But the righteous shall live by his faith!

(Habakkuk 2:4) “… but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

We must always remember to take consolation in the fact that God is not like us, He never changes, and He is not volatile! At times we flippantly promise to do something only to go back on our word. God has none of these characteristics as He is perfect. We must learn that the universe is at His pleasure or disposal where and when He chooses. Both the natural and the spiritual realm are subject to His rule. If only we could see the warfare in the heavens, if our eyes could be opened to the spiritual realm as a natural man, it would solidify the reality of how serious a topic this is. “Fear God and keep His commandments.”

And yet lives through the existence of mankind have proved this impossible. Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ all have failed, He alone was free from sin, praise His name! Mahatma Gandhi, the Dali lama, Mohammed, all of the popes and anyone else you would chose to include in the list have all fallen short of my Saviour achievements, they all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. They will be found guilty of sin on judgment day, unless along the way, they fell to their knees denouncing their false faith and repented of their sin by acknowledged that it was the Lord Jesus Christ who died on their behalf and paid the price they should have paid; He was judged by His holy Father, the only true living God, on our behalf not for His sin as He knew no sin, He never succumbed to sins temptation and yet He died for our sin, may this truth resonate deep within our understanding; the love of God on display for all to see, reject this open invitation at your own peril.

But when and if embraced it is like the sweetest honey in the desert rock, the realization that this almighty God who has it in His power to summon fire from the heavens or to flood the earth as He did in the days of Noah, the very same God I am now  able to address as my Father. This is one awesome privilege! And only because of my great Saviour Obedience, bless His majestic name now and forever more! All hail King Jesus!

Why where those in Hebrew chapter 11 prepared to lose their lives and live in the desert or in caves without any of the leeks and garlic of Egypt. The answer is obvious, they believed in our risen King although they could not see heaven with their natural eyes, it was by faith they believe the promises of God. It was so real to their understanding that they proved it by the way they lived. Look to any of the examples penned in this chapter, as they all speak of sincere faith by their actions. It is not merely lip service. What then can we learn from them? There is much we could and should learn from these valiant warriors of God. They all have an overshadowing common denominator, “Faith”! They believed God! Will we believe God? We must not rely on our circumstance, whether we are rich or poor has no bearing on our eternal outcome, all must believe the Word of God and in faith embrace its teaching as there is nothing else that will stand the test of time.

Some were vertically sawn in half, while others excluded themselves from the fashions of the world and wondered the desert sheepskins and I am persuaded that their attire was not branded “Armani” or the like. Just common people saved by an awesome God who was thankful for the call upon their lives, are we? Can we share the sentiments of the Apostle Paul; have we learnt to be content wherever we find ourselves. Does it really matter what comforts we have in this life? Paul reassures us that this should have no bearing on our daily living. In fact it hinders our growth in the Lord. How so one may ask? If we look for anything above food and raiment, then we walk straight into the trap of “the love of money” and it will lead us down a slippery road.

But in order for us to embrace this glorious hope, heaven with all of God’s blessings we must firstly understand that God Himself has called us, then saved us and that He will lead us home. Once this is truly understood, the rest will take care of itself. This is what all those in Hebrews 11 believed. That does not mean that at times they lacked faith, we know that Abraham tried to speed up the promise of God under Sarah’s unction and had a child with Hagar, who was not the seed that would be blessed by God.

Yet no mention is made of this in this stanza; “By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11) – In spite of our mistakes alone the way God is faithful to His call, praise His name. It has nothing to do the self-righteous. Rahab the harlot, Samson the womaniser had their faults, nevertheless these people are mentioned. In fact their faith was of such strength and character, that God the Holy Spirit chose to mention them by name.

Regardless how you may have fallen in the past, if God has saved you and you have His Spirit, you are covered by the blood of the lamb and you indeed are a son of God, Know this that He will never leave nor forsake you even if you have been unruly at times. He is the greatest of all Fathers and His love can be measured, just look at the length He went too to get you confessing Him as the only true God. He sent His only begotten Son to die in your place, my place! Rahab and Samson understood this, do you? Do we? Faith believes God and the frailty of sin and the flesh is no match for true faith.

