A Series of Short Sermons

Short sermons

written by L.D. Smith, senior teaching elder manna ministries

sermon number 1 The falling away from the faith

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it shall not come unless the apostasy comes first, (2Thess c2:v3), and at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another and many false prophets shall arise, and will mislead many, (Matt c24:v10-v11).

The words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Paul the apostle, dire words of warning concerning a time when this world shall catapult itself into the abyss, a time when good shall be looked upon as evil, and evil as good, and love shall be hard to find among the masses.

Yes this shall be a difficult time, a time when iniquity which gives birth to sin shall brings forth the destruction of man’s precious soul, for from its branches comes forth its fruit,spiritual death, hence men shall become lovers of self, deluded by the lie of the wicked one, that they are no longer a nobody, but are equal to the Creator himself, and worthy of the vanity that is in their hearts, displaying openly their sin before the Lord God.

A society that has become worse than Sodom or Gomorrah, a society were lying is the norm and immorality a way of life. Where the belief is that money shall solve all your problems for money is power.

Even within the so-called christian church, money seem’s to be the answer to all the problems, at least to the prosperity preachers who spiritually prostitute themselves for the wealth of this world.

But alas! Remember, Satan took the Lord Jesus to a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and then said to him; “all these will I give to you and their glory if you worship me”, (Luke c4:v6-v7).

Remember the Lord Jesus did not say to satan these kingdoms are not yours to give, but he rebuked him, saying it is written, “you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

What the children of God must realize is that Satan is the god of this world ,and these kingdoms that he displayed before the Lord Jesus are his kingdoms throughout history, for the whole world lies in the arms of the wicked one. Yet instead of man opening his eyes to the truth and letting the gospel of Christ Jesus shine into their hearts so that they may be set free, they harden their hearts towards the truth and in so doing ensnare themselves even further in their sins.

Instead of showing humility and coming to the truth, they allow their ego to rule over their souls, becoming boastful to cover their failings, lifting up their vanity in praise of themselves, which only results in the corruption of their soul, spirit and flesh,which spreads into the family and then society, breaking down all that is righteous and holy.

Corrupting every part of society and even entering in through the doors of the church, were we find those who call themselves the friend of Jesus, yet in their arrogance they deny the very foundation which the gospel is founded upon, by denying the very diety of Christ Jesus, and the pillars on which he stands.

They deny his virgin birth, his sinless life, the miracles he performed, his atonement at the cross, his bodily resurrection, his ascension into heaven and his second coming, Yet if that was not bad enough, they have taken the word of God and have made it of no effect, no they have done even worse than that, they have turned the truth into a lie.

Such is the apostasy within the church today, that if the Lord Jesus was to enter the so called christian church upon the earth, they would throw him out and brand him a fundamentalist, but thank the Lord God, that his church is not earth bound, for we upon this earth are but one portion of Christ's church since two-thousand years of the church have already entered into glory (heaven), amen! Remember when Christ spoke about the falling away from the faith, he was not speaking of the body of believers, the true christian church, who are called the elect, the chosen and the ekklesia, (the called out ones), for the Lord God foretold, that before the foundation of the earth he knew you, and the Lord Jesus in Matthew said it would be impossible to mislead the elect, and when he said that the one who endures to the end shall be saved, he was making it clear that they would overcome. For His promise is true when He said “but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short” How do we become an overcomer! how do we receive the victory?

The scriptures reveal this to us, for the Lord says our “faith in Christ Jesus makes us overcomers, (1John c5:v4-v6), and it is this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that separates the sheep from the goats, for without faith you have nothing. Faith is more than just believing, for the demons believed that Jesus was the Christ and they testified to this fact, but they were not saved nor will they ever come unto salvation, in like manner those within the so-called christian church shall not receive salvation by saying that they believe that Jesus was a good man or a great religious leader.

This is pure arrogance, for without the belief of faith that Christ Jesus was the son of God you are looking out into darkness.I often wonder why so many of these people who preach and teach within the church, a different gospel, can take a salary when they are supposedly being paid for preaching and teaching the gospel of Christ Jesus.

Does this not make them hypocrites, have they no shame, or is the world too hard for them to work in, one thing is sure they have no integrity.

If they believe that Christ Jesus was not the Son of God, then why don’t they start their own movement or church, or are they so drunk with their own importance, that they hold on to a form of Godliness, yet they deny its power, and fill the minds of the young who look up to them with things of this world, simply because they are spiritually appraised, so worldly minded that they create more questions than answers.

This is the apostasy, the defection from the truth that Christ and Paul were referring to, and the apostle John confirms this in the book of Revelation, where he reveals that the whole world shall follow a religious system, note I did not say a false religious system, for religion has nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, religion may be a way of life, but christianity is life.

Note here in Revelation and in Matthew that the falling away from the faith occurs after persecution breaks out upon the children of God (Matt c24; Rev c13), and also in Thessalonians Paul the apostle reveals that the apostasy from the faith occurs when the man of sin is revealed, (2Thess c2).

This tells us that the spirit of iniquity is already at work within the church today. Now the churches today consist of religious movements from all over the world, their teachings are simple, they teach that there are many ways in which we can come to God, this in itself is true, but what GOD are they referring to.The person in the street believes it is referring to the “creator” the God of heaven! but in truth it is referring to the god of this world, who is satan.

It is through ignorance of the word of God that this is occuring and the blame lies squarely upon the shoulders of the individual.

It is sad to say that such is the ignorance about God’s word among the masses, that the Lord God himself said that he would send strong delusion upon the earth because they rejected the truth, this is indeed a shocking indictment upon man. The Lord God did not only say that they did not believe in the truth, but that they took pleasure in wickedness.

There can be no doubt that the state of the so-called christian church today shall prepare the way for the coming antichrist.

It is clearly evident to the bible student that the apostasy is indeed well rooted within the church and within society in general.In the pulpits of the churches today stand men and women who call themselves agnostics and free thinkers, most of whom deny openly the deity of Christ.

It is their aim to forge together all the religions of the world, they foolishly believe that by unifying all the religions into one system they shall become more acceptable to the will of God, yet all that they shall succeed in doing is bringing together the brotherhood of mankind. Thus placing themselves outside of the perfect will of God, for within the scheme of the religious Christ Jesus can only play the role of a great religious leader, who was prepared to die for what he believed in, but not as the Son of God, who died on the cross as an atonement for sin.

Also if one looks at the life of Christ Jesus you shall see that it is contrary to the lives of the religious leaders of today. Jesus did not live in a big house, he did not take from the people, but gave to them.

look at the religious of today who profess to be christian, is there not a form of commercialization about them, are they not always crying out for money, but giving little to the poor, even when you turn on the christian channels on television you are inundated with cries for money.

They claim it is so that they can spread the gospel, but who’s gospel are they spreading, is it the gospel of Christ Jesus or is it the gospel of the world. The so-called christian church of today peddles a gospel which is cheap, a cheap gospel which says come to Jesus and accept him as your saviour, but they neglect to tell you the cost of becoming a disciple of Christ Jesus.

In fact they neglect to tell you anything about discipleship.

Is this because they do not know anything about discipleship, is it the blind leading the blind? Believe me when I say that salvation is not cheap, there was a price which had to be paid for your salvation, Christ Jesus paid that price.

But salvation did not end there, that was just the beginning of salvation, for salvation is a saving process and is at work within us (Heb c13:v21) transforming us into His image (Christ Jesus) (Rom c8:v29; c12:v1-v2).

The question therefore must be asked, is religion from the Lord God or is it from satan. Has a veil been pulled over man's eyes that he cannot see the truth! has he been blinded by the wicked one! When you take a look at history you cannot but notice that the religious world have systematically, throughout the centuries, persecuted the children of God and the gospel of Christ Jesus.

One has only to read the new testament to see how the religious leaders persecuted Christ and his disciples, many to their deaths. And did not the religious leaders do this in the name of God.

When you read the old testament, you shall find that the words religion or religious are not to be found, and the word “synagogue” only occurs once in the King James version, and is a mis-translation, for in the hebrew the word (mo/adah) occurs two-hundred (200) times in the old testament and is only once translated as synagogue, it should render “a meeting place” or “holy place of God”, and not a reference to synagogue. But when you open the new testament you find that there are synagogues everywhere, for it was the Jews who turned away from the Lord God, and turned themselves into a man made religion, which is known to this day as “Judaism”.

The Lord God never set the Jewish people aside as a religion, he set them aside and called them, “my people”, and today every born-again believer is set aside by the Lord God and called “his".

Within the new testament the words religion and religious are mentioned in three books, Acts, Galatians and James, when you read these three books you shall realize that religion has nothing whatsoever to do with christianity, for when the apostles Paul and James use the words religion and religious it was to condemn them.

Paul in the book of Acts chapter 13 directly accuses the religious leaders of the Jews for the death of Christ Jesus and in chapter 26 he uses the word religion when testifying that he lived as a pharisee according to the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, but because he now professes Christ as saviour, he has thrown off the rags of religion.

The religious leaders of the Jewish authorities wanted him dead, and in Galatians Paul uses the word religion to discribe his former manner of life in the Jewish religion and how he once persecuted the church of God.

In chapter 1 verses 11and 12, we read in Pauls own words; “for I would have you know brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man, for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ, ”Paul testifies that man’s religion has nothing to do with the Lord God or Christ Jesus, that religion only serves the purpose of man, and is the enemy of the truth of the gospel.

James when addressing Jews who professed christianity had this to say about religion, “if anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his own heart, this mans religion is worthless”.

These Jews that James was addressing were professing christians, who had not left their religious past behind them, they where boasting about being religious and upright people, but James was quick to point out to them that they where only decieving themselves, because the Lord God knew what was in their hearts. He was warning these christian brothers and sisters of the dangers of religion, for he said to them, “pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, is to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world,” man's religion does not wash with the Lord God, for the Lord has no time for the religious of the world, because the moment someone becomes religious they also become self-righteous, and for that reason Isaiah the prophet forewarned the people that all our righteousness is as filthy rags.

The religious of the world would not agree with what I have said, for it is they who teach that being a good person and by giving to the church you shall receive salvation, but the Lord God says only through Christ his son can any receive salvation, and when Christ addressed the religious leaders of the Jews he called them hypocrites because they had corrupted the commandments and laws of God to suit their own thinking.

In the world today the word christian is widely used by many of the religious movements, but the word Christ! means messiah, so to be a christian,( that is a disciple of Christ), one must believe that Christ Jesus is the messiah, the only begotten son of God, and that the bible is the inspired word of God, and that it is all holy-writ, not just what appeals to you, and that we are to obey and act upon the words of Christ, and not just pay him lip service, as many of the religions do. Be under no delusion “God is not mocked.”

sermon 2 ONLY THE FOOL SAYS THERE IS NO GOD

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty, and I will say to the Lord, “my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust”.

Only a fool says there is no God, for they trust in their own heart and there words are many. If I was given a pound for everytime that some one has said to me that there are many ways to God, and that all religions have a portion of the truth within them, I would be a rich man, firstly let me just say that religion is not from the Lord God of heaven, but from the god of this world,(satan), and secondly, the majority of those who suggest that there are many ways to God have not at anytime read or studied the Bible or for that matter any other religious teachings.

Yet with their minds set against the Gospel of Christ they come as experts in theology or philosophy, but in truth they come with their own ideology as to what is truth and what is not, and in so doing they succeed in remaining within their own ignorance, snared by their own stupidity, their minds blinded by the serpent of old, each fool heading towards the gates of hell! for wide is its road and many a fool shall enter in.

Tthe child of God can only watch as their pleads for them to turn to the Lord Jesus for their salvation, go unanswered. If you were walking beside a river and you saw someone drowning and you just stood there watching them struggle until they finally succumbed to their death, people would hold you in the greatest contempt, asking the question, how could anyone let another human die without helping them, yet the same people don’t mind if people lose their soul, which is eternal and not just temporal.

If you ask the question, as to where they belive they shall go after death the majority of people within the western world will tell you heaven, even murderers in prison will tell you that they shall go to heaven, but they fail to realize that without repentance and Christ Jesus as your saviour, heaven will be but a figment of your own imagination.

But what amazes me, is the fact that in heaven the redeemed shall hold the position of priests, which shall entail worship, now maybe I am wrong, but why would anyone who has lived their life not knowing or not wanting to know the Lord God when alive upon the earth, want to go and serve the Lord God who would be alien to them as they would be to Him.

Maybe people believe that heaven is just a continuation of their life as it was upon the earth, but to be true to my calling, that is to preach and teach to the lost, (those who believe that they are going to heaven without the need of Christ Jesus as their Saviour), I shall try to explain the two verses of psalm 91 that wss read at the beginning of this sermon, (a) he who dwells in the secret place of the most high, “secret” means to keep close,and to protect, the word secret was also used by the Angel of the Lord (Christ himself) when ask what was his name by Manoah the father of Samson, the meaning of secret here is “wonderful” and is one of the titles of the Lord Jesus, thus the secret place of the most high is referring to a close relationship, one who is within the will of the Lord God, (b) it is for this reason that the next sentence of this psalm reveals that they shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, it is only through a close relationship with the Lord Jesus that anyone can abide under the shadow of the Almighty, for without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ no one can converse with the Almighty, (c) you are my refuge and my fortress, you are my refuge meaning you are my hope, and as all of God's children shall confess, the Lord Jesus is indeed their blessed hope and their strong defence, in whom they can boldly say, we trust, (d) these verses do not relate to those who have no relationship or christian walk or fellowship with the Lord Jesus or our heavenly Father, these verses as with all scripture, only relate to those who have faith and hope and a confidence in their faith to be bold and secure, not doubting but holding to all the promises within the word of God.

What is even more revealing, is the fact that these two verses, that is verse one and two of psalm 91 have within them four titles, that is four names that belong to the Lord God, 1. the first name to be revealed is the Most High God, (Elyon), the possessor of the heavens and earth, and is contributed to our heavenly Father, for thus Christ came to do the Father’s will, and as his children we the redeemed are told to do what is pleasing to the Father, Elyon is therefore “Father God” to the believer, (the redeemed, the saints), and such is to be our relationship with Him, and it is to Elyon that our prayers are directed, Elyon is not the father of all mankind as many would have you believe, for from the fall of man and the entering of sin into the world, the relationship between God and man was severed, hence what we call the Lord’s prayer is not a universal prayer for all, but a prayer only for the saints, not as a prayer of repetition, but in the manner in which we should pray.

2 The second name to be revealed is “The Almighty” that is “El -Shaddai” God Almighty, and a title that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, for Christ Jesus, referred to himself as the great “I AM”, who existed long before Abraham was born, and it is Christ Jesus who is the God of Grace, and it is he who provides all our needs.

3 The name Lord is revealed, the word Lord is in association with the word Jehovah, and is a title that is given to the Lord Jesus Christ, it indicates His covenant and pastoral relationship with those who love him.

4 The title God is used, but to have any true understanding or to form any relationship with Him, we need to know what the word God means, otherwise it would be like you referring to your mother as woman or your father as man, and this I do not believe is what the Lord God desires for his children, we can say that God is the Creator and Ruler of the World, Israel and the Church and this is true, but is does not reveal to us His nature and I believe that if we do not know His nature we therefore cannot know Him.

I truly believe with all my heart that it is the Lord God’s will to reveal his nature to his children, for through his nature we find His will for our lives, thus allowing a deep seated relationship to flow, hence the word “God” shall no longer be used, for we shall beable to call him by his names, in this verse the true meaning of the word God is “Elohim” and Elohim is the Creator, that is the Lord Jesus Himself, God the son, it is Christ Jesus as “Elohim” that man’s very existence came into being , for He is the Spirit that became flesh, the power that became the living word, He is the Eternal One.

You may indeed believe that there is no God, that is your right, for the Lord God never made robots he gave you a free will to do what you think is right within your own eyes, if it is your desire to bury your head in the sand feel free to do so, but what you are not free to do, is to distort the truth, for this is the only sin that you shall never be forgiven, to blaspeme against the Holy spirit.

So to come with your own ideology is to come with your own d.i.y. kit on salvation, and I can reassure you, the only place it leads to is hell, for there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved, no other name in Heaven or upon the earth or beneath the earth, only the name of Jesus Christ.

When you read the gospels and in your mind see Christ Jesus hanging upon that cross, know this in your heart, it was in your place that He allowed himself to be nailed to that cursed tree. In your place He suffered humiliation as the crowd mocked Him, and in your place He gave his life up as a ransom for your sin. Can you imagine his hands stretched out upon that cross and not once did he curse out at anyone, but found it in his heart to say Father forgive them they don’t know what they are doing.

Even the two thieves crucified beside him mocked him, and yet not once did he utter any retaliation. Despite of his own suffering he found the time to forgive a repentant sinner who only a few moments before, was mocking Him. What a friend we have in Jesus, what a Saviour, what a gift from the our Heavenly Father, I hope you realize that heaven was robbed of it’s fineness so that the likes of you and me could receive salvation.

Don’t ever say that salvation is free for it is not, you did not have to pay, but Christ paid in full for you with his life. Your salvation did not come cheap, it cost the shedding of Godly blood and the giving up of a Godly spirit, but I thank the Lord God that his grace touched me and turned me heavenward.

Let the fool say in his heart that there is no God, let him be like the repentant thief upon the cross mocking and hurling insults towards the Lord God, and like the thief let the Lord touch him and open his eyes and mind to the truth.

Let the fool be like the Philistine Jailer who beat his prisoners before he chained them up showing them no mercy, a man with a heart as black as coal, a man heading striaght to hell who had no fear of death, for when the earthquake occurred and the doors of the prison were thrown open suddenly waking him from his sleep, and believing that the prisoners had all escaped he drew out his sword to kill himself.

Indeed this man was not afraid to die, but the Lord God in his grace called out to this man through his servant Paul who cried out, “harm not yourself we are all here”, and that very night saw salvation delivered to the heart of that jailer. It is this grace that draws men and women towards the Lord Jesus and unto Salvation, and the knowledge of the Lord God.We may do many foolish things in our life but the Lord is always ready to forgive us when we repent, it is truly the one saving grace that the fool has going for him.

Amazing grace, the sweet touch of a merciful God, that touch of his love that changes the life of the most vilest and turns their life upside down and inside out.

I have seen big hard men fall upon their knees at the touch of the Almighty, with tears flowing down their faces, sobbing uncontrollably and crying out; Lord save me, and when or if salvation ever comes to the fool they shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord God, and the time will come when they shall say, my God in whom I trust! Once they were the mockers, once they did not believe, but how that touch of God’s grace changes the way we live.

Remember that thief upon the cross beside the Lord Jesus who, moments before the Holy spirit touched him with God’s grace, opening his eyes to the truth, was hurling abuse at the Lord Jesus, shouting save yourself if you are the Christ and save us also, yet within a moment of God’s grace touching his soul his life was changed. In that twinkling of an eye, salvation was poured out upon him.

In a moment of time he had changed from mocking, to crying out “Lord”, confessing to all around that this man Jesus was indeed their messiah. “Lord, he cried! remember me when you come into your kingdom”.

Did the Lord Jesus rebuke him, did he curse him for his mockery moments before, the answer is no, Jesus did not, he simply looked over towards him and said, “truly a say to you, before this day ends you shall be with me in paradise”.

Is this not grace, is this not love so amazing, is this not divine love, is this not the love that the Lord God instills into the souls of his children, a love that is so amazing, so divine.

A promise which is given to every child of God when death is at the door, life unto life, never seeing death, never to taste death or feel death’s sting.

The world may indeed called me a fool, but if I be a fool, I am God’s fool, because the foolishness of the Lord God is wiser than men. Man may be the biggest critic of the Lord God, but he is also the biggest hypocrite, he may mock the things of God and even the Lord God himself, but when something in their life goes wrong it’s not to their own ideology that they turn to, but to God!

When I read about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, what strikes me, is the people who are there. You have a handful of women who followed the Lord Jesus and one disciple,these were the ones who loved him. Then you have the two criminals, then you have the soldiers, then you have the ordinary people, and then you have the rulers of the people, the scribes and the pharisees and the chief priests.

Excluding the women and John ,the youngest disciple of Jesus, everyone else was mocking Christ. But what is astonishing, is the fact that the chief priests stirred up the people to have a murderer released and Jesus crucified. It was they who convened a council to have the Lord Jesus murdered,and this was done not out of justice but envy.

These were religious men, who preached and taught the laws of God, sadly they did not practise what they preached, they became fools through their own folly, and there are those today within the church who have also become fools through their own folly for they teach a gospel which is contrary to the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and has resulted in many churches having to close there doors due to falling congregations.

Be under no delusion concerning the grace of God, if you preach or teach only the gospel of Christ Jesus you shall receive blessings, but if you take away or add to the gospel of Christ Jesus, expect to be called the accursed (anathema) by the Lord God.

This applies to every individual who professes christianity, for worthy is the Lord God, and worthy should our gratitude be towards him, for the outpouring of his grace upon us, for who else can deliver us out of the enemies hand, who else can cover us with a hedge of protection, it is only the Lord God.

These promises can only come into fruition if we make Him our refuge, for refuge means to trust and to have confidence in Him, which is our faith, and to hold to our expectations of Him, which is our hope in Him.

Trust, hope and faith are the ingredients of salvation, that make a blessed spiritual life.

Worry not that the world calls you a fool, for the Lord God calls you a prince. What can the world offer you, fame and fortune which are only temporal, and at the end of your life what is your reward for turning your back on the Lord God and his gift of salvation, hell!.

Even the world has a price that must be paid in full, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, for the wages of sin is death, death eternal, this is the price that must be paid.

Remember, don’t meet the devil half way, don’t believe everything that you hear, for words are cheap, and test every word which is spoken, using the holy scriptures as your marker for the truth.

Remember when the devil tried to tempt the Lord Jesus in the wilderness. The Lord Jesus did not at any time try to debate or aurgue with him, he simply quoted the scriptures.

Have you ever wondered why the Lord Jesus only quoted the word of God,?He was demonstrating to us that the truth sets you free, and the truth can only be found within the word of God.

The devil can also quote the scriptures and he can appear as an angel of light, but he cannot receive salvation for he’s damned and doomed to a lost eternity, because of his rebellion against the very throne of the Lord God, and it is his desire to curse the very handiwork of God.

He deceived man in the garden of the Lord, and has been deceiving him ever since.

He has the power to blind the minds of those who are perishing through their own foolish ignorance, that is, their refusal to read the scriptures or their arrogance towards them, thus believing the lie of satan that man knows what is best for man.

This arrogance that man possesses is recorded time and time again within the scriptures.

Man’s ego has not got any smaller over the centuries, the truth is, that it has got greater, hence puffing up mans pride, and any student of the scriptures can tell you that pride comes before destruction.

Who are you willing to trust with your soul and its eternal state, do you trust in your own strength, maybe you are foolish enough to do so, and if you are then you must ask these questions, how many times has your strength let you down, how many times has your loved one let you down, how many times have your friends let you down, your government, your church, lets face the truth, flesh shall always let you down, for where imperfection can be found there shall be failure. Where there is ego, pride, and vanity there is failure, but were there is perfection there is salvation, for the righteouness of the perfect shall direct your way, and who was it that called himself the way? who was the perfect one? whose ways are all perfect? what a friend we have in Jesus! He is the way, He is the anointed one and all His ways are just. He is our righteousness, the Lord God no longer see’s the sin, only the Christ within the repentant sinner.

Now the fool has a choice, because he has a free will, he can choose the arm of flesh or the arm of the Lord God, he can choose life or death, blessing or cursing, he can choose his own ideology or he can choose theology, he can choose religion or christianity, he can choose to live for self or he can choose to live for Christ, he can choose to read the word of God or he can choose to ignore it, but what the fool can not do, is blame the Lord God for his own choices.

He can’t even blame the devil for his choices, satan may tempt you into sin but man does not have to fall into sin, he can go the way of Christ.

“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. In the midst of life we are in death for man is born of a woman and has but a short time to live, and he is full of misery,

then will we seek for succour, who shall deliver us from the bitter pains of eternal death.

It is your decision! what shall it be, life or death, remember there is salvation in no one else; there is no other name, only in the name of Jesus the Christ shall you find salvation.

Sremon 3 Children OF THE LIGHT

We are children of the light, hence we have received the light of life.

A promise from the Lord Jesus that the person who receives Him as their saviour shall have the veil of delusion removed from their eyes, no longer shall they walk as a blind person or a captive held in a deep dark dungeon, nor shall sin be able to keep them in bondage, for the light of life shall set them free.

The bright morning star, shall illuminate their heart as the God of glory takes his rightful place within the soul, hence the call from this point onwards for the child of God to live their life unto the Lord God according to His word, “be holy as I am holy” for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them.

For as children of the light we must walk in the light, because we have received the Lord Jesus as our saviour, therefore let us walk in Him, for in Him we shall obtain our sanification (holiness).

Many believe that Holiness can be obtained by rules and regulations, or by a strict code of morality.

These in themselves are not wrong, the problem arises when the joy of your salvation goes out the window, because you have removed the Lord Jesus from the center of your life and replaced him with do's and don’ts.

Hence the free gift of salvation is no longer a free gift, but a set of rules and regulations which have been added by man, thus corrupting the word of God,have you ever wondered why there are so many different denominations, who all claim to be christian, yet many would snub a church not of their denomination, and they can give many reasons for their refusal to enter another christian church.

But if we walk in the light surely we would find Christ Jesus, for he is the light, and if we cannot find the Lord Jesus surely it is because we are not walking in the light. Nor do we walk in his love, and when we do not walk in love we cannot come to any understanding of what it means to have been buried with him through baptism into His death, and also that as Christ was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life, walking in the spirit,for the spirit is truth, and if we deceive ourselves through our own prejudices, surely then we are walking in the flesh.

Holiness can only be obtained by walking in light, because the light is Christ Jesus and He is our example as to how we should live our lives.

It is therefore not any rites or rituals or doctines that lead us into Holiness, but our attitute towards the teachings of the Lord Jesus, for our attitude shall determine our sanctification, that is our Holiness, and the only way for a child of God to understand how to live a Holy life is through the study of the life of the Lord Jesus.

For no greater example has been given for us to learn, so now let us give a short study on the life of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Not much is said about the childhood of our Lord Jesus, but what is revealed is of the most importance to the child of God and to his walk with the Lord himself, for what is revealed within the scriptures about the child Jesus is his devotion to the word of God.

It is declared within holy-writ that at the age of twelve he astonished the teachers of the law by his knowledge of God.

many may say it was because he was God, and this is true, but according to the scriptures he grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men, He was not given this knowledge by some supernatural act, He had to take the time and meditate and study and pray, just like any other child of God.

At the beginning of his ministry he was indeed filled and had the power of the Holy Spirit, but every child of God has this same privilege. Even the Lord Jesus said, that those who believe in him, yet have not seen him, shall do greater works than He.

He was born flesh and blood, and as a child he had to take the time to learn of his father, you know the saying; 'that you only get out what you put in,'and this is true of Godly things as well. If you do not take the time to learn the things of God, then expect to know nothing about the Lord God. If there is no relationship how can you know the will of God for your life.

Remember when you are born-again by the spirit of God you are not born as an adult, you are born a “babe” an infant with no spiritual knowledge at all, this may come as a shock to many, who have believed that when they were born-again they were born with all the answers of the Bible. The know-alls! the ones who have all the answers to every question, and yet they do not even have the common sense to know that even a fool who says nothing is looked upon as being wise.

You are born-again you have no spirituality at all, no more than a new born baby can talk, so what the scriptures are revealing through the life of Christ Jesus as a child is the pattern for everyone who is born-again, without exception, and as Jesus grew in the knowledge of the Lord God so we also grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

It is only by complying to the pattern of the life of Christ that we can ever come to any understanding of what spirituality is about.

We are told within the scriptures to be of the same mind and to have the same attitude as our Lord Jesus, and if you cannot obtain His attitude in your christian walk, then you shall surely lose out on your spiritual blessings. So we have before us the foundation on which we must build, that is meditation, study and much prayer.

Now we must ask the question, what was the mind of Christ and his attitude towards others? and the simple answer is humility and obedience.

What does humility mean, but to be made low, to have no pride within, for pride comes before destruction, and was the root cause of satan’s fall from grace.

Humility is the starting point for the child of God, if you have no humility within, then you are not within the will of God, for the Lord God loves the humble in heart, but the proud he shall not endure.

Christ our Lord is portrayed within scripture as being humble in heart for our sakes, he was equal with God (Elyon the most High God our heavenly father), yet for our sakes he gave up the glory of heaven and became flesh so that a way would be opened for man to be reconciled to Himself (God).

This is what humility is all about, and this was the humility that Christ Jesus displayed openly, although Christ existed in the form of God yet for our sakes he took on the limitations of humanity in obedience to the will of the Father.

And it is this humility that we as the children of God must generate within our hearts, for if there is to be love and fellowship with the truth, there cannot be selfishness or conceit within our heart, and as Christ left the glory of heaven to become a servant for our sakes, then we must follow in his foot steps.

Remember His words to the disciples, “He who is first shall be last and he who is last shall be first”, remember also the words that he said to the disciples,“if any among you seeks to be first let him first become your servant”.

