13th February 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (Genesis 5:18-24 and Hebrews 11:5-6)


Message (Alan Burke)


Have you made a will? Thought about your funeral? Told those whom you love what your wishes are? Most of you probably haven’t, but you should! The reason why people often put these things off, I suspect, is that most of us don’t like facing up to the reality that one day we will face death. As a result, we like to put off the thought of it as long as we can and try to pretend that it will never happen to us, even though we know it will. For the believer, those who have faith while their bodies remain in the grave, the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness (Heb. 12:23) and do immediately pass into glory (2 Cor. 5:1, 6, 8, Phil. 1:23, Luke 23:43), and their bodies, being still united to Christ (1 Thess. 4:14), do rest in their graves (Isa. 57:2) till the resurrection (Job 19:26–27). 


There are only two people in the history of the World who have not experienced death, Enoch and Elijah, both were taken out of this life and brought to glory. For everyone else since they have to face the final enemy death to go to be with the Lord (1 Cor 15:26). For Enoch there is no grave, no place where we can go to pay our respects, for Enoch by faith did not see death. The story of Enoch is one of the few direct allusions to eternal life with God in the Old Testament. 


Christ will return, He is coming to judge the living and the dead, and for those who are still alive when He return then as we are told in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. If the Lord Jesus Christ returns in our life time that will be us, we will not taste death before entering the very presence of God, but if not then we too like those who have came before will face the final enemy of death before we are reunited with the Lord. 


Sadly there are many people who think that they are walking with God everyday, they do good deeds, they love their pets, they sometimes go to church and perhaps even believe they are doing God’s work by contending for a return to the ways of the past, the glory days. But what they fail to see is they are indeed walking but it is a broad road to hell. They are not walking with God because they have not believed in Christ. What matters for all is that we put our faith in Christ, the one in whom we have forgiveness and who came to share in our flesh and blood that through his death he might destroy the one who has the power over death so that we might be the redeemed of God and have no reason to fear (Heb 2:14-15). 


The four words that matter and tell us everything we need to know about Enoch are; "Enoch walked with God”. In Genesis 4 we are told of another Enoch, he was another descendant of Adam but came through the line of Cain. In Genesis 4:17, there we are told, 17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. (Gen 4:17). The Enoch of Genesis 5 knew that it was more important to walk with God than to leave a legacy of a city that would one day lie in ruins. What Enoch son of Cain achieved is long forgotten but Enoch son of Jared he walked with God and is now in heaven and one day by faith we will meet him. The only lasting legacy that we can hope to leave is that of faith in our children and our children’s children, if that is all that we leave then we are rich indeed.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q97 What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper?
A. It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.
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12th February 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Jude 1v11-13) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


Jude had finished speaking about Cain, Balaam and Korah but he had still more to say about the false teachers. They were like hidden reefs of coral which could shipwreck a Christian (v12a). They attended fellowship meals (love feasts) without any fear - we might say they had no shame (v12b). They were shepherds who fed themselves and let the sheep starve (v12c). They were like clouds which promised water for the thirsty but were soon blown away without rain (v12d). 


They were like uprooted trees which provided no fruit in late autumn, twice dead - dead because they gave no harvest and dead because they had no root (v12e). They were like a restless wild wave of the sea which only produced the foam of their own shame (v13). They were like wandering stars who followed their own course and could not be trusted to lead (v13b).


In the heat of the moment we may struggle to believe it, but those who oppose Christ will not win. Jude says that the Lord has reserved “the gloom of utter darkness” for those who seek to harm and destroy His church (v13c).


What should we make of this? A couple of things. Firstly, we do not receive this teaching with arrogance. We do not point and sneer at the false teachers. If we have escaped hell it is only by the grace of God and by the blood of Christ. Secondly, if our fellowships go through times of trouble and disruption caused by those who oppose Christ, we have absolutely no mandate to “fight fire with fire”. If someone lies about you, you do not lie in return. If someone seeks to destroy your reputation, you may speak only truth about them. If your fellowship is disturbed by a wolf among the sheep, trust the Lord to fight the battle.


