Gospel Meeting 22/04/2018

Romans ch3 vs23

1^st Timothy ch2 vs1 – 6

Psalm ch14 vs1

2^nd Corinthians ch5 vs21

“TWO PROBLEMS, ONE SOLUTION, TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE”.

a)      Every single one of us has two problems – both of which are clearly stated in our first reading. ALL have fallen way short of Holy God’s standards and ALL have sinned. 

This applies whatever gender, race or age you are.

The result of this created a mighty gulf between God and Man, because God is absolutely holy, pure and perfect in every way, detesting sin in its entirety.

We were all “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians ch2 vs1) and can do nothing at all of ourselves to change this awful situation. Whatever we may try, we are forever totally unable to reach anywhere near the standards that God requires. If anyone does not take the necessary action to change this, then God’s wrath abides upon us – resulting in eternal punishment for every unforgiven sin each of us has committed against Him.

Thankfully, there is a "however" ...

b)      God has provided the one solution!

 Our second reading plainly tells us that there is one God and one mediator between God and men – the man Christ Jesus.

“Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!"

(Words from hymn by William Reed Newell)

Contrary to the opinion of many in this world, there is only one true and living God – and in His great love He desires the salvation of all mankind!

“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me…”

“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else”.

-    Isaiah ch45 vs5 – 6.

“… but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.

-    2^nd Peter ch3 vs9.

God is full of grace and mercy and sent His only Son – The Man Christ Jesus – to end the great separation between us!

The long – promised One came to save us from our sins by paying the price for them.

Also called Emmanuel – meaning “God with us”, He was both perfect Man and perfect God!

He alone never sinned, and was willing to give His life as a sacrifice for all our sins.

Our reading tells us that He “gave himself a ransom for all”.

ALL – and that includes you, dear friend! Again, whatever gender, race or age you are, Jesus Christ gave His life’s blood that you can be forgiven and spend eternity in Heaven with Him!

Jesus Christ was raised from the dead after three days – His sinless sacrifice fully accepted by His Father!

There are many mediators in this world for a whole host of issues, but none other than The Lord Jesus Christ can mediate between you and God The Father.

Friend, you have a way out of these two great problems! If you have never yet repented of your sins, I urge you this night to do so. Come in faith to this wonderful Man who loves you and accept Him as your Saviour.

All the work has been done… our part is to come in faith - accepting His work and receiving Jesus Christ.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”.

-    Hebrews ch11 vs6.

c)      There are two types of people, and the Psalmist tells us that one of them are classed as fools… because they want nothing to do with God, or even acknowledge Him.

They are morally wrong.

They are heading for a lost eternity in that most horrendous place called hell.

Reader, I sincerely trust that you are not of this group and facing its consequences?

The speaker says he was one of the people in that group, but then gave his heart and life to Jesus Christ…, he has crossed from darkness into glorious light, and from death into life!

This is the other type -  those who belong to The Lord Jesus Christ! ...

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”.

-     2^nd Corinthians ch5 vs21.

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man shall many be made righteous". 

- Romans ch5 vs19.

Jesus Christ makes us fit to enter into Heaven!

We are made righteous through Jesus Christ - completely forgiven, no longer facing God’s condemnation!

We may be mocked, persecuted and killed at present in this world, but in Christ we have the victory of life eternal with Him!

Friend, surely this is the type you want to be, and we pray you will make that decision for Christ tonight.

Gospel Meeting 15/04/2018

Luke’s Gospel ch4 vs14 -22.

Isaiah ch61 vs1 -2.

Here, at the synagogue in Nazareth, on reading aloud what was foretold hundreds of years earlier, Jesus Christ was telling them that He is the Messiah of God… I am here! I am the One – anointed by the Spirit!

