Baptism and the Lord's Supper

The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper - What place do they have within the total context of the Christian life? What part do they play within the total purpose of God for our lives?

The sacraments are signposts. They point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. When you see a signpost marked, "Edinburgh", you are pointed in the direction of Edinburgh. The sign says, "This is the way to Edinburgh." When you see a sign that says, "Come alive with Pepsi", your attention is directed to Pepsi-Cola. The sacraments point us to Jesus. The sacraments direct our attention to Jesus. The signpost says, "This is the way to Edinburgh." The sacraments point to Jesus. They say, "He is the Way to heaven." The Pepsi-Cola advert says, "Come alive with Pepsi." The sacraments invite us to "Come alive with Jesus." When you see the sign for Edinburgh, you are not already in Edinburgh. It is possible to see the sign and yet never arrive at the place. Similarly, it is possible to receive the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper with really coming, in faith, to Christ and receiving the gift of eternal life. When you hear the words, "Come alive with Pepsi", you are not, in fact, drinking a glass of Pepsi-Cola. You can see the advert without ever tasting Pepsi-Cola. Similarly, you can partake of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper without receiving the new life which the Holy Spirit gives to all who put their trust in Jesus Christ.

The really important thing is not the outward sign. The most important thing is the inner reality. We come, in faith, to Jesus Christ. He comes to live in our hearts. It is so easy to miss the point of the sacraments. Instead of allowing them to point us to Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us, we get bogged down with self-centred thoughts: "I have been baptized", "I never miss a Communion." Whenever our thoughts focus on ourselves rather than Christ - "I have done this", "I have done that", we need to hear the warning of God's Word: "Let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).

In a challenging passage at the start of 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul speaks in this way of the Old Testament people of Israel: "all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:2-4). When we read these words about being "baptized into Moses" and eating the supernatural food and the supernatural drink, our minds move quite naturally to the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. If we are tempted to congratulate ourselves, we should look on to the next verse - "Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness" (1 Corinthians 10:3).

We live in a spiritual wilderness, a moral wilderness. if we are looking for salvation from the things that we have done - "I have been baptized", "I never miss a Communion", we will be disappointed. We will be overthrown in the wilderness, swallowed up in the moral and spiritual wilderness which surrounds us. If we are to know the saving power of God in our lives, we must learn to look beyond the sacraments to the Saviour. "It is only by forgetting yourself that you draw near to God." This is how we must learn to think about the sacraments. The focus is not so much upon ourselves - "I have been baptized", "I never miss a Communion." The focus is upon Christ. Through Him, we draw near to God. This is how we must think of the whole Christian life. Christ is the centre.

In a life centred upon Christ, where do the sacraments fit in?
Baptism is a once-for-all event. The Lord's Supper is a repeated occurrence. More frequent than the Lord's Supper is our weekly public worship. Sunday by Sunday, we gather together to worship the Lord. Week by week, there are opportunities for praying together and studying God's Word together. Day by day, we can speak to the Lord and we can read His Word. In all of this, Christ is to be the centre. We do all these things, not to prove how religious we really are but to let Christ have His way in our lives. In all that we do, we confess our own unworthiness. Without Christ, we are nothing. We do not attempt to make ourselves worthy in God's sight. It cannot be done. Aware of our own unworthiness and our need of the Saviour, we come to Christ from whom we receive the forgiveness of all our sins, the new life of the Spirit and the gift of eternal life.

If, in your thinking about the sacraments, self has intruded where Christ should be, I appeal to you, on the basis of God's Word: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" (Ephesians 4:30), "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Do not boast about the sacraments as things which you have done. Let the Holy Spirit lead you beyond the sacraments to the Saviour. Do not take it for granted that you belong to Christ because you have received the outward signs. Remember God's Word - "The Lord knows those who are His" and "Let every one who names the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity (or wrongdoing)" (2 Timothy 2:19).

Let's Help Each Other To Preach God's Love.

Jesus Christ is God’s beloved Son – the Saviour sent to us by the God of love.

‘Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, my Chosen One in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations’ (Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:15-21).

These words turn our thoughts towards the Lord Jesus Christ.

At His baptism, we hear the voice of the Father – ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ At His baptism, we see ‘the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on Him’ (Matthew 3:16-17).

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word of prophecy: ‘All mankind shall see the Saviour sent from God’ (Luke 3:6).

After His resurrection, we hear Jesus Himself speaking. He says, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…’ (Matthew 28:18-20).

