Category: Church

Be Prepared: Taking the fear out of sharing your faith

August 14, 2022

Today the title of my message is, “Be Prepared: Taking the fear out of sharing your faith”.

As a new Christian, and a number of times since, the thought of evangelism has been a pretty scary thing. I was told that I needed to share my faith so I could reach other people for Christ. And the more people I reached, the sooner it would be for Jesus to come back. This made me very nervous. It was something I wanted to do, but I felt terribly under-equipped. From talking to others, I found I was not alone.

We have all heard those verses that say, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20) and “And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it” (1 Peter 3:15). For some this is very exciting, for other this brings fear to their hearts!

Over the years I have found that I have learned a lot about sharing my faith. I found there were certain things that helped me be a little bit more prepared. This took a lot of the stress out of sharing my faith. Today I want to share some of those things. As I go through them I am going to share some of my successes and some of my failures.

I want this message to be really practical and helpful to us and hopefully give us some pointers to sharing our faith.

1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move in people’s lives

The first key we need to understand to be more effective in sharing our faith is praying the Holy Spirit to move.

John 16:8 – And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgement.

It is the Holy Spirit’s role to do the work of salvation.

When I meet new people I always pray and ask God if this is someone I should share my faith with. If it is someone I need to talk to, I usually find I have the desire to pray for them and opportunities to talk about spiritual things tend to open up in a natural way.

When I am praying for someone I ask the Holy Spirit to move in their lives. I pray five general things.

  1. God would bless them and protect them.
  2. That the Holy Spirit would draw them to Jesus Christ
  3. That the Holy Spirit would show them their sin.
  4. That the Holy Spirit would make them aware of the need for a Saviour.
  5. That they would accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

So this might be an example of how I pray for someone.

Dear God, I pray for __________. I pray that You will bless them, protect them and watch over them. I pray that the Holy Spirit would move in their lives. Holy Spirit please reveal Jesus to them. Open their hearts and minds to Him. I pray that you will make them aware of their need for a Saviour. Please show them their sin and the need to deal with it. I pray they will trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Amen.

I have found that if God puts someone on my heart to pray this for, before long they are talking to me about spiritual things and they have a tract and a Bible in their hands.

2. Prepare a Testimony

A testimony can bring the Bible to life. I have found that people love hearing stories of how God has done great things for you. When I share about my testimony I touch on three main areas. These three things really help me to structure my story and how Jesus’ story impacted and changed my life.

  • My life before Christ – I share things like how I felt, my illness, my upbringing, what sort of things I was in to, and the sense of emptiness I had inside. These things set the scene.
  • My conversion – I then share how I came to Jesus. I talk about how I was feeling in the year before coming to Jesus, the people who helped me and the story of Jesus coming to die on the cross for me.
  • How my life has changed – In this final section I share how knowing Jesus personally has changed my whole life and outlook. I talk about the love, acceptance, hope, joy and purpose I now feel inside.

For some of us we can not think of a time when you didn’t know Jesus. You can share things some of the things that God has done for you. I actually have several short testimonies that I share with people depending on the situation.

I have had times when someone has simply said, “Dave you are a Christian right? Why do you believe?” And I have shared a short testimony and a few days later they are saved.

3. Know relevant Bible verses

Knowing some relevant Bible verses can be really helpful when sharing your faith. Especially if it someone who has had previous exposure to the Bible or shows and interest in reading it.

I have found that if you just read the Book of Romans with someone you could explain God’s plan of salvation for them.

“Romans road” is a great place to start –

  • The Natural State Of Man – Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”
  • The Reason – Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
  • The Cause – Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned”
  • The Penalty and Gift – Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
  • The Love of God – Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • The Remedy – Romans 10:9-11 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
  • The Decision – Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Work out a simple presentation by putting a few verses together and memorise them. You might like to write them in the back of your Bible so you can refer to them easily. If you can’t remember them all, remember the first one and put references to the next one in your margin of your Bible.

4. Have some evangelistic tools handy

There are a variety of evangelistic tools that you can use to reach people. Sometimes people seem to want to talk about things at the strangest times. Having something on hand can help in those situations. Here are a few examples –

  • Tracts – You can keep one handy in your purse or wallet just in case an opportunity arises. They are very handy if you don’t have much time or perhaps are a bit nervous about sharing your faith. You can even put a library pocket in the back of all your books. Instead of a library card, put a tract in it!
  • Websites – Look out for websites that may help you to reach your friends. Many websites have a “refer to a friend” page that sends an email message on your behalf bringing the site to their attention. You can also share things on Facebook for a wider audience.
  • DVDs – The “Jesus” video is a great way to reach people. In just over an hour you see the whole life of Christ and at the end if gives the opportunity to receive Christ as Lord and Saviour. You could buy one for yourself and one to give away! These days, it is available online to stream at www.Jesusfilm.org,

The most effective three things I have used is tracts, my website passionaustralia.blog and the Jesus movie. I have given away thousands of tracts and hundreds of Jesus videos and many people have been saved as a result. I have had millions of visitors to my website.

