A Father's Embrace!

(Luke 11:10)  “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

My initial thought pictures a child standing outside His father’s room in the early hours of the morning somewhat frightened to venture back the way he came as he remembered the emotion of fear that gripped his heart back in his curtain drawn room but now he faced a different dilemma the door to his father’s room. Thoughts foraged through his young brain; already he had begun to reason things out, would his father welcome him or would he be scolded for disturbing his sleep. Do you feel like that at times? Are we sometimes so frightened to approach the “throne room of grace” that we stand outside this massive room debating whether we are worthy enough to enter?

We will never qualify within ourselves, outside of the Lord Jesus’ complete work in and through mankind’s redemption. He has made the way, we will never find acceptance from the only true God outside of Christ. Why then do we feel that some days we are worthy than other days to enter the “throne room of grace”? It will never have anything to do with our achievements or our failures but only the finished work of Calvary, Christ has accomplished almost the impossible, and He has made a way for sinful mankind back to God the Father. He has qualified us (all who have His Spirit), it is about His achieved and it has nothing to do with our Christian progress. This truth will and can never changed. Let us not be confused, we must start with the understanding that in Christ alone we stand. No matter how we stumble and fall which to some extend disqualifies the Christians stance, it can however never change what Christ alone achieved on Calvary. It is mission accomplished! If a man one day stood upon a hill and proclaim to the crowd below that Jesus was the way the truth and the life and then soon after he no longer believed, would his indecision change history? Of course not! Regardless of the bad examples that we see around us on every corner, in fact my life has in time past been one of volatility. But nothing I or anyone could ever do would ever change what the Lord Jesus accomplished on Calvary, end of story!

It is only His achievement that the Father willingly accepted; it had nothing to do with us in that sense. Even John the Baptist was only a forerunner to make a way for the coming King, it was only once he had baptized the Lord through water that the heavens echoed these wonderful words; “and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)   

Everything in our lives hinge on these two principles; “faith towards God and repentance from dead works.” It is God who will accomplish all that He has set out to do, no opposing questions asked! The sooner we learn to “let go and let God”, the sooner we find rest for our souls.

Now as that boy eventually worked it out He burst through that door into His Father’s room to find his Father standing with open arms and as the boy felt the warm of his Fathers embrace he heard Him say, “I knew you would eventually understand.” And as the tears rolled down the boys cheeks he too now understood.

Signing off

Tyrone  

Our conquering King!

(2Timothy 2:13) “If we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.”

It is a glorious change in our lives when God graciously affords His children the opportunity to close one’s eye with Him on one’s mind and then to open one’s eyes with Him as our first thought as we wipe the sleep from or eyes. What has changed I ask myself? I do not have to dig deep to find the answer, as it is obvious. God remains constant in His perfect character, never tossed to and fro, how beautiful to behold his glory although it be through the eyes of faith. In fact without faith it is impossible to please God and without believing that He diligently looks to bless all His children when they walk by faith and not by sight we remain in a very uncertain place. The “slough of despond” will always look to penetrate our lives with unbelief and as long as we do not believe that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him we will be left wading in our puddle of unbelief.

So what has changed?  The understanding of this verse; “if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.” (2Timothy 2:13)

God is not a hard task master that looks to drive and scourge His children at every opportunity so that they are driven into shape. I thank my gracious God for all of those times in my life when that was needed, without the crack of His whip I would be in serious trouble. But to be able to rest our heads peacefully upon the breast of the Lord Jesus as the Beloved Disciple had done, is the sweetest of experiences.

So what has changed? My understanding of faith toward God; for so many years the snares and traps of this life have beguiled me into believing so many lies about my weakness in the flesh. I have failed to trust God in and through these experiences that has kept me bound by so many weak and beggarly elements that look to find life through my existence. And I am not speaking of gross sin per se, but sin nevertheless. The faith of David or Samson or even Joshua and Caleb is now a lot closer to the understanding of my heart than it once was.

The Lord Jesus wrought a mighty work on Calvary and then on the third day He rose from the dead and broke the shackles of every enslaving sin on the planet. This truth must not remain just theory in our minds but it must have its outworking in our lives. And it is only when we believe it to be true for ourselves that the words of the Lord Jesus ring sweet to the ear… “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)

So what has changed? It has absolutely nothing to do with my inabilities as a frail man, but it has all to do with the conquering power of the Lord Jesus in my life. He has won the victory, there is nothing complicated to figure out all we need do is believe God and more specifically in every area of our lives where doubt looks to live. Let me now use a practical example to illustrate my point; in the past I would often go to sleep with a daunting thought impregnated on my mind, an ungodly thought and instead of seeking God’s face about the thought and wrestling with my conscience in faith calling upon the One who alone has the power to deliver, I would offer let it slip and try and ignore it. This was my first mistake! The very first instruction our great Saviour gives us when teaching us to pray is; “Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God requires this mindset from his children and faith demands that we seek our God in order to find His reward. And no! It is not material wealth that drives us but rather zeal urges to put off sin and to put on Christ. Our goal must be to look more like our glorious Saviour. It is here that our Merciful Father rewards us. No ifs and buts! He then begins to root out those holds on our lives that once stood higher than Everest. What’s more is He loves to reward His children, for this I am so forever thankful.

It is when we bring back a bad report on all the giants in our lives that we fail to walk in faith, regardless of these monsters with their honed warfare skills our God is more than a conqueror, only believe in His ability and not our inabilities.

Signing off

Tyrone   

Perfection!

(Matthew 5:48) “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I thank God for the brilliance in which He goes about His business. He is perfect and He needs nothing added to His character; if something was still needed to additionally complete God’s perfection it would then make Him imperfect and therefore have a need to find perfection from another source. This would make Him an Idolater! Which of course He is not and could never be! He is the only true living God and there is much more we could say on this point; about life, sin and sonship all in the confines of this one position. Time does not permit at present for us to explore any deeper. Nevertheless God is perfect and require nothing to complete his immaculateness as He is perfect, praise His name!

