19th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 11:20-33


Message Alan Burke 


If you can think back to last week we had Jesus journeying to Jerusalem with the disciples and on the way they come to a fig tree that was in leaf and Jesus cursed it (If you want to know why look back to last Monday’s devotion). I would say the disciples hardly had time after the cursing of the fig tree to give it a second thought, for after that Jesus went to the temple courts, he if it was one of the wains we’d call it a tantrum but it was anything but. Jesus cleared the temple, he drove out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. Then he said “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”


It’s now the next day and Jesus after leaving for the night returns, they are taking the same route as the day before and then we have Peter in surprise saying; “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”. It’s hardly that surprising after all Jesus had done many miracles before this. Also notice how most translations being this section, they say something like “The lesson from the fig tree”, but there is no lesson given about the fig tree, or from the fig tree, it’s just a lesson and Jesus uses what Peter has said as a teaching opportunity. Now that we’ve noted that there is one thing that I want to draw out of this passage for us, I know it’s not the thrust of the passage or what Jesus goes on to teach about but it is a reminder for all of us. 


Think to that comment of Peter, how he remarks in surprise that the fig tree has withered. Like come on Peter, seriously this guy had been with Jesus for there years, he had seen many things that we can barely imagine and he is still left surprised by the cursing of the fig tree. If there was anyone you would expect to be surprised it would be Peter, Peter the disciples who was the first to confess in the gospel that Jesus was the Christ. And what Jesus says in response to his surprise is to say ““Have faith in God”


Have faith in God, that is what Peter was to have, faith, that is what the rest of the disciples were to have, that is what they must have. While it is spoken to the disciples it is true of all, we are to have faith in God. 


I know lots of people who talk about faith, they say that they have faith in God, but Jesus is not talking about some abstract belief that there is a God, after all the heavens declare that there is a God so we are all without excuse, creation reveals to us that there is a God. Although today for many they have replaced the Glory of the God who made creation with creation itself, instead of worshiping the creator they worship the creator. 


But here Jesus is emphasising the necessity of faith in the one true God, the God of the scriptures. Faith is what is necessary, faith that lives accordingly, faith that is founded on who Jesus is and what he has done, faith seeks to bow the knee in all our lives to the Lord our God. 


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Sing


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Q76 Which is the ninth commandment?
The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Exod. 20:16)
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17th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 23v37-39)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


As chapter twenty-three comes to a close, so too does the public ministry of Jesus and His final words to the people of Israel are ones of lament. Jesus said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (v37-39)


Christ's denunciation of the Pharisees was strong but in these short verses we see the Lord's unbridled compassion towards the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jerusalem was a central place in God's story of redemption and it was the city where God decreed His temple should be built. Nevertheless it was a city that all too often refused the testimony of God and killed the Lord's prophets.


Jesus spoke with tenderness as He said that He longed to gather the children of Israel under His wings like a hen would gather her chicks. This is a telling image - Jesus wished to offer His people both care and protection and yet they consistently refused His offer. What would become of Jerusalem? In the year 70 the Romans would come in power and lay waste to the great city of Jerusalem bringing utter desolation. How successful was the Roman attack? If you walk the streets of Jerusalem today then you will realise that the temple which stood proudly in Christ's day was destroyed by the Romans and two thousand years later has not been rebuilt.


If only the inhabitants of the city had realised that the God-man walked among them. If only the Pharisees had poured their energy into receiving Christ instead of opposing Him. If only the Herodian dynasty had understood that the king of kings stood in their midst. But the people were not willing and Jerusalem was made desolate.


Christ's final words to the city and its people were sombre, He said "you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Jesus quoted directly from Psalm 118v26 but when could the people expect to see Jesus again? These words point us not to Christ's resurrection but His second coming. When the Lord returns in judgement every eye will see Him and they will realise that Jesus was indeed the One who came in the name of the Lord.


Romans 11 teaches that we can hope for many ethnic Jews to turn to Christ in the time before the Lord's return. The Gentile believer has no grounds for arrogance because the rejection of the Jews has led to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the church of God. Today the church finds its origins clearly explained in Ephesians 2. Paul tells us that Jew and Gentile have been brought near by the blood of Christ. To be saved is to be someone who has said "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." May the Gospel ring in Jerusalem today and when Christ returns may a multitude of Jewish people be found ready.


