Mercy. ( Ephesians 2 v 1 -5)2

 Let us continue to look at Hebrews 4 v 16 'Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence,so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need'.Let us consider the mercy of God We considered how we can come to God with confidence because of the merits of Christ and we received mercy, Our Saviour told a parable in Luke 18 v9 -14 of two men going up the temple to pray,one was a very self righteous person,and the other an out and out sinner. They both prayed ,the self righteous person thanked God  that he was not like the baddies of this world especially that stinker over there ,meaning  the out and out sinner,and  the self righteous person felt ever so proud. The out and out sinner may have heard what was prayed,he may have felt like running out of the temple but he didn't, he was ashamed, afraid to look up to a holy God. He  started to beat himself because of the shame he felt,and so he prayed,the most honest prayer he could think of, for God expects us to be honest,so here's the prayer,'God be merciful to me a sinner', and God who delights in showing mercy did just that

                                                      'I mercy sought and mercy found'

Confidence ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 26 -31)1

  Hebrews 4 v 16 reads,'Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence,so  that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need',the passage this verse is placed in is dealing with ,'Jesus our great high priest', let me just stress the importance of  this,for alas there are those who try to undermine this by adding Mary the mother of our Lord. She is not the mother of God,she was the mother of Christ humanity,not His divinity.We must accept Mary as she is revealed in scripture,and not make her something she is not, and that goes for everything,including the so called special saints,scripture clearly teaches ,that there is only one God and one mediator between God and mankind,the man Christ Jesus.(1 Timothy 2 v 5 .CP John 14 v6 .) Though Christ we are told that we can come with confidence to God, this confidence is granted to us because we are accepted on the merits of Christ,through His finished work on the cross,This is a wonderful privilege bestowed upon every saved sinner,I  pray for Christian women who are doubly despised,for being female and for being Christians. They are not despised in God's eyes, W.Barclay writes,' Christianity made people  who were things into real men and women, more, into sons and daughters of God. It told men who in the eyes of the world were worthless , that,in the eyes of God they were worth the death of His only ( begotten ) Son'.With that in view they can enter with confidence into the very presence of God'

Hope (Colossians 3 v 1 - 4 )

The very nature of life will bring with it difficulties,challenges,trials and sorrows,we have to be realistic it is no good to think otherwise.Of course that does not mean that life will be all gloom and sadness .One of the nicest Christian I have ever known has Parkinson disease, I pray for him every day.One may ask why  should such a lovely soul suffer such a thing?,but we can also say why not?.The fact is we will not be excluded from some degree of trial's, that's a fact , it does not mean that God does not love and care for us,He most surely does. For the non Christian their vision is horizontal,they don't have an upward  look, they have no sure and certain hope.  It is becoming more and  more obvious,many now are not having funerals as such,no service is held,the undertaker takes away the body,and then brings the ashes to the loved ones, that's all there is to it ,I do not write this as a criticism of those people. The end for the Christian is more than ashes in a container,for we have a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time. Like the saints of old we look beyond the temporal to the eternal, the non -Christian just looks at the temporal. A Mrs L.B. Cowman wrote,'Strive to be one of the few  who walk this earth with the ever present realization- every morning,noon,and night- that the unknown that people call heaven is directly behind those things that are visible.' 

                                                    'Christ in you ,the hope of glory'

                                                               Colossians 1 v 27.

He is the only hope. (Romans 1 v16 )

Gradually moral standards are being eroded, why? ,why indeed,not only moral standards ,the secularisation of society is increasing, it is gradual ,within my life time, there has been a steady change.As mankind  turns away from God things will not get better.Paul writing to Romans  in the first chapter, of humanities sinfulness taking  over and a turning from God,and turning to so much wickedness, that we  read, God give them over,in other words He took His restraining common grace away,It is a judgement,as one writer comments,'When God's protection goes,the beasts are ready to maraud.And just as man is powerless to recover the truth,so he is powerless to recognize and to resist error'.I sense very strongly as regards my country of Ireland,who have been betrayed,by awful abuses towards young people ,by those who were their spiritual leaders, that a vacuum now exists, the restraints are being thrown off ,and as Alec Motyer writes,'The vacuum does not remain unfilled', and who knows what will take its place, the moral standards will deteriorate.Like most Western nations ,things that were unacceptable are now not only acceptable,but applauded. So it is, as never before ,we must hold fast to the word of God,and the moral values therein,we must be the light in the darkness,and the salt to hold back the corruptness that is abounding on all sides. And above all else to proclaim without favour or fear ,the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,for it is He and He alone who is the only hope for this sinful world..

