Ye will not come to me that ye might have life

Sermon notes from 24 March 2017

John 4 verses 24 - 26, 39 - 40, 46 - 47

"Ye will not come to me that ye might have life."

An absence of life.  Jesus was speaking to men who were offended by Christ - verse 18.  They were out to kill him.  They were very much alive physically but spiritually dead in their trespasses and sin.  We are all different in nature.  When you see a child running about we say he is full of life.  Physically that is.  Spiritually we are all born dead in sin, can do nothing to deliver ourselves.  Paul in Ephesians 2 says "and you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this word, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."  John 3 verse 36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that beleilveth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."  The difference between saved and not.  Those who have receied Christ as Saviour hath life but if you have not Christ you are dead spiritually before God.  2 Corinthians 5 verse 15 "And that he died for all that they which live shold not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again."  The word dead means separation from God and without hope.  "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Isaiah 59 verse 2  We are not on that road to heaven.  Without spiritual life no-one can get into heaven.  Heaven`s door will be closed.  Never been born of the Spirit of God, will never walk those streets of heaven, in that place where there will be no more sickness.  I`m sure everyone of us wants to be in heaven at the end of life`s journey.  You need to have life.  "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3 verse 3)  We do not know when we are going to leave this world, called out of the world - "Be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man will come." (Matthew 24 verse 44)  Our position at the end of life will mean we finish up separated from God and in hell itself.  In Luke 16 we read of the rich man who finished up in a lost eternity.  He had all his feelings about him and he had his memories.  He could remember he had 5 brothers and that Lazarus lay at his gate every day.  He could remember a few verses of scripture, he remembered Abraham, knew something of prayer and that he didn`t have life eternal.  Do you have life in the full sense?  The life of Christ within your heart.  I`m not asking if you go to church, say a prayer, never have done anyone any harm but you are without this life.  "ye will not come to me that ye might have life."  He wants to give you life and invites you to come to him.

The availability of life.  It was available to these people in the person of Christ.  Life is not found in a place, not found in a church, not found in a message but found in a man Christ Jesus.  John 14 verse 6 "I am the way, the truth and the life."  Life is found in the person of the Lord Jesus.  He is not just a mere man.  He is God manifested in the flesh.  From verses 19 to the end of the chapter we read the words of Christ.  He is declaring himself to be equal with God.  He is witnessed by the Spirit, then of John, then of his works and finally the Father and the scriptures.  Eternal life is found in a person.  "I am come that ye might have life and you might have life abundantly." (John 10 verse 10)  He is not out to spoil your life.  He is come to give you life worth living for.  "There is none other name given among men whereby we might be saved." (Acts 4 verse 12)  It is given through life.  You have to have something to put your faith in.  There are people who have faith in a church.  Others have faith in their own efforts.  Good faith.  It is not the amount of faith you have but who your faith is in.  Faith must have an object.  Saving faith is found in the person of the Lord.  "I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him." (2 Timothy 1 verse 12)  Faith has to be exercised.  It is one thing to believe in the heart but another to believe it in the mind.  You might sit here believing in your heart that Jesus is able to save, that he wants to save but have you ever trusted?  Have you ever put your life into his hands?  He is the potter and we are the clay.  He didn`t discard me, he moulded me and continually moulds my life every day.  Faith has got to be exercised.  We have got to have an object.  This faith is available because of a finished work.  It is only because of what Christ has accomplished on Calavary.  The price has been paid and paid in full.  "It is finished".  That is what it means.  He was able to cry those words on Calavary because the price has been paid and paid in full.  The invitation goes out "come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11 verse 28)  Life is available because of a finished work and a person.  Life is available to all.  "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  The invitation is for the whosoever.  It is free and it is found through faith in the finished work of Christ on Calvary.

The assurance of life.  You can have everlasting life, something that is real and can be possesssed the moment you trust the Lord.  It is given to you by the Spirit of God.  "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5 verses 12 and 13  God says it in his word and I stand on the promises of his word alone.  God says if I receive his son I will receive life.  When God says something he means it.  You can rely on it.  Jesus says you believe man but you still do not believe God.  We can believe friends and neighbours but yet when it comes to spiritual things we question God.  Is God`s word not enough for you?  You can have assurance of life, depending on the word of Jesus Christ.  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlsting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5 verse 24.  The moment you believe you pass from death unto life.  That is the whole idea of the gospel - believing on the Lord.

