Pastor Peter Simpson preaching the gospel in Slough High Street in March 2024, taking as his initial text, 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

All people are habitually sinners both by nature and practice, until they receive a new heart in the power of the Holy Spirit by coming in repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. So no one passing in the street could claim to be without sin. All therefore are guilty of having offended the God who is giving to them their daily breath. All should be deeply concerned about their spiritual condition, because their sin has separated them from the presence of the Holy God. It is quite possible to engage in much religious activity and duty, which frequently leads to pride, but never to deal with the root problem of a sinful heart, which only the new birth upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can remove.

All people are fallen creatures, having the status of being ‘simple’, gullible and labouring under satanic deception. The non-believer, because of his fallen condition, is utterly unqualified to make judgements about the things of God. He must first humble himself and realise that he has no wisdom of his own. He must stop resisting the work of the Holy Spirit applying the word of God to his heart. This word gives men instruction, removing their gullible and deceived mindset. Becoming a Christian is to separate oneself totally from the world’s attitudes and philosophies.

Having come to Christ for true wisdom, believers must then constantly be applying their minds to knowing God’s word, because the world, the whole anti-Christian world system, is continually trying to re-educate us into its own way of thinking. Solomon is writing the book of Proverbs "to give subtilty to the simple”, that is, to lead those who have been deceived into God’s truth. Indeed, this is why the whole of the Bible has been given to us by God, to remove the darkness and ignorance of all people, before they come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Two key figures of the English Reformation in the 16th century were the gifted preachers, Thomas Bilney and Hugh Latimer, who were both burnt at the stake for upholding the truths of Scripture. Much can be learnt from their ministries which is of great relevance to our own situation today.

We live in a hostile world, but God says, Do not despair at the fierceness of the opposition; do not be overcome by the wicked’s greater numbers. Remember that they will soon be cut down like the grass. Their prosperity is fleeting and without substance. Our responsibility is to remain faithful, even in the midst of persecution. Trust in the Lord, keep obedient, and you will “dwell in the land”, that is, you will remain as worthy citizens of God’s kingdom. All faithful Christians will be vindicated in the end.

One of Pastor Simpson's addresses preached to passers-by at Marble Arch in central London in February 2024

The passage teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of spiritual life for all who are spiritually dead in sin. He is the Light of the world, a world floundering in a horrible satanic darkness. He is also the source of all physical life and physical matter. The world into which He was born at Bethlehem is also the world which He Himself made.

He causes those who receive him to be born again by the power of God, and so to become the very sons of God. All people are devoid of spiritual life, spiritually dead because of sin, but through the Lord Jesus Christ comes the new birth : “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (v12). So all need to come to Christ to be made into new creatures by means of repentance from sin and trusting in Him for salvation. Those who do this are born again of God’s Spirit and become children of God.

Pastor Peter Simpson preaching in Uxbridge in December 2023 on the grave urgency of every individual coming to a personal faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

Those who trust in Christ need not fear the world. They are in the stronghold of Zion. They are the "sons of Zion", and they shall assuredly have the victory over "the sons of Greece", who here represent this world - all those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. This victory, however, is only for those who are truly sons of Zion, those who have repented of sin and sought mercy in Christ, those who now follow Him with all of their hearts.

Believers in Christ today rejoice that they are under the Kingship of Christ, He who possesses all power “even to the ends of the earth” (v10). They rejoice in their privileged status as citizens of Zion.

In this passage we see the eternal Son of God at work in the Old Testament period. He confronts Balaam, the false prophet, in his evil purpose. This account teaches us four vital truths about the non-Christian’s dangerous condition.

1. He does not understand God’s unchanging nature, His absolute power, and man’s utter weakness before Him.

2. He does not understand that he is spiritually blind, that his heart is corrupt, and that he lacks true wisdom.

3. He hardens his heart against God’s gracious drawing. He rejects God’s speaking, because he stubbornly prefers his sins.

4. He gets offended and even angry, when Christ stands in his way, and confronts him with his sin.

Out of love for our non-Christian neighbour, we warn him today, as he happily lives in rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Be aware that He stands in your sinful path, as He once did before Balaam, and His sword is drawn. Bow down quickly before Him, or else you will be eternally lost.

Hebrews 3:11 - “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest". The Hebrew believers are under great pressure from their fellow Jews to renounce their faith, and so they are being warned that they are in danger of coming short of the gospel rest. They are being warned that if they return to Judaism, they cannot be saved from their sins. To embrace the gospel and to follow Christ is the most significant act that a man will ever carry out. If the Hebrews renounce Christ, they will be like the Israelites who fell in the wilderness and who never reached the land. So near, yet so far. They must not make the same tragic mistake. They must labour to enter into the gospel rest which the Lord Jesus has worked to provide for them. To enter into this rest is hard and costly. It will involve much opposition. The word ‘labour’ means to hurry, to be bent upon, to endeavour earnestly, to strive. This is the terminology of Christian conversion. It is not some casual lifestyle choice.