The good soldier!

(2Timothy 2:3)  “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Life has its surprises and it if filled with so many different emotions. Suffering has its part to play in our lives, just as much as happiness or love. God by means of nature teachers us that there is a time and a season for all things. This is God’s design! How do we know this? Not only do we see the changes through spring into summer into autumn and then finally winter sets in. But we also have one of the wisest men to have ever lived, teaching us this lesson; - “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? (Ecclesiastes 3:1-9)   

If we are ever in doubt about where we find ourselves or whether we are in God will, all we need do is examine our lives and the trials we face in reflection to the life of the Lord Jesus. When we see clearly, no matter what the trial, we realize that it lives with one intention, to teach us obedience. Knowing that eventually we will reap our reward, heaven our destiny and we will receive a glorified body where there will be no more death for the true believer

Let us consider a planting of a harvest; we know that certain seed must be planted in spring if we are to reap their fruit, plant that seed in winter and the crops will fail. We must obey God’s order to reap His fruit. Now take this principle into our lives and we too will be the beneficiaries of His grace. Obey the Word of God and what it teaches and it will be well with our souls.

How often do we suffer for wrong-doing? I can only speak for myself, far too often is the retort! It needn’t be this way; God has so loved us that He sent His Son to die in our stead. That does not mean I needn’t suffer, suffer I must! But the apostle Peter teachers us that we should never suffer as evil-doers; “But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.” (1Peter 4:15) – I suppose in today’s day and age we are all guilty of such charges, I know I am! But it needn’t be like this as we have the mind of Christ. Let no one deceive you into thinking that as Christians we should only ever have season of pure bliss and no famine in our lives.

Our paths have been carefully plotted out by an all knowing and ever wise God, even the Lord Jesus had to walk the path His father had so ordained. And as a man there times when He even looked to avoid the inevitable: - “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) – And what of the time when he was at His weakest as he hung upon that cruel Roman cross; “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Matthew 27:46)

Both these trying time served a purpose in God’s sovereign will and so do all the trials in our lives serve their purpose!  

How often have you heard people ask, why? How often have I asked the very same question? The short answer is for us to learn obedience and to trust our God with our lives. We spend so much time evaluating our situation without understanding the importance of the Holy Scriptures on the very topic.

Suffering is an integral part of a believers life, God has so ordain it! We needn’t always understand it at the time, but we must learn to walk by faith. When God tells us that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose, we must then believe it! As it will reap its fruit in due season!

What then is God’s will for the believer? “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1Peter 2:19-24)   

We will only ever find the fullness of life when we learn to appropriate the Holy Scriptures and what they teach us as the be-all and end-all of our daily living. May God cause His gracious light to shine into our lives so that we may be the salt of the earth! May our lives grow from strength to strength as we learn to walk obediently before our great King! Hear our cry, we earnestly pray, dear beloved heavenly Father.

Signing off

Tyrone

What is man?

Jeremiah 6:1 “Flee for safety…”

We will only ever be safe if we heed the full council of God! Whatever that may entail at any given time in our lives.

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalms 8:4) - I must start with this thought this morning and just maybe it’s because I have been so dull of hearing for such a long time. Or could it be that we (mankind) have a tendency to get lost in our own causes and lose sight of more pressing issues. I think both are as real as each other and no-one is exempt from its trap. The lure of conceit is a real danger for all, especially when one feels they stand upon the truth.

We must stand upon God’s Word at all costs, and yes, even at the cost of conceit playing its part in our lives, not that we will ever be justified in our pride, we will soon be cut down to size if God so deems it. But as I look firstly at the spec in my eye I and then I gaze around I realize that what God has taken on with this sinful human race, is a mammoth task.

Just imagine the heavenly host as they witness our daily lives in the light of God’s holiness and his righteousness, no wonder David pens words like this; “What is man that you are mindful of him”? In fact although we are the beneficiaries of God’s grace, all those who believe and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, it never had anything to do with us but all to do with His Son, without His perfect sacrifice, us as gentiles (of or pertaining to any people not Jewish), those who were never part of God’s promise to Abraham were the futurist from salvation in that sense. Do you realize that if the Jews would have accepted the work of Calvary we as gentiles may well have been in big trouble? HELL our final destiny! But GOD! And we better not miss this, I speak to all and sundry; But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:4-9)

