Bethesda Shalom

Part 4 Many of the misconceptions surrounding the question of this teaching arise from a failure to rightly understand the nature of a covenant.   When the children of Israel said, "…All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient" (Ex. 24:7), the ALL consisted of far more commandments than only ten.   The children of Israel committed themselves to the keeping of some 613 commandments, all...

Psalm 23 There are times when God calls His people to pass through the valley.   Passing through the valley of the shadow of death is never easy but can I say with absolute conviction, that Jesus hasn't left you to walk alone!!   The final words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew are these: "… and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" ( Mt. 28:20 ).   It's one thi...

Part 3 Ellen G. White had over 2000 visions during her lifetime and the content of those visions resulted in over 100,000 pages of writings which the Seventh-day Adventist Church consider to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and a continuing and authoritative source of truth. Ellen White claimed that her visions and writings were not simply expressions of her ideas, but originated from God. What do y...

Part 2 The Seventh-day Adventist Church arose out of the Great Millerite Disappointment of 1844.  The nineteenth century saw a literal explosion in the number of cults and religious groups springing up in the United States. Early on in Adventist history, Ellen G. White stamped her mark as a prophet, claiming to receive visions from God which guided and shaped the movement. Without Ellen G. White,...

Philippians 2:19-24 This sermon is an urgent call to Christian love!   The clip following the sermon is from a message called "Something is wrong" by itinerate preacher Richard Owen Roberts of International Awakening Ministries.

Part 1 In 2023, the Seventh-day Adventist Church saw more additions to its membership than any year since its founding in 1863.  In 1961 the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a global membership of about a million.  Today they have a membership of more than 22.7 million, meeting in more than 100,000 Churches, spanning some 215 countries worldwide.  Without question, the Seventh-day Adventist Church...

1 Peter 1:13-16 J. C. Ryle was the 1st Anglican Bishop of Liverpool.   In his classic book titled, "Holiness", he wrote the words.   "He who supposes that Jesus Christ only lived and died and rose again in order to provide justification and forgiveness of sins for His people, has yet much to learn. Whether he knows it or not, he is dishonouring our blessed Lord, and making Him only a half Saviour....

Exodus 39:30-31   Whenever the topic of holiness is brought up in the company of Christians, it is guaranteed to provoke one of two responses, either uneasiness or delight!   Now granted, those feelings of uneasiness may be down to the fact that a professing believer is not living as they ought; maybe they are living in secret sin and know that by preaching such a topic as holiness, they will be d...

Luke 15:1-2 If one was to stop you and to ask, "What is God like?", I wonder what answer you'd give?   What attribute would come first to mind?   Would it be God's holiness or omnipotence?   His omniscience or His omnipresence?   You ask me, "What is God like?". What attribute comes first to mind when thinking about His person?   I return my answer at once; GOD IS LOVE!    Without question, this i...

Romans 8:14 There's one feature of the Holy Spirit's leading that I've learned from experience, one that is widely attested to in the Sacred record, and that is the spontaneity of His leading!!! When the Holy Spirit speaks to His people and desires to lead them, it will always require faith to respond!!     In the moment of suddenness, we are given a window of time to obey.   #1. We must recognise...

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 It is the earnest desire, to lay before you the certain and definite hope of the Christian. Assurances like this cannot be found in this world due to its transient state of temporariness. Search high and low, with diligence and scrutiny, but O man, your search will be in vain. When Adam fell through willful disobedience, mankind was plunged into sin and death. God in His inf...

1 Kings 17:1-6 It's not until you step out of a situation, that looking back, you're able to see it really for it was! When you're in a smoke-filled room, it's hard to see the smoke, but exit the room and peer back in through the glass and you'll be astonished at how you ever could have been in such an environment and not have. As I look around and survey the spiritual landscape of the nation, I h...

