Why must we die?

The Bible states that 'it is appointed unto men once to die'. This most obvious of facts is among the most distressing things that we human beings face. I have a friend who committed suicide just before Christmas about eleven years ago. Why - I can speculate but I do not really know. One my friends in Liverpool then found that her partner's nephew has been found dead in his flat. Death comes to us all but why?

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Ezra

 

The Book of Ezra is a story of return, restoration, and renewal. This story begins with broken people in a foreign land and ends with a restored people gathered again around the Word of God. But more than that, it is a story that whispers the gospel. It shows us that God does not abandon His people, even when they have wandered far. He moves history, stirs hearts, and rebuilds lives. Ezra is not simply ancient history; it is a portrait of the God who still saves.

The book opens with a remarkable declaration from Cyrus, king of Persia. After seventy years of exile, God moves the heart of a pagan ruler to send His people home. Ezra wants us to see that this is not a political coincidence but divine compassion. The Lord “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus” (Ezra 1:1). The gospel begins here: salvation is always God’s initiative. As Paul writes, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God acts first. God moves first. God rescues first.

The returning exiles are a small, fragile remnant. They are not impressive. They are not powerful. They are simply people who have been shown mercy. And that is the gospel again. God does not save the strong; He saves the needy. He does not gather the self‑sufficient; He gathers the broken. The returning Jews remind us of the words of the Lord Jesus: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

When the people return to Jerusalem, the first thing they rebuild is not the city walls, nor their homes, nor their economy. They rebuild the altar (Ezra 3:2). Before anything else, they restore worship. They know that their greatest need is not safety or prosperity but reconciliation with God. The gospel tells the same story. Our deepest need is not a better life but a new life. Not self‑improvement but forgiveness. Not a fresh start but a new heart. And that comes only through the sacrifice of Christ, the true altar. Hebrews reminds us that “we have an altar” (Hebrews 13:10)—a place where the perfect sacrifice of Jesus brings us near to God.

After the altar comes the temple foundation. When it is laid, the younger generation shouts for joy, but the older generation weeps (Ezra 3:12). They remember the former glory. They see how far they have fallen. Yet God accepts their mixed emotions. He is patient with their weakness. The gospel shines through again: God meets us where we are, not where we wish we were. Christ does not wait for us to be strong; He comes to us in our frailty. “A bruised reed shall he not break” (Matthew 12:20).

But as soon as the work begins, opposition arises. Enemies discourage, accuse, and intimidate the builders. For years, the work stops. Ezra wants us to understand that God’s work is always contested. The gospel is not a smooth path; it is a narrow one. Yet God is faithful. In His time, He raises up prophets—Haggai and Zechariah—to speak His Word and strengthen His people. And the work begins again. This is the gospel pattern: God sustains what He starts. “He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

We should never forget!

24 years ago 246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights. 2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning. 343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift. 60 police officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol. 8 paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift of saving lives. None of them saw past 10:00am Sept 11, 2001. All of them ushered out into eternity.

This reminds me that we must always remember tomorrow is not promised.

There is no more important thing than knowing we are ready to meet our creator should tonight be our last.

The Bible says - Prepare to meet God

And, 'boast not about tomorrow for you do not know what a day will bring forth'

Thankfully it also says:

For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life, John 3 v16 

What do you think about dying?

The subject of “assisted dying” has been exercising the minds of many people these days, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. Truly death and dying are serious subjects, but not just for discussion or decision by others in Parliament, but rather for each of us to prepare for it before it comes our way as it surely must. Death is one of the few certainties associated with life.

Unsurprisingly the Bible has a lot to tell us about death and indeed how to prepare for it. Of course it also tells us a lot about life and how to live it well for however many years we may be given. But uniquely and authoritatively its pages describe to us what comes next, after death. It unveils the beauty and bliss of heaven for all who have chosen Jesus Christ as their saviour from sin. It gives to believers the assurance of being with Him for all eternity freed from all the troubles of this life whatever these were. A Christian’s death is described as “dying in faith”, and “departing to be with Christ which is far better”.

