New Year’s Eve Service

As we stand at the brink of a new year, Deuteronomy reminds us that the Lord cares for us, and that His eyes are upon us from the beginning of the year even to the end of it.

This is an occasion when there is a new beginning. We also need to be aware of what we can thank God for. When we had the series on prayer, it was possible to think ... if I were to make a list of say three things I’d like to thank God for, what would be on that list? People began to think about that.I’d like you to share with people what you’re going to thank God for. It’s a good time to think about what we can thank God for.

It’s quite an episode when you look at the preparations for the departure for the Promised Land. Joshua was there with Moses. He was ready. The Lord spoke to the children of Israel about the land they were to go in to possess.

Deuteronomy 11:10-12

The complete opposite of Egypt – a land which drinketh water.

Revelations 22:16-18

God has been faithful to us as a group of people, part of the church worldwide, and He has been faithful to you.

Deuteronomy 11:12

There is no way that God doesn’t care for you.

Psalms 37:4-6

His eyes are always on you from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

As we gather together now at the end of this year, and as we flip to the next year on the calendar, and I know God has been faithful to us jointly and to you. There is no way that God will fail to make provision, will fail to guide you. He will make provision and guide each one of us according to what He wants. It doesn’t matter what sounds there are offstage. It doesn’t matter what efforts there are, overt or covert, to derail what God wants in this place. He is a faithful God.

It’s a wonderful thing that we can join together and partake of the bread and wine.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15

It talks there about the next generation. I was talking to some people earlier about their children. I want us to join together and pray for each member of each family.

1 Corinthians 11:23-30

Walk as Children of the Light

For 400 years leading up to the birth of Jesus, there had been no prophet to bring the Word of God to Israel. The silence was finally broken when the Angel Gabriel came to Zacharias to tell him that his prayer for a child had been heard (Luke 1:13):-

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. / And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. / For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. / And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. / And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

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Later Zacharias was to prophesy over the child (Luke 1:68) :-

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, / And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; / As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: / That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; / To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; / The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, / That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, / In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. / And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; / To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, / Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, / To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.


Sometimes we find ourselves in dark circumstances, unsure of the way forward. But as we see here, God can bring about a complete and utter change – just as at the very beginning of creation, He spoke light out of darkness.

In the passage above, Zacharias referred to scriptures written 700 years before in the time of Isaiah and King Ahaz. Israel and Judah had split, Ahaz was going contrary to God, and there was no hope in the land. Against this background of darkness, Isaiah prophesied both of the evil which was to come, and of the hope which found its realisation in Jesus (Is 8:21 22, 9:2) :-

And … it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness … The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.


When Zacharias spoke, he knew he was heralding a transformation – no hope to hope, darkness to light.

The passage from Isaiah continues: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. / Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.


The child Jesus Christ is the one who became a light to the Gentiles, who brought light in the midst of darkness, as Paul reminds us in Corinthians (2 Cor 4:6) :-

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.


The same God who commanded light out of darkness, who made something out of nothing … that same God came through the one heralded by John the Baptist. He came as a light to lighten the Gentiles and has come into your life and taken what was decay and total darkness, has drawn you with His chords of love, and has caused you to come to His glorious light.

So what does all this mean for us? You may be in circumstances where there is darkness and you feel uncertain of the way forward. But the God who brought light out of darkness can change everything. As we go into a new year, lay aside the analysis which you have played over and over in your mind, and be like Zacharias, proclaiming Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour, the light who dispels darkness.

Ephesians 5:8,10 says :-

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: / Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.


As we stand at the threshold of a new year, I invite you to join me. Together in 2009 let us walk as children of the light.

God Already has Your Answer

God has heard your prayer and He already has the answer. He is the answer. As with Peninnah, who prayed every year to have a child, He will answer your prayer. It is His delight to prompt you to pray and then to be the answer to that prayer. God loves communicating with us. Jesus came for His people, for the church and we are part of that church. God will answer your prayer because He loves you. You can be relaxed in the knowledge that God is in control. You must accept this as Mary accepted what the angel told her, because God does love you and with God all things are possible.

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It’s wonderful to know that when things are seemingly barren and wrong, and you’re not sure if God is sorting things out, that it is God’s delight every time, to be the answer. He outworks His solution in a way we don’t expect. His solution is the best. I want to look at two episodes in two ladies lives. The first one just hung in there and God’s solution came. And the second realised the eternal purposes of God as she was to be the one to bear the Messiah. By the end of this morning I want you to know that at this point in time, no matter what has been an attempt to write things off, to hold up the white flag and say there is no answer, I want you to know in your heart of hearts that God is in control and He knows what He is doing. He has heard you.

1 Samuel 1:1-5

The situation was obvious, but to Hannah it was grievous. Her grief was that Peninnah had produced children, but she had not.

1 Samuel 1:6-8

With Hannah it was that things were not as she wanted them to be. It got to her because she wanted to have a baby. The taunting of Peninnah was unkind and uncalled for. There’s something about a taunt to someone who’s standing up for what is right that is from the pit. Don’t taunt anyone who is trying to go right. Don’t write a family off because they have one child who is in a predicament at the moment. You have to stand together and help each other.

