19th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Obadiah 1v15-18)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The story of Slawomir Rawicz is controversial and fascinating in equal measure. If you believe Mr Rawicz he and several others escaped from a Soviet prison camp in 1941 before travelling four thousand mile on foot to freedom in India. The journey crossed the Gobi desert, climbed the mighty Himalayas and witnessed the death of many of Rawicz’s companions. Nevertheless, in 1942 the remaining escapees reached freedom far from the horror of the Russian gulag. Some have scoffed at Rawicz’s story and cast doubt at his claims - there is little evidence any such journey took place.


I’ll not tell you what I think about the long walk of Slawomir Rawicz but I know that many think the world will go on forever and they scoff at any talk of a last day. But I am certain that Christ is returning and I am sure that the day of the Lord is bad news for those who reject Jesus - for them there is no escape from the day of the Lord. 


However, the one who has trusted Christ has found an escape from the wrath of God and they will be found on the holy mountain of God called Mount Zion (v17). Zion is the mountain on which the ancient city of Jerusalem was built but it also serves as an image of heaven and God’s rule and reign. In Revelation 14v1 John saw an image of 144,000 standing before Jesus on Mount Zion. This number can be understood as representing the entire church of Jesus Christ. If there were 12 tribes and 12 apostles, 12 times 12 is 144. 144 multiplied by 1000 is 144,000. Why 1000? In Scripture 1000 is seen as a number of great size and scale and so the 144,000 symbolise the church of Christ redeemed throughout human history.


These men and women have found their escape on Mount Zion which throughout the Old Testament symbolises God’s sovereign rule. Where is Jesus now? He is reigning in Zion which is heaven (Psalm 2v6) and all who trust in Him will “possess their own possessions” (v17b). This phrase might cause us to scratch our heads but it simply means that God’s people will have returned to them all that has been lost. No one will be disappointed in heaven.


If Slawomir Rawicz actually made his “long walk” it was a brutal journey indeed. The Christian must be certain that our journey to Zion is guaranteed to hurt. Yet we do despair. In Christ our future is secure and our hope is not misplaced. Psalm 125 is our song “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.”  


Brothers and sisters, keep going.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q94 What is Baptism? Baptism is a Sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.
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18th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 5:21-26)


Message (Alan Burke)


Deserving of the hell of fire for anger and belittling our bother, insulting them might seem ridiculous but it is with a purpose and that is to drive us to look to the grace of God, not despairing and while if we are relying on our own righteousness then we have absolutely no hope whatsoever we have hope through Jesus Christ who while we were still sinners died for us (Rom 5:8). As Jesus continues to teach of the full extent of the Biblical teaching on Anger he now turns to the need for us to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters. He speaks of a worshiper taking their offering gift to the alter. 


Now we don’t have an altar because Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for us. But before he offered himself the practice of the church in the Old Testament was to bring their offerings to the Lord and make sacrifices to him, God was pointing his people to what would be fulfilled in his Son for us (Rom 3:25). Here the offering that is likely in view is that of a sin offering that a faithful Jew would have brought as he sought atonement for sins. You wouldn’t normally bring an offering and then leave the offering in front of the altar, in fact that wouldn’t have been done or if it was it would have been in an extenuating circumstance. 


And what Jesus says if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, you’ve done or said something that has caused offence, that you are to leave the gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 


We might see some of the force of what is being said here by Jesus but I suspect that we miss the true gravity of what Jesus was teaching here. If you were bringing a sacrifice to the Altar it would be an animal unless you were very poor and then it would be one tenth of an ephah, about 2.2 litres in volume. Otherwise you’d bring a young bull, a male goat, a female goat or a dove or pigeon. You would bring the animal bound so it could not move and you bring it there on the alter ready to be sacrificed. The animal is there ready to be sacrificed and you are to leave it. 


Think to what Jesus just said in v21-22, the judgement that we deserve for anger for belittling someone, how we are deserving of the fire of hell. Well it should concern us so much that we have caused someone else to endanger themselves to hell because of us that we should be those who are so concerned about it we don’t leave it for another moment, we go and we want it sorted out now. If we have wronged someone or not, if their anger is justified or not we should seek reconciliation. 


