19th March 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Song of Solomon 2v7, 3v5 & 8v4)


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


If the Song of Solomon was a house then it would have three great pillars dividing up the different rooms. The Song has four sections and between each section is something called an "adjuration" spoken by the Shulammite. What is an adjuration? It's not a polite request but a heartfelt appeal which urges the listener to act in a certain way. The first adjuration comes in 2v7 and says "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases." This is repeated word for word in 3v5 and then again in 8v4 only without the reference to gazelles and does. Another adjuration is found in 5v8 where the woman begs the daughters of Jerusalem to tell her beloved that she is sick with love.


However, it is the three almost identical adjurations which are the pillars of this particular Song. If the Song was performed as an opera or play then the adjuration would see the stage cleared and the next act of the performance begin. But what message was the Shulammite giving to the daughters of Jerusalem?


These other women were members of Solomon's hareem, they were his wives and concubines and they were pushing the Shulammite towards Solomon. In the first scene they praised her (1v4a) and promised to give her jewellery to make her even more beautiftul (1v11). In the second scene the Shulammite and her beloved are kept apart and although the daughters of Jerusalem don't speak, you can imagine them telling the woman "Just forget him. Move on. Solomon will be your beloved. Give yourself to the King."


The third scene is the longest in the Song and it sees the arrival of Solomon to claim the Shulammite as his own. The daughters of Jerusalem almost appear fed up with the Shulammite. She urged them to help look for her beloved (5v8) only to be asked why her true love was better than the other options which included Solomon (5v9).


The adjuration was the Shulammite's response to those around her who thought she should simply choose Solomon over the Shepherd. The Shulammite was in Solomon's hareem, he was wise, handsome, rich and powerful - why wouldn't she choose the King? Simply because she knew that there was a greater love just outside the walls and even without any guarantee of seeing her beloved again, she was prepared to wait.


Isn't that a little picture of faith? As the Apostle once said "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11v1). We cannot yet see Christ and we can only imagine what heaven will be like but faith trusts His promises and is prepared to wait. In a world that demands all things immediately, waiting is an incredibly revolutionary act indeed. Wait on the Lord brothers and sisters, in life, death and relationships, wait on the Lord (Psalm 33v20).


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q19 What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
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18th March 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 5:1-15 focus v3-6)


Message (Alan Burke)


There is a gripe that I often hear, and it comes from young and old, and that is how bad the NHS is these days. Now, I’m not writing this to have a go at anyone who has a gripe about the NHS; there are many failings, but I think we forget just how fortunate we are with the universal health care it offers. And here, as we come to the passage before us, we are confronted with just how bad things would be if we didn’t have modern healthcare and especially universal health care. Aye, we might have to wait; they at times get it wrong, but if we had no NHS and had to pay to see the doctor or if we hit the rewind button and went back less than 100 years ago and experienced health care pre-NHS, we’d have some shock. Jesus comes to the pool of Bethesda; it was a pool surrounded by five covered walkways with their roofs held up by columns. They surrounded a complex of pools that were used for ritual purification, and it had become a place where people went to be healed. There were many under the shelter of the colonnades: the sick, the blind, the lame, the paralysed. Each in desperate need, longing for healing; there was no such thing as the welfare state, no NHS, no charities doing work among the needy.


This is a pitiful scene, filled with those who are broken, who knew the reality of living in a sinful world. This would have been a distressing sight for anyone to witness. This was filled with people who couldn’t physically move, who were sitting there, lying there. Many of them relied on friends and family or handouts from strangers to support them because you couldn’t apply for universal credit or disability benefits to help you survive; you were reliant wholly on others. Not only was the sight of this pitiful, but for many there who would have been unable to do anything for themselves, they would have been in their own filth. The smell would have met you before you entered. Many there were totally unable to do anything for themselves, no carers, no rota of volunteers to do toilet runs. Help if they had soiled themselves, they would have lain in it. Their clothes would have been filthy. They would have not only had their original complaint but hygiene-related diseases, skin infections, rashes due to prolonged exposure to waste. Never mind the physical, think of the emotional distress and feelings of shame or isolation. 