We now as sons have this privilege, we can cry “Abba Father”, the Lord Jesus has opened this door for us and let no one lie to you and convince you otherwise as they look to appropriate legalism as a form of justification, we will never be justified within ourselves by what we do or do not do. We are justified by what Christ achieved on Calvary and nothing else, praise His name! We must believe God for this truth; “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) 

We believe that He exists and we know that our reward will be an eternity in heaven with Him. What then if we find we struggle so often with the issues of life? Should we let them rob us of our hope in Him? Absolutely not! Even if we are battered by the wind and the trials of life leave us feeling rather bruised, we must cling to our hope by faith. This is then our consolation if we skirt with borderline decisions on what we should be doing as a child of God, know this that God our Father will address those issues in our lives; always remember this encouragement as I speak from a platform of experience and I hope it will encourage you to press on regardless of your struggles;-

“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:4-8)

Signing off

Tyrone

The never-changing Word of God!

(Matthew 24:35) “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

This morning I was asked by a pop up on my computer if I wanted to update my anti-virus software, we all know this needs doing if we are to keep unwanted bugs at bay. Technology is a slippery customer and it is almost impossible to keep ones finger on the pulse. But ignore its progression at your own peril. We clearly see that the ways of this world are not like the ways of our God. This is what the bible teachers; “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness." (1Corinthians 3:19) 

Here we see a continuous attempt by the anti-virus companies to update their software so that they may keep the hackers at bay; it always has to change. There is no constant safe-guard. It is not so with God! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! He has no need to upgrade his character or His Word, He is who He is and He is perfect, praise His name!

His Word will endure forever, apparent Christian movement feel they need to progressively change with the times, they are wrong! All this proves is that they are carnally minded. Even and earth will pass away but there is one constant rule that our great God will abide by; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” It is not subject to the craftiness of men or for the matter the ploy of the devil. It is undefeatable and it needs no upgrade. It is nothing like the wisdom of this world.

Having said that, this is exactly where the battle rages. There has and will always be an attack on God’s Word but it is the only constant that will stand the test of time. We need to cling to its instruction with all our might. We need to stick to its plain sense. There is no need to confuse our understanding, believe it we must, as our life does depend upon it.

The Lord Jesus is the Word of life and no other deceit or ploy from man will ever change this truth. No other religion or philosophy has any part in God’s reckoning when it comes to His beloved Son, our great saviour. It is a simple truth but an imperative fact we need to cling to with both hands and more. Let us never forget what it cost the Lord to take away our sin. Praise the name of Jesus now and forever more! We owe Him at the very least our loyalty to His Word! And let us remember that is never changes, it is our safe-guard for this life and the life to come!

With this mind-set we need to embrace the Word of God, we need to lay hold of the Lord Jesus who is the gift of life…

“And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.”

- Mark_3:13

“Here was sovereignty. Impatient spirits may fret and fume, because they are not called to the highest places in the ministry; but reader be it thine to rejoice that Jesus calleth whom he wills. If he shall leave me to be a doorkeeper in his house, I will cheerfully bless him for his grace in permitting me to do anything in his service. The call of Christ’s servants comes from above. Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above the world in holiness, earnestness, love and power. Those whom he calls must go up the mountain to him, they must seek to rise to his level by living in constant communion with him. They may not be able to mount to classic honours, or attain scholastic eminence, but they must like Moses go up into the mount of God and have familiar intercourse with the unseen God, or they will never be fitted to proclaim the gospel of peace. Jesus went apart to hold high fellowship with the Father, and we must enter into the same divine companionship if we would bless our fellowmen. No wonder that the apostles were clothed with power when they came down fresh from the mountain where Jesus was. This morning we must endeavour to ascend the mount of communion, that there we may be ordained to the lifework for which we are set apart. Let us not see the face of man to-day till we have seen Jesus. Time spent with him is laid out at blessed interest. We too shall cast out devils and work wonders if we go down into the world girded with that divine energy which Christ alone can give. It is of no use going to the Lord’s battle till we are armed with heavenly weapons. We must see Jesus, this is essential. At the mercy-seat we will linger till he shall manifest himself unto us as he doth not unto the world, and until we can truthfully say, “We were with him in the Holy Mount.”” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

My Conclusion!

(Romans 9:21)  “Has the potter no right over the clay.”

What then is the conclusion to my understanding on what we have considered over the last three days? On the surface it seems confusing at first glance and many seemed to have battled to come to grips with its truth as I believe many still do. However it is not complicated when thoroughly examined. Having said all of that, everything about our actuality hinges on the grace of God. We breathe fresh air that keeps our lungs functioning as they should, and it is God who has given us both the air to breathe as well as the mechanics wherewith to accomplish the task.

