Not make believe. ( John 20 v24- 29)

 Yes Christmas is coming,and the shops are full of so many thjings that have nothing to do with Christmas,but we will come to that later.One of my sons and his wife were visiting us, and I said to my daughter -in -law,ask me do I believe in Santa Claus,well she asked me,and I replied ,'I'm an agnostic'. well just a bit of fun.Who was Saint Nicholas?,it is thought that's were we get the idea of Santa from,it is thought that he is buried in Ireland, but others say he was buried in Italy(But he had an Irish passport in his pocket,again just a bit of fun).Lets stop all this Tomfoolery for its all make believe. One my young grandsons  had a revelation ,he told his parents that there was no such a person as Santa Claus,I realise that there are no faries at the end of my garden.In the midst of all the Christmas cheer unfortionately the true meaning of Christmas gets lost,and every year people will come to our carol service, and we hope that they will find the true meaning of Christmas,we keep praying that this will happen,don't give up, keep praying, that it will happen.Christmas will soon be over, but let us continue to make the gospel known,telling people the the true meaning of Christmas,and the reason for it ,which is,that he shall save His people from their sins ( Matthew 1 v21)The moment He came into this world his sole aim would be to die on the cross,for our sins.His coming was not an after thought,no God had a plan,for we read in Revelation13 v 8 that He was 'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world', God in His sovereign purposes would provide a sure and certain means to save sinners,and so it came to pass.

                                                         'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ      

                                                         and you shall be saved.'

                                                                     Acts 16 v31

                                                         

                                                          

                                                             

Locked out.( Matthew 25 v 41)

 There we were just about to set off ,to see our family,it was very wet ,and windy, I went to lock the door,and I couldn't, because I had left the key in the other side of the lock,it meant we could not get back into our home. I must confess I was very upset, but we managed to get someone to come and solve the problem.He had to drill through the old lock,and replace it with a new one,so the problem was solved. It's not nice to be locked out of one's home,but there is a more serious aspect to this event. It reminds me of the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 told by our Saviour, it is about a wedding,it was something different from modern weddings ,a lot of things went on before they were considered married,the bride would be  waiting for the bridegroom, not sure when  he would come.The 10 virgins mentioned in the story had be waiting  likewise for the wedding group to show them the way into the marriage celebrations.  Five of the virgins had no oil for their lamps and so it meant they had to go and buy some,but by the time they got back,they were not permitted into the marriage celebrations,they were locked out, unlike the other 5 virgins who were in and enjoying the wedding celebations. The story was aimed at the Jews  who should have been prepared for our Lords coming but were not,so they were locked out.Yes the foolish virgins left it to late,it is a reminder to all of us to be prepared to meet our God, before it is to late.When Mary of Orange was dying her chaplain sought to tell her the way of salvation.Her answer was;'I have not left this matter to this hour'.

                                                   ' I tell you,now is the time of God's favoir,

                                                     now is the day of sakvation'

                                                               2 Corinthians 6 v2.

Don't ignor Him. ( John 1 v 12)

 When one thinks of how God has spared this world up to now,we may wonder why,when one considers humanities track record.The awful wars that continually go on and on and on.We could point out mankinds fallenness,showing a disregard for God's ,morality,or for God's  ways.When the promised Messiah came,we are told that they did not receive Him (John 1 v 11),they of all people should have recognised Him but they didn't.But they are not one their own, for we read,' He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,the world did not recognise Him'.(John 1 v10 ) The effect of humanites fallen nature is very severe,and dark, even to this day His own people still won't receieve Him,and likewise the world does not recognise Him. Consider the month we are in ,its the month in which Christmas falls,the very name Christmas will be heard by millions of people who will receive cards,and Christmas presents, but they will not receive Christ. God the Father sent Jesus into this world because He loves humanity (John 3 v6). Someone has said would it be different if He came again?,Studdert-Kennedy in His poem 'Indiffernce', wrote the following,

                                       'When Jesus came to Birmingham they simple passed Him by,

                                       They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;

                                        For men had grown more tender,and they would not give Him pain,

                                        They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

                                                                    'Ignored by the many

                                                                     Received by the few.

