Hannah - A godly woman

We mentioned in our previous post that Hannah is a lovely Bible character and as we move into chapter two of Samuel there are some lovely observations we can make...

We finished our thoughts last time by looking at Hannah's thankfulness and praise for answered prayer concerning a child, and this continues into chapter two. The first 10 verses are Hannah's praise and thanksgiving to God and these verses stand in stark contrast to the bitterness and sorrow of chapter one. I think this is important, as life can be just like that; elation and happiness one minute, when you feel indestructible and that nothing can go wrong, and then everything can go wrong and events can combine to leave us feeling helpless, worried and in despair!

What I think this sequence of events in 1 Samuel shows us is to get into a routine of bringing things before the Lord, and when we see answer to prayer or experience blessing, to immediately give thanks to God and acknowledge his goodness and guidance in our lives. Unfortunately I find I am very quick to bring something before God in time of need, but a lot less quick to give thanks when he answers prayer and I see his hand in my life!

Hannah shows a tremendous knowledge of God in her prayer, so much so that it was a challenge to me. The way she prayed bore the hallmarks of a woman that lived close to God and obviously communicated regularly with God, so that her prayers expressed a knowledge of the character and attributes of God! Surely we who have the full scriptures and have been saved by the grace of God and indwelled by the Spirit should also be able to pray in the same way? A case in point is her acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God in verses 6 and 7. She confesses that it is God that controls life and death, and God can make men poor and rich as he wills, just as he can exalt or humble a man. What a lesson this is, and what grace to accept Gods will in these matters!

v19 is lovely. Every year Hannah came up with her husband and would bring Samuel a new coat. I had never given this much thought before, but I realise now that this must surely have been very difficult for her, as it seems as if this yearly visit was the only time she got to see her soon whom she had given to the Lord. Each year the coat would have been made a little bigger, and as she made and prepared it in the home ready for the yearly journey it would have been a constant reminder of her noble sacrifice, but also the great blessing she had been given from God. I think therefore it is lovely that God saw fit to further bless Hannah and give her 3 sons and 2 daughters, as I think this godly woman would have been an excellent mother from what I can see in these chapters. She was a spiritual woman who put God first in her life, and experienced great blessing as a result. It put me in mind of the scripture:

"Them that honour me, I will honour"

 

 

Meditations on 1 Samuel

Hello fellow believers, the last 3 weeks have been manic and I have been involved in other things and so haven't been able to post here for some time! My apologies.

I have been beginning to read 1 Samuel and I intend to go through these books to 2nd Chronicles and see what can be learned from the times of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Already through reading the opening chapters of Samuel I have found much profit and benefit, and I commend the further study of this book to you!

Some Opening Remarks and Observations...

The book opens with a number of things:

• A divided family


• A godly woman


• Worship and sacrifice


• Men who didn't understand or who should have known better


• Earnest prayer and a heavy heart


• Answered prayer and a thankful heart

The first 8 chapters of Samuel record the move from Theocracy (God ruling the people) to a Monarchy (a man ruling the people for God). This was part of a general downward trend of rebellion and departure.

If we look at Hannah briefly we see here a lovely Bible character. Her name means "grace" and we can certainly see this godly characteristic borne out in her life here in the first chapter! She is in a very difficult situation, with her husbands attentions and affections divided (although he had a preferential spirit towards her) yet she exhibits long-suffering, grace and meekness. She turns her sorrow and hardship into an opportunity for earnest prayer to her God. What an example for us here! If only we would turn our struggles and trials into prayer, rather than a negative spirit or bitterness and anger.

The abundance of Hannah's sorrow (v6-10) is matched by the abundance of her prayerfulness (v10-13), and also by the abundance of her sacrifice (v24-28). In actual fact when you look at the closing verses of the first chapter, we see that Hannah gave back to God all that she had been given by God (her son Samuel). It is a challenge to ourselves: do we give back to God when he answers our prayers? We should be thankful and praise God when he hears our cry and answers our prayer!

"for this child I prayed" - what a story is wrapped up in those words!

Hannah was experiencing the blessed position of being in communion and fellowship with God, something which is available to each and every one of us as believers. She had experienced sorrow and deep need, she had committed it earnestly and solemnly to God, and God had answered her prayer in a wonderful way! She was now free and generous in her praise and thanksgiving to God, having been blessed so.

Might we follow the godly example of Hannah and "take it to the Lord in prayer" so that we too might experience blessing at the hand of God and enjoy a living and real relationship with him.

Yours in Christ, Mark

 

The 'thirds' of scripture... (part 3)

Welcome again fellow believer to the blog and in particular to the final part of our look at the 'thirds' found in scripture. Today we are looking at the 'third watch'.

The third watch - Luke 12:38

I realise that we are lifting these verses slightly out of context and from their proper application, but I feel that they can equally apply to saints who await the soon coming return of the Lord Jesus to the air! I think there are lessons and applications for us here that are fair to make.

Under the Jewish system, the third watch of the night was also the last watch of the night before morning, from 02:00 to 06:00. The night had been long and dark and the watchers would be tiring and weary, but there were signs of morning approaching! My fellow believer, I can't think of a better picture of today, as we look around this sorry world as evil abounds on every corner, doesn't it feel like we are in the third watch of the night? There can be no doubt that there is much unrest in the world, and we are living in dark and difficult days of testimony, surely the Lord will come soon as he promised in his Word!

"surely I come quickly" Revelation 22:20

If we read the previous verses the Lord speaks about those servants who are waiting and watching for their Lord to return. There are 2 things that the Lord mentions about these waiting and watching servants:

"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning"

In Bible times the loins being girded would mean that the person was ready for activity and movement, as their garments and robes were long and flowing and needed to be girded in order to do serious activity! As we wait and watch for the Lord we should be active in service, ready to move and do his will.

The lamps burning would speak of the light of testimony, as the scriptures often refer to a testimony being a light, whether it be individual or collective as an assembly. In these dark days in which we live, surely it is even more imperative that our light of testimony burn all the more brighter to bring glory and honour to God and be a witness and beacon for the lost world around us! If this shows us anything, it is that our testimony is of great importance and interest to the Lord. He delights in it and it brings glory to him. We challenge ourselves - what state is our testimony in, both individual and collectively?

Finally, by way of encouragement we notice that there is blessing for those faithful and expectant servants:

"And if he shall come in... the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants"

Surely this would point us on to a future day of appraisal and reward for the believer, or as it is called the Judgement Seat of Christ:

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" 2 Cor 5:10

As we leave this rich and profitable mini-study, let us leave ourselves with these challenges:

Our life and testimony down here does matter! The Lord is looking for it and will bless faithful servants in a future day. Are we content to coast along, to settle for spiritual mediocrity?

The time is short, the Lord is soon coming, we are in the third watch - how will be found?

The 'thirds' of scripture... (part 2)

Welcome to the third part of our thoughts concerning these fascinating 'thirds' found in the gospels. I hope you have enjoyed the thoughts so far and found them productive and stimulating. If you have, then please leave a comment for me so I know you have!

The third day - Matt 16:21

Praise God we can move on from talking about the third hour and think about the third day when Jesus rose from the dead! We do not remember a dead Saviour today but one who rose mightily from the dead and ascended and is alive at God's right hand today. Of course in his resurrection we see the divine plan of salvation and the sovereign will of God being revealed and worked out. The resurrection showed that God was well pleased with the work of his Son, the price for sin had been paid, and it showed he had triumphed over death, 'sheol' and the grave! The resurrection glorified God and proved to all that his was a victorious death and that he had fully completed perfectly all that he had set out to do. He had prophesied regarding his death, burial and resurrection and all had come to pass as he had said.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus also has further implications for the believer;

1. It speaks of our new life in Christ - Romans 6

"like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life"

A fellow believer reminded me recently; "we easily accept and remember the truth that Christ died for us, but it's very easy to forget that we also died with Christ!" How true - Our "old man", that is to say all that we were in Adam was crucified with Christ on that cross. When we got saved we were born again, we were made a new creature, these are all scriptural terms to describe what happened when we repented and trusted Christ as Saviour! We who were once dead in trespasses and sins were given a new life, a spiritual life that we never had before. Of course baptism is a picture of this - Our old man was crucified with Christ and buried, and we 'arose' with new life, ready to serve God!

I wonder if we were to take assessment of our Christian testimony, could we say that we were walking in " newness of life"?

2. It speaks of our future life with Christ - 1 Cor 15

This passage makes clear that if Christ is not risen, then our faith is vain or empty and we are of all men most miserable! The truth of the resurrection is vital to our faith! I like the words of assurance in this passage however:

"but now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept"

"Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming"

These verses tell us that because Christ has risen, we can be certain that our bodies too will be raised from the dead when he returns to the air in the event that we call 'the rapture'. Death is certainly not the end of the story for the believer!

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words"

So we can see that there is a wonderful future for the believer, whether we die or not and it is all founded upon the resurrection of Christ, so we can have assurance when we talk about these things!

I hope these thoughts have been an encouragement to us. Next time we will look at the final 'third' that I want to consider, can you guess what it might be? If you feel like chancing your arm, leave a comment!

Yours in Christ, Mark

 

The 'thirds' of scripture... (part 1)

Greetings once again fellow believers, and thanks for visiting the blog! Recently I have been thinking about a series of references to 'third things' in the scriptures, in particular in reference to the Lord Jesus.

A third time - Matt 26:44

We read this verse and the preceding portion and it surely reveals something of the depth of suffering of the Saviour as he endured that agony in the garden of Gethsemane. "his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death"

We read that he took with him into the garden Peter, James and John and he charged them to "watch and pray with me". There was a desire for fellowship and companionship with his disciples! Yes there were times when he would be alone and there were things that they could not possibly share in, but the fact that the Lord wanted them with him teaches me this. The Saviour has always desired fellowship with his believing people, whether in the past while he was here, or in the present when he assured us of his presence with us in the gatherings "...there am I in the midst of them" A joyful thing to consider is that he wants us to be with him in a future day as well! "I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory" What a wonderful prospect, that we shall be in heaven with him!

Unfortunately the disciples prove that men are far better at sleeping than they are praying, and the Lord returns 3 times to find them asleep. How true this is of us, we are far better at taking our leisure than concentrating our hearts and minds upon the Lord! On the third time, the Lord tells them that the time and opportunity for watching and praying with him was over for the time had come that he was going to be betrayed. This is solemn, the disciples had a unique and privileged opportunity to watch and pray with their Lord, yet they had missed out and now the opportunity was gone! We should be careful of this, as we too have a limited opportunity to watch and pray whilst we serve him down here, the day of grace will soon draw to a close and our earthly testimony will soon be over! The Lord takes delight in the simple things ("could ye not watch with me one hour?") can we do simple things faithfully for him down here? Let us challenge our own hearts.

The third hour - Mark 15:25

As we read this short yet solemn verse we marvel once again at the gospel writer's economy of words. Just 10 words are used to summarise the death of the Lord Jesus Christ! We remember with interest that John could tell us that limitless volumes could be written about the person and work of the Lord Jesus, but the death of the Saviour is here summarised in just 10 brief, simple words; "And it was the third hour, and they crucified him" The most significant event in man's history, when man took the very Son of God, the one who was God manifest in flesh and nailed him to a cross and put him to death!

Only Mark records the time that they crucified the Saviour, the third hour (9am). I find this poignant that the gospel writer most concerned with the movement and activity of the Saviour records the time of his final movement, his final act in going to the cross of Calvary.

We would remind ourselves afresh of the personal application of that third hour, when the Saviour gave himself for us, each individual that have trusted him and that read this blog now!

"Calvary, O Calvary,

Mercy's vast unfathomed sea!

Love eternal, love to me,

Jesus we adore thee"

 

Next time we will consider the final two 'thirds' that I have been considering, and we trust that this little study will profit us all, and cause us to praise God afresh and lift our hearts in exhortation and encouragement.

Yours in Christ, Mark

 

 

 

Nehemiah - parting shots

Our final post from the book of Nehemiah for the time being is going to be from the second part of the book which is concerned with the rebuilding of the people, following the reconstruction and repair of the walls of Jerusalem.

We can see in chapter 8 the reading of the Word of God and the results that followed. There are lots of relevant and practical lessons to be learned here and perhaps the most important lesson is that if we are going to accomplish anything for God, if we are looking to rebuild ourselves as a people then it must all start with a resolve to learn the truth from Gods Word!

Lets make a fe observations from the preparation and attitude of the people as they approached God's Word under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra the scribe.

"The people gathered themselves together as one man"

The people were united in this great exercise and so they gathered themselves together to hear what the Word of God had to say. They had experienced unity in the building work, now they were experiencing unity in the reading and enjoyment of the Word of God. Later on they would have unity in worship as they lifted their hearts and voices to God in praise."Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" We would draw a challenge from this; if we want to serve, learn and worship God as a local assembly of believers then we need to be in unity and 'gathered together'. One of the implications of this is that we need to be present at the gatherings of the people of God! All too often we can slip into bad habits and find ourselves enjoying the things of the world rather than the things of God. We must be at the gatherings of the Lord's people if we are able!

They gathered at the Water Gate

This is poignant as flowing water is almost always a picture of the Holy Spirit! When we read the scriptures as believers we do so with the help of the Holy Spirit, of whom the Lord said;  "he will guide you into all truth"



"And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose"

Note that Ezra stood upon a pulpit of wood. This was a raised platform that had been built for the purpose, teaching us that thought and preparation had gone into this exercise! We too should strive to create conditions that are conducive to the reading and study of the Word of God whether collectively or privately in our own lives.

"And the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law"

This should be a real challenge to ourselves who are privileged enough to possess the full canon of scripture, just how attentive are we to it? Have we grown too familiar to the Word of God so we just let it wash over us without any impact or giving it due attention? These people only had the first 5 books of the Old Testament possibly, yet they gave their full attention to it!

Note the reverence to Gods Word as well. When Ezra opened the book the people stood up, a mark of reverence and expectancy as they waited on the Lord.

"...caused the people to understand the law... So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading"

It is interesting to see that there were specific men that made sure that the people understood the reading. What a valuable service they performed! I would take this opportunity to fully endorse the scriptural pattern and example of gifted men expounding and teaching the Word of God to believers. There is no substitute or better way of teaching a group of believers than using god given gift to do so. If we want to learn and grow then consecutive teaching from the word by gifted men is fundamental.

Let's have a look at the results of the reading

It was clearly a profitable exercise for they return for a second day! Surely this testimony to the spirit and desire of the people and the effect the Word of God was having in their lives. This should be a challenge to our hearts.

God rewards the people by giving them more, they learn about the Feast of Tabernacles. This teaches me that God rewards us for our diligence in the study of his Word. If we invest time and effort in our study and show willingness to apply it to our lives, God will keep on giving and increase our profit. The Saviour himself said: "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given"

What was the result of the peoples obedience to God's Word?

"And there was very great gladness" There is a lesson for us here - obedience to God's Word brings joy! We probably already associate joy with obtaining salvation: "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth" However there is also joy in our Christian lives when we heed God's Word and obey it. God will bless us when we honour him: "them that honour me I will honour"

We trust that we too will seek to emulate the exercise and spirit of the people in Nehemiah's day! This is a lovely, positive book and it documents a great period of revival amongst the Lord's people. Surely we should seek to learn from it therefore and apply these lessons to our lives.

Yours in Christ, Mark

"This man"

We gather every Lord's Day morning to remember the Lord Jesus and we realise that we are able to do this because he came into this world as an actual and real man. He was a physical man, one whose pathway we can trace, one whose words could be heard, his actions could be witnessed, and his impact and presence could be felt by the men of the day around him.

With this in mind we love what the scriptures have to tell us about "this man"...

"this man was the Son of God"

Although we delight in remembering the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus, it is with fresh wonder that we remember that the man who stood before those people of the day, the one who walked amongst them and could be heard, touched and felt was the very Son of God! This is a truth that is often challenged in the world, but we must stand for the truth, that the man Jesus Christ is the Son of God!

"never man spake like this man"

Of course our Saviour was so different from all other people. He was unique, people had never met anyone like him before or since! We recall his words, and remark how they must have differentiated him from all other men. Even as we ourselves go about our daily lives, we can surely appreciate how wicked and filthy the conversation of this world is! How refreshing it must have been to hear the lovely words of the Saviour as he spoke! Words of grace, truth, wisdom, power, authority, compassion and love. His words bore all the characteristics of heaven and the Godhead.

"whence hath this man this wisdom or these mighty works?"

Our reference reminds us that not only were his words unique, but so were his deeds. He was characterised by wisdom and mighty works! Works that brought glory and pleasure to his father God, and that were motivated by mercy, grace and compassion. Man can often display mighty works of power, but rarely are they aligned with wisdom, and very rarely motivated by mercy, grace and compassion but often by self, greed or anger.

"I find no fault in this man... this man hath done nothing amiss"

We earlier commented on the perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus and we do well to reiterate that the Saviour was perfect! He was sinless, spotless, holy before God for he was God. We remember once again that he could not sin, neither could he be marred or tainted by it as he moved amongst the wickedness of this world. As his life came under constant scrutiny, there were those were caused to remark on his sinlessness.

"Morning by morning
Thou didst wake,
Amidst this poisoned air;
Yet no contagion touched Thy soul,
No sin disturbed Thy prayer"

"we will not have this man..."

But even as they witnessed this blessed one as he lived amongst them, a perfect man who lived a righteous and just life and who brought blessing to others, the verdict in the final analysis was "we will not have this man...". They rejected him! We remember that the prophets would speak of him saying that he would be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. John would record that he came unto his own and his own received him not. How incredible that the very Son of God, he who was God manifest in flesh should ever taste rejection, hatred and cruelty at the hands of his creatures!

"but this man, having offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God"

We come to the cross, the place where he would give his life for us, the place of death. We thank God that we as believers are called to appreciate the tremendous truth of the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus at that cross, we have come into the good of that once and forever work! As the Saviour hung on that cross the world saw this as failure, they had defeated him, they were putting him to death on that cross. Of course this was not defeat though, this was victory, as the Lord completed the work that had been given him to do, to pay the price for sin and make a way of salvation. That work of his at Calvary is perfect and complete, it was a priestly work as he offered up a sinless spotless sacrifice that day, a sacrifice that fully dealt with sin, not just for a while but once and for all! The priest was not permitted to sit whilst he served, but the Lord Jesus had finished that work forever, so he sits now at the right hand of God.

We have such a wonderful Saviour that we should rejoice to praise and worship him! "This man" is our Saviour, and "this man" is our Lord. We trust these simple thoughts today will be  blessing to us all.

Yours in Christ,

Mark

Feet - A few thoughts are afoot...

Just a few short thoughts on the strange but interesting subject of feet from the scriptures today, no doubt you can build on or adapt these thoughts yourselves, all comments welcome!



1. Mark 5:22 "And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet"

His attitude showed humility, despite being a ruler of the synagogue! It showed that he was conscious of his deep need, and showed a repentant spirit before the Lord. When we first come to the Saviour we must be willing to take the lowly place as we acknowledge our sinful condition before a holy and a righteous God, and ask him for forgiveness and salvation. Only then can blessing be given!

2. Luke 7:38 "...And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."

Shows humility in worship, she pours out her heartfelt worship and adoration for the Saviour. Surely this is a model or example for true worship! Surely this is what brings delight and pleasure to the heart of God, as we pour out our hearts worship and praise upon his Son! We challenge ourselves: How much effort do we put into our worship? How much time? Does it affect us like it did this woman? Does it mean this much to us? Oh to capture something of this spirit in our worship both collectively and individually!

3. John 13:5 "After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded."

We marvel again at the humility of the Saviour, the perfect servant! He teaches the disciples a valuable lesson, they had often been arguing who was the greatest, jockeying for position amongst themselves. Here before them was the greatest one that had ever walked the face of the earth, the very Son of God, God manifest in flesh - yet here he was bowing before them and washing their feet with basin and towel. The cross must have been weighing heavy on his mind at this point, yet he takes this lowly step for the ones he loved.

4. Luke 24:39 "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

Here we see the humility of the Cross sufferings, they pierced his hands and his feet! Here however was evidence of his death and crucifixion, seen in the nail prints in his hands and his feet. His was a sacrificial death for us all on the cross of Calvary, and we remind ourselves afresh of this wondrous truth! The nail scarred feet also proved that here standing before them was the risen Lord. The one who had been on the cross, died and was buried was the very same one standing before them in the room! here we have a lovely sign of victory and triumph, the work was perfect, finished and complete, praise him!

5. Acts 16:24 "Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks."

Now we are reminded of the humility of the saints - the sufferings endured in service, and the hardship and persecution for the testimony and furtherance of the Gospel. The Lord could say; "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, (death internally to self) and take up his cross, (death externally to the world) and follow me" Let us remind ourself of the reproach that we should bear in this world - the reproach of the cross, we are associated with that man of Calvary!

6. Romans 10:15 "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

Here we are seeing the humility of the preacher or evangelist engaged in the spread of the Gospel. What a blessed privilege and opportunity we have to serve and preach the good news of the gospel of peace! It is a message from God entrusted to us to spread to others, whether publicly from the Gospel platform or in the streets, or individually bearing witness and testimony to our friends, family or colleagues. We remind ourselves of the responsibility of this service as well, which should always challenge to our hearts. It is a solemn responsibility, and we should seek to spread the Gospel with humility toward God, dignity, clarity, simplicity and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We trust these simple thoughts will encourage us and challenge our hearts.

Yours in Christ, Mark

"What shall I do...?"

"What shall I do...?"

I thought by looking at this little question in the New Testament there is a little framework here for a Gospel meeting, I trust these thoughts are a blessing to us.

Mark 10:17 - "what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

This is a common question that we hear men asking, and men down the centuries of time have desired to have eternal life, the concept is well sought after! Many people have their own ideas about this, and many people are doing various things in the hope of obtaining eternal life. We need to be clear about the gospel message, we should be very wary of what was called in Galatians "another gospel" as there are many messages in the world today that purport to be Christian but we should tell people to hold it up to the light of scripture and see how it compares to the truth of God's Word! The simple gospel message remains unchanged over the last 2000 years - repent, and believe.

Luke 12:17 - "what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow all my fruits?"

Again this is also relevant for today, as we live in a materialistic world, a consumer society. Some people sadly care nothing for their soul's salvation, their eternal destiny, or about God and the sacrificial death of his Son on the cross for them. Some people are merely concerned with the things of this world,how they can increase their goods, their wealth and their social standing. This is tragic as they will go through life and miss out on God's salvation and find ourselves in a lost eternity! Note that God is appalled at this mans attitude - "thou fool..." The things of this world are temporal and cannot fully satisfy our souls like God can! The Lord Jesus said "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?" The awful cost of only valuing the temporal and material things in life!

Luke 20:13 - "what shall I do, I will send my beloved son"

We praise God that here was a time in this world's history when he                   sent his Son into this world - God manifest in flesh, the wonder of it! It was the only solution to the sin problem, and only his sacrificial death could satisfy a holy and a righteous God. His divine plan was for him to die at the cross of Calvary, and there bear our sin in his body on that tree, that he might die the just one for the unjust ones in order to bring us to God. We thank God for that death of his on Calvary!

"Oh, wondrous cross! Oh precious blood!

Oh death by which I live!

The sinless One, for me made sin,

Doth now His wondrous heart within,

Eternal refuge give."

Matthew 27:22 - "what shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?"

Here is the plea of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to the Jews. It is a question that we must all surely answer for ourselves in our lifetimes, however long that may be. Some may outright reject him, as the Jews did 2000 years ago; others may choose never to address that question, but by doing so they face the prospect of standing before him as their Judge and they will be judged for their sin in that case. The Gospel demands a response from the hearts of men and women and as people depart from our Gospel meetings they will have responded to that message; either to repent and trust Christ as their Saviour for eternal life with him in heaven, or to neglect or reject the good news of the gospel and put it from their minds. But we do so to our eternal cost! The Bible says:

"Now is the accepted time..." 2 Cor 6:2

"Choose life..." Deut 30:19

Yours in Christ,

Mark

"Why are they not like us...?"

"Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?" Mark 7:5

The question that was really asked if we boil it down in Mark 7 was "why are they (the disciples) not like us?"

This is what the Pharisees were ultimately driving at - why are the disciples of the Lord Jesus not like them, or the other people of the day? I personally find this a challenge, as the same question is still asked of us today; why are we not like the rest of the world?

[caption id="attachment_147" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Chalk and cheese; the believer and the world"][/caption]

People will often challenge us regarding our beliefs and our way of life, just as they did in the Lord's day so it behoves us to be ready when faced with this particular line of questioning! Do we know our Bibles well enough to be able to point out from scripture why we believe what we believe? Would we be able to tell another friend, colleague or relative the Gospel message if we were faced with that situation? Are we as believers filled with conviction regarding the manner of our gathering and the testimony of the local assembly?

The world will question and attack our beliefs, it will seek to fill our heads with doubts and undermine our faith, just as Satan did in the Garden of Eden. We should seek to fill our hearts and minds with the Word of God and be ready and able to give answers to them so that we might turn the tables and challenge them about their way of life and their standing before God!

We trust this short challenge will provoke a reaction within our hearts.

Yours in Christ, Mark