Author: John Johnstone

Sermon: Sunday, 21st December, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Isaiah 8:19-22 and Isaiah 9:1-7

We all love to see positive transformation. It could be a TV programme like ‘Property Ladder’ where a property developer buys a rundown house, renovates it on a tight budget before selling it on for a huge profit. Wouldn’t we all like to do that? The ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures are quite the contrast. Other programmes focus on our outward appearance. In ‘10 years younger in 10 days’, a stylist uses all her tricks to make people look far younger than they really are. Again, the ‘before’ and ‘after’ transformation is amazing. I think that the most power transformations are spiritual ones, where people who are lost and hopeless are then changed by God’s power and whose once dark lives, by God’s grace, are now full of light. John Newton is a classic example. Had you met this man before God changed him, you would meet someone who was profane, violent, exploitative and actively participated in slave trade. Even among unbelievers, Newton was known as morally reckless. But then he was converted through the slow but decisive work of God and became a pastor and theologian. It was Jesus who changed John Newton. More recently, we thought of men in villages in Mongolia who were addicted to alcohol and bringing all kinds of misery into the family home. They were changed, not by a vague higher power, but by Jesus himself, and now have restored relationships in their homes and are living to serve God and others rather than self. What a reversal of circumstances.

1. Days of darkness

Isaiah chapter 9 is all about God predicting an enormous transformation in the lives of his people in Israel. In a nutshell, those in Israel in Isaiah’s day were ‘… walking in darkness.’   (Isaiah 9:2) God provides them with wonderful and certain hope by promising that one day a great light would come to dispel the darkness. Why are things so dark for Israel? They faced a severe threat from the superpower of the day, Assyria. Rather than seeking out God’s help, the king made an alliance with Syria and wanted Judah to join them, seeing strength in numbers. But eventually, Assyria swoops down on Israel, on the areas of Zebulun, Naphtali and Galilee, devastating it, and making them provinces of Assyria. This was meant to be the ‘promised land’ but the people were so far from God and living such evil lives that the LORD allowed them to be conquered.

The last verse of chapter 8 tells us how bad things were: ‘Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.’   (Isaiah 8:22) 1000s were killed and 1000s more taken away as slaves. Life in Israel appeared to be utterly hopeless. The future looked grim. It was a time of darkness, distress and war.

As we consider the reversal of Israel’s fortunes, I would like us to keep this at the front of our minds – this reversal is brought about through the work of God. ‘The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.’   (Isaiah 9:7) Only God can bring such lasting change. Why is this passage relevant to us nearly 3000 years on? Because ordinary people today can only know true spiritual transformation by the power of God. Why would we not want that? Pay attention to who brought about the change in Israel, so we can experience such change today. God’s ways do not change.

The transformation of Israel’s circumstances are described in this passage as being from darkness to light, disgrace to honour, gloom to joy, and from oppression and war to peace. The people in Isaiah’s day were in great spiritual darkness. What were they doing? They were engaging in the occult, idolatry, prostitution and materialism. They were living in God’s world, and although God had made them and provided for them, they ignored God, living instead for themselves as if God did not exist. The people were in desperate need of God’s forgiveness, God’s guidance, and God’s love. The same is true today in Fife. So many people walk in darkness. Yes, many are just trying to get on with their lives and raise their families just as we are, but because they do not know God, they do not know the true meaning of life, they do not have God’s guidance on how to live and have no hope for the future.

Imagine living in Zebulun and Naphtali in such dark times. God’s covenant promises must have seemed like hollow words. Could it get any worse? But God’s prophet Isaiah comes predicting transformation. ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…’   (Isaiah 9:2) What will this light be? Although it is written in the past tense, it is a promise about the future. It is just written in the past tense to express that the promise of hope is so certain, it is as if it has already happened.

2. The lights breaks in

Now, fast-forward 800 years to Capernaum in Israel. Jesus can be found preaching about the Kingdom of God and calling people to repent, to stop living their own way and turn to God instead. This is when the light broke into the land. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he has left Heaven and come to earth to show us how to live, to die on the cross as our Saviour and to perform miracles, to prove that he really is God who had become a real human being. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, but when his ministry begins, he moves to a new area! ‘When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘… and of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’ From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’   (Matthew 4:12-17)

How wonderful! This area which had been the first to experience God’s wrath through Assyrian occupation was now the first to experience the blessings of God through Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem but now teaching and preaching and pouring the light of his truth onto the people, dispelling the darkness. The former days of humiliation, being conquered and subjugated, had been replaced with honour – of all the places on the earth where Jesus might have based himself, he had chosen Galilee. Where did Jesus turn water into wine? At Cana in Galilee. This nation which had been greatly reduced through death and deportation, is now going to be ‘enlarged’.   (Isaiah 9:3) Because millions and millions will come and put their trust in Jesus, people from all over the world. The former gloom has been replaced with joy. The people rejoice that God would love them so much as to come and die for them. They rejoice that their Messiah is the true king and everything Israel’s old kings ought to have been but weren’t. They rejoice because Jesus brings life in all its fulness and no one else can do that. The day of Midian   (Isaiah 9:4) is the day of Gideon, when the Midianites used to oppress Israel year after year. But God sent Gideon to save them. And now God has sent a greater and permanent Saviour so that they shall no longer be oppressed. The items of war can be placed on the fire   (Isaiah 9:35 for now we can enjoy lasting peace. What a transformation.

3. The source of the change

What is the root of this reversal? Why has spiritual oppression ended? It is all because of the birth of a child ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders.’   (Isaiah 9:6) Of course, this is the birth of no ordinary baby. He is the true King. This is the arrival of a royal heir – King Jesus the Messiah. True kings are supposed to provide for the needs of their people. They are supposed to protect them and give them security. The previous kings of Israel failed miserably in this regard. But where they fail, Jesus succeeds. He does not govern like politicians, often with broken promises and poor examples. He rules with integrity and love and righteousness. And best of all, he will rule forever and ever. And nothing will be able to thwart his purposes. The angel Gabriel quotes Isaiah 9 to Mary: ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…’   (Luke 1:31-35)

Just how good a king is Jesus?

L Mackay: ‘So vast is the potential of the child to be born that four double descriptions have to be employed to do justice to all that he is.’

Jesus is the Wonderful Counsellor. I believe all of us would benefit from a good counsellor, because sin affects all of us and all our relationships. Our thinking can be faulty at times, and sometimes we think we can see properly when we can’t. But counselling will only work well if the counsellor gives good advice and we have the humility to follow it. We don’t want a poor counsellor who just tells us what we want to hear. Sometimes we need encouragement to keep going and sometimes we need to be redirected or challenged. Friends, there is no better guide, no one wiser than the Lord Jesus. If we come to him and trust him, he is the Good Shepherd who will lead us to green grass and still waters.

There is so much advice out there, from self-help blogs and podcasts to psychics to friends and family and even celebrities. Some of this advice will be good and some will be terrible. Not so with Jesus. He sees all things and knows all things. He sees beyond the short-term fix. There is so much confusion over basic questions concerning the meaning of life, how we should live and how we can enter Heaven. The Wonderful Counsellor will always tell us the truth through his Word. When he speaks, you can be sure it is the truth. ‘Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’   (Colossians 2:3) Because of my foolishness, I need wisdom. Jesus is that wisdom.

Jesus is Mighty God. Part of the astonishing truth of Christmas is that the baby in the manger and the one who would die in shame and agony is not only 100% human but is also 100% God. This perfectly qualifies him to be our Saviour and King. Where we are weak, we can find strength in him. There is no situation beyond Jesus. There is nothing which phases him. Jairus’ servant found that out when Jairus’ daughter died and he thought there was no hope. But Jesus is Mighty God and raised her from the dead. Think of the children’s chorus: ‘My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that he cannot do!’

