Doctrines (3.7.1985) — Nigel Lee

Doctrines (3.7.1985) — Nigel Lee

I hope you're enjoying our evening meetings. I don't think I've ever been in one quite like that. Thank you. Marth 1 and Marth 2 may have done a great deal for the recruiting for Duloth as it goes down Africa next year.

The Authority of God's Word

Now we want to turn to God's word. Let us first pray. In your presence, O God, is fullness of joy. We pray for our brothers Marth 1 and Marth 2 in their ministry in the future. Lord, will you use them in France, in Zaire, wherever you take them.

We thank you that wherever we go, your word is powerful. And Lord, we know that we cannot speak with authority unless we are under the authority of your word. Lord, we do pray that you speak to us this evening from scripture.

Our hearts are open and eager to hear your word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Everyone who's here for their first summer with ON, stand up. Tremendous. Thank you. Please sit down. I just wanted to see what a huge crowd it was here in the tent.

A Life-Changing Summer and Three Doctrines

Because my first summer on ON, I think, changed my life. I can remember we met not very far away from here in Belgium. I can remember as we registered, we were each given a large piece of cardboard to sleep on.

And we went and just sort of lay it down behind a huge tarpaulin screen. And all the men lay on one side of the factory and all the ladies lay on the other side of the factory. I have so many vivid memories from that first summer.

And I look back on that time for me, in my whole life, as a time of absolute change. It seems to me, as I look back, that God did four things. He asked me one question. And he brought three great doctrines home to my heart.

God brought home the doctrine of the Lordship of Christ in a new way. And the reality of hell. And the doctrine of the filling of the Holy Spirit. And at the end of that whole summer, he asked me the one question, What are you now going to do with your life?

And I want to pass on to you, from my own experience and scripture, those three same doctrines tonight. Will you turn with me, please, to John's Gospel, chapter 20? Will you turn with me to John's Gospel, chapter 20?

Jesus Appears to the Fearful Disciples

We will read together from verse 19. 19 to 23. John 20, verse 19. And said, Peace be with you. After he had said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again, Jesus said, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am now sending you. And with that, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven.

If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. And there in verse 19, we see the disciples. How are they? Well, they are afraid. They are afraid of what is about to happen to them. Afraid of the future.

Afraid of the big wide world outside their nice, sheltered little room where they are staying. They do not know what is going to happen to them in a few days time. They are afraid of the authorities, of the government, of kings.

They are afraid of how they are going to live together, just the surviving 11 of them in the future. The situation is completely new. They are struggling to survive. They have been through a traumatic experience.

And all the idealism with which they set out with Jesus, is now turning to disappointment. There they are, just a small team of disciples. And they are scared. Now I wonder how many of you, as you look forward to the day after tomorrow.

Those doorsteps in Belgium and Austria and France. You do not know how it is going to be. For you a new situation coming on O .M. The great majority of you stood up. This is all completely new. They were sitting there looking at each other, not talking probably very much.

And in verse 19, Jesus quietly stepped into the room. The doors were locked. They were bolted shut against the outside world. Jesus did not come up to the door and go... Because... Because... If he had done that, can you imagine what would have happened?

The disciples would have gone under the table. They would have gone out the window, up the chimney. They would have said, the police have come. Jesus, so kind, so gentle, just steps into the room without knocking.

He knew exactly where they were. He did not go knocking around the town from door to door. He knew right where they were and he came to them. And another reason why he did not knock on that door... He had the authority just to walk in.

Because Jesus was the king. He had established his kingdom. Kings do not knock at doors, they just walk in. They have the right to. Jesus had established his kingdom. He had established his kingdom in that upper room in that same city of Jerusalem.

Right there in the heart of that hostile city. Those disciples had all become part of his kingdom. They had put their hand on the same bread. They had drunk together from the same cup. Jesus Christ had inaugurated in that city so full of enemies, the kingdom that was to last forever.

