The Cross (1 Corinthians 1 v 18)

 In Galatians 6 v14,the apostle Paul declares,'May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ'.He did not always think like that, there was a time when he hated the cross and the Christ who died on it.He writes about it in Philippians 3 v 4-6,in his nations eyes and I suppose in his own eyes,he was a man of standing,he had it made.Keeping the law was everything,being a Israelite was everything,and he literally hated any other way, and he showed that hatred by persecuting Christians ,the followers  of the  crucified Messiah. Until one day as he was on the road to Damascus going  to persecute Christians, an amazing thing happened , suddenly a light from heaven flashed around Him, he fell to the ground,and he heard a voice say to him to Him ,'Saul,Saul, why do you persecute me? .He then asked a question ,'Who are you Lord?and he received this answer ,' I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting'.Now all things were changed,from Saul the persecutor,to Paul  the proclaimer of Jesus,from one who sought to save Himself,to the only one who could save Him,the Christ who died on the cross, that which he despised he now gloried in it, till his dying day.

                                                    Without the cross there is no hope,

                                                     Without the cross there can be no heaven,

                                                    Without the cross we are lost,

                                                     With the cross there is hope,

                                                     With the cross there can be a heaven,

                                                     With the cross we can be saved

                                                            ' 

Emotions ( John 15 v 12 )

The Pastor of our church in one of his messages spoke about the importance of being authentic, meaning not false or copied.It is hard to be authentic ,in other to be ones self,there was a famous preacher in Northern Ireland ,he had one of the largest Bible classes in the country,his name was Willie Mullen,there were many when preaching mainly young, tried to imitate him,so it was said there were a lot of Willie Mullens running about.When I am preaching I try just to be myself,recently while leading the church in prayer I was very emotional,for I prayed for a couple in the church whose son had died,but by God's grace I got through the prayer.We cannot always keep our emotions bottled up, nor should we,our Saviour wept outside the  tomb of a man called  Lazarus who had died.(John 11 v 35) The word of God says we are to weep with those who weep(Romans 12 v15),and even weep for those who weep, after all our fellow Christians are our family,the hymn writer puts it like this.

                                                      'We share our mutual woes;

                                                       Our mutual burdens bear; ( Words John Fawcett)

Sorrow is a heavy burden to bear,tears flow,words are so inadequate,so let us bear each others burdens even the burden of sorrow and in so doing we are fulfilling the law of Christ,showing love. (Galatians 6 v 2)

                                                      

                                                

No Exemption.( Romans 8 v 18 )

 Recently I received two leaflets through my letter box,one was a gospel tract,I was delighted with that,someone  was seeking to reach people for Christ,praise God.In my time I have given out gospel tracts,we don't appear to be doing that now,still there are many ways of witnessing.Then I read the other leaflet,it was a brief introduction to a church,times of services, address were the church building was.It was called ,'Winners Chapel International',very impressive,it spoke of coming to Christ and finding rest,but then it went on tell us something that really disturbed me, hear is what I read,'Christ desires for you to live a life exempted from sickness and lack and every form of hardship,he desires to take those burdens away'.My goodness I was really upset when I read that, because the word of God  does not promise that whiter it is in the OT or NT.When man sinned death entered in Genesis 2 v 17.and so we all die and let me tell you the process of dying can be pretty awful,whiter you are a Christian or a non-Christian ,none of us are exempt from that or from the sorrow of bereavement.As regards suffering Paul suffered 2 Cor 12,and no amount of prayer could change that,and at the very beginning of his Christian life he was told that he would suffer Acts 9 v 16, and he ended his days by having his head cut off. The greatest of the prophets John the Baptist suffered the same fate.In Philippians 1 v 29 ,the Christians are told, that is was given to then not only to believe on Christ,' but also to suffer for Him.'No exemption there,.Every day I pray for dear children of God  who  are being persecuted,facing hardships that are dreadful. It is said, it is the way of the cross that leads home.and rightly so.

