The link to my book - Destroy and Deliver (Autobiography)

Saturday 29 June 2013

Wherever you are...call out!

(Romans 10:13) For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Many stumble and fall; not all find themselves on a runway in Milan or Paris. Many a young girl dreams of being a ballet dancer, but how many end up gracing a famous stage in some grand production where a standing ovation becomes a way of life?  Or do all great athletes win the gold medal at the Olympics? So too is it with many a Christian, but only a handful shine like Moses, Paul the Apostle, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon or today the likes of John Mac Arthur; those who seem to faithfully plod along with consistency and great fortitude; those who regardless of the opposition, to the onlooker they always seems to do the right thing before the eyes of God. However there are millions of professing Christians throughout the world who most certainly will never be amongst that number and I most certainly fall into this category. But am I alone? I think not!

The thought I have this morning is as clear as the rising of the sun. Yes we do stumble and often make the wrong choices or find ourselves in the wrong place where we allow ourselves to compromise the call to our Christian walk. It ought not to be, but these are the facts! The Children of Israel were freed by God with Moses as their leader; their goal; - from slavery into freedom. However it was not an easy journey; nevertheless with it came a promise; their own country! But first they had to endure the passage. Sadly none of the original starting out crowd, except Joshua and Caleb made it. Why we must ask ourselves so that we too may learn from their example. It would be a travesty to fall by the wayside, to see heaven on the horizon and then for the gate to close just in front of us. Almost will never be good enough! Think on the poor Comrade runner, those who find themselves after 12 hours and having not yet reached the finish line hearing the sharp distinctive pitch of a gunshot whistling through the air signaling the end of the race. “Almost or if only” would be their cry! No medal for them!

This then is the message I have clearly received this fine winters morning; regardless of where we find ourselves, if we have ears to hear, we will be left with one of two choices, to heed to God’s instruction or to disobey!  Mercy you have given us our gracious heavenly Father, but I pray that we find the grace to act upon your mercy as it is freely available to the believer.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. (Hebrews 3:7-9)

Therefore it’s not about now many mistakes you have made or keep making but rather to find repentance seeking out God’s forgiveness for the mistakes we may keep making, we are not alone, others share in your grief, sorrow and the like; in fact the Lord Jesus is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and He is the master builder. I therefore urge you to call as I now find myself calling upon the name of the Lord and with that call comes a promise;For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” Praise the glorious name of our Lord and Saviour, our King, the King of kings, ever our Master, Jesus Christ the Lord!

Signing off

Tyrone   


Wednesday 26 June 2013

A sobering thought...

“Art thou become like unto us?”
- Isa_14:10
“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.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

“God resists (opposes) the proud but gives grace to the humble” – (1Peter 5:5), is a verse I have emphatically quoted many times throughout my life; it is sweet on the ear, but I wonder how deceitful my heart has been with its actual meaning? How often have I quoted it as a way of escape excusing my sin and looking for justification? When I examine the mirror a little closer I know I am guilty as charged! Please forgive me Father God and continue in your mercy to renew a right spirit in me. There is a day coming when your wrath will have it’s vengeance, a day coming when the hypocrite will be cast into outer darkness for all eternity, a day coming when your judgment must begin with your household, the household of God will be judged! For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

Will I be judged faithful to the Lord, will others be judged faithful? The truth of it all is there will certainly be men and women found in both camps; The Holy Bible so declares it! God has spoken and His Word carries amongst so many intricate facets immense power but only can ever declare truth!

O how I long to hear those words; “And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.” (Luke 19:17)

Although I do hold firmly to the five points of Calvinism, which are; Original sin, unconditional predestination, invincible grace in conversion, particular redemption, and perseverance of saints. Nevertheless, one would be foolish to bury ones head in the sand ignoring the warnings throughout scripture about how we as Christians ort to live our lives!  There is a day coming of reckoning, not the reckoning of men but of God; “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 7:22-23)

Many will stand as if they belonged to the household of God and yet they would have been nothing more than deserters or hypocrites. Where do I fit into the equation? Is it enough to be seated with the congregation; I think not! One must be part of the body of Christ (His church) or certainly be doomed for all eternity!

The writer of Hebrews makes a point of getting this exact argument across to the reader;Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3) 

To enter Gods rest our lives must declare Christ and not depict who we once were those enslaved to sin! Now once again I look a little closer at my mirror and I am found wanting! O what is a man to do? “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, (Ephesians 2:4) has been rich in mercy and has once again come through for those who have never deserved it, I cannot find words to exalt His glorious name but to say I serve a great and mighty God. Wherever you may find yourself, whether it be in trial or in the mire with the pigs if God who is rich in mercy chooses to reveal himself to you, call out unto him for he has been merciful to you. With that now as our foundation let us strive in His goodness to find grace in times of need and lift our heads from the sand if need be and to once again run the race that has been set before us.

“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. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:13-19) 

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11)

Signing off


Tyrone