The Shunammite woman

Sermon notes from Sunday 31 March 2019

2 Kings 4 verses 8 - 17

I want us to turn our attention to this portion of scripture.  Not to the mighty prophet Elisha but rather to the Shunammite woman who did so much for Elisha.  Look at the characteristics she shows for us and apply these to ourselves.

The woman`s spiritual description.  In verse 8 she is described as a "great woman".  It is a title for this woman from the Holy Spirit himself.  Can the Holy Spirit say that of us today?  Remember how God came down to Abraham when he knew judgment was going to come on Sodom and Gomorrah?  He knew he couldn`t hide it from his best friend.  This woman makes acquaintance with Elisha.  He was on his monthly travelling routine.  She lived on the main highway route to Samaria, Bethel and Jericho.  Those are all the places where there were a group of prophets Elisha would visit.  Maybe this title was because of her wealth.  Greatness in the Bible usually referred to those with plenty of land, flocks and herds.  Perhaps this reference was to her generosity.  She saw the man of God passing by continually.  Maybe she had a great heart.  She made this man so welcome.  Maybe Elisha wasn`t the only one she served, maybe she had a great heart because she loved people.  That is the same characteristic we want to have as children of God.  A home where the door is open, where men and women can come and share in the hospitality offered.  This woman had that gift.  "She constrained him to eat bread."  Maybe Elisha was a reserved man.  Somehow he came back.  He didn`t come in the first or second time, he was reluctant to come in.  He knew nothing about her or her family.  She kept at it though and eventually he came in.  Lydia in Acts 16 "constrained Paul to come into her house."  In Luke 14 verse 23 the master of the house asked his servants to "go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in."  That does not mean dragging people in to hear God`s message but rather you keep going back and by persuasion and argument demonstrate what we have.  According to the Hebrew translation "a great woman" meant a pious woman.  She obviously had a great testimony.

Her spiritual discernment.  She was a great woman but she also had great spiritual discernment.  It is the gift of God.  She realised there was something different about Elisha.   She could see the spiritual state he was in.  What a quality.  She told her husband "I perceive".  This woman no doubt had spoken to this man, could see something different in him, that he was a man of God.  We need that spiritual discernment in our every day lives.  John said "try the spirits and see if they be of God for there be many false prophets that have gone out into the land." (1 John 4 verse 1)  We need to see the spiritual condition of others.  In Acts 18 we read of a certain Jew named Apollos who spoke in the synagogue one day.  Aquila and Priscilla realised as they listened to him that he knew only about the baptism of John.  They took him to one side and "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly."  In this passage here was a woman with spiritual discernment.  Do we have that same spiritual discernment?  Are we on our knees asking God to help us know what to say to others?  It is only as people come under the sound of God`s word that the Holy Spirit grips hearts.  We should be doing all we can to bring people to hear God`s word.

Her spiritual development - verse 8 on each visit she constrained him.  She began with pleading to come into her home.  She never gave up though.  Here was a woman who kept on asking and inviting until he came in.  Now she is giving him nourishment.  She knows she could do more.  She asks her husband in verse 10 "let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall and let us set for him there a bed and a table and a stool and a candlestick and it shall e when he cometh to us that he shall turn in hither."  This woman wanted to make every effort to do for the Lord, not content with what she has done so far.  Philippians 4 verse 11 "I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content."  Remember Paul wrote this while lying in a prison cell.  There is another side to this though - chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 "Brethren I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before.  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."  We need to also be discontent, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.  Has there been a spiritual development, growth in our lives as Christians?  We need to be developing, growing.  There are times when we go through the mundane things of life but we need to ask the Lord "is there more that I can do?"  This woman was willing to share all that she could.  Are we willing to give all we have or sit back content with what we have?  Maybe God is asking us to do something for him?  Don`t be content to walk away.

Her spiritual desire - verse 13.  Elisha realised she had done so much for him.  His servant asks her what she wanted done for her.  Did she want a mention to the king?  What would that have done for her?  It would improve her social standing but she was content with what she had.  What I have done for you Elisha I have done for the Lord.  She had not done it for reward but for the Lord because he has been so good to me.  Colossians 3 verse 23 "whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men."  It was said of Hezekiah the king in the Old Testament "and in every work that he began in the service of the house of God and in the law and in the commandments to seek his God he did it with all his heart and prospered."

What think ye of Christ?

Sermon notes from Sunday 24 March 2019 pm

Matthew 22 verses 41 - 46

Last week we were thinking of a great question that had a great answer.  I want us to turn to a question that doesn`t seem to have an answer.  These men standing around the Lord are silenced.  They cannot answer another question.  All sorts of groups came to the Lord - the Pharisees, Herodians, scribes, all sorts of wise men.  They tried time and again to trick him with questions - questions about the commandments, the resurrection and marriage.  The Lord comes with one qustion himself - "what think ye of Christ?"  We read after this question - "after that no man was able to ask another question."

