The Holy Club ( Jonah 2 v 9)

John Wesley was part of a  group of Christians, that became known as ,'The Holy Club', they were very religious. The membership was never large; twenty -five appears to have been their highest number. It was John who eventually became the leader of the Holy Club,  C.E. Vulliamy points out that from a religious point of view ,  they had a definite emphasis upon salvation by works alone. It was not till much later that John came to realise that one was saved by faith alone. The word of God tells us clearly that one can only be saved by faith alone ,and that rules out good works.  Ephesians 2 v8 - 9. To many people this does not make sense ,surly by helping others ,  giving to the poor,being religious ,etc that will gain one salvation . The fact is none of that can, or will save anyone.There is only one work that can save you, the death of Christ on the cross,you cannot add a plus to the gospel,if you do, you are making it your gospel, and your gospel cannot save. It is only the gospel of God that saves,that  and that alone.

                                                      ' Not what my hands have done

                                                        Can save my guilty soul;

                                                         Not what I feel or do

                                                         Can give me peace with God;

                                                          Not all my prayers and sighs and tears

                                                          Can bear my awful load.

                                                          Thy work alone O Christ,

                                                          Can ease this weight of sin;

                                                          Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,

                                                          Can give me peace within.'

                                                               Words Horatius Bonar.

Mercy .( Romans 1 v 18 - 32 )

 Someone I know died, I  heard that there would be no funeral service, instead his body in a coffin I assume would be taken to the crematorium and cremated,and his partner would receive his ashes. To me it seemed wrong, after all he is a human being, things are changing, when it comes to funerals. It all boils down to the fact that many people are not religious, God is being shut out ,it is all very sad. Unfortunately a vast amount of people do not believe in God ,he is shut out of their lives.This is nothing new,but it has consequences, and the question is this,what will God do?, its a good question. I believe that God in his mercy restrains evil, but what if he removes that restraining power, to some some extent that is happening now.Moral barriers are breaking down,things that are wrong are now being seen as acceptable,in the sexual area,in the killing of babies in the womb. Marriage is being undermined ,it is interesting to notice that word sin is no longer heard, the wrongs that people commit are only seen on a human level.and yet its God's laws that people are breaking.When one breaks Gods laws it  does not stop , at the human justice level, for one day all will appear before the ultimate judge God.The only way to escape that judgement,is to seek His mercy and accept Christ as Saviour.

When God says no. ( Numbers 14 v 39 ff)

When we pray we usually want God to say yes ,but here is something important to hear,He often says no,that's a fact. God said no to Moses because he failed to trust and honour Him as he should. ( Numbers 20 v12. Deut 3 v 25 -26 ).If we fail to trust and honour God,we should not be surprised if God says no us. David wanted to build a temple for God ,but God said no( 2 Samuel 7 v 13), a noble desire.Paul asked for healing but God said no (2 Corinthians 12 v 7 ff) There are many other times in the bible when God said no. We have to take this saying seriously ,as regards God saying no, and accept  when God says no. Two things we need to bear in mind ( 1) God's way is perfect (2 Samuel  22 v31), next God's will is perfect ( Romans 12 v 2 ) What do we really know?, we are limited, but God is not,we are told that God knows the way we take. He knows ,we don't,that is where faith come in , we are told  that Abraham when called by God obeyed ,and by faith, he went out not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11 v 8) .Next God's will,  God's will is perfect,even it means saying no, it may be to do with healing, promotion,whatever it may be.shut doors ,no doors,open doors.Let us not be rebellious,defiant,bitter, mutinous,  remember God's will is always best,painful though it may be.

                                                    ' Have Thine own way Lord!

                                                      Have Thine own way!

                                                      Thou art the Potter,I am the clay,

                                                       Mold me and make me,after Thy will,

                                                       While I am waiting ,yielded and still.'

                                                                  Words Jonny Cash.

I ( Luke 12 v 16 - 21.

