faith mattersfaith matters 6Issue 6important spiritual matters for you

By Clive Barber, Queensland, Australia

The answer to that questiondepends entirely in what orwho your faith is in! Let me tellyou my story of how Faithreally does matter.

I was born in 1976 in SoutheastLondon. I had a normal upbringingwith my parents caring kindly for me.I have many happy family memories –treats, bike rides with my dad, hotmeals, clean clothes, and a goodeducation. One vital aspect of myupbringing was my association with areligious group called the ExclusiveBrethren (now the PBCC). Born intothis sphere, baptized as a baby andgiven the bread and wine (Lord'sSupper/communion) each Sunday fromas young as I can remember, I wastaught that I was in a highly privilegedposition in the ‘Holy Fellowship ofGod’s Son’. I was also taught that theleader of the group was a man who

This copy of faithmatters comes to you with the compliments of:

We hope you have enjoyed reading this pamphlet and that you will decide toread the Bible for yourself. We are not asking that you join a church, or become ‘religious’ or turn over a new leaf, but that you find the Lord JesusChrist as your personal Saviour and Friend. He can forgive your sins and assureyou of peace in your life and a place in heaven.

If you do not have a Bible or New Testament of your ownthen do purchase one. They are available quite cheaply inmost bookshops like Waterstones, or W. H. Smith, and in different versions to suit your reading taste.

Contact us through our website www.faithmatters.org.ukwhere you can access a digital version of this magazine,order a New Testament and other helpful booklets, readthe Bible, and of course email us. Distributors can orderthe next issue there as well.

Look out for the next issue of faithmatters in 2016, DV.

What think ye of Christ?

“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” ― William Carey

QUICK QUOTE

fm

Does faith

5 The ultimate selfie7 100% sure?

9 The Accountant of Auschwitz

R E A L LY M AT T E R ?

“I had until the weekend to move out of the house!”

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had been specially chosen by God, havingthe same authority as the Apostle Paul ofthe Bible. I was told that this leader wasinfallible and that he spoke words fromGod himself!

Nothing could have been further from thetruth! This organization was regulated byhundreds of rules and directives. So it wasnot surprising that, as I grew up, I found itincreasingly difficult to adhere to so manyof these regulations. One rule I struggledwith was the total prohibition of anypre-recorded music, even hymns. Being anatural lover of music, as a young teenager,I bought a Walkman and a few tapes,which I listened to intently in my bedroomat night. By the age of 17, I was deemedtoo rebellious and was excommunicatedfrom the group. This meant no interactionwhatsoever with any of the group,including any family members. I wasisolated in my own family home and silencewas the method of punishment.

One Wednesday evening two ‘priests’came to the house to inform me that I haduntil the weekend to move out of thehouse! With no offer of financial help, noprovision of a place to live, I packed up afew belongings and on the Fridayafternoon left home. I didn’t know God, Ihad no family and I was homeless in everysense of the word. To say that thesecircumstances were distressing would be

an understatement. I didn’t know howto cook, use a washing machine, ironclothes, or look after myself in a worldI really knew nothing about. Lodgingon floors of various folks, living in tinyflats, I soon became ill anddisillusioned with life. I made anattempt to go back home but was toldI wasn’t repentant enough. So Idecided to cast every restriction to thewind and live life just how I wanted to,with no accountability to anyone.

Soon I was living alife of open sin. I soon becameengaged in pettycrime, which led to greater criminal activities.

Eventually I wascaught and given

a 12-month conditional discharge. Idetermined in my heart to change mybehaviour and be different. In 1999, mygirlfriend and I decided to visitAustralia and New Zealand. Afterreturning to London, our relationshipbroke down and I felt I was back tosquare one again. The year was 2001and I didn’t care if I lived or died. Iindulged in drug and alcohol use andalmost lost my life on two differentoccasions. At the time I didn’t realize

where I would have ended up if I haddied without my sins forgiven, i.e. inHell. Eventually I decided that year torelocate to Australia! I managed toobtain a visa to live in Australia. I putit down to good luck, still refusing togive God any acknowledgement forHis continued goodness in my life. Onarriving in Melbourne, I obtained a jobin a furniture removals business. Nosooner had I started, when I realizedmy employer was a Christian. Myworst nightmare I thought! Little didI know the gracious hand of God’sprovidence was upon my life!

