John Calvin. ( John 3 v17 )

Calvin was a great Theologian, maybe one of the greatest,yet unfortunately as Philip Yancey points out that the church in Geneva were he was the minister made very many rules,towards the extremism that Jesus warned against.Here is a list of don't do's,'attending theatrical  plays, extravagant entertainment,naming children after anyone but figures in the Old Testament,reading , A father who christened his son Claude ,a name not found in the OT ,spent four days in jail.A child was beheaded for striking his parents,they drowned any single woman  found pregnant'. These are just some of the rules ,very little grace  or mercy shown,now of course one could say Calvin was a man of his time, but so was our Saviour, and he stood against the hardness of religious people's hearts,with their harsh judgements. That does not mean to say  that we shouldn't have standards,we are called to be holy,and not to compromise against evil, wherever it rears its ugly head..The epistle make it clear that sin will  be judged ,and those who live in a sinful fashion will be excluded from heaven, CP 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 - 10. Let us always take a serious view of sin,in the church and out of the church, but let us not become members the Pharisee club.

God is faithful ( Psalm 23 )

 Animals can be very faithful,I remember seeing a movie about a dog who would wait at a certain place for his master coming home every day ,he continues doing  this even after his master died,and continued to do he till he died , they erected a statue to that dogs faithfulness .People can be faithful to evil causes,unfaithful to good causes,unfaithful to  their husbands,to their wives,to their children.One of the great characteristics, of God is His faithfulness.  As a Christian I depend on His faithfulness, and what is more I have experienced His faithfulness,as  I have followed the Lord for over 58 years .The history of Israel is a very sad history, characterised by their unfaithfulness,time after time they forsook God.God did deal with them punishing them,chastising them in ,like any good father would.In one of Israels greatest times of suffering brought about by their extreme unfaithfulness, the prophet Jeremiah standing amidst  the ruins of Jerusalem declared, 'Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.' Dear child of God you may be experiencing difficulties and trials,God will  be faithful,he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Power ( Ephesians 6 v 10 )

I am going to use a  quote by Dick Lucas,' How do we appropriate power? The apostle Paul's surprising answer is that we receive it not so much by believing as by working. It is when we' toil and strive' at a God given task, that we receive God-given energy.If we hope to know in experience the work of God within us' both to will and to work for His good pleasure' we must set to work.Paul would never have said that,'power for service' is received by faith alone. It can be appropriated only by the faith that works, or to put it another way, by the work that relies on God to energize us as we try to do His bidding. As Paul toiled ( a particularly strong word, also used by him to describe his back-breaking manual work, tentmaking) in teaching with strenuous endeavour, God himself  granted strength and capacity for the work , God gives his power'.

                                                         From strength to strength go on;

                                                         Wrestle and fight and pray  ;

                                                        Tread all the powers of darkness down

                                                         And win the well- fought day.

                                                                   Charles Wesley                                                                                

God moves. ( Acts 17 v 24 - 28 )

In his lovely book ,'The Hidden Hand', R.C.Sproul  writes of God who not only sees us but is actively involved in looking after us .He writes the following,'He not only watches us,He watches over us. The child's most simple prayer is,''Please watch over Mommy and Daddy,Grandma'', etc.It is the watching over us that goes to the heart of divine providence. It is God's fatherly care for His creatures that the word providence encompasses. That means God is involved in human affairs, He is not like Aristotle's god, the  Unmoved Mover, who remains aloof and totally uninvolved with human history. Will Durant once compared Aristotle's god with the monarch of England. whom he described  as a ''do- nothing king who reigns but doesn't rule''.The biblical  God is not the unmoved. He is a moved and moving, rules as well as reigns.'                              

                                                   'God moves in a mysterious way

                                                    His wonders to perform;

                                                    He plants His footsteps in the sea;

                                                    And rides upon the storm'

                                                         William Cowper'

                                                 

Come. ( John 7 v 37 - 38 )

 The Jews observed a number of feasts during the year ,and in Matthew 7 we have Jesus attending the feast of Tabernacles,all the feasts foreshadowed the coming of Messiah.It was to this feast Jesus attended, He knew that he was under threat from the Jewish authorities,and we are also told that even His family did not believe in Him ( 7 v5 ) The feast lasted eight days on the first 7 days water was brought and poured for those who were thirsty, but on the 8th day no water was poured out. It was then that Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds,'Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! for the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart'.It is J.C. Ryle  who writes the following on what Jesus said.' This invitation is for anyone ,who is thirsty'.  Then what does our Saviour mean when he speaks of thirst?,lets consider what J.C. Ryle says,' The expression is a figurative one, denoting the spiritual distress and anxiety which one feels when he discovers the value of his soul, and the sinfulness of sin, and his own guilt , Such as one feels a burning desire for relief, of which the distressing sensation of ''thirst'' a sensation familiar  to all most Eastern nations- is a most fitting  emblem'.

                                                        'I heard the voice of Jesus say,

                                                        Come unto Me and rest;

                                                        Lay down, thou weary one,lay down

                                                        Thou head upon my breast,

                                                        I came to Jesus as I was,

                                                        Weary and worn and sad,

                                                         I  found in Him a resting place

                                                         And He has made me glad'

                                                                  Horatius Bonar.

                                                     

Fight on. ( Galatians 5 v 16 )

Dick Lucas writes, 'In this life, the 'flesh ' remains to be mortified', as long as we live ,the apostle Paul writing to the church in Galatia , tells us we are called to be free, but that freedom does not mean we are to indulge the flesh .In chap 2 of Galatians Paul uses a number words in relation to our flesh, he describes the obvious things,'Sexual immorality,impurity ,lustful pleasures, idolatry,sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy,outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension,division, envy,drunkenness, wild parties, and then he adds,'and other sins like these'. (6 v 19- 21) He adds this solemn warning ,'That anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God'.Let me say this,Paul is writing  of a person who walks and lives  like this ,not to those who fall occasionally,it will happen that we will fall ,the most important thing then, is to it confess to God ,and forsake it.1John 1 v 9.We will fail at times in this, warfare against the flesh ,but we must not throw in the towel,but by God's grace,and the strength that comes from Him,  continue to fight the good fight of faith.

                                                      'Fight on ,don't give up'

What we value. ( 2 Peter 1 v 18- 19 )

If I was to ask you what you think is the most valuable thing in the world,what would you say?. I suppose the air that we breath,the fresh water  that we drink,the food that we eat,so many other things we could name,for many people it is sex ,a precious gift,if we keep within the bounds of what God permits. To the miser money is the most precious gift,but God says it is more precious to give than to receive.So we could on. I wonder whats most precious to God on planet earth? you are,Someone said ,'The soul of  man is worth more than a thousand worlds'. Sad to say that most people do not value their soul at all,in fact they live as if they have no soul.What is the soul? William  Hendriksen takes issue with those who say that man is composed of three parts,he says we have a two fold nature,that soul and spirit are interchangeable.The soul he points out is the  immaterial and invisible element of our being,this can never be annihilated.(Read WH commentary on John Page 470ff)The value of mankind's soul is beyond price,so much so that Jesus laid down life to save them,John 3 v16.

                                            'O teach me what it meaneth 

                                            The cross uplifted high.

                                             With one the man of sorrows

                                             Condemned to bleed and die

                                             O Teach me what it cost Thee,

                                             To make a sinner whole,

                                             And teach me, Saviour teach me,

                                             The value of a soul.

                                                        Lucy A. Bennett

                                     

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