Our Need of Him

Jesus Christ rose from the dead, conquering sin and death so that we would not be condemned to an eternity without God. Out of His love God talks to us, by His Holy Spirit, convincing us of our sin and our need for Him. All we have to do is look at Jesus with faith, and He will give you salvation.

I’d like to thank the choir for all the work they’ve put in to convey to you the significance, and the vitality of the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again, conquering sin and death. The outworking of anyone who is involved, as we all are from our initial birth, with sin, is death. There are some here this morning in whom God has been faithfully speaking over the past weeks. By His Spirit He speaks to us. He does that for the simple reason that He wants you not to end up in death. When Jesus was with His disciples He told them that if they kept His commandments they would abide in His love even as He had kept the Father’s commandments and abode in His love. Jesus was the only one who fulfilled the commandments of the Father. He did no sin, He thought no sin. He was pure. The life and love that is in Christ is something which God is pointing out to you because He wants to change the decay inside you. That decay which leads, in the end, to an eternity without God; death.

(reading from Mau Tsi Tung’s book) He didn’t follow an ideology or philosophy. It was a life without God and it ended in death and self-pity. Even at the end he was thinking that someone was going to depose him. I have mentioned this because your involvement with sin, if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Saviour, will result in death eternally. You can’t muck about with sin. The glorious truth of today is the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, period. He conquered death by doing that, and took into Himself the penalty of sin. The power of sin in your life is broken. As a result of Him rising from the dead, death was conquered and life reigns.

There were ten occasions when He appeared to various people after He came back to life. He was seen by Mary Magdalene, then by the other Mary, then to the disciples, then to Peter, then to 500 people, then to James and then to the Apostles again as He was taken up in a cloud back to heaven. There was one occasion I missed out in that list which will now see:

Luke 24:13-27

You can now see in Isaiah a few verses which refer to Jesus. Jesus could well have referred to these verses when He explained to those two on the road about Himself.

Isaiah 25:6-8

He will swallow up death in victory. And now, here’s Jesus walking along the road pointing out all those verses which referred to Himself. As He spoke to them, they could tell that what He was talking about was true.

Luke 24:28-35

Ten occasions when Jesus appeared before He ascended into heaven, physically risen from the dead.

Here Paul lists these occasions in his letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

What he’s talking about is that if Jesus Christ had not risen up from the dead, sin would still always have control of you and me. The end would be certain death, an eternity without God. There are some of you here who are thinking that you have heard this so often and you are not sure if it will ever be true for me. God is saying to you that Jesus actually physically rose from the dead, that is a fact. It was attested by many witnesses. As a result of that death has been broken and life has been given, through Him eternally. The point comes when, by His Holy Spirit, God in His love and mercy makes that revelation to you that you need someone to sort out the sin inside you. The fact that you realise you need someone to deal with your sin is God Himself already working in you.

It is miserable without God because you try and fill that void inside you, but nothing can fill it. So you keep coming back to square one and you’re still the same. Christ rose from the dead so that you would be set free from the curse of sin. He took into Himself that sin inside you on the cross. He’s not going to force Himself on you, but by His Holy Spirit He’s speaking to you right now. I don’t care if someone is sitting here who has been here year after year and yet, for you, it’s as if you’re hearing this for the first time. I’m saying that it is not too much to swallowed one’s pride if we are talking about eternity. The Law of God still stands. You know and I know that you cannot fulfil that law. Jesus fulfilled that law because you cannot. The solution is simply to look at Christ. God has provided a way forward for all mankind, but He’s a gentleman and He won’t force the issue.

1 Corinthians 15:20-22

1 Corinthians 15:53-56

The bite of the serpent resulted in death, and the analogy is that the sin is the sting that causes death. The only solution to your situation inside, is Jesus Christ and you exercising faith. That means repenting of your sin and thinking about what it meant for Jesus Christ to go to the cross and to rise again. The solution is that when you set your faith in what Jesus Christ has done, you can have salvation. The Holy Spirit first has to convince you of your sin and of the consequence of that. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same power which changes people on the inside today. No wonder He says: “Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:58

At this point I could say, if God’s convicting you on the inside, come to the front and I’ll pray with you. Many of you would say that you’ve done that before and nothing has happened. I know that what matters is that the power of the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to you directly, by His Holy Spirit, to get hold of you. He loves you.