One day my boss made the commentthat, speaking about someone else,that person was living in sin. ‘Living inSin’... God used that phrase to awakenme as to my need of salvation. I couldsee clearly that I was living in sin andhad been my entire life. No earthlybirthright, baptism, religious rule –keeping could change the solemn factthat I had been born in sin and neededto be ‘born again’.

Under great conviction of sin, I prayedsincerely to God to show me if He wasspeaking to me. That day I was packingthe house of a lady we would movethe following day. At 10 a.m. shemade me a coffee and we began totalk. In the course of the conversation

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she suddenly asked me if I believedin Jesus Christ. ‘Yes’ I told her, as Inever doubted that Jesus existed.She went on to tell me how shebecame a Christian! She had beenraised in a strict religious home inFrance and decided to leave whenshe was 21. As a result she had beenostracized by her family and hadmoved to Australia to escape it all.She had lived a sinful life beforegiving birth to a premature baby. Inthe hospital she cried out to God(prayed) in her time of need. AChristian lady in that hospital spoketo her and told her that she couldtrust in Jesus Christ for salvation –She did!

At that moment, I knew there wasa God and that in His kindness Hewas speaking to me! About 3 weekslater, my boss invited me to a gospelmeeting where an Englishman waspreaching. I went and that night itwas as though he and I were theonly two people in that packed hall.He read about a man in the Biblecalled Cornelius who, although hebelieved in God, feared God,worshipped and prayed to God, stillneeded to be saved! The preachersaid that night, “Isn’t it time youcame to Christ?” I knew it was time!I knew I had lived a life of self-willand sin. I left the hall, got into myvan and drove away. It was about8:15 p.m. on the 7th July 2002 on acold winter’s night when I pulled myvan to the side of the road. I was abroken 25-year-old man. My handsclasped the steering wheel and tearspoured down my cheeks.

My prayer that night was a cry offaith that would change the rest ofmy life and decide the destination ofmy eternity – I prayed,

‘LORD SAVE ME’!I placed my faith in the living LordJesus Christ! I trusted the one who,on the cross, had borne thepunishment I deserved as a sinner.The only individual to have overcomedeath, hell, Satan and the grave! TheBible states that: ‘Christ died for oursins according to the Scriptures, andthat He was buried, and that Herose again the third day according tothe Scriptures, and that He wasseen’, 1 Corinthians 15. 3-5. Finally, Ihad peace with God. Not only did Ifeel it within, but the Bible gave methe assurance I needed.

‘For whoever calls on thename of the LORD shall be saved’.

Romans 10:13

Dear reader, as a fellow humanbeing I implore you to analysewhat/who your faith is in! Is it in atheory? Is it in a person who leavesyou at the grave? Or is it in JesusChrist who has the power to forgiveyou of every sin and grant you thegift of God, which is eternal life!

‘Therefore, having been justified byfaith, we have peace with Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ’

Romans 5. 1

the

ultimate

selfie

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the wholeworld, and lose his own soul? Mk. 8. 36

Anna was only 18 years old the day she died. She wasplanning to take the ultimate selfie. The young Romanianteenager had climbed up on top of a train to snap a daringself-portrait to post on social media. Tragically, shetouched a live wire that sent 27,000 volts of electricitythrough her body. In her hunt for the ultimate self-image,she lost everything. Anna’s story is tragic, but she’s notalone.

The number of selfies on social media continues to grow.Some are willing to risk so much in their hunt for a‘self-image’ that will go viral. In 2012, Time Magazinenamed the term ‘selfie’ as one of the top 10 buzzwords ofthe year. Why are we willing to risk everything for apicture? Selfies are about presenting ourselves the way wewant people to see us. We want to be loved, desired, andsignificant. We are struggling to be accepted for who weare, and yet we are not fulfilled by the number of ‘friends’that ‘like’ us as a result of seeing the latest version of us.

by AndrewRobertson,Canada

in

pursuit

of our

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The Bible tells us that we havecome from one Creator – God.He made us a ‘living soul’ – aliving ‘self’ with infinite value.Our ‘self’ will exist forever. Weare made ‘in His own image’with desires that can only besatisfied in Him. We are morethan flesh and bones. Our ‘self-awareness’ sets us apartfrom the animals.