Do you make the same mistakes more than once?

 

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

One of the common problems we all have is our weakness to resist temptation. It is the same for every one of us. We often explain it away by saying ‘we are only human’ or ‘it’s my weakness’ or similar phrases. The simple fact is that we are flawed by nature and there are things in life that we find very hard to resist. Having said all that when a person gets saved or becomes a Christian, they are a new creation, 2 Cor. 5. 17. They will still feel the struggle that is caused by temptation, but they now have new life and the Spirit of God to strengthen them and keep them from falling.

Scripture Reading

Let no one say when he is tempted,

‘I am tempted by God’;

for God cannot be tempted by evil,

nor does He Himself tempt anyone

James 1:13

Today’s verse is saying that God does not have a problem with evil. He is not attracted to it. This is best illustrated in the life of the Lord Jesus. When the Devil came to tempt Him, it is stated that there was nothing in Him that responded to his advances, John 14. 30. So simply put God does not struggle with evil not did the Lord Jesus. If only we could say that; but things are so different for us.

We all have a daily battle, see Romans 7, with right and wrong. Some days are worse than others and some things are more of a temptation than others. Resisting thinking wrong things is a problem but once a person is saved it can get more intense as their conscience is keener than before. Thankfully, they have the Holy Spirit to appeal to for help. 

In closing do not lose sight of this. God never tempts us to do evil. He may test us at times, but it is never His purpose for us to sin. In fact, he wants us to learn to resist temptation and to be aware of our weaknesses. Submit to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you, James writes in chapter 4 verse 7.   

Cover - UP (Truth Suppressed)

Cover-UP

This is a term, used increasingly, to describe a situation where the truth has been suppressed, the facts have been misreported and people misled by a string of lies and a web of deceit. This is done deliberately to obscure the truth and to allow the guilty to appear innocent.

The recent Leveson inquiry attempted to discover the truth behind phone-hacking scandals and shockingly intrusive journalism that had been tolerated for years without people being fully aware of the full extent of such deplorable malpractice. The inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster, when many football fans were trampled to death, was carried out to reveal what really happened on that tragic day of the 15th. April 1989. A concerted effort had been made by the police to shift the blame onto the fans and only now are we discovering who really was to blame and what actually happened. Again and again, demands are made for public inquiries to try to ascertain the facts and disclose the truth. After years of silence and deception, many are finally being brought to justice for crimes they had covered up for decades.

Money could keep you out of heaven!

 

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Suggested Bible Reading for today - Mark 10:1-27

Life is busy, time is money, and there are many questions on my mind. Meet the man who thought money could buy everything!

His question was – ‘What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ The key to the man’s question are the words ‘do’ and ‘inherit’. He was a self-made man; everything he had achieved resulted from what he had done. He probably had worked hard for everything he had. He thought of eternal life as something he could inherit. An inheritance is wealth that someone has worked hard to accumulate, and the people who inherit it have a right to it. He wants eternal life, but he doesn’t understand that you don’t get it the way you get wealth and possessions. 

The Lord checks his life out against the Ten Commandments. The man reckons he has scored ok on this one (remember, this is his evaluation, not God’s). At this stage, we read a touching comment – ‘then Jesus beholding him loved him,’ v.21. Then the Lord touches a raw nerve in the man’s life. He says to the man, who has everything, you lack one thing, so ‘sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me,' Mark 10.21 NKJV. The Lord Jesus is not telling him that the act of selling up and giving to the poor will save him. He says that money and possessions were his idols (ours may be other things) and that he needs to deal with the thing that keeps him from following Christ. He must also obey the rest of the command, i.e. ‘take up the cross, and follow’. 

Thankfully, money and possessions did not keep me from salvation, but they could keep me from living for Him, taking up the cross and following Him.

