Bethesda Shalom

Matthew 10:27-33 We read in Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe”.  Man is prone on every side to fear, not least in the face of pending danger. God’s desire is that we would not be overcome by fear, but rather that we would trust Him!  This sermon is an exhortation for the blood-bought children of God, to place their total confidence in the Lord.  Where faith toward God abounds, fear has no resting place; but where fear abounds, we can be assured, faith is wanting!  “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there”.

Revelation 21 Every book has a start and a finish; a beginning and an ending.  The Book of Revelation is no exception to this rule and as we begin part 32 of our studies, we cross yet another milestone in our journey through this book.  No longer are we going up the mountain...having reached the peak, we’re now descending on the other side of the Jordan, heading towards the finish line. With the New Jerusalem firmly in our sights, we can pick up the pace and encourage ourselves that it was all worth it!  The cross, the battle, the war, the struggle; captivities and martyrdoms...all that is now behind us and eternities glories have opened up their arms to receive us in the Lord! In this teaching, we gain an insight into what is in store for believers in the new heavens and new earth along with the new Jerusalem.

Revelation 20:7-15 Upon the return of Jesus, His glorious appearing shall bring to an end this current Church age which has spanned the last two millennia, and a new age will begin, lasting for half that time.  The question that we want to answer in part 31 is this; what happens after once the thousand years have come to their end?  What we have recorded in the pages of Scripture is very brief, to say the least—much of it remains a mystery yet to be revealed at the Coming of our Lord.  That said, a large portion of the little that we have been given is found in what now remains of the last three closing chapters of Revelation (ch. 20-22).  In this teaching, we explore two main themes, the Gog and Magog war followed by the great white throne judgment.

Revelation 20:1-6 When the disciples asked Jesus; “...Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6), what did they mean?  If one was to ask such a question today in the vast majority of the theological colleges across the Western world, one would receive an answer that would be far from adequate in explaining the true nature of the disciple’s inquiry.  You see, for many today, the concept of a millennial kingdom does not even figure into their eschatological thinking.  For the amillennialist, the future kingdom of God is the present kingdom of God, and any hope of a golden age of righteousness and peace upon the earth is certainly not realised in some distant event, but in the last 2000 years of Church history as the gospel has been being preached in all the world.  For the postmillennialist, they would acknowledge a coming golden era of some arbitrary length, but they would argue that this “millennium” of triumphalism will be ushered in by the Church and not the Lord Jesus at

Ephesians 4:17-32 There are some Christians who never mention the name of our adversary, for fear of giving him undue attention.  You’ve all heard I’m sure, the well-meaning sentiments of a dear soul that has said in their enthusiasm; “I don’t give HIM any glory by even mentioning his name!”.  Now I do understand the thinking behind such a statement, but the question is, is it Biblical?  I was a teacher for a number of years, and when a pupil was playing the fool in class—seeking for attention and would-be followers—I usually didn’t give them the satisfaction of playing their game by bringing “undue attention” to them.  Instead, I would choose at times to employ the strategy of “ignorance”, and sure enough, they soon got tired of the show when they saw that they were not getting the crowd they’d hoped for!  However, what if, that pupil was to pull out a knife, am I still going to play dumb?  It’s one thing to have an irritant in the class, and quite another to have a potential murderer!!  The Bible doesn’t po

Revelation 19:11-21 All that has gone before us in past chapters, is preparing us for the one pinnacle, supreme event that is to appear in this chapter, namely the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The single greatest event in history without exception, to which the prophets of old bore witness, was Messiah’s first coming. The single greatest event to take place after this, to which again, the prophets of old bore witness, is Messiah’s Second Coming!  It is for this momentous event, that all of nature and history awaits, not least those of us called and chosen in Him!  In this twenty-ninth teaching part, we look at this fascinating topic and its timing.  Come, Lord Jesus, Maranatha!

