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Message for you

Realities
It is a sad fact that many in Dunfermline go to no place of worship,
many do not want to hear the Word of God. Many simply attend no church
at all, or seldom think about God or eternity, or that they are
accountable for their sin. Many are living under an illusion, believing
that because they were born into a religious family, or under a
religious banner, whatever it may be, that they will be all right for
eternity. This is a false hope and is certainly not supported in the
Holy Scriptures.
Dear friends, we have a message for you and it is this, that we are all
sinners unable to save ourselves, and we need to be saved from the awful
burden and consequences of our sin. Sin in a very real enemy, it starts
small, then grows, and before we know it, it has us in captivity and
controlled. We would have to be blind not to see the effects of sin all
around us, even in our beloved city of Dunfermline. Many, sadly, cannot
free themselves from this power, who would if they could, but it is too
late, sin has the mastery and in themselves they are helpless.
Remedy
Yet there is a way, there is power outwith ourselves, it is in coming to
the Lord Jesus Christ and asking Him to forgive you, to free you from
this bondage. He died on the cross to provide for all who come to Him, a
great deliverance from the present captivity, and the eternal
consequences of our sin. It is He alone that can forgive sins, and save
us from an awful Hell which our sins deserve. This is why we must come
to Him, it is He who loves the sinner, and He that died for the sinner,
and He that is willing and able to save the sinner who comes to Him in
faith and repentance.
Sins forgiven are sins forsaken. He gives the power to live, to
overcome, and apart from coming to Him we have no chance of ever being
delivered. We may pray about our condition, but prayers cannot save us,
we may try our own resources, but they are sure to fail, "No man can
redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for the soul", the Bible says
this in Psalm 49:7. "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9), even Jonah
learned this when down inside the great fish.
This is the story of the Bible. How great to think that the Lord said,
"Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). He
said it, I believe it, and I come to Him in all my sinful condition, to
no-one else but Him. This is what we need to do to obtain His great
forgiveness, and experience His great Salvation. We need not be afraid
to come to Him, He is approachable, and praise God he is available, and
available now!
Salvation is not of works (Ephesians 2:8), it is by faith alone. Our
Lord Jesus has already completed the work of salvation on the cross, and
paid the price for our redemption in His own blood, there is nothing
more to be done than believe it, and gratefully receive the one who
died, as your very own Saviour. We do good works as an evidence of
Salvation, Everlasting Life possessed here and now (John 3:36), not good
works to try and merit salvation.
Repentance
You will observe, that we do not preach religion. The reason for this is
simply because we are not religious. We respect all who claim to be
religious, and there are many in the area who we admire, and respect,
for their sincere consistent attendance at their churches in Dunfermline
and the surrounding district.
We do not however see any virtue in one claiming to be religious and
living as they like in their sin. We believe that sins forgiven are sins
forsaken, whatever religion is claimed. Our sincere belief is that by
coming to Christ alone, lives can be changed, as well as eternal
destinies. Christ gives the power to live for Him, and the power to
forsake sinful habits, to all that believe and accept Him as their
personal saviour. Repentance means "a turning away from", "a turning
about", "a change of heart, attitude, and direction", and this is what
we have to do about our sins (Isaiah 55: 6,7).
Responsibility
It is a fact that many do not, however, have sinful habits, "but all
have sinned" (Romans 3:23), and that sin, although not perhaps as vile
as some, is still sin that bars the way to Heaven and makes us
responsible before God. This really means that since all have sinned
then all require to trust the Saviour of sinners to escape the judgement
of their sins.
We who meet in the Gospel Hall at Hospital Hill are only sinners, and
have taken our place as such, recognising that we needed a saviour
because we could not save ourselves. We thank God that he sent His only
begotten Son to be the Saviour (John 3:16), who died that we might be
saved, we believed this and accepted the Lord Jesus as our personal
Saviour, and now, we are sinners Saved by Grave alone. Not because of
anything we have done, for we could do nothing, but all because of what
he has done. Some have said that we possess proud presumption in saying
we are saved, but we ask kindly, is it presumption on our part because
we believe God?
Respect
Our brethren hold no animosity against any Church or any people, we pray
for all the townsfolk in our prayer meeting. We throw no stones at
others, we do not preach against any religion, "we preach Christ
crucified" (1 Cor 1:23). We do not preach at people, but we do appeal to
them, believing strongly that no membership of any Church can save, no
attendance at any Christian Hall can save, no effort of our own good
works can save, only the Lord Jesus Christ can save and the Bible is
clear on the reason for His coming in the first place, "Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). It is Christ the
Saviour that we all need to accept.
This is the message we preach, the message of the Bible, the Holy
Scriptures, "we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2 Cor
4:5). Salvation is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ alone. This is
what the Bible teaches and what we simply believe.
Request
Some people have said that they would like to know what we believe that
is "different" from other churches. The following outline, which is not
exhaustive, will introduce you to what "we believe", in the hope that
all who read it will understand that our basis for believing these
things is nothing less, or more, than what the Holy Scriptures, the Word
of God states. We do take the Scriptures literally, we add nothing to
them or take anything away from them. Sometimes we wonder just how many
people read the Holy Scriptures, which are , in their totality, the Word
of God that is able to make one wise unto Salvation (2 Timothy 3:15).
