Mission Evenings

Sermons from Mission Evenings in September 2013

Romans 6 verses 17 – 23

The apostle Paul in verse 23 is writing to this little church when he says “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Think about sin and the consequences of sin.  “Fools makes a mock at sin” (Proverbs 14 verse 9) the Bible says.  They talk about filthy tongues, breaking this law or that law without any conscience.  Sin is a very serious situation.  It is in every one of our hearts.  What we must do with that sin is what we must consider.  James says “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.” (James 1 verse 15)  Need to take it seriously.  Habakkuk said “thou art a God of purer eyes to behold iniquity” (Habakkuk 1 verse 13).  When the Lord was dieing on the cross of Calvary God had to turn his back on his only beloved son because he was dieing there for your sin and mine.

The source of sin would take us back into eternity and beyond to the start of creation.  God created every single being, the heavens, the angels, the mountains.  In the Garden of Eden everything was so perfect.  The devil himself is a created being.  There was something special about him – he was the most beautiful of all creation, the most gifted and the most talented of all creation.  Then the Bible tells us that iniquity was found in his heart.  He tried to raise himself above God, to take God’s throne.  God had to cast him out of heaven.  He took revenge against God’s creation.  God put man and woman in the Garden of Eden, he gave them every tree that they might eat of it.  The devil came down to the Garden of Eden.  The old devil had great hatred for God and his creation.  He came right into the Garden of Eden.  He got Eve on her own and questioned what God had said to her.  The devil told her she would not die but she would become as God himself, knowing good and evil.  Eve reached for the fruit off this tree and she gave it to her husband.  Both ate and in that one act both fell in sin.  “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans 5 verse 12)  We need to look at sin in the light of Calvary and we need to stand in the shadow of the cross, God’s own son, the one who came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.  They took him into Pilate’s judgement hall, the world rejected him, they beat him, abused him, whipped him, nailed him to that wooden cross.  He shed his blood for you and I because he knew the consequences of sin.  He knew you would die in your sin so died on the middle cross that you might be saved.  The source of sin was in the heart of Satan himself and he brought it right into the heart of the Garden of Eden.

The spread of sin.  John the Baptist pointed to Christ one day and said “behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1 verse 29)  Not just a local calamity but it affects the wider world because of sin.  God had to destroy the world through a flood.  Genesis 6 God saw “the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  He called Noah aside “I will destroy man … make thee an ark.”  Noah built the ark according to God’s instructions.  The ark was finished, then he and his family went in and God closed the door.  That ark was a picture of what Jesus did for you and I.  He died on the cross for our sins.  The door is still open to you.  His grace is extended to you and I tonight.  He comes to you and gives you another opportunity.  The door of salvation is still open but one day it will close.  No matter how many times you push against it, it will be closed for evermore.  On the day when his feet touch the Mount of Olives, on that day the day of opportunity closes for everyone.  Genesis 11 “the whole earth was of one language” and God comes down to the people.  Man said “I will build a tower unto heaven.”  God came down and cast judgement on the earth.  It is the same all over the world tonight.  Sin is sin and God must deal with it.  Sin is in the heart of every man and woman.  That is how serious sin is.

The seriousness of sin.  John the Baptist said “behold the lamb of God.”  This is the one who has come into the world to take away the sin of the world.  Whenever Jesus spoke to the Pharisees who opposed Christ they argued with him and tried to trick him.  Nicodemus came to Jesus one night and asked the Lord about the sin question.  Jesus looked at him and told him he wasn’t saved.  As the Lord looks down into this meeting he knows who are his children, those who are saved, born again by the Spirit of God.  That is the dividing line in this meeting tonight.  That line will soon be distinguished.  If he came back tonight he will come to the air with the shout of the angels, the trumpet will sound and those lying in the graves will rise first.  The Lord will return with the souls of those bodies in the graves and they will be reunited.  Those who are saved will then rise up to meet the Lord in the air.  If you are not saved you will remain in hell for ever.  That is how serious sin is.  No-one could deal with sin only Christ himself.  Paul says the wages of sin is death.  That is how serious sin is.  Ephesians 2 shows the spiritual death we were in.  We were dead in our trespasses and in sin.  No matter how much we prayed or sang hymns to God, sin entered.  The Bible says “it is appointed unto man once to die.”  That is the appointment made in realms of glory for us.  To depart from this scene of time.  One day death will come to this old body.  “The wages of sin is death” that means when my soul leaves the body I will be eternally cut off from God.  In an unsaved condition if you are not saved you will depart from this scene of time and your soul will be cut off from God for all eternity. 

The solution for sin – the cross of Calvary.  What does God expect?  He asks you to turn, repent of your sin, to do a complete ‘u’ turn.  You have heard the gospel of saving grace.  God says turn from your sin.  That does not come through anyone but Christ himself.  “He was bruised for our iniquities … and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53 verse 5)  Will you not come to a reality of sin?  Make certain of heaven and home tonight?  Turn to him and trust him right now?  Ask the Lord to come into your heart.  Make you a new creature in Christ from this moment on.  You can live for him – will you do that?

Acts 17 verses 23 – 34

As the apostle Paul comes to Athens his mission is the same as it is to any where – he comes to direct men and women not to himself, not to any other but he comes to direct men and women to the saving grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He tells them who the Lord is – verse 23.  The word “superstitious” in verse 22 is used to mean religious.  Paul is speaking to people deeply seated in religion.  We have the same society today.  The apostle Paul as he stood on Mars Hill said “I have seen your devotions, I have found this altar to the unknown god.  Let me explain who he is.”  He begins with the great God of creation, he takes them right through to the cross of Calvary, to the death of Christ, to the resurrection of the Son of God.  He brings them to the crossroads of decision.  Isn’t that a tremendous pathway to follow?  As we gather together in this place you will have to make a decision – what are you going to do with Jesus Christ?  You have either got to come to a point where you will receive the Lord as Saviour or else say no to the Lord who died on the cross of Calvary to redeem your soul.  The bible doesn’t set out to prove God but it sets out to prove that God is.

Paul sets God here in his glory – verse 24.  The apostle Paul is beginning to tell this religious crowd about God.  He is the God of creation, one who spoke the word and everything came into being.  The Lord of heaven and earth “dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”  Genesis 1 “in the beginning God”.  In the beginning God was there.  Man is striving for a certain starting point.  There are many teachings coming into the society in which we live today.  Some would tell us that God didn’t make this world at all, it began with a great bang.  You have to be careful because of the unending search for knowledge.  There comes a spectrum of speculation that works its way into fact.  God’s glory is demonstrated and revealed in God’s creation.  Psalm 19 verse 1.  Imagine the sun can shine by day and the moon and stars by night.  The very seasons come together.  Days roll by on to the glory of God.  These things declare the glory of God.  God spoke the word and everything came into being.  In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul spoke of being called up into the “third heaven.”  Think of the infinite depths that God has created and made yet man says it came in with a bang.  When we think of what Paul said we know that the first heaven is made up of our atmosphere, the second heaven is made up of stars and planets.  Paul was called beyond that to the place called “paradise” where God ascended to make a special place for you and I.  One day he will come back and receive us unto himself.  God spoke to Job “where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38 verse 4)

Paul says God is grieved – verse 30.  “I saw your devotions, how serious you were interested in these spiritual things.”  They were doing this because they didn’t understand anything about this God.  Now you have come to a full understanding.  God is not far from any one of you after all of this.  He expects you to respond.  God is grieved with the people of Athens because they have been worshipping another god, now they have to respond.  Turn away from it.  Got to trust him as own and personal Saviour.  Maybe there is a respectability and religiosity in your faith but you need a personal faith.  You and I were born into the world, born into sin.  We were sinners by nature and we became sinners by practice.  There came a day when God broke into our lives, God began to reveal to us we needed to be saved.  Your sin and glory was grieving the heart of God.  You now know the message – you have to repent, turn from that sinful state.  God is grieved.  Genesis 6 verse 6 “and it repented the Lord that he made man on the earth and it grieved him in his heart.” 