                                        ' But in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still

                                                                   The dear Christ enters in'.

                                                                           Words P.Brooks

                                      

                                                                  

Blindness ( John 9 v 39)

I recently had my eyes tested ,and the optician told me that my eye sight was near the point where I wouldn't be able to drive. It is consider ,if you cannot read a number plate at 29 meters you are not fit to drive ,and so I would loose my driven licence.Like a lot of old people I needed cataract surgery,and so I was referred to a hospital to have the problem dealt with. I have had one eye done the worst one,and will have the other one done in a short time.So today I went out and looked at some cars number plates and without my glasses on ,with my operated eye I could see them clearly. Let us consider a spiritual application, the unsaved man is blind to spiritually (1 Corinthians 2 v 14). I thought of Israel who have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah? ,yet they have the scriptures that clearly show that Christ is their  Messiah.The Apostle Paul had a great burden for his people the Jews that they would be saved,he tells us that blindness in part has happened to them, (Romans 11 v25)other translations calls it a hardness.This is a judgement by God (Romans 8 v18).As one writer comments,'it is as if a veil lies over their hearts and minds'. But lets broaden it out to all of mankind,they are spiritually blind,blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4 v 3-4),and by their hard hearts,like Pharaoh of Egypt,( Ex 7 v 13) Remember God is sovereign and He will show mercy to whom he will show mercy (Romans 9 v 18) There is hope for we read in 2 Corinthians 3v16 'But when-ever anyone turns to the Lord ,the veil is taken away'.

                                                       'I once was blind but now I see

                                                       by God's mercy and grace,

Holiness ( Psalm 139 v 23 - 24)

 What do you think of holiness? it is seen by many non-Christians as a kill joy, some Christians may even agree with that.It is emphasised in God's word a lot, because it is of the utmost importance.But first of all let us consider, the Bible calls God,''The Holy One'' over fifty times it is mentioned in the Bible ,and the Spirit God,''Holy Spirit '' ''ninety times. Christ is called the ''Holy One of God''.The hymn writer declared,'OnlyThou art holy', God is absoluetly holy,it is hard for us to grasp this truth.In our unsaved state we could not look upon such holiness,we would be burnt to a frazzle.Moses was told,'you cannot see my face ,for no one may see Me and live' (Exodus 33 v20),it will not be until we stand in glory will we be able to look upon God. R.C.Sproul said,''When we understand the character of God, and when we grasp something of His holiness, then we begin to understand the radical character of our sin and hopelessness'.The unsaved person does not grasp this,but will ,one day.Through Christ death on the cross God has made for us, away to know God , as our Father.Through Him we can come boldly into God's holy presence. (Hebrews 4 v16) As Christians we are set apart by God to be holy,it is obivious that while we are accepted by God now,yet we  still are imperfect,and so God declares to us Christians,'Be holy ,because I am holy' ,(1 Peter 1 v16/Lev 11 v44)These words are a challenge to all of God's children,of course we will never be fully holy here,but we must daily strive after holiness,long for that goal,until we are in glory.

                                                       'Robert Murry Mc Cheyne said,

                                        'Lord make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be'.

Finish. ( Luke 9 v 62)

 It was the apostle Paul who wrote ,'I have finished the race' (2 Timothy 4 v 7),and it was our Saviour on the cross who cried ,'It is finished'(  John 19 v30) When it comes to the Christian life it is important, I would say vital to continue in the faith,I know so many people  and they gave up following Jesus,The term backslider is what they are called,they once ran well,but there was a time when they stopped running and turned back. One of the companions who went with Christian (in Pilgrims progress) on their way to the celestual city,Ignorance turned back when he was so near to entering into the city Christian declared,' Then I saw that there was a way to hell,even from the  gates of heaven,as well as from the  City of destruction!'Lots wife looked back and she perished,so it is if we turn back we will be lost. In Matthew  24 v 13 we read,'But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved'.The question we may ask ,were they not Christians?did not Jesus say.'I give thm eternal life and they shall never perish'(John 10 v28) So why did our Saviour say what He did? because their will  be those who like Judas who was a disciple yet was not a true believer.It is John in his first epistle  who writes  as regards those who turned away from Christ,'They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. for if  they had belonged to us,they would have remained with us; But their going showed  that none of them belonged to us.' I would just add the backslider can be restored if they turn back to God , I did.(1 v 19).Sir Walter Raleigh prayed the following prayer.

