Can God Change?

There is another question that needs answering? But this topic is not milk, but meat and needs a skilled preacher to expound its truth. Spurgeon has helped me understand the Immutability of God.

Can God change? The scripture we will look at is Malachi 3:6 I the Lord do not change; therefore you sons of Jacob; are not consumed. lets face it, how often do we can Our minds on any given day?

Most, if not all penned, is either a direct quote or reference made from his sermon on January 7^th 1855. I will mention my thoughts

Firstly there needs to be a proper study of the great true God, before we can truly bask in His love. Many other topics may make us feel good about ourselves and even leave us feeling as if our ego’s have been tickled, which is not a good thing - if and when we receive even a glimmer of the glory due to our input or application to a certain topic, this is not a good thing, as it set us up for a fall if not checked. (my thought) 

The subject of the divinity is so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity. It is so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity. There is no subject that will humble the mind like thoughts of God. How infinite are you great God? What worthless worms are we! Although all these thoughts of God humble the mind, it will also expand it, it must! A man may study geology or even extinct animals and profess himself to be wiser than his neighbour. I dare say it will leave him wiser. But, there is no study greater than the science of Christ crucified and knowledge of the Godhead in the divine Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect as the investigation of the deity. I love the way Spurgeon uses words... In the study of Christ there is a balm for every wound. In the influence of God the Holy Spirit there is a balsam for every sore.

If one wants to drown his sorrows, it is not to be found in a bottle or a similar lie. Rather plunge yourself in the Godheads deepest sea. You will come forth with rest, the soul will find comfort, you will calm the billowing grief of sorrow and you will mute the voice of trail.

Spurgeon felt this text should read... I am Jehovah or so it should have been translated, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Three points to address;

1.  An unchanging God.

2.  The persons that derive benefit, the sons of Jacob.

3.  The benefit, they are not consumed.

Spurgeon’s hermeneutic (the interpretation and explanation of something) of proving scripture would be to expound the doctrine and then expand on the thought and then he would look at a few arguments to prove its truth.

He admits that he does not know what substance the Godhead is. It is a being; He changes not in His essence. God is Jehovah and does not change. So that essence never changes. All creatures change, man changes his atomic state on a daily basis. Nature is always changing; God on the other hand is Spirit and is not composed of any material that changes. Therefore He is immutable, He remains everlasting the same. He sees ages pass but with Him it is ever now! He is the great I am. Now Christ when he took on flesh, the essence of His divinity did not change. Flesh did not become God nor did God become flesh by real actual change of nature. The two were united in hypostatical union but the Godhead was still the same. Even when Christ was a babe in a manger, He has not ever changed in His essence not even in his carnation did His essence change. He remains the everlasting, eternally never changing God. There is not even a shadow of change. His attributes are the same in the beginning as they are now. He knows as neither much now as He always new, neither more nor less. He is unchanged, blessed be His name in His justice. He is unchanged in his promise and He brings it to pass. This thought is very encouraging to me... for he who has begun a good work will complete it on the day of salvation. Once we have the spirit God the Holy Ghost indwelling us. He will forever be with us. There are many other scriptures proving eternal security to all those elected by God. The crux behind this truth is who is it that has been elected, obviously the sons of Jacob. However we also know that many will say on that day, "Lord Lord" and they will be turned away.(my thought). He does not vary in His love, He cannot, He will not, for He is love. His essence is full of compassion, love and long suffering is who He is. A quote from Spurgeon, “His strong love stands like a granite rock, unmoved by the hurricanes of our iniquity.” He is unchanged in His love, when He first wrote the covenant how much affection His heart had for his people. Yet He knew that Christ would have to die for sin. Yet he signed the covenant willingly and full of affection. (my thought) It is hard to comprehend these thoughts without a tear of joy showing itself. One attribute of God you may think about He will forever be the same. “I am Jehovah and I change not.”

In the content of God and His unchangeable attribute, how can we not trust Him? He is our God, He is our Father, and He is for us and not against us. What a beautiful thought.

