June 2026

Audio sermons

Click here to listen to all the sermons on this website!

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KICS assembly talks. Current series: “KICS Studies – Analysing Acts”

• Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39
• See all the talks in this series here.
• See all the KICS assembly talks listed here.

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Recently Featured Sermons

The Return of Christ, Pt 36
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Jan 21, 2015
featured on Sun Jun 28, 2026

The Return of Christ, Pt 35
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Jan 20, 2015
featured on Sun Jun 21, 2026

The Return of Christ, Pt 34
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Thu Jan 15, 2015
featured on Sun Jun 14, 2026

The Return of Christ, Pt 33
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Jan 13, 2015
featured on Sun Jun 7, 2026

Click here to view previous featured sermons

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Recently Preached Sermons

The 1966 protest and imprisonment remembered with joy and thankfulness
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Sat Jun 6, 2026

Deep sin within the Free Presbyterian Church
preached by Rev. David Linden on Sun Apr 26, 2026

Remember the days of old
preached by Rev. David Linden on Sun Apr 19, 2026

View all recently preached sermons

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Older Sermons Recently Added

Testimony of Rev. John Wylie
preached by Rev. John Wylie on Tue Jan 1, 1985

Reminiscences on her 70th birthday
preached 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

View all recently added sermons

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Watch Kilskeery Free Presbyterian services live online here

Notes of a message preached in Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church — September 26th, 1982.

“And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them. They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem,” 2 Chronicles 14:9-15.

My purpose in recalling the events of 1912 is three-fold.

1. As an Ulster man I am proud of and thankful for the actions of my forefathers and I would have all to remember their daring.

2. As a Christian I am encouraged when I recall the mighty deliverance that the Lord wrought in those times of political betrayal.

3. As a citizen I believe a perusal of those far off events will shed light upon the troubled path we are called upon to tread today.

The year 1912 was a year of political activity and much anxiety amongst the Protestants of Ulster.

Since the introduction by the Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, of the First Home Rule Bill of 1886, which aimed to establish an Irish legislature in Dublin, Ulster Protestants had been voicing their opposition under the slogan, ‘Home Rule is Rome Rule’. The Bill was defeated in the House of Commons and heavily split the Liberal Party.

The Second Home Rule Bill in 1893 was also introduced by Gladstone. It successfully passed the House of Commons but was overwhelmingly vetoed by the House of Lords.

The Third Home Rule Bill of 1912–1914 was introduced by Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, another Liberal Party leader. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-29 a 6:00 am

A word for the Free Presbyterian Church at this present time!

“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey:

And the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment,” Isaiah 59:1-15.

Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)

Saturday 27th June 2026

Posted on 2026-06-27 a 3:15 pm

AN ANSWER TO FOUR LECTURES DELIVERED IN ENNISKILLEN CATHEDRAL BY THE BISHOP OF CLOGHER RICHARD HANSON

by

REV. IVAN FOSTER

Minister of Lisbellaw Free Presbyterian Church

Published as a booklet in 1970

The rage of the Bishop against the rock of Holy Scripture

 

Chapter IV 

The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible

In his first lecture the Bishop seeks, as he tells us, to “clear the ground”. What the Bishop means by this is later revealed. He is out to remove from the people’s minds all “obstacles” to the introduction of his own doctrines. He commences this clearing operation with characteristic subtlety. He wanted to make it clear, we are told, that he “did not believe Christianity to be an entirely fluid thing wholly subject to changes in intellectual fashion, a matter of subjective opinion with no unchanging or eternal element in it”. Having thus reassured us with this statement he continues: “But” – and HERE COMES THE POISONED BARB – he was giving these lectures “in order to point out that Christianity in one sense always had changed, must be expected to go changing, and was manifestly changing at the present time”. He goes on to say: “What we think is good old Christianity, the genuine, original, unchanging faith -our faith, of course – almost certainly is not what the first Christians believed”. The Bishop tells the truth here – quite unintentionally, of course. HIS CHRISTIANITY IS NOT THE FAITH OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. What the Bishop is maintaining, of course, is that Christianity should NOT be expected to be the same as that of the early believers. There is nothing wrong with us believing something that they disbelieved or disbelieving what they believed. We can simplify the whole matter by saying the Bishop believes that Christians today are not tied to the Bible as the early Christians were.

