31st August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 11v21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


First posted on 1st December 2022


There will come a day that every one of us will die. I do not state this fact to annoy you or to ruin your day - I state it because it is true and it is essential that we face death by faith. Jacob knew that his day was coming and stressed to his son Joseph that he was not to be buried in Egypt. Jacob wanted to go home to Canaan and be buried in the promised land. 


This in itself was an act of faith. Jacob was away from the land and his family had not yet possessed it but still Jacob wanted to be buried in home soil. He knew in his bones that the Lord would be faithful to His Word and one day the descendants of Israel would inhabit the land of promise. Jacob’s eyes may now have grown dim but they still shone with faith. 


He told Joseph of the promises of God, how the Lord had appeared to him at Luz and promised to multiply his descendants and give them the land as an everlasting possession. Such was his confidence in this promise that Jacob wanted the sons of Joseph to share in it. He claimed Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own and although the land was far away, Joseph’s sons would have a share in it. 


This was a bitter sweet moment. Jacob’s life was coming to a close and he remembered his beloved wife Rachel whose death caused him much sorrow but at the same time he had once believed that he would never see his son again and yet in this moment Joseph and his two sons were at his bedside. Jacob invited his grandsons near to receive a blessing and so Joseph brought his sons to his father with the eldest Manasseh to Jacob’s right and the youngest Ephraim to his left. 


Years before Jacob had also drawn near to his near blind father. In that moment he had used deception to receive the blessing. He had taken matters into his own hands despite the promise of God that the older would serve the younger. There would be no deception in Jacob’s tent, he crossed his hands and laid his right hand on Ephraim and his left hand on Manasseh.


This displeased Joseph for Manasseh was his firstborn and custom dictated that he should have the place of prominence, but Jacob had come full circle. Gone was the trickery of his youth and now he understood that the ways of the Lord were not our ways. Israel with eyes of faith gazed into the future seeing that Manasseh would be great but his younger brother would be greater still.


All of this would come to pass. The descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh would be great in number. They would have a share in the land. Joseph’s descendants would have the town of Shechem and he himself would one day be buried there. Every promise of God was yes and amen. It had been a long road for both father and son. Many years of heartache, imprisonment, strife,sadness and death had come upon them both but in this tender scene of blessing we see a mature and wise Jacob (now called Israel) blessing the sons of righteous Joseph. Israel’s life was coming to a close but his tired old eyes were filled with faith.


Brothers and sisters, each of us will one day die and it is of vital importance that we face it by faith. Israel summed up his life in this way “Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” (Genesis 47v9)


Perhaps you feel the same? Life has hurt and bitterness creeps upon you. Child of God, may the Lord soften your heart. His ways may seem beyond our comprehension but the Lord is working out His plans in our lives. Every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ and the one who believes in Jesus knows the richest of blessings. Live and die by faith regardless of your troubles for the one who gains Christ, will lose nothing.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q32 What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life? They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which, in this life, do either accompany or flow from them.
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30th August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 11


Message Alan Burke 


The situation if you’re only picking up today is that Jabesh-Gilead are under siege by the Ammonites the enemy of God’s people. They have sought help and if help failed to materialise they will loose an eye and be the subjects of their enemy and surely help is guaranteed, wasn’t it? Well you know that help comes but if you were an inhabitant of Jabesh-Gilead you wouldn’t have been so sure. 


Now the context of why it was unlikely anyone wouldn’t have been rushing to answer their call for aid. We need to go back to the book of Judges, back in the time when everyone did what was right in his own eyes and there is a horrific account of what took place against the concubine of a Levite. What happened is recorded in Judges 19-21, you can read it later. Suffice to say the events unfolded in Gibeah, the home town of Saul and as a result Isreal went to war against the tribe of Benjamin of which Gibeah was a part because of the deplorable things that took place there. 


All Isreal rallied to bring judgement on the tribe of Benjamin except Jabesh-Gilead. Then with only a handful of Benjamites left the rest of the tribes relented but realised that they there was no hope of a future for the tribe of Benjamin unless the men left had wives so they took 400 women from Jabesh-Gilead because they did not come out to fight with the rest of Isreal. While it was unlikely that all of Isreal would come out for Jabesh-Gilead there was a chance that Gibeah would and you can now understand why the people of Gibeah wept when they heard this, years may have passed but you can imagine all the family connections that there would have remained. 


