Yeah, the privilege is indeed
mine. It's over ten years. Some of
you I recognise some faces from ten years ago. It was ten years
ago in February that we were here last, and it's been far
too long that we've been away. As I say, the privilege is indeed
mine. I know visiting preachers say
this, but I truly mean this. I feel very unworthy to be standing
here before you. this morning, and I trust that
God will give us a blessing as we look into his word. It was
a delight some 18 months ago to have Paul stand in our pulpit
in the campus church in Welling, Welling Garden City in England.
Just two weeks ago was it, Ron Trabant, who I'm sure most of
you know well, was preaching for us. He came across. We have
this flow backwards and forwards across the Atlantic, and it's
so good because we believe the same gospel, we preach the same
gospel and we know and love the same saviour. Well I'd like to
turn your attention this morning to Matthew chapter 11 and a few
verses at the start of Matthew's gospel and the 11th chapter,
the first six verses and I'm just going to read those for
you and the I know you all use the King James Version. Well,
I use the new King James Version. It's just the version that we've
always used in the campus church in Welling Garden City since
we started. It's basically the same translation principle as
the King James Version, but just some of the antiquities of the
language brought more up to date. I'm not sure whether that's a
good thing or not. Paul and I were talking about, you know, they
talk about evolution. You watch your television. We
went to the Smithsonian. the other day, and we were getting
tired, and you know, there's the Natural History Museum, and
I said, I don't think we'll go in there, because I know the
way it's going to present it. I know it's just going to be
an evolutionary, godless portrayal of the natural world. And Paul
and I were saying the other day, you know, the evidence all around,
the evidence is that things are not getting better. We're turning
back towards slime, and the language The language that we use is not
getting richer as we get cleverer and brighter. You read a book
written a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, and the
language is so rich and so diverse that we have to struggle reading
it sometimes. We can't understand what they're saying, but there's
so much more meaning in it. We're not getting better. Not
at all. But anyway, bear with this translation. We begin at the first verse.
Now it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his 12 disciples
that he departed from there to teach and to preach in their
cities. And when John, that is John the Baptist, when John had
heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples and said to him, are you becoming one or do we look
for another? Jesus answered and said to them,
Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he who is not offended because of me. I've entitled this message a
very relevant question. A very relevant question. This
question that the disciples of John the Baptist came to ask
Jesus, are you the coming one? Or do we look for another? A
very relevant question. You could say the most relevant
question. There's no more important question
than this one for all of us. Whatever stage of life you're
at, whatever condition you're in, wherever you're from, whatever
your family background, there is no more important question
that we can ask ourselves than this. Is he the coming one, or
do we look for another? You know, the human condition,
we look around us, we see what goes on in the world. If we can
learn to, by God's grace, we see what goes on in our own hearts
and what the true state is. As Paul was saying earlier, as
we were looking in Luke's Gospel, you know, talking about sin. That was the broadcast, wasn't
it? That was confusing. I was listening to his broadcast
this morning about sin, about our state of sinfulness. Understanding
that. You know, the human condition
is a great dilemma. It is. It's a great dilemma.
You see, at one and the same time, you see capability for
the highest of good. You know, you just look around
the world and you see people doing things of the highest good
and of the highest moral integrity or so it seems and yet at the
same time the deepest evil the deepest most profound evil you
hear it in your news We had a case in England a few weeks ago, it's
rent the hearts of the people, a little girl taken and murdered
and brutally treated, and you just think what appalling depravity,
but it's not just criminals, it's not just those that do appalling
outward acts, but it's the state of men's hearts. And at the same
time as we have this dilemma of good and evil, there is in
each of us a sense of eternity, isn't there? There's this sense
that, you know, there's an eternal part of me. And there's the fact
of death. Every day we watch our fellow
men leave this life. It's the only thing that's certain
in this life. The only thing. We don't know
what's going to happen. You know, what's going to be?
What's going to happen? What's going to be your career, your state
of wealth, or whatever else? Well, we don't know. We don't
know. Do things a certain way, and you may be able to improve
your chances here or chances there. But one thing's for sure.
As much as people try to improve their chances of not dying, and
of living forever in this life, they can do nothing about it.
The fact of death. And beyond that, there's the
fear of judgment. And in the face of it, isn't there a sense
of helplessness? Have you seen? We go through
such a comfortable life most of the time. I remember seeing
a man who doesn't love the gospel and his wife became very ill
to the point of death. She was in intensive care. She
was about to die. And oh was he pleading in his
heart. Christine knows who I'm talking
about. He was pleading in his heart because of fear of that
situation. There it was presented before
him. Well, she got better. And the sense of that fear and
of that awful sense of eternity has left him. There's a fear
of judgment. There's a sense of helplessness
in it. And in it all, there's this sense, if God puts it in
your heart, there's this need of a Messiah. A need of a Christ. A need of somebody. to do something
about this situation that we're in, this condition that we're
in. We need a Messiah. This is something that's been
very much on my mind for several weeks now. You know, you'd say,
well, isn't it obvious? Well, of course it's obvious,
but especially so that the need that we have as human beings,
sinful human beings, of a Messiah, of Christ, of Christ. In us,
I guess it's the same everywhere. People are the same all over
the world. We talk differently. We live differently. You don't
find many people living out in the woods in England, in this
lovely rolling wooded countryside. You don't get that sort of thing.