Let us bring Christ to the nations. Let us serve the Lord in the power of the Spirit.

Never take God’s love for granted. Let us be deeply appreciative of His love.

Read about God’s ‘steadfast love’ and rejoice in Him: ‘Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens…How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! …O continue Your steadfast love to those who know You…’ (Psalm 36:5, 7, 10).

Rejoicing in the Lord’s ‘steadfast love’ is quite different from taking His love for granted.

We dare not say, “God loves me. I can do what I like.”

We must not become like the wicked – ‘there is no fear of God before his eyes’ (Psalm 36:1).

Where there is true rejoicing in God’s ‘steadfast love’, there will also be ‘the fear of the Lord’ which ‘is the beginning of wisdom’ (Psalm 111:10).

A real appreciation of God’s ‘steadfast love’ brings with it a real awareness of our own sinfulness.

Knowing how much God loves us leads us to pray, ‘Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away’ (Psalm 36:11).

Through Jesus Christ, the God of love gives to us His wonderful redemption.

God gave His promise – ‘I will make a new covenant’ (Hebrews 8:8-12; Jeremiah 31:31-34).

God has fulfilled His promise. There is now a ‘new covenant in Jesus’blood’ (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25).

The old covenant cannot even begin to compare with the new covenant. It is only a ‘shadow.’

The new covenant is the real thing. It is ‘much more excellent’. It is ‘a better covenant’ (Hebrews 8:5-6),

The old covenant is ‘outdated’ (Hebrews 8:13). It has seen its day. Now, it’s past its ‘sell by date’!

We look at the old covenant and we say, ‘There must be more than this’.

There is more – ‘much more’.

Through ‘the blood of Christ’, ‘our hearts and lives’have been ‘cleansed’. Now, we can begin ‘to serve the living God’ (Hebrews 9:14).

‘What a wonderful redemption!’- ‘eternal redemption’ (Mission Praise, 765; Hebrews 9:12)!

Through Jesus Christ, the God of love gives to us His victory over Satan.

The Pharisees are developing their wicked plan. God is fulfilling His saving purpose (John 11:49-53).

The voice of ‘common sense’ is not always the voice of the Lord (John 12:4-6).

There is a higher wisdom than ‘common sense’. We are to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He leads us to put Jesus at the centre of our lives.

Jesus is not suggesting that the poor are unimportant. He is emphasizing that we must not lose sight of Him.

If our concern for the poor is not truly grounded in devotion to Christ, it is not the obedience of faith (John 12:8).

The Pharisees are lying in wait for Jesus. They say, ‘The world has gone after Him’ (John 12:19). They are going after Him too – in a different way!

The crucifixion draws near. God is to be ‘glorified’ in the defeat of Satan and the salvation of sinners (John 12:28, 31-32). Jesus had ‘come’ for this ‘hour’ (John 12:27).

What are we to do when everything seems to be hopeless?

1 Kings 14:1-15:8

What are we to do when everything seems to be hopeless? – We turn to You, Lord. You are the God of hope. Our hope is in You. You can turn things around. Your love changes everything. Your love changes us. Thank You, Lord, for Your love. It’s Your love that gives us hope for the future. We look to the future – and we look to You. We say, “I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”

What, Lord, is most important to us – the person who leads us in worship, the place where we worship, or the God whom we worship?

1 Kings 8:14-53

What, Lord, is most important to us – the person who leads us in worship, the place where we worship, or the God whom we worship? We know what our answer should be – but, often, our lives tell a very different story. Help us, when we worship, to learn that nothing and no-one can ever be more important than You. May our lives start catching up with the lessons that we learn when we are reading Your Word.

No-one goes on forever.

1 Kings 1:1-53

No-one goes on forever. We read about David’s reign coming to an end, about David being replaced by Solomon (1 Kings 1:30). Help us, Lord, to pray that the future will be “greater” than the past (1 Kings 1:37,47). In all of life’s changes, help us to remember this: You are the living God (1 Kings 1:29) – the God who remains constant when everything else is changing, the God whose love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable.

We thank You, Lord, that You are the God of new beginnings.

1 Kings 2:1-46

We thank You, Lord, that You are the God of new beginnings. Your purpose doesn’t stand still. It moves forward. Will we move forward with You? – That, Lord, is the question that each of us must ask answer. We cannot stand still. There are two ways we can go. We can move forward with You. We can go back to the past, back to what we were before Christ saved us, before He took hold of our lives, before He began to make us new people. Dare we even think of going back to the old life? That life can’t even begin to compare with our new life in Christ. Help us, Lord, to press on into the future, Your future, the new life in Christ, eternal life.