First of all here`s a question that is simple.  Jesus looks into the face of these Pharisees and Sadducees and asks them "what think ye of Christ."  It demands an answer.  What do we think of Christ tonight?  It is a question that demands a direct answer.  If I was to ask you that question personally what would your answer be?  As this question fell on the ears of these Christ rejecting leaders it hasn`t changed much.  It goes back to the shepherds when the angels came down on that first morning when they brought a message that Christ had been born.  They had no problem knowing who he was.  He was the Saviour of the world.  Is he your Saviour tonight?  Was there a time when you took Christ as Saviour and Lord?  It is a personal thing.  Has the Lord saved you, made you a new creature in Christ Jesus, that your sins are in the sea of God`s faithfulness never to be remembered again?  Think of Jesus as he was brought in by Mary and Joseph to the temple.  Old Simeon looked on the child and he asked "Lord let now thy servant depart in peace for my eyes have seen thy salvation." (Luke 2 verses 29 and 30)  Have you seen God`s salvation?  Have you gazed on him with a believing gaze?  Have you left your sins at the cross, turned from them and taken Christ as your own personal saviour?  The wise men came to Herod at his palace and asked "where is he that is born king of the Jews?" (Matthew 2 verse 2)  They believed him to be the king.  "What think ye of Christ"  It is a simple question, an important question for you.  There are some difficult questions in the Bible.  The author in Hebrews writing about salvation and the danger in neglecting God`s salvation asked "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2 verse 3)  God has a way that is mapped out for us to be saved.  We cannot alter that.  "There is no other name given amongst men whereby we might be saved." (Acts 4 verse 12)  Jesus himself said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the father but by me." (John 14 verse 6)  You cannot be like Simeon.  He was so confident and assured.  He realised he had seen God`s salvation and he was ready to depart.  Your eternal destination depends on this. 

A stirring question.  It stirs some emotions in your heart.  Even as leave this question with you, your heart is stirred by the Holy Spirit.  He takes the word of God, shows you your need of salvation.  Only he can do that.  Only he can take the things of God and apply them to your heart.  This question took the stuffing out of the leaders standing before Christ.  They began to contemplate this question.  There were no more questions - have you ever given this question much thought?  On the cross of Calvary Jesus suffered and bled and died for you.  Will you consider what Christ has done for you?   On another occasion speaking to the religious leaders of his day he told them to "search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me." (John 5 verse 39)  Here were those men doting every i and crossing every t yet not trusting in Christ.  They missed out on the Saviour.  That is possible.  The word "search" is a word describing a miner who would go down and search for gold, for precious diamonds, he would seek it out diligently and definately.  It is the same word as a dog would search for his bone.  The one "who was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich". (2 Corinthians 8 verse 9)  Think of the one God loved and sent into the world to die on the cross that you might be saved.  It is very dangerous to enjoy the meetings, the singing of the hymns, the preaching but you can miss Christ and in doing so miss salvation and heaven for all eternity.  God gave the very best he had to offer for your soul and mine.  In Luke 16 we read of 2 men, one was very poor and called Lazarus, the other was a rich man who had much of this worlds goods.  The poor man lay at the rich man`s gate, he was so poor that even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The rich man never looked at him.  They had one thing in common - both died.  The angels came and carried Lazarus into Abraham`s bosom.  He knew Christ personally, it was not because he was poor that he got into heaven.  He trusted in Christ as Saviour.  The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell being in torment.  He saw Lazarus in Abraham`s bosom and he called out for someone to go to his home and warn his 5 brothers.  The rich man was told that his brothers had Moses and the prophets to speak to them.  In other words they had the word of God, the first 5 books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch.  They were the things that spoke of Christ`s death and saving power.  That rich man had the word of God in his own home yet here he was in a lost sinners hell.  What an awful thought.

It is a specific question.  The Lord looked at these men and asked them "what think ye of Christ?"  That narrowed down their thinking process.  It was something personal.  It is as if the Lord is saying "it doesn`t matter if you are a scribe or a Herodian or a Pharisee or a Sadducee but it matters what you think."  There is only one person who can anwer that question, it is you.  In John 7 verse 42 Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders when he asked them "hath not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was?"  Jesus was saying to them "you know all of that but now turn your attention to me."  He was not talking here of a church or a religion but a personal relationship.  People put up arguments today - "I have my church, my father and mother went there, my grandparents went there."  Jesus asked "what think ye of Christ?"  It is not about how you can get to heaven through your church, your good works, your name, your family, your giving and tithing.  There is only one way - through the Lord himself.  Jesus says to you and I "what think ye of Christ?"  When I think of Christ I realise he was God and God in the flesh, that he would leave heaven and come down into this world and die on the cross as the sacrificing lamb of God.  Paul was able to say "Jesus loved me and gave himself for me."