Satan at times is often having his way as he gets the Christians to turn on themselves; he gets them to do his work for him. A travesty! Now if we rebuke a wise man and if he is indeed wise, he will receive the rebuke and be wiser still, but rebuke a fool and he will despise you. What then is the lesson? I think the Apostle Paul understood this best as he instructs Timothy on how he should address the gainsayer (those who deny the truth), what then is truth? The Holy Scriptures! This is how it should and must be done; “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2Timothy 2:23-26) 

But before I run away with myself let us get someone else’s perspective on this instruction. Someone with possibly the greatest teaching gift, or at least who I have come across in my limited research, but it was C.H.Spurgeon who pointed me in his direction. His name is Matthew Henry…

“Paul cautions Timothy against contention, and, to prevent this (2Ti_2:23), cautions him against foolish and unlearned questions, that tend to no benefit, strifes of words. Those who advanced them, and doted upon them, thought themselves wise and learned; but Paul calls them foolish and unlearned. The mischief of these is that they gender strifes, that they breed debates and quarrels among Christians and ministers. It is very remarkable how often, and with what seriousness, the apostle cautions Timothy against disputes in religion, which surely was not without some such design as this, to show that religion consists more in believing and practising what God requires than in subtle disputes. - The servant of the Lord must not strive, 2Ti_2:24. Nothing worse becomes the servant of the Lord Jesus, who himself did not strive nor cry (Mat_12:19), but was a pattern of meekness, and mildness, and gentleness to all, than strife and contention. The servant of the Lord must be gentle to all men, and thereby show that he is himself subject to the commanding power of that holy religion which he is employed in preaching and propagating. - Apt to teach. Those are unapt to teach who are apt to strive, and are fierce and froward. Ministers must be patient, bearing with evil, and in meekness instructing (2Ti_2:25) not only those who subject themselves, but those who oppose themselves. Observe, 1. Those who oppose themselves to the truth are to be instructed; for instruction is the scripture-method of dealing with the erroneous, which is more likely to convince them of their errors than fire and faggot: he does not bid us kill their bodies, under pretence of saving their souls. 2. Such as oppose themselves are to be instructed in meekness, for our Lord is meek and lowly (Mat_11:29), and this agrees well with the character of the servant of the Lord (2Ti_2:24): He must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient. This is the way to convey truth in its light and power, and to overcome evil with good, Rom_12:21. 3. That which ministers must have in their eyes, in instructing those who oppose themselves, must be their recovery: If God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Observe, (1.) Repentance is God's gift. (2.) It is a gift with a peradventure in the case of those who oppose themselves; and therefore, though we are not to despair of the grace of God, yet we must take heed of presuming upon it. To the acknowledging of the truth. (3.) The same God who gives us the discovery of the truth does by his grace bring us to the acknowledging of it, otherwise our hearts would continue in rebellion against it, for we are to confess with our mouths as well as to believe with our hearts, Rom_10:9, Rom_10:10. And thus sinners recover themselves out of the snare of the devil; see here, [1.] The misery of sinners: they are in the snare of the devil, and are led captive by him at his will, 2Ti_2:26. They are slaves to the worst of task-masters; he is the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, Eph_2:2. They are taken in a snare, and in the worst snare, because it is the devil's; they are as fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare. Further, They are under Ham's curse (a servant of servants shall he be, Gen_9:25), they are slaves to him who is but a slave and vassal. [2.] The happiness of those who repent: they recover themselves out of this snare, as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken and they have escaped; and the greater the danger the greater the deliverance. When sinners repent, those who before were led captive by the devil at his will come to be led into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and have their wills melted into the will of the Lord Jesus. The good Lord recover us all out of the snare.” (Matthew Henry)

Therefore is we wish to “bleed biblean” (have the bible flowing from our veins) as John Bunyan did we must receive the whole council of God.  

Signing off

Tyrone

A Warning!

(Jeremiah 6:17)  “I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!”

Without now being suckered into a debate on what equation would read better from yesterday’s blog there seems to be a more pressing issue that is now as big as an air balloon in my mind. It has to do with the seed that is now being sown amongst believers. My concern is for the household of God and not the enemy per say! Let us now rather examine possibly the greatest of all lures as it even now unfolds. It has started amongst the household of God. Needless to say it is nevertheless by permission; God in His sovereign will has allowed it to develop. But has also sent watchmen out from amongst His people to be on the lookout in protecting His flock. I am not for one minute claiming to be amongst that number but I am sharing what I now see and I pray it will be received.

So then what is it I now see?

Let us use the human body to illustrate the warning. The Immune system, the liver and the kidney all have their functions as per God’s design to help the body cope through life. But what if a particular virus was able to trick these watchmen and particularly the immune system into believing it was one of the good guys? Now, this is exactly what is happening amongst Christian circles, there seems to be mayhem amongst true and apparent believers across the board.