Spurgeon now looks at some potential objections; a question he puts out there; some may say that God does not have a plan. Do you think God is more foolish than you o man, every man has his own plan and so God has a plan too. God in His Gigantic intellect arranged everything with His mastermind before He did it. But, once having settled it, He never alters it. That is so encouraging the iron hand of destiny marks it down and it is brought to pass. Neither Earth nor hell can alter it. If we consider God as almighty why should He alter His plan? He is all wise and therefore cannot have planned wrongly, even if we hold a different opinion to the tragedies in life (my thought).What are we but worthless Adam’s of existence, we change our plans often. But God’s plan is to save me, how safe am I. Praise God I know in whom I trust! I want immutable things and with God I find immutable things. For by two immutable things I see that it is impossible for God to lie, and He has signed and sealed every promise of His. So when I look to God’s word and its promises and it no longer seem sweet to me does that mean that the promise has changed? Absolutely not, I have changed. Let me look out for the stubble wooden hut I may have built. It is that which has been shaken not God’s promises. For His promises cannot change. Spurgeon then uses this example to illustrate his point. A man says to a Negro (a poor man- my thought) I can’t imagine why you are always so happy in the Lord and I am often downcast. “Why master” he says “I have often thrown myself down on the Lord and there I lie on his promises. You stand on the promise, you have little to do with it and then when the wind comes down you go. I go down flat on the promise at once. Therefore I fear no fall. Remember every promise is a rock and unchangeable thing. Every threatening as well as every promise will be fulfilled by God.

Lets now talk of decree’s, he that believeth not shall be damned. That will never change. Be as upright as you will, be as honest as you will but there stands a threatening - He that believeth not shall be damned. It does not say he who does not live a holy life, that may be true but it does not say so... It says he who does not believe will be damned. So then we must believe or be damned. After 1000 years of torment you will look up and see words burning with fire, “he that believes not shall be damned.” So if you do not believe you will be damned but nevertheless it says you shall be damned still. “How dare I speak like this, but I must” says Spurgeon, “ye must be warned sir; lest you come into this torment you must be told rough things. Woe to the watchman who does not warn the ungodly. Beware o sinner it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But before we leave this thought we must see that God is unchanging in the objects of His love. Not only in His love does God not change, but in the objects of it. If one dear sheep of God should perish, then might all perish? If I could believe that ever a saint of God could fall finally, then what love is this? If I believe that God could have loved me once and then stopped loving me, what love is this? Spurgeon then concludes if that be the case then the bible is a lie. If God has loved me once then He will forever love me. Did Jesus once upon me shine, and then Jesus is forever mine. Those whom God has called he will justify, those whom He has justified He will sanctify and those whom He has sanctified He will glorify.

All that has been discussed up until now is just the thought of God and His immutability.

Spurgeon then moves on to prove that God is unchangeable. He goes as far as to say that it is even unconceivable to conceive a God that changes. (My thought) I agree otherwise God would be manlike and not Godlike, for man is always changing. I often change with the simplest of decisions. Yet when I use the word, God, my mind must conclude unchanging- an unchanging God. If God is a perfect being, which He is, then He cannot change. How can something that is perfect change? Only that which is imperfect can be altered and changed. If something is perfect it requires no change. But more than that, it cannot change as it is perfect. If God is perfect He cannot be altered without becoming imperfect. It is an easy thought to process (my thought) perfect means unchangeable; yesterday, today and forever the same! If we look to the passed (history) can we not see whatever God has said has come to pass? Where are the nations that God said He would destroy? Where is Babel or Nivenah, has He not uprooted them and cast them from remembrance. Has He ever broken His covenant or promise? Never! You cannot point to History and show in one instance that God has changed. God has been immutable in His purposes.

Spurgeon then turns his attention to his congregation; He thinks he hears someone say, I can think of one scripture where God has changed and so did He think the same once. The account of Hezekiah; Isaiah came in and said to Hezekiah you must die as your disease is incurable, so set your house in order. Hezekiah began to pray and before Isaiah got to the outer court he was told to go back and tell Him he would live for another 15 years. You may say that this account proves that God changes, but there is not the slightest proof in the world that this proves that God changes. How can you say God did not know this, of course He knew it. For if He knew that then He did not change because He knew that... Did you Know in this story that Hezekiah’s son Manasseh was not yet born and if Hezekiah had died there would of been no Manasseh and no Josiah and no Christ, because Christ came from that very line. Manasseh was twelve years old when his father died, so then he must have been born three years after this encounter with Isaiah. So God spoke to Hezekiah to stir him up for prayer. (My thought) this opens a chapter to look into the power of prayer. The prayer of a righteous man avails much. God leaves us cryptic clues throughout scripture that only those those who have eyes to see can see, if only we would spend the time investigating. The brilliance of God intertwined throughout the pages of the BIBLE! 

