Author: Penuel Baptist Roch

September 27th 2024: Harvest Service Martin Williams

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Psalm 24

This is a psalm of David. Most people believe the psalm was written when David brought the Ark to Jerusalem. This song begins and ends with a harvest theme. It is a psalm that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to focus on 4 points:

  1. God owns this world.

The earth is the Lord‘s and the fullness thereof,
    the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
    and established it upon the rivers.

This world and everything in it is all owned by God. This is because He created it. We have a God who created all. We are not here to celebrate by accident; the seasons are a result of an almighty, all gracious God, the one true living God. These two verses teach that the world is created by God’s handiwork. All things were created by Him. The New Testament reminds us in John chapter 1, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” We also read in Colossians 1, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

It is wonderful to remember we live in a world created by God and sustained by God. What an almighty God we have, an all-wise God, to create such complexity. He must be a beautiful God. We live in a fallen, cursed world. But even then, we can see such beauty, especially as we look around the Pembrokeshire landscapes. He is worthy to be worshipped. It was for His pleasure all things were created (Revelation 4).

  • The Psalmist then asks, ‘Who may come before this God?’

    “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
        And who shall stand in his holy place?
    4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
        who does not lift up his soul to what is false
        and does not swear deceitfully.
    5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
        and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
    6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
        who seek the face of the God of Jacob.    ”

It is one of the most important questions any of us can ask. How may I draw near to this God and know Him?

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
    And who shall stand in his holy place?

Why is that place called a holy place? Because God dwells there! God is a God of absolute, inflexible holiness. God is light, in Him is no darkness. Our God is an all-consuming fire. That describes His holiness. If a sinner stood before Him, His holiness would consume us. Who will stand in this holy place? We are told exactly who can come,

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not lift up his soul to what is false
    and does not swear deceitfully.”

God will accept those with clean hands which show outward action, outward life – a life where there is no sinful action whatsoever. But we have stained hands. Outwardly, we have not lived a life in conformity to Lord God. We don’t have a wholehearted obedience. We don’t have clean hands by nature.

But it goes deeper – “He who has a pure heart.” Our God is a God who looks upon the heart (1 Samuel 16). Our hearts by nature are sinful, vile, evil. God requires truth, “He who has not lifted up his soul to an idol.” Lifting up your soul is to trust in God, but we have lifted up our souls to false gods and idols. What occupies your thoughts? What brings you the greatest joy? Is it family, work, your bank balance, your reputation? That is lifting up your heart to vanity. God requires you to worship Him and Him alone. We come to the conclusion, none of us could stand before this God in and of ourselves.

  • The Lord Jesus Christ is able to bring us to God.
    “He will receive blessing from the Lord
        and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”     (v.5).

‘He.’ There is only One who could do this. None of us could, but there is one – the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s Son came into this world and said, “I delight to do the will of God.” Look at His life and see a life of sinless perfection. Here is a man with clean hands and a pure heart. He is one who completely and wholly kept the word of God. Even His enemies spoke of Him in this way.

The remarkable truth is when Jesus Christ honoured God’s law, He honoured it for you and me, in our place. In His life and death, He died as our representative. When He was in this world, as He rendered to the Father in wholehearted obedience, He was earning righteousness for all those who believe in Him.

We have broken the law, “The wages of sin is death.” The Lord Jesus Christ, upon Calvary’s cross, honoured to the law in another way. In His death He honours the law by bearing it’s just penalty for those who have broken it. He bore our curse, our debt, the judgement of God. On Calvary’s cross the Lord Jesus Christ endured the fire of God’s holiness. When Moses stood before the burning Bush he was not consumed. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ was our burning bush, raging in His holy soul. Yet, He was not consumed. In His Life and in His death, He honours the Lord God for you and me.

When we come and wholly trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive pardon for our sins. God cannot demand twice. The great transaction is done. We are then clothed in righteousness divine. God sees my sin has been pardoned. He sees me righteous as Jesus is, pure as Jesus is. The robe covers me completely. God sees me in Christ, righteous. In that way, I can approach God – something no Jew could do in the Old Testament, let alone the high priest once a year. But we can enter into the holiest through the Lord Jesus Christ – not once a year but every day. By myself, I cannot stand before God, but through Christ Jesus I can.

  • The triumph of all in Christ.

“Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord, strong and mighty,
    the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And lift them up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord of hosts,
    he is the King of glory!” Selah

We see in these final verses the entrance of Christ into heaven. The cry goes out twice. This tells us the everlasting doors will open for Christ twice. The first time has already happened,

“Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord, strong and mighty,
    the Lord, mighty in battle!”

This took place at the Ascension. The one who has gained a victory, triumphed in the battle. A mighty battle was fought at Calvary and He gained the victory. Now the triumph begins. The King of glory returns. He comes to reign, to intercede for His people.

But then in verses 9 to 10 we read of the ‘Lord of hosts,’ the Lord with a vast army coming in His train. When will this happen? There is a day coming when our Lord shall descend, when He will come for His people. He will come to bring them home – a harvest reaped (1 Thessalonians 4).

There is a day coming when they will be a shout from heaven. The king of glory is coming with a vast host of people, so numerous no man can count them. They will come in triumph. He will be bringing His harvest home. Will you be among that throng? Will you be there? I pray that each and every one will be. But if you are not sure, if you haven’t got clean hands and a pure heart, if you haven’t truly trusted in Jesus Christ, what do you need to do? My friends, simply this – turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face. Turn from the life you are living and turn and trust in Him. Trust in Him alone.

Our Lord does not play hide and seek. He is freely available. If you want Christ, you can have Him, no matter how young or old you are. You can know the certainty you will be among the harvest on that great last day.

September 15th 2024: John Mann

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1 Samuel 21:1-9 Faith in difficult times

Liars need good memories! Having lied once, the second time is easier, the third one easier still. David, God’s chosen king, is finding life difficult. Saul has become very jealous of David and has sought to take David’s life. David is finding the way hard and it is damaging his integrity. Fear is chipping away at David’s principles. His walk with God is compromised.

Sadly, lying is becoming a habit. David is seeking to escape from Saul. As he plans his escape his says to his friend Jonathan, “If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’” (1 Samuel 20:6). It is a blatant lie, a total fabrication. He is concocting a false alibi. In so doing, he makes Jonathan complicit in the deceit as well. The world would say, ‘The end justifies the means. Needs must, a white lie causes no harm.’ But the Bible is very clear – we are to be truthful at all times, even those times when we find the going difficult.

David escapes under rives in the town of Nob, where the Tabernacle has been established and where the priests are there to carry out their daily duties. He arrives not far short of destitute – virtually nothing and no one with him. He hopes to find some assistance in the Tabernacle. Ahimelech is a friend, but he is anxious. He knows Saul is out for David’s blood. It is also the Sabbath day. David would not normally travel alone on this day. David senses Ahimelech’s mind. He is afraid he won’t give him the help he needs so he invents a pack of lies, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” (v2-3). He says he is on a hush-hush mission. David comes to the priest for support and food.

