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Christadelphians Talk
  • 4.6 (12)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Daily

Christadelphians Talk about various subjects concerning True Bible Teaching.

  1. 20h ago

    “MAKE YOURSELVES A NEW HEART”

    Our chapter (18) in Ezekiel offers us a change of focus, instead of describing the sins of God’s nation, the prophet is caused to express God’s encouragement to individuals in that nation to turn from their evil ways and serve him.  This is also a chapter which stresses the divine judgement on individuals and shows that the word ‘soul’ does not mean some ‘spirit’ part of a person, often referred to as ‘the soul’ that is able to continue ‘living’ in some way – even though the body is dead.  This is what the Greeks and Romans believed – and the Catholics believed and most other ‘christians’-  under their influence – came to  believe in later centuries  – and, of course, the Muslims. Twice in this chapter Ezekiel records the words of God, “the soul who sins shall die” [v.4,20]. The Hebrew word can be translated as ‘the person’ wherever it occurs.  Ezekiel conveys God’s blunt words to the people, “Therefore I will judge you … every one according to his (her) ways, declares the Lord GOD.  Repent and turn from your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.”  [v.30]  Godlessness is obviously going to be the ruin of our world today.   Just as Jerusalem and its wonderful temple were destroyed in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, so will our world will experience  an awesome judgement by God.   Our present readings of the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke are making this increasingly clear. The final verses in our Ezekiel chapter catches our attention; its appeal applies just as much now as it did then. “Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!  Why will you die …?” [v.31] This is equally a question for today, “why will you die” eternally – never again to see the light and experience and explore the wonders of existence?  Many Scriptures ask this question, read Psalm 49 as an outstanding example. Luke records [ch. 15] Jesus’ parable about a lost coin.  A diligent search is made and it is found – what rejoicing follows!  “Just so,” says Jesus [v.10], “I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Jesus is the only person who ever lived who has never had to repent about anything.  Has there been “joy in heaven” over you?  Or will there be when you “make yourself a new heart” and marvel in “a new spirit” of mind as you are baptised into the name of Christ and commit yourself to use your particular talents in the service of Christ – before he returns!

    “MAKE YOURSELVES A NEW HEART”

  2. 1d ago

    “NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOD”

    Sin is not a word people use these days, I even met a teenager who had never heard the word ‘adultery’ – and had no idea what it meant – she came into our Bible Education Centre on a rainy morning while waiting for the Internet place next door to open. Today, attitudes are as they were in the days of Hosea who wrote, “ the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants … There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God” [ch. 4 v.1] That is exactly the case with our world today – “the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants” – and soon this will become awesomely evident.    In the days of Jesus, people more widely believed that God was the ultimate arbiter of punishment for their sins.  Our readings in Ezekiel also show this, making the point that God had been merciful toward his people, yet there comes a point when God, seeing that his  people do not change although he keeps showing mercy, ultimately brings awesome destruction – and Jerusalem came to a terrible end because of the abundance of their sins and lack of repentance.  It is significant that only once does Ezekiel use the word ‘mercy’ – although Jeremiah uses it frequently. God’s people abused his merciful attitude in Jeremiah’s time.  The one occasion Ezekiel uses it is in his ch. 39 v.25 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name”  A latter day prophecy we believe will soon occur..  Now Jesus makes a very interesting point in today’s ch. 13 in Luke.  Evidently people had been saying that when a tower collapsed in Siloam and killed 18 people (v.4), those people must have been worse sinners than other people.  How did Jesus respond?  “No” he says, “I tell you they were not, and if you fail to repent you will all likewise perish.” There is less and less belief in God these days, so no spirit of repentance. We must look at ourselves! If we are not on God’s side, trying our best to do his will, there is no future for us.  Jesus followed up his warning about Siloam  by telling them a parable about a man who planted a tree (v.6-9) and who came for 3 years, looking for fruit, but found none.  It was given one more year to produce fruit and a special effort was made to fertilise it.  If it did not produce fruit it would be destroyed. Jesus came to the lost sheep of Israel, most would not follow him, 40 years later there was terrible destruction, especially in Jerusalem.. The response of Peter on the day of Pentecost when  the people were ‘cut to the heart’ in realizing they had killed their Messiah, was to tell them to “Repent and be baptised” [Acts 2 v38]  So we have done that!  Good.  Are we heeding the lessons of God’s word – not only with a repentant attitude – we must each ask ourselves, are we producing fruit?   There is no point in having a “knowledge of God” if we do not.

