19th September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:8-12


Message Alan Burke


How many of us like it when we know that we are being talked about, when our name is making its way around the countryside, village or town? I’d suggest that there wouldn’t be many of us who would be pleased especially if what is being said isn’t true or malicious. But what about if what was said was positive? The believers in Rome were being talked about for their faith, and as I read this I was taken aback because of the sheer reach of that news of the faith of the believers in Rome. Bear in mind that as Paul writes to the believers in Rome he himself is some one thousand kilometres away, some six hundred odd miles away, he was in Corinth which is near modern day Athens in Greece. These were the days before instant communication, even the Royal Mail when they are on strike get things to you quicker than things would have got to Paul in his day, no such thing as next day delivery guaranteed, news was going to take an age to get to you. 


Notice the reason why Paul is filled with thanksgiving to God, the reason of his gratitude, it is not because they are doing well in this life, they have just got a second home, a new electric car, it isn’t because of their social economic status, it is because of the work of God’s grace in their lives. Hearing the reports of their faith, the life and believers in Rome, it was this that was the reason that Paul wrote to the church in Rome. As a resultPaul thank’s God for them, through Jesus Christ, even in his prayers, Paul knows and understands that the only way to come to God is through Jesus Christ the Lord, it is the only way that any of us can, we come to the Lord God is through Jesus (Col. 3:17; Heb. 13:15).


Think of the wonder of this, for this is a glorious reason, it is wonderful, Paul some one thousand kilometres away, some six hundred odd miles away is hearing about their faith, the faith of these believers in Rome was being reported. That is the wonder of the work of God in the lives of these individuals and Paul is expressing his joy to the Lord for working in their lives, how their faith is being talked about throughout the mediterranean world, their faith was making an impact even in far off places. 


For the believers in Rome, their faith that was talked about, for that Christian at work who’s faith was talked about because they live it, it should be a challenge to us. We need to grasp that faith does not mean just believing something, you know having the head knowledge, no it should be seen in the obedience of faith, the character of faith in our lives, in how we believe it and we live it out, it was this that was true of the Roman Christians and it was true of that women in the workplace. 


So here is the thing, what could be said about us, are we those whom our faith is seen in the obedience of faith, in the character of faith in our lives, in how we believe and how that is lived out? My earnest hope is that even though people may not agree with us theologically, they may wonder why we believe what we believe, that they may even dislike or detest what we believe because of the prevailing view of culture that surrounds us, my hope is that they can see our faith, a faith that is seen in obedience, in the character of faith in our lives, in how we believe and how that is lived out.


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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Q56 What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
The reason annexed to the third commandment is, That however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment. (1 Sam. 2:12,17,22,29, 1 Sam. 3:13, Deut. 28:58–59)
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17th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 2.5-13)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


As we have already seen, angels are God's servants sent out for the sake of Christ's church. They are mighty and glorious beings who were present at and involved in the delivering of God's law. Indeed the Lord has even given the angels some authority over this present world. In Deuteronomy 32v8 we read "When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God." In this verse the angels are described as "the sons of God" and it would appear that they have some role to play in God's providential governing of the nations.


Angels are truly majestic creatures and yet Christ is superior to them. With that stated we must remember that in the humiliation of Christ He was for a little while made lower than the angels. The Apostle quotes from Psalm 8v4-5 “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under his feet.”


Jesus took on flesh and became like us in every way, yet without sin. For a little while He left His heavenly home and walked among us. He had to learn how to speak and walk. He attended funerals and weddings. He had brothers and sisters with whom He grew up. He learned a trade and willingly submitted to His earthly parents and earthly authorities. He was made lower than the angels for a time but by His death, resurrection and ascension He has been crowned with glory and honour and everything is in subjection under His feet.


What does this "subjection" look like? The Apostle explains that Christ is the King and nothing is outside His control (v8). We believe this to be true and although we don't yet see everything in subjection to Him (v8b) we do see Christ (v9). He was humiliated and exalted and because of His suffering and death, He has put an end to death for His followers (v9). In the age to come, the world, the universe and everyone in it will be under the glorious rule and reign of Christ Jesus. In that day there will no more sin or death. All wickedness and evil will be put away and Christ will walk with His people in a kingdom where righteousness dwells. If the angels are involved in this present age, the world to come will not be subject to them, only to Christ (v5).