Fear has lowered his standards. Desperation and deception have overcome his faith and his trust in God. On many occasions God has proved His faithfulness to David: spared him from harm, protected his life. This is the man who took on and defeated Goliath, the ten foot giant. God had appointed Samuel to anoint him to be the king of Israel. You would think David would feel untouchable, knowing that he is under the protection of the sovereign God. But he is suffering from spiritual amnesia. God’s goodness has become a dim and a distant memory. He is depending on own initiative and his own ingenuity to see him through this difficult time. He has decided to go it alone without seeking God’s help. He resorts to deception and lies.

We cannot justify David’s actions, but we are in no position to criticise. We have all felt the heat and burden of the day in our Christian lives. Do I deal with anxiety any better than David when the pressure is on? Does fear and anxiety get to me? Where is my first port of call when things get difficult? Is it the throne of grace?

We can learn from David’s failure. We go through the trials. If we turn to the Lord, we can find Him closer than ever. He is our God. He is faithful, shaping us more into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4). That is God’s invitation as He takes us through difficulties. It is always for our good. When the Lord leads us down difficult paths, it is always for our own good and blessing. There may be torrents of hardship, floods of sadness, but God will always keep our heads above water and be with us. We won’t be completely consumed. If there are hardships that come your way, we need to look to Him, the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:26-27). These are the promises of Jesus Himself. Every promise is a blessing to us, and we should hold onto them.

David’s circumstances were desperate and he had legitimate concerns. He fell into the trap of falling away from the Lord. Thankfully, God never took His eyes from David, or from us. David is hungry but all Ahimelech has is the holy bread of presence. The loaves were renewed every Sabbath day, but they were only to be eaten by Aaron and his sons, the priests. The bread also pointed forward to God’s great provision, that of satisfying our spiritual hunger. “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35-40).

In Bible times bread was the staple diet of the people for physical existence and well-being. Without the bread of life, Jesus, there is no possibility of spiritual life. He is fundamental and essential to our eternal existence. If we refuse to feed on Him by faith, then we starve ourselves of life and we will be afflicted, as David was. Are you feeding upon the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you looking to Him for your spiritual and eternal well-being?

David’s need is legitimate; he is suffering from real hardship and is desperate. He requires assistance. God had made provision for such circumstances. Compassion and kindness is more important than the law. The law was an incentive to lead them in God’s ways, but not a set of handcuffs to bind the people. There was no allowance which permitted anyone but Aaron and his sons to eat the bread. But the spirit of the law allows love and compassion.

“One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28).

The Levitical law gave Jesus the right to pick the grain for those who were hungry and in need. God makes provision for all our needs. He provides that spiritual help and strength in times of difficulty. Jesus came to be the instigator and fulfiller of the new covenant. Praise God the Lord Jesus came and did what we could not do for ourselves. All that the Lord does is to reveal our sin and show us the need for salvation. Jesus came to obey the law for us. It frees us from the condemnation of sin. We are a privileged people. God has drawn us, opened our eyes to see the need for salvation.

For David, in his desperate situation, he was entitled to eat of the bread from the Tabernacle. But, as a result of David’s deceit, if we read on, so much grief and tragedy resulted. For us, as believers, obedience to God’s law is important. But now, it is written on our hearts. Jesus has fulfilled that law. We should have a desire and honour to please Him.

We cannot use grace as an excuse to live our lives as we please. God’s commandments show He wants us to live in accordance to His ways. He wants us to be good ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We should long to walk in God’s ways. We should have total reliance on the promises of God.

For unbelievers, failing to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, their situation is even more desperate than David’s. They are eternal souls are in grave danger. God says you are invited, welcome to eat of the bread of life.

Satan is the father of lies. He will whisper deceit into our minds. Don’t believe this nonsense that you can get by on your own. None of us are good enough to come into the presence of a holy, righteous God, unless we are covered in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you clothed in garments of salvation?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Look only to the one who says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  If we are children of the living God we have that wonderful, eternal future that lies before us, when we will see Him, our Saviour, face to face.

September 8th 2024: Nathan Munday

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John 7:37-52. John 8:12

Do you remember the light? It is so dark already! Come with me to Jerusalem, to a festival of remembrance, a week of people gathering from near and far to celebrate the longest festival in the Jewish calendar – the Feast of Tabernacles (7:2). The people are remembering a time of movement, (the tents), a time of salvation, (when they were saved), and a time of reliance on God. The festival was a time of celebration of God’s provision for Israel in the wilderness, the old desert, the Sinai desert, which was instrumental in their history.

In the gospel of John, the writer has been weaving the wilderness narrative. In chapter 6 the 5,000 had been fed, bread is provided, just like the manna was provided in the wilderness. Jesus then declares, “I am the bread of life.”

In John chapter 7:37-39 the Feast of Tabernacles is underway and they remember how God provided water in the wilderness. They perform a ceremonial water drawing. Jesus steps in again and says, “I am the one that will give living water.”

In chapter 8, Christ Jesus steps into the dark and says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12).

Come now with me to the scene. It is dark. It’s the end of the festival. We are in the court of the women. In the temple lots of people gathering. Along the walls there are chests with coins, maybe they are glimmering in the light of the great candelabras. There are lots of burning light, four huge lamps in that space. Imagine Jerusalem being in darkness, but the light is beaming out from the temple during the festival. People are dancing through the night with torches, trying to re-enact the time when God had been a pillar of fire for them, guiding them through their desert days. When the festival is nearing the end, the lights are being extinguished. Darkness ensues. Another festival over. But it is then, after the dark, Jesus proclaims, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Remember this verse, in the dark, when you are dying, when the hopeless Red Sea of death is before you, when God is guiding us through the sea to the promised land.

John is shining a big spotlight on Jesus of Nazareth. Remember:
1. Who the Light is.
2. Why that Light was necessary.
3. What we are to do with that light.

  1. Let us remember who that light really is.

“I am.” Charged words! When we read these words we should remember the prophet Moses, who heard at the burning bush, ““I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14). There is no other God. He simply is, was and will be. Hundreds of years later, the Israelites saw this God in action – the one who opened the sea, the same Lord who led them personally to a better land, a better country, the Promised Land. He reminded them throughout, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” (Psalm 27:1). He is the one who provides light in the darkness. This is the God who saves people from oppression, from dark situations. Is that you this morning? This is God who deals with guilt – past, present and future. This is a God who led the people of Egypt.

But John goes further back at the end of his gospel, which is written so that we may believe in Him, “This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” (John 21:24).

John mirrors the creation in his writing, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5). The second person of the Trinity, who interrupted the darkness of the beginning of the book of Genesis, who is the same one who can interrupt your darkness here today. Jesus is the Light of the world. He is the light of everything. He is the true light, true light that lasts forever. John is saying that Jesus Christ is better than candles! He is what the candles are pointing to. Our life is like a flower that fades. Time is kicking. By nature, our life will run out. What happens then? Remember who He is – an answer to the darkness of life, to the end of life.

