(Preached in Kilskeery FPC by Rev Ivan Foster, 22nd October 2017 in the evening meeting)
Scripture: “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD,” 2 Chronicles 20:3-4.
There are few today who recognise the crisis that is upon the nation. Not even, indeed, least of all, the leaders of our nation.
It is a wonderfully easy thing to denounce government leaders for their faults and failures but let every Christian, who is a citizen, be aware that we all must bear some responsibility for what has taken place within our nation. Who can say, “I did all that was possible, my hands are clean”! Very few if any can make that claim.
It is only when we recognise our duty and seek to do all in our power to stand for the “crown rights of King Jesus and the crown jewels of His Gospel” that we are brought to the place where we say with Paul: “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men,” Acts 20:26. Have we been as faithful as this?
I wish to set before us all our duty in this day of national crisis. No clearer demonstration of our primary duty can be had than in this chapter. Here Jehoshaphat acted wisely and courageously and we must learn from him for are these things not written for our learning, Rom 15:4?
(Preached in Kilskeery FPC by Rev Ivan Foster, 22nd October 2017 in the morning meeting)
Scripture: “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof,” Rom 13:14.
In verses 11-14 Paul uses the language of a parable in order to put across certain truths regarding the need for holy living. He likens our duties unto those we commonly engage in every morning as we rise from our bed and prepare for the activities of the day ahead. Note the phrase at the beginning of the section. “Knowing the time,” verse 11.
For many of us, we have heard the shout: “Get up! Don’t you know the time?” Is there not a similar note here in Paul’s words?
How important it is to be aware of the time on God’s clock. What mistakes have been made, opportunities missed, losses incurred and tragedies occasioned by errors about the time!
It is impossible to journey through this world without a knowledge of the time. SO IT IS WITH ETERNAL MATTERS!
How many there are who have no sense of time and that we need to awaken! They slumber on in sin or live as Christians in carelessness.
Preached In Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church, Sunday October 16th, 2017.
“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle,” 2 Thessalonians 2:15.
Jude was pressed in his soul to warn of the infiltration of the ranks of the Apostolic Church by those he called ‘creepers’! “There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ,” Jude 1:4.
From its inception, the embodiment of Ecumenism, the World Council of Churches, made its objective clear.
The goal of the World Council was plainly stated at its convening Assembly in August 1948. Former General Secretary of the WCC, W.A. Visser ‘t Hooft, stated the sentiments of the ecumenists gathered for that historic occasion:
“Our name indicates our weakness and our shame before God, for there can be and there is finally only one Church of Christ on earth. Our plurality is a deep anomaly. But our name indicates also that we are aware of that situation, that we do not accept it passively, THAT WE WOULD MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE ONE HOLY CHURCH” (The Genesis and Formation of the World Council of Churches, P. 66).
In 1948 a Lutheran delegate stated that the purpose of the World Council of Churches was to reverse the Reformation.
“The Common Declaration by Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Michael Ramsey”, In which they said that their meeting “marks a new stage in the development of fraternal relations, based upon Christian charity, and of sincere efforts to remove the causes of conflict and to re-establish unity.” (1966).
Oct. 6, 2016. VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis and Anglican Primate Archbishop Justin Welby have signed a joint-declaration emphasising that while topics such as homosexuality and the ordination of women still constitute points of division, they are committed to working together in their pursuit of full unity.
The WCC and its associated churches has been pursuing that purpose ever since 1948 and that with much success amongst its member churches. A recent statement, posted in July of this year, indicates that.
The World Communion of Reformed Churches has formally joined an ecumenical statement with Roman Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists aiming to overcome divisions between Protestants and Roman Catholics from the time of the Protestant Reformation.
“Today is a historic day,” said Jerry Pillay, president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), at a ceremony on 5 July in the eastern German town of Wittenburg, where Martin Luther lived and worked. “The documents we are signing today are significant and symbolic of the road we are to travel.”
What a work of God the Reformation was and how hard the devil and his agents are working to overthrow it!
Out text, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, teaches us the very opposite to that which the Ecumenists are engaged in.
