Death shall die ( 1 Corinthians 15 )

 John Dunne was born in the 16th century during the reign of Queen Elizabeth,in his latter years he became dean of St. Paul's,he is remembered as being a poet of note,he wrote those words,'No man is an Island'.I happened upon a verse of another poem he wrote,the poem it is called,'Death be not proud', Bear with the English,the punch line at the end is wonderful,  'Death, be not proud though some have called thee,mighty and dreadful,for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,die not,poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me. From  rest and sleep, which but thou pictures be, Much pleasure,then from thee much more must flow;And soonest our best men with thee do go -  Rest of their bones and souls' delivery. Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison,  war, and sickness dwell, And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well ,And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we  wake eternally;And  Death shalt be no more, Death thou shalt die.' In Revelation  20 v 14,we read,'Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire.'

Truth Unchanging ( 3 John v 4 )

We have been considering Hebrews 13 v 8 .'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever',P'E.Hughes writes,'If Jesus Christ is unchanging, so also is the truth concerning him, with the consequence that there can be no place for differing and discordant doctrines.In Christ we have the completion as well as the source of faith.' There are  things, as Christians , we will differ on,secondary things,but there are truths,doctrines that we are expected to hold fast to.Truth is of the utmost importance,the belief in the Trinity, that God is one God, but three coeternal consubstantial persons,the Father,the Son( Jesus Christ)and the Holy Spirit- as 'one God in three Divine persons' The incarnation of Jesus, ,one who was truly man and truly God,his sinlessness, his death on the cross as a sacrifice for sin,his bodily  resurrection,and his ascension to heaven and his return to judge the quick and the dead..We could also mention hell,and that all who have not had their sins forgiven, by trusting in Christ,will be condemned to that awful place for eternity.There are many other truths I could mention,and in my daily notes I do write on them,we must hold fast to God's truths,they are unchanging,beware of ignoring this.( Revelation 22 v 18 - 20 )

He never changes. ( Malachi 3 v 6 )

 Let us continue on about change, in Hebrews 13 v 8,we read,' Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever'.Unlike us, Jesus did not have a fallen nature,he was sinless.That qualified him to become our Saviour, P.E.Hughes writes that in Hebrews 13 v 8,we see the unfailing reliability of him who is our Saviour.These words were written about 2000 years ago,but they are telling us that here and now in 2020, our Saviour has not changed. There is a song ,sung by the great Nat King Cole,call ,'When I fall in love', and  it goes unto read,'it will be forever',when most people get married, that's what they want,but as the song goes unto say,that for many ,'love ends before its begins,and that to many moonlight kisses ,seem to cool in the warmth of the sun'.The unchanging Christ ,loves  his children with a love that will never change.Also he will always help us, that will never change. When we are told that Jesus does not change, we are being told that he is divine,he is God,it is  called immutability,and that this can be only said of God. So we worship Him who is our wonderful Saviour,and rejoice in his unchangeableness.

Change ( 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 - 11 )

 I remember when I was young my uncle asked this question,'What is everything doing?' I said growing old'.I wonder is everything changing?,I know I am,change is part of life, for all creatures ,life changes ,society changes.The industrial revolution changed human history,but there is something about humanity that does not change, his fallen nature.No matter how educated and civilised we become,that fallen nature will still manifest itself . One of the most civilised countries in the world was Germany,the home of the reformation,and yet in the 20th century ,an evil arose in the nature of a political group,that would commit unbelievable evil,and many other Eastern European countries joined in.We are sometimes lulled into a belief that humanity is moving upward and onward,but we are not,,we have not changed in our ability to sin.Why am I  always stressing our sinfulness? ,because it is a fact,the bible does not lie, when it tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.The beast within has not changed,and will not,unless one comes to know Jesus as their Saviour.In 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 we read, 'Therefore,if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,old things passed away,and look,new things have come'. He can change you, and it will be for the better.

Mistakes ( Luke 15 v 27 )

 We all make mistakes,with different consequences,I feel sorry for goal keepers, his task is to keep the ball out,but if he makes a couple of mistakes,in the supporters eyes, he turns from being the best keeper in the world,to someone who needs to be replaced. Sorry if you are not a football fan,I am,and unlike many ,who are crying,' off with his head', I sympathize with him.as long as he does not make to many more,that's the way  we football supporters are. I am a preacher, but sometime I used to minister in song,but I used to make mistakes forgot the words,forgot the tune,just sometimes.I was watching two musicians playing a  trumpet duet and suddenly they stopped,they had made a mistake,one pointed out were they had gone wrong,and then started playing again.That is what you do when one makes mistakes, you carry on,you don't give up,I did not give up singing, I carried on.In relationships we are bound to make mistakes,we act wrongly and hurt people,I have done it,that can be remedied, if we are humble enough to go and admit our mistake and say sorry.Sad to say many dear people are being conned out of their money by evil people, mistakenly they fall for their  deceitful ways.The result is they cant forgive themselves, bring them to God and ask God to give you peace. Remember the biggest mistake anyone can make is to live in their sin, but even that ,God will forgive, if they turn to Jesus. 

Alone ( Hebrews 4 v 14 - 16 )

 We live in an overcrowded world, you would not think that loneliness would  be a problem ,but it is,and it is becoming a bigger problem,during this pandemic. What's the answer?,many years ago if my memory  serves me right ,there was a cigarette advert, which went, 'Don't be alone out there have',and it  mentioned the name of  the cigarette.Of course many people who smoke do get comfort from the Nicotine found in the tobacco plant,and it is a stimulant.But cigarettes are not the answer,in fact it is not the answer for anything.I must admit I have often felt lonely in my life, not so much now. We should not be surprised at feelings of loneliness,for many it has to be borne,getting married can be a help ,for God saw that it was not good for man to be alone ,so he created Eve, for Adam,/.Genesis 2 v 18 /I believe there is someone who really knows about loneliness, I want to take you to the cross,on that cross  there is a man hanging there,suffering dreadfully,suffering for our sins,that we may not suffer.He was truly human but he was also divine,he is called the Son of God,his name is Jesus.There came a point in his  suffering when he cries out,'My God,my God, why have you forsaken  me'/Matthew 27 v 46 /.In those words we see an aspect of his  suffering ,were he  felt utterly alone.He knows more than any one else, how the lonely feel,so go to him,if your are not a Christian go to  him,if you are a Christian go also to him, for no one understands like Jesus, He can meet your need.

Perseverance .( Nehemiah 6 )

Perseverance is vital for the child of God,this is the second attempt at writing this message,the first one suddenly disappeared,I must have pressed something. William Carey was a  man who didn't give up,he was a missionary to India, he accomplished so much for God.His translating of Gods word into different languages was wonderful.At one time when he had nearly completed one translation, a fire broke destroying what he had done, so he  started over again.At times he faced discouragements and frustrations, disappointments and loneliness,but he persevered, he didn't give up.He believed he was doing the will of God,and that the sovereign God would help him.His motto was ,'Expect great things from  God, attempt   great things for God'. At a time of  great discouragement he wrote,'Well I have God,and his word is sure'.It is profitable to read the lives of such people ,they can challenge us,but you must be your own man, you and I are not William Carey,as for myself I have a few talents ,he had ten,but whatever talents we have let us use them to the glory of our God.and Saviour.