It is a solemn question.  Your eternal destiny swings on your answer.  If you cannot say "he is my Saviour" you are not saved, you are not on your way to heaven.  This is a solemn question because it left these people speechless.  Is he your Saviour?  Religion is ornamental but Christ is the cornerstone.  He died on the cross to take your sin.  He was raised on the third day by the power of God, he is now seated with his father in heaven making intercession for us.  It is a question that you must answer and answer alone.  No-one else can answer it for you.  It comes down to where you sit - "what think ye of Christ?"  

What must I do to be saved?

Sermon notes from Sunday 17 March 2019 pm

Acts 16 verses 19 - 34

This is I suppose is a very familiar portion of scripture.  We see the apostle Paul and Silas setting sail to Philippi.  At the riverside they preached and God opened Lydia`s heart and saved her.  Then on the streets they met a girl with a spirit of divination.  Men were trying to make money out of her.  Paul delivers her from that spirit and the men realised they are not getting any value from her.  Now Paul and Silas have been arrested and cast into prison as a result.  We see the Philippian jailer given custody of them to keep them safely.  He casts them into the innermost cell and puts them in stocks.  At midnight the jail begins to crumble around them.  The doors are flung open.  The jailer thinks all the prisoners would escape so is going to take his own life as a result.  Paul tells him "do thyself no harm for we are all here."  One of the greatest questions that ever came from a man or woman.  This man comes to the apostle Paul, comes with an urgency "what must I do to be saved."  He asks the greatest question but there is also the greatest answer "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house."  This jailer heard much around Philippi - he heard about Lydia and the little girl.  It is possible you have come into this meeting and you are not saved.  You have heard things this past week that have been of God`s transforming grace, perhaps you have read something that pointed out your need of salvation.  Maybe God is challenging you to ask this same question.  The man wanted to be so sure.  Let`s examine the answer.

Paul is pointing out that he must believe on a person.  We live in an age of easy believism.  People want to be happy, believe that what they have they have got by their own methods.  When the apostle Paul was speaking he didn`t believe that.  What responsibility is on Paul on that day - to direct this hungry soul in the way of God`s salvation.  His soul was in the very balance.  The apostle Paul had to set everything aside.  He had been beaten, interrogated, put in stocks but he had to forget that now.  He had a great responsibility.  It is not something you can take for granted.  Paul is giving the greatest answer he could give - "for there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved."  We will never be saved unless we come to the cross of Christ.  This Philippian jailer was brought to this realisation.  It was not the praise that Paul and Silas gave nor their prayers, it was the work of the Holy Spirit that convicted him.  He was not looking into himself but outwardly.  Paul is pointing to the person of Christ.  Paul said "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."  Paul is using the word "Lord" - that shows he is to exalt him over all.  He is using the word "Jesus" who is the Saviour of the world, dying on the cross, buried in that tomb, risen again and seated at the Father`s right hand.  He is using the word "Christ" as the Messiah, anointed one.  Remember the woman at the well who spoke to Christ.  She was convinced of who he was.  She went into the city and told everyone "come see a man who told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ?"  John at the river Jordan baptised Jesus when the heavens opened and the Spirit descended on him like a dove and a voice came from heaven saying "this is my beloved son."  It is good to believe in who he is.  The person.  The Roman Centurion at the cross said "surely this is the Son of God."  Believe on the person of Christ.

The purpose of Christ.  He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.  The very purpose he came into the world was to secure your salvation and mine.  He did not come to be a great teacher or a philosopher.  He came to die on a cross for your sin.  This jailer realised he was in danger on this particular night.  Here was a man whose soul was lying in the balance.  His soul was in danger of being lost.  You need to hear the truth and be sure of the truth.  This jailer realised he needed to get right.  A serious question with dire consequences.  Paul said "believe in his person, the sinless lamb of God but you have to also believe in his purpose - to die."  Remember how Jesus met Zacchaeus sitting in a tree.  Jesus stopped with him and said "Zacchaeus come down."  He knew his very name, where he was and what he needed.  He spoke to him in his own home that day.  He spoke to Nicodemus, a religious man, well to do.  John 3 verse 17 "for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved."  His purpose was to die.  Billy Sunday said "if our greatest need was information God would have given us a teacher.  If our greatest need was technology God would have given us a scientist.  If our greatest need was money God would have given us a economist.  If our greatest need was pleasure God would have given us a entertainer but our greatest need is salvation and God has given us a Saviour."  He didn`t come to point the way of salvation he was the way.  "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the father but by me."  "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief."  He didn`t point us to a door but is the door.

Paul was pointing to the provision of Jesus.  What was provided for you and I on the cross of Calvary?  My justification and my reconciliation.  Paul said in Romans 8 verse 7 "the carnal mind is at enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be."  Romans 5 verse 1 "therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  He provided a peace that the world can never give.  Is that what you have?  Christ was dying the just for the unjust.  We can provide nothing but empty vessels for Christ to fill.  Are you saved?  That is the most important question that any preacher can ever ask.

