Joseph in a new position

Sermon notes from Sunday morning 31 January 2016

Genesis 39 verses 1 - 20

Lask week we were looking at the glowing tribute Joseph`s father paid to him on his death bed.  Jacob hadn`t seen his son Joseph in many years.  One morning Joseph went out in search of his brothers who actually sold him into slavery and Joseph ended up in Egypt.  Many years later Jacob said of him "Joseph is a fruitful bough even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the walls."  These were the characteristics of a man, something that people can see and know Christ is in him.  Whenever Joseph was in the presence of his dying father what was said of him was important.  For there to be fruit on the bough it needed the soil, the water and the wall.  Every part had its particular job to play.  It is one thing to produce fruit but when it produces fruit in other places then that is more noticeable.  It is one thing to be fruitfuul in the church but another thing to have a fruitful life in the workplace or in the community.  There was a blessing in Potiphar`s house because of Joseph.  Is the workplace blessed because of you or I today?  Joseph was bearing fruit in Potiphar`s house.  The characteristics of God were bringing forth fruit.  Even Potiphar saw that himself - verse 2 "and his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand."  Potiphar knew there was something special about him too.  It was not a put on thing.  The Lord was with Joseph.

In his new position.  In verse 1 we read "and Joseph was brought down to Egypt."  Notice Joseph did not go down but was brought down.  He was brought down for a special reason, a task only he could do.  God was going to provide the way.  God knew there would be a famine in years to come and as a result God would use Joseph in that situation.  Maybe God is providing a way for you.  Maybe you cannot see it right now.  Joseph was sold in the market place, Potiphar saw him and thought he would be good in his house so would go in and pay the money for him.  He brought him out of the market place.  That must have been a degrading experience for Joseph. His own brothers sold him into the hands of Ishmaeiites yet we find this young man although degraded accepted the situation and began to live for God.  He is only 17 years of age, he is bought and sold as a piece of meat yet when he comes into his new position he is ready and willing to live for God.  When Joseph received his tribute from his father he was about 50 years of age.  If he were to think back there were many difficult decisions he had to make over the years.  Now he is showing love, joy and peace.  That is the fruit of the Spirit.  God the Holy Spirit dwells in us and brings fruit into our lives if we ony would allow him to do that.  Joseph was standing strong in this home, showing fruit for God.  I`m sure the decisions Joseph had to made during the years of famine were hard.  Maybe there were those who pointed the finger at him and said "there is not much love there."  Paul himself talked about love - love one another, love abounds, love excels and love grieves.  We need to be careful with it.  There comes a time of chastisement.  There are times when we have to chastise our children but it is a case of seeking for their betterment.  We have to take difficult decisions and people will point the finger and say "if that is love well then .."  Paul too took the elders of Ephesus out to Miletus.  He told them "I am leaving you now, I love that church at Ephesus, love you as elders but you have to be careful now to feed the flock, a place where God has made you the overseers.  In days to come there will be those who will rise up in the midst of your fellowhsip and I don`t want to see anything happening to this fellowship but you need to be strong when attack comes."  1 Timothy 1 verses 18 - 20.  Paul had to take these 2 people and deliver them unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.  It seems a harsh thing to do.  He might have seen people pointing the finger at him and saying "there is not much love there."  2 Timothy 4 verses 13 and 14.  Paul was saying to Timothy "there is a man who has done me much evil, he has sought to withstand our ways."  Verse 15 "of whom be thou careful also."  Paul is actually protecting the work, protecting Timothy too.  Paul told him Alexander would flatter him and do all sorts of things to get in on him.  He has done me much evil and he will do the same with you.  Sometimes the Pastor has to protect the people.  He sees something that someone else doesn`t see.  Many people will blame the pastor as a result.  Joseph had many a harsh decision to make.  There were people who came to him during the famine with no money to buy food and he had to make decisions to take from them something they hadn`t got much of.

A display here of God`s presence.  Joseph had no bitterness toward those who sold him or those who bought him.  There was a tremendous presence of the Lord with him.  He had a peaceful serenity of character displaying love.  Circumstances may alter but his love never changes.  Men and women see you and me with a presence about us if we are living for God.  Joseph`s whole world had changed but there was not a word of anger or self pity here.  Joseph is standng in the market place waiting for someone to buy him yet he had no hate in his heart.  A man who perhaps did no wrong as far as his father is concerned.  Now he is being gaged on how he lives wthout his father.  Only when new situation arises that we can be truly tested of God.  Things never planned for before in our lives - perhaps sickness yet God could use that.  Perhaps unemployment or dismissal from work.  All so that people can see Christ living in us.  Somehow God can still use us in those situations.  Remember Stephen, the first martyr in the Christian church.  All the leaders quizzed him and tried to trick him, they brought in false witnesses, people who would tell lies.  We read these words though "they saw his face as had been the face of an angel."  The scribes and rulers are watching Stephen the whole time.  He was bearing fruit then.  They took him out and stoned him to death.  Saul kept their clothes around his feet while they stoned him.  Stephen knelt down and prayed with a loud voice "Lord lay not this sin to their charge."  When Stephen said this he fell asleep.

Joseph and his promotion.  He was taken from the market place, bought by Potiphar and brought into his home.  He wasn`t placed in the masters position initially but he probably started on menial tasks first and gradually his master saw something in him that promoted him until he reached the top position in Potiphar`s house.  Potiphar probably didn`t know what he owned exactly but Joseph did.  He was serious in all he did.  All he does is handed into his authority.  Joseph is careful though.  He doesn`t get big headed when the advances of Potiphar`s wife comes.  Joseph says in verse 9 "there is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"  Promotion can turn someone into someone else.  The fruit of humility is displayed in this young man`s life.  Promotion can turn people`s mind.  3 John verse 9 "who loveth the preeminence among them, receiveth us not."

Joseph is now pursued.  When he rebuked Potiphar`s wife something happened.  Joseph knew this relationship could never and should never happen.  He fled from the woman`s presence.  That is another fruit of the Spirit - temperance.  He is only a young man and he turns from that temptation.  He knows it is wrong and he couldn`t do it.  Isn`t it amazing how one woman brings accusation against one man.  She tells lies about him.  There is nothing to hide.  She shows the form of self control.  How do we control ourselves in situations?  Joseph was not like that.  He saw the temptation before him and he fled.  The woman held onto his garment, told the people this man tried to lie with me, I caught the garment and he fled.  He is being pursued.  Joseph however submitted himself to God.  "Resist the devil and he will flee from thee".  Joseph never raised a finger dispite her spreading it around what he had supposedly done.  Joseph is now cast into prison.  He showed fruit for God in Potiphar`s house but now he is put into prison.  God is not finished with him yet though.  Even there God used him.  God has something for you today.  He is not finished with you.  There is something more that God has for you and he will bring you through it.

A fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the wall

NOTES FROM A SERMON HEARD ON SUNDAY 24 JANUARY 2016

GENESIS 37 VERSES 1 – 4, CHAPTER 49 VERSES 22 – 26

In Genesis 49 we come to Jacob who is now an old man as he gathers his family around him.  He is going to tell all 12 of his sons what will lie in the future for them.  What a picture this is of us one day when we must stand before the God of heaven and give an account of every deed taken place in this body of ours.  Jacob goes through all his sons – Reuben the firstborn, is his strength, a blessing to the family is as unstable as water, Simeon and Levi are the rods of cruelty.  So Jacob goes down the line.  Then he turns his attention to Joseph.  Verse 22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.”  Joseph is of course a picture of the type of Christ.  Joseph is an example of the believers.  It is his responsibility to bear fruit for the Lord Jesus.  John 15 “I am the vine, ye are the branches.”  Jesus told his disciples that he was the vine and his disciples were the branches.  There is a progression of fruit in John 15 – the reference is to “much fruit” (verse 5).  This is what the Lord wants for each one of us.  The bible says you and I are the light of the world, the salt of the world but also we are to bear fruit.  You are to bear fruit today not just in the church but also out in the world.  When we think of the vineyard, the vine and the fruit there are 3 things we need – a wall, water and soil.

