Bethesda Shalom

Matthew 25:1-13 When suddenly comes, there's usually very little time if any, to prepare ourselves for its swift advance.  By very definition, "suddenly" carries with it an air of unexpectedness and yet at the same time, its approach is not without discernable signs for those with eyes to see.  On 25th January 2019, a mining dam that sat above Brumadinho—a large town in southeast Brazil, suddenly...

Ephesians 5:14-18 There's a season under heaven for every opportunity afforded unto man; an open door which for a moment remains open to him, before suddenly it closes.  What was available on Sunday evening may no longer be available come Monday morning.  There's something about God-ordained moments for which there exists no rewind button and no command to undo.  God happenstances that seem to com...

1 Chronicles 12:32 This week has been a week like no other I've ever witnessed in my forty years alive on planet earth.  Coronavirus touched down and pandemonium struck.  Media hype fueled mass panic buying, where every man and his family headed towards the supermarkets in an effort to stock their cupboards to overflowing.  Stock markets across the world continue to be hammered with losses amounti...

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 2) It will never do to be hearers of the word only and not doers of it; James makes this very clear (Jms 1:22).  Yet at the same time, to be a doer of the word without first hearing what is being asked is to walk in ignorance.  How many, armed with good intentions and loaded with zeal have gone out of the starting blocks with pace, only to be later disqualified...

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 When God put to Satan the question, "Hast thou considered my servant Job" (Job 1:8), Satan did not say, who is he?  Instead, he engaged with the question and responded by saying; "Doth Job fear God for nought?" (Job 1:9).  It appears from this verse that this righteous man was well known to the prince of darkness.  Have you ever considered that your name is also known to the...

Knowing the Bible for Yourself (Pt. 1) As one opens the Bible, one quickly comes to discover that what they hold in their hand is not a single book, but a volume of ancient literature (some 66 books).  In fact, there are some 780, 000+ words all found sitting within a careful and purposeful grammatical structure with the oldest sections being more than 3 ½ thousand years in age and the most recent...

Revelation 22 Some 33 parts on and some 65+ thousand words later, we finally come to the final teaching part in our Revelation series. With the old earth passed away, and the former heaven gone forever, John saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy city—the New Jerusalem—coming down from God out of heaven.  In chapter 21, John described this glorious city, and in the first part of chapter 22...

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 confid...

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 N...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 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 ye...

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, bu...

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 th...

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 armou...

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 r...

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 i...

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 attribute...

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...

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 t...

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 b...

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,...