1 Samuel 1:9-22

1 Samuel 1:26-28

God has not forgotten the prayers you have made for your children. The more these weeks progress the more it becomes apparent that in quite a few lives there has been a reassertion in the faith that God has given you. He’s caused you to believe that what you prayed before He has heard. God answered Hannah’s prayer. I don’t care what taunt there has been in the past to you. I want to confirm to you that God is a God of love and what He has done in your life of late is to form a relationship with you. The pressure has caused you to pray more and He has heard your prayers. Hannah’s song will be echoed later when we read the song of Mary. This is the song she prayed after she had dedicated Samuel.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

No gloating there. No going round to Peninnah and saying ‘you see’. My God has heard me. It’s not the fact that He’s my God, it’s who God is. This song is so wonderful because it reveals how God doesn’t take what the world views as strong – 1 Samuel 2: 2. The enemy of your souls might point the finger at you and convince that you’re never going to get blessed because of what you have done. Your God, who is a God of love, is someone who listens, draws alongside and knows what He’s doing in response to your prayer. It is God’s delight to prompt us to pray. We are then co-workers with Him because He has prompted us to pray and we then witness His answer. God loves communication with us. God’s nature is to communicate His life with you and me.

Luke 1:28-37

That was news to Mary because she didn’t know her cousin was pregnant. She thought that Elizabeth was too old, but with God nothing is impossible.

Luke 1:38

Your life based on the Word of God and with His life inside you will stand sure. Your God is someone who hears you. He is the King of Kings. He created heaven and earth. I want to confirm to you that your God is a faithful God. All the way through the circumstances you’ve had over the past weeks He has been there, He’s heard you. It’s His delight to be the answers to the prayers that He has prompted you to pray.

Luke 1:40-45

You can’t stop God’s goodness to you. You can’t stop God’s love for you. It doesn’t matter what people have said to you, you cannot stop the love of God operating in your life. For Mary, Elizabeth’s child was a confirmation.

Luke 1:46-54

These words are an echo of what Hannah says. Mary knew, from the book of the Prophets, what Hannah had said. The common denominator between there words was that they both glorified God. I want to encourage you to stand your ground and to realise that your faith is rightly placed in Him. I believe in my God who has saved me and given me life. You can trust Him. The word to you is that the prayers that you have prayed have been heard. I am particularly making reference to any of you who have family members who aren’t here this morning. The prayer that you prayed has been prompted by God.

How old was Mary? Some say she was fifteen. There was an awareness that somehow she was going to be the one that would bear the Messiah.

Luke 1:54

In those words she linked the father of the faithful, Abraham, the seed of Abraham, right through to Jesus, the One who would save us from our sins.

Genesis 17:1-8

The everlasting Covenant given to Abraham means that God forever and ever is with His people. His people are to as many as God will call. It includes you all. In physical terms we were talking there about the gathering of Canaan. But as you know this is a picture of us possessing our souls. Mary knew that there would be a son born of God, who is in a direct line of outworking God’s purposes from Abraham. And at the end of time the church would be the bride of Christ. That’s why He’s interested in you because you are part of the bride of Christ.

Luke 1:46-54

Galations 3:13-14
Galations 3:28-29

What’s that promise? The promise is that the Holy Spirit was given. In your life you can be at ease knowing that God is outworking His purposes for good in your life. Stand your ground. The pressures that you’re in at the moment don’t let the enemy of your soul taunt you. Stand fast in your God. Lift Him up. During this coming week find some time when you can think about this word and apply it to your life. We need to be witnesses of God’s love to others.

God has heard your prayer. He will step in and help because He loves you. It’s not that you have to chalk up brownie points for Him to answer; He loves you. In the same way with Hannah, where the taunting year after year was hellish, so it was that God answered He prayer. With Mary there was that immediate acceptance of ‘be it according to thy word’. And Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His life was given that you and I could be made free from the penalty and power of sin. We can be in relationship with God because of what Jesus did for us.

Carol Concert 2008

The Bible is the Word of God and what we read in the Bible is something God wants to communicate to us. In the beginning was the Word, and you use words to communicate. God wanted to communicate. In the Garden of Eden, the voice of God walked. God is a communicating God. God may use the words I now speak to help you discover who He is.

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On Friday as I was thinking about what to speak to you, there was a car crash just outside my house. My immediate thought was, was anyone hurt? There wasn’t anyone fatally hurt, but it affected me, because I was thinking about Jesus Christ and life.

I can relay to you all kinds of oddities in the world – the credit crunch, a $50bn fraud in New York, a 13-year-old boy as a suicide bomber ... There are strange things in this world. I want to concentrate on the fact that Jesus Christ is alive today. Christmas is followed by Easter, the time when we remember that Jesus Christ gave His life for you and me.

The angel Gabriel came to Mary, and it was a real surprise to her.

Luke 1:26-31

The meaning of the name Jesus is Saviour. Why is He called that? Because He came to save His people from their sins. Sins are what grips you on the inside, and maybe there’s a habit of life you can’t get free of. You know it’s wrong. There’s almost an automatic default to go wrong until Jesus saves a person from their sin.

For Mary it was a complete surprise. How shall this be?