There's just not enough space to go around. But basically,
people are the same. Everywhere they're the same.
And in Britain we have our church, Paul knows where it is, and Mindy
and Hannah know where it is, and there's the street into the
town over the railway, and people walk by there, and they've got
no sense at all of their need of a Messiah. They've got no
sense of eternal things. They're just materialistic people,
pursuing their materialistic ways, their godless ways. They
have no concern about these things at all. But we need a Messiah. We have such a need for a Messiah.
And John asks through his disciples, because he's in prison now. He's
in prison. Remember we read in chapter three
that he hadn't at that stage been thrown into prison. He was
still witnessing at that stage in John chapter three. But now
he's in prison. He's been locked up and he sends
his disciples. He still has this following of
disciples. And he sends them to ask this
question. And we'll think about why he
did this a bit later. Are you the promised Messiah?
Are you the coming one? Or do we look for another? Are
we barking up the wrong tree? You know how the dog chases the
cat into a clump of trees, and the cat runs up a tree, and the
dog doesn't see which tree it is that it runs up, and he starts
barking up a tree, and it's the wrong tree. He knows there's
a cat up there somewhere, but he's barking up the wrong tree.
Do you have that expression here? Well, he's asking this. Are you the promised one? Are
you the promised Messiah? are always barking up the wrong
tree. Very important question. Now, you notice that there's
no doubt about the fact in John's question that there is a need
for a coming one. Not a coming principle, not a
coming spirit, but the coming one. Are you the one? Are you
the person? Because that person was promised
throughout the Old Testament. You could start right back in
Genesis chapter 3 where God, following the fall, God speaks
to Adam and Eve and he says, he's speaking to Satan, pronouncing
his judgment. He talks about the seed, singular,
the seed of the woman. There's the promised one that's
mentioned there right at the very start. You know, you could say, where
do we begin to look at this? Well, we're not going to, we're
just going to skim the surface of this to show, to remind ourselves
of the fact that the Old Testament is replete, it's full of promises,
it's all about that. And whenever you read it, you
have to read it saying that this is going to say something to
me about the coming one, about one that's coming. It's got,
really, it's got nothing else to say. It talks about morals,
it does, it talks about political history, it does, it talks about
the way to govern a nation, it does all those things, but that's
not its purpose. And we have, I know you have,
we have theologians who study it and they know it inside out.
They could tell me the Greek tense or the Hebrew tense of
whichever word and they know it far better than I will ever
know it. But they don't see this, that really what it's talking
about is the coming one. the coming one who is coming
because he's got to come because without him there's no hope for
us in this human dilemma in this human condition that we're in
because without him there's only fear and dread of judgment that's
the only thing that awaits us so there's this promised messiah
here are some names Shiloh the prophet the redeemer the king
and they all say that when he comes, this one, they use these
different names, when Shiloh comes, when the Prophet comes,
when the Redeemer comes, when the King comes, that miraculous
signs would accompany him. Miraculous signs. We hear a lot
about miracles. People are looking for signs.
Isn't what Christ said to that generation, you seek for a sign
and no sign will be given you. other than that that was given
in the days of Jonah. They're an evil generation because
all they're looking for is a sign. He said of those people who were
fed, the 5,000, and then others followed him. Some of those people
that were fed followed him. And he said to them, you're not
looking for spiritual good, you're not looking for spiritual food,
you're coming because your stomachs were filled. You're coming because
you had a good time and your stomachs were filled and you
didn't have to work hard for it. He said that's what you're
looking for. And isn't this the generation that we live in? They're
just looking for that kind of a sign. That's all they're after.
there were miraculous signs that would accompany him. And these
miraculous signs would be on a different scale to anything
that people claim today. You know, I see these people
claiming that the lame are being made to walk and that the blind
are being made to see. These miracles of Christ were
on a different scale. They really were. Anyway, the
testament is that These signs would accompany him. They would
be as witnesses. John 5, 36, Jesus says this,
he says, the works that I do bear witness of me. What's this
witness that they bear? They attest, they authenticate
the fact that he is who he says he is. That he is the coming
one. They authenticate it, that he
is the coming one. When he fed the 5,000, John 6,
when he fed them. Five loaves, two fishies. This
wonderful creating power of this man. This man who had no comeliness
that we should desire. There was no kind of film star
image with him. There was nothing that would
make the crowds flock to him because of what he looked like
as a man. None of that. And he feeds these
5,000 people. This man, this man, wearing flesh
and blood, just like we do, he feeds these 5,000 people out
of so little. This wonderful act of of creation. He makes something out of nothing.
