It started with a lie ( 2 ) ( Proverbs 14 v 12 )

 Lets continue  looking at that garden were Adam and Eve, and the conversation between  the Devil and Eve. The devil came for a purpose to tempt Eve, into disobedience, the first thing he said, 'Did God really say. '' You must not eat from any tree in the garden''?. The devil will always do his best to have us doubt God's word, he will cause us to rationalize, it is easy to rationalize over  many things ,like creation, like Gods moral standards, certain  doctrines. That's  what he did with Eve, and she took the bait, consider her reply, as to what God  said , ''You must not eat fruit from the tree...... and you must not touch it, or you will die,'' CP 2 v 16, He said nothing about touching it. We must not add to what God says, there are many that have done this ,the words in Revelation  22 v 18 -19 ,can be applied to all scripture, were a judgement is upon any who adds or takes away from God's word. Next the Devil challenges what God said, .''You won't die'', the terribleness that followed ,is ample evidence ,how wrong he was. Next he tells her, ''God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing  both good and evil'', Yes they would have a knowledge of good and evil, but as Milton said, ' bought dear by knowing ill', as we will see next time.

It started with a lie. ( 2 John v 7 )

 There was time when  everything in the garden was rosy ,in  fact it was perfect, it is hard to imagine such a place, such a time ,we are so used to imperfection, that is the norm. Imagine no sickness, no suffering of any kind, and there was no weeds, and it gets better, for in that garden dwelt two people and they never had a fall out, harmony reigned. For this couple this was the beginning of a perfect relationship, what could go wrong?, yes you may well ask, what indeed. You have heard the saying ,'all  good things must come to a end', in this case it did not have to be, alas for that couple it was going to be. Now I have not mentioned someone else, God, the one who brought everything into being. The crown  of his creation was the man and the women, they were called Adam and Eve, he left them to look after the garden, told them what they should do, and what thy shouldn't do. What they shouldn't do, it was simple, they were not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree, if they did, it would be disastrous. He left them to it, after a while the devil in the shape of a serpent appeared, and spoke lies to Eve, and she fell for it ,'hook line and sinker'. Being deceived she then turned her attention, to the forbidden fruit. We will continue this next time ,I will just finish with this thought, the devil is still telling people lies, beware.

Suffering ( Job 1 - 2 )

 Again I need to remind whoever is reading this, and myself that God is sovereign, as we look at so many things in the world . and you may be experiencing ,real pain ,real hurts ,real looses. Can we say God is sovereign when everything is falling apart?, consider a man who lost all his children, lost all his possessions, and lost his health, how would we feel if that happened to us ?. The same man went unto say,'' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him''. Job 13 v 15.  In Job 23 v10,he declares ,'' He knows the way I take;'' The words he utters are coming from a man whose heart must have been breaking, Job did not know the way God was taking him, but he by faith  trusted in his sovereign God. David Atkinson writes ,' Faith does not provide answers, but it is a hand in the darkness keeping alive  that trust  that despite all appearances, God is still on his side '. The rest of 23 v 10 reads, 'when He has tested me, I shall come forth as pure gold, You have to admire Job, D A writes, as regards Jobs trust in his God and Saviour, CP  chap 19 v 25, 'How marvellous that Job could have said so much, knowing so little! What  a rebuke to some of us,  who  know so much more of God than Job ever did, that we trust him so little''.

                                                He leadeth me! O blessed  thought!

                                                O words with heavenly comfort  fraught!

                                                Whate'er I do,  where'er  I be,

                                                Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

                                                 Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,

                                                 By waters calm, o'oer troubled sea,

                                                Still' 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

                                               Lord, I would  clasp Thy hand in mine

                                                Nor ever murmur nor  repine;

                                                Content,  whatever lot I see,

                                                Since 'tis my God that leadeth me.  ( Words J.H. Gilmore.)

The old, old story. ( Romans 1 v 16 )

 Since the virus started I have visited on  You Tube ,Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco ,Texas, the Pastor is Charles Swindoll, a wonderful minister of the word. It is different to many churches ,it has so many gifted people, a wonderful  choir, orchestra, it is very socially motivated, and supports 25 missionary families. One of the things I appreciate from the Pastor, he always has a little word for the poor old sinners. I often hear that said that the gospel is not  for preaching to Christians, well the more I go on in life and in these present climate Christian need to be reminded  continually of  gospel truths. Many ministers are not mentioning, those gospel truths because they don't appreciate,  the wrath of God, or sin, or whatever. There is a difference of teaching gospel truths to believers, and a evangelical message to unbelievers. Yet even so like are dear brother Charles Swindoll, in any message we can always drop in little word for the poor old sinner.