To live with humility as a leader within the ministry of the Lord Jesus, is to know that when the Lord calls you home to glory, you shall have the privilege, not of sitting at the table of the Lord but serving at it, and this is what humility is all about.

It is this humility which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, the regarding of your brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus, as more important than yourself.

You must become their servant, this is not a display of weakness, but the action of meekness! The same meekness that Christ himself revealed during His ministry among men, and if God’s people mistake meekness for weakness, then they will have missed the starting point for God’s blessings, for the starting point for God’s blessing begins with humility.

And do not mistake false humility, that is, one who does a kind act to another but is not consistent with their actions, no! true humility is consistent with all their brothers and sisters, just as Christ was consistent throughout his ministry.

Humility that is true humility gives birth to compassion, and we can see this throughout the ministry of our Lord Jesus, read when He fed the five thousand men, besides woman and children, and you shall find a great revelation as to the humility and compassion of the Lord Jesus.

You shall also find the attitude that man possesses, that is the carnal man.

The man who walks by sight not faith.

his miracle of the feeding of over five thousand hungry souls is the only miracle to be recorded by all four gospel writers.

“and when Jesus went out he saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick, and when it was evening, His disciples came to Him saying, this is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves some food, but Jesus said to them, they do not need to go away, you give them something to eat, and they said to him, we have here only five loaves and two fish, but Jesus said bring them here to me, then He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and He took the five loaves and two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes, so they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained”.

Note that Christ was moved with compassion, and his first action of compassion was to help others, but notice also that Christ did not only feed them physically but also spiritually, and that it was the physical nature of man that he healed and fed first.

But because the disciples acted in the flesh by wanting the Lord Jesus to send the multitude away, so that they could eat their supper in peace, He dismissed them by sending them in a boat to the other side of the lake while He and He alone sent the multitudes away.

If you show no compassion for others do not expect to share in any spiritual blessings. Such is the grace of the Lord God that his children shall show mercy (loving kindness) towards others.

We are not just ambassadors for Christ Jesus spreading the good news,we are the living proof of his love, and were there is no compassion or mercy towards others, there is no humility and there is no obedience.

Remember the command that the Lord Jesus gave to the twelve disciples concerning the feeding of the five thousand plus, “you give them something to eat!” and the words He spoke before this command was the revelation of who He was, for He said to them, “they do not need to go away”, for before them stood the Messiah, God in flesh, the bread of life, the very same God who had fed their forefathers in the wilderness for forty-years.

Is it any wonder the Lord Jesus dismissed the disciples and sent them away, for had they not been with him for a long time and witnessed miracle after miracle, and yet despite all that they had witnessed, their faith in Him was still at the starting line.

The point that Christ Jesus was making to the disciples was that they only had to ask in His name and the five thousand plus would have been fed.

It was a point of trust in which the disciples failed. I wonder how the Lord Jesus felt at that period of time when the disciples displayed their lack of faith in Him , but one thing is sure, that from that moment onwards the faith of the disciples started to grow slowly but surely, and I wonder what would we have done in that situation, for by looking around today I believe ,very much the same.

It is evident that society's love has grown cold.

War's rage all over the globe, starvation abounds in many continents and no matter how much this problem is addressed it seems only to get worse.

That is why it is important for christians to walk in Holiness before the world. To walk in a manner that befits our calling, not in rules of do's and don’t, for Holiness never change's a person from the outside in, it only operates from the inside out, bringing out of our hearts conviction, showing humility and compassion to our fellowman, displaying mercy at every opportunity.

Not only repersenting the Lord Jesus as his ambassadors, but becoming like Him in all situations, for as you are in Christ you must remember that He is in you.

Holiness therefore is generated from the heart, for the heart is the seat of man's soul, and depending upon how much the child of God is willing to die to self, determine's your state of Holiness.

Remember the Lord God demands your all, but he shall never force your free will,remember the disciples when Christ fed the five thousand plus, they believed in Jesus, for if they had not, they most surely would not have walked with him, but they allowed their feelings (flesh) to over rule their hearts when they said' we have only five loaves and two fish,'had they opened their eyes and shown humility they would have realised that the Almighty was standing before them, and all that was required was their faith, to trust in him by simply saying! “thy will be done”.

We as humans have this problem of trusting in the flesh, but holiness cannot operate where flesh rules,for holiness is the essence of the Lord God.

Because God is spirit and Holy, to try and obtain Holiness through the flesh can be compared to someone trying to climb the highest mountain in the world on their own,it would be impossible, and even if they were to succeed and get to the top, they would only find that the Lord God was not there.

The Lord God cannot be found by the flesh.

Repeatedly throughout the scriptures we are taught this, this is what sanctification is all about, we can only be sanctified by the truth for his word is truth, and we can only worship the Lord God in spirit and truth, so the two things that stand out are “the truth and the spirit” and it is through the truth and the spirit that we find Holiness.

The reason why we can only worship the Lord God in spirit is because the spirit, (the breath of life) which makes man a living soul, belongs to the Lord God and at death returns back to Him.

Truth and spirit are but one and the same,the triune God, the Creator and the Giver of life.

Holiness is about “truth”, and where there is no truth there is no Holiness.

Christ Jesus was “the truth” he was holiness personified,it is when Christ takes his rightful place in your heart, that is the throne of your soul, that one becomes sanctified (Holy), and the spirit within brings true worship, honour and reverence to the Lord God Almighty.

That is why so many struggle within their christian walk, they let their flesh over rule their faith. Note that failing is not about how many times you fall, failing is when you lie down and don’t get up.

Why do you think the Lord Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you, He knows the trials and the temptations that we will go through, after all, he went through them himself.

Believe me when a tell you that the truth shall set you free, hold on to the truth, hold on to His promises, and if your heart is sincere just cry to him, 'Lord thy will be done'.

sermon 4 MY WAYS ARE NOT YOUR WAYS

After the Lord Jesus had fed the five thousand plus, they tried to take him by force and make him king, but he dismissed them, and went up to the mountain by himself to pray,it may come as a surprise to some people, but heaven cannot be taken by force, many have tried and failed, and it is the same with salvation you cannot receive salvation because you desire it or you want it because of your fear of death, salvation can only come through grace, and that is God’s grace.

This was the problem with the multitude, who had witnessed the miracle of the five fish and two loaves, they had come to believe that Jesus was the prophet that Moses had prophesied about, but the mistake that they made was in not listening to his words, but reacting upon their own feelings, in a nut shell, they wanted to do it their way, not the way that the Lord God had planned.

But this recipe of self will only leads to destruction, the trouble with the human heart is that it never learns from past experiences, such is it’s corruption since the fall of man from God’s grace. Scripture has repeatedly revealed mans struggle against the word of God, and these men where not just nobodies in the bible, many were those who the Lord God himself had chosen.

Let's just look at life of Moses.

Right from the start it is clear that the Lord had preserved the life of Moses, for the king of Egypt had given orders that every new born male Hebrew baby was to be killed, this order was given so that the Hebrews would not out breed the Egyptians.

Only a despot would give such a command, yet the Lord God preserved the life of this baby called Moses, but He not only preserved his life, but had him reared up as the son of pharaoh's daughter.

He was to become the third highest ruler in the Egyptian Kingdom, and for forty years Moses would hold this position within Egypt until one day he decided to do it his way, and not the way that the Lord God had planned, and because of this action Moses's world fell apart, and for the next forty years he was to become a shepherd of goats and sheep, in the back side of the desert.

Going from having the highest privilege and honour within the land, to a nobody,and why did all this happen to Moses who had clearly been marked out by the hand of the Lord God and blessed with abundance, simply because he did not wait upon the Lord God.

He took matters into his own hands which resulted in the death of an Egyptian. He saw the Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves and ran to the aid of the Hebrew,he knew that he also was a Hebrew and not an Egyptian, although he enjoyed all the privileges of a prince of Egypt he was aware that the people who were in bondage were indeed his own people, which can only bring one to the conclusion that the Lord God was speaking to the heart of Moses,concerning the deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage and the yoke that was placed upon them by the Egyptians. Yes! the Lord God was speaking to the heart of Moses.

Moses like so many today did not listen to the words of God, and missed out upon the blessings that God wanted to give him.

In the case of Moses, he suffered forty years in the backside of the desert,how long have you been suffering in the backside of the desert waiting for your blessing from the Lord Jesus, only to be disappointed day after day. Indeed it can be a dark and lonely place to be, but thanks be to the Lord Jesus there is a way out of this wilderness and it is way is the way of holiness.

It is called, “the highway of holiness”, the way of sanctification, we have through Christ Jesus as our saviour, “a right of way” that leads directly to the throne of the Lord God. We no longer have to stay in darkness, for we have the light, and the light is the word of God, a light to our foot steps, this is were many falter and remain within their wilderness like Moses.

Moses within his heart had good intentions, but they were not God's intentions.

Moses wanted to lead the Israelites out of Egypt through revolution but this was not the intention of the Lord God, for as he displayed before Moses, some forty years later, it was by His glory and by His outstretched arm that the Israelites were led out of their bondage and not by the arm of flesh.

Maybe you have something in your life that holds you in bondage, maybe you are trying to do things for the Lord God by the power of flesh, maybe you do not understand that the recipient has an obligation to fulfill before they can set their foot upon the highway of holiness, and walk in the way of holiness.

Moses failed at the beginning like all of us, and it took him another forty-years living in the back side of the wilderness before he was at the place of holiness and in the very presence of the Almighty, and it was from this moment in time that Moses began his walk in the way of Holiness. It was this surrender of self which enabled Moses to form a relationship with the Lord God.

Moses was now eighty years of age,the first forty years he was the son of Pharoah’s daughter, and the next forty years he was a shepherd of goats and sheep, bringing him to the age of eighty, and from this age he would be the one who the Lord God would work through performing many wondrous signs.

Moses lived to the ripe old age of one hundred and twenty, but I would like to point out that during the last forty years of Moses’s life while he walked in the way of Holiness, they were not years that were filled with super spirituality, for there were indeed times when Moses allowed the flesh to overrule the spirit of the Living God, not because Moses was weak, but because he lived in a vessel of clay, for the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, it is so easy to let our feelings, such as fear, anger, passions, affections and opinions, cloud the truth. This is why everything must be done in love, for love never fails.

When Moses was told by the Lord God to speak unto the rock that it may bring forth its living waters and reveal the glory of God to the Israelites, Moses let his emotions get in the way of this command from the Lord God, for he was angry at the continual complaining and murmurings of the Israelites against the Lord God and himself.

So instead of speaking unto the rock, Moses struck the rock twice, no big deal you may say, but the rock that Moses struck twice was the Lord God, and because of this action of Moses was forbidden to lead the Israelites into the promised land.

This indeed would imply that we do suffer because of our past actions,that indeed, what we sow we also reap the consequence of, it is for this reason that we the children of God must be within His will, for it is His will that demonstrates the very nature of the Lord God, for His nature is love.

Moses reflects our nature, when he was slow to circumcise his child at the biding of the Lord God, and scripture reveals that because of this slowness of Moses the Lord God sought to put Moses to death, but this slowness of Moses only serves to reflect our slowness to act upon the word of God within our lives.

How many times have we taken the Lord God for granted, I am not implying that we have done this in direct defiance towards the Lord God, but in putting off till tomorrow what should be done today, playing upon the love of God, maybe not realizing that a spiritual war is raging around us.

Because we cannot see the battle we believe we are safe in the hands of the Lord Jesus, but we are soldiers of the gospel of Christ Jesus, we are not spectators, the only leave for us, is a quiet place for mediation and prayer.

When you read about the battles of the Israelites as Moses led them through the wilderness to the promised land, they are not just stories to fill up a few pages in the old testament, they are to the child of God a forewarning of the battles and struggles that we shall encounter throughout our journey in life till we are called home, across the spiritual Jordan to our promised land the abode of the Lord God and His Christ.

The problem comes when we as the children of God think we know better than the Lord God, believing that times have changed, and after all we live in the twenty-first century, no longer in the dark ages. People are no longer barbarians, but civilized, so let me assure you on three points,1 God is the same today as He was yesterday, as He shall be forever, He will not change his laws nor his grace, and if you want to live in the household of the Lord God you will live according to His ways, or you shall not live with Him at all, there shall be no argument nor debates, this is the way it will be, and in the words of the Lord God, “where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” how absurd to think that a man should become the critic of the Lord God.

2 Does anyone truly believe that the Lord God ,who is a Holy God, would for one moment relinquish his Holiness for a corrupt and deceitful nature like mans.

What did the Lord Jesus say; “heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall never pass away!”, accept it or reject it, but you shall not change it, and if we live in a time that is called civilized according to many today, why are there more murders within the world today than at any other time in its history.

Why are there more wars, famines, immorality, abortions divorces, etc. The church that is the so-called christian church upon the earth is in a state of apostasy, they have given in to the standards of the world, and have abolished the teachings on holiness from their churches.

But the true spiritual church of the Lord Jesus has not given up, they hold on to holiness as it was in the days of the early church, they teach only the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and hold to no other gospel, no matter where it is said to have come from.

For if it cannot be found within the word of God, then it is not scripture.

The true christian knows his enemy, he will not embrace the ways of the world, but shall stand in the will of his Heavenly Father and his saviour the Lord Jesus, taking the fight to the enemy.

Sad as it maybe when you look around at the so called christian church today you can only look in horror, as they have sold everything that was holy and decent as they appease the world, so that they can be accepted by it.

Oh if only you could put a rotten apple in the barrel and hope above hope that the good apples would turn the rotten apple good again.

They may teach that there is good in every man, but I’ll take my stand along the teachings of the Lord God when he says that all men are evil and that the human heart is full of wickedness, and that only His spirit, the holy spirit can turn a man or woman from their wicked ways and create within them a clean heart and a right spirit within.

Man must make his own decision as to who he shall put his trust in, the flesh, the world or the devil, or the Lord Jesus Christ and his word, when I think of Moses I think of him when he came to Horeb, the mountain of God, for it was there that the Lord God poured out his grace upon him and in like manner He pours his grace upon the heart of the recipient who is penitent, and just as Moses saw a blazing fire from the midst of bush, so the recipient also receives the Holy Spirit as like fire within his heart, that beautiful purifying spirit, the spirit of truth that sanctifies the soul of the recipient by the truth, the living word of the Lord God.

But sadly many who come to the Lord Jesus do not want to serve him, just like Moses, you would have thought without any doubts, that after the experience that he had encountered, he would have been filled with enthusiasm but not one bit,he seemed to be filled with fear, five times Moses tried to excuse himself from the Lord God’s calling, was it because he was afraid of failing that he allowed his emotions to get in the way?

One thing is clear and a lesson to us all, when Moses had this encounter with the Lord God, it did not just happen out of the blue, the Lord God had chosen him before he was even born. He was eighty years of age when the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush, yet he was but a babe in Christ, it was from this point in time that Moses would begin his relationship with the Lord God, it was from this point in Moses’s life that he would begin to trust and obey the Word of God. It was not easy for him, he made many a mistake, but when the Lord God told him at the age of one hundred and twenty to go up the mountain and die, he had become the man that the Lord God wanted him to be.

When we come to the Lord Jesus for salvation it is by His grace, and when we receive salvation it is by His grace, and as we are born anew (born-again) by the spirit of the Lord God it is by his grace.

When we are born again, we like Moses are but babes in Christ by his grace, and like Moses as you grow in grace you shall make many mistakes in your spiritual growth, but I pray that you never say what Moses said to the Lord God when called to serve, “please, Lord, now send the message by whom ever thou wilt,” (send some other person), in the case of the christian this cannot be said, simply because every born again christian is comissioned to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

We are comissioned to make disciples of all nations and this is not optional it is a direct command from the Lord Jesus.

His army is unlike any other army in the world,even the army of over three million plus that came out of Egypt with Moses,they all marched on their stomachs, but Christ’s army marches on love, like Moses of old the Lord God chooses those who are to be in his army from the foundations of the earth, and like Moses he has called them by name, for did not the Lord Jesus say that he calls his sheep by name, and did he not also say that he who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and that he will not blot out their name from the book of life; and what does it mean to be an overcomer, it is to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil.

How can you overcome the world, the flesh and the devil? through “holiness”, and how can you obtain holiness? through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Lord God is building a holy temple, note that I said the Lord God ,not man, is building a holy temple, and we his children are living stones who are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to the Lord God through Christ Jesus.

We his children are a holy and chosen race, the Lord God’s own people, who love him with their all. Is this what you find when you go into any church, do you find love among its people for the Lord God and the Lord Jesus and their brothers and sisters? Do they hold to the teachings of the scriptures? Don’t listen to those who say you cannot find the perfect church, for they delude themselves, for when they speak in such a manner they speak of themselves.

Their problem is “self”, it’s not yet dead within them! I have a perfect Saviour that lives within me, who teaches me his ways, I have the perfect spirit who lives within me and teaches me the truth that I may be free, I struggle no more with flesh or blood! These people who say there is no perfect church, walk in the flesh and are carnal minded, with far too much to say, remember talk is cheap.

When I am in prayer, I am not alone, I have as company the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is only the beginning of the perfect church, where love abounds there is no jealously, strife or malice, the perfect church is a spiritual church, a church that offers up spiritual songs, hymns and prayer and a spiritual message were the Holy Spirit is free to operate in a spiritual atmosphere, not where there is back biting and gossip.

Do these people who pertain to be spiritual believe this is because they claim to speak in tongues, as if speaking in tongues makes anyone spiritual, specially since we are instructed to desire the greater gift.

Are these brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus going to remain as babes, handicaped by their own foolishness, never coming to the knowledge of the truth, never growing into maturity.

Can they not realise that gifts are simply gifts and do not make you super spiritual or for that matter spiritual, do they not really understand what God expects from his children.

Do they not know He wants love and humility from His children, not super spiritual human beings, He does’nt want His children coming to a knowledge of Him yet never coming to know Him.

Check your own conscience to see if you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, and if you have not, then throw off the chains that hold you in bondage and ask the Lord for love and humility, and no longer deceive yourself concerning your ways and the way of the Lord Jesus.

I shall finish quoting from the book of Romans chapter 12 verses 1-2, “I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and Holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, do not be comformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sermon 5 WHEN YOU ARE IN A DARK PLACE

I will never leave you nor forsake you, the words of the Lord Jesus to his children, and I believe these words from the Lord God to be true, but alas! we live in a vessel of clay that can so often as not let us down, for it is one thing to have faith, yet it is another thing to exercise it, for when you are in a dark place, it can be the loneilness place in the universe, faith is a great fuel for the child of God but some times the fuel of faith runs out and we are left with just our fellings, and if our feelings are not harnessed but left to run wild, then fear will enter in to the heart of the child of God, destroying the peace that passes all understanding, and robbing the child of God of their joy, yes our faith in Christ Jesus can be damaged through many reasons such as grief the lost of a loved one, especially the loss of a child, or the failure of a dream that has been hard fought for and has come to nothing.

Yes there are many reasons for our failures some of our own making and others by outside forces which we have no control over, but the out come is always the same, tears and hurt, a dented faith, and in some cases a crushed spirit.

It is true that our salvation is not connected to our feeling, but in the finished work of Jesus at the cross of calvary, as long as we live in this body of clay we shall be subjected to our feelings.

Many a man and woman I have met have told me that at one time they walked with the Lord Jesus but walk no more with him because of their feelings.

These people are not bad people, they are indeed some of the most loving people I have ever had the privilege to meet, but they allowed their feelings to get in the way of their faith which always results in the death of our spiritual life. Our salvation is borne out of suffering. No person in their right mind seeks to suffer pain, but the world inflicts hurt upon the child of God, and it is this hurt that we, as the children of God must endure.

The Lord God does not send hurt or pain nor does he afflict his children in such a manner, for what loving Father would do such a thing to a child that he loves.

How could anyone believe that the Lord God who is love, would send hurt or pain upon his children, no! This hurt and suffering comes from the hand of the god of this world, satan, it is he who afflicts the children of the light, and causes them to suffer the pains of this world. Alas I hear, will not the lord God protect his children? Yes, he indeed does protect us, he protects our soul and spirit, as for our suffering in the flesh, the Lord God will not let one of his children endure suffering beyond their capablity, the suffering that is afflicted within the flesh comes from the fall of man.

When sin entered into man’s life all flesh was cursed through man's disobedience towards the Lord God, hence the Lord God never promised salvation of the flesh, how could He when no flesh is pleasing to Him. No, the Lord God only promises to bring salvation to the soul and spirit of man, for at the resurrection of saints it is recorded that they shall be raised imperishable, a body with no possibility of decay, a body that was sown in dishonour, but raised in glory, sown in weakness but raised in power, it was sown as a natural body, but raised as a spiritual body, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

This reveals to us that the promise of the Lord God to his children is a spiritual promise and not a promise to save the flesh, for the flesh is fueled by our feelings (emotions), but the spirit through our faith.

How many have made this mistake and been lead by their feelings only to find when suffering came upon them, their flesh let them down. Have we not found this truth to be true, was not Eve deceived through her feelings, are we to be continuously deceived by satan through our feelings, have we not come to this basic truth that salvation can only come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is indeed only our faith in Him which is pleasing in his sight, and it is only faith in Christ Jesus that produces a sincere and obedient heart, let us through the scriptures reveal those who lived by their feelings and those who lived by their faith in the promises of the Lord God.

There are many within scripture who allowed there feelings to govern over basic common sense, there are numerous reasons for people acting in this manner.

With some it is their ego that gets in the way of common sense, with others it is to do with power, to be in control of others, a form of intoxication, or self importance, while others possess a cavalier attitude, but no matter what the reason is, the result is always the same, the injury of that person.

What does the Lord God say, the fool shall perish because he lacks knowledge, take Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron, they possessed a cavalier attitude towards the commands of the Lord God, they, in their foolishness treated the Holiness of the Lord God with total contempt.

They thought that any kind of fire would suffice for the worship of the Lord God, but true worship can only come through the word of God. Not in bringing strange fire, but only the fire which comes from the altar of the Lord, which was the only legitimate fire for the worship of the Lod God, they attacked the every throne of the Lord God.

Remember these two priests were only anointed into the priesthood a short period before. Make no mistake as to the worship of the Lord God and his Holiness, he will not accept any form of worship other than He has laid down within his word, and he shall not at any time allow any thing unholy or unclean, and He states this clearly when he said, “I shall by those who come near to me, be treated as Holy”!

The fire that came down from heaven in the anointing of Nadab and Abihu was the same fire that consumed them, and this judgment stands as a warning to this day to any who seek the anionting of the Holy spirit, that they must not come before the Lord God offering strange worship, (profane worship), for if the Lord God is to be glorified we must do it according to his word, and remember it was the holy spirit that came down on the day of penticost as of fire, and it is the holy spirit that anoints and it is the holy spirit that brings judgment as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles concerning the iniquity of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, be under no delusion concern the Holiness of the Lord God, for judgment begins at the house of God.

Then there was Uzzah who touched the ark of God and was struck down dead by the Lord God, many do not understand why the Lord God killed Uzzah for he was only trying to save the ark of God from falling off the cart.

But there was a very good reason why the Lord struck down Uzzah, for Uzzah showed irreverence towards the Lord God, he knew that the law of God forbade anyone from touching or looking into the ark of God, for the ark represented the very presence of the Lord God and was the center of the nations worship.

The sin of Uzzah in touching the ark of God arose from the fact that the ark was not being carried by the Levites as the Lord God had commanded, thus violating his Holiness, Uzzah was fully aware of this but he allowed his feelings for whatever reason, to overrule his intellect.

Had the ark been taken off the cart and carried, as the Lord God had instructed, Uzzah would not have died, but when you introduce anything into the worship of the Lord God that is contrary to what He has prescribed, it is sin within His sight. What occurred to Uzzah at the threshing floor of Nacon, occurred because man has great difficulty in coming to terms with Holiness.

They do not seem to understand what Holiness is about, or what the substance of Holiness is.

Holiness is a subject that has been sent into exile, no one understands it, so no one speaks about it, people may use the word Holy, but how many seek out Holiness? Many believe that the christian is called Holy because they are set apart by the Lord God through the rights won by Christ at calvary, and this is true, but it is only true to the individual who lives a Holy life, for Holiness is not a license to sin, Holiness is a separation from sin, and the right to say no to sin.

A Holy life is not given as a gift in the manner in which salvation is given, for if it was, why then would the Lord God say to the recipient of salvation to be Holy as he is Holy, the recipient may be sanctified (made Holy, set aside for God’s purpose)when grace was first poured out upon them, thus sanctifying them through Christ Jesus, giving them the right to be called the child of God, but this in itself does not imply that the recipient has sanctification, (walking in the ways of God Holiness), it simply means that the recipient has the right, but not the title deeds.

When you start running in a race you cannot claim to have finished the race until you have passed the finishing line, such is sanctification (Holiness).

Holiness is the essence of God, his very nature, hence walking in Holiness depends upon the transformation of the recipient, their willingness to allow the Holy spirit to work within their life, conforming them into the image of Christ, who is the image of the Father, so to come to any understanding of what Holiness is, you must develop a relationship that is of the most intimate with the Lord God.

You must seek Him with all your heart, for it is only when you enter into this kind of relationship that you shall become aware of the realisation of Holiness and how to live a Holy life before the Lord God.

It was through the lack of knowledge, of the holiness of the Lord God that Israel as a nation fell by the wayside repeatedly.

Throughout their history only a handful of their kings did what was right in the sight of God, even from the very beginning as a nation they acted upon their feelings rather than their faith in the Lord God.

Can you imagine witnessing the signs that took place in Egypt by the hand of the Lord God Almighty, and then letting your feelings put fear into your heart because the Egyptian army was in pursuit.

This was what happened in the camp of the Israelites, they did not display faith but fear, and all the time that they were in the wilderness they grumbled before the Lord God.

They allowed their feelings to rule their hearts rather than letting their faith in the Lord God grow within their hearts, after all they had witnessed the migthy hand of the Lord God in action.

The truth is they did not exercise their faith. Even after seeing the mighty works of the Lord God they still held on to their feelings, the flesh was what controlled them, they did not want freedom they wanted bondage, they wanted the things of the world rather than the promises of the Lord God, even when the lord said 'I am your king', they replied, give us a king like the nations, they had no faith in the Lord God, they did not trust in him, they trusted in their own feelings. Sadly this same curse is occurring within the so called christian church today, where feelings become the foundation of your salvation.

I believe it is called the “feel good” factor, “come to Jesus and you’ll be saved” the head count, the money lovers, where success is measured by the cost of the suit that you wear, or the car that you drive.

The leaders of many churches are elected into office not because they are spiritual people, but because they are big money givers into the church coffers.

When the church was in the wilderness they made a golden calf because they had no faith in the Lord God, today the church has went back into the wilderness and taken possession of the golden calf.

Scripture teaches us that faith is pleasing to the Lord God, for faith reveals confidence towards the Lord God, this is called saving faith, and is given as a gift to those who are willing to believe in the Lord with all their heart, for unless you believe and trust in his promises with all your heart, you shall never receive this gift of faith which lies within the heart of God.

You may have natural faith as to believe that when you go to bed at night you shall awake in the morning, but this is not spiritual faith, it is the carnal faith that every person possesses.

Spiritual faith is to do with trusting and obedience to the moving of God’s spirit, and if your heart is not right before the Lord God you will never receive this gift of faith.

Bear in mind that the Lord God searches the heart, nothing is hidden from him, so it is through this faith which the Lord God bestows upon us that we are to live, and it is this faith which is counted as our righteousness, for it is through this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are justified.

Faith is to believe in the Lord God and his Word without a shadow of a doubt, with a deep rooted conviction within the heart, it is to trust the Lord God for things that have not yet happened and to treat them as if they have already come into fruition.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen, for by it the old testament patriarchs and heroes gained approval, and by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

It is this belief in the Lord God and his word, that we build our hope upon, not upon a foundation of sand, but upon the foundation of His truth.

It is through this faith in Him that we come to the realisation, that without this faith, it is impossible to please Him. It is this saving faith that comes directly from the father of lights that illuminates our way to the truth, for it is the truth of the bible that sets us free, it is divine and above all the thoughts or opinions of man.

It is this truth that gives growth to spiritual faith, without God’s truth, faith would be meaningless, it would only be carnal and have no spiritual substance.

Faith can only grow where there is substance, and the substance comes through the person of Christ Jesus who revealed himself as the great “I AM”, who, “in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God, in him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the word became flesh, and of his fulness we have received grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses; but grace and truth were realised through Jesus Christ”.

Not only did the Lord God give us the faith to believe in the truth, but he also revealed the truth to us, that our faith may grow, for keeping the truth is keeping the faith, and the evidence of our faith is in the witness of the old and new testaments, the witness of our own testimony to the person Christ Jesus, and the working of the Holy spirit within our life.

This is our faith, trusting in the promises of the Lord God and His Christ, knowing that we are forever within his hand, f.a.i.t.h, “father always in thy hand” amen!

sermon 6 WALKING IN A DARK

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me”.