Christ is the only One who deserves this lofty position. His exaltation is fitting and the subjection of all things is deserved because Jesus is the One who made all things and who owns all things (v10). He is the One who has brought many sons and daughters to glory by the merit of His suffering and death (v10b).


Jesus is the only begotten Son of God sent by the Father to redeem and sanctify a multitude. That multitude have been chosen by the Father from before the foundation of the world. Therefore the sanctifier (Christ) and those sanctified (the Church) have the one source (God the Father) and so Jesus is not ashamed to call Christians His brothers and sisters (v11). The finished work of Jesus is sufficient to save a people for His own possession and by faith we are adopted into the family of God and enter into an unbreakable union with Christ.   


Christ has fulfilled Psalm 22v22 “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” by coming among His people and making known the Father. Christ took Isaiah 8v17 “I will put my trust in him.” and fulfilled it by trusting in God even in the midst of being forsaken at Calvary and again it was Christ who fulfilled Isaiah 8v18 “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” by gathering His people to Himself by the Word and Spirit.


As we take all of this together we are again convinced of Christ's superiority over the angels. We are thankful for God's heavenly servants but only Jesus is our elder brother and by faith in Him we have been given the right to be called children of God. Thanks be to God!


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q55 What is forbidden in the third commandment? The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.
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16th September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:7 


Message Alan Burke


Paul writes to the church in Rome and this is his desire for them, it is what he prays for them. Two words here that are so significant again, so theologically rich for us here as they were for those who first heard them in Rome. They are what they needed and what we need, we need the grace of God to truly experience the peace of God. 


Firstly Grace. I’m sure we have all heard the description of Grace as ‘unmerited favour’. It is a good definition. Unmerited meaning something that we do not deserve and could not earn and favour being God’s preferential treatment. Grace is something that we do no deserve and could not earn that means we have God’s preferential treatment. That is what these believers to whom Paul wrote to had received, there wasn’t one of them who deserved or could earn God’s preferential treatment but instead they received it in because of God’s love, they are loved in God and called to be saints. Likewise, there is not one of us who deserve or could earn God’s preferential treatment, but we receive it because of God’s love, we are loved in God and called to be saints, we have received the unmerited favour of the living God. 


How we live is in response to this grace that we have received, Jesus himself said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (Jn 14:15). Our desire to obey the word of God, to live in God’s way and not the way of this world is out of the gratitude of our hearts for the grace that we have been shown, it is because we love our Lord because he first loved us. We have been shown grace upon grace, upon grace, upon grace, we have been justified before God by his grace.


Next, The Peace of God. Generally when we think of the word peace we think of the absence of war. When it comes to God, there is no such thing as neutrality. We are by our nature are the enemies of God, we are each day making the journey towards eternal damnation. Chapter 3 of Romans reminds us by our nature there is no one who seeks after God, we have all turned from him, there is not one who does good. Even man women and child by our natures are the enemies of God. 


Before God called us to Himself, before He worked faith in us by the Spirit, before he brought us from death in sin to life in Christ it was not that we had no relationship with God, no, it was that we were his enemies, we were living a sinful rebellious life, we was living in every way as the supreme sovereign god of my own lives. But now, we are loved by God, we are called to be saints, we have experienced that Grace, that unmerited favour and we have peace. We have peace when before there was no peace. It is a peace that we can only have through the grace of God, a peace that we can earn and that we definitely don’t deserve.


We do not deserve it and could not achieve it. But God, has loved us and calls us to be His saints. God brings rebels, his enemies, sinners like us into His family so that we may in prayer come before Him and address Him as Our Father, He is our heavenly Father by the grace of adoption. As a result we can boldly approach the Lord God Almighty, the only living and true God, the maker of heaven and earth, the Lord of lords, King of kings, the great I am, as children who come to their Father. 


