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.