Bethesda Shalom

Ephesians 5:14-18 There’s a season under heaven for every opportunity afforded unto man; an open door which for a moment remains open to him, before suddenly it closes.  What was available on Sunday evening may no longer be available come Monday morning.  There’s something about God-ordained moments for which there exists no rewind button and no command to undo.  God happenstances that seem to come so sparsely—perhaps every half a decade or so, where all of heaven appears to go out of its way to assist the Almighty in orchestrating the perfect set-up, placing before us an open door and beckoning us to enter through.  Without a doubt, we are living in unprecedented times of change with Covid-19 in our midst. It is my earnest conviction that we the Church of Jesus Christ find ourselves on the earth for such a time as this.  There has been afforded us in the providence of God, an open door through which to enter which shall not always be open to us.  It’s time for the Church to wake up and to cast off the old ga

1 Chronicles 12:32 This week has been a week like no other I’ve ever witnessed in my forty years alive on planet earth.  Coronavirus touched down and pandemonium struck.  Media hype fueled mass panic buying, where every man and his family headed towards the supermarkets in an effort to stock their cupboards to overflowing.  Stock markets across the world continue to be hammered with losses amounting to billions being slashed off the value of some of the world's most prestigious companies.  Thursday saw the biggest one-day decline in the FTSE 100 since 1987 and Wednesday witnessed the pound plunge to its lowest level in 30 years!  Every day has seen escalating measures being announced by the UK government as it has tried desperately to stem the growth of this virus which has now claimed the lives of more than 200 British citizens and more than 10,000 globally.  On Tuesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a whopping £350 billion bailout and by Friday, he’d effectively put the whole British economy on

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 2) It will never do to be hearers of the word only and not doers of it; James makes this very clear (Jms 1:22).  Yet at the same time, to be a doer of the word without first hearing what is being asked is to walk in ignorance.  How many, armed with good intentions and loaded with zeal have gone out of the starting blocks with pace, only to be later disqualified because they were in breach of the rules.  You cannot compete in a race without obeying the rules and you cannot obey the rules unless you first know what those rules are.  Thus, it is incumbent upon us as students of the Word of God, to rightly divide (Grk. to cut straight) the word of truth that we might not be ashamed (2 Tim. 2:15).     If the Bible was a single book, composed by a single contemporary author, that would be one thing.  If we had any questions or doubts about the meaning of what is written, we could simply ask the author.  What happens when you have a book written by upwards of forty different autho

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 When God put to Satan the question, “Hast thou considered my servant Job” (Job 1:8), Satan did not say, who is he?  Instead, he engaged with the question and responded by saying; “Doth Job fear God for nought?” (Job 1:9).  It appears from this verse that this righteous man was well known to the prince of darkness.  Have you ever considered that your name is also known to the armies of hell?  This puts a whole new dimension on spiritual warfare.  Having not just one scheme but many, Paul instructs us to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).  Satan’s wiles not only involve the planned assault of the individual believer but the planned assault of the Church body collectively.  There is one particular weapon in Satan’s arsenal through which is able to destroy a local Church more quickly than we can ever know!  The great deception of this sin lies in its seeming harmlessness.  This vice comes so readily to us as humans and i

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 1) As one opens the Bible, one quickly comes to discover that what they hold in their hand is not a single book, but a volume of ancient literature (some 66 books).  In fact, there are some 780, 000+ words all found sitting within a careful and purposeful grammatical structure with the oldest sections being more than 3 ½ thousand years in age and the most recent, 2000 years!  There are many different ways in which God could have communicated his will to mankind; he could have appeared at a given location every fifty years to speak to man in person or sent an angel to speak on his behalf.  Instead, God in His sovereign wisdom has chosen to communicate His message to mankind through the medium of written language.  In this first teaching part, we ask the question; “Why do we need to interpret the Bible?” As soon as one begins to read any literature, the need for interpretation comes immediately into play!!  This not only applies to the Bible, but all pieces of literature, bec

Revelation 22 Some 33 parts on and some 65+ thousand words later, we finally come to the final teaching part in our Revelation series. With the old earth passed away, and the former heaven gone forever, John saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy city—the New Jerusalem—coming down from God out of heaven.  In chapter 21, John described this glorious city, and in the first part of chapter 22, he continues to do the same.  There’s no escaping the parallels that exist between the first paradise in Eden, and this second paradise.  What was lost in the curse has now at the end, been restored, not only to an equal state but to one far exceeding it in every degree! The chapter concludes with a series of warnings.  The end is at hand and the Lord instructs His Church.  “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev. 22:20-21).

