Don't forget. ( 1 Timothy 1 v 15)

Confined to his bed in early 1807 ,because of age and his weakening condition ,John Newton that able preacher, and hymn writer, had a visit from a friend. As the friend sat by his bedside he saw that John was struggling to say something, so he leaned over to hear what it was. This is what he said, ''My memory is almost God, but I remember two things'', he whispered , feebly. ''That I am a great sinner'', He paused to summon up his last breath, before finishing the sentence,''  And that Christ is a great Saviour''. Then he went to be with the Lord. John never forgot what his Savour had done for him, nor should we , for we are  all  great sinners, but praise God like John we have a great Saviour.

 

Mental illness ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8 )

'Could we with ink the ocean fill,and were the skies of parchment made;Were  every stalk on earth a quill,  and every man a scribe by trade  To write the love of God above,would drain the ocean dry,nor could the  scroll contain the whole. Tho ' stretched from sky to sky'. We do not know the name of the person who wrote these lovely words,they were written by a man on the wall of the narrow room in an institution for the mentally ill,the man  was said to be demented. These words  were later incorporated  into a hymn by F.M. Lehman, called ,'The Love of God'. ' Are you a Christian? if you are,think much  on the love of God, look on the cross and you need look no further.Consider it was for you the Saviour died, He became cursed for you, that curse that is upon you, because everyone who has broken God's law is cursed . (Galatians 3 v 10 ).In so doing he saved you from God's wrath'.That death on the cross was a manifestation of outrageous love,'Love so amazing so divine, demands,your soul, you life,your all.'

Save our planet. ( Isaiah 9 v 6 - 7 )

 Save our planet ,that's  what we hear   regularly ,we are told  of the dangers if we don't do something, at times like this we ask the question, where is Superman ?,or even John Wayne.  Yes the hunt is on for a saviour, who is it going to be ?,  science ?, well as I  appreciate what they have done during this time, but  was it not science that developed mustard gas, nuclear weapons. Well what about the politicians ? unfortunately we may get a Hitler or a Stalin,  or some other nice person like that. Sometimes one is tempted to think ,is it worth saving?, let's  personalise  this, are we worth saving ?.God thinks so, how do I know?.  In 1644 the Puritans , banned Christmas, yes they had their reasons, they said it was a time of  immoral behaviour, and other things. Well  as a Christian I realise that Christmas  for many is  not about Christ, yet in spite of that I am glad we have  a Christmas celebration. If we can look beyond , Santa, gifts, food ,etc, we may for a moment catch a glimpse of a miracle,  in the person of a baby. We may ask the question , what's so special about that little child ?.  His name  is Jesus, it is the same name as Joshua in the OT , and it means Saviour, this little  child  would grow to become the Saviour of the world. For what this world needs is a Saviour, He came  to rescue all mankind, from sin, Satan, and death, and through his death and resurrection he did that, so I would invite  to trust him as your Saviour.

                                                       

                                          

                                                   

The black hole . ( John 4 v 1 - 26 )

 Karl Marx's said that ',religion was the opium of the  people', in other words he likened it unto a  drug, So  he is saying that all who are religious are drug addicts ,the question is, are they?. Of course they are not, but what I would say, that mankind is an addictive being, be it politics, religion, gambling, food, etc. I believe that  mankind has a want within him, and so he tries to satisfy that want, it is like a black hole, that sucks everything in, only to find the hole is still there. The book of Ecclesiastes tells about a king ,who denied himself  nothing .yet he remained unfulfilled, and declared it all meaningless like chasing after the wind. He further wrote something very interesting ,that God has set eternity in the human heart. ( Ecc 3 v 11) Derek Kidner writes', Nothing we desire has any  permanence, unlike the animals ,  immersed in time....we know something of eternity ,enough at least to compare the fleeting, with the forever.' Was it Alexander the Great, who when he conquered so much, said,'' no more worlds to conquer'' ,people  sometimes say there is nothing on the the TV to watch, even though there is a vast amount of channels, showing so much. It is Augustine who wrote,' Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee' Pascal wrote, 'There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of  every man, which cannot be filled by any creative thing, but only by God, made known through Jesus'.

The scars remain. ( Psalm 55 v 22 )

 After  forty years of happy marriage John Newtons wife died, it  was a great loss, death has an unreality about it, one moment that person is there the next moment they are gone. One can find it hard to understand ,if only one could just  hear their voice again . When God created mankind we were never meant to die, but sin changed everything. Yet through Christ death and resurrection  ,death will die, vanquished for ever. Until that day we will grieve over the loss of a loved one, in time it will be easier, to some extent, time is a healer. After a while ,John Newtons  friend William  Wilberforce inquired how he felt  at the loss of his dear wife Mary, John replied,'' God has healed the wound. But the scar remains''. I suppose that sums it up, the scars remain, but one day the scars will be no longer, when God will wipe away all tears, and all pain will cease. Until that day ,Gods amazing grace will enable us to live with the scars.

Imagine ( Romans 3 v 10 - 23 )

 Walter Mitty was a fictional   character, he indulged in fantastic daydreams, there is bit of  Walter Mitty in us  all.  There was a song called ,' If I ruled the world', written by  Leslie  Bricusse, it has words like ,'Every day ,would be the first day of  Spring, every man would be free as a bird,'. Then a lot  of people love  the song  by John  Lennon, 'Imagine', it has words like, '' Imagine there's no heaven , its easy if you try.no hell below us, Imagine all the people living in peace.no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man. You may say I'm a dreamer'. These songs are all Walter Mitty songs, because  they  are not based on reality, no matter how much you dream they are not  real. Lets look at life as it is, stop daydreaming, lets face reality, because sin and  its consequences are real, just today I received a scam email , sent by real people who don't care about  the wrong they are doing. You and I are going to die, that's reality, let us not be taken in by the Walter Mitty's of this world, let us not become Walter Mitty's , Walter Mitty was a fool, I believe there is a heaven, there is a hell, The historical Jesus  died on a cross, why?, because He knew the reality, he knew our lost condition, He is our only hope, only  in him our sins can be forgiven, only in him  can we freed from our  sins, only by trusting him can we saved ,and go to heaven.

I Know ( 4 ) ( Acts 16 v 30 - 31 )

 In Christ ,God has provided for your salvation ,it is not Christ plus, no it is Christ alone, through his death all your sins can be totally forgiven, you will not have to face the wrath of God, and you will go to heaven. It is as simple as that, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved ( Romans 10 v 14 ) Jesus said I give unto my sheep eternal life.(John 10 v 28 ) We are saved by grace alone through faith alone, not of ourselves, it is a gift of God,   not of works, so that no one can boast. ( Ephesians 2 v 8 - 9). Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,( John 3 v 36 ) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son ,that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. When we trust Jesus we are taken from the place of uncertainty ,to the place of certainty, no longer  will we live in that place of fear, and dread of oncoming judgement, you shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Augustus M. Toplady , wrote ,'Not the labour of my hands, can fulfil Thy laws demands; Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow; All for sin could not atone ,Thou must save, and Thou alone'