The suffering Servant. ( Isaiah 53 )

 The supreme purpose of Christ coming into the world was to die on the cross ,so our sins could be forgiven,His death accomplished everything that was necessary for our salvation. It meant that He would leave heaven,there he was equal with God,as part of the divine Trinity,it was truly one giant step,he entered this world,fully human and fully divine.And his role was that of a servant,and to become obedient unto death ,even death on the cross.The suffering He experienced when he was arrested,and his death on the cross was horrendous,this does not appear in the many pictures painted of His crucifixion.Well Mel Gibson made the movie ,'The passion of Christ', many complained that it was to graphic,it wasn't, it wasn't graphic enough.Let us bear in mind,that the Messiahs suffering was clearly  foretold by the prophets,In Isaiah 52 v 14 we read,'But many were amazed when they saw him,His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,and from his appearance one would scarcely know he was a man'. In 53 v 7 we read,'That he was led as  a lamb to the slaughter',we often  talk about  animals going to the slaughter house.In modern abattoirs they try to make the killing of animals as painless as possible,but Christs death was anything like painless,it was slow and agonising, it was death on a cross, But it didn't stop there as we will see next time.

                                                      Man of sorrows what a name,

                                                      For the Son of God who came,

                                                      Ruined sinners to reclaim,

                                                      Hallelujah what a Saviour

                                                              Philip P. Bliss.

Brokenness. ( Luke 9 v 46- 48)

 As I am retired, and my wife is not, I look after the home,and one of the things I do is the washing,I have a clothes line where I  hang the wet clothes out to dry.I use clothes pegs.I have one clothes peg and its partly broken,I have thought about throwing it away,but no I have decided to keep it ,it is still useful It reminds in a way of how God uses broken people,most of us are broken in some way. It could be when you consider your brokenness, you think that God could never use you,you are wrong,very wrong,does not God say he uses the weak and the foolish things.Take Jacob his name means supplanter, a schemer, and He made him an Israel,Peter  failed his Lord  miserably but he became an apostle Whatever your brokenness God can use you,lets consider those lovely words in 1 Corinthians 1 v 26ff ,'God chose things the things the world one would consider foolish,He chose those whom one would consider unsuitable' ,not just unsuitable but people of  brokenness,and raises them up to positions of distinction.

                                                  The Lord doesn't see things the way you see

                                                  them. People judge by outward appearance,

                                                  but the Lord looks at the heart,

                                                                 1 Samuel 16 v 7.

Wolves in sheep's clothing. ( 2 Timothy 2 v 19 .)

In the 16th century Pope Alexander died ,it was said of him,'There was in him,and in full measure, all vices both flesh and spirit. There was in him no religion, no keeping of  word. He promised all things liberally, but bound himself to nothing that was not useful to himself . He had no care for justice, since  in his days Rome was a den of thieves and murderers.' It is said don't judge a book by its cover,it was also said by our Saviour, that people are known by their fruits,our Saviour spoke of the religious leaders,he said,'Beware  of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes,and love to be greeted with respect in the market -places and have the most important seats in the synagogues and places of honour  at banquets. They devour widows houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely'. Luke 20 v46-47.These people pretended to be pious, but behind it all they practiced ungodliness,being in a religious position should never be a opportunity to practice getting rich by exploiting others.

He delights in mercy. (Micah 7 v 18 - 20 )

In Jeremiah 29 v 11 we read,'For I know the plans I have for you , says the Lord.They are plans for good  and not for disaster,to give you a future and a hope'.These words were spoken to those in captivity in Babylon,they would be there 70 yrs.This was one of the lowest points  in Israel's history,God had been angry with His people because they had forsaken Him Jeremiah 2 v 13.if one reads Jeremiah and Ezekiel,you will get the awfulness of the nations sinfulness.So there they were in the land of  Babylon,in shock ,overcome with grief Psalm 137,they had no one to blame only themselves, but they were His people, he had rightly dealt with them, but he had not forsaken them. In Micah 7 v 18 -20 ,we read,Where is there another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant,overlooking  the sins of His special people  forever, because you delight in showing mercy'.Some people  think God delights in showing wrath, He doesn't ,often judgement is a last resort,often the word longsuffering is used of God, but if mankind keep on wilfully sinning, judgement will fall. If you are a professing Christian ,and indulging in sin,repent seek forgiveness,if you are not a Christian likewise God is merciful , believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved.

