Our Preparation by Craig Simpson

Jesus said: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev. 16:15). These words are extremely applicable to us in this generation, who are living in this godless society, on the eve of Christ's return. Truly the evil and lack of morals of this generation can be compared to the days of Noah and of Lot.

And with the world so evil and so far from God, it is extremely important for us to be on our guard, to be keeping our garments unspotted for this evil world.

It has been rightly said that "all men are in large measure the creatures of their age." And so it follows that as the world gets further from God, and as the world's morals grow more and more lax, as a sense of pleasing oneself rather than pleasing God pervades, and as evil deeds and actions are no longer frowned upon by society, that we individually and collectively head the same way - in general as the world gets further form God so do we! We are products of our environment.

We as humans are so prone to sin; we are prone to falling away form God's standards but now more than ever before we have to be on our guard.

In Matthew 7:21-23 it says: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

These people were active in the Truth, they thought they were doing God's will, they were Christadelphians just like you and I, but yet it appears they'd never let the Truth transform their lives.

And its possible for us to be in the same situation. Its possible for us to attend gatherings such as this, to go to the meeting every Sunday, not because we feel obligated to go because of allegiance to Christ; but rather we go to see our friends, or our family.

Living life in the Truth can be a way of life, this is what we've done for years and so we continue doing it. We can read the Bible, not because we long to develop a spiritual mind, but rather because that's what we've done all our lives, because that's what our friends and family do. We can read for the sake of reading. To mark off on our calendar that we've done the readings; and so we can feel a sense of achievement.

There is a way however to avoid this complacent attitude, and it comes by understanding what God requires of us. It can come by self-examination.

Lets just spend a couple of moments thinking about what we are doing. One of the big things that we should realise is that whilst man sees the act - the act of reading, the act of going to the meetings. God sees the heart and the act.

Why do we attend these meetings - is it because of man or is it because of God? When we sin who do we think of and who are we afraid will catch us - man or God? If you look back at the past week what have you spent your time doing, pleasing yourself or other people, or pleasing God?

We can apply these types of questions to any part of our lives, when we gossip are we concentrating on and satisfying man or God? In our work places, in our education, when we are driving the car, when we're relaxing at home, who are we feeding, who are we giving glory to? Are our thoughts focussed on the return of Christ? Are our lives and the things we do limited by the requirements of God?

I want you to think about the five foolish virgins. They all recognised that Christ was coming. They were virgins indicating a certain amount of separation from the world, in other words they were Christadelphians.

They had neglected to replenish the oil in their lamps. They were resting upon what they'd done in the past; they'd lost sight of the Bible's true teaching and weren't letting the Word of God transform their lives.

You might say I'm not like them; I'm a good Christadelphian! I attend all the meetings - their attendance is not called in question. Doubtless they were still reading their Bibles daily - but far from letting God's Word transform their lives, they were coasting along thinking everything was okay, until Christ came and they realised their lamps had ceased from burning. That should act as a wake up call to us. Because over time life in the Truth can be come stale, "run of the mill" , "the same old thing." And we can continue to do the same old thing over and over again, but in large measure remain unchanged by our actions. These virgins only realised they'd run out of oil once Christ came - is your lamp still burning? Now is the time to make these preparations. Remember "all men are in large measure the creatures of their age."

As the world gets further form God, so do we. Even if we are doing all these things, remember, and strive more than ever before, to let the Word of God transform our lives. It really does require all we have. Our responsibility to ourselves is to prepare ourselves for Christ's return with the time we have remaining to us. Our preparation can be likened to that of Esther's.

You see the king Ahasuerus gave all the maids twelve months to prepare before they would be presented before him and he would choose himself a bride. The twelve months were divided in two separate sections: six months being purified with the oil of myrrh (which amongst other things can symbolise the Word of God); and six months being purified with sweet odours (symbolising prayer).

In symbol is presented to us what our lives and preparation to meet our King should be. Our preparation should consist of reading the Word of God, and prayer. In other words our preparation should consist of listening to what God has to say - God talking to us; and prayer - talking back to Him.

