Partakers Christian Podcasts

So Great A Salvation  Part 9 - Godly Discipline Christians are sometimes entangled by sin (Hebrews 12:1). God disciplines His children. “It is painful.” (Hebrews 12:11) Therefore if we are Christians, and we sin (remaining unrepentant and making a habit of it), God will discipline us because we are His children (Hebrews 12:10). If we sin and are not disciplined, we are not His children (Hebrews 12:8). The Practice of Sin - Habitual Sin - The Christian cannot continue to sin habitually, willingly maintaining a sinful practice or attitude. That is why we are warned against doing so and thus falling away. Note carefully the following two truths: We share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end. (Hebrews 3:13-14) It is possible to experience much of what God offers but fundamentally reject it and by so doing place ourselves outside and beyond the grace of God (Hebrews 6:4-6) Living as a Christian Disciple is to be a life that brings glory to Jesus Christ. Part of that is a life of repentance, faith, persevera

So Great A Salvation   Part 8 - Perseverance Perseverance is the continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer, by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart is continued and brought to completion. We read that: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them … and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand… no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. They will never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand (John 10:27-29) “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24) He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus(Philippians 1:6) Shielded by God’s power. (1 Peter 1:5) Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39) The Lord knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:19) That you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:12-13) In summary then: eternal life

So Great A Salvation Part 7 – Faith Faith is confidence in the faithfulness of God which leads to reliance and trust in God and obedience to Him (Hebrews 11:6). In salvation, faith is a voluntary change of mind and heart in the sinner in which the person turns to God, accepting and relying on His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. FAITH = BELIEF + TRUST + ACTION. Faith does not operate in a vacuum. It must affect our: Mind – by recognition of our need of salvation. Acknowledging Christ’s death on our behalf and our need of forgiveness. Emotional (Heart) – by giving personal assent to the gospel - What must I do to be saved? Agree to make salvation a part of life. Will – by a conscious turning of our inner affections and motivations to personal trust. Another way of putting it is that we should: Surrender the whole of our life to the Lordship of Christ (John 8:12; Romans 10:9) Receive and appropriate Jesus into the life. (John 1:12; Revelation 3:20) Accept His death on our behalf, and the forgivenes

So Great A Salvation Part 6 – Repentance “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.” Philippians 2:12-13 This “working hard to show the results of your salvation” involves four things: Repentance, Faith, Perseverance and Discipline. Repentance is a voluntary change in mind, in which the person turns from a life of sin to living a life of righteousness. This is done in three spheres: Mind (Intellect) - recognition of personal sinfulness and guilt before God (Psalm 51:3; Romans 3:20) Emotional (Heart) - genuine sorrow for sin - Godly sorrow... leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:8-10) Will - decision to turn from sin, self-pleasing and self-centredness to God. The importance of repentance was central to the teaching of: Jesus (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15); John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2) Apostl

So Great A Salvation  Part 5 – The Who, What, Why of Salvation “9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 New Living Translation Who decides who is saved has been a question asked for centuries!! There are two extremist views in regard to salvation – there is “hyper-Calvinism” that says God has decided all things and there is nothing we can do about it. Then there is the opposite end, “universalism”, which says that God will grant salvation to all, regardless of creed, race or religion. However, there is a third way. But we need to see these two “isms” in the balance of Scripture. Firstly, God does choose individuals to fulfil His purposes (Romans 9) and He chooses those who are, or will be, saved (John 15:16). These chosen ones are called the elect. However, it is also His

So Great A Salvation   Part 4 – The Christian is to Walk In The Spirit   Today we are looking at the process by which the Christian is declared clean, righteousified and sanctified. Or you may know it as, walking in the Spirit The Process by which this is achieved, is by the Christian Disciple devoting him or herself to righteousness (Romans 6:19,22) with a desire and choosing to be holy, submitted and consecrated to God. Christian Disciples are to put off the old nature - crucify the passions and desires (Ephesians 4:22; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5) and put on the new nature created to be like God (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:12-14). This is done by a work of God (1 Thessalonians. 5:23, Philippians 2:13) for the Christian is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit from the moment of conversion, and therefore a Christian Disciple is to ‘walk by the Spirit’ and ‘be led by the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16,18). This is done by: Desiring holiness. Feed the new nature with God’s Word in order to renew our mind. Communica