In Me You Have Peace

Pastor Linnecar looks at the events leading up to Jesus’ death where, in a humble act, He washed the feet of all the disciples as a servant, and revealed to them who was going to betray Him. Jesus shared with the disciples about the Comforter that would come, the Holy Spirit who is the instrument by which Jesus lives inside us today.

John 17:1

To set John 17 in context, we’re going to go back to chapter 13. This was a very important time for Jesus – just think about the process of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet: it is the role of a servant, a humble act.

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John 13:12 - 30

After Jesus washed the disciples feet, including Judas, He was troubled in spirit, because he knew it was the time to reveal who was going to betray Him. The disciples were asking “Lord, who is it?” Then Satan entered into Judas and he went out.

All the words we have from John 13:31, up to and including John 17, Judas was not there and it was as if Jesus now opened things up.

John 13:3 - 35

It’s interesting that this is the first main emphasis of the intimate words that Jesus shares with His disciples. As a result of Judas’s actions, Jesus would be glorified. But now, Jesus is saying that they should love one another.

John 16:1 - 6

These were huge revelations to the disciples and Jesus was getting really specific about what was going to happen to Him. He says that even if you are killed, they will think they are doing God a service. Somehow in the minds of the disciples, Jesus was preparing them for the time that was going to come about. He was going to die and then be raised from the dead.

John 16:7 - 11

So the role of the Holy Spirit is incredibly specific. He reveals Jesus to you. And He is the instrument by which Jesus lives inside of you. Instead, now that He is with the Father, He has sent the Holy Spirit and He lives inside each one of us. And we can do His work because we have the Holy Spirit within us.

John 16:12 - 14

So the work of the Holy Spirit is very straight forward and marvellous. All He does is reveal more of Christ to you.

John 16:15 - 20

Whenever Jesus spoke, quite often He referred to the fact that even though you might see some things one way in the natural, it’s totally different to how God sees them. For the disciples here, this was a huge thing, because Jesus was going to be crucified in front of them.

It doesn’t matter what’s happening in your life, or how you see things, I want to confirm to you the way God sees things, and He is at peace with what is going on in your life.

John 16:21 - 22

And there’s something about the relationship you have with God, which no man but no man can severe. No one can become between you and your God. That hold on you is inviolate, and wonderful.

John 16:23 - 24

So this was a new concept. If the disciples wanted to check something out with Jesus, they would check it out with Him. Now He’s saying to them, “I’m not going to be here, but the Comforter will come and now I want you to ask and receive that your joy may be full”.

Another thing I want to confirm to you is that every prayer you have made and every time you have wondered whether He has heard you, He has heard you. I am constantly coming across people who say, “You know, it must be God. And I have seen an answer to my prayer”.

Sometimes we pray and then pray again about the same thing because you want to make sure.

John 16:24 - 33

Before Jesus left the disciples, He communicated to them a glorious, wonderful truth. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace”. Because when, in the midst of everything, you have a perspective of how God is doing things, you have peace.

John 16:33

It’s not a problem. Everything is being outworked according to God’s purposes, through His love to you and to me. Later, in chapter 17 we will have a glimpse at His prayer and it includes you.

The Lord’s Supper

As we come to the Lord’s Supper, we need to come worthily, mindful of the things He purchased for us on Calvary.

I want to talk about aspects of Holy Communion. When Jesus Christ comes into a person’s life to change them, there is a complete and utter transformation. It’s the difference between death and life.

God takes note of different things ...

Malachi 3:16

Jesus referred to something that has a bearing on each one of us.

Luke 10:17 – 20

There is a recording which is eternal. For those who are Christians, your name is written in Heaven.

Revelation 20:12

God is establishing His purposes, outworked by the recording of our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, solely as a result of what Jesus Christ has done for each one of us.

Hebrews 10:9 – 17

“Their sins will I remember no more.” What He is remembering is that He has recorded your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. On the other hand, things are actively being forgotten. God is active in not remembering our sin. He chooses not to remember. Some people are concerned about their past, and keep replaying things they have done wrong. The enemy delights in that. Whereas God in Christ has said, “Their sins will I remember no more.” Sometimes we dredge up things which someone else may have done, and we regard ourselves as superior. God has forgiven them, but sometimes we take part in conversations where the whole thrust is to pull someone else down. That’s not what we’re about as we partake of the bread and wine. The Psalms tell us how beneficial it is when the people dwell together in unity.