Unchanging One 2

 I am the Lord, I do not change  ,so reads Malachi 3 v 6, we considered last time how awful changeable  Israel were,talking ,there is a saying of 'biting the hand that feeds you'. Their whole history was of God looking after them,freeing them from slavery,giving them a homeland of their own. In spite of them continually backsliding,rebelling against God,and forsaking Him, He still loved them, and cared for them.Like Israel ,we who delight in Christ as our Saviour, and God as our Father,if we were truthful have not followed God perfectly.Yet God comes to us and  tells us that He still loves us,has not forsaken us, cares for us in so many ways. Yes He is the Lord ,who does not change,let us bow our heads  ,and whisper a prayer of thankfulness,and tell him how much we love Him.

                                            'O to grace how great a debtor

                                             Daily I'm constrained to be!

                                             Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,

                                             Bind my wandering heart to Thee,

                                             Prone to wander,Lord ,I feel it,

                                             Prone to leave the God I love;

                                             Here's my  heart ,Lord, take and seal it,

                                             Seal it from Thy courts above.!.

                                                     Robert Robinson.

Lost. ( Luke 15 )

 As I returned home I was met by a very agitated wife,the reason she had lost one of her car keys,the good one, yes she has two, one recently had been playing up,the other was fine,but that was the one she lost.We were both a bit agitated now, car keys are really little computers,and they can be expensive to be replaced .I did my best to still my wife,I said lets pray about it,that's what we did. Later my wife suggested going to  an elderly lady my wife cares for,she is partially blind, this we did,I continued to pray.  When we arrived we  we discovered the key ,we were both very grateful, and I thanked God. There are a number of lessons one can learn from this experience, be careful not to judge the person who losses something ,that doesn't help.Next pray about it, bring our sovereign God into the situation,trust Him .As regards that which lost,remember that everyone is lost, and that is a fact, and unless they get saved ,they will die and consciously exist in an eternal permanent state for ever.Their only hope is Jesus, who came to seek and to save those who are lost, He is their only hope,the moment we die we go to either hell or heaven,what would you choose?.

                                                    'Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

                                                     Weak and wounded, sick and sore;

                                                     Jesus ready stands to save you,

                                                     Full of pity,love, and power;

                                                     He is ale, He is able,

                                                     He is willing; doubt no more.'

                                                             John Newton.

                                                                  

                                                          

                                                    

Unchanging One. ( Psalm 51 )

 In Malachi 3 v6,God declares ,' I am the Lord,and I do not change', the book of Malachi makes very sad  reading, Instead of loving God obeying Him,being faithful to Him,they cheated on God, instead of recognizing their sinful ways they  turned it back on God,blaming Him accusing Him of so many things.The history of the old covenant Israel was deplorable,they never changed, they just kept doing the same thing over and over again.Our Saviour declared how they persecuted the prophets (Matthew 5 v 12)  , Stephen declared just before the Jews killed him,how they were stubborn,like the heathen,refused to listen to the truth, murders of the prophets,disobedient,even though they were favoured by receiving Gods word. Acts 7 v 51ff.Yet God did not change,He loved them,he was faithful to them,they deserved nothing from God,it was Jeremiah when standing amidst the ruins  of Jerusalem ,that had  experienced Gods judgement ,he was filled with despair,but then he remembered the following.

                                                   'The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

                                                    His mercies never cease.

                                                    Great is His faithfulness,

                                                     His mercies begin afresh each morning.

                                                               Lamentation 3 v 22 - 23.