Ukraine Trip Day 3

Today was a busy one. We had a good breakfast of omelettes at 0745 and then some of the group headed off to assist in the ‘sandwich making factory’! Feeding 112 people twice is quite a task. It was all done very well and to a high standard. 

The conference meetings started at 1030 with two Bible Teaching slots. I read and spoke on Psalm 37 about the seeming unfairness of life when bad people prosper and good people get it tough. Steve Buckeridge followed by speaking about the present work of the Lord Jesus on the believer’s behalf in heaven. It is so encouraging to know that we have a Saviour who is looking after us from heaven. He watches over us, acts on our behalf if and when we sin and draws along side us in the difficulties of life.

To be continued - Mark 8:25

After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. (Mark 8.25)

Have you been for an eye test recently? The Lord Jesus is better than any optician. As I read through the Gospels, it is interesting to see how He uses different treatments to heal blind people. Today’s man has two eye tests. He is healed gradually not immediately.

Who gave you the right to do that?

Short Reading – Mark 11:27-33 

Longer Reading – Mark 11:20-33

Key Verse – Mark 11:28

Sometimes when I am trying to tell someone about what I believe they respond like this. Don’t shove religion down my throat! Who gave you the right to tell me that?

The rulers of the nation of Israel were out to get the Lord Jesus. They didn’t like the attention he was being given and as far as they were concerned he was a major threat.

Tell Tale

Tell them how great things the Lord hath done, Mark 5.19.

When the Lord Jesus arrives in a new life, like Legion’s, or a new area, like Gadara, then change is bound to happen. And when the Lord Jesus makes changes, they are always improvements, though maybe I don’t see things that way! Of course the people of Gadara were much better off without the influence of demons or the uncleanness of pigs. Sadly they didn’t realise this at the time. They wanted the Lord Jesus to leave as quickly as possible!

Only one person was desperate for the Lord Jesus to stay. That was Legion. The Lord had done so much for Him. Once he was a wild man but now he has been tamed by Christ. He used to run around but now he sits at Christ’s feet. He used to be naked but now he wears clean clothes. He used to be crazy but now he is just fine. What an amazing change! He is a new man altogether.

Legion has only spent a few hours with the Lord Jesus, and already he is being left behind. He needs to be Christ’s messenger in his home town, an ambassador for Christ. I have the same job in today’s godless society, no matter how long or short I have been a Christian. I must tell people about the great things that the Lord Jesus has done for me.

So how much do I appreciate what He has done? He has given me a seat in heaven. Check out Eph 2.6. He lets me wear a robe of righteousness. Check out Isa 61.10. He has introduced me to a completely new way of thinking. Check out Phil 2.5. Will my behaviour and my conversation today demonstrate to people around me what wonderful changes Christ can make?

Money could keep you out of heaven!

Money could keep you out of heaven!

Short Reading – Mark 10:17-27             

Longer Reading – Mark 10:1-27

Key Verse – Mark 10:21

Life is busy, time is money and there are many questions on my mind. Meet the man who thought money could buy everything!

His question was – ‘What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ The key to the man’s question are the words ‘do’ and ‘inherit’. He was a self made man; everything he had achieved was as a result of what he had done. He probably had worked hard for everything he had. He thought of eternal life as something he could inherit. An inheritance is wealth that someone has worked hard to accumulate and the people who inherit it have a right to it. He wants eternal life but he doesn’t understand that you don’t get it the way you get wealth and possessions.

A State of Shock in the UK

It is almost twenty years since Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in a tunnel in France. It was the 31^st August 1997 and her funeral at Westminster Abbey was on the 9^th September 1997. During that period of time the Nation was in a state of shock and needed a spiritual voice to be heard that would guide people to have faith in God but it was not heard!

Expressions of grief were displayed by the million plus bouquets of flowers placed at the gates of Kensington Palace and Althorp House which stacked to over five feet high.

A clear spiritual message was not heard in the Abbey, but the voice of a pop singer instead.

Evangelism - Examples - No 4

Evangelism – How (No 4)

Outreach – spreading the net wider

In the previous articles in this series I have concentrated on gospel outreach that is linked to the local church. This article however focuses on outreach that is of a more individual nature. In light of this please remember the biblical aims of gospel work:

1. To glorify God (2.Cor.4.1-7)
2. To see souls saved (1.Cor.1.21/Acts.5.14)
3. To see souls meeting with Christians in a local assembly (Acts.2.41/Acts.9.26-28)

It never was or is the Lord’s intention to see people saved but not in fellowship in a local church. Therefore outreach whether individual or corporate (local assembly based) works towards these basic aims. Now let’s focus on some examples.

