The alpha and Omega!

(Revelation 1:8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God.

What does Alpha and omega mean? Alpha and omega is the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and they symbolize the beginning and the end. The Lord is informing us that He is the first; all things began with Him! In fact none of creation would have existed if the Lord Jesus was not personally involved; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

John makes reference not to the written word, but of the essential word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is clear, we understand that the Bible had not yet been written, but “the Word” nevertheless was with God and in fact was God. Let us consider Matthew Henry’s thought on the subject: “The Word is two-fold: logos endiathetos - word conceived; and logos prophorikos - word uttered. The logos ho esō and ho exō, ratio and oratio - intelligence and utterance. There is the word conceived, that is, thought, which is the first and only immediate product and conception of the soul (all the operations of which are performed by thought), and it is one with the soul. And thus the second person in the Trinity is fitly called the Word; for he is the first-begotten of the Father, that eternal essential Wisdom which the Lord possessed, as the soul does its thought, in the beginning of his way. What I find interesting in considering the reference Henry now makes;” "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.” (Proverbs 8:22)

The introduction to the beginning of wisdom: “That it is an intelligent and divine person that here speaks seems very plain, and that it is not meant of a mere essential property of the divine nature, for Wisdom here has personal properties and actions; and that intelligent divine person can be no other than the Son of God himself, to whom the principal things here spoken of wisdom are attributed in other scriptures, and we must explain scripture by itself. If Solomon himself designed only the praise of wisdom as it is an attribute of God, by which he made the world and governs it, so to recommend to men the study of that wisdom which belongs to them, yet the Spirit of God, who indited what he wrote, carried him, as David often, to such expressions as could agree to no other than the Son of God, and would lead us into the knowledge of great things concerning him. All divine revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, and here we are told who and what he is, as God, designed in the eternal counsels to be the Mediator between God and man. The best exposition of these verses we have in the first four verses of St. John's gospel. In the beginning was the Word, etc. Concerning the Son of God.”

Matthew Henry’s thought process is very intriguing and He was a man mightily gifted by God, in fact even Spurgeon viewed him as one of supreme understanding, if not the greatest of all expositors of scripture. Now back to his thoughts; “There is nothing we are more sure of than that we think, yet nothing we are more in the dark about than how we think; who can declare the generation of thought in the soul? Surely then the generations and births of the eternal mind may well be allowed to be great mysteries of godliness, the bottom of which we cannot fathom, while yet we adore the depth. There is the word uttered, and this is speech, the chief and most natural indication of the mind. And thus Christ is the Word, for by him God has in these last days spoken to us (Heb_1:2), and has directed us to hear him: “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Matthew 17:5)

“He has made known God's mind to us, as a man's word or speech makes known his thoughts, as far as he pleases, and no further. Christ is called that wonderful speaker (see notes on Dan_8:13), the speaker of things hidden and strange. He is the Word speaking from God to us, and to God for us. John Baptist was the voice, but Christ the Word: being the Word, he is the Truth, the Amen, the faithful Witness of the mind of God.”

He is the beginning and He will be the end to all of mankind’s endeavours. When we see and understand the importance of His role in God’s economy, we will value His work on the cross with a lot more homage. It is God’s way of keep us close to Him and He will never let us forget the brilliance of His achievements. Remember the warning to the church of Ephesus; John leads us from chapter one into chapter two with a reference of Him being the first and the last; “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last.” (Revelation 1:17)

Only then does he tell the church at Ephesus after he commends them for their diligence in signalling out false teachers and the like. Nevertheless he reminds them to do the first works as they had lost their way and abandoned their first love. They had forgotten who it all started with, the Alpha and the Omega! In fact the warning is so serve that the warning they received was if they did not remember Him their lampstand would be removed: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5)

The Apostle Paul understood this so clearly that we often see him making reference to the importance of this truth and he continually reminds us that it is all about the Lord Jesus and no one else: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1Corinthians 2:2)

We must be careful not to run away with ourselves when proving a doctrinal truth to the exclusion of His accomplishment on the cross of Calvary. God will have no part in that matter! Why should He, as His Son is so dear to Him that nothing will stand in His way when it comes to exalting His name. Although we are now sons and entitled to all of the blessings that accompany that privilege, we must never forget to keep the Lord Jesus in the forefront of our minds at all times, as He is our Alpha and Omega!

Signing off

Tyrone

(Note on Daniel 8:13) The question asked concerning it, Dan_8:13. Observe [1.] By whom the question was put: I heard one saint speaking to this purport, and then another saint seconded him. “O that we knew how long this trouble will last!” The angels here are called saints, for they are holy ones (Dan_4:13), the holy myriads, Jud_1:14. The angels concern themselves in the affairs of the church, and enquire concerning them, if, as here, concerning its temporal salvations, much more do they desire to look into the great salvation, 1Pe_1:12. One saint spoke of the thing, and another enquired concerning it. Thus John, who lay in Christ's bosom, was beckoned to by Peter to ask Christ a question, Joh_13:23, Joh_13:24. [2.] To whom the question was put. He said unto Palmoni that spoke. Some make this certain saint to be a superior angel who understood more than the rest, to whom therefore they came with their enquiries. Others make it to be the eternal Word, the Son of God. He is the unknown One. Palmoni seems to be compounded of Peloni Almoni, which is used (Rth_4:1) for Ho, such a one, and (2Ki_6:8) for such a place. Christ was yet the nameless One. Wherefore asked thou after my name, seeing it is secret? Jdg_13:18. He is the numberer of secrets (as some translate it), for from him there is nothing hidden - the wonderful numberer, so others; his name is called Wonderful. Note, If we would know the mind of God, we must apply to Jesus Christ, who lay in the bosom of the Father, and in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, not hidden from us, but hidden for us. [3.] The question itself that was asked: “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice? How long shall the prohibition of it continue? How long shall the pleasant land be made unpleasant by that severe interdict? How long shall the transgression of desolation (the image of Jupiter), that great transgression which makes all our sacred things desolate, how long shall that stand in the temple? How long shall the sanctuary and the host, the holy place and the holy persons that minister in it, be trodden under foot by the oppressor?” Note, Angels are concerned for the prosperity of the church on earth and desirous to see an end of its desolations. The angels asked, for the satisfaction of Daniel, not doubting but he was desirous to know, how long these calamities should last? The question takes it for granted that they should not last always. The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, though it may come upon their lot. Christ comforted himself in his sufferings with this, The things concerning me have an end (Luk_22:37), and so may the church in hers. But it is desirable to know how long they shall last, that we may provide accordingly.