God is gracious towards creation.  Remember when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden through one act of disobedience?  God didn’t strike them down dead.  A gracious God.  He put some animals to death to make a covering for their sin.  He made a way of escape for them.  When in Genesis 6 God saw the people had turned away from him he brought a flood on the earth but he made a way of escape through the ark.  Judgement day is looming, it will fall on each of us.  God has made a way of escape.  He took his beloved son in whom there was no sin, he sent him down to this world.  There on the cross of Calvary he suffered and bled and died.  He is a gracious God.  Your sin and mine has grieved a holy God.  If you take what my son has done for you, you can know your sins forgiven.  God offers grace through turning away from sin and receiving eternal life.  Beware, take heed, the word of God says when God saw the evil in Genesis 6 he said “my spirit shall not always strive with man.”  God comes and shows you your state, he is willing to save you if only you will say yes.  God’s grace will not always last.  You may have this offer tonight but maybe not tomorrow.  You do not know when he will offer that grace to you again.

He is a God who governs – verse 31.  Why is it important to trust the Lord tonight?  Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.  God has already set a day aside, don’t know when it will be in which he will judge this old world.  Jesus Christ is coming to judge this old world.  We are living in the last of the last days.  The Lord could come at any moment.  There is a line drawn.  If Jesus were to come tonight the dead in Christ would rise first and then we which are alive and remain will be caught up with the Lord in the air.  If not saved we will remain where we are.  Tonight he is your Saviour but tomorrow he could be your judge.

Matthew 4 verses 1 – 11

The reality of the devil

In this world the devil is the master of deception, an expert when it comes to that of camouflage so much so that many in this world would actually say there is no such a thing as a real devil.  The devil is no joking matter.

The discovery here of his person.  Many would deny there is such a person as Satan.  We read of Jesus’ confrontation with the devil himself.  Not just an evil influence.  It all came about because Jesus was hungry.  The devil always hits us when we are at our weakest to keep us in his power.  The devil has a personality.  He was created by God himself.  Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.  He is portrayed under the guise of the King of Babylon and the King of Tyrus.  The devil was the wisest of all creatures, the most beautiful person that God had ever created.  Read something of the position of his power.  He had great musical talents – he led the worship in heaven.  “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”  He was perfect in everything that he had going for him but iniquity was found in his heart.  He tried to attribute the worship of angels to himself.  He told Christ “if you would bow down to me I will give you all the kingdoms of the world.” Verse 8.  The devil was created and he has a personality.  In Genesis 3 he hid himself in the guise of that old serpent who came to Eve.  He began to speak to Eve “if you eat of this tree you will be like God.”  He didn’t tell her that sin would come into the world, that her own son would be a murderer, that she would break God’s commandments and there would be a penalty for her sin.  When he went into Jobs farmyard and saw this righteous man living for God every day he turned to the God  of heaven and said “if you would allow me to tempt this man he would curse you to your face.”  Job was brought down, he lost his family, all his animals and was himself full of pain.  He didn’t know it was the devil himself doing all that.  2 Corinthians 11 verse 4 “for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the minsters of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”  There are people who stand behind the sacred desk, read the scriptures and say all you have to do is do your very best, join this church, attend each Sunday, give into the offering plate and one day the gates of heaven will be open to you.  Satan has hid his person.  As the word of God is preached Satan is there ready to reach into men and women’s heart to take away the good seed of the word of God lest there be any that would be saved.

Satan and his power.  Satan is mighty but not almighty.  He is a defeated foe.  If you come to Christ there will be a great battle but if you resolve in your heart he can no longer hold you.  “Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.”  He will break the power of cancelled sin and set you free.  He was defeated at Calvary.  1 John 3 verse 8 “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.”  If you want to step out, repent of your sin, turn to Christ and resolve to be saved you can be sure the devil will not like it.  Satan in Job’s day went into the presence of God and said to the Lord “there is a man down there and if I was allowed to tempt that man he would curse you.”  God allows him to tempt Job but there is a limit put on him – not to touch his life.  He is powerful but he is limited in his power.  He is a defeated enemy by the precious blood shed for our sins at Calvary.  Remember the disciples in the little boat when the waves and the wind began to rise up.  They were filled with fear.  The devil had the power to do that.  Jesus could return at any moment in any time.  When he comes and calls the church of Christ home every person that is saved by God’s grace and has come to the cross, bowed their knees and then accepted Christ for what he has done at Calvary he will take them home to himself.  There’s a man coming on the scene, called the Anti-Christ.  He will come when the church is taken home.  In Revelation 13 the dragon, Satan himself gives him power.  Revelation 20 when the church goes home and after the Anti-Christ reigns there will be 1000 years of peace on this earth.  The devil will be bound for those years then released for a short period of time.  He goes into all the council chambers of the world and brings the army dictators together to battle  The devil is a real person and has real power.

Satan’s programme.  He couldn’t handle the power given to him on the day he was created.  He believed he should be the one worshipped instead of leading the worship.  In this portion of scripture he says to the Son of God “I will give you the kingdoms of this world if you will only get down and worship me.”  What’s he holding you on tonight?  Is he holding you back from coming to Christ?  That is his programme.  He doesn’t want you to be sure of getting to heaven and home.  He will do all in his power to stop you.  Satan’s programme hasn’t changed.  Peter says “be sober, be vigilant for your adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour.”  Are you ready to come to Christ?  To the one who died on the old rugged cross to save you?  Come to the one who left heaven’s glory.  He was willing to give so much up to come down into this sin cursed world.  He grew up among men and was rejected, beaten beyond all recognition, his visage was marred more than any man.  He was nailed to the cross, there he suffered and died for your sins.

Satan’s plight.  Satan was cast out of heaven.  He was defeated at Calvary.  He can still influence men and women as he did influence the angels to follow him.  Revelation 20 verse 10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  When the Lord returns to finish the reign of the Anti-Christ and set up his rule of 1000 years on the earth th e Anti-Christ and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire.  The devil is boun there, then released and draws the nations of the world to do battle.  The devil will eventually be cast into the lake of fire with the Anti-Christ and the false prophet.  Matthew 25 verse 41 “then shall he say also unto them on the left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”  It was never prepared for you and I but for the devil and his angels.  Jesus told the religious leaders of his day that if they died in your sin and where he was they couldn’t come. 

Mark 5 verses 1 – 20

The reality of the spiritual battle waged against you and I

There is a battle on for that soul in your bosom.  Someone of these days you will complete your work on earth, close your eyes for that final time – who has claim to that soul of yours?  The devil of hell or the one who died on Calvary’s cross to redeem your soul so that you can spend eternity with him?  2 Peter talks about scoffers in the last days, those who will not believe that message, will turn their backs on that message.  They will say “where is the promise of his coming?”  People today believe God has broken his promise.  We are told in God’s word “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”  He is a gracious God.  The delay of God’s return is because you are not saved.  If he should come back again you will be left behind.  He is giving you an opportunity to be saved but there is a real conflict on tonight.  The reality of this conflict we find here in this passage.  The Lord has come to the coast of the Gadarenes where he found this man who is demon possessed.  Look at this incident to demonstrate the battle going on with the soul of man and the God of heaven.

