The judgment of God

John Johnstone Studies in Romans

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 22nd September, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Romans 2:1-16

The judgment of God is not an easy thing for us to think about.  It’s an extremely unpopular topic today, especially for those who are not Christians but even for some who are, but who genuinely struggle with the concept of Hell and are more than a little uncomfortable with it.  We cannot think of a more serious topic than God’s judgment.  We need to be careful to stick closely to the contours of the Bible and not go beyond them.  When we think of God’s anger at evil, I think it is helpful to think about our own anger towards evil. 

When I visited Auschwitz, I felt great anger at what happened there in the gas chambers.  We feel anger at injustice and evil because we care about people.  Gavin Ortlund says: ‘Anger is how goodness responds to evil.’  So, when we see women or children exploited, or countries where the politicians syphon off all the money to line their own pockets while their own people starve, righteous anger is the best response.  It’s hard for us to imagine just how angry our perfect God must be, at the sin in the world, including the sin in our hearts.

If God were to ignore sin, there would be no justice in the world.  Even this week, with multiple accusations about the former owner of Harrods, it seems like he abused his power to exploit his employees.  Now he is dead, and we might think he got away with it.  And what about the countless others in positions of power down through the centuries who lived comfortable lives at the expense of others?  Did they get away with it too?  The fact is no one will get away with their evil deeds.  God clearly states in this passage that there is a day of ‘God’s wrath’ (verse 5) when all wrongs shall be put right.  Verse 16 speaks of a day when God will ‘judge people’s secrets through Jesus Christ’.  We can sometimes manage to hide our sins from others, but we cannot hide them from a God who sees and knows all things. One day, or secrets will be brought into the open.

I’m glad that it is Jesus who will judge everyone.  Why?  Because he knows exactly what we have done, including what our motives have been and any mitigating circumstances.  He will judge fairly.  He will not make any mistakes in his judgments.  It might seem from a human point of view that Christ will judge in a way that is too severe, and to our limited minds, sometimes it might seem that way.  Abraham is quite right when he says to the LORD in Genesis: ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25)

‘The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ (2 Peter 3:9)  Here, Peter shows us God’s heart for the people he has created: he wants them all to be saved, but he will not force them all to be saved.

Last week, we considered God’s attitude to pagan people, whose sins are obvious and who worship idols.  We saw how even those who have no Bible of their own have no excuse in the rejection of God, because the creation around us is evidence of both his existence and his goodness.  To take his good gifts throughout our lives whilst failing to praise and thank him for them is a serious business.  People actively suppress the truth about God because they want to be the boss of their own lives, and so they reject God’s rightful authority over us.  We act as if we were God rather than letting God have the first place in our lives, which he alone deserves.  As a result of this rebellion, God removes his hand of restraint, and leaves people to their own wrong desires and behaviours.

This week, we come to consider another group of people, the respectable people in society, who seem good on the outside.  But all is not what it seems.  They might pay their taxes, climb the career ladder, raise their children, give to the foodbank and donate blood four times a year; however, they too fail spectacularly to keep God’s good and holy laws and they too, just like the pagans, are in need of a Saviour, to save them from God’s just judgments.  Morally, they are in the same boat.  They fall short of God’s standards, and even their own standards.

1. The respectable judge others, but God will judge them.

 
I have a friend who likes to talk about the evil in the world and in other people.  He is a respectable man in the community.  He speaks about racists, and corrupt politicians.  However, he will not accept that he himself has a problem with sin.  And I think most people in Scotland are like that.  They live respectable lives, and as they read the newspapers and read of Putin and Fayed and drunk drivers and shoplifters they avoid their own guilt, by putting others down and lifting themselves up.  Most people do this.  But God is having none of it (verse 1).  He calls it hypocrisy, because they too do the same things!

Yes, people can see the overt sins of murder and adultery in others, but we too break those commands through the murderous anger and lustful thoughts in our hearts.  Jesus clearly teaches that adultery can be committed in our thoughts as well as our actions.  We desire to cheat on our spouse.
Such people take the place of God by judging the lives of others (as if we ourselves were God) but at the same time, we break the exact same commands ourselves, but are too blind to see it: ‘…at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.’ (Romans 2:1)

Have you fallen into this trap?  You often tut-tut at the wrongs of others, and disapprove of the ills in society.  But do you see your own faults and failings?  Do you consider how you covet better cars or holidays or houses?  Do you consider how you might give to a good cause once in a while, but the truth is that you have far more than most people in the world, but have very little interest in sharing what you have with others?  Moral, respectable people often think they have nothing to be judged by God for.  God begs to differ: ‘… do you think you will escape God’s judgment?’ (Romans 2:3)

2. When I am not judged immediately, it is because God is giving me time to repent.

Just because your life, your family and career, are going well, does not mean that God is pleased with you.  Many presume they are good people, and that God must be pleased with them because their lives are relatively smooth.  They wrongly assume that God will not judge people like them.  What do we read in verse 4?  Why is God being kind to them?  ‘Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?’ (Romans 2:4)  God’s patience is not a sign of your goodness, but rather his patience is to give you every chance to confess your sin to God, and put your trust in Christ, rather than in yourself.

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished…’ (Exodus 34:6-7)

If you are not yet a believer, God’s patience with you is not a sign that he isn’t bothered by your sin.  It is not a sign that he doesn’t notice what you are doing – he does. He is holding back judgement in order to give you an opportunity to repent.  The question is: are you responding positively to God’s patience with you?  The only right response is to change direction, away from our sin and towards Jesus.

3. God will judge us fairly, based on our actions.

 
If God’s patience with us is designed to bring us to a place of humility and confession of sin, but we fail to do that, and carry on judging others, then we build up more and more moral debt with God.  Verse 5 We are storing up wrath for ourselves. The fairness of God’s judgements is seen in the fact that it is based upon the actions of our lives.

Those who are Christians are justified by faith, and not works.  However, the evidence that we have come to trust in Christ is that we show forth the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  If we are attached to Christ the vine by faith, then of course, we must bear fruit.  ‘To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life.’ (Romans 2:7)  In other words, the hallmark of a true Christian is one who seeks God’s glory and honour in their actions.  It is to such that eternal life will be given.

Sadly, there is another category of person, one who refuses to seek God’s glory, but rather rejects God and his truth and is self-seeking.  Their eternal destination will be one without the goodness of God.  All of us here must stand before our Maker one day, and our lives will be evaluated based upon our deeds.  Our lives will not be evaluated based on what others think of us, or on if we are church members, or have been baptised, but rather based on the level of our obedience.

Verse 11 states that God does not show favouritism.  You could be highly respected in your community or be a member of the Free Church, PCA, COS, or another church, but God will still judge you with total fairness based on how you have lived.  There are 2 destinies mentioned here: eternal life, and a place of wrath and anger. I would urge you not to live for yourself, ignoring your Maker and the truth he has revealed in the Bible.  Instead, place your trust in Christ alone, and then your life will be lived out for God’s glory, and be marked by good works.

God’s patience does not go on forever.  Remember the days of Noah.  God’s patience with human wickedness came to an end and a flood of judgement eventually came.  God asked Noah to build an ark.  What was so special about the ark?  It was the only place to be safe from the judgement which was deserved.  What is the equivalent of the ark for us?  It is to be safe in the arms of Jesus.  That involves turning from sin and asking God for forgiveness.

4. Even those without Bibles have knowledge of God’s commands in their hearts.

 
The Jews, of course, were privileged to have been given the 10 commandments and other laws in the Bible.  However, some wrongly thought just by possessing these commandments, they were right with God.  Paul says ‘No’, the commands need to be obeyed by those to whom they have been given.

What about non-Jews?  What about those Gentiles who have never read the Bible?  How can they be expected to know God’s rules?  God tells us here that even those without Bibles have an inbuilt sense of right and wrong.  You can go around the world, and there is agreement that murder is wrong.  Most cultures understand that stealing is wrong, and that we must respect the property of others.  These things are self-evident.  Why?  ‘They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts…’ (Romans 2:15)  This is an amazing teaching, reminding us that all human beings have an at least some understanding of right and wrong.  Sometimes this is referred to as ‘natural law’.

This passage also speaks of the human conscience.  Those who are not Christians can still feel guilty about things they have done because their own consciences accuse them.

Many people like to put God ‘in the dock’.  We say his judgement of the people he has made is unfair.  Friends, we are reminded here that God has made himself plain to the world through the creation and by giving them a sense of right and wrong and consciences to make them aware of wrongdoing.  So let us be clear: God will not judge people unfairly but based on the knowledge they have been given and based on their actions.  The truth is that we are all accountable to God for our actions. He will make no mistakes in his judgements, because he knows all about us.  He even knows our secrets.  ‘This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.’ (Romans 2:16)   There will be no miscarriages of justice on that Day.  The Post Office scandal, where 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing, reminds us that human judgements are imperfect at best. God will make no errors in his dealings with us.  He knows all the information, including the secrets no one else knows.

Why is the gospel such good news?  Why should Romans 1:17 cause us to do cartwheels, and sing for joy?  Because all people need to be saved.  None of us is righteous.  Pagans aren’t righteous and respectable and moral people aren’t righteous.  How much we all need God’s righteousness!  Why then will you not come to Jesus and ask for it?

‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ (Romans 1:17)

A God of both love and wrath

John Johnstone Studies in Romans

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 15th September, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Romans 1:18-32

Last week, Geoff was preaching on the best news we could ever hear – that although no one in the world is good enough to make it to Heaven by their own efforts, because we lack the righteousness or goodness that God requires, we can still get to Heaven because Jesus is able to forgive us and give us the goodness which we lack from his own stores of goodness. Jesus’ goodness is offered to the whole world, but there is a condition to receiving it; we must turn away from our sin and believe that Jesus if the Son of God who died on the cross in order to clean us of sin. In a word, God wants our trust. He wants our faith: For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed — a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ (Romans 1:17)

Martin Luther is arguably the most influential Christian in the last 1000 years. He became a monk, living in a monastery; however, he did not have faith in Jesus. He was not a true Christian. Instead of receiving Jesus’ goodness as a gift, he tried and tried to earn God’s favour through acts of penance and self-sacrifice, and even self-flagellation. In other words, he tried to make himself good enough for God. But no one is good enough for God. If we were good enough, we wouldn’t need Jesus to save us, and Jesus would not have needed to die on the cross. Luther describes his pre-Christian days as a monk: ‘If you had asked me, did I love God, I would say love God? Sometimes I hated him. I saw Christ as a terrifying judge, who had the sword of judgement above my head, and I had no peace.’ Luther came to understand that the righteousness he needed could not come from his own actions. Rather, it is a righteousness that God makes available to us who are not righteous; that righteousness of God that is granted to us as a gift in faith. When Luther understood justification by faith alone, and not by our own efforts, he said it was like ‘the doors of paradise swung open and I walked through’. Do you understand that you cannot make yourself good, but need God to do that for you? Do you understand that this goodness only comes to those who place their trust in Jesus?