                                              I love to tell the story, of unseen things above.

                                             Of Jesus and His glory, of  Jesus and His love

                                              I love to tell the story, because I know its true;

                                               It satisfies my longing ,as nothing else would do.

                                               I love to tell the story, for those who know it best.

                                              Seem hungering and thirsting, to hear it like the rest;

                                              And when in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,

                                             'Twill  be the old, old story, that I have loved so long.  (Words A.C. Hankey)

The true Israel ( 2) ( John 10 v 16 )

 I  ended last time by stating that we are the true Israel, when I say we I mean the Church, made up of every nation ( Revelation 7 v 9 -10.) in that chap it mentions 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. As  with so much of Revelation this number is symbolic, because of what I have pointed out earlier, from    Ephesians .The old divisions are gone for good, likewise the temple it is gone never to return, it served its purpose ,the church is now the temple of the living God, he no longer dwells in a  building, if you are a Christian he dwells in you.  1 Cor 3 v 16 -17. Ephesians 2 v 21- 22. Likewise it is inconceivable that sacrifices will ever be reinstituted ,that  would any by stretch of the imagination, be at odds with the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jerusalem has no spiritual significance  now, the New Jerusalem in Rev 3 v 12/21 v2 , represents the church, also called the Bride of Christ. our Saviour  made it clear that the old Jerusalem was finished John 4 v 21ff. As for Christ reigning for a thousand years on earth, Christ mentioned , that his kingdom was not of this world ,John 18 v 36.The Jews had a wrong belief that the Messiah would  set up an earthly kingdom, Jesus did not go along with that, in fact He avoided it, John 6 v15, the Jewish belief was wrong, why do we give it any credibility?, rejoice that we children of Abraham ( Galatians 3 v 26 - 29 )

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The true Israel ( 1 ) ( John 10 v 14 - 16 )

In the temple grounds in Jerusalem  there was a stone wall, no  foreigner was allowed to enter within this barricade which surrounded the temple enclosure. Along the wall there were notices attached  warning non Jews  to not  enter into the temple enclosure ,written in Greek and Latin, it read, ''Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death ''.At that time there was distinction made between Jew and Gentile, but with the gospel this would all change. In Ephesians 2 v 11 ff  ,the apostle Paul  writes the following to his Gentile readers ,'Remember you were Gentiles...... remember that at time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship  in Israel and foreigners  to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed  the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility........His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace...... For through him we both access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners  and strangers, but fellow citizens with Gods people and also members of his household.'  I heard a preacher recently say that the church is not Israel, I find this a very strange thing to say, there is only one true Israel , only one true children  of God, they are the New Covenant Israel ,( Jeremiah 31 v 31 ff)   We will consider this further next time.

He is coming again. ( Matthew 24 v 36 - 53 )

 On my daily walk I found myself singing, no it did not start to rain, the sun shone the whole time, well back to my singing. The question is what was  I  singing?, here is the words,' Some glorious daybreak Jesus will come, Some glorious daybreak  battles all won, He'll shout the victory, break through the blue, Some  glorious  daybreak for me, for you'. I wonder do you ever dwell much on the fact that Jesus is coming again. A person I know speaking about his minister, said, in the 11years he has been his minister he never heard him preach on the Lords coming . I cannot understand that ,for our Saviour spoke of it many times, on the night  he was betrayed he said,' I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am ,John 14 v 3..When Jesus was taken up into heaven, two men dressed in white, told them, ''Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus , who was taken up  from heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven''. Acts 1 v 11.  In the last book of the Bible we have our Lord saying twice ,''I am coming quickly''  Rev 22 v 7/12. The word quickly stresses the fact that every generation, must be on the alert  in the light of his coming. We are not to speculate as to when he is coming, but to live in the light of it, remember he may come today.

