Preaching:Vital for the Health and Growth of the Church

Posted on May 1, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

There are so many attitudes to preaching in today’s church, sometimes the role of preaching is downplayed and in other circles the Church is turned into a preaching station. The scripture is full of examples of preaching and obviously it is important to the purposes of God. So why don’t we see its relevance to us today?

One of the things that really concerns me is that we tend to use the word worship only to apply to the time we are praising God instead of seeing that the sermon is a vital part of worship. In the sermon we listen to the word of God. It is this aspect of listening to God that should be uppermost in our minds when we hear a sermon preached. I wonder what would happen if we all asked the Lord to help us to hear what he is saying to us through the sermon, I suspect our attitude to the preaching of the word of God would change.

Sometimes in a hunger for wanting to see the Holy Spirit work in miracles, signs and wonders, we don’t see the preaching as very important. In the Bible time after time the miraculous takes place in the context of preaching. Jesus when he preached the Sermon on the Mount followed this by a healing ministry. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost leads to a sermon by which 3000 people come to faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul says to the Roman Church,

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”(Romans 10:14-15)

Here we see the vital place for preaching in evangelism, just as in the New Testament days we need to see that preaching is central to the evangelistic task. when we look at any of the great moves of God in history  we see how he used preachers. We can think of well known people such as Wesley,Spurgeon and Billy Graham but when we look closely at church history we see that in every revival there has been a great number of preachers whose names have never made the history books.

Preaching is also vital for the health of the church, that is why Paul could tell the Ephesian elders,

 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,[a] which he bought with his own blood. (Acts 20:27-28)

Here Paul shows that he has taught the whole will of God and that he wants the Ephesian elders to follow him in this. He takes seriously God’s call to be a shepherd of God’s flock,for him this involved teaching the word faithfully. Perhaps the best way to achieve this aim is to be an expository preacher, preaching through whole books of the Bible. This prevents the preacher from just preaching his favourite themes and forces him or her to preach from passages that we would rather leave alone. Paul’s commissioning of Timothy shows how he explained the importance of preaching to the young minister,

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. ( 2 Timothy 4:1-5)

The solemnity of this commission highlights the importance of preaching for the church. In our lives as disciples of Christ we need to be equipped to live for him and the best way for that is by getting to know the word of God. God in his grace has called people to preach his word, so that we can grow in grace and our knowledge of our great Saviour Jesus Christ.

We should be thankful to God for this amazing gift that he has given us and as we go to church each Sunday let us say “speak Lord for your servant is listening” I am convinced that if we take this attitude to the preached word, we will grow in grace. As we grow as Christian people and the Church of God we will better equipped for serving his purposes in our generation.

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What is Worship?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

We can use the word worship very loosely but sometimes it is helpful to look at what the Bible says worship is. Is the worship time in church the time when we express our praises to God  the main thing about worship? I believe that the Scriptural teaching is a lot bigger than this.

Worship should be the expression of our love for God in all that we do, the greatest commandment is

 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

When we think of this as being the central text of the subject of worship it makes sense of Paul’s teaching in Romans 12

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)

These verses taken together make us realize that worship is a lifestyle that is God centered, not just time when we are singing the praises of God or seeking him in prayer. The scriptural concept of worship is much bigger than we normally think. Of course this does not invalidate our concerns for private and public times of worship, on the contrary,if we live a life of worship, we will seek for channels to express that worship in words as well as deeds. Paul links daily life and praising god together in Ephesians 5

15 Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul very naturally links our daily lives to being filled with the Holy Spirit and praising God. sometimes we separate these things and have compartmentalized our lives. This leads to us making a distinction between the sacred and the secular which the Bible never makes. We need to live our whole lives before the face of God.

Having made these comments I do want to look at some guidelines for our corporate worship.

True Worship is God Centered: When we gather to worship have we come to express our love for God or have we come seeking something for myself? This is a vital question because in true worship God must be central. I have been in services where God has been sincerely worshiped some of these have been of charismatic patterns some have been traditional but God is not concerned mainly about the format of the worship, he is concerned about the state of hearts.

If worship is God centered we will want to see everything done for his glory and our worship leaders will point us to the Lord. When we praise our God we praise him for who  is and for what he has done for us. The reason that songs like  And Can It Be, and Amazing Grace, have lasted so long is that they give God the praise due for his gift of salvation.