Let me use a sketch to illustrate my position on this warning; the “HIV Virus” is cunning and in its early inception went unnoticed for many years, how many? God alone knows! What then should we notice? Here are some facts…

“AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) is one of the worst pandemics the world has ever known. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), the virus that causes AIDS, was first discovered in 1981 in a remote area of central Africa. It has since swept across the globe, infecting millions in a relatively short period of time. AIDS has killed more than 28 million people that we know of, with up to 3.6 million people dying in 2005 alone .While many cases go unreported, the prevalence of the disease is increasing. By comparison:

The flu pandemic of 1918 killed approximately 20 million people worldwide.

World War II killed approximately 40 million people.

Clearly the AIDS pandemic has had, and will continue to have, a significant and global impact.”

What I find very intriguing is the point I look to hit home, I pray that God may give us eyes to see!

“Viruses lie around our environment all of the time just waiting for a host cell to come along. They can enter us through the nose, mouth or breaks in the skin. Once inside, they find a host cell to infect. For example, cold and flu viruses will attack cells that line the respiratory or digestive tracts. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, attacks the T-cells of the immune system. The immune system is designed to defend you against millions of bacteria, microbes, viruses (HIV), toxins and parasites that would love to invade your body.” What are the T-cells? Look at it as the soldiers of the body that fight of the enemy. But the HIV Virus disguises itself as one of the good soldiers and goes unnoticed, only then once it has penetrated the host T-cells of the immune system does it then high-jack the cell and multiply, in other words the virus reproduces itself using the host cell's chemical machinery. Once it has reproduce more of the virus within the cell, then only does it kills off that cell as it then sends out its own soldiers (virus) looking to impregnate more of the healthy T-cells, until it total depletes the immune system leaving it defenceless. Ultimately death is on the cards, unless the enemy is stopped in its tracks.

Let us look as some parallels; firstly let us recognise the enemy as the enemy (wolves in sheep’s clothing), once that has been established let us be careful not to be lured into fruitless debates if so be they indeed be fruitless. You decide! I am convinced of this one thing, that the trickery of the devil will even deceive the very elect if it were possible. “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” (Matthew 24:24-25)

There seem much to do about signs and wonders and it seems to be the debate of the day, be warned as the anti-christ will come with power and many will be lured into his trap.

My concern is that we will not be lured into his trap and drop our guard. If we start fighting the battle in our own strength we may forget to put on the amour of God: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:11-18)   

     

Signing off

Tyrone

Most of the factual information on AIDS was taken from the website http://science.howstuffworks.com

A Spiritual Formula!

A reasoning out of a formula (a working document, and not polished)

This morning let me consider an equation; let me call it the formula to "life and peace" here on earth, for if this truth could just resonate in our understanding we would be free to serve God.

(The cross + unrighteous sinner= no condemnation) that is what many like to believe even amongst Christians.  It was John Piper who got me thinking about this. I think it should maybe rather read; (the cross + believing sinner= no condemnation), as there is a vast difference.

The first formula looks to include all, but the second is more specific and includes only the believer from condemnation. Yes both are as guilty as each other as all are sinners and deserve hell. Just as I deserve hell on my own merit. So then what makes me different from the next unrepentant sinner? It is the work of the cross. It is what Christ accomplished on Calvary. It has nothing to do with me or anybody else! Not Daniel, David, Noah or even Job! God the Father was pleased with what He accomplished. In fact God’s seal of approval is clearly witness by all the heavenly hosts as He raised Him from the dead, He now lives and is seated at the right hand of God. The resurrection God’s stamp of approval, I suppose no different in type to a believers baptism. I must explore this though a little further!

If salvation is a gift of God, which it is, we must grasp this truth entirely before we will understand the answer to this equation = NO CONDEMNATION. There is absolutely nothing we can do within ourselves to be justified before a holy God. Do not confuse sanctification now with regeneration! From the smallest to the greatest of sins I will be left naked before a holy God unacceptable and unable to enter heaven, unless I am covered by Christ sacrifice. How am I covered? By the grace of God, I have done nothing to deserve it, I deserve hell and yet I have found life in and through the perfect work of Christ on the cross. As a confessing believer if I now err and I sin I do feel terrible, which is good as my conscience is now at work, but if it leaves me with an unworthy sense of guilt looking to disqualification me, I must say NO! Something has gone wrong with my understanding of Christ’s perfect work. When God looks upon even my disobedience as I often stumble, I have an advocate that constantly pleads my case before His Father. “Remember my sacrifice” are the Words of our great Redeemer! Yes, God hates sin and yet He loves His Son. In fact He hates sin so much that He was willing to sacrifice that which He loved to defeat that which He hates. Christ died in the place of sinners. But only for His elect, repentant sinners, those who understand that they deserve hell, but God in his goodness made a way of escape for them in and through His beloved Son. It is about what Jesus Christ achieved and it will never be about what we achieve. The law proved to us that we would never quite cut it. Why then do we now think we can cut it? An on-going struggle through-out life, but when this verse settles, we are free to serve our mighty Father; “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

