The final approach

Sermon notes from Sunday 29 December 2019 pm

Luke 19 verses 1 - 10

The Final Approach

I am sure for each of us these words are very familar to us.  We know much of this man Zacchaeus and the visitation of Jesus to Jericho one day.  This would be the final time Jesus would ever pass through Jericho.  The last time for men and women to find salvation in God in Jericho that day.  There is something very solemn as we reflect on a year gone by.  Here`s a man Zacchaeus who realises that Jesus is passing through Jericho for the last time.  Maybe it is the thought that he would never pass this way again.  Maybe that is why he made the effort to see Christ.  This visit would change a man`s life for time and for eternity.  A wonderful day for Zacchaeus, the greatest day in his life.  Was there such a day for you, when you accepted Christ as Saviour?

The last visit to Jericho brought a tremendous privilege to this man Zacchaeus.  God gave him a wonderful opportunity.  We have to think of the many privileges God has given  to us.  Many opportunities in past days in the past year when God has spoken to our hearts but we have done nothing about it.  We don`t know how many opportunities he had in the past to hear Jesus.  He was getting an opportunity on this day.  Have you ever had such an opportunity with Christ himself?  As we look at this man we might think he was rich and so he was because verse 2 says that.  We cannot point the finger just because he was rich.  He was a tax collector.  A good job.  Maybe he lived in a good part of Jericho.  Maybe he had a lovely house.  The great privileges he had.  The privilege Christ was giving to him, would see this man`s life changed for all eternity.  God has extended to you his offer of mercy.  He wants to save your soul.  You have heard it so often before bt this may be your final change to hear it.  What a privilege to know Christ.  He loved me with an everlasting love.  He was willing to turn his back on everything he had done, left it all behind.  He came down to walk in the villages and cities, came down to be spat upon, accused, rejected, to be put on the cross for your sins.  Only he could do it.  As Jesus came up out of Jordan after he was baptised the voice came from heaven said "this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."  He fulfilled his father`s will to die on the cross for the sins of the world.  Only he could atone for your sin.  What a privilege.  Opportunities come and opportunities go.  We cannot catch the opportunity once it goes by.  The opportunity comes tonight to close in with God`s mercy and his offer of salvation.  This opportunity will fly past you once again.

The final visit was met with passion - verse 3.  He sought to see Jesus and who he was.  A deep hunger in his heart.  He wanted to see the Lord, to find out more about him.  Matthew was a tax collector, sat at the seat of custom.  One day the Lord came by and said to him "follow me".  He got up from the custom desk and he followed after the Lord.  Zacchaeus was also a tax collector.  Maybe he knew Matthew.  Maybe Matthew told Zacchaeus about the day Christ came across his pathway.  One day maybe that witness interested Zacchaeus.  Matthew told him how Jesus restored sight to the blind, restored strength to a man.  Maybe he became interested.  Perhaps conviction of his sin was setting in.  Maybe told he was a sinner and need to be saved.  A passion coming up in this man`s heart.  Isn`t it wonderful when God creates a passion in the heart after the Lord.  No-one could be saved until the Lord does that for us.  Peter preached in Acts 2 and "the people were pricked in their hearts."  God convicted them of their sin.  Lydia was similar - "her heart was opened by the Holy Spirit."  We have to close in with his call of mercy.  Only when he is calling us.  That is what happened to Zacchaeus.  He wanted to see who Jesus was.  He wanted to discover Jesus himself.  Maybe he had heard about him.  "O taste and see that the Lord is good."  No-one can taste the Lord for ourselves.  You cannot do it through anyone else.  You have to come in yourself, you have to bow at the foot of the old rugged cross.  It is all right for another person but doesn`t do it for you personally.  The Pharisees could have been asked by Zacchaeus what they thought of Jesus.  He is the devil himself, Beelzebub the chief of the devils.  Maybe could have said to Nicodemus what he thought of Jesus.  Nicodemus would have said he is a teacher come from God.  Look at the miracles and teachings he has done.  No-one can do these except God is with him.  Maybe could ask some of the people in Jerusalem, some of them would say some are saying he is Jeremiah one of the prophets, a mighty prophet.  Zacchaeus would go away confused even more.  He knew to find out for himself.  We need to find Christ for ourselves.  We cannot somehow go with the crowd tonight, say we are on the way to heaven and somehow go through life drifting along.  We need to taste and see that the Lord is really God.  He asked the question to his disciples "who do men say that I am?"  Peter replied "thou art Christ, the son of the living God."  Jesus told him "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven."  This is a revealed Saviour.  Unless it is revealed to you in the meeting your great need of salvation, who you are dealing with and who has bought that salvation, we will never be saved.  The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of what Christ has done for me in drawing me to the foot of the cross for myself.

