Here are some notes from Sunday's service. (Thanks, Jean)
Dr. Barclay—Theme: Ancient Israel and an example to the
church today
Today in many parts of the world where this is severe
poverty, strife, war and persecution. Places like central and southeast Asia,
Africa and the middle east mosques and churches are full, yet here in North
America and Europe, many churches are empty and only half filled. Here in
the wealthier parts of the world where Christians experienced very little
persecution many Christians have become lazy and selfish, they are not serious,
nor committed when it comes to church attendance, prayer and Bible reading.
When we read the old testament and look at the nation of Israel, it serves as
timeless example and a great study of how compromise with false religions never
works and leads to division and great tragedy. Isaiah along with other prophets
warned ancient Israel and warns us today, we have to stand true for God 100%.
Giving in and acquiescing with pagan practices and beliefs will only bring
destruction. God does not ask or require us to be popular and politically
correct, he only requires us to tell the truth and obey his word.
Isaiah started his prophetic work in 740 BC.
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Isaiah 1:1-28
1 The vision
of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the
days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O
heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have
nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful
nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are
corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One
of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should
ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is
sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the
sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds,
and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country
is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it
in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the
daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden
of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the Lord of
hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom,
and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the
word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God,
ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I
am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I
delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye
come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my
courts?
13 Bring no
more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and
sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even
the solemn meeting.
14 Your new
moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I
am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make
many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you,
make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease
to do evil;
17 Learn to do
well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow.
18 Come now,
and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye
refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it.
21 How is the
faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged
in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver
is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes
are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and
followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the
cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore
saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel,
Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will
turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all
thy tin:
26 And I will
restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning:
afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall
be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28 And the
destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and
they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
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Israel is God's chosen nation. Israel is the vessel God
chose, to spread his message throughout the world.
Sin brings destruction. Destruction was brought on Israel
due to it's straying away from Jehovah.
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Isaiah 7:10-17
10 Moreover
the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a
sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the
height above.
12 But Ahaz
said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
13 And he
said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary
men, but will ye weary my God also?
14 Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and
honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before
the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that
thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
17 The Lord shall
bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that
have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king
of Assyria.
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Isaiah 11:1-5 this passage was written 750 years before the
birth of Christ, Isaiah foretold this great event.
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Isaiah 11:1-5
11 And there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out
of his roots:
2 And the
spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the Lord;
3 And shall
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall
not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of
his ears:
4 But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek
of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and
with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5 And
righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle
of his reins.
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Christmas is to be thought of and celebrated as a Holy Day
not a simple Holiday, such as a time for parties and a day off work. Christmas
is not about presents and trees it is all about our relationship with Christ.
Isaiah 53
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Isaiah 53
53 Who hath
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 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.
3 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.
4 Surely he
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken
from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he
was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people
was he stricken.
9 And he made
his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it
pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand.
11 He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was
numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
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Whatever time we have left on this earth we should spend it
in a sincere relationship with God.
Pastor Dave McLean ----Theme: We are not to be controlled by
our emotions.
Christians worldwide need to know who they are in Christ and
not be insecure.
Christians have been made victorious through Christ and we
need to live out that knowledge. We need to love and trust God with our full
hearts and not just half or a little. What is happening in the world today
should not be a surprise. We need to continue trusting God and not fear.
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Matthew 24:6-14
6 And ye shall
hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these
are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be
hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then
shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one
another.
11 And many
false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that
shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto
all nations; and then shall the end come
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Christians cannot be defeated God is on our side, he said he
would never leave us or forsake us.
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John 10:10
10 The thief
cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that
they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
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God wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly.
The devil comes to make us feel bad about ourselves. We have been made more
than conquerors in Christ. We are not limited by our worldly education. God has
placed his wisdom within us. Satan will try to have us look back on our
failures. We cannot let our emotions rule our lives. As Christians we are to
let God's word rule our lives. We will never be winners if we let our emotions
control our lives. We are joint heirs with Christ, we are to pray and lay hands
on the sick with full faith and confidence. Satan wants us to feel unworthy so
that we will not step out in faith. God cares about the little things in our
lives. The same spirit that anointed Jesus has anointed you and I.
23 Jesus said
unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth.
24 And
straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I
believe; help thou mine unbelief.
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Believe the answer is on the way when you pray. If we do not
forgive Satan will take advantage of us. Do not spend time with people who will
bring you down. Only place your confidence and trust in Christ, in this world
he is our only security.
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