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Q75 What is forbidden in the eighth commandment? The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbor’s, wealth, or outward estate.
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16th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 11:12-21


Message Alan Burke 


A fruitless tree, a fruitless people. In Jerusalem there was no fruit here, no health, yes there was activity but what mattered, what was really important was lacking the true worship of God, seeking to include the Gentiles, seeking to reach the nations. To all of what Jesus had seen he says to them “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’" (17) God had always planned to include the gentiles, the promise of the Lord God to Abraham was that through his offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because he obeyed the Lord (Gen 22:18), and while the people of God were to be a light to the nations, were to seek the inclusion of the Gentiles who believed in the Lord the reality was that the Jews hated the gentiles, some even believed that when the promised Messiah would come that the gentiles would be cleared from the temple by him but instead the temple here is cleared for the gentiles by Jesus. 


While the whole place was a hive of activity, but the hearts of the chief priest and the teachers of the law is then revealed to us, there was no spiritual fruit, v18, they were showing that they were not the true people of God they were his enemies, they were seeking a way to kill the very son of God, true God and true man, what a tragic testimony.  The hearts of these people were hardened, they were opposed to the things of God. I’d love to say that this is two thousand years later, yes Jesus has cleansed the temple for the Gentiles so that we can come into the presence of God but there are many among the visible people of God who have made it not about the things of God but religion, activity, tradition, what we want, what we had and the gospel is diminished, dismissed.


The desire and the attitude of the Chief priests and the teachers of the law showed that there was nothing fruitful about any of this and there are many people in the visible church who claim to be Christians, yet their fruitlessness reveals something else. The sign of the churches spiritual health is fruit, but we also need to know that a church without fruit will close, for while we may miss it here this cursing of the fruitless fig tree is also prophetic. Look to where it fits in, v11 Jesus entering the temple looking around, then returns to Bethany, when he returns, v12 he curses the fig tree, then v15 goes into the temple and cleared the place, then v20 the next day we have the fig tree, sandwiched in-between these encounters is what happens at the temple.


What took place is prophetic for it symbolises what would happened to Jerusalem itself, for the temple that seemed to be a hive of activity, of the religious life if the people of God was worthless, the fig tree speaks of the judgment that would come from God on the unfaithful temple. This church is not the building, it is the people, but if we are fruitless as a people then the church will continue to diminish across this land, the sign of spiritual fruitlessness is displayed right across this land because we as a people have been content to play at church rather than seeing the glory of God. What we need to do is what the religious leaders failed to do, we need to repent, to seek God, to look to him, his word, make the ordinary things that he has given us in their proper place, The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation. When we put these things in the priority that they should be every Lord’s day then there will be fruit.


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Q74 What is required in the eighth commandment?
The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others. (Gen. 30:30, 1 Tim. 5:8, Lev. 25:35, Deut. 22:1–5, Exod. 23:4–5, Gen. 47:14,20)
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15th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 23v13-36)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Jesus isn't an optional extra and when all is said and done the Gospel won't be just another trivial question. What an individual does with the free offer of the Gospel is a matter of life and death. Sadly, despite all of their advantages, the Pharisees provided Jesus with nothing but constant opposition.


In response the Lord pronounced seven "woes" upon his harshest critics. The number seven denotes perfection in the Scriptures and so Christ's judgement should be seen as all encompassing and complete. Furthermore, in pronouncing "woes" upon the Pharisees, Jesus was standing in the line of Isaiah who pronounced six woes upon the wicked (Isaiah 5v8-23) and Habakkuk who pronounced five woes upon the Chaldeans (Habakkuk 2v6-20). 


Christ's seven woes are recorded for us in a chiastic pattern. In simple terms this means that the first and seventh woe match, the second and sixth woe match, the third and fifth woe match and the fourth woe stands as the central point. What did Jesus say?


The first woe described how the Pharisees had failed to recognise the coming of the kingdom and they had in effect shut the doors of the kingdom in the faces of the people. They didn't enter the kingdom nor did they allow others to enter (v13). The seventh woe compares well with the first (v29-31). The Pharisees boasted that if they'd lived in the days of old then they wouldn't have killed the prophets as their forefathers once did. Jesus declared that this testimony showed the Pharisees to be the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Nothing had changed - the Pharisees stood in the lineage of those who rejected the prophets and ultimately rejected Christ. They were spiritually blind and failed to see what was at the end of their nose.