Psalm 32:1-5 If we are to move forward in our walk with Jesus in the year ahead, we must learn to deal honestly with God as His Spirit comes in searching power to discover the true nature of our hearts. William Gurnall that old Puritan put it well when he said, "Sincerity is that property to which pardoning mercy is annexed.   True, indeed, it is that Christ covers all our sins and failings; but i...

Proverbs 22:3 It's one thing for an unsaved man to be a fool, but for a Christian to be counted as a fool?   It's a great shame and a reproach and ought never to be!   He has the internal light of the Holy Spirit and the external light of the Word!   This sermon is an exhortation to the acquisition of wisdom. "O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart" ( Prov....

Judges 8:29-35 If there's one thing to take away from history, it's that good things never last!!   If this is true of history in general, it is certainly true of revival history.   Where the blessing of God has been poured out upon a people in special seasons of refreshing, it seems only ever to be short-lived before alas the tide of evil comes back in and the people return to bathe again in the...

Part 13 Every cult without exception denies the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  Although they may utilise concepts such as grace and faith, what is written outside the box is never what's inside.  In the world of cults, grace becomes synonymous with payment because when everything has been said and done, the cult member is working to earn salvation.  At...

Judges 8:22-28 The secret to obtaining heaven's revival blessing; the key to unlocking heaven's grace is humility. "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" ( 1 Pet. 5:6 ).   But when God exalts a man, it's then when things have the potential to go desperately wrong.   My greatest fear is not this side of the victory, it's what happens on the oth...

Part 12 Anyone who has had any interaction with a Jehovah's Witness will know that it doesn't take long for the topic of the 144,000 to arise.   There is almost an obsession with this number.   In sharing personal testimony with the Witness at the door of how one came to be a child of God by grace through faith – the adoption as children, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the heavenly calling and th...

Judges 8:4-28 Following the awesome victory that God gave into the hands of Gideon His servant – 135,000 Midianites lay dead.   Not content with this victory over the host, Midian pursued the 15,000 that remained and slew them dead.   The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, were the last two enemies to be destroyed. This sermon is a plea from God for the same zeal to be enacted on behalf of H...

Part 11 If one has ever been greeted by a Jehovah's Witness at the door, after the short and brief courtesies of "Hello, my name is… etc.", the conversation will inevitably begin with a question like; "What do you think of all the wars in the world today?" or, "Do you think the world is a nice place to live in with all the evil that is in it?".  These questions are leading and are designed to prov...

Judges 7:24-25 The world has always been obsessed with outward boast and human glory.   Sadly, much of the Western Church is on par with this thinking.   If a man has charisma and can hold an audience captive with stories and personal anecdotes, we make him a minister!   The pulpits up and down the length and breadth of this country are full of such men.   They look more like action men than they...

Part 10 Jehovah's Witnesses have long been a cult that has aggressively opposed the doctrine of hell, as can be seen in their literature and publications. Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, was himself an ardent opponent of this doctrine, as has been every presiding president over Jehovah's organisation since.   Though beginning within the ranks of conser...

Judges 7:15-23 The Western Church in this hour wants method and process.   If the Church down the road marches around the walls AND God gives them the victory, we write a book on it "How to take a city for God!"   But in the valley on the borders of Moab, God had His people dig ditches!! In the wilderness of Tekoa, the people praised the Lord! At the Red Sea, He had them stand still!   On the hill...

Part 9 When one begins collating the teachings of the Christian cults, it's no coincidence that there are many shared common beliefs that the Church has long rejected as heretical.   The doctrine in question in this ninth teaching part is no different.   While it may not be on the same damnable par as the rejection of the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ or the personhood of the Holy Spirit; to...

Judges 7:9-15 If God is going to get the glory from your life, it is going to require that we trust Him!!!   There's no escaping this reality!!   When the call of God comes to service, it never comes in a neatly packaged parcel with a cute sticky label on the front.   We want all the I's dotted and the T's crossed.   We want it safe and predictable, secure and tested, but that's not how it works....