These disciples sat scared in this room. The kingdom did not seem to amount to very much. Just eleven of them. All gripped with the same feelings. And then the king himself came. As he will do, team after team this summer.

The king who had conquered the authorities, who had conquered death, who had conquered fear. The king who knew exactly what was ahead of them in their journey. We read that Jesus just came and stood in the midst of them.

And the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. I do not know whether they leapt around with quite as much joy as Mark 2 did. But can you imagine the relief, the sense of absolute relief that Jesus the king is now here.

What were their recent memories of him? What had he done in only just the last few days? They had seen him get up from supper one evening. And pour water into a bowl and go and wash their feet. You know they had been lying on these Jewish couches.

And one man's feet was under the next man's nose as they were eating their food. Go on, admit it. In some of the dormitories here at the conference there is occasionally the problem of... What shall I say?

The lack of this ministry to feet. And there was the king of kings just cleansing their feet in order that they might eat together in peace. In company with each other. What a king. He would pour water into a bowl and go and wash your feet.

Work his fingers in and out of your toes. Smooth away the grime that comes in the journey. Maybe some of them had imagined him not standing but kneeling. In Luke chapter 22 verse 41. He knelt down to pray.

What a king who will submit himself to the government of almighty God. Maybe they remembered the king as he in the last hours of his life was winning one person after another into his kingdom even as he was dying.

In Luke chapter 23 verse 41. Speaking to that thief who was being crucified beside him. A man who was a rebel, who was a terrorist. A man who had never respected kings or governments all his life. A man who had tried to tear down governments, he hated them.

The governments were just for the benefit of the rich, the wealthy. The governments just trampled on the hearts of ordinary working men and women. Then that man who had been a terrorist saw a king the like of which he had never seen before in his life.

A king who would pray even for those that were executing him. A king whose heart went out to ordinary working class Roman soldiers during their 20 years in the army. And he turned to Jesus being crucified beside him.

And he said have you any place for someone like me in your kingdom? Jesus winning that man. Jesus winning the centurion. Finally when Christ had died on the cross the centurion shook his head and walked away.

He had never seen anything like that. He had probably presided over many many executions. This man was a son of God. I had never seen his like. Even in his death Jesus is drawing Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus out of their secret discipleship.

The king of people's hearts. Has now come to stand among the disciples. He has now come to deepen his authority in their lives. That is the purpose of this conference. That the Lord Jesus Christ may deepen his authority in your life.

That the Lord will show us more of himself. That we may learn to trust him more. Very difficult to trust somebody you don't know very well. And one of our biggest problems is we don't actually know the Lord Jesus very well.

Thomas's Doubt and Christ's Patience

There was this man Thomas. Let's read from verse 24. Thomas one of the twelve called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him we have seen the Lord. But he said except I have not seen the Lord.

I shall see his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came again. The doors of the house were shut. And he stood in the midst and said peace be unto you. Then said he to Thomas you reach hither your finger and see my hand and reach hither your hand and put it into my side and be not faithless but believing.

Thomas answered and said unto him my Lord and my God. Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. How kind is the Lord. He didn't proceed on with the ten disciples and leave Thomas to one side.

Thomas wasn't really with the others. He wasn't yet ready for Pentecost and world evangelism. He probably felt left out. And maybe some of you don't really feel yet that this conference has touched you.

Maybe you feel that you don't quite belong even yet to your fellowship group. Maybe you're afraid that when you get on your team you won't really belong there. And the Lord knows exactly what's going on in Thomas's heart.

He also knows what Thomas is saying. Because the moment he steps into the door he says Thomas. See my hands. Put your hand in my side. I know what you've been saying in your heart. I know what you've been saying in your unbelief.

All the reasons that we have why we say we cannot or will not trust the Lord. He knows. All the particular fears that we have. He knows. And Jesus comes a week later for Thomas too. And he didn't say to Thomas, hey you're a week late you are.