The second woe stated that the Pharisees would have travelled to the ends of the earth in order to convert someone to their cause but tragically the "gospel" of the Pharisees was unable to do any spiritual good. The convert so fully embraced the ways of the Pharisees that they became "twice as much a child of hell" (v15). The sixth woe describes the Pharisees as "whitewashed tombs" - outwardly beautiful but inwardly rotten (v27-28). Christ's opponents looked zealous and passionate but their hearts were rotten and their "fruit" was bad.


Woe three showed the Pharisees as "blind guides" who sought and found loopholes in their oaths (v16-22). For them swearing by the temple didn't bind a man but swearing by the temple's gold did. Equally swearing by the altar did not bind a person but swearing by the gift on the altar certainly was considered binding. Jesus had no time for such wordplay calling upon the Pharisees to let their yes be yes and their no be no. Jesus said "So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it." According to the fifth woe (v25-26), the Pharisees were clean on the outside but inwardly "full of greed and self-indulgence". Their words, oaths and vows were twisted and evasive because their hearts had not be transformed by the Gospel.


How can we summarise the Pharisees? Woe four offers a clear picture of the issues at stake and stands as the pinnacle of Christ's seven woes. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites who focused on the minor issues of the law at the expense of the heavier matters. The Pharisee made sure to honour God with a tenth of their herbs and spices but completely neglected justice, mercy and faithfulness (v23). To give a vivid picture of the Pharisees condition, Jesus said they strained out a gnat but swallowed a camel. In other words the Pharisees did their best to avoid a tiny unclean animal like the gnat but unwittingly swallowed a giant unclean animal like the camel - in fussing over the small matters they had completely missed the big matters of the faith.


Tragically the Pharisees were continuing on the work of those who had gone before (v32). They were "serpents" and "vipers" and certainly on their way to hell (v33). The Pharisees and those from ages past had opposed God's messengers throughout history, even shedding the righteous blood of God's servants (v35). This spirit of opposition had led to the death of righteous Abel and prophets like Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24v20-22) but it would certainly receive its due punishment (v36).


Opposition to Christ and His Gospel is not a noble pursuit - it always ends the same way in the pits of hell itself. Brothers and sisters, be zealous in prayer for those like the Pharisees who have no regard for Jesus. But take time to pray for your own heart that it might not be deceived by the deceitfulness of sin. May the Lord cause us to love justice, mercy and faithfulness for Christ's sake.


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Q73 Which is the eighth commandment? The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.
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14th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 11:12-21


Message Alan Burke 


The cursing of the fig tree to some seems shocking, sure this was a perfectly healthy tree after all we are told twice it was in leaf but this wasn’t a perfectly healthy tree and Jesus as a result cursed it. A fruit tree should bear fruit and in the cursing of the fig tree Jesus was giving the disciples an object lesson, teaching them the spiritual truth of how God’s people who were to be fruitful, who were to bear good fruit were in fact fruitless, everything might have looked alright from the distance, this tree after all was in leaf, covered in foliage and there was nothing, no fruit, not even the sign of fruit. Jesus here cursed the fig tree as a warning of what would happen if the people did not repent of their ways, of their fruitlessness. This is all taking place around the temple where there was much activity, much religious life but in reality there was death. While the pilgrims were coming to Jerusalem in their droves, ultimately everything that was going on was just just outward appearances, there was no fruit, it was all empty ritual. In effect it was a load of nonsense, all show but there was no death, there was a total absence of fruit. 


To give you an idea of the temple which was one of the wonders of the ancient world, there was what was known as the court of the Gentiles, the gentiles being those who are not Jews, and we here today are gentiles. At the temple complex there was an area that was reserved for Gentiles. It was set aside for Gentiles, it was as far as you could get as a gentile was this court, it was set aside for the gentiles to come to worship the living God who symbolically dwelt among his people in the temple. Jesus arrived and this place was heaving, not with gentiles worshiping the Lord, they were not welcome, even though God’s people were to reach out to the gentiles, to be a light to the nations they failed. Instead of worship this area was filled with everything needed to make the passover work, we have from historical sources at the time that there were about 250,000 lambs sacrificed during passover, think to the sheer amount of handlers that were needed to be there, the sheer organisation that would have involved in it all. 