But notice that they were not coming for Saul, even though Saul is back at Gibeah working on the family farm, nobody rushes off to find their new king, he even has to enquire of what is going on. The new king of the people who is so important he has to stumble upon the news himself rather than being told first hand. Then the Spirit of God came upon him. We often think that the Spirit of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament as working in very different ways, that the Spirit of God only came when Jesus ascended at Pentecost and that Old Testament believers didn’t have the Spirit indwelling in them, but that’s not the case, the Spirit is essential in salvation, the big difference is our knowledge and experience of the Holy Spirit within that Jesus has given us. 


What we have here with the Spirit of God coming upon Saul to empower him, to enable him to accomplish the task ahead, which he likewise did for others like, Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, and David. Just as back in chapter 10 where the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Saul. Notice what the first thing that happens Saul when the Spirit rushes upon him, rather the emotion that he has?


It is anger, Saul is filled with anger, the NIV puts it that he “burned with anger”, the Spirit of God rushed on him and he burned with anger, he was filled with anger. Anger is not always sinful, there are times that it is, there are times when anger is really sinful, but there are other times when anger is righteous, where it is appropriate, when we see or hear of injustice and are left feeling angry that is entirely appropriate. Getting angry because the better half didn’t complement you today, well sorry to break it to you that isn’t righteous anger, that type of anger is sinful. Our Lord and Saviour got angry, at sin, at injustice and it makes known to us—the anger of the Father, the anger that was poured out on Jesus himself on the cross because of our sin. While the Spirit came upon Saul and he was filled with anger we should know that in its right place it is righteous. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q31 What is effectual calling?
Effectual calling is the work of God’ s Spirit, (2 Tim. 1:9, 2 Thess. 2:13–14) whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, (Acts 2:37) enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, (Acts 26:18) and renewing our wills, (Ezek. 36:26–27) he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel. (John 6:44–45, Phil. 2:13)

29th August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 11v11-16)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


First posted 26th November 2022


Do you remember how Eve rejoiced at the birth of her son Cain? She had no clue that Cain would be a faithless murderer but she did know that God had promised a child who would crush the head of Satan. So with the promise of God ringing in her soul she declared "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord!" Cain wasn't the promised Saviour but his brother Seth would be included in the family tree of the promised Lord. Abraham would be mentioned in that family tree as well and miraculously so too would his son Isaac.


What was so miraculous about the birth of Isaac? His mother Sarah and his father Abraham were well past age when Sarah fell pregnant with her firstborn son (v11). Indeed when Sarah heard God's promise to bless her with a child she laughed. How could a woman of 90 and a man of 100 have a child? But Sarah's laughter would cease. She believed God and considered that He was faithful to all that He promised (v11).


Sarah miraculously conceived, Isaac was born and from this wee family came descendants as many as the stars in the sky and as the grains of sand by the sea (v12). Amazingly you and I are considered descendants of Abraham by virtue of our saving faith in Christ. We may not be physically related to him but we share the faith of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Paul explains it this way "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3v29) 


Abraham, Sarah and Issac all died without seeing the glorious fulfilment of God's promises but they "greeted them from afar" (v13). In other words they knew that even though they were strangers and exiles on earth they had a homeland and a country which was heavenly (v16). All of the Lord's promises may not have been fulfilled in their lifetime but regardless they knew that the promises of God were unshakeable and they would surely come to pass.


Faith believes that God can raise the dead. Faith believes that the Lord can bless an elderly couple with a child. Faith believes extraordinary and unseen things but faith in Christ is never misplaced and the faithful will never be put to shame.


Brothers and sisters, God is not ashamed of the faithful. We are at the same time justified yet sinful and on this side of glory we will fail constantly but the Lord remains unashamed of those who have believed His promises. We may know many hard days throughout the duration of our lives but our God has prepared for us a heavenly city (v16). We will dwell there at peace and we will never leave, it will be a place without sin or doubt or fear., a place were righteousness dwells and a place where Christ walks with His people.


