30th September 


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 10:11-17


Message Alan Burke


I want to tell you a story, some of you have likely heard this. For a while I had an amplifier that wasn’t working the way it should, it just sat there, I had intended to get the multimeter out and start trying to figure out what was wrong but there was the time aspect and the reality I knew that it was beyond me, I wasn’t going to be able to fix it so it just sat there. A friend called at the house, and in conversation the amplifier came up, he told me about this guy who he knew could fix my amplifier. So what did I do, leave it on the shelf, not working, making me feel wanting because I hadn’t fixed it and didn’t think I could, no I took it to the guy because I believed that he could fix it. I dropped it off in Carrickfergus in the morning and before I got home the phone went to say it was fixed. 


But before I could believe that the guy could fix my amp, I had to hear about him! Question time, how can people believe the gospel if they have not heard it?


Turn with me to the book of Romans 10:11-17. Paul after just having argued v11-12 that salvation is for both the Jew and the Gentile, he then in v 13 quotes from Joel 2:32, “for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”. Everyone, it doesn’t matter what baggage you have if you call on the name of the Lord you will be saved. Then look what he says, or rather the questions that he asks in v14 “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?“


How can they, how can they , how can they! It is repeated three time here in this verse, how can they!?


Think about what Paul is saying here. For the logic here of Paul is simple, how can they call on Jesus if they have not believed him? And how can they believe him if they haven’t heard of him? That is what Paul is saying, in order for you to believe in Jesus you need to hear about him, it’s obvious, after all how can you believe if you haven’t heard about him and the third question, how can they hear without someone, what are we told, someone preaching to them! No one can call upon the name of a person whom they do not know, no one can call on Christ if they have not been told. 


Preaching is the means by which God has ordained that the gospel would be taken out, for we cannot believe unless we hear and how can we hear unless someone preaches the word. It is what Jesus instructed His disciples to do. It doesn’t guarantee the results we may want, it is dependant on the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of individuals. Preaching is the means by which sinners are brought to salvation, and it is not only for unbelievers, it is the means by which God helps his people to grow, to trust, to enable them to live for Him. For us we should all delight in the Lord’s day, The Lord has given us 52 Holy Days a year, 1 in 7, where we are to gather together under a regular diet of the word of God and we are to do the same thing week in week out. 1 Peter 2:2-3 tells us… 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 


Have you ever met a new born baby, that’s a stupid question, we all have, babies to like 4 things, they fill nappies, they cry, they sleep (well some times), and they crave milk, they want to be fed. The Lord through Peter is telling us, we like newborn babies are to crave pure spiritual milk, crave it, they want that feed and if they don’t get it they are going to make sure you know. What happens if a baby doesn’t crave milk, well they get sick, they get malnourished, they grow week. We are to crave the word of God, want it just like a baby craves milk, just as the milk provides nourishment for the baby so God’s word provides nourishment for us. If you don’t want the word, if you’re not looking for more of it, then you’re going to get sick, malnourished, become week and you need to ask why do you not want it, because you should want more and more of His word, read and especially preached!


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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​Q66 What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?The reason annexed to the fifth commandment, is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’ s glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment. (Deut. 5:16, Eph. 6:2–3)
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29th September 


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 4.1-13)


Message Scott Woodburn


In the Old Testament the people of God were supposed to enter the promised land where they would find rest in the Lord. With the benefit of hindsight we know that it didn't work out that way. The generation that left Egypt rebelled in the wilderness and failed to enter the land of promise. Eventually a new generation would enter the land but their time there was up and down with the kingdom of Israel and then Judah eventually being overrun by foreign nations.


But the promise of entering God's rest still stands (v1) with the entry into the land of Judah giving us a little glimpse of the greater rest to come. The one who believes the Gospel will one day enter into eternal rest with the Lord and His people. To have a share in this eternal rest you simply must have faith in Christ. What is faith? Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q86)


The Gospel has come to us, just as it came to the Israelites in the wilderness (v2) but the Gospel was of no benefit to the grumblers who had come out of Egypt for they did not have faith. Yet, to all who believe in the name of Christ they already enjoy a Sabbath rest (v8) which is a little foretaste of what is to come.


The Jewish Sabbath was a Saturday and was a day that was supposed to be free from work and the regular chores of life. Unfortunately many saw it as an opportunity for legalism. They were experts in what shouldn’t be done on the Sabbath and they delighted in pointing out the failures of others in this regard. The Lord Jesus reminds us that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2v27-28)


Christ’s point was that the Sabbath day was not a day for legalistic righteousness but instead a day that is a blessing from the Lord. It is a day for putting all trivial things to one side and focusing instead on the worship of our Lord. Today there remains a Sabbath rest for God’s people (v8) as we meet each Lord’s Day. The Christian Sabbath is the first day of the week called Sunday - the day on which Christ stood again upon the earth.


