19th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 10v5-10) Message (Scott Woodburn) First posted 10th November 2022 One of the many blessings of Hebrews is how we see the Old and New Testament speaking together to underline the consistency of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. In today's passage the Apostle takes the words of Psalm 40 and places them in the mouth of Christ. This is another Messianic Psalm which pointed forward to the arrival of the Messiah. What does Jesus say in Psalm 40? “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” These sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings are offered according to the law (v8) but Jesus didn't come to take His place as just another temple priest. Instead Jesus came to do the will of God the Father (v9a). Paul states that Christ does away with the first in order to establish the second (v9b). In this instance "the first" references the sacrificial system of the old covenant and "the second" points to Christ the obedient suffering servant. The first is gone, the second is established. As Scripture speaks to Scripture the picture is clear. The sacrificial system was fleeting and temporary and Christ's arrival made it obsolete. We've spoken before about the Covenant of Redemption and once again we see little glimpses of it in this passage. What is the Covenant of Redemption? It is a covenant made in eternity past between the three persons of the Godhead. The Father chose a people for salvation, the Son promised to come and die for those people and the Spirit would be the one who would turn sinners to Christ. Christ fulfils Psalm 40 and promises not to continue the sacrificial system but instead to do the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father? Jesus said "This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6v39-40) Christ's sacrifice was once and for all and by this sacrifice we have been sanctified (v10). Here is our Gospel hope. We are not required to offer repeated sacrifices which cannot save. The old has gone and the new has come. Christ the obedient suffering servant came to do the will of His Father and it was the will of His Father to crush Him for our sake (Isaiah 53v10). Thanks be to God for the Gospel for by Christ's stripes we have been healed! Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q22 How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
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18th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read - Ezekiel 14:12-23 Message - Alan Burke First Posted 29th July 2022 There are three names mentioned in these verses that I want us to focus on and then think about the reason why they are mentioned. The first Noah, we all grew up learning about Noah every time we see a Rainbow in the sky we think of the promises of God. It all came about because of God’s judgement on the earth because of the wickedness of man but there was one that found favour in the eyes of the Lord and that was Noah. He was a righteous man and blameless among those of his generation (Gen. 6:9), yet the world was not spared because of his presence, the world still faced judgement the flood came. Then we have Job, remember him? Job was a blameless and upright man but this did not mean that his family were spared or his possessions, we learn how he lost everything (Job 1:1-2:10). Finally Daniel, the prophet who had been exiled some time before Ezekiel and by Ezekiel’s time his reputation as a wise and righteous man had spread. He was an example of righteousness in the midst of unrighteousness. Daniel stood against idolatry even in exile. Well these elders had come, “seeking” (v1) the Lord as it suited them as such and the word of the Lord comes once more, it makes the point that nothing will be able to save God’s people because of their past faithlessness. The Lord would stretch out His hand against it, just as He had stretched out His hand against the Egyptians (Ex 3:20), He would stretch his hand against His own people. There are different examples given, first famine in v12, wild beasts v15, sword or war v17, plague v19, all are mentioned in v21 for this is what His people would face at the hand of the Babylonians. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were among them God would not relent in bringing his judgment. Each one of these men were outstanding examples of righteousness, their lives were set apart, they lived for God, but even their presence, the presence of those who love the Lord, godly men and women in a society will not alone deter the deserving judgment that was coming here. This judgment on the people in Ezekiel’s day is coming, the Lord said three times in these closing verses “as surely as I live, as surely as I live, as surely as I live declares the sovereign Lord”. When this is uses in the OT as God lives, as the Lord lives it is used to speak to how the Lord will keep his word, his oath, He will act, unlike the gods of the nations around, the false gods the people worshiped in their idolatry who were thought to die rise or see, the Lord though is not like the false gods, their idols, He is aways watching and working on behalf of his people (Ps 121:3-5; Josh 3:10; 1 Sam 17:26; Jer 1:12; 10:3-16; Dan 6:20-26). Notice in v16, how these men could not save their own sons or daughters, referring to them all but think of Job, then in 18 again it is repeated. It is these men alone that would be saved, not their family, they couldn’t save their offspring. And none of us can save our sons and daughters, our family or friends, none of us can change the heart. We are tasked with training up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov 22:6) but we can all testify to how that hasn’t gone the way we would have wanted. We are reliant on the Lord himself to work in the hearts of our children and those whom we love, that they may have salvation. For parents of young children, pray with them, read with them, bring them to worship and do all you can as they have been engaged to the Lord at baptism as they have had the sign and seal placed upon them that they will trust in Him. Look down to verse 20, for it is the first time that these mens children are mentioned of being saved and it is by their righteousness, it is by a personal faith, it is not by outward appearances it is by a heart that has been transformed, for it is by grace we are saved, through faith—and this is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8). Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q21 Who is the Redeemer of God’ s elect? The only Redeemer of God’ s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Tim. 2:5–6) who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, (John 1:14, Gal. 4:4) and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever. (Rom. 9:5, Luke 1:35, Col. 2:9, Heb. 7:24–25) 17th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 10v1-4) Message (Scott Woodburn) First posted 8th November 2022 I've heard more times than I care to recall that Old Testament believers were saved by their works. Apparently they received the law at Mount Sinai and therefore they were counted as righteous by their ongoing observance of the law. But this is simply not true and is at odds with Biblical testimony and the book of Hebrews. In this chapter the Apostle is clear that the law was but a shadow of the good things to come (v1). Let's be clear that the law is not evil - perish the thought! The law is good, the law is from God and the law is of much use to the Christian. A Christian who says they have no love for the law is no Christian at all. The law shows us our sin and the holiness of God. The law shows us what pleases God and the law acts as a restraint for sin. We call this the threefold use of the law. With that stated please notice that we do not believe that the law can save us or make us perfect (v1). The Old Covenant sacrifices were offered every single year and at no stage made perfect the individual who was drawing near to God. If these sacrifices were able to save and deal with sin then they would have been offered once and only once (v2). Instead they were offered year on year on year and acted as a constant reminder of sin to the worshipper (v3). You see the blood of bulls and goats and the Old Testament sacrifices could not take away sin - that was simply impossible (v4). So how then was a faithful worshipper during the days of the Old Testament actually saved? Their law observance would never be perfect enough and the blood of their sacrifices could not take away sin - so how was anyone made righteous in the sight of God? The Old Testament believer was saved in exactly the same way as you and I - by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. In the time of the Old Covenant the sacrificial system was put in place as an act of grace. The discerning worshipper would offer sacrifices consistently in full understanding that they needed something greater than bull's blood. They needed a sacrifice that was final. Just as you and I look back to Calvary, the faithful in the Old Testament looked forward. We have a much greater revelation than they did. We remind ourselves that our brothers and sisters before Christ could only see Him in the types and the shadows but God was still gracious and moved powerfully by the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit would take the law and break the hard hearts of sinners with their inability and sin. Then He would take them by the hand and lead them in repentance and faith to Christ Jesus. They may not have known His name and in the years before Calvary they had little to no knowledge of our Lord's future humiliation but regardless, individuals during the Old Covenant era came under convition of sin by Word & Spirit and they ran to God in repentance and faith. They were justified, sanctified and glorified. They were saved not by their own works but by the future works of Christ. The Gospel isn't just for Gentiles born after the time of Jesus, instead it is the grand story of redemption from the days immediately after the fall. Paul would put it this way "For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility." (Ephesians 2v14-16) In Christ, Jew and Gentile have been made one, they have been washed clean by the precious blood of Jesus. Regardless if you were born prior to Christ's coming or after Him, you must fall before Him. The blood of bulls and goats cannot save nor can our works - thanks be to God for Jesus. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q20 Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. 16th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read - Ezekiel 14:1-5 Message - Alan Burke First Posted 25th July 2022 The elders of Isreal came to Ezekiel we are told right at the beginning, now this isn’t the same group as ch 8:1 where it had been the elders of Judah. This is significant for the elders in ch 8 are the civic leaders and here in 14 it is the religious leadership. That may seem neither hear nor there but as we look closer here in the passage it matters a great deal. Remember though what was going on back in Jerusalem, there was flagrant idolatry, whereas it wasn’t quite as bad among the exiled community, they were living in a land surrounded by idols but they kept up the appearance of piety, of sincere religious beliefs, of concern, of a desire to seek God’s will and purpose in the midst of the exile, initially it looked like they are waiting on the Lord, yet the reality couldn’t have been anything more different. These elders had likely come presuming that they would receive some kind of encouraging word from the Lord, they were likely coming to be told something nice, something more positive from Ezekiel, after all they are showing up, sure their outward piety counts does it not. The issue is two fold, idols in their hearts and stumbling blocks before their faces. Things were evidently