.What more could God do ?, They eventually came to Mt Sinai, on that mountain God give them the Law.. Now Moses who had gone up the mountain to receive the law was a long time coming back,the people began to be impatient so they went to Aaron and asked him to to make them gods,so he collected their gold earrings, then melted the earrings  down into an idol in the shape of a calf,and they started to worship it.Imagine the absurdness, of exchanging God for a cow.I wonder what you may be worshipping ?,surely not a cow,or some other absurdity ,more fool you.

Two Natures. ( 1 Timothy 3 v 16 AV )

So we saw how Christ had two natures, so what does that mean?,well it means this,that sometimes ,yes most times he manifested his human nature,let me just add, His was a sinless human nature ( Hebrews  4 v 15  / 1 Peter 2 v 22 ). This is a vital truth, in relation to His death on Calvary,which was an offering for sin, for our sin ( Isaiah 53 ).So His human nature was sinless, but it had its limitations like any human being, in Matthew 24 v 36 ,our Saviour speaking of the end times,( It would be good if  some Christians would take heed to these words) ''But about that day or hour no one knows,not even the angels in heaven,nor the Son, but only the Father''.Hear Jesus is speaking  out of His human nature.There were other times He spoke out of his divine nature, such as he spoke to the thief on the cross,when He assured him,''that today he would be with Him in paradise'', ( Luke 23 v 43 )One final  thing the divine nature of Christ did not die,because God cannot die,but his human nature died.

Jesus ( Colossians 2 v 9 )

It appears to me that many Christians do not appear to realise that ,Christ had two natures,divine and human,He was after all truly God and truly man.It was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD  that they defined this truth, that Christ had two natures,now I want to quote what the Council said,I do this because it is a very important truth ,' These two natures are inconfusedly, unchangebly, indivisbly, inseparably. The two natures being by no means taken away by the union,but rather the property of each nature. Being preserved , and concurring in one person, and one substance. Not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God, the word, the Lord Jesus Christ'.As we will see tomorrow this helps in understanding,certain things that may have been puzzling us..

Freedom ( Psalm 40 v 1 - 4 )

A young girl who escaped from a cult, said the following,'' The hardest day of freedom ,is better than the best day in a cult''. The wonderful message of the work of the gospel means freedom,the prophetic word as regards the Messiah Jesus is found in Isaiah 61 v 1,which reads,'to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners''.We are all born without exception prisoners, being held captive by the world, the flesh,and the devil,if God is speaking to you ,pray to Him,ask Jesus to come into your life and set you free.

Doing evil. ( 2 Samuel 4 )

Matthew Henry writing on Romans 3 ,comments on those  who say ,'Let us do evil, that good may come'. 'Let us do evil that good may come.is oftener in the heart than the mouth of sinners, so justifying themselves in their wicked way'' Machiavelli wrote the book  ,' The Prince', which put forth the idea of the greater good,in other words even if it meant doing that which is not right.Many have chosen that path ,Stalin was ruled by this,even Hitler, they believed the evil they were doing was for the greater good,and so millions upon millions suffered.This flawed belief has caused untold suffering, it is also seen in the attitude of the Jewish leaders towards our dear Lord,When they plotted to murder Him,Caiaphas the High Priest said ,that if they let Jesus continue the Romans would come and take away the temple and the nation. He followed this by saying, ''Better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish'' ( John 11 v 48 -50 ) No matter what it may concern, it is never good to do evil, be it whatsoever,and we cannot never justify it.

Death. ( Romans 6 v 18 - 20 )

Adam and Eve were told that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would experience  certain death ( Genesis 2 v 17 ). What did that death mean that God threatened man with?, 'Augustine comments;' was this death ,bodily or spiritual, or that second death, we answer; it was all.'' What Adam did affected not only Eve and himself,it brought death upon all humanity,as Augustine said, bodily and spiritual death followed. Romans 5 v 12 ,reads, 'By one man sin entered into the world,and death by sin; so death passed upon all  men,for that all have sinned'. That is the dilemma we find ourselves in,you and I are dead in our trespasses and sin,the future is grim,because in that state we are barred from God and heaven, death ,death, death.When we die all that awaits us  is eternal judgement,an existence that will never end. But here is the good news,'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  ( Romans 6 v 23 )

Danger ( Romans 6 v 23 )

I read these words recently,'Sin is dangerous', it is dangerous ,first and foremost because God's righteous anger burns against all sin, without exception.It has serious consequences for the whole of mankind,because God is holy,that means He cannot tolerate sin when Israel had escaped from Egypt,they came  to Mt Sinai,and so the vast population camped at the foot of the mountain. Moses was told to warn the people to not come up the mountain,if they did they would be put to death.We read in Psalm 24 v 3 - 4  ',Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?Who may stand in his holy place?. The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.'In Lev 10 v1- 2, the sons of Aaron's sons died when they sinned,by disobeying Gods instructions,fire destroyed them.Sin is dangerous if not forgiven,, very.