But there is a greater Sabbath to come. When we meet as Christians on the Lord’s Day we should see it as a little glimpse of heaven. By faith we can enjoy the one day in seven which we call Sunday but by the same faith we also look to the day that we enter the eternal rest promised by God. The rebellious Israelites who complained in the wilderness did not get to set foot in the promised land but by faith we will live in the heavenly city where righteousness dwells.


The Lord Himself has promised these things. He created all things in six days and He rested on the seventh. This doesn’t mean that God is fast asleep, instead God’s rest is symbolic of His rule and reign. Today if you hear His voice remember that His Word “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (v12-13)


So may we not choose the path of rebellion like the Israelites in the wilderness. Instead may we put our faith in Christ trusting fully in the promises of God. May we rejoice each Lord’s Day as we take our place in the church of Christ and may we push on, longing to enter the eternal rest of God (v11).


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q65 What is forbidden in the fifth commandment? The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to every one in their several places and relations.

28th September 


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — 2 Timothy 3:14-17


Message Alan Burke


On Monday we thought about General Revelation, that how all of us are without excuse, for creation reveals that there is a God. It is a simple truth but one that we often overlook. Yet creation in itself is not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation, for that we need the word of God which is God’s ‘Special Revelation’ to us. It is the means that God makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us, it is His revealed will to us, for in the word of God it communicates to us the need of a saviour, the coming of that saviour, the death of that saviour for us, and the resurrection of that saviour so that we might indeed know that salvation though Jesus Christ our Lord.


We thank God that he did not leave us without his Special revelation, for He has given us His word, contained in “the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him”. Now I’ve taken that as some of you will be able to guess from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q2, and on one level it sounds simple enough, God’s given us His word to teach us how to live to His glory, to get the best out of life, as our guide to life, just as a map and a compass guide a sailor or a torch shows us the way when it is dark, so God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths (Ps 119:105). 


It may sound simple but if we are willing to admit it, the likelihood is we struggle with this because the word of God is to be our ‘rule’. We don’t like restraints on our freedoms, we like to have the ability to choose how we want to live with out anyone telling us what is right or wrong, and as a society, perversely we seem to laud people who “colour outside the lines”, rule breakers, rebels. When children learn to speak it seems that one of the first words that they learn is “no”, we from a very young age like to be autonomous, we want to do what we want to do and hate being told otherwise. Rules abound in modern life, precisely because people tend to break them and God has given us a “rule” to govern how we are to glorify and enjoy Him because we can’t do it by ourselves.


Paul writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14-17 speaks of ‘The Adequacy of scripture’ He wanted to make clear to Timothy that this scripture, the word of God was all that he needed in the work of Christ, was all that he needed to live for Him, was all that he needed as he ministered to others, Paul wanted Timothy to be careful not to stray from it like other had done, more than that he wanted him to know it love it, take confidence in it. Ultimately the scriptures are relevant and supremely useful because their are in their entirety God’s word. The idea conveyed in verse 16 that scripture is breathed out by God, literally in greek means God-breathed. It means that the words of scripture are the very words of God, the prophets and apostles were not inherently infallible human beings (Gal 2:11-13) however when God used them to communicate his revelation they spoke as they were carried along but the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). 


If we want to as a people bring glory to God, if we want to be a light to the people in Crossgar, Ballynahinch, Larne or wherever else you’re reading this from, then we need to take his word seriously. It is necessary for us to have an objective standard by which we may pattern our lives on. That is the Word of God, it is the rule that God has given us, His Special revelation to us, it must be the supreme authority in our lives. If we place something else above the Word of God, whether it is conscience or tradition or the church, then we will tend to use that authority to interpret the Word of God in many facets of our lives, we will make the bible fit what we want it to say. Remember that the heart is deceitful (Jer 19:9) the human heart does not like rules, but human beings need them to keep from driving off a cliff of temporal and eternal destruction. Rules are essential “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Tim 3:16), to keep us pointed in the right direction.


