Gangrene ( Romans 1 v16-17)

In Pauls letter to Timothy,who was  the leader of the church at Ephesus,and in chap 2 he warned him to deal with false teaching,and he describes the effects of  false teaching. If it was not dealt with it will spread like gangrene,or as John Stott puts it,'as dangerous as blood poisoning to the body and spreads like sepsis from a wound'.Thats how serious false teaching is,and yet sad to say some so called Christians  appear to be blind to that .There is a belief that that there are are different roads that lead to heaven,not so ,the historical Christ declared ,'That he was the way the truth and the life and that no man can come unto the Father but by Him.(John 14 v6 )I have just read how women are treated in Afghanistan ,being flogged ,and being kept as prisoners in their own home,and the terrible violence inflicted on so many dear people,because they are  Christians .But the problem is bigger than that ,false religions are built on falsehood,The Quran is built on falsehood,it denies that Christ did not die on the cross,and so millions of people are robbed of salvation,of having their sins forgiven,and that is very serious,and very sad.

Hope in God ( Psalm 42)

  Psalm 42 and 43,could be one Psalm, for they appear to have the same theme,of a man who is struggling ,yes there were reasons.He feels hemmed in and overwhelmed v7 he declares 'I hear the tumult of the raging sea as your waves and surging tides sweep over me'It could be he felt cut off from the house of God.(2/4)He was in such a state ,and there were those who kept asking him,'Where is your God?' Remember the enemy will always kick you when your down,in spite of this he had not lost his soul thirst for God v1-2 reads'As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you,my God. My soiul thirsts for God, for the living God.' May God help us from loosing our soul thirst for the living God.What can he do v 5/11 tells us the first things he did,he spoke to himself and here is what he said,'Why my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?'and then he answers the question,'Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God'V8 reads,'But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me',this caused him to rejoice,as it should cause us to rejoice.For we are told in Romans 8 v37-39 that nothing can seperate us the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It took a miracle. (Ephesians 2 v 1- 10)

 Do I believe that miracles still happen? yes I do,yet we must confess that miraculous healings don't happen often,but I'm sure they still happen. We often limit miracles to people being healed,but God's word dosen't.Right throughout the Bible we read  of healings,but also of people being delivered from slavery in a miraculous way. We read how God opened up the sea for His people to walk through on dry ground,so escaping from their enemies.Of a prophet being fed by birds,and that same prophet prayed and there was no rain for three and a half years.We read of Jesus walking on water,and turning water into wine, yes there are many miracles in the Bible.What is the greatest miracle that we can expereince?,what do you think it is?.It is Spurgeon who spoke of a 'Miracle of Grace',what did he mean by that? the answer is simple,it is the miracle of salvation,everytime a person gets saved it is a miracle.If you are a Christian then you have experienced a miracle,and of all miracles it is the greatest miracle of all.John W.Peterson wrote the following.

                                                    'It took a miracle to put the stars in place,

                                                     It took a miracle to hang the world in space;

                                           But when he saved my souls ,cleaned and made me whole,

                                                      It took a miracle of love and grace'

Escape ( Genesis 19 v17)

Like many countries we have experienced very sunny and dry weather, with the result fires have broken out in many places.Many people have had to flee from the flames,leaving their homes and possessions,and just escape for their lives.Unfortunately some people lost their live.which was very sad. This reminds me that when John Wesley was a young boy,the home he lived in caught fire,most of the family escaped. In the confusion John who was sleeping was overlooked. John was only just over 5, he did wake up,by that time fire had got a hold ,and the stairs were on fire,but John managed to drag a chest up to window climbed on it,and showed himself  to the people below.At that very moment his father,in agonies of despair, was commending the infant soul to God.Two brave fellows saw the boy at the window, and saved him just before the roof collapsed.It was in memory of this escape that Wesley oftened referred to himself as ''a brand plucked out of the burning''.These words are taken from Zechariah 3 v2 av It is our Saviour who spoke of hell fire (Matthew 5 v22) and in Matt 13 v42 that evildoers are thrown into the firey furnace.There are  other scriptures were Jesus speaks of hell,and judgement,and every Christian are indeed brands plucked out of the burning,no firey judgement awaits us,but not so for the non Christian.

No one is perfect (John 3 v36)

What are the ten safest countries in the world ,I went down the list,Ireland was one,Portugal another, I will just tell you the safest one ,'Japan'.I hope they all get comfort from being on that list,still as we say there are no perfect people in all these countries,God's law will be broken by everyone of them.Safety does not mean perfection, as regards the safest country,everyone in that country are sinners,and that goes for every country in the world,consider that, and it's implications.There are plenty of nice people in the world,but being nice does not  hide the fact that they sin.There are many people who do a lot of good,likewise this does not hide the fact they are sinners.Recently two young men killed a young ploiceman,he was  dragged 100yards caught up in their car,at their trial they could be seen laughing.Also there is man who killed and raped women,and I get angry  at the terrible things they have done.Lets go further back in history,to what the Nazies done,and the terrible cruel things they committed,they deserve to go to hell,Is that so?, ,yes they do, but going  to hell is not just  for extreme evil people,no it is for everyone,and I mean everyone. King David committed two dreadful sins,adultery and murder,and in his prayer of repentance ,he prayed  'Against you, you only,have I sinned.' Sin is an offence against against God (Psalm51 v 4),yes sin offends a holy God,sin seperates us from God,and brings us all under His wrath.Take this very serious,hell  awaits all  who have not repented of their sin.But here is the good news Jesus died so our sins can be forgiven,so why don't you not ask Him to be your Saviour now,before it is to late.

All Things ( Romans 8 v28 ) 2

We continue to look at one of Spurgeon's daily devotionals,''We know that all things work together for good to them that love God''. 'The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory,but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all,  that He  governs  wisely, that He brings good out of  evil, the believer's heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray . ''Send me what  thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children''.

                                        ''Say not my soul,'From whence can God relieve my care?

                                         Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere.

                                         His method  is sublime,His heart profound kind,

                                         God never is before His time,can never be behind''.

                                        

All things ( Romans 8 v28) 1

Spurgeon was a wonderful man of God ,a man I believed raised up by God , and who served his generation well,one of the things he left was a daily devotional called ,'Morning and Evening'.I would like to share some thoughts from one of his readings.It starts with a verse of scripture,'We know that all things work together for good to them that love God'. 'Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure.He knows for instance that God sits in the stern of the vessel when it rocks most.He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world's tiller,and that whatever providence may drift,Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything . He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he  hears a voice saying,''It is I, be not afraid''. He knows that God is always wise, and, knowing this he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes;that nothing  can occur which ought not to arise.''If I should  loose all I have,it is better that I should loose than have,if God wills:the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall me if God ordains it,''.We will continue this next time.

                                                                         ' God Reigns'