Some see the kingdom of God while others do not, some see and are yet are suborn and selfish (me) as sin has left its mark. We need to be broken down more severely than others. But it is God who is rich in mercy who decided (wills) on how things play out. He is nevertheless righteous and we see clearly from scripture that He has chosen to abide by his character and His rules and by that I mean if we end up “dull of hearing” then our hearing will be stifled, we will suffer loss. Remember Samson he lost both his eyes and David lost the son he fasted for. For every action there is a reaction, never forget that it is God who is in control and in effect determines the outcome. Think on it like this, a man sits with a clump of clay in his hand and as he kneads it preparing it for it purpose, along the way he finds a lump, what does he do with the unwanted contamination? He removes it and then begins to knead it again and then once it is free of lumps he may find air bubbles and so the process continues, until eventually the clump of clay is ready for use. Ultimately the clay is now ready but it is still the potter who decides its fate. A vessel of honour or dishonor! Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? (Romans 9:21) – God has the final say and not man!

But Paul also teachers us this truth; “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (2Timothy 2:20-21) – The responsibility nevertheless remains with us to walk in obedience!

All I am saying is yes, we are responsible for all of our actions, these decisions remain with us and even the common law teaches us this principle; break the law and we will be subject to the governing authorities. But because we cannot physically see the spiritual world, when we reason, we often purpose our outcome with the carnal mind because this is where we live and breathe. But this type of reasoning is now no longer part of our arsenal, our spiritual armour. All it does is gets us into trouble as it endeavors to mislead us. Look at Samson and David! If and when someone continues in their habitual way contrary to scripture and struggle in an area we do not or visa-versa, where does this leave us and our understanding on how we should view what we now witness in others? Do we become conceited and accuse them and excuse ourselves? If so we have misunderstood the instruction from the Holy Scripture. I believe the Lord teaches us the answer to this question in His teaching prayer; “Father forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We must never forget this truth; “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 2:24-26) – Here we see it is God who has the final say!

The only way a person will change their error is if God has mercy on them. We say obviously He has already had mercy on us, well said! However life is a process and is there to teach us obedience. We are to pray for one another in sincerity, there must be a boast-less type of mentality when we see others erring from the text of scripture. With this rational we now apply this verse to our understanding and it makes perfect sense; “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Boasting is never allowed in a Christian’s life unless our boast is in Christ and His achievements, any other boast will get us into trouble and our fall will be just around the corner. Remember this verse; “God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Now with this understanding and with an attitude fueled by the grace of God, we now must look for those good works that God has prepared for us to walk in. Grace is an empowering tool to help us overcome! I do not suggest that we now draw a treasure map and place it under our arms as we look to conquer no matter who gets in our way. Daily living in our locate assembly will achieve this goal. It is part of our Great God’s design. Nevertheless we must learn to be sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit; we must look for opportunities to give to those in need.

A friend will encourage us to entertain strangers as they may be angels. But I say what of those we choose to ignore, it is clear from scripture, it is often those people when ignore is exactly the people we shouldn’t discount because if we do we have turned our back on the Lord Jesus himself. How so one may ask? – “Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:45)

In effect when we extend our hand to others in the name of the Lord, we lengthen our hand to the Lord Himself; this is what He taught us. Will we give it the attention it deserves? If not, then we are all mouth and no action as James concludes; “But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18)

I pray that God will continue to have mercy on all His children in this area of our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone  

   

  

Can faith lose its sting?

(James 2:17) “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Faith without works is dead! This is a clear instruction from the Apostle James and seeing that it is the separation from the goats and the sheep that we now look to understand, it is James that seals it for us, or should I say settles my understanding on the subject. Let me explain why!

It is clear as we have explored enough to conclude that the sheep, those on the Kings right will be blessed by the Lord’s Father, God himself prepared a kingdom for them from the foundation of the world. The goats, those on His left, will suffer a different fate, a very scary reality will set in for all of them, and they will be punished forever and ever. They will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life; “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:46)

The Lord Jesus spends a long time deliberating the difference between the two, the transformation in character and action is obvious. One is self-centred while the other puts their brethren before themselves. This in itself is how we are too invest our talent, the gift God has given us, we must look to use it wisely and by extending a hand of compassion to those in need, as it is our instruction.

The Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 25 start with five wise and five foolish virgins, it then move onto the parable of the servant with their talents and then it peaks with God’s judgment. All of the examples speak of an application to either foolishness or to wisdom. Both the wise and the foolish have their role to play in the story.