I'm sorry you're too late. I'm going on with the others. If you can't keep up with the rest of us then we've got no time for you. He came especially for the one who was dragging behind. The one who was left out.

The one who felt he hadn't come into the blessing that all the others had enjoyed. It was a week later than the rest. But the Lord came especially for him. Thomas saw the scars on Christ's body. You and I will see them one day.

One day we'll get to heaven and we'll see those holes in the Lord's hands. Even in his risen glorified body. Thomas saw the real cost of his salvation. He saw the price of the Lord's love. And he gave his life over to the Lord.

My Lord, my God he said. He went off to India. At least that's tradition. Started the work of God in India to which our teams go and join in ever since. Teams led by William Carey. Teams led by the missionaries down through the years.

All the early Oemas in the 1700s and the 1500s and so on. All of us part of God's kingdom. There was so much that Thomas and the other disciples didn't know at this stage. They didn't know that the world was round.

They'd never heard of America. They didn't know that Britain was going to win the world cup in 1966. By a washing chair. Against Germany. But they trusted the Lord. And out they went. Now, can you reassure me that as you come towards the end of this conference and you're about to move into another stage of the summer, you're really trusting the Lord?

Trusting the King Through Uncertainty

Have you been meeting with him during these days? You know sometimes coming on an Oema it's like jumping on a moving bus. You suddenly get swept off your feet. You get so many ideas and principles and challenges thrown at you, you don't know what to do.

And very often as people come to the end of these conferences, they feel like, I'm not sure that I can cope with all this. And I want to begin by reminding you that our King knows what we feel like. He knows where we are.

He knows if we feel left out. He wants to show you the nail prints in his hands. And he's going to take hold of you with those hands. And if you want to travel a week behind the rest, he'll still come and travel with you.

So many times we hear a challenge on the Lordship of Christ, the Kingship of Christ. I want to begin by reminding you that that implies tremendous responsibilities for the King. He is our King. He cares about our lives.

He hasn't brought you here on Oema to leave you damaged. He wants you to hear his voice. He wants to speak personally and directly and individually to every single one of us here. Because he's the King.

Because he's the kind of King he is. And he prays for you. Because he's the King. Because he's the King. Let's leave aside all the challenge for a moment of what you're going to do with your money and your life.

I want to remind you that you can really trust the Lord. Maybe you've got issues in your life that are not sorted out yet. Particular friendships back home. You're uncertain about your whole future. You're not even sure whether you want God to call you to some far off place.

There are habits in your life that perhaps no one else knows about, but you know and you know the Lord knows. And if you come under the hammer blows of God's word, you begin to wonder what's going to happen to you in the future.

And if you come under the hammer blows of God's word, you begin to wonder what's going to happen to you in the future. I want to remind you that he is the King who cares for you. He wants to wash your feet.

He wants to make you more pleasant company. He is already praying for you day by day. Specifically, individually, honestly. And maybe some of you have never yet during this conference had real dealings with God.

Yes, you've been to the meetings. Sure, you've heard the statistics. Yes, you're comforting yourself, you've finally got on OM. But have you met the Lord yet? You know, I believe the Lord wants to come and deal with some of us tonight.

Some of those that are scared, some of those that are doubting. Some of those that are already planning just to keep their head down and survive for the next three weeks and then go back to the old kind of life.

Jesus is a unique King. One who deserves our total lives. Because he cares for you so much. There's a tremendous work before us this summer. Thousands of people will die without Christ in Europe this summer.

There are churches that are barely surviving. They need our prayers, they need our encouragement. There are people in some of the towns and villages where you're going to go, that are so close to the kingdom.

And they just need someone to come to their doorstep and tell them that God can be trusted. That the gospel is really true. That there is real forgiveness with God. And yet you know, God so often at these conferences, before he ever says go, he says to many of you, you come back to me.

How can you tell others to trust God if you're not really trusting him yourself? How can you share the gospel with people if it's not really real in your own heart? I've got some tough things I want to say this evening.