The soil.  Here is Jacob’s family coming before him and hearing what will happen in the days to come.  As Jacob looks at Joseph he is probably about 45 or 50 years of age.  He sees something special about his life.  As God looks on your life could he say the same of you?  You are born again but have you borne fruit?  Have we come to the place of total surrender?  Not talking about being saved but rather everything I have is given to God to allow me to grow.  We need to be well rooted in the soil.  If the soil is not right there will be no growth.  If the soil is no good there will be no fruit.  “And having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.” (Colossians 1 verses 20 – 23)  Notice Paul’s passion – reconciled into the body of his flesh through death.  What God is going to do – present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.  We need to be grounded in God’s redemption.  Is this the soil you are planted in today?  You are not depending on anything else.  Not in any denomination or minister or a profession you made years ago.  “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.  That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length and depth and height.” (Ephesians 3 verses 14 – 18)  Joseph was like a bough planted and bearing fruit.  The location is so important today.  Jesus spoke with a man about a fig tree.  He came seeking year after year but found no fruit on it.  He wanted to knock the tree down but the dresser said “give me an opportunity to fill the right soil around it then you will see what happens.” (Luke 13)  The importance of the soil.  Remember the sower of the seed?  Some seed fell on hard ground – if there is a hardness in our hearts there will be no fruit.  Some seed fell on stony ground that didn’t bear any fruit.  If there is anything else in our hearts the word of God will do no good to us.  We will not bear any fruit for the master.

The well or water.  The tree had to be planted where there was water.  It was the source of life.  Jacob brings this tribute to his son, pictures him as a vine laden down with fruit.  Jacob attributes this to some lovely features in the garden.  The soil first of all then the well that always supplied water to the vine.  When the bough took water from the well it blossomed and bore fruit.  So rich and varied, so valuable to the growth of the vine was the water.  David in the Old Testament scriptures was surrounded by the Philistines, there was no where he could go.  There was one thought that came to him – he wanted to be standing in his own palace in Bethlehem.  “oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem” (2 Samuel 23 verse 15)  Three of David’s trusted soldiers when out and risked their own lives to bring David back a supply of water from that well.  David when he received it poured it out as a sacrifice to God, in recognition of what they had done to get it brought to him.  How precious is the word of God to us today?  Imagine being so close to the God of heaven and drawing from the well of God’s precious word.  There is also the secrecy of drawing as well as the source of the water.  It was growing so fast that it reached over the wall.  Most of the feeding goes on without much notice.  The fruit and foliage come without notice.  The fruit of the Spirit is spending much time in God’s word.  In 2 Kings 4 the widow woman had 2 sons.  Her husband had died and left her a debt.  All she had were her 2 sons to be sold to the creditors.  She came to the prophet Elisha who asked her what she had left in her house.  All she had was a pot of oil so Elisha told her to go out and borrow all the vessels she could from her neighbours.  She was then to pour the oil into the vessels.  She did as she was told and the oil miraculously filled every vessel until there were none left.  The oil never failed.  That is what God can do for you and I.  He will never stop for us.  There is a secrecy in drawing from God, no-one sees it but you benefit from an invisible source.

The wall.  The wall was there for a safeguard.  The vineyard was always open to attack.  “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2 verse 15)  There might be something attacking you, something you cannot get over or around.  There is a safeguard though.  “And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it and also made a winepress therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes.” (Isaiah 5 verse 2)  The child of God is always in contact with danger and that is why we have the safeguard.  The Lord is a wall of fire around Israel.  If you are bearing fruit for the Lord you are ready for attack but never fear, always remember God is our safeguard.  The wall is also a shelter.  There is one who wants to destroy the fruit you are bearing for the Lord.  Perhaps it is disappointment or sickness or something that has changed the circumstances in your life.  Somehow you cannot cope with it.  There is a shelter that is from the Lord.  The wall would also be a support to the fruit.  It bore the bough and the fruit it would bring forth.  It grew up over the wall and if it wasn’t for the wall it would lie in the ground and be prone to insects.  God will be your support in every circumstance.  The Lord doesn’t want us to be idle, fruitless Christians.  Jacob looked at his son and said he was a fruitful bough beside the wall and its fruit climbed over the wall.  God wants you to be surrendered to him but will you?

The foundation for the preaching of the cross

Notes from taped sermon by Mr Harold Paisley
Acts 11 verses 19 - 21, 26, Acts 26 verses 17 - 20, 22 - 32

When we begin to read the New Testament we find that the basis of all that we preach in the gospel is found in the 4 gospels.  It tells us of the coming into humanity of the Saviour.  Paul when he wrote in 1 Timothy 1 verse 15 gives an exposition of that birth when he said "this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."  So when we preach the birth of the Saviour we present to those who listen the fact that he came not merely to show us a way of life or to do miracles which he did or even to preach but he came with one object before his heart, that he would go to Calvary and die for guilty sinners.  So the gospels present his coming into humanity but they also present in great detail his leaving this world, his going to Calvary and without Calvary there would be no gospel to preach.  So the cross and the atoning work of the Saviour which he accomplished there is vital to the preaching of the glorious gospel.  When he went to Calvary he laid down a foundation for the preaching of the gospel.  The apostle in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 2 said "this is the gospel" if anyone would want to ask us what is the gospel?  The word `gospel` of course means good news from heaven, glad tidings from God to man.  If I were to explain the gospel briefly I would quote the words of Paul "this is the gospel by which you also ye are saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain" and the way that people believe in vain is they have denied the facts of the gospel concerning the resurrection of Christ.  If a man denies the resurrection he can never be in heaven, it is vital to Christianity.  Paul is setting out to declare the whole gospel - Christ died for our sins, he died on the cross at the hands of men, he died a violent death, he died to make atonement for all mankind, he died for our sins.  When he hung on that cross God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.  On that central tree crowned with thorns and derided by man he became the sin bearer.  We use the words of John the Baptist when he looked upon him on the banks of Jordan "behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."  When we preach the gospel we go back to its beginning "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" but he was buried and the burial proves he literally died because many false cults today say he swooned and the Aramatic spices and the grave revived him, but the Bible says he died.  He literally and physically died.  The Lord of glory in death was taken down from the tree and was laid in that garden tomb where never man before in was laid, he was buried but the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. The scriptures of truth in the Old Testament had prophesied of his resurrection.  The scriptures of truth in the New Testament declare the fact of it.  The greatest fact is this - the tomb is empty, the work is done and Christ is risen and glorified at the right hand of God.  The gospels lay down the basis of the preaching of the message we bring today.   We will never be far from that wondrous work for apart from that work none can ever be saved.

When we come to the epistle to the Romans, the third part of the New Testament we find there the doctrine of the gospel.   We must be clear as to its doctrine, how that a sinner by faith is saved.  It matters not whether he be a Jew or a Gentile, whether he be religious or irreligious, all men are sinners and on a common platform all have sinned but God has intervened and has provided that mighty sacrifice and it is preached in the gospel and available to every soul.  "He was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification" (Romans 4 verse 25) therefore in light of that "being justified by faith", cleared from every charge of guilt by faith alone not of works less any man should boast.  Romans 4 verse 4 says "to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness."  "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  If you want peace in your heart, in your home, in the hour of death, from the penalty of sin, peace perfect peace in this dark world of sin you will find it in one source, faith alone in a risen Christ who justifies by faith apart from human effort altogether.

