28th November 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20:15)


Message (Alan Burke)


It would be so much handier if I had a magical money tree, even if I wasn’t allowed to spend a penny of it on myself there is so much that could be done in the church, in the community that I live but I don’t have a magic money tree and no doubt the power of such a thing would destroy me. We may not have a magic money tree but all of us have things that are ours, you might have a mint condition Ford Capri 280 Brooklands and want to rub it in my face that I will never get to drive such a car never mind own one and that’s ok, honest. Or you might have Pioneer P3a lying in the attic that you never look near, you might have a million hidden under the mattress and you know with all these things the inference of this commandment is that it is right and good for you to have private property. It is is right and good that we earn, that we labour for what we have and that we inherit as individuals and families and that property ought to be protected so that it isn’t taken from those whom it belongs to. This commandment is a prohibition against taking something that does not belong to us in any way or form. It protects private property, it helps us to love our neighbour, it impacts the whole community and requires that we trust the LORD for all that we have. 


And now I’m going to make an application from of this command that for some will touch a nerve. I wasn’t going to make this application until I went and did some In Service Training and in one of speakers challenged us there about what the scripture does. He in a throw away comment mentioned 2 Timothy 3 where we are told; “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” For rebuking and correcting, so here it is… how much have you stolen from the LORD your God? See, told you it would touch a nerve. Truth is we don’t like talking about money. 


The principle in the Old Testament was tithing, the LORD through Malachi rebuked his people for how they were stealing from him (Malachi 3:6-12). The tithe was a principle laid out because of how our hearts work, we forget that the LORD has given us all that we have and given us such a wonderful salvation in Christ Jesus. The reality for us, those who have respond to the claims of Christ we have a different attitude to earthly possessions and the standard for us is much greater than the principle of tithing for we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, when we know who God is and what he has done, we should give according to our means, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have (2 Cor 8:11-12). This means what those on minimum wage can give will be very different to someone on 100k a year, what those with dependants can give will be very different to those who have none, for those who have a mortgage it will be different for those who do not. What we give tells of the reality within. 


Are you stealing from God, have bought into the lie that has been sold by our consumeristic society, instead of being willing to give it all to God we are more preoccupied by what we have and what we get out of God, instead of using what we have to love our neighbour and show the love of God we want to horde what we have. One last thing before we close for today. I know you haven’t obeyed this commandment and I know I haven’t. We are all law breakers, thieves, it may be respectable stealing, things that no one bats an eyelid at and it may be things that are secret that if they were to get out people would be horrified. But remember that while Jesus was on the cross on one side was a thief and on the other side there was a thief, two of them, one of them saw his sin and turned to Jesus and Jesus said to him, today you will be with me in paradise. Let us turn from our sin and turn to the saviour.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q31 What is effectual calling?
A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.
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27th November 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 27&28) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


There is a question that has been asked on long car journeys all across the land - if you had three wishes what would you wish for? Perhaps you’d wish for three more wishes or maybe you’d go for all the money in the world. What probably hasn’t been heard too often in cars is a desire to be righteous or a desire to be wise. Nevertheless, as Job’s friends sat listening, Job reminded them of things that really matter.


He may well have been a broken man but he still wanted to hold on to his integrity and righteousness (27v5-6). As long as breath was in him, he refused to speak falsely or utter deceit (27v4). Not everyone is like Job. The wicked man gives no thought to righteousness or the gaze of the Lord. But Job knew that ultimately the godless individual is without hope (27v8). God opposes him in this life and in eternity and although it seems that the wicked prosper, the truth is that his silver will be like dust (27v16), he will wake in the morning with nothing (27v19) and his family will not weep over his loss (27v15). Righteousness is to be preferred over wickedness.


There is of course another question - would you prefer to be rich or wise? The earth is full of precious things. We desire silver, gold and sapphires (28v1&6) and humanity works hard to bring all of these precious things from the dark to the light (28v11). Indeed, the earth is scarred by our pursuit of valuable items. Shafts are carved in valleys (28v4), mountains are overturned (28v9) and channels are cut in the rocks (28v10) all to satisfy our desire for riches.


But where can wisdom be found (28v12)? It can't be found in the earth or sea (28v14), it can't be bought with gold or silver (28v15) and it is worth far more than all the treasures of the earth (28v17-19). Humanity doesn't understand the worth of wisdom (28v13), the birds of the air can't find it (28v21) and death itself has only heard a whisper of it (28v22). So how can anyone be made wise?