Who is my brother? ( Matthew 15 v 32 )

In a book by J. B. Priestly, called ,'An Inspector Calls', a man calls at the home of a wealthy family ,he tells them  he is a police inspector. He  goes on to tell them about a girl who committed suicide,  his purpose is to show each of the people present, that they had part in her tragic death. There are five people the wealthy businessman who had sacked her ,another visitor  the son of a lord had taken her for his mistress, then left her. The daughter of the wealthy businessman, had caused her to be dismissed from her job in a store, the son of the wealthy couple who had got her pregnant, and finally the wife  of the businessman who served on a charity that helped the needy, decided not to help her ,leaving her destitute. The result being , she committed suicide by drinking bleach, and died a horrible death .This is what the inspector said to them before he left,  ''We don't live alone in this world, we are responsible for each other''. When Cain murdered his brother Abel ,God came to him , and asked him, ''Where is your brother Abel?, he replied,'' Am I my brothers keeper?'. the answer to that question is simple, yes ,he was, as we are.

What God has promised. ( 1 Timothy 4 v 6 - 8 )

 Peter Lewis wrote the following in his grand book, 'The  message of the Living God'. ''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'. There are so many people teaching a imbalanced Christianity, paradise has not been regained, planted earth will never an be an earthly paradise, never. Paradise comes later, that new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Here we are to fulfil  God's will,  in the task he gives us to ,and the life he calls us to live, to glorify him, in everything. Everyday I read of  Christian experiencing dreadful things, I would not like to be in their position, no one enjoys suffering,  ,no one likes having an incurable illness, or losing a love one. Jesus said ,''take up your cross and follow me'' ( Matt 16 v 24). Yes He will deliver us, He will protect us, that's a reality, He has promised to do that and more.

                                                 God hath not promised skies always blue,

                                                 Flower strewn path-ways , all our lives thro',

                                                 God hath not promised sun with-out rain,

                                                  Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

                                                  God hath not promised  we shall not know

                                                  Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;

                                                   He hath not told us we shall not bear

                                                   Many a burden, many a care.

                                                   But God has promised strength for the day,

                                                   Rest for the labour, light for the way,

                                                  Grace for the trials, help from above,

                                                    Unfailing kindness, undying love.  ( Words A. J. Flint )

Woe ( Romans 1 v 18. / 2 v 16 )

 In Isaiah 6 the prophet has a vision 0f God, and he hears the angels calling out,'' Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty'' ,and he is overwhelmed, and he cries out, ''Woe is me,.... I  am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips''. Leupold  makes the following comments', 'He felt sin as we would feel it if our insight were not so blurred and dulled'. Valerie Hervo runs Les Chandelles ,the infamous  sex club in Paris, it is interesting how she speaks of and how it is described, saying it is a group sex club. It is visited by the country's political, economic and cultural elites to live out their sexual fantasies ,the word  libertinage is used to describe what takes place ,meaning freedom from  moral  restraint, in the area of sex. The badly dressed , the ugly, vulgar, have no hope of getting in, no only the beautiful, intelligent and well educated are welcome. Ordinary mortals are not welcomed, the club itself is bathed in  lambent red light. ,Someone described her visit there as beautiful, alas it is anything but beautiful, it is far from what God's gift of sex is meant to be , and no matter how one would tries to sanitize such a place and what takes place in it, it is wrong morally. It reminds me of what Isaiah wrote ,'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.'  Isa 5 v 20.

We are all in it together( 2 ) ( Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 )

 Yes we are all in it together, life and death, but we don't have the same destiny, for there is existence after death. Death is not the end ,it brings us into the eternal realms, it is hard for us to grasp  the idea of the term eternal.it means simple no beginning and no  ending, it will go on and on ,and on. The most important question we need to ask ourselves is, where and how shall we spend eternity?. The first thing we will face ,is God,  the one we thought did not exist, or the one we never give much thought to, occasionally we may have given him a thought. But we just got on with our lives, shutting him out, living as if he had no place in our lives, to busy to give him a second thought. On that day you will be held accountable  for all the sins you have ever committed, by  the one the you ignored  and rejected ,you will face your judge, Jesus. The one you heard about in Sunday school, or from godly parents, or a workmate, or from a minister at a funeral service. On that day forgiveness will not be an option, only judgement from which there will be no escape. Many talk about change ,but God is not in their reckoning, forsaking their sin is not in their reckoning, Christ is not in their reckoning. I want to finish  with words from a hymn by Hank Williams, called ,'The great judgment morning'.

                                              I dreamed that the great judgment morning,

                                              Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown;

                                              I dreamed that the nations had gathered,

                                              To judgment before  the white throne.

                                               And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,

                                               As the lost were told of their fate,

                                                They cried for the rocks and the mountains,

                                                They prayed but their prayer was to late.

