Changed on the Inside

Pastor Peter Linnecar shares from John 9, from the story of the man born blind, where we see that Jesus is interested in all our lives, and knows what we need. He is the one who seeks us out, even when we are in our darkest moment, and changes everything.

As we look at scriptures today, you’ll see that God is interested in your life, and wants to change you on the inside for the better. Sometimes when we think about God, we forget His ways aren’t our ways, and that His thoughts aren’t our thoughts. He’s good and He loves us – God is love.

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Isaiah 55:8 - 11

Whenever God speaks, the word has a purpose which will be fulfilled. He never says something He regrets. He will always work out His purposes.

Mark 10:27 says things impossible with man are possible with God. He works out things in His way in His time.

Who sinned?

John 9:1 – 2

Jesus and the disciples saw the same thing but reacted differently. To the disciples, it was a blind man, and they wanted an answer as to why he was blind. Sometimes we can’t work out why certain things happen. I don’t claim to have the answer to everything. But as far as God is concerned, we may be trying to get answers to questions we shouldn’t be asking, because Jesus’ answer was completely the opposite of what they expected.

John 9:3

There are circumstances happening in your life because God wants to get your attention and reveal more of Himself than you have ever known before. He’s interested in your life. He was so interested that He came to this earth to seek and save that which was lost. He wanted to change you on the inside. The way you started off in life was wrong. We are sinners, and we know we are.

I am the light of the world

John 9:4 – 5

Jesus Himself is the light of the world, and He’s come to dispel the darkness and sin within us. The disciples couldn’t figure it out. There was a situation and something must have caused it, because things shouldn’t have been that way. But Jesus said the works of God would be manifest in the blind man.

John 9:6 – 7

It didn’t happen there and then. The clay was put on his eyes and he was told to go and wash and when he did, his eyesight was given.

John 9:8 – 12

Jesus made the clay, touched his eyes, sent him off, and while he was away, Jesus went on His way. The man returned having had his miracle, able to see for the first time in his life – and he didn’t know where Jesus was.

John 9:13 – 34

“And they cast him out.”

What a reaction. The Pharisees doubted the man who claimed that he was born blind and that Jesus had healed him. Those five words, “And they cast him out,” struck me, because our sin has shut God out. When we start off in life, we’re against God, and we do not want Him. We want to do our own thing. But we try and try, and it doesn’t work. It’s as if we’ve cast ourselves out – our sin has brought a shutter down between us and God.

Romans 5:6

At the right time God sorted things out, to break through the shutter and get hold of us. He wants to change the sin and wrong thought life with His life inside you.
This man who was given sight for the first time in his life, was asked about Jesus and was trying to work it out – He must be of God because look at what’s happened to my eyes.

When you were at your wits’ end, Jesus heard you when you prayed. God is organising things to increase that relationship with Him - He is your heavenly Father. He loves you and provides for you.

I wonder who told Jesus what had happened to the man.

John 9:35 – 38

“Lord I believe.” The reason you can say that is as a result of Jesus finding you. Through the Cross of Calvary, you were on His mind, and at that point He took in Himself your first life, your sin. It was then a case of God’s Holy Spirit speaking to you and drawing you. He’s brought you to this point in time where He says, “Do you believe on the Son of God?” What do you say?

Romans 10:8 – 10

Lord, I believe

All Jesus asked was, “Do you believe on the Son of God?” The man answered, “Who is He?” I am the one who healed you and the one who is speaking to you now. “Lord, I believe. I’ve been trying to sort things out on my own, and I’ve made a mess.”

Is it fair that some people come across this truth and others don’t? Don’t think like that. I’m talking about God in relation to you. Why did things start out as they did in Israel all those years ago? Why am I preaching like this there in England? I don’t know. But it’s how God speaks to you, how you realise that He gave His son so that you could be born again. You could be thinking, I know I need that. I try to lead a good life, and time and again I fail. There are some things I’ve given up on because I can’t overcome them. Jesus knows that, and He wants to point out you can’t do it on your own. Your sin is preventing the life you want to live. The only way to live that life is when Jesus Christ comes inside and causes you to start again with His life inside you.