The ministry of The Lord Jesus Christ covered 6 points:

1) Preach the gospel to the poor

2) Heal the broken – hearted

3) Preach deliverance to the captives

4) Recovering of sight to the blind

5) Set at liberty them that are bruised

6) Preach the acceptable year of our Lord

Tonight, the speaker gave a message on three of these points.

a)  Preaching the Gospel to the poor …

Many of the financially poor people did respond, but also particularly those of who were poor in spirit.

People who were at the end of themselves, not knowing where to turn, feeling worthless and inadequate, turned to The Lord and cried out to Him.

They repented and believed the Gospel!

Friend, maybe this is describing how you feel tonight? Perhaps your own life has long since ceased to have any real purpose or meaning? Many in this world are feeling despair, seeing little hope of a happy future or living without any peace in their hearts and minds.

Please take a little time to read the words of Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, to find what He offers to you personally. He loves you and wants you to come to Him, trusting Him as your Saviour. Why as your Saviour? ...because all of us are sinners, having broken His laws countless times in our lives. We face eternal punishment from Holy God because of this, but in His boundless, most wonderful love for us, God The Father sent His Son to us who lived a sinless, faultless life. He then gave His life to pay the great price of our sins so that we can be forgiven, being cruelly crucified at the place called Calvary.
 A full and free pardon can be yours tonight, and a place in Heaven absolutely secured!

“…repent and believe the gospel!”

- words of Jesus Christ from Mark’s Gospel ch1 vs15.

b) Healing the broken – hearted …

This One can heal!

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.

- words of Jesus Christ from Matthew’s Gospel ch11 vs28.

-           

Truly, what a most compassionate and loving Saviour we have in The Lord Jesus Christ! There are so many things in this hurtful world that can cause our heart to be suffering to breaking point. We can turn many ways to try find peace and for someone to put the pieces back together again – but only Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour can altogether heal.

“He heals the broken - hearted and binds up their wounds”.

- Psalm ch147 vs3.

c) Preach deliverance to the captives …

This was not a wholesale release of criminals from prison, but of great spiritual significance. However, it is fantastic how many people at this time have come from being imprisoned in a life of crime into freedom, through repentance and trusting Jesus Christ as their own Saviour!

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new”.

- 2^nd Corinthians ch5 vs17.

He changes lives, hallelujah!

Jesus Christ can touch your life and transform you too. He will deliver you from your old life!

There is a worse imprisonment than a physical one – those who are slaves to sin and sinful habits. 

Sin totally wrecks lives- just look around you.

“Jesus, the name high over all,

In hell, or earth, or sky:

Angels and men before it fall,

And devils fear and fly.

Jesus, the prisoner’s fetters breaks,

And bruises Satan’s head;

power into strengthless souls He speaks,

and life into the dead.

(words from hymn by C.Wesley)

In Luke’s Gospel ch8 vs26 -39, The Lord Jesus Christ met a demon possessed maniac. By His power, He completely delivered him, ridding him of many demons and into freedom!  We read that the man was then found sitting and clothed, in his right mind!

Jesus Christ today is still setting many captives free from the power and domination of sin in peoples lives. Come to Him!

“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness”.

- Romans ch6 vs17 -18.

All who accept Christ as Saviour are transferred from this one camp to the other!

Indeed, being a slave to Jesus Christ is a greatest blessing! –

- Paul, James and Jude are some of whom we read in God’s Word that gloried in it.

It gives us the greatest freedom in the world!

Friend, if you are still in bondage to sin tonight, accept the love that Jesus Christ freely offers you and He will bring you forgiveness, peace and freedom. 

Ask Him into your heart and life while there is still time -

“…behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation”.

2^nd Corinthians ch6 vs2.

Gospel Meeting 08/04/2018

1^st Epistle of John ch4 vs7 – 21.

THE LOVE OF GOD.

There is no greater love!

In our society, the word “love” can be taken or used very lightly… every day people fall in and out of love so easily that it has to be questioned if they ever were really “in love” at all!

