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 )