Suffering for Christ ( 1 Peter 2 v 23 )

 Many people around the world are suffering for Christ,there are two brothers in Christ in Eritrea who have been in prison for 20yrs,in Iran, Mina and Malihe have been sent to prison for six yrs,there seems to be no let up in the persecution of Christians.There is a church in China called the Early Rain Church, in Dec 2018 there was a large crackdown by the authorites,,Pastor Wang Yi was arrested and sentenced to 9yrs in prison,of course they declared why he was imprisoned,they said he was guilty of underming the power and authority of the state,plus he was involived in illegal business operations. After his trial he wrote the following.

                                            'If anyone attacks me,I will be as meek as a lamb.

                                             If anyone attacks the church,I will be as brave as a lion.

                                             If this is from the Lord, I will not open my mouth.

                                             I gave my opinion of those in power out of love

                                             rather than hatred. Only by being obedient when

                                             arrested could I  let all see that I was truly motivated

                                             by love'

                       'Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow 

                        His steps.Who committed no sin ,Nor was deceit found in His mouth.'

                                                                   1Peter 2 v 21-22

What people do to people ( Matthew 27 v 12)

 Yes what do people do to people?,yes there are many people doing good things,and I'm sure we all know many such people, and of course if we are a Christian we should be at the top of the list in doing good things. But the bad things that people do to others, from scams to ,'you name it',the list is endless,and its very depressing ,frightening,and very, very sad..We were made for better things than that,and it shows the awful,destructive,catastrophic,consequences of the fall of mankind.And it doesn't stop there,in John 1 v1 we are told of a great and awesome,breathtaking ,astonishing  truth,Jesus who was and is God,became flesh, and dwelt among us (v 14).He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him,the world did not recognise Him.imagine that,and alas they still do not recognise Him. But it does not stop there,He came to that which was His own,but His own did not receive Him  (John 1v 10-11). Not only did the world not recognise Him,and His own people rejected Him, they hated Him,with a hatred reserved for the worst of  people,They arrested Him,give him a farce of a triaL. They mocked Him ,physically assulted Him,and nailed Him to a cross. Isaiah leaves us a description of Christ hanging on that cross.,'They are appalled at Him,his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being,and His form marred beyond human likeness (52 v 14) This is what people did to Jesus,that's the gravity of what they did, let me ask the question, what are you going to do with Jesus?.

Can good works save us? ( Matthew 7 v 21-23 )

 When one witnesses to different people you get different reactions,some do not want to listen,don't say anything, others give a brief reply,here is a reply by one lady I spoke to,she served in a charity shop. I started by asking her did she go to church? she replied no,then I asked was she was a Christian?,she replyed,I think I am ,I help people.I commended her for that,and her work in the charity shop,and then  I went on to tell her about my wife,who is a carer,helping many,but that would never save her.It is said that there are two types of religions ,one is based on their works, and the other based on faith in the work of Christ alone to save them.The first one is what many people think,that their works must count for something in God's eyes.But they are tottally wrong ,sad to say they keep persisting with that belief ,though the lady said she would think about I said. Works cannot save us they are not meant to ,yet we cannot discount them, and think they are not important,they are. but not as a means of our salvation,but as an evidence that we are saved, as James tells us in his epistle,'show me your faith',  ( James2 v18).It is only the work of Christ on the cross that saves us, nothing else.This is not a trivial matter,it is vital that we see that the best we do is not  good enough to save us,our best efforts cannot blot out one sin,if you think  you can be saved by climbing the ladder of good works that will take you into heaven,they won't,not if one did good works for a million,million,million years, it will all be in fain and will end in tears, give it up as a bad job,and turn in simple humility and faith in Jesus to save you.

                                                      

The Fatherhood of God ( Isaiah 64 v7/ 1John 3 v1 )

 One of the most precious prayers we have is the one we call the' Lords prayer',it was our lovely Saviour who taught us this prayer,each Sunday in our church we pray it. There is so much in that short prayer to instruct us as regards prayer itself. It starts,'Our Father who art in heaven', One of the most precious truths we have,is the 'Fatherhood of God'.When I was a child my mother and father seperated on bad terms, it meant I never really had a father,that's a big loss to a young child. I remember lying in bed and praying, about it, and I said to God,your my Father, that was a great comfort to me,and has stayed with me all my life,not only is He my Father He is my loving heavenly Father. Just recently a certain minister said calling God  Father was inappropriate,because some children have been abused by their fathers. It's very very sad when children are abused by their fathers,someone I love was abused ,so to some degree I understand the awfulness of that. Our Saviour taught us to recognise God as Father,He  used that term many times,so we have no right to rob us of the wonderful truth the,'Fatherhood of God'.Do we change everywhere in the Bible where  God is called Father,I think not,we must be true to the word of God,in all things.

