Love (1 John 4 v 7-12)

 In 1John 4 v 7-12  we have the word love mentioned 9 times ,loves 1 time,and loved 3 times,no wonder john is called the apostle of love.Verse 7 starts with these words,'Dear friends, let us love one another.'It is in his epistle he puts puts a great stress on loving our fellow believers.In fact he says that,'Whoever claims to love God yet hates  a brother or sister is a liar'.( 1Jn 4 v20)How much do you love your fellow Christians?in iJn 3 v16, we read,'This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.And  we ought  to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters'.He also goes unto to say,'If anyone has material poeeession's and sees  a brother and sister in need  but has no pity on them, how can the love of God  be in that person? Dear Children,let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth' (1Jn 3 v17-18)So three things are emphasised in these verses .( 1) That loving God and hating your fellow believer,makes you a liar,it is going against what  our Saviour commanded  (John 13v 34) (2) Love must  manifest itself by loving kindness,by helping those in need  1Jn 3 v 17-18,it is James who says ,'show me your faith,so John stresses how vital it is by showing our love by helping our fellow Chistians in their times of need,and not just with  empty words.(3)Last but not least,our love is not given out on merit v7 tells us clearly tells us ,what that means,'This is love: not we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning  sacrifice  for our sins'.

A man called Sinner.( Revelation 20 v11-15)

 There is man called Sinner who is playing at the famous Wimbldon tennis tournament,it appears to me an inappropriate  name,fortunate it is not his first name.Imagine if it was ,people would be thinking what sins has he committed?.But here is something very important God has a name  for all of us,it is ,sinner,yes everyone is a sinner,there are no exceptions,there are people who would be offended if they were told that they were a sinner,but they are,all their protestations would be in vain.Let God be true and every person a liar,to deny our fallenness,is foolishness,and even dangerous,before its to late,and you die and go to a lost eternity.On that great judgement day when we all stand before God,everything will be brought out into the open,the hidden things we did wrong,that we told no one about,will be declared to us by Jesus the great judge,every wrong thought,every wrong word,every wrong deed,will be brought out into the open.You will hear of your fate spoken by Jesus ,depart from me into everlasting judgement.Everlasting means everlasting,there will be no reprive,no escape,no were to turn to,why because you failed to recognise the fact that you are a sinner,it need not end like that,seek the mercy of God ,confess your sin,and ask Jesus to be your Saviour.

His word ( 2 Timothy 3 v 16) 1

 In Jeremiah 23 v 29 we read,'Is not my word like fire,declares the Lord,and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces'. Lets consider the first part,'Is not my word like fire',one commentator writes,'It has the ability to purify,and consume what is false,exposes sin,reveals truth, and brings about spiritual transformation'. As Christians we need to have confidence in God's word.I sometimes look up what famous people have said,and some  of it is very good,but they not the word of God,and will pass into nothingness  eventually. But God's word  will last forever ,consider all those things mentioned, just some of the things the word can do.I thought how the word of God can guide us.When I attended Bible college I worked with a Belfast city missionary,he was a godly man,he was seeking guidance as to a possible move to a church.He said a certain verse kept coming up,indicating he should go,and he did,and the Lord blessed his ministry.We read in Psalm 119 v105,'Your word is a lamp to my feet,and a light to my path',.yes God will guide us by His word

The honours list.( Revelation (5 v 1-14)

Every year we have an honours list,David Beckham a famous footballer received a knighthood not just for being a footballer,but  for the charity work he is involved in.Consider a man who turned water into wine,so meeting the need at a wedding,He fed thousands of  hungry people,He healed many people,He raised the dead,delivered people from evil spirits,calmed stormy sea.Thirty seven miracles are recorded,although he did many more miracles  that were not recorded.Of course one would have thought He would have been honoured by His people,by putting a crown on his head,instead they put on His head a  crown of thorns.You would have thought they would have praised Him but they made plans to execute Him.You would have thought they would have placed Him on an houours list ,instead they placed Him on a cross. But that's not the end of the story ,for He is now in heaven crowned with glory and honour.There is coming a day ,oh yes it's coming, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,in heaven and on earth,and under the earth,and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.( Philippians 2 v 10-11)