Jesus Christ takes us out of judgment and into salvation.

Unbelievers have ridiculed “fire and brimstone” preaching. We cannot, however, allow their scornful attitude to lead us to dismiss “fire and brimstone” preaching. We dare not say that such preaching belongs to the past. We must note that the Bible preaches “fire and brimstone.” We must ask, “How does the Bible preach “fire and brimstone”?” The fact that the Bible preaches “fire and brimstone” means that this emphasis on divine judgment must not be excluded from our preaching in today’s world. The way that the Bible preaches “fire and brimstone” teaches us that we must always preach with a view to leading men and women to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Jesus Christ is the only way out of judgment. Jesus Christ is the only way into salvation. We hear the Gospel. we hear its promise. We hear its warning. The Gospel places us at a cross-roads. Each of us must decide. We must come to Christ. We must trust Him as our Saviour. We must come to Him, believing that He died on the Cross for us. We must come to Him and receive His free gift of the forgivenss of our sins. It is only through faith in Him that we will come to know, for ourselves, the truth of the final words of Psalm 11: “upright men will see His face” (verse 7).

Overlowing Blessing

Psalm 23 - "The Lord is my Shepherd ... "

The words are so familiar. When we start to think that we understand all that this great Psalm is saying to us, the Lord comes to with something new, something fresh, something that speaks to our hearts, something that brings blessing into our lives. What are to say about this? ~ From God to us, comes blessing, much blessing. How much blessing? Who can say? All we can say is this - It's His blessing, and His blessing "overflows" (v. 5).

The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ

“The appearance of His face changed”; “His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning”; Peter, James and John “saw His glory” – the glory of the Son of God (Luke 9:35). The transfiguration points forward to Christ’s crucifixion: “They spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). It also points beyond His crucifixion to the glory of His resurrection – the glory of Christ, risen from the dead; the glory of Christ, seated at the Father’s right hand.

So Little Feeds So Many.

Andrew looked at the bread and fishes, and asked, “how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9). He did not understand how so little could find so many - but this didn’t stop him bringing the boy, with his bread and fishes, to Jesus. This was an act of faith. Andrew says to Jesus, “Here am I. Here is the boy. Here is the bread. Here are the fishes.”

We look at the situation in today’s world. there is so much to be done – but we can do so little. what are we to do? We are to say, “Here I am, wholly available. as for me, I will serve the Lord … The fields are white unto harvest, But O, the labourers are so few, So, Lord, I give myself to help the reaping, To gather precious souls unto You” (Chris Bowater).

If Andrew is to be viewed as a man of faith, what are we to say about the boy? He could have said to Andrew, “This is mine. You’re not having it.” He could have said that, but he didn’t. the boy was ready to be led to Jesus. He wanted to give his bread and fishes to Jesus.

This is still the question to be put to people today. Will you come to Jesus? Will you give yourself to Him?

What happened when the boy came to Jesus, when he gave his bread and fishes to Jesus?  - A great miracle happened. Out of so little came so much.

What do we learn from the story of the boy who brought his bread and fishes to Jesus? – Out of small beginnings comes a mighty work of God: “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the wise … so that no one may boast before Him … Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:27,29,31). When God does mighty things, let us give all the glory to Him.

May God help us to learn from the boy. May we stop saying, “This is mine. You can’t have it.” May we start giving ourselves to Jesus and giving all the glory to Him.

Thank God for encouragers!

Miriam and Aaron complained (Numbers 12:1-2). Caleb and Joshua encouraged (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9). Thank God for encouragers!

We have been saved by the Lord.

“Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). We must never forget Jesus Christ, He is our Saviour. Remembering Him will keep us from thinking too highly of ourselves. We are only servants. Jesus is the Saviour.

Christ’s Journey Through History

Before we even reach the opening chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, the Old Testament proclaims this message of hope: Christ is coming. The journey through the Old Testament  paves the way for the coming of Christ. The first 17 verses of Matthew’s Gospel gives us a brief outline of Old Testament history as a preparation for the coming of Christ. These verses present us with a family tree. It’s not particularly interesting reading. For this reason, these verses are often overlooked. There are, however, important lessons which we must not miss! Here are two interesting names in Christ’s family tree - Rahab (Matthew 1:5) and Solomon (Matthew 1:6). Who was Rahab? - a prostitute! Who was Solomon? - a child born out of an adulterous relationship! How did they get into Christ’s family tree? Was there some kind of mistake? - No! It must be stresses that the names of Rahab - a prostitute - and Solomon - the child of an adulterous relationship - are found in Christ’s family tree so that we might learn that the love of God is greater than the sin of man. God forgives sinners! God restores the fallen. This is the message proclaimed to us by the inclusion of Rahab - the prostitute - in Christ’s family tree. God gives a new beginning. This is the message proclaimed to us by the inclusion of Solomon - the son of an adulterous relationship - in Christ’s family tree.