rotten to the core in Jerusalem, and while it may not have been just as evident among the exiles in Babylon the hearts of the people were not God’s, and the Lord says ‘should I let them inquire me at all’? (3). The Lord had called His people to Love Him, their God with all their hearts and with all their soul and with all their strength. (Deut 6:5), but they didn’t, and now they were coming to the Lord to inquire of him, they were coming to God on their terms, when they fancied it, God was their back up, their fall back, he was where they went to really so that it looked good. These people, these elders, were wanting God on their terms, when it suited them, they looked religious, they looked pious, they looked the part but here we are confronted with how none of us know the heart, God saw their hearts. They were not giving the Lord the rightful place in their hearts, it was at best half hearted piety but it was really just a show, yet they still considered themselves ‘God’s people’ it was cultural observance but that was it, these elders looked pious but they were just like those back in Israel. Appearances were deceptive when it came to these elders, I wonder is it the case for us, because it is very easy to get in a rut, we may not be like these elders have idols in our hearts, stumbling blocks before us, but you know life gets in the way and before we tell it we are just going through the motions. If you have repented and believed then salvation is secure but we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, ( Phil 2:12). Don’t be content with a mediocre relationship with the Lord, and remember that our relationship with the Lord isn’t going to be going well when we don’t make a priority of prayer, reading God’s word and worship on the Lord’s day, it’s not going to be in a good place unless we make it a priority. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q19 What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, (Gen. 3:8,10,24) are under his wrath and curse, (Eph. 2:2–3, Gal. 3:10) and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. (Lam. 3:39, Rom. 6:23, Matt. 25:41,46) 15th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 9v23-28) Message (Scott Woodburn) First posted 5th November 2022 The earthly tabernacle was purified by blood but the heavenly place has Jesus and His better sacrifice (v23). The Christian doesn't need to go on a pilgrimage to a so called "holy place" instead we lift our eyes to glory where Jesus is. Christ has entered into the heavenly temple which was made without hands (v24). The earthly tabernacle was designed by God but made by man and gave a little glimpse of heavenly realities (v24b) but Jesus is in the real place where He appears day by day before God on our behalf (v24c). Consider that for a wee moment. As a child of God, by faith in Christ, we have a representative, an advocate and a friend who ever lives to intercede for us. This gives us a blessed assurance that we will not be lost and we will never be forgotten. A little girl at church the other week explained Christ's intercession by saying "Jesus cares for us" She was right, He does. But lets be clear about what Jesus isn't doing. He certainly isn't in heaven offering Himself repeatedly as a sacrifice (v25). The priests of the old covenant entered into the holy places with blood from animals repeatedly (v25b). If Christ had to offer sacrifice repeatedly then He would have been suffering since the foundation of the world (v26). No. This is not the case. Christ's humiliation and suffering has ended. His sacrifice of Himself was once and for all to put away the sin of His people (v26). Do you see the difference in the old sacrifices compared to Christ? How many times did the old covenant priests carry out their service? Hundreds and thousands of times I'm sure and yet not once did they manage to deal conclusively with the problem of sin. But by the shedding of His precious blood, Christ's sacrifice was once and enough. His cry was "It is finished" and He spoke truthfully. So Christ isn't suffering today. He will never again face a cross nor will He stand before another earthly court. Instead Christ has appeared once to put away sin and will appear again to save those who are waiting on Him (v28). The next time this world will see Jesus will be when Christ returns in judgement. It has been appointed for each one of us to die and then on the last day to face the judgement of Jesus (v27). The Christian should have no fear of the final day but nevertheless we still take it seriously and work towards it. These days are wicked and time is short, we should be busy in the work of the Lord longing for the last day when we will be vindicated in the eyes of everyone who has ever lived. On that day we will enter into the promised rest and be with Christ forever. The same cannot be said for the one who rejects Christ. The final day will only bring terror to the unrepentant sinner. On that day there will be no second chances, no opportunity to change Christ's mind and no possibility of a reduced sentence. The one who hates Christ will be lost to hell for eternity. Please understand this today. Once again, if you reject the free offer of the Gospel you will spend eternity in hell alongside the devil and his angels. It isn't a place of joy where you and Satan will party eternity away. It is a place of torment and anguish that will never ever end. Yet no one needs to be lost. The blood of goats and calves cannot save nor can even our very best works. Only the finished work of Christ is sufficient and the one who repents of their sin and puts their faith in Christ will certainly be saved. Christ's work is over and for Him there is no more suffering. Even now He dwells in heavenly glory and will surely answer the call of the one who seeks Him. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q18 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? 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. 