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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Q54 What is required in the third commandment?
The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’ s names, (Matt. 6:9, Deut. 28:58) titles, (Ps. 68:4) attributes, (Rev. 15:3–4) ordinances, (Mal. 1:11,14) Word, (Ps. 138:1–2) and works. (Job 36:24)
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15th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 2.1-4)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


If Christ is greater than both the prophets and the angels then we would be fools to disregard His message. The Apostle John once said "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." (John 1v18) So Christ has made God known to us and revealed that to be doing the work of God we must believe in the One that was sent (John 6v29). Christ is the One sent and Christ was crucified for sin and raised for our justification. This is the old, old Gospel that deserves our close attention lest we drift away from it (v1).


The prophets were reliable and trustworthy as they delivered their message and so too were the angels (v2). What message was declared by the angels? The angels played a part in delivering the moral law of God. We read in Deuteronomy “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand." (Deuteronomy 33v2) So as the law was given to Moses, thousands of angels were present. Additionally, Paul says in Galatians "Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary." (Galatians 3v19) The angels therefore played a part in delivering the message of God's law.


The moral law of God isn't sin. It has been given to us by God Himself and shows us His holiness and what pleases Him. However as James makes clear "whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it." (James 2v10). If we break any part of the law that was put in place by the angels then we will receive a just punishment (v2).


Therefore if Christ's message is greater than the message declared by the angels, how will we escape the wrath of God if we neglect the Gospel? (v3) The message of salvation was declared by Christ Himself (v3) and it was delivered to the world by those who heard it (v3b) and it was confirmed by signs and wonders and miracles (v4) performed by the Apostles (2 Corinthians 12v12). The Gospel is nothing short of the most important message the world has ever heard.


The temptation for the Christian is to believe that since we have been saved we have no further use of the Gospel. We think that it doesn't need to be preached regularly and we don't need to meditate upon it. If that is our attitude then may the Lord correct us. The Apostle is clear. The Gospel is glorious and it has been delivered to us by Christ Himself. We must take it seriously and we must pay closer attention to it so that we don't drift away. Do you consider the scale of the Gospel on a daily basis? Do you preach the Gospel to yourself each day? Do you allow the grace of the Gospel to impact your hard heart and to drive you to forgiveness of others? Pay close attention to the Gospel so that you may stand fast.


Finally if you are reading this devotion and you remain unsaved, then it is time for you to repent and believe the Gospel. Christ is no second rate messenger. God once spoke by the prophets and by the angels but Christ trumps them all. He is true God, true man and without sin. He gave Himself as a ransom for many and by His death for sin and miraculous resurrection He is able to save to the uttermost all who call upon Him. My friend your sins are an abomination before a holy God and He will certainly pour out His furious wrath upon you if you will not believe.


So I urge you to believe. I urge you to fall before Christ. I urge you seek forgiveness for your sins. I urge you to pay close attention to the Gospel. How will you escape the wrath of God if you ignore this message?


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q53 Which is the third commandment? The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

14th September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:7 


Message Alan Burke


If you know and love the Lord Jesus, if you have repented and believed you have a new status and it is one that will never be revoked. So today know you are loved by God and I call you saint, you may not feel like it, you may think you’re doing a rubbish job at being a Christian, how ever you are feeling today you are still a saint who is loved by God. A saint is a person who is sanctified, one who has been has been set apart by the Holy Spirit and called inwardly to Christ Himself. It is not what some church traditions have made it, my hope is that when you gather on the Lord’s day, you will be surrounded by saints, we are surrounded by those who belong to Christ. 


Now I want us to be aware our status, I am not saying we are morally perfect, for we know that is not true and our experience reveals that we are anything but perfect. Even after we are regenerated we still lapse into sin. I am a sinner saved by grace, I have the propensity for great sin, we lapse into sin and that sin at times is horrendous. For the reality is that we are altogether sinful although not as sinful as we could be. This is one of those things that I have to be aware of in my own life, it is something that we should all be aware of, we have the potential to fall into sin, lapse into sin, and until we die we will not be made perfect in holiness, as long as we live here on this earth we will battle sin in our lives. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking falling into a heinous sin it will never happen to us. 