Our Saviour told the story of a man who was rich, prospering, had the world at his feet,we read about it in Luke 12 v 16 - 21. The man in the story used the personal pronoun at least 6 times,king I reigned  supreme in this man's life, he mentioned no one else,it appears that he didn't care for anyone else,and he most definitely didn't think about God.He was full of plans,the good life beckoned,it appeared that nothing stood in his way.Today as I write this,many, they are like that man, they are full of their plans ,king I  reigns,they are not accountable to anyone ,least of all God.There is a saying all good things must come to an end, and it most surely did for him.Here is his last words, And I'll will say to myself,'' You have plenty of grain laid up for many years,take life easy; eat, drink and be merry''.And here is the last word said to him,''You fool ! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have preserved for yourself?''.And that was it, no more planning ,no more time to seek God, a Christless eternity beckons,I urge you don't be blinded by the things of this life,get your priorities right,give the boot to king I,and trust Jesus as your Saviour, now.

God is. ( Isaiah 40 )

 The beginning of a prayer in the book ,'The  Valley of Vision', starts like this,'Thou incomprehensible, but prayer - hearing God'. In Isaiah 40, God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah,and he asked the people of Israel,''With whom will you compare God?'',. The answer is ,no one can be compared to God, there is no other god, we are told in Isaiah 45 v 5 ,'I am the Lord, and there is no other,apart from me there is no  God', CP  44 v6/  45 v 22./ 46 v 9/ 47 v 8 . There is only one God, who has revealed Himself in His word. one is left trying to comprehend Him,it  is impossible,creation alone should leave us at a loss, He made everything. right down to one blade of grass,one little ant, right up to every star,every planet,everything. ''Yes everything'', A.W. Tozer writes of, 'the helplessness of the human mind before the great mystery which is God'.Richard Rolle also writes,'' Verily God is infinite greatness, more than we can think''.We should be in awe of such a great being,but mankind  on the whole have lost that awe, that mystery.Rather than submit to the mystery of an incomprehensible being, they bow before their god of science, leading then on,teasing them, telling them that they will soon have all the answers. J.I.Packer writes, 'True knowledge of God is through faith', we are told that faith cometh through hearing and hearing by the word of God .Romans 10 v17,that faith  brings us into a  relationship  with God, through Faith in the Son of God .

                                                             A prayer

                                             Open my eyes that I can see

                                                        in Jesus name,

                                                               Amen.

                                                   

.

There is none so blind . ( Romans 1 v 21 - 25 )

 I heard this recently ,'We are all instruments of 'Divine Providence', that does not mean God is controlling us.God does not cause anyone to sin. We are not robots ,do we have a free will,no we don't,our sinful nature has affected our ability in the exercising of our will,plus Satan who has a very strong influence over us.2  Tim 2v26. What we do have is the ability to make choices,and so God in his sovereignty has not forsaken this planet because it His planet. He is the one who holds all things together,if He withdrew ,the world and all who are in would cease to exist. He rules and overrules in all things,according to His will.He is working out everything,with an end in view.People may ask  why?, as regards so many things,but the fact is only God has all the answers.He is in control 24/7 ,His will , will prevail no one can stop it.A teacher wrote the following words on the blackboard,'God is nowhere', later a child went up and changed the words to,' God is now here'. When the  Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin went into space he is reported to have said,''I went into space ,but I did not encounter God'',(Although a friend said he did not utter those words,it was possible the Soviet authorities who did).You only encounter the true and only God by faith in Jesus,until that happens you are like that teacher, and those Soviet authorities.

                                                    '' For in Him we live and move

                                                      and have our being.''

                                                             Acts 17 v 28.

Repent ( Matthew 7 v 13- 14 )

 When a Russian diplomat resigned his post in regard to the war in Ukraine ,he mentioned  about others in the foreign office,and said,''that he didn't see  that many would repent and change their views''.I  was surprised that he used the word repent, for I usually associate that word repent, with religion. It was John the Baptist who preached a baptism of repentance for forgiveness, what does the word repent mean?,it involves change in our thinking ,in our behaviour a turning round,going in the opposite way,in which we were going.It means choosing a different way a narrow way. (Mt 7 v 14),although it is a narrow way ,it is a way of freedom,a way of peace,it is a way that leads to life,eternal life,and it is following Jesus who is the way the truth, and the life. (John 14 v6 ).There is another road that is called the broad road,it is a very popular road.most people choose it , they are not for turning, their favorite song is,' I did it my way',not God's way,oh no they say ,'the majority cant be wrong', but alas they are.And were as the narrow way leads to life,the broad road leads to destruction, not annihilation,but an eternity in hell. 

