31st December 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 1:6-13)


Message (Alan Burke)


A wee question, who was the last Old Testament Prophet? Of course you know the answer, John the Baptist. Now I remember hearing that answer and thinking to myself no, it’s not John, he’s in the New Testament isn’t he so it must be Malachi. Well actually it’s not Malachi it’s John even though we’re told of him in the New Testament. Here me out, John is the one who was sent by God to testify about the light and he is considered one of the last Old Testament prophets for he like the prophets recorded in the Old Testament was preparing the way for the one who would come, the promised one of God, the Christ the Word incarnate Jesus Christ. His ministry was s a bridge between the way in which God spoke and that he would now speak, for at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, (Heb 1:1-2). John was the last old Testament prophet he came to witness to testify all about Jesus Christ. 


As these verses continue we are told of how he came to bear witness about the light, the true light (v9), who was in the world (ie came incarnate through the virgin Mary, and the world although it was made through him did not recognise him. What is striking in this verse is that we are told how the world did not recognise him. Here the world is not speaking of creation but his creatures, those who bear his image. But the creator came and the world did not recognise him, it did not know him because it had rejected him, it did not receive Jesus as the Christ for they loved the world and the darkness. 


Even by his own people, who did not receive him. The wonder of such a rejection by the people of God of the promised one, of the one whom they had been waiting for is specially shocking. While some Jews did believe many did not, we see the rejection of Word of Jesus Christ repeated time and time again throughout the scriptures. Yet for all who received him, we are told, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural decent, nor of a human decision or a husband’s will but born of God. 


We don’t have time to get into this on Sunday but think of the comparison and contrast that is here made, between that of natural decent, human decision, husbands will, which each speak of how a child comes into the world, and then given to us is that of being born of God. There a contrast is made between how a child comes into the world and those who are born of God by work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is compared to the part our parents played by which we came into the world. 


None of us here (no matter how individualistic) for a second I hope anyway imagine that we were born because we decided to be, we made the conscious choice and decide to be born. This is a simple but too frequently over looked truth that the Lord here teaches us. It is not because we willed it to be, that we decided or chose it. Just as we do not enter into this world, born of a mother because we willed it, decided to be or chose it be. No, being born rests on the action of another, as in the case for natural birth it is the same for spiritual birth, and spiritual birth, being born of God all rests on the Holy Spirit’s action in us. What we must do, is believe in the Word Jesus Christ. If you believe in him through God’s power, through the second birth you can know that you have become a child of God, born again by the work of the Holy Spirt. For this is a supernatural work that is needed that comes through faith.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q59 Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
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30th December 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Romans 5v14) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


Before we finish our look at the book of Job it is important for us to say that Job was a type of Christ. What is a type? Types in the Old Testament give us a little glimpse of Jesus before the New Testament, they foreshadow the person and work of Christ. Perhaps the most famous type is Adam who Paul describes in this way "Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come." (Romans 5v14). Adam was the first man from whom perfect obedience was demanded and in this manner he was a type of Christ. Jesus on the other hand was the second and true Adam whose obedience was perfect and who didn't fall to sin.


There are numerous other types throughout Scripture. We are told in Hebrews 8v3 that the Old Testament priesthood served in "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things." or in other words, the Tabernacle and the Temple were a type of heaven - they gave us a glimpse of glory. When Moses struck the rock in Exodus 17 causing water to pour out, the rock was a type of Christ who gives us living water to drink (1 Corinthians 10v4). Additionally when the passover lamb was sacrificed it too was a type of Christ (1 Corinthians 5v7) who was the lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.


So how was Job a type of Christ? Job was the innocent man who suffered greatly, he was the one who cried out to the Lord wondering why he had been forsaken, Job was the one who overcame Satan by losing everything and he was the one who became a priest for his friends in order for them to be forgiven.


We must be clear that types are not perfect representations of Jesus. Job was righteous yet sinful and when he began to question the Lord he fell into sin from which he needed to repent. Even so, Job gives us a little glimpse of Jesus who was truly innocent and sinless yet suffered greatly, Christ was the one who called out to God "why have you forsaken me?", His victory over Satan was accomplished by the "defeat" of death and Jesus today is the great high priest who intercedes for His people.


