PM Service – Salisbury Baptist Church

When Tears Are No More

30th March 2025

Jesus Christ is our eternal advocate who intercedes for us in Heaven. He has entered Heaven itself, not a symbolic representation, to appear before God on our behalf. This intercessory ministry connects Earth and Heaven, assuring us that we have the strongest defender before the Father. When we reach glory, God will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. The former things will pass away, and what God gives us will be far better than anything we could have desired for ourselves.

When Do We Receive the Holy Spirit?

23rd March 2025

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a second blessing separate from salvation that is ours through Calvary's work. There are no blessings that do not come through the work of Christ on the cross. The giving of the Holy Spirit comes along with the forgiveness of sins when we respond to the gospel to be reconciled to God. But the work of the Spirit baptising us into the body of Christ is a part of the one work of grace accomplished through Christ's death and resurrection. The time gap mentioned in Scripture is between John the Baptist's promise that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1) and its fulfilment at Pentecost (Acts 2), not between when a believer receiving salvation as one step and then later receives an extra blessing in the Spirit. When you believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness of sins, you simultaneously receive the Holy Spirit as a part of what God gives you at Christian conversion. There are not two separate works of grace, one when we are forgiven through Calvary's action and a second other spiritual grace called the "Baptism in or by the Spirit". Rather, there is one complete salvation that includes all spiritual blessings. When someone responds to the Gospel to come to God they receive two blessings – the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Seven Sayings of Christ on the Cross

The Seven Sayings from the Cross #5

16th March 2025

Christ's declaration "I thirst" from the cross speaks not only of His physical suffering but also points to His promise that believers would never thirst again. The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus would send after His glorification, brings rivers of living water to flow from within those who believe. This spiritual satisfaction comes with just three simple conditions: acknowledge your thirst, come to Christ in faith, and drink. There is nothing between our believing and the rivers flowing—no delay, no special preparation, only the simple act of surrender expressed in the words "Father, into Your hands I commit my life." The flowing rivers of the Spirit are immediately available to anyone who truly surrenders to Christ.

The Seven Sayings of Christ on the Cross

The Seven Sayings from the Cross #4

9th March 2025

The central saying from the cross—"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"—represents the most difficult moment in redemptive history when the Father turned away as the Son bore our sins. The supernatural darkness during those three hours came not from God but from the gathering powers of evil, attempting to extinguish the Light but finding themselves defeated instead. Through this abandonment, Jesus opened the way for us to draw near to God with confidence. We can now approach God with a true heart in full assurance of faith, just as Jesus demonstrated when He committed His spirit to the Father. Because Jesus was forsaken, we need never be.

The Seven Sayings of Christ on the Cross

The Seven Sayings from the Cross #2

2nd March 2025

The dying thief's unexpected encounter with Jesus demonstrates that salvation requires nothing from us—no religious works, doctrinal knowledge, or moral righteousness. The only reason anyone enters heaven is because of "the Man on the middle cross." We bring nothing to the table, neither positive achievements to impress God nor negative failures that disqualify us. Our natural tendency toward pride in our accomplishments or guilt over our failures is overcome only when we adopt Jesus' dying attitude: "Father, into Your hands I commit my life." This surrendered faith, like the thief's simple request "remember me," is the only response to Christ's finished work that brings eternal life.

The Seven Sayings of Christ on the Cross

The Seven Sayings from the Cross #1

23rd February 2025

While being crucified, Jesus spoke the extraordinary words, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." These words reveal the staggering extent of divine forgiveness—even toward those actively causing His suffering. This pattern of forgiveness becomes our model as we're called to forgive others as we have been forgiven. The cross demonstrates that genuine forgiveness is costly, requiring surrender of our rights to retaliation. If we fail to forgive others after receiving such amazing forgiveness ourselves, we become like the unforgiving servant who was forgiven an enormous debt yet refused to forgive a small one. Christ's willingness to forgive from the cross becomes the pattern for our faith.

The Beautiful Service of Mary

16th February 2025

All four Gospels record the extravagant and costly Service of Mary to Jesus when she anointed his feet with costly ointment for His upcoming burial. It was by her a prophetic act. Jesus insists that the story is to be heard everywhere the Gospel message is given. Genuine Christian service flows from a heart transformed by Jesus Christ. While many churches emphasise activity and programmes, true discipleship begins with sitting at the Lord's feet and learning from Him, as Mary did. Her costly offering of perfume presents a powerful pattern - she served extravagantly because she loved deeply, having experienced Christ's life-changing power in His raising her brother Lazarus from the grave. The Lord desires this same depth of relationship with all His followers, where service springs naturally from a heart of gratitude and love. Theologically, we should always keep the Gospel together with the call that discipleship makes for us to serve. The Gospel works both to turn people into disciples and to motivate their service.

Jesus: Son of God and Messiah

9th February 2025

Jesus Christ's identity encompasses both His eternal deity as Son of God – the second Person of the Trinity – and His role after the coming into the world by taking on full humanity and being named "Jesus". Matthew, Mark, and Luke affirm both aspects of Christ's nature, presenting not competing views but complementary truths about who Jesus is and how becoming the "Saviour" involved both His deity and His obedient humanity under the leadership of Father God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Only by this way was He able to accomplish our salvation.

The God “called alongside”

2nd February 2025

The Holy Spirit's relationship with Jesus Christ is foundational to understanding the outworking of Christian salvation. Rather than being a separate blessing or secondary experience, the Holy Spirit comes specifically in Jesus' Name as the promised Comforter (Paraclete). He does not bring a different salvation but rather makes real the presence of Christ in believers' lives. This understanding corrects common misconceptions about receiving the Holy Spirit as a separate experience from receiving Christ, while highlighting the Spirit's essential role in Christian life.

The Spirit’s Work in bringing us all that we have in Christ

26th January 2025

The fullness of God dwells bodily in Christ, and through Him, believers receive everything needed for salvation and spiritual life. When we come to Christ, we receive not just a portion of God's presence, but the complete indwelling of His Spirit. Just as Jesus experienced being born of the Spirit, anointed by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, and raised by the Spirit, these same happenings are granted to all who trust in Him. Our journey is not about acquiring additional blessings beyond Christ, but rather discovering the depths of what we already possess in Him.