TRUTH TELLERS

JUDE 3-4

3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

PHILIPPIANS 2

Philippians 2:16

King James Version

16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Truth matters. amen

We live in days that are very dangerous, scripture is being undermined at every turn, the authority and sufficiency of scripture is being taken lightly.

Jude says that false teachers and I want you to take notice of this word, unnoticed. 

That is an interesting word, how people creep into your house.

You can leave your door a little bit ajar, many churches have left their doors a little bit ajar and now many false teachers are hiding in the church. One compromise has led to another, one small sin has led to another. Look at the five churches in Revelation chs 2-3, they started off well, but they left their doors ajar.

The second way, they crept in, was because they were asleep. Jesus says how does the thief rob the house, he binds the strong man of the house, in the following verses we see this:

Matthew 12

29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

Mark 3:27

King James Version

27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Many churches are unaware of the danger, they are asleep. The strongman of the house has been bound, and the thief who is Satan, who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Who is the strongman, it’s the pastor, the pastor has departed from the truth and is engaging in error and false teachers have crept in and now the church is in uproar.

The church needs to do things with the truth:

Firstly, it must not hold fast to the truths of scripture, in this contemporary culture, this is seen as outdated, we must hold fast to the truths of God’s word, despite the surrounding culture saying otherwise.

We must be led astray for the latest church growth fad, we are told how to build an effective church in the book of Acts and how to rebuild the broken down walls in Nehemiah, why do we need to resort to the books of today’s so called Church experts and their Purpose driven books, when we need to hod fast to God’s word and not Man’s. When it comes to God’s truth, we should be say no compromise, even if that sets us at odds with society.

We need to be fully awake, some are sleeping, indeed many churches are sleepwalking, the enemy sees them as easy pickings and they are now no use to God at all, they are neither hot nor cold, and we know the Lord does to that church. Revelation 3:14-21

We cannot share the gospel, we cannot tell the world of the gospel, if we don’t hold fast to its truth. Over 50% off American evangelicals don’t believe the word of God, they don’t hod fast to the truth.

How can they share something they don’t believe?

Before we can hold some forth, we have to hold it fast. To hold fast, means that we are not shaken, nothing shakes our belief in the word of God, we know that it is the power of God unto salvation, we know it is quick, powerful and sharper than any two-edged                                                                     sword Hebrews 4:12-13

Let us hold fast to the truths of God’s word, so that we can hold it forth to a needy world.

The world wants to see a church that believes what God says, if we don’t believe it, how can we expect the world to, maybe this is the reason, so many Christians don’t witness.

How can you share in something you don’t truly believe in?

Time to awake out of sleep and time to close the door, it is time to hold firmly and steadfastly to the truth and then and only then, can we share it with clarity and power.

May God help us

God bless you

KK

SERVICE WITH A SMILE

Reading John 13:1-5 Philippians 2:5-8

We enjoyed being served, many people serve us. They serve us at the restaurant, at the supermarket  and at the gas station.

We are servants, but not to an earthly master. We are servants to a heavenly master, we have his example in his life, especially in John 13,  there is the benchmark for us.

So to sum up, what service means, here is an acronym to help us understand it.

S  is for Selfless service

Christ did not come to be serve, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Service is not about you, it is never selfish, it is always selfless. When we serve people, we will do anything, there is nothing we won’t do for people. After all Jesus served us, he washed the disciples feet, the lowest form of service, he gave us this amazing selfless example. Service to others is not about exalting yourself, but exalting Christ.

E is for everyday

Serving people is not a one off thing, it is a continuous thing. It is a life trait, it is something we do and we love doing. We are not to be weary of well doing. 2 Thess 3:13 Galatians 6:9

R is for reverent service

Our service to God must be reverent, whatever we do is to the glory of God. We are to serve God in a way that brings him glory 1 Cor 10:31.

In Ephesians 6, we have this verse:

Ephesians 6:7

King James Version

7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Everything we do is for God, we are serving others, as if we are serving Christ.

Are you doing the washing up at church?

Do it if Jesus was going to use that plate or cup.

V is for virtuously

Luke 17:10

English Standard Version

10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants;[a] we have only done what was our duty.’”

Even when we serve, pride is probably our biggest enemy. We think oh look at me, I’m doing such a good work here, arent i good. But in fact, we are nothing but unworthy servants. Pride kills service, in fact pride makes us unfit for service, pride can be a service killer, remember to serve with a virtuous heart. Psalm 24

I is for instant service

Have you heard the pastor plead week after week for someone to do that job or this job in church, People are reluctant to come forward to service, But we should be instant in serving the Lord, when the Lord gives the call to serve in some area, we should be ready and willing to go, we should be like Isaiah, who said Here I am send me.