But tragedy struck and we lostour identity. The serpentpromised Eve, as recorded inGenesis chapter 3 in the Bible,that she would ‘become like Godknowing good and evil’. That wasif she would turn away from herCreator and make a name forherself. Taking the forbiddenfruit was an attempt to make herown identity apart from God.And as a result, we have all comefrom a long line of sinfulrebellion against the One whocreated us.

We are marked by disobedience.This is the true picture of thehuman heart. We’re foolingourselves if we think we can livewithout God. We can try toignore Him, but He is not goingaway. He is our ultimate Judgeand we must face Him onJudgement Day.

We will be held accountable forour personal rebellion againstHim. A guilty verdict in thatcourtroom is what the Bible calls‘losing your soul’. To beseparated from God forever infinal judgement is to suffer atotal loss of identity. You maysearch for acceptance all yourlife, but if you lose your ownsoul, you have lost everything. Itis only in the cross of Jesus Christthat we face who we really are.We are exposed in our sin, and atthe same time, we are loveddeeply by God. You cannot strikea pose that will please Him. Hetells you to come as you reallyare. He knows every thought,word and dark secret you havetried to hide. And Jesus Christ,God’s Son, took all that darknesson Himself and suffered thejudgement for it.

Here is the ultimate selfie. Turn from your sin. Forsake yourattempts to ‘dress up’ with yourgood works or religion. Come toJesus Christ as you really are.Guilty as charged. Trust Himalone as your personal Saviourand Lord. He will receive youand wash you clean of the sinyou’ve been desperately trying tohide.

If you’ve seen the movie, The DeerHunter, you will remember theharrowing scene in which Mikeand his two POW comradesgamble with their lives in ahigh-stakes game of RussianRoulette with three live bullets,spectacularly outwitting andoverpowering their Vietcongcaptors to free themselves. Suchare the extremes to whichotherwise cautious, sensiblepeople are sometimes pressed tosurvive. You probably cannotimagine yourself taking suchstaggering risks, but in similar cir-cumstances and against such odds,any of us might be driven to say,‘I’ll take my chance’.

It is really alarming that millionspeople gamble, not with theirlives, but with their eternal souls– with absolutely nothing to gain,but everything to lose! Recently,when asked about being ready tomeet God, one man replied, ‘I’lltake my chance’, as if theconsequences were no moreimportant than a football result,

or that the ‘odds’ are somehowfavourable, or that we simply can’tknow. None of which is true.

We can know because the Bibleplainly tells us – and theconsequences of not being readycould not be more serious, nor theodds of a favourable chanceoutcome more slim! Though manyhave discarded the Bible as anirrelevant, discredited book, thatsimply doesn’t match the facts –people who actually read it withan honest heart and mind findthat it consistently proves itself tobe both authentic and reliable –the Word of God.

Think about this: 1. The ‘chance’ of you falling shortof God’s standard is – 100%

If you are honest, you’ll admit thatyou don’t reach your ownstandards, nor those of others. Wecontinually disappoint one anotherwith our selfish attitudes andactions – which God calls sin.Though standards vary from

100% sure

I’ll take my chance

�

by Stephen Harper, Northern Ireland

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person to person, and change overtime, God’s standard is perfection,and never changes. We becomeangry when people we think areguilty go free, but don’t like to beaccountable for our own failures.That is not justice. By contrast,God is absolutely just – all arejudged impartially and havealready been found wanting –

‘For there is no difference, for allhave sinned, and come short ofthe glory of God’, Rom. 3. 22-23.

2. The ‘chance’ of you meeting God is – 100%

Benjamin Franklin said the onlycertainties in life are ‘death andtaxes’. You may manage to avoidsome taxes, but not death!Sooner or later we will all die –some while still young, otherswhen older – but all ‘will surelydie and become like water spilledon the ground, which cannot begathered up again,’ 2. Sam. 14. 14.Whether you want to think aboutit or not, death isn’t going to goaway – some day, sooner than youwish, friends and family will gatherfor your final farewell. They maylaugh and drink in your honour,but the Bible says death is aserious thing: ‘it is appointed untomen once to die, but after this thejudgment’, Heb. 9. 27. Revelationchapter 20 verse 12 says that ‘allthe dead will stand before God.