The final visit brought a great problem to this man.  When Zacchaeus put his nose out the door he realised everyone had also realised it was Christ`s final day in Jericho too.  The Bible says "he was little of stature".  He could not see over the crowd of people.  It brought a great problem to him.  Maybe God has put a passion in your heart to show you your need of salvation, given great privilege but the problem is the crowd you are friendly with.  What holds you back from coming to Christ?  There is no call for this salvation you say.  The crowd can keep you back.  In Acts 13 there was an official in Paphos.  Paul preached the gospel and this man was anxious to hear the word of God.  He sent for Paul and pleaded to hear of Christ.  A man in his office tried to prevent him and turn him away from the faith.  Many are listening to friends and family, listening to crowd around them.  What an influence.  Pilate was listening to his own conscience.  Sometimes that conscience can put us off.  Pilate`s wife came to him and told him not to have anything to do with him.  The crowd came in and said "if you let this man go you are not Caesar`s friend."  Maybe as you speak about Christ`s salvation they will tell you you are alright.

The final visit brought a great plan in place.  Luke 19 "he ran" down the street.  This was this man`s plan and nothing would hold him back.  This man wanted to know everything about Jesus.  His final visit takes place where Zacchaeus was to be found.  He was sitting in that tree wrapped in foliage.  Jesus came to where he was.  He stopped there and told him to come down.  No-one has to point Christ to you.  He knows exactly where you are tonight and all the problems in your life.  He comes right to the place where Zacchaeus would not be disappointed.  Jesus stopped at the place where he was, then he asked him to come down straight away.  That is what Jesus does to us.  He doesn`t ask us to clean up our lives first.  He comes to exactly where we are and to what we really need.  That would be a special place for Zacchaeus in the future.  It became so significant for him.  Have you a special place tonight?  Remember the woman in John 4.  Every time she walked down the street she saw the well and remembered what happened there.  The man at the side of the pool for 38 years would always remember that place, remembered what happened there.

The peace that he received.  Verse 9 Jesus said "this day is salvation come to this house."  The peace of God flooded into his soul.  A debt was paid and peace reigned for ever more.

The leading of God

Sermon notes from Sunday 29 December 2019

Deuteronomy 32 verses 1 - 13

The book of Deuteronomy is one of the 5 books written by Moses.  The word Deuteronomy comes from 2 words - Deuter to mean 2 or second and nomos meaning law.  Moses is giving to the people the second law.  This book is made up of 34 chapters.  There are 3 discourses by Moses himself then a blessing and a song.  It all revolved around Moses` death and his burial.  Graham Scroggie said when he heard of those who were trying to condemn the book as false.  David went to face the great Goliath, he picked up 5 stones by the brook and put them in his pocket.  Only one of those stones was used against the giant.  The Lord himself spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness.  He took 5 books with him and only used one of them when the devil came against him - 3 times he quoted from this book of Deuteronomy.  Moses was coming to the end of his days.  Chapter 31 verse 14 "the Lord said unto Moses behold, thy days approach that thou must die."  The Lord knows the day of our birth and our departure.  Our latter end is in the hand of God.  He told Moses to fetch Joshua and come together to the tabernacle of the congregation.  Moses would not lead the people of Israel into the promised land, Joshua would.  Let us consider Moses` song.  In it Moses is looking back, then forward and on into the future.  At the end of another year it is good to reflect on the things that have gone by as well as where we are in the light of God`s presence.  We should also look to the future, it can be bright as we follow after God.  Verse 10 "he found him (Jacob) in the desert."  Jacob is described here as the nation because he became known as Israel.  This is God speaking through the prophet Moses to the nation but we can take it to mean something to ourselves today. 

