Victory ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 57 )

 1 John 5 v 4-5 ,reads , ' For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,even our faith.Who is he who overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. C.H. Dodd  commenting on these word writes the following.

''The way to victory is not a confident assertion of our own better selves, but faith,and faith necessarily refers to something beyond ourselves. The victorious faith of the Christian is trust in God as He is revealed in Christ Jesus His Son. It means committing ourselves to the Love of God as it is expressed in all that Jesus Christ was and all that He did,''

                                        ' Victory! victory! blessed-blood -bought victory,

                                          Victory! victory! vict'ry  all the time.

                                           As Jehovah liveth, strength divine He giveth,

                                           Unto those who know Him vict'ry all the time.'

The elephant in the room. ( Job 19 v 25 - 27 )

A well known preacher said that many preachers never mention ,'the elephant in the room ', death,and yet we are all going to die. Alright you may say ,so what. who wants to hear about such a depressing subject as  death,lets us talk about the good life.There are many so called churches that ,make people feel good, ignoring the reality of the totality of our existence ,that means having an objective reality. We live in a time when people are living much longer than former generations,advances in so many things,have granted us longer lives.Here is something that it can't do ,it can't stop us dying,it just prolongs it,our dear queen lived a long time ,she was fortunate not to have any serious illness during her life,but for so many people long life is not a blessing because of mental and physical ailments.Here is what we are told about death,it is a certainty Hebrews 9 v 27,many people  would say what's wrong with that,when your dead your dead, but  the bible clearly teaches that after death there is judgement. Maybe for you the elephant in the room that you have ignored is becoming a realty in your mind,could be the fear of death is filling your heart,what will it hold for you?. There was custom in ancient Egypt,in social meetings among the rich,as it ended a servant would carry a coffin to some of the guests,in the coffin there is a wooden image of a corpse, as he showed it to each he would say,'Gaze here,and drink and be merry,for when you die ,such will be you',Not much hope there, but here is what Jesus said.

                                            'I am the resurrection and the life.

                                            The one who believes in me will live,

                                             even though they die.'

                                                          John 11 v25

                                              

The challenge. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

Recently I attended one of my granddaughters wedding,I wasn't ask to speak at the reception ,afterwards I thought if I was asked to speak, what would I say?. 'Well here is what I would  have said,aiming it at the groom.''Now there are many lovely ladies here today ,who is the most lovely lady in the room?,and I would say my wife Daphne.'' Then I would say to the groom whose name was Tom,''Tom I hope you will always be able to say,as to your wife,that she is always the loveliest girl in the room'.  Marriage is God's  plan for humanity,it is a perfect plan, but marriage is made up of imperfect people,we are like snow flakes,we are all different.It is only in fairy tales that we read that the marriage couple lived happily ever after, in reality, there will be occasions when you will not be happy, for whatever reason,and there will always be reasons.As a husband the words that I find most challenging as to my marriage relationship,are to be found in Ephesians 5 v 25,'Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for it'. I will not comment on these words but leave you with them,to think,and to pray about,and by God's grace to live it out.

What a day that will be.( 1 Corinthians 15 v 35ff)

 The fact is I am 78 yrs of age, yes I am old,my sons are getting older,they are not very old,but they are like me showing signs of  wear and tear. That's the nature of life,but thankfully as a Christian we are assured that one day all will be changed, our dear Saviour assured us that when the body finally gives up ,we will be resurrected / John 11 v25/.Now what that means for those who are believers?. in 1 Corinthians 15 v35 ff,we read that we will have a new body, a heavenly body,the old perishable body ,will be replaced by  an imperishable body, Paul likens our death to a seed that sown in the ground ,it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory;it is sown in weakness,it is raised in power,it is sown a natural body,it is raised raised a spiritual body.He tells us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We are creatures of time but  in our  resurrection body we will put on immortality,then the saying that is written will come true,' Death will be swallowed up in victory'.Yes death will die ( Revelation 20 v 14), imagine what that will be like,what a wonderful future we will have as children of the living God.

                                          'What a day that will be ,when my Saviour I will see

                                           And I look upon His face,the one who saved me by His grace;

                                          When he takes me by the hand, lead me to that promised land.

                                           What a day, glorious  day that will be, '

                                                                    Bob Joyce.