Thus the clearing begins. He goes on now to finish the task by declaring: “Another important assumption which will govern these lectures is that the hypothesis that the Bible is accurate and exact and without mistakes in every sense in every part is an IMPOSSIBLE ONE”. So, step by step Dr. Hanson levers his audience away from the Bible. He seeks to destroy any tendency on the part of his audience to return to the Bible by stating that it is not without mistakes and errors. He gives us his opinion of the Bible. “THE DOCUMENTS OF THE BIBLE HAVE THE SAME HISTORICAL AUTHORITY AS SIMILAR DOCUMENTS OF THEIR TIME, NO MORE AND NO LESS.” There you have it. The site is clear now for the building of the Bishop’s edifice, a building that will consist of falsehoods and lies, deceptions and delusions, and which will fail its occupants on the great day of God’s wrath.

“Judgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” (Isaiah 28 : 17-18). Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-27 a 6:00 am

I downloaded the following document from a Free Presbyterian Church website yesterday.

I wish to set before the Moderator and the Clerk of our Presbytery and the readership of ‘The Burning Bush’, two points from the ‘Statement on Ecclesiastical Separation’ as issued by our Presbytery, and to ask some questions which arise with regards recent procedures sanctioned by the Presbytery.

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FPC Position on Ecclesiastical Separation

Statement from the Free Presbyterian Church in Ulster General Presbytery

OUR STAND ON SEPARATION

The Scriptures lay before Christ’s Church the will of God pertaining to the doctrine of separation. With regard to this doctrine the following points are made clear in God’s Word. (It is important to underline that the points outlined below that present the Biblical teaching on separation, constitute a summary of what the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster has stated, believed and preached during its entire history).

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The following is a notice of an amendment I submitted to the Presbytery back in 1998, in the days when Dr Paisley was Moderator.

“October 1998 Notice of Motion

Rev I Foster proposed the following notice of motion: Reaffirmation of our stand on separation from Ecumenism.

“That this Presbytery reaffirms its opposition to the modern Ecumenical Movement and reiterates its call to God’s people to separate from all forms of fellowship with this end-time apostasy.

Furthermore,  in keeping with our position on Ecumenism, the Presbytery calls upon all ministers, elders and members of committees, irrespective of their civic duties, to refrain from attendance at or participation in any ecumenical community service, especially those that have followed in the wake of recent terrorist bombings since such gatherings have clearly become an effective means of advancing and strengthening the cause of ecumenism and must not, therefore, have any form of endorsement from Free Presbyterians”.

Rev Foster stated he did not feel that as a denomination we were tottering on the edge of compromise. However, he reminded members that in scripture we often read of God’s people reaffirming their position. He said, “In the wake of recent bombings tremendous pressure had been exerted by Ecumenical churches on the Protestant people, especially those who hold civic office.”

He stated he felt it was wrong for Free Presbyterians to attend Ecumenical services no matter where they were held. Priests of Rome he said were brought onto platforms and accepted as ministers of Christ. He felt there was need to raise a banner high for all to see and for sessions to take note that they are to be guardians of our stand.

He asked that if agreed the motion should be carried in our magazines and as we are approaching Reformation Sunday ministers preach on the issue.

Clarification was sought as to what constituted an ecumenical civic service. The question of participation in Remembrance services and services of the Loyal Orders was raised. The Moderator stated he considered it was one organised by the clergy of the town for the purpose of promoting ecumenism. He said that with that interpretation put on the motion he would support it. Upon being seconded by Rev. T. Baxter the motion was adopted. It was agreed that an advert reaffirming our opposition to Romanism and Ecumenism should be placed in the newspaper.’ Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-26 a 6:04 pm

Moments after sending out my last email, entitled –  ‘A VERY PUBLIC REBUKE!’ – I received the following Facebook photograph.