God is searching.  God is not found by accident.  He knows every situation we face today.  This song comes from Moses reflecting on what has happened to the nation of Israel.  They had been blessed with so much but there was a danger in them turning away from God now.  We too can forget about God`s blessings on our lives.  Deuteronomy 31 verse 19 "Now therefore write ye this song for you and teach it the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel."  Deuteronomy 31 verse 27 "For I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck, behold while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death?"  Deuteronomy 32 verse 7 "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask thy father and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee."  Most writers agree that in this verse Israel is spoken of as being down in Egypt.  Jacob took his family down to Egypt at the time of famine.  Joseph was ruler, he was in charge but then things changed and a new king came to the throne who "knew not Joseph."  This new king began to put the Israelites into slavery.  God said "I have heard their affliction" and he sent Moses down to deliver them.  The wilderness is a place of want and hopelessness.  Where did God find you?  The people of Israel were shackled by an evil king and encompassed by an evil nation.  Egypt is a picture of the world and Pharaoh of the devil himself.  The Laodicean church in Revelation has a picture of Jesus knocking at the door of the church.  The people were saying "I am rich, I am increased with goods, I have need of nothing."  Do you realise you are blind, wretched, miserable and poor?  The Lord says "my son is standing at the door of your heart waiting to come in."  If only we would let him in.  Matthew was busy at his work recording the tax coming in, he was making sure it was all written down.  The Lord came to him and said "follow me"  Many a person is found in their work place.  The woman at the well was living in such a sinful state.  She came to the well and found the Lord there.  She didn`t want her immoral life to be seen.  The Lord found her though.  Remember the woman bent double in the synagogue.  She worshipped the Lord of heaven.  Right there in the midst of the people God found her.  Where were you found by Christ?  Has God found you today?  Can you look back to a day when he changed your life forever?  Do you know your sins have been forgiven today?

The schooling - verse 10 "he instructed him."  Once he found him, brought him out of the wilderness he needed to be instructed.  That is the character building of the Christian life.  God expects us to learn when we come into his family, to learn more of him.  Nehemiah leading the people, reflects back to the wilderness journey "thou givest also thy good spirit to instruct them." (Nehemiah 9 verse 20)  God`s Holy Spirit instructs us today.  Is the Holy Spirit leading us in the scriptures today?  Are we growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord?  Are we gaining more each day?  Psalm 32 verse 8 "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go."  We are saved but are we just content with that?  Wouldn`t it be awful to come to heaven and know nothing of the man who saved us?  Christians are born again but not fully grown.  So many things we have to learn, to mature, to develop.  Peter said "as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word of God."  Once we begin to crave after the word of God it is just like milk for a baby.  The place where we find knowledge is in the word of God.  The writer to the Hebrews was writing to a people undergoing so many trials and were in danger of turning away from God.  The writer speaks of how they have been taught in the things of God first in case they went back, in case they lost the taste for the things of God.  There are many things coming to take us away from the things of God.  He found you and he schooled you.  He wants the people to keep their eyes on him.  The people were entering into a new land, a new day but he doesn`t want them to forget how they had come through the wilderness.  Hebrews looks at a people who should be more advanced than they were "you ought to be teachers of the word." (Hebrews 5 verse 12)  Paul went out into the dessert of Arabia to study the word of God for 3 years after he became a Christian.

The strengthening.  "He led him about."  God strengthens us for the road ahead.  People could look back to deliverance from Egypt, from the harsh taskmasters.  Imagine the joy in their hearts coming out of Egypt, deliverance from Pharaoh.  No longer prisoners having to make blocks. Deliverance by the mighty hand of God.  They sensed the presence of God.  God didn`t leave them.  He didn`t deliver them and tell them to get on with things.  God is still with them.  He does the same to us today.  He doesn`t just save us and leave us alone.  The pillar of fire went before the children of Israel reminding them of his presence with them, teaching them how to walk with him each day.  Whatever we face today he gives us the strength to face each situation.  God is there in the midst whatever we face today.  Sometimes we don`t understand the leading of God in our lives but God is in the midst of it all directing us.  Exodus 13 verse 17.  God drew the people out of Egypt but he wouldn`t take them through the land of the Philistines.  I wonder if Moses questioned that.  The reasoning was for God said "peradventure the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt."  Do we feel God leading us today?

The security - verse 10 "he kept them."  In verse 11 the picture is given of the eagle who builds its nest on the highest of rocks.  When the young are led out of the nest the eagle will flutter overhead.  When eventually the eaglet comes to the edge of the rock the mother eagle will swoop underneath so that the young can rest on her wings until it gets strength to flap its own wings and actually fly.