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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​Q64 What is required in the fifth commandment?
The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, (Eph. 5:21) inferiors, (1 Pet. 2:17) or equals. (Rom. 12:10)
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27th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 3v7-19)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The Old Testament is not a random collection of fantastic stories useful only for Sunday school colouring-in pages. The Old Testament is the story of the church of Christ from the beginning of time to the four hundred years of silence between Malachi and the Gospels. Paul tells us elsewhere that the events of the Old Testament "took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did." (1 Corinthians 10v6)


So in light of the Apostle telling us that we are to constantly consider Jesus, in these verses he warns us to be on guard against a hardening of our heart. To give this warning, the Apostle quotes from Psalm 95 which tells the story of the rebellion in the wilderness. The Lord had brought His people out of Egypt but instead of praise they responded with contempt. They grumbled against God. They complained about the wilderness. They moaned about the food that the Lord had provided. They even suggested that slavery in Egypt would be better than freedom under God.


In response the Lord swore in His righteous angry that "they shall not enter my rest." (v11). Indeed that same generation would not set foot in the land of promise and even their leader Moses would only gaze towards the land of Judah. What should we make of this example? Paul sees it as a warning to guard against evil and unbelieving hearts which will cause us to fall away from God (v12).


Now, let's be clear, the true believer can never slip from Christ's fingers. Their sins have been paid for and their justification will not be removed. Nevertheless we are to watch our hearts and pay attention to the condition of our soul. We are to exhort one another in this manner each and every day (v13).  When was the last time you asked a fellow Christian "How is your soul?" When was the last time a fellow Christian asked you "Have you repented today?"


These conversations might be hard to imagine but we would do well to start having them. What is the danger? Sinful, hard, grumbling, ungrateful hearts are a sign of a sick soul in need of Gospel medicine. The Israelites in the wilderness forgot how God had saved them and their deceitful hearts led to them falling in the wilderness (v17). They did not enter the land of promise due to their unbelief (v19).


So my brothers and sisters I urge you to respond to this devotion by evaluating the condition of your soul. Are you dwelling in unconfessed sin? Is your heart hard and unforgiving towards a fellow Christian? Are you bored with the things of God? Is your heart grateful or is it marked by arrogance? Only you can answer these questions truthfully. But if you see any warning signs then I urge you to flee to Christ and drink deeply from the well of truth.


The Christian life is marked by an assurance of our salvation through faith in Christ but it should also be a watchful life. Our enemy is like a lion looking for someone to devour and so fellow Christian I urge you to walk with wisdom in the wilderness of this world. Keep a good watch on yourself and hold your original confidence firm to the end. “Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”


Help us Lord Jesus we pray! Amen.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q63 Which is the fifth commandment? The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
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26th September 


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:18-20


Message Alan Burke


This coming Lord’s Day Hiram is coming to lead worship in Lissara, as he does he will be preaching the next passage in our study of Romans which is 1:18-20. I do not know at this stage what he is going to say, I’m no mind reader even though like most ministers I’m expected to know when someone is in hospital even though the family wouldn’t think of telling me but I can safely guess what Hiram is going to say and it is this; every single part of creation testifies that there is a God, so that no one can complain that God has left insufficient evidence of his existence and character. This is known as general revelation and through general revelation to all men, God communicates His existence, His power, and His glory, so that we are left without excuse. “For the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Ps 19:1-2). 


Creation reveals that there is a God, it has been made plain, so that all are “without excuse”. We tend to forget this truth and therefore the culpability that rests on all, yet the teaching of scripture is clear that every man, women, child that has ever lived has been confronted with the truth of God in creation. The perverseness of the sinful human heart is that we try to make excuses, “I’d believe in God, if” there could be of course a myriad of different responses to that but for many they give excuses like “if they could see” or “if hear God”, “if they could prove the reality of God”, but the reality for all is that there is not one who has an excuse. Instead the problem is that we by our sinful nature reject God’s general revelation, we reject the truth of God that is made plain. Our unsaved neighbours, friends, family members are without excuse, they suppress the truth of God and if it was not for the merciful work of God within us by the Holy Spirit then we likewise would do the same. 


There is one other thing I want to draw out for us and that is in verse 18, I’m sure Hiram will give a much better explanation but here we are told how  ”..the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth”. In scripture it speaks of the final and great day of wrath that is coming when the Lord will judge the living and the dead and we will either face the lake of fire or the new heavens and the new earth, but how is God’s wrath being revealed from heaven right now? Well it is an anticipatory wrath, as the Lord turns people over to their sin and this is something we will think of in a few weeks time in more detail but ultimately it is this, God gives people over to what their sinful heart desires and they face the consequences of that. 


