We are making a difference. ( Matthew 5 v16)

 The Medical missionary news,Stand by me, The Missionary Aviation Fellowship,and so we could go on, these are just some of the many Christian organizations that are involved in helping the worlds needy people.History is full of Christians working for the good of mankind ,they have and are making a difference to millions of peoples lives.Dale R. Davis,writes the following,'They are the ones who are the salt of the earth( Matthew 5 v 13) that is,who keep society and culture from rotting into complete  decay,who keep the world from being worse than it is' One day an agnostic confronted  Spurgeon as to his  Christian beliefs. Spurgeon pointed out how unbelievers organizations failed to provide any definite and ongoing program of help to thousands of needy people.By  contrast he pointed to the various works that flowed from evangelical faith. He closed by paraphrasing Elijah's defiant challenge  before the prophets of  Baal( 1 Kings 18 v24 ), ''The  God who answereth by Orphanages, LET HIM BE GOD! End of discussion.'' I know that there secular organizations involved in helping people,but even so it is still a valid argument, that Spurgeon put forth.

Daffodils ( 1Corinthians 15 )

There is something lovely about daffodils ,they burst into bloom as winter is ending,they are very popular,we see them in parks, we see them by the roadsides ,I have  some in my garden,not enough,one can never have enough daffodils. It was the poet Wordsworth who penned those lovely  and unforgettable words.

                                                       'I  wandered lonely as a cloud

                                                       That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

                                                       When all at once I saw a crowd,

                                                       A host ,of golden daffodils;

                                                       Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

                                                       Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Yet another poet  Robert  Herrick wrote

                                                         Fair daffodils, we weep to see

                                                         You haste away so soon;

No matter how beautiful any living thing is,the bible says,'What is seen is temporary' but then it goes unto  say,'but what is unseen is eternal'.(2 Corinthians 4 v18)  The good news is this, for all who are trusting Christ,there  will be a glorious eternal future, in which we will not die, change and decay will be no longer

                                                           'What a day that will be'

Disasters ( Genesis 19 v 14 )

Disasters continually  happens and are very sad,when we think of all the suffering involved,but along side  that ,there are lessons to be learned..Often in considering life ,the thought  that strikes me is how God is not mentioned ,I watched a movie recently and that thought struck me again,it came over as if God didn't exist . Even though the heavens declare the glory of God,people are blind as regards God,He is not in their thoughts Psalm 10 v 4 .Disasters should  be a wake up call, to turn to God. it is also a  reminder as Gordon Bridger  writes ,'that life is short,death may come to us at anytime; that this life is not all there is;  and that we should be ready to meet with God, to repent  of our sins and to put our trust in the Lord. 'Man is destined to die once,and after that the judgement'. ( Hebrew 9 v27 )

                                                      'Where will you spend eternity?

The Cross .(Galatians 6 v 14 )

 It is John Stott who writes,'The cross enforces three truths- about ourselves, about God,and about Jesus.' So what does it tell us about ourselves? ,it is a truth that many people don't like, and even some ministers don't like, that we are sinners,surely ministers preach that, then why don't they ?.The cross tells us how serious our sins are,and how horrible our sins are,I was witnessing to a person once, and he protested,that I was mentioning sin again,he was a Muslim,that religion that does away with a Christ on a cross, they think that if the prophet died on the cross,he failed.Where as if He had not died on the cross he would have failed,without His death on the cross, sin could never be forgiven. The cross teaches us about God, and the dilemma He was faced with, how can He solve that which He hates, sin ,and His love for mankind, His answer was the cross on which the Son of God would die, His justice would be satisfied,and He could offer, out of a heart of love,forgiveness to sinful humanity.The cross tells us about Jesus willingness to go to the cross, no one forced Him , He laid down a marker ,that we must accept  His death on the cross or we won't be accepted,it is simple as that.             

                                          'On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

                                          the emblem of suffering and shame;

                                          and I love that old cross where the dearest and best

                                          for a world of lost sinners was slain'.

