Gospel Meeting 03/09/2017

1^st  Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians – ch4 vs13 – 18.

“… ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope”.

All people like to hope that good and happy things will come to happen in their lives.

The speaker told of one who was long hoping to spend retirement in comfort in a warmer and more scenic climate.

The foundation of hope is very different to anyone in the world who either does or does not have Jesus Christ as their Saviour...

The "hope" of this world:

People who have not put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ have but a desire of something happening that they hope will become a reality – but it may or may not!

Human strength or will cannot guarantee anything, i.e. a happy and long retirement.

The Word of God "hope":

“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?. But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently”. – Romans ch8 vs23 – 25.

Christians “hope” is founded on the promises of God – fully guaranteed!

“For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth”. –

Psalm ch71 vs5.

God keeps all of His promises, and Christians have the “blessed hope”, KNOWING it will all come to fruition in God’s timing.

What will having this “hope” mean to Christians in the future? –

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall arise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”.

The Revelation ch1 tells us that there shall be no more death, pain or suffering – all tears shall be wiped away… great and wonderful promises!

What does having this “hope” means to Christians now? –

“Let your conversation be without covetousness: and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”.

We need not fear, Jesus Christ is ever with us and providing for us.

Our future is secured for all eternity – and far better than this current world!

However, those unbelievers without Jesus Christ as Saviour are without any hope –

The Revelation ch20 vs11 tells of their horrendous eternal suffering and torment, forever separated from God, for unforgiven sins.

Friend, if you are still without Christ, you have nothing good to look forward to whatsoever. It may be that you are doing so very well at this present time, but you can not take anything with you into eternity –

“Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him”. – Psalm ch49 vs16- 17.

How does anyone obtain “the blessed hope”? –

Be sorry for your sins and turn from them.

Believe that The Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for all your sins, being crucified on Calvary’s Cross, and taking the punishment for them by His sinless sacrifice.

Ask Him to forgive you, and accept Him into your heart and life as your personal Lord and Saviour today.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. –

Romans ch10 vs9.

Another of God’s promises – simple and without any catches like so much in this present world.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”. – 1^st Peter ch1 vs3.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our living hope… He overcame death, rising again!

Friend, accept these most wonderful promises without delay.

Just as with the past global flood, God in a coming day WILL judge all sin.

No man can match God’s holy standards.

However, anyone can enter into Heaven, through belonging to God’s eternal Son - The Lord Jesus Christ.

The world’s hope is very confined in anyone’s abilities, but the Christians blessed hopes are all absolutely guaranteed.

Personally inherit them all today!

Gospel Meeting 27/08/2017.

Matthew’s Gospel ch27 vs27 – 45.

How to spend eternity in Heaven is simple and clear!

There is only the one way – through repentance and putting one’s faith in The Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial work at Calvary’s Cross.

Whether you have had a life of wealth or hardship does not make any difference.

Spiritually, we have all had a bad start, and this is a condition that God cares about deeply.

Our personal sins have greatly displeased God.

Society likes “make the punishment fit the crime”…

Quite rightly, a murderer is deemed to be far worse than someone who has received a parking ticket.

However, ALL sin is abhorrent to God, who cannot sin and is holy and pure.

Sin has to be punished.

Every one of us needs to be rescued and saved from the penalty of our sins.

No one can ever do this by ourselves.

God the Father punished our sins when the sinless Lord Jesus Christ took them all upon Himself on the Cross.

The eternal Son of God, in His great love for us left His holy place in Heaven and came into our wicked world, to go to the Cross and pay the price of all our sins.

This was a most remarkable demonstration of His love for all people – dying in such agony – so that each one of us can be forgiven.

But His salvation has to be personally accepted!

 The Lord Jesus Christ was completely sinless and innocent – the only one who was able to be a holy and acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Through accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you can now have a relationship with God the Father, and a home in Heaven.

Some people say that Jesus Christ was defeated by just a mob of people – but in no way is this true – the Cross of Jesus was always God’s plan of salvation for mankind.

It was not the terrible things that these men did to Jesus that forgives us from our sins, but the punishment that God poured out on Him during the three hours of darkness that covered the land.