The abandoning of life.  It is quite possible there are those God is reaching out in love to, I want to give you life, to bless you, make you ready for heaven.  He is offering you life in all its fulness but maybe you are going out saying no.  That is abandoning life.  These men were offered the same opportunity.  They were being afforded these things.  We know if we come to the Lord we would have life in all its fulness.  God has given us opportunity after opportunity.  Opportunities come and go.  It needs to be grasped.  God has extended the day of grace.  Given you another opportunity. Will you accept life from his hands.  Romans 6 verse 23 "the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life."  God asks you to come and receive it.

A pardon that is granted

Sermon notes from 21 March 2017

Isaiah 55 verses 1 – 3, 6 – 8

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

God would love to grant us a pardon tonight but maybe you are not willing to turn your back on your sin.  Who is it that requires the pardon?  Those who are guilty are the ones who need a pardon.  God has examined the hearts of all mankind, the heart of the righteous man, the heart of the Christian man, the Greeks, the Romans and all the rest.  “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Romans 3 verse 12)  “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3 verse 23)  “He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already; because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3 verse 18)  When a man or woman hears the gospel there is a responsibility on his shoulders to respond or reject Christ.  Often you have turned your back on him and you are condemned already. 

The reach of the pardon.  God will abundantly pardon.  He forgiveth all the iniquities, both great and small.  You will read of men in the scriptures in all kinds of wicked situations.  God is a great God and he forgave them.  His pardon reached out to all the world.  “Ho every one that thirsteth” the invitation comes out to all the world.  God wants you to turn your back on sin, to cast your sin away and give you a pardon.  John 3 verse 16.  “Whosoever shall on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10 verse 13)  God is not willing that any should perish.  It is a pardon that reaches out all men.

The roots of the pardon.  This pardon is rooted in Calvary’s cross.  Without the cross there can be no pardon.  God is holy and just.  For God to be holy the pardon had to be paid.  When he died on Calvary he laid down his life.  He paid the price of my sin and because of that he is free to pardon me.  Someone took my place.  When Christ was being tried Pilate asked the crowd who they would want to be released, either Christ or Barabbas.  The crowd roared for Barabbas.  Barabbas was sitting in the prison cell, he could hear the jailer coming down the stones and hear the key turning in the door.  Barabbas was told he was free to go.  How can this be?  Another has been found to take your place.  The roots of the pardon are found in Calvary’s cross.  Someone has taken the place.  It was the shedding of his own precious blood.  The roots of the pardon is also repentance, returning unto the Lord.  Repentance is not just changing your mind, it is a complete about turn. Turning from your sin and turning unto God.  Repentance can be seen in these verses.  Leave your sin behind and turn unto the Lord.  There is also faith in these verses.  No man can come unto God unless he believes he exists and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11 verse 6)  If you believe in God, that he wants to save you, repent and trust Christ.

The refusal of the pardon.  It can either be accepted or refused.  That is where you have a choice – will you accept the pardon he is offering, a free, full offering.  The blood of Jesus, God’s son will cleanse from all sin but what will you do with this pardon?  It does not say he might have mercy but rather he will have mercy for he will abundantly pardon – the choice lies in your hands.

God commendeth his love to us while we were yet sinners

Sermon notes from 23 March 2017

Romans 5 verses 1 – 12, 20 – 21

As we know the great theme of the book of Romans is the gospel.  Paul says he was “separated unto the gospel of Christ” (Chapter 1 verse 1).  When Paul comes to chapter 4 he sets forth the principles of justification, then in chapter 5 verse 1 he says “therefore”.  We have to ask the question – what is there for?  Paul brings us back to the previous chapter and the great theme of the gospel is being continued.  Chapter 5 gives us 4 simple headings.

Man’s condition is described.  God’s view as he looks down on mankind – how does he see us?  Verse 6 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”  Man cannot save himself.  He cannot deliver himself from all he has got himself into.  You might have tried to save yourself but we are weak in regards to salvation.  When the enemy comes against us we have to stand in the strength of the Lord because we are weak.  God says “when we are weak” – he doesn’t know what your weakness is tonight but the devil knows.  You would love to give up the battle but you cannot.  Man is also described as wicked.  “Christ died for the ungodly”.  We read of Achan’s wickedness in the Old Testament, he had no control over it, nor had he any concern for the God of heaven.  “The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked, no one can know it.”  Without God a man is ungodly.  We are without God and without hope, outside the family and fold of God.  Not only described as weak and wicked but also wayward.  “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to our own way.”  We want to be in charge, don’t want to be controlled by anyone.  Man is also described as being at war with God.  “For if, when we were enemies” verse 10.  It is like sometimes we rebel against God in our sin.  Enemies of God – wayward and we are also under the wrath of God.  John 3 verse 36 “he that hath the son hath life but he that hath not the son hath not life.”  In verse 18 we read that we are condemned already.  This is how man’s condition is described in these verses.  It is not a pretty picture.  Maybe you are happy as you are.  This book describes you as unsaved.  You are under the wrath and judgment of God.