I'm looking forward to that place. My faith is in Christ and my prayer is "come quickly Lord Jesus"  


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q30 How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
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28th August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 11


Message Alan Burke 


It has been almost two years since we last focused on the book of 1 Samuel, we concluded at chapter 10 with Saul anointed as king. The LORD had given the people what they wanted but they would find out in time it wasn’t really want they wanted and it wasn’t really what they needed, they needed God and the true king not a king to be like the other nations. God gave Saul all he needed for what lay ahead, to rule the people well, God had called him, anointed him, equips him, he had everything he needed, he was set up for success, but Saul would eventually fail. Here though as we turn to chapter 11 there is little sign of the failure that would come, this is really the high point in Saul’s reign. Two thing to note, we don’t know if these events are happening consecutively, simultaneously (although this is unlikely) or that there was a gap between the events of chapter 10 and 11. The other thing to note is that the Ammonites here were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew who if we didn’t rely know were enemies of God’s people. 


Nahash the King of the Ammonites lays siege to the city of Jabesh-Gilead. The Long and short of it is that from what was unfolding that even though all Israel had wanted a king like the nations around them (1 Sam 8:18-20) but here it seems like for the people of Jabesh-Gilead that it would be one of the kings of the nations around them that would rule over them. Nahash offers Jabesh-Gilead a peace treaty, but the treaty on the table but it would come at a cost, the cost you might think isn’t too sever, live and lose an eye, or keep your eyes and die. And at first glance we may miss what is going on but there is a reason for the right eye, it was a way of ensuring that the people of Jabesh-gilead could not wage war against the Ammonites in battle. 


The loss of the right eye would have made military service impossible, since the sight of the left eye would be hindered by the shield. We even have from historical records at the time that this was often carried out against captured Israelite soldiers. There were no rules of war at the time. If this treaty took place, if the people of Jabesh-Gilead made Nahash their king, if the people lost their right eyes it would bring disgrace on the whole nation for they failed to step in to prevent it when they had previously subdued the Ammonites. This would have been a win win for Nashah, Jabesh-gilead for they would have been unable to put up any fight against him, they would be a disgrace to the people of Israel, meanwhile the people would have been able to live and exist, paying tribute to Nashah their king, but they would have lived. 


The elders seek time to try and muster some help, a weeks respite, seven days to attempt to rouse Isreal to come to its defence. Nahash was confident or cocky enough to give it to them, all the while the people of Jabesh-Gilead would face the agonising wait to see if any would need come to their aid. Again history is important, for Jabesh-Gilead were in a dire situation and they would have known themselves how unlikely anyone coming to their aid. While they sought aid the failure of the people of Jabesh-Gilead in seeking aid is clear. 


The reason is that the did not turn to God nor did they turn to God’s king, they wanted deliverance, but they failed to turn to the only one who could provide that deliverance through the King he had given them. They didn’t cry out to their God nor did they cry out to his anointed King. What we are confronted of here is the human disposition to try to do it their own way, in their own strength, they sought in the midst of their distress for a treaty with their enemy, when they felt the cost was too great they sought help but not from the place they should have sought it. For all of us there is but one way of deliverance for the situation that we find ourselves, we are not besieged by Nashash but we are by sin and the devil, and the only one who can provide escape is God, the only one who can provide us escape from the judgement that is due to us is God himself through his son, the true King. Jesus Christ who came that if we repent and believe, putting our trust in him and not the rulers of this world then we will be saved eternally. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q29 How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us, (John 1:11–12) by his Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5–6)
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26th August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 11v8-10 & 17-19)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


First posted 24th November 2022


There are few more remarkable figures in the Bible than Abraham and it isn't hyperbole to say that I could write devotions about him for the next month at the very least. I'll not do that but instead we'll think today briefly about the faith of Abraham.


The Apostle says that Abraham's faith could be seen in how he believed God even when most of us would hesitate. Abraham was called to go out to the place that he would receive as an inheritance (v8). The only difficulty with this command was that Abraham didn't know where he was going. Nevertheless Abraham left the city of Ur and headed for the land of Canaan.


When he arrived in Canaan he and his family lived there in tents, heirs of God's promise (v9). Abraham knew that the Lord had given the land to him and his ancestors and yet even so they still lived like pilgrims. Why was this? Because Abraham knew that the promises of God spoke of a greater reality than just a patch of land.