We do this by reading His Word; and we should read His Word more than ever before as we see Christ's appearing drawing near, and this world getting so far from God. But not only reading His Word, but putting it into practise in every aspect of our lives. And praying; praying to God always, when we get up, for breakfast, whilst going to work, for lunch, after work, for meals, for the readings, for the day - for everything! Asking God for guidance, for understanding, for wisdom, for the return of His Son. In this way we put God first and man last. We manifest God in our lives, giving glory to Him, which really is and should be our sole purpose in life. And if you think about it, that really should be what we are doing, and its not too much to ask when we consider what God has in store for those who love Him.

In Esther's day, once this preparation was completed, when every maid presented herself before the king, "whatsoever she desired was given her, to go with her unto the king." (Est. 2:13). She could take whatever she wanted, whether it was clothes, or jewels, or gold - whatever she wanted.

We also will take with us something when we go before our king, at the judgment seat of Christ - what will it be?

When you appear before the judgment seat of Christ what will you take? Will you take your house? Will you take your car? Will you take your job? Will take that holiday? - What will it be?

We can't literally take any of these things of course. But we can take them in our hearts. Because all any one of us will take before the judgment seat of Christ will be our minds and our hearts. And so the question arises, where is your treasure?

The only thing we will take is our character and the question is what kind of character will that be?

Really when you think about it, the only thing worth taking is part of Christ, part of the character of Christ - some little part, that when we appear before our King we will find favour in his eyes. That's all that's worth taking and now is the only time we've got to develop it.

We each have a responsibility to examine ourselves, to keep ourselves unspotted and separate from the world. To prepare ourselves for the return of Christ. This involves many things, but they can be summed up as listening to what God has to say, and talking back to Him. Reading His Word and doing the things contained therein, letting it transform our lives and praying to God.

Our lives should be wholly dedicated to the glory of God, to pleasing God and not man. Keeping our garments unspotted from the world. And so I leave you with a question, when you appear before the judgment seat of Christ, what will you take?

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The Ten Virgins by Chris Bowen

The primary significance of this parable is to be found in Christ's words immediately preceding the following quotes "who then is a faithful and wise steward?" Matt 24:45 and in the parable of the virgins, he shows in that wisdom consists, and in the parable following the talents he shows the quality of faithfulness.'

The command that Jesus added to the parable of the virgins is "watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day or the hour when the son of man cometh," Matt 25.13.

Now if we look at Matt 25:6 "and at midnight," this midnight is not what we think it is, it is really the hours just before morning. If we look at Acts 20:7 it says: "and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight."

Everyone knows the rest of the story that Paul was preaching to them in the upper chamber and the young man was sitting on the window sill. The young man was overcome by sleep, and fell to his death. Paul saw this and embraced him to bring his life back. After the day had broken they departed.

Also we know that at the second coming of our Lord the sun and moon shall be in darkness and the earth will also be darkened like it was midnight. It is shown in Mark 13:24 "but in those days (that is the latter days) that the sun shall he darkened and the moon not give her light, then the son of man shall come upon the earth."

We know it is talking about the latter days because in Mark 13:4 Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Jesus about the latter days.

Now we will go back to Matt 25:6 where it says, "behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him." John the Baptist is the first to use the figure of the bridegroom in the New Testament. The occasion was when the disciples told him about the success of those who attended the teachings of Jesus. John knew that both his baptism and that of Jesus were of God. Because of this there was no room for jealousy, nor did John see any. On the other hand his relationship excluded it for he was a friend of the Bridegroom, we see this in John 3:29. The friend was the groomsman who sort the hand of the bride for the groom, and then arranged the marriage. When the marriage was taking place, and he heard the voice of the bridegroom welcoming the bride, his tasks, and his Joy was full. So John, the friend rejoiced to hear the people were seeking Jesus and being welcomed by him as the bridegroom welcomes the bride. Later John's disciples came to Jesus with the question "why do the disciples of John and the Pharisee's fast but not the disciples of Jesus." His reply was in the form of a parable: The Bridegroom.