Has there ever been a time in your christian life when you have cried out unto the Lord, my God! my God, why have you forsaken me, a feeling within your heart that He has departed company with you, and left you when you least needed or expected it, left you to the enemy to be devoured.

I guess most of us, if not all, have felt like this at some point in our christian walk, it is nothing to be ashamed of, for even our Lord and Saviour cried out to the Father when darkness tried to engulf him, but thanks be to our Heavenly Father that the light prevailed.

It is easy to say that faith shall get you through, or that the Lord is putting you to the test, or that its God’s will, but words like these are of no comfort to the one who is suffering affliction or some tragedy within their life.

They deserve better than having friends who can only be called, at best, Job’s comforters.

When affliction or tragedy occurs, we may well need words of comfort and a lot of knee bending, but what the child of God really needs, is to know where is this trial coming from.

Is it testation or temptation, and will the Lord save them out of it, or will he take them through it, and how can the Lord heal a heart that is broken with grief.

When problems or tragedies arise within the church, it always seems to have a paralysing or numbing effect among the Assembly.

It is as if they blame the Lord God for what has occurred, and that all their ill’s, are down to Him.

But I believe that this occurs because the child of God is not fulfilling their obilgations to the Lord Jesus.

Many christians believe that they do not have an obilgation for their salvation, yet it is the command from the Lord Jesus that we, as his disciples must conform to His teachings and His word, otherwise we shall not grow spiritually, but shall remain as babes with no meaningful spiritual relationship other than that of a father with a spiritually handicap child.

Who cannot tell the difference between what is righteous and what is iniquity, what is testation and what is temptation, what is from the Lord God (Elohim) and what is from the god of this world (satan).

Most christian's today are not even aware that a spiritual battle for the souls of men is taking place at this very moment in time, hence through their own ignorance they blame the Lord God or the Lord Jesus for everything that goes wrong within their lives.

It's as if the Lord God is only here for their own personal welfare, like a puppet on a string, when they pray the Lord God must perform. I am not saying that this is right in all cases, but I fear to say I believe it to be the norm, they only ever pray when its something to do with them.

I know that there are many who are aware of these facts and walk every close to the Lord Jesus, but sadly they are the minority within christiandom when they should be the majority.

If you have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus, I salute you and pray that the Lord may keep a hedge of protection around you, but to those who would like to walk close to the Lord Jesus instead of walking in the valley of darkness, were the enemy wants to keep you, I shall reveal some scriptures so that your mind may be opened to understand the truth.

I shall take you to John’s gospel chapter ten verses twenty-seven to thirty, let us read; Jesus said, ”my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand, and my father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the father’s hand, for I and the father are one.”

Note what the Lord Jesus said here, no one shall be able to pluck you out of his hand or the Father’s hands, no one, not even the devil himself can pluck you out of the protection of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy spirit. Read what the Lord Jesus said about the Father, “He is greater than all”, and the remember that Jesus said, I and the Father are one.

Why are the Father and Jesus one? because all authority was given to Jesus by the Father.

And why the Holy spirit? because the Holy spirit was sent by the Father and Son as the Life giving Spirit, that is the spirit of truth, that sets the prisoners free.

Where does our freedom come from, it comes through the truth. What then is the truth of these verses, 1. nothing outside of yourself can rob you of these promises which the Lord God has put before you, no man not even the devil, the only way you can lose this promise is through your own lack of knowledge concerning the word of God, and sadly the enemy of God’s word, satan is well aware of this fact, and he shall with great delight do everything in his power to get you to walk out of the Father’s hand and away from the blessings that the Lord God has for your life.

Make no mistake concerning the enemy of the gospel of Christ, for he knows scripture and he knows that by keeping you in ignorance, is to keep you in darkness, and this is why so many christians are afflicted and suffer and even die.

The father of lies, satan has been able to blind the minds of God’s people through ignorance, and so when we are afflicted or some tragedy unfolds in our life, who do we blame? Well some blame the devil but the majority always blame the Lord God.

We blame him because of our own ignorance, we blame him because we did not take the time to study his word or spend time in prayer with Him. What has changed from the beginning, when the Lord God asked Adam if he had eaten from the tree of knowledge, and what was his reply, it was not to blame himself, but the woman that God had given to him.

We shall suffer affliction and tragedies during our life upon this earth, it is because our promise is not earth bound but heavenward, for if some great tragedy should suddenly befall us in which our soul was to leave our mortal body behind, we would be greeted, within the twinkling of an eye, by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but if we remain within this earthly vessel, then we must stand firm in our faith.

2. Have we not, through the word of God, been told to stand firm in our faith for our adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, that is, to drown them in the worries of life to utterly destroy their souls, and yet within these four verses of John’s gospel comes a revelation about faith.

Remember that Jesus said that He and the Father are one, and that no one would ever be able to pluck you out of his hand or the Father’s hand, what then is the obilgation that the child of God must put into fruition, for this promise to come into effect.

The answer is given in these verses “father always in thy hand” (f. a. i. t .h.), without faith there is no pleasing God, we are told to fight the good fight of faith, that is to hold to the gospel of Christ Jesus, truth itself, as directed by the holy spirit.

Believing with conviction, the assurance of your salvation through the finished work of Christ Jesus. Faith is not what some believe to be a blind thing, believing in something that you have not seem, if it were so then how could faith ever be pleasing to the Lord God. Faith is to trust with a conviction within ones heart, for faith works through love, and as we know, “God is love.” Love is without doubt the greatest of all the gifts, and love brings forth faith that works a miracle within the heart of man, creating a new creation, for faith is a gift, “for by grace are we saved through faith, but not of ourselves; it is a gift from God,” and who was this gift from the Lord God, none other than the Lord Jesus Christ his Son, it is this gift of faith in Christ Jesus which is kindled within the heart of the penitent sinner that transforms them into a child of the most high God, and allows them, through his loving kindness (grace), to be called righteous in Christ, a saving faith through believing and trusting in the word of God.

Thus we as children of God walk by faith, not as the faith of a natural man which cannot bring salvation, but a spiritual faith that has rekindled the soul and leads us to the truth setting us free, that we may bring glory and honour to Him and Him alone, for his great gift of salvation.

We no longer walk in darkness, but now walk according to his light, for saving faith is holding on to the truth no matter what it costS. Faith aways brings about the joy of salvation and the peace that passes all understanding, this faith was demonstrated not only through the old testament patriarchs who lived believing in the promises of the Lord God, for it was their faith in God’s promises that gave them the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, but also by the new testament saints who also have put their faith in the promises of God’s word.

From the beginning the world has hated God’s word, and this shall never change, until Christ Jesus returns, thus we must remain within this world until the Lord calls us home or comes for us, hence was the revealing within his word that we as his children would suffer persecution and tribulation throughout our christian walk.

The Lord God never once said within his word that He would rapture us from persecution or tribulation or afflictions, but He said that he would take us through it, and I emphasis that “He” would be with us all the way through our trails and tribulations.

Remember His words when He said; “if they persecuted me they will also persecute you, for they will say all manner of evil against you”, and the apostle Paul when addressing the saints said; “strengthen the souls of the saints, exhorting them to continue in the faith, for we must go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God” but we have the assurance that the Lord will not forsake us or leave us, for such is his love towards us, that through our faith we can say, who shall separate us from the love of Christ! shall tribulation, or affliction or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or violence: as it is written “for your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

We who live in the west live at the moment in what are called christian countries, although this is fast changing, means it is hard for us to realise that we have brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus throughout the world who are being martyred on a daily basis because of their love and faith for Christ.

We who have been blessed with the grace of practicing our faith freely and largely without persecution, must keep these brothers and sisters in prayer before the Lord God, and help them by what ever means we have at our disposal for the furthering of the gospel of Christ, and remember, they are no less a saint than the saint who lives next door, it is said that the power of the Holy spirit moves mightily among these saints, I know this to be true, because the Lord God pours out his strength when we are weak, but sadly many christians within our own society we have become materialistic and are losing God’s blessings, for as we depart from the Lord God He departs from us.

Our only hope as a nation is true repentance and our people on their knees before the Lord God, because, sadly its not just the nation that suffers when it turns it’s back on the word of God, it is the individual who also suffers, for the Lord God judges first the house hold of God,.

Is it any wonder that we hear about so many diseases that we thought had been eliminated now making a come back, is our apostasy from the faith the reason why we have so many that suffering from heart disease and so many with cancers?It would be nice to say that only the guilty get punished, but sadly that is not the case, for when the Lord God removes his hand from a nation the whole nation is affected, right down to the individual. For example when God’s laws are violated crime always increases, and the innocent get murdered.

The innocent always suffer directly or indirectly as a result of a nation turning its back on the Lord God. It only takes a few ungodly individuals who are in power to steer a nation away from righteousness and into iniquity, (corruption), and let this be a warning to all of God’s child, when the righteous do nothing evil spreads like a disease.

Yes indeed, the individual shall suffer because of the sins of a nation, and this includes the children of God, they are not immune from the result of sin, no less than the rain falling upon the unrighteous and the righteous, indeed many a dark valley shall the child of God have to travel in their pilgrimage through this life, and some may even have to travel the valley of the shadow of death, but thanks be to the Lord God that no matter what happens in this life we canhave faith in the promise of the Lord Jesus, which the world does not have, for when they walk in a dark valley, they walk it alone staring into the abyss.

As we christians have a blessed hope in the creator of the universe, we have his promise of salvation, but not only salvation, but also the promise that He (Christ) shall come for us and receive us into His bosom and take us to our heavenly abode, where there shall be no more sorrow or pain or suffering.

We shall have left our mortal body and clothed ourselves with immortality, but alas! those of our loved ones who we shall leave behind shall mourn at our departure, not because we have gone to glory, but because of grief, for grief is a product of original sin, because when sin entered into creation everything was cursed including mankind, everything became corrupt, and sorrow, pain and suffering entered into life, thus we grieve for our loved ones because it is within our nature to do so.

However our Lord and saviour has made provision for us, for when the righteous cry he hears them and delivers them out of their grief, for He is near the broken hearted, and heals those who are crushed in spirit, and when Christ Jesus walked this earth he displayed his heart felt grief and sorrow at the death of his friend Lazarus.

He knows what grief can do to those whose loved one has died. Be under no delusion, grief can cripple the very soul of a person and bring their life to a untimely end, for love is a very powerful emotion, the lost of a loved one can cause water to gather around the heart resulting in the heart being suffocated, this very thing occurred to the Lord Jesus when he was hanging upon the cross, such was his love for those who had rejected him as their Messiah.

Crucifixion took up to twenty hours on average for a person to die, Christ gave up his spirit after only three hours, and when the roman soldier speared him in his side to make sure that he was dead, it is recorded that blood mingled with water came out.

Jesus Christ indeed died of a broken heart, believe me when I say that Christ Jesus knows what a broken heart or crushed spirit can do to a person, you have only to read John’s gospel chapter 11 to come to any understanding of what grief can do, it is recorded that both Martha and Mary met Jesus as he came to the tomb were Lazarus was laid, this is what is recorded, verse 28 and “Martha left Jesus and went to her sister saying, the teacher is here, and is calling for you to come to Him, and when she heard this she arose quickly, and when to Him, to the place were Martha had left Him just outside of the village, the Jews who were with her grieving, supposiedly thought that she was going to the tomb to weep, but instead she went to Jesus, and when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews that were with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled! “He groaned in the spirit and was troubled” why do you think that the Lord Jesus was troubled, why do you think He groaned in spirit, it was because He not only saw what grief can do to people, but he also felt death’s sting, that was why He wept.

Even when he came to the tomb to raise Lazarus, He was still deeply moved within, He knows exactly what grief can do to those who have just lost a loved one, He knows the power of love, for he himself is love, and He knows that grief shall be around until we all meet with Him in the new heavens, it will only be then that death shall lose its sting and grief shall be no more.

Yes we shall have many dark valleys to walk through in our life time, and we shall all come to a day when we shall walk through that final valley, the valley of the shadow of death, but as for the child of God, we shall not fear, for the Lord Jesus shall be by our side, holding our hands as he takes us home, what a Saviour, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Satan uses our love against us in his bid to destroy our faith in Christ Jesus, he knows that grief comes from our love, for if we did not have love, we indeed would not grieve, Jesus knew this when he came to raise Lazarus, Jesus did not weep because Lazarus was dead, because Jesus was going to ressurect him, he wept because of the sisters grief and the grief of the people around, he wept and was deeply moved in spirit because he knew that satan would use grief to cripple the soul of man, binding them to his lie that God does not care (for if God did you your loved one would not have died), thus binding them through their own love.

This is why the gospel clearly teaches that we must put the Lord God first,and this is also why the Lord Jesus clearly states within the gospel that we must love Him more than anyone else, we must understand that we as human beings are finite and that the flesh is indeed temporal,and that man has indeed only a short time to live, hence in the ressurection of Lazarus, Christ Jesus was showing us the bigger picture, the eternal promise, we must come to the understanding that death is not the end, it is indeed only the beginning. Amen!

sermon 7 THE JOY OF MY SALVATION

“Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word, let my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your word, (ps119:v169-v170).”

In the words of our Lord Jesus,'heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away'! Such is the word of God that when He spoke, Creation was revealed, is it any wonder that the psalmist said, “I stand in awe of thy word, I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure”, dear brothers and sisters you must come to the understanding that (1) you must love the Lord God with your all.

(2) you can only come to any knowledge of the Lord God, if He by grace reveals Himself to you. The greatest of all the commandments is the call to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, that is, with your life, with all your intellect (mind) and with all your spirituality, (soul) for the Lord God shall not come second to any thing, not in this life or the life to come.

For there is no other god before him and there shall be no other god after him, not created by your hands, nor created within your imagination, nor by any thing supposedly appearing as an angel of light.

For the beginning of wisdom is the knowledge of the Lord God, and if anyone lacks wisdom, all that they have to do is ask, and they shall receive, to do less is to display your lack of love for the Lord God, and know this! before you knew or loved the Lord God, He loved you first, and the love that we have within our souls, was put there by the Lord God Himself, for “God is love”, and when one loves the Lord God it becomes evident within that person's life, for out of the windows of their soul shines forth the love of their salvation, and their mouth becomes a trumpet for the Lord God, that sings out their praise and love to a merciful and gracious Lord.

Be under no delusion, if the love of God is not in you, you shall never shine, for the light was never there, and if it is not in you, then it is impossible for it to come out of you.

How many I have met in my christian walk, who profess to be spiritual yet they do not shine because the love of God was not truly residing within.They have given up their habits but have held on to their own self-importance, not following the example of our Lord Jesus, for “if there is to be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and mercy, then fulfill the joy of the Lord Jesus by being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, letting nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each one esteem the brother or sister better than themselves, let each brother or sister look out not only for their own interest, but also the interests of there brothers and sisters”.

This is the mind of our Lord Jesus, who was revered in heaven, yet came to this world and made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and humbling Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, this is the love that we as his disciples must display towards one another, this is divine love in its fulness, a love that cannot be faked, it is a love that is alive, it is this love of the Lord God that sets the fire for the out pouring of the Holy spirit.

Without this love, the word of the Lord God becomes dull, His light dim, the truth marred, and our steps unsteady as we walk in darkness. Dear brothers and sisters, it is time to awaken and understand that we stand or fall according to the word of God, for through the word comes Judgment or Peace, Life or Death, Blessing or Cursing, for Heaven itself shall be removed, but His word shall never depart, never fail.

How foolish must we become before we come to the understanding of his word, for it is his love that calls us to worship Him, for worship is love, the Lord God has not called us into service first, but into worship, for if you cannot worship him, you cannot love him as he deserves.

If one looks at the book of Revelation you shall find nothing but worship to the Lord God and Christ Jesus. All the redeemed throughout histroy are there, and what are they doing, worshipping! for man's chief purpose is to Glorify God, amen! To worship, is to love intensely, and the only way that a true worshipper can worship the Lord God, is in Spirit and Truth, for no flesh is pleasing to the Lord God. We can only worship the Lord God in the spiritual Realm, that is within his kingdom, and his kingdom is within every true born-again child of God.

Christ foretold that the kingdom is within, this is a “mystery” to those who are spirituality appraised, but to the child of God this revelation has been revealed through the Holy spirit who is none other than the “spirit of truth”, did not Christ Jesus, say; that the truth shall set you free, did He not reveal that the Holy spirit who is the comforter and counselor would dwell within the heart of his child, was it not the spirit of God that made man a living soul, and did not the Lord Jesus say, concerning his death; that his disciples would know that He and the Father were one, and as He was in the Father, we His disciples were in Him, as He was in us, (John c12;c14).

It is for this reason our service does not formally consist of opening mission fields or planting churches, which are a good and honourable call, but first things must come first, and the first thing we have to do,is to present our bodies as a living and Holy sacrifice, acceptable to the Lord God, which is our spiritual service of worship.

We divide the word of God rightly when we, 1. present our bodies as a living and Holy sacrifice, (a) our bodies must be put upon God’s altar, for “self” must die if righteousness and Holiness are to be birthed, (b) “living” because the Lord God is the God of the living not the dead, (Eloah), (c) “Holy” because the Lord God is a Holy God! who is pure, and far removed from all iniquity and sin, (d) “sacrifice” because the flesh with all of its desires must be put to death if a spiritual resurrection is to take place, without the death of the old man there can be no new creation.

2. Acceptable to God, (a) that which is well pleasing to the Lord God, to see the new man His creation, able at last to have fellowship with Him (through faith), (b) your spiritual service has now been opened through faith so that we can truly worship the Lord God in spirit and truth, (c) Worship, now the child of God can enter into the Holy and Holies and stand before the throne of God (grace) and see not only the Glory of God, but the God of Glory, and can approach his throne crying Abba! (FATHER).

The blessing that comes from the word of God can indeed be likened to a man who has found a great treasure, but not a treasure that is temporal, but a spiritual treasure that is eternal, like Simeon a man who was just and devout and who had waited years at the temple in Jerusalem because of a promise given to him by the Holy spirit, that he would not see death before he had seen his salvation in the person of the messiah Christ Jesus, he had waited in true faith believing in the hope that the word which was revealed to him by the Holy spirit was true. Can you imagine the joy that must have been in Simeon's heart, and the smile that must have been upon his face or the tears that must have run down his cheek as he picked up the baby Jesus into his arms. This is Simeon’s testimony at that moment in time, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all people, a light to bring revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

Simeon was now ready to die, he was ready to depart this earth, for he was at peace with God, for he had in his hands the greatest treasure in the universe! All that we count as treasure upon the earth is temporal for no matter how much you can accumulate upon this earth you cannot take it with you, for into this world you came naked and naked you shall leave it, but what Simeon held in his arms was eternal, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

Simeon not only found a treasure in this baby called Jesus the Christ, but he found peace, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that opens your eyes to the truth, a peace that gave him comfort, that he should say I am ready to depart, I’m ready to cast off this vessel of clay and go home.

My that frightens a lot of people today, they are so frightened of death that they think it’s the end for them, but truth is, its only the beginning of their eternal life.

As to where they spend it, is down to the individual, you either believe the word of God or you don't, but I would rather be like Simeon and hold on to my faith in Christ Jesus, knowing my hope shall be realized, for the day shall come, when I shall close my eyes upon this earth for the last time, and I shall see the face of my Saviour, as he comes to take me home.

You see christians should not fear death, for them death has no sting, it is only a stepping stone from life here on earth to life eternal into the presence of our Lord and Saviour. The promise of God’s word is to deliver you out of darkness and into his light, he does not promise to keep you from suffering, persecution or tribulation, in fact he say you shall be persecuted for His name sake, you shall have tribulations, and that you shall suffer because of God’s gift of salvation.

From the moment you receive salvation from Christ Jesus, at that same moment the world, the flesh, and the devil become your enemy,because the flesh, the world and the devil are the sworn enemies of the Lord God, and the Lord God says, that if you love the world you hate Him, for the world Hates him. You cannot have the blessing of the word and the blessing of the world, for what has light to do with darkness, or iniquity with righteousness, you cannot run with the fox and hunt with the hounds, no! the Lord Jesus must be Lord of your life or He is not Lord at all. He forewarns all who wish to follow Him, that they must come to Him with a sincere heart, that is with a pure heart.

You cannot come to Him with the heart of an atheist or the heart of an agnostic.

Remember it is Christ Jesus who is the living word, it is Christ Jesus who spoke at creation and said 'let there be light', it was He who separated the light from darkness, for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, and it was Christ who became God in flesh, Immanuel! God with us. There maybe a way that seems right to man, but that is the way of death and the destruction of ones soul.

The Lord God does not take pleasure in the death of a sinner, he cries out to the lost, turn, turn ! from your ways! for why will you die? there is no reason for anyone to perish, the Lord God has made away for all to come unto him.

Yet not all will come, the sad fact is that the majority of people are heading in through the gates of hell, for wide is its gates and many there are who shall enter in, the Lord God may put many obstacles in your way to try and prevent you from going to a lost eternity, but he will not beg you.

That shall be your own decision. Remember He has paid the price for your salvation, He has given you His word, and His word contains everything that man needs to know concerning salvation.

This is what the psalmist has to say about God’s word, “how can a man keep his ways pure? by keeping it according to God word”. Why God’s word, for it is the way that the Lord God chooses to conmunicate with us, may be that is why we have two ears and one mouth, remember what the word of God says, where there is many words, sin abides, lets learn to read and take heed of what the Lord God is saying to us through his word.

Teach us Lord to treasure your word within our hearts, that we may not be lead into sin, fill our minds and let us not forget your word, deal with us graciously Lord, so that we may live our lives keeping your word. The promises within the word of God are endless, but remember that the gospel of Christ Jesus is not cheap, and that every promise within the Bible has a requirement, take for example the most quoted promise in the new testament, “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that who so ever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life”.

The promise is clear and so is the requirement, the requirement is to commit your life to Him entrusting your soul by faith in Him, for no other name is given under heaven by which you can be saved other than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation is only found in him.

Take also the promises that are recorded within the psalms, revive me according to your word, strengthen me according to your word, give me your salvation according to your word, what are the requirements, trust, faith, hope, righteousness, reverence.

When you walk within the light of the word of God your shall never stumble, for his word becomes a light to your steps, when the word of God is establish within the heart it produces the fruit of the Holy spirit, and it is the Holy spirit which affects the will, the emotions and the conscience (the mind, heart and soul) of man. The word of God is of the greatest importance to the salvation of man’s soul, and is not to be treated lightly, if you neglect the word of God in your christian walk you will never develop any relationship with the Lord Jesus, nor shall you receive the joy of your salvation, and it shall more than likely end in your falling away from the faith.

It is the word of God that speaks to the heart of man.

Without the mediation and the study of God’s word you shall be simply groping in the dark or wandering in the wilderness.

To neglect the word of God is to reject fellowship with Christ, for Christ Jesus was the word, and the power is found in the word. Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to your word, for your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. Amen!

Sermon 8 THE GIFT OF SALVATION

“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my load is light.”

The blessed words of our Lord Jesus, inviting all to come and receive the gift of salvation, like the samaritan woman who came to draw water from the well.

Just listen to the conversation between her and Christ Jesus, for some amazing things shall be revealed, and Jesus said to her, “give me a drink”, the woman replied, how is it that you being a Jew ask me a samaritan woman for a drink, (for Jews had no dealings with samaritans), Jesus answered and said to her, “if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water”.

1. notice that it was Jesus who spoke first, which reveals to us the truth of scripture, that salvation comes by hearing, and this is why preaching, teaching and evangelising is so important to the child of God, remember what the Lord Jesus said about a grain of wheat, it shall remain a grain of wheat if it is not planted, but if you plant a grain of wheat it shall multiply, for salvation is not just about self, it is about reaching out to others as the Lord God reached out to you, it is about being a good servant, it is about sending your love abroad, reaching out to all those around you, and this can only be done by proclaiming the word of God.

You become an Ambassador for Christ Jesus, a priest of the most high God, it is the Lord God who has ordained you, and comissioned you to spread the good news, all spiritual gifts are given by the Holy spirit, you do not need man’s approval, nor do you need some form of ritual as if some mystical transformation shall take place, no! all you need is the filling of the Holy spirit, and you receive this the moment you receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, for it is the Holy spirit that seals and sanctifies, not man.

It is the Holy spirit who is called the spirit of truth, who shall guide you into the truth.

2. note that all boundaries, all walls, that is, all prejudices all bigotries have been destroyed, for Christ reveals to the samaritan woman that the hour is coming when “true worshippers” shall worship the Lord God in spirit and truth.

We must ask the question who are the 'true worshipers,' are they the religious? are they good people? are they people who call themselves christian? the answer is no! for the scriptures clearly teaches that those who are called the true worshippers, are the ones who keep the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is they who have within them the living water that leads to eternal life, it is they who have the love of God seated within their hearts, and it is from them that the light of God shines in a dark place, for if you have within you the God of the universe, how then, is it possible to contain such a force, such a powerful love, it must shine forth, and it is this power that is within, which reveals the true child of God.

You cannot go around with a face like thunder, or a face that would turn cream sour,while proclaiming the joy of your salvation, when it is clear for all to see that your salvation is lacking regeneration.

3. the gift of God, the samaritan women was surpised when Jesus spoke to her, this was a woman who was living within an adulterous relationship at this time, but note what the Lord Jesus said to her, “if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water”.

Notice that the Lord Jesus was willing to give salvation to this woman without any prerequisite change in her life at this time,(it is true to say that if she believed, her life would have been changed by the kindling of the holy spirit), but here it is revealed that the gift of God is given freely to all who will receive it, although without repentance there cannot be forgiveness.

Look at the honesty of the samaritan woman when Christ asked her to call her husband, although she lived with a man as husband and wife, she was not married to him, did the samaritan woman receive salvation, did she repent! (walk away from sin), I do not know, I know she bore witness of Christ, through which many believed, and they all testified that Jesus was indeed the Saviour of the world.

I know she called Jesus a prophet, but I also know that she questionedif Jesus was the Messiah, and this seems to be the same problem today, many believe that He (Jesus Christ) was a great religious leader, but is he the Messiah?

The simple call of salvation, the invitation to all to come and receive God’s gift, Christ Jesus, seems to be contray to the teachings of the religious within our society today.

They teach that by living a good life and helping others, which may I say, is a good thing, but it is not the way of salvation.

Churchianity can never replace Christianity, Churchianity shall never put you in good standing with the Lord God, nor shall believing that you are a good person, and most people that I know are indeed good people, but we are all sinners born with a corrupt nature that shall always spiral downwards.

Let me say this, lies come naturally to a child, you do not have to teach them, we cannot become righteous, we can of course become righteous within our own eyes, wrapping around ourselves the rags of our own respectabilty.

It is amazing to find just how far the religious of this world are away from the word of God.

They cannot accept that by grace through faith in Christ Jesus can anyone be saved, they have this compulsion to add unto grace, thus corrupting the word of God and leading those who are seeking salvation astray.

It is clear through the scriptures that salvation is a gift, “behold the cup of salvation” the Lord God cries, all that one has to do, is reach out and take it, failing that, the Lord God says, call out upon my name and you shall be saved, for I the Lord your God loves you so much, that I gave my only begotten son as a sacrifice for your sin, that you may have everlasting life.

Be under no delusion as to the warning that the Lord God has given to the religious of this world about self-righteousness, for he Himself has said, that all have sinned and fall short of His glory, and that all of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.

The Lord God calls all of us sinners not some of us, but all of us, with no righteousness of our own and no hope of salvation, yet in spite of all our iniquities, (unrighteous), inspite of our shortcomings, He poured out His love upon us in the person of Jesus Christ, our saviour, who is called the friend of sinners.

Have you ever wondered as to why He is called the friend of sinners, it is because He died for sinners, He did not die for the self-righteousness nor those who call themselves the respectablity, for in their own eyes they have no need of salvation.

Remember pride comes before destruction, have you ever wondered why the Lord Jesus told the story of the camel going through the eye of a needle, let me relate the story.

Jesus was talking to his disciples when He said;'it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God'.

Let me now try to explain this parable, the eye of a needle was indeed a gateway into the city of Jerusalem, but it was not high enough for a man sitting upon a camel to enter through, for the man to enter through this gate he would have to dismount from the camel and walk through, but because of pride (in this case through wealth) within man, he was not prepared to dismount from his camel, so he would take a different gate to enter the city.

You see the only people that Christ died for was sinners, and the only people on the road to heaven are sinners, saved by grace, and the only people in heaven are sinners, who were saved by grace, and if you are foolish enough to deceive yourself into believing that you are not a sinner, well then, you are on the road to a lost eternity, and nothing shall stop you going there, if God’s love can’t prevent you, nothing can stop you.

The truth is, that no one upon this earth could ever merit salvation, no matter how much they may try, no matter how much good we did towards our fellow man, we just could not merit salvation. You know the old saying, the road to hell is paved with our good intenions.

All the good, all that we call our righteous acts, all that we build up during our life time upon this earth, is built upon sand, there is no foundation to it.

What does the Lord God say about mans life, man is like the grass, he grows, he withers, and he dies; it does not matter what you do in your lifetime through your own merit, works cannot save you, you just cannot work your way into heaven, nor can you buy salvation. Many a prosperity preacher shall try and part you from your money, by telling you that the Lord God shall bless you, but only if you give them x-amount of money, how foolish can people be.

