Avoid death but preach Life!

(Titus 3:9) “But have nothing to do with foolish questionings, and lists of generations, and fights and arguments about the law; for they are of no profit and foolish.”

 

It is over this time of the year that we probably spend more time with loved one than any other time throughout the year. Many of them are not saved and yet we have been called to be the salt of the earth, to let our beacons shine bright and clear. It may well be the last time we see some of them, let us pray to God our Father to give us an urgency to point them in the direction of the cross, many may say they believe but if examined it is obvious they do not believe. We have a responsibility to carry our cross and to lay down our lives so that others may take note and that Christ may be glorified. There is something about family gatherings that brings the worst out of some people. But we are the salt of the earth; let us seek grace to be exactly that. Even though a prophet is without honour amongst his own; “And they were bitter against him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour but in his country and among his family.” (Matthew 13:57): - It is for that exact reason that we need to spend more time on our knees before our Holy Father seeking out His grace to help in time of need.

We see our uncles and aunts and even grandparents, this may well be the last time they spend the holidays with us. They may soon pass from life to death, a scary but very real thought. We need an urgency to be stirred up within us; life may very well depend upon it. Not that we are able to save, but faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God, which gives us life and adds to our faith. We must proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and with accuracy. Address each straw man independently if one has to but never lose sight of the simplicity of the Gospel; Jesus cams from heaven, leaving behind His heavenly authority and from a boy grew up into a man. His objective to live a life on earth amongst sinners and yet never to be influence by sin, never once to fall prey to it! Remarkable but very true! Training up men to carry His legacy, to proclaim the good news to the ends of the world teaching all men to repent and believe on HIM. Believe what? That He died for sinners and that God the Father raised Him from the dead. He alone came to pay the price for our sin, these truths He will not share with any other and why should He, as it was Christ alone who died and suffered a cruel death on that Roman cross. He alone defeated the devil and his beguiling sin; it was not Mohammad, Buddha, the pope or even the Virgin Mary who achieve what He alone could achieve. This must be evident in what we preach and when we witness; Christ paid the price for sin, so what will the individual do with this? The questions we must always present is this; has Christ died for your sins and if so what will you do about it, make it personal and avoid general objections about others. Get people to realize and examine their own sin.

God chooses who will be saved, in fact that has long been established in his foreknowledge, but we are not God and have no idea how involved His plan actually is, let us therefore leave that domain to our great God and Father, we must preach to all as if it will be there last breath, for it may very well be and there will be no reruns to life.

God please place urgency upon us to be more zealous in preaching the gospel to others. We are the salt of the earth and if it loses its flavour, how then will we be of any use? We won’t be!

“Let your talk be with grace, mixed with salt, so that you may be able to give an answer to everyone.” (Colossians 4:6) 

That answer is the simplicity of the gospel; Christ and Him crucified! We must avoid vain and foolish arguments for all they will do is lead o more ungodliness; “But have nothing to do with foolish questionings, and lists of generations, and fights and arguments about the law; for they are of no profit and foolish.” (Titus 3:9) 

Signing off

Tyrone

Salt of the Earth!

(Colossians 4:6)  “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

What an amazing privilege to carry the surname “Saint”! Every child of God who has been born of the Spirit, all who have been born again carry that name. No longer do we respond to sinner, yes there will still be sin that needs to be dealt with on an individual and personal level but that has nothing to do with Christ's perfect work, we once were sinners but are all now saints. We may well sin from day to day but the price has been paid in full, praise the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are numbered amongst God’s army that is if we have His Spirit and of a certainty we belong to Him; we are in one of two camps; we either have His protection or we don’t. Remember the children of Israel when God sent the angel of death to kill all the firstborn sons throughout Egypt; unless they had blood on their doors they would not have escaped God’s judgment. Picture the scene, would you image the angel of death stopping at each individual door to have a debate on whether or not to carry out God’s sentence. Absolutely not! If there was no blood on the lintel death for every firstborn son was imminent, no discussion and no debate!

We have Christ’s Spirit if God has called us and we have responded to that call. Let us now not debate how that happens but rather has it happened. Do you believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the death and if so do you now make it a habit to confess Jesus as Lord is His blood evident in your life, is it clears for all to see that the Lord Jesus Christ’s blood has washed you clean? If so the angel of death has and must continue to pass us by!  

To be counted amongst the righteous is almost unconceivable and yet it is true. What manner of love is this that we should be called the sons of God! How great is the only true God, Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? He is our God, One and the same! Thank you Father God for sending you’re only begotten Son to pay the price for my sin and for the sins of all your children.

I speak to my brothers in Christ as the day passes by and yet I do not see this realization as the most evident part of my day. There is not a day that goes by, where we do not talk Christianity but where is the fire, where is the salt to our conversation? Forgive us Father, change the way we view salvation I pray!

