Saturday, June 30, 2007

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found

Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” Isaiah 55: 6

The days, would you not agree, seem to pass by so quickly, for many of us we would say, “not only the days, but the years pass by so quick.” Whatever age you are, consider the years that have passed, the days that are passed. We can do this, yet one thing we cannot do is consider or know all the days before us. We do not know how long we have. Back at the beginning of this year on January the 1st, New Years Day, we may have sat down and considered certain events that were planned, yet none of us know if we on the 31st of December will be sitting down and reflecting on those events.

Unless the Lord Jesus Christ comes first, we will die, we cannot deny this, people die every day. One day our time will come. When our souls leave this world, we will go to one of two possible places, my concern is that you will be going to heaven. In light of all this, we are told here in the Bible, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. “. My dear friends, oh that you would seek Him, that you would call upon Him in prayer! Seek forgiveness, seek mercy, for we are sinners who have broken God’s laws, the ten commandments, and are subject to God’s punishment. In seeking the LORD God we are to believe in Jesus. You may question why should I believe in Him. The simple answer is this: Jesus who is God, came to this world, He was born at Bethlehem, later, after a certain number of years of suffering, He died on the cross. There on the cross He faced such Divine wrath, He was punished, for sin. He stood in the place of so many sinners. So you see, if we believe in Jesus, we can be resting in the truth that He was my substitute, and I will not face punishment. Oh what a Saviour is Christ Jesus.

It is a most blessed thing to know the Lord, to know all is well for my soul. To be assured that when I die I will see Him in Heaven . If you are to know this blessing you must seek Him, but remember we do not know how long we have here on this earth. I lovingly exhort you to seek Him today.

The Spirit and the bride say, Come

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”. Revelation 22: 17

Just over 2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ came to this world. Many saw Him with their own eyes, whilst He was here upon earth. What an amazing truth this is! They saw Him, He who is God! There is a day coming when He will return. On that day, we are told in the Bible, “every eye shall see Him.” I will see Him, you will see Him. We must ask ourselves, in the light of this truth, are we ready to see Him? In this verse, it is plainly seen, that those who love Him, who are His people, and known as the bride, are ready. They cry, “Come!” You may question , why are they ready? The answer simply is this, they are saved. The Lord Jesus Christ kept the law and suffered the penalty of the broken law on their behalf; He died for them on the Cross. They, (because of grace) have repented of their sins, in believing in the gospel. They are saved! Here before us, in the second half of the verse, is an invitation for all to come to the Lord and be saved. All men are, by nature, thirsty. Man has an eager desire to be satisfied; he desires, comfort, happiness, peace, and many other things. In an attempt to find satisfaction, man often looks around him to the things in this world. My dear friends, the things of this world cannot truly satisfy the longings of the soul; joy, comfort and peace of such things in this world are but for a brief while. True satisfaction can only be found in the Lord Jesus. That is why He said, “Come unto Me”, Matthew 11:28, and, on another occasion, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink”, John 7 :37. The water of life, here in this verse speaks of life, salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ applied by the Holy Spirit. The Saviour, and salvation through Him, is offered freely. We have nothing to offer the Lord! We must simply come, repent of our sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus.

Oh what a great blessing it is know the Lord, to know that all is well for my soul, that at death Heaven will be before me!

There is an amazing word here in this verse, it is the word “whosoever”. Here then is an invitation to all, an invitation to you! DO NOT DELAY for the Lord is coming!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Worship: Praise UPDATED

The post on Professor John Murray's Minority Report on the subject of praise in public worship has been updated.