God’s love is displayed.  Romans 5 verse 8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  What kind of love is this?  That Christ would ever leave the splendours of heaven, to be despised, rejected at Calvary.  That he would lay down his life for me?  It is unexplainable.  It is a love that passes all understanding.  Love is demonstrated for us at Calvary.  You might wonder if God really loves you.  Just look at Calvary.  Even while we were sinners – why should the God of heaven love me?  We can explain our love for him – we love him because he first loved us.  The Psalmist could say “I love the Lord because he heard my supplication.”  A love that cannot be explained.  It is a universal love.  There is not a person in all the world God doesn’t love.  It doesn’t matter what you have done in life God loves you.  “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  “There is no love like the love of Jesus, never to fade.”  “And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2 verse 2)  An atoning sacrifice, for the sins of the whole world.  Not one person is excluded.  We can pick and choose who we love but with God there is no difference.  It is an unconditional love.  There is nothing that we have done that would ever make God love us any less or nothing we could do to make him love us any more.  That is one of God’s great attributes.  God is love.  1 Corinthians 13 verse 13 “now abideth faith, hope, charity (love) these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love).”  It will last right throughout eternity.

Calvary’s outcome declared.  “Being justified by faith …”  Being justified by his love – verse 5.  Justified means just as if I had never sinned.  A brand new start, starting over afresh.  The moment we trust in Christ that is salvation.  Salvation in the past, present and future.  The moment we trust Christ we are saved, we are being saved day by day.  Sanctification means being set apart unto God.  Saved from the power of sin.  When it comes to the end of our life being saved means we will be in the presence of God.  We are saved the moment we trust Christ, justified, but being saved day by day from the power of sin also.  Justification is one of the outcomes.  We also have peace with God.  To know the account is settled, to know you have made your peace with God.  The old account has been settled.  Christ made peace by the blood of the cross.  When the Lord came into this world the angels appeared in the clouds saying “peace and goodwill to all men.”  He is the Prince of Peace.  Before he left this earth he told his disciples “peace I give unto you not as the world giveth.”  Peace of heart and peace of mind, being able to put your head on the pillow knowing all is in God’s hands.  Justification and peace with God.  We have access by faith in this grace where we stand.  We can come into the goodness of God and the grace of God has opened the door.  You and I are invited to come into his presence.  The invitation goes out through the great gospel message.  Rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  It is a sure hope, a guaranteed hope.  If you have Christ in your heart you are guaranteed a place in heaven.  The little phrase “and not only also” is repeated throughout this chapter.  The moment a man or woman trusts Christ the Holy Spirit enters and we are born of God.  “Saved from wrath through him” - verse 9.  In verse 10 we are “reconciled to God” and in verse 11 we have “joy in God”.  You should be praising God because of what he has done for you.

Our response is demanded.  There is a responsibility that comes to us to believe the gospel message.  God has done everything he can.  He has opened the door.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  We cannot be saved by ourselves.  The word “believe” is mentioned over 100 times in John’s gospel.  John 1 verse 12 “but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”  “These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20 verse 31)  God forgave me all my sins.  If you come to Christ he will not cast you away.  The plea goes out to all mankind – come and have salvation, come and be justified.  God wants to bless you more than you could ever want to be blessed but your responsibility is to exercise faith today.