Previously I talked about how the Passover was a memorial of the angel of death passing over the houses of those who had eaten of the lamb and had the blood sprinkled on the door post. We saw how the Passover lamb became Jesus – behold the Lamb of God. And 1 Peter talks about the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

When Jesus spoke of His body being eaten, He instituted something we were to do to remember Him until He came again. Taking the bread and wine helps us remember what He has done for us until He comes again.

The Corinthian letters were very practical. There were four and we have two left.

1 Corinthians 5:6 - 8

You need to be sincere and conduct yourself in truth – no malice or wickedness.

1 Corinthians 10:16 - 21

You can’t serve God and mammon – there’s a difference between being a Christian and not being a Christian. And when you take the bread and wine, you are identifying with Christ and saying, “You have given me life. You are my life. I’ve forgotten those things which went before. I’m identifying with who You are and what You’re doing in me.”

In the Corinthian church, there were people supposedly going God’s way and people going the world’s way. Impossible! Here, we are identifying with what God has done in us.

In the Corinthian church, people were coming together, not having eaten at home, and making the most of it as a meal.

1 Corinthians 11:22 - 23

Luke 22:19 – 20

1 Corinthians 11:23 - 27

It’s possible to come unworthily. People were treating this like any old meal. Think about what it means to take things unworthily. It wouldn’t be a good idea to take part if you don’t have a clue what Christianity is all about, or if you aren’t a Christian. That can be remedied, though. What is the situation with you and God? You know all about Him, and maybe today God is saying, “What I did on the Cross was done for you and it doesn’t matter if there was no one here apart from you”. You were on Jesus’ mind when He went to the Cross and died for you. He didn’t want you to be bound in sin, to have those habits you can’t overcome because there is a power of sin which hasn’t been broken. He wants you to live clean, because He wants to give His life inside you, to take the power and penalty of sin. He wants to give you His life.

1 Corinthians 11:28 - 30

If we sorted ourselves out and got things right, we’d be ok.

1 Corinthians 11:32 - 34

We are taking part in something instituted by Jesus Christ – “This do in remembrance of me.” How frequently should we do this? It doesn’t say. But periodically, we need to do it, to remind ourselves of what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross, and how He rose from the dead to break the power of sin. When I eat, I thank God for what He has done for me.

He loves you. He’s concerned about you. He wants you to be secure. He wants you to know that what He has started in you by giving you His life, He will complete, until that time when He meets you.

I know what God instituted by taking the bread and wine. It was a tangible thing so we would remember who He is and what He did until He comes again. And the love He expressed on Calvary for each one of us isn’t just a quick phrase in the Bible – God is love, and He didn’t want you to live your life on an impossible pathway which doesn’t work. He wanted you to live your life to fulfil His purposes, which are the best for you and will bring glory to His name.

The church is the Bride of Christ, and is fulfilling the purposes God has for His people. And there are lots of other people who will become Christ-ones through what God will do. He is acting throughout the world, and we are part of the church worldwide. It’s not my church – its God’s church. It’s all to do with an expression of God’s love for mankind. “Behold how they love one another.” You need to examine yourself right now. But as we identify with what Christ did, so it is that we are one body, one faith, one baptism.

Stop Fearing, Be Believing

In the story of Jairus, we see how Jesus meets our every need, no matter what assails our faith. His message to us is, “Stop fearing. Be believing.”

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We need to keep our focus on the One who endured the Cross.

Why did He do that?

Hebrews 12:1- 3

If you don’t want to be wearied and faint in your mind, consider Him. We are looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.

To be set down means that the work is accomplished. Jesus went through the Cross so that He might purchase, for Himself, with His own blood, the Church – you and me.

He was so careful to reach people. The message we have is to the unsaved of the world, to those who have no hope – and the message is hope, a way out, the solution to life, Jesus Christ, who is life. It’s not a case of having a solution for life – He is life.

There are three occasions in the New Testament where Jesus raised people from the dead.

Luke 7:11 - 18

This was an incredible miracle. The only son of this widow had died. And Jesus “had compassion on her”. It was so dramatic, the rumour of Him went forth through all the region round about.

Luke 8:41 - 42

There was no doubt that Jairus heard what happened at Nain, because the news went round all Judea. He was ruler of the synagogue, and he was facing a problem – his own daughter was on the verge of death. What would his thoughts have been? As a ruler of the synagogue, it wouldn’t have been natural for him to look to Jesus for the solution.

