We don't know ( Matthew 25 v 1-13)

 One of the things the apostle Paul had to deal with in his letter to the church in Thesslonica,was their concern for those who had died,What had happened to them? Are they alright?shall they see them again?.This was in connection to the coming of the Lord,some say Paul was expecting Christ to come  back in his life time,but there is no real evidence for that.The Lord made it clear that only God the Father knows when Christ will come again,( Acts 1 v7).There are other referances as  regards not knowing when Christ is coming CP Matthew 24 v36-51.What our Saviour taught as regards His coming that we are to live in the light of it, which could happen anytime. Many years ago an elderly believer said to me that the Lord was coming back before he died,dont be fooled by anyone forecasting when He is coming again.The JWs have done this a number of times,we must not be like them,or the believers in 1000 A,D who had as John Stott puts it 'eschological excitement' or 'Parousia hysteria' .

                                                            'Even so,come,Lord Jesus'  

                                                                   Revelation22 v 22..

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Last words (Psalm 23 v 4)

 Often in ages past when a godly man was about to die,people would crowd round to hear his last words,here are a few examples.John Knox,'Live in Christ,die in Christ,and the flesh need not fear death.Dietrich Bonhoeffer,'This may seem to be the end of me,but its just the beginning.John Wesley,'The best  of all, God is with us,farewell,farewell.I turn to my favourite the word of the greatest of the apostles,Paul, he was about to die a martyrs death and this what he wrote I will not comment on them,let them speak for themselves,

                                                          'I have fought the good fight,

                                                           I have finished the race,

                                                           I have kept the faith'

                                                              (2 Timothy 4 v 7)

                                           

Holiness ( Hebrews 12 v14)

 For God did not call us to be impure,but to live a holy life, ( 1Thessalonians 4 v7)what does that men? ,it means living as God wnts us to live,we have to take that very serious.We are not justified by the keeping of the law but we are called to have a moral qaulity to our lives.Paul continually tells us the  means where  by we can be saved,when we trust  Christ ,that should  mean ,repenting of our sins, leaving the old life,in fact dying to our old life.That is what we are declaring when we are baptized,going under the water symbolises dying to our old sinful life,and coming up out of the water symbolises our newness of life. (Romans  6 v 1-4) Peter writing of those who have escaped the corruption of the world when they trusted Christ and  goes back on that ,suffer consquences and likens them unto a  dog retuning to its vomit,and a sow that is washed returning to her wallowing in the mud'( 2 Peter 2 v 20 - 22) Psalm 23 v 3 speaks of being lead in the paths of  righteousness.For the Christian we do not do, what everyone else is doing,no we live the life  that Christ wants us to live,a life of holiness,that is different from the worlds. John writes to the believers telling them if we claim to be without sin we decieve ourselves and the truth is not in us( 1Jn1v8) Yes we will sin at times,bit we will not walk in sin  (1 Jn v18) It was Murry McCheyne who prayed ,'Lord make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made'

Side affects ( Romans 3 v11 -23)

I started smoking when I was young say about 13yrs ,most people smoked in those days,why did I start smoking? I don't know.I even smoked a pipe when I got older.I remember when I had my first alcoholic drink when I was 14-15yrs ,why ?possible made one feel grown up.With smoking and alcohol there are dangers they can become addictive and cause destructive health problems. I'm sure we all know people  whose lives have been ruined by smoking and alcohol,think how many people have been killed by drunken drivers. On the cigarette pack there are graphic warnings,but still people smoke.Likewise alcohol  is said to be ,'a slow posion;,affecting our liver and can even cause piles, strokes and hullucinations,if it gets a hold of you ,you can literally drink oneself to death.Why do people appear to ignor the warings? but they do. The greatest killer and destuctive thing in the world is sin, not just in the here and now, but in the here after,The word of God teaches us the terrible consquences of sin,our Saviour talked about being a slave of sin (John 8v 34),billions are slaves to sin ,but He also said,'So if the Son sets you free,you will be free indeed (John 8 v36) Do you want to be free from sin and its awful  consquences? ,turn to Jesus.trust Him as your Saviour.