Let Him choose. ( Psalm 18 v 30 )

 Many years ago when my then wife and I felt the call to full time Christian service, feeling it was to some missionary work in some foreign country. We found ourselves  on a journey, initially we applied to a particular mission ,but it did not happen. We  then sought advice, and were advised to go to Bible college, which we did. When that finished we applied to another mission, it didn't happen. So a very challenging time in our lives began, knocking seeking, an occasional door would open. At times we were very disappointed but God kept leading us on, it goes  without saying we continually sought God's guidance, one verse meant a lot to me in those days, it was Psalm 47 v 4 ,it reads,' He shall choose our inheritance for us'. In God's providence He has been our faithful guide, his way has been perfect, and I praise him, a very godly man called Horatius Bonar wrote a hymn, I will leave you with a few verses from that hymn.

                                          Thy way ,not mine ,O Lord, However dark it be;

                                          Lead me by Thine own hand, choose Thou the path for me.

                                          I dare not choose my lot; I would not if I might;

                                          Choose  Thou for me, my God, so shall I walk aright.

                                          Not mine, not mine the choice, in things or great or small;

                                          Be Thou my guide, my strength, my wisdom and my all.

My Hero. (2 ) ( Isaiah 53 )

Last time we declared Christ was God ,in every way ,now there is only one God, and it is hard to grasp the being of  God ,he is so awesome, He created all things, sustains all things, upholds all things, he cannot be compared to anyone else, in Isaiah 40  v 25 we read,' To whom will you compare Me?' Or who is my equal?' says the Holy one'. Alec Motyer wrote the following on these words,' It is not only His power, wisdom, dignity, sovereignty, authority, that put Him beyond compare . Of far more significance is His unattainable, unassailable moral perfection, he is the Holy one'. Yet the unimaginable happen  that divine being the Son of God became a man, entered into into this world. Each  step was a step down, from where he was, and who he was, and what he became.  He always knew ,who he was, and why he came, and knew what it would  cost him. He knew that Herod would try and kill him, that those he called his own would hate him, and that their battle cry would be ,'Crucify him'. Yet in spite of this  he marched boldly to a death on a cross. That horrible yet glorious death would enable people to have their sins forgiven, to became children of God and receive eternal life, to all who put their faith in him. My wonderful Saviour and my hero.

Heroes. ( Philippians 2 v 5 - 11 )

 There is used to be song about me in the song charts (well not really),it was called, 'Billy don't be a Hero'. of course it was not about me. I wonder if you have a hero?, or if you have been a hero?. There are all kinds of heroes in life, you have your sporting heroes, great explorers, civil right heroes, military  heroes ,and so the list goes on. Often they get medals awarded for acts of bravery, or achievements ,then there are the unsung heroes, who  are not mentioned in dispatches. What does it take to be a hero, the first word that comes to mind is courage, not just on the battle field, once in the troubles ,in  N. Ireland,  my and mother and sister  stood against a crowd of people who wanted to get their hands on a dear  Catholic, they managed to get him away, I suppose that made them heroes. I consider my wife a hero ,and I am serious about that .well as I said, many things make a person a hero .Now who is my greatest hero?, the answer is very simple, Jesus ,in fact I would say he was the greatest hero, who ever lived.  Why do I say that ? ,well consider who he was ,and what he became, who was he?, as Christians we believe in one God, but that God is a triune being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this is a great mystery. Each are co equal, we are told that Christ was in very nature God, and equal with God.  Philippians 2 v 6.We will continue to look at this next time. 

Only God. ( Psalm 43 v 11 )

I knew a person who was having difficulties, there appeared no way out, at that time God give him a word from  Exodus 6 v 1 , which read ,'Now you see what I will do', this is what God said to his people .So he delivered Israel, likewise he delivered  that person, and he can deliver you or me in his will. I mentioned the words ,'in his will', God will not aid you or me if what we desire, is outside his will.( 1 John 5 v 14 ) Often we find ourselves   face to face with situations we cannot do anything  about ,we have tried everything, used up all our human resources ,but it was in vain  I read these words recently, 'Only God  can achieve results like this', whatever he was referring to, the fact  is without God we can achieve nothing ( John 15 v 5 ) . God has many lessons to teach us, one of them is dependence on him, so he brings us to a place ,when all things we have tried  failed, and we realise  our only help is in our God. There are people whose lives are so distorted humanly speaking, it is only God  that can make them change. There are situations that are beyond us ,we realise only God  can change everything, for the better.. And when he does, we can say,' the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes ( Psalm 118 v23 )