2. Let’s look at the benefit and who will benefit from this unchanging God. The text, I am God and I change not, therefore you son’s of Jacob are not consumed. Who are the sons of Jacob and who will rejoice in God? They are the sons of election, for it is written Jacob have I loved an Esau have I hated. The children having yet not been born; neither has either done neither good nor evil. It is written the older shall serve the younger. The sons of Jacob are the sons of God by election of a sovereign God; by eternal destination they receive grace and glory. The second point of benefit is those that enjoy peculiar rights and titles. Jacob had no rights at birth but he changed them when he gave his brother a pot of stew and then gained his brothers birthright. Spurgeon make a point not to condone the manner in which he obtained his birthright. Yet Jacob also obtained the blessing and so acquired peculiar rights. (my thought) And yet the point is this that whatever it takes to please my heavenly Father must be my objective, period! So this text means to tell us that the sons of Jacob are those who have the rights and titles. Unto them that believe gave Him the right to those who believe to become sons of the living God. They have an interest in the blood of Christ. They have a right to enter through the gate and into the city. They have a title to eternal honours. They have a promise to everlasting glory. They have a right to call themselves sons of God. There are peculiar rights and privileges belonging to the sons of Jacob. Jacob also had peculiar manifestations from God and was therefore highly honoured. So too are the sons of Jacob highly honoured. Jacob laid down one night and slept with the hedges as his curtains, the sky as his canopy, a stone for a pillow and the earth for a bed. It was then that he had a peculiar manifestation. He saw a ladder which reaches from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending to bring us mercies. Christ representing the ladder, a bridge between man and God. Another encounter He had when he wrestled with God at Peniel. These were account of peculiar manifestations. This passage refers to those like Jacob who has had peculiar manifestations. Now then Spurgeon asks, “How many of you have had personal manifestations? O you say that is enthusiasm, that is fanaticism, well it is a blessed enthusiasm.” For the sons of Jacob have had peculiar manifestations, they have talked to God as a man talks to a friend. God the Holy Ghost has so shone into their lives that they would not be able to doubt about their special manifestations. The sons of Jacob are the men who enjoy these manifestations. But then again they are men of peculiar trials. Spurgeon says he will not choose Jacobs lot if he did not have the prospect of Jacobs blessing. (My thought) does our hope in our resurrections burn right, if not we must understand our predicament for without hope the people perish! Faith feeds our hope as hope feeds our faith. For a hard lot it was! He had to run away from his father’s house to Laban’s house. Laban treated him roughly, he cheated him all the years he was there. He cheated him of his wife, of his wages and of his herds. He had to bye and bye run away from Laban, who eventually pursued him and overtook him. Next Esau came with 400 men to cut him up. Then there was a season of prayer and he wrestled with and angel and the angel put his thigh out of joint and so it stayed for the rest of his life. (my thought) I see the tenacity of Jacob pleasing to our heavenly Father, at all cost I must be blessed by the One true God. A little further on his beloved wife Rachel died and then his daughter Dinah is lead astray and his sons murder the Sechemites. Then Joseph is sold into Egypt and a famine comes. Ruben commits incest with his Daughter-in-law. All his sons become a plague o him. At last Benjamin is taken away. The old man almost broken of heart has this to say, “Joseph is not and Simeon is not and you will take Benjamin away.” Never was a man more tried than Jacob. (my thought) Not sure that Job was not as tried . Although his sin was to cheat his brother, all through his life God chastised him. Spurgeon reckons that many would be able to sympathise with Jacob. Many have had to suffer for the wrong they have done, and rightly so! Yet we are not consumed due to the unchanging nature of our God. But remember no one was ever afflicted like Jesus. We do not understand what trouble means. We have hardly sipped the cup of troubles, maybe a drop or two. But, Jesus drank the whole cup, even the dregs. Fear not says the Lord I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob, men of peculiar trails are not consumed. One more thought to consider, who are the sons of Jacob? Spurgeon then puts it out there and wants to get you to consider if you are a son of Jacob. There are some things in Jacobs’s character that we cannot commend (Spurgeon’s thought). There are one or two things that God commends.