A True Happy Ending!

(Titus 3:4) “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared.”

Who is able to actually come to grips with the depths of God’s goodness and His love? Prior to my face to face encounter with Jesus Christ my Saviour, as much as I tried to have a relationship at times (normally when I was in a bind) with the only true and living God, it was a fairly tale, a dream, I wanted it so badly at times, but I think I liked the idea more than the actual commitment I would need to show by loving Him in return. I remember my sister Yvette constantly reading Danielle Steele novels, and when I ask her as a young boy to tell me what they were about, they always seemed to have the same theme; it was a woman finding love or searching for it whether she aware of it or not. A kind of prince Charming idea, where a man would ride into diverse situations but always somehow sweep her of her feet and they would live happily ever after. I cannot say with any accuracy whether this is true or not as I have never read any of her books. But this is the idea I got and it seemed that a lot of woman fantasies about that kind of conclusion to their lives, and why not! All I ever did, when it came to the little bit of reading I did while growing up was read Louis L’amour western novels. These stories where were filled with testosterone and the mucho cowboy defeating the bad guy. The hero always had good sound morals, but to be honest there was almost always a woman in the story, so to be fair even these so called manly works of fiction also often had the touch to "happy ever after endings". I suppose if I am honest, male and female alike all want to find true love! It is a God given tendency we all desire.

The love of God is an amazing story, we are able to witness to what degree the Lord Jesus was willing to go in order to find His bride, the church! He was not only prepared to seek out a bride but He was willing to lay down His life for her and to die on a cruel Roman cross in order to please His Father. The Father’s will was to find a bride for His Son. So man and God could live happily ever after. Have you ever wonder why in the beginning God decided to create man in His own image? This is one of those reasons! “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

He created mankind with many of His attributes until sin entered into the heart of man and He disobeyed God. This is where everything began to go “pear-shaped”. Self gratification was the order of the day, but when we see the Lord Jesus’ example we can clearly see that He disregarded all of His own fleshly wants and desire in order to find a bride, it cost Him His life. No greater love has a man that to lay down His life for His enemies. We where enemies of the cross until God’s shone His love into our hearts and we then realised that we were once doomed for eternity; a pit so treacherous that I shudder to think of that outcome. To witness a man on a particular day cursing the Lord with blasphemous remarks and then the next to see tears streaming down his cheeks as he now blesses the One he once cursed, the picture perfect fairytale ending. I must confess that I was once amongst that number! But now I can see! I now am aware of what it cost the Lord to love me and die in my stead. I am thankful to Him and confess that I do indeed love Him, He is the love of my life and I will make it known to all.

If you also have found His love then remember to be quick to exalt Him when the opportunity presents itself. He wants all his saints to be quick on the draw in confessing His name before men; “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

And again; "And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8)

How often I now find tears rolling down my face, in fact it is almost a daily ritual; when I am reminded of what I have been saved from. God is good all the time! Everything that happens to us has a purpose and He is working it out for our good and one day we will have our happy ending. We will live happily ever after with our Saviour and with God as our Father and He will be happy to call us sons. What a hope we now have! This is the hope I have, can you say the same? I pray it is so!

Signing off

Tyrone

Surely this thing is Known!

(Exodus 2:14) "Surely the thing is known."

How long will mankind live with secrets? For as long as they can get away with them I suppose! All have tried and will continue trying to keep their hidden secrets out of sight. That is why they are called secret sins. Now it would be good for us to understand what the Word teachers about this type of behaviour. But from the outset I will make a bold statement and categorise all of mankind as falling into this trap and this type of sin. I cannot give you scripture and verse to prove my point, I could referrer to many references singling out individuals, but let me rather focus on what the scripture teachers on this subject as a general topical study.

Moses lived in Egypt and had been raised by the princess (pharaohs daughter) so he was entitled to Egyptian privileges but he understood his birthright as a Hebrew. One day Moses saw an Egyptian guard beating a Hebrew slave, one of his people. Now this is the point which I would like us to pay special attention too... “He looked this way and that, and seeing no one; he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” He assumed that because no one would see the crime he was about to commit, he felt it would be safe to accomplish his intention, so he killed the Egyptian! It is exactly the same for all who believe that if no one knows about what we do in secret we will be safe and we will get away with it. That could not be further from the truth, it is another decoy that the devil has used from the beginning to get us to believe we will escape judgment; “But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4)

Do we see the subtlety used here? The woman ate, her eyes where opened and she knew that she was naked, but she did not die there and then. Spiritually she did die! She was cut off from the presents of God, but her body didn’t die just as Satan had said. The next day she still was breathing the same air she inhaled the day before. But her body and her cells now began to die off as she now began to age. It is the same for mankind when we reason with this type of mentality, until we are caught in our sin. Moses felt that he got away with murder, until he was confronted by those he protected; “Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known." And because it was now know he had to take action to escape judgement. Nevertheless he had to have his heart exposed, to understand that he now needed to flee in order to live. “When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:15)