As a monk, Luther discovered that no one can find God’s forgiveness through their own efforts. Our good deeds will never outweigh the bad. The early chapters of Romans hammer this point home to us. In chapter 1 we are told that pagans fall well short of God’s standards. In chapter 2, Paul tells us that likewise, moral people fall short of God’s standards. Finally, and for some most shocking of all, we’re told that the deeply religious also fall short of God’s standards and without faith in Jesus, are under God’s wrath. Paul goes to great lengths in these early chapters of Romans to show that all human beings are in the same boat. Romans chapter 3 sums up the problem of all humans: ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ (Romans 3:23)

Why does Paul spend so long trying to convince us of this? Imagine going to your doctor, and he asks you to sit down and tells you he has some bad news for you – even though you might feel ok, you have an extremely serious illness. However, thankfully there is a cure available. Unless you are convinced that there is a problem, you will never agree to surgery needed to cure this disease. It is crucial that you understand the true nature of your problem. The same is true spiritually. Until you understand that you cannot get into a right relationship with God by your own efforts, and that you have a problem with sin in your heart, you will never accept God’s solution, which is Christ’s death on the cross. It was when Luther stopped trying to earn God favour, and rested instead on what Jesus had done for him by dying in his place that peace flooded into his heart. So let me be blunt: like a good doctor, the best of doctors, God wants to break this bad news to you today – you are not a good person.

Let’s try to understand what lies at the heart of the human problem of sin.

1. There is no such thing as an atheist

That might sound like a crazy thing to say. Even last week, I was speaking with a group of young people, a third of whom claimed to be atheists. Are they wrong? Yes! The Bible clearly teaches us that all humans beings know something about God. They might never have heard about Jesus Christ or his death or resurrection. They might never have read God’s book, the Bible. However, they have read another book – the book of nature. That is to say, when they look at the stars in the sky, or a newborn baby, or the beauty of a landscape, they know deep down that there must have been a God to have designed and created these things: ‘… since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.’ (Romans 1:19-20)

God is telling us something logical. Just as when we see a great painting, we know there must have been an artist who painted it, in the same way, when we see the creation, we know there must have been a Creator behind it. And we know this Creator must be powerful and glorious to have been able to form the created order. This is what it says in Psalm 19: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.’ (Psalm 19:1-4)

In other words, the stars themselves are like an internationally understood language shouting out to all people – there is a God! There is a Creator! Deep down, everyone knows this fact. That’s why even the staunchest atheists often end up praying on their death beds. And that’s why the world is full of religion – we know within ourselves that there is a God. There is no such thing as an atheist.

Many times, I’ve heard people say,’Why does God make it so hard to believe in him?’ The assumption is that God is playing a horrible game of hide and seek with us, making it really hard to find him. The truth is the very opposite. We see the fingerprints of God all around us, and yet we hide from him.

2. Human rebellion

It’s an interesting fact that people do not always respond to truth in the way that we should. For example, a man with a spending problem started off opening his credit card bills when they came through the post, but they really upset him. As time went on, he began to leave them unopened, but continued to rack up even more debt. He chose to suppress the truth of his debts, and carried on spending money he didn’t have, and even managed to convince himself at times that he didn’t really have a problem.

Many people do the same with God. They know he exists, but they: ‘… suppress the truth by their wickedness.’ (Romans 1:18) The squash down the thought of God in their lives. But why? Because they do not want to be answerable to a supreme being. Instead, they want to be the boss of their own lives. God is an inconvenient truth, so rather than face this truth, they squash it down more and more, until they convince themselves that they are atheists.

I’ve been thinking about rainbows a lot recently. They are the sign of God’s covenant with Noah and indeed his covenant with all human beings and with animals too. God promises to sustain and preserve the human race until Jesus comes again. He is good to all he has made. He sends the sun and the rain and causes things to grow. Paul and Barnabas inform those in Lystra that God: ‘… has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.’ (Acts 14:17) We ought to be so thankful to God for his gifts. However, in our rebellion, human beings have the opposite reaction: ‘For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…’ (Romans 1:21) Being unthankful to God is a serious business.

Verse 18 describes the dark side of the human condition using the words ‘godlessness and wickedness’.

‘John Stott: Scripture is quite clear than the essence of sin is godlessness. It is an attempt to get rid of God and, since that is impossible, the determination to live as though one had succeeded in doing so… It is not just that they do wrong, though they know better. It is that they have made an a priori decision to live for themselves, rather than for God and others, therefore deliberately stifle any truth which challenges their self-centredness.’

A son went off to university in Glasgow. He had been brought up with love and the best his parents could offer. They even supported him at university. However, when he began to taste a life of independence, he began to ignore the texts and calls of his parents. He wanted no accountability and no interference. When his dad turned up at his flat and knocked on the door, he refused to answer, and even said to his flatmates: ‘I don’t know who that guy is banging on our door. Tell him to go away.’ That’s a shocking scene. But that’s how many people treat God. God has been kind to us, giving us our lives, and many of its accompanying gifts. We turn round to God and say: ‘I don’t want you in my life.’ This is human rebellion against God. This is thanklessness. This is wickedness.

When volunteering at the church café, I really appreciate it when people say ‘Thank you’. Some people don’t. Some even complain about the service, take far more than their share, as if that’s their right. Sadly, we can all be guilty of entitlement and thanklessness. Not saying thank you to me is not such a big deal. But when we behave like that towards God, the King of Kings, it is serious.

3. God is a God of both love and wrath

What have we learned so far? We’ve seen that the invisible God is made visible to us by what has been made. However, we have a tendency to ignore God in his world, to pursue our own selfish path. We suppress the truth of his existence, and this sets off a negative chain reaction. Because when we push God out of our lives, our thinking is darkened and this vacuum is replaced by all kinds of ugly idols which take God’s place. ‘For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.’ (Romans 1:21-23)

We’ve already thought of God’s love, sending his own Son to die to pay the price for our sin and to gift us his goodness. Now we come to a more unpopular truth – the wrath of God. God will not be mocked. His wrath is not like human wrath, which can often be out of control or unjust or too severe. God’s wrath is a holy wrath directed at those who mistreat him and other human beings.

John Stott: His wrath is his holy hostility to evil, his refusal to condone it or to come to terms with it, his just judgement upon it.’

I’m glad that God is not neutral towards wickedness. What kind of God would he be then, if the wicked were never brought to justice?

This leads to the question – how is God’s holy anger revealed? We know it will be revealed at the end of time on the Day of Judgement. However, what’s striking about this passage is that God is also revealing his anger in the here and now. What do we mean? Well, we see that for those who reject God, God ‘gives them over’ to the wicked desires of their hearts. We see this phrase 3 times, in verses 24, 26 and 28. The shocking thing is this: in the here and now, God’s judgement comes not by God’s intervention, but by not intervening, by allowing us to go our own way.

John Stott: ‘God abandons stubborn sinners to their wilful self-centredness, and the resulting process of moral and spiritual degeneration is to be understood as a judicial act of God. This is the revelation of God’s wrath from heaven.’

It is as if God is saying: ‘So you want to live without me – ok then do that.’ God removes his hand of restraint, and leaves people to their own wrong desires and behaviours. These wrong behaviours are anything which is outside the will of God. God is the Creator and Designer of the world, and so it goes without saying that he decides what is right and wrong and reveals to us in Scripture how we are to love God and love our neighbours. Part of this design is that the only context for sexual activity is in the lifelong marriage of a man and a woman. Of course, in 2024 our culture has completely moved away from the basic foundational truths of marriage, gender and sex.

Church is a place where homosexuals are welcome and respected and loved, but that does not mean we agree with homosexual practice, if the Bible clearly teaches it is out with his design. But we might object and say, well, why do people have these strong desires? I don’t know about you, but often I have wrong desires, and have to fight against them. Not everything which I desire is necessarily right. Sam Allberry, a pastor who is himself same-sex attracted, writes with great love and sympathy for the gay community. He says: ‘All of us have desires that are warped as a result of our fallen nature. Desires for things God has forbidden are a reflection of how sin has distorted me, not of how God has made me… as we reject God, we find ourselves craving what we are not naturally designed to do. This is as true of a heterosexual person as a homosexual person.’

Here’s the thing. When God is rejected, what happens? Society starts to unravel. Verses 29-32 catalogue 21 other sins which flow out of suppression of God and his truth. Verse 32 even says we approve of those who do evil. When we fail to honour and love and serve God, it results in the disordering of human life. It leads to envy and boasting and disobeying our parents. Let’s take a step back from this passage and think of our own Scottish culture in 2024. It seems to me that we are a culture which has repressed our knowledge of God, and exchanged him for our own idols, resulting in moral chaos.

The power of the Gospel

Geoff Murray Studies in Romans

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 8th September, 2024
Speaker: Geoff Murray
Scripture: Romans 1:8-17

1. The Gospel makes us family

Paul, as he usually does in his letters, gives thanks for the people he’s writing to, he prays for them.

‘First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times…’ (Romans 1:8-10)

His love for them is so evident. Not just that he thanks God with such joy for them but that he’s constantly remembering them in prayer. The love that he has that he is frequently and often bringing them before God. Paul as we know had great suffering, he could have been completely consumed with his own worries and cares, but he isn’t, he is praying for the church in Rome often.

His love on that level is remarkable, but it gets even more remarkable in that he doesn’t know these people. He prays that the way at last may be finally opened to him to see them, having planned to come but not managed yet.

So he prays for them regularly and gives thanks for them regularly even though he’s never met them. But he wants to meet them. Why?

‘I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.’ (Romans 1:11-12)

So that, as they meet for the first time, as Paul shares the good news of the gospel, as he shares his life, as he hears first-hand what God is doing in Rome that they may be encouraged.

And it is one of the things which makes the gospel powerful is that it turns strangers into family. Paul, as I said, has never met these people before, yet he speaks to them as ‘brothers’ or ‘brothers and sisters’, he prays for them and gives thanks for them often, he longs to be with them. How can this be so seeing as they have never met?

It’s because all of a sudden when we meet Jesus and have lives transformed, we’re united to him and as we’re united to him, we’re also united to brothers and sisters the world over. We’ve all been adopted into God’s family. We all share the most important thing in common: faith in Jesus Christ.

Those we were once separate from; we are now inextricably bound together with. We may be separated by geography, we may be separated by language, we may be separated by culture, we may be separated by church tradition or background but despite that, we are united together, bound together as family through faith in Jesus Christ.

This that Paul is speaking about, of being mutually encouraged by one another’s faith, that is genuinely the opportunity that is before you, that as you go the church should be so glad to meet you and your presence among them will be an encouragement, and you will be encouraged as you see what God is doing in another part of the world.

When you meet Christians from other parts of the world, you’re able to hit it off immediately because you have the most important one in common, Jesus Christ. So, I don’t know if/when you are going to go on holiday next, but if you are going, look ahead to what church you’ll go to. Bless and be blessed.

2. The Gospel makes us debtors

Paul (in chapter verses 5 and 6) tells us his calling as a believer was as an Apostle to the Gentiles among whom are the church in Rome. And even as he has prayed for them and longs to be with them to minister to them and that has to do with his calling.

‘I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.’ (Romans 1:13-15)

I suppose there’s two ways you might be in someone’s debt. The first would be that someone gave you money as a loan and you owed them it back and the second would be if someone gave you money to give to someone else. You’d all of a sudden be a debtor to the person you’re due to give the money to.

It’s the second that is in view here. God has given the Apostle Paul this task of going to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and now all of a sudden, he is a debtor to the Gentiles, he is obligated to the Gentiles to go and share the good news with them.

That’s why he’s so eager to go to the church in Rome. That’s why he’s tried multiple times before to get to Rome to go and share the gospel, to have a harvest among them as he has the other Gentiles.

