Day 270

Pray (ACts)

Read - John 16v7-11

Message - Scott Woodburn
This week in the covenant of redemption we have heard about the Father's choosing of the elect and the Son's death for the sins of God's elect. This covenant was made in eternity past between the three persons of the Trinity. So what is the Holy Spirit's role?

Amazingly Jesus tells us that it is to our advantage that He has gone to heaven. For if Jesus had not returned to glory then the Spirit, called the Helper, would not come (v7). But thankfully the Spirit has come and He continues to play a very specific and vital role in the covenant of redemption.

Before we detail the Spirit's activity, let me ask you, how were you saved? Did you turn your life around and run to Jesus? Did an excellent preacher one day share the Gospel in a new way that finally convinced you of your need of Christ? What was it? He rarely gets the credit and it is often overlooked but if anyone has been saved, the Spirit has been at work.

Jesus speaks in today's passage about how the Spirit works in a convicting way. He is sent to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgement (v8). Without the Spirit's convicting ministry, none of these topics would be front and centre of our minds. In Psalm 14, David writes that there are none who do good and none who seek after God. David isn't writing here about the really, really bad people. He speaks generally of all of humanity. If left to their own devices not a single person would turn to God.

Suddenly we realise again the magnificence of Christmas. The birth of Christ showed clearly that God was taking the initiative, He was stepping into history, He was seeking us out even when we were dead in sin. So if anyone turns to Jesus it is because the Spirit has worked miraculously in that individual's heart. The Spirit causes that person to be born again. They have moved from death to life and have been given new hearts. They have been convicted of their need of Christ and repent of their many sins. Then with new strength in their legs they run to Jesus and find rest and so, in glorious fashion, the three persons of the Trinity work in perfect unity to redeem the elect.

If you have been saved, this is not of you or your works, you have nothing that gives you room to boast. Instead the covenant of redemption teaches us that the Father chooses us, the Son is bruised for us and the Spirit renews us and produces fruit in us. Again, this wasn't a last minute and rushed plan. God wasn't responding to the "accident" of the cross as some see it. God wasn't on the back foot because Satan spoiled the real plan which would have seen Jesus as King of an earthly kingdom. In eternity past, our God made a promise to save us. It wasn't left to chance and it wasn't dependent upon us. It involved the Father's choice, the Son's sacrifice and the Spirit's call. Truly salvation belongs to our Triune God! 

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Q44 What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us? The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, that because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.

Day 269

Pray (ACts)

Read - Genesis 1:1-2 Luke 1:31-34

Message - Alan Burke 

Mary found favour in the eyes of the Lord, God conceived in her womb a son, who is Jesus (lit. ‘God Saves’). He is the Son of the Most High God and he has the throne of his father David, and he reigns over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Lk 1:31–33). On hearing this announced to her Mary had a simple question, one that is not of doubt, instead that simply wanted to know “How can this be for I am still a virgin” (34). Mary might have only been thirteen, fourteen at the most but she knew enough about how things worked to know how a child comes into this world. So her question was how can this be since she was betrothed and had not yet laid with her husband, it’s the obvious question, how? The question of Mary was a simple one, that is mirrored by many today, how can a woman who is a virgin become pregnant without natural reproduction? Well the answer is a simple one, it is by the power of God. The miracle of this birth was all because the power of God. 

If we spent a moment to consider the greatness of God, the grandness of his creation, the scale, the size the glory, then it would be much easier for us to grasp this truth, we often limit God to by our own experiences and what is tangible to us, what is quantifiable in our experience. Scripture tells us that God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1), it was by his word that all that has been made has been made (Jn 1:3, 10). And God by power would conceive in the womb of Mary a son. This is what the angel Gabriel made it clear, that it would be was the creative work in her by the Holy Spirit (35). The same God who brought life out of nothing and created humans in his image from the dust of the ground, was to conceive a son in the womb of Mary. 