  • Remember why the light was necessary.

Before He came, there was death. He has power over death. He is the one man in history who stormed out of death. The bible tells us, our ancestors tell us, we fell. We need light. The world needs light. Pembrokeshire needs light. Habakkuk 3:3-4 talks of God’s splendour like sunrise. The prophet Malachi talks of the sun of righteousness, “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”  (Malachi 4:2). Malachi is talking about end times but also the experience of a Christian; when you are converted taken from one realm and put in another. You are no longer a creature of darkness, you are a creature of the day. If you are a Christian, you are already saved. You are being saved and will be saved at the end.

Reject Jesus and your doom is already written. When the Son comes back, are you a creature of night or walking in the day? By nature, we’re walking in the dark. But the good news of the gospel is that God interrupted that darkness. Salvation is of the Lord. God, in His mercy, calls you. Jesus of Nazareth interrupts. He strides into darkness and says, ‘I’m here.’

Paul calls us stars in the sky. Isn’t that lovely! The dust of earth, you and I, can come to know Him. He came to save. Remember why He came. It was for you, to led you out of darkness.

3. What are we to do?

When the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt, can you imagine them wanting to return there? But that’s what many people are doing. They have been told about the Light but reject Jesus. They will not follow Him or walk in that light. They do not want Jesus Christ to rule over them because they will have to change. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  The first statement is stunning! He is the light of the world. The proof is in the whole story of Jesus Christ. There is an immediate consequence to Jesus’ words, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.” What is He saying?

After the festival, turn to Chapter 9. He will give sight to the blind. Only God can do that. Chapter 11 – it gets better. Lazarus is raised from the darkness of death. Only God can do that. In chapter 13 we see He will wash the disciples’ feet. Then we hit the darkest point of the whole gospel in chapter 19. The very embodiment of light and life is arrested, beaten in my place, taken up a hill to the place of execution – the cruellest form of execution. He is stripped, nailed and lifted up on a Roman cross. Darkness. The sun disappears for three hours. This is a day of judgement. The Light takes our sin upon Himself. The Father turns His face away. Even the sun darkens as the Light of the World dies. He breathed His last that you might breathe forever. He is the great High Priest who goes into the holy place, but He is also the sacrifice.

Remember the one who was born into a dark world, who bore your darkness, who experienced my hell so I would never have to go there. But darkness could not hold Him. He was raised from the dark on Easter Sunday. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” What He has done for a Christian is guaranteed. A follower of Jesus lives.

Are you in the dark this morning? God Himself says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12).

I would rather look forward to a real land of light. We are heading to a new creation, when we will be face to face with Jesus. Will you know Him? Remember who Jesus is, why He came and to follow Him all the way. Are you following the Light today into the promised land? The lamb is the lamp. The glory of God gives light.

September 1st 2024: Phil Swann

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John 9

This wonderful, dramatic account reminds us that the gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to a new life. Here is a man born blind, who, as a result of Jesus’ intervention, can now see. He is repeatedly referred to as the man who was born blind. The point is made, he is no longer blind – there is a radical transformation.

As we read this passage, we see that all is not well for this man as a result of what Jesus has done in his life. We can see a problem, difficulties. The two themes of Christ’s blessing and the challenge of living in the light of that, is a major theme in this chapter.

At the heart of the Christian gospel is the invitation for you and me to say, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ Against the backdrop of the New Testament, of the Roman Empire, there was huge pressure for people to say that Caesar was lord, to acknowledge him as the name above all names. The Christian gospel calls us not to acknowledge men but to acknowledge Christ, who is both God and Man. The phrase, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ is the reminder that we have come to Him in faith. We no longer live our lives serving Caesar, we say, ‘Jesus is Lord’.

In John’s gospel we see a lot of hostility towards Jesus (John 7:1, 19, 25). Chapter 8 ends with an assassination attempt. In Chapter 7 we see an attempt to physically arrest Jesus. Twice we’re told He is under official surveillance. In John’s gospel there is growing hostility towards Jesus. There is also increasing opposition to His teaching (7:15). List of all, we are told in chapters 7 and chapters 8 people say He is demon-possessed, that He is not the Christ.

Why was there such hostility towards Jesus, the friend of sinners? The great reason is His clear claim to be the Messiah. The religious authorities reject this. There is a long war against Jesus. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, in chapter 1 he reminds people, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18). He goes on to say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” (1 Corinthians 1:19). The message of the gospel does that – it challenges, destroys the preconceptions that we have as human beings, about the world, life, ourselves, God. The gospel comes as an intrusion into that. Just as Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah is a massive intrusion into the established Jewish thinking of His day.

As we come to this chapter, we see Jesus responding to the need in this man’s life in a remarkable way. We see that this story is in four parts:

The healing by Jesus
The response of the neighbours
Interrogation by the Pharisees
The follow-up by our Lord and Saviour of this man.

It is a very moving account.

The healing by Jesus (v1-7)
 This man has only ever known blindness. The disciples, when they see him, ask a curious question, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (v.2). The assumption is he is blind because someone has sinned. But Jesus’ response tells them, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (v3.). Jesus then heals him. It is rather dramatic. The blind man is a new man. He is transformed, suddenly and wonderfully.

The reaction of the neighbours (v8-12).
 We see a very human response. They struggled to make sense of it. A conversation goes on. People ask, “How were your eyes opened?” (v.10). How is it that they saw him shuffling down the road that morning, blind, bow he sees?

Interrogation by the Pharisees.
This leads to the interrogation by the Pharisees. It’s unpleasant. The evidence appears compelling (v.15). But then we see the healing is denied. The Pharisees were divided amongst themselves. A consensus happens – they refused to accept Jesus of Nazareth had power to do these things. (v.16). They thought there must be another explanation (v18) and thought the man had not been blind and received his sight.

They then called for his parents. Maybe they had rejected him after birth (v.20). The parents do not rejoice that they a son has now received his sight; they just want to get away from the Pharisees. They were afraid of the religious authorities (v.22). The man is not only interrogated by the Pharisees and surrounded by the confusion of his neighbours, he is effectively rejected by his parents and finds himself in a very bleak situation.

When you pull these reactions together you see a pattern of what we often see from people when we seek to bring the news of Christ to them. When we seek to share the gospel, people may be confused. We may experience hostility from some. We may even experience rejection from some.

The fourth movement in this account is most wonderful and glorious. Jesus has been present at the beginning of the chapter. He heals the man then seems to disappear. It’s all about the man, his neighbours, the Pharisees and his parents. That’s the bulk of this chapter – until we read in verse 35 that the man had been thrown out of the synagogue. Being thrown out of the synagogue was a really serious thing, effectively becoming an outcast in the whole community. You are regarded as being unrighteous, a pariah. People would not have wanted to have had anything to do with you at all. You were little better than a leper. This man could see, but now he is incredibly lonely and facing the full rejection of the whole community.