                                                       Words George Bennard 

Enemies. ( Matthew 5 v 43 - 48 )

 President Abraham Lincoln( at the end of the Civil War) when a Northern victory was assured and many wanted to punish the South for the ''rebellion''. On March 4, 1865, when Lincoln  delivered his second inaugural speech said,''With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right,let us.....do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and lasting peace, among ourselves,and with all nations''. Kenneth E.Bailey writes,that  Lincoln exhibited makrothumia. The English language does not have a precise  word for this vital character trait. Arabic does; it is the word halim. This  form of patience characterizes the person who has the power to demolish the enemy,but out of love chooses not to do so' 

                                                                  'Jesus said'

                                                           ' Love your enemies

                                                            and pray for those

                                                            who persecute you'

How soon.( Mark 10 v 13 - 16)

 I was only a little lad,and I remember a day I went into a shop ,there was no one in the shop,and I tried to steal some children's comic books,and I got caught.Being so young nothing happened, yes I was young, thinking about this ,a thought came to me,''How soon our fallen nature manifests itself'. One of my first spiritual experiences, was at a children's meeting, the speaker spoke of a circus performer,who used a large snake in his act,and the act went wrong,and the snake crushed the performer to death.The children's speaker liken  what that snake did,as to sin and its consequences.Again I was very young but that night I asked Jesus.  into my life,the point is this, children  have a fallen nature,and they need to ask Jesus to be their Saviour, like I did. Many ministers appear to avoid these truths,instead of telling children the good news of salvation.

                                                  'Jesus said,' Let the little children

                                                   come to Me'

Be careful. (Romans 12 v 1 - 2 )

On holiday I went into a gift shop,and saw an ornament, the three wise monkeys ,one covered his eyes,the next covered his ears,and the last one covered his mouth.' This indicated that they saw no evil, heard no evil,and spoke no evil',if only we could be like those three monkeys.Our eyes take in so much that's good and so much that is bad,we look lustfully after a woman,and that can start a terrible process ,that can lead us into so much that is wrong. ,CP  Genesis 3 v 6/  1 Kings 11 v 2. Next our ears,what we listen to,recently I listened to a person  who spoke about a man who was not very nice, afterwards ,I felt convicted and wish I had not listened to what was being told me. (Proverbs 20 v19.)Next we have wrong speaking,let us remember once we say something,we cannot draw those words back again.The words of James 1 v 26 read,'Those who consider themselves religious and yet  do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves'.There is a little children's song that goes.

                                                     ' Be careful little eyes what you see,

                                                      Be careful little eyes what you see ,

                                                      There's a Father up above ,

                                                      looking down, with tender lover

                                                      So be careful little eyes what you see.

The hymn applies those words to our ears and our words,so let us be careful,as regards our eyes ,our ears ,and our tongues.

                                                         

No ifs.( Philippians 1 v 22 )

We all know about children who want their own way,and they have to be taught that they can't always have their own way.And as they look back on their lives ,they realise that their parents knew what was  best,for they saw the potential dangers.I read the following account of a minister ,who was praying for a child  who was  apparently dying,he prayed, 'If it be Thy will, spare this child'. The wretched  and distracted mother interrupted him with the words,''It must be Gods will ; I will have no ifs'' The child to the surprise of many , recovered, but lived to break his mothers heart, and was publicly  executed at the age of 22'. I believe the safest  thing is ,to let God choose, always.

His name is Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 5 v 17- 21)

 During the reign of Hitler school children were taught to sing a song to Hitler,which reads,'You are the noblest being in all the world' I can assure you that's not true, it seems an obvious answer,yet even now some people believe he was.I would say in relation to  wickedness ,he rates very highly, he is just one example of how far humanities fallen nature can fall,if unrestrained. We are all born with a fallen nature ,it is something we pass on to our children (Romans 5 v 12 ), there is nothing we can do about it.There will never be a cure ,we cannot change it,as one said ,it is,' the nature of the beast.' Education cannot change it,social well being cannot change it.religion cannot change it, philosophy may appear to have the answer but it doesn't .So God provided the answer ,He decided he would make a new creation , but in order for that to happen,someone would have come into this fallen world. It would mean a lot of pain and would result in the death of that person. That death would take place on a cross, the price of sin is death, and eternal separation,that separation is the wrath of God.That special person who came was sinless ,His voluntary death would involve Him becoming a sacrifice,He would bear the wrath of God, so that all those who trusted Him as their Saviour would escape the wrath of God. They would become a new creation with a new new nature, their sins  would be forgiven and they would be called ,the children of God.Who is name of that person who came ? His name is Jesus.