Jacob’s faith is highly commendable and he is mentioned amongst those of faith in Hebrews 11 the great faith chapter. Are you a man of faith beloved, do you know what it is to walk by faith? Do you get your temporal food to sustain the body, by faith? Do you live on spiritual manner from heaven? Is faith a rule of your life? If so then are you the sons of Jacob. (my thought) Without understanding this point; that the just will live by faith and not be cushioned by the luxuries of life, if so, it will always leave us with this challenge - do I truly believe. Then Jacob was a man of prayer, a man who wrestled and groaned with prayer. Spurgeon then again put it to his audience; there was a man this morning that came to the house of God without prayer. “You poor heathen don’t you pray”, he asks. No says the man I never even thought of such a thing. For years I have not prayed. Spurgeon then put it to him like this; I hope you pray before you die. Live and die without payer and you will pray long and well in hell. He uses another example; there was a woman this morning to busy sending her kids to Sunday school, that she had no time to pray. No time to pray! Did you have time to dress? There is time given for every purpose under heaven. If you had a purpose to pray you would pray. Sons of God cannot live without prayer, they are wrestling Jacob’s, and they are sons of God in whom the God the Holy Ghost works. They cannot live without prayer as much as I cannot live without breathing. They must pray sir mark you, if you are living without prayer, then you are living without Christ. To die like that will be your portion, and that portion will burn in the Lake of Fire, may God have mercy on you and redeem you from such a lot.

But you who are the sons of Jacob take comfort, for God is immutable.

Thirdly, the benefit for the sons of Jacob; you sons of Jacob are not consumed. What? How can man be consumed? Well according to Spurgeon there are two ways, if God had been a changing God then the sons of God of old may have ended up in hell. There is such a thing as being alive but dead. (my thought) Imagine if God left us to our own devises, I know where I would be in some gutter somewhere and yet there is a responsibility attached to our actions, another gem of scripture! I have personally gone to a place of terror, a place where sin held both my arms as I stood on the precipice of hell looking in. What a frightful sight it was. I quivered on the brink of ruin. But my unchanging God did not change in His love for me. How thankful I am and forever indebted, not that I could ever even begin to pay back the debt, the Lord Jesus has accomplished that. How thankful I am as a strong arm did save me. I wonder how I could have gone so far and yet come back again. Yes I am here unconsumed because the Lord changes not. We should all be consumed by ourselves, after all Mr. Self is the worst enemy of a Christian. We call God our father, but there is not a father in the world that would not have killed us all by now, so provoked would he have been with us. God has the most troublesome family in the world. They are unbelieving, ungrateful, disobedient, forgetful, murmurs’ and stiff-necked. Just as well God is long suffering. Not only would he have taken the rod but the sword to some of us long ago. There was nothing in us to love at first (we need to digest this point - my thought) so there cannot be less now. John Newton uses a story to prove election... A woman said, “God must have loved me before I was born, for there is nothing to love in me after I was born.” If God did not choose his elect before they were born, He would have found no reason to love them after they were born. (My thought) - a very interesting thought and it make perfect sense when reason out correctly. For since He loved them, without works, He loves them still without works. Since their good works did not win his affection, then there bad works cannot sever His affection. Since their righteousness did not bind there love to Him, so there wickedness cannot snap the golden links! He loved them out of a pure sovereign grace and He will love them still. We should have been consumed by the devil, our enemies and a hundred other ways if God ever changed. Spurgeon concluded as only having touched on the subject, but now hands it to me and I now hand it to you. You sons of Jacob may this portion of meat be digested well. Remember God remains the same whatever is removed.

Signing off

Tyrone

 

Self Gratification

 

Let’s face it we do things to help ourselves and yet we are taught to help others. We are self-centred individuals, do not be fooled into believing anything else, its God who has been merciful and often comes to our rescue and the salvage of others on the back of our prayers. But it always starts with our own well-being, strip it down and you will have to agree. Even those secret acts preformed behind what we believe to be the "hidden curtain" highlights the “self” in us; when seeking out God’s forgiveness for a particular sin that we struggle with, it’s about us; firstly we scratch the itch and then we seek out forgiveness, we are the ones that need work. If and when will give clothes or food to the poor, it’s only after we have taken care of ourselves; us first and then others. This is human nature personified. Warren Buffet may have given away billions to charity, but he made sure he had a buffer of billions before acting out. What about Bill Gates? On the other hand, the Lord Jesus had this to say; “foxes have holes and birds have nest by I have nowhere to lay my head.” His agenda obviously different; His overarching purpose was to fulfil his Fathers will, which was to die a death he never deserved so that the sinner may have a way to escape the looming judgment just over the horizon. The offer through repentance has gone out to all who will cry out to HIM for help… And until I learn this truth and it becomes my reality that Jesus died in my place, he died for me and paid the price for my sin, until then, God’s mercy will pass us by like a gust of wind that gushes by, it come when we least expect it, the grace of God is not something we can plan for, but we most certainly all have the potential to respond to it. How often have you heard that Jesus saves? None of you haven’t! I wonder how you treasure that truth?