    “NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOD”

  3. 2d ago

    “FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS …”

    They did not have banks in those days!  We read today in Luke 12 v.16-20 of a man who built many barns to “store all my grain and my goods” so he could “relax, eat, drink and be merry.”  This is the spirit among many in Australia today, the emphasis is on material well-being!  Of course it is not necessary to build bigger barns or have barns at all, but what security do banks offer?   Figures in computers, plenty of ‘paper’ money! As the Creator brings more and more of his promised time of trouble, a time, to quote our Lord (in Mark 13 v.19) when “there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be” again – it will almost certainly be useless to have any money in the bank, or any money at all, the only thing of value for the true believer to have – will be an overflowing abundance of faith. Jesus calls the man in his parable who built bigger barns a “Fool!” adding, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himselfand is not rich toward God.”  His next words to his disciples are, “”Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food  … more than clothing …” [v.24] Human minds today are totally concerned about such things – but we take to heart in what Jesus goes on to say, ” For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.  Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” [v.30,31]  His next words are, “”Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom….”   Those who belong to his “little flock” spend their time developing more and more “treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.”  [v.33] Finally note an even more vital point Jesus makes,  ” For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” And he adds this instruction;  “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning …” [v.32-35]  Are you “dressed for action?” Is your faith shining bright?   Let us all be conscious, with full honesty of heart, where our treasure is!

    “FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS …”

  4. 2d ago

    “THEREFORE BE CAREFUL LEST …”

    Our chapter (11) in Luke’s gospel today is full of challenging sayings by our Lord. There is great spiritual value in deeply meditating on them and seeing the extent to which they have application to the circumstances in which we live today.  The background to many of them is the self-righteous attitudes of the religious leaders who contended with Jesus.  Praise of Jesus’ mother developed in early centuries and led to the cult of a sort of Mary worship. Luke records a little incident which those influenced by such attitudes must gloss over and ignore.  We read the response of Jesus to a woman in the crowd who calls out, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed”  Jesus responds, “Blessed rather are those who hear the words of God and keep it.” [v.27,28]  May we all be blessed for that reason, and recognise our additional blessing in being able to read all the words of God.. The way that we “keep it” will result in us being “full of light”!   As a result our “eye is healthy” [v.34] and so our eye (or ear) keep bringing ‘healthy food’ into our minds.  This is more and more essential today as our world is so full of junk food! Underline the next 2 verses, “Therefore be careful lest the light (you think you have) be darkness”  [v. 35] Let’s fully absorb the point Jesus makes in the next verse, “If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” Are you and I “full of light”?   How difficult it is to maintain such light in the increasing darkness of this world – evil words and deeds multiply all around us.  Now the words of David in Psalm 139 are a special inspiration to us with his perception of the light of God in the darkness.  “If I say,’ writes David, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.” [v12] Read the rest of that Psalm, especially the last 2 verses – and then you and I will be even more dedicated to “be careful lest” the light of God’s word be smothered by the darkness that increasingly surrounds us.

    “THEREFORE BE CAREFUL LEST …”

  5. 4d ago

    'The Disciple and the World'

    'The Disciple and the World'

    'The Disciple and the World'

  6. 4d ago

    “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUYR HEART"

    How depressed Ezekiel must have been! The LORD caused him to be aware of the totally godless attitude that existed in Jerusalem.  He writes, “certain of the elders of Israel came to see me.” [14 v.1]  The “word of the LORD” comes to him, “… these men have taken their idols into their hearts and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces.  Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?” [v.3]  The lesson is plain, it is folly to come to seek God and yet retain fleshly thoughts in our minds.  Ezekiel is further told, “any one of the house of Israel … who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart … and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I, the LORD will answer him myself.  And I will set my face against that man (or woman)…” [v.7,8] Surely the same applies today to those who “consult” God through reading his word – but have a wrong motive in their hearts.  Peter’s words come to mind about Paul’s writings,, “There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” [2 Peter 3 v.16]   In our chapter [10] in Luke there is some comparison with the attitude of the lawyer who asked Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”   He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” [v.25-27]  Jesus says to him, “You have answered correctly: do this and you will live.”  But he asks, “and, who is my neighbour?” In response Jesus tells him the well-known account of the ‘Good Samaritan’ and asks the man, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among robbers?” [v.36]  He answers, “The one who showed mercy” and is told, “You go and do likewise.”  Let us all love our Lord, with all our heart, our soul, our strength and our mind showing our love by our actions day after day: of course, we will sense at times, something similar to what the LORD caused Ezekiel to sense.  But surely, in at least some cases, it will cause others to “do likewise” and – for at least one or two to take serious notice of the message and meaning of what we talk about –  the wonder and real meaning of the word of God – as the only ‘light’ in the darkness that covers the world today.

