The Lord's cursing of the fig tree

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 31 MAY 2026 – MR CRAIG DENNISON

READING: MARK 11 VERSES 1 TO 26

The Lord’s cursing of the fig tree

Our story is set in the last week of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ which is often referred to as the Passion Week. Now, the word ‘passion’ is not a reference to emotion. Rather, it comes from the Latin word ‘passio’ which means suffering.  It is the week of his suffering or the week that leads up to his suffering. And on the first day of this week of the Passion Week, it is the day that we refer to as our Lord's day but for the Jews was the first day of a new week, day one.  the first day, the Sunday is a day of activity. It's a day when the Lord descended down the Mount of Olives and he beheld the city of Jerusalem and he wept over that city. He wept over the people. He wept over the place. On that day he made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He sits on the colt as people put their garments on the ground. They cut down branches to welcome him into Jerusalem. and how quickly that is going to change. The people, are full of praise, saying, "Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And if you didn't know what happened after that, you would think after the first day, this is going to be a glorious week. This is going to be a week when Jerusalem embraces Christ. This is going to be a week when even the religious people fall down and adore him. If you were told after day one what would happen on day seven, you would scarcely believe it. As that day draws to a close, the Lord Jesus Christ retreats to Bethany with the 12 disciples. And it appears for most of that week that the Lord stayed in Bethany with Mary and Martha and Lazarus. In fact, whenever the Lord was in the area, that is generally where he stayed. Bethany was about 2 miles from Jerusalem and it would have taken them an hour to walk there. After all the events in Jerusalem, the Lord and his disciples make the journey out to Bethany. And then we move on to day two. And day two is where we are focusing this morning.  Verse 12 says, "And on the tomorrow when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry." Notice it doesn't say “they were hungry.” It only mentions Christ as being hungry. It is very unlikely that he was not offered breakfast at the house of Martha. We know that Martha had quite the reputation for hospitality. You will remember a previous occasion whenever the Lord was teaching in their house and Martha was cumbered about with much service. And where was Mary? She wasn't helping her sister. She was sat at the feet of Jesus listening. And Martha complained thinking the Lord would tell Mary off. But the Lord praised Mary saying she has chosen the better thing. Why did the Lord leave her house hungry? It is most likely that Christ rose early to pray. We often read about this in the life of the Savior. He got up early in the morning to pray. He went up into mountains late at night to pray. Before everybody else had rose, the Savior was away to pray, seeking the face of his Father early in the morning. And then the disciples meet him. They begin the journey to Jerusalem. And as they journeyed to Jerusalem, the Lord sees a fig tree. As he approaches this tree for fruit he finds no figs. He does something that many people think is strange. He curses the fig tree. He speaks to a tree and he curses it. He pronounces judgment upon it. This miracle stands alone in all the miracles of Christ. Verse 20 tells us, "The next day they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots." The Lord cursed the fig tree and it was cursed. The next day it was dead. It didn't just begin to die, it was fully withered, dried up from the roots. Obviously now a dead tree in the space of 24 hours. What should have taken effectively months to happen the Lord has quickened so that it's obvious even to the disciples that this tree is cursed. Now this miracle is very different. It stands actually in contrast to all the other miracles because all the other miracles of Christ were miracles of mercy. He gives sight to the blind. That's mercy. He made the lame to walk. That is mercy. He fed the 5,000 when they were hungry. That is mercy. He brought the dead to life. That's mercy. But this miracle, it's not a miracle of mercy. This is a miracle of judgment. And it is the only miracle of judgment. The only other miracle that comes close is whenever Christ healed the demoniac of Gedara and then sent the legion of demons into the herd of swine and they ran down into the sea and the swine were drowned. But even that was a miracle of mercy and judgment. But the cursing of the fig tree is the only miracle of judgment in the life of our Saviour. What is so significant about this miracle? Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ displaying his authority over all of creation. He's not just the Lord over the souls of men. He's not just able to physically touch the bodies of men. He's showing that he can even control nature. That if he orders a tree to be cursed, it's cursed. If he orders it to be dried up from the roots, it will come to pass. All things we are told were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. That is John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16. We are told, "For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and for him." The fig tree was created by Christ and it was created for Christ. You and I, we were made by Christ and we were made for Christ. Your life is not your own. You were made by him for him. The very purpose of your existence is to live for Christ. But Christ did not curse this fig tree without a cause. The gospels do not record this event to fill paper. The Holy Spirit moved the writers to write this down. Christ has a purpose in cursing this fig tree. He had lessons to teach his disciples and because it's in the Bible, there are lessons that you and I are to draw from this here today. Let's think of the miracle of Christ cursing the fig tree.

Number one, notice the appearance of the fig tree.  Most of us are unfamiliar with the design of fig trees. We don't have an awful lot of them here in our beautiful sunny climate. They're more likely to be found over in the Mediterranean and in the hot climate over there. But the fig trees are very resilient. They can live for decades. Some have even been reported to live for over a hundred years. Normally a fig tree will produce two crops every year. But there's something unique about the fig tree. The fruit often comes before or at the same time as the leaves. Now if you think of an apple tree the leaves come before the fruit. Normally the fruit is the end result of the tree flourishing. But the fig tree is different. The figs come before or with the leaves. The leaves very rarely appear before the fruit.  In verse 13 it says, "Seeing a fig tree a far off having leaves." If the leaves are there, that means the fruit is there because the fruit comes first.  This gives the impression or at least an expectation that there's fruit upon this tree. If the tree has leaves it is likely to have fruit.  The profession is that this tree, this fig tree is a fruitbearing tree. But sadly, it is a tree that is giving a false profession. It is a tree that is deceiving people. It has leaves and people come to it expecting to find fruit and they find none. In fact, verse 13 says he found nothing but leaves. Christ came, he searched the tree, he found no figs, he only found leaves. He had been led to believe that this tree had fruit. But as he got closer, as he examined, as he lifted every leaf, looking behind for figs, he found none. This tree was given its moment of inspection. What are we to draw from this? There are great parallels in the life of the fig tree and those who profess to be the Lord's people. Some will call themselves Christians. They will say, "I have the leaves of Christianity. I have the leaves of a profession of faith. I have the leaves of church attendance. I have the leaves of baptism. I have the leaves of living a righteous life.” But they can lack the real fruit of Christianity. They might have the outward leaves showing themselves to be a Christian, but they can lack the fruit. They can lack saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They can lack the fruit of repentance of sin. They can lack the fruit of regeneration. We can have that outward appearance, the leaves, but we can lack the fruit. We have one opportunity to be fruitful in this lifetime. God gives you your whole life to be fruitful. Not to gather leaves, but to have real fruit. One day the Lord will come and make that final searching of us. And he's not looking for leaves. He's looking for fruit.  Have I the real fruit of genuine Christianity? Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I know him as my Lord and my Savior? Have I repented of sin? Am I daily repenting of sin and living by faith in him?  