Destructive ( Genesis 3 )

Sin is destructive,consider the evils in the world ,there is no end to them,the cause,sin, which brings a measure of destructiveness, be it a supposed white lie ,or a wrong thought. Our first parents ate fruit ,consider how  it destroyed humanities relationship with God,and has affected humanities relationship with each other., and even effected nature.Take time to read history, why have there been so many wars.?.39 people were found dead in a container lorry,why?a woman aged sixty is captured by an IS group,she was raped continually, tortured, and then stoned to death,why,?. The  answer is simple sin and its destructive power,we can expect nothing else from a fallen sinful world,This world will  continue on this course, until the end of the time,we can do something about it to some extent .On a personal level we can repent of our sinfulness and accept  Christ,He can change us,and then we can tell others about Christ ,the Christ who is the only answer to sins destructiveness

God Almighty ( Ephesians 3 v 20- 21 )

In Genesis 17 v 1 God reveals himself by means of a new name,'EL Shaddai', which means, 'God Almighty'.The context is in relation to Abraham and God's covenant relationship with him,and all that it would mean,the promises that it involved.God was saying to Abraham I will fulfill these promises,and of course He did.at the age of 90 Sarah had a child,and Abraham was 100,so it came to pass.When God makes us a promise no matter how difficult it may appear it will happen.When Sarah was told that she would soon have the promised child she laughed, but she was reminded ,that nothing was to hard for the Lord, (Gen 18 v 14 ),and she believed,and so it came to pass.Let us remember what God promises He will fulfill,someone wrote,'I ask great things of a great God'.

No Exceptions ( 1 Peter 1 v 18 - 19 )

Although I have read and preached on the plagues of Egypt, I was struck forcibly by the following words I read,  'Even the Israelites are in danger from the wrath of God in the last plague', surely not you say,they were Israelites ,children of Abraham. It reminds me of the words in the Jewish daily prayer book,which read, 'All Israel have a portion in the world to come'. Not so as in shown in the last plague , a lamb had to be slain and the blood sprinkled on the sides and tops of the doorframes.  When the angel of death came that which saved them, from judgement ,was the blood.It made no difference who you were,if there was no blood showing then judgement fell. Nothing has changed there is judgement coming upon this sinful world,,and the only way to escape, is by trusting Jesus who shed his precious blood,on the cross.

I do not know. ( Proverbs 3 v 5 - 6 )

I find myself saying to my self ,''I don't know'',when I look at the political scene,there are so many things I do not know,I  do not know what I should pray about regards Brexit,in case you did not know,it involves the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. I do not know if I should pray for someone to be healed, I have to face the fact there is so much I don't know,and may never know,what about the will of God?R C Sproul  one of the most common things he is asked is,'how can I know the will of God for my life ?. He writes when we are struggling over the will of God for our lives we do well to begin with the words from Scripture,''The secret things belong to the Lord our God,but the the things that are revealed belong to to us and our children forever,that we may do all the words of the law( Deut 29 v 29 ) In these words we are reminded  of two things ,things secret, and things revealed,there are things we may never know ,but all knowing God knows all things,and That's were faith comes in. Then there are things we do know,to be holy,to be obedient, to be baptised,to do good works ,the ten commandment,to love God fully, likewise to love others,and so we could go on. Two verses help me a lot, Proverbs 3 v 5 - 6,

A Talking Book. ( Psalm 119 v 105 )

For those who cannot see there are talking books,many people look to the stars to tell them their future and for guidance.Peter Lewis writes the following.''We have the Scriptures which are better than the stars,....... we have a talking Book.We have  a Bible studded with the promises of God; psalm that reflect our turmoil and radiate God's peace; histories that show us that the Lord reigns above the   chaos of life and history; prophets who offer us not their own theories and ideas but' the word of the Lord; and above all  a Son who says,'You believe in God ,believe also in me.'

Security ( Psalm 121 )

I read that thieves are stealing anti-theft doorbells, security is important for all of us,but  the question I would ask, can there be such a thing ,as guaranteed security.People do seek for it as to were they live,as regards their possessions, or whatever. This world can never be a total secure  place,whither it is from the climate,or criminals ,or whatever.  Yet I do believe that in the words of the song,that God has the whole in His hands, that can mean many things as Job found out,he lost his possessions,           children,and health,or it could mean like David who was miraculously preserved  from being put to death by king Saul. Joseph's life shows life's security and insecurity. The main thing to realise is that we can experience all sorts things,but that our lives are in Gods hands, come what may,and that is the securest place to be.

They laughed ( Isaiah 53 v 2 )

I recently attended a wedding,at the reception later a few of the people were laughing at the minister voice,and then someone said,he was deaf,and then there was a silence. Now he was not totally deaf but id did effect the nature of his voice,the sad thing was it was Christians who had made that remark. I remember 55 years as a young man away from God attending a church service,and thinking that the preachers voice sounded odd,but as I listened to him preaching,the Holy Spirit convicted me of my need of Christ.The result was I came back to Christ,likewise I remember going to a Christian leader seeking for advise and help and the first  thing he did was criticised the way I spoke..The enemies of the apostle Paul made little of his speech ( 2 Corinthians 10 v 10.Let us not make judgement on any one  as regards the imperfect speech ,what they wear,what they eat,what they drink,or were they come from,let love rule our attitudes, and our words.