                                               ' For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,

                                                 declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!'

                                                                     Ezekiel 18 v 32 

Tired. ( Psalm 103 v 14 )

 Some days one feels tired ,not often, I suppose its my age,could be my visit to Belfast, for my sisters funeral, but it will pass. I think of our Saviour, who was so busy,so on demand, so available,we must remember that He was divine, but also truly human. There must have been times that He felt exhausted  and needed rest,as did His disciples.In that regards He was thoughtful for we read in Mark 6 how the disciples were so busy,He told them to go to a quite place and get some rest.In this busy world were demands on people are many, and indeed unrelenting. We need physical rest and spiritual , when we sleep we get physical rest so get some sleep,when we wait upon the Lord  ,the word of God tells us our strength will be renewed ( Isaiah 40 v 29 - 31)  . So what is God saying to you tired one,weary one?

The dark dark side. ( 1 John 1 v 7 )

 Someone said ,' Everyone is a moon.we all have a dark side',yes even me,and it's good to remember that,the question how do we overcome the dark side?. These words should not surprise us,someone I know  found out that a relative was looking at pornography.The dark side involves many things,the very name,'the dark side',says it all, whither its pornography, or whatever,it is something that is not helpful nor healthy.There is a point were we realise that we are addicted to it,we no longer control it, it controls us,we have made a prison of our own making, and who knows were it will take us, and make us do things we shouldn't. In John 5  we read of a man who had been an invalid for 38years, whom Jesus cured,Jesus said to him,'Sop sinning, or something worse may happen to you'. To me, and to some commentators it appears his affliction had come about as a direct consequences of some particular sin he was involved in. Our dark side may not cause us to become ill,but dark side behaviour ,will  affect us in so many different painful ways, that can cause us very serious harm, and the more we continue in them,as Jesus points out,' something worse will happen to us'. This man met the Lord Jesus and he was rescued from his awful sickness, but the question is ,would he blow it,and keep on walking in the dark side ?. Christ declared that he had come to set us free,we all have a choice ,what is yours going to be?

Change. ( Hebrews 13 v 8 )

 I recently returned from Belfast, I have not been there for 9yrs, and I have lived in England for over forty years. my visit was to do with my sister who passed away.She had suffered with dementia for two years, she was cared for by her husband,it was quite a challenge for him .One of the things that I observed in my visit home was the change that has taken place, since first I left Belfast,new houses built.,and so many other things.At the funeral I saw the change in those who were there,caused by ageing, and sickness, the hymn writer put it,'Change and decay in all around I see',so true.but he goes to say, 'O Thou who changest not abide with me'. I have seen much change in life,and experienced much,but here is the wonderful thing, the Lord Jesus who is with me, never changes,He always loves me, cares for me,watches over me,He is my constant friend and companion and I love Him so much, He will never,never,never,leave me ,nor forsake me.My burning desire is that all may know Him,who to know is life, and life eternal.

                                                      ' I have a friend that sticketh 

                                                    closer than a brother,his name is

                                                                    JESUS.'

Sort of. ( Job 19 v 25 )

 I was standing waiting at a certain place,as I waited , I was singing quietly to myself, someone passing by heard me singing and commented on it. I spoke to him and said,''if you have the Lord in your life you can have a song'',he began walking away from me, and I asked him ,do you know the Lord?'', he answered ,''Sort of ''. One the meanings for the term ,'sort of', is vaguely, in other words ,uncertain,unclear,which to be me is a clear indication that he didn't know the Lord. It was the Lord who said,' I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me' (John 10 v 14) There is a certainty  in those words,the apostle Paul wrote ,'I know whom I have believed,and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted  to  Him until that day'.I wonder can you say that ,or is your answer,'sort of ?'. I wonder can you say with a certainty,'The Lord is your shepherd?'. ( Psalm 23 v1 ) ,have you trusted Christ  as your own and personal Saviour?, my advice to you is ,to sort it out, trust Him today,and come into a sure and certain faith in Christ.

