Caroline Barclay - July 16, 2023

Church Service July 16, 2023

 

Master's Hand Service

Sunday July 16th at 6 p.m.

Hillside Community Hall

27 Chance Harbour Rd.

Speaker Caroline Barclay

Worship with Jasmjne Trott

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Book of Colossians Part 3

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - BABYLON

 

BABYLON

One of the great cities of the ancient world was Babylon. It apparently developed in the area where the Tower of Babel was founded, according to the Bible, by Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah. Babylon, over the years, developed into a great city, and at one time was believed to be the largest in the world. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it was the capitol of the empire ruled over by King Nebuchadnezzar. It was he who, while surveying his domain, proclaimed:

Is not this great Babylon, 

that I have build for a royal dwelling 

by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty? 

(Daniel 4:30)

And it was to this same king that a voice from heaven spoke these words soon after his proclamation:

…to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 

And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. 

They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, 

until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, 

and gives it to whomever He chooses. 

(Daniel 4:31-32)

The king’s arrogance and self importance caused his downfall and the city itself also declined in importance until it essentially ceased, as a city, to exist. This should be a warning for us in this day, because ignoring God in our affairs can still lead to unwanted results.

In the Book of Revelation, Babylon is again mentioned as a symbol of self reliance and arrogance, and as such is really a paradigm of any major metropolis or nation. In such a context, the Bible states:

…Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, 

a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 

Therefore her plagues will come in one day —death and mourning and famine…

(Revelation 18:2,8)         

So what are the reasons given for this situation? There are apparently five.*

Iniquity.

In the time of Daniel, Babylon was a major metropolis and had become a network of demonic activity, including astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers, whose activities and philosophies were reaching out across nations and effectively possessing the minds of many. It had become 

…a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit… 

(Revelation 18:2)

Influence. 

At the city’s zenith, Babylon exerted considerable secular attractiveness to surrounding nations and peoples. As a result, people of wealth, influence, and power were all attracted to this city as well as the crime bosses and drug promoters. As the Bible says:

…all the nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication, 

the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, 

and the merchants of the earth have become rich 

through the abundance of her luxury.

(Revelation 18:3)

Infidelity. 

As with the intended old tower of Babel, the sins of this city have piled one on top of the other and:

…her sins have reached to heaven, and God has rememberers her iniquities.
(Revelation 18:5)

Insolence. 

In spite of all that goes on in this city, it continues to think of itself as a glorious place and tends to promote all that is going on within its’ borders. Babylon tends to continue to promote its’ lifestyle and activity.

In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously…

for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow’
(Revelation 18:7)

Inhumanity. 

As a great city, involved with all sorts of commerce and trade, it was apparent that some of this activity involved the sale and trade of humans into forms of slavery and prostitution. And anyone who objected to such activity would just be shoved aside or silenced.

…merchandise of gold and silver…and bodies and souls of men. 

And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, 

and of all who were slain on the earth.

(Revelation: 12,13,24)

In this city, everything may seem to be going well for those who inhabit this area, but as with Sodom and Gomorrah, change may come quickly. Man never learns from history that it is not wise to neglect God and His ordinances. For as it continues:

…in one hour she is made desolate… 

Her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine…

for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

(Revelation 18:19,8)

How much like Babylon are our cities and nations becoming today and what is the likelihood of similar happenings in our day as those that befell Babylon in the Scriptures? After all our world is changing and not, for the most part, for the better. Is there still time for humanity to change or not?

It does give one something to think about.

*As noted in The Book of Signs pgs 48-51 by Dr. David Jeremiah

GOD BLESS

 

 From the book Every Day with Jesus, written by David Jeremiah I came across this reading. I would like to share it with you.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” This is taken from Psalm 1:1 NKJV

In the Good News it reads like this:

“Happy are those who reject the advice of evil men, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God.”

 

David Jeremiah writes: Sometimes you’ll hear the German word gesundheit when someone sneezes. It literally means “health,” so saying it after a sneeze means  ”Good health to you!” The English expression “God bless you” was intended the same way: “May God bless you with good health!”

    But what does blessing mean? Why do we say, “God bless you,” upon parting, or sign our emails with “Blessings”? In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the word for blessing literally means “happiness.” The Old Testament word osher came from a root meaning  “to be level or right, to go forth in properness and rightness.” The New Testament makarious also means to be happy – that is, “to live in God’s favour.” So when we say, “God bless you“, we are invoking the happiness only God can provide. And we find that happiness by living according to His guidelines for life – full of the Spirit and based on the Word.

        Who wouldn’t want to live a happy life? While the world promotes many paths to happiness, only God’s blessings can bring true happiness.

Have a great day and God Bless

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Book of Colossians Part 2

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think Aout - BALAAM

 Balaam

In the Book of Revelation, Christ makes a comment concerning the church at Pergamos in which He states that: “…I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam…” (Revelation 2:14). 

Now Balaam was a prophet who was apparently hired by the king of Moab to curse the Israelites. Balak, the Moabite king was fearful of the advancing Israelite army which had already defeated two other kingdoms, and so sought to obtain an advantage by having this prophet curse the Israelites. However, under God’s direction, Balaam only managed to pronounce blessings on the Israelites rather than curses even though he had taken the fee offered by Balak to curse the Israelites. This is all recorded in Numbers 23-24.

Thus it seemed Balaam was unable to curse the Israelites and Balak was becoming more upset with Balaam who was still eager to receive the fees further promised to him. As a result, Balaam decided that since he was unable to curse the Israelite people, he would devise a plan to deceive them. He apparently persuaded the Moabite women to be available in such a way that the men of Israel would prostitute themselves with them. Likewise the Median women were also there to seduce the Hebrew males. This is all believed to be due to the inducements of Balaam. (Numbers 31:16)

As a result of all this, the Israelite people:

…began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab… 

…[who] invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, 

and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

(Numbers 25:1-2)

So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, 

and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

…And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.

(Numbers 25:3,9)

So Balaam was considered the cause of, and the reason for, the severing of the power the Israelites had from God. And this occurred because the Israelite men became seduced by the women of Moab and Midian, and all this due to the counsel of Balaam. Where he could not curse, he corrupted. He counselled that, because the Israelis were the covenant people of God, they could sin with apparent immunity.

And such apparently is the case still today. There are teachings that indicate that, because we are saved by grace nothing can remove that from us. The Bible teaches that we, in fact, run a race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) and are engaged in a conflict (2 Timothy 2:4, Ephesians 6:10-18) in which we must be victorious to obtain the “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8).

As Paul put it in Romans: “…Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:1,2). The idea is that, just because we have been saved by grace, we are not free to sin at liberty. As such practices brought down the Israelites, so may we suffer the same fate. And this idea that, because we have been chosen (or saved) we are free to engage in any moral or pagan ritual without penalty is really the doctrine of Balaam.

And it really is something we should all think about.