Finally, be confident that evil will not win. Jude pronounces woe upon the false teachers and it will surely be woe upon woe for the opponents of Christ. The Lord will keep His church to the end, she will persevere and not one of Christ’s people will be lost. Today we may face the lies of the enemy and weep when those whom we love turn against us but sleep in the knowledge that Christ knows the truth. In this world we will have trouble but we keep walking safe in the knowledge that Christ Himself will acknowledge us before the Father. Stand firm for He is coming soon.      


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q96 What is the Lord’s Supper? The Lord’s Supper is a Sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.
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11th February 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (Genesis 5:18-24 and Hebrews 11:5-6)


Message (Alan Burke)


Enoch was a man who walked with God, who pleased God for he had faith. We don’t know the ins and outs of Enoch’s walk with the Lord, what it looked like but there are some things that we can safely presume from the scripture of what walking with God, or earnestly seeking God involves and it is those things that we think of today for God rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6).


What is it to walk with God, to please God, to earnestly seek Him? Well for some they think that going out for a walk in nature to be closer to God is earnestly seeking Him, and well yes nature declares the Glory of God but that’s not what it is to seek Him, to walk with Him to please Him. How would have Enoch walked with God, well we do not know the ins and outs of Enoch’s walk with the Lord but we can safely assume that his walk would have been very similar to how we walk with God rightly and it would have revolved around, the word, prayer and worship. We although are on the other side of the hope that Enoch looked to, the Christ has come and we wait until He comes again and we have the sacraments which are visual aids and spiritual helps for us to serve and strengthen the believer. But much of Enoch’s walk would have revolved around the word, prayer and worship what are known as the ordinary means of Grace, the things that God has given us for our benefit. 


How do we walk with the Lord, how do we please the Lord, well let’s start with His Word. How we know the Lord, it is through His word. David in Psalm 119:105 said; “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”, Paul in Timothy; All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). We look to God’s word and God audibly speaks today, but not through some voice in your head but when His word is preached faithfully, the bible teaches us that God speaks when His word is preached, God is speaking today if we desire to hear Him. But are we walking with the Lord rightly when the word of God says one thing and we do another?


Next, we need prayer, God has given us prayer where we offer up our desires to Him, for things agreeable to His will, in prayer we come to the Lord God almighty, the one that we come before already knows what we are facing, our anguish, our pain, our joys, our troubles what ever it may be. He also knows what we need, he knows all things. But as we come in prayer as we pour out our hearts to the Lord God we do so commune with Him, in prayer we acknowledge our dependence on the Lord and give Him His due glory, it builds our relationship with our heavily Father. Jesus instructed us to pray. So for us the simple question is are we praying? 


God has also given us sacraments, for those who partake in the sacraments through the faith that God has wrought in us they are a sign and a seal, but they are more, they serve to strengthen the faith of the believer, for the Spirit of God works in us and enables us to die to self and follow Him. God by His grace has given us visual aids that remind us what He has done, that we have the sign of the covenant placed upon us in baptism and we partake in the Lord’s supper it reminds us that we partake in his death and resurrection, that spiritually feeds us with Christ Himself. 


One more thing Hebrews 10:25 the word of God tells us, “25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Heb 10:25). But some think meeting is optional. I know some of you watch the service online because you cannot make it out, but there are some who are choosing to neglect to meet together and are making excuses. How do we encourage one another? It is by being here together, we come to worship God but in doing so we encourage one another by our very presence as the body of Christ. Do we make a priority of these things? These are the ways in which God has given us to walk with Him.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q95 To whom is Baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible Church are to be baptized.
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10th February 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Jude 1v11-13) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


The last of Jude's three Old Testament examples was Korah and if most of us don't quite remember what Balaam got up to, even more have no recollection of Korah. Who was he? In Numbers 14 the people started to grumble against God and they made the decision to choose a new leader and head back to Egypt (Numbers 14v4). Isn't that extraordinary? They had seen the Lord do amazing things but in their sinfulness they believed slavery in Egypt was to be preferred over following Moses through the wilderness.


Needless to say the Lord was not pleased with the people and He vowed that they would die in the wilderness (Numbers 14v29). Eventually the grumbling took on a more dangerous form when Korah initiated a rebellion against the leadership of Moses (Numbers 16v1) accusing him of exalting himself over the people (Numbers 16v3). The next day Korah's rebellion came to an end when the Lord caused the ground to open up beneath him sending him to his death (Numbers 16v31).