                            'O Lord God ,when you give your servants to endeavour any great matter,

                             grant us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the

                             same to the end, until it be thoroughly finished,which yields the true glory;

                             through him who for the finishing of your work,laid down his life,our

                             redeemer,Jesus Christ.'

Shine (John 5 v 14-16 )

 There is a hymn with the words'this dark world of sin' yes it is a dark world,be very sure about that,and it is in John 8 v 12,our Saviour said,'I am the light of the world',when we trust Jesus as our Saviour,we are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.That means that we will no longer  walking in darkness,I witnessed to two people recently and the things they were saying, and it revealed to me,the darkness that they were in. We  see clearly the darkness people that people are in so many aspects of life it is very sad,and very serious in its consequences. We are not to despair as to the darkness ,no, we are to shine,our Saviour has gone to heavem and he has left us a task,we read about it Matthew 5v16,He said ,'You are the light of the world' and He goes on to say,'Let your light shine before others,that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven' there are two ways in which we can witness to people by our words and by our lives.It was Nietzsche the philospher said, 'Show me you are redeemed, and I will believe in your redeemer'. I read of a family in China who had a daughter who had special needs her name is Abigal.Her parents took her to a Christian education project, called ,'Well of love',she came after dark as her father was ashamed of her, but things changed for the better, Abigail made great progressed,this had an effect especially on the father,so one day he appeared at the centre and asked if he could know the God who had so changed his family's life. I leave you with a verse from a children's hymn.

                                                    'Jesus bids us shine with a pure ,clear light;

                                                     Like a little candle burning in the night,

                                                     In this world of darkness,so we must shine,

                                                     You in your small corner and I in mime.'

The call of God.(Joshua 1 v 9)

 What had Moses,Gideon,and Jeremiah in common? ,they all felt weak and inadequate,and yet God called the three of them to serve him.Moses was called to lead Israel out of Egypt. For Moses it started in a strange way,while out looking after his father in laws sheep,God spoke to him from  a bush, why a bush?ask God. Moses replied  to God's call,that he was an inadequate speaker,he also requested God to send someone else.I knew a man who when he was young had a stutter,God helped him to overcome that, and he went on to establish a Christian mission. (Exodus 3 -4 v 1-17) When God called Gideon he said to God,'Pardon me,my Lord......'but how can I  save Isreal? my clan is the weakest in Manasseh,and I am least in my family.'Your background is no hindrance in relation to the call of God, many of God's sevants came from a poor background.William Carey was a cobbler by trade and God used him mightly in India.Next Jeremiah ,when God called him,he said a similar thing as Moses, but he also said ,'I am to young' ( Jeremiah 1 v 6) one of the greatet minister in England was C H.Spurgeon, he became a minister at 19. God said to Moses,'I will be with you( Exodus 3 v12) God said to Gideon ,'I will be with you' (Judges 6 v16) God said to Jeremiah ,'I am with you'( Jeremiah 1 v 8).When God calls us to His service,He will be  with us.

9

0

New sight. ( Psalm 146 v 8 )

 A dear friend of mind recently had a cataract operation,a cataract is a clouding of the  lens of the eye, he mentioned  the tremendous improvement in his sight.He could see things so much better,sight  is a very precious gift.Our Saviour healed the blind ,it is hard to take it in how they must have felt.Now there is another type of blindness that is spiritual blindness,our Saviour called the religious leaders blind guides Matthew 23 v19.and speaking of the non-Christian  the apostle Pual writes that they walk  in the futility of their mind,having their understanding darkened,being alienated  from the life of God , because of the ignorance that is them, and the blindness of their hearts',John Newton wrote that he was once blind ,but now he could see.When Christ becomes your Saviour,you see things with new sight and new  understanding ,George Robinson wrote ,'Heaven above is softer blue,earth around is sweeter green something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen; birds with gladder songs o'erflow,flowers with deeper  beauties shine,since I know as now I know, I am His and He is mine' Yes when Christ becomes our Saviour we see things change.We see Christ as he truly is, we see the importance of  obeying God,we see the importance of  walking in newness of life, we see that God's will must always take first place in our lives.