The result would be a child, as God’s glorious presence through the Spirit overshadowed Mary and this child was the Holy Son of God. Just as the Holy Spirit had been actively involved in the beginning at creation (Gen 1:2), the Holy Spirit would be there to bring forth a new beginning, the second Adam, the true Adam who did what the first Adam failed to do and live a life of obedience to the Father. Jesus Christ took a human nature from Mary, and did it in such a way that Mary’s own sinfulness was not taken with it. Mary was but an instrument of the Holy Spirit to bring God in the flesh.

Remember the promise of salvation in Genesis 3:15, when God promises that one would crush the head of the serpent, the promise of the incarnation, the overcoming of Adam’s enemy the Devil. This was a divine necessity, without which there could be no salvation, as an act of infinite love and condescension, the Son of God became partaker of flesh and blood through the incarnation for since without the shedding of blood there is no removal of sins (Heb 9:22). Jesus took on humanity in order that through his own death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the Devil. Yet he was also fully God that he might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath that was placed upon him and that we deserve. Though the incarnation the only begotten Son of the Most High God came so that we might be reconciled to God in spite of our sin, so that we might be the recipients of God’s favour, through his glorious grace (Eph 1:6), his grace is that which is given to all believers not because we had done anything to deserve it, that we had earned it, not because we had any redeeming quality, but solely because of God’s grace through Christ Jesus.

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Q 43 What is the preface to the ten commandments?
The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Exod. 20:2)

Day 268

Pray (ACts)

Read - John 6v37-40

Message - Scott Woodburn
If we are to really impress Santa then 365 days of good behaviour is exactly what is required. We've known this from childhood and none of us ever wanted a bag of ashes from the big man in the red suit. If Santa is impressed by such obedience then what must we do to be saved? Two years good behavior? Three? A lifetime? Unfortunately even the best of us falls far short of the glory of God.

What is to be done? Thankfully God has taken the initiative. We heard on Tuesday about the covenant of redemption. Before time began, the persons of the Godhead agreed to redeem a people from sinful humanity. Paul explains that God the Father chose a people to be saved before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1v4). But how would such a people be redeemed? Perhaps God was going to overlook their sin? Maybe like an earthly parent who turns a blind eye to their children's flaws, God would pretend He didn't see our depravity. No. The Lord is just. Sin, if it was to be forgiven, required a payment.

The apostle highlights this in Hebrews 9v22. Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin. A sacrifice was required and in eternity past God the Son willingly volunteered to be that sacrifice. Jesus makes this clear in John 6v38. He comes and takes on flesh to do the will of the Father. The Father has willed a people to be saved and so the Son comes to do His will. Christ is born in a lowly estate and becomes subject to the frailty and limitations of humanity. He comes under the law of God and keeps it perfectly both passively and actively. Eventually Christ is sent like a guilty sinner to the cross and knows the agonies of hell and death itself. Then on the third day He stands again on this earth.

Jesus fulfills all the conditions of the covenant of redemption and so the Father rewards the Son's obedience with the salvation of the elect. If today you are saved, it is because the Father chose and the Son came to die. It certainly puts a different perspective on Christmas.

Yet before you toss Santa in the bin, I would remind you that the historical Santa believed in Christ. You've probably heard the story about him punching a heretic called Arius in the face. We shouldn't build our house on such a story. If it happened, it probably didn't work out the way the story is told, but nevertheless, we have reason to believe that Saint Nicholas was a Christian who believed that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, without whom we would be lost.

The covenant of redemption isn't some obscure bit of theology. The Father's plan to redeem a chosen people would cost the sinless life of God the Son. It needed to be this way. For our sins to be forgiven they couldn't be hidden under the carpet. They needed to be paid for and indeed they are! Christ is the perfect sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God (propitiation) and through faith in Christ our sins are forgiven and remembered no more. This Christmas might be very different but the Gospel hasn't changed. God is still just and the justifier of the one who trusts in Christ (Romans 3v26). Thanks be to God!  