Brothers and sisters, we may not believe it and we may not like it but the Lord rules His Church and He has appointed officers and given them authority within the fellowship. In our case spiritual authority resides with the Elders of Edengrove and make no mistake, this is a huge task and privilege. Let me remind you of what Scripture requires of an Elder "The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil." (1 Timothy 3v1-7).


It is an extraordinary calling to be an Elder and I promise that it is one that I take incredibly seriously. But what is your responsibility to your Elders? I think the Apostle sums it up well in Hebrews 13v17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." In this day of rights and privileges, the Christian is called and required by Jesus to obey their leaders and to willingly submit to their authority.


This doesn't mean that I can act like a monster - I will be called to give an account before God for my leadership. No. I am to lead well and in a Christlike manner but equally you have no mandate to be a pain in the neck. The work of the leader is supposed to be joyous and this in turn would be to your advantage. But is this the reality in Edengrove? Are you making the job of leadership easier or harder? Are you stirring up rebellion? Are you praying for your leaders or opposing them? Are you willingly following or aggressively obstructing?


None of these questions are trivial. Korah led a rebellion against Moses and we are to beware anyone who works in the shadows to undermine any fellowship's leaders. It doesn't matter if the trouble makers look like Cain, Balaam, Korah or a mixture of all three. They are to be avoided and opposed. Why? Because the Church belongs to Jesus and she is precious in His sight.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q94 What is Baptism? Baptism is a Sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.
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9th February 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (Genesis 5:18-24 and Hebrews 11:5-6)


Message (Alan Burke) 


This week we focus on a man that we know very little about, in truth we know more about Jimmy’s relatives even though he hasn’t spoken to us in years than we do about Enoch. Of course today we have things like church records, census records, you can even go yourself and spend like I have, a few days at PRONI working your way through their records. PRONI is the Public Records Office of Norther Ireland and it is free to access and use for anyone who is interested in doing some historical digging. What we have about Enoch you could fit on the back of a postage stamp yet what little we know about him is wonderful and it should lead our hearts to rejoice. 


For Enoch had faith and although we are not given much detail about him and the life that he lived we should marvel! Yeah we may be able to trawl census information, church records, births deaths and marriage records but none of that will tell us the most important thing we should be asking about our own family, the question is did they have faith? And that is the question that matters for all of us, and well Enoch even though we know so little what matters is he had Faith.


It is to Genesis we turn to first for it helps us to see where Enoch fits into salvation history. There we have Adam, Seth, then Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared and Enoch. There is no mention of the faith Enoch’s father, grandfather etc in the book of Hebrews, we simply do not know if they had faith, but Genesis 6:5 helps us to understand more about the culture at that time, there we read; 5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (Gen 6:5). From the fall there was a spiral, it wasn’t progression to godliness, but wickedness. Things were spiralling out of control because of sin and in the midst of it we are told of Enoch who was the son of Jared (18), and that he had brothers and sisters but he was a man who walked with God (v24). This is the bit that matters, that that this man Enoch who was seventh in the line from Adam ”walked with God”.


The book of Hebrews says it slightly differently, it tells us that Enoch was one who was commended as one who pleased God. Enoch walked with God, ie in his life he pleased God, it wasn’t that Enoch went on a hike around with the Lord God, no it was that in his life he pleased God, he sought to live in relationship with Him, he was one who had faith! We don’t know the ins and outs of Enoch’s walk with the Lord, what it looked like but there are some things that we can safely presume from the scripture of what walking with God involves. But before we do that I want to ask the question for us what does it mean at its most basic level to walk with God? It doesn’t mean getting the hiking boots out. 