Secondly notice the desire of Christ. Verse 13 “if happily he might find anything thereon.” The desire of Christ was to find figs on this tree. He wasn't coming there making some sort of gesture saying, "Well, I will go here, but I hope there's nothing here so that I can curse it." No, he went to the tree genuinely seeking, genuinely desiring figs upon the tree. And just as he desires to find the fruit upon the tree, so he desires to find fruit of real genuine Christianity in my life and your life. The Lord isn't hoping that you fail to produce fruit in your life. The Lord isn't desiring that there would be no faith in your heart. No. The Bible says “he is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance.” The Lord wants there to be in your life and my life real fruit of Christian conversion. Figs are a picture of regeneration. But what is regeneration? It is the change wrought in us by God the Holy Spirit. The Bible paints a picture of us - that we are those who are “dead in trespasses and in sins.” We need new life in Jesus Christ and only the Holy Ghost can work this in us. The Lord Jesus Christ refers to Nicodemus as being “born again.” That is your current life. It is a life of deadness and sins. You need a new life. You need to be born again of the Holy Ghost. Ezekiel speaks of God taking away the old heart, the stony heart, and giving us a new heart, a heart of flesh. This is what Christ desires to find when he searches our life. That change, that regeneration within us. In Luke chapter 13 verse 6 to 9 we have the parable of the vineyard dresser. In that parable we read that for three years the owner came and searched the fig tree for fruit and he found none. The vineyard dresser pleaded for one more year and if there was no more fruit in that last year it would be cut down. We are not actually told what happened at the end of that parable, whether it produced fruit or not but the point isn't the outcome of the tree. The point of that parable is God's patience with the sinner. He gave them one year and there was no fruit. He gave them another year and there was no fruit. He gave them a third year, but this was going to be their last year. There was no fruit that year. The tree will be cut down. As each year passes with us, if we're not saved, if we're not converted, if we don't have the true fruit of Christianity, God one day will decide this is your last chance. This will be the last year that you have upon the earth. It will be the last day. It will be the last minute. It will be the last second. The important thing is that we are prepared to meet our God. That we have the fruit of real Christianity within our lives. The Lord wants to find fruit in the lives of those who profess to be his. He wants to save sinners. That is the whole purpose of his mission, “to come into this world to seek and to save that which was lost.” He freely offers himself in the gospel to sinners to be believed upon. That's what he wants to do. He wants to save lost souls. Christ is desiring fruit in the lives of sinners. He's not setting us up to fail. Christ came to the tree hungry, desiring fruit. Christ is sincere in granting salvation to the whosoever will come to him.  What fruit is Christ looking at in our lives? This is where we go a little bit deeper this morning. If you turn to Galatians 5 verse 22, we see the fruit that Christ wants from us. The Lord doesn't say, "I want fruit in your life, but I'm not going to tell you what it is." No, it is spelt out for us in the word of God, the exact fruit Christ is desiring. “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.” Let us start with the first one. The fruit of the spirit is love. God wants us to have love. Not just to love those who love us, not just to love our family. He wants us to love him. He wants our affections to be directed towards God. He wants our emotions to be in tune with his. He wants us to love him for giving us the gift of life. He wants us to love him for sending his son into this world to be our Saviour. He wants us to love him for his mercies that he extends to us day by day, for all the benefits we receive from his hand. He doesn't want us to be cold towards him. He doesn't want us to hate him. He wants us to love him. As you love your spouse, as you love your children, as you love your family, as you love your country, God wants you to love him. And he wants you to love him more than anything else. That is a fruit that God desires in our heart. In fact, it's the very first fruit that God wants. The greatest commandment is this: “to love the Lord thy God with all thy body, soul, mind, and heart.” That is what he wants us to do. He wants the fruit of repentance, the fruit of faith, the fruit of holiness. He wants the fruit of prayer, a fruit of a love for the word of God, a desire to worship him. And we could go on. These are the fruits that Christ is desiring in our lives. He came into the world to be a Saviour. As Saviour, he saves sinners. He gave the Holy Ghost to do that act of regeneration and the work of sanctification. That is holiness within us. It is often a slow work but it will lead to genuine fruitbearing in the life of the Christian. That work should certainly be happening within us. The day we are converted is only the first step. Every day thereafter is another step on the journey to God. We might look in our hearts and realise we are not what we should be but by the grace of God we are not where we started from.

The third heading is the examination of Christ. In verse 13 we read that he found nothing but leaves. Nothing but leaves. There was a false impression given here to the world. Anybody who passed by said “that is a fig tree.” But only when you went to examine it closely you found nothing. We can be guilty of the same. The whole world might look at us and say, "Well, there's a Christian. They go to church. They never miss a meeting. They carry their Bible. They're never seen without it. They're able to quote the Bible. They're able to maybe talk about spiritual things and have a Christian conversation.” We can give that appearance of having leaves. Many people have leaves in the world today. We can think of our Saviour’s day. There were the religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees. If you lived 2,000 years ago, you would say, "Well, that's a religious person." But they hated Christ. They put him to death. They had the leaves, but they had no fruit.  Dead religion is only leaves. The sad thing is, we could love our leaves. We could be very proud of our leaves of false profession. And we could be careless, but there's no fruit within us. Like Adam and Eve, we could hide behind our leaves to cover our nakedness and our shame, to try and hide from God the fact that we have no fruit. But God can see the heart. He could see Adam and Eve, but they were naked and ashamed. And he can see us as well. The story of the fig tree is in two parts. You have the cursing of the fig tree and then you have the temple cleansing and finally the last part of the story of the fig tree.  The story of the cleansing of the temple is sandwiched in between this story of the fig tree. It is there for a reason. Just as the leafy fig tree promised fruit but had none, the temple system looked impressive. The temple was just a temple of leaves. It had no fruit, no possession at all. Jews were going in and out of the temple looking religious, sounding religious, acting religious, but it was all leaves. There is no fruit. Picture your spiritual life as a fig tree. Christ is coming to you and searching your life for fruit. If he was here today to go through your life, would he just find the leaves of a false profession? Or would he find true genuine fruit of faith and repentance, love for God? The priority for you and I is to have fruit.

Which leads me to my fourth and final point here today, the judgment of Christ. Some people don’t like this miracle because of its nature. They struggle to think that the lips that spoke words of healing, peace, and love would also speak words of judgment. They like to focus upon the mercy of Christ, the love of Christ, and they reject any thoughts of judgment. Yet Jesus spoke of judgment and condemnation more than 60 times in the 4 gospels.  Why do some people take issue with Christ cursing the tree? Some people don't like to think of being judged by Christ because they don't want to think of the consequences that come with judgment. But to ignore, minimize, or reject this miracle is to basically get a black pen and mark through these verses. The Bible clearly presents Christ as the judge of all the earth. The apostle says that “he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed heir of all things.” The Bible also says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  Christ is the judge of all the earth. He has the power to judge, but he also has the power to curse and to pronounce judgment as well.

There are some solemn lessons for us to draw from this miracle. There's some soul searching to do in our own hearts. Do we have the fruit that the Lord is looking for? Has that salvation truly been wrought within us? Are we genuinely converted? Are we the Lord's people? Do we belong to him? Have we a seat in his kingdom and around his table? Do we know with assurance that whenever we leave this world and we enter into the next life that we will hear the words, "Come, ye blessed of my father."

Notice the pronouncement of judgment here in verse 14, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever." The Lord has immediately pronounced a judgment. No second chance, no purgatory. You had your opportunity. The judgment has been pronounced. In Matthew 21 we read the same story.  Matthew records a little bit more of what the Savior said. “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth forever. And presently the fig tree withered away.” Right before their eyes, Matthew said, the fig tree started to wither. The sentence of death wasn't coming. It came the moment Christ spoke. This is a solemn reminder of the power of Christ. Verse 20. “And in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots completely dead.” Christ is a judge with power. Some judges in this world have no power. They maybe make a ruling, but then the police don't enforce it. They have no appetite to enforce it. But Christ, he is a judge with power. This fig tree began to wither the next day. It was dried up from the roots. It's obviously a dead tree. Christ has the power to save, but he also has the power to punish. And then in verse 14, we see the purpose of his judgment. “And his disciples heard it.” Christ did this before his disciples as a lesson.  Matthew Henry said, "Christ made an example of this tree, not to other trees." He made an example of this tree to men. Christ was warning men. Judas was there. Judas was warned. Peter was warned. James and John were warned. Peter was amazed at the act of this tree. Verse 21. “And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursest is withered.” We should not be amazed at the judgment of Christ. His judgment is a righteous judgment. We should tremble at the thought that he would search us, find nothing, and curse us. There's nothing worse in this life than to be cursed by God. To be separated from God for all eternity. It's an awful judgment. You might think it's a terrible affliction to have pain, to have sorrows, to have depressions, and those things are trials in their own right. But it's far worse to be found with no fruit and to be judged by God.

What was the whole purpose of this lesson? Let’s read what Christ says in verse 22. This is the whole purpose of the cursing of the tree. “Have faith in God.” That is the lesson that Christ is teaching from the cursing of this tree fig tree. Not gather more leaves, a false profession. Not clean up your life a little bit more by yourself. No, that's just adding more leaves. The conclusion that Christ wants you to have from the cursing of this fig tree is to have faith in God. And having faith, bear the marks of a child of God. Live like a child of God. Have the true and genuine fruit within your life. The leaves do come with the fruit. We're not despising church attendance. We're not despising Bible reading. Those things are true, but they're part of the fruit. Don't just take the leaves without the fruit. Have the fruit and the leaves going together. It's sometimes the case that those who are the most anxious about the lack of fruit are those who are maybe bearing fruit, although perhaps not as much as they would like. But it's also true that there are some who comfort themselves that they are the Lord's but without any self-examination for fruit in their lives. Peter says, "Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” Be sure that you are the Lord's. Paul said, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobate."  This is the repeated message of scripture from Jesus, from Peter, from Paul. Examine yourselves whether you are the Lord's. We thought of the curse of Christ. And the curse is to be judged by Christ in your sin. The curse is to be separated from God for all eternity. The curse is to face the wrath of God for your sin. The Bible tells us what's going to happen on that day of judgment. There will be a separation of the believers and the unbelievers. Those who bore fruit and those who had no fruit. Why be cursed by the king when you could be blessed by him? Have faith in God and live a life of faith. It is possible for you and I to have fruit because as Paul said in Galatians 3 verse 13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us.” We can be spared the curse because Christ was cursed in our place on the cross. And he doesn't tell you to start a life of good works. He tells you to have faith in him. That's where it all begins. If that's not where you've begun, may you begin there today by looking to Christ, believing in him, trusting in him, knowing that it's not of you that you are saved. It's all of him and his grace. May there be that fruit of faith, repentance, love to God found in all of our hearts here today.