Is our love sometimes just a fondness? How strong is our love when troubles come along? Or if we feel wronged, how long does it last?

How far are we prepared to do something for another if it makes us feel uncomfortable?

However, God’s love is of a unique character. It is unconditional and unmeasurable.

God’s love is boundless and freely given.

He does not say “I love you, as long as you don’t do…”

There is no greater love and this was displayed at the place called Calvary, where God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be a sacrifice for all our sins. He was crucified, dying in agony on the Cross.

Verses 9 and 10 tell us, that the scale and scope of His great love was “towards us” – that includes you and I too, dear reader!

Jesus Christ, the only One who has never sinned, suffered so terribly much for us all – spitting and mocked by wicked men, utterly beaten, a crown of thorns crushed upon His holy head, nails hammered into His hands and feet.

He then suffered even more than all of the physical brutality, when in the laying down of His life He was made sin for us and His Father punished Him in our stead.

WHY...?

Such was the depth of His love for us all, that He paid the price of our sins - something that we could never do anything about. We are all sinners and need a Saviour.

The holy, spotless Son of God came here and settled our sin debt once and for all.

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed”.

-   1^st Peter ch2 vs24.

Dear friend, you might well ask the question – “why does a holy God love such a sinful person like me?” You are not alone, not a single one of us merits His love!

However, He Has proven His love for us all and desires each of us to be with Him for all Eternity in Heaven.

It may not be pleasant to the heart and mind, but consider for a while just how many wrong deeds and thoughts you have personally had in your life – and the one’s still to come… then multiply them by all the people that have ever lived in the world… Jesus Christ died and rose from the grave that every single one of us can be forgiven, and avoid being punished eternally ourselves in the real place called Hell.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.

John’s Gospel ch3 vs16.

We are able to enter into a personal relationship with God, through accepting the Son of God, The Lord Jesus Christ. We could never ever meet His holy standards, but Jesus Christ fully satisfied God in His sinless sacrifice for us.

Knowing Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we can all be forgiven and free from the guilt of our sins, and the power of sin in our daily lives!

So often when we say we have forgiven someone, we can store it up in our memory to use it against them in a future situation, but God is completely different –

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”

 –Psalm ch103 vs12.

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” .

-   Hebrews ch10 vs17.

God’s forgiveness through His Son is absolute!

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

Dear friend, why would you not want to accept such wonderful love and forgiveness?!

If you have never yet done so, why not take that step tonight?

Just a simple prayer to The Lord Jesus Christ, in genuine repentance acknowledging your sins and in faith believing that He paid it all at Calvary’s Cross.

“… repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”.

-  The Acts ch20 vs21.

“… and whoever comes to me I will never drive away”.

- John’s Gospel ch6 vs37. 

This world contaminates us so badly in many ways, but we can be cleansed and delivered from the domination of sin in our lives, through Jesus Christ.

Consider an eternal life in Heaven, face to face with the One who loved you with the greatest love of all… what greater joy could you ever have than this!

Gospel Meeting 01/04/2018

Luke’s Gospel ch23 vs33 – 34, ch24 vs1 – 9.

1^st Corinthians ch15 vs3 -4, 12 – 22.

Personal Question… What does Easter mean to you?

Is it a time for chocolates? Going on holiday? Perhaps a time for visiting family and friends?

What it means to the Speaker is summed up in fifteen words –

CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS… (1^st Corinthians ch15 vs3)

AND THAT HE WAS BURIED… (1^st Corinthians ch15 vs4)

AND THAT HE ROSE AGAIN…  (1^st Corinthians ch15 vs4)

1) CHRIST died for our sins -

Dear reader, do you believe this?

Some say Jesus Christ was a good man, an example to follow – but just another man.

To some He means nothing, yet they often use His name as a swear word.

However, the facts are that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God, born of a virgin.

He grew up completely sinless – it was impossible for Him to sin, being God!

His entire life was apart from sin.

Who do you say that He is?