Wonderful creating, as he did with the water. He made the whole
process of water going through the chemical process that the
vine does to it, and ripening those grapes, and then it fermenting
with the yeast, and maturing to become a good wine, and he
did it just like that. fill those pictures with water
and he did it just like that this man clothed in flesh and
blood just as we are and those men saw it some of those men
saw it and in John 6 and verse 14 they said this this was what
this was what it said to them they didn't say well that was
a good meal we had wasn't it that was great what a great person
this is we'll stick around him we can give up work because he's
just going to feed us I mean he's going to take no they didn't
say that they said this Truly, truly this is the promised prophet
who is to come into the world. They were looking for a prophet.
They were looking for one who was going to come. Truly this
is the promised prophet. Let's look at some of these promises.
Regarding the prophet, just turn back. You don't have to turn
to these if you can't keep up. That's fine, just listen. But
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 18. and verse 18 and God is speaking to Moses
we'll start in verse 15 Deuteronomy 18 the Lord your
God will raise up for you a prophet like me from the midst from your
midst he's going to be like you he's going to be one of you from
your brethren him you shall hear according to all you desired
of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly saying
let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God nor let me
see this great fire anymore lest I die talking about the things
of judgment that they'd seen and the Lord said to me what
they have spoken is good I will raise up for them a prophet like
you like you one who speaks on behalf of God one who speaks
the words of God from among their brethren And I will put my words
in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."
There's clear promise that he's coming. One who is going to speak
the words of God. Don't you want to hear the words
of God? The God who made you? The God
who made me? The God who made all things?
Don't we want to hear what he says? He says, I'm going to raise
up a prophet for you who's going to speak the words of God to
you. Here's another one. Genesis 49. Genesis chapter 49. And this is where Jacob is giving
his last words to his sons. You know, he gathers them all
together. He's about to die. And he gives his last words to
his sons. And, you know, you go to funerals
and you hear You hear words being said, you know, I would think,
I'm not a pastor, I'm not a minister, but I would think one of the
hardest things is having to officiate at the funeral of somebody you
know is an unbeliever, because nobody wants to hear anything
bad. People only want to ever hear good things. Now Jacob doesn't
pull his punches about his sons. He says of Reuben, you are my
firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency
of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water,
you shall not excel. Then he goes on, Simeon and Levi
are brothers, instruments of cruelty. He doesn't mince his
words, does he? Instruments of cruelty. are in
their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council. I don't want much to do with
their advice. He's being perfectly honest and then he gets to Judah,
verse 8. You are he whom your brothers
shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck
of your enemies. And so on down to verse 10. The scepter. The scepter. The symbol of government. You know, I don't know if you
have such a thing here, but in In Britain, in the Houses of
Parliament, when the Queen comes to the House of Lords to inaugurate
the new Parliament, there's a new Parliament that starts every
year in the November, and we have elections every four or
five years or so, but every year there's a new Parliament and
it runs from November through to the following October, with
breaks, but at the start of the new Parliament there's a new
programme of legislation And they all gather together in the
House of Lords, the people from the House of Commons, all the
members of Parliament are all summoned into the House of Lords.
And there is the sceptre. It's the symbol of power. It's
the symbol of government. It's the symbol of authority.
And hear Jacob saying, to Judah, the scepter, the symbol of government,
the power, shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet. There will be a succession. There
will be an inheritance. A lawgiver shall not depart from
between his feet until Shiloh comes. There's someone coming.
Shiloh. And to him shall the obedience
of the people be. Shiloh was the place, later on
in the days of Samuel, Shiloh was the place where the people
met with God. There was the place where all
the symbols of Christ and of his sacrifice were acted out.
There it was, it was portrayed clearly before them. That was
the place where God met with his people. Over that Ark of
the Covenant, over that mercy seat, that gold mercy seat that
was sprinkled with blood. And there he said, I will speak
with the people. The priest, you know, went in
with blood. And he must have been a terrified man when he
did that. He must have been terrified. Had he done everything right?
Was there anything not right in what he did? Had he made any
slight mistake? Because if he had, it wouldn't
be acceptable. Did it prefigure Christ? Was
it perfectly prefiguring Christ? Was it showing him in all his
glories? And he went in there and sprinkled that blood. And
I've heard Henry say this, that those people waiting outside,
they're waiting and they're looking. Is he going to come out? And
you can imagine the joy and elation when he came out. It was accepted. That was accepted. Because that
is a picture of what it's going to be like for each of us. We've
all got to die. We've all got to face judgment.
Is there a man that goes into the presence of God and comes
out? Yes, if he goes there with that which speaks of Christ.