As an example, one Jesus video was viewed by 66 people and many got saved. We gave one to a lady and she watched it and got saved. When her husband got home they watched it again. He got saved. When the kids came home, they watched it again and they got saved. The lady took it to her work and the residents of her nursing home all watched it. Many prayed to receive Jesus.

So one resource in your hand can make a huge difference. Like the fish and loaves in Jesus’ hands.

5. Learn the sinner’s prayer

The sinner’s prayer is a simple prayer that you can go through with someone to make their connection with Jesus Christ. It gives the person the opportunity to confess their sin to God and invite Jesus Christ into their lives as Lord and Saviour. There are two examples below that you can use or memorise.

From Billy Graham

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. In Your Name. Amen

From Campus Crusade for Christ

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. Amen

Closing Summary

Today I wanted to encourage you in your evangelism efforts. The main point I hope you got is that you can be more effective in your efforts if you think and prepare beforehand. As we saw there are five things we can do.

1. Pray for people

2. Prepare a testimony

3. Learn key Bible verses

4. Have some resources ready

5. Learn the sinner’s prayer

Closing Prayer

Dear God,
I pray that You will use me to reach others for Christ. Please help me to be effective in sharing my faith. Please help me to know whom to talk to and I pray that You will give me the right words to say when the time comes. I pray for all my family, friends and neighbours. I pray that the Holy Spirit will draw them to Jesus and make them aware of their need for salvation. Please use me to lead them to Christ. I also pray Lord that when people come to You that You will help me to teach them about You and how to follow You each day. I pray that I will help make disciples.
I ask this in Jesus’, Amen.

Sermon: Chosen, redeemed & sealed

June 20, 2022

Over the last few weeks I have been doing my morning devotions from the Book of Ephesians. I have really enjoyed looking back into one of my favourite books of the Bible. I have been working my way through the major headings. The first heading is “Spiritual Blessings in Christ” and as you can see I have picked out three of the blessings we have in Christ – Chosen, Redeemed and Sealed by God.

Bible Reading – Ephesians 1:3-14

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Message points

Today I have three main points I want to share from this passage.

1. God has chosen us and adopted us

A great truth of the Bible is that we who are in Christ or Christians are chosen.

Verse 4 of the text says, “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.

In this simple verse there are four great truths.

  1. Before the world was made we were on God’s mind
  2. God loves us
  3. We are chosen
  4. God sees us as faultless in His eyes.

Paul tells us that God “chose” us to emphasize the truth that salvation depends totally on God. We are not saved by our own good works or because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and loving and chose to freely give us salvation. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the price for our sin and our faith and our faith and trust in who He is and what He has done, we are saved. And the good news is that because we are saved and in Christ, we are faultless in His eyes.

Verse 5 of today’s text tells us that, “God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.”

Again, verse five has a number of great truths.

  1. God decided in advance
  2. We are adopted into His eternal family
  3. It was His idea to save us
  4. Our salvation gave Him pleasure

God has adopted us into His eternal family. He decided in advance to do this. We are now His children. John 1:12 says, “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.”

So, we are chosen, saved and adopted by God

2. We are redeemed by God

Verse 7 tells us, “He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.”

Redemption is an important word in the Christian faith. Redemption is about the buying back or release of an object or person. In the Bible redemption refers to God’s ransoming of believers through the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross and to all the benefits that this brings. So, Jesus paid the price on the cross to redeem us back to God.

Why did we need to be redeemed? We needed to be redeemed because we could save ourselves. When we talk about salvation we see that in our natural state without Christ we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that this sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2).

Some people and some religions think they can redeem themselves by good works. They think if their good deeds out way their bad deeds, then God will accept them. The Bible tells us that salvation is not by good works, so no-one can boast. It is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

This is where Christ comes in with His work on the cross. In Christ we have been freed. Through His death on the cross as a payment for our sin the price has been paid.

Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6 tells us that, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time”.

Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many. It is by Christ’s shed blood that our sins are forgiven. We celebrate this each week in communion. His death opened the way to God. He is the one mediator between God and mankind. Our redemption is 100% totally and completely paid for by the death of Christ.

3. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit

Verses 13 and 14 of today’s text tells us. “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.”

Again, in these two verses there are more amazing truths.

  1. The good news of Christ saves us
  2. God identified us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit
  3. The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that we received an inheritance and we are His own people.

Ephesians 4:30b says, “Remember, He has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.”

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 also says, “It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, 22 and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything He has promised us.”

Romans 8:23 says, “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us.

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a deposit, a guarantee, down payment of what we will receive.

The Greek word used for sealed is sphragizō. This means to stamp (like with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation. In the ancient world seals were very important. If a letter was stamped with the King’s seal, or Caesars seal, it carried the full weight of the King. It has power. Much like a letter written on the letterhead of the Queen or the Prime Minister carries weight today.

The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee, His stamp, His seal, that we belong to Him and He will do what He has promised to do in our lives. As believers we can look forward to the great day when are freed from our bodies and we will live forever with Him without pain, suffering or sin.

Because the Holy Spirit is our seal we can know we are saved. We can know we belong to God. We can know without doubt God will do all He promised.

4. Our salvation is all about God

Just before I finish and summarise my message today I want to share some points that really jumped out at me as I read this passage.

V4 – He chose us before the foundation of the world

V5 – He predestined us to be adopted

V7 – In Him we have redemption

V7 – In Him we have forgiveness of sins

V9 – And He made know salvation to us

V11 – In Him we were chosen and predestined

V13 – In Him we are sealed by the Holy Spirit

Our salvation really is about God and His desire to save us, forgive us and adopt us into His eternal family. We truly are chosen, redeemed and sealed.

Closing summary

So today we looked at Ephesians chapter 1. It is a great passage that assures us of a number of things. The three that we looked at today are…

1. God chose us and adopted us

2. We are redeemed by God

3. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit

4. Our salvation is all about God

Amen

Lectionary or not?

May 17, 2022

The church I attend works off the Lectionary for their sermons. These are a list of Bible readings that are on a three year cycle that line up with the seasons of the church year. It generally has a reading from the Psalms, a Gospel reading and one from another place in the Bible.

In saying this though, we do have the freedom to preach on another passage when it is our turn to preach. We can chose our passage based on what we feel God wants us to preach on for the week. Most times when I do this, people tell me that God spoke to them through the passage. Last time one lady told me that sermon was just for her and it felt like no-one else was there.

When I was a Pastor I would generally seek God at the start of the year and ask what books of the Bible or themes He wanted me to speak about. Most years I would get 2-3 Bible books to work through and a couple of themes that would go for about a month. The other sermons would be one of sermons that I felt to preach on that week.

Now I am a school chaplain I only preach now as a lay preacher every two or three months. I usually look at the Lectionary readings for the day, but most times I feel God wants me to preach on something else. I seek God and just ask “What do You want me to preach on?” Within a few days I find I am drawn to a passage and ideas start to flow.

This Sunday I am preaching and it will be this way again. I looked at the readings for this week and nothing really jumped out at me. I then prayed and asked God. He led me to a passage in Colossians and I had a couple of other little confirmations while talking with others and reading other things.

So I guess if you asked me the question “Do I use the Lectionary for my sermons?” I would have to say no. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like or appreciate when others in our church do. I have been really blessed by the preaching through the seasons of the church year.

On Sunday afternoon our time I would put my sermon online here and our church may have some video too.

Blessings,
Dave

Serving Jesus from a place of rest

February 20, 2022

The title of my message today is “Serving Jesus from a place of rest”. This message has been on my heart for the last few months.

All of us know what it is to be busy, some of us know what it is to be too busy. We experience busyness of life and work, the busyness of kids and school, the busyness of church and serving in volunteer roles, and some even experience the busyness of retirement. Rather than winding down, retirement for some is a winding up!

Today I want to share this message as a new year is upon us and many of the things we do are starting to wind up in February. So before all the rush begins I want us to stop and reflect on the call of Jesus that is found in today’s reading.

Bible Reading

Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Message Points

At the heart of these verses in the Bible reading is an invitation. An invitation to come to Jesus and an invitation to live differently. Today I want to share four things I love about this passage.

1. Jesus invites us to Himself

Jesus says, “Come to Me”. He invites everyone to come and get to know Him and spend time with Him. It is a personal invitation, but it is also to everyone. We see this in the “all who are weary”. It is an invitation to intimacy like He has with His Father.