There is only one of two ways in which we can tackle this text. We either reason carnally or we believe God and what He now teaches us through His Word. Even if there is a hint of condemnation after I have sincerely asked for forgiveness for my disobedience (sin) I have not fully understood the beauty of this text and Christ’s work on Calvary as He has freed us to walk in His victory. Praise His magnificent glorious majestic name!

Therefore “the cross” + “believing sinner”= “no condemnation”

We must understand the theory before we are able to live it out; if we get it wrong we will end up living wrong. I suppose all have made mistakes through our journey here on earth. Life is a process and a mean to an end. Heaven our final objective!

Lord willing in tomorrow’s post I will look to polish these thoughts.

Signing off

Tyrone  

When I was a child...

(1Corinthians 13:11) “When I was a child…”

My prayer for today would be that we would all have eyes to see and ears to hear what it cost the Lord to lay down His life for His brethren, but more specifically for every true Christian that has learnt to call out to Him in time of need. Until we see this clearly, our lives will remain in the mainstream of nominal Christianity. I beseech you Father God in the name of our great Saviour to open all our eyes to the understanding of Christ’s selfless acts of love and may it captivate all of our hearts, for everyone who reads these posts, from America to India and even Australia, we cannot be separated by distance as we are family and united in the body of Christ in and through your Spirit, all those who belong to you and have your Spirit, we were once lost and dead in our trespasses and sins but now we have found life, praise the name of Jesus! To my Indian family, you know who you are; I have an encouragement for you; be strong in Him, and do not let your circumstance rob you of the joy that can only be found in Him. Just a little while – “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1Peter 5:10) 

  

Help us Father become vessels unto honor bringing glory to our risen King. Forgive me for my constant forgetfulness; I wonder how it is for you, but all I can do is expose my own heart. I realize that the same sin looks to trip me up over and over again and just when I think I am through it I find the struggle rages on. Let us not forget to pray for one another as there is place given by God through the prayer of a righteous man for every believer, there is power in prayer, for God has so willed it, let us remember to pray for one another.

Without any emphasis placed on fleshly confidence as there is no place for this type of mindset in a Christian’s life. We must put our confidence in the finished work of Calvary. This will never happen if we forget the price it cost the Lord to free us from our once inevitable death sentence, an eternity in hell! So from here on in as we arise to the dawning of a new day and we wipe the sleep from our eyes may God remind us of the sweat-drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the nails scarred hails of our risen Saviour. So, when we are lured into disobedience by our lusts and the trickery of the devil, we remember to stand firm in Him clothed with His armour. Our back is protected and we needed worried about what may sneak up from behind, our great Lord and King has that covered. Nevertheless we must dress every day for battle, and in principle it is no different to the way in which the Lord fed the children in the wilderness with manna from heaven, it was one day at a time! They were not permitted to gather abundance for the following day’s food supply. For if they did it would it would have bred worms and been inedible. It was only one day at a time, may we learn the same lesson: - “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” (Romans 13:11) 

The only way we will ever be settled in Him is for us to learn to obey His Word. Let us not place any reasoning above the Word of God as it will only end in disaster. I will speak for myself and no other, I am tired of doing things my way, as it has left so many scars. The time for childish things must now end for all who call upon the name of the Lord; “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1Corinthians 13:11)

So then anything that keeps me from the resolve of my Heavenly Father’s will is no more than a childish thing! It is now time for many to man-up as it were and find grace in time of need to put off all the childish things in our lives. We have the mind of Christ, let us then use it to His glory! And let us remember to pray by name for one another!

Signing off

Tyrone

We Must Believe!

3 of a series of 3:

(Matthew 10:32) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”

Now on the basis of the last two posts I would like to arrive at my conclusion and hopefully dispel any confusion around this glorious section of John chapter 3. There seems to be a never ending debate about whom God loves. Once again let us consider the facts and not romanticize about what we would like it to say.