Replaced (1) ( 2 Thessalonians 2 v 5 - 12 )

 Sin effects us , effects others, and it effects us and God, we should never make light of sin ,to do so is the height of folly. In our secular society the wrongs that people  commit are never spoken of as sin, even the worst of things, like child abuse or whatever. One writer asks the question ,'Whatever  happened to sin? When did it get deleted from our cultural lexicon? Why have we been told that it's  now one of those '' politically   incorrect terms? Today it's been replaced by  words like error , mistake, tragedy, addiction, sickness, misdeed , faux pas, failure, weakness, or fault. And on that last one, more often than not, it's someone else's fault'. Could it be that we have replaced sin with those words, because we want to replace God having  any jurisdiction over us. And  we further ingulf ourselves in the lie ,saying there is no God, but there is, don't be fooled by so called scientist, who come out with all their pathetic nonsense. Such as the world we live in, just happened, we sinners are good at accepting lies, from the father of lies ,the Devil. The media highlights atheists scientist, as those we should believe. We will continue this next time.

Hurting others. ( Hosea 6 v 1 - 3 )

He was the man who had everything materially, he had power, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, and God's blessing was upon him, his name was Solomon. He was given wisdom ,great insight, and wonderful understanding from God. Unfortunately he lost his way in life and the repercussions of what he did ,would effect  the nation he ruled. The fact is, the wrongs we do, will ultimately affect someone, even though  we may not mean that to happen. We live in changing times, but the changes are not always for  the best, the moral standard  is not what  it used to be, or what it should be . The wrong things we do ,have a ripple effect ,like when you throw a pebble into water.  Writing as regards our great high Priest, Jesus, in Hebrews7 v 26  one translation  has these words in it, 'who never hurt anyone'. I wish I could say that about myself, but the  fact is I have hurt people. Why did Solomon not stop and think of the hurt that he was going to do. The answer I believe can be seen in the book of Ecclesiastes, it is all about Solomon, not about the nation, nor the one who had blessed him so abundantly ,who would that be?, the answer is simple ,God. Hear me ,it is never to late to draw back, never to late  to change, never to late to forsake our selfish ways, and it is never to late , to humbly turn to God, and ask Him to help us, and here is the good news ,he will, through the one  never hurt anyone, Jesus.

Who is this man? ( John 1 v 1 )

 Let us look once more, at the disciples and Jesus, caught up in a storm on a lake. ( Mk 4 v35 - 41 ) How did he react when the disciples woke  him from his sleep ?, he did not say anything to them at that moment in time, but he did speak to the storm , he said ,''Peace be still!''. and what happened?, suddenly there was a great calm, and then he spoke to his disciples, one translation puts it like this,'' Have you still no faith''?.in other words in spite of all they had witnessed, faith deserted them, and fear had taken over. We are told that , 'the just shall live by faith'.( Galatians 3 v 11 ) it is ongoing, we are to face everyday by faith with all its problems and difficulties , if we don't, then we will be like the disciples ,continually in panic  mode, running around like a headless chicken. The reaction to what they had witnessed as to what  Jesus did, terrified them ,and they asked each other, 'Who is this ? even the wind and the waves obey him?. No man can control the wind and the waves, only God can do that, and  that is why Christ could do it.

The storm ( Matthew 28 v 20)

 Let us continue to look at Mark 4 v  35 - 41 ,the disciples are in a boat in a storm ,and Jesus was in the boat asleep. The disciples were in this situation because Jesus had told them to cross over to the other side of the lake, and they obeyed. None of then thought for a moment that they would be in danger, after all Jesus  was with them, and there he was asleep, what could go wrong?. Donald  English writes the following.' Forms of Christianity  which encourage and promise a life of continual success, excitement and growth  will not only lead to frustration and despair; they actually point  the disciple towards the wrong goal in the Christian pilgrimage. It is enough that Christ goes with us on our journey. We do not judge his care for us, nor the state of our discipleship, by the roughness of the seas over which we sail. We  'rejoice in the Lord', not in our currant  circumstances.