A couple of things; General revelation in creation is not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation. General revelation does not reveal Jesus Christ or His work of redemption for sinners. We are dependant on the grace of God to work in us and our neighbours, friends and family through God’s special revelation, His word. It is the Word of God that is His Special revelation, through it the way of salvation has been made known, in His Special revelation that is the word of God, we have been given everything we need to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him, for from Genesis to Revelation, from “In the beginning” (Gen 1:1), to “Amen” (Rev 22:21) it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). 


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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Q58 What is required in the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself. (Deut. 5:12–14)
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24th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 3.1-6)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


In the previous chapter the Apostle made it abundantly clear that Christ was greater than the angels and yet for a little while He was made lower than the heavenly host. Jesus became like us in every way but was without sin. He suffered and was tempted and tried but His sacrifice was complete and has delivered the faithful from the slavery of death. Jesus Christ is our great high priest.


As we remember this, Paul adds another "therefore" (v1). The point being that in light of everything we have heard we are to respond by constantly considering Christ (v1b). We share in a heavenly calling and so we are to think upon Jesus who is both the apostle and high priest of our confession. What does this mean? Apostle means "sent one" and so Christ is the true Apostle who was sent by God to redeem a fallen people. Jesus is also our high priest and as we have already discovered, He made the sacrifice that has paid for the sin of His bride the church. When we speak about "our confession" we are describing that which we believe. Christ is the sent one and high priest of our confession. He has revealed to us the Gospel by which we are saved. He is the content of the Gospel by His most excellent sacrifice. We confess our belief in the Gospel and we confess our certainty that Jesus is the Christ.


Therefore we are to consider Jesus frequently. We do not move on from Christ and we will never master Him. When we are tempted and tried we are to consider Jesus and His faithfulness to God (v2). Just as Jesus is greater than the prophets and the angels, He is also greater than Moses. Christians coming from a Jewish background would have been well aware of Moses and would certainly have held him in the highest regard. He was unquestionably a man of faith and acted faithfully in God's service (v2).


Nevertheless, Christ is the greater Moses and counted worthy of more glory than the Old Testament leader (v3). To underline his point, the Apostle encourages us to imagine a house. When a house is built we walk around it and marvel at its beauty, but no house ever built itself. The house might be honoured by those who appreciate it, but the builder of the house deserves more honour still. He was the one who designed the house and shaped it by the sweat of his brow. God is ultimately the builder of all things and God is the builder of His house the church (v4).


In the house of God, Moses was a good and faithful servant who spoke about the things that were to come (v5). But Christ is worthy of the greater honour because He serves God's house as a Son (v6). The Apostle's language is interesting - Mose WAS faithful IN God's house, Christ IS faithful OVER God's house. Moses needed to be saved by the coming Christ and now the ministry of Moses is over. Christ came not to be saved but to save and His ministry over the church continues.


Jesus is greater than the prophets, angels and even Moses. We are His house and therefore we are to remain confident in Christ and boastful of our hope (v6). This isn't sinful, arrogant boasting but instead we rejoice in our hope and we speak of it frequently.


My brothers and sisters the Christian doesn't need to pretend that everything is okay. The Lord does not require us to put on a brave face or a stiff upper lip. If you know trouble, doubt and fear then there are two words which should be like honey to your soul...consider Jesus.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q61 What is forbidden in the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.
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23rd September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:16-17


Message Alan Burke


There are many things in our lives that we can be ashamed of, that past sin, things that we have done and said, what about the gospel itself? Today the prevailing portrayal of those who believe the gospel is that they are odd balls, ignorant people, fools, and the gospel itself is that it is backward, it has no place in 21st century Britain unless it affirms the sinful narrative of the age. We could list examples but the general view of the gospel today is not positive. In reality not much has changed since Paul’s day, for the gospel itself was foolishness to the culture around him, yet he was not ashamed, he saw it as the wisdom of God, he was not embarrassed by it, (1 Cor. 1:22–25, 30). 


Paul wasn’t ashamed and the reason was because it was the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. It was this that Paul knew, he knew that the gospel, is the power of God for salvation. None of us contribute anything of our own to that salvation except for the sin that made that salvation necessary. Knowing this, led Paul to go out, preaching the gospel at every opportunity, he went to the synagogue, he went to the streets, he fervently desired no matter how he was viewed that people hear the good news of salvation. 


I wonder are we ashamed of the gospel, embarrassed by it, because of its demands in our lives, its moral absolutes? Maybe we like the idea of Jesus who died for for our salvation, but when it speaks of how we should live, when it confronts us with sin, when it speaks against the way that those whom we love live, when it goes against the prevailing mind of the culture, are we ashamed or even embarrassed by it? Jesus warned us that if we are ashamed of Him before men, He will be ashamed of us before His Father (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26).