3. The ‘chance’ of you evadingGod’s justice is – 0%

Perhaps you think that you candodge God’s judgement, or thatHe will bend the rules for you. TheBible says that the appointedJudge – the Lord Jesus Christ – isrighteous, Acts 17. 31, and that wecan be sure no one will escapebecause of His great power whicheven raised Him from the dead.

4.You can be 100% sure of beingforgiven if you trust Christ

The Gospel is Good News becauseyou don’t need to leave yourfuture to chance. The One who infuture will be the righteous Judgepresently has power to save:‘through this man is preachedunto you the forgiveness of sins:and by him all that believe arejustified from all things’, Acts 13.38-39. In love to us the Lord JesusChrist died to take the punishmentour sins deserve, so that God mayfreely and completely forgive uswithout compromising His ownstandard. His free gift of salvation– eternal life – is received bytrusting Jesus Christ as Saviourand Lord. Don’t gamble withyour soul’s eternal destiny.

Trust Jesus Christ and be 100% sure.

1. This man was accessory to300,000 murders, yet he gotfour years in prison, does thatseem righteous to you? Meneither! But then what sentence

could be given that would beappropriate? The man is 94 andhas pretty much escaped justicein this life. What this shows us isthat justice is not and cannot be

The Accountant of Auschwitz

Paul McCauley, Belfast

I was interested to read about the conviction ofthe former SS sergeant, Oskar Groening,known as the accountant of Auschwitz. He wasconvicted on 300,000 counts of accessory tomurder and sentenced to four years in prison.As I thought about him, his trial and hissentence, there were a few things I thought wecould learn:

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accomplished on earth. What acomfort it is then to rememberthat justice will be done. God hasappointed a day in which He willjudge the world in righteousness,Acts 17. 31. The impossibility of realjustice in this world points to aworld to come. We can be gladthat there is justice coming for themurderers and dictators of thisworld, but before we get toocomfortable let’s remember thatjustice is coming for all of us. Godwon’t draw the line where wewant Him to draw it. He will judgein absolute righteousness, whichmeans we all are condemned.

2. Just because a crime wascommitted a long time ago doesn'tmean the criminal should get offthe hook. Groening's offences werecarried out over 70 years ago, butwe recognize that it is stillappropriate that he faceprosecution. The reason I mentionthis is because when I speak topeople about the need of salvation

it is necessary to show them thatthey are guilty before God. So I tellthem about God's law and askthem have they ever broken it, sayfor instance by telling a lie? Quiteoften the person will saysomething like, "Well, yes, Isuppose I did tell a few lies when Iwas younger, but I don't do itanymore." But of course, even if it'strue that you haven't told a lie in a

long time, it doesn't mean youshould get off the hook for thelies you have told. Groening couldhave said, "I haven't committed acrime in 70 years." But I don'tthink any of us would accept thatas a legitimate defence against thedemands of justice. We areresponsible to God for our sins

from the moment we becameresponsible for our actions. Time isno defence.

3. Groening could have rightly saidthat there were plenty of peopleworse than him. He could havepointed to the people whoactually planned and carried outthe gruesome murders, surely hewasn’t as bad as them! That istrue, but absolutely irrelevant.

A Judge’s job is not to see howthe defendant measures up againstother criminals; it is to see howthe defendant measures up againstthe law. If the law has beenviolated then the person is guilty.This is obvious, and yet oftenforgotten when it comes to ouraccountability to God. So manythink that the fact that they aren’tas bad as many others means theywon’t be held accountable for thesins they have committed.Remember, God doesn’t measureyou by society’s standard; Heassesses you in light of His law.

So, we have broken God’s law,and judgement is coming. Whathope is there? Well, the answer isnone! Unless...there is someonewho is able and willing to step inand pay the penalty for us, andthat is why the Gospel is suchgood news, it tells us there is sucha person. That is the reason God’sSon went to Calvary’s cross.

The Lord Jesus willingly bore thepunishment our sin deserves andGod’s justice demands. He rosefrom the dead to show the pricehad been paid. We now have achoice, we can take what wedeserve, or we can plead guiltyand gratefully accept that the LordJesus took what we deserve.What will you do?

God hasappointed a day inwhich He willjudge the world inrighteousness, Acts 17. 31

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