Here was a seeking spirit.  This young man was possessed by an evil spirit – verse 2.  In verse 9 we find Jesus speaking to the demon possessed man.  It is the demons that speak not the man himself.  They told Jesus “My name is Legion for we are many.”  Legion has no fixed number, it is indefinite.  A multitude of demons.  In Luke 8 verse 29 we are told “For oftentimes it had caught him; and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.”  He had gone out to this place of wilderness to find satisfaction in his heart.  There was an emptiness in his body.  He had a seeking spirit.  Isn’t that the way of the world?  Many young people have left broken hearted parents and gone out into this old world trying to seek to satisfy the longing of the soul.  There is only one person who can satisfy that soul and that is Jesus himself.  Your soul was so precious that God send his only begotten son into this world to die on Calvary’s cross.  This man could no longer live at home with his family.  Such was the restfulness of his soul.  Ephesians 2 verse 1 “And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”  There is a course in this world and we follow that course.  The devil sets that course.  He hides himself, doesn’t show himself but hides himself.  He influences the mind of everyone.  Within each of us there is a search going on.  That soul will not be content until Jesus comes and fills it.  In John 4 we read of a woman who was searching for a relationship but couldn’t find it.  That day at the well she met with Christ and later told all who lived in the city “come see a man, which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?”  Many a person is searching for something they cannot find in this world.  The Prodigal Son was very discontent.  He couldn’t settle, he wanted to get out of his home.  The father let him go with his inheritance.  He spent all he had but found he had no friend.  He started to think “if I was back with my father again he would take me in, I would be happier than I am here.”  His father was waiting for him to receive him home.  Will you need come to Christ, you will find him willing to save your soul.

A stubborn spirit – verse 7 “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not.”  The unsaved nature is stubborn.  You close up the door of your heart.  We read of a man in the bible who went into the far country and gave talents to his servants to use them until he came back.  The citizens rose up in rebellion and said “we will not have this man to reign over us.”  The spirit of the Lord reveals to you that you need to be saved but the unsaved nature will into give into the claims of God.  The Pharisees in Jesus’ day knew God’s word inside out.  Jesus told them “search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5 verse 39)

A subjected spirit – verse 12.  The legion is now realising he is beat and asks to be sent to the swine.  The devils are talking through this young man.  The spirit is being subjected.  Are we ready to hand over our lives to Christ?  Remember the young man who came to the Lord who had the best of everything.  He had power, riches, health and property but there was one thing he realised he lacked in the depth of his soul – eternal life.  He owned up to it.  The Lord told him to give everything he had away.  He couldn’t do that.  You cannot set your own limitations on it.  If yu want to be saved it has to be all or nothing.  You have got to be subjected to it.  Are you ready to give up your sin, to turn away from your sin?

A settled spirit – verse 15.  Jesus breaks the power of this man’s life and sets him free.  Many tried to chain him but they couldn’t.  One word from the Lord set him gloriously free.  God can set you free from the sins that bind you.  This young man who was out of his mind found satisfaction because whenever the people who owned the swine wondered they found this young man who they couldn't get near the day before.  He was so violent they couldn’t go near him.  Once the Lord and spoke and delivered him we find him sitting at the feet of Christ.  No longer naked and foaming at the mouth but sitting in his right mind at Jesus’ feet.  The Lord will give you something worth living for.

A serving spirit – verses 19 and 20.  He wanted to follow the Lord but the Lord told him there is a work for you.  Go into your own village and tell them the great things God has down for you.  God is still willing to do something special for you.  He wants to save your soul.  Will you not heed and give your life and all to him.  He waits for you.  There was no other way but the cross.  It took the cross to redeem your soul, it took the blood to wash away your sins and it took that sacrifice to appease the wrath of God on your behalf.  You have got to reach out and take it for yourself.  Will you accept it?  Let him come into your heart and accept him as Saviour as this young man did.  He had such peace and assurance as a result.

Hebrews 9 verses 23 – 28

The reality of the afterlife

Ecclesiastes 9 verse 15 “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward for the memory of them is forgotten.”  The author of that scripture is talking of the hope we have in this life ends when we end this life.  Nothing more can be done after death.  Hope is only for the present.  What about death?  Is it the end?  Do we go to the grave and sleep?  What are the answers?  There is a phrase we find in Luke 16.  In life these 2 men lived poles apart.  One was a rich man, wealthy man, well to do, lived in a great mansion and estate.  Another man was a pauper.  He had nothing going for him.  All he could do was sit at the gates of the rich man with the hope that one day he would get a bite to eat or put money in his begging bowl.  The beggar died and no-one noticed his passing.  There was one who did notice though – “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”  Maybe no-one else near him when he died but there was one in the glory who was ready to send forth the angels to bring him home.

We get a taste of death here.  After the beggar man is transported into heaven we read that he is still alive.  He is now comforted.  The tables are then turned.  The rich man dies, we are not told what period of time between the 2 deaths.  The rich man had a lot going for him.  He was well known so everyone would come.  Perhaps because he had done so much in his society, he had great associates.  The bible says of that man “in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment.”  His soul was still living.  Taste of the after life.  There are those today who say it is foolish to believe in an afterlife.  The Lord Jesus is giving a taste of what is happening.  The angels transported that beggar into heaven.  The rich man went to hell.  What was the difference?  Was it because of his wealth?  The beggar man had suffered so much on this earth – is that why God take mercy on him?  There is on difference – the beggar man was a child of God.  One day he had trusted Christ to take away his sin but the rich man thought he had nothing to do.  When he closed his eyes in death he realised everything was for nothing.  Is that how we are living – just for the here and now?  To please ourselves?  To gather as much as possible so that one day you can hope to open up the eternal glories and let you in.  A decision has to be made.  You are at a crossroads whether to reject Christ or whether to come and receive him as Saviour and Lord.

Jesus testified to it.  In John 14 we see the Lord telling his disciples he will soon leave them.  He says to them “let not your heart be troubled.”  No doubt these men would be broken hearted, there would be an emptiness.  They had worked and prayed with him and prayed with him and saw the miracles.  Now he must leave them.  He must go to the cross of Calvary, to bear the sins of the whole world.  He was explaining this to the disciples.  He didn’t want them to be burdened down with grief.  The Lord himself stood at the grave of Lazarus and wept at the parting of his friend.  The Lord loves you but his heart must grieve tonight as men and women hear the gospel message and then turn their backs on that message.  Will he weep over you tonight?  Jesus wept over his friend Lazarus.  He knew it was natural to shed a tear.  What doe Jesus mean to his disciples?  He wanted to put something into their mind.  This was not the end.  He told them he was going to prepare a place for them and he would come again that they could be with him in that place.  Jesus testified to the afterlife.  Death is not the end.  When we go to the grave that is not the end.  The soul goes out to meet the Lord.  There will come a time he said to his disciples when you will live with me again in the realms of eternity.  In Matthew 25 we see God sitting in judgement as the shepherd separating goats from the sheep.  He starts to meet out the rewards but in verse 46 it says “these shall go into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal.”  When we close our eyes we step out into God’s great divide, there is one of 2 places we must go – a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.  Nicodemus came in the darkness to Christ and said “we know thou are a man sent from God for no man can do these miracles except Christ be with him.”  Jesus replies “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Until you go through that experience you will never be in heaven.  You have been born in sin and until you are born again you will never see the realms of glory.  Jesus also said “so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in me shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The apostle Paul was thrilled by it.  Paul looked into the jaws of death with confidence, knew what was waiting for him.  He knew the Lord was waiting for him to make his way home.  2 Corinthians 5 verse 8.  Have you that confidence tonight?  Trust in Christ and nothing else.  Not a case of church attendance, or participating in communion it is because you have trusted in Christ to save your soul.  Job 19 verse 25 “for I know that my redeemer liveth and he shall stand in the later day on the earth yet in my flesh I shall see God.”  He was thrilled about it.  He knew there was a day coming when he would look into the face of God.  Paul said “I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better.” (Philippians 1 verse 23) “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8 verse 18)  “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ as his coming.” (1 Thessalonians 2 verse 19)  Death is not the end, it is just a stepping stone into another life.  Are you going to take that step that will lead to heaven and glory?  Paul said of the church that goes home the bodies will be raised out of their graves and the souls will meet them in the air.  Is heaven going to be your home?