The sufficiency of things to come - verse 13.  Hebrew scholars say that this verse is written in the future tense, every verb speaks of the future not the present.  There is sufficiency for the years to come.

The bigger perspective

Sermon notes from Sunday 15 December 2017 am

Luke 2 verses 1 - 7

The bigger persective

As we consider the events taking place in this passage we are reminded that some times things come into our lives, situations that arise, difficulties and problems.  Do we concentrate more on them rather than what it means in its coming into our lives?  Nothing comes into our lives by chance  God has allowed it to be so.  We can learn that lesson from Job, see how the devil would have loved to have marched into his front room and bring him down to the depths but he hadn`t the authority  Satan had to go into the presence of God and ask for his permission to test Job.  nothing comes into our lives but God knows about it.  Nothing happens by surprise.  It is good to step back and see the bigger picture.  Psalm 8 verse 3 "when I consider".  Think of the letter to the Hebrews written to so many under pressure and persecution.  The writer said "consider him".  We want to consider him above all.  We saw that in Esther`s life.  A crisis came into her life.  The hand of God was working in the background.  He was doing that in her life.  Remember again that God is still on the throne, he is still ruling and reigning.  Sometimes when we get down to prayer we want to remember that.  He does remember his own.  In a week gone by we have seen many changes, upsets, things that humanly speaking we did not see happening.  Many are anxious and concerned today.  Remember God is still working out his purposes today.  He has a plan this morning.  In this passage a government decree went out.  What did that mean to the people around?

A strategy that was unfolding.  Here`s a decree going out from Caesar Augustus.  He was a leading light, he had changed his name, he was a nephew of Julius Caesar and took this name to show his position and greatness.  He was sitting making plans with all his delegates.  The word used for "world" here means the Roman jurisdiction he had control over.  The tax referred to here is similar to our census.  He really wanted to see what everyone owned whether in land or property. He didn`t really think about what he was doing.  God was working behind the scene.  He would bring his only begotten son into the world.  God was working it all out.  This was spoken of 5 or 600 years before through the prophet Isaiah.  Malachi the prophet also told where he would be born - Bethlehem.  God had announced it years before this man made this decision.  I wonder have you ever considered that God is working behind the scenes in our lives?  Perhaps it is not in sickness but rather you can hear someone praising God for his blessing in their life but nothing is happening in your life.  Perhaps we don`t see God working it out at present.  God was working everything out before this man would come to the throne.  In Daniel one night when the king Nebuchadnezzar put his head on the pillow he saw an image of a man made up of different materials.  The head was made of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron and the feet partly of iron and clay.  That image was of the various empires that would come to pass in days yet to come.  This is the role God will play in this land.  Each part represents a kingdom that would come to pass.  The head of gold represents your kingdom Nebuchadnezzar.  The breast and arms represented the Medes and Persian empire and in Daniel 5 we read they took the empire from Babylon.  The belly and thighs represented the Greek empire while the iron represented the Roman empire.  God was singling out every empire that would come to pass.  Remember Joseph in the Old Testament who was the Saviour of the nation Israel.  One morning he got up at 17 years of age and his father asked him to go and see how his brothers were doing.  He didn`t know when he left that day he would not see his father for 20 years.  I`m sure his father cried many nights, his heart was broken thinking of his son dead.  God was working it all out behind the scenes when he would bring Joseph to be head of the nation of Israel.