I trust we have established and understand the difference between God’s “Agape” love and that of mankind understanding of “phileo” love. Agape is a total surrender regardless of the outcome while the phileo is based on feelings and emotions and often linked to friendship. It is easy for us to test ourselves when serving God, remember Peter’s encounter in John chapter 21: - We can understand John 21 better by knowing the Greek words agape and Phileo?  It seems that Peter replies to Jesus that he "affectionately loves" Him, and this he did twice after Jesus had asked him the question, after he had gone back fishing--(in the sense of duty and of the will). Then, Jesus uses Peter's own word for love the third time: "Do you Peter love me affectionately?" And this time He changes the emphasis to “phileo love”, as Peter had a different understanding of God’s deep love and once Peter realizes the difference it puts a different spin on His resolve as it should on ours. We know what happened throughout the book of acts and how God chose to use Peter mightily in proclamation of His gospel. Whenever we put ourselves before the Lord’s will for our lives we do not walk as Christ walked in Agape love - a sacrificial love.

Does God love everybody? No He does not! Has God made a way for all in and through His love? Yes He has! How so? "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) – What we see is how God by example gave His son to repenting sinners and not all sinners to pay a price for their sins by forgiving them of their sins. The text is crystal clear here if we follow it systematically; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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 3:17-18) – Therefore God’s “Agape” love will and can only cover those who believe in and on His Son.

We understand that both sinner and saint are covered by God’s common love, in other words we all have breath and the sun rises on all etc. But it is only those who call upon the name of the Lord that will be saved. “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) 

It is only the elect that will make it to heaven. Who then are the elect? Those who call upon the name of the Lord! So then who is entitled to call upon the name of the Lord? “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” (Romans 10:12) – But call we must! 

Do not be fooled to think that if God is love, which He is as He has displayed it in and through his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He does not have room for hate, for the culmination of His hate will be an eternity in hell for all those who reject His Son’s sacrifice on Calvary.

However today is the day of salvation as we remember the call has gone out to all and if you still have breath and have not breathed your last you still have an opportunity to call out unto Him and call you must to avoid the inevitable!

We can only ever be in one of two camps. I trust we have a clearer understanding of God’s love and what we must do to be covered by it. We must believe on the Lord Jesus and this is how we believe; “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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." (Romans 10:9-11)

If we now truly believe we will begin to confess our Lord and Saviour to others; “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32)

In and through all I have said is obviously under the banner of God’s grace, boasting is excluded. Salvation is and will only ever be a gift of God and we can do nothing within ourselves to merit salvation. Our God is truly wonderful; praise His name now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

    

    

Love never ends!

2 of a series of 3:

(1Corinthians 13:8) “Love never ends…”

In “Agape” love we first see a total selfless sacrifice before any rewards are reaped. I will not profess to speak as one who has understood this topic down-pat but what I will say is what I have been shown by scripture with God the Holy Spirit as my guide. How do I get to such a conclusion? Not only is the pattern throughout scripture obvious and God has shown it to us over and over in and through the law. Men breaking God’s commandments and God by way of sacrificial animals made away for forgiveness. But this only lasted until the next sin, a desperate situation! Therefore all the law really proved was that we are sinners and in need of a life-line if we were to have any hope. It is here we see charity personified! A Son (child) is born in a manger and it is through this life of His that He shows us what “agape love” is all about as He ends up on a cruel Roman cross paying the price for the crime He never committed; “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:21)

But what was the state of mankind when this cruel act took place? They (we) were not the friends of God but His enemies; “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10) – I want us to keep this thought in mind; does love require something in return? We know that God’s love is the purest form of love and I will prove this from scripture. Yesterday I spoke of a proviso that in order for us to make it to heaven we must believe in Him (Jesus Christ the Lord), if not our destiny will be hell! But before anything was required from us God first loved us and now that we have been loved first we too must now love back; “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) – But before we can understand what this means we must first appreciate what it cost God in sending his beloved Son to die for us. This is pivotal if we want to understand “Agape (charity) love – God alone understands the truth of love”!

I pray that God would open our eyes to see what the Spirit now teaches us. So, for us to do this we must first look at the true definition of God’s “Agape” love. There are other types of love that is use in scripture and the one which we often confuse is “phileo” love; which means to be friends to an individual or object, that is, have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling).