Finished ( Acts 16 v 31 )

 Last time we considered  the evidence that we are saved,in others words the works that we do,it spells  it out in Ephesians 2 v 10,which reads,'For we are God's handiwork,created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do'.These are works as Christians we are meant to do, throughout this world their are so many wonderful Christian ministries doing so much good i. We can be part of these ministries by our praying and our giving,but we can also help people  were we live,they may need financial help,they may just need our friendship, our company,so many lonely people, as the old song goes,These works no matter how good and noble they are, cannot save us, the work that saves us is the finished work of Christ. It is sad that there are those  who profess to be Christians and they believe that Christ work is not enough to save them,they must do their bit.in  spite of the fact that the scriptures clearly teach that,'it is by grace you have been saved,through faith, and this is not of yourselves,it is the gift of God. Not by works,so that no one can boast'.  ( Ephesians 2 v 8-9 ). I exhort you to take this very serious,it is not a minor detail.only the sacrifice of  Christ and His shed blood can deal with sin.

                                                    'Nothing in my hand I bring,

                                                    Simply to Thy cross I cling;

                                                    Naked, come to Thee for dress;

                                                    Helpless look to Thee for grace;

                                                    Foul, I to the fountain fly;

                                                   Wash me Saviour, or I die'

                                                       Words by A .M. Toplady.

                                                     

9

Evidence. ( Matthew 5 v 48)

 I would like to share something I read recently by Charles Bridges, hear is what he wrote,by the way he was an 19th century minister,and a evangelical. He  writes,' of the sure connection  between justification and sanctification; the accurate arrangement, by which, while we are not saved by works,we cannot be saved without them'.Often when you tell people that you are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, they rely does that mean you can do what you want?. It is a fair question,but the fact is if you are a true believer,there must be a reality to your faith,and that's why James says,' show me your faith without deeds, and I will show my faith by my deeds'. ( 2 v 18)In other words there must be an evidence that we are saved, no evidence then  you are not saved. of course we must be careful as regards judging people,we must leave that with God. C. B , writes ,''We must not  presume on an empty profession that we are saved. We must not mistake the beginning for the end of the course. We must not sit down on the entry,and say to our soul-Soul- take thine ease. Christian perfection is this continual  aiming at perfection''. (Philippian 3 v12-16)

Weakness . (Ephesians 6 v 10)

 As I have wrote previously we are all still children of Adam, and the most godly people are no different, David and Solomon are examples of that. I read of people doing awful things ,and I get angry,but then I remember, there but by the grace of God go I.Don't get me wrong  those people who do awful things should be punished,but what I am saying is,if my lower nature had its way,I could be capable of whatever. So we must stay close to God everyday ,prayerfully seeking his grace to help in our time of  need,when  we are tempted to do evil, or to do the wrong.and the devil is trying to get us to yield to that temptation.  The word of God tell us 'If you think you are standing firm,be careful that you don't fall,' (1Corinthians 10 v12). As long as we live we will be vulnerable,but the good news is that God has not left us to our devices,or vices, no,He is with us always to help us, 1 Corinthians 10 v 13 tells us ,'No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can endure it,He can deliver us '.Let us remember God is a delivering God,continually we read how He delivered his saints of old,from their enemies,and their sins,He is  still in the business of delivering .We are all familiar of the request in the Lord's prayer Matthew 6 v 19,'Deliver us from evil',whatever is evil He can deliver us ,from falling into sin .likewise He can deliver us from sin ,

                                                ' We are weak,but our Saviour is our strength.'

, 

A prayerful song. ( Psalm 121)

 Every generation of Christians brings with it new hymns,and songs ,there are those who don't want to accept ,the new, feel that they are inferior to the old .It is interesting in our hymn books we do not sing many of the hymns, I wonder why?.In many churches they happily sing both,I prefer that .Recently in the church I attend  we sang a lovely hymn written by Robert Robinson,the scripture that could go with it is 1 Samuel 7 v12, which reads,'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us '.

                            'Come Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

                            Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise,

                            Teach me some melodious sonnet,Sung by flaming tongues above;

                             Praise the mount I'm  fixed upon it,Mount of God's unchanging love.

                             Here I raise my Ebenezer, Hither by Thine help I'm come,

                             And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.

                             Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;

                              He, to save my soul from danger, interposed His precious blood,

                             O to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!

                             Let that grace,Lord , like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee,

                             Prone to wander,Lord I  feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;

                              Here's my heart,Lord ,take and seal it,Seal it for Thy courts above'.

