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Glen Park Gospel Church >> Archive >> Editorial >> 2017
Each month the Glen Park Gospel Church produce a one page newsletter called the Green Leaf. It's available from the chapel each Sunday. Some months include a topical article or report. We thought you might appreciate reading those previously published.
What's in a name?
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Juliet of Romeo
Juliet minimises her lover's name because of her growing love for him. To her his name with all it's heritage of antagonism and family feuding was nothing compared to the young man himself.
To us names are mostly just identifiers. But in Jesu's day people could have more than one name. Names signified a meaning; a personal trait, a family relationship, or a location such as 'Jesus of Nazareth'. Some new given names signified a new and deeper relationship with God. Abram then Abraham, Simon or Peter, or Saul and Paul. We today have a family identifier and a personal name, traditionally called a Christian name given at baptism, but more recently called a given name.
Isaiah foretold that, "A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and call His name 'Immanuel' - God with us." However when the angel announced the coming birth to that virgin, Mary, and later to her husband Joseph, they were told, "You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." Jesus means 'Jehovah Saves'. Is there confusion here?
Recently we looked at the formal names of God and found eighteen of them, each showing some special relationship or characteristic. God's nature is too great to be contained by merely one name. The same is true of Jesus, the Son of God. The Bible declares Jesus to be:
The Last Adam, An Advocate, Alpha and Omega, The Almighty, The Amen, An Apostle and High Priest, The Arm of the Lord, A Melchisedekian Priest, A servant, A Ruler, The King of kings, and Lord of lords, The Branch of the Lord, The Bread of Life, The Captain of our salvation, Chief Shepherd, Christ Of God, The Cornerstone, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Creator of the Universe, The Sunrise, The Christ meaning The Anointed of God, The Deliverer, The Door, The Good Shepherd, The Governor, Head of the Church, The Holy One of God, and also of Israel, The Horn of Salvation, The I Am, Immanuel, Jehovah, Jesus, The Righteous One, King, King of Ages, King of the Jews, King of kings, King of the Saints, The Lamb, The Lamb of God, The way, the truth, the Life, The Light of the world, The Lion of the tribe of Judah, The Lord, Lord of All, Lord of Glory, and Lord of Lords, The Lord of our Righteousness, Man of Sorrows, The Messiah, The Redeemer, The Mighty One of Jacob, The Nazarine, Author of Life, The Rock, The Rose of Sharon, The Lily of the valleys, The Saviour, The Seed, Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, Shiloh, Son of God, Son of the Blessed, Son of David, Son of the Highest, The True Light, The True Vine, The Word, The Word of God.
There may be many more. The great breadth of names for Jesus shows to us the greatness of His Person the importance of His position but also tell of the individual care that He gives specifically and personally with each of His people. He cares and caters for us individually according to our need. He is not too great or too busy to listen to our prayers, or in too much of an hurry to answer them. We need to take the time to listen, as He often speaks quietly.
A Date with Death
From Maryland USA
Here lies an Atheist.
All dressed up and nowhere to go!
From Weturnpha, Alabama
Here lies the body of Solomon peas,
Under the daisies and under the trees.
Peas is not here, only the pod.
Peas shelled out, went home to God.
From Boot Hill, Dodge City
A Wells Fargo agent called Les Moore.
Here lies Les Moore.
Four slugs from a 44
No Les, No Moore.
From Vancouver, BC
Arthur Haine
Atheist
Hane - Hain’t
From somewhere UK
Here lies old Ann Mann.
She lived an old maid,
And died an old Mann.
Here lies the body of Dr. Chard,
He help’t to fill this graveyard.
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Hebrews 9:27&29
Things that are Hard to Swallow
My brother had a favourite saying, "There is no such thing as an hard question. There are only answers we know and those that we don’t know."
Does that make us smile? In fact there is a lot of truth in it. A question is only hard when it makes us think and think. But then, that is not quite true either. Often a hard question is a truth that we do understand, at least by implication, but don't want to face. Thus to put the hard question! It is hard to take, and so we put it to one side.
Jesus came across this in his ministry. Look at what He found:
When many of his disciples heard it, they said,
"This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"
He had just offered them the sacrifice of Himself as being their bread, which when eaten guaranteed His hearers eternal life. What is so hard about that? The hard part is that we must depend wholly upon Him! We must accept Him as the only answer to our moral problem and depend absolutely, wholly, totally upon Him. Either we eat, or we don't. Can you swallow that?
What is significant in this interview is that it was not His enemies that baulked over His words, it was the majority of His disciples who found full adherence a problem. Did you notice that in our text? 'Many of His disciples' objected to His terms.
The fact is that we like to be in charge. After all it is our life and our eternal security at stake, and we like to think that we are in control of our destiny. We are happy to ask God's help in life so long as it is Him helping us! Jesus went right against that idea. He reinforced his words, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all." 'You,' He said, 'Count for nothing.' Read it again. It’s all found in John 6:48-61.
