17th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (Ecclesiastes 4v13-16) Message (Scott Woodburn) Pray (acTS) Do you remember the story of Joseph? He was his father’s favourite son and his jealous brothers considered taking his life but relented and sold him instead. Joseph ended up in Egypt in the service of a man called Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife liked Joseph a little bit too much and because he refused her advances, she lied to her husband and Joseph was thrown in prison. The Lord blessed Joseph in prison and eventually he was released to serve Pharaoh as one of the most important figures in that ancient and great nation. Even so, after many years had passed, Joseph’s legacy was forgotten and a new Pharaoh had no clue about Joseph’s many great deeds. Although Solomon didn’t mention Joseph by name, it seems the final verses of chapter four are an accurate summary of his life and perhaps Solomon had Joseph in mind when he penned Ecclesiastes. Joseph was the poor but wise youth (v13) who went from prison to a place of great power (v14). Many came to him and were blessed by his foresight and wisdom (v16) but future generations forgot him and did not rejoice in him (v16b). We can be thankful for a reminder of Joseph’s remarkable life which was marked by God’s providence at every step, but is that all we should take from these verses? Not at all. I’m intrigued by the comparison between the wise but poor youth and a foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice (v13). My mother used to tell me “you know it all, yet you know nothing” and at times she was correct in her assessment. We all go through periods that we are so singled minded that we simply won’t be told. Nevertheless, we recall that we are to live in community and sometimes we would do well to seek the advice of others - a threefold cord is not quickly broken. You’ll know by this stage that I miss the late Noel Agnew. He freely gave advice and his advice rarely failed. Good friends who give good advice are worth their weight in gold. Even so, let me offer a note of caution. Some offer advice which doesn’t come from a Christ-centred place. They offer “advice” which is merely a veil to allow them to say harsh and mean-spirited things. So what is to be done? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom (Proverbs 1v7) and our fellowships would be blessed with an abundance of both fear and wisdom. May the Lord raise up godly and wise men and women who freely offer Christ honouring advice to His people. May such advice be heard by open ears and soft hearts without arrogance or pride. May the Lord shut the lips of those who seek to destroy and close the ears of those who are targeted. By the grace of God, the Lord will cause us to be as holy and wise as pardoned sinners can be. Sing WSC Q71 What is required in the seventh commandment? The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbor’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behaviour.
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16th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (1 John 4:13-21 focus v17-18) Message (Alan Burke) Many moons ago I sat with a lady who was struggling was assurance of salvation. This lady had been taken to hospital and ended up in for surgery and when they opened her up the surgeon stopped and did not carry out the operation. Afterwards it was explained that she was riddled with cancer and there was nothing that could be done. I remember sitting with her and she was struggling and this is the passage that I took here to with my little experience and knowledge of here. Look at the wonderful assurance that John gives to us, v15 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God”. Do you confess that Jesus is the son of God? Well then v16, "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” This love is perfected or completed with us so that we have as v17 tells us confidence in the day of moment. For that lady she confessed Jesus as her saviour and she loved so well, she loved in a way that I desire to love. She could know that in what lay ahead that she was God’s child because of this. For the believer there is a very clear reality to how we live and in what lies ahead in the coming judgment, the confidence that we have. For there is a day coming when we will stand before the Lord our God and we will be judged by the one he has appointed to judge the living and the dead the Lord Jesus Christ and we will all be held accountable for our actions. For the believer as his love is completed in us we have no reason to fear the day of judgment because we have been saved by the work of God, through the son applied to us inwardly by the Holy Spirit. We have confidence not because of what we have done, confidence that we have been saved because of God’s work within us now that is being completed in us, perfected in us. It means that we do not need to fear what lies ahead in the day of judgement because for the believer it will mean that shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted on that day, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God, to all eternity. It will mean the end of sin and the beginning of a new and better external life face to face with our saviour Jesus Christ. In this life as we live more according to his word, obediently, in love then we can have confidence in what lies ahead, love completed in us will drive our fear, remove the doubt that we have. It doesn’t happen all at once, it is progressive, on going in our lives. For the believer our God will not cast us out when we make a mess of things, when we fall into sin and the love that he shows towards us should give us confidence in what lies ahead, it will lead us to love more and more, to obey him more and more and tell of who he is more and more. It should be the love that God has shown us in Christ that is applied to us by the Holy Spirit that should be our motivation, not fear, for we are his children, redeemed, forgiven, adopted and nothing we do can change that. If you are living in fear of punishment instead of running form the Lord you need to run to him, repent of your sin and trusting in him and his forgiveness and his love will be completed in us. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q70 Which is the seventh commandment? The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exod. 20:14) 15th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (Ecclesiastes 4v9-12) Message (Scott Woodburn) Many years ago I was sitting in a committee meeting when the church secretary announced that he had received a letter. It had come from a Solicitor’s office in the United States and it told the story of a woman who had left these shores in the 1920s after getting married to an American. The relationship was blessed with one son but sadly the marriage ended in divorce. I’m not sure how or why but the husband received full custody of the son and tragically the wife never saw her baby boy ever again. She lived the rest of her life in the United States and when she died, her will decreed that a small financial amount should be set aside for her son. This lady wanted to let her son know that she had never forgotten him. The son never claimed the money and after thirty years, the gift was sent to Ulster and to the church that the woman had been born into. The church in question received just under one hundred pounds and all agreed that the woman’s story was a sad one. As Solomon considered the workaholic who pushed everyone away, he rightly concluded that two are better than one (v9). This isn’t to say that the solitary life is somehow less than the life spent in company but I think Solomon highlights that humans were never supposed to be hermits. Simon the Stylite was a famous Christian in the ancient world and he spent much of his life at the top of a column to try and keep himself from the world’s distractions. Even so, Simon needed friends to bring him food and to help him meet his everyday needs. Everybody needs somebody. If one falls the other can help lift him up (v10). If one lies down in the cold the other can help keep him warm (v11). If one is attacked the other can help defend him (v12). Just as a rope is made strong by its intertwined cords, so too we are strengthened and blessed by human relationships. A threefold cord is not quickly broken (v12). This devotion isn’t a call for you to run out and get married or for you to fill your diary with nights out and endless activity. Instead I simply remind you that the Christian is expected to live in community. The Lord died for His people, His bride is the church and the church is never to give up meeting together as is the habit of some (Hebrews 10v25). In a world where a recent survey suggested that nearly one in four adults feel very or fairly lonely, we need to remember that the Lord calls us from solitude to take our place among His people each Lord’s Day. My simple suggestion to all who know the Lord is to make your Church a non-negotiable part of your week. Prepare for church the night before, go early to church, do your best to speak to fellow Christians at church and don’t rush away as soon as the Benediction is pronounced. Why bother? Because we can’t grasp the love that Jesus has for His bride. We should love her too and see her as an extraordinary blessing in this lonely world. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q69 What is forbidden in the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto. 14th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (1 John 4:13-21 focus v16) Message (Alan Burke) In every church there are issues, of course some of those issues are greater than others. The church that John wrote this epistle to was a church just like yours and mine, it was a church that had issues. The issues may be different, but the more and more I’m about the issues boil down to one thing and that is a lack of love from the people of God. Have you noticed the emphasis of John throughout this letter is about the necessity of love. Normally in the pastoral epistles there is a clear argument that comes to a conclusion but John just keeps repeating what he has already said in different ways. We can safely conclude that the church that John first wrote to were not loving as they should have and I can safely conclude that we as the church today do not love as we should. For the believer we are to know and live in his love. The love that was shown to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, it is only through him that we know what love is and John takes us back to how that God in us will be seen in the outworking of that love within us for God is love and we are to live accordingly. We will live accordingly as the people of God. Look though to how John says once more that God is love, this is the second time he has done it. We should never focus on God’s love to the exclusion of all his