Mary had a cousin called Elizabeth. She and her husband Zacharias were old and had always wanted to have a child. In Luke 13:1 it was obvious that they prayed for a child. And the same angel who spoke to Mary earlier had spoken to Zacharias :-

Luke 1:13

Zacharias was dumbfounded. Our prayer is heard. Maybe you’ve prayed something this year. You may not be what people regard as a Christian, but maybe something has jolted you this year and you’ve prayed. God heard your prayer. And the words you are hearing now are involved with the answer He is bringing to you. It may be you’re hearing this on a TV programme. You’ve come to your wits’ end and wonder what life is all about. It could be the first Christmas without a loved one who has gone this year and it’s jolted you.

Luke 1:24-25

Mary didn’t know Elizabeth was pregnant. She knew her, knew they had always wanted to have a child. But now they were too old. It was impossible. Suddenly there is a confluence for two women who became pregnant. It was when Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the angel appeared to Mary.

Luke 1:36

That was a shock to Mary. The angel appeared, talked to her about a son she was going to have. And now she was told that her cousin Elizabeth was already six months pregnant.

Luke 1:37

She knew it was an impossibility. They were far too old. But now having confirmed to her what had happened to Elizabeth (she went down and visited her), the angel said with God nothing shall be impossible.

Luke 1:38

His mercy is from generation to generation. How many generations have passed since the events recorded here, I wonder? People are very involved in tracing their ancestry. I wonder if there was anyone in your ancestry who prayed for you. It may well be that you are here tonight because of someone who prayed for you. There was someone who prayed for you as a little child, and God is bringing the answer to that prayer – He’s brought you here to hear that Jesus Christ came to the earth to save you from your sin, to make you new again on the inside.

Luke 1:37

I want to go forward about 30 years to when Jesus Himself was speaking about this very thing.

Matthew 19:25

With God all things are possible. That thing you’ve ruled out, that disease the medical profession has given up on (we’re not against medicine) with men things are impossible, but with God all things are impossible. Things have happened as they have so that God could speak to you, and He’s doing so because He loves you. He’s speaking to you right now by the power of His Holy Spirit because He loves you.

What does that mean? He knows all about you and despite everything inside you which you know is wrong, He has come even now and is saying, “I love you”, and the reason Jesus Christ came to this earth was to give you a new beginning on the inside. The life I begin with is wrong, but when Jesus Christ comes, He comes inside a person miraculously, and as Mary discovered at the wedding at Cana, she said, “Whatever Jesus says, do it – He’ll sort it out.”

So you’re saying to me amidst all the turmoil of the world, that God wants my attention to change me on the inside? Then why doesn’t He just go ahead and do it? He won’t force Himself on anyone. But Jesus Christ died on the Cross, took into Himself the sin of the world and was raised from the dead. He’s alive and I can confidently say by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ loves you and gave Himself for you.

We’re talking about the baby Jesus and why He came.

What can I do about this? You need to stop putting off your involvement with Jesus Christ. This is life-concerning. We’re not talking about a whim, a resolution which you take up and then drop. We’re talking about your life on the inside being different. We’re talking about a life transformed on the inside. That’s why we’re singing the hymns we’re singing.

Jesus Christ is the answer. Make contact with us. We want to help you. We’re not out to build an empire, but to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

The only religion which has a God who reaches out, as opposed to man having to fulfil conditions imposed by an angry God, is the one of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for you and me.

Don’t put this off. Please don’t. You know what I mean. You know that Jesus Christ, Christianity, the true life of God, is something you’ve skirted with, and this year the circumstances of life have arrested your attention. That is because He loves you.

We can rejoice because we were bound up in a life that was going wrong, but Jesus Christ came and changed us so that His life is within us. I want to please Him with my life. I want my children and grandchildren to know Him.

Jesus Christ came into this world, and Mary’s attention was grabbed by the angel. “You mean Elizabeth is pregnant?” – with God nothing is impossible. What you’ve said is impossible is possible with God.

Time to Change

I want to talk about Jesus and His kingdom. There are some here who are wondering about Jesus Christ, the church, Christianity. This word will cause you to be involved with Jesus Christ.

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What do I mean by that? Some here have been looking on, and Christmas is a good time for that to come into focus. It comes down to an individual’s relationship with Jesus Christ. It comes down to you as an individual – what do I think about Jesus Christ? What is relevant to me? The answer is everything.

Luke 1:26-27

We know Joseph was of the house of David – see the genealogy at the start of Matthew.

Luke 1:28-31

Jesus means saviour.

Matthew 1:21

He was to save people from their sins. That was the meaning of His name.

Luke 1:32-33

Philippians 2:5-11

He shall be great, son of the Most High. He will perpetuate the throne of David forever. It doesn’t matter what you think of Jesus Christ, because when He comes again to this earth, heralding the New Jerusalem, everyone will acknowledge Him as Lord. They may not know Him as Saviour, but they will have no choice but to acknowledge Him. Everyone on this earth will bow. Everyone will say, “You are Lord”, but not everyone will have Him as Lord of their life. He’s at the right hand of God in heaven, interceding for us. He’s alive.

We live in a time now where ... is He Lord for you, or is He just a name? Does His name trip out as a swear word?

Luke 1:32

This was referred to in the time of David.