If we flee from our sin to the Lord Jesus we will find forgiveness, this is the beauty of the gospel message, and this is why the Lord Jesus came to die for mankind, so that we could escape eternal judgment. But as long as you feel you will get away with your secret sins and have no need to find forgiveness, you will continue in trickery and deceit. But there is a day coming that every action of every person will be as it where an open book before God and you will be judged accordingly. We all will be judged! Yet all those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb will escape judgment for sin as the Lord Jesus Christ has already paid the price for all of the sins that repentant sinners have committed. Yes, this is the hope we (believers) now look forward too! We will not be judged for sin, that penalty had already been taken care of in and through our great Saviour, the Lord Jesus! “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

There will be another judgment every believer will face, it is known as a “works judgment!” But let us leave that topic for another day. Now let me address all those who reject this glorious gospel message; a wise king, a man who lived long ago has this to teach us and I quote; “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

Nobody will get away with any secret sin, as God sees all! Do not be fooled into believing a lie, repent and turn to Him and find forgiveness for you sin while you still breathe here on earth. While you have breath you still have hope, but when you breathe your last breath it will be time for judgment. What will you do I wonder?

Signing off

Tyrone

God meant if for good!

(Genesis 50:20) “... but God meant if for good.”

I think a crucial truth we all must comes to grips with is that God is building His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. God has many plans and all and every plan He has ever instituted has panned out exactly according to arrangement. Yet if we do not examine the Word of God with accuracy we will find ourselves dazed and confused. The greatest enemies of the cross will often make reference to the bible, yet without any personal attention to it. There are so many examples we could use to prove this point, but it is essential we make this truth our own. We must believe that God is in control of all things, which He is! But we must believe without exception that He is in control of our lives, wherever we find ourselves. You may think that the trial of life is pressing down so hard on your life that God has abandoned you. Remember who is in control, if we begin to believe that God has lost control, which will never happen in this life or all the ages to come, in fact He is in total control, even though we my look at a situation and think, how-why-where! But God will finally only hear music in His ears as every "t" will be crossed and every "i" will be dotted with regard to his eternal plan.

With God’s sovereignty in mind; I am fascinated about God’s ability to love on the one hand and also to be extremely angry on the other. He has so much love in Him that He was not only willing and able to send His only Son to die in the place of sinners; But He chose to do exactly that! "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Could there be any greater way for God to put His love on display. God dying for mankind, so that they can go free! Each and every person without exception guilty of transgressing His law and therefore doomed for eternity to spend the rest of their existence in a Lake of Fire, until God in His love stepped in and made a way of escape. This is almost unbelievable! Yet it is exactly what God did some two thousand years ago. How complete is the love of this great God of ours, not only did He talk a game of love but has proved His love by sending His Son to pay the price for sinners. The so-called scholar and intellectual thinks they have the answers for life, they ignore this truth. There will be consequences to their folly; the Lake of Fire will be their eternal destiny! Nevertheless God’s love on display for all to witness! “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47):- and yet the flip side of this is this; “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18)

All those who reject God’s love will pay the ultimate price; they will spend eternity in hell! He has shown us all that He means business; back in the days of Noah He was so angry with the lifestyle of mankind that He had this to say; “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7)

But even in His anger we find evidence of love tugging at His heart and “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” (Genesis 6:8)

How intricate is the makeup of this awesome God? Before time began He had names written down in the book of life; “everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” (Revelation 13:8):- He has a plan and even the absolute wickedness of mankind will not interrupt that plan, He has willed it and it will unfold exactly as He has intended. That does not mean that He is not affected emotionally by the unfolding of His plan, it is clear to see that He has an emotional involvement with mankind. He has so much love and yet He has righteous anger that is also on show for all to witness.

Having said that let us consider our original thought: Stretch your imagination with me this morning, and try and view everything in your life from God’s eyes and not your own. Step out of the picture and examine your life from a spectator’s point of view. Life with all its challenges and how we cope with them will determine how much we value the sovereignty of God in our lives. As they unfold and often not according to our own plans, we find ourselves discouraged and our hope seems to dwindle. This is not the purpose of the trial of life; these tests are meant to ignite our hope and make us long for our ultimate goal, heaven! Regardless of our opinions and advice we so often try to give God with regard to how our lives should unfurl. He has a particular plan for all of His children; in fact even His enemy’s sinful actions are working according to plan. When Adam was instructed by God not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, when he ignored the voice of God and took of the fruit to eat that is exactly what happened, he became aware of the knowledge of good and evil. Think of it like this, how will you know what is good is you do not know what is evil? Or how will you understand light if you have not seen darkness? Adam walked in the garden but was oblivious to all that was evil until he ate from that tree. In fact, there was a tree of life that he could have eaten from but because he did not understand death he never ate from it. After his awakening, when he was aware of dead and sin, only then did God place the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Let us prove the point of God’s control in our lives! Let us consider the account of Joseph: His brothers, all ten of them plotted to destroy Him and even lied to their father about his existence, they said that he had been killed by a wild animal. They sold him into the slavery where he had to endure much hardship and eventually was thrown into jail on a false accusation. He spent many years in jail and in a foreign country away from the comforts of home. But after many years through God’s intervention he was reunited with his father and this is what he had to say to his brothers about that period of his life; “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20)

This is such a beautiful account of God’s control, even when so much seems to be going against him and us, we must remember this truth; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Will you dare to believe this and use this truth to ignite your hope?

Signing off

Tyrone

Fight the good fight of faith!

(1Timothy 6:12) “Fight the good fight of the faith.”