Paul was pointing to the promise of Christ.  In John 4 we meet an adulterous woman.  She had had 5 husbands and the one she was living with at present was not her real husband.  She came out to draw water.  The Lord told her he could give her water that would mean she would never thirst again.  She asked to be given this water.  You have to come in your sin, that sin that will bar you from heaven.  Now we have come face to face with the one who will save you from your sin.  This Philippian jailer knew his soul was in danger.  Do you realise that?  "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."  What a promise.  He will totally change your life, give you eternal life.  What he will not do is push his way in, he will not hijack you nor kidnap you.  He stands at your hearts door, he knows and waits for you to open the door to allow him in.  Will you trust him?  Are you saved tonight?

4 friends who wanted to see their friend healed

Sermon notes from Sunday 24 March 2019

Mark 2 verses 1 - 12

Mark 2 takes us to a wonderful portion of scripture.  A lovely incident that happens.  Verse 1 Jesus comes again unto Capernaum where Peter lived.  He goes into a particular house where something mighty will happen.  As he teaches he looks upward and sees the roof coming away.  Those who have taken the roof away are lowering a man on a stretcher down to the feet of Jesus.  The man was sick with the palsy.  He couldn`t walk, paralysed.  These men had lowered him down on the stretcher to where Jesus was.  When he saw their faith Jesus said "thy sins be forgiven thee."  "When he saw their faith".  It is possible to come to the prayer meeting and pray without faith, expecting nothing.  Remember the woman who met the Lord in the street.  She hadn`t been well for 12 years but she touched the hem of his garment.  He looked at her and said "thy faith hath made thee whole."  Blind Bartimaeus was asked what he wanted the Lord to do for him and he told him.  Jesus then said to him "thy faith has saved thee."  What a tremendous faith to have.  We need to have that faith in our hearts today as we pray, to expect God to move and to do something real for us.  These men were lowering this man on a stretcher.  They wouldn`t take no for an answer.  They expected the Lord to do something for their friend.

Notice the understanding these men had.  What brought these men to lift this friend of theirs, place him on a stretcher and bring him to Jesus?  An understanding in their heart of what was taking place in that house.  His presence was there.  His power was evident.  They had a burden for their friend.  Have we that same burden today?  They realised more than the religious leaders of that day.  When Jesus spoke to the man on the stretcher the scribes turned and said "who can forgive sins but God only."  They didn`t realise or recognise who was in their midst.  These 4 unlearned men, ignorant men had an understanding of who the Lord was and what the Lord could do.  Luke 4 verse 24 "his fame went throughout all Samaria and they brought unto him all that were sick."  The excitement was there.  The Lord had come again.  These people were getting excited.  These 4 men came knowing something wonderful would happen in that home that day.  Remember Jairus - he looked into his home and saw his daughter lying sick.  He knew the answer was in finding Christ.  He got down on his knees before Jesus and pleaded with him "will you come and bring her back to life again."  He expected something of Jesus.  Will you pray and ask the Lord to save people today?  The Roman centurion had a servant at home.  He told the Lord he didn`t have to come under his roof, only speak the world.    It is not about a church nor about a preacher nor a singer or a person who testifies.  It is all about the power of Christ.  It is all about the person of Christ.  It is all about the presence of Christ.

The urgency with which they moved.  Word was starting to spread.  Jesus was here.  The people of the house began to tell others that Jesus was in that house.  As a result 4 men got their friend onto a stretcher and brought him to Jesus.  The potential that was there.  They talked with each other, talked about their friend, the opportunity they had for him to be healed.  They acted with urgency.  Jesus had returned to Capernaum, he was making another visit.  These men are going to make it their priority.  What had happened the first time Jesus came?  Did they just sit back and ignore the presence of the Lord?  Maybe they left it too late.  Not this time - they were going to make every priority.  Is there someone for whom there is another opportunity to come to Jesus today?  We need to take the task with urgency.  Luke 5 verse 17 "An it came to pass on a certain day as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by which were come out of every town of Galilee and Juaea and Jerusalem and the power of the Lord was present to heal them."  That is what made the difference that day - the Lord demonstrated his power.  When he had spoken the words "thy sins are forgiven thee" he turned to the scribes and the Pharisees and asked them "What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier to say Thy sins be forgiven thee or to say Rise up and walk?"  These men realised the urgency, they left everything aside to get this man to Christ.

A unity that is presented.  There had to be a unity - they were of the same mind, each agreed that the Lord could do something.  They talked together, spoke together, realised the sickness of this man, that he would never walk.  They also realised Jesus could do something because they had heard so much about him.  Paul said to Timothy "we should be of one mind."  We need to have that same unity.  Yes we will have different thoughts, different passages of scriptures that we feel are important but there is one foundation - the one who can seek and save those who are lost.  The one who died on Calvary for our sins.  We need to bring our loved ones to the one who can save to the uttermost.  There was also a unity in the fact that each took a corner.  Each one is carrying the man.  They are doing it very tenderly.  It took all 4 to carry the man.  Are we prepared to do what we can, not leave it to someone else, to see people brought to a saving knowledge of God himself?  We cannot leave visitation or praying to 1 or 2 people, we all need to have a burden for one another.