The Father’s Pruning Shears – Paul M. Williams John 15:1-6 On a traditional vine that has been trained, there is a main with thick horizontal branches coming off from the trunk.  All along the branches, at regular intervals are knuckles (spurs), out of which grow pencil-like stems called canes.  It is on these canes that the grapes will grow; however, grapes will only grow on canes that are one year old which means there is a need for pruning every single season to remove the old wood. It’s been said that grapevines are probably pruned more extensively and more aggressively than any other crop.  When farmers prune, they remove the majority of wood produced the previous season – up to 90 percent is pruned away!!  Last year’s season of fresh long canes (of many feet) will be trimmed right back to several inches and the older canes bearing the fruit which grew the season before that (i.e. those that are now two years old) are completely removed from the branch!  As one walked by at pruning season, the untrained

Matthew 23:25-28 I’m sure that you’ve heard of the cat with nine lives – so the old English proverb goes, “For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays".  One news story reported how that a cat in the US city of Boston survived a fall from a 19-storey window, only bruising her chest!  It’s one thing to talk with lightness about the nine proverbial lives of the kitty, but the man with two lives, is no joking matter – multitudes of Churches up and down the land are plagued by this blight.  As one understands correctly the title of this sermon; the man with two lives has nothing whatsoever to do with the concept of staying alive, but instead, speaks of duplicity, of feigned living, of hypocrisy and two-facedness.  In this featured sermon, we look at the lives of the Scribes and Pharisees and in so doing, we discover the nature of their hypocrisy.  This is a very searching and challenging sermon, yet one that is most needful if we are to really go on with the Lord.  May God give us gra

Revelation 19:1-10 A heard is cry coming from heaven; “...the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready”.  This, to the Western mind, seems strange language upon first sight.  In what sense are we to understand this seeming conundrum?  How can the Church be identified as the wife of Christ before the marriage?  In order to understand this, we must understand marriage in the context of Jewish culture.  In this 28th teaching part, we turn our attention to this great marriage supper and the need for the bride of Christ to make herself ready for her Bridegroom’s coming! 

Isaiah 26:3 The Christian soldier is never stationary in His efforts to hold the ground of victory taken for Christ in His life.  He knows full well, that yesterday’s victories could well turn to tomorrow’s defeat.  We are in a war and this is no time for lightness, nor is it time to be found sleeping at the post of duty.  The Word of God charges us to take to arm us for the fight, the whole armour of God that we might be able to withstand in the evil day of Satan’s special assault!  Of all the armoury listed in that great chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians, there’s one piece of the armour that is distinguished from the rest “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph. 6:16).  This sermon is an exhortation to faith!  An exhortation to not allow the lies of the enemy to penetrate our minds.  God has promised to keep those in perfect peace, whose mind are stayed on Him, because they have placed their trust in the Lord!! 

Revelation 18 “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen”. The thought of it!! The unthinkable has taken place!!  In one hour, her judgment has come and the great city which once ruled over nations has fallen from her height of prominence and now has become the habitation of devils and every foul spirit.  In this eighteenth chapter, we explore the fall of this great city and reflect upon its sudden ruin.

Revelation 17 We have mention made for the first time in Revelation, of a great whore who sits upon many waters.  Arrayed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, precious stones and pearls, she is being carried along by the beast of Revelation 13.  Written upon her forehead is a number of names and John saw the woman drunk with the blood of the Saints.  Who is this woman and why is she depicted in this way?  What is her relationship to the beast and why is she counted as a harlot?  All of these questions and others besides, we endeavour to answer in this teaching part as we look at the imagery of the woman and the beast she is sat upon.