If I consider creation and the diversity of it and yet the accuracy in which each creature has within themselves their own ability to achieve what is needed for their own survival, I must conclude, that our God reigns and with grandiose power. Who could ever compare with Him, nobody or anything could ever come close to His luminosity. Even Satan as he covered the throne of God as beautiful as he was to behold; “...thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” (Ezekiel 28:12) – He nevertheless was not perfect in wisdom and therefore when pride entered his heart and he sinned against God, he was cast out of heaven, the scary part of it all, is he took one third of the angels with him. Why? Well the answer is obvious if you look for it. He was perfect in beauty, which means that there was nothing that could have been done to improve his appearance- perfect in beauty was he! It must have been his beauty that lured the angels to follow him and reject the Creator. Even they began to serve the creature and not the creator. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:20)

Let this be a warning to us, let the beautiful things in life that look to surpass God’s wisdom be shunned and rejected with a vehement desire. Instead of hankering after them, lets us reject them as a healthy man would reject a leper. Not that we should not show the leper compassion, but let us not be so foolish as to ignore the contagious effects of the disease. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1Timothy 6:10-12)

In my stint awhile back as a day trader of the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) I realise in hindsight that I was lured into thinking that I now had a way to become rich and I ignored that exact warning, whatever the reason may have been, that is irrelevant; our focus must be on things eternal! I am thankful that what I had was taken from me; I lost more than 1.5 million rand over a year. The goodness of God has vigorously dealt with me through my life to teach me these lessons so that through experience I may learn to depend solely upon Him. I do not claim to have arrived, but life goes on and we (believers) are all taught various lessons to become more like our glorious Saviour. Many are hurtful and seem unnecessary at the time, but God is in perfect control and the entire quota of lessons He teaches us are needful.

“The apostle affirms that the love of money is the root of all evil, 1Ti_6:10. What sins will not men be drawn to by the love of money? Particularly this was at the bottom of the apostasy of many from the faith of Christ; while they coveted money, they erred from the faith, they quitted their Christianity, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Observe, [1.] What is the root of all evil; the love of money: people may have money, and yet not love it; but, if they love it inordinately, it will push them on to all evil. [2.] Covetous persons will quit the faith, if that be the way to get money: Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, 2Ti_4:10. For the world was dearer to him than Christianity. Observe, Those that err from the faith pierce themselves with many sorrows; those that depart from God do but treasure up sorrows for themselves.

II. Hence he takes occasion to caution Timothy, and to counsel him to keep in the way of God and his duty, and particularly to fulfil the trust reposed in him as a minister. He addresses himself to him as a man of God. Ministers are men of God, and ought to conduct themselves accordingly in everything; they are men employed for God, devoted to his honour more immediately. The prophets under the Old Testament were called men of God. 1. He charges Timothy to take heed of the love of money, which had been so pernicious to many: Flee these things. It ill becomes any men, but especially men of God, to set their hearts upon the things of this world; men of God should be taken up with the things of God. 2. To arm him against the love of the world, he directs him to follow that which is good. Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness: righteousness in his conversation towards men, godliness towards God, faith and love as living principles, to support him and carry him on in the practice both of righteousness and godliness. Those that follow after righteousness and godliness, from a principle of faith and love, have need to put on patience and meekness - patience to bear both the rebukes of Providence and the reproaches of men, and meekness wherewith to instruct gainsayers and pass by the affronts and injuries that are done us. Observe, It is not enough that men of God flee these things, but they must follow after what is directly contrary thereto. Further, What excellent persons men of God are who follow after righteousness! They are the excellent of the earth, and, being acceptable to God, they should be approved of men. 3. He exhorts him to do the part of a soldier: Fight the good fight of faith. Note, Those who will get to heaven must fight their way thither. There must be a conflict with corruption and temptations, and the opposition of the powers of darkness. Observe, It is a good fight, it is a good cause, and it will have a good issue. It is the fight of faith; we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 2Co_10:3, 2Co_10:4. He exhorts him to lay hold on eternal life. Observe, (1.) Eternal life is the crown proposed to us, for our encouragement to war, and to fight the good fight of faith, the good warfare. (2.) This we must lay hold on, as those that are afraid of coming short of it and losing it. Lay hold, and take heed of losing your hold. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown, Rev_3:11. (3.) We are called to the fight, and to lay hold on eternal life. (4.) The profession Timothy and all faithful ministers make before many witnesses is a good profession; for they profess and engage to fight the good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal life; their calling and their own profession oblige them to this. (Matthew Henry)

Let us be on guard against the distractions of life that so easily take our eyes off the ball. We must reason with sober minds and not be ignorant to the wiles of the devil. May we persevere like the swan and cry out to our God in time of need to rest and lean upon Him, bringing Him glory and exalting our King, the Lord Jesus Christ as He now reigns supremely. Is His reign absolute in our lives?

Signing off

Tyrone

Flesh at War with the Spirit!

(Romans 8:9) “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

To walk as humble servants before the Lord takes courage and our application must be accurate if we want to please Him. I suppose it is like eating a boiled egg without salt, Very bland! But put too much salt and it is almost inedible. So too is it when I apply worldly wisdom to my life hoping to have my ouster and eat it! This is not the call for all who believe that Jesus died, was buried and rose again. We have been bought at a great price. Let us consider that value for just a moment; could all the gold of China compare, never! To find the right balance is not very easy if we begin to reason once again as men, so let us rather reason with godly wisdom. God the Son, co-creator with the Father left the portals of heaven. God the Holy Spirit impregnated a virgin woman, where He then went through the exact same process as all who have ever lived. He was born as a baby, dependent upon His mother for milk. Then through the process of time went through puberty and eventually became a man. God in the flesh! When I consider the wisdom of God, my immediate reaction is, was that necessary! Of course it was for the benefit of mankind and as God chose this process to save mankind who is it that could ever question it? His ways are far above our ways. “For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” (Psalms 97:9)

