Week Commencing 25th July 2021

Please see Note ¹ (p10) after these materials about services at ABC in the light of the Prime Minister’s most recent announcement. Read how the changes announced from the 19^th July will be implemented in this service and in following ones.

Devotional Materials. Week Commencing Sunday 25^th July 2021

Call to worship

‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.’ 2 Timothy 3:16

‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ Hebrews 4:12

Last Sunday we began to explore the ‘Power of the Bible’, and that is our theme today.

And as I said last week, the Bible is only powerful because God Himself is all powerful and has chosen to speak to us through His written Word the Bible. Through this service we will meditate on God’s power.

Opening Hymn

2 Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning;
sheltering you under his wings, and so gently sustaining!
Have you not seen all that is needful has been
sent by his gracious ordaining?

3 Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriends you.

4 Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen sound from his people again;
gladly forever adore him.

Joachim Neander

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXhxbEjfxxc

Opening Prayer

Lord we do praise and worship you. Bless the worship of your church here; that we may receive your word through the power of the Holy Spirit. Enable us to worship in Spirit and truth. Amen

Reading. Matthew 9:1-8

9 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ² Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

³ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

Item. ‘Ancient words’ (Recording)

O let the ancient words impart

Holy words of our faith
Handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
O heed the faithful words of Christ
Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God's own heart
O let the ancient words impart

Ancient words ever true
Changing me changing you
We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart

Martyr's blood stains each page
They have died for this faith
Hear them cry through the years
Heed these words and hold them dear

Ancient words ever true
Changing me changing you
We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart

We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
O let the ancient words impart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOi1Rwt_kCI

Sermon. ‘The Power of the Bible’ Part 2.

Last Sunday we looked at the power of the Bible and saw that not only has the Bible endured through persecution. The Bible’s circulation has increased. It is extremely rare that a book reaches the 10 million mark in sales. But the number of Bibles sold reaches into the billions! Billions! More copies have been produced of its entirety as well as selected portions than any other book in history. The Cambridge History of the Bible states, “No other book has known anything approaching this constant circulation”

However, the power of the Bible lies in the fact that the Bible is God’s Word. We have in previous sermons/devotional materials thought about the Bible’s accuracy (10/1/21, 17/1/21), and the Bible’s inspiration (21/3/21, 28/3/21). Since the Bible is God’s inspired word we would expect it be powerful in its effect. We saw how the Scriptures attest to their own power in warnings, rebuke and correction, and that God’s Word has the power of an offensive weapon (Hebrews 4:12) challenging us in our deepest motives/attitudes.

With the help of Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones coming to life (Ezekiel 37:1-14) we saw that God’s Word is a life giving force. We began to look at examples of that and today I promised we will look at further examples that show the power of God’s Word for good in people’s lives and communities. But I would like to begin with the power of God’s word in creation:

Creation

Dr Don Batten received both his Bachelor Science in Agriculture (First Class Honours) and his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney. He worked for 20 years as a research horticulturalist with the NSW Department of Agriculture. He now speaks around the world on the creation issue, showing the errors in the evolutionary ideas he was taught and how Creation speaks of God’s power. He is one of a large number of scientists who have found the biblical account for our existence to be compelling, as opposed to the evolutionary paradigm. Only the power of God’s Word can account for such a change of mind in a society saturated with evolutionary dogma.

Don Batten is the editor of Creation magazine. In his preface to a magazine this year he clearly shows how the Bible informs his thinking on this crucial issue. He writes

“A striking aspect of God’s creating is that He speaks things into existence. In Genesis Chapter 1, regarding how everything came to be, we read “God said …” eight times. The first time (Genesis 1:3), we read “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” God spoke and it happened.

Only God can speak things into existence. The New Testament confirms this means of creating: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” God spoke everything into existence from nothing. The secular big bang idea has everything coming from nothing, but with no sufficient cause for this to happen (nothing begets nothing!).

Throughout Scripture we see the power of God’s Word emphasized. Indeed, this is the reason for the authority of the Bible; it is God’s Word—as it claims to be some 2,800 times.

The timeframe given in Genesis 1—six days—underlines the instantaneous nature of God creating things by His word on each day.

