Crippled ( Hebrews 10 v 2 )

Let us continue on the theme of being crippled inside, in this fallen world which we live in ,so much wrong is committed,we could fill a library many times over with the sins that people commit. They can be divided up by the victims and perpetrators,many people don't appear to have any qualms about the wrong things they do, but there are people and they are crippled by guilt.We  may feel guilt in areas of life ,blaming ourselves as to what we should have done in certain situations,could be that it  wasn't even our fault,but we feel it was and so we live with guilt. Let us remember that guilt is for the wrongs we have done,not for the wrongs done to us.Guilt can cripple us,and even destroy us,it can cause us to become depressed.Here is a wonderful message the wrongs that we have committed,the sins we have committed can be forgiven by God,and with that forgiveness we can be free from guilt.But the devil who is called the  accuser of Gods children  ( Rev 12 v 10 ),God when He forgives sin chooses not to remember them anymore,but the devil takes delight in reminding us of our past evil deeds.He will seek to remind Gods children of former sins,we need to remind him, of what God has done,that He has forgiven us our sins,as far as the east  is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us .( Psalm 103 v 12 ) An old hymn goes,'When first o'whelmed with sin and shame. Burdened with guilt and full of fear,yet drawn by love to venture near. pardon I found,and peace with God. In Jesus' rich atoning blood'.

Crippled ( Matthew 6 v 14 - 15 )

John Lennon wrote a song called 'Crippled inside', one of the verses go,'You can go to church and sing a hymn. You can live a lie until you die.One thing you can't hide,is when  your crippled inside'.I wonder what you think about these words.  What can cripple us inside ?,unforgiveness can most definitely to this, it may surprise us if we only but  knew how crippled many are ,because they are harbouring unforgiveness yes even within the Christian church.It is something that can eat away at us. Take divorce,it is relateivley easy to get divorce,but often what follows is a lifetime of unforgiveness,we remain cripples.We hear that they are bringing in a no blame divorce,but often someone is to blame,there are innocent parties,and they are crippled inside, and often in their conversation,or demeanour  it shows.I want to face you with a choice,a choice that if you make the right choice,you will no longer be crippled inside. , it is summed up in one word, 'Forgive'.When Jesus was lying on the cross,he said these words ,'Father forgive them',

The Soul. ( Matthew 16 v 25 - 26 )

Many of us have heard of soul music, here is the question ,what is a soul?,I have often quoted Matthew 16 v 26, from the AV,which reads ,' For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole, and lose his soul'.Professor Andrews in his book ,'Who made God', sees the soul in relation to the mind,he writes of a dualism,that of brain and mind, He writes,'Since the mind of God exists without any material substrate so,logically,does the mind of man, so he writes that man's mind( or soul or spirit) lives on after death of the physical'.  It is an intriguing idea, it was C.S.Lewis who said the following,'we don't have a soul ,we are a soul',again a interesting statement, it is the Message that hits on that idea,it reads,' What kind of a deal is it, to get everything you want but lose yourself'. The translation that William Hendriksen  uses reads, 'For what good will it do a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life, or what shall a man give in  exchange for his life'.It is W H,who comments on this,'was our Lord thinking of the offer which the devil once made to him ?( Mt 4 v 8 -9 ) Whatever you may think of  all this,let us not miss the seriousness of what our Saviour is saying,the importance of making the right choice, and the consequences of making the wrong choice.

Have you forgotten ?. ( Luke 17 v 26 - 28 )

I read of a monastic order , who were sharply aware of the fragility of life,and of their dependence on God  from whom they believed all sustenance and welfare came.   These two things never enters the mind of so called modern man. Most have never given a thought how fragile life is, and  that they are depending on God for anything. William Ernest Henly sums up modern mans attitude to life,'I am master of my fate,I am captain of my soul'.A certain poet called Robert Burns wrote, of the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. The vast majority of people before the coronavirus had booked holidays ,planned to get married,planned for this and that,none of us , for one moment never thought that anything would interfere with our plans. Why should we think otherwise?,we are the master of our fate,captain of our souls,or so we thought,it may be ,that we still think this,fools that we are.In Proverb 27 v 1,we have a timely reminder as regards the uncertainly of life, it reads,'Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring'.Our Saviour told a story of a rich farmer, ( Luke 12 v 16 - 21 )  he was no different than most people , he had come into what in essence was a lot of money,so he was planning to live the good life,take it easy,eat ,drink,and be merry.Like so many people who go and live , wherever  skies are not cloudy all day.  God called this farmer  a fool and told him he was going to die that night,he forgot that life was fragile, and that no one can escape the inevitable ,God and eternity. . Here are very solemn words from Psalm 9 v 17,' The wicked shall be turned into hell,and all the nations that forget God'.Let me stress to whoever you are, the importance of seeking the Lord Jesus now,before it is to late,because life is fragile.

