31st October 


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 1:9-17, Hebrews 10:11


Message - Alan Burke 


“First posted 3rd September 21”


Every man did what was right in his own eyes, remember that’s the context of what is happening here. It was the time of the judges, the spiritual rot impacted every area of society and and impacted those who were to lead God’s people in the worship of him. When Hannah came to pray we are told some things that should strike us. 


Firstly as we are told after eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up to pray, while Eli was sitting. Hannah standing, Eli sitting, it doesn’t seem like a big deal but Eli was the priest, he was meant to be overseeing the Tabernacle, but instead we have him as an old man sitting in the corner so he could watch what was going on and Hannah standing to pray. The contrast between the two, one sitting the other standing is to make point, Eli is not doing what he should be, he’s all the trappings of spiritual leadership but he’s not doing what he should. Rather as the high priest he should be repeating the sacrifices, ministering day after day, the author of Hebrews (10:11) makes the point that the priest can never sit because their job is never done. Yet Eli is sitting, whereas Hannah, is coming before the Lord Almighty in prayer. 


Secondly look at Eli’s observation of Hannah as she prayed in her heart and her lips were moving but her voice was not hear (13), there Eli though she was drunk. Now when was the last time you seen a drunk person? If this happened today most people in the land we live in would have some idea that Hannah wasn’t drunk and she was in fact praying, but Eli didn’t. The sight before him is so unfamiliar to him as he watches on he sees a drunk person because prayer in the temple is so strange and foreign to him he didn’t know what he was looking at. 


It’s like a minister not knowing what prayer was like, Eli was more familiar to drunkenness than prayer. We may look around and see the spiritual rot of the country we live in take hold, it seems that every person does what is right in their own eyes but in reality we have nothing on the people of God and Shiloh in the days of the Judges. It was supposed to be the centre of religious life, a place of pilgrimage for the people of God but it was a shell of its former glory. Shiloh had become a spiritual desert like the rest of Israel. 


What’s the point in this, well it’s not only that Hannah was physically barren but the greater reality was the story of the spiritual barrenness of the people of God. In chapter three we learn that because of their apostasy, how they had turned from the Lord that the Word of the Lord was rare and there were few visions in those days (1 Sam 3:1).But in the midst of it all, God was at work just as he is today.


As we close we can see the spiritual barrenness in Israel at the time in their High Priest Eli, he should have been the spiritual leader of the people of God. No matter how dire Eli was, no matter how rubbish, he was the priest, he was the anointed mediator between God and his people, a role that has been filled by the coming of the Lord Jesus, our great high priest, who unlike Eli can sit, and is seated for he has offered a once and all sacrifice for sin. His work is done, and what is more he can sympathise with our weakness, we can come before him and pour our our griefs and sorrows to him, he can handle our tears, and he is at work in the midst of it all even though nothing may seem further from the truth. The place we are to come is to our God through Christ our Saviour. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q92 What is a sacrament?
A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers. (Gen. 17:7,10, Exod. 12, 1 Cor. 11:23,26)
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29th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 8v8-13)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


What was the purpose of the old covenant? As the ten commandments were delivered to the people at Mount Sinai they served a threefold purpose. Firstly, the commandments of God showed the Israelites their sin and misery and pointed them to their need of Christ. Secondly, the commandments educated the Israelites as to what everyday life was to be like in Israel - they were to love God and their neighbour. Finally, the commandments served as a summary of God's moral law which was in force then as it is now - the law shows us what God is like and what pleases Him.


The old covenant was not another path to salvation. Instead anyone saved in the days of Moses was saved under the terms of the covenant of grace - by grace alone, faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore we can say that the old covenant was an administration of the covenant of grace. It was put it place for the nation of Israel but it was always temporary and would be revoked at the coming of Christ.


Grace was still required during the days of the old covenant because no one was able to please God with their perfect obedience (v8). The Lord finds fault in anyone who strives to save themselves by law observance. Instead we all need a new and better covenant than the one that God enacted at Mount Sinai.


As chapter eight closes the Apostle reminds us that the better covenant is the new covenant. Remember that the new covenant isn't brand new. It doesn't start in the New Testament. Instead we correctly say that the new covenant is the covenant of grace fulfilled by Christ. There is continuity in the Scriptures - there is one Gospel, one Saviour and one Covenant of grace which is administered from Genesis to Revelation. This is the covenant that we read about in Jeremiah 31v31-34 which is quoted in today's passage.