                                            

What must I do to be saved? 3

 To include works in salvation ,is to say that His sacrifice is not sufficient to save,when Jesus cried it is finished,He meant just that.So let's consider the importance of works,they are  not important  for salvation,  but they are important.In his letter James points out that faith without works is a dead faith, bear in mind that James is writing to believers,so he is stressing what they should manifest after they are saved, so in 2v 18, he declares ,'Show me your faith', in other words he is saying ,show me the evidence of your faith. They are but an evidence that we are truly Christians,but a very important evidence.on judgement day,no empty profession will be be accepted, CP Matthew 25 v 34 ff. Our Saviour expects us to help people,to show them practical love. John the Baptist declared,'produce fruit in keeping with repentance',Luke 3 v 8.He went on to say say ,it is not enough to say Abraham is your father v8,so it is not enough to mouth words,like I am a Christian.I would just add living a debauched life,is an evidence that one is not a Christian. Matthew 24 v 48ff. We must take these things seriously,just to get a little bit   balance into what I am saying ,these are extreme examples, so let us not get paranoid. If you profess to be a Christian do your best to help others,and seek to be holy,none of us will be perfect,but we must seek to be.

What must I do to be saved?2

We continue on in considering the question what must I do to be saved?,it is vital that we get this right,if we don't we will not be saved. Any so called,' adds on's', undermine the finished work of Christ, must be rejected,because it becomes another gospel . The book of Galatians was written to a church that were in  danger of turning to another gospel ,which in fact was not a gospel,there were those who were teaching that faith in Christ was not enough you needed to be circumcised.They were seeking to draw back these believers to a gospel based on the law, so they are told,' Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God , because the righteous shall live by faith . ( 3 v 11) How was Abraham justified?,the answer is,'He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness'. ( 3 v 6)So like Abraham ,the moment we trust Jesus, we are saved, there can be no add on's. We read in the book of Jonah that salvation is of the Lord ( 2 v 9)it means what it says,the man who said this ,could do nothing to save himself,God had to do it all.  The work of salvation is unique without equal or like,we read in Hebrews 9 v 22,'Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness'. When Christ died on the cross, it was a sacrifice for sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus can save ,when I say nothing I mean nothing. It is important to add,that sacrifice cannot be repeated,Christ was sacrificed once to take away sin ( 9 v 22), Christ put an end of sacrifices, by His one time sacrifice. CP Hebrews 10 v 1 - 14 .So were do works fit in?,we will look at this next time.

))

What must I do to be saved? 1

 Yes ,what can one do be saved?,it is a very important question, is it faith and works?did the reformers get it wrong when they declared we are saved by faith alone,or  did the Roman Catholic Church get it right when they said faith and works save?. Surely the Roman Catholic church were right,after all they were the established church,what right had anybody to question,what the church said?.I have mentioned before the book  called ,'The Bad Popes',it is not a anti Catholic book,the writer is just telling how it was,it was deplorable,in the extreme.The foundation on which the reformers based their belief that one is saved by faith alone,was the word of God.The Roman Catholic Church  foundation for their beliefs, is built on the Word of God ,plus church tradition,and church teaching,in their eyes they are all equally valid. The question is this, what does one do if church tradition,and church teaching goes against the word of  God?. In Ephesians 2 v 20,we read,that the foundation of the church  ,'is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,with Christ Jesus Himself  as the Chief corner stone.'The truths that we have  been given are to be found only in God's word, inevitably those,'add on's', contradict God's word,and must be rejected. We will continue this next time.

A thief. ( 1 Timothy 1 v 15 - 16)

 Let use our imagination ,lets come to hill without a city wall,there's three cross'es ,there are two thieves hanging on cross'es,and Jesus is in between these two thieves.Both of these thieves are angry,the religious people around the cross taunted Jesus mocking Him, and the two thieves did the same.But something strange happened ,one the thieves stopped insulting Jesus,he had a change of heart,and he rebuked his fellow thief,he acknowledged that unlike Jesus that they were receiving their just deserts.He looked at Jesus,the person he had been mocking, and he found himself saying,'Jesus,remember me when you come into your kingdom', Luke 23 v42.Jesus spoke to him,'Truly I say unto you,today you shall be with me in Paradise'. v 42.For Jesus the cross was necessary, that's why he came, to be a sacrifice for sin,that effectively deals with the sin of all those who put their faith in Him, He bore the wrath of God ,that all who put  their faith would not experience.that wrath You may be a thief, a murderer,adulterer,sex offender, and so the list could goes on, and on,yes we are all on that list, for we are all sinner,we all need  Jesus,that means you and it means me.