So Shiloh is coming. Here's another one. Isaiah. You
say Isaiah, don't you? Isaiah 59. I tend to mimic wherever I am. My wife
said to me, don't you try mimicking them. She said, just speak like
you do when you're at home. Isaiah 59, verse 20. The Redeemer, the Redeemer will
come to Zion. and to those who turn from transgression
in Jacob, says the Lord." The scripture is full. I remember as a much younger
man discovering the book of Isaiah, and reading those chapters, 40,
comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saying to them that their iniquity
is pardoned, and so on, right the way through, 42, 43, I the
Lord, there's no other God with you, I the Lord am your Saviour
and your Redeemer, and how powerfully those words speak. And the whole
book is full of this, the Redeemer is coming, the Redeemer. The
Redeemer will come to Zion. Let's just turn to another one.
Jeremiah 50. Same theme, the Redeemer. Jeremiah
50. And verse 34. Talking about all of these oppressed
and captive children. And then their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is his name.
He will thoroughly plead their case that he may give rest to
the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. He will thoroughly
plead their case. He's a redeemer. What does a
redeemer do? You know this. Paul was telling me the story
of his dogs. I'm not going to go through that again because
I'm sure he's related the story of... It's Annie, isn't it? The
one that was redeemed from death. It's the picture of the slave
market. You know, there's the slave market and there's the
slave in chains and bound. Bound in that condition. It's
a picture of each of us bound in the condition that we're in.
You say, I'm not a slave. I can go where I want. No, you can't.
You're dazed. Paul talks to the Athenians about
God setting the bounds of their habitation. You go where he allows
you and you do it for as long as he allows you to. And you
don't do it for any longer than that. He sets the bounds of our
habitation. and here's this slave in the
slave market and he's bound in his chains and he can't go anywhere
and there's a redeemer there bidding, there's a redeemer and
he pays the price and he sets that slave free that's what the
redeemer does he buys him back from his condition of slavery
and that's what our redeemer does that's what the redeemer
does for his people he buys us back from that awful dilemma
of sin and yet a yearning for eternity and for good and for
righteousness. He buys us back from that condition.
He does all that is necessary. He's a Redeemer. He shall thoroughly
plead their cause. You've probably seen or some
of you have probably read Don Faulkner's book on Ruth, that
lovely picture of redemption, the kinsman Redeemer. If you
haven't seen it, get it and read it. It's a delightful little
picture. of redemption in that book of
Ruth, how from that hopeless condition she was redeemed. And
then the final one of these, Zechariah chapter 9, otherwise
I'm going to run out of time, though Paul told me keep you
all here as long as I want to, so I hope none of you mind. Zechariah chapter 9 and verse
9. I can't read these words without
having the music of Handel's Messiah go through my mind as
I read it. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold your King. You see what
he said? You people who are oppressed
and fearful, rejoice! But we're fearful. No, shout!
Rejoice! Behold your King is coming to
you. He is just. He's not like the
other kings of the world. He's not like the evil kings
of the world. He is just. He has salvation. He will save you from this condition.
And what sort of a king is he? Not like the kings of the world.
He's lowly. He's riding on a donkey. He doesn't come riding on a proud
stallion with all the trappings of majesty. He's lowly, riding
on a donkey. And a colt even, not even a grown
up one, a colt, the foal of a donkey, your king, your king, our daughter
of Zion. We've got all of these promises,
we could look at so many more. Isaiah 11, 1 talks about the
rod and the branch, all speaking of Christ. The ones that we normally think
about around Christmas time, the virgin shall be with child,
shall conceive and bear a son. and call his name Immanuel, God
with us. And that he will come and his
name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. All of these promises.
Now with all of these promises, people were looking for him.
You know, people... We always think that whatever
generation we live in, that we're so sophisticated and clever. And I would imagine, you know,
you look back and you think, oh well, a hundred years ago,
they were simple folks. They really were simple folks.
But now we've got all of our technology and our modern learning
and we know so much and we've travelled into space and, you
know, we know so much more about cosmology and they've mapped
the human genome. That's something that happened.
since I was last here. They now claim they've mapped
the human genome. They know all the different codes
that make up eyes and hair and skin and all of these things.
They know what it is. They know what it's all about.
But you know, we're not. We're no cleverer. We're no smarter. We're really not. And people
then were just like you and me. They had emotions like us. They
thought like us. They had hopes. They had their
schemes and their plans. Oh, well, they didn't have all
the modern fittings that we... No, they didn't, but they had
their schemes and their plans and their aspirations and they
wanted their family and put it together and give them a nice
home and all of those, they had all of those aspirations. They
wanted to do well. They wanted their careers. They
wanted to, you know, they wanted to get on in this life. It was
just the same. And yet, They have the same nagging
concerns that people like us have about eternity, about eternal
life, about the fact of death, about the fact that all that
generations, you want evidence that you're going to die, they've
all gone, they've all gone, they've all left this life and it can
happen so quickly. You know, Paul mentioned our
brother Bill, Bill Clark, who I'm sure he came here, didn't
he? Did he come here to preach for you? Yeah. And I remember,
I knew he was ill, but I was talking to him, just like I talked
to one of you one Sunday. And I was away on business the
Wednesday night, and I didn't see him, and I never saw him
again in this life. But I know where he is now. I
know where he is now. They had the same worries, the
same concerns. They were looking for a Messiah.