A wonderful change. ( 2 Corinthians 5 v17

In 1 Corinthians 6 v 11 we read,' And that is what some of you were'. What were they? ,'sexually immoral ,idolaters ,adulterers,homosexuals, thieves,greedy,drunkards, slanders, swindlers,In that state they were cut off from the kingdom of God/  ( 1Cor 6 v9 ff).Paul goes unto say how things changed by the grace of God,and he mentioned ,from being excluded from God's kingdom,that now they were changed,and he mentions three things,they were washed,were sanctified ,and justified.One commentator points out,'that these verbs ,indicate an once-for-all event,which had completely transformed them.John Calvin maintained that all three terms refer to the same thing,though from different aspects. Our sins have been washed away,we are set apart to be God's,and our totally accepted by God.all this in the precious name of Jesus,  and we are empowered by God's holy Spirit.No longer lost we are found,no longer under the wrath of God,but have been saved from the wrath to come.no longer at war with God,but have peace with God,no longer children of  disobedience,and of Satan,but Children of God, no longer slaves of sin,we are truly free,no longer earth bound ,and hell bound, but heaven bound.

                                                'When Jesus becomes your Saviour

                                                 then all things are changed.'

Free love. ( Romans 6 v 23 )

 In one of Rudyard Kipling's stores,he had an old soldier saying,

                                  'Ship me somewheres east of Suez,where the best 

                                   is like the worst,

                                  Where there aren't no Ten Commandments, an' a man

                                   can raise a thirst.

I remember reading this ,' The first of all the human instinct is the instinct to do what we like. instead of doing what we should know what is best for us.' The world is like the prodigal ,they want to throw off what they see as unnecessary restraints. In the sixties there was a movement that  was called ,'Free love', it sought to throw off restraints as regards ,marriage,birth control,and adultery.The problem is we need moral guidelines, but whose moral guidelines,we feel we do not need God's moral standards,with the result  human life is undermined,we have literally millions of abortions being carried out every year,confusion as regards sex,and gender,marriage has been eroded children are suffering.Society continues to distance themselves from God,seeing Him as an  unessential of whom whom they are not accountable too,or that He does not exist. To leave God out of ones life,or to deny His existence is a disastrous. road to take,it leads to a situation of everyone doing whats right in their own eyes,with little regard to the consequences.Death will reveal all,as we stand before the God we have ignored,and the Saviour we have rejected.

                                            'It is said, nothing is free, there is always a cost'

Weakness ( Psalm 61 )

I am sure there are those people who think I am a very strong Christian, I don't feel  strong,far from it, I feel very weak. I often find myself singing words of a song ,I don't know who wrote it,or even if  I am getting the words right,they go like this,' Jesus keep a hold,a hold on me ,I'm the weakest of your children,how I need you. If I make it through the only way it's going to be,if Jesus keeps a hold, a hold on me'. That's the way I feel, I am not strong,sometimes a feather could not knock me over, you don't have to convince me that I'm weak,it's a fact of life.Was it Spurgeon who said ,'everyday you are a Christian it's a miracle', so very true. I love the honesty of Paul writing in Romans 7,when he cries out as he considers his struggles ,'What a wretched man I am, v24, but he doesn't stop there,he declares,'Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord' v 25.  In himself Paul was weak, but Christ lived by His Spirit in him,and that's what made all the difference.When he cried out in his weakness to be healed,his request was refused,instead God promised him grace,to sustain him in his weakness.{1Corinthians 12 v 9) In Psalm 61 v2 David cries out that his heart was overwhelmed,and then he says 'Lead me to the rock that is higher than I'.,who is that rock? it is Jesus.

                                                    O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,

                                                    My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly,

                                                    So sinful ,so weary,Thine,Thine would I be,

                                                    Thou blest Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee.

                                                    Hiding in Thee! Hiding in Thee!

                                                    Thou blest Rock of Ages,I'm hiding in Thee'.

                                                                 Words. W O. Cushing.