 

The older we get the more predominant we begin to reflect, regret and sorrow fills our days with selfish thoughts, if only? Even through the turmoil we always have the need to be in control, power the last of the sinful beasts that has to be heard, “I told you so” or “without me you would be nothing” and so on. No matter how you slice it, or how old you are we are self-satisfying creatures that always put the needs of ourselves before others. The Lord Jesus was the complete opposite…

 

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” (2Timothy 3:1-5) 

 

We must be aware of these truths and cry out unto God seeking out His will for our lives, as He ushers in the changes needed in our lives to be helpful to other bringing a proclamation that will glorify Him.

 

Have you ever contemplated why words such as these may have troubled you over time? “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:2-3)

 

The more I study the authors intent, God’s intention throughout the Bible, the clearer in becomes… Righteousness must be what drives us and not “food and raiment”, we must seek out God’s righteousness for our lives and the rest will be taken care of. Where we often make the mistake is when we get our priorities off beam, which the Apostle James pegs for us; “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”  I then ask myself the question does this apply to all; another subject for another day. However for the Christian it is imperative that the sooner we learn this lesson the quicker we will find the peace of God in our lives. Sure we have all experience His peace, you cannot be a Christian without the peace of God playing its part in your life, however I am looking for a constant rather than an exception, how about you?

 

It has and always will be about Gods righteousness, Jesus is the King of kings and His Father, our Father instructions where followed to the tee; “For when he received honour and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."” (2Peter 1:17) – Do not! for one minute think that our call has a different emphasis placed upon it, it may differ in stature, but we have all been asked to carry the flag of our God, which reads – “seek first the kingdom of God and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and all …” This I believe is one of the most important lessons of life and yet everything about our flesh drives us in the opposite direction and for some of us we have been called to a life of knocks and bruises; praise God for His endurance with us, I thank you Father God for your forbearance’s with me, forgive me for my sins as I forgive others of theirs against me. I pray, continue to lead me to the waters of righteousness, which in turn will transform me into the image of your beloved son, my beloved SAVIOUR. Even the slightest transformation will display the abundance of your Grace in my life. I love you Father God and I thank you for Jesus.

 

 

Signing off

 

 

Tyrone

Understanding our Creator

 

Understanding our creator, Jehovah Jira our provider is firstly a shot in the dark for so many as they clutch at straws hoping to land on the right side of his love. So many accredit their fortunes to His creation, which is Idolatry. Although he is invisible to the naked eye, he proves His existence to us all through HIS CREATION. The Apostle Paul teaches us this truth very clearly in the book of Romans; “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.” (Romans 1:19-20) - The demise of mankind is linked to a mind-set of worshipping the creature instead of the creator. Platitudes like “the universes had other ideas”, how would that make you feel? Bill gates the mastermind or creator if you like of Microsoft, imagine if all his work was accredited to another, how would he feel? Now magnify that by the billions and consider what we are doing to God by not giving him due benevolence when it comes to HIS CREATION.

 

From there we move on to God making a way of escape from the wrath which is to come, and make no mistake it is coming in this life and the next. Even with this rebellious spirit we have somehow inherited through the sins of our fathers, God still takes pity on us and offers all of mankind a lifeline. Originally God made a covenant with Abraham, hence the quote often coined “the Jews God’s chosen people”, because they are. However, they rejected their Messiah and therefore an olive branch has been extended to all tribes and nations across the globe. God has made a way of escape for us all, regardless of race, religion, colour or creed. “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)

 

You may even be one that often coins the phrase; “the universe had other ideas”, you too have been invited, repent of your sin and call upon the name of Jesus. If you find that an impossible task, sincerely cry out to God to reveal himself to you, walk in your garden and observe the intricate detail of whatever catches your eye and acknowledge Cod as creator and give Him praise for his brilliance and He may just open you eyes and lead you to the foot of the cross, where all will eventually become clear. Every effort, struggle, question or uncertainty will be instantaneously irradiated as the light switch to life will flip into place and the need to tell others will burn bright. I know! because that’s exactly what happened to me…

 

The offer still stands, Jesus Christ the Lord, the only redeemer who has it in His power to save, the rest you have been sold as an out to enter the Promised Land has been tainted with lies and is back by Satan himself, the deceiver of the nations. In fact, he is so good with the mastery of trickery that God has referred to him as; “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:9) - He will accomplish his quest and deceive the whole world, bar those who have had their robes wash in the blood of the Lamb, bless the name of Jesus, now and forever more, Amen!