It troubled a young man.  He could have had anything he ever wanted but there was one thing missing in his heart and life.  He realised that if he closed his eyes in death it would not be absent from the body and present with the Lord.  He asked Jesus “Good master what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus told him to give everything up, sell it all and then follow him.  He had to make a decision there and then.  You are at that decision – what will you do with Christ who offers to you eternal life?  Receive him or reject him?  Christ has paid the price, there is life after death – a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.

atthew 16 verses 21 – 28, Hebrews 11 verses 23 – 27

The reality of decision

Either reject the Lord or receive him.  Got to make a decision.  It is a subject of importance.  We have to think of the cost of discipleship, becoming a Christian.  We live in an age of easy believism.  Jesus said “except a man is ready to deny himself, to forsake everything, to turn away from his sin, take up his cross and follow him on a daily basis then shall he be my disciple.  The word of God doesn’t speak of easy believism.  Someone once said “to lose one’s worth is much, to lose one’s health is more but to lose one’s soul is such a loss that no-one can restore.  Think of Moses and the decision he took.  What would it mean to follow Christ.

Moses refused the pride of his title.  He was brought up in the house of Pharaoh.   The first thing he had to refuse was the title he owned.  He had to step out of the palace of Pharaoh to follow the Lord.  He was not afraid to do that.  Moses was brought up in a home whose father and mother looked at him and realised they had to submit to the law of Pharaoh that all males born in the Israelite camp should be put to death.  Moses was protected and sheltered until he was 3 months of age.  His mother realising that she could no longer hide him made an ark of bulrushes, laid him in that basket and took it down to the river.  Miriam his sister was set to guard the ark.  Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the waters and saw the ark.  She sent someone to fetch the ark.  The moment she looked on that child she loved him.  Miriam spoke up and asked if she might find a nurse for the baby.  Miriam went and found his mother and for a period of time Moses was reunited with her, protected and cared for.  One day though Moses had to make a decision whether to follow after God or continue in the palace of Pharaoh.  He was prepared and ready to make that decision, to take the Lord as Saviour.  He was second in command in Egypt.  He took second place, ready at one time to take that crown of authority.  He was ready to step away from it.  He was ready to take his place with the people of God.  What is holding you back from coming to the Lord who bled and suffered and died?  Are you ready and willing to set it aside?  Can you imagine Moses – everyone knew who he was.  He was prepared to set that all aside that he might one day be in heaven for all eternity.  Maybe you have been brought up in a good home where your father and mother prayed for you and read the scriptures.  All of that will never get you into heaven.  A decision is called for.  Now you have to make that decision.  What is holding you back?  Saul of Tarsus when he was saved on the road to Damascus became the apostle Paul.  Writing to the church of Philippi he was testifying how he was of the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe from which came kings.  He was also a Hebrew of Hebrews, a stalwart of the faith yet had a hatred for the Lord.  He started to think of what Jesus had done for him.  He took the sins and bore them on the cross.  He suffered and in the gaze of everyone cried “it is finished”.  He died for your sin and mine.  Paul said when I realised he died for me everything I held dear was nothing but dung.  I cast it aside that I might win the Lord.  There is coming a day when we will leave this scene of time, when we will go to meet the God of heaven – how will you stand on that day?  Saved by God’s grace, trusting in his son for salvation?

Moses renounced the pursuit of sin – verse 25.  Moses made a real determination on this particular day.  He could have all the wealth, position that would come his way but he made a choice.  Paul before Agrippa stood in chains, getting an opportunity to hear this man.  Preach the word of God.  Cornelius was told “send for Peter, he will tell you words whereby you might be saved.”  It is a privilege to have that invitation from God.  Another opportunity to trust Christ as Saviour.  God brought the apostle Paul before Agrippa in chains.  The only way he would every hear the word of God.  That is God’s working.  He began to tell Agrippa how he was saved.  The King’s countenance started to change.  Paul said “believest thou the prophets, I know that thou believest.”  He could see something happening, beginning to open up.  “Almost thou persuades me to be a Christian”  How many times have you left a meeting almost persuaded?  I would love to be saved but right now I just cannot.  If I went home and sorted a few things out I will come again.  To be almost persuaded is to be completely lost.  If you want to become a Christian you have to renounce the sin, cannot live in sin and be a believer.  Sin had got to go when you trust the Lord.  Are we ready to deny ourselves?  Maybe it is something small.  In Luke 16 we see 2 men – the rich man and a pauper.  The rich man went to hell where he was in torment.  Lazarus the beggar was in the pleasures of heaven for all eternity.  Here was a man in the pits of hell and could remember who the pauper was.    There’s a memory in hell.  Almost persuaded and then to go out into hell and remember that moment when thou were almost persuaded.

Moses rejected the wealth of tomorrow – verse 26.  He was willing to reject it all.  He looked at the riches he had at his disposal but was willing to leave them aside.  For many getting saved it means hardship.  He had everything at his fingertips, ready to give it up.  It costs to become a Christian.

Moses relished the company of God’s people – verse 25.  Moses denied himself the satisfaction to be seen with the elite people, princes, queens and ambassadors that he might be found with the people of God.  Are we ready to be a Christian.  There’s more in becoming  a Christian than joining any group.  It is taking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and living day and daily to bring glory to the one who died to save your soul.  The reality of making a decision.  Paul said to Ephesians “first you heard the word of God, secondly you trusted and thirdly you received the Holy Spirit.”  That is what will happen when you accept Christ.  You have heard the word of God now you must decide will I leave everything aside just to make sure I am born again of the spirit of God?

2 Kings 4 verses 1 – 7

7 little verses paint a powerful picture for us.  This is a woman who came to the prophet Elisha.  She came because of a tremendous crisis that had happened in her life.  She had a husband who loved the Lord and saved him.  Now he is dead and she is left with her 2 sons.  There is a debt that is outstanding and has to be paid.  The creditor can claim her 2 sons and pay the debt off.  A crisis brings her to the God of Israel.  Maybe you are facing a crisis in your life, sickness, something in the family circle or work.

There is an appointment here before her.  She now comes to the prophet Elisha and explains her situation.  One of these days there would come a knock on the door.  The creditor could take the 2 boys and sell them, claim the money to pay off the debt.  There is a debt lying over your heart and mine.  One day death is going to come to your door.  You are going to have to step out of this scene of time and step into God’s eternity.  There are only 2 places in God’s eternity – a heaven to be gained and a hell to be shuned.  Each one of us is born in sin and shapen in iniquity.  We are on the broad road that lies to destruction.  Not one of us misses out on it.  There is an appointed time.  Once to die and after this the judgement.  One of these days that knock will come to your door and a claim will be made on your soul.  You must make your way out to the great eternity.  Remember when Jesus stood before Pilate?  He was beaten, tortured and taken out and placed on a wooden cross.  The reason for that death is for you.  Up to this point in time you have rejected him.  Maybe this evening you will come to the Lord, confess your sin before him, do business with God.  Pilate had the greatest opportunity any man ever had.  The evidence came flowing in from this one and that one.  He knew in his heart this was no blam in him, no guilt, no wrong yet he listened to the crowd on that day.  Are you still listening to the crowd?  Maybe there is fear what others would say or think.  Pilate had a tremendous choice to make.  He listed to the crowd and then he listened to his conscience.  He lifted up his voice and said “what shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?”  Will you take him as Saviour and Lord?  Pilate released Barnabas and handed Jesus over to be crucified.  The plight this woman faced.  You are facing the same plight today.  Pilate wasn’t prepared to take Jesus as Saviour.  There is an appointment with death tonight.