The preaching of the gospel.  The book of Acts is the great guidebook because the different types the apostles met and especially the apostle Paul and the different attitudes to the gospel when it is preached are evident in the whole day of grace and so not only have we the basics of the gospel in the 4 gospels and the doctrine of the gospel in the Roman epistle we have examples of how it was preached.  The results of the preaching of the gospel is seen in these examples.  The gospel did not bring joy to everyone who heard it.  It was the mind of God that it would.  The Bible says "God desireth all men to be saved" 1 Timothy 2.  He wishes.  There is one God and one mediator between God and men who would have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.  If you want to be saved you can be saved right now.  This book of Acts shows how people were saved in one meeting.  Acts 8 shows a man who had never the gospel in his life and who had never had a scripture in his hand and he is reading in the bible and as he reads about the Lord Jesus he doesn`t know who he is at all.  He was in darkness but as Philip read the scriptures to him and preached unto him salvation by faith in Christ who died for sinners he believed the message in his heart.  The preaching in the Acts shows that being saved is heart work.  God reaches men through his ears "he that hath ears to hear let him hear" and "then drew near unto him all the Publicans and sinners for to hear him"  You will never be saved without hearing the gospel or reading the gospel.  You must read the word of God or hear the word of God preached in order to be saved.  It enters through the ear gate and it goes down into the heart.  Romans 10 says "it is with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."  "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."  We first confess it to God himself.  Philip could not look into the heart of the eunuch but as they came along the road that man of Ethiopia desired to follow the Lord in the waters of baptism.  That water of baptism did not cleanse him from his sin it was the blood that cleansed him but the water of baptism was his open confession that the death of the Saviour, he was identified with that death and he wanted to declare it before those men in the chariot, those heathen men that travelled with him, that Christ who died was his Saviour and he would defend his cause and confess his name before men but before he could be baptised Philip said "if thou believest with all thine heart."  It came out at the water, this man confessed at the water that he believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  We cannot tell what is in a human heart.  God is the only one.  He said to Samuel "man looketh upon the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart."  What is your heart answer to the gospel?  Has there ever been a day when you believed in your heart that you were a lost sinner and Christ on that cross not only died for the world as he truly did to make provision but he died for me that I might be saved and you received him by an act of faith?  John 1 "he was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not he came unto his own and his own received him not but to as many as received him."  Have you ever received him to be your own Saviour?  And his death to have made the atonement for sin?  And his blood to have been shed to put away your sin as an individual? Have you ever believed personally that Christ died on that cross for me as that eunuch did?  I believe in my heart in the Saviour and "he went on his way rejoicing."  What does it mean to be a Christian?  Only 2 occasions in the book of Acts when we read of Christians.  One other time in Peter we read about Christians who suffer.  Only 3 times in the New Testament do we read of the Christians as such.  Disciples, believers and saints we have that name but here it is that wonderful name.  It is a very misunderstood title.  Happy are you if you can say "I am a Christian, I am a bible believeing Christian, I am a born again Christian, I am washed in the blood and Christ is my Saviour and heaven is my home."  In Acts 11 we learn how people became Christians as a result of these men that came preaching at Antioch.  The Lord Jesus had said in Acts 1 "ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the earth."  In Jerusalem there was a work of God so large, 3000 had been saved and in another day the number increased to 5000.  There in the city of Jerusalem where sin abounded grace did much more abound and the largest community of believers were found in Jerusalem.  Had they forgotten what the Lord said, that they should spread, it was never the Lord`s intention that they would remain in a large company in Jerusalem but that they would carry the gospel into Judea and Samaria and out in missionary service to the uttermost parts of the earth but they were reluctant to do it.  So persecution came of severity and one of their men, a young man was martyred for his faith Stephen and then a great persecution arose.  The result was these believers left Jerusalem and they started to travel back to the countries from which they had come at the day of Pentecost.  Here we have unknown men who when they returned south to their own lands they began to preach the word of God to the Jews they met.  Paul when he preached to Jewish people he took the bible and he expounded from the scriptures the thinsgs concerning the coming Messiah who was Christ who died upon the cross.  Those Jews of the Old Testament and he would take that Old Testament and he would expound to them from it those who knew the bible how they could be saved through Christ who had come.  We read these words "certain of them decided they would go beyond the Jewish borderline and carry the gospel to the Gentiles."  It is thrilling to see how the gospel reached out to Antioch and across Asia Minor until finally Paul carried it to Rome and we see the gospel reaching out to the outermost parts of the earth and from there it has spread to every continent in the western world.  The east is largely in darkness turned to idolatry and apostasy but through the darkness God will visit them and bring out of them a people for his name.  At Antioch they preached the Lord Jesus to these Gentiles and as they preached what did they preach to them.  They preached that the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem, that the Lord died on the cross for sinners and whosoever believeth in him can have eternal life and be saved.  As they preached the Lord Jesus, the hand of the Lord began to work with those men,  The great attraction they had was an uplifted Christ.  He said "if I be lifted be up I will draw all men unto me."  And great numbers of Gentiles in Antioch believed the gospel and turned to the Lord and were saved.  When Paul came to minister to those new believers and to encourage them we read these words as he ministered to them they were first called Christians at Antioch.  This is the first occasion that anyone was known as a Christian.  God gave answer to the preaching of the gospel and caused that lovely name to be granted to every one that believed the gospel.  What is a Christian?  A Christian is one who is joined to Christ.  We have an added word, Christ one.  In is one in the original.  Christ and Christ ones, joined to the Christ.  As soon as a person believes the gospel he is joined to Christ in an inseparable union.  Have you believed the gospel?  Baptism cannot make a Christian, being born in a Christian home doesn`t make a man a Christian, being born in a Christian nation doesn`t make a man a Christian.  A Christian is not one nominally speaking but he is one who has a living faith and is linked to a man in heaven by faith alone.  They were called Christians at Antioch.  Does the world call you a Christian?  It is the only proper name for a believer.  All other names mean nothing.  The only name that is worth knowing that I am a Christian joined with a man in heaven going to be with him and among the Christians.  In Acts 26 Paul was preaching the gospel.  Not everyone became a Christian as a result. As he preached the gospel faithfully to a large company, a king was there that day and Bernice and the ruler Festus and a great multitude of principal people.  He was on trial for his life as it were.  Will we send him to Rome for a final trial?  As he stood before them he began to declare the gospel.  I have had an experience but had a conversion experience.  He went back to the day when he was converted on the Damascus Road.  "The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."  When I was converted I had an ordination, wasn`t by human hands.  The Lord ordained me to preach the gospel, to stand before men and rulers as I am today and to preach nothing else but this - that Christ should suffer, how he died on the tree, was buried and was raised again the third day and I am sent to open the eyes of men with the gospel.  That they may turn from darkness to light.  The gospel of Christ is an eye opener. If you die without being a Christian you can never be in heaven, only blood washed ones are there, the ransomed and the forgiven.  As he preached the gospel he told them the way to receive it is by faith in Christ, through faith in a risen and glorified Saviour at God`s right hand.  As he preached this gospel "I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come, That Christ should suffer and and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles."  You need him personally if you want to be in heaven.  As he preached the word Festus cried out "much learning have made thee mad".  This man was a scoffer, he didn`t believe it.  Paul told him he was not mad, he once was mad in his unconverted days, I was exceeding mad against the Christians at one time in my life but I speak the words of truth.  Then he turned to the king.  He was different, not a scoffer.  He said "the king knoweth these things whereof I speak."  And this man I am preaching to king Agrippa I find it easy to preach to him, I speak freely before him.  Some people don`t like the gospel, don`t value the preaching of the value of the gospel, not interested, object to the message.  Satan is busy when the preaching is proclaimed.  Satan is opposed to the preaching of the gospel.  The serious gospel of Christ with men`s destiny before us is very important to Satan because he will oppose it every way possible. "Believest thou the propets? I know thou believest."  He was a man that believed the scriptures.  Some don`t believe the bible, they set it on par with any other religious books.  The bible is the word of God, the only book in the world that is his.  It is the only book that is entirely divinely inspired.  This bible if it is not believed you will never be saved.  There are great religions in the world and they say they believe the bible contains the word of God.  The bible is the word of God entirely from cover to cover.  It is the only guide to bring us to heaven.  This book that has been banned and burned and banished, yet it triumphs.  It is the world`s best seller today.  God has presered it all the way through.  The only way to know he has died is according to the scripture and the only way you will ever know you are saved is by the bible.  No angel will speak in your ear, no vision will be given to you.  If you are not a bible believing man you cannot be saved.  "King Agrippa believest thou the word of God,, I know that thou believest."  King Agrippa in response said "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."  Here`s a king who knew the bible and listened to the gospel and acknowledged he was not a Christian.  That is the first step on the way to becoming a Christian.  This man acknowledged he was not a Christian.  He went further and said "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian".  Paul replied "I would to God that not only thou but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether."  He could see in that large audience there were many and they were far away from becoming Christians, they had no knowledge of what it was to be a Christian and they had no desire to be a Christian.  The first step a person learns is I am not a Christian but then secondly they are almost a Christian.  In this world there are people who are far away not interested in being a Christian but there may be those who are almost persuaded to be a Christian.  This man acknowledged he was not a Christian and now as he listens he says "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian".  He never became a Christian though.  Why was he not a Christian?  Why did he turn back?  One of the reasons was this, he was living in an unlawful union with a woman that was not his wife.  He was living in sin.  He knew he should become a Christian but it would cost him something.  His life would have to be altered and as he measured it he said I know what this man is preaching is right and I believe what he is preaching is true and I believe the bible to be the word of God and I am almost persuaded.  Then as he looked around he saw the multitudes of men that would mock him if he became a Christian, the woman he was living with would persuade him otherwise if he became a Christian.  Festus and the other rulers would say he had gone soft and he would become a hated Christian.  He couldn`t bear the reproach of becoming a Christian.  The world was too great a price.  "What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"  Here`s a man who is going to lose his soul because of the fear of man around him.  Are you afraid to become a Christian?  Are you not prepared to pay the price?  Jesus demands entire acceptance, your entire faith.  He will plan the path before you.  He will give you the strength to witness as a Christian and to live the Christian life but you must start, you must begin.  You cannot live the Christian life without Christ.  As you think on it it seems impossible but if you receive Christ he will give you the strength day by day.  It is a day by day experience.  It begins at the cross but we need him every day.  No one has ever been perfect but there is one that never fails us.  Christ was waiting at that man`s door.  Acts 13 he had seen governor of Island of Cyprus saved but the price was too much for Agrippa.  There is no man who wants to become a Christian cannot become a Christian but many would desire to become a Christian have stumbled because of pleasure, the world, Satanic influence, influence of family and background.  A young man once came to Christ and when the Saviour told him how he could become a Christian he wasn`t prepared, he turned away and was sad.  Jesus beholding him loved him.  If you turn away without Christ the Saviour beholding you will love you.  You can be loved by Christ and be lost for ever.  What did this man lose by not becoming a Christian?  He lost real joy.  No man that remains away from Christ will ever have true joy, peace, satisfaction.  You can never have true joy in this life without Christ.  Turning away from being a Christian meant that he died without Christ.  Many can live without Christ and get through life wthout Christ but when you lie down to die you will need Christ.  We all have to die at once stage.  It is a danger without Christ, all experiences are finished.  To die without Christ means you will be lost forever.  What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ?  Will you trust him, turn from everything that hinders and say I receive Christ that I might have peace with Christ.

