June 2016

Index to this edition

• Latest news stories
• Some things to be considered regarding the recent decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union.
• SERMON: Pharaoh – a foreshadowing of the Antichrist
• SERMON: Securing the future by remembering the past, Pt1
• SERMON: The day when the tide of immigration will turn
• To what extent does the Free Presbyterian church owe its present prosperity to the events of 1966?
• Editor’s correspondence with ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty:Part 6
• Pictures of Christ series of Bible studies for Kilskeery Independent Christian School

Some things to be considered regarding the recent decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union.

By Rev Ivan Foster

I believe that the outcome of the referendum on the EU came as a surprise to many Christians, even though they had hoped for a vote to withdraw. The outcome was not that which was predicted by most newspaper opinion polls and that was not really surprising, given the campaign that the government, led by Mr Cameron, mounted in company with the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbin and those of that ilk.

The decision has brought a measure joy to earnest Christians who saw the miseries that links with the EU have brought about. Many of the immoral changes introduced into UK law had their source in the EU. The laws on sodomy, same-sex ‘marriages’ and abortion were all altered to suit the moral attitudes prevailing within the EU.

However, there are some simple truths which we must not lose sight of in the light of this momentous decision. Read more…

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‘Pharaoh’ – a foreshadowing of the Antichrist

That there have been men who in their lives foreshadowed the future Antichrist serves to remind us of a number of important truths.

1. The spirit of iniquity has been at work amongst men since the fall of Adam. The devil’s temptation of man was not a random event but rather the beginning, amongst men, of the devil’s plan to overthrow God!

2. Furthermore, these vile men were merely foreshadowings and not the substance which indicates the restraining power of God upon the devil at work. The devil would like to have made some of them his ultimate agents but was prevented from doing so by the restraining power of God.

3. Moreover, if such wicked men as Cain, Goliath, Judas, and many others were but foreshadowings of the Antichrist, then the final manifestation of wickedness incarnate will be most dreadful indeed.

As a volcano reveals its destructive heart by its occasional eruptions, even so the repeated emergence of evil men, whose ways and words have been a portent of that satanically-controlled being who will emerge to dominate the Roman world, shortly before the return of the Saviour, has been a revealing of the burning cauldron of degeneracy that has long been inhibited by the mighty power of God until it is God’s time to bring to pass “every purpose of the LORD,” Jeremiah 51:29. Read more…

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Securing the future by remembering the past, part 1.

Psalm 78

It is clearly stated here in this Psalm what the duty of fathers is regarding teaching children of the merciful dealings of God with them and their forbears.

“We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done,” verse 4.

The consequences of failure is clearly indicated here also. “And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God,” verse 8.

We must not just bear in mind God’s merciful dealings with His people in the past and the rich and blessed harvest that was the result, but we must also remember what disobedience and defiance of God by former generations brought upon them. See versus 18-33. Read more…

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The day when the tide of immigration will turn

A consideration of the prophecy of Zechariah, chapter 5, and its relevance to the referendum on UK membership of the EU.

“Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base,” Zechariah 5:10-11.

There is at work today throughout the earth, a spirit of iniquity and rebellion that will reach its fulness in the days just prior to the Saviour’s return. Read more…

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To what extent does the Free Presbyterian church owe its present prosperity to the events of 1966?

On the 6th June 1966, a Free Presbyterian protest march of witness which had been given permission by the police to take place and its route approved, was attacked by Republican rioters in the Cromac Square area of Belfast. The route the parade followed was the main route into the centre of Belfast and there was no alternative route available.

Preparation

The rioters had prepared themselves for the ambush by collecting railway bolts from a section of a nearby railway which was being demolished and delivering them by lorry to side streets in the Cromac square area. Police were informed of these activities but took very little if any action.

Long before the witness march arrived in the Cromac Square area and before it could be seen, the Republicans had begun to attack the police.

The witness marchers had to walk through a lethal hail of stones, bottles, railway bolts and other deadly missiles. Read more…

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There are better men amongst the women!!!!!

Editor’s correspondence with ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty

Back in 2002, I entered into a correspondence in the pages of “The Burning Bush” with a Roman Catholic priest from Belfast. The correspondence arose after I wrote a letter in reply to an article by the priest in “The Belfast Telegraph” of August 24th, 2002.

I was grieved at such a platform being given to the errors and deceptions of Rome and commented on the priest’s article in a letter to “The Belfast Telegraph.”

It will be noted how our two replies to the priest were edited by the ‘Letters Editor’ of “The Belfast Telegraph” before they quickly closed the exchange after two exchanges.

The Word of God was not liked by that ecumenical newspaper back then and it is still the case. Every effort was made to shield and protect the priest of Rome from the rebuke of God’s Word.

We are republishing the correspondence, which continued for eight exchanges, and appeared in “The Burning Bush” from October 2002 until May 2003, because of the publicity given to the ‘warm relationship’ that was manifested between this priest and Pastor James McConnell during the recent trial occasioned by Pastor McConnell’s pulpit statements about Islam. Pastor McConnell asked ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty to speak on his behalf during the trial.

All this “ecumenical camaraderie” between the pastor and the priest may appear to some to give endorsement of the teachings of Rome and it is for this reason we highlight again the errors this priest, like all Roman Catholic clerics, propagates.

Needless to say, it also highlights the folly of James McConnell!

Read Part 6 of the exchange here.

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Pictures of Christ series

Rev. Foster is engaged in an ongoing series of studies in Kilskeery Independent Christian School morning assemblies in which he deals with the theme, “Pictures of Christ in the Bible”, i.e. the descriptions and types of Christ given in the Scriptures.

Each new study will be added as it becomes available and you can listen to new studies using the player below.

Previously published studies in this series can be heard here.

Bible pictures of Christ Pt 61
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 62
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 63
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 64
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 65

Please note that there will be no new studies added till school resumes in September DV.

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Latest news stories

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