14th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read - Ezekiel 13:8-16 Message - Alan Burke First Posted 20th July 2022 There were false prophets in Ezekiel’s day, there are false prophets today, and just as the false prophets in Ezekiel’s day all who claim to be prophets today are ‘prophesying out of their own imagination’ (2). The Lord God almighty has spoken finally through his Son (Heb 1:1-2), He is the fulfilment of God’s revelation so we don’t need anything more. In Ezekiel’s day The judgement that came from the Lord God on these false prophets is truly terrifying and should be a warning for all who claim in anyway to speak for the Lord today. Ezekiel is to speak woe on them, they are lost in their own imagination, fools, they are jackals, they are pretend prophets, and although they claimed to hear the word of the Lord the Lord now speaks to them through the true Prophet Ezekiel and because of their false words and lying visions He, that is the Lord was against them. His hand, the hand of the Lord would be against them. The Lord’s hand is against them and the judgement is on them, they are told that they would not belong to the council of God’s people, or be listed in the record of the house of Israel. The long and short of this is that these false prophets would be cut off from the people of God, there would be no record of them, they would not be part of the people of God. This was total exclusion from the people, from God’s plans and purposes, this was a judgment upon them and though it they would know that the Lord is indeed Lord! This is a truly frightful judgement against these false prophets. These prophets had given the people false hope, they had said peace when it wasn’t to be, they had lied, but the lies wouldn’t protect them, just as the walls would collapse the lies would collapse with the slightest touch, it looked great but it was a nonsense. In effect they had built their house on the sand (Mt 7:24-29), rather than the rock. These prophets had put a veneer on things, whitewashed, they had told them what they wanted to hear. For these prophets they would experience the wrath of God, the Lord would send his wrath against them (v15), the whitewashed all would disintegrated, those who lied and said peace when there was no peace would face the judgement of a holy God. They sugarcoated it, instead of revealing the problem, alerting the people to the issue of their sin they instead told them what they wanted them to hear, they just painted over the cracks. Sadly there are many today who may not have the title of prophet but are more than happy never to address the issue of sin, the need for repentance and belief, to turn to Jesus Christ, instead they send people to hell happy, God calls us to faith and repentance, we should not ignore our sin, we must repent and believe, be a good person, try your hardest wont cut it, only faith in Jesus Christ who died to address that sin will. Also this acts as a warning for everyone today who speaks on the Lord’s behalf, teachers, preachers, then their task is not to prophecy, to give you new words but to teach, preach and proclaim what God has already said. It may be prophetic in the sense it points you to God, the way of God but there will be no new words. We are not to add or takeaway from it, this is why scripture warns not many of you should be teachers my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1). For anyone who claims to have new visions then, new words, then the warning on these false prophets should make them pay attention. Jesus is God’s final and best word as Hebrews reminded us, the place that God speaks from His is word, read and preached, it is His complete revelation. Charles Spurgeon said “God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one.” Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q17 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. (Rom. 5:12) 12th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 9v11-22) Message (Scott Woodburn) First posted 3rd November 2022 During the days of the old covenant the priests would offer sacrifice day after day and year after year. Priests would live and die and more priests would follow. In the wilderness and later in the temple this system continued but as we have already discovered, it could do nothing to help the conscience of the worshipper. The new covenant is the covenant of grace made new in Christ and everything that Christ has ushered in has brought substance to where there was once only shadow. He has entered the heavenly tent which wasn't made by human hands (v11) and He entered that place by His own blood and not that of goats and calves (v12). Christ has secured for us an eternal redemption by His finished work (v12b) which is far superior to the old covenant days. Back then the blood of goats and calves made the people ceremonially clean and they held back the wrath of God for a time. But they needed to be completed again and again, they were temporary and pointed forward to the sacrifice of Christ which would put an end to sin forever. In this we see God's patience and forbearance. Thanks be to God for His mercy and thanks be to God for Christ. His blood has done immeasurably more than the blood of animals could ever do. He has paid the price for our sin and He has purified our conscience from dead works (v14). We are no longer slaves to sin but instead we live to serve Almighty God. Christ is the mediator of the new covenant and this has been established by His death (v16-17). Just as your great-granda made a will that gave all his belongings to his wife after his death, so too has the death of Christ brought great change. The inheritance we have in Christ isn't silver or gold or a bungalow. By His death the old covenant has been put away once and for all and Christ's blood has paid the price for the faithful in every age (v15). When we sing about the power of Christ's blood we should really, really mean it. During the days of the old covenant Moses sprinkled blood on the book, the people, the tent and all the vessels used in worship (v19-21). This was necessary to inaugurate the old covenant and to purify the people as the came before the Lord. But the blood of Christ was shed as a ransom for many and without the shedding of His blood there can be no forgiveness for sin (v22). No wonder we say that Christ has ushered in a new and better covenant than the one made with Moses. No more priests ministering in weakness. No more repeated and repeated and repeated sacrifices that can't deal with sin or calm our conscience. Instead we have Jesus and His completed work. So as the old song goes..."would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood! Power in the blood!" Amen and amen. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression? 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. 11th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read - Ezekiel 13:1-7 Message - Alan Burke First Posted 18th July 2022 I don’t want to be accused of passing on ‘fake news’ because apparently it spreads faster than any other kind of news on social media, but in main I don’t want a Facebook bot to flag my account for sharing some nonsense that I’ve heard recently, that can wait until Sunday morning! Truth we all know is important, yet it seems to be in short supply these days. One of the greatest dangers that we face today is a perversion of the truth. When truth is twisted, when it is perverted then there is real danger, it happens in all regards, but for the church when the truth of the word of God is perverted when it is twisted, it corrupts the church, it ensnares people. This above all else today is the greatest danger to the church and as this passage warns us, when the truth of God is perverted it can lead to individuals being obvious to the need of repentance and the free offer of salvation. This is part of the inditement against these false prophets is that they encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and to save their lives. Ezekiel is tasked to tell the prophets that they were spoofing, talking nonsense. Look what the Lord tells Ezekiel that they were ‘prophesying out of their own imaginations’, they were saying ‘Hear the word of the Lord’. They were claiming to be prophets but they had never heard the word of God, the Lord had not spoken to them. The Lord had not given them visions, He had not came to them to them in a dream, there was none of that. Ezekiel is to tell them what the Lord says, and it is of ‘Woe’. Woe to them, they were foolish, they had followed their own spirits, they had seen nothing. It wasn’t that these prophets were letting their imaginations get away from them it was that they were properly deluded, they were fools. The meaning of the Hebrew word that is here is translated foolish, speaks of an intellectual and moral foolishness, as well as being godless. These people might have been able to talk the talk, their speech their prophecies may have been wonderful, they may have genuinely believed the prophecies they had made themselves but they were fools, intellectually, morally, and they were godless. Whereas Ezekiel was a true prophet. In 2nd Peter we are reminded that “… no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet 1:20–21). Ezekiel was a true prophet, he spoke from God, carried along by the Holy Spirit, these men though were fools and they were jackals. The false prophets they were not there to repair so that the house of Israel could stand firm, they were instead tearing it down, they were by their liars doing damage, their false visions, with their lies and their imagination, human invention it was undermining the wall of the house of Israel (5). They were helping the ruination of the people, they were delusional. Delusional is a good word for them, they might have believed what they were saying but they were delusional. They were saying the Lord declares but he had not spoken, they were giving the people false hope. You know we are in such a privileged position, yes false teachers continue on today, but we are in a privileged position because as we are told from the word of God itself that… “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world”. (Heb 1:1-2), That is until the fulfilment of God’s revelation, His Last and Best Word, is Spoken in His Son. Though Christ Jesus the process of revelation is done, completed, finished, For God’s continuing disclosure of Himself is ultimately expressed in the revelation though his Son, never to be added to. Nothing more is needed, no new books, no new revelation, no new prophetic words. Today we have the complete revelation of God, nothing more is needed, no new books, no new revelation. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC 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 thy were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit. (Gen. 3:6) 10th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 8v8-13) Message (Scott Woodburn) First posted 29th October 2022 What was the purpose of the old covenant? As the ten commandments were delivered to the people at Mount Sinai they served a threefold purpose. Firstly, the commandments of God showed the Israelites their sin and misery and pointed them to their need of Christ. Secondly, the commandments educated the Israelites as to what everyday life was to be like in Israel - they were to love God and their neighbour. Finally, the commandments served as a summary of God's moral law which was in force then as it is now - the law shows us what God is like and what pleases Him. The old covenant was not another path to salvation. Instead anyone saved in the days of Moses was saved under the terms of the covenant of grace - by grace alone, faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore we can say that the old covenant was an administration of the covenant of grace. It was put it place for the nation of Israel but it