                                                       'Dear Saviour, Thou art mine,

                                                        How sweet the thought to me

                                                        Let me repeat Thou name

                                                        And lift my heart to Thee.

                                                        Mine! mine! mine! I know 

                                                        that art mine;

                                                        Saviour, dear Saviour, I know

                                                        that Thou  art mine.'

                                                               Words Anna Hudson.

Unconditional ( John 3 v 36 )

 The term unconditional love is banded about, lets look at this statement,consider this statement,'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'.Surely that means .God is offering the world unconditional love ?,my answer is no.It is true that in love God in love is providing for this world,being patient with this world, J.I. Packer writes of,'the longsuffering,  forbearance,and His slowness to anger that continues to show kindness towards persons who have persisted in sinning '  2 Peter 3 v9 .You could say that is a in a sense unconditional love,but that it is not in fullest sense,for when many who speak of unconditional love, they mean we are accepted unconditionally . To be accepted by God there are conditions,now we are entering into what J.I.Packer calls,sovereign redemptive love,and what John Stott calls holy love. Knowing that love ,experiencing that love, receiving that love,entails repenting of our sin,and believing in Jesus to forgave us our sins.Then and then only, will we be accepted by God .

A Prayer. ( Philippians 3 v 8 -14 )

                                                              A prayer.

Lord I have not got there yet,so many battles yet to be won,help me not to give up in despair,to press on,of being more like my Saviour. The gulf  between you and you me Lord is great,in so many ways. The words  crucify the flesh come to mind, reminding me of the cost of being your follower. Lord your path was not easy,from the time you left heaven,until you returned to heaven,I want to be like you,keep that desire in my heart each day until you take me home. Help me in every situation to be like you,so easy to make excuses when I  don't reflect you, help me to quickly repent,and to keep lines between me and you open . Amen.

Are you thirsty? ( John 4 v1 - 14 )

 In John 7 we read that our Saviour  attended  the festival of Tabernacles , ( Lev 23 v 33ff )part of the festival involved a priest taking a golden pitcher and going to the Pool of Siloam and filling it with water. It was then  carried back through the Water Gate while the people recited Isaiah 12 v 3; ''With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation''. The water was then carried to the Temple and to the altar and poured out on it as an offering to God.It was against this background , Jesus said in a loud voice,'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink'.J.C. Ryle comments on this,'We should note the breadth of the invitation. It is for''any man''. Then note the persons invited. They are those who ''Thirst''. The expression is a figurative one, denoting the spiritual distress and anxiety which anyone feels when he discovers the value of his soul, and the sinfulness of sin, and his own guilt. Such a one feels a burning desire for relief, of  which the distressing sensation of ''thirst''- a sensation familiar  to all Eastern nations- is a most fitting  emblem. No  further qualification is named. There is no mention  of repentance,amendment, preparation, conditions to fulfil, new heart to be got. One thing alone is named. Does a man ''Thirst''? Does he  feel his sins and want  pardon?- Then the Lord invites him'.

Thank you. ( Matthew 6 v 1 -4 )

 Thank you is very important, we try to teach our children to say thank you,when you say thank you ,you are expressing gratitude. The apostle Paul expressed gratitude to the church at Philippi for their support  Phil 4 v10 ff. Thank you does not only involve receiving a gift of money,a kindness shown,I often say I am praying for them,and usually they say thank you.Our Saviour highlighted certain people as regards their giving, because they gave money publicly, to be admired by others.Matthew 5 v1 . Our giving should not be  done for the general public to  applause,it should be privately, even secretly, done totally for the glory of God.If  someone gives you a gift ,it is not wrong to say thank you,if you give a gift and they don't say thank you,don't  worry, your heavenly father who sees everything , will reward you.  Matthew 6 v 4.