Drink the cup. (John 18 v 11

     When they came to arrest our Saviour in the garden of Gethsemane, His disciples resisted Peter used his sword injuring one of those trying to take Jesus to be tried. Jesus told Peter to put away the sword,,followed by these words,''Shall I  not drink the cup the father has given me?'' L.B.Cowman makes the following comments,' To ''drink the cup'' was a greater thing than calming the sea  or raising the dead.'. In drinking  this cup He would be  fulling God's will perfectly,something no one has done.,or will ever do.He would be the lamb of  God who would take away the sin of the world. L.B.C,goes on to say,' Doing Gods's will and thus experiencing suffering  is still  the highest form of faith, Having your brightest aspirations as a young person for ever crushed; bearing  burdens daily that are always difficult ,  and never see relief, finding yourself worn down by poverty while simply desiring  to do good for others and provide a comfortable living for those you love; being shackled by an incurable physical disability; being completely alone, separated from all those you love, to face trauma of life alone;yet in all these, still being able to say through a difficult  school of discipline,'' Shall I  not drink the cup the Father has given me?''- this is faith at its highest,and spiritual  success at its crowning point'.

                                                   'Strange and difficult indeed

                                                             We may find it,

                                                   But the blessing that we need

                                                               Is behind it.

Chastening. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 10 )

 Charles Bridges writes , 'Although we are children of  God,we are still children of Adam; with Adam's will,pride, independence, and waywardness'. The context of this is Proverbs 3 v11-12,'My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction; For whom the Lord  loveth he correcteth; ; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth'.  It is the writer  of Hebrews (12 v 5-6 ) who quotes these verses ,the Hebrew Christians have known times of suffering,and that suffering can be the chastening  of God. Chastening  is one aspect of suffering,Paul's thorn in the flesh caused him much suffering (2 Corinthians 12 ) the reason being ,he had a tremendous experience ,beyond anything we have ever had, the consequences of that was pride,like us Paul was a child of Adam,and so to keep him in check, God sent him an humbling affliction.Lets be honest not many of us see see that often our suffering  can come from our loving  Father who is chastening us.As our earthly father chastens us,so our loving heavenly Father chastens us.Every thing God does  for us ,is for our benefit, God does not spoil us He disciplines us.because that is what we need.The poet wrote,' the very hand that strikes the blow, was wounded once for me'.God has a purpose in it all,accepted aright it will produce godly qualities in our lives (Romans 5 v 3-4)

                             'We ask not,Father,for repose, which comes from outward rest,

                              If we may have through all life's woes,Thy peace within our breast.

                              That peace which suffers and is strong,Trusts where it cannot see,

                              Deems not the trial-way too long, but leaves the end  with Thee;

                              O Father, give our hearts this peace, Whate'er the outward be,

                              Till all life's discipline shall cease,and we go home to Thee' 

                                                 

Pray/ Go. ( Romans 10 v 13 - 18 )

 I was watching a program on an area of the city of  Philadelphia,the city of,' Brotherly Love',as I viewed  the people  shown, I was moved to tears. The streets where full of very sad people ,I assume many were on drugs,and homeless,many of them looked hopeless,and totally rejected ,heads bowed down,shuffling about creatures of despair, no wonder I cried.But I did more than cry, I cried unto God for them. It is easy to judge them ,but it is better that we pray for them.The world can't help them, they don't appreciate how precious they are.What answer has the evolutionist,and the atheist, after all the its a survival of the fittest so wrote Charles Darwin in his  book,'the Origin of the Species'. Let them die they are of no worth ,they don't contribute anything to society,they are parasites,but in God's sight they are precious. No soul is worthless, the coming of Christ proves that,for He came to save sinners,someone once said,'go for sinners,and go for the worst'.Pray for such people,and if God calls you,go to them ,with the most liberating, powerful ,loving message ,the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Anthony Hopkins ( Psalm 119 v 129 - 136 )4

One of the movies that Anthony Hopkins acted in was ,'The two Popes',he played the role of Pope Benedict,who did an surprising thing,by resigning from the papacy.In the movie he was talking to his successor I think his name is Pope Francis and he says,'The hardest things is to listen,to hear His voice,God's voice'.Even though it is a Pope depicted saying this,it is still true. Either we are to busy like Martha,or blinded by our preconceived opinions,or like  the religious leaders of Jesus day,there are so many reasons.Of course there are obvious reasons, we are too lazy,it is also sad that so many who have been given the gift of being able to read, do not read their Bible, and so miss out in a very definite way of hearing God speaking to them.Their is a lot of people who read their Bible but it is just skimming reading, they don't take in all that they read,they skim over it.  Charles Bridges said this,'To simply read the scriptures, instead of ''searching the Scriptures ,'' is only to skim the surface, and gather up a few superficial notions'. It is not sufficient just to depend solely on your ministers Sundays sermon, we need to learn to feed ourselves,The writer of Hebrews rebuked his readers for their lack of spiritual growth (5 v 11-14 ), if we are to be mature Christians we must read the Word of God,seek to understand it,and get to know our God more intimately.