     

Music. ( Romans 1 v 16 )

Lenin once said that he refused to listen  to Beethoven because the music  made him want to pat children on the head., all I can say to that,I wish both him and his friend Stalin would have listened to Beethoven.For they were both sorry evil specimens of humanity and were guilty of the death of millions of people. We read that the Lord afflicted King Saul with an tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.(1 Samuel 16 v 14). So they heard that David was a musician so they brought him to Saul to  play to him and when he played, the tormenting spirit would leave him. I supposed we have all been soothed by a lovely peace of music.There is a saying that goes,'Music hath charms to sooth the savage beast'.It may have power to sooth ,but it did not change Saul,in fact he became worse,and became paranoid as regards David,and continually sought to kill him.Music cannot change the fallen nature of man,only Christ can do that.

                                           ' For all things were changed when He found me

                                            A new day awoke all around me;

                                            For I met the Master,now I belong to Him.

                                                         Words Mosie Lister.

Divine protection ( Psalm 121 )

 My wife and I were going to visit her brother in hospital , and I was driving,I was about to change lanes,I looked in my mirror and felt it was safe,so I signaled,and just went to go into the other lane,a van came at high speed, fortunately,I caught a glimpse of it, and managed to pull back into my own lane,  I missed it by a hair's breadth. Here we have another example of divine protection, God watches over his children,I have had accidents ,but God preserved me from hurt,as a little boy I was saved from drowning.We see wonderful examples of Gods protection in the life of  David,from King Saul's murderous intentions,from wild animal's,from his son Absalom,and from his enemies the Philistines.God will use different means to protect us,but as  Dale Ralph Davis writes,'''salvation is from the Lord. Jonah 2 v9  (NASB).The means of deliverance must never eclipse the source of deliverance,and sometimes the Deliverer makes that point   abundantly obvious'.

Be faithful ( 1Corinthians 3 v 5 - 8 )

If one looks at the prophets  and how difficult their mission was ,I think of Isaiah,Jeremiah, how hard it was for them, so few responded to their ministry.I have been following the Lord for 59yrs ,for most of that time I have prayed daily for my parents,brothers/ sisters ,relatives,and so many other people,for their salvation,and with the exception of one aunt, I have no evidence that any have been saved.I have witnessed and prayed for  many ,many people during my life time,and yet so few to my knowledge have trusted the Saviour. It some ways it is heartbreaking,has it all been in vain?,should I stop praying witnessing,whats the point? Again thinking of the prophets, how fruitless their ministry was ,was it all in vain?.I consider my Saviours words as He looked over Jerusalem and uttered those tragic words in Matthew 23 v37, Jerusalem, Jerusalem ,you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,how often I have longed to gather your children together,as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, you were not willing''. Ezekiel  was told to speak Gods's word to his fellow Israelites, 'whether they listen or fail to listen' (Ez 2 v7) That is my task, to witness, yes and to pray,and leave it in God's hands, we are told our labour is not in vain in the Lord ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 54)  .I will add this ,my five lads have all trusted the Saviour, and two of them are in Christian ministries,and a number of my grandchildren have also. trusted Christ.

                                                                     'Be faithful'.

God centered thinking.( 1 Samuel 17 )

How God centered thinking are we? it is very important that we are, P R.Davis writes the following,' The tragedy is that were someone to hear our thoughts and words in our dangers and troubles they would never guess that we had a living God.' That rings so true,for often one looses sight of God in our troubles,we just see the troubles,and that's what takes over.There used to be a series on TV and one of the characters will be remembered for what he said,'Don't panic,Don;t panic',and yet all the time he was panicking.Of course we all have moments like that,but we need not live like that, we may say ,'I'm only human',that's true but as Christians we are also  children of God,that should make a big difference in our lives. So what can we do? have faith in God,that seems so obvious, that is ,'God thinking' ,He has not forsaken us in our troubles,nor will He,He has promised that,in Psalm 50 v15,we read,'Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you,and you will honour Me'. Another thing we should do,we should practice what  we sing,'Have we trials and temptations,take it to the lord in prayer',(From the hymn ,'What a friend we have in Jesus by J W,Scriven) ,let us put this into practice.Finally remember past deliverances, God has not changed,but unfortunately we forget past deliverances, stir your memory up,David remembered how Gd delivered Him from wild animals and with that in mind, he faced Goliath the giant,and he said,'This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands',and He did. (1 Samuel 17 v 46 )

