Forgive .( Matthew 5 v 43 -48/ 6 v14- 15)

 An awful lot of terrible things can happen in life,to awful to even contemplate,and yet it happens,and yet we are told to forgive.Every day people pray the Lord's prayer,possible not really thinking about what they are saying especially when they come to the words,'Forgive us our sins,for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.'  ( Luke 11 v 4).It is easy for all of us to say those words,but to put them into practice that's another matter,we have examples in the the Bible of people doing terrible things,an example of that is in  the life of Joseph. His brothers hated him to the point that they wanted to kill him,they were serious about it,he was the  favourite son of Jacob,it is very worth while to read the life of Joseph .( Genesis 37 -50)You may know the story. His brothers did him wrong didn't kill they sold him into slavery,that was bad enough but his troubles did not stop there a wicked woman accused him of trying to rape her,she was angry that he had rejected her advances,so he was wrongfully imprisoned,.At no point do we  hear Joseph crying out for vengeance.Instead  when it was in his  power to punish these people he forgave them.Of  course  the greatest example of  forgiveness is shown by Christ whom we  crucified.And yet in the midst of all that awfulness we hear our Saviour saying,'Father forgive them,for they do not know what they were doing'. (Luke 23 v34 ) One person has said the following,' Others may have in their hearts the unforgiving spirit; others may sin in ignorance; but we know better; we are Christ's men and women; and we must forgive as He forgave'.

None righteous . ( Jeremiah 23 v 6/ 33 v16 )

 In the epistle to the Romans chap 3, Paul writes as regards receiving the righteousness of Christ, let me just explain what that  means,in Isaiah 64v 6,we read ,'But we are all as unclean thing,and all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags'.There is nothing we can do to make ourselves righteous in God's sight,no matter what we do in our unsaved state,it will never make us righteous in God's sight, we will always be unclean like the leper of old. Why?, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, that includes the Jew and Gentile.v 22, in Gods sight there is no difference.So God does something wonderful when we trust Jesus as our Saviour He imparts Christ righteousness to us. The hymn writer sums it up like this,

                                                    'Jesus ,Thy  blood and righteousness

                                                     My beauty are,my glorious dress;

                                                     Midst flaming worlds,in these arrayed,

                                                     With joy shall I lift up my head.'

Failed ( 1 Corinthians 3 v 10 - 15 )

 I was preaching recently , I had prepared as much as I could,but when I went to preach there was a moment when I lost my way a bit.No one appeared to notice it and they said  how much they appreciated  what I had said,but somehow their nice words did not change how I felt, I had failed and I confess I was discouraged.Of course the biggest critic of ones preaching is oneself,as I have said,I did all I could in preparation and prayed to God to bless my ministry. So often we loose the plot we forget that the bread and fish that fed the thousands,had first to be broken.God can take our brokenness,what we may think is a failure God can bless it.I am sure it will be a surprise to us on that day when what we have done will be evaluated,what will be burnt up and what will remain.It will not be what I think,or what others think,but what God thinks, He will test the quality of what we have done, so I rebuke myself,and leave him to judge the worth of what I have done.. I'm conscious that people may think I am talking about salvation by works,I'm not,works have no part in our salvation  (Ephesians 2 v 8-9),it is the finished work on Christ that saves us.The works are a vital evidence that we are saved,and seemingly those works that we have mentioned,  that stands God's test will receive a reward. ( 1 Corinthians 3 v 14)

Suffering and the will of God.( 2Corinthians 4 v17-18 )2

Let us follow on  from last time and consider 1 Peter 4 v 19 which reads,'So then ,those suffer  according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good'.Consider the first part of this verse,'Suffering according to God's will', one may say,that cant be right, yes it is,God's purpose for Christ was suffering,our Saviour knew that, The hymn writer wrote ,'Every joy or trial, falleth from above',we like the first part as to the joy,but not the last part,the trials,but this is what we are being told can be the will of God for us.If we end up in prison for Christ ,we must see beyond the persecutors,to our sovereign God,and accept that it is part of His will for us.What should we do when we suffer according to God's will,we should do what our Saviour did, He glorified His Father ( John 17 v 1-5), we are to glorify God in everything,yes even in suffering.There is something else we should do,commit ourselves to our faithful creator,and continue to do good.A great example of that is seen in life of Joseph, when he ended up as a slave in Egypt,we read,'The Lord was with Joseph',(Genesis 39 v2) ,and when he was thrown into prison prison,we read,'The Lord was with Joseph',(Gen 39 v21)and he continued to do good. If we in the will of God are suffering,unjustly,we must not think He has left us,no He is a faithful creator,He is with us,and bear in mind that the suffering we may be experiencing are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us ( Romans 8 v18 )

                                                       'Every joy or trial falleth from above

                                                       Traced upon our dial, by the Sun of love

                                                        We may trust Him fully,all for us to do,

                                                        They who trust Him wholly,find Him wholly true'.