Therefore God must get his creation to imitate Him in every sphere of life. Hence the first commandment; "You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) - Harmony is found in perfection and God is perfect! And as fallen beings we are imperfect because of Adam’s sin and Satan’s deception. Yet we are commanded to shoot for perfection just as our Father is perfect; “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Outside of sanctification this is impossible! We must never forget the accomplishments of our great Saviour and our great King, without His complete work we would all be doomed for hell. May we never forget Calvary, I do not mean through the ages of time and beyond as this is a given. But today may we remember what it meant for Him to lay down His life for me. Let us soberly consider our commitment and consider our friends that are doomed for hell as they refuse the only true Saviour for salvation; having said that, never let us forget that we too once where were they find themselves, lost and without hope. Have mercy upon their souls I pray my great heavenly Father. There was a time I believed I would be alright with God and all it was at the time was a lie, unless we truly repent (acknowledge that we are sinners and deserve to go to hell, we do not try and pretend that we have more good than bad to our lives). Break one of God’s commandments just once and you are cursed and destined for hell. We will never find acceptance from God outside of His glorious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only when this become our reality do we understand.

I pray for Brett and Louise and their newborn son Jordan that you would shake them to a place of true understanding of what it meant for you to send you only begotten Son to pay the price for repentant sinners. It is only your goodness Father that leads a man to repentance, be merciful I pray. Not because we have any merit within ourselves because we don’t but because you have it in your power to be merciful. And for all who have come to love the finished work of Calvary may we learn to embrace it even more, let Uncle Charles help us with the aid of our great God the Holy Spirit to see a little clearer…

“Looking unto Jesus.”

- Heb_12:2

It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.

“My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Suppose Not!

(James 1:7) “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.”

I wonder why we so easily miscue the simplicity of the gospel. As I listen to ministry of late I sadly confess that there seems to be a dearth when Christ should be magnified and lifted higher than any other, there should be no one competing and sadly I understand the letter to the church at Ephesus a little clearer. I am not excusing myself from the number and I pray that God would forgive me and get me to wake-up. Our King is a risen King and nothing outside of His resurrection will free us from the traps of sin. He alone holds the keys to heaven and hell! It must always be about Him and not our intellect or any other tricks we try and use in aiding this glorious message. The Apostle Paul always seemed to wrestle with these truths. I suppose we have it in our nature to get in the way of God. How gracious is He? I am however convinced that God will accomplish all that He has set out to do.

If we will not freely take up our cross and follow Him in may be forced upon us, it will be a lot better to wake up to reality, we need to now respond to our masters voice. It is the love of God that compels Him to bring discipline across our path if needed, yet He will always allow us the opportunity to repent (remember the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation). Who has the wisdom of God but God, praise His Holy Name! It is time for us to wake up to biblical reality. We need eyes to see clearly. I pray Father God that you will reveal our blind spots, please hear my cry! O how worthy is the Lamb of God, He alone is to be praised, help us embrace Him with our whole hearts and not what is left after our covetousness. Help us trim our lamps and to be wise watchmen, less of self and more of Christ. Words come easily to most of us Father but search out our hearts I beseech you Holy God, supply what is needed whatever the cost. When I think of what it cost my great Saviour to save a wretch like me, what more can I say? I have used bold speech and I stand by my words and yet I fear the work that will be needed for me to see purer truths, and yet I ask that you would be gentle where possible, but above all else that your will would be done in my life and in the lives of all professing Christians. And we will not assume that we will received anything from you Father but with boldness we echo the words of Jeremiah the prophet; “I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40)  - May our hearts burn with a reverent fear for your will for our lives, as this promise has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. This grace that now abounds in our lives must now begin to abound in good works. I feel I have so disappointed you Lord and should have been cast on the dung heap so long ago and yet I find your love more precious that silver as I am still afforded the opportunity to sing praises to such an almighty God. Enough trivia I cry! Help all lay down their lives for Christ as He has laid down His life for His bride, the church. May true faith have its way in all our lives!

In John Piper’s book “The Roots of Endurance” he speaks about men who have gone before us and this was their testimony; “But oh how jealous they were - as I am jealous - that we embrace the cross of Christ first and decisively as the grounds of acceptance with God, through faith alone, before we experience the cross as the price and inspiration of our own labors to endure in the battle of justice in the world. That is, they were careful to savor the cross first as the basis of justification before they experienced its purchased power for sanctification. Before the power of endurance came the pardon of guilt. Before the blood-bought enabling of righteous living came the free gift of perfect righteousness credited to our account because of Christ alone through faith alone.” (John Piper) – May we always remember our first love!

Time ticks by and when our time is up here on earth it will then be over, may we learn to occupy for His name sake from this day forth until we breathe our last breath.

Signing off

Tyrone

Mercy triumphs over judgment!

(James 2:13)  “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

An obvious trap we as Christians often face is the trap of doubt or uncertainty over certain discussion in our lives. Our enemy looks for us to always reason in the realm of ambiguity; plainly put we look for an apology to excuse our sin. It causes instability in our rational and that is the playground of the devil. Our beloved brother James highlights this for us in his epistle; “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:7-8) 

It is when we find grace to overcome the obstacles of life that we find peace; it must begin with our lives and we must not be too worried about those around us as this is another trap for us to skirt our own issues. If we ignore the sin in our lives we will be unstable in all our ways. Just as the mercy of God has set us free from the judgment of God, we too must show mercy on others when we are wronged as it will then set us free. “Mercy triumphs over judgment”. – “For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shown no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Take notice here, (1.) The doom which will be passed upon impenitent sinners at last will be judgment without mercy; there will be no mixtures or allays in the cup of wrath and of trembling, the dregs of which they must drink. (2.) Such as show no mercy now shall find no mercy in the great day. But we may note, on the other hand, (3.) That there will be such as shall become instances of the triumph of mercy, in whom mercy rejoices against judgment: all the children of men, in the last day, will be either vessels of wrath or vessels of mercy. It concerns all to consider among which they shall be found; and let us remember that blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew Henry)

Our lives will begin to produce fruit when we walk in faith with a correct understanding to the application of biblical faith. “Faith without works is dead”, let us not therefore mislead ourselves that we have faith if there is no fruit to our lives. They work hand in hand! And the only way we will begin to produce faith in our lives is when we as Charles Spurgeon encouraged us yesterday to trust our God and to visit the “hill of faith” on a daily basis. Only then will we begin to understand the purpose of God in our lives.