I now want to bring us back to our understanding on Ephesians; “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 2:8-9)

Obviously if we look to works as a boast then we have understood very little if anything, I will even go as far as to say is all we confirm is that we side with the goats. It is clear that because of Christ’s work and His perfect plan for the believers life, it will eventually free us up to lay down our lives for each other, it must work this peaceable fruit into our lives, for if it does not then we must take James’ warnings very seriously.

However James lays a foundation to his epistle before he addresses the importance of “faith by works”, it seems to have something to do with his understanding on the power one receives in accomplishing God’s call upon one’s life. All have been saved by grace through faith and works will never justify our standing before God as we understand that it is only because of God’s grace that we may now walk in newness of life, following Christ’s example to lay down our lives for our brethren. What James teaches is that every true believer will learn to look at the trials of their lives, as helps, that will eventually strengthen them so that they will be of service to their brethren. This is undoubtedly the call God has place on His children’s lives. The Lord Jesus has paved the way and many since then have followed by example and not only with lip-service. There is an obvious different between the goat and the sheep; and this is what I see, one speaks of doing it while others get on and do it!

James puts it like this; “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works (Note; this proves true son-ship). You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"--and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:13-24) 

The complete picture of faith working together with works helps us differentiate between the goats and the sheep. And helps us examine our own hearts to see where we stand. I am found wanting, but God who is rich in mercy has opened my eyes to this lack in my life, not that I lack anything from Him, but the lack of my application in faith toward Him, forgive me Father! You have shown me what is required; help me I pray lay down my life for my brethren, whoever they may be and wherever they may be.

Lord willing tomorrow we will conclude on this subject.

Signing off

Tyrone

     

      

The coming King!

(Matthew 25:31)  "When the Son of Man comes in his glory.”

It would be good to stand back and receive some other input on our consideration on the separation and judgment of the goats and the sheep. Matthew Henry seems to be my obvious choice, let us look at his take on some of the scripture we looked at yesterday and then hopefully we can sum-up our responsibility to this topic.

I. The placing of the judge upon the judgment-seat (Mat_25:31); When the Son of man shall come. Observe here,

1. That there is a judgment to come, in which every man shall be sentenced to a state of everlasting happiness, or misery, in the world of recompence or retribution, according to what he did in this world of trial and probation, which is to be judged of by the rule of the everlasting gospel.

2. The administration of the judgment of the great day is committed to the Son of man; for by him God will judge the world (Act_17:31), and to him all judgment is committed, and therefore the judgment of that day, which is the centre of all. Here, as elsewhere, when the last judgment is spoken of, Christ is called the son of man, because he is to judge the sons of men (and, being himself of the same nature, he is the more unexceptionable); and because his wonderful condescension to take upon him our nature, and to become the son of man, will be recompensed by this exaltation in that day, and an honour put upon the human nature.

3. Christ's appearing to judge the world will be splendid and glorious. Agrippa and Bernice came to the judgment-seat with great pomp (Act_25:23); but that was (as the original word is) great fancy. Christ will come to the judgment-seat in real glory: the Sun of righteousness shall then shine in his meridian lustre, and the Prince of the kings of the earth shall show the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honours of his excellent majesty; and all the world shall see what the saints only do now believe - that he is the brightness of his Father's glory. He shall come not only in the glory of his Father, but in his own glory, as mediator: his first coming was under a black cloud of obscurity; his second will be in a bright cloud of glory. The assurance Christ gave his disciples of his future glory, might help to take off the offence of the cross, and his approaching disgrace and suffering.

4. When Christ comes in his glory to judge the world, he will bring all his holy angels with him. This glorious person will have a glorious retinue, his holy myriads, who will be not only his attendants, but ministers of his justice; they shall come with him both for state and service. They must come to call the court (1Th_4:16), to gather the elect (Mat_24:31), to bundle the tares (Mat_13:40), to be witnesses of the saints' glory (Luk_12:8), and of sinners' misery, Rev_14:10.

5. He will then sit upon the throne of his glory. He is now set down with the Father upon his throne; and it is a throne of grace, to which we may come boldly; it is a throne of government, the throne of his father David; he is a priest upon that throne: but then he will sit upon the throne of glory, the throne of judgment. See Dan_7:9, Dan_7:10. Solomon's throne, though there was not its like in any kingdom, was but a dunghill to it. Christ, in the days of his flesh, was arraigned as a prisoner at the bar; but at his second coming, he will sit as a judge upon the bench.

II. The appearing of all the children of men before him (Mat_25:32); Before him shall be gathered all nations. Note, The judgment of the great day will be a general judgment. All must be summoned before Christ's tribunal; all of every age of the world, from the beginning to the end of time; all of every place on earth, even from the remotest corners of the world, most obscure, and distant from each other; all nations, all those nations of men that are made of one blood, to dwell on all the face of the earth.