King David is probably the greatest example. A man who is described as being after God’s own heart, but he was a man who did horrendous things, who committed adultery with Bathsheba, who sought to have his lovers husband killed in war so he could marry her and then cover it up. What made him a man after God’s heart though, is as is clear in Psalm 51, David was a man who repented for his sin. David was a man who was loved by God, a man who was regenerate, he was a saint but he fell and fell seriously and any believer can, any saint can. 


But we can be confident that He who has begun a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). This is what we are promised by the word of God, that what God has begun in us he will finish, another theological truth that we who are loved by God, who are called saints should take confidence and security in even when we fall is that God will enable us to cross the finish line. Yes we may fall into sin, but God has promised that we will persevere to the end.


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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Q52 What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’ s sovereignty over us, (Ps. 95:2–3) his propriety in us, (Ps. 45:11) and the zeal he hath to his own worship. (Exod. 34:13–14)
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13th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 1.14)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Images are powerful things which have the potential to stay with us long after the event. Don't believe me? If I mention September 11th I suspect we all rapidly call to mind the images of that awful day twenty-one years ago. Equally if I asked you to imagine Jesus I suspect an image of a white man with long hair and a beard would spring to mind. We've seen these images in our churches and Sunday school colouring books and there's the problem. Remembering a historical event is one thing but we have no need of images of Christ, they are prohibited by the Lord and they cause us to imagine things which simply are not true.


The same problem is evident when we consider the angels. If we imagine an angel we picture white men in white robes with massive feathered wings and halos around their heads. Is this a Biblical image? Yes and no. It is certainly true that in Scripture the angels sometimes take the appearance of men. Angels in the form of men appeared at the empty tomb (Luke 24v4) and in the same way angels stood beside the Apostles as they watched Christ's Ascension (Acts 1v10).


It's also true that the Scriptures speak of the angels as having wings. The cherubim are said to spread out their wings over the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25v20) and the seraphim are said to have six wings (Isaiah 6v2). So are angels flying men? Should we expect angels to drop their feathers in our worship services? No. 


The Lord has graciously given us His Word and in the Bible He speaks to us in a way that helps us understand matters beyond our comprehension. He describes Himself (and angels) with language that is anthropomorphic or in simple terms, language which gives human attributes to non-human beings.


What do I mean? Here's an example. Scripture tells us that our God is spirit (John 4v24) but at the same time we read in Scripture that God has arms (Deuteronomy 33v27), can smell (Genesis 8v21), a mouth (Matthew 4v4), wings (Psalm 17v8) and can hear (Psalm 4v3). Which is it? Is God a spirit with human body parts and the wings of a mother hen? No. God does not actually have a mouth, He is spirit. Nor does our God actually have a nose, He is spirit. Instead when the Lord speaks to us about his arms and hands and wings, He is painting us a picture that we can grasp. The language helps us understand deeper truth, God is spirit and hears and sees and speaks and protects but He doesn't have or need physical ears and eyes or wings.


Now with that said we should note one area of complexity - Christ took on actual flesh and He never took it off. So while it is true that God is spirit without form, it is also true that in glory today Christ remains flesh and blood and He maintains an actual physical body. Jesus, the God-man, has eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands and feet.


Anthropomorphic language is also used to describe the angels and unsurprisingly they don't usually have eyes or wings nor are they handsome looking white men in long robes. They can sometimes take this appearance but this is not who they truly are. The Apostle explains that angels are spirits (v14), therefore they do not have body parts and I'm sorry to say they do not drop feathers for you to pick up. They also have the wonderful purpose of ministering to God's people. They are sent out for our sake.


Isn't that an extraordinary and quite overlooked truth? I'm not saying that our focus should be on the angels instead of Christ - perish the thought. But perhaps we would do well to occasionally contemplate the work of the angelic host in this world and in our fellowships. These majestic and powerful spirits belong to Jesus and they do His work day and night. We have no clue about their activity in our day to day lives but we can be sure that they are at work and because Christ is for us, then His angels are for us too.


