Never mentioned. (John 3 v 16)

J.I.Packer wrote,'Life should be viewed and lived in terms of two worlds,and two destinies,'heaven and hell'.Sad to say it's a long time since I've heard  hell mentioned. Where I come from ,the North of Ireland,it was clearly taught,but my last minister and my present minister has not mentioned it even once.I wonder why that is?,I'm sure there are a number of reasons,but none of them are valid,yes hell is a fearful doctrine, it is not a nice thing to preach on,no one should take any pleasure in preaching it,we should avoid any crudeness,but we should preach it out of a heart of love,I don't want anyone to go to hell.Our dear Saviour preached about hell,not all the time,but He did preach it. and He made very clear what it meant.I read these words in a modern song,'You make your own heaven and hell right here on earth',it's not true,in fact it does not come near to what heaven means or hell means.Lets mention heaven,we cannot make a heaven right here on earth,why? because we live in a fallen world, there are no earthly paradises,for the effects of sin even on this planet earth will soon manifest itself,in various ways.There is no country that has escaped  the ravages of humanities sinful nature,and there is no one who will escape death,the wages of sin.Yes there are two worlds,'heaven and hell'.So the question must be asked ,'where will you spend eternity'?

Nobody can merit God's favour.( Luke 18 v 10-14)

Saving grace is not heredity,some of the most Godly people have had very bad sons',king David had a son who raped his half sister (2 Samuel 13),and Absalom sought to assassinate his  father David (2 Samuel 17 v2-4).Some very  bad parents have had some very good godly children (2 Kings 21 v23-24),but there are no guarantees that they will have. Neither fame or fortune can have any influence on one becoming a child of God, God is not influenced by human standards. Reception into the family of God is based upon mercy,not merit, for the fact is, we have no merit before a holy God.The Bible makes it clear that we are all sinners (Romans 3 v23) .It  is said as regards the Mafia that outwardly many of them  appear very amiable, but behind that facade, they are very evil.likewise many ordinary people are amiable, likeable people,but they still are sinners, who live apart from God,and die in that condition and go to a lost eternity.The Bible tells us'That the world did not recognise Jesus,and that even His own people rejected Him',but it goes on to say,'To all who believed Him and accept Him ,he gave the right to become Children of God.They are reborn - not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God'.

                                                 '

                                                     

Whose fault is it? ( Romans 3 v 12- 18)

 The downfall of  Israel began when Solomon forsook God (1 Kings 11),God spoke to him but he would not listen,so God proclaimed that judgement would fall,not during his lifetime,but during his son's reign.So it came to pass,the one became two,ten tribes were given to a man called Jeroboam,and Rehoboam was left with Judah and Benjamin.It  wasn't long before the rot set in during Jeroboams reign the 10 tribes would survive for about 160yrs,when the Assyrian armies  invaded the land defeating Israel and taking the surviviors back to Assyria.Judah lasted longer but gradually they deteriorated spiritually until God had enough,and raised up the Babylonians who conqured them, killing most of the inhabitants, and taken a remnant into exile. It was Jeremiah the prophet speaking to Judah who said,'Have you not brought  this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God'(Jeremiah 2 v17)These words would apply to all of Israel,but they also apply to all humanity,look at all the suffering in this world,so painful,so awful, what's the reason? sin,we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God(Romans 3 v23), it was not the way it was meant to be.but we humanity  chose  to forsake God and His ways,we have brought it all  on ourselves.The only hope for all mankind  is Christ,the world needs a Saviour,and that Saviour is Jesus

                                                   'There is a way to God from the dark 

                                                     paths of sin,thedoor is open and all 

                                                     may go in,it is Calvary's cross is  

                                                     were we begin,when we come as a 

                                                     sinner to Jesus'

I have so little to give.( Proverbs 11 v 24-26 )

 We live in a world were many countries don't get much rain,I remember reading about a time of drought in South Africa,the Christians met and prayed for rain,then they sang a hymn,and as they did the heavens opened up,and the minister said ,'we should stop now and give thanks'.I wonder how often we forget  to give thanks to God for his blessings upon us.I live in a lovely country,it goes without saying that it's not a perfect country. There are countries that get very little rain,and that causes a lot of hardship,they can't grow their crops,and so they go without food.Many countries have very litte to offer their  people as regards health well being, or even education.Im sure you get the picture,I am reminded of that time when our Saviour was faced with thousands of hungry people (Matthew 14 v 13-21),,and He said to the disciples,''You give them something to eat' '. They replied ,'We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish',So Jesus took the fish and the loaves,and looking up into heaven, He give thanks to God,the result was 5,000 plus people were fed,don't let the littleness you have stop you from giving ,surrender it into His hands,and who knows, miracles can happen.

