Now I see.. ( John 14 v1-6 )

 We owe a lot to science, but what science doesn't give us is moral guidelines, and for all their knowledge can they tell us,'Who we are,were ,where are we going,and what's the meaning of life,the fact is they don't know.The good news is,the word of God gives us the answer. Who are we ?, contrary to what many say we are those whom God has created,and that makes us special. we didn't  self evolve, that is not in our power to do .The word of God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made,God is our Father through creation,though that relationship has been affected by our sin.Where are we going?it is a good question,are we just existing ?with no real meaning?,alas because of sin that is what most people are doing,they have shut God out of their lives,to them that's all there is? It seems that humanity is always seeking something,.why is there that emptiness in all of us that we cannot fill?,we keep searching yet  never finding that something..It is Augustine who said ,'God made men for Himself and they will be restless until they find their rest in Him'. Without  God there is no meaning to life , no matter who you are,.

                                           'I heard myself saying I am lost and  confused,

                                           I heard a voice saying,follow Me,Who are you 

                                           I asked?, I am Jesus, follow Me' and I will bring

                                           you to the land not of questions but of answers,

                                           and you shall see the face of God'.

                                               (The last part of this I owe to D .Kidner)

                                  

                                                 

Clean and unclean. ( 1 Peter 1 v15-16)

 In Leviticus  10  Aaron's sons did something sinful they went against what God had commanded, and so God slew them.In God's eyes disobedience  is a very serious thing,this applies to everybody,Christian and non-Christian. even Moses had to learn that lesson Exodus 4 v 24 -26,he had not circumcised his son,only his wife's intervention saved him.Whatever reason Moses had for not doing it, in God's eyes he was guilty of sinning against what God commanded .Coming back to Lev 10 ,God speaks to Aaron  tells him clearly what was the required obedience within the tabernacle. 'So that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and unclean.'We move unto chapter 11, God tells Israel what they should eat and what they shouldn't eat,or what is Kosher  and what is not kosher,they had to obey God,eating only what was clean in God's eyes,and not eating what is unclean in God's eyes. These food laws do not apply to us now (1 Timothy 4 v 3-5/ Mark 7 v20 ) but the principal remains as to what God considers clean and unclean,sin and not sinful, holy and that which is unholy. Gods'  word to us is very clear,Ephesians 1 v 4 reads,'For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy, and blameless in His sight'. We must make the right choice,that is God's choice,not  the worlds choice,not the devils choice,not even our choice, but God's choice.

                                                       'Oh God make me as holy

                                                       as a pardoned sinner can be.'

                                                               R M. Mc Cheyne.

Surprise me. ( Philippians 4 v 4 -7 )

 It is Charles Bridges who said in relation to prayer ,''Let God be your first port of call'',I must confess  sometimes I don't.We do need to be reminded of what Charles says, I know I do,so I thank God  for this reminder.Let me just share something with you as regards prayer,recently my dear wife ordered a few items from a catalog ,she wasn't sure how to go about it,so she asked her sister to do it for her.It was only the next day ,she received a  text telling her it was coming but she noticed that our address shown on the text  was not  altogether  right ,and this caused her to be concerned, so I said to her let us pray about it,so I prayed and  asked God to sort things out. I had  go out for a while and when I came back  I went and had a shower,and as I was showering,I prayed,and asked God to answer my prayer,and that He might  surprise me .I got out of the shower and was dressing and I heard the doorbell ring,it was the items that my wife had ordered,Yes he did surprise me,and  my wife ,and then I reminded her that  we should pray and thank God, and that is what we did.

It is coming back again.( 1 Thessalonians 4 v 13 -18 )

Yes it is coming back again,I mean the Covid virus ,it is called Covid 19 ,and people are becoming unwell, it would be wonderful if we could get rid of it. Alas if we did then something else will take its place,this is a fallen world ,and so sickness and death cannot be banished.But God has a wonderful plan it is called a new heaven and a new earth,prepared for a redeemed people.John the apostle of love had a wonderful vision,here is what he recorded,in Revelation 21,'Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away',we don't know a lot about it,but we can be assured it will be wonderful.John further writes,that God will wipe away ever tear from our eyes,and that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,for the old order of things has passed away.Imagine all the things that cause us pain here,will cease to exist,can that be possible,yes,because the one who will create it declares,'I  am making everything new' (Rev 21 v5)

                                                'Yes when this flesh,and heart shall fail,

                                                 And mortal shall cease,

                                                 I shall possess within the  veil

                                                A life of joy and peace.

