8th December 2022
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 11v29-30) Message (Scott Woodburn) Have you ever heard the phrase "between a rock and a hard place"? It means that you are caught in a difficult situation with trouble on both sides. For the Israelites who left Egypt the rock was the Red Sea and the hard place was the advancing Egyptian army. On one side was death by drowning and on the other was death by sword, spear and arrow. Things were so bad that the Israelites complained to Moses “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14v11-12) It's extraordinary that despite witnessing the plagues, the pass over, the cloud and fiery pillar these people quickly turned to faithlessness. It is incredibly easy to judge them and pretend that we would never make the same mistakes but truth be told we are often just as faithless as the Israelites. Despite their pleas Moses was clear “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14v13) What followed was yet another miraculous intervention by the Lord. Moses reached out his hand and the Lord sent a strong wind which divided the Red Sea and created a path for the Israelites to safely follow. As the Egyptians gave chase, the Lord commanded Moses to stretch out his hand again. This time the waters returned to their normal position and the Egyptian army was destroyed. Forty years later (after much rebellion and wandering) a new generation of Israelites would be called to follow an unorthodox approach. The Lord told them that He had given them the city of Jericho which in turn opened the way to the promised land of Canaan. They wouldn't take the city with military might, instead they were to march around the city walls once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day they were to march around the city walls seven times. Joshua 6 tells the whole story but needless to say the end result was the destruction of the walls and city of Jericho. The people accepted all of this by faith. Faith believes God even when the situation seems bleak and faith willingly accepts that our God is able to do stunningly miraculous things. In this faithless generation we would love to see walls falling and seas parting but perhaps you have missed an even greater miracle in your own home? The Lord is able to take a spiritually dead sinner like you and give you a heart of flesh that willingly receives Christ by faith. Without the movement of God, no one would seek Him, no one would want Him and no one would be saved. Instead He tears down the hard walls that surround our hearts and He parts the waters of sin. We are recipients of God's miraculous saving grace and yet sadly still often respond with faithlessness. We must repent today of our hard heartedness and eyes which often look back to Egypt. May God forgive us and remind us of His miraculous deeds. In response as exiled pilgrims we fall silent before Him (Exodus 14v13) in faith and fear (Exodus 14v31). Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q18 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
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7th December
Pray (ACts) Read - Leviticus 16 and Romans 3:23-27 Message - Alan Burke Today I want to take you back to the Old Testament, so many people read the New Testament without doing the work to try to understand it with what has come before but the Old Testament is vitally important to how we understand the new and when we ignore it or don’t take the time to get into it then we rob ourselves of the wonder of what God has done. In v25 there is a word that is used, most translations have it either as a "sacrifice of atonement” or a “propitiation”. If you read Leviticus 16 it talks about the day of atonement, how the sins of the people were to be dealt with and it is where we get the phrase ‘scape goat’. In the Temple there was the most holy place, the holies of holies. If you are not familiar with the temple, think how when Jesus died on the Cross the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The curtain separated the presence of God from the people of God. Behind the curtain was the Most Holy place, there was the Ark of the Covenant, the top of the ark of the covenant was known as the “mercy seat” the greek word that is translated as "sacrifice of atonement” or a “propitiation” is “mercy seat”. Once a year on the day of atonement blood was spilt to make an atonement for the sin of the people and blood would be sprinkled on the ark of the covenant on the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the people. At the same time a goat was sent from the people and symbolically took the sin of the people out from among them, it was a scapegoat, for it took the sins of the people. Paul is telling us that Jesus did what the Day of Atonement pointed to, the blood that was shed, the sins that were removed, Jesus was our "sacrifice of atonement” or a “propitiation”. As He bore our sins on the cross, receiving the wrath of God in our place, His blood was spilled and covers all those who trust in Him, who believe, who have faith, our sins have been forgiven. What is more is that Jesus dealt with the sin of all all those who have faith in God, past, present and future. For on the day of atonement God accepted these offerings in his forbearance here we are are told. For God had left the sins of His people committed beforehand unpunished. For all of us through the death of Christ, His blood that was shed is the only way that we can be made right with God, it is the only way that those who lived before His coming are made right with God. Until Jesus Christ came and paid the price for my sin, for your sin, for our sin, no sin of man had received the punishment that it deserved in the forbearance of the Lord God. God awaited the right time, to fulfil what He had had promised as He preached the gospel to the devil in the midst of the fall of how one would come to bruise or crush the head of the serpent in Genesis 3:15. God in His grace held back His judgement in His forbearance until Jesus came and dealt with the sin of all the saints, the saints who lived before the coming of Christ and the saints since, the saints today and the saints in the future, all those who believe in Him are saints in Christ Jesus. In this God demonstrated His justice, the justice of God is seen in and through the Lord Jesus Christ who took the punishment that sin deserves for us and therefore the righteousness of God comes through faith in Christ Jesus. The Cross is the manifestation of the glorious wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23, 24). Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Question 17 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. (Rom. 5:12) 6th December 2022