We could never ever begin to reason with any form of accuracy if we where to compete in a historical quiz show with God. The greatest of scholars would be left looking stupid. The very first application we must appropriate in our lives to find freedom in serving Him is to remember this truth. “Let God be true and every man a liar”, it is foundation when seeking out the answers to life. Let us take creation as an example; I often hear comments made about how billions of years ago this or that happened and we as people glibly except it to be factual. The question I often ask myself is this, “where you there or did you see it to speak with such authority”? But on the other hand, God was there as He created all things; He was present at the time. Now with that in mind, who and where should we go to find the answers for creation. Obviously to God the source, but He is invisible, that is true yet He has left us His spirit and the Word of God, the Bible! That is where we will find the accurate answers for creation and anything outside of that will leave us with theories and guess work. It is exactly the same for us in our daily lives, we must constantly remember to look to Him for direction and answers. If not, we will be guessing, we will be playing Russian roulette with our lives. Somehow I find myself repeatedly having to examine myself in this exact area. What is the right equilibrium to life as a Christian? Should I do this or that! It is easy to get “lost in translation”, not the translation of clear biblical doctrine but rather lost in the turmoil of life. We end up chasing the wrong things, a bigger house a better car and the like.

What then should I appropriate in my life; the theory is simple; deny yourself daily, pick up your cross and follow the Lord. How do I become more efficient in my application to this call? Do I draw up lists and tick them off as done and dusted, do I start in the Spirit and then complete the call to my life by the power of my human reasoning? Obviously the answer to those questions is no! What then must I do to be an effective witness for Christ? We all must learn from the Word of God and it clearly instructs us; “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41)

Everything in our natural design looks to travel in the opposite direction to God’s will for our lives. The flesh is weak and it has succumb and fallen in sin and continues to fall through life. Theoretically we must understand this; we must accept it and then be on guard against it. How? With prayer! The Spirit of God has never ever surrendered to sin and it never will, but the flesh instinctively yields to it. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

They are separate entities and yet we live with both at the same time, when I was saved (born again) my spirit found life my sin was forgiven and yet I still house the Spirit in a fallen dying human body. This is what often confuses us. But it shouldn’t as we now know better. That does not mean we will no longer struggle with temptation and sin, all it means is that we now have the power to overcome sin if and when we use the right application to it. To reason as men with psychology and programs to conquer sin in our live would be wrong as we would be using something from a sinful source that in itself is sinful to try and defeat sin. It has no power over sin; it will never have the power to overcome it. God used 4000 year and the accounts of many through that time to prove to us that it is impossible as a sinner to be righteous in ourselves. This is why He introduced the law; it was to prove to us that we needed a Saviour. This is why He sent His Son to die for sinners and defeat sin as a man. But now that He has had the victory, we as His children are entitled to walk in the spirit. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

Do you see the shift that need to take place? And it must happen in our minds; we must understand it before we can claim it and therefore walk in it. The right application to correct doctrine will leave us living the way God intended us to live.

In summation, let us walk in the spirit and we will not fulfil the lust of our flesh. Let us put on the mind of Christ, it is the opposite of our natural reasoning, nevertheless when we live in Him we will have peace in our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone

Licence to Serve!

(Romans 3:4) Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."

Grace = Licence to Serve. I saw this comment in the remarks column on another blog site and I thought it would be fitting to consider this a little deeper. We are covered by the grace of God; we can do nothing in ourselves to earn points in finding saving favour before God almighty. This is probably the clearest point the bible makes. Wherever you look you will find reference to this teaching; it was only the Lord Jesus who carried the burden of sin, without every sinning; therefore without his accomplishment here on earth there would be no opportunity for anyone to make it to heaven. Why? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. (Romans 3:23)

All have sinned and after judgment if found guilty, even for one sin, by breaking God’s law, the guilty would then need to be punished for sin. Why punished? God is who He is and He is righteous and therefore requires what is right. If a law is broken a price must be paid. That is what it means to be righteous, no wiggle room for family and friends. I have often heard people say, “I am a good person”, be careful with that sought of ideology it is just another lure, leading mankind away from finding forgiveness for their sins. Without forgiveness we will end up in hell. It will never be because we were a good person that keeps us out of hell, it can and will only ever be safe for those who have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. If the Lord Jesus did not accomplish what He did achieve here on earth, then all of mankind would have been doomed to hell forever. Think of it like this; there was a waiting room in the heavens full of waiting candidates; Abraham, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, Job and many more who could see the beauty of heaven but there was a large chained gate that kept them from the actual presence of God and the only person who had the power and the key to unlock that gate was the Lord Jesus Christ. Now everything hung in the balance while He walked the face of the earth. Many opposed the Lord Jesus, Satan and all his heavenly allies, but be not fooled even men and woman were and are still on his side, even if they are not aware of it.

King David explains the account of Jesus on the cross like this; “Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—“(Psalms 22:12-16)

We can clearly see descriptive evidence (strong bulls of Bashan) that the Lord endured hardship in the spiritual realm while He was on the cross. And therefore we accept that there was a war between Satan and the Lord Jesus in the heavens. Yet without mankind’s involvement how would He have been crucified as a man. Get the point! Although we do not see into the spiritual realm with our natural eyes, we are still played like pawns by the forces of darkness, until we are set free by the glorious gospel message. If we are still blind to the Gospel and have not found forgiveness for our sin, in and through no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. We are part of Satan’s army and not God’s army. Hear me carefully now, if you do not believe that the Lord Jesus is the only way, the only true and the only way the you in person can escaped eternal damnation (judgment), then you are an enemy of the cross! Not different to me on the other side as an enemy of all the evil forces who oppose the only true and living God, Jehovah God, the Father of Jesus Christ my Saviour. I know I may often stumble with this and that in my life, and not be the greatest example in consistent application to the Christian lifestyle; I have made many mistakes along the way, but let it be clear that my banner is out for all to see and it reads, “Jesus Christ is my Lord!” My Saviour is the only way to God the Father and He is the only One who has the ability to keep all repentant believers from the clutches of Satan. No one else ever walked upon the face of the earth, lived their lives without ever breaking God’s law except the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, Ghandi, Mandela, the Dalai Lama, mother Teresa and the like all have been brilliant in their field, they have accomplished more that most in their lifetime, but if their message is not this: If they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and became a man and live on earth without sin and then paid the price for sin, died and then rose again from the dead, so that repentant sinners could go free. Then they are the enemies of the cross, they are God’s enemies and therefore in opposition to His truth, which is the only truth! "Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged." (Romans 3:4)