I want to give you some strong meat from God's word. But I do want to be assured right at the start that you do believe that God can be trusted. He's not going to play games with our lives. But unless we give him everything, he cannot really use us as he wants to use us.

He knows, he comes, checks up on the disciples, gives them his peace. Comes to send them out. But he's so careful that even Thomas is made ready before he goes. Are you ready? As we begin to draw towards the end of this week, have you really heard the Lord speaking?

The Reality of Hell and Final Judgment

Let me move on to the second of those great doctrines. The doctrine of the reality of hell. That lost men and women are really lost. Do you really believe that your work this summer actually matters? That is a life and death issue.

How people respond to God and his gospel. There is no suggestion in the bible of any alternative to heaven or hell. Eternal life or eternal exclusion from the presence of God. The bible does not offer us any third way nor any second chance.

The Lord himself draws the dividing line very clearly. There are the children of the father and there are the children of Satan. There is the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God dear son. On the harvest day the Lord says there will be either wheat or there will be chaff.

In Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. The Lord says there is a broad road and there is a narrow road. The broad road leads to destruction. The narrow road leads to life. And there is no other way on which human beings can walk on this planet.

In Luke chapter 16 verse 26. Abraham is speaking in heaven to the rich man who is in hell. Abraham says between you and us there is a great gulf fixed. Those who want to cross over find that they cannot.

Matthew chapter 13 and verse 49. Says these words. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous. And throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Turn to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17. I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord. That you must no longer live as the Gentiles do. In the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding.

And separated from the life of God. Because of the ignorance that is in them. Due to the hardening of their hearts. Paul says people are cut off from the life of God. For two reasons. One that they are ignorant.

And secondly that they have hardened their hearts. The same epistle speaks of them being dead in sin. No life in them. How many verses do you want? Shall we go on for the rest of the evening reading out passage after passage of scripture.

Saying the same thing. Turn to Corinthians chapter 4. Verse 3. If our gospel is veiled. It is veiled to those who are perishing. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. So that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

Who is the image of God. Is this book true? Is that bible that you hold in your hands true? All of it. Including the verse we just read. You don't believe people are perishing. Will you please rip out that page right now.

Are you going to take scissors to your bible and chop out the bits that are disappearing. That is very difficult. The word of God says that people that we meet up and down the streets in the villages.

They are perishing. That began to come home to me in my first summer on OM. I saw something of the greatness of the Lord. What a king he was to care for us individually. And yet it is true that people are lost without Christ.

They have no hope. They are without God in the world. Hudson Taylor's life was turned upside down. When he understood that a million a month were dying in China without Christ. Hudson Taylor said I would never have thought of going out to China.

Had I not believed that the Chinese were lost and needed Christ. I know this is heavy. You say to me look I have got some questions about that. What about the innocent person. The innocent person who has never ever even heard of Christ.

Will they be condemned? Of course not. If they are innocent. The innocent person will never be condemned. How could God ever condemn anyone who is innocent. You will have to go a long way to find one.

The innocent person is absolutely safe in the hands of God. You don't need to worry about the innocent. You worry about those verses of scripture that say that nobody is innocent. Well you say what about the person alright he is not innocent.

But he has never ever heard of Jesus. Can he be judged for not believing in someone he has never heard of. Of course not. How could God judge someone for not believing in Jesus if they have never even heard of Jesus.

Could you worship a God who would do that. A God who would cast people into outer darkness for not believing something that nobody ever told them. The word of God says their problem is not with Jesus.

They have never turned their back on Jesus. Nobody has ever told them about Jesus. Their problem is already with God. God the creator. The God who has made a revelation of himself in this great world and in people's consciences.

Men and women all over the world already are under the wrath of God the creator. That's what Romans 1 says. Verse 18. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

Since what may be known about God is plain to them. Because God has made it plain to them. But since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities. His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made.

