Gospel Messages
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.(Isaiah 55:3)
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Where did I come from & Why am I here? (Mervyn Hall)
What is wrong with the world? (Mervyn Hall)
Is there any hope? (Mervyn Hall)
Where is history heading? (Mervyn Hall)
God’s Great Gifts – His Son (Daniel Rudge)
Peter, one of Jesus’ friends, once wrote to a group of Christians about Him saying, “To you who believe, He is precious”.[1] This is one of my favourite Bible verses because it expresses why being a Christian is so wonderful. To know God is the most incredible thing you could ever do in life. It is also a very humbling journey. I guarantee you that God is different from any conception you may have of Him, whatever it is. In fact, one of the names God is known by in the Bible is “I AM WHO I AM”.[2] In other words, it is impossible to find any comparison to Him. The strongest, wisest, holiest, most loving and compassionate person on earth does not even come close to comprehending God.
“To know God is the most incredible thing you could ever do”
If the Bible reveals that our understanding of who God is can be suspect, then perhaps so too is the way we imagine He thinks about us. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ will one day judge the world in righteousness, meaning that every sin will be judged according to His own perfect standard.[3] Every follower of Jesus has been hit with the realisation that trying to attain to it is like trying to jump up and touch the clouds. The Bible puts it like this: as admirable as our best deeds are, they are like filthy rags compared to God’s immaculate holiness.[4] We are all in danger of hell as a consequence of our sin. Just as we need good judges in courtrooms to punish criminals and keep our communities safe, so God must do the same to keep heaven as it is. Our situation becomes all the more serious when we know that not only will He judge our actions, but also our deepest motivations, private conversations and innermost thoughts. Even the most righteous or saintly figure your mind conjures up falls far short of God’s definition of good.[5]
“We cannot rely on the idea that we are better than other people”
Jesus once told of an incident about two men who went to the Temple.[6] One was a Pharisee, a respected religious leader; the other a hated tax collector. The Pharisee’s prayer to God was all about himself and he boasted of all the pious things he had done compared to the tax collector. He, however, simply said “God, be merciful to me a sinner”. Surprisingly, Jesus concluded that the tax collector was in fact justified rather than the Pharisee! The thing we have to realise is that we have nothing to boast about before God. We cannot rely on the idea that we are better than other people we know about because the truth is we are all sinners. But if God is more holy and just than we could ever imagine, He is also more gracious, forgiving and kind too. On many occasions throughout the Bible, God is delighted to, and takes great pleasure in, showing mercy just as He did to the tax collector – and this is the only basis we can get right with Him.[7]
“Jesus Christ … lives to save”
God’s love for us and the lengths to which He has subsequently gone to save us is more than anyone can fathom. Imagine how horrific all the sin that has ever been committed is. Now think of what the punishment for all of it deserves. The holy God came down from heaven in Jesus Christ with the purpose of suffering for it on the cross in the place of anyone who trusts Him. He rose from the dead after three days and lives now to save. One day He will put right everything that is wrong but it is so important that we look now to ourselves and ask Him to forgive us from our own sin. Those who repent and turn from it and trust in Christ are freely forgiven because Christ gave His own self to suffer on their behalf.
I became a Christian when I was 16. I remember the day well. I was attending a baptismal service of one of my friends. He had to explain why he was being baptised and quoted a verse from the bible, which said “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths”. This verse struck home to me, and drove me to my knees. I’ll tell you why.
I was born to parents who attended church. In those days that was the socially acceptable thing to do. We went to a small country Methodist church. Mum played the organ, Dad was treasurer. They were good, kind, people. Yet in my young days, I only went because I was taken. The words were only words and meant nothing to me. I know now that just because I lived in a Christian environment, it did not mean I was a Christian.
I stopped going in my early teens because my Dad stopped going. He objected to the Methodist Church joining up with the Anglican Church. Because Dad stopped, then so did I.
A few years after, my sister attended a youth club run by the Evangelical church in my local village. She invited me along to join others on a long weekend in Snowdonia. I loved the Welsh mountains and agreed to come. That introduced me for the first time to a group of young people who were true Christians. They exuded joy. They loved to pray together, and read the Bible. It was new to me and a bit foreign. And it emphasised to me my own lack of joy. Being in the mountains also made me feel small. It was the start of a long turn around.
I started to attend their church and made new friends. By now my heart was stirred. What did they have that I didn’t, I wondered. I now know that the clear answer was they had faith in Christ; they knew their sins forgiven; they had the Spirit of God dwelling within. I didn’t. I tried. I tried to live a good life, by curbing my swearing but not successfully, and trying to love and respect others, but whilst it was easy with my friends, for other people I just couldn’t. My heart was still bitter and proud, I guess.
The struggle continued, and all I learned was that I couldn’t change my ways, and all my trying just caused me to realise the poor state of my heart. I needed someone to help me.
Then my friend was baptised. It was a special and joyful meeting. As he spoke and quoted that verse, I finally understood that I should ‘trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not to my own understanding’. That day I learned that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin and shortcoming. And in that service I bowed my heart and gave up struggling, and asked the Lord Jesus to forgive my waywardness and rebelliousness. And, praise the Lord, so he did!
by PS