The Cross .(Galatians 6 v 14 )

 It is John Stott who writes,'The cross enforces three truths- about ourselves, about God,and about Jesus.' So what does it tell us about ourselves? ,it is a truth that many people don't like, and even some ministers don't like, that we are sinners,surely ministers preach that, then why don't they ?.The cross tells us how serious our sins are,and how horrible our sins are,I was witnessing to a person once, and he protested,that I was mentioning sin again,he was a Muslim,that religion that does away with a Christ on a cross, they think that if the prophet died on the cross,he failed.Where as if He had not died on the cross he would have failed,without His death on the cross, sin could never be forgiven. The cross teaches us about God, and the dilemma He was faced with, how can He solve that which He hates, sin ,and His love for mankind, His answer was the cross on which the Son of God would die, His justice would be satisfied,and He could offer, out of a heart of love,forgiveness to sinful humanity.The cross tells us about Jesus willingness to go to the cross, no one forced Him , He laid down a marker ,that we must accept  His death on the cross or we won't be accepted,it is simple as that.             

                                          'On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

                                          the emblem of suffering and shame;

                                          and I love that old cross where the dearest and best

                                          for a world of lost sinners was slain'.

                                                       Words George Bennard 

Enemies. ( Matthew 5 v 43 - 48 )

 President Abraham Lincoln( at the end of the Civil War) when a Northern victory was assured and many wanted to punish the South for the ''rebellion''. On March 4, 1865, when Lincoln  delivered his second inaugural speech said,''With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right,let us.....do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and lasting peace, among ourselves,and with all nations''. Kenneth E.Bailey writes,that  Lincoln exhibited makrothumia. The English language does not have a precise  word for this vital character trait. Arabic does; it is the word halim. This  form of patience characterizes the person who has the power to demolish the enemy,but out of love chooses not to do so' 

                                                                  'Jesus said'

                                                           ' Love your enemies

                                                            and pray for those

                                                            who persecute you'

How soon.( Mark 10 v 13 - 16)

 I was only a little lad,and I remember a day I went into a shop ,there was no one in the shop,and I tried to steal some children's comic books,and I got caught.Being so young nothing happened, yes I was young, thinking about this ,a thought came to me,''How soon our fallen nature manifests itself'. One of my first spiritual experiences, was at a children's meeting, the speaker spoke of a circus performer,who used a large snake in his act,and the act went wrong,and the snake crushed the performer to death.The children's speaker liken  what that snake did,as to sin and its consequences.Again I was very young but that night I asked Jesus.  into my life,the point is this, children  have a fallen nature,and they need to ask Jesus to be their Saviour, like I did. Many ministers appear to avoid these truths,instead of telling children the good news of salvation.

                                                  'Jesus said,' Let the little children

                                                   come to Me'

Be careful. (Romans 12 v 1 - 2 )

On holiday I went into a gift shop,and saw an ornament, the three wise monkeys ,one covered his eyes,the next covered his ears,and the last one covered his mouth.' This indicated that they saw no evil, heard no evil,and spoke no evil',if only we could be like those three monkeys.Our eyes take in so much that's good and so much that is bad,we look lustfully after a woman,and that can start a terrible process ,that can lead us into so much that is wrong. ,CP  Genesis 3 v 6/  1 Kings 11 v 2. Next our ears,what we listen to,recently I listened to a person  who spoke about a man who was not very nice, afterwards ,I felt convicted and wish I had not listened to what was being told me. (Proverbs 20 v19.)Next we have wrong speaking,let us remember once we say something,we cannot draw those words back again.The words of James 1 v 26 read,'Those who consider themselves religious and yet  do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves'.There is a little children's song that goes.

                                                     ' Be careful little eyes what you see,

                                                      Be careful little eyes what you see ,

                                                      There's a Father up above ,

                                                      looking down, with tender lover

                                                      So be careful little eyes what you see.

The hymn applies those words to our ears and our words,so let us be careful,as regards our eyes ,our ears ,and our tongues.

                                                         

No ifs.( Philippians 1 v 22 )

We all know about children who want their own way,and they have to be taught that they can't always have their own way.And as they look back on their lives ,they realise that their parents knew what was  best,for they saw the potential dangers.I read the following account of a minister ,who was praying for a child  who was  apparently dying,he prayed, 'If it be Thy will, spare this child'. The wretched  and distracted mother interrupted him with the words,''It must be Gods will ; I will have no ifs'' The child to the surprise of many , recovered, but lived to break his mothers heart, and was publicly  executed at the age of 22'. I believe the safest  thing is ,to let God choose, always.

His name is Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 5 v 17- 21)

 During the reign of Hitler school children were taught to sing a song to Hitler,which reads,'You are the noblest being in all the world' I can assure you that's not true, it seems an obvious answer,yet even now some people believe he was.I would say in relation to  wickedness ,he rates very highly, he is just one example of how far humanities fallen nature can fall,if unrestrained. We are all born with a fallen nature ,it is something we pass on to our children (Romans 5 v 12 ), there is nothing we can do about it.There will never be a cure ,we cannot change it,as one said ,it is,' the nature of the beast.' Education cannot change it,social well being cannot change it.religion cannot change it, philosophy may appear to have the answer but it doesn't .So God provided the answer ,He decided he would make a new creation , but in order for that to happen,someone would have come into this fallen world. It would mean a lot of pain and would result in the death of that person. That death would take place on a cross, the price of sin is death, and eternal separation,that separation is the wrath of God.That special person who came was sinless ,His voluntary death would involve Him becoming a sacrifice,He would bear the wrath of God, so that all those who trusted Him as their Saviour would escape the wrath of God. They would become a new creation with a new new nature, their sins  would be forgiven and they would be called ,the children of God.Who is name of that person who came ? His name is Jesus.

A wonderful change. ( 2 Corinthians 5 v17

In 1 Corinthians 6 v 11 we read,' And that is what some of you were'. What were they? ,'sexually immoral ,idolaters ,adulterers,homosexuals, thieves,greedy,drunkards, slanders, swindlers,In that state they were cut off from the kingdom of God/  ( 1Cor 6 v9 ff).Paul goes unto say how things changed by the grace of God,and he mentioned ,from being excluded from God's kingdom,that now they were changed,and he mentions three things,they were washed,were sanctified ,and justified.One commentator points out,'that these verbs ,indicate an once-for-all event,which had completely transformed them.John Calvin maintained that all three terms refer to the same thing,though from different aspects. Our sins have been washed away,we are set apart to be God's,and our totally accepted by God.all this in the precious name of Jesus,  and we are empowered by God's holy Spirit.No longer lost we are found,no longer under the wrath of God,but have been saved from the wrath to come.no longer at war with God,but have peace with God,no longer children of  disobedience,and of Satan,but Children of God, no longer slaves of sin,we are truly free,no longer earth bound ,and hell bound, but heaven bound.

                                                'When Jesus becomes your Saviour

                                                 then all things are changed.'