What would it help if we had licence to serve, but we where serving a lie. Repent and believe on the only true God, He is the way the truth and the life and no man will get to His Father but by Him. Do not take the opinions of others lightly, there is a war, we have been in it from birth but now it is about to heat up, so choose this day who you will serve! Will we be amongst that number that stands for truth regardless of its price or will barter and negotiate with the wage of compromise? I understand that even the remnant are covered by grace and have been handpicked by God. “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (Romans 11:4-5)

Will we be like Jacob and wrestle with God until we are blessed, even if it leaves us limping for the rest of our lives. Surely it will be worth it all! Or will we glibly go about our daily lives?

Grace indeed frees us to serve, let us just make sure that it is the Lord Jesus we serve and not another, “The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” The world may put on a loving face but let us be on my guard when they where possible, as a time will come they will betray us as they did our Master, it may even be with a kiss. Their message will be a different message, there is no other true way outside of Christ that will lead a man to heaven, and every other way will be a lie! And only a liar with another agenda tells a LIE! Whenever a man is about to stab what is true, he usually professes very great reverence for it. They may even make reference to Jesus as a good man or a prophet, but only a false prophet would claim himself to be equal to God; “I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) He cannot be a good person and be full of lies only a deceiver behaves like that!

The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Be warned and on guard any other message no matter how nice and cuddly it may sound is a lie and has been back by hell itself.

Father God, hone our eyesight and help us keep the wolves at bay as they are on the increase. But we know our Saviour has overcome the enemy, in him we do trust!

Signing Off

Tyrone

Our High Priest!

(Luke 22:44) “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

In considering my HIV status, as tragic as it may seem to some on the one hand, but on the other it is a glorious opportunity I had been afforded, I have had the privilege to stand up and declare my allegiance to my Saviour the Lord Jesus in those circles. Without this virus I would not have had a platform. Although I live with this ailment, it is now helpful as a reminder of my disobedience as a young believer, for which I am grateful, not thankful for my disobedience but appreciative for the love the Father has shown me in this area of my life, as it proved my Father’s love to me from another perspective. How you may wonder? The answer is very simple but extremely clear, the only danger we have if we take this position too glibly and wilfully continue in sin that grace may abound, we will suffer consequences to our lives, hence the reason I am HIV positive. God disciplines those whom He loves. Nevertheless, in faith through it all I never doubted what Christ had done for me on the cross. Yet pride is a very dangerous trait to live with; “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)

Samson is a good case to consider; although he was told never to divulge the secret of his strength, when he disobeyed he seemed somewhat surprised that he lost his strength. Nevertheless this I will say with confidence and I think I have understood what I am now going to say, he was thankful for God’s discipline in that area of his life even though he lost his eyes. He is now in the company of God and all those who have died in faith not yet having received the promise of their resurrected bodies as they wait patiently for the trump of God to sound! Discipline is a crucial part in a believer’s life and we must welcome it, as it will bring forth palatable fruit in its season.

For all who have now been through this adoption process - those who are born again, not by the will of man by the will of the Father, have now been given the privilege to call out “Abba Father”, to addresses with reverence and in love but with confidence, the only true God as their Father. Why? Only because we now have been given life, our eyes are opened, and we can see! We now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary. This is the qualifier, we cannot reject that message and believe some other message and claim the right to this adoption, as it will make us illegitimate children. There is a deception that sweeps across the globe wanting people to believe that there is another way to heaven, it is a lie! This deception may even get us to believe that we are entitled to the privilege of heaven when we pass from this life to the next, but that would not be true! Only those found written in the Lambs Book of Life will enter heaven and no other; “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

In other words all of God’s adopted children will ultimately find themselves in heaven, but impostors and the like will be cast into outer darkness. "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22:11-14)

There is only one way we are entitled to the correct wedding garment, we must call upon the name of the Lord, accept His sacrifice on your behalf, agree to His conditions and do not come with any of our own added agenda's and we will be welcome into the kingdom of heaven; “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

There is a side to this glorious gospel message that we often overlook; Jesus our High Priest! We get so bogged down by the trail of life and we see God as awesome as He is, as someone far above us, which He is, but we think along the lines that no one understands our predicament. This thought could not be further from the truth. From as far back as Moses and Aaron the high priest ministry was introduced to prepare us to understand the importance of that role. The Catholics believe that the pope is God’s appointed man for the hour, the high priest, one who intercedes on behalf of the people and communes directly with God. They are wrong! Those days of intersession by a man have long run their course. The final high priest was the Lord Jesus and no other man will ever be needed to intercede on behalf of the people ever again, as He has “finished” the work. We have a High Priest, He is God and yet He lived as a man. It is because of His life on earth as a man that qualifies Him for the role. How so? May we never forget and may God the Holy Spirit continually remind us, as He does, that the Lord Jesus not only lived as a man but in all points was tempted as we are tempted: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

I will confess this truth often eludes me when I am in trial. Forgive me Father when and where I have erred in the application to this truth. We must understand that the Lord Jesus does understand what we are going through, not only does He understand but has experience far more than we could ever begin to imagine. I can sympathize with someone living with HIV as I too live with the virus. You may feel for me, but you could never really come to grips with what it is to live with the virus as you do not have it. In the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord Jesus endured such hardship against sin that He began to sweat drops of blood. May we remember this in our time of trial! He is touched by the feelings of our infirmities!