Furthermore, it is this immediate effect of God speaking in Genesis that shows us the divine nature of Jesus in the New Testament. When Jesus speaks, we see instant effects that are only possible because He is God the Son. In the healing of the paralyzed man (Matthew 9; Mark 2), Jesus spoke, and the man walked straightaway—he did not need months of therapy! With the storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus spoke, and the storm stopped immediately. Not only did the wind stop, but the waves too. Anyone familiar with the sea knows that after strong winds the waves continue for some time; they do not stop immediately the wind stops. The disciples knew that they had witnessed something that only God could do. They said, “What sort of man is this that even the winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:27. In the feeding of the two crowds, Jesus created lots of extra bread and fish (Matthew 14, 15; Mark 6, 8; Luke 9, John 6). Only God can do this.

Saying that creation occurred over long ages of slow and gradual processes undoes these clear connections of Genesis 1 with the divinity of Christ. In contrast, the evidence for the biblical timeframe is getting stronger all the time.” (Creation Volume 43, Issue 1
January 2021 https://creation.com/god-speaks ).

Creation magazine is published quarterly and has in-depth articles written by scientists who show the failings of evolutionary ideology when it comes to known observed scientific law, and conversely, how scientific principles as we observe them today confirm the Bible (See dinosaur fossils example ²) Ignorance of these matters in the class room is leading to a rise in atheism in our society, and evolutionary belief has helped ‘accelerate the world’s moral decay’ (Colin Garner ‘Creation & Evolution. Why it matters what you believe’.)

Colin Garner is Professor of Applied Thermodynamics at Loughborough University. He will be here at Angmering Baptist Church in person on Saturday 16^th October this year (10.00am-3.00pm) to speak on these matters (along with a Q & A session). All are welcome.

On one occasion when the Pharisees were seeking to trap Jesus he rebuked them saying, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29). This correction is also applicable to all who would deliberately deny the biblical account of creation.

Individual Conversion

Augustine, who lived from 354-430 and subsequently became a great bishop led a debauched and wayward life as a young man. Even though he knew of the Christian faith through his mother Monica, who was greatly distressed by the way he lived, he had no personal commitment to it. Then one day, as he records in his Confessions, a great surge of grief overtook him for the unhappiness his way of life was creating. While in tears, he heard a boy or girl’s voice repeatedly chanting in a nearby garden, “Pick it up and read it, pick it up and read it.” He took up a Bible and read the first chapter he came across. It opened at Romans 13, which spoke of the need for Augustine to clothe himself with Jesus Christ and not to gratify the desire of the sinful nature. As he read on, he discovered that even those who were weak in faith were acceptable. It was exactly what he needed to hear. No passage could have been more appropriate. It entered his soul like a spear and led immediately to his conversion and a total reformation of his life. His mother was overjoyed. It was reading the Bible alone, which brought about the repentance and transformation of his life he needed.

National/International impact

William Tyndale lived from 1494-1536. He saw that the ordinary people were ignorant of many aspects of the Faith and had accepted many misguided and manipulative practices imposed by the Church of his day. He believed these things would only be overcome if the Bible were translated into plain English. Early in his career, when arguing with a senior official of the Church, Tyndale uttered the memorable words, “If God spares my life, ere many years I will take care that a ploughboy shall know more of the Scriptures than you do”. Tyndale lost his life for translating the Bible, but the seed was sown and scattered over England. Subsequent translations followed, heavily reliant on Tyndale’s translation, including the King James Bible, published in 1611. Thanks to what Tyndale began, ordinary people were eventually given direct access to the powerful effects of God’s Word in their lives.

The story of the “Mutiny on the Bounty” in 1789 is well known. What is less well known is what followed. The mutineers chose to land on Pitcairn Island, where they lived in obscurity until receiving visitors from the outside world in 1808. Then the story of their dreadful experiences began to emerge. To begin with, life was a degraded mess, with immorality and drunkenness rife. Many of the women and children found it so hard to bear the behaviour of the men that they separated from them. Most members of the community lost their lives through either disease or violence. Then two of the mutineers, Edward Young and Alexander Smith, started to read the Bible. A change came over them and, in turn, through their leadership, a change came over the whole of the small community which still survived. So, by the time they were rescued, their rescuers recorded that they had found ‘the most perfect Christian society ever seen.’ A card recording this is preserved in the Greenwich Maritime museum. The transformation from an anarchic society in disintegration into a wholesome community took place because of the influence of the Bible.