Paul puts it this way "he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God." (v10) The land of Canaan, also called the land of promise was a glimpse of the heavenly realities. Abraham knew that the hope of the one who followed God was greater by far than any earthly fulfilment. Heaven is the city that we look forward to. It has foundations that will never be shaken and it has been designed and built by God (v10).


When we consider heaven we think of clouds and angels and harps and white robes. But we actually believe that after Christ's return the heavens and the earth will be restored to their pre-fall glory. The church will dwell with Christ and we will live in the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells. Equally we won't be floating around as spirits with no body - when Christ returns He will raise us to life. We will dwell in heaven with body and soul reunited forever. We believe in the resurrection and Abraham believed it too.


By faith he offered to take his son Isaac's life because he knew that God could raise the child from the dead (v19). The claim of the resurrection is an extraordinary one and for many it sounds like ludicrous nonsense. I hear all the time that this life is all we have, death will come and then all we'll be is food for the worms. I don't believe this and you shouldn't either.


Abraham believed the promises of God and we believe the same ones. The Christian's eternal home will be beautiful indeed. I can only imagine what it will be like to walk in the valleys of heaven. I can only dream of the extraordinary beauty of the new creation. I can only dimly comprehend will it will be like to see Jesus and yet because I have received Christ by faith, one day I will be in the place designed and built by God. I will be there body and soul and on that day which will never end I will realise what it is to be truly human.


This life isn't all there is. Something greater is coming and it is claimed by saving faith in Jesus. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q28 Wherein consisteth Christ’s exaltation? Christ’s exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.
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25th August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Ezekiel 15 and John 15 


Message - Alan Burke


First Posted 5th August 2022


We now turn our attention to John’s Gospel for today at least. In Ezekiel’s day, God had rebuked His people for how they were how they were useless, they were a useless vine that did not bear fruit. From His people though God brought the true vine and in John’s Gospel Jesus tells us; “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn 15:5).


Jesus is the vine, but the vine has branches and all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, who have repented and believed are the branches, we are part of the true Israel of God. We unlike the people in Ezekiel’s day should bear much fruit, our new life comes from the Lord Jesus, and the result of that walk with the Lord Jesus as we abide in Him is that there will be fruitfulness. We contribute nothing to the vine, nothing to our salvation, nothing to the kingdom but from the true vine Jesus Christ we have nourishment and we are fruitful. If we are fruitless, then we are not really abiding in Christ, even your salvation is in question. 


How do we show that we are abiding in Christ? Well we show that we are abiding in Christ by bearing fruit, the fruit of the Spirit as we are told in Galatians 5 (22-23) the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those of us who belong to Christ should have these things, it should be seen in how we love one another, in the joy we have, peace among us, patients with one another, kindness that is seen, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. 


None of us here produce any fruit unless we abide in Christ, He is the source of our fruitfulness, He supplies the power to make us fruitful. Faithful Israelites loved God and kept His commandments, whereas unfaithful ones did neither, they did not love Him or keep His commands. Faithful Christians love God and keep His commandments and they bear the proper fruit (Gal. 5:22); unfaithful ones bear nothing useful.


Notice though of what happens of the branches that do not bear fruit, if they do not bear fruit, if they do not then God the Father the one who is the Gardner, He will cut off every branch that bears no fruit. They will be pruned! In this pruning here it is with a purpose so that they would bear even more fruit. As we come we know that we are justified by faith alone, but faith that justifies is never alone. It should be seen in our lives, faith without works is dead, it should be seen in our home life, in our work life, in our recreation time in all areas of our life, public and private, those who are part of the true vine there is evidence of it in their lives. This does not mean that the branches that were cut off were not truly saved, for no one can snatch us from His hand (Jn 10:27-30). Are we showing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, at home, in how we love, the joy we have, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, or at work, school, public, private lives? 


We are not abiding in Jesus then we are being disobedient to His word, we are only abiding in Him when we are seeking to obey His revealed will, when we keep his commandments as Jesus himself says in verse 10; "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love”. 


This is what the Lord requires of his people, this is what was required of those in Ezekiel’s day and it is what is required of us, in Ezekiel day God’s people were unfaithful, unfruitful. While this isn’t the end of the book of Ezekiel it is the end of our series, and this should act as a warning to the church today, to us here, a warning to us as individuals and us as a people, if we are true branches we will grows stronger under pressure, we face trials and temptations we will continue on, there will be fruit in our lives, fruit of the spirit will be seen in and out of the view of others around us, let us be faithful, fruitful people, who abide in Christ Jesus, obeying is word, obeying his commands as the vine of Israel today. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q27 Wherein did Christ’ s humiliation consist?
Christ’ s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, (Luke 2:7) made under the law, (Gal. 4:4) undergoing the miseries of this life, (Heb. 12:2–3, Isa. 53:2–3) the wrath of God, (Luke 22:44, Matt. 27:46) and the cursed death of the cross:; (Phil. 2:8) in being buried, (1 Cor. 15:3–4) and continuing under the power of death for a time. (Acts 2:24–27,31)
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24th August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 11v5-6)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


First posted 19th November 2022


Enoch is a man in the Bible who we know incredibly little about. We could tell hours’ worth of stories about Paul. Elijah and his life could fill a book and even a foreign king like Nebuchadnezzar gets more than a few words...and yet Enoch has a couple of mentions and then that's that. But when we read what the Lord tells us in His Word about Enoch it should cause us to marvel.


We learn a little bit about his family in Genesis 5. His dad was called Jared (v18) and Enoch had brothers and sisters (v19). Like many in those early days of humanity Enoch's dad lived for a very long time, God tells us Jared was 962 before he died (v20). Enoch has his own family too. We know that he had various sons and daughters and one in particular is named Methuselah (v21). 


Yet while it is wonderful to hear about family members and long life, the truly amazing thing about Enoch is that his life could be summed up in just four simple words..."Enoch walked with God" (v24).


Just like Abel, Enoch in was a man of faith. Paul tells us that too in Hebrews 11v5. Enoch loved the Lord, he served the Lord, he praised the Lord. Now we can't fill in the blanks about this man with any certainty. We can't tell any stories about his preaching or if God used him to do amazing things. Yet those four words tell us everything we need to know..."Enoch walked with God". 


Enoch loved the Lord in life and did not taste death for he had pleased God. Amazingly the Lord
tells us in Genesis 5v24 that Enoch "was not", in Hebrews 11v5 we read that he was spared death. This little known man walked with the Lord and then was taken to heaven where he rejoices to this day.


How Enoch finished his life is not the normal situation. The Bible tells us that only Enoch and Elijah finished their time on earth by being taken into heaven by God. The rest of us will one day die and after that comes eternity in heaven or in hell (Hebrews 9v27). So, in the here and now what does this little known man of faith called Enoch say to us?


Firstly, don't worry about your bucket list. It's good to plan and dream but there are much more important things in life than climbing Mount Everest or having ten children. Make the most of today and in everything give God the glory (Colossians 3v17). I like to sum this up with the reformation phrase SOLI DEO GLORIA. To God alone the glory.


Secondly, don't take life for granted. It may be short or long but tomorrow isn't guaranteed for anyone. Instead put first things first (Matthew 6v31-33). Finally, don't fixate on how Enoch entered heaven, as amazing as it was.


I've heard endless debates about Enoch and Elijah and how they finished their time on earth. Instead in response to Enoch ask yourself these four words..."Do I love Jesus?" Think of what your family will say about you in seventy years...will they say..."Dad walked with God"? I hope so. Will the speak at your funeral of your saving faith? I hope so. Will they remember you fondly as someone who knew the surpassing worth of trusting Christ? I hope so.


We will do many things in life, we might be famous, books might be written about all our adventures but the most important issue is whether or not we walk with the Lord. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We simply must believe that not only does He exist but He rewards those who seek Him (v6).


Start walking with Christ and keep walking with Christ - there's nothing more important. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q26 How doth Christ execute the office of a king? Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
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23rd August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Ezekiel 15:6-8


Message - Alan Burke


First Posted 3rd August 2022


Incase you missed Monday’s devotion, the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and using parabolic language he speaks to people about a vine, a vine that is useless, a vine that does not bear fruit. Here this parable is explained as the Lord speaks to His people through the prophet He makes it clear the meaning that He was talking about and to them. Jerusalem is the vine, the wood that is useless. There were those in Jerusalem, in Isreal, those among the people of God in exile who though that the vine itself was sacred, that ie they were safe as houses, they were important because of who they were, their status but they were only important, they were only of use, they were only of value because of God’s choosing to make them so. 