In Luke 5: 33-34 it says "can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them but the day will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away, then shall they fast in those days." It is remarked that John, who lived in Judea, spoke as the friend of the bridegroom in John 3:29, Jesus who lived in Galilee spoke of the sons of the bride chamber. The former refers to the practice common in Judea, but followed in Galilee, the latter was a general term for all invited guests. There is perfect accuracy in the details of the records.

When Jesus referred to himself as the bridegroom he was first of all reminding the disciples of John, of their part in the parable. John had the joy of the groomsman. The disciples of Jesus had the freedom and joy of the friends and guests at the wedding. Because of the law, the marriage ceremony lasted a week and it was a time of mixed celebrations. The ordinances of the strict feast of the Day of Atonement were modified. Everything had to serve a purpose of bringing gladness to bride and bridegroom. In the same way the presence of Jesus was itself the occasion and reason for joy.

Jesus recognised that the joy would be short lived. He then gives the first public hint of the appointed end of his ministry when he said that the bridegroom would be taken away and from this his disciples would have a sense of loss and would fast.

We look at the customs in the land of Palestine, in the days of Jesus ministry for the atmosphere and the heart of the story. The very basis of the thought of Jesus goes back to the Old Testament teachings. Jeremiah uses the figure "turn, 0, backsliding children, for I am married unto you." God was the bridegroom to Israel. In Psalms 19:1-14 it tells of the heavens declaring Gods glory in which the sun is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. When John applied the figure of the bridegroom to Jesus, Jesus also made use of it in reference to himself. There was implied a claim that Jesus was Israel's Messiah and that he was a manifestation of God and one to whom the true Israel was related as wife.

Now we go back to Matt 25:6 where is says "cry." This would have awoken them and it would have then shown who have been prepared and were ready to meet the Lord and who are poorly equipped and unready for the event. Verse 8 says; "give us your oil." The only answer possible is the one given, and that is that we should go to those who sell and buy for themselves in the market place which is the truth, namely the Bible. In Isaiah 55:1-3 it says; "come ye, buy and eat yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price, incline your ear, and come unto me. Hear and your soul shall live." This is the prophet's explanation of how wine and milk of God converted can be changed. At the present time there is opportunity to buy, it will pass. The foolish therefore, find themselves not included in the bridal procession. When they want to come to the door it is closed. A demand for admission brings only the answer "I know you not." The form "Lord Lord" in verse 11 and Christ's answer "I know you not" links the parable with the similar saying of the sermon of the mount, in Matt 7:21-28. The protest "I never knew you" occurs both in this quotation from the Sermon on the Mount and the parable of the virgins. In both of these there was a failure to do. The verse which follows in Matt 7:24-27 continues the instruction that hearing and doing are both essential. "Watch, therefore" in verse 13, is the alert, not so much looking for the coming one, more the need to be ready when he calls, see Rev 3:2. Procrastination is the thief of opportunity as well as time. "Ye know not the day nor the hour of his coming" which applies to us today. The parable gives a picture of what will be attained when the Lord comes. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to the ten virgins.

To all who are related to divine things such a preview gives an urgency to command, to watch for the most important lesson "they that were ready went with him into the marriage."

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Moses by Bradley MacNamara

Moses stands out as great. He was the deliverer, leader, lawgiver and prophet of Israel. The life of Moses is divided into three equal portions of forty years each.

1. His life in Egypt
2. Exile in Arabia
3. Government of Israel.

Moses birth was when the Egyptians were slaying all male children. His life was spared as God had a purpose for his life, his upbringing was unusual as he was adopted by the kings daughter and "educated in all the learning of the Egyptians."

Moses received his call as a prophet when an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in the midst of the bush that did not burn up. Through this Moses learnt that there was one God and of his mission to deliver his own people, then he returned home to Egypt to visit his brethren.