The significance of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel

Notes from taped sermon by Mr Harold Paisley

Galatians 6 verse 14 "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

When we speak here of the cross it is not the wooden cross that we have in mind.  There are 3 indications of the cross in the New Testament.  In John 19 we read of the cross of Jesus "and there stood by the cross of Jesus Mary his mother and his mother`s sister" and along with 4 woman with John the disciple whom he loved.  In the epistles we read of the cross of Christ.  Here we have read "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."  The great difference is this - when we speak of the cross of Jesus we speak of the wooden instrument on which he died and there is no merit in the wooden cross.  It is the instrument of torture and the instrument chosen by God to fulfill the scriptures when Christ died for our sin.  Many people exalt the wooden cross they bear it as a token and bow to worship it as a symbol but the wooden cross cannot bring salvation to an.  So when we think of that wooden cross it is called the cross of Jesus.  When we come to the Epistles we read of the cross of Christ, it is the great doctrine of atonement.  At Calvary`s cross his precious blood was shed, the life was given, he died for our sins according to the scriptures.  It is more than those outward sufferings though.  We would never minimise them but in the total darkness of Calvary he knew no sin, who did no sin, who could not sin.  He became answerable for our sins and died an atoning death that we might forever be free and so when we preach the gospel we preach the cross of Christ.  In the text the wonderful words of one of the greatest servants of God ever lived, who beforehand was a persecutor of the saints, before his conversion an enemy of the cross of Christ but when he was saved he said "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"  What is the difference between the cross of Jesus and the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?  Here it is not the wooden instrument neither is it the doctrine but it points us to the one and only person who could make the offering for sin, the person on the cross our Lord Jesus Christ.  That is what adds great significance to this gospel.  We preach that in order that you could be saved.  There is only one person could go to the cross to make that atonement and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten son of the Father.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son."  So we are going to preach Christ crucified in heaven tonight a risen man coming back and offer to you salvation on the authority of the scriptures, on the grounds of the work of the cross.  Now the cross ranges right throughout the bible, it is the central theme of all the scriptures, it amazes me that sometimes it is not central in our gospel preaching.  The preaching of the gospel emphasises the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is central to all our teaching.

In the Pentateuch, the first five books of the bible we have pictures of the cross or the cross foreshadowed.  Beautiful incidents are given and offerings are presented and in those ancient scriptures the cross is foreshadowed.  When we come to the Psalms, the poetic books the 5 poetic books in the middle of our bible here we have the feelings of the Saviour as he hung upon the cross.  These were prewritten hundreds of years before he died "my God my God why hast thou forsaken me"  In other words "why art thou so far from helping me and the words of my roaring".  Here we have the feelings of the Saviour as he hung upon the cross 1000 years before he was there "they pierced my hands and my feet."  When we come to the prophecies like Isaiah and Ezekiel we have the foretellings of the cross in the prophetic books of the bible.  So the Old Testament points forward to the facts of Calvary that are revealed in the gospels.  When we enter the New Testament they tell many things about the Saviour but each of them spend the greater part of their writings upon the facts relating to the cross.

When we come to the books of the Acts and the Epistles we have the fruits of the cross.  Every one of us that is going to heaven, we are the fruits of Calvary, the fruits of the cross.  We are not going on any merits of our own, we are not going by baptism or prayers or sacraments but we are going because Christ died for the ungodly Romans 5 verse 6 and we took our place as ungodly sinners and believed that he made the atonement.  He paid it all.  He cried "it is finished" and the bible says "by grace are ye saved" Ephesians 2 verse 8, 9 "and by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."  Titus 3 "not by works by righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us."  You can be saved on the grounds of the cross, on the grounds of the shed blood of our blessed Redeemer .  There is no other way to be saved.

When we come to the book of the Revelation we have the full future of the benefits of the cross in the redeemed in heaven, the fragrance of the cross reaching out into heaven.  What do they sing about in heaven?  They don`t sing about the wonders of that place at all but they sing about the blood and about the lamb who died and rose again.  The lamb is the theme of their chorus.  "Thou didst redeem us unto God by thy blood."  The precious blood is the theme of heavens eternal anthem and the cross will be spoken about throughout the ages that are to come by men redeemed from every nation and kindred and tribe and family on earth.  When we gather home we will speak of the cross, we will sing of the cross and we will adore the one who died upon the cross.  So we see then the importance of the cross in relationship to the gospel and to the bible.

The apostle Paul had many things in which he could have gloried as a man.  He could have gloried in his race and in his education and in his ability.  He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees as touching the law blameless.  He was a man of super intelligence and intelligence and yet here he writes "God forbid that I should glory." We live in an age when men are glorying in their abilities, in their successes, in their riches.  Nations glory in their expertise and in their inventions and all around us proud men glories in himself and in the abilities that he has.  Believers have only one thing in which to glory - "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Every believer should move in humility, should be marked by the meekness of Christ and glory only in one thing.  That ever our worthless name was written in life`s eternal book.  We glory in the deeds of the Saviour not in our own deeds.

Notice what the apostle says here - not that I should glory in the birth of Jesus.  The birth of the Saviour is most important.  We are living in an age now when modernism denies the fundamental of the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Men are prying into it and trying to expose it as a fallacy and deny the truth of it.  There would be no gospel to preach here if Christ had not been virgin born but his virgin birth did not atone for my sin.  W e rejoice that he came into humanity.  God`s word says "when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son born of a woman made under the law." (Galatians 4 verse 4).  The virgin birth is the basis to the coming into of this world.  The incarnation means in flesh.  The incarnation is not his virgin birth.  His virgin birth was the door to the incarnation.  The son of God came from heaven to be born of a virgin.  As to his humanity he had no humanity before he came.  He brought deity with him and took humanity by means of the virgin birth without an earthly father, a miracle.  We believe it with all our hearts.  It is basic to Christianity.  The Son of God becoming a man down here in order that he might go to Calvary for you and me.  He did not say God forbid that I should glory save in the birth because he valued the birth.  Every Christian appreciates the birth of the Saviour but his birth would never bring me salvation without the cross.  The cross is necessary.