                                                      'Our Father who art in heaven hallowed

                                                                        be Thy name'

                                                                       Matthew 6 v 9

What a mess. ( Psalm 34 v 6)

 I think of two men who got themselves  into terrible difficulties,one is Jonah the disobedient prophet,and David the adulterer and murderar.They were both men of God but they blew it big time,and found themselves in a mess of trouble.Put yourself in their place,imagine finding yourself in the belly of a great fish,in the depths of the ocean,what a mess he got himself into,a mess of his own making.Then imagine David,a man after God's own heart,who give in to his lustful thoughts, even though  he knew Bathsheba was married to Uriah one of his mighty men; when Bathsheba told him she was pregnant,he tried to cover it up by having Uriah that noble man murdered.He thought he had got away with it,not so, God saw what he did, as a result Nathan the prophet spoke to him,told him a made up story about a great injustice,David was indignant,imagine how the blood as it were drained from his face,as he heard the words ,'you are the man'. (2 Samuel 11-12) What a mess he had got himself into, these two men's experiences are not unique could it be that you are in that situation? your marriage is fallen apart or whatever,whats the answer?,well those two men did something,they sought the Lord . The Gaithers  have written a lovely song of a man who got himself into an awful mess,here are some of the words.' I havn't slept since midnight,because of my foolish choice.the night is so very dark, Ive spent so much time in misery .'Lord can you undo the terrible mess I've made?' The answer is He can, He did it for Jonah ,and David ,and He can do it for you because God is merciful, be you saved or unsaved.

                                                            'Remember mercy flows through

                                                                             JESUS'

 

It's impossible.( Matthew 19 v 16 -26 )

Most people have heard of King Canute,the story goes that he set his throne by the sea  side and sought to stop the tide coming in,was he a fool?, I don't think he was,I believe he was making a point,'that his powers was nothing compared to God's power. Deluded leaders often forget that,to their own destruction.When anyone whoever it is seeks to dethrone God,then they are utter fools,it was Christ that could walk on water,and calm the storm, no wonder the calming of the sea  terrified the disciples, and they asked the question,'Who is this? even the wind and the waves obey Him!' We often hear said, the sky is the limit meaning  there  are no limts and that anything is possible.Yes people can rise to great hights in politics ,buisness or whatever.it is possible,but there will always be limits,for we cannot do the impossible only God can do that,we can try to delay death.but it is impossible to stop it, no one can beat death, people have their bodies frozen,in the hope that a discovery will be made to bring them back to life.,unlike King Canute they fail to see that they can't stop the inevitable,they are just fooling themselves.Here is something else that man cannot do they can't save themselves,it's impossibe,here is another thing they cannot do they can't get to heaven without trusting Jesus as their Saviour,yes it's impossible,but with God all things are possible. 

                                                        'Salvation is of the Lord'

                                                                Jonah 2 v 9

 

Search me. ( Jeremiah 17 v 9-10)

 In  chap 11 of the book of Hebrews we have a list of people who lived by faith,and  followed the Lord in spite of the challengres they faced, v35ff, tells of the awful things they had to endure,to say the least it was no picnic,being tortured ,being imprisoned,flogged,stoned ,sawn in two,being destitute and so on,yet they did not give up. They and all the people mentioned in this chapter are witnesses to the Christians the letter was written to, and to every generation of Christians ,who follows in their footsteps.So the writer in Hebrews 12 v1 encourages his readers to deal with every thing that would hinder them,and the sin that so easily entangles them, in following the Lord. Maybe we need to stop and ask God about the things that are hindering us and the sin that so easily entangles us. Here is a prayer we could pray.,

                                                      'Search me ,God, and know my heart;

                                                       test me,and know my anxious thoughts.

                                                       See if there be any offensive way in me,

                                                       and lead me in the way everlasting.'

                                                                    Psalm 139 v23 -24.

                                                        

Faithful words ( Psalm 16 v 5-8 )

I recently visited two dear elderly Christians, one has Parkinson,and the other is not able to walk,I have known them a long time.The brother with Parkinson and I ,were joint leaders of a church for a number of  years. So there they are,the one with Parkinson does not talk much,so I mainly converse with his wife.Before leaving I usually pray and read a scripture, I read from Proverbs  3 v 5-6 ,in those two verses we have so much to think about, I prefer the AV ,here they are,

                                                   'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart

                                                     and lean not unto thine own understanding.

                                                     In all thy ways acknowledge Him in all our ways,

                                                      and He shall direct thy paths.'

