Set Free By The Truth Of The Gospel

Much modern preaching tends, in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, to say to men and women, "Peace, peace" where there is, in fact, "no peace." The Gospel, on the other hand, to use the words of the prophet Joel, places "multitudes in the valley of decision." The Gospel places you and me crossroads between faith and unbelief. It is a crossroads at which you must make a decision - either to trust Jesus Christ as Saviour, or to trust in your own selves, your religion, your good works. Which will it be - Christ or or man-centred religion?

When Jesus Christ preached the Word of God, His preaching had one of two effects on His hearers - either they believed and were saved, or they were antagonised, and they objected to Him, threatening Him, taunting Him and persecuting Him.

When the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, simply and honestly, it is never comfortable to listen to. The Gospel never leaves people the way they were. Either, it thrills them, or it infuriates them. The Gospel places every one of us at the crossroads. Will it be faith in Jesus Christ and salvation, or unbelief (even religious unbelief) and condemnation?

"God sent His Son not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:17). These great Gospel words are followed by an urgent call to faith - "He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18).

Jesus says to each  of us: "If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32).

To all of us, Jesus asks very serious and insistent questions: What about your religion? What about your church membership and church attendance? Can it be described in terms of continuing in the Lord's Word? Can it be described as a life of true discipleship? Can it be described as knowing the truth and being set free by the truth of the Gospel?

Perhaps, you are the type of person who says to yourself, "The Gospel of Christ is all right as long as it's concerned with generalities, and doesn't get too personal in its challenge."

This type of person accepts Jesus as the great example and teacher, and even acknowledges that He is the Son of God. When, however, he hears the personal challenge of the Gospel, he starts to back away.

I wonder if this is an apt description of you. You are a religious person. You attend Church regularly, but you don't like to hear about the need to be converted, the need to be born again. 

Why?

Is it because we don't like to hear that we are lost sinners for whom there is no hope apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour?

When Jesus says, "Unless you are converted, you shall perish", we tend to say to ourselves, "I'm really quite a good person. Why all this talk about conversion?"

When Jesus says, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God", we tend to react hastily, "I've been a religious person all my life. Why all this talk about being born again?"

What we tend to forget is this: We really are sinners whose only hope of being accepted by God is based on the death of Jesus Christ. If you look at your life in the light of Christ's death for you, you can come to no other conclusion than this: If Jesus Christ needed to die on the Cross for me, I must be a great sinner with a very great need of a great Saviour. Alongside the Saviour and His death upon the cross for our sins, there is no room at all for the claim that God will accept us on the basis of our religion and good works.

Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

The freedom which Jesus offers to you and me is grounded in a knowledge of the truth about ourselves, that we are sinners, who can do nothing to save ourselves. It is based on the truth about our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is our only Saviour.

This knowledge of the truth, and this experience of being set free by the truth, is very far removed from the religion of a great many Church members, who attend Church regularly. Many have a form of religion, which is sheer slavery - a slavery to custom and tradition. Such people are religious because they are afraid not to be religious. They speak of their childhood days in this way - "When we were young, we were made to go to Church." They are religious people, simply because they have never known anything else. That's the way they were brought up. It's their custom and tradition. It's what they were taught by their parents and grandparents. 

This is not the freedom which Christ promises. It is nothing more than a shallow and superficial belief - a second-hand faith, which is bound by custom, tradition and fear. There is no comparison between this kind of religious bondage and the knowledge of the truth, which Christ gives and which sets the believer free.

When the believer has come to know the truth of the gospel, he is able to say with real conviction: "I know this to be the truth of God. I know it to be true because it has changed my life."

What is it that the believer confesses to be the truth of God? It is the Gospel. This is what changes our lives - the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Saviour who invites you to receive forgiveness for all of your past sins, the Saviour who says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if you open the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20). He says, "I will make you a new person. I will empower you with the Holy Spirit." Jesus is the Saviour, who invites us to receive His free gift - the gift of eternal life. We receive this wonderful gift through faith in Jesus, our Saviour. 