Well the imagery of Scripture is that to walk with someone, to walk with the Lord then there must be a relationship, there must be fellowship. Well for all of us, by our nature we are the enemies of God, we are not walking with the Lord, we are walking contrary to Him as Leviticus puts it (Lev 26:23-24). We cannot walk with the Lord if we are His enemies, if we haven’t been born again, what we need is to be reconciled to Him by faith, Hebrews 11:6 reminds us without faith it is impossible to please God. For all of us, to walk with God, to please God the thing that is essential is faith. It is impossible to please God any other way. Hebrews 11:6 goes on to remind us that “anyone who comes to Him (speaking of God) must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Let us be those who are earnestly seeking God and we will think more of what it is to earnestly seek God on Wednesday. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q93 Which are the Sacraments of the New Testament?
A. The Sacraments of the New Testament are Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.
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7th February 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Jude 1v11-13) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


We might be familiar with the story of Cain, but who was Balaam? Balaam's tragic story is told in the book of Numbers. The king of Moab feared that the Israelites would take over his country and so he hired the Balaam to curse God's people. Balaam initially seemed reluctant to follow the king of Moab and was clear that the Lord did not want him to be involved in such a cause. But eventually Balaam relented thus falling under the wrath of God.


Balaam's story is an interesting one. There is a good discussion to be had over Numbers 22v20-22 where God tells Balaam to go with the princes of Moab but then is angry with him because he obeys. Was God inconsistent? By no means. Scripture interprets Scripture and Peter would later tell us that what drove Balaam even in his obedience was greed. Peter explained that Balaam “loved gain from wrongdoing” (2 Peter 2v15). He used the forbidden practice of divination (Deuteronomy 18v9-14) and was paid handsomely for his effort (Numbers 22v7).


Therefore we should always be careful when there are those within the church who seem to de driven by greed. Jude's false teachers not only lived how they wanted walking in the way of Cain but they also seemed to have a lust for money.


Having money in and of itself is not sinful but desiring it above all things has caused many to wander away from the faith (1 Timothy 6v10). Greedy leaders are a blight on the Christian church but such individuals will not stop the Lord. Balaam's donkey saw the Angel of the Lord and she had the wit to turn away (Numbers 22v25). Balaam's eyes were not yet opened and so the Lord caused his donkey to speak asking Balaam why he was beating his donkey so harshly. It's a strange encounter but one which leads Balaam's eyes to be opened so that he could finally see the angel. If we consistently identify "The Angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament with Christ then Balaam came face to face with Jesus.


Just as Jesus opposed the greed of Balaam so too does He oppose those within the church who are driven by greed of all kinds. Woe to such people, their ways are perverse before the Lord and He will stop them in their tracks.


Silver and gold often capture our hearts but the Lord offers a priceless treasure in Christ. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6v23).


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q92 What is a Sacrament? A Sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
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6th February 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 3:1-13 focus v9-13)


Message (Alan Burke)


In our brains, we hold all kinds of information. I’ll share a few things with you that are random pieces of information that you may or may not have known. Like, did you know that the Ford 7610, which as a child I thought was the pinnacle of all tractors, was manufactured from 1982-1992? And it’s a good thing that I don’t have a big shed at the manse and lots of money because I’d have one and have absolutely no need for it. Or, like the Ford Capri Mk 3, 1.6 Laser, has a grand total of 73bhp and does on average 33mpg, although when mine ran, it was closer to 22mpg, and these days, no Ballymena man in their right mind would have one with their short arms and long pockets. 


There are all kinds of things we know, useless information and no benefit to our lives. If Lissara ever runs a table quiz, I’ll add those nuggets to the questions to see how many of you pay attention to the devotions. There are people, though, that you expect to know stuff about certain things. Like, if I go to a car mechanic, I expect them to know about cars. If I go to the GP, I expect them to know how my body works and have at least an educated guess of what is wrong with me. Well, here Nicodemus still doesn’t understand what Jesus is speaking to him of, and he asks, “How can this be?” 


Nicodemus, whom we have already been told was a Pharisee. That refers to what sect he is from. Pharisee literally means one who is set apart, a separatist, and they were known for strict adherence to the law and oral traditions and were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (Mt 9:11, Lk 7:39, 18:11, 12). We are also told that he was of the Jewish ruling council. The Jewish ruling council was the Sanhedrin. There were seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin, which was the highest court over all persons in the land. Nicodemus, though, was an important and influential man, but we now learn that he was a leading authority on religious matters. He was considered a master, a religious authority among the people. 