What then is this mind-blowing Agape love? The best explanation we have for it is found in 1Corinthians chapter 13: - “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” (1Corinthians 13:4-8) – This type of love does not end!  When we hear people make statements like I once loved him but I no longer do, all this proves is that this is not God’s love but the love of mankind. This is why we move from relationship to relationship and our minds change all the time, it is a type of love tainted by sin! It does not last! So then before anything is ever expected in return from God He first puts His love on display in and through His beloved Son and sends Him to earth to die for His enemies. Hard to believe but believe it we must!

Let us consider what the Lord relinquished in order to prove Gods love to us. We know He could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him from the hands of men while on the cross, but he didn’t. Foxes have holes and birds have nest but He had no place to lay His head. He made himself a little lower than the angels and yet He is God. He was under such duress in the Garden of Gethsemane that He began to sweat bloods of blood. At times He had to contend with His unbelieving disciples. All of hell was unleashed upon Him as the bulls of Bashan gaped at Him while on that cruel Roman cross; “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-- I can count all my bones-- they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!” (Psalms 22:12-19) - But then above all his own Father turned His back on Him because of our sin; “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Matthew 27:46) – His whole live was filled with obedience to God His Father and yet for our sakes God turn his back on His only begotten Son, mind blowing! 

    

I now trust the difference of men’s understanding of love as opposed to God’s love is clearly understood. Lord willing we will tie the two blogs together and conclude by understanding what must come first in our lives in order for us to be beneficiaries of His love. We hopefully will understand that in God’s love there is nevertheless a condition, we too must lay down our lives like Christ laid down His life for His brethren, you and me, the ones that now believes on Him. This in itself has nothing to do with salvation as it is a free gift but it has everything to do with on-going sanctification (a person set apart by God so that His purposes may be accomplished).

Signing off

Tyrone  

 

Charity!

1 of a series of 3:

(John 3:16)  "For God so loved the world.”

The common definition for love; to feel tender affection for somebody such as a close relative or friend or something such as a place, an idea or an animal and we often quote the word itself. “I love chocolate, I love Italy or I love my cat” are often types of expression we hear people use around the word love. Why do we reason like this? I think it speaks for itself and the short answer would be because of what we get from the one whom we love. I love my cat because she is loyal, or because she gives me affection etc. When we examine it correctly there is always something in it for us. We never say we love a traffic cop who has just given me a speeding ticket. All he is doing is his job and hopefully doing it well. As soon as we are affected in the negative even if we are in the wrong we seldom find that word on our tongues.

Now if someone was to hurt our family the very last word we would ever use is I love that kidnapper for high-jacking me and my children and I am thankful for the ordeal he put us through. No never! Words like hate, revenge and retribution come to mind. Now if a vigilantly suddenly arrived on the scene and did to those criminals exactly what they had done to us, we would think slightly differently about the very same crime. Reasoning like, “they deserve it, or they got was coming to them”. Let me stop right here and let us now focus on a true love, God’s love, “agape love”.

It is only here that we begin to understand the actual truth behind this word. The Greek work used is charity (agape), now when we look on this word it has a different emphasis. Let us think on the word “charity”, as it speaks about someone in need who has nothing in return to give. It is about giving something that we have in our power to give and expect nothing in return. The bible teaches us it is more blessed to give than to receive. But when we give expecting something in return, it is not “agape”. Maybe just smile or a thank you is all we look for, but we still look to be appreciated. Give a beggar some loose change and watch him throw it to the ground as he is unappreciative because he expected more. What would our reaction be? We would resolve it in our minds never to give again or at least to him again. I am sure my point is now crystal.

We as mankind act like the unappreciative beggar over and over again and yet God so loved (agape) us, in other words had “charity” on us, he took pity on us and as He had it in His power to give us a life-line and that is exactly what He did: - "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) – Nevertheless to be a beneficiary of this love it does come with a proviso; one must believe in Him to have eternal life. It is as clear as day! Is this love not “agape”? You see a total sacrifice must first be given before the benefits will be reaped. Christ was crucified for a crime he never committed and then God raised Him from the dead, only now does God require something in return, we will look at this in more detail in the next post. What then was God’s intention? Let us now follow the thread of scripture in context. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) – God offering a life-line to those in the world who would believe on Him. But what of those who will not believe on Him? “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) – They are condemned already! So do not believe the garbage that now is preached even from some false pulpits, that there is no hell. Hell is a place as real as heaven and those who refuse the love of God in and through the Lord Jesus will end up there. Why then do some people reject this great offer? “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."” (John 3:19-21)

Lord willing we will pick this up again tomorrow and go a little deeper, so until then.

Signing off

Tyrone   

 

   

Sons and not slaves!

(Galatians 4:7)  “So you are no longer a slave, but a son.”

