19th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 5v1-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Long before the coming of Christ a man called Moses was used by God to lead the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan. I'm sure you'll remember what happened at Mount Sinai...that was the place  where the Lord appeared to His people and gave them the Ten Commandments written on tablets of stone. We have already heard that Jesus is the true Israel called out of Egypt and now we see Christ as the greater Moses. How? Because in Matthew 5, Christ went up on the mountain, sat down and began to teach his "law" to his disciples (v1-2).


What follows is the famous Sermon on the Mount and that sermon begins with the "beatitudes" or "blessings" How are we to understand these blessings? Are we to do these things in order to be saved? Absolutely not, for then no one would be saved. Instead as we consider the beatitudes we are to realise that by faith in Christ we are saved and therefore we are already truly blessed. In Christ the blessings outlined in these verses already apply to us and because we are in Christ we are to respond to our salvation by striving to keep Christ's law. Brothers and sisters, the beatitudes speak to Christians telling us who we already are and what we are to be.


So as the greater Moses sat on the mountain, what did He teach us? "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (v3) Christ's followers understand who they are and who God is. A major mistake is to think that we're not that bad and that God is a slightly better version of us. Such a perspective is wrong. The Christian understands the depth of their sin and the unfathomable holiness of God. Therefore we are to be constantly humble before Him, decreasing everyday and seeking the increase of Christ in our lives.


Those who mourn are blessed says Jesus for they shall be comforted (v4). It is true to say that Christ comforts us when we mourn the loss of loved ones but this blessing speaks of our mourning for sin. Tragically this is often missing from our lives as we wink at sin and believe it to be unimportant. Sin is a heinous thing before a sinless God. The Christian is to mourn sin, repent of it and receive the blessing of Christ's comfort.


Meekness is yet another virtue of the child of God. The meek will inherit the earth says Jesus (v5) but that seems to go against all earthly wisdom. To be meek is to be weak isn't it? Well no. Meekness understands our position and strives to live in this world with humility and gentleness in all our dealings. The new heavens and earth will not be taken by force but will be given to the meek followers of Christ. Those who refused to exalt themselves on earth will find themselves exalted in glory.


Likewise the Christian is to hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will surely be satisfied (v6). This beatitude speaks about our pursuit of the things of God. Do we love His Word and seek to sit under it? Is prayer a chore or a joyous means of grace? We are righteous in Christ and therefore we are hunger and thirst for righteousness.


Jesus tells us that the merciful will receive mercy (v7). What is mercy? It is an attitude of kindness and generosity to those around us. It is hard to be merciful to those who have wronged us and sometimes we tell ourselves that the suffering of others is none of our concern. But just as we have received mercy, we are to cultivate mercy in our own lives.


Equally those with pure hearts will see God (v8). Thanks be to God for the Gospel for He has made our hearts pure by taking away our sin. Therefore the pure in heart are those who continue to seek holiness without which no one see God. Furthermore the pure in heart are not double minded. They realise that God is their supreme treasure and so they are "purely" focused on Him saying “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (Psalm 16v2)


God will call the peacemakers His sons (v9). Who are the peacemakers? Those who are unashamed of the Gospel which brings peace between God and man. The one who receives Christ knows true peace and in response to the Gospel they will seek to bring peace to the strained relationships all around us. Peacemaking is hard work which often we would prefer to be left undone but as we are at peace with God through Christ, we are to be at peace with others in this world.


We should be under no illusion that those who seek to follow Christ walk a difficult road. Samuel Rutherford once warned that because we are with Christ we cannot expect the sunny or the sheltered side of the hill. As the beatitudes finish, Jesus tells us that even during trouble we are called blessed. When we are persecuted for righteousness sake we will remember that to us belongs the kingdom (v10) and when others oppose us in a multitude of ways we rejoice and remember that our reward in heaven is great (v11).