Matthew 10:27-33 We read in Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe”.  Man is prone on every side to fear, not least in the face of pending danger. God’s desire is that we would not be overcome by fear, but rather that we would trust Him!  This sermon is an exhortation for the blood-bought children of God, to place their total confidence in the Lord.  Where faith toward God abounds, fear has no resting place; but where fear abounds, we can be assured, faith is wanting!  “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there”.

Revelation 21 Every book has a start and a finish; a beginning and an ending.  The Book of Revelation is no exception to this rule and as we begin part 32 of our studies, we cross yet another milestone in our journey through this book.  No longer are we going up the mountain...having reached the peak, we’re now descending on the other side of the Jordan, heading towards the finish line. With the New Jerusalem firmly in our sights, we can pick up the pace and encourage ourselves that it was all worth it!  The cross, the battle, the war, the struggle; captivities and martyrdoms...all that is now behind us and eternities glories have opened up their arms to receive us in the Lord! In this teaching, we gain an insight into what is in store for believers in the new heavens and new earth along with the new Jerusalem.

Revelation 20:7-15 Upon the return of Jesus, His glorious appearing shall bring to an end this current Church age which has spanned the last two millennia, and a new age will begin, lasting for half that time.  The question that we want to answer in part 31 is this; what happens after once the thousand years have come to their end?  What we have recorded in the pages of Scripture is very brief, to say the least—much of it remains a mystery yet to be revealed at the Coming of our Lord.  That said, a large portion of the little that we have been given is found in what now remains of the last three closing chapters of Revelation (ch. 20-22).  In this teaching, we explore two main themes, the Gog and Magog war followed by the great white throne judgment.

Revelation 20:1-6 When the disciples asked Jesus; “...Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6), what did they mean?  If one was to ask such a question today in the vast majority of the theological colleges across the Western world, one would receive an answer that would be far from adequate in explaining the true nature of the disciple’s inquiry.  You see, for many today, the concept of a millennial kingdom does not even figure into their eschatological thinking.  For the amillennialist, the future kingdom of God is the present kingdom of God, and any hope of a golden age of righteousness and peace upon the earth is certainly not realised in some distant event, but in the last 2000 years of Church history as the gospel has been being preached in all the world.  For the postmillennialist, they would acknowledge a coming golden era of some arbitrary length, but they would argue that this “millennium” of triumphalism will be ushered in by the Church and not the Lord Jesus at

Ephesians 4:17-32 There are some Christians who never mention the name of our adversary, for fear of giving him undue attention.  You’ve all heard I’m sure, the well-meaning sentiments of a dear soul that has said in their enthusiasm; “I don’t give HIM any glory by even mentioning his name!”.  Now I do understand the thinking behind such a statement, but the question is, is it Biblical?  I was a teacher for a number of years, and when a pupil was playing the fool in class—seeking for attention and would-be followers—I usually didn’t give them the satisfaction of playing their game by bringing “undue attention” to them.  Instead, I would choose at times to employ the strategy of “ignorance”, and sure enough, they soon got tired of the show when they saw that they were not getting the crowd they’d hoped for!  However, what if, that pupil was to pull out a knife, am I still going to play dumb?  It’s one thing to have an irritant in the class, and quite another to have a potential murderer!!  The Bible doesn’t po

Revelation 19:11-21 All that has gone before us in past chapters, is preparing us for the one pinnacle, supreme event that is to appear in this chapter, namely the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The single greatest event in history without exception, to which the prophets of old bore witness, was Messiah’s first coming. The single greatest event to take place after this, to which again, the prophets of old bore witness, is Messiah’s Second Coming!  It is for this momentous event, that all of nature and history awaits, not least those of us called and chosen in Him!  In this twenty-ninth teaching part, we look at this fascinating topic and its timing.  Come, Lord Jesus, Maranatha!

The Father’s Pruning Shears – Paul M. Williams John 15:1-6 On a traditional vine that has been trained, there is a main with thick horizontal branches coming off from the trunk.  All along the branches, at regular intervals are knuckles (spurs), out of which grow pencil-like stems called canes.  It is on these canes that the grapes will grow; however, grapes will only grow on canes that are one year old which means there is a need for pruning every single season to remove the old wood. It’s been said that grapevines are probably pruned more extensively and more aggressively than any other crop.  When farmers prune, they remove the majority of wood produced the previous season – up to 90 percent is pruned away!!  Last year’s season of fresh long canes (of many feet) will be trimmed right back to several inches and the older canes bearing the fruit which grew the season before that (i.e. those that are now two years old) are completely removed from the branch!  As one walked by at pruning season, the untrained

Matthew 23:25-28 I’m sure that you’ve heard of the cat with nine lives – so the old English proverb goes, “For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays".  One news story reported how that a cat in the US city of Boston survived a fall from a 19-storey window, only bruising her chest!  It’s one thing to talk with lightness about the nine proverbial lives of the kitty, but the man with two lives, is no joking matter – multitudes of Churches up and down the land are plagued by this blight.  As one understands correctly the title of this sermon; the man with two lives has nothing whatsoever to do with the concept of staying alive, but instead, speaks of duplicity, of feigned living, of hypocrisy and two-facedness.  In this featured sermon, we look at the lives of the Scribes and Pharisees and in so doing, we discover the nature of their hypocrisy.  This is a very searching and challenging sermon, yet one that is most needful if we are to really go on with the Lord.  May God give us gra

Revelation 19:1-10 A heard is cry coming from heaven; “...the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready”.  This, to the Western mind, seems strange language upon first sight.  In what sense are we to understand this seeming conundrum?  How can the Church be identified as the wife of Christ before the marriage?  In order to understand this, we must understand marriage in the context of Jewish culture.  In this 28th teaching part, we turn our attention to this great marriage supper and the need for the bride of Christ to make herself ready for her Bridegroom’s coming! 

Isaiah 26:3 The Christian soldier is never stationary in His efforts to hold the ground of victory taken for Christ in His life.  He knows full well, that yesterday’s victories could well turn to tomorrow’s defeat.  We are in a war and this is no time for lightness, nor is it time to be found sleeping at the post of duty.  The Word of God charges us to take to arm us for the fight, the whole armour of God that we might be able to withstand in the evil day of Satan’s special assault!  Of all the armoury listed in that great chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians, there’s one piece of the armour that is distinguished from the rest “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph. 6:16).  This sermon is an exhortation to faith!  An exhortation to not allow the lies of the enemy to penetrate our minds.  God has promised to keep those in perfect peace, whose mind are stayed on Him, because they have placed their trust in the Lord!! 

Revelation 18 “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen”. The thought of it!! The unthinkable has taken place!!  In one hour, her judgment has come and the great city which once ruled over nations has fallen from her height of prominence and now has become the habitation of devils and every foul spirit.  In this eighteenth chapter, we explore the fall of this great city and reflect upon its sudden ruin.

Revelation 17 We have mention made for the first time in Revelation, of a great whore who sits upon many waters.  Arrayed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, precious stones and pearls, she is being carried along by the beast of Revelation 13.  Written upon her forehead is a number of names and John saw the woman drunk with the blood of the Saints.  Who is this woman and why is she depicted in this way?  What is her relationship to the beast and why is she counted as a harlot?  All of these questions and others besides, we endeavour to answer in this teaching part as we look at the imagery of the woman and the beast she is sat upon.

Psalm 130:3-4 There are many ways to look upon a masterpiece of art.  Each angle seems to shed a new perspective, as differing tones and hews are brought into fresh view with every studious stare.  Far greater than any piece of art is the splendour of Almighty God—His many attributes leave a pause for wonder as man tries with his finite mind, to grasp after Him who is eternal! Of all the attributes, there’s one attribute that holds a special place in my heart, for I know what manner of man I was, and even now after tasting of eternal life, how great a debtor daily I still am!  What is this attribute?  It is the mercy of God!  “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Having been shown such great mercy by God, what manner of people ought we the children of God now to be? A people full of mercy towards others!  How ready are you to forgive another who has wronged you? How willing are you to extend mercy?  In the passing of judgment upon others, how much of it is mixed with mercy?  May

Galatians 6:9 Jesus was clear when he said, that one of the characteristics of the last days is that the love of the most is going to wax cold on account of the increase in evil.  What temperature is your heart registering in the measure of love?  In the measure of kindness?  In the measure of mercy?  In the measure of compassion?  In the measure of forgiveness?  How soft are our hearts — are they like a tender piece of fresh chicken or are like a hardened piece of steak that has been left out in the sun?  What a challenge, to keep them soft and tender in the days in which we’re living.  My precious Brethren, I want to exhort you as much as I want to exhort myself this morning; “...brethren, be not weary in well doing” (2 Thess. 2:13) —do not lose heart, do not lose courage, do not become faint in doing well!! “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).