Against that backdrop we read, “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9:35). The phrase, ‘The Son of Man’ is an important one. It’s a phrase that has it roots in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Daniel. One of the visions that Daniel sees is of Christ, the second person of the Godhead, in all His glory and He is referred to as looking like a son of man. When Jesus uses that phrase, He is using it in a theological way to speak of Himself as being the Messiah.

“Do you believe in the Son of Man?” What could make all the rejection that this man had gone through, worth it? The man expresses his ignorance (v.36). Jesus draws attention to Himself (v.37). The man came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (v.38).

What difference should this passage make to you and me? We see the centrality of Jesus. He is central to the blind man, to the neighbours, to the Pharisees, to us. When God is at work, Christ is always central. The Son was sent to do the will of the Father. In all the works of God that go on in the world, Jesus Christ is always at the centre. It is He who answers the disciples’ question about blindness. It is He who calls Himself the Light of the World (v.4). It reminds us that as long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who was sent. Jesus Christ is the centre of the purposes of God, who sent Him into the world with the fullness of the Spirit. It is Jesus who is the centre of everything.

In the church, in all that we do and in all that we seek to do, particularly in our relationship with the unbelieving world around us, we need to make sure that Jesus Christ is the centre of everything. Not just the centre in our praying and in the acknowledgement of the need of God’s blessing upon what we do, but to be the centre of all that we do. When we have opportunities to speak to people about our faith, we need to make sure they hear of Jesus Christ – why He came and what He’s done. We need to point people to Jesus Christ, the one who transforms life.

As well as the centrality of Jesus, we see the power of Jesus. If we would see life and growth in the church, if we would see change and impact into the communities around us, it will be because the focus is on Jesus – for that is where the power is. The power is the power of the Holy Spirit whose great passion is to glorify the Son

The healing of the blind man is utterly supernatural. This reminds us of the radical nature of Biblical Christianity. Paul says the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but power. “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20). That power is seen in bringing people out of the wisdom of this world to faith in Jesus Christ.

The message we have is proclaim Jesus Christ, who has been raised from the dead. It is ultimately a message of power. Coming to an awareness of the reality of sin is not natural. We need the power of God to do that. What can convince neighbours, friends, you, that you’re a Sinner? The power of God. The church is confident is always in the Holy Spirit. How can we imagine the community of Roch being saved? Humanly speaking, it can’t. But the church rests on the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the gospel. This is why we need a big vision. We must never be comfortable with the way things are.

We see power most clearly in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian’s life, having come to see and know Christ, is to be lived for the glory of God. “Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (v.3). To many, this statement is offensive to modern thinking. Why? Jesus is saying, ‘This man was born blind that one day the glory of god might be seen in his life.’ This is seen through his healing. It is being seen now as we recount these words 2,000 years later.

Our lives are to be lived for the glory of God. What is the glory of God? The glory of God is God being God – God doing what only God can do. God acting in ways that only He can act. This is to be seen in your life and in my life as Christians. This is why we are called to live now according to the word of God. We are to live lives which show the fruit of the Spirit. We are to live sacrificially, loving our enemies. We live following Jesus Christ, being more and more like Jesus Christ.

This passage ends on a most wonderful moment. The man who was being rejected by his parents, the religious leaders and confused neighbours, ends with the compassion of Christ. With almost total rejection, Jesus finds him and, in His hum humanity, Jesus didn’t know where he was. He looked for him and went to him in love and compassion. The question, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ Jesus is asking, ‘Was it all worth it?’

The answer is ultimately new life in Jesus Christ. He saw. His understanding was opened. Jesus tells him He is the Son of Man, the Messiah, Christ, and to worship Him, trust Him and come to Him.

Whatever might be the consequences for us living for Christ in this world, of acknowledging His centrality, His uniqueness, wherever His power may take us, He is always compassionate towards His people.

August 25th 2024: Jonny Raine

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Isaiah 52:13 – 53

In a town there is a rule that every man must be clean shaven. Everyone who does not shave themselves must be shaved by the barber. There is only one barber in the town who only shaves people who do not shave themselves. This creates a problem for the barber. Who shaves the barber? The barber must be shaved but he cannot shave himself because the barber only shaves people who do not shave themselves. What can he do? The mathematician and philosopher Bertram Russell came up with that paradox.

A paradox is when two things are true but contradict each other, they don’t really go well together. They are against each other, but they are both true, so they have to go together. Sometimes, we find such profound things in the Bible that they fall into this category. The passage that we are looking at has 5 paradoxes – 5 pairs of things that are both true, but also go against each other.

Isaiah is in two halves. Isaiah chapter 40 onwards begins the second half. From chapter 40 onwards a figure is introduced, called the Servant. God’s servant was supposed to be Israel, God’s people in the first half of the Bible. They were supposed to be His servant for the nation, to take God’s blessing to the nations. But they failed in that because of their own sin. So, God is promising through this Servant figure in the second half of Isaiah, that He will send His own Servant who would both bring about the forgiveness for Israel for their own sin, but also bring God’s blessing to the nations. Who is this Servant? Jesus. Only Jesus could do what was needed. Only Jesus could bring about the forgiveness of sin for God’s people, not only to Israel but to all of the nations. Blessings are being included in God’s people through forgiveness. Only Jesus could fit the bill of the Servant of God. How He is going to do that, is what this Servant Song is all about.

In this Servant Song we have 5 contrasting images of this Servant, of Jesus.

  1. He will be elevated through degrading.

To elevate is to make much of. Think of the influencers in our society. When was the last time someone famous was ugly? The ugly ones are rare. Normally, people we lift up are attractive people. The path of elevation for the Servant is through degrading. In chapter 52:13-15 we see He Will be elevated but many will be appalled. He will be injured so much that His appearance will be disfigured. He will be exalted. He will be worshipped. But in order to get there He must go through a path of being beaten so badly that He will be barely recognisable. The paradox is that He will be elevated but it is through being degraded.

  • Power through rejection.

The second image takes this further. There will be power through rejection. We read in chapter 53 this question, “Who has believed our message?” The message is what we have just been told. Who is going to believe that paradox? That just doesn’t happen. This is followed by a parallel question, “To whom is the arm of the Lord being revealed?” In other words, how is God’s strength going to be shown? The arm of the Lord is His strength. Often, our power is in our arms. How is God’s strength going to be revealed through His Servant, because this doesn’t look like power?

If we think about those in our society who are the most powerful – the super wealthy, the tech world and industry, the business leaders in our world – they don’t get to these positions of power through rejection. Normally, they get to positions of power through being the most powerful person. They will have faced rejection at some point in the process, but the actual getting to the position of power requires being the popular person. Politicians have to have the support of the party and the support of the country. They have to be popular with the people in order to lead.

But the means of God’s power being exercised is through the One who will be despised and rejected (v.3). He will experience suffering. That’s how God’s power works. It is not on the surface level of just popularity. It is on a deeper level. There is nothing superficial about God’s power. It is not just about popularity or appearance.

