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Jacky Wilson - Thought for Resurrection Sunday This portion of Scripture details how the women go to the Lord’s tomb very early in the morning taking with them the spices they had prepared. (Passover had now finished, when the Israelites remember their freedom from under the yoke of slavery to the Egyptians.) These women all have names, and they all have stories. Mary Magdalene was among them. The Lord had cast seven demons out of Mary; then there was Joanna, whom Jesus had healed, a wealthy woman in her own right who helped support Jesus’ travels and preaching from her own financial means. Her husband was a manager in King Herod’s household. Then there was Mary, the mother of Jesus. From the cross Jesus entrusted his widowed mother to John’s care, and she was to live in his home. Also, Salome (the mother of James and John). Then there was Mary the mother of James and the mother of another apostle chosen by Jesus who also walked to the tomb with the other women. What was going through their minds? Were they remembering and talking about the events of the past few days? Just three days earlier Jesus had been betrayed and sentenced to death. The betrayal had broken their hearts. First, their long-awaited Messiah was dead. Second, one of their trusted leaders, one of the Twelve, had sold Jesus for just 30 pieces of silver. Were they concerned how they would roll the very heavy stone away, or did it not enter their minds, were they just concerned with anointing Jesus' body with spices as was custom for the Jewish People as they did not embalm the dead? As the women approached the tomb, they found the stone rolled away. What was going through their minds? Panic? Fear? Has anything happened to Jesus’ body? Mary Magdalene took off running; she ran to Peter and John. The other women stayed. Then suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. The women bowed their faces to the ground. They bowed in reverence. The men said to the women “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you these things, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then the women remembered Jesus words …. For full text for print out please click on link below https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/luke-24-5-why-are-you-looking-for-the-living-amongst-the-dead

Romans 6:1-23 a short commentary Dead to sin, Alive to Christ Last time in Chapter 5 we saw that when a person believes in Jesus Christ, God declares them to be legally in right standing with Himself thus bringing peace into their relationship with Him. We can thank the Lord today that we are at peace with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. God is able to work through all the sufferings in our lives to produces perseverance which develops character which in turn produces hope. Biblically speaking hope is not ‘maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t happen’ but is rather a case of, what God has said or promised is absolutely certain to happen. This biblical hope in turn increases our faith and the whole cycle is driven by the love of Christ which is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is how the fruit of the Spirit is produced. Paul marvelled at the depth and quality of God’s love as showed in His willingness to give His Son’s life for the spiritually dead and totally hopeless mankind. Chapter 5 is one of the big love passages in the bible right up there with 1 Corinthians 13. Paul then explained the parallel that as death came into the world through one man (Adam) so through the one man Jesus Christ did eternal life come into the world. This eternal life begins the minute a person believes in the wonderful sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cruel cross of Calvary. Sin is no longer our daddy, Abba Father is now our Daddy. In the whole bible Romans chapters 6-8 probably provide the most detailed teaching on how to walk in victory in the Christian life. 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Paul poses the question, so if this salvation is all about faith then does it matter how we live in terms of our morality and obedience to God? Can’t we just keep sinning and take the grace of God for granted? This would be a serious heresy (Antinomianism) and was practised by Rasputin the Russian monk. Surely after all that God has done for us transforming us from His enemies to His friends that we ought to live holy or set apart lives? The French have a saying ‘noblesse oblige’ which means that people of high status should act accordingly. We have been born again for such a time as this and are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, we are kings and priests, part of holy nation surely we should live a suitable life in obedience and separation to God? Are we doing that today? As the Holy Spirit is pouring the love of God into our hearts surely we should be getting sanctified progressively. 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. By baptism our personal relationship with God is brought into the death of Christ. This removes guilt from us and empowers us to fight against sin in our lives. As that majestic power of God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead, so will that very same majestic power of God begin to transform each one of us believers into a new life of victory over sin. 5 If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Because we are reckoned to have died with Christ we can also be resurrected with Him into a wonderful new life of victory in Him and with Him. When we walk in the Spirit we are living in the revelation of this new life and are able to receive the power of the Holy Spirit . Who is your Daddy, Sin or God? Remember which family you are in and act accordingly. We must not wallow in the sins of the old self life thinking that grace will increase. This is what Bonhoeffer called ‘cheap grace’. This is clearly against the purpose of our new life. The old man of the flesh has been crucified with Christ but we need to keep him crucified at all times! As Galatians 2:20 says I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. V6 the ‘body of sin’ means our ‘old self’. The regeneration of our spirits means that we should no longer delight in sin which means we should never be at home or comfortable with sin in our own lives. Who is your Daddy? V7 A dead body can’t be tempted by delicious food, drugs , alcohol or an attractive person of the opposite sex. So if we are really dead with and in Christ, we should consider our old man dead to the various temptations around us. Picture a corpse being tempted! 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. As a result of Christ’s death for us our old man dies and we are spiritually alive and in fellowship with Him. This has been made possible because after death Jesus Christ has been resurrected to an indestructible and everlasting life. Death could not hold the Holy Sinless Son of God, Hallelujah. Death could not be His daddy nor exercise lordship over Him. Jesus Christ is your new boss; your old masters of sin and death are completely defeated. You are under new management. What a Lord! 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. We serve a Living Saviour who died once and for all for our sins. This has settled the sin matter forever. Jesus glorified the Father on earth and totally completed all the work the Father had given Him. In the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus says ‘I was dead but behold I am alive forever and I hold the keys of death and hell. The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ was indeed a once and for all time sacrifice that completely purchased the forgiveness of all sins, for all men, for all time,,,but only if they believe... The life Jesus Christ now lives, He lives fully to God. This means it is no longer ‘distracted’ on the sin problem of man but rather is fully focused on the Father and the church. What about you, who are you living for? Jesus Christ today ever lives to make intercession for the saints that you and I, the set-apart ones. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. In principle we are already dead to sin through our baptism and must apply this to our flesh when the various temptations come against us. We have risen with Christ, have been made righteous and have God’s love being poured into our hearts. Our identity is in Christ not in the world, nor in the flesh nor in the devil. We should respond to temptation out of the new creation not the old man of the flesh. We are no longer of Adam’s lineage but now are in Christ’s lineage. God is your Daddy and He is Lord and reigns in your heart and soul so let us keep the flesh well and truly crucified. This can be achieved in various ways for instance in Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Did you know that Christians can still sin? Christians may not be sinless but we should sin less! We need to refuse to surrender to our fleshly passions and inclinations as weapons for wickedness but rather use all our faculties to serve the Living God. Offer Him our body parts as righteous weapons for His exclusive service. You are a soldier for Christ, use all your weapons for Him as our Commander. It is a straight choice whether you will use your weapons for wickedness or righteousness. The power of the Holy Spirit is available right now and He is able to keep us from falling. Oh what can little hands (eyes, lips, and hearts) to please the King of Heaven[1]? Satan has entirely different options for the use of your bodily functions. How do you think he wants you to use them? Remember which family your are in, remember which army you are in, remember who your Daddy is. Our family does things our Daddy’s way. Our Daddy pours His grace into us enabling us to live His way and do things His way. Grace is the key to success in our spiritual life. Slaves to Righteousness 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Paul again poses the same question as in verses one and two. The answer of course is absolutely not.16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Sin progressively hypnotises and thus enslaves the human heart and mind (how do you boil a frog?). After some time the enslaved person will become unable to exercise his free will choice not to commit that particular sin. It is a bit like our conscience being dulled to repeated sin and eventually becoming seared and senseless to the evil we are committing. No man has no master i.e. is totally independent as his own boss. No man has no Daddy. Either sin against God or obedience to God will be our master. Whose slave are you? Who is your Daddy? God or sin? V17 Paul thanks God for His grace that He has set the believers free from the power of sin and empowered us to obey the structured teachings of the Gospel in a whole hearted way. We are no longer under the cruel master called sin but we are willingly enslaved by righteousness i.e. now we can know true freedom from the power of sin because we have exchanged our service to the cause of righteousness. Sin is no longer our master, Hallelujah. We might make an occasional slip but our lives should not be dominated by Sin. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. At the time of writing in the Roman Empire, slaves being bought and sold and transferred from one master to another was an everyday occurrence and this is why Paul used this concept of an ‘exchange of masters’ to illustrate to the Romans the point he was making but in a way they could grasp this important spiritual truth. Incidentally good bible teaching should still be delivered in a way that can be grasped by the hearers and this can be challenging at times. We must no longer offer our faculties as in the service of the world, the flesh and the Devil but rather use all our abilities, heart and strength to pursue righteous living thus promoting holiness. The need to serve our new Master is in a sense pressing and urgent.... 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of ? Those things result in death! When we were slaves to sin we were enemies of righteousness. But now that we are servants of righteousness we have become enemies of sin. These two states are mutually exclusive. Sin is not the boss of you anymore. Sin no longer has you in its power. Sin is not your Daddy. No man can serve two masters [2]. We should love our Daddy and hate our old Master. When we consider our lives under the our old Master when we were enslaved by sin, taken captive at will, we are deeply ashamed of all of the wickedness in thought and deed but only now can we see they were bringing down the path to death, physical death followed by eternal death.22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You have now exchanged your old life of guilt and shame; a life of bondage, a life enslaved by sin for the wonderful freedom in Christ and are now servants of the Living God. Your former wages of sin your Master was not just death, but everlasting death. You are now a love slave of God but He is the Good and Kind Master who came to give you abundant life and He gently leads you into a life of purity and separation and His gift (not wages-because we could not earn it) is everlasting life. God sets life and death before sinful and tells them to choose life. What a tremendous comfort to know that each believer will enjoy Jesus Christ forever. This is truly amazing grace. In Christ we have a new Father. In Christ we have new family In Christ we have a new Master. In Christ we have a new future. In Christ we have a new ‘past’ In Christ we move from the lineage of Adam to the lineage of Christ. In Christ we have a new lifestyle. Don’t let Satan commit identity theft of your new life and give you back to old obsolete life. Your old man is dead let’s keep him that way! [1] What can little hands do ? Grace W. Hinsdale, 1895. Buds and Blossoms for the Little Ones Oh, what can little lips do To please the King of heaven? The little lips can praise and pray, And gentle words of kindness say :Such grace to mine be given! [2] Matthew 6:24 Full text for printout and access to the other chapters please click on the link below https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/romans-6-1-23

Romans 5:1-21 a short commentary Peace and Hope Last time in Chapter 4 Paul clearly demonstrated that we are justified by faith and not by the outward sign of circumcision (as a token of obedience to the Law). Paul provided a time line that clearly showed that Abraham was justified by believing God several years before he himself was circumcised. Paul then quoted from Psalm 32 showing that David had made a link between the forgiveness of sins and being made righteous. After David’s sins of adultery and murder in the ‘Bathsheba-Gate’ scandal we see that he greatly rejoiced that his sins were forgiven and so can we also rejoice today that our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ. But salvation is much more than the forgiveness of our sins and includes many other things including eternal life. We then saw that Abraham is truly the father of all who believe God and are credited as righteous both then and now. This is how God fulfilled His promise to Abraham that through him all the nations would be blessed i.e. Abraham set the example of how get into right standing with God by simply believing what He says. Abraham did not stagger at God’s promises though they were not supported by his five senses but rather was fully persuaded that what God had promised he would surely deliver. So should we, like our Father Abraham remember to keep believing, to keep being fully persuaded to keep our dreams and destinies alive in faith knowing that God will keep His promises. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we [a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we [b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we [c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. When someone believes in Jesus Christ as part of their new right standing with God they become at peace with God which then helps them to receive the peace of God (which passes all understanding). We were formerly at war with God and because of this were objects of His wrath but now we are reconciled to Him His peace is in our hearts. This wonderful salvation package is a free gift from God to a totally undeserving mankind. We should notice that faith, hope and love are found together in these verses. The process found here is something like this, when we have faith, then this produces hope which in turn allows God to pour His love into our hearts. This should produce cycles of blessing in us and through to our fellow man. Please note that biblical hope in the context of whether something might happen or not is an absolute certainty not just a possibility. Biblical hope will not disappoint us, because ‘it is moored to the throne of grace’[1] it is anchored within the veil where our great High Priest ever lives to make intercession for us. When the trials and sufferings come in our lives often revealing our weaknesses then we can take great heart that the Holy Spirit is pouring His love into our hearts providing the strength not only to get through the trial but actually makes us stronger characters as well. This character thus produced in turn increases our hope in God and increases our certainty in His promises. This increasing hope recycles to increasing faith and so the cycle goes on and is driven by the love poured into our hearts. The Proven character of His servants is very valuable to God as it makes us of greater service to Him. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. These verses are right up there with 1 Corinthians 13 in trying to explain the Love of God. At the exact time appointed by God Himself whilst we were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins Jesus Christ gave His very life for mankind who were absolutely without any hope or means of salvation. What kind of love is this that gives it very life for utterly sinful people devoid of any good, cringing beggars spiritually speaking and under the sentence of the wrath of God? Perhaps the very best human beings might just be willing to give their lives for a ‘good’ person but Jesus Christ gave His life for the evil, the very evil and the completely fallen mankind just like you and I used to be. He took our death sentence in our place. This wonderful ‘agape’ love of God is as one bible teacher has said, is ‘causeless, measureless and ceaseless'. [i] 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. The offering of Jesus’ blood as the ‘sacrificial lamb’ of God not only purchased us legal right standing before God but also turned away the deserved wrath of God on sinful mankind including you and I. Furthermore Jesus’ blood also brought us into a personal blood covenant relationship with the Living God. God has befriended His enemies by providing reconciliation of sinful man to the Holy God. Today with Paul we can boast that God has reconciled us as His former enemies to become friends of the Living God. Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— Sin entered mankind into our first ancestor Adam and all our DNA to some extent is descendant from him because we were ‘in him’. It seems that our ‘ sin nature’ comes via our natural father but is expressed in both sexes. If this is not the case how then could Jesus born of a woman be ‘sinless’? Paul uses verses 12-17 to bring a discourse on the universality of sin. 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. Sin entered into Adam in the Garden of Eden when he wilfully disobeyed God. As all men inherit that same sin nature from our first father Adam so the death principle also passes to all mankind. The wages of sin is death and the seed of death having been passed to all human beings is ready to kick in as we start to practice sin. It is not clear exactly which sins the people who lived and died between Adam and Moses (a period of around 2500 years)but my guess it would be the same ones that mankind commonly practices e.g. lying , stealing , cheating etc. Note that death reigned like a king! The law that Adam broke was specifically disobeying the voice of God and so sin existed long before the giving of the Mosaic Law. The one thing that Adam has in common with Jesus Christ is that their actions affected or potentially affected all mankind. Through Adam all men will die but through Jesus Christ all men (who believe) can have eternal life. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! In startling contrast we see that the one terrible deed of Adam which brought the curse of death on mankind is completely cancelled out by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This free pardon from the power of sin overflows as God’s free gift to all who will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This terrible link between sin and death has broken through faith in Jesus Christ. ‘Death reigned’ means that death condemned all men as sinners and had the last word in a human life , death was the ‘boss’ of us. But when we call upon the Lord Jesus Christ we are under new management and He becomes our new boss and leads us into everlasting life. 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Paul returns to his theme in verse 12 now showing that the effects of the disobedience of one man Adam are overcome by the obedience of one man Jesus Christ. This is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 15:21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being. God gave the Mosaic Law not to increase sin numerically speaking but rather to ‘magnify’ its visibility and hence to make it and its effects more clearly seen . So using the law was like shining a light on sin making it more easy to see. As well as making sin more of a ‘stand out’ the law also shows mankind that they were (and still are) unable to keep the law. This then makes mankind much more aware of the grace of God when we see that we are unable to keep His laws and that God has done for us through Jesus Christ what we could never do for ourselves. This wonderful salvation is still available to all those who call upon the name of the Lord. So where sin increases God steps up His grace that it might still be available to all who call upon His name. In summary, the Law; 1. Increases the knowledge and awareness of sin. 2. Directs the sinner’s attention towards the need for God’s grace 3. Guides the forgiven sinner into gratitude towards God. 4. Acts as a restraint on sinful actions. 5:21 Sin as the ‘boss’ of fallen man has the last word by bringing death to all sinners. When Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners He became the new ‘boss’ of believers and showed who was really in charge. Until Jesus Christ sin brought spiritual and physical death and eventually eternal death. God’s grace in the person of Jesus Christ met sin in a head on clash and completely defeated it praise God. The person who believes in Jesus Christ is declared righteous by God and he/she begins their eternal life from that exact moment though most of us may still experience physical death. This wonderful salvation however was achieved at huge cost when the holy, sinless Lamb of God gave His very life blood (all of it) on the cross at Calvary. We can tell the people of your city, town, or village about this marvellous love and the grace of God that is stronger than death which is just as effective for them today and we can introduce them to our new ‘boss’ Jesus Christ. How rightly do we sing of the amazing grace of God. Let’s spread the Good News. Amen Footnotes: Romans 5:1 Many manuscripts let us Romans 5:2 or let us Romans 5:3 or let us [1] William Hendriksen New Testament Commentary on Romans. [i] Ken Boa Studies in Romans Chapter 5. Full text for print out and access to other chapters please click https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/romans-5-1-21

