7th January 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Matthew 2v1-23) Message (Scott Woodburn) One week of 2023 has already gone by and if I may be so bold to ask...how are things going? Has the "best version of yourself" finally arrived? Are you reading more and eating less? Is the dog coming with you on your 5am jog? I'll leave you to ponder your answers and consider the road that lies ahead but I'm not going to criticise if all your dreams have not yet been realised. Each of us have decisions to make every single day and ultimately only you are responsible for the road you choose to take. In today's passage the famous wise men made a decision to follow a road that took them west. Who were these wise men? We’re not desperately sure. Perhaps they were three foreign kings from the east. Perhaps they were Jewish wise men from Babylon. Some have even named them Melkon, Balthasar and Gasper. Regardless, they had seen Christ's star rise in the sky and they followed it seeking the one who they acknowledged as "king of the Jews" so they might worship Him (v1-2). Christ's birth had been foretold by the prophet Micah who once declared "And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel." (Micah 5v2). The wise men were pointed in the right direction by Herod and his advisors but it was Christ's star that rose before them and finally brought them to Jesus. Matthew doesn't tell us that there were three wise men just that the wise men brought three gifts which were gold, frankincense (tree gum which had a pleasant smell and could also be used for medicine) and myrrh (tree gum used as perfume and spice). But regardless of their actual number they fell before Jesus and worshipped Him (v11) before taking a different road home as they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Herod was on an altogether different kind of road. Who was Herod? Herod the Great who was on the throne at the birth of Christ. When he died his kingdom was split into four with a quarter of the kingdom going to each of his three sons and the final quarter going to Herod the Great's sister. One of those sons was called Herod Antipas also called Herod the Tetrarch (tetrarch means "four rulers") and it was this Herod who Jesus called a fox (Luke 13v32). Finally, the Herod in Acts 12 was Herod Agrippa the First, the grandson of Herod the Great. Herod the Great was troubled by the news of Christ's birth (v3) and told the wise men that when they found Jesus they were to share the news with him so that he too might worship Christ (v8). But Herod's road was marked by hatred not praise. His goal was to rid himself of any rival to his throne. When it became clear that the wise men had no intention of returning to Herod, in a fit of sinful fury the king ordered the murder of all of Bethlehem's male children under the age of two (v16). This event is called "the massacre of the innocents" and was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31v15). Despite the horrific bloodshed, Christ was spared as an angel warned Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt where they would find refuge just like Joseph in days of old. Indeed the road to Egypt was a providential one and once more the Scriptures would be fulfilled "Out of Egypt I called my son" (Hosea 11v1) Wicked kings may flourish for a time but they do not last and Herod the Great was to die in excruciating pain before being replaced by his son Herod Archelaus (v22). This paved the way for Christ's return from Egypt but it would be a return to Nazareth in the north and not Bethlehem in the south. Once more the prophets were being fulfilled that Jesus would be called a Nazarene (v23). It’s not possible to quote directly from a prophet in this instance. Rather we are to look a wee bit more closely to see Matthew’s point. To be a Nazarene was to be someone from a one-horse town, it was to be someone from an obscure place and someone worthy of contempt. Matthew’s point becomes clear - Christ was a Nazarene in that “he was despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53v3). The American poet Robert Frost once famously wrote a poem which confronted him with a fork in the road. Which path did he take? “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” I have no doubt that this year will see you both succeeding and failing in equal measure but I pray that your focus will always remain on Christ. Herod took the road of rage, fury and sin and he got his just reward. May your road and mine be one on which we follow the King in worship and humble service. The road with Jesus is at times difficult and beset on all sides by the plots of the wicked. Few find Christ’s road and few walk upon it but brothers and sisters, may your feet not leave it. Today we choose the Christ road and that makes all the difference. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q44 What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us? The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, that because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.