C is Christ centred Service

Everything we do must be centred on Christ, when we serve people, it is to show Christ’s love and compassion to that person or group. We serve because he first served us, he gave us a living breathing example of what service was like.

E is for encouraging service

There are many one another’s in the New testament, one especially is to stir up one another to faith and good works Hebrews 10:24.

When we serve others, it is meant to encourage others to grow in their faith, Paul was served by many people, look at the three people, who served him, in these verses in 1 Cor 16：

17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.

They are great examples, they did not come to be refreshed by Paul, but they brought refreshment to him. Have you encouraged another to serve God? Have you encouraged one who is in the service of God.

Remember service is:

SELFLESS

EVERYDAY

REVERENT

VIRTUOUS

INSTANT

CHRIST CENTRED

ENCOURAGING

May you serve God with all these things in mind.

God bless you

Keith

REACH OUT WITH THE GOSPEL

COLOSSIANS 4

3 At the same time pray for us, too, that God will open a door [of opportunity] to us for the word, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear [and speak boldly and unfold the mystery] in the way I should.

5 Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders (non-believers), make the most of each opportunity [treating it as something precious]. 6 Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].

1 Thessalonians 3

  Finally, brothers and sisters, pray continually for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be honored [triumphantly celebrated and glorified], just as it was with you;

We often hear of an opportunity economy, every political statement from whichever party you listen to, says, we are here to create opportunities for people.

As Christians, we have constant opportunities to share the gospel, we are called to reach out and tell people thee wonderful news of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

Every day we meet many people who seem ok on the outside, but in reality are in deep pain. God brings people across our path every single day, he gives us opportunities to share the gospel, whether by words or Christlike actions.

Look at verse 5 and 6 of Colossians 4, we have to treat every person, we talk to or meet as a precious opportunity. Every person is different, they are unique, they will all different needs, but God will bring people across your path, who you are able to share your testimony and life story with us.

We do not reach them, just by preaching at them, our words and reactions, are to be seasoned with salt. Are our words gracious and pleasant? Do your words and actions drive people away or draw them nearer to Christ?

In letter Q, we talked about being ready to answer people about your faith. I often remember, sharing the gospel and the person concerned just didn’t get it, however simple I made it and how many times I explained it. Remember that once you didn’t get it once, so be patient and gracious.

Sharing the gospel is the most amazing privilege, Jesus reached down and then he reached out, to the poor, helpless and needy.

We are to be to be ready to reach out to a needy world, God will bring people across our path, who we can share with.

Pray that every day, God will give you doors of opportunity and when he does, seize the opportunity and reach out with Christ’s love.

 A final illustration, years ago in the park, I met a Chinese man, who spoke good English, he was fascinated by me, being English. But what we started talking about was not spiritual, it was Henry the eighth and his six wives, then we moved onto spiritual things.

That my friend, it is reaching out and taking every opportunity.

Be part of God’s opportunity outreach!

God bless you

KK

QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS

1 PETER 3

15 But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.

People are always asking questions, what happened, who am I and why am I here, are some of the commonest questions asked today.

As a Christian, you have the answer to all of life’s questions, that is Jesus.

In his lifetime, Jesus was asked many questions, the pharisees asked him if he was the Son of Gid, sadly they didn’t like the answer.

God asked a very important question in the garden of Eden, again man did not want to answer, so he went off and hid himself. The question God is asking you is:

Where are you?

Are you trying to hide from God?

There is no hiding place.

Another vital question that you have to answer is this one from Matthew 16

Now when Jesus went into the [c]region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” 

This is the most important question anyone  can answer, your eternal destiny depends on your reply to this question.                                                                                                      

Who is this man Jesus?

He claimed to be God in the flesh?

In Romans 10, it says this:

9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].

The answer is to say, Jesus is my Lord. To believe in your heart and confess it with your mouth.

To those who have trusted Christ, now is the time to ask your friends and family, what do they think of Christ, it is time to confess your Saviour before men, it is time for believers to confront the world with the reality of sin, judgement and salvation.

Remember the verse in 1 Peter, when we are asked to give a reason for the hope that lies within us, have you an answer?.

To do this, you have to soak yourself in the word of God, your whole being must be immersed in God’s word.

Could you answer a Muslim?

Could you answer an atheist?

People are asking questions, you have got the true answer Jesus?

A final question, if someone came up and asked you on the street:

WHY ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

Could you answer them from the bible?

God bless you

Keith

PRAYER AND PRAISE ARE POWERFUL PRIVILEGES

PSALM 73

28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

PSALM 34

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Of all the privileges of being a Christian, the ones of bringing our prayers and praises to God, are on the top rung of the ladder.

Before we came to faith, we were alienated from God, we were unable to reach him, let alone talk with him, but now because of the sacrificial death of Jesus, we are able to approach God and call him our father. Hebrews 10:19-22

Prayer is not just talking to God and bringing our requests, it is part of it, we are not to come with a big shopping list. God is to be praised first, why because he deserves it, before we ask for anything from him, surely it is right to thank and praise him for all he is and how much he has given us.