The Lord God gave us common sense, Have people no understanding of the Lord God? Do they not realise that the Lord God is the God of the universe, and that all the wealth therein belongs to Him.

Everything that every person has, belongs to the Lord God, why would he tell you to give it to anyone person, when there is so much hunger within the world. Common sense should tell you to look at the lifestyle of these people who are asking for your money, see if there life fits in with the teachings of Christ, and if not, act accordingly.

Be not deceived, you cannot buy salvation, you cannot put the Lord God under obligation, and you cannot bribe the Lord God, for salvation is the undeserved, unmerited gift of God and you have to receive it with a repentant heart, for today is the day of salvation, now is the accepted hour, for no other name has been given for salvation, only the name of Jesus the Christ! If you were unfortunately to die without Christ Jesus as your Saviour, you would ofcourse die within your sin, in which your soul would be cast out into outer darkness.

There is no other gospel that teaches the forgiveness of sin.

The gospel of Christ Jesus teaches people that it does not matter who you are, rich or poor, black or white, Jew or gentile, if you call upon his name you shall be saved.

There are many within the church today who resist the truth of the gospel and the invitation of salvation, but the truth remains no matter how much opposition there may be.

The Lord Jesus can change the most vile, for his Blood can make the foulest clean, and none who come to Christ Jesus, shall be cast away. Christ Jesus is the door, if any enters through him they shall be saved.

If only you would take your place humbly and gratefully, and say, Lord Jesus, I am a poor guilty sinner, I do not deserve your love, but just as I am, I come to you with all my faults with all my imperfections and with all my heart, asking you to come in to my heart and to be my saviour and the Lord of my life.

I repent of all my sins, and offer my body as a Holy and living sacrifice to do your will, in the name of the Lord Jesus I ask, amen!.

This is a sinners prayer, it is simple but to the point, yet there are many within society today who believe that they shall come to the Lord Jesus when they decide, but this could not be further away from the truth, you can only come to God if he touches your heart, in a word, brings you under conviction and the need for salvation and the forgiveness of your sin.

Many do not seem to understand that the Lord God has the power to see into the heart of man, be not deceived for there is nothing that is hidden from the Lord God Almighty.

I have sadly met with people who believe that they shall come to Christ on their death bed, maybe they will, but they have to first get through life to get to their death bed, and I have met others who assume that they shall go to heaven when they die, as if the Lord God is in some way obligated to them, yet the same people when told that they must repent of their sin and receive the Lord Jesus into their hearts as their saviour, become very offended.

But what I find very hard to understand, is the fact that they do not know the Lord Jesus nor do they want to know him, so why do they want to spend all eternity worshipping someone who they do not want to know. Maybe they are just frightened of death. It is indeed very sad to see within today's society so many who want salvation, but want it on their own terms, they do not want to be saved from sin, but rather saved in their sin.

It is not liberty that they want, but licence, licence to carry on in their sinfulness, but know in your heart that the Lord God is not mocked, for what ever a man sows, so shall he reap, for what you put into this life, you shall carry with you into the next life.

Was it not the Lord who said; choose life or death, blessing or cursing, is it not revealed in the book of Revelation that all shall stand before the Great White Throne of Judgment, and that the books were opened, what books you may ask, the books that consist of all your deeds throughout your entire life, and do not think you shall be able to talk your way out of this Judgment, for you shall not, and the one thing that the Lord God shall ask you, “what did you do with the love of my Son” who went to calvary and was crucified for you for the forgiveness of sin.

Can you picture the scene in your mind, Christ Jesus who was rejected by men, who was not shown any esteem nor was any pity shown to Him, yet he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, upon him was laid the iniquity of us all, and to this day millions still reject that out- pouring of God Love. Oh! what love, what great love was displayed upon the cross at calvary, Christ Jesus with his hands spread out for the world to see, it was as if Christ was saying, that’s how much I love you, that I came from the splendor of heaven and the worship of angels, to give my Life as a subsitute for you, for no one can come to the Father unless they come through me, for I am the truth, the ressurection and the life.

The decision is yours, you can receive Christ Jesus as your Saviour or you can reject him, but if you reject him, the responsibility for that rejection shall fall upon each individual, however if you are touched by the grace of the Lord God, and receive Jesus as your saviour, then you must confess Him with your mouth believing in Him with your heart, that He is the son of the living God, for your confession of the Lord Jesus Christ to others shall insure the Christ Jesus shall confess you before the father. Believe me when I say, that the moment you let the Lord Jesus into your heart, the Holy spirit shall start a great work within, from convicting you of your sin, to your transformation, (regeneration), into the person that the Lord God wants you to be, strong within the faith and living unto Holiness.

The gift of salvation is indeed given freely to all who call upon the name of the Lord, no greater love can bo found, than the love of one who would lay down his life for a friend, Christ Jesus is that friend. Amen!

Sermon 9 “LORD HELP ME”

And behold, a woman of Canaan came and cried out to him saying, “have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David! my daughter is severely demon-possessed,” but He answered her not a word, and his disciples came and urged him, saying, send her away, for she cries out after us, but He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, Then she came and worshipped him saying, “Lord, help me!” (matt c15:v22-v25).

The shortest pray within scripture, “Lord, help me!” how many times throughout the centuries has this prayer been cried to the Lord God, a prayer which is cried from the heart, in a desperate situation when all has failed, as that old hymn goes, 'when all helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless abide with me!'The Canaanite womans prayer was answered immediately.

It was not just because she asked the Lord to heal her daughter, that her daughter was healed, for there where other factors that occurred here that made it possible for the daughter of the Canaanite woman to be healed. The first was her acknowledgment that Jesus was the Messiah, for she acknowledged him as “Lord”! but not only did she acknowledge him as Lord, but also as the “Son of David”, heir to the throne of Israel.

Remember the words of Jesus to her, I have come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel not for the dogs, yet the sheep would not accept him as their Messiah. Christ had come to bring in the kingdom of God, but the Jews had been blinded by the god of this world, their hearts had become hardened towards the truth and all that was holy.

The church need not feel smug about this, for they have already gone the same way as the Jews, with their rituals and their rites. Human nature can not be changed by man, that which changes the human soul comes from within, not from the outside.

Remember the apostle Peter when he cried out to Jesus!'you are the Christ the son of the living God', it was not flesh or blood that revealed this to him, but divine intervention from the Most High God.

Man may have good intentions, but sadly the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and good intentions are not used in the foundations that the Lord God has already laid.

I had a vision once, and in that vision saw a pyramid of people climbing to the top, climbing over one another disregarding where they put their feet, and as I was watching this going on, I turned to see the Lord Jesus standing beside me, and I said to Him, 'Lord! what are they doing', and He said, 'they are trying to get to the top', then I said to Him, 'but why Lord, for you are not up there, you are standing down here', then the vision ended.

This is the problem with human nature, man is always trying to be better than the other man, they always want to be first.

The mother of John and James the disciples of Jesus proves this point when she asked the Lord Jesus if they could be seated to his left and his right when He came into glory.

Sadly this vision I had was not just pointing to people in the world, it was revealing those within the church, who have missed the whole purpose of what Holiness is about.

They have confused christian fellowship with mere socializing, treating the church as a social club where you climb to the top regardless of who gets in the way, the Holy spirit calls it walking in the flesh, and that worshipping God is the mere singing of songs.

Holiness is love, not the love of self but the displaying of God's love within your life, by putting the interest of others before self interest.

It is the acknowledgment that if Christ is seated within the center of your life, his attitude towards others shall be paramount within your life. But such is church life today that they have forgotten what Holiness is all about, and sadly no longer will you hear the mention of the word Holiness, unless it is in a hymn, and you will find it is seldom taught, so what has changed from the time that Christ walked the streets of Jerusalem to this present day, the answer! Nothing.

Human nature can not change by its self, am I right in what I say or am I running off at the mouth, remember talk is cheap, let us look again at the scriptures, what was the attitude of the disciples concerning this Canaanite woman.

“Then his disciples came to him and kept asking him, saying, send her away, for she is shouting out after us”.

Let me ask you something, what mother would not in all truth, do everything in her power to have her child cured of a sickness.

Love is a very strong force, it casts out fear, covers a multitude of sins but greatest of all, it gave forgiveness of sin to those who are willing to humble themselves. The only thing that this Canaanite woman was guilty of, was her love for her child, does this warrant the rebuke of the disciples, the answer is no, who among us would not cry out in desperation for the love of a child, would you not at least shout out for help.

This woman was in desperation for the deliverance of her demon-possessed daughter, clearly she was at her wits end. She had heard of the man who healed the sick and could cast out demons, she must have known that Jesus was a Jew an enemy of the Canaanites, but alas, everything that she had tried among her own people had failed her, and this was her last desperate bid to have her daughter healed.

I believe within my heart, that Jesus knew this was the case, and that was why He said I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but I also believe, that when this woman came into the presence of the Lord Jesus, something touched her soul and kindled the spirit within her.

I believe that she, like Peter the apostle at his calling, realized the Holiness of Christ Jesus! and cried out to Jesus saying, Lord come no closer for I am a sinful person, likewise the Canaanite woman cried, for she immediately acknowledged the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus by crying out “have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.

But what is astonishing is the fact that she worshipped him, this means she fell down before his feet, saying, “Lord, help me”.

Did this move the Lord Jesus to have compassion upon this pagan woman and her child, the answer is yes.

It moved him because he never seen faith like this displayed among those of his own people, not even among the disciples did Jesus see such great faith, and this can only prove that without faith nothing can and nothing shall occur. This poor woman displayed the faith that should have been displayed by the nation of Israel.

Seven hundred years had gone by without a single miracle occurring, and now One comes performing miracle after miracle, and He is not only looked upon with suspicion, but treated with vile contempt, one can only wonder why faith was lacking among the Jews, remember the very council that the Jews set up after the resurrection of Lazarus, it was divided against itself.

Their faith in the Lord God concerning their promised Messiah was like a bucket full of holes, the heart of the nation had drifted far away from trusting the Lord God, it seemed to echo the days of Samuel the prophet, when the nation rejected the Lord God as their king, and cried for a mere man from among themselves to rule over them.

They rejected God as their king, and now they rejected His only begotten Son. They spared no thought for the heart of the Lord God in Samuels day, nor did they spare any thought for Christ Jesus his beautiful wonderful begotten Son.

What people are so slow to realize, is the fact that the Lord God has a heart and can be grieved, He has feelings just as real as you and I. He is not a God of stone, he is a living God, with compassion and loving kindness just like any other Father, after all he made us in his likeness, but unlike us He is not deceitful nor is he corrupt.

There is a story that Jesus told the people amongst whom were scribes and pharisees, it was about a man who planted a vineyard, and rented it out and went on a long journey, but at harvest time he sent one of his servants to the vine-growers, so that they could give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty handed.

So the man proceeded to send another servant, but they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, sending him away also with nothing.

So the man who planted the vineyard sent a third servant, but he also was treated badly and thrown out of the vineyard, so the owner of the vineyard said to himself, I know what to do, I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him, but alas when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, this son is the heirof the vineyard ; let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours, so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him, (luke c20). This is a simple parable told by Jesus, it was not directed at the common people but the ruling authorities among the Jewish people, for the word vineyard is “Israel”, the vine-growers refer to the religious leaders and those who ruled over the people, the servants in this story are the prophets and those who the Lord God sent as his witnesses, the son of course refers to the Lord Jesus, and the one who planted the vineyard is the Lord God, this parable was a reminder to the religious leaders of Israel, of the Lord Gods dealing with the nation in the past.

How do we know this, well the answer lies within this parable, first you will notice that when theLord Jesus asked those who had gathered around the question,”what, therefore will the owner of the vineyard do to them? their reply, “he will come and destroy these vine-growers and give the vineyard to others”, but when they heard this, they said, “may it never be!”(verse 16).

They understood clearly what this meant, they were under no illusion as to what was being said or what it meant, for when they said the words, “may it never be” it was the complete opposite of the amen!, which means “so be it”, but here you have them saying, “God forbid it”, they knew full well the meaning of this parable, for the parable revealed the most inner thoughts of their soul, and if there is one thing that people hate most, it is the revealing of their wrong doings, actions and thoughts.

You may well say that this proves nothing, well every person has the right to his or her opinions, but then answer this, Jesus said to them as he looked them straight in the eye, what then is this that is written, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone? everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whom ever it falls, it will scatter him like dust, (verse17-v18), and from that statement the scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands upon him. What was his crime, he spoke the truth, does the truth offend, yes! Did Jesus comdemn them, no! for by their own mouths they comdemned themselves, (verses20-21), hence forth they watched him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch him in some statement, so as to deliver him up to the ruling authorities of the government, and they questioned him, saying, “teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and you are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth.”

What was his crime! to love all, even the unlovable, to heal the sick with out cost, to spread the truth to all, to weep for the people and to weep with the people, to set them free from the bondage of the evil one.

The religious leaders spoke the truth with their mouths, but sadly their hearts were far from God and his teachings, they displayed not an ounce of humility, unlike the Canaanite woman who came into the presence of her Creator and felt the purity of his Holiness, these religious leaders where charged with the responsibility of the spiritual welfare of these people, but they had turned the grace of God into a set of rules and regulations, and no longer represented the very Creator who they claimed to worship.

Hence the veil what separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, showing that the Lord God no longer dwelt among them, he has chosen not to live any longer in a building that has been erected by human hands, but has decided to dwell within the hearts of what He himself has Created.

No longer does the Lord God call one nation his nation, but out of all the nations of this world the Lord God calls individuals into one nation which he calls “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, (pet c2), this is what the Lord God is seeking, a people who love him, a people who know how to worship him in spirit and truth, individuals built into a spiritual house, those who can be identified even by the world as God’s own people.

The Canaanite woman is only one of the many who cried unto the Lord Jesus when there was no other hope, like the thief upon the cross who was mocking Jesus, then suddenly there was a revelation to him, a kindling within his spirit, the truth was now open before him, no longer was he mocking Jesus, but acknowlegding his Lordship, and the Roman soldiers who watched the crucifixion of Jesus, said truly this was the son of God!, I pray tonight that if there is someone who feels their spirit within being kindled by the Holy spirit do not hesitate in asking the Lord Jesus into your heart.

Just picture Him nailed to that cross with his arms outstretched before you, revealing just how much He loves you.

Hear His words in the day of judgment when He shall say what did you do with my love, did you receive it into your heart or did you trample it under your feet, I loved you enough to go to the cross, to shed my blood so that you would have everlasting life and have it in abundance.

So many today believe that they are going to heaven when they depart this life upon the earth without the need of Christ Jesus as their Saviour, but I just want to put a few questions to you, if you do not worship the Lord God here on earth, why do you want to go to Heaven when, in Heaven the redeemed shall worship the Lord God continuously.

So if you do not have any relationship with the Lord God here upon the earth, why would He permit you a stranger, into his home, and why do people “believe” that when they depart from this life on earth they automatically go to Heaven. What is so strange is the fact that they have self-deceived themselves into believing that they are going to heaven, when in their hearts they do not believe that the Lord Jesus was the saviour, nor do they confess it with their mouths, is this not contradictory, does this not condemn you already.

It is never too late for Christ Jesus to save, just like the thief upon the cross, when Jesus said; 'before this day ends you shall be with me in paradise,'it's never too late to put your trust in Christ Jesus, He will take you as you are, with all your failings and faults, warts and all, if you feel the Holy spirit move within your soul, grasp hold of its promises don’t let it go, for you are under conviction of sin.

Accept his grace, reach out and take his hand, trust him as he leads you towards the way of Holiness, to a better life, to a life with meaning and fulfillment.

I do not want to mislead you by saying that the christian life is a life free from suffering or tribulation for it is not, as I have said before, the moment you become a born-again christian the world becomes your enemy, even those within your family who are not saved, but the life of a born-again christian outweighs, the mockery and hurt that the world and the wicked one shall throw at you.

And as for friendship, you shall have no better friend than the Lord Christ, for He shall never leave you nor shall He forsake you.

Now it only remains for me to say don’t let go of your calling, and may the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy spirit be with you now and forever more. AMEN!

sermon 10 WALKING IN HOLINESS

And Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; if anyone follows me they shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”.(john c8:v12).

They shall have the light of life, a promise from the Lord Jesus that the person who receives him as their saviour shall have the veil of delusion removed from their eyes, no longer shall they walk as a blind person or a captive held in a deep dark dungeon, nor shall sin beable to keep them in bondage, for the light of life shall set them free, the bright morning star, the day star shall illuminate their heart as the God of glory takes his rightful place within the soul, hence the call from this point unwards for the recipient to live their lifes unto the Lord God according to his word, “be Holy as I am Holy” for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them, for as children of the light we must walk in the light, for we have received the Lord Jesus as our saviour therefore let us walk in him, for in him we shall obtain our sanification (Holiness).

Many believe that Holiness can be obtained by rules and regulations, or by a strict code of morality, these in themselves are not wrong, the problem arises when the joy of your salvation goes out the window because you have removed the Lord Jesus from the center of your life and replaced him with do's and don’ts, hence the free gift of salvation is no longer a free gift but a set of rules and regulations which have been added by man, thus corrupting the love of God, have you ever wondered why there are so many different demonations, who all claim to be christian and yet many would not put a foot in side another church of the christian faith, and they can give many reasons for their refusal to enter another christian church, but if we walk in the light surely we would find Christ Jesus for he is the light, and if we cannot find the Lord Jesus in the light it is because we are not walking in the light nor do we walk in his love, and when we do not walk in love we cannot come to any understanding of what it means to have been buried with him through baptism into death, in as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we also where raised that we may walk in newness of life, and what is this newness of life?

walking in the spirit, for the spirit is truth, and if we deceived ourselves through our own prejudices surely then we are walking in the flesh, according to the god of this world, for Holiness can only be obtained by the walking in the light, became the light is Christ Jesus and he is our example as to how we should live our lifes, it is therefore not by any rites or rituals or doctines that shall leads us into Holiness, but our attitute towards the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, for our attitude shall determine our sanctification, that is our Holiness, and the only way for a child of God to understand how to live a Holy life is through the study of the life of the Lord Jesus, for no greater example has been given for us to learn, so now let us give a short study on the life of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Not such is said about the childhood of our Lord Jesus, but what is revealed is of the most importance to the child of God and to his walk with the Lord himself, for what is revealed within the scriptures about the child Jesus is his devotion to the word of God, for it is declared within Holy-writ that at the age of twelve he astonished the teachers of the law by his knowledge of God, now many may say it was because he was God, but according to the scriptures he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men, he was not given this knowledge by some supernatural act, he had to take the time and meditate and study and pray, just like any other child of God, yes at the beginning of his ministry he was indeed filled and had the power of the Holy spirit, but every child of God has the same privilege, even the Lord Jesus said the those who believe in him yet have not seen him shall do greater works than he, he was born flesh and blood, and as a child he had to take the time to learn of his Father, you know the saying; that you only get out what you put in, and this is true of Godily things as well, if you do not take the time to learn the things of God then expect to know nothing of the Lord God, if there is no relationship how can you know the will of God for your life, remember when you are born-again by the spirit of God you are not born as an adult, you are born a “babe” an infant with no spiritual knowledge at all, this shall come as a shock to many, who have believed that when they were born-again they were born with all the answers of the Bible, the know-alls! the ones who have all the answers to every question, and yet they do not even have the common sense to know that even a fool who says nothing is look upon as being wise.

when you are born-again you have no spirituality at all, no more than a new born baby can talk, so what the scriptures are revealing through the life of Christ Jesus as a child is the pattern for everyone who is born-again, without exception, and as Jesus grew in the knowledge of the Lord God so we also grow in the knowledge of the Lord, it is only by complying to the pattern of the life of Christ that we can ever come to any understanding of what spirituality is about, we are told within the scriptures to be of the same mind and to have the same attitude as our Lord Jesus, and if you cannot obtain his attitude in your christian walk, then you shall surely lose out in your spiritual blessings, so we have before us the foundation on which we must build upon, that is meditation, study and much prayer.

Now we must ask the question what was the mind of Christ and his attitude towards others, and the simple answer is humility and obedience, and what does humility mean, but to be made low, to have no pride within, for pride comes before destruction, and was the root cause of satan’s fall from grace, humility is the starting point for the child of God, if you have no humility within, then you are not within the will of God, for the Lord God loves the humble in heart but the proud he shall not endure, Christ our Lord is portrayed within scripture as being humble in heart for oursakes, for he was equal to God (Elyon the Most High God our heavenly Father), yet for oursakes he gave up the glory of heaven and became flesh so that away would be opened for man to be reconciled to himself (God).

This is what humility is all about, and this was the humility that our Lord Jesus displayed openly.

Allow Christ existed in the form of God yet for our sakes he took on the limitations of humanity in obedience to the will of the Father, and it is this humility that we as the children of God much generate within our hearts, for if there is to be love and fellowship with the truth.

There cannot be selfishness or conceit within our heart, and as Christ left the glory of heaven for us, to become a servant for oursakes, then we must follow in his foot steps, remember his words to the disciples;' he who is first shall be last and he who is last shall be first', remember also the words that he said to the disciples, if any among you seeks to be first let him first become your servant, to live with humility as a leader within the ministry of the Lord Jesus is to know that when the Lord calls you home to glory, you shall have the previlege of not sitting at the table of the Lord but to serve at it.

This is what humility is all about, it is this humility which is a fruit of the Holy spirit, the regarding of your brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus, as more important than yourself, you must become their servant, this is not a display of weakness, but the action of meekness! the same meekness that Christ himself revealed during his ministry among men, and if God’s people mistake meekness for weakness, then they will have missed the starting point for God’s blessings, for the starting point for God’s blessing beings with humility, and do not mismake false humility, that is, one who does a kind act to another but is not consistent with their actions, no! true humility is consistent with all their brothers and sisters, just as Christ was consistent throughout his ministry, humility that is true humility gives birth to compassion, and we can see this throughout the ministry of our Lord Jesus.

When we read about Jesus feeding the five thousand men, besides woman and children, we find a great revelation as to the humility and compassion of the Lord Jesus, you shall also find the attitude that man possesses, that is the carnal man, the man who walks by sight not faith, this miracle of the feeding of over five thousand hungry souls is the only miracle to be recorded by all four gospel writers.

“And when Jesus went out he saw a great multitude; and he was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick, and when it was evening, his disciples came to him saying, this is a desolate place, and the hour is already late,send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves some food, but Jesus said to them, they do not need to go away, you give them something to eat, and they said to him, we have here only five loaves and two fish, but Jesus said bring them here to me, then he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves and two fishs, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes, so they all eat and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained”.

Note that Christ was moved with compassion, and his first action of compassion is to help others, but notice also that Christ did not only feed them pysically but also spiritually, and that it was to the pysically nature of man that he healed and fed first, but because the disciples acted in the flesh by wanting the Lord Jesus to send the multitude away, so that they could eat their super in peace, he dismissed them by sending them in a boat to the other side of the lake while he and he alone sent the multitudes away, if you show no compassion for others do not expect to share in any spiritual blessings, such is the grace of the Lord God that his children shall show mercy (loving kindness) towards others, for we are not just 'ambassadors' for Christ Jesus spreading the 'Good New', we are the living proof of his love.

So where there is no compassion or mercy towards others there is no humility and there is no obedience, remember the command that the Lord Jesus gave to the twelve disciples concerning the feeding of the five thousand plus, “you give them something to eat!” and the words he spoke before this command was the 'Revelation' of who he was, for he said to them, “they do not need to go away”, for before them stood their Messiah, God in flesh, the Bread of life, the very same God who had fed their forefathers in the wilderness for forty-years.

Is it any wonder the Lord Jesus dismissed the disciples and sent them away, for had they not been with him for a long time and witness miracle after miracle, and yet inspite of all that they had witness, their faith in him was still at the starting line, the point that Christ Jesus was making to the disciples was that they only had to ask in his name and the five thousand plus would have been fed, it was a point of trust in which the disciples failed, I wonder how the Lord Jesus felt at that period of time when the disciples displayed their lack of faith in him, but one thing is sure that from that moment onwards the faith of the disciples started to grow slowly but surely, and I wonder what would we have done in that situation, for looking around today I believe very much the same, for it would seem that within society today, love has grown cold, wars rage all over the globe, starvation abounds in many continents and no matter how much this problem is addressed it seems only to get worse, that is why it is important for christians to walk in Holiness before the world, to walk in a manner that is fitting to our calling, not in rules of do's and don’t, for Holiness never changes a person from the outside in, it only operates from the inside out, it bring out of our hearts conviction, showing humility and compassion to our fellowman, displaying mercy at every opportunity, not only repersenting the Lord Jesus as his 'Ambassador' but becoming him in all situations, for as you are in Christ you must remember that he is in you.

Holiness therefore is generated from the heart, for the heart is the seat of mans soul, and depending upon how much the child of God is willing to die to 'self' shall determine your state of Holiness, remember the Lord God demands your 'all', but he shall never force your free will, remember the disciples when Christ fed the five thousand plus, they believed in Jesus, for if they had not, they most surely would not have walked with him, but they allowed their feelings (flesh) to over rule their hearts when they said we have only five loaves and two fish, had they opened their eyes and shown humility they would have realised that the Almighty was standing before them, and all that was required was their faith, to trust in him by simply saying! “thy will be done”, we have this problem as human of trusting in the flesh, but Holiness cannot operate where flesh rules, for Holiness is the essence of God, and because God is spirit and Holy, to try and obtain Holiness through the flesh can be compared to someone trying to climb the highest mountian in the world on their own, it is almost if not impossible, and even if they were to success and got to the top, they would only find that the Lord God was not there, for the Lord God cannot be found through flesh, repeatedly throughout the scriptures we are taught this, this is what sanctification is all about, we can only be sanctified by the truth, for his word is truth, and we can only worship the Lord God in spirit and truth, so the two things that stand out is “the truth and the spirit” and it is through the truth and the spirit that we find Holiness, the reason as to why we can only worship the Lord God in spirit is because the spirit, (the breath of life) which makes man a living soul belongs to the Lord God (eccl c12:v7), and at death returns back to him, truth and spirit are but one and the same, the triune God, the creator and the giver of life, Holiness is not being a good person, that is but its fruit, no! Holiness is about “The Truth”, and where there is no truth there is no Holiness, Christ Jesus was “The Turth” he was Holiness personified, it is when Christ takes his rightful place in your heart that is the throne of your soul, that one becomes sanctified (Holy), and the spirit (Holy spirit) within brings true worship, honour and reverence to the Lord God Almighty, that is why so many struggle within their christian walk, they let their flesh to over rule their 'Faith', remember failing is not about how many times you fall, failing is when you lie down and don’t get up, why do you think the Lord Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you, he knowns the trails and the temptations that we will go through, after all he went through them himself, believe me when a tell you that the truth shall set you free, hold on to the truth, hold on to his promises, and if your heart is sincere just cry to him, lord thy will be done. Amen!

sermon 11 “WHO DO THE PEOPLE SAY THAT I THE SON OF MAN, AM?”

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Phillippi, he began asking his disciples, saying, “who do the people say that the son of man is?” and they said, some say you are John the Baptist; and others, that you are Elijah; but still others say that you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.(matt c6:v13-14).

A simple question ask by the Lord Jesus to his disciples,concerning his deity, yet the answer that he received was profoundly to be meet with astonishment, for it revealed just how far the people had departed from the word of the Lord God, and be under no delusion as to this deception of satan that occured here among the Jewish people, when Christ Jesus walked the streets of Judaea, for this same deception is at work within the people of the world today, this can only be called delusion “the spirit of antichrist” that has gone out into the world to deceive and blind the minds of the unbeliever, and this indeed would be right, but one must come to the understanding that the scriptures must be 'rightly divided', if the truth is to be revealed and the word of God to be living and able to reach the soul of man, it is indeed only throught the handling of the word of God accurately that enables the Holy spirit to open the mind of the recipient, there are many a brother and sister amoung us who have been saved for years and still have not received any awakening from the Holy spirit, simply because they have not desired any, it does not mean that they are not saved, it simply means they have lost out in spiritual blessings.

we must come to the understanding that if the Holy spirit has offices and gifts so also has the spirit of iniquity, and this is what has been happening throughout history,the spirit of antichrist, that is the spirit of iniquity has sent out what is called a “perverse spirit”, which distorts the truth, corrupting it in the most vile way leading to misinterpretation, which always leads to apostasy, the falling away from the teaching of the Lord God, and this was what happened to the people when Christ asked the question to the disciples who do the people say “I am”, note the reply! some say you are John the baptist, some say you are Elijah, and some say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

the problem with this answers is simple, all of these prophets were dead, the people of the day were believing in “reincarnation” but no where within the word of God is reincarnation taught, what is clearly taught is “incarnation”, behold the Lord shall give you a sign; behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name “Immanuel” (God with us).

I myself have been told by some who hold leadership within their church, that they no longer read their bible, they wait for the Holy spirit to move them, but this is simple madness, for scriptures clearly teach us that the word of God is a lamp to our feet, and if you throw away the lamp, how can a fool find his way, and if it is one who has authority over others then it is the blind leading the blind, when will people open their eyes to the truth of God’s word and put away their foolishness of 'mysticism'.