 

Are you worrying? There’s an 85% chance that it will never happen.

Statistics say that 85% of what we worry about never happens. Paul, an early Bible writer and Apostle, once wrote a series of exhortations aiming to encourage Christians in Philippi. In the closing comments of the letter he encouraged them to ‘rejoice in the Lord alway,’ Philippians 4. 4. This is something we all need to be reminded about from time to time. When things get on top of us we often forget to see the blessings that we have.

Next, Paul encourages them, in verse 5, to be gentle and mild in their behaviour. This attitude is beautifully expressed in the translation of the word ‘moderation’ as ‘sweet reasonableness’. To emphasis how important it is to live in this way Paul reminds his readers that the ‘Lord is at hand’. This could mean that the Lord is near (in other words they can be confident that He is with them) or that the Lord’s coming is near (Jesus will come again as He promised). Both statements are true and should affect how we live.

Paul then warns about being anxious and not trusting the Lord. It is so easy to forget that the One who upholds the universe, Col.1.17, is the same One who cares for us, 1. Pet. 5. 7. There should not really be any issues that we are not prepared to bring to Him and to leave in His hands. 

The antidote to worry is prayer. We should pray remembering the greatness of God. We should pray asking Him for help and direction with our problems and we should pray with a grateful heart of appreciation for who God is and what He has done.

We should be specific about our problems when we talk to God as He is interested in every issue that we face. These prayers may be one second prayers, like Nehemiah in the Bible, Neh. 2. 4-5, or they might be more detailed accounts of the issues that we face in life.

All of this will be very strange to you if don’t yet know God personally in your life. Why would you talk to someone you don’t know? The Bible makes it clear that sin separates us from God, Isa. 59. 2,  but that if we ‘repent and believe the gospel,’ Mark 1. 15, we can have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5. 1.

As you pray you will know the peace of God despite not necessarily knowing the answers.

Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened”. Many agree wholeheartedly that we should pray when we are in a state of relative calm but we often feel that we fail bitterly when the pressure is on and we are at our wits end.

Death - Can you really face it with hope?

Death seems hopeless but let me remind you that even in a hopeless situation there is hope to be found in Jesus.

Facing Death

From time to time I visit people who are sick. Sometimes I call at their homes, but often I pop into the hospital to see them. Hospitals can be very sad places. The circumstances and struggles of life and the prospect of facing death are often confronted head-on in a hospital.

Nurses, Doctors, Porters and Cleaners are often amazing people. Their skills and abilities far exceed the basic requirement to clean, transport and provide medical care. Usually, it is these unrecognized people who have a kind word to say and the ability to encourage, amuse and lift a person’s spirit. They are quite an amazing group of people.

Sought and Found

SOUGHT AND FOUND

In February 2013, an 18-year-old British backpacker went missing in the Australian outback for three days. He was young, healthy and very fit, since he was a keen long-distance runner. He had been working on a cattle station in Queensland and decided to go for a jog. In the heat of some 40oC he became disorientated and instead of running back to the cattle station and safety, he was going in the opposite direction. Thankfully, there were folks searching for him and he was found during a helicopter search of the region. It must have been a dreadful ordeal for this man and his family; almost unimaginable.

Why do we die?

The Bible states that 'it is appointed unto men once to die'. This most obvious of facts is among the most distressing things that we human beings face. I have a friend who committed suicide just before Christmas about ten years ago - why I can guess but I do not really know. Shortly after that one of my contacts in Liverpool found that her partner's nephew has been found dead in his flat. 

Death comes to us all but why?

The Bible tells us why. It is because of sin. 

The Bible states that we die because we were born into a fallen race. The first man, Adam, brought 'sin into the world and death by sin'. 

We also are all in the habit of sinning and the Bible states 'sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death'. We all sin, fail, hurt, lie, disobey etc, and therefore the moral and physical result is death.

But Jesus said 'I am come that they might have life'. 

