January 2026
Audio sermons
Click here to listen to all the sermons on this website!
KICS assembly talks. Current series: “KICS Studies – Analysing Acts”
- No talks have been posted yet this month.
- See all the talks in this series here.
- See all the KICS assembly talks listed here.
Recently Featured Sermons
The Return of Christ, Pt 11preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Oct 7, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 28, 2025
The Return of Christ, Pt 10
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Thu Oct 2, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 21, 2025
The Return of Christ, Pt 9
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Sep 30, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 14, 2025
The Return of Christ, Pt 8
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Sep 24, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 7, 2025
Click here to view previous featured sermons
Recently Preached Sermons
Entering 2026 looking for the return of Christpreached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Dec 31, 2025
Rev. Dr. Bertram Stanley Douglas (Bert) Cooke, Service of Thanksgiving
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Mon Dec 8, 2025
A word for dark times
preached by Rev. Andy Foster on Sun Oct 19, 2025
View all recently preached sermons
Older Sermons Recently Added
Reminiscences on her 70th birthdaypreached by Mrs. Ann Foster on Sat Oct 22, 2016
Barbed arrows repulsed
preached by Rev. Dr. Ian R. K. Paisley on Sun May 25, 1969
Aaron, the Bad Example of a Godly Leader Gone Astray
preached by John Pittman Hey on Sun Sep 16, 2007
View all recently added sermons
Watch Kilskeery Free Presbyterian services live online here
Entering 2026 looking for the return of Christ
Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church’s last prayer meeting of 2025.
Read sermon notes here
Watch a video of this sermon below:
Posted on 2026-01-01 a 12:01 am
December 2025
Audio sermons
Click here to listen to all the sermons on this website!
KICS assembly talks. Current series: “KICS Studies – Analysing Acts”
- Part 13, Part 14, Part 15
- See all the talks in this series here.
- See all the KICS assembly talks listed here.
Recently Featured Sermons
The Return of Christ, Pt 11preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Oct 7, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 28, 2025
The Return of Christ, Pt 10
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Thu Oct 2, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 21, 2025
The Return of Christ, Pt 9
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Sep 30, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 14, 2025
The Return of Christ, Pt 8
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Sep 24, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 7, 2025
Click here to view previous featured sermons
Recently Preached Sermons
Entering 2026 looking for the return of Christpreached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Dec 31, 2025
Rev. Dr. Bertram Stanley Douglas (Bert) Cooke, Service of Thanksgiving
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Mon Dec 8, 2025
A word for dark times
preached by Rev. Andy Foster on Sun Oct 19, 2025
View all recently preached sermons
Older Sermons Recently Added
Reminiscences on her 70th birthdaypreached by Mrs. Ann Foster on Sat Oct 22, 2016
Barbed arrows repulsed
preached by Rev. Dr. Ian R. K. Paisley on Sun May 25, 1969
Aaron, the Bad Example of a Godly Leader Gone Astray
preached by John Pittman Hey on Sun Sep 16, 2007
View all recently added sermons
Watch Kilskeery Free Presbyterian services live online here
UK government officials said IRA man organised £26.5m bank raid
(Read the BBC article here.)
These officials did not say it publicly for that would have upset London’s long-term plan to sell out Ulster to Irish Republicanism and a united Ireland!
Known
I have no doubt that this was known by the leaders of the Democratic Unionist Party BUT they still entered an evil ‘power-sharing’ alliance with the IRA party just 2 years later!
London’s chief concern was that the robbery would derail its ‘peace plan’, which was in truth nothing more than a devious scheme to betray Northern Ireland.
It is reported in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’, that the then Downing Street chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, said: “that while the heist was a “serious set-back”, there was a need to keep the process going and then prime minister Tony Blair was “not prepared to give up on the process”. (Newsletter 27th December 2025).
History
The outcome is history. Today the nefarious plan of London is well advanced and we see Stormont in the hands of Sinn Fein/IRA and the various Unionist representatives wriggling futilely like flies caught in a spider’s web!
This all is a judgment upon Ulster Protestantism for its rejection of the Bible and its embracing of ecumenical apostasy.
On the other hand, ‘across the water’ we see the fruit of a similar rebellion against the God of mercy Who made England great in former times through the gospel.
Fruit
We see in all the confusion and mayhem that is evident in all the affairs of that nation, the curse of God that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.
“Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish,” Isaiah 44:24-25.
That is an accurate account of the state of affairs in the United Kingdom, more explicitly stated than could be penned any of the political pundits who see a little of the true state of the land!
As the departure from God advances, so too does the day of final reckoning by the Lord with the nations caught up in the latter-day apostasy which will, in the end, produce the final Antichrist. He and his cohorts will rule in the territory of the revived Roman Empire, defying God and persecuting the Jews and those who name the name of Christ.
This is what is revealed in God’s Holy Word for all to see and believe.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
29th December 2025
Posted on 2025-12-29 a 4:42 pm
Consideration of a much misunderstood and misapplied prophecy by the Saviour - Part 2
Luke 21:5-38.
We have begun a study of this portion from Luke chapter 21.
We have already noted that the passage is a parallel to that of Matthew 24. The introductions to both passages indicate that.
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” Matthew 24:1-2.
“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” Luke 21:5-6.
However, there is very important difference in the two portions of Holy Scripture. Luke’s account of the Saviour’s words gives details of the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army and the dispersion of the Jewish people which followed, whereas, Matthew’s account does not refer to that event.
