Week Commencing March 28th 2021

Week Commencing Sunday 28^th March 2021

Call to worship

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mark11:9)

“Shout for joy you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you- triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey” (Zech.9:9)

‘Today is Palm Sunday. We think of Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Joy and praise filled the air as the crowds welcomed him as king.

Let’s begin our service by welcoming Him into our midst and worship Him.’

Hymn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK6XuYhL7JI

Prayer

Lord Jesus we do worship you as King this morning. With the crowds praising God for you this Palm Sunday we too give you our praise. We praise you for your wonderful works- liberating the prisoners, causing the deaf to hear, the lame to dance, the blind to see. You are a servant king indeed, who truly loves His people.

We thank you for the greatest act of humble service shown to mankind. Something the crowds that day did not appreciate. You resolutely entered Jerusalem, knowing this would lead to the cross. This is where your mission was truly fulfilled. There you served us in bringing us a salvation we could not merit. Through your death we have life, so we gladly have you rule over us, our Lord and Saviour.

Be pleased to lead us by Your Holy Spirit this morning. Hear our prayers, receive our praise, encourage and challenge us through your word.

You have shown us the way of humble service, the way of true greatness. Lord Jesus help us to follow. Amen

Reading. John 16:12-15

16¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Inspiration of the Bible. Part 2

When our present Queen was crowned in Westminster Abbey there came a moment that would have been recognised by Christians throughout the watching world as the most memorable in the service. The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland handed her a Bible with these words: “Here is the most valuable thing this world affords.” What an incredible claim for any book- more valuable than the gold deposits of South Africa or America’s technology, or the plays of Shakespeare or the paintings of Michelangelo. The Moderator then added: “This is the royal law.” This book in other words, is the law for Rulers. The Queen and her Parliament make the laws of Britain, but God makes laws for her!

“Here is the most valuable thing this world affords”- Western Civilisation has been influenced more by the Bible than any other book. The Bible presents the highest ideals known to man- intellectual, moral and spiritual- ideals that have moulded civilisation.

In May 1928 the prime Minister Stanley Baldwin said, “The Bible is a high explosive. But it works in strange ways and no living man can tell or know how that book, in its journey through the world, has startled the individual soul in ten thousand different places into a new life, a new world, a new belief, a new conception, a new faith.”¹

According to The Economist² over 100 million Bibles are sold or given away for free every year in the world. In addition the Bible is the most widely distributed and best- selling book in the world. Streets ahead of anything else. Guinness World Records says the total number sold is likely five billion Bibles³

Further, Penguin⁴ publishers report a sharp rise across the world in the online sales of Bibles during the corona virus pandemic. This includes a global increase in downloads of the Bible app and in March 2020 (article written in May 2020) across Google Play and app store, the most popular English-language Bible was installed on smart phones more than two million times- the highest number ever for a month.

The Bible is uniquely popular and powerful in its influence on individuals and civilisations. These facts in themselves lend weight to the Bible’s own claim that it is directly inspired by the Holy Spirit- by God Himself.

We began last Sunday looking at the Inspiration of the Bible. The Bible claims to be a supernatural book. 2 Timothy 3: 16 “All scripture is God-breathed.” The actual verb Paul uses means “expired”…”breathed out”, as all words are. But the Bible is “God-breathed”. It came from His mouth. It is His direct revelation to mankind. God has made plain to us what we could never find out for ourselves. The ideas in the Bible are not human opinion or belief. They are the thoughts of God expressed through the minds and words of men.

We looked at two key reasons for this last week:

One was to do with the wonderful unity of the Bible though it was written by over forty different authors in different places over a period of 1,500 years. But one ultimate author- the Holy Spirit has caused every part of the Bible to contribute to the whole. And we also saw that there is also an inner testimony- the Holy Spirit’s witness in our hearts and minds to His authorship of the Bible when we hear it preached or meditate upon it for ourselves.

Today we examine two further reasons that lend weight to the Bible’s claim to be God’s inspired We will look at the fulfilment of predictive prophesy and also Jesus own attitude to the Old Testament along with His preparing of His disciples/apostles to write the New Testament.