                                          Wherever  He may guide me,

                                           No want shall turn me back;

                                           My Shepherd is beside me,

                                           And nothing can I lack;

                                           His wisdom ever waketh,

                                           His sight is never dim;

                                           He knows the way I taketh,

                                           And He will walk with me.  ( Words  A. L, Waring)

He cares. (1 Peter 5 v7 )

 We don't travel much by boat now, except  a trip on a ferry, but I do remember many years ago crossing the Irish sea with my  four lads, and it was a bit rough ,and I felt a little bit queasy, but did not feel in any danger. It reminded me of what is    recorded in Mark 4 v 35 - 41, when the disciples were in a small  boat, Jesus  was also in the boat. He must have been very tired ,for we read that he fell asleep ,but then we read that a fierce storm arose, and it looked as if they were all going to drown. So what  did they do?, they  went and woke Jesus, and they said to him,'' Teacher , do you not care that we are perishing ?. It seems a hard unreasonable thing to say, we must not judge them, if we felt we were in danger of  drowning, we may just react the same. Could it be that you are in a storm, and you may be saying, were is Jesus  in all this? ,it appears to me he doesn't care. Of course he cares, he always cares. A Frank .E. Graeff  wrote the following words..

                                             Does Jesus care when my way is dark,

                                             With a nameless dread  and fear?

                                              As the daylight fades ,into deep night shades,

                                               Does he care enough to be near.

                                               O yes He cares, I know He cares,

                                               His heart is touched with my grief;

                                               When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

                                                I know my Saviour cares.

How would I like to die? ( Acts 21 v 10 - 14 )

 As I was out walking I spoke to God about dying ,I said  Lord let it be painless, but then I thought, whatever  way I die let me glorify You. An Egyptian Christian  declared , ''Now is our Joy complete'', when the bodies of her two sons had with others suffered martyrdom, were  returned for burial.  In her loss she was able to express joy at her sons honourable death. Although Peter failed his lord by denying him, it was Peter who had said that he would lay down his life for Jesus, when our Lord rose again ,he met Peter and told how he  would die, John 21 v 18 - 19. In doing this , C. Swindoll says Christ was telling Peter , he would be granted a Christ worthy death, that he would  '' wear '' a cross to his own honourable death.'

                                              Mans chief end is to glorify God

                                              in life and in their death.

                                 

Be not wise in your own eyes. ( Proverbs 3 v 6 )

 There is one verse of a poem by Robert Burns which goes,' The best laid plans of mice and men, Gang aft agley'. The  ending is written in a Scottish dialect, what the poet is saying,' No matter how well you plan ,there is no guarantee of success'.  I have always followed what Proverbs 3 v 6 teaches ,'In all your ways, acknowledge  Him , and He shall direct your paths.' I wonder how many Christians do this. Yet it is the clear teaching of scripture, we may not have given it much thought ,sometimes when faced with something  major, we may pray. We may feel that the normal everyday happenings, are not important to pray about, yet how do we know ,but that the the ordinary, may turn out to be very important. We may think that God is to busy to be be bothered with these apparent insignificant things, but not so, in thinking like this, we are bringing God to our level. No let us obey the clear instructions given to us in this verse. As another scripture instructs us to be not wise in our own eyes (Prov 3 v 7 ), let us lean not on our own understanding. God loves to be consulted, so let us to do just that, consult Him, and as He has promised, He shall direct our paths.

Holiness (3) ( 1 Peter 1 v 5 - 6 )

 God is holy we are not, so how can we be accepted by Him, first of all it is by faith in  Christ, and that alone, no pluses no add-ons. The wonderful C.H. Spurgeon, was troubled for a long time, as regards how could he get saved? ,so one Sunday morning, in the providence of God, he found in a Methodist chapel. He was miserable, the preacher stood up and spoke, the text used was Isaiah 45 v 22, 'Look to me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth'. The preacher challenged Spurgeon to look, and he did that, and was saved, it was a look of  faith ,by a desperate young man. So Christ saved him, his sins were forgiven, not only that ,the Lord Jesus righteousness was transferred to him ,it became his possession, and indeed  this applies to all who trust in Jesus .CP. Jeremiah 23 v 6/ /1 Cor. 1 v 30 /2 Cor. 5 v 21.So let us return to our original point, in Phil 4 v 2 of standing firm, we have mentioned the importance  of truth, now lets consider ,standing firm in holiness. the challenge the word of give is in 1 Peter 1 v 15 - 16 .'But just as he who called us  is holy, so be holy in all you do; For it is written; ' Be holy, because I  am holy'. It is a big challenge, but we must it take on board, pray about it. About our language, our thought life ,the things  we indulge in, consider all unrigtheousness is sin. The pornography must go, the drugs must go, living in sin must, the cheating must stop, holiness must be our watchword. How can we do this?, well as a Christian we have the holy Spirit who dwells within us, He will help us to be holy.

