The Christian Passover. (Isaiah 53 )

 One of the first things the Jews were told to do ,was in take a lamb ,it was to become a meal for the whole family On the night of the Passover the the lamb would be killed ,cooked and eaten,and this was the vital part, the blood from the lamb would be on the tops and sides  of the doors.That night the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and struck down every firstborn,the only ones who did not suffer were those who had put the blood around their doors. Now lets move forward to the time of Christ and John the Baptist ,John sees Christ ,and he declares,''Look ,the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world'' ( John 1 v 29 )In other words Jesus would become the Christian Passover ,He would be slain and His blood would be shed ,the result would be,that all who trust in Him,and His shed blood,would not come under judgement ,for judgement is coming ( Hebrews 9 v 27 ). We must takes this serious, God must and will judge sin,but He has made away out for all,by Jesus bearing the judgement for sin on the cross ,and shedding His precious blood.

The Passover. ( Exodus 12 )

Every year the Jewish people celebrate the Passover, a remembrance feast that reminds them of the time when ancient Israel, were delivered from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. It is in the New Testament we have these words written,'Christ ,our Passover Lamb , has been sacrificed'.( 1 Corinthians 5 v 17 ) .Both events speak of deliverance,one speaks of deliverance from slavery,The  first one reminds the Israelites of the physical slavery,were they endured great hardship from their cruel Egyptian masters.The second Passover reminds us of our slavery from sin,  we are all sinners,and whosoever committed sin is a slave of sin ( John 8 v 34 ).On the night of the Passover in Egypt a lamb had to be slain  and the blood painted on the the door frames of their homes, The other Passover the Christian one includes the sacrifice of a person, Jesus,the lamb of God who would deal with sin.(John 1 v 29).The first Passover reminded people of a people who were slaves,and how God saved them ,they had to obey Him and how he instructed them. We will consider this next time.

Old Sins ( Hebrews 7 v 25 )

In one of the episodes of Poirot  the Belgium detective ,he is heard saying, ''Old sins cast long shadows'', so true. Consider that sin in Eden a long time ago indeed ,that sin still casts a long shadow  over this present time.The shadow of death ,of sickness,of sinful behaviour lies heavy on us all at times,but it does not have to be that, for Christ is a Saviour,if we ask him he can save us.In Hebrews 7 v 25 ,we read,' He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him.' No matter how long  a shadow your sin is,Jesus can forgive you and set you free from it.

Money ( Matthew 25 v 31 - 48 )

A famous footballers mother became upset when she heard how much he was being paid,but her son said to her,''mother ,as long as I am receiving the money I will make sure that I will use it for good. It is not wrong to be rich  it is what one does with the money we have. That goes not only for the very rich but for all of us,we are all responsible as to what we do with our money.Jesus said the poor we will have with us always,could that be that God has planned it that way in order to test us, to see what we will do.

Money ( James 1 v 9 - 11 )

I like football,when I was young I played for a team, and even help manage a young team,football has changed or should I say the rewards for playing for top teams have escalated.People are earning what amounts to a kings ransom,many people feel that this is immoral even obscene,the question is it?, I think that attitude is a bit hypocritical ,when millions of people do the lottery , a couple have just won over a 100 million pounds,.Is it wrong to be rich ?,should we give all our saving away,no,but it could  be  that because of our wrong attitude towards  money we may be challenged by God to give it away. The word of God tells   us that the love of money is the root of  all evil ,( 1 Timothy 6  v 10) the result is in their eagerness for money they have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with may griefs.Our Saviour told us,''No one can serve two masters,Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. ( Matthew 6 v 24 )

Not a good luck charm. ( Psalm 48 v 14 )

I ask myself how have I survived till now?,I am 75, by chance?,good fortune?,or was a greater power looking after me?. Now of course does that mean that if I had died earlier, God was not looking after me?.  I was a premature baby,how did I survive, my mother had a baby after me,he died shortly after birth.Why did I escape drowning when I was a young lad?,well so we go on asking questions,I am a child of God,I believe there are no second causes,only God. That does not mean to say I have not had difficulties,disappointments, there are those who blindly teach and proclaim a health and wealth Christianity,and ignore what the word of God teaches,as regards suffering,of course there Christianity comes with a price tag on it, paid for by their deluded followers.Gods providence leads in different paths,it is Peter Lewis who comments,'God is our deliverer but he is not a good luck charm, He gives us protection,but not  immunity,hope in trouble,but not freedom from trouble'

Evil (2 Timothy 4 v 1 )

Writing on the problem of evil Peter Lewis wrote the following,' Always it is always God who  is central . Evil is not ultimate, inevitable or final. The first and last word is with God'.When one thinks of the evil that has been perpetrated,in the past, the evil that is being perpetrated,and will be perpetrated,it appears there is no end to it.We cant even begin to write the list of types of evil that humanity is guilty of,it appears sometimes that evil is on the throne.It must appear to many people that evil does have the last word,but no, there is a sovereign God ,who will have the first and last word.. For evil whatever way it is dressed up ,is sinful,and God will be heard,will be seen,and most definitely will deal with all sin,yes the final and last word is always with God.