1. Predictive prophesy.

Other books claim divine inspiration, such as the Koran, the book of Mormon, and parts of the (Hindu) Veda. But none of these books contain predictive prophesy. But in the Bible there are found a large body of predictive prophesies relating to individual nations, to Israel, to all the peoples of the earth, to certain cities, and to the coming of One who was to be the Messiah. And these have been fulfilled; many relating to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ- His life, the manner of his death and even his resurrection.

Let’s think of the Old Testament. The prophesies there were not written “after the event”. The prophets were not deceivers playing “let’s pretend”. Deuteronomy 18 is clear that if someone presumed to be a prophet and proclaimed in the name of the Lord that which “did not take place or come true” then they were to be put to death. So you can imagine that probably weeded out any deceivers or dishonest persons from “having a go” at prophesy! The Jewish community would not have been impressed with con- artists presuming to speak in the name of the Lord. No. The prophesies took place before the events themselves. Indeed we have scrolls older than the events foretold. Copies of these prophesies were found in the Dead Sea scrolls buried before their future fulfilment took place. Prophesy is written by someone who knows the future. Who knows the future? God!

Here is an example:

Both in Isaiah 13:19-21, written about 712 BC, and in Jeremiah 51:24-26, 41-43 written about 600BC, these prophesies state that in judgement against the wickedness of Babylon: Babylon would be destroyed,

• It would never again be inhabited,
• Arab people would not pitch their tents there,
• There would be no sheepfolds there,
• Wild animals would occupy the ruins,
• The stones would be taken away to use in other buildings and people would not pass by the ruins.

Babylon was conquered in 583 BC, having been the greatest city of those times. Its walls were 30 metres thick and 100 meters high, with towers rising much higher. The length of the walls was about fourteen miles on each side of the city. A river flowed through it, guaranteeing its water supply. There was enough land within its walls to supply it with food. It had no fear of siege. And yet, exactly as prophesied, the city has never been rebuilt, the stones imported to Babylon at great cost remain unmoved, though rocks from a little further have been taken; Arabs will pitch in most places but not there, and the city is inhabited by animals including jackals, but there are no sheepfolds.⁵

Peter Stoner in his book “Science Speaks”- a book looking at scientific reasons for believing the Bible- worked on the probability of prophesies being fulfilled. He took just 11 prophesies in the Old Testament about 11 cities in the Ancient World- including Babylon’s fall- all prophesies fulfilled to the letter. He came up with the probability of this happening as 1 in 5.76 times 10 to the power of 59. What does that mean to us? Well, if you took one 50p coin and put an “x” on it. You put it on the floor and piled up a number of other 50p coins around it with no “x”. Enough coins to fill the Church. Actually you keep going- keep filling all the buildings in West Sussex with those 50p coins. But you don’t stop there; keep them coming until you’ve made a pile the size of Great Britain! Keep them coming until you have a pile the size of the earth! Keep them coming until you have the size of the sun! Keep those 50ps coming until you have the pile the size of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. But don’t stop there! Keep those 50ps coming until you have a pile the size as big as all the 2 trillion galaxies in this Universe!!! That’s a big pile of 50ps!

Now make that pile 200,000 time bigger- stir all the coins up. Get a blind man. Get him to pick out one coin. He picks out one coin and it’s the one with the “x” on it!! The probability of him doing that is exactly the same probability as those 11 prophesies about those 11 cities coming true, and they have come true. This is not chance. This is God’s Word.

And that’s just 11 prophesies.

On the day Jesus Christ died over 30 Old Testament prophesies were fulfilled.

As we approach Easter I think it would be good for us to reflect on just some of the Old Testament prophesies fulfilled in Jesus during that first Easter period:

He would be sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)

He would be forsaken by His disciples (Zechariah 13:7)

He would be accused by false witnesses (Psalms 35:11)

He would be silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7)

He would be smitten and spat upon (Isaiah 50:6; Mic.5:1)

His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalms 22:16; Zech.12:10)

He would be crucified between thieves (Isaiah 53:12)

He would be rejected by His own people (Isaiah 53:3)

He would be hated without a cause (Psalms 69:4)

His garments would be gambled for (Psalms 22:18)

Not a bone of his body would be broken (Psalms 34:20)

His side would be pierced (Zechariah 12:10)

He would die a criminal’s death but be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9)

He would rise from the dead (Psalms 16:10)

We have hundreds of predictive prophesies in the Bible not vague in a Nostradamus or horoscope kind of way, but very specific and detailed. This is not the word of man, but the Inspired Word of God.