If you really want to change, praying to Jesus and asking for help is the most important step you can take: ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so… we are weak but he is strong’. Let’s be honest. We all have areas of our lives that are a mess. We all have things which become more important to us than God, our idols. We can be proud and rude and self-seeking and weak in faith and love. Bring these to Jesus. He will strengthen us.

Jesus is Everlasting Father. A king was meant to be fatherly, in that he ought to exercise care and concern for his people. Jesus does that for us. He loves us with a perfect Father’s love. Do you feel unconditionally loved this morning? Place your trust in Jesus and you can have just that. What a King we have in Jesus. One who relates to us with the love a father has for his children. He is for us. He wants the best for us. There is no one more trustworthy.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The thing which spoils our peace with God is our wrongdoing- wrongdoing which offends God and left unresolved means we cannot have peace with God. But the Prince of Peace dies on the cross so that for those who trust him, that barrier of sin is removed. Our sins are washed away by his blood. Jesus was forsaken in order to win our peace. It is precious. But our peace is even wider than that aspect of it. Peace, or ‘shalom’ means total wellbeing. One day Jesus will remake this world with everything exactly as it ought to be. Then we will know peace in all its fullness. Everything will be in its right place and sin will be no more.

The child with four names: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Surely, we can say that he is the complete King and the complete Saviour and that all we could ever need is found in him. Knowing Jesus, we can be totally satisfied. He is our wisdom and strength and love and peace. Bow your knee to him today. Know transformation.

Sermon: Sunday, 14th December, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Luke 2:1-21

This morning, our theme is ‘Christmas joy’. Some of us like Christmas more than others. In the cold and dark winter months, it is good to have things to celebrate and remember. We can enjoy special family times, giving and receiving presents, eating turkey and all the trimmings, especially pigs in blankets and stuffing, and drinking mulled wine or a dram or two. And our children get 2 whole weeks off school, which is always a bonus for them. It is important to have times of celebration and not just to meet up with wider family and friends at funerals or a hospital bed. I genuinely enjoy all of these things. But (there’s always a but) many of us will experience the anticlimax of Boxing Day. Family has gone home, wrapping paper is everywhere and rather than feeling rested we feel exhausted. That warm, magical feeling of Christmas Day simply evaporates. The joy was real, but fragile, like a sparkler that burns bright and then fizzles out. Perhaps the image of a real Christmas tree captures it well; at first, the tree looks and smells great but a few weeks later the needles are falling off and the branches sag, even if we’ve watered it. Most earthly joys are a bit like that – even as we receive them, they are beginning to fade. But those who are united to Jesus draw from a living root that never withers. His joy is evergreen. The Christian content of Christmas offers us a lasting joy. Everlasting joy even! The angel who explains the meaning of Christmas to the shepherds (and to us) says this: v10 ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people’.

Christians believe that God speaks to us when we read the Bible. So, what is God saying to us through this event with the shepherds?

1. This joyful news from God is for ordinary people

It is for ‘have-nots’. We like to be the first to hear good news. We consider that an honour. ‘You’ll be the first to know,’ we tell our closest friends. And yet, when Jesus, the true king of the Jews and the Son of God is born, who is the first to know? It is not Caesar Augustas, the most powerful man in the world or the religious elite or King Herod or the wealthy businessmen. God deliberately chooses ordinary shepherds. Why shepherds? They were usually poor and uneducated and not highly thought of in society. God usually calls the weak things of the world before the mighty. Why? Because people who think they are ‘sorted’ often think they don’t need God. They are self-sufficient. They have money and good jobs and find it easy to forget God. Of course, none of these things will last, and they do need God. They just don’t realise it.

Mary’s song puts it well: class=”blu”>‘He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.’   (Luke 1:52) Those who proud and think they are really good people and don’t need God will not find lasting joy at Christmas. But those who come to God and realise their own mortality, frailty, need of forgiveness and their need for a solution to these universal problems will be more likely to cry out to God for help. Of course, the joyful news of Christmas is not just for the poor and ordinary. It is for everyone. Remember the angel’s words: ‘I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.’   (Luke 2:10) All people can benefit from the birth of Jesus. Jesus comes for all, but not all will respond to him in faith and that’s the only way to benefit. God wants our faith. And the shepherds believe.

After the elation of beating Denmark on the 18th of November, and securing a place at the World Cup, it is sad that some of the tartan army will be excluded from seeing their team live due to the extortionate prices of tickets, flights and hotels. Jesus’ offer of Christmas joy is offered free of charge. All are invited. You don’t need money. In fact, the less you have the better. You don’t need to be a good person or have done charitable works. Come to God with nothing but your mistakes and sins and fears and concerns. Come as you are. Christianity is not about what you can do for God but about what God can do for you. Jesus pays your entry fee to Heaven with his own blood shed on the cross. But those who trust in themselves and their own resources will never receive this free offer.

2. This joyful news is supernatural

Imagine being one of the shepherds. You have driven your flock to be with the others for the night to keep watch. The fields near Bethlehem are inky black. Suddenly, an angel, a normally invisible heavenly being appears (verse 9). And the glory of God shines around them with intense brightness. God is sending them a message from Heaven. It is easy to be cynical about the supernatural. But 85% of the world believes in a higher power. Perhaps this world with all its design and laws of science happened by itself, with the earth just the right distance away from the sun for life by chance, and if so, we have no answer to the meaning of life or of our ultimate purpose (apart from passing on our genes) and no hope for life after death. Or, the design in this world speaks of a Designer who has always been there. What was in the beginning? Was it eternal matter? Was it nothing and something came from nothing? Or was it God? It had to be one of these, and if God then we must expect the supernatural. The Christmas story is full of the supernatural – angels and in Jesus God becoming a true human being and a special star and dreams. God is at work here. God is breaking into history to reveal to us who he is. That is so special. Jesus leaves Heaven and comes to earth so we can know God through him.

3. The joyful news in a nutshell – Jesus is the Christ, the LORD and the Saviour

The joyful news the angel delivers isn’t about an end to Roman occupation or lower taxes. What then? If God in Jesus is leaving Heaven and becoming a human baby, we need an explanation for this. Why does God become a true human? God does not leave us to guess why! The angel of God comes specifically to explain this to us. ‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord.’   (Luke 2:11) In a nutshell, Jesus comes to rescue us and give lasting joy and eternal life.

What qualifies Jesus to be the Rescuer and the one who brings peace? He is ‘the Christ’, which means the ‘anointed one’. In other words, Jesus is the special one, the chosen one, who alone can bring light to humanity. He is ‘the LORD’ which means he is God. He is deity. That’s why his death on the cross is powerful enough to wash the dirt from anyone’s life, no matter what you have done. His sacrifice has infinite worth because he is God. And he is called ‘the Saviour’. Many find this part offensive. A Saviour implies that we need to be ‘saved’. If my wife were to give me deodorant or mouthwash for Christmas, I might be offended. Does this mean I have bad B.O. and bad breath? This gift might be offensive. Well, God’s gift is offensive in a sense. The gift of a Saviour means that the truth is, all human beings need Rescuing from danger, sin and death. It’s either true or it’s not.

4. The joyful news brings glory to God and peace to us

We read that after the angel had spoken, a huge army of angels appeared, singing the first ever Christmas carol: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’   (Luke 1:13)

Why do the angels sing about God being magnified because of the birth of Jesus? Well, it’s not just about the birth. Jesus would grow up and live a perfect life- the lift we could never live. And then he would voluntarily give his life for others. It’s at the cross especially, at the other end of Jesus’ life on earth, that the justice, love, holiness and mercy of God would be shown as never before.