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 11v23-28) Message (Scott Woodburn) Four hundred years after Abraham came another great figure in the history of redemption called Moses. In Hebrews 11 we are told that Moses' parents were individuals of faith. The Apostle doesn't tell us their names but from the testimony of Exodus we know them to be Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6v20). They believed in God's covenant promises and as a result they hid their baby boy Moses for three months. Why was this necessary? The Israelites were in captivity in Egypt and growing in number each year. In an attempt to keep them under his boot, the Egyptian Pharaoh ordered that all Israelite baby boys were to be killed. Amram and Jochebed knew the promises of God and so feared the Lord more than they feared Pharaoh (v23). The life of Moses was saved and he would providentially become an instrumental figure in God's plan of redemption. The faith of his parents was passed down to Moses and even though he grew up as a member of the house of Pharaoh he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter (v24). It would have been so easy for Moses to fit in and become like the Egyptians but instead he chose to be mistreated with the Israelites rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin which cannot last (v25). Paul describes this as Moses seeing the "reproach of Christ" as greater wealth than all of Egypt's treasures (v26). What does this mean? "Reproach" means criticism and Christ's reproach came when He took on flesh and willingly submitted Himself to the demands of the Law and finally the cross. He was mocked and scorned and beaten and tried - Christ knew reproach in every way. Moses could have avoided it all. He had been raised in Pharaoh's home and it would have been so easy to become part of Pharaoh's family turning his back on the Israelites and the promises of God. Yet Moses was a man of faith and he desired a heavenly reward over and above earthly treasure (v26). He swapped comfort for reproach. Eventually Moses murdered an Egyptian and had to flee but as he ran he wasn't afraid of Pharaoh for in the wilderness he met with the invisible God (v27). Moses was keeping the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro when he saw a bush that was burning but not destroyed. From that bush the Lord spoke to Moses and told him "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3) The Lord would send Moses back to Egypt where he would stand against Pharaoh and eventually Moses and the people would sprinkle the blood of lambs over their doorposts so that the Angel of Death would pass over them and not take the life of their firstborn (v28). This event was called "the Passover" and as time moved on the Passover meal would be replaced by the Lord's Supper which the church of Christ still enjoys today. The Apostle's treatment of Moses is breathless - in just a few verses the life of this extraordinary man is highlighted and yet so much is left out. There is no mention of the Egyptian plagues, no mention of Moses receiving the law and no mention of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness and water gushing out. Countless books have been written about Moses and endless sermons have been preached. He lived an extraordinary life that is worthy of study and contemplation. But what stands out in these verses is the simple truth that Moses was a man of faith who came from a family of faith. Amram and Jochebed defied one of the most powerful men in the world because they feared the Lord much more. Moses shunned the riches and comfort of Egypt because he longed for a reward that was permanent rather than fleeting. To Christian parents and grandparents - show your little ones the inestimable value of faith in Christ. Teach them how special the Lord's Day is. Sing your hearts out alongside them in church. Guide them through the Bible and help them listen to the Word read and especially preached. To Christians everywhere - be thankful for those who have walked the path before us. Consider their lives and imitate their ways and never ever forget that everything this world has to offer is fleeting but Christ and His promises are more valuable than gold. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression? The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression. 5th December
Pray (ACts) Read - Romans 3:21-22 Message - Alan Burke We all know that words have meaning and I know that I am stating the obvious, yet it can be easy to assume that everyone understands what is meant when we use a word. I want to take a word that is used here by Paul and make sure that we know what it means before we try to unpack what it means for us. Before we do that, remember what Paul has been doing, he has been bringing us face to face with the reality of our fallen condition. He has left none of us in any doubt about it, of how that we have no hope in ourselves before a holy God. He has given us bad news after bad news, revealing that all that we deserve, that you or I deserve is the wrath of God. BUT now is the time for the good news, and it is great news, for what we are told is “But now a righteousness…”. The word that we are going to think about before we go any further is righteousness. Righteousness, a biblical word that in effect means to have right standing before the Lord our God. It is not on anything that we have done or can do, actually the only thing that we contribute to the salvation we receive is the sin that made