“What must be the apostate professor’s doom when his naked soul appears before God? How will he bear that voice, “Depart, ye cursed; thou hast rejected me, and I reject thee; thou hast played the harlot, and departed from me: I also have banished thee for ever from my presence, and will not have mercy upon thee.” What will be this wretch’s shame at the last great day when, before assembled multitudes, the apostate shall be unmasked? See the profane, and sinners who never professed religion, lifting themselves up from their beds of fire to point at him. “There he is,” says one, “will he preach the gospel in hell?” “There he is,” says another, “he rebuked me for cursing, and was a hypocrite himself!” “Aha!” says another, “here comes a psalm-singing Methodist-one who was always at his meeting; he is the man who boasted of his being sure of everlasting life; and here he is!” No greater eagerness will ever be seen among Satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the hypocrite’s soul down to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with massive but awful grandeur of poetry when he speaks of the back-way to hell. Seven devils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged him from the road to heaven, in which he had professed to walk, and thrust him through the back-door into hell. Mind that back-way to hell, professors! “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” Look well to your state; see whether you be in Christ or not. It is the easiest thing in the world to give a lenient verdict when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just and true here. Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. Remember if it be not a rock on which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the fall of it. O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.” (Charles Spurgeon)

The Lord Jesus has so love us that He was prepared to die for the repentant sinner, may we come with boldness to the “throne room of grace” and find grace to overcome our temptation, as we too must be tested to see what it is, we truly believe.

We pray for strength Father God to lose our lives for your name sake so that we may find an eternal inheritance; whatever the cost our hope must be heaven! Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The hill of Faith...

(Isaiah 40:9) “Get thee up into the high mountain.”

The “promises of God” are sweeter that honey in the rock, have we seen them and if so are we seeking them out as a bear would seek out honey in the rock. I can with assurance and without any fear of contradiction say that God does love to reward His children when they seek Him out. “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19) – It was disobedience in the beginning that caused a rift between God and man and then it was the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour that by obedience made a way once again for mankind to have fellowship with the only true living God. Although He paid the ultimate sacrifice by laying down his life and the position He held in heaven, it was His obedience to the will of His Father that although it would be silly to overlook all the great achievements of our Saviour here on earth and we would be foolish to do so. Nevertheless His obedience must outshine the rest of His achievements. In fact it was because of His obedience that he achieved what He accomplished. In the Garden of Gethsemane He face much turmoil as the flesh looked for a way of escape. How can I say that? Well it is in the text; “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39)

We have to learn this lesson above every other lesson, God before us! Have I learnt it? Oh but for the grace of God I pray to learn to walk and talk with my God, just like Enoch did; A little deeper in conversation as the days go by. Yet we know that without “faith it is impossible to please God” but we also know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him out. “Obedience is better than sacrifice”! Our obedience must hinge on faith, and when we are obedient to obey God’s Word we find ourselves in a wonderful place, I would like to give this place a name, “the hill of faith”.

There are subtle deceptions that hinder the Christian into believing so many lies, believe them not as they will only bring misery, but when we trust in our God and in faith step out and sincerely seek out His will, “as on earth as in heaven”, yes we may be miles off the mark with the way we live at times it will have to change. God is in control!  But is there sincerity in our hearts that wants to please our God, God knows! If the answer is yes, then I can with absolute assurance persuade you to continue faithfully to visit the “hill of faith” because this is what it will do for your souls…

 “Get thee up into the high mountain.”

Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you. Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, “I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation.” Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, “I know whom I have believed,” for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain. (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing Off

Tyrone

Confidence and not Arrogance!

(Hebrews 11:6) “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

 I find it hard to hold back from the confession I now need to make. It is a confession of glee rather than sorrow and I have considered the difference between arrogance and confidence; all I am left to say is that I love my great Saviour more than I can express; He has ransomed me with His own life and yet almost twenty-four years down the line I am once again where I once was, so long ago. I thank God for my lighthouse; I owe my life to Him, as this is an obvious conclusion. Yet it is only when we experience His love first hand in our lives will we understand this to be true. There is so much I need to pen and yet there seems to be an overload of thoughts all happening at the same time. Maybe I should unpack them and take them one at a time; maybe it is time to write another book; less of me and more of my great Saviour, and yet He will only ever be great in our own eyes if we understand that it was Him who first loved us.

“The Shield of Faith” I think must be the topic and maybe even the title. So many of us lose our way because we do not understand the impact that faith in our lives; it is either miss appropriated or avoided in order to correct the mistake of others; we tend to love the “pendulum theory” (to counter the mistakes of others we overcorrect leaving us just as guilty). Therefore we are left battling against sin in our lives but not flying the “banner of faith” not using our shield to good effect, we begin to take the onslaught of the trials of life on our chin and before long we are dusting the dirt from our knees.

It is when we are arrogant that we are humbled. But confidence is something beautiful, and only when our confidence is in God’s ability. Subtle nuances of distortion to correct biblical application in our lives affect our ability to walk as victorious Christians and everything pivots around “unbelief”. How so? Let us hear from a great biblical teacher our brother who has long gone on to be with the Lord…

“I shall this morning invite your attention to two things—the man's sin and his punishment. Perhaps I shall say but little of this man, since I have detailed the circumstances, but I shall discourse upon the sin of unbelief and the punishment thereof.