III. The distinction that will then be made between the precious and the vile; He shall separate them one from another, as the tares and wheat are separated at the harvest, the good fish and the bad at the shore, the corn and chaff in the floor. Wicked and godly here dwell together in the same kingdoms, cities, churches, families, and are not certainly distinguishable one from another; such are the infirmities of saints, such the hypocrisies of sinners, and one event to both: but in that day they will be separated, and parted for ever; Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, Mal_3:18. They cannot separate themselves one from another in this world (1Co_5:10), nor can any one else separate them (Mat_13:29); but the Lord knows them that are his, and he can separate them. This separation will be so exact, that the most inconsiderable saints shall not be lost in the crowd of sinners, nor the most plausible sinner hid in the crowd of saints (Psa_1:5), but every one shall go to his own place. This is compared to a shepherd's dividing between the sheep and the goats; it is taken from Eze_34:17, Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle. Note, 1. Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd; he now feeds his flock like a shepherd, and will shortly distinguish between those that are his, and those that are not, as Laban divided his sheep from Jacob's, and set three days' journey between them, Gen_30:35, Gen_30:36. 2. The godly are like sheep - innocent, mild, patient, useful: the wicked are like goats, a baser kind of animal, unsavoury and unruly. The sheep and goats are here feeding all day in the same pasture, but will be coted at night in different folds. Being thus divided, he will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left, Mat_25:33. Christ puts honour upon the godly, as we show respect to those we set on our right hand; but the wicked shall rise to everlasting shame, Dan_12:2. It is not said that he shall put the rich on his right hand, and the poor on his left; the learned and noble on his right hand, and unlearned and despised on his left; but the godly on his right hand, and the wicked on his left. All other divisions and subdivisions will then be abolished; but the great distinction of men into saints and sinners, sanctified and unsanctified, will remain for ever, and men's eternal state will be determined by it. The wicked took up with left-handed blessings, riches and honour, and so shall their doom be.

The acknowledging of the saints to be the blessed of the Lord; Come, ye blessed of my Father. First, He pronounces them blessed; and his saying they are blessed, makes them so. The law curses them for their many discontinuances; but Christ having redeemed them from the curse of the law, and purchased a blessing for them, commands a blessing on them. Secondly, Blessed of his Father; reproached and cursed by the world, but blessed of God. As the Spirit glorifies the Son (Joh_16:14), so the Son glorifies the Father by referring the salvation of the saints to him as the First Cause; all our blessings in heavenly things flow to us from God, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph_1:3. Thirdly, He calls them to come: this come is, in effect, “Welcome, ten thousand welcomes, to the blessings of my father; come to me, come to be for ever with me; you that followed me bearing the cross, now come along with me wearing the crown. The blessed of my Father are the beloved of my soul, that have been too long at a distance from me; come, now, come into my bosom, come into my arms, come into my dearest embraces!” O with what joy will this fill the hearts of the saints in that day! We now come boldly to the throne of grace, but we shall then come boldly to the throne of glory; and this word holds out the golden sceptre, with an assurance that our requests shall be granted to more than the half of the kingdom. Now the Spirit saith, Come, in the word; and the bride saith, Come, in prayer; and the result hereof is a sweet communion: but the perfection of bliss will be, when the King shall say, Come. (Matthew Henry)

This gives us some good insight cementing our understanding on the judgement which is yet to come and the separation of the goats and the sheep, but it is only the one side of our deliberation.

Until tomorrow then,

Signing off

Tyrone

The difference between the sheep and the goats!

(Matthew 25:33) “And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.”

If we continue to practice in any area of our lives, we will improve; we will become more skilled in that area. And so is it when we handle the “Word of Life”; the more we practice the better we become in application. If not we are doing something wrong. It is very hard to breakdown the bad habits in our lives. It is only when we handle the Holy Scriptures with sincerity and we lose any preconceived ideas about a certain subject that hinders our grow in Christ, we must let the Word of God speak and give God the Holy Spirit preeminence if we are to come out victors, as nothing else will suffice! This is a fundamental truth we must adopt if we are to grow in our great Saviour’s likeness.

What then is the true understanding on reconciling faith and works? Here are two portions of scripture that addresses my question with crystal clear instructions; the one speaks plainly about God’s unmerited favour, while the other basis its emphasis on works. And yet they both say the same thing, how? Let’s unpack it! I am somewhat embarrassed that in times past I seem to miss its clear instruction, but God who is rich in mercy is patient with His children, thank you Father! It is the Apostle James who brings the two together with crystal clear instruction.  

