'It is Finished' (John 19:30)

Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus Christ,
as we survey your wondrous cross,
may we see your glory,
and give you our souls, our lives, our all. Amen.

You put down your pen, after writing for the two hours of the exam, and you’re satisfied you have done your best.

You have seen your final client of the day, and you’re done.

You’ve applied the last coat of paint to the fence, and you are glad to see the job all done.

You’ve been working hard for years, and the final payment on your mortgage has gone through, and you check the balance - nothing more to pay.

You’ve clocked off for the Easter holidays and, for a few days at least, you’ll not be thinking about work.

In lots of different ways, you will have experienced the satisfaction of a job well done. You know what it is to have worked hard, and to be able to bring closure to a project, or a case, or a job. The work is completed. It is finished.

This is what Jesus is saying in this word from the cross. All week we have been listening in to the cross words of Jesus. Hearing about the cost of the cross - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Hearing about the forgiveness available - Father, forgive them. Hearing about the trust of Jesus in his faithful Father - Into your hands I commit my spirit. Hearing about the compassion of Jesus - Here is your son; here is your mother. Hearing about the assurance of the promise - Today you will be with me in paradise. And tonight we hear him say that all his saving work; the work of rescue he came to do, has now been completed. It is finished.

Jesus lived the perfect life of full obedience to the Father. He was tempted as we are, yet did not sin neither in thought, nor word, nor deed. He was entirely innocent. The spotless Lamb who was slain. Yet he did it to take away our sins; to bear our burden; to cleanse us; and restore us; to clothe us in his perfect righteousness. And that work of dealing with our sin has been finished on the cross.

My great-uncle Joe used to work in a car showroom and garage. I would have visited his work a few times if he was taking me for dinner with him and his wife Rebecca. When I was there at the garage, I saw two things that fascinated me. One was the vacuum tube system they had - a wee cylinder would be loaded into the tube, and push a button, and whoosh! it would fly off up the tube. Money going to the safe, or whatever it was. This was amazing!

The other thing that always fascinated me was on the main desk. I wasn’t allowed near it, though. On the desk was a spike, sticking up, like a nail. And caught on the spike were bits of paper. I couldn’t work out what it was for. So Joe explained that the bits of paper were invoices that had been paid for. Paid in full.

When Jesus says ‘It is finished’ there’s the sense of a job well done, finished and completed. But where we have the three English words, It is finished, in the Greek there’s just one - tetelestai. It’s a word with commercial associations. It’s the word that meant paid in full - just like those invoices in Tinsley’s garage. Our sins are on the nail, as Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross.

The other week, we were getting my car washed. And we happened to notice someone we knew in the car behind. So we decided to surprise them. When our car was washed, we paid for our car, and for the car behind. We didn’t get to stick around to see the driver’s reaction when they were told the good news. But they didn’t have to pay, because their bill had already been paid in full.

And that’s what Jesus has done for us. Your sins, past, present and future have all been paid for. Paid in full. You cannot work for your own salvation; you can’t pay off your own salvation. You receive it as a gift, when you trust that Jesus has died in your place, and paid for your sin, and has finished all that is necessary for you to share in his eternal glory.

The Law of the old covenant says ‘Do…’. It gave laws to obey, but none of us ever could. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Law said ‘Do…’ but Jesus says ‘Done.’ It makes all the difference.

Better than the end of an exam; better than the end of the work day; better than getting a job done; better than paying off your mortgage; better than a few days holiday - The cross work of Jesus is completed. His work is done, on our behalf. Your debt of sin has been paid in full. So are you trusting in Jesus?

He says: It is finished.

Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus Christ,
you gave yourself for us,
to deal with our sins,
and complete your saving work.
May we know that you have paid in full;
that your work is finished.
So may we glory in the cross,
and in you, our glorious Saviour. Amen.

(This was my epilogue at our Good Friday service in St Matthew's Richhill on 18th April 2025.)

Cross Words 2 - Assurance (Luke 23: 43)

On Sunday evening, Her Majesty the Queen addressed the nation and the Commonwealth. Speaking from Windsor Castle, she thanked everyone on the NHS front line, care workers and those in essential roles, as well as all who are staying at home to protect the vulnerable.

In the United Kingdom, we have a strong sense of what the monarchy looks like - castles and palaces; pomp and ceremony, guards and bands and parades, horses and carriages; and glittering crown jewels.

In our Bible reading tonight, we find a king, devoid of any appearance of royalty, looking unlike any king you’ve ever seen. A cruel crown of thorns adorns his brow. A scarlet robe adorns his body, as his blood flows, as he hangs on the cross, the symbol of shame and loss.

And almost everyone around the cross joins in the mockery of this supposed king. The people and rulers sneer at this ‘Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The Christ being God’s long-promised, chosen king. But how could this man upon a cross be a king?

The soldiers join in, mocking him. If you’re the king of the Jews, save yourself! That same title hangs above his thorn-crowned head - This is the King of the Jews. This is what happens to people who think they’re the king.

And even one of the criminals, hanging on another cross, insulted him. ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’

Those taunts were truer than they could have imagined. Yes, Jesus is the king, he is the Christ of God. And yes, he is bringing about the saving of many. But in order to save others, he cannot save himself. They just can’t see it, right before their eyes. And so they mock this monarch; they castigate this king.

Yet there is one person who recognises Jesus as the king he really is. The other criminal, hanging from the other cross, he entrusts himself to Jesus the king.

He rebukes the mocking criminal, by confessing that ‘this man has done nothing wrong.’ He knows that he himself is getting what his deed deserve, but Jesus is completely innocent. Jesus is dying the death of a sinner, even though he has done nothing wrong. This is how Jesus can save others, as he dies in their place.

And so the criminal makes a request of the Lord Jesus: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ As unlikely as it appears, he puts his faith in Jesus the king, and his coming kingdom. He makes Jesus his king. And in that moment, he receives the most glorious promise from the lips of Jesus:

‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’ Just consider what Jesus was saying:

Today - this very day, without delay, immediately on dying.

You - this is a personal promise, to this dying thief who has believed in Jesus.

Will be - it’s absolutely certain, it will happen, there’s no maybe about it.

With me - he will be with Jesus, together again, in his presence and company.

In paradise - in the place of perfection, the place where there is no more pain, no more tears, no more suffering or sadness or sickness or sin.

Jesus the King is coming into his kingdom on that very day. And this crucified criminal will be with him in paradise. That’s the promise that Jesus gives to everyone who trusts in him, to everyone who recognises Jesus as their king.

Of the two criminals crucified with Jesus, only one of them received the promise. Even in the closing moments of life, whoever believes in Jesus will receive his promise - no matter who they are, no matter what they have done. But we can’t take it for granted that we can leave it until our dying moments - only one of the criminals called out to Jesus and received his promise.

As the Queen finished her address to the nation and commonwealth on Sunday night, she said this: ‘We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.’

Isn’t that the promise of this crucified King, to all who trust in him, and say to him: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus says: we will meet again.

The second cross word is a word of assurance.

Jesus says: I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on the Tuesday of Holy Week, 7th April 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sermon: Cross Words 1 - Forgiveness (Luke 23: 34)

Dr Catherine Calderwood had been regularly on the news in Scotland. As Chief Medical Officer, she had been front and centre of the campaign urging people to stay at home during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday, however, she was in the news for a different reason. Despite advising people to stay at home, it turned out that she had travelled to her holiday home, on two separate weekends. Under pressure, she apologised, and then last night resigned her position.

There was a disconnect between her words and her actions. She had told the public to do something, but had failed to do it herself. Today, as we come to the first of the cross words, we find that there is no inconsistency in the Lord Jesus. He practices what he preaches.

Back in Luke chapter 6, Jesus says this: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.’ (Lk 6:27-28).

As we hear those words, who is it comes to mind? Your enemies; the people who hate you; the people who curse you; those who ill-treat you. And when you hear of how Jesus wants you to treat them - love, do good, bless, pray for - you think, surely not! That’s impossible!