A positive faith is much more helpful than a purely negative reaction!

The Pharisees were subtle - just like the ‘ancient serpent who is the devil’ (Genesis 3:1; Revelation 20:2). They tried ‘to entangle Jesus in His talk’ (Matthew 22:15). They wanted to trap Him and bring a charge against Him. They asked Jesus about payment of taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:17). Jesus moved beyond this question to our greatest responsibility: ‘Render ... to God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22:21). If we must speak words of political significance - ‘Render.. to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ (Matthew 22:21) - , let them arise out of this: Giving God His rightful place in His Church, the nation and the wider world. Jesus’ words to the Sadducees, in Matthew 22:29, were not simply a protest against the religion of the Sadducees. They were a protest for the Scriptures and the power of God. A positive faith is much more helpful than a purely negative reaction!

When the Holy Spirit comes on you ...

‘When the Holy Spirit comes on you… you will be My witnesses… to the ends of the earth’(Acts 1:8). This great advance of the Gospel - Salvation reaches ‘the Gentiles’(Acts 10:45; Acts 11:1,18) - is a movement of ‘the Spirit’(Acts 11:12). The Spirit speaks through the Word (10:44; 11:15). In God’s Word, we read of (a) God’s love for the whole world (John 3:16); (b) God’s Son who died for ‘the sins of the whole world’(John 1:29; 1 John 2:2); (c) God’s command that ‘the Good News’ should be preached to ‘everyone’(Mark 16:15); (d) God’s purpose that there should be disciples of Christ in every nation (Matthew 28:19). ‘Every person in every nation, in each succeeding generation, has the right to hear the News that Christ can save… Here am I, send me’(Youth Praise,128). ‘Go forth and tell!’(Mission Praise, 178).

Am I Going To Heaven?

Am I going to heaven? - This is the most important question of all.

Jesus says, "Unless one is born anew, again, from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

Here, Jesus is speaking about the new birth, the second birth, the heavenly birth.

His words weren't spoken to the publican in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. They weren't spoken to the woman caught in adultery. They weren't spoken to the thief on the cross. They were spoken to a "Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews" (John 3:1).

Nicodemus said to Jesus, "You are a teacher come from God" (John 3:2), but this didn't take him far enough. He still needed to hear the words, "You must be born again." He needed to be shown his need of the Saviour.

Jesus' statement concerning the new birth is His supreme message to the world. It's a message that runs counter to human pride.

The new birth is a divider of the human race. Either you are born again or you are not born again. Jesus tells us, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).

Are you born again? If you can answer, "Yes" to this question, you can also answer "Yes" to the question, "Am I going to heaven?"

You may say, "I don't understand." We are not called upon to understand. We are called to believe (John 1:12).

The new birth comes when I believe and submit to His Word: "You must be born again."

The new birth comes when I believe in the love of God (John 3:16). God loves us. In love, He calls us to be born again.

God wants you to go heaven (John 3:17). Accept His way of salvation - faith in Jesus, His Son, faith in Jesus, our Saviour.

Three Very Important Questions

Three very important questions - questions that demand a personal answer: Who is Jesus? What can Jesus do for us? What will we do about Jesus?

(1) Who is Jesus? Is he a mere man? or Is He somebody special?

Every one of us must answer the question, "Who is Jesus?"

- Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1).

- Jesus is the Son of God (John 1:34).

Jesus does not merely speak God's Word. He is the Word of God.

Jesus is more than a servant of God. He's the Son of God.

(2) What can Jesus do for us? Could He do something wonderful for me? Could He change my life? Could He turn boredom into satisfaction? Could he turn confusion into certainty? Could He turn aimlessness into purpose? Could He turn cynicism into testimony? Could He ... ? - Yes! He can. Jesus is able to do great things for us.

• He can give satisfaction to the bored.
• He can give certainty to the confused.
• He can give purpose to the aimless.
• He can give a testimony to the cynical.

Jesus can do all these things for us. He can give us all these blessings.

From Him, we receive "grace" (John 1:16). He gives to us His "light" and "life" (John 1:4).

Through faith in Him, we become God's children (John 1:12). Through faith in Him, we receive the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:29). through faith in Him, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).

Isn't this amazing? We can become God's children. we can have our sins forgiven. We can have the Holy Spirit living in us. John 1:12 tells us that we can become God's children - and it tells how we can become God's children - by receiving Christ as our Saviour, by believing in Him.

(3) What will we do about Jesus?

Jesus gives us something to think about. He does more than that. He calls us to make up our mind about Him. There's a time for thinking about it - and there's a time for making our decision. There can be no sitting on the fence. We must make up our mind about Jesus. We must decide to trust Him. we must decide to follow Him.

Am I for Jesus, or am I against Him? - This is the question that each of us must answer. Will I be a disciple of Jesus, or will I be an enemy of Jesus? This questions calls for answer - a personal answer, an immediate answer.

Three very important questions: (1) Who is Jesus? This question has been answered. He is the Son of God. He is the Saviour of sinners. (2) What can Jesus do for us? This question has also been answered. He can make us new people. He can make us God's children. (3) What will you do about Jesus? Has this question been answered? The question comes from Jesus. The answer must come from you.

Questions And Answers (John 9)

John 9 is a chapter that's full of questions and answers.

• (1) Question: " ... who sinned, this man or his parents ... ?" (John 9:2).

Answer: "Neither ,,, this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (John 9:3).

• (2) Question: "Isn't this the same man who used to ... beg?" (John 9:8).

Answer: "I am the man" (John 9:9).

Whatever we may have been, the grace of God is able to lift us up. Praise the Lord!

• (3) Question: The "How" question - "how were your eyes opened?" (John 9:10).

Answer: The "Jesus" answer - "The man called Jesus ... " (John 9:11).

May God help us to look away from ourselves and say, "This is what the Lord has done for me.

• (4) Question: "Where is this man?" (John 9:12).

Answer: "I don't know" (John 9:12).

When, at first, you don't find Jesus, keep looking for Him. he has given us His promise: "Seek and you will find."

• (5) Question: "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" (John 9:16).

Answer: Sometimes, a question needs to be answered with some more questions - Is this man a sinner? Do His miraculous signs not show Him to be something more than a sinner?"

As our questions move from beyond unbelieving questions to questions that are listening for the answer of faith, we begin to hear God's answer: This is My Son. This is your Saviour.

• (6) Question: What have you to say ... ?" (John 9:17).

Answer: "a prophet" (John 9:17).

Here, we have a step in the right direction. By itself, the miracle does not demonstrate that Jesus is the Saviour. Saving faith comes later. It comes through Christ's self-disclosure (John 9:35-38). Without the Gospel explanation, miracles remain strange events for which we can find no explanation. When Jesus reveals Himself to us as our Saviour, we see that all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together to make a beautiful picture. No longer do we see miracles as strange events that leave us wondering what to make of it all. We see Jesus as our great Saviour.

• (7) Question: "Is this your son ... born blind?" (John 9:19).

Answer: "We know that he is our son ... born blind" (John 9:20).

What we are, in ourselves, is no obstacle to the grace of God. We recognize that the man's blindness was not caused by sin (Go back to the first question and answer - John 9:2-3). We should, however, say two things about the man's blindness and our sin. His blindness was no problem for Jesus. Our sin is no problem for Jesus. He gave the man his sight. He gives us the forgiveness of our sins.

• (8) Question: "How then does he now see?" (John 9:19).

Answer: "We don't know" (John 9:20).

What a non-committal answer! When people don't want to acknowledge what's staring them in the face, they say, "We don't know." That's not really an answer at all! That's evading the question. This question calls for the answer of faith - not for "We don't know"!

• (9) Question: "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" (John 9:26).

Answer: "Do you want to become His disciples?" (John 9: 27).

Here's a call to commitment. Let there be less "We don't know" and more "Yes, Lord. We want to be Your disciples."

• (10) Question: "Do you believe ... ?" ( John 9:35).

Answer: "Tell me that I may believe" (John 9:36).

We hear the question, "Do you believe?" We ask the questions, "How am I to believe? What am I to believe?" Jesus is the answer to our question. everything is leading us to Him. The desire to believe, the search for faith - It all comes from Him. He is working in us. He is creating faith in our hearts. He teaches us what it means to have faith. He shows us that real faith is faith in Him.

• (11) Question: "Are we blind?" (John 9:40),

Answer: " ... you claim to see ... your guilt remains" (John 9:41).

There is a blindness that does not come from sin (See, again, the first question and answer - John 9:2-3). There is another blindness that comes directly from our sin. It is the result of our sin. It is a blindness which Jesus can remove - but we must want Him to remove our blindness. We must want Him to forgive our sins. We must want Him to be our Saviour.

Bring Your Sin To The Saviour Of Sinners.

John 8:34-36

Sin is our greatest problem. What are we to do about it?

We ask the question, "What are we to do about sin?" We ask this question, and, then, we ask another question, "What can we do about it?"

When we realize how big a problem sin is, we became aware that we need help. We need more than self-help. We need salvation. This cannot come from ourselves. Salvation must be given to us. It must come from outside of ourselves. It must come from above. It must come to us from our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We have a problem with the idea that salvation must come to us from outside. The problem is ourselves. Here, we come to the heart of sin. What is sin? It's self-centredness. G K Chesterton hit the nail on the head when he said, "What's wrong with the world? I am." Sin is our problem. Salvation is God's solution.

What is sin?

• Sin is self-will: "I did it my way"
• Sin is self-indulgence: "Looking after No. 1"
• Sin is self-confidence: "We can work it out"

- We say, "I did it way." Where did it get us?

- We talk about "Looking after No. 1." Who is No.1?

 - We say, "We can work it out." Can we?

The more we look at self-centred thinking, the more we realize that it is very shallow thinking. It doesn't take us to the heart of our problem.

Before we can even begin to answer the question, "What can be done about sin?", each one of us must recognize that we have a big problem, a problem that's too big for us to deal with on our own.

This leads us to an important point that needs to be made if we are to face the fact of our sin honestly. We cannot run away from our sin. We dare not pretend to ourselves that we're not as bad as we really are.

We must recognize that there's a big difference between admitting and confessing. We're not to offer a half-hearted admission of guilt. We're to make a real confession of our sin. We need to acknowledge the self-centredness of our whole life. This will mean more than, looking at some particular situation and saying, "I was in the wrong. it was my fault." It will mean looking at our whole life, and saying, "I am wrong." The problem is not just one or two problems, or even a whole lot of problems, we may have. I am the problem.

There is a big difference between a shallow and superficial admission of guilt and a real confession of sin. Saying, "I'm sorry", when we really mean, "I wish I hadn't messed up", is not the same thing as a real confession of sin. Confessing our sin is more than saying, "I'm sorry things have turned out this way. I wish I had done things differently." That's more about regret than it is about saying "No" to sin and "Yes" to Jesus.

Saying "No" to sin and saying "Yes" to Jesus - the two belong together. How can we have one without the other? We may try to say "No" but if we do not turn to Jesus for His help, we will fail to live a new life and we will fall back into sin. If, on the other hand, we do say "Yes" to Jesus, we cannot expect to remain the same as we were before we came to Him.

Saying "No" to sin and saying "Yes" to Jesus - This is what it means to confess our sin and trust in the Saviour. A real confession of sin arises out an awareness of how who God is and what He has done for us. He is the holy God. When we begin to see how holy God is, we begin to see how sinful we really are. When we begin to see what a great thing the God of His love - He gave His son to be our Saviour, we find, arising in our hearts, a desire to say "No" to sin and say "Yes" to Jesus. God gave His Son to put away our sin - forgiving our sin and giving us His power to triumph over sin. As we come to appreciate the wonder of God's great salvation, we will want to say "No" to sin and "Yes" to Jesus.

Jesus has done so much for us. Let us say "No" to the sin that sent Him to the Cross for us. Let us say "Yes" which took Him to the Cross for us. Jesus can still do great things for us. He calls us to put our sinful past behind us and to walk with Him into his future - a future in which there will be more of His blessing and less of our sin.

• Dear God, I am sorry that I have left You out of my life, and sinned against You in thought, word and deed, Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the Cross so that I could know you for myself. forgive my sin, and give me the power of Your Spirit to live for You every day, until You bring me to be with You forever, in heaven. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

"One thing I know ..." (John 9:25).

"One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).

Every believer can share his /her personal experience of Christ.

Many people say, "I don't know very much." They use this as an excuse for their failure to speak a word for Jesus.

The man, who received his sight, didn't use his lack of knowledge as an excuse for not speaking for Jesus. He said, "I don't know." Then, he said, "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).