Stand firm (2 ) A holy God.

 Last time we looked at standing firm as regards truth, not let us consider ,standing firm as regards holiness. Now it is not a word you hear on the media, or even with your everyday person, or even in the church.  But it is mentioned in the word of God ,in relation to God , as to His being. Tozer writes of the holy Trinity, let me also stress, because it is important God is a triune being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This a great mystery, Tozer writes  'Our sincerest effort to grasp the incomprehensible mystery  of the Trinity must  remain forever futile'. We must humbly accept by faith this mystery, and in worship and adore ,One God in Persons Three'. As to his being He is holy, Isaiah 6 v 3,we read ,'Holy , holy, holy  is the Lord Almighty, likewise in  Revelation 4 v 8. That holiness shuts out humanity from having a relationship with Him. Again in turning to Tozer, who writes,' There is a relative and contingent holiness which He shares . with angels and  with redeemed men on earth as their preparation for heaven'. The unsaved have no part in this, it is foreign to them, because of their sinful nature, and their natural animosity towards a holy God and His ways and His will. We will continue this next time.

Stand firm ( Jude v 3 )

 Rudyard Kipling wrote ,in his famous poem, IF', 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs'. So many Christian are loosing the plot, even Christian leaders. In a number of Pauls letters, he challenges Christian ,'to stand  firm', Philippians 4 v1/ 1Cor 16 v 13/ Gal 5 v11/  1 Thess  3 v 8 /2  Thess  2 v 15.  A young child can easily be knocked over, but we are who men and women of faith, are called to stand firm. Truth is absolutely vital, make no mistake , it makes me sad as I have viewed on TV what some  preacher come out with. It is not only the cults that we have to contend with, in these days, they are the  enemies within. I asked my minister was he an evangelical?, he replied, 'it depends what you mean ',he knew what I meant. William Barclay was a very popular Christian writer, I have all his NT books, I received much help from them. I realised he was not clear in certain things, but when  I bought his autobiography ,I discovered he did not believe in the deity of Christ, was a universalist, did not believe in Christ being our substitute, he wrote of obliterating hell. The miracles would also be a problem with him, it is obvious that he did not  stand firm , as regards truth. If we don't believe the truth ,then we believe a lie, and if we don't stand firm for the truth, we are betraying the faith that has been handed down to us, from Him ,who is Way, the Truth ,and the Life. ( John 14 v 6 )

I am right. ( Revelation 3 v 14- 22 )

Proverbs 16 v 2, reads, 'All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits'. Charles  Bridges writes,' If a man were his own judge, who would be condemned'. Mankind can commit awful things and believe they are right, the list is endless, that goes for the political, religious, indeed ever area of life. There are prostitutes who would have one believe that what they do is just a nine to five job, but its not. People will cheat on their taxes and feel justified in doing so, many  live by  what  Niccolo Machiavelli taught in his book ,'The Prince', we do things for the greater good .Many have carried out awful things for what they believe was for the greater good, the Jews did,( John 11 v 5). by committing an unspeakable evil,  murdering Jesus. But God weighs up what we do, and why we do certain things, and He declares ,'You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting',( Daniel  5 v 27) In other words what we have done ,no matter how we may to justify it, we did wrong, acted wrong, spoke  wrong, in Gods eyes. God is holy, he expects us to be holy, God is righteous, he expects us to be righteous ,God is loving , he expects us to be loving, God is forgiving ,he expects us to be forgiving. 

Thirsty? ( Revelation 3 v 14 - 22 )

Water is very precious, we could not live without it, often when I am going to a drink a glass  of water ,I  offer up a prayer of thanksgiving ,for this precious gift from our creator God.  The  word of God speaks of water in different ways. In Isaiah 12 we have  a song of praise, God had been angry with his people , but now they find faith arising to look again to the God of  their salvation. In v 3 we these words 'With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation'. Israel throughout their history kept going away from God. CP  Jeremiah 2 v 13. ' For my people have done two evil things; They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water'. They found out to their cost how foolish that was ,and the price they had to pay. But now they are invited to once again, to turn to the God of their salvation, and like thirsty travellers be refreshed. When we came to Christ, we were leaving behind,  those things that did not satisfy the needs of our heart, only  He, can do that. Yet like Israel of old we forget , and we find ourselves returning to our old ways .We need to be reminded , that when we do this we are like a dog returning to its vomit. 