And yet that’s exactly what Jesus goes on to do, having been arrested, and beaten, and flogged, and now nailed to the cruel cross. He doesn’t speak up to defend himself, or to plead for himself. He doesn’t open his mouth to threaten or curse or accuse. He opens his mouth to love his enemies; to bless them, and to pray for them.

Even in the midst of the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, Jesus loves his enemies. He prays for them. And he prays in this way: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’

Who are the people he’s praying for? Who are the ‘them, and they’ in his prayer? Most immediately, he was praying for those who nailed him to the cross - the Roman soldiers. They were just doing their job, following their orders. They had crucified many people, and this was just another working day. They didn’t know that this man on the middle cross was the Son of God.

Beyond that, Jesus was praying for all involved in the crucifixion. Several weeks later, Peter preaching in Jerusalem, would say to the crowd: ‘You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead... Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.’ (Acts 3:14-15,17)

And ultimately, Jesus was praying for you. You see, we too have gone our own way. We too have rejected God, we too, by nature and by choice, are his enemies, and we have crucified the Lord of glory.

Yet see how precious the Lord’s prayer is. He loved his enemies, and prayed for them. And his prayer is for their forgiveness - for our forgiveness.

Isaiah chapter 53 is an amazing chapter of prophecy, speaking of the crucifixion seven hundred years before it happened. And the chapter closes with these words: ‘For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.’ (Is 53:12) On the cross, Jesus bore our sins. He took our burdens. But he also prayed for the sinners.

As you trust in Jesus, you find that his prayer is being answered, as you receive the forgiveness only he can provide. He who bore your sins has prayed that you would be forgiven. The sin that makes you his enemy can be forgiven, so that you become his friend.

Jesus demonstrates love for his enemies. He practices what he preaches. We can be forgiven. And that’s a glorious truth.

But the forgiven are also called to be forgiving. As we receive God’s forgiveness, we are to pass it on. In 1 Peter we read these words: ‘To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed.’ (1 Pet 2:21-24)

As we receive the forgiveness Jesus provides, we also have his example to follow. Think back to the people who came to mind earlier. How might you treat them differently, in light of the forgiveness of Jesus?

The first cross word is a word of forgiveness.

Jesus says: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on the Monday of Holy Week, 6th April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sermon: Luke 23: 38-43 Characters Around the Cross: The Criminal

All week we have been looking at the characters around the cross. Pilate, who sought to wash his hands of Jesus, who in his indecision decided against Jesus. Mary, who poured out her worship as she poured out her expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet - costly, unashamed, extravagant worship. Judas, who sold Jesus for thirty silver coins, betraying by a kiss. And Peter, who was one minute ready for prison and death with Jesus, and who later that night denied even knowing him - but who was restored and commissioned to strengthen his brothers.

Tonight, our characters are quite literally around the cross of Jesus. As we heard Luke’s account of the passion, we were told that Jesus was crucified along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left. All week, there has been a spelling mistake on the sheets - and at the head of tonight’s service too. You see, we aren’t just focusing (as I had originally planned) on one criminal. We need to consider them both.

In the two crucified criminals, we see two different reactions to Jesus - in fact, the only two ways to respond to Jesus. So as we consider each in turn, ask yourself, which am I like?

The first criminal, he sides with the crowd. Luke tells us about the people watching as Jesus was crucified. The rulers sneered at him: ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ (35) They remember how Jesus has helped and healed so many other people. But they turn it into a jibe. He saved others, but he can’t save himself. It would be like a champion lifeguard who had saved others from drowning, who drowned himself.

Besides the rulers, the soldiers also mock him. ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ (36) They were showing what happened to people who thought they were the king of the Jews. They would end up on a Roman cross, unable to rescue themselves. Come on, if you’re a king, prove it!

So the first criminal joins in with the mocking. He hurled insults at Jesus. He says: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ (39) If you’re really the Christ, the anointed one, the long-promised king, then you should be able to save, not just yourself, but me as well. Did you notice the word each of them used? Save. Save yourself. Come down from the cross. Get yourself out of this mess. And while you’re at it, save me as well. If Jesus really is the Christ, then he should save himself, and save the criminal.

But in order to save others, Jesus cannot save himself. Jesus could have saved himself - but he could not have saved anyone else. It was to save you that Jesus hung on the cross.

The first criminal mocks and sneers, and ultimately rejects Jesus. But the second criminal has a different response to Jesus. Perhaps it was in seeing how Jesus died - in praying forgiveness for the soldiers who crucified him; but he recognises that there is something different about Jesus.

He rebukes his friend, because he recognises that Jesus is innocent. These two men, they were hardened criminals. They deserved all they got. ‘Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.’ (40-41) But Jesus was different. ‘This man has done nothing wrong.’ (41) The wages of sin are death - but Jesus hadn’t sinned; he hadn’t done anything wrong; he didn’t deserve to die at all, let alone on a cruel Roman cross.

He recognises that Jesus is innocent. But he also recognises that Jesus is the king. The sign above Jesus’ head proclaims that he is the king of the Jews. It was a further attempt to mock - look at the so-called king of the Jews, and what we have done to him. At this very moment, Jesus is like no king the world had ever seen.

He wears a scarlet robe - of his own blood, flowing freely from the beating and scourging he received; on his head he wears a crown of thorns. His royal throne is the cruel cross. Yet this man cries out: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (42)

Despite the circumstances, this criminal recognises that Jesus is the King. And so he entrusts himself to this King. He seeks to join his kingdom, by naming Jesus as his King. And when he does so, he receives an amazingly wonderful promise: ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’ (43) Jesus, by his death on the cross, the righteous dying for the unrighteous, has instituted his kingdom, and opened the way for sinners like you and me, and this penitent thief, to be with him in paradise. All we need to do is trust in Jesus, who endured the punishment for our sins. When we name Jesus as our king, we have the promise of paradise.

The dying thief, in his final moments, is rescued from his hellward path and finds himself in heaven. You might hear this and then think to yourself, there’s loads of time yet. I will wait until my dying moments, on my deathbed aged 99. But can you be certain of that? Would you chance all on that day in the future, when you’re not certain of tomorrow? Bishop JC Ryle once said: ‘The penitent thief shows that it is possible to receive Christ just before death - but there were two thieves that day, and only one received Christ and was welcomed into paradise.’

Two criminals. Two responses to Jesus. To ask the question we started the week with - the question that was on Pilate’s lips: What will I do with Jesus? Will you reject him, and mock him? Or will you trust him as king, and receive his promise of paradise?

May this be your prayer tonight: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill in the Characters Around the Cross Holy Week series on Good Friday 19th April 2019.

Sermon: Romans 3: 21-26 Redeemed

Have you ever stopped to consider just how strange it is, that Christians are identified with the cross? This morning we are singing some familiar and well-loved hymns about the cross, and we’re used to seeing a cross on buildings and books and Bibles, and maybe on a chain around your neck. But have you stopped to consider just how strange that might seem? Maybe you’re not a Christian - you’re very welcome to be with us - but you wonder why we go on so much about the cross. And well you might wonder.

After all, to be crucified was a terrible death. The agony was, well, excruciating - a word which literally means ‘out of the cross’. It doesn’t bear thinking about. In fact, polite Roman society wouldn’t even talk about crucifixion, much less think about it, so terrible it was. It was a death reserved for the lowest of the low, a form of execution. To give you a modern equivalent, it would be like having an electric chair or a guillotine on your necklace.

Given its gruesomeness, why do Christians sing about the cross, and talk about the cross, and rejoice in the cross? To help us discover just how important the cross is, we’re going to look at this short snippet of a letter written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome. In these six verses, we see just how wonderful the cross of Jesus really is - and why it matters so much to us.

The passage starts with these two words: ‘But now.’ (21) That means that a change has been brought about. It used to be like this, but now it’s like that. And what is the change that has been brought about? Well, up to this point in the letter, Paul has been showing how none of us are in right standing with God. First of all, he showed how the Gentile world was far from God in a number of ways. And he could hear the Jews looking down on the Gentiles, condemning them for their sinfulness.