This man, born blind, got his sight back and by the end of this encounter with Jesus, he could also see spiritually.

John 9:39 – 41

God loves an honest heart. I know some of you are being honest with yourselves, and realise inside right now that God is speaking to you. Respond to that voice. Say “Lord I believe. Sort me out. Change me from the inside.” And He will.

God has already made provision for what you need. He loves you and He will reveal Himself to you through His provision.

Jesus gets very personal because He loves you.

Going Forward in God

No matter how impossible the circumstances we face, God has provided a way for us as we go forward in Him.

Ephesians 2:5 – 6

As a Christian, you live knowing that Jesus Christ is the answer for everything. His life is inside you, and you know that you can trust God in any circumstances as you go forward. It’s a glorious thing to know your times are in God’s hand.

There was a particular time when the children of Israel faced an impossible situation. When you face the impossible God is able to see you through, He is able to fulfil His destiny in your life.

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Isaiah 51:15

It was an impossible situation, but He divided the sea. He rebuked the sea and, according to Nahum made it dry. It was not until 800 years later Isaiah wrote these words. This was an event of such significance that it was still recalled.

There came a time in the history of the children of Israel when their situation couldn’t have got any worse. They had been slaves of the Egyptians, ten plagues had been brought on the Egyptians, and still Pharaoh would not let them go. The Passover came and the firstborn of every Egyptian died, and the children of Israel thought that now they had made it. Pharoah finally agreed to let them leave Egypt.

There are some people today who need to realise that when it seems impossible to go forward, God is opening the way for you. God can sort things out.

Exodus 12:31 – 32

The following is history...

Exodus 14:1 – 5

Suddenly the Egyptians realised that they were letting their slaves go. To the Israelites it must have appeared that everything was sorted out for them but suddenly they were facing another problem.

Exodus 14:6 – 9

The Israelites must have been thinking “We thought it was sorted, Lord. There was an agreement. What are you doing?”

When the Passover happened the firstborn of every Egyptian family had died. But the one thing the plagues hadn’t touched was the army, and Pharaoh trusted the army.

Sometimes we look at situations which we thought were resolved, and fear comes inside. But fear not. Jesus Christ lives on the inside. Perfect love casts out fear. Don’t be afraid.

Exodus 14:10 – 12

The children of Israel were trapped at a dead end with 600 relentless chariots coming after them. There really was nowhere to go. There were over 1.5 million people, with the sea ahead of them, the wilderness behind, and the chariots approaching. What they thought was sorted out apparently was not. And the complaints and murmuring set in.

Exodus 14:13

“Fear not”. God used those same words with Abraham in Genesis 5, to Joshua, to Gideon, to Daniel.

Luke 12:31 - 32

Without God in this world, there is fear – fear of the economy, of the credit crunch, of the knife culture. You can’t but fear without God.

If you’re not a Christian, God wants to show you something. He’s saying that this Christianity you have heard about is something you need to get involved in. Jesus is speaking to you right now. You know you’ve been worried about the way things are, about your own life.

God is on the throne. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. He has a future for each person on this earth.

The children of Israel heard Moses say, “Fear not”.

Isaiah 26:3

The only way to get peace inside and going forward is in God.

You have only to look at the news these days, and it’s as though each day brings something worse than the day before. People are asking what is the answer, what is the way forward, what is the fabric of society meant to be? Do politicians have the answer? The more it goes on, the more imperative it is that we should not be silent about our faith. Jesus Christ is on the throne. He has the answer. There is a way for society He knows about. It involves one person at a time coming to know Him.

Ephesians 1:19 – 23

The reason why we have an empty cross is that when He went to the cross, He took our sin, broke the power of it, was buried and rose from the dead – and the power of God that brought Him up from the dead is the power which comes by His Holy Spirit to live within an individual.

God has everything under His feet. There isn’t one thing God doesn’t know about, and isn’t involved in. He loves you, and there is peace in heaven. There is never a ripple of any fear or doubt, because in heaven everything has been completed.