The greatest gift ( 1 Peter 1 v18-19)

 I recently received a lovely birthday present  from one of my sons,an actual painting not a print,while a  print can be lovely,an actual painting has something special about it.I am aged 82 so I have recieved many gifts during my lifetime,cars,books the list could go on.A dear lady left me 500 pound in her will,and when my first wife died a friend sent me some money that helped a great deal,and so I could go on.  Recently I  I told a lady that the most important prayer we can praywas,'God be merciful to me a sinner'.Now let me tell you the greatest gift one can receive is 'The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Romans 6 v23).Consider who gives us this gift,God,why would He give such a gift?the answer is,because He loves us (John 3v16),no one is worthy of such a gift.In Romans5 v8 we read,'But God commendeth His love toward us,in that,while we were yet sinners,Christ died for us'.It is a free gift so many people believe their good works can get them to heaven, they can't  (Ephesians 2v 8-9).None of us deserve it, all we deserve is God's judgement,if we neglect this Gift ,we can expect no mercy,which means we will experience eternal damnation,

No boasting, (Ephesians 2 v8-9)

  Titus 3 v 5 reads,'He saved us,not because of righteous things we had done,but because of unrighteous things we have done, but beause of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.Consider those words as regards salvation,God rules out completly any works of righteousness,any. In Matthew 7 v 21-23,our Saviour tells that on Judgement day there will be those who will call him Lord  and will say they had prophesized,cast out demons,and performed  miracles,in His name,and they will be rejected.What they done was only a cover up,they worked outside the will of God the Father,and were considered evil doers.Salvation only comes  by God's grace when a person truly repents of their sin and seeks Jesus as their Saviour.Matthew Henry writes,'Grace will bring a man to heaven without  working miracles,but working miracles will never bring a man to heaven without grace'. Miracles ,prophesying has nothing to with our salvation absolutely nothing,but grace and mercy has everything to do with it.There will be no boasters in heaven (Ephesians 2 v 9) A hymn by James M. Gray sums it up.

                                                   'Naught have I gotten but what I received

                                                   Grace hath bestowed it since I believed

                                                   Boasting excluded, pride I abase,

                                                   I'm only a sinner saved by grace'

The need is great ( John 4 v 35)

     In Psalm 10 v 4 we read of the wicked,'God is not in all his thoughts'and in Romans 3 v 10 - 11 we read,'There is no one righteous,not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God'.These words  appear very extreme,but there not,Most people keep God out of there lives,I look everywhere and I see how many people are well off ,but I can guarantee,they never thank God for His many blessings.The vast majority of people never thank God for the food they eat,they live lives that God is not allowed to intrude ,there national anthem is I did it my way.When they die  they are taken away to be cremated and there ashes come back in a box.It  may be grim what I am saying ,and it is,no .matter how nice people are they show by their lives ,and actions that they are sinners,and it won't get any better (2Tim 3 v13). What is the answer? God is the answer,who else? only He  can change humanity ,what part as Christians do we play in it,first of all we must recognise that this is a spiritual battle ,and it must be fought using God's mighty weapons,not worldly weapons (2 Corinthians 10 v 4).I'm sure we all as Christians need to repent,to pray,to witness,the need of the hour is great ,mulitudes stand a breath away from Hell. their souls will spend  eternity in an eternal lostness,they need a Saviour that Saviour is Jesus.

When the storm pass-es by. ( Isaiah 43 v1-2)

                                                           'Till the Storm passed By'  (Words by Mosie Lister) 

                                       'In the dark of the midnight  have I oft hid my face,

                                       while the storm howls above me and there's no hiding place;

                                       Mid the crash of the thunder,precious Lord hear my cry

                                                     Keep me safe 'til the storm pass-es  by.

                                        Many times Satan whispered,''There is no need to try,

                                        For there's no end of sorrow,there's no hope by and by!''

                                        But I know Thou art with me,and tomorrow l'll rise

                                                   Where the storms never darken  the Skies.

                                        When the long night has ended and the storms come no more,

                                        Let me stand in Thy presence on that bright ,peaceful shore;

                                        In that land where the temptest never comes, Lord ,may I 

                                                     Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by.

