The book of Daniel is one of the best-loved books of the Bible; it gives us the story of ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and the fiery furnace’ and ‘Daniel in the lions den’ – stories that many of us learned and loved at Sunday school. However the years have come and gone and we so often tend to just skip over those quaint little stories without them having any real impact on our lives; however, I believe that once we have completed a serious verse-by-verse study of this amazing book we will never be the same. This book gives us real perspective, it helps us to see things the way that God sees them – the way Daniel saw them.

May you be richly blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this closing section of the letter (vs 20-25), Jude now answers the ‘so what?’ question. Having warned us of apostates that have crept into the church, and given a detailed explanation of their ways so that they can be identified, Jude now tells us what we are to do with this information.

We are to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, making sure we keep ourselves in a place where we can know the love of God and be beneficiaries of His grace and blessings.

• The father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) never stopped loving his wayward son, however, the prodigal son removed himself from his father’s presence & blessing.
• Israel too, though ‘espoused to God’ (Jeremiah 2:2) and ‘the apple of His eye’ (Deuteronomy 32:10) forsook Him and subsequently removed themselves from His blessings.
• Samson knew the blessing of God on his life, yet when he removed himself, he lost the presence and power of God in his life

We are to reach out and rescue as many as we can from the deception of these apostates. Not all will listen, and we must make sure that in rescuing souls ‘as from a burning fire’ we do not get caught up, entangled and burned ourselves. We must work our our own salvation – pay attention to our own personal walk with the LORD first – but then have compassion on those who otherwise would be deceived by smooth-talking religious charlatans!

Jude concludes his letter by reminding us that God is able to keep us from falling and will give us all the resource of Heaven if we simply resist the world, the flesh and the devil. It is a moment by moment choice. If we abide in Him, He will abide in us.

Finally, He is, and will, present us faultless before His throne in Heaven. This is not based upon us, but upon the completed work of Christ on the cross. Jesus paid it all, Jesus is our advocate with the Father,  and we are now clothed with the righteousness of Christ. He has made us accepted in the beloved! (Ephesians 1:6).

May this study encourage you to abide in Christ and stir your hearts to reach out to those who have ears to hear!

Why is this day so important? Psalm 119 speaks of this specific day saying “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (PS 118:24).

Zechariah and Daniel recorded details of this specific day 500 years before it happened? David spoke of this day one thousand years before it came to pass! even Moses recorded details about this day almost one thousand five hundred years before!

In fact, we can go back two thousand years to the time of Abraham, and find it alluded to in Genesis 22!

Jesus came to reveal Himself to Israel and the world, right? So why, for almost His entire ministry, did He play-down who He really was? He constantly told people He healed to not make him known! “See you tell no man” was Jesus’ reply to those who wanted to shout abroad His greatness. He even silenced evil spirits from revealing His identity: “And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.  And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known“. (Mark 3:11-112). Incredibly, after feeding the 5000 the multitude wanted to crown Him and make Him their king there and then! But “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone” (John 6:15).

Whilst all this ‘downplaying’ his identity another strange phenomenon was taking place. On a number of occasions, Jesus’ enemies came to take Him by force to silence Him. Yet each time Jesus simply walked through their midst as if protected by a spiritual force-field! They just could not touch him!

Then, on Palm Sunday everything changed! Jesus not only allowed the crowds to worship Him as the Messiah (“Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD” ( PS 118:26 )), He actually arranged the whole event, telling the disciples to go and get the donkey, and riding into Jerusalem as a king (just as Solomon had ridden into Jerusalem as a king in 1 Kings 1:38). When the Pharisees tried to silence the disciples Jesus retorted that even the stones would sing out His praise, such was the significance of this day!

This was the only day, prophesied by the angel Gabriel (and recorded by Daniel) when the Messiah would reveal Himself to Israel!

The prophecy is found in Daniel chapter 9, foretells the exact day that Israel’s Messiah would come – and He did! But although a group of His disciples acknowledged it, the nation slept on in their ignorance and unbelief. They missed the ‘time of their visitation‘ (Luke 19:44). Jesus pronounced national blindness upon them – Paul tells us in Romans 11:25 will last until ‘the fulness of the Gentiles be come in‘.

The significance of this day to Jews and Gentiles cannot be overstated!

It stands as a testimony to a God who is outside of time and can tell the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10) foretelling events thousands of years before they happen. It stands as a warning to not neglect the prophetic scriptures and the signs of the times, and it stands as a reminder that the Gentiles have been ‘grafted in’ to the family of Abraham by faith.

In Psalm 27 vs 14 we read: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord”. But what does it mean to wait on the LORD?

In this study, Lekan looks at what is means to wait on God, even when everything around us is demanding we do something, anything, other than just sit and wait!

Lekan teaches clearly from God’s Word, giving examples of those who have learned to wait on God, and of some who didn’t.

May you be richly blessed and encouraged by this important teaching.

Building on our study last week, we now begin to see Jude list 30 characteristic of apostates.

Not only is this a good expose of these people, it serves as a checklist of what we should not be!

2) DEFILE THE FLESH

3) DESPISE DOMINION

4) SPEAK EVIL OF DIGNITIES

5) SPEAK EVIL OF WHAT THEY DON’T KNOW

6) THEY ACT ON CARNAL INSTINCTS

In this study we look at the first 7 of these in more detail, focusing on the 7th – The Way of Cain.

• Cain did not deny the existence of God
• He did not refuse to worship God
• He simply failed to come to God on the basis of the atoning sacrificial shed blood of a lamb.
• He wanted to come to God on his terms
• He wanted to set the conditions for approaching God
• Ultimately, he rejected God’s Word
• All apostacy begins here

May you be encouraged and challenged by this study.

Sadly, this was not a one-time only event, and as Paul warned in 1 Timothy 4:1, 'in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils'.  Jude's message is as much for today as it was for the early church.

In verses 5, 6 and 7, Jude gives three examples to 'put us in remembrance' that we can remove ourselves from God's blessing, and just as with the Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we can forfeit our inheritance. Being 'saved' is not the cue to sit on our laurels and not care about how we live, although our salvation is secure in Christ, there is still much at stake.

Just as in Jude's first example of the Children of Israel, they were saved from the bondage of Egypt (analogous to our live in bondage to sin before we came to Christ), but then the entire generation that left Egypt failed to receive the inheritance God had promised on account of their unbelief. They were all destroyed by God in the wilderness over the next 38 years.

Chuck Missler, in his book, The Kingdom, Power & Glory states: "What we do ‘after we have been born again’ affects our role, position, place & authority in the coming Millennial Kingdom. This kingdom is not heaven, but a literal, physical kingdom on earth where Jesus will reign for 1000 years. We acknowledge this kingdom, but don’t know the criteria required to inherit it. The truth “that not only our “rewards,” but our place of responsibility in that kingdom is being determined now; thus, there is an urgent need for a renewed recognition of our personal accountability. We must learn to be “partakers of Christ’s Life”– these are called “overcomers” or “faithful ones”.  Overcoming means “victory over hostile powers.” Jesus is the real Overcomer. The only way we become an overcomer is by yielding ourselves to Him. Overcomers are not ‘perfect;’ they are just ones who make the right choices to go God’s way. David is an example: All believers will enter the kingdom; but only overcomers will inherit that kingdom (Heb.3:14; Rom.8:17; Matt.24:43, 47). Overcomers” (the faithful ones) will rule and reign there; the “overtaken” will simply dwell there (Rev.21:7; Matt.7:21). The deciding factor is how we live our lives here."

To read more visit: https://www.calvaryportsmouth.co.uk/sermons/jude-vs-6-7/

Jude wanted to write to believers to encourage them in their faith, but there was a problem. People claiming to be Christians were spreading false teaching and living worldly lives – and telling others it was ok to do so because they were now saved, so you can live as you like.

So instead of letter of encouragement, Jude writes this short letter to remind Christians that it does matter how you live. You cannot go around living however you please. God has bought you with a price (the highest price of all – the blood of His Son), so we are to ‘honor God with our bodies and spirits’ – see 1 Corinthians 6:20.

In this study we consider a largely unconsidered possibility as to the intended recipient of this short but powerful letter.

Many assume John was writing to the Church in general, or possibly to the local congregation. Others suggest that an unknown lady, but evidently respected at that time, was whom John wrote to.

But there is another possibility, one that sheds light on why John would write this letter in the first place.

Again, many assume 2nd John to be largely a repetition of 1st John, but the Holy Spirit has no need to repeat Himself. Instead, this letter is full of life and significance – not only 2000 years ago, but also to us today.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Because we know this truth (confirmed in our hearts by the holy Spirit) we also have assurance of eternal life - an eternal life we (as Christians) are already living now!

John again exhorts us to keep His commandments, which we will do naturally if we love Him.

In this study we also address the subject of the authority of the Bible as God's complete word to mankind. There has been centuries of controversy over verse 7 & 8, with many claiming that verse 8 in particular is a later addition, not found in the 'most reliable', or 'most authoritative' manuscripts. The NIV study Bible claims that it is not found in any manuscript before the 16th century! The vindication for verse 8 comes not from the early Christian writes who quoted it (or which there were many), nor from the early manuscripts (of which there are enough to convince any honest enquirer), rather the vindication comes from a early 2nd century sceptic who wrote a satirical work - within 50 years of John's letter - in which he uses 1 John 5:7-8 as his source - thus demonstrating it was part of the original text as written by John.

Why is this important? Because as Irwin H. Linton said;

“The infallibility of the record upon which rest the eternal essentials of our faith – the deity of Christ, His voluntary, atoning death, bodily resurrection and impending return in power and glory – are all rendered uncertain in a mind in which the accuracy of the Bible record is in doubt.”

We should be in no doubt that what we read in scripture (as long as we are using a good translation) is what God had preserved so that we, through the patience and comfort of the scripture, might have an unwavering and unshakeable hope!

Just as John had previously told us that God is light, he concludes his letter by telling us that Jesus is also Life. Eternal life is in Jesus.

This is why John writes, that we might know we have eternal life, and that life is in God's Son.

May you be encouraged and blessed by this study.

1 Corinthians 13 is considered the chapter on Love in the NT, yet 1 John 4 should be considered a contender!

John also makes that point that no one has seen God (v12). This echoes what we read in John 1:18: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”.

Yet in Genesis 18:20-33, Abraham has a face to face conversation with God. In Genesis 32:24-30, Jacob not only sees God face to face, he wrestles with Him all night. In Exodus 24:9-11 Moses and the elders of Israel go up the mount, see God, and eat and drink in His presence! Later, Moses specifically asks God if he can see Him, God obliges on the condition that Moses can only see the ‘after glow’ of God’s presence as He passes by. Later, Joshua, Gideon, Samson’s parents and others see God, and their lives are spared. So how do we reconcile this issue?

The key is found in John chapter 4, verse 24. There we read: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”  As a spirit being, God does not have a physical body. Physical objects are part of this order of things; ‘In the beginning (time), God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter)’ (Gen 1:1). Before this, there was no time, no space and no matter. All three came into existence when God began His work of creation. It is therefore impossible for us, in this present order of things to see a God who ‘inhabits eternity’.

There will come a time when we will see Him…

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”  (1 John 3:2)

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Cor 13:12)

John gives us 5 key reasons for writing his 1st Epistle:

• • That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us 1:3
  • And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 1:4
  • these things write I unto you, that ye sin not 2:1
  • These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 2:26
  • These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 5:13

As we move into chapter 3 John builds on all of these and starts by reminding us of the incredible, unconditional love that God has for us, that we have been adopted and given the position of the firstborn son – who would inherit a double blessing. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God”.

The Greek word for ‘bestowed’ implies that God was obligated to give us what was due to us! This is incredible! For we did not earn or merit God’s love, Christ did; and in return for our sin (which Jesus took upon Himself), we were given His position and so the Father gives us what was earned by Christ!

John want’s us to be assured of this position we now have in Christ, so 7x reminds us of things we should by now know:

• We know when He appears, we shall be like Him v2
• We know He was manifested to take away our sins v5
• We know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren v14
• We know that one who hates (or does not love his brother) does not have eternal life within him v15
• We know that He loves us because He laid down His life for us v16
• We know that are of the truth if our love is shown by our deeds v18-19
• We know that He abides in us though His Spirit if we keep His commandments v24

Along with this assurance John tells us of 5 ‘actions’ that elicit a response:

• If we have hope that He will appear again:
  • we will purify ourselves (live a pure life in heart & mind) v3
• If we abide in Him:
  • we will not sin v6
• If we are born of God
  • we will not (habitually) sin v9
• Because He laid down His life for us:
  • we should be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren v16
• If our heart is clean:
  • we will not fear God’s gaze v21

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Why would God choose to send a group of people hundreds of miles, from another county? More to the point, why would a group of people from another country agree to travel hundreds of miles, bringing gifts, to see a small child?

In this study we look at the truth behind the tradition.

• Who were the Magi?
• What significance did they have?
• How many of them were there really?
• Why does the world believe there were only 3?
• What evidence do we have that they actually visited Bethlehem?
• When did they arrive in Jerusalem?
• Why was Herod and all Jerusalem shaken at their arrival?

What few people seem to have realised was that some 600 years before, Daniel, whilst in Babylon, had been made the head of this Persian priestly group known as ‘Magi’. Seemingly, Daniel revealed some secrets to them that had been handed down for generations – secrets concerning a king who was to be born ‘king of the Jews’.

All the more poignant is the fact that, because of their supposed ability to see the future, one of the Magi’s principle responsibilities was to appoint kings.

 Just as the shepherds arrived to confirm that Jesus was the perfect Lamb, the Magi arrived to appoint Jesus as the King of the Jews.

Around 600 before they arrived, the ‘crown’ of Israel had literally been taken to Babylon as the final king of Israel – Zedekiah – was taken away captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Now, the Magi bring the crown back and appoint the one whom their chief (Daniel) had declared would have an everlasting dominion!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Others say it was so news of Jesus' birth could spread far and wide by people who had nothing to lose. But, if that were so, the Shepherds failed in their mission as the news of a 'new born king' didn't even make it 8 miles up the road to Jerusalem, where Herod,  a particularly nervous and uneasy Idumean, appointed by Rome, sat on the throne of Israel as if it were his. When Herod did find out, as Magi from Babylonia arrived en masse in Jerusalem looking for this rightful King of Israel Herod proverbially lost it!

Did you know that the prophet Micah foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem? Quite probably, as it's a scripture read each year at Christmastime:

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah,though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2)

But did you know that Micah, just 7 verse before, foretold the exact location, and it was to be a shepherds lookout tower on outskirts of Bethlehem?

"And thou, O tower of the flock,the strong hold of the daughter of Zion,unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion;the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem". (Micah 4:8)

This tower at Migdal Edar (which is the words translated as 'tower of the flock") was not only used by shepherds as a lookout to keep an eye on their sheep to protect them from thieves and predators, it was also used as a lambing room, where new-born lambs could be born away from the ravages of the cold night air. At the base of this tower was an natural depression in the rock the shepherds call the 'manger'. It would be in there they would lay the new-born lambs.

But, significantly, these were not ordinary shepherds, and their sheep no ordinary sheep. All the sheep on the hills around Bethlehem were for one purpose; to be offered as sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem.

For a lamb to be used as an offering it had to be without blemish. To protect it, the shepherds would wrap it in old priestly garments cut into strips, known as swaddling bands, to stop it kicking and thrashing about and damaging itself.

• According to the Talmud, all sheep found in the area “from Jerusalem as far as Migdal Eder” [Bethlehem] were deemed to be holy and consecrated
• They could only be used for sacrifices in the temple... in particular, for the Peace offerings and Passover sacrifices.

These shepherd's primary duty was to inspect these lamb's and confirm they were without blemish and able to be used as sacrificial lambs. It was their job to approve the lambs to be offered in Jerusalem to atone for sin!

This is why, of all people, God sent these shepherds (without any directions), not to a stable, but to see a baby lying in a manger - their manger!

Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

In this chapter John plainly states that if you are content (and find no real problem) with this world and the things of this world, if you are ‘given over’ to this world, you cannot at the same time be given over to God. You cannot serve two masters. Either God is your real love, so that you gladly forsake worldly gain for the infinitely better reward of a relationship with Him, or you put God to one side and love this world – a world that John reminds us is all going to be burnt up.

What matters most to you? Your career? Your material possessions? Your hobbies? Your football team? Your favorite TV soap or Netflix? Your friends or even your family?

Jesus said: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” – Matthew 10:31

John then goes on to warn that false Christ’s will come – and are already around us, offering us alternative ways to ‘God’. These are just to forerunner to the Wicked One who is coming who will deceive the would world.

Deception will abound. Our only safeguard against deception is to abide in Jesus so that we can hear the gentle tender leading of His Holy Spirit.

These may be days full of challenges, there may be some difficult decisions to make, relationship and friendships that have to be severed, habits that must be broken, but there is the promise of reward and blessing greater than any of us can begin to imagine!

John’s message is to hold on! There is not much longer to wait!

In this 2nd chapter, John continues to explain his reason for writing, firstly 'that you sin not', but then assures us that if we do sin as believers, we have an advocate, a legal representative in the courtroom of heaven who will plead our case before the throne of God. On the other side of the courtroom stands Satan, 'the accuser of the brethren'  (Rev 12:10), who reals off all the lies, adulterous and murderous thoughts, bitterness and more that we are guilty of. But when Satan has finished presenting his case against us, Jesus steps forward and holding out His nail-pierced hands, declares to the courtroom that His own blood was shed on the cross, so that He who knew no sin became all of the sins we have ever committed. In exchange we have been given the righteousness of Jesus - the sinless Son of God. Satan's case for the prosecution immediately collapses and we are declared 'Not guilty!' by Heaven's eternal court!

John then goes on to remind us that our love for God is being perfected as we walk in His Word:

• A Christian no longer loves sin as he once did.
• A Christian no longer brags about his sin as he once did.
• A Christian no longer plans to sin as he once did.
• A Christian no longer fondly remembers his sin as he once did.
• A Christian never fully enjoys his sin as he once did.
• A Christian no longer is comfortable in habitual sin as he once was.

“The Christian no longer loves sin; it is the object of his sternest horror: he no longer regards it as a mere trifle, plays with it, or talks of it with unconcern... Sin is dejected in the Christian’s heart, though it is not ejected. Sin may enter the heart, and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne.” (Spurgeon)

John was called by Jesus, probably in his late teenage years, to leave the family fishing business on the shores of Galilee and follow Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, and become his disciple. Little could John have known what the next 70 years of his life would bring.

His family had sufficient means to have hired servants (Mark 1:20) and he was personally known by the High Priest of Israel. He and his brother, James, were known as the ‘sons of thunder’ (Mark 3:17) and had great aspirations (Mark 10:34) – they were clearly no pushovers. Yet John was called to leave all of this and later is given the name ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’, or ‘John the beloved’.

What can bring about such a change? Only a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

John writes because he wants us to know, to be in no doubt of who Jesus is, of what He has done, and of the joy we can have through constant abiding fellowship with God and other believers because of Jesus.

May you be blessed and encouraged  by these studies.

Paul tells us in Colossians 1  v12 that those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ have not only been saved from God's wrath and had their sins washed away, but they also automatically qualify to receive an inheritance. It is not an earthly inheritance, that might bring some temporal gain, but as Peter tells us,  it is "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4).

Although seldom discussed, the New Testament is full of allusions to this inheritance, and Jesus Himself spoke, not only the treasure we should seek to lay up in Heaven (which will be the reward for our labour - see Matt 6:19-21), but also of receiving abundantly if we are willing to give up the right to our own lives and live for His glory (see Matthew 25:28-29 / Mark 10:28-31).

May this study stir up your hearts and minds and encourage you to live your life for Jesus Christ in the days that remain...

In this chapter Peter underlines his reason for writing - namely to stir up your pure minds and to get you to remember:

• What you have been saved from - (we were in darkness and given over to the lusts and desires of the flesh)
• What you have been saved for - (you are to be a Royal Priesthood & Holy nation to show forth His praise!),
• The certainty of our faith - (it is based on real events recorded by eyewitnesses and furthermore we have the undeniable proof of fulfilled prophecy)
• Jesus is coming back - soon!
• The material world around us is temporary and will all be burnt up
• What you have awaiting you - the new heavens and new earth

However, Peter warns that in the last days people would scoff at the idea of Jesus returning, would deny that God is Creator, and would reject that there was once a worldwide flood to judge the earth.