Will a working knowledge of our Hebraic roots help us understand the Scriptures? SHOULD CHRISTIANS STUDY THE HEBRAIC ROOTS OF THE BIBLE? The first question I would pose would be why not? I don’t understand people who call themselves ‘New Testament Christians’ or the churches called ‘New Testament...’ The ‘New’ Testament is only about a quarter of the whole Bible. I think that part of the reason is the word ‘new’. I have heard people call it the ‘renewed’ Covenant, which is better. Anyway, this Blog post is not about what we call it, but why should we study the Hebraic roots. We may have heard Bible teachers explaining aspects of life in the time of Jesus as they tried to make a point. That can be helpful. We seem to hear a lot about the death of Jesus and its importance for us, and around Christmas we hear a little about His birth. But what about His life? What about His teachings? Do we really understand them? I think that is unlikely unless you are studying the Hebraic roots of the scripture. We can miss so much when we do not. I will give you an example. We read about Jesus teaching in Luke 18:1-8. This passage is usually taught as about persistence in prayer. The heading in your Bible will probably call it ‘The Persistent Widow’. In verse one it says, “that men always ought to pray”. But in v8 we read “...will He really find faith in the earth?” The word ‘faith’ here, in Hebrew is ‘steadfastness’. Jesus knew what was ahead and He was saying to them ‘we are going into darkness but don’t give up’. Then there are the parables. Many Christians think that they came with Jesus. There were parables long before, and since Jesus. The Talmud (the go-to book for Jewish people) has many of them. They are ancient and they are still used today. It was and is a popular way to teach a point. The Hebrew word for parables is ‘example’. Lastly, I lead a group where we are studying Hebraic roots teaching. We have just finished some on the Lord’s Prayer and we have loved it! Just 5 verses in Matthew’s Gospel and 3 in Luke’s, but this prayer is huge! And the implications for us as a church community are incredibly challenging and of great importance. There was nothing new about this prayer, as you will find the themes throughout the Old Testament. As we reviewed all that we had learned, one person said, “it’s a summary of the Old Testament!” The sad thing is that many Christians have reduced the Lord’s Prayer to just being a guide on personal prayer. (I can forward the teachings which are on YouTube if you are interested). Do not keep missing out! Guest blogger Batnabas aka Linda Morris Full text for printout at https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/why-should-christians-study-their-hebraic-roots

Romans 4:1-25 a short commentary Abraham Justified by Faith Last time we looked at chapter 3:9-31 and we saw that whether you are a Jew or Gentile we are all under the power of sin and therefore deserving the wrath of God. Paul then went on to show the biblical evidence that we are all sinners, each and every one of us by quoting extensively from Psalms and also from Isaiah and Ecclesiastes. This evidence was like a ‘welcome to Human Nature Class 101’. Man’s fallen heart and mind are such that no one is in right standing with God, No one even wants to be right with God, No one does anything good as judged by God’s own standard of goodness. We use all our organs of speech, throats , tongues , lips and mouths for evil purposes. Man is prone to violence and we prefer lives of ruin and misery rather than the abundant life God offers. We ‘don’t do’ peace and we ‘don’t do’ reverential fear of God. The fallen nature of a human being is really like the bad boys in the Lord of the flies (by W Golding). Ordinary men are quite capable of becoming homicidal maniacs. We saw that there was absolutely no hope for fallen man unless God Himself intervened. Praise the Lord that He has indeed intervened by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and that His holy blood turns away the wrath of God when we place our faith in Him. Our only part in this wonderful salvation is to believe since it is by faith alone we are saved by the grace of God. Paul concluded that although the law does not save us it has many things to teach us including our accountability to God. 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, the forefather of us Jews, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[1] Background; ironically the unrighteous Jews in Paul’s target audience would have agreed with Paul’s choice of Abraham here for they considered that Abraham was one of only seven righteous men to have brought back the Shekinah glory to Israel and was made in right standing with God through his works i.e. he had earned his salvation. Paul goes on to make it clear that Abraham was made righteous through faith not by any good works . 4:4 Now to anyone who works, their wages are not credited to them as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to anyone who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed are those whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[2] Even the measure of faith that each is given to each new believer is a gift from God and leaves absolutely no room for any of us to boast or brag. Christ died for us sinners whilst we were dead in our trespasses and sin. God owes us nothing, absolutely nothing. Paul here (v7-8) in quoting David in Psalm 32:1-2 shows a connection between forgiveness of our sins and being made righteous. David after ‘Bathsheba-gate’ greatly rejoiced his sins had been forgiven and so too can we greatly rejoice today because our own sins have been forgiven through Jesus Christ. God’s grace is very much in view here and please note only God is doing any work! Forgiveness of our sins is great but entering into place of blessedness goes beyond just being forgiven. 4:9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Paul now refers to Genesis 15:6 where because Abraham believed God, God credited it to him as righteousness. This righteousness is for all who have faith in God. Paul shows the time line for Abraham being credited as righteous was in Genesis 15:6 but he was not circumcised (outward sign of obedience to the Law) until Genesis 17:24. Even the most conservative estimates show that his righteousness came at least 14 years before he was circumcised. This clearly demonstrates faith producing right standing with God many years before the ‘work’ of circumcision was performed. Circumcision in itself just like communion and baptism today although powerful symbols cannot save us but rather it is our only our faith in God that saves us whatever our ethnic origin. Abraham truly is the father in faith of all who believe since he was the first man to be made righteous for his faith. This is a ground breaking message to the Roman Church. 13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. God made Abraham various promises so which one is in view here where Paul talks about ‘heir of the world’? It is probably not the possession of Canaan or even having even offspring like the dust of the earth but it is more likely the promise ‘to be heir of the world’ meant that through Abraham all the nations would be blessed by simply following Abraham’s example and believing God. This promise of God (to be heir of the world) came before the Mosaic law since God knew in advance that man would not be able to keep the law and in a sense gave mankind a much better opportunity to become righteous. 16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” [3] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Spiritually speaking Abraham is the father of all who believe and like Abraham are counted as righteous by God and enter into His promise of salvation by faith just like Father Abraham. Paul explains this in Galatians 3:6-9 which says 6 So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[4] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. In spite of his old age and the fact that Sarah was past the age of child-bearing Abraham dared to keep believing that God would keep His promise and give him a natural son and heir. What about you are you remembering to keep believing the promises that God has given you. Are you fully persuaded that the Lord can and will do what He has promised to you? Is your dream still alive? Like Abraham our father in the faith our focus must also continue to be on the word and character of our faithful and trustworthy God. All the promises of God are yes, and Amen in Him. This is a thrilling message and one where the New Testament is clearly linked to the Old Testament. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.I keep saying in this study that it is relevant to us today and here is proof in v24 ‘but also for us’ when we exercise like faith in Jesus Christ. It is relevant today for us as we share the Good News with unbelievers that if they exercise faith in Jesus Christ they too will be counted as righteous and receive salvation. We ought to be full of gratitude about what God has done. Here is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 whose sacrifice was accepted by Father God as we find clear proof that salvation through faith by grace is firmly rooted in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. [1] Genesis. 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness [2] Psalm 32:1 Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed are those whose sin the LORD does not count against them (and in whose spirit is no deceit). [3] Gen. 17:5 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. [4] Gen. 15: 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Full text for print plus other chapters at https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/romans-4-1-25

We need to know the entire bible If you look at your bible while it is closed there are a few things you can tell. Firstly, if all the pages are new and unworn, this means one of two things, either your bible is new or else if it is not then you do not use it very much! If the last third or so is worn but the first two thirds unworn then you spend most of your time in the New Testament. Conversely, if the first two thirds are worn and the last third unworn then you spend most your time in the Old Testament. Each Testament has its own unique emphasis however, either one is incomplete without the other. Someone has calculated that there are 6,600 cross references between the Old and New Testaments. This poem attempts to explain the relationship between the two testaments. Poem The New is in the Old Contained The Old is in the New Explained The New is in the Old Enfolded The Old is in the New Unfolded The New is in the Old Concealed The Old is in the New Revealed Yes, there is a wonderful harmony between the Old and the New Testament. 66 books written by some 40 authors, all inspired by the same Holy Spirit. Today, we are going to see from God`s word the need for Christians to read and to know all of God`s word i.e. both testaments of the bible. Key Scripture Acts 20:17-30 Verse 20; Paul kept back nothing from them that he knew about God, about God`s word, about God`s will, about salvation and about the Gospel. He gave them all that would profit them whether it suited them or not. He taught them about all things pertaining to life and godliness. He preached the cross and Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. Verse 26; Innocent of the blood of all men, why? Because he did not shun/neglect to tell of all God’s word. Verse 27; The whole counsel of God The whole/complete/perfect will of God for man. Do you want to be innocent of the blood of all men? Perhaps like Paul we need to be able to declare/ to explain/to share the whole counsel of God to our fellow men. But where did Paul get/find the whole counsel or perfect will of God for man? Paul did not have a copy of the New Testament like we do today because it had not been written yet. But Paul understood the whole counsel of God by; ❖ Studying the Old Testament Scriptures ❖ Receiving revelation of them by the Holy Spirit Christians who only read the New Testament please note that the Apostle Paul only had the Old Testament to study to. (see Psalm 33:11) Acts 17:10-12; They searched the scriptures daily to find out if what Paul and Silas preached was true. Do you search the scriptures daily to find out if what your leaders are preaching is true? What scriptures did the Bereans search? Again, it was the Law and Prophets of the Jewish The Old Testament. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophecies about Messiah in the Old Testament. 2 Timothy 3:12-17 Verse 16 All scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, and from Matthew to Revelation are inspired by God. It is all God breathed. It is all full of Life. It is all full of Power. It is sharper than a two-edged sword and is given ability to penetrate the thought and motives of our hearts. Although men wrote the books of the whole Bible, it was the Holy Spirit who breathed God`s life into them! All scripture is profitable for doctrine, good wholesome sound godly teaching. All scripture is profitable for reproof for telling you off where you are wrong. All scripture is profitable for corrections. How to get it right now you admit you admit your errors. All scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness. For showing you that you are righteous in/through Jesus Christ and that we have no righteousness of our own, and tells us how to walk in that righteousness. Verse 17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God that you the man of God, the woman of God, may be thoroughly fully equipped for every good work. Would you like to be thoroughly equipped? Then read the scriptures daily, read all the scriptures, both the Old and the New testaments. Matthew 13:52 On every occasion, you can receive a living word as Holy Spirit brings to you something old and something new. Something old from the Hebrew scriptures (the law) and something new from the New Testament (grace). Let us read the poem again. Poem The New is in the Old Contained The Old is in the New Explained The New is in the Old Enfolded The Old is in the New Unfolded The New is in the Old Concealed The Old is in the New Revealed Let us be like Paul and know the whole counsel of God and declare it. And be guilty of no man’s blood. Amen Practical Note: It is never too early to start to prepare your plans for reading God`s word. Prayer: Pray for a new balance in your own scripture reading. Amen For a print copy and much more please click below https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/the-whole-counsel-of-god

We need to declare the whole/full counsel of God. If you look at your bible while it is closed there are a few things you can tell. Firstly, if all the pages are new and unworn, this means one of two things, either your bible is new or else if it is not then you do not use it very much! If the last third or so is worn but the first two thirds unworn then you spend most of your time in the New Testament. Conversely, if the first two thirds are worn and the last third unworn then you spend most your time in the Old Testament. Each Testament has its own unique emphasis however, either one is incomplete without the other. Someone has calculated that there are 6,600 cross references between the Old and New Testaments. please read this poem which explains the relationship between the two testaments. Poem The New is in the Old Contained The Old is in the New Explained The New is in the Old Enfolded The Old is in the New Unfolded The New is in the Old Concealed The Old is in the New Revealed Yes, there is a wonderful harmony between The Old and The New Testament. 66 books written by some 40 authors, all inspired by the same Holy Spirit. Today, we are going to see from God`s word the need for Christians to read and to know all of God`s word. Key Scripture Acts 20:17-30 Verse 20; Paul kept back nothing from them that he knew about God, about God`s word, about God`s will, about salvation and about the Gospel. He gave them all that would profit them whether it suited them or not. He taught about all things pertaining to life and godliness. He preached the cross and Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. Verse 26; Innocent of the blood of all men, why? Because he did not shun/neglect to tell of all God’s word. Verse 27; The whole counsel of God The whole/complete/perfect will of God for man. Do you want to be innocent of the blood of all men? Perhaps like Paul we need to be able to declare/ to explain/to share the whole counsel of God to our fellow men. But where did Paul get/find the whole counsel or perfect will of God for man? Paul did not have a copy of the New Testament like we do today because it had not been written yet. But Paul understood the whole counsel of God by; ❖ Studying the Old Testament Scriptures ❖ Receiving revelation of them by the Holy Spirit Christians who only read the New Testament please note that the Apostle Paul only had the Old Testament to study to. (Psalm 33:11) Acts 17:10-12; They searched the scriptures daily to find out if what Paul and Silas preached was true. Do you search the scriptures daily to find out if what your leaders are preaching is true? What scriptures did the Bereans search? Again, it was the Law and Prophets of the Jewish The Old Testament. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophecies about Messiah in the Old Testament. 2 Timothy 3:12-17 Verse 16 All scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, from Matthew to Revelation are inspired by God. It is all God breathed. It is all full of Life. It is all full of Power. It is sharper than a two-edged sword and is given ability to penetrate the thought and motives of our hearts. All men who wrote the books of the whole Bible, it was the Holy Spirit who breathed God`s life into them! All scripture is profitable for doctrine, good wholesome sound godly teaching. All scripture is profitable for reproof for telling you off where you are wrong. All scripture is profitable for corrections. How to get it right now you admit you admit your errors. All scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness. For showing you that you are righteous in/through Jesus Christ and that we have no righteousness of our own, and tells us how to walk in that righteousness. Verse 17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God that you the man of God, the woman of God may be thoroughly fully equipped for every good work. Would you like to be thoroughly equipped? Then read the scriptures daily, read all the scriptures. Both the Old and the New testaments. Matthew 13:52 On every occasion, you can receive a living word as Holy Spirit brings to you something old and something new. Something old from the Hebrew scriptures (the law) and something new from the New Testament (grace). Let us read the poem again. Poem The New is in the Old Contained The Old is in the New Explained The New is in the Old Enfolded The Old is in the New Unfolded The New is in the Old Concealed The Old is in the New Revealed Let us be like Paul and know the whole counsel of God and declare it. And be guilty of no man’s blood. Amen Practical Note: Prepare your plans for reading God`s word. Prayer: Pray for a new balance in your scripture reading. Amen

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 by Jacky Wilson Today’s Bible reading is about God’s Covenant with Abram who, as we know, will later be called Abraham. There are a number of Covenants of great significance in the Bible: the Noahic (No-ay-ic) Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant (which we will be looking at this today), the Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. So our Bible passage opens with “… after these things...,” We might be asking: "What things?" In the previous Chapter, A-bram chased the kings of the north out of the land and rescued his nephew Lot from their clutches. Abram is then blessed with bread and wine by the King of Salem, whose name is Melchizedek, Priest of the Most High God, to whom Abram in turn then gives a tithe of 10% ('Salem' is later renamed 'Jerusalem'). Melchizedek tells Abram that the dramatic deliverance was not because of Abram’s power and influence, but because of the blessing of the Most High God. But Abram’s bold move to subdue the northern kings has also left him worried, he is fearful that they may return. So as he sits there worrying, the Word of the Lord comes to him in a Vision: “Do not fear, Abram, I am your Shield, your very Great Reward.” and affirms to Abram that the kings will indeed not return. In fact, Abram has nothing to fear for the Lord will not only protect Abram, but He will also bless Abram as He has promised. As Abram hears God’s reassuring words, it takes his mind back to an earlier promise of God. That promise made to him when he left Ur, to provide Abram with both an inheritance and an heir. The promise also affirmed that he would have nations come from him. But Abram here is thinking: "I am not getting any younger, and Sarai is long past child-bearing age." So while Abram is confident in God’s promise of an inheritance, he is questioning whether the possibility of an heir is still on the table. Beginning with this chapter and continuing until the end of Abram’s life, the story focuses on the other half of God’s promise… the seed. Abram said, "Lord God, what will you give me seeing I go childless, you have given me no offspring, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” According to the custom of the day, in the absence of a son and heir, the inheritance of the estate belonged to the oldest servant born in the house. God then answers, and it never fails me how God’s timing is exactly right on time; God takes longer to answer our prayers than we would prefer, but His timing is nevertheless always perfect. We all know in our heart of hearts that God is faithful, but like Abram, when much time has passed, we begin to doubt, often because we ourselves or a friend or family member has broken a promise, or not kept our word. Do we see God like that sometimes? We do. But God’s promises are always fulfilled - however long they take to arrive. So how does God respond? "And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.‘ And He took him outside and said, 'Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.’” Back in Genesis Chapter 13, God also tells Abram that he would have descendants so numerous they would be like the dust of the earth. So God repeats to Abram that Abram would have an heir from his own body. It is evening, so God tells Abram to leave his tent and go outside. As Abram leaves the tent, God tells him to look up towards heaven and count the stars and says to him, "… so shall your descendants be." Have you ever been under a night sky with no lights around? Let us now imagine the glory of the universe on display before our eyes. Everywhere you look, you see stars. Even in the darkest places, as you gaze, even more stars appear. There seems to be no end to them. You can understand the impossibility of counting so many stars. Hopefully, an experience will have blessed you as awe-inspiring as this. I know I have been blessed gazing up into the clear night sky in the desert in Israel, and in a remote spot in Ireland, where my Sister-in-Law lives. We truly have an awesome God. There are certainly many questions that come to mind, when we think about what must have been going through Abram’s mind as he pondered God’s words: „How can such a thing happen? Will it be by Sarai or someone else? And how long will it be before the first child comes? As Abram wrestled with these things, scripture tells us, "...BUT Abram, believed in the LORD; and He accounted it to him for righteousness." One of, if not the most important verse in the Old Testament. Abram believed the Lord’s promise to make his descendants too numerous to count. And because Abram believed God’s promise concerning this future event, and placed his trust in God, God credited Abram’s faith to him as righteousness. He trusted God and God blessed Abram by counting his faith as righteousness. For the first time in Scripture we see belief or trust, justification, and righteousness in a single statement. And this statement is foundational to all that we understand about how God is at work to save men from sin. Abram was following God, step by step, as we all do, and his walk with God was imperfect - but even so, Abram took God’s promise concerning the future and made it his own. He began to look forward to that future, to anticipate it, to see it as if it was already a present reality. This is the definition of faith, a belief in the future so sure and unwavering that we accept it as if it were history. In the book of Hebrews 11:1-2. - It says. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men and women of old gained approval. “According to the author of Hebrews, the definition of saving faith involves both an object of faith and the content of faith. The object of faith is always the same: God’s promises. The promises of God hold hope for the future. They ask us to accept something that seems impossible on the face of it. For Abram, the foolish promise he received was to have a multitude of descendants when he had yet to bear even one child naturally. The only way to accept such a promise is if you have a faith that goes beyond rational human reasoning. It must come from a supernatural source! Cutting the covenant Abram now wants assurance of how he will inherit the promise, and God instructs him to bring a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. Abram then brings all these before God and cuts them in two down the middle, placing each piece opposite the other; but he does not cut the birds in two. In verse 11 we are told that when the vultures come down, Abram drives them away. The vultures represent an attack on the covenant promise between God and Abram, distracting and drawing away Abram’s attention if they can. On this night at dusk, Abram seems supernaturally overpowered by a deep sleep and a great and dreadful darkness falls upon him. In a dream, he sees the future of his people who will be held in captivity for 400 years. But through all this, despite all the troubles, opposition and attacks on his faith and trust in God’s promises, Abram is promised that he will die in peace and shall be buried at a good old age. The sun has now gone down, and it is completely dark a smoking pot and a burning torch appear and then pass between the sacrificial pieces that Abram has prepared. We know that a smoking pot with a flaming torch was used in Mesopotamian rituals to ward off evil. But here it seems the smoking pot and flaming torch are not symbolic of Abram’s efforts to ward off evil but are actual representations of God himself moving between the pieces. Remarkably, it is the Lord Himself who is moving between the halves alone, which invokes a curse upon Himself should He break the terms of the covenant. This covenant is a commitment of the one Party! God is placing Himself on the line, His Name, His reputation, and His Being. So God makes the covenant with Abram an action that can be considered complete, instantaneous, and valid in the here and now. The Lord unconditionally promises that Abram’s descendants will possess the land. The promise becomes increasingly definite as the reality becomes increasingly implausible to the ageing Abram — until Isaac is born! At the beginning of this Bible Passage, I mentioned the great significance of the five Covenants which show us how we can see the covenants progressively build upon one another forming a spine of sorts to the redemptive work of God. God preserved the world through Noah, initiated redemption through Abraham, formed a special people through Israel, promised a shepherd-king through David, and then fulfilled all his covenantal promises through Jesus. With each covenant, God’s promises and plans to save the world through the seed of the woman become clearer and clearer until we finally see that redemption can only come through King Jesus. ***From this historical passage from the Bible how do we today apply this to our lives. First, we need to totally believe in God’s word and His promises as Abram did. We need to trust that God will fulfil that promise, not wavering, but standing on the promise, even when it is hard to believe, or we cannot see how it will come to pass. Let us hold onto and remember God’s word stands and He will come through for us. We are saved today by grace, so let us strengthen our faith on a promise in God’s word, like the Saints of old, like Abram, whose faith was strengthened on the promise of many descendants will come from him. Remind God of the promise or scripture that God has given you and believe and trust in it. Put on the full armour every day which is found in Ephesians 6 that God has given us, especially remembering the shield of faith to stop those arrows of the evil one from getting through to us. Put on the breast place of Righteousness, Jesus’s righteousness. Let us choose to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I am going to lead us in a prayer now - let us be still Holy Spirit, we welcome you - fill this place with your presence - Father in the name of Jesus, thank you that you are here amongst us… “Jesus asks a question” - Are you struggling today with what we see and hear going on in the world around us, or we ourselves are going through a difficult or challenging time with our personal situations? Then let us close our eyes, as we now come individually into the presence of the Lord - and ask God to renew our trust in Him, and to give us His peace. For us, whose faith might feel a bit shaky, let us ask God to renew and deepen our faith and to remind us that He has already put Himself on the line for us, as He did for Abram, and as Abram we need but trust Him and walk with Him step by step into the fulfilment of His promises. Lord Jesus, come now in the power of the Holy Spirit and meet us in all our needs, restore us, instil a renewed, deeper trust in You, to the glory of your Name. In Jesus Name. Amen Full text which is easy to print at https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/god-s-covenant-with-abram

Whose voice did you hear? About a year ago whilst I was alone in a closed room, I heard an audible voice say to ‘Your time is short.’ (Just for the record it would very rare for me to hear directly from the Lord nor have I suffered from any type of hallucinations at any time in my life). I was a bit shocked, I asked myself if this was the voice of the Lord telling me to get me house in order as my time earth might not be long. Or could it have been a message to frighten me from the enemy’s team? I prayed and asked the Lord to show me if the message was from him and a few months passed with no obvious answer coming. However, the Lord did give me the answer as you might expect from the bible. I felt an impression in the usual way asking me ‘How did this voice announce itself’? Everywhere in the bible where the Lord himself or his holy angels make an appearance to an individual or a group of believers, the first thing they say ‘Fear not or Peace unto you or something similar’. The reason for this because the Lord knows our frame and that it can be very frightening for a human to encounter a supernatural being such the Lord himself or his holy angels. It has been asserted that the KJV bible records the expression ‘Fear not and similar expressions’ 365 times. That is very useful if correct, a ‘fear not’ for every day of the year! So I had my answer, this voice did not tell me to' fear not' or 'receive peace' and so the voice was not from the Lord nor his angel! So the Lord clearly answered my request. Amen Fear not, fear nought but God. PS Would you recognise the Lord if He spoke directly to you? What do you think? Print out and much more at https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/did-the-lord-speak-directly-to-you