Forgotten but not forsaken

 

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SUNDAY 24 MAY 2026 – MR PHILIP GRAHAM

GENESIS 40 - FORGOTTEN BUT NOT FORSAKEN

 

We all know the story of Joseph, of how he grew up at his father's house, how he had dreams as a boy, how his brothers had tried to kill him, but then they sold him into slavery. He had been wronged. He had been sold as a slave. Then he went to Potiphar’s house, and there he was accused wrongly. And then he was thrown into prison. And here we find Joseph in prison. Joseph's been mistreated, misrepresented, misunderstood and now He is imprisoned. And in the midst of it all, I think you'll agree with me that Joseph remained patient. He remained calm. And he kept his testimony intact. You see, Joseph never seen himself as a victim, but as a victor waiting for his liberty. A brief glimpse of Joseph's life here reveals the trials he was called to endure. As I say, his brothers rejected him. He became a slave in a foreign land. Think about it. He had been sold into a foreign land, didn't even know the language, had been thrown out and expected to perform a job. Then he was falsely accused. If it wasn't bad enough that he was a slave, he was accused wrongly. Now he is in prison. And through it all, he refused to be a victim. Joseph knew what the writer of Genesis records for us in chapter 39 and verse number 21 “But the Lord was with Joseph.” Joseph knew the Lord was with him. I wonder this morning, do you know that the Lord is with you? Joseph was able to claim this promise. Joseph knew in his heart that the Lord was with him. And that truth alone made this prison spell a bit more bearable for Joseph. As we take a look at this man, Joseph, I want you to remember this one truth this morning - that the Lord was with him. The Lord was with him. If you're saved this morning, you can claim that promise every single day. The Lord is with me. I want you to join Joseph in prison today. His experiences there have many lessons for us this morning. This passage finds Joseph shut up, shut off, and shut down, but still, he serves the Lord. Still, he is faithful. And sometimes the path of life leads us into prison circumstances. We all face hardships and trials, and we too can feel shut in. We can feel shut down. And sometimes in that time we feel forgotten. We feel neglected. And many times, we are forgotten. And you'll see as we go on here with all the best intentions here, Joseph was still forgotten. And maybe that's where you feel this morning. You feel in your Christian walk that I am forgotten. But even though man can let us down, man may forget us in the prisons of our life, the Lord never forgets.

 

Firstly, I want you to look this morning at Joseph and his prison duties. Look at verses 1 to 4. “The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them and they continued the season.” While Joseph waits in the prison, he receives some company. Two men are thrown into prison with Joseph. They're former highly placed servants of Pharaoh - Pharaoh's butler and his baker. The butler was Pharaoh's cup bearer. It says here when anything was to eat or drink, this man would have been in charge of that and he would have brought the drink or the food before Pharaoh and the cup bearer would taste it first just so if anybody was trying to poison the Pharaoh the cup bearer would take the hit. So this was a highly trusted individual. And the baker was the same. He was in charge of the king's food. He was in charge of making sure that everything was right and perfect for the king. So these two men would have held very high positions in the king's court. They would have been in charge of his welfare, of his food, of looking after the king. But for some reason, there was a problem with Pharaoh's food. And these two men end up in trouble. They're cast into prison. And when these men get to prison, they received preferential treatment. They weren't thrown into the darkest part of the dungeon. That just shows you how important these men were. These men, if you like, were treated like celebrities of their day. And when they were put into prison, they were given Joseph. And Joseph's job was to look after them and to make sure they were all okay. And of course, the prison guard picked Joseph. Why did he pick Joseph? Because he knew there was something different about Joseph. He knew that Joseph would give these men the best treatment because Joseph was different than all the rest of the prisoners that were there. He was handpicked by his seniors. And on the on the surface, this seemed to be just another assignment given to Joseph. This was just another job that Joseph would have to do. But in reality here, we see God's providence. We see God starting to move. We see God's sovereignty working in Joseph life once again. God had just brought Joseph face to face with the man God would later use to secure his release from prison. We should never discount this morning those seemingly small twists, those turns, those insignificant encounters. Some people would say, "Oh, that was just a chance meeting." Some people would say, "Oh, that was just another job for Joseph." But what no one could see was how God was moving, how God was working behind the scenes, bringing everything together for Joseph's greater good. And the same is true in our lives. Never discount those small moves. Never discount those chance encounters. Those chance encounters that may turn out to be the meeting of a lifetime. You know what we sometimes would say? Oh, that was just an accident. That was just a coincidence. It is really God working in our lives in a great way. Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." God orders those minute details. Don't take them for granted. I don't know where you're at this morning, but you are feeling your prison condition at the minute, but God's working things in the background. God is bringing things into place. Maybe not in your time, but He is bringing things into place in his time to work all things for his glory. And What is Joseph doing in that time? He is just doing something very simple. He has been faithful. Joseph has been faithful in his duties. He has been called. He is stuck in prison. He has been given a job. He could have said, "I am not doing that.” No, Joseph was faithful. You see, I believe Joseph wanted others to see that in the middle of his drama, in the middle of his circumstances, that Joseph was worshiping and following a person far greater than the than the prison guard. Joseph was following God. Joseph was worshiping God. When we get to circumstances like that, it is so easy for us to throw up our arms and say, “you know what, I am giving up. I've had enough.” But Joseph's prison duties were to look after these men. We too need to be faithful to God, to trust him, to just sit back and wait for God to move.

 

Secondly, I want you to look at prison demeanours. Verses six and seven. As Joseph went about his duties, he saw these two men. In verse number six, “and Joseph came in onto them in the morning and looked upon them. Behold, they were sad.” Do you ever wonder why that verse is there for? “Behold, they were sad.” Who cares? They're in prison. They're sad. You can understand their sadness. They didn't want to be there. They were prestigious men. I am sure they were well paid. They were well looked after. And in verse six, it records, "Behold, they were sad.” After all, they have been removed from their position, but they are only going to be there for a short time. But why? Why are they sad? They'll be getting out soon. But there's Joseph on the other hand is there to stay. He doesn't know when He is going to get out. He hasn't done anything wrong, but He is stuck there. He is a stranger in a foreign land in prison. He is no chance of getting out. But is Joseph sad? No. Joseph is concerned about their welfare. He reaches out to help them through their prison experience. How easy it would have been to have put the focus back on himself. We would have been worried about ourselves and how we are going to get out of our prison. But not Joseph. Joseph's demeanour was completely different. Joseph wanted to see these men. He wanted to check in on them. He wanted to make sure they were okay. You see, life isn't fair sometimes. But Joseph didn't look at himself. He looked at these men and he wanted to sort them out. He wanted to help them. And what a lesson that is for us this morning. When we come across people who are sad, what do we do? Do we stay away from them or do we go over to them and say, "Brother, sister, is everything all right? You look sad this morning. " You know, Joseph didn't look at it himself, but he looked at others and how we must do that as well. These men did not know the Lord Jehovah. The Egyptians would have their own religions. But yet, Joseph had concern for these unsaved men. He was concerned for these people who were sad. Joseph was going to be able to draw alongside them. These men who were unsaved, they were unlearned. They had their own religion. They followed their own idols. But Joseph was able to draw alongside them and say, "What is wrong?" and through his experience Joseph was able to bring the Lord into the situation. We must use our circumstances and our situations to draw alongside those people in our own neighbourhoods, in our own streets, in our own town. We are so disconnected, aren't we, from our neighbours? We are so disconnected from those around us. We are so connected with our phones and everything else and technology. But do we know our neighbours? Do we know those around us in this estate? Do they know us? Do they say “oh there's your man. He is going to church again.” “There's your woman and she is heading to the prayer meeting again.” Do they watch us? Or do we just sort of keep ourselves to ourselves? Here was Joseph. Now, he had no choice in the matter. He was in prison with them. But in our walk in life, we'll come across these people all the time. There are people out there and they are sad. And the reason they are sad is because they are searching. And in their search, they are looking at you and they are reading you. And these prison guards and prisoners would have been looking at Joseph and as they studied Joseph and the way he conducted himself, they would have realized there's something different about that man and why He is in prison. Maybe he has told them the story about what happened to him in Potiphar's house. Maybe they are probably thinking to themselves “this is terrible, this man is in here and he didn't do anything wrong but look at him, look at the way he conducts himself. They trusted Joseph. This wasn't some chance meeting that these men come in and said, "Here, I've had a dream here. Joseph, can you tell us what this means?" These men would have been watching Joseph. These men would have been studying Joseph and they'd have realized that there's something different about Joseph. I wonder this morning, is there something different about us? I wonder as people watch us what do they see? Joseph didn't call for a pity party. He did not lash out. Joseph was trusting in God. People were able to distinguish by Joseph's demeanour, the Lord was with him. I wonder this morning as people look at us do they say “the Lord is with that person. I can trust that person to talk to them because the Lord's with them and there's something different about them.” These men, they were sad. And Joseph drew alongside them. As Joseph drew alongside them, I am sure he was able to share with them who his God was. The God Jehovah, Yahweh, the covenant keeping God, I am sure Joseph was able to explain to them, “you know what? I don't know why I am here, but I trust God.” When we get to those seasons in life when we feel trapped in that what does God want us to do? Philippians 2 verse 4 “Let not every man look in his own things, but every man also in the things of others.” We are to look out for other people. And Joseph was looking out even in the middle of his prison experience. He was looking out for other people. We are called to bear one another's burdens. It is not easy because everybody likes to focus on their own issues, but it is biblical to care for one another. It is biblical to look out for those around us. You see, the fact is that when we get our eyes off our pains and our prison and get on to the needs and the problems of others, that will take your mind, take your heart off your own circumstance. Joseph may be in a prison and his dreams may seem to have been shattered. Remember, he had all his own dreams years ago. I am sure many a night he would have thought about them. They seem shattered and it may seem that he is here to stay, but Joseph still has joy. I wonder do you have joy this morning? Most people have no problem being joyous when they've no burden. Most folks can praise the Lord and they can laugh and they can smile when they're on the mountain top, but takes someone filled with genuine faith to praise the Lord. To be happy when the bottom falls out of life. Why is Joseph happy? Because He is serving the Lord where He is at. And the Lord is blessing him. Anybody can praise the Lord when they are filled with joy. When everything is going their way, When health is in their favour and they have no problems, but how hard it is, how difficult it is to praise the Lord when working through a challenge, that circumstance that you feel is going to be the end of you. When your heart is broken, most of us will be like the butler and the baker. We will. And we wear that sad face, that gloomy countenance. Can I encourage you to be have the demeanour of Joseph, that positive attitude? Remember that the Lord is with you. The Lord is in control.