Rev Ron Johnstone cannot argue, as he has in the past, that he was not sharing the platform with a ‘disobedient evangelical minister’. One who defies God’s Word and remains within the ecumenical apostasy. On this occasion it was Methodist minister, Rev Maurice Laverty.

I need not ask if he obeyed the requirement of the ordination oath the swore to uphold.

I will, nevertheless, remind him of it with an important emphasis.

Will you maintain with all the strength God shall give you the position on Biblical separation from apostasy as taken by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1951 at the time of its secession from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland?

As God helps you will you expose and resist the continued apostasy from Christ manifested within Irish Presbyterianism, METHODISM, Episcopalianism and other visible church bodies; exhorting God’s people to obey the teaching and commandment of 1 Timothy 6: 3-5?’

Thus the slide accelerates and those engaged in it are emboldened by the failure to uphold the distinctives of the Free Presbyterian Church by its Presbytery.

Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
23rd June 2026

Posted on 2026-06-23 a 5:18 pm

Matthew 3:7-12.

The Lord Jesus said of John the Baptist what we should ever remember.

“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,” Matthew 11:7-11.

With such a matchless commendation of John, I dare say we can make him an example in preaching that we may safely follow!

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Matt 3:7.

1. Please notice that these men thus rebuked professed faith and repentance. “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism,” verses 5-7.

Sadly, many who act in this very proper way do so hypocritically. They lack the evidence in their lives that indicates true faith and repentance.

John, under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, was made aware of this and called for evidence to be produced by them. “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance,” verse 8.

2. He rebuked them in a very public fashion. The Pharisees and Sadducees were engaged in a very PUBLIC act so John rebuked them in keeping with the environment in which the Pharisees and Sadducees were acting!

Private acts, if sinful, will be rebuked privately for they have not been observed by others and there is therefore no requirement that the mind and will of God be declared to any observers, regarding this private sin.

In the case of John rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees, he was rebuking their very public show of repentance WITHOUT any evidence of it being genuine, therefore he must let the observers know God’s mind on what was happening.

Paul

This is in keeping with Paul’s directive to Timothy. “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear,” 1 Timothy 5:20. Without a pubic rebuke observers might think that the behaviour being reprimanded was acceptable. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-23 a 5:12 pm

This ‘professing’ Christian has shamed the Gospel he claimed to embrace and has brought great dishonour upon Ulster.

BBC News: Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson guilty of child sex abuse charges including one count of rape

He added to his crimes by denying he was guilty and thus forcing his victims to relive the torments and shame he had put them through and, furthermore, calling them liars in court.

News Letter: Ex-MP Jeffrey Donaldson repeatedly denied abuse during two days in witness box

His name will forever be linked to wicked infamy!

His contemptible behaviour is indicative of the fruit of the apostasy that has blighted our land through the evicting of God’s Word from the pulpits of the main churches and the replacing of it with ecumenical and liberal fantasies that have become the religion of all-too many in Ulster!

“This‭ know‭‭ also‭, that‭ in‭ the last‭ days‭ perilous‭ times‭ shall come‭‭.‭‭For‭ men‭ shall be‭‭ lovers of their own selves‭, . . . lovers of pleasures‭ more‭ than‭ lovers of God‭;‭‭having‭‭ a form‭ of godliness‭, but‭ denying‭‭ the power‭ thereof‭ . . ,” 2 Timothy 3:1-2, 4-5.

Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)

Posted on 2026-06-22 a 6:53 pm

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die,” Revelation 3:2.

The role and duty of those in the position of leadership within the Church of Christ are clearly set forth throughout Holy Scripture, and nowhere more succinctly than in the words set down by Moses.

“Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment,” Deuteronomy 16:18.

The outcome of the special Presbytery in Dungannon, 20th June, convened to hear the report of the ‘Commission of Inquiry’ set up after  Revs R Johnstone and M Lecky were permitted to make statements of complaint before the Presbytery against Rev David Linden and myself on May 1st, has left a lot of questions unanswered and probably aroused many more!!