                                                          'Man of sorrows what a name

                                                           In my place condemned He stood,

                                                           Sealed my pardon with His blood;

                                                            Hallelujah what a Saviour!

                                                                      Philip P. Bliss.

What's the point? ( Roman 8 v 26 -28 )

A friend spoke of  someone  he knew,who told how his prayers were not being answered, he said what's the point of praying. What can one say to that?, is he right?, he thinks he is. As one who has been following the Lord for 58 yrs, I know that God has not always answered what I prayed for,like a wife not to die of cancer, and she died. I can think of so many other things, in which the thing I asked for was not granted,things that caused me a lot of pain, but it did not happen. So should I agree with that person ,and  say,' what's the point?', no I do not agree with him,it is a foolish think to say. CP Job 2 v 9- 10.I think sometimes we are so intent in our prayers,and we feel that our  prayer should be answered, God has to answer it. Consider the following words ,'We do not know what we ought to pray for', Romans 8 v 26.In our weakness we often don't know what's best for us, only the triune God knows what's best, let me repeat that,He knows what's best for us.As a parent ,we realise that our little children don't know what's best for them,and so we often have had to say no to their requests.So it is with our loving heavenly Father, He knows what's best for his children,so its no good having a tantrum, our heavenly Father, really does know what's best for us, trust Him.

Worship 2 ( Romans 12 v 1 - 2 )

 What would you think if I said to you that all our lives should be an act of worship,in Romans 12 v1 we read,'Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters,in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living  sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship'. In Revelation 1 v 6 ,we are told, that the Lord ,' has made us to be a kingdom  and priests to serve his God and Father. CP also 1 Peter 2 v 9.a priest offers up sacrifices. John Stott comments as regards what Paul writes in Rom12 v 1,' He represents us as a priestly people, who, in responsive gratitude for God's mercy, offer  or present our bodies as living sacrifices,and JS adds,' Such an offering is our spiritual act of worship'.He further adds,' 'This spiritual worship is not to be found in the temple courts or in  the church building, but rather in the home  life,and in the market place'. he further says,' No worship is pleasing to  God which is purely inward, abstract and mystical; it must express itself in concrete acts of service performed by our bodies'.

                              'A life lived in serving God, is the most acceptable act of worship'.

Worship (1 ) ( 1 Chronicles 16 v 29 -)

What do you think of worship? I was witnessing to someone recently, he mentioned a problem  ,he said it was a bit confusing,so many religions.Yes there are ,but there is only one God Isaiah 46 v 9,that God is the one revealed  in the bible,He alone is to be worshipped, and we can only do that through Jesus,because God is holy we need to have our sins forgiven,and that happen when Jesus becomes our Saviour, the barrier is removed.The Bible tells us to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness ( 1Chronicles 16 v 29). Although we have been forgiveness,and excess into  the presence of God, unconfessed  sin must be confessed,it will not effect our standing with God, but it will affect God responding to our prayers.When we think of worship we relate to meeting with Gods children,were we sing hymns ,and songs to God,but we must not limit our worship to a church building, yes that is one aspect of worship.Remember many cannot meet with others ,but they can meet with God.We will consider look at this , next time.

If only. ( Psalm 81)

Psalm 81 begins by reminding Israel of God 's past deliverance,and with that reminder God warns them of the importance of listening to what he says.He mentions that they should not worship any other god's, warnings are so important, we ignore them to our cost ,especially if it is a warning from God. God is not to be trifled with.The people He brought out of Egypt did not listen to Him ,time after time, and they paid the price for their disobedience.God punished that generation ,with the result they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years,until all that generation would die off.In v 11- 12, we read ,'But my people would not listen to me, Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn hearts to follow their own devices'.They wanted their own way ,so God let them have it, In Romans 1 we read how God gave people people up to their own ways,with dire consequences. Spurgeon said,'Be careful what you want, because you're sure to get it'.Listen to what God said to Israel,and indeed to us,''If my people would only listen to me,if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes' v 13 - 14.Don't end up by saying ',if only I had listen to God'.