So Great A Salvation  Part 3 - The Christian is Declared Clean However. There is a problem with the words ‘justified’ and ‘righteous’ in English. They sound so different but translate as two words which are very similar, because they share the same root in Greek. We could replace ‘justified’ with ‘righteousified’, and know what it meant better, if only there was such a word in English! So we are justified (or ‘’righteousified’) – treated as though we are righteous in the eyes of God (Romans 3:24,26). We receive the gift of righteousness and so will reign in life (Romans 5: 17) and the list of the Christian Disciples sins is nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:13-14). Sanctification Then there is sanctification or cleansing of which there are 3 stages. We have been sanctified and made holy (Hebrews 10:10) by the death of Jesus Christ and we are washed clean (1 Corinthians 6:11). As a result, we are challenged to become increasingly sanctified. (2 Corinthians 7:1). We are also being transforme

So Great A Salvation  Part 2 - God’s side of Salvation 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. Acts 16:29-34 New King James Version (NKJV) Regeneration Regeneration is the new birth, being born again, becoming a new creation. A regenerated person does not receive a new spirit or personality, but the Holy Spirit recreates the moral basis of our character, setting it free to act according to God’s will giving the desire and ability to seek and follow God. It

So Great A Salvation Part 1 – What is Salvation? 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (Acts 16:29-34 New King James Version) Salvation has two sides to it. There is God’s side, which may seem obvious. But there is also the human side of salvation. God provides the salvation, but it is the human’s responsibility to take it. Salvation includes several parts. Initially there is a call (Romans 8: 30) when the Spirit starts to speak to, and be heard in, the

Psalm 58   For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam . 1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men? 2 No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. 3 Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. 4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, 5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skilful the enchanter may be. 6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions! 7 Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted. 8 Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns- whether they be green or dry-the wicked will be swept away. 10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of th

A Strategy to Cope (Hebrews 3) How can we, as 21st century Christians, keep from falling away from our faith in God through Jesus Christ? It is a question I am often asked. I would call it the COPE strategy: Consider, Persevere and Encourage. 1. Keep Considering! (vs1-6) Hebrews 3:1-6 The first thing we do is to consider Jesus or as the NIV here puts it "fix our thoughts". Now remember, that these are Hebrew believers. I guess we would call them Messianic Jews today. They believed that Jesus was their Messiah, Saviour and Lord. They were obviously coming under pressure from their Jewish friends and leaders to deny this Jesus and return to the fold. They would have been told how great Moses was. In the previous chapter we read how Jesus is greater than the angels, because He is God, but was made a little lower than the angels when he became a man. Moses was cool! In this chapter, we read a comparison between Jesus and Moses. Moses, to the Jews, was like a superhero. Moses was revered because it was to him th

  The WOW of Grace (Romans 8:38-39) Romans 8:31-39 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:  "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be abl

A God of Salvation Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed-a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."    Romans 3:21-24 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Introduction Paul in this letter is writing to Roman believers a synopsis of his beliefs, and to church leaders in Jerusalem where he would have to make an adequate explanation of himself.  The language and concepts shared in these p

Solomon the Wise prays to God, Dedicating the Temple! 2 Chronicles 6v1-21 What is the story so far? History is important though, not only to learn the lessons from it but also as Christians, the Bible shows how God has acted in human history.  A brief recap of chapter 7. From the first 3 verses of chapter 7, we read the Chronicler regaling one of the many great WOW moments of the Old Testament. The time when the glory of the Lord came down like fire and filled the temple to overflowing! The people fell down in worship of a great God, who was their God! This was followed by a great scene of abundantly joyful sacrificial worship to this God! That must have been some prayer eh! Well, tonight as you may have gathered, we go back to looking at those prayers. Not in an exhaustive way, but to discover together what we can learn about God and His relationship with those who are His and seeing how this is relevant to us some 3 millennia later. During the intervening period, I wonder if Solomon had wrestled in