This should help us share the good news about Jesus. It should give us confidence. We don’t have to have the nicest church building, the greatest marketing campaign. God’s power came through rejection – rejection of God’s Son.

  • Serving through substitution.

The Servant Song is like the holy part of Isaiah. Verse 4-6 is the holiest part. How will God save His people? One is going to die in place of another. He took our pain. He took our suffering (v.4). The suffering that Jesus endured was our suffering.

Why did He have to suffer? “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brough us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (v.5). He had no sin, no iniquities, no transgressions. Our sin, our iniquities, our transgressions caused Jesus to suffer. It should have been our suffering. Yet Jesus took our sin upon Himself and suffered in our place.

For sin there is a punishment that is deserved. Only when that punishment is spent can peace with God finally be established. That peace is not brought about by us being punished for our own sin because we could not be punished enough. Jesus was punished on our behalf. Verse 6 explains this further. We have got lost, gone our own way. As we have wandered rebelliously away, that sin was laid on Jesus, the suffering servant. Jesus is our substitute. He stands in place of us and takes the punishment for us. He suffers for us. He pays for our sins because we cannot pay for them ourselves.

We have a choice. We can endure eternal punishment for sin we cannot pay for ourselves, or we can choose to have Jesus pay for our sin on our behalf, our substitute. If you have never made that choice, please, today accept Jesus has died for you so your sin can be forgiven. We can only be saved when we know Jesus died in our place.

  • Atonement through submission

For most people, if you knew you were going to suffer a violent and humiliating death, you would fight for an escape. Death is not good. Ever. But Jesus, as He faced death, did so knowing how painful it would be. But still He went willingly, submitting Himself to the cross.

Verse 7 foretells of Him,
“He was oppressed and afflicted,
 yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.”
(Isaiah 53:7).

Being given over to death was like a lamb being given over to slaughter. We see the theme of sacrifice – the sacrifices that were made in the temple. We see the theme of substitution. For the Israelites in the first half of the Bible they needed a lamb to die for sacrifice in their place. Atonement is when sin is taken away and people are made right with God. Jesus made atonement for us. He was killed and buried, even though He was innocent. He did that willingly. Why? For the transgressions of His people. (8b).

  • Life through death.

According to the plan of the Father, in order to save His people, someone needed to die – one who would then rise again from death. At His ascension, He was lifted up from death to life and glory – all because He was willing to bring about forgiveness. He shares His life with all who will follow Him.

If Jesus has done all of that, how to be respond? We ensure the benefits of what Jesus has secured are for us. Have you truly accepted Jesus has died for you? Have you truly accepted that He bore your sin upon the cross and that you could be forgiven? If you have grown cold in your faith and have doubts, come back to the cross, to see what Jesus did on your behalf. Will you accept Jesus today and make this message your own? Will you come to Him and say, ‘Sorry God, I have done so much wrong. Will you please forgive me for my sins?’

The second response is to have such great joy and delight in your life in what has been done for you, that we let this dwell within our hearts. Are you filled with joy? You should be! Will it overwhelm us? It should do. A willing servant was able to go to the cross and die in our place for our forgiveness. That should fill us with a sense of joy and delight.

August 4th 2024: 202nd Anniversary Service – Adrian Brake

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2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2

We have great news to proclaim to a very unhappy world. We are all by nature separated from God, our Creator. It is only when we have a relationship with Him that we can know love, joy, peace and purpose. It is possible for sinners to come into a soul-refreshing relationship with an eternal God, and enjoy all the blessings the world craves but cannot get for themselves.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

The message God declares is not a message that church crafted over the centuries. It is something that has come directly from God. It is a message God wants us to hear. How are people going to hear it? We have to put our faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for sinners. How can people hear about Jesus Christ? How is the world to know of the need, the way of reconciliation? God has given the news to His people and it is our responsibility to make it public (v19-20). This is true of all who follow the apostles. We have work to do, a task entrusted to us by God. Isn’t that amazing!

“Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (2 Corinthians 6:1). Only He can bring sinners to Himself, but He gives us a part in this work and the joy that comes from it. A joint enterprise with God! By His grace we are workers together with Him. We are ambassadors for Christ – only saying what God wants us to say, word for word. We simply say what God has said without fear or favour. Remarkable!

It is those who have been reconciled that God gives the message of reconciliation to. We have been where unrepentant sinners have been, and can say we wouldn’t want to be again out of fellowship with God, under His wrath. If anyone can understand the message of reconciliation it is us because we have tasted it firsthand. Also, we know the joy that could be theirs, if they would only come to Christ.

What qualification do we need to be an ambassador for Christ? Quite simply, ourselves. That we are reconciled. Once we are reconciled, we become reconcilers. How did Paul go about this work? What was his manner and motives?

Paul’s Manner.
Paul implored people. God chooses our voices, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Paul implores the people. He begs them and presses upon them with all the force within him. Why was Paul so passionate? He implores them to be reconciled with God.

Paul was well aware he was working against the clock (2 Corinthians 6:1). There is a time when people will be reconciled. There is an acceptable time, a day of salvation, “In a favourable time I listened to you,
    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 
(2 Corinthians 6:2).

That is good news! The door is open. You can be forgiven. But there is an implication – when there is a day when the door will be closed. We work against the clock. Now we have the freedom to preach the gospel. God’s door is open. If we call on the name of the Lord we shall be saved. But, when Christ comes, there will be no more opportunities. There is a time coming when those who are estranged now will be cast from the presence of the Lord. Do we ever think of that? If they do not come to Christ, they will go to hell and experience the full weight of God’s wrath. We have the message that can deliver them. With that in mind, Paul pleads with the people to repent.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, never did come, it seems, to real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a friendship with George Whitfield, the great evangelist. He liked to go and hear Whitfield preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone once asked him, ‘Why do you keep going to hear him preach when you don’t believe what he says?’ His answer was, ‘I don’t believe what he says, but he does. I can see he that.’ When we speak of hell and heaven, a God we must come to for forgiveness, do we feel what we say? Are we imploring people to come to Lord Jesus?

Paul’s Motives.
“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.” (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).

Paul says he is motivated, driven because we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ. Unbelievers will have to appear before the judgement seat of Christ and answer for their sins. What a devastating thing that will be. Paul says knowing what is coming to the ungodly, I must speak.

Also, Paul says, ‘We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.’ Paul says because of that, we make it our aim to be well pleasing to Him. Paul includes himself here. We will not appear before God for our sins to be judged if we are the disciples of Jesus Christ; our sins have already been judged in Jesus Christ at Calvary. Our sins deserve to be judged and they are judged. Our sins are punished. Our sins are answered for. The glory of the gospel is that Jesus Christ answered for them instead of us. God called His Son to account for our sins instead of us. We must not live in fear our sins will be judged at the end. They have been answered for through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But we will appear before Christ to answer for our service to Him. Your salvation is not in the balance. If we are trusting in Christ we will live with Him in glory. But we have to give an account of the use we have made of the gifts He gave us, of the opportunities that were given. We will have to give an account of what we have done with the life that He redeemed from the pit. It appears in scripture that there will be rewards. It seems the responsibilities we have in the new creation will be linked to our service here. Those who have served well for Christ on this earth will be given greater responsibility in the new heavens and the new earth. Those who have served Him poorly, I even shrink to say that, thinking of the opportunities I have let go of in my life to serve Christ, it seems will have lesser responsibility.