Prayer changes things, but so does praise, why? Because it takes our focus off ourselves and places it on God.

Jesus outlined how we should pray in Matthew 6, Paul prayed for each of the churches he founded in passages such as Philippians 1:9-11 and Ephesians 1:15-23. In Philippians 4:6-7, we are urged to bring our requests to God, in Psalm 62, we are told to empty our hearts in Prayer and in ! thess 5, we are told to pray without ceasing.

Prayer is a wonderful privilege, so why is the prayer meeting, the worst attended meeting at virtually every church?

God answers the prison cell  prayer in Acts 12 and 16, he sends revival through prayer 2 Chronicles 7.

Praise to God is best illustrated in the book of Psalms, there are so many psalms that tell us, what to praise   and how to praise God.

We are to praise him for the following reasons:

：

For who he is 

For what he has done for us

For what he has given us

For salvation and all that entails

Prayer and Praise are linked, one place we say them working in conjunction with each other, is in Acts 16:

祷告与赞美是相互关联的，《使徒行传》16 章就是一处体现它们

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

Prayer and Praise have dynamic power, both of them working together, not one in isolation, we praise God for who he is and what he has done for us and then we know that when we pray we can come in a bold manner knowing that he will answer us, according to his will.

God is worthy to be PRAISED.

GOD is pleased to hear both our prayers and our praises.

GOD loves to hear our PRAYERS

In the summer, I was going round the ruins of Huntingdon castle, this was the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England from 1650-60 and a godly man, there was a stone at the castle, which had these words on it.

HE NEVER LEFT FOR BATTLE EXCEPT THROUGH THE HARBOUR OF PRAYER

We should never go into daily battle, without prayer. In Ephesians 6, we have the Christian’s armour, one is usually overlooked and that is prayer. We need to have our armour on, but if we do not pray, it’s worthless. Samson shook himself, he said I will go out as before. How often do we do that?

Every day before we go out let’s pray.

Let’s always take advantage of these two awesome privileges, let’s pray without ceasing and may God’s praise be continually in our mouths.

Murray Mcheyne said this on prayer

A man is what he is on his knees – nothing more, nothing less

Operation world Page 301

Are you a man/woman of prayer and praise?

These two things should define a person, when Ananias said in Acts 9, how will I recognise Paul, it was told him behold he prayeth.

Does that describe you?

Psalm 34 starts with the phrase I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise is continually in my mouth.

Are you defined by your attitude of praise?

Is your mouth filled with praise?

Do you pray without ceasing?

May we always be a prayerful and praising people.

For his glory alone

God bless you

KK

THE ONE ANOTHERS

John 13

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 Over fifty times in the New testament, we have these one another’s, these speak clearly and concisely to us in a  way we can understand.

We will do a series on these one another’s in due course, but here, let’s make some general comments about them.

First of all:

They are direct commands to obey

These special phrases are given not as options to us, but commands to obey. Jesus said, if you love me keep my commandments.

John 14:15

King James Version

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Some of these commands especially relating to forgiveness and being patient, run against our natural inclination.

Not only are they direct commands, they are demanding commands.

As we have already said, the flow of the world, says that we should care for ourselves, but lots of these commands challenge our mindset to think of ourselves first.

These commands demand change, they demand radical discipleship, if these commands were only obeyed by the church, then the world would sit up and take notice of us.

Not only are they direct and demanding, they dissect all our thought patterns, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12-13.

They are there to transform our thinking Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, we need to constantly cleanse our minds, letting the pure water of the word flow through it. Colossians 3:16.

They are also distinctive commands, commands such as love one another and be patient with one another, are not found anywhere else.  These things make Christians distinct.

What does Christ say, they will know you are Christians by your love for one another, this is what makes Christianity unique. It  is not like Buddhism or Islam; it has a deep and dynamic command system that radically transforms the heart.

These commands should be our delight, in Psalm 119, the psalmist says, I delight to do thy law. The commands of the Lord are not some burden to us, they are there to set us free.

Imagine, if we obeyed the command Forgive one another, how much freedom would that give us.

Are the one another’s your delight?

Finally, they are dynamic, they are life changing. Any church or individual who fully embraces all these one another’s in their life and the life of the church, will be transformed.

These commands cover the whole sphere of your Christian walk, they cover your personal walk, they cover your walk in church.

Please go and find a good bible concordance and find out how many of these one another commands, there are in the NT.

It is an exciting journey for you and one that will transform your life, please find out all these wonderful commands and then test yourself.

Say: Let’s take the command to Love one another.

Am I loving people?

Am I loving everyone equally?

Test yourself and see if you match up.