other attributes, his wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, mercy, compassion, righteousness, sovereignty, or any of his other attributes but we cant do that. There is a reason though why John emphasises this truth to us once more and it is because he wants us to understand the unchaining character of God, and while we cannot exclude the other attributes of God we must never forget the truth that God is love. A love that is revealed to us, to us his creatures, a love that that is not like our love which in a sense ebbs and flows, that is stronger today than it was yesterday or was stronger yesterday than today, a love that grows and wains, no God’s love is not like ours and it is contrary to how we experience love in any other facet of life. Think of our relationships with others for it ebbs and flows, is at times is stronger and others weaker, it is a love that grows and wains. For if our love was constant, unchanging then there would be no need for divorce, none of us would have experienced broken relationships, marriage breakdowns, estrangements, but God’s love is not like ours. The Love of God does not grow or wain, ebb or flow, grow stronger or weaker it is intrinsic to his nature and he is love in himself. For the believer the knowledge of that love should be such a comfort to us, we know it, it was displayed to us in Christ Jesus, we have experienced it in the forgiveness we have received and we can rely on it in our lives and in our death. It is his love that has been lavished upon us as John said as he opened chapter 3, or given to us depending on the translation before you. God has shown us his love, given it to us, and he loves in an entirely different way than us, he loves us, we who are unlovable by our nature, sinners, his committed enemies, whereas our love often is conditional, or self serving God’s love has throughout the ages been a relentless pursuit of sinners who are rebellious, indifferent, who have not loved him or sought to do his will and God still loves us because he is love, his love is inseparable to who he is. Knowing his love will mean that we will live His love in our lives, it is a love that will overflow into every facet of our lives. His love in us is a love that is seen, a love that motivates us to live lives of obedience, a love that enables us to confess who he is as our God, this love is seen as we know it and live it. If the church knew more love then it would be a very different place. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q68 What is required in the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, (Eph. 5:28–29) and the life of others. (1 Kings 18:4) 13th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (Ecclesiastes 4v7-8) Message (Scott Woodburn) The Chief Executive Officer of Apple is a man called Tim Cook and if you ever worked for him you’d realise that Mr Cook runs an incredibly tight ship. In a meeting of Apple’s board, Cook announced that the problems in Apple’s Chinese factories needed to be solved as a matter of urgency. The meeting continued for another few minutes before Cook looked to one his fellow board members and told her “why are you still here?” Cook expected his colleague to be on a plane to China within the hour. The same Tim Cook has been known to send emails to his colleagues at 4:30am and he has held late night meetings on Sunday evening to prepare for the early morning meetings on Monday. I don’t know Tim Cook and this may or may not be true, but I think Tim Cook works too hard. Solomon described an individual of his own time who had driven away everyone close to him (v8) for the sake of his work. This man’s eyes were never satisfied with riches and so he kept on working (v8b). He had no one close to him to benefit from all his work and he was so busy that he deprived himself of any pleasure. At no point did he stop to ask “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” (v8c) That’s an important question isn’t it? To the workaholic or the man with a thirst for riches or the woman who puts work before family…what’s it all for? The Covid pandemic was awful but there was a blessing in the forced change which came to our pace of life. We weren’t allowed out of the house and so there were no endless meetings or driving the children to their activities or extra hours at the office…life was slower and perhaps life was fuller. You may or may not agree with that sentiment but life has now returned to normal and we are back to one hundred miles per hour living. So let me ask you…what’s it all for? Does the pace of your day bring you closer to your loved ones and to Christ? Alternatively, does the pace of your day keep you from important relationships as you endlessly run to try and stay on life’s hamster wheel? Only you can answer those questions but Solomon was sure that the man he described was involved in a vain and unhappy business. When it is all said and done, I hope those words aren’t used to describe our lives. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q67 Which is the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill. 12th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (1 John 4:13-21 focus v13-15) Message (Alan Burke) We’ve all with someone as they have told us a story that if they’ve told us before. We can all do it, recount a story that we have done forgetting that we have told it before while there are times it is by accident there are times that hearing the same story again and again can be a helpful reminder to us of not to make the same mistakes, to learn form someone else’s failures or maybe just have a laugh at someone else’s expense. Some times we don’t mind hearing the same stories again and again while at other times it has just become like noise and we just try to block it out. Have you noticed that throughout this letter John has been telling us the same things over and over again in different ways? He is like a parent to their child, sitting them down trying to teach them. John wants us to understand in the church, here in this place that the better way is the way of love, it is the remedy that we need and often in the problems in the church today what is needed is love, it is the remedy, to love more even when there is a cost to us, a cost to what we want or desire or would have. What John says here comes in the context of what he has just said. I know that is stating the obvious but look back to the end of v13, how if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. The result of this, of loving one another, as we live in this way we will know that we live in him and he in us and it is all because he has given us of his Spirit. The Lord God within his children has gave his Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in the believer and love as well as obedience in our lives are inseparable to the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The work of the Spirit of God produces faith within us and that faith is lived in love and obedience. We live in God by his Spirit, the indwelling spirit that enables us to be born again, that brings us from death to life. It is the work of God within us from start to finish. For us God’s presence in us, God’s Spirit in us is seen in how we love and we obey, as we confess to being children of God and we live accordingly. It is not something that we have brought about ourselves but it is all by the work of God within that enables us to become the children of God and our love and obedience testifies to this truth. This is so important, for we who are the children of God who have the indwelling Spirit desire to obey our heavenly Father, to love as he loved us in our lives and the more that we do that the greater our confidence will be in who we are and the more we have confidences in the indwelling Spirit within us. Yes we may have skeletons in our past, we may have done or left undone many a think, we may go on to make an absolute hash of things or right now you may be living in a way that you know is out of step with the Spirit, it is sinful and you know you’re not living obediently. If it is the past, in the future or in the present what we must do is repent of that sin. We will not have a perfect track record but what we need is the Lord Jesus Christ and his perfect obedience for us because we fall miserably. Of course that is not an excuse to give into sin but it does mean if we have failed to resist temptation, if we have repented of that sin even though our conscience may accuse us, the devil may be doing all he can to accuse you to make you doubt your salvation, we are still the Lord’s. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q66 What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment? The reason annexed to the fifth commandment, is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’ s glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment. (Deut. 5:16, Eph. 6:2–3) 10th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (Ecclesiastes 4v6) Message (Scott Woodburn) I don’t remember much about the 1980s but as I look back one of the movements that existed was that of the “yuppie”. Yuppie was short for “young upwardly-mobile professional” and it defined the generation which was making money and moving quickly up society’s ladder. In the UK, the comedian Harry Enfield critiqued Margaret Thatcher’s government and the yuppie movement with his “loadsamoney” character. In the USA, the movie “Wall Street” portrayed the spirit of the age with it’s main character declaring “Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms - greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind.” According to Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street”, greed is good. It is a fool who folds his hands and refuses to work but he is joined by another fool who driven by greed seeks to fill both his hands by endless work (v6). In our culture being exceptionally busy is often seen as a virtue and for many the spirit of the 1980s is alive and well in 2024. We rarely stop to smell the roses and endlessly look for the next thing. We do not work to live but we live to work and not satisfied with what we have, we make an idol out of career and daily strive to climb to the very top. Is having a career sinful? No. Is earning a substantial wage sinful? No. Is applying for that promotion sinful? No. Instead, Solomon speaks to that condition of the heart which is marked by greed. It is a never satisfied, never happy, never content condition that seeks full hands and full pockets and ultimately is a chasing after the wind. Greed is not good, it betrays a poor spiritual condition. The alternative is to have only one handful which is complemented by a life of quietness (v6a). This condition is one that is satisfied, happy and content. It is a life which does not require an endless pursuit of “stuff” but finds joy in quiet contentment. Such a life is possible and it is lived in the