We will all be there, but we will have to answer for our service. Paul says knowing that he will have to give account, that his service will be assessed according to the gifts he has, according to the opportunities, according to what he could have done, he knows there will be some measure of accountability – so he makes it his aim to be well-pleasing to Him.

We will have to give an account to God of what we did with the opportunities that were presented to speak of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not want this to become a great weight upon us. Ultimately, our service for Christ should be motivated by joy in what He has done for us. But we should be mindful in our living for Christ, that there is coming a day when we will have to give an account of our good works post conversion, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in.

Paul is motivated by the love of Christ for the lost, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). The love of Christ compels us. When I think of what Jesus Christ has done for me, how He suffered for me – perhaps that is what Paul is speaking of. Paul sees the love of Christ for His enemies. God, loving His enemies! Who does that? Who dies for sinners when they’re still rebelling against Him? Do I really love the lost? Am I really bothered about their eternal plight? Where is the love for sinners?

Isaiah writes,

“How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

 (Isaiah 52:7).

What an odd thing. Feet refer to a custom in old times when men were off to war. The people at home couldn’t keep up with what was going on until the end of the battle. When the battle was over, someone from each side was dispatched to send news home. People would see the messenger in the distance. They would look at his feet. If the nation had lost, they would prepare for judgement as they looked at the feet trudging towards them. Before they heard what the messenger was going to say, they could know by his feet.

If the side won, the messenger would be running, and people would be shouting for joy. When someone brings good news, feet are beautiful. Whose feet are beautiful in your sight? Whose feet are beautiful because they brought you glad tidings of good things? What are you going to do for that? The good news is life in Jesus Christ.

It is a privilege to be co-workers in Christ. That is our work. May God grant us love, passion and responsibility to do it. That is what Penuel, Roch has been doing for all these years. May the Lord give you what you need to keep going.

August 3rd 2024: 202nd Anniversary Service – Adrian Brake

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2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2

Reconciliation

The fact that Penuel, Roch is still alive and kicking in these dark days is because God still has work for you to do. What is that work, that contribution? God has a message He wants people of this area to hear. He has appointed you to deliver the message on His behalf. It is a message they must hear. The churches responsibility is to proclaim it. It is a message of reconciliation for a broken world, reconciliation through Jesus Christ.

What is the message of reconciliation God has to deliver, and how will it be delivered?
What does it mean to be reconciled? The bringing together of two parties that have previously estranged, where there is ill feeling between them, a huge gulf, where’s those two warring parties have been restored to a peaceful relationship.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 we see the most wonderful reconciliation between a holy, righteous God and wretched, guilty sinners. It is tragic when we read of the beginning of scriptures when God created us to have this life-giving, soul-refreshing relationship with Him. Yet, we are at war with Him, poles apart. Why? Adam, our representative, rose up against the God who created him. He wanted to live life according to his own terms. Adam had once enjoyed perfect fellowship with God, walking with Him in the cool of the evening and talking with Him. What a picture of God, Adam and Eve, walking and talking in the garden.

In next to no time they are completely shut out of the garden because of sin, because of rejection. That beautiful relationship is spoiled. That is our relationship too; we are determined to walk away from God, rising up against Him (Romans 8), going our own way. We, who were created for a relationship with God, are the children of God’s wrath. What an awful situation. We are all born into sin. Yet, against this dark background, we read in 2 Corinthians of those far from God, restored to Him and living in fellowship with Him.

  1. Reconciliation: something God has done for us.

Reconciliation on a human level is when 2 individuals fall out, two nations fallout. Someone outside the conflict seeks to bring them back together, or the person who has caused the estrangement sees what happened and recognises what they have done, then approaches the person, asking for forgiveness.

Here, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is not what has happened. The one who has been sinned against, the one who is utterly blameless, He is the one who has made a glorious decision to settle the dispute. He has come down and reached out to His enemies who deserve nothing. He has come down to bring peace. This is an act of God. Astonishingly, in verse 20 He comes to people and pleads with people. Amazing Grace. He is utterly blameless when the other party doesn’t care, then goes further and pleads with them. He implores us to escape His wrath and enjoy His love. Incredible! He makes the way of reconciliation.

To think we were living in sin, sinning ourselves to hell at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, God comes to you and to me in grace. He brings the gospel to you and reveals that before the creation of the world, God purpose to bring you to Himself. Then, astonishingly, He takes it to another level – humbling Himself and pleads for you to come to Him.

  • Reconciliation: something God has done for us in one person (v.18-19).

This is why we must preach the Lord Jesus Christ – because He is the only one who can make this reconciliation possible. Without Him, there could be no reconciliation. He is God’s gift to us so that reconciliation might take place. The son of God comes in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to the believer. He is precious. Everything.

  • Reconciliation: a work God has done for us.

This is a work God has done for us both in His Son’s death and life. Jesus Christ had to live and die for us to be reconciled to God (v.21). There is something we have that we must get rid of, and something we don’t have that we must be given. Before we can be reconciled to God we need righteousness. God cannot fellowship with sin. He hates sin and delights in righteousness. Righteousness is when we adhere to God’s law in all its fullness. We need to be perfect, flawless law keepers. This is what God requires in a person who wants fellowship with Him. Perfection! How can we ever come to Him? We are lawbreakers.

How can we ever have a perfect record? That is where the Lord Jesus Christ comes in. He comes into the world as a real human being. He lives a perfect, utterly obedient life – the only human being to have this perfect righteousness. He lived this life for His people. Every time He obeyed God, He did it on your behalf. He loved the Father with all His heart, soul, mind and strength and did it on your behalf.

When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, all His perfection becomes ours. When God looks at you, He sees His Son and He sees perfection, and He is able to have fellowship with us, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). If you are in Christ, you have nothing to answer to before the throne of God. Everything He did is yours. We need righteousness. We have it in Jesus Christ.

We have sin. We need to get rid of it. How? We can’t just undo them. It is sin that spoiled everything. Until it is settled you can never move on. Sin separates us from God, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). God does not count the sins of His people against them. God does not hold them against us.

How can God let us escape, cancel the record against me? He does. It is the gospel. How? “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He sets us free and cleanses us of our sin because He has dealt with it through His Son. There, at the cross, Jesus Christ took responsibility for your sin. That life of stubbornness, rejection of God was placed on Jesus Christ and He was accountable for it instead of you. He died that death for you. God punished His own Son. How deep the Father’s love for us.