Faith (Hebrews 11 v 6 )

Some days stick in our mind ,likes ones wedding day,graduation day,and Valentine's day,I mention Valentine's day for it takes me back to the time many years ago,when something very important happened.It was the day I passed my driving test, I say that because of what led up to that moment .My then wife and I were living by faith,we had very money,and that time we had three children.I couldn't drive, the means of transport was my bike.We had a little bit of money to spare,not a lot,my wife Eileen suggested that I learned to drive,and so I booked 10 lessons each lasting an hour. when the lessons were coming to an end ,I put in for my test,cause we could not have afforded any more lessons.I told my instructor what I had done,his reply indicated  what I knew myself,I was not really up to it,he suggested that I shouldn't take it,and one could get out of it by sending a sick line,but I declined.When I went to do my test I was very anxious,and as I was taking the test my legs were actually shaking.Yet the examiner spoke to me and encouraged me,and lo and behold I passed. Much prayer had gone into this event ,my wife and children had been praying during  the test, and I had been praying also. Looking back I see how important it was for me and my family to pass that test,in so many ways. It  was for me a step of faith , yes I was anxious and my legs were shaking,but I still went forth in faith and I believed God honoured that.

                                                     'God honours Faith, not feelings.'

Not knowing our way. ( Hebrews 11 v 8 )

I remember well the evening I graduated from Bible college,I had just completed three years,it was  quite an achievement to get through my time at college.I did not do so well at school so I had no qualifications,but God helped me. My wife and I had to depend on God to meet our needs,that was challenging, but God was faithful .My then wife had also attended a one year course at another Bible college. Although we had applied to a missionary society they didn't accept us, so we were in a position of not knowing where we were going. But I do remember what the speaker ,spoke on ,it was from Acts and the arrest of Paul in Jerusalem ch 21  which tells of him being rescued by the Roman soldiers and being taken into custody,and so started a time of testing when the Jews tried to have him put to death. It was during this time God spoke to Paul telling him that he would testify in Rome ( 23 v 11),this did not happen immediately,( Acts 24 v 27)All the time the Jews were trying to have him executed but God preserved him,Paul as a Roman citizen appealed to be tried before Caesar( and this was granted .Eventually he set of for Rome under guard,during the journey they experienced a terrible storm,and the ship sank.but God preserved everyone on board.It is  in Chap 28 v14,we read ,'And so we came to Rome'. My wife an I didn't know were God would lead us,but we had obeyed the call of God eventually God called me to be minister in England and as we sailed toward England God spoke to me,He said,'Behold , I send an Angel  before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared'. (Exodus 23 v20) and so it came to pass ,the journey had been difficult and testing but like Paul we reached our destination.

                                               'God's will we obey not knowing our way'

A Cert. ( Psalm 119 v 42 )

 There are those who gamble and they put their money on a horse that appears to be  a cert to win.and it doesn't win, I remember years ago Cassius Clay who later became known as Muhammed Ali, was going to fight the boxer Sonny Liston known as the ,'Big Bear', his record was very daunting,of his last 35 fights he  had won 24 by a knock out,but to every one''s surprise Cassius won.The point I want to make is this, there is no  guarantee in life , that the so called cert will win.No, life on planet earth can be very uncertain  but as a Christian we have a hope that is sure and certain,that nothing and no one can destroy. Consider  the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples,and indeed to everyone who puts their faith in Him, 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them,and they shall never perish', and no one shall snatch them,out of  My hand. My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and mt father are one'.  (John 10 v 27 - 30).There is something that our great triune God can't do,indeed it is impossible for Him to do, 'to lie',what He promises to do is certain to be fulfilled. (Hebrews 6 v 18/ Titus 1 v 2/ Numbers 23 v19)

                                                                    'Trust Him' 

       

Hypocrisy. ( Matthew 23)

 There is a saying  that goes,'Do what I say, don't do what I do',  I had an uncle who visited one of his sons in hospital,and he told him off for doing things that caused his stay in hospital.I loved my uncle,but his son said his dad was guilty of the same things that he was accusing him off.I knew a person  who had a friend who had a gambling problem. He told me  about his friend and how wrong it was , yet later on  I discovered he had a serious gambling  problem. In Matthew 23 ,our Saviour  warned the people against hypocrisy,He was speaking of the religious leaders of  His day, He summed it up by saying,'They do not practice what they preach'( v 3 )During the Covid  outbreak a certain politician would come on the television,and told us what we shouldn't  do,it turned out later we discovered that he didn't practice what he told us. Hypocrisy wherever one finds it is wrong, be it in the pulpit or politics ,or in the everyday  person in the street. As Christians may our lives correspond with our words, and deeds,with what it means to be a Christian.

                                                     ' Let us practice what we preach'