Where is the zeal that once burnt bright and clear? If God is for us who can be against us? Why then is it not evident in conversation. How I long for that day when I will be like Jesus Christ my Lord. The day when I hear “well done my good and faithful servant enter into your rest”. So many distractions, and yet there is no excuse, we understand that the Lord Jesus laid down His life even unto death. Make the Apostles Paul’s persuasion become ours I pray; “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8): - Deep down we all know it will be worth it all, but we are still so weak, strengthen our faith I pray. Help us become the salt of the earth! How much salt is enough?

“Salt without prescribing how much.”

- Ezr_7:22

“Salt was used in every offering made by fire unto the Lord, and from its preserving and purifying properties it was the grateful emblem of divine grace in the soul. It is worthy of our attentive regard that, when Artaxerxes gave salt to Ezra the priest, he set no limit to the quantity, and we may be quite certain that when the King of kings distributes grace among his royal priesthood, the supply is not cut short by him. Often are we straitened in ourselves, but never in the Lord. He who chooses to gather much manna will find that he may have as much as he desires. There is no such famine in Jerusalem that the citizens should eat their bread by weight and drink their water by measure. Some things in the economy of grace are measured; for instance our vinegar and gall are given us with such exactness that we never have a single drop too much, but of the salt of grace no stint is made, “Ask what thou wilt and it shall be given unto thee.” Parents need to lock up the fruit cupboard, and the sweet jars, but there is no need to keep the salt-box under lock and key, for few children will eat too greedily from that. A man may have too much money, or too much honour, but he cannot have too much grace. When Jeshurun waxed fat in the flesh, he kicked against God, but there is no fear of a man’s becoming too full of grace: a plethora of grace is impossible. More wealth brings more care, but more grace brings more joy. Increased wisdom is increased sorrow, but abundance of the Spirit is fulness of joy. Believer, go to the throne for a large supply of heavenly salt. It will season thine afflictions, which are unsavoury without salt; it will preserve thy heart which corrupts if salt be absent, and it will kill thy sins even as salt kills reptiles. Thou needest much; seek much, and have much.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

The Body of Death!

Our bodies and our carnal minds are so ferocious and yet we try our utmost to excuse them. There is no real struggle is we choose to live a lukewarm Christian life, but when we look to put the body under the battle is intense. It is important that we understand how it operates and that it is a body of death and can never be anything else. If we believe it to be any different we will continue to walk in circles with our understanding clouded. Give the carnal mind any latitude and watch it do the most amazing acrobatics. It will be such a show stopper that we may even find ourselves applauding.

Do we realize what it took Paul to make this statement; “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1Corinthians 9:27): - I cannot make a similar statement when I reflect on my life. However now that which is passed is conceded, I want by the grace of God to rectify my mistakes and press towards the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus my Lord. I do not want to make the same mistakes!

What then did Paul have to endure, was it not a constant battle of the sinful nature, of the flesh looking to oppose the law of God. On what grounds can I make such a catastrophic statement? We are all sold under sin, there is none righteous no not one! Sin caused death to reign in our mortal bodies. It is when we begin to believe that once we have been saved that we somehow hope we are now nice people and no longer subject to the enslavement of sin, which is true! However it is not the flesh that now gives us power to overcome but God’s Spirit.

I understand that I may be repeating myself, but it is crucial we understand the fundamentals when it comes to the warfare between the flesh and the Spirit. Only of late have I been reminded of the pain we must suffer in the flesh when looking to put to death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit.

To be a near perfect example as Paul seemed to be it will cost us our lives in the flesh, it will be a life full of tears and sorrow and yet hope will overshadow it all. This is what Paul went through; “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2Corinthians 11:23-28)

If we are serious about our great God’s call upon our lives it will cost us, yet it will be worth it all, do not let the acrobatics of your flesh, “lust and pride” win the day but rather cleave to the promises of God for they are sure and true!

Let us not be surprised with how we so often as Christians have the wrong thoughts or react in the wrong way, it will continue to happen until the day we die, we carry with us this body of death. It is what we now do with the evil it looks to generate that counts; “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:22-25)

We must always look to be doing the right thing according to God’s law as it is a delightful set of ordinances. Yet we will always have our carnal natures resisting God’s law and looking for an easy out. We must now flee to the living waters to find substance in time of need, we must learn to approach the throne room of Grace constantly, and that is 24/7 if we are to walk obediently before our righteous Father. Never think it strange when an unwelcomed thought seems to appear out of the blue, it will and must happen as we carry with us this body of death.

We all have the opportunity to put this body with all its sinful tendencies under, but there is no other way to achieve this, but by suffering; we must arm our minds with this truth; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1Peter 4:1-2)

It is often the misunderstanding of this warfare between the flesh and the spirit which leads to us often stumbling.

Signing off

Tyrone

    

   

O people, pour out your heart before Him!