Ready to preach the gospel

Sermon notes from 19 March 2017

Romans 1 verses 13 - 18

The gospel message is a message of alarm.  God wants to waken you, to make you aware of the danger of dying in your sin.  It is God`s siren to us.  We have read that great servant Paul when he said "I am ready to preach the gospel".  Paul is ready to preach the gospel.  It is the gospel of Christ.  Why - because first of all he loves the message.  Paul says I love to preach the message because I love the Saviour.  He had a desire in his heart to preach this great message.  It didn`t matter where he went - going down the street and a little girl following him shouting "these men are servants of the most high God which show unto us the way of salvation" (Acts 16 verse 17), he preached in the open air, in the markets, at the river side, in the prison house, in palaces, in the great auditorium in Rome.  Paul was ready to preach the gospel because he loved it.  Paul was stoned out of towns, beaten, put in prison but he just went to the next town and started to preach again.  Why - simply because he loved the God of heaven.  He believed it to be the power of God unto salvation.  He believed through the foolishness of preaching that God would save those who believed on it.  "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that  believe." (1 Corinthians 1 verse 21)  Paul also encouraged others do the same thing.  He told Timothy "preach the word, be instant in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4 verse 2).  Whether men like it or not, it will transform them.  It doesn`t matter, it comes with newness every time we hear it because it is a living message.  Paul was loyal to the message, ready for the defense of the gospel, ready to lay down his life for.  "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gosspel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1 verse 8)  Paul loved it and was loyal to it.  There was something about Paul`s life - you could see he was a man of God.  "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."  "It is no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me."  Paul said to Timothy "Let your conversation be as it is becometh the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1 verse 27)  There has to be a mark of a difference that marks us out.  People were first called Christians at Antioch.  They loved the message so much.  Paul longed others to hear it too.  In verse 14 we read of the Greeks.  Throughout scripture the Greeks loved to seek after wisdom, almost trying to come to an understanding, could never rationalise or reason it out.  How could someone die on the cross let alone save anyone?  The Greeks who tried to reason it out in their minds.  The Barbarians were a radical people.  You couldn`t talk to them.  They just didn`t listen.  Paul says "I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise."  To the uneducated and educated, to the civilised or whatever.  He was a debtor, did that mean he owed something to them?  No, because of all of heaven has done for me.  The least I could do is share the gospel with them.  A debtor to all human race and everyone.  They deserved to hear the gospel at least once.  He loves the gospel and longs others might come to know it.  "It is the power of God unto salvation."  Nothing changes a man`s life like the gospel message.  When a man believes the gospel he becomes a new creature.  There is a tremendous difference because he is no longer a child of the devil.  Paul loved to preach the gospel.

Paul speaks of the person of the gospel.  "Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord" (verse 3)  It is all about him.  It is about Christ and him alone.  Acts 4 verse 12 "neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved."  "Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1 verse 21)  God sent his son into the world to be the Saviour of the world.  Galatians "when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to deem them that were under the law." (Galatians 4 verses 4 and 5)  God sent him from heaven, from those great mansions in the sky, where the streets were made of gold, a place of perfect peace.  God sent him down into the world that rejected him.  John 1 verse 10 "he was in the world, the world was made by him and the world knew him not."  Many today do not know the Saviour.  The one born in the manger of Bethlehem, sent to be the Saviour of the world.  "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ."  Right throughout scripture we read how much he says of the gospel.  Romans 2 verse 16 "In the days when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the gospel."  Christ is not here to condemn the world.  He wants you to understand something of God`s great plan of salvation.  He came into the world to save sinners.  We are all sinners.  No difference in any of us - I am only a sinner saved by grace.  This message is about the sending of his son.  Romans 8 verse 32 "God spared not his own son."  God sent him to go to Calvary.  He knew he would be rejected, bruised yet he sent him.  God spared not his own son but delivered him up freely for us.  When the soldiers came to arrest him in the garden, God in heaven turned away.  He could have delivered him even at that moment but he didn`t.  When he went into Pilate`s judgment hall, when he was beaten, when a crown of thorns was placed on his head, when he was mocked and when they shouted "hail king of the Jews" God and all of heaven turned away.  When they took him out to Calvary`s cross and nailed him by the hands and feet, when every bone in his body was out of joint, God spared not his son.  The God of heaven turned his back on his son.  In those 3 dark hours at Calvary God closed heaven altogether.  Laid on him the iniquity of us all.  God spared not his son.  God slew his son.  He took up the offering made on Calvary and consumed it to the very end.  God slew his son at Calvary.  The Father who spared not his son slew his son is seeking us as his sons.  He is not a dead Saviour.  He is alive for ever.  In 1 Corinthians 15 we read of resurrection of Christ.  Christ died - that is a historical fact.  You could go to the history books and read of a man crucified outside Jerusalem.  He died for our sins.  That is a theological fact.  That is what makes his death different to every other death.  It makes him our substitute.  He rose again the third day.  That is a supernatural fact.  There is evidence for the resurrection.  At the tomb he was seen, on the road to Emmaeus he talked with 2 men, he was seen by the disciples, by 500 men, by Cephas and by Paul himself.  God spared not his son.  He spared not the fallen angels who left their eternal state because of sin.  He spared not the whole world from his wrath and judgment on the flood in the time of Noah.  It says in verse 18 "for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. " You could read through this book and through the Old Testament that the wrath of God has been revealed against sin.  You can see it from the beginning to the end upon the angels and his son on the cross.  Why did he not spare his son?  How is God going to spare you if you turn your back on Christ?  You cannot.  God is a God who is holy.  The soul that sins shall die.  There is an eternal punishment for the soul that sins.  "He that hath the son hath eternal life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5 verse 12)  God sent his son into a world of sorrow, sin and woe.  Never forget God loves you.  He is not willing that any shall perish.  He is a holy God who is just and must punish sin.  If your sin is not dealt with by Jesus on the cross it will be dealt with by Jesus on the throne.  The only place you can be is with Christ.  