Brothers and sisters, contending for the faith in this harlot world will see us persecuted for righteousness sake and even bearing the title "Christian" will cause us to be mocked, persecuted and slandered. It happened to the prophets before us (v12) and it happened to Christ. Nevertheless we press on knowing that the blessed life is the one that follows Christ.


How should we respond to the beatitudes? In praise for the knowledge of who we already are in Christ and in prayer asking for further sanctification and growth in the Christian life. True blessedness is not found in early retirement or dancing on your one hundredth birthday - blessed is the one who is found in Christ.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q54 What is required in the third commandment? The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.
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18th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Hebrews 11:7 (take some time and read Genesis 6:1-9:28)


Message Alan Burke


Noah in the midst of a wicked world that grieved the Lord was to build an ark in faith of things unseen. He was thus warned of what lay ahead by God and in response he built the ark. He simply believed in the word of God and build and ark in response. Adam and Eve in the garden failed to believe the word of God but Noah by faith believed and built the ark. For God had forewarned him about the judgement. In Genesis we are given the details of that vessel, the ark that Noah built. Just like throughout Scripture it doesn’t tell us everything we might want to know, but I tell you this much, even thought the text doesn’t explicitly tell us this in the book of Genesis is that Noah would have been ridiculed by men for two reasons.


The first obviously is building an ark. Secondly all the while Noah though his actions, and more than likely his words was telling people about the judgement of God and showing his faith in that word even in the mist of the wickedness of the earth. By faith Noah built an ark. An ark that would have spoken of the coming judgement of God because of the wickedness of the people, it would have taken decades to build and would have grown before the eyes of the people, they would have had ample opportunity to enquire about the salvation that it spoke off. The people of that day had every opportunity like today to repent and flee from the coming judgment of God but what we discover is that only Noah and his family boarded the ark and were saved. 


Little has changed, today there are churches littered across this land that proclaim of the coming judgment of God against the wickedness of man, but many are declining, many do not want to hear the warning or repent of their sin. Instead they choose to ignore, to ridicule, to mock the faith of those who look to the word of God and the promises of God who by faith trust in him and the salvation that He offers in the Christ. For Christ is the true ark and all who rest in Him will be brought safely through the coming storm of God’s judgment.  


Hebrews also reminds us that Noah did this “in holy fear”. This ‘holy fear’ that Noah had was not to do with the flood itself but to do with Noah’s relationship with God. The word of God reminds us that the fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom (Prov 9:10), that the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, His love is towards those who fear him (Ps 103:13, 17). Not the fear of terror but a filial fear. God’s people are to fear him, walking in His ways keeping His commandments, they are to remember the Lord in all our ways, to fear Him and obey His commands, fearing the Lord is to know Him and respond accordingly. 


The true fear of God acknowledges God as Lord and Saviour and it seeks to honour Him above all things. The true fear of God knows God as Father and seeks to please and obey Him rather than to sin against Him. Noah feared God rightly and sought to honour Him in the midst of a wicked generation. For all of us we should fear God rightly, seeking to honour Him in the midst of a wicked generation, we will fail but enterally we will be victorious through faith in Christ. For Noah looked to Him, the one who was promised who would come, we look to the one who has come and will come again. We have the benefit of knowing much more of what God has done and was doing, for Christ has come. For those before he came, the saints of the Old Testament they trusted in the promises of God, of the one that would come. Noah was saved by the work of Christ and we are saved by the work of Christ.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q53 Which is the third commandment?
The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exod. 20:7)
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17th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 4v12-25)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


It was time to move from the ministry of John the Baptist to the ministry of Jesus Christ. John had come as the herald of Christ and his ministry had been completed but there was to be no retirement for John. Matthew tells us that John was arrested and as we will see later in the Gospel, John's death would come in a tragic way. In response to John's arrest Jesus headed north to a place called Galilee (v12). The move was a practical one as it removed the Lord from the gaze of Herod Antipas but it was also a move which fulfilled Scripture once more.


