The Holy one. [ Isaiah 6 v1 - 8 ]

One of the great themes in the book of Isaiah is the holiness of God, A Motyer says,/ The whole of the Isaianic literature has a theology of holiness. The Holy one of Israel which occurs 25 times in Isaiah as compared to 7 times in the remainder of the O T ./The idea of holiness is I believe very hard for us to appreciate, in fact most people dont ,we are conditioned to accept moral imperfection, and we accept that nothing ,and nobodys perfect, oh yes we get shocked at certain things like child abuse,or some awful crime,but we fail to appreciate ,a holy God. Why does the book of Isaiah,put such importance on holiness?.Also why does he also emphasize mans sinfulness[ cp......1v 5-6. v18/ 6 v 5 /9 v 13ff/ 27 v9/29v13 /33v14/40 v 18-20 /47 v 10/,there are many more places in Isaiah, that stress mans sinfulness. So we have the Holy one , and man the sinful one,what is there to be done?, we will consider this next time. [ We come to you the Holy one, this fills us with dread, for we are sinful , help us to appreciate these truths, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Love so amazing. [ Romans 5 v 6 - 8 ]

Tonight we watched a movie called, Babe in the city, about a little pig , called, yes you have guessed Babe well this little pig got into a great deal of trouble. He was chased by two fierce dogs, who fancied a bit of ham on the bone,well one of the dogs gives up the chase,but the other continues to chase Babe, but he gets into difficulty and is drowning, and who should save him, yes Babe. This reminded me of a time in my life , when I stood with those who hated Jesus, and who sought to destroy Him, in my blindness ,I hated Him, didnt want Him, and would have rejoiced at His suffering, and death. I was drowning in my sin. The question is who saved me ? the answer is Jesus.and the next question is why?, because He loved me,yes me, who had grieved Him with ten thousand falls. The many waters of rebellion,of hate,and mulitude of other things, could not quench His love, so to a cross He went, to save you and I, from a fate worse than death. [Dear Lord Jesus love so amazing , so divine,shall have my soul , my life and my all Amen ]

Joy. [Galations 5 v 22-23 ]

As I have been a Christian for a long time, suddenly an old hymn from the past comes to mind like the following,/You may have the joy bells ringing in your, take the Saviour here below, take Him everywhere you go. You can have the joy bells ringing in your heart/.Now I dont know if I have the words in the right order, but the message is clear, when we know Christ, one can know joy. Being a Christian is a serious business,but there is, yes joy,the Christian life is not doom and gloom. Think of the words of Peter written to believers who were suffering, he points them to Christ.this is what he writes, You never saw Him,yet you love Him, with laughter, and singing ,and he points them to their glorious future. [1Peter 1 v 8-9 ]. Life if full of thieves ,most people want to rob God of His glory, and the believer of his joy.May the Holy Spirit fill us with that holy joy,that comes from Christ,ask the father in His name and He will grant unto you. [ Dear God fill us with that joy unspeakable, that in all things we may rejoice in our Saviour, in His name we ask this Amen ]

Friends of Jesus. [ Matthew 5 v10 -12 ]

It was said by a person called Bonhoffer, I hope I have spelt his name correctly/ I did it perfectly,and they crucified Me..... friends of Jesus will be hated to the end of time/.It seems to me that I have been praying for persecuted Christians all my Christian life,those living under communism and it is still going on, in N Korea, but it is going on in many Countries. If suffering is inevitable what should we do?, nothing,well sickness is inevitable but we fight it, so should we not fight those who are persecuting Christians?. One of the reasons it is thought that Oliver Cromwells army acted so savagely in Ireland was a rumour had reached England ,that Protestants had been murdered by Chatholics,the action by Cromwell left a terrible legacy. The way of the kingdom of God is not one of vengance, but of trusting in God and following in the footsteps of a crucified one. In Hebrews 13 v 3, we read, /Remember those in prison,as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies/. [ Dear God for those of our Christain family who are suffering have mercy,grant them grace, grant them relief , in Jesus name. Amen ]

But God. [Ephesians 2 v1- 10]

Israels history reveals a nation that continually fell into sinful ways ,they failed to be consistent, Henretta Mears writes ,/The prophet was never sent while the nation was walking in obedience/.So all those old testament prophest spoke to the nation of Israel because of their sin,with one exception Jonah was sent to a heathen nation,and is it not more remarkable that he was one of the most successful of the prophets, for they repented and were saved. In the end the nation became so corrupt that God removed them from their land ,and took them into captivity, to the land of Babylon for seventy years. They may have thought that God was harsh with them, but Jeremiah knew differently , instead of charging God with being harsh and unjust, he declares, /It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed , because His compassions fail not.[ Lamentations 3v22 ] God will deal with mankind yes in severe ways, but it is no more than we deserve, if the Lord was dealing with you and me according to our sins then we would be lost for ever.If God is chastening us because of our folly, let us not rebel ,or charge our loving God with unkindness,in the words of that old prophet , let us declare, /It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth good.[1 Samuel 3 v18 ]/. [Dear God we bow before you and acknowledge our sins ,we acknowledge that You have not dealt with us as we deserve, we praise you for your faithfulness ,and love in Thy son Jesus. Amen ]

Truth and love. [ Ephesians 4 v15 ]

It is John Stott who writes that the church grows , by truth and love, and he goes unto say, truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love, love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth.[ extracts from Gods new society ] Christians need to take heed to these words, one of the saddest aspects of church history is the cruelty perpetrated on those whom the chursh authorities considered unorthodox. In his book ,Reformation, Diarmaid MacGulloch, writing of the conflict in France in the 16th centuary says, that one of the features of French persecution had been that those who were about to be burned had their tongues cut out first. He goes on to write how Catholics butchered people.Hopefully such things will not happen again , but let us learn to hold the truth in love. [Dear God help us to hold fast ,to the truth, to not compromise with those who are in error,but let us hold to the truth in love, in Jesus name. Amen ]

No, know alls. [ 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 - 31 ]

In his book, Does God believe in Atheists?, by John Blanchard [I would commend this book highly to you, dont be put of by its size,it is well researched ,and is full of much that is of great worth, and it is not hard to read ] ,he quotes a Peter Atkins who said,/ Use your brains- the most wonderful in the universe- and through your brains you will you will find you do not need God. There is no necessity for God because science can explain everything/. What an unthought out statement , borne out of pride and arrogance, yes we realize that science knows a lot, but to say science can explain everything, it is simply not true. Why is it the more we know, the less we seem to know, as regards knowing it all, we descover that there are no, know it alls.It was Job who declared ,/ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things to wonderful for me, which I did not know[ Job 42 v 3 ] Here is a statement of humility , Job acknowledges his limatations, and if we are honest , we are no different. The greatest knowledge we can ever know is a true knowledge of God , and that knowledge can only come through faith in Jesus. [ Dear God forgive us for our arrogance and blind pride, and in thy mercy reveal yourself to us in Jesus name Amen ]