What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.

What a wonderful remark; what awful consequences. When read alone, it is truly a wonderful remark, but when read in the context of when it was spoken, it clearly shows the true horrific state of affairs this earth was in - a state of affairs equal to today. Only Noah found grace in the eyes of our Lord - and no-one else had! Noah was saved, along with his family (something to think about in terms of the extent of grace), but no one else. Today is exactly like the days of Noah. Jesus states that the end will come just as it came in the days of Noah (not by flood but by other means – see the Book of Revelation): "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, (Matthew 24:37-38 NKJV). Grace is afforded to us through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the acceptance that he paid the price for our sin. Grace is a free unwarranted gift, kindness, a favour, often in the form of mercy – and this certainly applies to all humans in regard God. It is something one cannot earn as Scripture states: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV). Are you read for God's return?

Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord,.... All of them were children by national adoption, and some by special grace, and yet "backsliders", O monstrous ingratitude! "backsliders", and yet "children", still the relation continues, O marvellous grace! God's own children may backslide, and often do; either in heart, when love waxes cold, faith declines, zeal wanting; when they get into a carnal sleepy frame of spirit, and have not that quick sense of sin, and of duty, as heretofore: or in practice, when private prayer is restrained; public worship is neglected; get into bad company, and fall into gross sins; all which is owing to the prevalence of indwelling sin, the force of Satan's temptations, and the enticing snares of the world; but God will not leave them, he calls unto them again and again to turn unto him by repentance, and to doing their first works; which calls, at length, through powerful grace, become effectual;

"For I am married unto you"; in a civil sense as a nation, (see Jeremiah 31:32), and in a spiritual sense to a remnant of them; Christ is the bridegroom, the church is the bride, which he has secretly betrothed to himself in eternity; openly in time, at the conversion of everyone of them; and will more publicly at the last day, when all are gathered in and prepared for him. This relation, as it is a very near one, so it is very astonishing, considering the disparity between the two parties, and it always continues; love, the bond of it, never alters; the covenant, in which this transaction is carried on, is ever sure; and Christ always behaves agreeably to it; wherefore it is base ingratitude to backslide; and reason there is sufficient why his backsliding spouse should return to him.

The Son of God

John 17:1 NKJV Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: " Father , the hour has come. Glorify Your Son , that Your Son also may glorify You

John 13:31-35 NKJV So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 9:35-37 NKJV Jesus heard that they had cast him [a man born bling whom Jesus healed] out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God ?" He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you ."

And many other verses

Sent by God

John 8:42 ESV Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

Sent by God to Save

John 3:17 ESV [Jesus replied]..For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God

John 8:18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM .”

John 10:26 – 30 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one .”

King

John 18:37 NKJV Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king . For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Servant

Mark 10:45 NKJV For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

(Philippians 2:7 NKJV [Christ Jesus] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.)

Teacher and Lord

John 13:13 NKJV You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.

Bread of Life

John 6:35 (NKJV) 35 And Jesus said to them, “ I am the bread of life . He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6:48 - 51 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Light of the World

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “ I am the light of the world . He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

The Door

John 10:7 – 10 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep . All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Good Shepherd

John 10:11 – 16 “ I am the good shepherd . The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Resurrection & Life

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “ I am the resurrection and the life . He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

The True Vine

John 15:1 I am the true vine , and My Father is the vinedresser.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

In reference to the prophecy of the coming Messiah found in Deuteronomy 18, John Gill writes:
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet,.... Not Joshua, as Aben Ezra, not Jeremiah, as Baal Haturim, nor David, as others; nor a succession of prophets, as Jarchi; for a single person is only spoken of; and there is a dissimilitude between Moses and anyone of the prophets, and all of them in succession, Deuteronomy 34:10, but the Messiah, with whom the whole agrees; and upon this the expectation of a prophet among the Jews was raised, John 6:14 and is applied to him, and referred to as belonging to him in Act 3:22, who was a prophet mighty in word and deed, and not only foretold future events, as his own sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead, the destruction of Jerusalem, and other things; but taught and instructed men in the knowledge of divine things, spake as never man did, preached the Gospel fully and faithfully, so that as the law came by Moses, the doctrine of grace and truth came by him; and he was raised up of God, called, sent, commissioned and qualified by him for the office of a prophet, as well as was raised from the dead as a confirmation of his being that extraordinary person.