Friend, your own sins put Him on the Cross too, and He paid them all.

If you had been the only one, He would still have gone through it all just for you!

Nothing you may have done in the past will put you out of reach of His forgiveness – only come in repentance now and accept Him.

One day, all of us will die, but our soul will live on forever in eternity – fully conscious and remembering.

All will stand before God in judgement –

“And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement”. –

Hebrews ch9 vs27.

Avoid eternal punishment in Hell for unforgiven sins! –

Friend, accept salvation today through The Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s seal of approval was shown in the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The Cross was a magnificent victory over the consequences of our sins!

The only other alternative is to reject Jesus Christ and His offer of free salvation…

It is the speaker’s responsibility to let each listener know the outcome of this decision – Luke's Gospel ch16 tells us that a rich man rejected God and went to Hell, being in torment.

He is still there now in that same condition, and will be for evermore.

Jesus Christ warns us of this most awful place, where all those are who have died without being forgiven of their sins.

Friend, recognise that you too are a sinner, and ask His forgiveness.

Please do this as soon as possible – life is very uncertain and fleeting.

Jesus Christ is returning for all that belong to Him and taking them back to Heaven…

It may be tonight!

Are YOU ready?

Where will YOU spend eternity if He came tonight?

Gospel Meeting 20/08/2017

Luke’s Gospel ch16 vs16 – 34.

In this passage, a man’s eternal destination changed in one very short circumstance,

from being Hell – bound, to having an assurance of Heaven.

Tonight, you too can have your sins forgiven and be sure of spending your eternity in Heaven.

Like this man, the Philippian jailor, you can be saved and know the great change he knew in his life, through accepting Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as your Lord and Saviour.

His atoning sacrifice on the Cross, in the laying down of His own sinless body and giving His blood, forgives us of all our sins to every person who will come believing.

In this chapter, we read of two very contrasting people with different conversions…

Lydia was a rich, religious, respectful woman. She had a simple conversion, her heart being opened by The Lord.

However, the jailor was a rough and tough man, and it took an earthquake to change his heart.

Whatever your own background may be, you too need Jesus Christ as your Saviour!

The Lord had prepared the way for this man’s conversion…

Paul and Silas - despite doing much good – suddenly found things tough.

They were arrested, badly beaten and jailed.

How would you feel and react in these circumstances?

Paul and Silas did not moan about this at all.

On the contrary, at midnight they were praying and singing praises unto God!

They did not only know about God – they KNEW God, through their personal relationship with His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ.

Friend, do you just know ABOUT God and religion, or do you personally KNOW Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, having asked Him into your heart and life?

Is there a point in your life when you said “I accepted and know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour?

The jailor needed to be saved just as much as his prisoners! –

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

Romans ch3 vs23.

Friend, have you realised your own sin problem and your need to be saved from the penalty of them?

“…There is none righteous, no, not one…” –

Romans ch3 vs10.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only answer.

“… the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us from all sin””. –

1^st Epistle of John ch1 vs7.

He is the living Saviour, who overcame the grave and death.

The Philippian jailor was only a second from an eternity in Hell – fearing that the prisoners had fled after the earthquake, he was about to kill himself with his sword and die without his sins being forgiven.

Almost a lost soul for all eternity!

God brought him back from the very brink and saved him.

Hell is the place that we all deserve, but can be saved from it through the great love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

In His great love, The Lord Jesus Christ gave many solemn warnings about this real and awful place, and has provided at Calvary’s Cross the only way to avoid it, and to be able to enter into Heaven.

The jailor was now saved for all eternity!

Friend, what does God need to bring into your life to change your heart and bring you to Christ?

The jailor came from spiritual darkness into light, asking “What must I do to be saved?”.

He came broken and with a contrite heart.

It is a personal question for each of us – “WHAT MUST I DO?” …

“I” – this is your own life’s eternal destination.

Salvation involves a “MUST” –

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST be saved”. – Acts ch4 vs12.

“DO” – requires an action, a step has to be taken.

You can not drift into Heaven, only Hell!

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” – Acts ch16 vs31.