Turn with me, I guess none of this is breaking new ground for
you. I'm sure it isn't. I'm sure you
are well taught in these things. But we always find it good, we
get taught these things, and we always find it good to have
somebody come from somewhere else and say just the same things
to us. We really do. Look in Luke chapter
2. You'll know where I'm going already.
I'm sure you're thinking, I know where he's going already. In
Luke chapter 2, people looking for this Messiah. They're looking.
The time's right. The history's right. The scripture's
full of promises. The scripture's saying, there's
one coming. That one that's going to answer your condition. He's
coming. And there's this old man Simeon. Verse 25 of chapter
2. He'd been told that he wasn't
going to die. He wasn't going to depart this
life. He'd been such a student of this coming one. He'd been
such a student of the scriptures. He'd studied the scriptures and
yes, there's one coming. And he'll have been looking at
the prophecies in Daniel. And he'll have been doing a little
bit of arithmetic. And he'd say, well, maybe I'm
getting it wrong, but it must be about now. It can't be far
off. There's so much he's fulfilled. There's going to be somebody
who's going to be coming. And they bring the child. They
bring the child. Mary and Joseph bring the infant
Jesus. to the temple, and he sees it.
It had been revealed, verse 26, it had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ, the Promised One. So he came by the Spirit
into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child
Jesus to do for him according because your word has been fulfilled
it's been fulfilled my eyes have seen your salvation the one through
whom you are bringing salvation my eyes have seen that which
you have prepared before the face of all the peoples and look
he knew his scriptures a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles
and the glory of your people Israel and Joseph and Mary marveled
at those things which were spoken of him and you go on a few verses
and There's another one there, Anna, the prophetess, the daughter
of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. Great age. She was of great age. This woman was a widow of about
84 years who did not depart from the temple, but served God with
fastings and prayers day and night. And coming in that instant,
she gave thanks to the Lord. And what did she do? She spoke
about him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
You see, there were people in Jerusalem who knew There were
proselytes who'd come. You go to that nation, because
that's the nation where the God of all the earth has given his
revelation of his salvation. And if you're going to find out
about salvation and eternal life, you need to go there. They knew
this. And there were people there who were looking for redemption,
redemption for their souls in Jerusalem. And Anna, having seen
this baby in the arms of Simeon and what was said of him, she
went and she said, he's come. He's come. All of those promises,
they're being fulfilled. There's a little baby clothed
in flesh and blood, and he's the God-man. He's come to redeem
his people. She went and spoke of him to
all who look for redemption in Jerusalem. Now, is all of this
relevant to us? I imagine that most people here
are believers this morning, but I don't know. I don't know. I
always assume because none of us, you don't know the state
of my heart any more than I know the state of your heart, deep
down. But I assume that there are people who don't know these
things. Is this relevant to us? Is this relevant to us today?
Well it is, if you're concerned about life, about death, about
eternity, about God, about sin, about judgment, if you're concerned
about these things, and you should be, because why? You look around
you, you know one thing that's impressed us it's it's many years
it was February we were here last time and all the trees were
bare but now they're covered in leaves and it's just so beautiful
we're just overwhelmed we live 25 miles north of London next
to a busy road and it's difficult to find space and peace there
it really is very hard to find space and peace it's okay you
you shut yourself in and you have your double glazed windows
and you don't hear the noise outside and But the summer comes
and you go out in, we call them gardens, you call them backyards,
we go out in the garden and you've got the noise of the traffic
and the noise of the planes and the noise of the neighbour because
he's only over a fence that's from here to those doors away
from you and stuff like this. And there isn't much peace, but
round here it seems so peaceful and there's such a beautiful
creation. I'm not saying England isn't beautiful, it is, it's
a beautiful place, it really is. But the creation speaks of
God, doesn't it? Doesn't it say to you? You know,
I remember, I... My wife will be embarrassed by
this because I'm always using this as an illustration, but
I grew up in the country where there were no streetlights, even
in England. I grew up in northern England
where there were no streetlights at all. And, you know, you could
go out on a dark winter's night, a clear winter's night, and you
could look up and you could just be wowed, as we would say, by
those stars. You know, like you see out in
the woods, you sit there on your porch and look up and see those
stars. And I thought, there's got to be something more than
just this, than just this existence that people tell me about. There's
got to be something more. Creation speaks of it. The psalmist says,
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You know, we're not the
products of random chance. How can we? I just I do know
how scientists come to the conclusion that we're the products of random
chance. I do know how they do. But yet,
the spiritual side of me is staggered at it, that they can believe
this, that sane, intelligent men and women can really, truly
believe this. I am staggered at it because
every bit of evidence that the world presents to us speaks of
a God who has made us. They just amaze me. But it's
this reason, this reason, isn't it? Hebrews 11. How is it that
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God?