The problem was, though, that even the Jews were just as bad. They knew what God wanted. They had the Law. But still they failed to do it. And just before our reading, do you see, Paul gives a series of quotations from the Old Testament to show that ‘There is no-one righteous, not even one.’ None of us are in right standing with God. That’s the bad news. But now Paul gets to the good news.

‘But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.’ (21) The Old Testament Law and Prophets point forward to this righteousness, but it’s not earned by keeping the law. We can’t make it by ourselves. So how do we receive it?

‘This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.’ (22)

Just in case we miss it the first time, we’re given two related words to show how we can receive this righteousness. It comes ‘through faith in Jesus Christ’ and it’s ‘to all who believe.’ When we believe this promise, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, then we receive this righteousness. And it’s available to all who believe - Jew or Gentile; no matter your religious background; no matter where you come from; if you believe you will be made right with God.

That’s what Paul goes on to show: ‘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.’ (22-24).

Maybe you remember learning Romans 3:23 as a memory verse at Sunday School. ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ It’s a helpful summary of our condition without Jesus - what Paul has been showing up to this point in the letter. It’s a picture of an archer firing his arrow at the target, only for it to fall short, to miss the mark, to fail to meet the standard.

But did you notice that it comes within a bigger sentence? And the point Paul is making is that there is no difference whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re right-handed or left-handed - all sorts of people have sinned, and all sorts of people are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

That word redemption is a word from the slave market, where a slave is redeemed, bought back, freed. And that’s what Jesus does for us - he buys us back for God. He frees us from our slavery to sin. And how did he do it?

‘God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.’ (25)

Jesus gave his life on the cross as a sacrifice to pay the price of our sins. Jesus, dying on the cross, was ‘a sacrifice of atonement.’ To atone is to make ‘at-one’ - to bring together again, to reconcile. We, who have fallen short, have been separated from God, we are brought back to him through the blood of Jesus. We are made at-one with God. But did you notice again that it only happens when we trust the promise, when we believe that he did it for us, ‘through faith in his blood.’

In the cross, we see the love of God - Jesus dying to bring us back to God because he loves you so much. But in the cross we also see the justice of God. You see, God is so holy that he must punish sin. But God also longs for you to be with him and to glorify him and enjoy him for ever. How can the two fit together?

God punishes our sin in the Lord Jesus. Jesus, the only perfect man who never sinned, he stood in our place, condemned and guilty - dying the death we deserved. And he gives us his perfect righteousness. He gives us his life. God is just, and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Do you see again - it’s faith in Jesus that means we are justified, declared innocent, just-as-if-I’d never sinned. And it’s made possible through the cross of Jesus. This is why we delight to sing these songs about the cross. This is why we make such a big deal of Holy Week and Easter. This is why we are people of the cross. Because in the cross we are redeemed. In the cross we find atonement. In the cross we are free. In the cross we are forgiven.

Perhaps you’ve never really understood the significance of the cross before. Perhaps you’ve never knelt at the cross, and felt the burden of your sins roll away. Jesus offers you forgiveness and peace and life and so many more blessings today, if you’ll come to him, and trust in him to be your Saviour.

Perhaps you would find it helpful to pray this prayer. I’ll read it out first, and if you’d like to pray it, then you can join me the second time through:

Lord God,
I’m sorry for my sins, all the wrong things I have done.
Thank you that Jesus died for me.
Thank you that you will forgive my sins and make me new.
I trust in Jesus today.
Help me to live for him. Amen.

This sermon was preached at the Seniors' Easter Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Monday in Holy Week 15th April 2019.

Sermon: Psalm 22 Scripture Fulfilled - The Suffering Saviour

God, where are you? Can you hear me? Will you answer me? Don’t you see? Don’t you care? I wonder if you’ve ever said words like these - or ever felt them in your heart. They’re the cries of the heartbroken. The sorrows of suffering. And as you go through the experience of suffering, it feels as if God has forsaken you. He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t act. You feel all alone.

Tonight, we hear the same words on the lips of Jesus. We see this forsakenness in the experience of the Son. And as we glimpse, through the darkness at the desolation, so we find our comfort and our hope through the forsaken one.

In Matthew 27:45-46, we read these words: ‘From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over al the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’ That cry of Jesus is the first line of our Psalm this evening.

And as you scan the Psalm quickly, it’s clear that so many of the details match up with the events of the crucifixion. The mockery of verses 7&8. Bones out of joint, and on display of verses 14 and 17. The thirst of verse 15. The dividing and casting of lots for the clothing in verse 18.

If you had never read this Psalm before, you would probably think it was an eyewitness testimony written down on the day of the crucifixion; or a record of what the crucified one said - written down afterwards. But this isn’t a newspaper report from the Jerusalem Times the next day. This is a Psalm, part of the Old Testament, written down a thousand years before the crucifixion, written down (as the title reminds us) by David, the great-great-great-... grandfather of Jesus.

That’s why we’re looking at this Psalm tonight, in this week of weeks. You see, this week we’re recalling the words of Jesus on the first Easter evening: ‘Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ (Luke 24:44). Jesus says that the whole Old Testament is about him, and points forward to his crucifixion and resurrection. So far, we’ve been in the Law of Moses - hearing the promise of the serpent crusher, who would defeat the power of the devil though wounded by him; and hearing how the redemption of the Israelite slaves from Egypt in the Passover points to Christ our Passover Lamb, where there is safety and redemption under his shed blood.

Tonight we turn to the Psalms, and Psalm 22 as it predicts (in the words of the apostle Peter) the ‘sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.’ (1 Pet 1:11). The sufferings are plain to see, front and centre, from the opening verse which is quoted by Jesus on the cross. By mentioning the first verse here, it seems as if Jesus is linking the whole Psalm to his experience of the cross. So what do we find in the Psalm? How do David’s words tell of his experience? And what does it tell us of Jesus’ sufferings?

You’ll notice that the Psalm switches from David speaking of himself, to addressing God - particularly with the ‘yet’ (3, 9), and the but (6, 19). There are three sets of this pattern, with an increasing desperation each time.

Set one: The forsaken one (1-5). David asks that haunting question - ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ There’s no answer to the question, which is the big problem. David cries out to God, by day, by night, but there’s no answer, he finds no rest.

He just can’t understand his experience - as he turns to address God directly in verse 3. ‘Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One...’ He reminds God of how God has always answered his peoples’ cries before - throughout their history, they trusted you delivered; they cried and were saved. They trusted and were not put to shame.

That word shame provokes the second set of the pattern. It begins in verse 6. ‘But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.’ They don’t just despise him, they also mock him. ‘He trusts in the Lord, let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’

There’s a special suffering in being identified with the Lord. And the crowds at the foot of the cross used these very words as verbal blows on the crucified Jesus: ‘He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.”’ (Matt 27:43).

These taunts are especially terrible because of the closeness of his relationship with God. We see this as he turns again to talk directly to God in verse 9: ‘Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast... from my mother’s womb you have been my God.’ So because of this close relationship, this nearness we’ve always had, then verse 10: ‘Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.’ You’ve always been near, God, but now you’re far and trouble is near. Help me!

As the pattern repeats again from verse 12, we see why there is no one to help. As David describes his suffering - whatever it was he was going through - he perfectly describes his greater son’s suffering on the cross. No one to help, because ‘Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.’

It’s like the walker who had climbed over a gate when the farmer shouts at him, asking if he thinks he can run across the field in 9 seconds. Why, he replies, well, because the bull can do it in 10 seconds. One bull would be bad enough, but the people surrounding David are described as strong bulls encircling. Being surrounded by hostile people. As well as bulls, they are also described as roaring lions, mouths open wide against him.

Verse 14 paints a vivid picture of the position of the crucified - poured out like water; bones out of joint; heart turned to wax, melted within me. Add to that the dryness of mouth in verse 15 - remember that Jesus says in John 19:28 ‘I thirst.’ The dryness and dust of death is an apt picture of this longing.

The sufferings of the crucified one continue, though. Surrounded by dogs (not the well groomed Crufts type or your friendly pampered pooch at home, but more the wild pack dogs - another picture of the mob), the villains encircle - ‘they pierce my hands and my feet.’ Whatever David had experienced, he again gets the details of the crucifixion of Jesus spot on. (Crucifixion hadn’t even been invented when David wrote this Psalm).