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6th January 2023
Pray (ACts) Read Genesis 4:1-9 and Hebrews 11:4 Message Alan Burke Abel's life was taken from him unjustly by his brother Cain, he began the first in a long line of martyrs who would die for their faith in Christ but there are two ways in which he still speaks. Firstly the wonderful way he still speaks is that the testimony of Abel still continues to go out the world around. To all all who read and know what is written in about Abel know his part in the church and his voice is part of the church that rest in heavenly glory. Millions of people have been impacted by the faith of this man who became the first martyr in church history. He was not a perfect man, today the message that is conveyed by Abel is not "be like Abel" No. Instead it is as all of Scripture has been pointing to, to look to Jesus, to have faith in him, for He is the author and the object of our faith. The other way in which Abel still speaks is given to us in Genesis, which Revelation also conveys. For when God confronted Cain about the murder of Abel, 10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Gen 4:10). The blood of Abel appealed to God for vindication, his blood cried out for justice. In Revelation 6:9-111 we are told of the Martyrs of the faith who before the coming Judgment cry out with a loud voice asking How long will the Lord refrain form judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth (Rev 6:10). But remember that Christ’s blood speaks better than the blood of Abel, crying out to the Father for forgiveness (Heb 12:24). Abel like all of us one day will die, we may not be martyred for faith in Christ, I sincerely hope that Northern Ireland doesn’t degenerate that quickly but my hope may be unfounded, none of us ever thought we would see half the stuff we see in our lifetimes. But although Abel’s body lies in the ground he like the souls of all 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). (WSC37). By faith the one who trusts in Christ will find that doing so has not been misguided. For Jesus Christ is the saviour and friend of sinners and although we do not see Him, we believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. My dear brother or sister, rejoice today at the precious faith that the Spirit has worked in your soul. By that faith you will receive your commendation. Many of us have a hard time accepting that what matters is faith but it is by faith that we are saved, but it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The faith Abel had was in Christ, they way that all those who were listed here were saved was by Christ, they only faith that saves is in Christ! For every believer it is by faith alone in Christ alone that we are saved. We often fall into the trap of thinking that it is about us, that it is reliant on how well we are doing, like the more I read my bible the more God loves me, the more I do the right things the more that God will love me, the more that I do this, don’t do that, the more I try the more I believe the right stuff, the more, the more, then the more God will accept me. The only way that we are accepted before God is through faith. How are any of us commended before the Lord, For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Rom 1:17). Abel was a justified sinner, a man made right by his faith, only through faith could he offer sacrifices God that were acceptable. Don’t miss the issue with Cain, he was the first man who was relying on religion, on his works, he was a man who outwardly may have had all the appearances but the issue was his heart. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q43 What is the preface to the ten commandments? The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Exod. 20:2) 5th January 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Matthew 1v18-25) Message (Scott Woodburn) Unfortunately there is nothing we like more than a little bit of scandal. The aisles of B&M often echo to the sound of "Did you hear?" "Did you know?" "Did you see?" The Scriptures tell us that there is nothing new under the sun and scandal has been rocking communities from the beginning. The first man and woman sinned against God, their eldest son murdered his little brother and from that point on humanity has witnessed the impact of sin, scandal and slander. It certainly seemed that our Lord's birth was going to be mired in scandal like so many others. A young couple called Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married (v18) but scandalously Mary was found to be pregnant with a child that didn't belong to Joseph. Can you imagine the talk of the town? There's nothing juicier than a betrayed boyfriend, an unexpected pregnancy and an unknown father. I'm sure Joseph must have been distraught when Mary shared the news but even though not much is written in Scripture about Christ's earthly father, we see a little glimpse of his integrity in these verses. Distraught or not, Joseph was a just man (v19) and even though it appeared to him that he had been betrayed, he was not willing to put Mary to public shame. He had every right to shout it from the rooftops and to tell everyone about his disgraceful fiancee but instead he wanted to divorce her quietly and move on with his life. How often do we strike out with vicious words and actions after being wounded? Joseph walked the much harder path of gentle mercy. As the story unfolded it became clear that Joseph had nothing to worry about. Mary's child was from the Holy Spirit (v18) and an angel explained to Joseph in a dream “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (v20-21) Have you ever moved from despair to relief? One minute the world is ending and the next the sun comes out from behind the clouds? Not only was Joseph's relationship intact but Joseph "son of David" was now being told that the unexpected child was actually the long expected Saviour. The child was to be called "Jesus" which means "God saves" and to this day in the English speaking world we still use the name "Joshua" which is the English equivalent of "Yeshua" or "Jesus" A name has never been more suitable than the name given to the Christ. Jesus came to fulfil what the Lord had said in Isaiah 7v14 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” Immanuel means "God with us" (v23) and today we confess that the baby given to Mary and Joseph was the Son of God born to die for the sin of His people. Jesus is eternal but there was a moment in history that He took on flesh and became like us in every way with the exception of sin. When we speak of Christ we should understand a little of who He is. Christ is true God who upholds the universe by the word of His power. Christ is true man who is able to sympathise with us in our human weakness. Christ is sinless, spotless