How can that be true? We all still die! That is true physically but when a person comes to Jesus, by confessing our sin and asks him for forgiveness, they receive eternal life. The Bible says 'He that hath the Son hath life'. God promises in his word, The Bible, that 'he that cometh to me I will no wise cast out'. The Lord Jesus said 'come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest'.

This is actually only possible because 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'. The Bible puts it like this 'The Father (God) sent the Son (Jesus) to be the Saviour of the world'.

Amazing! God intervened to solve the human tragedy of death but His only course of action legally was for someone else to die in my place. The only person who qualified was Jesus. His death was voluntary because death had no claim on him, He could not sin, and did not, which is why death had no claim on him. The Lord Jesus willingly died to save me from eternal death in Hell and the Lake of Fire.

What about you will trust the one who can deliver from the 'fear of death'?

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well

A gift you can’t buy

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

A heavy splash was followed by many ripples and then the water below the pier was still. David Morse, a missionary crouched on the low Indian pier. His eyes were riveted to the water, straining to see his Indian friend swimming in the deep. In a moment a dark head appeared. Then the old Indian pearl diver clambered on to the dock, grinning as he shook off the water. “This will be a good one,” said Rambhau, handing a large oyster to David Morse.

Prying open the shell, David exclaimed, 

“Have you ever seen a better pearl! It’s perfect, isn’t it?” 

“There are better pearls, much better. Why, I have one that...” 

Rambhau’s voice trailed off. “See this - the black speck here, and that tiny dent. It’s just as you say about your God. People look perfect to themselves, but God sees all the imperfections.”

Death or Life?

 

All photographs courtesy of Unsplash

For weeks now we watched the statistics about coronavirus deaths and infections mounting up. They are terrible to think about, and we long to hear of the numbers reducing and eventually disappearing. Worldwide, it is hard to take it all in, and what the eventual totals will be is hard to imagine.

 

The authorities need the statistics to map out the progress of the disease, and from their viewpoint, it’s the numbers that matter. But behind the numbers, there are mountains of grief because each one in that total was someone’s close relative, someone’s dear friend, a life cut short unexpectedly. 

The First Words on Radio

'Are You Ready?’ were the first words transmitted by radio across the waters of the Bristol Channel from the small island of Flat Holm, nearly four miles off the coast, to Lavernock Point near Cardiff, in May 1897. They were the words of the assistant of 23 year-old Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, the young Italian nobleman, who had recently arrived in the UK from Italy to further his radio experiments. The radio conversation went on ‘Can you hear me?’, and the reply was ‘Yes, loud and clear’, all of course rendered in Morse code. Less than five years after this event Marconi was transmitting the first-ever radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. Twelve years later he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his radio work.

Radio communications at sea soon became very important. At the British enquiry following the Titanic disaster in June 1912, the chairman, H. Babington Smith, summing up, said: ‘Those who have been saved, have been saved through one man, Mr. Marconi ... and his marvelous invention’.

So almost 120 years ago, the simple words ‘are you ready’ were the beginning of great developments with lasting consequences.

The same three words spell out a question that has to be asked today in connection with God’s good news, ‘the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ’. Now the question is about being ready to leave this life for the next. If you want to be sure of a place in heaven after death, then you need to be saved now, because that is the only way to get ready according to the Bible. Of course, most people think that if there is a place called heaven, then our behaviour now decides our worthiness’ to be there. They think that the key to heaven for us is our merit, we must deserve it.

Of course the Bible has something quite different to say to say. The apostle Paul in writing to some younger friends about getting to heaven and being save from hell, said ‘Not by works of righteusness which we have done’ and ‘not according to our works’. He had written earlier to friends in Ephesus in modern-day Turkey, and said why this was, ‘Not of works, lest any man should boast’, Eph. 2. 9. In other words, if someone could arrive in heaven, having earned a place by their works, then they would have plenty to boast about, but this will not be so he then went on to say, on these three occasions that it is God who saves us.