The gospel will bring conflict, it will bring opposition, it will cause division, but it the only way onto salvation, it is the truth we must hear for it is the only way to salvation and people dismiss it, they view it as foolish and they hate it because it confronts their sin and need of a saviour. But it is the only way of salvation, and God has promised that His word will not return void, (Is 55:11), it is the foolishness of preaching that God has chosen to save the world, not the eloquence of the preacher, or the attractiveness of the message and Paul knew it. And we should never be tired of hearing the gospel for it is the power of God, if we have no appetite for food then we know that something is wrong, and when we have no appetite for spiritual food then something is wrong. For in this gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, that is the righteous live by faith.


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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Q56 How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, (Exod. 20:8,10, Exod. 16:25–28) even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; (Neh. 13:15–19) and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’ s worship, (Luke 4:16, Acts 20:7, Ps. 92, Isa. 66:23) except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. (Matt. 12:1–31)
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22nd September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 2.17-18)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


It is remarkable when we consider the earthly life of Christ. He wasn't a little bit human and a little bit God. His humanity didn't convert His divinity and equally His divinity didn't convert His humanity. He was and is true God, true man but always without sin. Think on this for a wee second...there was a date in history that Jesus took His first steps, there was another moment that He would have been weaned off His mother's milk and on another occasion Jesus started working alongside His earthy father Joseph.


Christ was made like us in every respect. But why? Surely it was possible for Jesus to come as a fully grown man and go immediately to the cross? Why did He need to spend over thirty years here on earth? Why did He become the eldest son and big brother of an earthly family? Why did He have to become a subject of the Roman empire? Why did he attend weddings and funerals? Why a physical body and an awful death? What was it all for?


The Apostle explains that Christ was made like us in every respect so that He might become our faithful high priest in God's service (v17). As the church worshipped in the Old Testament they did so by way of sacrifice and priesthood. But this system was temporary until the arrival of Christ. At Calvary, Christ showed Himself as our priest and our sacrifice. He went to the place of the skull where He Himself laid down His life as a ransom for many. The Temple is no more because Christ is the true temple. Sacrifices are no more because Christ's sacrifice was sufficient. The priesthood is no more because Jesus is the true priest.


On the cross Jesus made "propitiation" for His people's sins. That's a difficult word to say but it's an important word to learn. When we speak of "propitiation" we talk of Christ's sacrifice being one that turns away the wrath of God. Let me say that again...Christ's sacrifice turned away the wrath of God. If you think of the wildest of storms with rain, thunder and lightning beating down upon your house, you still won't grasp the furious anger of God towards sin.


Sinners caught in the storm of God's wrath will surely perish. Just as you could do with an umbrella on a rainy day, so too do we need something to protect us from God's anger. Christ fulfils this great need. The wrath of God is furious indeed but those who trust in Christ will find that He faced the anger of God so that we never will. Jesus became sin for our sake. He is our propitiation - His sacrifice turns away the anger of God.


Jesus was made like us in every respect so that He might become our faithful high priest. Christ who was truly human and knew all the struggles of humanity made propitiation for our sins.


We would do well to remember this truth and we would do well to remember that the cross wasn't "easy" for Jesus. We incorrectly think that because Jesus was true God and true man then perhaps the nails didn't really hurt and the agony wasn't really that bad. May God forgive us. Christ's suffering is beyond our imagination. He suffered. He was tempted. He was crushed. Yet He did not sin and He did not fail.


Today if you are being tempted and today if you know suffering then there really is only One who can help. Christ was made like you in every respect and today as your great high priest He is able to help you in your temptation (v18). Lift your eyes to Him dear child of God, He faced God's wrath so you don't have to, lift your eyes to Him.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q59 Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath? From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
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21st September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:13-15


Message Alan Burke


Paul prayed desiring to be with the believers in Rome, those whose faith was being talked about, he prayed that by God’s will a way would be opened. Paul’s prayer was God-honouring, he was content to stay where he was but he continued to pray, asking, seeking, knocking, he did not know God’s will but he prayed knowing that the Father may not grant his request. God always answers, although His timing and sometimes in ways that He answers are not what we do expect or had wanted or imaged. Little did Paul know that the Lord did will him to God to Rome it, but it would be that Paul would journey to Rome as a prisoner to share the gospel. It was God who had kept him thus far from going to Rome, he had been prevented, regular responsibilities as well as the Spirit’s work had kept him from going. 