In that place there was much need there, but there was little hope, only that of the water being stirred and being the first one in the water and into this pitiful scene Jesus enters. A scene that is filled with desperate people, looking to be healed, looking to once more lead a normal life, hoping beyond hope that they could have a miracle cure. In this scene we are told of one man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. That is a long time in anyone’s books. While we don’t know how long he has been there at the pool hoping to get into the water when it was stirred, it was long enough to know the disappointment of seeing others time and time again to get there before him. The Greek word that is translated as invalid along with what we are told in v7 means that either this man was paralysed, or at least he was so weak that he could hardly move. He would have been a pitiful sight. And to him Jesus asks “Do you want to get well?”


In all of this, with the scene set, if we are open to seeing it, to accepting it, in the condition of this man we see the reality of all people in our natural state. This man could not do anything for himself and neither can we. The gospel confronts us time and time again that because of sin that we are not just sick, we are totally depraved, we are spiritually dead and we cannot do anything to help ourselves. What this man needed and what we need is Christ to intervene on our behalf. We need him to act for us. For it is not the things that this world looks to, or that many people are trying to do, like being better, trying harder, none of these things will save us what we need is Christ to act on our behalf, we need him to intervene. This man was helpless without Christ and so are we, we need him to intervene for us, to show his mercy, the mercy that would come that that sheep gate figuratively pointed to as the Lamb of God would take away the sin of the world. Only he can deal with our greatest need, our sin so that we might be forgiven.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q18 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
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17th March 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Song of Solomon 1v1-2v6) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


Have you ever heard a husband speak of his marriage in this way - "We've been married for 35 years, if I'd killed her I would have been out by now." I'm sure you have and before you accuse me of being humourless I'm well aware that such a statement is just a little bit of black humour. Even so, I wonder how you and I talk about those whom we say we love?


The language of the Song of Solomon is about as far away from black humour as you can imagine. Instead the woman and the man speak of one another in loving and deeply passionate ways. She longed for his kisses (1v2) and wanted to be reunited with her love (1v7). He considered her the most beautiful of all women (1v8) with eyes like doves (1v15). This love was so red hot that the woman describes herself as lovesick (2v5). Why didn't she want to become just another of Solomon's conquests? Because she didn't want something fleeting and fake but something passionate and real.


Let me return to my earlier question - how do you speak about those whom you say you love? Are we so comfortable with one another that our love has grown cold? Do our words about our other half show passionate love or bitter contempt? The Lord was clear that wicked words flow our of the wicked heart (Luke 6v45). That's challenging isn't it? When we run someone in our life down with our words we are betraying the condition of our heart. No wonder James called the tongue a fire and a world of unrighteousness (James 6v6).


Brothers and sisters, when was the last time you told your wife that she is beautiful? When did you last extol your husband and his ways? When did you last speak tenderly to your children? When was the last time you thanked your friend instead of tearing them down?


The Song of Solomon is hard to follow and sometimes it makes us a little bit uncomfortable with it's white hot expressions of love. But if it portrays love as it was in the beginning and if it gives us a little glimpse of the love that Christ has for us then we would do well to strive to love as we have been loved. Listen well to those who you love, speak tenderly to them and speak passionately. Show the love you have for Christ in how you love others.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q17 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
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16th March 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 5:1-15 focus v1-2)


Message (Alan Burke) 


A red herring is a smoked herring having a reddish colour, a type of kipper, but in literature, it is a misleading clue or distraction that leads readers away from the main plot or true conclusion. It is often used to create suspense and keep the audience guessing about the real outcome of the story. The opposite of a red herring is a Chekhov's Gun: an element that appears insignificant or "merely decorative" at first but becomes crucial to the plot later. Every element introduced in a story must be significant and relevant to the plot. If something is mentioned, like a gun, it should have a purpose later in the story; otherwise, it shouldn't be included at all.