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Q42 What is the sum of the ten commandments? The sum of the ten commandments is, 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 neighbor as ourselves.
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Day 267

Pray (ACts)

Read - Genesis 6:8 Luke 1:26-38

Message - Alan Burke 
Mary and Noah, maybe not two people that you would make a connection between. After all, Noah was one of the Patriarchs in the Old Testament and Mary was the mother of Jesus. What connected these two is that both of them found favour in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8, Lk 1:28,30). Both Mary and Noah were special recipients of God’s favour, God out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity past had chosen them. It wasn’t that either of them were in some way deserving, for they like us were sinners and the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), instead they were the recipients of God’s favour not because they had in some way deserved it, or that they had earned it, not because they had any redeeming quality but because of the grace of God, it was God’s favour, his grace that he showed them. 

As the angel Gabriel came to Mary she was troubled (29), because she knew fine well that she was undeserving and his coming made her aware of her own unworthiness. Yet it was the Lord had chosen her for a special purpose in the history of salvation, that in her the Lord would conceive and she would bear a son and he shall be called Jesus, meaning God saves (30). God was using Mary, sending the gift of salvation, all of it taking place according to the council of God’s will, whereby for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass (Eph 1:5.11, Rom 9:22-23).

This son would be the saviour, he would bring salvation to sinners by dying on the cross in shame and rising again in glory. Even though he would be born in the humblest of circumstances, this Jesus would be great, his work, his might, his power, his mercy are great, his greatness would be the greatness of God. For he is the Son of the Most High. This announcement is that Mary would give birth to a son named Jesus, who would be the great saviour and the Son of the Most High, the Son of God. For this child comes to rule and is all part of God’s plan from the very beginning. Nothing will overcome or bring a halt to his reign, neither rejection, nor crucifixion will stop the plan of God to bring salvation, for God was and is at work. All that was revealed to Mary filled her with hope, a hope of the child that was coming, a hope of sin defeated. This Jesus would have the throne of his father David, he would reign and does reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end (Lk 1:32-33).

Think upon how Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8), just as Mary found favour in the eyes of the Lord, it was not because they had done anything to deserve it, that they had earned it, not because they had any redeeming quality, but solely because of God’s grace, his divine initiative, his choosing. Similarly we have been have been recipients of God’s favour, for we have received his glorious grace (Eph 1:6), his grace is that which is given to all believers not because we had done anything to deserve it, that we had earned it, not because we had any redeeming quality, but solely because of God’s grace. Mary had found favour with God, she is a recipient his of grace, likewise all who have been chosen by God have received his favour. Not because in any way we deserve it but God shows his unmerited grace to us who are lowly sinners just like Mary. 

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Q 41 Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?
The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments. (Deut. 10:4, Matt. 19:17)
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Day 266

Pray (ACts)

Read - John 6v37 & Ephesians 1v4-5

Message - Scott Woodburn
What word defines Christmas? The children's address answer is "Jesus", indeed any question in church usually has "Jesus" as the answer. But today and over the final weeks of 2020 I want us to think about the word "promise". Christmas is a season of promises fulfilled. Humanly speaking we promise Santa that we deserve some presents. At New Year we promise ourselves that next year will be different. But theologically speaking the birth of Christ sees the fulfillment of God's ancient promise to redeem a people for Himself.

As reformed Christians we have long been criticised by brothers and sisters in Christ over our practice of infant baptism. We are told that it is unbiblical and there is absolutely no ground in Scripture to support our practice. Before I enter into any discussion about the rights and wrongs of baptising the children of believing parents I always strive to take the discussion to the question of covenant. You can't understand our practice of infant baptism if you do not understand covenant.