With a true heart in full assurance of faith let us be encouraged to draw near to our God and King, remembering who it is that we reverently approach, He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the only true God, the great I AM! He is Jehovah God and He is our Father. Wow! Let that thought resonate…

Although we are classed as slaves in principle we do indeed have more rights than a slave; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1) – We have been asked to live in such a manner. 

We have the right as family members to approach the throne room of grace with boldness to find grace to overcome where and when the need arises. Does a servant have the right to insist and wrestle to have their way? No! We are sons through adoption and heirs to the throne of God: - “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:7)   

All of scripture is there to teach us many truths about who we are and our standing before a righteous and holy God. We must pay attention to the typology of scripture; in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. In other words the pattern throughout the Old Testament often prepares us to receive what the New Testament now teaches us through the Apostle doctrine. The first books of the Bible are full of blessings and promises and it all started with Abraham and then passed on to Isaac, through to Jacob who later was named Israel who blessed his twelve sons. We now have the birth of the twelve tribes of Israel; Who later entered the Promised Land and received the promise passed down from God to Abraham. All twelve tribes and their offspring receive the promise once they crossed the Jordan River. God made good on what He had promised, as He always does, praised his name!

Let us consider Jacob’s role in the matter. Did he do anything to arrive at this wonderful blessing from God? On the surface the answer would have to be no! He was born into that position; God had planned it from before the beginning of time. He had been predestined by election. However once He understood his position before God he took the bull by both hands embracing his birth-right. We too must now find the same resolve. How one may ask? Remember his encounter with the angel and how he insisted that the angel bless him, in fact he would not let the angel go until he received a blessing. And after this encounter he probably walked the rest of his life with a limp; “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."” (Genesis 32:24-28)

We too now have a new name which we will receive in heaven; “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'” (Revelation 2:17) - We are now no longer slaves to sin as we once were but heirs to the promise and no different to the promise of Jacob. It is by adoption, but even an adopted son has all the same rights of any other son. The common law of the land even teachers us this truth.

    

The blessings were only ever passed down from father to son – Isaac to Jacob. It was never master to servant and although much of scripture teaches us that we no longer belong to ourselves but have been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, it now implies the same certainty as it once did, that we are no longer slaves to sin but now by grace, through the promise and as sons we have the right to approach the throne room of grace with confidence. Look at the Apostle Paul’s style of writing as he conveys this truth; “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Galatians 4:6-9)

These truths must being to reverberate deep within our souls for when they do the will and must begin to free us to walk with an attitude of thankfulness as we begin to understand that we now belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And yes we must always remember our place with reverence and awe as our God is a consuming fire. But may we never forget that we are no longer slaves to sin but sons to God and we are entitled to the privileges of a Father-son relationship and only because of what Christ achieved on Calvary. And until we understand our position before God, I am not convinced we will have learnt to walk by faith.

Signing off

Tyrone     

Waging War!

2Corinthians 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

The roots of endurance speak of invincible perseverance in all who have the quality and prove it with their lives. The greatest of all examples would be our Lord and Saviour; remember how He was hard pressed in the “Garden of Gethsemane”, it was such an intense struggle for his flesh (human nature with its passions and desires) that He began to sweat blood from the intensity of what it took for Him to endure His trial and yet never yielding to sin. Ultimate perseverance personified! The accomplishment of this achievement had everything riding on it. If He failed, hell would be our destiny, but now heaven our hope, Amen! Doesn’t that thought just grip your soul? It does mine!

I will ask a question and then consider my answer as it may shock some. Are we sinners or are we saints or in fact both? The answer is not difficult if we reason with the mind of Christ. If I wear my “flesh” thinking cap then by reflex my answer would be, yes I am a sinner. If I reason with the Spirit then my answer must be no! As Christ paid the price for sin on my behalf, sin now no longer can ever be equated to my account. This is the message of the gospel. If I reason with the Spirit and the flesh then my answer would be both, a sinner and a saint. But how can there be so many truths to the same question? I suggest that they are not all true, so then which one is precise? If we have the Spirit of God we are no longer looked upon as sinners by God, because of what His Son, our saviour accomplished on Calvary. Therefore we are no longer classified as sinners but saints. How can that be when we know that sin still plays a part in our lives? This is the beauty of what Christ achieved on our behalf; we are no longer sinners but saints. We are either reconciled to Him or we are still dead in our trespasses and sins. It could never be both! “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

What then does this actually teach us? The answer is in the next three verses; “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” (2Corinthians 10:4-6)