This points to what we need to do before the Lord, not to wait, not to put it off for a moment, for the one whom we have offended, who we need reconciled with more than any other is the Lord God himself. We are serving of the fire of hell and we need to be reconciled. If you do not know and love the Lord Jesus, if you have not trusted in him your works are worthless, you may think you are good and your commandment keeping is enough but it isn’t. But do not despair, turn to the Lord Jesus and trust in what he has done, how he bore the wrath of God that was due for sin. This is the Love that God has shown forth to us, not one of us deserve it but God by his grace bestows us upon us, God requires what we are unable to do but has done all that is required of us so that we may be reconciled to him through faith as we trust in what Jesus has done for us. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q93. Which are the Sacraments of the New Testament?
A. The Sacraments of the New Testament are Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. 
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17th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Obadiah 1v15-18 & 1 Thessalonians 4v13-18)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I’m an unapologetic fan of the old TV show “The Waltons” and I remember an episode in which a young boy got a thorn stuck in his foot. He was told that it wasn’t too bad and not to worry about it, causing him to reply “when you’ve got a thorn in your foot, there is nothing else.” In a more serious fashion, I think that for those who witnessed the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem it would be nigh on impossible to believe that things would one day improve - when all seems bleak it is difficult to imagine the dawn.


Even so, a much better day is coming, for as we read in Obadiah “the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.” (v15a). As Jerusalem burned and Edom boasted, another day was approaching when all nations would have their deeds returned upon their own heads (v15b).


The concept of “the day of the Lord” is a common one in the Minor Prophets, but when will it be? Let me answer by giving a brief summary of orthodox Christian belief. We believe that Jesus died and was raised again to life and those who have received Him by faith will be resurrected on the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is called various things in Scripture like the final/last day or the day of judgement. 


The day of the Lord will be the last ever day because human history will end with the return of Christ. The Disciples were told that Jesus who ascended up into heaven would return the same way (Acts 1v11). Jesus told us to expect His return even though He Himself did not know the day or the hour (Mark 13v32). The final day is a reality and when Christ comes He will come in judgement (Matthew 25v31).


Years after Obadiah, Paul helped the Thessalonians (and us) understand the day of the Lord in more detail. What did he teach? Jesus will come back and every Christian who has died before His return will come with Him (1 Thessalonians 4v14). This is not fanciful nonsense, it is the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 4v15a). Paul adds that those who are still alive at Christ's return will not precede those who have died in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4v15b). What does this mean? Paul goes on to explain.


When the day of the Lord comes, Christ Himself will descend from heaven with a trumpet blast of God (1 Thessalonians 4v16). There won't be anyone who will miss Christ's return. It will be a momentous event and the eyes and ears of the world will be lifted from the emptiness of Facebook and Tiktok to the seriousness of the Christ the Judge. Christ Himself will speak with a mighty angelic voice and issue a command (1 Thessalonians 4v16). What will He command? Just as He once commanded Lazarus to come out of the grave (John 11v43) Jesus will also command "the dead in Christ" to rise. The souls of Christians in heaven will be reunited with new bodies. Just as Jesus died and was raised to life, so too every Christian who has died will be raised never to die again.


The resurrection of the Christian dead will come first and when it is complete, living Christians will be transformed and called up to meet Christ and their brothers and sisters in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4v17). So living Christians will not precede (be raised before) dead Christians. The dead in Christ will be raised first and then those Christians still alive at Christ's return. Together we will always be with Jesus.


The Christian has nothing to fear when the day of the Lord arrives but for those who have rejected Christ, they will receive the due reward for their deeds. Just as Edom drank and celebrated at the fall of Jerusalem, on the last day they and the rest of the world will drink the cup of God’s wrath and be destroyed (v16).


Evil might seem to be winning in this dark world but it will get its comeuppance. The day of the Lord is coming as Christ Himself tells us “Surely I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22v20). In response we cry "Come, Lord Jesus!”


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q92 What is a Sacrament? A Sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
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16th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 5:21-26 focus v21-22)


Message (Alan Burke) 


How are you today? One of the most common answers I hear to that is “good”. I know what they mean, that things are good, they have no complaints, they are feeling good about themselves. While I was in a Christian bookshop recently a staff member asked someone as they came in “are you good today” and as quick as a shot the person answered “No one is good—except God alone” (Mk 10:18). The staff member was taken aback but I had a smile on my face because the mans answer was right. Ok there is a difference between being good and feeling good but many people believe that they are good, they are good people. Today we come to a passage that confronts us of how none of us are good, there is not one of us who have kept the commandments but if we hear the words of Jesus and understand the good and necessary consequence of them then we will realise that there is not one of us who is good, not one of us who has kept the commandments rather we have left them in shatters. 