1 Kings 9:1-5

There’s something about the people of God, the Jewish nation. God cherished that people. But it became apparent that the Saviour to come would come not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. What was He coming for? To save His people from their sins. That gets personal! “His people” includes you. It’s not His people on a map somewhere. It’s personal to you.

Luke 1:29-33

Jacob fathered the twelve tribes. This Jesus, the Saviour of the world who would save His people from their sins ... God would establish His throne forever. Out from the Jewish nation, from the twelve tribes, to those that God would call, and that includes you.

It says in the Bible that faith comes by hearing the Word of God being preached. He takes the words by His spirit and uses those words as though He were speaking to you personally. It’s a curious way of doing things, but it’s the way He works.

At the end of the Bible it gives us a glimpse of what heaven is like.

I was talking to someone the other day and they were saying that things you valued when you were young lose their value, and you start to think ahead. As you do that, you need to have things right inside. You need the right relationship with God. He needs to be Lord of your life. You need the power of sin broken in your life.

Revelation 21:1-2

This earth will pass away and a new Jerusalem, a holy city, will come down from heaven. The bride is the church, New Jerusalem. The bridegroom is Jesus Christ. We’ll see shortly that Jesus talks about the kingdom of God in terms of a bride and bridegroom.

Revelation 21:3-12

Revelation 21:22-27

His kingdom forever – something over which a king rules. Are you part of His kingdom? Are you part of His kingdom on this earth right now? This was of concern to Jesus when He spoke to people.

Jesus often spoke in parables to make sure things were clear to those who wanted to hear.

Matthew 25:1-4

They all had a lamp. All ten went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them made the effort and put oil in their lamps. Five put it off for another time. Some people treat Jesus Christ like that. Time and again He’s been faithful. He’s come by His Holy Spirit to speak to you. You’ve faced Him and known that you need to sort things out, but you’ve put it off – “I think I’ll leave it for the time being.”

Matthew 25:5-12

Would God really do that? Jesus is saying this. Jesus was the one who came to save His people from His sins. He was conscious of who He was speaking to, and is conscious of who He is speaking to now. You are here for a reason.

The bridegroom came at a time they didn’t expect. How long are you going to sit on the fence, pushing things away and pushing things away – all the time knowing it’s time to get involved? It is the goodness of God which leads us to repentance – which leads us to want to live the right way, to go God’s way, to have His power inside you, to have sin dealt with. You try to live right, but you can’t. There are habits of life you have and you just go wrong. Jesus Christ came into this world to save His people from their sins. The bridegroom came at midnight, unexpectedly. How long have you got?

“That’s a bit in your face!” Well, I’m beginning to learn that in this role, I don’t want to be responsible for something I should have said and didn’t. What’s it going to be? Jesus is saying this.

Matthew 25:13

Watch therefore. When you hear preaching which conveys to you the idea you need a relationship with Jesus Christ which is clean, wholesome and true ... you need to be the light before God, not using the church as a cover for your sin. If your life is based on a lie, my word to you, as God is my witness, is that your life needs changing, and He is here this morning to face you up with the foundation of your life. It’s time to change.

Fear not Mary, you’ll bear a son, and He’ll be great, ... and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:38

Let’s be clear. As we celebrate this Christmas the coming of Jesus Christ, we’re not just talking about the infant. We’re talking about why Jesus came – and He came to save you from your sin, to take you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, and it is getting to the point where you cannot put it off any longer. Or indeed, we are not getting to the point, but at it. You need to acknowledge the Word of God which has been preached this morning, acknowledge what the Holy Spirit has been saying. It’s no longer acceptable for you to hide in the kingdom of darkness. You need to acknowledge that, and acknowledge Jesus Christ and the fact that He has come to save you from your sin.

God is Zealous for His Church

There’s a word in the Bible called ‘zeal’. There’s something about the ‘zeal’ of God that I want to examine.

2 Kings 19:30-31

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God is zealous for His people; that includes you. He’s zealous for the church. If you have God at the centre of your whole being, for your future, you’ll take root downward and you’ll bear fruit upward.

Isaiah 37:32

Isaiah 59:16-19

You notice at the end of verse 17 that he was ‘clad with zeal’ as a cloak. Putting it on as a cloak. Whenever the word ‘zeal’ is mentioned, particularly here, so it is, as far as God is concerned, that He is zealous for the truth and for holiness. He manages to clean things up. He manages to do this by putting on the helmet of salvation. There is no way that God will have anything to thwart His purpose, which is to create His church which He gave His life for. Nothing will stand in the way of that. As there was a remnant of Judah, so now is God’s life given for you and me. Just after the word ‘zeal’ it says that when the enemy shall come God will lift up a standard against them. It might that you have been disappointed by something. When the enemy shall come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against them. You can imagine the zealous fury Jesus had when He cleaned out the money-changers in the temple. Jesus Christ gave His life for a people like you and me.