Hands and feet pierced, stretched out on the cross, all his bones are on display, people staring and gloating. And then the ultimate humiliation. ‘They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.’ John 19:23-24 describes how this happened - the four soldiers in the group each getting a share, and his seamless tunic going to the winner of the cast lots.

In his death, Jesus had nothing. On Monday evening, we didn’t pick up on it, but as God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden, he replaced their fig leaf coverings with clothes of animal skins. An animal died to provide them with covering. We will one day be clothed in the white robes of righteousness - provided for us by the Christ who hung on the cross naked. He was stripped so that we could be clothed and covered.

The sufferings of Christ, foretold in great detail, and fulfilled in every detail. In verse 19, he turns again to speak directly to God: ‘But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.’

Even in the depths of despair, and the sorrow of suffering, still there is trust. Still there is the cry for help. Do you see it there in verse 20? ‘Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions.’

Now the next line of the pew Bibles continues that pleading - ‘save me from the horns of the wild oxen.’ Another ask. But you might see that there’s also a footnote, an alternative wording - and all the commentators agree, the proper wording. Let me give you verse 21 in the Hebrew word order: ‘Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; from the horns of the wild oxen you have heard me.’

It’s such a sudden change that the NIV translators almost couldn’t believe it. But this is what David wrote - that suddenly, from the horns of the wild oxen, God had indeed heard, and answered (as verse 2 had asked). The sufferings are complete, and the glories are ushered in. That’s what the rest of the Psalm shows us. And it’s what Jesus was pointing to as he quoted Psalm 22:1 - not just his sufferings, but also his glories.

Verses 22-25 continue the pattern, because we’re back to ‘I’ again - but this time, it is the Christ’s experience of celebration: ‘I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.’

His suffering has finished, he declares God’s name and praise, along with his people - the people he has brought near through his suffering.

Why is there such praise? ‘For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.’ The suffering complete, Jesus returns to the Father, raised by his mighty power on that first Easter morning.

The glories spread even further, to the ends of the earth in verse 27. Jesus sends his disciples - sends us, to all nations, and to all generations, bringing the good news of the Jesus who suffered and was raised, who now reigns over all. Look at verse 31. Even though he couldn’t even have imagined that there would be an island called Ireland, and on it a place called Brookeborough, and that three thousand years after he wrote these words, here we would be reading them, and rejoicing in the suffering Son they pointed forward to, yet David writes about us: ‘They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn.’

David couldn’t have imagined that we would be the fulfilling of that last verse; but neither could he have realised just how this Psalm of his could so accurately describe the sufferings of Christ and the glories that followed. So how did he do it? It was only by the Spirit of God - as Peter says, ‘men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Pet 1:21).

The Spirit guided David to write what he wrote, to show that God is in control, in every detail. The death of Jesus was no accident, it wasn’t a big disaster that happened outside of God’s control. No, as Jesus says, ‘everything written about me must be fulfilled.’ He knew what was coming in advance. It’s why he sweat drops of blood, why he agonised in the garden, and why he finally prayed ‘not my will, but yours be done.’

As the writer to the Hebrews urges us: ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb 12:2)

Jesus endured the cross, and scorned its shame. Jesus was stripped so that we could be clothed in his righteousness. Jesus died alone so that we could be welcomed into the great assembly of all his people. Jesus was forsaken so that we never would be forsaken. As Hebrews assures us: ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”’ (Heb 13:5)

This sermon was preached in Brookeborough Methodist Church on Wednesday 12th April 2017 at the Scripture Fulfilled series in Holy Week.

Sermon: Genesis 3: 15 Scripture Fulfilled - The Serpent Crusher

“If you don’t want to know the scores, then please look away now.” Those are the words the newsreader says on Saturday night, just before they report on the football. It’s so that someone who hasn’t heard how their team has done can watch Match of the Day without knowing the end result in advance. But as we gather at the start of this Holy Week, we already know the end result. Jesus, who was crucified on the first Good Friday, was also raised to life on the first Easter Sunday.

And it’s helpful to know that, and helpful to remember the events of that first Easter Day as we begin our special series this week. Do you remember the two disappointed disciples, walking home from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus? A stranger catches up with them, asks what they’re talking about, and they can’t believe he hasn’t heard of all that had happened in the city. They had hoped that Jesus was going to redeem Israel. But their hopes were dashed. He had died on a cross. And surely that was the end. There were rumours flying about that his tomb was empty, but they had given up, and gone home.

The stranger then says, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ He then begins with Moses and the Prophets, explaining ‘what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.’ The stranger was Jesus, and he gave them a big Bible study of how the Old Testament talks of him and points to him.

Having recognised him as he broke the bread, they set off back to Jerusalem in the dark, along the seven miles, to share the good news with the disciples. Then Jesus stands among them, risen, alive, and he reminds them of what he told them before his death: ‘Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’

That’s our purpose this week - to see how the Old Testament scriptures about Jesus’ death are fulfilled. Now, we’ll not cover all of them - we won’t get near the ‘everything written about me’. But we’ll pick out some of the main passages and see how they point us to Christ’s cross.

Tonight, we start at the beginning - a very good place to start. In our reading tonight we have the protevangelium - the first declaration of the gospel, the first signpost to the cross, from within the Garden of Eden.

Eden was the place of perfect paradise, where Adam and Eve walked with God, and ruled the creation under him. It’s hard for us to imagine just how perfect it was, because we’re so used to the world as we know it now. But any time you despair of shattered dreams, or disappointments, or groan under suffering, sickness or sadness or regret strained relationships, you’re longing for the Eden experience.

Adam and Eve had it all, and yet how quickly they lost it. From Paradise to Paradise Lost in a matter of verses. So how did it happen? Behind it all was the serpent. You’ll see that here in Genesis, we’re just introduced to the serpent without any explanation. But in Revelation 12 and 20, the devil is described as ‘that ancient serpent’. So here in Eden is the devil, Satan.

‘Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.’ His craftiness comes out in the way he talks to Eve.

‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”’ He’s challenging God’s word, seeking to undermine it, causing doubt. So when Eve says that they can’t eat from (or touch) the tree in the middle of the garden or they will die, the serpent strikes straight back: ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’

Do you see what he’s doing? Challenging, and now denying God’s word. He’s trying to convince her that God is holding something back, that God is not really good. That you can’t really trust God.

Her desire is stirred: ‘When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.’

The serpent had persuaded her, and tempted her, and deceived her. As Adam and Eve bit into the fruit, they realised they were naked. Guilt and shame were felt for the first time in the world. They had to cover up, fashioned in fig leaves, and then started the first ever game of hide and seek.

The story goes of a minister out visiting, and he rang a door. He had the sense someone was inside, so he wrote a Bible reference on the back of his card - Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock... The next Sunday, the lady slipped him a piece of paper with a Bible reference on it - Genesis 3:10. ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’

Adam and Eve hid themselves from God. It wasn’t that God went missing and Adam and Eve had to go and find him, and that we still are on a search for God. No, it’s us who have gone into hiding. But still God comes looking for us, asking ‘Where are you?’

Perhaps you’re hiding from God tonight. You’re here, but you’re hiding, not really engaged. God comes to meet us where we are; comes to speak tenderly with us.

God asks them why they’re hiding. ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’ And it’s here that the blame game starts. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on!

But do you see how sin brings shame and blame? It’s not really my fault, God - it’s because of someone else; or because of my circumstances; or even because of you, God, you made me do it because of how you made me and what you gave me. ‘The woman you put here with me...’ It’s always someone else’s fault.

In the very place where there was blessing, and perfection, God’s good creation has been marred, spoiled, ruined. It’s like the painting of Jesus on a church wall in Spain a few years ago - that a lady attempted to improve and totally destroyed it. Or it’s like someone who has worked for ages building a model ship out of matchsticks, only for their toddler to destroy.

God has to judge their sin, their refusal to trust him, their disobedience of his word. But even as he declares judgement in the form of curse, there is mercy and grace. God could have wiped them out immediately. One day they would die, but it wasn’t that day.