The subjects that are unveiled - verses 2 and 3.  All went to be taxed.  Everyone.  Not one left out.  The light now begins to shine on Joseph and Mary  Mary and Joseph would make their way to Bethlehem.  It was at a time when Mary was great with child.  The ordering of the decree led to Mary and Joseph being brought to Bethlehem.  What is happening in your life at this moment in time?  Are you a light that people are attracted to?  To bring people to God?  God was fulfilling the promise of Micah 7 verse 2.  Can you see the picture unfolding.  Joseph cannot see it.  It was an awful situation for him.  He had to take his wife Mary and make that journey to Bethlehem.  If this had been some other time but God has allowed this to happen specifically now.  It was the second time in his life that everything was turned upside down.  Just before their marriage Mary told Joseph she was pregnant.  She had no relationship with Joseph.  He wanted to put her away quietly then the angel appeared and told him not to be afraid but to take Mary for his wife.  This is now the second time when his life was turned upside down.  He didn`t know what was happening.  Think of the angel giving him that news.  The angel did not tell him that at the end of her pregnancy they would have to make a journey like this one.  Joseph handled the situaton really well.  A decree has gone out.  I`m sure he was thinking how is the Lord doing this?  This is God`s will.  God only shows him a little at a time.  God is doing something in your life.  Are you saying "I could do very well without this?"  God has a bigger plan.  David said "thy word is a lamp unto my feet."  God only shows a little bit at a time.  He doesn`t show us the end from the beginning.  The old hurricane lamp only shows a step at a time.  The lamp would only take him so far.  That is what God does with us.  Think of the early church and Saul of Tarsus.  He had such plans to destroy the Jewish people.  He wanted to take those who were Christian and imprison them, even put some of them to death.  He was persecuting the Christian believers but as a result they were spread outside of Jerusalem.  People didn`t realise it at the time.  It was the means God used to spread the gospel to others.  Today many are being persecuted for their Christian faith.  They don`t ask for prayer to be taken away from persecution but rather that they might endure through those hards times and see their familes saved as a result.  It took 20 years for Joseph to see the plan God had for his life.  Just enough was shown to him, a little at a time.

The supreme undertaking.  I`m sure Joseph thought this was bad timing.  He could have said it would have been better next year.  He could have done without the journey at this time.  He surrendered himself to the decree.  It is good to surrender ourselves to the will of God.  Moses out in the wilderness - for 40 years God was preparing him for what lay ahead.  One day he heard the word of the Lord out of a burning bush.  God told him that he would send him back to Egypt.  All those times in the desert.  This is the totality of it all.  I want you to go and bring my people out of Egypt.  Romans 13 verse 1 surrendered to the totality of God.  I wonder as Joseph picked up and got on with the journey to Bethlehem did he think God was in the plans ahead?  Jeremiah "for I know the thougths I have toward you, plans for good and not for evil, plans for your future."  Think of the 3 Hebrew children carried into captivity in Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar asked everyone to bow before this image he had set up.  The 3 Hebrew children wouldn`t do it.  They made a choice.  God is in this.  They could see the bigger picture.  Esther said "I will go before the king, if I perish I will perish."  Mary and Joseph surrendered to the decree which took them to Bethlehem, to their child being born to be the Saviour of the world.  What a God we have.  As we look at this scene - God brought everything into being.  We should want to worship and love God more and more when we see what he has done for us.  Look at the bigger picture today.  God is working in the background today.

Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Sermon notes from Sunday 8 December 2019 am

Esther 4 verses 13 - 17

"who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" verse 14

Mordecai in this passage has a burden on his heart and a vision.  These were dark days, desperate days.  All of the Jewish nation would be wiped out.  The 127 provinces of the Mede Persian kingdom had received the command to put all the Jews to death.  Somehow this man Mordecai got a great vision of what would happen.  He knew where the answer lay - in the King Ahasuerus.  The only way to approach him was through his wife Esther.  We too are living in dark days.  How do we know we are not saved for such a time as this?  Wouldn`t it have been great to have lived through the 1859 Revival or through Nicholson`s revival but we were not brought to the kingdom for such a time as that but we are now.  Mordecai could see the situation and he knew one woman could make a difference.  Maybe as God looks down on us today, maybe he points the finger at us and says "you know you could make a difference."  The thought came to my mind of responsibility.  You and I cannot shrug our shoulders and turn our backs.  There is a responsibility for you and I today.