What do we mean by covenant? In the Scriptures God deals with us by way of covenant, in simple terms God makes a promise that He will certainly keep. Hopefully you are familiar with the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. If not, then fear not! We'll be considering both before auld lang syne is sung. Perhaps though you have never heard about the covenant of redemption. What is it? The covenant of redemption is a pretemporal (before time), intratrinitarian (between the persons of the Trinity) agreement between the Father and Son. The Father promises to redeem an elect people. The Son promises to pay the price for those people. The Spirit ultimately calls those people to repentance and faith in the Son.

Have I just made that stuff up? Absolutely not! We see the covenant of redemption clearly in John 6v37. Jesus says that the Father has given a people to the Son. These people will certainly come to the Son (here is the Spirit's work) and all those who come, Jesus will by no means cast out. They won't be cast out because they look in faith to Jesus whose sacrifice is acceptable in the sight of God. We'll think later this week on the involvement of the Son and Spirit but today let's think about the Father's work.

In Ephesians 1v4 Paul says that the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. This is what we mean when we say that the covenant of redemption is pretemporal. It was before time. Before there was anything, the Father had chosen a people in Christ. He had decreed that they would be adopted into the family of God through faith in Christ.

God's Word does not return to Him void, if He makes a promise then He keeps that promise. Beloved of the Lord, when we turn Christmas into tinsel and turkey we miss the glory of the season. With the birth of Christ, God's timeless promise was coming true. He wasn't waiting for a people who deserved His love. He wasn't waiting for us to seek Him out. He had made a covenant in eternity past and He was actively making that promise a reality. As he often does, Paul hits the nail on the head. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4v4-5) Thanks be to God!
  
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Q40 What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience? The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law.
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Day 265

Pray (ACts)

Read - Genesis 3:1-15 and Luke 1:26-38

Message - Alan Burke 

Today and the rest of this week we think upon the incarnation of the Son of God. But as we begin we are going to start at the beginning. As you read it can’t have escaped you that this life is far from how we would want it or desire it to be. It is the truth that none of us can avoid, we may try to explain it away or ignore it but we all know it to be true. The bible helps us to understand why, why this life is far from how we would want it or desire to be. In the account of what happened in the Garden of Eden, we read there how as soon as Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree (7), the eyes of both of them were opened and they realise that they were naked, then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden (8). 

Why is life far from how we would want it or desire it to be, well it is because we lost communion with God. We lost relationship with the creator. When God came seeking Adam, he and his wife hid from their Creator-Lord and all people ever since have sought to hide from our Creator and seek to avoid Him in our fallen condition, yet it is impossible to do so we still try. Now, we are miserable in that we have lost fellowship with our God, and thus have lost the communion with Him we were created to enjoy. We have lost His gracious presence and kind favour toward us by nature, we are now hopeless by nature, “without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). 

If God had left the human race to perish at that point in the beginning it would have been a glorious display of his perfect righteousness and justice, for we did not and do no deserve anything else. Yet God in his good pleasure and grace sought to bring his elect from that state of sin and misery and bring them into an estate of salvation by a redeemer. The bible tells of that story, for it is a covenantal story, that Paul describes as “the covenant of promise” (Eph 2:12). The covenant, the covenant of grace is first announced when God said to the serpent; “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15) 

This first announcement of the gospel was of one who would come to deal with the serpent, the promise of the incarnation, of how Satan would receive a fatal blow whereas the offspring of Eve or literally seed would only be struck on his heel. God figuratively was speaking of what would happen, how that one day Satan would finally be defeated, it is the promise of the incarnation, of someone who would come to deal with the consequences of the fall and the sin. The mighty work of God is a story of grace in how he brought the coming serpent crusher, his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who would bring about the reign of an everlasting kingdom. This is the hope that we will be thinking upon over the coming week, how God was sending the gift of salvation in his only begotten Son, all of it taking place according to the council of God’s will, whereby for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass (Eph 1:5.11, Rom 9:22-23). 