The curse includes pain in childbirth for the woman and thorns and thistles in work for the man, but it’s in the curse on the serpent that we find the promise of the cross. ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’ (15)

God declares to the serpent that there will be enmity, opposition, hostility between the serpent and the woman; between his offspring and hers; but do you see how it changes at the end?

It’s no longer between the serpent and the woman, nor their respective offspring. This time it’s personal - between her offspring and ‘you’. God declares to the serpent that at some point in the future, the woman’s offspring will do battle with him. There will be a decisive victory.

This is why we see the children of Israel so often being oppressed throughout the Old Testament. The serpent is each time trying to prevent the offspring of the woman from being born - whether it’s the baby boys being thrown into the Nile by the Egyptians; or the slaughter planned by Haman in the days of Esther; or Herod’s killing of the baby boys under two in Bethlehem - the serpent is trying to destroy the offspring before this ultimate battle comes.

That ultimate battle comes on the cross. Let’s think of it in the words of verse 15. (And I hope you don’t have ophidiophobia - the fear of snakes). Picture the two things happening at the same moment - as a man stands on a snake’s head, it bites him in the heel. ‘He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’

The serpent lands a blow on Jesus. He strikes his heel - he brings about Jesus’ death. But Jesus rises from that death to live again. The serpent’s blow is fatal, his head is crushed. William Williams, the Welsh hymnwriter most famous for ‘Guide me O thou great Redeemer’ puts it this way:

‘Bruised was the dragon by the Son,
though two had wounds, there conquered one,
and Jesus was his name.’

As the writer to the Hebrews puts it, ‘Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.’ (2:14).

As far back as the Garden of Eden and Genesis 3, God points forward to the cross, and proclaims that the serpent will be defeated by the offspring of the woman, the serpent-crusher. And so, from Genesis onwards, the search is on for this promised one, the one who would defeat the devil, the one who would bring freedom for his people.

Perhaps tonight, you’re under the weight of your sin. You’ve been deceived by the devil, you feel yourself trapped and enslaved by him. Your shame shouts aloud. Your guilt goes before you. Look again to the cross. In Jesus’ death, he has defeated the devil, he has crushed his head.

And listen to the promise that Paul gives to the Christians in Rome, and to us as well: ‘The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.’ The devil’s days are numbered, and his defeat is sure because of the cross. We can look forward, not to Eden restored, but to the new heavens and the new earth, where nothing unclean or impure can dwell. The scripture has been fulfilled. The serpent crusher has come, and has won.

This sermon was preached in Brookeborough Methodist Church on Monday 10th April 2017 in the Scripture Fulfilled series of Holy Week services.

Sermon: Cross Purposes - Freedom (1 Peter 1: 13-23)

A few years ago, the Parkham branch of the WI in England were due to have a speaker on the theme of pirates. So, the ladies decided that, to mark the theme, they would all come in fancy dress as pirates. Eye patches, Wooden legs, toy swords, one lady even had a parrot on her shoulder (but it was actually a fluffy chick). It looked like a rehearsal for the musical Pirates of Penzance.

But then the speaker, Colin Darch, started his talk, telling the experience of the time when he had been held hostage by Somali pirates. He had been delivering a tug to Singapore when it was boarded by nine armed Somali pirates, demanding £1.6million of a ransom. After a long period of negotiations, the pirates accepted £437,000 and let them go. The ransom was paid, and they were released - given freedom.

This week we’ve been thinking about Cross Purposes, asking what the cross achieved. And we’ve found that there isn’t just one purpose of the cross - there are many. It’s as if the cross is like a diamond; as you look at it from different angles, the light shines and sparkles in new ways. So far we’ve seen how the cross brings us reconciliation with God, being brought near into relationship with him; and then how, as we’re drawn near to God, we’re also drawn nearer to each other in peace. Last night we looked at the cosmic consequence of the cross, bringing victory against the rulers and powers, Satan and his forces of evil. Tonight, we turn our attention to freedom. And even though it’s difficult, I’m going to try to resist shouting ‘freedom’ in the Mel Gibson as Braveheart Scottish accent!

For a few moments this evening, we’re going to look at the freedom the cross brings. But to do that, we need to ask - what are we free from? How was the freedom achieved? And what are we free for?

So first of all, what are we free from? You might know that the American Declaration of Independence claims that every person has three unalienable rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Back whenever we used to play with friends at school, and someone did something, you might have heard them say ‘It’s a free country, I can do what I like...’ We like to think that we’re free, but the Bible teaches that all of us, by nature and choice, are actually slaves. While we may not realise it, we are held in slavery, captured.

Do you remember in John 8, where Jesus says ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They take the hump and say that they are free, never been enslaved. But what does Jesus say? ‘Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.’ (Jn 8:34).

You see, we think that we’re in control, that we do what we want. Temptation comes along, an opportunity to do a little teeny weeny tiny sin, no one would know - a wee white lie. We can handle it. We’re in control. But then lies build upon lies; or the wee sin we think we can control becomes bigger, and comes to control us - devising ways to do it more often; falling to more and more. Are you still in control? Could you stop any time?

Like the addict, we are addicted to sin; bowing down to it; held by it; enslaved by it. Like the fly spotting a nice flower and landing on it, only to be caught up by the Venus Fly Trap. We’re caught. Slaves to sin.

But the good news is that Jesus came for us. As we heard in Mark’s gospel, ‘The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Mk 10:45). As we heard at the start, the ransom is the payment made for release of captives or hostages. Colin Darch got away with a small payment of £437,000. Seemingly the current rate could be as much as £3million.

Now that’s a huge sum of money to pay to release someone. Just think of trying to raise that amount of money to give someone you love their freedom. It would be almost impossible.

And yet, that’s like a pittance, just small change, compared to the biggest ransom payment ever. As Peter writes: ‘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 forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.’ (1 Pet 1:18-19).

One of the Psalms says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills; money would be no object to him; but all the tea in China, and all the money in the world wouldn’t be enough to pay the ransom for you to receive freedom from the slavery of sin. As the children’s song goes: ‘I’m special because God has loved me, for he gave the best thing that he had to save me.’ And what was that? ‘His own Son, Jesus crucified to take the blame for all the bad things I have done.’

Peter describes Jesus as the lamb without blemish or defect. He’s describing Jesus in the terms used of the Passover Lamb, the Lamb that died to ransom and redeem the children of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt. We find the details in Exodus - a lamb per household, kill it, and paint the blood on the doorposts and lintel of your house. Roast the lamb, and eat it, ready to move.

Death was coming to every home in Egypt that night. God had said that the angel of death would sweep through the land, killing every firstborn. And it happened. The next morning, every Egyptian home was in mourning, their firstborn lying dead. But in every Israelite home, the firstborn lived. How? Why?

The Passover Lamb, the lamb without blemish had died in place of the firstborn son. The lamb had given its life in place of the firstborn son. The firstborn was ransomed, redeemed, by the lamb dying in his place. Can you imagine being the firstborn son in that house that night. Would you be nervous, knowing that death would sweep through? Imagine eating the lamb, knowing it had died instead of you. How many times would you ask your dad - did you paint the blood on the doorpost? Will I be safe? Are you sure it’s there?

It’s no accident that Jesus and his disciples were sharing in the Passover meal this very night. The disciples knew how the Passover meal worked; they kept it every year. But this night was different. As we’ll hear and see shortly, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and said ‘This is my body, given for you.’ He took the cup of wine and said ‘This is my blood, of the new covenant.’

Jesus is the Passover Lamb, the ransom paid in his blood - his life poured out for us. Have you taken refuge under the blood of Christ? Have you applied that blood to your soul? Have you heard the clink of chains being cut, the voice telling you that you’re free to go?

You’re free from slavery to sin. The freedom was won by the ransom being paid; you have been redeemed, bought back, as you trust in Christ. But what are you free for?

I wonder if you ever heard these words when you were growing up: If you’re under my roof, you’re under my rules. My house, my rules. Peter tells us that we have been brought into God’s family, that we call on God as our Father. In his house, here’s how it goes: ‘As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all your do; for it is written, ‘be holy, because I am holy.’