John through the gospel mentions details that we often pass over without a second thought, and every now and again, my mind is blown by what seems like an insignificant detail that is relevant, that is trying to tell us something if only we will take the time to notice it. Today, he gives us one that is pointing to the wonder of what Jesus has come to do. We will get to the account of the healing of the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years on Wednesday, but for now, we focus on what seems like an insignificant detail which is pointing us to what Jesus came to do. Let’s look together at these opening two verses of John 5, and hopefully, you will see my point. I’ll try to explain using the Belfast City Hall. Now, say if I told you that the Danske Bank is near the Frederick Temple Monument, you might wonder to yourself “where is the Frederick Temple Monument,” but it’s at Belfast City Hall, and it is a memorial that commemorates Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood. Why, though, wouldn’t I just say the Danske Bank near Belfast’s City Hall? Hopefully, you’ll understand where I’m going with this now. 


The pool of Bethesda was in the shadow of a massive fortress called ‘The Antonia Fortress’. It was the biggest building in all of Jerusalem at the time and was at the northwest corner of the temple and looked down on the temple. You could see it from miles around. Yet John tells us that the pool of Bethesda was near the Sheep Gate. If John was giving directions, he would have told about the Antonia Fortress, but he doesn’t. Why not? Well, John is trying to point us to the wonderful truth of who Jesus was and is. Think about why you would need a sheep gate at the Temple? Well, of course, it was the way that the sheep entered the temple to be sacrificed. In the sacrifices that the people performed throughout the year, it was revealing God’s mercy, it was reminding the people of how one day one would come to crush the head of the serpent as he promised to Adam in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15). 


But you have the sheep gate there in the distance. John wants us to know that as he tells us that this pool is called ‘Bethesda’. Bethesda means ‘house of mercy’. Yes, John wants us to see how Jesus was about to show his mercy in this place to a man who was utterly helpless, but he had come to show his mercy to many more, those who will sin no more, those who will put their faith in him. For Jesus, as John the Baptist had already exclaimed to his disciples as Jesus came towards him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). John is helping us see that this Jesus, the lamb of God, in whom though we can have mercy. For the law was a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities; it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near (Heb 10:1), but through Christ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb 10:10). Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for sin in whom we can have mercy. Do not miss who he is and what he has come to do. The details in John’s gospel can be easy to pass over, but John wants us to see who Jesus is throughout and what he had come to do. He died for our salvation, the lamb of God, so that we may know mercy that we do not deserve. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.
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14th March 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Song of Solomon 1v1-2v6) 


Message (Scott Woodburn)


It's true that sometimes it's better to go along to get along. What do I mean? Imagine a situation with nothing much at stake. You have no strong opinions on where to go for dinner and you don't really mind if Saturday night is spent watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the seventh time. You go along with decisions because causing trouble over minor issues isn't that worthwhile.


Nevertheless, there are certainly moments in life that war is to be preferred over peace. Before we consider the often passionate words of the Song of Solomon I think it's important that we try to understand the setting of the Song. There are countless different interpretations of this book. Some see it as allegory about Christ and His church, others think it is a collection of love poems and others believe it is a story about the love between Solomon and his bride.


I may not be correct in my own thinking but I will be preaching the Song in this way - a beautiful woman has been taken from her home and brought into the hareem of Solomon (1v4) where she is presented with the option of becoming one of Solomon's many wives and concubines. The ladies of Jerusalem are those who sometimes speak to her throughout the song and I think they are fellow members of Solomon's hareem - they wonder why she doesn't just go with the flow.


If this young woman gave herself to Solomon then she would know comfort throughout the rest of her days but as we quickly see in the Song, the woman does not want Solomon but she longs for her true love. She wants the kisses of her lover (1v2) and she finds his love better than wine (1v2a) and so you can imagine her despair at being carried away to the royal palace. No wonder then that she urges her lover to draw her after him in order for them to run away together (1v4a).