What does it mean to be saved, and how do we get saved? To be saved means to be rescued. The rescue in Bible terms means deliverance from the penalty of our sins which we actually deserve. Most people forget about this when they are thinking about earning a place in heaven. However, this is what God had been working to do. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross as a sacrifice for sin. Faith in him brings deliverance and rescues us from God's eternal punishment.

All because ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’.

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

Tragedies - who is ultimately to blame?

We often hear of tragedies! They shock us and often produce an impulsive reaction. Earlier this year we heard the horrific news that an alligator had dragged a two-year-old boy into a lake at Walt Disney World. Disney closed all the beaches at its resorts. More than fifty law-enforcement personnel searched the lake. They eventually found the boy's body and presume that he drowned.

Some blamed Disney for not posting signs warning about alligators in the water. Others were quick to blame the parents. As with the boy who fell into a gorilla pit in Cincinnati, people on social media lambasted the mother and father who allowed their son to play in the water.

Why do we feel such a need to assign blame when tragedy strikes?

According to the United Nations, 437,000 people around the world were murdered in 2012 (their most recent report). However, National Geographic reports that 725,000 people die every year from diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. Freshwater snails transmit schistosomiasis, which kills between 20,000 and 200,000 a year. Annually, snakes kill 94,000 to 125,000; scorpions kill 3,250; sharks kill six people. And there's no one to accuse for any of these tragedies.

It's human nature to blame others so we can maintain the illusion of safety for ourselves. I can say that I wouldn't have allowed my children into the Disney lagoon, but how many other times did I unknowingly put them at risk?

Obviously we should prevent every tragedy we can. But we should also admit that much of life is beyond our control:

•    "You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes", James 4:14.
•    "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring",
Proverbs 27:1.
•    "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble", Matthew 6:34.

The same law of gravity that enables us to walk causes us harm when we fall. Alligators are essential to the Florida ecosystem but dangerous to humans. We cannot have natural laws without the consequences of these laws.

So control what you can and trust your Father for what you cannot. Make sure that the biggest danger in life, death, is covered so that when the unexpected happens you are safe.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, Acts 16:31.

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

50 Years on - Aberfan is still remembered!

50 Years on - Aberfan is still remembered!

By John Thorn, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9146083

The Aberfan disaster was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip in the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, that killed 116 children and 28 adults on 21 October 1966. The collapse was caused by the build-up of water in the accumulated rock and shale tip, which suddenly slid downhill in the form of slurry.

More than 1.4 million cubic feet (40,000 cu metres) of debris covered a section of the village in minutes. The classrooms at Pantglas Junior School were immediately inundated; young children and teachers died from impact or suffocation. Many noted the poignancy of the situation: if the disaster had struck a few minutes earlier, the children would not have been in their classrooms, and if it had struck a few hours later, they would have left for the half-term holiday.

By John Thorn, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9146083

There is no easy answer to the question as to why such a thing should be allowed to happen. What had these children done to deserve to die so young? Nothing, apart from living in world where tragedy and sin exist and where disasters are unavoidable due to the fact that we live in an imperfect world. 

Often children suffer because of what adults do. The so called innocency of youth camouflages the fact that they have the same gene pool as each of us - they are also sinners and subject to death. The bible is clear when it states that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even our little darlings are sinners - time proves this to be the case. 

But what happens to a child who dies so young? Are they condemned for being a sinner without the opportunity to repent and believe the gospel. You have the opportunity to consider God's offer of salvation and may choose to reject it but what of the child who dies without this opportunity?

I believe that the bible teaches that a child, who dies before they are able to understand and accept or reject the gospel automatically goes to heaven. The death of Jesus Christ covers them. If you are interested I can send you details of why I believe this to be the case but I feel this is the teaching of scripture. 

But remember that is not the case for you. You have the capacity to believe the gospel, to understand the seriousness of your sin and repent and trust Christ for salvation.

Have you ever done this?

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.