and pure, the perfect obedient servant who was the only one able to save us. We describe this as the hypostatic union - Christ is true God, true man, without sin and furthermore we speak of Christ's two natures, His divine nature and His human nature. His two natures are distinct from one another free from conversion, composition or confusion. What do we mean? Christ's manhood didn't convert His divinity to something less. Christ's divine and human nature didn't come together and compose some sort of mixture. Christ's divinity caused no confusion to His humanity or vice versa. There was no scandal in the story of Mary and Joseph and nothing to whisper about in the darkest reaches of Poundland. But my friends it would be scandalous for us to ignore the glory of the virgin birth and the arrival of the Christ. God Himself stepped down into creation and this causes us to speak of the humiliation of Christ - the author of the universe willingly submitted Himself to the limitations of this world and the human condition, the King of heaven made His bed in the muck of this sinful world. How will you respond today? Let me humbly suggest that instead of seeking the latest scandal you instead seek Jesus. Behold your King! May every knee bow before Him! Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q42 What is the sum of the ten commandments? The sum of the ten commandments is, to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbor as ourselves. 4th January 2023
Pray (ACts) Read Genesis 4:1-9 and Hebrews 11:4 Message Alan Burke The first Martyr in the History of the Church was not John the Baptist (Mt 14:1-12), or Stephen in the book of Acts (7:54-60), but it was Abel who died for his faith, murdered at the hands of Cain. What we are told in the book of Genesis is that after Cain and Abel brought their offerings Cain responded to the Lord looking on Abel’s offering with favour by being angry and downcast. Cain was outraged by this state of affairs and despite God's warning he ended up taking his brother's life. The Lord in His Grace had warned Cain about the consequences of his sin and the failure to turn from it, but Cain rejected the gracious word of God. The concise and abrupt way in which the account Abel’s murder is told (v8) depicts to us the awfulness of what took place, sin had mastered Cain. What he had done to his brother was ultimately directed against God, he hated Abel because he hated God. Whereas Abel we are told was, “By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.” (Heb 11:4) Abel was commended as a righteous man by faith. And we know, from Romans 3, "There is no one righteous, not even one. No one who understands, there's no one who seeks God... There's no one who does what is good, not even one.” and that would include Abel (Rom 3:10). It’s not that Abel was righteous by virtue of his own goodness or morality, but because God commended, or declared, him as righteous by faith. Again we are reminded it was all about faith. It was faith in Christ that Abel had, that is why he was commended as a righteous man, it was faith in the promised one of God. Abel had faith in the one that his parents had taught him to believe in, faith in the one they hoped and longed for, the promised one who would deal with the sin that came into the world. Abel had faith in Christ, the one as Romans 3:25 reminds us, who came as a sacrifice of atonement, that the sacrifice of Jesus was for all sin before and after, because in His forbearance God and left the sins committed beforehand unpunished to demonstrate His justice (Rom 3:25). The sin of Abel was placed upon Jesus Christ through faith, the atonement of Jesus Christ was once and for all, it was for Abel through faith who died before his coming and it is for us who through faith believe. If you are struggling to get your head round this, how it was by faith in Christ that Abel was saved look to Hebrews 11:26, because we are told in regard to Moses, that he turned his back on the death and pleasures of Egypt, for the sake of… Christ! Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, all those listed were looking to the promises of God in Christ, the Messiah, the promised one of God, Jesus Christ. What we have here is a wonderful reminder of how from beginning to end is from Genesis To Revelation about One Lord, One Plan, One People. Every sinner has ever lived, as well as all those who are listed in Hebrews 11, and let’s not forget us, those of us here who have faith, are made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, justified by faith in Jesus Christ. For each and everyone who has ever lived there is only one way that we are righteous before the Lord and that is by faith as the righteousness of Christ is given to us. There is a transfer, we are clothed by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ by faith. Abel looked forward with faith to what God would do in Christ Jesus, how the penalty for sin would be dealt with but not only that, that the one who would take the penalty for sin would live a perfect life, fulfilling the law for all who put their trust in Him by Faith. This is how we are to be justified before a holy God, by the perfect righteousness of another, the righteousness of Jesus Christ who is imputed to all who have faith. It is what is known as an alien righteousness, for it belongs to Jesus and Abel a sinner was commended as a righteous man through the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ and likewise we are commended as righteous through the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is the wonder of what God has done for us! Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q41 Where is the moral law summarily comprehended? The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments. (Deut. 10:4, Matt. 19:17) 3rd January 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Matthew 1v1-17) Message (Scott Woodburn) Back when I had a TV license one of my great pleasures was watching "Who do you think you are?" It was a show that took a celebrity on a journey through the various branches of their family tree. It usually ended with the celebrity in question looking out to sea and pondering how they never knew that they were actually related to Adolf Hitler and Julian from UTV. At times I have followed my own family tree and although I haven't been able to go too far back, it was a delight to trace my roots back to Glenarm and Harryville in Ballymena. Matthew's Gospel begins with the family tree of Jesus. Christ's birth was miraculous but before we rush to the wise men, angels and young virgin we should do the difficult work of reading every name in the opening seventeen verses of Matthew's Gospel. There are the famous names of giants like Abraham, Jacob and David, there are the surprising names of Ruth the