J C Ryle: ‘Creation glorified God but not so much as redemption’. The angels know that Jesus was born in order to die, to die on the cross for our sins. And they are gobsmacked. They sing ‘glory to God’. They must have thought: ‘God must really love those human beings to offer such a rescue’.

And this first Christmas carol also mentions ‘peace on earth’. But what kind of peace is this? There doesn’t seem to be much peace on earth now so has God failed? The peace the angels sing about is peace between God and human beings. Without Jesus we cannot know eternal peace with God, because he is perfectly clean and holy and we are not.

The wrong things we do and say and think are a barrier between us and God. And like the Grand Canyon, it a gulf we cannot cross without a bridge. Jesus is that bridge. His blood can wash us clean us from all that’s wrong, bringing peace with God.

In Roman times, there was a kind of peace between countries- called the pax Romana – Roman peace. A famous Greek philosopher of the first century called Epictetus recognised that Rome’s ability to bring peace was limited. He was not a Christian. But he had great insight: ‘While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief and envy. He cannot give peace of heart, for which man yearns more than even for outward peace’. This is profound. Epictetus longs for a deep and lasting peace. This is what Jesus offers. And once we taste this deep and lasting peace with God, we find that it also brings peace with ourselves in our souls and with other people too. It is the greatest Christmas gift.

O Holy night: ‘Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease’.

‘Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King: peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!” Joyful, all ye nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies…’

I wish Epictetus had known the source of peace he longed for was in Jesus. But we can know. I know this peace. No matter what happens to me in life – cancer, unemployment, the loss of loved ones, depression, anxiety, I can hold onto this amazing fact: I have peace with God forever and no one can take that from me. The sparkler soon burns out, and the Christmas trees are taken to the dump, but lasting joy at Christmas can be yours if you receive Jesus as your Saviour. Then you can know peace, forgiveness, the love of God, and know the security of having the security of a place in Heaven, paid for by Jesus.

I love the shepherds. They are the first to hear of Jesus’ birth. They believe God’s message through the angels. They go and see for themselves. Their simple faith is rewarded as they make their way to the house where Jesus was and apart from Mary and Joseph become the first to see the Saviour. They respond with joy and, like the angels, glorify God for this amazing gift. May the shepherd’s journey also be our journey. May God help us to go and see for ourselves what God has done in giving us his Son. May we respond like the angels and shepherds, with wonder and praise, giving glory to God.

Sermon: Sunday, 7th December, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Micah 5:1-5

Many of our Christmas carols stress the fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Today we are singing ‘O Little town of Bethlehem.’ Another well-known carol,‘O come all ye faithful’ invites us to consider the importance of what happened in that place: ‘O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.’ And then, of course, there is the carol ‘Once in royal David’s City’, and that too is a reference to Bethlehem. I would like to zoom in on Bethlehem this morning, using a passage often read at carol services, Micah chapter 5:1-5. We will consider why the true King was born in Bethlehem, and why the birth of this King is so relevant for us, and indeed for the whole world, including those who don’t realise they need him.

Micah was a minor prophet. Minor just means small in size. It does not mean unimportant! He prophesied about 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Chapter 5 not only predicts the surprising location of this special king’s birth, but it also highlights many wonderful things which this King is able to provide for those who will submit to his good and wise rule. Have you submitted to his rule yet? Or are you still your own boss? I hope this morning we can see that there is no better King to rule over us than Jesus.

Micah was a prophet in Jerusalem in Judah. Remember that Israel split in two, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. He prophesised during the reigns of kings such as Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. What was Micah’s main message? His message contained both good news and bad news. Most of us like hearing the bad news first, so we will consider the bad news first. Also, the good news does not make sense until we understand the bad news.

1. The bad news: a message of judgment

Why did Micah come to the people with a message of judgment? This is not boring history. Actually, Judah back then sounds a bit like Scotland today. Judah was doing very well in many respects. Economically, things were going well. The harvests were good and business was brisk. The army was strong and so they enjoyed days of peace and prosperity. The UK in 2025 is rich by global standards: its economy is large, and living standards are high compared to the global average. We are in times of peace on our own shores.

However, there is one measure of a country far more important than financial or military strength, and that is how they were doing spiritually. Were they listening to the voice of God? Was God and what God wants in their thinking? Let’s hear a few verses from earlier chapters of Micah.

‘They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.’   (Micah 2:2)

‘Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, ‘Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.’   (Micah 3:11)

Here we have a prosperous people who are oppressing the poor and seizing fields from the weak, just because they want them. I don’t think we appreciate just how much the LORD detests the oppression of the poor and the vulnerable and the foreigner. And they wrongly think God is like a benign grandfather figure in the sky who will just ignore all their wrongdoings and still support them no matter what they do. As if God is a lucky mascot. They are so naïve about God saying, ‘No disaster will come upon us.’ As if God will just ignore what they are doing. Here’s the truth: God did not ignore what they did and will not ignore what we do either. He is a just God who sees and acts.

What will God do to his covenant people? They had been warned so clearly how to treat the poor and needy and had been told that God looks to our hearts and wants us to trust and obey him. ‘Therefore because of you, Zion will be ploughed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’   ( Micah 3:12)

So, by the time we reach our passage in chapter 5, the first verse will make more sense to us: ‘Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.’   (Micah 5:1) This is probably a prediction of those in Judah being captured by the Babylonians, as a punishment for their ungodliness and greed. They are under siege, and their ruler is struck in the face, unable to defend himself. Their king is totally humiliated, and it looks like the David’s dynasty of kings in Judah is coming to an end. The rod which should have been a symbol of the king of Judah’s authority is snatched from him and used to beat him.

This is the bad part of Micah’s prophecy. Today in Scotland in 2025, we would do well to understand that God is paying close attention to how we live our lives and will hold us accountable, just as he did back then. If we in our wealth care little for the poor and if we exploit or mistreat others, the LORD sees. If we treat God like an idiot, as if we can live largely ignoring him and doing what we want and wrongly assuming no disaster will come upon us, then our thinking is as wrong-headed as those in Judah all those years ago. God will not be mocked. We will reap what we sow.

2. The good news: the birth of the true King

‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’ (Micah 5:2)

After their time of judgment is over, God in his love and mercy promises to send a Deliverer to restore his people and bring in a new Kingdom – the Kingdom of God. This is such a beautiful and significant prophecy for us today because this King promises to bring unity, security and provision, not just for Israel, but the whole world. He is the King who is also the good shepherd (verse 4). And most of all (verse 5) he will bring peace. Don’t you want to be led by a King who can bring you unity and peace and who can shepherd you in this life and in the life to come? That’s what the one born in Bethlehem can do.

Let’s enjoy some of the details of this prophecy. We should see just how surprising it is that the Messiah, this shepherd-king, would be born in such an insignificant place as Bethlehem. You expect prime ministers to go to Eton or Fettes and then Oxford or Cambridge. You expect great kings to be born in Jerusalem. Bethlehem is pretty obscure. It would not even make the top 115 towns of Israel mentioned in Joshua chapter 15. What is God saying through this? God does not usually choose the gifted and well-known people or places to accomplish his will. Again and again, he chooses the weak and insignificant. ‘But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.’   (1 Corinthians 1:27-29) Bethlehem’s significance is her insignificance!

For us in Kirkcaldy Free Church, our numbers and small and we are not a well-known church. In the eyes of the world, we are totally insignificant. Let me ask you a question. Can God use ordinary people like us to do extraordinary things? Can he answer the prayers in our small and seemingly insignificant prayer meetings? Can he use our stumbling words and explanations as we tell others about Jesus. Not only can he use us in our weakness, but he is more likely to use us in our weakness, if we depend on him and ask for his strength.