To give this deliberation any chance of clarity we will need a few posts…

“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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."” (Matthew 25:31-46)

The common denominated, the glue, is “good works”. Everything hinges on “good works”! Good works prove unmerited favour! What then are these good works?

Look at the portion of scripture that Paul reminds us about in Ephesians; “not a result of works, so that no one may boast”, but then he goes onto say; “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – In other words all of God’s children have been summoned because of what Christ achieved on Calvary to walk in “good works”.

When was this determined by God? “Beforehand”, long ago! in fact before we were ever born. Think on it like this as an author would sit down with a pen and write a script and then a casting agent would introduce possible candidates to fill the various roles. God did this in time past and yet it plays out in the now. The brilliance of God on show, praise His name! Those who now have the Spirit of God are the candidates that have been summoned by Him to learn the script (the Bible) as we prepare to act out our roles that God Himself has called us too. There will and must be “proof in the pudding”.

We will learn to lay down our lives for our brethren with a sincere heart; we will go without so that they will not. This will be the difference between the sheep and the goats; “'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Will we resolve and look for those brethren in need of water or will we turn a blind eye to them, it is as simple as that!

Lord willing we will look at this in a lot more depth in the next few posts.

Signing off

Tyrone  

Reflecting on the race...

(2Timothy 4:7) “I have finished the course.”

As I settled down last night, prior to switching the lights off, thoughts of the reality of Christianity kicked in. My thoughts went to the life hereafter as I asked myself, would I rather continue to live out my life here on earth or move on to the next realm of my existence? Is Christianity a fairytale that we like to believe in as we are caught up with the hope it affords us, when we think on death do we fight with every fiber in our bodies to live? Do we cling to this life here on earth, with all mite and strength? Are our lives filled with death so that we may live or is our claim “we are Christian” surreal?

So much of our lives are filled with fantasy, the stories that parents teach their children from a young age feeds this imaginary hope, fairy-tales and happy ending is where so many hang their hat. We love the thought of having a cake and also eating it. Self-preservation the order of the day! Am I any different? And yet if we embraced the hope of Christianity with all we have, we would be gladly laid down our lives for others. We would long for the life here after and I know we say we do, as part of us undoubtedly does, but I am concerned that it is no different to the fairytale hope we had as children.

Why does the writer of Hebrews tell us of so many valiant pilgrims that lost their lives as he stresses the point that the “world was not worthy” of them; “Women received their dead by a resurrection: and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:35-38) – The world was not worthy! Can I make that claim about my life? Absolutely not! Can you? The retort is left up to the individual! Would I without a blink of an eye leave behind that which I have and give it to someone in need; I would fight with every fibre in my body to hang on to what I have. This was not the attitude of those mentioned in this text.

There is a test we can apply to see our hearts in the matter; if God said to us, today is the day you will breathe our last, the day of death had final arrived, would we be excited or would there be regret? Would we seek out justification not to have our lives ended, would we be quick to make comments like, what about my family or could we with an honest heart say yes Lord take me now I long to open my eyes on the other side, I long to bow before your throne as I sing praises to my God and Father.

Obviously there would be a pull to arrive in heaven as it is God’s work and not ours, but are we captivated by it? This was Paul experience; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith:” (2Timothy 4:7) – Or is your experience my experience; so much time has been lost to frivolous trivia that I fear and I cannot with any assurance echo the words of Paul. Does that now mean I am without hope? Definitely not! Thankfully it is the work of the Lord Jesus that will get us home. Selfishness and our own agendas in not the call to a Christian’s life, please forgive me Father God for the lack of faith that I have so often apply to my life with all the bad choice I have made along the way.

Having said that, I long to open my eyes on the other side, I hunger to be with my God; where neither rusting nor moth can any longer taint the call upon my life. I am wearied and hard-pressed as my life is filled with failure, but there is a day coming when this will end, I will nevertheless suffer loss; for this I seek forgiveness but the thought of the New Jerusalem and the reality to always be in the presence of the only true holy God without the failures of the flesh and the absence of sin in my life is a wonderful thought. Where corruption will be swallowed up by incorruption where this body of mortality will put on immortality and all the heavenly hosts in one accord sing praises to our King.

So if today was my last as a citizen here on earth, I must conclude, it would be well with my soul. Ever so come quickly Lord Jesus!