True worship is Spirit lead: We can not worship the Lord rightly unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit. This means being open to the Holy Spirit’s leading at all times. It also means that we can not have a format for worship that is correct for every occasion, there will times of exuberant praise and other times when the worship is quieter and more subdued. The Holy Spirit should be the one who leads us in all aspects of our worship. When we visit other churches the worship pattern may be different than we are used to, this does not mean that one pattern is inferior to the other but rather that our God leads individual congregations to express their praise in a way that is unique to them. the diversity of the church can be a great blessing to us. The Lord has blessed each congregation with gifted people to serve him in leading in worship and in playing musical instruments, each church should seek to use these gifts in the unique way they were intended for. This is why it is dangerous to slavishly follow somebody other than the Lord, we should glory in the diversity that God has given us.

As the Spirit leads us, he will lead us into those things which will glorify God in our particular context. We should be open to the Lord at all times because he is a good and gracious God. Worship will be the overflow of our love relationship with God. As we see that God is on the throne governing everything he has created and yet caring for each of us,we will have much reason to praise him.

Therefore let us live lives that are lives of worship,responding to the grace of God in Christ Jesus and then we will have much to praise him for.

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Fix Your Eyes On Jesus

Posted on April 26, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

I believe that we need, above all things to “fix our eyes on Jesus”. that statement sounds fine until we start to think about it. We don’t know how to do this at time,so I want to make a few suggestions.
(1) Read the Gospels. By reading the gospels, we remind ourselves of who Jesus is and the wonder of his love shown to very ordinary people. Read about how he showed compassion and calls us to do the same. Spend time reading the Sermon on the Mount and listen to what Jesus has to say you. When we do this we find much to encourage and challenge us.
(2) Pray. Remember that prayer is talking to God and  therefore is a very simple yet profound thing to do. Jesus spent time praying,seeking his Father’s heart. We need to do the same. If we need guidance,let us ask the Lord to guide us. If we have burdens,let’s bring them to the Lord. As we pray we will want to praise God for his love and grace shown to us in Jesus. 
 (3) Worshiping together. The Lord has promised to be with his people as they meet together to worship him. Our times of worship are when we recognise that we are united in Christ and that he is the head of the Christian family. He enjoys seeing his children listening to his word,praising him and seeking him in prayer. The Communion service is one where we see Jesus very clearly and the wonderful sacrifice he has made for us.  we will be blessed as we meet round the Lord’s Table, and as we share together in worship.
I could go on to make a long list of other things that would only be a burden. I am convinced that as we Read the Gospels,pray and Worship the Lord, he will make the other things clear to us.

The above was originally written as a letter to the members of Shoreham Baptist Church in January 2000.

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God’s Plan For Our Success Nehemiah’s Way by Connie Hunter-Urban: A Book Review

Posted on April 25, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

This book is an excellent handbook to the christian life, if you can afford only one book on the Christian life buy this one. We are introduced to the teaching of God’s word in a very direct and understandable way, we are constantly reminded also that the christian life is the Spirit empowered life.

Her illustrations are also testimonies to the grace of God at work in her and through her.

The first chapter lays the foundation for the rest of the book by showing that our Salvation is all through what Christ has done for us and how we are to respond to this grace by loving God.

The second chapter shows how witnessing to god’s love to us is an indispensable part of the Christian life and is an overspill from the grace received at salvation.

The third chapter challenges us to be deeply rooted in the Word of God and to grow in our faith and love for God. She rightly calls this going deeper with God.

In chapter four, we encounter very helpful teaching about the trials we will endure, the book is worth buying for this chapter alone. So often we wonder about the trials and tribulations of life and wonder if God has abandoned us but Connie show how God uses trials to build our character.

Chapter five shows how God goes about refining our character by his word and Spirit and lifes experiences.

Chapter six contains vital teaching about being filled with the Holy Spirit and the place of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This chapter with its clear teaching and testimonies will help anyone with questions about the Spirit filled life.

Chapter seven brings to the importance of devouring the Word of God, once again we see the balance in her teaching between Word and Spirit. We are reminded of the authority of God’s word as the source of all good teaching and the bar against which we check all teachings and experiences.

chapter eight reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle and that we are called to fight in this battle for the glory of God and for the blessing of our fellow human beings.

Chapter nine is about the importance of worship, our God deserves all the honour and praise and we are given much helpful teaching on how to foster worship in our daily lives.