So that men are without excuse. This is why people need to hear of Christ. Because they have already rebelled against God the father. Romans 1 says they do not give God the glory. And they have gone their own way.

They have trusted in their own religion. Their works and their lives have become already awful in God's sight. And Ephesians chapter 2 verse 12. Speaks of such people as being cut off from Christ. Having no part whatever in the covenant.

Being without hope and without God. People are judged by the life they have had. That is what Romans chapter 2 insists on. But the problem with mankind is that he has already had enough light. Because his own conscience is troubled.

He knows he needs the mercy of God. Because he does not even keep his own standards. He falls below the standards with which he judges other people. Human beings have conscience. Because they have turned their back on God.

God in his grace and his mercy has sent his one and only son. And that son has purchased salvation for all who will believe. And you have taken him as your king. And he is now sending you out. Because this is a real situation we are dealing with.

We go to speak of Jesus. Because people are already under the wrath of God. That is why Paul says I am a debtor. I have to take the gospel to both Greeks and Barbarians. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

Why Universal Salvation Undermines the Gospel

Or some say well surely, surely if God is a God of love. Surely he will save everybody in the end anyway. The Bible gives you no hope that that is true. I want to give you five examples. Five reasons why I think it is wrong.

It denies people's free will. The person chooses all his life to keep God at a distance. He does not want God. He hates God interfering in his life. He likes nothing that he has ever heard about God. And then when he dies God drags him into heaven anyway.

God has given people freedom to choose. He has made a place where those who choose not God will ultimately go. So that doctrine that God will save everyone in the end anyway denies the freedom of man.

Secondly it denies the authority of God's word. Because God's word speaks clearly of a great judgment day when there will be a separation between one person and another. Thirdly it minimizes sin. If atheism and discipleship get the same results in the end then sin is something trivial and irrelevant.

The hearts of those of us who have been a long time in O .M. This notion that everybody will be saved in the end anyway it makes Christ and his apostles out to be liars. Finally it takes away the whole point of Christ's death on the cross.

The Watchman's Responsibility to Warn

I would like to ask another question. What happens if I don't tell people the gospel? What happens if I know the gospel and keep it to myself? What happens if the people around me never get to hear of the cross of Christ?

Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 16. It came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came unto me saying son of man I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me when I say unto the wicked thou shalt surely die and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood I will require at your hand.

I have questions to ask you says God you will have to stand before me and answer. The verse goes on if you warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way he shall die in his iniquity but you have delivered your soul.

Paul believed the same thing in Acts chapter 20. He speaks to the elders of the church in Ephesus he says you know how faithful and diligent I was in your town. You know how I went door to door. You know how I preached on those street corners.

You know how I took the opportunities that came my way to speak of Christ. And now I am free of the blood of all men in this city and province. And he passes the responsibility over to them because he says I know that I have preached.

God knows that I have preached. Now let me ask you is Jesus your king. You're young your life is before you. You're old enough to begin to understand the seriousness of these things. You've come to begin to learn what missions is all about.

You want the Lord to deal with you to speak to you to use you. Is he your king. When it comes to evangelism you say Lord come with me. Let's go. Let's move out Lord and let me speak with power and love and anointing of your love.

The Fullness of the Holy Spirit for Mission

You know we can only carry this responsibility that the Lord has passed to us in the fullness of his spirit. Some of these verses would make you unbalanced. And you were hearing about balance last night.

We are not to be overwhelmed with these great truths. We need to know the fullness of God's spirit. God never gives us a job without at the same time giving us the strength for it. And so he has sent his Holy Spirit that every life here might be filled and overflowing.

Let me speak about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the minutes that we have left. What he wants to do in you to make these things real. The Holy Spirit prays for you in Romans chapter 8 verses 26 and 27.

Let's read what Paul says in the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don't know what we ought to pray. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our heart knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with the will of God.

We have two problems says Paul in this passage. We are weak in our prayer lives and we are also ignorant. We don't pray as we should and we don't know what to pray. And God has put his Spirit in the heart of every believer.