Are you ready? ( Hebrews 4 v 7 )

In the news paper I was reading I noticed in the death column of the paper I was reading a picture of a young girl aged 7,in her short life she had suffered from a rare childhood cancer,which she had treatment for,but alas to no account.Before she died she spoke with her family to the very end,cancer is very indiscriminate ,her last words were to her parents was that, 'that she had faith and that she was ready'.Very touching,and moving,consider the words of that child,''she had faith and was ready''. Let me ask you a simple question,are you ready?. ,Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be ready,

A Great God ( Hebrews 11 v 3 )

If we can see the stars ,many of us ,cannot see many because of light pollution ,but if we could  see them, sprinkled out over a vast universe,and realise that God made it all. Then if we consider our world and the wonders that are all around us, and again we declare ,God made it all.I must confess I get sick and tired of people speaking of evolution,that it all just happened.But then as one person wrote,'God is not to be known as other things are known, he is not part of the universe he made. He is to be known in other ways; by his own self revelation and by our personal encounter with him.It comes through faith in Jesus,as our saviour,when that happens, the eyes of our understanding is opened,to the great truth that God is the creator and Master of this universe

Consequence ( Romans 8 v 6 - 8 )

It is important to understand sin, and its consequences,and so I quote what Peter Lewis's in his  book ,'The Message of  the Living God'.The first and worse thing it does is to produce an antipathy to God in the sinner,an allergic reaction to His purity, an inability to tolerate His insistent demand  for righteousness , a hostility to His Lordship. We find His approach threatening.So, when Adam and Eve sinned they went into hiding in the trees,so it continues,mankind has been hiding ever since; behind the trees of false religions,false philosophies, self righteousness and worldly preoccupations . Even religion, even the true religion, can be used as a screen, a cover, a last ditch defence against the unbearable approach of the Holy God who exposes our nakedness and our need, our mixed motives and our moral failures.'

Enoch and walking. ( Psalm 56 v 13 )

In Genesis 5 we read of a man who never died, Enoch, he lived for 365 years,mind blowing,but it was not until till he was 65 yrs that his life was changed, dramatically , he started walking,nothing unusual about that, this walk would last for 300 yrs.The point about this walk ,he had a very wonderful companion  for all those years ,God. It was a walk of faith (Hebrews 11 v 5 ),like Enoch  if we are to walk with God , no matter how long it will be, it must be a walk of faith, and it must begin with faith in Jesus.How can one possibly  walk with such an awesome person as God, simple ,we need to walk in the light ,John the apostle wrote,''If we claim claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth'.In 2 Corinthians 6 v 14,the question is asked, 'what fellowship can light have with darkness?.' The answer is very simple, none,so was Enoch perfect ?,no,but I am sure when he sinned, he sought immediate forgiveness,he may have at times fallen into sin but he would not have walked in sin.So if we want that continual walk with God as Enoch had,seek to be holy,seek to be obedient.

Inventing ( Mark 5 v 1 - 15 )

We owe much to mankind's ability to invent,but consider the following words to be found in Romans 1 v  30,in the N I V, translation, 'They invent ways of doing evil'.Most societies see drug taking as evil,because of its  serious consequences.Having worked among the mentally ill, I have known people whose minds have been permanently damaged through taking drugs. Recently while driving I had to slow down for a man who was carelessly walking across the road,I noticed that he was holding up a balloon up to his nose. Let me explain why he was  doing this, in recent times I have noticed little silver containers on the ground,I wondered why.These little containers ,contains a gas called nitrous  oxide that is used in in baking. People have discovered that they can get a high from this gas,so they release it into a balloon,they then inhale it.Yes mankind is very inventive in discovering new ways of  doing evil. Addiction is not something that people can be reasoned out of, may you realise, if you are addictive to whatever ,that you need help,seek it while you can,and above all else call upon Jesus who can save to the uttermost.

There is hope. ( Revelation 22 v 20 )

More conflict has broken out between the Kurds and Turkey, it must be horrendous to live in these warring situations,there is so much conflict in this world.I have lived through the conflict in Ulster it was not nice to say the least,people being shot ,bombed intimidated, the pain many were going through,was awful. The conflict was between the Nationalist and Unionist,atrocities were committed on both sides,  one group was known as the Shankill butchers, because of their brutality. Our dear Saviour said there would be wars and rumours of wars,in Luke 21 v 9, He says ,''these things  must happen''. Yes there is an inevitability in the continual violence in the world,for mankind is at war with God and their fellow human beings,but one day all will change.When? when Jesus comes back,and He will bring in a new heaven and a new earth, just imagine, no more murders,no more violence, we will live in a non - violent society,the way it was meant be.Yes because of Christ there is hope for all who trust Him.

Only God. ( Genesis 1 v 11 )

Again let us consider ,that there are none so blind that do not see.It is the apostle Paul who writes about God revealing Himself in creation,he writes the following,''For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities  -his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, been understood from what has been made ,so that men are without excuse.'' Someone wrote ,'that God's fingerprints are on every  snowflake,and that His signature is in the stars for us to read and recognize'. In the words of the poem by Joyce Kilmer ,''Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a  tree''.

Impossible (Genesis 1 v 1 )

There is a saying ,that there are none so blind as those who do not see,see what?,a good question. Occasionally we hear on the news these words,that hopefully we will know how this universe came into being.Let me ask the question ,if matter is not eternal how did it come into being?. I read this recently,'if the energy levels in carbon and oxygen were only a fraction of a per cent different to what they are,there would be no carbon in the universe and therefore no you and me'.The same author writes,''Why dose the universe seem so well set up for life''? If the universe started with the big bang ,why is are the sun,moon, and earth round, an explosion of any kind does not produce nice little round objects,everything would be distorted.It is inconceivable that this world with all its variety, design ,and order could have just happened,it is impossible.

