Only Jesus [ John 14 v 6 ]

Today I witnessed to a man, about trusting Jesus, but as usual he said the same old thing how he would trust in his goodness and in a God of love. Now we have been thinking about Gods perfect plan, as the only plan God will accept,in Matthew 22v 11-14 we have a parable of the guest who neglected to wear the garment provided for him by the king, the result was he was cast out into outer darkness. People must take serious that only Gods solution will cause them to be accepted by a Holy God, if we fail to accept it , or as most people do, refuse to accept it, like that man I witnessed to today, then make no mistake, they will not be accepted. Gods perfect plan removes sin and clothes us with Christs righteousness[ 1 Corinthians 1 v 30] ,and so enables God to have a personal relationship with the crown of His creation.

N.L. Von Zinzendorf wrote the following.
Jesus Thy blood and righteousness,
My beauty are, my glorious dress,
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I left up my head.

This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years,
No age can change its glorious hue,
The robe of Christ is ever new.

Prayer [ Dear God help us to cease from self ,and trust Your perfect plan for our salvation ,
Jesus Your perfect Son. Amen ]

Gods perfect plan. [ John 3 v16 ]

We continue to consider, God the Holy One, and man the sinful one,this created a terrible dilemma,for God, for I believe God created man in order to have fellowship with Him. Because of sin, true and meaning or lasting fellowship could not take place, and yet God still desired it.Before the problem could be resolved thousands of years must pass,and all the time God was pursuing man. Although mankind messed things up time and time again, and although God had to deal with mankind, He never give up on man, or stopped loving them. Inspite of mans condition and sinful behaviour, God had a plan, a perfect plan so audacious ,so beyond anything that man could have thought up.This perfect plan,would be accomplished by the only perfect man, Jesus,and so it came to pass, it took place on a cross ,and on that cross God was reconciling the world unto Himself [2 Corinthians 5 v 19 ], we will consider this further next time. [ Dear God we praise You for the wisdom , the mercy, and the love manifested, in Your perfect plan of salvation, in Jesus name. Amen ]

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 ]