It starts with trusting the Lord, this is where the Christian life  begins,,and where it contiues ,every day and every hour of every day,there are no days off.It goes further than that, For we are told  that this trust is not a half  hearted ,there should be no letting up  whatsoever.' Next we have,'Not leaning on our own unerstanding, we err by leaning on our understanding,in doctrine,and so many ways.Why do we not acknowledge Him in all our ways?why do we not bring Hin into every aspect of our lives?, for if we do, He has promised to direct our paths.

                                                   ' Take time to be holy,let Him be Thy guide;

                                                    And run not before Him,whatever betide;

                                                    In joy or in sorrow still follow Thy Lord,

                                                   And, looking to Jesus,still trust in His word'  ( Words  W.D.Longstaff)

He gave up everything. ( Philippians 3 v 1-9)

 One of the most dominate people in the New Testament is Paul the apostle,it is in that lovely book of Philippians chapter 3, that has this title over it,'No confidence in the flesh' Paul is warning his readers against being taken in by by people he calls dogs,evildoers,and mutilators,not very complimentary. William Barclay says' that wherever Paul taught, the Jews followed him,and tried to undo his teaching',They tried to draw the Christians back into a religion of works, so Paul uses very strong words and clear teaching as to the folly of that,and he uses his own experience to refute them.The challenge he brought to them can be summed up in the following  words ,are they going to put their confidence in religious works,including being born an Israelite ,to be saved,or are they to going to put their faith in Christ alone and His finished work to save them. Pual writes out of his own background, he was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin,that tribe stood with Judah (1 Kings 12 v21)and after the exile formed the nucleus of the nation reborn   (Ezra 4 v1)  . He was circumcised and was a Hebrew of the Hebrews a true Israelite.,and he was a Phariisee a separated one,a strict keeper of the law.If a Jew had that sort of background he would be very proud of it.But Paul did not think like that ,for when he met Christ he realised that the righteousness he professed counted for nothing,so he cast it all aside as rubbish,or  dung,now he declared ,to be in found in the righteousness of Christ was everything .

                                                       ' Christ's Righteousness Alone'

                                    'Not the labour of my hands can fulfil Thy law's demands;

                                    Could my zeal no respite know,could my tears forever flow,

                                     All for sin could not atone,Thou must save and Thou alone.

                                                                  ' A.M.Toplady'

                                                                 

Can you wonder. ( John 3 v36) 2.

 Last time we considered  the price Christ paid for our salvation,the price involved Christ becoming a man and coming into this world, and dying on a cross,All that was mind blowing, but we go a bit further ,the question why? what did it all mean? .We are told that He would save his people from their sins,how was He going to do that ?,This leads on to consider a  certain word ,which some peopel don't like, it is the word propitiation, it is mentioned four times in the NT,in Romans3 v25/  /Hebrews 2 v7/1John 2v2/ 1John 4 v10/. the word means satisfying the wrath of God,turning away that wrath,appesseing God's just judgement and righteous anger against us and our sins..Consider John 3 v36,' Whoever  rejects the Son will not see life,for Gods wrath remains on them.' In other words if you are not a Christian the wrath of God abides on you,there is no middle ground.But God has made a way for that wrath to be removed,And that is where Christ  sacrifice comes in,on that cross He choose to be a substitute,in other words he would take our the place on the cross ,so that when we put our trust in Him for salvation, the wrath of God is taken from us and put on Him.Consider the depth of  suffering He endured,no one can calculate the depth of that suffering,that's the price He paid.

                                                     ' Can you wonder,can you wonder 

                                                             Why it is I love Him so ?

                                                          When I think of all He's done,

                                                             And for me the guilty one,

                                                             Can you wonder why it is

                                                                      I love Him so'

Amazing (Philippians 2 v5 -8 ) 1

 I had some loose change sitting on my desk,and the words of a song came to mind.'Thirty piecec of silver was the price they paid,Thirty pieces of silver just the price of a slave.And my heart I have given to this Christ betrayed,for I know just how much He loved by the price he paid.' I don't know who wrote those words,or if I have the words right,but they are lovely words with a profound meaning. From eternity Christ knew the price that He would have to pay for our salvation,He would have to leave heaven,He who was the Son of God,equal with God, he didn't grasp at that ,but emptied Himself(Figuratatively speaking)He would still be God,but as one writer puts it,'He would divest Himself of His rightful dignity, by decending to an inferior condition abasing Himself.' When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon he said,' One small step for man, one giant step for mankind'.When we think of the step that Christ took when He left heaven and came to planet earth, it's beyond words to describe .He didn't come as a visitor,He came, taking upon Himself the very nature of a servant, but it didn't stop there,for we read, He humbled Himself ,by becoming obedient to death,but not just to death but death on a cross.That's part of the price He paid for our salvation one words sums it up amazing,we will continue to look further at this, next time.