Moses had to confront Pharaoh one of the most powerful men on earth and convince him to let God's people go free into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh. But Pharaoh was a hard man. Moses told Pharaoh ten times that Egypt would suffer terrible consequences if he didn't set free God's people. Each plague made Pharaoh's heart more hardened. This didn't make it easy for Moses so he prayed a lot to God through this time for guidance.

In the wilderness Moses become the great lawgiver through whom Israel's religion was revealed. Moses received the law from God. The law showed God's covenant with His newly delivered nation. These were known as the 10 commandments.

Here are some interesting types between Moses and Christ:The life of Moses foreshadowed the life of Christ. As Pharaoh slew the Hebrew children at the time Moses was born, so Herod did when Jesus was born. As Moses left Egypt so did the Lord Jesus. As Moses was mighty in word and deed so was the Lord. As Moses led the people from Egypt, baptised them in the Red Sea, gave them a law, formed them into God's people so the Lord calls his people to separate themselves from spiritual Egypt and devote themselves to his service.

At the close of Moses' career, Joshua who had already been named as Israel's leader was appointed as successor to Moses. In a song Moses expressed his praise to God recounting how God had delivered Israel and provided for them through the wilderness journey. Then with the pronouncement of a blessing upon each tribe, Moses departed for Mount Nebo where he was privileged to view the promised land before he died.

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The Bible - It's Origin and History by Lindsay Aitcheson

John Chapter 2 by Rodney Bowen

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A Word in Season by Andrew Brown

The times and seasons are significant. Let us lift up our heads and read them for they speak of our redemption, which draweth nigh.

Meanwhile while we wait the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, what manner of people ought we to be in our behaviour and attitude?

The Truth in our hands has a constant urgent message to watch and pray that we might be prepared. There is no room for complacency as the Apostle Paul states regarding the times and season for he says that that day will come as a thief in the night to all those who sleep, but not to the saints of light who watch and are sober. While God is longsuffering with the World we are sojourning in, we are afforded time or opportunity to grow in the Truth or put right what may be wrong for this is the Day of Atonement or Salvation to make it sure.

Time is to be redeemed for it is given that we might work out our salvation showing ourselves workmen that needeth not to be ashamed but rightly dividing the word of truth. The coming together each first day of the week, is a good opportunity for renewing our strength for the conflict in which we are all engaged. May we then use this occasion to edify ourselves by self-examination. One thing we do well to contemplate is that we are all equal in terms of what God has given each person.

We all have the same hope and therefore opportunity. Also we have all been given the same time whether we are rich or poor, Old or Young, Learned or Unlearned, time travels the same speed for all. How do each of us use this commodity? For an answer to this Question let us take the interval since our last breaking of bread, as we assemble each 1st day.

We have had a six-day battle. Six days of common experience to man in this evil state. Six days of mortal occupation mixed with care and watchfulness and endurance. Now these six days are gone never to return and we are this day looking back upon them to sit in judgment upon them.

How do they look? Each of us must make that survey for themselves.There will come a day when the whole of our life will be in the rear in the same way. When there will be a gathering of a great multitude when the question for consideration will be that the account will be closed and the review of our past is analysed for a decision. But at the present moment our review of the past is useful in helping us to change the position of the account if need be.

Have the past six days all been what we could wished them to be? It is impossible at present that our days can ever be entirely what we should desire just because of the nature of things. We all share human nature as Paul confessed in saying the things I would do I do not. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Forgiveness is available if we haven't engaged in wilful sin.

In the last six days did we walk in faith for whatsoever is not in faith is sin Paul said. Could our faith be stronger helping us in our conflict to overcome. For it is to him who overcomes are the promises made. How then are we to overcome? Apostle John gives us the answer. This is the victory that overcometh the World even our faith.

How is faith derived? Paul states, "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Therefore the most valuable advice that can be given to all those anxious about salvation is to give themselves to the reading of the Word. Jesus said the Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life. Therefore as much as the Words of Jesus are in us the Spirit and the Life of the Truth is in us."