They were unrelenting in their task.  They would not give up until the Lord spoke to this young man.  We are not told how far they travelled or how long it took but these 4 friends were not going to give up.  They knew it would be worth it.  There were such a large number of people inside and outside the house.  They carried their friend up the stairs at the side of the house onto the roof.  Will we do everything to bring our friends to Christ?  You might be criticised for doing so but don`t be put off.  Remember the crowd around Bartimaeus.  He was told to be quiet but he persevered and received his sight back again.  Remember the women bringing the children out to Jesus.  They wanted Jesus to bless them but the disciples turned them away.  Jesus said "forbid them not to come unto me."  Paul said to Timothy "let no man despise thy youth."

There was an unmistakeable outcome.  These 4 men watched.  They had lowered their friend down through the roof.  The Lord looked at the man on the stretcher and the 4 friends who had brought him.  Jesus told the man on the stretcher "thy sins be forgiven thee."  The 4 friends saw him take up his bed, roll it up, tuck it under his arm and walk out the door.   They would never forget this day.  Do you want to see men and women saved?  Transformed and changed?  These 4 men had faith - have you?

Saint Patrick - the ordinary man, the ordained man, the overcomer and the obedient

Sermon Notes from Sunday 17 March 2019

Acts 16 verses 6 - 12

I have taken this portion of scripture from an unusual angle today.  Paul and the evangelists seem to have come to a place of standstill.  They are not sure what to do.  There are decisions to be made.  Paul and the team waited on God.  God doesn`t let us down.  This morning I want to think about St Patrick`s Day, a day of celebration not only here but across the world and the universe.  What do we know of him?  The man who took all the snakes out of Ireland?  He is spoken of in terms of leprachauns and shillelaghs.  The one who turns the stone and decides the weather?  Is that all we have to Saint Patrick?  Think of the legacy he has left.  He was a Christian missionary to Ireland.  I want to look at him under 4 headings:

St Patrick the ordinary man

St Patrick the ordained man

St Patrick the overcomer

St Patrick the obedient

St Patrick the ordinary man.  Most of what I have been looking at has come from The Confessions of St Patrick and his Letter to Coroticus.  Patrick was just an ordinary young man.  At 16 years of age there was nothing special about him yet God seeks to bless the people of this land through him.  If you are professing God`s name today God wants to profess his name through you.  There is nothing much said about Patrick`s early years.  Somewhere around the time the Roman garrison left the shores of England the people of Ireland would riot, rape and steal.  1000 people were taken as slaves or servants, snatched away from their homes.  Patrick was one such person.  Paul said about the God of heaven "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out." (Romans 11 verse 33)  God had a plan for Patrick, he would bring the gospel through this young man.  His faith and trust was in the living God.  The plan God had for him.  Remember Jonah in the Old Testament? God saw the city of Ninevah, a wicked city, the people had turned away from God.  God looked down and saw the people ignorant and unlearned about him.  He had a message for them and God told Jonah to go to them.  Some times things happen to us that we cannot understand.  God leads us in different directions.  God has determined blessings for your life and others around you.  As we think of this missionary we cannot really see the purpose and mind of God at this time.  Maybe God will do something miraculous with your life.  Jonah tried to think things through. He thought God was mad, this was a nation who were cruel and callous towards the nation of Israel.  Did God expect him to tell them to turn to God?  That if they turned God would forgive them?  Jonah ran away.  When Patrick came to the shores of Ireland he did not know what would happen to him.  "For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil to give you an expected end." (Jeremiah 29 verse 11)  God wants to use us as we are.  He wants you to offer yourself to him.  Joseph was only 17 years of age when he left his father`s house.  He was loved, respected and treasured in that home but was sold as a slave into Egypt.  God had a great plan for Joseph and the nation of Israel.  He was going to prepare a way for Israel to be saved.  When we begin to think how God loved us, how he took his own perfect, sinless son and sent him into the world.  How he sent him to the cross, bearing every sin and iniquity that we had.  God takes the plain and ordinary things today.  Think of the little girl taken captive and brought into Naaman`s house to tell him of the remedy for his leprosy.  "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the thing are are mighty." (1 Corinthians 1 verse 27)