This is a certainty!

The question of being forgiven for your sins has a simple answer –

Realise your guilt, come in repentance, and in faith trust Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross.

Friend, make it personal tonight, like the jailor.

God had not yet finished His work that night however - his family were also saved through hearing the Gospel.

They were then baptised - by full immersion, which is the next step for believers.

A symbol of showing your new life in Christ!

The prisoners also had the opportunity to be saved that night… but there is no mention of them taking it.

Dear friend, have you had opportunities in the past and let them slip away?

Then tonight, grasp it and accept Jesus Christ as you own Lord and Saviour.

He is ready, willing and able to save anyone and everyone.

Gospel Meeting 13/08/2017

“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.

Contained within this verse is the greatest: lover, degree, number, act, gift, invitation, simplicity, person, escape, difference, certainty and destiny.

The largest known object in the universe is a star so colossal that it is about 14,000 times larger than the Sun!

If one was to travel at 1000mph, it would take about 7 million years to reach it!

In space there are billions of galaxies…

Yet God so loved THIS world – His sight’s are upon all of it's people, His creation!

God wants a personal relationship with YOU!

This is through His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, who in love came into this world to be the Saviour of sinners.

There are countless millions of stars and God knows every one of them by name, but is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

As the hymn says “When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there” – will you?

Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost. Have you put your faith and trust in Him for forgiveness of your sins?

He wants you to have that assurance that you are forgiven and going to Heaven.

Jesus Christ suffered immensely at Calvary’s Cross for us all, taking the punishment we deserved for our sins upon His holy self.

He did not stay dead, but arose – His sacrifice for our sins was fully accepted, and the grave was conquered!

Amazing love!

Many authors over centuries have tried to express the person of The Lord Jesus Christ, but there is always so much more to say about this most wonderful Man!

When He spoke those words on The Cross- “It is finished” – Salvations work was done.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest gift ever given – but the gift needs to be personally received by asking Him to be your Lord and Saviour, repenting of your sins. Ask Him today, and know the wonder of God!

The invitation is to all –

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. –

Romans ch10 vs13.

To reject Christ, and die in your sins means you will eternally be in Hell, in torment - same as the rich man, that Jesus Christ spoke of (Luke’s Gospel ch16 vs19 – 31). This man cried out not wanting any of his brothers to end up in the same place. Do not go there!

God wants you to know these truths.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. –

John’s Gospel ch8 vs32.

All who have accepted Christ as Saviour will not be disappointed with Heaven!

All our past heartaches and pains will be left behind, as too will our sins.

The Gospel is simple -  Jesus Christ has removed all our sin.

The evil one wants to remind us of them, but God’s Word clearly tells us –

“…and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin”.

1^st Epistle of John ch1 vs7.

Just as when you pull out the plug and the dirty water is gone forever, so it is with your sins when you accept Christ – he has paid for them and they are no more.

Jesus Christ has the highest name of all –

“…As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God”.

Romans ch14 vs11.

We all need to do the walk as well as the talk…

“…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. –

Luke’s Gospel ch13 vs5.

Knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour brings change from within...

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness temperance”. –

Galatians ch5 vs22 – 23.

Ask The Lord Jesus Christ to come into your heart and change you!

“…him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”. –

John’s Gospel ch6 vs37.

This is a certainty and includes YOU!

“…I go to 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 vs3.

God made the entire universe, but is also making a place for you to live with Him – a sinner saved by grace! What an amazing place that will be!

It is all of Christ and nothing of ourselves –

Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Saviour, or I die. –

Verse from hymn “Rock of Ages”, by A Toplady.

Gospel Meeting 06/08/2017

Luke’s Gospel ch9 vs28 – 35.

Hebrew’s ch1 vs1 – 2.

“This is my beloved Son, hear him”. -

God the Father desires us to hear what He has to say to us, through The Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, many put Jesus Christ on a par with other good people.

They will say that He is only a man –

but Jesus Christ IS God’s Son, displayed in flesh!

When God the Father tells us this is so, and to hear Him, we should all heed and take notice.