This is the hope that we have, our only hope as this life is far from how we would want it or desire it to be, a hope in the promised Son of the Most High that was revealed to Mary that filled her with hope, a hope of sin defeated. This Jesus has the throne of his father David, reigning over all and his kingdom will never end (Lk 1:30-33). If you know him then know that hope this day of sins forgiven, of grace though Jesus Christ for all who confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead will be saved (Rom 10:9)

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Q 39 What is the duty which God requireth of man?
The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will. (Mic. 6:8, 1 Sam. 15:22)

Day 263

Pray (ACts)

Read - 2 Corinthians 13v5-14

Message - Scott Woodburn
Paul's second letter to the Corinthians is almost finished but Paul hopes that his relationship with them will continue. But for the relationship to progress Paul asks the Corinthians to examine themselves (v5). They are currently sitting on the fence, they haven't turned their backs on Paul but at the same time they haven't turned their backs on the false apostles either. So Paul urges them to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith.

The Christian faith was not accurately presented by Paul's opponents. We cannot know at this stage the finer points of their false doctrines but Paul has already made it clear that they have been proclaiming a different Christ, a different Spirit and a different Gospel. The Corinthians are to therefore examine what they themselves believe to ensure they pass the test. Are they trusting in Christ alone as He is offered in the Gospel? Do they understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit? Do they preach the true Gospel of grace alone, faith alone and Christ alone?

If they pass the test then they will realise that Paul has passed the test too - he is the real deal (v6). Yet Paul doesn't want their focus to be on him, that would be the wrong conclusion (v7a). Instead, as always, Paul wants the truth to ring out. He wants the Corinthians to do what is right (v7b). Ultimately we cannot stop the march of truth (v8a), we can only work to proclaim the truth (v8b). Paul may minister in much weakness as his opponents like to point out (v9a) but if his ministry means that the Corinthians are strong, then Paul is glad (v9b). He wants the Corinthians to be restored (v9c) or in other words to remove the false teachers and to once again enjoy a pure devotion to Christ. It is for this reason that Paul writes (v10a). He doesn't want to tear down and destroy the Corinthians but to build them up and establish them once more in the faith.

To an outsider looking in, the Corinthians might have seemed like a lost cause. They were a divided church, a fellowship that was drifting from orthodox Christian teaching, a church that was prepared to tolerate sin and a congregation that allowed false teachers to air their heresy unchallenged. What should be done? Forget about them? Rub them out and start again? Leave them to it? Paul doesn't take any of these routes. He continues to proclaim Christ and Him crucified. He challenges falsehood and he seeks to build the Corinthians in the faith. He is unshakeable in his confidence in Christ and he is prepared to endure all things for the sake of Christ's church.

We have reached the end of our walk through this book and I trust it has been a blessing and a challenge to your soul. How do we respond to this apostolic teaching? The Word of God has the final say. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (v11-14)

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Q38 What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? At the resurrection, believers, being raised up to glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
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Day 262

Pray (ACts)

Read - Micah 5:2-5a

Message - Alan Burke 
We continue today looking at this prophecy, as the Lord God speaks to his people though Micah. Already we have learnt of the iniquity of the people of God and how they would face being ravaged by their enemies in the coming as Divine judgment, yet there is hope. The hope of a ruler that would come in Bethlehem Ephrathah, a place of little worldly significance, but there God would bring forth a new ruler from the line of David (5:2). Even though God’s people would face being abandoned until that time because of their sins and transgressions against the Lord God Almighty, it would not last forever. It would come to an end when she who is in labour gives birth (5:3). The Labour is that of the remnant, those of the covenant community who have remained faithful to God. It is through the faithful that the Lord Jesus Christ Comes, the family of Jesus were characterised by faith, prayer, and the fullness of the God in their lives.  

We in the present do not face abandonment, the Lord has promised to us that he will never leave us or forsake us, we can have confidence that in the present, what ever we face that the Lord is our helper, as the Holy Spirit, dwells and works within us (Heb 13:-6-7), he has set his seal upon us, he has put his Spirit in our hearts as a repost, guaranteeing what is to come (1 Cor 1:22). It is by the means that we are children of God, those who are born by the work of God within us (Jn 1:13). 