Perfection is it possible?. ( Philippians 3 v 12 - 14 )

Someone said ,'  In this world the ideal does not correspond to reality,and he who acts from amiable motives is nothing but a fool'.The person who said this was a Pope, he said this in answer to a man who pointed to him a better way,he knew what the man was saying was right,but he was not willing to put it into practice,he was to afraid of loosing out financially. Our Saviour said,'Be perfect, therefore , as your heavenly Father is perfect'. Matthew 5 v 48.The Pope in fact was ruling this out, even calling those who try to follow what  Jesus said as being fools. I know as a Christian .that as long as I live ,there will always be distance between what I should be,and what I am. So should we give up trying, just throw in towel?, of course not ,we must take what Jesus said  seriously, and put it into practice.We are to fight the good fight of faith, and always choose the right way,the Pope chose the wrong way.I don't judge him  I leave that with God, may God grant us that we will follow the right way. 

If. ( 1 Corinthians 3 v 13 - 16 )

I hope God has enabled me in my life to have done some good, of course we have in the last analysis to leave that in Gods have. Martin Luther King, JR was a great man, not a perfect man, he said many meaningful things and he asked himself,as to what he would want said when he died,so this is what he said.

           'I'd like somebody to mention on that day, that he had tried to give his life in serving others,

           that he tried to love somebody,that he tried to be right on the war question, 

           That he did try to feed the hungry,that he did try to clothe those who were naked,that he did try 

           to visit those in prison

           that he did try to love and serve humanity'

There is a song that comes to mind,written  by Alma Bazel Anderson that carries on the same theme .

                                         ' If I can help somebody as I pass along,

                                          If I can cheer somebody with a word or song.

                                          IF I can show somebody he's traveling  wrong,

                                          Them my living will not be in vain.

                                           If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,

                                           If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought.                                     

                                           If I can spread the message as the Master taught,

                                           Then my living will not be in vain'.

                                           

                                            

             

It's a secret. ( Isaiah 55 v 8-9 )

 Who was John the Baptist? he was related to Jesus, when he grew up he became a prophet,our Saviour called him great (Matthew 11 v 11) ,and his message  was great,his ministry  was a fulfillment of OT prophecies ,Isaiah 40 v 3/ Malachi 4 v5.That ministry was to prepare the way of the Lord,he called the people unto repentance,He was very popular and he was acknowledged by the people as a prophet Matthew 21 v26. He made it clear that he was not the Messiah ,John 1 v20.He had his disciples, and when Jesus became popular, they were concerned, but John said,'A man can receive nothing, except it be given  him from heaven John 3v27. Leon Morris says this,'John sees the hand of the Father in everything'. This struck me as a very interesting and challenging statement.What to you see when you think of Ukraine?, Putin,is not our sovereign God,got a purpose in this awful war?.At this stage I must confess I don't know what that purpose is ,what I would say is He is not guilty of the evil perpetrated in it. Most of us don't know as regards why so many things happen in this world,because we are not God, the greatest thinkers,when it comes to it,know very little. One of the most interesting verses in the bible is to be found in  Deuteronomy 29 v 29,which reads ,'The secret things belong unto the Lord our God,' God is not obliged to tells us everything, nothing will change that, may God grant us the grace,to leave it at that,and to trust Him.

                                                

Here I stand. ( Jude v 3 )

Things have not change as often we are confronted with a choice,time after time,do we hold to scripture alone or accept those who have other authorities .The Mormons would say that they believe in the Bible ,the AV translation, but they also have their book of Mormons and other authorities .  The Roman Catholic church hold to the bible, but also holds unto church authority,and church tradition.The liberal theologians would have the Bible,but accepting only what appears to them as rational.Taking his life in his hands,while standing before church authorities, Martin Luther declared,' Unless I  am convinced by Scripture and plain reason....I cannot and will not recant anything'. He went on to say,' Here I  stand; I can do no other. God , help me.Amen.'  As a Christian minister I believe in disciplining myself, to stay within the confines of the word of God,to do other than that, is a very dangerous path to take.Many are doing it these days,especially those who are ministers,their liberalism can lead so many astray.We do not burn heretics,and rightly so, but we must challenge their unbiblical beliefs,and we must hold fast to the truth of the word of God.