                                                                    Words Frances B. Havergal.

                                                        

 

Suffering ( John 15 v18 - 25 ) 1

In 1 Peter 4 v 18 -19 ,we read ,'if it is hard for the righteous to be saved. what will become of the ungodly and the sinner. So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their Creator and continue to do good'.The church that these words were written to,were suffering  ( 4 v12 -13) So lets consider them,what these verses mean,'if it is hard for the righteous to be saved,'Edmund Clowney writes the following,' The word for hard means ' with difficulty'; it does not imply uncertainty of the outcome but the difficulty of the road that leads to it.' There is a refining process taking place in every Christians life ,through the sufferings and trials which they will experience.(1 v 6-7 / Job 23 v 10), In  4 v 12,Peter tells them,'Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you'.Every day on Planet earth many of God's people are experiencing severe suffering,I read this recently ,'Around 45,000 believers have been killed by Islamists since 2009 in the North and middle belt of  Nigeria'.If your a Christian in many countries you suffer, and that's a fact. Our Saviour said, 'in the world you should have tribulation,' (John 16 v 33) That word for tribulation can involve a multitude of things that comes to us in life,it comes with the territory,but our dear Saviour said,'But take heart! I have overcome the world'.In Romans 8 v37 we read,'In all these things( trouble,hardships or whatever) we are more than conquerors through Him(Jesus) who loved us'.

                                                     'Through many dangers ,toils and snares

                                                      I have already come;

                                                      'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far

                                                       And grace will lead me home'.

                                                             ( Words John Newton)

Thy will be done. ( 1 John 5 v14 - 15 )

In Charles R. Swindles book .'The Mystery of Gods will  ,there are two quotations , the first one is by Arthur Ashe a former professional tennis player who died from Aids he contacted  during a blood transfusion, he was just 49,here is what he said,'' God's will alone matters, not my personal wants or needs.When I played tennis, I never prayed for victory in a  match.I will not pray to be cured''.The next one is by Henri Nouwen which reads,'In many ways ,you still want to set your own agenda. You act as if you have to choose among many things,which all seem equally important.But you have not fully surrendered yourself to God's guidance. You keep on fighting with God over who is in control.' As a  person who lost a young wife who died of cancer, I did pray that she may be healed,and so I  hoped against hope she would be, yet I received a scripture just before she died ,that indicated she would die.The disciples did not believe that Jesus was going to die,even though He told them,but He did ,because it was the will of God.It is not wrong to pray for a particular thing,as long as we bow to the fact ,in the words of our Saviour,' Thy will be done'.

                                                   'He always wins who sides with God;

                                                    To him no chance is lost;

                                                     God's will is sweetest to him

                                                    It triumphs at His cost.

                                                    I'll that He blesses is our good ,

                                                    And unblest  good is ill;

                                                    And all is right that seem most wrong,

                                                    If it be His sweet will.'  ( W B, Faber)

Flee. ( Revelation 20 v 15)

In some stores  one can read a notice which tells you,'When its gone its gone',it is referring to a sales item,if you want it, buy it now,for you wont  be able to buy it at that price anymore. I have a favourite pair of shoes they are stylish and comfortable,I wear them occasionally,for the same shoes are no longer available,yes when its gone,its gone.Now let us consider something far more serious,in Psalm 90 written by Moses,we have these words, 'So teach us to number our days,That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom',(v 12) In this Psalm it deals with' our sin,life's brevity,and God's wrath'.(Scroggie) Lets consider those three things,first sin, a word that has gone out of fashion,in a secular country were mankind's moral values  take first place,not God's.Sin is anything that is contrary to God's moral law,all unrighteousness is sinful,no matter how it is dressed up.The word of God makes it very clear what sin is, and as we will see,its has consequences.Next the brevity of life,we are told to consider how very important that is. we will all die sometime,Moses lived to 120 yet life at best is still very brief. Next let us consider God's wrath,  many do not want to consider it,but it is a fact,heaven is real, hell is real.The word of God says after death there is judgement. ( Hebrews 9 v 27) In Ps 90v11 we read ,'Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve', Nome of us can grasp God's wrath and its fulness ,it is something we need to fear (Matthew 10v 28)The only way we can escape God's wrath is by trusting  Jesus for salvation, if we die here  without having our sins forgiven,they will not be forgiven or overlooked by a holy God,only judgement awaits the unforgiven ,of that we can be sure.Likewise if we trust Jesus  heaven awaits us

                                                     'The soul that sins shall die!

                                                      My awful doom I heard;

                                                       I was forever lost!

                                                       But for Thy gracious word,

                                                       That ; whosoever will believe

                                                        Shall everlasting life receive.'

                                                                Words  A T .Pierso