We cannot recall or alter the six days that are gone. They have taken their place in the record of our past on Jesus diary. But the six days to come are ours in a certain sense. What does wisdom say, redeem the time because the days are evil. Do not walk as fools but walk circumspectly.

The Apostle Paul lays down a doctrine of obedience. Doctrine means teaching, and Paul speaks to us in Titus saying, Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. If we remember these precepts and obey them, when our life is reviewed by Jesus we will be able to give an answer of a good conscience, having confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

From now on, then let Paul's Policy in life be Our Policy in Life. Which was to him and is to us, he says therefore in Philippians 3:14 "I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." As a good soldier we march on in the conflict in which we are engaged. We have to be prepared for battle. The Apostle Paul lists the equipment needeth in our spiritual warfare to be successful in conquering and overcoming sin in its many forms.

Let us consider the spiritual armour that is necessary to fight a good fight of faith.The List is given in Ephesians 6:14-17. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth. Anything covering our loins covers our shame, thus nothing but the truth can cover our spiritual shame. As sinners we are in a state of shame before God. The Truth intelligently believed and heartily upheld covers our shame. Anything but the Truth is a fig leaf device and is not what God requires to be acceptable to him.

Breast Plate of righteousness.The Breastplate covers the heart. The heart of the Truth is righteousness, it is the centre permeating throughout all the parts.We must guard against unrighteousness.

Righteousness must be the basis of all things in the Truth, the centre or heart of the Truth.

Our Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of Peace. Our Feet move us in a certain direction, that direction must be towards the Kingdom, which is the Gospel message of peace.

Let us always be shod with the Gospel message that we might be constantly moving towards that great destiny revealed in the Gospels joyful sound.

Shield of Faith to shield away the fiery darts of the wicked. Our faith is to withstand all what may come our way. Our faith will shield away all what may injure us protecting our life in the Truth.

Helmet of Salvation is the reason or motive, which directs all our actions. So if we think always of our salvation our actions will follow accordingly.

Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The Word is our Spiritual weapon even shaper than any two edged sword. But this weapon is of little use if we are unskilled in its use. The Apostle Paul tells us how to become skilful with God's Word in 2nd Timothy 2:5. He states "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth."

The Apostle Paul concludes his list of armour by saying to be always; Praying and watching with all perseverance.Paul elsewhere states that no man that is engaged in this conflict against sin entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Let us constantly be on our guard for our enemy never sleeps, sin is in all its manifestations.

Paul at the end declared I have fought a good fight. Jesus is styled the captain or commander of our salvation who fought the greatest fight. Let Paul's words of counsel ever serve to strengthen us each day. Ephesians 6:10-13.

Finally friends be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.

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Faith by Alan Brown

The prophet Amos spoke to Israel saying "Prepare to meet thy God O Israel." This message had to be constantly repeated throughout the history of Israel as it was by the prophets, then by Jesus who was sent by God as God's final appeal to his nation until Jesus returns. The same message applies to us as modern-day Israel. "Prepare to meet our God."

The Apostle John puts the same message this way, "Beloved now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." 1 John 3:2.

We are no different to Israel. We need the prophet's message. We need the voice of Jesus to counsel us unto obedience and righteousness. It is how well we respond to their voice that dictates our spiritual condition. Paul stated that "all things that were written a foretime were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the scripture, might have hope." Now it is how well our learning of scripture is that determines our patience, our comfort, and our hope in the truth. If we do not learn from what is written, then we will not learn patience, we will not receive comfort, and we will not be strong in the hope - all essential ingredients to enter the Kingdom.

Thus again the prophet said, "My people perish through lack of knowledge." Understanding the will of God is the first step. Then the right application of knowledge is wisdom therefore let wisdom be at our right hand, at the doors of our heart to lead us unto life. For if we love wisdom we hate darkness or death. But contrary, as Proverbs 8:36 says if we hate wisdom we love death. Again, "wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness." Ecclesiastes 2:13.