St Patrick the ordained man.  Patrick was taken out to Slemish mountain to mind the sheep there for 5 or 6 years.  Perhaps he remembered the teaching he received from his parents.  His father was a deacon and his grandfather a pastor.  He is out on the hillside day and night, in all sorts of weather.  Now God starts to speak to him through his father and grandathers teaching.  He was sitting in poverty, barely clothed, looking after someone else`s sheep.  His eyes began to look heavenward.  The Psalmist said something similar.  He was in the miry clay.  He started to look to God himself.  He was ordained by God of heaven to bring his message back to Ireland.  According to his own confession "I did not know the true Lord but I was in a strange land, the God of heaven opened my ears and I was converted."  Unless the God of heaven opens our hearts, minds and eyes we will not be saved.  We have to be praying, asking God to open our hearts and minds.  Patrick prayed 100 times a day and prayed as many at night.  He was ordained to bring the message of the gospel to the people of God.  Paul said "I am a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God." (Romans 1 verse 1)  We need to be separated unto God.  Patrick related having a dream as he lay out on the hillside.  He heard a voice telling him he would soon be home.  He escaped that night in a ship.  Before he boarded the ship there was a problem.  Patrick prayed and before he had finished his prayer he was told there was room for him.  He was following the Lord`s leading.  Are we really following the Lord`s leading today?  The ship Patrick was on was a pirate ship.  They took the spoils and treasures from other ships around the coasts.  For 2 or 3 weeks they were in near starvation and they turned to Patrick and said "if this God of yours is so good would you not seek his face and find us food."  Luke 1 verse 37 "with God nothing shall be impossible."  As the ship turned the next corner a herd of swine were feeding and they were able to kill and eat.  Once Patrick arrived home he began to study theology.

Patrick the overcomer.  Some years later someone spoke to him.  Paul in our passage received a vision to come over to Macedonia.  A man was asking him to come over and help them.  Patrick received a vision that led to a burden for Ireland and paganism "we beseech thee holy youth come and live amongst us."  Once again the battle was on for Patrick.  Think of all the hurt he had for those number of years, a slave on the mountainside, all the hurt he had received.  He knew this was from God.  He had to consider seriously the consequences.  God is calling you and I today.  Am I prepared for the battle, to go through with God.  This young man Patrick put the hurt behind him for the sake of souls in Ireland.  Patrick had to consider whether he would go back into this situation.  If the Druids found any escapees they would put them in a basket and roast them over an open fire.  He had a lot to consider.  Are there things that we have allowed to creep into our lives that mean we no longer have a vision for those who need to hear the word of God?  Paul was an overcomer.  He was about to leave an area when God told him no he had to stay and he saw souls saved as a result.  Peter fished all night but never caught a thing.  The Lord came and told him to launch out into the deep.  Peter had to set aside the pain of all night catching nothing but when the Lord spoke he obeyed.

Patrick the obedient.  He was obedient to that call.  "It is Christ my Lord who saved me out of all my troubles, I am greatly a debtor to God who has bestowed so largely his grace upon me."  He returned to Ireland and 200 churches were set up and Patrick saw thousands turn to Christ from paganism.  A vision appeared to Paul in the night and there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him to come over and help them.  The battle is now handed to you and I today.  Will you keep working at it that we might hand the baton on to another generation to see the revival we have prayed for ourselves? 

Come for all things are now ready

Sermon notes from Sunday 10 March 2019

Luke 14 verse 1, 15 - 24

There are a number of significant things that Jesus says in this Pharisee`s house on this day.  One of the lessons is taken from a parable - "a certain man made a great feast."  He then sent out invitations to come to that feast,   This was spoken in response to someone that said something to him that day.  Verse 15 "blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."  Jesus took time to explain what it really meant to enjoy bread in God`s house.  He reminds us of the great feast, of the importance of acceptance of the invitation and of the danger to ignore the invitation.

There is a great supper - verse 16 "a certain man made a great supper."  He prepared a banquest, a great feast, a celebration beyond the ordinary, something very special.  We discover in verse 17 "all things are now ready."  All the preparations which had taken many days were now ready.  The only thing left to do was for the people to come and enjoy what had been prepared.  God is the certain man in this story.  He has made a great salvation supper for the souls of men and women.  It is ready for people to come and enjoy it for themselves.  The provision of salvation is all laid before us to secure us a place in the kingdom of God.  We however have yet to come.  Someone has described God`s salvation as a "funeral to be feared but a feast to be enjoyed."

It is great in its planning.  It takes a long time to prepare for the meal so that all things are ready, so that people can come and enjoy it.  It was planned for a long time.  God`s feast of salvation is great.  It was not planned on earth but in heaven.  It was not planned in the world but from the foundation of the world.  It was not planned in the heart and mind of man but in God`s.  Matthew 13 verses 34 and 35 "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."  God`s salvation is great because it was planned from the foundation of the world, in the heart and mind of God himself.  God has planned our salvation.  Genesis 3 records the fall of Adam and Eve.  The consequence of sin is found in Romans 5 verse 12 "wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned."  In Genesis 3 God revealed his plan through Jesus and the shedding of his blood on Calvary.