The new covenant is the covenant of grace fulfilled in Christ and under the terms of that covenant the Lord promises that the law will be written on hearts and not tablets of stone (v10). God states in wonderfully covenantal language that He will be our God and we will be His people (v10b). We will know God personally as He turns our hearts to Him (v11). He will no longer find fault but He will show us mercy and remember our sins no more (v12). These promises are greater than those of the old covenant and with the arrival of the new covenant the old is made obsolete (v13).


Those wishing to go back to the days of Moses had failed to see the gloriousness of Christ. During the days of Moses and the old covenant, Jesus could be seen in type and in shadow. But when He came in the flesh the fulfilment and the substance arrived. Wanting to swap the substance for the shadow was and is madness.


Brothers and sisters, rejoice today in the covenant of grace. It was proclaimed in Genesis, promised to Abraham and made new in Christ. By this wonderful covenant even the vilest sinner can be saved. It doesn't call us to work our way into heaven, instead it declares "Jesus saves!" and praise God for He really, really does. 


Pray (acTS)

Sing

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Q91 How do the Sacraments become effectual means of salvation? 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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28th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read - Romans 2:3-5


Message Alan Burke 


Robin Hood, what a guy! He captured our imaginations as children, the heroic outlaw depicted in English folklore and has been the focus of many works of literate and film, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. For me it is tie between the Disney animated  Robin Hood released in 1973 which received poor reviews at the time but is in my mind one of the best Disney films and the 1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves staring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman which I first watched on VHS as a child. Let’s assume for a moment that Robin Hood was real man and not just that of folklore, well if that was the case he was a criminal, he was a man who stole countless fortunes that today would have been valued in the hundreds of millions of pounds, even billions, he was followed by many what would be best described as criminal mercenaries, all involved in organised crime and we celebrate him. If he was a real man there is one thing certain is that he will have not escape the final judgment, none of us will. You might be wondering why I picked Robin Hood to start this devotion, well the truth is when I first wrote it I began by recalling my time working in a peace project in North Belfast in the Tigers Bay and New Lodge estates but I thought better of it and thought Robin Hood is safe!


There are those past, present and future whose crimes and their sin will never be known to others, there are crimes that are discovered that no one is ever charged or tried for, the case remains unsolved, there are others who are able to go on the run and never get caught by the authorities and escape justice, there are those who got of on a technicality, but we can be assured that while the justice system may have failed in this life, no one will escape the judgement of God. There are many who believe they can, that God’s judgement is not something that they have to worry about, yet all will face judgement, all of us will, Hebrews 2, asks “how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (Heb 2:3To drive the point home, Paul asks the rhetorical question in v4, asking do we show contempt for God. For people can persist in a life of sin while talking at the same time about the goodness of God and excusing the sin in their lives. The thrust of the question of Paul is do we take the goodness of God lightly, do we take His grace for granted, do we assume that because God is good, because He is love, because He is patient, because he merciful, because He gracious then He will not judge? 


Sadly that is what many people think today, God is more like the big fella in the red suit who comes in December, or like a senile grandfather figure who still loves us even though we set fire to his garden shed. The world may not believe it, you may not believe it, but every day that sin continues without repentance then it is storing up the wrath of God. Some people diminish hell, that’s where the party is, that’s where all the great people go, we’ll get to party with Frank Sinatra who did it his way, but hell will be where God manifests His perfect justice. It is not something to look forward to, it is not something that anyone should want, for the day of wrath of what lies ahead for the sinner should be dreaded. We have a saviour who does not excuse us; yet he forgives us, He calls us sinners. Yet he says, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). The most important thing in life is to know that Jesus is able to save you from sin. The second most important thing is to know that you require it and you respond to that salvation that is offered that we might escape the wrath of 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, (Prov. 8:34) preparation, (1 Pet. 2:1–2) and prayer; (Ps. 119:18) receive it with faith and love, (Heb. 4:2, 2 Thess. 2:10) lay it up in our hearts, (Ps. 119:11) and practice it in our lives. (Luke 8:15, James 1:25)
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27th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 8v6-7)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Christ's ministry is more excellent than that of the Old Testament priests because He serves in the reality of heaven and not the copy of the earthly tent (v6). In the same way the covenant He mediates is more excellent than the old covenant because it is enacted on better promises. Let's slow down for a wee second and define what we mean by the old and new covenant.


