Religion or Christ. ( John 3 v 1 - 16 )

 A Professor O. Hallesby  wrote a book entitled ,'Religion or Christian', there are those who teach that Christianity is not a religion.Dick Lucas wrote,'The word 'religion ' as it is used today can hardly be said to be a biblical  word at all; it does not occur in the OT, and in the NT there is no sanction for the modern usage. The faith of Christ is not presented  as one of the religions of the world, but as the unique and final truth with  which no ' other gospel' may be declared'.He goes on to to say,'The miracle of  conversion has freed us from the religious systems of their world'. This is something to think about, recently I  spoke to a young man,he said he was thinking about going to church, and I said the main thing is,trusting Jesus as your Saviour. Religious systems demand their followers  , follow rules  and regulations, as someone has said, there is a feeling of safety  in such a religion. Of course it does not save nor does it  give one peace,and an assurance of forgiveness of sins,only faith in Christ  can do that.When we do that we are connected to a relationship with God for all eternity,now you can't beat that.

What kind of world is it ?. ( Matthew 5 v 16 )

 What would you say to that question, 'What kind of world is it ?' ,the bible teaches clearly that it is a fallen world, it will never change,as it is we can never make it a heaven and earth. That does not mean to say we cannot make a difference,I believe we are meant to ,Matthew5 v 13 - 14 tells us that we are,' the salt of the world',and that we are, 'the light of this world'. Salt stops corruption, light displaces the darkness'. Dick Lucas writes,' In short, Christians must live  and suffer in an evil world. At the same time, the new born Christian is called to be a vigorous peacemaker, whether in family matters or in the larger affairs of people and nations, and the church is to be a community of peace in a world of war. It also remains true that human tyranny will not cease until Christ returns. People will continue to oppress and exploit their fellows .In spite of this we can to some extent make a difference for the better, it is possible, it is expected by our Saviour that we should.

Yes there is a better day coming. ( John 14 v1 - 6 ) (2)

In 2 Corinthians 4 the apostle Paul writes ,'We are hard pressed on  every side,but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair,persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed' In chapter 11 , he tells of more suffering, of being flogged, being exposed to death constantly,of  being  being lashed on 5 separate, occasions,of being stoned.of being shipwrecked,of  facing dangers.Of experiencing hunger and thirst ,of being cold, without enough clothing to keep  warm. In chap 12 he writes of having a thorn in the flesh,  I wonder what the prosperity gospel people would say to that,they should bow their heads in shame.Of course Paul was sustained by the Grace of God,but also by the fact that there was a better day was coming, In Iran there is a pastor Anooshavan Avedian who has been sentenced to 10years in prison,and a further 10 years of what is called,'' deprivation of social rights',( e.g. severe restrictions on employment when he is released)For that dear brother there is a better day coming. Here is what the  apostle Paul wrote ,'So we do not lose heart. Though are outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed  day by day. For this momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison'

                                                                

                                                   'Yes there is a better day coming'

Yes there is a better day coming. (2 Corinthians 11 v 30 ) ( 1 )

For millions of people life is hard ,yes that includes Christians, millions are starving,for many dear people, there appears no hope. Only God knows ,it may get worse, for all of us,we will have to wait and see,the question is how can we face the challenges of life?.In 2 Corinthians 4 the apostle Paul writes as regards the difficulties that he and  his companions were experiencing,here is what he wrote,' v7 He writes of his being like a clay pot,but the wonder of that is,Christ  dwells within that body.he may be the great apostle,accomplishing great things,but it has come from the power of God, not him..We like Paul, are weak,everyone one of us,make no mistake about it,we are all without exception ,weak beyond measure,we are all  like clay pots. So stop your boasting ,arise, give God the glory,let Him increase ,and let us decrease. Without Him we can do nothing, but through Him, we can do all things that God would have us do.We will continue this next time,exalt your weakness, don't be ashamed of your weakness ,and glorify the one who uses the weak things of this world,to accomplish great things, even through us clay jars.

It's that important.( Philippians 1 v 29 )

Martin Luther said,' We will suffer our goods to be taken away, our name, our life,and all we have;  but the Gospel, our faith, Jesus Christ, we will never suffer to be wrested from us'. Many of the epistles were written in defence of the Gospel, written by men like Paul, and Peter,who not only proclaimed the Gospel but also were prepared to lay down their lives for the gospel,Paul was beheaded Peter was crucified.I am remined of Polycarp who was a disciple of the apostle John, he became a bishop in the church of Smyrna( (Izmir  in modern Turkey). In his 80s he was arrested,because he would not swear that Caesar was lord , if he did, he would be set free,this was what he said,''Eighty six years have I served Jesus,and he never did me an injury, how can I blaspheme my king and Saviour'' .He was pressed on this, being threatened to be devoured by wild beasts,or to be consumed by the fire,he refused.and said,'' Hear me declare with boldness,'I am a Christian'.So they gathered the wood, the Jews especially joining in ,and they burnt him to death. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,is more precious than worldly riches,world fame, may our dear God grant us grace to live for Christ ,and if necessary to die for Christ.

The reason. ( Psalm 51 )

 Yesterday we asked why mankind is so violent?,we mentioned one aspect of our violence,war,but we never mentioned murders,robberies,rapes,abuse of all sorts,and so on,plus our evil thoughts.It is in the book of Jeremiah we read,'The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it it is (17 v 9) One may say I know a lot of nice people,but I also know that everyone is a sinner,the fact is we are all in it together ,and we all manifest  to some extent our sinful nature.Remember when we say that,we are not judging our being by other people.That is not the answer,we may say that we are good citizens,we are honest as the next person we pay our taxes.That is not the answer ,it is how we stand before a holy God,that's what makes us sinners,we come short of His glory .When David sinned  he confessed,'Against you, You only have I sinned,and done this evil in your sight' Psalm 51 v 4,he said that because it was God's law he had broken'.The words in Romans 3 makes it clear the way we are toward God.and that has an affect as to how we are with other people.The cross reminds us of the awful condition of humanity,a condition that will not change, because we cannot change,we do not want to change, because we love darkness rather than light.People will continue on their sinful way refusing to respond to God's offer of salvation,apart from Jesus there is no hope,and let me say again ,things will not get any better.

                                                 ' I heard the voice of Jesus say,

                                                  I am this dark worlds light,

                                                  Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise

                                                  And all thy day be bright.

                                                  I looked to Jesus and I found

                                                  In Him my Star, my Sun;

                                                  And in that light of life I'll walk,

                                                  Till travelling days are done.

                                                          Horatius Bonar.

The reason ( Romans 3 v 23 )

 The English poet Julian Grenfell wrote,' I adore war', His poem,'Into Battle', anticipates the 'joy; of combat. He was killed in May 1915.During the 20th century we have had two world wars,but there have been hundreds of minor wars and conflicts.Think of how many people have perished in those conflicts,it is impossible to say,possible 150 million, could be more.The fact is we live in a very,very violent world,and its not getting any better,the question is why,the Bible tells us the reason,in that great chapter in Romans 3 we are told this ,'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.'the writer highlights or describes aspects of that sinful nature ,most of what he describes ,is to be found in passages in the OT.  I want to write them all out, so here goes,

                                      ''No one is righteous,not even one,

                                       No one is truly wise; no one is seeking after God.

                                       All have turned away; all have become useless.

                                       No one does good not a single one. 

                                       Their talk is foul,like,like a stench from an open grave.

                                       Their tongues are filled with lies.

                                       Snake venom drips from their lips.

                                       Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

                                        They rush to commit murder.

                                        Destruction always follow them.

                                        The don't know where to find peace.

                                        They have no fear of God at all.''