Conversion. [ Luke 15 v 11 - 32 ]

Following our theme of mans condition, and its consquences,we move on to consider the Biblical doctrine of conversion. In 1 Thessalonians 1v 9, the apostle writes , how these Christians had turned to God ,from idols to serve the living and true God. This is an example of conversion , Vine puts it , a turning about' and a turning to, it is an about turn,turning from ones sinful life,a forsaken of ones sinful ways, true conversion will start at the foot of the cross,where we seek forgiveness, by accepting Jesus as saviour,then we follow Him ,in a life of holiness and obedience. It is Vine who declares,/Divine grace is the efficent cause, human agency the responding effect/. We cannot do this on our own, we need God to help us ,and this He will gladly do, for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, compare Romans 10 v 13. Here is a prayer , if you have never been converted, [Dear God have mercy upon me, forgive all my sins , save me by your grace , as I now turn to Jesus Thy son, and follow Him. Amen ]

Sins consequences. [ Romans 6 v 23 ]

Yesterday we wrote about mankinds condition, that he is a sinner, now let us consider the consequence of this. The first thing that was effected was mankinds relationship with God, no longer did a friendly relationship exsist between us, sin had caused a breech, so much so that mankind was expelled from paradise, with a death sentance hanging over them.[ GENESIS 1 V17/ 3 V 24 ] This sentence is hereditary no one escapes it, for all have sinned [Romans 3 v23 ],and in Romans 6 v23, the apostle declares ,the wages of sin is death , as Godet writes in his commentary,/ the term death does not mean the annihilation of the sinner.....it is rather to make one feel the painful consequences of sin/. Yes the painful consequence of sin, look at this world,and everywhere we see the consequences of sin, look into our own hearts and lives, if we dare, and we see the consequence of sin.[ Dear God help us not to live under any illusion as regards the consequences of sin ,for us and for this world, in Jesus name , Amen ]

Mans condition. [ Psalm 51 v 5 ]

I wonder what you think about the riots?,it was interesting to listen to a reporter on the radio, regarding a number of people who where being charged with various crimes. He mention that many had very good jobs , so why where they rioting?why become a law breaker?. Earlier that day I had been thinking over three things in my head, and the first one was mans condition ,the Bible tells us that man is a sinner,instead of accepting this, many speak of mans inherent goodness, something they are born with.If this so why do we have laws?,the fact of the matter we all break the speed limit,we all do many things contrary to mans law but all of us break God laws,by our actions, thoughts, and words,So if we see riots, and hear about crime ,and child abuse, let us remember it is part of our condition, our sinful condition, and as we will see next time ,there are consequences in relation to our condition, that are very serious. [Dear God we pray that conviction of sin may begin to sweep through our land, and our hearts, in Jesus name. Amen ]

There is victory in Jesus.[1 Corinthians 15 v 57 ]

I identify with what the apostle wrote in Romans 7, its an interesting chapter, many debate over the meaning of it, one thing for sure,as W Barclay puts it, he felt himself pulled in two directions, he knew himself to be a walking civil war. Barclay quotes the Roman poet ,Ovid,/I see the better things, and I approve them, but I follow the worse/.This drives Paul to despair, and so you have him crying out v24 /O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death./ I wonder if you feel like Paul , Are you driven in two directions ? are you filled with despair? so what can one do?, well Paul gives us the answer, v25 /I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord/.Again it is W Barclay who writes,/ The inadequacy of human knowledge, of human resolution, and the limatations of diagnosis/. He finishes by stating,/ Jesus is the one person, who not only knows what is wrong, but who can also put the wrong to rights/.[ Dear Father in heaven, grant us victory through Thy dear son Jesus . Amen ]

Dont be fooled. [ 1 Samuel 16 v 1 Samuel 16 v 16-

I found myself doing something I know I shouldnt do, judging by appearance,I should know better, but I fell into the old trap of just looking on the outward.Yet I am not the only person who does this,the media are always pushing unto us, the young and the beautiful,and of course people fall for their false and flawed reasoning. It was none other than a prophet called Samuel who made the choice of judging by appearance,and God put him right, Here is what God said,/For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Looketh on the heart [1 Samuel 16 v 7 ] . Just recently the truth of these words struck home to me ,by the terrible killing in Norway, the killer was dressed as a police man, and was very good looking, another good looking young man,battered his ex-girlfriend to death with rock. So let us not be taken in by outward appearances. [Dear God grant us that we may not be fooled by the shallow and flawed, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen ]

To heavenly minded. [ Revelation 22v12 ]

There is a saying that goes / To heavenly minded to be any earthly use/, I wonder is this true? ,what do you think?.I personally do not agree, as I look back I can think of many people whom one could say was heavenly minded, and have accomplished a lot of good, take the work of missions,they have set up schools and hospitals, and orphanages.There are so many examples of heavenly minded people doing so much earthly good,consider our Saviour, He went about doing good ,but He always had a constant vision of eternity,like Him, we are called to serve,to give, and to love others , if we are not doing this,then we are not any earthly good. [Dear God help us to live heavenly lives here on earth, in Jesus name. Amen ]


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Thomas Brookes said ,/O look upon sin now as you must look upon it in eternity/, indeed should we not consider all things in the light of eternity. I suppose it is hard to see beyond this life ,to take eternity serious , after all most of us just think about the here and now. There is a saying about some people, that they are to heavenly minded, to be of any earthly use,I dont think that this is true, if we consider history we discover many heavenly minded people, accomplished a tremendous lot of wonderfully things.Take our Saviour he accomplished so much good ,He did all He did in the light of eternity. [ Hebrews 12 v 2 ].To live with eternity in veiw is not a cop out of life ,it is in fact living life as it should be lived,with hope ,and a belief that what we do here and now,has a worth, and a value ,in the eyes of God,that will, bring eternal rewards. [Dear God help us to live in the light of eternity, and in so doing we will be following in the footsteps of our Saviour. Amen ]

The road less travelled. [ John 14 v 6 ]

Robert Frost wrote, Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I- I took the road less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. Now I am not sure what he meant,but these words remind me of what our Saviour spoke of in Matthew 7 v 13- 14.of entering , either a narrow way or a broad way, depending which one you choose , will determine your eternal destiny, Our Saviour said the many choose the broad way, a way that leads to desruction, and few choose the narow way that leads to life. In life we will make many choices, are we prepared to choose the road less travelled ,by trusting Jesus as your Saviour?,if you do it will trully make all the difference. [ Dear God help us, for so often in our blindness,we make wrong choices, help me to choose the road less travelled by trusting Jesus , who is the truth, the way, and the life. Amen ]