Our standing before the Lord is not about what we have done or can do and the reason is that sin has so distorted our nature that we are totally depraved. that doesn’t mean that we are as bad as we could be but that sin is such that there is not one part of us that is not wholly effected by it and our effort so Jesus strips all the pretence of our goodness away and leaves us knowing that it is not about what we have done or can do because even our best efforts are filthy rags before a holy God.  


Jesus here begins by correcting an understanding of the law that was taught in rabbinical teaching. The rabbinical teaching of the time was that you could keep the commandments of God by outward observance. Taking the sixth commandment Jesus expounds the full extent of what it requires of us. Murder is one thing but also anger and even belittling someone calling them a fool is enough to be in danger of the fire of hell. Actually the greek is much stronger than that, the NIV and the KJV says in danger of hell fire but a better translation as the ESV uses is liable, liable to hell fire. The greek is even more forceful, it’s deserving of the fire of hell. 


Now of course the point here in what Jesus is teaching is not that there is no difference between belittling someone, calling them a fool  and beating them to death with a frying pan, of course there is, but both reveal our hearts, they reveal the sickness, the sin within us and help us to see our need for God. There is also righteous anger, Jesus got angry, it is right and proper to be angered by injustice, abortion, immorality, by sin. Notice though who this anger and this belittling others is specifically in relation to, v22, if anyone who is angry with his BROTHER, then again, anyone who says to his brother. Jesus here is speaking primarily against anger and belittling fellow believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ. The primarily emphasis on this is towards each other, because if you are angry at your brother or sister in Christ, if you’re belittling them then you are showing that you haven’t understood the grace that has been shown to you. 


We might see what this is requiring of us as bordering on the ridiculous but it is with a purpose. What we see here is that if we are relying on our own righteousness then we have absolutely no hope whatsoever. You might think you are a good person but you don’t keep the commands when we rightly understand them. When we see what the Law of requires of us, how it should be understood, then we know that we are unable to do what is required. The standards of the Kingdom of God are far in excess of what we are able to do. It should drive us towards the promises of God that have now been fulfilled with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who came to die for our salvation. The Covenant of Grace that has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ, who while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). Knowing that we are V21-22 We Are Deserving Of The Fire Of Hell and this should drive us to Jesus. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q91. How do the Sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A. The Sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.
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14th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Obadiah 1v10-14)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Edom was to be judged because her arrogance had led her to believe that she was untouchable. As far as the descendants of Esau were concerned, no one could bring them down from their lofty mountain position. Furthermore, as Jerusalem burned, Edom “stood aloof” (v11). As we have seen, Judah and Edom were cousins who should have enjoyed a “special relationship”. Tragically this relationship lay in the gutter and as strangers carried off Jerusalem’s wealth (v11a) and gambled for ownership of the great city, Edom didn’t lift a finger to help.


There is much discussion as to when Jerusalem was attacked. Some argue for 850BC when the Philistines and Arabs rose against Judah (2 Chronicles 21v16-17). Others point to the more famous episode in 587BC when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city, her temple and carried many off into Babylonian exile. If we can’t be sure exactly when Obadiah was writing, we can be sure that in both cases Edom did nothing to help. Theirs was a sin of “omission” which simply means that they did not do what was required by the Lord.


This would have been bad enough but the Edomites moved from a sin of “omission” to a sin of “commission” which, as you can imagine, means that they got off their backsides and acted in a sinful manner. How so? They began to gloat over the fall of Jerusalem (v12a), they rejoiced that Judah lay ruined (v12b) and they boasted in the face of Judah’s distress (v12c).


But as the Edomites celebrated, they moved slowly and surely to Jerusalem. Like a vulture picking the bones of a corpse, the Edomites entered the city gloating over the remaining inhabitants and taking for themselves any leftover loot (v13). Then as some of their cousins attempted to flee, the Edomites cut them off at the crossroads and handed them over to the enemy (v14).