The appeal she made.  This crisis brought her to Elisha.  She was depending on what Elisha would say.  She could have made an appeal to the king but what benefit would that have been?  We have one that we can appeal to.  There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.  If she had wanted justice she would have paid the debt but she had nothing to pay it with.  This was going to change her life.  There is one we can appeal to who will change our lives.  Remember the jailer in Philippi?  The walls began to crumble, all the doors opened and when he saw it all he was ready to take his life.  Paul tells him to do himself no harm as everyone was still in the prison.  In that moment something happened in the life of the jailer.  He realised he did not have what they possessed.  Just hours before the jailer had heard 2 men singing to God.  The jailer realised he didn’t have what they had.  He wanted it more than anything else in this world.  He asks the question “what must I do to be saved?”  Do you realise you are not saved?  If you realise that you are already on a step ladder to heaven.  It was a crisis that brought this woman to make an appeal.  Remember the farmer whose fields brought forth abundantly.  He thought to himself “Once I bring this into my barns they will never cope with this harvest, I will build bigger barns.”  He was making plans for the future but without God.  Maybe already you have made plans for tomorrow yet the Bible says we shouldn’t boast of tomorrow for we know not what a day may bring forth.  Eternity might be just hidden from view at the moment.  The farmer prepared for the years to come but that night his appointed time came.  God said to him “thou fool this night thy soul is required of thee.  Then who shall these things be?”  The farmer went out into God’s eternity unprepared.  Will you prepare to meet your God?

The answers that were given.  Elisha asked the woman what she had and she told him nothing except a small cruise of oil.  What have you got to take you into the realms of eternity?  The Lord wants to clear your debt of sin.  I am sure when the woman looked at the cruise of oil she thought “what good is this to me?”  She went home though and told her sons to bring all the vessels to her.  She began to pour the oil into each.  She probably thought it was mad but she did as instructed.  Sure enough there was enough to fill every vessel she had and only then the oil ran out.  Look to Calvary and the cross of Christ.  You have to bring your records in honesty before God.  I have nothing to bring you say.  Get down before Christ and cry for mercy through the open door of your heart and allow him to take control of your life.

The abundance that she proved.  After the filling was done she went back to the prophet who told her to go and sell the vessels and pay off her debt.  She then would have enough to live on.  That is what Christ does – he pays out debt and carries us every day.  After that don’t worry about being able to keep it.  He will keep filling but you must be willing to let him in.

Acts 10 verses 1 – 6

Here we see a man who had a false hope in his heart.  He was hoping heaven’s door would open for him.  He knew nothing of the death of Christ, of his blood that would atone for his sin.  He was on his knees in his home praying.  Maybe this man represents you and the position you are in.  Maybe you have a hope but it is a false hope.  Hoping in something that is not real. 

The man – he was a religious man, a devout man and he had authority in the Roman army (verse 2).  He was in command of a group of men.  A religious man yet he was not right with God.  He never had his sins forgiven, he was trusting in Christ.  How close to God’s salvation and yet not saved.  Nicodemus came to the Lord by night, under the shadow of darkness.  Maybe he didn’t want anyone else to see him.  He went to speak to Christ and said “we know that thou are a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles except God be with him.”  He came convinced that the Lord was someone special.  Is Christ special in your life?  The bible says “there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”  He was sent into the world that the sins of the world would be laid on him.  That you would know your sins forgiven and go at last to heaven saved by his precious blood.  He was a ruler of the Jews, one of the people in the synagogue who opened up the word of God to everyone gathered there.  He comes into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and then he realises he is not saved.  Jesus told him “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Here was a man who could have gone into the Sanhedrin, no man as religious as he was.  When looking into the Lord he realised he came so far short.  Who are you measuring yourself by?  Someone down the street, someone in the workplace?  You should be measuring yourself against the sinless lamb of God.  God has a mark for you and I to reach, not one of us can reach it.  God loved you and me, he sent his only begotten son to die on the cross to bring us up to that mark.  We can be so close and not saved.  Another young man, a scribe, a student of the word of God came to Jesus one day.  The Lord said to him “thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”  We can be religious and not saved.  Maybe you could quote the catechism and yet you are not saved.  Maybe you teach a Sunday school class and yet you are not saved.  Maybe even a minister in the pulpit and yet you are not saved.  He was a devout man, a religious man and he feared God with all his house.

He was reverent in his character.  A man who would have watched his language.  This man wasn’t saved.  He had a reverence for God.  Maybe you have been brought up well, your parents sent you to Sunday school every week yet you are not saved.  You have never come to the foot of the cross and said “Lord I have sinned, have mercy on this soul.”  You have never asked him into your heart and life, to be made a new creator in Christ.

He was a responsible man in the community.  He looked to the needs of others.  Maybe you are like that in the community or in the church?

He was a respectful man.  He prayed to God daily.  He wouldn’t have gone out into the day without first asking the Lord to help him.  He knew God would hear and answer his prayers.  It is wonderful how close we can get without being saved.  Maybe you have attended this mission, heard the word of God and are almost persuaded to be a Christian but you are not there.  If you were to die in your sin your soul would be lost in hell for all eternity.  Here was a man who was not right with God, he might have had all the outward appearance but his heart was as dark as night.

The messenger – verse 3.  Here’s a man on his knees and God hears his prayers.  He sends a messenger right into his very presence.  That is how serious God took it.  God could see a man not saved and he drew close to him.  God is near to them that will call to him out of a true and contrite heart.  God comes by his Holy Spirit, opens up your heart and shows you your great need of salvation.  There was a young man in the scriptures who had everything going for him – position and power yet deep down in his soul he realised he wasn’t right with God.  He came to Jesus’ feet and asked “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  He thought it was up to him to do something yet Christ did it all at the cross.  You have to come to Christ, repent of your sin, invite Christ into your life and trust him as Saviour and Lord.  Put church, good works, tithes, communion table to the back and put Christ first in your life.

The message – verse 5.  It was clear – “send to Joppa.”  Cornelius did as he was instructed and sent for Peter to come to him.  Chapter 11 verse 14.  Peter began to speak of Christ’s birth, of Christ’s death, of Christ’s resurrection and of Christ’s coming again.  That is the only message to save your soul.  Why did Christ die for you?  To pay the price of your sin.  Today he is seated at the right hand of his father in heaven.  One day he is coming back to judge this old earth.  What if it was tomorrow?  Are you ready?  Will you stand before him in all of your sin, rejection of his son, will you stand before him with a depraved heart?

The miracle – verse 44.  It wasn’t Peter, it was the message he brought but the Holy Spirit came down and showed him that he had sinned and was on his way to a lost eternity.  That day he turned and sought the Saviour and Lord.  The Holy Spirit is going to do the same – he will take the word of God and will ask you a question – what will you do with Jesus – reject him, turn away from him or accept him as Saviour and Lord?

Acts 3 verses 1 – 10

The power of God

Maybe this man thought in his heart “can anything be done for me?”  He was living in the most privileged of all circumstances in Jerusalem.  The church had just been born, the Holy Spirit had been poured out, Peter had been preaching in the streets and men and women were being saved.  We too are living in a privileged time.  God is again moving in this area.  Every time a Gospel Mission comes there is a moving of God’s Holy Spirit.  Maybe not during a Mission but certainly afterwards.  Jesus is passing by and he wants to do what the Psalmist described in Psalm 40 – he lifted up his voice, he heard my cry, he lifted me from the miry crowd and established my way, put a new song in my heart.  A man who cried out.  Can God do anything for me?  The power to change his life. 