The power of the gospel.  It is the same word we get our word dynamite from today.  Such is the power of God.  The preaching of the cross is foolishness unto you who believe.

The purpose of the gospel - to bring salvation.  It is great because of the person who planned it.  It is great because of the people it reaches - to all men.  "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  John 3 verse 16  He gave his only son for me.  That if I believe I will have eternal life.  God has not made salvation difficult, that you will have to pay for it, that only able bodied people can believe.  The purpose of the gospel is to bring salvation.  We are not here to put pressure on you, to button hole you.  A simple gospel message.  If you believe you can leave here saved by the grace of God in a moment of time.

The plan of the gospel - believe.  Paul said to the Philippian jailer when asked "what must I do to be saved" - "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."  He was not told to change his lifestyle, become a better person but simply believe on the Lord.  It cannot be any simpler.  Do you want to be saved, to trust in Christ?  Then simply believe on Christ.

As cold waters to a thirsty soul ...

Sermon notes from 20 March 2017

Proverbs 25 verse 25 "As cold waters to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far country."

As we look back through the centuries at the way news travels we have to go back to the day when there were no newspapers.  News was shared by town criers then there came telephones, telegrams, newspapers, fax machines, computers, TV`s, radios, computers, laptops and smart phones.  If we go back 200 years to the death of Abraham Lincoln it took 2 years for the news of his death to reach the remotest parts of the world.  When John F Kennedy was shot in 1964 it took less than 2 weeks for the news to reach the world.  When Donald Trump was elected 2 months ago it took less than 2 minutes for the whole world to be told.  The first thing that comes to your mind when the telephone rings is `who it is`.  The person on the other end of the line determines whether we answer it or not.  It is important to know who the sender is.  When it comes to computers there are hackers out there who do not want to do you any good.  This message is from heaven - "from a far country".  The government is probably spending millions of pounds putting satelites into space, hoping one day to get a return signal not just from our world but further away.  Isaiah 13 verse 12.  They came from a far country.  This is God`s message to mankind.  This is God`s word sent to all of us.

The sender of this message was not out to do you any harm.  The Lord wants to bless you, make you ready for heaven.  The message in this book never changes.  When we think of the sender we automatically think of God as the creator.  Job 26 verse 7.  When God created the universe this world spins at 100 miles per hour.  If it ever went off balance dear only knows what would happen.  It never slows down.  It is the same speed every day.  Not only spinning but travelling around the sun.  It never changes, gives us the 4 seasons each year.  God has created the world.  He cares for the world and no-one cares like he does.  John 3 verse 16.  As God looks down from heaven he saw the damage sin was doing in this world.  God has provided the escape.  1 Peter 5 verse 7 "cast your care upon him for he careth for you."  God is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance - why - because he cares for you.  That is why he has given you this opportunity to respond to his grace.  He is God, rich in mercy towards us.  He created the world, he cares for the world but he communicates with the world.  Hebrews 1 verse 1.  God spoke to the Old Testament prophets through dreams and visions.  God showed them the way he wanted them to go.  This book is inspired of God.  Someone once said even the words "Holy Bible" are inspired.  It couldn`t be anything else.  He has demonstrated his love and mercy right through this book.  The God of heaven speaks to us through this word.  It is good news from a far country.  Have you read the story of the cross?  The message comes from a far country and the messenger is God.