Consequences ( Psalm 51 v 1- 2 )

One final thought on David and the terrible things he did,he did it because he could do it,no one stopped him, no one challenged him.So the wicked sinful deeds were done ,for David it was time  to move on,but there is an interesting verse in Numbers 32 v 23, which reads, 'be sure that your sin will find you out'. And so it came to pass ,we read that the thing David had done, displeased the Lord. ( 2 Samuel 11 v 27).There are no secrets before our all seeing God, and so God sent a man, a prophet to expose the evil that David had done,his name was  Nathan. Although God sent him it took courage for this man of God to challenge the king,and it demanded obedience, we are told to obey is better than sacrifice( 1 Samuel 15 v 22 ). Nathan spoke the word ,David was convicted David confessed, repented and was forgiven.But there was a price to pay, the little child that was born out of his adulteress  relationship died, and a prophecy of a calamity coming upon him in a coming day,from within his own  household. (  2 Samuel 12 v 11). Sin will be forgiven if we ask, but sometimes we do suffer the consequences of what we have done, the more serious aspect of sin, that is not forgiven, is the eternal consequences . ( Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 ) The answer is, turn to Christ , for forgiveness ,and ask Him to save you, and so escape the terrible consequences .

Shiloh. ( Colossians 1 v 19 - 20 )

On April 6th, 1862 one of the major battles took place in the American civil war,it was the battle of Shiloh over 110,000 forces engaged in this conflict, it resulted in over 23,000 casualties,the battle was won by the Union. The name Shiloh comes from the Bible,  meaning peace ,we find it in Genesis 49 v 10. there its meaning relates to the coming Messiah, we read,' until Shiloh comes'.So the person would have the name meaning peace, in Isaiah 9 v 6 ,the coming Messiah is called the Prince of Peace. On Calvary on that old rugged cross, a battle raged , all the forces of hell,and all the evil that humanity could sum up,attacked our Messiah. Christ our Shiloh, won that battle that day for me and you,when He defeated all the forces against Him.and made possible for all who trust Him ,to know peace with God.

The unrestrained heart ( Jeremiah 17 v 9 )

Another  thought on David and his Psalm, on confessing,the question one may ask is why he did what he did,adultery, and murder?.When you think of political crimes,religious crimes,why do they do such things?.because  they can.No one had the nerve to challenge David, he  committed a very cruel thing,consider who Uriah was, one of his mighty men ( 2 Samuel 23 v 39),yet he committed adultery with his wife, and to cover his sinful deed had him murdered .Consider when David wanted Uriah murdered he sent him   with a written message to Joab,who was expected to carry out his orders ,that would result in Uriah's death.How cynical and callous David had become, yet no one stopped him,challenged him. David the man after Gods own heart,had now become a man ruled by his wicked heart. When the heart is unrestrained ,wickedness will take over,and we will  commit the unmentionable.

Relief ( Psalm 51 )

Psalm 32 starts with the word ,'Blessed', many say this means happy,and I do believe that it has that to it,but it goes further. It is Herbert  Lockyer  who points out, that in the original,the word blessed is in the plural- Blessednesses -he points out,that the sinner whose transgression ,sin, iniquity are forgiven have multiplied joys, bundles of  happiness, and mountains of delight'.Before David  repented of his sin,it affected him greatly,even physically, sin can effect us in many ways,mentally,and of course spiritually.Look at the world,why so much suffering?,one of the main reasons is sin.It must have come as a relief when Nathan the prophet uttered  those Holy Spirit anointed words ,'' you are the man'', David's hidden sin had found him out. (2 Samuel 12 v 7 ). Convicted he repented of his sin and sought forgiveness,he confessed his sin to the Lord ,and God who is a forgiving God ,forgive him.Michael Wilcock  writes,'David is speaking of that greatest of all  gospel blessings,the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works'.

Temptation. ( Exodus 20 v 17 )

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King David ( Psalm 32 )

Lets consider Psalm 32,it was written by King David ,it is linked with Psalm 51,both Psalms are written in the aftermath of David's adultery with Bathsheba,and his murder of her husband Uriah,Yes King David,surely not,the man after Gods own heart,the sweet Psalmist of  Israel,the man who faced a giant,and slew him,and became a hero,and the greatest of all Israels kings. Alas ,it was so,let me say this ,the greatest,godliness,holiest of people,are but sinners,saved by grace, and it is possible that they like us can fall into the most grievous of sins.Not until we reach glory will any of us be free from that fallen nature that still clings to us, the word of God tells us ,yes warns us,that we should never become self confident,and blind to the fact that we can so easily fall into sin, ( 1 Corinthians 10 v 12 ) let us all heed this warning.

This little light of mine.( Matthew 5 v 14 - 16 )

In the darkness of the early morning I looked out at my garden,all the solar light had stopped shining,darkness reigned,no not quite,the little light on my water feature was shinning . One light in the darkness,as time goes on in life,it appears that the darkness is spreading over this world, false religions,secularism,unbelief,confusion in sexuality,in gender,love of pleasure.As  Christians let us remember the words of our  wonderful Saviour,to us His followers,''You are the light of the world''(Matthew 5  v 14 ).and then He goes unto say,''Shine'' ( MT 5 v 16 ).We may be the only Christian in our family, in our street,in our place of work ,in our prison,shine for Jesus,be that one light in the darkness.