Chapter Ten reminds us that we have a destiny that is unique for each one of us, this chapter reminds us that we are unique and precious to God and because of this God’s plans for us are good.

In summary then this is an excellent resource for the Christian as they live out the life of discipleship.

Get this book and be blessed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this E-Book free from the publisher through Destiny Image Book Review Program. Book Review Program. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Worship, Preaching and Ministry in the Entertainment Age

Posted on April 24, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Today’s Church faces a massive problem because the entertainment age has brought with it the cult of personality. One has only to listen to the radio or watch TV to be confronted with the interest in celebrities, this sadly has infected the church. I want to look briefly at some of the problems this poses for church life in the three specific areas of Worship,Preaching and Ministry.

Worship: Our times of worship can be times when we experience the presence of God as we sing his praises. Indeed very often the time of worship sets the tone for the whole service. The church has been blessed with many good singers and songwriters but even here there can be a tendency to only sing the latest songs at the expense of some of the older songs and hymns. But this is not the greatest problem, the big issue is whether the worship team performs a number or leads us in worship. Sometimes one hears British worship leaders sing songs with an American accent simply because the original was sung by an American worship leader and the song is imitated right down to the accent. When performing the song becomes paramount the time of worship turns into a concert. This need not be the case and indeed in my home church this past Sunday (April 22) we were led in worship very sensitively. This enriched the whole service and prepared us for the proclamation of the Word of God. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading us in worship then we will not slavishly follow even the best of worship leaders, instead we will be open to God to use the gifts that he has given to us a Church in the unique way he intends.

Preaching: If we are to have a healthy vibrant Church we will need  the Word of God to be proclaimed in such a way that the believer is built up in his or her faith. It will also mean that we see the preaching of the Word is vital to evangelism.

The Preaching of the Word is also an area where the cult of celebrity can affect us. We go to the latest conference and hear someone preach and wish that our pastor would preach like him. In the earl seventies and eighties it mas often said that their were a lot of Martynettes in British pulpits, these were pastors who tried to imitate Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Other people tried to imitate John Stott or John Wimber. Again the pastor’s calling is to proclaim the Word of God in the way that God has gifted him. My preaching style is very different from my pastor’s, that is because we are very different people, neither of us has a better style than the other rather we try to use our unique gifting to build up the body of Christ.

Preaching will be a vital element of the the churches life wherever it exists but me must avoid the cult of personality because our calling is to bring the word of God to the people of God, in other words good preaching is God centered. Each preacher needs to know the calling they have from God and the unique way they are equipped for ministry. We will also be aware of the needs of our local congregation and the way God is leading us on. If we do this we can rest secure that even when we are compared to others, we are being faithful to our calling.

There is also a need to assert the importance of preaching and teaching in the local church, our culture wants everything to be given in an entertaining way but we must not become slaves of this mentality. How can we preach on the majesty of God in an entertaining way? the answer is obvious, we can not do it and we must not try to entertain that is not our job. Our task is to help the people of God to know him better and to inspire them by his grace.

Ministry: In many Churches there is a ministry time after the sermon, this is a vital part of our church life. But even here we find pressures to conform to the latest models of ministry. When John Wimber first came to Britain, it was said that a lot of churches had been Wimberised, this was a sad but true statement. Churches slavishly copied his ministry style without asking the question is this the model our Church needs? We need to see that as each local church is unique then ministry styles can be unique to a local church.  It is true that their certain biblical principles that all churches should maintain but one church should not be a clone of another. In the area of ministry some get taken up with the sensational and want to see everything done in a way that draws attention to the ministry time. Surely the important thing about a ministry time is seeing that the people are blessed and receive God’s healing touch upon their lives. Our entertainment culture leads us to seek the sensational but we must resist this for the good of the local Church.

Conclusion: We are called to remain faithful to God in the midst of a culture which seeks to entertain us rather than to see God’s purposes fulfilled. We need to resist all the pressures that this culture imposes on us. I am convinced that if we are faithful to God and seek the leading of his Holy Spirit so that Jesus Christ is glorified, then our times of worship will not be boring but full of life.

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Predestination: an Incentive to Evangelism

Posted on April 17, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

Very often when the topic of evangelism and predestination are considered people think that  believing in predestination will be a hindrance to evangelism. In this post I will attempt to show that just the opposite should be the case.