Matthew tells us that Jesus left Nazareth and lived in a place called Capernaum in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali (Zebulun and Naphtali were two of Jacob's twelve sons). The prophet Isaiah once decreed “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9v1-2)


Do you see Matthew's point? Galilee was seen as a place of darkness far from Judah and the temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah also refers to it as "Galilee of the Gentiles". In Christ's day the region was a mixed place but just over one hundred years later, Jewish people had largely disappeared from Galilee. Christ the light of the world had come and was shining in the place of great darkness. Christ had come and His good news was for Jew and Gentile alike. 


As John left the scene, Christ began to preach saying "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (v17). I've heard far too many people saying that Christ's message was one of acceptance, love and peace. The same voices argue that Jesus was never judgemental and never one to mention sin. Brothers and sisters, do not be mislead. Christ came preaching the essential need of repentance for sin. True repentance is a Spirit worked grace where we understand the filth of our sin and the need for forgiveness. Repentance causes us to flee to Jesus and to fall at His feet seeking mercy.


The ministry of the Lord had begun but He wouldn't act as a lone ranger. Jesus called two fishermen to follow Him and to become "fishers of men" (v19). Simon Peter and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed Christ (v20) and they would soon be joined by two other fishermen James and John the sons of Zebedee (v21-22).


Christ and His followers went throughout the region of Galilee teaching in synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel, healing the sick and casting out demons (v23-24). Soon great crowds gathered and followed Christ coming to Him from Galilee and the Decapolis in the north and Jerusalem and Judah in the south (v25).


We can only imagine what it would have been like to have witnessed the ministry of Christ first hand. Imagine the joy of walking behind Him, witnessing every miracle and hearing His powerful teaching which was greater than anyone before or since. But we cannot go back in time and we are certainly not to be pitied. Every local church where the Scriptures are read and faithfully preached is a blessing to the local community that surrounds it and in those places there we will find Christ.


He continues to call humanity to repentance and faith and He still extends the hand of friendship to guilty sin soaked sinners. It will not always be this way but thanks be to God for this extraordinary day of grace. The Baptist prepared the way and he was followed by the Christ who still declares "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q52 What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment? The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’s sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship.
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16th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Hebrews 11:7 (take some time and read Genesis 6:1-9:28)


Message Alan Burke 


A long time ago now, I lived in a house with a view that in my mind was and still is unmatched. Since moving out there is no view from any of the houses I have lived in that have even came close and I was willing to give it all up to get married. On a clear day I would wake up and look out the window to see rolling countryside down to the sea. You could see the Bann river, then the sand dunes at Portstewart with the links course, behind that Portstewart Promenade, behind that Portrush, you could make out the causeway in the distance, there was Isla, Jura to the left. If I had built a boat when I lived there most people would have thought that reasonable enough, imagine though that I was building a vessel of enormous proportions the size of a modern battleship in the back garden and the Mrs was giving me a hand and I’d kept the kids from going to school to help and we were cutting down the every tree we could get to use most people would think I’d lost the plot. But that is exactly what God called Noah to do. 


Before we think of the faith that led Noah to build the ark do this a few things. Since the fall things had got bad, it shouldn’t surprise us for they were never going to improve until the Serpent Crusher comes finally. The world and in Noah’s day we are told that the earth was incredibly wicked, God 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). Things were bad, the spiral into sin was so that the Lord looked upon the earth that He had made, and no longer is it good or very good as he had declared at the beginning (Gen 1:31), instead things had got so bad because of sin. Notice what we are told in v6, how the Lord was grieved. 


Sin grieves God, don’t miss that, sin grieves a holy God. The Lord looked and saw and was grieved that he had made them. Just so we don’t miss the issue here, the reason for the judgement of God that comes we are told again at the end of v7 that God was grieved. In the midst of this incredibly wicked place, God was bringing his judgement because he was grieved at the sin of the people of the earth. He was bringing about his judgement to  “wipe mankind, whom He have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air” (7) because of the sin of man God was bringing and brought judgement upon the earth. Noah though, he found favour in the eyes of the Lord. Noah and his family would escape, Noah was to build an ark. 