                                                    'Here I stand ,I can do no other'

Down memory lane. ( 1 John 3 v1 - 3 )

The memory is a wonderful thing,of course there are things from the past ,we would rather not remember, and all I can say to that is,don't dwell on them. There are very good memories , I recall some of my early  spiritual memories,one was when I very young I was lying in bed,and I talked to God,it was time when my mother and father separated,and I said to God about not having a father,then I said you are my Father. God is a father to the fatherless,but he is not father to those who do not know Christ, Christ is the key to all things spiritual.The word of God declares ,' To all who receive Him ,(Jesus) to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become Children of God'. ( John 1 v 12)  My son and his wife adopted two children,before they were adopted they could not call my son father.Adoption was not common among the Jews, but it was common among the Romans ,and when they adopted a child,all the rights of a natural born child became theirs. We read in Ephesians 1 v 5,'In love He predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will' . What a blessing this adoption has brought us into ,we have been forgiven though Jesus,we are now connected to our loving heavenly Father, that means we have come under  .This means you and I are not nobodies, no we have a special status, we are children of  God.

                                                        ' I'm accepted,I'm forgiven,

                                                         I am Fathered by the true and living God.

                                                         I'm accepted, no condemnation,

                                                         I am love by the true and living God.

                                                         There's no guilt or fear as I draw near

                                                         to the Saviour and creator of the world,

                                                         There is Joy and peace as I release

                                                         my worship to you ,O Lord.'

                                                                 Rob  Hayward.

                                                     

                                                     

Growing. ( Psalm 139 v 23- 24)

 My lawn looked a mess,the long hot weather, with no rain,had done the damage,but recently we have had some rain,with the result that some grass is coming,only some.Most of the lawn  had a lot of dead stuff,that would prevent the grass coming through,what I needed was a lawn scarifier,it is a mechanical rake.I borrowed one from a friend,it was an electric one,and my it was really very effective,I got rid of so much rubbish,my lawn has now a chance to recover, and to grow.The last verse in 2 Peter3 ,reads ,'But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ'.    Dick Lucas comments on this,he writes,' No matter how long we have been Christians, we cannot rest on years of Sunday School lessons, sermons and quite times. Every day represents a fresh challenge, when we will be tempted to forget everything over the years,and trade it in for a novelty item.Peter's solution is to grow in the grace and knowledge of ....Jesus Christ'. Do we want to grow spiritually?what is stopping us?,why is we are not growing?. The fact is we are meant to grow, how are we in relation to our Saviour? are we seeking to know Him more,are we developing a relationship with Him?. Remember we all have a chance to grow,whatever is stopping us growing count it as rubbish,and get rid of it,and then we will have a chance to recover,and a chance to grow.

Honour God. ( 1 Samuel 2 v 30 )

 When king Saul sinned against God again, he was rejected from being king, God was going to replace him with a  person who would obey Him, and do His will,he would be a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13 v 14) Remember how important obedience is in relation to God it is vital,when we disobey God, we create a barrier between God and ourselves.God will forgive us if we repent and seek forgiveness.We must assume that Saul never repented,and that  he would continue in that same frame of mind.The Lord knew Saul through and through,as He does us,are  we like Saul or are we like David?.David would be an obedient person, he would not be a perfect person,but he would be a person who would repent when he sinned Psalm 51. One of the problems as regards Saul,is revealed by what Samuel said to him,' When  thou was little in thine own sight, 1 Samuel 15 v17.One person commenting on these words,said the following,'When you started out in this, you were nothing, and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel , made you king over Israel'.  Matthew Henry writes,'Those that are advanced to honour and wealth ought often remember their mean beginnings, that they may never think highly of themselves but always study to do great things for the God that has advanced them'.

                                                          'The best way to honour God

                                                                 is by obeying Him.'

Valued. ( 1 Corinthians 2 v 26 - 29 )

 Commenting on the 7 letters to the churches in Revelation, Leon Morris  points out,' The longest  of the seven letters  is written to the church in Thyatira the smallest and least important town', then he adds,'The values of God are not the values of men'. Think of how people don't value other peoples lives,think how many people are needlessly dying from wars,starvation,murders, by people who don't really care.There is so much evil in the world,the rich get richer, and the poorer get poorer,so many people are exploited.One does not have to go far to discover what people value,that are at odds with what God values.Some religions like Buddhism and Hinduism teach that people suffer for  the wrongs they perpetrated in a previous life,Buddhism include disabled people.The result is ,those people are discriminated against ,despised, and undervalued.As a believer in Christ I value everyone,I remember Paul he was in my Sunday school class, he was very disabled,I loved him and valued him,as did God. Think of Jesus dying on the cross,why? ,because every human being is of value in God's eyes, that means you and it means me.