Are you obeying the one another’s?

If you do, it will totally transform your life.

God bless you

KK

NO NO NO!  TO THE DEVIL

EPHESIANS 4

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27 Neither give place to the devil.

28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

The devil is the Christian’s enemy, he hates God Ezekiel 14, but he can never hurt God Genesis 3:15. So who does he go after, that’s right, he goes after the Christian and the Church.

Every weapon he can muster is targeted on us, we are in the firing line so to speak. He truly, has it in for us, he is like a roaring lion:

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaringlion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

He wants to devour us, he is seeking those he can devour, how does he do this:

In this passage, we have some of the weapons that the devil uses to trap the  Christian, do you notice that he uses our emotions, he gets us to be angry, that’s an emotion, it isn’t a wrong emotion, if it’s focused on the right thing, Jesus was angry at what was happening in the temple, but he did not sin.

Every trap that the devil lays in this passage, is answered by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, God wants you to give no place to the devil, here’s how you do it.

In verses 24-25, we have to put something on and take something off, it is like morning and evening, in the morning, you put on new clothes, you take off the old clothes, this is the same with the Christian. 

COLOSSIANS 3

7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

The putting on and taking off is a continuous thing, just like the filling of the spirit Ch 5:18, every day and indeed every moment, we have to be taking off our old clothes and putting on new clothes, how can we do this:

Romans 12 tells us:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We are to be moulded by God’s word. How much time do you spend in God’s word each day? Now compare how much time you spend playing on your cell phone and watching rubbish on TV?

We need to have our minds cleansed, by God’s spirit using God’s word, this is the only formula.

We need to:

Colossians 3

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

We need to let the word of God dwell in our hearts and lives, to dwell, means to take up residence, we are to welcome it, it must be the primary guest in our hearts.

SAY THIS AS YOUR READ YOUR BIBLE

Word of God I welcome you, speak to me as I meditate on your truth.

As we meditate on God’s word, it will bring overflowing joy, we will sing aloud of our God and it will touch our fellow believers.

Remember, the devil hates to hear Christians praising God, why? Well it reminds him of his previous job!

So let’s examine, all the weapons the devil uses and God’s answer.

Lying, everyone tells lies or untruths, so how can we stop this, by speaking truth Ch 4:15 Zechariah 8:16. The more we grow in grace, the more love we have for God, we will grow to be like him

2 Peter 3:18

We are now in a unique fellowship of like minded believers, people who love the truth, being with them will rub off on you.

Anger, how can you be angry and sin not? Surely this is impossible? Jesus was angry at the things, his Father was. So must we be, are we angry at our sin and are we angry at injustice, this is righteous anger and not sin.

Many people let anger fester, they let it hang around for years, and it destroys their lives Psalm 37:8, it means that we have to let it go, don’t let it fester. If you have an argument with your wife/husband, do you let it last for days?

Be angry at the things God is angry about.. sin and wickedness.

Laziness, God created work, it is not his will, that people do not work, You work for your own benefit, but also you work so that you can share with others Acts 20:35 Luke 3:11

Corrupt speech. we are not to use our mouths to curse but to comfort Colossians 3:8, our mouths are to be used to edify and not to break down.

Bitterness, Anger, Clamour etc, James 3:16-18 James 4：11

These things left unchecked will give the devil open house in a Christians life and in the life of the church, the devil thrives on this kind of thing, it is his meat and drink, the more anger and resentment, he can sow, the better it is for him. What is the answer?

We are angry and resentful against people who have hurt us.. amen, I won’t talk to that person, because they sat in my seat that I’ve sat on in church for twenty years!.

God’s answer to this is deep and passionate Christian love, forgiveness being the start.

Has anyone upset you?   Forgive them from the heart.

Has anyone been bitter  and angry towards you? Be tender hearted towards them.

Why must I forgive you may say? Well how many sins, has Christ forgiven for you, when he saved you? He washed all our sins away, he did not hold any sins to our account, he took on all your sin.

But I can’t forgive you proudly say, what if Christ had said the same thing. We deserve hell and eternal punishment, but we have received grace Ephesians 2:1-10 1 Timothy 1:12-15. God’s gracious has been freely given to us, we need to give grace to others, even though they don’t deserve it.

If we leave an open door for the devil, what does that do?, well it breaks our fellowship with God and grieves the precious Holy Spirit, it hurts him, wounds him and says to him, I don’t need you.

How many times, have I and you grieved God’s spirit?, In my case it is many hundreds of times.

But God has given us guidelines on how to say No to the devil. When the devil comes knocking with any of these temptations: 

Anger, Laziness, Bitterness etc, have a sign up saying:

I GIVE NO PLACE TO YOU DEVIL.

May God give us the strength to follow his precious word, it is there to help and guide us. Psalm 119:105

GOD BLESS YOU

KK