Can you imagine being at your lowest ebb and someone close to you coming to rub your face in the dirt? Equally have you ever been in a position of strength and gloated that your enemy was “only getting what he deserved”?


You have perhaps seen the famous photo which allegedly shows August Landmasser refusing to raise his arm in a Nazi salute. Landmasser’s wife was Jewish and their relationship was illegal under the laws imposed by Hitler and his regime. In a crowd of shipyard workers, Landmasser was the only one with the courage to resist. We might say that to raise his arm would have been a sin of commission and so Landmasser stood in opposition.


Landmasser choose the lesser walked road and lost his life as a result. How many of us prefer silence when God requires us to speak? How many of us act at the whim of the crowd even though the Christ honouring path is silence? Brothers and sisters, the Edomites failed in both sins of omission and commission. May the Lord give us the wisdom to know when to act and when to stand still. May the crowd not cause our arm to rise when it should stay by our side. Equally may we know the peace of the Gospel especially when our conscience condemns.


Jesus didn’t stay at home but died to free us from our sins of omission and commission - His blood covers them all, thanks be to God!


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q90 How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.
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13th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 5:17-20 focus v20)


Message (Alan Burke)


We’re going to be working though the sermon on the Mount to the middle of December and what I probably didn’t prepare myself for in the study before I began preparing is just how hard hitting it is. Like if you have your bible open in front of you look down to the second part of v22, …anyone who says ‘you fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. The greek is actually much more direct, it says deserving of the fire of hell. Then look down to v28, if you have looked at a woman lustfully you’ve already committed adultery with her in your heart. We might have thought we have done a good job at keeping the commandments of God but these leave any self confidence we may have in the gutter. Here as Jesus continues in teaching he says in v20; “…unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven”.


These guys were known as law keepers, as righteous men, they did everything that was required of them according to the law of God externally. What is more they sought that others would do the same, that others would obey the law just as they in every way sought to be obedient to the law of God. To give you an idea of their righteousness there are 248 commandments give and the 365 provisions of the law they put them together with explanation of how to follow them to the letter. They were seen as holy, they were those that you’d look at and you couldn’t fail to feel rubbish about your own piety in comparison to them. 


There are lots of people who by the worlds standards good people and but we can’t rely on that for our righteousness even our best efforts cant come close to the Pharisees and teachers of the law and as the rest of Sermon on the Mount makes clear that we should have no confidence in our own righteousness. The truth is that there is not one of us here who can keep the law, the truth no matter how hard that is for us to accept is that there is not one of us who are righteous, all of us deserve not the grace of God but the wrath of God and if we are trying to do it in our own strength, our own word we cannot keep the law, we fail. Our law keeping, Our goodness, self righteousness will will never justify us, our law keeping, or rather our attempts to keep the law will not make us right with the Lord, no matter how good we think we are, no matter how well we think we are doing we all leave the entirety of the law in shatters.


How then are we justified? We are justified through Jesus, the one who perfectly kept the law for us, it is his perfect righteousness that is imputed to us, it is given to us, put into our account, we are clothed with his righteousness. For what Christ has done for us means hat there is a glorious exchange, on the cross our sin was placed upon him on the cross of Calvary, he took what we deserve, we have been given what he has achieved for us. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q89. How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.
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12th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Obadiah 1v10-14)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


There are a range of opinions as to the exact historical setting of Obadiah. Verse eleven refers back to a day that the city of Jerusalem was captured and the wealth of the city carried off by her enemies. Jerusalem had known several days like this one but the most famous “sacking” of the city came in 587BC when Nebuchadnezzar arrived and brought to an end the Kingdom of Judah. Others argue that Obadiah is referring to an earlier day of trouble for Jerusalem which took place around 850BC. This was an attack by the Philistines and Arabs during the reign of King Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21v16-17).


Scholars go back and forth on the dating of Obadiah but we can say several things with certainty. Firstly, the ancient bond between Israel and Edom was in a sorry state. Secondly, the Edomites were filled with arrogance and pride - no one could bring them down from their lofty position. Finally, when Jerusalem needed help, Edom “stood aloof” and watched as the city gates were entered by a foreign invader (v11b). To be “aloof” is to be distant and reserved and so Edom remained in their mountain forts with the attitude “it’s got nothing to do with us.” Yet they had been misled by the arrogance of their hearts. The fall of Jerusalem was their concern because “Jacob” was their brother. Even so, Edom gave no help to Judah preferring to stand in splendid aloof isolation. Edom may have argued that they had not attacked the city walls or carried off the loot or spilled innocent blood but by their inaction they became like Judah’s attackers (v11c) - they were every bit as guilty as those who swung the sword.