Fear . ( Psalm 23 v 4 )

 A lady I know used to live in a particular country in Africa, she now lives in England,she said that she didn't realize how much she lived in fear in for most of her life,were houses had bars on their windows,and had an atmosphere of danger.She said she dosen't have that fear now where she lives.There are many countries in the world where people live in constant fear,where goverments rule, by religious or political oppression. So often they fake it pretending to be what they are not,the brave ones who dare to stand for what they believe pay a terrible cost.I visit a dear lady on a regular bases ,she has just lost her husband of many years,now she is on her own,she does have good support,but at night she feels afraid, she is a Christian and she feels guilty also. I am sure we all have times when we feel afraid and struggle to cope,mybe for some the answer is to move from their threatenting situations,as far away as possible,that takes courage .The most godly of people experience fear,the greatet example of that is King  David, in Psalm 56 v 3 -4 we read,''When I am afraid, I put my trust in you,in God ,whose word I praise -in God  I trust  and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'.He is speaking to himself and to us ,note what he said,'Whose word I praise',yes the word of God is a great help in helping us in our times of fear.David in verse 13 declares,'For  you have delivered me from death,and my feet from stumbling' ,he thinks of past mercies,how God delivered him in the past,so what He has done in the past,he can do it the present.

                                             'So do not fear,for am with you;

                                              do not be dismayed,for I am

                                              your God. I will strengthen you       ( Isaiah 41 v10)

                                              and help you; I will uphold you

                                              with my righteous right hand'.

                                             

                                               

God spoke to me. ( Philippians 4 v 6-7)

Let me share something with you,about 8wks ago I had an operation as regards a enlarged prostate,since then its being very challenging,I have had to wear pads,and I had to go to the toliet continually.I felt very restricted as to wear I could go,this coincided with being given tickets to go to see the ,'Trooping of the colour',in London,my grandson who is in the household calvary,and would be taking part in it.So I really wanted to go,I asked people to pray,but I was not sure,if I could go,which leads me as to what I said yestrday,as regards trusting the Lord with all ones heart,and not leanng on ones own understanding.(Proverbs 3 v 5 )I had prayed that God would speask to me,and as I did the message, God was speaking to me so I decided I would go to the event,and to trust in the Lord.So I set of yesterday,with my dear wife,and my son and his wife to attend the event.I brought extra pads with me, but the good news is I didn't need them. Yesterday turned out to be best day I have since my op,I sensed the Lord reassuring me throughout the day,and so all went well,all I can say is thank you Lord , for your goodness to me.

                                          'Don't worry  about anything; instead

                                          pray about everything.Tell God what you

                                          need,and thank Him for all He has done.'

                                                          Philippians 4 v 6.

                                          

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Don't be half hearted ( Psalm 112 v 6- 8 )

There are so many things we cannot change ,the list is endless,so what can we do?,the word of God tells us, to,' Trust in the Lord with all our heart,and lean not on your own understanding.' (Proverbs 3 v5) These words highlight two things,first we are told to ,'Trust in the Lord',Think of it like this,God is actually speaking  to us,you may say I never hear God speaking to me,that's only for those very spiritual people,not so ,the words in this verse ,is God speaking ,to everyone who reads it.There are people who may come to us and say,' I have a word from God to you', be careful of such people,it may not be so. But it is God speaking to us when we read this verse,make no mistake about it.So what is God saying to us,in our situation?it may be difficult for you to accept what He is saying,'Trust in the Lord,but not just trust in Him,but with all of our heart,unwavering,fully,not holding anything back. Bridges  says,'it must be entire,and it must be exclusive' .That's the big challenge we must take it serious, many don't ,the result is they loose out, It is the sort of trust that honours God above all others,it is the sort of trust that we read of in Psalm 46 v 1- 3,' God is our refuge and strength, an every present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foam and the mountains  quake with their singing'. It is when we don't know were to turn  and we hear God saying,'Be still and know that I am God' v10.

                                  'O for a faith that will not shrink,Though pressed by many a foe;

                                  That will not tremble on the brink of poverty and woe;

                                  That will not murmur or complain, beneath the chastening rod;

                                   But in the hour of grief or pain can lean upon its God'

                                                               Words W H Bathurst