 

Look at the prison dreams here in this chapter this morning. As Joseph checks in on these men, he asked them, "What is wrong?" One says, "Well, we dreamed a dream." I wonder what Joseph's thought was at that very moment. Did Joseph remember the dreams he had? He had dreamt about the sheaves, his brothers, and his father. He had dreamt about the sun and the moon bowing down to him. Joseph encourages him to tell him his dream. Deep down I believe Joseph knew that God would help him interpret those dreams. Joseph knew that it was only God who can give the interpretation. And by this example, Joseph was going to show them once again that the Lord was with him. That the Lord Jehovah was in control. Joseph could have got angry. He could have said, "You know what, Lord, you give me a dream and it never came true. Lord, you promised me this and look where I am at now.” He could have got bitter. That wouldn't have done Joseph any good. Joseph asked these men and he engages with them. He wants to know. He is concerned about their welfare. He is concerned the condition they're in in prison. She said, "Tell me about your dream." What a lesson for us today, for us when it seems like God has forgotten us. There will be times when it seems that those dreams we have had seem as if they have been derailed. What you do in those trying difficult seasons has a great deal to do with the Lord and how you view the Lord. Joseph never took his eyes off the Lord. Even in those prison experiences, Joseph never took his eyes off the Lord. Our duty in all the prisons of life is to actively seek ways to glorify God. Joseph was looking for the next thing to glorify God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Do all to the glory of God." That was Joseph's attitude here in prison. What is your job this morning?  So that as others watching you going down the street will say "That's a child of God." These men knew that Joseph was different. They would have known that the Lord was with him. And the reason we do everything to the glory of God is because God is good. God is faithful. God is perfect. He is just. And you might think that your circumstances are not good but our God hasn't changed. He is still good. He is still faithful. And we need to learn to glorify him when the sun is shining. And we need to glorify him when the rain is falling. And we need to look at ways to point others to him. Even though our hearts are breaking, we still should glorify God. Look at ways to bring glory to his name. If God is the God of the mountain, He is also the God of the valley. We must get that concept into our head. God is in control whether you feel like it or not. Our feelings are terrible. They fool us. They trick us into believing all is OK when they are not. Joseph had realized that God was in control through this whole thing. Do you know God personally? Do you know him as a God who loves you? If you don't know him this morning, can I encourage you to get to know him? God is in control of your life. You say, "But I haven't had a good life." God sent his son to save you from your sin. If you're still in your sin this morning, you are lost. And God in his mercy and in his goodness gave us a way where we could be right with him.

 

Look at the prison disappointments that Joseph faced. The dreams of the butler and the baker were fulfilled just as Joseph had said. The butler was restored to his office. The baker was executed by Pharaoh. Joseph had asked the butler to remember him - verse number 14 ”but think on me when it shall be well with thee.” Joseph asked the cup bearer to remember him whenever he went into Pharaoh.” In verse number 23 we read "Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him. He forgot all about him." How often it is that you help somebody out and whenever they get on the road again and they are back to where they were that they forget all about you? Here's Joseph sitting in prison. I wonder did Joseph after the butler and the baker left did Joseph go and pack his bags and say, "Right, this man will tell Pharaoh and I'll be out of here in no time." I am sure every time that prison door opened, maybe Joseph thought, "Maybe now's my time. Maybe he has told Pharaoh about me and they're coming to set me free." But those weeks turned into months and those months turned into two long years. And all the while, Joseph is still in that prison experience. He is disappointed, but He is waiting. He is waiting on God. He is trusting in God. It is God saying, "It is not yet. It is not your time yet." And this prison disappointment served to teach Joseph two valuable lessons as he waited. See, Joseph, you can't fault him for it. He tried to take matters into his own hand. He says, "Well, I'll find a way out of here. Would you tell Pharaoh about me?" But God said, "No, it is not your time yet." We need to realize this morning that our help doesn't come from man. Our help comes from the Lord. Psalm 121 reminds us to lift up our eyes because our help comes from the Lord. Joseph learned once again that God’s unseen hand moves on God's time scale, not on our time scale. And how sometimes we can get frustrated. Sometimes we want to go a bit quicker. God's timing is perfect every single time. Our God is never late. As we go through the Old Testament, we see time and time again how God's timing is always perfect. We think about Elijah. When did God feed Elijah? When Elijah needed it. Morning and evening, he brought the ravens down to feed him. When did he rescue the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They had to go into the fire, but they didn't experience the heat. God rescued them just right on time. When did God rescue Daniel from the lion's den? God did it in his time. God had a bigger plan. God has a bigger plan for our lives. No matter the circumstance, no matter the present experience, no matter that disappointment that you're experiencing right here, right now, God has a bigger plan. And how often we try to reach out, and we try to fix it ourselves and we just make a mess of it, don't we? But God's saying, "trust me." Don't be discouraged in those disappointments or those trials. We can either get discouraged and look for a place to quit or we can be like Joseph and be faithful. Trust in God this morning. Even though you may feel forgotten, even though you may feel forsaken, trust in the Lord. As we conclude this morning, this is a very bad place to leave Joseph, isn't it? He is still in prison. He hasn't got out. He has done the right thing every time. Every time he had the chance to, Joseph done what was right and honourable. And he still suffers for righteousness sake. And that may be you this morning. Joseph still stood falsely accused, wrongly imprisoned, and He is still forgotten. Joseph cannot see it here yet, but the wheels of providence are in place. They're in motion. Things are starting to move, and God is slowly but surely lining everything up for God's glory, not for Joseph's glory. The same thing is true in our lives. Some of you may be looking at disappointments and discouragements and you do not know how to handle them. And the best thing you can do this morning is to bring them to the Lord. Pour out your heart to him and learn to leave them in his capable hand. Can I remind you just as we close this morning, the Lord is with you. No matter that prison experience, whether you are disappointed, whether you think your dreams are shattered, whether your demeanour is low, the Lord is in it. Will you trust him? Will you let him take control? Will you let him lead?

 

The Queen of Sheba's visit to the king

 

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 3 MAY 2026 pm – PASTOR HENRY CASKEY

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA’S VISIT TO THE KING

1 Kings chapter 10

 

In this reading we have the visit from Queen of Sheba to Solomon. And that's what we want to look at just for a moment or two this evening.

And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train with camels that bear spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from the king which he told her not. And when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, "It is it was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. How be it, I believe not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that bear thy wisdom. Blessed and be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel. Behold, the Lord loved Israel forever. Therefore made he the king to do judgment and justice.”

And then verse number 13.