When they had chewed that over, most spat it out. "After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him."
He turned to the twelve whom He had chosen to be with Him., "Do you want to go away as well?" Peter answered for them all. Peter was always the one to blurt things out. He was that sort of bloke. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
Does Peter speak for you too?
The Bible text quoted is from the English Standard Version
Buried with Christ and Raised with Him Too
Shortly before his own death and resurrection, Jesus gave the disciples a demonstration of the power of God over the grave in the raising of Lazarus. After he had been dead for four days and after he had been laid in his tomb Jesus called him back to life. This in itself was startling.
But more was to come. Lazarus emerging from the tomb was a living parable of the new life that God gives to those who die to self to be raised in Christ. His hands and feet were bound like a mummy. A cloth covered his face.
Paul picks up the imagery writing to early Christians. "Put off," he says, "the old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt . . .". The wrappings of death, like for Lazarus, bind us. Lazarus was bound hand and foot. His mouth was covered. "Unbind him and let him go," said Jesus. "Be renewed in the spirit of your minds," says Paul.
Do you know the liberating experience of living in Jesus and for Him. It is what God intended. Too many try to dedicate the shroud with its stench of death from the old life. Jesus demonstrated and Paul commanded. "Unbind him and let him go.". "Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.". Put on the new self. Nothing else will do.
The way of the cross never stops at the cross
And the way of the tomb leads on
To riches of grace in the heavenly place
Where the risen Lord has gone.
A. J. Flint
Dark Light
Let me tell you a little story against myself. A little more than thirty years ago I had a corner of the house as my study and office. It was lit by a single fluorescent tube which dimmed as time went by.
As I mostly was busy away from home during the day, my study hours were at night. In time I called our electrician and asked him to install a new tube. He did better than that, he installed an additional tube and the problem was solved. At least that was for a little while. Soon enough the second tube began to dim like the first. Then I noticed something strange. As I peered at the letters on my page in bright light I noticed that every character was doubled, it had a shadow character standing close beside it, but a little lower. Rubbing my eyes didn't help.
One of my clients was an optician, so I talked with him about this phenomena and he suggested that I allow him to examine my eyes. It might help. He told me that I was suffering from a condition called presbyopia. Presbyopia means 'old eyes' and is the increasing inability to focus on nearby objects. The trouble, he said, is not in the light that is around you, but it is in you. He added me to his list of clients.
There is a common condition in our society called 'spiritual presbyopia.' Jesus tells us about it:
"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light."
Luke 11:34 -36 (ESV)
We have a proverb which goes “There is none so blind as those who will not see.” and put simply points to people who close their eyes to reality. These people are really blind. People who are naturally blind are mostly more acutely aware of their surroundings than many sighted folk. They must be in order to survive.
Jesus of course was talking about the many people around him who knowing the truth of spiritual things, closed their eyes to reality of their own sinfulness and their desperate need of a Saviour.
Are you one of these? Open the eyes of your heart. Become aware of your condition. But become aware of your Saviour and embrace Him today.
Has the Islamic State accidentally proved the superb historicity of the Bible?
The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday 28th February that when IS (Islamic State) seized the city of Mosul they destroyed much of the city, as well as churches, and the shrine marking what is believed the tomb of the biblical prophet Jonah. They had also dug deep tunnels beneath it. When the IS was evicted from Mosul, Iraqi archaeologists discovered that in their work IS found the remains of an ‘unspoiled’ 600BC palace, including a cuneiform inscription speaking of King Esarhaddon.
This is a significant find. Jonah is mentioned in the Bible and also the Qur’an. But Esarhaddon is mentioned only in the Bible, see 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38. He was Assyria’s king at the time of the temporary deportation of Manasseh king of Judah to Babylon, which is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33:11. Manasseh was taken to Babylonia rather than to Assyria, maybe to entertain or facilitate Esarhaddon who was at the time rebuilding some of Babylon’s cities he had captured but destroyed.
Archaeologists have ample evidence of the history of Esarhaddon. However, it raises the intriguing possibility that the IS by destroying Jonah’s tomb monument may have stumbled upon additional archaeological evidence corroborating the superbly accurate historicity of the Bible.
Whiter Than Snow
We make much of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, and rightly so. For it is the central theme of the Bible: that Jesus came to give His life as a ransom price for many. For all who choose to accept it, by that sacrifice are deemed to immediately share the righteousness that is Christ. And by the power of that sacrifice, may be released from their bondage to the waywardness of life.
David's prayer when he was stressed over the mess that he had made of his life was:
"Purge me with hyssop#, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." *
The Christian living in the shadow of the cross has no need of such ritual, for Jesus on the cross has done it all on their behalf.