From the very beginning of the process, fairness and proper procedure were set aside and it was indicated, for any with eyes to see, that there was something very wrong within our ranks!

The whole episode has highlighted for many Free Presbyterians that there has been a drift away from the position, principles and philosophy of the witness and stand of our church as it was first formed, by God’s grace, in 1951.

It appears that there are those amongst our ministers and elders who are opposed to the command of Scripture to denounce sin, but who are prepared to misuse and misapply Holy Scripture to support their position.

Yet such denunciation of sin and backsliding is what the Free Presbyterian Church was brought into existence to do, irrespective of who is the guilty party.

Was it not the custom for the following verses to be read out, if not preached upon, at every minister’s ordination?

It would appear that of late few have heeded the words or noted their significance!

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables,” 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

On the day of my ordination, some fifty-eight years ago, Dr Ian Paisley preached on Jeremiah chapter 1.

There you find a definition of that prophet’s call and it embraces every minister’s calling, as was pressed home upon my soul that night!

“But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant,” Jeremiah 1:7-10.

Paul echoed these sentiments:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled,” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

NO CHARGES

Whatever some might have desired as the outcome of this Commission, it would appear that no disciplinary proceedings will be taken against myself and Rev Linden.

It must be stated that there never were any grounds for proceeding against us since what we did was fully supported by the Word of God. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-22 a 6:00 am

AN ANSWER TO FOUR LECTURES DELIVERED IN ENNISKILLEN CATHEDRAL BY THE BISHOP OF CLOGHER RICHARD HANSON

by

REV. IVAN FOSTER

Minister of Lisbellaw Free Presbyterian Church

Published as a booklet in 1970

The rage of the Bishop against the rock of Holy Scripture

 

Chapter III

 

The Authenticity of the Books of the Bible

Like all enemies of truth before him the Bishop of Clogher first of all sets the sights of his scholastic pea-shooter against the Word of God. The Word of God is the great barrier to all such as Dr. Hanson who wish to abolish fundamental Christianity.

Here is what he says concerning Paul’s pastoral epistles, i.e., epistles to Timothy and Titus: “… the pastoral epistles (which I assume to be written not by Paul but by somebody living early in the second century)”. (Lecture 2, paragraph 3.) He also attacks the authenticity of John’s Gospel. “St. John’s Gospel, which was certainly not written by John the Apostle, though it may have originated from a place where traditions about John were treasured.” (Lecture 2, paragraph 4.) Referring to the Second Epistle of Peter, he pontificates with great audacity: “Which is not, of course, by St. Peter.” (Lecture 2, paragraph 3.) Thus the Bishop has left us with a New Testament containing at least five forgeries. If the Bishop can substantiate his assertions he has of course very good reasons for changing doctrines based upon forged epistles. BUT HE DOES NOT AND CANNOT SUBSTANTIATE HIS CLAIMS.

Before we refute the errors of Dr. Hanson perhaps we would consider the supposition: “What if the Bishop is right and these epistles are forgeries?” Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-20 a 6:00 am

I recently heard, what I consider a very astute and accurate statement which had been made by an elder of many years standing as his summary of the change that has taken place within the Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church.

He said: ‘In earlier times, a minister or an elder would stand up with his Bible in his hand to make his point during a debate. That rarely happens now!’

That to me indicates a lesser knowledge of the Bible amongst many of our Presbytery members and/or there is no basis to be found in the Bible for that which is being supported!

The present controversy that surrounds Rev David Linden and myself, with regards the actions of Rev Marcus Lecky and Rev Ron Johnstone, give proof of the ‘Bible-less’ arguments prevalent today.

I pointed out in an article entitled: Response to Rev R Johnstone’s Presbytery statement against me that in the statement against me that he was allowed to make in Presbytery, which the Officer Bearers permitted without me being informed that the statement was going to be made, contrary to rule 10.5 of the ‘Book of Church Order’, and in  his email response to my original article,  Unambiguous witness or an uncertain sound — which?, Rev Ron Johnstone did not make one reference to the Bible in defence of his mingling with evangelical ministers in the ecumenical churches.

