Bethesda Shalom

David through the Scriptures shows that everyone who God calls to be His children have to follow the journey of the chosen.  All who God calls to labour in His work must undergo a series of episodes, without which there can be no hope of service in the work of the Kingdom.  Through the life of four men – Joseph, Moses, David and Paul – David shows that all were mightily used of God because all went through God’s pattern!  They were called, had a preview of ministry, were then demoted, and went through a wilderness before then being promoted.  This message is a great encouragement for all who perhaps felt that they were once called, but have not seen the full fruit of that calling.

In this sermon teaching, David seeks to bring out the truth contained in the parable of the ten virgins.  At first glance, one may think that the five foolish virgins were ignorant of their required responsibility to ensure that they brought oil in their vessels.  However, as you will see, their ignorance was a purposeful ignorance, based on a slothfulness and disobedience, resulting in their entrance into the marriage feast being denied!!

David expounds on a topic that is very dear to his heart concerning the gospel of the Kingdom.  David is clear to point out that the gospel of the Kingdom is not the gospel of the Church, nor is it the gospel of salvation. Prepare to have your minds stretched as David digs into the Word of God.  As all good Bereans, the ownness is on us after we have heard, to then search the Holy Scriptures!!

David expounds on two very important parables; the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.  The exhortation that David brings is delivered in grace and compassion, yet is clear and absolute...if we don't forgive those who have sinned against us, then God will not forgive us who have sinned against Him!!

1 Kings 17:1-16 We are living in incredibly difficult times and difficult times call for times of encouragement!! Biblical encouragement is not airy fairy sentimentalism but rather is rooted and grounded on the steadfast faithfulness of a God who is able to sustain and provide for His people in times of great need!! You don’t need me to tell you that we are living in times of great famine. The preaching and teaching of truth is seldom to be heard in our land. Yet…the same God who was able to keep His people in the wilderness for 40 years, providing them fresh manna morning by morning is able to also feed His people! The same God who commanded the ravens to feed His faithful servant Elijah is the same God who will also feed us in the time of famine!! This sermon is an exhortation to God’s Saints and a testimonial to the faithful mercies of a covenant keeping God who though He leads us into the wilderness, is able to sustain His beloved children.

1 Corinthians 11:24-26 The great and fundamental weakness of our make-up is that we are human – prone to discouragement, fears and doubts; afflicted with short-sightedness, so often powerless to change tomorrow!  Yet, there is One who has never known defeat nor tasted of failure, One who is never worried by tomorrow for He is Lord of the past, present and future!  To you who have tasted of the kindness of His mercies and have known and experienced His covenant keeping faithfulness in times of trouble, why so often in times of difficulty do you so soon forget His past deliverances? Thus this sermon is a word of encouragement to all who have a testimony, to raise up memorials unto the Lord!!  Dear Brethren, a memorial serves a purpose – it is something by which the memory of a person or an event is kept alive!  God’s past mercies serve as a ground of hope and confidence for the present and future and the memorial brings those past deliverances to remembrance!!  

2 Corinthians 11:2 Before ever there was the bond of parent and child, of brother and sister, there was the bond of husband and wife.  There exists no closer and more sacred a bond than that of holy matrimony.  In like manner, there is then no greater act of treachery and betrayal than when a spouse takes themselves and joins themselves to another lover.  This sermon sheds Biblical light on spiritual adultery.  Drawing from the example of Israel, one sees the broken heart of a loving husband who is jealous for His bride.  He it was that betrothed her to Himself when no none else desired her; He it was that caused her to flourish in beauty, yet with that beauty she took herself and committed whoredom on every high hill and under every green tree, committing spiritual adultery with gods of stone and wood, alliancing herself with the kings of other nations.  Yet, this is not only the picture of an Old Testament Israel; sadly it is the picture of many who profess Jesus Christ whose hearts are in this world!  Paul

1 John 3:18-24 Many who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour struggle with finding assurance of their salvation.  Though they sit week in and week out in Churches up and down the length and breadth of the country, there remains a question that will not go away; am I truly saved?  In answering this question, this sermon seeks not to crop the branches but to lay the axe at the root by exploring the question, what is true biblical faith?  Many have the fanciful idea that faith is static, a mental ascent to a series of facts that they know nothing of in reality in their own lives.  My brethren, faith walks!!  The apostle John his first epistle, furnishes us with weighty words which address the struggle that so many have in finding assurance of their salvation.  “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.” (1 Jn 3:18-19).  In other words, assurance and obedience are inextric

Luke 12:47-48 For the Christian, their testimony is simple; light has shone into darkness!  Yet for many, though they name the name of Christ, they choose wilfully to remain in darkness and plead ignorance is bliss!  Whilst happy to rest in religion, they will not come to the light lest their evil deeds should be exposed.  For those sitting under the sound of true preaching, no such excuse can be made; the light of God Word has shone into darkness and one must now choose what to do with that light, to embrace it or to suppress it!! This sermon is an earnest plea for all who have received light, to walk in the knowledge of that light, for to whom much is given, much is required and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.  Dear soul, with the light that has already been given to you, to what degree are you walking in that light?

2 Corinthians 9 For many Christians, there is much confusion and scepticism surrounding the issue of money; as soon as one hears the word, the backs of God’s people go up and rightly so!!  There are it seems more crooks and charlatans inside the professing Church than there are in any institute on planet earth – the majority of which have disguised themselves as pastors whose vocation it is to milk and fleece the sheep for whom Christ died!!  This combined with the false prosperity gospel of greed and the Old Testament law of tithing, the topic of money has left an indelible blight on the Church of Jesus Christ!!  Yet in the midst of this great confusion speaks a man by the name of Apostle Paul; a breath of fresh air amidst a cloud of pollution!!  Paul coveted no man’s silver, freely he had received and freely he gave his life to serve and minster to the Brethren, working with his with own hands night and  day to provide for his own needs that he might not be chargeable to the Brethren. What does the New Test

Matthew 6:5-13 Well the words of a hymn serve to capture the essence of the burden of this sermon; “Sweet hour of prayer!  Sweet hour of prayer!  That calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known.  In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempters snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!”  It seems that the Saints of old knew something that so many of us now know so little of as it relates to a life of prayer!  Never have we been so prosperous and well off as we are in this century, yet for all our prosperity it seems that more Christians than ever are suffering from anxiety, depression and burn-out. This sermon is a passionate plea for God’s people to return to a quiet time with the Lord, a time set aside for uninterrupted fellowship with God.  A place where we our Saviour meet in the wonder and awe of an open Bible and prayer!!    

Bible Prophecy (Pt.10) The books of Daniel and Revelation are unique in their composure in that their content is eschatological in nature, relating to events that are to take place at the end of the world.  Indeed, the Greek word for Revelation is “apokalupsis” from whence we get the word apocalypse.  This word apokalupsis means a disclosure, a revealing and an uncovering of things that up until that point was not understood.  There are many hard things to be understood in these books but as one begins to dig into them, one quickly discovers that there is overlap and similarities in the material found within them.  This repetition and overlap is crucial in enabling us to interpret and make sense of the visions contained in them. In this tenth and final part of our teaching on Bible prophecy, we seek to understand and make sense of some of the key passages in Daniel and Revelation which speak of a final worldwide Antichrist kingdom that will arise at the very end of time which shall be united politically, econ

Bible Prophecy (Pt.9) The Bible speaks of a final period of time which shall see a rapid succession of cataclysmic events that shall bring to a close this age and usher in the millennium reign of Jesus Christ. This final period of time shall be seven years in length; the last three and a half of which shall be characterised by a time of intense suffering and tribulation likened to no other period of time in history. As far as the Bible relates to these times prophetically, Israel is at the very centre and heart of this tribulation period. Daniel spoke about a figure that shall make a covenant of peace with the Jewish people for a period of seven years but mid-way into this shall break his covenant and turn to persecute them, putting an end to sacrifices. This by default necessitates a Jewish presence in their ancient homeland and a rebuilding of a third temple which the Apostle Paul identifies as the place in which the man of sin shall be revealed, sitting in this temple showing himself to be God.  The Jewish

Revelation 3:14-22 One author dubbed this Church as “the Church of which there was nothing good to say”. Christ had the right to find His people burning in their love, devotion and service to Him, yet when He came He found a people that were neither hot nor cold. What was the crime of the Laodiceans? The sin of being lukewarm!! Oh dear brethren, this chilling reality is that this describes MOST professing believers in the West!! Moderate Christianity, which by definition is a lukewarm Christianity has become the accepted norm in the majority of Western Churches, yet our Lord said on account of this, He was about to vomit His Church out of His mouth!! This sermon is a sobering warning to guard our hearts against indifference in the matters of Christ. Laodicea, like the Western Church was incredibly wealthy and what many thought to be their blessing proved to be their undoing!! When a people become rich, indifference and apathy sets in. To this end we must guard our hearts so as not to allow our outward prosper

Bible Prophecy (Pt.8) Matthew Chapter 24 is known as the Olivet Discourse and is key to understanding the run-down of events in the last days prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus in seeking to prepare His disciples and those coming after them for the days that lay ahead in the intervening period from His ascending into heaven until His coming back again, spoke of wars, rumours of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes along with persecutions, offences, betrayal and hatred. All these He said would be signs accompanying the countdown to the end when He would make His sudden and long awaited return. Without a doubt, all these signs are clearly evident and point to the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, there is one thing that Jesus spoke of prophetically, this one thing He warned against more than any other, namely this…be on guard against spiritual deception!! In this teaching we illustrate the amazing fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic warnings in the very days we are living in. By utilising a n

Revelation 3:7-13 Twenty-eight miles south-east of Sardis lay the city of Philadelphia;  so named after Attalus Philadelphus, the king of Pergamos who founded it in the second century BC.  Its name means “brotherly love and is a fitting name for a Church that would later be born in that city!  Its natural geography served well to illustrate the robustness of this Church in bearing up under trial.  Subject to frequent earthquakes, being laid waste by one just less than a century before this epistle was written, this hardy city bounced back with a greater vibrancy than before!  If there was one name that best describes the Church in Philadelphia it would be the word “faithful”.  As a Church, they had remained faithful during trial and persecution and had persevered despite having little strength and had not denied Christ’s name.  For this they were praised by the Saviour! This sermon is an exhortation to Christians to bear up under trial and to do so keeping their eyes steadfast on the One who reveals Himself a

Revelation 3:1-6 Sardis was a great city of the ancient world, a very wealthy and prosperous city.   Into this city came the Gospel and the Church at Sardis was born!!  The fame of their conversion and the fruits thereof were sounded out near and far, and overtime Sardis had amassed a reputation for being a Church that was alive!!  Sadly, overtime the testimony of this Church had become nothing more than a label; still having repute before men, the spiritual condition of this Church was a far cry from what it was in their former days, our Lord tells us that they were now dead!  This sermon is a serious challenge to flee from sin and a solemn warning against hypocrisy!!  The Lord is seeking one thing from the backslider, namely that he might return to Him in true brokenness and repentance.  The hour is late and urgent is the day that we are living in.  Dear Brethren, it’s no time for religious hypocrisy, we must at all costs seek to keep our garments unsoiled from this world and walk before our God with a clea

Revelation 2:18-29 Despite the many hard things that our Lord had to say to His Church in Thyatira, it is often overlooked that He had some of the best things to say also to some within this Church who were shining examples. He commended them for their charity, service, faith, patience and works. In fact not only had this Church begun well, but they were praised that their last works were more than their first!! Yet, despite this, our Lord reserved some of His harshest words to those within the Church at Thyatira who had tolerated the false prophetess Jezebel, who was seducing God’s children, causing them to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. This sermon is a strong and passionate plea on two counts. Firstly an exhortation to practical Christianity and holiness and secondly a warning to flea sexual immorality!! Christianity Today in a 2000 survey found that 45% of Christians admitted to having done something sexually inappropriate while married, with 23% committing adultery!! Literally,

Bible Prophecy (Pt.7) On May 14 1948, in a single day, a nation was born as Israel declared its national independence. For some 1900 years the Jews have wondered the world over having no national homeland, suffering in every place they have sought to lay their head. AD 70 witnessed the tragedy of the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the beginning of the diaspora as Jews were exiled en-mass to every corner of the world. At the end of the 19th century due to growing widespread anti-Semitism in Europe Jews began leaving Eastern Europe and a small minority headed for Israel with the dream of returning to their ancient homeland. The twentieth century would see the greatest calamity ever perpetrated against the Jews as some 6 million were systematically exterminated being shot or gassed by Nazi Germany. Yet, defying all possible odds with European Jewry tinkering on the edge of annihilation, millions of Jews have since poured into their Biblical homeland of Israel from more than 100 different countries worldwid

Revelation 2:12-17 This sermon is the third part in a series looking at the letters to the seven Churches of Revelation.  Pergamos was a city distinguished as being one of the chief centres of religious worship, its landscape littered with shrines and altars to the false gods and goddesses of the Greek/Roman world.  In the words of Jesus Christ, the seat of Satan himself!!  As a Church under intense persecution from the dragon Satan, it was bearing up faithfully under severe trial and holding fast the name of Jesus Christ.  However, that said, whilst our Lord praised them for their faithfulness, He rebuked those within Pergamos for allowing and holding to the doctrine of Balaam who cast a stumbling block before God’s people to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. This sermon is a warning and a challenge to the body of Christ to be on guard against false teachers, who secretly bring in false and damnable heresies, even denying the Lord Himself.  How will the body of Christ discern such fa