God has given him this calling to go to the Gentiles and he has. He’s been a fruitful evangelist and church planter among Gentiles but he is yet to make it to Rome.

God has given Paul this calling on his life and he goes after it with great enthusiasm, with great prayerfulness, with great intention. He isn’t indifferent whether this is fulfilled or not, he isn’t passive, he’s eager, he’s keen, he is on the front foot as it were.

This gospel message that is powerful, that brings salvation to all has come to Paul, more than that God has revealed it to him that it brings salvation to all, even Gentiles and that has propelled him forward in a cause greater than himself for God’s glory.

And I get that we’re not Apostles like Paul, I get that we don’t have this very specific call to go to a very specific people. But we all as God’s people have the call to make Christ known.

What leads us to do this? It is having received this all-powerful gospel and receiving this great task of becoming debtors to the world as Paul was a debtor to the Gentiles. To receive this high calling much greater than ourselves to be called to go and share this good news we have received.

What do you spend your time living for? What is your greatest pursuit? Having been shown mercy and grace in Jesus Christ, having been given new life, is it not telling others of this mercy you’ve received? Pointing to one greater than yourself to point others to him?

Friends, let it be so, and especially as we approach our third and final point.

3. The Gospel makes us righteous

The gospel is powerful because it brings salvation for all who believe, why is that powerful? Because in the gospel a righteousness is revealed, but what makes that so powerful is by ourselves we don’t have it, as Paul will go on to explain throughout Romans, we need it, we desperately need it, we are, in our natural selves, before Christ intervenes, separated from God because we don’t have it.

‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ (Romans 1:16-17)

For something to be revealed means that there was a time when it wasn’t revealed to us, in other words there was a time where we did not possess righteousness, we did not know righteousness, yet it was given to us.

We tend to think we’re pretty good people by all accounts. Assuming I work hard, keep my nose clean, don’t steal, kill, or have an affair what’s the problem? I’m a good person. Well, there are miles apart from a ‘good’ person and a righteous person.

In the Bible, righteousness is ultimately bound up with the fact God is righteous. He does no wrong, he commits no evil, he is perfectly good, just and right in all he does. God is perfect without fault, all that he does is good.

And so when we’re thinking about righteousness, we ultimately have to think about God’s righteousness which is perfect, good and right. That’s why, ‘I’m a good person’ doesn’t cut it because next to God as the ultimate standard of righteousness, we all fall short. That’s great that you don’t murder people, but righteousness? You don’t come even close to it.

The great point which Paul brings out time and again in Romans is actually nobody comes close to it. Because we sin and fall short of God’s standard, that declaration of ‘righteous’ is absent.

The level of righteousness that’s required we simply don’t know a thing about by ourselves, it’s alien to us, God’s righteousness, you might as well be speaking a foreign language. None of us have it, none.

Paul will go onto say, the Jews – the people of God of old who God’s great promises through Abraham, who experienced his great rescue from slavery in Egypt in the Passover and the Red Sea Crossing, who received the 10 commandments, who were led to the promised land – they don’t have the righteousness of God. And the Gentiles, the nations, strangers to grace and to God, they don’t have the righteousness of God.

‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ (Romans 3:10-12 )

Every single person lacks the righteousness of God.

In the gospel, this righteousness is revealed in God, but as that is revealed, it’s revealed we don’t have it and that puts us in somewhat of a sticky situation to put it mildly. It puts us at odds with our creator, the Lord and sustainer of the universe, it puts us under his rightful judgement. He is righteous, we are not, that poses big problems for us entering God’s holy presence. That poses big problems for us in being right before him, accepted and loved. It means we are excluded from him, separated, rejected. God can’t bide with unrighteousness, so holy is he that nobody can go into his presence and live.

Until I am righteous, until you are righteous, that does not look to change any time soon. So how do we become righteous if we aren’t righteous?

‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ (Romans 1:17)

And it seems counter to how we tend to work. We tend to think ‘do better’ ‘try harder’ ‘set up a plan in place’ ‘order and structure my life in such a way to make this possible.’

But in God’s kindness, it’s not set up that way. If his righteousness were revealed to us simply in the law, we would be going in circles, chasing our tail in vain, unable to receive the righteousness of God.

Actually, in God’s kindness, he gives us another way, the way of faith. The way of trusting in a righteous one outside of ourselves, the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who came, lived and died, who rose again on this earth and as he did so, he did so as a righteous man. One who lived his life in perfect obedience to God’s law, who did meet the standard we’ve never met.

Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many. That as he lives, he lives as one righteously before God, yet as he dies, he dies as one in the place of sinners. The profound truth is that on the cross, Jesus stands in our place, though righteous, he becomes as if he were a sinner deserving wrath like you and me, yet through faith in his work for us, we stand in his place. We receive his righteousness, we receive his goodness.

It’s the same with us all. Righteousness doesn’t come when we try hard enough or meet our own yardstick measurement of righteousness. It’s a righteousness we do not have, could not attain by ourselves, yet it is a righteousness granted by faith in what Jesus has done for us.

God hasn’t gone soft or left righteousness behind. That righteousness has been fulfilled, it’s just not us that’s fulfilled it. That righteousness has been fulfilled by someone else, by another in our place, by Jesus Christ the Righteous One. The righteous demands are satisfied in him and as our substitute, he is one who takes our sin from us and gives us his righteousness so we can be declared right by God, not by any righteousness in us but by all the righteousness in him.

And notice, the gospel message brings salvation to all, to the Jew, to the Gentile, in short for all peoples. Just as all peoples lack the righteousness of God, so God offers all peoples the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

A word to you here if you’re not a professing believer, first of all I’m so glad you’re here because this is exactly the Bible text that lays all of this out clearly. But second of all, this offer of a righteousness by faith is yours

Whether you would consider yourself ‘religious’ or not, this offer is for you, Whether you would consider yourself a good person or not, this offer is for you
Whatever your nationality, race, gender, or identity, this offer is for you.

Would you take it this morning? The problem is great, all have sinned, none are righteous no not one, but the solution is a righteousness that is by faith in Jesus Christ. Won’t you trust in him and his salvation and receive his righteousness? You don’t have it, nobody on their own has it. Yet, Christ offers it freely when you trust in him. Trust in him this morning and find in him righteousness.

Perhaps you are a Christian and you struggle with assurance that God could possibly still accept you. You trust in Jesus and you try to follow him but keep tripping up the same old ways, “am I really righteous in God’s sight?” the answer is an absolute yes. Absolutely we’re told to press on in our Christian walks and to live godly lives but we are not righteous and never will be righteous in God’s sight because of the things we do, we will only ever have the necesarry righteousness to stand before God with and that is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. You’re not righteous before God today on the basis of what you did because you never were, you are only ever righteous in God’s sight through faith in Jesus Christ. So as you battle your own sin, temptations and experience your own failings, know that your faith in Jesus Christ provides all the righteousness you’ll ever need. Keep pressing on assured of the righteousness that is God’s gift to you by faith in Jesus.

What makes the gospel powerful for all who believe? Well, it drives us to the lowest place as it reveals a righteousness we don’t have and couldn’t ever hope to have in and of ourselves, but then it lifts us to the glorious heights of God providing it for us on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ. Though we deserve, every one of us without exception, to be separated from God forever, cut off, under his judgement, in his Son, he gives us the very best, he gives us the righteousness of God that we lack, the righteousness of Jesus by faith.

Place your faith in him and in him receive the righteousness that is by faith.

The gospel – God’s good news

John Johnstone Studies in Romans

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 1st September, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Romans 1:1-5

Paul’s letter to the church in Rome has been used mightily by God down through the centuries.

Matin Luther: ‘The more thoroughly it is treated, the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes.’

I hope that you will be able to say the same! As we begin this letter, let’s put it in context. Paul is writing to Christians in the church in Rome. He has not yet been able to travel to Rome, so is writing to Christians whom he has never met! We read in Romans chapter 16 of Paul’s desire to visit Rome on route to Spain. Some think he wanted the church in Rome to become partners in this Spanish work, through their prayers and financial support.

Some of the key themes of the letter are that:
• all people are sinners and with exception need to be saved from their sin;
• through the righteousness of God, sin is judged and salvation is provided;
• we can only be accepted in God’s sight through faith in what Jesus has done.

The letter also deals with the future of God’s ancient people the Jews, our future hope of Heaven and how Christians ought to live out the gospel in their everyday lives. One verse which encapsulates the message of Romans is: ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ (Romans 1:17)

When ministers start talking about how we all need to tell others about Jesus, it’s all too easy to switch off. We don’t need another guilt-trip. It’s just not something we are comfortable doing, even if we’re glad when other people do. We just want to be background Christians, blending in at work and with neighbours and not being seen as odd or weird. Plus, the truth is, many are afraid to talk to others about Christianity. We don’t want to look stupid, and we don’t want to be asked questions which we can’t answer. Or perhaps our faith is wobbly and we’re just not as sure about things which we used to be sure about. Then we read Paul’s words which ooze with a heartfelt resolve to speak to others no matter what: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.’ (Romans 1:16)

Paul has confidence in the gospel. He believes the message is one people urgently need to hear. Here’s a question for us this morning – how can we come to share more of Paul’s confidence in the message of the Christian faith? How can we get to a place where even though we might feel uncomfortable, we will actually start taking opportunities to talk about Jesus when they arise, rather than shying away from them? I believe Romans chapter 1 is an excellent place to start. Or, perhaps you haven’t yet come to a place where you trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Why should you listen to Paul? Again, this passage provides some helpful reasons.

One of the key words in this passage is the word ‘gospel’. Many of us know that this word means ‘good news’. It means good news which really changes things significantly. This is crucial for us to understand. Christianity is not a mere set of rules to follow, or a way to earn ‘brownie points’ with God. It’s not advice about how to improve our lives. It is good news that all humanity desperately needs to hear, because it deals with our greatest need – how to have a right relationship with God. What does this passage teach us about this good news?

1. Where does this good news come from?

Verse 1 tells us that it is the ‘gospel of God’. In other words, the message of Christianity is not made up or concocted by people trying to deceive us. It does not have its origin in Paul, clever as he was. It is not a human invention, designed to make a world full of suffering more bearable. Rather, it is true because it comes straight from the mouth of God. God revealed the truth of the gospel to the prophets and to the apostles (such as Paul) and God has made sure it was written down, so that we may know how to get into a right relationship with him.

When we preach at this church, we’re not making stuff up as we go along. We are sharing what God has revealed to the world, and this has many important implications. It means that we can never change the message of the gospel. The message is not ours to change; it is the gospel of God. It belongs to him. We must stick to what God tells us in the Bible. Sadly, some so-called churches (which are not true churches) change the message of the Bible saying that as long as we try our best then that’s all God wants. But that’s not the gospel and that’s not what God wants. The good news isn’t about what we can do for God, but about what he can do for us.

The fact that the gospel has its origin in God is an encouraging truth. This alone ought to help us to share it with others. What could be more important to share with others than the message of God? It also means that when people reject the good news, they are not rejecting our good news, but God’s good news. Christians are to be just like postmen and postwomen, delivering God’s letter of love to others in the world.

R C Sproul: ‘It is God’s gospel. God owns it, God originated it, God designed it and now God is simply using the apostle Paul to communicate it to us.’

We listen to many voices today, from celebrities and influencers to friends. There’s a voice you must listen to above all others – God’s.