Again this absence to any reference to God’s Word was sadly seen in Rev Lecky’s upholding of ‘Contemporary Christian Music’.

My article, in response to it was published in ‘The Burning Bush’  and was entitled: Why no Bible references???

Even when this was pointed out, neither man seemed able to produce a defence from God’s Word. That says a lot! Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-17 a 6:00 am

“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest,” Revelation 15:1-4.

Chapter 15 of the Book of the Revelation was one of the chapters for reading on Saturday 13th June, as set down in M‘Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar.

I frequently mention my use of this wonderful aid to regular and methodical reading of God’s Word in order to commend it to the readers of ‘The Burning Bush’. I believe it to be without  parallel!

My thoughts were transported to heaven as I read the chapter and particularly the verses which head this article. My washing machine was tumbling my weekly wash as I sat and read the verses and somewhat like my clothes in the machine, thoughts began to tumble about in my mind as I mused upon what is stated in the verses!

Contrast

What a contrast there is revealed here, between the events on this earth and that which is taking place in heaven! The earth is about to encounter the full and final manifestations of God’s wrath against man’s sin and rebellion. Seven angels are given “seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever,” verse 7. In those vials was “filled up the wrath of God,” verse 1.

The ‘vials’ were shallow saucer-like vessels and I am inclined to think of them being dipped in the ‘lake of fire’ (20:15) and their contents pour out upon the nations following Antichrist. The vials being shallow indicates that the fulness of God’s wrath is not being poured out but only a foretaste of that which is to come!

How little mankind today knows of what lies ‘just round the corner’ for this world, especially that area which comprises the territory of the AntiChrist who will be manifested in final days of this age, the lands of the old Roman Empire!

Christian, it is your privilege to KNOW and UNDERSTAND what lies ahead, for it is revealed to us in great detail in that wonderful BOOK, so sadly neglected by Christians, the BIBLE!

I. WHAT JOHN SAW AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO SHARE WITH US, WE SHOULD CONTEMPLATE AS EARTH’S TROUBLES INCREASE DAILY!

1. Like John, every true servant of God should relate what is revealed here to his flock! This blessed book begins with these words: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand,” 1:1-3.

This book is a REVELATION, a revealing, a manifestation of that which the Lord would have us know! The devil would have us believe that it is an ‘unknowable’ tangle of verses containing ‘uninterpretable’ scenes which has led to the confusion of Christians!

That is the devil’s lie, sadly peddled by very foolish believers and even more foolish, ministers of the Gospel! Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-16 a 2:15 pm

AN ANSWER TO FOUR LECTURES DELIVERED IN ENNISKILLEN CATHEDRAL BY THE BISHOP OF CLOGHER RICHARD HANSON

by

REV. IVAN FOSTER

Minister of Lisbellaw Free Presbyterian Church

Published as a booklet in 1970

 

The rage of the Bishop against the rock of Holy Scripture

Chapter II

The Bishop’s Yardstick

Before we consider the conclusions (or should we say confusions) the Bishop comes to, we would do well to consider the principles by which he made his judgments. We quote from his first lecture. ‘Next, I want to give an account of the criteria (standard by which he will decided what is good and what is bad) which I am going to use in these lectures…The first pole is the faith of the individual believer and of the Church…The other criterion which I shall use is… the verdict of historical and theological scholarship.’ The Bishop then is guided by what is acceptable to the Church today and what is acceptable to the theological scholars of today and yesterday. But does it not matter what the Bible says we should believe? NOT TO THE BISHOP. You see, we (in this new and changed world of the Bishop’s making) are going to be given from the Bible that which has first of all passed the test of the theologians of ecumenism. In other words the Bishop would place us in the yoke of bondage which Luther and an enlightened Europe cast off at the Reformation. THE BISHOP WOULD HAVE US ACCEPT THE POPISH DOCTRINE OF SUBMISSION TO THE CHURCH AND NOT TO THE WORD OF GOD ON MATTERS OF FAITH AND PRACTICE. The cry of Fermanagh Protestants to the Bishop and his fellow-Romanisers is a long and loud ‘NO POPERY’!