Jesus wept. ( 1 Peter 5 v 7 )

 The 11 th chap of John has so much to teach us, it is mainly about the death and  amazing resurrection of Lazarus by our dear Saviour. I want to turn you to that point in this event to v 35,Jesus is standing outside Lazarus tomb, he had been dead 4 days.As our Saviour stood there we read,'He wept', this is the shortest verse in the bible, it has so much meaning attached to it.Our Saviour was not just a miracle worker, I do not read that of miracle workers who make a living out of it, very rarely do we see any weeping. Most of them are more interested in self glorification,it is easy to start up as a miracle worker,so many dear people are desperate to try anything to see a loved one healed, and usually money is involved.Jesus never did anything for what he could get out of it, never once did he charge anyone for healing them,freely He gave and freely they received. I do believe that miracles happen, not  to glorify any person, but to glorify God. Let me return to the weeping Christ, he is the one who feels for suffering humanity,especially those who are his,in your suffering cast all your cares upon Him,for he cares for you.May His love ,compassion, peace fill your heart, May you hear his gentle whisper speaking words of comfort, telling you that he is with you always.

 

God is ( Psalm 121 )

I read this recently,'An Eastern story has it that a poor woman ,came to the Sultan one day, and asked compensation for the loss of some property.''How did you loose it '', asked the monarch. ''I fell asleep'', was the reply,''and a robber entered my dwelling . ''Why did you fall asleep?'' said the Sultan. The woman answered,'' I fell asleep because I believed you were awake.'' The Sultan was so delighted with the answer, that he ordered her loss to be made up.In Psalm 121 we read,' 

                          He will not let your foot slip ,He who watches over you will not slumber

                          Indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

                                                Child of God ,He is watching  over you.

Only God . ( Psalm 121 )

Every morning before my wife goes out to work I pray with her that the Lord would keep her safe as she drives her car ,she works as a community care. Recently when she arrived home, she told me that she nearly had an accident with a young fellow on a scooter. When she told me that,I replied,'' that is why I pray with you,' that appears obvious ,and it is,as I look back on my life,God has preserved me on the road.Yes  I have had a few accidents during my time on the road, but I never been injured,I have had near misses.Psalm 121 is a wonderful Psalm , a favourite of many people,and v 8 reads,'The Lord shall preserve  your going out and your coming in,from this time forth,and even for evermore'.That includes everything,air ,sea,train, car and walking, so do get the good habit of praying whenever you go out.But it does not only include our travelling,for v7 reads,'The Lord; shall preserve you from all evil ; He shall preserve your soul.'  I have been following the Lord for 58 years, and in the words of a hymn,I have experienced ,many dangers, toils and snares.How have  I managed to come this far? the answer is God,it was Spurgeon who said,'Everyday one is a Christian its a miracle' I would say a big Amen to that.

Jesus wept ( Ephesians 2 v 1- 10 )

 Let us consider John 11 v 35 , and those words ,'Jesus wept'.just recently a neighbour  who had suddenly taken ill died. When I heard  this from his daughter , I wept, and when Jesus stood outside the tomb of Lazarus He wept, he burst out into tears. Jesus is the Son of God, that means that he is truly God and truly man, he was not just manifesting his humanity,but he was also manifesting his deity . God has emotions, He loves,he is angry, he is merciful,compassionate,etc.His anger is never out of control , all of His emotions are not in anyway tainted by sin, for God is holy. When you read the ministry of Jesus ,you see God reflected in those things he did, He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities .We are told God  is love 1 John 4 v 16, we are talking about the God of the the whole bible,old and new covenant ,some misguided people make a difference, there is no difference. In the old , time after time, he showed love, mercy and compassion.Yes he judged people and nations ,as He will judge all the unsaved in a coming day, but millions will be saved from judgement,for the God of love provided a way of escape through His Son Jesus death on the cross. The Christ who stood  outside Lazarus tomb, is the Christ who even now reaches out to all,to come to Him and be saved.