As you evaluate your circumstances, you can have confidence that God is taking you forward, that He will see you through. On our own, we can’t do it. The world does not have an answer. The children of Israel did not have an answer.

“Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

Some of the children of Israel thought there was no chance it would happen. Others said they didn’t know how it would happen, but they believed.

Exodus 14:14

Forget your way of working things out, your way of coming up with an answer. It’s the Lord who fights for us and sees us through. Fear not, stand still. It’s the Lord who fights for us and we will see the salvation of the Lord. Don’t worry about whether it will work out or not. Of course it will.

Exodus 14:15-18

I wonder what Moses thought when God said that. He’d been used to miraculous power. He’d seen the burning bush. He’d seen the plagues. And now, something else miraculous was to happen – something we would still talk about today. God had the solution. It’s something you’d never dream of, because humanly speaking it is not possible.

Exodus 14:19

God provided a solution the children of Israel didn’t think of. In their mind they followed the cloud. Suddenly it was switched about. You think there is no way forward, but God has the solution.

Exodus 14:20-31

This was an incredible miracle because there was no way forward. Humanly speaking it was impossible. You may think that the situation you are facing is impossible, but God has prepared the solution. It doesn’t matter what anyone says. God knows what He is doing, and He has already provided a way forward for you in the circumstances of your life.

Philippians 4:19

The guarantee is that God is who He is. The God who has started a work in your life will complete it. And whatever your need, God will supply all that need.

Hebrews 11:29

I don’t think there was a motorway formed through the sea which they just strolled through. I think the people started, and as they went forward it moved apart, and they kept going. Each step they took, the miracle provision continued, by faith. And there were a lot of people, over 1.5 million. Step by step by step. Our God is a God of miracles. He has done everything, and it’s perfect to provide a solution for your life.

Ephesians 2:5 – 6

Jesus Christ living on the inside

His Holy Spirit lives in us now. And the pillar of fire is a type of the Holy Spirit, the protection. With Jesus Christ living on the inside, as you go forward, remind yourself that we have a God who makes the impossible possible. He will and He does. Everything begins and ends in Him.

Baptism

Today we will be looking at the background to baptism at the time of Jesus.

Why do we have Baptism?

We have baptism because it was commanded by God. It came about because of the ceremonial cleansings of the Old Testament.

Luke 7:30 tells us that the Pharisees rejected John’s counsel to be baptised. By the time John came there was a tradition amongst the Jews relating to cleansing from sin by baptism. Jesus was baptised by John even though He had no sin. He was baptised in fulfilment of the Law.

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Is Baptism a requirement of salvation?

Baptism isn’t a requirement of salvation, the thief on the Cross was not baptised, but Jesus told him , :Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Baptism is an emblem of the belief an individual has in God and it is important you know who you are in God, and who God is.

John 3:22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

There then came a transition, as Jesus’ ministry grew, His disciples started to baptise.

John 3:23 – John 4:3

John the Baptist was a prophet. He knew who Jesus was. Jesus must increase, and he must decrease. “I’m of the earth and Jesus is from heaven. There’s a transition happening.” You need to realise that your life in God, Christ inside you, is from heaven. It’s not of this world.

We are living in a time of economic changes and challenges and it’s easy to get embroiled in the impossibility of surviving, of finding a job and so on. I want to confirm to you that your life is hid with God. He is not of this earth. He knows what He is doing and He is in control. And when you were baptised, you were signifying to the world that you believe in Jesus Christ and are going God’s way. Your life is hid with God. Realise where you are in God when you see the impossibilities around you. He loves you. You aren’t of this world – you’re just passing through. Your provision is from above, from God.

Newness of Life!

Baptism signifies that you are buried with him and have come out of the waters into newness of life. Please remember where you are in God. He’s your heavenly Father and your provider. God will make a way. He’s making provision for you right now.

Before He left this earth, Jesus talked about baptism:-

Matthew 28:19 - 20

When John the Baptist baptised it was for the remission of the sin. But now, Jesus has died for our sins, and we are to go to all nations baptising them in the name of the Father. John said Jesus would baptise in the Holy Ghost. Jesus was from heaven, John of the earth.