What on earth would enable someone to live in a ditch and suffer such torturing, but this glorious hope the Christian has for the life to come. May this hope grip us like never before and with the time we have left here on earth may we learn to lay down our lives for our God and King.

Signing off

Tyrone   

Freely we have received, now freely give!

(Matthew 10:8) “Freely ye received, freely give.”

There is a vast difference to religion in a traditional form to Christianity in its actual form. One speaks about laws and regulations; it is all about the does and don’ts of life while the other produced a lifestyle outside of regulation, it is far more personal. It is a between an individual and their God. Prior to salvation, we never understood this verse; “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 2:8-9) 

Christianity makes no provision for boasting as the sole dependency of the believer depends of the finished work of the cross. God started the salvage and it is God who shall complete the rescue, in and through His beloved Son the Lord Jesus. It has nothing to do with our abilities, we must understand this! Religion on the other hand is all about self; looking to be noticed by men and receive praise from them for our apparent good deeds. The one is a form of godliness, but it in fact denies the power of godliness; “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2Timothy 3:5-7) - While true Christianity has nothing to do with trumpet blowing. Paul does not address the other false faiths per say but rather the Christian faith and the weeds that are sown amongst the good seed. We are told to let then grow together, but that does not mean we should not recognise them as such, weeds they are!

We have been taught not to let the right hand know what the left hand is doing; this is in the context of good deeds. Religion looks to be praise by men but the true Christian holds it within his heart and it is between him and his God; "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-6) – Don’t you just love portions of scripture like this, directly from the mouth of the Lord Jesus? We know that it is the soundest of advice as it come directly from our God and King.

The writer of Hebrews refers to this as a dead work; “Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God." (Hebrews 6:1)    

What then is the lesson for the believer? Let us not get caught up with good deeds for the sake of patting ourselves on the back, if this is our common practise then we are no different to the weeds, we have not understood the work of the cross. However this does not mean that our lives should not be filled with good works as we know we have been called to walk in His statues; “And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.” (Titus 3:14) – We must always be on the lookout to be of help to those in need and especially those of the household of God. But let us remember when God places necessity upon us to help others that we keep it between Him and ourselves. If not then we are no different to the hypocrite! We must be generous and ready to share; “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (1Timothy 6:18-19)

This world and all its trappings have taught us to look out for self, but this is just another lie, it is not the way of the true Christian, we have received clear instruction on this. May God give us a heart of generosity as we learn to give with cheerful hearts. Freely we have received now freely give! – “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” (Proverbs 11:24) 

Signing off

Tyrone    

Iron sharpens Iron!

(Proverbs 27:17) “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

It is once again an early start; I ultimately always end up enjoying these mornings, not that I am happy to lose much of my needed beauty sleep, but I am thankful that God has afforded me the opportunity and placed a concern on my heart for a brother in Christ.

My mind goes out to the times where he was always the first to throw out warnings against the bad choices throughout my life and he never pulled any punches. Yet, most of those timely warning where discarded at an obvious cost; pain and suffering the order of the day! Yet I only have myself to blame, he did his part.

Self-reflection is never a joyous event, but once we come through it, once we have been pruned and spring pushes forth, it is beautiful to witness the first bud on that branch as it springs to life. Why does it take so long for the penny to drop? We seem to always repeatedly make the same mistakes. These lessons have their specific purpose; they are there to teach us to obey our God and Father. But when we see a loved one making the same mistake over and over and falling for the same trap, it is heart-breaking. I now see him making the same mistake.

It is moment like these that I begin to understand the principle of what the Lord teachers us about being “our brother’s keeper”, just a little deeper. When we become pro-active in these areas of our lives then we walk as Christ intended us to walk, in obedience! It is nevertheless painful to watch someone dear to our hearts making the same mistakes. I just want to grab him and shake him like a rag-doll. We have a responsibility in sincerity to rebuke and warn one another where and when the need should arise, whatever that may entail. But in so doing we must first examine our hearts in the matter. Why? Just to make sure our attitude is not one of accusing our brother so that we may excuse ourselves. Once that has been dealt with we then need to speak out in love.

Did you know that many years back metal crafters would often use iron to sharpen iron? I am not sure whether this is still practiced but the writer of Proverbs hones in on this point; “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another”. We were once dead in our trespasses and sins; although we have now found life we still have rough edges in need of filing. The Lord came to do the will of His Father. He died and gave us life, so if we have life, if we have His Spirit, we have been place on God’s workbench and those rough edged in our lives need filing. We are the catalyst needed in each other’s lives to accomplish this task. We sharpen one another. But if we sit on the outside looking in, how will we ever be of use to a brother? We won’t be! We are our brothers keepers so let us act accordingly.