We know Israel's history makes sad reading as a nation. Their backsliding, their spiritual bankruptcy and consequently their suffering.

The Apostle Paul draws from their history powerful lessons, e.g. Hebrews 4:1-2 "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." Here Paul is warning us that it is our faith that determines our success spiritually. He says the Gospel was preached to Israel yet they did not receive it with faith and they fell short of the promise. John says it is our faith that enables us to overcome the world. How strong is our faith? Israel's faith was weak. Our faith can become weak because we can allow many faith-robbing obstacles weaken our hold on eternal life. Hold fast, stand firm in the faith - is our responsibility.

Israel's mistake was chiefly becoming more involved with the heathen nations around them. Is the threat any less, for us living in a world, which "knows not God nor desires a knowledge of His ways?"

We are told to come out from among them and be separate, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, being found blameless. Are we different from the world? Are we a friend of the world? We must examine ourselves constantly to walk worthy of our high calling. Let us do an assessment of our spiritual standing before God in the world in which we live, eg, if we were convicted as a Christian or follower of Jesus, would there be hard evidence to prove that in fact we live as we have been called in the truth, ie, to be separate, and to be spiritually minded? Would witnesses who would be called forward to testify about us say they could see no difference in us from others in this world? Or would they say that these people are different? They talk about spiritual things, they have spiritual goals, affections and values, and they don't live for the present but prepare for the future return of Jesus.

We profess to follow the truth. Are we honouring God among men? What message are we sending to others around us? We know God is our judge but as others see us is a general assessment of our spiritual condition. Let us remember the Laodicean ecclesia had become so engrossed in the world and its ambitions, thus becoming a friend of the world, that Jesus considered them spiritually bankrupt. Let us adopt the same attitude as Nehemiah when he was invited to leave God's work to participate in other matters outside the truth. He said, "I am doing a great work. I cannot come down. Why should I leave God's work and serve others?" This is a perfect answer to all our resisters and things that distract us in the truth. Nehemiah only succeeded because he put God first. God therefore helped him against all odds. He completed the wall in 52 days not 53 days or more. Nehemiah had resistance within and without. The nation of Israel was the ecclesia. Each member was in what could be a divine university, where their work was assessed by God as a fail or a pass. Nehemiah had many obstacles to endure but faithfully endured in God's work. It is written in chapter 3:5 of certain members "putting not their necks to the work." This is equivalent to armchair Christadelphians. We all have a part to play, a job to do in the body of Jesus. Our pounds must increase. Our lamps well oiled, our lights will shine. The oil is the word, daily pondered, like the oil in the tabernacle to supply the light stand. Our prayers are the incense ascending to God as a sweet smell daily.

In our calling we are serving God in the Holy Place, preparing to meet God in the Most Holy Place. The priests of old had special garments to wear. We have the equivalent garment being clothed with the truth as Paul describes our "loins girt about with truth." The truth believed and obeyed covers our shame as Jesus says in the sixth vial, "Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." Revelation 16:15.

So at the eleventh hour, let us "give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip." Let us do as Paul in Titus wrote to all believers, be zealous of good works, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of Jesus Christ.

Again in Timothy, Paul speaks "Preach the word; be instant in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." "Endure afflictions, make full proof of thy ministry." "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called." "Endure unto the end." "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward." "Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning." Hence a crown of righteousness will be laid up for us and we shall say "Lo this is our God, we have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." So let us now "Prepare to meet our God."

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Are We Allowed To Hate by Mrytle Brown

In Psalm 139, David (who represented Jesus) said about the enemies of God "I hate them with a perfect hatred." And "I count them as my enemies." How can we hate and yet try to be perfect? We need to remember that our whole life under Gods law is a discipline.

Discipline is not popular; to the young it can seem to be full of very irksome restrictions, to some it can seem as though too much emphasis can be placed on small things. Yet it is more often these small things in life which make up the overall character. Each time we overcome a small thing, it makes the next triumph much easier.

