Bethesda Shalom

Part 10 - The Ordinance of Baptism In this tenth teaching part, we delve into the subject matter of water baptism and in so doing discover that baptism has its roots entrenched in the Old Testament. Water has always been viewed in Judaism as a ceremonial means of cleansing and purifying. When God appeared to the children of Israel on Mt. Sinai for instance, Moses was instructed to “sanctify them” and they were instructed to “wash their clothes” (Ex. 19:10). Before entering into the holy place to minister before the Lord on the Day of Atonement, Aaron was to put on his white priestly linen garments. Yet, before he could put on these holy garments he was first commanded to “wash his flesh in water, and so put them on” (Lv. 16:4). Ritual washing was also required by Law for women following menstruation or childbirth and for men, following a discharge (Lev. 15). It is against this historical backdrop that John the Baptist comes onto the scene baptising men and women in the river Jordan for the remission of sins.

Part 9 - The Lord’s Supper An Ordinance properly defined in a Christian context, is a religious ritual i.e. a ceremony or sacred observance. For the Bible believing Christian, there are only two Ordinances which concern us, namely that of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) and Baptism. On the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion, He desired one last time to eat the Passover meal with His disciples. It was at this feast that Jesus instituted what we know and celebrate as the Lord’s Supper; a memorial meal for the purpose of remembering of the events that were to take place on the morrow, namely His crucifixion in which the New Covenant would be established by the shedding of His precious blood. In this teaching part, we explore the meaning of Communion and try to bring clarity surrounding some of the misconceptions held by believers regarding this Holy Ordinance. We particularly focus on the administration of the Lord’s Supper, since it is at this point where many Bible believing Christians part company in their differing cus

Ephesians 4:1-6 Inextricably linked; tied with an inseparable cord is the commandment to Christian love and the exhortation to Christian unity.  Try any which way you will to separate these two giants and for all your strivings your efforts shall prove in vain, for one cannot maintain the unity of the faith without love and without the unity to which Christ hath joined us to His spiritual body via the new birth, the commandment to love would be impossible!! This sermon is an exhortation to practical unity!!  To simply dote upon the theological truths relating to our spiritual union in Christ and by virtue of this our union with His spiritual body is pie in the sky unless we are going to make a purposeful effort on our behalf to strive to ensure that this spiritual unity is brought into the realm of practical experience “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). This sermon was shared at the CMFI 2017 conference   

Having spent the last two teaching sessions surveying two great pillars of what is termed Soteriology (the study of salvation), we come in this eighth teaching part to survey the third and final pillar, namely the doctrine of sanctification. If the doctrine of sin lays the foundation upon which doctrine of the atonement rests, the doctrine of sanctification takes its necessary place in the grand order of things in being the last to be laid. That it is last to be laid is no reflection upon its importance, for all three are of equal importance and if one was to fall they would all fall! Many today would make much of the first two pillars as though the work of salvation is complete without need of the third. However, as we shall see the doctrine of sanctification is of the utmost importance for without it Christianity is confined to the dust of death, without life and without power. In short, it is the heart of God to redeem a holy people set apart unto Himself that as He is holy so we might be also! He has acco

Matthew 12:9-14 There are some that appear in the eyes of many to be a most religious bunch whilst hidden beneath the thin veneer of their religion lies the darkness of evil! Dead religion has always provided the platform for the most wicked of crimes and the cloak under which men might veil their evils in hypocrisy and deceit. For example of this, we need to look no further than the Scribes and Pharisees!! It wasn’t the publicans who plotted His execution nor was it the prostitutes who handed Him over to be crucified, rather it was those belonging to the religious establishment of the day who crucified the Saviour, loving their traditions more than God!! This sermon is a warning to us all and an exhortation to come out from the shadows of dead religion into the light of God’s Word!! God forbid that when truth stares us in the face, we should choose instead of repenting, to hide behind the veil of dead religion. Those who persecuted Christ and those responsible for persecuting the true Church hasn't changed,

2 Timothy 4:5-8 When you’ve only one shot, what do you do? You make it count!! When you’ve only one bullet in the chamber, though you may have fired hundreds before it, that one bullet by reason of it being your last, now becomes priceless and the need for it to find its target, paramount! In the hour of plenty, one is at liberty to fire and miss a few, but when you’re down to the last shot, there are no second chances! My dear Brothers and Sisters, life is very much like this. Oh, I know that in one’s younger years, it appears as though we’ve many more ahead of us and on account of this the years generally of the youngster are passed in foolishness, wasted and squandered in the pursuit of vanity. Ah, but alas, one suddenly finds that the sun which seemed so bright in its day, has come down to set and the years which were deemed to be many prove only to be of few. This sermon brings the listener face to face with the radical life of the Apostle Paul who from the very moment of his conversion dedicated his li

We are living in an age where Christians generally have no stomach for doctrine and consequently the great doctrines of the Christian faith which form the very bedrock of the gospel are being undermined in our day. The doctrine of atonement is one such pillar of the Christian faith towering above the landscape like a giant. As when a gem is held up to light it shines forth its many facets of beauty, so this great doctrine is full of like splendour. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they sought to clothe themselves with the leaves of figs. However, such a covering was not sufficient and it was God who later clothed them aright, not with fig leaves (speaking of human works) but the skins of dead animals!! This if you like, is the first insight into the doctrine of atonement, namely that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. The doctrine of the atonement comes under the theological umbrella of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) and includes as part of this many other prin

Romans 12:1 There is no middle road in Christianity; no middle ground upon which to stand. Any seeming appearance of such is an illusion and a figment of one’s imagination, a product of Westernised consumer Christianity which on the say so of Jesus Christ Himself is no Christianity at all!! ”I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16). Now I know that such straightforward speaking is not very popular today and won’t win one many friends but Jesus knew of no double talk, and said point-blank, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mk. 8:34). This sermon is a call for wholehearted devotion to the God of the universe. This idea that we can bring our offering to God on Sunday and live as we please rest of the week is blown out of the water as soon as one is confronted with the person of Jesus Christ. My dear frie

Acts 12:1-17 There are seasons in life’s journey where the calamities of this world come to visit the door of the righteous and the unrighteous alike. Sorrow and sickness, death and disease, trials and tribulations, all come at their appointed times and there seems to be no discrimination as to where they fall and come to rest. How does one explain the ‘why’s’ of how some of God’s godly Saints are taken home in the prime of their life and service; why some are left in sickness and are not healed? Is there injustice with God? Can we charge God with evil? The truth of the matter is that we see only through a glass dimly, the reflection is poor and sketchy. Limited to our own fixed time and space dimension, we tend to view things with tunnel vision only ever having in focus our immediate need at a particular moment. Yet, has it ever occurred to you that God is aiming at the bigger picture, that may well not involve your deliverance in this present world for reasons known only to the Almighty “...who worketh all

Numbers 22 Many Christians can make a mental recitation of their standing with God. They can shout and sing of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, His atonement and their adoption as sons and daughters. Yet, for some, this is nothing more than a mental assent to facts that have yet to be fully realised in their Christian experience. Faith is the means and the only means by which the great truths of God are appropriated to our lives so as to become living realities in our experience. There are many Christians who though they name the name of Jesus Christ are still bound by the lies of Satan which would convince them that he still has power and authority over their lives. So we’re told; if your father was a Freemason, then as a Christian you need to be delivered from the curse of Freemasonry; if you unsaved mother is a witch, then you need to be delivered from the curse of witchcraft! David shows from the Word of God that this is not Scriptural and that if we are in Christ then we have been delivered from the p

Part 6 - The Doctrine of Man Opinions abound today as to the purpose of man’s existence. Through evolutionary thought, man has been reduced to nothing more than a process of random mutations over millions of years. For some, man has no purpose except for the furtherance of future progeny; while for others man is making great leaps and bounds in his upward progression toward godhood! In a world where suggested theories as to the purpose and meaning of life abound, what sense if any are we to make of them all? Man finds himself, perhaps like never before, having to wrestle with the many competing voices and the Christian cannot take himself out of this struggle. However, where natural man is left to his own thoughts and devices, the Christian turns to the Word of God to find answers to the great questions of life. We shall in this sixth teaching part seek to address the question of where we came from and who we are and shall conclude by answering the big question; what went wrong! When one looks at the world to

Part 5 - The Doctrine of Demons Demonology, is the theological term given to the biblical study of demons. One generally finds that when dealing with this particular area, one of two extremes tend to surface. On one extreme there are the liberals, which refuse to even acknowledge the existence of the demonic realm in any meaningful way whilst at the other extreme are the hyper-spiritualists who overplay the realm of the demonic to such an extent that the devil gets the blame for everything. All such extremes are to be avoided and highlight the importance of gaining a good solid foundation in this very important topic. Whilst many sound believers would shun such extremes, there are notwithstanding, Christians who are so terrified by the demonic realm that they can’t sleep at night without a light on. In this fifth teaching part in our foundational series, we shall set ourselves the task of trying to gain a biblical understanding of demons; what they are and what their nature, function, and activity is in the w

Genesis 26:17-18 A number of significant occurrences took place in the Bible at wells. At Beersheba (the well of an oath), Abraham entered into a covenant with Abimelech; at Beerlahairoi (the well of Him that liveth and seeth me), the Angel of the LORD visited Hagar in her distress. Who can forget Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, who at well was given a bride by God for his master's son Isaac? Fast forward some 2000 years and we have yet another encounter with a woman at a well, this time Jesus and the woman of Samaria. At this well, Jesus offers living water, that if a man drinks he shall never thirst again, an internal well springing up within him into everlasting life! This sermon is a call for reality in the Christian life!! Just as in the days of Isaac when the Philistine enemies filled his father’s wells, many Christians sadly have allowed their wells to be filled with dirt and on account of this no longer sense and experience the vital reality of God the Holy Spirit within them bringing forth the fruit

Part 4 - The Doctrine of Angels What are we to make when Christians become obsessed with angels? When a leading charismatic figure claims to have personal visitations from a female angel called Emma? Is it biblical to call down healing angels in a Church meeting or any type of angels for that matter? What do angels even look like and what is their function? Typically, in many artistic impressions they are depicted as winged chubby infants with ruddy cheeks floating around in play. One thing is for certain, much superstition surrounds the topic of angels, spurred on not least by the resurgence of interest in the occult via the New Age movement which has come into the mainstream over the last 30 years. The fascination with angels today has led many undiscerning enthusiasts onto dangerous ground as they actively seek to make contact with these spirit beings for spiritual guidance and insight. With biblical illiteracy at a high, sadly, even professing Christians have allowed the influences of Hollywood to inform

John 21:19-22 “Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus, step by step and day by day; stepping in His very footprints, walking with Him all the way. Step by step, step by step, I would walk with Jesus; all the day, all the way, keeping step with Jesus” (A.B Simpson). Oh, how many are caught up with the burden and grief of trying to keep step with Mr and Mrs Jones when we’re called instead to keep step with Jesus! To take our eyes off the Lord and to begin comparing ourselves with others, is breeding ground for all manner of strife and division, contention and envy. This sermon is an exhortation to us all to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and not to allow what the Lord is doing in others’ lives to be a hindrance to what God is wanting to do in our own lives! We’ve each been called by name to the Saviour into a personal relationship. The good Lord deals with each of His children as it so pleases Him. May we resist the temptation to compare ourselves with others and in so doing to become envious. Walking with Jesus must

Part 3 - The Attributes of God When speaking of the attributes of God, what we are really referring to are the characteristics of God, those qualities that describe who God is. The God of the Bible is unique and His characteristics define His very nature. By studying the attributes of God as defined by the Bible, we gain an understanding of who God is and what He is like. Sadly, the tendency of many in our current day towards theology (the study of God) is one of apathy and even scorn. Theology is seen to be too technical and unnecessary for the common Christian who hasn’t the time or care to pursue such academic matters. Instead, what we see generally is that theology has been sacrificed on the altar of experience. However, without the sound foundation provided by sound theology, one cannot truly experience God aright. Thus it is essential that we grasp the character and nature of God which will inform a proper biblical experience! In this important teaching, we shall look at thirteen core attributes of God

Luke 18:1-8 That men ought always to pray is instruction worthy of the utmost honour and regard. What air is to the human lungs and water to the gills of fish, so prayer is to the spiritual life of the Christian. A prayerless Christian is a dead Christian at worst and a carnal one at best, without prayer we’re not going very far!! This sermon is not only an exhortation that men ought always to pray, but in continuing the verse “…and not faint”, an exhortation is given to preserve in prayer. Oh, dear Soul, unanswered prayer by no means is an indicator that God is not willing to answer prayer. The parable before us in this sermon is a firm declaration that this is not the case at all. Be of good courage and continue in prayer labouring in the same in earnest for it’s not over until it’s over!

Luke 22:31-32 We ought to be under no illusion as believers as to the sobering reality that we each have a common foe, an arch-enemy of our soul; one who hates us with a perfect hatred; one who in his very essence is the epitome of pure evil. When going out to war, it is the fool who proceeds into battle, ignorant of the enemy he’s facing. The wise man first studies his opponent and knows ahead of time his strategies of battle that he might prepare himself for victory! In this sermon, you will learn of four chief ways in which Satan seeks to attack the believer in Christ. In each and every one of these modes of assaults, Satan is out to destroy one thing, our faith!! As believers, not only must be aware of his stratagems, but we must also know how to overcome in each attack. Behold…Satan the deceiver, Satan the accuser, Satan the tempter and Satan the persecutor. The one thing that he seeks most of all is the one thing by which we overcome. “…This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1

Part 2 - The Doctrine Of The Trinity The doctrine of the Trinity lies at the foundation of our understanding of God as Christians. To deny this truth is to put one thoroughly outside the confines of true orthodoxy of what has been held and accepted as true by those professing Christianity down through the centuries. However, because something has been held as true by many Christians for lengthy periods of time, does not mean that it is true. As Christians, the question that we come back to each and every time is, what does the Bible say? Is such a teaching clearly taught in the Bible? If it is, then having agreed with Scripture, we are happy to agree with those coming before us of like faith. Yet if it is not, then we have to reject such teachings on the grounds that they cannot be substantiated in Holy Scripture. In this second part of the Firm Foundations series, we explore the doctrine of the Trinity providing many proofs from the whole of Scripture to define and articulate this great and fundamental doctr

Hebrews 4:14-16 Consider with me the awesomeness of our Great High Priest, who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God!  Oh! What confidence we have to draw nigh to Him in times of need.  When the storm clouds gather overhead and light gives way to darkness, what comfort of joy to know that the Saviour is near.  When at times it appears as though darkness has veiled His face from view, dear Brothers and Sisters, we must be firmly convinced and persuaded that hour, that our Great High Priest is for us still!!  When darkness seems to veil His face, I rest in His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil!  Tell me dear soul, is this your testimony?  Is this your experience?  May the truth of God’s Word form the ground on which we stand; theology informing experience!  May His divine attributes, be the very catalyst of our faith to draw nigh!“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted li