Showing posts with label Christ's death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ's death. Show all posts

Sunday 23 February 2020

Our 'Good Gifts' And God's Good Gift - The Holy Spirit

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:13).


God's good gift is better than our "good gifts." He's the only One who can give us the gift of "the Holy Spirit."

Sunday 13 October 2019

Couldn't care less! Can't be bothered! ...

Couldn’t care less! Can’t be bothered!
Many people have this attitude toward Jesus Christ and His Church.
Perhaps, it’s your attitude right now as you begin to read this invitation.
God’s attitude to you is exactly the opposite.
He cares for you! He is bothered with you!
God’s care! God’s “being bothered”!
Doesn’t that make you think, “What right have I to say to God, “Couldn’t care less! Can’t be bothered!
Take time to read this invitation carefully.
It may change your life.
 * Perhaps, you’re thinking, 'Why should God care about me?'
There is no answer to this question apart from the love of God.
Look at yourself honestly. God should really have given up on all of us a long time ago – but He hasn’t!
God sent His Son – Jesus Christ – to seek and to save the lost. God patiently waits for those who have lost their way in life (that’s all of us!) to come back to Him through trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour.
 * Perhaps, you’re wondering, 'How do I know that God cares about me?'
There is no answer to this question apart from the death of Christ.
Look at Jesus Christ honestly. He is so unlike us. He did everything God wanted Him to do. He didn’t deserve to die a criminal’s death – but He did: death on a cross.
Why did He die in this way? – “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
It should have been me! It should have been you!
Jesus Christ suffered “capital punishment” for us!
The cross of Christ turns our questions around – “How can we doubt that God cares for us?”
 * Perhaps, you’re asking, 'Can I – a ‘couldn’t care less, can’t be bothered’ type of person – be changed?'
There is no answer to this question apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s be honest. The story of your life and mine is a story of failure. Don’t let failure hold you back from coming in faith to Jesus Christ.
Do you think that God will turn you away? – He sent His Son to save failures.
Do you think that Christ will look down His nose at you? – He died on the cross for failures.
Why do you say, “I can’t become a Christian. I’d be a failure”? 
A Christian is simply a failure who has received from God – through faith in Christ – forgiveness for the past, strength for the present and hope for the future.
Why don’t you receive this great gift – a new beginning with God – by receiving Jesus Christ as your Saviour?
Don’t wait till tomorrow! Don’t wait till Sunday! Trust Christ right now!
We look forward to meeting you at Church this Sunday, as we thank God for Jesus!