Jairus means God enlightens. In your life He has got hold of you, and because He loves you, He wants to reveal more of Himself to you. He’s so careful and concerned for you and me to know Him and to understand what it meant to Him to go through the Cross and through the Resurrection so we could have life.

I know there are people who have been thinking for years ‘this isn’t for me’. But circumstances are such that God has got hold of you. He is telling you that He is the solution, the way, the truth and the life. He’s adept at catching us – He wants us to focus on Him. He is the solution.

Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and besought Him to come to his house. But as He went there were people all around Him – see for example verse 43, which Jairus witnessed:-

Luke 8:43 - 49

What incredible timing. Jairus had just witnessed the healing of a woman who hadn’t even spoken to Jesus. She had pushed through to touch the hem of His garment and received her healing. And as Jesus spoke to that woman, Jairus would have been so encouraged. Her miracle had happened. His faith was uplifted – Jesus can do the miraculous, Jesus is the answer. But, while Jesus was speaking, news arrived of Jairus’ daughter’s death.

Some of you have reached the point where you think that even though you’ve tried time and again, it doesn’t work. Yet you still come. It’s as if someone has been whispering, “Why are you bothering? You know it doesn’t work.”

“Your daughter is dead, Jairus, trouble not the Master.” Luke 8:50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

Stop fearing and be believing

What Jairus was told, in a human sense, was a cataclysmic end. She was dead. But Jesus is life. Fear not. Stop fearing and be believing. Some of you need to do that. It’s through the preaching of God’s word that faith comes. Perhaps, today, God is getting hold of your heart and saying, “Stop fearing. Be believing.”

Luke 8:51 - 53

“You don’t want to believe that Christian stuff. You know it hasn’t worked out in your life. God isn’t interested in you – you’re not good enough.” You may have experienced that scornful message in your heart. “How can you say that? You know she’s dead. The professional mourners are here already.”

Luke 23:35 - 37

Matthew 27:39 - 44

At that moment, Jesus could have thought, and that thought could have been actioned to wipe them out. “Are you going to rebuild the Temple in three days? Why are you up there, making out you’re something? Why are you going through that, thinking that somehow you will make a difference?”

What this highlights is that the Creator God, the one who created everything, humbled Himself as a man, came to that point when He was on the Cross because of you and me. So when those things were being hurled at Him on the Cross, He had you in mind. It wasn’t the person next to you. I’m talking about you – you, individually, were on Jesus’ mind, when He hung on the Cross to set you free and give you life itself. He loves you.

“This is pretty basic stuff.” But it matters. God wants you this morning to stop fearing and be believing.

But you say “I worry about money, my health, my job, bringing up my children. Will I be married? I’m worried about being lonely in old age. What career should I pursue?”

There are people here who came with a concern, and the concern has been eating you up and making you forget that you should set it aside and look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Jairus heard the laughing and scorn, and he, as well as they, knew that his daughter was dead.

Luke 8:54 - 56

Her parents were astonished. I have talked with some people recently about how God has got hold of their lives and guided them. It’s always a wonder to me the way God organises things to get hold of you and reveal Himself to you. He is love, and wants that love to be in your life. He guides you.

Hebrews 12:1 - 2

The work is complete

With the writer, we are looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who endured the Cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The work is complete. There’s nothing else to be done. Everything to prepare the Bride of Christ has been done. We’re in the time now where you and I and others who will come will become part of the Bride of Christ, the church.

Is He careful about His church? You bet He is. His church worldwide, the Bride of Christ.

He endured the Cross for the sole reason of making a way forward for you and me. And today His word for us is “Stop fearing and be believing.” Your circumstances have happened because God wanted to say this to you. “But I’m no good. I’m not like X or Y.” I know. He knows.

“But what will it mean for me?” It will mean the difference between light and darkness, death and life. Stop fearing. Be believing. He’s the author of your faith.

There are some here who have faith for the first time through what is being preached. He is the Finisher of your faith until we meet Him face to face. Don’t think this is too basic – or some arcane doctrine for the elite only. It is why He came.

“For the joy set before Him.” He had in His mind the joy He would have when He was seated at the right had of God and had taken our sin into Himself. “I’m going to set people free. I’m going to do what Father wants me to do.”

Hebrews 12:2

Nothing disturbs the peace where He is. It’s done. Nothing will hinder His work in your life.

And in terms of going forward in your life, I want to confirm to you ... don’t be afraid. Stop fearing. Be believing. He’s the one who is involved with you right now, because He loves you.