What does Bethlehem mean? It means house of bread. What does Ephrathah mean (verse 2)? It means fruitful. Surely God is telling us that the one born King will be the bread of life and his body will be broken on the cross. He will be fruitful like a fruitful vine. His blood shed on the cross will save as many as the stars in the sky. His loving death on our behalf will be wonderfully fruitful.

Bethlehem does have one claim to fame, however. It is significant as the place King David was born. And so, Jesus being born in Bethlehem links him to King David. Why is that link important? Because God promised way back in the days of King David that a king would come from David’s line whose rule would last forever. The prophet Nathan said to David in, ‘Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’   (2 Samuel 7:16)

When those in Judah were punished by God and taken into exile, it would have seemed that God’s promise in 2 Samuel 7 would be a promise God could no longer keep. But God always keeps his promises. This one in the line of David, born in the city of David, Bethlehem, would fulfil the promises of God in every way. In Jesus, there is an endless dynasty of love and peace. ‘Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness — and I will not lie to David — that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun.’   (Psalm 89:35-36) The true and better David will deliver the things which ordinary people like us need: forgiveness, eternal security and the power to be our true selves.

What qualifies King Jesus to meet our deepest human needs? This one to be born is mysteriously described in verse 2 as one ‘whose origins are from of old, from ancient times…’ I believe this is more than a hint for us that this baby is a supernatural figure. In fact, ‘from ancient times’ can also be translated ‘from eternity’. Jesus is qualified to meet our needs as he is God-come-in-the-flesh. Jesus, who is God, leaves Heaven in order to come and rescue us.

Although Israel will be abandoned for a time in their deserved time of judgment, it will just be for a time: ‘Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.’   (Micah 5:3) The brothers returning speaks of Israel being unified once more. And this will include people from all the ends of the earth. (Verse 4) Jesus will be a king who will unite people and bring reconciliation amongst the people of the world. This is our future. Heaven will be a renewed earth where there will be no broken relationships.

What king of Ruler will Jesus be? ‘He will stand and shepherd his flock…’   (Micah 5:4) Jesus says,‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’   (John 10:11) Let’s relish the picture of Jesus as our Shepherd. It means he will protect and guide and provide for us all the days of our lives and into eternity. He is a shepherd who wants to look after us.

Dane Ortlund: ‘Consider Jesus in Revelation 3. There, he says to a group of Christians who are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door…’ what will Jesus do? ‘I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.’   (Revelation 3:20). Jesus wants to be with you. He wants to come in to you — wretched, pitiable, poor you – and enjoy meals together. Spend time with you. Deepen the relationship. He enjoys your presence, as you are. In Jesus Christ, we are given a friend who will always enjoy rather than refuse our presence.’

That’s the kind of Ruler I want and need!

Listen to how good this King’s eternal reign will be: ‘And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace…’   (Micah 5:4-5) What a glorious promise. Without Jesus, there is no true peace with God. There is no security or hope beyond the grave. But if we trust he died for us and give him his rightful place as the King over our lives, if we bow before him, he promises us peace and security forever. This is our Christmas hope. This is the true significance of the one born in insignificant Bethlehem.

How should you respond to Jesus? O Little Town of Bethlehem tell us: ‘No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.’ Are you willing to receive Jesus as your king?

Sermon: Sunday, 30th November, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

As we continue the most famous sermon ever preached, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we have reached the section dealing with adultery and lust. I hope that all of us can see that Jesus’ teaching is much-needed in our churches today. This is a sensitive area. Many of us will have committed sexual sin and some of us will have been victims of adultery. All of us will have experienced problems in our hearts with lust. Some of us might be addicted to sexual sin. From the outset, it is important to say that no matter what we have done in the past, in Jesus we can always find forgiveness and the power to change. The mistakes of our past do not need to define us forever. There is hope for those caught up in sexual sin. ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’   (Luke 5:32)

Let’s start off by saying that when Jesus speaks to us about the boundaries of sexual behaviour, both in physical acts and also in our thought lives, he does so as the Creator of the world, whose boundaries are wise and given because he loves us. God invented sex. It sometimes feels like all the church ever says about sex is that it is negative. But that is not true. The Bible is extremely positive about sex. It is God’s gift to us. In its proper context, it is a wonderful expression of love to another person. There’s a whole book of the Bible, Songs of Solomon, devoted to the topic. Jesus is not old-fashioned or prudish when it comes to sex. It’s just that as our Creator, he sets the boundaries for sex, not us as individuals (doing what we like) and not society, whose values change over time.

The early chapters of Genesis give us the original context for sexual intercourse and show that God has designed this wonderful gift to be expressed within a lifelong marital relationship between one man and one woman. As they are joined together as husband and wife their unity and diversity is expressed: ‘So a man will leave his father and his mother and be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh.’ (Genesis 2:24) God has made us as sexual beings, and so in that sense it is a natural appetite. The problem is, our human appetites are now distorted by sin, and so now we sometimes use for evil what God created for good. We want to go our own way. We want to escape from God’s loving boundaries. Our sexual desires can be distorted, and when they are, they need to be resisted.

Amy Orr-Ewing: ‘What is wrong with sex before marriage? How about: ‘What is wrong with anything?’ In other words, where do you get the moral code by which you live your life? There may be a whole number of different responses: ‘I do what I feel is right’ – my morals are entirely personal and arbitrary. Or: ‘Society decides what is right and wrong’ – laws are made and as long as I stick within them everything is OK. Or anything in between those two responses. For us as Christians, right and wrong are not purely up to the individual; after all, what you feel is good for you may hurt me. It is not only up to society either; lots of societies have allowed things to be ‘legal’ that you or I might take issue with. Right and wrong for the Christian come from a higher standard than any individual or group of humans – they come from God. The creator is also the moral lawgiver. So, when I say that I believe that sex is designed to be expressed within marriage, I am not setting myself up as judge and jury and deciding to make life difficult for single people – I am trying to follow the maker’s instructions.’

1.The act of adultery is wrong

We all know the seventh commandment: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’   (Exodus 20:14) Most of the Pharisees believed they managed to keep this commandment. It’s probably true that most of them had not committed the outward act, though many of them facilitated easy divorces so that men could indulge their desires for other women but still be viewed as righteous. This was, of course, total hypocrisy. It is good for us to remind ourselves of how devastating adultery can be to families. One of the most famous adulterers in the Bible is King David. His story reminds us that adultery breaks several of the 10 commandments at once, not just the 7th. David steals the wife of another breaking the 8th commandment. He covets his neighbour’s wife breaking the 10th commandment and this leads him to murder, having Uriah the Hittite killed, breaking the 6th commandment. Lust, left unchecked, can lead to absolute disaster.

A Christian man committed adultery and eventually met up with his pastor. He defended his act. He wasn’t looking to have an affair. He and his secretary just fell in love. How can that be wrong? They couldn’t help themselves. It just happened. ‘Pastor, I know it was wrong. But really—nobody got hurt. It was a private matter.’ The pastor quietly listened and then replied: ‘Nobody got hurt? Thirty people have already come to me in tears because of what you did.’

He went on to list the kinds of people affected: the man’s wife, broken and humiliated. His children, confused and wounded. The children of the woman involved. The man’s extended family. The church leaders, shaken and grieved. The friends who felt betrayed. members of the church who struggled with trust. New believers whose faith was unsettled. Unbelievers who mocked the name of Christ. Sin always has ripples far beyond what the sinner imagines. In other words, God forbids adultery because it wrecks families and scars our children and emotionally and psychologically damages our spouse and others. It leaves people broken-hearted.