We must hate all things opposed to God, just as Jesus hated the enemies of God with perfect hatred. He told them "Depart from me ye wicked men."

We too should have no company with men who deny God; we ought never to feel comfortable with them. Our lives take us among many people but we can be selective. It is possible of course to turn some enemies of God into friends, and we should try never to lose a chance, a chance word, or a good example could be just the thing.

One of the best rules in our lives is "In everything give thanks."

Can we at the end of each day thank God for all we have said or done? Could we for instance thank God that we have hurt someone's feelings? That we have wasted our employer's time? That we have turned out shoddy work? Deceived someone? Joined in rude talking or jokes with others? Of course we couldn't!

But if we had lived a day as if we were in the Lord's house, then we could thanks God for a day in which we had gained and given much happiness. How much better to thanks God for something than to constantly say "forgive me."

Perfect hatred is likely to involve us in some very searching self examination. We must remember first and foremost that we are "forgiven sinners" not righteous saints.

We have only to think of our natural tendencies that are with us all the time, idle words that are the result of indiscipline within us. They show our state of mind and when we are older we must not think that we have cleverly overcome our bad and frivolous habits, when all we have done is grown out of them. That is not overcoming.

Overcoming is what Jesus did when he resisted all temptation by the strength he had gained from always doing his father's will and praying often.

We too can gain strength through prayer, the very act of closing our eyes and speaking our inner most thoughts and asking for forgiveness is a divine arrangement for easing our hearts of the burden of sin. God arranged this long before the physiologists thought of it!

God wants us to speak to him through Jesus, but that does not relieve us of our responsibility. David wrote of God's love and care for those who trust in him, but he did not neglect to be very skilful in self defence. He did not expect God to protect him from the lion and the bear, which were ordinary hazards of his occupation as a Sheperd.

He knew it was of God that he killed Goliath, but he took his sling with him. We will never be perfect, but we can try. We must always have our weapons of the truths warfare ready, we can only do that by reading, praying, and more reading.

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The Hope of Israel by Myron Biernat

The Mustard Seed by Myrtle Brown

This seed was the least of all the seeds in the beginning, and the greatest of all the herbs at the end of its life! This is like the kingdom of God in every aspect. To an idolatrice people one old man was called from his wealthy home and given a promise of great things if he obeyed God. His neighbours must have wondered what he was up to and perhaps he had gone mad? He left all friends and all he knew, and set out with a tent, all his animals and servants to go to a land he did not know. But he was sure and as he lived among the Canaanites, quietly and confidently, that he would posses this land.

So the little mustard seed was sown in Abrahams mind, he has a real conviction that God's promises were true, and yet he lived a life of worrisome problems, full of trouble and strife until he died, never having got what was promised but to his dying day knowing that he would. Hebrews 11:8 says that he dies in faith knowing that all God said would come to pass.

Abraham now lived putting up and taking down tents where there was grass for his animals, trying to keep out of bother with the Canaanites, he worried a lot about his nephew Lot in cities he knew would not be good for him, trying to keep peace with Sarah and Hagar, getting quite old and yet having no children. He eventually lived in fear of the kings of Canaan. He has a troublesome life until he died, so he, like us, cannot enter the kingdom of God without trials.

Can you imagine the awesome surprise when Abraham rises from the grave and he sees how large his family has grown? There are now 1 in 500 people in the world a Jew, and yet he was 99 years old when he had his only son Isaac.

When first spoken about to a Gentile, the Kingdom of God was so small it was just a promise. But now, slowly as we read the scriptures and see how God treats Israel we see it growing and coming closer. We know, as Abraham, that we have to be committed to obeying his commands.

We now see the Kingdom of God, or the mustard tree, grown almost fully, and when Christ comes and rules with righteousness throughout the World, that Jews and Gentiles will be able to come under the promises given to Abraham.

They will be fulfilled with Christ and all nations will want to be with the Jew. All the birds of the field will be able to seek shade in her branches. A knowledge of the Kingdom of God is the way to know what was meant by the mustard seed.

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