An invitation is given to any who would like to hear these things, to
come along to the Gospel Hall at Hospital Hill, any Sunday Evening. We
would also be willing to come to your home to discuss these things if
you would like a private and personal talk on spiritual matters.
If you would require transport to and from our hall, please let us know
and we will send a car for you. If you require any help, you can contact
us by email or by phone... 01383 724 482.
What we believe
1. The Christians who gather in the Gospel Hall at Hospital Hill simply
believe the Holy Scriptures and all our teaching is taken from these
alone. "They are able to make you wise until salvation" (2 Timothy
3:15).
2. We believe in both the Old and New Testaments, that they are the
Divinely inspired Word of the Lord. The revelation of God's mind and
will for all mankind. It is the all sufficient guide for salvation, the
road to Heaven, and for the Christian life. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter
1:20,21; John 14:6). It is the Infallible, Incorruptible,
Indestructible, Irreversible, Indisputable, Word of the Lord. Said the
Lord Jesus, "Heaven and earth shall pass away but My Word shall not pass
away" (Matt. 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).
3. We gather unto the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, not to any other
name or body of doctrine. (Matt. 18:20).
4. We believe there is only one Head of the Church, The Lord Jesus
Christ, who is in Heaven at the right hand of God exalted (Col. 1; Eph.
1; Heb. 1).
5. We believe that His Church, which is His Body, is composed of all who
have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord
(Col. 1), who have been redeemed, saved, born again, by personally
accepting the truth that in His death he died for me, a guilty sinner
(John 3; 1 Peter; John 3:16).
6. We believe that, the Church which is His Body is composed of every
believer, a Church of God locally is composed of all who seek to obey
His Word and have owned their responsibility to gather unto His Name
(Acts 2:41,42).
7. We have no headquarters down here, all matters in relation to our
gatherings are very simply what the Holy Scriptures teach, for
preaching, teaching, witnessing, conduct, morals, sin and discipline. We
bow to the authority of the Holy Scriptures, the Lordship of Christ, and
the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we seek to do.
8. We do not have a one-man ministry or an any-man ministry those whom
God has fitted with spiritual gifts and are in Local Church fellowship,
teach and preach and lead in our assembly (Ephesians 4; 1 Tim. 3).
9. We do have fellowship with other assemblies, sound in Church Doctrine
and Practice around the country, indeed around the world, but we own no
federation of assemblies. Each assembly is responsible for handling its
own affairs and business; we have no central body of authority.
10. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour. That He saves
the sinner from the penal consequences of his sin, the very moment the
sinner repents of his sin, and believes and accepts the Saviour as his
own, resting by faith on His finished work alone.
THE WORK OF CHRIST ALONE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THE SINNER'S NEED.
This is the only righteous ground on which a Holy, sin hating God, can
forgive the sinner's sins (John 3:16; Romans 3:24-26, 5:1-10).
11. We believe in one God, the creator of all, eternally existing in
three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1, Matthew 28:19).
12. We believe in the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is true
God and that He became true man. He was begotten of the Holy Spirit,
born of a virgin called Mary who was blessed among women, and that He
was and is, Holy and Sinless in His manhood. He did not sin, and could
not sin, for He was God manifest in flesh (John 1:1; Philippians 2:6-9;
Luke 2).
13. We believe that man possesses a sinful nature, inherited from Adam
in his fall from the Garden of Eden. Through Adam we became sinners
through nature, and consequently sinners by practice, and because of
this, man has no ability to save himself from eternal punishment by his
own works, religious, moral or otherwise (Genesis 3; Romans 3 & 5;
Ephesians 2:8,9).
14. We believe in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross, through which sacrifice He has effected complete and eternal
redemption. God has set His seal of approval on the work of Christ by
raising Him from among the dead and exalting Him to His own right hand
in Glory (John 19:30; 1 Peter 1:19-21).
15. We believe that should a person die in their sin, unrepentant and
unforgiven, he/she will open their eyes in Hades (Hell) (Luke 16:19-31).
That Hell is a waiting place for the final judgement (Revelation 20:13).
That there is only a Heaven (the place of happiness) or a Hell (the
place of horror), no other place is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.
Children who die under the age of understanding will be in Heaven,
covered by the sacrificial blood of Christ. Where there is no
responsibility, there can be no judgement for being born in sin. Christ
has dealt with this matter of the infant babes in His death.
16. We believe in Eternal Punishment for all who reject the Saviour and
do not believe in His sin atoning sacrifice. The Lord Jesus is today,
indeed this very moment, willing to be your saviour, if you, by faith,
personally accept Him as such. Otherwise, if you reject Him, He will one
day be your Judge, when he will sit upon the Great White Throne to judge
all who have refused His offer of pardon, forgiveness and salvation
presented in the Gospel (Revelation 20:11-15).
17. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just (justified) and
the unjust, those who die in faith and those who die in their sins. We
do not believe in a general resurrection of the dead. There is a first
resurrection for all who are saved by trusting in the Saviour, those who
believe the Gospel, those who died in faith, this is the resurrection
unto life (John 5).
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