God's moral code.( Exodus 20 v3 -17)

 1Thessalonians 4 deals with what John Stott says are the three major human preocupations,'Sex,work and death'. He also declared,' that one of the weaknesses of contemporary evangelical Christianity is our neglect of Christian ethics,in both our teaching and our practice' He goes on further to say,as regards the neglect of teaching,because we are afraid of being branded 'legalists.we are not under  law,we say piously,as if we were free to ignor and even disobey  it. Whereas what Paul meant  our acceptance before  God is not due to our  observance of the law. But Christians are still under obligation to keep God's law and commandments'(Taken from his book on 1/2 Thessalonians in the 'Bible speaks today series) Let us consider one thing Paul deals with,(1)  Sex,lets face it,it is a very big preoccupation in most people lives,the Bible makes it clear what right sex is ,and what is wrong sex,Hebrews 13 v4 tells us that 'Marriage should be honoured by all ,and the marriage bed kept pure'.Genesis 2 v24 reads 'That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife,and they become one flesh'.To go outside marriage for sex is a sin,'For God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral (Heb 13 v4) ,and I would add fornication that is having sex outside of marriage .The NIV has sexually immoral,but the AV is better it defines it as fornication which I believe is more clear and helpful.Just to add a keynote  sex is only ligitimate between a man and a woman ( 1 Cor 6 v9 -10)

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The miracle of salvation ( Romans 3 v11)

 It was Charlotte Bronte who said,'I am no bird,and no one ensnares me,I am a free being with an independent will'.We understand what Charlotte is saying,but it leads unto the question have we got free will or do we believe as Martin Luther wrote that our will is in bondage?Yes we all have a will,but the question is how far has our fallen nature affected our will?,do we have a free will?.Romans 8 v7,tells us that the natural man has a mind that is at enmity with God. Romans 5 v 10 tells us of  humanity being enemies of God.an in Romans8 v7 ,we read of our inability to submit to God's laws.Jesus said.'No one can come to the me unless the Father who sent me draws them.(John 6 v 44).He also said ,' Light has come into the world,but people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.( John 3 v19) The problem with most of us we do not appreciate the awesome awful condition of our fallen nature. When we put our faith in Christ it is a miracle of God's grace,it takes God to move in our hearts, to enable us to turn from our ways to His ways.W Pink writes the following,'The sinners is biased towards evil,and therefore is ''free'' in one direction only,namely,in the direction of evil.The sinners will is enslaved because,.....it is in bondage to a depraved heart' ,again he says our will is regulated by our nature. What we have is the ability to make a choice,that is our responsibility,but only by the grace of God  can we make the right choice.

                                      'My will is not my own till  Thou hast made it thine;'

                                                            George Matheson

                                     

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Don't ignore Him.( Isaiah 53)

I was up in London recently ,there were a lot of people about, I noticed a street preacher,ministering warning about their eternal destiny and telling about Christ,no one appeared to be listening. In Lamentation 1 v 12 we read,'Is it nothing to you,all you that pass by?'The context is this Judah had been invaded by the mighty Babylonian army,Jerusalem was destroyed, likewise the temple.Jeremiah survived this ,as he gazed over the carnage,and he speaks those words from 1 v12.It appeared that no one cared  for the awful suffering they had experienced.But lets broaden it out ,and lets us look to the cross,and see Christ dying on the cross ,prophetically  Isaiah described His awful suffering.'His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form beyond human likeness' (52 V 14)That is the degree of His human suffering,I know that there was a deeper suffering,when the wrath of God  was poured out on Him'  The fast number of people in the world  walk on the other side of the road,ignoring His suffering as if it means nothing.If one goes to the national gallery in London,there are many paintings depicting Christ on the cross.I wonder does anyone  take it in His awful suffering?, and why He suffered ,Charles Wesley applies that verse to Christ in a hymn ,it reads.

                                                    'All ye that pass by, to Jesus draw nigh;

                                                     To you is it nothing that Jesus should die?