                                                   'Jesus loves me this I know

                                                    for the bible tells me so.'

Shame ( Ephesians 5 v 8 - 20 )

 I read this verse of a poem by Joanna Baillie.

                                             'I can bear scorpion's stings, tread fields of fire,

                                              In frozen gulfs of cold eternal lie,

                                              Be toss'd aloft through tracts of endless void,

                                              But cannot live in shame'

As I think back on my life there are things I feel ashamed off, but at that time I wasn't ashamed,but coming back to the Lord ,changed me,I became more aware of right and  wrong. I  am sure we have all done things we are ashamed off.There are extreme things in life that people do, like child abuse ,and they don't know any shame,they are just consumed  with their sexual lust. The sad thing is that those who have been abused feel  shame,even though they are not guilty of any wrong. Things have changed in our society pornography is endemic, and often what we see on the media,feeds into that,and there is no shame.The history of mankind is filled with shame, not only in the sexual realm,but in relation to money, in relation to the truth, to an addiction that does not care of the pain or hurt they inflict on others,no shame.I am not finger pointing,I am a sinner saved by Gods grace ,through my dear Saviour Jesus. When I trusted Jesus I found forgiveness and acceptance,and I believe he has made me a better person,oh yes I still will fall, when I do, I repent, and receive forgiveness.

                                                 'Out of my shameful failure and loss,

                                                  Jesus, I come! Jesus I come!

                                                   Into the glorious gain of the cross,

                                                   Jesus, I come to Thee!

                                                       Words W.T. Sleeper.

                                             

                                              

Thank you. (Isaiah 53 )

 Somethings you remember  until the day one dies,that moment when I was drowning as a young boy,how my life was saved thankfully  by one of the attendants at the swimming pool. One of the other most important things was passing my  driving test , I am so thankful for my wee wife and children praying while I did my test,and for God answering. Following that I am thankful for the lady who give me my first car, a  little, ' Morris Minor'.There are so many other things one could mention,here is the main one, a prayer of thanksgiving to God,'Thank you Lord for what you were prepared to endure for me on Calvary'. Yes me,why me? ,after all what have I ever done to deserve such love?,the answer is ,I did not deserve such love.I was born a sinner. As I look back on my life especially my thought life, I can assure you that I was far from God. The words from a hymn sum up what God did for me.                                                

                                                        'In loving kindness Jesus came,

                                                        My soul in mercy to reclaim

                                                        And from the depths of sin and shame,

                                                        Through grace He lifted me'  Words C.G.Homer.

Yes He suffered humiliation , flogging,the cross, but it did not stop there,there was an even deeper suffering, for on that cross He bore the wrath of God for me.There are no words that can describe the depths of that suffering,no artist could paint a picture of it.love so amazing so divine demands my soul my life my all.

                                                               Thank you Jesus.

The Lord is Good (Psalm 126 v 23 )

'The Lord is good,His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth for ever',these words are from Psalm 100 v5. Herbert Lockyer ,gives us the following helpful comments.'God is good, and His goodness faileth never. His mercy is like Himself, everlasting, and will be ours without end. As for His truth, it will never be revoked. Amid a changing world we would be in perpetual fear of shipwreck, but we have a God whose word has never been broken. Everything  about Him is everlastingly unchangeable, and such should call forth thanksgiving unwearied from hearts that never faint'.

                                                  ' O may this bounteous God

                                                    Through all or life be near us;

                                                    With ever joyful hearts

                                                     And blessed peace to cheer us;

                                                     And keep us in His grace,

                                                      And guide us when perplexed,

                                                      And free us from all ills

                                                     In this worlds and the next.

                                                           Words Martin. Rinckart/  C. Winkworth.