It is great in its price.  A great feast does not come cheap.  This certain man would have spent a lot of money.  God`s salvation is not in terms of silver or gold to purchase it but in terms of God`s love, in his willingness to give his son, to leave his father`s bosom to come into the world as a babe in a manger.  The price of God`s salvation is seen when we look at what he went through, he grew up to be a man, to take on himself your sin and mine on the cross, he laid down his life to purchase for you and me our great salvation.  We are found guilty of breaking God`s laws.  We know we have sinned and should be punished.  Jesus stepped in to take our punishment.  God demanded justice and Jesus took it all because of his great love for us.  "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53 verse 5)    

It is great in its provision.  There was a great supply of food.  There is no point in going to a great meal and not having enough to eat.  There were loads of food.  Anyone who came would not be disappointed.  There was something to satisfy everyone`s needs.  God`s feast of salvation is great because in it God has provided for every man, woman, young person, child, whatever their needs are for life and for all eternity, no matter what the need is in our lives.  God has made provision in Jesus, no need to be hungry or disappointed for the soul.  Psalm 23 verse 5 "thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies."  There is provision for the sins of life are many.  There is provision to pardon them all at the table God has prepared.  Provision for peace in the storms of life.  Storms come violently in our lives, marriages, families, relationships.  Great provision in God`s table of salvation to give you peace the world cannot give or take away.  Provision for peace from the storms of life and the challenges of life.  Life can be challenging.  Many feel that weakness to cope with those things and naturally so and to keep going.  There are an increasing number of people who cannot cope.  There is provision at the table of God`s salvation, that inner strength to face the challenges of life that sometimes might get worse.  "He that cometh to me shall never hunger."  He that believeth on me shall never thirst."  It is great in its provision for the end of life.  Catherine Booth said at the end of her life "the waters are rising but so am I, I am not going under, I am going over."  She was rising on the promises of God, that death for the Christian is absent from the body but present with the Lord.  "Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life."  Have you tasted and seen the great feast prepared for you?

The invitation that is made.  There are 2 stages of it - verse 16.  The man had to send out invitations well in advance of the feast.  These would be replied to.  The replies would come back and from that the man could work out who would come.  Verse 17 the second invitation has now been made.  The servants were sent out at supper time to tell all the invitees to come and take their place at the feast for it was ready.  The servants called the people invited to come and they all with one consent began to make excuses.  When put under pressure they all decided not to come.  We discover some of the excuses - one had bought a piece of ground and needed to go and see it.  Verse 18 the second had bought more oxen and needed to go and prove them.  In verse 19 the third one said he had just got married and there was more on his mind than come to a feast.  Verse 20 the invitation went out "come for all things are now ready."  The response was met with excuses.  Jesus was no doubt referring to the invitation God had sent to the Jews and they were refusing to accept it.  It was also referring to the invitation given to many to come to the feast of God`s salvation.  It is not for next week, next month or next year but now.  It is an invitation to experience God`s provision, peace and power to cope with life`s struggles.  You have intended to come for some time but you are still making excuses.  Excuses come in all sorts of ways - what is stopping you from coming now to Christ?  It is either a worldly excuse, a working excuse or a domestic excuse.  What has the devil been using as excuses tonight?  Come right now.  What is it that is stopping you from taking your seat at God`s table, to give you pardon, peace, power and promises at the end of life?

There is a great warning - verses 21 - 25.  In verse 21 the man who prepared the feast is now angry.  He tells his servants to go out into the streets and lanes of the city and invite the poor, maimed, halt and blind.  The servant does so but there is still room.  The man tells him to go out again and invite all to come in.  He wants his house full that night.  This is a prophetic warning to the Jewish nation - they were refusing to come to Christ so he invited the Gentile nation.  It can also be applied to the gospel invitation generally too.  God invites us to come to Christ.  We refuse that invitation.  There is a solemn warning - "none of these which were bidden shall taste of my supper."  When we reject the invitation to come to Christ we miss the opportunity to sit down at God`s table and enjoy it.  "He that being reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy." (Proverbs 29 verse 1)  God is inviting you to "come for all things are now ready."  God is warning of the danger of making excuses.  How long have you been making excuses?  You intend to come but you haven`t come and you will not come.  Unless you stop making excuses to come now the devil will see to it that excuses will continue to keep you back.  There is a danger and death in that delay.  There is nothing more important than that you are saved and sitting at God`s great feast of salvation.  The table is spread out, Jesus invites you to come and sit down, he wants you to take that seat now.  It is a great table to sit at.  There is no fear there.  Don`t leave your chair empty.  "Come for all things are now ready."