How are the blessing of God's salvation to become ours? Is it, through self-centred religion, in which you are so confident that your good works will be good enough? No! We receive God's wonderful gift of salvation through faith in Jesus, our Saviour. 

Trust in Christ. Believe that He died for you. Believe that He has taken your sins upon Himself so that all of your sins might be forgiven. Believe that Jesus is the risen Lord, the living Saviour. Believe that He gives you His great gift of eternal life. Believe that He will keep you in the way of faith, the way that leads to His heavenly and eternal glory.

Jesus Is The Bread Of Life (John 6:35-40).

John 6:35

Have you ever been really hungry or thirsty? – Find food. Find drink. Eat it. Drink it.

Are you spiritually hungry and thirsty? Find the Bread Of Life, come to Him and be fed.

John 6:36

Some do not believe. They will not believe. They refuse to believe.

John 6:37

What is God’s purpose for you? What does He want to do in your life?

He wants to bring you, lovingly, to the position where you will come, in faith, to Jesus Christ, in the full assurance that you are accepted by God on the basis of Christ’s death for you.

He does not call on you to wait until you’ve improved yourself.

He calls you to come to Him now, as you are.

John 6:38-40

God’s purpose for you is that, recognizing Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you should receive eternal life as a free gift, which, once received, can never be taken away from you.

Jesus And The Woman At The Well - Learning From The Woman

In John 4:11, we see the woman seeking. In John 4:29, we hear her speaking.

Through her seeking and speaking, others begin seeking (John 4:30) and speaking (John 4:42).

When she began her seeking, she was thoroughly perplexed and mystified.

The words of this stranger seemed to be absurd.

Did this stop her seeking? No! She kept on seeking. She didn’t say, “I don’t understand this. I’ll just forget I ever heard it.” What she did say was this, “I don’t understand this, but I do want to understand.”

Before we move from her seeking to her speaking, we must note the connection between seeking and finding – Jesus said, “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7).

Once the woman had found, she had to speak. She had to share with others what she had found (John 4:28-29).

Her speaking led to others’ seeking. She challenges them to think about Jesus. She asks them, “What do you think?”They begin to seek for Jesus (John 4:30).

They seek, and they find – “Many of the Samaritans from that city believed in Him” (John 4:39).

Finding the Lord has two stages: (a) They “believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:39); (b) “Many more believed because of His Word” (John 4:41).

It is only after the second level of faith – believing because of His Word – that seeking leads to speaking (John 4:42).

It is only when faith is grounded in God’s Word, and not merely man’s word, that the hesitancy of speaking becomes the boldness of speaking.

Have you moved from seeking to speaking?

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.

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.

"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 Generation Gap

The Generation Gap – The old and the young cannot or will not understand each other.

I How do we tackle the problem of the Generation Gap?

Do we seek our answer with the adult generation? – By demanding that young people comply with their parents

Do we seek our answer with the youth culture? – By demanding that adults embrace the attitude of their children

Neither of these alternatives gets to the root of the problem. There is, however, a third alternative. We can take the problem to Jesus.

In my own experience, the Generation Gap has never been a great problem. Why? – Because the problem was taken to Jesus.

As I entered the years of adolescence and early adulthood, I committed my life to Jesus Christ.On the same night, my father also committed his life to Jesus Christ.

I was fifteen. He was forty. It looked like the perfect situation for a generation gap. The generation gap never quite developed.

Why? – Because we both found the perfect solution: Jesus.

In Jesus Christ, there is neither young nor old. The real spiritual relationship is not the father-son relationship. It’s the relationship of being brothers in Christ. In God’s family, we are all sons, and none of us is a Father. We are all children of God, and He alone is our Father.

When we understand this, the father will not demand that the son be just like him, and the son will not demand that the father become a youngster like him. Both will share a common goal – to be like Christ, the perfect Son of God our Father.