Be under no allusion as to the fallng away from the truth of God, special within christdom the so called church of God, don’t be decieved as to think it could not happen to those who go to church, for the Lord God himself forewarned that love would grow cold, people would fall away from the faith and that people would be deceived because they would not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, this may in need alarm many but it is no less the truth, it won’t matter if you believe it or not, it shall not change the fact that it shall occur, let us look again at the question the Lord Jesus ask the disciples, who do the people say that I, the son of man, am? note here that the people did not believe for one minute that Christ was their 'Saviour', the answer that the disciples replied with was prove to this fact, so it is safe to say that the people did not believe, he was their 'promised Messiah'.

look at the answer again, they could believe that he was one of the prophets they believed he was a good man, they believed he was a great Rabbi, that is a great teacher of the law, they just could not believe he was their Messiah, you can not totally blame the people of Christ day for their rejection, for they were not educated people most could not read or write, unlike today when most people can read and write.

In Christ day the people looked to their religious leaders for their answer, unlike today when the people instead of believing the religious leaders should go to their bibles for the answer.

What then was the problem for the people when christ walked this earth, simple! bad leadership, it was the leaders that lead the people astray, some did it for self game, some for greed, some for power but to round it up in a nut shell, they did it because of their ego (pride) and their own self importance,

I will explain this in a short while, let us for the monment return to bad leadership, have we prove that the religious leaders in the days that Christ walked this earth in the flesh were bad,the answer in “yes”, turn to Matthews gospel chapter 23, this is Christ Jesus himself addressing the people concerning the religious leaders of the day, “then Jesus spoke to the people and said, the Scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses, (act as teachers of the law), therefore all that they say to you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them, Christ goes on in this chapter and calls the religious leaders hypocrites, blind guides and worst of all he calls them serpents and vipers, depicting that they had the nature of the devil and not the nature of God Almighty.

It is so easy for a christian leader to fall into the devils snare, it is so easy for Ego to take over when success comes your way, and when I say success I mean a victory through the blessing of the Lord God, not the flesh, it is so easy to contribute success to oneself, for such is our nature from the fall of man, remember the warning of the Lord Jesus to the disciples, “that out of the heart comes all iniquity”, and also, that the flesh wars against the spirit continuous, also bear in mind that the religious leaders in the days when Christ walked this earth, where religious fanatics they were waiting for the coming of their Messiah, and they were indeed aware that no prophet nor any miracle had ocurred for in Israel for cunturies.

Yet Christ Jesus comes alone performing miracles and speaking with great wisdom and he is rejected with great venom, how do we know this! through the scriptures, let us turn to John’s gospel chapter 11, this was at the time when Jesus rised Lazarus from the dead, we shall read from verse 47; therefore the chief priests and the pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “what are we doing? for this man is performing many miracles, if we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation, but a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was 'High Priest' that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish” and it was from that time onwards that they planned together to kill him (Jesus), verse53.

Why did they plan to put Jesus to death, they did not want to lose their own importance, their Ego got in the way of the truth, and gave birth to pride, and as the scriptures teach pride comes before 'destruction', is it any wonder that Jesus said how would they escape the 'condemnation of hell'.

it would have been wonderful if that council had convened to put Jesus to death if within their hearts they where truely concerned for the people, but sadly the scriptures reveal that they had no love for the common man, that is why it is very important for the christian to have a walk that is in line with the scriptures and the teachings of the Lord Jesus.

so as far as christian leaders are concerned, do not go by what they just say, but look closely at their christian walk, remember it is by their fruits that you shall know them, not their suits or their gifts, or what they say.

now we turn to the disciples and after hearing who the people thought he was, Jesus said to them, and who do you say that I am, this is indeed a challenge to all who call themselves a disciple of Christ Jesus, remember there is not two types of christian, there can only be one and that is a disciple'.

So who do you say Jesus was, a prophet, a great leader, a wise teacher, or do you say what peter said, “you are the Christ, the son of the living God”, the saviour of my soul, are you willing to give your all for Christ, no matter what people say about you or treat you.

Remember to be a disciple of Jesus is to invite the wrath of the world, it is to have suffering and injustice thrust upon you.

Its of no use telling someone who has just given their life to Christ that all shall be well, for that is a lie, tell those who give their lifes to Christ the truth, that the world shall hate them and shall wage war against them, in the words of Jesus; when the world hates you, remember it hated me first, so if anyone gives their life to christ they shall suffer presecution and tribulation from the world and the devil.

They must be told the truth at conversion, is this the reason why so many fall away from the faith, because they where never told the truth, they where never told that the world shall despises them, they where never told that the world is the kingdom of satan! they where not told that friendship with the world is to make oneself an enemy of God.

You can not run with the fox and hunt with the hounds, you have been bought for a price, that price was paid in blood by God himself, your salvation was not cheap, it robbed heaven of its best. Christ Jesus came down from the worship of angels, to be nailed upon the cross, displaying his love publicly for all generations to see just how much he loved us, with his arms stretched out he uttered the words “it is finished”! that’s why it is important for anyone who has just accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal saviour, to know the truth about the cost of their salvation, and what is exspected of them, if they are to walk the narrow way, the way of Holiness, and I am not talking about rules and regulations that have been concieved by religious people, for no rules or regulation can possibly keep anyone on the way of Holiness.

Only the love within your heart for the Father and the Lord Jesus by the Holy spirit can anyone hope to walk the way of Holiness, for Holiness is not some concept of man, it is the essence of God himself, the Apostles knew this and the early church disciples where taught this, if you are not aware that Christ Jesus was the son of the living God, if you are not aware that he is the saviour of mankind, if you do not believe with your whole heart that he took your sin and washed you soul clean, then your conversion is worthless, for if there is no faith then there is no hope of entering into the kingdom of God.

Peter the Apostle knew this, for after he denied the Lord Jesus three times he weep bitterly, but we are told that the Holiness of the Lord Jesus was displayed towards Peter, when he asked Peter, do you love me! there times Peter was ask this question and three times he replied, “yes, Lord”, this is why I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart, for his grace knows no bounds, is he the Christ; “yes” am I ashamed to mention his name any where, “no” you may ask why is this so, it is simple, for its no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me! I am convinced that every born again christian must come to this conclusion within their lives, I am not sugessing that this occurrs at the moment you come to know the Lord Jesus as your saviour, for you are but a babe in Christ, but I point to a time in your christian walk when you will have to decide if the price for you to conform to the image of Christ Jesus may be more than your willing to pay, I pray that this is not the case, and I leave you with these heart felt words, 'may the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you, may he be gracious unto you, may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, Amen!

sermon 12 “IN A MOMENT, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE”

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed, (1corin c15:V51-52).

Let me just say that this portion of scripture has bought confusion into christian circles, not the scripture itself, but the 'interpretation' of this scripture by man, there is no doubt that all born-again christians believe in what this scripture says, but where the confusion comes from, is the putting together of two scriptures to make a doctrine or a belief and pointing to it as being a fact, and of course the confusion which I am referring to is what is called the rapture of the believers in the Lord Jesus, the confusion is not about the rapture itself, but as to the timing of the rapture as to when it actually occurs, first may I say that the word rapture does not appear within scripture, the actual words used are to be found in first Thessalonians, and they are “caught up”, and secondly the belief in the rapture has nothing to do with salvation, for salvation is a gift from God through the finished work of Christ Jesus upon the cross, but it is good to have an understanding into the events which shall occur leading up to the second coming of the Lord Jesus, let me also say that a lot of money as well as fear is being generated through the belief of what is called the 'left behind ones', now I do not want to get into a debate about rights or wrongs, but I do desire to give the facts concerning the timing of being 'caught up' to meet the Lord in the air, therefore let the scriptures reveal the truth and let yourselves decide as to when it is most likely to occur.

Let us pray that the Lord shall open our eyes and minds concerning these passages of scripture, and to remind us Lord, that our guide to the interpretation of the scriptures is the scriptures themselves by the guidance of the Holy spirit and remind us Lord that you do not hide anything within your word concerning your children, but give us the wisdom to rightly divide the scriptures, we ask this in your name, “Amen”

Now if you would open your bibles at first Thessalonians chapter4 verses16-17, “for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord”.

From the latin for “caught up” comes the term rapture, the word rapture with in itself is find, the problem occurs as to the time when the rapture shall occur, for there are within christendom many different beliefs as to when the rapture shall come into fruition, there are those who believe it shall occur at the beginning of the seven year tribulation period, some believe it shall occur half way through the tribulation period, that is at the beginning of the great tribulation period, and there are those who believe it shall occur at the end of the seven year tribulation period, and of course there are those who do not believe it shall happen at all.

Tthe most popular belief in the christian family at present is that the christiandom shall not go through the tribulation period but shall be kept from the wrath of the antichrist, this is indeed a wonderful thought but is it scriptural, let us read Matthew chapther24, and we find that the Lord Jesus said; “that immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will morn, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Here we receive from the mouth of Christ Jesus that the rapture of the believers shall occur at the end of the great tribulation period, yet there are many who say this only refers to the elect of Israel the Jewish nation, but if you read the passage Christ said he would gather “his elect” from the four corners of the earth, also reminder that one of Christ Jesus titles is “Israel”.

There can be know doubt about this portion of scripture within Matthew C24, it is declaring that Christ would gather his elect from all over the face of the earth.

To suggest that this elect would be Jews does scripture a great injustice, for God’s elect within the nation of Israel is numbered at 144,000 and are 'not' scattered over the face of the earth but are centered in the nation of Israel, for they are to be the forerunners of a much larger group of Jews who shall turn to Christ at the end of the great tribulation.

And if the church is not going to go through the seven year tribulation period, why did the Lord Jesus synchronize the falling away from the faith, Christ clearly stated that the church would go through the tribulation period,(verse10), when the Lord Jesus gave his promise, that he would keep the believers from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, as recorded within the book of Revelation chapther3 verse10.

It was not to be interpreted as the seven year tribulation period, as many have done, for if you read chapther14 of the book of revelation it will become clear that the Lord Jesus was promising to keep the believers from 'His coming wrath', that is his coming judgments, for we read, “fear God and give glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, veres7, and also in chapter6 verses16-17, we read; and they (the nations of the world), said to the mountians and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, (Christ Jesus), for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand”, it would therefore seem that the Lord Jesus shall keep the believers from his coming judgments, and not the seven year tribulation period in which the antichrist shall be free to slaugther and annihilate.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the chuch at Corinth chapther15 had this to say,” behold, I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed”.

Note that Paul refers to the sounding of a trumpet, but not just any of the trumpets, but the last trumpet, and to find out more about the last trumpet we turn to the book of Revelation, and in chapter8 it is revealed that seven trumpets were given to seven angels, and when the first sounds the earth is smitten, when the second trumpet is sounded the sea was smitten, when the third was sounded, the waters of the earth were smitten, when the forth trumpet was sounded the heavens were smitten, when the fifth trumpet was sounded men were smitten, when the sixth trumpet is sounded, men were killed, and this occurs before the sounding of the seventh and final trumpet.

I say that the seventh trumpet is the last and final trumpet because there is not another trumpet mentioned within the book of Revelation after the sounding of this seventh trumpet, but also note that the seven trumpets are revealed after the opening of the seals, and at the breaking open of the first seal it reveales the coming of the 'antichrist to conquer'.

This reveals to us that the antichrist shall be upon the earth long before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and that the earth, sea waters, heavens and men have been smitten before the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet.

but what does scripture reveal to us when the last trumpet is sounded, turn to Revelation chapter 11 verse15, “ and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever”.

Here it is revealed that the mystery that Paul the apostle spoke about in Corinthians is manifested, turn to Revelation chapther 10 verse 7, for in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, “then the mystery of God is finished, as he preached to his srevants the prophets”.

There can be no misunderstanding as to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, nor to the fact that the child of God shall go through the seven year tribulation period.

Let us turn to 2 Thessalonian chapter 2, here we have another mystery but this mystery is revealed as the mystery of iniquity which is always at work, and that only he who now restrains shall do so, until he is taken out of the way.

Many interpret this as the Holy spirit holding the antichrist back, they believe that the Holy spirit shall be taken out of the way, and that the church at this time shall also be taken out of the way, that is raptured to meet the Lord in the sky, thus allowing the antichrist freedom to do his will upon the earth, but this belief of the Holy spirit being removed from the earth would then suggest that the time of Grace had come to an end, but this would not be scriptural, for within the book of Revelation chapter 7, it is revealed that a great multitude which no one could count from every nation had come out from the great tribulation and were washed in the 'blood of the Lamb'.

And if one reads the gospels it is revealed that the Holy spirit is called the comforter or helper, but never the “restrainer”, who then is the restrainer, it is the Lord God Almighty.

Turn to the book of Romans chapter 13:V1-2, and it is revealed that there is no 'Authority' except from the Lord God, for it is he who establishes, so the restrainer that the apostle Paul was pointing to was God’s influencing power or restrainering power that he exercises upon the worlds governments, and because of the apostasy from the faith and the rejection of his truth, he shall let go of his restraining influence over the governments of the world and shall allow the man of sin to come to power.

But remember because the Lord God has taken away his restraining power from the governments of the world 'He' still is in complete control of the events of the world even at the time of antichrist, for in Thessalonians it is the Lord God himself who shall send strong delusion upon the nations of the world, this would seem to be as punishment upon those who have rejected the truth, it is very important for the children of God to be aware of what is being peddled from the pulpits, there can be no excuse for not studying the word of God, note I did not say reading the word of God but studying the word of God.

The idea of being raptured before the great tribulation came about in the late nineteenth century it was called then the 'secret rapture', through the years it has become popular, but remember it is the truth that sets you free, not a popular belief, and it is necessary to warn those who call themselves christians that Christ himself forewarned of the dangers of believing in his name iat the end of the age, for such shall be the hatred of the gospel of christ that it will result in the death of many a child of God, by those who once called themselves christians.

Shall this come about because there will be those who are waiting to be raptured only to have the antichrist over shadow them, and before they know what has happened, they will have lost their faith and turn away from the truth, the apostle Peter said this concerning the last days, “mockers shall come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? forever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation”!.

There can be no doubt as to the second coming of Christ Jesus as being a single event, to say then that the church shall be raptured before or during the tribulation period makes nonsense of Christs second coming as a single event, to say as many do that he comes to the air and returns to heaven for seven years is a non starter.

They point to 1Thessalonians chapter4 verses16-17, “for the Lord himselves will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord”.

Now compare what Paul said here in Thessalonians and with what John said in the book of Revelation, and you will find that these events happen simultaneously.

1. in Thessalonians we have the voice of the archangel in Revelation at the sounding of the seventh trumpet we have loud voices in heaven.

2. Thessalonians we have the trumpet of God, in Revelation we have the angel sounding the last trumpet, which is also the trumpet of God.

3. in Thessalonians the Lord himself shall descend, and in Revelation we are told that at the sounding of the last trumpet, Christ Jesus begins to reign, is this not the victorious second coming of Christ.

The thought of being raptured before the tribulation period is indeed a wonderful thought, but the facts on which they base their interpetation is totally wrong according to scripture, they believe that if the rapture occurs at the second coming at the end of the great tribulation, there would be no one to go into the millennal kingdom and repopulate the earth.

But according to scripture, the prophet Zechariah reveals that one third of the Jewish nation shall be saved, for the Lord said; he would pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jersalem the spirit of grace and supplication, so that they shall look on him whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him; as one mourns for an only son, and they shall weep bitterly; and shall call on his name, and he shall answer them, and say, they are my people; and they shall say, the Lord is my God.

And this shall occur when the Lord’s feet stand on the mount of Olives at his second coming, so from the descent of Christ from heaven, till his feet touches the mount of Olives, we have what Paul says, the dead and the living being caught up to meet Christ Jesus in the air, in the twinkling of an eye.

Those who believe that we shall be spared from the wrath of the antichrist also believe that when Christ Jesus returns he will divide the believers from the unbelivers, they state that if the rapture where to take place at the same time as his second coming how could the believers and the unbelievers be separated on the earth as all the believers would have been “caught up” to Christ in the clouds, thus leaving no believers on earth, but it has been already established through Zechariah the prophet, that one third of the Jewish nation who have survived the wrath of antichrist shall receive Christ Jesus as their 'Messiah', when his feet touch the mount of Olives.

Many also believe that the church is not mention after chapter 5 of the book of revelation so it must have been raptured.

But the church is mentioned after chapter 5, it is mentioned in chapters 7, 12, 13, 14 and 18, turn to Revelation chapter three verse10, just before we commence to read this verse of scripture, let us first come to an understanting of this letter which was addressed to the church at Philadelelphia, the word Philadelphia means “brotherly love”, and it is a letter which is addressing true born-again christians, but what is truly remarkable is the revealing of Christ Jesus as “Lord”, because it is revealing that Christ has the key of David, now the key of David is a symbol of great authority, and without a doubt reveals the Messiahship of Christ Jesus who as Creator has the Authority over death and hell and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, let us now read verse ten, “ because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth”, the promise that the Lord shall kept his children from 'His coming judgments'.

Note that the promise is not to kept his children from the coming wrath of the antichrist, but his judgments, the judgments that shall occur at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, also remember the Lord said because you have kept the word of my patience (perseverance), which means to ensure difficulties(to bear pain calmly), if the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air at the start or in the middle of the tribulation period, no perseverance or patients would be called for, for no saint would suffer at the side of Christ Jesus.

We must also remember that what is called the church in the last days shall be but a remnant of the whole body of Christ, and what is interesting concerning the church on earth in the last days, is the fact that it shall be filled with confusion, that shall cause a 'Great falling away from the faith in Christ Jesus”, and it is called within scripture “the apostasy”, does it not therefore seem strange that the vast majority of the church which is already in heaven, had to ensure suffering and tribulation over the last two thousand years, and behold the remnant of the church in the last days which is called the apostate church shall be taken out from “persecution and tribulation”, these are the two things that scripture says we as christians must ensure because of our faith in Christ Jesus. “Amen”!

sermon 13 MYSTERY OF INIQUITY

“For the mystery of iniquity is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way”.(2thess c2:v7).

Iniquity is the absence of moral or spiritual values, one who chooses the dark powers (wickedness) freely with or without realization of what they are doing or induling in, for ignorance is not innocence nor is arrogance any justification for not knowing the facts, for out of the heart comes all evil which is in direct defiance of all that is Holy and good, for man was born into iniquity, and he was conceived in sin, for out of the heart that is the mind of man comes all evil thoughts, murder, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and slanders.

For anyone to come to any understanding of how the spirit of iniquity works, you must come to an understanding of how you think, for your thinking shall determine your spiritual destination, the only way for man to understand how the spirit of iniquity operates within his heart is through the scriptures the word of God, and the best place to start is at the beginning, the book of Genesis.

The question! who is man? man is the handiwork of the Lord God he isthe crowning glory of his creation, created by the every hands of God himself, man has a body (his flesh) which shall be resurrected and stand before God in the great day of his judgement to receive either grace through Christ Jesus or to be cast from this presence because of his unrepented sin, man also has a spirit and a soul which are immortal and belong to God, and shall return to God at the death of the body (flesh)(eccl c12:v7; ezek c18:v4), man has a duty to the Lord God for he is his creator, thus man's chief purpose is to 'Glorify his Creator', man was created in a natural and moral likeness to God (gen9:26; 1cor c11:v7), but when he sinned he lost the moral likeness,(jam c3:v9), for no longer was he sinless, no longer could he walk in unbroken fellowship with the Lord God.

Man who was made a little lower than the angel, yet the Lord gave him dominion over the earth, making him responsible for the welfare of the animals and the planet, but what happened to Adam at the fall would see a curse come not only to Adam but all creation, the answer lies in chapter2 verse 16 of Genesis, “the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, from any tree within the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die”, Adam was given the rigth from God to choose, he was given free-will.

Through man's own freewill the Lord Godgives us the choice to 'choose', Adam made the wrong choice, instead of trusting in his creator he allowed satan the enemy of the Lord God to instill into his mind (heart) thoughts of rebellion, that would corrupt his heart placing satan upon the throne of his life.

Satan used the very thing that caused him to rebel against the 'Authority of the Lord God, his egotism (self), the giving birth to pride the most destructive element within the universe, for pride goes before destruction (prov 16:v18), it was a breach of the essence of God, when Adam and Eve fell into sin on that terrible day, they not only lost their fellowship with the Lord God, but they also lost their shepherd,(the Lord God) and sheep without a shepherd will always find away to die, this is why the Lord Jesus addressed the people as “sheep”, for without the Lord God's guidance you have no hope of 'Eternal Life', once you reject to trust in the 'Word of God' you will have sealed your fate for all 'Eternity', through your own “free will”, your own choice, you will have taken the same path as Adam, the path that leads to 'Death', so if we our to learn through Adam's foolishness, the lesson of how not to rebel and show ingratitude against the Lord and his Word, then we must come to understand that the Lord means what he says and says what he means, God commanded that they shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, one simple request for their own protection, for the Lord God knew that from the moment they disobey his word they would through their own choosing open a portal to hell and physical and spiritual death.

For all that glitters is not gold, when satan presents sin he presents it as pleasant, and iniquity as good fruit to eat, by doing this he is emptying your subconscious mind from the consequences of sin, for the wages of sin is death, and the result of iniquity is bondage, a life of misery, what was the lie of satan ,”your eyes shall be opened”, but their eyes where already open, they where opened to the things of God, physically and spiritually to all that was 'Good', it was not the Lords intention for Adam (man) to know 'Evil', for he created man in “His image and His likeness”, and to this present day the believer in Christ Jesus must be transformed into His likeness and have His attitude instilled within their hearts by the Holy spirit, (phil2).

When the Lord God created man he was perfect, no sin nor iniquity was found within him, man was created with the nature of the Lord God, for Adam we are told walked with God and if he (Adam) had any iniquity within him, it would have been impossible for him to have fellowship with the Lord God who is Holy and cannot look upon sin hab c1:v13), satan knew that if he could open the minds of Adam and Eve to evil by means of iniquity he would instill within them his nature thus becoming their master and destroying their relationship they had with the Lord God, note that the word “knowledge” concerning the tree of good and evil in Hebrew is “da'ath” which can mean cunning, (clever at deceiving), and in Genesis we are told that the serpent (satan) was more cunning (in a bad sense) than any beast of the field which the Lord God created, but what also is of interest is that the word 'da'ath' can also mean “wittingly” meaning intentionally, we know that the Lord God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst of His garden, for Eden was called the garden of the Lord (gen c13:v10), one can only come to the conclusion that the Lord who is Omniscience knew hat Adam would disobey his word, thus the tree of knowledge of good and evil would fulfil its role of 1.revealing the nature of satan to man, one of corruption and wickedness (evil), and 2. the death blow to satan for his rebellion against the Lord God (through the seed of the woman gen c3) and 3. the promise of the coming of the Lord Jesus, through whom would come the restoration all worship in truth and spirit.

Adam (man) was to worship the Lord God with thanks giving and praise, for this is man's chief purpose, Adam had no need for the knowledge of evil for he had the knowledge of God who was a holy God, and the dominion over creation, he also had the knowledge (the intellect)to name the animals, hence the reason for the Lord God forbidding the eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of' good and evil', for two reasons, 1. it was a covenant of faith, “faith” in believing and trusting in His word, as it is also for the child of God to this day, believing within your heart (soul) that what the Lord God says he means, for there are no shadows in Him, it is faith that the lord god delights in, it is faith that is pleasing to him, it is faith which is a sweet aroma to His nostrils, and it is faith that has within it 'life or death', 'blessing or cursing', for by loving the Lord God through faith, enables the child of God to obey His word, (rom10:6-10), 2. Adam had no need to know about 'evil', yet Eve believed that by eating of the tree of knowledge she would receive wisdom, thus she coveted the fruit instead of the Lord God, but wisdom only comes from the fear (revernce) of the Lord that is his Holiness, at the moment Adam eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he became 'conscious' of 'iniquity' (unrighteousness) and through this awareness of iniquity fear filled his heart, hence he hid from the Lord, for no longer did Adam reflect the character of God, but that of satan, first he blamed the woman then he blamed the Lord, not once did he seek forgiveness nor did he feel any need to repentance, his conscious (mind) had become corrupted, no longer did the Lord God occupy his conscious mind, but was pushed into the deep recession of his conscious mind, that is to the subconscious.

Man has the same problem today as Adam and Eve, even within what is called the christian church, there is an ignorance of the word of God and a disrespect for his Holiness, Eve was deceived because her husband did not take his headship, but the church has no such excuse for Christ is its head and he takes his headship, as for Adam and Eve they became the children of wrath, polluting all creation, two trees in the midst of the garden, one the tree of life the other can be called the tree of 'conscience', did Adam forsake the knowledge of God since this was the only knowledge that he knew or would ever need to know, for the knowledge of the Lord God was one of purity, love and perfection, and where evil could not be found! the Lord knew about evil but evil was not in his nature, Adam was one in God within all areas of his life, for the Lord God said himself; that all was good within the garden; but Adam took a step back from the Lord God and allowed iniquity to take root within his conscious mind, he was only asked to do one simple thing, and that was not to eat from the tree of knowledge, you may eat from all the other trees but do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, one simple command, but alas iniquity was flourishing within the mind of eve long before she eat of the forbidding fruit, the biggest mistake that many do to this day, is the same as what Eve did within the garden of the Lord, she got into dialogue with a deceiver who Is the “father of lies”, they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Only one simple command, one request and that was given for their own protection, could the Lord God have stopped Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of good and evil, the answer is no! this may alarm many, but remember that the Lord God had given Adam “freewill” Adam was given the right to “choose” for better or for worst, the Lord God could not go back on his word, for no lie or empty promise is found within the thoughts or mouth of the Father of Lights, the attack upon Adam and Eve by satan was not primary an attack on them, it was a attack upon the foundation of God's Throne, man's spirit (God's breath, man's rational soul) is the seat of his spiritual affections towards God, (spirituality), it is this spirit within man that gives him the ability to choose over the conscious mind (flesh) for the conscious mind influences his behaviour his thoughts and his motives, it is to man's conscious mind which is termed within the scriptures as the “old man”, the fleshly man, thus a man's conscious mind is not his best companion, since it is egocentric, thus satan through the spirit of iniquity can influence man's physical and spiritual life to the point of destruction, it is the conscious mind which is the “carnal mind”, the carnal man has been deceived into believing that the conscious mind of man makes better decisions than the subconscious mind, yet the subconscious mind of man is the rational part of man mind, that which brings man unto conviction of sin and the need for repentance, the subconscious mind of man is the residence of the Holy spirit, the life giving spirit of God, the subconscious mind is the link between the soul and the spirit, hence we are told within the scriptures to keep our hearts (minds) with all diligence! for from it flows the spring of life, (prov 4:23).

Note that the new age movement believe that the subconscious mind is the door way to a higher spiritual dimension; in which they can receive divine knowledge and power, but what knowledge and who's power who is the source, to all that worship the Lord Christ jesus this door way is forbidden for he is the door that leads to rigtheousness, but to those who stand outside of biblical teaching they can open a portal to evil, for as the fruit of the Holy spirit is given to the children of God to transform them into the image of Christ, so the spirit of iniquity also gives its fruit to those who are perishing, not to free them, but to put them into bondage, to blind their mind so that they shall never come to spiritual truth, look again at what the new age movement believes, they can receive divine knowledge and power, remember Eve in the garden of the Lord, what did satan say to her, for God knows that in the day you eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, did Eve become as God, the answer is No! she nor Adam became omnipresent, where they omnipotent were they omniscient, Adam and Eve became like God in the sense that they became aware of 'evil', thus they crippled their souls and corrupted their spirit rendering themselves earth bound.

Iniquity is the absence of moral and spiritual values, how then did satan tempt Eve to eat of the forbidden tree, the answer is through seduction, through the 'spirit of iniquity', which is a 'perverse spirit', satan fooled Eve into believing that the Lord God was a lair and was holding them back from better things, that he was using them for his own amusement, he norished within her vanity worthless ego, he deceived her through her own self importance, he work on her conscious mind, he knew that the spirit of God was strong but that the flesh was weak, and he destroyed them through their own weakness of the flesh (their conscious mind), thus instilling within them what is called the human spirit,(ego) the spirit of iniquity, perversity (ps51:5), from that moment that Eve convinced herself that by eating of the forbidden tree was right within her conscious mind, a veil covered her spiritual eyes and likewise dam when he took from his wife and eat the forbidden fruit he allowed his spiritual eyes to be blinded and he did it knowingly, thence when they broke God command and eat from the forbidden tree their eyes where opened to the truth, thus they became spiritually naked and hid from the Lord God who was spirit.