Have you listened to what The Lord Jesus Christ has said? -

1) “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…” –

 John’s Gospel ch10 vs9.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only gateway to Heaven.

The door is still wide open today for you to accept.

Simply be sorry for all the wrong things you have done, ask Him to forgive you and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour.

2) “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me”. –

John’s Gospel ch14 vs6.

No amount of religion will ever gain you entry into Heaven.

Neither will good works – many today are still trusting in themselves but their own works will never be good enough – they are still unforgiven sinners!

Friend, what are YOU hoping will get you into Heaven?

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

The Revelation ch1 vs18.

We are not following a dead person, but a glorious living Saviour!

Has He saved YOUR soul?

4) “…I go 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 vs2 – 3.

Friend, is it prepared for you?

Only those who have repented of their sins, and put their faith and trust in the finished work of The Cross by Jesus Christ, can be received. He alone paid the price of everyone’s sin and took our punishment upon Himself in His holy sacrifice, laying down His body and giving His blood.

Jesus Christ alone is able to present us faultless for Heaven, and justifies us through His death and resurrection.

Friend, can you say you are complete in Christ?

He is coming Himself – not sending an angel -  to take all those who love and trust Him to their Heavenly eternal home.

If Christ came today, would He be taking you to Heaven?

5) “… I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”. –

Hebrews ch13 vs5.

The speaker testified that in all the many years he had known Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, although he had failed his Lord many times, his Lord had never failed him or left him.

The Lord Jesus Christ is always there for you, through any circumstance of life.

6) “…I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins”. –

Isaiah ch43 vs25.

 The Lord Jesus Christ has taken away all our sins forever! –

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

Psalms ch103 vs12.

However, judgement is coming for all those who reject Jesus Christ’s offer of forgiveness and die in unbelief.

7) “I never knew you, depart from me”. –

Matthew’s Gospel ch7 vs23.

Dear friend, I hope you never personally hear those words from Jesus Christ.

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

Matthew’s Gospel ch11 vs28.

Friend, come to Jesus just as you are.

Whatever your problems, whatever you situation – bring them to Jesus.

No matter how much of a guilty conscience you may have about your past or present life, Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour will bring you peace and rest!

He will never turn you away, His arms are open wide for you.

Will you listen to His voice tonight?

Will you turn from your sins and accept Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son, as your Lord and Saviour tonight?

"There's a way back to God from the dark paths of sin;

There's a door that is open and you may go in:

At Calvary's cross is where you begin,

When you come as a sinner to Jesus". - 

Chorus by E.H.Swinstead.

Gospel Meeting 30/07/2017

                                                 

Romans ch5 vs1 – 21.

God created man in His own image and likeness.

God gave into man His own breath.

Why did He create man? -

God created man for His own glory.

He wanted us, and provided every requirement for Adam and Eve.

However, Adam failed through disobedience and sin, and lost the deeds of the universe.

From the Garden of Eden until Jesus Christ came, the relationship between God and man was broken, due to man’s sin.

Jesus Christ, God’s Eternal Son, came into the world to restore that relationship.

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour: that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. – Hebrews ch2 vs9.

If you are not sorry for your sins and have not asked Jesus Christ for forgiveness, and  in faith accepted Him as your Saviour, then you will not be going to Heaven – you will be going to Hell.

This truth must be told!

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” –

Acts ch4 vs12.

Three imperatives to be called a Christian, and going to Heaven: 

1) “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. – John’s Gospel ch3 vs3.

2) "...Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven”. –  Matthews Gospel ch18 vs3. 

3) “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. – Luke’s Gospel ch13 vs5.

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

Romans ch5 vs8.

In this verse we have GOD, MAN, and CHRIST mentioned…

GOD:

Created and loves you.

Desires to have a relationship with all mankind.

“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”. –

These words spoken by Jesus Christ from John’s Gospel ch3 vs16 speak of God’s love to you personally…

Dear friend, do you know the love of God?

“We love him, because he first loved us”. –

1^st Epistle of John ch4 vs19.

There is still the opportunity tonight to know The Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.