I. And first, the SIN.

His sin was unbelief. He doubted the promise of God. In this particular case unbelief took the form of a doubt of the divine veracity, or a mistrust of God's power. Either he doubted whether God really meant what he said, or whether it was within the range of possibility that God should fulfill his promise. Unbelief hath more phases than the moon, and more colors than the chameleon. Common people say of the devil, that he is seen sometimes in one shape, and sometimes in another. I am sure this is true of Satan's first-born child—unbelief, for its forms are legion. At one time I see unbelief dressed out as an angel of light. It calls itself humility, and it saith, "I would not be presumptuous; I dare not think that God would pardon me; I am too great a sinner." We call that humility, and thank God that our friend is in so good a condition. I do not thank God for any such delusion. It is the devil dressed as an angel of light; it is unbelief after all. At other times we detect unbelief in the shape of a doubt of God's immutability: "The Lord has loved me, but perhaps he will cast me off to-morrow. He helped me yesterday, and under the shadows of his wings I trust; but perhaps I shall receive no help in the next affliction. He may have cast me off; he may be unmindful of his covenant, and forget to be gracious." Sometimes this infidelity is embodied in a doubt of God's power. We see every day new straits, we are involved in a net of difficulties, and we think "surely the Lord cannot deliver us." We strive to get rid of our burden, and finding that we cannot do it, we think God's arm is as short as ours, and his power as little as human might. A fearful form of unbelief is that doubt which keeps men from coming to Christ; which leads the sinner to distrust the ability of Christ to save him, to doubt the willingness of Jesus to accept so great a transgressor. But the most hideous of all is the traitor, in its true colors, blaspheming God, and madly denying his existence. Infidelity, deism, and atheism, are the ripe fruits of this pernicious tree; they are the most terrific eruptions of the volcano of unbelief. Unbelief hath become of full stature, when quitting the mask and laying aside disguise, it profanely stalks the earth, uttering the rebellious cry, "No God," striving in vain to shake the throne of the divinity, by lifting up its arm against Jehovah, and in its arrogance would

"Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod,
Re-judge his justice—be the god of God."

…Then truly unbelief has come to its full perfection, and then you see what it really is, for the least unbelief is of the same nature as the greatest.
I shall attempt this morning, for a little while, to shew the extremely evil nature of the sin of unbelief.

And first the sin of unbelief will appear to be extremely heinous when we remember that it is the parent of every other iniquity. There is no crime which unbelief will not beget. I think that the fall of man is very much owing to it. It was in this point that the devil tempted Eve. He said to her, "Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" He whispered and insinuated a doubt, "Yea, hath God said so?" as much as to say, "Are you quite sure he said so?" It was by means of unbelief—that thin part of the wedge—that the other sin entered; curiosity and the rest followed;

But secondly; unbelief not only begets, but fosters sin.

But there is a third point. Unbelief disables a man for the performance of any good work. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," is a great truth in more senses than one. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." You shall never hear me say a word against morality; you shall never hear me say that honesty is not a good thing, or that sobriety is not a good thing; on the contrary, I would say they are commendable things; but I will tell you what I will say afterwards: All these things put together, without faith, do not please God. Virtues without faith are whitewashed sins. Obedience without faith, if it is possible, is a gilded disobedience. Not to believe, nullifies everything. It is the fly in the ointment; it is the poison in the pot. Without faith, with all the virtues of purity, with all the benevolence of philanthropy, with all the kindness of disinterested sympathy, with all the talents of genius, with all the bravery of patriotism, and with all the decision of principle—"without faith it is impossible to please God." Do you not see then, how bad unbelief is, because it prevents men from performing good works. Yea, even in Christians themselves, unbelief disables them.” (C.H.Spurgeon) - Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 14, 1855, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

What I find rather delightfully intriguing is this was at the beginning of Spurgeon’s ministry and he had understood the importance of faith as opposed to the traps of unbelief and look at the effect he still has on the church today. I’ll even go as far to say as it would appear that everything in our lives pivots around this truth.

Remember the shield of faith! It is glorious when we see our King as the “Conqueror Supreme”, praise His name, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Our Sovereign God!

(1Timothy 6:15) “--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Chance or co-incidence is there room for it in God’s economy? It is an important question for us to find an answer; as this will help us apply with precision the shield of faith to our lives. Come let us reason together…

God is Sovereign; Sovereignty (dominion, rule, power, authority and dominance) belongs to God and we all accept that, the debate is now over there is nothing else then to consider. Why then do we not live with that understanding? The last two nights I have had disturbing dreams and they have worried me, not to the point of desperation but rather leaving me with a plaguing question, why? Is it just a co-incidence and nothing more? Many would say, it’s just a dream don’t worry about it. But when I ask myself these types of questions what can I learn from it? It puts a different spin on the outcome. We far too often do undermine the lessons of life! We use this type of rational far too frequently; it plays into the hands of our enemies. Everything is designed to teach us to become more like our great Redeemer; Let me explain…

The best example for us to use would be the children of Israel who were once slaves in Egypt as we too where once slaves to sin. We both have something in common, a journey to the Promised Land. And many of them fell along the way in the Wilderness; they never made it across the Jordan River; In fact it was only Joshua and Caleb from the original masses that made it across, a rather sobering thought. We too are on a journey, what will be our end? We have been given instruction to examine those who journeyed across the Wilderness and to learn from their mistakes. It was their sin that lead to their unbelief which in turn caused them to disobey resulting in them never arriving at their final destination. When we face a test in life we often are inclined to rebel. I know this as I have often rebelled, thank you for your forgiveness Father! However, we must eventually arrive at a place of accepting our responsibility and we must face our challenge head on; “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12-13)   

Let us now with soberness consider the ironies in our lives. A hardship brings us to a junction in the road, how do we reason and what do we say? Woe is me! It is too difficult so we run to sin in order to find an escape, we drink or we swear or we respond with anger or sink into a cocoon of depression and the like. It is the easy out, but we forget from where we have been saved. Testing is there for our good, although it would not seem so if we misunderstand their purpose. Christ ransomed himself for our sin; we have been afforded the opportunity to no longer be slaves to it. Paul is very clear on this; “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

I have concluded that there is no such thing as coincidence in the life of a believer; it is only a hireling and not the good shepherd that leaves a lamb to fend for itself. We have the greatest of shepherds; it is the Lord Jesus, who is God and the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We have His Spirit! It is now of great importance that we learn to use the shield of faith skilfully. Everything in life that carries with it chance is not of God. If we place any hope on the “lotto of life” we hanker after our own lusts and play into the hands of the devil. How many of us have been ensnared into this type of thinking, I am guilty as charged! Just maybe if I take a lotto ticket I might win; a life full of uncertainty. This is not the way of our God! He has left nothing to chance!