God pays a visit to Solomon! 2 Chronicles 7v11-22 Introduction Yesterday we looked at David's final recorded public prayer in 1 Chronicles 29. We saw that David's God oozed greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty from all aspects of His very being! All of which are essential attributes of who He is: unchangeable and permanent. We discovered that this God is a God who gives and gives abundantly! The temple was yet to be built but the gifts from the King and the people had come in! People were waiting to start! Not only to build it but to serve within it! We came to the conclusion that we should pray not just for what God can give to us but also what we can give and do for our God! Giving not just money and goods, but our talents and imagination! Because from that, the community we live, work and worship within could be transformed to God's glory! But now the Chronicler has moved on in his story! The remnant of Israel you may remember has returned from exile and the Chronicler is giving them an abridge

David's Final Prayer 1 Chronicles 29:10-20 Introduction Tonight, we delve into the book of 1 Chronicles and this great and perhaps last public prayer of the great King David!  It is a fabulous piece of Scripture, I am sure you agree, that tells us a lot about God we as Christians claim to know and love, as well as how we are to respond to Him. Originally 1 & 2 Chronicles were one book. It was the final book of the Jewish Canon, probably written by Ezra and was also known as the "the events of the days", "the things omitted" which would suggest that Chronicles were to be regarded as additional to the books of Kings and Samuel.  It's a book which was written for those from the nation of Israel who are now in exile, to remind them of their spiritual heritage - the journey & history of Israel as a nation. For us though, not least I, it issues certain challenges to us all.I will be reading from the Authorised Version. It's the 400th year anniversary this year and as I read, you will see how

Sermon - The First Deaconate Acts 6v1-7 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests b

Correct thinking leads to correct action! 1 Timothy 1 Introduction I am sure that some people here when they heard I was preaching tonight were expecting some obscure passage from the Old Testament or even something from that wonderful book of Leviticus. I know that Chris and Sue Cook were! But no! A change! Did I catch you out? Our passage tonight, wonderfully read for us, is found in the New Testament. The little letter of 1 Timothy, where the aged Paul is reminding and instructing Timothy, his much younger disciple, who is probably about 40 years old now. The whole of the New Testament church is growing and spreading far and wide away from its starting point in Jerusalem. Most scholars agree that this letter was written about 64AD, so it is now about 8 years after Paul's 3 year stay in Ephesus came to an end. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be a first century Christian. The original followers of Jesus, the apostles have either died or will be soon, so who will ensure that good teachi

Psalm 39 For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. 1 I said, "I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.” 2 I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned: I spoke with my tongue: 4 "Yahweh, show me my end, what is the measure of my days. Let me know how frail I am. 5 Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah. 6 "Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather. 7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish. 9 I was mute. I didn’t open my mouth, because you did it. 10 Remove your scourge away from me. I am overcome by the blow of your hand. 11 When you rebuke and

Study 10: Study 10: Job 40:15 - end Two surprising chapters The book of Job ends with two very surprising chapters. The first because of its content, emphasising what has gone before and the second because it appears to stand the whole book on its head! Here is the first part of the first of these chapters (which is actually in the chapter before). It is about Behemoth whose name means something like the ‘beast of beasts’. He is a terrifying creature, very like a hippopotamus with some supernatural additions. As if that is not enough we now go on to read about the Leviathan. He is just as dangerous sounding as Behemoth, very like a crocodile, again with some supernatural additions.  We may well ask “what was that all about?” There is no other Biblical reference to Behemoth and not many to Leviathan, though it is possible to see that this latter is a sea or water monster. Both are possibly linked in the culture and literature of that area in that time with gods, the god of death and the god of e