                                                       '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.

                                                                    John 3 v16 .

Unclean,unclean. ( 1 John 1 v7 )

 Our dear Queen has died, aged 96,I wonder what you think of death?, you may not think much about death, I think about dying,not in a morbid way,but I do think of it. Am I ready to die?,I am ,because Jesus is my Saviour, without Jesus as your Saviour you are unprepared,which will be disastrous,so think about trusting Jesus to forgive you, your  sins. Remember  unforgiven sin is the barrier to heaven,nothing that is unclean can enter heaven (Revelation 21 v 27) ,sin is seen as being unclean,the sinner needs to be washed, ( Psalm 51 v 2) so that they may be clean. In Zechariah 13 v 1, we read of a fountain being opened for sin and for impurity,these words foreshadowed the coming of Jesus,and  the shedding of His blood on the cross. This death brings as Joyce G. Baldwin writes,' the wonder of forgiveness,cleansing ,restoration,.to a  guilt - ridden world. William Cowper wrote a famous hymn, here are two verses from it.

                                                   'There is a fountain filled with blood,

                                                    Drawn from Immanuel's veins;

                                                    And sinners plunged beneath that flood

                                                    Lose all their guilty stains.

                                                    The dying thief rejoiced to see

                                                    That fountain in his day;

                                                    And there have I , as vile as he,

                                                    Wash all my sins away.

More than these. ( John 21 v 15 - 17 )

 I have always enjoyed football, played it a bit when I was younger ,but most of the time I was a spectator, I watch it on the TV, and follow a certain team.I  love football but I love so many other things more,it is important, but there are so many things more important. My wife and family,my friends, and so many other things,I love more. Jesus said something that appeared very strange in Luke 14 v 26,' If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother,wife and children, brothers and sisters,yes , even their own life, such a person and cannot be my disciple',At first glance it appears a very hard thing to say, hating loved ones, surely not?. One writer  explains it like this,'Eastern language is always ae vivid as the human mind can make it.' When Jesus tells us to hate our nearest and dearest, He does not mean that literally.' A simple explanation for the use of the word hate, means to love less. We move forward ,to after our Saviours death and resurrection,where He meets Peter on the sea shore , and he asked him,'Do you love me more than these'?. (John 21 v 15).Well what would your answer to that question?,can we say the following?

                                            'I love Thee more,than this old world can offer,

                                             All sinful follies, I deny, for Thee,

                                             My love, my life, my all,I ,pledge Thee,

                                              I love Thee more , I love Thee Lord,

                                              More than these,More than these.'

                                                             Emie Haase.

Simply Trusting. ( Proverbs 3 v 5- 6 )

Trust is very important ,when there's infidelity in a marriage,it usually means for the innocent party trust is gone.That usually means the marriage is over,because the innocent one  says', I can no longer trust you'.In our relationship with God ,trust is vital , without trust our relationship with God will be affected,in Hebrews 3 v 13,we read,'I will put my trust in Him',that is what God wants us to do,are we prepared for that.faith  and trust can be linked together,often we will not exercise faith,because we do not trust Him. Read the history of Israel.they were a nation that God delivered from 400years of slavery.They actually witnessed miracle after miracle,but when it came to entering the promised land, under the leadership of Moses,they would not enter . They heard reports of a formidable race of giants called the Anakites , also the largeness of their cities , it all became to much for them.and they refused to go forward.When we refuse to go forward with God we are going back. The will of God for the Israelites and indeed for us,must be taken seriously,  fear can take over and we can become like the Israelites of old,pull back because we are afraid,loosing sight of the fact,the Lord will be with us , to aid and help us on our onward journey .E.Page wrote a hymn about trusting God, here are two verses.

                                                      'Simply trusting every day,

                                                      Trusting through a stormy way;

                                                      Even when my faith is small.

                                                      Trusting Jesus, that is all.

                                                      Singing if my way be clear;

                                                      Praying if the path be drear;

                                                      If in danger, for Him call;

                                                      Trusting Jesus that is all.'

