A sin is a sin for all that. ( Isaiah 5 v 20 )

 When I said homosexuality was a sin,a minister said to me that's my opinion,I thought if God says it is a sin, then that's what it is .Sin is not based on my opinion or anybodies , of course that's what many are doing, they are judging what is sin, irrespective of what God's says.  If we  go down that road then we are heading for trouble,it is in the book of Judges that we read these telling words 'Everyone did what was right in his own eyes'. (21 v25),but what they did was not right in God's eyes. We read that when David committed adultery, and murder,God was not pleased with what he had done (2 Samuel 12 v 1 ) if we go   against anything that God declares is sinful, He will not be  pleased,in fact we are told that God's wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness ( Romans 1 v 18) No matter how sin comes dressed up it is still sin, no matter how we rationalize what we do , if it is wrong in God's eyes it is sinful, it is as simple as that, and must be taken very serious. Many churches are facing a crises because the denomination they are in are compromising ,and trying to push on to them , the worlds sinful practices,and so churches are leaving those denominations. The path of sin is a dark path,we who are Christians are to walk in the light ,we cannot walk in the darkness and have fellowship with God,for God is light.If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet  walk in the darkness,we lie and do not live out the truth .( 1 John 1 v 6 )

                                         'Those who say lies are white are colour blind,

                                          yes there's none so blind as those who do not

                                          want to see'.

Don't be late. ( John 3 v 36 )

 In Revelation 6 v 15 -17, we read of Kings,and the great ones,the captains,the rich and the strong,and every slave and every free person,hiding in fear,and crying out for the rocks and the  mountains,to fall and hide them from the one seated on His Throne and the wrath of the Lamb!For the great  day of their wrath has  come ,and who can stand?.' William Barclay writes,'No one is exempt from the judgement of God,'no one whoever they are ,will be exempt ,for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3 v23)There will be no hiding place,no great escape, there will be no mercy shown, none ,the day of grace will have have passed,it will be a time of wrath,consider those words concerning the one who sits on the throne,'the wrath of the Lamb'.Yes He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,yes He who said, come and be forgiven, come and receive mercy, now He is going to pass judgement on those who rejected his offer of forgiveness,mercy and love.Alas people like William Barclay says that this wrath is a wrath of love,which is reaching out  to show His mercy .It is clearly called a day of wrath,compare Rev 21 v 5 -8.were all those who know not Christ as Saviour, will be consigned to the lake of  Fire and Brimstone'.As Christians we have been rescued from the coming wrath (1Thess 1 v10) ,but for  the unsaved they will not escape God's wrath. Bert Shadduck  wrote a hymn called 'The great judgment morning', here is the chorus.

                                               ' And O,what a weeping and wailing,

                                                As the lost were told of their fate;

                                                They cried to the rocks ,and the mountains,

                                                They prayed but their prayer was to late'.

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To know Him is to love Him. ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17)

 I heard a lady say recently,''The more you know,you realise how little you know'',and she was talking about gardening. If truth were told I would agree with that,there appears to be no end to knowledge,yet there are some people and they appear to know everything,will near everything,There is something I would say, that everyone should know,or someone they should know, that is Jesus.He is knowable,and yet the more you know Him, the more there is to know about Him.and indeed the more you know Him the more you love Him.There are many people who know about Jesus,but yet they do not know Him personally,do you?.Why is it important to know Him personally?, because of who He is,who is He?/He is the Son God, that means He is truly man and truly God,but He is also a Saviour, there is only one Saviour. As I look at the history of mankind I see so many things that bear witness to mankind 's sinfulness,and I believe it manifests itself at a very early age and doesn't leave us.We have seen at times the awful things, like the holocaust,and the  misery that so many people suffered , but suffering did not cease after the  holocaust and things don't  appear to be getting any better.There is only one hope, that is in knowing Jesus,who will save us from ourselves and so many other things.If you don't know Him ,its about  time you did,remember He is only a prayer away

                                   'Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'

He is altogether lovely ( Isaiah 9 v 6 -7 )

