God's Answer. ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 30 - 31 )

Alright we have considered the problem that all mankind has to face up to ,it can be summed up in one word ,'SIN', unless sin is dealt with, the consequences are dreadful,awful in the extreme . Everybody wants to go to heaven,but the door is shut to those whose sins have not been forgiven,no matter who it is.  Now forgiveness is not something that you or I can resolve,people have by various means tried , but only God has provide the answer,and if we are to be saved from Gods wrath,we have to accept Gods answer. If  Gods justice could be satisfied ,then wrath could be removed,and sins could be forgiven,now the other problem is, we need to be provided with a righteousness ,that would enable them us to have acceptance with God. The answer for all these things would come through one person, whom we know as Jesus. By  His life , death and His resurrection ,He would fulfill,what was needed, to  save  us sinners..We will consider this more next time..

Important ( Ephesians 2 )

Yesterday we considered how law keeping ,and rule keeping,does not deal with sin,and that also includes the good things we do.L. Morris points out,''The good that people do is never a problem.It is something to be thankful about, not something people must be saved from.But sin is another thing altogether. It is a problem wherever it is found.'I have a friend who was brought up in a very religious family,he himself was very religious,obeying the church,but for all his religiosity he had no assurance that his sins were forgiven. This is the dilemma that many religious people find themselves in,and it is serious for them and for everyone.Because if our sins our not forgiven,we will have a price  to pay, ( 1 )We can never have a relationship with a holy God,  ( 2 ) We will experience God's judgement,  He is a just God,He cannot overlook sin, nor will He,have no illusions,to think otherwise is a false belief. I took a brief count as regards the word wrath is mentioned in the Bible ,and counted roughly a 170 times..Remember the OT God is the same God as is in the NT.   C  P; Romans 1 v 18/  2 v 5./v 8 ,  1 Thessalonians 1 v 10, speaks of wrath to come,these as I have pointed out  are just a few examples that are mentioned in the Bible.So as a preacher I am not making it up when I mention the wrath of God. If a person is not a Christian then the Bible tells us in John 3 v 36, that wrath abides on them.This is very serious for all ,whose sins have not been forgiven,so what is the answer,or should I say what is Gods answer?. We will consider this next time.

Irrelevant (Isaiah 64 v 6 )

Are you very religious?,go to local mosque,temple,church,you seek to keep  the laws of your religion  ?.I knew a Muslim lady who prayed the prescribed 5 times every day,and kept to the time table.She was a nice lady, often wanted to feed me,there many are nice Muslin's ,Hindu's.Jew's ,and one the nicest person's I knew was an agnostic.During this time many people are doing many nice things,nurses ,neighbors , and even strangers..Yet the Word of God tells us that we are all sinners and come short of the glory of God ( Romans 3 v 23 ) H. Moule writes,'The harlot, the liar,the murderer.are short of it;but so are you.Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of an Alp; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they'. That's a challenged to all of us especially if we are religious,and seek to keep the rules and laws of our religion,we are proud  of our religious observance ,and law keeping. But the fact is religious rule keeping,law keeping,avail us ,no standing before a holy God,none of these things can remove sin,or deal with sin. Our boasting in those things is of no value,the sin still remains,and the consequences still remain.As someone has said,'pride in all these things is the besetting sin of all religious people,no matter what their religion'. We will continue to look at this tomorrow

A Superstar? ( John 3 v 36 )

I  have never seen the musical, 'Jesus Christ Superstar', written  jointly by,Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rich, it has no spoken dialogue,and traces the last seven days of our Saviours life, seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. I am not writing to criticise it, as I have not seen or heard this musical. But as regards the title',Jesus Christ Superstar,' I would take exception,as I believe that Christ was never a superstar.He could have become that if He had gone along with what Satan said in the wilderness testing,when he offered Jesus the world and it's  glory. Jesus never came to be superstar, He came to be a Saviour,  superstars there are in plenty, but there is only one Saviour, The world is a needy place,and so often the last thing they want to hear is, that they need a Saviour, but I can assure you from experience,we all need a Saviour.Superstars soon become yesterdays people, we can name  them,but Jesus never changes,His love for you and I never changes, in spite of the fact,that like me ,you are a sinner,yes we are all without exception sinners,and who do sinners need?, Jesus,is the only one who can forgive your sins,the only one who can save you from yourself.So forget about superstars,and ask Christ into your life,now.

Fear the Lord ( Isaiah 55 v 6 - 7 )

In Romans 3 v 18, we read,'There is no Fear of God before their eyes',The context of these words is mans sinful condition,it is summed up in v 23, were we read that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.The word fear  in Romans 3 v 18,is taken from Psalm 36 v 1,it is Leon Morris who points out that it is not to be understood in the sense of reverence, but of terror.He comments by saying,'Evil doers would do well to have a healthy fear of Him, who will determine their eternal destiny,' and then he adds,'but they have none'.Jesus said,''Do not be afraid of those who kill the body  but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One ( God ) who can destroy both soul and body in hell'' ( Matthew 10 v 28 ). What have the following all in common?,'The flood,Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues in Egypt ,the wiping out of the Canaanites,the destruction of Israel by Assyria,and the Babylonians.Judah Iscariot's fate,Herod's death in Acts,Ananias and Sapphira's death,the answer is very simple,they were judgements by God. You may not fear God now ,but one day be assured you will.Seek the Lord as your Saviour while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

Darkness then light ( John 11 v 25 )

In Genesis one,we read, 'the earth was formless and empty,darkness was over the surface of the deep',to many on that day when Jesus died,it was a dark ,dark experience.Darting back to that creation event,there we have the first words that God spoke, recorded,''Let there be light''.Now shooting back to the darkness that Christs followers were experiencing ,and suddenly they heard those earth shattering words ,'He has risen''. The darkness fled dispelled by the glorious light of the resurrection,   no longer would death have the last say,the last enemy had been defeated. Dear child of God you may be facing death at this time,remember, because He lives you shall live, because He rose from the dead so will you.My dear Christian brother ,or sister,who may be grieving over the loss of a loved one,a godly mother ,father,husband,wife,child ,friend,take comfort that they are with the Lord, and one day you will be reunited with them.Remember the words spoken to those early Christians,'He has risen', and rejoice.

Take away the 'D'. ( Ephesians 6 v 10 - 20 )

We return to looking at the devil,and how he affects humanity,in relation to what Jesus said in John 8. He had  a profound effect upon the religious leaders ,He declared that their father was the devil.The devil is not mentioned these days,sometimes he is not mentioned even in Church, I don't jest ,I think he has been relegated to the category of myth by the non Christian,and by some Christians. The Bible teaches very clearly that he exists,he is a real being ,the Bible speaks of the devil and his angels ( Matthew 25 v 41 ) Both he and they are demonic, and they have great power,their activities in relation to humanity is always negative, with the desire to destroy, ( 1 Peter 5 v 8 / 2 Corinthians 4 v 4) And one thing he is good at, is lying,you have heard the saying you cant believe a word that person says,that sums up the devil.William Barclay writes, 'Every lie is begotten and inspired by the devil ,and does the devil's work'.The religious leaders who opposed Jesus had allowed the devil to blind them,to the obvious truth who Jesus was, and what he had come to do..Jesus is the Son of God,truly God,yet truly man.he is also the one and only Saviour,whom we all need,I beseech you, to not to believe the devil ,and his lies.