To be a watchman is of crucial importance; in a watchtower there is normally an around the clock guard, especially in times of war. We are at war; let no-one convince you to the contrary, and our enemy goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. His objective is to get us to snooze at our post! But that is not what God requires from us. We must sound the alarm when danger is on the horizon. Now a guard must leave his post at times to rest up, but is replaced by a new fresher sentinel. If we see our brother opening himself to error we are then the one at the post and we must sound the alarm. If not we will then be “guilty of the body and the blood of the lamb, not discerning the Lord’s body” (note the principle).

Let us travel back in time and use an illustration to prove my point but before we do this we must understand that it is the flesh that hinders, it is of no use to the spiritual man: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63) – Note, we must see it as such and we must operate from this foundation without any other frills; “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalms 127:1)  

It is all about the well-being of God’s family and not about winning any popular poll awards. God is building His church and the gates of hell will not prevail, but it is crucial that the watchmen speak out if they see danger on the horizon.

“For thus the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.” (Isaiah 21:6) – We have been instructed to look out for one another. How serious should we take the tutoring?

It is imperative we heed the following warnings…

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul." (Ezekiel 3:17-21)

I hope and pray we see this crucial necessity that we are our brother’s keepers and that it is iron that sharpens iron. May God give us tongues to speak out in love, for if we remain silent, then we do the work of the devil!

Signing off

Tyrone   

           

Diversion Tactics!

(1John 2:21) “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.”

And yet we lie to ourselves so often!

Why is it that we miss the obvious, I often focus on varying considerations and overlook the more serious contemplation. I do not want to undermine the importance of the role of dreams in our lives, but these considerations should have caused a greater urgency in me to explore the purpose of what these signs are actually saying. We get caught up in the signs instead of realising what the signs are for.

Signs and wonders proved the validity of the Lord Jesus; it proved that He is the Son of God!  If we therefore believe that today we are in the “last days” what then is it teaching us? It should create such urgency in our daily living that we wouldn’t get caught up in the hype of dreams, prophesy and the like but it should spur us onto a life of selflessness as the day of the Lord draws nigh. He is coming should be our cry! But is it I wonder! Or do we look to all these supernatural claims as the solution for daily living instead of leaning on the finished work of Calvary? I would suggest that many err on the side of error.

It is obvious that “your old men shall dream dreams”, the text teachers us this will happen, it is a no brainer! God’s Word never fails as it cannot lie! – “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” (Hebrews 6:18)

Hang on for just a minute, I have just seen something of great importance, thank you Father God and thank you God the Holy Spirit for your enlightening revelation where and when you choose to reveal it.

I have had my eyes opened to another, if not the greatest of all the devils trickery and it revolves around the diversion in the essence of scripture.

Stay with me for just a little longer and I will explain. We see the obvious but instead of focusing on the kernel of truth, we tend to lean on a built mechanism that is triggered within our minds and we then suspiciously look to disprove something instead affirming it.

Why do I make such a statement? As I was now looking for some answers on this topic, I noticed that much attention is given to the importance of telling the truth. However, there are warnings that teach us that even when we believe we speak the truth we are liars. In other words there is a danger that we will go to such extremes when trying to make a point that we will even lie to be heard. And if we continue in this fashion even our conscience will be seared and we will become numb to the truth. Now this is quite a statement, but there is much truth to it! Look at what God did many years back; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 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. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:18-22) 

Once again we need to look into the mirror; the Apostle John has this to say; “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1John 1:6) – If my life is filled with self and very little of my life belongs to the Lord, then I am a liar even though I believe I am not. If I continue in sin that grace may abound and lean on the hope of denial as my anchor, I am nothing but a liar. When I habitually practise the on-going destruction of sin as a daily pattern in my life, I am nothing but a liar! Therefore if no place is given to my life being led by the Spirit then I am also a liar.

Look at the strong words the Apostle Paul uses; “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:17-25)

Let me conclude by saying, instead of giving so much of our time to signs and wonder, let us rather seek holiness for our lives, let our resolve to walk in the Spirit. Do not be lured into the traps of Satan diversion tactics, as he is the master tactician. Let us be on the lookout for all those tainting lies in our lives, for if we scratch the surface we will not have to scrape deep to expose the error of it. May God help us to live godly in Him!

Signing off

Tyrone