By faith. By that gift he gives us to understand. And you'll have heard Paul talk
about Professor Andrews Edgar. He wrote the book Freeing Christ
on Galatians. He's one of our elders at the
campus church. And a dear man. And he is one of the most intelligent
men I've ever come across. He was professor of materials
at London University for many, he was the youngest professor
ever appointed at that university, the prestigious London University. Our son, our oldest son, I hope
I'm not taking up too much of your time, but our oldest son
went for an interview for his university, he went to Sheffield
University to do, and he was thinking of doing materials.
And he got an interview there, and he went there, And the person
interviewing him, this doctor of science, said to him, he said,
how did you get interested in this? And he said, well, we have
a friend who's a professor of materials. And he showed me around
his department and I got really interested. And he said, who
was it? And he said, it was a man called Professor Andrews. He
said, you know Andrews? He said, that's like saying you
know Einstein. Well, Edgar's wife was very tickled
by that story. But Edgar is an intelligent scientist,
he really is, and he's told me he's been in debates with other
scientists and it's just the revelation of God, it really
is, it's just the gift of God by faith to see it, to see these
things. Why is it that so much money
is spent on space probes to Mars looking for life? Do you know,
I'll give you the one overriding reason above everything else.
It's not out of interest for these things. It's so that they
can say, if there's a hint that life evolved there, then it evolved
here. And if it evolved here, it wasn't
created here. And if it wasn't created here,
we're not accountable. And isn't that a great relief
to us? That we're not accountable to a God who is just and holy.
That's why it's done. That's why it's done. Because
people are in their heart of hearts, they're afraid. They're
afraid. Your conscience warns you. The
scriptures give compelling evidence of the fact. We ignore them as
our peril. These scriptures that you hear
being read to you week by week, they give compelling, compelling
evidence about the truth. The truth, the true situation
we're in. And the only answer to that situation
and if you're not a believer and you look around don't you
get disturbed by these believers and their comfort and their peace
and they're not concerned about death and they know that they
could be taken just as Bill was within a week they know that
and they're not alarmed by it and oh that if this is the right
picture I don't know but that river if it's you know pictured
as a river the river of death if it's if it's chilly Well,
maybe it'll be chilly, but it's not fearful, it's not fearful,
because he'll carry us over. We have such a peace, believers
have such a peace about these things. Doesn't that disturb
you if you don't? Why, where do they get this peace
from? How can I get this peace for my eternal soul? I want to
go through life with peace in my heart about these eternal
things. I don't want to go through my life, as it says in Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 15, the writer there, he talks about people
in general, like you and me, who through fear of death, fear
of death, all of their life was subject to bondage. Fear of death,
and what lies beyond it? Fear of death. And that thing,
death, you know, all the time we see fellow men and women leaving
this life. There's a passage I was looking
at just the other day in Ecclesiastes, I'll just refer to it. It's the
twelfth chapter, the final chapter of Ecclesiastes. In fact, I was
put to preach in our church the Sunday morning that our brother
Bill died, and I prepared on the Saturday to preach on Ecclesiastes
chapter 12. And, of course, it was a very
shocking experience, but it was such an act. I'm not saying it
was preached well at all. It wasn't, because I was in a
state of shock. But it was such an apt message for that occasion. It's this, remember now your
creator. This is to all of us, remember
now your creator. In the days of your youth, before
the difficult days come, you're young. Life is before you. You're
fit, you're healthy, your mind is alert. You've got a whole
life before you. Maybe you're a bit later on in
life, but you still look as though you've got many years ahead.
Maybe you're getting into your later years. And you don't know
how much longer you've got. But here are the words of the
preacher. Remember now your Creator in
the days of your youth, because difficult days are coming. Aren't
they? I know it. I know that, you know,
it's 30 years. I was talking about going out
and seeing the stars. That's 35 to 40 years ago that
I used to go and do that. Hey, hold on. That doesn't seem
like that, does it? Gone. It just seems so recent. When those years have gone again,
I'm going to be 95 if I'm still here when those years have gone
again. Remember your Creator in the
days of your youth, because difficult days are coming, when you say,
I have no pleasure in them. We had a dear old man in our
church, and he was taken at the age of 84, I think he was, wasn't
he? Reg was taken at 84. And he was
a lovely man, but he'd certainly got to these days and everything
baked and nothing worked properly and he was ready to go. He just
wanted to go and be with the Lord. And, you know, he's talking
about while the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are not
darkened, everything's bright. But the days are coming when
it's not going to seem like that. The keepers of the house will
tremble, talking about the body getting weaker and falling apart.
The grinders ceasing. I've still, thanks to dentistry,
20th century dentistry, I've still got a full set of teeth
in my head, but no doubt the days are coming when the grinders
will cease. They'll all go and I'll be putting
false ones in there. The windows grow dim. Well, without
these, the windows are already dim. The doors are shut in the
streets. The sound of grinding is low.