Here was a life long tragedy.  He had been suffering all his life with this condition – verse 2.  He had been like this from his mother’s womb and he was carried daily to the gate of the temple.  “I have been like this for years, is there any glimmer of hope for me?”  I’m sure he thought like that.  I’m sure there are many who think the same.  Lives devastated, broken, sorrowful saying “is there anything that can be done for me.”  Outside of God there is nothing that can be done for anyone of us.  This man sitting at the temple gate, he takes up his position in the shadow of the temple where God said he would meet with his people.  Salvation is not to be found in a church denomination, a charter or a creed.  It can only be found in Jesus Christ.  On Calvary he suffered and bled to bring you and I his very best.  We cannot be saved outside the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are not given the reason for this man’s disability, whether it was an accident or born that way.  He suffered for some 40 years.  The problem seemed with his ankle bones.  I’m sure he would love to be able to walk.  Maybe you look at others and say “I would love to be saved.”  You see the change in their lives and you are saying I would truly love to be saved.  There are people in the glory who prayed for you.  Somewhere in the depths of your heart you have fought against it yet deep down you are saying “I have a mother in the glory and I would truly love to see her.”  “None that defileth shall ever enter into that holy place.”  Your sin cannot be taken into heaven.  It can only be dealt with at the cross.  This man at the temple gates couldn’t do anything for himself.  No-one could touch this man.  Maybe he felt in his mind he could walk but when he went to stand up he realised he couldn’t do it.  Sometimes we try and turn over a new leaf but it doesn’t work because there’s nothing to it.  This man’s condition is likened to sin.  In our unsaved state we could do nothing for ourselves.  The bible makes is clear that we have been born in sin – “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  God has a mark tonight and each of us has come short of that mark.  This man couldn’t stand on his feet.  We couldn’t stand before God because of our sin.  Didn’t Adam prove that in the garden of Eden when sin entered into his heart and life.  He realised he was naked.  What did he do?  He ran and hid behind the trees.  God came and asked Adam “where are you?”  He realised he couldn’t stand before God.  Something has to happen.  We cannot walk with God until we come to the cross of Calvary.  Enoch in the Old Testament pleased God by coming in simple childlike faith and trusting in God of heaven.  Something happened in his life that was to change his life.  Change his direction in life.  A little child was born into his home.  Maybe he saw the God of creation in that child.  A miracle of grace.  From that day he turned to the God of heaven.  What will it take you to turn to Christ?  Here was a man whose ankle bones were the problem.  For you and I it is the heart that is the problem.  The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked who can know it?  Maybe you are saying “he doesn’t understand what is in this heart of mine.”

The heart deceives us and leads us down a long transformation.  I see him being carried to the gate every day.  He sees 2 men approaching him, Peter and John.  It is the hour of prayer.  I see him looking into Peter’s face.  The first thing that strikes him is “this is a man of God, this is the man who has been saved, a fisherman to a follower of Christ.”  He is getting his eyes on Peter.  You can get your eyes on a man tonight, a minister or a loved one.  You need to get them off everyone else and onto Christ.  Verse 3 he asks for money.  The first thing he asked for.  He didn’t know any better.  If I had some money that would change so much.  Many tonight are like that – waiting for that roll over lottery to change their lives.  In verse 6 we see his appeal fell on those who couldn’t help.  Peter couldn’t help him but he pointed him to the one who could help.  “Silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”  No man can do anything for you but I can point you to Jesus Christ who came into this world, who went to the cross of Calvary for your sins.  He cried out “it is finished”.  He was finishing the task his father in heaven gave him to do.  He wanted to attain salvation for you.  If you want to know your sins forgiven you have to come the way of the cross.  Peter told him he had nothing to give him but here’s what I will do.  Verse 7 Peter reached down to where he was, took his hand, lifted him up and immediately his feet received strength.  Would you love to have this life transformed.  Be confident to know that if anything happened to you it would be absent from the Lord and present with the Lord?  Verse 10 others saw what had happened.  There was one thing they knew – it was the one who lay at the gates.  It doesn’t take a day or 2, it happens there and then.  God transforms your life there and then.  He breaks the power of sin in your life, sets you free, you can become a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away, behold all things become new.

Here was a living testimony.  Verse 9 they saw.  Verse 10 they realised the change.  This is the man who was changed.  Don’t you hear it time after time?  God doesn’t want to save you and wrap you in cotton wool.  He wants you to be a living testimony for him.  Verse 8 his desire was to be in the company of genuine believers.  He stood up, walked and entered with them into the temple.  He couldn’t be silenced.  He was walking and praising God.  What a difference the Lord makes.

It was a lasting tribute.  Chapter 4 verse 14.  When the apostles are taken in before the leaders of the Jewish people it says “and behold the man which was healed standing with them.”  They could say nothing against it.  Yes the leaders were up in arms because they were preaching the word of God but here was the man standing in their midst, nothing they could say or do about it.  Once you get saved you stand out.  Are you standing out in your family?  In your community?  In your church?  In your workplace?  When people look at you do they see someone who the Lord has touched?  You will be ridiculed, criticised but they will see someone whom God has touched, changed, transformed.  A lasting tribute.  What will you do?  Will you allow the power of God to come to your life, to give you assurance that you are on your way to haven and home?  Salvation is what God can give, that is what changes your life.

Acts 24 verses 22 – 27

The statement Felix made to the apostle Paul in verse 25 “when I have a convenient season I will call for thee.”  In other words when I feel like it.  He felt he had so much time on his hands.  His reaction to the word of God was to tremble.  Here was a man living in total rebellion to God, living in a sinful relationship but he begins to shake at the word of God.  How many times have you sat and come close to accepting Christ as Saviour?  Have you ever trembled in your seat?  Would you love to have had the courage to say yes to Christ?  What exactly is this convenient season really?

A hope outside man’s domain.  Felix thought he would have plenty of hope to come again and hear Paul again.  That this man would stand before him and hear the word of God.  It was not just another day but he didn’t even know how he would feel on another day.  If God is showing you your sinful nature you realise in your heart that this is right, you need to do business with God.  Perhaps the Lord might not speak again.  Here was Felix who thought he could call on God when he liked.  His own authority maybe even deceived him.  It is the things of eternal value not temporary.  You are not dealing with your body but your soul that will live on after you die.  There are only 2 places where your soul can go the Bible says – a heaven prepared for us or into hell for all eternity.  This is serious.  You have a soul that needs to be saved.  Felix had a great opportunity to hear the word of God.  In verse 22 he deferred him for a few days then brought him back again.  Thankfully God gave him the privilege of hearing him again.  He is a merciful and gracious God but you have rejected him.  Will you take the opportunity to come to Christ.  James rebuked those people who were saying “we are going to a city and will dwell there for a year, will buy and sell.  James rebuked them and told them to say “if God wills we will do this and that.”  Maybe you are leaving God out.  Remember the farmer who went out at harvest time.  His fields were flowing with crops and he thought it was brilliant.  He made plans to pull down his barns and build greater.  He thought to himself that he had everything he could enjoy but the scriptures tell us he hadn’t thought about God.  God said “thou fool this night thy soul is required of thee, then whose shall all these things be?”  That men went out to eternity a pauper, not rich towards God. 

A hindrance to his decision.  The situation he was in called for a decision.  When it came to that we see a ploy from the devil.  Just as he considered all that was said the devil throws in a life line.  He was trembling under the word of God yet the devil throws in a life line.  His excuse was “I will speak to you another time.”  He was saying “I am not saying I will not get saved but rather we will talk about it another time.”  A hindrance to the decision.  The moment you come to make that decision the devil will come and throw you a life line.  He will say you are not a bad person, you were brought up in a good home, you attended Sunday School, you still go to church and are here in a mission now.  The devil will say this is fine, enough for now.  Maybe you are thinking you can never keep it, it is not for you.  God only saves good people, people who go to church and are good in themselves, not you because you are in the pub every night and live too wreckless a life.  Perhaps you think you are too old, that it was alright some 20 years ago but not today.  Perhaps you think you are too young, look at all the fun you are still going to have.  Felix told Paul he wanted to hear of his faith in Christ.  Paul opens up the word of God, takes him to Calvary, that Jesus died for his sins.  Every one of us has been born in sin, shapen in iniquity.  We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God – that is the bad news but the good news is that Jesus has died on the cross of Calvary just for you.  He waits for you to come to him.  That is what Paul told this man.  He went on to tell him that Jesus arose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the father and will one day he will come again.  He will judge the world.  Tonight he can be your Saviour but one of these days he will be your judge.  Perhaps you have sat at the communion table, been giving into the church all your life but in that day Jesus will say “I never knew you” – why – because you never came to Calvary, never taken eternal life from me.  Maybe you are interested but it will never save you.  An interest brought Zacchaeus out of his house one day, an interest brought him running down the street, an interest made him climb into a tree to see Jesus but it didn’t save him until he put his faith in Christ himself.  Felix trembled and was under deep conviction but it is not conversion.  Are you convicted?  Do you know you need to be saved?  That you will never be in heaven without the Lord?  “Behold now is the accepted time.”  Felix said he had another day.