The great commission and the sovereignty of God: The great commission is the central text for our evangelistic effort. lets look at Matthew 28:18-20 and see what it says to us.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We should note we are commanded to evangelize because all authority has been given to our Lord Jesus, it is because of who Jesus is and his character that we are to go and proclaim the gospel. Those of us who realize the greatness of what Christ has done will realise that we cannot convert anyone, this is the role of God himself. If we take the words of our Lord seriously we will take the gospel out to the world knowing that we go because the sovereign Lord has sent us. It because of this authority that we can tell fallen humankind to repent and expect that God will work in their hearts. The commission is followed by the assurance of the presence of the Lord Jesus as we go into all the world with the good news.

 

Acts 13:48   When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

This verse follows one of Paul’s powerful sermons and the context shows that those who believed through his gospel proclamation were those appointed by God to eternal life, the sovereign action of God can be seen in this incident but it is not only here that we can see it throughout the book of Acts we see God at work.

The results are certain: Because we know that God is sovereign and that he will fulfill his purposes, we can go in obedience to him proclaiming the gospel with the sure knowledge that as we witness to the grace of God,sinners will be saved. It is this fact that has emboldened many of the great evangelist who were reformed in theology men like Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards and William Carey. These men and others have proclaimed the gospel because they knew they were serving a Sovereign Lord God who would work through them to fulfill his will.

 

 

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The Importance of Reformation

Posted on April 16, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

When we use the word reformation we very often think of a historical movement by that name and forget that there is a need for reformation in every generation. We need to constantly ask if what we believe is in accord with the word of God, if it is not it must be changed. Reformation is not just about doctrine but also reforming the church and society in the light of the word of God.
In revival we see the impartation of life, reformation conserves that life and in doing so channels the new life into constructive growth.
We live in an age when even in the church the question most often asked is will it work? rather than asking what is the Truth? If we pursue the truth we will find it always has a  practical application but it may not be the easy option. We need to follow the teaching of the Word of God even if that is costly and makes us appear different. This has ethical as well as doctrinal applications because reformation is about seeking first the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is a vital theme in any biblical theology because the kingdom is greater than the Church, the Kingdom of God is wherever the rule of God is manifested.We need to grasp the implications of the Lordship of Christ as it applies to every area of life if we are to see reformation take place in our own generation.
We need to regain the fact that our God reigns not just in the church but in the whole of his creation and it is the role of the people of God to call society to recognize this.
In subsequent posts I will look at the great truths rediscovered for the Church by the sixteenth century Reformation and also look at various area where own society needs reforming in the light of the Word of God.

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Dare to Believe by Becky Dvorak: A book review

Posted on April 12, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

 My Wife and I lead the prayer ministry team in our church so this book about healing is very instructive for our situation. One thing that struck me from the outset was the authors desire to be obedient to the word of God and to be open to the Spirit of God. something of her motivation can be seen in this quotation from page 293.
“What are our motives for praying for the sick? Is it because we want others to
see that God is moving through us and our ministry? Do we want others to think
that we are super-spiritual or superior over them? Are we in it for financial gain
or position? These are wrong motives. Jesus, on the other hand, was moved with
compassion to heal the sick. Compassion is love in action. We can develop within
us His heart of compassion for others, and when we do, we will start to see healings
manifest all around us. “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude,
and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick” (Matt. 14:14).”
This is a faith building book both through the testimonies and the teaching contained in this book.
One does not have to endorse every single teaching in this book to be blessed through it. I am afraid that some will pick it up and find certain passages and then reject the whole, if they do this they will miss out  on much God centered,Christ glorifying, Spirit empowered instruction. The overall thrust of this book is that anyone can be used of the Lord to bring healing to the sick.
The first chapter is rather long but it lays the foundation for the rest of the book, in this chapter many important facets of Biblical teaching are looked at. This chapter demonstrates one of the strengths of this book and that is the desire to do everything according to Scriptural principles, indeed this chapter encourages us only to accept what is in accord with biblical teaching.
The author demonstrates throughout the book a real openness to the leading of the Holy Spirit, time after time as she has listened to the Lord healings have happened. There is much in this book to build our faith, and to encourage us to follow the leading and example of the Lord Jesus. Becky Dvorak is a lady who because she is filled with the Holy Spirit has a heart of compassion for those who are sick and therefore brings the healing love and grace to the lives of many. The only question that we all have to answer is will we dare to believe?