Jesus initiated the concept of baptism. As the church grew, baptism got under way.

Acts 8:35-39

This was after Jesus rose from the dead, after the New Testament church began. The pre-requisite for this man, before he was baptised was that Philip explained Jesus to Him. And he then said, “If you believe with all your heart you may be baptised.”

Acts 19:1-7

These people had been baptised by John. He had come, signifying that Jesus was to come after him. Paul said that baptism was real.

John 1:7

Here we have people who were baptised by John who needed to be sorted out because they hadn’t heard of the Holy Ghost. And they were re-baptised. If you’ve never been baptised as a believer, it’s important you should be baptised, because it is a commandment of God.

Now we get personal...

Romans 6:1- 4

Baptism signifies being buried with Christ. As you go under the water it’s as if you are in the grave as He was. He took into Himself on the Cross all our sin and disease. Baptism is you identifying with Him. But the key point is that we now walk in newness of life. If you’re a believer, you’re sitting here in newness of life. We can walk in that. We’re buried with Him, and comingp up out of the water signifies newness of life. There’s a whole new world for us because we are no longer of this world. The way of a Christian is to take orders from no one but God. He birthed me from above, and I want to do what pleases Him.

I’m walking in newness of life – which is why you don’t need to get worried about the problems of this world. Sure there are problems. But I’m walking in newness of life, and when I was baptised, it was a demonstration of what God has done. It’s His life being worked out inside me. All I have to do is walk in the Spirit. He’s done His work. He has sat down literally at the right hand of God. He doesn’t have to do anything else. He isn’t worried that He hasn’t done enough. He’s done everything for you. If I get caught up with the worries of the world, I need to remember that I’m a Christian. He’s my heavenly Father. He has made provision. He knows the end from the beginning, knows what I have need of. Credit crunch? Not in heaven! That’s not burying my head in the sand – I’m merely reminding you that when He gave His life, so that sin and evil desires would have no sway in you, you were set free to walk in newness of life.

Colossians 2:10 – 12

You don’t have to do the right things to make Him bless you. You are risen because of what He has done. I’m buried with Him in baptism, and I’m raised with Him through the faith of the operation of God. Faith originates in Him and He delights in giving faith to you and me. He’s my heavenly Father, my provider. I want to tell others about this, because they may need healing, they may need Him to work inside them.
So many different things are put forward as the solution. Young people are drinking more now. Why? Do you think you should join them? You and I know it doesn’t get anywhere. Hundreds of things are being tried to fill the void, and none of them is fulfilling. You are complete in Him. Nothing can touch you.

Naaman answered the word of God – “Go and wash seven times and your leprosy will go.” He did it, and it worked. Jesus went to the Cross, took our sin, everything which would cause us to go wrong.

Colossians 2:13 - 15

He is seated at the right hand of God. And when He rose from the dead, it was an open display of His triumph. He is in heaven. The job has been done. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, which can hinder you from walking in life, realising your position in Christ. Nothing can hinder His provision for you. So what is the problem? “It’s okay when I’m in here. But during the week it’s difficult.” God is getting hold of your thinking now. So which is the verse which has got hold of you? God has triumphed. He has given you the faith to believe. He has brought you to Himself. He knows the end from the beginning, has prepared your steps for you. God is getting your thinking correct now because He wants it to become part of you.

Be careful how much news you read. Be careful what you set your mind on during the week. Cultivate what is accurate and true. Listen to the Bible on CD. Cultivate the right way of thinking. It’s no good getting our thinking right in here and then throwing it away during the week. Does that mean I should be unaware of what is going on in the world? Of course not! But I need to align my thinking with God’s word. Baptism signifies that I’ll sort out my thinking to be consistent with Him, thinking on the right things. The thinking will be right and baptism is about me showing to the church and the world everything that God means to me. He has given me life. Without Him I wouldn’t be breathing, wouldn’t be thinking in this way, because He has made it possible for me to choose to think the right way. It’s not inevitable that I go wrong. I have the choice. He’s made the way for you and He is giving you the faith and strength.