And the Spirit knows your needs knows exactly what your needs are this summer and having taken up residence in your heart he is there praying for you. You know we sometimes pray for ourselves. We don't always pray very accurately.

We don't always see what our real needs are. Sometimes we completely miss the point with God. The Holy Spirit is praying for you according to your real needs day by day as you go some of the things that perhaps you are guilty about in the past the Holy Spirit knows it's there.

He wants to bring it to the surface that it might be cleansed away. And he is praying towards that end. That's the goal of God in your life. And it's kind and it's loving and it's gentle the ministry of the Holy Spirit to you in prayer.

Another thing the Holy Spirit will do is to convict other people of sin through you. You know you can never convict anybody of sin. You yourself. You cannot do it. Don't try. God won't ever let you convict anybody of sin.

He keeps that to himself supposing. You had the power to convict people of sin. You could do it whenever you liked. I wouldn't want you on my team. You'd be terrible to live with. He's got you. You know someone will sort of shrivel up because you've convicted them of sin.

But you don't really understand them. The Lord knows all that is to be said in your defense. He knows how to be gentle with you. He knows the right time to raise certain subjects with you. He is the one who convicts of sin.

And he will do it through you sometimes without you even being aware of it. God will speak to other people through your life and through your words. We need to allow the Lord to do that through us to ask him to do it.

The Holy Spirit wants to fill us to overflow that out of our lives might come more of Jesus. Not the anger, not the moodiness, not the bad temper more of the Spirit of Jesus. I want to say that three things will happen when God the Holy Spirit takes total control of your life.

The Spirit Gives Christ's Presence and Peace

The first is this. If you're filled with the Holy Spirit you'll know more of the presence of Jesus. We thought of that verse right at the beginning that in your presence Lord is fullness of joy something of that peace that comes from totally resting in him trusting in him.

The disciples they saw Jesus suddenly appear amongst them. Actually at the end of those gospels he's appearing and disappearing so fast they begin to believe that he's probably actually there all the time.

You're going to need to know the presence the joy, the peace of Jesus. This summer you don't know what's going to happen. I remember a team setting off for India from Zarbentum. They'd been preparing for this moment for weeks gathered round the back of this great big truck.

All the people in the Zarbentum headquarters came down and prayed with them. They were going. Two years maybe three years wouldn't be back. Everybody just prayed commanding these people to the Lord. They kissed each other and waved goodbye shook hands and said off.

Twenty minutes later they were back. They got completely lost in the one way street system in Zarbentum didn't know how to get out. You know all kinds of crazy things happened. The first team I ever led was a disaster.

There were nearly fights breaking out on it. We had three Arabs on the team. And we had one brother who every morning in our team devotions kept sharing verses from the end of the Old Testament about Israel getting more of the land.

And what a wonderful thing it was. These Arabs were just about ready to cut this Dutchman's throat by the time we'd done a week. Extraordinary team. We had an American who was always in tears. He'd just separated from the lady of his life.

Every time it came time to go out. Fred Angeles. There was a Frenchman. He was so small, so young. I don't know how he ever got on the ramp. I used to look in the morning to see if his nappies needed changing.

The only encouragement to me on the team was an African big fella, big smile, oh praise the Lord all the time. And there was me leading this bunch. You see down in Paris in 1968. I mean all kinds of things go.

You just need to know the presence of the Lord Jesus day by day just to survive. You know you have a puncture. You can't get the jack out to mend it. The puncture is in a transit van. But they've given you a jack for a truck that's gone to India.

How is your relationship with Jesus today? Are you filled with his spirit? Have you got confidence in what he's been saying to you recently? Do you sense his leading in your life or are you a bit stuck?

Is he real to your heart? Have you had time with him today. That's been a good time? You know supposing you said to me Nigel are you married? And I gave an answer like this. I say well I do a lot of washing up.