At the side there were money changers, like crossing the border and you get to a shop and there is a sign up, we don’t accept Stirling, well those who needed to buy and animal for sacrifice had to go to the Bureau de change and you didn’t have an option, if you wanted to make a sacrifice, to observe the passover, you had to change your money, you had to buy the lamb or a pigeon and exchange rates were extraordinary and the animals were sold for a premium, if you were a trader you’d make a pound or two and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were taking a cut of every transaction. Jesus enters in a rage, he is angry at what he sees, he is proved to anger for a place that was supposed to be for the worship of God and it was nothing more than a market yard, the sounds and smells were not a fragrant offering to the Lord, and Jesus wouldn’t let them carry anything through, because this court acted like a shortcut to the temple. Jerusalem that day was a hive of activity, but there was no fruit, it is not activity that mattered or what matters to God it is Fruit. Here there was no fruit from the people, the cursing of the fig tree is an enacted parable that speaks of what Jesus found in the temple. 


There is something that we need to ask ourselves as the church today, because in many places there is lots of activity but there is no fruit and it is not activity that mattered or what matters to God it is Fruit. Are we just trying to keep plates spinning as a church or are we seeking fruit from it, are we seeking that what we do would be fruitful, that it would bear fruit for the Lord. If we want to bear fruit then what what we will look to as our rule and guide is the word of God, not the latest innovation in doing ‘church’ but God’s word and we must make a priority of worship above all things for everything else will flow out of that but if we can’t get this most basic part right then there will be no fruit, maybe lots of activity but no fruit.


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Q72 What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?
The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions. (Matt. 15:19, Matt. 5:28, Eph. 5:3–4)
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13th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 23v1-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


You probably haven't heard of Major Dick Winters but in the dying days of World War II, Winters led his men in the successful capture of Adolf Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. In later years his exploits inspired the TV series "Band of Brothers" which told the story of Major Winters' company and the great suffering they endured. Winters died in 2011 with one of his colleagues paying tribute in this way "When he said 'Let's go,' he was right in the front. He was never in the back. A leader personified. He was a good man, a very good man. I would follow him to hell and back." Imagine that as a tribute at you funeral..."I would follow him to hell and back"...it seems like Dick Winters was a leader worth following.


Tragically the Pharisees categorically failed to offer the people of Israel any substantive leadership. They took the teaching of Moses seriously and therefore they "sat in his seat" but at their core it was all style without substance (v2-3). Jesus said that the Pharisees taught one thing but did another, indeed the things they preached were not the same as the things they practiced (v3). Everything the Pharisees did was to be seen by others (v5) and yet they were happy to force heavy religious burdens on the shoulders of the people without offering them so much as a raised finger in help (v4). 


Jesus continued and stated that the Pharisees had broad phylacteries and long fringes (v5). What did the Lord mean? A phylactery was a little box containing verses of Scripture and was worn on the forehead and on the left arm close to the heart. A fringe was added to a garment as a reminder to the wearer to keep God's commandments (Numbers 15v37-38). A broad phylactery and a long fringe was a public display of the Pharisees desire to be noticed - they had taken good things and used them in a display of arrogance.


No surprise then that Jesus tells is that the Pharisees loved to have the place of honour at feasts, the best seat in the synagogue and to be greeted as "rabbi" in the marketplace (v6-7). Teddy Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States of America. His daughter Alice described him in this way “My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.” It seems that President Roosevelt and the Pharisees shared a similar attitude - "Look at me!"


Needless to say, the Lord had no regard for the actions of the Pharisees. Instead the followers of Christ were and are to be marked by servanthood and humility (v11-12). If the Pharisees loved to be seen and called "teacher" by the people, then Christ's followers have no need for such things. God is our Father, Christ is our Teacher and we are united as brothers and sisters in the faith (v8-10). The true Christian attitude is one that seeks to serve others and one which walks the path of humility rather than exaltation.