“And the king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

 

I want us this evening just to turn to this portion of scripture and to consider here this visit of the Queen of Sheba. I want to consider that tonight in the light of the glorious gospel of course, in the light of a sinner coming to the Lord Jesus Christ because in Solomon we have a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the woman coming we can see a sinner likewise coming. I suppose as we look tonight, there is no greater iconic figure than this particular woman with all of her riches, with all of her wealth. It is to her and this visit tonight that we want to hear the wisdom of Solomon. As a matter of fact, the Lord Jesus Christ in his day when he was preaching, he pointed to this woman, the Queen of Sheba in Matthew 12. Here's what he had to say. "The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Imagine that there's coming a day when this woman will rise up and be presented as a living judgment to those who rejected and turned away from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now I want to take a look at this tonight and I want to take a simple picture of the sinner coming to Christ this evening and the lessons that we learn from this woman.

I want you to notice first of all that this woman was informed. It tells us that right away in verse number one, it says, "And when the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the Lord, and she came to prove him with hard questions.” She came to prove for herself all things that she had heard about this man. Oh yes, she had listened to the stories. She had heard about the stories of his great wisdom, of his great riches, of his great wealth, of his great kingdom. But somehow she couldn't take in the half of it until she came herself and proved. And you know, we can preach the gospel from morning to night but until men and women come and prove for themselves the “delights of the Lord until all in the altar we lay.” The psalmist said "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." Why? We cannot prove the Lord until we come and put our trust and faith in him. Whenever we think of him who loved us with an everlasting love, that he would leave the splendours of heaven, that he would leave the praise of angels that he would turn aside from his Father and would come down into this sin cursed world and be rejected of the religious leaders and men and be beaten and tortured in Pilot's judgment hall that he might save you and me. We can hardly more than take it in what it means to him, “the holy one, to take away our sin.” And yet we sit and we reject that wonderful, wonderful love this evening. This woman was informed. She heard news had come about the exploits of this man to her ears. She had heard also of the things that God had done for him in verse number nine. And how God had blessed them. Isn't that what the psalmist could say? Her mouth was filled with laughter and her tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. Here was a situation with this heathen woman. She realized that God had done some great things for Solomon and she wanted to see for herself.  There was something special about the work of God and there still is. My whenever God comes to a life and changes that life,whenever God saves a man or saves a woman, it's just a real trophy of grace. We were looking at that this morning in the story of the woman at the well. The Bible says that she had five husbands and the man that she was living with wasn't her husband at all. She went out with her little water pot and she went to the well to fill water and to bring it back into the house. The Lord saved her at the water well. Isn't that an amazing thing? And just totally transformed her life. Totally changed her. Isn't that what the scriptures tell us tonight? That if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature and the old things they have passed away and all things have become new. That's what the gospel does. Is any wonder the apostle Paul could say, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel." Why? He was going to that great intellectual city. He was going to Rome. He was taking the gospel there. He knew that he would be slandered. He knew that he'd be ridiculed. Bringing such a message to this great city of Rome of this one who came into the world and died upon a cross. The cross was a criminals death and you are coming here to preach that? Paul says I am because “I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation.” The Apostle Paul could testify “he loved me and he gave himself for me.“ We are nothing tonight but just sinners saved by grace. Naaman was a man who was informed, wasn't he? He had so many great things going for him. A great soldier, a great military leader. The applause of the world was upon him. But he was a leper. And that leprosy would take his life.  But there was a made in Naaman's house. And she came one day to Naaman's wife and said, "You know, if my master Naaman was down with the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed." Naaman's wife went told Naaman. When he was  informed, he went down. And you know the story from there on, he was totally cleansed. Isn't that what the woman at the well said this morning? Whenever her life was totally transformed, she went into the city and she started to speak to the men of the city. She said to them "Will you not come out to the well? Will you not come to where I met the Saviour? Will you not come to the one who told me all things that ever I did, is this not the Christ?" She pleaded with the men of that city. And some of them believed her word and they came and others came and believed the Lord for themselves. She informed others. Are we informing others? Are we telling men and women about the wonderful works of Christ? Isn't that what the hymnwriter said?

“Is your life a channel of blessing?

Is the love of God flowing through you?

Are you telling the lost of the Savior?

Are you ready his service to do?”

Do you remember whenever the apostle Paul was writing to that church at Colasse how he spoke about Epaphras? He says “it was through Epaphras that you believed.” He was the one that brought the gospel to them and told them about the love of the Savior and told them about how Christ died for them and those people believed the message of salvation. You see, Epaphras informed them and we need to be informing people this evening. Informing sinners, about their condemnation, informing about the uncleanness, informing that we have no hope without Christ in this world. We are blinded by the God of this world. That we are without God. We are without Christ and we are without hope. Imagine coming to the end of life and spending your final hours lying on a bed somewhere about to close your eyes in death realizing that you have no hope in this world, that you are going out into a lost and Christless eternity. It must be an awful thing. Like that man in Luke 16.  The Bible says that he died and he was buried and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment. What a day that would be. Have you been informed tonight? Maybe someone has handed you a gospel tract and in that little gospel tract, it tells you all things that Christ has done for you. It speaks about your lost state. It speaks about your sinful state. It speaks about the only remedy for sin and that of the cross. It speaks about the love of the Lord Jesus Christ who took your place and my place upon the cross of Calvary. Maybe you are ready to bow your knee tonight. Why not come to Christ and trust him as your own and personal Saviour this evening? This woman was informed.

But then notice something else. She was interested. She developed a keen interest to know more and to prove the message she was hearing. And so she came. You can be informed about the gospel. You can be informed about how Jesus Christ took your place on the cross. You can be informed that you are lost in your sin and going out into a lost and Christless hell. You can be informed about that. And it stops there. But this woman didn't. She had heard about Solomon. She had heard about everything that was happening in his life and how God was blessing him in a tremendous way and how he had this great wisdom and how he had these great riches and she wanted to know more. So she came. She came to where he was. The very reason that Christ used her visit when he preached to the people, was to condemn those who were so privileged and heard so much and how they just simply let it all slip by them. That's what he was doing. He was speaking to a people who had heard so much, who had such a great privilege. Imagine having the Lord Jesus Christ preaching on the very streets of Jerusalem and in that surrounding area, giving to men and to women a great opportunity of being saved and being in heaven. But yet they spurned their opportunity. He said this woman is going to rise up in judgment against you because of your neglect of what you should do. This woman will stand in judgment. She will be called against you for she heard and she acted. Isn't that what the writer in the book of Hebrews says? "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" Philip Morrow way back in the late 1800s was a New York barrister. He was very very successful and very very highly educated. He was well sought after. But he was also a man of the world. He loved the limelight. He loved the parties and he was a sceptic. He didn't believe in anything about God. He didn't believe in anything spiritually whatsoever. One day he was standing in a line of people. He was going to the theatre and he was waiting for the doors to open up and to get his ticket to go in. But somehow he was compelled. He couldn't understand where that came from but he was compelled to step out of that line and to make his way down the street. And as he was making his way down the street, there was some singing that was going on in a little hall just down the way from the theatre. And somehow he couldn't get over it. It was just lovely to his ears. And as he approached that door, the door was opened up and there's a man standing who welcomed him in and shook his hand and gave him a little leaflet. This great barrister who didn't believe in anything. That night he was informed about the love of God. The preacher that night preached about “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” He preached about the love of God. And this great barrister was sitting just in the midst of all the number that were gathered in that evening. He was informed of what his life was like. He was really counting the cost because he realized that every word that he was saying was absolutely right as to what he was. He had everything that this old world could have. Jesus says, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" He was a young barrister. The world was before him. The money that he was earning was great. He had everything that he could ever ask for. But he didn't have God's salvation. And that night, he was informed that he was a sinner, lost, and undone. And as he sat in the midst of that little congregation, he cried out to the God of heaven that he would come to him and save his precious soul. He trusted in God that night. He was informed. He was interested and he came. And that's how we are saved tonight. We're not saved tonight just because we attend a church. We are not saved tonight just because we switch on YouTube and listen to a gospel service. We are saved tonight whenever we come and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our own and personal Saviour and forget about everything else that we were trusting in. We might have trusted in our church. We might have trusted in our good works. We might have trusted in the money that we pay into the church. We may even have trusted in the good things of sitting around the Lord's table on a Sunday morning. But that doesn't save us. Only Christ upon the cross, shedding his precious blood, being that once for all sacrifice for sin. This woman was interested and she came. There were those in Jesus’ day who saw many great acts but they never came, they never trusted him. Remember the young man that was possessed of the demons. He couldn't even live in his own home. He couldn't live in his own village. There was a place for him just out amongst the tombs. And there he would cut himself and there he would cry out in the night and no one would pass by. He was such a violent young man. And they tried to contain him. They tried to put straps on him but somehow the enemy within him would just snap the straps. And then one day the Lord Jesus Christ came by and the Lord spoke to the demons that were in him. There was a herd of swine feeding on the on the hillside. The demons asked permission to leave the body and go into the herd of swine. With one word Jesus told them to go. They entered into the swine and they ran down the hill, into the sea and they were drowned. Someone went back and told the owners of the pigs what had happened and they came out to see for themselves. They were informed about it. They were interested enough to come out to see what was happening. And they saw this young man, this young man that couldn't be settled. But when the leaders of that city and the owners of these swine come out, they saw this young man and he was sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and he was clothed and in his right mind. What did they do? They turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and said, "We don't want you. We don't want you in this part of the world. We want you to leave." They saw the young man and they saw what God did for that young man but they didn't want anything to do with it. They would rather had their swine. They would rather had their money. They didn't want the things of God. They didn't want the Lord Jesus Christ. So, Jesus had to go. We can be interested but we need to come. Remember in Paul's day whenever he was preaching on Mars Hill. It's recorded for us in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17. He informed them of God who created the world, of a coming judgment day and that they needed to repent of their sins and turn away. They were informed and some of them were interested. They were interested enough to stand and to listen. But you know, the Bible tells us that some actually believed. And then there were some who said, "Well, we'll hear you another day." And there were those who just walked away into the darkness. Interested enough to listen, but not to come. There will be those who will walk out of meetings tonight rejecting the message. Just like Felix of old. Paul informed him of judgment to come, of the life that he should be living, of what he needed to do. The Bible says that he trembled. He said to Paul, “Paul, go thy way." When I have a convenient season I will call for you." He had an interest to listen to him in the first place, but no interest to come to Christ to be saved.