Is the good news brand new? No, it is not! As well as New Testament writers such as Matthew and John and Paul proclaiming this good news, we also find the good news foretold in the Old Testament. In this way, the trustworthiness of the gospel just seems to increase more and more. It is God’s good news, attested to by both Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles: ‘the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures…’ (Romans 1:2) When we have to carry something which is valuable but also heavy, we sometimes use 2 carrier bags instead of 1 to make it more secure. The truth of this news is carried by God’s servants spanning many hundreds of years. This ought to give us double confidence in the gospel. It is impossible to make this news up, bearing in mind that all the Old Testament gospel prophecies come true.

2. What is the gospel about?

Verse 3: ‘regarding his Son…’ If you want to tell other people the gospel then you must be telling them about Jesus Christ. Telling people about our church is not sharing the gospel. Nor is telling them about our café, good as that might be. Christianity is essentially good news about a person – Jesus Christ. Again, it’s not a mere set of rules, a religion or a philosophy. It is a relationship with the person called Jesus Christ. We talk to him in prayer and he talks to us as we read his Word- the Bible.

John Calvin: ‘..the whole gospel is contained in Christ…to move even a step from Christ means to withdraw oneself from the gospel.’

What does Paul tell us about the person Jesus Christ? He tells us that he is fully human and fully God at the same time. That is absolutely unique. We cannot say that about anyone else. And it is essential, because Jesus had to be fully human to die on the cross in the place of humans, and he had to be God so that his sacrifice was big enough to atone for all of his people. Paul says: ‘… regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Romans 1:3-4)

Jesus is so glorious because he is both Christ and Lord. He is truly human. He is the long-promised king, descended from David, through whom God was going to save a lost humanity and right all the wrongs in the world. Because he shares our humanity fully, he understands all that we go through. He understands our doubts and fears and anxieties. He is the Christ, God’s anointed king. But he is also the Lord. This means that he is God. How do we know this? Because of the empty tomb! Jesus’ resurrection proves beyond doubt his identity as God the Lord. This qualifies Jesus as the only Saviour of the world. Jesus’ resurrection tells us that the cross was a complete success in that sin has been paid for and death has been destroyed.

There is no one who loves us more than Jesus. No one else has conquered death. No one else has lived the perfect life we could not live. No one is more glorious or just or wise. The gospel contradicts our culture which so often places human beings at the centre of the universe. In reality, Jesus is the centre of all things. He deserves our worship and allegiance. In sport, we speak of the GOAT (the greatest of all time). In tennis, that might be Federer or Nadal or Djokovic. In snooker, it is Hendry or O’Sullivan. However, sport doesn’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things. I hope we only loosely follow teams or sports stars or favourite singers. Jesus is the only one truly worth following and surrendering our lives to. He will never let us down.

3. Who is the gospel for?

‘Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.’ (Romans 1:5)
‘all the Gentiles’ is another way of saying all the nations of the world. Paul was a patriotic Jew, and yet God called him as an apostle to the other nations of the world. He was the first great missionary of the early church. God’s message of salvation extends to every man and woman, boy and girl in the world. No one is excluded. That means it is good news for you today.

J Stott: ‘If we are to be committed to world mission, we have to be liberated from all pride of race, nation, tribe, caste and class, and acknowledge that God’s gospel is for everyone, without exception and without distinction.’

We know in theory that we must not keep the gospel to ourselves. Imagine during the pandemic, we discovered a comprehensive vaccine but kept it to ourselves. That would have been so wrong. We must not do that with the gospel. We have the only vaccine for eternal life – a relationship with Jesus.

4. What does the gospel demand from you?

The gospel demands a response from you. ‘… to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.’ (Romans 1:5) If you are not a Christian yet, you need to understand the urgency of listening to and acting upon the message of the gospel. It’s not the kind of news which you hear and then just shrug your shoulders. You must act upon it. Like if you were on a ship which was going to sink and you heard good news that there are lifeboats you can get into! You wouldn’t just stand on the ship’s deck with total apathy.

I’ve been challenged this week by someothing RC Sproul said. His concern was that too often we present the gospel as a mere invitation, as if people can take it or leave it, like an invitation to attend a party or not. But Sproul points out that the gospel is more of a command than an invitation. ‘In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.’ (Acts 17:30-31)

R C Sproul: ‘God does not invite people to repent, he commands them’.

So, yes, the gospel is good news. It is the best possible news, but we only realise that when we understand are enormous need of God’s forgiveness. And it is certainly not ‘take it or leave it’ news, but rather news about the only person qualified to rescue us from God’s judgment. Will you believe in his death in your place?

One of the most famous Christians of all time is St Augustine. Before placing his trust in Jesus, he lived a life of wine, women and song. He lived a licentious life, with a pagan philosophy of life; however, he was not content. In fact, he was depressed with his life. One day, the young man was walking and heard children chanting in a game ‘tolla lege, tolla lege’ which means ‘Pick up and read, pick up and read’. Just then, he saw and New Testament and began to read a section at random. It was from Romans: ‘Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.’ (Romans 13:13-14)

Augustine was immediately convicted by God the Holy Spirit, and this was his conversion to Christ. For the first time he saw that he needed God’s forgiveness and came to realise the wonderful news that through trusting in the life and death of Jesus, our dirty clothes can be removed and Jesus’ goodness can be wrapped around us, making us righteous. This is really what the letter of Romans is all about. It’s a wonderful letter. Will you pray to God admitting your clothes are filthy and you’ve nothing with which to remove the stains? Will you ask Jesus to clothe you anew with his goodness?

In our place…

John Johnstone Sermons

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 25th August, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: John 19:16-37

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, we read that, ‘At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan.’ (Mark 1:9) This was actually something shocking, as the river Jordan was the place sinners stood to have their sins symbolically washed away. Jews went there to repent of their wrongdoing. Jesus is standing where sinners ought to stand, even though he is perfect and without sin. Those polluted waters wash over his perfect body. What is Jesus telling us by standing in this river? That he will allow himself to be treated as a sinner, and receive what sinners deserve, in order to bring cleansing and eternal life to his people.

Now fast-forward three years to the end of Jesus’ ministry. Again, we find Jesus in the place of sinners (v18): ‘There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.’ John 19:18) To anyone watching on, it looks like Jesus is being punished for his own wickedness. There’s a row of three crucified men, with Jesus in the middle, the most prominent place, as if he is the worst of the lot. We remember the prophecy in Isaiah, ‘… and was numbered with the transgressors.’ (Isaiah 53:12) The words of Isaiah are coming true. Jesus is identified with rebels, with sinners. But these two men are not the same. One of the criminals begins to understand the difference between them. He says: ‘We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ (Luke 23:41) So, the criminals on either side of Jesus are getting what they deserve. Why then is Jesus, the perfect Son of God dying in such shame beside them? Isaiah gives us the reason: ‘… because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.’ (Isaiah 53:12) Jesus is getting the punishment we deserve, in order to pay for our sin.

To our shame, we can get too used to the words ‘there they crucified him’. We’ve heard them a million times. But this is the most shocking event in all of human history. We know that crucifixion was so awful that Roman citizens could only be crucified with the explicit permission of the emperor. It was rare. It was a death designed to humiliate and designed to maximise the suffering of the victim. And as well as the unspeakable physical suffering, Jesus endures matchless spiritual suffering, as he becomes sin for us, and is forsaken by his Father. Jesus endures the wrath we ought to receive.

JC Ryle: ‘He that can read a passage like this without a deep sense of our debt to Christ, must have a very cold or a very thoughtless heart. Great must be the love of the Lord Jesus to sinners, when he could voluntarily endure such sufferings for their salvation. Great must be the sinfulness of sin, when such an amount of vicarious suffering was needed in order to provide redemption.’

1. The soldiers’ response to the cross

The soldiers in charge of the crucifixion are oblivious as to the identity of the one dying in the centre. They are also oblivious to the spiritual significance of what is happening. For them, it just seems like an ordinary day’s work. They had probably grown used to crucifying people. For them, Jesus seems like an irrelevant figure; just another trouble-maker getting what he deserves. They had already whipped him, dressed him up as a king to mock him, forced him to carry the crossbeam, nailed him to the cross and hoisted that cross above the ground. They have had their fun at Jesus’ expense and now they want to profit from his death by getting a material benefit – Jesus’ clothes. Each of the four soldiers would receive one item of clothing, but they decide to gamble for Jesus’ undergarment because it would have had little value ripped into four.

This is a tragic scene. These men are missing out on the most precious thing of all, the forgiveness of sin and receiving eternal life. And why? Because they are so distracted by amusing themselves and by living for the here and now. One of them would have received Jesus’ sandals, but missed out eternal life. Another might have received Jesus’ belt, but missed on his love. Still another might have drawn the largest lot, won the seamless garment, and gone home a happy man that day. But what lasting value would a garment give him? They are so near to Christ and yet so far. Today, many hear about Jesus being crucified but are oblivious to its importance. They are distracted by the here and now, by material possessions and by entertainment and social media.

The soldiers are a warning for us. When it comes to Jesus, do not be distracted. Jesus himself warns of this. ‘Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’ Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’ (John 5:27-29)

Here’s a challenge for you: are you so caught up in your work, or your own happiness, or your own family life, or your own plans that you are missing out on the true source of lasting joy, peace and life? If so, you are just like the soldiers here and that is a tragedy. Let’s not be like the soldiers, chasing material possessions. But rather, be like one of the dying criminals, who said, ‘Jesus, remember me, when you come into your Kingdom. Don’t live in God’s world, ignoring God.

John is keen for us to know that the soldiers might seem to be in charge of these events, but actually God is in charge. In the Psalms, Psalm 22, the division of Christ’s clothes had been prophesised about 1000 years before it happened: ‘They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.’ (Pslam 22:18) What does this tell us? It tells us that the cross is not an accident of history, but rather the eternal plan of God, in order to rescue lost souls and bring us into his family.

The division of Jesus’ clothes is also a reminder of just how humiliating crucifixion was. The victim would be stripped naked in order to heap shame upon them.

John Calvin: ‘Christ was stripped of His garments that he might clothe us with His righteousness. His naked body was exposed to the insults of men that we might appear with glory before the judgment seat of God.’

Again, here we have the wonderful swap which takes place at the cross – Jesus takes our shame and guilt in order to cover ours and make us whole. ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ (2 Corinthians 5:21) We can think of the words of the well-known hymn; And can it be:
‘No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus and all in him is mine;
alive in Him my living head;
and clothed in righteousness divine.

2. Jesus’ matchless compassion and care

In contrast to the four soldiers, we have the four women. The men have run away; however, the women remain faithful to the end. This is often the case in the church. They are tenacious in their devotion to Christ. John focuses on the words Jesus speaks both to Mary and to John himself: ‘When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.’ (John 19:26-27)

Jesus’ compassion really is remarkable. Even amidst the awful pain and suffering Jesus was enduring, he thinks of others. He has time to speak with one of the criminals on the cross and saves him. He prays for those who crucified him. And here, he ensures that his mother will be provided for through the help of John.

D Macleod: ‘Jesus shows sensitivity to others, even at the height of his own pain.’

It’s so easy to take our pain out on others. It’s easy for pain to blinker us, so that we are consumed by our own needs and blind to the needs of other. Not so with Jesus. This incident is a window into his heart and it is a heart of tenderness and love.

What has this got to do with us today? Well, Jesus’ love for us is the same today.