I don't know what will be said at my funeral but I'm reminded of what was said about Charles Hodge by his friend Henry Boardman "Christ was not only the ground of his hope, but the acknowledged sovereign of his intellect, the soul of his theology, the unfailing spring of his joy, the one all pervading, all glorifying theme and end of his life." I hope my life might be accurately described in a similar way. We don't need to follow Christ to hell and back, His work is finished and it is glorious indeed. Nevertheless, we do need to follow Him and when all others fail or disappoint us, Jesus never will. Christ is all, follow Him.


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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.

12th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 11:12-21


Message Alan Burke 


Looking back there are many times I deserved a clip round the ear, you ever thought that of your actions in the past? The times I was involved in wanton destruction I deserved more than a clip although some of those times were encouraged by my uncles. What happens when you see wanton destruction, someone smashed a few windows, some ejit cut the bark of a tree and now its dying, one of the wains covers themselves and the wall in Sudocrem (that stuff is a nightmare to get off). Well here Jesus is out on a wee stroll and curses a fig tree. It is a miracle has caused some to attack Jesus, scholars and individuals who see this as behaviour that is vindictive, ugly, that displays that Jesus was not perfect, he wasn’t a righteous man nor the son of God, for he destroyed this innocent fig tree, to many it is abhorrent, why would he do something like this! This is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded that isn’t restorative.


Here as we pick up, it’s the next day after the not so triumphal entry for Mark and what we are told is that he was hungry, 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs”. This account is taking place in the month of March or April. If you can think back normally trees are only starting to bud but here we are told that this was a fig tree in leaf, and then when Jesus went to it he found nothing but leaves. That piece of information is key because it is making clear to us that the tree should have at least what are known as knops are what turns into the fig when ripened. When the fig tree has leaves it should have these knops. There are also some fig tress that bear their fruit much earlier even as early as the month of may and for a fig tree to be in leaf it would have been expected not only were there little knops but also figs, not fully ripe but covered in figs. 


A fig tree covered in leaves should have had figs, it should have had fruit of some kind but it had none. The sign of the health of that fig tree, or an apple tree, or any kind of fruit tree is that it produces fruit. If you plant an orchard in the garden and you get no harvest from it then there is something wrong. Jesus curse the fig tree and it acted like an object lesson to the disciples, we all expect fruit to come from a fruit tree unless it is sick, unless it is dying, we expect fruit to be there, but there was no fruit of any kind on this tree. Jesus cursed this fruitless fig tree because while his people were to be a vineyard, a tree or a planting that bore fruit. They were to be like a tree planted by streams of water, that yielded its fruit in its season (Psalm 1), a lack of fruitfulness is a sign of God’s curse because his people had not obeyed him.


And you know it is a warning for all who profess faith, because the sign of our spiritual heal as individuals is that we bear fruit, we bear fruit for the Glory of our God. Are we bearing fruit, maybe you’ve been here for I don’t know, five, ten, maybe fifty years, what has been the fruit of that? I’m not expecting a list of converts stretch back through the decades, but think of Galatians the fruit of the spirit 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. (Ga 5:22–23). 


Are our character in keeping with these things, can we look back and see how there has been a change in us over that time, or what about Hebrews 13, "15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb 13:15). Do our lips bear fruit, are we griping or praising, what is the attitude, the motivation? 




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Q70 Which is the seventh commandment?
The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exod. 20:14)

10th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 22v34-46)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The Old Testament and the Law in particular can seem like a different planet for the Christian. We much prefer to be knee deep in the New Testament than to even dip a toe into the Old. May God forgive us. All of Scripture is God breathed and all of it is to be heeded by His church. So let me offer you a little primer on the Law of God as revealed in the Old Testament.


The Law can be divided into three - the moral, civic and ceremonial. The civic law related to how national Israel was to be governed, the ceremonial law related to how national Israel was to worship and the moral law related to how national Israel was to live in a manner that pleased the Lord. Today the civic and ceremonial law are not binding upon the church. In the Old Testament we see the church confined to the borders of national Israel, a king was on the throne and worship was conducted at the Jerusalem temple. Christ’s work changed everything - the church is the Israel of God, Jesus sits on the throne of David and Christ is the temple which was torn down and raised in three days. 