                                                   Create in me a pure heart, O God,

                                                   and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

                                                   Restore to me the joy of  your salvation,

                                                   and grant me a willing  spirit to sustain me.

                                                                 Psalm 51 v 10 /12 .

Pointless, Meaningless ?. ( Proverbs 9 v 23- 24 )

 George Best was a wonderful footballer, and it could be said he had it all, but the general opinion was that  he never fulfilled his potential. He was asked by someone ,''where did it all go wrong?'', he laughed at that question, but there was certain truth to it, you see he was an alcoholic , the answer could have been when he took his first drink. Why did he need alcohol?,  he had fame and fortune, and sad to say his addiction cost him his life. It is King Solomon who had everything, and tried everything, yet  saw everything   as pointless and meaningless. Read the life stories of famous movie stars, one of the most famous was Errol Flynn, a wonderful actor, he wrote his autobiography, the title was called,' My Wicked, Wicked Ways'. Someone wrote of that book and its contents,' I've never read anyone wallow so much  in their own evil'. No matter how high people rise in fame and fortune, for so  many it only emphasizes the emptiness of life, like Solomon it is all pointless and meaningless. And often they loose a sense of what is right and what is wrong ,and when that happens disaster follows. A well known minister told how he dealt with many rich and so called successful people, and he said ,''not one came in with a smile''. Never envy anybody ,be they a billionaire, or a millionaire, or those with fortune and fame. Don't envy anybody for what they have, for most of them  don't know or don't want to know what the greatest treasure in life is, to know Christ as ones  Saviour.

                                                    I'd rather have Jesus than silver and gold,

                                                    I'd rather be His than have riches untold;

                                                    I'd  rather have Jesus than houses or land,

                                                     I'd  rather be led by  led by His nail -pierced hand.

                                                     Than to be a king of a vast domain

                                                     And be held in sin's dread sway;

                                                     I'd  rather have Jesus than anything

                                                     This world affords today/  ( Words by Miler )

Wrath ( Romans 1 v 18 )

 We speak sometimes of living under a cloud, indicating that things are very difficult, but what would you say if I told you that from the moment we are born. (Romans I v 18 ,reads,)' The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness, and wickedness of  people , who suppress the truth  by their wickedness'. Consider the society we live , and the confusion as regards sex, and the  distortion as regards gender, and the  false religions, the oppressive political states , God does not look kindly on sin his wrath is revealed against it, In this verse we have the wrath of  God mentioned, many people don't like that term, my own minister is one of them .Unfortunately he has not on his own, they think a God who shows wrath is incompatible, with a God who is love. But God is also holy, in Habakkuk 1 v  13, we read that the Lords 'Eyes are too pure to look on evil, who cannot tolerate evil'.  When faced with the holiness of God, Isaiah the prophet cries out ,'Woe is me!'..... I am ruined'. We see plainly, right throughout the whole Bible, God's wrath being poured out, I said the whole Bible. Consider  Revelation 6 v 15ff where we have people  crying out in  terror, from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?'. Those who deny the truth of the wrath God are blind and foolish, such ministers will be held accountable, The gospel is God's answer to this truth, this wonderful gospel is the only hope of being saved from God's wrath. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's  wrath remains on them'. ( John 3 v 36 )

We are in it together. ( 1 ) ( Psalm 23 )

 Every one is hoping things will return to normal, let us hope so, yet I am sure what has happened during this time, has reminded us of the uncertainties of life. The term bubble has become a familiar term, keep your distance, wash your hands, wear a mask, don't go out. etc, have become the new way of living. I am sure there are many who are praying now on a regular bases, who have never really given much thought about prayer, or even God. You noticed that I have not mentioned the covid 19, the dreaded virus, nor  that which should not be named ,in normal times, death. Yet there is no way of escaping it, the death of a loved one  can effect  us for the rest of our lives. Yes it leaves its mark upon all of us, Christian or otherwise, coping with the loss of loved one, is a big challenge. we wish it had never happened ,if only. As a Christian we can pray for those who have lost loved ones, and keep in touch with those we know who sorrow. What has happened at this time, reminds us that we are all in it together, John Donne wrote, 'Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind' but he also goes unto write, 'and therefore never send to know for who the bell tolls; it tolls for thee'. Are we ready for that eventually?, if not trust Jesus as your Saviour