As Paul says elsewhere, don’t use your freedom as an excuse to go back to sin. You’ve been set free, so don’t go back again to serve sin. Our Father calls us to holiness, because he is holy. We’re called to live out the family likeness, to become more like our Father. You’re free to follow, free to serve.

Once a dad gave his son a gift on his birthday. It was a do-it-yourself little boat. The young boy spent many hours building it into a beautiful little sailboat, crafting it down to the finest detail. He then took it to a nearby river to sail it. He played with it each day after school. One day, when he put it in the water to play, an unexpected wind moved it away from him very quickly. Though he chased it along the bank, he couldn't keep up with it. The strong wind and current carried the boat far away. The heartbroken boy knew how hard he would have to work to build another sailboat.
Farther down the river, a man found the little boat, took it to town, and sold it to a shopkeeper. Few days later, as the boy was walking through town, he noticed a boat in a store window. When he went near, it looked exactly like his lost boat. Entering the store, looking at it closely, he told the owner that the boat belonged to him. It had his own little marks on it, but he couldn't prove to the shopkeeper that the boat was his. The man told him the only way he could get the boat was to buy it. The boy wanted it back so badly that he did exactly that. As he took the boat from the hand of the shopkeeper, he looked at it and said,
"Little boat, now you're twice mine! Once I made you and now I bought you."

‘Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, to his feet thy tribute bring - ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like me his praise should sing?’ In Christ, by his cross, we are free - free from the slavery of sin. Free to be holy, like our holy Father. Freed by the blood of Christ, ‘who loved me, and gave himself for me.’

This sermon was preached at the Cross Purposes Holy Week series in Brookeborough Methodist Church on Maundy Thursday 24th March 2016.

Sermon: Ephesians 2: 11-22 Cross Purposes: Peace

‘The wall was right behind our back garden. We went to bed as usual and got woken up by our mum at some point of the night. The first thing I noticed was loud cheering. I got up to look out the window and just saw people running past, jumping up and down and crying and laughing... It was an amazing event to have witnessed and I still can’t believe this happened right outside of our house. I will never forget that night.’

Another person says this: ‘With tears streaming down his face he kept saying, ‘I never thought I would live to see this.’ What are they remembering? The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989. For almost thirty years the wall had stood, 87 miles long, over 12 feet high and four feet wide, dividing Berlin between East and West; between Communist and Capitalist. Then one night, the wall came down, the border disappeared, and shortly after, Germany was reunited. The wall that had divided Germans for so long was gone.

Those images of East Germans with all sorts of tools, chipping away at the wall, taking souvenirs, came to mind as I read the passage from Ephesians. The dividing wall of hostility being destroyed. People long divided coming together. A wonderful celebration of peace. But as Paul writes these words, he’s not thinking about the fall of the Berlin Wall, as important as that was. He’s thinking of something even more significant; even more important; which affects each one of us directly - you see, as we gather here tonight, we can be a part of the action; we can benefit from the wall coming down; we can experience that peace.

This week we’re asking the question - what did the cross achieve? Last night we thought about reconciliation - how God took the initiative to bring us back from our self-imposed separation, to call us into relationship with him. It’s only possible because Jesus was forsaken on the cross, so that we could be welcomed in. We can be reconciled to God through the death of Jesus.

But, as Jimmy Cricket would say, come here, there’s more. You see, sin doesn’t just bring separation from God, it also brings separation from one another. Just think of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When God comes and asks what happened, Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent, and the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on! Adam says, ‘The woman you put here with me - she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ It’s not my fault - it’s her fault!

Ever since that day when they were kicked out of Eden, and separated from God, we’ve also been separated from each other. The selfishness of sin runs deep, every man for himself, so that Adam and Eve’s son killed his own brother, and on and on it goes. You only have to watch the news to see this playing out day after day, division, war, hostility... Each of us is separated from everyone else. It’s as if we put up walls around us and our own. Will it ever change? Could it ever change? Could we really experience peace?

Paul goes to the greatest division in his day, and uses it as a case study of what the cross of Jesus has achieved. If the cross has made a difference here, then it can transform any and every situation.

Just think of the way we divide people - men and women; old and young; English rugby fans and everyone else in the world supporting whoever they’re playing; and, in a few months time, people will be divided over ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the European Union. In Paul’s day, there was an even bigger divide - Jews and Gentiles. The Jews saw themselves as the chosen people of God, tracing their family tree to Abraham, and following God’s commands. They made sure that they kept themselves separate from everyone else - the Gentiles, the unclean, the impure.They wouldn’t eat with Gentiles; they wouldn’t talk with Gentiles; the dividing wall was firmly in place.

And this dividing wall wasn’t even just in the mind - there was a real dividing wall, at the temple in Jerusalem. Gentiles could only go so far; into the ‘Court of the Gentiles’. A big wall prevented them from coming in to the Court of Women, the Court of the Israelites, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. There were signs on the gates warning of immediate death if a Gentile went any further. (It was the Court of the Gentiles where the trading took place, the stalls preventing the Gentiles from having space to pray in the only part they were allowed to enter - so when Jesus overturns the tables he says my house is a house of prayer for all nations...).

Paul points to the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility in the temple, which separated Jews and Gentiles. Outside the wall, were the Gentiles - ‘separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.’ (12). That wall stood for hundreds of years, but has now fallen, because of the death of Christ on the cross. Those who were far away have been brought near. That’s the reconciliation we thought of last night, but it also means we have peace with one another.

‘For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.’ (14-15).

The wall dividing Jews and Gentiles has been demolished. The wrecking ball has come, the wall is no more. Jesus has dealt with the hostility, by obeying and fulfilling the law perfectly.

At home I have a big box of toys and props that I’ve gathered up from school assemblies and children’s talks. When our nieces come, there’s one thing they always want to play with from the box - playdough. Now imagine you have some playdough, and you make two people. And I know this couldn’t happen, but imagine those two playdough people fell out. Now imagine that you squish them together into a ball, and out of that lump, you make an even bigger person. The two have become one. You couldn’t see the differences any more, you could only see the one new person.

That’s what Jesus has done. ‘His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which we put to death their hostility.’ (15-16)

This happens in Christ. As we come into relationship with God, we also come into relationship with each other; we become part of the same family. The adopted child doesn’t just belong to their new mum and dad; they belong to the whole family, and relate to their new brothers and sisters as well. To call God our Father is to discover that we have hundreds and thousands of brothers and sisters, from all sorts of backgrounds and nationalities, yet we are one in Christ.

Some of you might know that I like to watch rugby. On a Friday night I might even be found at the Kingspan Stadium, standing up for the Ulster men. Think of what happens when Ulster are playing. Thousands of people decide that they’ll watch the game. From all their different backgrounds, homes, workplaces they’ll come near to the team, to cheer and shout and sing. They’re there for the Ulster team. But it’s not just me in the stands on my own, cheering on the team - I might be loud, but I’m not that loud! As each individual supporter draws near to the team, they’re also drawn closer to all the other supporters as well. As the Ireland’s call goes, we’re shoulder to shoulder. We come for the team, but we’re drawn closer to one another as well.

To be reconciled to God is also to have peace with one another. To have peace with God is also to be reconciled with one another. Just think how amazing it would be to have your name in the Bible. And I’m not talking about writing your name in the inside front cover. To be mentioned in the Bible - how cool would that be?

But there are two ladies who might not agree. They lived in Philippi, they were both Christians, but they didn’t get on together. When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Philippi, he singles them out, he mentions them by name. Imagine sitting there, receiving a letter from Paul, and then hearing your name read out. And what did he say? ‘I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.’ (Phil 4:2). In the Lord, in Christ, agree with each other. Get on together, be reconciled, have peace with one another.

Now perhaps as I mention that, the name or the face of someone has popped into your head. And you think... but... even them? After what they did to me? Yes, in Christ, we need to be at peace. It’s what we pray, probably every day: ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ Do we mean it? Are we living in the peace Christ has obtained for us?