“The mental pressure arising from our Lord’s struggle with temptation, so forced his frame to an unnatural excitement, that his pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground. This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Saviour so that he distilled great drops of blood! This demonstrates the mighty power of his love. It is a very pretty observation of old Isaac Ambrose that the gum which exudes from the tree without cutting is always the best. This precious camphire-tree yielded most sweet spices when it was wounded under the knotty whips, and when it was pierced by the nails on the cross; but see, it giveth forth its best spice when there is no whip, no nail, no wound. This sets forth the voluntariness of Christ’s sufferings, since without a lance the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech, or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, “Spring up, O well;” of itself it flows in crimson torrents. If men suffer great pain of mind apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale; a fainting fit comes on; the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Saviour in his agony; he is so utterly oblivious of self, that instead of his agony driving his blood to the heart to nourish himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours him out upon the ground, pictures the fulness of the offering which he made for men.

Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which he passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, and sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of your souls.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Grace and the Holy Spirit

I started with a bible reading program this week; I hope to finish the bible from cover to cover in three months, I can remember the benefit I received years ago when I did this, when I read the old testament, spiritually I was in one of the best positions of my life, call it a pleasant peaceful spiritual high. I have the time on my hands, and we are told to occupy the day wisely. John piper urges us not to waste our lives, how much time I have wasted! But I love the Apostle Pauls encouragement, he instructs us to forget those things that are behind us, even if we have wasted time in our lives with trivial nonsense, we are told to forget what is behind and to press toward the mark of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus. Today is a day we can all start with new beginnings, if you have fallen into bad habits, today is the day you are afforded another opportunity to leave them behind, isn’t that a beautiful thought! We now have His Spirit, in fact we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Salvation, He comes and makes His abode with every true born again believer. He equips us for service to honour God. Do not confuse the outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit as found in the book of Corinthians with the infilling of the Holy Ghost (Spirit) at Salvation. Without the Holy Spirit guiding me in spiritual matters I would be like a dumb mute, in fact blind as well! It is frustrating at times of how bad a memory I have, I cannot remember names, and I struggle with the day to day activities that most people find mundane. However, although I have never been one to enter into the practise of memorising verses, I can say this, by the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I am able to recall many verses without thought. It is all of God and has nothing to do with my several natural abilities. I am thankful for this attribute to my life it just reminds me of how dependant I am on my God and Saviour. Where do I get this thought from you may ask, well no doubt, the Word of God of course: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

The disciples must have seen their task in furthering the Gospel message as somewhat daunting, it was not as if they went from town to town with a note pad in the hand always making reference to what they had experienced when the Lord walked with them here on earth. The Lord reassures them, that they would receive a helper, not any assistant, but God the Holy Spirit! In fact He told them that; “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17)

Do we see the different approach to our understanding on the subject of the purpose of God the Holy Spirit? Because the hyper-charismatic’s abuse their so called right to call upon God the Holy Spirit, does that mean we should shy away from the correct teaching of what He has come to achieve, God forbid! I am ever so thankful for His work in my life; I am grateful for my Saviours resurrection and return back to His Father in Heaven. For as He taught, if He did not return He could not send the helper. Let us never forget His work in our lives, we may not see it as apparent as the daylight sun but be sure He is at work beyond our wildest imaginations; this is only true in your life if you belong as an heir to the household of God. Only if you have found repentance and you have believed in your heart that God has raised the Lord Jesus from the dead and you verbally confess Him as Lord of your life. I will make no pretences that I am not gifted as a scholar, and I am not amongst that number, but be warned that as a scholar, never forget the role of God the Holy Spirit in your life. Calvinists believe strongly as a rule in a God-centred application to life and we shy away from a man-centred mindset, but this I say, if you block out the work of God the Holy Spirit in your life and you do not recognise the work as His work, then you are living a man-centred life. How seriously does God take this? I will not speak as a fool and dare to speak on His behalf, but I will make reference to one of the Lord Jesus’ quotes; “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:32)

“We have been saved by GRACE through faith which is a gift of God not of works least any man should boast.” May we never forget this, we must always be reminded of this truth, we often begin with this understanding but soon we look to find justification by what we do and not what our Glorious Saviour has achieved on our behalf. He will share His glory with no other, and then again why should He! He alone bled and died on a cruel Roman cross, praise His glorious name! It is God the Holy Spirit who constantly reminds us of this truth and He will never let us forget it!

“NO TRUTH is more plainly taught in God’s word than this, that the salvation of sinners is entirely owing to the grace of God. If there be anything clear at all in Scripture, it is plainly there declared that men are lost by their own works, but saved through the free favour of God their ruin is justly merited, but their salvation is always the result of the unmerited mercy of God. In varied forms of expression, but with constant clearness and positiveness, this truth is over and over again declared.
Yet, plain as this truth is, and influencing, as it should do, every part of our doctrinal belief, it is frequently forgotten.
Many of the heresies which divide the Christian church, spring from a cloudness upon this point. Were that word "grace" but fully read, marked, and learned, the great evangelical system would be far more firmly held, and plainly preached: but forgetfulness that "by grace ye are saved," is a common fault among all conditions of men. Sinners forget it, and they seek salvation by the works of the law; they refuse to surrender to the sovereign grace of God, and entrench themselves behind the tottering fence of their own righteousness. And saints forget this, too, and therefore their minds become dark, their spirits fall into legal bondage, and where they ought to rejoice in the Lord unceasingly, they become despondent, and full of unbelieving dread.
Brethren, I am incessantly preaching here the doctrines of grace, they are growingly dear to me; but often as I preach them, I trust they are not wearisome to you; and if they should be, that sad fact would not induce me to be silent upon them, but rather urge me to proclaim them more frequently and fervently, for your weariness of them would be a clear proof that you required to hear them yet again, and again, and again, until your souls were brought to delight in them.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

And I John Saw...