JC Ryle: ‘The heart that even on the cross felt for Mary, is a heart that never changes. Jesus never forgets any that love Him, and even in their worst estate remembers their need. No wonder that Peter says: ‘cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you.’

Mary was going through enormous pain watching her son being crucified. It’s hard to appreciate the extent of her grief. When Jesus was presented at the temple, Simeon says to Mary: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ (Luke 2:34-35) Now that sword is now piercing Mary’s soul. But Jesus cares and will provide.

Whatever you’re going through just now, try and remember that Jesus loves you. He cares and provides for us. He cares for his spiritual family deeply. ‘Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’ (Mark 3:34-5)

Sometimes, family and friends are too preoccupied with their own lives and lack compassion and love. Jesus is never too preoccupied. He’s never too busy. He’s never too caught up in important matters to care. His ears are always listening to our prayers, and he always answers them according to what is best for us! Is this your view of God? A God of matchless compassion. He is one who is deeply concerned for each and every one of his sheep. What an encouragement to pray!

3. Jesus’ victory cry: ‘It is finished.’

Just before Jesus gives up his spirit and dies, he declares, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30) This is one word in Greek – tetelesti. The obvious question to ask, is: what was finished?

This word was often used when something difficult has been completed, and accomplished, and it has come to an end leaving us with a real sense of satisfaction. The most obvious example in the ancient world was when the last payment of a mortgage is given, and the house is now yours, with nothing left to pay, and ‘tetelesti’ is stamped on the paperwork. I once had that feeling having climbed Ben Nevis, making it back to the car, and being able to pull off my walking boots, and thinking – it is finished! Job done. Jesus has finished something much more significant than a tough hill-walk. It’s also more significant than a mortgage, but like a mortgage it does involve a debt – a moral one.

Jesus’ cry from the cross is his declaration that he has finished all the work required to save us. He has lived the perfect life that we have failed to live, and that Adam failed to live. And he has paid for our sin in his once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. ‘It is finished.’ = I have completed my mission to die for the sins of my people. Jesus does not say, ‘I am finished.’ and then die – as if he is totally spent. He says, ‘It is finished.’ We see from Matthew and Mark that Jesus cries out his last words in a loud voice. It is a victory cry.

God is a merciful God who longs for everyone to be saved – but the problem is that he is also holy. Our wrong actions, thoughts and attitudes get us into debt with God because it is his laws we break. And so, through our lives we get more and more into debt. It is a debt we cannot pay. But Jesus, by living the perfect life which we could never live, and by dying on the cross as a sacrifice for sinners, has done everything necessary to pay off our moral debt. There is nothing which can be added to what he has done. There is nothing else required, other than for us to receive this gift!

Gary Burge: ‘Jesus’ victory is the basis of our security. My confidence in God and the assurance of my salvation cannot be anchored in my religious performance. ‘It is finished.’ What was needed to satisfy God ought to satisfy us as well. This is the good news of the gospel.’

As Christians, this sacrifice is what we rely on. Christianity is first and foremost about what God has done for us to pardon our debt, and not what we can do for God for pardon- we can do nothing. All God requires of us is to turn from sin to God, and receive Jesus’ free gift of pardon. Jesus said, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’ (John 6:29)

This means that my sin has been dealt with once and for all. Not one drop of wrath will fall on us.
‘My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!’

We are now at peace with God. Jesus has saved us: and there is nothing we can add to this. He did it all. He paid it all. How does God feel about you today? Is he angry? Disappointed? Disapproving. See failure? No! If you rest on what Jesus did on the cross – paying off our moral debt of sin – he sees his forgiven and clean children.

‘As dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’ (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Who is your King?

John Johnstone Sermons

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 18th July, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: John 19:1-22

Who is your king? Perhaps some of you will answer, well, since Saturday the 6th of May 2023, Charles III is my king. But did the coronation really change much for us? Not spiritually speaking. What you think about Charles III isn’t going to have any bearing on what happens to you when you die and where you will spend eternity; however, your attitude to Jesus, the King of Kings, will determine that. With that in mind, let’s repeat the question, who is your king? In other words, who do you live for and who do you obey and who do you trust and who do you serve?

Bob Dylan’s 1979 album ‘Slow Train Coming’ has a song entitled ‘You’ve gotta serve somebody’. His point is that everyone in world has a choice of two; either we serve the Lord Jesus, or ultimately we are on the side of evil and serve the devil. Here’s what he says:

‘You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody.’

Is Bob Dylan right? Why should we listen to him? Well, because this is straight from the Bible. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says that we are either slaves to Jesus or slaves to sin: ‘But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 6:22-23)

Out of all the four gospels, John seems to stress the most that Jesus is the true king. : Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.’ (John 1:49) We read that on Palm Sunday, They (the crowd) took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’ (John 12:13)

Before we dive into this passage, we need to understand that Jesus is the true king in two different ways. First of all, Jesus is descended from King David, and is the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. Secondly, Jesus is not only a perfect human being but he is also God, the Creator and Ruler of all things, and so that means he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is the true and only King of Kings.

The letter to the Philippians tells us something vital for us to grasp: ‘… at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Philippians 2:10-11) What does this mean? It means that every single human being will bow before Jesus one day. Either we do so willingly, receiving him as our king with joy, or we will do so when it is too late, and we’ll bow before him as our Judge, and be cast away. Who is your king?

1. Mocking the true king

In verse 1 we read that Jesus is flogged. This was a severe beating, with a whip laced with bone and metal, and in itself was enough to kill the victim. Pilate has Jesus flogged, even though he has repeatedly stated that Jesus has done nothing wrong. Perhaps he thinks this will satisfy the Jews, and they will stop demanding Jesus’ death. It does not work.

Next, Jesus is subjected to severe bullying at the hands of the Roman soldiers. In order to totally humiliate Jesus, they dress him up as a king. They want to make him look like a fool, rather than a king. The crown of thorns would have had huge spikes digging into Jesus’ head. It was a cruel and painful crown to wear. Perhaps a soldier’s coat was thrown over him to represent a royal robe. We read in other gospels that Jesus is also given a reed to act as a sceptre. Roman soldiers were used to saying to Caesar ‘Ave Caesar’ or ‘Hail Caesar’. Now they sarcastically direct this ‘respectful’ greeting to Jesus. They slap him in the face again and again. They are bullies. Jesus allows this to happen for us. This is part of the suffering Jesus had to experience in order to pay the price for our sins. As Christians read this, we think, he goes through this for me.

This passage is full of dramatic irony. What does that mean? It is when things are the opposite to the way they seem, but the characters in the story do not realise this. So here, in John 19, the soldiers mock the very idea that Jesus might be a king. And he looks nothing like a king with his swollen and bloodied body, cut open from the flogging. However, when they say ‘Hail king Jesus’ they speak better than they know. Ironically, in their sarcasm, they are telling the truth. It is a truth they are blind to see. They do not recognise that Jesus’ is their rightful king. He is the rightful king of all of us.

2. Rejecting the true king

In verses 4-15 we read of the religious leaders and the crowd baying for Jesus’ blood. They cry out ‘Crucify him’. Their behaviour is evil and shocking. We see their true colours particularly in verse 15: ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered. (John 19:15) For Jews, they ought to have known that the LORD is King and there is no other. ‘The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King for ever.’ (Pslam 29:10) Jesus is the LORD, the Maker of all, but they are blind to his identity. They reject the Maker of the world. They reject the only one who can save them. And what do they choose instead? They choose the rule of a godless pagan king.

Please notice that when people reject Jesus, the true king, they replace him with all kinds of distorted things to rule over them. It might be money, or pleasure or serving yourself as if you are the king and the centre of the world. Whatever you live for, whatever is most important to you; that is your king.

The religious leaders, more than anyone, should have cared about the truth of Jesus’ identity. But did they really care about who Jesus truly was or why he had come? Sadly, they do not. What do they care about? ‘If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’ (John 11:48) They only care about themselves and clinging on to their power. They are driven by self-interest, not the truth and not what was best for the people. They will do anything to hold onto their power. So, it ought not to be a surprise when we find them blackmailing Pilate (verse 12) saying that if he releases Jesus then he is no friend to Caesar. This would have sent shivers down Pilate’s spine, knowing how fickle Caesar could be. Pilate, like the religious leaders, only cares about clinging on to his power. He cares more about his own skin that justice, or pleasing God. The religious leaders lie, falsely accusing Jesus of both blasphemy and sedition. They are filled with envy and hatred, and it is this which leads them to cry out, ‘Crucify him, crucify him.’

Like the soldiers, who spoke better than they knew, Pilate also speaks better than he knows. This passage is full of irony. In verse 5, Pilate says to the crowd ‘Here is the man.’ It might seem that the Jews were in control of the situation, and Pilate claims to be in control, saying that he has the power to kill or release Jesus. But who is really in control? By saying ‘Behold the man’ Pilate is actually fulfilling Scripture. In Zechariah, a Messianic prophecy, we read: ‘And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honour, and shall sit and rule on his throne.’ (Zechariah 6:12-13)

Also, Pilate is right in another sense. Jesus is ‘the’ man – the only perfect human to have ever lived. RC Sproul says he is a ‘portrait of perfect humanity. This is what man was created to be. This was the second Adam standing in front of this crowd.’ No wonder Pilate repeatedly says that he cannot find any fault with him. There is nothing to find. He is the God-man. He is perfect. And again, in verse 14 Pilate says to the Jews, ‘Here is your king.’ Pilate speaks better than he knows! Jesus is the long-promised messianic king the Jews were supposed to be waiting for, if they only had eyes to see it.

The soldiers and the crowd and the religious leaders are all grim warnings to us about how not to respond to King Jesus. Today, most people reject Jesus as their king, preferring to be the ones in charge, and acting as if they can live any way they choose, with no accountability to God. Many today mock Jesus. Many are blind to his identity and mission. The question for us is, who is my king? Do I recognise the rightful authority of Jesus to reign in my heart and life?

Here’s how we ought to respond. Queen Victoria was listening to a chaplain preaching on the second Coming of Jesus, and during the sermon was tearing up. After the service, the chaplain spoke with her, asking her what had affected her so much. She said: ‘Because of what you said about the coming of the world’s rightful King. I wish still to be here when he returns that I might lay my crown at his blessed feet.’ I hope that this is the attitude we will all have to King Jesus.

3. The calmness of the true King

When Pilate hears that Jesus might have claimed to be the Son of God he reacts with fear. As a superstitious Roman, for Pilate, this was a real possibility. So, he asks Jesus, ‘Where do you come from?’ I think Pilate is asking if Jesus has supernatural origins. But Jesus will not answer, which really riles Pilate: ‘Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’

Notice how calm Jesus is before this Roman leader. He knows he is about to be crucified, and yet there is no panic in his mind. Jesus is the one in control here, not Pilate. Jesus is voluntarily laying down his life for his people. His calm response to Pilate is awesome. Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’ (John 19:11) Pilate, like all with political power, only has that power because God delegates it to him. God is ultimately in control. He raises up kings and leaders and brings them down again.

The amazing truth is this, even though Pilate is acting wickedly, ultimately God is using these evil actions to accomplish his purposes. That’s how powerful God is. That’s the sovereignty of God. And in the light of this, Jesus remains calm, trusting his heavenly Father.