Firstly, the old covenant was made between God and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. It was a covenant for the nation of Israel whereby they were promised the blessings of God in response to their obedience. Equally they would know God's curses in response to their disobedience. The old covenant resembled the covenant of works made with Adam in the garden of Eden. This is why some say that at Mount Sinai the covenant of works was "republished". However let me stress that the people of Israel were never saved by their obedience. Once Adam fell, the covenant of works could never save anyone. So the old covenant was made with Moses and the people at Mount Sinai. It couldn't save them but as God's law was published on tablets of stone the people were to see their sinfulness and flee to Christ.


Secondly, the new covenant is the covenant of grace fulfilled. The covenant of grace was declared by God in Genesis 3 and it was promised to Abraham who is the father of those with faith. The new covenant is therefore the promises of Genesis 3 later declared to Abraham, fulfilled in Christ. It isn't brand new and it doesn't start in the New Testament. It is the ancient covenant of grace newly administered by Jesus.


The old covenant declared "do this and live" whilst the new covenant declares "trust in Christ and His finished work". This is why we say the new covenant has better promises. The old covenant could not save and could make no one perfect. The new covenant is all of grace and calls upon you and I to trust in Christ. The old covenant was temporary and put in charge until the arrival of Jesus (Galatians 3v24). The new covenant is ancient and has never been worn out.


Do you see what Paul is saying to the Hebrews? He couldn't be clearer. These men and women were looking back to Moses, Sinai, the old covenant and the Levitical priesthood. Yet Christ was and is superior to them all. Perhaps we Gentiles don't look back to Moses but how often do lament the demands our faith places upon us? Brothers and sisters may we not be like those of Malachi's generation who had become bored of God.


The Covenant of Grace is glorious indeed and we are blessed to live in days of fulfilment. Christ has come and Christ has triumphed. Even now across the globe the mighty Spirit calls people to repentance and where there once was only darkness we now see little pockets of Christians worshipping God each Lord's Day. We do not mock the events of Mount Sinai - they were wonderful moments in the history of redemption. But we do not live at Sinai, our address is Zion where Jesus is. Why would we want to be anywhere else?


Pray (acTS)
Sing
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Q89 How is the Word made effectual to salvation? 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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26th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read - Romans 2:2


Have you seen the Netflix documentary series ‘The Innocence Files’? I tried to watch it but managed one episode and decided for my own sake that I was better not to watch any more, for it is so emotive. To give you a quick synopsis, The Innocence Files is a show that  sheds light on failures in the justice system, it focuses on cases of wrongful concision that Innocence Project and organisations within the Innocence Network have worked to highlight and overturn. There are many more shows like this out there. Why though when we live in an age that thinks itself to be more advanced than those that have come before are there still miscarriages of justice happening today. Well it is because we are living under the effects of the fall, the reason why a verdict is found on the basis of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and not complete certainty, there is a reason why we have mistrials, appeals.


Whereas before the Lord God, the one who does indeed know everything, who is omniscient, He judges according to the truth. The evidence won't open to interpretation, no questions need to be asked of it, eyewitness aren’t needed, the jury can’t be swayed, there will be no miscarriage of justice, no mistakes for it will all be according to the truth. On that day when we stand before the Lord there will not be one of us who can stand and make excuses, for we stand before the omniscient God, who knows all things, who is truth and knows the truth. None of us can stand before Him and say that’s not fair, we can’t complain about the verdict, and right now our consciences testify to all of us that at some point we will be held accountable before our Creator, believer and non believer alike. 


For the believer today, know that through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the fact that God will judge us by the truth is good news for it means whenever He passes judgement on us, when we stand before Him to be judged that we will be spared the condemnation that our sin deserves because of the Lord Jesus Christ and His imputed righteousness to us. The judgement of God will be perfect and accurate, it will be based on his truth. We need not fear the inconsistency of human judgement, instead there will be integrity of judgement. 


But I want you to notice thought, in these verses, Paul doesn’t give if’s and but’s, he doesn’t seek to placate us or those whom he wrote to and thought that’s not fair, that’s not the God I believe in, that’s not the God of love I know. No, instead Paul takes us to the truth, the one who will judge by the truth. Paul was not in the business of pandering to those who want to delude themselves, living in some fantasy that they are alright, that a loving God doesn’t care about my sin it’s only the sins of those really wicked people that He cares about, but if God judge all, and He does so according to truth, We can at least be sure of a fair trial!