Therefore when we reach our crossroad in life we must conclude that God is behind it and He is teaching us to wield our shields of faith, regardless of the trial. We must believe it! He is fashioning us through the test to become more like our glorious Saviour. There can be no if’s and but’s! We must embrace His promise to us by grace through faith. There is no short cut or any other way for us to arrive in the Promised Land. Let us not overthink it, but just in childlike faith, we must trust our God. He has promised to get us home so best we leave all doubts aside and believe.

Regardless of the challenges of life, in fact they are obstacles allowed by God to help us learn to trust in Him. They are also needful; let not deception rob us of God’s great plan for our lives. Even the Lord Jesus as a man learnt obedience through the things He suffered. Remember His account in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed asking if possible for the cup to pass Him by, but God had orchestrated the trial for His and our benefit. It was such a daunting test that the Lord began to sweat drops of blood, but once He was through it He found peace; “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow.” (Luke 22:44-45) – Sleep causes sorrow!   

  

Victory through suffering teaches us to put off sin; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” (1Peter 4:1)

I realise how far off I am from obediently living out this truth. “Abba Father”, please help us to come to grips with this truth for our lives, so that through the trials of life the critics both on earth and throughout the heavens may be silenced bringing glory to your name, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone  

     

The shield of faith!

(Ephesians 6:16) “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”

God is so magnificent and so merciful and full of grace that I almost cannot contain my excitement. The Bible has much to do with faith. In fact there are three pivoting words that will always appear for the believer if we scratch the surface of God’s Word, and we needn’t scratch deep to find them; they are “faith, hope and love”! They are sisters and inseparable, they co-exists in perfect harmony. What we need to learn is how to use them wisely, which will bring glory to God and will then make us beneficiaries of His divine nature in and through none other than our great Saviour Jesus Christ the Lord.

But so many seem to misunderstand the application of faith needed for daily living. Why would it be so? Then the penny drops, it is the “shield of faith that we are instructed to use to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one”. It is a great weapon and has immense power, so for it to be nullified the father of lies sow seeds of doubt amongst the “fields of faith” hoping to confuse all those who wield the shield. This is a tactic we must not be ignorant of.

Faith is a mighty weapon, it is part of our armour and we have been instructed to employ it with vigor. “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (Ephesians 6:16)

Is it our faith, should be our first question? Initially it is not as it belongs to God and we as sinners were not entitled to its saving power. But once we have received it, it now does belong to us: - who must take up the shield of faith? Well we must! We use faith to overcome all doubts. How great is our God? Praise his majestic name for He is full of wisdom. His ways are far above the normal run of the mill mundane psychotherapy, we must start to live it out. It is imperative for us to be effective with our “shield of faith”.

Instead of asking why this is happening, I don’t understand it! Let us rather see it as an opportunity that God is affording us to test our own hearts through the assessment, as we are tested, we must be verified to see what we are made of. It has to happen!

I am not for one minute looking to temp fate in that sense as we are clearly taught by the Lord Jesus on how we should pray; “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13) – therefore our prayer and attitude must always be to avoid trial and temptation, but when the time for our test arrives, we must learn to welcome it; in fact we are instructed to “count it all joy”, think of it like this a student studies for an exam, they prepare with long hours and much effort, but the day does eventually arrive for the exam. It is never a great day but the hope of qualifying drives that person to excel and pass the examination.

Where we have got it wrong is we think that there has to be sin in our lives if trial is upon us, not so! It is needed for us to change and become more like our glorious Saviour. When we are then tested think of it like this; we have found favour from God. He is now calling out His children and saying to us that what you now will face is for our benefit, be happy because this affliction when passed will make you more like my Son.

Without faith it will be an impossible task, let us remember our astute brothers teachings; “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)    

Great Father God please give us ears to hear, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The trial of our faith will come!

(Hebrews 11:33)  “Who through faith… stopped the mouths of lions.”

Wait! There seem to be much more to faith than initially uncovered, in my understanding anyway. The pending question I woke up to this morning and now requires correct biblical answers is why do I habitually continually do what I do? In fact why does everyone do what they do without any apparent change to their lives? Let me re-phrase that, any drastic changes to their lives. Yesterday we but scratched the surface.

I concluded with only a portion of the counsel, it is far more specific and personal; it’s one thing to say we believe and want to hold onto faith when times are tough. But our emphasis now needs to shift from the idea to an actual living experience.

It is easy to believe that God is capable of all things and many of us believe Him to be God and we pay Him due benevolence as the only true God. But where the “takkie hits the tar” is when we find ourselves alone staring down the barrel of faith. The proof of it all is our reaction to the trial. This understanding has been a revelation and it happened overnight. I will by scripture now prove my consideration.

I concluded yesterday’s blog with this statement; “We too just like Abraham must believe God if we are to see Him smile back at us.” Like I said it is easy to believe God is capable; But do we believe that He can do it in our lives, there is a huge rift between the two mind-sets. 

Believe God for what should be our next question! Let us look at some text; “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

Faith will test our commitment, it demands an answer, and it was no different for those who died in faith. Faith is a very personal friend and will not let us escape her clutches without understanding her demands within this friendship. To think I understood faith, I did, but only from a distance. Crunch time is what is needed for faith to shine in our lives. It will and it must come in one form or another. Here where a group of people that had been promised a physical land, the land of Canaan and yet they died on their way to that land. They could have been somewhat bereaved as it was not a simple man’s promise but God have vowed it and yet they never made it to Canaan and yet they arrived in heaven. For all who believe it is our ultimate goal but we so often lose sight of this truth. It didn’t matter in that sense to those who lived by faith that some “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—“.As we look around do we see the same happening to us, not on your life! We are so caught up with tomorrow and it is very scary when we converse with our friend, Faith! She exposes our hearts!