When one rises up at the sound of a bird, I know a bit more
about that. I don't sleep quite as soundly
as I used to. They're afraid of height. Terror's
in the way. The almond tree blossoms. In my family, the almond tree
doesn't blossom until quite late in life. I was showing Paul and
Mindy photographs of my parents, and Paul said, he's still got
a full head of hair. He has. The almond tree's blossomed,
but he's still got a full head. It's gone grey. It's gone white.
But he's still got a full head of hair. It's going to happen. It will happen to us all. Different
stages. Even the grasshopper, the lightest
thing, is a burden. Desire fails. Man goes to his
eternal home. Remember your Creator before
the silver cord is loosed. You know, you need to think about
these things. You really do. You can't get right with God
in your own strength. You need a Redeemer. So, I don't
want to keep you too much longer. Chapter 11 of Matthew. So, who
is he? Who is he? Are you the one? Are
you the coming one? Are you the promised one? Or
do we look for another? And Jesus answered, and this
is his answer that he gives to them. This is his answer. Go
and tell John the things that you hear and see. Go and tell
him about the miracles, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the
lepers being cleansed, the dead being raised up. and the poor
having the gospel preached to them. Don't tell him about the
things that you see. I wonder why John asked this
question. He'd already said, we read earlier
in the first chapter of John, where he said, looking at Jesus
coming to him at the start of his ministry, behold the Lamb
of God, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the
world. He's the one. All those other lambs were mere
pictures, but behold, the Lamb of God. Look to him. Look at
him. He saw the Spirit of God descend
on him at his baptism. He heard the voice from heaven
saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. We
read his testimony to his disciples about Jesus in John 3, verses
22 to 26, especially verse 36. Let's just turn to that one very
quickly at the end of that chapter. He who, this was John's testimony,
he who believes in the Son has everlasting life. And he who
does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abides on him. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
That's pretty straightforward. You can't escape that. Whoever
believes in the Son, believes what? Believes about his work
of redemption. believes about his blood atoning
sacrifice and its efficacy, its effectiveness for me to deal
with my problem, my situation. He who believes in the sun has
everlasting life. It's a different life, it's on
a different realm, it's a different scope, a different dimension,
it's a spiritual dimension, it's an eternal dimension, has everlasting
life. And he who does not believe,
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John was in prison. He knew he
was coming to the end of his life. He knew that he was not
destined to get out of that prison. And he had these devoted disciples.
And I believe that this was not a question of doubt by John,
but this was a question of pointing his disciples to the coming one. He was pointing them, go and
see him. You don't want to stick with
me. My end's coming, but go to him, look to him. This is what
all preachers must do. Point to him, point to Christ.
Don't follow me, follow him, follow Christ. It's a way that
you can tell the ones in this world who speak words
that sound like the Christian gospel. They sound so much like
it, but they're seeking followers for themselves. They're seeking
supporters for themselves. But true preachers point to Christ.
Go seek him. Go follow him. Jesus says, go
tell him that what the scriptures foretold about the coming one
is happening. You've seen it. Where does he
say, where does the scriptures say this? We'll turn back to
Isaiah. Again, chapter 35, Isaiah 35, and verses 4 to 6. Say to those who
are fearful-hearted, because of the fear of death, because
of the fear of judgment, because of the condition of our hearts,
say to those who are fearful-hearted, be strong, do not fear. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He
will come and save you. And what will be the sign of
that? That the one who is coming to save you is here. Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall
be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like
a deer, like an heart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.
Those things were happening. The people were seeing those
things happening. This was written, what was it,
800 years before he came? all those years before, in that
day when the one who is going to be the saviour, the only one
who can deal with sin comes, the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, and all of
these miracles will happen. And turn a bit further, Isaiah
61, because something else, it's not just going to be a day of
miracles, the day, the miracles are going to attest and accredit
and authenticate that he and what he says is the truth and
he is the coming one and in chapter 61 at the start you know these
these words were quoted by Jesus when he stood up in the synagogue
and he handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue
in Nazareth and he said this the spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings
that's the gospel good to preach the gospel to the poor He has
sent me to heal the broken hearted. To those who mourn over their
condition, he sent me to heal them. To proclaim liberty to
the captives, redemption from captivity. The opening of the
prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord. I think that's a reference to
that jubilee year. That jubilee year when all of
the debts in Leviticus, they had to cancel. That was a good
society, that was a good principle, a well-managed principle. because
there are poor in your society and they're not going to do so
well but every 50 years, the jubilee year, all the debts were
cancelled and this is the extent that you can imagine. You're
in debt in that society, you're in trouble, you've got an uphill
struggle to get out of that situation, you've made mistakes and things
have gone against you and you're in difficulties But every 50
years there's this jubilee year, the acceptable year of the Lord.