Broken vow

Dr. Hanson swore at his ordination that his standard of faith was the Word of God. He has only recently changed his mind, because he swore the oath in the spring of 1970. Such is the hypocrisy and dishonesty of ecumenists. God’s Word says, ‘To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’ (Isaiah 8:20.) The Bishop has put the cart before the horse. We do not judge the Bible by the scholars, but the scholars by the Bible. It is God’s Word by which we judge the words of men. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-13 a 6:00 am

Much has been said by way of condemnation by both church men and politicians with regard to the recent riots in Belfast and in some other areas.

It would appear that the very serious public disorder was sparked off by a murderous Sudanese migrant, who appears to have unlawfully entered Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic. He travelled from the north African country to Paris and then on to Dublin, before catching a bus to Belfast in February 2023.

The border between that separates the Republic from this part of the United Kingdom is exceedingly ‘porous’! It is now acknowledged that the knife-attack suspect Hadi Alodid, was granted asylum under a ‘fast-track’ scheme.

Hadi Alodid attacked a local man, a Mr Stephen Ogilvie, in North Belfast with a knife and caused him serious injuries. The victim has been reported as suffering serious injuries  in the attack and being blinded in one eye. It appears that the migrant was attempting to ‘behead’ his victim!

Had it not been for the intervention of some bystanders and the beating the attacker off from his victim, it seems likely that the local man would have been murdered.

Treacherous policy

The lack of border security, a deliberate policy on the part of the British Government in London, which is bent on pushing Northern Ireland into a ‘United Ireland’ under Dublin, played a large part in causing the riots.

But the root cause goes deeper.

Mr Jim Allister, party leader of ‘Traditional Unionist Values’,  referring to the attack in Parliament said: ‘What I want to know, and what I know that my constituents want to hear, is what will be done to stop the importation of an alien culture that thinks it is appropriate to try to behead someone within the United Kingdom.” (Read report here). Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-12 a 6:00 am

On Wednesday evening in Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church prayer meeting, the minister, Rev Samuel Fitton brought a challenging word to us all from Haggai chapter 1.

That message may be listened to with profit by accessing the church website on Facebook.

As a preacher, it is impossible for me to look at a passage of God’s Word without seeing an application of it to the circumstances that prevail around us.

1. Please notice that the call for a ‘considering of their ways’ was directed to the leaders of the work of God in that day.

“In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,” verse 1.

These men, the governor of Judah and the high priest, had for some seventeen or eighteen years been presiding over a ‘dying work and witness’!

Doubtless, both attended to some duties attached to their offices. I cannot but think that Joshua, the high priest never missed a service, but all that time the work of God was dying under their hands!

2. They had to have the careless ways of the people drawn to their attention by the Lord!

“Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built,” verse 2.

The leaders were blind and deaf and indifferent to the spirit that presided amongst the people. The neglect of God’s house was surely most obvious! It surely could not have gone on for some ‘seventeen or eighteen years after the proclamation of Cyrus for the Jews to return to their own land’ as has been pointed out by the learned, Bishop Ussher. And yet the leaders did nothing! Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-11 a 9:40 pm

Deuteronomy chapter 13

This chapter was part of the Bible reading schedule for today as set down in Robert Murray M‘Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar.

The date of the warnings issued in this chapter is just prior to  Israel’s crossing of the Jordon and entering the ‘Promised Land’.

The Lord is frequently given to repeating Himself. He repeated the promise of His blessing upon them, reminding them of His mercy and grace toward their fathers and the generations which followed. They will be brought into the ‘land flowing with milk and honey’. He also repeats His warning about disobedience and straying from His Word. Both of these matters God’s people are prone to forget, especially the latter matter.

Of course, it was not just the Israelites who tended to forget the command that God has issued to us all: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” Exodus 20:3.

The history of the people of God in this New Testament era is just as marked by departure and spiritual delinquency as was any generation of the Old Testament saints.

