December 2025

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The Return of Christ, Pt 11
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Tue Oct 7, 2014
featured on Sun Dec 28, 2025

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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
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preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Sep 24, 2014
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Recently Preached Sermons

Entering 2026 looking for the return of Christ
preached by Rev. Ivan Foster on Wed Dec 31, 2025

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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

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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

Aaron, the Bad Example of a Godly Leader Gone Astray
preached by John Pittman Hey on Sun Sep 16, 2007

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Watch Kilskeery Free Presbyterian services live online here


 

UK government officials said IRA man organised £26.5m bank raid

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

(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.

United Nations headquarters, New York City, photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash

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!

Christmas tree, photo by Tessa Rampersad on Unsplash

“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

Fig leaves, by Studio Kealaula on Unsplash

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

Wailing wall, adjacent to the ruins of the second temple in Jerusalem

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!

Photograph of part of Old Jerusalem as it exists today

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?

Death and the curse were in our cup:
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.

Édouard Debat-Ponsan (1847–1913) Catherine de Medici gazing at Protestants massacred in the aftermath of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, oil on canvas, 1880

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’!

Way too many lights, Photo by Juliana Malta on Unsplash

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)

Rev Dr S. B. Cooke

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)

Dr Cooke (front right) and Rev Ivan Foster (left), a second year ministerial student at the Free Presbyterian Church protest against the ecumenical apostasy of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, June 1967.

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

Hanun humiliates David’s ambassadors, by having their tunics and beards slashed. 1240s, Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 40

“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