He did not say God forbid that I should glory save in the life of the Saviour.  That was the only spotless life that was ever here.  From the manger of his lowly birth until he hung in death upon the tree he was totally sinless, spotless and undefiled.  We believe in the total purity and impeccability of our Lord Jesus Christ.  His footsteps never went astray, his mind was never altered, his thoughts were ever pure.  Everything he touched was right and every word he spake was perfect.  He is the Son of God and only one that was absolutely stainless and sinless, that could become answerable for our sins.  There was only one man who could make the atonement.  All other are sinners and deserve to die but he died for us that we might live for ever.  Paul appreciates his life.  He speaks of the gentleness and meekness of the Saviour.  He tells us he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, that he was found in fashion as a man and was marked by grace and beauty as he moved here but his life could not save me without his death.  "God forbid that I should glory save in the death in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."  The point is the importance and value of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The cross is the gateway to life, it is the door to the kingdom, it is the place where the work was done and God has proven his delight in that work by raising his son the third day from among the dead.  26% of clergymen in England deny the resurrection of Christ.  If Christ be not risen, if he is not a living man in heaven there is no salvation for you but the fact is the tomb was empty and the linen wrappings lay as they had been around his body.  He came through the wrappings, he appeared to many for 40 days and in full view of disciples he ascended literally and physically to heaven.  "Christ died for our sins and was buried and was raised again the third day according to the scriptures."  We preach not only the cross but the resurrection and the glorified man in heaven bearing the wounds of Calvary and coming back one day.  Behold I come quickly."  You have a soul to be saved and foundation is important.  If you build on the sand of religion, of works and prayers and baptism you will never be in heaven  There is only one foundation for heaven. 1 Corinthians 3 "other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid which is Christ Jesus."  A man building a house in Matthew 7 the Saviour said he built upon the sand and when the storms came his shelter fell around him and he perished and great was the fall of it Another man dug deep and found the rock.  What are you building on for eternity? Have you ever made the great discovery that you were building on the sand?  Building on a foundation that will not stand for eternity.  A profession that has no reality  You have got to get to the cross for salvation or perish.  You have got to come by faith and see that Christ died and look up and trust a living man  You are not asked to place your confidence in a dead Saviour but you are asked to place your confidence in a living Christ who once died upon a cross and was buried and is living and is able to save to the end all that come unto God by him.  Every man, woman and boy and girl in this world, wherever we go must learn the meaning of the foundation.  "It is appointed unto man once to die."  Are you depending on the fact that Christ died for guilty sinners?  Why did Paul glory in the cross.  He gloried in the cross because it showed that all men are sinners.  The bible places great emphasis on sin.  Sin in its root and its fruit is sadly overlooked.  Men are calling it a misfortune of the human race.  The bible says that sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.  One of the saddest chapters of our bibles is Genesis 3. It is no allegory, it is no parable, it is a reality  The first man that was in this world represents all of us.  That first man sinned against God and when he was driven out of the garden we all went out.  The bible tells me of great 2 headships that are in the world and the first is Adam "in Adam all die and all have died"  We are all sinners whether born in any land, whether our parents were believers or unbelievers. Psalm 51 "I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me."  Jesus said "if you die in your sins where I am you cannot come".  "There shall in no wise enter into it any sin that is defiled".  No sinner will ever stand in heaven unless his sins have been blotted out and forgiven unless he has obtained salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This condition is worldwide.  The bible says there is not a righteous man on the earth not one that sinneth not.  "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It doesn`t matter our colour, conditions have nothing to do with it.  Its a world of ungodly sinners and it is a world where sin is on the increase.  In every centre of this world sin is rampant and one of these days God will say "times up."  Are you ready for that day?  What about the sin question in your life?  "The wages of sin is death."  The greatest crime in this world was the shedding of the Saviour`s blood and God will visit this scene one day in judgement.  We are guilty, all of us.  The cross shows the the wickedness of the human heart.  "The heart of man is desperately wicked above all things who can know it."  The deceitfulness and wickedness of a human heart is more deceitful that Satan himself.  There is only one thing that change a heart.  Reformation cannot do it.  Only one thing can change a life - knowing the Lord as our personal Saviour and friend.  A man who professes Christ and he is not changed in his thinking has no right to call himself a Christian.  Christianity is Christ, Christianity is living Christ.  Because I started at the cross I have different thinking, different attitudes, kindness, gentleness, meekness, grace, forgiveness, love, tenderness, caring.  Christ cares, Christ loved, Christ forgave, Christ was interested in people  Christianity is living Christ and it begins at the cross.  Have you been there?  It is for eternity.  If you miss the cross you will never be in heaven.    You need Christ for living.  You cannot live without him.  In the hour of death you will never make it, you will go down to hell if you miss Christ and it is easy done.  The multitudes are doing it.  If you miss the cross you miss everything.  Will you repent, turn to the Saviour whatever it may cost you, whatever religion you turn your back on, whatever pleasure holds you bound, whatever sin has you bound his blood can make the vilest clean.  Change your mind, change your ways.  "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Have you accepted the love of Christ?  "Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."  When the Saviour died on the cross he made provision for you to be in heaven.  You need not perish  "I am the door by me if any man enter in".  Have you entered yet?  "He that believeth on the Father hath everlasting life ." What will your answer be?

Lessons from the thieves on the cross of Calvary

Notes from a taped Sermon by Harold Paisley

Reading: Matthew 27 verses 42 - 45; Mark 15 verses 25 - 28; Luke 23 verses 38 - 45; John 19 verses 32 - 34

The Thieves that were crucified at Calvary

It is interesting to notice all the facts in the 4 gospels of the 2 thieves crucified at Calvary but they must all be put together to have the overall picture of what really transpired at Golgotha with those thieves and the difference that finally obtained between them.  One of them on that great day in his life came to know Christ as his Saviour whereas the other one with the same opportunity afforded to him passed into darkness without hope and perished in his sins.  It reminds us of 2 groups of people and there are many divisions in the world but when we preach the gospel, there are only 2 companies moving in the direction of eternity.  Either you are moving along the narrow way, having obtained salvation at one point in your life which is vital, if you are ever going to be in heaven you must have a day of conversion.  Everyone that is saved goes back to that time when God spoke to them and when they recognised "I have been born a sinner and I need God`s salvation".  That is the starting day and the commencement of a journey.  Then there are others who are just continuing the way they were from the day they were born.  They have thought perhaps about these eternal things but have put it off and lingered and still today are without a Saviour, moving on the wrong road.  The destinies are 2 - either heaven or hell when the journey is done.  May you repent and turn immediately and may God so instill in your mind the prospect of dying without a Saviour that you would turn to the Lord as Saviour and know him.

First in Matthew`s Gospel something is said that is said that is not in the other gospels.  When they were crucified side by side with the Lord Jesus they joined with the company that was there, the thieves began to rail on him.  "The thieves cast the same in his teeth." (verse 44)

In Mark we find they were not there by accident - God intervenes in the affairs of men.  God directed that these 2 men would be brought, to be crucified by the side of the Saviour and the scripture is proven true.  "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors" (verse 28)

Thirdly we notice what transpired at Calvary.  As the day wore on we find that one of these men changed his whole attitude.  The other one continued to rail upon the Saviour and to mock the Saviour even in the hour of death.

That conversion was a patterned conversion.  The change of mind he had and the reliance alone on Christ to take him to heaven without right or ceremony depending only on the merits of the Lord who died on the tree.

In John 19 we notice the difference between the death of the Saviour and the death of these men.  No man took the life of the Saviour, he was dead already when they came but they did not break his legs.  They brake the legs of these thieves, they died asphyxiated on the cross.  As soon as their legs were broken their lungs filled with blood and they went into eternity.  One left that tree of shame and cursing for paradise and the other one left that tree of shame and suffereing to suffer the vengeance of hell itself.  The Saviour gave up his own life.  God put a fence around the precious body of the Saviour and no man could brake his legs at all.  He was the type of that paschal lamb, no bone of him was broken.  In the human hand there are 28 bones, in the feet there 27 bones but not one of them was broken when the soldiers nailed him to the tree.  It would be impossible to place a nail in the palm of a mans hand and drive it through and into the wooden cross without even breaking a tiny bone.  This part of our anatomy has more bones than any other part of the body.  They crossed the feet of Jesus and they drove the largest nail through both the feet, one nail going through both the feet nailing him to the cross yet not a bone broken even though 54 were available.  God preserved the bones of the Saviour, if one bone had been broken he would not have been a Saviour at all.  It is interesting that while the tiny bones were preserved when the nails were driven in that it seemed that the thigh bones are going to be broken, the largest bones in the human body and they came to break the legs and they broke 4 thigh bones but when they came to him they brake not his bones.   As we see the Saviour hanging on the cross we see the pre-eminence and the uniqueness of the Saviour - that he was there for you and me.  "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."  Remember what they said at the cross "come down from the cross and we will believe on thee".  In other words they mocked him.  There was a man that didn`t come down from the cross.  He believed without seeing him coming down from the cross but he believed he would come down and he would rise again.  He believed he would be a king and reign over the universe and so he applied to this one who would die and rise again for salvation.  Salvation is found in one person, you will never find it in an ordinance, even a scripture ordinance and you will never find it in a religion and you will never find it joining anything, there is only one way you will ever be saved and that is coming as a lost weak helpless sinner.  This man can do no works at all but he can rest on Christ, the one who will rise again and have eternal life.  God will not save anyone against his own will, he must come and take the message of salvation by himself.

In Matthew 27 we see 2 men and they have been taken out of the prison in the morning and they had walked by the Saviour to Golgotha.  One of them followed him to Calvary but also into eternity with him, followed him all the way. We read that the thieves showed their enmity, not just one of them but they both were at enmity with God`s son.  One of the things that sin has done to human nature is this - there is an enmity in our heart.  Some people are able to hide it, sin has not only brought guilt but sin has brought enmity in hearts against God.  Nothing can remove it, no reformation, not even hell fire.  You have often heard people say "if those who are in hell were allowed out tomorrow they would repent."  No - when a sinner goes to hell he becomes more bitter. There is only one thing that can remove enmity - the blood of Christ.  A sight of Calvary changes a mans nature, changes his whole outlook for time and eternity.  Enmity in the human breast took men to martyrdom.  Enmity in the hearts of men of Acts 7 stoned Stephen and even Paul was there watching it, he was in bitter hatred, he hated Christianity and he hated the gospel.  And all men that are unsaved have a hatred towards the fact that they have to own up that they are a guilty sinner and that is the toughtest thing for a man to admity.  Here these thieves began in the same way.  Romans 3 verse 23 "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  We all started on the same road, everyone is guilty yet sinners can be redeemed and changed.  People will see that change immediately.  There is a sweetness that fills the heart of a man that knows the Lord.  The gospel is sweet to believers.