Isaiah 9:6

The One who is full of zeal for outworking His purposes, which are holy and true. The One who is jealous for what He came here to do, He is who was born that we celebrate at this time of year. It’s possible for you as a Christian to give Him the lordship of your life. The government shall be upon His shoulder. It’s wonderful, at this time of year, to realise the purpose of His coming. His name is full of wonders. There were 400 silent years at the end of the Old Testament, but Isaiah had prophesied of Jesus’s coming. In every book of the Old Testament you can trace the coming of Jesus. God hadn’t spoken for 400 years and then ‘bang’. The fulcrum of time now revolves around His coming. In our lives, particularly during this year, I know that it has been a re-evaluation and reassessment of what our lives are based on. I know that God has been faithful to all of us. He has been the counsellor. Whenever there’s been figuring out what to do going forward His name shall be called wonderful, counsellor. For the youngsters here, He is your counsellor. You’ve got to want to do what pleases Him. We must be equipped for what God wants us to be and do. He is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:7

Ever thought about that? Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. We’ve had an election this year, soon we will have one here. Of the increase of His government there is no end because what He’s doing is sorting out things in our lives so that we become compacted together in His church as the bride of Christ. It’s wonderful that each one of us are brothers in Christ as part of His body. One verse which has been on heart this year is that we’re to walk humbly, love mercy and do justice. In this government, of which there’s no end, He establishes it with judgement and justice. ‘The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ This may seem a strange thing to say. Do you know He’s so careful about each one here? The zeal God has for his church is supreme. That’s why things happened recently.

Ephesians 5:25

So the reason why Jesus came here and gave His life was for the church.

Ephesians 5:26-27

It’s His zeal which is preparing everything. By that I mean He’s preparing you day by day. So it is together as we take our part in the church, so it is that we can confirm the fact that He is presenting it to Himself a glorious church. Please don’t underestimate God’s zeal to get everything right in the church. We’re the bride of Christ and we’re to take our part in the church. It’s important that as we love one another so others will be drawn to God. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. It doesn’t matter if anyone is planning anything against God, the zeal of God will perform this. You can’t stop Him. He’s a wonderful heavenly father.

Changed on the Inside

When Jesus was on earth, He came across situations which annoyed Him. It grieved Him that there were people who were preventing ordinary people from knowing the truth. He knew He came to the earth to lay down His life to take sin, break the power of sin in an individual, and to make you clean on the inside. He came to this earth for a people, for you.

Someone sitting here needs to hear that. There’s a change that God wants to do on the inside of you. What galled Jesus when He met certain people was that they were preventing the truth coming to people. Those people who prevented others dreamt up rules and regulations for themselves. We deal with the living God, and He is the one who wants to reach an individual on this inside.

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We’re going to look at an episode in Jesus’ life when He met people like this.

Isaiah 29:1-6

(Ariel – Jerusalem). When God steps in, it’s in an instant. And an amazing empire or religious structure is gone in an instant.

Isaiah 29:7-12

There was a whole morass of religious observance, rules and regulations, which the people couldn’t come to. It was as though they were told to read a sealed letter. Or else they had been told they were not learned and therefore couldn’t understand the text.

Isaiah 29:13-23

It’s iniquitous when a whole network of rules and regulations prevent ordinary people from knowing God. It’s as if there are traditions or ways of looking at things which make an ordinary person think they can’t attain – that only the selected few can be like that, only those with the inner knowledge, the higher way. God wants to make Himself known to each of us as the one who cleans up on the inside. It isn’t what happens on the outside. It’s not religious observance, nor being seen to do the right thing. God is concerned for you to be clean and open on the inside, adoring God as the one who changed you on the inside.

Mark 7:1-4

You might think it wasn’t a bad thing for the disciples to wash their hands. But here we’re talking about what the Pharisees did with the rules they created. They put themselves in the place of God. They had so many rules and regulations that people became bound up with their religion, not with God. They were supposed to be the religious leaders of the people, but they became the recipients of the people’s attention. People had to do what the Pharisees told them to do. It wasn’t a matter of the Pharisees having their own relationship with God.

Jesus points out that it’s not the rules and regulations which are important. What’s important is that Jesus Christ, who is God, wants to deal with the inside of an individual. It’s not the outside. If the inside is right, the outside will automatically be right. God is to do with the inside of a person.

It’s easy for someone to do the right things on the outside, to sing the right songs. But on the inside, where are we at? When Jesus spoke to the people and to the disciples, He was saying a revolutionary thing. The Pharisees were like gods. They knew the rules. It didn’t matter what God said. What mattered was how they interpreted the law. But woe betide anybody who has their own direct link with life.

It’s a wonderful thing that you’re here this morning, because Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit wants to speak to you about the inside of you. He doesn’t come to condemn you. If you were honest, you’d admit you needed to sort out your inside. You’re tired of it. There’s something in you which, given the right circumstances means you go wrong. You’re not blaming the circumstances. But you know this thing is there and you want it to end.

It was a voyage of discovery for the disciples to walk with Jesus. Gradually it dawned on them that what He was saying was contrary to the religious framework of the time. From time to time they became jumpy, because they could see the reactions He was provoking.

Jesus didn’t worry, because He was all to do with individual people becoming clean on the inside to have their own relationship with God.

Why should one have a relationship with God? Without God it’s as though you dream about having a meal, but wake up hungry. Without God there is no hope in this world, and there is also a vacuum inside – something missing. God wants to become everything to you. Not just a small part, but everything to you in the inside.

Mark 7:5-6

A situation where the people had been led by the religious leaders to such an extent that they knew what to say on the outside, but their heart was far from God.