                                                     'I once was blind but now I see'

We all underestimate. ( Romans 3 v 23)

 The more I read the history of the 20th century,and the terrible wars that took place,it really makes me think how true what the word of God says about human nature.It is summed up in 10 words,hear they are', 'The heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately wicked'.(Jeremiah 17 v 9) There is a line that follows these words,which reads,'Who really knows how bad it is?' I catch a glimps of the wickedness of my own heart so often, and I must confess it frightens me, I read of a soldier who wrote a letter to his loved ones, in it he wrote of the love for his family,and eulogised of the beauty of a sunset. Then he went on to describe how he participated in a massacre of many civilians during which he clubbed a baby against a tree'.Because of our fallen nature we all can commit things that our unthinkable.I mentioned before that I and a number of boy soldiers,listened to an adult soldier, boasting how he and another friend raped two women,I thought he was a nice person,but but he showed no awareness of the evil he had committed.Our fallen nature manifests itself in different degrees, but we all need to be saved ,God who is holy is offended by any degree of sin,there are no exceptions ,without Christ saving you, you will suffer the wrath of God just as much as that soldier I have mentioned.

Hope beyond. ( Revelation 21 v 1 -5 )

  We're born,we live, and we die, so that's it?,for most people that's it, but of course we were never meant to die,but the moment sin entered in ,death entered ,in Romans 5 v12 we read,'Therefore ,just as sin entered the world through  one man,and death through sin,and in this way death came to all people, because all have sinned'.I spoke to a man recently, I brought death into the conversation,I asked him what happens when you die,he pointed downwards,I said to him it does'nt have be ,trust the Saviour and it will be upwards. As a minister I have to remind people about death ,I know that man didn't want to hear about death,but it is important that he did hear,not just about death,but after death. He pointed down,he may have indicating that was it,but of course its not ,there is a heaven and there is a hell,that's something else he didn't want to hear,like most people,and sad to say most preachers don't mention it.Why ? that's a good question.  I visited two dear Christians,both are very elderly,the man had  Parkinson,he has died since ,his dear wife is wheelchair bound.None of  it is very nice,in my prayer time  I wept for them,Yet during the visit  to them I read from Revelation 21,it speaks of eternal glories,how God will be wth them,and that God will wipe away  all tears,and there will be no more death or mournng or crying or pain, for all those things will have passed away'.What a wonderful  word of  comfort,to God's children,yes there is hope beyond the awfulness of death,when you trust Jesus as your Saviour.

This far the Lord has helped us. ( I Samuel 7 v 2-14 )5

                                                             Psalm 37 v 25.

                                           'I have been young and now I am old,

                                           yet I have never seen the righteous

                                           forsaken or their children begging 

                                           bread.'

Here we have David and he is old, and this is what he testifies,that he has never seen the righteous forsaken,or  their children begging bread. Of course there will be exceptions when God's children will know hardships and difficulties,but they will not be forsaken.Whither it be fair weather or stormy weather God  will never forsake them.As regards our needs God will provide,that is my experience, I have mentioned a time when my first wife and I lived by faith,when we attended college ,God supplied our needs.During that time I told a lady how we were living ,and she said we were begging,but we weren't, I never in my life begged of anybody, nor has any of my children. God  honoured our faith and our needs were met.If we read Davids life we see that there were two times that he asked people for help ,the first one was of the priest Ahimelek (1 Samuel 21) the second one was when he asked Nabal(1 Samuel 25). We should not box ourselves into a corner,sometimes it is permissible to go to someone for help, sometimes God would be using  you to test them,to see if they will give. God is faithful and will provide for  his peoples needs,and His chilldrens needs,

                                             'Begone unbelief ! my Saviour 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

 ,