Look at the substance of this message.  If we get an email it is up to us to decide if we want to open it and read it.  This book is a revelation of Christ himself.  Hebrews 10 verse 7.  John 5 verse 39.  John 1 verse 3 he created all things and all things were created by him, there was not anything made without him.  He was there before the foundation of the world.  I would love to have been there on that day after Jesus had risen and joined the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaeus.  They were downcast in spirit.  "Beginning at Moses he expounted unto them the things concerning himself."  Wouldn`t you love to know how far he went back.  Genesis 3 verse 16 talks about the seed of the woman, Christ himself.  Abraham was on the mountain top when God said he would provide a lamb.  He has now provided that lamb - John 1 verse 29 "behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."  Not only eternal in his being but exceptional in his birth.  He was conceived of the Holy Ghost, no natural father.  The bloodline always comes from the father.  He was exceptional in his birth.  Even the night he was born in Bethlehem God had put everything in place.  He had to be in Bethlehem for the taxes to be paid.  He was the perfect example in his life, he did only those things that pleased his Father.  His Father could look down from heaven and say "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."  He laid down his life for us.  He didn`t have to go to the cross but because of his love he went to the cross, he was willing to take the judgment of God.  Thank God he escaped from the tomb and is alive for evermore.  He has ascended to the throne of God and is able to save to the uttermost.  Hebrews 7 verses 25 and 26.  What a triumph it was to be raised from the tomb.  He is expected in the air one day.  Christ came into the world with one plan and one purpose - to seek and to save that which was lost.  Luke 19 verse 10.  That is why he came.  He is pleading for men and women to come.  Yes it is good news from a far country.  

The secret of the message.  It is for a thirsty soul.  If you are ever going to know God`s blssing in salvation you wil have to have this deep desire to know him.  Psalm 42 verse 1.  A man that is thirsty would do anything to get to the water.  There is a thirst, a deep desire.  There were 2 men in the New Testament who had a similar desire.  Blind Bartimaeus was sitting at the side of the street and heard Jesus was passing by.  He starts to shout and then even louder "Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me".  He wanted to know Christ, the healing of Christ in his body.  Zacchaeus had a desire to see Jesus, he came with one thing in his mind - to see Jesus.  Nothing would stop him - he climbed up into a sycamore tree.  He was putting himself to shame - rich men don`t climb trees.  He was doing something extraordinary.  He got beyond and above the crowd.  He had that determination and desire deep in his heart to see Christ.  Do you want to meet with Christ?  If there is not a hunger or desire you will never find him.  Whenever there is a seeking sinner there is a seeking Saviour.  It is good news to your heart tonight.  If you want to be saved there will have to be determination.  Are you thirsting after Christ? As the God of heaven looks down he sees into your heart.  He knows whether you want to be saved.  You could sit in mission halls for years waiting for some great experience but you simply have to respond.  You will never satisfy your thirst thinking about it or talking about it.  Only satisfy my thirst when I took it.  "If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink" John 7 verse 37.  You can drink of salvation tonight, find it in the wells of salvation.  To the woman at the well Jesus said "whosoever shall drink of the water I shall give him he shall never thirst again."  If the gospel is going to bless your soul you need to take it in and accept Jesus died for you.

Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world

Notes from a sermon heard on 22 March 2017

John 1 verses 26 – 39

“Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

These words were spoken by John the Baptist.  He was a different John to the apostle.  John the Baptist was a man sent by God.  We read that in the beginning of this great chapter in verses 6 to 8.  That is why John has his part on the scene – to announce the arrival of the Lord and to present him.  He was one of the last prophets and the greatest of them.  He had a unique life.  John makes this great discovery and exclamation of Jesus in this verse.  John’s gospel has a lot to say about the world.  We are told in this chapter that God created the world, we are also told he is the light of the world.  In John 3 we read that God loves the world.  In this verse we read of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.  The extent of the problem is sin.  There are many many different problems in this world.  Some think the greatest problem is financial.  Others think it is health that is the greatest problem as we travel through life.  You will get into heaven without any finance or bad health but you will never get in without sin being taken away.  If we were to write down all my sins it would fill a book and if we were to take the sins of everyone here there would be a vast number, probably enough to fill the church with books.  Consider the fact that there are 7½ billion people in the world, that each person commits 3 sins a day and that would be 1000 a year and if we were given 70 years to live that would make 70000 sins.  If all the sins of the world were added together you couldn’t number the vastness of this problem of sin.  Sin is something that separates us from the God of heaven.  The government might legalise sin and society might excuse sin and make light of it but it is serious when it comes to the God of heaven.  He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.  Sin is a serious problem.  It will keep you out of heaven.  That is how serious it is.  We might smile at it, might enjoy it but Romans 5 verse 12 says “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”  But … Christ came into the world to save sinners.  Sin not only separates us from God but sin ruins lives.  Think of the alcoholic for a moment.  Not just sin but the love of sin – the sin of the world is mentioned here in these 2 verses.  Sin separates, sin spoils, sin will keep us out of heaven.