Evangelism - How - No 3

EVANGELISM - HOW

Local Church Based Outreach

As we continue to look at the need to spread the good news of salvation I have been asked to give some examples of how this can be achieved. Please bear in mind that this list is not exhaustive. You may have many ways of reaching out with the gospel that have not crossed my mind but the Lord has opened up for you. Some of the examples I give may not be possible in conjunction with an established local assembly. For instance the example below of outreach at football matches could simply work with you going to the area where a match is taking place and giving out leaflets or preaching to the crowds. In the example I give in this article the outreach is linked to an assembly, as the assembly premises are located close to a Football Stadium.

The second point I would like to make is this. The instruction given to Christians about spreading the message is threefold:

1. Preach the word” (2.Tim.4.2)
2. Go out with the gospel - “go, ye therefore” (Matt.28.19); and
3. Go to into the entire world with the message - “go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” – (Mark.16.15).

The lonely hearts club - I know someone who is interested in you!

There are a lot of people about who are very private and keep themselves to themselves. They would not trouble anyone with their problems and would not presume that anyone else is interested. Well I have news for anyone who is reading this who thinks like that. I know someone who is interested in you; His name is the Jesus. He is recorded as saying in the Gospel of John - 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly'. The Bible also states that God 'is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'.

What is the truth?

The concept of truth has clearly fallen on hard times.

Pilate posed one of the most profound and eternally significant questions in the Bible. He asked Jesus in His final hour, “What is truth?” It was a cynical response to what Jesus had just revealed: “I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.” Two thousand years later, the whole world breathes Pilate’s cynicism, with good cause.

So, what is truth?

Here’s a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth.

The Old Testament refers to the Almighty as the “God of truth” (Deut. 32:4; Ps. 31:5; Is. 65:16). When Jesus said of Himself, “I am...the truth” (John 14:6), He was making a profound claim about His own deity. He was also making it clear that all truth must ultimately be defined in terms of God and His eternal glory. After all, Jesus is “the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). He is truth incarnate—the perfect expression of God and therefore the absolute embodiment of all that is true.

Jesus also said that the written Word of God is truth. It does not merely contain nuggets of truth; it is pure and unchangeable truth that (according to Jesus) “cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

Of course, there cannot be any difference between the written Word of God (the Bible) and the incarnate Word of God (Jesus). In the first place, truth by definition cannot contradict itself. Second, the Bible is called “the word of Christ” (Col. 3:16). It is His message, His self-expression. In other words, the truth of Christ and the truth of the Bible are of the very same character. They are in perfect agreement in every respect. Both are equally true. God has revealed Himself to humanity through The Bible and through His Son. Both perfectly embody the essence of what truth is.

The Bible also says God reveals basic truth about Himself in nature. The heavens declare His glory (Ps. 19:1). His other invisible attributes (such as His wisdom, power, and beauty) are on constant display in what He has created (Rom. 1:20). Knowledge of Him is inborn in the human heart (Rom. 1:19), and a sense of the moral character and loftiness of His law is implicit in every human conscience (Rom. 2:15).

Those things are universally self-evident truths. According to Romans 1:20, denial of the spiritual truths we know innately always involves a deliberate and culpable unbelief. And for those who wonder whether basic truths about God and His moral standards really are stamped on the human heart, ample proof can be found in the long history of human law and religion. To suppress this truth is to dishonour God, displace His glory, and incur His wrath (vv. 19-20).

Still, the only infallible interpreter of what we see in nature or know innately in our own consciences is the explicit revelation of The Bible. Since the Bible is also the one place where we are given the way of salvation, entrance into the kingdom of God, and an infallible account of Christ, the Bible is the touchstone to which all truth claims should be brought and by which all other truth must finally be measured.

Truth also means nothing apart from God. Truth cannot be adequately explained, recognized, understood, or defined without God as the source. Since He alone is eternal and self-existent and He alone is the Creator of all else, He is the fountain of all truth.

There are serious moral implications whenever someone tries to dissociate truth from the knowledge of God. Abandon a biblical definition of truth, and unrighteousness is the inescapable result. We see it happening before our eyes in every corner of contemporary society. What we see today is a fulfillment of what Romans chapter 1 says always happens when a society denies and suppresses the essential connection between God and truth.

Truth is not subjective, it is not a consensual cultural construct, and it is not an invalid, outdated, irrelevant concept. Truth is the self-expression of God. Truth is thus theological; it is the reality God has created and defined, and over which He rules. Truth is therefore a moral issue for every human being.

How each person responds to the truth God has revealed is an issue of eternal significance. To reject and rebel against Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, results in darkness, folly, sin, judgment, and the never-ending wrath of God. To accept and submit to Jesus Christ is experience the forgiveness and blessing of God, to know with certainty, and to find life everlasting.

Written by a Guest Blogger for Seek the Truth Bible Media Podcasts