The Law: Its Functions and limits

ROMANS Chapter 7:1 – 8:4

I find it exciting to read the exposition of ROMANS by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

He is preaching through the whole letter verse by verse and sometimes he has 3-4 sermons on one short verse.

That’s what we need these days.

Sometimes I have trouble putting the book down! I am now on page 205!

“You are being watched,” is written underneath the picture I am looking at just now in our local paper, The Northland Age, Thursday, December 11, 2014. On the image you can see two people fitting a camera at Kaitaia’s Z service station.

But we are not only being watched by state of the art CCTV systems.

The Bible tells us in Second Chronicles 16:9:

“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD RUN TO AND FRO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH, TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG IN THE BEHALF OF THOSE OF THEM WHOSE HEART IS PERFECT.”

Read also first Corinthians 28:9; Psalm 94:11; Daniel 2:20 and Job 42:2.

All those verses teach us that God has all knowledge, that nothing is hidden from Him.

With other words God is omniscient.

OMNISCIENCE is only one of God’s natural attributes. He is also omnipresent (He is present everywhere at the same time) and omnipotent (He possesses all power).

An attribute is a quality, property or unique characteristic of something.

People who know and believe that they are being watched by the eyes of the Lord, do not really care that they are being watched by high definition, highly visible CCTV equipment to deter would-be robbers. They are obedient to the commandment which says, “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)

Churches are for sale all over New Zealand. (Northern News, December 10, 2014)

A parish council chairwoman says that:

—  “Christian worshippers on a  regular basis are dwindling.”

—  “we are almost a third-world country when it comes to Christianity.”

—  “we need to minister to ourselves instead of sending people overseas.”

This church in Cambridge in NZ is now a coffee shop

In the article I am reading that there is one church for sale in Whangarei. It used to be an Exclusive Brethren church, before it became a funeral parlour. The building has a commercial kitchen and a walk-in chiller.

“Latest Statistics New Zealand census figures show the number of New Zealanders who affiliate with a religion has dropped 5.5 per cent since 2006, a trend reflected in any area except Auckland, which had a 1.2 per cent increase in the number of religious residents.”

But let us always remember that the church is not a building, the church is the people.

Type “SAINTS” into the search box and read the post!

Who is that?

Marsden Cross

Picture / D. Plummer

“On Christmas Day, 1814, the first Christmas service in New Zealand was held on this spot by the Reverend Samuel Marsden,” is inscribed on the base of the Marsden Cross.

His text was Luke 2:10:

“BEHOLD I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY.”

The Marsden Cross was erected on March 12th 1907.

On the 100th Anniversary (1914)

a special service was held at the cross.

On the 150th Anniversary (1964)

another service was held. The Preacher was the Reverend M. E. Marsden, great great grandson of Samuel Marsden. He came especially from England to preach.

Many, many Christmas services have been held since 1814 all over New Zealand.

Marsden Cross

Picture / D. Plummer

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See also Bicentennial Celebrations on this blog!

KEY

“The Lord Himself must open the heart, to receive the things that make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the hole of the door and open it, and get admittance for Himself.” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

In our local paper, The Northland Age, Thursday, November 27, 2014, I read last month that the founder of Duffy Books in Homes, Alan Duff, had some hard-hitting advice for the children in the schools, this time for the students of Pompallier Catholic School.

Pompallier Catholic School in KAITAIA

He told the pupils that if they decided to have no interest in books, that they would be failures in life.

He said also that if they decided that reading was not for them, they were making a conscious decision to be failures.

And here are his own words:

“If you had a chance to read and didn’t use it, bad luck. You’ll end up in a stupid job.”

The Bible is a book. In fact the Bible is THE BOOK OF BOOKS. The author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit.

What hard-hitting advice do we have for people who have decided that they don’t have an interest in the Bible, who have decided that reading the Bible is not for them?

Please let me know!