Message Alan Burke 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q88 What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to usthe 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. (Matt. 28:19–20, Acts 2:42,46–47)

25th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 8v1-5)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Those of us of a certain age will remember the days of the local video store. Mine was a place called "Zody's" on the Beersbridge Road. It's interior walls were painted black and it had three rows of VHS tapes available for the good people of East Belfast to rent. It was a weekend treat to go round to Zody's and pick out a few tapes to watch over the weekend and then when Monday came it was vital to return the tapes to avoid a fine.


If Zody's was too much hassle there was also the black market of our local car-boot sale where you could buy copies of recent movies and they would be yours to keep forever. This was of course entirely illegal and although the copies were cheap the quality was poor and quite often unwatchable. The real thing was always better.


The Old Testament's sacrificial system was also a copy. It didn't lack quality and it certainly wasn't illegal because it was instituted by God Himself. However the system of priests and sacrifice that we read about in the Old Testament was still of a copy of the real thing. What do we mean by this? The Apostle explains by saying that the priests of the Old Testament served a copy and shadow of the heavenly things (v5). It was Moses who had been commanded to erect the tent and to make sure it resembled everything that had been shown to him by God (v5b).


What was the tent that Moses erected? If you have ever read the book of Exodus then you will know that the Lord gave Moses exact details about the construction of the "tent of meeting". Eventually when Moses had followed the instructions and built the tent, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all the journeys in the wilderness the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire by night.


Therefore the tent of meeting was an earthly copy of heavenly realities. Just as the Lord is reigning now in glory, the tent was a shadow and copy of that heavenly scene. The tent was God's idea but it was built and serviced by mortal men (v3-4).


Once again, compared to the Old Testament system, Christ is superior by far. Where is Jesus now? He is seated at the right hand and throne of God in heaven (v1). He ministers in the original and true heavenly place. Christ's "tent" is not an earthly copy but instead it is the true tent which man has not built (v2). Jesus doesn't serve in a copy or shadow of the real thing, instead He is the real thing and today our great high priest intercedes for us in heaven.


We don't need copies anymore and the church no longer worships in shadow. Christ is the fulfilment and substance of all the promises of God. Worship Him!


Pray (acTS)
Sing
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Q87 What is repentance unto life? 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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24th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read - Romans 2:1


Message Alan Burke 


“It wasn’t me”, “it’s not my fault”, “it was him”, “he told me to do it”! Those are but some of the things that have come out of my mouth over the years when I’ve done something I shouldn’t have. Let’s be honest though we all make excuses from time to time, maybe you don’t because you’re like Mary Poppins and practically perfect in every way but I tell my kids that I’m practically perfect in every way and they believe me and if you believe that you’ll believe anything. Alright, excuse, we make them, we use them to cover up for our failures, wrong decision, our faults, shortcomings, we are all good at making excuses. The thing is though, the excuses we make wont cut it before God, for not only are we without excuse for creation reveals the invisible qualities, eternal power and divine nature of God, well we are also without excuse before God because we pass judgement on others. 


Now we’ve established you and I are practically perfect in every way just like Mary Poppins in spite of what my kids believe, yet this continues Paul’s reasoning of why we are without excuse. Although we might have left last week thinking well I’m not full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice, I’m not a gossip, slanderer, God hater, insolent, arrogant, boastful, I don’t disobey my parents… and obviously none of us ever disobeyed their parents ever, after all we are like Mary Poppins, practically perfect…, or that we were senseless, faithless, heartless, or ruthless, we may not have left thinking we were any of those things and we have never been any of those things. 


But the issue for us is not whether we have done the specific things listed and of course none of us ever disobeyed our parents ever, I was perfect of course, the important question for all of us is rather, how have we measured to the perfect standards of God? Here, Paul now deals with that basic human characteristic that we have, as we seek to make excuses for our own actions, that we are not innocent for we all pass judgement. Chapter one acted like a mirror, or it should have had, it should have confronted us with our sinfulness and if it didn’t here as chapter two begins we are reminded that as we try to evade the judgement of God we are actually standing in the place of God in our judgements on others. We have all done this, the thing that you may want to do right now is protest, make another excuse, that’s not me, that may be what your’e thinking!