In Hebrews 11 in this section that the apostle is teaching us about faith, and the faith of those of old reminded us as it begins in verse 1, that “…faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. (Heb 11:1). For Noah, what is remarkable is that he is an illustration of this, for faith looks to that which is unseen, being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. Noah had to live in a way that none of us have had to, for Noah had to show his conviction of things not seen and it was shown in him building an Ark. We like Noah are in a similar position, we by faith are sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, not of a flood but that Christ will return (Heb 9:27-28). He will return, but for many people they believe in something based on their own imagination but Christ Jesus is coming again and this time it is to judge the whole earth and make all things new. For all of us we should be asking that the Lord would enable us all the more to live accordingly, having faith, being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q51 What is forbidden in the second commandment?
The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, (Deut. 4:15–19, Exod. 32:5,8) or any other way not appointed in his Word. (Deut. 12:31–32)
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14th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 4v1-11)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


It is hard to read Matthew without quickly realising that a great focus of his Gospel is to underline that Christ is the fulfilment of the promises of God. Do you remember Matthew 2v15? Jesus was taken to Egypt to protect Him from Herod's rage and He remained there until Herod's death. Matthew states "This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'" Matthew takes Hosea 11v1 and applies it directly to Christ. Hosea says "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."


This verse of course speaks about when the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Who was Israel and who were his children? Israel was the new name given to Jacob after he wrestled with God in Genesis 32. Jacob is a name that means "usurper" or "supplanter" and spoke of Jacob's often underhanded methods. But after wrestling with God, Jacob was given the new name "Israel" which spoke of his striving with God and in a deeper way, God's striving for Jacob. The children of Israel therefore were descendants of Jacob who eventually found themselves as slaves in Egypt.


But if we apply Hosea 11v1 to Christ we realise that it finds its true fulfilment in Jesus. He is the true Israel called out of Egypt and eventually into the wilderness like the Israel of old. In the wilderness the children of Israel moaned and complained against God and wandered for forty years. Christ on the other hand spent forty days in the wilderness and stood firm under the temptation of Satan.


Who is Satan? He is a fallen angel who rebelled against God and led a multitude of angels in opposition to the Lord. Satan is not another god nor is he God's equal in any fashion, instead we confess him to be part of God's creation. Angels are ministering spirits and are sometimes called God's host. Satan's original purpose was to serve the Lord but now he is the enemy of God's people and he rages against the church.


In the wilderness Satan tempted Christ to ease His hunger by turning stones into bread (v3) but Christ responded by quoting from Deuteronomy 8v3 saying "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Satan then took Jesus to the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem and urged Christ to throw Himself off. The enemy was so sly that he used Psalm 91v11-12 to try and win the day saying "it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" But Christ could not be swayed drawing from Deuteronomy 6v16 and saying "Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (v7) Finally the Devil's attack focused on power. Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if only Jesus would worship him (v8-9). Jesus would be pushed no further and stated "Be gone, Satan!" before quoting Deuteronomy 6v13 saying "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"


What was Satan trying to accomplish? For Christ to make bread from stones would have seen Jesus not resting in the Word of God but taking matters into His own hands. For Christ to jump from the top of the temple would have been to put God to the test which is expressly forbidden by Scripture. For Christ to worship Satan was pure idolatry and would have brought division to the God who we confess to be one. Satan launched an all out attack on Jesus but the thunder of the enemy made no mark on the Rock who is Christ and soon Satan would leave and the angels would come to minister to Jesus (v11).


All of Christ's responses drew from Deuteronomy 6-8 where Moses was speaking to the Israelites before their entry into the promised land. He reminded them that they had wandered for forty years in the wilderness but now it was time for a new day. They were to be men and women who relied not just on bread but every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. The Israelites were to understand that they should never test the Lord and they were to make Him alone the object of their loyalty and worship. History shows that Israel rarely matched these standards and would know division, idolatry and finally exile.