2. Jesus own attitude supports seeing the Bible as the Inspired Word of God.

Jesus believed the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. He frequently said “It is written” When he was tempted in the wilderness he used verses from the Old Testament to defeat Satan in the wilderness. He endorsed every part of the Old Testament. He called the Pentateuch- the books of the law- the “Word of God”. Not a jot (the smallest letter) or a tittle (a point like the bar that crosses a t) was to pass from it. He said of the Psalms, “The Scripture could not be broken”. He included the prophets in His list of the Scriptures too.

Of course the New Testament was not written until after Jesus’ earthly life, but he had promised its writers a special anointing by the Holy Spirit to help them remember all that he had told them.

Actually, we should remember that the first century Roman Empire were oral cultures. A majority of the people living in the empire were illiterate. Jewish men had a much higher literacy rate than the rest of the populace since many of them had attended school in synagogues from age 5- 12/13. They would have learnt enough to read the Hebrew Scriptures, but few would have afforded their own copies. So their education took place through rote memorization. Many Jewish men had sizeable chunks of the Old Testament committed to memory. Would - be rabbis sometimes learnt the whole of the Old Testament by heart. So we should not be surprised by Jesus expectation that his disciples were to remember all he taught them. They would have committed his teachings to memory and these would have been circulated orally until the Gospels were written.

Actually more people could read at that time than is generally imagined. The text above the cross read ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews’ and the sign was written in Aramaic, latin and Greek (John 19:19, 20). Clearly Pilate wanted everyone to read it, so it was in Aramaic and Greek, it was also in Latin because that was the language of the occupying Power. Recent archaeology has discovered first century texts all over Palestine. It is now known that although the Jewish rabbis and Greek and Roman philosophers preferred oral teaching, students and philosophers kept notes of the instruction they received. Edwards writes “We may be hesitant to suggest that the Gospels were written ‘on the hoof’, as the disciples accompanied Jesus, but it would be natural to expect some listeners to have written down his teachings and parables. This would be fully in keeping with what we know of the literacy and note taking of first century Palestine.”⁶

Indeed, even beyond rote memorization and written aids, Jesus promised them the help of the Holy Spirit to bring to remembrance all He had taught them. Not only that, the Spirit would reveal further things for which they were not ready during his earthly life. We read about these promises earlier in the service from John’s Gospel, chapter 14. Jesus intended his apostles be inspired to write scripture: remember that Peter refers to Paul’s writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15, 16) and Paul himself claimed to write at the express command of the Lord: “We impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit”.

So another reason for believing in the Inspiration of the Bible is Jesus own adherence to this doctrine.

The unity of Scripture, the testimony of experience-inner witness, predictive prophesy and Jesus own attitude towards Scripture are good reasons to affirm the Inspiration of Scripture. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is God breathed”. But clearly if you believe this you must act on this truth. Verse 14 of that chapter states “But as for you, continue in what you have learnt and become convinced of” If this is the inspired word of God then you are going to read it more than any other book- even other Christian books. If this is God’s inspired Word that the Holy Spirit uses to build into your life, then you need to make a commitment to continue to absorb it and so build the muscle of conviction into your thought processes and life choices. When a man and a woman make a commitment to marry it is a commitment to grow in an ever deepening relationship together. To continue in what has been begun. Will you make a commitment to continue in what you have learnt from this book?

We must all make this our priority since this is more than a book, more than the most valuable thing this world affords, it is the very inspired Word of God.

References

^{1 ‘’}Questions of Life’’ Nicky Gumbel (see chapter ‘Why and how should I read the Bible?’)

² https://www.reference.com/world-view/many-copies-bible-sold-year-3a42fbe0f6956bb2

³ https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction

⁴ https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/may/lockdown-reading-bible.html

⁵   ‘’Before you say ‘I don’t believe’’ Roger Carswell.