Anthony Hopkins ( John 3 v16 ) 3

 Let's continue to consider the interview of Anthony Hopkins, and something else he said,' We are but dust and ashes,we are not special', in one sense he is right,for we are told in Genesis 2 v7 that God formed man  from the dust of the ground'In the burial service we pray,' earth to earth ,ashes to ashes, dust to dust'.But the prayer of committal goes unto say, ' in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ'. The resurrection  of our Lord Jesus Christ is a historical fact,witnessed by over 500 people 1 Corinthians 15 v 3-9. Yes we are dust but the resurrection points us to something greater a new existence,with a spiritual body,in which disease and death will not touch us. Then lets consider his other statement, 'we are not special', are we just animals to be slaughtered?, it appears this is so ,when we consider the slaughter of infants in their mothers womb.It is obvious that there are many who throughout history appeared to think  that humanity was not special.Are we just flesh and blood? convenient cremations seem to be highlighting our nothingness.All that is challenged by God's word and the coming of Christ into this world,which proclaims  not only are we special, but we are also loved, by our Creator.

                                                      'If you want to know just how 

                                                      special you are , look to the 

                                                      cross where Jesus died.'

Anthony Hopkins (2 Thessalonians 2 v 5 v 12 ) 2

 Let us continue to consider what Anthony Hopkins had to say when he was interviewed,,'Life is a mystery,I know nothing,I do not know who I am,I don't know where I came from,I don't know where I'm going'' If truth were told these sentiments are the voice of most people , in particular those who profess to know so much, in reality they are all Anthony Hopkins,they don't just know,so they want everyone to join  them in their delusional club whose motto is,'it just happened'.As a Christian the only logical answer to those words uttered by  AH, is God. On Christmas Eve Dec 1968  the three crew members  of Apollo 8 read  from Genesis 1  v 1 -10, It begins,'In the beginning God created heaven and earth', that's the answer, the only answer,yes you need faith to believe that, not a cop out of accepting,their leader, him who must not be mentioned, and I don't mean Anthony Hopkins. CP 2 Corinthians 4 v4.

Anthony Hopkins ( Matthew 7 v 24 -27 )

 I listed  to Anthony Hopkins being interviewed and found it very interesting,in case you didn't know he is a very famous British actor who was born in Wales.He mentioned that when he was a young lad,he said that he was an ,idiot and that he was told that he  would never amount to anything,well they got that wrong.I want to highlight some of the things he said , '' To live continually in doubt, I know nothing , if you know  certainties your dead',He mentioned as examples of the danger of holding certainties , Hitler and Stalin.Let us ask the question is it true if you hold certainties,you are dead? It depends on what the certainties are.are they built on truth,Nazism was not built on truth,but on a fabrication of lies, likewise Stalin's socialism promising an equality of  ownership and well being,turned out to be a monstrous nightmare,it was on a par with Nazism, uncle Joe didn't live up to his friendly name.There are so many examples of people we could mention who held to perverted certainties,in religion ,politics and in  so many areas of. life.Now just to end off , lets consider Christ ,now we have to be honest and say that in the visible church there have always been those who have held certainties that were were far removed  from Him who is the way the truth and the life. (John 1 we4 v 6 ) When we consider Christ,as revealed in the  scriptures we discover one in whom  we can  have a sure and certain hope.