Before we move to lust, let’s be clear: Jesus says marriage is the only context for sexual activity. So, if any of you are breaking that command, then if you want to take following Jesus seriously, you need to stop. Wait until you are married. This is God’s boundary for true joy in sexual relationships – a context of life-long commitment and love. Is there something you need to stop doing?

2. Adultery in our thoughts is also wrong

Over the last 60 years, since the 1960s, the sexual ethics of most people have radically changed, drifting further and further from what the Bible says. We all know this. Many people think it is ridiculous to confine sex to the context of marriage. For many people, anything goes, as long as you don’t harm anyone. But here, Jesus swims against the tide of our culture. He goes in the opposite direction. Jesus does not limit the reach of the 7th commandment to just the act of adultery but explains to us that it also includes the lustful look: ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’   (Matthew 5:27-28)

What is Jesus doing here? Jesus is pointing out that the root of adultery lies in the lust in our hearts. Jesus has already explained that unrighteous anger breaks the 6th commandment – do not murder. In the same way, Jesus deepens and widens the reach of the 7th commandment. Lustful thoughts in our minds break the spirit of this command. Lustful thoughts are wrong. It is not wrong to look at someone and admire them but when we look in a lustful way, we begin to desire what is not ours to have, and we allow our imaginations to run riot. Which of us is a stranger to such thoughts?

Friends, lust has always been a massive problem in the human heart. We need to be honest about that. And in 2025, if anything it is becoming harder to remain pure in the sexual arena. We are bombarded with sexual images on films, adverts, the internet and in fact, almost everywhere. Here are some shocking facts to underline this. The average age children see pornography in the UK is 13. It is accessed 1.4 million times per month by British children. The UK has one of the highest rates of visiting pornographic sites in the world. This means that porn is often the starting point for young people when it comes to sex. 25% of search engine requests are pornography related. 30% of church leaders access porn more than once a month. 75% of Christian men view pornography on a monthly basis (figures from CARE). Why? They might feel it is private, that it does not hurt others, and that it gives them freedom. The opposite is actually the case.

3. Jesus tells us to get practical – have a plan to counter lust

‘If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.’   (Matthew 5:29-30)

Jesus’ warning is graphic because he knows where lust can lead. David’s lustful look at Bathsheba on the roof of his palace led to mayhem. Our lustful look at a person or a person on a screen can also lead to mayhem. Never think, ‘This will never happen to me,’ Lust and sexual sin are highly addictive and always leave us wanting more. They promise much but deliver pain ultimately. Of course, Jesus is speaking in hyperbole here – he does not want us to cut off any body parts. His point is this: take immediate and urgent action against lust before it gets out of control. Lust is not your friend but your enemy. Have a plan to counter lust.

So, for us, to gouge out an eye might mean that we refuse to watch certain movies or TV programmes. We might decide against reading a novel if its erotic content leads us to lustful thoughts. We might need to install software on our laptop, phone or tablet, so prevent us from seeing certain things. We might need to stop clicking on certain things we come across on the internet. We might have to say, ‘No.’ to someone we like who wants to meet us for a drink, because we or they are already married.

And here’s a really hard but important practical step. We might need to admit to a friend in the church or another Christian that actually we do have a problem with lust and porn, and ask them to help you keep accountable to them. If someone asks you regularly about these things it is so helpful, because it is so hard to break the patterns on your own. And I hope it goes without saying that we need to confess our sins in this area and ask for the Holy Spirit to give us power to resist temptation. This is basic Lord’s Prayer stuff – ‘Lead us not into temptation.’   (Matthew 6:13)

When someone goes to the gym in order to strengthen their muscles, what do they do? They have to resist the force of the weights they push against. As they resist, they get stronger. The same is true spiritually. Expect the temptations still to come but be ready to resist them.

Here’s the thing – we are all fallen human beings and that means many of our desires must be resisted. If I often have the desire to eat far more food than I need, I need to resist this wrong desire, otherwise I will develop significant health issues. Sometimes we have lazy desires and might not bother doing the work we need to do. We need to fight this desire. If we have enough resources but have a love of money, with an unhealthy desire for getting more and more, we need to resist these selfish and destructive desires. The truth is that we have many desires which lead us away from loving God and loving our neighbours. We need to resist them all. Lust is another of these desires.

Vaughan Roberts: ‘The modern idea is that we have to affirm the feelings we have and that we can only be authentic as we fulfil our desires. But the Bible teaches that some of our desires should be resisted. We are to measure our desires and feelings against the will of God, as the Spirit through the Bible makes us sensitive to those things that grieve him, and helps is to want to live in the ways that please God.’

In other words, part of being a disciple of Jesus is this tug-of-war experience. Sometimes the good we want to do we do not do and the things we don’t want to do we end up doing. So, we need to pray for help, and we need to resist wrong desires. We need to understand that lust never delivers what it promises. And we need to believe that true and lasting joy and satisfaction only come through living within our Maker’s boundaries. Jesus himself is the water of life who can satisfy our deepest desires.

And if you carry the burden and guilt of sexual sin, then take it now to God in prayer. Remember what happened to the prodigal son who returned to his father – he was welcomed with open arms.

Sermon: Sunday, 16th November, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

Sometimes we can think something is relatively easy to do when actually it is difficult. For example, when the KFC creche room was being plastered I was watching Darren the plasterer at work. He said to me, ‘D0 you want to try?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ I took hold of the hawk in one hand (what the plaster is held on) and a trowel in the other and had a go. I was terrible. It was much harder than it looked. The 10 commandments are a bit like that. At first, they might seem manageable and relatively easy to keep. That’s what the rich young ruler thought of the commandments when he said to Jesus: ‘All these I have kept since my youth.’   (Mark 10:20) How wrong he was. The Pharisees were also wrong about God’s commandments. They had a superficial and external attitude to the law.

1. True or false? The 6th commandment is easy to keep.

Have you ever murdered someone? Have you kept this particular commandment? The Pharisees thought they successfully kept the 6th commandment, thou shalt not murder, as long as they did not spill any blood. Jesus comes to them and corrects this false understanding. The commands of God are so deep that they concern the heart as well as our actions. And so, if we are angry with someone in a wrong way then we have broken the spirit of this command: ‘ class=”blu”You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.’   (Matthew 5:21-22) In other words, murder is not only a crime of the hand but also of the heart. You don’t have to commit physical murder to have the heart of a murderer. You can have murderous thoughts and break this command.

The 6th commandment not only prohibits the act of murder, but also an attitude towards people which hates, resents, is embittered, is angry, despises and wishes someone dead. Which of us has kept the 6th commandment? None of us. That is the truth of the matter.

How big of a problem is anger? Surely Christians will have got a handle on ‘anger management’!

Jerry Bridges: ‘It permeates each person and spoils our most intimate relationships. Anger is a given part of our fallen human fabric. Sadly, this is true even in our Christian homes and churches… our anger is often directed towards those we should love most: our spouse, children, parents, or siblings in our human families, and those who are our true brothers and sisters in Christ in our church families.’

What is anger? It is a strong feeling of displeasure, and usually of antagonism. It is usually accompanied by sinful emotions, words and actions hurtful to those who are the objects of our anger.

‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’   (Ephesians 4:31-32) Here we see Christian discipleship is like gardening. Both the weeding out (get rid of) and the planting (be kind and compassionate) are necessary in the Christian life.

‘My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.’ (James 1:19-20)

‘Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.’   (Proverbs 29:11)

‘An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.’   (Proverbs 29:22) Anger leads to other sins: bitterness, resentment, church splits, divorce, rudeness and violence.

Can we ever say, ‘Yes I’m angry, but that’s because someone else has made me angry’? Or, is this just blame-shifting for our own reactions? ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’   (Mark 7:20-23) Even when we are wronged, we can still choose how we will respond to the sinful actions of others towards us.