⁶   “The Bible- An Authentic Book” Brian H Edwards

Recommended

“(New) Evidence That Demands A Verdict” Josh McDowell

“Why Trust The Bible? Amy Orr-Ewing

“The Bible- An Authentic Book” Brian H Edwards

‘’Before you say ‘I don’t believe’’ Roger Carswell

Hymn (Guitar)

Hosanna, Hosanna

Hosanna in the highest!

Hosanna, Hosanna,

Hosanna in the highest!

Lord we lift up your name

with hearts full of praise

Be exalted oh Lord my God!

Hosanna in the highest! (Glory to the King of Kings!)

(second time around)

Glory, Glory

Glory to the King of Kings!

Glory, Glory,

Glory to the King of Kings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1X-VDCMyAc

Prayer of Confession

On Palm Sunday, the crowds worshipped Jesus; on Good Friday they shouted for Him to die. Let us who also worship him, confess that we sometimes reject Him, and ask His forgiveness:

Lord Jesus Christ, you come to us in peace, but we shut the door of our mind against you. In your mercy forgive us and help us.

You come to us in humility, but we prefer our proud ways. In your mercy forgive us and help us.

You come to us in judgement, but we cling to our familiar sins. In your mercy forgive us and help us.

You come to us in majesty, but we will not have you reign over us. In your mercy forgive us and help us.

Lord, forgive our empty praise, fill our loveless hearts; come to us and make our lives your home forever.

PRAYER DIARY FOR APRIL

1.   As Easter is celebrated, praise God for his wonderful love.                                                   

 2.   Good Friday: Thank Jesus for His sacrifice for us all.                                                            

 3.   For all mourning the loss of loved ones; as did the disciples.                                                   

4.    Easter Day: Praise God for the resurrection of Jesus.                                                              

5.     The nation to return to faith in God.                                                                                                     

6.     Our Minister, Rev. David Barnes, and his ministry amongst us.                                                    

7.     Our Church Secretary, Wendy Breese; Thank the Lord for her.                                                                                   

 8.     The new treasurership arrangements to work well.                                                                                                                     

9.      The Deacons; for God- given wisdom.                                                                                                   

10.   The nation to ease gently and successfully from lockdown.                                                                                                                             

11.     Edwin Cottinghamas he leads worship today.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

12.       Tim and Linda Hobson.                                                                                                                   

13.       A strong missionary involvement in the church.                                                                              

14.       Safety and security in Angmering.                                                                                                      

15.       Mary and Martin Barber in Madagascar.                                                                                   

16.      Our caretaker, Rosalyn, and all who care for our premises.                                                                                            

17.     St. Margaret’s Church; the Rector, Rev Mark Standen.                                                          

18.     Lorna Sivyour as she leads worship today.                                                                                                     

19.      Members and friends unwell, housebound or isolated.                                                       

20.      Judy Cook and her work at the Hope Home in Thailand.                                                                      .        

21     The possible recommencement of the Dell Club.                                                                                                                              

22.      Our government to have true wisdom at this time.                                                                                      

23.     The Torch Fellowship; that it will soon be able to resume.                                                                

24.      Doctors, nurses and hospital staff; may God be with them.                                                       

25.     The Immanuel Church and its leader, Rev Ben Redding.                                                            

26.       Paul and Alison Guinness and their family.                                                                                

27.     Our musicians and singers; thank the Lord for them.                                                            

28.       The worldwide church and all suffering persecution.                                                                

29.      The national churches to proclaim the full Gospel message.                                                     

30.      The three Angmering churches to work together for the Lord.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

         Hymn (Piano)

Ride on, ride on in majesty,
in lowly pomp ride on to die:
O Christ, your triumph now begin
with captured death, and conquered sin!

Ride on, ride on in majesty
the angel armies of the sky
look down with sad and wondering eyes
to see the approaching sacrifice.

Ride on, ride on in majesty,
the last and fiercest foe defy:
the Father on his sapphire throne
awaits his own anointed Son.

Ride on, ride on in majesty,
in lowly pomp ride on to die:
bow your meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, your power and reign!

Henry Hart Milman