it necessary. Rather we have right standing before the Lord through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ that is imputed to us. Imputed means that it is given to us. For us there is a righteousness from God that comes, v 22 through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. To explain this in the past to children I’ve used two simple gestures that we are all so familiar with, thumbs up and thumbs down. When God looks at us because of sin, what we get is a thumbs down, but when God looks at us because of faith in Jesus Christ and what has done for us we get thumbs up. The wrong has been made right. It is the righteousness from God that enables us to come before Him. It is not in ourselves, for even our best efforts in this life are fifthly rags, our best efforts are worthless for we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God, none of us can hope to stand before a holy God in our own righteousness. For us and all people everywhere the only way that one can come before a holy God is through the righteousness He provides. Our Lord and God justifies the ungodly, not the well intentioned. Sinner, this is what God does for you and the key to receive this righteousness is not is not doing more, trying harder, it is through faith. Faith involves believing in what God has done through Jesus Christ, it involves trusting in God, in what He has said he would do and what He has done. Faith is a sure confidence in who God is, in His character, that He is who He says He is. Faith is based on assurance and that assurance is based on God’s character. Faith is a belief in God, not in what we have done but in God alone and faith is the vital organ that enables us to see the invisible order, to be sure of what we do not see and to wait for it with patience, even though we do not see the promises materialise yet, and in this we demonstrate true faith. It is not just head knowledge, it is total dependance of the person and work of Jesus Christ, that is seen in our obedience, an obedience that comes from faith (Rom 1:7). Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q15 What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein thy were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit. (Gen. 3:6) 3rd December 2022
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 11v22) Message (Scott Woodburn) Jacob's son Joseph lived until he was 110 spending the rest of his days in Egypt. Additionally he was blessed by seeing multiple generations of his family. But as each of us knows, death cannot be avoided. Joseph knew that his death was about to arrive and so he spoke words of truth to his brothers. The family at this stage were well settled in Egypt but Joseph reminded them that God’s promise still stood. Joseph said “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Joseph had done well in Egypt. The Lord had blessed him with much favour and yet in his bones, Joseph knew that God’s plans for his people would not be fulfilled in the land of the Sphinx. One day God would visit His people in Egypt and bring them home. Joseph wouldn’t live to see the glorious day but regardless he looked to it by faith. He made his brothers swear that they wouldn’t leave him in Egypt. After his death he was embalmed and placed in a coffin but one day Jospeh wanted his remains to go to the land of promise. He impressed upon his brothers “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” We can only imagine what Joseph’s life was like. The Scriptures paint a vivid picture but our minds are limited and time travel to see for ourselves is impossible. Regardless, we have much in common with Joseph of which we can be sure. Joseph was a man of faith who died without seeing the fulfilment of God’s promises. He died in a foreign land without setting foot in the land of promise ever again. Yet his faith did not waver and he was filled with a righteous anticipation that all things would be as God had promised. I have no idea about the when, where or how of my death. I could currently be in the final year of my life or I might see my 100th birthday. Equally, the Lord may return before I breathe my last. As we gaze into the future we do not have all the information but with eyes of faith we can be sure that the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. At death we can be sure that our souls will be made perfect and go to be with Christ. During the intermediate state (the time between our death and resurrection) we will know unspeakable joy. At the second coming of Jesus we can be sure that our bodies will be raised imperishable and reunited with our soul. In eternity we can be sure that we will dwell with Christ forever in a world without sin. None of this is “pie in the sky” nor should we be pitied for believing idle tales. God has promised and it will be so. Like Joseph, we believe even though we do not yet see in full, but a day is coming when our faith will be turned to sight. Until then we cling to the promises of God. On occasion we will cry “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9v24) but even so the Lord will remain faithful and He will preserve us until we cross the finish line. What a day that will be! We'll be finally home! Come quickly Lord Jesus! Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q14 What is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. 2nd December 2022
“First Posted 24th November 2021” Pray (ACts) Read - 1 Samuel 8:4-9 Message - Alan Burke In short, where we are is that Samuel’s sons whom Samuel had made judges (1) were using their position for their own benefit (3), the whole thing was a mess and the elders of the people came to Samuel to complain and they want a king to lead them (4-5). What they say is true, we might even think that they are justified in their desire for a king, but it was just a pretext for becoming like the nations around them. Think about it, they were saying Samuel’s sons were the issue, well Samuel could have sacked his sons, but your not going to get that with a king. Kingship is hereditary, if Samuel’s sons were bad and he was a godly leader of the people, what would it not be like if the King’s son/sons were hellions, who was to say that the son or grandson of the king that they wanted wouldn’t just be a shambles. Clearly what they had in mind was more than a change of leaders, what they wanted was a change of institution, they wanted a king because they wanted to be like everyone else. They were God’s covenant people, but this request is saying that they are unhappy with the way things work, the way God works, they wanted to be like everyone else. They had lived surrounded by the nations for two centuries and now they wanted to be like them, no longer were they happy to be different, to be set apart by God they just wanted to be like everyone else, but the problem is they in their desire they don’t want to do it God’s way, to live as God’s people they wanted to live like everyone else. As Samuel goes to the Lord it clear that they have not rejected Samuel but they have rejected God. The bible not only reveal Lord God to us and our need for him, but also reveals how the human heart works and how we are. This is God’s people wanting a substitute for God, they had done it before when they served their Ashtaroths and Baals (7:3-4), they had substituted him for something else and that was false gods, now they want to substitute God for a king. The human heart wants to take God and put something else, anything else in his place, our rebellious sinful hearts think that ‘thing’ what ever that thing is, is better! It can be any number of things, and it is what we need, we want it, we make ourselves think that we need it, we long for it, we even wished for it. But those things never satisfy, those things will always disappoint, they have consequences that we often never imagined at the time as the Israelites would find out. Instead what they needed as a people and what we need as a people is to have God at the centre of everything through Jesus Christ, knowing that a relationship with him is what we need, it is better than anything else that we can have and if he is our Lord then we will do what he says, it will be seen in our lives (Lk 6:46-49) Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q13 Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God. (Gen. 3:6–8,13, Eccl. 7:29) 1st December 2022
Pray (ACts) Read (Hebrews 11v21) Message (Scott Woodburn) There will come a day that every one of us will die. I do not state this fact to annoy you or to ruin your day - I state it because it is true and it is essential that we face death by faith. Jacob knew that his day was coming and stressed to his son Joseph that he was not to be buried in Egypt. Jacob wanted to go home to Canaan and be buried in the promised land. This in itself was an act of faith. Jacob was away from the land and his family had not yet possessed it but still Jacob wanted to be buried in home soil. He knew in his bones that the Lord would be faithful to His Word and one day the descendants of Israel would inhabit the land of promise. Jacob’s eyes may now have grown dim but they still shone with faith. He told Joseph of the promises of God, how the Lord had appeared to him at Luz and promised to multiply his descendants and give them the land as an everlasting possession. Such was his confidence in this promise that Jacob wanted the sons of Joseph to share in it. He claimed Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own and although the land was far away, Joseph’s sons would have a share in it. This was a bitter sweet moment. Jacob’s life was coming to a close and he remembered his beloved wife Rachel whose death caused him much sorrow but at the same time he had once believed that he would never see his son again and yet in this moment Joseph and his two sons were at his bedside. Jacob invited his grandsons near to receive a blessing and so Joseph brought his sons to his father with the eldest Manasseh to Jacob’s right and the youngest Ephraim to his left. Years before Jacob had also drawn near to his near blind father. In that moment he had used deception to receive the blessing. He had taken matters into his own hands despite the promise of God that the older would serve the younger. There would be no deception in Jacob’s tent, he crossed his hands and laid his right hand on Ephraim and his left hand on Manasseh. This displeased Joseph for Manasseh was his firstborn and custom dictated that he should have the place of prominence, but Jacob had come full circle. Gone was the trickery of his youth and now he understood that the ways of the Lord were not our ways. Israel with eyes of faith gazed into the future seeing that Manasseh would be great but his younger brother would be greater still. All of this would come to pass. The descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh would be great in number. They would have a share in the land. Joseph’s descendants would have the town of Shechem and he himself would one day be buried there. Every promise of God was yes and amen. It had been a long road for both father and son. Many years of heartache, imprisonment, strife,sadness and death had come upon them both but in this tender scene of blessing we see a mature and wise Jacob (now called Israel) blessing the sons of righteous Joseph. Israel’s life was coming to a close but his tired old eyes were filled with faith. Brothers and sisters, each of us will one day die and it is of vital importance that we face it by faith. Israel summed up his life in this way “Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” (Genesis 47v9) Perhaps you feel the same? Life has hurt and bitterness creeps upon you. Child of God, may the Lord soften your heart. His ways may seem beyond our comprehension but the Lord is working out His plans in our lives. Every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ and the one who believes in Jesus knows the richest of blessings. Live and die by faith regardless of your troubles for the one who gains Christ, will lose nothing. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q12 What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death. |
Alan
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