In the New Testament, we see that Jesus often drew aside to spend time alone with His Father. In Mark 1:35 it says, “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” He needed time alone with His Father to connect with Him and receive orders.

He also called the disciples away to be alone with Him. In Mark 6:31-32 “Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and His apostles didn’t even have time to eat. 32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.”

In my life as a Christian I have heard an audible voice from God twice. Once was when I was in a very busy period of work and ministry and I was staying up late to finish things off after everyone went to bed. In the midst of this work I heard a voice say “Dave”. It was different to the normal sound of my name being said. It was strong and firm, but calming and inviting all in one. It stopped me in my tracks. I walked in to Larissa hoping it was her. She was sound asleep. It was then I realised it was God. I said yes Lord and went and sat in my chair that I did my devotions in. Over the next hour or so I just sat in God’s presence. I didn’t say much. He didn’t say much, but I just sat. I felt a peace and a presence that melted all my stress and worry away. I was weary and God called me to come to Him. The other time I heard an audible was my name again. This time it was when Larissa was in hospital and I was home with two small kids. I had been awake for 24 hours and God said “Dave” again. I sat in His presence again and the same thing happened, my stress and weariness melted away.

Jesus invites us to Himself. He wants us to spend alone time with Him. He promises help for those of us who are weary. So to be effective in serving Jesus from a place of rest, remember Jesus invites us to Himself first.

2. Jesus invites us to take on His yoke

In old style farming a yoke was used to join two animals together. Side by side they would work, until the work was done. Often an older more experienced animal was put with a younger animal. By working with the older animal, the younger one would learn what to do and be under better control.

In today’s passage Bible scholars tell us Jesus was talking about the heavy yoke or burden that the Pharisees put on the people. They had 600+ laws for people to live by and that was burdensome. It was hard work and took all their energy. Jesus on the other hand, asks us to take on His yoke which He says is light and easy. Jesus just wants us to love God and love one another and do His work.

Also by using the yoke analogy, Jesus invites us to partner in the work He is already doing in the world. He invites us to work in His mission field. In this life, it is easy to get caught up in doing all kinds of “good” things, but Jesus invites us to be involved in His work. To put on His yoke and join in with Him.

For me being a school Chaplain it is important for me to take on His yoke and prayerfully seek what God is already doing and join in. I need to see not only with my physical eyes and show love and compassion, but with my spiritual eyes and look for the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit is always working around us drawing people to Jesus. As I walk around I need to learn when to go left, when to go right or when to do the holy hover and wait. So far it has been working well and led to some good conversations.

So to be effective in serving Jesus from a place of rest, it is important to take on His yoke and not the yoke of the world.

3. Jesus invites us to learn from Him

Jesus wants to teach us a different way to live. Jesus wants us to follow Him just like He asked the first disciples to follow Him. He promises that He will be gentle and teach us from a humble heart. I don’t know about you, but that is my kind of teacher.

How do we learn from Jesus today?

  • We read and memorise the words He said in the Bible – the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 is a great place to start.
  • We read and reflect on His interactions with the people He met – Matthew chapter 8 onwards deals with this.
  • We read the prayers He prayed – The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) and Jesus’ prayer for the disciples in John 17.
  • We see how Jesus dealt with temptation from the devil and how He responded with Scripture three times in Matthew 4:1-11.

Over the years I have met a lot of very strong Christians. When I asked what their secret was, it was always the same. They loved the Bible. They loved reading and meditating on it. They loved memorising passages. They loved talking about it.

So to be effective in serving Jesus from a place of rest, we must learn from Him and the best way to do that is by getting in to His Word – the Bible.

4. Jesus promises us rest

The last thing we can learn from these three simple verses is that Jesus promises us rest. If we respond to Jesus’ invite to come to Him, to take on His yoke and to learn from Him, He promises us rest.

The rest Jesus gives us is a rest not of this world. It is a rest that calms us in the middle of our busyness. It is a rest that lets us know God is in control though the world around us is failing. It is a rest that knows the eternal God has everything, even our eternal destiny, under control. We can rest knowing that we are kept safely in the palm of His hand.

My weariness test

Before I finish I want to do the weariness test that I give myself every now and then. I want to use the letters of the word weary.

W – Do I feel like I am working day and night? Or am I waiting on the Lord and responding to His promptings?

E – Does it feel like everything depends on me to get done? Or does everything depend on God and I just play my part?