Will we ever understand how much the Father loved His Son? Yet, He did not spare His Son. Jesus Christ went to the cross willingly. He knew what was ahead, the horrors, the bitterness of the cup, yet He went willingly. We live. Far from God, in rebellion, God appoints His Son to spare us what we thoroughly deserve. He comes into this world, humbles Himself, lives a life of sorrow to establish a righteousness for us. He does all this so we can come to God, that we might live with Him forever in heaven. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through His Son, through the blood of His cross.

What is wrong with our world? People are estranged from God. True joy, life, energy, and purpose can only be found in a relationship with God. We have a message to declare to the world – God is a God of incredible love who, in love, sent His Son into the world and has made a way for us to be reconciled to God. We are the only ones, Christians, who have the answer to the world’s pain and misery. It is our privilege to bring the message.

July 28th 2024: JP Earnest

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1 Timothy 1

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are often referred to as pastoral epistles. Paul gives practical, warm pastoral advice to churches in his care. Paul had visited Ephesus during his second missionary journey and spent considerable time there during his third missionary journey. In Acts 20 we read, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:28-30).

Paul is an apostle so he is writing very publicly as well, through the Holy Spirit – not just to the church in Ephesus, but churches everywhere. Chapter one shows us what a spiritual healthy church looks like. It is:
1.  A gospel church,
2. A prayerful church,
3. A governed church.

A gospel church should:

  1. Preach the gospel,
  2. Personify the gospel,
  3. preserve the gospel.
  1. A gospel church should preach the gospel (verse 1-11).

False teachers were going to sneak in and act like savage wolves. They were enticing people away with unbiblical teaching. Paul says, “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.” (v3-4).

Deviating from gospel truth will hinder them with their walk with the Lord. It would not bring unity but division and leave the gospel in the shadows. Paul encourages Timothy and emboldens him to preach the gospel, to warn the false teachers, to avoid controversial speculations and ignore unhelpful things. The reason Paul says this to Timothy is because of love, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (v5). The love Paul is commending here is love for the Lord, love for one another, love for the lost. Those who embrace the Lord will love the gospel. Gospel love comes from a cleansed love.

By contrast, we read in verse 6, “Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion.” People from church should not be characterised by this. Timothy is to restore these backsliders.

The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. The bad news is God is 100% perfect but you and I have not lived up to His standards. God, in His perfect heaven, cannot allow anyone not perfect in His heaven. We have broken His law and deserve His punishment. We have sinned. The wages of sin is death. It is what we deserve. However, the good news is Jesus. He left heaven, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to take the punishment we deserve. If we trust in Him, we will be saved from sin, saved from death, saved from hell. Have you done that? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Saviour?

The wannabe teachers (v2) want to be prominent amongst the people. But Paul says, “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully.” (v.8). These would be teachers had failed to appreciate God’s law. They had practises that were contrary to the gospel. The fake teachers wanted to take people to the Old Testament to fulfil rituals of the Old Testament. They wanted to be teachers of the law but they didn’t understand it. God’s law has the purpose of revealing sin in the hearer, so we won’t trust in our own efforts to remove sin but look to Jesus Christ. Paul reminds Timothy, the Ephesian church and us, to keep the main thing the main thing – the gospel.

2. A gospel church should personify the gospel (verses 12-17).

The greatest demonstration of the gospel is the transformed person of the believer (v.12-13). Paul was bad news to the church but through Jesus he was changed, a new creation. This changed life is through the gospel. It is not initiated through us (v.14). God had done it, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (v.15). Paul considered himself to be the worst of the worst. Yet even he received mercy (v.16). Is that your testimony today?

Paul goes on to say that he is an example; if God in His grace and mercy can save the likes of you and me and Saul of Tarsus, he can save anyone on condition they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When they faithfully demonstrate a changed life, it will commend the gospel. The gospel is to be lived out by us, personified by us. This is the glorious gospel from God. Paul ascribes all glory and honour to God.

3. A gospel church should preserve the gospel (18-end of chapter).

For Timothy and us, we need to wage war against false teachers who will do much harm to the church (v.18). They must fight the good fight. There is no place for complacency. It is only from God that strength comes, and from Him alone. Some were turning to their own reasoning and made a shipwreck of their Christian life (v.19).

There needs to be an active response, not a passive response to false teaching. Paul gives 2 examples – he kicked two men out of the church who had departed from the gospel. Out of love, difficult things had to be done. Why did Paul take such drastic action? To preserve the gospel, to protect the flock, so that the two men might repent.

Some Christians start off well; they live the gospel but then deviate. They may go off to another church and are nowhere spiritually now. We are living in days when there is so much pressure on us to deviate from the gospel. There is pressure to water down the gospel. We are not to do that. We must remain faithful and preserve the gospel.

A healthy church is a gospel church. We all have a part to play. May the Lord help you and me, and corporately as a church, for the glory of God – to preach the gospel, to personify the gospel and to preserve the gospel.

July 21st 2024: Gary Brady

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“Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:2b)

A brand from the burning.

A similar phrase is found in the book of Amos chapter 4 verse 11. It paints the same picture. It is a striking image of fire, like a campfire. A stick has gone in and started to burn. It shouldn’t be there, so you find a way of rescuing it. You say, ‘Is this not a burning stick plucked out of the fire?’

Zachariah comes towards the end of the Old Testament. He is one of the later Old Testament prophets. The first part of his book is a series of visions he had all in one night. Here, Joshua the high priest stood before the angel of the Lord, Satan at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord rebukes Satan, “Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:2b). At the start of the vision Joshua is dressed in filthy, dirty rags. The angel orders that these should be removed and be replaced with clean clothes. Joshua is then given a charge; God tells him, “If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts and I will give you a place among those standing here.” Joshua and those with him are told that they are men symbolic of things to come. There is the prophecy that God is going to ‘bring my servant, the branch.’ The Messiah is pictured as a branch.

“Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:2b). This verse could be taken as a cry of victory. The phrase carries a tone of affirmation. The man was in the fire but snatched out of it.

Think who this language may be applied to. In context, Joshua the high priest is a representation of his people after they have come back from exile in Babylon. It points forward to when the Messiah will come and remove sin in a single day – at Calvary, when sin is removed from His people. If we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we are ‘sitting pretty’ and inviting others to know the joy of sins forgiven. It applies to all true believers. We are like a stick snatched out of a fire. This probably applies more to some than others. Some go a long way in their sins, they look as if they’re going to hell but then they are certainly snatched to safety and all is well, “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 22-23).

Even those who come to Christ have no smell of burning on them but are sticks snatched from the fire. Some people who have been converted are notorious for their sins, but God converts them. Jesus was crucified with two criminals either side of Him, one who was converted at the end of his life. The apostle Paul hated Christians and did everything possible to hinder the gospel. Yet he was suddenly converted. This fire brand is snatched from the flames, then he was preaching the faith he had tried to destroy. C.S. Lewis was a complete atheist who had no time for God. Yet, quite unexpectedly, he was converted. God worked in his heart. Another example of a burning stick snatched from the fire is Mitsuo Fuchida. He was one of the top pilots in Japan, a Great War hero.

