Come Home. ( Luke 15 v 11- 24 )

Here is what God had to say to Israel ,'' If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well being like  the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its  numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before Me.'' But the thing is ,they did not listen, they continually disobeyed God, turned from the paths of righteousness, to paths of wickedness and sinfulness. They would have been indestructible ,no one could have defeated them, they would have been truly blest. If only, if only, as I look back on my life , I feel a degree of sadness, for as young lad I went away from the Lord, I know if I had only stayed with the Lord my life could have been better. There are no advantages in leaving Gods way, and going back to your old ways, none whatsoever. I don't dwell on it, but I do think on it occasionally, nevertheless, thankfully God is merciful ,and forgiving, and He restored me to Himself. If  you  like me ,and like Israel ,have strayed  from God, come back, God still loves you.

                                                      I've wandered far away from God;

                                                      Now I'm coming home;

                                                      The pats of sin too long I've trod;

                                                       Lord , I'm coming home.

                                                       I've wasted many precious years;

                                                       Now I'm coming home;

                                                       I now repent with bitter tears;

                                                       Lord , I'm coming home.

Don't give up.( 1 Samuel 30 v 1 - 20 )

' Giving up', is that the way you feel sometimes?, well you are not on your own, I think of the great prophet Elijah, he felt like giving up, he wanted  to die. This is what he said, '' I have had enough ,Lord'', is that the  way you feel?. One thing after another, you tried so hard, tried everything, could  be you are a minister, could  be you are business person, could be you are a parent ,could  be your marriage is failing. Whatever it may be , you feel like Elijah, you have had enough. I remember a dear brother ,he and his wife ran a Christian bookshop ,bills had to to be paid, they had done everything they could to make a go of the business, they were at their wits end. Someone gave them a word that was spoken to Moses, when things were difficult ,we read about it in Exodus 6 v1, Then the Lord said to Moses Now you will see what I will do''. So you have come to the end of yourself, good, now you will see what God can do, have faith in Him who delights to help the helpless, and the hopeless, 

                                                     The Lord says.

                                       Call on me in the day of trouble;

                                       I will deliver you'  ( Psalm 50 v 15)

Astrology . ( Acts 19 v 17 - 20 )

 Let consider Babylon again, in Isaiah 47 v 8 11, they are coming under judgement by God, and nothing would save them. In v 9 we have these words, 'In spite of  your many sorceries, and in spite of  the great power of your spells' These gave them  confidence that all would be well v8, someone described Babylon as ,'' the promised land of astrology and magic''. But God assures them these  practices will  prove utterly futile, Leupold, comments,' Confidence was placed  in the stars and their courses and not in the power of the living God. Incantations and magic formulas, and the endless repetition of them is futile procedure'. These things as Leupold says,' are not just grandiose delusions, they are wicked and sinful. Babylon was soon to fall in 539 BC ,to the army of  the Persian army led by King Cyrus the Great. Many people today like the Babylonians ,put their trust in astrology, in the form  of daily horoscopes, tarot cards  and psychic readings. These are all foolish and futile, we need to place our hope in the living God, and in Jesus as our Saviour.

Consider how all this will end. ( Acts 16 v 31 )

 It was Hitler who said the Third Reich would last a thousand years, in fact it thankfully lasted only 12 yrs, coming back to Babylon, we read in Isaiah 47 v 7,that they thought they would rule forever, . Power blinds people, they become proud, but all power is temporary, only God's power is permanent . We must always remember, that God is sovereign, as one writer said,' History has at  its very centre  God',  Psalm 75 v 6 - 7, reads,' For promotion  cometh neither from the east, nor  from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge; He putteth down  one, and setteth up another'. Babylon never gave that a thought, they felt that they were going to reign for ever. It appeared inconceivable that everything would come to an end, We need to learn a very important lesson , earthly kingdoms come and go ,  Babylon is no longer, the Roman empire   is no longer, the British empire is no longer. As with earthly kingdoms ,so it is with you and I, our lives will come to an end. We may   survive the present plague, but we still will die, consider your latter end, for after death there will be judgement .only knowing Christ as your Saviour can save you from that dreadful coming day.

Mercy ( Isaiah 47 v 6 )

 '' You showed them no mercy'( Isaiah 47 v 6 ). These are the words spoken to an ancient world power, who like so many world powers, let power go to their heads. God had raised up the ancient nation of  Babylon, and He used them as an instrument of judgement on His people . His people had forsaken Him and  had fallen into a dreadful state, they refused  to listen to the warnings from the prophets. Babylon did what God had raised them up for, but in doing that they showed no mercy, as one commentator says,' The victor in war should not let their vilest passions rage against the nations  they overcome in war' If one reads the history of the 2nd world war ,I could highlight two nations who followed in the footsteps of that ancient nation Babylon, they showed no mercy to those they conquered, and like Babylon they paid a very heavy price for what they did. Our Saviour taught ,'Blessed are the merciful , for they will be shown mercy', ( Matthew 5 v 7) It follows where this is violated then God who is just, will act.

Fearful about growing old . ( Psalm 23 )

 The thought of growing old ,can cause us to be concerned, all sorts of thoughts crush in upon us, we usually don't like change. Old age can mean change, will we able to managed financially?. Here is an encouraging word  from King David, 'I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or their  children begging bread'. ( Psalm 37 v 25 ). Have on fear God will provide.

Old age may give us concerns ,as regards  our physical or mental well being, both may begin to deteriorate, here is a word from Isaiah 46 v 4,' Even to your old age and grey hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you'. Have no fear God will sustain you.

Old age may mean making decisions, will we know to make the right decisions? . Here is a word from Psalm 48 v  14.' For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.' Have no fear He will be your guide.

Truth. ( Acts 20 v 28 - 31 )

 It was Pilate who said,' what is truth?', one definition puts it like this, 'the quality or state of being true'. a great number of the worlds population, believe lies ,in relation to religion many things that people believe are based on falsehood. We say God can do anything, well not quite, we read  in Titus 1 v2, that it is impossible for God to lie, He is a God of truth . We have the Bible the word of God ,it is not full of lies, it is not there to deceive ,it is there to lead us to Him who is the truth ,Jesus.  (John 14 v 6 ). As a Christian I must hold fast to the truth, especially if I am a minister that is especially important. Let me say this ,when it comes to theology, there is nothing new, for over 2,000 years the church has established what the truth is as regards salvation, God ,and many other precious doctrines, beware of those who seek to undermine these truths. One man I think we must highlight, N.T. Wright, who is an academic of note, he is having an influence, sad to say, that is far from helpful. his confused thoughts, as regards the substitutionary death of Christ, calling it pagan. He treats with disdain the belief held by every theologian of note that Christians   go to heaven  when they die, And yet he teaches that the Christian is not justified now ,it will only be, when he gets to heaven. He has written a new perspective on Paul, well as I said there is nothing new under the sun. So again let me remind you that beware of those, who ever they are, who challenge  established truth.