We thank God today for His providential care which involves the work of His angels and we are humbled by the unseen protection and service of God's host. They are not men with giant wings and halos, the reality is far more glorious and one day in heaven we will join them in praising the Lord.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q51 What is forbidden in the second commandment? The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his Word.
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12th September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:7 


Message Alan Burke


You may or may not know that Knighthoods can be stripped from their recipients. It’s not that a few hefty fellas are sent round from Buckingham Palace to pull it off from round your neck although that may happen, rather the title is stripped figuratively from the recipient. Normally this happens because you were a naughty boy as someone finds a skeleton or two hidden somewhere in your history. If the skeletons are found after you die then it is too late to strip you of your Knighthood, not that it would matter too much to you then. The reason is a simple one, a Knighthood expires when the holder dies, it cannot be posthumously revoked.


You may be sitting after reading this rolling your eyes because you knew all this already or you’re thinking would I just get to the point, or maybe you’re about to go down a rabbit hole reading about Knighthoods the rest of today, but as we spend this week thinking of this one verse there is something I want to draw out for you today. If you know and love the Lord Jesus, if you have repented and believed you have a new status and it is one that will never be revoked. So today know you are loved by God and I call you ‘saint’, you may not feel like it, you may think you’re doing a rubbish job at being a Christian, nonetheless how ever you are feeling today you are still a saint who is loved by God. 


Look now to what Paul writes, he says; ‘to those in Rome who are loved by God and called saints’. Now I know there is a lot of times that we can fall into the trap of misapplying scripture, taking it out of context, but as this is addressed to believers in Rome, what it says is for believers here today to! This can justifiably be said of all believers, for it is as applicable and as meaningful to us as it is to those whom it was first written to.


It is by the love of God that we are saved from our sin, that He has chosen to set His love on us. God loves us as His children through the blood that was shed for us in Christ, as we were bought with a price we have been redeemed, we are loved. This is the truth that we are now! This is our status! Believer, you are loved! The Creator and sustainer of all that is, the living and true God loves you! No matter how you are feeling about yourself the day you are loved by God in Christ Jesus and you are a saint, one who is sanctified, one who has been has been set apart by the Holy Spirit and called inwardly to Christ Himself.


This is such an incredible truth, that the reason why we believe, that we are Christians, is that God has set His love upon us, that we are loved by Him, that we have been redeemed from the kingdom of Satan. This is a wonderful theological truth that Paul was expressing to those in Rome and for us.


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


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Q50 What is required in the second commandment?
The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word. (Deut. 32:46, Matt. 28:20, Acts 2:42)
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10th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 1.5-13)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The prophets weren't God's only messengers in the Old Testament. Throughout the history of redemption our God has commanded the heavenly host of angels who worship Him and do His bidding. Angels are not to be trifled with, they are mighty creatures who strike awe into everyone who meets them. They dwell in glory and have attributes and abilities far greater than you or I. We have seen in this chapter that Jesus is the true prophet greater than all others, but is he greater than the majestic angels? The answer is a resounding "yes".


To prove this point the Apostle takes us on a Bible study with a sevenfold argument of why Christ is greater than the angels. No angel is begotten of God but Christ certainly is. Psalm 2 is a Messianic Psalm or in simple terms it is a Psalm that speaks about Christ. It says "I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'" (Psalm 2v7) Jesus is begotten not created. He is of the same substance as the Father. He is not a creature like the angels but He is true God.


Angels are sometimes called "sons of God" in Scripture (Job 1v6) but there is only one Son of God who is the second person of the Trinity. Nathan spoke God's promise to David and said "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men" (2 Samuel 7v14) God's promises to David were fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is the Son of God.


Indeed God's Son is not an angel or simply equal to the angels, instead the Son of God is to be worshipped by the angels. The lesser worships the greater and so with a quote from Deuteronomy 32v43 the Apostle shows once more that Christ is supreme and reigns even over the angels. His name is greater than theirs and He is the object of their worship.