(Revelation 21:2) “And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem...”

Do we long for what John saw? What do we see in relation to what he saw? Do we right it off as artistic exaggeration or not? There seems to be many opinions on how one should read the book of Revelation and as a matter of fact the Bible on a whole. The only problem I have with trying to overanalyze scripture or look for what it does not say is that there is a danger of becoming wise in our own eyes. I do not trust my flesh and the way it loves to be proved right all the time, it seems to want to gloat, but it has nothing to do with righteousness, it may fall under its banner but the victory is claimed by the “pride of life”, we must guard our hearts from this evil. And once again I am not saying we must ever deviate from the truth of God’s Word, NEVER! It is the Word that will endure forever, opinions only last as long as they are voiced and then they die off and are soon forgotten. If we cannot stand for what we believe then we will be like chaff in the wind, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. However we must take heed that we do not allow pride to win the day. Personally I have settled on a literal understanding of scripture where and when possible i.e. if we examine these verses; “the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"’ (Revelation 4:7-8):- We see creatures created by God that we have never witnesses with our eyes and so we quickly explain them away as a reference to something else, we say it must means something deeper! All of scripture has deeper meaning when we unpack the truth of scripture, but why would we not want to look at the text and not accept it for what it says. Surely God with His majestic power could create a spiritual being with six wings and eyes all over its body even if the creature has a face of a man. Of course he is able and I believe that is exactly what He has done so when we get to heaven that is exactly what we will see, a spiritual being with eyes all over its body, with six wings and a face of a man. Another point in case would be this; “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:28-29):- If I took this literally then I would have been blind long ago, in fact many men would not have eyes. I accept the fact that at times we must also reason with a sound mind and in this instance I must understand that what I must appropriate in my life from this verse is to seek God’s face and to find grace to put off looking at woman with a lustful intent and keep myself from situations that would feed my mind in this area where possible. I now have an instruction from the Lord Jesus that gives me insight on what I should be on guard against. Where and when possible I look to unpack scripture literally, when this is not possible I then look for its deeper meaning. This is where I have settled when unpacking scripture. And obviously contextual exposition is key, do not take a verse out of context and then build a doctrine around it, this will often lead to heresy.

Back to my original question; do we long for what John saw? And herewith are some of Matthew Henry’s thoughts entwined with a few of mine: In this new world the apostle saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, not locally, but as to its original: this New Jerusalem is the church of God in its new and perfect state, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, God the Father has dressed the city (bride of Christ) and He has beautified it with all perfection of wisdom and holiness, It is all for His Son our Saviour with us the saints beneficiaries to His obedience. It measures forty-eight thousand furlongs, or 2400km. Here is enough room for all the people of God as there are many mansions in their Father's house. The foundation of the wall, for heaven is a city that hath her foundations; the promise and power of God, and the purchase of Christ, are the strong foundations of the church's safety and happiness. The foundations are described by their number - twelve, alluding to the twelve apostles whose gospel doctrines are the foundations upon which the church is built, Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; and, as to the matter of these foundations, it was various and precious, set forth by twelve sorts of precious stones, denoting the variety and excellency of the doctrines of the gospel, or of the graces of the Holy Spirit, or the personal excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven is not inaccessible; there is a way opened into the holiest of all; there is a free admission to all those that are sanctified; they shall not find themselves shut out. All the true Israel of God (Christians all those who accept the lord Jesus as the true Messiah) shall have entrance into the New Jerusalem, as every tribe had into the earthly Jerusalem. With twelve angels guarding it’s entrances, to admit and receive the several tribes of the spiritual Israel and keep out others. With inscription on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes, to show that they have a right to the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city. Because of Christ' finished work on Calvary there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free. Men of all nations, and languages, who believe on Christ, have by him access to God in grace here and in glory hereafter. These gates are crafted from pearl, and yet with great variety: Every gate one pearl, either one single pearl of that vast bigness, or one single sort of pearl. Christ is the pearl of great price, and he is our way to God. There is nothing magnificent enough in this world fully to set forth the glory of heaven. Could we, in the glass of a strong imagination, contemplate such a city as is here described, even as to the exterior part of it, such a wall, and such gates, how amazing, how glorious! Then inside the New Jerusalem we see its strong wall, and stately gates, and glorious guards; now we are to be led through the gates into the city itself; and the first thing which we observe there is the street of the city, which is of pure gold, like transparent glass, The saints in heaven tread upon gold. The New Jerusalem has its several streets. There is the most exact order in heaven: every saint has his proper mansion. There is converse in heaven: the saints are then at rest, but it is not a mere passive rest; it is not a state of sleep and inactivity, but a state of delightful motion: The nations that are saved walk in the light of it. They walk with Christ in white. They have communion not only with God, but with one another; and all their steps are firm and clean. They are pure and clear as gold and transparent glass. Nothing that looks to defile will have power over the saint’s incorruptible bodies anymore, what a glorious thought! No longer is there a need for a man made temple, as the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb is the temple. No sun or moon needed to give off its light as the radiance from God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb, its gates will never be shut and there will be no night there. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, or anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Do you see the same city and is it the hope you yearn for with all of your heart, or is it just some exaggerated description of what seem to go over your head, something you do not give to much attention too, I pray not! It is as real as the air we breathe, and it is closer than we could ever begin to imagine. Time will eventually run its course and this New Heaven will eventually be ushered into existence by God. What a glorious day that shall be! May we learn to focus more on that which is eternal than that which is temporal.

Signing off

Tyrone