                                                            

Such love. ( Galatians 1 v 3 - 5 )

 It is John Stott who wrote the following,'Lowliness was much despised in the ancient world. The Greeks never used their word for humility (tapeinotes) in a context of approval, still less of admiration. Instead they meant by it an abject, servile, subservient attitude, 'the crouching  submissiveness of a slave'. Not till Jesus came was a truly humility recognized. For  He humbled himself. And only He among the world's religious and ethical teachers  has set before us as our model a little child'.There is a hymn with the words, 'Jesus takes the highest station', and rightly so,in heaven he is now the exalted risen Lord, having completed the great work of redemption. But when Jesus came into this world He took the lowest station, He personified humility,from being equal with God, He did not grasp that ,He didn't hold on to it,and then on, everything was a downward step in humility, He became the God man,the Athanasian Creed states,'He was equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood'.Becoming human involved humility in extreme, for we read,'He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross' (Philippians 2 v 8) Why,why, did He do such a thing?, 

                                             'It was for me my Saviour died,

                                             On Calvary's cross was crucified,

                                             For me he bore the guilt and shame.

                                            That I a pardon free, might gain.

                                                           S.L.Long

                 

The quite man. ( Matthew 18 v 21 - 35 )

 One of my favourite movies is the ,'The Quite Man',it is about a man an Irish American  called Sean Thornton ( Played by John Wayne)returning to his roots in Ireland.He falls in love with Mary Kate Donaher,( Played by Maureen O' Hara)  the sister of Squire Donaher ( Played by Victor Mc Laglen.) The squire is a big man who would start a fight at the drop of a hat,if anybody offended him,he would tell his little side kick to put their name in the book,so he would have a record of those offended him, and deal with them.In 1 Corinthians 13 v 5, we read ,that one aspect of love is,one does not keep a record of wrongs.If we, like Squire Donaher keep a record of wrongs then we are not being loving.We can all justify keeping a record of those who have hurt us,offended us,and instead of loving and forgiving,we hold unto it,and its becomes like a cancer eating away at us. In the Lords prayer, we ask God to forgive us our sins,and yet we are not willing to forgive others. When we trust Jesus as our Saviour a wonderful things happens,all our sins our gone, as far as the east is from the west ,so far has he removed our transgressions from us.( Psalm 103 v 12 ) Don't be a squire Donaher.

Feelings ( Psalm 37 v 3 )

 How am I feeling today?,I feel fine,tomorrow I may not feel fine,that is the way we are as humans,one day we are up the next day we are down. Is it possible to always feel fine?,to be honest I do not know, being part of planet earth,brings with it so many things that can effect us.I cannot say that I am happy all the time,I wish I could,but what I will say is this,I am on a walk of faith,and one thing for sure I am not to be ruled by my feelings,the scripture tells in Habakkuk 2 v 4 and  Galatians 3 v 11, 'that the just shall live by faith', not by feelings.The Christian life begins by faith in Jesus Christ, (Acts 16 v3),but it does not stop there, we have to face life's realities, the sun will not always be shining upon us,but we will have the light of the world  to lead us through.I may change but He will not change, He is the same today ,yesterday, and forever,my feelings don't effect that,so how am I feeling today,is not the important consideration, I am trusting Him ,that is what is important, yes I am changeable, He is unchanging.

                                                         'I change, He changes not;

                                                         The Christ can never die;

                                                         His love, not mine, the resting place;

                                                         His truth, not mine, the tie'.

                                                               Horatius Bonar.

Peace .( Psalm 23 )

When I was younger,people used to say ,'will you give my head peace', the person who said this was very distracted, by whatever. The whatever can cover so many things ,our jobs,family ,unemployment,sudden bad news,and so we could go on,is it possible in such a world that we live in, to know  peace?.Just before our Saviour would die, He said something very precious to His followers ,here is what he said, 'Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful' John 14 v 27. Yes he left it  here for us ,that in a very, very troubled world, we may know peace, we need to be reminded of this, we need to claim it,and experience it.Remember although He has gone to heaven,He is still with us,for he has said ,He will never leave us ,nor forsake us,the Lord is near at hand,to help us, and to bring us through.You may be going through the deepest valley of your life, here is what King David said  ,'I will fear no evil for thou art with me.'Psalm 23 v 4. What applies to David applies to all God's children, that means you ,and it means me.