Paul gives us a picture of the purpose of this peace. Here’s the reason why Christ died, why Christ took away the dividing wall of hostility - he’s building a new temple - not of stone with the keep out signs - but a new temple, made up of us, his people. A dwelling place for God, built on Christ the chief cornerstone. We’re drawn to God, and drawn to one another, to be joined to one another for all eternity, one in Christ. People from all sorts of backgrounds, nations, religious roots, but all trusting in Christ and his precious death, which brings us peace with God, and peace with one another. Christ is our peace - will we embrace that peace, and share it with others?

This sermon was preached in Brookeborough Methodist Church at the Cross Purposes Holy Week series on Tuesday 22nd March 2016.

Sermon: Psalm 85 Restore us again

One of the games we used to play as children was quite simple. You took hold of the other person’s hands and started to wrestle, until eventually, the pain was too much for one person and they would cry out the name of the game - ‘Mercy!’ They asked for mercy, to be released, to be let off, because they realised they were defeated.

In our psalm today, we find a similar cry. The word mercy isn’t used, but the idea is there. This isn’t an individual, this is an entire nation, as God’s people cry out for God to ‘restore us again’ and ‘will you not revive us again?’ Perhaps you’ve found yourself crying out for mercy over the summer. Maybe you have once again fallen into that same old sin, and you’re wondering, can you really come again to God? Will he answer and forgive one more time?

Over the summer we’ve been singing the songs of the sons of Korah. They were the worship leaders in the temple. The God-inspired songs were used by God’s people as they went up to worship. As we recognise our need for God’s mercy, let’s sing along, asking God to restore us again.

Look at where the singer starts. There’s this problem, this need for mercy, but that isn’t where he starts. Rather, he goes straight to the top. First word: ‘LORD’. Capital letter LORD. This is the promise-making covenant keeping God. The one to whom we need to turn, if the covenant hasn’t been kept. You see, if you have a problem with someone it’s better to sort it out with that person, rather than running around telling the problem to everyone else! It’s just the same with the LORD - if we have failed him, it’s better to go to him in confession rather than avoiding him or going after anyone else.

So when the sons of Korah come to the LORD, how do they approach him? First, they look back at how the LORD has acted in the past. They have a reminder of what God has done. Did you notice all the past tenses? ‘you were favourable; you restored; you forgave; you covered; you withdrew; you turned.’ Here’s what the covenant LORD has done in the past. This is his past form. All those other times, the LORD has been like this.

It’s a great incentive to pray, isn’t it? To remember what God is like; to remind yourself of how God has acted in the past towards you. It’s the way that most of the Collects in the Prayer Book are structured - some reminder of what God is like before the request itself. And yet, in the psalm, the reminder of how the LORD has acted in the past makes the present more painful. It’s almost as if the singer is saying - LORD, you did all this before, so how come we’re in the mess we are now? If you were like this before, why are you not doing that now?

After the reminder comes the request. We see this in verses 4-7. ‘Restore us again, O God of our salvation.’ They are feeling the heat; they’re experiencing God’s anger. They need to be revived, restored. It may well have been that the land was failing, the crops not producing. In the old covenant there was a close bond between the people and the land - God’s blessing was seen in material things. The produce was God’s promised blessing. Perhaps they’re in a time of drought or famine. They’re crying to the Lord for his help, to give them life, to show his steadfast love. The request is marked off by the mention of salvation at the start and the end - verse 4 and verse 7. This is a request for rescue - a cry for salvation.

They know they can’t sort themselves out. They need God to act, they need God to save - just as he did before. Perhaps you’re in the same boat today. You find yourself far from God; missing the life that he provides. You need God to rescue you. Cry out to him, and not just for yourself - this is the people of God praying together.

Having reminded themselves of God’s character and past deeds; having given the request for rescue, now the voice changes. It’s all our and us up to now, but in verse 8 there’s just one voice. The inspired singer waits for God’s answer. ‘Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.’

There comes the point when speaking must give way to listening. Having asked (for the 20 millionth time) if you can go to the zoo, you have to wait for the answer. Or you pull out the ring, ask the question, and wait to hear if she’ll marry you. The singer anticipates God’s answer. There’s already a hint of reassurance. There’s already the promise of salvation for those who fear God - as the people have shown. It’s bound up in that little phrase: ‘He will speak peace to his people.’ Oh how we need peace in this world - in families, in villages and towns, in nations, and across the world. But even more precious than all those is the peace proclaimed here - peace with God. From God being angry, God will speak peace. But how does that come about?

The answer itself seems to come in verses 10 and 11. We’ve had the reminder, the request, the reassurance, and now comes the restoration. Here’s what God will do, and what it will look like. Here’s how salvation will be accomplished: ‘Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.’

On Friday night, we have our BBQ, with a ceilidh dance after. The caller will tell us how to do the dances, to take your partner by the hand. This is a bit like a dance here. Steadfast love and faithfulness coming together, righteousness and peace as well. From our limited perspective, we can sometimes wonder how all of God’s character can fit together. How can God be loving and yet righteous? How can God at the same time forgive sins, and yet be just? It’s as if we put them all against each other - which one will triumph today? Which bit of God will he really be like today?

But our God is one. He is perfect, and all his perfections are perfect. He is perfectly love and faithfulness and righteousness and peace. All of his actions display all of his character - including the punishment of sins. Just as God was in the past, so he will continue to be, because God does not change. Those four aspects meeting together are the heart of God. They met supremely at the cross, where the sinless Son took on the sins of the world; and took upon himself all of God’s anger at all of our sins, in order to provide a full and free salvation.

It’s at the cross, where we confess our need. It’s at the cross where we see our salvation. It’s at the cross where we find the assurance that God has heard our request, even before we made it. It’s at the cross where God assures us that his anger towards us is spent, and his attitude is love and blessing.

The way we sing this psalm is changed in the light of the cross. If you are a believer, then God is not angry at you. As Paul reminds the Romans, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rather, God disciplines us, as a loving father with his children. When we sin, God wants us to turn back to him, but it’s discipline, not wrath.

The reassurance is picked up again in the last verses. ‘Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.’ This morning, why not come and confess your need? Remind yourself of God’s character. Request his mercy. And find reassurance + restoration at the cross.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 24th August 2014.

Sermon Audio: Cross Examined - Matthew 26-27

After a few years of going it alone during Holy Week, we were delighted to link up with Brookeborough Methodist Church to do a joint Holy Week this year. It was a really good week, as we listened in to the different voices around the cross, ultimately focusing on God's word to understand what was happening. Cross Examined: The Witnesses Testify. My thanks to Colin for his willingness to share and to preach three times. Here is what was said each evening:

1. The woman who anointed Jesus
2. The disciple who betrayed Jesus
3. The disciple who denied Jesus
4. Jesus: faithful to death
5. The centurion who crucified Jesus

Good Friday Sermon: Matthew 27:54 The Centurion Speaks

I wonder if you were able to enjoy a bit of a break today? The days around Easter weekend can sometimes be a bit of a mystery - whether the banks are open; if there’s post coming; if the doctors are having surgeries. Perhaps you took things easy today. The sun was out, all the caravans were on the road towards Enniskillen, holiday time and a long weekend is here!

But maybe you had to work today. The alarm went off as usual; the cows needed milking; the office was calling. As we hear the account of that first Good Friday, we heard of someone who was working that day. When the rooster crowed that morning, little did he realise that he would take home with him more than just his day’s pay; more than a gambled for garment; he would have something much more precious.

He was there that day, probably far from home, working in that backwater place of Israel, in the troublesome town of Jerusalem. The centurion was a Roman soldier; commander of a hundred; and he was just doing his job. The crucifixion of trouble makers was commonplace. He was probably hardened to the painful cries and gruesome sights. It was all in a day’s work, to keep the locals in order and punish the worst offenders. But this day, there was something different about the crucifixion.

He might have heard something about Jesus - certainly he had been around Jerusalem for the previous week, with plenty of discussion and debate. The Jewish leaders were trying to get rid of him. They managed to arrest him (with the help of one of his followers) and gave him to Pilate.

