Do not go gentle. ( 1 Corinthians 15 )

Death we are told is our enemy,the good news one day death will die,will be no more ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 26 ),we were not created to die, our sin has caused death.There are many things one can say about death, for some it is a happy release,from an awful illness.For others it is just something that happens to everyone,for others it is filled with despair and angry.The poet Dylan Thomas wrote a poem about how one should face death, called,' Do not go gentle into the good night',each verse ends with the following lines,' Rage ,rage, against the dying of the light'.Some describe the poem as a defiant attitude towards death. I remember driving past the cemetery were my first dear wife was buried,and shaking my fist at death,not at God. I am  sure we can justly be angry at death, our enemy,but do not let us become bitter. I want to turn your thoughts to a certain  young man, a lovely young man,he is on cross,he has been flogged,beaten, mocked. Yes there he was suffering untold agony,a horrible sight,and yet even in that awful state,a beauty and nobility shown through.A thief hanging beside him, saw in that wounded ,blooded person,hope for him,of life beyond death,so he called out to him,''Jesus Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,and Jesus replied    ''Don't worry, I will.Today you will join me in paradise''.( The message ) When we put our faith in Jesus,death has not got the last say.

I don't need this ( Deuteronomy 8 v 1 - 3 )

I wonder have you ever said these words,' I don't need that'', they are words of frustration,maybe even despair,something has come into your life, and is like the proverbial,' straw that broke the camels back'. A verse in the Bible which reads,' My God shall supply your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus' ( Philippians 4 v 19 ) In context it is to do with God supplying our material needs,and often I have claimed that wonderful promise,and saw God fulfilling His word. But  what about those words ,'I don't need that',? a good question,of course we need material  needs to be met. In Deuteronomy 8 v 3 a verse our Saviour quoted when he was starving in the wilderness ( Matthew 4 v 4) it goes like this,'Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that comes from  the mouth of  God'. This verse reminds us that our needs go further than what we eat and what we wear,oh yes we do need those things. Recently I notice a food shop selling specialised  food ,it had a sign in the window which read,' Soul Food'.The only food that will feed our souls is God's word, we neglect it to our cost.

A Choice ( Luke 10 v 25 - 37 )

I  heard these words while watching a popular movie,'' We all face a choice, to choose between what is right and what  is easy'',quite provoking these words in relation to many situations. It is easy to go along with the crowd,our Saviour told a story of man who was attacked and robbed him,and left him half dead. As he lay there two religious people passed by,they saw him ,but that's all they did,yet they left him,why ?.One could speculate ,it is apparently easy to be religious,religiosity can cover a multitude of sins, consider the evil being perpetrated by religious people in Islam, but I can assure you that religious people of all different persuasions have committed  awful evils.Its not only that they choose the easy way they choose the evil way. There the man lay half dead, ,but then we read a certain Samaritan passed by, now the religious people ,and the man that was half dead were Jews,and the Jews  hated the Samaritans. It would have been easy for this Samaritan to pass by,but he didn't, he did the right thing,it seems for the many in this world it is easier to hate ,than it is to love.It is easy to justify not helping, because we consider that its their fault,maybe  it is, It may be easy to not forgive, but it is not right ,it may be easy to not witness for Jesus,instead of  making some effort to tell people  the good news. Yes we all will face a choice ,to choose between what is right, and what is easy.,you can be sure of that.

Unthinkable ( Exodus 33 v 1- 6 )

We considered how far Israel had turned from God when they choose a cow instead of Him.let me stress,  that when we act in a sinful way even as believers,there are consequences.And the consequences foe Israel was dire,disastrous and unthinkable,We move to Exodus 33 v  1- 6 , they are told by God to leave and go up to the promise land , but here is something unthinkable,God tells them He will not go with them. .Sin can  alienate us from God,and effect our relationship with Him, imagine the promised land without the presence of the Lord, Peter Lewis writes,'What would it be without the gracious presence of the Lord in our lives? God knows, but you and I may have an inkling, So when Satan offers you the golden calf of an alternative loyalty, when you are tempted to turn your back on all the kindness and grace of the One God, when you are tempted by the world to ' chuck' Christianity, remember it is a thousand times better to ' chuck' the golden calf'.

They worshiped a ( Romans 1 v 25 )

Everything was going well for Israel God had wonderfully rescued them from a lifetime of slavery,     they had witnessed the miraculous power of God,they left Egypt rich.Then once again God rescued them  by opening a path through the Red Sea, so delivering them from the Egyptian army. The Lord destroyed their enemies, God then provided  them with food and water.What more could God do ?, They eventually came to Mt Sinai, on that mountain God give them the Law.. Now Moses who had gone up the mountain to receive the law was a long time coming back,the people began to be impatient so they went to Aaron and asked him to to make them gods,so he collected their gold earrings, then melted the earrings  down into an idol in the shape of a calf,and they started to worship it.Imagine the absurdness, of exchanging God for a cow.I wonder what you may be worshipping ?,surely not a cow,or some other absurdity ,more fool you.

Two Natures. ( 1 Timothy 3 v 16 AV )

So we saw how Christ had two natures, so what does that mean?,well it means this,that sometimes ,yes most times he manifested his human nature,let me just add, His was a sinless human nature ( Hebrews  4 v 15  / 1 Peter 2 v 22 ). This is a vital truth, in relation to His death on Calvary,which was an offering for sin, for our sin ( Isaiah 53 ).So His human nature was sinless, but it had its limitations like any human being, in Matthew 24 v 36 ,our Saviour speaking of the end times,( It would be good if  some Christians would take heed to these words) ''But about that day or hour no one knows,not even the angels in heaven,nor the Son, but only the Father''.Hear Jesus is speaking  out of His human nature.There were other times He spoke out of his divine nature, such as he spoke to the thief on the cross,when He assured him,''that today he would be with Him in paradise'', ( Luke 23 v 43 )One final  thing the divine nature of Christ did not die,because God cannot die,but his human nature died.

Jesus ( Colossians 2 v 9 )

It appears to me that many Christians do not appear to realise that ,Christ had two natures,divine and human,He was after all truly God and truly man.It was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD  that they defined this truth, that Christ had two natures,now I want to quote what the Council said,I do this because it is a very important truth ,' These two natures are inconfusedly, unchangebly, indivisbly, inseparably. The two natures being by no means taken away by the union,but rather the property of each nature. Being preserved , and concurring in one person, and one substance. Not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God, the word, the Lord Jesus Christ'.As we will see tomorrow this helps in understanding,certain things that may have been puzzling us..