A – Am I always rushing around to get things done? Or am I allowed to relax and have time off to do the things I enjoy?

R – Am I restless and can’t keep still? Or am I resting in Christ?

Y – Am I saying yes to everyone and everything? Or am I yielded to God and saying yes to Him?

If my answers were more on the left, I may be weary and need to hear Jesus’ call afresh to “Come to me all who are weary?”

Closing

As I said earlier at the heart of these three simple verses are an invitation from Jesus…

1. Jesus invites us to Come to Him

2. Jesus invites us to Take on His yoke

3. Jesus invites us to Learn from Him

When we do, we experience His rest. A rest that is not of this world. And we can run the race in a way that does not make us weary.

Amen.

Great words of the Gospel – Imputation

October 10, 2021

Bible Reading – Romans 5:11-21 NLT

This week I talk about one of the Great Words of the Gospel. I am going to look at a word that is not used very often, but it is a very powerful word that is central to our faith in Christ. The word is Imputation.

The Doctrine of Imputation not only helps understand our need for salvation, it also helps us to understand what Christ has done and what we have because of Christ’s death for us.

In today’s message I want to tell three stories of people I have spoken to over the years. One I was sharing my faith with, one shared a testimony at church and I talked to them afterwards and one was a Christian that needed to understand what we have in Christ. Then I will look at the topic of Imputation and share three things that the Bible tells us about this subject.

Three stories

Story 1 – The first story is of a man we met when we were out going door to door in Perth. We were in one of the more well to do suburbs and in the main street of the area. It was what they call a dress circle. All the houses were very large, had all the features and backed on to a lake. They were the sort of houses that people talk about they would buy if they won lotto. When we approached the house the owner was out the front mowing his lawn. His lawn mower looked like it cost more than my car (a Mitsubishi Scorpion) and the clothes he was wearing to mow the lawn were better than my Sunday best. He had two cars in the garage – a BMW convertible and a Mercedes 4WD. He had a speed boat and a Harley. He looked very well off. Anyway, we said hello and said we were from the local church going door to door. We talked about faith, life, the Bible, church and Jesus. He talked openly about life and his experience with church as a child, but then he said that he came to the point as adult where he decided he didn’t need God. He explained that he was a good person who gave money to charity, he treated people well and he looked after his family – so he wasn’t a “sinner” like others he knew. He knew about sin and understood Jesus died on the cross for him, but it did not rate in his life. In the end, he turned, pointed to his house and garage and said, “Do I look like I need God?” He thanked us for coming, but basically said, “Thanks, but no thanks”. We went on our way feeling very sad for the man because we knew how much he needed Jesus.

Story 2 – The second story was of a man I met at Church many years ago. He was a nice man in his late 50s who was a fairly new Christian. He shared his testimony of how he had not always been a nice man. He talked of his time in Asia of where he headed up a crime syndicate called the Triads. He was involved in drugs, illegal gambling and having people killed. He talked about how it was nothing for him to have someone killed or even do it himself. He talked about the crimes he was involved with over many years. One day he met someone who shared Christ with him. At first, he wanted to have him killed, but before long he wanted to give his life to Christ. He learned that Jesus could forgive his sin and help him turn his life around, but first he had to confess him sins to God. He decided to include them all. He wrote 13 pages of sins on paper. Thirteen pages of the most horrible things a person could do. He understood Jesus could take them all and He would forgive him, so he wanted to include them all. Jesus did and he turned his life around. So much so that he went to the local Police Commissioner to face justice. The Police Commissioner thought long and hard before deciding to let him go. He saw that his conversion was real and he was relieved to have him off the streets.

Story 3 – The final story is of a lady I met who was a lovely lady in her 40s. She had given her life to Christ about 10 years before and done her best to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. It was not until we talked at a deeper level about her faith and life that she opened up to me. She had received God’s salvation and forgiveness, but she could not forgive herself or see herself as righteous in God’s eyes. You see as a young lady she was heavily involved in drugs and she had worked as a prostitute. During this time, she got pregnant several times and she had abortions. She had no time for kids as she had to keep working to support her habit. While she had received forgiveness from God, this ate away at her soul. She could not see herself as righteous in God’s eyes. She loved the Lord and followed Him wholeheartedly, but could not get passed, her past.

Three stories of three very different people. Three people who needed both God and the forgiveness He offered. Two of them had it, but one needed to believe more of what God had given her. This is where Imputation comes into to my message today.

What is Imputation?