God had chosen them to be His people, as Deuteronomy makes clear. He chose them out of all the people on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession, He did not set His affection on them and chose them because they were more numerous than the other people, for they were the fewest of all people, but it was because the Lord loved them and kept the oath that He swore to their forefathers so He brought them out with a mighty hand and redeemed them from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (paraphrased Deut 7:6–8).


It was by God gracious purposes that had set His people apart for a purpose and that was to bring Glory to His name, He had made a covenant with them that had terms, blessing for obedience, curses for disobedience, it was so that the nations around would take notice of Isreal’s God, that they would seek Him for themselves. They were only important, they were only of use, they were only of value because of God’s choosing, but by their nature as all peoples they were sinful and rebellious. Their worth, their use was because of God’s election, his choosing them to be His people, His gracious purposes. They were to be a vine metaphorically, they were to produce fruit, that is why they were called a vine, they were chosen by God with a purpose. 


But they had failed to produce fruit, just as a vine that does not produce grapes is useless so the people of God were useless. God had planted Isreal among the nations, they were to be separate as God’s people as a holy nation, they were to bear fruit worthy of Him but they had turned from God, they were just like the other nations, they were so overflowing with sin that they were only fit to be destroyed in the fire of God’s judgment. 


Indeed the Babylonians came, they practiced a scorched earth policy, that is as they came they burned what ever they could in their way, houses, barns, fields with crops, villages, towns and cities were destroyed (2 Chr. 36:10). There were few among them who heard this word of the Lord from the lips of Ezekiel that would have missed the point that Jerusalem would face destruction. All of this comes because God’s people had been unfaithful to Him, God is responding to their failure to fulfil their created purpose, to bear fruit, to give Him the glory.   


Yet God in His gracious purposes maintained a remnant from them, He used them and from them one came who is the true vine (John 15:1). The alternative to wiping out Isreal the vine was to plant a good healthy vine from among them. God in his redemptive purposes was using this His rebellious people tor bring forth the true vine. In John’s Gospel Jesus said I am the true vine. Isreal was to be the vine but their existence was denoted by their unfaithfulness to the Lord God. They failed to do what they had been called to do, whereas Jesus the only begotten Son of God is the true vine, He was spiritually fruitful where the people failed to be fruitful. Jesus did not fail for He is the true Isreal, He is the fruitful servant who accomplished God’s purpose of Isreal, for He was an Israelite, born of the flesh and was and is the one whom works to save the world, He is the one in whom we must put our faith, the one that we trust the one we must abide in.


Pray (acTS)


Sing

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Q25 How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, (Heb. 9:14,28) and reconcile us to God; (Heb. 2:17) and in making continual intercession for us. (Heb. 7:24–25)
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22nd August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 10v11-18)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


First posted 12th November 2022


One of my earliest Ballynahinch memories was chatting to an elderly man who was brushing up leaves outside his home. I remarked that he was doing a good job only to be told rather grumpily that "Sure I'll have to do all again tomorrow." He was right. Brushing leaves is one of those jobs that is never truly done.


The priests of the old covenant period knew all about repetition. Every day they would stand at their service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices. Did their work ever end? No. The sacrifices they offered could never take away sin (v11).


On the other hand Christ is no longer offering sacrifices. He offered a single sacrifice for sin (v12) and by that single offering He has brought perfection to those who have trusted Him and are currently being sanctified (v14).


Christ is the true priest whose sacrifice has met the demands of a Holy God. The one who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame because He has paid the price and has satisfied the law’s requirements. This truth is underlined by Christ’s current posture.


The old covenant priests stood at their service every single day but when Christ completed His work, He sat down at the right hand of the Father (v12). When you sit down at the end of a hard and long day it is a statement that your work has finished and you can now put your feet up. Christ no longer stands offering sacrifices because His work of redemption is finished indeed. There doesn’t need to be another cross, Calvary was enough and now Jesus sits at the right-hand of the Father.