And then he was handed over to be crucified. The centurion took charge of him. Into the Praetorium for scourging and mocking. They say he’s the King of the Jews? We’ll show him what that looks like: a scarlet robe, a crown of thorns, and beating, spitting and mocking.

Then off to the place of the skull. The place of death. Jesus is nailed to the cross, having refused the wine and gall to numb the pain. The centurion and his soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ clothing - the only bonus from a day at the foot of a cross. But it’s at the foot of this cross, the cross of Jesus, the King of the Jews, that the centurion realises that this isn’t like every other crucifixion. This is because of what he hears, and what he sees.

First of all, what he hears. Victims of crucifixion were always insulted - it was a bit like those held in town stocks in more recent times - they were fair game. But what was said was different; more vicious; more vindictive.

The passersby targeted him: ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ If he is the Son of God, he should just come down off the cross and show everyone.

It’s the very same thing that the religious leaders mock him for: ‘He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’’

Both groups were mocking Jesus because he thought he was the Son of God. They didn’t believe it. Despite all the evidence, his teaching, his miracles, his goodness, they refuse to believe. In fact, it’s the reason they put him to death, because they had rejected God and his Son.

The centurion heard all this. But what he didn’t hear was just as significant. He didn’t hear Jesus respond or retaliate. There was no backchat, no threats. The only thing that Matthew tells us that Jesus said was a cry to God: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ A desperate cry as the satisfaction for our sins was achieved through the separation and silence.

As well as his ears, though, the centurion was seeing strange things, further pointers that this was no ordinary crucifixion; that this wasn’t an everyday event.

From noon until 3pm, the sky turned black. Darkness was over the land. An unnatural darkness. It couldn’t have been an eclipse, because, as you might have noticed, there’s a full moon these nights, the Passover full moon. Imagine, it being night in the middle of the day.

As Jesus gave up his spirit, an earthquake shook the ground. Rocks split. Tombs were opened, and dead people were raised to life. It was as if the very earth itself convulsed at the death of its maker.

It was the combination of the sights and the sounds that led the centurion and those with him to be terrified! Grown men, Roman soldiers, fearsome fighters, terrified. The taunters may not have believed; the religious leaders could not and would not see. But it was plain to the centurion: ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’

The centurion came to see who Jesus was. The challenge for us tonight is whether we align ourselves with the religious leaders, or with this pagan soldier? Do you hear the story of the cross and turn away, thinking that it doesn’t matter? Adding your mocking voice to the cry of the scoffers? Wanting him dead, and having nothing to do with him?

Or will you confess with the centurion that this man on the cross, committed to the Father’s will, is none other than the Son of God? To realise the seriousness of our sin, that there was no other way. That in order to save us, he could not save himself, but freely gave himself for us.

Our prayer, as we bring to a close our week of joint meetings, is that you will be able to say with Paul that the man on the cross is: ‘the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’ Surely he was (and is) the Son of God. Amen.

This sermon was preached in Brookeborough Methodist Church on Good Friday, 18th April 2014.

Sermon: Psalm 103: 11-12 Cross Examined

When we were growing up, there was a song we used to sing at Bible clubs. And like all the best songs, there were actions. And it went a little like this: ‘Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.’

Tonight we’ve been using Psalm 103 to help us think about the cross. And in Psalm 103, we find the same measurements in the same directions. There’s something that is deep (or high), and something else that is wide. In fact, the two combined give us the cross. We have an up and down direction, and a side to side direction. Together, they show us what the cross is all about.

First of all, then, the up and down. What’s the tallest building you’ve ever been on? Here’s mine - the Empire State Building in New York. 381 metres high. But it’s tiddly compared to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 829.8 metres tall. They go up really high, yet they still seem very small. They’re called skyscrapers, but they’re not really scraping much of the sky.

Or think of when you fly (if you fly). Planes sometimes pass overhead at about 30,000 feet, and there’s still a lot more sky above. You can go a long way up. David points us to the up and down measurement and says that it’s like the measure of God’s love.

‘As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.’

Go outside and look up. That’s how great God’s love for you is. The distance from heaven to earth was the distance that the Lord Jesus came in order to save us, giving up his place in heaven, being born as a baby, living life among us, and dying on the cross. It’s not even just his love, but his steadfast love - his unchanging, never ending always and forever love. How high? As high as the heavens. That’s God’s love for you.

And because God loved, he gave his Son, to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He died on the cross, while we were yet sinners, in order to take away our sins. And it’s to show this that David gives us the second measurement.

‘As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.’

East and west are always going in opposite directions. They don’t meet. And that’s what Jesus has done with our sin. He has removed it, taken it away, we’ll never see it again.

The story is told of the owner of a Rolls Royce. The firm take great pride in the reliability of their cars. So the man took it over on the ferry to France and was driving around the continent when suddenly, the car broke down. He rang Rolls Royce to get the problem sorted, so they flew out a mechanic in a private jet with all his tools and equipment, he fixed the problem, and the driver continued on his journey.

When he got back home, he was worried about the cost of the repair - the mechanic, the parts, and above all the plane. But he hadn’t received the bill. So he rang up the firm again to ask about the bill. But the person in Rolls Royce replied: ‘We have no record of any Rolls Royce having ever broken down.’

Because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, there is no record of our wrongdoing. Our sins have been removed from us. They’re not stored up so that some other time God can say to us - don’t forget about what I know about you... They have been removed entirely.

This is the good news of the cross - God loves us and our sins are removed from us. This is the reason to praise. This is the reason to come to God and worship him.

The burden of our sin is lifted off our shoulders, because it has been borne by Jesus. Will you lay your burdens down?

This sermon was preached at the SNATCH Praise Service in Aghavea Church Hall on Palm Sunday 13th April 2014.

Book Review: Precious Blood

The blood of Christ and his atoning work are at the very centre of the Christian faith. Books that help us to think again about that precious blood are very important, none more so than this volume. Having read this in the run up to Easter (yet only getting around to reviewing it now), there was much to savour and enjoy.

Emerging from the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology of 2008, Precious Blood isn't just a book of conference addresses. Rather, it's a wonderful set of chapters which deal with the biblical and theological importance of the blood of the Lord Jesus. Split into two main parts, the first considers the atonement in biblical revelation; while the second explores the atonement in Christian thought through various theologians and periods of Church history. I personally found the biblical material better, but it was good to see how the theology of the atonement has been received and taught in the last two thousand years.

Each chapter comes from a different author's pen, which presents the need to quickly adapt from one writer's style to another, but each of the contributions is helpful. Joel Beeke kicks off with an analysis of Exodus 12 and the Passover in his chapter on Necessary Blood. Robert Godfrey continues by explaining Redeeming Blood from Psalm 49, which wasn't one of the 'purple passages' I would have expected in such a book. Philip Graham Ryken comes next with his chapter on Atoning Blood from Romans 3, followed by Richard D Phillips (the editor of the book) on Cleansing Blood from Hebrews 9. Offensive Blood is the subject of Robert Godfrey's next contribution, in a study of Philippians 3, before RC Sproul concludes the first section with the Precious Blood of 1 Peter 1.

The second section considers the atonement in the Early Church (Derek Thomas), Anselm (Philip Graham Ryken), the Reformation (Robert Godfrey), the Puritans (Joel Beeke), developments since the Reformation (Carl R Trueman), and the 'non-violent' critics of penal substitutionary atonement (Richard D Phillips).

This would be a good book for someone who has a grasp of the basics and wishes to explore the doctrine in greater depth. The range of angles is useful, and I'll certainly be returning to the book to use some of the illustrations and ideas for sermons in the future. All in all, it's a great book I would be happy to recommend. The only place I've seen it online is: Precious Blood.

We Will Remember Them

While the poppy crosses fade away, our memories must never fade. Remembrance is an essential element of the human experience. Today, and on Sunday, we particularly remember the dead of two world wars, as well as those who have died in many other conflicts across the world. We especially remember those who have given their lives in this province to protect the whole community.

Remembrance is at the heart of the Christian faith. We remember the greatest sacrifice of all, as the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross at Golgotha, dying that we might live.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. - Jesus (John 15:12-14)