What a blessing that would be. If you've ever had debts in this
life, wouldn't it be great if the letter dropped in your mailbox
that said, all of your debts are cancelled. This year is a
jubilee year. All of the debts are gone. Your
mortgage is paid. No more to pay. Well, this is
what Jesus is saying. This is what Christ is saying
about the debt of sin. It's the acceptable year of the
Lord. The poor, have the gospel preached to them, the good news
of salvation, sins forgiven, righteousness imputed, justice
satisfied, peace with God, and the promise of eternal life,
and friendship with God and his people for now and eternity instead
of a judge and fearful judgment. You know what Jesus says in,
I forget where it is, I think it's John, I think it's 16, Never
mind, we'll look it up later. But he says to them, I no longer
call you servants, but I call you my friends. Isn't that an
amazing thing? That we, sinful people, should
be called by this gracious person his friends. And why? Because
he lets us into his secrets. He tells us his secrets. You
know, your friends tell you their secrets, don't you? And children
here in the playground at school, you know, where you're playing
with your friends and there's certain friends And you only have secrets
with those certain friends. You don't share them with other
people. Well, he says, I am your friends. And everything that
I've heard from my father, I'm going to share with you. It's
the secret of the gospel. He tells it. He tells it to his
people. He's witnesses in our hearts. He shows us these things.
He gives us his secrets. We become his friends. Friends
with God and friends with his people. There's nothing like,
in this life, Christian fellowship. There really isn't. It sounds
oceans. It really does. It's the warmest,
sweetest experience of this life. I truly believe that. It really
is. We're very bad at corresponding. If it wasn't for email, we'd
be even worse at corresponding. But we're very bad. And I say
this to my shame. I'm a very poor correspondent.
Things just get too busy. Nancy was saying we'd written
and then we haven't written. But we get back together and
we haven't seen each other for a long while. and you know we
go to see members of our family and they're not believers and
there's an uncomfortable feeling and you don't feel comfortable
there but but we come into the presence of these folks and it's
just we're really just like what you call blood kin right you
know we're close we're close this it's a blessing it's such
a blessing and he says this verse six and i'm finishing with this
and i know i've gone on too long he says this Blessed is he who
is not offended because of me. Blessed is he who is not offended
because of me. Are you offended at this gospel? Does it cause you offense? Do
you think you can save yourself by your good works? By your religion? By your family? By your traditions? Let me tell you about a man I
know very well who He knows the gospel. He's heard it many, many times.
He knows the gospel. But he doesn't think he needs
it. Doesn't think he needs it. Because he thinks, he thinks,
God isn't going to punish me. God isn't going to, God isn't
going to treat me harshly because of the things that I went through
in World War II. He's not going to treat me harshly.
And all of those friends of mine that went into that situation
in northern France with me and were killed at such a young age. All of those people, you know,
they were just like me and, you know, their life was taken from
them and there can't be a God who treats people like that and
who doesn't, you know, and he thinks that by his own strength
and his own goodness and his own efforts He's going to be
right with God. He believes there is God, but
he believes that in his own strength and his own efforts, he's going
to be right with God. And his family... How could God
save one member of his family and not another member of his
family who's such a good person? How could he do it? This is the
way he thinks. You know people that think like that. You don't?
You do. But you know, that's being offended at Christ and
his gospel. that is being offended at him
because his gospel is that you can do nothing of yourselves
it's all of him it's all of grace all of his sovereign electing
grace all worked out in time through through his blood-bought
salvation on calvary through that righteousness that he earned
born of a woman born under the lord born in my place to redeem
those who are under the law. And that's the gospel. And people
stumble over it. This really is final. Romans
9. Romans 9. Verse 30. I'll just read these
final verses. What shall we say then? He's
talking about election. He's talking about God's eternal
purposes. He's talking about how, in the
eternal purposes of God, that are a glorious mystery to us.
We cannot understand it but they're the truth and it's revealed to
us so we should know about it. God intends us to know about
these things. You know, God's sovereignty and God's election
is not just something that you get to know about after the event.
He revealed it in scripture. We're to know about it now. It's
his purposes. What shall we say then? That
Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness because they didn't, they were
godless, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith,
through this one, through this Lord Jesus Christ and his salvation.
But Israel, the Jewish people, pursuing the law of righteousness,
has not attained to the law of righteousness. They were pursuing
it, to be right with God, to be accepted by him, but they
haven't attained it. Why? Because they didn't seek
it by faith. but as it were by the works of
the law, by their own efforts, by their own traditions, by their
own value in their society. For they stumbled, they stumbled,
they tripped up, they fell over that stumbling stone. As it is
written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock
of offence, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Look to him, don't be put to
shame. Let's sing a closing hymn, number
five. Sherry, if you'd come up and
play for us, hymn number five. We just heard a heavenly theme. Let's stand and sing hymn number
five. We give a dance of heavenly peace,
and sing some blessed singing, while God in earth's the name of our eternal King. Tell of His wondrous faithfulness. and found His power of love. In every moment of His grace
for love and truth of God. Third verse as the last. He is
with everyone in all faith and love. Joyful, joyful, joyful, Joyful,
joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful,
joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful,
Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful,
joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful,
joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful,
Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful,
joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful,
Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful,
Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful, joyful, Joyful