Elijah - a man of prayer

 Sermon notes from Sunday 3 March 2019 am

1 Kings 18 verses 29 - 39

When we turn to 1 Kings 18 and identify this mighty man Elijah we know he is probably one of the most famous and well known prophets in the Old Testament scriptures.  When we turn to James we read that "he was a man of like passions as we are yet he prayed earnestly." (James 5 verse 17)  He was just like you and me.  You see a man that at times was afraid, depressed, discouraged, tired, hungry, yet we read he prayed earnestly.  In verse 30 as he gathered around him the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets that sat at Queen Jezebel`s table, the Jewish leaders are there as well, we read "he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down."  Let us think of this man today as we contemplate the nights of prayer we are going to have this week.

Think of the priority Elijah shows.  This mighty man of God in another portion of scripture is described as a "hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins" (2 Kings 1 verse 8)  Here was this man Elijah standing on Mount Carmel.  He was bringing a nation back to God - that was his priority.  Our priority today is to turn men and women back to God again, to point them to Calvary, to the sacrifice God has made for them.  Here was this man Elijah, the only priority he had was to turn people back to God.  This man was standing alone.  God doesn`t want a multitude of people, just one person surrendered to his will, not afraid to stand against the enemy.  The man of God cannot sit on the fence, he must be out and out for God.  Elijah told the people "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." (verse 21)  We are reminded in Romans 12 verse 1 to "present out bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service."  When God saves us, forgives us our sins we should hold nothing back from him.  Elijah on Mount Carmel saw the 850 prophets, how they had a prominent position in Israel.  Perhaps they were well dressed, 450 of them preached in the lands and 400 sat at Jezebel`s table.  Imagine the prominence they had.  They were well thought of, had a high standing in society.  The nation had been blinded, drawn away from loving God.  Elijah told them "you know the truth yet you halt between 2 opinions."  Elijah had a burden from God.  Paul talked about that same heaviness "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." (Romans 9 verse 2)  We need that same burden today.  There are people going out into a lost and Christless eternity, going about trying to earn their own righteousness yet fail to see the Lord suffering and dying on the cross.  Romans 10 verse 1 "Brethren my heart`s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved."  Forget about fancy words or places, let us pray that people will be saved.  That is the priority we need.  Elijah waited for all the fuss to die down, it took 6 hours for that to happen.  In verse 30 he told them to come near to him and all the people did come near.  This altar had to be rebuilt and repaired.  The people were invited to come and watch.  They had to see it repaired.  There are people watching us today, just to see how we are living our lives.  There was an altar that needed to be repaired.  Many are turning away from God today.  When we take our stand for God he will honour us.  Is there an altar in our lives that needs to be repaired again?

The pattern to be followed.  "All the people came near to Elijah."  1 Kings 19 verse 10 shows what Elijah saw in this nation.  They had forsaken God`s covenant, thrown down God`s altars and slain God`s own prophets.  The people were tired of what the Lord had to say to them.  They were going to have their own worship.  Paul said to Timothy "till I come give attendance to reading (of the word of God), to exhortation (of it) to doctrine." (1 Timothy 4 verse 13)  Stephen in Acts 8 was chosen as a deacon in the early church.  He was a man full of faith and grace, a tremendous worker in the church.  He was taken out one day and stoned to death.  As he died he stated that he saw Jesus waiting to receive him.  The people stoning him "stopped their ears".  They didn`t want to hear it.  That is the danger and that is what is happening in our province. One day the king of Israel called on Jehoshaphat to go with him to battle but Jehoshaphat asked "is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him?"  The king told him of Micaiah whom he did not like because he did not prophesy good for him.  All his prophets told them to go into battle but then they called for Micaiah.  Before he went into the king a messenger told Micaiah "Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth; let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them and speak that which is good."  Micaiah responded "As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak." (1 Kings 22 verse 14)  As the people watched Elijah he took 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel.  12 speaks of unity and harmony.  Even though the nation of Israel was divided, in the eyes of God they were one people, one body.  In John 17  Jesus prayed "that they may be one as we are one." (John 17 verse 21)  Paul in Philippians 2 verse 2 said "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind."   These 12 stones were ordinary stones, nothing special.  Elijah was following the pattern God gave to Moses "not a tool shall come on the stone."  He built them as they were.  On top of the stones he placed the bullock for sacrifice.  God wants ordinary men like you and I today.  God wants to use us for his kingdom, to bring many to saving knowledge of Christ.

The power that was expected.  The altar was repaired, the sacrifice was placed in order.  What was Elijah really expecting here?  He commanded that 4 barrels of water be poured on the sacrifice not just once but 3 times.  Before Elijah prayed every obstacle was thrown at God to prevent him from working.  This was a soaked sacrifice.  Elijah lifted his voice to God and says "Lord send the fire".  C T Studd said "attempt great things for God, expect great things from God."  Elijah did everything to prevent the God of heaven working.  He was expecting God to do something amazing. 

The praise that Elijah offers.  1 Kings 18 verse 37 "Hear me O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again."  That was why Elijah was there, why he repaired the altar.  He stood and called on the name of the Lord, not to be seen as a man of faith but that the people would know who God is and they would turn back to him as a result.