Firstly think of Esther and her position.  This is Esther`s position now.  She was queen and married to King Ahasuerus.  She had taken over from Vashti.  In chapter 1 the king held a party, a drunken orgy and he commands Vashti to come and she refuses.  That annoyed the king,  All the princes and governors were there.  They told the king that if she has done this to you others will do the same, we will no longer have any authority.  The king put Vashti away and a command went out to find another queen.  Esther must have been charming and mannerly to bring her before the attention of the king.  She was one who would change the situation.  She would be the king`s bride.  The one person who could touch his heart - his wife Esther.  What is our position today?  We are part of the body of Christ.  When you come to the cross of Calvary, are drawn to Christ himself, realise you have sinned, when the Holy Spirit has shown you your sin, that you have come short of the glory of God and take Christ as Saviour, Christ made you part of the bride of Christ.  "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Whenever we come to God in prayer we can touch his very heart.  That is what happened here.  A Jewish girl, God had put her in this position.  You might not be thought highly of but the Lord has placed you in a position.  Do you realise the position you have today?  You have to touch the king`s heart on behalf of others.  This was just a Jewish girl living in one of those provinces in Shushan.  The Lord had brought her to that position for that day.  Think of Naaman`s maid.  She was in such an important place.  She was on speaking terms with Naaman`s wife.  She was positioned there for a purpose - to go into Naaman`s wife and tell her she had the answer to Naaman`s problem.  It is with God alone.  She came to that position - how?  The Israelite armies went out to fight and saw the girl.  They carried her captive and brought her into this special place that she might be positioned just where God wanted her.  God brings us into the place where we are of use.  Esther and that maid were there by the providence of God.  God`s name is not mentioned in the book of Esther but his hand is seen moving through the pages.  Sometimes when we sit down and contemplate and ponder the hand of God on our lives, the difficult times, the hard times, to be in the position we are in, then we can see God`s hand in and through it all.  What a tremendous position we hold today.  This was the reign of the Medes and Persians.  Daniel 5.  Belshazzar threw a great feast and in the midst of that feast there came a hand writing on the wall.  Time was up, judgment was come.  That night Belshazzar was dethroned and the Medes and Persians took over.  In that kingdom Haman worked his way up, he became Prime Minister in that day.  He had great sway with the king.  He sought to change the laws of the land.  In chapter 3 verse 13 we read that letters were sent to all the 127 provinces "to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews."  Haman hated the Jewish nation with a passion.  We can see the working of Satan behind it all.  We see it way back in Exodus, in the Babylonian capture, through the establishment of the Medes and Persian empire, seen it in Hitler`s regime.  This man meant business.  He didn`t want to see the Jewish people live.  Esther was included in this edict.  One woman could make a difference.  Esther couldn`t walk into the king`s presence.  She had to wait until the sceptre was held out to her to grasp.  Today we can come into the presence of the king at any time because of what Jesus has done for us.  Satan has a ploy today.  He wants to see everyone damned to a lost sinners hell.  That has been his wish from the day of creation.  He wants to take over from God,  to take over the affairs of man.  Like Esther we must stand up and speak out.

Esther`s priorities.  This was a challenge to her priorities.  Notice what Mordecai said to her in verse 14 - "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this."  This is the very point God has brought you to.  This is the position God wants you for right now.  To save Israel.  We are brought into God`s kingdom right for this moment in time.  The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God, to pull down the strongholds of Satan.  God is still on the throne and he still reigns.  Does he see us as a Mordecai or an Esther today?  Prepared to get before the God of heaven to see these things changed.  Not only was Mordecai questioning her position but her priorities.  God could see the darkness in the land but he also could see the light shining through it.  Esther had her own role too.  She was probably invited to various places but then Mordecai comes with a great challenge.  Her priorities have to be sorted out.  God had blessed her with charm, beauty, good looks but God had done this for a purpose.  God had brought her to a place of prominence.  What about our priroities today?  God has saved me yes but what have we done as a result of that?  God has to mould the areas in our lives that need to be changed.  I see here Esther coming into this place, given all these things such as good looks, charm, manners to bring her to this role.  What has God done for us today?  He has given us great ability and talent to use in this day and age we live in.  "No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."  God has given us a good job, a respectable name, opportunities.  They are all from God himself.  "Every good and perfect gift comes from his bountiful hand."  Our priorities have to change.  God first and everything else second.  Remember Saul who was sent to look for some donkeys by his father Kish.  What was God looking for instead?  A king. His priorities had to change.  Joseph`s father told him to go out and see how his brothers were.  What was God looking for instead?  A Saviour for the nation.