Matters of the heart are not trivial and our relationships require much work but here in the Song of Solomon we meet a young woman who is not prepared to be squeezed into a relationship of sinful convenience but instead she demands the best. Brothers and sisters, guard your hearts, work hard at your relationships and be mindful of making the decision which costs little today but everything tomorrow. Honour Christ in your relationships.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q15 What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.
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13th March 2026


Pray (ACts)


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


Message Alan Burke


Noah, we are told, became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Righteousness, a biblical word that in effect means to have right standing before the Lord our God. It is not on anything that we have done or can do; actually, the only thing that we contribute to the salvation we receive is the sin that made it necessary. Rather, we have right standing before the Lord through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ that is imputed to us. Imputed means that it is given to us. It is because Noah believed the promises of God, even though he couldn't yet see, that he became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. The righteousness Noah had is the same as the righteousness that all who have faith, those who are God’s people, have after the fall, is a “righteousness which comes by faith”. It wasn’t that Noah was righteous by keeping the law of God; no, he was righteous by faith. It was by faith that Noah became an heir to righteousness. Noah was saved in the same way that we are saved and everyone else is saved; it was by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Today, we still must trust God for this sight that is as yet unseen. And if we trust Jesus and all of His promises, then we, like Noah, are heirs “of the righteousness that comes by faith” (11:7).


The Lord through the apostle Paul here in Hebrews wants us to know that if we have faith that this is how it should work in our lives, that we hear the word of God, we believe, and by faith we act upon that word in our lives. The word of God should change and transform us; the Spirit of God works within us and transforms us by the work of sanctification, enabling us to die to self and live for God in Christ Jesus more and more. We need to believe in God and His word more than anything else; it should be our rule and guide. Do we get this? Do we believe the word of God and wherever our life is out of step with it, do we by faith seek to change? Ever since the fall, the whole of history has been marked by the serpent asking, ‘Did God really say?’ That is what the serpent does; the Devil tries to get us to doubt the word of God and choose what he says is life but is actually death. For the believer, our salvation is not in doubt, but when we listen to the serpent, the Devils lies, then it robs us of confidence, assurance, comfort in the midst of life. For the believer, by faith, we aren’t to build a boat, but we are to live according to the word of God. 


The purpose in Noah and his family being saved from the flood was that God would keep His promise that was made to Adam and Eve, of the Christ, the Messiah, the serpent crusher. God continued to show His grace when all that we deserve as the human race is His wrath. In Genesis 8:21 after the flood subsided, we are told: “21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done”. (Gen 8:20–21). 


The flood did not change the human heart; sin remained. Noah wasn’t the one who would bring a restored Eden, dealing with the problem of sin. For after the flood, until his death, even though he became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith, Noah was still a sinner and quickly fell, becoming drunk on wine (9:20-21). His sin was not the drinking of the wine but abusing it. His sin sprang forth from his sinful heart; he then exposed himself, bringing shame. That is why Shem and Japheth sought to cover their father from further shame, whereas Ham left him naked and gossiped about it to his brothers. The message is not to be like Noah in all of this, for even the upright can fall into sin; rather, it is trust in the promises of God.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q14 What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
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12th March 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Song of Solomon 1v1) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


These devotions have so far been considering various introductory topics related to Solomon's great song and while today's devotion is no exception it is the last of the introductions. Who are the main characters in the Song? There are three.


The heroine of the Song is the woman who is also called the "Shulammite" (6v13). This isn't her name but it hints at her brithplace as a Shulammite is someone from the village of Shulam. Some have identified her as Solomon's first wife Naamah the mother of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14v21). Others have pointed out that Abishag who kept the elderly King David warm was also a Shulammite (1 Kings 1v3-4) and was described as being very beautiful. Perhaps she was the heroine of the Song? The truth is that we can't be certain.