There are ten commandments in the Old Testament – the commandments of God. These people had replaced the commandments with the commandments of men. What they said was important, not what God said.

Mark 7:7-12

God commanded people to honour their father and mother, to have respect. How should one treat one’s relations? It’s coming up to Christmas. Am I going to demonstrate the love of God to my relations? Do I allow mother or father to become top priority above God? Of course not. But the command of God was to honour them. People were to provide for their parents if they were in distress in their old age. But the Pharisees said there was no need to worry. If you said the money was for God, you didn’t have to worry about the commandment. Anything committed to God was taken out of the worldly situation. Great! So there was a system they had devised which knocked out what God said. Incredible! Honour your father and mother.

Some people say all their money is God’s and they don’t have to give money to a church. Same sort of thing.

This got to Jesus, because the Pharisees had denied the people the opportunity of God coming to them on the inside and changing them. You may say the Pharisees were doing their best. No doubt some of them were sincere. But there was a shaft of light before them. There’s a way of living which changes you on the inside. Jesus changes you on the inside so that your way of living is totally opposite from the way you began on this earth.

Mark 7:13

This word should be paramount in your life. We need to get to know it inside out. By His Holy Spirit, God will speak to us through this word. This is the word on which we stand. We don’t want to make this word of none effect. It’s all about our relationship with a God of love who has given you this word as a life manual. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. There is life in this world.

God wants to become your heavenly father, to change you on the inside, to turn you around from being someone who always regrets the situation on the inside – you don’t tell anyone about it, but you know there are habits of thinking and habits of life ... If anyone is using this church as a cover for their sin, God will find things out and deal with it. God is faithful, and it’s the goodness of God which leads a man to repentance. Even this morning He is pointing things out here, saying it is important for you to be right with God on the inside.


Mark 7:14-16

The Pharisees were all to do with the outside, with following rules to satisfy them. But Jesus was saying it wasn’t the external aspect that mattered. You needed to think what was inside you, in your heart. Jesus was all to do with cleaning up what was already inside a person.

Mark 7:17-23

That’s a heavy list. But for those to whom God is speaking, it’s a list you recognise and identify with. Why is He bringing this to your attention this morning? Because when Jesus comes, when His voice speaks to you, there’s a complete difference.

John 15:1-5

Jesus is the word. He’s the word of life. He is truth. He is love. He is holy. And unlike the Pharisaical system, unlike religious observance unfounded in God, unlike the heavy burdens which man puts on you, Jesus comes to you on the inside. And on the inside, He comes to clean you up. He comes to give you His life. He comes because He knows what’s inside you. He was tempted with every sin, every bad thought, but He didn’t yield. He was sinless. And that was why when He hung on the cross, He took all your sin into Himself. He took it out of you into Him. How did He do that? He became acquainted with sin because of God’s love. He took into Himself your sin. That means you would then be able to live a life clean. That is being set free. Not the way the Pharisees said, “Devote this thing to God and you are free of the commandment.” True freedom is when Jesus comes inside, cleans you up and changes you by His Holy Spirit so you recognise what is in you and recognise that you need to be rid of it.

In God’s goodness and love, He says you need to be clean on the inside. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, the disciples were looking on and asked what He meant. And as they walked with Him subsequently they could see Him deal with the problems of one individual after another. He fed the five thousand, but they could see it was the individual. In fact it was you, here this morning as an individual. On the inside change can take place.

God won’t force Himself into your life. It’s not His way. But you’re hearing these words this morning for the simple reason that God loves you and wants to change you on the inside.

This Day is this Scripture Fulfilled in Your Ears

Things can be very specific with God when he outworks his purposes. He seems to manage always to get things on time, in time, every time. And I know to some who are here, what we are going to look at in the scriptures will be God’s timing for you. I’m going to look at a section in the gospel of Luke where Jesus refers to what we will be looking at in 2 Kings 5.

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God is very careful and specific with you. There is nothing but nothing that takes place in your life without his guiding hand upon it. And what I mean by that is, our God is a faithful God and he makes provision for his children. And our God is clear. And the clarity of his purpose was made clear to this gentlemen in 2 Kings.

2 Kings 5:1-7

It’s amazing what God allows to happen at particular times to work things out. He will fulfil his purposes.

2 Kings 5:8-9

He expected Elisha to come out and heal him.

2 Kings 5:10-12

Sometimes our reaction to the way God has provided an answer to our problem is hard to accept. We need to submit to his way of answering. This answer was not the one Naaman wanted. Don’t prejudge the solution God is bringing to you. Don’t prepackage the way it should come. Don’t have preconceived ideas of the way he will answer. We’re talking here about the God of love and who has the answer to all our problems; everything and anything.

2 Kings 5:13-19

Luke 4:16-21

When Jesus read those words from Isaiah, they were incredulous in the synagogue; they couldn’t believe the authority with which he spoke those words. He fulfilled that scripture. Two words: ‘this day’. There comes a time when God, like a shaft of light, causes things to be in certain order such that at that point, by his Holy Spirit he reaches inside, and his work is done. It might well be, that what you’re hearing right now, is sufficient for you to wonder, ‘Is this my day for what I want and need to happen?’ The fact that I’m speaking these words in this way in this time, is significant to you. There is no way God has brought you here for any other reason than for you to hear his words of truth and for that shaft of light to be real to you. His name is Jesus. It doesn’t matter what you already know about him; it doesn’t matter what your past experiences are; it doesn’t matter that you would have worked things out differently for the solution to come. He knows what he is doing and he loves you.