Faith and Patience ( Habakkuk 2 v 2 - 3 )

Right at the beginning of  Marks gospel he quotes from the book of Isaiah 40 v 3 which reads, 'I will send my messenger ahead of you,who will prepare your way - a voice of one calling in the desert . Prepare the way of the Lord,make straight paths for him', now this had a twofold message as we will see,We have a similar passage in Malachi 3 v 1.These prophesies relate to that time when the Messiah was  to come , the Messenger would be John the Baptist, and the Messiah would be Jesus.  Isaiah prophesied about 600 years before these words would be fulfilled,and Malachi about 400 years.Consider the long wait before these prophesies would be fulfilled , faith and patience was called for. When Abraham was promised a son Genesis 15 v 4  - 6. right away Abraham believed God,he exercised faith,but then he had to exercise patience,for it was not until both Sarah and him ,were elderly, was the promise fulfilled (Romans 4 v 18 - 22 )Patience we are told is a virtue,but it is also vital,as like Abraham,we wait on promises being fulfilled.The next great event in Gods plan is the returning of Jesus, in John 14 just before He was to leave and return to heaven,He said,''I will come back and take you to be with me''.this is what we believe,we have faith in what our Saviour said,but it has been over two thousand years since the promise was given.Go to 2 Peter 3 were people were doubting the promise,and consider how Peter  answers it. Jesus is returning no matter how long its being since the promise has been given,it will happen. On a personal note ,let me ask you,has God given you a promise? have you not received it yet? ,have faith, have patience, in your God,who always keeps his word.

Are you worthy? ( Luke 18 v 9 - 14 )

In one of  G.K.Chesterton's book ,about Father Brown, we have the priest saying to someone,'Everyone  is worthy of forgiveness'. It appears a nice thought, but it is not true,in fact no one is worthy of forgiveness,  absolutely no one. Mankind we are told in Romans 3 v 23 are all without exception sinners,always remember we must consider ,not how we look at things,but how God looks at things as revealed in His word. God is not swayed by sentiment, or ill judgement,no, God knows the full picture as regards everyone of us. Consider how humanly speaking we look at things,yes the Hitlers and the like ,those real baddies deserve no forgiveness,but not that nice little old lady,or that nice old man,or that nice.....,so we could go on. Or we could replace the word nice,with the word innocent,but the fact is no one  ,no one, is innocent in Gods sight. Why did Christ come? .We read in 1 Timothy 1 v 15,that'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners',that means you,  and it means me. The truth is, forgiveness  is an act of mercy by a merciful God,to unworthy sinners, such as you and I ,to think otherwise is to shut yourself of  from forgiveness. If we come by faith to Jesus acknowledging our unworthiness,and that we are not innocent,and ask him to be our Saviour ,then we will receive as an act of mercy from God, forgiveness for all our sins.

Entertainment ( Romans 1 v 16 )

During the first world war ,the cinemas were continually showing films about the conflict that was taking place,it was very hard for people to bear. So a number of cinemas decided to stop showing war scenes,they displayed notices assuring people they were not showing any filmed reports about the war,instead they would show movies that were entertaining. Entertainment is important ,people want to be entertained,be it in sport, the gladiatorial games were grim ,no more than a licence to kill,but to those ancient Romans,it was entertainment. I wonder if much that passes in many so called Christian gatherings ,has become nothing more than entertainment?,I point to the prosperity preachers,but there are other gatherings,were music led by the song leaders, work people up to an emotional high.and of course none of this comes cheap,your healing's ,blessings, comes at a price. I read this recently ,'The gospel is not meant to entertain, it is to serious for that.life and death hang on it'. These are very important words,as a preacher I am not there to entertain,it is to serious for that,when we as God's people meet we are not there to be entertained, we are there to worship,we are not there to have an emotional high.There is nothing wrong with singing modern songs or old songs when we meet together,but they should prepare our hearts ,as we come to hear Gods word preached. As for  the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ,it is good news,wonderful news,something we can rejoice in,why?   because no other message has the power to save us,no other message can tell us ,how our sins can be forgiven,no other message has the power to set us free from the sins that enslave us,no other message can save from Gods wrath,no other message can take us to heaven,is this not good news Christian, rejoice.,if you are not a Christian,why not trust Jesus as your Saviour.