Essential and unessential ( 2 Timothy 3 v 16 )

 We looked last time as regard those who want to change how we address God,borne out by people  who are trying to go along with the worlds confusing concepts,instead of standing fast for the truth as revealed in God's word. As I look at the broader picture of the church in this country, many are acting as if they are a law unto themselves. Many ignore established truths,they act as if they alone are the church of Christ, and reject the historical truths that the Bible proclaims. The  church of England or the Anglian church is not the church in  England,  it is only another branch of the church in England, All branches should be striving to hold fast to  what the whole of the Bible teaches, Early creeds are been cast off,as M L. Jones writes,These creeds were written  and elaborated,not merely to make positive statements of the faith, but to counteract certain heresies'.Now it is obvious that the different branches have different opinions about certain things ,that's not a problem ,as long as we recognise as ML.Jones  puts it ,'that there are foundational and secondary truths.' We should not get to worked up about  secondary truths,although they are important to us, but unfortunately, people do ,sad to say.what we need to contend for and hold fast to, are foundational truths.

Father God. ( Matthew 6 v 9 )

 I was talking to my son John, and I said to him, I was never a perfect father,he replied I know,and I said,are there any perfect fathers?,and he replied,yes, in heaven. Yes that's true.our heavenly Father, that is a lovely thought, for He truly is a lovely Father. There are many absentee fathers in these days,of course there are those who belong to a certain church and they take the title father upon themselves ,and many have brought disgrace upon the name father. As a father I always appreciate being called dad or father,but not by my first name,it does not seem respectable to me.So it is when we speak to God we do not  address Him  any old way,there should always be that sense of reverence, of deep respect.We know that God is not male nor female although the Son became human,yet before time began ,when we did not exist,there is no question of gender.But in order to relate to us ,He choose to be know as Father,Son,and Holy Spirit. I mention this because there are those Christian who want to change those terms into what they would call gender neutral.It is a dangerous step to take,because it  deviates from the biblical revelation,and anything that deviates from scripture is wrong. We will continue this next time.

Perhaps, ( James 4 v 6 )

 I wonder if you have heard the saying,'The tail is wagging the dog', it originated in Tom Taylor's 1858.play'Our American Cousin'. A character in the play said,'Dun now I've got another,why does a dog waggle his tail?. Flo upon my word,I never inquired. Dun because the,'The tail can't waggle the dog. Ha! Ha!.'The tail is wagging the dog',describes a situation in which  an important person,organization, etc is controlled by someone or something that is much less important or powerful.We see this when trade unions start dictating instead of negotiating with employers.In 1 Samuel 14 , Israel is at war with the Philistines and  how  Jonathan the kings son ventured with his servant to attack a Philistine garrison. Just before he did that ,he said to his servant, 'Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf', 'Perhaps', Jonathan does not dictate to God.There are arrogant people who think they can command God,to do such and such a thing..D R. Davis writes ,'Faith does not dictate to God,as if the Lord of hosts is its errand boy'.When it come to God ,we must be careful not to take the role of the tale wagging the dog'.

                                                       'Lets not forget the perhaps'

He was a nice man. ( Romans 3 v 23 )

    There he was as we sat watching the football, I managed to have a conversation with him,he told me a lot about himself,his beginnings in the county of Cornwall.Most of our conversation was about his job history which was very interesting,he was a trained engineer,he was 72 and was still working part time . I was praying that I might have an opportunity to witness to him, I know under John and Charles Wesley many Methodist churches came into being in Cornwall so I mentioned this to him and asked him did he ever go to church?.He said he was never a church goer,and his parents never forced it on him. I asked  him did he ever think about God? he said no,it never entered into his mind,He  was a nice person,he had a nice life style, foreign holidays,a nice wife,what could I say?,hopefully guided by God's Spirit,I said,'If you know Christ you go to heaven,if you don't know Christ, you go to hell', I left it at that,and we continued to watch the football. As I said he was a nice person, but nice people are sinners, he had no thought about God, and if he died in that condition he will certainly go to hell. Let us always bear in mind,that everyone is a sinner,and everyone needs our Saviour, yes the really wicked people,the really awful people,and the so called nice people.