Don't presume (2 Corinthians 6 v 2 )

 We were on our way to our church fellowship ,when my wife got a phone call from her sister, her husband was very unwell,we could hear him in the background.he sounded dreadful,so  she dropped me off at the church,and went to her sisters.When she got there my wife advised her sister to call an ambulance ,which came quickly and took him to hospital,we are waiting and praying,we do not know as yet what the problem is.It all happened so unexpectantly, and it reminds me of something the Bible tells us in Proverbs 27 v 1,'Do not boast about tomorrow,for you do not know what a day may bring'. No one knows what a day may bring, that's very obvious,I'm not saying we should live in fear,but we should live in the fear of Lord,which is the beginning  of wisdom.How many people are so unwise , careless, and live so full heartedly ,not knowing God ,or wanting God, their unpreparedness is so sad, so tragic. The  Boy Scouts motto,is,'Be Prepared', which means you are always in that readiness of mind for whatever comes.  Don't presume about tomorrow ,Charles Bridges writes,' In a moment we can be gone,remember Heaven and hell are no trifles. Tomorrow presumed upon,today neglected, ruins all,at this time the door of God's mercy is still open,one day it will be closed for ever.'  I implore you to seek the Lord Jesus while He can be found,call upon Him while He is near.

My story ( James 2 v5 )

 Following on from yesterday here is my story,'As a father of 5 children, all boys I had to laugh at what I read recently,a lady said this, ''I really want another baby,but I can't afford it ''.  If  truth were told ,I could hardly afford to have any of our children.in fact from the start of my first marriage,we could afford very little.When we got married we just had the wedding ceremony,and then we went away to Donegal for  the day and then came home.I had no  qualifications,so the jobs I got were poorly paid.My then dear wife could not work, she looked after the children,of course they were different times. Government support was limited, so one had to watch the pennies,we did have an occasional holiday in a place called Newcastle beside the lovely Mountain's of  Mourne that sweep down to the sea,and I remember having  a holiday in the sea town port of Bangor..We had very few luxuries,no washing machine,or fridge,but we did manage to get a little home,a work mate loaned me the deposit,of 50 pound,one could get a house reasonably cheap in those days.So why did we decide to go to Bible college with no money ,no grant?,well one thing we had was our faith in God,and let me tell you something God never failed us, never,oh yes  we were tested but God our loving heavenly Father brought us through ,I can say this,'I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread'. (Psalm 37 v25 )

The poor( James 2 v 1 - 13 )

Our Saviour said that the poor we will have with us always (Matthew 26 v 11), Many years ago I remember been told,that I was poor,and I suppose I was.When I was a child my mother left my father ,which meant she had to being four children up by herself,by todays standards we were poor. There are many places and organisations where the poor would be excluded,even in the early church there were those who had a wrong attitude to the poor. In the church to whom James wrote his epistles .there were those who were  discriminating against the poor.James highlighted how wrong that was.and gives an example of the preferential treatment given to the rich. There was the rich man in all his finery,and there was the poor man dressed in filthy old clothes. The rich man is given the best seat in the building,while the poor man is told to stand or to sit on the floor. (James 2 v 1-4) James classes what they were doing as evil.James reminds us of a very wonderful thing,that God chooses the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs to God's kingdom.In God's eyes,being rich,being powerful,being black or poor, means nothing , they are all but sinners saved by grace. 

                                                                Keep the royal love.

                                                                    James 2 v 8

Unforgiveness. ( Matthew 6 v 9-15 )

 It is interesting and sad to see how quickly our fallen nature kicked in,and it was within a family  Genesis 4, and it all started within a religious setting. Cains sacrifice was not acceptable to God,while his brothers Abel's was,and that made him very angry,it wasn't that God had rejected  him,but that made no difference.His anger exploded into violence,and he killed his dear brother. A friend said to me recently  how severe family disputes can be,he spoke of a relative of his wife's who had  holds a grudge against them,even though his wife had tried to mend the relationship. Unforgiveness is not in some peoples  repertoire,and that is very serious, especially if they are Christians, because God will not be pleased. A man called Walter Wink tells of two peacemakers who visited a group of  Polish Christians 10 years after the end of World War11.They were asked if they would meet up with some German Christians from Germany? They wanted to ask  for forgiveness for what Germany did  during the war.They were told that was impossible,we cannot forgive. Before they parted they prayed the Lords prayer,when they reached the words''forgive us our sins as we forgive'' everyone stopped praying. One of the Poles spoke,''I must say yes to you, I could no more pray the Our Father, I could no longer call myself a Christian, if I refuse to forgive'' ,and so by the grace of God there began a process of reconciliation'.