Tuesday 27 August 2019

Some Ideas For Preaching On Christ's Crucifixion

Were we there when they crucified our Lord? – Yes. He died for our sins.
In this remarkable prophecy, we see Jesus Christ, crucified for us – ‘the Lord has laid all our sins on Him’ – and risen from the dead – ‘After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life’ (Isaiah 53:6, 11).
‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’ (Mission Praise, 745). We might put this question to Isaiah. In one sense, he wasn’t there. He lived long before the time of Christ. In another sense, he was there. God opened his eyes. God gave him a glimpse of what was going to happen in the future.
‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’ In one sense, we weren’t there. These things happened long before we were even born. In another sense, we were there. It was our sins which Christ took with Him to the Cross. It was our sins which He left behind Him when He rose from the dead (Romans 4:25).
Jesus Christ – forsaken by God and pierced for our transgressions
Read of the Psalmist’s sufferings. Think of the Saviour, suffering for you (Psalm 22:7-8, 18; Matthew 27:39 ,43, 35).
We highlight two statements: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’, ‘They have pierced my hands and my feet’ (Psalm 22:1, 16).
Jesus Christ was ‘crucified and killed by the hands of the lawless men’ (Acts 2:23). There is, however, more to His story than this: ‘The Lord has laid all our sins on Him’ (Isaiah 53:6).
When we read of Jesus Christ, ‘pierced for our transgressions’, we see Him ‘pierced’ by men and forsaken by God (Isaiah 53:5; Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34; Matthew 27:46).
Looking on to Jesus Christ, risen, exalted and returning, we see Him still bearing the marks of His suffering – ‘the mark of the nails’, ‘a Lamb standing as though it had been slain’, ‘pierced’ (John 20:25; Revelation 5:6; 1:7).
Jesus Christ has ‘tasted death for everyone’ (Hebrews 2:9). Now, through Him, salvation is proclaimed to ‘the congregation’, to ‘the ends of the earth’ to ‘future generations’ (Psalm 22:22, 27, 30). Jesus Christ, ‘the same yesterday, today and for ever’, proclaims salvation to the great ‘congregation’, drawn from ‘every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Hebrews 13:8; 2:12; Revelation 5:9).
Looking back to Christ’s crucifixion, looking forward to His return
We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19). We are to live as those who are awaiting the Day of the Lord’s return (Hebrews 10:25).
We look back to what Christ has done for us. We look forward to what He will do for us.
Looking back and looking forward: These are both found in Hebrews 9:28 – ‘Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him’.
We remember our Saviour. We remember what He has done for us: ‘the Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us’(Galatians 2:20).
We eat bread and drink wine, giving thanks that our Saviour went to the Cross for us – His body broken for us and His blood shed for us.
We are not only looking back. We are also looking forward: ‘As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes’ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Remember – and pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’(Revelation 22:20).
As we remember our Lord Jesus Christ, we see how sinful we really are and we pray for ‘mercy’ and ‘grace’ (Hebrews 4:15-16). It is through His grace and mercy that we are able to look forward to ‘eternal salvation’ (Hebrews 5:9).
“It is finished”. The work of redemption is completed. Jesus is the risen Lord.
The story continues. Jesus is betrayed. Jesus is arrested (John 18:1-11). He stands before the Jewish authorities (John 18:12-14, 19-24).
Jesus is ‘drinking from the cup which the Father has given Him’- He drinks from the cup of our condemnation that we might drink from the cup of His salvation (John 18:11; Matthew 26:38-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Jesus’ death was not only ‘expedient’. It was ‘necessary’- for our salvation (John 18:14; Luke 24:26).
Alongside the story of Jesus there is the story of Peter (John 18:15-18, 25-27). Jesus’ death was not the end of His story – He rose from the dead (Luke 24:5-6; Acts 2:23-24). Peter denied the Lord three times. This was not the end of his story. For each denial, there was a new commitment (John 21:15-17). For each denial, there were, on the Day of Pentecost, 1,000 people brought to Christ (Acts 2:38, 41).
‘Barabbas was a robber’. He was released (John 18:39-40). There was ‘no crime’ in Jesus. He was ‘crucified’ (John 18:38; 19:4, 6, 16).
Was Jesus no more than the innocent victim of a shameful and tragic miscarriage of justice? No! Jesus, the King of kings, chose to die.
Looking ahead to the Cross, He said, ‘For this I was born…’ (John 18:36-37). In love, He chose death on the Cross.
As truly as Barabbas, each of us can say, ‘He took my place and died for me’. In His death, Jesus did not only take the place of one sinner, Barabbas – ‘He took the place of many sinners’. He did not simply bear the punishment deserved by one sinner, Barabbas – ‘The Lord made the punishment fall on Him, the punishment all of us deserved’ (Isaiah 53:12, 6).
‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). These are not words of despair. They are words of triumph.
At an early stage in His public ministry, Jesus said, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me to finish His work’ (John 4:34). Even then, He was looking ahead to the Cross, to the completion of the work of redemption.
In one sense, ‘it is finished’- on the Cross. In another sense, there is more to be done – by the Father. The Cross is followed by the resurrection – ‘God raised Him from the dead’(Acts 2:24; Romans 10:9).
To come to the words, ‘It is finished’ is not to reach the end of the story.
Jesus was laid in the tomb (John 19:42). This was not the end of His story.
He was raised on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)!

Christ's Crucifixion And Resurrection

We rejoice in Christ's resuurection, but we do not rush on to His resurrection without turning our thoughts to His crucifixion. His resurrection has no meaning without His crucifixion. Before there could be His resurrection, there needed to be His crucifixion. Before He could be raised from death to life, He needed to die. He died for us - then, He was raised for us. In His suffering for our sins, He prayed, "My God, my God, why have You fosaken Me?" As we learn to appreciate the wonder of what He has done for us in His death, our joy will increase, when we hear the words, "He has risen."

They Killed Him. God Raised Him!

"Come, let us kill him" (Matthew 21:38). This is the human story of Christ's crucifixion. He was "put to death by wicked men." There is also the divine story - "the deliberate plan and foreknowledge of God"(Acts 2:23). The wicked men thought that this was the end of Jesus. They were wrong! - "God raised Him from the dead." Could it have been any other way? Could the evil scheming of men have prevailed over God's plan of salvation? - No! "It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him" (Acts 2:24).

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