And the hope that God was directing his people to in the day of Micah was that the Messiah would come and do this, that the day would come when those who were scattered in the wake of the Lord’s abandonment will return from exile, the people of God will be united around their new ruler. This is supremely fulfilled in Christ, in whom the whole building is joined together, as in his flesh, the dividing wall of hostility so that there is neither Jew of Gentile, but one body through the cross (Eph 2:14).  

This one to come would be a shepherd 5:4), the one who is the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. The coming rulers devotion is far greater than any ruler before or since. His devotion is to the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God. He comes as the Word of God incarnate, the Son of God, fully God and fully man. This ruler will be able to keep the demands of God’s perfect law, keeping the covenant obligations and in doing so brings blessing to his people. It is because he has perfectly kept the law of God, the covenant obligations on our behalf those who are his, his flock, the sheep of his pasture can live securely. The people and nations of the world find their security in status, wealth and even military might but our security is in him. It is a reminder to us, that our security should be found solely in Christ, our security does not come from status, wealth or might, it does not come from how good we are, our own merits, what church we belong to, what building we worship in but solely by faith in his righteousness. 

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ then be confident in all that he has done, our hope is secure because of him as his grace is sufficient. He stand as the good shepherd guiding and ordering his flock, watching over it and at all times he is ready to defend those who are his. Be confident when you face temptation, be confident when you face trial because the Lord Jesus Christ rules over all and he dwells in all those who believe through his Sprit. 

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Q 37 What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, (Heb. 12:23) and do immediately pass into glory; (2 Cor. 5:1,6,8, Phil. 1:23, Luke 23:43) and their bodies, being still united to Christ, (1 Thess. 4:14) do rest in their graves, (Isa. 57:2) till the resurrection. (Job 19:26–27)

Day 261

Pray (ACts)

Read - 2 Corinthians 13v1

Message - Scott Woodburn
When does something become true? When is an issue settled in your head? Come with me to the Ballynahinch branch of B&M. You're standing there one day wondering if you should buy that lamp that is shaped like a unicorn's head when an old friend bumps into you. You both offer greetings and pass a few moments catching up before the real business begins. Your friend has gone through a messy divorce. She doesn't share the whole story but needless to say enough hints are given to suggest that the fault lies entirely with her former husband. You went to school with the man but your friend's comments have left you stunned. What a dirtbag he is! You got him completely wrong! What a fool you have been!

The above story is entirely fictitious but it certainly isn't outside the realms of possibility. Conversations just like it happen every single day and not just in B&M. But let me ask you again, when does something become true? When is an issue settled in your head? Is the word of a friend enough?

Paul is returning to Corinth and unfortunately it looks like he will once again engage in church discipline (v2). Admittedly he hopes that the false apostles will repent, but if not, he certainly won't spare them. How is truth in such a situation to be discerned? Paul writes that "every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses." (v1). This is completely unsurprising. As we have walked through 2 Corinthians we have touched before on the Biblical standard of truth.

Jesus in Matthew 18v16 urges us to take one or two others with us to seek reconciliation with a brother so "that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses." When Paul writes to Timothy he advises "do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses." (1 Timothy 5v19) Indeed the church is portrayed as two witnesses in the book of Revelation (Revelation 11v3) highlighting their truthful witness.

Quickly we see that for the Christian it isn't good enough to believe the words of a friend absolutely and without question. We rapidly discover that when we hear stories or slanderous gossip we should refuse to believe any of it until the truth has been established by witnesses. This doesn't mean that we treat everyone like they are liars. In the story above, your friend's testimony may have been absolutely true, but without sitting down with all parties, without knowing all the facts, without all the information to hand, you just cannot be sure. Therefore you should guard yourself against taking decisions based on incomplete evidence. Like the Russian proverb suggests "trust but verify".