4. The sign above the true King

Pilate has an inscription written and fastened upon the cross: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.’ I believe he does this out of spite, to get back at the Jews for blackmailing him and forcing his hand to have Jesus crucified. The chief priests and the rest of the Jews are raging about this. Such signs normally stated the crime which the one crucified had committed. But not on this occasion. They want the sign altered to say he ‘claimed’ to be the king of the Jews.

To continue our theme of irony, once again we can say that Pilate writes better than he knows. Jesus is indeed the rightful Jewish king, and indeed the king of the world. The Jews want the truth of this sign changed, but it cannot be changed. It is as if God is saying that Jesus exercises true kingship, and nothing can change that reality.

John Calvin: ‘The providence of God guided the pen of Pilate.’

The sign on the cross placards Jesus as king in the three main languages of the day, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. This trilingual sign reminds us that Jesus is not just the rightful king of the Jewish people but of all people in the world, including you. Nothing can alter this fact.

But the question remains, who is your king? Who do you serve? Don’t be like the soldiers who mock the true king. Do not be like the religious leaders, who care more about self-interest than about the allegiance the true king deserves. Remember the warning and promise in Psalm 2: ‘Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’ (Psalm 2:12)

Living hope in the face of death

Geoff Murray Sermons

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 21st July, 2024
Speaker: Geoff Murray
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

How do we respond to death? We need to know because death comes to us all. In the last 6 months we have mourned the passing of Charlie and Rachel’s dear baby, Andrew Kwiatkowski and Bill Croall. Indeed, we’re aware that for some in our midst death is approaching. This has been and is an incredibly hard time for the congregation; many tears have flowed for people we love.

Grief isn’t forbidden, we aren’t told not to grieve. It’s expected we will grieve. One Bible commentator said this: If Jesus wept at the graveside of his beloved Lazarus, his disciples are surely at liberty to do the same.

Death is a part of life and its a part of life which we hate. Death grips every one of us. Death is a part of every one of our stories. We have all lost someone and for those who are younger who maybe haven’t lost someone, you will lose someone. Death is a dark shadow which hangs over each one of us. Indeed, we grieve the loss of those around us but we also recognise we too will one day face death.

So death does indeed come to us all. How do we approach death?

‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.’   (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

This is very much the heart of this message. I don’t want you to be ill-informed about what happens to those who sleep in death, those who have passed away so that we may grieve with hope but also eagerly anticipate our future with the Lord.

1. The grounds of our hope

What grounds do we have for hope when someone dies? Is it possible to have hope? Do we simply pacify our fears and concerns with the idea that, ‘Of course they’re going to heaven cause they were a good person.’ Well, how do we know they were good enough? Are there grounds for real hope?

‘For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.’   (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

This truly is the ground of our hope, this is why we can grieve as those with hope. Yes we grieve the loss of baby Ross, we grieve Andy, we grieve Bill but intermingled with that grief is hope. Hope for those who belong to Jesus but have passed away.

Now, by hope, I am not simply referring to an empty wish ‘hit and hope’, nor am I presuming that we all get to heaven. We have hope as Christians, but what informs this hope? Paul draws a connection here between Jesus’ death and resurrection to our death and resurrection.

‘We believe Jesus died and rose so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.’

The author of Hebrews makes it more explicit: ‘Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.’   (Hebrews 2:14-15)

Death was something to be feared and indeed is something to be feared if your trust is not in Jesus. On the cross, he, of course, takes the punishment for the sins of his people who trust in him so that eternal judgement is not our end. And, in effect, we swap places. He doesn’t simply take our sin, he also gives us the righteousness we lack, he gives us his perfect righteousness so that we can be declared righteous in God’s sight.

Furthermore, we do not worship a dead deity, we worship a risen and exalted saviour. He rose from the grave, defeating the power of death, giving us all the hope of resurrection in the life to come.

All of this means of course that for those of us whose faith is in Jesus Christ, death is no longer something to fear. Death is something which ought not give us fear. We might fear for those left behind, we might fear the questions of ‘what if’ with regrets about how we spent our lives, but if our faith is in Jesus’ death in our place to pay for our sins, we needn’t fear our own death of what will be on the other side of death. Why? Because Jesus died and rose again, we too can be assured of newness of life.

We don’t just have the testimony of the Apostle Paul here though to convince us this is true and this is what happens. We have the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross who said to Jesus, ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus replies, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ (Luke 23:43)

There is a certainty to this hope that Jesus gives. He isn’t vague, he says it clearly, ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.’ That just as there is life beyond the grave for Jesus, so too for us whose hope is in him there is life beyond the grave. For those who place their faith in Jesus, his death means our fear of death is taken away, for those whose faith is in Jesus death does not mean the end but only the beginning. The beginning of life in glory.

That is the grounds of our hope. This is why we can have hope for all who belong to Jesus when they pass on from this life is because of Jesus’ words… ‘because I live, you also shall live.’ (John 14:19)

2. The reality of our hope

What happens when we die? Where is Bill Croall now? Where is Andy Kwiatkowski now?

Westminster Shorter Catechism.
Q38: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united in Christ, do rest in their graves, till the resurrection.

Let’s go from summary in the Catechism to basing it on the biblical text. Paul teaches here to the Thessalonians that those who are believers who have died have ‘fallen asleep in him’.

What exactly does that mean? Well, we can deduce from it what we are able but then also look to parts of scripture that are more clear.

Certainly, ‘fallen asleep in him’ denotes rest. People who believe in Jesus and die enter into that eternal rest.

Rest: From sin & temptation, from their suffering, rest with Jesus.

Note, the idea of falling asleep at death is very common in many cultures and its what Paul means here. The reason I know this is what Paul means is because of what Paul says in Philippians 1 and what Jesus says to the thief on the cross.

Going back to Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’
And to Paul’s words to the church in Philippi; ‘My desire is to depart and be with Christ.’   (Philippians 1:23)

So between those two, we see there is an immediacy about this state of rest. Jesus says, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ Paul’s words in Philippians 1 give no sense of there being a delay to entering into this rest. There is an immediacy to it. That immediately upon passing, believers go to enter their eternal rest.

And Jesus says you will not simply be going to float about in the clouds, Jesus says, ‘You will be with me.’ Paul says the same he wishes to depart, why? So he can be with Christ! The Christ we behold by faith is one day going to be a Christ we behold by sight.

Where is Bill right now? Where is Andy? They are at their eternal rest with Jesus. They are with Jesus right now! The one we know and love and enjoy imperfectly by faith, they know, love and enjoy perfectly by sight. And it will be utterly glorious, it is utterly glorious for them!

They don’t have the fight against their own sin, they don’t have the dark cloud of suffering, for them the clouds have parted and the sun shines. They don’t have questions ‘Is God with me?’ Because he is right there! Jesus is never felt to be distant, Jesus is known to be right there. Jesus whom we can worship and adore, whom we can hug and bow down before. That is their experience right now.

Sure, their bodies remain in the ground, the resurrection as we will see hasn’t happened yet, but at their passing their souls pass immediately into glory.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, that for all who believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. That for all who believe in him, death would not be the end, but death gives way to victory. That even as the body wastes away right now, the soul departs and is with the saviour Jesus. That is the reality we confess, the hope we have. That our dear siblings in Christ who have passed on, where are they? They are really with Jesus. It is not a glib thing we say to try and comfort ourselves, it is reality.

3. The fulfilment of our hope

For us left on earth, that hope isn’t realised fully yet and so there is a lot of waiting for us.

‘For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.’   (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17)

This will be a universal event:
• Every eye will see him – Revelation 1:7
• Every knee will bow before him – Philippians 2:10
• Every tongue will confess him Lord of all Philippians 2:11

This will be a transformative event:
• Death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more – Revelation 21:4
• Sin will be locked out – Revelation 21:27
• We will be transformed – 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

And on that day, all will be made new. What is true of the saints in glory now will be true of every believer. We will be with Jesus forever. We will be in his presence forever, where his glory fills the place, we will rejoice in his presence with a joy inexpressible indeed our joy will be complete. Where the one whom our hearts adore will be before us. Our saviour, our Lord, our King, our friend and companion.

The passage ends in verse 18: ‘Therefore encourage one another with these words.’

And really for us as believers there are two encouragements from this passage:
We do not have to grieve hopelessly for those who have passed
We need not live hopelessly today

We grieve, we mourn, we cry and weep, we miss and long to see again our friends who have passed but because Jesus died and rose again we do not do any of these things hopelessly. That means we aren’t going for a comfortless, vague, wishy washy hope based on nothing when a brother or sister in the Lord passes. That offers zero hope.

That means we aren’t grieving when a brother or sister dies because ‘Well, that’s that.’ and they are no more as if they die and that is all that comes of them in the end.

That means that we grieve hard, we feel deeply the loss of our loved brothers and sisters but we grieve with hope. Because Jesus died and rose again, we know from this passage and others, they who trusted in Jesus in this life are currently with him and for them it is far better. They are in his presence, basking in his glory, delighting in him, worshipping him with their joy complete at eternal rest from their fight against sin and their experience of suffering and now exactly where they need to be, right with Jesus.

This has been, and continues to be, a challenging and painful time in our fellowship, but mingled with the pain and sadness is hope and relief that God, who never goes back on his word, says to us today that they who trusted in him in this life are safe with him in the next right now.

We need not live hopelessly today
How easy it is to be hopeless in this world. The economy is shot, world tensions are high, poor mental health is through the roof, often times there are relational challenges with our family members. How can you live with hope in a world of decay? Because if your faith is in Jesus, these things are promised for you too.

Whether Jesus comes again first or whether you die first, the end is the same, you will be with Jesus. The same joy that is complete for Bill right now will be complete for you too one day. That we are assured that just as Jesus died and rose again so we too will experience new life after death. A life free from pain, sorrow, suffering, sin, and a life full of lasting joy, perfect peace in the presence of our saviour.

So do not be so miserable with the sufferings of this life that you cannot see any hope. We have hope and hope is found in Jesus Christ. Our citizenship is not for this world but our citizenship is in heaven. Have hope amidst your grief, have hope amidst the financial pressures you face, have hope amidst the relational difficulties you face, have hope amidst the darkness of depression for we are told that one day for every believer the darkness will give way to an everlasting life.

Think deeply about, meditate on, pray over this everlasting hope we have. Otherwise how easy it could be to grieve like those without hope. How easy it could be to lament this and that as if that was where our hope was found. How easy it could be to build treasures on earth. How easy it could be to seek hope in whatever political party is in charge, how easy it could be to seek peace in how much money or possessions you have, how simple it could be to forget God altogether and live for today.

Friends, in your daily living, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy where thieves do not break in and steal.

Build your whole life upon this living hope who is Jesus Christ, for an inheritance that never perishes, spoils or fades, that is kept in heaven for you until the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And if you’re with us and you don’t have this hope. You’re thinking, ‘Surely we all get to heaven.’ or maybe you’re realising that all your hopes are for this life, all your dreams are found in this life and you’ve never given a second thought to it.

Place your hope in Jesus Christ, the saviour of sinners, the rescuer for the lost, the one who reconciles us to God. Do not live for this world because one day, whether Jesus comes back again (which could be any moment) or whether you die first before he comes back, there will be a day when everything that you’ve been living for will go up in a cloud of smoke, it will amount to nothing. Build your life upon that which lasts, build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your faith in his death in your place to pay for your sins, confess your sins, seek his forgiveness and this hope can be your hope too.