The Speaker trusted Jesus Christ in June 1968 and he fully commends this Man to you tonight. He loves The Lord Jesus Christ and knows Christ loves him.

How much does He mean to you tonight, dear friend?

What will you say about Him?

The Lord Jesus Christ having lived a perfect life without a single sin, then suffered an awful death on our behalf - to pay the full price of our sins that we could never pay.

He was crucified – a most barbaric and tortuous death. Later, the Roman Emperor abolished it, as being too horrific.

The Lord Jesus Christ allowed His own creation to take Him and nail Him to that Cross. This is how much He personally loves you and I!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”.

- John’s Gospel ch3 vs16.

He physically died for our sins, that we may be forgiven and not face eternal punishment in that most terrible place called Hell.

Every one of us has sinned and we all need to come in repentance and faith, accepting the only Saviour of sinners -  through His redeeming work on Calvary’s Cross.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”.

- Romans ch3 vs23.

The world loves to gloss over this and not mention our sin problem!

Some people left the scene of His crucifixion glad that He was dead. They were envious and jealous of Him, and now thought that was the end of it all.

Others were sad.

But what about you, reader? How do these things affect your heart tonight?

Is your heart not filled with gratitude and wonder, at such undeserved love towards you? No – one will ever love you more than this Man!

2) And that HE was buried –

Wicked hands nailed Jesus Christ to the Cross, but loving hands removed the cruel nails and took Him down after His death.

He was buried, with a great stone rolled across the tomb, and then sealed.

There has been some notable celebrity burials over the years, where millions have watched and thousands have attended. Great pomp and ceremony has taken place before, during and after the burials.

None of these things surrounded the burial of The Eternal Son of God…yet never was there One as precious! It is recorded in only a few verses, and only a few people were there.

However, it was most definitely not the end of this Man! We would not be gathered here tonight if it had been so!

3) And that HE rose again –

On the third day Jesus Christ rose from the dead!

His sacrifice for our sins fully accepted by God The Father.

A risen, justified Saviour!

Do you believe this, literally and physically?

If not dear friend, then you are still in your sins and facing a lost Eternity, separated from God.

The risen Christ was seen of many people during the following month. This included His own disciples, and then to over 500 people at once.

He is now ascended back to Heaven, to His Father’s right hand.

His work of redemption here is done – once for all!

Today, many others are worshipped – the likes of Karl Marx and Elvis Presley’s graves are regularly visited. If you ask anyone to take you to their leader, they all have one thing in common – they will take you to a cemetery or a shrine!

When the Speaker says “come and meet my Leader” – he points and looks upwards to living Saviour in Heaven! Christians look up, not down!

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore…”

- The Revelation ch1 vs18.

Jesus Christ is soon returning – for those who have genuinely repented of their sins and in faith asked The Lord Jesus Christ to forgive them, making Him their personal Lord and Saviour.

“… I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”.

- John’s Gospel ch14 vs 2 – 3.

Do you want to know the only way to this real place of Heaven? ...

“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.

It also needs to be made known, that Hell too, is a real place.

A place of eternal torment for those who have not accepted Christ’s atoning work.

One noted celebrity recently denied it’s existence… reader, do not be deceived!

But for those who have grasped this full and free Salvation through Jesus Christ – the best is yet to come… and forever!

Please do not reject the most wonderful love He has for you – it is beyond measure! Even though He knew exactly what He was going to suffer in taking our sins upon Himself at Calvary, He still came!

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.

- Romans ch5 vs8.

Is Jesus Christ your own Lord and Saviour tonight?

Can you say “it is well with my soul?”

Come to Him without delay, and make that decision to know Him this very hour.

This IS Easter! -

1)      CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS

2)      AND THAT HE WAS BURIED

3)      AND THAT HE ROSE AGAIN…

A risen, glorified Saviour!

Are you ready for His return – not as The Judge, but as your Saviour?