Most prefer a quiet life and rarely do any “go looking for trouble” Yet this understandable desire can sometimes lead to sin. Is it appropriate to listen to gossip and tell ourselves “nothing to do with me”? It is acceptable to be in a position to offer help and say “no, sorry, too busy”? Is it right to silently watch a brother in Christ verbally torn to shreds with the attitude “I’m glad that wasn’t me”?


Brothers and sisters, I do not call you to constant fights and arguments but equally many of us are dressed for bed when action is required outside. The cause of Christ is noble, the Gospel is precious and we are with Jesus by faith. Therefore may we be dressed and ready for action with our lamps burning (Luke 12v35). Samuel Rutherford was right “God has called you to Christ's side, and if the wind is now in His face, you cannot expect to rest on the sheltered side of the hill.” 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q88 What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, Sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.
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11th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 5:17-20 focus v18-19)


Message (Alan Burke)


Jesus has not abolished the law or the prophets, he fulfils them. This is good news for the one that the Lord promised in Genesis in the midst of the fall as he declared the covenant of grace, of one who would come to deal with our sin and its consequences, the one whom the rest of the Old Testament had been pointing too has now come. Jesus once more speaks of law but this time it has a different meaning. The term Law and Prophets speaks of the entirety of the Old Testament whereas law uses by itself speaks of the commandments that God has given to us, those laws that deal with civil life ceremonial life ie the worship of the people and the moral law. 


And Jesus says, amen, truly, surly that until the heaven and earth disappear, basically all of creation, until it has all disappeared that not the smallest letter or punctuation mark would disappear. Or as the KJV puts it one jot or one tittle referring to the smallest letter and the punctuation used. Until everything is accomplished. This is when the full manifestation of the kingdom of God is displayed. This will come when Jesus returns. What this means for us is that while Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets he did not throw out the commandments and commands what is require of us, he didn’t come to abolish but to fulfil and he hasn’t removed the duty that is required of us how we are to live in response to our God as his image bearers. Some would say that Jesus has accomplished everything and therefore we have been freed from the Law’s requirement but as v19 makes clear that is not the case as it compares those who break the commandments and those who practice them. Those who break them will be called least the other will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 


Does this mean then we continue to observe the sacrificial system? Does it mean that we observe laws regarding justice so if someone commits the act of adultly then we stone them to death (Deut 22:21). The short answer is no. Jesus was the one that the ceremonial law pointed to, he is our passover lamb which means it doesn’t apply to us today, we no longer need to make sacrifices because Jesus gave his life for us as a sacrifice atoning for sin. In regard to the civil law that governed the relationship within the people of Israel, the Civil laws describe the judicial and civil duties of the citizens of Israel as God’s people. The civil law under the Mosaic Law was God governing His people under the government of the Law of Moses. Jesus inaugurated a new kingdom, God’s people the church are no longer identified as a nation, but as a people from all over the earth. The civil law no longer applies to us. 


But the moral law summarised in the Ten Commandments describes the principles of behaviour for all people. This is how we are to live, all people, in every land. This means that we can eat shrimp and tasty tasty bacon as Christians for we are freed from the ceremonial law and civil law though we as all people are bound by the moral law, summarised in the Ten Commandments and in the words of Jesus to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves. 


And remember our Lord Jesus says to us: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you (Jn 15:14). I could get more examples but if we are his we seek to obey his commandments. While we are totally unable to keep the moral law summarised in the Ten Commandments, we are unable to love the Lord our God with all out hearts and our neighbours as ourself, we might despair of that inability, but along with the law, there is the blessing which is found in the lawgiver, the one who alone kept the law perfectly for his people, that he might impute righteousness to them by grace. 