Then we notice here that she inquired. In verse number one we read that she came to prove him with hard questions. She inquired. Notice where she's at now. Yes, there was a time whenever she was informed and yes, there was a time whenever she was interested. But now, where's she at? She's right beside him asking these hard questions. She wants to know all about it. She was informed. She was interested. But now she's inquiring further. She comes in verse number three and she asks questions. Remember whenever Paul had to leave Thessalonica. There was a riot there when he preached the word of God. There were those who believed the gospel and were saved. There were those who rejected and caused a riot. Paul had to leave and go down to Berea. When he got to Berea and preached the word of God, he found that the men of Berea were more noble than those of Thessalonica because they listened to the word of God with all readiness of mind. What did they do whenever they went home? They searched the scriptures. They inquired and they heard. They were informed and they were interested. But whenever they went home, they got down the word of God and they began to search the scriptures to see if these things be so. You know, it's one thing to sit in a gospel meeting. It's one thing to listen to what the preacher has to say, but you know we need to be careful. We need to go home and search the scriptures for ourselves. We need to look and see if what was said tonight is according to the word of God. John said in reference to the false preachers that we are to try the spirits and see if they be of God. This this woman inquired.

I love the funny story of the wee boy sitting one night doing his homework

and he said to his dad who was reading the newspaper "Dad what's the capital of Russia?" The dad said "I don't know, son." So that was okay. A minute or two later, the wee boy says, "Dad, what's the population of Russia?" His father responded "Son, I don't know, son." A moment or two later the wee boy says, "Dad, what's the longest river in Russia?” The dad looked at him again and said "Son I don't know." Some time later the wee boy says, "Dad do you mind me asking you all these questions?" And the dad says, "Not at all, son because how else are you going to learn if you don't ask questions?" You see, he was asking the questions but the person didn't know the answers.

There is only one tonight who knows you and me, who knows what I need. Thank God tonight we find the answers in the word of God because he has given them to us. This woman heard about the wisdom of Solomon and so she came to ask these hard questions. Think about Nicodemus. He was one of the wealthiest men at that time. He is a religious man and he has been informed about the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells Jesus that when he meets him “Lord we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles except God be with him.” Maybe he heard the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe he was there whenever he saw some of these great miracles performed. He was informed about them and he is interested about them. But here he is sitting now in his own home. And all these things are going through his mind. And what does he do? He gets up, gets dressed and says, "I'm going to find the Messiah."  And so he comes to where Jesus was, sits down and has a face-to-face chat with the Lord Jesus Christ. He gets his answers to the questions that he has. It is possible tonight that you have questions and it is possible to ask questions. How does Jesus save? How does his death upon the cross save me? How does this precious blood that you speak about cleanse me from my sin? How does that secure me a place in heaven? How does that change my life? You know, the preacher doesn't know all the answers, but they are here in God’s word. Remember the old Philippian jailer and how he came one night asking the question "What must I do to be saved?" Thank God tonight we can be saved. This woman was impressed. Verse number seven, "The half has not been told." Isn't that the testimony of any sinner? Many people who testify will say ”you know, I wish I'd come earlier. I wish I'd given my life to Christ 20 years before.” Why? Because they have proved Christ to do so much for them and to have so much for us.

She was invited. Solomon just opened up his heart and his home. He says, "Take a look around you and see what is here." Before she went away he sent her away with even more riches than she had previously. That's what you find tonight. Whenever you come to Christ he blesses us with “every spiritual blessing in high places in Christ Jesus.” He takes away your sin, he gives you new life. Would you accept it? Would you accept that as the gift of God this evening? Because he has done so much for you. This woman found that he had done so much for Solomon and Christ can do so much for you.

 

Grace in an Unexpected Place

 

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 3 MAY 2026 – Pastor Henry Caskey

John chapter 4

Grace in an Unexpected Place

“When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples, he left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. And Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. And then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou being a Jew ask drink of me which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of me. asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, from whence thou hast that living water. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?" Jesus answered, and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And the woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.  The woman answered and said, I have no husband. And Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that thou saidest truly. And the woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

And then the woman, of course, she takes of the water that the Lord was speaking about, the well of salvation.

Verse number 28

The woman left her water pot and went her way into the city, and saith to the man, come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ." Then they went out of the city and came unto him.

 

As I was reading through this account in the past days of the week and picking the hymns for the meeting this morning, I was thinking of grace. We need grace this morning. And I thought as I read through this portion of scripture in the past week, what a tremendous picture of grace that we really do have here. Here was this very immorral woman living in depravity and sin. And she makes her way out to where the Lord Jesus Christ is, not knowing that he was there, but the Lord knew all about it. And there she found grace and there she found mercy and her life was totally transformed, changed from that moment on. This is a great chapter because here we see the most unlikely source of revival. Have we come this morning expecting God to move in a mighty way? Have we come into the house of God this morning expecting God to really speak to us and to show us this morning? Jesus leaves Judea, we are told, because of a confrontation that was happening. The Pharisees of that particular day, they were starting to pick between John and Jesus and what not, and they were claiming the baptisms of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord didn't want that confrontation because it wasn't time for that confrontation. And so he moved on and he was making his way down to Galilee. We read this wonderful verse in verse number four. It says that “Jesus must needs go through Samaria.” He must needs go through Samaria. Now, this was a problem for the Jewish people. This was a problem. If you had asked the likes of Nicodemus, who was one of the leaders in the synagogue, "Is it okay for me to go down through Samaria?" he would have said, "Of course not. You've got to avoid it." They would have to take another route. You see, at the fall of the northern kingdom, when the Assyrian forces carried away Jewish captives, what they did was to replace them in the land. They brought some of their own people and it became a mixed race of people and that to the Jews was something unheard of and that's why we always have this this business of the Jews and the Samaritans having no dealings. But Jesus took this route because of one particular situation. Jesus took this route on this particular day because of an appointment with a woman at Jacob's well.  Do you and I believe an appointment is met this morning?  You see, I want this meeting this morning to be both a challenge and yet I want it to be a comfort this morning in this difficult day that we are living in. Because we are living in days when meetings are small. We're living in days whenever numbers are dwindling away. And that's all you hear about, isn't it? “Oh, not many in, not many coming to the meetings.” And yet we lose out on the one who is here. God speaks to you and me this morning.  I want us to think here about this particular meeting.