                                      

                      

Tust in the Lord (Proverbs 3 v 5-6)

I wouldn't want to undermind  your belief in,wait for it,technology,the god of technology, this is a true story.I, had an appointment for the hospital,but I couldn't drive to it, because I was having a procedure done to my eyes  ,so I asked my wife to drive me.She was a bit anxious,she suggested we do a dummy run,so we did,and of course we had the faithful sat nav,we put in the post code,and off we went,we also prayed,so nothing should go wrong.Well we followed its instruction, and we were getting nearer,until things went wrong,it kept taking us round  in a circle,in the end we give up and drove home.Yes technology failed us but did God fail us?,we did pray,so why did we not find our way?,that's were trust comes in,because I know he loves us,I know there must be a reason,don't be quick to judge God,even though you have prayed,and it hasn't happened,just trust Him.I have prayed for many things,I didn't always get what I prayed for,thank goodness,the providence of God is a great mystery.

                                                               'Trust in the Lord'

They were lost ( Luke 19 v10)

My wife is self employed and she works with the elderly,recently she told me,how when she was doing some cleaning in a persons home,she found a gold ring.She took it to the old lady who was delighted, and she said, she had been looking for it for 2yrs.It reminded me of what our Saviour taught in Luke 15,of a shepherd who found a lost sheep,and a woman who found a lost coin,and a father who got back a lost son. He told  this to some very religious people who had criticised Him because he mixed with people who they considered  sinners.Yes they were sinners and indeed  lost sinners,those religious people could only see sinners,to be ostracised,only fit for hell.Jesus could see them as people who needed to be found and brought back to God,how do you look at so  called bad people?do you look at them with the eyes of the religious people?,or with the eyes of Christ?

                                         'O teach me what it meaneth, That cross uplifted high,

                                         With one, the Man of Sorrows,Condemned to bleed and die,

                                          O teach me what it cost Thee, to make a sinner whole;

                                          And teach me, Saviour,teach me, the value of a soul.'

                                                                Words   Lucy A. Bennett.

                                         

Death (Ephesians 2 v 1-10)

 Our Saviour said,' Man shall not live by bread alone,but on every word that comes from the mouth of God' ( Matthew 4v4) He is not saying we shouldn't eat of course we need to eat,our bodies need food.But we are not just a physical being,we have a soul,and that needs fed.Our Saviour always pointed us beyond the physical,when Jesus told a religious leader ,that we need to be born again (John 3 v 3)He thought he was talking about a physical birth,of course he didn't mean that.He meant a spiritual rebirth. Every human being born is without God,in other words we are not connected to God spiritually.When Adam and Eve sinned they died spititually (  Gen 2 v17 /Ephesians 2 v1/ Romans 5 v12) 'Dying is separation from God.That separation occurred the very moment when man by his disobedience broke the bond of love.If physical death ultimately closes the experience,that is not the most serious aspect of the whole affair.The more serious is the inner spiritual separation.(Loupold) After the  commission of sin man stepped upon the road to death'(Oehler )

The church ( Revelation 7 v 9)

Pual and his  companions visited Thessalonica in  AD49 or 50 it is still in exsistence and is the second most important city in Greece. As  Paul often did he went to a Jewish synagogue and there he had opportunity to preach the gospel,a number of the Jews responded,and also a number of God -fearing Greeks and a few prominent women.But is often the case the Jews stirred up a mob and started a riot.It was so bad that the believers sent them away.The Jews  continued to harass them so they moved on,inspite of this a church came into being.In many places in the world today churches are coming into place, in Iran,Nepal,let us remember what Jesus said,'I will build my church,and the gates of Hell will not overcome it'.(Matthew 16 v 18) We live in a world that is opposed to God and his gospel, false religions, atheistic goverments,and so the list goes on.Samuel J.Stone wrote ,'Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed,By schisms rent asunder,by heresies distressed',that is true  but let us rest on the word of Christ,'I will build my church'

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Judging others, ( Matthew 7 v 1-6)