While Nicodemus has been left perplexed at what Jesus has said, the most striking thing that Jesus has said in all that goes on is his challenge to Nicodemus about how he did not understand these things. I’d say it’s like going to a car mechanic and they have no clue what’s wrong with your car, but these days with all the computers in them, they generally have no idea, but going to the doctor, we at least expect an educated guess, and they stand there and say that they have no clue what is wrong when you have a runny nose, sore throat, and a cough, even though they are symptoms that indicate a cold, flu, or some kind of allergy. Nicodemus is stumped at what Jesus has said to him. So Jesus challenges him, making the point that since he did not understand earthly things when he knew the scriptures and it was explained by Jesus, how then would he understand heavenly things?


When he came under the cover of darkness, Nicodemus had every reason to have confidence, from a human point of view, that he would be there, that he would enter the kingdom of God. He had the right credentials; he was seen as one who was righteous. But Jesus turned everything Nicodemus held confidence in on its head. The only one who can enter the kingdom is only those who are born again who will enter the kingdom of God. To enter, we must be born again. The reality is there is no Christian unless they are a born-again Christian. No one is a Christian who has not been born again. You must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. When we are born again, we should see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives as we die to sin and live more for Christ each day. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q91 How do the Sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A. The Sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.
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5th February 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Jude 1v11-13) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


We could all probably recount a story about a tragic situation in a local church. Usually there has been a problem of some description, awful things have been said and wicked actions have been taken. Situations have grown arms and legs and caused great pain and division among those who profess faith. These incidents are never pleasant but we should always remember that the Lord knows the truth about every difficulty in every church. He sees through the lies. He understands the attack and strategy of the enemy and He will certainly move against those who have treated His Bride with contempt.


Jude knew this and pronounced “woe” to the false teachers of his day (v11). The enemies of Christ may seem to be winning and at times it appears they have destroyed fellowships and reputations but when it is all said and done their end is only woe upon woe.


In true Jude fashion the Lord's little brother compared the false teachers to several well known figures from the Old Testament - Cain, Balaam and Korah. I suspect that from that list of three, Cain is the most well known. Eve rejoiced at his birth and wondered if he was to be the child of promise (Genesis 4v1). But Cain was filled with anger when the Lord accepted his brother's offering and not his own. Why did Abel's offering meet with God's favour? Because Abel worshipped by faith (Hebrews 11v4).


Yet even in his anger the Lord spoke with grace to Cain urging him to "do well" (Genesis 4v7). Cain was offered the Gospel, he was offered another path and he was warned that sin was crouching at the door waiting to strike. Did Cain listen? Sadly not. The first born son of the first man and woman was also the first murderer. He killed Abel in a field and quickly came under the judgement of God.


The false teachers walked in this way - they knew anger, jealousy, bitterness and thought nothing of destroying lives. Furthermore, such individuals were not people of faith. They knew the Gospel but had rejected God's gracious offer of salvation. Woe to them cried Jude! Indeed, and woe to anyone who hears God and refuses Him.


As I remember the story of Cain I'm comforted by the fact that his wicked action did not thwart the plan of God. He promised a child and that child would be Christ Jesus our Lord. Be on your guard against those who walk in the way of Cain, but take heart, no one can stop the good and gracious purposes of our Lord.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q90 How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.
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4th February 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 3:1-13 focus v4-8)


Message (Alan Burke)


There is much that I could say about our ever-increasing individualist culture and how it is impacting everything, but that’s for another time, and these devotions aren’t for me to have a little rant, no matter how much I’m tempted to make them that. Instead, they are about God’s word. Individualist cultures are characterised by, well, individualism, people to whom it is more important being an individual than being part of the community, traits like autonomy, self-sufficiency, independence, uniqueness, as individuals prioritise themselves over the collective group. Here is where I’m going with this: no matter how individualist you are, or anyone is, no one is foolish enough to think that their own choices and decisions impacted the fact that they were born. No matter how individualist we are, we know that our coming into this world relied on the actions of another; it wasn’t our choice; we didn’t will it to be; it was 100% dependent on another. Jesus had told Nicodemus that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again,” and of course, he is using figurative language to convey a spiritual truth, and it was lost on Nicodemus. 


Part of Nicodemus’ problem was not his knowledge of the scriptures but his understanding of what he knew. He found this concept, the necessity of new birth, difficult because he believed that as a Jew, he was already part of God’s kingdom because he was a descendant of Abraham. Nicodemus thought he would have been confident that he would have entered the kingdom of God, for who he was, he was a Jew, not only that, a Pharisee; he was a stickler for keeping the rules. This would have been like a slap on the face for Nicodemus. Yet the inheritance of God's promises to Abraham was not based on ethnic lineage but on faith in the Christ to come and whom Nicodemus was before (See Gal 3:29 and Rom 9:6–8).