First of all – the visit. The visit of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to have that precious visitation, the visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Jesus took time to travel a forbidden pathway if you like and to go through Samaria for one lost soul. For one lost soul. Sometimes you know we do get caught up with who's not here and we forget about who is here. Is that how we've come this morning? We've come this morning realizing that God himself has promised to be in this house before we came this morning. He says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst." Isn't it amazing this morning just to think about that? Jesus travelled to this very spot where he would find this woman. He stopped at Jacob's well. He was tired. He was weary. He sat down at the well and he waited. He was waiting for this woman to open the door and come out. It was midday. It was the hottest part of the day. And this particular woman probably wouldn't come out at any other part of the day. Maybe she was embarrassed. Maybe she didn't want people to see her. Maybe she didn't want people casting remarks to her. And so she came out and the Lord was waiting for her. And you have left the house this morning, got into your car and come to church. And you know the Lord's here. He's just waiting for you this morning. We should never lose sight of that fact  but rather we should set our eyes upon the one who has promised to be with us here in this very meeting. Christ himself ought to visit us. He comes this morning to where you and I are. Can you imagine the joy that must have been in this woman's heart? She come out from that home and came to the well. She met with the Saviour and my she left her pot and went into Samaria. She went in to seek men and women to come and to hear him. Can you imagine the joy that she got just by meeting the Saviour? Remember another day in Israel whenever the enemy had invaded and there was poverty and there was hunger and there was enemy soldiers everywhere. The Lord came to a young man just sitting in his own home, a young man called Gideon. And God had a great plan and a great purpose for this young man Gideon because he was going to raise him up to lead the army against the enemy and to bring them out of captivity. God came right to where he was. And you know, God comes to where you and I are spiritually this morning and he shows to us what we can be. Gideon was threshing a little bit of wheat. Perhaps he went out at the night time when the enemy wouldn't see him and he gathered it in. He's going to hide it. It's going to be there for his family and his loved ones. And then the Lord comes. He says, "Gideon, I have a plan and purpose for your life." He meets with Gideon just right where he is. He meets with you this morning. Are you prepared for that this morning? Am I prepared for that this morning? For God to really redirect and change plans for my life? Am I prepared this morning to say, "Lord, here am I. Take this life of mine.  Consecrate it, Lord, to you. Use it, Lord." Do you remember how Jesus took time to draw alongside those two who were traveling along from Jerusalem to Emmaeus? Two disciples, their heads were down and they were discouraged. They're despondent. They didn't know what to do with themselves. They didn't know what the future held. And the Lord just drew alongside. He didn't even speak to them for a moment or two. He just drew alongside and he walked with them. They didn't even know he was there. It's possible to come into a meeting, to go through all the hymn singing, the prayers, the readings, the preaching of the word and to miss him. Isn't that what Jacob said when he laid his head upon the stone? You remember he was fleeing from his father's house. He stopped out in the in the wilderness. He laid down that night to sleep and he had the dream? He saw the ladder and the angels ascending and descending. He got up the next morning and he said, "Surely God was in this place and I knew it not.”

There was the voice. This meeting was marked with the Savior’s speaking voice. The woman appears out of her own home. She comes along to where the well is. She's got a little water pot in her hand, and she's coming there to draw water. The Savior who is weary from his journey is there. And the Lord speaks to her - verse number 7. "Give me to drink." He spoke to her right away. Now this woman, she knows by the Lord's attire that he is a Jew. She can see that from his very presence. And the first thing that comes to her mind is that old confrontation. She says, "But the Jews and the Samaritans, they have no time for each other. And you're a Jew and you're speaking to me." You see, she didn't expect this man to speak. But the Lord spoke. Have we come this morning expecting the Lord to speak? Have we expected the Lord to speak through his word to us this morning? So often we will respond “Lord, I couldn't do that.” In verse number 11 after Jesus offers her water, the woman said, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, from whence then hast thou that living water?"  She thought to herself, "Well, there's nothing here for me." She didn't expect the Lord to speak. And when he did she thought to herself ‘this man cannot give me anything.’ We can come to church like that. Not really expecting the Lord to deal with me or my problems but he is concerned. Peter said "Cast your every care upon the Lord because he cares for you." The Lord is caring for this woman. Maybe you are here this morning and there is something going on in your life. You have got a great big problem, a great big difficulty and somehow you don't know which way to turn or how to get out of that. But the Lord knows all about it and he waits for you this morning just to allow him somehow to come. We need to be so careful this morning that we are listening beyond the preacher's voice and we are going beyond the sacred page and hearing the voice of the Lord this morning. We often sing that little hymn,

“Speak Lord, speak to me.

Speak and I will be quick to answer thee.”

In Genesis chapter 3 whenever Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against God, breaking God's laws and they hid behind the trees. Scripture says “Adam heard the voice of God walking in the garden.” Do we hear the voice of God? Remember when Moses was away on the back side of the desert. He came out that day with his little flock of sheep and seen a burning bush. It didn't take Moses by surprise because he would see that many a time in the heat of the desert. But this one was different. This little bush had burned and burned and burned and it caught Moses’ curiosity. He stepped across from where he was and he looked into it. Whilst he was looking into it, the Lord spoke to him. Maybe you want to share that this morning. Oh, not with anybody else, not with me, but whatever the situation in your life is this morning, do you want to bring it to the Lord? ‘Lord, why am I going through this? Why am I dealing with this? Why am I having to go this way?’ And as you're curious about it and as you think about it, then the Lord can speak just as he spoke to Moses. Samuel was just a little boy opening up the doors of the temple in the morning and then closing them in the evening, then going to Eli and seeing if he's all right. One night time something happened. God was going to make a change in the priestly offices there in the nation of Israel. And who was he going to use? He was going to use a little boy called Samuel. Samuel didn't even know his voice. He laid down one night and the Lord called him "Samuel". Old Eli said to Samuel, "No, that's the Lord." He told him if he spoke again he was to respond "Speak, Lord”. Will you say that this morning? "Lord, speak to me this morning."

The victory. This meeting was marked with victory over a sinful life. This woman comes out of her home. No doubt she's weary of her past life. No doubt she's mindful of her sinfulness. And she's coming out here in the heat of the day, perhaps afraid of meeting people. Maybe she didn't want the wagging tongues, whatever. And she was carrying her little water pot. She was going out to that well to draw water and take it back into that home again and into that situation. But God changed that. That little water pot that she had was the connection to a sinful life. You'll notice a little bit later on that she leaves the water pot sitting. That water pot was the connection into that sinful home. You know, no matter our past, no matter where we've come from, God is able to break the power of sin in our lives. He's able to break the power.  Maybe this morning there's something in your life and you're saying to yourself, "Well, God could never forgive me. God could never forgive me the things that I have done. Nobody would want to know me if they knew what my life was like.” But dear friends, God loves you so much. He loved you so much that he would take his only begotten son and send him into this world, to come down into this world, to move about, to walk about, to speak with people, and then to die upon the cross of Calvary. That’s what he has done for you. No matter what that sin is, he will forgive you if you are open and honest to him this morning, to trust him and to believe in him and to realize that he has died for you. He wants to come into that heart of yours this morning, to take away your sin, to forgive you of your sin and wash you in the precious blood. Will you claim that this morning? This woman come out of such a sinful past. She had five husbands and was now living with another man, not her husband at all. But the Lord dealt with her and gave her the victory over sin. God breaks that power of sin this morning. The power that holds us to the old life this morning. And Jesus took this woman through the steps of God's salvation and he introduced her to the living water. That day she went away with great victory. Remember the woman with the issue of blood. For 12 long years she had tried every doctor, every physician, but was not any better. She grew worse until one day she heard about the Lord Jesus Christ and she just reached forth through that crowd that was on the street that day. She just touched the hem of his garment. Why? Because she believed. She believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that he cared for her and that she would be healed. And the moment that she touched the hem of his garment she was totally delivered. She got the victory over that disease.

The vision. The vision for the lost that this woman left with. She left her water pot. The old life was broken. It was gone. She left the water pot sitting there. The scriptures tells us that she left and she didn't go back into her home again. The Bible tells us that she went down into the city and she began to tell men and women. What was her message? “Come and see a man that has told me all things that ever I did. Is this not the Christ?” She got a vision for the lost. Would we pray for such a vision this morning? To see men and women who are lost and going out into a lost and Christless eternity. Give us a vision for those in our family circle that are lost in their sin.” It says, "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all things that ever I did." And then it tells us in verse number 40, "And when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry." And it says in verse 41, "And many more believed because of his own word." You see the work that this woman did. She just went out and she began to tell people, "Come and see this man that I met at the well. He did something for my life that I want you to come and to prove for yourselves.” And some came because they believed her. And others came and when they listened to him, they believed for themselves.

 

This meeting was marked by a precious visitation.

It was marked by the voice of God.

It was marked by a great victory that the Lord gave that day and it was marked by a wonderful vision for the lost.

 

Our meeting this morning has been marked by a glorious visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst." What a promise.

 

The scene at the sycamore tree

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 26 APRIL 2026 pm - MR CALVIN STRIPP

LUKE 19 VERSES 1 TO 10

You may remember some time ago in the media the story of the Sycamore Gap tree. It was quite shocking at that time. A famous sycamore tree called the Sycamore Gap Tree, situated beside Hadrian's wall in Northumberland. It was also called the Robin Hood Tree. In September 2023 2 gentlemen decided that for some fun they would cut the tree down. It was estimated to be 100 to 150 years old, the most photographed tree in England. It was valued at around £622,000. These 2 men, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were convicted of criminal damage in May 2025 and both committed to prison. They cut the tree down for some fun. It could not be put back together again. I want to parallel that with a sycamore tree that was climbed. Not cut down but climbed.