(Psalm 62:7-8) “On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah”

“In God is my salvation and my glory. Where our salvation is there our glory is; for what is our salvation but the glory to be revealed, the eternal weight of glory? And there our glorying must be. In God let us boast all the day long. “The rock of my strength (that is, my strong rock, on which I build my hopes and stay myself) and my refuge, to which I flee for shelter when I am pursued, is in God, and in him only. I have no other to flee to, no other to trust to; the more I think of it the better satisfied I am in the choice I have made.” Thus does he delight himself in the Lord, and then ride upon the high places of the earth, Isa_58:14.” (Matthew Henry)

How is it we should ever put our trust in uncertain riches and yet so many do. We may claim to be amongst the number that does not trust in unsure riches but is that really the truth, do we honestly share David’s sentiment? I long to be more like our brother David! Do we hear the echo’s of God’s voice ringing true to our ears; “he is a man after my own heart?” Father please I pray make me more like David and even more like my great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Help all your children across the globe, that are still running the race, embrace you with due benevolence. If we embrace, help us embrace tighter still! “Fill my eye oh my God with the vision of a cross” is my cry and I pray the same for all who have your Spirit. It seems so easy to get lost in translation in this world, forgive me Lord! How I long for that glorious day when I will see you face to face.

I sit in the still of the night and I too echo the words of my brother John Newton; “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” It is almost unconceivable and yet it is true, how great is my God and his mercies beyond finding out! This thought even now is sweeter than honey in the rock, bless your glorious name sweet Jesus; without your obedience and your willingness to die on that cruel Roman cross I would be like a dumb ostrich with my head in the sand, but now I have eyes that can see and for this I am truly grateful! When I gaze into the beauty of the vast sea and the fruitful mountain range I stand in awe when I see your creation and it cause me to cry out, “how great is my God!” Many will attribute creation to some other god or choose to worship the creation not acknowledging the creator.

My lips will proclaim and declare that Jesus is Lord and I acknowledge Him as the Word of God, the method used for all of  creation, bless His name!

Magnificent Holy Father what would be my destination if you did not love? Hell and all its torment would be just on the horizon awaiting my last breathe. I struggle to convey with words how thankful I am, but I have been given a glimpse of what it meant for you to send your Son to die for me on Calvary. THANK YOU FATHER GOD!

When we ask we do receive, I now knock and look for this great door to now open in my life like never before, Lord Jesus a pray for a portion of your obedience, help me live a more obedient life bringing glory to our great Father! He alone is worthy, so worthy and I feel so undeserving. I understand that I have been saved by grace through faith which is not of works lest any man should boast and that it is a gift of God. I have nevertheless been instructed by Paul to present my body a living sacrifice and I ask for you to help me with this request. Awaken those parts which sleep, give me eyes to see and ears to pay attention as each day passes me by.

Yes I have made many mistakes, but let those mistakes grow strangely dim and help the light that once shined bright and clear to once again shine, bringing glory to my great Father and to your Holy name, Amen!

You are forever faithful help me walk by faith, heaven is just on the horizon I can almost see it!

“Heaven is a place where we shall never sin; where we shall cease our constant watch against an indefatigable enemy, because there will be no tempter to ensnare our feet. There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. Heaven is the “undefiled inheritance”; it is the land of perfect holiness, and therefore of complete security. But do not the saints even on earth sometimes taste the joys of blissful security? The doctrine of God’s word is, that all who are in union with the Lamb are safe; that all the righteous shall hold on their way; that those who have committed their souls to the keeping of Christ shall find him a faithful and immutable preserver. Sustained by such a doctrine we can enjoy security even on earth; not that high and glorious security which renders us free from every slip, but that holy security which arises from the sure promise of Jesus that none who believe in him shall ever perish, but shall be with him where he is. Believer, let us often reflect with joy on the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and honour the faithfulness of our God by a holy confidence in him.

May our God bring home to you a sense of your safety in Christ Jesus! May he assure you that your name is graven on his hand; and whisper in your ear the promise, “Fear not, I am with thee.” Look upon him, the great Surety of the covenant, as faithful and true, and, therefore, bound and engaged to present you, the weakest of the family, with all the chosen race, before the throne of God; and in such a sweet contemplation you will drink the juice of the spiced wine of the Lord’s pomegranate, and taste the dainty fruits of Paradise. You will have an antepast of the enjoyments which ravish the souls of the perfect saints above, if you can believe with unstaggering faith that “faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Ask and we will receive!

(Psalm 62:2) “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

When David’s psalm becomes our reality when we ask will receive, seek and we shall find, and finally knock and the door will be opened to us. Like we have all learnt to understand, the proof is in the pudding. When we ask, let it be with diligence and with sincerity and we will receive what we ask for. 

However our request must be in line with the Lord’s will, He must receive all the glory and we know that the Lord Jesus must be in the forefront of our minds when we ask. It is when we learn to ask in the name of the Lord that we will be heard, if we ask amiss we will not receive our request, as it discounts the work of Calvary. James puts it like this; “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)

When we ask with the mind of Christ, how will we not be heard, it would be impossible! We must ask in faith, why? Because God has so ordain it for us to ask! We must never tempt God and test His Word to prove whether or not it will come to pass, is shall come to pass!

