Duncan Heaster and Pub Church Croydon: Sermons and thoughts

4.5 The Resurrection of the Body The Bible emphasises that the reward of the righteous will be at the resurrection, at the coming of Christ (1 Thes. 4:16). The resurrection of the responsible dead (see Study 4.8) will be the first thing Christ will do; this will be followed by the judgment. If the ‘soul’ went to heaven at death there would be no need for the resurrection. Paul said that if there i...

4.4 Death is Unconsciousness www.freebible.info From what we have learnt so far about the soul and spirit, it should follow that while dead, a person is totally unconscious. Whilst the actions of those responsible to God will be remembered by Him (Mal. 3:16; Rev. 20:12; Heb. 6:10), there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that we have any consciousness during the death state. It is hard to argue w...

4.3 The Spirit of Man www.freebible.info There is an unfortunate confusion in many people’s minds between the soul and the spirit. This is aggravated by the fact that in some languages and Bible translations, the English words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ have only one equivalent. The ‘soul’ fundamentally referring to all the constituents of a person can sometimes refer to the spirit as well. However, norm...

4.2 The Soul www.freebible.info In the light of the foregoing it ought to be inconceivable that man has an ‘immortal soul’ or any immortal element within him naturally. We will now attempt to clear up the confusion surrounding the word ‘soul’. The Hebrew and Greek words which are translated ‘soul’ in the Bible (‘Nephesh’ and ‘Psuche’ respectively) are also translated in the following ways: Body Br...

4.1 The Nature of Man www.freebible.info The majority of people seem to spend little time thinking about death, or about their own nature. Such lack of self-examination leads to a lack of self-knowledge, and therefore people drift along through life, making their decisions according to the dictates of their own natural desires. There is a refusal - albeit heavily masked - to take on board the fact...

3.5 The Promise to David David, like Abraham and many other recipients of God’s promises, did not have an easy life. He grew up as the youngest son in a large family which, in the Israel of 1000 B.C., meant looking after the sheep and running errands for his older brothers (1 Sam. 15-17). During this time he learnt a level of faith in God which few men have since approached. The day came when Isra...

3.4 The Promise to Abraham The Gospel taught by Jesus and the apostles was not fundamentally different from that understood by Abraham. God, through the Scriptures, “preached before the gospel unto Abraham” (Gal. 3:8). So crucial are these promises that Peter started and ended his public proclamation of the Gospel with reference to them (Acts 3:13,25). If we can understand what was taught to Abrah...

The Promise in Eden The story of humanity’s fall is related in Genesis chapter 3. The serpent was cursed for misquoting God’s word and tempting Eve to disobey it. The man and woman were punished for their disobedience. But a ray of hope comes into this dark picture when God says to the serpent. “I will put enmity (hatred, opposition) between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her (...

3.1 The Promises of God: Introduction At this point in our studies we have reached a broad understanding of who God is and how He works. In doing so we have cleared up a number of common misunderstandings about these things. Now we want to look more positively at the things which God has “promised to them that love him” (James 1:12; 2:5) by keeping His commandments (Jn. 14:15). If we open the New...

2.5 The Bible the only Authority All this underlines the need for a fundamental acceptance of the Bible as God’s Word, and to search its pages for the true message. The question, “One Bible, many churches - why?” is largely answered when it is appreciated how many churches have, to some degree, claimed another form of revelation of God’s spirit, i.e. His will, doctrine and thinking, in addition to...

Bible Basics 2.4 The Withdrawal of the miraculous Holy Spirit Gifts The miraculous gifts of God’s spirit will be used again by the believers in order to change this present world into God’s Kingdom, after the return of Christ. The gifts are therefore called “the powers of the world (age) to come” (Heb. 6:4,5); and Joel 2:26-29 describes a great outpouring of the spirit gifts after the repentance o...

2.3 Gifts of the Holy Spirit At various times in His dealings with men, God conferred the use of His power (“Holy Spirit”) on men. However, this was never in the form of a “blank cheque”, as it were, enabling them to do what they wished; always the use of this Holy Spirit was for a specific purpose. When it was accomplished, the gift of the Holy Spirit was withdrawn. We must remember that God’s sp...

1.3 God’s Name and Character If there is a God, it is reasonable to think that He will have devised some means of telling us about Himself. We believe that the Bible is God’s revelation to man, and that in it we see the character of God revealed. If we allow this word of God to fill our mind, a new creature is formed within us which has the characteristics of God (James 1:18; 2 Cor. 5:17). Therefo...

1.4 The Angels All that we have considered so far in this study is brought together by a consideration of the angels: § real, personal beings § carrying God’s name § beings in whom God’s Spirit works to execute His will § in accordance with His character and purpose § and thereby manifesting Him. We mentioned in Study 1.3 that one of the most common of the Hebrew words translated ‘God’ is ‘Elohim’...

Bible Basics 2:1 God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit As God is a real, personal being with feelings and emotions, it is to be expected that He will have some way of sharing His desires and feelings with us, His children, and of acting in our lives in a way that will be consistent with His character. God does all of these things by His “spirit”. If we wish to know God and have an active relationship with...

2.2 Biblical Inspiration We have considered God’s spirit as His power, thoughts and disposition, which He reveals through the actions which His spirit performs. We mentioned in the previous section how God’s spirit was seen at work in the creation: “By his spirit he has created the heavens” (Job 26:13) - the spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters to bring about the present creation (Gen....

1.1 The Existence of God. that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”. Much of the Bible is an account of the history of God’s people Israel; time and again the point is made that their acceptance of God’s existence was not matched by their faith in His promises. They were told by their great leader Moses: “Know therefore...and consider it in your heart, that the Lord he is God in heav...

1.2 The Personality of God It is a majestic, glorious theme of the Bible that God is revealed as a real being. It is also a fundamental tenet of Christianity that Jesus is the Son of God. If God is not a real being, then it is impossible for Him to have a Son who was the “image of His person ” (Heb. 1:3). The Greek word actually means His “substance” (RV). Further, it becomes difficult to develop...

Duncan Heaster sermon on Esther 9,10 the feast of purim. The great reversal: what the Kingdom of God is all about, www.freebible.info

Sermon on Esther 7,8 by Duncan Heaster: Christian maturity is thinking not only of your salvation but saving others,

Sermon on Esther 5,6 Avoid the syndrome of "I need just one more thing"; God makes us proactive not passive

Esther 4 Sovereign grace and how God tries to develop faith. "If I perish, I perish" , Duncan Heaster sermon

Esther 3, Duncan Heaster sermon, God is hiding in plain sight and weaving a beautiful pattern in lives, Sermon on Esther 3, Haman. Get the Bible Companion app www.freebible.info

Sermons on the Book of Esther, Chapters 1 and 2: God works in your life powerfully but indirectly by unseen ways of providence, Esther 1,2