God understands wisdom (28v23) and where it is to be found. He created all things and then He declared what wisdom is, He set it's foundations and He knows every inch of it (28v24-27). So what is wisdom "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." (Job 28v28). To fear God is to trust Him, love Him and desire to follow Him. The fear of God doesn't cause you to flee from God as if He is a wicked tyrant, instead the fear of God causes us to seek God's honour in all things. This is true wisdom and it is to be preferred over all the riches of the world.


If you could have three wishes what would you wish for? May the Lord make us as righteous and wise as pardoned sinners can be.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q30 How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
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26th November 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20:15)


Message (Alan Burke)
I wonder if you’ve ever watched toddlers at play, when a few of them get together and there is that moment that inadvertently happens when one child takes the toy that the other child is playing with. The mums rush in, there is the demand given by mother whose child took the toy to give it back, the other mother is saying, “they have to learn to share” and everyone is a little embarrassed by the whole thing. Children even without having to be taught know what it is when someone takes from them that which is theirs. Ok we might debate about the toy and sharing but that wee face with all those emotions makes it clear when something they were playing with is taken from them they are distraught. 


So let’s think why God forbids stealing. Well there are three reasons that the LORD forbids stealing. 1. Because when we steal we are not loving our neighbour. 2. When we steal it impacts the community and and society as a whole, it leads to fear, higher insurance premiums, higher prices for consumers, causes increase in taxes, policing, justice, jails, law enforcement, need for victim support, it limits economic growth and job opportunities. 3. When we steal it is a failure to trust in the LORD. The first one we can get easy enough and I reckon the second but maybe you’re scratching your head a little and thinking to yourself that the third doesn’t quite sound right, let me explain. The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, he created and sustains the world and everything that is in it. Everything we have comes from him. Everything, that not only includes the good and pleasant things but things that are far from good and pleasant, in his holy, wise and powerful way, he governs all. A child knows that what they have comes from their parent they are reliant on them for everything but as the years go on we fall into the belief that this is mine because I earned it, because we have done this. 


But it is only ours because our gracious God has given it to us, it is his, the world and all that is in it, and all who live in it and all of life has by his providence been laid out before us, everything that has happened and everything that does happen in this world is not a matter or mere chance or luck, but at the hand of the LORD. Whenever we steal we are not trusting in God’s provision to us, we are not willing to trust in his ability to provide for our needs and we are taking things into our own hands. It is a sing that we don’t trust God will provide what we need.


The eighth commandment requires as summarised in the Larger Catechism; that, truth, faithfulness, and justice in contracts and commerce between man and man; rendering to every one his due; restitution of goods unlawfully detained from the right owners thereof; giving and lending freely, according to our abilities, and the necessities of others; moderation of our judgments, wills, and affections, concerning worldly goods; a provident care and study to get, keep, use, and dispose of those things which are necessary and convenient for the sustentation of our nature, and suitable to our condition; a lawful calling, and diligence in it; frugality; avoiding unnecessary law-suits, and suretyship, or other like engagements; and an endeavour, by all just and lawful means, to procure, preserve, and further the wealth and outward estate of others, as well as our own.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q29 How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit.
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25th November 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 26) 


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Bildad's final speech was dripping with nastiness, insult and accusation. He believed that Job was being stubbornly sinful and nothing more than a worm. How would you respond to such a lecture? Job didn't sit quietly but instead wondered from where Bildad's words had come (v4) - he was confident that they had not come from the mouth of God.


Job knew what Bildad seemed reluctant to grasp - God's ways are beyond our knowing and sometimes in His providence the righteous will suffer. The Lord God Almighty does not fit neatly into a box made by human hands. How can we master the Lord? He fills the universe with the immensity of His glory. It was Abraham Kuyper who famously said “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” and Kuyper was in complete agreement with Job.


Job understood that God was sovereign over death and the grave (v5-6). The words "Sheol" and "Abaddon" are used here but what do they mean? Depending on the passage of Scripture, Sheol can mean the grave, Hell itself or a description of what it is to be dead, namely that body and soul are separated. Abaddon on the other hand means destruction and so Job's point is that the Lord rules over death, destruction and the grave.