However the moral law continues to be relevant to God’s people. We are to love Him and keep His name holy. We observe the Lord’s day, we honour our parents and we shun deceit and covetousness. The moral law also called the Ten Commandments still plays a role in the life of the Christian. What does the moral law do? It doesn’t save us but it shows us our sin and the holiness of God, it restrains sin in us and society and it teaches us what is pleasing to the Lord. This is the threefold use of the law and it is useful indeed.


One day the Pharisees gathered together in order to test Jesus with the question “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (v36). This was another attempt to draw Jesus into controversy and no doubt the Pharisees were waiting to pounce on any answer that could give them leverage over Christ. Nevertheless the Lord would not be undone by the constant opposition of the Pharisees. He replied “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (v37-40)


Jesus did not fall into any trap and His response gave the Pharisees no room to complain. Instead He offered a summary of the Law and the Prophets (v40). How are we to keep the law of God? By loving Him wholeheartedly and by loving our neighbour as we love ourselves. This is the clear vision for the Christian life - love God and love your neighbour. This is an impossible task for us but we thank God for the Gospel of Christ. Jesus is the supreme law keeper who kept every inch of the law both passively and actively. His active obedience saw Him actively meeting the law’s standards and His passive obedience saw Him willingly receive the law’s punishment. By faith in Christ we have been set free from our inability to keep God’s law and instead we have been placed on the road called obedience where by the power of the Spirit we strive to love God and neighbour.


As the Lord’s answer rang in the ears of the Pharisees, Jesus asked a question of His own “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” (v42). They replied “The son of David” prompting Jesus to ask another question “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? (v43-44) Do you see Christ’s point? David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Psalm 110 where he prophetically spoke of Jesus calling Him Lord. The Pharisees on the other hand held David in high regard but treated Christ with contempt.


Jesus is greater than David, He is indeed Lord and as He stood against the Pharisees they realised that it would be wise to ask Jesus no further questions (v46). Jesus is the obedient suffering servant and the triumphant King of kings. He is both the power and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1v24). Blessed are all who find refuge in Him.


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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.
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9th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Acts 2:22-24 & 4:27-28


Message Alan Burke 


I want to take you back to one of the point that I drew out on Monday from this passage before us, how the Lord God is sovereign over all, he is in all that takes place at work, working out all things for his glory and the good of those who love him. In the midst of all that was taking place from the triumphal entry, right through to the crucifixion the Lord was sovereignty at work for there is nothing happening by chance or luck but that is all being worked out according to God’s eternal purposes. We might look out and think that it is just chaos out there but Scripture reminds us that it is not, we have a sovereign Lord who is in control of it all. Our Triune God is sovereign in all, he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, he is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present and he is actively at work in all that was taking place and takes place that day and this day and every day for that matter.


Now here’s the thing, some would say when we have this kind of view of God’s sovereignty then what about human responsibility, after all God knows the beginning form the end, he is sovereignly in control over all things and working out his purposes, so then surely we are free from responsibility, it almost seems paradoxical to speak of Divine Sovereignty and human responsibility but both go hand in hand. Those two portions of the book of Acts help make this clear for us. In 2:23, it speaks of the evil deeds of those who killed the Lord Jesus our saviour. As it speaks of the reality of how those who were involved in one of the most horrifying, yet God-glorifying events in all of history were accountable for their actions, and we learn of that truth in verse 23, as we are told how these men, acted against God, they may have though that they were in some way upsetting or preventing the plan of God, but ultimately God was using their sinful choices their own rebellion against him for his purposes, it only too place because the Lord had allowed it to, it only took place because the Lord had planned it and it was according to the council of his will. God ordains the means as well as the ends of human events without violating human freedom and responsibility. 


The Jews could not pass their guilt to the Romans; they had asked the Romans to crucify Jesus. Peter teaches that the Jews were accountable even though God had planned it it still did not absolve of responsibility those who contributed to his death, for Peter goes on to say, “you crucified and killed” him. Though one may not understand fully how God’s sovereign ordination of events can be compatible with human responsibility for evil, both are clearly affirmed here and in many other passages of Scripture.