The book of Job may not give us a comprehensive answer to the problem of suffering in this world but it does give us multiple glimpses of Jesus. Brothers and sisters, as 2025 ends I pray that you will see much of Christ in the new year. He is for you when the sun is shining and He is for you when the rainclouds gather. Behold the Lamb of God!


Happy new year.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q58 What is required in the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.
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29th December 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 1:1-5)


Message (Alan Burke) 


Now I know what you’re thinking, “Weren’t we in John 1 last week” and yes we were. This is a passage is so crammed that the depts and the wonder of it we could spend months on and never even skim the surface of so yes we are back this week on 1 John but we are going to look at it from a slightly different angel. 


So let me ask you how do you communicate with those around you? As I write this I’m just off the phone to the funeral directors and while I was on to him I was trying to communicate to my wains to “SHUT UP” while I was on the phone by having my finger over lips and miming “shh”. They had been quiet all afternoon and then as soon as the phone goes they all want to talk to me in that moment. We communicate in different ways, through words written and spoke, if you could see my face right now it might communicate to you how I’m feeling or show to you all I want is my bed. 


The Lord our God has communicated his existence to us in creation, he has left all without excuse, as Romans 1 reminds us; “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Rom 1:20) but he has also has revealed himself through his word as Hebrews 1 reminds us “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Heb 1:1-2). 


Here in John he alludes to the opening of the book of Genesis as he says in the beginning was the word. What we have here with the opening words of John’s gospel takes us back to the beginning, we have a clear statement not only of the pre-existance of Jesus but also his absolute deity as we are told, not only was the “Word with God”; but "the Word was with God”. Few passages assert the preexistence and deity of Christ more clearly than these opening verses of John’s gospel.


It was through the Word, through Jesus Christ that the heavens and the earth was made. He is the agent of creation, he is the one that everything was made through, nothing that has been created was made apart from him. John at the very start of this gospel takes us outside space and time, to before the beginning and confronts us with whom the one this gospel account is about, the is the one through whom all things were made, the one in whom is life and light. He wants to leave us his readers in no doubt that the same Jesus, the preexistent Jesus is the truth that he now speaks off and what is crucial for them to know and understand is that Jesus of which he speaks off is life and that life is the light of men (Jn 1:4). 


The life is the divine nature itself. John wants his readers, he wants us, all of us to know that the Christian message, that life itself, is to be found in the Word, that is Jesus Christ, that same word that John himself had heard, that he had seen, that he had looked upon, that he had touched (John 20:24-29). He is the one who has come into this world of darkness as the light, a world that has been under the control of the evil one, the Devil, it is a world where people although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom 1:21). The coming of the light into the darkness of this world, where people are futile in their thinking, their foolish hearts have been darkened by sin and the light has come an the light has not and will not be overcome. Our saviour has triumphed even when the darkness seemed to have overcome the light as Jesus hung on the cross he rose, defeating death and through him we have the victory and will one day will dwell in the light of his presence (Rev 21:23)


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q57 Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.
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27th December 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 42v10-17) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


Like many other children who grew up in the 1980s one of the best moments of my week was getting up very early on a Saturday morning to watch cartoons. I had many favourites back then but one which still causes me to smile is "Dungeons and Dragons" which told the story of six children who were transported far from home to a fantasy world full of trouble and danger. The cartoon ran for three series and twenty-seven episodes in total and I'm sorry to say the six children never made it back home. There was no happy ending.


I've read that there is evidence to suggest that audiences much prefer stories to be tied up nicely with no loose ends. The bad guys need to get their comeuppance and the good guys need to live happily ever after. The final verses of Job bring a joyous resolution to the story but they aren't added just to make us feel better - they exist because the one who trusts in Christ has a living hope which is better by far.


Job had been moved to repentance in the midst of his suffering before standing as the Christ-like priest offering sacrifice for his three friends. But what about the rest of his life? The Lord restored Job and his fortunes (v10). Everything he had lost was doubly restored (v10b). He was no longer a figure of contempt but those who knew him came to bring him sympathy, comfort and precious gifts (v11). Job's livestock which once numbered 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys (Job 1v3) were doubled in number (v12) and Job was blessed with another seven sons and three daughters as before (v13).