It is a hesitation to disaster – verse 26.  He did get another opportunity.  He spoke to Paul again.  There is only one time to come to Christ – when the spirit of God is prompting you.  Is God speaking to you?  Has he spoken to your heart saying you need to be saved?  Forget about profession, what you did 30/40 years ago when nothing seemed to take place.  Come to Christ and make it real tonight.

Luke 18 verses 9 – 14

It is interesting to note here that we find in Luke 18 the congregation that are gathering into the temple of God.  2 men – one was a Pharisee and the other a Publican.  These men who came before the God of heaven.  One was a self righteous man, held a good high up position in the house of God.  He was called upon to explain the word of God, called on to preach the word of God, to defend the word of God.  He would tithe out of his earnings.  He was a good upright living man.  The Holy Spirit turns the light again and shows us another man who comes into the same assembly.  He is described as a Publican who comes far short of what Pharisees though he should be.  He comes under constant judgement of the Pharisees.  He came so far down in the ranking.  He came as an example.  This is the man who goes down to his house and he is justified in the presence of God.  He was reconciled to God, had peace with God resting and remaining in his heart.  Maybe that is something you do not have.  You may have money, a religion, a church you attend but not the peace of God.  You have never been to the cross, never received God’s gift of eternal life.  Look at the phrase in verse 13 “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

The title this man embraced.  He takes this title as a sinner.  Verse 10 2 men going up to the house of God, to do business with God.  When he came into the presence of God he took that title.  He realised he had come so far short of God’s mark.  In our society we can live up to the best of them, not smoke or drink or do the lottery or go to the bookies but we are talking about standing in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This man realised he came far short of what God wanted for him.  He made a great discovery.  Until we make that discovery we will never be in heaven.  Until we realise we have sinned and come short of God’s glory we will never come up to the mark of God.  In Revelation 5 we read of a vision given to John.  He sees a throne and in the midst of it are the elders, then he catches the large number of people also there.  They were singing in heaven “thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.”  In Revelation chapter 7 we see people who have come out of the great tribulation which lasted 7 years.  As John looks on them he sees a multitude that no man can number.  When John asks who these are he is told “these are they which came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.”  Here is a man who took his place as a sinner.  Have you taken your place as a sinner?  There at the foot of the old rugged cross come face to face with the word of God?  You have come short of God’s mark.  You have come face to face to the fact that the blood was shed for you, that your sins might be washed away.  He gave his life in order that you might be saved.  The Lord could have called the angels to take him down from the cross and carry him back unto his Father in heaven.  When he was on the cross he had you on his mind.  David took this same title when he sinned with Bathsheba.  He took her husband out so that he could have Bathsheba as his wife.  Nathan the prophet was sent to show David his sin.  Nathan told David the parable of the poor man’s lamb, the only possession he had which was taken and a feast held for invited guests.  David said this is awful.  Nathan said “thou art the man”.  David then said “I have sinned.”  The prodigal son took his inheritance, left his father’s house and headed out to the far country.  He had plenty of friends but his money soon ran out.  The only job he could get was to feed the pigs and it got so bad he ate the pigs food himself.  One day he came to his senses and realised he could have more if he returned to his father as a servant.  He came back to his father and said “I have sinned”.  That is the first step on the ladder, to admit you are a sinner.

The trouble that it caused for this man – verse 13.  He stood afar off.  No access to God whatsoever.  He could only stand afar off because sin separated him from God.  It still does today – separated in this time and age but it could also separate us for all eternity.  He felt that broken relationship with God.  The 10 lepers who came to Jesus had to live in a small village out on the mountainside.  They depended on people bringing them a few loaves of bread and some rags for clothes.  Why?  Because they were unclean.  Here was a man who couldn’t come near God but stood afar off.  Isaiah said “but your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear.”(chapter 59 verse 2)  Remember the trouble it brought to Achan, a soldier in the Israelite army?  God had promised to Joshua he would give him the city of Jericho.  There would be no battle, they would walk around the walls, the walls would fall and they would claim the city.  No spoils were to be taken from that city.  Achan heard those words but then he saw the silver, the gold and the Babylonish garment.  He thought to himself ‘there is no one about I will take it.’  God saw him coveting it, taking it and hiding it in his tent.  Achan was judged and sentenced to death, he and his family.  He had brought judgement on them all because of his sin.  God wants you to trust him with all your heart.  In the very next battle the sin of Achan came to the fore.  “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death”. (James 1 verse 14 and 15)  Achan realised that he just couldn’t come into the presence of God.  A troubled man.  God wants to save you and give you peace.

There is a treatment that was at hand.  This man knew all about it.  He cried unto the God of heaven for mercy.  Once you come to that place where you realise you are a sinner that is the first rung on the ladder.  The next step is being willing to turn away from that sin and being prepared to call out for mercy.  Blind Bartimaeus was sitting begging one day but although blind he recognised who Jesus was and said “thou son of David have mercy on me.”  He didn’t want riches, only his sight.  He didn’t want a mansion or a house or mercy from his enemies, only that his sin would be forgiven.  As God begins to draw near he wants to save you.  He is waiting for you to ask for that mercy.  That is the answer for man’s problems.  It will affect you not just for now but for all eternity.  “What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?”  If you were to get everything the world has, all the oil wells, all the silver and gold, gain it all Jesus said what will it profit you?  The treatment that is ready at hand – a merciful crying to God of heaven.  What are you holding onto for eternity?  Whatever it is if it is outside Jesus it will be broken when you pass through the shadow of death.  You can hold onto your good name, possess the religion your mother or father had, the church you attend – yes it will take you through this scene of time but when it comes to the day of eternity you will have to say farewell to it.  Psalmist said “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me.”  He will take you through and bring you to the other side.  “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1 verse 15)

A testimony that was certain – verse 14.  God put a stamp on this man.  He was justified.  His sins were forgiven, he was in a right relationship with God, reconciled unto God.  “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(Romans 5 verse 1)  Will you come, will you trust him, take him as Saviour or will you go out with self righteous doubts wrapped around you?

Genesis 19 verses 15 – 26

“Remember Lot’s wife” Luke 17 verse 32

Why would Jesus take his hearers back to this point of time and lift out this woman?  Just to show you it is good to learn a lesson further.  They used to say a bought lesson was the best lesson.  Jesus was pointing back to this woman to help us learn from her.  He is speaking of his return.  The apostle Paul tells us how it will happen.  Thessalonians God will come to the air with the trump and the shout of the archangel.  He will call those who have already passed away and will reunite their bodies and souls.  Those that are alive and remain will be caught up to meet Christ in the air.  That is the situation he is speaking of.  He was giving the urgency of being ready for that day.  It will happen swiftly, secretly, silently.  If the Lord was to come back are you ready?  Or would you be left behind?  The Lord is speaking of the urgency to be ready for his coming.  That is why he takes us back to Genesis 19.  This woman had every opportunity she could ever have had.  “Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh.”