Luke 4:22-27

This is Jesus talking about the story we read earlier. Why did he mention Naaman? What was he trying to get at? He just read out the prophesy concerning himself and those five or six things were about to be fulfilled in front of them.

Luke 4:28-30

The specifics of God is involvement, constant involvement in your life, is to bring you to the point where your eyes are opened to who he is. And he is the answer to your prayer. He is the solution to your predicament. He is the miracle you need. He is.

“This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

Prayer (Part 3 of 3)

When should we pray? Jesus prayed early in the morning, in the evening, all night. There was no pattern, just pray, whenever.

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1 Corinthians 3:9

1 Corinthians 6:1

Everything starts and finishes with Him, but He involves us. Throughout the Old Testament we can see scriptures where prayer is commanded.

Jeramiah 33:3

Yes, it’s Old Testament, but there are plenty of New Testament scriptures too. “In everything give thanks.”

Psalms 50:15

Isaiah 55:6

Luke 11:5-10

“Ask”. If we treat prayer as some sort of meditation – “I’m thinking about things” – that’s not asking God at all. I’m not saying you shouldn’t meditate. We meditate on the word. You can see God in creation. But it’s imperative for us to ask.

I’m becoming more convinced if you keep a record of what you ask God, you can refer back, because the answer comes. God delights to involve us. Keep a record. I think as a church we should keep a record. Ask, and it shall be given unto you.

Matthew 26:41

Hebrews 4:16

“Prayer is not an end in itself. It’s not something done to be rested in, not something we’ve done about which we are to congratulate ourselves. It’s a means to an end. It’s something we do which brings something in return. Prayer always aims at securing an answer.”

That’s not to puff us up. But as we are co-workers together with Him, it’s God’s delight to answer because as we get involved with Him, so we want to do His will, and He lines everything up so He initiates the prayer acording to His will. But when you pray, aim at securing an answer.

“It is not the mere performance, the attitude or the word, but that answer sent directly from heaven. Answered prayer is the mark of God in our praying. It realises a relationship with the unseen. God accepts our prayers through the atoning blood, and gives His presence and grace in return.”

There used to be a national day of prayer in wartime. In May 1940, the situation in Europe was catastrophic. On May 23, various people issued a call to a national day of prayer to be held on Sunday May 26th. Just 24 hours later Hitler inexplicably ordered his armies to halt. Two days later, the nation gathered to pray. Church attendance sky-rocketed. People pleaded with God to spare those at Dunkirk. In reality it turned out to be a dramatic turning point. An evacuation was undertaken. The German armies remained in place until early June. No one knows why even now. For nine days they shelled Dunkirk, but during this time 336,000 men were saved.

You don’t hear many national days of prayer at the moment. Maybe we will. What caused that was the pressure of the situation. Since we’ve been holding these meetings, it could well be there’s a situation in your life where the circumstances have been such that this talk on prayer has been timely for you.

John 15:5-8

What does it mean to abide in Christ? You are so in line with Him, where He said, “Nevertheless not my will ...” That’s your stance. I want to do God’s will. Translate that into your prayer life, initiated by the Holy Spirit, and it’s in line with what He wants. He prepares things for us to waLuke into. The whole thing is initiated by Him. In such a relationship there is no conflict. I want to do His will, so what I ask will be according to His will. I begin to want what He wants. That’s the bottom line.

Reference to books by Jim Simbala. He would say the whole basis of his church was prayer. “An attentive willing heart is the great need of the hour. Programs, talent and human energy will never accomplish what one man in close touch with God can do.”

Blank sheet of paper. What will it be? Wheel-spin? Or God-directed activity?

It starts with God. By His Holy Spirit He prompts us, lays something on our hearts.
“It is not the utterance of words, alone the felling of desires, but is the advance of the desires to God.”

There's a story about a lady who was in the background of a situation but she was influential because she prayed.

You may not have the energy to knock up a brick wall. But supernatural prayer initiated by God, enacted by you, is a power-house.

Back to the lady. She was a woman twisted and distorted by suffering. In 1872 she was bed-ridden, praying that God would send revival to the church of which she was a member, but could not attend. She had read the story of Moody’s work in Chicago. She prayed that God would send him to the church. She had no means of reaching him. But then the pastor of her church met him, and asked him to speak. He agreed. Moody was surprised when hundreds came forward. Meetings were repeated during the following ten days, and 400 were added to the church. Moody enquired and found out about the girl.

“That girl was a member of my church. When in 1901 I was leaving England for America, I went to see her. She pointed me to a birthday book in which Moody had written, and said to me, ‘Moody wrote that when he came to see me in 1872, and I prayed for him every day. Will you add your name to my book and let me pray for you until you or I go home?’

“I shall never forget writing my name in that book. The room was full of the presence. Marianne Adlard continued to pray until she went home.

“These are the heroes and heroines who labour in prayer out of sight make it possible for those in sight to labour.”

