And in the morning, it will be foul weather today

And in the morning, it will be foul weather today

When you rise in the morning, and take a survey of the heavens, it is a very usual thing with you to say, it is like to be windy or rainy weather today,
for the sky is red and lowring;
which shows, that the clouds are so thick that the sun cannot pierce through them, and its face is not seen; so that it may be reasonably concluded they will issue in rain, or wind, or both.

O ye hypocrites.

The Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel, leave out this appellation; but all other versions, as well as copies, have it: and it is an usual epithet, bestowed very justly by Christ, on these men; who pretended to be the guides of the people, took upon them to teach and instruct them in divine things, and set up themselves as men of great holiness, piety and knowledge; and yet, instead of searching the Scriptures, and comparing the characters of the times of the Messiah therein fixed, with the present ones, spent their time in making such low and useless observations, and which fall within the compass of everyone's knowledge and reach.

Ye can discern the face of the sky;

very distinctly, and make some very probable guesses, if not certain conclusions, what will follow, good weather or bad:
but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 
or, as the Syriac reads it, "the time", the present time: if they had not been blind, they might easily have discerned, that the signs of the time of the Messiah's coming were upon them, and that Jesus was the Messiah; as the departure of the sceptre from Judah, the ending of Daniel's weeks, the various miracles wrought by Christ, the wickedness of the age in which they lived, the ministry of John the Baptist, and of Christ, the great flockings of the people, both to one and to the other, with divers other things which were easy to be observed by them: but they pretend this to be a very great secret.

``The secret of the day of death, they say, and the secret of the day when the king Messiah comes, who by his wisdom can find out?''

"God's Love" Part-I

People say, "God is love." What does that mean?

God is Love. Those are words said by John in 1 John 4:8. I believe that what John was saying is that God’s character is the very personification of love, that in His actions we see His love poured out for us. 1 John 4 goes on to say: “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 

The amazing thing about the kind of love that God shows for us is that it is not dependent on anything we did, are doing, or will ever do. He loved us without our ever knowing one thing about Him. It was enough that God knew about us. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

The disciple John wrote more about love than any other biblical author. In his letters (1, 2, and 3 John), he wrote much about it being a word of action. He admonished us to love one another because God is love. 

John repeatedly stated that in one action, God absolutely demonstrated His love: He maintained that we could find God’s love in the life and death of Jesus, His son. Jesus left the comfort and beauty of Heaven to become man -- in every way. He was tempted; He suffered pain, thirst, hunger, sleep deprivation, grief, and loneliness -- all the things we might encounter. He experienced life and then He died the death of a criminal on a cross after being nearly being beaten to death. He did nothing to deserve death. He was totally without sin. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

In perhaps John’s most famous words of all, he said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God allowed all men to have eternal life and become joint heirs with His son just by believing that His son paid this price or ransom for their sins. “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). 

“The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). In the Old Testament, the blood of animals was used to cover up the sin. It never got rid of the sin. Romans 8:3 says, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own son in the likeness of sinful man, to be a sin offering.” “By that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). 

Jesus said, “The Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:27). And so we know and can rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16). 

Eternal Life

God promises eternal life to those who believe in His Son. It's in the Bible, John 3:16, NIV. "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."
Eternal life is a gift given to those who trust in Jesus. It's in the Bible, I John 5:11-12, NIV. "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

SIN

What is sin? It is the breaking of God's law. It's in the Bible, I John 3:4, CEV. "Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. "

It's in the Bible, I John 5:17, NIV.  "All wrongdoing is sin…..."

What is God's law? The Ten Commandments, He wrote it with His own finger in tables of stone. It's in the Bible, Exodus 20:3-17, NKJV.

• [1] “You shall have no other gods before Me.
• [2]“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 
• [3]“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 
• [4]“ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
• [5]“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 
• [6]“You shall not murder. 
• [7]“You shall not commit adultery.
• [8]“You shall not steal. 
• [9]“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
• [10]“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The basic principal of God's law is summed up in one word—love. It's in the Bible, Matthew 22:37-40, NIV. "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Sin comes from within - from the sinful desires of our hearts. It's in the Bible, Mark 7:20-23, TLB. "And then He added, 'It is the thought-life that pollutes. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts of lust, theft, murder, adultery, wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, and all other folly. All these vile things come from within; they are what pollute you and make you unfit for God."

We are all sinners; we have all sinned. It's in the Bible, Romans 3:10, NKJV. "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, no, not one'"

It's in the Bible, Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"

The penalty for sin is death. It's in the Bible, Romans 6:23, NKJV. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

God the Son, came to our world to save us. It's in the Bible, Matthew 1:21, NKJV. " And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

How does Jesus save us from sin? Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, and gives us His perfect righteousness. It's in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Does God hate sinners? No, Christ died for us even though we are sinners. It's in the Bible, Romans 5:8, NKJV. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

If we confess our sins to God and ask Him to forgive us, He will do so. It's in the Bible, I John 1:9, NKJV. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

What if I'm not sure of what all my sins are? It's in the Bible, Psalm 139:23-24, NKJV. " Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties;  and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Is there any sin God cannot forgive? It's in the Bible, Matthew 12:31-32, NKJV. "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

Note: The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin for which we do not repent and ask forgiveness. Sinning against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, because it is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, and if we resist Him and refuse to listen to Him, we are making it impossible for Him to convict us of sin and lead us to Jesus for forgiveness.