was always temporary and would be revoked at the coming of Christ. Grace was still required during the days of the old covenant because no one was able to please God with their perfect obedience (v8). The Lord finds fault in anyone who strives to save themselves by law observance. Instead we all need a new and better covenant than the one that God enacted at Mount Sinai. As chapter eight closes the Apostle reminds us that the better covenant is the new covenant. Remember that the new covenant isn't brand new. It doesn't start in the New Testament. Instead we correctly say that the new covenant is the covenant of grace fulfilled by Christ. There is continuity in the Scriptures - there is one Gospel, one Saviour and one Covenant of grace which is administered from Genesis to Revelation. This is the covenant that we read about in Jeremiah 31v31-34 which is quoted in today's passage. The new covenant is the covenant of grace fulfilled in Christ and under the terms of that covenant the Lord promises that the law will be written on hearts and not tablets of stone (v10). God states in wonderfully covenantal language that He will be our God and we will be His people (v10b). We will know God personally as He turns our hearts to Him (v11). He will no longer find fault but He will show us mercy and remember our sins no more (v12). These promises are greater than those of the old covenant and with the arrival of the new covenant the old is made obsolete (v13). Those wishing to go back to the days of Moses had failed to see the gloriousness of Christ. During the days of Moses and the old covenant, Jesus could be seen in type and in shadow. But when He came in the flesh the fulfilment and the substance arrived. Wanting to swap the substance for the shadow was and is madness. Brothers and sisters, rejoice today in the covenant of grace. It was proclaimed in Genesis, promised to Abraham and made new in Christ. By this wonderful covenant even the vilest sinner can be saved. It doesn't call us to work our way into heaven, instead it declares "Jesus saves!" and praise God for He really, really does. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q14 What is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. 9th August 2023
Pray (ACts) Read - Ezekiel 11:14-25 Message - Alan Burke First Posted 8th July 2022 The departure of the Glory of God from the city of Jerusalem is here detailed (22-25), how the Lord on His throne chariot is carried by the cherubim. It leaves the city and moves east across the Kidron valley to the mount of olives, then it moves outside the city limits to the far off distance, taking Ezekiel back to the exiles. This is the departure of God from His dwelling place. With the vision over, the verdict was in, God had departed, judgment was coming, the Lord is indeed the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love (Ps103:8), He had been long-suffering with His people, they were disobedient, they were rebellious, the Lord for years had called them through His prophets to repentance but they were despondent, they did not listen, and now the sign of His presence had left. But in the midst of this striking scene that portrayed God’s judgement as His Glory departed there was a great and glorious hope of what the Lord would indeed do. Yes He would bring His Judgment on this rebellious people but through the remnant God’s purposes would be fulfilled. They would be the ones God would use, they were His remnant, yes some would survive in Isreal even with the coming judgement of the Babylonians but God was reversing the fortunes of those who were facing death in exile, they would be those who would be redeemed, brought back, given life. Whereas those who were in Isreal who thought they had life, who thought they were safe, they would face death. Although the sanctuary had been the temple in Jerusalem, for those who were exiled God Himself was their sanctuary (16). This prophecy that came to Ezekiel in time was fulfilled, God kept his promises, Judgement came and those who had been scattered in the exile returned. The Lord was making it clear to His people how on day, a future day they would return, those who had gone out would come back for his purposes. Not only would there be a physical return to the land there was also be a spiritual return to the Lord God, there would be revival among them. As His remnant returned, as the exiles came back they removed the “vile images” and “detestable idols,” that they found. Even though those in Isreal had faced the judgement of God for their false religion they continued on in it until the exiles returned. For God put a new spirit in them, He would and did remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. It turned out to be the exiles who, who after living in pagan lands for so long came back desiring the things of God, they had been taken and seen that the grass on the other side was far from green and they longed for the things of God. Notice though that for those who remained in the land, there is no such promise of hope. God was working out His purposes and for those who had all the vestiges of religion, in the promised land, in God’s holy city, with His dwelling place in their midst instead received the judgement that they fully deserved. This is so important that we understand, because here we might have all the vestiges of religion but unless we have a new heart those things mean nothing, what we need is a new heart! when we have repented and believed God has given us a new heart and there is hope even when things look bleak we must remember that God is working out His purposes, as we repent and believe we are God’s people, He is our God and when this life ends, as we have a great and glorious hope that we will dwell in His presence forever. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC 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. (Gen. 3:6–8,13, Eccl. 7:29) |
Alan
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