Furthermore, the Lord is the God of all creation. From the heavens to the earth, from the moon to the sea, it is God who has established the earth and it's boundaries (v7-10). We know of course that all things were made in and through and for Jesus and it is Jesus who upholds the universe by the word of His power. Even so, when God wishes to shake the very "pillars of heaven" (v11) He issues a rebuke. When He commands the sea to be still, it listens to it's maker (v12a). The heavens are beautiful because He made them (v13). "Rahab" is the name given to a mythological sea monster which represents the forces of evil and chaos. Rahab is the "fleeing serpent" that God pierced (v13) and is also referred to as "Leviathan" (Isaiah 27v1). What is Job's point? The Lord has brought order to chaos - God is sovereign over every single inch.


Martin Luther famously wrote to Erasmus and told him "your thoughts of God are too human." which I suspect is a criticism that could be levelled against most of us. Job understood that we know much of God but still know next to nothing - we have heard a mere whisper of who He is (v14). Brothers and sisters, it is a good thing to sit and ponder the unknowable immensity of the Lord. He is not merely a better version of us, He is not limited in His ways and He is not blind to our suffering. The Lord is greater than we know and there isn't a single square inch of our lives where He is absent.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q28 Wherein consisteth Christ’s exaltation? Christ’s exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.
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24th November 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20:15)


Message (Alan Burke) 


"Home Taping Is Killing Music” that was the slogan of a 1980s anti-copyright infringement propaganda campaign by the British Phonographic Industry. I even once considered getting that slogan with the cassette tape and crossbones as a tattoo on my shin. Yes I’m of that generation that remembers that slogan, who were seen as destroying the British Phonographic Industry which we’d likely now call the music industry and when CD recorders came in and then Napster arrived it changed everything again and again. There are cases where theft is pretty easy to define to the average person. Say if your car gets stolen from your driveway, you wake up in the morning look out you’ll wonder where your car is before the penny drops. If your identity gets stolen when on one level you’re still you but someone is using your details to buy services or obtain loans all in your name which you are liable for. Home taping was great because you could make your ultimate mix tape but you had to time it just right to get those songs off the radio and sometimes the DJ waffled on for too long and ruined it but yes technically even that was stealing according to the law of this land even though you only made a copy without permission it is seen as copyright infringement. 


Today we come to the eighth commandment and the LORD says “You Shall Not Steal”


Notice thought that this commandment doesn’t go into detail, it is generic in what it commands. 


This command is a prohibition against stealing in all forms, at any time and for any reason. We are not to steal. Of course situation philosophy will argue that there are times that stealing is justified, but as the LORD speaks to the covenant community there should be no need for any of them to steal, they were to care for those who were in need, the widow and the orphan, the disabled, the elderly and vulnerable. So what does this commandment mean? What does it mean to steal? You might have guessed already that it goes beyond what we might initially think, it’s generic in its scope so it’s more than putting on the balaclava and breaking into the neighbours house. In Exodus 21-24 it begins to draw out the implications of the Ten Commandments. Yes directly there it is spoken of housebreaking, then also if your animal does damage in Ex 22 how you are given restitution for they have stolen from you by  the animals damage, the same with borrowing and you loose what you have borrowed or you borrowing something then break that item. Then there is defrauding a neighbour even paying them late is seen as robbing from them (Lev 19:13). 


The implications, the outworking of this commandment are much greater than we may have thought. If you’ve permanently borrowed a pen even accidentally you’ve broken this commandment, failing to pay a bill on time then you’ve broken this commandment. In effect this commandment makes it clear that there are rights for those who have property, there are responsibilities for those who have property, the commandment not to steal here means not depriving our neighbour of what belongs to them what ever it is. We shall work through an extensive list of application on this on this coming Sunday but for now I’ll mention a few more. If you’ve take a sick day when you’re not sick that is stealing, if you do personal calls or send emails when you’re being payed to work by an employer you’re stealing from them, when we pay cash knowing that no tax is paid we’re stealing from the government and from our neighbour. Some of these may be things we’ve not thought of but ultimately none of us have kept this commandment we are thieves. 


In Ephesians 4 speaking of those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, those in the church Paul says; “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Eph 4:28 ESV). If we claim to be a child of God, that we are his, when we have come to know his grace it should lead to a changed life, a life that steals no longer. We have all failed to do what is required of us but we should desire to leave our sin behind and when we fail look to Jesus who has perfectly kept this command for us. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q27 Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
A. Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
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22nd November 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 24) 


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


It is thought that Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible with it’s setting in the days before Abraham. The day of the judges was still far off and Job lived long before the prophet Samuel. Samuel needs no introduction but we are told that he exercised judgement in Israel as he toured the nation each year (1 Samuel 7v16). Even when he went home to Ramah he would continue his role as judge meaning that the people of Israel had a leader who home or away could be consulted in all kinds of matters.


Job could not possibly have imagined what was still to come but nevertheless he asked a very pertinent question “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?” (v1). Why doesn’t God regularly dispense justice? Why don’t we have judgement every Friday afternoon?


I see Job’s point. He knew all too well that the wicked were acting wickedly. In Job’s day they stole and treated the poor however they wanted (v2-12) and yet Job did not see God bringing any charges against the wicked (v12b). Indeed the wicked were perfectly comfortable with their actions and perfectly happy living and working in the darkness (v13-17). Evil doers were like those who rebelled against the light and had made friends with the deep darkness and all the terrors therein (v17).


Job’s friends would tell him frequently that nothing good came to the wicked in this life and they certainly would not be remembered in death (v18-20). But deep inside Job knew this wasn’t true. It seemed to him that God prolonged the life of the wicked (v22) giving them both security and support (v23) eventually allowing them to die just like everyone else (v24). Job was so convinced of his position that he issued an unanswered challenge to his friends “If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?” (v25).


Was there something in what Job had to say? Well yes. Kim Jong Un is the supreme leader of North Korea who holds his nation and people in his sway. He only allows certain haircuts, freedom of religion is non-existent and freedom of speech is a long distant memory. More severely the policies that his regime enforces can be held as responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. Why does God not strike him down? Kim Jong Un feasts while his people fade.


I do not know the mind of the Lord nor have I been His counsellor but I trust in the excellence of His providence. What is providence? Our Confession says “God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”


The Lord governs the steps of Kim Jong Un and Scott Woodburn alike. Both of us will one day give an account to Jesus and both of us should tremble at the thought. Justice is coming like a slow train - you might see it in the distance and you might think it will never arrive, but it is coming and you do not want to be in the way of it. In the providence of God it appears that the wicked sometimes prosper but that won’t always be the case.


In the meantime may we remember that before Samuel engaged in his travelling ministry of judgement, he set up a stone and called its name Ebenezer. Why? Ebenezer means “Till now the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7v12). Brothers and sisters, when your heart breaks at rampant wickedness and the unfairness of it all, remember Jesus our Ebenezer - he helps us and prays for us even when life makes no sense. As I write this devotion the wicked continue to act wickedly, but I think I hear something in the distance…it sounds like a slow train coming.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q26 How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

21st November 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20:14)


Message (Alan Burke)


“Congratulations you’re divorced” the cover of the greeting card read that I picked up a while back in the post office. But just think of those words and what they mean, the pain, the heart ache, the broken promises, the shattered lives. To congratulate someone, to offer them your congratulations you are expressing your praise for an achievement and how truly messed up and individualist we are that we think that this is a sentiment that we would want to offer in the case of divorce. I’ve walked through the process with people as they have got divorced and it’s not something to celebrate. 


I’ve seen children used as pawns, I’ve visited a man in hospital after the wife got angry and used the frying pan with saw the hot oil on his face and then she thought it was a good idea to give him a few slaps with it for good measure and he was sorry for making her angry. I’ve sat with wives (yes far more than one) as they have chatted through the mess that has been left because their husband is still a teenage boy and has never grown up. Divorce only happens because of a myriad of stuff that leaves the hopes and promise that were made on what was supposed to be the first day of the rest of the couples lives together in shatters. Of course as we come to adultery it is only one of those reasons that divorce comes about. 


In scripture divorce is allowed, it was never meant to be part of life but it is because of the sinfulness of the human heart and one of the reasons in scripture that it is allowed is because of adultery. While marriage is a gift of God to his image bearers marriage. A gift to them and it’s purpose, for life-long faithfulness between a husband and a wife, it is a good thing, it is for the benefit of each other, it was created good, and in it there are things in it that are to be enjoyed. 


When there is adultery, when individuals seek that intimacy outside of marriage there is often a mess left behind, there is hurt and anger, it not only effects those who have sought that intimacy but others as well, not only in the present but in the future. In giving this command it means that he is concerned for the family, he is concerned about marriage, he cares about purity. That is in part why God forbids adultery. 


But there is another reason. 


Remember a few weeks ago about how the Lord demand our complete devotion with the First Commandment. Well in scripture the relationship between the Lord and his people is described as a covenant relationship, marriage is a covenant relationship, it is described to us in the scripture in the imagery of marriage (Eph 5:22-33). 


God as in marriage covenants himself to his people. They belong to him he belongs to them just as in a marriage the husband belongs to the wife, as the wife to the husband and the LORD is jealous. When his people are unfaithful he calls them adulterous, because the relationship has been violated, the prophet Hosea married a prostitute at the LORD’s command to illustrate the unfaithfulness of his people. Christian marriage is to be a picture of the union with Christ and his church, we are to be faithful to God and faithful in marriage. When we are unfaithful we are sinning first and foremost against God, we are rejecting his rightful rule over us (see Ps 51). 


Yes we are sinning against the other person in our marriage but we are ultimately sinning against God, rejecting his rule, we are taking what should be shared with the person we have covenanted to and rejected it. To us the LORD says ‘NO Adultery’. While you may have committed adultery there can still be restoration, you need to repent and turn to the LORD, confess your sin, accept the consequences. Also you might have been through a divorce, you might have been on the receiving hand of your spouse, you might be an 80 year old teenager, in each cases know there is forgiveness and there can be healing through the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to him, repent of your sin while your salvation does not depend on your works, your marriage is helped immensely by how much you work at it.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q25 How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.
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20th November 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 23 & 25)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Despite the lies of Eliphaz, Job did not waste any time in trying to put his friend right. Instead in the midst of his groaning (v2) he longed for an audience with God (v3). Job's hope was audacious - he wanted to go to God's seat and reason with the Lord (v3-5). He would speak to God and the Lord would answer (v5). Job knew the greatness of God but he was confident that the Lord would listen (v6) and ultimately declare Job to be acquitted of all charges against him (v7).


Job may have been a broken man but he was not faithless. He struggled to find God in front, behind, to the right or to the left (v8) but he knew that God watched his steps and therefore he was confident that he would have his encounter with God and be considered pure as gold (v10). Even with the barbs of Eliphaz ringing in his ears, Job understood that he had not turned away from God (v11). He had held fast to God's Word and loved the commandments of God more than food (v12). Therefore the man of faith wanted to stand before the Lord.

Job's desire was noble but also incredibly dangerous. How so? The Lord God is holy and no one can see Him and live. It is important for us to note that there was no arrogance on Job's part. He understood the immutability of God - the Lord cannot be changed (v13) and whatever the He plans for our lives will surely come to pass (v14). This knowledge caused Job to be terrified at the thought of God's presence, his heart was faint at the thought of seeing God and when he considered the Almighty, he was filled with a sense of dread (v15-17).


Later, Bildad's final words would echo some of Job's feelings. According to Bildad God was so great that no one could stand before Him. God's armies are without number and He sends the light to shine on everyone (Job 25v3). How then can any man be right in the sight of God? How can anyone born by natural means be pure (Job 25v4)? Bildad was convinced that a maggot such as Job would not be able to stand before the Almighty (Job 25v6).


There was really no need for Bildad to finish speaking by calling Job a maggot and a worm but he did raise an important question - how can anyone be right in the sight of God? If Job was to receive an audience with the Lord, how would he be able to stand?


Many years later the Apostle would urge us five times to draw near to God. By drawing near to His throne we find mercy, grace and help (Hebrews 4v16). We draw near to God by the better hope of the Gospel (Hebrews 7v19). Jesus is able to save and pray for all of those who draw near to God through Him (Hebrews 7v25). We are to draw near with the full assurance of faith because we have been washed clean (Hebrews 10v22). Finally, if we are to draw near to God we must believe He exists and rewards the one who seeks Him (Hebrews 11v6).


Job's desire to stand before God was outrageous but it came from faith. Brothers and sisters, none of us have clean hands or pure hearts but we should confidently draw near to God by Jesus with reverence and awe. Our God is a consuming fire but He graciously welcomes His children to His throne of grace.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q24 How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
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19th November 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20:14)


Message (Alan Burke)


You are being catechised all the time. Not through a catechism but through the culture that surrounds us to believe what the world wants you to believe.  You may not think that but you are from the books you read, the television shows and films you watch, the news you read, through social media, surfing the internet, school, university, place of work, clubs all of them are making an impact. In the UK the average adult spends five hours a day in front of a screen scrolling, watching, reading and yes it’s five hours and if you work that out over a year it is seventy six days! One of those things we have been catechised about is that the intimacy that should belong in a marriage doesn’t anymore and that at any time anywhere, with whoever they are as long as there is consent anything goes. That though is not God’s command. We have already established that the intimacy that is designed for marriage should be in marriage. Jesus said if we look lustfully we have already committed adultery making it clear that it applies if you’re single, married, divorced no matter who you are or what stage of life you are at or relationship you are in, it has far reaching implications. 


God designed the intimacy that is to take place in a marriage for marriage. He made man and woman in his image and made them for each other. In Genesis 2 the Lord gave Adam and Eve to one another and said; “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh, v25 and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (Gen 2:24-25). 


Notice also that the man and woman, the husband and wife are to become one flesh. They were made to connect physically but also spiritually, there is oneness thought the union that they have that speaks of two becoming one, as they become one person. Marriage that God designed was to make two become one person, a man brings certain aspects to the marriage relationship and a woman certain aspects to the marriage relationship and this was as God designed it. This first marriage that between the first man and woman, there when they were together, they were naked and they were v25 not ashamed. The ‘not ashamed’ is more than speaking to that of nakedness, but rather what is in view is something much more, it is of being open, intimate, that there can be a relationship with one another and there is nothing that separates the two of them, no fear, no shame, they can know each other in a way that they can know no others, being vulnerable to one another, in effect they share a union that no one else does. 


This was God’s ideal, that one man and one woman would be joined in marriage, it is the first institution established in the bible, but it doesn’t mean that this is aways the case. For we know then what takes place as sin came into the world. So although God saw and said that it is not good that man should be alone we know from our own experiences that not everyone gets married. In Scripture there are many who were unmarried that God uses both in the Old and New Testament. In Matthew 19(11-12), Jesus makes it clear that he gives each the grace they need to serve even if they are single and celibate. What the scripture teaches about marriage, about lust, about divorce is totally counter cultural, the culture that we live in downplays the seriousness of sexual sin and we should be careful because if sin reigns in our life it takes us to hell.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q23 What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
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18th November 2025


Pray (ACts) 


Read (Job 22)


Message (Scott Woodburn) 


In his commentary Francis Andersen makes the point that Job's friends initially speak in general terms, their second speeches focus on the fate of the wicked and then says Andersen, the third speeches contain "a certain amount of vituperation." What is vituperation? It is bitter and abusive language - the friends have had enough of Job's cries and this can be seen in their final speeches.


Job had been clear that the wicked do not always seem to suffer and for Eliphaz this was akin to blasphemy. The oldest of the comforters had come to believe that Job was suffering not because of his righteousness (v4) but because he dared to question the Lord's involvement with humanity.


Not only did Eliphaz believe his friend to be a blasphemer but he considered him to be a great sinner. Despite a lack of evidecne, Eliphaz declared Job's evil to be abundant (v5). Apparently Job had oppressed the hungry, widows and orphans (v6-9) and this was obviously the reason that God's wrath had been poured out upon Job (v10-11). The problem was that none of this was true. There is no Biblical evidence to hint that Job was guilty of such wicked deeds and God Himself had made it clear that He counted Job as righteous (Job 1v8). In all that happened to Job he did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1v22).


But Eliphaz couldn't be stopped. Not only had he declared Job to be wicked but he also put words into his mouth telling Job that he had said "What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness? Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven." (v12-14). Did Job accuse God of being blind? By no means. Eliphaz was doing his best to pin down the trouble with Job and was failing completely. Eliphaz wondered if Job would just keep going in his old wicked way (v15) which would only result in his destruction (v16).


I love Meredith Kline's description of Eliphaz calling him "a friend in the family of faith" or in other words Eliphaz loved the Lord. Nevertheless he was guilty of misrepresenting the Lord and His ways. Eliphaz urged his friend to repent, return to God and give up his earthly treasures (v21-24). If Job delighted in God and turned back to Him (v26-27) then he would surely be restored.


There's nothing terribly wrong with the final words of Eliphaz. Many of us do need to return unto the Lord but Eliphaz had missed the reality of Job's situation completely. Job was a righteous man who had done nothing to deserve the suffering that had been visited upon him. Brothers and sisters, there needs to be room in our theology for undeserved suffering. There will certainly be times in our lives that our problems can be regarded as self-inflicted - if I'm drunk and fall off a wall breaking my legs, then slap it up me. But equally there are other moments that there will be no earthly reason for the trouble that comes.


Is the Lord blind to our suffering? No. Does He care? Yes. So what is the purpose? The Lord is gracious and kind and in suffering he is sanctifying us. For a little while we may be grieved by all kinds of trials but it is only for a little while. Weeping might come in the night but hold on for the joy that comes with the morning (Psalm 30v5). 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q22 How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
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