It is beautiful when we see our prayers being answered. Forgive me Father for this consideration; it is in itself evil; it speaks of surprise as if it is almost unbelievable. Surprise should be the furthers thought from our minds, God loves to bless his children, why else would He have sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sins, and that was when we were the enemies of the cross. Sinners and haters of God! We are now His children and are capable of crying “ABBA FATHER”, what a wonderful privilege!

We must ask in order to receive; the time to remain silent must be yesterday problem, today is the day of salvation, let us seize the day in Christ by asking our heavenly Father for blessings that makes us more like our glorious Saviour; this is the call for all who believe in their hearts that God rose Christ from the dead and for them who now confess Jesus as Lord.

It is when we learn to ask with purpose that our requests make us become more dependants on God and our beloved Saviour the Lord Jesus. This then helps us reach our final objective and that is to Glorify God even in our mortal bodies; we will become living epistles known and read by all men.

If we ask God to watch over us, He certainly will, if we pray that He sends his angels to look out for us on a dangerous journey, they certainly shall protect us and we will never beg bread!

On Friday morning I prayed to my heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and asked Him to watch over us on our journey down to Plettenburg Bay; it was a simple prayer and went something like this; “Please Father watch over us on our travels and please send your angels to prepare the way, keeping us safe, and thank you for hearing my prayer, Amen!”

About 2 hours into our journey at around 4:15 am with the visibility still very poor with the sun still hidden below the horizon. The road was no longer a dual carriageway but had narrow into a single lane with a no barrier separating the oncoming traffic. The road although reasonably quite had its fair share or trucking, with Mongi in the passenger seat and Laverne, my sister in the back seat. I approached a blind rise and for no particular reason (some would conclude) felt myself sit up more astutely as I gave the corner more attention than I normally would. As I came around the corner a truck was overtaking another truck and I realised we were on a collision course, a head on accident imminent with certain death on the cards. However I felt an amazing calm flicked my lights vigorously and then move over onto the shoulder of the road as both trucks passed me. They had occupied the entire road as I now hugged the fringe.

Now some would conclude this as a coincidence, but I will not entertain such a wicked thought. I am thankful for the answer to my prayer, God did send his angels to watch over us and we were kept safe. I asked and I received, what would have happened if I had not asked, that is uncertain so let us deal with the facts. I did ask just as we have been instructed to do and I did receive. Why did I receive? Firstly, I believe that God would watch over us and my prayer was a prayer of faith, believing I would be heard. Secondly, God now receives all the glory as I thank Him for his mercy and his grace. Although we were the beneficiaries of His grace, He is the One would receives the glory, I cannot now claim that I missed the truck because I have great driving skill, I am now aware that I missed the truck because God had placed certain parameters in place to help us avoid the accident. My prayer was heard, I asked and I received, praise the mighty name of Jesus, all honour and glory belongs to our great God and our King now and forevermore, Amen!

We must learn to ask, so that we may be built up in faith; it is the just that shall live by faith!

Signing off

Tyrone

The decaying flesh!

My great Father and King how great is thy faithfulness and your mercies beyond searching out. To get a taste of your sweet grace is almost uncontainable. The body is not sure how to react but the soul finds absolute delight as it causes wells of living water to gush forth, and for this I am thankful. To be quickened in the Spirit is beyond containment in the flesh! The Spiritual realm is higher than the natural realm and God is the Father of spirits, in fact He is the Father of all. Even the evil entities in this universe have been ordained by God, yes they are responsible, yes they are guilty as charged but God has a specific place for them in helping us work out our salvation. We know that all things worked together for the good of those called by God. We sometimes forget to end off that sentence when we quote it to ourselves; it ends like this; according to His purpose!

Let no one convince you that God has nothing to do with all that is evil; He has allowed it to work its trickery but only for time. It is part of His ingenious plan and yet all had been subjected to His governing authority. But before I am misunderstood let me reiterate that God is good and that no evil thought is capable of ever contaminating God, He is perfect! Satan tried to achieve that when God the man, the Lord Jesus in the flesh was led away into the Wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He was led, or instructed if you prefer; get the idea?

And yet God has allowed evil to exist and run its course. Now what the carnal man looks to do is blame others and excuse himself, it is a byproduct of sin. However where we must not make our mistake is to misunderstand the role evil plays in the believer’s life. It is a tool used to conform us into the image of Christ. Not that we are to be evil but because of the evil we see and witness it is a reminder of how great God actually is, how holy, how righteous! It reminds us of our objective and that is to be more Christ minded. It is a reminder of what Christ overcame whilst on earth; He never once yielded to even one of those taunting temptations. He overcame sin and all its lures perfectly, praise His name! It is the enemy and we are at war!

It would be good for us to understand our enemy and where he likes to attack; every great leader always seemed to study his enemy, let us do the same. Who then is the enemy? Satan and all his demonic forces have their role to play but never forget this important truth, we in ourselves are the enemy, our flesh is corrupt and it is dead because of sin, and can never be anything different; “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. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”(James 1:13-16): -  Some like to imagine that now because we have been saved our bodies which are decaying will somehow be patched up and begin to act in a different manner, it is impossible to please God in the flesh! For this very reason we need to be born again and that is a Spiritual birth, it has nothing to do with anything corrupt. It is impossible for you to sin in the Spirit, when we sin we sin through the flesh.

I have personally wrestled with this frustration for many years and it has eaten at me with great ferocity, the flesh can never attain to perfection, this does not however excuse our sin, we must strive for perfection just as our great heavenly Father is perfect; “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

The key to living in faith is not how many times we fall but rather when we fall we dust the dirt from our knees and we march on.

We need to arrive at this understanding and the Apostle Paul gives us great insight into the war between the flesh and the Spirit. It is impossible for the two to be reconciled no differently as if one was to try and integrate light with darkness; they cannot coexist in the same sphere. Flip a light switch and the darkness must flee! If we try and use the flesh with all its corruption and to try achieve spiritual height we will always fail. This then was my great dilemma for so many years; I was led to believe a lie! The truth is this we carry with us a body of death, our carnal natures remain with us even after salvation but we like to pretend that is no longer has any hold on us, which is a lie!

Ask yourself this question, after being saved have you ever sinned or had a thought that was unwelcome, the answer is obvious! The reason for this is the body of death! This is how Paul explains it; “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:21-25): - He is not speaking of the man prior to salvation but refers to his dilemma after understanding salvation.   

Our natural capabilities will always fall short of the glory of God. For this very reason God sent His son to die for sinners. If it could be any other way, then Christ would have died in vain and yet He has set the captives free. Therefore we must now walk in the Spirit and we with not succumb to the trapping of sins and be slaves to it. We will fall, but faith then demands that we look heavenward as we call out for help to the only one who is capable of helping us, our great Saviour, our great God, praise the holy name of Jesus now and forever more!

If we purposely chose to reason with any other mindset we make God a liar and we know that there is no lie in our great God; “Let God be true and every man a liar!”

We must learn to depend on the finished work of Calvary and nothing else! Anything outside of that will lead us down into a dark ditch. God help us to always remember to put on the full armour of God and never to forget that this is done thru the Spirit and not the flesh.

Signing off

Tyrone

Holiday Time!

It is that time of the year, holiday time, where in years past I have dropped my guard and seen others do the same. It is when we are most vulnerable and this is why we need to be more attentive. This morning I leave for my year-end vacation, Plettenberg Bay my destination. Holidays seems to give us an excuse to go on leave even as Christians, I know that is a ridiculous thought in itself, but the mind loves to look for easy outs. We are Christians 24/7; this leaves us either walking obediently before our Holy Father or as disobedient children when we excuse what we normally wouldn’t.

A good thought to take with us on our break is this; “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thessolonians 5:2-9)  

May we remember that we have a great hope that is just on the horizon, but it is yet to arrive, let us therefore be zealous to attain to the resurrection and be the beacons of light we were called to be, wherever that may be, and not to run with the rest of the crowd but to be the salt of the earth. God help us we pray to grow more and more into our glorious Saviour image, Amen!

An encouraging thought as we venture off to our various destinations…

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.”- Rev_3:4

“We may understand this to refer to justification. “They shall walk in white”; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow.

Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses among the Jews. They who have not defiled their garments shall have their faces always bright; they shall understand what Solomon meant when he said “Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let thy garments be always white, for God hath accepted thy works.” He who is accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much misery, and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their garments with sin and error, and hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those who have not defiled their garments here shall most certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual hallelujahs to the Most High. They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss which imagination knoweth not, blessedness which even the stretch of desire hath not reached. The “undefiled in the way” shall have all this-not of merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for he has made them “worthy.” In his sweet company they shall drink of the living fountains of waters.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Let us rest well, for we may well deserve it, but let us ensure all that is done is concluded in the name of the Lord.

Signing off

Tyrone

Ask, Seek and Knock!

(Matthew 7:7) “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: “

I am no model student, I never have been, and academics seemed to be a bore for me growing up. Sport on the other hand, was where it was at. I made it my business to walk to the tennis courts and to hit the ball for hours or when I learnt to play badminton for the first time, I seemed to get hooked and made every effort to play where possible. I could not have been older than twelve. Homework was something I detested! A misguided mind-set that it was boring and nerdy to be academic. But I am now convinced that whatever we truly seek out we will find. The rules of engagement have changed somewhat, as Christians we are given wonderful privileges, they are; ask and it will be given, seek and then we will find and finally knock and the door shall be opened.

However how will anything be given if we do not ask, how will we find if we do not seek and how will any particular door be opened if we do not knock? It is easy to get into a “rut”, bad habits form easily and then they are not so easy to break. We need to remind ourselves that we will only ever get one crack at life in these mortal bodies, when we breathe our last then the clock will be up. Eternity and all that lies ahead would have hinged on what we have done in our bodies and with the gift of salvation. How often have we asked and what is it we have asked for? What door do we keep knocking on and which door is opened? And finally whatever we seek out through life will be evident in what we put our hands too.

We now have a much higher calling than any other, as Christians we must learn to ask, seek and knock in every area of our lives. This will take sacrifice! We must learn to become solely dependent on God through His glorious Son, the Lord Jesus. I am so far from that goal in some areas of my life; I know I need to change! But unless I ask how will I receive? For the first time in my life I have an anxiety about money and the future, this is not how we have been instructed to live; “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6): - Do we see how this verse confirms my train of thought; ask, seek and knock!

What will I do with this bit of information? Will I continue be a hearer and not a doer or will I take it seriously and not be a man who has to be forced by circumstances into having to ask, seek and knock. Tribulation does bring about the necessity to cry out to God. It is obvious from the examples left us by the "Jewish Exodus", where Moses led them from Egypt into the Promised Land.

Even though we have Christ’s Spirit we have been instructed to ask, seek and knock! If we remain inactive we will be rendered ineffective. God help us to understand the importance of asking, seeking and knocking. Thank you for revealing these truths to my understanding this morning my great Father, please help me take them seriously. I do realise it may hurt and there may be rough times ahead, but if it makes me more like my glorious Saviour then it will be worth it all, Amen!

This then is the promise from our Saviour; “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8)

We could take this text and then begin to get caught up with a particular reference to what it is actually teaching, let us not do that but rather draw from the principle it teachers. Our sole dependency must be on the finished work of Calvary and nothing else! This is the lesson of life we must eventually all learn.

Signing off

Tyrone

The greatest of these is Love!

(1Corinthians 13:13)   “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

The beloved Disciple John, was as history suggests, the only Apostle not to get martyred. He died from natural causes on the Island Patmos after being imprisoned for his love for Christ and obedience to God’s call upon his life. I often wonder why he escaped the torment of such cruel deaths the others faced; Peter crucified upside down, James beaten, stoned and then clubbed to death. With all the others being martyred, but not John, why? We know that he is referred to as the “beloved disciple”, the one who had a place reserved for him, his ear given permission to listen to the heartbeat of God in the flesh, he would at times rest his head on the Lord Jesus’ chest; “Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper…” (John 21:20)   

This is how the Lord Jesus viewed john; “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"” (John 19:26) 

There was a special place for him and that was very close to the Lord’s heart, there is no other mention of any of the other disciples nestled in the arms of the Lord. John seemed to love more than the others. A verse that comes to mind when I think about the Apostle John is this; “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13): - I am not for one minute suggesting that the other disciples were not sold out for the Lord; they obviously were, why else would someone die for their cause. But even the Lord Jesus whilst he hung upon that cruel cross looked at his earthly mother, Mary and it is recorded interestingly by John himself that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Love the greatest of all virtues!

Faith will eventually run its course, hope will no longer be needed but love will endure forever; “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1Corinthians 13:13)   

I believe even though John made his mistakes, he understood better that all the others that because God is love, he too loved! He understood the greatest of the entire commandments; "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)  

Do you remember this account? It was a time when all the disciples had lost hope, the Lord Jesus had been crucified and they all went back fishing, they return to their old lifestyles as their hope had dwindled. Both Peter and John were guilty as charged, but Peter is singled out, in fact it upsets Simon Peter and gets him to point a finger at John, but the Lord turns to Peter and seems ignores Johns transgression. John knew he was wrong and never needed to be told, Peter on the other hand was deal with severely. I wonder does the understanding of love play its part, I would suggest that it most certainly does!

Here is the account; “He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me." Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"” (John 21:17-23)

John was a disciple that embraced love like no other and we know that there are days ahead that will leave many waxing cold in love; “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12)

May we learn from John and fight for the love amongst the brethren with all our might’s. God help us to lay down our lives for one another as the love of many will wax cold, but may we resolve to be amongst the number that hold onto it, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Beware of the old heart!

(Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

I agree with my brother Malcolm’s statement that scripture must take precedence over all other teaching or preaching, both externally as well as internally, our hearts are desperately wicked and deceitful above all things and they look to wrestle for liberty and often at the exclusion of sound doctrine.

"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.” (1Chronicles 28:9)

There is much talk about one’s own free will in Christian circles, especially between the Arminian and the Calvinist. I will not go there this morning but we will look at this instruction from David to his son Solomon and understand Solomon responsibility, “If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.”

If one sets out on a journey, the only way to finds ones destination is to have a detail map. Guess work is never a good idea! Our hearts if left to their own devises will lead us down that road Destruction; we may even come across, Obnoxious, Rage, Self-willed and Proud streets as they are all in the same vicinity. It is only the accurate map to life, “the Word of God” that will keep us out of those dangerous hazards. But it is imperative that we use the map to life if we are not sure of life’s direction. Guess work is never a good Idea! I am convinced that He who has begun a good work will complete it on the day of the Lord. Not because I like the sound of it, which I do, but because the bible teachers me this to be true! I bypass my heart in that sense and trust the Word as the final authority. And yet we are warned that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night! “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1Thessolonians 5:2)

Therefore I have a responsibility to pay attention to this warning and many others. How do I know that the Lord will come as a thief in the night? Not because I sense it, which may well be true as I am lead by God the Holy Spirit and God’s Spirit now lives within me. But I know of a certainty that the Lord will come as a thief in the night because the Word of God, the Bible has told me so. A clear uncomplicated message! Now if it was left up to my own imagination about certain truths in scripture, where would that leave me? A very dangerous place! Why? Because our hearts are desperately wicked; “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9): - How do I know this? Because I am taught from the bible and when I examine it against scripture I know it to be true. Much about my life consists of excusing or accusing, but where is that yardstick? The bible is the final authority! On the other hand the world with its jargon teachers a different message and that is we are all inherently good. Who will you believe? I have made my choice! Let God be true and every man a liar! It is not about what my heart would like scripture to say but rather what is actually says; Let me use a very strong example which may cause hearts to resist, proving my point; “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” (1Timothy 2:12): - Not a very popular message, even more so in today’s world, nevertheless Paul explains why; “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” (1Timothy 2:13-14)

What then we will conclude? Will we yield to the authority of God’s Word or will we resist it and yield to the deceitfulness of our hearts, only you can decide! When we resist the instructions of men, so be it, but when they speak under God’s authority we have no choice but to pay careful attention to what is said.     

We cannot remain on the fence if that is where we find ourselves. We must look at the detail map God has left us, His Word, our Saviour the Lord Jesus and find clear concise direction for our next step wherever we may be. If we have second guest up until now on any given topic, let today be a new day with a new resolve to be more diligent to God’s instruction in and through His Word.

God help us to take life a little more seriously, for His name sake, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Regret... will it play its part?

Regret, will we ever have remorse in heaven? This morning my thoughts go deep as I reflect on this, which seems to be a nagging consideration. We are told to occupy until He comes, John Piper warns us not to waste our lives and the scripture teachers that we will sow what we reap. I understand that principle all too well! Whatever we put our hands to will lead us to its objective. Chase money and the reality of Paul’s warning to Timothy becomes our very own reality; “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1Timothy 6:9-10)

Some believe that they are immune to this warning, but all will suffer loss if taken by it. Then we have the warnings of Peter to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul; “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:11): - Again some will look to ignore this warning thinking they will escape its torment, only to find that the Word of God is always precise! Accommodate any forms of “passions of the flesh” and it will torment us until we seek forgiveness for our actions, whatever they may be! The “Old Man” constantly looking to remain alive even though on God’s reckoning he is dead! The flesh hangs on with all its might, yet at the expense of a tormenting war that rages within our souls.

We also understand that God deals with all His children in His loving tender way and yet sometimes that does require some harsh discipline which is often played out through the flesh. If one is weak and sickly amongst us, it is often the flesh that reveals the sickness. Although we may be spiritually crippled it is the flesh that will bear the brunt of the weakness. When we walk as mere men that is all we understand and often only realised our error when we suffer in our bodies.

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1Corinthians 11:27-30) 

But, because of God’s love for His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus and His love toward us, this is what causes God to act favourably even if we don’t; “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. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:6-11) 

God brilliantly does all things with purpose and an objective, His will in the forefront of His mind, which must also become our objective; He is holy, righteous and merciful and He alone is good. Thankfully He has chosen to include those who confess Him (His Son) as Lord as part of His family and He will continue to look out for His own, Praise His Holy Name now and forever more!  

Yet with that comes the warnings, when we chose to ignore them it will be at our own peril, when will we finally learn, is the question I find infiltrating my mind even now as I type.

So here then is my final consideration; when we eventually arrive home, heaven our final destination it is clear from scripture that we will face a works judgment; we will be judged on what we did with the free gift of salvation. Some will suffer loss; “each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (Corinthians 3:13-15)

Now if we were to suffer loss, that would mean there would be regret and yet we are also taught By John that heaven will be a place where there will be no more tears, in other words no regret; “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:13-17): It seems to be obvious that these came out of the great tribulation, in order to do that one would need to be faithful to God’s call, they would have suffered no loss, so a consideration could well be that for them there would be no regret. A special place is reserved by God for them; "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.”

However there is another portion of scripture that includes all who make it to the New Jerusalem and no one there will have any regret, for if they did, God will free then from it; “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

My conclusion which may be impulsive would be; if we were to suffer loss because of our disobedience we would carry that into heaven, through the believers judgement (works judgment) up until the final wedding feast and only then will those who have dilly dallied with the gifts of salvation be freed from regret.

I have not done an intensive study on this, these are only my thoughts and my mornings consideration, yet I have answered them in some form and I have a clearer understanding of what it is I must get on with, the will of God!

Signing off

Tyrone  

   

    

      

Brothers dwelling in Unity!

(Psalms 133:1)  “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

David understood the culinary advantages for brothers to eat and to share a table around the finished work of Calvary. I would liken it to honey in the rock in a dry and barren land. It is something we must never take for granted and we must fight with all our might for unity amongst the brethren. How thankful I am to God my Father for the unity we as brothers in Christ share around God and His Word on a Saturday mornings. For a long time I was in a barren land, with very little unity around God’s Word as I battled to come to truth with certain realities, that had been misrepresented.  I will say, amen! To what David has to say, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

The strength of any well thought out plan is for people to be unified in their objective. That goes for both the honourable as well as the criminal. Even organised crime would be less effective if it was not unified with criminals standing together in unity to rip off the public. What David is saying is how sweet it is when, Christians get together around the finished work of Christ with the same objective and that is to bring glory to their God, praise His name! These kinds of encounter help us find new strength to fly the banner of truth in our lives. It is something well worth dying for.

Christianity is filled with many proud and conceited individuals and I have no doubt played my part amongst that number. However there must come a time in our lives when we put off childish things and we look to fight for the common good of all true Christians across the globe. This does not mean at the exclusion of sound doctrine, but on the contrary, to stand up for truth and to allow the Word of God to speak and to break down strongholds in the minds of babes and those who have been blindsided with error as if it was the truth.

The time is at hand for all of God’s children to fight the good fight of faith and to help those who as weak and in need of a helping hand. It is imperative that we begin at home with our own lives as we look for grace to strengthen our own relationships with God our Father through the finished work of our great redeeming King the Lord Jesus. Prayer a vital pillar to that relationship.

Instead of looking for reasons why we will avoid certain brothers if indeed they are brothers in Christ, let us fight to have sweet fellowship with them in unity around Christ. What is it that will change our understanding on any given topic? What will open our eyes to the truth if we have misunderstood certain doctrines and misrepresented them? I am convinced, for us to arrive at a place of understanding it is all about humility before our great God. If we can learn to echo the words of Paul to Timothy and make them our own, I believe we too with David will echo his statement about brothers and unity. This then was Paul’s instruction to Timothy; “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2Timothy 2:23-26)

We must act in a particular manner when handling the Word of Life, we must patiently endure evil in gentleness; however it is only God who can grant man repentance and help them come to their senses.

Let us not mistake gentleness for the accommodation of error and the doctrines of devils. Wolves are not to be accommodated in any shape or form, even the lion was no match for the shepherd boy David; at any sight of them he destroyed them and protected his sheep: "But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.” (1Samuel 17:34-35):- Elijah did exactly the same thing, he openly opposed those who opposed His God, if the challenge comes against the truth of God's Word it must be openly addressed so that the wolves are exposed.  

My plea is to those who have Christ’s Spirit across the denominations, there are Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals as well as many other church groups that preach Christ and Him crucified and who have amongst their number those who confess Jesus as Lord, all of God’s children, His election and those who are known by God.

I have often wondered why any one particular church had not received the fullness of the measure in application on how a local assembly should operate. I think it has something to do with the necessity of keeping us humble. I may be wrong! But what I do know is what David teachers us; “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” And this must be our objective; we must fight for it and learn from one another.

The sooner we understand that our kidneys play their effective role in our own bodies and that we need then to flush out any impurities, the sooner we learn to work for them and not against them. If we learn that our kidneys are about to fail, we will not now go out of our way to go on an alcoholic binge, unless we have a death wish. So too has God placed each member in the body as it has pleased him; I now speak to the universal church and not the local assembly; we can and must learn from one another. For if we remain firm on our laurels and refuse to receive nourishment from our brothers we will not share and understand David’s sentiment on what it means to dwell in unity. We will suffer loss!

God help us to learn to stand on His truth and for us to lay down our lives for our brothers especially when we do not have unity as a common denominator. As the battle begins to gain momentum it is important that we know who is with us and who then is the true enemy.

“What it is that is commended - brethren's dwelling together in unity, not only not quarrelling, and devouring one another, but delighting in each other with mutual endearments, and promoting each other's welfare with mutual services. Sometimes it is chosen, as the best expedient for preserving peace, that brethren should live asunder and at a distance from each other; that indeed may prevent enmity and strife (Gen_13:9), but the goodness and pleasantness are for brethren to dwell together and so to dwell in unity, to dwell even as one (so some read it), as having one heart, one soul, one interest. David had many sons by many wives; probably he penned this psalm for their instruction, to engage them to love another, and, if they had done this, much of the mischief that arose in his family would have been happily prevented. The tribes of Israel had long had separate interests during the government of the Judges, and it was often of bad consequence; but now that they were united under one common head he would have them sensible how much it was likely to be for their advantage, especially since now the ark was fixed, and with it the place of their rendezvous for public worship and the centre of their unity. Now let them live in love.

II. How commendable it is: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is! It is good in itself, agreeable to the will of God, the conformity of earth to heaven. It is good for us, for our honour and comfort. It is pleasant and pleasing to God and all good men; it brings constant delight to those who do thus live in unity. Behold, how good! We cannot conceive or express the goodness and pleasantness of it. Behold it is a rare thing, and therefore admirable. Behold and wonder that there should be so much goodness and pleasantness among men, so much of heaven on this earth! Behold it is an amiable thing, which will attract our hearts. Behold it is an exemplary thing, which, where it is, is to be imitated by us with a holy emulation.” (Matthew Henry)

Signing off

Tyrone