To help us learn the lesson that every believer can and should share his / her personal testimony, when the opportunity, let's look at the context in which these words were spoken.

There are three factors which contribute significantly to this context:

• the relation between Jesus and the man;
• the relation between the man and his world;
• the man himself.

(1) Jesus and the man

There are two moments of contact between Jesus and the man:

• the healing (John 9:1-8);
• the profession of faith (John 9:35-38).

In both instances, we note the initiative of Jesus.

• In the first instance, there is no indication that the man came looking for healing from Jesus. All we are told is this: Jesus healed him.
• In the second instance, we are told that Jesus "found" the man. Isn't that the right order? Sometimes, we say, "I found Jesus." Is it not more true to the Gospel and Christian experience to say, "Jesus found me"?

When Jesus found and healed this man, He changed the man. When a person encounters Jesus, he / she can never be the same again.

One of the first changes was this: the man's new-found faith was put to the test. No-one can become a disciple and expect to evade the testing of his / her faith.

(2) The man and his world

The man's world was made up of three groups of people. Each of these groups had a different attitude towards him.

• the man's neighbours had an attitude of indifference towards him;
• the man's parents had an attitude of compromise towards him;
• the Pharisees had an attitude of rejection towards him.

These attitudes of indifference, compromise and rejection face us today.

• Think of the indifference of the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says, "So what!"
• Think of the compromise of the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says, "I know, but ... "
• Think of the rejection that comes from the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says, "Rubbish!"

We must learn not to be influenced by such attitudes. we must learn to be faithful to God.

(3) The man himself

Here, we look at the man's experience, testimony and influence.

• The man's experience: his eyes were opened. This is what happens to the believer when Christ is received into his / her heart (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).
• The man's testimony: he had received his sight. This is the Christian's testimony (Acts 26:18).
• the man's influence: a whole lot of people started thinking about Jesus.

This man gave Jesus the opportunity to call the Pharisees to trust Him as their Saviour.

As we consider the man's experience, testimony and influence, we must ask some important questions about our own experience, testimony and influence.

• Have I any personal experience of Christ, opening my eyes to see Him as my Saviour?
• Have I a personal testimony to Christ as the Saviour, who has changed my life?
• Has the Lord used me to bring other people to Him?

These are questions which require a personal response from each and every one of us.

Jesus Is The Ice-Breaker.

“Anyone who comes to Me, I will never cast out” (John 6:37).

Often, it seems like we’re living in an earthbound existence. We look out beyond ourselves, and we see nothing but an enormous iceberg that keeps us from getting through to the God who loves us with a warm-hearted love.

Then, Jesus comes along. He’s the Ice-Breaker. He breaks the ice, which separates us from God. He enables us to see that God is much more than just, “There must be something somewhere.” He’s much more than “the unknown God.” He’s the God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins so that we, through faith in the Saviour, might come to know God as our Father.

Jesus is the Ice-Breaker

How does He break the ice?

How does He melt away our coldness towards God?

He does this in the same way that we break the ice with other people.

He speaks to us. He speaks to us in ways that we can understand. He speaks to us His words of love.

Here’s a great icebreaker that comes to us from Jesus, the Ice-Breaker.

“Anyone who comes to Me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).

- This is Good News for everyone.

It’s not just for the spiritually elite who imagine that they’ve proved themselves worthy of God’s love. The Gospel isn’t for Pharisees. They’ll always miss the point of it all. There’s too much of self in their righteousness. they can’t take their eyes of themselves – their religion and their morality – to look at Jesus, and see how wonderful a Saviour He is. The Gospel is for sinners – but it can also be the Gospel for Pharisees, when they learn to see themselves as sinners.

- Jesus will never turn away anyone who comes to Him.

Under no circumstances will Jesus turn away anyone who comes to Him. There is no doubt about this. Jesus has given His promise: “Anyone who comes to Me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). Jesus has given His promise – and He will keep His promise.

- To each and every one of us, Jesus says, “Come.”

If we do not come to Him, we will miss out on the blessing that He has promised. If we do come to Him, we will be truly blessed.

Jesus is the Ice-Breaker. It is wonderful love, His amazing grace and abundant mercy that melts away the coldness of our hearts.

- Jesus says, Come now.”

He doesn’t say, “Come back later – once you’ve improved yourself, once you’ve proved yourself worthy of coming to me, once you feel you’re more acceptable to Me.”

He says, “Come as you are. Come with your sin. Bring your sin to Me. I will forgive your sin.”