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Pastoral Ministry:One Commission but a Diversity of Gifts

Posted on April 9, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

I recently took part in an ordination service and in preparing what on say on that occasion and reflecting on it since it has caused me, to marvel at the multifaceted gifting that God has granted to his Church. On that occasion just looking around the congregation one saw such a diversity of gifts. All of which God has granted to his Church for the edification of believers and for the extension of kingdom in mission.

The Commission: All those of us who are called to preach have been called to faithfully proclaim the word of God. The Apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy spells out clearly the call that God has placed on our lives.

2 Timothy 4

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

As we look at this passage we can see clearly that the pastoral ministry requires all those who occupy to be faithful to the Word of God. We are to be prepared att all times to teach and preach the Word of God. We should notice here the practical link of ministry to living the Christian life, for Paul false teaching stopped people from living the God glorifying lives that God intended. At this point we need to be very careful that we do not turn God’s call into some legalistic view of ministry that all must fit. There has been a tendency to imitate certain leaders and make their style of ministry the standard by which we measure ministry. It is important to stress that we all have the same call, the same responsibility to God in Christ. We all need the same Holy Spirit to empower us and guide us but it is Christ who we should be imitating, his commission will have practical out workings in various cultures and church situations.

The Diversity of Gifts: When one begins to look at the variety of people God calls to ministry, we see an amazing picture of God’s creativity and his graciousness. When one looks at the history of the Church one sees such a diversity of people all preaching the same gospel. One could compare for instance two giants of British Evangelicalism from the twentieth century, Martyn Lloyd- Jones and John Stott their preaching styles were very different, they had different emphasizes yet they proclaimed the same gospel. Some people would align themselves with Lloyd-Jones and his reliance on the Puritans, others would align themselves with John Stott and his more Anglican style of ministry. I heard both of these giants preach and I am thankful to God for them both.

There is a greater diversity of gifting than this one can see for instance that some people can use the media to creatively communicate the gospel. Other people along side their pastoral call have a call to compose songs for the edification of the body of Christ. Surely we should celebrate such diversity rather than to try to create clones of our heroes. We need the diversity of gifting even in one church, it is interesting to see how different styles can work together to the glory of God. Sometime people give the impression that to be different is bad but the Scripture affirms that God has called a diversity of people to proclaim the gospel, the diverse gifting is the Lord’s gift to his church let us praise God for it.

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The Centrality of the Cross

Posted on April 6, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

When one considers the biblical narrative we see that the Old Testament shows us the that a Saviour is needed.  The law points both to the need of a saviour and through the sacrificial system the atoning death of Christ is foreshadowed. We can think also of prophetic passages like Isaiah 53. The New testament shows us that the Saviour has come to save his people from their sins, we see in Jesus Christ the fulfillment of all the prophecies and the desires of people to be reconciled with God. In the atoning death of Christ we find hope,we know our own guilt and we instinctively know that we are far from God. In the cross we see atonement achieved.

There are many discussions about the nature of the atonement but surely we need to acknowledge that some of the differences in theology have come about because of the riches of the biblical picture. sometimes even in our own communication we unwittingly stress one aspect of the atonement, I was aware of doing this as I preached my Good Friday sermon from John 19, speaking about Jesus cry of victory from the cross, when he says “it is finished” the emphasis was on the Christus Victor model of the atonement, yes substitution was also present but it was not the main emphasis. So often we try to reduce the riches of the atoning death of Christ to a neat formula but this will not work.

Although various models of the atonement have been emphasized at different points of Church history we need to see the riches of God’s revelation for what they are. The atoning death of Christ does not fit nicely into any neat category it is too great for that. What is of paramount importance is that we see that in the cross of Christ we have the greatest demonstration of God’s love to fallen humankind. In the atonement we find that Christ has gained the victory over all evil powers, at the same time he is the substitute for sinners dying in their place and taking their sin upon himself. With this we will realize afresh that salvation is all of grace, we cannot do anything to merit salvation, all we can do is to come to the cross with the empty hands of faith and receive an all sufficient Saviour there. the old hymn writer said “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness”.

This being true we need to emphasize that we need to keep the cross central to all our thinking because without Christ crucified we would still be in our sins.

This posting has only been able to sketch some of the riches of what Christ achieved upon the Cross, if you want to consider this subject in more depth read John Stott’s great book “The Cross of Christ”

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