I am a Christian. (Philippians 1 v 21 )

Martin Luther counseled all the Lord's people to answer  all temptations with the brief saying, 'Christianus sum'-'' I am a Christian''.  Being a Christian should make all the difference in  all our lives,it means we have one with us who will care for us ,provide for us,protect us, never leave us nor forsake us.It  should  mean that we act,speak, and think, in a different way than the non- Christian. We should have a restraint on our lives,to not do anything that would dishonour our Saviour. Our aim in life should be that of unquestionable obedience to him who is our Lord, and we should  to do all things to the glory of God.We should live in the fear of God ,and rely on the grace of God , and walk and live by faith.His word should be utmost in our lives. His word should be our guide,and our delight,we should hold fast to biblical truth,refuse to compromise ,to our own understanding, or to those who have compromised.We should hold loosely to all things, have our sights always on that which is eternal,and especially on  Christ,and never forget that He is coming again..

                                                          '' I am a Christian''.

Lying. ( Proverbs 12 v 22)

 Most people love David such a brave courageous person,the giant killer, Israels greatest king,and of course we have more of his life recorded  than any other king in the Bible. He wrote many of the Psalms.my what a wonderful man of God,a man after God's own heart.But he was not perfect by any means we are familiar with his dreadful actions, in committing a adultery and the murder that also took place. It is Herbert Lockyer who points out ,'Lying was a sin that David. through diffidence ,fell into frequently , 1Samuel 21 v2,8; 27: 8, 10.of course lying usually has consequences,for it cost the lives of the priests of God on one occasion.Is it possible to always to tell the truth?,can we excuse David for his lying?,no ,of course not,lying is a sin,God is a God of truth,and He expects us to tell the truth.There is an old saying ,'Tell the truth and shame the devil', we all remember President Nixon saying,'There will be no whitewash  in the White House', but there was.Sometimes political leaders,and powerful men  in business, think that the importance of telling the truth does not apply to them, but it does. Lying must be seen for what it is, a sin,  and it is important,that we realise the seriousness of it, for all sin is very serious, lying is no exception . Thankfully God is a forgiving God,and if we repent,and seek forgiveness, he will forgive us.

I am a stranger. ( Revelation 20 v 1 - 4 )

 ' I am a stranger on earth',so reads v 19 of Psalm 119,It is in Philippians 3 v20 the apostle Paul  reminds us Christians,that we are citizens of heaven.As Christians we are to keep that in mind  it is vital that we don't get so carried away with life on planet earth and that we do not loose sight of eternal values, and our eternal destination.The saints of God who lived under the old covenant  confessed themselves foreigners and strangers and longed for a better country, a heavenly one. Hebrews 11 v 14 -16. They were people of faith and God promised to honour that faith v 16, as he will honour our faith,and we with them will enjoy eternal joys .It is not that we should not love life here on earth ,it is important, it is of course,but its not the all important thing. We have a choice we can set our minds  solely,on this life which is temporal.or by faith set our hearts on heaven where Christ is. All we can see with our natural vision will soon be gone,but our future glory will never fade or pass away.We will go from the imperfect ,to the perfect,we will go from living in a sinful world, to a sinless existence. Our sinless fallen nature will be no more, perfection will reign,every aspect of our fallenness  will be be removed.No more tears ,loneliness ,sadness or badness, Satan's reign will  have ceased,and  Christ will reign for ever, and we shall reign with Him.

                                                    'When all my labours and trials are o'er

                                                     And I am safe on that beautiful shore,

                                                     Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,

                                                     Will through the ages be glory for me.'

                                                                 Words C.H. Gabriel

Punishment.( Isaiah 53 v 10 - 12 ) 2

 Let us consider some aspects of Christs death on the cross, it involved punishment, yes Christ was being punished, not for wrongs that He had done,the hymn writer asks the question,'Was it for sins that I had done He groaned upon the tree?. The answer is very simply yes,for Jesus never sinned ( Hebrews 4v 15 ).Because of sin the wrath of God is upon all of us John 3 v 36,that is the punishment for sinning against a holy God.The bible clearly teaches that after death there is going be a judgement,that will mean that all who are without Christ will go to hell, and that is an eternal judgement.Revelation 6 v 16- 17.  That is a just punishment for sin, by a just God,on that day no one will suffer any injustice.In 1Peter 2 v24, we read,' He himself  bore our sins ' in His body on the cross',It is A.M.Stibbs who points out,'To bear sin or iniquity means  in the OT , to be answerable for it, and to endure its penalty', the penalty for sin is death. (Romans 6 v23).His death was a vicarious death,the  meaning of this is,one who would act on the part of another. So on the cross He bore the punishment for sin, as the hymn wrote,' The wrath of God that the sinner due was led upon the lamb. So it is that the moment Jesus forgives a sinner ,judgement is removed,never to be enacted upon.