Many have taken the two accounts as being exactly parallel, and thereby error has arisen. This error utterly distorts the prophecy of the Saviour and robs the people of God of the information Christ would have His people understand, regarding the closing days of this age, just prior to His return in power and great glory.
Future Antichrist Rejected
I emphasised the reason some wish to parallel Luke and Matthew’s account of the Saviour’s prophecy in part 1 of our study. It is not necessary for me to repeat what I wrote then. Suffice for me to say that the ‘Antichrist’, who has yet to arise, is a MAN and not a series of popes! Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-26 a 6:00 am
No welcome for Christ despite the bright lights!
“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not,” John 1:10-11.
(Preached in Tavistock FPC)
There is no evidence of any celebrating of the birth of Christ within the scriptural records nor is there biblical evidence to support a mid-winter date for His birth. The origins of what are today termed “Christmas celebrations” are totally pagan.
This so-called celebrating of Christ’s birth is most popular amongst the ungodly. That is an indication of its character. The child of God ought to be consistent in their rejection of the world and its ways.
I do not believe that it is acceptable to God for His people to be associated with the excesses of this season of the year. It may be argued that children love it and really it is quite harmless. Parents ought to know that there is much children love and which is very harmful and which must be forbidden for their own good.
Can the promoting of a belief in a mythical figure which has its origins in popery really be harmless? “No lie is of the truth,” 1 John 2:21.
The whole ‘Christmas sham’ reminds us of how the Antichrist will be embraced as he gives to men just what it is they crave.
There is a solemn lesson to learn from the giddiness of today’s celebrations!
Posted on 2025-12-23 a 6:00 am
The fig leaves of hypocrisy
The following is a summary of the resolutions passed by the members of a special General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, published by the ‘Belfast Newsletter today.
The special General Assembly was called in response to the news that a police investigation has been launched into “serious and significant failings” in central safeguarding functions for children and vulnerable adults from 2009 to 2022.
It is to be noted that the resolutions read like that which a secular organisation might formulate when faced by a similar crisis.
THERE IS NOT ONE MENTION OF THE LORD, THE WORD OF GOD, OR REPENTANCE BEFORE GOD FOR THE YEARS OF REBELLION THAT HAVE LED UP TO THIS DREADFUL SITUATION!
I said in a previous article (Presbyterian Church in Ireland special General Assembly) that repentance was a gift from God and a church which had for some 100 years lived to defy God and embrace Bible-rejecting doctrines and honour those who promoted such evil, would not be granted repentance as is taught in Scripture in passages such as Proverbs 1:22-33.
The remarks of the replacement Moderator, Rev Richard Murray, I put down as mere ‘window dressing’. There is no formulating of his sentiments or incorporating of them into the resolutions summarised in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ today.
Here is what the ’Newsletter’ states.
Presbyterian Church in Ireland safeguarding crisis: The key decisions made by Special General Assembly
The gathering of over over 700 ministers and elders passed a series of resolutions that will :
1. Elevate significantly the position of safeguarding in PCI through the establishment of a new Safeguarding Department with new direct line management and external oversight through a Safeguarding Supervision Panel.
2. Create two senior level posts – a Head of Safeguarding; and a Safeguarding Lead – with appropriate professional social work and administrative support.
3. At an appropriate time, hold a full, independent, external review of PCI Safeguarding at all levels. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-20 a 7:51 pm
Presbyterian Church in Ireland special General Assembly
Reports have appeared in two of our local newspapers today (19.12.25) of the special General Assembly, called by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland over the police investigation into failures to properly safeguard its young people from perverts within its perimeters.
Former Presbyterian moderator Rev Trevor Gribben resigned last month after an internal review found “serious and significant failings” in central safeguarding functions for children and vulnerable adults from 2009 to 2022.
The previous moderator, Rev Richard Murray, stepped in when Rev Trevor Gribben resigned.
The PSNI and Charity Commission have launched investigations into the matter.
Rev Richard Murray called a special General Assembly, which met yesterday. The Belfast Newsletter reported on this gathering.
“Hundreds of Presbyterian clerics and elders from across the island of Ireland have come together to discuss the fall out of the safeguarding scandal.”
The Moderator is reported as saying at the beginning of the special meeting:
“So we are turning to God today to repent of our sin, to grieve and to lament before him, to pray that he would have mercy upon us, and guide us in how we might rectify our behaviour so that these things might not happen again.
Delegates were chided that despite an invitation going to them to come to a prayer meeting before proceedings began, only around 50 turned up.” Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-20 a 1:21 am
A consideration of a much misunderstood and misapplied prophecy by the Saviour - Part 1
Luke 21:5-38
I have often told the congregation of Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church in the past and, in more recent times, the pupils in Kilskeery Independent Christian School when I speak at their assembly gatherings, that we must come to the Bible as does a detective attending the place where a crime has taken place.
That is, with great care we must, as does the detective, seek to avoid disturbing anything at the scene and observe everything that is there. Nothing is unimportant to the detective. No smudge in the dust, or scrap of paper or any item visible to his eye.
With such care and attention we come to the Word of God and strive to note every word, its tense, be it present past or future! By so doing we will avoid hasty conclusions about what it is the Lord is saying to us.
Remember, “Every word of God is pure. . . ,” Proverbs 30:5. It must be considered invaluable and cannot be carelessly skipped over or ignored if we are to rightly divide the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15).
The passage before us, Luke 21:5-38, is a parallel to that of Matthew 24. The introduction to both passages indicate that.
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” Matthew 24:1-2.
“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” Luke 21:5-6.
As with the statements of any witnesses of a scene or an event, there are differences, though since this is the inspired Word of God, there are no contradictions!