Many if not most of us are interested in the promises of God as they have hope attached to them but we do not receive them, Why? “The present state of the saints on earth is that their happiness lies more in promise and deterioration than in actual enjoyment and possession.” It is more of a “now mentality”, it is all about the present and earthly rewards. This is not what these saints of old where commended for; this was there commendation; “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised”. They were praised for believing despite never making it to the Promised Land here on earth, in other words they never reach there earthly goal, but are now in heaven awaiting there glorified bodies. Even though their bodies began to fail and they must have known that their physical death was near, they never stopped believing. What fantastic examples!

You see faith is a very personal companion, when the chips are down, that is when we will be tested and this relationship will show it true colours.

God no doubt often would have smiled back at Abraham, not because he believed God was God, which he obviously did, but he believed God would be God in his life. There is a difference! Whatever God had promised him, he never doubted but believed. He was tested by God and we too will be tested. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac and he never flinched. As I look at this man in compassion to my life, there is no contest, how weak my understanding of faith, Forgive me Father God!

In order for our great God to smile back at us we must believe He is capable of overcoming trial and tribulation in our lives, it must become personal. As I look at my own life and I look around at the general understanding of those around, I am forced to conclude we are in trouble. We have but scratched the surface on the topic of faith.

Everything hinges on faith and yet we will not live there, may God help us! It is as if I have been in limbo but now felt a sharp crack to my jaw. There have been so many weaknesses in my character and in the way I conduct myself in certain areas of my life. I have to now confess and conclude, the reason they still live is because of my unbelief. I have always believed God is greater than these flaws but have not believed that He was capable of rooting them out of my life; I was not willing to make it personal. May God help my unbelief! Many of my past failure keep me from victory, but is my God not able to turn those failures around. Of course He can, not only that but I believe He will.

There has been a shift in my understanding, thank you Lord Jesus for opening my eyes. The trial of our faith must come; otherwise we will not know what is in our hearts.

The Lord Jesus will see all His saints home, may we learn to lay our lives down for Him as He laid His life down for us.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

The importance of Faith!

(Hebrews 11:13) “These all died in faith…”

We have or should have understood that it is our faith (the substance of things hoped for) that pleases God, in fact without it we are not even acknowledged. This is a clue; it will help us with our relationship with our Heavenly Father, it will cause Him to smile. And which child does not love to see their fathers smile back at them?

Come let us reason together, this is often a good instruction we should heed when wanting to understand the deeper truths of God. So when we reason, we must first agree that we will use the same source to reason from; in this case the Bible! Amongst family and friends we must first establish the source that we base our reasoning on. Without the Word of God being foundational we would be wasting our time and eventually fall over from dizziness.

If I am alone with God as I am now and my intention is to seek His face, and I seek to be led by my great God as God the Holy Spirit teaches me and guides me into all truth. This is where I believe many Pentecostals make their mistakes, as I often have. When the voice of God speaks and an idea springs to mind; you could say this is the time we claim that, “When God spoke to me”. I understand that God does not speak to his Children as He once did; His voice does not audibly boom from heaven. God the Holy Spirit has been assigned to teach God’s children. Yet we have a text book which must be used in conjunction with His voice. If we hear God speaking to us what then is our responsibility? We could, run off in “faith” with much zeal thinking that what we are doing is of God, because we heard his voice in one form or another. Zeal without knowledge is not the wise choice. How can I be sure that I have heard the voice of God?

Let me now use my morning’s thought as an example and hopefully it will help all of us…

If I want to please God my Father I must apply faith to my life, it sounds right, I think it is right, but how can I be sure? Let me now go to God’s text book (the Bible) to find proof to justify my initial thought. This cannot be optional amongst believers, it is imperative that on a daily basis we use this type of application in our lives. Faith is not blind; “it is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”. That does not mean we cannot see any direction for our lives, in fact the opposite is true, because we now have an itinerary for our lives, in and through the Word of God we now in FAITH are able to reach for our unseen goal, which is heaven. This statement now needs to be proved and confirmed. Why? We have been warned that many false teachers and prophets will arise and deceive many. We must be sure what we hear is of God and simply not vain imaginations.

Back to my initial thought, “We have or should have understood that it is our faith (the substance of things hoped for) that pleases God, in fact without it we are not even acknowledged.” I did not preconceive this thought; it appeared and got me thinking. Did God place it there? I would very much like to believe He did! I then say to myself, I need confirmation to prove this thought. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) – Now I am excited because I can say with an assurance that my initial thought has confirmation, I can then with great gladness find reassurance that God is leading me. Now I know I am on the right track, but for me to begin to understand what this actually means for my life I now need to examine this verse in context; I will now look at what those men of old did to please God and in turn be rewarded by Him. No new formula is needed! God does not change, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever!” When I read through Hebrews chapter 11 it is very clear that all people mentioned had something in common, Faith!

My conclusion then is we all must find faith in our lives to please God. How then do I get this faith? Again I have some ideas that spring to mind, but I must confirm them, and how do I do that; it is obvious, I look for answers in this great text book, the Bible!

How do I add to my faith? “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) – In other words I must hear the voice of Christ (God) if I want faith. To get saved or to be born again I must hear an accurate gospel message, it is only in and through the message of the cross where I find life and receive faith. This now explains salvation. Give some other man-centred gospel message and what we will be left with is man-centred conversion. And many of these apparent conversions are not from God by from man and the devil. How do I prove this, once again I look to confirm this statement by the Word; "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” (Matthew 7:21-23) – Faith then is needed in salvation and the Word is the catalyst used to supply faith.

If we have been saved what role does faith now play in our lives? We are now just as dependent upon it as it was Christ through faith who has saved us; look at these verses; “Let me ask you only this: “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith--just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"?” (Galatians 3:2-6)

We did initially believe the Word of God for salvation and we must now continue to believe the Word to see us home and to help our faith gain momentum.      

We too just like Abraham must believe God if we are to see Him smile back at us.

Signing off

Tyrone

  

            

I Know your Works!