Esther`s promise.  She is now challenged.  She begins to think very seriously and realises the role she must play.  The day was far gone here but Mordecai reminded her this was the day she was prepared for.  She could easily have been put to death if she went into the king.  It would cost her her life - verse 16 "I will go in unto the king, if I perish I perish."  She would lose out but she had given much thought to it all.  Mordecai gathered up all his friends and they fasted for 3 days and 3 nights.  It is a time of prayer and fasting.  Esther said we will do it.  Mordecai did it all according to the plan.  I`m sure they thought it would be lost as the day had already been planned out.  Mordecai and Esther realised they could touch the kings heart and he could change the law and regulations.  Can we touch the king of kings heart today and see everything changed?  Jeremiah lived in a dark day.  He was challenged to buy a field.  Why?  Because 70 years later when the people returned from captivity, this would be his claim on the land.  Jeremiah 32 verse 26 "then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah saying behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there anything too hard for me?"  Is there anything too hard for our God today?

Esther`s patience and Esther`s prize.  Notice the patience she brought when she invited the king and Haman on 2 occasions to meet with her.  Her prize was the king realising what was about to happen.  Haman had prepared a gallows to hang Mordecai on but on that day when the king realised what would happen he ordered Haman to be hung on it instead.

Barnabas` next mission

Sermon notes from Sunday 1 December 2019 am

Acts 11 verses 19 - 26

We have seen Barnabas as the one who probably gathered with the disciples to pray after their arrest and told not to preach in the name of Christ again.  Then he took Saul by the hand and introduced him to the apostles in Jerusalem.  Now we read of Barnabas being sent out by the disciples to see if what they had heard was true.  He was selected, pircked out.

First the examination of the work of God.  Acts 11 verse 22.  The background to this verse is found in verses 19 to 21.  News had come back to Jerusalem of what was happening in Antioch.  The leaders decided to send Barnabas to discern what was happening down there.  People were turning to the Lord and professing that they believed in God as their own Saviour.    These people had heard the word of God proclaimed in their own language but persecution set in.  They were scattered outside of Jerusalem.  The disciples back in Jerusalem wanted to know if the foundations were right.  It is good in a personal sense to evaluate ourselves, examine ourselves.  Barnabas was going down to examine the foundations to see if this was genuine.  Paul said a similar thing when everyone is gathered around the communion table - "let a man examine himself" (1 Corinthians 11 verse 28).  It is good to go back to Calvary and gaze on the Lord as he suffered, bled and died, to hear those words "it is finished".  My salvation is finished.  I have to surrender my life, turn from the existing life and to Christ.  It is good to refresh ourselves.  We should never take the work of God for granted.  Many can say they have gone to church, read their bibles, even go so far as to say they have preached in the name of Christ but one day will they hear the words "I never knew you" from Christ himself?

The evidence that is presented.  Barnabas was not going to be deceived easily.  We should not put others down because their standards are not the same as ours.  Here was a man full of discernment.  Barnabas looked for the evidence of this work and could say of it "and had seen the grace of God" in their lives."  This was around the time of Stephen`s death.  Sometimes our lives are turned upside down, we are not able to do the things we used to do.  A turn of events comes and we are no longer able to do what we once did.  God can still use us in those events.  Antioch was a city of culture, it was classed as the third most famous city in the world at this time but it was also a very wicked city.  Notice that the people who had come to faith in Christ are not named - verse 19 refers to "them" and "some" in verse 20.  Also in verse 21 we read "and the hand of the Lord was with them."  We need that hand of God in our work today - not some big named speaker or a great testimony or singer.  Our work will be in vain unless the Lord`s hand is seen.  "Christ sent me not to baptise but to preach the gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." (1 Corinthians 1 verse 17)  Barnabas looked for faith in the Lord.

The expression that he was looking for that was clear.  Barnabas looked at the evidence of what they believed.  The Holy Ghost had taken the scriptures and they were applied to their lives.   In Samaria when Philip preached many were delivered from evil spirits, raised up from beds of sickeness and "there was great joy in that city." (Acts 8 verse 8)  The evidence was belief in the word of God.  The expression of that faith was in the joy they had.  We are saved by the grace of God and there should be that same joy in our hearts.  Sometimes we are afraid to use the term "good works" but the bible clearly states that good works follow as a result of faith.  Paul told his writers to "work our your own salvation in fear and trembling" (Philippians 2 verse 12).  Notice he did not say work for your salvation but rather it should be shown by our faith.  Ephesians 2 verse 10 "for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works."  

The encouragement that he gave - verse 23 "exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."  There would be difficult days ahead but as long as they stayed close to the Lord things would work out.  We need to keep our eyes on the Lord today.  Peter could say "you are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1 verse 5)