Christ was the one and only priest of the new covenant. What is the new covenant? The new covenant is the covenant of grace which was preached to Satan in Genesis 3v15, it was promised to Abraham in Genesis 17 and it was made new in Christ. The new covenant therefore isn't brand new but instead it is made new or fulfilled in the finished work of Jesus. 


It is this new covenant that the Holy Spirit proclaimed in Jeremiah 31 which the Apostle quotes in today's passage “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds...I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” (v16-17)


The new covenant is the covenant of grace made new in Christ and under the terms of the new covenant we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. The Lord no longer writes His commands on tablets of stone but instead on hearts and minds of flesh. Indeed sin offerings are no longer required because the Lord remembers our sins and lawless deeds no more.
All of this has been accomplished by the once and for all finished work of Christ. Where is Jesus now? Sitting at the Father's right hand because His Word still stands..."It is finished!"


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q24 How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet? Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
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21st August 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Ezekiel 15:1-5


Message - Alan Burke


First Posted 1st August 2022


This week we focus on the shortest chapter in the book of Ezekiel and it will be the last chapter we focus on for some time as we start a new series come September. The chapter itself may be short but it is one that packs some punch. From a cursory glance this is God telling His people that they are useless, worthless, good for nothing, only fit for the fire. Even if the people in exile along with Ezekiel had missed what God was going to do in the previous oracles that had been given, they weren’t going to miss it now. 


I want you to park the second half of the chapter v6-8 for a moment or two and imagine that you were hearing these words for the first time as the people in Ezekiel’s day would have. The reason why is that we know from the latter part that God is talking about Jerusalem in this oracle but the imagery of vine would have been for any Jew something they would have been familiar with even if we are not. 


The question asks is the wood of the vine better than a branch on any other tree? The answer is of course no! The wood of the vine is only good for one thing, one thing and that is bearing fruit. This is the only way in which the wood of the vine is better than the wood of any other tree. The wood isn’t any use other than that, it can’t be used for furniture because it is too pliable and weak, it can’t be carved into something as simple as a peg or a pin to hang something on because it is so weak that it bends, cracks and breaks far too easily, any other wood is better. 


The vines themselves as today would have been usually pruned twice annually, in late winter and again in summer, branches that bore no fruit were cut off, bundled for firewood but even then the wood of the vine only burns a part life, it wasn’t even good fuel for the fire. That’s what is signified about how it burns at both ends and chars in the middle, what happens is that the thick trunk doesn’t burn properly, you’d not use it in your wood-burning stove at home, any other type of wood would be better. So the wood of the vine was useless for anything other than bearing fruit when it was part of the vine, and it wasn’t great as a firewood. The question that is then asked in this word of the Lord is what happens a useless piece of wood when it has been burnt at both ends, charred in the middle is it good for anything then? 


Well the answer is obvious I hope, of course if it was no good for anything before hand it is going to be even less use now, and that is what we are told so clearly in v5. No-one there listening to Ezekiel speak the word of the Lord could have disagreed with the word of the Lord that came to Ezekiel and that he took to the people. They may not have understood at this stage but he was talking about them. A vine is of course is to produce grapes, that is its purpose, to be fruitful, the purpose of the people of God were to be fruitful, their purpose was to bear fruit. They were a chosen people, they were part of the vine, but they were not living as they were called to they had failed to live in His ways according to His purposes, they had not followed His decrees or kept His laws but had conformed to the standards of the nations around (11:12). 


How do we as God’s people today bear fruit in our lives, how we do that is simple, it is told to us in John’s gospel and it is by abiding in Christ. To abide in Christ is to enjoy fellowship with him, to pray to him, spend time in his word, to Worship him with God’s people, looking to him in all things. There is nothing too small or insignificant to come him with nor is there anything to big. Apart from him we can do nothing. Ezekiel said it in a slightly different way but it has the same meaning, for we can do nothing, we will be useless apart from Christ (Jn 15:1-17).


Pray (acTS)


Sing

WSC 
Q23 What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. (Acts 3:21–22, Heb. 12:25, 2 Cor. 13:3, Heb. 5:5–7, Heb. 7:25, Ps. 2:6, Isa. 9:6–7, Matt. 21:5, Ps. 2:8–11)
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