Roots of bitterness ( Psalm 133)

I remember my friend Derry Nash speaking many years ago,he used an aspect of gardening to stress a point, he if you want to get rid of weeds,you have to dig up the roots. In Hebrews 12 v 15, the writer stresses  the following,'See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God,that no''root of bitterness'' spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled'. One writer commenting on this' root of bitterness' says the following,' The phrase comes from Deuteronomy 29 v 18; and there it describes the man or woman who goes after strange gods, and encourages  others to do so, and who thereby becomes a pernicious and  poisonous influence on the life of the community'. You know what it says about one bad apple,it ruins the barrel,it ruins all the apples, likewise the covid virus, started by one person.There are many things even in the church that can upset us,and it is so easy to let bitterness take over, and then we start to spread that, and then soon people begin to take sides,and they are odds with one another. We have a choice when we are hurt,we can nurse it, chew over it, and let it take over us,or we can seek the grace of God that will enable us to forgive and to leave our hurt in God's hands.

                                           ' Behold, how good a thing ,it is to dwell in peace;

                                             How pleasing to our king this fruit of righteousness;

                                             When brethren all in one agree,who knows the joy

                                                                    The joys of unity.

Solemn alternatives. (Revelation 6 v 12 - 17 )

 It is John Stott who writes the following.'  Heaven is to be 'with the Lord for eve'r (1 Thessalonians 4 v17); hell is to be excluded from the Lord for ever.  Heaven is sharing in Christ's glory as He is glorified in us, hell is a total nonparticipation in his transforming glory. Those in whom Christ is glorified thereby find themselves and the fullness of their humanity; those excluded from the glory of Christ thereby lose themselves in total, irrecoverable ruin'.These are the alternatives that all humanity have to face,neutral you cannot be,Jesus said,' He who is not with me is against me'.( Matthew 12 v 30 ), there is no sitting on the fence,your decision will settle your eternal destiny,whither you will go to heaven,or whither you go to hell.

                                                     ' Where will you spend eternity?

                                                      The question comes to you and me!

                                                      Tell me, what shall your answer be?

                                                      Where will you spend eternity?

                                                                   E.A.Hoffman

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I am not like that. ( John 21 v 20 - 23 )

 A friend of mine told me when he was a young Christian, he was upset how some Christians got on, and he took it to the Lord in prayer,and he felt the Lord said to him,'that's people ,I'm not like that.' The church will never be perfect, even in a state of Grace we do not always reflect Christ. The vital thing for all us who are Christians ,we must keep our eyes on our perfect Saviour. Christ loves His church,even though  it is not a perfect church, far from it. Read the book of Corinthians the problems Paul had in that church ,and it made life very difficult for Paul . Paul could always see the bigger  picture, he kept His eyes on Jesus, and he pressed on.He sought to put the past behind him.The past clings to most of us ,often hindering us, trying to pull us down ,and even pull us back.We must be realistic, the church is full of imperfect people,and that includes you and me,Christian shouldn't do certain things ,they shouldn't , but  alas, they do.Think what Jesus had to cope with,not just the religious leaders,but even his disciples , think of Peter, or even Judas.The hymn writer wrote,about ones friends despising ,and forsaken them,and then he added, take it to Lord in prayer,I remind you again  what our Lore said to my friend,'that's people, I am not like that'.

Friendships. ( John 15 v 12 - 15 )

 I am just in from visiting a friend,as I look back in my life I recall the friends I've I had ,I remember in primary school having a friend called Billy Harris,I had a fight with him and I bit him,I was only little lad.Another friend called Victor he wasn't a helpful friend,he drew me into something I regret doing,you are better without friends like that.Another friend was Raymond Fullerton he was a good friend we went on holidays together,played snooker,and went to football matches together.And so I could go on telling you of the friends I've had in my life,and the friends I have in my life now,good friends godly friends. The bible tells us ,'A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother,' Proverbs 18 v 24. I found that friend ,the one who sticks closer than a brother, his name is Jesus.I have known Him for most of my life, in spite of the fact that I at time left Him,he always kept an eye on me,preserved me in my foolish sinful ways,and could have cast me aside but He didn't. I remember it well 58 years ago I had an encounter with Him, and our friendship ,and fellowship was restored. I  am so glad that happened, for without Him ,life would be empty, and meaningless,and I would miss Him so much, this friend, called Jesus. You can know Him ,he can become your friend, if you trust him as your Saviour

                                                         'What a friend we have in Jesus

                                                          All our sins and griefs to bear,'

                                        'He is my forever friend, he can be your forever friend'