The professing people of God in the Old Testament ended their era with a total rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah.

Peter made that plain to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.

“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses,” Acts 3:13-15.

That age ended in the same manner as will this present age! ‘Christendom’ as the body of professing Christians today are often labelled, will end up rejecting Christ to the same degree as did the Jewish race back in the early years of this epoch.

The spirit of apostasy that gripped and dominated Israel and resulted in the crucifixion of the Saviour, will in like manner grip the ‘professing church of Christ’ in the last days and the Lord Jesus, as He is revealed in Holy Scripture, will be utterly repudiated. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-10 a 6:00 am

On Saturday 6th June in Kilskeery FPC, the 60th Anniversary of the 1966 protest and imprisonment was marked with a special meeting where one of the imprisoned ministers, Rev. Ivan Foster spoke about these matters, and how the Lord used it for the furtherance of the Gospel in Northern Ireland.

On Monday 6th June 1966, the Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, Dr. Ian R.K. Paisley led a protest to the General Assembly Buildings in Belfast.

As the protestors marched, a cordon was placed across the road by the police which resulted in the march being brought to a halt outside the entrance to Assembly Buildings. Shortly after, a number of individuals were arrested and brought to court charged with unlawful assembly.

Consequently, three Free Presbyterian ministers, Dr. Ian Paisley, Rev. John Wylie & Rev. Ivan Foster were imprisoned in Crumlin Road jail for 3 months.

Both during and after that period of imprisonment, the Lord came down and the Free Presbyterian Church flourished with many new congregations being constituted. Between 1966-1970, approximately 17 new congregations were added to the 13 already in existence which took the Free Presbyterian Church into every County in Ulster for the first time.

Read sermon notes here

 

View a video of this sermon below:

Here is a link to an old news film of the march which begins with scenes from the Cromac Square riot by republicans and police injured in the riot and then the march and gathering outside of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, General Assembly.

1966 Protest March

Note: this video link will not work outside of locations in Great Britain!

Posted on 2026-06-06 a 11:30 pm

AN ANSWER TO FOUR LECTURES DELIVERED IN ENNISKILLEN CATHEDRAL BY THE BISHOP OF CLOGHER RICHARD HANSON

by

REV. IVAN FOSTER

Minister of Lisbellaw Free Presbyterian Church

Published as a booklet in 1970

 

Chapter 1 – The Unchangeable Character of Christianity

Before examining the text of these lectures we shall examine the title:  “CHANGING CHRISTIANITY IN A CHANGING WORLD”. Its suggestion as before stated, is that Christianity must change with the times. But is this so? We say no.

I. My first reason for rejecting a changed Christianity is that the needs of the world (i.e. mankind) have not changed.

Solomon, the wise man, said: “There is no new thing under the sun”. The scoffer points to the men who recently walked on the moon and cries: “There is something new”. No doubt this is man in new surroundings and new circumstances, but—and this is what Solomon meant —it is old-fashioned man who is on the moon. Th men who trod the earth in the dawn of creation and those who trod the moon’s surface in recent times are exactly the same SPIRITUALLY and MORALLY. Six thousand years may have brought man many technological advances, but he has not advanced one inch toward God or holiness. The sins of the world today were those of the world at the time of the Roman Empire, and correspond with those of the Babylonian Empire. The awful virus of depravity can be traced to its source—Adam’s transgression. ‘By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners’ (Romans 5:19).

In his unrighteous state before God man has remained and will remain utterly alienated from God. However, the grace of God has decreed that this state of affairs can be remedied and that only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The preaching of the Gospel is the spreading of this good news. The resultant religion that stems from faith in the Gospel is Christianity. Christianity is the religion based upon and agreeable to the Holy Scriptures. The position of the reformed theologian can be summed up in the words of the statement which the Bishop swore he believed.

‘Are you persuaded that the Holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all doctrine required of necessity for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?’ (Consecration of a Bishop, Book of Common Prayer.)