In effect their argument will be that, because their perception is that apocalyptic events don't happen (in their experience), they could not have happened in the past and the idea of divine judgment will not occur in the future.

To this Peter says they are 'willingly ignorant'. Chuck Missler points out that this shows they have made a decision to not believe - not because there is insufficient evidence, but because they don't want to accept it.

They would rather carry on in their own lusts - lusts for power and position, lusts for recognition and accolades, lusts to been seen as being intellectually superior. The notion of a God who will bring Judgment is unacceptable to them.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that we live in a universe that screams of many cataclysmic events, James Hutton, around the turn of the 19th century, proposed the now commonly accepted and taught view of uniformitarianism - 'the past is the key to the present' / 'nothing changes, everything carries on as it always has'. He countered the then popular view Neptunism theory espoused by Abraham Werner et al which claimed that rocks had originated from a great flood and were basically sedimentary in origin - much as the Bible taught.

Within a few years Hutton's ideas were picked up and championed by James Lyell, who wrote the infamous 'Principle of Geology' which in a stroke eradicated the writings of Moses in the minds of the worlds academia. There was now an alternative explanation of the history of the world that didn't have to include the God of the Bible (and the personal moral challenge that entailed).

It just so happened that a young Charles Darwin was given a copy of Lyell's book as he set out on his voyage on the Beagle. This changed his thinking and gave him a 'millions of years' framework from which would come his theory of evolution.

Thus Peter - and the Word of God - were proven right! Scoffers have come and they now do deny that  Jesus will return, that He is Creator, and that there was once a worldwide flood.

In this study we look at some of the clear evidence that shows the geologic column - the backbone to 'millions of years' - is pure fabrication. Without it the theories of Hutton, Lyell and Darwin come crashing down.

Peter concludes by asking; "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be?" 

The answer is simple, we must be holy and Godly as we expectantly wait for Christ's return which will usher in the end of this age and bring in 'everlasting righteousness'!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

In these verses Peter expands on two critical things that he had alluded to in his first letter. Firstly, we are heading into a time of deception greater than at any other time in history - and much of this deception will come from within the church. The second warning concerns a flagrant disregard for authority, whether that be in the home, in the nation or toward God. The example Peter gives to underline the second point is one that, probably, less than one church in one hundred will acknowledge, and even less will be willing to teach. The example is of the angels that, in Genesis 6 we are told, left their proper abode and indulged in physical relationships with the women on the Earth in the time before the flood. Their act was 'self willed', presumptuous, and demonstrated a complete disregard for authority. In this study we explore this bizarre event in more detail, but the important point Peter is making is that the world is becoming more and more unrighteous, and one of the key markers is people's attitude to authority and their care-free 'well if I want to I'll do it' attitude. Today, much of this is fueled by the media which presumes it has to answer to no one and shows complete distain toward government and authority.

Returning to Peter's first point, Jesus, Paul, John and Peter all clearly warn that there will be many 'false prophets' as we get nearer to Jesus' return. They will deny the basis of the atonement and bring in countless false teachings that will deceive many. So powerful and persuasive will be their messages that those who hold to 'the faith once delivered to the saints' (i.e. true Biblical Christianity) will be not just frowned upon, they will be accused of 'hate crimes'.

A gloomy message? Not really. Peter says all of this to remind us that God is just and judgment is coming!  "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of trials, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished".

May you be challenged, encouraged and blessed by this teaching.

In the previous verses Peter has made the point that he did not make this up; it wasn't just an elaborate plot to come up with a story to sell books in the 1st Century!

Peter tells us he was an eye witness of the things he has written about. He was there, along with James, John, Matthew and the other disciples.

Peter even gives us the inside story on the events that occurred on the top of Mt Hermon* when just Jesus, James, John and himself climbed up and there they saw Jesus literally start glowing! Then Moses and Elijah turn up, and to cap it all, they then hear God's voice. An experience like that should be enough to make a believer out of anyone! A few days before, Peter had declared that Jesus was the Messiah - the Son of God. Now, any questions he might've had evaporated in an instance as he gets a glimpse of Jesus glorified.

It is often  that way for us. It is not until after we make a profession of faith that we get to really see Jesus as he is.

But what about the sceptics, then and now? What about those who didn't get to go to the top of the mountain? How can they be expected to believe? Even if they have the testimony from eyewitnesses (as we looked at and documented in last week's study) to confirm all that the Gospels records is true, how can people - especially today in our science-driven fact based world?

Well, Peter doesn't gloss over our sceptic friends and their need for evidence. In fact Peter in these three verses presents something he says is even more substantial, even more robust, and provides undeniable proof that Jesus really is the Messiah and that the Bible is God's Word to mankind!

People say 'you can't prove the Bible', 'you can't prove the existence of God'. Wrong! We can, and Peter tells us that we can do it through Prophecy. It is undeniable, freely accessible to all to investigate and verify, and provides great and stronger proof than for anything else in the entire universe!

May you be astounded, blessed and encouraged by this study! - but most importantly, may you put your trust in Jesus like never before!

Verse 16 is a powerful rebuttal to all those who would claim the Bible is a myth or just made-up stories; for here we have an eyewitness testifying to the truthfulness of the Biblical record. He was there, he saw these things with his own eyes. This is not some second-hand account or here-say.

In this study we look at just some of the compelling evidence that shows the Biblical record is not a work of fiction full of historical inaccuracies as those who have never bothered to study claim. The historical accuracy of the Bible has been vindicated time and again.

But that then leads to the big question. What are you going to do with it? 

If the Bible really is true, if it is the Word of God to His creation, it demands a response.

In these verses Peter alludes to an experience he had atop a mountain in Israel - an experience that would change the course of his life; for a few days later he was faced with the most important question of all time - not just to Peter to but to us all - Jesus asked: "Who do you say I am?"  

Your answer to that question will determine your eternal destiny and how you live your life now.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Peter told us in v4 that we have been given 'exceeding great and precious promises', and that by holding onto these (much like you would a life-raft if you were lost at sea), we can escape the constant lure and pull of the world to confirm to its ways and thoughts, always craving some new thing that is supposed to satisfy that endless itch!

Of course, nothing satisfies other than an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

Peter now gives us a list of 8 attributes that should be found in the character of a true follower of Jesus. The list itself is given as a progression that we should grow into as we mature in our Christian walk.

Peter starts with Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God, for we must believe that God is who He says He is, and that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, supplying all that we need according to His riches. If we have Faith (and Paul tells us in Romans that God has given to all me a measure of Faith), that Faith should be the catalyst to compel us to live a morally upright and Virtuous life. Next we are to add Knowledge. True knowledge comes from reading God's Word as we learn to discern between the physical and spiritual, and as we begin to grasp God's amazing plan of Salvation and Sanctification through Grace. Next comes Temperance, “self-control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, esp. his sensual appetites)”. This can only be done through the indwelling Holy Spirit which is why we need Knowledge before Temperance can become a reality in our lives. Then Peter tells us that a true Christian, (after they have inevitably attempted temperance in their own strength and failed!), is to add Patience. This is the Biblical quality of learning to wait on the LORD, rest in the LORD and hope in the LORD, knowing that you cannot add a cubit to your stature or a single hair to your head! As we grow in Grace we will also become more God-like viz. Godliness - such that others will see God's nature in us. When we have learned these things we are to add Brotherly Kindness, understanding that we really are family in Christ with all those who have put their trust in Him. For brotherly kindness to be real we need faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience and Godliness!

Finally Peter reaches the pinnacle and tells us that all of this is kept in place by the cap-stone, unconditional Love.

“Add to your faith virtue: We begin our life with God with faith, but faith progresses into virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love – love being the capstone of all God’s work in us. (David Guzik)

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

In this study we begin an exploration of Peter's second letter.

Peter writes with authority, not from pride or human ego, but from a place of humility, knowing that he has willingly surrendered himself to be a bond-slave of Jesus Christ, and that he had been personally called and commissioned by Jesus Himself.

7x in the first chapter of this epistle Peter speaks of 'knowledge'. Christian's are not to be (or should not be!) ignorant of:

• God, His nature & character
• His plan of salvation through Jesus
• How to live a godly life
• Why to live a godly life
• The fruit that our lives should produce
• Our eternal rewards that await us
• The short time we have to fulfil the ministries we have been given
• The certainty of our faith and the solid basis we have for believing
• The importance of prophecy

Peter tells us that if we are to overcome the lust that is in the world (i.e. the craving for things we think will satisfy us or meet a need we think we have), it will be done by taking hold of the promises God has given us.

Some of the key promises we have been given are:

• Promise #1 John 10:27-29 –Through faith in Jesus your eternal salvation is assured

• Promise #2 Colossians 2:13-14 –Your sins are forgiven and wiped clean because of the cross

• Promise # 3 Hebrews 9:14 –Your conscience is also cleansed – setting you free!

• Promise # 4 Romans 8:15-17 –You are now adopted and part of God’s own family

• Promise #5 1 John 3:1 –You have been given the place & position of the 1st born

• Promise #6 1 Peter 1:4 –You have an inheritance that is incorruptible awaiting you

• Promise #7 John 15:16 –You have been chosen by God to be used by Him to produce good fruit!

• Promise #8 2 Timothy 2:13 – God is faithful – even if at times we are unfaithful

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this final study of Peter's first letter, Peter closes his instructions on order within the church by encouraging the spiritually younger believers to submit to those with greater spiritual maturity.

That is not to say that those young in the faith have nothing to contribute, on the contrary, every part of the body is of equal importance, but God is the one who calls, raises up and enables. Enthusiasm is no substitute for calling!  - just look at the account of Moses in Exodus 2:11-14 when he set about trying to deliver his people by his own efforts compared to his reaction when God actually called him to do this in Exodus 3:11.

Before God can use us we must come to the place where we get to the end of our natural resources, our own ability, our own sense of self importance, and come to the place of complete dependence on God. Zeal is good! The message of the Gospel is life changing and should be proclaimed, but just as with Peter's admonition to submit to the government and those in authority, and for for employees to submit to employers, and wives to submit to the own husbands, so Peter is clear that the spiritually younger are to submit to the spiritually older.

Peter is speaking from experience (as he does with everything he says). Peter had been ready to do battle with the Jewish leaders and the whole Roman army if necessary, when he drew his sword in Gethsemane. Peter had boldly declared "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death" (Luke 22:33). Within a matter of hours, Peter had denied even knowing Jesus to a young girl in a courtyard around a fire.

In regard to ministry it is very simple. Wait on the LORD, He will raise you up in His timing. Do not despise the day of small beginnings (Zech 4:10), sometimes we are so keen to get somewhere (a promotion or position we feel we deserve or have earned) we forget that it is on the journey so much of our leaning and growing is done.

Oswald Chambers said: "We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us to great success. We must never put our dreams of success as God’s purpose for us; His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end" (My Utmost for His Highest).

"For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another".  Psalm 75:3

Peter then continues by admonishing all believers to submit to each other - there is no place for pride or ego in Christ's church. We are to be clothed with humility - for our protection and as a witness to others. It is an unwelcome sight to see a Christian pushing their way forward to get the top seat at the table. That is the world's way, but it is not becoming a servant of Jesus Christ. Peter had seen this 'vying for position' even amongst the disciples (see Luke 22:24-26 / Luke 9:46-48 / Mark 10:35-37 / Luke 14:7-11) , and here tells us that God Himself will actually resist the proud, but Hs gives more Grace to the humble - that is, those who are willing to be humble before Him and accept the boundaries He as set, to accept without mummering and complaining the situation we find ourselves in, knowing that He is good and knows what is best for us!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

In this final chapter of Peter's first letter, Peter starts by addressing the elders of the local congregations, reminding them of their primary responsibility - to give spiritual food to the congregation God has entrusted to their care.

Peter highlights that they are not do serve out of a sense of worldly obligation, as if they had been pressed-ganged into the role, but out of love for Christ - the only real reason for any ministry.

Neither are they to serve with their eye on what they might gain in this life, but knowing that by forsaking the pleasures of this life there awaits them a far more precious and eternal reward.

Alarmingly, in a recent report*, almost one third of pastors have considered, or are considering quitting the role. This is not to say that they are walking away from ministry, but rather that many now feel that serving as a pastor is no longer the most effective use of their time and resources.

In this final chapter, Peter exhorts pastors and elders to continue in the light that the 'Chief Shepherd' is soon to be returning and will reward those who have continued to serve faithfully.

Just as Paul urged the young pastor Timothy, now is not the time to quit, but to stand strong in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please pray for and encourage your pastor and elders. The unseen pressures and burdens they carry are greater than they will ever tell you.

Peter tells us that the specific season of judgment that is coming upon the earth will begin with the 'house of God' - the Church!

Initially it might seem strange that God would need to bring judgment on the church, but as you look back through history you quickly begin to see how 'the church' has led so many into error for the sake of financial and other gain. The Word of God has been repeatedly compromised, watered down, twisted to fit the thinking and culture of the day and even abandoned in favour of self-help motivational pep talks.

Jesus, Paul, Jude, John and Peter all warned that deception would abound in the last days, and that it would largely come from withing the church.

Revelation 17 & 18 deal with the final judgment on what will become a One World Church - embracing all religious thoughts, ideas and expressions. This will be a far cry from the 'faith once delivered to the saints'!

True believers have been persecuted as much by the institutional church as they have by the world.

In Matthew 13, Jesus warned that 'Tares' would be sown amongst the 'Wheat'. The Tares would grow alongside and look identical to the Wheat - right up until the time of the harvest, when the only difference would be that the heads on the Wheat (true believers) would bow, but the heads of the Tares (apostates) would remain defiantly upright!

Jesus also said that 'at the time of the end' the Angels would come and separate the Wheat and the Tares. The Wheat would be gathered into His barn (a beautiful picture of the Rapture), the Tares would then be burned  - a picture of the coming judgment that Peter speaks of.

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this study!

In this study, Leon shares some insights and challenging thoughts of what the Body of Christ (the Church) should be like, how we should act and behave toward each other, and what our witness is like to those in the world whom we come into contact with.

May you be challenged and encouraged by this teaching.

In this study we see Peter build on the admonitions he had given to submit and be willing to suffer for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Peter has already pointed out that Jesus was willing to submit to His Father for the sake of the Father's will and we should do likewise.

In chapter 4 Peter is gentle but firm in telling his hearers that time is up for playing around with the things of the old life. The LORD is coming for us and we need not only to be ready, but living each moment for His glory so as many as might hear the Gospel can be saved.

There can be no compromise with sin, for it is an insidious enemy that seeks to harm us and keep us away from real fellowship with Jesus. The battleground is our mind, and it is here the battle is either lost or won. Christ will give us the victory if we go to Him. We cannot fight this alone.

Peter then reminds us that we have each been given spiritual gifts that should be used for the edification of the body. None of us should make excuses as to why we don't feel able! They are His gifts to us and He will work through us if we simply step out in faith.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study, we note that Peter has reminded us that because we have this incredible position in Christ, we should:

–Start thinking!   (your life should be different now!)  1:13

–Don’t be like & do what you used to  1:14

–Be holy because you are now to be like Him   1:15-16

–Show genuine love for other Christians   1:22

–Act differently (in word and deed)  2:1

–Make a conscious effort to avoid sin   2:11

–Be good ambassadors for Christ in this world   2:12

–Submit to authority (Government & Employers)   2:13-20

–Wives submit to your husbands    3:1-6

–Husbands honour your wives   3:7

–Patiently endure affliction   3:14

Peter then gives us two arguments why we should endure suffering when it is God’s will.

1. Because Christ endured suffering & reproach by going to the Cross

–Thereby thwarting the plans of Satan

–Thus fulfilling the will of God that many might be saved

2. Because Noah patiently endured ridicule and persecution for 120 years when building the Ark

–Thereby thwarting the plans of Satan

- Thus fulfilling the will of God that many might be saved.

To make his point, Peter then speaks of the time when Jesus 'proclaimed' His victory over 'the spirits in prison'.

The 'spirits' he refers to had rebelled against Godly authority in the time leading up to the Flood, a time during which Noah had endured suffering for His obedience.

In this study, we look at who or what the 'Spirit's' are?

Why were they in prison?

When did Jesus preach to them?

Why did Jesus preach to them?

Peter concludes by asserting that Jesus is now shown to be above ever power and authority!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

• Christians are to submit to those in authority (particularly the government) (ch 2 13-17)
• Christian employees are to submit to employers  (ch 2 18-20)
• Christian wives are to submit to their own husbands & Christian husbands in turn are to honour wives  (ch 2 1-7)

All this is do be done, not because the recipient is deserving, but because it is pleasing and glorifying to God.

Now Peter speaks about how Christian's should be in relation to each other in the midst of a hostile world.

In v.8 Peter gives us 5 qualities that should be evident in every believer:

• 1) homophrones: like-minded; harmony;
• 2) sympatheis: sympathetic;
• 3) philadelphoi: to love as brothers;
• 4) eusplanchnoi: compassionate, tender hearted
• 5) tapeinophrones: humble.

"This unique vocabulary stresses the importance of these Christian virtues which keep one from being deceitful" (dolon; cf. 1 Peter 2:1, 22).  - Chuck Missler

Peter then highlights that, for Christians, there is no room for taking matters into our own hands if we are wronged! Instead we should show grace and love - as we have been shown!

In making his point, Peter quotes from Psalm 34, but interestingly he does not complete the quote, but rather omits the last line. It would be easy to miss this if you were just reading Peter's quote, but when you compare the verse he is quoting from what is actually recorded in Psalm 34 you see that Peter misses the line that states "to cut of the remembrance of them from the earth"!

Jesus does exactly the same in Luke 4:16-21 when quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2 - much to the dismay of his hearers!

Why this is interesting is that this phenomena occurs 24 x in the Bible, where we see 'dispensation gaps' that anticipate the Church Age. What is provocative is that the number 24 seems to be associated with the Church (See Rev 4-5). This would seem to be clear evidence of design throughout the pages of the Bible.

Peter tells us that if we suffer for being a Christian, we should be happy - for this too will glorify God whilst at the same time strengthening our faith.

In fact, Peter goes further and says that because we should expect persecution and ridicule, we should always be ready to give a 'reasoned defense' of the hope we have as Christians, in a gentle way.

Sadly, many Christians are happy being followers of Christ, but are not ready to defend why they believe when the world asks them why!

Yet, in truth, we have so many good and powerful arguments (reasons) that can be presented to our unbelieving friends and family that no one we know should  EVER reject Christ on the basis of thinking there is not enough evidence to support our faith! We need to be able to remove any intellectual arguments they have for not accepting Christ so that it becomes clear that the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart!  In other words, there is not a single good intellectual reason for rejecting Jesus, only a moral one! - because Jesus calls us to acknowledge our sinful nature and repent!

So, if you are going to be laughed at, mocked and challenged because your believe in Jesus, make sure you use as an opportunity to shine brightly for Him - Remember that God used Gideon's army - the few that were willing to step out in faith - to defeat the enemy. All it took was for those few to make a shout and let the light shine from the broken vessels!

In this study we look at the scriptural roles of the husband and wife and Peter's admonition that we get this relationship right so that our prayers are not hindered.

In a world that has totally misunderstood and corrupted our understanding or marriage and of the role of wives and husbands, Peter here redresses the balance from God's perspective.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In chapter 2, Peter builds on the admonition to live a holy life, given in chapter 1, by reminding believers what our old lives were like without Christ, and how destructive  the cumulative impact of an ungodly life can be.

In verse 1 Peter gives 5 ungodly attitude and speech, which:

–Drive wedges between believers

–Quench the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives

–Stunt Spiritual growth

–Give a false witness of Christ

Firstly, Peter tells us that we should remove ourselves from these things as you would remove yourself from a garment you take off.

• Malice (Gr. kakian) is wicked ill-will; the desire to inflict pain, harm, or injury on our fellow man.
• Guile, deceit (Gr. dolon) is deliberate dishonesty, falsehood, craft, seduction, slander, and treachery. Operationally, it is the antithesis of being a fiduciary
• Hypocrisy (Gr. hypokriseis), pretended piety and love; pretending to be what one is not; a man with a double heart and a lying tongue.
• Envy (Gr. phthonous), resentful discontent (both hypocrisy and envy appear in the plural in the Greek);
• Evil speaking, slander (Gr. katalalias), backbiting lies.

None of these should have any place in those who are born again; rather, in obedience to the Word, believers should make decisive breaks with the past to be holy because He is holy!

In contrast, Peter tells us that, just as with a newborn desiring milk, we should crave the Word of God, knowing that by it we grow and are strengthened.

Then Peter builds on what Jesus had told him in Matthew 16, that Jesus is the 'Rock' upon which the church is built, and each of us (as believes) are part of the building as a whole. We might need some rough edges knocked off here and there to make us fit exactly where God want's us, and we should constantly remind ourselves that much of what we go through here and now is God's way of shaping and molding us so that we will be a perfect fit in His spiritual house.

Those who would try and argue that in Matthew 16 Jesus said that Peter is 'the rock' the church was to be built upon (the default Roman Catholic position) have seemingly never understood the constant use in scripture of a stone or rock as an idiom of Jesus, in at least 7 different ways:

1.To the Believer, smitten stone that the Spirit of life may flow from Him to all who will drink   -  Ex 17:6; 1 Cor 10:4; John 4:13,14; 7:37-39

2.To the Church, the foundation and chief corner Stone  -  Eph 2:20

3.To the Jews, at His 1st Coming, a “stumbling stone”  -   Rom 9:32,33; 1 Cor 1:23

4.To Israel, at His 2nd Coming, “the headstone of the corner”  -   Zech 4:7

5.To the Gentile world power, the smiting “Stone cut without hands”:   -   Dan 2:34

6.In the Divine Purpose, the Stone which, after the destruction of Gentile world powers, is to grow and fill the earth;  -   Dan 2:34

7.To unbelievers, the crushing Stone of judgment that will grind those to powder  -    Matt 21:44

Peter closes this portion of his letter of encouragement with a moving exhortation for his readers to practice holiness. He reminded them that, in contrast with the disobedient who are destined for destruction, they were a chosen people.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The PowerPoint slides used for this study are available online for free download.

In this chapter, Peter is encouraging us to look forward to the hope we have as Christians, and live life now in the light and understanding of that hope.

Peter ends the chapter by telling us that the ‘Word which by the gospel was preached to us to us’ is the same Word that endures forever. As Isaiah declared:

“All flesh is grass,and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:surely the people is grass.The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:but the word of our God shall stand for ever”

The Word is eternal, it is God’s complete revelation of Himself to us. It will never grow old or fade.  In God’s Word we find His plan that from before the foundation of the earth included you and I (all those who would receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour).

We were born via the natural birth process as corruptible beings (like grass that after a short time will wither), but Peter tells us that God reached into time and pulled us out of the fire of corruption. We were given a second birth, no longer of corruptible flesh, but a spiritual birth.

Peter tells us that because of the indescribable love that God has shown us, we should love each other – specifically we should love all those who are now on the same team we are –  whom God has hand-picked, who are now part of this spiritual family by faith. In the next chapter Peter will build on this thought and tells us that those whom God has rescued are part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation!

Because of this Peter tells us that we should be ‘passing our time here on earth’ living each day in the admiration, respect, adoration and awe of God our Father. In other words, our lives should reflect the miracle of God’s grace that we are now beneficiaries of!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study we see Peter admonish us to:

1. Gird up the loins of our mind – literally, to live ready to go at a moment’s notice, just as the Children of Israel in Egypt on the night of the Passover.
2. Be sober – i.e. don’t be controlled (intoxicated) by outside influences (love, hobbies, work etc.)
3. Hope to the end –  i.e. Set your hope fully (‘unchangeably’) on what awaits you when Christ returns for you
4. Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts – Don’t live your life now as you once did before you knew Jesus! There must be an outward change that reflects the inward change
5. Be holy – this is not a suggestion but an imperative! However this is not a ‘legal requirement’ as we are no longer under the law, but it is a statement of how a Christian will live once we know the Love of God and live secure in that love.

All of this should be how we live once we realise we have been born again, received the priceless (and everlasting) gift of His Holy Spirit and been beneficiaries of all the prophets of old wrote for us! We have their examples and the models they gave us so we are without excuse. If they could live godly and obedient lives without all of Scripture being then written, how much more should we be able to live holy lives who have the whole counsel of God, the indwelling Spirit and His abundant grace freely available?

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In his introduction, Peter reminds those to whom he writes  – those who are dispersed in this world away from their home – that we have this great hope in the completed work of Jesus, that should fill our lives with an unspeakable joy, regardless of what trials and temptations we may face.

The assurance of our salvation, that fact that we are being sanctified, and the promise of our ultimate deliverance from this world, coupled with the fact that God ‘keeps us’ – as if putting a military guard around us – should not only fill us with peace and comfort but also cause us to overflow with gratitude out of a love for Jesus!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this introduction to 1st Peter, we look at the background, life and authenticity of this first letter of the Apostle Peter. Although scholars and critics have tried to call into question Peter’s authorship of both his first and second letters, with the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery in Cave 7 at Qumran of a fragment of 2nd Peter, the debate regarding Peter’s authorship is all but ended. The Dead Sea Scrolls were sealed up in their resting place at Qumran before A.D. 70, so, you can dream up all sorts of objections regarding words, sentences and paragraphs, you can try to claim that Peter was not educated enough to have written these words, you can come up with any objection you want, but there is no getting around the fact that these ancient documents were not only written but in circulation before A.D. 70 – well within the ‘eye witness period’.

As to Peter’s academic credentials, yes he was a fisherman, it is true that he had not had a university education, but he knew the scriptures and as recorded in the book of Acts, the time he had spent with Jesus had changed this county fisherman into a powerful and persuasive orator! “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Peter knew failure, but he also knew the power of God’s grace to change a life.

Jesus once asked Peter if he loved him unconditionally. At that time Peter was unable to say yes. He loved Jesus for sure, and wanted to follow Him; but to give up everything, to take up his cross, follow Jesus and abandon everything else seemed just too hard. What if he were to fail again? Peter’s answer speak more of his doubt in his own abilities than his confidence in Jesus’.

Yet give up all he did.

This letter is for those who are struggling. For those who know and want to do what is right, but cannot find it within themselves to do it. This letter is for those who have taken the easy route for fear of others’ opinions, only to be mortified that they didn’t have the courage of their convictions.

This letter if for all those who are growing in Grace!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study pastor Barry takes us through three final admonitions that James gives:

• The End of Injustice vs. 1-9
• The End of Trials vs. 10-12
• The End of Self vs. 13-20

As we have already noted, James writes as one who had grown up each day with Jesus, in the same house, in the same family, yet did not realise who He was until Jesus appeared to him after the Resurrection. As he writes, James’ sense of urgency and his no-compromise approach stems from his desire for us not to miss out on the opportunity to know Jesus and walk with him ‘while it is still called today’.

In verses 1-9 James continues his admonition to be separate from the world by reminding us that the wealth and riches of those in the world, who have amassed their fortunes only to spend it on themselves and their pursuit of pleasure, will suddenly disappear. Everything this world has is temporary and one day all men will have to stand before God and give account. On that day, either Jesus will stand as the defense if you are His, or prosecution if you are not. All the riches in the world will have no value when God tries the hearts of men. But even now it is evident that the rich are not happier, more fulfilled, less anxious than those who have little. A mansion that is not a home, a diamond ring in a loveless relationship, and all the material possessions that can be bought & fame that can be achieved, do not bring contentment. Furthermore, the pursuit of wealth nearly always leads to the unjust oppression of others.

In verses 10-12 James then asks us to consider the prophets of old; how they were often mistreated and endured affliction. They endured, James reminds us, and were patient, waiting for something better. We are to be patient and hold on until the coming of the LORD. It won’t be long!

So James’ admonition is simple: don’t crave the things of the world, don’t live your life by swearing to do or achieve something beyond your means, making bold statements in an attempt to impress others who, in reality, have little regard for you anyway. Instead, be content to let your life be governed by a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The only one you should be seeking to impress is God, and that can only be achieved through humility and obedience.

Finally, in verses 13-20, James concludes with the simple admonition to ‘keep our eyes on Jesus!’.

• If we are afflicted – go to Jesus
• If we are blessed – go to Jesus
• If we are sick – go to Jesus
• If you are struggling – find a ‘brother’ whom you can pray with and go to Jesus together
• …and when you pray, for healing, for restoration, for blessing, or whatever, pray according to His word!

Elijah was just like us, yet he prayed according to God’s Word and he brought the heart of the nation back to God.

If we see a brother or sister losing their way, we must pray with them and for them and bring their hearts back to God also.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, had been celebrated by Jews for centuries, but then in A.D. 32, the year of the Resurrection of Jesus, the reason and purpose of this Jewish festival suddenly and dramatically saw the light of day. Just as Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Firstfruits had, for over a millennium, concealed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus - in a nutshell, the Christian gospel - the Jewish Feast of Harvest had concealed the unthinkable! An assembly of all people from all nations  - Gentiles included - presented as a voluntary offering to God, refined and purified, of the firstfruits of the earth... The Church!

In this study, we look at the details contained in the Torah regarding this feast and see how they foretold the birth of the Church, the spiritual cleansing and purification of the Bride of Christ, her mandate to be witnesses, and the hope of the future gathering into His barn of the Church.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this chapter, James drives home just how dangerous the tongue can be, and how much damage can be caused by either rash and hasty remarks, or by words that were intended to wound.

Behind this there is the greater issue of the heart - "for out of the heart the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).

If the direction of influence into our lives is from the world, the flesh and the devil, our hearts (and tongues) will produce corrupt fruit and we will find ourselves blessing God one moment and cursing man whom He created the next. A spring does not produce both bitter and pure water, because it is fed from only one source.

So it should be with all those who profess with their mouths that they follow Jesus (Rom 10:9) - the flow of influence into their lives should be from God (reading His Word / Fellowship with believers / constant prayer) so that with a new heart (Psalm 51) and a renewed mind (Rom 12:1-2) they can guard against the pride the drives the tongue.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study pastor Barry Forder takes us through James' admonitions to look at the heart and not the outward appearance when someone comes into the fellowship. Sadly, the world continually feeds us with the mindset that the wealthy and prosperous, those with celebrity status or social standing, are the ones we should 'like' or 'follow', believing that by doing so it will in-turn bring success and happiness to our lives.

Experience tells us, as does James in this chapter, that so often it is the wealthy and prosperous that have no regard for others, and will more often be a detriment rather than a blessing in our lives.

...and who in the world that has success, fame and fortune is truly happy and content?

James reminds us that the Law is full of good and Godly advice that we do well to take heed of, but at the same time, we should remember that the legal power of the law ended for us when we came to Christ. The royal law, the law of liberty should instead see us act in a Christ-like gracious manner to others, just as we have been dealt with ourselves.

James then concludes the chapter by emphasising that if our faith is genuine, it will be accompanied by good works. Saving faith (which is all that is needed to be born again) is a faith that is intrinsically linked to good works - the works are the fruit that demonstrate our faith is alive and connected to the root!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this session, we look at why James says we should no longer be deceived about temptation, and why we should intentionally distance ourselves from our natural, fleshly, carnal nature and fully embrace the Word of God as an effective antidote to falling prey to temptations when they come.

But then James reminds us that just knowing what is right is not enough, we have to act on it and live it out.

If our faith is genuine it will overflow into the 'royal law' of  'good works' summarised by Jesus as the 'greatest commandment':

"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these". Mark 12:29-31

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Yakov - the Hebrew name of the author - was the earthly brother of Jesus (Matthew 12:46, 47; 13:55; Mark 3:31, 32; Luke 8:19, 20; 1 Cor 9:5), but James did not believe his brother was the Messiah until after the Resurrection when Jesus specifically appeared to him... "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles". 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

Following this encounter, James, who had shared an earthly home with 6 other siblings (see Matthew 13:55-56), became a follower of the One he had shared so much of his life with, and now would unreservedly commit the rest of his life to!

Maybe James had picked up his older brother's direct and forthright manner because in these 108 verses he gives no less than 50 specific imperatives in the Greek - instructions, commands to us.

He knew and had seen too much to skirt around the issues. He gets straight to the point:

• How do you handle life's trials? As a follower of Christ don't you realise that they are part of your Heavenly Brother's training programme for you? So you should count them as joy!
• How do you pray? Do you pray in faith? Or do you doubt that God would hear you? James know his Brother, and trusted Him implicitly! James tells us we can (and should) do the same.
• How do you treat others? Does your opinion of them depend on your estimate of their worth. James had made this mistake and for years had lived with someone but only seeing them through his own eyes and not through God's!
• How do you deal with temptation? You cannot blame others, temptations come from within. James had lived with one who had never yielded to temptation, and now knew firsthand that Jesus is able to impart that same grace and strength in each one of us to enable us to be overcomers! - and there is a reward promised to all who overcome temptation!

James went on the become one of the most influential leaders of the early church...

• –When Peter was released from prison he instructed them to tell James (Acts 12:17)
• –Paul reported to him upon arrival in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17-26)

...yet never asserts his position or authority, rather opens his Epistle by stating that he is a servant of God and of Jesus - now His Lord!

This is a passionate Epistle that calls the believer to an uncompromising walk where our works are the natural overflow of our Faith in the One who walked with us, and now reigns over us!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In Hebrews chapter 11 the theme is ‘Faith’. As we move into chapter 12 we look at the 2nd element of Paul’s 1 C0rinthians 13 trilogy – ‘Hope’.

We have around us such a great example, given by those who have gone before us in the faith. The writer to the Hebrews urges us to remember and be encouraged by this.

Remember too all that Jesus endured for us, so let us run the race of life like we intend to win! We need to cut the ties of everything that would hold us down or keep us focussing on the things of this world rather than on Jesus and our eternal destiny.

The writer then reminds us that because God wants us to win this race against ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’ He will correct us, discipline us, put us back on track, just as any good human father would discipline his children. But don’t get grumpy when He does it! Certainly don’t be like Esau who reverted to ‘the flesh’ to fill the hole in his life created by his casual regard to his future inheritance.

In stark contrast, we are to be looking to the finish line, the Heavenly Jerusalem, our eternal home. That is our goal where we will fellowship and walk with God as it was in Eden before the fall.

We are living right now in the days spoken of in this chapter where God is shaking everything. For the world, this is the birth pangs spoken of throughout scripture when all that the world holds dear is crumbling. Covid19 has shaken the world like nothing we have seen before. Just as God humiliated the god’s of Egypt, so we see God doing to the god’s of man today, right before our eyes. The world loves money. The world’s economy is crashing. The world loves sport. Sport is all but ended for the foreseeable future. The world loves its health & beauty, but now all gym’s, hairdressers and beauty salons are closed. The world loves its social gatherings, theatres, cinemas, night clubs etc. Now all closed until further notice. The world is being forced to reevaluate what is important… and this is just a glimpse of what the Bible says is coming to this ungodly world. None of these gods can stand when they are shaken.

But for the Christian too, there is a shaking, so that the unimportant things, the worldly things, the things that up to now have held us down, are being loosened, so that what is really important, that which is eternal remains.

The Lord is getting His Church – His Bride – ready for her wedding day. We are to ‘cast off the unfruitful works 0f darkness’ (Romans 13:12).

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this chapter, the writer to the Hebrews builds on his statement (quotation from Habakkuk 2:4) in the penultimate verse of chapter 10 "The just shall live by faith" by now going on to remind us of those who have gone before us who lived their lives by faith.

He makes the point that all of these 'heroes of the faith' were not building for here and now, but looking forward to that which is to come, the 'exceedingly great and precious promises' of all that lay ahead for those who walk with Jesus.

The challenge for the hearers, as it is for us, is not to look back to what once was, the 'comfort' we once found in earthly things, but to look ahead to the rewards and inheritance awaiting us if we continue to walk by faith - trusting Jesus. This should be our goal and focus.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this chapter, the writer to the Hebrews continues to show Jesus' superiority over the Law in that He came to complete what the Law had aspired to, but was unable to fulfill'.

The writer then gives a timely admonition - to carry on meeting together! Regardless of what obstacles may seem to be in the way - be it Coronavirus (Covid 19) or persecution or natural disaster or whatever may come... we can see that the Day of the LORD is approaching fast! So we, now more than ever, need to keep fellowshipping and encouraging each other as the time is short and there are many who will respond to the Good News of the Gospel if they only get to hear!

The chapter closes with the 4th warning in the book of Hebrews, that being to not 'fall' into wilfull sin.

The Five Warnings of Hebrews: 

1.Drifting    2:1-4

2.Disobedience   3:7-4:13

3.Failing to Mature   5:11-6:20

4.Willful Sin   10:26-39

5.Indifference   12:25-29

• Great loss awaits those who fail to persevere: loss of reward and honor in Christ’s coming Millennial Kingdom

How can you avoid willful sin?

By continuing to fellowship, remain accountable, keep your eyes on Jesus, walk in the Grace He gives through His Spirit, and don't allow your heart to become hardened through not trusting in Him (regardless of the external circumstances) and by remembering that a great reward awaits those who endure to the end.

Salvation is not the question here, it is inheritance that is at stake. Just as under the Law there was an offering for unintentional sins (through ignorance or weakness), but judgment awaits those who profess Jesus with their lips but deny Him by their lifestyles.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this chapter, the writer to the Hebrews builds on the previous chapter and shows how Jesus became a better offering than anything offered under the Law of Moses - for those offerings, offered by a fallible high priest only made a temporary covering for sin, but could do nothing to purge the conscience. They also had to be offered repeatedly. The Tabernacle in which they were offered was also the work of human hands and was only an earthly representation of what existed in Heaven.

But when Jesus came He was sinless, and His blood was not sprinkled on a mercy seat with mere models of Cheribuim at either end, it was sprinkled on the throne in Heaven with real mighty angels gathered round. Jesus' blood was presented behind the vail, in the Heavenly holy of holies, and by doing so he made a way for all to enter in; which is why the veil in the earthly temple was torn in two when His work on the Cross was accomplished.

In this chapter, we are reminded that He has purchased for us eternal redemption, that we might be partakers of an eternal inheritance by the indwelling and working of His eternal Spirit!

Do you get the magnitude of that? The redemption He has purchased (literally the buying of us back) will never expire. There will never be a day when His work will not be quite enough to cover your sin. Neither can you undo what He has done - because it has been 'signed off' before the Throne in Heaven forever! Therefore in Christ, you have a guaranteed 'inheritance of the saints'. If someone leaves you something in their will, from that moment it is not based on how well you perform, how good you are, what you can do to earn it, or anything else. It is a matter of fact that because one died you are a beneficiary. Just so with Christ. He died and all those who have (and will) put their trust in Him will be beneficiaries. The seal of this is His eternal Spirit who was given to the Church of Jesus forever!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study!

In this chapter, the author reminds us of the point he has been making in the previous 7 chapters, namely that Jesus is better than Angels, Abraham, the Law, Moses, Aaron (and the Levitical priesthood) & Joshua!

Jesus is a High Priest who is able to 'save to the uttermost' those who come to God by Him. His sacrifice is greater than any sacrifice under the Law, and now He sits at the right hand of God - 'ever living to make intercession for us'.

Our best efforts, our religion, our tradition cannot make us right with God, but our High Priest can!

He puts a new law, a new covenant, a new testament into play, that is not based on our ability to confirm or keep a set of rules. It is based on His ability to put a new law into our minds, a new desire in our hearts - if we are willing to put our faith in Him and simply receive it!

As a result, all our sin is eradicated! It is washed away.

This is really GOOD NEWS - this is the Gospel!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study (and if YOU have never put your trust in Jesus for your Salvation, do it now! - He will never leave you or forsake you!).

In this study, we see the writer to the Hebrews build on what he has been saying in the preceding verses, encouraging his hearers to go on to maturity in their Christian faith, and then concludes his argument (that he began in chapter 5), that Jesus is better than Aaron and the Levitical priesthood.

The Levitical priesthood could never make one perfect, it could only condemn. Aaron's priesthood was bassed on succession in Levi's family line, but the priesthood of Jesus was just like that of Melchizedek in the Old Testament, not dependant on an earthly father or mother, or particular line, but appointed by God Himself.

When we realise just how great a Salvation we have in Christ, how He is so much better than angels, so much better than the Law (that can only condemn), so much better a deliverer than Moses, so much greater a champion than Joshua,  and so much better a high priest than Aaron, how can we fail to grow in His amazing grace?

If you can read and study these things and remain unmoved, check you pulse! You might already be dead!

May you be blessed, encouraged and challenged by this study.

The writer to the Hebrews has already shown to his Jewish hearers that Jesus was greater than the Angels, greater than the Law, greater than Moses and greater than Joshua.

In this chapter he goes on to show that Jesus is also greater than any earthly high priest; for Jesus' priesthood was given to Him by the Father and is after the order of the priesthood of Melchizadek.

We are not told much about Melchizadek in scripture, and had these Hebrew Christians been ready for it (rather than 'dull of hearing' v11) the writer would have gone on to reveal some exciting truths about Melchizadek that all speak of Jesus. Sadly for us, because they had failed to mature as believers, they were not ready, and more likely, would not have appreciated the spiritual significance of all that the writer wanted to share.

Fortunately for us, we have been granted some of the insights that the writer might have been referring to! In his book, 'The Authenticity of the book of Genesis', Dr Bill Cooper explains that, due to the discovery of a series of letters to the Egyptian pharaoh, Amenophis IV, discovered in 1887, we now know a great deal more about Melchizadek and the priestly system to which he belonged. The letters were not written by Melchizadek himself, but by another king and priest of Jerusalem who came after him.

It reveals that there had been a thousand-year period where priests of the Most High God had ruled and reigned in Jerusalem. Furthermore, these kings & priests had not come from a hereditary system (as the Levitical priesthood would later be), but each had been chosen seemingly by God Himself. The king-priest who wrote the letters to pharaoh went by the name of Ebed-tob - which simply means 'Good Servant' - yet another foreshadowing of Christ!

It is of this order of priests that Jesus came - chosen by God to intercede for His people, and also destined to rule and reight in Jerusalem for a period of 1000 years!

This is truly staggering and yet another example of how God has engineered history to bring about His plans and purposes, and everything ultimately points to Jesus!

We just have to wonder at what else the writer to the Hebrews might have revealed to them had they not been so spiritually sluggish!

May we all pray that we don't miss out on great spiritual truths because we fail to mature and grow in the Way!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study!

The writer to the Hebrews starts this chapter by telling his hearers that they should be terrified at the thought of not entering into the relationship with Jesus that God intends for us. It is such a shame to think that many Christians are content to be saved, but then miss out on God’s best for them – the peace, the security, the excitement, the wonder, the joy of living a life abandoned to Him, completely trusting Him.

If you’ve ever learned to ride a bike you may remember the rush of emotions when the one teaching you lets go and you realise you are actually now making this thing move and stay upright yourself! Everything tells you that gravity is going to take a hold of you and pull you to the ground, but somehow, as you pedal, although there may be a few wobbles to begin with, you actually start to ride!

Stepping out and trusting God’s grace is a little like that. He will never fail or forsake us, and He longs to do wonderful things with us and for us, but we have to have the faith (which comes from His Word) to start peddling, believing that we are not going to come crashing down! Remember that He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything!

It might be something simple or something huge, but it doesn’t make a difference to God. We need to trust Him with everything!

Someone once said they try to trust God with the big problems. A pastor replied, which problems do you think are big to God?!

Israel had seen God do incredible miracles, yet they failed to trust Him and enter the Promised Land when they had opportunity, simply because the did not believe. God didn’t refuse them entry because they weren’t holy enough, or because they didn’t pray enough, or because they had built a golden calf, or because they had lusted after meat, or because they murmured about going back to Egypt! All of those you would think would be good reasons to not let them into the Promised Land! But the reason why God did not let any of that generation into the Land (except Joshua and Caleb) was because they didn’t trust Him to deliver them! They looked from a natural perspective and reasoned that they were not strong enough (which they weren’t) and that their enemy was much bigger than they were (which was true), but they didn’t calculate with God at the centre of the equation!

All sin will be subject to God’s wrath, but unbelief – particularly from those who should know better – must be a real grief to the Father-heart of God!

Let us be terrified of missing out on the incredible rest that God has promised us and wants us to know, simply because we choose not to trust Him and instead become anxious with our finances, our job, our families, our children, our schedule, our health, our unsaved loved ones etc.

Remember that He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”!

Let’s come boldly before His throne – which is overflowing with grace – and ask for the grace to trust Him more!

You can know the rest you were created to enjoy – in Christ!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In chapter 3, the writer to the Hebrews, having shown that Jesus is better than Angels and the Law, now demonstrates that Jesus is even better than Moses.

But having made that point, the writer then urges his hearers to 'take heed' lest they fail to inherit all that God has for them, just as the generation that came out of Egypt with Moses failed to enter their promised inheritance. They were all 'saved' (delivered from Egypt), but they fell short of receiving all that God had for them because of a lack of trust! They had seen God do incredible miracles, yet when faced with the prospect of entering Canaan they started to recon with the natural, considering their own strength (or lack thereof) and did not trust God.

The writer goes as far as telling us that sin is defined as disobedience - or put simply, failing to trust God!

This is the second warning the writer to the Hebrews gives (after the warning of drifting given in chapter 2).

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this study.

In this study we consider the danger that tradition poses to the truth, and why the writer to the Hebrews is insistent that the Jewish believers, to whom he was writing, hold tightly onto the things they had been taught so that they didn’t drift away from the liberty and truth of the Gospel and turn back into the traditions of Judaism.

To emphasise this, the writer makes a clear distinction between the Law, that was given through the ministration of angels, and the Gospel which came directly through Jesus, was testified to by the Apostles and confirmed by God through the signs and wonders & gifts given to the Church through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has been placed as Head over all things, and in the age to come He will subdue all things under him – whether thrones, dominions or powers. He has defeated death and will put down all rule, authority and power, having defeated the devil and has removed the fear of death for all who put their trust in Him!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study, we look at how the writer to the Hebrews begins to show that Jesus is greater than all angels, and all other powers because He has rightfully become the heir of all things – having won back all that was lost in Adam. He is Creator and also Lord of all.

In times past God communicated to us through creation, our conscience and by prophets as they were moved by God to reveal truth and warn of coming judgment. God also used types and shadows, similitudes, to unveil His plan.

But now the veil has been torn in two and God speaks to us directly through His Son. Son-ish is God’s language. This is how He communicates to ‘those who have ears to hear’. The Son is the Word made flesh, and God uses His word to speak. To understand God you need to understand the language He uses to speak to us, and that is His Word.

In these times God chooses to speak through the person of Jesus.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this 2nd part of our introduction to the book of Hebrews, we look at what the writer meant when he records that Jesus is bringing many sons unto glory!

What does this mean for us? How should knowing this affect how we live?

Are you living in the knowledge and blessing of all that God has for you?

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study, we look at 5 warnings the writer to the Hebrews gives them (and us) as a warning against complacency, that instead we might grow as believers into spiritual maturity.

–The God-man: better than the Angels  – 1, 2

–Warning #1 (of 5)      – 2:1-4

–An Apostle better than Moses  – 3

–Warning #2 (of 5)    – 3:17-4:13

–A Leader better than Joshua  – 4:1-13

–A Priest better than Aaron  – 4:14 – 5:10

–Warning #3 (of 5)    – 5:11-6:20

–A Priest after the order of Melchizedek  – 7

CALVARY: A NEW AND BETTER COVENANT 8 – 10:17

–A Better Sanctuary  – 9

–A Better Sacrifice  – 10:17

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 10:18 -13

–Warning #4 (of 5)    – 10:18-31

–Hall of Faith  – 11

–Exhortation to Endurance  – 12 – 13

–Warning #5 (of 5)    – 12:25-29 

The underlying theme of this book is ‘bringing sons unto glory’. Wherever you are right now in your walk with the LORD, it’s not too late to turn around and seek Him with a whole heart, to know the power of His resurrection in your life. If you feel you need help or support, join us for this journey through Hebrews which, as we will see, is a practical guide to living a holy life for His glory.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this session, we see how God has been working all things throughout history to His timetable and for His purposes.

This ancient mystery determines the course of world history, it touches everything from kings, to presidents, empires, superpowers, down to the most minute details… and, as we will see, everything happens to happen in the exact way, at the exact place, and at the exact time.

And no one’s orchestrating it, no one on earth.

We have already noted the rise and fall of empires, the raising to positions of authority those who will accomplish His will – all in accordance with the ancient Jubilean mystery. We now go on to explore hidden codes, prophetic messages from millennia ago now being fulfilled on the very days appointed. We will uncover secrets hidden in the earth for centuries!

But with all of this said, we still have to answer the ‘so what’ question.

Why does everything seem to revolve around this Jubilean mystery? –Prophecy, revelation, World History.

The simple answer is, that it’s because the principle of the Jubilee is about return & restoration.

The Jewish people stand for all people – what happens to them has to do with us all. In the natural, we have not all left our ancestral possession… But in the spiritual, all have lost what belonged to us, given up the title of what was once ours.

You can never feel at home in this world because it’s not your inheritance. It’s not your land. It’s not what you were created for!

Redemption is at the center of the mystery. But “Who is it that the Jubilee is for?” For the exiled, the separated, the broken, the fallen, the one who has lost.

May you be blessed, encouraged and challenged by this study.

This is the 5th study in our series entitled ‘The Greatest Mystery’.

In this session, we continue to explore the incredible way God engineered to bring the Jews back into their homeland after almost 2000 years in accordance with His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

May you be blessed, challenged and amazed as we stand back in wonder, considering all that He has done!

In this session, we continue uncovering how God has engineered history to bring about his plans and designs.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

What is Faith?

How much Faith do you need?

Do you wonder if you have enough Faith for God to answer your cries?

In this teaching, Pastor Scott takes us through the account in Matthew 15:22-28 of the Phonecian woman whose daughter was ‘grievously vexed with a devil’ and gives a clear and simple answer to these questions.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

In our first session, we looked at over 20 undeniable proofs for God’s existence and the validity, accuracy, and trustworthiness of the Bible, demonstrating it has been given to us from outside our time domain.

In the second session, we looked at one of the principal subjects of the Bible – The Nation of Israel – through Whom God has chosen to reveal Himself to this world. In his final address to the Nation Moses spoke of the blessing they would receive if they obeyed God and His laws, but he also spoke of the punishment that would come upon them if they disobeyed. Furthermore, he told them what would happen to them in the centuries and ages to come – he foretold their future. Now, that should be impossible! To tell the intricate course of human events even days or weeks before they take place cannot happen, let alone speaking thousands of years into the future of a nation. But all that Moses said has come true with incredible detail & precision!

In this third session, we begin by considering “The Mystery of the 490”, and again see undeniable proof that God is in complete control in the affairs of man. All History has been working to His timetable, and His timepiece is the Nation of Israel!

We then look at what could be the greatest of all mysteries, “The Jubilee Mysteries”!

For Israel, the Jubilee would occur every 50 years, and those who had lost or sold their home or land would have it restored, your separation from that which was yours would be ended. To mark the Jubilee there would be the blowing of the Shofar – the rams horn, as a trumpet to announce the coming of the year of Jubilee.

• What does the Jubilee signify?
• Returning to your possession, to regain that which you had lost
• For two thousand years Israel had wandered the world without a homeland, without a possession of their own.
• But as prophesied by Moses, their return home would be a sign that we are in the end times, the final days of this era.

Although totally unprecedented, Israel have returned to the land, a sign that the ancient Jubilee Mystery is being played out on a cosmic scale, touching kings, prime ministers, presidents and world leaders alike.

May you be astounded and blessed by this study!

What if I told you this mystery involves global leaders, heads of state, presidents, and many others who have all been working to a predetermined timetable? What if I could show you that this mystery has decided world events down to the year, the month and even the very day of their occurring?

What if I showed you that everything that ever has been and all that will be are connected to and are part of this mystery?

What if I showed you that you don’t need faith to believe this mystery, because it is etched as a silent witness into our past, present and future?

This study, taught by pastor Barry Forder, is the first part of a series entitled “The Greatest Mystery” that will provide undeniable proof of the existence of God as revealed in the Bible, and of His working in the affairs of man throughout the ages.

In this session, pastor Barry will lay the foundation, drawing on a number of apologetic arguments, to demonstrate the solid basis for the Christian faith. But this is only the beginning! What is to follow over the coming weeks is truly breath-taking!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study!

Paul’s short letter to Philemon is a powerful 25 verse presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

The letter addresses Philemon whose salve, Onesimus, had stolen from him, ran away to Rome where he had met Paul and been converted.

Paul pleads with Philemon to take Onesimus back, not merely as a salve, but now as a beloved brother.

Just as Christ is our advocate with the Father, so Paul offers to personally pay any debt that is owed.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The Powerpoint slides used by Pastor Barry for this teaching are available for free download (in PDF format).

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

In this 3rd teaching on the fallacy of the theory of evolution as proposed by Charles Darwin, pastor Barry explains to the children that what they will be taught in school on this subject is somewhat lacking in scientific support!

The Bible says we must cast down every argument that stops people looking to God. Evolution is exactly that, and since Michael Gove’s decision, when he was Education Security in 2014, to teach evolution to primary school children, we must challenge the non-science that is being taught to our children as a true account of our origins.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

The Bible reveals that in the last days of this age, all religions will blend together into a single world church, which itself will eventually give way to the worship of Antichrist.

What began in ancient Babylon as a Satanic attempt to deceive mankind into following a false ‘seed’ will culminate in where it began, uniting all religions into a single faith.

From what we are told in Revelation 17 & 18, it appears that the Roman Catholic Church will be a major influence in this deception and just as Israel are revealed in Revelation 12 as the ‘clothing’ that protected the real Seed, ensuring the safe arrival of the Messiah, so the Vatican will prove to be the ‘clothing’ that has protected this false seed to make way for the false Messiah.

The Bible reveals that many (even within the Christian Church) will fall for this deception, which will be no doubt be presented to the world as the ultimate in acceptance and tolerance, embracing all and sundry regardless of morals or lifestyle, regardless of what god you worship.

Jesus said that the days before His return would be like it was in the days of Noah and Lot. Maybe only a few have dared to believe just how literally these words would be fulfilled! Yet, looking at the world today, and particularly seeing how quickly mainstream churches are giving in to compromise in the name of tolerance, we can now see these things being fulfilled before our eyes.

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this study.

1 Peter 4:18 tells us that the session of judgment that is soon to come on the whole world will begin at the Church. Throughout the New Testament we have repeated warnings of apostasy in the church, and that God will one-day ‘root out’ and destroy the (tares) apostate church whilst the true Church (wheat) will be gathered into His barn – a beautiful picture of the Rapture

In the book of Jeremiah, we find an amazing parallel between the days in which Jeremiah lived and the church today.

Jeremiah lived at a time when most of the nation had fallen into apostasy and, although they still paid lip-service to God, had heaped up to themselves idols and false gods to worship. They had rejected God’s Word, embraced things that were an abomination to God, the priests no longer taught scripture, they had rejected God as their Creator and turned a blind eye to prophesy. Sounds a lot like the church today, doesn’t it!

Peter tells us that this is no coincidence. Just as there were false teachers among the Children of Israel, so there will be false teachers in the church. And just as Israel was judged for these things, so the apostate church will also be judged.

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by these studies!

In this session, we look at the incredible parallels between the history of the nation of Israel and the history of the church.

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul warns the church to not make the same mistakes the Nation of Israel did – yet history has shown that the Church has indeed made the same mistakes, failing to learn the lessons that had been given.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

Peter tells us that the time of judgment that will soon engulf this world will begin with God bringing judgment on the apostate church that has taken His Name, but is far from His will.

Jesus, Paul, Peter, John and Jude all warn that deception will abound in the last days and much of this will come from within the church, by those professing to follow and serve Christ. Sadly, the Bible tells us that many will follow these false teachers and give heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons!

In this first session, we look at the root and history of apostasy, and see that every time God meets it with judgment.

The only sure guard against deception is the Word of God. God has revealed in His word the whole history and future of the church so that we should not be in darkness or ignorant about these things.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

As Paul begins his final farewell to Timothy, he once again draws Timothy’s attention to the apostasy that will abound in the last days, and particularly within the church, as people abandon the Word in favor of ‘feel-good self-help messages’. In the midst of this compromise, as Timothy’s commander in this spiritual war, Paul commands Timothy to Preach the Word without wavering. Preach it when they want to hear and even when they don’t.

The Word of God is immovable, never changing, eternally true and everlasting. The grass will wither, the flowers will fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. Time will not change it, popular opinion will certainly not change it, political correctness will not intimidate it.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

This world has chosen to reject God and all that is good in its pursuit for self-gratification.

The world is big on amusement but low on morality. The Government and media, and all who shape people thoughts, are heady and high-minded, speaking and writing with impunity as if they are accountable to no one for their thoughts and words. But what foundation do they have for the ungodly propaganda they spread? If all they have is their own opinion, why should their opinion be any more valid than mine? They want me to conform to their liberal values and ideologies, but it seems to not have occurred to them that my values – Christian values – should be just as acceptable in this day of toleration as their own! Particularly given that the values Christians hold to have a foundation other than our own opinion. They are founded on a wisdom that has shaped society & nations for almost two millennia! It is a wisdom that has not come from a fallible human mind, subject to change and swayed by popular opinion, but from the mind and heart of God Himself, communicated to us through His never changing Word!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good” 2 Tim 3:1-3

It is amazing how this list, written by Paul almost 2000 years ago, reads like a newspaper headline today!.

Yet if we dare to speak out against society’s accepted norm, we are immediately shot down and told we are not being tolerant and branded as a fundamentalist! Since 9:11 a fundamentalist is seen as an extremist, completely intolerant of other people’s views.

However, the dictionary defines Fundamentalism as:

1a) a belief in the literal truth of the Bible

1b) a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasising such belief

1c) adherence to such a belief

2a) a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles

Therefore, by definition 2a, almost all people are, to some degree, fundamentalists. The football referee who strictly adheres to the rules and basic principles of the game is a fundamentalist. The businessman who strictly adheres to legal and ethical codes of practice is also a fundamentalist. The school maths teacher who teaches the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division stresses a literal adherence to the basic principles that are non-negotiable. If the people in these examples did not strictly adhere to the basic principles on the grounds that they did not want to be dogmatic or offensive, they would soon be looking for alternative employment!

The fundamentals that Christians stick to are to ‘Love the LORD our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves! But love cannot be detached from truth and justice! We are to speak the truth in love!

Society at large has rejected God and does not want to hear the truth if it offends their blinkered sensibilities. We are now reaping the consequences. The only remedy is that men and women turn to Jesus Christ while there is still time.

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this study!

In these verses, Paul encourages Timothy (as he had done in v3) to not get entangled with this world.

We are on a journey that we get to share with other believers, who can encourage and support us, and in return we them.

But the lure of the world, through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life is always there, and only by walking in the Spirit through the Grace that Jesus gives can we be victorious.

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this study!

Pastor Barry.

In this session Pastor Barry looks back at a significant event that occurred 158 years ago (on this day) – ‘The Great Debate’ in Oxford, England, and explains to the Children that, with what we now know from Science, Evolution has been shown to be impossible!

Darwin’s book has been shown to be false, the Bible has been shown to be true!

All ministry can become a struggle, and there are times we feel like throwing the towel in and giving up! But Paul reminds Timothy that his source of strength is not his own flesh, it is not from within, but from without, it is from Jesus Christ Himself. It is only by the Grace of God that we are saved, it is only by that same grace that we are sanctified, and it is only by that Grace we can stand and continue on in ministry.

Yes Paul is not telling Timothy that this life is easy!

In this chapter, he uses the example of a soldier, an athlete, and farmer to illustrate the very real challenge that awaits us in ministry, yet with God’s grace we will be ‘more than conquerors’ through Christ who loved us!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Pastor Barry.

In this session we see Paul urge Timothy to carry on the fight and not to give up, for we know that we are not following a set or creeds or instructions, we are not on a quest for self-fulfillment, but we are following a person, The Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul reminds Timothy that Jesus is able to guard all that we have deposited with Him, our good works, ministry, service; none of it is wasted. Most of all, He is the Anchor of our souls!

Yet we can be shaken, and like a ship blown off course, so Paul tells Timothy to Hold Fast! Don’t be led astray by false teachers, don’t waver from the pure doctrine you have received. As the old adage goes: “If it’s new it’s probably not true, and if it’s true it’s probably not new!”

Then, as we move into Chapter 2, Paul brings in the heavy artillery! Grace! It is all about Grace.

Without the grace that is in Christ Jesus, we cannot stand, walk or live this life.

Over the next few weeks we will consider this vital topic in more detail.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Pastor Barry.

In the opening to this epistle, the last that Paul would write, he seeks to encourage his young ‘son in the faith’.

Ministry can be tough, there are attacks from without, doubts from within and the awesome weight that comes from knowing you are giving instruction to people that will impact, and maybe even decide, their eternal destiny.

The underlying theme of this letter is loyalty, and in chapter 1 Paul emphasises that Timothy must be loyal to the call of God upon his life even through the suffering and persecution he had and would continue to face.

But Paul acknowledges that  Timothy had an unfeigned faith. Dr Chuck Missler defines faith as ‘not belief in spite of the evidence… but rather obedience in spite of the consequences!’

May you be strengthened and encouraged by this study.

Every blessing, Pastor Barry.

In his final letter, shortly before his death, Paul writes from prison to encourage young pastor Timothy.

In this introduction we consider the life of Paul, from ‘church hater’ to ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’;  and look at this unique thing we call the church.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Pilate had asked Jesus the question “What is truth?”

To many, truth is merely relative, that is, we can each decide our own truth depending on our circumstances and experiences.

The day before Pilate asked this question, Jesus stated “Thy Word is truth!”, that it, God’s word does not merely contain ideas and concepts that are true, it is truth itself. Every part of it, every statement made, every doctrine taught is true. It is the fount of truth. Without out it, we would be lost in a sea of ideas, opinions, philosophies and dreams.

Sadly, today’s church has largely become blinded to this great fact, and has replaced the truth of God’s word for politically correct and socially acceptable axioms*.

1. *a generally accepted proposition or principle, sanctioned by experience; maxim

Today society seems to dictate truth and the church, like an obedient dog, walks on behind!

However, that is not the way it was in the early church! They knew they had been given something precious that they were to earnestly contend for! Despite what modernists and liberal theologians would have us believe, truth is non-negotionable!

Doctrine is not open to debate, and we do not get to decide what the Bible means – it tells us itself what it means and we have been given the Holy Spirit to teach us and lead us into all truth!

Today’s ministers and clergy can spiritualise and allegorise all day long. They can tell you the Second Coming is not going to be a physical return; they can tell you that God didn’t really Create everything in 6 literal 24 hour days if they like; they can tell you that God is not going to keep His untold number of promises to National Israel, that these somehow will now fall on the church. They can tell you these things and teach them in pulpits all over the land – BUT IT DOENS’T MAKE THEM TRUE!

They have missed the boat! Truth has already been declared (and God did not consult them first!). The Apostles Doctrine is as rock solid and non-negotiable today as when it was given. Christianity is based on this. The fundamentals are not open to debate!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study!

This is our concluding study of Paul’s first letter to Timothy.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

This teaching was given by guest speaker, Adrian Hudson, on 14th April 2019 as part of Calvary Chapel Portsmouth’s family service.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul tells us that the Gospel itself is concealed in the Old Testament, and specifically, we find it in the Feasts of Israel that occurred in the Spring – namely:

The Feast of Passover, which details the death of Jesus who died as a Passover Lamb in our place to secure our deliverance from slavery and bondage

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which alludes to the spotless, sinless Christ who was put into the ground like a grain of wheat, that He might rise again bearing much fruit.

The Feast of Firstfruits, which speaks of Christ who presented Himself to His Father as the Firstfruits of those who will rise from the dead

In this study, Adrian takes us through these three feasts + Shavuot (The Feast of Harvest / Pentecost) showing the incredible design which show the Author of the Bible to be outside of time and space, telling the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things not yet done! (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Only God could conceal the incredible details found in the Feasts of Israel that act as a model given over 1400 years in advance of Jesus, death, burial and resurrection!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this teaching.

In the early hours of Friday 22nd March 2019, Heaven welcomed a special guest home to a banquet table that had been prepared for her (Psalm 23:5). Linda Bennett had been a part of the Calvary Portsmouth church family for many years and had taught in Sunday School those who have now gone on to serve the LORD in various ministries elsewhere around the world. Linda also had a tremendous gift of encouragement and was used of the LORD to counsel and encourage individuals and couples alike. To many in the fellowship, Linda was like a second mum! – and she was a great cook too!

But it is possibly for her ministry in teaching other women that Linda is best remembered. Linda taught at a number of woman’s conferences and led the Calvary Portsmouth ladies Bible Study for many years. We are blessed to have some of Linda’s teaching on this web site – see Linda’s Blog – ‘Above Rubies‘, for studies on ‘The Names of God’, ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted’ and ‘Proverbs 31: Above Rubies’

Linda had a deep love for God’s Word, and among many of her favourite passages wasPsalm 23 – ‘The Sheep’s Psalm’. Therefore it seemed appropriate to take a week off our verse-by-verse study of 1 Timothy and for this week, in honour of Linda and out of gratitude for her faithful witness and ministry, to look at this precious jewel of a Psalm.

Spurgeon said: “There is no inspired title to this psalm, and none is needed, for it records no special event, and needs no other key than that which every Christian may find in his own bosom. It is David’s Heavenly Pastoral; a surpassing ode, which none of the daughters of music can excel.The position of this psalm is worthy of notice. It follows the twenty-second, which is peculiarly the Psalm of the Cross. There are no green pastures, no still waters on the other side of the twenty-second psalm. It is only after we have read, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” that we come to “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We must by experience know the value of blood shedding, and see the sword awakened against the Shepherd, before we shall be able truly to know the Sweetness of the good Shepherd’s care.”

This Psalm is great comfort for all saints, as we begin “to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God”. (Eph 3:18-19)

That a God so mighty would condescend to be our very own personal Shepherd is staggering! Yet He cares for us when we cannot care for ourselves; He protects us againt all enemies; He leads and guides us, all for His great names sake. The shadows we face in this valley of death are just a reminder that the Light is Greater still! What a committmet He has made to us!

May you be strengthened and encouraged by this teaching.

Following on from the teaching by Pastor Antonye Holyde last week, we see that in1 Timothy 4 how those from within the camp can leave and join the enemies ranks – having given “heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”.

The conclusion is still the same.

We must be ‘nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine’, refuse ‘old wives’ fables’ and not give into compromise (or like Saul in 1 Sam 14 settle for a place where we feel safe), instead we must be on the offensive and ‘both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men’

We must ‘exercise ourselves toward godliness’ and take our stand against the wiles of the Devil, knowing that if we do, we will not only ‘save ourselves, but also those who hear us’ (1 Tim 4:16) – and we might just win some of those who left to join the enemies camp back again!

May you be challenged, strengthened and encouraged by this teaching!

In this teaching by guest speaker, Pastor Antonye Holyde, we look at the courage of Jonathan (Saul’s son) to step out in faith, leaving behind the compromise that surrounded him, and take a stand for the God of Israel.

Pastor Antonye encourages us to reach out to this lost and dying world with the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Antonye and his wife Suzanne have planted 30 churches in their ministry to date, and in March 2019 will be returning to California to begin a new work, following the LORD’s leading. For the last 8 years they have been ministering in Camden (London) at Calvary Chapel Shoreline and have seen God’s grace transform countless lives.

May you be challenged, strengthened and encouraged by this teaching!

In this study, we review the various forms of Church Government and the role of the Pastor, then go on to look at the role of deacons, i.e. those who serve the congregation in practical ways to enable the body to function as it should.

One of the key verses is v.10 where Paul tells Timothy that Deacons are to ‘use the office’ as a means to an end. If you serve the congregation by making refreshments after the service, that is merely a means to an end that you might use it as an opportunity to minister. If you help by setting the equipment up each week, that is simply the ‘excuse’ you have t0 fellowship and encourage each other. Of course, the practical needs are important, but the spiritual needs always should take precedence!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In chapter 3 of Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he outlines the requirements of a ‘poiman’ (Shepherd) / ‘episkope’ (overseer) – one who is entrusted by God with the spiritual care and nurturing of the sheep given into his care.

As in the last chapter, the real issue is again one of the heart. It is not the outward appearance that matters so much as the inward person that only God sees.

If our relationship with God is one of surrender and yielding, what people see as they look upon the outside is merely a reflection of what God’s grace has done on the inside!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study, we continue to look at the order in the church and see that at the heart of it is the condition of our hearts!

Are we prepared to submit to one another in love? Are we prepared to submit to the authority God has placed above us? For men we have to submit to government and the powers that be – that we might, by our peaceable and godly lives be a witness that would lead others to Christ. Godly men are not about flexing muscles and showing wrath.

In like manner, women should not flaunt themselves but be willing to learn ‘peaceably’, recognizing God’s order in creation. Whilst a woman may teach in a variety of situations, the office of Pastor is for men only, and then only for a few men that God specifically calls. It is a sad fact that practically all denominations now appoint women as pastors

Whilst Paul would have women learn in silence (i.e not shouting out in public meetings), a woman is given the great responsibility of raising Godly children that would continue in faith, love, holiness and with sobriety. The influence that God has entrusted to women is a powerful thing!

Paul would have the men step up and get on our knees and fight like men – in prayer!

Women are not to usurp the authority of the man, for God calls the men to march first into battle. Even Deborah, a Judge of Israel, in Judges 4, had the wisdom to get Barak to lead the army of Israel against the enemy. In the few examples in scripture where the woman as usurped the man and ‘gone into battle ahead of him’, it has never ended well! From the Garden of Eden to woman in Revelation 17 & 18.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

We now began to look at Paul’s instructions to Timothy regarding men and women in the church. Men must not be militant ‘political activists’ be willing to be under the authority of government and laws of the land.

In contrast, Woman must be willing to be under the authority of their husbands. Both men and women in the church then, by their lives and actions show their willingness to submit to earthly authority as a practical and outward sign that they are willing to submit to heavenly authority.

Paul explains the reason for this is that it is not only pleasing to God, it also becomes a witness to the world, that thereby others may be saved.

We begin to see unfolding here how important our attitudes are in winning other souls to Christ. Yes, these views seem outdated to the world, they do not understand the concept of submission. But far from rolling over and being a ‘doormat’ for others to walk all over, we show by our willingness to submit a real strength and trust in God’s order and His plan.

May this study bless and encourage you in your walk with Him.

Paul continues to give instruction and encouragement to young pastor Timothy.

The challenges before him, as with so many churches and pastors today are:

• to teach sound doctrine and correct the erroneous ramblings of those who have become self-appointed teachers
• yet to remain humble, recognising that it is only by Grace we stand and have been called to minister
• then standing in that Grace, because you have been called and appointed by God, to wage a good warfare against the enemy

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study, we look at the historical background that brought the Apostle Paul to Lystra where a young 13/14-year-old Timothy first heard him preach about Jesus of Nazareth, whom Paul claimed was the promised Messiah of Israel! On that occasion it almost cost Paul his life, being stoned and dragged outside of the city, left for dead. But then, surrounded by the faithful believers, who were no doubt praying, Paul miraculously got up and headed straight back into the city! What must his enemies thought! But what too must a young impressionable boy have made of it?

Around three years later Paul returned with Silas to find a faithful young Christian man with an obvious calling on his life to pastoral ministry.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Written by Paul to his young prodigy and ‘son in the faith’ Timothy, to encourage this young pastor of the church at Ephesus to keep going!

We all face challenges in life, and as a Christian, we can expect challenges in ministry. Paul urges Timothy that it is too soon to quit! He had been given a charge by God, called to a work that could only be accomplished by standing strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus.

This is a message for all believers, to endure as a faithful soldier enlisted in God’s army.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study we look at the last chapter in this incredible Gospel, considering the evidence for the Resurrection, and the preposterous claim put forward by the Jewish leadership, that the Disciples of Jesus had come and stolen the body – while a highly trained unit of Rome’s finest soldiers just slept??!!

We also look at the claim that the last 16 verses of Mark’s Gospel were a later addition. The claim is made that in two of the ‘oldest’ and ‘most reliable’ manuscripts these verses were not there, thus proving them to be a later addition.

This all sounds very scholarly, and the average person will simply accept the footnotes in their ‘Bible’, after all, surely we can trust the translators can’t we?

Well actually no. A resounding no!

In this study we look at the Crucifixion of Jesus, and consider 9 events that led to a Roman Centurion becoming the first gentile convert.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Every blessing,

Pastor Barry.

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are available as a free download.

Chapter 15 sees Jesus taken from the palace of the High Priest to a somewhat disgruntled Pilate! As far as he was concerned, this was a Jewish matter and one not worthy of his attention. Yet, due to the emotionally charged situation, and the fact that this was occurring at one of the busiest times in the Jewish calendar, he could not afford an uproar in Jerusalem – something that the Jewish leadership could all too quickly arrange if their demands were not met.

In an attempt to get ‘off the hook’ Pilate offered the customary act of clemency, that of releasing a prisoner. Pilate offered them Jesus but the people (swayed by the Jewish leaders) demanded Barabas.

Barabas (lit. ‘son of the father’) was guilty. Jesus was innocent. Thus here we see a model of the great exchange: ” he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor 5:21).

Then, in an eternal declaration of Christ’s victory over the Devil, His bruised feet on Golgotha are literally on the head of the enemy! How so?

Golgotha was known as ‘The Place of a Skull’. Whose skull was so significant that the place of its burial would be immortalised?  Why would a place become famous for the burial of a skull rather than a body? What would cause a skull to become disconnected from the body it had once been a part of?

We get a clue back in 1 Samuel 17:54 where we read that “David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent”.

This may well qualify for one of the most obscure verses in the Bible! Not least for the fact that, at the time David killed Goliath, Jerusalem was under the control of the Jebusites; to take the head of Goliath there then was to risk life and limb.

So why did David do it? The only explanation can be that the LORD told him to. But why?

The logical answer is that God was intentionally setting up a model to be fulfilled when, some 1000 years later, the Son of David would declare victory on the very spot the head of this satanic embodiment of evil was laid to rest, by placing His feet on Goliath’s severed head.

And the name of the place? Gol-Gath-a  Goliath of Gath!

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”. Genesis 3:15

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study, Ilir looks at the faith of Abraham following the battle of the kings in Genesis 14.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this study, we consider one of the most important acts of worship recorded, as Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus) poured some very expensive perfume over Jesus. Why is this so important?

Because it teaches us just how valuable worship is in God’s eyes. To worship God is greater than your most valuable and treasured possession. When you worship it breaks chains of oppression, it causes principalities and powers to bow. It conquers fear and comforts grief. It destroys doubt and invites God’s very presence into your midst. It banishes sin and crushes iniquity, it replaces sorrow with joy and lifts us to the very throne of God!

Whether Mary understood the significance of what she was doing we cannot say, but clearly, Jesus saw this as an anointing in preparation for His burial. A body would not normally be anointed before the death of the person, but this just goes to emphasise that, at this stage, Jesus was ‘as dead’ in as much as there was no way He was backing out now. He had come to do His Father’s will, and he would not fall at the last hurdle.

In both Matthew’s and Mark’s account, Jesus states:“Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her”. (Matt 26:13) Mary thus becomes an example of the way we should worship Jesus – i.e. without reservation. Yet that is not what common sense tells us, and to pour out the equivalent of £30,000 worth of perfume just seems an extravagant waste! No wonder the disciples murmured!

In our previous study, we looked at the individual who will soon make an appearance on the world stage whom we often refer to as Antichrist. In fact, this individual is known by 33 different titles in the Old Testament and 13 in the New Testament.

However, there is another individual that Jesus alludes to in Mark 13, and that is the one referred to as the False Prophet in Revelation 19:20.

But it is in Revelation chapter 13 that we are introduced to the Devil’s two great protagonists, the ‘Beast from the sea’ v.1 (aka Antichrist) and the ‘Beast from the earth’ v.11 (aka the False Prophet). From the beginning, Satan has been a deceiver and master counterfeiter. Now, at the mid-point of the Tribulation, Satan (man’s great opponent) will attempt to deceive mankind through an unholy trinity, with Satan (as he has always wanted) being ‘like God’; Antichrist (as the name means) ‘in the place of Christ’, and the False Prophet assuming a Holy Spirit-like role, pointing people to the false Christ.

In Revelation 13:13 we read: “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men”

By this time, the people of the earth will have seen God’s two witnesses (see Revelation 11) call down fire from Heaven on any that tried to harm them; Satan now gives this power to the false prophet as if to counter what God has done. This reminds us of Pharaoh’s magicians in Egypt who tied to counter the signs that Moses and Aaron did in an attempt to harden the people’s hearts.

But the False Prophet will win the hearts of the people with his deceptions and will deceive the people (who have made this world their home) by the ‘signs and wonders’ he performs, and then he’ll suggest that they make an image of Antichrist in a re-run of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (Daniel chapter 3) and Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel chapter 8 & 11).

Somehow the false prophet will make the image of Antichrist (which will be placed in the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem) to seem as if it’s alive and even cause it to talk. Just like it was with king Neb’ back in Daniel 3, any that don’t worship the image will be killed. He will then cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads

This is of course the infamous ‘Mark of the Beast’.

What is God like?

Can we really know?

In one sense we will never be able to understand or fathom our great God. How can the finite understand the infinite?

Yet in His Word, God has revealed Himself in ways we can understand so that we can get at least a glimpse of the Father-heart of God.

In this message, Bible teacher and expositor Adrain Hudson takes us on a verse-by-verse journey through Leviticus chapter 19 to see the wisdom, love, and compassion of God shown through the Law’s He gave His people.

Just as a loving parent sets boundaries for a child to protect them from harm, our loving God had done so for us.

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this teaching.

In our verse-by-verse journey through the Gospel of Mark we are reviewing the Olivet Discourse – the private briefing that Jesus gave to Peter, James, Andrew, and John on the Mt of Olives on the Tuesday before His crucifixion.

In this study, we look at what Jesus meant when he warned of the coming ‘abomination of desolation‘ – spoken of by Daniel the prophet!

Obviously, the place to go to discover what this means is the book of Daniel!

In our verse-by-verse journey through the Gospel of Mark we are reviewing the Olivet Discourse – the private briefing that Jesus gave to Peter, James, Andrew, and John on the Mt of Olives on the Tuesday before His crucifixion.

As Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum states in his classic book on the return of Jesus: ‘The Footsteps of the Messiah’: “The famous Olivet Discourse of the Messiah occurred between two significant events. Immediately preceding the Olivet Discourse, the Messiah spoke the final words of His public ministry, found in Matthew 23:1-39, which contains the denunciation of the leadership of Israel, especially for their guilt in leading the nation to reject the Messiahship of Jesus. With these words, the public ministry of the Messiah as a prophet came to an end, and for the remainder of His last few days on earth, He would deal exclusively with His disciples. In verses 37-39, Jesus also laid down the precondition to the Second Coming, in the He will not return until the Jewish leaders ask Him to return. Just as the Jewish leaders once led the nation to reject His Messiahship, a day must come when they will lead the Jewish people to accept His Messiahship”.

For more information visit: http://www.calvaryportsmouth.co.uk/sermons/the-gospel-of-mark-13-6-13/

Two days before His crucifixion Jesus warned of deception that would come. Peter, Paul, John and Jude would all later go on to warn of powerful deception in the ‘last days’.

One of the greatest deceptions is to believe that you cannot be deceived, that somehow, you and I are beyond deception!  Peter said:

“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness“. 2 Peter 3:17

In this study, we consider Jesus’ words to his disciples on the Mt of Olives where he foretold the details and events of the ‘end times’ and warned the disciples to ‘take heed!’ We also look at the incredible parallels with the prophet Jeremiah who lived at a time much like our own.

Jesus riles the Pharisees by exposing that they were seeking to kill him – which they were, but they didn’t want the crowd to get wind of it for fear that public sympathy for Jesus would scupper their plans.

Jesus tells the parable of a ‘certain man’ (God the Father) who planted a ‘vineyard’ (the Nation of Israel), and set a ‘hedge’ around it (The Law), and digged a ‘place for the winefat’ (Jerusalem), and built a ‘tower’ (the Throne of David), but then went away for a while (see Hosea 3:4) and left His vineyard in the care of the ‘husbandmen’ (the Jewish Leadership).

Jesus tells of how, at the appointed time, God sent His servants (the Prophets) to the Nations of Israel, but they had been rejected, shamefully treated, stoned and even murdered. Jesus then tells of how the Son (Jesus) of the ‘Certian Man’ (God the Father) was also sent and killed.

Bear in mind, this was only two days before this (the crucifixion) would happen, and the Jewish leadership actually wanted to avoid arresting Jesus over the time of the Feast – something that was now becoming a much harder prospect! They were losing ground and had to act fast. The plan to arrest Jesus needed to be stepped up!

After a short while (probably less than an hour later), the Pharisees come back, but this time with their own enemies, the Herodians! The Herodians were loyal to Rome, the Pharisees despised Roman rule – but they now perceived they had a common threat (at least that is how the Pharisees must have spun it to the Herodians!). Together they try to outwit and trick Jesus regarding the hot subject of paying Taxes to Rome. They thought that Jesus would have no way out of this one! Either he would show Himself a traitor to Rome, or a traitor to His own people and country of Israel. Yet Jesus is the one who made the heavens and all the laws that govern the solar system! He was not about to fall for their cunning!

Jesus’ answer stunned them!

  “Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s…  Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”

In a moment of time, Jesus cuts between the physical world and the spiritual. The coin had Caesar’s image, so belonged to him. We have been made in God’s image to belong to Him!

Seeing the Pharisees taking a battering, the Sadducees now step up with a question about resurrection. Jesus slices through their shallow theology with the Word of God and shows that resurrection is part of God’s plan! (Paul comprehensively addresses this question in1 Corinthians 15).

Finally, as his detractors are running out of steam (and ideas!), a scribe steps forward and finally asks a good question. Jesus emphasises the importance of the heart in serving God and our fellow men.

To conclude the chapter, another object lesson on serving God is recorded by Mark as he recounts the woman who gave her last two mites.

It is not about how much you give, but about the heart. We are called to give Him all, not out of a sense of obligation, but out of gratitude. And not just money. Too many Christians give what doesn’t cost them. Many are happy to give money, as if that somehow relieves them of their obligation to serve in any other way.

In the first part of this chapter we saw Jesus arrive at Bethany on the Saturday evening, and then ride into Jerusalem on ‘Palm Sunday’, fulfilling the prophecy given by Gabriel, recorded in Daniel chapter 9 to the very day!

Now Mark records that when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem he went to the Temple looked around and then went back out to Bethany for the evening. He makes no mention (as do Matthew and Luke) of the tables in the Temple being turned over that day. However the next day (Monday) as Jesus comes back into Jerusalem (passing and cursing the fig tree) Mark records that Jesus “began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves”. (Mark 11:15-17). It’s hard to imagine the commotion as Jesus sent table and coins flying, doves escaping and the crowd looking on in wonder!

Jesus had been to Jerusalem many times in His ministry, but this is the only occasion recorded by Mark. Up to this point Mark has provided overwhelming evidence, from eyewitness accounts that Jesus really is the Messiah, but if that hasn’t been enough for some, Chapter 11 seals it!

It is not for us to decide who should and shouldn’t come to Jesus! We cannot allow our preconceived ideas of who we think is worthy or not to determine who should be a recipient of His grace!

We were not worthy, we did not deserve his Grace and mercy! Yet He called us and invited us into His family! (Read Ephesians 2:1-13)

We then encounter the ‘rich young ruler’ who hurries to find Jesus and then falls at His feet, calling Him ‘good Master’! His doesn’t come seeking health, or blessing, or to see a miracle; he comes to ask one of the most important questions a person can ask! He asks how he may inherit eternal life! The incredible thing is, that through his conversation with Jesus, it turns out his love for all he has achieved on this earth – his wealth and possessions – had become the very thing that prevented him from taking hold of the eternal life he sought!

Jesus makes it clear, you can gain this world, but unless you are prepared to lose it all, pick up your cross and follow him, your wealth and riches, your good works and good intentions count for nothing. Having a right relationship with God through Jesus is the ONLY way to inherit eternal life, because it is the only way to get right with God.

Following another discussion about who is going to be the greatest in Jesus’ coming kingdom, Jesus heads to Jerusalem via Jerhico and encounters a blind man named Bartimaeus. In complete contrast to the rich young ruler, Bartimaeus, though blind, can see clearly that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah; and that all our hope must be in Him alone. When Jesus called for Him, Bartimaeus abandoned everything! – his coat which he throws aside would have been used to collect alms from the passing crowd and would have also likely been used as a bed at night. Bartimaeus was willing to give up all he had to gain Christ! – and in so doing his eyes were opened too!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

In this study we see the Pharisees trying the trap Jesus with a question regarding divorce. At that time there were two opposing views put forward by the leading Rabbi’s of the day:

• The first was the school of Rabbi Hillel – He espoused a lenient and popular view
• The second was the school of Rabbi Shammai – He taught a strict but unpopular view

Well, the disciples were wrong. Although they didn’t understand at that time, the Throne of David will be revived (Luke 1:32), Jesus will sit on it and reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem (Daniel 7:14 / Micah 4:1-3), and the 12 Disciples (excluding Judas!) willeach be given thrones and authority over the 12 Tribes of Israel – but not yet! First must come the cross.

And to be the greatest in His kingdom means becoming a servant to all!

And, by the way, you can’t do anything to get into His good books! If you accept Him as Lord and Saviour your name is already written in His Good Book, because of what He’s done!

Regarding God view of greatness, Oswald Chambers comments: “It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased…” Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket— to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister?”

Jesus gently told the Disciples that His kingdom is founded on serving each other. In the church this is the framework on which everything hangs “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ”

The next lesson was a simple one, yet 2000 years later one the many in the church have failed to learn! Because other Christians don’t do things the way we do them, because they have a different style of worship, or because they dress differently; maybe their teaching is not as in-depth as we would like it to be, or maybe there are some non-essential doctrinal differences, none of those things give us grounds to critisize or condenm. “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand”

In this study, we remind ourselves of the importance of the transfiguration of Jesus, and consider the implications for us, who are also to be transformed from the inside out, to show forth His glory!

In the book, The Psychology of Redemption, Oswald Chambers comments: “According to the Bible, there are only two Men: Adam and Jesus Christ, and God deals with them as the representatives of the human race, not as individuals. All the members of the human race are grouped round these two Men. The first Adam is called “the son of God”; the last Adam is the Son of God, and we are made sons of God by the last Adam. The Christian is neither Adam nor Jesus Christ, the Christian is a new man in Christ Jesus. The first Adam and the last Adam are the only two Men according to God’s norm, and they both came into this world direct from the hand of God.” 

He goes on to say: 

“God created man a splendid moral being, fitted to rule the earth and air and sea, but he was not to rule himself; God was to be his Master, and man was to turn his natural life into a spiritual life by obedience. Had Adam done so, the members of the human race would have gone on developing until they were transfigured into the presence of God; there would have been no death. Death to us has become natural, but the Bible reveals it to be abnormal. Adam refused to turn the natural into the spiritual; he took dominion over himself and thereby became the introducer of the heredity of sin into the human race (Romans 5:12), and instantly lost his control over the earth and air and sea. The entrance of sin means that the connection with God has gone and the disposition of self-realisation, my right to myself, has come in its place.

“For by Him were all things created . . .” (Colossians 1:16). Did God then create sin? Sin is not a creation; sin is the outcome of a relationship which God never ordained, a relationship set up between the man God created and the being God created who became the devil. God did not create sin, but He holds Himself responsible for the possibility of sin, and the proof that He does so is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Following the Transfiguration, Jesus went down into the valley below and finds the Scribes trying to trip up the disciples with their questions – no doubt trying to undermine their faith in Jesus. Jesus, as the great protector of the sheep, steps into the conversation at which point the scribes go strangely quiet!

A man steps forward whose son had been bound by the devil since he was a child. The disciples had been out of their depth, not knowing what to do. But Jesus hears the cry of a heart-broken father for his child and casts the evil spirit out of the boy.

Jesus makes the comment that ‘this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting’. The point here is that, if we are to be used of God in setting people free from the snare and tyranny of the Devil, we must be in-tune with God. We must be willing to fast (cut out of our lives all that is not of Him), and to be constantly praying. Such was the life of Jesus.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Bob is the founding pastor of Deal Christian Fellowship, in Deal, Kent, (a.k.a. Calvary Chapel Deal), and in this study, entitled ‘Fallen People – Faithful God’  looks at the account of Barak and Deborah in Judges chapters 4-5.

There is a call to all God’s people to be active in waging warfare against ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’. Sadly, not all ‘come to the help of the LORD’ (Judges 5:234) and end up losing their reward  – the challenge here is ‘what are you doing?’

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The audio from this session is available here for free download.

For more teaching by Pastor Bob Forder, go to:  http://dcf.church/sermon-speaker/bob-forder/

In this study, Adrian gives us an overview of the incredible book of Ruth.

The audio is available for free download.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study!

The Glory that Jesus had spoken to His disciples of only a week before was now unveiled before their eyes. This was the Son of Man, the Alpha & Omega that John would one day see again on the isle of Patmos, removed from the physical restraints of His human body. Peter, James and John saw Jesus literally transformed from the inside out as the physical gave way to the spiritual. It was almost as if the physical body of Jesus could no longer contain the supernatural Deity it did. Jesus had been perfectly obedient to His Father and ‘turned His innocence to obedience by a series of moral choices’ (Oswald Chambers). He had become what God always intended man to become. The disciples were overwhelmed and lost for words – although Peter, as usual, threw some in anyway!

Oswald Chambers comments: “If Jesus had gone to heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone; He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the Mount to identify Himself with fallen humanity.

“We have no corresponding experience to the events in Our Lord’s life after the Transfiguration. From then onwards Our Lord’s life was altogether vicarious (i.e every moment, every step, lived out for you and me). Up to the time of the Transfiguration He had exhibited the normal perfect life of a man; from the Transfiguration onwards — Gethsemane, the Cross, the Resurrection — everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His Resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to any man, and by His Ascension Our Lord enters heaven and keeps the door open for humanity.

On the Mount of Ascension the Transfiguration is completed.

The Ascension is the consummation of the Transfiguration. Our Lord does now go back into His primal glory; but He does not go back simply as Son of God; He goes back to God as Son of Man as well as Son of God. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God by the Ascension of the Son of Man. As Son of Man Jesus Christ deliberately limited omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience in Himself. Now they are His in absolute full power. As Son of Man Jesus Christ has all power at the throne of God. He is King of kings and Lord of lords from the day of His Ascension until now”.

Suddenly before them, two invited guests arrived: Moses & Elijah. Of all the great saints in Heaven, these two were called for. How much must Daniel or David, Noah or Isaiah have desired this opportunity to meet with the Messiah – the One they had all longed for! Yet Moses and Elijah were the two chosen, and we know from Matthew’s account that they were called specifically to discuss the crucifixion and resurrection. Why? What was it they talked about?

A clue may be in their rolls! Moses and Elijah were great ambassadors of God’s revelation to man. Moses was representative of the Law, Elijah of the Prophets. These are the two witnesses God has given to mankind that we might believe. The Law convinces of sin, and prophecy convinces the intellect on man to the truth of Scripture.

The morning of the resurrection Luke records: “And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?”

Luke specifically uses the word ‘aner’ which means ‘man’ (and not angel). As a physician, he would know the difference between a man and an angel!

In Mark chapter 8 the feeding of the 4000 is a different event from the incredible feeding of the 5000 that Mark recorded back in chapter 6. In chapter 6 it was a Jewish audience, here in chapter 8, Jesus is in the Decapolis (on the Eastern side of the Sea of Galilee) which was a largely gentile area. In chapter 6 the crowd that had gathered had only been with Jesus for that day. In the account Mark records for us here we find that the crowd had following Jesus for 3 days! That is incredible in itself. Imagine the excitement and fascination that would keep over 10,000 people (Mark only counts the men) away from their homes and other commitments for three days!

We read in v2 that Jesus ‘had compassion’ on this multitude, knowing that they needed sustenance. Generally, after three intense days, you and I would want to unwind and would crave our own space! But Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and did not tire of showing love, grace and compassion. You and I can also show that kind of love and compassion, regardless of how weary and physically tired we may become IF we too are walking in His Spirit. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).

Then Jesus presents His dilemma to the disciples: He doesn’t want to send the multitude away hungry, because some of them had traveled a long way, so what should He do? When Jesus presents us with a dilemma it is not a test of our resources! It is a test of our trust in Him! Immediately the disciples do what we tend to do, and assume responsibility for something they were unable to solve. As Oswald Chambers has said: “If we undertake work for God and get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility will be overwhelmingly crushing; but if we roll back on God that which He has put upon us, He takes away the sense of responsibility by bringing in the realization of Himself”.

Imagine Peter’s surprise when he went up to Jesus and walked away with a full basket of food to give to the multitude! Then John followed Peter, no doubt thinking “Great Peter! Now there’s nothing left for me!” Only to find that his basket was full to overflowing also! Then Andrew, then James, then Matthew…. Then Peter came back for a second time. He had given away all he had, but the more he gave away, the more Jesus replenished. This is the model of Christian ministry!

• We recognise the need of the people to be fed
• We come to Christ
• He fills us to overflowing
• We go out and give out the bread He has given us
• We go back to Christ empty
• He fills us all over again!
• We go back out….

There are so many around us that will not make it home without the bread that Christ gives. But you and I are the vessels that Christ uses to take that bread and give it out freely.

Pray this week that God gives you opportunity to give out from the abundance He has given you…then go back to Him and be filled to overflowing again!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are also available for free download, and the audio can be streamed or downloaded for future use.

In Mark chapter 7 we see Jesus once again confronted with the professional religious leaders who had travelled down from Jerusalem. Sadly, they had not come to merely investigate the stories they had heard about the multitude of souls who had been healed or delivered from evil spirits; no, rather they had come to find fault with Jesus.

Like so many in the church today, they would rather point the finger and criticize anyone who doesn’t hold to the same ideas and traditions they do. In recent years the church has been plagued by so-called discernment ministries that love to find fault; they ignore Jesus’ words in Matthew 13 and try to uproot the tares, not stopping to think about the damage they are doing to the genuine wheat they uproot in the process. As long as they ‘get their man’ the feel justified in saying and printing their diatribes regardless of the precious souls whom they inadvertently harm. Yes, we must stand for the truth of God’s Word. Yes, doctrine is vitally important. Yes, we must contend for the faith at all costs – but in love (see 1 Cor 13 again!). The Biblical modal is to look to restore in the spirit of meekness (Gal 6:1), to reconcile (2 Thess 3:15), to rebuild (Philemon 1:15-16). The uprooting is not the job of the church.

Notice that in v2 they couldn’t find fault with Jesus, but with just some of His disciples!

[There is a lesson here to make sure we do not give God’s enemies reason to find fault with Jesus because of us! We are to be ambassadors who give ‘no appearance of evil’. (2 Cor 5:20/ 1 Thes 5:22)]

Jesus does not answer their question, He simply takes apart their argument by showing that their tradition had obscured the very Law it was intended to protect. The heart of the Law had been replaced by a legalism that kills.

Tradition may come about through well-meaning intentions, but it will ultimately do more harm than good, and it always becomes a barrier between man and God.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are also available for free download, and the audio can be streamed or downloaded for future use.

All of us know what it is to be tempted, but John tells us that what is born of God “does not sin!” – so how can we truly resist temptation? How did Jesus resist the Devil in Luke 4?

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Simeon is the assistant pastor at Calvary Chapel Deal (aka. Deal Christian Fellowship). More of Sim’s teaching can be found at dcf.church

As the disciples return they find Jesus surrounded by multitudes. The natural tendency, born from their enthusiasm, would have been to carry on and minister to this crowd that had gathered – after all, wasn’t that the reason given in the synagogue in Nazareth as to why Jesus had come? “to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” Luke 4:18-19

Jesus takes the disciples aside, for now, they needed to rest, physically no doubt, but needed to renew their strength. In the spiritual realm that can only be done by coming apart from the busyness of life, from the urgent pressures and demands, and to spend time alone with Jesus – “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” Isa 40:31

Jesus speaking to His disciples said, “Come ye yourselves apart to a desert place, and rest a little.” Mk 6:31 A ‘Quiet Time’ is a place to “come apart” from the world and rest in Jesus. “Jesus knows we must come apart and rest awhile or else we may just plain come apart!” Vance Havner. When the Bible becomes a part of you, you’ll be less likely to come apart! To be much like Christ, we must be much with Christ

“Attachment to Christ is the secret of detachment from the world. And so although we must live in the world, we must draw our strength from outside the world. As Charles Hummel wisely said, “Adequate time for daily waiting on God… is the only way I can escape the tyranny of the urgent.”

Notice what happens when the disciples did the counter-intuitive and stopped their labours for a while: The crowds came to them

The natural says we must keep at it, we must keep serving to make the most of every opportunity! The Spiritual says we must not! If we are to make the most of every opportunity it will only be done through waiting on the LORD, only moving in His time. We are always in such a hurry, Jesus was not. Jesus accomplished more in 3 1/2 years than most of us will in a lifetime, yet He was never flustered or anxious

After feeding the 5000, we see the disciples in the midst of the sea again, this time Jesus comes walking on water. Surely the disciples realised they were safe? That the Lord had called and chosen them and watching over them? But no! How quick we forget the LORD’s miraculous provision and think that it is now up to us. On this occasion – although Mark doesn’t record the fact – Peter stepped out of the boat, walked toward Jesus on water! Oswald Chambers comments:

The wind was boisterous, the waves high, but Peter did not see them at first. He did not reckon with them, he simply recognised his Lord, and stepped out in recognition of Him and walked on water. Then he began to reckon with the actual things, and down he went instantly. Why could not our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves as well as on the top of them? Neither could be done saving by recognition of the Lord Jesus

We step right out on God over some things, then self-consideration enters in and down we go. If you are recognising your Lord, you have no business with where He engineers your circumstances. The actual things are, but immediately you look at them you are overwhelmed, you cannot recognise Jesus, and the rebuke comes: Wherefore didst thou doubt?” Let actual circumstances be what they may, keep recognising Jesus, maintain complete reliance on Him

The theme throughout this study is we need to get our eyes on Jesus and keep them there! We cannot solve our problems ‘in the flesh’ (by our natural resources). We do not have sufficient resources to carry on the fight on our own. Enthusiasm is not to be confused with calling

As we move into Mark chapter 6 we see Jesus return to his boyhood home – Nazareth.

From what we glean from Psalm 69 Jesus’ childhood was far from easy! The townsfolk of Nazareth had made Jesus the object of their scorn; he had become the ‘song of the drunkards’. Maybe it was because Jesus was different? Maybe because he wouldn’t go along with the typical childhood schemes and plotting that may seem harmless enough to you and I, but would not and could not be found in the Son of God. Maybe it was because of the rumors that no-doubt still abounded about Jesus being born out of wed-lock? Whatever the reasons, Nazareth had been a cruel place to grow up.

But it had not got better as Jesus reached adulthood. Luke records for us that as the start of Jesus’ ministry, as He returned from the temptation in the wilderness, He entered into the synagogue in Nazareth one Sabbath day and stood up to read. In all probability, He would have been passed the scroll with the reading for that Sabbath day; but it ‘just so happened’ that on that particular day the reading was from the scroll of Isaiah, so Jesus read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”. Luke 4:18-21.

This was too much for them to take! This boy who had grown up in their town, working in his ‘dad’s’ carpenters shop, was daring to claim that He had been sent by God to deliver and heal – in a word, He was claiming to be their Messiah!

They did not stand for it and Luke records who they took Jesus up to the top of the steep hill overlooking the Jezreel Valley and tried to push Him off! Jesus simply walked through the midst of the crowd, as if untouchable – and headed up to Capernaum.

Well, now He was back, and once again taught in the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and once again the townsfolk of Nazareth were nonplussed! Sadly too many souls throughout the ages have missed their opportunity to embrace Jesus because of their preconceived ideas of how their ‘saviour’ will look or when he will appear. But Jesus comes to us on His terms, we have the choice to accept Him and fall at His feet, or to harden our hearts and what Him go.

“Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” Heb 4:7The stir that Jesus caused prompted some to think the prophecy in Malachi about Elijah returning had been fulfilled, others, that Moses had returned. Herod – probably from a deep sense of guilt after putting John the Baptist to death – feared that John had come back to life to haunt him!

We have already seen a number of miraculous healings that Mark recounts for us; the paralytic lowered into Peter’s house by his friends; the leaper that began the Pharisee’s inquisition of Jesus, the healing of the man with the withered hand in the synagogue. In this study we see Jesus cross the lake of Galilee to heal a man possessed by a legion of demonic spirits (en route He delivers the disciples from a supernatural storm they were terrified would overwhelm them). We then see Jesus return to Capernaum to the cry of help from a father whose daughter was on her deathbed; and then, while on the way to see Jairus’ daughter, a woman who had been suffering from internal bleeding for 12 years reaches out and touches the hem of His robe.

What’s the connection? What is the formula for these miraculous healings?

Whose faith was required? The Paralytic’s? His friends? The demon possessed man (who surely wasn’t in his right mind!)? The woman who stretched out her hand to touch Jesus? Was it Jairus’ faith? Or was it the faith of his by-now dead daughter?

It wasn’t any of these things; there wasn’t a ‘magic’ formula for healing. Some were healed on account fo their faith; others were healed despite their lack of faith.

The secret? In a word…. JESUS!

It is only looking to Jesus that brings healing. Only looking to Jesus can bring healing. Only looking to Jesus can bring salvation. Only looking to Jesus can bring restoration and undo all the years of hurt. But if we look unto Jesus we will be saved. If we look unto Jesus we will be delivered from all the power of the enemy. If we look unto Jesus we will be delivered from sin and sickness.

If your focus is on the healing, you will be disappointed. If your focus is on the deliverance you will be despondent. If your focus is on the restoration your will be disheartened.

But if your look unto Jesus, there will be peace and joy everlasting! (Isaiah 45:22 /Hebrews 12:2)

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are also available for free download from our web site, and the audio can be streamed or downloaded for future use.

In this study we see Jesus draw his biggest crowd yet, so He gets in a larger boat than last time and again teaches the people as they line the shore of Capernaum.

Possibly looking into the distance and seeing a farmer sowing some seed, Jesus uses the picture of a sower sowing as an object lesson to teach about the Kingdom of God, and more specifically, about the kingdom from Heaven. The kingdom of God is a broad title that encompasses all that is in God’s control – the universe, time, space and matter, the angelic realm, and of course all that happens on  earth. We are indebted to Matthew for helping us to distinguish between this general term ‘kingdom of God’ and the specific part of the kingdom of God concerning Christ’s rule and eventual reign on the earth ‘The kingdom ofHeaven’.

The kingdom of God cannot be seen, it transcends the natural. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you”. Luke 17:20-21

The kingdom from heaven can now be seen in and through Christ’s body on earth – the church. It will eventually be manifest through Christ’s millennial reign on the earth when He will rule and reign from Jerusalem for 1000 years.

As Jesus reveals His doctrine, He chooses to uses parables, so that the truths He is conveying can be understood by His own, but hidden from the spiritually blinded (See1 Cor 1:27).

Jesus highlights that the parable of the sower is a key to understanding all parables. The dividing line is always the Word!

The four soils speak of 4 different ‘heart conditions’ common to man. We each have a choice as to how we live and whether or not our hearts will be receptive to God’s Word. Hearing is not enough, we must receive it into our lives.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are also available for free download from our web site, and the audio can be streamed or downloaded for future use.

Have you ever been told you are overdoing it in your ministry serving the LORD? In this Chapter, Jesus faces exactly that kind of response from his earthly family. What people don’t account for as they assess how busy we are is the incredible grace of God that enables and sustains us. God will never call us to serve Him in a way that He will not provide sufficient grace to accomplish.

However, as Oswald Chambers points out: “If you get out of touch with God the sense of responsibility will be overwhelmingly crushing!”

In this study, we then asked the question:  What is the unforgivable sin? Are you or I in danger of committing it? How assured can we be of our Salvation?

The Jewish leaders, despite the miracles that were being done by Jesus, rejected that it was a work of God and attributed the power to Satan. Jesus exposes the logical fallacy of their argument and brings a solemn warning to all who reject the witness of the Holy Spirit.

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are also available for free download from our web site, and the audio can be streamed or downloaded for future use.

On Sunday we looked at the first 19 verses of Mark ch3. Here we see Jesus go head-to-head with the Pharisees for the 2nd time (the 1st time had been over the issue of His disciples picking and eating grain on the Sabbath in Ch 2). But this time Jesus gets angry! This is not the Sunday school picture of Jesus that so many think of!

Anger is not in itself sinful; we should be angry at wickedness, injustice, sin and its effects.

As the chapter begins, Jesus is still in Capernaum and heads to the Synagogue on the Sabbath to teach again (Luke 6:6). It was not uncommon to have a visiting teaching, but Jesus has been here for a number of weeks now, and we have already been told how the congregation were amazed at His teaching.

At the Synagogue there was a man with a withered hand. Jerome tells us the man had been a stonemason, so presumably, he had been involved in an accident at some time in the past, causing him to lose use the use of his right hand (Luke 6:6).

For the last three weeks (at least) this man had quietly sat at the back, maybe not sure if He could ask Jesus for healing, or if he should! He had no doubt seen Jesus heal many by this time, but must have felt that his ‘ self-inflicted’ problem was not worthy to trouble the Master about.

Jesus then calls him out and puts him on the spot.

This miracle teaches us a number of things:

Firstly, none of us are too insignificant for Jesus’ all-seeing gaze, and His compassion isn’t reserved for just the ‘really needy’. Jesus already knows your condition and situation; He wants you to know His blessing in your life. Many of us have withered hopes or dreams, often brought about by things we have done in the past. Jesus can heal the hurt, He can undo the damage life has done.

Secondly, religious authorities are more interested in position than people; more concerned that you are following their man-made creeds than that you are serving God.

Jesus then went on to choose His disciples and ordained them that they should bring forth fruit for God’s glory. None had amazing credentials, but they were willing to leave their nets, to stop collecting taxes, and follow after Jesus.

God does not choose you because you have some great ability He needs in His kingdom! He calls and ordains out of His great love. He then equips and gives us power over all the power of the enemy if we simply trust and believe in His name.

If you are a follower of Christ, you have been ordained by God! Let’s get to it; there’s a world that needs to hear the Gospel, and the time is running out!

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

The Powerpoint slides used in this study are also available for free download from our web site, and the audio can be streamed or downloaded for future use.

As we continue our study of Mark we see the crowds becoming more curious about this Rabbi from Nazareth. News of His ‘doing the impossible’ and healing a leper had spread far and wide. Furthermore, the leper (who we saw healed in the last chapter) would have had to go to Jerusalem to present the offering required by the Law (see Leviticus 14) which then resulted in ‘certain of the scribes’ making the trip up to Capernaum to see the ‘Miracle man’ – who some were daring to call the Messiah!

Such was Jesus fame in the local area that four friends decided to take their crippled friend to Jesus to see if He would heal him. When they arrive they cannot even get near the door, so they climb up on Peter’s roof and start taking the tiles off – no doubt making a mess and considerable noise.

Mark’s excitement at sharing these incredible events comes across as he just want’s to tell the world about Jesus!

We see yet more miracles and healings in this chapter; Chuck Missler comments:

“Israel had been promised immunity from disease if they would be obedient to the law of God (Ex 23:25). Every blind, deaf, crippled or diseased person among them was a witness to their failure in this respect (Deut 28:15-23). In healing the sick, Jesus was undoing the work of the devil (Acts 10:38). In doing so, He was YHWH’s servant (see Isa 35:4-6).

Every form of disease healed by our Lord seems to picture some aspect of sin:…a fever burning in the soul;…a leprosy polluting the whole being;…a palsy making one utterly unable to take a step toward God;…a withered hand incapable of true service.Whatever form sin may take, Jesus can give complete deliverance from it.”

May you be blessed and challenged by this study.

In this session we look at:

• The calling of the disciples

–Peter, Andrew, James & John

• Teaching at Capernaum
• Deliverance of the demoniac

–He came to break the power of the devil 1 John 3:8

• Healing of Peter’s mother-in-law

–He came to strengthen the week Romans 5:6

• Healing of the multitude

–He came to the whosoever

• Healing of the Leper

–He came to conquer sin in the flesh Romans 8:3

May this study bless and encourage you as you undertake your own study of God’s Word.

The PDF study notes and audio are available for free download.

This week we started a new verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Mark.

Mark’s gospel is a fast-paced apologetic (defense of the faith), written in the main for a gentile audience.

Mark was converted as you man, probably still in his teenage years, and built a strong friendship with the Apostle Peter, whom it seems was the one who brought him to faith in Jesus Christ. Mark was captivated by the man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and quizzed Peter extensively about what it had been like to walk with Jesus for 3 1/2 years. In his gospel, Mark records Peter’s first-hand eyewitness account, barely stopping to take a breath in his excitement and fascination of who Jesus was and what it had been like to have been called to follow Him!

May you be encouraged and strengthened by this study.

Throughout the New Testament, we are continually presented with the idea that the church is like a body. If one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body suffers with it. If one part rejoices, the rest of the body rejoices with it (1 Cor 12:26). Furthermore, the church is pictured as Christ’s body; He is the head, and we, although many members with different functions, all go to make up the rest of the body. All that we do (or should do) should be to edify each other and glorify our Head (see Ephesians 4:11-16).

In this study we consider what the Bible means when it says we should submit to each other (Eph 5:21), and ask how we can practically love and support each other for the good of the overall body?

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.

Every blessing,

Pastor Barry

In this session, we look at the account of Achan in Joshua 7 and consider the danger and potential impact on a fellowship of believers if someone ‘in the camp’ is living in a state of unconfessed sin.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:26 that “whether one member suffer, all the members suffer withit; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it”; and in 1 Corinthians 10: 17Paul said: “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread”.Clearly, there is an impact on a body when one part of it is not right; and as with the case of Achan, we must never presume we can ‘get away’ with sin, that if no one else sees, it doesn’t matter.

God is not mocked and cannot just ignore or overlook sin, but instead calls us to repentance and restoration.

May you be challenged and encouraged to walk Godly in Christ Jesus by this study,

Every blessing,

Pastor Barry.

Jeff taught on Romans 12:1-2, on how we should be transformed (metamorphosised) by the renewing of our minds so that we can know the blessings and peace that come from a sound mind and a heart that is committed to Christ.

For more about Jeff and the ministry, visit http://www.tikvaheurope.com/Our-Story

May you be challenged and encouraged by this teaching.

In this study of 1 Samuel 27 and 30 Ilir Begaj highlights how David, the man after God’s own heart succumbed to the counsel of his own heart rather than seeking God’s will. David subsequently ended up living in the land of the enemy (the Philistines). Fleshly choices can lead us astray but as David “strengthened himself in the Lord His God” we see how God restored everything which the enemy had stolen.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this study, we look at chapter 4-5 when Jeremiah continues to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem.  In chapter 5 Jeremiah gets to the crux of the problem when he cries out “woe unto us, that we have sinned”

Sin is the root of all Israel’s problems – and the same is  true for us. We must’t give sin a foothold.

Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay.

Jeremiah and Jerusalem found this to be true but at a great cost. We do well to heed the lessons this book teaches us.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this study, we look at chapter 2 when Jeremiah continues to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem, and then in chapter 3 we see Jeremiah despairing of the human condition – sin, and coming to the end of any confidence in the natural man. It is then he lifts his head and sets his mind on the greatness, mercy and compassion of God, and declares, “Great is his faithfulness!”

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

At the close of this study, we briefly look at the panorama of history, from the wonder of God’s original creation to the time when God’s walk with man will be restored inRevelation 21-22.

All that we have seen, as we have journeyed through this book, has been the introduction to God’s amazing plan of Salvation that came from the heart of God before time began.

This book begins in Divine glory, as the Godhead create the heavens and the earth, but ends in a coffin in Egypt – the result of sin and the curse.

The important lesson we learn from this chapter is that we, like Jacob and Joseph are just sojourning in a strange land. Egypt was not their home and they knew that one day God would deliver them and taken them back to their land. We too, are just sojourning here. This world is not our home, our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20).

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior And I will hold on with all my might I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting And hold on to Jesus, I will hold on to Jesus for life

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this study, we look at the prophecy and final blessings Jacob pronounces over his sons before his death.

It is important to note that the blessings pronounced on them are dependant on how they have lived their lives. Judah, for example, defiled his father by sleeping with Bilhah – Rachel’s handmaid and Jacob’s third wife. As a result, he lost out on the blessings of inheritance that should have gone to the firstborn.

For Christians also, we will have a day when we will stand before the Bema Seat of Christ (see 2 Cor 5: 10) and be rewarded depending on how we have lived as Christians (See also 1 Cor 3:11-15). This has nothing to do with our salvation, but everything to do with our eternal rewards and the positions we will be given in Christ’s millennial kingdom.

Do we live for the temporary pleasures of this world? Or are we putting our treasures in heaven, looking for what will be in the ages to come?

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

These chapters see Jacob move the family down to Egypt to escape the famine in the land of Canaan. It had been in a time of famine that Abraham had gone down to Egypt many years before – a move that ended up costing him dearly. God had specifically warned Isaac not to go down to Egypt, so it is no surprise to find Jacob somewhat apprehensive at the prospect of leaving the land he had been promised. However, God assures Jacob that He will be with him and that in Egypt his family will become a nation.

God sometimes allows us to go through situations that seem a million miles away from His promises for us, but God is always faithful and knows the plans He has for us, to bless us and prosper us if we walk in obedience with Him. Faith is trusting God in the trying circumstances, holding on to His promise that all things work together for good for those who love Him.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

As we head off into another year, I feel our theme this year is “he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy”. (Leviticus 21:8)

These words were spoken regarding the Levites who had been called out from the nation of Israel to serve the Lord. They were to be holy and set apart for God’s pleasure.

Over the Christmas break I read a sermon by Spurgeon teaching on 1 Peter 2:7 “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious”. Spurgeon laid the challenge, is He precious to us? So precious that we gladly forsake everything else? On Sunday we looked as Psalm 37 and saw that it is God’s desire that we be righteous – set apart. Three times in the study we saw the admonition ‘Fret not!’. Worry is poison to the spiritual life. When unmasked, fretting is simply a declaration that we don’t trust God with our circumstances. Even if things really were as bad as our worrying would like us to believe, God is still on the throne! He still loves us more than we can know; He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. God is a good, good Father, and has promised in His word that all things do work together for good for those who love Him. One of the greatest commands in Psalm 37 is in verse 7: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him”. In the natural this is hard. We must be walking in the Spirit daily; we need to be in the Word (or we simply default to being in the world!).

I believe that, this year, God wants us to simply be set apart for Him. To be holy just because He is holy. To spend time just enjoying our God, to delight ourselves in Him.

God has made you a promise: If you 1) trust in Him, 2) delight yourself in Him, & 3) commit your way to Him, He will do the rest! He will give you the peace, rest & righteousness we inwardly crave (but naturally cannot obtain).

May God bless you through 2018. This might be the year He comes for us! Let’s make sure we are dressed for our wedding day!

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

Do the details really matter?

Consider the following from the business world:

• What is your tolerance for being off course?  Are you ok with a one degree mistake?  At first glance, it may seem like “no big deal,” but once you start to see the full possible impact of such an error, you’ll probably agree with me that even a one degree mistake is unacceptable.
• For every degree you fly off course, you will miss your target by 92 feet for every mile that you fly.
• For every 60 miles you fly, you will miss your target by one mile.
• Flying around the equator will land you almost 500 miles off target.

What about a surgeon? Do (or should) the details matter to them? Would you want to be operated on by someone who didn’t think the details mattered? Would you be comfortable, just before the anesthetic kicked in, if you heard the surgeon say “I’m not going to follow the procedure to the letter, I think other medical professionals who insist on attention to detail are just too dogmatic!”

Or consider an airplane pilot; would you want to fly on a plane with a pilot that didn’t want to follow the flight plan to the letter? “One way’s as good as another – right?”

Of course, you all recognise the absurdity of the above. In every walk of life we know the importance of sticking to the rules, following the instructions (have you ever tried to build flat-packed furniture and thought you knew better than the instructions??!!).

Details do matter, and it is no different when we turn our thoughts to the Bible. It is not multiple choice! It is not ‘open to interpretation’, you cannot just make it say what you want to say to fit your particular view point.

It is amazing, therefore, when we come to the ‘Christmas story’, that we find the Bible has been largely put to one side and Tradition has now become our teacher! We are told of 3 kings (we are even given their names!), a star over a stable, a donkey, ‘oxen gathered around’, an inn-keeper and more – none of which are found in the Bible!

The Devil tried so very hard to prevent the 1st Christmas. He failed. But he has gone to extraordinary lengths ever since to obfuscate what really happened.

Spurgeon once said: discernment is not telling right from wrong. It’s telling right from almost right!

Hopefully, our Christmas nativity play in 2017 (and this teaching) go some way to addressing the problem that tradition has caused and unveil the real truth of the Lamb that was born that night in Bethlehem.

Why did the angels appear to shepherds? …and why those shepherds in particular? What was so important about them? Why didn’t the shepherds need directions – they were only given two signs, from which they knew exactly where to find Jesus!

And why Bethlehem?

The events that led to this Jewish celebration were recorded in advance in the book of Daniel,  hundreds of years before 167 B.C. when the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the Jewish Temple, leading to the Maccabean revolt, and the miracles commemorated by this feast.

It is worth pointing out that there are a staggering 135 fulfilled prophecies from Daniel 11:2-35. Bible critics hate Daniel chapter 11 because it offers irrefutable proof that the Bible is the Word of God; for no man could accurately predict, with such detailed precision, the rise and fall of world empires, the political manipulating and deception of successive kingdoms, and the battles that would be fought. We need to remind ourselves, that all of this was recorded hundreds of years before the prophesied events actually took place.

The Apostle Peter talks about the ‘more sure word of prophecy’ that we can depend upon, far more so than any emotion or feeling. Throughout scripture, prophecy confirms the Word and shows it to be true. Sceptics will continue to doubt these things, yet with each archaeological discovery, they are forced to withdraw their theories and accusations as the evidence continues to mount in support of the Word of God. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Read more at https://www.calvaryportsmouth.co.uk/sermons/the-feast-of-chanukah/

In this study, we look at the faithfulness of Joseph when faced with temptation, and consider what a great witness Joseph was in the workplace! Joseph’s obedience serves as a great role model for us all.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In the previous, session we noted how Satan had engineered a genetic problem with the potential to wipe out humanity (as recorded in Genesis ch6). Satan’s intention was to stop the Seed of the Woman (the Messiah) from being born, thus condemning mankind to an eternity separated from God. It was this that led to the Flood as God cleansed the world from this evil menace. However after the flood, Satan tried again (Gen 6:4), this time focussing on the land of Canaan – the very land that God had promised to Abraham as his permanent possession. It was because of this that God had called Abraham and his descendants to remain completely separate from the people inhabiting Canaan.

However, in Genesis 38 we see Judah, as a young 20 yr old, falling for that same old lie… “has God really said?”. “Does it really matter?” “Is it really that important?”. Judah then goes and takes a Canaanite wife and has three sons with her.

How many people – even Christians – fall for the same lie continually?

YES IT DOES MATTER! The details ARE important. You cannot pick and chose which parts of God’s WORD you take! You are fallible, God is not. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than yours! You do not know enough about the eternal consequences of your actions to simply ignore even the smallest detail in God’s Word!

But because God is a God of grace, He steps into the situation and Judah’s ‘corrupted’ offspring are taken out of the way.

Judah (inadvertently) then ends up having a child with his daughter-in-law, also a descendant of Shem (of the same uncorrupted family line that came down to Abraham).

Their son, Pharez, although born out of wedlock, becomes the subject of a remarkable prophecy found in the book of Ruth, which points to David as God’s choice as king of Israel, and as we know, it will later be one of David’s descendants who will not only sit on his throne, but wil be the Messiah and Saviour of the World!

…and to think, all of this hinges on the events of Genesis 38!

Just as Isaiah records:  “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him”. (Isaiah 59:19)

Critics of the Old Testament will often point to the ‘genocide’ (as they see it) that God apparently condones. Chapter 36 of Genesis serves as a reminder that God’s blessings come, not from embracing and intermarrying with the world and its systems, but by remaining separate from them! Unlike his brother Jacob, Esau didn’t see the need to remain ‘set-apart’, he didn’t see the danger – at least at first! He happily takes two Canaanite wives (which were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebecca – Gen 26:35), and a third wife, the daughter of Ishmael.

But chapter 36 focuses on Esau’s children, and the families he (and his sons) had married in to.

The inhabitants of Mt Seir (aka Edom) were not your average neighbours! They were the descendants of the Nephilim that we read about in Genesis 6:

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown”. (Gen 6:1-4).

What the critics (and sadly many Christians) simply don’t get is that there was a genetic problem with the potential to wipe out humanity, and at the very least, stop the Seed of the Woman from being born (that, of course, was Satan’s real intention in all of this!). This is the reason our God, who is a God of Love, sent  the flood; and this is the reason Israel destroyed these giant tribes in Canaan, and after what must have been a brief honeymoon period, Esau set about destroying the very people he had unwittingly married into, by now, surely beginning to realise the danger they posed!

Deuteronomy chapter 2 states: “The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, andmany, and tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them”. (Deut 2:10-12).

In Genesis 34 we are given the sad account of Jacob’s daughter Dinah’s flirtation with the world. It started off as simple curiosity, maybe with so many brothers in the house, Dinah wanted some female company for a change! But when we are not content with our circumstances, when we think the lot we have been given isn’t enough, or that it won’t satisfy, we leave ourselves open to temptation.

The tribe of Dan in the book of Judges were not content with the land – the boundaries God had set for them. Instead, they took a piece of land right at the top of Israel, but because of this they fell into idolatry through the influence of the surrounding nations. When we're not content with the boundaries God sets for us, it will inevitably lead to compromise and idolatry.

We see in Psalm 1, Dinah started off by just ‘walking’ past, then find’s herself ‘standing’ and observing. Soon she is found ‘sitting in the seat of the scornful’. That is not to say for a moment she deserved what happened, Shechem’s treatment of her was despicable! But if she had just realised – as so many young people need to know today – that the bright lights of the city do not bring the love and acceptance people crave. There will be a city, one day, whose Bright light we will be drawn to – when Christ is The Light in the New Jerusalem – but until then we need to understand that ‘all our fresh springs are in Christ’. All that we are looking for and longing for is found only in Christ. Never in this world.

Dinah ends up staying in Shechem, as many do, mistaking lust for love.

Jacob could have acted, he didn’t. There are important parenting lessons to be gleaned here! But that is not the end of the story:

“Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.” (Gen 35:2-4)

We may have failed, we may have not done what we should, we might have been a little too attracted to the world, but the LORD is gracious, and if we are willing to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6), if we are willing to confess our sin (1 John1:8-9) – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) – we can pack up, bury our false gods at the foot of Calvary’s Tree, and make the short journey to Bethel – the House of God.

In 2 Corinthians 5:7 Paul reminds us that, as believers, we should walk by faith, not by sight.

If we walk by sight we begin to reckon with the actual problems of life as we perceive them. The enormity of the challenges facing us can be overwhelming and we can even start to blame God for allowing the circumstances in the first place. Most of the world exists on this level, and life spirals down into just trying to make it through the day.

For the Christian however, we are told that we are citizens of Heaven and that we are seated –above the storm – in the heavenly places with Christ.

Have you ever been on an aeroplane? There may be a storm or dark clouds on the ground, but when you soar up above the clouds, the Sun is still shining and the world seems so very different! That should be the experience of each believer.

In Genesis 32-33 we see a great lesson in the simplicity of trusting God and walking by faith in stark contrast to the emotional turmoil we put ourselves in when recon on things without God.

Jacob had left Laban and there was now no way back. The line had been drawn and that chapter of Jacob’s life was most definitely at an end!

But he was afraid to go forward, despite God’s promises and assurances, because he now faced the wrath of his brother Esau whom he had not seen for 20 years. His mum, Rebekka, had promised to send word when Esau’s wrath had abated, but no word had come.

Jacob sought for a way to buy grace, but nothing could seemingly take away the deep fear and apprehension he felt!

But God had already given Jacob the assurance he needed, and reminded him that there is an unseen world around us, ordained of God to care for us. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14)

When Jacob finally met Esau there was no wrath, just tears of reconciliation. God had gone ahead of Jacob and softened Esau’s heart. All of the stress Jacob had brought upon himself and his family was proven to be unwarranted.

In Genesis 31 we see Jacob begin his journey back to the promised land after 20 years with Laban. The catalyst was the attitude of Laban’s sons who were starting to blame Jacob for stealing from their father Laban. The problem wasn’t that Jacob stole; it was that Laban’s sons were filled with envy. Envy will distort the truth. Jacob had not taken anything of Laban’s, but it seems from the text that Laban also started to believe this lie, and Jacob quickly realised he had outstayed his welcome in Haran!

It would have been easy to panic or blame God in a situation like this, where everything seemed against him, but Jacob goes to God who confirms that He was in this situation. It was now time for Jacob to go back to the land of promise. God had prepared him for this time. First, God gave him the desire to go back home, then the circumstances became unbearable, and finally, the Lord gave personal direction to Jacob. God leads each of us in ways that, at the time, might seem haphazard, but we later look back and realise that God had been engineering the circumstances all the time.

Oswald Chambers says: “It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances. We take such liberties with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, although we say we do; we treat the things that happen as if they were engineered by men. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, and that is to our Lord. Suddenly God breaks up a particular set of circumstances, and the realisation comes that we have been disloyal to Him by not recognising that He had organised them… If we learn to worship God in the trying circumstances, He will alter them in two seconds when He chooses.”

Jacob’s first challenge would be to convince his wives! Whenever we step out in faith it is good to be surrounded by people who are like-minded and share our vision. Both Rachel and Leah are easily persuaded, although this is largely due to the feeling they weren’t going to get anything from their father in terms of inheritance. As an aside Donald Barnhouse comments: “Rachel and Leah were wrong to look to their father Laban for their portion or inheritance once they were married to Jacob. He now was their portion and inheritance. “Since you are saved and joined to Christ, appraise the world and ask, ‘Is there yet any portion for me?’ If you think there is, you are mistaken.”

Jacob leaves – unannounced. Laban discovers and pursues after Jacob but once again God intervenes and warns Laban not to harm Jacob. Jacob had been an ‘unconscious witness’ to Laban who eventually suggests a covenant between them appealing to “The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father”.

However the world treats us, we should seek to be a witness in every part of our lives, that they might see beyond us to our God.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this study, we see the birth of the children of Jacob and discover how their names tell the history of the nation in advance!

We also see both Rachel and Leah desperate to satisfy a desire. For Rachel, it was the desire to have children; for Leah, it was the desire to be loved by Jacob. Both thought if they could just get that which they desired, everything would be alright. In reality, only God Himself can satisfy. We can search for happiness and satisfaction from many things – a relationship, career, material possessions, family – but ultimately all will disappoint and leave you empty, bitter, resentful or maybe all of these and more.

We have been created to have a relationship with our Creator, it began in Genesis 1 and concludes with God and man walking in harmony in Revelation 21:3. Everything in between reveals how God has gone to unfathomable lengths to make it possible.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

Ilir grew up in a Muslim family in Kosovo but came to know the love of Jesus for himself. In this study, Ilir shows from scripture the danger of impatiently seeking what we think we want right now, rather than patiently waiting for God’s best.

Ilir also highlighted the lure to be like the world when we should instead recognise we are not of this world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”. (1 John 2:15-16)

May you be blessed, challenged and encouraged by this teaching.

The second ‘departing’ is a spiritual departing as Esau tries to impress Isaac and Rebecca by ‘doing that which seemed right in his own eyes’. There are many, even within churches who have the appearance of godliness; they seem to be doing right as you look from the outside, but inwardly their heart is hard to the things of God and, like Esau, they are only seeking the blessings, the ways that their lives will be enhanced. To them, God is more of a Mastercard than a Master!

En route to Uncle Laban (450 miles away in Padan-aram), and after just (approx.) two days of his journey, Jacob lays down to rest in the remains of the town that was once called Luz. He finds a suitable stone to use as a pillow and beds down for the night – all alone, and no doubt apprehensive at what his future might now hold.

But then, in the depth of night, Jacob has a dream that was so real and vivid it would change his life forever. Up to now, others had been pulling the strings in his life, that was all about to change!

From John 1:45-51 we understand that Jacob comes face to face with Jesus. Jesus is the one taking hold of heaven on one hand and reaching down to fallen humanity on earth with the other. He is the mediator between God and man. It is significant that God the Son reiterates the promises given to Abraham & Isaac, and now them to Jacob personally. Significant, because the promises have to do with the Land of Israel and the descendants of Abraham – through whom the whole earth will be blessed. Jesus is the descendant of Abraham through whom those blessing will come, and He is the one who will ultimately rule over the Land of Israel during His Millennial reign! Jacob is here being given the keys just for a while!

When He awakes, Jacob does what we so often do! He wants to mark the place and names it Bethel “The House of God” – as if the place itself had any significance! Jacob will later return to this place, but it will never live up to his expectations. Of course, it couldn’t, for it was never about Bethel, but about the God Jacob met there. It is the same God who promises to never leave us or forsake us!

For us today, it is our hearts that have become Bethel. The living God has chosen to dwell in each one who has placed their trust in Jesus.

 “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word”  (Isaiah 66:1-2).

“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him”. (John 14:23)

When Jacob arrives in Padan-aram he ‘happens’ to ‘bump into’ Rachel! What a coincidence! (Ed. A  coincidence is when God chooses to work anonymously!)

Over the next 14 years Jacob will end with two wives and two concubines and in so doing learn some lessons about the right (and responsibility) of the first-born – a role he himself has assumed without considering all it might entail.

In Genesis 26, we see Isaac come to a moment of decision brought about by a famine in the land. God specifically tells Isaac not to go to Egypt, so in obedience, he stays in the land and moves to Gerar, the area inhabited by the Philistines.

Famines always bring us to a point of decision (cf the Prodigal Son. Luke 15:11-32), whether it be a famine of food or another type of ‘famine’ in our lives. Often God will engineer circumstances to cause us to step out on faith and trust. Chuck Missler said: “We can’t conceive of a holy God wanting anything less than His very best for His children, and the very best He can give us is a holy character”. This is why God will allow ‘famines’ in our lives, in order that (as with the prodigal son) we might turn to seek our Father.

As we noted in our study, there was a custom in Mesopotamia to make a wife a ‘legal’ sister. This came to light with the discovery of the Nuzi tablets in 1925-33 in Northern Iraq. Abraham ‘applied’ this in Gen 12:13 / 20:2, and Isaac now seemingly follows suit. By doing so the wife was elevated to joint-heir with her husband. In this see a wonderful model as this is what Christ has done with his wife (the Church), for we have been made ‘joint heirs’!

We also saw how Isaac (just as Abraham had done) strived with the Philistines trying to dig wells to find water.

What a difference the Cross has made!

We no longer have to strive for that life-giving-water. It is freely available in Christ for anyone who comes!

As we saw God do for Isaac, may God richly bless you as you walk in obedience by grace through faith!

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

Please note that due to a technical fault, only a portion of the audio recording is available. Powerpoint notes have been uploaded as usual.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

Genesis 22 is one of those incredible ‘stand-out’ chapters in the Bible. On the surface we have the account of Abraham being asked by God to go and offer up his ‘only’ son as a burnt offering. Under the surface though, we have a model laid down some two thousand years in advance of the greatest event in human history, when another Father willingly offered up His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life!

This model becomes even more remarkable when we realise that the place that Abraham was told to offer up Isaac (on top of Mount Moriah), was later to be known as Golgotha, the very spot where Jesus was to be crucified. Abraham renamed the place:  “Jehovah-jireh”which means, “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen” (Gen 22:14). Thus it would seem that on this occasion Abraham actually realised he was acting out prophecy, anticipating what was to come.

This is confirmed in Hebrews 11:17-19: “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son; of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”

From the account in Genesis 22, we know that an innocent ram was eventually sacrificed in the place of Isaac, and again in this we see a model in anticipation of Jesus who, like that innocent ram, was sacrificed in our place so that like Isaac, we too could go free.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

After the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah (which Abraham would have observed at a distance), Abraham ups and goes to the land of the Philistines, and spends a year or more with Abimelech. Once again, Abraham omits to mention Sarah is his wife, for fear he might be killed because of her beauty. Proverbs 29: 25 tells us that fear of man brings a snare!

Seemingly, despite the promises and assurances God had given him, to bless and prosper him (“I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee” – Genesis 12:2-3) – Abraham had become more focussed on the current circumstances and allowed them to take his eyes of his Lord. We do the same! What makes God’s promises so ‘exceedingly great and precious’ is that it's God who gives them. But if we forget, if we allow the ‘present sufferings’ to cloud our minds, we don't have the peace that comes from knowing the glory that shall be revealed in us (seeRomans 8:18).

It wasn’t wrong to say Sarah was his sister, but it's wrong to hide the fact that she is his wife! Abraham had allowed the ‘covering’ that he should have been for his wife to be removed. Something he shouldn't have done.

Dr Bill Cooper points out in ‘The Authenticity of Genesis’, the discovery of the Nuzi tablets have shed some interesting insight on the actions of Abraham in the chapter. There existed at this time a law whereby a woman could be made both a sister and a wife – thereby elevating her status. As Bill Cooper states: “such legal transactions were a newly-established feature of the law which governed much of Mesopotamia where Abraham and his forebears came from. This is why the pharaoh was flummoxed by it, as Egypt knew no such provision; and so was Abimelech or Gerar, a Philistine king. Thier puzzlement was doubtless due to the comparative novelty of the sister-wife law at that time, again attesting to the antiquity of these events. But it also explains why Abraham was sent away from both kings loaded with gifts. Abraham, no doubt, was able to demonstrate his lawful integrity by the presentation of the contracts under which Sarah had become first his sister, and then his wife, even as Isaac would have been able to do at a later date. Kings who discover that they been duped by a rascal, do not usually send him away the richer for his lies. He’d be lucky to escape with his life!”

What is the real point?

Abraham’s time with Abimelech ended up serving an object lesson for Abraham and Sarah. The result of Abraham’s omission that Sarah is his wife led to Abimelech taking Sarah into his harem. The result being God closed up the wombs of Abimelech’s wife, his maidservants and of the other women ‘in his house’. When everything came to light – probably after three months of Abraham being there – God told Abraham to pray for Abimelech and God opened their wombs that they conceived.

The lesson is simple but profound: God can open closed wombs! God promised to do his part for Abraham and Sarah and bless them with a son, but they needed to do their part! Surely it's no coincidence that after this demonstration of God’s miracle working power that Sarah conceived, and 9 months later gave birth to Isaac! Sometimes God uses circumstances around us to get our attention back on to Him, and remind us He is able!

The principle of dedicating ‘things’ to God runs throughout the whole Bible. It is not specific to children, although there are indeed examples of this. Right from the first few pages of the book of Genesis we read of people offering things to God. Able offered his ‘sacrifice’ and God ‘respected Able and his offering’ (Gen 4:4). King David of Israel summed it up with the following words:

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;…….. ………For all things come from You and of Your own we have given You” (1 Chron 29:11-14).

When it comes to children there are various examples of them being dedicated. The most well known is the example of Hannah and Samuel found in the book of 1 Samuel. Hannah was barren (unable to have children) but once a year she visited the temple of the Lord in Shiloh with her family. On one such occasion, she prayed and wept before the Lord that she may be granted a child. God heard her prayer and she conceived and in due course she gave birth to a boy and named him Samuel. She was so grateful to God that, in accordance with the prayer she had prayed, took Samuel back to the temple after he had been ‘weaned’ and offered him to God ‘all the days of his life’ (1 Sam 1:11).

The account of Samson found in the book of Judges (Chapter 13-16) is another example very similar to the above. A lady called Zorah was also barren. This time an Angel appeared and told her that she was to have a baby boy but that he should be ‘dedicated’ to the Lord.

We read in the book of Leviticus (chapter 3:12-13) that God required all of the tribe of Levi to be dedicated to Him – ‘to do the work of the tabernacle’ (vs 8).

Countless items were also dedicated to the Lord for the tabernacle – See Numbers 7, and for the Temple (see 1 Chronicles 26).

So basically, anything of value, or that which was to be ‘separated’ for God, was dedicated to Him.

It is from this principle then that Christian parents for centuries have wanted to dedicate their children to God. Firstly as a ‘thank you’ (‘all things come from God’), and secondly with the prayer that God will watch over the child and bring the child to a point where he or she is able, and willing, to make their own personal commitment to Jesus.

It is the desire of Christian parents to see their children grow up to love and know God as they themselves do, and also to see their children serve God as was the case for Hannah with Samuel and Zorah with Samson.

A ‘service of dedication’ is simply a public statement of the above in regard to a child’s life. The Christian parents of a child publicly commit their child into God’s safe keeping, knowing that He will answer their prayer and also give them peace.

In Genesis 18, we find Abraham sitting in the doorway of his tent, minding his own business, seemingly not thinking about anything in particular, when he looks up and sees three ‘men’ in the distance coming toward him. We’re not told what Abraham saw, but he very soon realised that these were not ordinary sojourners, for at the age of 99 he immediately gets up, runs toward them, then falls down and worships them!

In our study we see that these three ‘men’ were actually God Himself accompanied by two angels.

For 25 years Abraham had been looking – and it’s fair to say, longing for – the fulfilment of God’s promise that he would have a son.

Now, after all of Abraham’s striving, when he has given up on his own ability to fulfil God’s plan for him, God comes to him when he is resting and gives him this overwhelming news: “By this time next year, you and Sarah will have a son!”

“Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace”

God then reveals to Abraham what He is going to do regarding Sodom & Gomorrah.

What follows is a practical and powerful lesson in intercessory prayer. Abraham appeals to God on the basis of God’s character, because He is Just and Faithful. Abraham comes humbly before God, appeals for God’s mercy, and believes by faith.

As a fellowship the LORD has laid on our hearts the need and desire to pray for our unsaved loved ones and friends. Just as Abraham, God  has visited us in person (through Jesus) and allowed us the opportunity to pray for those we know who are currently dwelling in the world facing God’s judgment – their eyes being blinded to the truth of the Gospel.

“It came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham“(Gen 19:29) – that is, God remembered Abraham’s petition.

God will remember you petition to if you come to Him “believing that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this session, we continue to look at the life and walk of Abraham, and consider some of the trials he experienced. As with us, so many of the problems Abraham wrestled with were of his own making, because he acted independently of God’s will for his life. In short, he walked by sight on a number of occasions and not by faith. In chapter 17 God will call Abraham to ‘be perfect’ – that is, not without sin, but perfect in his intentions, in his desire to seek and serve God above all else – including his own natural inclinations!

In this session, we look at the unconditional covenant that God makes with Abraham. God promised him the Land of Canaan to be a possession for his descendants. This has been one of the most contested ‘land-grants’ in history. Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Catholic Church, the UN and EU have all tried to claim ownership of this relatively small and insignificant piece of real estate. There is no oil to speak of, no natural resources, no real reason for the ownership of this land to be so hotly contested – yet it is!

Stephen R. Haynes, in his book “Reluctant Witnesses”, stated, “The survival of the Jewish people is the greatest proof of the existence of Almighty God. If there were no God in Heaven, there would not be one Jewish person on the earth”. Yet, despite the endless persecutions and threats of annihilation, despite being dispersed around the world for the best part of 1900 years, Israel are today a nation in the land promised to Abraham. The governments of the world can say and do what they will, God’s promises are sure and His covenants are immutable.

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

In this session, we look at the walk of Abraham and his growing in knowledge and grace, from the first altar he built to the Lord at Shechem, to the place of ultimate sacrifice.

Abram continued his journey away from the things of this world and to the place of fellowship with God. This is what God wants for us all.

In Chapter 14 we see the LORD use pagan kings to start to cleanse the promised land from the ‘giant’ problem that existed in Canaan – the result of Satan’s plan to stop the Seed of the woman (the Messiah) being born. We also see in type how the ‘king from below’ tried to offer Abram worldly goods in exchange for the souls of the people – nothing changes!

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) that outline the key points of this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!

This teaching by pastor Barry was given as part of our family service on 7th May 2017.

This is the fourth and final part of a 4-part study looking at Passion Week (the name we give to the last week Jesus spent with His disciples leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection).

In this final session we looked at ‘The Power of the Resurrection’.

Commenting on these words of the Apostle Paul’s (from Philippians 3:10), Albert Barns stated:

• “That is, that I may understand and experience the proper influence which the fact of his resurrection should have on the mind… There is no one truth that will have greater power over us, when properly believed, than the truth that Christ has risen from the dead”.

Once we realise the Resurrection is a real historical event it will forever change us. To know, as the disciples did, that Jesus Christ came back to life, defeating the power of death, and that in His resurrection there is the assurance of our salvation from sin, we cannot live life the same. This is the most incredible historical event ever!

We have been called to be witnesses, not to a creed, but to a person, Jesus Christ, and to declare the good news that man’s greatest enemy is now defeated – death no longer has a hold over us. “As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive!” (see Romans 5).

You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for listening to later.  We have also made available the Powerpoint slides (in PDF format) used for this study.

We hope and pray this teaching will bless you and encourage you to undertake your own personal study and adventure in God’s Word!