It is the flesh (man's nature that has been corrupted by iniquity)for the flesh has become carnal not the spirit, it is the flesh which does what is right in its own eyes, Eve bears witness to this fact, for when she was deceived into eating from the forbidden tree she look at the tree and saw it as good for food (the lust of the flesh) it was also a delight to the eyes (the lust of the eyes) and that the tree was desirable to make one wise (the lust of pride), why did Adam eat when he had a close fellowship with the Lord God, the answer to this question can only be answered through the scriptures, we know that satan was the “Guardian Angel of God Throne”, we know he was created beautiful and we know that he was created perfect in wisdom, yet we know that he was flawed, we no that he mistook the Lord God's meekness for a weakness, and that this flaw within him would be his downfall.

The name satan mean 'adversary' that is the enemy of the Lord God, he wanted God's position, not yours! now I could be wrong in what I am about to write, but I believe in my spirit that instead of trying to find excuse or ways to work things out which are satisfactory to our minds let us be honest to the scriptures and try to rightly dived the scriptures, let us be open to the scriptures to what they are revealing, first of all we find that satan is not the worlds enemy, (2corn4:4) he is foremost the Lord God's enemy,(rev12) if you are a natural minded person (of the world) or a carnal minded person (claim spirituality) you have nothing to fear from satan, granted he will not give you an easy time for love is not in his nature,(attributes) therefore knownly or unknownly you already belong to him, for he is the 'god of this world', and you have given over your souls to him, but if you are a “born again chritstian” then he is your enemy and he seeks to destroy your christian walk, and I emphasis your christian walk.

It shall be your attitude as a christian towards the Lord God and others that will determine the out come of your salvation.

So we know that satan is the enemy of God, and his creation, we know that because of his actions there was war in heaven, we know that the Lords handiwork was attacked resulting in creation being cursed through man's lack of trust (faith) towards the spoken word of God, we know that iniquity originated from satan, we know that the mystery of iniquity is at work throughout the world and particularly within what is called the christian church, remember what Paul said for the “mystery” of iniquity is at work, mystery means to lie hidden, a secret, if sin causes physical death then iniquity causes spiritual death,(isa59:2), it is clear from what the scriptures say that iniquity is working away within the world but that it is at it's busiest within the church, therefore we can be assured that the spirit of iniquity who is also called the spirit of this world and the spirit of antichrist seeks to destroy the foundation of Gods word, (the Holy bible). Amen.

Sermon 14 DIVINATION THE DEVIL PLAYGROUND

There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices withchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or ome who calls up the dead.(deut c18:v10-11).

The spirit of iniquity works through the spirit of bondage who comes in the guise of divination and necromancy, the purpose of getting people involved into these forbidden practices is to blind them to the truth of the gospel, and the moment you start dabbling in something as simple as the reading of your horoscope you place your trust not in your 'Creator' but that which is created placing yourself under the condamnation of God's law, for the law only brings judgement.

The purpose of the spirit of bondage is to keep you in slaved to sin (rom8:2), for this reason religious people feel that it is their duty to go to their place of worship least something bad should befall them, religion is the tool which satan invented to shackle the souls of those who live in terror of God's wrath, for the Lord God is to them an angry God, hard to please, quick to punish and slow to show or dispense his love, this is why religion does not originate from the Lord God, but finds its roots in satan, religion all religions throughout the world, is base upon the traditions and percepts of man's thinking, it's foundation comes from satan's lie within the garden of God, there is no where within the scriptures of the bible where the Lord God laid any foundations for religion, quite the reverse, religions teaches away of life, Christ Jesus is the life, religion does not rejoice in a saviour for it has none to rejoice in, thus it can only bring fear (bondage), religion has no freedom only torment, nor can it bring salvation but only the law, it feeds upon the conscious mind (flesh) and brings with it all its consequences, it does not allow the subconscious to feed man's spiritual being with God's love or joy, or hope, or faith, as does the Holy spirit working through faith.

The spirit of iniquity can only work through the flesh that has been put into bondage through fear, for fear entered into the human race at the fall of man, when sin entered unto the sense (gen3:10), fear was not created by the Lord God (2tim1:7), also note that fear cannot enter a sound mind (one who has received christ as their saviour), it is recorded that at the fall of Adam into sin he said to the Lord; that he hid himself because he was naked, for on hearing the Lord's voice in the garden he became 'afraid', revealing that he felt a sense of wrong doing, guilt always enters into the heart (mind) of man, for this reason we are told to renew or minds daily, (rom12:1-2), fear is unbelief it is the opposite of faith, this is why faith is so important to the child of God, we are given the choice as was Adam to choose life through faith or death through fear, when we walk accordingly the Holy spirit we walk in faith which produces within us the fruit of its righteousness, but if we allow the spirit of iniquity to enter our hearts through fear then we do as Eve did in the garden we call the Lord God a liar for we are disbelieving his word, for he says that we have not got a spirit within that makes us a coward or timid, for we have received a spirit that is over flowing in 'boldness', it always comes down to 'choice', you have the choice through your God given 'free will' to choose, fear may enter through the eyes and ear but so does faith, fear will get you to believe in any thing in its bid to confuse you and draw you away from what is true and spiritual, and snare you through your own feelings and emotions, trapping you in a natural mind or a carnal mind, thus the spirit of iniquity shall try to produce in your life fear if he is given the chance so that he can instill a spirit of whoredom (spiritual unfaithfulness) towards the Lord God.

The spirit of whoredom comes from the spirit of bondage and is connected to every form of idolatry worship, many believe that the spirit of whoredom is to do with sexual immorality, but sexual immorality is to do with an 'unclean spirit' usually through demon possession or demon oppression, but the spirit of whoredom is used in the spiritual sense and is often used for Israel's unfaithfulness towards the Lord God, for the Jews were called the “spouse of Jehovah” (hos c4:v12) the spirit of whoredom had led God's people to err, for they where consulting with every form of idolatry worship, from statues to mediums, they had departed from Jehovah's counsel and where no longer trusting in his word, this is what the spirit of whoredom is all about, blinding not only those who are natural minded (the childern of wrath who follow after the things of the world) but also those who are called into God's family, whoredom occurs the moment you put anything before the Lord God, for he is your creator and there can be no other God's before him, all worship must be directed to him alone and not through any object, for idolatry consist of many forms of false worship, love of money, seeking fame, putting a nation or a religion before the Lord God, idolatry portrays the giving up of 'the knowledge of God,' this is how satan operates, this is how he blinds the mind to the truth and knowledge of the Lord God, he gives to them what they can see and touch, for he knows that man is spiritually dead, he knows that man has a spiritual need, he also knows that man looks earthward from which he was created, he also knows that it is impossible for man within his own strenght to obtain spirituality, for the soul and the spirit that dwell within man is not man's to own, for its owner is his creatorthe Lord God, (Elohim, ezek c18:v4), for all souls are mine, (isa c42:v5)(eccles c12:v7), so says the Lord, Amen! the flesh shall return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it, so satan must fill 'mans imagination' (conscious mind) with imaginary to prevent the truth from entering mans conscious mind, have you ever wondered why man is so of superstitious, or why man is always scearching for what they call the “truth”, yet the truth is before them in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is their Creator yet they would rather bow down to something that has been created by human hands, giving all worship to it, but to those who have humbled themselves before their Creator in all that He has done for their salvation, know that true worship is done through 'spirit and truth', mind (spirit the subconscious) and heart (the soul), for true worship can only take place when the recipients heart (soul) is kindled (set on fire) by the Holy spirit (mans subconscious mind), this produces what is called (born-again), it is only at this point that a soul shall be in the position of rigtheousness so as to enable them to form a relationship between themselves and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The spirit of divinationshall only leads one into a false system of ascertaining the divine will, the Lord God in his word forbids all from learning occult practises, such as sacificing human life, (and believe this or not it is occuringin in the middle east today with the so called suicide bombers who are mainly children), witchcraft, soothsayers, omens, sorcerery, casting of spells, mediums and any form of necromancy, etc, for these do not lead to the truth they lead you away from the Lord God and his teachings, these are called the “secret knowledge” it is the knowledge of evil, remember the tree of knowledge back in the garden of the Lord (Eden) it had knowledge of good and evil, this secret knowledge was the revealing of the evil of this tree of good and evil, now it may become clear why the Lord God forbid Adam from eating of this tree, he was trying to protect him, he wanted to spare Adam all the pain of this world.

When Adam disobeyed God's word and eat the forbid fruit his eyes where opened and he saw the true nature of satan, but alas it was to late, no longer was Adam God's representative, no longer was he innocent, for now he had acquired a 'conscience', and who's nature had he also acquired a long with his new conscience, did he blame himself for what occurred or did he act accordingly with the nature of satan'

By blaming first his wife and then the Lord God for giving him the woman, human nature is such that after the fall from God's grace, man image no longer represented that of the living God but that of satan, ever noticed that you don't have to teach a child to lie, hence we deceive ourselves by convincing ourselves that we know whats right, this we call arrogance but not of ourselves only to those who try to tell us differently, yet the Lord God asked the question? why would anyone consult the dead on behalf of the living? why would anyone read or believe in omens or signs or leave their future in the turn of a card or the reading of stars and the alinement of the plants, have we forgotten that we are but mortals born to die.

Adam was created in Gods image, but Adams children where born in his image, has it ever occurred to you that all of these practises are called the “black arts” does that name not warn us of danger, can darkness exclude the light, the answer is no! therefore darkness can only include darkness, and when darkness includes darkness its purpose is to keep you in darkness, in bondage to sin and iniquity which only leads to spiritual death, hence the warning from the, Lord God why should you consult the medium and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, should you not consult the testimony of God's word, (isa c8:v19-20).

The testimony of the Lord God reveals the only way unto salvation, and that is through the 'Light of His gospel' the Lord Jesus Christ.

Can darkness ingulf the light, no! it cannot, for a small light can be seem for miles in the darkness of the night, (expands), if this be true why would anyone go outside of God's guidance, thence the answer to all our questions concerning the occult is simple, if the Lord God forbids it, then keep away from it, (gen c2:v7; ex c7:v11; c22:v18, lev c19:v26-31; c20:v6; num c24:v1; deut c18:v10-14; 1sam c15:v23; c21:v21; c28:v3-12; 2kin c17:v17; c21:v6; 2chorn c33:v5-6;); isa c2: v6; c8:19; c47:v1213; c49:v25; jer c14:v4; c27:v9 c;29v:8; ezek c13:v3-6; c21:v21-22; dan c2:v2-27; c4:v7; zec c10:v2; hosc4:v12; acts c8:v9-11; c13v:6-8; c16:v16; c19:v19).

Your decision, your freewill in which to decide, but remember that not all who process a spirit of error practise the occult, many can be found within the church, these are the ones who mislead through their intellect, they give the appearance that they know spiritual matters but when challenged through the scriptures.

It will become apparent that they live the christian life through 'mysticism', they have a knowledge about God but they do not known him nor do they hold to his teachings, he is not their personal saviour.

Mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means but this can be a very dangers practise for when you allow (open) your mind(conscience)to wander you expose your soul to demonic forces and open a portal to your soul, this is why we are told within scripture to test the spirit, the aim of mysticism is to unite all religions into one, mysticism comes from the greco-roman mystic cults, its meaning is to close the lips and eyes, they seek unity but not with the Lord God, mysticism in any form is not from God, its aim is to put you into bondage and to keep you in bondage it comes from the spirit of iniquity.

It was satan who employed mysticism when he decieved Eve, when the spirit of error operates it operates in half truth, a lie, e,g. I can't believe that God would send anyone to hell! this is true God does not send anyone to hell,(ezek c18:v23-32)for the scriptures clearly teaches that it's your own choice to receive salvation or reject it, the aim of the spirit of error is to get you to focus upon the flesh, for in doing so he will have naturalize your spiritual walk and made your faith null and void, hence the command to renew our mind daily so that the flesh has on in roads in our spiritual walk, remember those who have the spirit of error will always appear as walking in the spirit but their talk and what they say shall always give them away for it will not line up with the scriptures.

At the moment we have what is called prosperity preachers on television, they say if you give a thousand pounds you shall receive ten thousand back from the Lord God, this is a “Lie” and is not within biblical teaching, the Lord never said this and these preachers have no right to say that the Lord will do this, for the Lord says in the scriptures that he will meet your needs not yours greeds, (matt c6:v8-32).

It is so unbelievable just how many people there are within the christian family who are so gullible to part with their money or to quick to belive every thing that they are told, I no that this can only come about mainly because they are not taking the time to study the the word of God, their lifes are to busy so they try to fit God into their life styles, but this does not built relationship.

Its as if they are saying look Lord I'll give extra tithes to the church to make up my short fall of not spending enough time in the prayer meeting or the bible study, but they misses the point, for all that they own belongs to the Lord God anyway, their just stewarts to what rightly belongs to Him, and this is how the spirit of iniquity works, it hides itself within what is looked upon as a righteous act, it justifies it self within the conscious mind, that two wrongs make a right.

Yet the subconscious mind will tell you that God wants relationship, for relationship is the only answer if one is to break free from the spirit of iniquity, it is the purpose of the spirit of iniquity to try and destroy the teachings of the Lord Jesus, so if he can make you doubt your salvation he knows that you will, given time walk away from the protection of Gods grace.

The Lord God is aware that the flesh is the seat of human affections, through which satan can pull you down, i. e. anguish, grieve, bitterness, sorrow and sadness, it is through our fellings and emotions (the flesh) that the spirit of iniquity gains excess into our lifes, when ever your subconscious and your conscious mind are in conflict with each other it is usually the conscious mind that come out on top, because it is flesh, what did the Lord Jesus say to the disciples when he found them asleep after asking them to keep watch when he prayed, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”.

The conscious mind cannot work through faith for it is irrational and can only operate through our feelings which go up and down depending on how we feel at a given time, hence the struggle within between the old man who does not want to die, and the new man who is been resurrected.

This is the battle between the flesh and the spirit, when we walk in the flesh it controls our behaviour, this is why there is no self-control within society today, every one does what is right within their own eyes, yet unknowing to most of them it is the spirit of iniquity which is controling their lives.

The subconscious is the Holy of Holies within the body for our bodies are called the temple of God,(1cor3:16),it is the seat of all spirituality, the conscious mind is the seat of all that is flesh and carnal, the only way in which one can overcome the flesh is through 1. repentance of all iniquity, and this shall be for many a great struggle and may take a life time, 2. ask the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart as your saviour, 3. place your trust totally in the word of God.

Iniquity cannot work within the realm of Holiness, for iniquity can only work through confusion and false reasoning satan tried to use the same strategy on Christ Jesus that he used upon Adam, the power of 'suggestion', but unlike Adam who was easily seduced by the spirit of iniquity with the promise of bigger and better things, Christ only answered satan's questions using only the word of God.

When someone gets embroll into the occult in any form what so ever, they open up themselves to the power of suggestion but suggestion coming from the spirit of iniquity is an allusion.

Iniquity cannot keep any promise he makes to someone, simply for the fact that all that is within creation is not his to give, it belongs to the Creator Christ Jesus, Christ was aware of this when satan came to the mountian top in temptation.

Three times Eve corrupted the spoken word of God, for she omitted the word “freely” then she added the word “touch” and if that was not bad enough she when in direct defiance of what God has said about the eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, she took away from the emphasis “you shall surely die” and replaced it with “lest you die”, yet when Christ was tempted by satan the answers he gave back was; “it is written”.

I hope that you are coming to realise that the Lord God takes his word very seriously and that you should do like wise, what happened here through Eve shows us just how gullible the human mind is to the power of suggestion, playing in the devils backyard shall only result in sorrow and pain, you would never dream of going and standing in a motor way for you know in your heart that the chances of being badly hurt or even killed would be high, yet people stand in the high ways of satan occult systems and fool themselves into only believing that its a bit of fun, there no harm in dabbling in it.

Yet if you ask the same people who read their stars in the news paper each day where do they think they shall go when they die, they'll tell you heaven, yet for most of their life's they put their trust in the stars, not in Christ Jesus, it was Christ Jesus who hung upon the cross, and for many, it is their thinking that keeps him there, Christ gave his life at calvary so that you could be freed from satan's kingdom, free to make your own choice, to have blessing or cursing, for the day shall come when you shall stand before the Lord God, that day is called the day of judgment, and believe me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and the one question that the Lord God shall ask you is this, “what did you do with the love of my” how would you answer? Amen.

Sermon 15 INIQUITY THE DEVIL'S WEAPON

The enemy at his vilest, a foul spirit is mentioned only twice within scripture (mark c9:v14; rev c18:v2).

In Marks gospel it is connected with deafness and dumbness which is to do with demon possession, a foul spirit is linked to an unclean spirit, where the unclean spirit seems to influence man's conscious mind (his though) the foul spirit would seem to possess the subconscious mind, thus trying to destroy not only the body but also the soul of the individual, if one is deaf and dumb as well as being possessed they have no means to communicate they are a prisoner and in a very dark place, both these spirits are linked to sexual immorality, lewd in though and behaviour, yet sexual immorality is recorded within scripture as the only sin that sins against ones own body, which results in physical sickness and even death itself, (1cor6:18; 11:30),the unclean spirit does its work upon the conscious mind in its bid to destroy the soul using doubt and unbelief as its weapon to bring into bondage.

The foul spirit uses total bondage, the unclean spirit is a disease within mans soul, but a foul spirit in the enslavement of a soul, a person may possess an unclean spirit, but a foul spirit possesses the person totally, an unclean spirit shall influence a person into sin through iniquity, but a foul spirit totally dominates body and soul.

Evil spirits, demons and devils have an intelligence and a will, there desire is to inhabit a living body, human or animal, they possess a supernatural knowledge, and be not deceived you can come under demonic influence if you open a portal by playing in the devil backyard.

The spirit of iniquity influences through false doctrine,temptations, counterfeiting Gods word and egoticism, remember the spirit of iniquity has many names, demons, devils, evil, sudcing, unclean, familar, perserve, lying, anti, and they have many manifestations, bondage, death, divination, error, fear, haughtiness, heaviness, imfirmi, slumber, whoredom, world, etc, (isa c19:v14; c29:v10; c61:v3; rom c11:v8; hos c4:v2; luke c4:v33; c7:v3; c13:v11-13; 1john c4:v3-6; rom c8:v15; 1cor c10:v10; c15:26; acts c16:v16; c19:v12-13; 2tim c1:7; prov16:v18; genc4:v5-8; num c5:v14; c2cornc18:v20-22; 1tim c4:v1, evil spirits, there are boundries and limitations to high far a demon or devil or evil spirit can go, (job c1:v6-12).

I cannot emphasis enough that demon possession can only occur if you open a portal to the forces of wickedness, be aware that most people are unaware that they are entering into very dangerous practices such as the reading of their horoscope, this seems innocent enough, but it not, for the Lord God is not the force behind it, even the simples form of divination or necromancy can put you in harms way'.

People should ask themselves the question? can the practise of divination or necromancy save their soul, biblical the answer is 'No', for witches, charmers, those who consult with a familiar spirit, warlocks, are an abomination to the Lord God!.

How can anyone truly believe that someone can tell you your future through reading tea-leafs or by stargazing, (deut c18:v10-12; isa c47:v12-14).

Remember its not the Lord God who is on trail, wether you believe in him or not shall not in any way change His word, I do not have to prove that the Lord God is real, I only have to believe and bear witness of him, when I have a problem I take it to the Lord Jesus my saviour and leave it with him, for I know within my heart that he will never leave me nor forsake me, I can bear witness to this as being a fact! but how sad it is for those who in their own ignorance which is not counted as innocences to turn to foolishness that even common sense tells you that its nonsenses.

Here is a list of modern day necromancy and divination, astrology, tarot cards, ouija board, palmistry, occultism, new age, false prophets, fortune telling, tea-reading, witchcraft, mysticism, cystal ball gazing, curses, drug addiction, devil worship, idol worship, hypnosis, lucky charms, wizzards, spiritist, mediums all have there roots in satanism.

The enemy likes nothing better than for man to empty his mind and be open to new experiences, entering into mysticism the religions from the east as if they are presenting something new.

Mysticism likes to control the mind not inlighten it, how fooliness is it to chant over and over again something that is repetitive, hardly inlightenment to the soul, or by opening your mind through imagerty to worship that which was made by human hands and the human inagination.

Have you ever realized that the Holy Bible word of God)has no command to worship any image nor was there given by God any image where man has to worship, I know of churches within protestantism where eagles or burning bushes and some of the lesser know denominations have pictures within the churches, but the Lord within his word gives no such instruction to his church, the only thing that the Lord Jesus instructed to have displayed within his church is “his word”, for heaven and earth shall pass away but his “word” shall endureth forever.

This is caused when man's mind wanders away from the teachings of the Lord God, and if the church that professes Christ Jesus as their saviour can be decieved or blinded, then it should be a warning for us to open our eyes to the workings of the spirit of iniquity.

Iniquity has a lust for power, and within every person there lies iniquity, that is to be better than the other person, but this is not the teaching of Christ Jesus, for he teaches that we are to do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each one of us regard the other person as more important than ourself, not looking with selfishness towards ourselves but also the interest of others (phil C2:V1-2), people who act outside of the teachings of Christ Jesus have a lust for power, they do not want to serve, they want to be served, they like to lord it over the sheep (church).

A seducing spirit (spirit of this world) shall try to make your mind wander from the truth, for it comes as an negotiator with the view for a mutual settlement, but this is a fatal death blow to the child of God, for scripture clearly teaches that light and dark, righteousness and iniquity do not mix, hence we are to be aware that the flesh (conscious mind) wars against the spirit (subconscious mind).

This is why the Lord God in his grace gaves us the gift of “faith” this can be seem in the lifes of biblical characters, e.g.Peter the apostle, when the Lord told him that he would deny him, Peter replied that even unto death he would not deny Christ, but as the story unfolds Peter did indeed deny the Lord Jesus, I believe with all my heart that Peter truly ment what he said that he would die before he would deny Christ, but the spirit of iniquity knew Peters weak points and acted accordingly to satan desire to 'sift his soul'.

Peter allowed fear to over come his faith, but thanks be to God that his faith never failed, or Joseph who was betrayed by the Jealously of his brothers and sold into slaverly only to end up in prison for thrihteen years.

One could only quest what was going through his conscious mind as he lived his life out in a dungeon as if forgotten and forsaken, holding to his faith that one day the Lord would bring to fruition all that the Lord had revealed to him all those years before.

Or Job who walked before the Lord in righteousness and then out of no there was cast down and everything that he held dear to himself was taken from him and to make matters even worse he was stricken with boils from the crown of his head to the very soles of his feet, who could bear such grief and pain how many would have done what Jobs wife told him to do, that was to curse God then lie down and die.

Yet he held unto the only thing he had left, his faith, or Abraham who left his family and went to live in a tent.

Why would men and women at different times in history give up their all to a God they have not seem or a man who claimed to be God when even their church leaders (the Jews) describe him as being demonic, Yet this man who the religious leaders called demonic change the world as we know it, turning everything up side down, his name was Christ Jesus.

If we are to go by are conscious mind we remain natural or at worse carnal minded, as where the religious leaders of Christ day, but we do not go by our natural senses we are led by our spiritual awareness through our awakening of the life given spirit to spiritual matters, for once I was dead not physically but spiritually to God, but through the quicken (the awakening) of my spirit the spirit that Christ breathed in to my nostrils and made a living soul I became no longer dead to God who is spirit; I have become alive to him, and this is done through faith.

Faith is not believing in someone you do not know, faith is believing in someone you do know, faith is not blind that it can not see nor is it ignorant that it does not know.

Let me share some scripture with you so that we may come to a better understanding, I am going to take you to the enemy of the gospel as recorded within scripture, “and seeing Jesus from a distance, the (domen possessed) man ran up and bow down before him, and crying out with a loud voice, he said, what do I have to do with you, Jesus, son of the Most High God!” (matt c8:v9; mark c5:v7; luke c8:v28), and the evil spirit answered and said to them, I recognize Jesus, and Paul I know about, but who are you?, if devils and demons know who Christ is, would it not be right for those who play in the devils backyard also to know who Christ Jesus is, if devils know who Christ is would it not be in the interest of the children of wrath to also know about Jesus Christ or have you been so decieved that your soul carves to indulge in the desires of this world, hoping that a blind faith can assure your enterance in through the door of heaven.

Has your conscious mind decieved you into believe that you are basically a good person and that there nothing to worry about for God is love, it is a half truths in which we decieve ourselves with, it is our willingness to accept a lie, yes the Lord God is love, but unless you live by his word you are no more than a hypocrite, for blind faith is not a faith that one can build a hope upon, note the warning that in “latter days some within the church shall give heed to decitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, (1tim C4:V1-2)”, you do not have to go into the world to find those who are highly critical of biblical truths, many of the leader within the so called christian church today openly display their contempt towards the word of God, they do not want to believe in it or they won't believe in it, but what is for real, is that they won't leave the job that they don't or won't believe in, have they been seduce by their own iniquity, do they take pleasure in their iniquity has their own self imoprtance blocked the way for their salvation.

Is this the reason why we do not see Holiness displayed within the lifes of our church leaders, for if the heart is corrupt then Holiness can ever be found, to be born-again, that is born of the spirit of God, a person has instilled within them a new heart a heart that is heaven ward a heart that is filled with God, and a right spirit within, a spirit that has come alive to God.

God's righteousness comes through faith, a gift that is given to all who receive christ as their saviour,(rom c5:v17; eph c2:8), thus it comes apparent to the child of God that Holiness can only come from a Holy god, but we do not become Holy because we know God, we become Holy because we our transformed into the image God, transformed by the renewing of our mind,(phil c2:v1-11; rom c12:v1-2).

It is our walk within the christian faith that shall determing our desination, this is what is implied by spiritual perfection, the lord will take you to the fountian of life, but he shall not force anyone to drink from it, only by totally surrendering your will for his will can your spiritual eyes be open to spiritual truth, it is at this point within your christian walk that Christ shall open your mind to the scriptures.

If you are foolish enough to believe within your own heart that we do not need to be born-again then you leave yourself open to spiritual attack from the spirit of iniquity, remember the spirit of iniquity works through lies, deception and manipulation, as can be seem in the stories of king Saul and Samson, who were not even aware that the spirit of the Lord God had departed from them, when being seducing by the spirit of iniquity, it does not become apparent until it is to late. Amen!

Sermon 16 INIQUITY FROM WITHIN

“For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man, for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Christ Jesus”, (gal c1:v11-12).

Do not deceive yourself into believing that the spirit of iniquity has no power to influence your decision or actions for iniquity is within every person who lives upon the plant earth, and it is only through the power of the Holy spirit that the spirit of iniquity can be bound and taken captive, Paul the apostle testifies to this fact, that the spirit of iniquity not only works upon the mind but also the heart, as can be seem through his life, for Paul was a pharisee and the son of a pharisee, yet he believed that he was serving God by running around beating and imprisoning these who called themselves member of the way (christianity) the followers of this person called Jesus.

Be under no delusion Paul was a devout 'religious' man and believed within his heart that he was truly serving the Lord God by hounding out these heretics who where polluting the Jewish religion, it took a blinding light and the intervention of the Lord Jesus to break the spirit of error (the spirit of religion), and be not decieved the spirit of religion is responible for more murders than any other system upon this world at any given time in its history.

Religion has tried to manipulate the thoughs of man from the tower of Babel, remember that out of the heart of man comes iniquity, all unrighteous starts as a wicked though within the mind.

Like Cain who killed his brother Abel, it begin with a thuoght and it ended in murder, it was not that God had rejected Cains offering because it was from the ground which had been curse, a bloodless offering was perfectly appropriate (lev c2:v1-15), it was his attitude and his faithlessness that displeased the Lord, (heb c11:v4), his actions where from the flesh, he presented an offering which he believed to be fitting, and offered it when he felt it was the right time, his heart was not right before God, he did it 'his way' as his father Adam had done when he disobeyed the command of God not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, where as Abel followed the way of the Lord, he offered a blood sacrifice,(gen C3:V21), his faith was such that he had the spiritual understanding to know that if God institued something it is best to follow God way and not your own.

This was the reason why Cain became angry with God, yet the Lord in his great love for his creation put before Cain the choice to be blessed, yet Cain once again would not listen to the word of God and through the harding of his heart choose to follow the ways of the evil one (iniquity), it was a delibrate act on Cains part to slain his brother, such is the curse which comes through satan's lie that the man who walks in the flesh seeks to destroy the man who walks in the spirit.

Such was God's love towards man that he killed an animal as a guilt offering for sin, temporary that it was, until God himself made that ultimate sacrifice at calvary, sacrifice is the way of atonement, blood must be shed, and it must be innocent blood, before sin can be covered, satan was aware to this fact, so as the Lord God sacificed an animal as a temporary solution so that the relationship between man and himself would not be spiritually broken, satan sacrificed the life of an innocent man through murder, setting a prescient that is alive to this present day, the evil nature within man.

In fact the scriptures clearly teach us that the evil (wicked nature) of man was so bad that the Lord God was sorry that he had created man, for every though from man's heart was only evil continually, humans have a mind set that origiates from the garden of Eden and when you mix iniquity with sin you produce depravity, thus you have willingly degenerated yourself from the moral likeness of God, thus placing a veil over your spiritual eyes, and trying to come to an understanding of spiritual things using the conscious mind which is totally focused on the flesh, this was Cains problem, he could not graps spirituality when the Lord God spoke with him and told him that sin was at the door, all he had to do was to ask the Lord to open his mind to spirituality, but his pride would not allow him to humble himself, his ego was in the way.

His mother (Eve) was deceived, his father (Adam) eat knownly and now the nature of Adam was being revealed in his son Cain, sin has great consequences, there is a price to be paid when sin bites, this would be the consequences for revealing the knowledge of evil done by the devil through the power of suggestion, Cain inherit his fathers conscious mind but the link for spirituality was not connected, for the Lord God had been pushed into the deep recesses of Cains mind, this is mans subconscious.

This occures when you place your will above the will of God, this is the problem of our generation, they have pushed the Llord God out of their mind, they no longer mention his name, they no longer care for his name, they have the spirit of Cain, they love not the truth of the gospel they clothe themselves willingly with the attitude (spirit of iniquity) of Cain, they take pleasure in their unrighteousness, they have been seduced into believing that when they die they shall be welcome into paradise by the Lord God who they do not know, who they never worshipped, who they did not acknowledge unless they are sick or wanting something they coveted, they have forsaking his word because they have a personal opinion.

Iniquity says its ok to gossip about a person who cares if their innocent or guilty as charged.

What is character assasination, the spirit of iniquity is so ripe among those who profess christianity that if you put them beside Cain you would not be able to tell them apart, for they tell lies and are so hypocritical within their christian walk, they have been deceived into believing that Holiness is a thing of the past, that you can live your life as you see right in your own eyes.

They seem to miss the fact that the road to hell is broad, I know that the main reason for so many doing what is right in their own eyes is down to bad leadership, but this is no excuse for all have a bible and if you do not take time out to read and study your bible then you cannot blame another for your foolishness, remember we are talking about your eternal soul, my advice to you is that if you are concerned about your eternal desination don't leave it to someone else to tell you, find out for yourself by reading your bible, remember that the Lord wants a relationship with you, and make no mistake the Lord Jesus does not work through any another person when his relationship is with you.

After all common sense should tell you that if Jesus knows the number of hairs upon your head then he wants a personal relationship with you, and to asure you of that personal relationship he has placed in your hand the bible and the reason for this is simple, it is your road map home.

So if a false teacher comes and tells you that God said this or God said that,you can pray and read your bible to see if it lines up with the scriptures and if it does not, then do not believe them, remember that Jesus said call no one your teacher for your father who is in heaven is your teacher, this is not to say that you are not to respect bible teacher and to honour those he do the will of God, it was said because many who claim to be bible teachers are not, they are wovles in sheeps clothing, they have within themselves a spirit that is contrary to the Holy spirit, and the well being of Gods children.

If you love the Lord God it is your duty to take your stand against such people, for false teaching has the church in the ungodly state that its is in today, we are called disciples of the truth, in Christ Jesus! this is your mandate as Christ's repersentative.

You shall not stop the great apostacy that the Lord has revealed within his word, but with God's good pleasure you shall resuce many who are falling head long into the lake of fire, always remember if someone says something and it is not scriptural then it is not from God, put it to death for it comes from the spirit of inquity (it is a seducing spirit).

Note that satan does not take prisoners he only destroys souls, hence with the renewing of our minds daily we must put to death false doctrines, we are told through the scriptures that in the last days people shall reject the truth of the bible, they shall display no love towards the written word of God and Christ,that they shall with great pleasure accept willingly all the lies that satan through his spirit of inquity shall bestow upon them.(2thess c2).

How shall satan do this, by what is going on in the church today, even on christian television we hear the out cry for “signs and wonders” yet the teaching of the Lord Jesus is so clear on the matter of signs and wounders, when he made it clear that an “adulterous generation” seeks signs and wounders,(matt c12:v39).

And is it not so fitting that many believe within the church that we are in the 'last days', and that the last days is the revealing within the scriptures as the great apostasy, the falling away from the word of God, and note what happened when Adam disobeyed the word of God.

So how does satan cause the great apostasy by “signs and false wonders”,this reveals that iniquity has a power base which comes from satan, who are those who are described as having falling away from the faith, it is not referring to those who are or belong to the world, for they already belong to satan's kingdom, it is directed that those who call themselves christians, those who are members of the church, how may you ask can a christian fall away from their faith in Christ Jesus, there are two reasons for this!.

One is that they where not truly walking within a close relationship with Jesus, hence they would fall away without much of a struggle.

The second reason are those who have a walk in Christ but do not love the Lord Jesus because they do not understand fully what faith is all about, and this comes because those who pertain to be teachers are not teachers anointed by the Holy spirit they where not placed within this postion by God, thus the the chld of God remained in darkness through the ignorances of others.

Faith is a gift that is given by God, it is to trust in the pledge of a person, that person to the christian is the Lord God and his Christ, there is a remarkable portion of scripture which brings to light what faith is all about, (john c10:v27-29), “my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand nor my fathers hand, for he who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand, I and the father are one”. note that no one not even satan can pluck or snatch a child of God out of his hand, this is the revealing of what “faith” is all about, (father! always! in! thy! hand!).

As long as you hold to your (faith) trust in the Lord God believing and holding to his promises the enemy can never take away your.

Satan is all to aware of this, hence he sends the spirit of iniquity in what ever form is needed to discourage you and get you to walk out of God's protection and care, and it is to the flesh and its lusts that he works upon, and believe me man's ego is a big stumbling block for him to get over.

It is our own ego that satan uses against us, it is only when we have fully surrendered our lifes to the teachings of Christ Jesus as in it's “no longer I” that liveth but Christ that liveth in me”, you have to die to 'self', and when this occurs all demons and spirits and satan himself shall flee from your christian walk.

When we walk in the flesh we seperate ourselves from having fellowship with the Lord Jesus, when we walk in the flesh our attitude towards sin is out of balance, hence we judge others over habits, but the Lord does not judge anyone over habits, for habits can be broken but attitudes are in grained in the soul, how blind we have become within the church that we judge with our eyes creating a judgemental spirit within our hearts that only condemns the accuser, who is 'self', we are to take notice of the sin within our lifes not are brothers or sisters habits.

It is the truth of the gospel that sets one free, but the back biting which is gossip, for gossip means to slander a person and slander in the Greek is the name which is given to the “devil”, so when your gossiping your doing the devil's work for him, this is how the spirit of iniquity works, but the scriptures teach us to look at our own attitudes towards others, to take the log out of our own eye before we try to take the spect out of someone else eye, we have enough wrong within our own lifes to put right without worrying about what's wrong in someone else's life.

Remember that evil comes from iniquity and the law of God brings judgement, iniquity works through false reasoning, and when iniquity resides in the heart God cannot be found, for when you walk in the flesh you walk in your own understanding, and our own understanding only knows iniquity which is the enemy of God, for the heart of man is deceitful above all things (jer c17:v9).

All the evil within society can be placed at the feet of man's wicked human nature, when a person makes a conscious decision to turn away from God's truth they allow their conscious mind full authority over their soul, (mind), man's conscious mind gives him the ability to think and even reason, but it will cloud his though as to make the right choice, because it operates within the reign of flesh, but the Holy spirit operates within the spiritual reign for the spirit of God searches all things even the deep things of God himself (1co c2:v10), thus spiritual guidance (knowledge) can only come through the Holy spirit.

So without the connection of the subconscience, (the Holy of Hollies) where the Holy spirit resides within man's subconscience, (1cor c6:v19), man cannot make a right decision, for no flesh is pleasing to the Lord God, Adam's conscious mind was filled at creation with only the knowledge of God, but when he rebelled his mind was also filled with evil thus the Lord God was dethorned from Adams central being (mind), hence when his children where born they took upon themselves their fathers (Adam) nature a fallen nature and as a result the Lord God was surpressed within their conscious mind as scripture clearly teaches, for mans nature when down into depravity, the spirit of life (Eloah)the Holy spirit was never taken away from man, allow it came very close.

Yet the lord in his great mercy spared mankind, revealing that the spiritual connection between the Lord God and man was indeed damaged but it was never severed, the natural man's thinking is emity against the Lord God (gen c8:v7), the conscious mind of the natural man wishes to forget about the things of God, but their subconscious mind will not let them, for the subconscious mind is what reminds man of the good within his soul and how he can walk in spiritual harmony with the Lord God through his love, for it is his love that enables us to enter through the door that leads to the way of Holiness removing the veil that niquity placed over our eyes bringing us into the light of his gospel and the salvation for our soul. Amen.

Sermon 17 THE CHILD WITHIN (part 1)

When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child, but when I became a man, I did away with childish things,(1cor c13:v11).

The child that Paul the apostle is referring to here, is the immature child of God, not necessary an infant or one who is just born-again, no! he's talking about those who have not come to 'maturity' in their christian faith, when he was addressing the church at Corinth he knew that the spirit of iniquity would destroy that fellowship through their ignorace of how he operates through human nature, they where clearly not aware of satans activities, nor how he schemes, this church fellowship seemed to be operating not through the guidance of the Holy spirit but through the flesh, (gal c5:v20), the first thing you shall discover if you take the time to study the book of Corinthians is that this fellowship was quarrling over who they would follow, they seemed to have forgoting that Christ Jesus was their saviour.

Now where do you surpose this division gave from, it came from the 'spirit of iniquity', do you surpose the devil send it by special commission, the answer is, no! he did not send it by special commission, for iniquity is in every person who is born into this world, yet this church at Corinth was fully enriched in Christ, in all speech and knowledge, and if one cares to notice that the title ”Lord” was added to the name of Christ Jesus six times in the first ten verses of this letter to the Corinthian church, Paul was clearly revealing that these brothers and sisters where truly born-again and sanctified, and he comfirms this by stating that they where not lacking any spiritual gifts (1cor c1:v7).

But it becomes clear at the beginning of this letter that there was no spiritual union only division over personalities, the flesh, mans conscious mind was manoeuvring for position, and Christ was no longer central to the church, the issues such as immorality, marriage, food, worship, the speaking in tongues, and the resurrection of the dead, these where central within this church not that they where being debated through spiritual reasoning but by the flesh which always leads to quarrels which results in division within any fellowship, remember these are man who are filled with the spirit and have received all spiritual blessing, yet they act as if they where children of the world, walking in the flesh, (gal c5:v20), by there actions it would seem that not only can the Lord God resurrected but also the conscious mind (carnal mind) of man can also be resurrected, for here we see how easy it is for christians to resurrect the old nature, even after we have received all spiritual blessings from the Holy spirit.

How can this come about within a christian life who has received full spiritual blessing and the spiritual gifts, was it because they did not have the fruit of the Holy spirit or was it because they had a the knowledge of Christ but did not have the mind of Christ.

Had they allowed their ego to override their spirituality, had their conscious mind (feelings, emotions) the irrational side of mans nature which goes up or down depending on how we feel that any given time, won the battle between the flesh and the spirit, the subconscious mind (the abode of the Holy spirit,) the rational side of mans thinking, that little voice that comes from within guiding our ways and leading unto righteousness and all that is Holy, the struggle within mans mind, good trying to over come evil, and evil trying to lead us astray into outerdarkness, had these brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus places their faith in their own ability and intellect, rather than placing their faith in the power of God, they had gracefully received the gifts of the Holy spirit but not his guidance (cor c1:v12-13).

Did they find it so hard to link spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, what was the blockage beween their rational thoughts of the new creation the new man, and the irrational thoughts of the old man, how could the conscious mind the old man within, surpress the subconscious mind of the new man, the answer is simple the old nature is not yet dead within the new creation or new man.

When someone receives salvation they become born-again, this means that they are a babe in Christ, they are not grown up in Christ by some mystical power, they are what they are 'babes', like a child who is born into the natural world they have to be feed on milk (spiritual milk Gods word), and this is where the problem comes in, humans, being human, think that they know what's best, it is called ego, self, me and I, they find it hard to let go of self, this in turn causes two problems, the first is! we grow up to fast not knowing, this we call ignorance, and it can lead you astray given time, because there will come a time when questions shall be ask about your faith in Christ and you shall not beable to answer them, which shall result in one of two things, 1. you shall hold on to your blind faith and carry on in ignorance or 2. you shall feel inadequate and fall away from your faith, and secondly, we grow up thinking we know it all, this is called arrogance and is the worst of the two, it causes quarrels and arugments and can turn people away from the Lord Jesus.

The Holy spirit never goes outside of God's natural order, even the Lord Jesus when he came to the earth had to go through the natural order of growing up into manhood, yes he was God in flesh, but he was first a babe, then a child, then an adolescence and then an adult, and it is this what causes the problems within many christian fellowship around the world, we simply allow are ignorance and arrogance to blind us to what the scriptures are revealing to us, you only have to watch the 'god channels' on television to realise that most of what is being said comes not from scriptures but from man's own self delusion (ideology).

This is how the conscious mind of man is able to prevent the subconscious mind from relating what the Holy spirit is relaying to mans heart (thoughts), the purpose of the rekindling of the Holy spirit within man is so he can take his rightful place within man, the whole consciousness of man, (subconscious and conscious mind) for this was the case when the Lord God created man and placed him in his garden, man had nothing else between his ears but God for all his thoughts where upon God.

Hence it is the Holy spirits goal to bring man into the truth, thus making man a new creation, it is the desire the funtion of the Holy spirit to free mans conscious mind from the bondage of self, for it is in 'self' where the spiritual battle rages for the soul, war between the spirits, good (the Holy spirit), and evil (the spirit of iniquity, and man in the middle with a free choice, and within him a corrupt heart, a heart that follows after the lusts of this world.

And satan being the god of this world wants to keep man arrogant towards the one and only true God thus binding man in keeping him in his ignorance of the one and only true God.

Man in his natural state can never come unto God the creator simply because he has within himself the spirit of this world which is iniquitous (unrighteous) before a Holy God, for all of mans self righteousness are as dirty rags to the Lord God, man from the fall is not by nature spiritually mind, he is 'worldly minded' he knows no other way, yet it is hard to comprephend that a Holy spirit filled man can act and talk as if he is of this world, but such is the inner nature of man, and unless he dies to 'self' he can never become an overcomer.

Hence the importanc for the children of God to fully understand how the spirit of iniquity can make in roads into your christian life, and how satan is able to decieve the child of God, if we are to become overcomers wo must know now to overcome, and this can only come into fruition when we come to fully understand “self”, this study of the church at Corinth reveals human nature within the church at its worse, remember that God shall first deliver us from the kingdom of darkness, then He shall deliver us from ourselves.

Man's problem is a short sighted one, we as children seem to forcus on the reign of the flesh, and not as the Lord teaches us to forcus on the spiritual reign, this problem start at our new birth, babes cannot possibly come to a deep understand of spiritual truths, this is why they are feed on spiritual milk, if you feed babes on spiritual meat the result shall be a child who is spiritually brain dead, and open to satanic attack, this is why it is so important to have strong mature christian leadership, a good pastor is a teaching pastor who is spiritually minded and keeps close to the scriptures.

A babe who is feed the wrong spiritual food usally grow up to be carnal minded, saved a long time, and long enough to have matured in their christian faith, but are still walking accordingly to the flesh, I call these 'church people' or 'religious people', these are the ones within the church who are competitive with their brothers and sisters, they shall say anything that is not true or at best a half truth in their bid to stain the characther of their brethern, they do this by way that it was said as a joke or it was not ment to be taken seriously, they are the ones who always have something to say about a brother or sister, but remember the devil came to destroy, but Jesus came to edify, and this is one of the lessons that the church must learn, so if you can not say a word of edification, then say nothing at all, never meet the devil half way, for he likes to debate and then quarrel.

In his aletter to this church Paul the apostle revealed that his conscious mind was ruled by the Holy spirit, and that the Holy spirit held nothing against him, then he say yet I am not by this acquitted but the one who examines me is Christ (1cor c4:v4), Paul had given his whole being over to the control of Christ for no longer did he live to 'self' but to Christ Jesus, for it is Christ who searches the heart (mind) and it is the Holy spirit who guides, division within the church only serve to stunted the growth of the church spiritually, this is exactly what satan wants, he does not care high big a church grows as long as it is spiritually dead to God.

Look at the immorality within the church today and how it is looked upon by the vast majority of the members of the main demoniations within Britain today, they accept it with open arms, and even allow their priest to practise such abominations, instead of putting them out, the church today welcomes them in, (1cor c5:v1-13).

But be not decieved by the deception of your heart for where there is 'free will' to choose by your own conscious mind there is also conquences that come from that decision, even the gifts of the Holy spirit can be used positively or negatively, everyone seems to want to speak in tongues but the scriptures clearly state that a child of God is earnestly to desire the 'greater gifts', apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrationers, wisdom, knowledge, faith, distinguishing of spirits, tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

So what happens when every one desires the one gift, the church is straved of vital offices that are not being filled by the people who should have these gifts, but by people who are not anionted by God but appointed by man, and who's the winner for this confusion, 'satan the enemy'! he likes to cause confusion but he can only do this if “you” let him, free will comes with a price tag, make the right decision and you shall receive blessing after blessing, but make the wrong decision and you shall suffer the consequences.

Samson who was a judge over Israel was a mighty warrior yet he let himself be enticed by Delilah through the workings of the spirit of iniquity, and revealed the secert of his strenght, which resulted in his imprisonment and the gouging out of his eyes and then made to work as a donkey becoming a laughing stock to the philistines, and then dying a pemasure death.

Cain we know became a murderer became he made the wrong decision, king David had innocent blood on his hands, when he tried to cover up his sin of adultery, this resulted in the Lord forbidding him to built his temple, and death entered into the world because Adam made a wrong decision, Esau sold his birth right because he made a wrong decision, Jonah was thrown into the sea because he made the wrong decision, king Saul fell upon his own sword because he made the wrong decision, Moses was not allowed to enter the promise land because he made the wrong decision, etc.

Be uder on delusion the decisions that you make shall effect not only your life but also the lifes of all around you, see in the scriptures were king David took a census of all the warriors within the kingdom against the advice of Joab who was the unscrupulous instrument of David's sin in causing the death of Uriah the husband of Bathsheda.

David had taken his eyes of the Lord God, the God who had put David on the throne and given him all his victories against his enemy, now David has been decieved by his own heart (conscious mind), that the arm of flesh can pervail against his enemies, putting away from his heart the great “I am” the God of Abraham, Issac and Jocob and replacing it with the great “I”, (ego), and as a result once again the anger of the Lord God burned against Israel and 70,000 men died because David made the wrong decision.

Be not decieved for God is not mocked for what ever a man sows that he shall also reap, it is so simple to deceive oneself because of our fallen nature, iniquity needs only to entice or conscious mind for our corrupt nature to react, we want the good things in life, we certinly do not want the things that would cause us pain or sorrow or misery, we seek what is good, in fact we command what we believe is good for us, but this is where our problems start, we are blind to the fact that we cannot distinguish between what is good and what is bad.

We are told that satan has horns a tail and club feet so what does the marority of people believe about satan, that he has a tail, horns and club feet, but the scriptures teach a different story, it reveals that satan is 'beautiful' and that he is full of wisdom, it is ironic that the bible sells more than any other book world wide yet it is the least read book in the world, especially among church going people, they seem to buy the bible worldwide as if it is a ticket into heaven.

People are also told that sin is black, referring to, the viler the sin the more blacker it is, but in scripture sin is sin from telling a lie to the most heinous crime.

We are also told within scripture that satan can appear as an angel of light, (Holier than thou), peoples perception of satan and sin are totally the opposite of what the bible teaches, they believe what they want to believe because for them it makes for an easier life, they have been fed the lie that if you become a christian you have a list of do's and don'ts, but scripturally the do's are to love the Lord thy God with all your heart soul body and strenght for this is the greatest of all the commandments, and to love your neighbour as yourselve, by keeping these two commandments you fulfil all the commandments,(laws), and the don'ts in scripture, thy shall not worship any other god's, when man was given 'free will' to choice there came a package with it, which is the responibility for your decision (choices), and it seems that it is this responibility for ones actions that man does not want to be held accountable, for as revealed within scripture man shall blame anyone but himself.

We have without a doubt the spirit of Cain within everyone of us, which is to willing to be rebellious, yet the only means for us to dispel this spirit of iniquity within us is through our obedience to the word of God, for it is through his word that we receice the power to master sin and become an overcomer, yet people would rather read a madazine or their daily new paper before reading a bible, they have fallen by the way side as if they have been given a spirit of slumber eyes to see but they perceive not and ears to hear but they receive not, satan through the spirit of iniquity has so deceived man that he has become like Cain of old, a wanderer one who has been removed from the presence of the Lord Jesus, not that Jesus has removed himself away from mans presence but that man has wandered into a spiritual dersert believing that everything under the sun is right in his own eyes. Amen!

Sermon 18 THE CHILD WITHIN (part2).

“What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs and if we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him and the Romans shall and take away both our place and our nation” (john c11:v47-48).

When the Jews crucified the Lord Jesus Christ they justify themselves by saying that he was a blasphemer, but thats not what the scriptures reveal, they reveal that they crucified him because of their Jealousy towards him, and their own self importants.

Here's the sense, Jesus has just raised Lazarus, now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and Martha to pay their respects over the passing away of Lazarus saw that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and many of them believed that Jesus was the 'Messiah' but some of them went to the chief priests and pharisees and told them what Jesus had just done, so they convened a council, and began to debate among them selves, saying what must we do with this man jesus, for he is performing many miracles, and if we let him go on like this, the whole world will believe in him and our enemies the Romans will come and take away both our position in society and put our nation into bondage, (john c11:v45-48).

Remember this was not a rabble who had convened a council it was the Sanhedrin the 'supreme court' of the nation it was made up of pharisees and sadducees both parties hated one another, but the one thing they both agreed upon was the putting to death the Lord Jesus Christ, strange how enemies can come together to kill the truth, but this is how the spirit iniquity works through a corrupt nature, it can be called self-preservation, where good is look upon as evil, and evil as good.

These men where blinded by their own importants they had over estimated their own self worth which in turn leads one into making wrong decision, they had placed themselves in the place of God over the nation, but they did not have the heart of God nor did they display that heart of God in their day to day running of the nation, they were aware that Christ only did good, for the evidence was before them, but their arugment was if they did nothing about Jesus all men would believe in him, but bad as this was to them that all men should follow one who has only ever done good, but then out of their hearts comes the true reason for why they wanted this man Jesus dead, for the Romans shall come and take away our place and nation.

Note the real reason, we shall loose our “position,” they knew that Jesus was performing miracles all over the nation, they knew that Jesus was no threat to Caesar for when they tried to intrap him with a coin, this was what they ask Christ, “teacher, we know that you are "truthful" and teach the way of "God in truth", and defer to on one; for you are not partial to any, tell us therefore, what do you think? is it lawful to give taxes to Caesar, or not”? but Jesus perceived their malice and said, why are you testing me, you hypocrites? show me the coin used for taxes, and he said whose likeness and inscription is on the coin, and they said, Caesar's then render to Caesar the things of Caesar's and to God the things that are God's, (matt c22:v16-21).

They had been feed by the spirit of iniquity for so long that they no longer knew what was the truth and what was a lie, they could not come to any understanding of God's word because they did not act upon what the Lord had told them to do concerning their attitude towards Him and other people, this is what the Lord God said,! hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel: for the Lord has a controversy with the inhahabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land, by swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, you employ voilence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed, for I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings,(hos c6:v6), for you have made your heart like flint so that you could not hear the law and the word which the Lord of hosts has sent you by his spirit, (zec c7:v12), they had hardened their hearts towards the teachings of the Lord, they had closed their ears to every things that did not fit in with their thoughts, they had become presumptuous in heart, they put their own thoughts above the word of God, but a presumptuous heart never sees death coming until it is to late, and such was the heart of this council whose only thoughts were to put the Lord Jesus to death, and such is the iniquity within all men's hearts.

That council meeting was divided over the miracles that Jesus had performed many believed in his miracles, for the evidence was so overwhelming, for by their own words they feared that if Jesus was allow to go on “the whole world” would follow after him, these were not just mere man who walked the streets, these were the spiritual leaders of Israel devout religious men ho believed within their hearts that they were serving the Lord God, but as histroy has revealed it was their Messiah the one who they had hoped for and longed for his coming.

And yet iniquity had blinded their minds that they cried, let his blood be upon us and our children, such is the wickedness of man's heart (thoughts) that iniquity can blind us to every thing that is pure and good, these religious leaders allowed their iniquity within their hearts to over shadow all that the Lord had required from them, He foretold them that He desired mercy, they showed none, He said that He did not take pleasure in their burnt offerings they multiplied them, know longer was the feast of the passover called such, it now was called the 'feast of the Jews'.

It is so easy to see how iniquity if nourished through a corrpt nature can bring forth its fruit of sin, it was the presumption of their own hearts that drove a wedge between them and the the Lord God, it was their own self righteousness that hardened their hearts, for they presumed within their own hearts that they stood in the place of God, as if the Lord God needs man to defend him.

Yet here as recorded in the scriptures is the Creator standing in the midst of this council, the God of glory, the God who created the universe and beyond, standing before his creation guilty of only one thing, His love for it, and perpared to die for it, that it may live, the Lord God had giving them Revelation after Revelation but they closed their hearts to his word, they covered themselves no longer in the spirit of God but in their own spirit of persumption, they had watered down the word of God so much to suit their iniquitious ways that it now was null and viod, now they serve the 'lord of their own imagination' and lean to their own understandind, persumption is the under belly of pride and pride goes before destruction, it is the opposite of humility.

One can only come to Christ with a humble heart, iniquity does not seek your permission, iniquity was instilled within mans nature at the fall of Adam, as said before you do not have to teach a child to tell lies they come naturally to them, scripture reveals that at the fall of man one area of his life was effected because of his rebellion, now this area would dominate how man thinks and if unchallenged shall result in the casting of that soul into the lake of fire, for the mystery of iniquity is revealed within this word God it is to “covet”, to lust after something which has been forbidden, note the english translation of the Hebrew word “chamad” (to covet) and the Greek word “epithumeo” (to lust) are very similar, but neither refers to the emotion of sexual arousal, both refer to a consious wilful desire to have something that does not belong to you nor was ment for you, for this was the iniquitious act that Eve committed, she coveted the fruit from the tree of knowledge,and within everyone of us there is this iniquitious want for something, and it comes to us via the temptation in the garden of the Lord, (ps51:5), iniquity works from within,.

It is hard to comprephend how a man like king David a man after Gods own heart could act in a manner in which he did concerning Uriah his trusted warrior who showed nothing but love before the king, and in return David in his bid to cover his sin with Uriah wife had Uriah exposed to the greatest danger, and being a grave man Uriah was struck down and killed.

This is what happens when you 'covet' something that has been forbidden to you, David in his bid to cover his sin went from adultery to the taking of human life, it was as if he had murdered uriah with his own hands, yet David's iniquity is no greater than our own, for as humans beings we are incline by nature to cover up are transgression with more transgression, we through our fallen nature decieve ourselves into surpressing that little voice within us which comes from our subconscious mind, that little voice that brings us under conviction of our iniquities and sins but no matter how much we try to surpress that inner voice it shall never go away, for as a child of God we know that the Lord Jesus can only sustain us when we are in his will, when our minds (thoughts) are soley upon him, for if you do not renew your mind daily then the possibility of what happened to king David are as real and a threat to you as they were to him, for he took his eyes from the Lord and his thoughts wandered and iniquity raised its ugly head for where there is no Holy spirit there is always flesh.

The consequences of the flesh are not far behind and follow after us all our lifes, repentance shall forgive you of your sin before the Lord God, but it does not eliminate the consequences of our sin, for our actions can be conpared to setting something on fire it easy to set a fire, but harder to put it out, when you come into temptation it is motivated by the spirit of iniquity within, its trying to spread its roots, it wants complete control over your life, it seeks to led you from temptation into sin, it wants to fill your mind with the things of the world, for it knows that if you regard iniquity within your heart then the Lord will not hear your prayers (ps 66:V18).

Iniquity is the root and tree of evil, sin is its fruit, thence the importants for the Holy spirit to rekindle the spirit of life that dwells within man, the spiritual awakening of mans soul towards God and the worship of God, for it is only through worship that man comes into spiritual freedom and unity with the Lord God, for throught worship man is touched in all areas of his being, his intellectual, will, it influences his mental factculties as well as his emotions (1cor c2:v12-14; rom c12), forming a relationship of love and deep affection, insuring a spiritual walk that brings the joy of salvation and peace, without this rekindling of the Holy spirit within our soul we are no more than the walking dead, we shall die in our sin.

Is it not strange that of all the miracles that Jesus performed the first was the turning of water into wine, does this not make you think that Jesus was illustrating something more than turning water into wine, as a gesture of good well to the host of the wedding, would not it have been more explosive if he had raised someone from the dead, this news would have spread around like wild fire, but no not with Jesus he was making a statement at the 'wedding at Cana', now read what is said; (john c2:v6-8), there were six stone waterjars, but they were empty, their purpose of use, the purification as dictated by Jewish custom, note that there where six, the number of man, note that they where empty, revealing that man was spirituality dead.