His daughters were named Jemimah, Keziah and Keren-happuch (v14). These three girls were the only members of Job's family who were named. Jemimah means "little dove", Keziah means "perfume" and Keren-happuch means "beautifier" pointing to the make-up used to highlight a woman's eyes. His daughters were beautiful (v15) and they were given an inheritance among their brothers  which was largely unheard of in Job's day except in exceptional circumstances (Numbers 27v1-11).


All of this didn't happen overnight. The blessings poured out upon Job came throughout the rest of his life. He lived for another 140 years which some argue hints that Job was 70 when his ordeal began (70+70=140) meaning that Job died when he was 210 which was a life "full of days" (v17) like Abraham (175), Jacob (147) and Isaac (180).


What are we to make of Job's ending? Should we expect abundant blessings in this life when our trials are over? I'm not so sure. Some Christians know the bitter experience of trouble without end. I know people who suffered for many years right up to their death. I have also witnessed Christians coming through trial with no tangible, earthly blessing at the end of it. Equally I have seen Christians who have been blessed abundantly on this side of glory. We should be careful not to put God in a box saying "after trouble God will always double your blessings" - wasn't that the problem with the message of Job's three friends?


Instead, I think the final verses and the doubling of Job's blessings are supposed to evoke in us a longing for our eternal reward. In this life we will have trouble but we may also experience the abundance of God's grace in tangible, earthly blessings. Equally, we may not. Whatever life is like for the Christian be that mundane, blessed, troubled, average or whatever - by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone our true reward is found in heaven.


Take heart my dear brothers and sisters, as this year draws to a close 2026 may be much better but it may also be much worse. Even so, Satan cannot pluck us from the hand of Jesus and our reward in Christ is great indeed. Hear the words of Peter "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1v3-9). 


Pray (acTS)


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Q56 What is the reason annexed to the third commandment? The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.
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26th December 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 1:4-5)


Message (Alan Burke)


I was out with a fella last week as I was doing my rounds visiting all those people who are unable to get out because of age and infirmity and we chatted one of his struggles was why God would allow this world to be in the state that it is in. My response to him was to tell him, that the reason why the world is the state that it is in is because of your heart, my heart, the state of the hearts of every person. For while we like to think we are good, inherently good we are not. The scriptures makes it clear that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:5). This is reverberated throughout the scriptures, we are evil, all of us have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), we love the darkness (Jn 3:19). That does not mean that we are as sinful or evil as we could be but that we are altogether sinful and evil. This is why we by our nature are described as being in darkness for are without Jesus the light. Later in John Jesus says; 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light. (Jn 12:36). For …; 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (Jn 12:46). 


For each and every one of us, by our nature we are in the darkness, from the moment of our conception we are in darkness, we are sinners. But for all who put their trust in the light, all who believe in the light we become sons of light, we are brought from darkness into the light. Let us be those who love not the darkness but love the light. What makes this so wonderful is that if we have come into the light, that we are light, In Ephesians Paul teach us that …you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (Eph 5:8). 


We are like little stars in the night sky, shining, or like fairy lights wrapped round the tree that shine in the darkness, we are men, women, boys and girls of light, we are those who have repented of our sin and trusted in the light himself, trusting Jesus as their Lord and saviour. If you have trusted in Jesus then we are no longer in the darkness and through your lives, your actions and attitudes you shine forth with the light of Christ. Sine we are light we are to let our light shine. Our task as the church as those who have been called from darkness to light is to live in the light and to make known the light of God’s kingdom in how we live and as we proclaim the good news of the Gospel about Jesus Christ the saviour of the world. This is what we are to do as children of the light, as sons of light. If we as the church loose sight of what we are, if we loose sight of the wonder of the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ then even our best works are worthless. 


The incarnation, the birth of Jesus was a remarkable event, when God sent forth his son, born of a woman so that we who walked in darkness might be brought into the light. God had promised the messiah, the Christ to our first parents, he preached the gospel to Satan in the midst of the fall as darkness came in about the light that would come and not be overcome. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q55 What is forbidden in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.
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25th December 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 42v7-9) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


Job's friends hadn't spoken correctly about God (v7) and as a result the Lord's anger burned against Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. Let me be clear - I don't think any of these men were wicked. They often spoke excellently about the Lord and I'm as convinced as I can be that they were men who loved God. Nevertheless, their refusal to shift from their position didn't help Job and it angered the Lord. Their contention was that Job's suffering was a result of secret sin and because God only punished the wicked, Job wasn't as righteous as he let on. 


But just as Job needed to return to the Lord, so too did his three friends. The Lord commanded them to take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer a sacrifice to the Lord (v8). Job would then pray for his friends and the Lord would not treat Eliphaz, Bildad or Zophar as they deserved to be treated (v8b). The men listened, acted and the Lord accepted Job's prayer (v9).


Brothers and sisters, today is Christmas and I trust that you will have a blessed day. Yet, I know that a day such as this can often be troubled. We might spend the day remembering our loved ones no longer with us, we might be in the middle of a family war or ill health might cause us just to long for the day to be over. No matter how this day finds you I want you to consider for a moment the grace of God. 


Did any of us deserve the birth of Jesus Christ? Do any of us deserve salvation? Thankfully, by the grace of God, we are not treated as we deserve. All of our careless words and sinful nonsense can be forgiven by the God of grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm exceptionally thankful for God's grace this Christmas. I deserve His wrath but He instead meets me with forgiveness in Christ.


May you have as good a Christmas as possible. A child has been born and a son given, born to die for Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and you. Be quick to forgive today, don't hold your cousin's stupid words against him and if there is an opportunity for you to meet someone with grace then take it. "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. Happy Christmas.
 
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Q54 What is required in the third commandment? The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.

24th December 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 1:4-5)


Message (Alan Burke)


John uses darkness not speak of night when the sun sets and you have to flick the light switch on, instead in John’s gospel darkness is evil, the darkness is unbelief, darkness speaks of the natural fallen condition of this world, darkness is the state of this world estranged from God. It is this darkness that led to the coming of our Lord Jesus, Jesus who was God and was with God came into the world, the one through whom all things were made, the one in whom was life and that life was the light of men came and shone in the darkness. 


In v5 in the NIV we are told that the darkness has not understood it that, referring of course to the Light the darkness has not understood the light or if you have a KJV before you you’ll read comprehend the light, I’m not sure what it would be for the darkness not to understand the light or not to comprehend the light. When we think of understood or comprehend, it is that the darkness didn’t understand the meaning. There are lots of times I’m left scratching my head, we all are when there is something that we do not understand, that we do not comprehend. But it wasn’t that the darkness did not understand, or comprehend the light, it’s something else.


The translators have made an interpretative decision that contextually makes sense with what follows, the darkness has not understood the light, v10 the light was not recognised, v11 nor was the light received.  Reading that way it makes sense contextually but there is another time that this same word is used in John’s gospel, the only time and it comes in John 12:35. Jesus speaking to his disciples said; “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you (Jn 12:35). There it is translated as overtake. 


The word in greek means to overpower, to gain control over, to overtake. The NIV I have before me has a wee letter ‘a’ after understood that refers to a footnote at the bottom of the page that gives the alternative, ‘overcome’ and it is what you will read if you have an ESV. Jesus is the light of the world, the light that shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. It was the darkness that necessitated the coming of Jesus, to be born of the virgin Mary, it was darkness that led him on the road to Calvary, that say Jesus crucified and buried, yet the darkness has not overcome the light. The darkness that came into the world at the fall has not overcome the light. 


Today we might look at what is going on in this world, how wars rage it seems unabated, that humanitarian crises go on without a thought from the western world, vitally ignored by us, where abortion and assisted dying are seen as positive steps and worthy to be called health care, that sexual ethics don’t matter. We might think that things are going from bad to worse, like a tied of darkness that is engulfing the light, but the light will not be overcome. No matter how dark the darkness may seem the darkness has been defeated, the light of Christ Jesus shines in the darkness.


What we celebrate at this time of the year with the incarnation is that Jesus came into the world, he entered into it to overcome the darkness, he triumph over it. This time of year is much more than the virgin birth a little baby in a manger, than the appearance of the angel of the Lord to Joseph in a dream, it is much more than visit of the Magi months after the birth of Jesus. It is the coming of the light of the world, the one whom even though the darkness tried to overcome it, it could not, it could not and cannot extinguish the light, it has failed and God did all of this so that we who were in the darkness could come into the light, we could become children of light. 


Pray (acTS)


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Q53 Which is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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23rd December 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 42v1-6) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


Anyone who reads Job might be surprised to learn that the Lord doesn't give Job a comprehensive answer to his suffering. Nowhere does the Lord explain His interaction with Satan, nowhere does He tell Job why He brought his servant to Satan's attention and nowhere does the Lord send a fulsome email that runs from A to Z. Even so, Job's final words weren't ones of complaint. He didn't demand answers, he didn't fire back at the Lord's declaration and he didn't cry foul. What did he do? He repented.


Job did nothing to deserve his initial awful suffering and throughout his ordeal he did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1v22). But Job had fallen into sin - as he wrestled with his ordeal he had come to question the goodness of God. Was God silent? Was he on the side of the wicked? Did He care about the righteous? Job's crushing blow had brought him to a dangerous place of self-justification and God focused accusation.


Nevertheless, Job would not finish his story in the way of Jonah who stamped his feet over the fate of a plant. Instead, Job had come to realise again the glory of God. He understood God's omnipotence and that every plan of God would come to fruition (v2). He had spoken words without knowledge against the Lord (v3) but was now prepared to say "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." (v4). It takes a humble person to admit they were wrong and even more to say "I didn't know what I was talking about." Unfortunately we live in an age that such an attitude is rare, instead we often prefer to double down on our positions and never admit our guilt.


Job had heard plenty about God but in the midst of the whirlwind Job had seen Him and the sight of Almighty God caused him to know his sin and repent in dust and ashes (v6). What is repentance? "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." Repentance hates sin but knows that God meets us with mercy in Christ. So repentance gives us a loathing of sin and causes us to flee to the Lord seeking to follow and obey Him anew. 


Job wasn't given all of the answers he once sought but something had changed in his soul. How do we explain it? God had spoken, the Spirit had worked and Job had run in repentance and faith to Jesus. Brothers and sisters, we may not get the answers we want in this life and I'm not sure we'll get them in heaven either. No matter, there is grace and peace to be found in Christ. It had been a long road for Job but as he sat in the dust and ashes of repentance he once more had found his rest in Christ. Perhaps that's what you need to find as well.


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Q52 What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment? The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’s sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship.
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22nd December 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 1:4-5)


Message (Alan Burke) 


Three days until the big day, four days and it will all be over. What we often think of from the scriptures is Luke’s gospel account of the birth of Jesus foretold, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and Mary’s song and those are some of those passage that most likely come to peoples minds when they think of Christmas. This week though we are in the prologue of John’s gospel. For John grounds the coming of Jesus the incarnation in the beginning. John wants us to understand the incarnation in terms of eternity. The one who was God and was with God was coming into the world, the one through whom all things were made, the one in whom was life and that life was the light of men (Jn 1:1-3). 


John wants us to see the fullness of who Jesus was and is, and he wants us not only to recall what happened in the beginning, how the word, Jesus Christ was with God and was God, how he was with God in the beginning, that all things were made through him but John also wants us to understand how the one who has come is also the one whom God had promised to his people in the midst of the fall, the hope of the Christ, the Messiah the serpent crusher of Genesis 3:15. For from the fall, ever since God preached the gospel to Satan in the form of a serpent God had been pointing his people to the hope in the one to come. Look to what John tells us in v5, how “In him was life and that life was the light of men” (v5).


To understand what that means that in him was life and that life was the light of men we need to understand what the darkness is. It is not the lack of a means illumination in our homes as I heard some of my neighbours were struggling with on the 1st of December. To grasps the significance of what we are told here we need to flick on a few pages to read from John 3:19-20. Jesus when was teaching Nicodemus the Pharisee he said; 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” Jn 3:19–21.


What is the darkness well the darkness is evil, the darkness is unbelief, the darkness is those who do not come to the light. Darkness does not speak of night when the sun sets, no darkness speaks of the natural fallen condition of this world. While Adam and Eve knew what it was to walk in the light, to have communion with God, dwelling in his presence with the fall spiritual darkness came into the world. 


Darkness is the state of this world estranged from God. We by our very nature are children not of the light but children of darkness, we are those who live in the darkness not the light (1 Thes 5:5). For all those who are outside of Christ they may have life in the biological sense but they do not have life for they live in the darkness, they are spiritually dead, sinners who face the wrath of God for their darkness. Yet light had come into the world, Jesus Christ who was God and was with God in the beginning, the light had come. The wonder of what this means for us is that although by our nature we walk in the darkness, we are can become the children of light, for John goes on to say in v12-13 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The coming of the light into the world, the one who was with God and was God, the reason for his coming was that for all who receive him the they might become the children of God. If you have received him if we have come into the light, that we are light. 


Pray (acTS)


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Q51 What is forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his Word.
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20th December 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 40v6-41v34) 


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Job was unable to command the heavens and stars but was he able to master life on earth? In a word, no. The Lord continued His challenge to Job by pointing him to Behemoth and Leviathan. But who or what are these creatures? Leviathan is mentioned five times in Scripture (Job 3v8, Job 41v1, Psalm 74v14, Psalm 104v26 & Isaiah 27v1) while Behemoth is only mentioned in this passage. Some suggest that Leviathan represents a crocodile whilst Behemoth is a hippo. Neither of these creatures live on our island but we know that both can be vicious and highly dangerous.


Yet Leviathan is not just seen as a crocodile in Scriputre, he also symbolises the nation of Egypt which held God's people in slavery and is described as "a dragon in the seas" (Ezekiel 32v2). Furthermore, others argue that Leviathan is a mythological sea monster which was once defeated by the false god Baal. More still see Leviathan as a symbol of evil and chaos which has been at work in the world since the Fall. I think there is a little bit of each of these positions in the Biblical account but in these final verses I suspect the Lord is teaching Job that He is sovereign even over the forces of evil.


So why do we need to think beyond the hippo and crocodile in today's passage? It would seem odd if the Lord's final word to Job was merely about the hippo and the crocodile. There is no one on earth who could master these creatures and so the Lord reminding Job of this fact is probably not meant to be the culmination of the book.


Admittedly, the language used does resemble the hippo and crocodile. Behemoth is described as having great strength (40v16-18) and Leviathan is described as having sharp teeth and a back full of armour (41v14-15). But Leviathan is also described in language which doesn't accurately portray a crocodile. We are told that "Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth." (Job 41v19-21).


It is this description of a fire breathing dragon that has caused some well-meaning Christians to say that the Lord here is describing dinosaurs. I don't believe that to be true. Instead I think we are supposed to look beyond the hippo and the crocodile and see Satan himself. His voice was heard at the beginning of Job and now the Lord addresses him at the end of Job. If Leviathan reminds us of a fire breathing dragon then who else should we think or other than Satan who is the great dragon and ancient serpent (Revelation 12v9)?


Indeed, Leviathan is described as "A creature without fear. He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." (Job 41v33-34). I suspect that we weren't supposed to apply this to the crocodile but it does match Satan perfectly whose sinful arrogance caused a heavenly rebellion and an earthly fall. I think it's interesting too that the hippo is a beast from the earth and the crocodile is a beast from the sea. John will later see similar beasts rising up to join with Satan in his fight against the Lord (Revelation 13).


What do we make of Behemoth & Leviathan? My answer is that the earthly hippo and crocodile are symbols which should cause us to think of the uncontrollable forces of evil in this world. Job was powerless to do anything against Satan and yet the God who made the hippo, crocodile and Satan himself, hooks Leviathan's mouth and sent His only Son to make the death of death. Nothing can pluck us from His hand and evil itself bows before the power of God.


There is mystery here but equally Scripture is not silent. The Lord made all things good and even still, at some point sin was found in Satan. Was God the author of this sin? No - God is good. Was God surprised by this sin? No - He allowed it to be so. Is God fearful of Satan? No - God is sovereign over all. Is this sinful world out of control? No - God ordains everything (good and evil) to come to pass and all of it will result in His glory. Brothers and sisters, wrestle with these things. Sin didn't invade God's world without His knowledge, nor did Satan catch God on the back foot. Just as God is able to walk in the recesses of the deep, so too He puts evil on a leash (Mark 3v27), brings good out of it and will one day place sin and death beneath the feet of Christ.


Could Job do these things? By no means! But he was trusting a God who was able to stand against all of the darkness of this present evil age. Job's God is our God too and nothing will pluck us from His hand. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q50 What is required in the second commandment? The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.