Tuit. ( Mark 13 v 32 - 37 )

 I have before me a plate ,and in the centre of the it there is a sticker with following words on it,'A Round TUIT', and underneath are the following words,'This is a round tuit! Tuits are hard to come by, especially the round ones. It will help you to become a much more efficient worker. For years you've heard people say,''I'll do that when I get round to tuit.''Husbands are notorious  for saying that, when I get round tuit, one can see the funny side to it,but it can have a serious side to it. forgetting to test the fire alarm,making sure you have enough fuel  in your car before you set out on your journey. When it comes to spiritual  things,like reading Gods word on a daily bases,I am sure many think about it,but don't do it,in other words they don't get round tuit. Likewise having a regular time of prayer,oh you say I know I should do it,but you don't get around tuit. Read the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 v 38ff.When it came to following Jesus many ,made excuses, CP Luke 9 v 57ff,some more convenient time.The proclaiming of the gospel is urgent,and responding to the gospel likewise is urgent,indeed very urgent.Ask yourself the question ,am I a tuit person?,it is time you  said to yourself ,'I've done it'.

The Cross ( James 1 v 17 ) 4

 From propitiation to expiation,although the word does not appear in the NT, it can mean the same as atonement, it  tells us all the good aspects that Christs sacrifice brings to us when we trust Him as our Saviour . They are so many, all our sins are forgiven everyone of them, we are told that ,'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin'.(1 John 1 v7)Yes every sin,all are forgiven,there is a friend of mine who was brought up as a Roman Catholic,he was a very earnest Catholic.The problem was he never had  the assurance that his sins were forgiven,Eventually he trusted the Lord and he then had the assurance that his sins were forgiven.The most important thing in all our lives is to know that our sins are forgiven. Yes the wonder of the atonement is that our sins can be forgiven.So many things flow from the atonement ,God becomes our Father,He will be a perfect Father, we also receive eternal life,the Spirit of God,peace with God,and the peace of God,the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and so we could could go on, enough to say we are truly blessed.

                                               'Thou didst not spare Thine only Son ,

                                                But gav'st Him for a world undone,

                                                And freely with that blessed One

                                                Thou givest all.

                                                For souls redeemed, for sins forgiven,

                                                For means of grace and hopes of heaven,

                                               Father, what can to thee be given,

                                               Who givest all'.

                                                            Words C . Wordsworth.

The Cross ( Isaiah 53 ) 3

 Let us consider further the cross on which Christ died , what was He accomplishing?,there are certain words that show us, Here they are,(1) Propitiation, (2)Expiation,)These words have a deep meaning,now what does propitiation mean ?, it means appeasing the wrath of God,it is mentioned in three scriptures,'Romans 3 v25/ 1 John 2 v2 / 4 v10. unfortunately some translations  use expiation or atonement,could be they are influenced  by a certain scholar,who found it difficult as regards God manifesting wrath,yet there are plenty of examples recorded in His word of God manifesting His wrath.God the holy one was appeased by pouring out  His wrath on Jesus, as Isaiah 53 v 4 -5 puts it,' He was pierced through for our transgressions,He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well being fell upon Him,and by His scourging we are healed'.Those words clearly show our dear Saviour experiencing dreadful suffering, in keeping with what propitiation means, the words of  a hymn by D.W.Whittle explain it best.

                                                  'The wrath of God that was our due,

                                                   Upon the lamb was laid,

                                                   And by the shedding of His blood,

                                                   The debt for us was paid'

The Cross.( John 1 v 29 2

 We have been considering,' why the cross? ' let me point out, that when man sinned in the garden,God was not caught out, in Revelation  13 v 8, we read of,  'the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world', no the cross was not an afterthought, Barnes comments,'The meaning here is,not that He was actually put to death'' from the foundation of the world,'' but that the intention to give Him for a sacrifice was formed then, and that it was certain that it might be spoken of as actually then occurring. See  Romans 4 v17.'  Praise God He had a plan ,a perfect plan, that would not fail,all the sacrifices under the old covenant pointed to the sacrifice on the cross of Jesus,those sacrifices were inadequate Hebrew 10 v1 -18,but Christ perfect sacrifice was Gods perfect answer for humanities salvation ,and we will consider next time what that meant for Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,and indeed what it meant for us.

                                           ' O Jesus, we adore Thee, Upon the cross our king!

                                    We bow our hearts before Thee, Thy gracious name we sing.

                                    That name hath brought salvation,That name in life our stay,

                                        Our peace, our consolation, when life shall fade away'

                                                            Words A.T.Russell.