Hope within oppressive circumstances

Many of you have seen the film “Bridge Over The River Kwai”. The British prisoners of war were forced to build a bridge over that river. The Senior Commander Ernest Gordon decided to write the true version of what happened, since the film contained so much fiction. He wrote “Miracle on the River Kwai”. He describes how the conditions were deplorable and the men were treated worse than animals. One starving prisoner shared his crust of bread with his friend. This was known to be an offence punishable by death. The man was executed with a bullet to the brain. This happened towards the end of 1942.

The other men wondered why this prisoner had risked his life in such a way. They searched through his belongings and found a Bible. They wondered if this was the reason the man acted as he did. They started to read his Bible.

Ernest Gordon was a church goer but not a Christian. However he began to lead Bible studies for the men. The Bible began to have a powerful effect on all the prisoners. All wanted to read it. There were not enough Bibles to go round. They set up a lending library. Bibles were leant out for an hour and then returned.

Lives changed. The community became orderly, pleasant. Beds were deloused, people were friendlier. A year after that prisoner’s death, there were 2000 of those prisoners meeting in their own Church services worshiping God. The message of the Bible had transformed their lives, their community and their prison camp. They built a bridge over the river Kwai and found they had built a bridge to glory through this book.

Hope beyond sickness and death

David Watson was a well-known evangelist in the 1970s and 80s. His ministry revived a redundant local church in York and he had a global itinerant ministry which saw thousands converted and blessed by the Spirit of God. At the height of his powers he went to the doctor to get a routine prescription for asthma. Totally unexpectedly his doctor suspected he might have a malignant cancer. Shortly afterwards, further investigations confirmed the diagnosis and he was given, as he called it, “the death sentence”. The usual unpleasant and debilitating treatment which cancer patients receive did little to stave off the inevitable, and he died not too long afterwards. In his book Fear No Evil he tells the story of his last months there with great honesty. He records the value of the Bible in sustaining him during his suffering.

As a theological student at Cambridge, David Watson had been exposed by his lecturers to a sustained attack on the authority of the Bible. He had had to work through whether he4 believed that what the Bible taught was trustworthy or not. Now, in his own final days, he knew his confidence in it had not been misplaced. He writes of his faith in the living God being strengthened during his time in hospital as he chewed over ‘the endless assurances and promises to be found in the Bible’. He comments “God’s word to us is the very ingredient that feeds our faith. If we feed our souls regularly on God’s word, several times each day, we should become robust spiritually, just as we feed on ordinary food several times each day, and become robust physically. Nothing is more important than hearing and obeying the word of God (p39).

We can believe the Bible. The Bible is accurate (10/1/21, 17/1/21) and it is the Inspired Word of God (21/3/21, 28/3/21) and is therefore powerful in its effect. The Bible itself has survived vicious attack and at the same time enjoyed amazing circulation throughout the world.

God’s Word has the power to warn, to rebuke and to correct. Has God spoken to you in these? Are you resisting Him and holding on to sin? You will reap what you sow, this is what the young Augustine found to his cost as did the depraved sailors of the Bounty. If you do then God’s judgment must follow. He is holy and righteous.

God’s Word is a powerful life giving force. When received it saves you from the tyranny of sin and produces transformation- a love for God and a love for your neighbour. Do you know that salvation in your own experience? Augustine came to know it, the sailors Young and Smith as did many in their community and many of the prisoners of war at Kwai. You can do so too through putting your faith in Christ this morning. Thank Him for His death on the cross for you. Turn to Him, confessing your sins and come to know Him and his forgiveness for yourself. He will shed His love abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit.

God’s Word is penetrating. It judges the sources of our motivation. Are you backsliding as a Christian? Have you lost your first love for Christ? Turn to Him afresh and be renewed in His love. Or are you obedient to Him, but finding it tough going so that fear and opposition loom large. God’s Word can comfort you; give you the courage to persevere; give you assured hope. Just as it did with Martin Luther King and David Watson. His Word has the power to strengthen your heart and give you assured hope.

C. H. Spurgeon was wise when he advised that we should no sooner defend the Bible than we would defend a lion. Rather we should release it, let it go, and watch it defend itself!