Prayer ( Luke 11 v 1 )

Are there people who are experts in praying?, its a good question,I wonder what's a good answer ? One of my favourite hymns is all about prayer,I feel led to leave it with you,it is by James Montgomery.

                                   'Prayer  is the soul's sincere desire,uttered or unexpressed,

                                   The motion of a hidden fire,that trembles on the breast.

                                   Prayer is the burden of a sky,the falling of a tear,

                                   The upward glancing of an eye,when none but God is near

                                   Prayer is the simplest form of speech,that infant lips can try;

                                   Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach, the Majesty on high.

                                   Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,the Christian's native air,

                                   His watchword at the gates of death,he enters heaven with prayer.

                                   Prayer is the contrite sinners voice,returning from his ways;

                                   While angels in their songs rrejoice,and cry,behold he prays!

                                   O Thou by whom we come to God,the Life,the Truth,the Way!

                                   The path of prayerThyself hast trod; Lord teach us how to pray.'

                          

Fear or Trust. ( Proverbs 3 v 5-6 )

    I  read recently that we are born   with two inherent fears,'a fear of falling, and a fear of loud noises',while that may be true, one thing for sure we all develop other fears,we call them phobias.Often they are very irrational,yet they are real to us,most of them of then don't affect us to much,but some affect us a great deal.God alone knows what we are like,and so in His word we read,'fear not', many times.Often the disciple were afraid like us,what is the answer to our fears?.I believe trust in God, whatever the fear is., simply trusting our God and Saviour,that seems very simple,but it would surprise  us if we knew how many people refuse to do this.A friend of mine who when he was told that the doctors could not  do anymore for him,  realised he was going to die,from that moment on fear took over,and this caused him and his family a great deal of pain.When difficultess arise be what they may,we have two options,on one side there is panic and fear,On the other side we can trust and not be afraid,we have a choice.Faithful trust in God will bring peace,it is there for the asking,our dear Saviour say's to us today,'Trust Me',have faith in me'

                                                       'Commit thou all thy griefs

                                                       And ways into His hands,

                                                       To His sure truth and tender care,

                                                       Who heaven and earth commands.'

                                                        

Pilgrims. ( 2 Timothy 4 v7-8)

Jacob ttravelled up to Egypt to be reunited  to his son Joseph,the son whom he was told had  died , when he arrived, Joseph introduced him to Pharaoh. he asked Jacob,''How old are you?' Jacob replied,''The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My  years have been few and difficult,'' Jacob viewed his time on earth as a pilgrimage, he described it as being few and difficult.( Genesis 47 v8 - 9)Many people go on pilgrimages to so called holy places .Jacob describes his life as a pilgrimage,the fact is, every Christian is on a pilgrimage, the destiny that we are heading toward is no earthly place,like the saints of old, who considered themselves foreigners and strangers on earth.(Hebrews 11 v 13) They longed for a better  country - a heavenly country,  (Hebrews11v 16) This contaminated  planted is only a stop gap,its a tempory residence,it will soon no longer be.Like Jacob we will face difficulties challenges,trisls, they are enevitablei, its the way it is on planet earth. Dear John Bunyan wrote a book called Pilgrims progress,it is worth reading,he describes the journey of Christian the main character in the book, from his salvation to glorification in heaven.We used to sing  a wonderful hynm ,words by John Bunyan ,It  emphasises the steadfastness  that we need to have on our journey to glory and home,

                                          '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.

                                           Who so beset him round with dismal stories,

                                            Do but themselves confound;His strength the more is.

                                            No foes shall stay his might, though he with giants fight

                                            He will make good his right to be a pilgrim.'

Worries ( Psalm 55 v22 )

 Are you worried about tomorrow?are you fretting about that operation you are going to have? I'm not pointing the finger at you, for I worry at times,inspite of the fact I've been following the Lord for over 60 years.The fact is we live in an uncertain world, even though I have come through many difficulties,I still worry.  Here is the most important thing, I don't stop at my worries or my fears,I seek the Lord,the  word of God says ,'The Lord is compassionate and gracious.....for He knows how we are formed,he remembers that we are dust' Psalm 103v 8/v14.We are also told that we have a great high priest who feels sympathy for our weaknesses, (Hebrews 4 v 15)The disciple who followed Jesus were not perfect,likewise even the great theologians like John Calvin, writing about Luther said,'He lacked control and allowed himself to be worked up into a rage far to quickly'but Calvin also confessed he was like that himself.'God loves his imperfect children,so go to Him with your worries. Then the next thing I do when I worry,I go to God's word,looking for assurance as regards the things I worry about,God knows how weak we are,that's why we He has given us so many  wonderful promises,to reassurance us,to comfort us,in our times of trials,when we are worried about so many things,Remember  those wonderful promises are not just wise sayings they are Gods words given to His children.The worried non-Christian does not have that advantage,so hang unto  that promise of God , like grim death ,don't let the devil rob you of the assurance they bring ,and he will  try,stand on God's word as if your life depended on it, and God will see you through.

