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“Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes,” Ezekiel 21:6.

“For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season,” 2 Corinthians 7:8.

I was greatly encouraged by two chapters which were part of my daily reading on the morning of Thursday, 19th September.

The first was Ezekiel chapter 21 and the other was 2 Corinthians chapter 7.

The atmosphere amongst the people of God in 2025 is very different from that which I encountered as a new convert to Christ in 1964!

Back then I was brought, by the wonderful mercy of God, under the preaching of one who was a man filled with the Holy Spirit and preaching forth God’s Word in faithfulness and with power — he was Ian Paisley!

Joel chapter 2

Shortly after I started attending Ravenhill Free Presbyterian Church, Dr Paisley began a series of message from Joel chapter 2. It was all about the preparation necessary in order to pray effectually for revival.

I can still recall those meetings, especially his dealing with the verses 15-25.

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”

Even now as I read those words, I sense again something of the joyous anticipation of God’s answering of prayer. (more…)

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds),” 2 Peter 2:6-8.

We could be forgiven for believing that Lot was not a saved man were we only to have the accounts of him recorded in the book of Genesis.

He was not called by the Lord to go forth from Babylon to the land promised to Abraham. He merely tagged along with his uncle!

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran,” Genesis 12:1-4.

I have no doubt that Abraham would have shared the contents of the Lord’s promise with his family members, including Lot, and I would be of the opinion that it was the prospect of future ‘material’ benefits that were to be bestowed upon his uncle, and which he could share in, that moved Lot to go with Abraham to the land promised of God.

This is not just an opinion based upon mere prejudice on my part, but rather on the information given us about Lot in the divine record.

In the many references to Abraham building altars and calling upon the Lord, there is no mention of Lot sharing in these times of worship!

Quarrel

In the incident involving strife between the herdsmen of the two men, I believe we can see a kindly, accommodating spirit manifested by Abraham. (more…)

Just recently I received an email most courteously written by a brother in Christ, who is a member of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

He felt that as a Christian he could maintain his walk with the Lord in that denomination and hope that the Free Presbyterian Church and his could work together to further the cause of Christ.

I attempted to reply in the manner in which his email was written but I did have strong things to unavoidably say and in a bid to be faithful to the Word of God sought not to ‘water down’ Holy Scripture.

The Lord’s command to Jeremiah clearly indicates that there is the temptation to couch God’s Word in what appears less extreme or forceful terms than the Lord employs, so that those to whom we are sent to speak His Word, will accept it.

“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them,” Jeremiah 1:17.

There is a lot of that folly about today. The ‘old fashioned’ terms of the Bible give offence to a world bent on rejecting Christ and all that is of Him. The objections of the ’sodomite lobby’ to the Bible’s references to their perversion and the inevitable damnation that such iniquity will bring, has provoked court action and public disorder by these perverts!

Sadly, even ministers of the gospel feel that they can set forth the Gospel in terms better than its Author, and are stupid and arrogant enough to engage in such folly and adopt the world’s terminology in place of God’s words!

For the sake of younger believers, who may be carried away with this folly, I am reproducing the answer I gave to the Christian brother who wrote to me. (more…)