Without fear or favour. ( Acts 20 v 25 - 27 )

 I was reading 1Samuel 3 in which we read of the young Samuel having an encounter with God,he did not know it was the Lord who was speaking to him,he thought it was Eli the priest but eventually Eli told him it was the Lord . So he began to converse with the Lord, it was simply to tell Samuel that the judgement that God ,would bring upon Eli and his sons was about to happen. The  next morning we read Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what God had said. Dale Ralph Davis comments,'No sooner is Samuel called to the prophetic task than he finds how difficult and heart rending that can be'.This does only apply to prophets but it also applies to preachers, if you are in the ministry,or thinking of going into it, bear that in mind. As a minister you will bring comfort and instruction to people,that's important, but you will also have to tell things things they don't want to hear. You should tell them about heaven but you will also have to tell them about hell,you will have to tell  them about the moral values of Gods kingdom. In the pulpit,  in the church I  ministered in ,there was a little rug,with the following words on it.''Preach the word'.

                                                       'Preach the word without fear 

                                                        or  favour'.

He cares. ( 1 Peter 5 v7)

In Mark 4 v 35-43 we read that Jesus and the disciples were in a boat ,when a severe storm came up ,the boat was nearly swamped. Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat.and it appeared to them that He didn't care,so they woke Him and said just that,' Teacher , don't you care if we drown?. With that He got up and stilled the storm, and challenged them as regards their lack of faith.We are not so different from those early disciples, in our troubles we may think even though we don't say it,why is He not helping? ,why,oh why?,does He not care?.I want to leave with you the words of a song written by F,E.Graeff.

                                            Does Jesus care when my heart is pained

                                            Too deeply for mirth or song,

                                            And the way grows weary and long?

                                             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?

                                             Does Jesus care when I've tried and failed

                                             To resist some temptation strong;

                                             When  for my deep grief there is no relief,

                                              Though my tears flow all the night long?

                                              Oh, 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.'

Providence. ( Psalm 107 )

 It is always profitable to consider the providence of God,in his little book  'The mystery of providence',John Flavel asks this question,' How is it that you have survived so many mortal dangers, sicknesses, accidents, designs of enemies to ruin you?.'It is a good question to ask,and there  can only  one answer,God's providential care,why did I survive,when my younger brother died? why was I rescued from drowning.Often we will not understand God's providence at that time ,we may later grasp it in some measure .Let's consider the providence of God in relation to prayer, now it seems we think or hope God will grant us what we pray for every time ,but it will not happen ,God in His  mercy has a plan for all His children's lives. D R .Davis writes ,'Sometimes God's greatest kindness is in not answering our prayers exactly  as we desire'.I remember thinking I would like a certain job and so I applied for one,of course I prayed,coinciding with this my present job was coming to an end,and as we often say,'one door shuts another opens',and in the providence of God that happened. I would have loved it to have been in full time ministry but it wasn't to be,but I loved my new job and worked at it for 20yrs.Coinciding with that I became a joint leader of the church  I attended, and got my desire,regular preaching,it all worked out for the best in the providence of God. Again let me stress God has a plan for all our lives,He has promised to guide us,in what we call the providence of God, trust Him He makes no mistakes.

Repentance. ( Luke 19 v 1 - 10)

 I want to consider the subject of repentance,but first of all I want to tell you about a man called, W P.Nicholson ,he was born in Ulster/N.Ireland.He had a godly mother who prayed for him to be saved ,and her prayers were answered,he eventually went to Bible College,and after that he became a very  powerful  evangelist .my grandmother became a Christian under his ministry.Thousands of people were saved under his ministry,little Ulster was transformed,many who worked in Harland and Wolf's shipyard came to know the lord,their lives were transformed ,so much so, that the owners of the shipyard,erected a building  to hold all the items that had been stolen from the shipyard which the workers returned .Now let us think about repentance ,what does it mean?.it has with it regret and a sorrow.It is not always used for a godly repentance,as in the case of Judas whom we are told repented or showed great sorrow for what he had done,but he did not change his life.True repentance has with it sorrow,but goes further than just a emotional response. It is best illustrated  in the conversion of a corrupt tax collector we read of in Luke 19,who declared to our Lord,he would give half of his money to the poor,and right the wrongs he had committed.