God does not want people who have only been pulled out of jeopardy, as desirable as that is (especially for those people), rather for His children to become both in word and deed pure, as Himself is pure.
The Bible speaks of ongoing cleansing for the children of God. As Jesus took a basin of water and washed the feet of the disciples from the dust of the pathway, He has also provided for ongoing daily cleansing.
God's word is like a mirror and wash basin that we use to remove the sweat and grime of the day's toil. By it, as we read regularly, we see in it as in a mirror those things in our lives that don't measure up. Yesterday's washing was good for yesterday. But we will need to do it again today, and then again tomorrow. That's because we again get dirty. But for the Bible reader-believer not only do we wash away the grime of today's journey, but we become increasingly, incrementally more pure as we learn to keep ourselves clean.
"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." *
Do you fancy getting Heaven dirty from the grime along the way?
# Hyssop was an aromatic herb used in ancient sacrifice rituals of forgiveness, see Exodus 12:22, Leviticus 14:6 & Hebrews 9:19, and also of interest John 19:29
* Psalm 51:7, Ephesians 5:24 - 27 (ESV)
You must become:
Citizens of Another Kingdom
Over the last couple of weeks, the Australian political world has been rocked by revelations that many of our legislators may have been illegally installed into office, being holders of dual citizenship. Such is unconstitutional. It is against the law wisely foreseen by our founding fathers. It is illegal because it is unconstitutional. It is unwise because Australia cannot be governed by citizens with possible split loyalties.
It is not acceptable to be a Christian with split loyalties:
The Bible teaches that although God's people walk the streets of earth, they are actually citizens of another kingdom:
"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" Philippians 3:20. Of them Jesus said, "they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." Our loyalty is there, not here. Therefore while we are here we must be on our best behaviour, for every citizen of Heaven is an ambassador responsible for the heavenly protocol of righteousness.
In Chapter two Daniel explains king Nebuchadnezzar's Great Image of the four great kingdoms. Babylon, Media-Persia, Greco-Macedonia, and Rome. Then in verse forty-four a fifth kingdom is forecast. He said:
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."
This fifth kingdom is God's kingdom. It was set up during the world tenure of Rome. In the New Testament the kingdom of Heaven enlivens the teaching of Jesus, words such as, "The kingdom of Heaven is at hand." This fifth kingdom is here even now. It will never crumble, even though the gates of hell rail against it.
The fifth kingdom is not physical, elusive or future. It is now, "The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed," said Jesus, "Nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." Luke 17:20-21. It is a contemporary, spiritual, reality. "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit," says the apostle in Romans 14:17.
First century Christians received a real spiritual kingdom which superceded the other four kingdoms. So precious was their citizenship in God's kingdom its people were willing to shed their blood for it, and thus they overcame the mightiest of the other four.
There is no dual citizenship: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." John 17:16.
It is not acceptable to be a Christian with split loyalties:
Claiming the Promises of God
In the Bible there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of promises that God has made to His people for their problems, their provision or their protection over some thousands of years. Each one is like a cheque drawn on the 'Bank of Heaven.' And in very many cases the Bible records how these promises have already been fully redeemed.
Sometimes a promise is clearly situation or person specific, and sometimes it is a general promise to God's children, and if you are trusting in the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and Redeemer, you are one of His children too. God's children have real needs today also. The Lord expects His children to trust Him today, even as God's children did in the days of the Bible.
How can I trust a promise that was made and given for someone else? We can claim these promises because they are based in the unchanging nature of God. The God who was God then, is the same God that we serve today. He does not change. It is His nature to be constant, the same. And His ear is open to your prayer. Here is the assurance that the apostle Peter gives us about that:
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."
2 Peter 1:3
How do I claim a promise of the Lord for my genuine need? First, go to the Lord in unhurried, believing prayer. Tell Him all about your problem. Then, when you have taken time in prayer, turn to the Bible asking God to speak to your heart from His word. Read until the Holy Spirit, who is God, lifts a word to your heart from its pages, a word that fits your situation and applies to your need. Third, claim that word as a promise to your need. Tell God all about that promise and that you accept it for your own situation. Fourth, Thank Him for what He is going to do. Fifth, look for the practical supply of His grace to your need.
Now claiming God's promises is one aspect of prayer and all the rules of practical prayer apply. It must be believing, simple, genuine and based on the word of God. The Holy Spirit will teach you all about it as you go along.
[Quote]
SHOCK ASTEROID WARNING
Planet earth faces 100 YEARS of killer strikes starting in 2017 - from Express Newspaper London. By: Nathan Rao. Experts predict that asteroids are to pepper the planet from 2017
A previously unknown asteroid belt has been located in deep space and is now hurtling towards our part of the solar system. It means a 'global killer' could collide with Earth as soon as 2020, wiping out life as we know it and changing the climate for millennia.