Rather than speaking of the “Generation Gap”, we should speak of the “Jesus Generation.”

In John 4:43-54, we see a generation problem, a problem involving a father and his son. It is not, however, the problem of a generation gap. There is no hint of a generation gap.

It is a problem for both the father and his son. It is a problem that neither of them could solve. It is a problem which is taken to Jesus.

We are not told precisely what age the son was. We’re not told exactly what his illness was. We’re told that the problem was taken to Dr. Jesus.

Each of us suffers from a spiritual illness – sin, and we must go to Dr. Jesus for His remedy.

What was Jesus’ remedy?

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”

Jesus says, “Go, your son will live” (John 4:50a). “The man believed Jesus’ words and went” (John 4:50b).

The man trusted and obeyed. Then, when the man trusted and obeyed, came the blessing, the healing.

Within families, there  is always the possibility of the development of a generation gap. This generation gap becomes a real problem when another gap has not been bridged – the gap between man and God.

No matter what side of the generation gap you may be on, remember this: we are all, by nature, on the wrong side of the gap between man and God. There is, however, something else that we must never forget: Jesus has bridged the gap between man and God.

If we are wise - we will come and worship Jesus.

We think of Matthew 2 as 'the story of the wise men'. It is not so much about the wise men. It is about Jesus. He is the central Character. We are not told how many wise men there were. The word, 'three', does not appear (Matthew 2:1). We are not told their names. We wre not told exactly where they came from - just, they came 'from the East' (Matthew 2:1). The important thing is that they made their journey. They came, seeking Jesus: 'Where is He...?'. They came 'to worship Him' (Matthew 2:2). The wise men were led to Jesus by 'His star' (Matthew2:2). They were also led by the Scriptures. When asked where the Child was to be born, they answered by quoting from the Scriptures. Reading the Scriptures, we become wise for salvation as we find Christ who is 'our Wisdom' (2 Timothy 3:15; 1 Corinthians 1:30).

An old, old story - A story for today

'The old, old story - it is ever new'. With each passing year, we move further away from the time when Christ was born. Further away from the time when He was born, but not further away from Him - He is still 'Emmanuel...God with us' (Matthew 1:23)! We may never visit the place where He was born. Many visit Bethlehem as tourists without becoming worshippers. They look at the place where He was born - but they do not love Him! They have 'no room' in their hearts for Him (Matthew 2:7). There is a place where you can find Jesus. Love will grow, worship will become real, when you find Him - in your heart! 'O come to my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for Thee' (Mission Praise, 697). Don't just remember His birth. Experience it - 'O Holy Child of Bethlehem...Be born in us today'(Church Hymnary, 172).

Out of an old year, into a New Year - with Jesus!

We live in a world in which many people are trying to grab our attention. There is more interest in making a profit than listening to the prophet. We need to listen to what the prophet says to us: Emmanuel - God with us - has come to us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). God has come to us. He has not left us - and He will not leave us!

Jesus, our Saviour is always with us. Wherever we are, He is there. When everything seems to be changing, let us remember this: God’s Son is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. Often, we forget Jesus. He never forgets us. He always remembers us.

Do you feel that the Lord is far away from you? When you feel like this, remember God's Word: Jesus is "God with us." When we feel like God has deserted us, what has changed? Has God changed? Has He stopped loving us? No! He has not changed. He still loves us. How do we know that God still loves us? How do we know that He keeps on loving us? God has given His answer to our question? - "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son" (John 3:16).

Our feelings change. Sometimes, we’re up, and sometimes, we’re down. God’s Word is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. When your faith is shaken by the things that happen to you, hold on to this: Jesus still speaks to us “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Our Saviour is with us - always. What a great Saviour He is!

Don’t look back, and wonder about what might have been, if … There is no value in thinking like this. That kind of thing never does anybody any good. Look forward. Look to Jesus. Believe that He loves you. Believe that He will never leave you. Believe that the future is His future. Believe that He wants to bless you. Believe that He will bless you – and celebrate His love.