                                             'True repentance goes beyond a

                                              merely emotional response'

Our littleness. ( John 6 v 9 )

 In Dale Ralph Davis's commentary on 1Samuel he tells an event that happened during world war 2, when German cities were being bombed.The air craft was hit by antiaircraft flak lodging in the gas tank,but they didn't  explode,when they landed ,the pilot asked for the  unexploded shells.There were eleven shells,they were taken to the armorers to be defused,the armorers found that the shells contained no explosive charge,all but one contained a rolled-up -note,written in Czech. When it was translated it contained this message,''This is all we can do for you now''.These Czechs were compelled to work in an munitions plant for the Nazi war effort. The world is a very needy place,in so many place evil appears to reign, so many lost souls,so many people hurting,and suffering,and we think we can only pray,we can only give so little. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ remember He commended the woman who gave two small copper coins,( Mark 12 v 42). and with 5 small barley loaves,and two fish, he fed 5,000 plus people.

                                                ' Fear not to enter His courts in thy slenderness,

                                                  Of  the poor wealth thou would'st reckon as thine;

                                                  These ,though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,

                                                  He will accept for the name that is dear;'

                                                                 Words John S.B. Monsell.

The worst of times ( Jonah 3 )

 'It  was the best of times,it was the worst of times,( Quote from ,'Tale of two cities',by Charles Dicken) In Ezekiel 22 v 30 ,we have God speaking through the prophet Ezekiel who was a captive in Babylon, here is what he said.'I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it,but I found no one'.This was written of one of the worst time in Jewish history.As one reads chap 22 we are made aware of the dreadful decline of the nation of Israel,morally and spiritually. It was so serious that God would judge them,by sending  an invading army upon them to practically destroy them.John B.Taylor writes ,'The over-all picture of extortion ,bloodshed,immorality,incest and irreligion is a terrifying description of any nation whose appointed  time is drawing near'.To emphasise how bad things had become God looks for even one person to stand in the gap, someone as J.B.Taylor puts it,'who would try to interpose himself to stop the national ruin.But there was no one with the moral courage to stem the tide'.so judgement would fall.Just one man,but it was not to be. No one listened to the prophet Jeremiah in Jerusalem,but if the king had stood in the gap,bringing people back to God, the city would have been spared,but alas it  was not to be.There comes a time when things become so bad ,that God says enough is enough.

                                                ' Heed the voice of God before it is to late'

Man Plans, and God laughs.( Psalm 27 v 11)

 Sometimes if we are honest we are faced with situations,decisions,and we just do not know what to do.It was a cousin of mine ,who quoted those words,'Man Plans, God laughs', is it true?,I suppose it reminds one that God and He only knows what is going to happen God is never surprised,He knows the beginning to the very end.In  Proverbs 3 v5-6 we read,'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him,and He shall direct your paths'. David Livingstone sought to find the source of the Nile ,he never did find it, could it be that the journey he took was more important than the destination he was going for. God has many lessons to teach us,some are painful, upsetting,mysterious, but if it is God's way it is perfect.Saul went looking for donkeys ,he ended up being Israels first king (1 Samuel 10).Joseph went looking for his brothers and eventually he became a ruler in Egypt.( Genesis 45 v 41).Some fishermen became fishers of men (Matthew 4 v 19), Saul the persecutor became Paul the the Christian.

                                               'God may not lead us to our desired destination

                                                but He will lead us to His destination.

                                                God  may not fulfil our desires ,but He will fulfil

                                                His will in our lives.'