But Christ is the true Israel and His time in the wilderness was not marked by failure. He was tired, tempted and tried but was not found wanting. Jesus left the wilderness and today continues to lead His people on another exodus to the promised land of glory. My brothers and sisters, regardless of your fears and failures...the one who rests in Christ rests secure. As we sometimes like to sing "I will trust in You alone, For Your endless mercy follows me, Your goodness will lead me home."


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q50 What is required in the second commandment? The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.
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13th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read 


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 of the thought of it as long as we can and try to pretend that it will never happen to us even though that 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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Q49 Which is the second commandment?
The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thy self to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exod. 20:4–6)
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12th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 3v13-17)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


If the Pharisees and Sadducees were unlikely candidates for baptism then Jesus trumped them all. The Lord had travelled from Galilee to the Jordan river in oder to be baptised by John (v13). John was not an arrogant man and he understood fully his place in redemption history. He had already declared that he was unworthy to untie the sandals of Christ (v???) and so immediately stated he needed to be baptised by Christ and not the other way round (v14).


However the Lord was insistent saying “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (v15) John put aside his opposition and Jesus was baptised. But why? In the earlier verses of this chapter it was clear that John’s baptism was one related to repentance of sin. Was Christ seeking baptism because of sin? Surely not! We confess Jesus as the sinless, spotless lamb of God who was without and stain or blemish. Christ’s baptism wasn’t to confess His own sin but to identify Himself with sinners.


We read in Isaiah 53v12 “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” Christ our Saviour willingly was numbered with the transgressors, He was reckoned to be a sinner and to save sinners He took their place and their punishment. This explains the baptism of Christ - He was not repenting of His own sins because He was sinless, rather He was publicly identifying Himself with sinners as the suffering servant who would die to set sinners free.


What came next only served to confirm the arrival of the Messiah. The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ like a dove (v16) before a a voice from heaven declared “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (v17). The word “trinity” is not used in Scripture but we rightly believe that “trinity” accurately describes our God. We come to this conclusion by “good and necessary consequence”. What do we mean? The good and necessary consequence of passages like this one is that our God is Triune in nature. The good and necessary consequence of Genesis 1v1-3 is that our God is Triune. The good and necessary consequence of John 1v1-3 is that our God is Triune.


We are Trinitarians and whilst the doctrine of the Trinity is complex we confess that there is one God, three persons, all equal. Our God is one but He has revealed Himself in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father is not the boss of the Son and the Spirit is not more important than the Father. The three persons of the Trinity are equal in power, authority, might and glory. As the old hymn suggests “God in three persons, blessed Trinity!”


But the events after Christ’s baptism weren’t just to teach about the Trinity, rather Scripture was being fulfilled. Isaiah 42v1 states “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” and Psalm 2v7-8 says “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.’”


Christ’s baptism identified Him with the sinners He had come to save and the Father’s declaration alongside the Spirit’s descent identified Him as the suffering servant long promised by the law and prophets. Brothers and sisters, the events of Matthew 3 were a public declaration of the glory and validity of Christ. If you are seeking a saviour Matthew 3 is a signpost which declares “Here He is! Look at Christ! He’s the One! This way and no other! It’s Christ! It’s Him! Behold the Lamb of God!” What a joy it is to be a Christian! Our eyes have been opened to the beauty of Christ and as we gaze upon Him, we remember the Father’s declaration “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Whoever has trusted this Christ will therefore never be put to shame.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q48 What are we specially taught by these words, "before me," in the first commandment? These words, "before me," in the first commandment teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.
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11th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read 


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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Q47 What is forbidden in the first commandment?
The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, (Ps. 14:1) or not worshipping and glorifying the true God as God, (Rom. 1:21) and our God; (Ps. 81:10–11) and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone. (Rom. 1:25–26)
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10th January 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 3v1-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


In days of yore the coming of a king was always declared before his arrival. The king’s herald would go before him to prepare the way and allow time for preparation. The last thing anyone wanted was for the king to arrive and no arrangements to have been made. Christ is not just a king but He is the King of kings and John the Baptist was His herald.