Jerry Bridges: ‘Someone else’s words or actions may be the occasion of our anger, but the cause lies deep within us – usually our pride, or selfishness, or desire to control.’

Often it is our words which reveal our murderous thoughts. In verse 22, Jesus mentions this word ‘raca’ which means ‘empty’ and is probably similar to when we might call someone an ‘airhead’ or a ‘blockhead’. You are insulting their intelligence. Or you might call someone a ‘fool’, which seems in this context to be close to calling him a scoundrel. In other words, we are engaging in the character assassination of another person, which is a serious business. Of course, insulting words may never lead to murder, but they are serious in the sight of God. That is why there is a warning of divine judgement in verse 22.

‘Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.’ (1 John 3:15)

John Stott: ‘Anger and insult are ugly symptoms of a desire to get rid of someone who stands in our way. Our thoughts, looks and words all indicate that, as we sometimes dare to say, we ‘wish he were dead.’

I hope we are all more sensitised to just how serious anger is in the sight of God and how destructive it can be.

Jerry Bridges: ‘Anger held on to, is not only sin, it is spiritually dangerous. Anger is never static. If it is not dealt with, it will grow into bitterness, hostility and revenge-minded grudges.’

And because it is so serious, we should do anything to avoid it and do all we can to limit its effects as quickly as possible. Jesus stresses the urgency of dealing with anger in the two illustrations he gives in vs 23-26.

2. Christian disciples: sort our disagreements speedily.

Jesus’ teaching on the immediate action anger requires is quite shocking: ‘Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.’   (Matthew 5:23-24)

For us in 2025, we might picture ourselves in church listening to a sermon, but then realise there is a relationship which has become bitter, leave church there and then and go and sort it out. Did Jesus mean this literally? Certainly, it gets the point across emphatically – sort it out as soon as is humanly possible. If we don’t, the issue is likely to get bigger and bigger. Paul says a similar thing ‘In your anger do not sin’: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.’   (Ephesians 4:26-27) Paul is urging us not to hold onto our anger.

Notice something else. I would have expected Jesus to say something like: ‘If you are in church and you are angry with someone in your heart then go and sort it out.’ But that is not what Jesus says. Jesus says that if you realise someone else is angry with you, rightly or wrongly, get it sorted. Scotrail don’t want unidentified baggage lying around on trains or in train stations. They tell us: ‘See it. Say it. Sorted.’ That’s what we must do with our anger, whether it comes from our own hearts or from someone else’s heart to us. We have to identify that ‘dangerous baggage’ and have it removed.

Let’s be honest. Most of us are not good at keeping ‘short accounts’ with one another. Nor are we very good at going to someone and saying the words, ‘I’m sorry’. We might wait for them to make the first move. Don’t do that. Remember how important it is to God to deal with anger speedily. Are you willing to take the initiative with a family member, friend, someone in the church family or someone else and sort out resentment? Are there people we refuse to speak to? It should not be.

In a church context, we can see from this passage that God would rather you leave church and sort out a relationship that stay in worship when your worship is contaminated by a damaged relationship. God would rather you worship here with your brothers and sisters in Christ from a place of unity of heart and not from a place of bitterness and division. Such divisions go against the gospel of grace.

In Jesus’ second example (verse 25), there is once again a stress on the urgency of personal reconciliation. This is a legal image. In Jesus’ day, a person who defaulted in his debts could be thrown into a debtors’ prison.

Sinclair Ferguson: ‘Jesus says the two men should settle the matter now, before they are in the courtroom with the judge. It may be costly to settle it now; it will certainly be humbling. But if it continues, one man may find himself in prison, and unable to get out until he has paid the last penny.’

Let me quote Sinclair Ferguson again in his brilliant summary of these two illustrations: ‘Animosity is a time bomb; we do not know when it will ‘go off’. We must deal with I quickly before the consequences of our bitterness get completely out of control. Most human relationships that are destroyed could have been preserved if there had been communication and action at the right time. Jesus says that the right time is as soon as we are conscious that we are at enmity with our brother.

There is another obvious reason why anger ought to be dealt with speedily in a church. Unchecked, it is a terrible witness. We are meant to be pointing others to how they can be reconciled to God, and so if we cannot reconcile with one another, it is just an awful witness. That’s why as far as it depends on us, we should live at peace with all people. ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’   (John 13:35)

Let us take a moment to pause and think: is there someone we need to put things right with? Do we have to stay stuck in our anger? Is there a way back? Even after years?

Mature Christian disciples will acknowledge that their anger is very likely to be sinful. They will then try and think about what lies behind that anger. Is it our pride, our selfishness or our desire to be in control? Repent of whatever is feeding your anger and pray to God for a godly attitude towards the person who has wronged you.

‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ (  (Ephesians 4:32)

Sermon: Sunday, 9th November, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20

If we want to grow and develop as Christians, is it important that we understand the place of God’s law in our lives. God’s law is summarised in the 10 commandments, and these commandments are summarised by Jesus in one words – love.

‘Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’   (Matthew 22:4-40)

So, Jesus reminds us that the law is good and is really concerned with how we can love God and love one another. We can also see just how good the law is by understanding that it reflects the character of God himself. For example, God tells us not to lie as he is the God of truth and he tells is not to commit adultery because he is a faithful God. The problem all human beings have is not that the law is bad or irrelevant. It is good and extremely relevant. The problem is that we are unable to keep the law in our own strength. In that sense, the law is like an x-ray, which shows all the moral failures we have inside our hearts. So, when we hear the simply command not to be jealous of what other people have- do not covet- we begin to realise that we are experts in coveting, and that is a serious problem.

When it comes to the commandments of God, Christians often fall into two dangerous extremes. Some wrongly believe that the law no longer applies to the Christian. They say things like, ‘We are now no longer under law but grace.’ or ‘I don’t need to keep the law – Jesus has forgiven me.’ This is wrong. They will twist a few New Testament verses to try and justify this position. Yes, we know that we cannot be justified or get to Heaven through keeping the law, but nonetheless it still has an important place in our lives. This view is called antinomianism, which just means ‘against the law’. I hope none of us here thinks that the 10 commandments or the beatitudes no longer apply.

The other extreme when it comes to the law is legalism. Legalists focus on keeping the law outwardly but often ignore the need to keep the law in our hearts. By doing this they try and ‘domesticate’ the law, reducing its power and making it something manageable, something that they can keep really easily. This too is wrong. Legalists sometimes think they can earn God’s favour by rule-keeping and they also have a tendency to add human traditions on top of God’s law.

Sinclair Ferguson: ‘The legal spirit is not to be confused with the Spirit of holiness. It is a subtle distortion that leads us to think that God’s approval of us is conditioned upon our obedience rather than upon Christ’s obedience.’

Our passage today, just 4 verses, is extremely helpful because here Jesus explains what his relationship is to God’s law, and then teaches us what our relationship with the law ought to be.

1. Jesus’ relationship with the law of God

This section begins with Jesus saying, ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…‘   (Matthew 5:17) Clearly, for Jesus to have said this, some people did think, wrongly, that Jesus was against the law. Why did they think that? Well, when Jesus picked ears of corn on the Sabbath or healed the sick on the Sabbath the Pharisees and teachers of the law got extremely angry with him. They thought Jesus was breaking the Sabbath commandment. However, he was not. Jesus was only breaking the human traditions they had added to the Bible, but he would never have broken a commandment. He was perfect. It was their made-up rules which were wrong, not Jesus! Or when Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors or prostitutes, the religious leaders thought Jesus was breaking the commandments. But again, they were wrong. He was only breaking their human traditions and false interpretations of the law. In any case, Jesus knows some people have been claiming that he is against the law.

And Jesus wants to make his relationship to the law crystal clear. He says, ‘I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.’   (Matthew 5:17) What does he mean?

Before we consider how Jesus fulfils the God’s law, let’s first just hear his plain and powerful affirmation of the moral law in the Old Testament. He says it has not been abolished. It still stands. So, as we continue in our studies on discipleship, know that Jesus expects all his followers, in God’s strength, to keep his law. We must try to honour our parents and keep his day and not tell lies. Those people (antinomians) who claim we are no longer obliged to keep the law are wrong.

How does Jesus fulfil the law and the prophets? This is a wonderful thing to consider. The phrase ‘the law and the prophets’ is just another way of speaking about the whole of the Old Testament. Jesus fulfils the Old Testament as he fulfils the many predicative prophecies there made about him. What was predicted would happen to the Messiah, predictions made hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, came to pass in Jesus. It was prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, but would go down into Egypt for a time. All of this happened to Jesus. He fulfilled these prophesies. Throughout Matthew’s gospel, as things happen to Jesus, he reminds us of this by saying: ‘This happened to fulfil what was written in the prophet so and so.’

Let’s just pause here. How do we know the Bible is a supernatural book coming straight from the mouth of God? How do we know we can trust what is written there? One massive reason is this – there are hundreds of predictions about Jesus written hundreds of years before his birth and they all came true. All of them. It was predicted that he would be crucified with criminals, be offered wine vinegar to drink, be buried in a rich man’s tomb and then rise from the dead. All of these things came to pass. Let’s have confidence in the Bible. It is not a book where God explains everything to us exhaustively. He does not answer all our questions. However, in his wisdom, he has revealed so much to us- all that he wants us to know. Even conservatively speaking, Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies.

But Jesus also fulfils the law in another sense – he shows us how deep God’s law really is. It is not just a matter of something external but it is a matter of the heart. If you think of God’s law as a bike tyre, the Pharisees had actually deflated the law of its power by only keeping it on the surface. Jesus comes and puts air back into the tyre, filling up the law so that we can see its true significance. For example, the Pharisees thought they could keep the 7th commandment – do not commit adultery. They thought they were good people and that this law was manageable. Jesus smashes this falsehood by saying: ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.   (Matthew 5:27-28) This is crucial to grasp. Jesus shows the law concerns our motives and thought -lives and hearts and not just outward appearance. Man looks to the outward appearance but God looks to the heart.

Ironically, the religious leaders had accused Jesus of abolishing or weakening the law. In fact, it was they who had weakened it, by ignoring our need to have our hearts right with God.

Sinclair Ferguson: ‘Jesus did not weaken the law. On the contrary, he let it out of the cage in which the Pharisees had imprisoned it, allowing it to pounce on our secret thoughts and motives and tear to pieces our bland assumption that we are able to keep it in our own strength.’

What’s the practical lesson here to take away this morning? When we read the Old Testament, there are some laws that no longer apply, and for good reason. For example, the ceremonial laws for priests concerning how to sacrifice animals no longer apply today because Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice and has fulfilled the ceremonial law. It is no longer required. And there are also Old Testament laws which were specifically for Israel as a nation. For example, the food laws, not to eat pork. These laws are no longer in force as God’s people no longer constitute a nation. But all the other Old Testament laws are still in force for us, and Jesus’ followers must seek to obey these moral laws.

Jesus is so strong on this. He says that the moral law is as enduring as the universe itself. ‘For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.‘   (Matthew 5:18) God’s law remains in force.

Imagine you are reading through Deuteronomy and you read in chapter 15: ‘If among you, one of your brothers should become poor… you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him.’   (Deuteronomy 15:7-8) Friends, these moral principles of open-handed compassion still apply to me and to you. The same goes for laws about justice, and care for the vulnerable, especially widows, orphans and foreigners.

2. The Christian and the law of God

Let’s start by considering Jesus’ shocking statement: ‘For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.’   (Matthew 5:20) Most ordinary Jews regarded the Pharisees and the teachers of the law as the most righteous people on the planet. If anyone would get into Heaven, they wrongly thought, it would be them. They were the experts. The knew the law inside out and seemed to keep the 248 commands and 365 prohibitions. Please understand how flabbergasted the people would have been to hear the standard of righteousness must exceed theirs. Does this mean that we need almost perfection to be good in God’s eyes? No!

The truth is, as we have seen, that the quality of the Pharisees’ rule-keeping was so surface-level that they were not righteous at all. They actually distorted God’s commands, twisted them, and like everyone else failed to keep them. To help us understand this, remember the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. Jesus reads him the commands, and the ruler says: ‘All these I have kept’. He looked like a good person externally but inwardly he loved money more than God. Jesus tells him to go and sell his possessions and give the money to the poor. He cannot do it. Money is his God. He cannot even keep the first commandment. He is not righteous. Our righteousness must be greater than his.

How can we do this? How can our righteousness be greater than that of the Pharisees? Some must have thought that Jesus was joking! Here is the answer. We can only do this by having a heart-righteousness. And a deeper heart-righteousness is impossible for us unless we are given a new heart by God himself. And we only get a new heart following a new spiritual birth- being ‘born again’.

Here’s the wonderful process – when we turn from our sins and trust in Jesus for our salvation and follow him, God gives us a new heart, and this heart begins to want to keep God’s laws, not to earn his love, but because of our gratitude to him. Our new heart obeys God out of gratitude. This is the opposite of why the Pharisees tried to keep the law. This should not be a surprise to us. We read in Ezekiel, ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’   (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

For all of Jesus disciples here this morning, our righteousness does exceed that of the Pharisees. Is this something we can boast about? Absolutely not. It is God who gave us new hearts and it is God who gave us his Spirit who helps us to love and keep the law. Without God’s help, without conversion, no one is able to keep God’s law out of gratitude to God. We need God’s help to keep the beatitudes and the 10 commandments and any other aspect of the moral law.

We also see this clearly in Jeremiah, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’   (Jeremiah 31:33)

Here’s the before and after. Before salvation, God’s law is something external and burdensome. After salvation, we understand more of its depth and we have a God-given desire to keep it, fuelled by our love for Jesus and motivated to please him.

Sermon: Sunday, 2nd November, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

We return to Jesus’ most famous sermon – the Sermon on the Mount. We spent four weeks in the beatitudes as Jesus described what the character of a Christian must be like. We must be those who are poor in spirit, not thinking too highly of ourselves. We must mourn our sin and the fact we have all let God down, and broken his rules. We are to hunger for the ways of God and be peacemakers, and so on. We cannot ‘whip up’ these characteristics on our own strength, so must be praying that the Holy Spirit would empower us and enlarge our hearts. Jesus is honest with us. In v11, he tells us plainly that living in this different, counter-cultural way will result in being persecuted by others. We must be aware that the Christian life was never meant to be easy. It is, in fact, a battle.

Next, Jesus moves on to consider the influence Christians who live out the beatitudes will have on the rest of the world. Last week, we focused on the image of salt. Salt prevents meat and fish from rotting. Likewise, as Christians follow the ways of Jesus closely, we hinder those around us falling into deeper decay. Last week we thought of some examples of this. As men have been converted in outer Mongolia, and as Jesus has changed their lives, they no longer waste their wages on alcohol and neglect and abuse their families in drunkenness. This widespread practice is not as prevalent there as it used to be. Christians are acting as salt. And we also saw how it was following British revivals in the 19th century that ‘salty Christians’ spearheaded the abolition of the slave trade, the end of child labour, the rise of the nursing movement, prison reform, the building of hospitals and schools and formation of labour unions. When a church is strong in a country, it hinders decay and when the church is weak, the decay happens more quickly. But the influence of Christians is not just about slowing decay. There’s a more positive side.