One witness reports slightly more of what was said on the occasion reported.
I believe that I am correct in saying that Luke’s account of the Saviour’s words, which we are going to study, gives details of the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army and the dispersion of the Jewish nation which followed, whereas, Matthew does not refer to that event.
Many have taken the two accounts as being exactly parallel in order to deny the understanding of prophecy set forth by those who hold to the position of Historic Premillennialism. Such try to apply the whole of Luke 21 to the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
That involves a serious error and utterly distorts the prophecy of the Saviour and robs the people of God of the information Christ would have His people understand regarding the closing days of this age, just prior to His return in power and great glory.
FUTURE ANTICHRIST REJECTED
In truth, the reason for promoting the notion that the whole prophecy in Luke 21 refers only to AD 70 is in order to reject a future Antichrist and the attempt to establish the notion of the ‘A-millennialist’ that the ‘Pope’ or series of popes, is the Antichrist referred to in Revelation 13:18. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-18 a 6:00 am
Seen but not understood!
The following is one headline that followed the Bondi beach massacre.
Bondi Beach massacre: Church of Ireland archbishop condemns ‘creeping anti-Semitism plaguing the world’
(Belfast Newsletter, 15th December 2025)
The attack on the Jewish families is but the latest in a mounting wave of ‘anti-semitism’
Condemnations abound as are calls by the public and political leaders for action to be taken to stop the victimising of the Jewish people.
What is not evident is an understanding of what lies behind such attacks!
For this we must turn to the Bible and there we will learn that to REJECT the Lord Jesus has terrible consequences.
XENOPHOBIC
To link the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus with the Jewish race is considered xenophobic and racialist by many who are ignorant of the truth of God.
Repeating historical facts regarding the rejection of Christ by the Jewish race is not any more racist than teaching the history of Germany’s part in the Second World War!
That history includes the massacre of millions of Jews in a most devilishly cruel manner. It is not wrong to recall such terrible events and to comment truthfully on them, condemning them afresh!
RECORD
The Lord has given us an inspired account of the sad and inexcusable action by Israel when they, in the words of Isaiah the prophet, some six hundreds years before Calvary, “despised and rejected” Him.
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not,” Isaiah 53:1-3. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-15 a 6:04 pm
Why the Cross?
O Christ, t’was full for Thee!
But Thou hast drained the last dark drop,
‘Tis empty now for me!
That bitter cup, love drank it up;
Left naught but love for me!
Photo by Richard Bell on Unsplash
“He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” Philippians 2:8.
There are many ways to die! By an accident; by the hands of an evil person; on a battlefield or even by our own hands, which some are most foolishly seeking to legalise!
Why was the cross chosen by God as the means by which our Saviour, the Lord Jesus, should die?
It was in the darkness of the night that this matter arose in my mind. In the morning I began a search of my Bible wherever the word ‘cross’ appeared. One needs ever to refresh one’s knowledge of the truths of God. Thus the Psalmist said of the “blessed man” that “his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night,” Psalm 1.
When I came on my text I saw that my question was wonderfully answered.
I. TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR THE SINS OF HIS ELECT CHRIST MUST DESCEND TO THE DEPTHS OF HUMILIATION.
1. This was because He had to became as our sin. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Christ on the cross pictures the sinfulness, the gravity of sin, in the sight of God! The humiliation of Christ was of God! It was ‘He’ who heaped humiliation upon the Saviour!
That was because Christ had assumed our sin and became ‘sin’ in the sight of the Father and was therefore treated by Him as such.
2. Sin is the lowest state into which man can sink! Mankind fell by Adam’s transgression and the humiliation of Christ on the cross, when He bore our sin, illustrates how far man fell. Mankind does not feel or know how low they are before God. Self-opinion is always very high! However, the humiliations and sufferings of Christ on the cross indicate and illustrate where sin has brought mankind!
3. When the sinner upon death is committed to everlasting damnation, in truth he has not sunk any further than when he was alive, he is just being committed to that place befitting his dreadful state. When the prisoner is taken from the dock to the prison cell, he does not become more guilty or depraved. He is being confined to that place appropriate to his sinfulness. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-13 a 6:00 am
Kindness misunderstood and misrepresented! - Part 3
“Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away,” 1 Chronicles 19:1-4.
I am seeking to set forth the parallels in this passage with the kindness of God toward sinners, displayed in the Gospel message sent to those who “were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly,” Romans 5:6.
We have considered the greatness of the King, even the Lord, who sent the Gospel condolences and the spurning of the kindness by those to whom the expression of love was sent.
The chief manifestation of the rejecting of the Gospel is the humiliating of God’s servants.
History tells a sad and horrific tale of the sufferings of the servants of the true God.
Mention is made of this byPaul in his epistle to the Hebrews.
“And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth,” Hebrews 11:36-38.
The ‘Dark Ages’ was a time of great persecution of the people of God. The Roman Catholic Church is stained with the blood of many tens of thousands of men, women and children, whom it deemed were only worthy of destruction.
God has appointed a day when their blood will be avenged! Heaven will sing on that day! The hurting of His servants is counted by Him as a hurting of Him. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-11 a 6:00 am
No Room in the Inn
Lights aplenty festoon not just the streets and shops of cities, towns and villages, but I have noticed a great increase in the number of private houses with the trees in their gardens swathed with flickering lights and illuminated heralds of ‘Christmas’!
It is all supposedly to mark the birth of Christ and yet there is little reference to Him at all amidst the pagan festivities.