We also learn something of the makeup of the church in Rome, for Paul desired that there would be a harvest among them, that there would be fruit just as there had been among other gentiles that he had been with. We learn that the Roman church was primarily gentiles, there were likely a few jewish converts mixed in but Jewish Christians had been removed from Rome by the Emperor Claudius a short time before this epistle was written.


And Paul says in the midst of this that he is bound to both Greeks and non Greeks. The word translated in the NIV and ESV as obligated, more literally means debtor as some translations rightly point out. The meaning that is being conveyed by Paul is not that he is obligated or indebted to Greeks and non Greeks because he owes them anything as such, but his indebtedness, his obligation is to God and a burden, a desire that Greeks and non Greeks might know the gospel of God, that they would know His Son. It is a debt that he owes not to the people themselves but to God and to Christ, and it is seen in how he wants to discharge that obligation that they might hear the gospel. This is Paul’s fervent desire, this is his purpose in life, to preach the gospel, to tell of the wonderful salvation that had come to him and proclaimed it to others. 


Later in 1 Corinthians Paul exclaimed “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16). His desire was that he would be able to share the gospel of God because of what God had done for him in Christ Jesus, how he had been saved from his sin and made righteous by another. Paul had every reason to boast in the flesh, he was a true Israelite, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, he persecuted the church, but all of what he once was he put aside so that he may proclaim Christ, preaching the gospel of what he had done, for what ever he had he counted it loss for the compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord (paraphrasing Phil 3:4–8.)


What is our motivation, Christ had called Paul to himself and now Paul lived for Christ, he was a servant of Christ, as verse one puts it or rather Slave of Christ. What is our desire, for our neighbours, friends, loved ones, similarly we who’ll be those who know the debt that we owe, and out of gratitude, counting all things loss, we should desire to make the name of Christ known, sharing the good news, Paul was under no obligation, but he desired people may know the salvation he received, the knowledge of sins forgiven, of how he was saved from a lost eternity, do we desire that for others? 


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


WSC  
Q58 What is required in the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself. (Deut. 5:12–14)
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20th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 2.14-18)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


A remarkable Christian truth is that God is glorious above all things and yet at one moment in history God the Son stepped into creation and took on flesh. We consider this at Christmas but truthfully it deserves our attention every single day. Christ is eternal, He always has been and always will be. All things were made through Him and for Him but He still He grew in a virgin’s womb and became like us in every way, yet without sin.


This was absolutely necessary because Christ’s church consists of sinful but redeemed humans. Just as you and I have blood pumping around our bodies and oxygen in our lungs, so too did Jesus take on the same things (v14). Indeed, even now, Christ continues in flesh and blood and the God man stands at the right hand of God. We should be humbled by this because in order for sinful humanity to be saved we needed a perfect human representative to pay the price for us.


Only Jesus could do it for only Jesus is true God, true man and without sin. Christ’s life was perfectly obedient. At no point did He sin, but at every point He kept God’s law perfectly and even when He received the punishment for sinners, He faced it willingly. The perfect man, our glorious representative died at Calvary and has categorically defeated death. 


Satan on the other hand is the enemy of humanity. Some fools worship him by name whilst others unknowingly serve him. Bob Dylan had it right when he sang “You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed. You’re gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord. But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” We either serve the Lord or we serve Satan, there is no in-between.


Since the fall humanity has been in the grip of sin and death meaning that everyone who has ever been born has also died. We have wept in graveyards, we have worried about our health, we have done our best to avoid Covid and all because death is the enemy of humanity and we try to flee from it. Satan understands this and wishes to keep as many as possible in spiritual darkness.


But Christ's work has robbed death of it's sting. Christ called Satan "the strongman" but Christ was stronger by far. Satan has been bound and although he continues to rage, Christ has set his people free. Christians no longer need to fear death, we are no longer slaves to sin, Christ has delivered us (v15).


By taking on flesh and completing His work, Jesus has helped not the angels but "the offspring of Abraham" (v16). If we belong to Jesus then by extension we also belong to Abraham. We are his spiritual descendants by faith and it is as Paul writes "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3v29)


My friends, today may be incredibly hard and there may be difficult days still to come but we would do well to daily contemplate the result of Christ's work. He became like us to help us and to destroy the works of the devil and sin. As a result, by faith in Christ, we are truly free. Death will still come but for the child of God it is followed by glory. Thanks be to God!


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q57 Which is the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.
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