                                                     'Make God your first port of call

                                                      not your friends or family,when

                                                       trouble comes'

Drastic measures. ( Isaiah 52 v 13 - 15 /John 1 v 29)

 Christ death on a cross seems at first glance a very drastic means for God to use,but the fact is ,mankinds condition is so drastic it took a drastic solution to deal with it. John Calvin believed that sin could not be fathomed, counted or measured,and was thus infinite.So it is that those who die without their sins being forgiven will hold unto their sin for all eternity.Someone has said the following,'God is an eternal an infinite being (Psalm 90 v2 ) that means that all sin requires an eternal punishment'.Look out on our world today ,read the history of the 20th century,this is never going to change. It is impossible to name all the different types of sins there are,and the ravages and damage they bring with them ,or the offence they cause a holy God.Someone has said, 'every sin committed has disatrous consequences'. Here is the good news God's mercy is infinite.Again let me quote someone,' Infinite mercy means incomprehensible mercy,infinite mercy does not mean condemnation,but hope in Christ''.That drastic means that God brought in through the death of His Son on the cross tells us that no matter how sinful we are,we can receive mercy,forgiveness and eternal life,when we trust Jesus as our Saviour.

                                                    'Blessed is the one whose transgressions

                                                     are forgiven,whose sins are covered'.

                                                                    'Psalm 32 v1'

He is Lord ( 1 Samuel 15 v 22 )5

 'Help us,Lord Jesus not to fool ourselves by only calling you our Lord but not doing the Fathers will,and trying to be your followers in our own terms' (Amen)We come to the last  thoughts by me on the prayer by a lady in the church I attend'. For our Saviour the will of God was vital,not to be trivaled with, not to be taken lightly, the reason He came, was to do the will of God His Father.He knew if He did not fulfill it, the consequences would be unthinkable for all humanity.He never compromised ,and He bore it though to the bitter yet glorious end.We must follow in His footsteps,we call Him Lord,what does not mean for you and me?  The word Kurios (Lord) in the NT has the meaning of deity,(John 20 v28),it can also mean owner  in 1Corinthians 6 v 20 , we read'we are not our own ,we have been bought with a price'.that means His will must be our will it is not optional,to go against it, is rebellion and sinful.The will of God in all our lives is not negotiable,He expects us to do it.The last part of the prayer speaks of trying to be a follower of Jesus on our terms. To think like that is absolute folly,we are not to dictate to God,if he says somthing is wrong then we are not to do it,morally or whatever.When we start to dictate the terms then we are usurping king Jesus rule in our lives.

                                                          ' King of my life,I crown Thee now,

                                                           Thine shall the glory be;

                                                            Lest I forget Thy thorn brow,

                                                             Lead me to Calvary'

                                                               'Words J.E,Mussey'

A need to be changed, ( Job 23 v10)4

     The prayer.'Lord we confess that when we look at ourselves,we must recognise that we are so far from the best  version of ourselves,from the person who you want us to become, because we keep taking steps back and withdraw ourselves from you.' Oh for a consistent Christian life, it's one thing being seen in Church singing lustly, looking like butter wouldn't mealt in ones mouths,we all are to some extent Jekyll and Hyde's .Of course that's where sanctification comes ,in that process that God  uses to make us more like Jesus.Joseph, Jacob son suffered so much ,but before he would be raised out of his suffering and be exalted to be next to Pharaoh ,his character needed to be purged from dross by the  prison experience, that experience   would qualify him for the task that lay ahead,and of course make him a more holy person. God has ways of changeing us,they are often  painful . Before the rough diamond becomes a thing of beauty ,the roughness must be removed, God has a purpose, and its this , as I have said ,that we may be conformed to the image of God's Son.

                                                          ' Have Thine own wat Lord,

                                                            Have Thine own way,

                                                             Hold o'er my being

                                                             Absolute sway,

                                                             Filled with Thy Spirit,                                

                                                             Till all can see,

                                                              Christ only always living in me'

                                                                     ' Words A,D,Pollard'

What you do with the riff raff? ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8 )3

 The prayer,'Dear Lord ,we don't why you chose us; probably  because we are the weakest of all and therefore you can show your great power through our weakness'.Yes is a good question,in 1 Corinthians 1v26 ff gives the answer. 'Brothers and sisters,think of what you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards,not many were influential;not many were of noble birth. But God chose  the weak things of the world to shame the strong.God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not to nullify the things that are'. So that no one may boast before Him'. We  were chosen from the riff raff of this world,what you do with the riff raff of this world?,what did God do ? He saved them by His grace through Chrst His Son.No one can boast ,no one,whatever we are now as Christians,whatever hights we have been raised to,we are what we are by the grace and mercy of God.