 2 Corinthians 9 v15 reads,' Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift', here the writer is speaking about Jesus,he uses the word unspeakable in an attempt to describe the undescribable ,One writer has said, 'Language is ever weaker than our grief,and not seldom weaker than our love'.The writer is describing something that is beggaring description. in a sense he is lost for words..I am sure we all have had the experience of being lost for words. In John 3 v16 we read that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life'.First of all remember  before Christ came He existed as God the Son,as that second person of the Holy trinity. So when He came he laid aside that which was associated  with His divinity,yet was still divine, Philippians 2 v5-11 ,gives us a wonderful description what that involved,the limitations of being human.that meant for Him living out the role of a servant,it also meant obedience to the will of God in everything. The totality of that obedience was reached when He died on the cross,for the salvation of  sinful men and women. No wonder the writer was lost for words in relation to God's gift, 'Jesus'.

No longer a Christian country. ( Romans 10 v14 - 15 )

A leading church of England minister said recently, '' That England is no longer a Christian country'',I could have told him that years ago. Yes there is a church in England,many fine churches,but things are not what they used to be,the moral values of yesterday are crumbling,and the authorities frown upon those who  express any view that is contrary to theirs. We should not be surprised at what is happening,as mans fallen nature loves darkness rather than light. We do have freedom of religion, nobody hinders us,so what is the answer?,first of all we must remain faithful. Yes faithfulness is very important,faithfulness to Jesus,faithful to the word of God, unfortunately there is within the visible church,those who are departing from the truth.Without truth we are lost,we are going away from the God of truth,the blessed trinity,Our lives should reflect holiness,by our actions and by our words, I used to work with a professing Christian,who insisted in telling jokes that were not appropriate.We should be burdened for the souls of men and women,it saddens me as regards the youth of our country,and the children of our country. The dangers they face are very serious ,and without Christ they are lost. All these things should call us to action, to pray, let us never underestimate the power of prayer, whatever country you are in there are lost people,so pray not in despair but to our powerful God,who alone can raise up those who are dead in trespasses and sins.There is something else we can do ,we can tell people about Jesus, if we don't, how shall they hear, the answer is they won't.

Fear . ( Hebrews 10 v 31 )

Is fear a good thing? ,yes often it is,I am afraid of getting a ticket for speeding,so I watch my speed,I get inoculated for I am afraid of getting some illness.What should you and I fear most? or whom shall we fear most?. the answer is God.,in Matthew 10 v 28 we read,'Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell'. Yes fear God, don't fear men, they can only affect us as regards to this world, God's power to punish reaches into eternity,for we read after death the judgement. Hebrews 9 v27. God is a God of love but he is also the righteous judge,we must not forget this,someone has said ,' it is God's business to forgive sin,' that may be so , but it also His business to judge sin, with the severity it deserves.God is not sentimental as regards sin, He takes no  sin lightly,we just have to look at the cross to see this, the question is how serious do we take sin ?The awful suffering our Saviour endured on the cross,shouts with a deafening roar,'take sin  serious', look not kindly on it,In our unsaved days we acted so carelessly.I was only 15 and I was in the army boy service,some of the young lads went into a local town,when they came back,a young lad shouted out that he had intercourse with some girl.I also remember one of the adult soldiers boasting how he raped two women,one in Germany and one in Kenya,he laughed as he told us young lads.We must take sin seriously,for God does,on judgement day there will be no one laughing as regards sin, on that day there will be no mercy shown , none.Only those who have trusted Jesus as their Saviour  will escape God's wrath.

Trust worthy. ( Genesis 39 v 4 )

I read this story recently,'Constantius the father of Constantine tested the character of his Christian servants, by the imperative command to offer sacrifices to his god's.Some sunk under the trial.Those who had really ''bought the truth,'' would sell it for no price.( Proverbs 23 v23) They were inflexible. He banished the base compliants from his service. The true confessors he entrusted with the care of his own person. 'These men', said he,I can trust. I value them more than all my treasures'. This was sound judgement. For who are so likely to be faithful to their king, as those that proved themselves faithful to their God?. I remember my manager asking me to do something because she said  I could be be trusted to do it. A nice compliment but surely as Christians of all people we should be trust worthy . Let me say this our great triune God can be trusted, He is absolutely trust worthy, and He expects His children to be likewise,with money,with our wives and husbands,and with truth, alas many people are failing in the latter. May the Lord help us all, to be trust worthy in all things.