Imputation is another legal word. In the legal world, it is the charging or reckoning something to someone’s account. Imputation takes words or actions and ties them to a person or a cause. It also has implications of transferring something to someone else.

We see Imputation is a very important word for us as Christians because it helps us to understand the Gospel more fully. Imputation has three main implications for us.

1. Adam’s sin is Imputed to us all.

In our reading from today we saw that God imputes Adam’s sin to all other members of the human race. Romans 5:12 tell us that, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned”.

The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 3 that Adam sinned and was cast out of the garden paradise that God has placed them in. As a result, all mankind since then has become separated from God because we are all descendants of Adam.

The Bible tells us that in our natural state without Christ we have a tendency towards sin, because Adam’s sin brought it into the world. It seems appealing and enticing and we are drawn towards it. It doesn’t matter if it is in word, deed or thought. It is still sin if it is wrong in God’s eyes.

Adam’s sin had both an immediate consequence – being cast out of the garden, and a mediate long term consequence, it spread to all his descendants – us. It was imputed or legally transferred to the entire human race.

The man that I spoke of in the first story did not think he was a sinner personally, but he needed to understand that sin had been transferred to us all from Adam. He could not see his sin, because he put himself on a pedestal in the place of God. When we place ourselves on a pedestal, it is easier to look down at the sin of others and not see our own sin. It is easier to see the speck in others eyes and miss the log in our own eyes. We can see the sin of the world and be blinded to our own. It is my hope and prayer that this man has since seen his own sin and realised that Adam’s sin is passed on to him also. It is my hope that he placed Jesus on the pedestal of his life.

2. Our sin is Imputed to Christ

The second thing the Bible teaches us about Imputation is that our sins are Imputed to Jesus Christ. Central to the message of salvation is the good news that the entire sin of the human race was transferred to Jesus and born by Him on the cross of Calvary.

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”.

Jesus lived the perfect sinless life. He was the only one in all history who did live a sinless life. He was the only one who could live a sinless life. That is why His life was the perfect offering for sin. He could be made sin, because He had no sin of His own. He was not part of Adam’s sin because His birth was supernatural from heaven.

From our text today verses 15 and 16 tell us, “But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. [16] And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.”

The man from the second story understood the good news of the gospel when he wrote down 13 pages of sin that he had committed. He took weeks to compile the list, because he knew all of them were placed on Jesus. He knew Jesus died for him and he wanted to confess as much as he possibly could. He knew God could cleans him and forgive him of everything, because Christ took all his sin. He understood the imputation of his sin to Christ.

3. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us.

In the third point, we are going to look at some great news. Not only have our sins been taken by Christ’s death on the cross, we have been given Christ’s righteousness as a replacement. It is a beautiful exchange as the song says.

The last part of our reading says, “17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ. 18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”

Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. It is credited to our account. We are no longer separated from God with a death sentence upon us. We are right with God and Christ’s righteousness is ours. As I said a few weeks ago, the blood of Jesus covers us completely.

1 Corinthians 1:30 – It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, our holiness and our redemption.

The lady in the third story could not accept this. She believed Jesus died for her, that her sins were forgiven by God, but she could not forgive herself. She held on to her guilt and shame, which did not belong to her any more. The righteousness that Christ offered like in the image on the screen was hers, but she could not bear to put her arms out to receive it. As a result, she lived way below where God wanted her to be.

For us today as Christians we need to understand that not only are our sins forgiven, but Christ’s righteousness is credited to us. I stand here today as a man who knew the depths of depression and the weight of sin. I knew what it was to not forgive myself, but Christ changed that, and I can now say though my sins were as red as crimson, they are now as white as snow. God sees them no more, He just sees the righteousness of Christ. Church, the good news is that it is the same for you too. It is my hope and prayer that you will feel this way too. That you can understand Christ’s righteousness is yours.

Every week in church we face the front and see that stained glass window. We see the image of Christ holding His sheep. I want you to know that the Father in heaven looks at you through the lens of Christ. It is like He looks from outside that window and when He sees you He sees you through the righteousness of Christ. Church, if you have confessed your sins to Him and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you are the righteousness of Christ. Stand tall, throw your shoulders back, lift your head up high and chose to walk in it today.

Closing Summary

Today we looked at one of the key words of the Gospel message – Imputation. We saw that Adam’s sin was imputed to the entire human race. But the good news is God did not leave it that way, our sins were imputed to Christ on the cross where He paid the price. Now we are fully forgiven and free from the penalty of sin and Christ’s righteousness is credited to us. That is some Good News!

Amen.

Let us pray.