In response to Nicodemus, Jesus responds saying; “I tell you the truth”, literally, “truly, truly”, that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit”. Jesus says what he has just said in v3 in a different way, to help to prompt Nicodemus to remember the scriptures. To be born of the water and the Spirit is a picture of spiritual cleansing that comes when we are born again. The water the Jesus speaks of here is not that of baptism; rather, this is Jesus restating what he has already said to Nicodemus but in a different way to try and help and understand what he has just said. It is to the Old Testament that we must look, that which Nicodemus was steeped in, that he would have known from the prophet Ezekiel 36:24–27.


The Lord through the prophet was speaking of what would come, how he would gather his people from the nations, bring them back; he would sprinkle clean water on them, they will be clean; he would cleanse them from all their impurities; he would give them a new heart and put his Spirit within them. Nicodemus would have known this. While natural birth gives physical life, spiritual birth gives birth to spiritual life. Here we are confronted with how none of us are the children of God by our nature. In truth, by our nature, we are his enemies; what is needed is the supernatural work of God; we need God to work in our hearts so that we might believe the gospel. 


Nicodemus should have understood this. That is why Jesus said in v7 you should not be surprised at my saying. For all of us, what is required to see the kingdom of God is that we would be born again by the Spirit. While we cannot see the Spirit move, we can see its effects on the lives of those whom the Spirit has worked. It produces fruit. We are told in Galatians 5 of the fruit of the Spirit in the life of those who are born again. The fruit produced is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Ga 5:22–23). How do we know that we are the children of God, that we are born again? Well, it is because we see those things in our lives, the fruit of the Spirit’s work. Sometimes we will see that fruit clearly, but sometimes we won’t, but we should always be looking to God and that he would work in us by the Holy Spirit, that as he gives new birth, that we would know the fruit in our lives.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q89 How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.
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3rd February 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Jude 1v8-10) 


Message (Scott Woodburn)
The last mark of false teachers highlighted in these verses is spiritual arrogance. To underscore his point, Jude used a story from a book called “The Assumption of Moses.” You've probably not read that book. It isn’t a Bible book and Jude wasn't trying to introduce it into the canon of Holy Scripture. The Bible has many references to texts which exist outside the Scriptures and we can rightly call them extra-Biblical sources. Jude later references "The Book of Enoch", "The Book of Wars" is mentioned in Numbers 21v14 and we are told about "The Book of Jashar" in at least two places in the Old Testament. There are also a great many more texts which are too numerous to list here.


Some of these books have survived to the present day, others only partially survive and others have been lost. What are we to do with such texts? Let me stress that none of the extra-Biblical books are considered to be part of Holy Scripture. You don't need to hunt them down and hope that the lost books will be rediscovered. The Bible is from God and at times the Lord inspired Biblical authors to reference texts which did not proceed from the mouth of the Lord. It is possible for an extra-Biblical book to have truth within it without the whole book being considered from God.


In the case of "The Assumption of Moses" it would seem that the false teachers knew and used this book with Jude quoting a story from it to turn the tables. The false teachers blasphemed the angels and yet Jude reminded them that not even the archangel Michael dared to blaspheme the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses. Jude’s point was that their arrogance was so great that they were prepared to do that which the angels wouldn’t do. Their arrogance was monumental!


Ultimately these false teachers claimed great knowledge but would finally be destroyed by their animalistic sexual appetites and desires (v10). Jude did not paint a pretty picture of the opponents of Christ’s church, yet we can be thankful for the picture he paints. It is a clear portrait of that which we must be on guard against in our day and age.


This devotion isn’t a call for you to check under the bed and behind the curtains for false teachers. We shouldn’t seek to have witch trials and live endlessly suspicious lives. Yet we must absolutely be alert. The church is always in danger and truth is always under attack. Read Jude’s words and remember them. Be wise and discerning and prayerful in these days and make sure you leave no open window for the enemy to climb through. Stand on the solid ground of God's Word.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q88 What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, Sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.
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