We live a progressive life with this objective in mind to eventually learn obedience in every area of our lives. But through it all we are only ever regarded by God as sons, not sinners, even though sin looks to rob us of our hope in Him. If we reason as sinners then we undermine the great work of the cross and Christ’s resurrection. Almost impossible to believe but believe it we must! So then what happens if we take this truth for granted, well the answer is obvious! We are then disciplined as any father would discipline a disobedient son with one objective in mind and that would be for us to learn to obey. This is the love of God personified! Why? Because of His Son’s achievement and not ours! Because Jesus Christ pleased His Father and God accepted His sacrifice never again to be repeated. So when we reason as sinners we expect the Lord to be sacrifice all over again, undermining His finished work. God forbid we every reason as men and not saints. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.” “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)

How then do we attain to this high calling?

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:1) 

Let me now end off with this thought: - Who has opened our eyes to the hope of this glorious gospel message? Was it not God and did He not plan this before the beginning of time. Yes He did! “And all who dwell on earth will worship it, 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) - If He then has establish His will and His own purpose and we now are the beneficiaries of His grace in and though our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, what right do we have to reason with our carnal minds? No right whatsoever! “Let God be true and every man a liar!” We must now reason with all faith toward God. We did not arrive at this understanding that Christ died for us on our own but God revealed this truth to us. Remember when the disciples were with the Lord and He asked them who do you say I am? Peter responded you are the Christ and this was the Lord’s response; “And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”” (Matthew 16:17)

So then if we are able to confess Jesus as Lord of our lives we also have been blessed by God the Father as He has revealed this truth unto us. May we never forget it!

Signing off

Tyrone   

The importance of the resurrection!

(1Corinthians 15:32)  “…If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

There is a special way in which Paul says things, he puts it out there without much thought given to humanism and I love that about the way he teachers us so many truths about our conduct in Christ. My God give us ears to hear, I pray!  Everything about our faith hinges on the resurrection and because it is pivotal we must learn to live accordingly. There are simple truths that should be part of our everyday existence and yet I think on yesterday and consider what part of life the resurrection portrayed with daily living?

Most of my mornings start well as I am thankful to my God and Father for the discipline in my life when it comes to this blog as it helps me to think on Him and consider the cost of the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice. However this practice is normally over as quick as it starts or so it feels. About 2-3 hours of my time in the mornings and then what? Have I now paid my debt, forgive the way I now reason but look to stress a point. Let me think on yesterday. What did my day consist of? At about 8am I had finished my blog and sat around on my computer until about 11am, emails and the like with some fun time with an idle game. I then got in my new car and drove around looking to fix some minor problems that needed to be addressed. I saw the salesmen who sold me the car, then a radio technician, and finally a mechanic with breakfast in-between in a upmarket coffee shop. I converse with many different people but how much of my discussion revolved around the resurrection? Sadly almost now of it! This great hope, heaven and all its privileges, the hope every believer longs for was placed on the back-burner. Why?

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

I cannot, we cannot switch on the faucet of eternal life like we switch a tap on and off when water is needed. For if this is the way we live our lives all it really proves is that the resurrection has not captivated our souls. I remember as a babe in Christ, when I was newly saved how I instinctively could not shut-up above my new found love. The Lord Jesus was the be all and end all of all conversations and many of my friends and acquaintances turned to Christ. Not all hold to their conviction, but some are alive and well. What then is now missing? Could I have possibly lost my first love? Truth and self reflection is never an easy thing as we love to live in the pretence world of phantasy, but let me rather be honest in considering the facts. Something is no longer how it once was and I pray that I may get back to the place I once lived. My zeal was real and unstoppable, yes it may have been without knowledge, but it was obvious and it was an undeniable fact. Father God I pray that you would once again cause the zeal of love to burn bright and clear.

We are no longer subject to the fear of bondage and death, Christ has freed us from this yoke. Why then do I so easily forget this? I tell you it is because we lose sight of the hope of the resurrection. We need to be reminded of the facts! And that is what Paul now does for us; “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1Corinthians 15:14-17)

But we are no longer in our sins, do you believe this? Believe it we must!  But if we believe something strongly enough our conduct will reflect what we believe. May today be a day full of life and please God give us a psalm on our hearts and praise on our lips so that all with will witness the hope we have for the resurrection. There are so many dying in the wicked and perverse generation, how will they know lest we speak: - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:17-21) 

So then we pray give us strength Father God to live today in the hope of the resurrection with this expectation that others too may be reconciled to our great God and King in and through His perfect sacrifice.

Signing off

Tyrone