fear of God. How so? Because the truly wise understand that Christ is our greatest treasure. The rich fool gave no thought to his soul and spent his final day building bigger barns (Luke 12v18). His life was demanded from him and he lost everything. So for the follower of Christ neither laziness or greed is an option. Rather, we would do well to pray the prayer of Agur son of Jakeh who said “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me.” (Proverbs 30v8). I call this Agur’s prayer for “enough to do him”. He didn’t seek treasure or fame, instead he asked for enough to do him. It may not have been popular in the 1980s but perhaps it is time for Agur’s prayer to make a comeback? Brothers and sisters, if you have Christ then you have everything. You don’t need to fill both hands in this life, the riches you have in Jesus are more than you can carry or count. Greed is not good, but God certainly is. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q65 What is forbidden in the fifth commandment? The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to every one in their several places and relations. 9th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (1 John 4:7-12 focus v11-12) Message (Alan Burke) If we are honest it is hard to love especially as Christ has loved us. We fail at it time and time again but John doesn’t point the finger at us reminding us how much we fail, no he instead takes us back to the love that has been shown to us. Knowings Knowing God’s love for us, his love towards us his enemies, those who are unloveable should be our motivation to love one another. The love that he has shown us that is applied to us by the Spirit of God, and the example of what Christ has done for us should spur us on to love him and to love one another. We are able to love even when someone is unloveable, of course that doesn’t mean it will be easy but we know what the Lord has done for us and we seek in our lives to live accordingly, to mirror the love that he has shown to us. For each and everyone of us the motivation to live as a christian, to love as a christian comes down to what Christ Jesus has done for us, if we fail to comprehend that sacrifice for our sin then every error in our lives can be traced back to that, but when we understand the riches of what Christ Jesus has done for us then we will be willing to love even when there is a cost, even when there is a risk of being hurt. We love not because it is a condition on the salvation that we have received, no our salvation is already secure in the Father’s love, in the sacrificial death of our saviour Christ Jesus who was our propitiation, our atonement and that as the Spirit has applied to us. No, we love not because it is a condition of the salvation, or because we fear losing that salvation, no we love because it is a byproduct of the Love of God towards us. Since God loves us we are to love, that isn’t that surprising a concept or least I hope it’s not but John has acted like a broken record because we need to get it, we need to be reminded about this because it is hard. Are you doing what you can to love others, or are you trying your best at self love and forgetting those who have wronged you, forgiving, being reconciled? Are you willing to love as God has shown his love towards you? As we do this, as we love one another, as we love as we have been loved then God’s love is made complete in us, to put it another way, when we love one another we are showing God’s love, it is being fulfilled, shown forth its intended result. As we mimic, as we mirror God’s sacrificial love, it may be hard for us, we may be rejected for it but we continue to do it because of just how much love we have been shown in Christ Jesus. There were those who in John’s day had claimed that they were from God, there are many today who claim the same but the ultimate proof of that is that we love, we love one another. As we do that God reveals himself in us, and while no one has seen God as he is, his presence is discernible here amongst his people as they love one another and it shows them for who they are. In the Christian life we are not passive participants in it all we are active, we will desire to mortify our sin, put it to death and as the Spirit works within us so we become more and more conformed into the image of our saviour, more and more into the likeness of Christ. The longer we walk the journey of faith the more and more we should be conformed into the likeness of our saviour, ever increasing amounts of love we should have, as we reflect the character of God in our lives. Let us be those who love even if there is great cost, love as we have been loved. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q64 What is required in the fifth commandment? The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, (Eph. 5:21) inferiors, (1 Pet. 2:17) or equals. (Rom. 12:10) 8th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (Ecclesiastes 4v5) Message (Scott Woodburn) Ecclesiastes is a book of wisdom and whilst it is an easier read than Proverbs, Solomon occasionally drops little pithy proverbs into the text of Ecclesiastes. One of those is “The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.” (v5). At first glance this is a fairly gruesome image but Solomon’s point is simply that it is a foolish man who refuses to work. This fool “folds his hands” or we might say he doesn’t lift a finger. Eventually such an individual will have nothing to live on and he will waste away or “eat his own flesh”. By this stage we know that Solomon has considered the world of work and highlighted its vanity. Life is more than work and trying to hold tightly to your career is like trying to catch the wind. Even so, the wise King was not anti-work and nor should be the wise Christian. It is possible to find meaning and joy in our work as we do it to the glory of God. Furthermore, there is dignity in all kinds of work. The brain surgeon, the window cleaner, the farmer, the teacher, the shop assistant, the care worker and every kind of job you can imagine has value in human society. In his song “Subterranean Homesick Blues” Bob Dylan lamented that after “twenty years of schooling they put you on the day shift.” I’m perfectly prepared for Bob Dylan to email me and correct my understanding of his song but it seems like he’s saying “what’s the point of all that education if it ends with you doing insignificant work?” Let me suggest another path. Work is a good thing and it is a foolish person who folds their hands and refuses to play a part in society. The Christian can and should take pleasure in their work and strive to be the best employee they can be. You might earn a fortune or you might end up on the day shift. Regardless, you should work not for a human boss or human praise but the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfold those hands and bless the society in which God has placed you. “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3v17) Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q63 Which is the fifth commandment? The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 7th February 2024
Pray (ACts) Read (1 John 4:7-12 focus 9-10) Message (Alan Burke) For the believer we know what love is because Christ first loved us, he showed his love to us in sending his love among us, in sending his one and only Son. That is something that we have heard since we were wains, the wonder of what God has done but of often do we hear it and let it pass us by. What I mean by that is that if you were to see the Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan up close in person, you would likely be blown away, you like myself have probably only seen photos. I remember seeing the Colosseum in Rome and was awe struck. Or what about the view of Mournes that we’re so use to seeing here in Co Down, when I first arrived here it caught my attention every time it came into view but now I’ve become familiar with it and rarely give attention to it. The love of God is something so wonderful, towards us his enemies and we have became so use to it we have lost the wonder of what has been done for us. How Jesus who was God and was with God in the beginning, came into the world, the son of God to die in our stead. This exemplifies the love of our God towards us, that his only begotten son condescended, who took to himself a true body and a reasonable soul through the incarnate. The reason why was that God sent his Son to come and He can stand in solidarity with sinners, to be the sinless sin-bearer. It was not that we were some way lovable that caused our God to do this but that our God because of his love chose to love that which is unlovable, sinners like us. This is love, it is not because we are deserving of it but because the Lord God lavished his love on us who were not deserve of it. Justice demand that we would take the penalty that is due for our sin but the Lord in his grace has shown mercy, his compassion on those whom he has willed (Rom 9:15). What we deserve is the wrath of God and instead through his love, sending his one and only son into the world we might have life, that we would live through him. God in and through his Son gives to some something that we don’t deserve and all that we can say in this is that he is entirely too gracious for it was not what we deserved, not what we earned, not because we are lovable but all because of his love towards us. While we his enemies, God showed his mercy towards us that while deserve only his wrath that Jesus Christ laid down his life, experiencing it on our behalf. While the concept of love that the world has falls so so short of the love of God, his love towards us is a love that we do not deserve, a love that was shown to us while we were still his enemies. That Jesus willingly entered into this world, took upon himself our flesh and blood that he might lay down his life for us, suffering, dying for our sake so that we might be forgiven. That is how we know what love is, he did not need to lay his life down for us but willingly laid down his life by being lifted upon that cross. It is through him we have life, there is no life without him. While many promote a pluralism in this world, it is only through Jesus Christ that we might have life, true life, he is the only way to eternal life for Christ was an atoning sacrifice for us. When was the last time you took time thinking of the love that your saviour has shown towards you? Know that this love, the love he exemplified towards us is the love that we should have for others. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q62 What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment? The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’ s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, (Exod. 20:9) his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath-day. (Exod. 20:11) |
Alan
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