The excellence of the person.  Many names are given to the Lord throughout the scriptures – Emmanual, Jesus.  There are over 100 names given to the Lord.  No-one name fully describes him.  Everyone has a different aspect.  The Lamb of God speaks of the great sacrifice to take away the sin of the world.  In Genesis we read of Abraham setting off up to the mountain with his servants to worship God.  He says to his servants “you stay here and I and the lad will go on up and worship.”  Isaac asks his father “where is the Lamb for the sacrifice?”  Abraham’s response – “God will provide himself a Lamb.” (Genesis 22 verse 8).  A Lamb being provided.  In Exodus we read of the blood of the lamb applied to the doorposts.  In Isaiah 53 we read of the lamb crucified.  There is something special about the Lamb of God.  Here he is clearly identified.  John talks of the worth of the lamb.  “One standing among you whom you know not” (verse 26).  Then he goes on in verse 27 to say “whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”  John went on to say “I must decrease and he must increase.”  John speaks not only of the worth of the lamb but of the work of the lamb – verses 35 and 36.  There was something about the walk, not just how he walked, it was speaking of his whole manner of life.  It speaks of his holiness, his goodness, a perfect sinless lamb.  He went about doing good, helping those who were sick and in trouble, restoring sight to the blind, making the lame to walk, doing only those things that pleased the Father.  How different from any of us.  Notice also the words of the lamb.  The words of Christ are words of welcome, an invitation.  Reading through the scriptures you often read of the Lord inviting people to come.  The disciples of John wanted to see where he dwelt and Jesus told them to “come and see”.  He also said “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”  These 2 disciples asked where he was dwelling and he told them to come and see.  Jesus is something worth listening to.  The preacher is not worth listening to but the words of Jesus bring blessing, comfort and challenge.  The work of the lamb was to come to take away the sin of the world.  He took our sins on his own body.  The extent of the problem.

The expanse of the pardon.  Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.  What a tremendous price had to be paid.  He had to lay down his life for us to be saved.  The price he paid.  The just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.  When he went to Calvary it was a voluntary act.  He left the splendours of heaven.  God looked down and said “who will go and whom will I send?”  Isaiah himself said “here am I send me.”  Jesus said those same words to his Father – it was a voluntary act.  Calvary was not only a voluntary sacrifice but a violent sacrifice.  Think of how they beat him, left his back like a ploughed field, the very hairs of his face were pulled out, they put a crown of thorns on his head then beat those thorns down into his head.  We are not talking about small thorns either, they were 2 inches long, sharp and pointed.  The pain he went through.  It was a vicarious act because it was in the place of another.  Barabbas got out of prison simply because another took his place.  It was a victorious work.  It was enough to satisfy the heart of God.  God shall see of the travail of the soul and be satisfied.  He is satisfied with the work accomplished by his son on Calvary.  “It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.”  There is a pardon that is free, full and forever.  A pardon has to be something that is received.  The price of the pardon has to be paid in full.  “He paid a debt he did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.”  The expanse of the pardon – we are not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold but by the precious blood of the lamb.  The lamb was acceptable to God.

The entreaty for peace with God.  The word “behold” means to look more deeply, more than a glance.  “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.”  It is a look that saves and sets you free.  It is a simple look and a single look.  It is very significant.  “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved.”  If you are looking for your works to save you, you will be lost.  If you are looking to anything outside of Christ you are looking in the wrong direction.  Focus on him.  He is the one who takes away the sin of the world.  Isaiah 45 verse 22 “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.”  If you were to look intently at Christ he can save you not only for time but for all eternity.  It is an everlasting look.  The more you look at Calvary the more you will realise how much God loves you.  Christ has done all for you at Calvary – what will you do for him?