Grace from beginning to end. ( 1 Peter 5 v 10 - 11 )

Many years ago I was involved in a quiz ,in my local church,the question was asked,what was the last words in the NT?. I thought I knew, so my answer was,'Even so,come , Lord Jesus',did I get it right?,no,nearly,  the right answer is,'The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people, Amen..' (Revelation 22 v 21) What a wonderful verse for the Bible to end with,Bruce Milne writes,'' ..Heaven is real because God, in utter grace,has made a way for his sinful creatures to return to him,and to live with him in everlasting righteousness and joy. He then quotes Beasley  Murray,',As in revelation,so in history,grace shall have the last word', Indeed it will , for heaven is simply grace abounding, grace unleashed,grace uninhibited ,grace unending, in the land of the Trinity,for ever more.( BM )

Reason (Proverbs 3 v 5 )

I had two JWs call at my door, I sought to be polite,and give an explanation for the deity of Christ, like a fool I then had to listen to them talking a distorted lot of nonsense,in their attempt to disprove what I said,it appeared they believe in gods.I must confess nothing I had said ,made any impression, and to be honest the more I tried to talk with  them as to what they were saying,the more frustration I felt,in the end they had not really listened to what I had said,so it ended.On reflection I realise the truth of what Martin Luther said,'that reason is the enemy of faith''.Of course spiritual, the JWs are but a godless religion built upon mans  sinful human reasoning,.The word of God tells us to not lean upon our own understanding, but to trust in the Lord with all our heart. These words challenge  our  proud nature,our sinful desires to know more than God,our dear Lord Jesus,faced such people,the result ,they refused to accept Him,as the Son of God,and in their spiritual blindness crucified Him.

No wrath. ( Romans 8 v 1 / 33 - 39 )

What about believers?,will they be lost?,the answer is no ,we read in  Revelation  20 v 15 , 'that if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire'. In other words those whose names are in the book of life are saved from judgment.Why is that ?,very simply when we trust Jesus as our Saviour,we are saved from coming wrath ( 1 Thessalonians 1 v 10 ) What happened on the cross?, Jesus took the punishment of those who trusted Him, consider the words of that wonderful hymn, 'Jesus Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress; midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,with joy shall I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in that great day, for who aught to my charge shall lay?, fully absolved through these I am, from sin and fear, from guilt and shame.'

The book was opened. ( Revelation 20 v 13 )

We read that the dead will be judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books (Rev 20 v 12,) This simply means that God  as it were is recording all the wrong things we have done during our lifetime. Nothing will be missing,it will be all there,every sin we have ever committed ,every wrong word (Matthew 12 v 36 ),every wrong thought ( Matthew 5 v 27 -26 ),sins of omission,  not loving God,and others,the sin of unbelief .These and every other sins will be brought to light ,the secret sins ,the hidden sins kept  from your wife,husband,employers,the things you coveted,your false worship,the sins that you forgot about,the sins that you laughed at,it will be all brought to light. No one on that day will be acquitted,no one will be found sinless,and no one will escape judgment. We will continue next time on this subject.

Final and fair.( Genesis 18 v 25 )

Following on with thoughts on Revelation 20, and it is verse 12, we read,'And I  saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne'.When it comes to Judgement there will be no distinctions all will be on one level,those who were poor,those who rich,those who once ruled,and those who were ruled,will be there.There will be no place to hide, no great escape,no way out,no putting the blame on others,the con man will be there,and those he coned ,we will all be there..This will be reality time,a time for no excuses,or blaming others,this is the final judgment,and as Bruce Milne writes,' it will be truly fair'.

No evidence ( Psalm 19 v 7 v 11 ff )

In Andrew Marr's book,' A history of the world,' he throws doubt on the bible record of Israel's 400 years  time in Egypt,because he says there is no archaeological evidence, I also heard on the radio how the same was true of King David,no  archaeological evidence. Consider this that for many years doubt has been thrown on the biblical account of the existence of the state of Edom,they dismissed it as been a myth.But now archaeological has been found that such a state did exist, the biblical history account should not  be dismissed ,it really happened.The existence of the Jews is very strong and compelling evidence of the historical events recorded in the bible, as being true.

To late ( Hebrews 4 v 7 )

I am just coming to the end of my study on ,'Heaven and Hell, using the  Bruce Milne's book from the ,'the Bible speaks today series,'It is an excellent book and worth while to have, and study ,I found chapter 19 ,very instructive,it deals with ,the final judgement,the scripture reference is Revelation 20 v 1- 15.As you would imagine it is a very solemn subject, it is sad and indeed serious that many ministers ignore this vital subject,indicating they don't agree with it, or else they don't have the courage of their convictions to preach it. I will possible write again on this subject,in this chapter we read that the dead , great and small ,are standing before the throne,this is none other than the judgement seat of Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 10). The only hope you and I will have on that day to escape the awful judgement that will be pronounced ,is that while living we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour,if we have not done this ,then  it will be to late,our doom will be sealed.