In answer to this the Bishop should have been honest and said, ‘No’, since he believes that the Bible does not give us sufficient doctrine and we must add to and alter it. Of course the Bishop was posing as a reformed and Protestant Bishop, and since this is what the Reformers believed—namely that the Bible contains all the doctrines necessary for our salvation through Jesus Christ—he said, ‘I am persuaded…’ Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-05 a 6:00 am

“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees,” Isaiah 35:1-3.

I read these verses with the mindset that ‘The Lord says what He means and means what He says!’

I consider these words to be a literal setting forth of what the Lord purposes to do one day for Israel and in the midst of mankind. I recall my brother in law, the late Dr John. Douglas, responding to a Christian who held to an ‘A-millennial’ view of prophecy, that if he is wrong in taking God  to mean what it says, then he will explain to the Lord on that great day of standing before Him to give an account of our ways and doings, ‘Lord I simply believed what you said, rather than trusting in any notion of man as to what you meant!’

It came home to that A-millennialist, that there was simple and honest logic behind Dr Douglas’s understanding of Scripture!

Metaphorical

A-millennialism is essentially a dismissing of a considering  of the wording of prophecy as being literal but rather it is to be understood as figurative and metaphorical.

Such a notion gives licence to man’s fertile imagination and produces the most ludicrous notions as to what God’s Word means! The ‘prophetic’ exegesis of those who hold to this notion, demonstrates a likeness to the famous Heinz ’57 varieties’ advertising slogan of some years ago! It is a case of making God’s Word to say whatever you would like it to say!

When we stay with a literal understanding of God’s Word, except where He makes it clear that He is using parabolic language, then that is wise, irrespective of the empty scoffing of foolish men!

What is stated in this chapter is entirely in keeping with other portions of God’s Word.

Isaiah 11 is just such a chapter as is 2:1-4; 9:6-7; 60:1-22; 65:17-25; Micah 4:1-8; Zechariah 14, and I must, of course, add Revelation 20:1-10.

We are told very specifically by Peter that: “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed,” Acts 3:24-25.

To return to Isaiah 35, one of the chapters I read today (3rd June), what wonders are here outlined as being what the Lord plans to do on the earth and amongst mankind.

IN THIS CHAPTER IS EMPHASISED GOD’S PLAN FOR HIS ANCIENT PEOPLE ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD IN GENERAL

1. It is very wrong to believe that the Lord has abandoned and is finished with the nation of Israel! Paul makes that clear in his writing to the church at Rome. “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew,” Romans 11:1-2.

He then goes on, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to detail God’s future purpose for that ancient people. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-04 a 6:00 am

A few comments on a most appropriate psalm for the people of God today.

Psalm 85 is one of the four chapters of God’s Word allocated in McCheyne’s Bible Reading calendar for reading and study on Saturday 31st May.

As I read it, I found it so appropriate and relevant to the circumstances prevailing in many places amongst the people of God, not least here in Northern Ireland.

I jotted down some observations as I read the Psalm and then felt that I should share them with our ‘Burning Bush’ readers.

So here they are, (a little enlarged) for whatever they are worth, and I trust the Psalm will bless you as it has blessed me — aye and much more!

1. «To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.» LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

‘It is the prayer of a patriot for his afflicted country, in which he pleads the Lord’s former mercies, and by faith foresees brighter days,’ C H Spurgeon.

As it was with Jacob, the nation of Israel, so it has ever been with the New Testament Church! How frequently the Lord has had to ‘bring us back’ from captivity! His bringing us back from captivity is a wonderful evidence of ‘favour’! The word means ’to take pleasure in’. What a favour is that!

2. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

What a ‘bringing back’ it has ever been! There is ‘forgiveness’ for our many sins which CAUSED our captivity. In our folly we abandoned the Lord and became slaves of that which oppressed us.

3. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

How we need to ever remember what backsliding and departure from ‘the Old Paths’ bring upon us! ‘Wrath and fierce anger’!

Sadly, God’s people repeatedly forget this truth and only learn it afresh when they begin to reap that sad harvest! “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting,” Galatians 6:7-8. Click to read more…

Posted on 2026-06-01 a 6:00 am