The terrifying predictions came as NASA revealed disturbing new data showing 400 impacts are expected between 2017 and 2113, based on new observational data of objects seen in space over the past 60 days. Most will have a maximum diameter of around 100 metres - the size of seven double decker buses - and the potential to cause significant damage.
[End quote]
This quotation is from an article published in September 2014. The Huffington Post UK reported in July that on the 23rd an asteroid the size of a passenger jet was detected by the Atlas-MLO telescope Hawaii passing earth at 76,448 miles, that's just a third of the distance to the moon. Time is running short. Be on the look out!
If all this is true news, and it is reported in many places, it reminds us of prophecies from the Bible, that are certain, that predict signs in the heavens so terrifying they cause people to have heart failure:
"And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken"
Luke 21:25&26
They are the portent of the second coming of Jesus.
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed . . . the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!"
2 Peter 3:10&12
God's word is true news, more than that, it is news in advance. And it is emphatic.
To search this topic enter "Experts predict that asteroids are to pepper the planet from 2017" or similar into your search engine.
You may also like to read: Isaiah 34:4, 8-10 of effects in Edom, then of effects in Egypt, Ezekiel 32:7&8; compare also Psalm18:7-15, Isaiah 24:1 & 17-21, Joel 2:10&11, Acts 2:19&20, Revelation 6:12-14, 8:10-12 & 16:17-21, and others.
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."
1 John 3:2&3
Stinging Nettles
OVER the last couple of years I have found that my home garden has been invaded by our local variety of stinging nettle. It happily grew in our deep sandy loam. I took a casual interest as I had heard it said that if the leaves of the plant are properly prepared they are edible, and rich in nutrients including, iron, magnesium and nitrogen. Soaked in water they produce a good liquid fertiliser. Stinging nettle infusion can aid a raft of common health concerns such as circulation, respiration, bone and joint problems, skin rash and more. Maybe I had a chemist's shop growing in my home garden!
Going away for some weeks I happily dug in a few of them as a green manure, ready for the spring planting. Coming home I found a great mass of thriving nettle plants. Something was going wrong. Obviously I needed more information.
I felt like Eve who saw that the fruit was 'good for food and desired to make one wise.' Without checking further she took it for herself and then gave it to another with disastrous consequences. Sin occupied the whole race.
Nettles need to be lifted out with a fork, the soil sifted, or be sprayed with Glyphosate over several operations. Individual plants can be pulled out by an unprotected hand if they are gripped near to the root. However this leaves dozens of root runners, each of which can sprout afresh.
Nettles sting with the same chemical inflicted by ants. By comparison to the burning pain of English stinging nettles ours are benign. There it grows in waterlogged soil in the woods. There, wherever the nettle grows an antidote grows alongside it in the dock plant. Relief is found in the sap of a dock leaf.
Again I saw a parable. When God gave His ancient people the tablets of the law, He immediately gave them the instructions for the tabernacle with its substitutionary sacrifices for our transgression, looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus by whom alone is forgiveness of sin and the redemption of the sinner.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
1 Corinthians 10:13
O Lord, With You There is Forgiveness
"If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared."
Psalm 130:3&4 (ESV)
Close by the grave of John Bunyan of Pilgrim’s Progress fame at Bunninghill Fields, the travelling tinker, Baptist preacher and often a prisoner for his faith, you will find that of Dr. John Owen BA MA, Theologian, lecturer and vice chairman of Oxford University, author of multiple reference works so valued that 40 some are still in print, 334 years after his death.
These two shared many things in life. They lived to see Charles I and Charles II, the Civil Wars, the rise and fall of Cromwell’s Commonwealth, the bubonic plague and the fire of London. More than any of these they shared respect for our text, 'With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.'
They also shared a respect for one another. Owen with all his scholarship would walk miles to hear Bunyan preach and then stand in the rain to listen. King Charles rebuked him. "I am astonished that you, the most scholarly man in the realm should go to hear a tinker preach." "May it please your Majesty, I would cheerfully relinquish all my learning if I could acquire the tinker's ability at preaching," he replied.
Our text 'With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.' is the John 3:16 of the Old Testament. The text seems to be a contradiction until we understand that the English word 'feared' is not dread but in Hebrew carries also the awe and respect of reverence. It is borne of forgiveness. Knowing that, meditate on the words until they become part of you, until they burn into your memory and lodge in your heart. Nowhere else can we find a God who forgives our iniquities and then rejoices in the adoration of His newly adopted children.
'With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.' is a foretelling of Bethlehem and Calvary in just ten words. On them John Owen wrote a commentary of 230 pages. But we can reduce them all to just two - "Jesus Christ." 'For in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself.*' Have you received Him yet?
* 2 Corinthians 5.19ESV. Detail for this devotional taken from A Temple of Topaz, Chapter 21, F W Boreham, Lutterworth, London 1928, Reprinted 1933.
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