Don't give up. ( Luke 18 v 1- 8 )

Then Jesus told His disciples to show them that they should always pray and not give up, then he goes on to to teach them a parable, to illustrate the importance of this truth,read about in Luke 18 v 1 .It is R. C.Sproul who  quotes a speech by Winston Churchill made during the 2nd world war when England were facing the threat of invasion by Germany. He said this,''Never give in,never give in , never, never, never, never,- in nothing, great or small, large or petty- never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense''.When it comes to prayer we can come to the place  of giving in ,for different reasons, so Jesus is teaching us ,exhorting us not to give up. Whatever difficulties ,obstacles,disappointments ,we may be facing,He is telling do not give up, pray to the last moment in your life and to the last breath in your body.

Our weak efforts. ( Matthew 10 v 42 )

J.B. Phillips draws out the following in relation to our service for God,'Let nothing move you in the as you busy yourselves  as you busy yourselves in the Lords work. Be sure that nothing you do for Him is ever lost or wasted'Bruce Milne goes unto to say,'Every kingdom work, whether publicly performed or privately endeavoured, partakes of the kingdom's imperishable character. every honest intention, every stumbling word of witness, every resistance of temptation, every motion of repentance,every gesture of concern, every routine engagement, every motion of worship, every struggle towards obedience, every mumbled prayer, every thing, literally, which flows out out of our faith relationship with the ever Living One,will find its place in the ever-living heavenly order which will dawn at his coming. It is, and will be, so utterly worthwhile- because he rose.'

We try ( 2 Timothy 4 v 1 - 5 )

Again let us consider  further 2 Corinthians 5 v 11,'Since ,then  we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men'. We try, we may not succeed, but we must try, we may not be very gifted but we must try,we may be laughed at, but we must try.Yes we must try ,

Accountable ( Ezekiel 2 v 7 )

Following on from yesterdays message  concerning 2  Corinthians 5 v 11 ) 'Since we know what it is to fear the Lord we  try to persuade men'. I was struck by those words ,' we try to persuade men', looking back on my Christian  ministry, and my personal witnessing to people,all I can say I have tried like the great apostle to persuade men ,women and children,of their need of Jesus.Early on in my Christian life I was struck with the words God spoke to Ezekiel  in chap 2 v 7, '' You must speak my words to them,whether they listen or fail to listen.''I am not accountable for results I am only accountable as to my faithfulness''.Yes I will keep on trying.

Faithfulness ( Ezekiel 3 v 16 ff )

In 2 Corinthians 5 v 11 we read,' Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men' R.V.G. Tasker writing on this verse explains it in the following way,'Paul's' primary work is to persuade man of the truth of the gospel ( see Acts 18 v 4 ,and 28 v 23 ); and had he not continually 'walked in the fear of the Lord' ( see Acts 9 v 31 ) , he might have yielded to the temptation to curry favour with his hearers by whittling down his message to suit their tastes'. There is also that temptation to play to the gallery,but we cannot do that,we must be faithful to our calling to speak  Gods word,taht means the whole of Gods word.I do not get speaking in the church  I attend because of what I preach,I preach about sin,of heaven and hell, and the importance of people making a decision to trust Christ, for I know that one day I will be accountable as to my faithfulness in my preaching.

We all want to go to heaven. ( Acts 16 v 30 - 31 )

Johnny Cash was a famous and popular singer,he had a Christian background,him and his wife  used to sing with Billy Graham.I watched his last interview before he died, and the interviewer asked him about his views on heaven and hell.His answer was simple and uncomplicated,he replied, ''We all want to go to heaven''. Let me ask you a question, do you want to go to heaven?,you don't want to go to hell?. Nobody wants to go to hell,  I witnessed to a couple recently,when I mentioned hell they acted if it didn't matter.Sad because it does matter, do you want assurance that you are going to heaven?. well the answer is very simple,first you cannot enter heaven without you sins being forgiven,secondly the only way our sins are forgiven is by trusting Jesus,who died that we might be forgiven,and go at last to heaven.So ask Him to forgive your sins,accept him  as your Saviour and you will go to heaven.

Decision time ( Acts 16 v 31 )

My friend and I were talking about evangelism,he recounted how years ago he got tired of preachers making appeals for people to trust Christ.Then he told he had a dream, it was the only one like it, he ever had,in the dream hr was walking along the sea shore,when he noticed an angel walking beside him.He spoke to the angel as to why he was there, the angel said I want you to catch fish.As they came to certain fishermen casting in their nets. The angel told him to pick up a net and cast it into the sea ,this he did, and did it perfectly,he turned to the angel thinking he would be congratulated,instead the angel said, 'yes you did it well, but why did you not pull in your catch',and with that he awoke.It is not wrong to challenge people to come forth and trust Christ as Saviour, otherwise they may not come.

Prickly. ( James 4 v 1 - 12 )

A friend of mine bought a rose bush ,called fellowship,and she said it was the most prickly rose she has ever had. One of the precious things about being a Christian should be fellowship a bond of like minded people ,who share in a common faith. Share their love for one another,care for one another,pray for one another,stand together in the struggles of the Christian life.That is way it should   be,in the words of an old hymn,' We share our mutual woes,our mutual burdens bear,and often for each other flows ,the sympathising tear,' yes that is way it is meant to be. But sad to say sometimes what we get is a prickly rose  called fellowship,where love is absent our presence resented. The apostle wrote and thanked the believers at Philippi for their  support, and that it was good of them to share in his troubles ( Philippians 4 v  14),that's fellowship, may none of us be like that rose bush my friend bought that had a name called Fellowship ,but was like a prickly hedgehog.

