Revelation 2:1-7
This sermon marks the first part in a series looking at the letters to the seven Churches of Asia Minor. These seven epistles comprise less than 1% of the New Testament and yet are some of the most powerful words in the New Testament. We need not wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus to see how we fair; we have the Lord’s verdict already!! These seven epistles are applicable to the universal Church of Jesus Christ worldwide in every generation and it is imperative that we judge ourselves according to the words spoken to these Churches.
The Church in Ephesus had both a commendation and a rebuke from our Lord. Commended for their standing fast in the truth of God’s Word and contending against false teachers and self-professing Apostles; yet rebuked for their lack of love for Christ and His Church!! This sermon is an exhortation for believers to contend earnestly for the truth and purity of doctrine and a warning to not allow the love of Christ in our hearts to wax cold!! How are you faring in these two areas? May this sermon serve to challenge and motivate you dear Saints of God!!
Bible Prophecy (Pt.5)
In this second teaching part on Messianic prophecies fulfilled, we continue to explore the staggering prophecies concerning the person, life and ministry of the Messiah contained within the Holy Scriptures. His suffering and betrayal; His rejection and ridicule; His death and resurrection, were all foretold by the prophets, written hundreds of years before Christ’s advent…His royal lineage, His place of birth, His birth to a virgin, His royal entry into Jerusalem riding on an ass… so the list goes on!! Each of these prophecies are unique and precise in nature; each require a unique individual to fulfil not one, but multitudes of these descriptive prophecies. The end conclusion of the matter is simple…If Jesus Christ of Nazareth is not the Messiah, then no-one is, for He alone has fulfilled the Messianic predictions at His first coming and is set to fulfil the remainder when He comes again to rule and to reign upon the throne of David and to usher in His Kingdom of peace.
In this teaching we shall explore many of the above prophecies and in so doing prove that Jesus is the very Christ of God!!
Download teaching notes (pdf)
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Matthew 12:18-21
There along the lush green banks of the river Jordan, hugging its meandering paths lie scores of reeds; their long slender stems and firm brush-like heads project above the water’s surface, swaying to and fro in the wind. These delicate plants, so prone to bruising, oftentimes lay bent over, its heavy head drooping, the shattered stems no longer able to support the weight. There are many such bruised reeds both inside and outside the Church. In the natural, a bruised reed was good for nothing and spelt its end!
In this sermon hope is brought to the listener in the person of the Servant of Isaiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He it is the prophet foretold, would come for the brokenhearted, to give them beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for the mourning. He it is, the good Shepherd of the sheep, binding up the broken, strengthening the sick and carrying the lame on His shoulders!! Be encouraged dear Saint...A bruised reed shall He not break!!
Bible Prophecy (Pt.4)
Perhaps one of the most powerful and fascinating themes of Bible prophecy are the prophecies surrounding Israel’s Messiah. These prophecies are not isolated verses in pockets of places, but rather are interwoven throughout the books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Revelation, having their exact fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. These prophecies spell out where Messiah would be born, who He would be born to, what He would do and accomplish during His unique ministry, His betrayal, death, burial, resurrection and ascension; factors that are totally outside the capacity to self-fabricate! One of the greatest objections and barriers to Jews believing that Jesus Christ is their Messiah is the notion that if He has indeed come, then why are Jews the world over still suffering? Why haven’t all wars ceased? As we shall see in this teaching, according to the Scriptures, Messiah must come twice to earth, the first to suffer and the second to reign!!
In this teaching we examine the spectacular prophecy contained in Isaiah 53 and demonstrate without question, its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Download Teaching Notes (pdf)
http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/3a_Messianic_Prophecies_Fulfilled_Pt1.pdf
John 3:8
There exists a tragedy in our day…men are trying to do by natural means, that which only God can do by supernatural means! In today’s Christianity, numbers mean everything…Church buildings the size of large warehouses need to filled and thus the world’s methods of psychology and advertisement has come wholesale into the Church! Yet, Jesus said in speaking of the Holy Spirit, “…when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (Jn. 16:8).
This sermon is an exhortation and an encouragement to believers to hold fast to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the God ordained means by which the Holy Spirit convicts men of sin and brings them to salvation. In a day where it seems that those who hold fast to truth are the losers, we must not lose heart!! Indeed the Spirit of God is still at work in saving men in our day; the wind blows where it so chooses and in like manner the Spirit of God is moving here and there in the saving of souls. We must remain close to Jesus and He will lead us where to cast our nets!!
Bible Prophecy (Pt.3)
Enter the first century AD, Israel is dwelling again back in the land that God had promised to them nearly fifteen hundred years previously. Very soon after their return from captivity the second Temple was rebuilt; the cities that Nebuchadnezzar laid waste were once again inhabited including the capital city of Jerusalem. Upon their return however, Israel ceased to be a kingdom with a ruling monarchy and by the time of the first century A.D. were a significantly weakened nation governed by Roman rule. It was into this setting that Israel’s Messiah Jesus Christ was born. Towards the close of His life and ministry, Jesus made a series of chilling prophecies regarding the future state of His people Israel adding to and confirming the curses already gone before in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. When Christ was preparing to go to the cross, His disciples came to Him enquiring about the Temple. The response that Jesus gave was prophetic in nature and would serve to shape the next 1900 years of Israel’s existence.
In this teaching we examine the prophecies of Jesus Christ concerning Jerusalem and the stunning fulfilment of His words in the siege and destruction of the temple in AD 70. What you will discover will shock, amaze you and further confirm the truth and reliability of the Holy Bible.
Download teaching notes (pdf)
http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/2b_Ancient_Israel_And_Bible_Prophecy_Pt2.pdf
Bible Prophecy (Pt.2)
When we hear the phrase, “Israel, the birth of a nation”; our minds quite naturally are cast back to just over 65 years ago to 1948, when the Jewish people against all possible odds, miraculously defied the systematic state sponsored genocide of Hitler to wipe them off the face the earth and became a united nation again back in the land of Israel after some nearly 2000 years of exile. However, the real birth of that nation began not in the 20th century AD, but rather some 4000 years ago in the 21nd century BC, when God called a heathen man by the name of Abraham out from his homeland in Babylon to journey to a new land that God was yet to reveal to him; that from him a nation from him might be born!
Perhaps one of the most fascinating themes relating to Bible prophecy is where it concerns this tiny nation; a strip of land around the same area size of Wales!! Yet, Israel’s past, present and future is miraculously contained within the pages of the Holy Bible!! In this teaching we seek to map Israel’s history retrospectively through the lens of the prophetic passages contained Deuteronomy chapter 28, which deals with the blessing and cursing of this nation.
Download Teaching Notes (pdf)
http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/2a_Ancient_Israel_And_Bible_Prophecy_Pt1.pdf
Bible Prophecy (Pt.1)
Without question, one of the foremost claims to the Bible being the Inspired Word of God is prophecy. A staggering 27% of the whole Bible is prophetic in nature!
“People are named before birth; kingdoms are outlined before their historical existence; battles are described before occurring, and personal destinies are delineated before the persons themselves are born…”
-Bernard M. Ramm, Protestant Christian Evidences
God goes down on record; it is written and if it does not come to pass then the Bible is relegated to being a false book and we certainly have no confidence putting our faith in it. In this first part of a teaching series looking at Bible prophecy, we introduce this fascinating subject and take a look at a prophecy given some 2700 years ago by a Hebrew prophet called Isaiah relating to a nation by the name of Israel and a heathen King by the name of Cyrus. What you will discover and are about to hear will literally take your breath away and is only one of the many hundreds of prophecies contained in the Holy Bible. Fasten your seat belts and be prepared to be amazed!!
Download Teaching Notes (pdf)
http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/1_Introduction_to_Bible_Prophecy.pdf
Matthew 18:21:35
Paul Williams is a Pastor at Temple Baptist Church, Wolverhampton. He delivers a very sobering and informative sermon looking at the consequences of failing to forgive others when offended. He asks three fundamental and heart searching questions: Why should we forgive; what are the consequences if we don't forgive; and how we should forgive? I trust that this sermon will both instruct and challenge you in this most crucial area of forgiveness. The bottom line is this…if our horizontal relationship is out of shape, so will be our vertical one also!!
Proverbs 24:30-34
There is not a day that goes by that we are not required to take our place on the battlefield! The flesh, the world and the devil are our avowed enemies, bent on our destruction!! All around, I see the multitudes of casualties scattered across the mountains, strewn across the hills.
An urgent and pressing call sounds forth in this sermon, exhorting the Church of Jesus Christ to fight!! Oh! How so many are tiring, turning aside to take their ease, a little sleep, a little slumber; tiring in the fight. Dear soul, this is no time to be idle, no time to be passive; no longer is it acceptable to say everything will be okay!! We are in a war!! Fight we must; battle we shall…to your station soldier of Christ and take your place in the battle for victory!!