Luke 14:12-14 Previously we saw the intimacy of sharing a meal. Such sharing builds strength into our family units and cements friendships between families. If you feel you’ve few friends, then perhaps it is time to invite someone for a meal? We also learned that we must not let trivial things hold us back from serving the Lord in this way. Luke 14:12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Comments Verse 12; Does not preclude intimate meals with those we love, as the general tone of scripture bids us share each other’s lives. The idea is that we need to show hospitality beyond those in our circle of family and friends. Verse 13; Here is a clear duty in scripture to society’s less fortunate, the blind, the crippled, and the lame. Or what about the homeless and single parents? Verse 12-14; The idea of repayments tells us to check our motives for hospitality from this viewpoint. There is the greatest safety in giving to those who cannot repay. Amen Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Comments Charity is best practiced in secret lest we fall into the subtle sin of hypocrisy, in other words when we show charity to be seen by other people. Verse 1; There is no reward if you have wrong motives. Verse 2; If you draw attention to yourself to get the honour of man you will lose God’s reward. Verse 3; God requires your charity to be done in the strictest secrecy Verse 4; What is secret to man, God sees and God rewards. When only God knows your charitable deeds then your motives are safer. -- James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Looking after the widows and orphans and helping the helpless is a true measure of our heart for God. The warning from Isaiah 10:1-2 makes it clear the God is closely watching that justice is done for the widow, the orphan, and the poor. Those who exploit the poor cannot run to God, they have nowhere to go on the day of their calamity. Matthew 25:31-46; God identifies intimately with poor James 2:14-17; Faith without works is dead Galatians 2:10; Always remember the poor If Jesus Christ totally identifies with the poor, then so must we. Bless someone today who cannot repay you and keep it a secret between you and the Lord. Amen Prayer For a print copy and much more please click the link below https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/remember-those-who-cant-repay

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine Sometimes when we feel heavy hearted, a good laugh and a smile really lift our souls! Similarly at a spiritual level we need to ‘put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.’ The Lord has provided an antidote for the spirit of heaviness. Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. As we begin to praise God and sing to Him the heaviness of heart and soul is lifted from us. We need to remember that when Paul and Silas were badly whipped, bleeding and thrown in the deepest dungeon they began singing praises to God at midnight. This act set them free in every sense and even led to the salvation of their jailer and his family! The Lord has also provided an antidote to sadness in our hearts. Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Strong’s: merry 8056. sameach, saw-may'-akh; from H8055; blithe or gleeful: --(be) glad, joyful, (making) merry ([-hearted]), rejoice (-ing). That smile and laugh can really boost our hearts and souls. Conclusion The garment of praise is indeed the answer for the spirit of heaviness! When we start praising God in difficult circumstances our joy begins to return and as our heart becomes merry with the new wine of the Spirit, so the joy removes the heaviness like a medicine. Hallelujah, I am going to get my ‘prescription’ my 'medicine' right now, what about you? Praise the Lord Remember we walk by faith not by sight or feelings. Amen Prayer For a print out and much more please click on the link below https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/put-on-the-garment-of-praise

by Guest blogger Ian Atkin Traditionally and in times past, primarily a ‘Holy Day’ – holiday – Christmas acknowledged true belief in the historical birth of Jesus of Nazareth, who at birth was recognised by many as ‘The Christ’ – The Messiah. In modern times it is evident that true belief in the historical reality of the life, ministry and death of Jesus of Nazareth takes second place to the celebration of the mythological figure Santa Claus. The Christian message is largely lost in this generation; the population in the UK, in the main, has rejected our Christian heritage, the foundations on which our society and structures were built on. Significantly, the foundations and structures of our society were hard fought for, in for example, the dark ages of medievalism, the Reformation, the first and second world wars. The Christian message fundamentally is that of the need for humanity ‘to be saved’ and that it is Jesus Christ who provides the means by which we can ‘be saved.’ However, in modernity people generally do not believe in God, His judgement, nor in the possibility of eternal hell after death. However, Christian believers know that this is indeed what they have been saved from. Salvation is an offer from God to every human being that lives – but He requires a response! It is for those ‘who have ears to hear and eyes to see’ their own need, and, to see spiritually that it is Jesus Christ who will meet that need – there is no other way to ‘be saved.’ The Christian message has also always been about ‘the return of Christ’ – that Jesus is ‘coming back again.’ When He lived, His disciples pushed Jesus for a description of the ‘signs of the times’ that would indicate His return was getting nearer (a time future to them). The response of Jesus is found in Mathew Chapter 24 and Luke Chapter 21. What Jesus described is evident in the days we are living in today. Importantly, there are two events occurring in this generation that has not happened in past generations – these events mean that we are now living in the times that Jesus and His disciples referred to as ‘the signs of the times of the end of the age preceding His return.’ These two related events are: 1. The establishment, in 1948, of the Independent State of Israel, the Jewish homeland, ‘The Promised Land’. And, 2 The return of the Jewish people (Aliyah), from around the world, to Israel. These are the events which distinguish this generation and these times from previous ones; therefore, we live in the times described in The Bible as ‘the end of the age,’ the times in which current events indicate and precede the return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We live in troubled times. The Covid-19 Sars 2 virus pandemic is surely a warning sign to the entire world. Christ will return. The ‘saved’ will be His. The ‘unsaved’ will not be. When Jesus was alive, He was frequently asked by people “what must I do to be saved?” His consistent reply was “repent” meaning ‘change your mind (about what you believe about me),’ “believe” i.e. ‘in me as Lord and Saviour,’ and “be baptised.” The Scriptures say, “All who call on the name of The Lord will be saved;” The Lord’s Name is Jesus Christ – this is the name we must call on. Also, “confess with your lips He is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from death to life” – so., make this confession and adopt this belief – it is not too difficult! As we move from Christmas time towards Easter it is interesting to think about whether our beliefs and celebrations relate to the birth, death and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, or are they about belief and celebration in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. We can celebrate ‘both/and,’ it does not have to be ‘either/or.’ We can all enjoy the best of both worlds by receiving God’s gifts of salvation and eternal life as well as receiving Christmas presents and Easter eggs. Normal is not returning! The Jewish people (the ‘Chosen People’) are returning! (to ‘the Promised Land’). Jesus Christ is returning! to end this age and establish His Kingdom here on earth, in which “all things will be made as new.” Say ‘yes’ to God’s offer of salvation – get saved – be saved. The alternative does not bare thinking about! Amen Full text at https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/end-times-a-few-initial-thoughts Further thoughts at 'Are we living in the end times? https://www.psalmonesermons.com/post/are-we-living-in-the-end-times