Two Gods ( Exodus 20 v 3 )

Coming back to my conversation with the JWs, it appears in order to undermine the word of Gods teaching on the deity of Christ,they say Christ was a God,not almighty God.So in actual fact they are saying that there is more than one God.Jesus is a God but He is not almighty God. The fact is the Jews did not believe in gods,although so many times they turned to the gods of the nations around them, and were judged for it.In Isaiah 44 v 6 /8 we read these very important words and these words cut across what the Mormons believe and what the JWs believe.,'This is what the Lord says Israel's King and Redeemer the Lord Almighty. I am the first and I  am the last, apart from Me there is no God./..........You are my witnesses. Is there any God beside me? No, there is no other Rock,I know not one'. As a Christian I believe in one God,Father,Son and Holy Ghost.the blessed Trinity.I again remind you of what Luther said,that reason is the enemy of faith.

Two things.. ( John 3 v 16 )

Again while on holiday I had an opportunity to speak to four lovely girls from Ulster,after talking about were in Ulster they came from,I mentioned the reason I live in England,to be a minister.This opened a way for me to speak a short word of witness.Here is what I said,''We need Christ for life and for eternity''.I then said to them ,'remember that ,they said they would.'.It was Martin Luther who mentioned two things ,''Every man must do two things alone,he must do his own believing ,and his own dying''.

Is it in the Bible?. ( Matthew 22 v 29 )

Recently on holiday in Malta with my wife and brother-in-law,and we passed a group of people wearing a little tag with the words on it ,'Love never fails''.Out of curiosity I asked one of them if they were a church,he replied they were, Jehovah witnesses .We moved on our walk and then sat down for a rest and to enjoy the sea view,I noticed a couple not for from us sitting having a bit lunch, I could tell they were JW's so I made my way to them prayerfully. I opened up a conversation with them ,they were a nice couple, they had their little boy with them,they come from Macedonia,and were  attending a conference,inviting us to go which we declined.They were surprised that I studied my Bible,mentioned how few people did,which is true.Our conversation ended by me asking them two questions,( 1 )Was the Christ that they believed in , the Christ of the Bible ?. ( 2 ) Was the salvation they believed in,the salvation that was in the Bible?, and of course the answer to the two questions is ,it is not.

Confusion ( Romans 1 v 18 - 32 )

There is a program on the BBC called songs of praise,and just recently it featured a same sex marriage,I ask why?.Why is this being pushed upon us?,it is something totally at odds with what the Bible teaches, why our so called Christians running with this?,we can understand societies position.   they are not Christians,for them God and His word does not matter. They deny creation, for chance,it just happened by chance, chance is nothing,and it can do nothing. From a lot of muck and gasses somehow it all happened.There is an old saying that states ,that there are none so blind as though who do not see,or should  I add,who do not want to see. The fact is, it is impossible that it just happened, or could happen.or may happen,not in ten billion ,billion , billion years .And yet even some so called Christians believe it just happened.When God is rejected,and when His word is rejected,people will end up in confusion, morally,intellectually, and spiritually,and then it becomes a case of the blind leading the blind.

Backsliding ( 51 )

As a young lad I followed the Lord then there was a point when I stopped and I became a backslider, I read these words recently,'Backsliding is a sad possibility in every Christians life'. Sad to say it was for me,but it goes on to say,'but there is always a way back'.There was for me,and if you are a backslider there is for you,it is wonderful how gracious God can be.If one reads the history of Israel we see a nation that continual went away from God, in other words they backslid, but when they repented and sought forgiveness, God forgive them and restored them, the prodigal was restored and welcomed home,with words of kindness and love. ( Luke 15 v 11 ff  )Here is the word of the Lord for all who have have gone back, ''I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely  '' ( Hosea 14 v 4 )

Through it all. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 7 - 10 )

There are reasons if we are a child of God, that trials,afflictions come into our lives,after all God is sovereign, and as the hymn writer wrote, 'Every joy or trial, falleth from above'. We are not God's playthings ,we are his children, and He loves us,he will not cause us to experience   needless pain.It is in that blessed  book of the Psalms we read,'It was good for me that I have been afflicted', how many of us can say that?,why was he able to say those words?,well here is what follows,'that I may learn thy statutes'.There is gospel song which was very popular years ago,called ,'Through it all',the last verse and chorus  reads,'I thank God for the mountains,and I thank Him for the valleys., I thank Him for the storms He bro't me through.For if I never had a problem I would-n't know that He could solve them, I'd never know what faith in God could do.  Through it all. Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God; Through it all, Through it all, I've learned to depend upon His word'

Amazing ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 - 31 )

It is amazing that God met with this man of dubious characters, this man became a child of God, His name means, deceives,and he lived up to his name, cheating his brother out of his fathers blessing ( CP Gen 27 ) that is why his brother wanted to kill him. Yes it was Jacob who was chosen by God to be one whom God would bless with many descendants,who would be granted the promised land,and from his descendants the Messiah would come.and through that Messiah all the nations of the earth would be blessed. ( Genesis 27 v 14 ) Al this would come through this Jacob, Gods ways are past finding out, but Gods ways are perfect. He chooses the poor of this world,( James 2 v 5 ), the foolish,the weak, the lowly,and the despised,that is you and me. None of us can boast, to God alone be the glory,it truly is amazing.