As Paul says, Jesus will come like a thief in the night; we don’t know when it’s going to happen. Put your hope in him now, seek him now, and be found in him so that when he comes again, you will not be separated from him in eternal darkness but you will be with him in eternal light. Give yourself to him now and know peace with God and hope for eternity.

A ransom for many

John Johnstone Sermons

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 14th July, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Mark 10:45

What is Christianity all about? What is the message of Jesus in a nutshell? How important is it for us to understand this anyway? To understand what it truly means to be a Christian, you need to understand who Jesus is, and why he came to earth. Who is Jesus? He is God. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. No one made Jesus. He has always been there. There is one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is called ‘the Word’. When we hear the title ‘Word’ it is talking about Jesus: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.’ (John 1 vs 1-4) Jesus, then, because he is God, is the one who gives both physical and spiritual life.

Consider the Christmas story. This is when Jesus (who is God) decided to leave his dwelling place in Heaven, and come down to earth, in order to become a real human being. Most of us know how this happens. Mary becomes pregnant by the power of God the Holy Spirit, and so her baby is truly human and truly God at the same time. Jesus becomes the God-man. This is quite simply astonishing. God enters into his own creation by becoming one of us. So, why did he do this? Jesus tells us plainly. Speaking about himself as the Son of Man, which is a divine title, he says that he: ‘… did not come [into the world] to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Mark 10:45) Let’s sum up what we are saying so far. Who is Jesus? He is the unmade and only God, who is good and kind and true. Why did he come to earth and why did he become a human? In order to give his life as a ransom for many.

1. Jesus’ death is a ransom

Is this offensive or the best possible news? What is a ransom? A ransom is the money paid to gain the freedom of those in captivity. For example, recently in Nigeria, a Christian pastor was kidnapped and held to ransom. He was in great danger and payment was demanded in exchange for his liberty. The ransom was paid; however, sadly the terrorists did not release the man. In Bible times, a ransom was the money which needed to be paid in order to set a slave free. Even today, in our computerised age, we talk about ransomware, where our computers are taken over by hackers (in other words they are enslaved by someone else) and in order to get a decryption key from the hackers, a ransom price has to be paid. Sadly, often it is a waste of time paying this ransom as it just encourages more cyberattacks and is no guarantee that we will get our data back!

Why might all this be offensive to us? Because Jesus is implying that all human beings are slaves to their own selfishness and prefer to live for themselves than for God. This might offend you. But is it true? Certainly, many are slaves to drugs and alcohol. You also get shopaholics and workaholics and all these things point to a lack of self-control. When we live for our own pleasures, those pleasures take a grip on us and master us. Are we really slaves to wrong desires and behaviours? Yes. All human beings, some in less obvious ways than others, are slaves to sin. We cannot control our tongues but hurt one another. We have outbursts of anger. Can I prove this? Just try and live a loving, kind life for just one week, where we treat others as we would like to be treated. We cannot do it. Every single day, I break several of the 10 commandments. Without God’s help, I cannot stop doing this. Without Jesus, I am a slave to sin. This also means that morally speaking, because I am consistently breaking God’s rules, I am getting into more and more spiritual debt to God. He hates the way we live selfish lives. We are in great danger, as we deserve his judgment because of our wrongdoing.

But here’s the good news. A successful ransom always sets someone free. The price is paid and the slave is set free forever. This pictures what happens when we become Christians. When we trust in Jesus, he pays an enormous ransom price in order to set us free. The average ransom price for a Western hostage is around $3 million. But what’s the largest ransom price ever paid? The largest was not paid with money but when Jesus voluntarily died on the cross for us, shedding his own blood in order to pay our debts and set us free. The price is his own blood, shed on the cross.

‘For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.’   (1 Peter 1:18-19))

‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’   (Mark 10:45) When we receive Jesus’ death as payment for our own wrongdoing, something wonderful happens. God changes our hearts and gives us new desires and inclinations. Of course, we are not perfect, but we are no longer slaves to sin and to self, but become free to be the people God intended us to be. We become servants of God, wanting to please him more than we want to please ourselves.

For Christians, this ransom is the opposite of offensive – it is the best news in all the world, and that’s why we want to share it with others. We’re told in this verse that the Son of Man ‘gave’ his life as a ransom. In other words, no one took Jesus’ life away from him. He gave it voluntarily and willingly. Jesus’ death on the cross was no accident. Listen to Jesus’ words in John 10:11: ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’

Notice the word ‘for’. Jesus lays down his life ‘for’ the sheep. He gives his life as a ransom ‘for’ many. The word ‘for’ signals that Jesus is dying in our place. We are the ones in debt who deserve to die, but he dies instead of us. He is our substitute. Out of amazing love for slaves to sin, Jesus suffers and dies in our places, in order to set us free and live new lives of love to God and love to others.

‘For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.’   (1 Timothy 2 vs 5-6)

Jesus’ death is the greatest ever ransom. It is 100% effective. For all people who with empty hands receive Jesus’ free offer of dying in our place, there is the promise of freedom, forgiveness and eternal life. It’s almost too good to be true. But it is true. And Jesus did not just die for one particular race or gender or age of people. He dies for many. ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’   (Mark 10:45) Christians belong to an international family of people down through the centuries. What do we have in common? We were all slaves who have been set free by Jesus Christ. That’s why we love and him and live for him. He died for us.

2. Jesus’ death is an example of how we should live

Jesus’ wonderful statement about giving himself as a ransom comes out of an embarrassing context. The disciples know that Jesus is God’s promised Saviour-King. They know he is the Messiah. But they don’t yet understand the kind of Messiah he is going to be. He had not come to save them politically from Roman occupation, but to save us spiritually from our sin. And because they are thinking about Jesus’ work in worldly categories, they want the best places in Jesus’ cabinet when he comes to power. They have the ‘brass neck’ to ask Jesus for the most prestigious jobs that were on offer. They are pushing themselves and their own interests forward. It is like asking a bride and groom for the best seats at the top table at the wedding.

The others disciples are furious. Perhaps they are furious because they hadn’t gotten in there first and asked for these positions of power. Once again, Jesus must patiently correct his disciples. In verse 42, Jesus speaks about the Gentile rulers and officials- they use their political power for themselves and loved to be served by those they have authority over. Jesus says, do not be like them! Christian leaders are to be totally different. We must be counter-cultural. We must focus on serving those under our care. Here’s the truth, greatness in the Kingdom of God is measured by how well we can be servants. ‘Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.’ (Mark 10:43-44)

Friends, this is not just for church leaders. All Christians, all followers of Jesus must die to themselves, in other words, die to living selfish lives; instead, we must focus on serving God and serving others. Jesus is our example. He left the glory and splendour of Heaven and came down to earth in order to sacrificially serve rebels like us. He is our example. We too must sacrifice our time and resources and preferences for others. We too must be servant-hearted. If Jesus, the eternal Son of God, could humble himself to serve others, then of course his followers must do this too.

Here’s the challenge: when you come to church, do you behave as a servant, doing what you can to love and help others? Is that your focus? Or do you come to church for what you can get out of it, and then leave? Do you put the needs of others ahead of your own?

Later in life, the apostle John comes to understand that greatness is the Kingdom of God is measured by service. ‘This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.’   (1 John 3 v16)

3. Elders must be eager to serve

Today we are ordaining a new elder in the church. Jesus sets the tone here for the kind of leader he wants him to be. He wants him to be a humble servant.

‘To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’   (1 Peter 5:1-5)

Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep – the church. He is the one who protects us from evil and he is the one who teaches us from His Word. Elders of the church are Jesus’ under-shepherds, and are also tasked with being men who love the Bible, so that we can protect the church family from false teaching, and feed the church family with nutritious and wholesome teaching from God’s Word. We must be those who understand and live out and love the Bible.

I love the phrase in 1 Peter 5:2: ‘… be shepherds of God’s flock.’ The Christians in this church all belong to God, and not to the leaders. Leaders must always remember that those we care for belong to King Jesus. He died for them and he loves them. And yet, he entrusts them to the care of church elders. What a privilege!

But let’s close with the 3 words at the end of 1 Peter 5:2 – Jesus wants elders who are ‘eager to serve’. It’s not always easy being an elder in the church. It comes with responsibility and time pressures. It involves hard work. So how can we do a good job? We must keep praying for a heart like Jesus’ heart – a heart willing to serve. And we must keep drawing inspiration from the example of Jesus our Saviour, who did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Motives matter

John Johnstone Sermons

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 7th July, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:10-15

When it comes to being a follower of Jesus, our motives matter. God is not just concerned with what we do with our time and resources; he is also concerned with why we do what we do. In other words, God is concerned with the workings of our hearts.

‘For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’   (1 Samuel 16:7)

Jesus focuses on our motives a lot in the Sermon on the Mount. He tells us plainly that our Christian acts ought to be done in secret, so that we are doing them in order to please our heavenly Father, and not because we want others to think well of us:

‘Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’   (Matthew 6:1-4)

Our motives matter. We ought to give a portion of our money back to God, motivated by just how much Christ has done for us.

So, if we want to be a healthy gospel church, it is crucial that each of us thinks deeply about why we do what we do. What is motivating us? Why have we come to worship God today? Why do we spend our time the way we do? The truth is, because we are at the same time saved and yet still sinners, our motives are always mixed. We need to keep praying that more and more, the Lord would motivate us by the right things, and that we would not be motivated out of self-righteousness, pride, greed, guilt or laziness.

In 1789, an Anglican minister called Thomas Scott wrote his autobiography. He made a shocking admission that his ruling motives in becoming a minister were: a comfortable career, lots of leisure time, little labour and the accolades of men. As it turns out, at that point Thomas Scott was not a true believer in Christ. In the Free Church, one of the questions we are asked before being admitted to a pastoral charge is this: ‘Are not zeal for the honour of God, love to Jesus Christ, and desire for saving souls, your great motives and chief inducements to enter into the function of the holy ministry, and not worldly designs or interests?’ Again, our motives matter.

In Paul’s day, there is a group in the church in Corinth who question Paul’s motives for his ministry. They want to undermine his authority and his work by accusing him of being in it for selfish reasons. In this short section (2 Corinthians 5:10-15) Paul defends his own ministry, but giving us an honest account of some of the main things which motivate him. This is enormously helpful for us today, because we can learn from this, and prayerfully seek to be motivated by the same things as Paul. This is particularly helpful to our own church family at this time, as we have been spending time considering how we must serve God and others using our spiritual gifts. As we do this, it is vital that we also consider our motivation for serving Christ and one another. We must evaluate our own hearts. So, what motivates Paul?

1. The fear of the Lord

Of course, this ‘fear’ does not mean that we are scared of God in a negative way. He is our loving heavenly Father, after all. This ‘fear’ speaks of the reverential awe which all Christians should have towards God, their Master. Consider again these verses in our passage.

‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.’   (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)

There is something in us that would like to think that we can live any way we want and it doesn’t really matter. We like to think that we are not accountable to anyone else for our actions. But that is not true. As Christians, we know we will never be condemned by Christ; nonetheless, we must still appear before him to give an account of what we have done with all that he has entrusted us with. In others words, how we live our lives matters and is a serious business. It is wise to live with an eye to pleasing God our Father, and not ourselves or others.

‘For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God…’   (Romans 14:8-10)

Who do you live for? If you live for yourself then you are a selfish person. But is there someone better to live for? Absolutely. We were created by God in order to glorify and enjoy him. He deserves our service because he (not we) is the king of the universe, and he is loving and merciful and good. In fact, he is so kind that our service to him will have positive eternal consequences for us – treasure in heaven! Who do you live for and why? Ultimately, we are all answerable to God and will meet with him face to face one day.

Think of an apprentice who has just been taken on be a good company. She works conscientiously because she wants to please her boss. That’s a good thing. We too want to please our boss, who is our Heavenly Father. ‘We make it our goal to please him.’   (2 Corinthians 5:9)

2. God’s glory

Paul cares far more about God’s glory that what others think of him.

‘If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.’   (2 Corinthians 5:13)

Paul has obviously been accused of being fanatical in his devotion to Jesus. In the book of Acts, when Paul speaks of Jesus rising from the dead, the Roman leader Festus accused him of being mad: ‘At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defence. ‘You are out of your mind, Paul!’ he shouted. ‘Your great learning is driving you insane.’   (Acts 26:24)

Paul is in good company. Jesus’ own biological family thought he was mad: ‘When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’   (Mark 3:21)

What do you care most about? Is it what other people, such as non-Christian friends and colleagues think of you, or is it what God thinks of you? If you are motivated by being a people-pleaser, then it’s unlikely you will live wholeheartedly for Jesus and tell others about him. It is more likely that you will hide your Christian faith away and keep silent about the gospel. However, if we are God-pleasers, then we won’t care as much if we are laughed at, mocked or marginalised. We know living for God is what matters from an eternal point of view. And we also know that the souls or men and women are at stake and sharing the gospel is worth it, no matter how we are treated.

3. Christ’s love for his people

Paul is motivated by Christ’s love for him.

‘For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.’   (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

This is a crystal-clear statement of what motivates and energises Paul: it is the love of Jesus. And in particular, what Jesus has done by dying on the cross for him. We see in verse 15 that the cross makes a radical difference in Paul’s life – he no longer lives for self but for Jesus.

As a church family, this is the heart-beat we want to have as we serve God each and every day. We want to be energised, not by guilt, but by the love of God and the grace of God. This is Paul’s secret for effective and fruitful Christian living.

There was once a woman who won an amazing trip around the world. However, she decided that she could not take up this great prize. When pressed why not, it came to light that her friend was in hospital and she wanted to be there for her friend more than she wanted the holiday. Why was that? It was because her friend had done so much for her at a time when she was a drug addict and lived a chaotic lifestyle and when no one else showed her love and care. Her friend had loved her so much in the past and so now it was a no-brainer- in her friend’s time of need, she would gladly and willingly be there to help. She was compelled by love. The more we actively remember what Christ has done for us, the more our actions will be controlled by that love.

Let’s go back to Thomas Scott, our Anglican clergyman with dubious motives. His autobiography moves on, and he is wonderfully converted. It’s so tragic that some ministers then and now are not true believers, but Thomas Scott’s motivation changed from selfish motivation experiencing being compelled by the love of Christ. He says: “My desire henceforth, God knoweth, is to live to his glory, and by my whole conduct and conversation, to adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour, and to show forth his praise, who has called me out of darkness into his marvellous light, to be in some way or other useful to his believing people and to invite poor sinners who are walking in a vain shadow and disquieting themselves in vain, to taste and see how glorious the Lord is and how blessed are those who put their trust in him.” Now Rev Scott is compelled by the love of Christ.

I agree with Douglas Kelly when he says: ‘We need nothing more in God’s church today in every country than a baptism of the love of the Lord Jesus afresh containing us in a God-ward direction. Ultimately, this constraint is the same love that the Father has to the Son through the Holy Spirit, a love which Augustine called ‘the bond of charity.’

‘… God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’   (Romans 5:5)

There are many other good things which motivate Christians to use our spiritual gifts and to live for the glory of Jesus Christ. But this morning I wanted to focus on two core motives found in this passage. Douglas Kelly summarises these: ‘This is Paul’s double motivation: he is constrained by the love of Christ, and he desires never to disappoint the Lord Jesus when he looks back on his life.’

Consider the words of Isaac Watts in the great hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:

3. See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Amazing grace

John Johnstone Sermons

Video
Sermon: Sunday, 30th June, 2024
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Romans 3:10-26

CS Lewis once entered a large conference on comparative religions. They were discussing if there is anything unique to the Christian faith – something in Christianity which you simply do not find in other religions. CS Lewis said: ‘O, that’s easy. It’s grace’. For Lewis, grace sets Christianity apart from the world’s false religions. Grace is an enormously important word for Christians. It is a beautiful word. It means Christianity isn’t so much about what we can do for God (for we cannot earn his favour) but Christianity is about what God can do for us – what God can do for you!

What is grace?

‘Grace is God’s free and unmerited favour shown to guilty sinners who deserve only judgment. It is the love of God shown to the unlovely. It is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against Him.’ (Jerry Bridges)

We are all sinners. We are all those who fall short of God’s standards. Our culture has a dangerously optimistic view of the human condition, saying that we are all basically good people. Sure, people say, we’re not perfect. Sin is downplayed, with actions blamed on our environment or our genes. However, if people are basically good, why then is sin so universal? Why is the world full of inequality, racism, greed, pride, war and exploitation. When we read the newspapers, it seems more accurate to say humans are basically bad. If we’re honest, we see this sin in our own homes and hearts too. How does God describe our condition? As it is written: ‘There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one.’ (Romans 3:10-12)

This is God’s estimation of our hearts. As far as he is concerned none of us is good. Quite the reverse. Our hearts are black. We are slaves to sin. But against this black canvas there is the sparkling diamond of the grace of God. Have you ever gone to buy a diamond ring? The salesperson in the jeweller’s puts the ring on a black cloth. This is so we can see the beauty of the diamonds in the ring. The grace of God is like a diamond- shining all the more against the backdrop of sin and guilt in our hearts.

1. Our ruin and God’s remedy – the 3 buts

We all know what the word ‘bankrupt’ means. When a business is bankrupt, it is no longer able to pay its debts. The Bible speaks of each one of us as being ‘spiritually bankrupt’. We’ve broken God’s good and holy rules countless times and so are in great moral debt to God. We have nothing to pay off these debts with. In fact, each day we sin more and our spiritual debt increases. We’re bankrupt! I doubt many here are financially bankrupt. But without Jesus, we’re all bankrupt morally. ‘There is no one righteous, not even one…’ (Romans 3:10)

However, Romans 3 does not end with just an outline of our total moral bankruptcy. It goes on. ‘Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ (Romans 3:20-24)

God’s laws are not a ladder which we can climb to enter into Heaven. Actually, the opposite is the case. God’s laws are like x-rays which show up just how much sin is in our hearts. For example, the 10th commandment, ‘Do not covet’, only underlines just how often we want the best for ourselves and don’t like it when someone else has a better house, car, spouse or holiday than we have. What is God’s remedy to our ruin? ‘But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known…’ (Romans 3:21)

We are justified freely by his grace. (Romans 2:24) If we have faith in the work Jesus did on the cross then we are forgiven. Were God to count our sins against us none of us could stand before him (Psalm 130:3). Were God to weigh our lives in his scales we would all fail. But we can be justified – we can be made right with God. What happens? There’s a swap. Our sins are made over to Jesus and his goodness is freely given to us. Is this fair? No! This is grace.

In theological language: ‘God has imputed or charged the guilt of our sin to Jesus Christ; and he has imputed or credited the goodness of Jesus to us.’ That’s grace. God taking the blame for us.

‘God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice…’ (Romans 3:25) Why did Jesus die? As a sacrifice for sins. Why? Because God needs to demonstrate his justice. He cannot ignore the sin in our hearts. But he provides a solution.

‘… and (we) are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.’ (Romans 3:24-25 ESV)

The ESV has this word ‘propitiation’ = by his death, Jesus turned aside the wrath of God by taking it on himself. He bore our sins in his body and endured the full force of God’s wrath.

Why? Why did he do this? Because of his grace. Remember the definition. It is the love of God shown to the unlovely. Is there a more amazing love than this? Are you impressed by God’s love?

Let’s see other passages showing the contrast between our black hearts and God’s grace!

What were we like before we become Christians? ‘As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.’ (Ephesians 2:1-3)

We are dead in our sins (spiritually) and under the influence of Satan. We are prisoners to our own sinful lusts. We are objects of God’s wrath. This is a serious state. We might find this language offensive, but the truth is this – we cannot even go through a single day with doing wrong!

Where’s the grace? Where’s the ‘but’? ‘But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.’ (Ephesians 2:4-5)

But the good news is – God intervened. Why? Because of his great love. Because of his grace. Think of Lazarus in the grave. That’s a picture of what we were like spiritually. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. But God says to Lazarus ‘Come out!’ Why? Because of his grace!

What’s the next description? ‘At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.’ (Titus 3:3) We were slaves to sin.

Where’s the ‘but’? What will God do? ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.’   (Titus 3:4-7)

Because Jesus completely paid the awful penalty of our sins, God could extend his grace to us through complete and total forgiveness of our sins. That’s why the cross of Jesus is so vital. Because on the cross Jesus is taking the punishment we deserve upon his shoulders.

2. What happens to our sin?

(a) How far away does God remove our sins?
‘As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’ (Psalm 103:12)

How far are east and west apart? That’s an infinite distance. This is God’s way of telling us that our forgiveness is total/ complete/ unconditional. This is different from north and south—you can travel north only so far (to the north pole) before being forced to travel south; so, north and south meet at the poles. But east and west never meet.

In Fife east to west would be Crail to Kincardine. In the ancient near east it would be maybe from Egypt to Persia – 1400 miles. However, God has no fixed point in mind- it is an infinite distance!

(b) Can God still see our sins?
‘Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.’    (Isaiah 38:17)

What has God done with our sins? He’s put them behind his back. What does that mean? It means that they are unseen – they are not to be considered anymore. Not to be brought up. We have the English expression; ‘We’ve put that behind us now’ = not to be brought up again.

Are you a Christian? Did you know your sins were behind God’s back? So, when God looks at his children, he no longer sees the filthy clothes; these have been replaced by white robes given to us.

How did our sins get behind God? Jesus makes this possible; by dying for us and paying our debts, as far as God is concerned, it is as if we had never sinned. Our sins will not be thrown in front of our faces ever. They are behind his back.

(c) Are our sins really gone forever?
‘You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.’   (Micah 7:19)

In Exodus 15, God hurls the Pharaoh’s chariots into the depths of the sea – they sink like stones. God deals with the enemies of his people decisively. Pharaoh’s chariots could not catch up with the people. They were free. It’s the same with our wrongdoing. God hurls them into the sea. They are lost forever, never to catch up with us. He wants them to be lost forever because they have been fully dealt with on the cross. That means we are free from our sins. Imagine I threw a certain pebble into the ocean and then asked you to find it again. You could not. That’s how God sees our sins.

(d) But what happens to the record of our sins?
What about the files of all we have done? Isn’t it like social media, that once you post an unwise comment, it is there forever?

‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.’   (Isaiah 43:25)

Picture a scribe taking a wet rag and rubbing out a mistake from a parchment. God is the great Judge of all the earth. But when we trust in Jesus, he takes a wet cloth and wipes the board clean.

Think for a moment about all the wrong you have done in your life. Is this good news? Can you say God has forgiven you? Do you trust in the death of Jesus?

Then understand this: God removes our sins as far as east is from the west, he puts them behind his back, he hurls them into the depths of the sea, he wipes them out, he remembers them no more.