1 John 3:18-24
Many who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour struggle with finding assurance of their salvation. Though they sit week in and week out in Churches up and down the length and breadth of the country, there remains a question that will not go away; am I truly saved? In answering this question, this sermon seeks not to crop the branches but to lay the axe at the root by exploring the question, what is true biblical faith? Many have the fanciful idea that faith is static, a mental ascent to a series of facts that they know nothing of in reality in their own lives. My brethren, faith walks!!
The apostle John his first epistle, furnishes us with weighty words which address the struggle that so many have in finding assurance of their salvation. “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.” (1 Jn 3:18-19). In other words, assurance and obedience are inextricably linked!! We shall know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before God on account of fruit being evidenced and outworked in our lives by the indwelling Holy Spirit as we walk in obedience!! Could it be, the reason why so many Christians struggle with assurance of their salvation is because so many Christians walk in unbelief which manifests itself in disobedient lives? May the Lord see fit to bring light to the matter at hand!!
Luke 12:47-48
For the Christian, their testimony is simple; light has shone into darkness! Yet for many, though they name the name of Christ, they choose wilfully to remain in darkness and plead ignorance is bliss! Whilst happy to rest in religion, they will not come to the light lest their evil deeds should be exposed. For those sitting under the sound of true preaching, no such excuse can be made; the light of God Word has shone into darkness and one must now choose what to do with that light, to embrace it or to suppress it!!
This sermon is an earnest plea for all who have received light, to walk in the knowledge of that light, for to whom much is given, much is required and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Dear soul, with the light that has already been given to you, to what degree are you walking in that light?
2 Corinthians 9
For many Christians, there is much confusion and scepticism surrounding the issue of money; as soon as one hears the word, the backs of God’s people go up and rightly so!! There are it seems more crooks and charlatans inside the professing Church than there are in any institute on planet earth – the majority of which have disguised themselves as pastors whose vocation it is to milk and fleece the sheep for whom Christ died!! This combined with the false prosperity gospel of greed and the Old Testament law of tithing, the topic of money has left an indelible blight on the Church of Jesus Christ!! Yet in the midst of this great confusion speaks a man by the name of Apostle Paul; a breath of fresh air amidst a cloud of pollution!! Paul coveted no man’s silver, freely he had received and freely he gave his life to serve and minster to the Brethren, working with his with own hands night and day to provide for his own needs that he might not be chargeable to the Brethren.
What does the New Testament have to say about tithing? How are we to give as New Testament believers? Is it right for ministers who labour in the gospel to receive support from the Church? All of these questions and more are answered from the Word of God in this teaching sermon. In short, despite the much abuse of money, there is a New Testament giving worthy of God’s blessing, a fruit and grace to which all believers ought to strive!!
Matthew 6:5-13
Well the words of a hymn serve to capture the essence of the burden of this sermon; “Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempters snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!” It seems that the Saints of old knew something that so many of us now know so little of as it relates to a life of prayer! Never have we been so prosperous and well off as we are in this century, yet for all our prosperity it seems that more Christians than ever are suffering from anxiety, depression and burn-out.
This sermon is a passionate plea for God’s people to return to a quiet time with the Lord, a time set aside for uninterrupted fellowship with God. A place where we our Saviour meet in the wonder and awe of an open Bible and prayer!!
Bible Prophecy (Pt.10)
The books of Daniel and Revelation are unique in their composure in that their content is eschatological in nature, relating to events that are to take place at the end of the world. Indeed, the Greek word for Revelation is “apokalupsis” from whence we get the word apocalypse. This word apokalupsis means a disclosure, a revealing and an uncovering of things that up until that point was not understood. There are many hard things to be understood in these books but as one begins to dig into them, one quickly discovers that there is overlap and similarities in the material found within them. This repetition and overlap is crucial in enabling us to interpret and make sense of the visions contained in them.
In this tenth and final part of our teaching on Bible prophecy, we seek to understand and make sense of some of the key passages in Daniel and Revelation which speak of a final worldwide Antichrist kingdom that will arise at the very end of time which shall be united politically, economically and spiritually, whose destruction shall be brought about by Jesus Christ at His Second Coming when He shall come to establish His kingdom on earth lasting for one thousand years. What we shall discover is astounding and serves to equip us and prepare us for what is soon to come to pass!!
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http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/7b_Bible_Prophecy_And_The_Last_Days_Pt2.pdf
Bible Prophecy (Pt.9)
The Bible speaks of a final period of time which shall see a rapid succession of cataclysmic events that shall bring to a close this age and usher in the millennium reign of Jesus Christ. This final period of time shall be seven years in length; the last three and a half of which shall be characterised by a time of intense suffering and tribulation likened to no other period of time in history. As far as the Bible relates to these times prophetically, Israel is at the very centre and heart of this tribulation period. Daniel spoke about a figure that shall make a covenant of peace with the Jewish people for a period of seven years but mid-way into this shall break his covenant and turn to persecute them, putting an end to sacrifices. This by default necessitates a Jewish presence in their ancient homeland and a rebuilding of a third temple which the Apostle Paul identifies as the place in which the man of sin shall be revealed, sitting in this temple showing himself to be God.
The Jewish presence in Israel today is one of the single greatest visible sign that we are in the last day’s and soon to witness the return of the Lord Jesus Christ!! If the words of the prophets are right, we are set to see the rebuilding of the third temple and a Jewish holocaust which shall outstrip the holocaust, at the end of which Messiah shall make His long expected return to save the Jewish people out of great tribulation!! In this ninth part of this teaching, we turn to look at these staggering events out of the pages of Holy Scriptures.
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http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/7a_Bible_Prophecy_And_The_Last_Days_Pt1.pdf
Revelation 3:14-22
One author dubbed this Church as “the Church of which there was nothing good to say”. Christ had the right to find His people burning in their love, devotion and service to Him, yet when He came He found a people that were neither hot nor cold. What was the crime of the Laodiceans? The sin of being lukewarm!! Oh dear brethren, this chilling reality is that this describes MOST professing believers in the West!! Moderate Christianity, which by definition is a lukewarm Christianity has become the accepted norm in the majority of Western Churches, yet our Lord said on account of this, He was about to vomit His Church out of His mouth!!
This sermon is a sobering warning to guard our hearts against indifference in the matters of Christ. Laodicea, like the Western Church was incredibly wealthy and what many thought to be their blessing proved to be their undoing!! When a people become rich, indifference and apathy sets in. To this end we must guard our hearts so as not to allow our outward prosperity to become the measure of our spiritual prosperity!!
Bible Prophecy (Pt.8)
Matthew Chapter 24 is known as the Olivet Discourse and is key to understanding the run-down of events in the last days prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus in seeking to prepare His disciples and those coming after them for the days that lay ahead in the intervening period from His ascending into heaven until His coming back again, spoke of wars, rumours of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes along with persecutions, offences, betrayal and hatred. All these He said would be signs accompanying the countdown to the end when He would make His sudden and long awaited return. Without a doubt, all these signs are clearly evident and point to the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, there is one thing that Jesus spoke of prophetically, this one thing He warned against more than any other, namely this…be on guard against spiritual deception!!
In this teaching we illustrate the amazing fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic warnings in the very days we are living in. By utilising a number of video clips, we seek to highlight the spiritual deception that has invaded the Church through the false prophets that abound in our day. In so doing we seek to demonstrate the authenticity of Bible prophecy and to warn God’s people to be on guard!!
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http://traffic.libsyn.com/bethesdashalom/6_False_Prophets_In_The_Last_Days.p
Watch the videos featured on this audio
Music from clip intros: http://www.bensound.com
Revelation 3:7-13
Twenty-eight miles south-east of Sardis lay the city of Philadelphia; so named after Attalus Philadelphus, the king of Pergamos who founded it in the second century BC. Its name means “brotherly love and is a fitting name for a Church that would later be born in that city! Its natural geography served well to illustrate the robustness of this Church in bearing up under trial. Subject to frequent earthquakes, being laid waste by one just less than a century before this epistle was written, this hardy city bounced back with a greater vibrancy than before! If there was one name that best describes the Church in Philadelphia it would be the word “faithful”. As a Church, they had remained faithful during trial and persecution and had persevered despite having little strength and had not denied Christ’s name. For this they were praised by the Saviour!
This sermon is an exhortation to Christians to bear up under trial and to do so keeping their eyes steadfast on the One who reveals Himself as holy and true! Many Christians under trial and difficulty often ask the question why? Many grow cold and bitter towards God through offence. If God is God, why does He not answer my prayers? Yet for the Christian under trial, they must never forget the goodness and trustworthiness of a sovereign God who keeps covenant with His children! Be of good cheer dear Saint and keep your eyes on Jesus. Say not I have no strength, for His strength is made perfect in your weakness!!
Revelation 3:1-6
Sardis was a great city of the ancient world, a very wealthy and prosperous city. Into this city came the Gospel and the Church at Sardis was born!! The fame of their conversion and the fruits thereof were sounded out near and far, and overtime Sardis had amassed a reputation for being a Church that was alive!! Sadly, overtime the testimony of this Church had become nothing more than a label; still having repute before men, the spiritual condition of this Church was a far cry from what it was in their former days, our Lord tells us that they were now dead!
This sermon is a serious challenge to flee from sin and a solemn warning against hypocrisy!! The Lord is seeking one thing from the backslider, namely that he might return to Him in true brokenness and repentance. The hour is late and urgent is the day that we are living in. Dear Brethren, it’s no time for religious hypocrisy, we must at all costs seek to keep our garments unsoiled from this world and walk before our God with a clean heart.