Deuteronomy 34:10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face

John 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."

Acts 3:22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN. HIM YOU SHALL HEAR IN ALL THINGS, WHATEVER HE SAYS TO YOU'.

Sin is out of fashion. The word is an embarrassment to the world and many churches. So called Christian schools do not mention the word ‘sin’ in their faith studies and yet, when God calls to judge, the world wants or expects salvation – that is, the sinful heart denies sin, yet wants salvation. This is of course illogical – one requires salvation, at any time, because something stupendous is about to happen – you are about to be hit by a car failing to stop at a stop sign. This happened to our family the other day, and the car was destroyed. Yelling did not stop the car hitting us, not did imagining that time ceased after the crash – the illogic of evolution. We require salvation because we have sinned.

The Bible says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God goes on to say that all sin deserves death – hence the need for all to seek salvation “the wages of sin is death” – you need to be saved from you sin; else your soul will be cast into hell in a day to come. Many have tried to make good with God, but no-one has ever succeeded except Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need to rely totally on God for our salvation, noting that sin must be dealt with – this being an elementary universal law.

God has provided a way to deal with sin by paying for it by death (also a universal law – “the wages of sin is death”); the death of His own son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, God has provided a substitution, in that his son Jesus Christ has died in place of us – if we want it. This is not automatic – indeed it is a great lie that all who die will be in heaven – only those that accept the gift of Jesus Christ will be saved. A gift is not a gift unless accepted – to be saved you must accept Jesus Christ, in faith, believing that he has indeed died for your sin.

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:30-31)

Paul in Galatians 6:9 commands Christian’s to do three things:

1: We are commanded to act - note that it is a shared action, as Paul includes himself using "we" and "us".

2. The command is to do good. It’s not a command to look good or to make ourselves good, but it involves doing good for Christ, and therefore involves other people. The 'doing good' is what brings treasure into heaven as Jesus commanded. The 'good' must be practical actions by believers.

3. Paul commands us not to let weariness get us down. It’s very easy to see the rapid declension of the world, it’s hatred for anything good, and beautiful, and pleasant. But Paul encourages us not to grow weary. The method is to look forward. The most difficult task of a long distance runner is to remain focussed and comprehend that he or she will reach the finishing line, although he or she cannot see it. They therefore, cannot focus on the weariness, but the prize at the end. Paul uses running in some of his examples for this very purpose. A farmer cannot give up as he battles with the land and weather and pests and markets to bring forth a crop, but must lift his eyes to the end, even if he cannot see it – because in ‘due season’ he will reap the crop.

Do not lose heart. We need to be in constant communion with the Father, else we will lose heart - the world will make us weary (therefore, we need to wash each other’s feet to help alleviate the weariness). Losing heart has lost many a faithful Christian to self-pity and hopelessness. Our future is with Christ, and like a marathon runner; the end we cannot quite see, but we surely know it’s there.

Bible teaching is the essence of any assembly, congregation or church. The Bible, so we are told by the Apostle Paul, is useful for "doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (KJV) or put another way for "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (NIV).

Over the years I have produced a number of sermons or messages which include, in some cases, notes and handouts. These range from headings through to fully formed notes plus a few Microsoft Power Point presentations. Some have been produced by Stephen Simon and these can be found under "messages" as well.

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The heading comes from John 3:16, perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible. It indicates that salvation is by faith and not by works. That is, one cannot ever achieve rightness before God by one's own effort. What one cannot forget is the rest of the text - John 3:16 does not stand alone:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that light [Jesus Christ] is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

If you find a grammatical error, spelling error, broken hyperlink or some other error on these pages please contact me mentioning the page title and location.