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Q87. What is repentance unto life?
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.
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10th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Obadiah 1v10-14)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Are you aware of the “special relationship” between the USA & Great Britain? The phrase was first coined by Winston Churchill who on the 5th March 1946 spoke of a special relationship between the English speaking people of the world seeing this relationship as key to a peaceful and prosperous future. The relationship has been tested ever since but we can nevertheless be thankful for God’s providence in the world of politics.


There should have been another “special relationship” in the pages of Scripture. We have already seen that God’s judgement was burning against the Edomities who pridefully believed they were untouchable. It shouldn’t have been this way. Esau and Jacob were brothers and the two nations that came from the twins should have been brothers too. Indeed the Lord describes Jacob as Edom’s brother in this very passage (v10).


Elsewhere the Lord commands His people to treat the Edomites well, He said “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother.” (Deuteronomy 23v7). When God speaks we should listen but tragically the Edomites throughout history found themselves in opposition to those who they should have been helping.


Trouble was coming to Israel who God here calls “Jacob” (v10a) and because of the violence that would be done to Israel, Edom would be covered in shame and cut off forever (v10b). We’ll see that this wasn’t unfair and it certainly wasn’t a matter of Edom being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were a sinfully proud people and we’ll discover later in the week that this pride had made their relationship with Israel rotten.


None of us are immune from broken relationships. Even as you read this you might be painfully aware that you and your brother don’t speak or that you have long maintained distance from your mother. I offer no magic solution to your problems and it should go without saying that my hands aren’t clean in this regard either. My wisdom, for what it is worth, is for you and I to honour Christ in our human relationships. This is all the more pressing when someone treats us badly or desires war rather than peace.


Jesus died for us when we were utterly unloveable (Romans 5v6). May He strengthen us by His ordinary means and cause us to honour Him in our relationships - especially those that look like a modern version of Israel and Edom. For Christ’s sake.


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Q86 What is faith in Jesus Christ? 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.
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9th September 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 5:17-20 focus v17)


Message (Alan Burke) 


We’re focusing on one verse today where we learn that Jesus had not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, he had come to fulfil them. What does this mean for us? Well firstly think to the words that are used, ‘abolish’, ‘Law’, ‘Prophets', ‘fulfil’. They are words that we need to understand correctly if we are going to understand what is going on here. Firstly abolish. To abolish something means to do away with it. Law, well we might assume that it’s talking about the moral law summarised in the Ten Commandments but it’s not that, rather when the Law or the Prophets, or the Law and the Prophets is used together it speaks of the entirety of the Old Testament  from Genesis to Malachi. Last word for now, fulfil. It means to achieve, realise. So Jesus had come not to destroy, get rid of, do away with the Old Testament rather he came to fulfil it. 

What does that mean?


Well it means two things. Firstly the scriptures from the fall (think Genesis 3:15 when God preached the Gospel to the Devil) had been looking forward to the hope of the one that would come, the law and the prophets were to act as a big signpost pointing us to Jesus and at the same time they were teaching us how to live as the people of God. Of course there are other things that we learn of in the scriptures, but their thrust has always been to direct us to the hope we have in God through the promised one and how we are to live in response to our God as his image bearers.


Secondly the scriptures especially the moral law summarised in the Ten Commandments don’t just refer to what we do they also refer to our hearts. You might think you’re great that you keep the commandments but you’ve left them in shatters, we all have. To interpret them in a narrow sense that they deal with our outward actions just doesn’t cut it. We may keep up appearances, look respectable to the watching world, even to those closest to us but we are law breakers and as a result of our transgressions what we deserve is death (Rom 6:23). The law of God was meant to make us despair at our inability to keep it and to look to the Lord and his mercy. 


In every age there are those who have twisted the word of God to fit with how we want to live, others who have misunderstood the simplicity of it and though the meaning is plain there are those who will jump through hoops to make it say something that it doesn’t. They will do all that they can to explain a passage that they don’t like away because it would impact on them, it happened in Jesus day, it is not that the word of God lacks clarity, it is that such is our sin and our hatred of the law of God we will do what we can to make it fit with how we want to live. 


Here is the good news at this, Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets. We are sinners deserving of judgement. The good news is that Jesus had done all that is required of us. What we all deserve death the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus precisely because he fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. He was the one that the law and the prophets were pointing us to, the one in whom we have hope of salvation. None of us deserve God’s grace but for all who repent and believe they have the free gift of God, eternal life.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q86. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A. 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.
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