Graffity Artist  GRAHAM HOETE

“NEIGHBOURS DAY AOTEAROA

24 – 25 March 2012″

“It’s good to know your neighbours”

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NEIGHBOURS

Let me give you first of all two definitions. The first is from THE COLLINS CONCISE DICTIONARY and the second is from the BIBLE.

— “a person who lives near or next to another.” (The dictionary)

— A neighbour is someone who shows mercy to someone else. (THE BIBLE, Luke 10:30-37)

GOD HAS MERCY ON US.

Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples writes in his first letter about the great mercy God has given us. What is his great mercy?

He has given us new birth.

That means that we have a second birthday and that we begin a new life. My second birthday was when I was eighteen years of age.

He has given us a living hope.

The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. That is also my HOPE! Titus 2:13, RSV

Please read First Peter 1:3-9.

WE MUST HAVE MERCY ON OTHERS.

How can we do that? In many ways of course.

But I think that we show others the greatest mercy when we tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ, wenn we tell others about our living hope and the new birth.

“ARCHIVISTS report that more information has been lost in the past decade than in the preceding 150 years.  It is too easy to press the delete button.” –

Reader’s Digest , February 2010,  IS IT JUST ME? Lamenting the dying art of handwriting,  page 23.

 The Graffiti Artist GRAHAM HOETE  at work in KAITAIA.

THE LOVE OF GOD……..     THE WRATH OF GOD……

John 3:16 tells us about THE LOVE OF GOD and  I am able to quote John 3:16 from memory in three languages, namely in German, English and Thai. John 3:16 ‘”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.'”

But when it comes to THE WRATH OF GOD  I had to look up the concordance at the end of my Bible to find a verse that speaks about the wrath of God. I found Romans 1:18 where it says, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,…”

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THE LOVE OF GOD

I have been thinking for a long time that we are putting too much emphasis on the love of God in our preaching  – my pulpit is the world – and not enough on the wrath of God. The balance is not right. Psalm 5:5 “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: THOU HATEST ALL WORKERS OF INIQUITY.”

Today I found that confirmed when I read something written by Martyn Lloyd – Jones.

He says that for the last onehundred years we have talked and written much about the love of God. But true appreciation of God’s love has been much less evidence in spite of all that.

Why is that? 

THE WRATH OF GOD

I don’t think we want to hear about the wrath of God.

People who read the Bible and listen to good Bible Teaching know about the wrath of God.  I have learnt about the wrath of God before and read about the wrath again today.(  Martyn Lloyd – Jones again! )

When can we really see the love of God? When can we really appreciate the wonder of the gospel? When can we really appreciate the glory of the gospel?

The GOSPEL is the “power of God” and “in the GOSPEL a righteousness from God is revealed.” (Romans 1:16,17)

 We can do all that only in the light of God’s hatred of SIN! 

I think Jonathan Edwards got it right when he preached his sermon “SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD.” “Their foot shall slide in due time.” – Deuteronomy 32:35.

Preached  on July 8, 1741, at Enfield, Connecticut.

 I have the sermon here and I think I will read the sermon!

“I Love…..”

“I LOVE my library,” it says on the bookmark, I picked up yesterday at the local library here in Kaitaia.

I LOVE your commands. “I love your law!”  “I love your statutes.’ “I love your precepts.” says the writer of Psalm 119 in the Bible.  (Psalm 119:47; Psalm 119:97; Psalm 119:119; Psalm 119:159)

I have many books in my library, but the book I love most in my library is the BIBLE. Why? Because the BIBLE is the WORD OF THE LIVING GOD!

 “I LOVE you, O LORD,…” says David in Psalm 18:1 and the writer of Psalm 116 says also “I love the LORD,….” (Psalm 116:1)

 I also belong to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, because the main theme of the BIBLE is  the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is also the key to understanding the BIBLE.

And this is what  John, the beloved disciple, says in First John 4:20

“If anyone says ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.”

“We are here to serve,”  said the voice on the other end of the line when I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for solving the issue so quickly and efficiently.

The phone conversation from some time ago came to my mind today while reading the book of Joshua in the BIBLE in my quiet time. In the chapters eleven and twelve of Joshua Moses is several times called the servant of the Lord.

“As the LORD commanded his servant Moses,..” . Here the LORD is calling Moses his servant. “….Moses the servant of the LORD……” it says in Joshua 11:12 and twice in Joshua 12:6.

I remember a fellow missionary in Thailand sweeping the floor. It must have been at a conference. He became the field leader in Thailand.

“For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ranson for many.”  -Mark 10:45.

Can I say, “I am here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ?”

POWER!

“Power Products”, “Outdoor Power equipment”, “HONDA, The Power of Dreams”.

I am reading all that while I  am doing my business in my beautiful home town Kaitaia, in the north of New Zealand.

I remember also that I read “More Power to you” in a letter many years ago before I went to Thailand as a missionary. The letter was written by a missionary – Field Leader of  Thailand – to the home base leader in Germany.

I am from Germany and at that time I was just about to complete my canditates course at the German HQ in Eppstein near Frankfurt/M. ( WEC International e. V. , Weltweiter Einsatz fuer Christus )

 “More Power to you.”

Who has true Power? Who has the ability to exercise authority effectively? The answer is GOD ALONE!

In Matthew 28:18 we read that the Lord Jesus Christ had all authority  given Him  by His Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ used this power and he gave authority to his disciples.

1.  The Lord used his power to forgive sins. (Matthew 9:6)

The Lord Jesus Christ heals a Paralytic.

2. He used his authority to cast out evil spirits. (Matthew 10:1)

Here the Lord Jesus Christ gives his disciples authority to do three things:

a. to drive out evil spirits, b. to heal every disease, c. to heal every sickness.

3. The Lord Jesus Christ gave authority to His disciples to become children of God. (John 1:12,13)

The Lord Jesus Christ gives us the right to become children of God, children born of God.

a. Not born of natural descent.

b. Nor of human decision.

c. Or a husband’s will.

But we must receive Him. We must believe in His name. Do you believe in His name?

4. He gave  authority to his disciples to share in His work. (Mark 3:14,15)

He is sending his disciples out to preach and  to have authority to drive out demons.

One book in the Bible is called ACTS and in the book of ACTS we see  the power of God the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the early Church.

Acts 4:7

In Acts 4:5-7 the rulers, elders and teachers are confronted by the power of God, the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:33 The apostles testified with great power.

Acts 6:8 Stephen had power. He did great wonders and miraculous signs.

Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. The Lord did good while he was here on earth. I was also under the power of the devil. But He healed also me. Please read the verse!

Yes, more power to all the true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ!

THIS GENERATION NEEDS GOD

“We’ve got the Power!”