Jesus makes this wonderful statement: ‘You are the light of the world.’   (Matthew 5:14) Light dispels the darkness and brings life. It exposes falsehood and brings truth and love. It guides and reveals. Light is something precious and beautiful and positive. Remember who Jesus is talking to – Galilean peasants, who were ‘nobodies’ in the eyes of the world. They were not rich or influential or powerful. They did not have political connections. And yet because they were the people who trusted in Jesus and had a relationship with him, Jesus says emphatically: ‘You are the light of the world.’ He says the same to us this morning. If Jesus is your King and Saviour and you are his apprentice, then you too are the light of the world. You have a massively important role to play in this world. You will be a bearer of truth and a guide and one who dispels darkness. Society might look at the church as irrelevant or inconsequential. Jesus invests us with this marvellous responsibility. Is it arrogant for Christians to see themselves as the light of the world? Who do we think we are?

1. Jesus is the ultimate light; our light derives from him

‘Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’   (John 8:12)

Who is the ultimate light? Jesus! But listen closely to what Jesus says – it is as we follow him and his ways that we too will emit his light. As we remain united to Jesus in faith and as we nurture our relationship with Jesus through the Bible and prayer, and as we obey his ways, his light will flow into us and be seen by others. One excellent illustration of this is to think about the moon. Think of a beautiful full moon in a dark sky. It shines and breaks into the darkness. But where does its light come from? It comes from the sun. It is a derivative light. The moon reflects the light of the sun. In the same way, our light comes from Jesus. Our light is but a reflection of his. Jesus is the light of the world. He is the source of truth and love and life we all desperately need.

‘… people living in darkness have seen a great light…’   (Matthew 4:16) So, we are not arrogant as Christians. We know we don’t deserve to be lights. This is the work of God’s grace within us.

‘… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’   (Colossians 1 vs 12-14)

2. The world is in darkness

It is obvious that the world is in great darkness. It is easy to see this all over the world when we consider crime, war, greed, exploitation, drugs, abortion, the worship of self and gossip and lies and pride and lust and laziness. But Jesus is keen for us to look closer to home, and understand that these things also lurk in our own hearts.

Jesus said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’   (Mark 7:20-23) Perhaps you have a more optimistic view of the human race than Jesus. But I know these things lurk in my heart.

The renowned author GK Chesterton once entered a newspaper essay competition. Essays had to answer the question – what is wrong with the world. He wrote: ‘Dear Sir, I am. Yours Sincerely, GK Chesterton’

The darkness of the world is more than a moral darkness. It is also a spiritual darkness and a darkness of understanding. Most people in Scotland do not know the meaning and purpose of life. They do not know about God or what he is like or how he wants us to live. They do not know what will happen to them when they die. They have no hope beyond the grave. Most people wrongly think they are basically good people, and don’t need Jesus or the forgiveness he offers. Friends, this is a thick black darkness. Many do not know we are more than just animals. We are made in God’s image. We are made to live for God and to enjoy a relationship with God. This world desperately needs our light. And God in his wisdom has chosen to shed his light into the world through his church – through ordinary people like us. The world likes to think it is enlightened. But it cannot even answer basic questions on purpose and meaning.

3. The purpose of our identity as lights

Jesus has given his church and the individuals with his church a huge privilege and responsibility – to be light bearers for God. We might feel inadequate for such a task. But Jesus is encouraging us. He’s not saying this is what you could be, but this is what you are. You are the light of the world. The more closely we follow Jesus, the brighter our light will shine. But even a small amount of light can make a huge difference in the darkness.

Many years ago, I went to a Hungarian national park called Aggtelek. They have an incredible network of caves there. You go down into the cave system in Hungary and can come out on the other side of the border, in Slovakia. Deep in this cave system, our guide turned off all the electric light. It was the darkest darkness I have ever experienced. Then he turned on a small torch, and that made a huge different. We did not feel so disorientated any more. That’s the impact the church can have in the world. That’s why Leven Free Church is so important in Fife, for example.

One of the functions of light is to show people the way. It acts as a guide. We know why the world is the way it is. We know its Creator. We know his Word. We know what he wants. We know how to get into Heaven. As we tell others this wonderful message, we act as lights in the darkness.

When we considered being the salt of the earth, we were reminded of how salt must be rubbed into the meat or fish to have an impact. Likewise, for light to have an impact, it must shine in places of darkness. If a room is already well lit during a summer’s day, turning on a light will have no impact whatsoever. Likewise, without compromising, Christians must be involved in society, even when it is dark, and in so doing act as lights. We need to be involved in ordinary things, clubs and societies and neighbourhoods and the social structures of the workplace, where possible.

What does it really mean for us to shine as lights in the darkness. As we’ve already heard, it does involve pointing people to Jesus and showing them the way. But in this passage, the focus is on our ‘good deeds’. Wherever the Lord places us, in school, at work, in the family, in church and in the community, we must never grow tired of doing good.

‘God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.’   (Acts 10:38) Like Jesus before us, we must go around helping others, loving others and working hard. Our workplace ought to be all the better for us being there. We should not be the moaners and complainers or the gossips or the lazy.

‘Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.‘   (1 Peter 2:12)

‘Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…’   (Philippians 2:14-15)

Think back to the last week, in your workplace, in the community, at the shops, meeting other people in any context, were these places better because you were there encouraging others, helping others, listening to others, and promoting their welfare? Jesus wants other people to be blessed by our words and actions and see the light within us. And that light within us should not point to ourselves but our Father in Heaven. Light is not meant to point to itself. A spotlight shines on a person on the stage. Our light is meant to spotlight God. People are meant to be attracted to God because they see God within us!

Sinclair Ferguson: ‘The regeneration of men’s lives is a sovereign work of God’s grace. We cannot bring anyone to newness of life. But it is our responsibility to live the new life in order that others may be challenged by it. It is our responsibility to shine for Jesus Christ so that others will see his salvation expressed in the flesh-and-blood reality of our daily lives. This is the point Jesus is making: we have a responsibility to show the Christ-like life of light to those around us. We cannot hide it under a cover.’

As we have already heard, light is meant to be placed in the darkness and meant to be seen, not covered. If you think of a one room Scottish black house or one room home in Jesus’ day, a lamp would be put on a stand to light up the whole room. It would be ridiculous to cover that lamp with a bowl. We are not to be lights hidden away in Christian bubbles. And if you lived in Jesus’ day, before electric streetlights, travellers would be delighted to see the light of a city shining in the distance, breaking the darkness and showing them the way. That city on a hill is meant to be seen. Let me be more personal- you are meant to be seen. Whether you like it or not, Jesus’ plan is that his light will be shown to the world through his people. What a privilege and what a responsibility. One of the main ways God in his wisdom chooses to reveal himself to others is through his transformed people, people now living out the beatitudes. We are, in this sense, being watched all the time. And if our light is shining, we are living proof that Jesus Christ is alive and is a great Saviour who forgives and transforms his people. That’s what happened in Outer Mongolia. People could see the power of God in the change taking place in the people of God and this, in turn, changed more lives.

We are God’s ambassadors. In his providence, he has placed us in a variety of families and communities and workplaces. The question is this, will you pray for God to help you to love and care for those around you, that you would shine brightly for him? If we have not been in this mindset, then we need to repent of our careless discipleship. This is basic Christianity.

Will you go into the rest of this week determined to love those around you and to help them? You might be in a time of stress and trouble. You are still watched at such times as to how you will react. If you can maintain a love for others at such times, your light will be powerful and impactful. May the Lord help us all to shine for him as we do good to others.