God requires. (Micah 6 v 8 )

What do we need ever day in our Christian walk? we need the grace of  God,to live out what it means to be  Christlike. The first sermon I ever preached in England was Micah 6 v 8,it reads,'He has shown you O man, what is good,and what the Lord require of you;But to do justly,To love mercy,and to walk humbly with your God'.We can understand this if we take it in its context,that these qualities were lacking in the nation,oh yes they were religious like the Pharisees in New Testament. Religiosity , they had in plenty,but they lacked the moral qualities that God demanded of His people,the powerful and rich were oppressing the poor and the vulnerable The first thing mentioned relates to being just  in their business dealings (6 v 10-12 ),David Prior writes,'Business is a matter of justice,'. Then Micah stresses, 'To love mercy',Lenin and Stalin's reign could be summed up in one word,'Merciless',but God who is merciful ,challenges His people to not only show mercy but to love mercy.Our Saviour said ,'Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy'( Matthew 5 v 7 ). The next thing that follows ,is humility, summed up in the following words,'To walk humbly with your God'.  we are all prone to moments of pride,may God enable us by His grace to follow in the footsteps  of  Him who humbled Himself , left the eternal glories,  became a servant ,and became obedient unto death on a cross, yes by His grace we can.

5 Castles. (John 21 v'15 - 21)

 A man called Anton was being baptised, before  he did,he told of his history, and the events that  led  him to Christ. He was successful ,had a very good job,and he went on to describe the things in his life,he called them, his five castles.They were ,his career,finance,a wonderful pension,health,and last of all his family, but over a period of years,each of those castles collapsed but one ,the last one..It began to make him think,so he studied self help books, a couple of books he read,were written by Christian's,so he ended up buying a Bible,and read it continually,now as I said that one castle still stood ,his family,of course he loved his family.Then he read what Jesus said in Luke 14 v26,' If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children,brothers and sisters,yes ,even their own life,such a person cannot be my disciple'.This threw him ,as I said he loved his family,so he sought to understand what Jesus meant,he discovered that it meant,to love Jesus more,Michael Wilcock puts like this,''Love for parents..... is to be far surpassed by love of Him that it will seem in comparison like hatred'.He realised that he should love Him his creator more than anyone else,and so he rose to that last challenge and that last castle came tumbling down.

                                                   'Jesus says to us all,' Do

                                                    you love me more than

                                                    these?' (John 21 v15 )

                                                    

                                                   

Do what you can. ( Matthew 10 v42 )

 Often we are driven people,busy ,busy ,busy, and then we get frustrated, because we are held back,by different things,and we may even feel guilty,that we are not doing enough. It is F W, Faber who wrote the following,

                                                    'When obstacles and trials seem

                                                      Like prison walls to be,

                                                      I do the little I can do,

                                                      And leave the rest to Thee'

I like what our dear Saviour said about a lady who was  criticised for which she didn't do,''Leave her alone........She did what she could.''  (Mark 14 v 3 -9). It was John Milton who experienced blindness  felt discouraged,that his talents were wasted,from that experience he was inspired to write ,''They also serve, who only stand and wait''.

There is hope. ( Genesis 6 v 5 )

 It is amazing and sad the depths of our fallen human and how it manifests itself,one could give so many examples,no sooner had man fallen into sin ,that we  read of a murder taken place.( Genesis 4 v 8) I don't want to depress you about what followed that event,one has said since that day,'the world has become a slaughter house.'Well enough said, that wonderful man of God Jeremiah,was inspired to write the following words ,'The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it ?' (Jer 17 v9)Not only do we not understand our fallen nature, in our blindness we speak of mankind's inherent goodness,whereas the word of God stresses that our nature is sinful and manifests that reality in different degrees.You may say many people do good things,have nice personalities yes I agree, but they are still sinners.At a horizontal level people may manifest a good clean nice life ,but we must look up  to a holy God,who searches our hearts and knows every aspect of our lives,and declares that all have sinned and come short of His glory.( Romans 3 v23 ) We go to the doctor to deal with our physical problems, where do we to go to get help as regards our sinful nature? ,to Gods words.That word of God tells it, as it is,we may not want to hear that,and resent hearing that,that does not change anything,we have a fallen nature,that is capable of extreme evil. But all is not lost ,there is hope,for we read that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

                                                  ' My faith looks up to Thee

                                                   Thou Lamb of Calvary,

                                                   Saviour divine;

                                                   Now hear me while I pray;

                                                   Take all my guilt away;

                                                   O let me from this day

                                                   Be wholly Thine.