The peril that she lived in.  Lot was the nephew of Abraham who was the friend of God.  What a privilege that must have been – to be the uncle of a man who was the friend of God.  What blessing must have flowed from that uncle.  His family circle made a choice.  There was a disagreement amongst Abraham and Lot’s herdsmen.  They decided to split up.  Abraham gave Lot the choice of territory and he would take what was left.  Lot looked on the land of Sodom and thought it was a brilliant piece of ground.  When he left Abraham he looked down into Sodom, then he pitched his tent in Sodom and finally he was on the council of Sodom.  Isn’t that like sin?  We get a bit of sin and enjoy it and before we know it we are enjoying it so much that we cannot get out of it.  This woman was living in this sinful city.  Genesis 13 verse 13 the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly.  This was the city Lot chose to live in.  We need to be careful where we are leading our families.  Judges 21 verse 25 “in those days there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  There was no-one to look to.  That is a very dangerous situation.  In the opening chapter of Ruth we read of a family who gathered around the meal table.  A husband, wife and 2 sons.  The husband told them he had made a decision to go into the land of Moab and live there for a little while.  He didn’t intend to stay.  We don’t read when that man got before the God of heaven and asked him if it was right to go to this place.  Will you come before the God of heaven, the cross of Calvary upon which he shed his precious blood for your sin and mine.  Will you ask the Lord – what is the direction in life you would have me to go in?  This is maybe the night when he wants to draw you out.  Almost persuaded but yet somehow you take a decision against God and walk out into the darkness.  We need to be careful of the decisions we make.  Lot’s wife was in peril.  Judgement was to come on this city.  The world we live in is ripe for judgement at this point in time.  Paul told the people on Mars Hill God is coming back again to judge.  We are still in the day of grace, we could close our eyes in death and be lost for all eternity.  The Lord is drawing you to himself, he wants to save your soul.

The petition she heard.  These heavenly messengers were sent forth with their great message.  They came to the home of Lot.  They gave him the plan and purpose concerning the city of Sodom.  All you have to do is ask God for his will, he shows us the way we are to come.  The people of Ninevah in Jonah’s day heard him preach.  He had one message – repentance.  He told the King in the palace to the pauper in the gutter and they all turned to the Lord.  The Lord knows exactly where we are tonight.  He is warning you to flee from the wrath to come.

The pleading that went on in the home.  “while he lingered” verse 16.  God was sending his messengers to tell him what would happen to the city.  After he heard the news he lingered.  You have listened to so many invitations and yet you turn your back time and time again.  Are you lingering in your sin?  You are still in the place of peril.  The angels took the hand of Lot and his wife and his 2 daughters and brought them outside the city.  How many times has the Holy Spirit tried to draw you to Calvary, show you what Christ has done for you?  He was sinless and perfect yet died for you.  The lingered so he pleaded.  Paul in chains before Agrippa took the opportunity to witness to him.  Paul tells him simply how he got saved – “I was travelling on the road to Damascus when a bright light shone around me, I heard a voice saying Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me?”  As he listened Agrippa said “almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”  Paul said “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bonds.”

The privilege she was unaware of.  Lot’s uncle Abraham knew and loved the Lord.  Once he heard from God he was going to destroy the city of Sodom he got before God.  He started to pray and plead for his family.  What a privilege this woman had.  She had someone praying for her.  Remember Hannah, how she prayed for Samuel.  When God blessed her with a son she promised to give him back to the Lord and she fulfilled that promise.  She told Eli that this was the boy she had prayed for, the fruit of her prayers.  Maybe you could be the fruit of someone’s prayers.  Someone who has prayed for you and they are in the glory now.

The price she paid – verse 26.  The angel took her by her hand, led her out of the city and told her not to look back but she did and was turned into a pillar of salt.  Another step and she would have been safe.  What about you?  Safety was in her eye but sorrow was in her heart.

Mark 9 verses 14 – 29

I want you to see where this man came to in his life.  Comes to this place at the feet of Jesus Christ confessing to him verse 24 “Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief”.  I’m sure there are many who could not say “I believe.”  Perhaps have heard the word of God time and proclaimed tonight.  Already today I believe in the Lord, in Jesus, that he died on the cross for my sin.  The devil believes and he trembles but it is not a saving belief.  The Bible says what you have now is not a saving faith in Christ.  You look to your church, the good things you do for others.  That is not a saving faith in Christ Jesus.  By simply coming to the foot of the old rugged cross.  The Lord came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.  You are lost in your sin and the only remedy for your sin is to bow your knees at the cross, trusting in his finished work to take you out into eternity.

The situation that brought this man to Christ.  He had a tremendous problem in his home.  He had a young son and Satan had taken control of him and he was in total bondage to him.  Satanic possession indwelt this young child.  Verse 21 not told what age he was.  Matthew and Mark refer to him as a child.  Imagine the concern the father had.  It had brought heartache and headache.  Nothing to prevent it.  Satan got in and controlled him.  Life at this particular point in time.  The Lord pointed directly to it.  The devil has got a hold in each of our lives through sin.  You can be bound by drugs, alcohol, immoral living.  Habits that hold you back.  The devil is holding onto you.  He doesn’t want to see you getting saved.  He will show you how great a fella you are, you go to church and you are as good as the next person.  We are talking about when you close your eyes in death.  There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.  What is hindering you from getting saved?  Are you holding onto a profession made years ago?  A form that you signed?  Are you depending on this and yet are not saved?

The steps this man took – verse 18.  He heard something of Jesus, how powerful he was.  Nicodemus said to Jesus “we know thou art a teacher come from heaven for no man can do these miracles except God be with him.”  He came to where the Lord was.  He heard something of Christ.  You can bring your sin to Christ and he will not turn you away.  “He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”  Will you turn from your sin that has held you bondage day in and day out?  You have been born in sin not with your face heading to heaven.  The word of God says each one of us is born in sin and shapen in iniquity, heading to a lost eternity.  Jesus spoke to the Pharisees telling them that if they died in their sin where he was they couldn’t come.  What steps are you going to take?  You say “I would love to be saved, to have what you are talking about but I couldn’t keep it up.“  If you are willing to come to Christ he will keep you.  Take the steps to the foot of the cross.  The steps Judas took took him out into darkness to his own place.  Wouldn’t it be awful to know that you were a step from taking the Lord as Saviour?  Wouldn’t it be awful if you said no for the last time and end in a lost eternity?  You will remember every meeting you sat in, every gospel tract you received, every time you rejected Christ’s offer of sin.  In Luke 18 we read of the rich man who lifted up his eyes in torment.  His mind was in full working order.  He was told “remember when you were on earth you enjoyed the good times but now you are in hell.  The Psalmist David tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba.  She was pregnant and David tried to make it out it was her husband’s child.  He made plans to take this man and put him into the forefront of the battle where he would be killed.  David tried to sleep but sleep wouldn’t come.  It was a restless sleep.  Maybe you know something of the same battle.  God is challenging you to be saved.

The setbacks.  The man comes first to the disciples in verse 14 and they let him down.  Maybe you have had a setback.  You have probably thought if that is Christianity I don’t want anything to do with it.  Bartimaeus was sitting by the wayside, someone told him it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by.  He cried out “thou son of David have mercy on me.”  The people tried to stop him.from crying out.  Sometimes there are people who come into your life who perhaps are not living up to the profession they make.  Remember when the children came to Jesus’ disciples and they didn’t want them to come Jesus told them “suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  Wouldn’t it be awful to think of that person who held you back?

The search made.  He bypassed the disciples and came to Jesus Christ.  This man ralised the only person who could help was Jesus.  Jesus asked him “do you believe that I can do this for you?”  The man said “yes I believe will you help my unbelief?”  What about it?  It is by grace we are saved through faith.  “There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved.”

The solution he found – verse 25 “Christ rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit I charge thee come out of him and enter no more into him.  And the spirit cried and rent him sore and came out of him.”  Will you come to Christ?  Don’t rely on anything else.