(Revelation 3:15) “I know your works:”

Today is Father’s Day but before we get to involved with earthly mundane run of the mill paraphernalia, and before we get “lost in translation”, let us remember to start every day like this; “our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”; if this is not our daily routine may we then learn through the renewing of our minds to begin to appropriate this principle into our lives. We must continue to war against all that which opposes the will of God in our lives. When we think of the goodness of Jesus and we think of what it is He has done for us, our very souls cry out hallelujah, praise God for saving us! However it is a personal daily walk, just one day at a time sweet Jesus is all we ask of you; in fact, that is all He requires from us. He needs to see each and every one of us regardless of age or standing placing our dependence solely upon Him and His finished work. This is a walk of faith, “the just shall live by faith!” But it is faith in Him and not our own abilities; get this wrong and we miss it.

Correction is never a popular subject but needful; today we look at the last letter to the churches…

"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 3:14-22)

“We now come to the last and worst of all the seven Asian churches, the reverse of the church of Philadelphia; for, as there was nothing reproved in that, here is nothing commended in this, and yet this was one of the seven golden candlesticks, for a corrupt church may still be a church. Here we have, as before,

I. The inscription, to whom, and from whom. 1. To whom: To the angel of the church of Laodicea. This was a once famous city near the river Lycus, had a wall of vast compass, and three marble theatres, and, like Rome, was built on seven hills. It seems, the apostle Paul was very instrumental in planting the gospel in this city, from which he wrote a letter, as he mentions in the epistle to the Colossians, the last chapter, in which he sends salutations to them, Laodicea not being above twenty miles distant from Colosse. In this city was held a council in the fourth century, but it has been long since demolished, and lies in its ruins to this day, an awful monument of the wrath of the Lamb. 2. From whom this message was sent. Here our Lord Jesus styles himself the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. (1.) The Amen, one that is steady and unchangeable in all his purposes and promises, which are all yea, and all amen. (2.) The faithful and true witness, whose testimony of God to men ought to be received and fully believed, and whose testimony of men to God will be fully believed and regarded, and will be a swift but true witness against all indifferent lukewarm professors. (3.) The beginning of the creation of God, either of the first creation, and so he is the beginning, that is, the first cause, the Creator, and the Governor of it; or of the second creation, the church; and so he is the head of that body, the first-born from the dead, as it is in Rev_1:5, whence these titles are taken. Christ, having raised up himself by his own divine power, as the head of a new world, raises up dead souls to be a living temple and church to himself.

II. The subject-matter, in which observe,

1. The heavy charge drawn up against this church, ministers and people, by one who knew them better than they knew themselves: Thou art neither cold nor hot, but worse than either; I would thou wert cold or hot, Rev_3:15. Lukewarmness or indifference in religion is the worst temper in the world. If religion is a real thing, it is the most excellent thing, and therefore we should be in good earnest in it; if it is not a real thing, it is the vilest imposture, and we should be earnest against it. If religion is worth any thing, it is worth every thing; an indifference here is inexcusable: Why halt you between two opinions? If God be God, follow him; if Baal (be God), follow him. Here is no room for neutrality. An open enemy shall have a fairer quarter than a perfidious neuter; and there is more hope of a heathen than of such. Christ expects that men should declare themselves in earnest either for him or against him.

2. A severe punishment threatened: I will spue thee out of my mouth. As lukewarm water turns the stomach, and provokes to a vomit, lukewarm professors turn the heart of Christ against them. He is sick of them, and cannot long bear them. They may call their lukewarmness charity, meekness, moderation, and a largeness of soul; it is nauseous to Christ, and makes those so that allow themselves in it. They shall be rejected, and finally rejected; for far be it from the holy Jesus to return to that which has been thus rejected.

3. We have one cause of this indifference and inconsistency in religion assigned, and that is self-conceitedness or self-delusion. They thought they were very well already, and therefore they were very indifferent whether they grew better or no: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, etc., Rev_3:17. Here observe, What a difference there was between the thoughts they had of themselves and the thoughts that Christ had of them. (1.) The high thoughts they had of themselves: Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, rich, and growing richer, and increased to such a degree as to be above all want or possibility of wanting. Perhaps they were well provided for as to their bodies, and this made them overlook the necessities of their souls. Or they thought themselves well furnished in their souls: they had learning, and they took it for religion; they had gifts, and they took them for grace; they had wit, and they took it for true wisdom; they had ordinances, and they took up with them instead of the God of ordinances. How careful should we be not to put the cheat upon our own souls! Doubtless there are many in hell that once thought themselves to be in the way to heaven. Let us daily beg of God that we may not be left to flatter and deceive ourselves in the concerns of our souls. (2.) The mean thoughts that Christ had of them; and he was not mistaken. He knew, though they knew not, that they were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Their state was wretched in itself, and such as called for pity and compassion from others: though they were proud of themselves, they were pitied by all who knew their case. For, [1.] They were poor, really poor, when they said and thought they were rich; they had no provision for their souls to live upon; their souls were starving in the midst of their abundance; they were vastly in debt to the justice of God, and had nothing to pay off the least part of the debt. [2.] They were blind; they could not see their state, nor their way, nor their danger; they could not see into themselves; they could not look before them; they were blind, and yet they thought they saw; the very light that was in them was darkness, and then how great must that darkness be! They could not see Christ, though evidently set forth, and crucified, before their eyes. They could not see God by faith, though always present in them. They could not see death, though it was just before them. They could not look into eternity, though they stood upon the very brink of it continually. [3.] They were naked, without clothing and without house and harbour for their souls. They were without clothing, had neither the garment of justification nor that of sanctification. Their nakedness both of guilt and pollution had no covering. They lay always exposed to sin and shame. Their righteousnesses were but filthy rags; they were rags, and would not cover them, filthy rags, and would defile them. And they were naked, without house or harbour, for they were without God, and he has been the dwelling-place of his people in all ages; in him alone the soul of man can find rest, and safety, and all suitable accommodations. The riches of the body will not enrich the soul; the sight of the body will not enlighten the soul; the most convenient house for the body will not afford rest nor safety to the soul. The soul is a different thing from the body, and must have accommodation suitable to its nature, or else in the midst of bodily prosperity it will be wretched and miserable.