Psalm 130:3-4 There are many ways to look upon a masterpiece of art.  Each angle seems to shed a new perspective, as differing tones and hews are brought into fresh view with every studious stare.  Far greater than any piece of art is the splendour of Almighty God—His many attributes leave a pause for wonder as man tries with his finite mind, to grasp after Him who is eternal! Of all the attributes, there’s one attribute that holds a special place in my heart, for I know what manner of man I was, and even now after tasting of eternal life, how great a debtor daily I still am!  What is this attribute?  It is the mercy of God!  “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Having been shown such great mercy by God, what manner of people ought we the children of God now to be? A people full of mercy towards others!  How ready are you to forgive another who has wronged you? How willing are you to extend mercy?  In the passing of judgment upon others, how much of it is mixed with mercy?  May

Galatians 6:9 Jesus was clear when he said, that one of the characteristics of the last days is that the love of the most is going to wax cold on account of the increase in evil.  What temperature is your heart registering in the measure of love?  In the measure of kindness?  In the measure of mercy?  In the measure of compassion?  In the measure of forgiveness?  How soft are our hearts — are they like a tender piece of fresh chicken or are like a hardened piece of steak that has been left out in the sun?  What a challenge, to keep them soft and tender in the days in which we’re living.  My precious Brethren, I want to exhort you as much as I want to exhort myself this morning; “...brethren, be not weary in well doing” (2 Thess. 2:13) —do not lose heart, do not lose courage, do not become faint in doing well!! “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).

Revelation 16 I believe that key to rightly dividing the book of Revelation, is to recognise that the events recorded in this book can be broadly divided into two parallel blocks — chapters 4 through to 11 forming the first block, and chapters 12 through to 20 forming the second block.  When one understands that these two blocks of Scripture are complementary in nature—that is, they run parallel to one another covering the same period of time in the Tribulation—one is then able to rightly divide the book of Revelation making sense of its chronology and the events that happen within it. In this teaching, we endeavour to compare side-by-side, the trumpet judgments of Revelation 8, 9 and 11, with the vial judgments of chapter 16. In doing this, we discover that whilst there are slight discrepancies between the two accounts, the overwhelming similarities between the two necessitate that they are referring to the same event.  Take a listen and decide for yourself.

Matthew 18:19-20 It never ceases to amaze me, how our great and awesome God takes the nothings of this world to confound and bring to naught the somethings of this world!  God took a  man by the name of Gideon and with 300 men, defeated the mighty army of the Midianites. God took a nothing man by the name of Abraham—an idolater from a far-away land—and made of him a great nation through which to bless the world!!  God takes a nothing shepherd boy by the name of David and makes him a king!!  God takes a Christian persecuting Pharisee by the name of Saul and made him an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Biblical history proves that without a shadow of a doubt, the few with God make up the majority! This sermon is an exhortation for the Body of Christ not to despise the day of small beginnings.  Where two or three are gathered together, there the Lord is in the midst!  Will we not give ourselves wholeheartedly to prayer; even the small meetings where few are present, as though there was a thousand present and see what G

Revelation 15 John sees in vision, a sign in heaven, great and marvellous.  Seven angels coming out of the temple in heaven having the seven last plagues.  To these seven are given seven golden vials full of the wrath of Almighty God.  This chapter serves as an introduction to what will take place in chapter 16 as the seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out upon the earth.     

2 Corinthians 5:7-15 A word of warning and exhortation is given regarding the coming day when all believers shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ!  In light of this awesome day, what manner of people ought we to be? How ought we to be spending our time?  What ought to be our priorities?  The cry of Brian's heart is that we might not stand on that day with regrets of what could have been, if only we had lived in light of eternity. 

Matthew 14:13-21 A great Word of encouragement is brought forth in this sermon by Brother Brian. In the days in which we are living, God is calling His people to feed those who He brings across our path.  Yet, are we the people of God prepared to carry the compassion of the Lord for those who He died for?  Are we willing to be inconvenienced?  Are we willing to be broken that He might fill us and use us for the glory of His name?

2 Samuel 9:1-8 Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, t'was blind but now I see.  What does it mean to be in wonder of the grace of God?  His saving mercy; His saving grace!  Those who have this wonder and who are in awe of God’s grace, will follow Him and won’t turn back!