                                                When we've been there a thousand years,

                                                 Bright shining as the sun,

                                                 We've no less days to sing God's praise,

                                                 Than when we first begun.

                                                            John Newton

     

Hope.( Colossians 1 v 27) 2

 Lets further consider yesterdays message when Charles Templeton turned from being a Christian and became an atheist. Charles spoke to Billy Graham,the conversation went like this.'Billy ,its simply not possible any longer to believe, for instance the biblical account of creation.The world was not created over a period of days a few thousand years ago; it has evolved over million of years'.Billy went on to stress there were many scholars who didn't believe that, he then went on to say,'I believe the Genesis account of creation because it's in the Bible. I've discovered something in my ministry;when I  take the Bible literally, when I proclaim it as the word of God, my preaching has power.When I stand on the platform and say,'God says', or 'The Bible says,' the Holy Spirit uses me. There are results. Wiser men than you or I have been arguing  questions like this for centuries ,I don't have the time or the intellect to examine  all sides of the  theological dispute, so I have decided once and for all to stop questioning the Bible as God's word,I've decided that's the path for me''.  We read in Hebrews 11v 3 ,' By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible' Billy went on to faithfully preach the Gospel and many ,many lives were changed and transformed.were there was bondage ,people were set free,were there was despair came hope.How many lives has evolution changed?.The historical Christ death on the cross, and His resurrection, is the only message that grants us hope ,not just for time but also for eternity.

                                                          'How great is our God'

There is a way back. ( Joel 2 v 12 - 13 ) 1

Here is something I wrote before,about an evangelist an associate of Billy Graham his name was Charles Templeton. God mightily used  this man, But sad to say he turned away from God,Billy sought to reason with him, to no avail,I will touch on that next time.He later declared he was an atheist,wrote books that were anti Christian.He was interviewed  when he was 81,as regards what he had done,at the end of the interview he was asked,'How do you assess this Jesus?.His voice softened,his guard seemed to drop,he spoke in an unhurried tone,he said a number of things,'He was the greatest human being who ever lived, a moral genius, spoke of his great wisdom,his ethical sense was unique, and many other things.The reporter was taken aback and said,''you sound like you really care about Him. he stuttered,I know it may sound strange I adore Him''.his voice began to crack ,and he further said,''I.....miss ...Him!''.He was crying,but he pulled himself together,waved his hand and said ,''enough of that''.Very sad story, it is easy to  turn away form Christ, Peter did, but thankfully he came back.It could be that you have turned away from Christ,well you can come back, he still loves you,still pleads with you.These are the words spoken by Christ to a church that had gone away from Him,'Hear I am ! I stand at the door and knock.If  anyone hears my voice and opens the door,I will come in',( Revelation 3 v20 )Today if you hear His voice harden not your heart. 

'Our time of need' ( Matthew 7 v 7- 11) 3

 Let's have a final look at Hebrews  4 v16,which ends with the words,'so that we may receive mercy ,and find grace to help us in our time of need'.Pink writes the following,'' We should come therefore with boldness to the throne of grace''. Then let us do so , in the full confidence of our acceptance before God in the person of His Beloved(Ephesians 1 v6 ). The verb in 4 v16 is not aorist tense,but the present- let us ''come'' constantly,continually;let us form the habit of doing so.'Remember what our dear Saviour said,'That we should always pray and not give up' (Luke 18 v1),'Ask and it will be given to you;seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you'(Matthew 7 v7 ) Christmas Evans the Welsh preacher was going to minister God's word, but he felt a dullness in his soul.So he turned aside got off his horse,and prayed for two hours,and the Holy Spirit filled him,so he got on his horse ,and went on to preach ,and the Lord mightily blessed his ministry,to the salvation of many souls.I finish again by quoting Pink,' Whatever the need may be, spiritual or temporal, grace all  sufficient is ever available. May it be ours to constantly seek it, for the unchanging promise is,''Seek and you shall find''.