                                            

The Cross. ( I Corinthians 1v 18 1

 The question is this what was involved on the death of Christ on the cross? , more, than many people realise, and more than many people are prepared to accept.The cross was and is the most significant event in human history,why? because all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God(Romans 3 v23). That sin alienates us,isolates us, from a holy God, there is nothing that humanity can do to change this,this leaves us in dire straits,every single human being. Left in this condition we have no hope whatsoever, we are without hope,and every moment we get near to eternity our situation does not improve,it gets worse. The grave is not the end,most people would be happy with that,but it is a delusion, the word of God tells us that there is an eternal existence after death. There is a heaven, where God dwells,there is also  prepared for the devil, and his angels ,an eternal fire (Matthew 25 v 41),and without the cross that is the fate of  every human being. That is why the cross is so significant ,ignore it,reject it,as indeed those in in Sodom did, when they were warned of the coming judgement,they thought it was a joke,( Genesis 19 v14 )but the joke was on them,sad to say.. We will continue this next time DV.

The unexpected ( Luke 5 v 17-26)

 In Proverbs 17 v 17 we read 'A friend  loves at all times'', a true friend not a fair weather friend,but one who will be a friend through thick and thin,in other words in the good times , and in the bad times.In Luke 5  we read of a man who had four friends, we don't know any of their names,but that's not important, but what they did for their friend  was very important.The man was paralysed ,what can you do for a paralysed man?,well they heard about Jesus,and the miracles He was performing, they were real ,unlike many con-men,who deceive people, to get money from them, no ,Jesus never mentioned money in relation to healing, he did it freely. They all must have heard about Jesus,they may have witnessed Him healing people, however it caused them to get their paralysed friend  to Jesus, come what may.So they put him on a mat and took him to where Jesus was,but they must have been initially disappointed ,for He was in a home,and it was packed out,no way in, or so it seemed.Often there are often obstacles when we want to see Jesus it often comes down how much do we want to follow Him,yes that is the question. These friends where not for given up,they must see Jesus,their friend must be healed. So they did did something different, they went up unto the roof ,took up the tiles on the roof and let their friend down.Then we read when Jesus saw their faith,remember ,without faith it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11 v 6,so what did Jesus do?he said to the man,'Friend, your sins are forgiven',and they were,let me stress ,our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven,illness will not stop us getting to heaven,but sin will,which leads to the alternative,which no one in their right mind wants.

Hope ( Hebrews 11 v 13- 16 )

 No matter who we are, we all will manifest our brokenness in many ways ,we all have imperfect personalities, that shows to some degree our fallen nature. It is not denying the good that we do, it is  recognising the sins that we do, the greatest sin is leaving God out of our lives,as if He does not exist ,and that we are free  to live without him. When I was young  I did not know many atheist, now it is a common thing.What has the Christian got that's so important?, they have hope,hope is very important, that hope as an anchor to our souls.It is not a vain or maybe hope,no it is a sure and certain  hope,based upon a person called Jesus. Recently I read about a man who was about to be killed by Islamic extremists,he said ,'tell them I died well',he was a Christian.In the early days of Christianity ,Christians were persecuted by Roman many died,to escape being killed all they had to say was, 'Caesar is Lord', but they refused, and so died,but they died with a wonderful hope burning in their hearts ,that even though they died,they would live again,yes the Christian has hope.A hope to die with ,and a hope to to live with, a hope in the God of hope,and a wonderful Saviour .In Charles Dickens book ,The tale of  two cities', Sydney Carton is about to be executed by the guillotine,and he utters these words,'It is a far,far better rest  that I go to ,than I have known'.It is the Christian  that  has  that assurance of something better,something  glorious ,eternal glory, because of Jesus. 

Move on ( Isaiah 41 v10)

Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years 7 months and two days, but when her beloved husband Albert died aged forty two years.The Queen found it very hard to comes terms with , and so for many years  she withdrew from  any activities ,and spent a great deal of  time in her residence on the Isle of Wight in Osborne House.It was such a long time neglecting her public duties,that there was great discontent among the population, and the longer it went on the greater it became.In the end she was made to realise that she had to move on,and so she took up her public duties again, and so she regained  the publics loyalty,love and affection. The apostle Paul wrote,' But one thing I do; forgetting what is behind and straining towards  what is ahead. (Philippians 3 v 13)There are so many things in life that can effect us,the result is we give up,and we become trapped,I hope I an not making light of the trials that anybody is going through,I have had my share,and the only way out is to go forward. But you say how?,the answer is ,by God's grace, remember  the way is always forward,let us also remember the trials that our dear Saviour endured,and He says follow Me, it is time to move on.

                                               'He who would valiant be gainst  all disaster,

                                                Let him in constancy, follow the Master.

                                                There's no discouragement, shall make him once relent, 

                                                His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.'

                                                           Words  John Bunyan.

