They are watching us ( John 13 v12 ff)

The early church's had their problems,and so letters sent by the apostles would deal  with these things, one example is the two letters sent to the church in Thessalonica,by  the apostle Paul deals with a number of issues, I will mention three .(1) Those who  refused to work (2 v 6ff) (2 ) False teachers. (2 v2 -4)  (3) Persecutions ( 1 v4)Lets consider the first one,those refusing  to work ( 2  These  3 v 6ff),the believers are told to stay away from them,he uses the term ,'These Loafers',Paul is not writing of those who can't work but those who do not want to work,who as one commentator says,'they  were temperamentally lazy and sponging on the generous members of the church,and others that they had imbibed the Greek disdain for manual labour' There were others who had stopped working because of the belief in the imminence of the Lord's return.'Paul had told them in his first letter to return to work but they did not heed his words.Paul  speaks of such people as being disruptive,he reminds them of what he had told them, that those refusing to work should not receive any food.But then he reminds them how when he and his companions were with them, they worked day and night,so as not to be a burden to anyone,and would not eat anybodies food with paying them for it.'Paul and his friends  practiced what they preached,by their example. Our dear Saviour did the same thing when He washed the disciples feet ( John 13 v2 ff) I remember  somene saying  as to the unbelievers  ,'They are watching us',we may not realise that people are watching us.our children are,,our neighbours are ,and so on.

                                                     'Let us lead by example'

What then? ( Romans 6 V 23)

 As a Christian we have hope that goes beyond this world,the unsaved have not got that hope,what hope what I am talking about? 'HEAVEN'. All their hope is earthly based,that's as far as it goes.There is story about a elderly man who asked a young man what was his aim in life?,well I want to go to college and get an education,the man said ,'what then?'. The young man replied,'well I will get a good job,get married ,have a family,again he was asked  the question,'What then?'.Well he replied I will retire and just live out the rest of my days,and the man replied,'what then?. Yes 'what then', that young man had no other hope other than this world,and that young man will go to a lost eternity, to a place of no hope whatsoever,death is not the end,there are two destinies,one is hell and the other is heaven,it goes without saying that I am going to heaven,I hope that you will be heaven and not in hell.That will depend if you have  asked Christ to be your Saviour,if you don't know Him as your Saviour you will not go heaven and you most certainly will go to hell.What I am writing may appear unfeeling,but it is not,I write it out a deep concern for those who do not know Christ as their Saviour,

Heaven ( Revelation 21 v 1-5)

 Paul writing to the church in Colossae,exhorts the believers,'To set your hearts on things above ,where Christ is'.....Set your minds on things above,not on earthly things; (3 v 1-2)I really don't know what heaven is really like,I know who will  be there,our great triune God,plus angels,and the saints of God.The rest  is hidden from us,the apostle Paul had a great revelation of heaven where he,' heard inexpressible things'Of course John was given a revelation of heaven,which encourages us to press on  towards heaven and home. In that lovely little book,'The valley of Vision', I read the following.'There is no joy like the joy of heaven, for in that state are no sad divisiions, unchristian quarrels,contentions,evil designs,weariness, hunger,cold, sadness,sin,suffering, persecutions,toils of duty. O  healthful place where none are sick! O happy land where all are kings! O holy assembly where all are priests! How free a state where none are servants except to Thee! Bring me speedily to the land of Joy'.

                                                We read of a place called Heaven

                                                 It's made for the pure and the free,

                                                These truths  in God's word He has given,

                                                  How beautiful Heaven must be'

                                                       Words  Gloria Gaither 

Those flies. ( Matthew 24 v14)

     Today we had a few unwanted visitors,flies ,we cannot find out how they are getting into our home,but war has been declared on them.It is not to serious ,but there was a time when it was serious for the nation of Egypt.We have to go to the book of Exodus,I'm sure you  know all about it, how God sent 10 plagues on Egypt for they refused to let His people go,the plague of flies was the forth one,the last one was the worst one,when all the firstborn of the Egyptians died.It need not have been that way,if only Pharaoh had obeyed God and let Israel who were treated as slaves,go. The Pharaohs were ruled but they were considered more than rulers they were seen as god's,just like the Caesars who ruled Rome,and the Emperor's of Japan. The history of Humanity is one of opposing God,this was manifested by a rejection of the only true God,even when He came in the person of Jesus Christ, that shows the extent of humanites depravity.There was a moment when God said,enough is enough,and He dealt with Pharaoh,and so it will be when God will look on this world that has forsaken Him ,and He will say,'enough is enough',Yes it is coming,what I would say to you is this,if you do not know Christ as your  Saviour,it's time you did,before it's to late.

                                                               'The end is near'

His sufferings ( Isaiah 52 v13- 53 :12)

 In Isaiah 53 v 7 we read these awsome  prophetic words,'He was oppressed and afflicted,yet He did not open His mouth;He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,and as sheep before its shearers is silent,so He did not open His mouth.'These words are so profound  so graphic and so majestic.Here we have Jesus the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world,betrayed by on of His followers for thirty pieces of silver as was foretold by Zechariah chap 11 v12.One needs to read  Isaiah 52 v v13ff to grasp the awful brutality afflicted on our Saviour ,we read,'His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form marred beyond human likeness' We cannot sanitise what our Saviour went through,it was awful beyond degree, yet consider His demeanour ,and His bearing as He was lead as a lamb to the slaughter,,'He did not open His mouth',think of the majesty in His divine silence.He could have called legions of angels to rescue Him(Matthew 26 v53,but He didn't. He voluntary bore all that was being afflicted on  Him,for He knew that was why He had come( Matthew 25 v 54) So silently He walked bravely on towards His destiny ,to die on a cross,All that He suffered had a purpose in Gods eternal plan,it was not a after thought,Revelation 13 v 8 reads ,that He was' the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world' Why all this terrible suffering?,it was simply this,it was God's will to crush Him by bearing our sin,he took upon Himself the consequences of our sim , that when we trust Christ as our Saviour the wrath of God is removed from us ,for He bore it on the cross.

                                                     'He took my sins and my sorrows,

                                                      He made them His very own;'

                                                      

                                                                

Being overwhelmed.(Psalm 42)

 Sometimes when trials fall upon us, it is like being engulled by a Tsunami wave that leaves us devastated to the point were all we can see is darkness,each day is a struggle,nothing seems to help. One of the examples of this is Job,his answer to one of friends goes like this,'If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!It would surely outweigh  the sand of the sea'(Job 6 v 1-2) Another example example is seen in Psalm 42,written by the sons of Korah but Spurgeon attributes it to David,it starts with his longings for God ,indeed a holy thirst for God,for the living God,it progresses to a continual time of sorrows and tears.He remembers the good times,and questions himself as to why he feels so sad,yet he declares his hope in God and praises Him.He is discouraged but he did not lose sight of God.He expresses the depth of His suffering and declares,'All your waves and billows have gone over me'yes a Tsunami has gone over him.Yet in it all he acknowledges God's goodness,yet feels forgotten by God.His enemies press him sore,and the end of the psalm finishes with the words 'I will put my hope in God', and a declaration of  faith and praise ,that God will deliver him.

                                           'If I am weak,may I faint upon the  bosom of eternal love;

                                                   If in extremity,let me feel that he can deliver me;

                                                   If driven to the verge of hope and to the pit of despair,

                                                   grant me grace to fall into His arms.

                                              O God,hear me, do for me more than I ask,think,or dream.

                                                                                      Amen

                                                                         (From the valley of vision.)   

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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