Note also that they where used for the purpose of purification according to their tradation, everything revealed so far shows that the Jewish nation was spiritually dead towards the Lord God, for they had departed from his ways and where now doing it mans ways, but then Jesus comes along and has these waterjars filled to the brim with water, and then turns it into wine, for wine within scripture is symbolic to spiritual blessing, (isa c55:v1; ps 104:v15, and is symbolic for the 'blood of the atonement' by which we receive forgiveness of sin,(matt c26:v26-28; 1cor c10:v16).

Christ was pointing to the fact that man had no hope within themselves they were lost, sheep without a shepherd doing what was right within their own eyes, they had allowed iniquity to rule over their rational thinking they had added their traditions unto God's word, they know longer knew what was truth and what was fabrication, all over the new testament this is revealed time and time again, even when Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought he was the answer that he received was incredible,(luke c9:v19) “and they answered and said to him; John the baptist, and some say Elijah; and others say you are one of the prophets of old who has risen again! they were believing in reincarnation, but no where in the Hebrew scriptures does it teach reincarnation, it teaches incarnation (isa c7:v14).

Even within the christian church we find that they are teaching or believing in scriptures that are not scriptural text, e.g, fools rush in where angels fear to tread, or pride goes before a fall, etc, but this is down to ignorance a failure to take time out with God and to study his word and the result shall aways be the same walking down the broad road to destruction and when you enter into hell it will do no good blaming the devil for it will be to late.

The spirit of iniquity not only makes people blind but it seems to make them foolish as well, I had a sister in the Lord say to me would you like to pick a scriptural blessing for today, I had no idea as to what she was saying, she explained to me that you pick a piece of paper out of this little box which contained portions of scriptural verses and you claim its blessing for the day, how wounderful I thought that's a nice idea, but what about the requirement that you have to live up to, does that not count anymore, what about “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who soever believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting live” the promise is there for anyone to see who wants to see but so is the requirement, the requirement is that you have to believe, not with just your mouth but with your heart.

It is so easy to believe when you have nothing to fear, but let me tell you what you can expect when you give your life to Christ Jesus, 1. persecution 2. tribulation and 3. mockery.

The world may not like you when you walked in the flesh according to the flesh, but the moment you take Christ Jesus as your Saviour the world shall hate you with vengeance simply became the world hates God and Christ, for Christ took back the keys of death and hell from satan and it was Christ through the father who provided our victory over iniquity (matt c1:v21).

Iniquity is the very thing that always serparates man from God, for the lord God cannot look upon iniquity or sin, (isa c1:v13-15; c59:v1-2), it was the sprinkling of 'Christ's Holy blood' upon the mercy seat the throne of the Father that enables us to come into a spiritual relationship,(heb c9:v11-14) it was his obedience to the will of the father, that through the shedding of his blood that we are cleansed from iniquity and sin, purified from all our offenses, sin and iniquity that once dominated the heart and soul of fallen man has now been broken, now the children of God can claim victory over the enemy of their soul, now the time has come to walk in that victory through Holiness, for now he has given us the right to be called the children of God, thus we must walk as children of the Most High, Amen.

sermon 19 WORSHIP (part 1)

But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such people the Father seeks to be his worshippers, for God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.(john c4:v23-24).

Every time I read this portion of Holy writ it reminds me of Isaiah the prophet when he was lifted up in the spirit and saw the Lord God sitting upon a throne, High and Exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple with the angels worshipping all around the throne, Crying out Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, for the whole world is full of his glory, could you imagine how you would react to see not only the 'glory of God', but also the 'God of glory, I believe we would react in the same manner as Isaiah and cry; woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, his iniquity and sin became apparent as he stood before the Holiness and purity of 'The Most High God',(isa c6:v1-5).

Yet we have Christ our propitation who stands before the throne of God the only offering that satisfied God the Father concerning the sin and iniquity of mankind, for through the sacrifice of the cross, the Lord God Almighty revealed his great love towards fallen man, it was an act of his 'Own Freewill', to demonstrate once and for all, his mercy (divine favour) and His grace towards us, (heb c2:v17), Christ Jesus the only begotten of the father became the 'propitiation' for our sin, through the shedding of his blood at calvary, fulfilling the demands of a Holy God (heb c9:v24-v28, rom c3:v25), through christ jesus we can now enter in pass the veil into the very presence of the Lord God, for through the blood of the slain Lamb we are cleansed from our sin, what a previlege it is for the child of God to be able to call the almigthy God, Father (Abba), and what a blessing it is to worship before His mercy seat.

Sadly many of the children of God do not know how to worship Him, the believe that praise is worship when in fact praise is an act of worship, but not worship in the true sense, for one can praise in the flesh, but we are called to worship in 'spirit and the truth' so we must establish what is spirit and what is truth if we are to come to any understanding of true worship, we know that the word for spirit which is used in the opening verse is “pneuma” its meaning is 'breath', the breath of life,(the Holy spirit) the breath that Christ breathe into us at the creation of man, that which makes us a living soul, body and spirit, and is connected to the mind, our understanding to serparate our mentality (our way of thinking) from the spiritual, leaning not to our own worldly wisdom but in the knowledge (wisdom) of God, it is the death of the flesh (our old nature).

Isaiah revealed this when he saw the God of glory sitting upon the throne, he became frightened because he became aware of his iniquity and sin, thus he cried out 'I am undone' I am a dead man, as all are dead before the Lord God through sin, yet the grace of God was given to Isaiah and his sin and iniquity was foregiven, and from this awesome experience Isaiah was to become known as the evangelical prophet, because he says so much about the redeemptive work of Christ Jesus, when you come into the presents of the Lord God you can be asured that your life will never be the same again, it is for this reason that the lord calls for us to worship him in spirit and truth, it is to give us spiritual blessing.

The worshipping in spirit and truth can only come about, as Isaiah the prophet revealed within his encounter with the Lord God, when you surrender everything within your life, that is to present our bodies a living and Holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship, hence we are to renew our minds daily, (rom c12:v12), for as a man thinks so he is, (prov 23:v7) the human beings have three elements, body, (flesh), the soul which is the heart of man and the seat of our emotions, and the spirit which is the mind, the mind has two parts the conscious mind which is the carnal part of man's thinking, (the desires of the flesh) and the subscious (our conscience) the spiritual side of the man's thinking, which was instilled into man by the breath of God at his creation.

To worship the Lord in spirit and truth can only occur when the living spirit of God rekindles the conscious mind through the subconscious mind of man, this occurs when you receive the Lord Jesus as our saviour, hence we our born-again, the Holy spirit then turns mans intellect God wards, thus releasing man from being earth bound, remember it is the truth which sets you free, and note that the Holy spirit is called the 'spirit of truth' and his ministry is to guide you to the truth, but remember that you shall not be able to worship through the Holy spirit if you do not meet the requirements for this blessing, which are to keep the commands of Christ Jesus, and when you read these commandments of the Lord Jesus it shall become clear to your understanding that the key to worship that is true worship, is clothed in “love”.

Love is the essence of God and as his children we are to worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness(2chr c20:v21), worshipping in spirit and truth is simply worshipping in “true worship”, it is the kinship of our relationship with the Lord God, but remember that if the child of God is to come to any understanding of 'true worship' they must remove from their nature “self”, for self shall always prohibit the moving of the Holy spirit within the life of the recipient, this blockage usually comes in two characteristics, one is self-will, and the other is self-consciousness, both lack humility and need deliverance, it is the ministry of the Holy spirit to expose all area's of our life and this envolves our emotions, thoughts and our feelings, but remember that the Lord God is not a God of confusion, he is a God of order, and searches the heart (mind) of man, (1chr c28:v9; 1cor c2:v10-13), there are two spirits within man, the living spirit of God which was given to man at creation making him a living soul, and the other spirit can be called the 'human spirit', which in truth is the spirit of error (1john c4:v4), and a perverse spirit (matt c17:v17).

This opens the question as to mans 'free will', his choice to choose, to worship the Lord God in truth or error, it is the battle that rages within every human heart for your soul, remember there are two choices in which you may choose, two ways in which you can take, the narrow way or the broad road and the way in which you worship shall determine the way in which you walk in your christian life, for true worship is real worship, it comes from deep within the soul it is not from the flesh and it is not from any other source outside of the Holy spirit, when Simon Peter saw the miracle that Jesus performed concerning the filling of two boats with fish till they began to sink, (luke c5:v4-11), he fell down at Jesus' knees, and said depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O “Lord”, this did not come from the flesh it came from the soul (heart) of Peter, it was the stirring of the God giving spirit within Peter's soul, he was in the presents of Holiness, for why would a big rugged fisher man who sailed a boat for a living in treacherous waters putting his life at risk every time he went out fishing, all of a sudden fall to his knees and cry out to some one he had never meet before, and say depart from me, for I am a sinful man, and remember Peter did not just cry out because of his unworthyness as do Isaiah when he cried I am a man of unclean lips, I am undone! Peter gave Christ his true title, for he cried out O' Lord!, this is what can only be termed as the surrender of self, the giving up of self will, it was Peter who first cried out to Christ you are the 'Christ', the son of the living God, and it was to Peter that Christ said you shall become a fisher of men, immediately there was formed an intimate relationship between Christ Jesus and Simon Peter, this is what occurs when you surrender 'self' and it is through this surrender of self, that opens the way to worship in spirit and truth.

Is this a blind act of faith, no! It is an intimacy that occurs between mans soul and the living spirit of God, remember what paul said; it is no longer I that lives. but 'christ' that lives in me, for such are the people that the father wants to worship him, those who are washed in the blood of Christ, those who have freely accepted his free gift of salvation, and have come to the realisation that allow salvation was free to us, it was not cheap, for a price had to be paid, from the spendourof heaven, to earth Christ came to dwell, from the worship of the angels, to the lies that men do tell, from a crown of great glory, which He received from above, to a crown of Jagged thorns, from men who mocked His love, in heaven He was known as the Almighty, and every creature therein revered, but on earth men called him a blasphemer, and with there hatred Christ Jesus they Jerred, in heaven He was given praise and all the glory, for the love that he had shown, but upon the earth men hid their faces from him, when his love they all could have known!

Christ loves you so such that he wants to bestow upon you all that heaven has to offer, can you imagine standing before the Throne of Grace, worshipping the God of glory, the God who was nailed upon a cross, crying forgive them Father for they know not what they do, what love what out pouring of grace, it was sin our sin that put him there, but thanks be to God that our sin could not keep him there, when Christ went to the cross at calvary, he went willingly, for greater love cannot be found than the love of one willing to death for a friend, Christ called himself the 'friend of sinners' and he did not disapoint them, this was true worship that Christ displayed as he was nailed to that cursed tree, for he done the will of the Father, into thou hands I conmend my spirit, he honoured the will of the Father, through which we honour the Father through the spirit of sonship made possible by the sacrifice of his 'only begotten son' the Lord Jesus Christ who no longer is nailed to the cross, but by the power of the resurrection is seated at the right hand of the Father, now we can through the spirit of Jesus which dwells within every born-again child of God, can by the power of the Holy spirit truly come before the Most High God (the Father) and worship him from our rekindled spirit made possible by the blood of his Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, for through Christ we have within us a clean heart (soul) and a rigth spirit (mind), for to worship the Lord God in spirit and truth is to worship him according to his true nature (essence) and to worship the Lord God in truth is to worship him accordingly as to the Revelation of himself through the Lord Jesus Christ, true worship is the tribute of love, (rom c8:v15).

Love without a doubt is the key to true worship, for without love you have nothing, when the Lord God searches the heart and mind he is searching for his love, be not deceived for nothing is hidden from the eyes of the Lord God, it was God's love for us that while we were sinners and had no hope within ourselves, that he sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ through his love to take the sin of the world upon himself, he hung nailed to the cross at calvary that we may come to not only know of his Great love, but that we may also participate in his love.

Through the love (grace) of God comes knowledge of Him, that is, to get to know Him and form a relationship with Him, for through knowledge comes Holiness, (prov 3:v6), but the key to the knowledge of the Lord God, is Love, for the love of God always comes first, as in salvation, first came grace (the love of God, divine favour), then faith, (justification), and then being sanctified, (made Holy by Christ), then learning Godliness, (true worship), and then having grown in maturity (becoming perfect in God’s grace), having been transformed into the image of Christ, you walk now in the way of Holiness, having achieved full sanctification in your life, (purity and righteousness through Christ).

Love! knowledge and salvation is to live as the Lord God would have us live in Holiness, gaining victory over sin, and becoming an overcomer, through the work of the Holy spirit within the soul (mind) of the recipient, through faith we are justified, (accepted as righteous), and by the truth (Christ), we are sanctified, (made Holy), thus Holiness only comes to the believer, from their relationship with a Holy God, for we are to become partakers of His divine nature, (2pet c1:v4), and share in his Holiness, (heb c12: v10).

The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy one is understanding, (prov9:v10), to hold the Lord in Awe, or to have any knowledge about Him, can only be found in His Love, for to have a knowledge about God does not mean that you know God, for the Lord searches the heart to honour only those that love Him, for God is love, and it is only through His love that those who are in love with Him can embark on the journey of knowing the Lord God, (prov 2:v1-v2), and developing a relationship with Him, if you should meet anyone who claims to be a christian or even professes to love Christ Jesus, and yet they never mentions His name in conversation, it would be safe to say that they are not in love with Him nor is He first in their lifes.

Salvation (true worship)can only come if we look away from self and surrender our self-will before a merciful God, that through faith in his love, we may be clothed with the righteousness of His Son, the gift of God; “Christ Jesus,” for it is only through our faith in Christ, that the Lord God reveals His will to us, from a saving faith to a faith that shall move a mountain, to the greatest faith of all. (matt c8:v10; c15:v28, luke c7:v9), when you are in love with some one, it is your desire to know all you can about that person, thus the call by the Lord God to love Him with all your heart, mind, body, strenght and soul, (matt c 22:v37, mark c12:v30-v33, luke c10:v27),

The Lord God seeks total commitment in every part of the recipients life, for if you lack commitment towards him, you shall lack knowledge about him, and this shall put you outside of the perfect will of God, and shall only led to grief throughout your life, but to commit yourself to Him, is to be assured of the peace that passes all understanding, you shall lack nothing, nor shall you fear anything, to grow in fellowship with Christ Jesus is to grow in relationship with Him that shall become intimate as in marriage, two hearts knitted together as one, for intimacy with his children is at the heart of the Lord God, his love is so deep, that he gave His Son (Christ) as an Atonement, that we may be reconciled to Him, the ransom paid in full, the just for the unjust, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, this was his love in action, the ultimate sacifice, no greater love can be found, than the love of one who would lay his life down for a friend, (john c15:v14-v15)

It is not His will, that we should stay at the cross, but it is His disire that we be raised to the level of Holiness and that we be transformed into His image, for such is His love that He cries out, come let us reason together, though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool, (isa c1:v18), the Lord has given His righteousness to us through faith, it is his will that we as His children do not continuosly try to work through Him, but that He may work through us, it is for this reason that the child of God is called to obedience, to resurrender his life to Christ, and that self-will (ego) dies, nailed to the cross, so that your soul may thirst and hunger after His will for your life, (ps 42:v1-v7).

This is the will of the Lord for His children, and this is the only way in which we may travel the narrow road, and as we travel along the narrow road our trusted companion the Holy spirit shall comfort, counsel and led us into all truth, ( rom c8:v26-v39), producing within us the nature of Christ through the manifestion of His fruit, (gal c5:v22-v25), it is not a journey where we are taught self-esteem, but Christ-esteem, for it shall be the Christ in us, that the Father shall look upon, and it shall be the christ in us, through which we shall be able to have fellowship and communion with the father, we have become a new creation, born of the spirit of God, possessing within our heart His perfect love, the love that covers a multitude of sin, for as many as receive Him, to them He gave the power (authority) to become the children of God, ever to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, (john c1:v12-v13), note; this comes only by the will of the Lord God, and it is only possible to reach your full potental for what the Lord has for you in your life, when you are completely within His perfect will, this is the inheritance that the Lord God has for His children, that each be fully within His will, but sadly not everyone who says Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven. (matt c7:v20-23). Amen

Sermon 20 WORSHIP (part 2).

But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such people the Father seeks to be his worshippers, for God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.(john c4:v23-24).

What does it mean to have a relationship with the Lord God, what do we know about the Lord God, what image do we conjure up in our mind,when we go to Him in prayer, do we believe that He is sitting upon a great white throne of judgment with a big stick ready to strike us with his wrath if we do something wrong that displeases Him, or do we know or understand the fulness of His love towards us, to many He is the God of love, without any righteousness, to others He is a hard God without compassion! like the Jews of old who believed within their hearts that if you sinned or your mother or father sinned, God’s punishment fell upon you without mercy, like the tower of Selom that fell and killed eighteen people or the blind man who was born with no eyes, those who taught this where not the ordinary people who believe in superstition, those who taught this were the religious leaders of the day, but they where so far away from the truth, and the heart of God.

Even when the Lord God told them through the prophets that He desired mercy (loving kindness), and not their sacrifices, they took no notice, and its sad to say that in our society today nothing has changed from the thinking of the pharisee’s, for we may know about his grace, but do we know anything about his nature, other than to call him God, as if we would call the pastor “man” and not by his name, with the Lord God we miss the point and fall short of his mark, we run aroung seeking to serve him, (to serve the Lord God is good if you are called to serve), but Worship is what the Lord desires, for to worship Him is to Love Him, and this becomes clear when you read the first four commandments, or when you read what Christ said to Martha concerning her sister Mary, as she sat at the feet of Jesus in worship, (luke c10: v38-v42), for Mary had chosen the good part, that was to 'worship', both of the sisters loved Jesus, but Martha was more concerned with the feeding of the body, while Mary was more concerned about the feeding of the soul, we know this because of the different reaction of the two sisters at their brother’s tomb, (john c11:v19-v40), Martha said to Christ after she was told by Him, that He was the Resurrection and Life that she would see the Glory of God performed that day, allow by this time her brother Lazarus was rotting in his tomb, remember, she confessed with her mouth moments before that Jesus was the Son of God, Martha believed with her head, but not with her heart, but Mary believed with her heart, for when she came to where Jesus was, she fell at his feet and worshiped him, just as the wise men had done when He was a child, (matt c2:v11).

Mary believed with all her heart, that Jesus was the Christ, Martha said all the right words, but Mary did all the right things, and that’s the differents between serving and worshiping, both these sisters loved Jesus, both believed in Him, but it was Mary’s worship of Him that deeply moved Jesus in spirit.

I believe that it is safe to say that the Lord calls us first, to learn how to worship Him before we try to serve Him, for there is nothing worst, than the blind leading the blind, you may love the Lord Jesus, and yet never learn to worship Him, missing out on His blessings, this can come about through a number of reasons, 1. you have not died to self, 2. you have not developed a relationship with Christ, 3. you’re to busy selling Him, 4. you have not been taught how to worship, 5. you have not searched for Him with all your heart, 6. He’s not first in your life, no matter what the reason maybe, one thing is sure, that unless you developed your relationship with Him, you are going nowhere for God.

To develop a relationship with the Lord God you must go back to the beginning of His word, and realize that the moment you became a christian, you are born-again, that is; you where born a “babe”, not an intellectual, not an expert in the word of God, and you’re not even an adult in the family of God, for according to His word, He only has 'children', for such is the kingdom of God, so humility is the order of the day, no humility no blessing.

Let us now start at the beginning of His word, and we find that we where made in their image, after the likeness of the Father, Son and Holy spirit, this means our physical form, not our moral, for man is in moral ruin because of sin, we also know that God is spirit, thus we must worship Him in “spirit and truth”, you may ask the question? how do we know that we were created in His image and likeness of our creator, we find the answer to this within Holy-Writ, (the scriptures) for we find in the book of Genesis, that the Lord God is a living Being who can speak, that He has intellect, He has breath, He has hands, He can walk, He has compassion, He has a heart and emotions, and feelings, a spirit, He has eyes, and a nose, He can smell aroma’s, He has ears and can hear, He is a Genius, He knows grieve and sorrow, and He laughs, (gen c1:v3, c2:v7-v18, c3:v8, c6:v3-v8, c8:v21, c16:v11, john c1, ps59:v8), these are just some of the Attibutes and Properties of the Lord God, He is also a Father, and to His childern he provides, discipines, rebukes, chastises, feeds, clothes, protects, exults, He loves and hates, He can bless or curse, He can kill of make a live, He can destroy or make whole, He can Anoint or disapoint, He can be a friend or an enemy, He can answer or remain silent, we as His childern must understand that He is Holy, Righteous, Just, Meriful, Awesome (omnipotence), All powerful (omnipresence), He is everywhere (omniscience), He knows all things, He is the “eternal one” (Jehovah), He is truth (Immutability), He is the Most High God, (Elyon, the Father).

He is the creator (Elohim the son), He is the living God (Eloah the Holy spirit), and we must treat the Almighty with the up-most reverence, and not to take Him or His name in vain or for granted, for the relationship between the Lord God and His children, is one of Holiness and hatred of sin.

The greatest property that the Lord God possesses is Love, for “God is Love”, His love is a giving love, for He gives of Himself to those that do not deserve his love, the Greek word for God’s love is “Agape”, it is an action, one of affection and helpfulness, in that we having no hope within ourselves to be reconciled to the Lord God, that He took it upon Himself through His love to act on our behalf, that through Christ Jesus His only begotten Son, we who have received him as our saviour are now acceptable to a Holy and Just God through the atonement at the cross, we have now liberity from sin, but not license to sin.

Holiness is the call to His children, be Holy as I am Holy, for Holiness places you within the perfect will of God, and releases the fulness of his grace, (eph c2:v19), the greatest miracle that the Lord God shall ever perform within the life of a child of His, is the transforming of them into the image of Christ Jesus who is the Brightness of the Father’s Glory, (heb c1:v3, rom c8:v29).

Grace is the receiving of divine favour, (mercy) the love of God the Father, Son and Holy spirit, bestowed upon guilty man, Where the law of God condemns, His Grace Redeemed, it is when God’s grace (love) is instilled in us that we see ourselves in true light, for it is then that our sinful nature is revealed and the realization of our hopelessness before a Holy and Righteous God is manifested, (isa c6:v5), luke c5:v8).

Finding that we have no hope within ourselves, like one drowning in the sea, and crying out in despair, it is by the grace of God that he extends His arm to rescue us in answer to our cries of hopelessness, and placing us upon a rock, that is immovable, (ps 11:v2, ps18:v2), the rock of salvation, it is the Lord God meeting man at his point of hopelessness, and bestowing upon him grace on grace, the unmerited favour of the Lord God and the foundation of our salvation, justification and sancification, (eph c1:v8, c2:v8-v9, rom c3:v25, heb c2:v9, 1pet c1:v2).

Grace is the revealing of God’s love upon the human heart (soul), it is the acknowledgment of this love (grace) towards the recipient that is the beginning of the “first step on the way to salvation”, that is, through grace God’s mercy is revealed.

1. The acknowledgment of God’s love, brings the recipient under conviction, (luke c1:v77), their need for salvation.

2. The receiving of God’s love through faith, the acceptance of salvation and repentance, (act c2:38).

3 The consecration of God’s love (grace) in you, is the way of salvation, (act c16:v17), and the exercise of Reverence towards God for the love (grace) bestowed upon you, and the working out of your salvation, (phil c2:v12).

Holiness (purity) through God’s (grace), is being transformed into the image of Christ, and is the way of Holiness, (heb c12:v14).

It is through grace that the recipient comes under conviction, that leads to repentance and the receiving of salvation, this is termed born-again, a babe in Christ, it is from this period in time when the penitent shall begin their journey on the way of salvation, learning Godliness and developing a relationship with Christ Jesus, being led by the Holy spirit, and learning to walk in the spirit, the Holy spirit which is called the spirit of truth shall endeavour to guide the child of God into the paths of righteousness, but this can only be achieve if you are open to the Holy spirit, He shall never force anyone against their will, this is why so many do not receive a blessing, because they have grieved the Holy spirit, if one has surrendered their life to Christ the Holy spirit shall teach them to pray, read and study the word of God, which shall result in the joy of their salvation, and they shall grow in the way of Holiness.

As the penitent recieves the gift of grace from the Lord God they also birth the gift of faith, thus bringing forth justification and sanctifcation leading to salvation, for it is by grace through faith that you are justified, and it is by grace that we are also sanctified, (made Holy through Christ), we are made righteous by faith and sanctified by the truth, (Christ), and this occurs from the moment you go down on your knees, to the time you get back up again, it consist of your repentance from sin, the turning away from all iniquity,(unrighteousness), all that transgresses against the commandments and oracle of the Lord God, and the receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart, (life) as your saviour, obeying His commandments, from this moment you are sealed by the Holy spirit and baptisted by Him.

It is only when we are in the perfect will of God, (rom c12:v1-v2), that we are enabled to walk in the way of Holiness.

When we enter into the way of salvation from the conviction of sin and repentance through grace, we begin our journey on the way of salvation through faith, it is only through the surrender of “self”, that enables the recipient of grace and faith to travel on the way of Holiness.

The way to salvation can only come through Christ Jesus, for it was by the shedding of his Godly Blood, that we find redeemption from sin, and it is this great Grace of the Lord God, which delivers us from His coming wrath, (judgment upon the ungodly and a sinful world), for He is our passover Lamb, and His Atoning Blood is what cleanses us from sin. (john c1:v7, rom c5:v11).

This can only come about if we walk in the light of His word, for this is our olbigation before God, and the working out of our salvation, (phil c2:v12-v13, heb c7:v25), Christ Jesus is the only source where the grace of God is to be found, it is upon His righteousness, death and resurrection that the power of God’s Grace is fully displayed unto salvation, and it is this salvation (grace) which is given freely to all who would receive it from the hand of the Lord God, for it is by salvation (grace) that the foundation for our redeemption is laid, and upon which we build our relationship with Christ Jesus, to trust and obey!.

It is only through God’s mercy (grace) that we are enabled to come to repentance of sin, (2tim c1:v9, rom c11:v6), for it is the work of the Holy spirit, that brings about conviction of sin and the need of salvation within the recipients heart and the renewing of their mind.

It shall be our attitude towards sin, not merely just the forsaking of sin, but to grasp the full meaning of sin and its consequeces, that results in a real change within the life of the recipient, true repentance leads to salvation, the jugdment of self and our actions, (2cor c7:v10, 2thess c2:v10, rev c2:v5, 1 kings c8:v47, matt c3:v2, acts c20:v21), bringing about a sorrow after a Godly manner, so as to produce within us the fruits of repentance and the revealing of God’s will for our life.

Through repentance we are sanctified, (made Holy) in the knowlegde of the truth, (john c17:v17), and brought to the recognition of sin and a hatred of it,(rom c3:v20), and the acknowledgment of sin within our own nature in opposition to God’s will, (ps 5; 2cor c7:v9-v10, matt c27:v3, luke c18:v23), and the conviction of sin leading to confession and forgiveness, (pardon), the total cleansing of our sinful nature, and the birth of a new creation (born-again), a willing soul that is not forced into obedience, but obeys from a surrendered life, giving in love, (ps51), presenting your body as a living and Holy sacrice, serparating yourself from the world and all ungodliness.

Being transformed by the renewing of your mind, (rom c12:v1-v2) in thought, word and deed, surrender, separation and the renewing of ones mind is not a one of event, it is a daily commitment, a process that can take a life time for some, it is the working out of your salvation, (phil c2:v12), (the child of God must live his life in Holiness), for the way to salvation (grace), and the way of salvation(faith) is the beginning of the journey in the way of Holiness, (isa c35:v8) being transformed to the image of Christ, (heb c12:v14).

Hence we are by God’s grace and faith justified and sanctified by the truth, (Christ Jesus), but salvation can only be fulfilled (realized), when the recipient stays within the will of God, to go outside of His will, is to built on sand, (2john v8, john c17:v12), to stay within the perfect will of the Lord is to become an overcomer, remember many shall cry Lord! Lord! but Christ said to them, I do not know you, (matt c7:v22-v24, luke c9:v62).

Through the love (grace) of God comes knowledge of Him, that is, to get to know Him and form a relationship with Him, for through knowledge comes Holiness, (prov 3:v6), but the key to the knowledge of the Lord God, is Love, for the love of God always comes first, as in salvation, first came grace (the love of God, divine favour), then faith, (justification), and then being sanctified, (made Holy by Christ), then learning Godliness, (true worship), and then having grown in maturity (becoming perfect in God’s grace), having been transformed into the image of Christ, you walk now in the way of Holiness, having achieved full sanctification in your life, (purity and righteousness through Christ).

Love! knowledge and salvation is to live as the Lord God would have us live in Holiness, gaining victory over sin, and becoming an overcomer, through the work of the Holy spirit within the soul (mind) of the recipient, through faith, we are justified, (accepted as righteous), and by the truth (Christ), we are sanctified, (made Holy), thus Holiness only comes to the believer, from their relationship with a Holy God, for we are to become partakers of His divine nature, (2pet c1:v4), and share in his Holiness, (heb c12: v10), the fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy one is understanding, (prov9:v10), to hold the Lord in Awe, or to have any knowledge about Him, can only be found in His Love. Amen!