                                                     Your ransom and peace,your surety He is;

                                                      Come ,see if there ever was sorrow like

                                                                               HIS'

He does answer.(Psalm 27)

 God really does answer prayer,just recently in answer to my prayer God  I found something that was lost.Then I witnessed to someone who was lost and she promised to Trust Jesus,The next answer to prayer was returning somethng to Amazon ,I was finding it  very difficult to do,but God laid me to someone who helped me. Another answer was in relation to my wife's car,and so I could go on,it is not  vain to call on God.He hears and answers according to His will.Have confidence when you pray ,someone once said when I pray something happens,when I don't pray nothing happens.Jesus told us to pray and not to faint,to not give up,in other words keep on asking,keep on knocking,keep  on seeking.Don't give way to despair or unbelief,it was David who wrote in Psalm 27v8,'My heart has heard you say,'' Come and talk with Me! And my heart responds,''Lord I  am coming'',and in verses 13-14 David  declares ,'I remain confident of this;I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.He had confidence that God was going to undertake for him. And he ends with the following encouraging words,'Wait for the Lord',patiently expectantly,then he says,'be strong and take heart',don't loose heart even if the enemy is battering on your door.and then he repeats what he said previously,'and wait for the Lord',

                                                                 'God will not fail us'

God's greatness.(Isaiah 40)

In Isaiah 40 God is speaking to his prople a people privileged,blessed by God,loved by God,and yet a people who often lost sight of His uniqueness,and who would turn to other so called god's,made of stone,or wood.So in Isaiah 40 ,He  challenges them to look beyond their so called god's,to Him ,and his greatness ,in v10 He reminds them that He is the sovereeign God he declares His greatness and transcdence,in comparsion to their impermance v 7-8.As regards the nations they are nothing in comparsion to God v15-17.In verse 21ff God declares his incomparable greatness,in comparsion to  people who are likened unto grasshoppers,and earthly rulers  who are here today and gone tomorrow.He tells them to look up to the heavens and reminds that He created them.In v27 God poses a question as to what his people are saying ,that He really dosen't care for them or what was happening to them,one commentator describes what they are saying was a hideous lie. God is so great and awesome and does not grow tired or weary,He pays attention to those who need Him,if they wait on Him ,he will renew their strength,so much so that they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,and they will walk and not faint.'

His kingdom come, ( Daniel 7 v 27)

 Is there any Christian countries?,I don't think so,I keep hearing that Hungary is a Christian country,but is it?,the statistics would say it is ,but in reality only one in five attend any Christian services. Let us consider  what a Christian is,it is someone that has trusted Jesus as their Saviour,and when they have done that their sins have been forgiven,without that you cannot be classed as a Christian.When you become a Christian you become a citizen of the kingdom of God,which is ruled by King Jesus.Jesus our dear Saviour made it absolute clear that His kingdom is not of this world (John 19v36). It is imposs - ible to destroy this kingdom,though many have tried,and are trying, there are mulitudes of Christ's who are suffering greatly,and so it will always be.Dictorial goverments want to have absolute control over their population,and will do all in their power to elimanate those who follow king Jesus.They are very serious about that ,and it is very sad and disturbing to hear of the brutality inflicted on God's children. Jesus asked his disciples,'Who do you say I am? Peter answered ,'You are the Messiah,the Son of the living God.on that declaration of the person of Christ,our Saviour replied ,'On this rock ,I will build my Church,and the gates of Hell will not overcome it'.( John 16 v 16-18) John Newton wrote the following     

                                                      Glorious things of thee are spoken,

                                                      Zion city of our God;

                                                      He whose word cannot be broken,

                                                      Formed thee for His own abode.

                                                       On the rock of  ages founded,

                                                       What can shake thy sure repose?

                                                       With salvation's walls surrounded,

                                                       Thou may'st smile at all thy foes'.

                                                       

                      

A white elephant. (Matthew 19 v16- 22 )

 What is the meaning of the saying ,'a white elephant', it speaks of something that is expensive,that causes a lot of money to look after.I think I read somewhere how a Maharaja would give someone a present of a white elephant,it wasn't a kind act,no he meant to punish the person, by making him poor because of the upkeep of the creature.Today I praise God we have got rid of a white elephant,my wifes  car,it was a lovely car for the first two years she had it, but then things started to go wrong,and it was costing us more and more money,yes it was a white elephant.But  today we got rid of the beast, and I thank God,and in its place my wife has  another nice car .I used to say to my dear wife don't fall in love with any car, for it may turn ino a white elephant.There are many things one could class as a white elephant,what is your white elephant?. There is an enemy  called Satan, remember what he said to our dear Saviour ,when he showed our Him all the kingdoms of the world  and their splendour,he said that he would give him all that if He would bow down and worship him,but of course He didn't.If we yield to Satans temptations we will  soon find there is a price to pay,that can cost one ,their very soul,remember the love of our white elephant,can have dire consequences,but Jesus can set you free,turn to Him if we forsake our white elephant.