Baptism is a symbol of the fact that we are turning away from sin and trusting Jesus for a new life of victory over sin. It's in the Bible, Luke 3:3, TLB. "Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned to God and away from their sins, in order to be forgiven."

If you feel like a hopeless sinner, what should you do?

First acknowledge your sin. It's in the Bible, Psalm 51:2-3, NKJV. "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me."

Second, ask forgiveness for your sin. It's in the Bible, Psalm 51:7-12, NKJV. " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.  Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."

Third, believe that God has indeed forgiven you - and quit feeling guilty. It's in the Bible, Psalm 32:1-5, NKJV. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.  I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin."

Grace

Salvation comes through grace—it is a gift from God. It's in the Bible, Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

Everyone can receive the grace of Christ, which develops grace inside the receiver. It's in the Bible, John 1:16, NKJV. "Andof His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

God's grace is our only hope! It's in the Bible, Nehemiah 9:31, TLB. "But in your great mercy you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!"

Does grace do away with God's law? It's in the Bible, Romans 3:31, NIV. "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."

Grace is not a license to sin, but power unto salvation and righteousness. It's in the Bible, Romans 6:15-18, NKJV. "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness"

In the grace of Christ, is power and strength. It's in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NKJV. "And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Grace is available to us at all times we need it. It's in the Bible, Hebrews 4:16, NKJV. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Christ's life and sacrifce are the embodiment of both grace and truth. It's in the Bible, John 1:14, NKJV. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth"

Christ's death show God's law and grace are not enemies, but go hand in hand. It's in the Bible, Psalm 85:10, NKJV. "Mercy and truth have met together;  Righteousness and peace have kissed."

God's grace is offered to us through Christ's death and justifies us without compromising the holy law.  Through Christ's death, justice can forgive without sacrificing any part of its exalted holiness. It's in the Bible, Romans 3:23-25, NKJV. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed"

God's grace makes our salvation possible. It's in the Bible, Ephesians 1:7-8, NIV. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

God's grace is patient. It's in the Bible, Romans 2:4, TLB. "Don't you realize how patient He is being with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see that He has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance."

Friendship

Real friendship involves loyalty. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 17:17, TLB. "A true friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need."

The best friend to have is Jesus. It's in the Bible, John 15:15, NIV. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you."

Choose friends who love the Lord and have pure hearts. It's in the Bible, II Timothy 2:22, TLB. Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts that young men often have, but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right. Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts."

What characteristics make you a good friend? It's in the Bible, Philippians 2:3-4, TLB. "Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing."

Gossip can destroy friendships. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 16:28, NIV. "A gossip separates close friends.

Friends are worth keeping. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 27:9-10, TLB. "Never abandon a friend—either yours or your father's. Then you won't need to go to a distant relative for help in your time of need."

A friend cares enough to be honest with you even if it hurts. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 27:6, TLB. "Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy!"

How does Jesus' death save us?

Martin Luther said that as God, He could not die, so He became man in order to die. On the cross, he accepted the sin of man against Himself. As a perfectly innocent man he accepted the injustice of man against man.

The death of Christ accomplishes reconciliation, or reconnecting us back to God. Romans 3:25 says, "...whom God set forth as a propitiation" for our sins. "Propitiation" literally means "something that appeases a deity." However, in the Biblical sense it means much more than this. It can mean to "accept hurt", to "forgive", to "show mercy." As sinners we transgress God's perfect law and have no legal right to exist. But God himself who sits as Judge accepts the hurt, pays the price, forgives, and offers mercy.

If a husband should say a harsh word against his wife, and the wife does not retaliate, but lets the word fall upon her heart and crush her spirit; if she forgives and treats her husband as though he had offered only words of praise she pays the price of his sin against her.

It is this way that God pays the price of our salvation. The Bible does not say that Jesus paid a propitiation, but that He is a propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:25, 1 John 2:2; 4:10). This means that He, being God, bears the hurt in order to give mercy and forgiveness.

The Bible has many other ways to show how God Himself bears our sinfulness in order to bring us back into fellowship with Him. The story of the prodigal son is one example (Luke 15:11-32). In this story, the father representing our Heavenly Father, accepted the son back into his home and heart even though the son had taken things that could not be restored.

This is what God is like. The cross speaks to mankind for all time. It is graphic enough to reach the most hardened criminal, as well as the most sensitive humanist. Christianity not only acknowledges the cruelty to God in the cross, but dwells on the reconciliation that was won by the cross. The Bible says: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:10).

Christianity focuses on the loving favour God bestowed upon each one who receives the salvation of the cross. The Bible says: "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). This means that peace with God, eternal life, and a glorious future are ours through the sacrifice of Jesus. We may never fully understand it, but we experience the peace, love, and joy that flow from the cross.