John was the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary shared a family connection (Luke 1v36). Indeed when John heard Mary speaking to his mother, John leapt in the womb (Luke 1v41). John was a child appointed by God to fulfil a very specific and wonderful purpose. He was the one spoken of by the prophet Isaiah who said “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” (Isaiah 40v3).


John was an uncompromising individual preaching the need for repentance in preparation for the kingdom of heaven (v2). What is repentance? Our catechism answers “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.” To be fit for the kingdom of heaven, one must absolutely repent of their sin and put their faith in Christ.


If his message was uncompromising then so too was his dress and lifestyle. Matthew tells us that John wore a camel’s hair garment, leather belt and ate locusts and wild honey for food (v4). He sounds like a modern day hipster living off the land and drinking coffee that has been brewed by Peruvian shepherds. But John was no poser and his lifestyle choices weren’t for Instagram followers - John had come as another Elijah. The Lord had promised “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4v5) John was that Elijah and both prophets dressed and lived in the same manner (2 Kings 1v8).


As John’s ministry progressed more and more people were travelling to see him and to be baptised by him. In John’s day anyone converting to Judaism would have been baptised but John’s ministry involved the baptism of Jews. These men and women were coming and confessing their sins and being baptised (v6). In other words they were responding to John’s preaching about the coming of Christ and were preparing themselves for the Saviour. 


This would have been a news worthy act and so soon the Pharisees and Sadducees came to see what John was doing (v7). Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees? The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group who sought to keep themselves separate from those around them. The took God’s law incredibly seriously (a good thing) but often missed the bigger picture as a result. The Sadducees came from a higher class of society than the Pharisees and were mostly priests tracing their lineage back to Zadok the high priest in the days of David. Although we don’t know much about either group we know that the Sadducees denied the resurrection (Matthew 22v23). These groups were not friends and often fiercely opposed one another but throughout the Scriptures we see them constantly linked in their opposition to Christ.


Once again John's message for these visitors was uncompromising. It's hard to say if the Pharisees and Sadducees had come to be baptised by John or merely to see what he was up to but regardless John perceived that their hearts were in need of Gospel change. He called them a "brood of vipers" (v7) who took great pride that as Jews that were descendants of Abraham (v9). But the kingdom of heaven isn't built on earthly standards. If we are to flee the wrath of God which is to come then John's advice must be heeded - "bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (v8).


What did John mean? If He wanted the Lord is able to raise up true followers from the rocks of the earth (v9) - saying "we have Abraham as our father" isn't enough, the spiritually dead must be raised to life. Your earthly family tree can't save you nor can the money in your bank account. The Lord demands Gospel transformation and lives that produce good fruit that comes from a good Gospel root. Without true repentance the sinner has no hope. Using an image of the tree to describe a person, John says that an axe will be put to the roots of any tree not bearing good fruit. Such a tree will be cut down and burned (v10).


John understood his place. He could baptise with water for repentance but Jesus was much greater than John and He would baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire (v11). Every sinner who repents will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. To be baptised by the Holy Spirit is the experience of anyone who has truly come to Christ and as we receive the Spirit so He sanctifies us and brings fire to the sin and dross our lives. As John's message to Pharisees and Sadducees finished he reminded them and us of Christ the Judge. Jesus will take His winnowing fork and separate the wheat from the chaff (v12). The wheat (the Christian) will find a place of safety in the heavenly barn of God but the chaff (the sinner) will only know the unquenchable fire of God's judgement in the place called Hell.


How are we to respond? My friends repentance remains a major concern in 2023. We would do well to heed the Baptist’s call. Christ has come and is coming again soon with the winnowing fork in His hand. May we flee from the wrath to come and live lives producing the good fruit of repentance. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q46 What is required in the first commandment? The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
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9th January 2023


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 Scott’s relatives that he was telling us about last week in Glenarm and Harryville in Ballymena 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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Q45 Which is the first commandment?
The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exod. 20:3)
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