Gospel Meeting 18/03/2018

1^st Epistle of John ch4 vs7 -19.

Psalm ch103 vs8 – 17.

LOVE!

These scriptures talk about love. There are many definitions and types of love, but God’s most wonderful love for you, me and all mankind cannot be compared to any other!

Some people think that because God is love, they are free to do whatever wrongs as they please in their lives and God will simply overlook them as he IS love. But not so for one moment! ...

It is written in this Psalm (vs11) that His great mercy is toward “them that fear him”.

Also, (vs13) The Lord’s compassion is “on those who fear him”.

Again, (vs17) The Lord’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting “upon them that fear him”.

Yes, he is indeed a God of great love, grace and mercy – to those who will genuinely repent of their sins. He is Holy and utterly offended by them.

But, God The Father in His incomparable love, has provided the only way of escaping our deserved punishment for our sins. Through sending His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into this world, He dealt with our sin problem once and for all.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”.
 – Psalm ch103 vs12.

Holy God is just – he cannot be in the presence of sin. His love being beyond measure for us, has provided a full and free pardon for our sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His sinless Son. The only One who does not need a sacrifice, being without sin, was made sin for all of us, that we can be forgiven and have our eternity in Heaven with Him.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
- Romans ch5 vs8.

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son, to be the Saviour of the world.Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God”.
 –1^st Epistle of John ch4 vs14 -15

“Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me”. – Hebrews ch10 vs5.

Jesus Christ – a man like any other in every way apart from being completely without  sin. It was impossible for Him to sin – He is God! He hungered, thirsted, wearied, wept, but never once sinned. He came and did what we could never do – live a holy, sinless life, and when He gave His life for us on Calvary’s Cross, God His Father fully accepted His blood as atonement for our sins.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” – 2^nd Corinthians ch9 vs15.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly”.

 – Romans ch5 vs6.

None of us deserved His love or His gift, but that never affected His wonderful love for each of us.We cannot help ourselves or save ourselves – it is all the work of Jesus Christ on The Cross! We were alienated and enemies to God, but Christ fully satisfied the demands of Holy God, being raised from the grave.

Such was Jesus Christ’s love for each of us, although He was the eternal Son of God -  “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made”, (John’s Gospel ch1 vs3)  - He still allowed wicked men to take Him and treat Him so badly and cruelly in His crucifixion. 
All our judgement was placed on Him. It was all necessary, that we can be forgiven, escaping eternal punishment in Hell and being made fit to enter Heaven.
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed". - Isaiah ch53 vs5.

Dear reader, does this love for you not touch your heart?

Would you not be willing to have The Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour tonight?. Would you not like to be free from your burden of sin and make your peace with God tonight?. Would you not like to be assured that you have a home being prepared in Heaven, to forever live with this wonderful Man who loved you and gave Himself for you?

Simply come in faith, confessing your sins to Him. Ask Him to forgive you and to come into your heart and life as Lord and Saviour. Then with His help, turn away from your past sinful life and follow Him daily.

Real love is not found in modern “pop songs” – it is at Calvary’s Cross, where Jesus Christ died, that you may live!

1 We sing the praise of Him who died,
Of Him who died upon the Cross;
The sinner’s hope let men deride,
For this we count the world but loss

2 Inscribed upon the Cross we see
In shining letters, God is love!
He bears our sins upon the tree,
He brings us mercy from above.

3 The Cross: it takes our guilt away;
It holds the fainting spirit up;
It cheers with hope the gloomy day,
And sweetens every bitter cup.

4 The balm of life, the cure of woe,
The measure and the pledge of love,
The sinner’s refuge here below,
The angels’ theme in heav’n above.

- Hymn by Thomas Kelly (1769 -  1855))

Gospel Meeting 11/03/2018

2^nd Samuel ch12 vs1 – 15.

The build – up to this passage of scripture saw King David gaining great victories in battle, before losing control of his emotions and committing adultery.

Bath-sheba, the wife of Uriah, conceived as a result and King David then arranged for her husband to be sent to the front line of the current battle in order that he would be killed. After this happened, king David took Bath-sheba to be his wife and she bare him a son.

These things greatly displeased The Lord.

The Lord sent Nathan unto king David to make him aware of his great sin, through telling him a story.

Nathan reminds David how good The Lord had been to him, but he had despised the Laws of God and was going to be punished for doing those things secretly.

In the story, David’s anger was greatly kindled against the rich man for what he had done and wanted to kill him, until Nathan plainly said to David “Thou art the man”.

Immediately, David had repentance, saying “I have sinned against the Lord”.

Although The Lord forgave him, there is a message for us all that when we sin it has consequences, and like a pebble thrown into a pond, it ripples and affects other people. This applies whether we are a Christian or not.

It is such a sad story that a man of God, King David, should have done these terrible things.

Where did he go wrong? What lessons can be learnt? …

a)      David should have gone to battle, not stayed at home.

 A challenge – are you in the battle for The Lord, or at home? Perhaps become too occupied with the temporary things of this world?

David should never have seen Bath-sheba, but the devil finds work for idle hands… may our attitude be “don’t remove me from the battle, but draw me nearer to the Cross”!

b)      David was on the rooftop… he saw Bath-sheba bathing and should have left immediately. However, he stayed on and lust took over.

Never put yourself in temptations way! Get off the roof, for the devil is most cunning.

When we look all around us we can clearly see how sin ruins lives.

c)      David enquired as to who Beer-sheba was.

How often do we enquire about sinful things? Once we know, we are able to act in the wrong manner towards it. Never be tricked into “making enquiries”!

Sin is destructive and affects others.

d) “Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead…”

A horrible premeditated sin! Always think before we do any wrong deed.

God hates sin, but loves the sinner… even the very worst of us can be saved from our sins and their penalty.

This is the great and good news of the Gospel! – that God The Father sent His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, who never sinned, to be the sacrifice for yours and everyone's sins in the world. He is the only One who could ever do this because He is and ever was holy, pure and without sin. Love brought Him down into this sin – filled world, and led Him onto Calvary’s Cross, where in great agony He laid His life down, and gave His life’s blood that we may be forgiven and have eternal life in Heaven. To reject God’s most merciful offer of this full and free Salvation, means you are without repentance, and dying in your sins will bring you into an eternity separated from Holy God, forever to be punished in the place called Hell.

d)     King David took Bath-sheba to be his wife.

He tried to hide his sin, but we can never do that. God knows each of us far better than we know ourselves!

Our only way to have peace with God concerning our sins, is through being truly sorry for them, and in faith accepting The Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, who makes our peace with God, His Father.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”.

-   1^st Timothy ch2 vs5 – 6.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”.

 – John’s Gospel ch14 vs6.

Reader, if your heart desires you to turn your life from sin and darkness into light, then receive Jesus Christ tonight. Begin a new life by turning away from a sinful life and turning towards God. He loves you and wants you to come to Him, without delaying it until it is too late…

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. – 1^st John ch1 vs9.

You can have a clear conscience from this day on – what a tremendous and forgiving God!

Loving your sin more than God? Simply not worth it, dear friend…

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death”. – James ch1 vs15.

e)      The story Nathan told made King David furious.

We are very good at thinking ourselves to be better than others. It is easy to condemn others while we ignore our own many faults. However, none of us deserve the great mercy, grace and forgiveness provided by The Lord Jesus Christ!

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. – Romans ch3 vs23.

Let us not, like David, be pointing the finger! Let us all humbly repent and accept God’s wonderful Salvation.

God is not mocked, and we can never hide our sin.

If you are not a Christian and never asked forgiveness, are you still the guilty one in the story (vs7) “Thou art the man”…?

This can be your night with God! What a great opportunity to have your individual peace with God and a changed life! Have no more wasted years, but come to Christ this very hour!

Gospel Meeting 04/03/2018

Ephesians ch2 vs1 – 10.

Verses  1 – 3 concern our death and disobedience – negatives.

Verses 4 – 10 concern our deliverance and destiny – positives.

This letter was from the Apostle Paul, written to those who were believers at Ephesus. It begins by looking back at how they used to be, and the dead condition they were in, before going on to say how they now are – through being “in Christ”.

Friend and reader, where are you right now – are you still in verses 1 – 3?

 Have you never committed your life to The Lord Jesus Christ?

 By simply confessing your sins to Him tonight in repentance and faith, you can move into the blessings of verses 4 – 10!

We are all spiritually dead until trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Verse 1 tells us we were all “dead in trespasses and sins” – from the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden tree they became spiritually dead, and the process of  death in their bodies began.

We too have all broken God’s perfect rules…

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. – Romans ch3 vs23.

God made man perfect, but we all utterly failed Him through our sinful nature.

Why are we ALL sinners? –

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”. – Romans ch5 vs12.

We are all sinners by descent… no-one has to ever teach a young child to lie, steal or cheat – it comes natural because we are all sinful by our nature!

Verse 5 – “But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us” – His mercy is in not giving us what we fully deserve as disobedient sinners…

“But God”!... we can never save ourselves from our due and right punishment of an eternal Hell – but in spite of our position and sinful nature God provided a way for all our sins to be forgiven… he is indeed rich in mercy!

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy”.

- Psalm ch103 vs8.

- “… but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. – 2^nd Peter ch3 vs9.

Reader, you may ask how then can God forgive sinners, being holy, righteous and unable to turn a blind eye to all our sins?

Yes, sin HAS to be paid for, and God sent the only One who could ever pay our debt in full – His Son, Jesus Christ. On the Cross, He gave His sinless life and body as the acceptable sacrifice for your sins and everyone’s. He paid for it in His own blood that flowed from many a wound. This alone can wash and cleanse us from all our sins, providing full forgiveness when we come to Jesus Christ in genuine repentance and faith. The grave could not hold Him, rising again after three days – justified!

When we trust Him and accept Him as our Saviour, our old life is dead and gone! – vs6 “And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.

We have new life in Christ, seeking eternal things!

- “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God”.

- Colossians ch3 vs1 – 3.

So now we receive by His grace all the blessings which we do not deserve!

Vs8 & 9 - “For by grace are ye saved, through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”: Not of works, lest any man should boast”.

None of us can ever have eternal life in Heaven by good works. We can not earn it in any way, but God gives it to us free through His Son!

Faith is personally taking God at His word. Dear friend, if you have not yet done so, then throw yourself on God’s rich mercy… accept His Son and be saved! Jesus Christ died for YOU, and His great love is beckoning for you to come to Him this night!