Acts 4:27-28 is another example, verse 27 It speaks of how Herod, Pontius Pilate, Gentiles, the peoples of Israel were all responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus yet all of it as verse 28 makes clear was according to the plan of God, this is a clear affirmation that nothing, not even the wrongful death of God's Son, happens apart from God's sovereign will and control. The certainty of God's plan for the world is established by His sovereign "plan" and ensured by His almighty "hand." The early chapters of Acts teach the compatibility of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. While the murderers of Jesus acted in accord with what God had determined, they were morally responsible agents and were held accountable. It was the will of the LORD, according to His predetermined counsel and will to crush the Lord Jesus for us, and to appoint (not merely allow) the Gentiles and the Jews to gather together and humiliate Him for us, to spit upon Him for us, to mock Him for us, to torture Him for us, and to crucify Him for us. It means, all of it, everything that happened everything that does happen in this world is not a matter or mere chance or luck, nor is it a matter of blind fate – ‘what will be will be’. The living God is the God who governs and rules. He has a perfect plan, and he makes everything fit together to fulfil this plan.


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)
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8th June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 22v23-33)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The Sadducees were constant opponents of Christ but we tend to overlook them in favour of the Pharisees. The two groups were not friends and it was only their hatred of Jesus that brought them together. Whilst the Pharisees held the "oral law" (historic teaching of various Rabbis) in high regard, the Sadducees did not. Additionally the Sadducees differed from the Pharisees in that they did not believe in the resurrection of the body and perhaps even thought that the human soul ceased to exist at death.


It is unsurprising then that the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question about the resurrection. They presented to Christ a scenario where a woman was married to a man who died before they had any children. According to the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 25v5-6) if brothers lived together and one of them died childless, it was his surviving brother's duty to marry his brother's widow. This was to ensure that the dead brother's name would live on as any child from the new marriage would be considered the dead brother's heir. Commentators suggest that this practice wasn't really observed by Christ's day but it formed the basis of the Sadducee's question.


They presented a story whereby one of seven brothers died before he had an heir. The second brother married the dead man's wife but the second brother then died. The third brother then married the first brother's wife but the third brother died as well. This process continued all the way down to the seventh brother. It seems like an incredibly unlikely state of affairs but the Sadducees used it to propose a question "In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? (v28) What were the Sadducees playing at? As we have already stated, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and so they thought that their scenario showed the resurrection to be a nonsense. Each of the seven brothers had a right to call the woman their own wife and so if the resurrection was a fact then it would result in endless unsolvable conundrums such as this.


I'm sure that the Sadducees thought that they had finally put Christ in His place and yet once again Jesus proved to be more than their equal. He replied by explaining that the Sadducees did not understand Scripture nor did they understand the power of God (v29). The resurrection certainly causes us to scratch our heads - what will we look like when raised from the dead? Will we based raised naked? What age will we appear to be? I've heard all of these questions and many more but the truth is that we are not told the ins and outs of the resurrection. However we can confidently say that the Lord will raise us bodily on the last day, we will stand again upon this earth and it will be done by the extraordinary power of God.


Furthermore the complex question about the seven brothers and the one wife was irrelevant - why? Because the Sadducees incorrectly assumed that the resurrected life would be exactly like this life. Jesus said that in the resurrection there will be no more need for marriage, instead the faithful will live like the angels who currently have no concern about marriage. Does this mean that you won't know your wife in heaven? No. You won't suddenly forget your loved ones and you will love your husband or wife in a deeper way than you do now but in heaven marriage as we currently know it will be no more.


So the Sadducees had misunderstood Scripture and the resurrected life but tragically they had also misunderstood God Himself. Jesus reminded them of Exodus 3v6 which records God saying to Moses “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” What has this verse got to do with the resurrection? In Moses' day, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all long dead and yet God still declared Himself to be their God. These men had not died and disappeared eternally, instead they had entered heaven by faith in the Christ who was to come. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (v32). The Lord's teaching astounded the crowds and once again Christ's opponents had failed to humiliate Jesus.


Brothers and sisters, we rarely meditate upon the reality of the resurrection but we should certainly take more time to do exactly that. When the Christian dies their soul is made perfect and it goes to be with the Lord - this is our intermediate state. However when Jesus returns His people will be raised physically to everlasting life. Our souls will be reunited with perfect bodies and we will dwell with Jesus in the new heavens and earth - this is our final state. Questions about the resurrection may trouble us but we should always hold tightly to its certainty. As Job once said "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job 19v25-27)


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q67 Which is the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.
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