The scene at the sycamore tree. Verses 1 to 4. We see firstly the short man up a tree. We must start by saying that this was no coincidence. This was planned by God. We read in the opening verses "and Jesus entered and passed through Jericho." He was on his way to Jerusalem, on his way to the cross. Just like meeting the woman at the well, he made a specific point of being there that day. He made that journey through Jericho. No mistake. No mere coincidence. God had planned this. This man named Zacchaeus was chief among the publicans. An important man. A publican. Not in high regard but in reputation. Quite possibly he was of low regard because of the infamy of his position. Chief of the publicans. He could have sought to manage the other collectors, to bring in to his service more tax collectors for the job. He would have been the chief of those tax collectors. He was very very rich. They often overtaxed the people but the chief tax collector had a different role. The bible specifically says he was rich. Did he overcharge? Quite possibly he did. We find out later in the chapter he confesses to such. A man of high position. He wanted to see Jesus. He was a curious man. Now from Zacchaeus' point of view that morning he woke up, heard from the people that Jesus was coming to his town so decided to find out more about him. Maybe he had heard something of him before now. He wants to find out who he was. An inquisitive man. When he went out that day he realised he could not see Jesus because of the press of people. A multitude of people were out to see Jesus. To see who he was. His name and his work had ran before him. Verse 4. A clever man. He ran before the crowd and climbed up into the sycamore tree to see Jesus for he was to pass that way. It was fortunate he was in that street and in that tree because Christ is coming right past him. Zacchaeus would see who he was, what he would say and do. Zacchaeus thought he had a good vantage point. He was eager, excited. He had made an effort. He didn't go out and say 'look at the press, I will come some other day. Maybe Jesus will come back again another day. This particular day is not going to work for me.' No he didn't say that. he came. There was effort. He climbs this sycamore tree. The easter sycamore or fig tree has the look of a fig tree but the leaves of a mulberry tree. It was leafy. It was a smaller tree compared to our sycamore tree. He was able to get up into that tree. He was of little stature. He gets his vantage point. He is all set. So how do we apply this tonight? Maybe you are here tonight and you are not saved. The Lord knows you. We are here tonight to bring the gospel message to this congregation. If you are here and saved may this message encourage you Christian. Maybe you are here and not saved - something has created a bit of interest, maybe a bit of concern in you. Tonight you have come wanting to hear what this man in the pulpit is going to say. You are eager but let me ask you - are you eager to hear the gospel? The gospel means simply good news. If you have come in, whether you are rich or poor, tall or short, regardless of your lifestyle, your bank balance. I have good news for you tonight - Jesus saves and he saves to the uttermost all those who come to God by him. He was a rich man yet he was empty. He had a full bank balance. I am sure there was some finery on him. Maybe as he climbed up into the tree he was worried about the eastern suit he had on but he was empty. He had a reputation, an infamous reputation. Known by the people as rich but he was empty. He was there because he wanted to know about Jesus. He knew this man was different and so he wanted to see him. He might have been small in stature but bold enough to go up into the tree, to find a vantage point. Though obstacles may be set in front of you regardless of your past sin, your bank balance tonight, Jesus Christ will be offered. Will you trust in him? You see who Jesus is tonight. We see this short man up a short tree peering through the foliage.

A seeking man under the tree - verse 5. He thought he was hidden away in the leaves and Christ walks right under the tree, stops and looks up. He sees him and calls him to come down because today I must abide at your house. What a story. If I could have seen the look on his face. But notice the words in verse 6 "and received him joyfully." Don't miss that tonight. He knew about Jesus. Maybe you have heard about Jesus for many years. Will you receive him joyfully? Or will you reject him? We don't know what a day brings forth, what tomorrow holds. Should you reject Christ one more time this might be the last opportunity you have. He received him joyfully but that is not all. Verse 7 - the crowd saw it and they murmured. They knew him to be renowned in the community as the chief tax collector. They began to murmur. Murmuring that Jesus has come to our city, come amongst us, singled out this tax collector calling him to go to his house. There were many other people - Pharisees, scribes, business men of the time but he has stopped and invited this sinner to come and he will abide in his house today. What a lovely parallel it is. Can you remember when Christ stopped underneath your sycamore tree? You were not expecting it. He looked into your face and said "come down today, I will abide at your house." Not tomorrow, not next week. Can you remember the day when Christ called you. What a wonderful experience that was. Here we see a man being called. Christ wants to abide at his house. Spiritual application - Christ abides with us of course today. We have troubles and trials but the Lord abides with us. What a surprise for Zacchaeus. Jesus stops, looks up and calls him by name. Jesus commands urgency. He was to come immediately. There is urgency tonight. That you come to him when Christ calls. Will you look to Jesus and be saved? There is urgency. We see here the seeking man. The seeking man has found the lost sheep and he calls him now. What a beautiful picture this is. Verse 8 notice the language - "Lord". He is a new man. Now he didn't expect this day to be calling Jesus Lord. This is Zacchaeus' testimony. He is as surprised as this throng are but it was his house Jesus wanted to abide in.  Now we see that he is confessing what he has done in the past. We don't have all the details but in verse 8 whenever the Lord saves us and touches us we are changed. Repentance means to be going in one direction and going in a different direction. He declares that things are going to be different and he is not going to put his hand in any man's pocket. If he has done this he will give fourfold back and he will give half of his goods to the poor. This was a changed man. Let me ask Christian - we know the Lord has saved us and he continues to keep us. As well as the Lord being our Saviour we have the grace. Jesus in his sovereignty has saved us but as well as that grace there is also the government. He is the Lord who rules us. He rules over us. He directs and guides us by his Spirit but is he your Lord tonight? If you are saved tonight are you bending to his government? Is there something the Lord has asked you to do, to say or maybe the Lord has put on your heart. Maybe on that bus journey you take, or in the grocery store you meet someone every week and the Lord has impressed on you to say a wee word for him and you haven't done it yet. He is Lord but he governs over you. May we as Christians bow to him as Lord and Saviour. We cannot deny his grace and his government. If you are not saved you cannot simply be in Christ and accept him and all the benefits of salvation yet deny him as Lord. That it not how it works. You accept him as he is. You will confess your sin to him as you are. You will be under his government. Zacchaeus was under his government. "Lord I give half of my goods to the poor and if I have taken anything from anyone I will give him back fourfold." This man isn't purchasing salvation. He is not purchasing salvation through works. The proof that he is saved, that God has touched his heart, is now working out his salvation. Paul speaks of that - work out your salvation with fear and trembling. He is not coming to the Lord and offering money. Don't you come tonight and say "if I am giving into offering plate that is something when you are saved you don't do that to get saved. Christ saves and keeps you. You want to give to his work and speak about him, get involved in the church, don't do those things to get saved. Our righteousness are as filthy rags. Do we insult God by offering our works. Of course not. Look to Christ tonight. The man who is seeking under the tree, seeking the lost sheep. You look to him not to the church, not to a preacher, not to works. Look to him. Zacchaeus' name means pure. Now he has a testimony to keep, to live up to his name and he will be helped by God. Are we living up to our name? Born again? God gives help. We find here that in this sovereign act God calls him not only from the tree but calls him into his family. He is saved. Christ says in verses 9 and 10 that day, in that moment the lost one was Zacchaeus. What a beautiful picture that is.

The saving man on the tree. You see Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus but Jesus went to a tree that Zacchaeus could be saved. That you could be saved. Christ died on a old rugged tree and he died for sinners. Will you trust him tonight? C H Spurgeon said "Zacchaeus was looking for one thing and found another." We can all relate to that. Stumbling through life. Looking for this happiness in whatever it might have been but are still searching. Just like Zacchaeus he wanted to see Jesus. He had everything else the world could offer him. For us we were looking for one thing and another thing then we found that other thing. He found us just like Zacchaeus. He thought he had worked it all out. Christ was coming to his town. If you just think that this is a coincidence, that you are hearing about Christ think again. He has been gracious to you. You are hearing about saving grace. Jesus died on Calvary, he shed his blood for sinners such as us. You need the Lamb of God as your sacrifice. That is acceptable before God. Christ was the sacrifice on the cross. The saving man on the cross. The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Salvation is come to this house. May that be said of your house. If you are not saved may you be saved. Trust in Jesus. It is Jesus you need. Keep praying on for your loved ones. May it be said of your house that salvation has come. 

The short man up a tree

The seeking man under a tree.

The saving man on the tree.

That day Zacchaeus was gathered into the family of God. What about you? May you come down from whatever tree you are in, whatever you are hiding in and accept him as Saviour.