Can you see the damage that unverified stories can have on a church? We believe half truths and outright lies without ever applying the Biblical standard. Our relationships change because we believed untested "truth" about our brother or sister in Christ (Proverbs 16v28). Cliques are built on castles of sand. People are ignored or shunned and they are never given an opportunity to address the stories. This might be how the school playground works, but never the church of Christ.

It has been said that gossip is a respectable sin. We certainly wouldn't tolerate other more "serious" sins but gossip gets a pass. Should this be so? No. Never. Gossip often rots the heart of many fellowships. We know it stinks but we let it pass because there is something incredibly seductive about it. May God forgive us. May He bring restoration to fellowships destroyed by "stories". May He sanctify us so that we demand every charge, every story, every whisper, to be established by the testimony of two or three witness and may we always remember that just as Jesus is the way and the life, He also remains the truth.

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Q36 What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification? The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

Day 260

Pray (ACts)

Read - Micah 5:2-5a

Message - Alan Burke 
We have all today heard of Bethlehem, we know roughly where it is, some of us have even gone there. If you fancy a wee road trip according to my maps app, it would take us about 56 hours to travel the 3,435 miles, although I’m not sure any of us could drive for 56 hours solid. Look to how Micah introduces Bethlehem, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah”. Why this way? Well in truth Bethlehem Ephrathah was a place of little to no significance, a place that could easily overlooked but it was this place that God had chosen to send the redeemer of his people. It goes totally against human wisdom, if it was us, we would expect the King of the world to come in a place of significance, if it were today in a city like New York, London, Dubai, Sydney, Washington DC, that’s why the wise men headed to Jerusalem when the followed the star (Matt 2:1-2. But then God’s ways are not like our ways, he choses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:27). God was going to bypass Jerusalem the city which he chose and loved above all cities, and in his divine choosing it would be Bethlehem (Ps 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122).

In Bethlehem Ephrathah God would bring a new start, for a shoot would come from the stump of Jesse, a branch would grow out of his roots (Is 11:1). God was directing the hearers of this prophecy to the hope that there was in King David’s line (2 Sam 5:2, 7:8, 1 Sam 16). Though David’s house failed, God’s covenant to David would never fail (2 Sam 7, 1 Chro 17, Ps 89), and Bethlehem the birthplace of David would represent a new beginning for the people of God. As they heard these words in the midst of the news of the judgement that was coming they would have been filled with hope, for in spite of their faithlessness God would continue to be faithful to his people and his promises. 

For the one who was to come and now has come is the Lord Jesus Christ. This ruler, the promised deliver of God’s people rules on behalf of the Lord and his interests, he is unlike any earthly king that there has ever been, before or since, for he has come to redeem a sinful people, as saviour of the world, to bring about the purposes of God, doing the will of the one who sent him. Today as we read these words and think of this hope, we know that the Lord has kept his word, fulfilled his promises and that this hope is real. For the Lord has sent his ruler Jesus Christ who has come to meet the deepest need of all people, the need of reconciliation, of sins forgiven. He rules not in Israel but over Israel, he came to rule over the entire earth forever (5:2). 

Where ever you are know that in the midst living in this fallen broken world that we can know and have confident assurance in the promises of God. For the Lord has set his ruler, his King to rule over all. It means that right now what ever we face we have a sure and steadfast hope that when this life comes to an end, or when he returns that we will be glorified people, like Jesus, like our Saviour (1 Jn 3:2). In the midst of this life that is far from how we would want it or desire it to be, lets look not to this world and all that glitters and shines that will always disappoint but look to the Saviour who has come and is coming again. 

Pray (acTS)

Sing

WSC
Q 35 What is sanctification?
Sanctification is the work of God’ s free grace, (2 Thess. 2:13) whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, (Eph. 4:23–24) and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. (Rom. 6:4,6, Rom. 8:1)
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