South Featherstone Gospel Hall

  “When Blessings Come – Remember the Lord” – Deuteronomy 6:10-end Dear Friends, as the children of Israel stood on the edge of the Promised Land, Moses gave them a sobering and practical warning. After years of wilderness wandering, they were about to enter a land of abundance they had not laboured for — cities they did not build, houses full of good things, wells they did not dig, and vineyards they did not plant. It was all a gift from God’s hand. But with great blessing comes a subtle danger. Moses says: “Then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:12 ESV) In times of comfort and prosperity it is easy to become self-sufficient and forget our total dependence upon God. The very blessings that should draw us closer to Him can become the means by which we drift away. Moses urges them to keep God’s words in their hearts, to teach them diligently to their children, and to speak of them constantly in...

  Acts 2 v 42 is a crucial verse concerning the spiritual success of a church. Following the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God had blessed His word and thousands of new believers in the Lord Jesus Christ had been ‘created’. These were mostly Jews and immediately they confessed their faith in Jesus, they were excommunicated from the synagogues and even from their own families. They had been saved from sin but could then have been in a total wilderness as far as spiritual growth is concerned. But quickly, it was realised by the Apostles that a way forward spiritually had to be organised in a practical way to build the church and set the new disciples on a spiritual growth road. The verse sets forward 4 pillars for spiritual growth which are as valid today as they were then, “And they (new believers) devoted themselves to the Apostles’ doctrine, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”. Leave out any one or more of those 4 pillars, and the structure becomes uns...

  “Fight the Good Fight and Finish the Race” – 2 Timothy 4:1-8 Dear Friends, in his final letter, the Apostle Paul, knowing that the time of his departure was near, gives Timothy a solemn and urgent charge. These verses are among the most moving and challenging words in the New Testament, written by a man who had lived faithfully for Christ and was now facing execution. They serve as both a final instruction to a young leader and a powerful testimony for every believer. Paul begins with the weightiest possible authority: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word…” (2 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV) This is no casual suggestion. Paul calls Timothy (and us) to preach the Word faithfully, in season and out of season, to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. He warns that a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but will gather teachers to sui...

  In the light of our recent consideration of God speaking to us through His Son, Jesus, I just want to conclude by looking at another occasion when Jesus sat down, which pulls together the person and work of Jesus. It concerns the Samarian woman who came to draw water from the well that Jesus was sitting on in the middle of the day. Jesus was tired and thirsty and after a relatively short but deep conversation with the woman, where He revealed how much He knew about her situation, she ran into the city and spoke to the important men there and said, excitedly, “Is not this the Christ?” It was the firm conclusion she had drawn from her conversation with Jesus and wasn’t so much a question as a statement. And that is exactly the conclusion we can firmly draw from the first few verses on Hebrews 1. Jesus was not just a prophet, revealing God and His purposes to mankind, He was the Christ, the Sent One, God’s final solution, long promised in the Old Testament. And whilst He did not fit...

  “The Cost of Hasty Decisions” – Joshua 9:3-26 Dear Friends, the story of the Gibeonites in Joshua 9 is both fascinating and sobering. Having heard of Israel’s great victories over Jericho and Ai, the inhabitants of Gibeon devised a cunning plan to save themselves from destruction. They dressed in old, worn-out clothes, carried dry and mouldy bread, and presented themselves as travellers from a distant land. Their deception worked. “They went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.’” (Joshua 9:6 ESV) The Israelites examined the evidence but crucially failed to do the one thing that mattered most — they did not ask counsel from the Lord (v.14). Joshua and the leaders made a treaty with the Gibeonites and swore an oath to them. Only three days later did they discover the truth: the Gibeonites lived nearby. The people grumbled, but the leaders honoured the oath they had made in the...

  In the Old Testament, when we read God’s instructions for setting up furniture in the Tabernacle and then also in the Temple, the only seat that is mentioned is the Mercy Seat, which was located in the most Holy Place, beyond the veil. In the Tabernacle and the Temple there were no seats either for the worshippers or particularly for the priests who were there constantly on their feet acting in service for God. Their work was never done, there was no relaxation or completion, they were on duty while ever they were in the Temple. The writer to Hebrews follows on the statement about Jesus being the only one to purge our sins by saying these words, “… (then) He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. Hebrews describes Jesus later as the Great High Priest, but when He had risen from the dead and ascended back to His Father in heaven, His work was complete, He could sit down because there were no more sacrifices to be offered, He had offered one sacrifice for sin FOR EVER!...

  “Melchizedek and the Bread and Wine” – Genesis 14:18-20 Dear Friends, in the middle of the dramatic account of Abram’s rescue of Lot and his victory over the invading kings, we come across one of the most mysterious and significant figures in the whole of Scripture — Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High. These three short verses in Genesis 14 introduce us to someone who would later become a powerful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” (Genesis 14:18-20 ESV) Here we see three beautiful actions: Melchizedek brings bread and wine, he blesses Abram, and Abram responds by giving a tenth of everything. The bread and wine immediately catch our attention. Long before ...

  Having established the credentials, as it were, of Jesus as part of the omnipotent Godhead, the writer to the Hebrews now comes to the contrasting work He was called to do and the reason ‘God spoke to us by His Son’, “When He had, by Himself, purged our sins……”!!!!! This phrase takes us so far from the glory of creation and sustaining the order in the universe, that it comes as total mental and spiritual shock. It uses such a strong word in the word ‘purged’. In today’s language it could be described as a ‘deep clean’ with the absolute removal of any remnant of contamination. And because it introduces the contaminant as ‘sin’, it takes back into the Old Testament where God laid down the eternal law, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin”. That in turn takes us to the cross at Calvary, where the purging of sin was achieved. But the other key issue in that verse is “by Himself”. There was no other person or agency involved, even God the Father could not look...

  Led by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church One Mediator, One Ransom: The Heart of the Gospel – 1 Timothy 2:5-7 Good evening, friends — after the rich discussion on prayer last week, we moved into the next few verses of 1 Timothy chapter 2. Brian led us through the passage, carefully teasing out its meaning, while Shaun helped us dig into the original Greek and the profound significance of Christ’s humanity. Brian began by reading the verses: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (1 Timothy 2:5-7) He noted that these verses sit right in the middle of Paul’s instructions about public worship and prayer. Having just urged Timothy to pray for all people — including kings and those in authority — Paul now give...

  “I Lift Up My Eyes” – Psalm 123 Dear Friends, Psalm 123 is one of the shortest of the Psalms of Ascent, yet it carries a depth of feeling and spiritual insight that far outweighs its length. These were the songs the people of Israel sang as they made their way up to Jerusalem for the great feasts. With every step they drew nearer to the place where God had promised to meet with His people. In just four verses the psalmist gives us a beautiful and honest picture of what it looks like to live in humble, dependent trust in God — especially when life is hard and people are unkind. The opening words set the tone for the whole psalm: “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” (Psalm 123:1 ESV) There is something wonderfully deliberate about that phrase. The psalmist does not look around at his circumstances, nor does he look down in despair. He lifts his eyes. He deliberately turns his gaze upward to the One who sits enthroned in the heavens — the sovereign, a...

  The writer to the Hebrews, having clearly defined Jesus as God, but in human form, establishes what His first role as God was and is and puts these extraordinary words together, “… upholding all things by the word of His power”. The vastness of the universe is beyond most mental comprehension. The variation of astronomic structures and formations continues to make scientists wonder how it all began and what sustains it. But Hebrews has a simple and profound answer. The Creator of the universe sustains it because He formed it. And His power is such that He keeps it under control just by His word. Many of us have problems controlling anything except by intense concentration and physical effort. But this phrase demonstrates the infinite power of God which makes what the writer expresses next so much more of a contrast. Let us never underestimate the omnipotence of God, which makes His care and love for us as mere specks in His creation so much more precious. And He controls it all j...

  “Justified by Faith” – Romans 4:1-12 Dear Friends, in Romans chapter 4 the Apostle Paul takes us back to the very beginning of God’s dealings with His people by focusing on Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. Paul is carefully building his argument that a person is made right with God not through religious works or rituals, but through simple faith. This was revolutionary teaching for many of his Jewish readers. Paul begins with a direct question: “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?” (Romans 4:1 ESV). If anyone could claim to be justified by works, surely it would be Abraham. Yet Paul shows from Scripture that this was not the case. Quoting Genesis 15:6, he writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” This is a crucial point. Abraham’s righteousness was not earned — it was credited to him as a gift the moment he believed God’s promise. Importantly, this happened before he was circumcised and ...

  Having shown that Jesus radiates the character of God, the writer to the Hebrews now goes even deeper and shows why Jesus could show, outwardly, actions and words that spoke so clearly of the love and grace of God. The next words the writer uses are, “…. the express image of His (God’s) person”. The idea behind these words is that in every way Jesus showed us what God the Father is really like, because He Himself was God in human form and therefore sinless in every way. When we study and look at the life of Jesus on earth, as the Gospel writers saw it, whatever our idea of God was or is, Jesus was the actual personification of God. That should alter whatever mindset we have because all Jesus did backed up the holiness of His character but yet demonstrated the love of God for His creation. And yet, despite demonstrating a perfect life, God allowed His Son not just to suffer a physical agonising death, but also to make the ultimate sacrifice of His relationship with His Father in t...

  Having defined God’s final revelation to mankind, God’s Son, for us God in human form, the writer very boldly but beautifully describes the character and work of Jesus in just 2 verses, a masterpiece of succinct description! And He heads up the description by saying “who, being the brightness of His (God’s) glory …..”. The Greek word for ‘glory’ means the radiance that comes from a light. Only once in His ministry on earth did Jesus physically radiate intense light and that was during His transfiguration when He was seen talking to Elijah and Moses. So when the writer uses the word ‘glory’ it has to refer to His activity on earth. And in other similar contexts, the word ‘glory’ can be translated as referring to the actual character of God, because God’s character is pure and illuminating. Jesus therefore as the brightness of God’s glory showed us without speaking in any other way, just who God is. The acts of kindness and the love Jesus showed whilst on earth are all attributes o...

  “Who Are My Mother and Brothers?” – Mark 3:31-end Dear Friends, in Mark chapter 3 we see a very human and touching moment in the life of Jesus. His mother and brothers come looking for Him because they are concerned about His ministry. They stand outside the house where He is teaching and call for Him. What happens next is both surprising and deeply instructive. Jesus looks at the people sitting around Him and asks, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then He answers His own question by declaring: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34-35 ESV) This is a powerful redefinition of family. While Jesus loved and honoured His earthly family, He makes it clear that the strongest and most important bond is spiritual. True relationship with Him is not based on blood ties, but on obedience to the will of God. This passage challenges us all. It is easy to assume that because we come from a Christian family,...