The angels are wonderful creatures. God has made them like winds and a flame of fire (Psalm 104v4). We would do well to avoid anyone who pretends they have a guardian angel or treats the angels like good luck charms. The message of the angel in Revelation was so extraordinary that John fell to worship him (Revelation 22v8-9) before being told to only worship God. If an angel met you today I suspect you would be filled with awe and terror. They move rapidly, they do God's bidding and they engage in spiritual warfare. But they are still under the authority of Christ. Psalm 45 speaks of Jesus and says “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” The angels are mighty but they serve Christ the King.


No wonder. The work of Christ is referenced in Psalm 102. It was Jesus who laid the foundation of the earth and who painted the heavens. Creation will wear out and one day Christ will roll it up like a garment and bring great change to the universe, but He does not change. He is eternal and just as Christ has no beginning so too He will have no end. Christ brought the angels into existence and it will be Christ who will judge the angels who rebelled against Him.


Finally, it is only Christ who has heard the words “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” (Psalm 110v1) The position of authority at the right hand of God belongs only to Christ and although the angels will play their part in Gospel history, the forces of sin, death and wickedness will be placed beneath Christ's feet and not theirs.


The Apostle doesn't write these verses to humiliate the angels. It is not their fault that humans can sometimes worship angels or give them an exalted place. We would do well to be mindful of unseen spiritual realities whilst not falling into the pitfalls of the modern age. No, Paul doesn't wish to humiliate the angels but simply to remind the Hebrews that just as Christ is superior to the prophets, so too is He superior to God's angelic messengers.


It will be amazing to commune with the prophets in heaven. We will see Elijah and Moses and Habakkuk and Isaiah. It will be amazing too to gaze upon the angels who sing "holy, holy holy". But Christ is greater than them all and today the prophets and angels worship the Lord. Brothers and sisters, turn your eyes to Jesus, you're not going to be disappointed.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q49 Which is the second commandment? The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
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9th September 22


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:2-6 


Message Alan Burke


Obedience! To obey, to submit, comply, to be ruled over, to yield! The opposite of obedience is disobedience meaning to define, revolt to deliberately not do what we should do or what a rule or law says we should do. Wether we want to admit it or now we are not very good at obedience and we are very good at disobedience for we are sinners, each and every one of us. We are sinful by our nature and sinful by our actions, we are not obedient to God, His word, His Law, we take it at best as advice, and try telling someone who is living contrary to what the word of God says that their actions are sinful and it’s like a red rag to a bull. 


Here in this passage we are called to the obedience that comes from faith. Obedience and faith, faith and obedience, these things go hand in hand. But it is not in our obedience that we are justified before God, it is through faith. This is one of those things that we struggle to get our heads round, we live lives that are dependant on our words, efforts, endeavours, we teach our children it depends on whether they have been naughty or nice, but the wonder of the gospel is that its basis is the grace of God though Jesus. 


This obedience is in response to what Jesus has done for us, it does not justify us before the Lord God but in response to this gospel, this promised Gospel, through Jesus Christ in who we are called we are to live obedient lives. We desire to live as God’s chosen people, who live lives of repentance, turning from our sin and disobedience to our Lord and God. Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are spoken of as unbelievers in the New Testament (2 Thess. 1.8, Rom. 10:16), for to believe is to obey, we obey because we believe. It is not obedience that gives us our justification but obedience that is a sign of our justification, as we live for our saviour, turning from sin, repenting of it, seeking to live for him, even when it means living in a way that is contrary to the world. 


For the Christian life means that we strive to live for Christ and not the fallen nature that we still have. Paul was honest about the battle with indwelling sin as he says later in Romans, For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Rom 7:20-21). But as we believe we are seeing to live to obedience for God, as we are aware that we have been bought with a price, that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for us. Obedience and striving for it is something we intentionally do in faith, for as James says, 'As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead' ( James 2:26). Our obedience, our works testify to the reality of faith in our lives, if are not striving for obedience then we have a dead faith that is not faith at all. 