After death ( John 11 v 25 )

 Recently a friend attended a funeral,during the funeral the minister taking the funeral said,'we really don't know what happens after death'. I recently read a survey that revealed some ministers in a certain group of churches did not believe in God ,did not believe in the virgin birth or Jesus miracles,the bodily resurrection of Christ,nor did they believe in Jesus teaching on heaven and hell. Why oh why are those  people ministers? it amazes me when I read these things. Yet it should not surprise one , if we go to the OT  we read of many religious leaders turning away from God.What is the answer to this?,very simple,you either accept the clear teaching of scripture or you reject it. It's as simple as that these people have decided not to accept what the Bible clearly teaches.The Word of God beams light into the darkness of death, it tells us that there is an after life,with two destinations,I go to the book of Daniel 12 v2 ,'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake,some to everlasting life,others to shame and everlasting contempt' In Hebrews 9 v 28,we read ,'Just as people are destined to die once,and after that face judgement'.There is a destination after death,heaven awaits all who have trusted Jesus as their Saviour ,then there is hell for those who have not trusted Jesus.When we trust Jesus our sin is completely forgiven,sin the barrier to heaven is removed, but if we don't trust Christ that barrier remains, and we are shut out of heaven.John 3 v 36.

                                                  'The question is where will you spend

                                                   eternity?'.

More than these. ( John 21 v 15 )

Recently my wife Daphne,myself,my son Evan and his wife Val ,went to see our grandson at his passing out parade,he is in the House Cavalry.It was a wonderful day,it gives one so many nice memories.To see him and others riding on their horses in their wonderful uniforms,many photos were taken,and a good time was had by all. After the event we went for a meal and then a first for us all we went into that world famous store Harrods,it is a vast store full of so many things,it is like an Aladdin's cave,it is situated in a very wealthy area of London,and it is where the wealthy and famous shop. Most people could not afford to do their weekly shop there,alas we will have to stick to our local supermarket.Let none of us envy the wealthy and famous,they can enjoy so much of this worlds goods.Remember what Jesus said how hard it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God,to illustrate that He said ,'it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God,it is not impossible for with God all things are possible ( Mark 10 v 23- 27 ) This is not a witch hunt it is simply saying, if we are to be saved we must put God first ,even if it means given up our riches.This does not only apply to riches  as Abraham found out CP Genesis 22.

Don't give up. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 7 - 8 )

 Robert the Bruce became king of Scotland in 1306,although Scotland was ruled by England,so the fight began to free them from English rule which Robert led. It was hard going for he suffered many defeats,  after such a defeat he had to take refuge in a cave,while there he noticed a spider trying to weave a web,but it was not very successful,but it never give up trying, and finally succeeded.Robert thought much on what he had witnessed and from that moment  he again took up the fight against the English, this resulted in 1314 at the battle of  Bannockburn when  he finally defeated the English. He didn't give up, life can be very challenging.,and it is possible that we feel like giving up.The book of Hebrews was written to believers who were facing difficulties and hostilities and were in danger of given up so the author  in chap 11 reminds them of those great people who didn't give up.,but he doesn't stop there,he challenges them to cast off everything that is hindering them ,and to keep their eyes on Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,despising the shame,and is seated at the throne of God.( Hebrews 12 v 1 - 2)          

                                                          ' When the road is rough and steep,

                                                            fix  your eyes upon Jesus,

                                                            He alone has power to keep,

                                                            Fix your eyes upon Him'.

Eddie. ( Titus 3 v 4 - 8 )

 I was staying in a hotel ,and encountered a man called Eddie,we were both in the restaurant for breakfast,and I had a brief conversation with him.He was older than me,and he said he came originally from Ireland.I cant remember how I did it but I managed to witness to him of my assurance of going to heaven ,his response was,he hoped he would.So I pointed out that because of Christs finished work we can be sure,I assume he was a Roman Catholic,their salvation involves their good works,whereas the scriptures teach,it is by faith alone we are saved.(Ephesians 2v 8-9).Our works no matter how good they are  cannot erase sin, only Christs work on the cross,effectively deals with sin.So that was it,a brief encounter,one can only pray that it spoke to him,and he will put his faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross.

                                                      'Not the labour of my hands

                                                       Can fulfil Thy laws demands;

                                                       Could my zeal no respite know,

                                                       Could my tears for flow,

                                                        All for sin could not atone;

                                                        Thou must save and Thy alone.

                                                        Nothing in my hands I bring,

                                                         Simply to Thy cross I cling.

                                                              Augustus M. Toplady