Alright, I’m sure you’ve never got impatient with others, judging them, you’ve not got angry with others, judging them, you’ve never mouthed off in the car to that woman who cut you off, judging her, you’ve never accused anyone falsely, judging them, you’ve not never thought someones behaviour was beneath you, judging them, you’ve never thought that someone looked a state, judging them, any one want to say that they have never done any of those things? We think well of ourselves, we make excuses, our hearts are such by their nature that its never our fault. Our logic is that I don’t do what they do so I’m ok, I’m better than them so I’ll be ok. 


Here’s the thing, what we are confronted with here is that I am not ok, you are not ok and we are not ok, not one of us are ok before the Lord God, the sooner we realise that the better. The message Paul wants us to understand at this stage is not airy fairy, it’s not placating our egos, rather he wants to confront us with the reality of who we are by our nature and that before a Holy God we have no excuse, and as we stand in the place of God passing judgement on other we are condemning ourselves. Yet there is good news for us, for while our excuses are futile, through faith in Christ Jesus we receive His righteousness through faith, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last (Rom 1:17). It’s good news for us with our feeble excuse for although I am not ok, and you are not ok by our nature for we are all sinners we receive the perfect righteousness of Christ who needed no excuse for He perfectly obeyed the Father, He is the sinless Saviour!


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q86 What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, (Heb. 10:39) whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. (John 1:12, Isa. 26:3–4, Phil. 3:9, Gal. 2:16)
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22nd October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 7v11-28)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Jesus Christ is our great high priest and He is superior in every way to the   priesthood that we see in the Old Testament. In what ways is Christ the superior priest? Firstly, perfection was not possible under the Old Testament priesthood (v11-12). During the days of the sacrificial system the priests came from the tribe of Levi. But the sacrificial system was temporary and supposed to point worshippers to Christ. It is only through Jesus that perfection is possible.


Secondly, although Jesus isn't from the tribe of Levi, He is still our perfect priest (v12-14). Jesus came from the tribe of Judah and no one from that tribe ever served at the altar (v13) and Moses never mentioned anything about Judah and priests (v14). Jesus instead comes in the likeness of Melchizedek who was a priest long before Moses, the Levites, the Law and the sacrificial system.


Thirdly, Jesus didn't become a priest because of His family descent but by the power of His indestructible life (v16). He died but rose again and is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (v17).


Fourthly, Christ obeyed the law completely on our behalf. The law could not save us, it could make no one perfect but Christ has introduced us to a greater hope. By grace alone, faith alone in Christ alone, we can draw near to God (v19).


Fifthly, the Levitical priests were introduced to their role without an oath but Christ was made a priest with an oath from God that Jesus would be a priest forever (v20-21). Sixthly, there was a multitude of Levitical priests because their role ended when they died, but only Christ is a high priest forever. Because Christ lives forevermore (v23-24), He is able to save fully any who draw near to Him and He lives to pray for them daily at the Father's right hand (v25).


Finally, Jesus is the sinless, spotless, Son of God. He is perfect in every way and is exalted in heaven (v26). Therefore His sacrifice is once and for all and never to be repeated. He doesn't need to offer daily sacrifices for His own sin and that of His people - He has no sin and Calvary paid the price for His bride the church. The Levitical priests were appointed in weakness but Christ is the perfect high priest forever (v28).


It's hard to believe that some of the Hebrews were seriously considering a return to the old system that couldn't save and the old priests who were as weak as them. Instead the Apostle pointed them directly to Jesus who was superior in every single way to the Levitical priesthood.


Today if you would be saved then Jesus is the only way. Today if you need help then Jesus is the one to turn to. Today if you seek assurance of salvation then Jesus is at the right-hand interceding for you. Don't look back, instead look to Jesus who is the guarantor of better covenant (v22).  


Pray (acTS)
Sing
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Q85 What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin? To escape the wrath and curse of God, due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
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21th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read Romans 1:32


Message Alan Burke 


As we come to the end of the chapter, we see how sadly that as God hands people over to their sin we begin to see; The true depts of human depravity verse 32. It is not only that we know these things that are listed in this passage to be wrong, it is not only that we know God’s righteous decrees, it is not that those who do such things deserve death, what we are confronted with here in this verse is that sinners not only engage in the sin itself but they give approval to those who sin as God is withdraws his restraining grace on sinful man. The radical corruption of the human heart is that it not only rejects the truth of God even though it's clear to them and they are without excuse, it also attempts to have others excuse their sin, not tolerate it but to affirm it. Not only is it enough for us to sin privately, we seek to fool ourselves that we are not that bad and surround ourselves with fellow sinners so that they will approve our sin and we can approve theirs.  