This is what we are called to belong to, we are called from our sin to obedience that comes from faith, it isn’t always going to be plain sailing but it is something that we should be striving for. This is what the church should be, for the church in Greek is the ekklesia, literally means called out. The church are those who are called out of their bondage of sin, out of the world of darkness to his wonderful light (1 Pet 2:9), for every believer we are those who are called out, called our of bondage to sin to live for Christ, all who are truly part of the church are to live in obedience that comes from faith. I’ll leave you with this question, is obedience something that you are striving for?


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


WSC  
Q48 What are we specially taught by these words [before me] in the first commandment?
These words [before me] in the first commandment teach us, That God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God. (Ezek. 8:5–6, Ps. 44:20–21)

8th September 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 1v1-4)


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


God is not like us. We imagine Him in certain ways and in sinful arrogance we think that we've mastered Him but we are fools. One of Job's friends was called Zophar and he said “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?” (Job 11v7) Well, no. We can't master God and even if He had limits we certainly couldn't find them out. The Lord God Almighty is beyond our comprehension and yet, by His grace, He is knowable.


We know God because His fingerprints are all over creation. Psalm 19v2 says "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." Paul would tell the Romans that humanity is without excuse before God because "his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." (Romans 1v19-20) We call this knowledge "general revelation" because God has made Himself known to everyone.


Yet we also speak of "special revelation" wherein God makes Himself known only to some. The theologian B.B. Warfield put it this way “General revelation is addressed generally to all intelligent creatures, and is therefore accessible to all men; special revelation is addressed to a special class of sinners, to whom God would make known His salvation.” So God has spoken to everyone in creation so that all are without excuse but God has also spoken to His people whose eyes have been opened by faith.


Long ago God's special revelation came by way of the prophets (v1). Their message came directly from God but was still rejected by a multitude and received by only a few. The prophets challenged the people of the day to repent and they pointed forward to Christ. Jesus experienced the same rejection as the prophets. He was shunned by the majority and received by the few. But Christ is not just another prophet. He is the true prophet and God's final word.


In these days God has spoken to us by His Son (v2) and Jesus is greater than any other previous prophet. Elijah was a remarkable man and Daniel was a man of prayer but neither one of them could claim to be "the heir of all things" (v2). You might one day inherit your Grandmother's bungalow but the inheritance of Christ will be a people gathered from the nations with the ends of the earth as His possession (Psalm 2v8).


The same earth that is Christ's inheritance is the one that He was instrumental in creating (v2). In the beginning all things were created by Jesus and for Jesus (Colossians 1v16) and if we want to know what God is like, we only have to look to Jesus. He radiates the glory of God (v3) and when He walked upon this earth the light of God dwelt among darkness. Christ was certainly a good man, indeed it is true to say that He was the best man to ever live. He was the second Adam and the true man but He was also fully God. The Apostle tells us that Jesus is "the exact imprint" of God's nature.


What does this mean? Jesus isn't a wee bit like God, Jesus is God. He is the only begotten Son of God who came and took on flesh without sin and remarkably, even when Christ nursed at Mary's breast or wept outside the tomb of Lazarus or even when He stood before Pilate, Christ at every moment was upholding and sustaining the universe that He created (v3). How do we know that Christ continues to reign? Because this world continues to exist. Nothing in the universe could last without Christ.


This same Jesus came and once and for all paid the price of sin. His life was sinless and His obedience was perfect and He laid down His life to wipe away the sins of His people. After making purification for sin, He sat down at the right hand of God the Father and He remains there to this very day. It's hard to imagine what heaven is like but we can say for sure that Christ isn't sidelined. He is the focus of angelic praise for He is by far superior even to God's angels (v4).


Hebrews may lack the usual greeting of Paul's other letters but it proceeds rapidly into a wonderful description of Christ. He is the superior one who has made God known. He is the last word of God. He is the great prophet and the creator of the universe. He is true God and true man and without sin. His sacrifice at the cross was sufficient and today He reigns in glory where even the angels fall before Him.


God once spoke by His prophets but today He has spoken by His magnificent Son. We would do well to listen.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q47 What is forbidden in the first commandment? The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not  worshipping and glorifying, the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.
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