                                                    ' The vilest  offender who truly believes,

                                                      That moment from Jesus a pardon 

                                                       receives.'

                                                           ' TO GOD BE THE GLORY'

Being a disciple ( Matthew 10 v 37 - 39 )

'Thank You that you've called us to be your disciples and that we not left on our own' (words from the prayer} What is a disciple? ,one person describes being a disciple in three ways,(1) Reorientation which means changing our focus and direction  ,before we become a Christian we focus on so many things,often wrong thing following every whim and fancys,but now our focus must be on Jesus (2)One who responds to the call of Jesus,whatever that  may cost,and whatever that may mean.In many parts of the world it means being consider a traitor, being hated,that's the price of being a disciple, Words of a song comes to mind,'I have decided to follow Jesus,though none come with me,still I will follow'. ( 3 ) One who listens to Jesus teaching and lives it out daily.All Christiasns are disciples of Jesus,but the important thing is this,we are not left on our own,He will be with us at all times,strengthening us, guiding us, and helping us.

                                                  'Take up your cross and follow Me.

                                                    though it bring shame and agony

                                                    though men forsake and turn  away'

                                                     

                                    

                                                  

That I may know Him. ( Colossians 1 v 9 -10 )1

 ' Dear Lord Jesus ,this morning we come to praise you for this day and for everyday that is given to us an oportunity to get to know you more and to grow in faith, ' These words are the beginning of a prayer I heard from a lady in our church',her prayer blessed me,I will share more of her prayer with you,in the coming days,She thanks our Lord  for this day and everyday,yes everyday is a gift from God, for it is an opportunity to get to know God more.J.I.Packer wrote a helpful  book called ,'Knowing God',that's important,it is not a hard task, God, believe it or not is friendly,we declare that when we sing that old hymn ,'What a friend we have in Jesus ,'I have two lovely grandchildren ,my son and his wife adopted them,they were very young when they were adopted, so they will never really know their birth parents because they will not have a relationship with them. When it comes to God  we need to develop  a relationship with Him,that means getting to  know Him.We get to know Him in so many ways by prayer that's simple,by reading His word,these will help  us to know God , and also help us to grow spiritually. Also as we trust God every new day we get to know that he is faithful,that He is your loving  heavenly Father , unlike some fathers, He will never do us any harm ,only good.So let us each day use it as an opportunity to know our God more and as we get to know Him more we will grow spiritually.

                                                 ' Let me each day ,know Thee as thow art

                                                                Love Thee supremely,

                                                                 Serve Thee wholly,

                                                                  admire Thee fully'

                                                             From the Valley of  Vision.

The cry of God.( Psalm 95 v 7-8 )

 They made a movie about an American called Desmond Doss,he served as a combat medic in the war against Japan.He was a very brave man  for which he recieved the ,'The medal of honour' by President Trumen.During a battle he was in with all the shooting ,and bombs going off, he prayed,'Father I can't hear your cry',and then he heard a wounded soldier cry out.Where is God's cry coming to you from,or from whom is God's cry coming to you from?,are you listening.,are you listening?are you prepared to respond to that cry?.Great movements start by someone responding to the cry of God in the shape of wounded ,dying, lost humanity.George Mullier,Dr  Barnardo, heard the cry of needy children,The founder of 'Stand by Me' a children ministry  working in eight countries,heard the cry of God when his elderly father said to him ,you must do something,and David responded. William Booth heard the cry of God and he responded ,and the Salvation Army came into being.Isaiah the prophet heard the cry of God ringing out,'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?,and immediately he responded ,by saying ,'Here am I . Send me.!'(Isaiah 6 v 8)In a world full of lost sinners,are we listening to the cry of God,Jesus said the labourers are few,spiritual  darkness covers this world ,and the awfulness dreadful consquences that brings.,the cries can be heard, if one is listening,are you listening?are you willing to respond?