Today that is where we are, it has been almost two thousands years since the Lord inspired Paul to write this letter to the believers in Rome, but the description given of sin and its effects when people reject the truth of God even though it's clear to them and they are without excuse is as true today as it ever was. While there is in each and every human being an innate sense of right and wrong, that the laws of nature testify to, the state of mankind is that we reject that which is clear and deliberately cast what we know about God and nature off. What is worse is that we applaud and rejoice those who practice such things and there are whole denominations, and businesses who get on the bandwagon, politicians who call sin good and say that christians who pray for certain sins should be deemed as having committed a hate crime. 


Sadly though the sin against nature here that is told to us is one that we can quickest to react against, but what about the unmarried couple living together, or having restraint before marriage, what about willingly listening to the gossip rather than stopping the person who is sharing it and challenging them? What about those who are never satisfied and constantly envying the new car, the bigger and better thing who need the latest and best? What about how we flagrantly disregard the word of God when it comes to the Sabbath and in effect the Ten Commandments are Nine Commandments? The list could go on and when see these things in ourselves we often dismiss it but for one of the sins listed here! There is a question we need to ask ourselves, are we seeking approval for our sin or are we seeking with God’s help to forsake all evil, to turn from that sin in our lives?


Because the reason that God takes sin so seriously is one that we often miss, it is not that He is just some killjoy who doesn’t want us to have any fun or that the is some mean tyrant who likes having things His own way, no, God takes sin seriously because He knows better than we know just how destructive it is. Sin destroys lives, it destroys relationships with family, friends, it destroys marriages. Today we are to witness to our culture about a better way, as we show purity and fidelity in marriage, we tell people that Biblical marriage is good, and that this is God’s design for where intimacy can be enjoyed between a husband and a wife, that we live as redeemed people, feeling sin, seeking obedience, that we speak of the great hope that we have in our God.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q84 What doth every sin deserve?
Every sin deserveth God’ s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come. (Eph. 5:6, Gal. 3:10, Lam. 3:39, Matt. 25:41)

​20th October 2022


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 7v5-10)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


We've established that in Melchizedek we see a little glimpse of Christ but is that all we learn? By no means. In Hebrews we are constantly told that Christ is superior to the angels, to Moses, to Melchizedek and to the Old Testament priesthood. The Hebrews wondered if they should return to their roots and leave Christ behind. They considered swapping Jesus for the shadows of the past.


Paul couldn't fathom why anyone would want to take this path. Why go back to human priests when you had the great high priest called Jesus? He was and is superior in every way to the Old Testament priests and He was foreshadowed by Melchizedek. For example the priestly line of Levi took tithes from the people (v5) but Melchizedek took tithes from Abraham who had received the promises of God.


Melchizedek (the superior) blessed Abraham (the inferior) and Abraham honoured him with a tenth of the spoils of war (v7). The Levitical priests received tithes from mortal men but there was no Biblical mention of Melchizedek's death (v8). Indeed it is possible to say that Levi himself was paying tithes through Abraham who was Levi's ancestor (v10).


What's all this about? Paul wishes to stress the superiority of Christ. Jesus was not a priest because He was descended from Levi. He was a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. In other words Christ is far superior to the Old Testament priests. He's not following in their footsteps, His priesthood is more glorious in every way.


So when Abraham met Melchizedek in the King's Valley, he was interacting with a type of Christ long before the sacrificial system and the priesthood was introduced. Abraham saw a figure of the priesthood of Christ.


Jesus is our priest par excellence. His priesthood is without beginning, without end and without equal. How could anyone consider leaving Jesus for any other? Brothers and sisters, never allow your eyes to drop from Christ. Never allow yourself to look back to your past life. Never allow yourself to wonder "Is there another way?" Instead, for every look you take of yourself, take ten looks at Christ. May you realise again what Paul never forgot - no one compares to Jesus.


Pray (acTS)
Sing
WSC
Q83 Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.