When we come to Mark`s gospel we see God is working behind the scenes.  These 2 men are lying in a prison and suddenly they are told to arise and get on their garments because this is the day you are going to die.  Can you imagine that?  Was this a mistake?  No - "he was numbered with the transgressors."  These 2 men walked with him and the bible was being fulfilled.  The bible is true.  As they walked along that road up to Calvary these 2 men were fulfilling the scriptures, he was numbered with the transgressors that day.  There they hanged one on the right hand and one on the left.  This man is in heaven today, he is glad he was one of them that was called out at the beginning of the day.  He was in his sins that morning.  He was in Christ in the middle of the day.  He is heaven at the end of the day.

Luke 23 at the cross a man has written and placed an inscription over the cross.  It was written by the man who signed the death warrant of the Saviour.  Why did Pilate write this and why did he write it in 3 languages?  This cross was a T shaped cross and over the head of the Saviour these words were written "This is the king of the Jews."  That tells the shame and the glory of the Saviour.  This man is writing about the sufferings of Christ he never appreciated and the glories that yet awaited him.  While he wears the thorns upon his temples and hangs alone upon a tree with his hands outstretched to save, those hands will rule the universe, that pierced hand will one day have the sceptre in his hand of dominion and upon the head with thorns that is bowed will wear the diadem of authority of the glorified Christ.  How can he rise to be a king?  Because God will bring him from the tomb and exalt him finally as king of kings.  Here`s a man hanging and dying - how did he know he would have a kingdom?  He is reading that inscription.  It is interesting that PIlate was a man who changed his mind to please the multitude, when his wife said don`t do anything with this just man that he didn`t observe her and when the crowd said crucify him he allowed the crowd to change his mind.  Pilate knew that Christ was not worthy of death but the crowd made up his mind but they didn`t change that writing.  That writing is a display, is written by the hands of a sinner, is a dispaly of the glories of Christ and the greatness of a Saviour it hangs on.  All the letters of the universe are represented. Here`s a dying thief and he looks at Christ`s attitude, he beheld his sinlessness.  You will never be saved untill you realise Christ was the only sinless one that was ever in this world.  Modernism denies the sinless character and states he might have sinned.  The Saviour could never have sinned.  "this man has done nothing amiss" this thief recognises this man is different from all other men.  He is certainly different from me, we receive what we deserve.  Every man that goes to hell will acknowledge he is receving what he deserves.  My sins deserve eternal death and every man at the judgement day will bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ and as he goes to the final destiny he will acknowledge "I am receiving the due reward of my deeds".  The thief saw a sinless man dying there and he began to rebuke the other thief "doest thou not fear God?"  He believed he would meet with God.  Do you believe you will meet God?  Do you believe that one day you will stand before God to give an account of your life?  What a day that will be.  Those saved, the account of their past days will be blotted out.  All the sins, evil thoughts, hidden things, everything about you is recorded and the most blaring awful sin to hear the gospel and to rise and reject our Lord to be your Saviour.  When anyone rejects the Lord you are touching God in the most tender place there is.  There is none on earth that God loves more and there is none on heaven that he exalts more.  He loves to hear that precious name.  This man looked and he recognised he had a kingdom and he was sinless.  It is said that on that day at Calvary there were over a million people present, the largest Passover that had ever been in Jerusalem.  They watched him there and out of that million there was only one man.  Isaiah 53 "who shall declare his generation" (his manner of living).  As the Saviour walked at Calvary there wasnt a leper that was cleansed, there wasn`t a man who had received his eyes, there wasn`t one who had been raised from the sick of the palsy, there was no lame man or beggar man or any of the multitudes that had been fed who spoke up for him.  He walked alone that day.  Who would delcare his manner of living?  No one except one - a thief, the last man on earth before a million people, before the bitter scribes and Pharisees.  How it must have pleased the heart of God when he said "this man hath done nothing amiss."  He told lies all his life but God appreciated his words and the Son appreciated his words and knew the Holy Spirit had dealt with him.  Luke 24 verse 47 "repentence and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name among all the nations."  Paul said he preached repentence towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  What is repentence?  It is the change of mind.  Remember that prodigal when he went down the road.  He thought he would do his own thing not what his father wanted him to do.  That is what sinners do, they do their own thing.  There was a day when he changed his mind and said "I will arise and go back to my father and I will say Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee".  What a change.  Repentence is a change of attitude, mind and thoughts and you begin to say "I am all wrong, I am on the wrong road, I am a proud and haughty sinner and I will turn humbly to God and receive his blessed Son to be my own and personal Saviour for time, for living, for dying and for Gods eternity."  The thief turned his eyes from everything and he said "Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."  It is a very humble prayer.  He believed in God`s kingdom and he wants to be there amongst them.  And the Saviour said "today thou shalt be with me in paradise."  How did he get there?  He couldn`t work, he would never be at a gospel service, he was never baptised - faith in Christ alone.  This is the passport to the realms of bliss.  His legs were broken, he suffered agonies in the throes of death but the one beside him had already bowed his sacred head.  The last sinner to be saved during the ministry of Christ opens the door for the multitudes to be saved in this age.  He is the first of a long line saved by grace alone trusting in the merits of Christ.

Fear thou not for I am with you

Sermon notes from Sunday 3 January 2016

Isaiah 41 verses 1 - 13

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

How can God say "fear not"?  Because he has everything in control!  Children do not fear anything because they know their father will provide for them.  That is the confidence we need in our God.  God is in control.  Isaiah was speaking primarily to God`s own people, the Jewish people but it can be taken as a promise by every child of God.  Fear is a tremendous emotion and can do many things positively or negatively.  Fear can hold us back.  God might take us to places we know nothing about today but there is one thing for sure - God is in control and he tells us not to fear.

First of it is given first and foremost in a time of crisis.  Fear attacks us in a time of crisis, in a time when we are up against it, when there is no other place to go.  Fear attacked Moses and the people of Israel as they looked back and saw the Egyptians following after them out of Egypt.  They had nowhere to turn because the Red Sea was in front of them.  They were afraid when they realised the enemy was following them.  When we get saved that is not the end of the story.  It is lovely to go back to the place where we got saved.  Think of the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaeus.  They had seen Jesus on the cross of Calvary, known that after the third day his body was not in the grave.  They were making their way to Emmaeus and their hearts were heavy and their heads were down.  Jesus drew alongside and went with them.  I am sure those disciples could have taken you back to that point in the road.  Can you go back to the place where Jesus saved you?  Where you heard you needed to be saved and you accepted Jesus as Saviour?  Maybe you haven`t done that yet.  The battle doesn`t end there.  The enemy doesn`t say "fare ye well".  He will always be with us continually in our lives.  The liberal scholars say this book of Isaiah was not just written by him.  They agree that he may have wrriten the first chapters but from chapter 40 they didn`t believe he was the author.  Isaiah wrote about the people going into captivity but then he changed his message to telling of how Cyrus would bring the people back to Israel.  The scholars believe this had to be written by someone who lived through that particular period of time.  They referred to this writer as "the great unknown".  Isaiah was writing to the people of Israel who had been carried into captivity and told them the message from God was "fear not."  They were not to fear even though they had sinned and rebelled, when things seemed so dark.  God was in control.  The shepherds sitting on the hillside watching their flocks one night suddenly saw the sky lighting up and a host of angels were seen praising God.  They questioned this sight, it was a crisis for the shepherds but they heard the word from God "fear not." (Luke 2 verse 10)  Joseph had just taken his bride to be and finds out she was pregnant, an awful crisis in his life.  The angel came to him and said "fear not ... for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 1 verse 20)  God had it all mapped out.  Maybe God is saying to you today "fear not."  Our ways are not God`s ways.  In 1 Kings 17 we read of the mighty prophet Elijah who had just gone in to the wicked king Ahab and told him there would be no rain for 40 days.  He was hidden by God by the brook Cherith.  Then the scene changes to a widow woman who was bringing up her son in poverty.  She had nothing in her cupboards except one handful of meal and a cruise of oil.  This was a tremendous crisis in her life.  She made a vow one morning that she would go out, gather a few sticks, light a fire and bake the last cake to feed herself and her son.  Then she was going to die.  The next thing she knows is Elijah comes to her house asking to be fed.  She explains her situation to him and he asks her to do one thing first - feed him first and God would look after her.  Imagine her looking at this man of God asking her to give him first.  She does as she was told and for 3 1/2 years the barrel of meal never wasted nor the cruise of oil never ran out.  Maybe there is some crisis God is taking you right into the middle of and asking you to depend on him totally.

"Fear thou not" is a God given command.  Remember in the book of Daniel - "they that know their God shall do great exploits." (Daniel 11 verse 32)  God didn`t chose a people to be timid and afraid but a people who would give all and go forth.  That is why Paul said in Ephesians 6 "take unto you the full armour of God."  You are a soldier today.  Even though all hope had gone yet they are told not to be afraid.  They had no nation of their own, no home of their own.  Spiritually speaking everything was gone.  These people had turned against God.  In Number 13 when the spies were sent out into the land of promise they were told this was the land God would give to them.  He wanted them to go in and take their enemy.  What did the people do instead?  They said it would be impossible to take it.  They had to take a step of faith to prove God.  Is there a fear in your heart today, a doubt in your heart?  Will God reach down and take it away?  No not a bit of it.  He is saying to you "prove me".  God tells us to fear not for he is control.  Caleb, one of the spies sent into the land told the people "fear not, if God has given us this land he will take us into it."  God gives the command to follow.  Is there unbelief today?  We are to trust and follow him and not to fear.  1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

"Fear thou not" comes to this people as a comfort.  It was a word of assurance, a word of help in this situation.  God was coming to them with a promise.  He knows all about your situation and offers this word as a comfort to you.  When the children of Israel were down in Egypt God heard every lash of the task masters whip on them, saw every tear as they went to bed at night, every aching muscle as they got up in the morning.  He told Moses "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows." (Exodus 3 verse 7)  Paul said "let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper I will not fear what man will do unto me." (Hebrews 13 verses 5 and 6)  In 2 Timothy 4 verse 15 Paul referred to Alexander "he did me much evil".  In other words don`t get too close to him.  "For he hath greatly withstood our words"  He opposed the work of God in their lives.

"Fear thou not" is the Christian`s crown.  A calm and peaceful character stemming from a deep rooted faith in the providence of God.  It drives away every fear.  Paul said "I am content".  When you think of him in the prison cell he was content.  When I am rich I am content.  When I am poor I am content.  He had something worth living for.  Christians in times of trouble and distress seem to experience calm and peace - why - because they have the peace of God in their souls.  Isaiah 12 verse 2 "God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid."  Don`t wait until you are afraid and then trust, trust and don`t be afraid.  Whatever this year holds God is holding it in control and that is the most important thing.  If you have fear today leave it with the Lord who says "fear not."

Sermon notes from Sunday 10 January 2016

This was a promise given by God to his people in Isaiah’s day but it is as real to you and I today as the promise given by Paul to the Philippians “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  We do not need to fear what the future holds because God knows all about the days ahead.  Remember when Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees.  Hebrews 11 verse 8 says “By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”  He heard the word of God to his heart and he obeyed it.  Abraham was listening for the voice of God.  He didn’t ask any questions but simply went out not knowing where he was going or what would happen.  We need to learn to obey God’s voice in this year.

The opening words of our motto verse state “fear thou not.”  How could anybody not fear?  How can you not fear today whenever you don’t know where you are going or what will happen?  By simply having faith and trust in the God of heaven.  God knows all about us.  We don’t have to fear because of this great promise “for I am with thee.”  That the God of heaven should say to us – do not be afraid – why – because I the Lord am with you.  He will be with us as we enter into a new year and we will be in the centre of God’s plan.  God’s promises cannot fail.  Remember Jacob as he left his father’s house.  He had deceived his brother and stolen the blessing from him.  He realised he couldn’t stay there.  He made his way to Haran to seek a wife from his uncle.  Night fell and Jacob gathered stones around him and made one for his pillow.  On that night he did a lot of reflecting and quickly fell asleep under the canopy of heaven.  He had a dream of a ladder that reached from earth to the door of heaven.  He saw the angels ascending and descending on the ladder.  God met with him that night.  He woke up the next morning and said God was in this place and I knew it not.  Wouldn’t it be terrible to miss God’s promises?  Wouldn’t it be terrible to miss God’s nearness?  To miss his word to our hearts.  God came to Jacob on that particular night and promised him a land and children of his own.  “I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of” was God’s promise that night.  On the strength of that promise Jacob went on his way.  Thank God we can stand on God’s promises.  We looked last week at the widow woman who had a son but nothing left in her cupboards to eat.  She went out and gathered some sticks to make the last meal for them both.  Elijah came to her house that day and asked her to make him a meal.  The first words he spoke to the widow woman were “Fear not; go and do as thou hast said but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.” (1 Kings 17 verse 13)  She had measured out the flour and oil to make enough for her and her son but the man of God wanted her to make a cake for him first.  “And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah.”  The woman had to prove God’s word first of all.  God asks the first of everything we have.  We have to step out first of all, pray to God first.  God asks the very first of our lives today.  In Genesis 46 Joseph’s brothers had been down in Egypt because there was food in that place and now they returned home.  Now they were taking their father to Egypt.  “And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said Jacob, Jacob.  And he said, Here am I. And he said I am God, the God of thy father, fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation.  I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will surely bring thee up again and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.”  Jacob must have been afraid to go down to Egypt.  His grandfather Isaac had been told not to go down to Egypt but here he was being told to not be afraid to go to Egypt.  God gave him a promise but it would only be proved when he was down in Egypt.  Genesis 47 verse 29 “And the time drew nigh that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said I will do as thou hast said, And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.”  Joseph promised to do as his father asked.  God’s promise was fulfilled, not the way we would have imagined at first but none the less it was fulfilled.  There has been many a promise God has made to save a family but the one person to whom the promise was given never seen its reality.  However the promise has been fulfilled in later years.  Abraham stepped out not knowing where he was going but he went out.  The devil would love to see churches closing down but what a promise we have from God to always be with us.

The presence that is promised too.  “for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee”  we can know his divine presence too.  When Jesus was leaving this world he gathered his disciples around him, he knew their fears and doubts but he told them “I will not leave you comfortless”. (John 14 verse 18)  He promised them to send another comforter – the Holy Spirit himself.  He would be with them for ever.  The Holy Spirit abides with us for ever.  What a wonderful presence that is.  We have God’s promise with us day and daily.  We walk by faith not by sight.  God doesn’t open up everything immediately but simply says “put your hand in mine and you will see it opening up slowly.”  He asked Abraham to “walk thou before me and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17 verse 1).  Remember the 2 men walking on the road to Emmaus.  God drew alongside them.  He was the only one who could give them comfort, no other man could do it.  As he accompanied them he opened up the word of God.  His presence went with them.  When they reached their destination they constrained him to stay and eat with them.  They coveted his presence more than anything else.  What a wonderful thing to covet God’s presence.  The 2 disciples later said “did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24 verse 32)  What a blessing to have God’s promise and presence with us.  In Acts 27 when Paul and his companions where in the middle of a shipwreck Paul told them “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, Saying Fear not, Paul.” (verse 23)  Do you know God today?  Do you know Christ as Saviour and Lord?  Was there a day when you stood before him, acknowledged you were a sinner in his sight, when you asked him to lead and direct your paths from that day on?  Even when Daniel was in the lions den he had a peace that no-one else had.  His king couldn’t sleep because of the decree he had made against the child of God.  Can you imagine him running the next morning to the den wondering if Daniel was alright.  Daniel told him that God had sent his angel to guard him all night.  He had a peace that passeth all understanding.   If the Lord is not your Saviour you will never know that peace.  There will come a time when you will need the Saviour at your side.  Trust him, depend on him to be there in the times of shipwreck and times of the den of lions.  Are you saved today?  Have you trusted Christ?  Are you depending on him in this new year?  We have his promise and presence today.

Sermon notes from Sunday 17 January 2016
1 Kings 19 verses 1 - 18

"Fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41 verse 10

What a wonderful reassurance that I am not alone - "fear thou not for I am with thee."  Fear not in a crisis because it is God`s command.  It is also a great comfort.  It is the Christian`s crown.  There is also the promise and presence of God with us "I am with thee."

His provision.  Not looking to man today but rather to the God of heaven, the one who spoke and everything around us came into existence.  He promises today to provide for us - "I will strengthen thee."  That is provision.  Whatever you are asked to do, whatever trial, tribution, burder I will provide for you.  I am there to help you, strengthen you.  Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 said "there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who wil not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it."  Just when you thought the world was crashing down around you.  That must have been the way Elijah felt as sat in the desert, in the barrenness.  He feels the presence of God, hears the voice of God.  No matter where we are today God will provvide all things.  "I can do all things through Christ that strengtheth me."  Paul realised that God of heaven would provide for him to deal with the situation.  God will not lay on us that which he does not provide strength for the task.  When he felt alone he testified to Timothy "when all men forsook me I looked for a friend and found none the Lord stood with me." (2 Timothy 4 verses 16 and 17)  There was something about that presence.  Imagine that.  God`s presence in a situation cannot fail.  "that by me the preaching might be fully known." There is no trial God cannot provide for the apostle.  Paul had many trials but realised God was able to match any circumstances.  It must have been like that for Elijah in that place.  What caused this lapse in this mighty prophet`s life?  What caused his heart to be attacked by fear?  Verse 3 "and when he saw that."  That fear is very important.  He had come under the threat of Jezebel, one of the most wicked queens every lived.  She hated Elijah with a venom.  He had stood on the hill of Carmel, had put to death 400 of Jezebel`s prophets.  She told him if he was not dead by this time tomorrow there would be something wrong.  Elijah got his eyes off God and onto the circumstances around him.  On an evil woman with a tongue that threatened his life.  When he saw his circumstances he got his eyes off God and began to run out to the wilderness to the place of barrenness and dryness.  In chapter 17 verse 1 Elijah was standing in front of the king Ahab.  Think of this man just as God comes to him I have a task for you.  Elijah asks him what the Lord wants him to do.  Want to go in before Ahab and tell him there would be no rain in Israel for 3 1/2 years.  When he was told that fear never entered his mind, he knew God had sent him and there was no fear in his heart.  His mind was focused on God alone.  God then tells him to go to the brook Cherith.  Where are our eyes today?  Are they on God today or not?  Something you don`t want to face perhaps.  Get your eyes on God.  As he looked down on the brook and said "if God said to me not to fear I will not fear."  He knew God said it and he would do it.  The brook began to dry up after 3 years.  He knew his life was in God`s hands.  He was moving him on.  He doesn`t live in past blessings.  Let`s keep looking to God of heaven for this new year and blessings he will bestow on us.  He comes to Zarephath, finds a little house and sees a woman coming out.  There is no fear in his heart because his heart was on the word of the Lord.  In chapter 19 he hears all the threats of this woman Jezebel, everything she said gripped his heart.  He got his eyes off God and onto circumstances.  If we enter into 2016 with our eyes on circumstances we are going to go down under.  It is not easy to keep our eyes on Jesus when you have got problems, threats and difficulties.  Take them to the Lord in prayer.  When you are in that situation I will provide for you.  When we get our eyes on the threats we get our eyes off God.  Never get your eyes off the Lord and put them onto circumstances.  We are no match in our own strength.  God will provide for us.

His protection.  When you are in that situation I wil protect you.  God will protect his children.  You and I can face any situation because we know his protection.  Just like the apostle Paul when all his friends deserted him the Lord stood by him.  Not as a bystander was there for his help - 2 Timothy 4 verse 17.  God delivered him.  That is what God provides for us.  Psalm 46 "God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble."  Daniel proved that himself when he was cast into the lions den.  As he lay there with the lions all around him something strange happened.  The lions never even looked at him.  God sent his angels and stopped the mouth of the lions.  David knew all about it.  He watched the sheep at night, seen the bear coming to take the lamb but God helped him.  I do not come in my strength, I come in the strength of the Lord God of Israel.  "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty." (Psalm 91 verse 1)  He gives provision and protection.  Remember Hezekiah when the city of Jerusalem was under seige.  He takes the letter from his enemies and laid it out before the God of heaven.  God told him that there shall not be an arrow that will fly into this city - 2 Kings 19 verse 32.  185,000 of the enemy army lay dead the next morning.  Do you know that protection?  Do you know the promise of God to your heart?  "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise case out." (John 6 verse 37)  Have you ever brought that burden of sin, that keeps you awake at night, brings thoughts of eternity without God to him?  Have you ever taken him as Saviour and Lord?  Do you know his presence?  Do you know his provision?  Do you know his power today?

His power.  That is at our disposal.  "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."  At the distribution of the land throughout the lands of Israel think of the tribe Asher and the promise given to them as about to enter the land.  Deuteronomy 33 verse 25 "as thy days so shall thy strength be."  Do not look for provision for tomorrow.  Matthew 6 verse 34 "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."  Trouble for today is heaven enough.  The problems you have today are difficult enough without anything added to them.  The pressures that may never ever come to pass.  God will provide.  He will give us the power.  Is there something that you need power for?  The disciples depended on the Lord - "go ye into all the world ... but tarry in Jerusalm to be filled with the Holy Spirit."  The provision, the protection and the power is available, wrapped up in this verse.  Paul "what shall we say to these things if God be for us who can be against us." (Romans 8 verse 31)

Follow Me

Matthew 9 verses 9 - 13

"And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom; and he saith unto him, follow me.  And he arose and followed him."

The name Matthew means gift.  He was a tax collector by profession.  One day he received the greatest gift of all - the gift of eternal life.  Was there a day that you can point to, a special time and place when you sought the Lord as your own and personal Saviour?  That is what it boils down to.

A meeting that was different.  It was different in the sense that we are not told anything of Matthew`s thoughts as Jesus passed by nor the condition of his heart.  We don`t see him falling at Jesus` feet like the leper who recognised Jesus as the great physician and said "Lord if thou wilt you can make me clean."  We don`t read of Matthew doing that nor looking up as Jesus passed by.  Not like blind Bartimaeus who heard the crowd and cried out for the Lord.  We are told that Matthew was simply asked to follow Jesus.  How different it was for the rich young ruler.  He realised he was not right with God, that he did not possess eternal life.  We need to come to that place of realisation, that we know not the Lord as Saviour.  The young ruler said to Jesus "good master what must I do to have eternal life?"  He realised he didn`t have it.  How different it was for Zacchaeus.  He realised that Jesus was coming to his very town.  His heart was overwhelmed because he wanted to see this particular man he had heard so much about.  He wanted to make sure he could see Jesus.  He ran down the street and climbed into a sycamore tree.  He got himself in a position to see Jesus passing by.  How different it was for the souls on the day of Pentecost.  They cried out "men and brethren what shall we do?"  We don`t read that of Matthew.  He was sitting at the receipt of custom.  It was just a normal day for him gathering taxes for the Roman government as Jesus passed by.  Jesus looked into Matthew`s face and said "follow me".  Perhaps tonight you have come along with no intentions of getting saved.  I am sure it is the last thing on your mind.  It was the last thing on Matthew`s mind that day but he came face to face with Christ himself.  Maybe you are not ready to be saved.  You believe that your heart needs to be crying out for the Lord.  Yes sometimes that must happen but not always.  God can speak to you wherever you are at in this moment in time.  You have a decision to make - salvation is of the Lord the bible says.  It is all of grace.

This is a message that was direct.  Jesus walked by where Matthew was, he looked a him and said "follow me."  It was a direct message reaching into the very heart.  He was beginning to change his attitude.  If the message doesn`t reach the heart it will not prevail.  Paul came to Corinth "not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God ... And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man`s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."  When the Holy Spirit takes the word and applies it to the heart then there is a difference.  It was a direct message.  He asks you to do the same tonight.  Will you follow him tonight?  Take him as Saviour and Lord?  Leave your sins at his feet?  Maybe you have a leaning towards God tonight.  "Every soul not already won to Jesus is already lost."  Did you realise that?  If not won to Christ you are already lost.  As Paul opened up the word of God in Phlippi God had already opened up Lydia`s heart to receive it.

A message that was decisive.  Matthew heard the voice of the Lord and stood to his feet and followed him.  There was decisive action.  He was doing exactly what the Lord said he should do - following Jesus.  This is the part of man that must respond, it is man`s responsibility.  As you hear the call of God you must respond to that call.  Jesus didn`t lift Matthew up himself.  Matthew had to make the move.  It was decisive.  You need to let go tonight, to take Jesus as Saviour and Lord.  He calls through his word.  You have got to decide to follow him.  If there is no conviction without conversion then nothing will change.

A mission that is determined.  He arose to where Jesus was and followed after him.  He has taken the Lord with him.  He goes into the house and prepares a meal with Jesus.  Plenty of people came to eat with him.  He had a mission now.  He wanted to see others receive what he had received.  He wanted them to hear what he had heard.  Like the Philippian jailer who asked Paul to come back to his house and tell his family.  There are many today who profess salvation but there is no mission in their lives.  They can take church or leave it, there is no hunger to see souls saved.  Maybe they follow afar off.  If the microphone was put your way tonight could you point to the place, the time when you were convicted of your sins?  Are you saved by God`s grace, on your way to heaven and home that you might follow Jesus wholeheartedly?  If not will you come and be saved, will you follow after the Lord and make him your Saviour?