foreigner and Rahab the prostitute and there are the little known names like Abiud, Azor and Eliud. But why begin a Gospel with a long list of names in the first place? The answer is found in verse seventeen. "So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations." Do you see Matthew's great concern? Jesus who is called Christ (v16) is a direct descendent of Abraham and David and is therefore the fulfilment of the promises made to both men. Abraham was once told that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the shore and the stars in the sky. Christ is the true offspring of Abraham and Christ brings fulfilment to the promise of a large family. In Galatians Paul would make this clear by stating "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ." (v16) Christ is the offspring of Abraham and if we belong to Jesus by faith then we too are spiritual descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3v29). Years after Abraham, David was promised that a member of his family would sit on his throne forever. By the time of Christ's birth this promise seemed to have failed. The Romans ran Judah and a man called Herod was on the throne. But just as the promise to Abraham was fulfilled in an extraordinary manner, so too did Christ magnify the promise made to David. Jesus didn't come to remove Herod from the throne and reintroduce a Davidic king to Jerusalem reigning over a reestablished Israel. Instead Christ's kingdom and throne are not of this world and Christ's kingship will never come to an end. Even now in the early days of 2023, a descendent of David called Jesus Christ is still the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Where is Jesus now? He is reigning and "he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15v25). I'm told that most of us will abandon our new year's resolutions quite early in January. Today is only the 3rd day and I hope we're still actively trying to maintain all of the things we promised ourselves. If you are, then well done, if not then it isn't the end of the world. I'm comforted today by Christ who is the great fulfilment of all of the promises of God. As the Apostle once put it "For all the promises of God find their Yes in him."(2 Corinthians 1v20) Therefore my friends, do not fear what this year will bring, do not celebrate your successes too much and do not lament your failures as if the sky is falling. We have received Christ by faith and so everything for us has changed dramatically. Paul explains it this way "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." (2 Corinthians 1v21-22) Nothing in this new year will change the truth of these verses. Today we confess Christ as the promise keeper not the promise breaker and the supreme fulfilment of God's plan of redemption. May you enjoy Him this year and find your rest in His beautiful face. Christ is all we have and Christ is all we need. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q40 What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience? The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law. 2nd January 2023
Pray (ACts) Read Genesis 4:1-9 and Hebrews 11:4 Message Alan Burke In the Autumn we were working our way through the book of Romans, or rather we worked our way through the first 3 chapters. Now we turn to the book of Hebrews, although when I say Hebrews we will be spending a lot of time in the Old Testament as we do for we are going to in the next 14 weeks be focusing on Hebrews 11 and those listed in the ‘Hall of Fame’ of those who had faith. My hope is that it will be a help to us all to remands us that while we are still sinners what matters is that we have faith for in Hebrews 11 those listed are rarely role models who we should endeavour to be like, no they are sinners saved by faith alone in Christ alone. Hebrews doesn’t go into their faults and failures, instead it commends them because despite of the sometimes reprehensible people that they were, the carnage that some of them left, they were blessed by God because it wasn’t about them, it was about the kingdom of God and the coming Christ, the Messiah the one to whom they looked. Although Scott focused on those listed here in his devotions in the Autumn there is a lot more to be said and my prayer is that you will have greater knowledge and assurance of what God has done for you in Christ Jesus. In Genesis 4:1-9 we are told of Abel, or rather Cain and Abel. They were brought up in the same home, they were both taught about God in the home, their parents had conveyed to them the hope that there was in the Christ. We are there told that in the course of time v3, that Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast (Gen 4:1-5). There is that bit inside us wants to say; ‘that’s not fair’, they both brought their offering, what more do you want? But Hebrews gives us the answer to why Cain’s offering was not looked on with favour and Abel’s was. ‘By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.’ (Heb 11:4) There's an abiding principle here, in is the same for all human beings, at every point of human history, if you have Hebrews 11 still marked, and we will think about this more in next week, look at Hebrews 11:6 for there we are told…”without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). We come to the crux of it, it is the same for all of us, as it was for Cain and Abel, it is by faith, faith, faith that we can please God, the only reason why Abel’s offering pleased God in comparison to that of Cain’s offering was faith. We should not forget there was also Cain and he acts as a warning. Abel’s offering was accepted because it was brought by faith, it was received gladly by God, but Cain’s, well his was a faithless worship. He came, he brought his offering, he worshiped the Lord God but his offering was not looked upon with favour. In this we are reminded here that God cares not only about how we approach Him in the worship of Him, in the form it takes which should be founded and agreeable to His word but also the motivation of those who worship. Cain came and may have done all the right things, he did what he had been taught from his parents, his parents had shown him what it was to worship and he came according to the word of God but he did not have faith. It is only when our hearts are right, that we come by faith that God will look on us with favour. Without faith it is impossible to please God, all of us must know that what matters not is us, it is Christ. Through faith in Christ we can have confident assurance to approach a holy God in-spite of our sin. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q39 What is the duty which God requireth of man? The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will. (Mic. 6:8, 1 Sam. 15:22) |
Alan
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