Prayer is simply asking God to do for us what He has promised He will do if we ask Him. God’s doing the thing is as much part of the prayer as is our asking.
Think of three phases of prayer.

Phase 1 is the revelation of the father.

Phase 2 is the mediation of the Son.

Phase 3 is the inspiration of the Spirit.

The revelation of the Father: Christ has made such a revelation of the father as creates in our hearts a desire for prayer. “Father”, “Father”, “Father”. It’s God’s revelation in your heart which enables you to say that too. He has given you by that revelation the desire for communication in prayer.

The mediation of the Son: He has done such work for us as admits us to the presence of God that we might have the right to pray. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. And yet we are co-workers with Him.

The inspiration of the Spirit: Upon the accomplishment of His work and as its crowing glory, He pours forth His spirit who, by indwelling, is the inspiration of our prayer.

You get the idea. The pressures in your life are there prompting you to pray. That’s God-initiated. The outworking is you having access to the Father through the Son. And His delight is for you to become a co-worker with Him as He answers. Keep a record of what you pray.

Quotes: “The indwelling spirit how knows the will of God creates our new aspirations and out of these comes our prayer. Thus, standing in the light of the revealed Father through the mediation of His Son and answering the inspiration of the indwelling spirit, we pray.”

Don’t think if I make a list of who I might pray for, that’s too formal. If you can’t remember things, write them on a list. But in addition, allow for the fact that God may lay other people on your heart too as you pray.

By the mercy of the father, by the merit of the mediation of the Son, by the might of the inspiring spirit, prayer is possible.

Luke 18:1-8

Men ought always to pray and not to faint.

Should we pray for things more than once? Yes – if God hasn’t given the answer, pray again. The circumstances of life are such that if you need the answer, God will answer. He’ll answer in the way He wants, but He will answer.

Luke 18:9-15

As we’ve been talking about prayer, don’t take a pride in the fact that you are beginning to pray.

The second man realised his position and just came to taLuke. He wasn’t building up a CV for himself in prayer. The matter of supreme importance is the cultivation of the habit of prayer. We aren’t going to become a monastery. But it’s a good thing to cultivate prayer. Nothing is more important in our lives.

Matthew 18:19-21

I think it would be good (not in any formalised way) but if anyone wants to link up and form two, do it – and pray together. If Jesus said this, then it can’t be a bad thing to do. We’re a bit reticent, so I’m not going to force the issue. I just want to point out what these verses say. Am I taking this out of context? No. I happen to think this will happen in the church quite naturally.

Account of a lady who prayed for her unsaved husband – an American politician. God challenged her as to whether she was ready for the consequences, but He answered her prayer.

Fascinating to read of different accounts of how God initiates the prayer and causes the answer to come to fulfil His purposes.

Some of you are teachers. Each day bring those children one by one before God. You have a tremendous responsibility as a teacher. You have the curriculum. But in a Christian school you can pray that the way you go about your teaching, your demeanour ... that you’ll communicate the fact that you’re a Christian.

Two things in particular about prayer. It has to be definite, not vague. And the whole idea of importunity – making the most of the moment, and keeping on. At Trinity Jacob refused to let the angel go until he blessed him. Let’s be even more like Trinity in our private life with God.


But there needs also to be submission ...

Submission to the form in which the answer will come.

Submission to the method of the answer.

Submission to the time of the answer.


The common denominator is that there is an answer. He delights to answer and He will.
Specifically at one time, Jesus prayed:

John 17:20-22

That’s very specific. It’s a prayer for you and me. It’s incredibly specific. “This is what I’m praying – that they all may be one, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe thou hast sent me.”

Matthew 9:36-39

Was that just for His disciples to pray? No. I was taking to someone today about the fact that we need to be very aware of who God is sorting out for the future of their life, that they become someone sent of God to become a labourer in His harvest. That will become a known phenomenon that there will be those equipped and sent of God into the harvest. We need to pray that those labourers will be sent.

If you look at the end of most of the letters of Paul, you can see how specific he was about praying.

Ephesians 6:17-19

“Supplication for all saints, and for me – specifically that I may open my mouth boldly.”

Philippians 4:6

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Not meditation, not meandering, but specific.

Colossians 4:2-4

Thessalonians 5:16-19

Thessalonians 3:1-3

Two specifics – that the word may have free course, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men.

Hebrews 13:18

Words of Wilberforce: “I fear I have not studied the scriptures enough. Surely in the summer recess I ought to read them an hour or two every day ... God will prosper me better if I wait on Him. The experience of all good Christians is that without prayer, things stagnate ...”

I don’t think it was self-flagellation. It was just that he wanted to get the priorities in terms of prayer to God.

Of Colnelius it was said he prayed to God always.

Colossians 4:12

Be specific. Be definite.

Spurgeon: “One time alone in prayer might make us new Christians, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual worth. From trembling to triumphing. We have an example in the life of Jacob. A night in prayer changed the supplanter into a prevailing prince ... Could not we at least now and then in these weary earth-bound years hedge about a single night for such an enriching traffic with the skies? For wealth and science men will quite their warm couches, and can we not do it for men’s souls? ... Up sluggish heart – Jesus calls thee. Rise and go forth to meet the heavenly friend in the place where He manifests Himself.”