If we don't know her name we can be sure of who she loved. The second character of the Song is the one that we call the "Shepherd" who was described as having flocks (1v7) and grazing among the lilies (6v3). I think we can describe this man as the hero of the story and the Shulammite's one true love.


The other main figure is Solomon himself who appears from the wilderness (3v6) to woo and seduce the Shulammite. Some interpretations have Solomon as the hero of the Song but I prefer not to see him in this position. The fact that he comes from the wilderness is a hint that perhaps we are not supposed to see him in a glowing light and his appetite for many women is seen as a negative in 8v11.


As you read the Song you may also notice that above some verses it might say "He" or "She" or "Others." Here the translators of the original Hebrew text have done us a wee favour by guiding us to their best estimate of who is speaking by looking at the gender of the original words. Even so, we can't always be certain - for example not everyone is sure that it is Solomon who speaks in chapter four.


There are some other characters like the daughters of Jerusalem who I think are other members of Solomon's hareem but they play a lesser role than the three main figures of the Shulammite, the Shepherd and Solomon. Who would the woman choose? Well that is the thrust of the song - her choice was a life in the hareem or a life of covenant faithfulness.


The world is full of such choices but I'm mindful of Christ's words to the Ephesians when He urged them to remember their first love (Revelation 2v4). I think we would be wise to do the same. This world cannot last and only a fool would live for today with no regard for tomorrow. In all decisions great and small, may we choose to follow Christ.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q13 Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
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11th March 2026


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 built an 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 though the text doesn’t explicitly tell us this in the book of Genesis, it 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 midst 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 of. The people of that day had every opportunity, like today, to repent and flee from the coming judgement 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 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 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 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, and 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 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 entirely 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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Q12 What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
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10th March 2026


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Song of Solomon 1v1) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


The Song of Solomon has been compared to an opera or musical drama with characters coming on and off the stage and voices heard from the wings. Yet to understand the book a night at the theatre isn't necessary because the Song has an easily discerned structure.


The Song has four clear sections divided by three adjurations. Each section has an obvious purpose and after each adjuration a new figure comes into view. Section one runs from 1v1 to 2v6 and introduces us to the woman and her great longing  to be reunited with the love of her life with the first adjuration coming in 2v7. What is an adjuration? It's not a polite request but a heartfelt appeal which urges the listener to act in a certain way. We'll look at the Song's adjuration later in these devotions.


After the first adjuration the woman's beloved comes into view and the second section flows from 2v8 to 3v4. The second adjuration arrives at 3v5 before the arrival of King Solomon from the wilderness in chapter 3v6. Solomon's section is the longest running all the way to 8v3 and contains some of the spiciest language in the Song. The final adjuration can be found in 8v4 before the woman and her true love come arm to arm onto the stage to finish the Song with a flourish.


All of this may have bored you to tears but I think it is useful for us to understand the structure and flow of the book. In years gone by I found that I skipped through the Song quite quickly - it seemed a little bit inaccessible and strange. But I now realise it is neither of those things, instead it is a drama centred around a woman who has been taken to the court of Solomon far away from the man of her dreams.


As we work our way through this Song I would urge you to spend much time in actually reading the book. It isn't long but it is different from any other book in the Bible. Take your time in each section and try and grasp what is going on. Pause at the three adjurations and take a breath before a new character appears. I'm sorry for long neglecting this book. It shows us what love should and can look like and needless to say it causes us to look to the love that Christ has for us and how we are to respond to that great love.


It as as Barry Webb once wrote "The Song of Songs is there to stop love going out of our relationships, with God and with one another. It is a splendid garment, to be worn not with awkwardness and embarrassment, but festively, with joy and deep thankfulness to him who gave it as Holy Scripture."


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q11 What are God’s works of providence? God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.
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9th March 2026


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 come 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 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 has 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


WSC
Q10 How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
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