                                           'O happy day when Jesus washed my sins away'

I will not die. ( Psalm 118 v 17 )

 Often David was in dangerous places,were death threatened,Psalm 118 is about such a situation, in v11 he writes of being surrounded on every side by enemies, like a swarm of bees.In the midst of it we have him declaring God as his helper,he likens what he is going through as a chastening of the Lord .It did not include him dying,in fact he declares in v17 ,'I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done'.Herbert Lockyer writes the following,' The Psalmist was cheerfully assured that no arrow  could carry  death between the joints of his harness  and no weapon  of any sort could end his earthly sojourn . The time of his departure had not come.and he felt immortality beating within his bosom.Is this not true of all who have been kings and priests unto God? They stand unharmed till their last sacrifice has been presented to Him.'He finishes by saying,''No bullet will find its billet in our hearts till we have finished our allotted period of activity''.

                                           'Plagues and death me fly,

                                           Till He please I cannot die;

                                           Not a single shot can hit,

                                           Till the God of love sees fit'

                                                 Words . John Ryland.

The giant killer ( 2 Peter 1 v 3 - 4 )

 When you read of a giant killer, you immediately think about David, the young lad who killed Goliath,but we read of one of Davids mighty men Benaiah ,who also slew a giant of a man 1 Chronicles 11 v 23 .We don't see many giants,there are some basket ball players ,that are very tall.But the giants that David and  Benaiah had to face were not involved in sport, no they were mighty warriors,enemies of God and his people, they had to be faced and slain,so that's what David and Benaiah did. Giants still stalk planet earth ,they have different names,it was dear old John Bunyan that godly man who wrote a wonderful book called ,'Pilgrims Progress'.in the book we have two Christians,Christian and Hopeful, on a journey to the Celestial city, unfortunately instead of keeping to the straight and narrow,they wandered of it and became captives, of Giant Despair,and were imprisoned in Doubting Castle,there they suffered a great deal,there appeared no way out,death awaited them.But things changed,for Christian discovered he had a key  called promise,which they used to escape. Christian on their way to glory can so easily be taken captive by Giant despair,Giant of lust,Giant of pride, Giant of unbelief.Those and many other giants that can take over our lives,and destroy us,it need not be so,for God promises in His word, to deliver us and set us free.

                                             ' It is for freedom that Christ hath set us free.

                                              Stand firm, then. and do not let yourselves

                                              be burdened again by a yoke of slavery'.

                                               

He will not fail you. ( Psalm 27 )

King David was in exile in the land of the Philistines,King Saul been hunting David to kill him,time after time he had escaped his clutches,but there came a time when David had,had enough,and he thought to himself, 'One of these days I shall be destroyed by the hand of  Saul.The best thing I can do  is to escape to the Land of the Philistines' 1 Samuel 27 v 1.While in the land of the Philistines he and his six hundred men,plus women and children lived in a town called Ziklag. During that time he and His men were away from their family, when they returned to their horror Amalekites had raided Ziklag, they burned  it down,took all the women and children captive,and went on their way.This seemed to be the last straw ,it caused them great sorrow, but Davids men also felt great bitterness towards him, and talked about stoning him. What do you do when you are face with such a situation?.The first thing David did was,'he encouraged himself in the Lord his God 1 Sam 30 v 6.then he inquired of the Lord what he should do.v 8.and the Lord told him what to do.This he did,and rescued all the wives and children.These are written for our learning, if you are in difficulties even great difficulties,encourage yourself in the Lord, and ask Him what you are to do,. He will not fail you.