1 Chronicles 12:32
This week has been a week like no other I’ve ever witnessed in my forty years alive on planet earth. Coronavirus touched down and pandemonium struck. Media hype fueled mass panic buying, where every man and his family headed towards the supermarkets in an effort to stock their cupboards to overflowing. Stock markets across the world continue to be hammered with losses amounting to billions being slashed off the value of some of the world's most prestigious companies. Thursday saw the biggest one-day decline in the FTSE 100 since 1987 and Wednesday witnessed the pound plunge to its lowest level in 30 years!
Every day has seen escalating measures being announced by the UK government as it has tried desperately to stem the growth of this virus which has now claimed the lives of more than 200 British citizens and more than 10,000 globally. On Tuesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a whopping £350 billion bailout and by Friday, he’d effectively put the whole British economy on life support. With fears that we’re just beginning to see the rise in coronavirus infections, at the start of the week the government introduced social distancing measures and by the end of the week pubs, bars, restaurants, and gyms were told to close. My dear Brothers and Sisters, all of this has shocked me and all of this has greatly moved my heart. However, I want to say with great sorrow and sadness; nothing that I’ve thus far mentioned has vexed and grieved my heart more than what I’ve witnessed take place this week by Church leaders in this country, as one after another closed the doors of their Churches until further notice!
This sermon is a desperate plea for the Pastors of Christ’s flock to seek the face of the Lord for a way forward in this hour of tremendous need. Where are the sons of Issachar who in their day, understood the right thing for Israel to do at the right time? Will the Church rise to its call or will it sleep through this present crisis only to awake to find that there’s nothing left?
Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 2)
It will never do to be hearers of the word only and not doers of it; James makes this very clear (Jms 1:22). Yet at the same time, to be a doer of the word without first hearing what is being asked is to walk in ignorance. How many, armed with good intentions and loaded with zeal have gone out of the starting blocks with pace, only to be later disqualified because they were in breach of the rules. You cannot compete in a race without obeying the rules and you cannot obey the rules unless you first know what those rules are. Thus, it is incumbent upon us as students of the Word of God, to rightly divide (Grk. to cut straight) the word of truth that we might not be ashamed (2 Tim. 2:15).
If the Bible was a single book, composed by a single contemporary author, that would be one thing. If we had any questions or doubts about the meaning of what is written, we could simply ask the author. What happens when you have a book written by upwards of forty different authors, across a number of continents with the earliest of these writing some 3500 years ago? In this second teaching part, we explore the role of dictionaries and commentaries in serving to better aid our study of the Bible, especially when bridging the gulf of history and culture.
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1 Corinthians 10:1-13
When God put to Satan the question, “Hast thou considered my servant Job” (Job 1:8), Satan did not say, who is he? Instead, he engaged with the question and responded by saying; “Doth Job fear God for nought?” (Job 1:9). It appears from this verse that this righteous man was well known to the prince of darkness. Have you ever considered that your name is also known to the armies of hell? This puts a whole new dimension on spiritual warfare. Having not just one scheme but many, Paul instructs us to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). Satan’s wiles not only involve the planned assault of the individual believer but the planned assault of the Church body collectively. There is one particular weapon in Satan’s arsenal through which is able to destroy a local Church more quickly than we can ever know! The great deception of this sin lies in its seeming harmlessness. This vice comes so readily to us as humans and it appears so justified in its complaint. If Satan can find a willing vessel here, then he’s found a true ally to aid him in his assault against the Body of Christ. What is this sin to which I refer? It is the sin of murmuring.
Exhortation and warning sound aloud in this sermon; exposing the subtle danger of the sin of murmuring and calling the people of God to exercise restraint. When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they reasoned as they left their fleshpots behind that they were heading for a land flowing with milk and honey, and they were…but just not yet! First, they had to go on a journey into the desert so what was in their hearts might be exposed. Each and every time an apparent problem arose, the people murmured. They failed to see the loving hand of God guiding them, working in them a far greater weight of glory than merely satisfying their carnal appetites. Let us learn from Israel’s example so as not to murmur and let us not allow ourselves to be used of the devil to aid him in the destruction of the Church for which Christ died.
Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 1)
As one opens the Bible, one quickly comes to discover that what they hold in their hand is not a single book, but a volume of ancient literature (some 66 books). In fact, there are some 780, 000+ words all found sitting within a careful and purposeful grammatical structure with the oldest sections being more than 3 ½ thousand years in age and the most recent, 2000 years! There are many different ways in which God could have communicated his will to mankind; he could have appeared at a given location every fifty years to speak to man in person or sent an angel to speak on his behalf. Instead, God in His sovereign wisdom has chosen to communicate His message to mankind through the medium of written language.
In this first teaching part, we ask the question; “Why do we need to interpret the Bible?” As soon as one begins to read any literature, the need for interpretation comes immediately into play!! This not only applies to the Bible, but all pieces of literature, because the underlying question that inevitably will arise is; “What does that mean?” You cannot escape this question, and as soon as one asks this question, one by default has moved into the realm of interpretation. The aim of all true Bible study is to uncover the plain meaning of the text so as to arrive at the proper understanding of truth. Having understood what God’s Word was to those first receiving it, we are then in a position to correctly apply the Word of God to our lives.
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Revelation 22
Some 33 parts on and some 65+ thousand words later, we finally come to the final teaching part in our Revelation series. With the old earth passed away, and the former heaven gone forever, John saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy city—the New Jerusalem—coming down from God out of heaven. In chapter 21, John described this glorious city, and in the first part of chapter 22, he continues to do the same. There’s no escaping the parallels that exist between the first paradise in Eden, and this second paradise. What was lost in the curse has now at the end, been restored, not only to an equal state but to one far exceeding it in every degree!
The chapter concludes with a series of warnings. The end is at hand and the Lord instructs His Church. “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev. 22:20-21).
Matthew 10:27-33
We read in Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe”. Man is prone on every side to fear, not least in the face of pending danger. God’s desire is that we would not be overcome by fear, but rather that we would trust Him!
This sermon is an exhortation for the blood-bought children of God, to place their total confidence in the Lord. Where faith toward God abounds, fear has no resting place; but where fear abounds, we can be assured, faith is wanting! “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there”.
Revelation 21
Every book has a start and a finish; a beginning and an ending. The Book of Revelation is no exception to this rule and as we begin part 32 of our studies, we cross yet another milestone in our journey through this book. No longer are we going up the mountain...having reached the peak, we’re now descending on the other side of the Jordan, heading towards the finish line. With the New Jerusalem firmly in our sights, we can pick up the pace and encourage ourselves that it was all worth it! The cross, the battle, the war, the struggle; captivities and martyrdoms...all that is now behind us and eternities glories have opened up their arms to receive us in the Lord!
In this teaching, we gain an insight into what is in store for believers in the new heavens and new earth along with the new Jerusalem.
Revelation 20:7-15
Upon the return of Jesus, His glorious appearing shall bring to an end this current Church age which has spanned the last two millennia, and a new age will begin, lasting for half that time. The question that we want to answer in part 31 is this; what happens after once the thousand years have come to their end? What we have recorded in the pages of Scripture is very brief, to say the least—much of it remains a mystery yet to be revealed at the Coming of our Lord. That said, a large portion of the little that we have been given is found in what now remains of the last three closing chapters of Revelation (ch. 20-22).
In this teaching, we explore two main themes, the Gog and Magog war followed by the great white throne judgment.