Gospel Meeting 23/09/2018

Matthew’s Gospel ch4 vs13 – 17.

The Lord Jesus Christ, having been rejected by His own in Nazareth for revealing he was The Messiah, now moved to Capernaum.

Despite His uniqueness and having the indisputable credentials foretold in the Old Testament scriptures, the people tried to cast him over a cliff.

Jesus Christ fulfilled over 350 prophesies, completely showing that he was indeed the Son of God.

Still now, in this chapter, Jesus Christ was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah (ch9) from over 700 years previously!

Capernaum was a most suitable place for The Lord to continue His preaching.

It was north of the Sea of Galilee, on the trade route between Damascus and the Mediterranean. It had good access and had a mixture of Jew and Gentile.

The people were in spiritual darkness, but now The Light of the world had come!

Jesus Christ sought to bring peoples together to gain the full blessings of God.

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall here my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd”.

-    John’s Gospel ch10 vs16.

Sadly, many people today are still groping in spiritual darkness, refusing to come to The Light, and walking in the shadow of death.

“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

-   Romans ch7 vs24.

Like Paul here, we are all sinners needing a Saviour to forgive us from the eternal penalty of our sins against Holy God.

By the grace of God, we have been provided a Saviour – God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”.

-   2^nd Corinthians ch4 vs6.

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

-  Ephesians ch2 vs8 – 9.

Any and all who will come in repentance and faith to The Lord Jesus Christ, believing who He is and in His atoning work on The Cross shall be saved from Hell and have an eternal home in Heaven.

Friend, if you have not yet done so in your short life here, I urge you to ask His forgiveness this night for all your sins.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”.

-   Romans ch8 vs1.

What not a single one of us could do God has done!

Through Jesus Christ, who is God and Man, this One only can reconcile us to the one true and living God.

At Calvary’s Cross, the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, laid down His life, was crucified, was buried, and three days later rose again from the grave – for you personally! He paid our debt in full, through His great love, grace and mercy.

We all matter so much to God, and He most dearly loves you too Friend, no matter what you may have done in your life. The blood of Jesus can cleanse you of all your guilt and sins. Simply come to Him while there is still time.

He longs for your repentance and for you to come out of darkness into light.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”.

-  John’s Gospel ch8 vs12.

Why reject certain life for certain death?

Hearing the Gospel is a great privelege and to be acted upon personally!

How deadly serious it is to reject The Saviour that God has provided for us all, in His most wonderful love.

“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.

Gospel Meeting 16/09/2018

Matthew’s Gospel ch12 vs38 -42

Jonah ch1 vs1- 3, 15 – 17, ch2 vs1 – 10, ch3 vs1 -5, ch4 vs1 – 11

Jonah was a unique prophet, having a very short message to preach (ch3 vs4). 

In the original Hebrew it has only five words.

Isaiah, as a typical example, has numerous instances of The Lord speaking to him with many messages for various people.

The speaker broke tonight’s message into three headings:

a) The Sign of Jonah

Ninevah was a large and most sinful city, known for its idolatry and atrocities.

Jonah absolutely did not want to go and preach there - not due to fear, but because he did not want them to repent and rather face God’s judgement.

Jonah disobeyed God and travelled in the opposite direction. He was doing his best to run away from God and his heart was hardened.

He had been given an opportunity to preach the Word of God, and now desiring to be thrown off the ship into the sea!

The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah – and this finally got Jonah to speak to God! (ch2).

This was the only sign that Jesus Christ would give to the demanding scribes and Pharisees – Jonah spent three days and nights captive in the depths of the sea, before being released out onto dry land … Jesus Christ would be dead and buried for three days and three nights before being resurrected from his tomb – foretelling His death and resurrection.

“… Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also …”

- 1^st Corinthians ch15 vs3 – 8.

b) The Preaching of Jonah

It was the most simple message!

The people of Ninevah had forty days to repent of their sinful way of life, or face God’s judgement upon them.

They did repent, from the common person right up to the king, who decreed a fast!

God relented upon them.

Dear Reader, this is the same message that God has given mankind – including you and I - for thousands of years …

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

- The Acts ch20 vs21

It is the same simple message – The Saviour has come!

He is completely able and willing to save you from the eternal judgement of your sins!

God delights in mercy …

“But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast”.

- Ephesians ch2 vs4 -9.

Yet Jonah was still angry (ch4) and through the hardness of his heart wanted God to pour judgement out on these people.

His heart was without compassion – unlike God’s, and Jonah admits such, here in ch4 vs1 – 2.

c) A Greater than Jonah

The Lord Jesus Christ told the scribes and Pharisees that through the preaching of Jonah the people of Ninevah repented of their sins, but that He Himself was greater than Jonah – or Soloman.

Jesus Christ IS God!

The Father in His great compassion towards us gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins that we might be forgiven.

Dear Reader, will you repent of your sins tonight?

Will you accept in faith The Lord Jesus Christ as your own Saviour?

He laid down His sinless life, shedding His precious blood on The Cross for you,

having the power to take up His life again, three days later, His sacrifice fully accepted and justified.

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men”.

- Titus ch2 vs11.

Gospel Meeting 09/09/2018

Luke’s Gospel ch17 vs11 -14.

Here we have but one day and one experience of the Person of Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ? What do we know about Him?

When he walked this Earth people asked where He had come from.

Sadly, many people today do not want to know anything about Him and only use His Name as a swear word.

Reader, what do YOU think of Jesus Christ? Who do YOU say that He is?

His Name and Person is unique! He is completely unlike any other person!

Although Jesus Christ was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, it was not His beginning.

The Word of God explains to us that He always was!

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth  have been from of old, from everlasting”.

-    Micah ch5 vs2.