4. We have good counsel given by Christ to this sinful people, and that is that they drop their vain and false opinion they had of themselves, and endeavour to be that really which they would seem to be: I counsel thee to buy of me, etc., Rev_3:18. Observe, (1.) Our Lord Jesus Christ continues to give good counsel to those who have cast his counsels behind their backs. (2.) The condition of sinners in never desperate, while they enjoy the gracious calls and counsels of Christ. (3.) Our blessed Lord, the counsellor, always gives the best advice, and that which is most suitable to the sinner's case; as here, [1.] These people were poor; Christ counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that they might be rich. He lets them know where they might have true riches and how they might have them. First, Where they might have them - from himself; he sends them not to the streams of Pactolus, nor to the mines of Potosi, but invites them to himself, the pearl of price. Secondly, And how must they have this true gold from him? They must buy it. This seems to be unsaying all again. How can those that are poor buy gold? Just as they may buy of Christ wine and milk, that is, without money and without price, Isa_55:1. Something indeed must be parted with, but it is nothing of a valuable consideration, it is only to make room for receiving true riches. “Part with sin and self-sufficiency, and come to Christ with a sense of your poverty and emptiness, that you may be filled with his hidden treasure.” [2.] These people were naked; Christ tells them where they might have clothing, and such as would cover the shame of their nakedness. This they must receive from Christ; and they must only put off their filthy rags that they might put on the white raiment which he had purchased and provided for them - his own imputed righteousness for justification and the garments of holiness and sanctification. [3.] They were blind; and he counsels them to buy of him eye-salve, that they might see, to give up their own wisdom and reason, which are but blindness in the things of God, and resign themselves to his word and Spirit, and their eyes shall be opened to see their way and their end, their duty and their true interest; a new and glorious scene would then open itself to their souls; a new world furnished with the most beautiful and excellent objects, and this light would be marvellous to those who were but just now delivered from the powers of darkness. This is the wise and good counsel Christ gives to careless souls; and, if they follow it, he will judge himself bound in honour to make it effectual.

5. Here is added great and gracious encouragement to this sinful people to take the admonition and advice well that Christ had given them, Rev_3:19, Rev_3:20. He tells them, (1.) It was given them in true and tender affection: “Whom I love, I rebuke and chasten. You may think I have given you hard words and severe reproofs; it is all out of love to your souls. I would not have thus openly rebuked and corrected your sinful lukewarmness and vain confidence, if I had not been a lover of your souls; had I hated you, I would have let you alone, to go on in sin till it had been your ruin.” Sinners ought to take the rebukes of God's word and rod as tokens of his good-will to their souls, and should accordingly repent in good earnest, and turn to him that smites them; better are the frowns and wounds of a friend than the flattering smiles of an enemy. (2.) If they would comply with his admonitions, he was ready to make them good to their souls: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, etc., Rev_3:20. Here observe, [1.] Christ is graciously pleased by his word and Spirit to come to the door of the heart of sinners; he draws near to them in a way of mercy, ready to make them a kind visit. [2.] He finds this door shut against him; the heart of man is by nature shut up against Christ by ignorance, unbelief, sinful prejudices. [3.] When he finds the heart shut, he does not immediately withdraw, but he waits to be gracious, even till his head be filled with the dew. [4.] He uses all proper means to awaken sinners, and to cause them to open to him: he calls by his word, he knocks by the impulses of his Spirit upon their conscience. [5.] Those who open to him shall enjoy his presence, to their great comfort and advantage. He will sup with them; he will accept of what is good in them; he will eat his pleasant fruit; and he will bring the best part of the entertainment with him. If what he finds would make but a poor feast, what he brings will make up the deficiency: he will give fresh supplies of graces and comforts, and thereby stir up fresh actings of faith, and love, and delight; and in all this Christ and his repenting people will enjoy pleasant communion with each other. Alas! what do careless obstinate sinners lose by refusing to open the door of the heart to Christ!

III. We now come to the conclusion of this epistle; and here we have as before,

1. The promise made to the overcoming believer. It is here implied, (1.) That though this church seemed to be wholly overrun and overcome with lukewarmness and self-confidence, yet it was possible that by the reproofs and counsels of Christ they might be inspired with fresh zeal and vigour, and might come off conquerors in their spiritual warfare. (2.) That, if they did so, all former faults should be forgiven, and they should have a great reward. And what is that reward? They shall sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and have sat down with my Father on his throne, Rev_3:21. Here it is intimated, [1.] That Christ himself had met with his temptations and conflicts. [2.] That he overcame them all, and was more than a conqueror. [3.] That, as the reward of his conflict and victory, he has sat down with God the Father on his throne, possessed of that glory which he had with the Father from eternity, but which he was pleased very much to conceal on earth, leaving it as it were in the hands of the Father, as a pledge that he would fulfil the work of a Saviour before he reassumed that manifestative glory; and, having done so, then pignus reposcere - he demands the pledge, to appear in his divine glory equal to the Father. [4.] That those who are conformed to Christ in his trials and victories shall be conformed to him in his glory; they shall sit down with him on his throne, on his throne of judgment at the end of the world, on his throne of glory to all eternity, shining in his beams by virtue of their union with him and relation to him, as the mystical body of which he is the head.

2. All is closed up with the general demand of attention (Rev_3:22), putting all to whom these epistles shall come in mind that what is contained in them is not of private interpretation, not intended for the instruction, reproof, and correction of those particular churches only, but of all the churches of Christ in all ages and parts of the world: and as there will be a resemblance in all succeeding churches to these, both in their graces and sins, so they may expect that God will deal with them as he dealt with these, which are patterns to all ages what faithful, and fruitful churches may expect to receive from God, and what those who are unfaithful may expect to suffer from his hand; yea, that God's dealings with his churches may afford useful instruction to the rest of the world, to put them upon considering, If judgment begin at the house of God, what shall the end of those be that do not obey the gospel of Christ? 1Pe_4:17. Thus end the messages of Christ to the Asian churches, the epistolary part of this book. We now come to the prophetical part.” (Matthew Henry)

Signing off

Tyrone