The Upward Look And The Outward Look

God is calling us to move forward into His future. He's calling us to move forward with Him. He's calling us to move forward for Him. How are we to move forward with God? How are we to move forward for Him? If we are to move forward with God and for God, we must listen to those who have gone before us, and we must learn from them. Let us look back to the prophets and the apostles. Let us look back to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us listen to them. Let us learn from them.

We begin with one of the prophets - Jeremiah. After that, we will look at the apostles, at the beginning of the book of Acts. Then, we will listen to Jesus, our Saviour, and we will learn from Him. After we have learned from the apostles, the prophets and the Saviour, we will return to the question: How are we to move forward with God and for God.

Jeremiah 1:4-8

Jeremiah's call to serve God seems to come as a bolt from the blue. He was completely taken aback. He was surprised. He was shocked. He was totally unprepared for this. He didn't know how to handle this. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?

To Jeremiah, it may have seemed completely new, but this was not new to God. He had been planning it for a very long time. God had a great future planned for Jeremiah.

Jeremiah looked at the past and the present. He said, "There's nothing special about me. I am only a child" (Jeremiah 1:6). God was already looking on to the future. He said, "Jeremiah, you will be a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).

We look at what we are. God is already looking at what we are going to become.

Jeremiah said, "I do not know how to speak" (Jeremiah 1:6).

God said, "You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you" (Jeremiah 1:7). We look at what we can't do. God says, "This is what I am going to do." God says, "I am going to do a mighty work in you. I am going to do a mighty work through you."

What do we see in the call of Jeremiah? - We see the upward look and the outward look.

 * Jeremiah is looking up to the Lord. He is receiving his message from the Lord. He was a man with a message.

 * Jeremiah is looking out to the world. He is taking his message to the people. He was a man with a mission.

The upward look and the outward look - this is what we need today. We are not only to be the Church within these walls. We're to the be the Church without walls. We're to be the Church that is reaching out beyond these walls.

Acts 1:4-8

At the beginning of the book of Acts, we see the importance of the upward look and the outward look. We need both - the upward look: looking up to God, and the outward look: looking out to the world.

The book of Acts begins with waiting on the Lord - "wait for the gift My Father promised" (Acts 1:4). It moves on from there to witnessing to the world - "you will be My witnesses" (Acts 1:8).

There is, however, something else - something which lies between the waiting and the witnessing.

Here it is, in Acts 1:8: "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you."

Acts 1 is the beginning of a journey.

This journey begins in Jerusalem: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised" (Acts 1:4).

The journey does not end in Jerusalem. It goes out to "the ends of the earth" - "you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Waiting on the Lord and witnessing to the world - we need both, not one without the other. It's not to be all waiting and no witnessing; and it's not to be witnessing without waiting.

We must never forget the call to worship - but we dare not think that the call to serve the Lord is about nothing more than what happens within these walls of the Church. We're called to be a worshipping Church - and we're called to be a serving Church, a Church without walls, a Church that reaches out with the love of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

When we gather for worship, we should pray, "Lord, give us the upward look. Help us to reach up to You." We should also pray, "Give us the outward look. Help us to reach out for You."

Mark 1:34-38

Jesus was a Man of prayer. He was also a Man among the people. God heard His prayers - and "the common people heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37).

In Jesus, we see the upward look and the outward look: looking up to God and going out to the people.

If we are to be true followers of Jesus, we must do what Jesus did - praying to God and working for God.

We must look at the life of Jesus, and we must pray, "Lord, help me to become more like Jesus."

In Jesus, we see both spiritual commitment and social concern, not one without the other.

How are  we to move forward with God and for God?

Our social concern is to be grounded in our spiritual commitment. It is to be shaped by our spiritual commitment. We are to tell people that Jesus loves them. We are to show them that Jesus loves them. We are to love people because we love Jesus. Our social concern is to be a way of expressing our spiritual commitment.

In today's Church and today's world, we need this loving and powerful combination - spiritual commitment and social concern.

 * Our spiritual commitment is always more than a spiritual commitment.

 * Our social concern is always more than a social concern.

We're called to understand the Word of God and to change the world of men and women.

We're to be set apart for God, but we're not be set apart from people.

God is calling us to believe the faith and to live the faith. We are to people who believe the Gospel. we are to be people who live the Gospel.

Let us pray for wisdom to know God's will and courage to do God's will.

Let us give ourselves to Jesus.

He will make the difference in our life - our whole life, not just a part of it.