So you think you are strong ?. (Ephesians 6 v 10 )

 There is an old hymn with the following words in it, 'Well our feeble frame He knows', in Psalm 103 v14 we have the same thought expressed, 'For He knows  how weak we are;  He remembers we are only dust', Mr Universe can catch a cold, and die from whatever, the very fit person ,can have many flaws  and weaknesses. Goliath was defeated by a young lad, and that lad when he grew up was defeated by lust. Who are the strong ones?, none of us, our Saviour left us a timely reminder where are strength  comes from, the answer is ,Him, John 15 v 5 ,tells us ,'Apart from Him we can do nothing'. The greatest of the apostles Paul declared ,' I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me' Philippians 4 v 13. So the lesson we need to hear is this, we need to rely ,on our Saviour ,for moral and physical  and spiritual strength.

Jesus is coming again. ( Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 )

 John 14 v 3 , Jesus said,'' And  if I go and prepare a place for you, I will  come back and take you to be with Me''. Yes  Jesus is coming back again, I wonder have you thought about that recently?, and if not , why not, especially if you are a Christian. It is not for us to know when ,stay clear of those who in anyway try to predict the time of His  second coming ,CP Matthew 25 v 13' It is a long time since He went away, but that changes nothing, it is Peter who deals with this, and he reminds us., that God's timing is not like ours CP  2 Peter 3 v 8. Our Lord stresses the importance of  living in the light of His coming ,and not to be caught out, that  would be very serious  CP Matthew  25 v 1 - 13. His coming will be to the air, CP Acts 1 v 11,1 Thessalonians 4 v 16- 17, this will result, in all true believers being removed from the earth, followed by judgement on unbelievers, 2 Thessalonians 1 v 7  - 9/  2 Peter 3 v 7 - 12. Everyone will be resurrected,  believers unto eternal life, John 3 v 16 .unbelievers to eternal judgement ,Matthew 8 v 12.  Believer rejoice in that blessed hope ,of your Saviours return, live in the light of that great event, ( 2 Peter 3 v 11)  If you are not a believer ,then flee from the wrath to come, and trust Jesus as your Saviour, now. ( Acts 16 v31 )

Christ can. ( Romans 1 v 16 )

 He's the devil, but don't hold that against him, he helps solve murders, and runs one ... of a night club, that's the summing up of a movie, called  Lucifer. Just let me say I have not seen this movie, but let me ask you a question, do people really believe in the devil?. In a sense that movie tells us a lot  about the times we live in ,and peoples attitude towards the devil, they don't  take this demonic being serious. Let me say I believe there is a being called the devil and he is   very evil and powerful . Because he is a spiritual being we can't see him,  but we can see evidence that he is there, consider these words from 2 Corinthians 4 v 4 ,' The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot  see the light of the gospel that  displays the glory of Christ , who is the image of  God', v 3 ,reminds us of the unsaved person as those ,'who are perishing'. One commentator writing on this blindness,' They refuse to give the gospel serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and they won't have to bother believing a truth they can't see. They are stone blind to the message that shines with Christ'. The devil as Paul Barnet writes,  inhabits and controls the minds of all people everywhere, not their  emotions, or the will but the mind of man'. Is the devil real you can bet your bottom dollar he is. But here is the good news ,'The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil' ( 1 John 3 v 8 ) That means Jesus can set us free from the devils power and control, if we turn to Him and trust Him as your Saviour.

Blind Faith. ( John 8 v 12 )

 Germany was loosing the war, the Russians were closing in, the generals and staff  and Hitler were reviewing  the situation. One general suggested a plan of action, that would help. He give sound military reasons, and to everyone's surprise Hitler agreed until others objected. The general continued to give reasons for what he said, but Hitler changed his mind, ,dismissing  the generals plan, and told him to have faith. Of course the  general was right, and Hitler was wrong, but he used the word faith, surely that was right, was it? ,no. We can use faith in relation to many things, many Germans put their faith in Hitler, many put their faith in Stalin, both very wicked people. Many  put their faith in religions that are fabrications of truth, we speak of blind faith, that kind of faith speaks for its self, it is blind, the old hymn declares, 'I once was blind but now I see. 'Christianity is not a religion of the blind, it is a religion of truth, based on the word of God , that word foretold that a Saviour would come and why He would come, it foretold  His death on a cross, and His resurrection. When we trust Jesus as Saviour we are not following a lie, we are following Him who is the Way ,the Truth ,and the Life .( John 14 v6 ).

The best made plans ( Psalm 107 v 7 )

 I had arranged to visit a friend, but I felt unwell ,so I had to cancel my visit, often the plans we make don't work out. When David was sent to take provisions to his brothers, he ended up facing a giant. likewise when Joseph was sent to see how his brothers were, he ended up in Egypt as a slave. We often need to be reminded that God  is sovereign ,our lives are in His  hands, in Psalm 31v 15,we read, ' that our times are in Gods hands'. and in Jeremiah  10 v  23, we read ,' that is not in man who walks to direct his steps'. People act as if they are sovereign and in control, don't be fooled they are not. When Abrahams servant was sent to get a wife for his son Isaac ,it was not by chance that he was led right to  the girl who become Isaac's wife, he thanked God ,and declared ,''The Lord led me''. (Gen 24 v 27 ). Yes we make our plans, but it is the Lord who directs our steps ( Proverbs 20 v 24 ). Yes we make our plans, but God has a plan, and He will cause all things to fit in, with His plan, not ours. In my life I had my plans,  as to where I might serve God, in  the end His will prevailed. In proverbs 3 v 5-6, we read,' Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.' these words are important, the apostle tells we in Romans 8 v 26, 'That we do not know what to pray for', but He does, and He make no mistakes, We are told, to trust God with all  our hearts, so total trust is vital. Verse 6, tells us something else that is important, that we are to acknowledge God in all our ways and He will direct our paths'.

                                                   I know who holds the future,

                                                   And He'll guide me with His hand,

                                                   With God things  don't just happen,

                                                    Everything by Him is planned;

                                                    So as I face tomorrow

                                                    With its problems large and small,

                                                     I'll trust the God of  miracles,

                                                    Give to Him my all.

                                                        

Peace ( 2) ( Galatians 6 v 14 )

 We saw last time how humanities sinful nature reached zenith level  in the suffering inflicted on Jesus, a manifestation of  our hatred towards God, a shrilling scream of defiance, that said we will not have this  man to rule over us. We were the enemies of God, rebellious ,on the run from God, we swallowed the Devils lie that we would be like God.  But let us lift our thoughts to the sovereign God, He who made this world, who in eternity had a plan to bring  humanity back to Himself, to know peace with God. The suffering of Christ would be a substitutional sacrifice, in other words, He would bear the guilt of our sins on the cross. That meant ,not only would He suffer  the violence of men, but he would also experience the wrath of a holy God ,Isaiah 53 v 10, reads,' Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, God did not take pleasure in Christs suffering, it means, that it pleased Him that Jesus voluntarily submitted to the suffering he would experience on the cross, for our sins. It pleased him that eternal redemption for us sinners, was possible, As Luther said,'' The punishment that was laid on Him would mean that we might have peace, with God.                                            

                                           You can know peace with God by trusting Jesus

                                            as your Saviour.

                                             

Peace ( 1 ) ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 3 )

 We live in a world that is at war with itself, from the moment Cain slew his brother the world has been a slaughter house. As the population of the world has increased so has the loss of life in conflicts, the 20th century is an example, it has been thought that as many as one billion may have died in wars throughout all human history, It is really hard to know fully, consider how many  people have been murdered. The question is why are we as human beings so out of control? ,the reason is ,it is part of our sinful nature ,I say part it is not the whole, Romans 3 v 15 ,reads ,' Their feet are swift to shed blood'. read Romans 3 v 10 -18, and you get the fuller picture, v 23 sums it up,' For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'. Could the reason for all this killing  be , that we are seeking to destroy that which reminds us of God, for we were created in the image  of God. We are at war with God, do you doubt that? look at the cross see the Son of God, whom we inflicted ,He was led as a lamb to be slaughtered, the physical suffering, that He endured was inhuman in extreme, in Isaiah 52  v 14 , we read,' His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know He was a man'. We will continue  this next time.