                                             

I'm Trying. ( 2 Corinthians 3 v 18)

 Someone told Tony Campolo the following story about a derelict man, standing  on a street corner in the Wall Street district of New York, begging for money. Reaching out his hand,he pleaded with a passing  corporate executive with the words,''Change? Change?''. The corporate executive responded with a pained expression on his face,''I'm trying! I'm trying! Tony goes unto say,'Being a Christian isn't just  changing once and for all. It is a commitment to change daily. The entire life of a Christian is one of pressing toward the mark of becoming the kind of person that Christ calls each of us to be ( Phil. 3 v 13 -14 )

                                           'Only the grace of God is kind enough and the

                                           power of God is strong enough to achieve this

                                           transformation in our broken and darkened lives'

                                                          So writes Paul Barnett.

                                            

Death denial. ( John 3 v 16 )

 'Our society's  culture of death denial', these are words from a newspaper I read,I wonder if that is true?,and if it is true, why? When God created humanity, we were never meant to die, and yet the reality is we all know that we are going to die.,we cannot stop it,but we try in everyway ,in vain, to hold it back. People are kept alive by every means possible, but we still can't beat it,it will happen, it is a sure thing.We find cures for many illnesses,but then another illness takes the stage,and so the war goes on. It was Dylan Thomas the Welsh poet who wrote,'Do not go gently into that night', Rage,rage against the dying of the light'.I have known Christians that have done just that,they did not want to die,but they found out like we all will,that resistance is futile,for the word of God tells us 'it is appointed unto men once to die.'(Hebrews 9 v 27),when that appointment will be is in the hands of our Saviour (Revelation1 v 18 ).So is that it? no of course not, we are told there is an existence after death when we all will appear before the great judge Jesus (2 Corinthians 5 v 10.) and there will be a great divide,those who trusted Jesus will be separated from those who have not trusted Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5 v 9 tells us that God has not appointed those who have trusted Jesus unto wrath.But those who not trusted Jesus will experienced the wrath of Jesus,it will not be gentle Jesus meek and mild, but it will be the wrath of the lamb, and an eternity in Hell,this may seem a blunt way of putting it, but there is no easy way.

                                                        'We all have a choice,

                                                         make the right choice,

                                                         trust Jesus, before it is

                                                         to late.'

Freedom (John 8 v 34 -36 )

I am reading or popping into what was a very popular book,written by Philip Yancey called ,'What's so amazing about grace',I have just read the 13th chap of this book,it is called ,'grace healed eyes', it involves his friendship with a person called Mel in many ways a very lovely man, but ,ah there's that but, he is a homosexual.I try to love everybody by God's grace, I am not into gay bashing,of any kind,no Christian should  .He would profess to be a Christian,but is he?, he wanted to become a minister.I'm not sure if he did.So what can we say about this?,we have to realise that it is a sinful practice,it says this in the OT ,CP Lev 18 v22,and of course we can consider the judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah  CP, Genesis19.then we can turn to the NT , CP Romans 1 v 26-27 were it is called shameful.In 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 -11,we are told that gay people will not inherit the inherit the kingdom of God.We cannot change that ,as long as they continue in that activity, they will never enter God's kingdom. I know it is very hard, whatever sin we are enslaved to, (John 8 v 34 ) to break free from ,but that's where the grace of  God comes in.What is so amazing about the grace of God?,it covers many things,but two things I will emphasise, it saves us,when we put our faith in Jesus.You see it is impossible to save ourselves,it is an act of God ,CP Jonah 2 v 9.Likewise it is impossible  for us to break free from sinful practices it is  only by the grace of God can we do that.I have had my own  challenges in life, it is only by the grace of God I have overcome them,and so it will continue till God takes me home.

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

                                                                 Galatians 5 v1 .

A prayer by Christina Rossetti. ( 1 Thessalonians 5 v 23 )

 I want to leave a prayer with you,not a long prayer, a short prayer ,and a very meaningful prayer, it is a prayer  by Christina Rossetti,let me tell you a little bit about her.She was born in London in 1830 of Italian parents,who arrived in London as asylum seekers.Christina became famous by her poems,which were highly acclaimed.She was a very religious person ,and her writings reflected that,but she had a very practical side to her religion,for she spent most of her life volunteering at a hostel for prostitutes in London. She died  at the age of 64 of cancer.so here is the prayer.

                                       'O Lord, grant us grace never to parley with temptation,

                                       never to tamper with conscience, never to spare the right eye,

                                       or hand, or foot that is a snare to us; never to lose our souls,

                                        though in exchange we should gain the whole world.'