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²Last time I saw my grandson Robin his teacher had said dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago. Robin is just 5 years old. Real science suggests dinosaur fossils are only thousands of years old.  Philip Robinson of Creation magazine describes the “ever-growing list of original-soft-tissue finds in fossils (including dinosaurs) claimed to be tens to hundreds of millions of years old. But as the list grows, so does the controversy in the evolutionary world over the exact mechanism for the exceedingly rapid and deep burial required to fossilize these animals, and how original organic material can last as long as claimed.” (Vol. 42 No 1 2020. https://creation.com/soft-tissue-ichthyosaur )

Brian Thomas has a Ph.D. in Paleo biochemistry (in 2019 from the University of Liverpool). His doctoral research confirmed what is already known, that “collagen could not last for millions of years- unless stored in liquid nitrogen all that time.’ He writes “One way to explain these remnants is to swap fossils’ millions of years for mere thousands. This fits all the science plus the Bible’s timing of a recent Noah’s Flood.” (Vol 42 No 1 2020. https://creation.com/brian-thomas-interview)

Robinson in his article writes “The Bible clearly describes the global Noahic Flood occurring about 4,500 years ago. With its massive erosion and redeposition of mineral-rich sediment, this provides a suitable mechanism for rapidly burying and fossilizing the specimens. And the presence of original biomaterial makes the biblical timescale much more credible than evolution’s ‘millions of years”.

See also Liverpool University Professor Steve Taylor’s presentations on YouTube ‘Dinosaurs, dragons and DNA. Part 1’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khMSaAyZSBU and ‘Dinosaurs, dragons and DNA. Part 2’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78IZ6-QvQvU  (See also Updates ‘God and Viruses’ 29/3/20, Appendix of ‘Jesus Authority over Nature’ 14/6/20, ‘Noah and the Global Flood’ 29/11/20 for more on the credibility of Creation as opposed to Evolution).

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Hymn

2 Under the shadow of your throne 
your saints have dwelt secure. 
Sufficient is your arm alone, 
and our defence is sure.

3 Before the hills in order stood, 
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting you are God, 
to endless years the same.

4 A thousand ages in your sight 
are like an evening gone, 
short as the watch that ends the night 
before the rising sun.

5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream, 
soon bears us all away. 
We fly forgotten, as a dream 
dies at the opening day.

6 O God, our help in ages past, 
our hope for years to come,
still be our guard while troubles last, 
and our eternal home.

Isaac Watts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-hN740J6qA

Prayers

Trusting in God’s care for his children, we pray in the name of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

For those who are sick

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Psalm 36:5

We pray for those who are unwell due to the coronavirus: in your compassion, grant them strength and healing.

For our health workers

In the day of trouble you answer us, O Lord, and you protect us; you send us help and give us support. Psalm 20:1-2

We pray for all who minister to the sick throughout our health service, that they may renew their strength in you and be channels of restoration and renewal for those who suffer.

For the anxious

You are near to the broken-hearted, O Lord, and you save the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

We pray for all who are anxious about loved ones, friends and neighbours: enable them to trust in you and be steadfast in hope.

For the lonely and the isolated

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me. Psalm 23:4

We pray for all those who feel isolated or alone, that they may experience your loving presence. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer. For the strong and the vulnerable Lord, you raise the poor and lift the needy.

For those in authority

We cast our burden upon you, O Lord, and you sustain us. Psalm 55:22

We pray for all in authority who face difficult decisions that affect the lives of many; grant them wisdom and courage.

For those engaged in research

O Lord, you are great and abundant in power; your understanding is beyond measure Psalm 147:5

We pray for all engaged in research, who have developed vaccines and remedies for coronavirus: grant them wisdom, understanding and effectiveness in their continued endeavours. We pray for efficient and equitable distribution of vaccines to people of all nations.

For traders and employees

Lord, you are our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear? You are the stronghold of our life; of whom shall we be afraid? Psalm 27:1

We pray for traders and employees who are fearful of the future, that businesses may be secured, jobs protected and families supported. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer. Amen (National Council of the Churches of Christ)

We see the power of God at work in his raising Christ from the dead (see Update 13/9/20 evidences for the Resurrection), thereby ratifying to all that Jesus is the Son of God, that his gospel; his atoning death on the cross is God’s salvation, and is the promise of our own resurrection from the dead- for all who have believed on him:

Hymn

Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son;
endless is the victory, thou o'er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.
Refrain:
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son,
Endless is the vict'ry, thou o'er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the Church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.
Refrain:
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son,
Endless is the vict'ry, thou o'er death hast won.

No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;
life is naught without thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors, through thy deathless love:
bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.
Refrain:
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son,
Endless is the vict'ry, thou o'er death hast won.

Please see Note ¹ (p10) after these materials about services at ABC in the light of the Prime Minister’s most recent announcement. Read how the changes announced from the 19^th July will be implemented in this service and in following ones.