Indeed, so absent is Christ from the minds of those engaging in these activities, that they are ignorant of the fact that the Bible tells us Christ was NOT born in December!
Celebrating a birthday, the date of which they have completely mistaken – such is the folly of this season!
But, ‘so what’, say those who thus indulge the desires of the flesh! Any excuse for a good time is all that most are interested in.
But Luke 2:7, displays the world’s true attitude toward the Son of God!
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
There is still no room for Christ in this world given over to the pursuit of the fleshpots of this world!
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
10th December 2025
Posted on 2025-12-10 a 11:24 pm
Rev. Dr. Bertram Stanley Douglas (Bert) Cooke, Service of Thanksgiving
Read sermon notes here
Rev. Dr. S. B. Cooke in his younger days
Dr and Mrs Agnes Cooke in earlier days
Watch a video of this sermon below:
Posted on 2025-12-08 a 6:01 pm
Dr. Cooke has gone to glory
The passing of ‘Mr. Valiant-for-truth’
Dr S B Cooke (1929 — 2025)
Dr Cooke was a dear friend of mine and we last talked together on Monday past at the nursing home in Kilkeel where he and his dear wife have been. He went to heaven this afternoon.
I wish to express my sincere condolences to his wife Agnes, also a dear friend, his brother Ronald and his family in the USA, his two sisters Nancy and Audrey, and Agnes’s loved ones.
Bertie Cooke was a man esteemed amongst his brethren for his wisdom and tenacious stand for the principles of Free Presbyterianism.
We praise God for his lasting witness and testimony.
“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” Revelation 7:13-14.
Funeral Service in Moneyslane Free Presbyterian Church
Monday 8th December at 12 noon, followed by burial
in the Ballygowan Free Presbyterian graveyard
(Full details here)
Posted on 2025-12-05 a 10:16 pm
Educated eejits spout more baloney!
Religious Education ‘not suitable’ for NI society, study suggests
We will acknowledge one unintended grain of truth in the above BBC headline, and it is this. What passes for ‘Religious Education’ in Northern Ireland, is not suitable for anywhere in the world, never mind here!
The Core Syllabus for Religious Education in Northern Ireland is jointly defined by the Department of Education (DE) and the representatives of the four main Christian churches in Northern Ireland (Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and Methodist).
Thus it is an evil ‘homogenisation’ of modernistic and liberal theology and idolatrous superstition and man-made traditions!
I always find it utterly unreasonable that those who feel that they had to leave, or even flee, from their homeland, for one reason or another and seek refuge in the United Kingdom, feel it necessary to immediately begin to try and transform our land into that from which they felt they had to get out of.
That to me is very strange indeed!
However, that said, there is a great need for educating Northern Ireland on matters religious from the Word of God, the ‘only rule of faith and practice’. Martin Luther is quoted as saying: ‘The true rule is this: God’s Word shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel can do so.’ Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-04 a 4:52 pm
A letter to the ‘Belfast Newsletter’
Sir,
A letter from James Hardy was published in your newspaper on 3rd December 2025.
It had the heading:
‘Following the debate over the teaching of Religious Education in schools, are Bible basics best explained at home?’
It most certainly is a clear command of the Lord that the ‘home’ is to be a place of Scriptural Instruction for children.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.,” Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
There can be no disputing the place given to Biblical instruction of the young within the home in the purpose of God. It is emphasised a little further on in Deuteronomy. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-03 a 6:09 pm
Where, why and when was Jesus born?
Given the paganism masquerading as ‘Christianity’, seen everywhere at this time of the year, I always like to bring a word of instruction to the boys and girls of Kilskeery Independent Christian School regarding what the Bible says about the birth of Christ.
Read sermon notes here
It is a word that today all too many believers would need to heed since the ‘celebration of Christmas’ has infiltrated their ranks!
There are none who can deny that it is pagan in its origins and its form.
Nor can it be denied that Christ was NOT born on 25th December!!
No good can come of this conforming to the world’s ways and practices and the adopting of the follies of unregenerate man.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Posted on 2025-12-01 a 6:00 am
Kindness misunderstood and misrepresented! Part 2
“Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away,” 1 Chronicles 19:1-4.
As I said in part one of this Gospel study, these verses formed part of my daily Bible reading on Monday, 25th November. As I read them I thought of the parallel there is between the kindness of David, the reaction of the Ammonite king and princes to his kindness and the parallel reaction of men to the greater kindness, by far, of the Word that the Lord sends to sinful man, amidst the mourning that sin has wrought universally amongst us!
Please consider: —
I. THE WORDS OF SYMPATHY TO THE MOURNERS CAME FROM A GREAT KING.
We are told that at that time, following a series of great victories by David over neighbouring nations, that it had all come about because, “Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went,” 1 Chronicles 18:13.
1. For David to take note of the sadness that had come upon the household of “Nahash the king of the children of Ammon”, by the death of the old king, was an act of gracious kindness. It is very obvious from the passage that David was engaged in the establishing of his kingdom with the help of the Lord. For him to take the time to consider the grief of the family of Nahash indicated his love and concern for the family of a man who had shown kindness to him (verse 2).
Likewise, we can say with the Psalmist that “The LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth,” Psalm 47:2. Yet, the “great King”, “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” John 3:16. That displays kindness and love at their ultimate level!
It has ever been a source of great wonder to me, and indeed to all who have experienced the saving grace of God, why he ever took notice of me. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-12-01 a 6:00 am
November 2025
Audio sermons
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- Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12
- See all the talks in this series here.
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Kindness misunderstood and misrepresented! Part 1
“Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away,” 1 Chronicles 19:1-4.
These verses formed part of my daily Bible reading on Monday, 25th November. As I read them I thought of the parallel there is between the kindness of David, the reaction of the Ammonite king and princes to his kindness and the parallel reaction of men to the greater kindness, by far, of the Word that the Lord sends to sinful man, amidst the mourning that sin has wrought universally amongst us!
The Saviour uttered those immeasurably kind words, recorded in Matthew: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30.
The two terms the Saviour uses to describe mankind are “labour” and “heavy laden”. The word “labour” carries the meaning of ‘weary, tired, exhausted with toil or burdens or grief.’ “Heavy laden” refers to the ‘placing of a burden upon, to load up.’
The Lord Jesus knows the heart and state of mankind better than any! In truth, apart from the Bible and the faithful expositions of its teaching by godly witnesses, there is nothing in all the annals of men that has come anywhere near describing the miserable state of the human heart or the origins of that misery!
The consequences of that misery and man’s reaction to it, the fruitless seeking after relief through drugs and alcohol, the delving deep in to pleasure-seeking, even man-contrived religion – all have availed nothing!
Yes, men have linked such behaviour, to a degree at least, to the wretched distress that is everywhere present among men. However, they have not, cannot, truthfully identify the reason for such misery nor prescribe an answer!
Man, the most intelligent and educated, is incapable of understanding his own heart. It is only revealed to men by the Word of God.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings,” Jeremiah 17:9-10.
Only the Lord can “search” and “try” (examine) the human heart. It remains an ‘enigma’ to the wisest of men who reject the Bible’s revelation of it.
The Gospel is God’s cure for the miseries that SIN has brought upon mankind. The origins of sin amongst men goes back to the day when Adam, the representative of humanity, for in him physically the seed of all humanity resided, disobeyed the terms of the Covenant which the Lord made with him as our representative.
The ‘Shorter Catechism’ explains the matter with great proficiency!
Question 16: Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
Answer: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity (1); all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression (2).
(1). And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28, KJV).
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17, KJV).
(2). Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18, KJV). Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-28 a 6:00 am
A deceitful claim from a deceitful party!
The following headline appeared in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ of Saturday, 22nd November 2025.
Paul Givan: Supreme Court ruling on RE is complex and cannot be ignored … but I want to offer reassurance that under my leadership, Christian faith will continue to shape education in Northern Ireland
The article is by Paul Givan, current Minister of Education in the Stormont ‘power-sharing executive’.
Whether in ignorance or a mere deceitful political ‘spin’, what Mr Givan proclaims is just not true! Sadly, such has become the ‘gullibility’ of the Ulster Protestant that, if the DUP were to issue these prevaricated press statements printed on a concrete brick, they would still be swallowed!
He states that ‘Christian faith will continue to shape education in Northern Ireland’ under his leadership.
In truth, that which is taught as ‘the Christian faith’ in schools today is not what the Bible teaches, and has not been for a long, long time!
It undoubtedly is what is proclaimed as ‘Christianity’ in the majority of pulpits today and from there, it migrated into the classrooms decades ago.
What it is in truth
What it really is, is a religious ‘hodgepodge’, born out of the combined blind folly of ‘ecumenical’ and ‘modernistic theological’ education advisors from both the camp which purports to be Protestant and the Romanist camp.
Mr Given states: ‘On Wednesday the UK Supreme Court delivered what has been described as “probably the single most important legal decision, certainly in the last century” concerning religious education and collective worship in Northern Ireland. This ruling has significant implications for our schools, and I want to address it clearly and decisively.
I know there will be many from a faith background who are anxious about the potential consequences of this judgment.’
This is not factually true. The UK Supreme Court decision is merely a development and a consolidation of that process of undermining the Bible in the classrooms of Ulster which began many years ago. The introduction to the classroom has been the MOST IMPORTANT DECISION affecting children since the Protestant Reformation!
The truth of the Gospel was surreptitiously removed from the classroom and supplanted by a meaningless jumble of words and phrases which are echoes of Bible terminology but utterly failing to convey the message of Christ, which may be summed up in His words, recorded in John 3:36.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Indeed, such terms, as here are used by the Saviour, were forbidden to be used by teachers as instructed many years ago in a Stranmillis College document for trainee teachers. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-24 a 6:00 am
A word for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (Prince Andrew), Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Mandelson and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland!
“ . . . be sure your sin will find you out,” Numbers 32:23
It is reported, in an article entitled ‘A reckoning is coming’, that American lawmakers, investigating the activities of the infamous Jeffrey Epstein, have demanded that the former ‘Prince Andrew’ come to the USA and appear before the investigating committee.
The report says:—
‘American lawmakers have hailed King Charles for stripping Andrew of his prince title as they voted to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie spoke outside the Capitol on Tuesday ahead of the vote on the Epstein bill, which later sailed through the House – passing by 427 to 1.
‘There’s becoming a reckoning in Britain that needs to happen in the United States: a prince lost his title, the ambassador to the United States lost his job. We need to see those same kind of consequences here,’ he said.
Massie was referring to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s royal titles being stripped last month and the sacking of Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
‘As my colleague Ro [Khanna] said, there shouldn’t be buildings named after these perpetrators of these heinous crimes, there shouldn’t be scholarships named after them, and there needs to be accounting.’
‘I do think that Prince Andrew does need to come and testify at our oversight committee, and that can be bipartisan,’ Khanna said. ‘But I share [Massie’s] view that the urgency that the British people have shown in getting justice needs to inspire an urgency here in America.’
Whether that happens or not is a big question but regardless, it marks the utter downfall of ‘Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’!
In the wake of the revealing of the content of emails found in ‘Epstein Files’, which the US Senate has just voted to fully release, not only has ‘Prince Andrew’ suffered a humiliating fall but so too has Peter Mandelson, whose perverted lifestyle has been a shameful blemish on the British political establishment, which has long ‘honoured’ him!
He was removed from his position as British Ambassador to the USA because of his association with Epstein.
TRUTH!
As I have observed, these events underline the truth of Numbers 32:23 – “ . . . be sure your sin will find you out.” Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-21 a 6:00 am
Delusive DUP!!
DUP will ‘stand up for Christian ethos’ after Supreme Court rules Religious Education not ‘objective, critical or pluralist’
So declared a headline in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’, 19th November 2025.
If it were true, and it most certainly is not, it would denote a most spectacular change of policy on the part of the DUP.
The DUP has for many years now been actively pursuing a raft of policies which are very much opposed to the Word of God.
It promotes and endorses the perversion of ’sodomy’ and associated perversions. It has been the means of funding sodomite organisations. It has defied the Word of God in its uniting with Sinn Fein in an ‘egomaniacal’ power-sharing deal.
The ‘Newsletter’ article declares that the ‘DUP has said it will “stand up” for the Christian ethos of schools.’
The ‘ethos’ of the state schools is not Christian by any means but it has long been ‘ecumenical and modernistic’ and Bible-denying!
The teaching of what the Bible says is not on the state school agenda. It cannot be, since there is a denial of the divine creation of the world and instead children are taught that ‘Evolution’ rather than ‘Creationism’ is the true source of the universe!
If the ‘falsehood’ that is passed off as ‘Christianity’ in the state schools was done away with, it would be no bad thing. At least one less lie would be in the curriculum.
However, for the Christian it means that the situation that prevails within the state system of education is still far removed from the ‘classroom’ in which the Lord would have Christians place their offspring! Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-20 a 6:00 am
Criminal investigation launched . . . .
Criminal investigation launched in wake of Presbyterian Church safeguarding ‘failings’
Church ‘welcomes investigation’ and confirms they ‘will co-operate fully’
(We will see how welcome are the findings!! — BB Editor’s comment)
Police in Northern Ireland have launched a criminal investigation following safeguarding concerns in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Last week the Church’s moderator, Rev Trevor Gribben, resigned over “serious and significant failings” in safeguarding within the church between 2009 and 2022
Speaking at a press conference in Belfast, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said: “Over the last number of days we have been working with statutory partners to formalise a co-ordinated response to address the matters that have come to light as a result of the recent announcement by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
“My immediate priority and that of the PSNI is the protection and the safeguarding of anyone who may have been affected.
“In that regard I have established a dedicated PSNI investigation team under the supervision of an experienced senior investigating officer from our public protection branch. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-18 a 12:03 am
A man with a day and date conversion
Jeremiah 22: 25 – 26. ‘And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die’. Illustration by William Hole 1846 – 1917
“And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; and changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life,” 2 Kings 25:27-30.
I read these verses on Wednesday November 12th, as apart of my daily readings. They brought back memories of my days in the Theological Hall of the Free Presbyterian Church. It was in my first year of study that Dr S B Cooke, who lectured in Homiletics, set these verses as a text for his class. That was in 1965.
I have preached on these verses a number of times in different places over the subsequent 60 years. However, I freely acknowledge that much of what I have said would have originated with what Dr Cooke set forth that day in the class, convened in the prayer room of Ravenhill Free Presbyterian Church.
I have visited Dr Cooke in the nursing home in Kilkeel where he and his dear wife, Agnes, reside at present. He has been to me a good and faithful tutor, mentor, counsellor and friend.
First Meeting
When I first met him I was a recent convert to Christ and a very commonplace theological student in need of much instruction! My acquaintance with Dr Cooke was therefore that of a student with a very experienced and honoured preacher of the Gospel.
However, that changed somewhat in 1966. On June 6th of that year there was a Free Presbyterian protest outside the annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, in Belfast. It was prompted chiefly by the Presbyterian Church’s very active involvement in the modernistic and ecumenical apostasy flourishing back then.
But the protest was also against the presence of the representative of Éamon de Valera, President of the Republic of Ireland being an invited guest at the Assembly.
De Valera was a commandant of the Irish Volunteers in the Easter Rebellion of 1916 and prominent leader of the later IRA terrorism campaign. In 1966 we of the Free Presbyterian Church believed that it was gravely improper and unscriptural to honour such an unrepentant terrorist and a persecutor of the many Protestants in Ireland who had suffered under him and his terrorist allies, for the previous 50 years!
Court Case
That protest resulted in a court case and charges of ‘unlawful assembly’ being levelled against a number of protesters, including Dr Ian Paisley who led the protest, Rev John Wylie, a senior Free Presbyterian minister and myself, a second year theological student and licentiate minister.
We were found guilty and sentenced to being ‘bound over’ for a period of 2 years, which entailed us giving an undertaking to the court not to engage in any like behaviour during the two-year period. We were also fined, some £40, if I recall correctly.
Committed
Since we, as Free Presbyterian ministers, were quite committed by our ordination oath to continuing such protests against the modernism and ecumenism of the three mainline churches here in Northern Ireland, we refused to sign the ‘rule of bail’.
Consequently, we were committed to Crumlin Road Jail. Dr Paisley was arrested on his way to his Wednesday prayer meeting on July 20th. Rev John Wylie was arrested the next day, Thursday 21st, while on holiday with his wife in Newcastle, and lodged in jail. I was arrested outside Sandown Road Free Presbyterian Church, late on Thursday evening and because it was deemed too late for me to be committed to Crumlin Road jail, I spent the first night of my sentence in Musgrave Street RUC barracks, amidst the drunks arrested that evening! I joined the other two jail birds earlier the next day.
Blessed Stirring
As a result of the stirring that took place in Northern Ireland under God, I solemnly believe, there sprang up a tremendous interest in the message and witness of the Free Presbyterian Church. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-17 a 12:42 pm
A warning for the Free Presbyterian Church to heed!
The confused and sadly would appear to be ‘concealed’ events taking place with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, has been reported by the BBC as being linked to ‘child abuse’.
“A series of ‘serious and significant failings’ in safeguarding in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is a ‘watershed moment’ for the church, a child abuse expert has said.
On Thursday, the PSNI said there were ongoing discussions with the church to ensure mechanisms are in place to support anyone who wishes to report abuse.
Failings in safeguarding within the church between 2009 and 2022 were disclosed on Wednesday leading to its moderator stepping down.
Jim Gamble, who headed up the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) police command, said there should be a ‘root and branch’ independent inquiry to ‘ensure congregations are safe’.
The church carried out an internal report, which has not been published.”
(Safeguarding failings ‘watershed moment’ for church, child abuse expert says)
The whole sorry mess is something the Free Presbyterian Church should note and tremble at. Keeping wickedness at bay is no easy thing.
Apostolic
The apostolic churches were frequently infiltrated by those bent on corrupting the truth of the gospel and the morals of the saints. Events in the Corinthian church, as is evident from Paul’s stern disciplinary dealings with that church, by way of his first epistle to it, indicates the dangers faced. Jude’s epistle likewise reveals the activities of the enemy back then.
The events in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland are alarming and should serve as a warning to us. I am especially concerned for our church because of the very evident lowering of the need to maintain strict discipline within our congregations. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-14 a 6:09 pm
Two Important news items!
I was well on target with my article on the present moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland !!!!
I issued this article back in June of this year in which I gave an assessment of the incoming ‘evangelical’ moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
The new Irish Presbyterian moderator – a shallow evangelical in step with ecumenical ‘apostasy’ !!
In the light of recent developments within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, my assessment was very correct!
Series of scandals rocked Presbyterian Church in run-up to Moderator’s resignation
Presbyterian safeguarding crisis: Church silent on exactly what ‘harm’ happened amid call for more people to come forward
Presbyterian crisis: Full scale of safeguarding problems that saw Moderator resign still not known, says church
‘We need more information on church safeguarding issues’ – Gordon Lyons
Another news item
Another news item that raises questions is the ongoing ‘saga’ of the ‘illness’ of Lady Donaldson, who along with her husband, former DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, apparently has been too ill to face a trial on ‘alleged historical sex offences’!
The trial has already been delayed on two occasions because of Eleanor Donaldson’s medical condition.
No progress in Donaldsons’ trial before ‘genuine medical issues’ are explored
The charges include one count of rape as well as allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency.
The charges span a time period between 1985 and 2008, and there are two alleged victims.
Eleanor Donaldson , 59, of Dublinhill Road, Dromore, who also did not attend court, is facing charges of aiding and abetting, which she denies.
I just wonder where this will end??
Posted on 2025-11-13 a 6:15 pm
DUP leader - Gavin Robinson - takes part in an ecumenical service in Enniskillen
Under the headline – Ulster Project marks 50 years of inspiring young peacemakers – the ‘Impartial Reporter’, which rarely lives up to its honourable title, reported on a recent ecumenical event in Enniskillen.
‘The work of peacemaking remains far from over’ the article prominently states!
(Indeed it is, since the chief ‘peace makers’ are those in Sinn Fein who constantly uphold and eulogise the murderers engaged in decades of terrorism here in Ulster. That which today is called ‘peace’ is but ecumenists labelling the ceasing from terrorism by those whose wicked and cruel campaign of terror, murder and civil disorder as ‘peace’ and the government and the main churches rewarding such and embracing of them as ‘democrats and statesmen’ and ushering them into positions of civil authority and decision-making! – BB Editor)
‘That was the clear message from religious leaders who gathered in Enniskillen on Saturday to mark 50 years of the Ulster Project’s work in Northern Ireland.’
The article states: ‘The Archbishops of Armagh were among those who came together to celebrate five decades of a cross-community initiative that has sought to bring young people from different backgrounds together in friendship and understanding.’
By ‘understanding’ is meant a bringing of Protestant young people to a place where they have forgotten the truth of the Bible and the merciful workings of God’s power in delivering the European nations from the powers and darkness of Roman Catholicism in the 16th century and a believing of the ecumenical lie that it is God’s will that the work of the Reformation be undone and all ‘Christians’ unite under the thraldom of the Pope of Rome.
The circumstances of this event is a prophetic foreshadowing of where Ecumenism is leading Protestants! Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-12 a 6:00 am
God's words of mercy considered 'hate speech'!!
The following headline appeared in the The Daily Mail of November 7th, 2025.
Police officer warns Prince William’s vicar friend that Bible verse on his van ‘could be considered hate speech’
The article reads:—
A pastor has been warned by a police officer that the bible verse on the back of his van ‘could be considered hate speech’.
Pastor Mick Fleming, who is a friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales, worked as a drug runner and debt collector and was once arrested on suspicion of murder.
Now 59, the former gangland criminal enforcer dedicates his life to helping others as a pastor, along with setting up his charity, Church on the Street, which was visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Earlier this year, Mick released a book which detailed his early life in crime and how nearly dying made him turn his life around, and even had a foreword from Prince William.
After recently giving up all of his belongings, Mick now lives in a campervan which has the bible verse John 3:16 printed on the back.
The verse reads: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life’.
He was approached by a police officer while at a petrol station in Lancashire, who told him ‘the writing could be seen as hate speech in the wrong context’. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-10 a 6:00 am
A chapter the enemies of Israel would do well to ponder!
“O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein,” Hosea 14:1-9.
I write this on the day of my 82nd birthday. I will be sixty two years a Christian in six months time.
Today, the wonderful love of God toward this unworthy sinner has been brought before me by another portion of God’s Word I read this morning.
The glorious words of psalm 139:13-18 have caused me to marvel afresh at the truly incomprehensible kindness of God toward me — this is something every true believer may say!
“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee,” Psalm 139:13-18.
Today I think particularly of one of the innumerable mercies the Lord has bestowed upon me. It was sixty one years ago, in September past, that I first met the one who was to become the love of my life, my dear Ann. She went to be with her Saviour 17 months ago on 8th June 2024.
I have much to consider and rejoice over on this day!
Another of my readings was the last chapter of Hosea. There is stated the purpose of God for Israel in the days following the Saviour’s victorious and glorious return.
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon,” verses 4-5. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-08 a 8:51 pm
Three passages of Scripture which help us to understand the prevailing spirit of today!
These are perplexing days for everyone, including the Christian. It is said of the Christian, “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way,” Psalm25:9. Nevertheless, such is the spirit of the days that are beginning to break forth upon us, many believers are at a loss to know what to expect or what is happening!
Within a lifetime, the basic standards that governed the behaviour in our land has been overturned completely. Truly, there has been a calling “evil good, and good evil”, a putting of “darkness for light, and light for darkness” and a putting of “bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20.
Compass
The moral compass and map of God’s Word has been cast aside and the nation is adrift on an ocean of depravity and degeneracy with no knowledge or understanding of what is taking place!
Governments and churches are swept along by this tsunami of wickedness. Even fundamentalist denominations have felt the power of this spiritual earthquake and many within their ranks have faltered and lost their footing and stumbled from off the “old paths, where is the good way,’ Jeremiah 6:16.
Few pulpits seem able to define what is happening and what it is the people of God should be expecting to break forth all around them!
That ought not to be so!
It ought not to be so for the Lord has given us clear and precise descriptions of these days so that we ought neither to be surprised nor alarmed at what is happening.
I want to set before my readers just three of the many portions of God’s Word which reveal what it is that is taking place all around us, in every nation!
I. THE FIRST OF THESE HAS OFTEN BEEN QUOTED BY ME.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. . . . . ,” 2 Timothy 3:1. The word translated “perilous”, ‘chalepos’ appears in only one other place.
“And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way,” Matthew 8:28.
It is translated in the above verse by the word “fierce”!
So, Christian, there are to come ‘fierce” times in the last days!
1. The “fierceness” manifested by the two men who encountered the Lord in “the country of the Gergesenes”, was the result of their possession by many devils. The hatred of the devils for the Saviour was seen in that the two men “met” the Saviour. The word has a military and hostile connotation! It was a warlike spirit toward the Saviour that they manifested. Indeed, that was their disposition toward all men for “no man might pass by that way.”
2. We must never forget that the “devil . . . was a murderer from the beginning.” “He abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it,” John 8:44. He is the embodiment of all evil and where he is is a most “perilous” place!
Where the devil is able to possess men and women, there you have a most evil society, marked by every form of debauchery and cruelty! Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-06 a 4:26 pm
THE HARVEST - one of the many illustrations in God’s gospel picture book
“«To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.»
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament (the vault of heaven above) sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,” Psalms 19:1-4.
The creation is the ‘hand work’ of God. The Psalmist endorsed this truth. “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands,” Psalm 102:25. David said of the creation: “I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands,” Psalm 143:5.
Obviously David knew that such was the creation structure as to set forth the glories of God’s wisdom and power and mercy! By meditation he could draw out great truth and light and so educate himself in the ways of God.
What the Bible teaches, creation illustrates. It is God’s picture book of illustrations.
In my experience, the creation is the perfect ‘graphic design’, to which we may refer children, in order to set forth and demonstrate the meaning of Holy Scripture.
The whole process involving the labouring of the earth to bring forth food wonderfully portrays for us the gospel work the Lord is engaged in. The making of the creation a many-paged picture book, that confronts us in an inescapable manner, illustrates that the Lord would have us take note of the gospel message. How often the Lord Jesus said: “And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,” Mark 4:9.
Again, surely we must see the love of God in that He is most desirous that we heed and learn the gospel lesson! How earnest and ardent is our ‘Divine Teacher’ that we grasp the truth set forth in Holy Scripture and gloriously illustrated in the large volume of ‘nature’?
THE TERMINOLOGY OF THE BIBLE INDICATES THAT THE HARVEST DOES INDEED PICTURE THE LORD’S GOSPEL WORK.
1. From the first of the year to the last, all is ordered that the earth produce a harvest and we see in this a parallel in the work of the gospel.
Thus the Saviour teaches us that the work of grace begins with the sowing of the gospel seed. “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow,” Matthew 13:3. Click to read more…
Posted on 2025-11-01 a 6:00 am