Theocentric. ( Isaiah 40 v 21 -28_)

 I learned a new word today,'Theocentric',it means that God is the central aspect of existence,and having Him as the focal point of our attention ,in our thoughts and feelings. Lets face it most of us leave God out of so much,As regards the unbeliever He is not in their thoughts,from when they get up in the morning,till they go to bed at night. For them He does not exist, they are born,they live their lives,they die and that's it.As  a Christian how do you veiw life?,how do you veiw what is happening to you now?is God brought into it?. When you have difficulties and trials ,what do you see?,just the difficulties and trials,full stop,is God in it all?,or not it all?.I am reading the story of Joseph ,hated by his brothers,sold into slavery,put in prison on false charges. Yes he felt the pain of what happened to him,but it is obivous he never lost sight of God,he never let bitterness destroy him ,or hatred for his brothers,or for the woman who lied and caused him to be put in prison,When Samuel told Eli the high priest that God was going to judge him and his sons,he  brought God into it,and declared ,'He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.( 1 Samuel 3 v18) How do you see the worlds situation? chaos,frightering,out of control,and you hear yourself saying where is God in it all?, judge not the Lord by feeble sense.,Yes there is so much in this world ,that declares man rules,and that's it. no it is not so.God continues to be the central aspect of exsistence,and He should be the focal point of our attention, our thoughts,and feelings.

                                                             

Conclusion (2 Timothy 2 v 9 / Hebrews 4 v 12 ) 5

 We come to consider the last of our weapons in this conflict against  our enemy the devil,it is  'The sword of the Spirit' which is the word of God,(Ephesians 6 v 17 ) Stott points out,'Of all the six pieces of armour or weaponry listed, the sword  is the only one which can clearly be used for attack as well as defence'.First of all we must equip ourselves by reading and knowing the word of God.We assume that most Christians will read the word of God,but not all do, so they are putting themselves at a disadvantage.It was Cromwell's  Ironsides who fought with a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other.As one writer says we can never defeat God's enemies or win God's battles without God's word'. Read your Bible,know your Bible,and it is helpful to memorise it   We can also add to the weapons prayer 6 v 18.as John Stott comments ,it can be seen as a unnamed weapon. Because the warfare we are engaged in is continual,so we must pray continually,

                                                    'Restraining prayer,we cease to fight;

                                                     Prayer makes the Christian's armour

                                                      bright;

                                                      And Satan trembles when he sees

                                                      The weakest saint upon his knees.'

                                                                   William Cowper

Assurance of Salvation. ( John 10 v 27 - 30 )4

 Lets consider our next weapon in Ephesians 6 v 17,'The helment of salvation',in Isaiah 59 v 17,it is used as a metaphor to describe salvation.Knowing we are saved and going to heaven sustains and strengthens us to endure whatever comes our way, Paul who endured so much and would die a martyrs death could face it because he was saved , in 2 Timothy 2 v 11- 12, he writes,' If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure ,we shall also reign with Him'. All through history Christians have suffered for Christ  ,from being eaten  by wild beasts,burnt at the stake ..I am sure we are all aware of the suffering of God's people in so many countries at tis time. Apart from that suffering  life for all of us means that we will  experience long painfull illness'es and so many other things.Our salvation is a anchor to our souls,Paul declares these encourageing words''I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us'. ( Romans 8 v18 ) Also we have the assurance that yes we are going to heaven, and the wonders of that,but also we shall not be going to hell .Our Saviour speaking to the church of Smyma, a church that was enduring afflctions and poverty,He tells them ,' Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.I tell you,the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,and you will suffer persecution for ten days . Be faithful ,even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victors crown.( Revelation 2 v 10)

                                                  ' It will be worth it all when we see Jesus'.

We shall overcome. ( Isaiah 12 v 2 )3

Let us continue to look at the weapons we have to aid us in our battle against,the devil and all those under his control,the next one we want to consider is the 'The shield of faith',(Ephesians 6 v16)this is described as a defence against the firey darts of the evil one.   William Barclay describes it as a great oblong shield that protected  the soldiers from darts dipped with tow and dipped in pitch,it was a vital part of their armoury.As Christians our faith is always under attack, by doubt,and multitude of other things,and even from ourselves,yes there is enemy within and the enemy without.In 1 John 5 v4  we read,'For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,even our faith'.Today whatever your circumstance  have faith in God,in His word ,in His promises,and in His faithfulness.

                                                       'Begone unbelief! My Savioiur is near

                                                        And for my relief will surely appear.

                                                        By prayer let me wrestle  and He will perform;

                                                        With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm.'

                                                                              John Newton.

.

Our weapons. (Colossians 1 v 13)2

We saw last time how we are in a unrelenting where there will be no let up . The scripture we have been looking at is Ephesians 6 v 10ff.  2 Corinthians 10 v 4 tells us that in this battle the weapons that we have at our dispoal are not the weapons of the world but they have the divine power to demolish strongholds.  It is in Ephesians 6 v13 -18. we have them set out ,there are 6 of them,the first one is,'the belt of truth'It was Richard Nixion in an interview as regards charismatic politicians,' he said he didn't rate them,he was more concerned what they stood for'  So it is as Christians we must not to be swayed by charismatic preachers,we must always be guided by truth.There must be no ,compromise as regards truth,in this battle truth must prevail.Next we have ,'The breastplate of righteousness,this covers the front and the back , John Stott writing on this declares,'No spiritual. protection is greater than a righteous relationship with God.,' Before we trusted  Christ ,we had no righteousness of our own,Isaiah 64 v 6,reads, 'All our righteous acts are like filthy rags'.But when we trust Christ the Lord becomes our righteousness Jeremiah 23v 6 /1 Corinthians 1 v 30'.This means as JS writes ,'We can stand '.before God not condemned but accepted',the devil has no answer to that. The next weapon is,'Shoes for our feet',Stott uses the word ,'boots', such as a Roman soldier would wear,he calls them gospel boots, indicating a readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace.Let us remember there is no more beautiful thing, than to proclaim the gospel of Christ,it is that Gospel that delivers sinners from Satan's power. (We will continue this next time)

                                                                 Isaiah 52 v 7.

                                      'How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet

                                      of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace,

                                      Who brings good tidings of good things, who proclaim

                                      salvation,Who says to Zion,Your God reigns!

                                                                

None of us are civilians. ( 1 Peter 5 v 8-9 )1

We don't go far on in the Christian life before we are faced with temptations,that is why our Lord taught us to pray ,'Lead us not into temptation',but it does not stop there,for it goes on to say,'But deliver us from the evil one' (Matthew 6 v 13)  The devil does not  give up on those who were once his captives,and so he is ever seeking a way to bring them back into his fold. So we must not let down our guard,Paul when he came to the end of his days,said,'I have fought a good fight',(2 Timothy 4 v7)  He speaks of the Christian life in militrary terms, in Ephesians 6 v 11,we read,'Put on the full armour of God,so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes'. The word schemes has with it the idea of one who is lying in wait for us,and he will use every means he can to bring us down,yes the devil is a schemer. Paul goes on to tell us how we can be overcomers,even against our most powerful enemy the devil. We are not left defenceless as regards our hatfeful enemy.Paul says  that this is a spiritual  battle we are in,and it goes beyond mere flesh and blood enemies.The devil will  use all those who are under his control to destroy us. One person writes the following ,'This is no afternoon athletic contest that we will  walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps,a life and death fight to the finish against  the devil and his angels.'  To say the least its a bit scarey,but let us quit ourselves like children of God,we shall overcome by God's grace, just as Paul overcame so much.

                                            

                                             'We are in God's army ,and their

                                              must be no surrendering to our

                                              enemy the devil'

                                               

Is it worth while? ( John 6 v9)

I love to see bees in my garden, the bumble bees are lovely,I looked up some interesting things about them,how they navigate,they have five eyes,four wings and six legs,and that during their lifetime they each make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.It appears a poor investment,  hardly worth their effort, but let us look at the bigger picture,in a honey bee colony there are up to 50,000 bees.There's a verse in the Bible that says ,'never despise the day of small things,a young lad gave his lunch ,and  over 5000 people were fed (John 6) I often think does my giving make much difference in the work of God in helping people ?when one thinks of the immense need  in some place, surely my little can't do much good.If that was all they were getting it mybe wouldn't, but I know I am not the only one giving and that makes a big difference.So dont feel that the little you give  is of no consequence,added to what others give,it can really make a difference. And yet coming back to that young lad who gave his small lunch, who knows how God will bless whatever we give,be id ever so small ,Let us not  limit it to money,a kind word,a short word of witness,or a cup of cold water.Do what we can, be it ever so small as unto God, he will not despise the smallness of whatever  we do.

Moses the historian. ( Luke 1 v 1-4)

It is Leupold who calls  Moses the historian,oh yes he was more that, but he was a historian.An event occured in one of  China's official Protestant churches, a minister on Easter Sunday declarded  the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to be an undeniable historical event,this was a brave statement by that man to make . If our faith is not based on true history ,then we have nothing, it's untrue, if there was no Moses then everything we believe in is not sustainable.Writing about the resurrection the apostle Paul declared ,'If Christ has not be raised , our faith is futile.....and we are of all people most to be pitied',  (1 Corinthians 15 v 17-19). As regards the resurrection, Paul states these wonderful facts, that Christ rose from the dead,and after his resurrection he appeared  to Cephas,and then to the 12,then he appeared unto 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time,though some have died since, but most of them were still living ,He then appeared to James ,then again to the apostles.Paul finishes by saying and last of all He appeared unto him'(1 Cor 15 v3-8)These are the historical facts , we are not distorting history,in the Bible we are being told what actually happened. As David Prior writes,'We constantly need to reiterate the heart of the gospel, and that involves taking a firm grip on the historical facts'.One of my sons said that the Jewish peoples exsistence is evidence that there is a God,how otherwise could they have survived. Their whole history tells of a people who faced  extinction time after time,but it didn't happen.