Our Saviour said ,'Do not Judge,this is on a personal level,of course we need Judges in our courts to administer justice.Matthew Henry wrote the following,'We must judge ourselves,and judge our own acts, but we must not judge our brother. We mus not sit in the judgement seat,to make our word a law to everybody.We must not despise him,nor treat him with comtempt.We must not judge rashly.We must not judge uncharitably,unmercifully,nor with the spirit of revenge,and a desire to do mmischief. We must not jufge the hearts of others,nor their intentions,for it is God's prerogative to try the heart. Nor must we judge of their eternal state. William Barclay writes the following,'There is hardly anyone who has not ben guilty of some grave misjudgment; there is hardly anyone who has not suffered from someone else's misjudgment. and yet the strange fact is that there is hardly any commandment of Jesus which is more consistently brokn and neglected'

The human factor. ( Romans 3 v 23/ 6 v 23)

 I love watching sport on TV,I watch golf if Rory Mcllroy is playing,it is wonderful how skilled the top golfer are,yet it amazes me to see them missing a very short put.The next sport I like is snooker ,I used to play it many years ago,now I just watch it on ,yes TV, you see tremendous skill in players potting the balls,but again as in golf,they miss the easiest of balls.Last one is football ,I used to play that when I was young now I'm a couch potato watching it on TV,and like the two previous sports we see players making big mistakes,missing open goals. It raises the question why?,my answer is it's the human factor,that's why those things happen. So it is we are not capable of not sinning,no matter how much we try,there are no sinless people living on planet earth.The nicest people sin ,the most holy people sin,it's the human factor,that is why we need a Saviour,everyone needs a Saviour ,and that Saviour is Jesus,He is the one exception he never sinned,and that is very important,for on the cross he died that our sins could be forgiven,the sinless one dying for sinners.

                                                           'He took my sins and my sorrows,

                                                           He made them His very own;

                                                          He bore the burden to Calvary,

                                                          And suffered ,and died alone. (Words C.H.Gabriel)

Coveting. (Exodus 20 v 3-17)

We don't hear much about the commandments,so it ws good that our pastor chose to speak on one,the last one, 'You shall not covet your neighbour's house.You shall not covet your neighbour's wife,or his mail or female servant,his ox or donkey,or anything that belongs to your neighbour' (Ex 20 v17) I thought I don't want anyone's donkey of course not,but to the people in biblical times a donkey would have been a valuable asset,it still is in some countries.The word anything is in that commandment,so it involves anything that belongs to someone else,it is not only wrong it is a sin,David coveted his neighbours wife and run with that ,and committed adultery, ( 2 Samuel 11),that was two sins Ex 20 v14,and then he had the womens husband murdered ,that's three sin's he committed Ex20 v 13.You may think I can understand adultery,and murder being a sin,but coveting it's only a thought,yes but it's a sinful thought,and that is a sin.Jesus said in Mt 5 v 28,'But I tell you that anyone who  looks on  a woman lustfully has already committed  a adultery in his heart  . Because these commandment are in the OT doesn't mean they don't apply now, they do, all of them,and that is why we need our sins forgiven, and that's why we need Jesus,that our sins may be forgiven.

A crossless Christ ( Galatians 6 v 14)

Every year at  a football final they sing the hymn ,'Abide with Me',it was written by an Anglican minister called H.F.Lyte. He lived in the 19th century,most of his life he suffered from ill health,before he died he wrote that hymn.It is a solemn hymn  emphasising the abiding presence of the Lord through life and into death. Im surprised some hymn books leave a particular verse out which reads,

                                                 'Hold Thou thy cross before my closing eyes

                                                  Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies,

                                                  Heaven's morning break and earth's vain shadows flee

                                                  In life,in death,O Lord, abide with me'.

There are millions of people who believe in a crossless Christ, their Christ is but a prophet, they don't have a Saviour,they are taught that they don't need a Saviour,all they have do is to be obedient to their God. It is a tragedy of monmental proportion ,in doing that they shut themselves out of an eternal place in heaven and condemn thenselves to an eternal place in hell.Over 700yrs before Christ came the prophet Isaiah wrote of one who would bear the sin of many,that means he would suffer the wrath of God,so that if we trust Him we would not bear the wrath of God.Do read Isaiah 52 v 13-15/53.and if you trust Him,your sins will be forgiven,your life will be changed,and your destination will be changed,for the better.

                                                  

A sudden death ( Proverbs 27 v1 )

A young girl suddenly died who attended our church,I had a conversation with her the Sunday before  she died,there was no indication that she was suffering from any serious illness.So there was a degree of shock and sadness when I heard of her death .She was a fine Christian and was involved in the church,and was well liked one can't imagine the loss and pain her parents are feeling.A Dr Morey has written a number of things about death,' Science may make many discoveries,but it will never conquer death'. When God created man and woman they were sinless and perfect and that meant they would never die.They were told not to eat the fruit of certain a tree,if they did they would die,they disobeyed,and so death came into being CP Romans 5v12'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 sinned.' Dr Morey writes that death is not natural, normal or human,death is terrible and unnatural ripping the soul out of man's body.Man was made to live not to die'.But thats not the end, our soul will never die,and the question is this, where will we spend eternity?, will it be heaven or will it be hell?.That young girl is in heaven not hell because she trusted Jesus to be her Saviour , John 3 v 15 reads,'That who believeth in Him should not perish ,but have etrrnal life'.

Are you listening?. ( Romans 1 v 18-20)

In Simon and Garfunkel's song there is a line that reads,'People hearing without listening',  psalm 19  commences,'The heavens declare the glory of God,and the skies proclaim the work of his hands',it goes on to say,'Day after day they pour forth their speech, they use no words,no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into the ends of the earth,' Yes there are many many things that don't literally speak to us that don't have an actual voice.like creation and yet it speaks to us of our creator God,unfortionately people can look at creation admire it,and there it stops,they rob God of His glory,attributing to it just all happened,they are deaf to the voice of creation.Not only that they are looking and not seeing,in doing that they give evidence as to their blindness and their deafness spiritually.Paul says it has severe consequences spiritually,in fact they are with out excuse (Romans 1 v 20),and will be judged accordingly.

                                                         ' Only God can make a tree'  

God first ( John 21 v 15)

This famous quote is from Shakespeare's Henry V111 play spoken by Cardinal Wolsey after falling from the King's favour,'It expresses regret for dedicating his life to political power rather than God admitting: 'Had I but served my God with half the zeal,I served my King,he would not in mine age,have left me naked to mine enemies'.The king became first in Wolsey's life and he served him well,but the king had a short memory,so he fell out of favour,and he was summoned to appear before the king,and more than likely the king was have him executed,but before that happened he died a natural death,in a way that could be seen as a mercy.Sad to say many people yes even children of God, and their lament will be,'if only I had put  God first,if only.If we put God first then everything will fall in place. Here is what our Saviour said,'Seek first his kingdom  and His righteousness,and all things will be given to you as well' (Matt 6 v 33)

We are not worthless ( Ephesians 2 v 1- 10)

 We are told that we were made in God's image, Dr Morey writes as regards this, 'that it simply means that man reflects his creator in certain capacities and capabilities which separate him from the rest of the creation'.Thay may be part of it,John Calvin takes it to mean,'that the chief seat of the Divine image was in his mind and heart,where it was eminent'.But now although some obscure lineaments of that image are found remaining in us; yet are they so reduced and mained,that they may truly be said to be destroyed'. Be that as it may there is something in man,that tells us that although we are not worthy, we are not worthless,in God's eyes. Yes we are siinners with a fallen nature,that manifests itself  in so many awful ways,the list is endless,all of us are ungodly sinners indeed enemies of a holy God. Yet inspite of our sinfulness God concieved a plan,a redemptive plan,to save us( Ephesians 1 v4) ,it was a plan of love ( John 3 v16) for a world that didn't love Him.Jesus the Saviour of the world died on a cross taking the punishment for our sins,He offers us salvation,if we but turn to Him and accept Jesus and we will be forgiven all of our sins.

                                                      'Amazing grace! how sweet the sound

                                                       That saved a wretch like me!

                                                       I once was lost,but now am found:

                                                       Was blind but now I see.'  ( John Newton)