Bethel Baptist Church – Brisbane

Here are some challenging words from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

“Must we not all plead guilty to worship that has been completely thoughtless? We have not even stopped to think what we are doing. We have not stopped to realize what we are engaged in. Surely the fundamental trouble with all of us thoughtlessness. Is it not amazing to realize what a number of things we can do quite mechanically? Have you not often found yourself getting on your knees by the side of your bed and saying your prayers without realizing what you were doing? You were actually thinking about something else while you were uttering the words. We have all done that. It is terrible that it is possible for our worship to be quite thoughtless.” – Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Living Water, page 69.

May we give careful attention to engaging our minds in the pursuit of God.

People living in our day generally don’t want to listen to a Christian message that demands anything of us. The preference is for a message that is not threatening, not confrontational, that doesn’t intrude into our personal space, and that doesn’t offend us. The preference of many is to hear a diluted Christian message that is attractive to the ear, but that lacks substance, that doesn’t deal with our true condition before God, and does not demand anything of us, but leaves us just as we are.

But the early Christians who are our best example of how to present the Christian message, spoke the word of God with such authority, that people were affected by it. The effect that Paul’s message had on the people at Athens was deep (Acts 17:16-34). It affected everyone who heard the message in some way. There were some people who believed the message, there were others who wanted to hear more about it, whilst there were others who totally rejected the word of God which was preached through the apostle Paul. All who heard the message were affected in some way by what God spoke to them through Paul.

Paul made it clear that God calls people everywhere to repent. He also made it clear that it is critical we do this, because there will be a day of judgement where the Son of God who died for us will be our final judge.

Acts 17:30 – “The times of ignorance God overlooked, 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 all men by raising Him from the dead.”

The change which God asks from us is a change that is so radical, that it affects our mind, our emotions, our will, so that our entire being is restored back into a relationship with God. God doesn’t just want a part of a person, He wants the whole person. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” – Mark 12:30

Heart, soul, mind, strength – that is the whole person.

The Bible teaches us that all of Scripture is God-breathed, that is, the Scriptures are inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16). The words of the Bible therefore are not like words you find published in any other book – where words become dated and loose relevance. The words of the Bible are words with power and authority, they are words that have life, words that touch our hearts and awaken us to experience the riches of God’s grace – and this, for all generations who open their hearts to hear God.

The words of the Bible are not just records of conversations that took place in history. If you read a history book today, you can read about conversations that took place between certain people, but you understand that was their conversation, you weren’t included in it. You read as an observer, and are excluded from the conversation. That limitation however, does not exist when we read the Bible. For example, when we read about God speaking to Abraham, we are not just observing what God said to Abraham. We are hearing God speaking to us, and calling us to a life of faith. Or when we read of Jesus rebuking His disciples for a lack of faith, through those same words, He rebukes us for our lack of faith.

So let’s not be mere observers when we read the Bible. May we have ears to hear that God is speaking to us. May we always seek to have open hearts to understand what God is speaking to us, so that through the power of His word we can be renewed and strengthened daily.

There is no other book like the Bible, where by reading it with faith, we become a participant in the conversation, and a participant in the blessing!

The message of the cross of Christ has always been a message that both saves and offends. There are people who are offended by the cross, while there are others who experience the saving power of the cross.

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18

Why is the cross offensive? After all, surely the message that God sent His Son to die for our sins is good news for all? Why would anyone be offended by such an offer of grace?

It is our desperate need for the cross of Christ that makes the Christian message offensive. We need the cross, because we have no power within ourselves to save ourselves – salvation is beyond our human powers. This can be deeply offensive when people want to be proud of their own achievements. There are people who want to be saved, want to be accepted before God, but they don’t want Jesus to make them right with God. Such people want to be able to boast before God of their own achievements. They want their own merit to be good enough. That is exactly how each and every one of us was before we came to Christ. We may have had good desires to be pleasing to God, but we wanted to do it in our own power so we get the glory. We must each face the reality that we are in desperate need, we have been seperated from God, and only Christ can bring us back! Therefore, the glory for our salvation belongs to God!

The cross of Christ tells us that we have nothing to boast of before God. No amount of religion or good works can replace our need for a Saviour. The cross shows us that even despite all our best efforts, we cannot do enough to be cleansed from our sin. The Son of God had to come and sacrifice Himself on our behalf – without Him we have no hope. That is offensive for those who don’t think they need Jesus.

Who were the people who were most offended by Jesus? The religious! The very people who boasted of their own religious works, were the very ones who were offended by Jesus. They were offended because Jesus clearly showed them that their man-centred religion which depended on human power, was empty.

The cross continues to offend people today. However, the cross doesn’t only offend – it saves with power those who believe! Just like a dead man cannot do anythying to lift himself from the grave, so too, no spritually dead person can rise unless the power of God raises them from the dead. Jesus is alive, and all who put their trust in Him, are made alive by His divine power.

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” – John 20:30-31

Don’t be offended by the cross. Don’t let your pride stop you from seeing your need for a Saviour. Come to Christ, and experience the power of His saving work!