Grace ( Luke 15 v 1 1 -32 )

I wonder do we underestimate God's grace? I think I do,there are people who do awful things to children,everyday people are doing awful things.I read about a certain American pastor who had the task of ministering to those being tried in Nuremberg,they were the top Nazis leaders.They were responsible for so much evil,the Pastor wrote later how some of those people did respond to the message of the gospel. there were those who resented that ,believing that those people should  know nothing of God's grace and mercy.There were people who wrote abusive letters to that Pastor calling him a Jew hater. They felt that in no way they should be saved and go to heaven. Could be that many of us are like the prodigals older brother.(Luke 15 v 25 -30),we sing ,'Amazing grace that saved a wretch  like me',but yet we limit that grace and even resent it,when a person is known as being really wicked experiences that grace.May God help us to understand that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,no matter how dreadful a sinner they are, let us pray to that end,and let us remember that grace is not something we deserve, but something we need.

Witnessing ( 1 Thessalonians 1 v 4- 10 )

 I remember when I was at work, and someone commented about my pleasant demeanor,I cannot remember what I said, but it reminds me what I was reading today from 1 Peter 3 v 13 ff, the context  being of Christians coming under attack,and how we should respond, we are not to be intimidated by them,he goes on to say if someone ask you as regards your Christian hope,we should  always be ready to explain it, not in a threatening way,but in a gentle and respectful way.But we are also told,to live in such a way,that our lives will speak for themselves,I like how one person puts it,'So keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you,none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath' I want to highlight a number things,we will be attacked at times because of our faith in Christ,that should not silence us,we are not to be afraid,our dear Saviour wasn't. As regards witnessing ,how we do it is very important. in the town where I live,there are Christians who stand in the town centre  screaming at people to be saved.That is not appropriate ,if we want people to listen to the good news of  Christ ,we should not do it in an offensive manner.Last but not least ,our lives must be consistent with our Christian confession.

Our substitute. ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8

Tony Campolo writes about visiting Auschwitz Nazi murder camp,while there he was taken to the cell of a Roman  Catholic priest,Maximilian Kolbe. Tony tells how the Nazi captors had an ugly way of deterring prisoners from escaping. If someone escaped, they would choose six prisoners to be hung,nevertheless some did escape, so all the prisoners would be lined up, and six were chosen at random to be hung. So on one occasion  one did escape,so six prisoners were chosen and brought to the scaffold  to be hung. Before they were hung the priest asked to be heard, he pleaded with the commandant to be allowed to take the place of one of the men. He pointed to  a man,he said, ''He's from my village. I know him, he's a good man and he has a wife with several children. On the the other hand, I am a priest. I am not married and I  have no children. I do not have a family that needs me. Let be hung in his place'',and  so it happened.It is a lovely story,dying for that good man,but I want to point you to the cross of Jesus.Why was Jesus on that cross? he was laying down His life,for His enemies,for sinners,that means you and me, Christ died for the ungodly ,He bore the wrath of God,on that cross,so that we would not have to face that wrath of God when we die.We put that in motion when we trust Jesus to forgive our sins,when we do that ,our sins are forgiven, wrath is removed ,and we receive eternal life..

What we all need. ( Acta 4 v12

Peter Lewis in his book called  ,'The living God'gives an account of  a Chinese Christian leader,who spoke  to an American audience,(This was before communism took over)when he had finished, he invited people to ask questions.A student asked the following question,'Why should we send Christianity to China when it has Confucianism?'Mr Lee said;' There are three reasons. First of all , Confucius was a teacher and Christ is a Saviour. China needs a Saviour more than she needs a teacher. In the second place, Confucius is dead and Christ is alive. China needs a living Saviour. In the third place, Confucius is one day going to stand before Christ and be judged by Him. China needs to know Christ as Saviour before she meets Him as  Judge'

                                              'What we all need most, is a Saviour

                                               that Saviour is Jesus.

Testings. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 9- 10 )

 In Deuteronomy  13 v 3 we read, 'The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul'. I often wonder why the Lord picked Judas,He knew the kind of person he was,he was thief ,so why did he put him in charge of the money bag? ( John 12 v 6)It appears we have the answer in those words from Deuteronomy,he failed that test,Christ our Saviour was seeking to to save him from his love of money.Here is a man who heard Jesus speaking,that wonderful sermon on the mount,he witnessed his miracles,his compassion,his love,and humility.But he choose to continue on in his thieving way,that was his choice ,instead of loving our Saviour with all his heart and soul, he failed the test.I remember as a young lad being faced with a choice,I can remember it, as if it was yesterday,and I like Judas made the wrong choice.Our Saviour said to Peter,'Do you love me more that these? ( John 21v 15) We will all be tested in this Christian life, those tests come in all shapes and sizes,no one will be exempt from these tests,no one,and we will hear that small still voice of  Jesus ,saying,''Do you love more than these?''.

Telling others ( Romans 1 v16

 One of the fastest growing church's in the world is Iran,but there is a price to pay,and many are paying it,here are a few names, Vahid Hakkani, Behnam Irani, Mohammed Roghangir ,Alireza Seyyedian,,they are just a few of the people who have served time in prison. Here are another few names, who are serving time in prison Joseph Shabazian (10 years)   ,Mina ( 6 years) Malihe ( 6 years).There are so many more we can mention,in some other Islamic countries to convert to Christianity brings with it a death sentence.Yes the church is growing in so many parts of the world but there is a price to pay, In Acts 1 v 8,our Saviour said to those early disciples and to all His church,' But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem,and in all Judea and Samaria, and even  to the remotest part of the earth'.This has not been rescinded ,what Jesus said all those years ago,still stands.How did they do it ?by the power of God's Spirit, and they did it,turning the world upside down, even conquering the great Roman Empire.Not with weapons of war but by the power of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

                                               Let us not be ashamed or afraid

                                              to proclaim the gospel'.

                                              

                                                

The enemy within. ( Acts 20 v 25 - 31 )

 In Acts 20 the Apostle Paul give a farewell talk to the Ephesian elders, in it he mentions a number of things, the hardships that he would face,he reminded them that he been a faithful minister of the word of God.He also warned them to be on their guard against those who would come into the church and cause  much harm to God's people,he called them savage wolves. He also said there would be those from there own number who would distort the truth ,their motive being to create a following of their own. And so it was and so it will always be,Paul during his three years with them continually warned them of these things. There are many ministers  in the UK who are faithful to God's word,but unfortunately there are many who are not. They hold dubious teaching and they side with the morality of the world,these are in the major denominations. If one's theology is wrong,it will effect so many things, when I mentioned to a minister that homosexuality was a sin he said that was my opinion,it is not my opinion,it was his opinion, what I said was based on the word of God . Often it appears the church is in more danger of those within, than those who are outside the church.

                                                     'Beware of the enemies within'.