                                                    Words Ray Palmer.

                                         

9

He pleased God . ( Romans 15 v 3 )

 I preached a sermon recently,and afterwards a lady spoke to me,and said how she appreciated what I had said ,and I thanked her.Often when one preaches a sermon we don't get much response,A friend of mine  preached a sermon and he said he didn't get any response,I think that discouraged him, I can understand that.Later on in the day I prayed to my loving heavenly Father,and I said, 'Father did that sermon please you?',I hope so.I'm often  challenged when I read about Enoch ,( Genesis 5 v 24 /Hebrews 11 v 5 )we read that he walked with God,and that by faith he didn't die for God translated him to heaven, and he left this testimony, that he pleased God. King David did something absolutely awful,(2 Samuel 11)and so we read ,'The thing David had done displeased the Lord'.I wonder do we ever ask the question,am I pleasing God in what I am doing,in what I am saying,and what I'm thinking. Is man's well done more important than God's well done ?, The word of God challenges us to do everything, to the glory of  God, ( 1 Corinthians 10 v 31)We can only go so far in pleasing people,yes its not wrong to please people,but it is more important to please God and glorify Him in all we do.

If it be His will ( 1 John 5 v 14 -15 )

My youngest son was given the assurance in writing by his employers that he would be given promotion, it was a position that he dearly wanted,then his employer said he wasn't going to get the job.So he felt that he should apply for that position in another company ,he had two interviews,and of course we were praying that he would get the job,but here is the important thing,if it was God's will.Yes that's the vital thing,I kept praying,and always stressed that point,if it was God's will then get him the job, and he has just phoned me and told me that he has got the job,and we give thanks to God for that.In Psalm 40 v 8, we read.'I desire to do your will',these words sum up the reason why our Saviour came,to do the will of God (Mark 14 v 36). So it is, we must always put His will first in our lives, we cannot go wrong if we do that,and here is something that is vital,  He will not always say yes to our requests,in His will He opens doors and He shuts door,in His will He heals and in His will He doesn't heal. God's will is good ,pleasing and perfect ( Romans 12 v 2 )  I remember a fellow student at college called Sheila,a lovely Christian girl, speaking at a meeting,it was a simple talk,and her talk was on a verse of a poem, by F B. Faber.

                                                        'I'll that He blesses is our good, 

                                                         And unblest good is ill;

                                                         And all is right that seems most wrong,

                                                         If it be His sweet will'   

Just want to add  Sheila a young women died of cancer,leaving a husband and a young family.

                                                         

Contentment ( Philippians 4 v 11 - 13)

 A friend was telling me that when he was young,he was in contact with a pastor in Mozambique,he asked my friend if he would come over and help him in God's work. He felt he should, so he arrived in Mozambique,met the pastor who took him to where he was serving God.and he showed him to his accommodation. It was one room with a bed in it and not much else,although he did have some guests  in that room,Cockroaches. In spite of this he said he felt a peaceful contentment,It reminds of the apostle when he was in prison,I'm sure the prison was not a very nice place,in fact it would have been very grim,and yet He wrote very challenging words,' I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances'( Philippians 4 v 11) Let us take note it was something he had learned through all the trials and difficulties he had gone through. It is Barnes who writes,'It is a lesson which we slowly learn , not to murmur at the allotments of Providence; not to be envious at the prosperity of others; not to repine when our comforts are removed'

                                                            'Ye saints that toil below,

                                                             Adore your heavenly King.

                                                             And,onward as ye go,

                                                             Some joyful  anthem sing;

                                                             Take what He gives,

                                                             And praise Him still,

                                                             Through good and ill,

                                                             Who ever lives.'  (Words Richard Baxter)