The speaker told of a lady who was brought up in a Christian home, knew the scriptures, and thought she was a Christian for many years. She was baptised in due course, but it was not until much later at a meeting that the Holy Spirit convicted her, making her realise that she had never actually confessed her sins and asked Christ into her heart as Lord and Saviour… she had still been a sinner with unforgiven sins and needed a Saviour!

Attending church or doing good works will never save you from your sins.

MAN:

… is a sinner –

“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 vs 12.

This is the clear position of all men outside of Christ.

In His great love, Holy God came down to sinful man in the person of The Lord Jesus Christ.

At Calvary’s Cross, holy Jesus Christ laid down His sinless life for us all and was made sin - taking our punishment on Himself.

We can then by personal faith be made righteous through Him and fit to enter Heaven.

CHRIST:

The whole of The Bible is full of Christ!

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. –

Luke’s Gospel ch24 vs27.

Is there a greater message than this? – Christ died for us!

“For by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous”. –

Romans ch5 vs19.

Dear friend, be sure to get right with God tonight, before you lay your head on the pillow.

“But 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 ch53 vs5.

Confess and accept these truths tonight.

Christ is the only way to everlasting life in Heaven.

Gospel Meeting 23/07/2017

St. John’s Gospel ch4 vs1 – 30, 39 – 42.

vs4) “And he must needs go through Samaria”…

A strange statement as the Jewish people were taught by the Rabbi’s not to even set a foot on Samaritan soil.

They went on huge time – consuming detours around the land when making journeys.

But this one was a God – ordained command.

Jesus Christ had an appointment to make, although those involved were not yet to know.

The Lord had lost sheep to meet.

He revealed more about Himself to the Samaritan woman compared with many Jews that He met and talked with.

We have been blessed with many great preachers through the ages, but The Lord Jesus Christ is the best evangelist ever!

When speaking to her, He was not bound by the many cultural issues at that time between the Jews and Samaritans.

He was out to win her heart – and such was the impact that her much needed water bowl was left behind as she ran home to share her exciting news.

She had no doubts about who The Lord told her He was -  the one she spoke of -  Messias, which is called Christ.

Upon hearing the news from the woman, many others in the Samaritan city also believed in The Lord Jesus Christ, after He abode with them for two days.

vs42) “…Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves and KNOW that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world”.

The Samaritans came from a corruption of true religion.

They talked about God, but worshipped idols.

With their background it was amazing that the woman knew that vs25) “Messias cometh, which is called Christ”.

It was nothing short of a miracle of grace!

The Samaritans were taught that only the first five books of The Bible had any relevance – all the rest were but error.

So it is today – many groups have false and wrong teachings, but it is a great encouragement to all, that God can still save those who have been in corrupted religions.

When asked the question “How do you defend The Holy Bible”, Charles Spurgeon replied “Treat it like a roaring lion!. Get the truth out and say it as it is!”

The prophets delighted in His Word and its power.

Jesus Christ would have told the Samaritans about His written Word, and of the true, righteous ways of God.

The Holy Bible is the inspired record of God’s revelation.

God is not worshipped through idols.

He is worshipped in spirit through the heart.

God provided the complete remedy for our sins in His own Son, Jesus Christ.

There is no other way – He will not respond favourably to those who try to go about their own way of Salvation, having self – interest or enjoying their sins.

Personal repentance of sins and faith in His Son is wholly required.

All else is refusing God’s grace, provided through His beloved Son.

The Lord Jesus Christ unlocked the Samaritan woman’s heart with kindness, gentleness and dignity.

The citizens saw grace in The Lord Jesus Christ, who revealed Himself as Saviour of the world.

Within two years he was arrested – “guilty” of one “offence” – for being who He was, the Son of God.

This and what followed looked like weakness, but God was ever in control from the beginning, doing His work through the evil of these men

Jesus Christ laid down His sinless life, dying on The Cross for the sins of all people including you and the speaker.

Forgiveness of sins and an eternal home in Heaven is available to ALL who will believe and put their own trust in the work of The Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no hope in placing your trust in anything or anyone else in this world, other than God’s Son.

What a privilege and blessing these Samaritans had, and the woman was thrilled with her encounter with The Lord Jesus!