A pillow. ( Psalm 23 v 1 )

I have for a while been suffering with a sore neck,caused by the pillows I have slept on, I have just purchased pillows filled with duck feathers and down,this is third lot of pillows I have purchased ,here's  hoping they will help eradicate my neck pain.In Genesis 28 we read of Jacob who left home in a hurry,because his brother wanted to kill him.He was instructed to leave where he lived by his mother and father,and go to a place called Haran, to his mothers relatives. He  obeyed them and set of  on his journey , on his way  there he rested at a certain place,to sleep for the night.,and he used as a pillow a stone.( rather him than me).During the night things began to happen,he had a wonderful dream from God, in which the Lord spoke to him and promised to bless him and his descendants.  when he  awoke he realised God had met with him.It is significant that God met with this man on his own, Joyce Baldwin writes ,' no longer was the Lord the God of his father,but Jacob's own God'.Remember our fathers God, our fathers Saviour must become our God and Saviour.

Ichabod ( Revelation 2 v 5 )

Recently another denomination  voted to allow same sex marriages, so that makes two,these two denominations have been experiencing a steady decline in attendance.Many of there ministers could be called liberals,in other words they are weak in relation to biblical beliefs .Why has this happened?well the so called ministers have all been trained at the Bible colleges,I was fortunate the college I attended was true to God's word,so the question one needs to ask,are those colleges faithful to God's word, I strongly doubt it. It is a tragedy that so called Christian leaders have run with error.What every Christian must realise that when they fail to be true to God's word,there are  consequences .The Psalmist declared ,''Do not let me stray from your commands'', (119 v 10 ). It is the word of God that is a lamp to our feet, and a light for our path'(  Psalm 119 v 105 ) . We never come to the  place as Christians, where we can  ignore God's word, if we do, we will wander from the truth.One of Israels greatest kings did that,a man endowed with godly wisdom, his name was Solomon, it was he that brought disaster upon God's people . ( CP 1 Kings 11) When we forsake God's word , our epitaph will be ,'Ichabod' , meaning .'God 's glory has departed'.  ( 1 Samuel .4 v  21 )

One Day. ( Revelation 21 v 1 - 5 )

Imagine living in occupied Europe during the 2nd world war,secretly listening to the BBC ,for a hint that the end of the oppressive rule by Germany would end. Imagine being a Christian in a land were you are persecuted,your children are picked on at school,imagine.Imagine all the suffering that's going on ,the terrible injustices ,the sickness,the afflicted the oppressed,the abused,and so on, and so on.We hope the world is getting better,and then we hear the news.As I was on my daily walk these thoughts came into my mind, and I heard myself saying ,one day,yes one day it will all change, for Christ is coming again,the new heaven and earth will replace the present universe,yes one day. On that day sin will be no more,sickness will be no more,injustice will be no more,tears will be no more, one day,yes one day,the words of scripture come to mind,even so ,come Lord Jesus..(  Revelation 22 v 20 )

The biggest liar. ( Romans 5 v 12 )

I wonder who you would consider the biggest liar ever,we can as we look at history,see different candidates, I could think of Hitler,in one of his speeches he said he was not be a threat to Belgium,or Holland,it was lies,as those countries soon found out. When Neville  Chamberlian came back from Munich,having appeased Hitler in order to get a an agreement of peace with Germany, he got off the plane  waving a signed paper,assuring the British public,it gave an assurance of ,'peace in our time', it was a brazen lie by Hitler,as we and the world soon found out.So was he the biggest liar ever?,no the biggest liar ever was Satan also known as the Devil, we read how he deceived Eve ,he as  much as said God was liar ( Genesis 3 v 4 ).Unfortunately Eve believed  him ,and so sin entered the world,with dreadful,awful,devastating, consequences for the whole of mankind.  Remember God cannot lie ( Titus 1 v 2 ),but unfortunately the Devil is still fooling people,  instead of believing God they follow in Eve's footsteps, and you know where that leads to, spending  eternity in Hell with the Devil and his angles ( Matthew 25 v 41 )

A tale of two cities. ( Isaiah 53 v 5 - 6 )

You may not have heard of Sydney Carton ,well he is one the fictious characters from the novel,'A tale of two cities', written by  Charles Dickens. It is set in the time of the French revolution,Sydney is a cynical drunkard,but he falls in love with Lucie  Minette, he tells her ,but she informs him, that she is about to become engaged to a Charles Darnay, he confesses he will always love her and if she needed him to let him know.Charles Darnay was a french noble man, but had renounced his title, he ended up taken residence in England , mean while the revolution breaks out n France,Charles feels he has to return to France,on his return he is arrested and sentenced to the guillotine.Sydney travels to France to see if Charles can be freed, but this came to nothing,so Sydney devises a scheme that would enable him to exchange places with Charles ,who is smuggled out of the country, Sydney goes to the guillotine,before he dies he says,''It is a far, far better thing I do,than I have ever done. It is a far ,far better..rest than I have ever known''.Whither we die by the guillotine,old age,sudden death if we know Christ we can have a sure and certain hope for eternity,a far, far better hope, because of Jesus who took our place on Calvary on that cross.