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made”

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

-   John’s Gospel ch1 vs3 & 14.

Fully God, yet fully Man – the only perfect Man!

We are all tarnished by our sins, but the Eternal Son of God was holy, pure, undefiled and separate from sinners.

Though Jesus Christ left the heights of glory, He came to this Earth in humble fashion – born in a stable, living in the despised Nazareth, and working as a carpenter.

However, in His ministry He performed many miracles, proving who He was and where He had come from.

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written”.

-    John’s Gospel ch21 vs25.

The life of The Lord Jesus Christ was ever heading towards His one purpose – He was going to Jerusalem to lay down His life as a sinless sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He set His face as a flint! (Isaiah ch50 vs7)

Dear friend that includes you and me, praise His Name!

There was absolutely no other way that we could be forgiven for our sins.

No amount of good works or anything else could ever save us from being rightly judged and condemned to an eternal Hell.

But the most wonderful truth is that this Man loved us all so much He was able and willing to have all our sins placed upon Him and face the wrath of His Holy Father in Heaven.

God had to become flesh in order to bleed and die - for you and I friend!

“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.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

-   Romans ch5 vs8 -9.

What will YOU do with this Man?

What is your opinion of Jesus Christ?

Is your heart not touched by His most wonderful love, grace and mercy for you?

Where you will spend Eternity – Heaven or Hell – depends on your personal answer.

“ … but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”

-   Hebrews ch9 vs26 -28.

The ten lepers in our reading tonight would love to have drawn near to The Lord Jesus Christ, but because their condition was highly contagious they were outcasts from society.

Their condition could not be ignored, and this is exactly the same of ourselves and our sin problem.

Leprosy brought death – and so do our sins!

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death”.

-  James ch1 vs14 – 15.

We are all separated from God because of our sin.

These ten lepers were really fed up and badly wanted help. They were unable to help themselves in any way, but knew that The Man in front of them most definitely could!

No priest or doctor could heal them, but The Lord Jesus Christ is unlike any other – He is God in the flesh!

Likewise, Jesus Christ alone is able to cleanse us from our sins and their eternal consequences.

At Calvary’s Cross over 2000 years ago, He took all our sins and guilt upon Himself.

“For Christ also hath suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God … “.

-  1^st Peter ch3 vs18.

Friend, He endured such agony to bear our judgement, taking God’s full wrath.

Shortly before He went to The Cross, Jesus Christ was so troubled knowing exactly what laid ahead in being made our sin, that His sweat was like great drops of blood falling down to the ground

(see Luke’s Gospel ch22 vs39 – 46).

What love He has for you and me!

Leaving the heights of glory and peace to come right down to a cruel Cross.

Receiving mocking, spitting and hatred without having done one thing wrong.

Jesus Christ fulfilled God’s plan for our Salvation – to all who will accept Him we are no longer condemned to an eternal Hell separated from God … SAVED!!

Will you accept this most loving Man Jesus Christ as your Saviour?

No need to stand afar off like the lepers – He waits with outstretched open arms for you to come to Him in faith and in repentance of your old sinful way of life.

Simply ask His forgiveness tonight and be saved for eternal life in Heaven.

Gospel Meeting 02/09/2018

Psalm ch1.

Matthew’s Gospel ch7 vs7 – 14.

These two passages of scripture show contrasts between the things of the world and the things of God.

The contrast of you either being on the broad road or the narrow road is as big as it could possibly be.

As sinners, each one of us has the choice to make – whether we choose to stay on the broad road that will bring us into Hell, or to change onto the narrow road that will bring us into Heaven.

Friend, which eternal destination is your choice?

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

- Romans ch6 vs23.

So many people put this most important decision in life off until it is too late!

Many think just leave it and it will all be ok. This is clearly not so – God’s eternal Son Jesus Christ had to come here and die on The Cross to make it all right!

We all have a huge sin problem to deal with, and to just leave it will lead you onto an eternal Hell for all your unforgiven sins.

How do we know we are on the narrow road and forgiven?

By simply coming to Jesus Christ in faith, asking forgiveness, accepting Him as your Saviour and repenting of your sinful lifestyle will assuredly lead you into Heaven!

Can I ask who has first place in your life?

Is it the One who loved you and gave Himself in great agony on The Cross for you?

Surely, the One who can forgive all your sins, keep you out of Hell, and welcome you into Heaven is like no other person and completely worthy of first place in your life!

Jesus Christ loved you personally so much, that He laid down His sinless life for you as a sacrifice.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.

- 2^nd Peter ch3 vs9.

Life here may still have many trials, but The Lord promises to be with you each and every day through them.

You may well face increasing persecution for your faith, but take heart!

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”.

- Psalm ch23 vs4.

Friend, are you still not certain of where you are going to spend eternity?

Do you not have an assurance of Heaven through The Lord Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ sorely wept over paying the price of your sins in the Garden of Gethsemane – but through His Cross we have unbridled peace and joy in knowing we are totally forgiven.

Our home in heaven is assured by this wonderful and loving Man!

If Jesus Christ returns tonight, will you be taken or left behind?

A most sobering thought dear friend that urgently needs a decision!

Are you ready to meet The King – either as your Saviour or as your Judge?

The good news of the Gospel is plain and simple, available to anyone who will make that personal decision to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

- John’s Gospel ch3 vs16.

God loves YOU, and paid the same price for YOUR soul as mine!

At Calvary’s Cross, His great love was shown for each one of us.

Friend, trust Him tonight that He has dealt with your own sin problem.

Come to His Cross and ask forgiveness before your time is gone forever.

Just as a drowning man thankfully grabs the lifebelt thrown to him, take full hold of Jesus Christ’s free offer of Salvation and safety right now!

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

- 2^nd Timothy ch2 vs5.