Sometimes, God works in the worst people. Manasseh was the worst king of Judah. But if you read 2 Chronicles chapter 33 you will see that in his distress, he humbled himself and prayed to God. After 54 years of evil reign, Manasseh knew the Lord God and told Judah to serve the Lord.

Luke Short was 100 years old when he was converted. He sat in a field contemplating the end of his life, and remembered a sermon he had heard 85 years before, when he was 15 years old. He was converted and became an elder of a local church until his death, when he was 117! Death bed conversions also occur. Other unexpected conversions include Onesimus and John Newton.

Some have known an overwhelming sense of guilt – in the fire but snatched out. This includes the jailer in Philippi. Martin Luther, John Bunyan and Spurgeon were all in great distress before being converted.

Note how appropriate the phrase is, “Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:2b).

  1. Judas and Peter were both equally sinful (Ephesians 2:3) and deserving of wrath. God’s salvation is the only thing that makes a difference.
  2. A burning stick snatched from the fire was once very near to be burning up.
  3. A burning stick from the fire retains some evidence of its dangerous situation. There is evidence that it was once in the fire. When we sin we think how can we be like that when we are saved.
  4. A burning stick from the fire does not save itself. It doesn’t jump out of the fire itself. We do not save ourselves. We will only be saved if God snatches us from the flames.

July 14th 2024: Ben Christofides

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Matthew 22

We are in wedding season. A wedding is a wonderful event with a huge amount of planning. It is an honour to be invited. The parable we read of in Matthew chapter 22 is a scene of a wedding banquet. Wedding banquets in Jesus’ day were even more spectacular than Meg and Jonathan’s wedding! There is a similar account of this parable in Luke chapter 14.

In this parable Jesus is speaking the week in between His triumphant entry into Jerusalem and His crucifixion. Jesus is showing religious people how very privileged they are and what they must do with these privileges is crucial. Jesus is showing then and now that your religion will count for nothing, your response to Him is everything.

In Matthew chapter 22 the end verses are unique to this occasion. On first reading, you may be wondering why this ending is included. I am convinced that verses 11 to 13 are the key part to this parable in this context. Jesus wanted us to know the destiny of our eternal soul depends on the way we are dressed – not physically but spiritual clothing.

1.Rejecting the gospel is incredibly serious.

 Many people will reject invitation of the gospel. In Jesus’ time, invitations were sent out long before a wedding. Nearer the date, a second invitation was sent out. April the 29th 2011 William and Kate got married. What an honour it would have been to have been invited. What could be more important than attending a royal wedding? Here, the king is putting on the party of all parties. The first invitation has gone out. Now has come the time to call them in (v.3). For hundreds of years the first invitation has been going out throughout the Old Testament, God telling His people. People wanted to be part of the Kingdom. Now comes the second invitation – but responses to the invite are met with indifference. They refused to come to a royal wedding feast!

Notice the patience of the king; He sends out more servants (v.4). He goes further and explains how incredible the banquet will be. It is all ready. Please come. We see a mixture of responses: some have no time for a feast (v5), others show indifference which turns to hatred (v6). God is so patient.

How many times have you heard the gospel? How many times has the invitation gone out and you still haven’t accepted, making excuses? It is possible you have become antagonistic and say, ‘How dare anyone tell me I’m a sinner!’ God wants you to be at the wedding feast. He wants to forgive your sin, to bring you into a living relationship with him through the Lord Jesus Christ, to have eternity in heaven.

Eventually, the King’s patience runs out (v7-8). Time is up. The King’s invitation won’t be sent out again. The implication for us is clear – do not play fast and loose with the gospel. Don’t assume you will have another opportunity to respond. Each time you respond to the invitation with excuses, one day you will reject the invitation for the last time, “Or he says,

“In a favourable time I listened to you,
    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the day of salvation.

2. The gospel invitation is wide and the banquet will be filled.

The king in this parable is relentless to bring in guests to his wedding feast. So is God in His pursuit of lost souls (v9). For the Jewish audience listening to Jesus at this time, it is clear others will be brought in if you don’t accept the invitation. The invitation will go out to the Gentiles.

The invitation has come to the Gentiles, it has come to Wales, “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:18-19).

What is that great news for us today? The message of the gospel is for you and for me (Acts 10:34). God is not interested in your background, your family heritage, age or social standing. The gospel is open to all. God is interested in only one thing – your response to His Son.

We need to be encouraged in our evangelism (v10). Are we discouraged by the apathy that exists in our society to the gospel? Can we really expect people to respond positively to the Lord Jesus Christ? The first 6 verses remind us not to be surprised when people reject the gospel. But verses 10-11 give us encouragement. Get rid of preconceived ideas who is likely to respond.

The wedding feast will not begin until it is full. Jesus Christ won’t return until the last sinner has been saved. We need to invite people while we still can. The King has prepared the feast. All is ready. What are we doing? The sinner must be ready and willing. Heaven will be full to the brim – an everlasting wedding banquet, all praising and worshipping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The gospel is no less powerful than it has ever been. God is on the throne. We need to tell and invite people.

3. Entry is for those wearing the clothes that He provided.

This is a wonderful encouragement but a sober warning as well. Who will be at the banquet? We might think we know, but there will be some surprises (v11-13). In this parable there is a man without wedding clothes who is thrown out. What is going on? In the culture Jesus was speaking to the king wouldn’t just invite guests, he would also have provided garments for the wedding guests. The king would provide everything. Here, the king notices a man who’s come in his own garments – he doesn’t want the King’s garments. What arrogance. He is thrown out into the darkness.

There is an awesome invite coming, a wide invitation. But if you think you were going in your own clothes, think again. We are filthy. God’s standard for perfection is perfection. Not a single sin. We don’t even come close. The whole Bible is all about Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament God told his people he would make a way for sin to be dealt with.

As we hear about the wonderful place of heaven, we think we would like to be there. But the message of the gospel is Jesus Christ met the standard we failed to meet. There is not a single stain on him. He is innocent of any charge. Then He was put to death on a cross. He bears the punishment of all our sin. He puts on all the filthy garments and dies the death we deserve. He rose again, defeating death. Why? So that by trusting in Him you might be clothed in His righteousness so you can have a garment for the wedding banquet.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

 (Isaiah 61:10).

Are you clothed in the righteousness of Jesus or are you hoping to get into heaven in your own clothes – through church attendance, chapel clothes? It is possible to deceive others here on earth – attending church, being a deacon or an elder, giving the impression of being a Christian but not trusting in the Saviour. Look at someone’s testimony, backed up by the life they live. The end of the parable reminds us there will be no deception on that final day.

Friends, listen. My intention is for all of us to come and marvel afresh at our own unworthiness. God has provided all that you need. Whether you have never trusted in Christ before, known Him for many years, or deceiving people, the answer is the same, “or in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27).

Are you clothed in Jesus Christ this morning? A wonderful feast lies ahead. Don’t reject the invitation. Come to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. If you have already received that, share, rejoice in the beauty of it.