The Lord's anger and the Lord's mercy. ( Ephesians 2 v 1- 10)

 Nahum prophesied to Niveveh the capital of the mighty Assyrian empire ,we all remember Jonah prophesing against them,they were very wicked , his message was that they were going to be judged by God. It didn't happen much to Jonah's dismay for they repented and God in his mercy forgive them.Now let us shoot forward a century to the time of Naham the prophet and his message like the one Jonah gave ,Nineveh was going to be destroyed.They had forgotten the lesson from their history and slipped back into their evil ways,the Assyrians were noted for their gross wickedness,even against God's people.Temporary repentence be it by a nation or a person can so easily be cast aside. It is Peter writing of such people describes them ,as,'A dog returns to its vomit,and 'A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud'.Nineveh is that dog, is that sow.This time there would be no mercy from God only judgement,the  Babylonians would  conquer them. The wicked will not escape God's judgement if not in this world but most surely in the next.But Nahum in 1 v7-8  tells us two things ,(A) The Lord is good a refuge in times of trouble.He cares for those who trust in Him. Whatever you may be going through remember dear child of God  ,He cares for you and He will be your refuge in your times of trouble,so trust Him, but those  who are unsaved,and unrepenting will face the wrath of God,there can be no escape from that.

                                               'Saved or unsaved which are you?'

                                                 

A biblical veiw of life. ( Hebrews 11 v 36-40)

 What do think of  when you read the following,'Health, wealth,and happiness?',the so called prosperity   gospel .Invented by people who proclaim a false gospel I wonder were they get it from?well I'll tell you were they get  it from , Satan.It was Satan who promised our Saviour he would give him all the splendour of this world,if He would bow down and worship him(Matthew 4 v 8-9)He still keeps tempting people with the same promise, and of course many people believe him,and  suffer the consequnces,for the fact is if you believe a lie,there will be consequences.I have in my possession a little book called,'The Crook in the Lot',it was written by a godly man called Thomas  Boston  ,he was born in  1676 and died 1732, he was a remarkable pastor and scholar.One of the books he wrote is called ,'The Crook and the Lot'. The writer of the  foreword of the book describes the word crook as meaning those unforeseen troubles and difficulties we encounter in life,and one's lot means our lot in life.The book is summed up with the following words,'What to believe when our lot in life is not health,wealth,and happiness'.The writer stresses much on the sovereignty of God,if we leave that out of our thinking we will find ourselves in a lot trouble.Becauae one is a Christian it does not mean we will not have trials,as the writer says 'they are an inevitable part of life', to deney this is deneying the realities of life. As Christians we need spiritual guidance,and grace in a full measure,we need to have a balanced veiw of  life,and not believe that,'Health, wealth,and happiness,is what the Christian life is all about,it's not.

                                                         'Everybody's lot in this world  

                                                          has some crook in it.

                                                          Nobody's lot,in this world

                                                          is   wholly  crooked'.(Words by  Thomas Boston)                                                      

Be faithful ( Acts 20 v31)

 A lady came to me and asked me were in the Bible would one  find the beatitudes.I was surprised at her not knowing this, I consider her a mature Christian.It  makes me think how little some Christians know about the Bible,and how little understanding they have of this wonderful book. In Hosea 4 v 6 we read,'My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge,because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you, as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God , I will also ignor your children'.The blame rests on priests who failed to instruct the people in God's ways. They themselves had turned from God and His word,ignoring His commandments,there was a deliberateness in what they failed to do.Verse seven reads,' the more priests there were the more they sinned.'They exchanged the glory of God for that which was disgraceful,verses 8-13 shows how far they had turned from God.And of course the people suffered,ignorant of God's word and His  ways.The calling to be a minister brings with it a tremendous responsibility,and accountability,it is by no means a light thing to enter into.These priests were soul mrderers, yes, it is as serious as that,the prophet Ezekiel was given a stern warning by God that if he failed to warn the people as to their sinful ways,their blood would be on his hands.(Ez 3 v16-21) Im my first church ,there was a little rug in my pulpit,with these words on it,' Preach the word'.and that is all I have ever  tried to do.