 

However, there is a flipside to the mercy and grace of God, reject Him as creator and then cap it off with rejecting his beloved Son as your Lord and Savior and you will burn, it will be an unbearable anguish that those who dig their heels in against God will have to endure an eternal sentence in the Lake of Fire.

 

DO NOT BE FOOLED God has spoken through HIS SON, the Lord Jesus Christ, time is running out, so let me leave you with this encouragement; “for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

 

Signing out

 

 

Tyrone

Temptation

As my mind wonders amid my thoughts, governance resonates with this awareness; I have often heard it said that because God is righteous He cannot be evil, which is obviously true. “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (James 1:13) – If that be true, which it obviously is, why then are we taught by the Lord Jesus to pray, “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil (the evil one).” – Who does the leading, Satan or God the Father?

 

Some of you may remember the account of Job; if not, here it is; “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"” (Job 1:6-8) as this account further unfolds, although instrumentally it is Satan who brings evil upon Job, we can very clearly see that it is God who allows the calamity (evil) to fall on Job, “Have you considered my servant Job?” - A test is there to prove our authenticity. It’s the suffering in the test, which teaches us to shed the skins of sin or the flipside of that drives us to apply the grace principle, excusing our sin as the norm.

 

While the Apostle James teaches us that when we fall into sin, our own wicked heart, and our sinful nature’s drives us to eat from the forbidden tree, which God hates. God hates sin! In fact he detests it so much that whilst the Lord Jesus took upon the sin of mankind, whilst he was punished for it upon that cruel Roman cross. God the Father shunned his Son and turned his back upon him, thus causing the Lord Jesus to cry out, “my God, my God why have you forsaken me?” No doubt rhetorical, but just in case it has not fully dawned on some of you; evidence proving the hatred God has for sin. He judged his Son on the cross for our sin, even though he had no sin of his own, once the penny drops and we get just a glimpse of what it meant for Jesus to die on Calvary, understanding that HE died for me, we will never be the same again.

 

Sadly it’s our own lusts that lead us astray. It is one thing to have a thought but another when it becomes an intention. There is without doubt an aspect of God’s sovereign will which allows us to be tested in certain areas of our lives. If this was not true why would the Lord Jesus teach us to pray in this manner; “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13) - Why? So that we may see where our treasure lies! For the Christian who loves God would be quick to confess their breach, the apostle John teaches us this truth, Nevertheless our aim is to please our God; “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” (1John 5:2)

 

The Apostle Paul on the other hand is quick to help us understand the severity the Christian faces on a daily basis, the coalface of our walks, looks like this; “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.” (Ephesians 6:12)   

 

With all this to consider where does that leave us? There is a testing that God require from every believer, sanctification must be tried and tested on a daily basis, we must get to a stage in our lives whereby we begin to have victory over the areas we once where enslaved to. That does not mean we should cavalier into areas that could easily trip us up, but rather pray, “Father lead us not into temptation”, however when we are tempted we have an obligation to seek out God’s grace to overcome the trial and in so doing we will come out on the other side more refined. This is the walk we have been called too! Has God every said to Satan have you considered my servant Tyrone? I somewhat doubt it, nevertheless I have an obligation by his grace to shoot for the mark. It is our duty as Christians to live a life that brings honour to God. The Lord Jesus has left us with a perfect example to follow.

 

Let us be quick to seek His face, find grace in time of need, instead of habitually buckling to the temptation. May God help us all; remembering that it is not by strength or might that we will overcome the evil one, but rather by the finished work of Calvary! We must call on Jesus to find the grace to overcome, Do not believe the lie that I may continue in my sin so that grace may abound. We must learn to overcome…

 

In conclusion, it is God who allows us to be led into the temptation, Satan opens the door to our lusts and we either buckle to it or we find grace to overcome. It’s as simple as that. When we fall we are covered by Christ, when we overcome our Father is glorified. For many of us it’s time to put off the childish things.  

To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

In the Beginning...

Without a beginning there will be no end, process that for a minute and the penny should drop, helping us understand God as an eternal being. God had no beginning and therefore can have no end. That which doesn’t exist can never be because it has no beginning until HE who IS, the creator of all things brings that into being. But He is the great “I AM”! A complete mystery, He who has no beginning and yet His existence, a fact obvious to all, for He has given us creation, which proves His presence; “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.” (Romans 1:19-20)  

 

The man Jesus had a beginning and the more I consider it, the further my mind is sent into orbit. The lengths God went too to rescue his creation from certain destruction. God became a man, live in a body that had a beginning and an end, to save the sinner and restore Satan’s shakedown.

Let me pose a question, consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields and what do we see? We behold the brilliance of God’s creation. God spoke creation into being, He has the power to perform such brilliance and it all happened in the beginning…” That exactly how the bible opens; “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  (Genesis 1:1) - Make no mistake the world as we know it will come to its end. Plant as many trees as you like or recycle as much as you will, God will destroy this earth and replace it with a new one. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1) – God alone has it in his power to implement such an act, He holds the privilege to that right as Creator regardless of the world’s diverse opinionated voices. At the end of the day they will carry very little weight, God always has the final say. Get in line with his objectives or pay the price, period! It’s always been death that’s ushered in life; “But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (1Corinthians 15:35-36)   

 

Everything as we know it will come to an end, but not that which is spiritual, that part of God’s creation appears to be locked into the eternal realm. If we settle on this, it should help us wrap our heads around certain truths concerning eternity.

 

Now let us consider the Garden of Eden; Adam was created and then Eve with the potential of an eternal existence at their fingertips. God had planted the tree of life in the mist of the Garden and yet they never ate from it. Their minds had not yet managed the meaning of death. But once they had eaten from the tree of the “Knowledge of Good and Evil” death became their reality and now they wanted to live. So in order for the fruits of sin not to have eternal reign God protects the tree of life, that now becomes the forbidden fruit; “He drove out the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24) – God will not permit sin to be an everlasting fruit tainting His Holiness. The rule of sin will have its end just as it had its beginning. Interestingly enough sin was conceived in the spiritual realm, a time when Satan rebelled against God and convinced one third of the angels to follow him.  

 

The Lord Jesus reversed the curse through His achievement and all those covered by his sacrifice have been sanctified in his accomplishments, not our own feeble attempt to find favour with God. But for those not covered by His righteousness their rule will have its end in the Lake of Fire. A place prepared for the devil and his angels; “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.” (Matthew 25:41)  

 

The brilliance of Gods plan for rescue is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, the man. It’s what he achieved that offers rescue to whoever would dare to call upon Him for release. Although he had a beginning and an end; he was born miraculously. God the Holy Spirit impregnated a virgin Girl, he was conceived, went through a normal nine month cycle in the womb and birthed like every other baby, he then lived a life of complete obedience to His Father, died a cruel Roman death, crucified for a penalty he never committed and because of his perfect work on earth, God raised him from the dead. He is now seated in heaven with a glorified body at the right hand of God the Father. A phenomenal consideration, God placing himself in a position of vulnerability as he took a flesh and blood body with the possibility of failure. The enemy objective whilst in this state, was to get Jesus to sin, which he never achieved, praise the name of Jesus now and forever more, Amen and Amen! Without this achievement all of mankind would be doomed to a pitiful state of eternal torment in the Lake of Fire. Jesus defeated the last enemy, death! Because of his brilliant achievement, millions will be rescued from that punishment, WOW! I hope this truth blows your minds into orbit and beyond.  

 

With this now understood what is left for mankind to do? Individually what must we do? It is simple; “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:13) we must call out for rescue or pay the eternal price of torment in the Lake of Fire as there will be no state of Limbo as some suggest. You see, there is a register in heaven known as the book of life and without our names penned into that book we will be doomed to eternal damnation. The only way we reverse that sentence is to cry out to Jesus for rescue; “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  (Revelation 20:15) – If your name is not etched into the book of life you are doomed to eternal torment, be sure!

 

Christian as the screws tighten, take encouragement, not far from now we will see our glorious Saviour and receive a body like his and what a day that will be and although that will have its beginning it will have no end as it resides in the spiritual world. The misconception of the thought “here today, gone tomorrow” is a lie.

 

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” 

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone