This article was prompted by what I read at the beginning of this week but subsequent events overtook me and I had to set this topic aside to deal with other pressing articles.
May the Lord bless what I have written here to all your hearts.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
Why God blessed the Free Presbyterian Church in the 60s and 70s as He is not doing today!
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel,” Acts 2:14-16.
On the second day of the New Year, I read from Acts chapter 2. What a chapter this is! It is ever thrilling to read of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the assembled believers, gathered in the upper room. How appropriate for that to be the venue for the gathering. It was there that the Last Supper had been celebrated. “And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And in the evening he cometh with the twelve,” Mark 14:13-17.
But the Upper Room that evening became a place of grief and sorrow. That occasion was marked not just by joy but also by great sorrow for there they learned that one of their number would betray the Saviour.“And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?” Mark 14:18-19.
The Saviour and His band of disciples went from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane and to further sorrow for both the Saviour and His disciples. Within a short time, He was to taken out of Gethsemane, from their midst, handed to the Roman authorities and cruelly crucified.
But now, fifty days have past. They were days when there was a lifting of the dark cloud that had weighed heavily upon them until the Saviour’s resurrection. It was followed by seasons indescribably precious as the Saviour manifested Himself to His believing band. Forty days after His resurrection, the Saviour ascended to His Father’s right hand, there to intercede for His elect people. His final words to His disciples are noteworthy. Luke records them for us in his account in ‘The Acts of the apostles’. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight,” Acts 1:8-9.
That promise was duly fulfilled some ten days later and we have the account of that in the chapter I read a few days ago. (more…)
Councillor Paul Greenfield is a Democratic Unionist Party member of that Council. I do not know what his present church connections are and I am not anxious in the least to find out. I find the matter painful enough with learning of even greater cause for grief. I do know that he had strong Free Presbyterian links in his youth.