Healing ( 1 John 5 v 14 )

 Most people who are suffering,would love to be healed,  that is why we go to the doctor,and go in for an  operation. There are people I know, lovely Christians, one has Parkinson's, last time I spoke to him  he had fallen.How I wish God would heal him,I of course have mentioned it to the Lord,of  course I know God can heal him, that is obvious,but will He?, that is the question.I remember a young lady ,who suffered from severe mental illness, saying she didn't want people to pray with her to be healed, for it did not happen. I can understand the way she feels, and yet there is always that possibility that God will heal. So what does one do?, how should one look at  what I call miraculous healing, does it happen now?. It  is a good question, is there an easy answer? no,that is a fact, I was reading Matthew 8  as to when our Lord descended from the Mountain,with his disciples ,were he had been ministering,when He was met by a  leper. We read that  he knelt before Him,and said,'' Lord......if you are willing,you can heal me and make me clean''. He was sure Jesus could heal him, but would He? There appears two things in his words, uncertainty and certainty, of course Jesus healed him. But is it His will to heal everybody?,the answer is no,but will He heal some? yes he will, we can ask, not demand,for healing ,and I will finish by saying, He will do what's best for us.

Are we immortal? ( John 3 v 16 .)

Janet Turner  wrote an article in the  Times newspaper titled,' Covid is a reminder that no one is invincible'. She then went on to write about a man who swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles, then ran a marathon,he refused to be vaccinated, and to wear a mask and yet he died of Covid , only towards the end  did this man admit he was not invincible.The film industry churn our movies with super heroes, like James Bond,who appear invincible,but of course that is only in the movies . The human body is a wonderful creation,but it will not last.Janice  writes the following,'An obsession with fitness promises by your own slavish efforts, self denial and training, sweat and pain, you can barter your odds with God'. The fact is you cant, she mentions a book called ,'The denial of death'. by Earnest Becker.  Of course mankind is not invincible,but are we immortal?,the word immortal has this aspect to it living forever,God never created us to die, but of course we do,but that's not the end of the story.The word of God speaks of  an after life existence,there mankind will dwell,in two separate realities,which the word of God,calls hell and heaven.One, is a place of unbearable suffering,the other a place unspeakable joy.The question I leave with you is this ,where will you  spend eternity?.

                                                       Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                        and you will be saved.

                                                                 Acts 16 v 31.

Prayer

 Contnuing on looking Matthew 7 ,lets consider v 9- 10, our Saviour leads us on,two examples as regards asking,He commences ,'You parents- if your children ask for a loaf of bread , do you give them a stone instead?well would you?,of course not,you would  give what they asked.Then he continues,'Or if they asked for a fish, do you give them a snake?,of course not,it all very obvious,you will give them what they asked for.You can imagine everyone nodding their heads in agreement,yes your right, every loving parent would agree with Jesus. So Jesus continues,' If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children',again Jesus is speaking the obvious, it may come as a surprise to you ,your parents, my parents,every bodies parents are sinners. Jesus continues, these sinful parents,'know how to give good gifts to their children, yes everyone would agree,that what He is saying was  right. Having said this Jesus says,' How much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.'That should be obvious, but it does not always appear so to many of us, for some people people they they don't think they should ask God for anything,it appears selfish to them,The fact  our heavenly father is more loving and kind than any earthly parent, I believe he delights to bless  his children,and He will always give us whats best. Spurgeon says this, 'He will give good which we did not ask, and withhold the ill which we so unwisely requested'.

Keep praying. ( Kings 18 v 41 - 45 )

Let us turn to  Matthew 7 v 7 - 11, and our Lords teaching on  prayer.The first thing He tells us,''Keep on asking,and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking,and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks , finds. And everyone who knocks,the door will be opened.  When my wife and I finished are Bible college training, we applied to a mission, the door stayed shut,we continued to pray, and continued to seek God's place of service, I managed a Christian bookshop,which eventually closed,so we continued our search, and so we continued on asking,seeking,knocking, we applied to another mission,the door stayed  shut,and another,and another,went to churches with a view,the door stayed shut,made enquires to three other missions, no way forward,but we continued praying,asking seeking,and knocking. Then we applied to a church in England, and the door opened.

The sinners prayer. ( 1 ) Luke 18 v 9 - 14 )

 In  Matthew 7 v 7- 9, our dear Saviour is encourage  us who are Christian's on the vital subject of prayer,I think many people struggle with the whole idea of prayer. I think many unbelievers pray,are they heard?, one prayer they are sure to have answered, it is the  sinners prayer, indeed that is the most important prayer anyone can pray,it  opens the door, for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. It is an act of faith, to the only one who can save, burdens are lifted at Calvary, no more guilt, no more bondage,no more fear of judgement I used the  term ,the sinners prayer,' so that may confuse you,it just means you come to God and utter your own  words,you can whisper it,or cry aloud, it hasn't to be in a church building,you can pray it anywhere, you don't  even have to close your eyes,the main thing is God hears the penitent, meaning those who regret their past sins, and now are asking God to forgive them, through His Son Jesus.Here is what one man prayed

                                          ''O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner''

Failures ( Isaiah 53 )

Let me ask you a question,do you know anyone who has never failed?, the fact is we all fail at something or other. Some failures are awful,some not so ,other failures are inconsequential, and yet even those inconsequential failures sometime can have devastating effects.People can be rejected because of their failures, and sadly some people cannot live with failure,and even end their lives. Dennis  Wailley said,' 'Failure should be our teacher.not our undertaker'. I wonder what you think of the following, 'For  all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' Romans 3 v 23. Let me clarify ,sin relates to our offences against God's moral law,yes we live in a moral universe, Sin is not a word people use much,if at all,but that does not nullify it, it still remains valid, because God is valid, He may not be in our thoughts,and we may take no account of Him, and live as we please, ignoring our moral sinful short comings. But God does not ignore them ,He cannot, His holiness and justice demands that they will receive ,their due,judgement. Hebrews 9 v 27.Failure at that level brings with it awful consequences, yes for everyone,unless our sins are  forgiven, there is no hope. So God who is merciful has provided  us a Saviour called Jesus,

                                                    Wounded for me,wounded for me,

                                                    There on the cross He was wounded for me;

                                                    Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,

                                                    All because Jesus was wounded for me.

                                                                  

                                                  

The Gospel . ( 5 ) ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

 We touched on last time,with what the writer Brennan wrote, being critical of him and his imbalance as regards those who are suffering,and those who would try to help them. Let me say Brennan has much to say that's good,you may be his number one fan,but we must always be discerning, as regards preachers,or whoever. In my opinion he at times appears to deny obvious  biblical truth, here what he says,'' In addition to the trinity of pain,suffering, and evil, add another major obstacle to unhesitating trust in the merciful love of God, the wretched witness of  hard - hat Christians with their images of a malevolent God. They speak  in giddy or  sepulchral tones of a deity who, with malicious glee, dispatches to a fiery lake ninety percent of the people  he created in his image and likeness. ''I appreciate he is being critical of certain people, but I know nobody who is filled with glee as regards the fate of the lost in hell. As a  Christian and a minister I believe that the word of God teaches clearly that there is a hell, if it were not so I would not preach it,the fact is I did not invent hell.There is a heaven and  nothing can changes that fact, the only way to get to heaven is through Christ, and the only way to escape hell is by trusting Christ,as the scripture declares , 'Believe  in the Lord Jess, and you will be saved,Acts 16 v 31, that's the gospel. Just a last word on this, when I speak or preach on hell ,I am not meaning to add to anyone's suffering ,no ,I  am trying to save them from suffering.