    “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUYR HEART"

  7. 5d ago

    “Let these words sink into your ears:

    What effect do the words of the Bible have on you as you read them?  They vary greatly as we have seen today: but this causes us to exercise our minds in many different ways – and this is good for us.  God has overseen the recording of many different events and messages so that what he has caused to be written is a lifelong study – indeed, more than a study, often a cause of prayerful meditation.  So often it is about human failure and the causes of that failure. Our Old Testament readings today were both about the dismal end of God’s nation.  The final 2 chapters in 2nd Kings detailed the dreadful destruction of Jerusalem and the distress of the people – and Ezekiel 13 is about the ungodliness at the time and how the Lord GOD said, “I will make stormy winds break out in my wrath … and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end.” [v.13]  And today? The Psalms of David had long been written so would one here and there, who knew them, have mediated on them?  Maybe Psalm 12, to take one example; it ends with the words, “on every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted …”!  Those trying to be righteous would surely have meditated on the two previous verses which start, “The words of the LORD are pure words …” !  We compare the forecasts of the destruction of Jerusalem with the forecasts Jesus made of his death and the reaction of his hearers to these forecasts. . We read today in Luke Ch. 9, “… while they were all marvelling at everything he was doing, Jesus  said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.’  But they did not understand this saying … “ [v.43-45] Their minds were focussed on “which of them was the greatest” [v.46]!  With that state of mind his words would not sink into their minds!    We see a telling comparison with what we will read later in Luke in Ch.24.  After his resurrection, 2 disciples who had walked with an unrecognized Messiah later confessed, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” [v.32]  They were in a mood to “let these words sink” into their minds!  He had chided them, that they “were slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken” [v.25].  It seems to be our nature to believe only what we want to believe – but in looking at all that the prophets have spoken and seeing alarming comparisons with our world today to the forecasts then of the destruction of Jerusalem and the reasons for it, let us cause the words of Christ and the prophets to sink more fully into our minds, so we can walk with greater and greater faith in the increasing darkness of today’s world.

    “Let these words sink into your ears:

  8. 6d ago

    The Sheep and the Goats: Judgment of the Saints or the Nations with Bible scholar Roger Lewis

    A @Christadelphians Video: Description: This video compares scripture with scripture to suggest an interpretation of the prophecy in Matthew 25:31-46, which relates to the judgement of the nations when Christ returns.[Actual, provable Bible Truth] We present an in-depth, expositional study on one of the most thought-provoking prophecies in Scripture: The Sheep and the Goats. Is this a judgment of the saints or the nations? In this outstanding and wonderful analysis, we uncover the profound, scripture-based evidence that proves this pivotal moment is primarily a judgment of the nations, setting the stage for the Kingdom of God on Earth.This video is not a surface-level reading. We delve into the Olivet Prophecy, examining the specific Greek words used—distinguishing between the *Bema* (judgment seat) and the *Thronos* (throne of royal authority)—to reveal the divine order of judgment. This insightful presentation demonstrates how the Old Testament lays the foundation for understanding the final judgment of all nations, and how their destiny is intrinsically linked to their treatment of the Jewish people. It is a revealing study that connects the dots between the "least of these My brethren" and the ongoing struggles of Israel, providing a powerful lens through which to view world events.We consider Brother Thomas’s expositions in *Eureka* to show how the Midheaven proclamation of Revelation 14 acts as the dividing line. The nations are not judged on personal piety but on their national response to God's King and His people. This is a true, Biblical truth that clarifies the hope for the "sheep nations" and the solemn warning for the "goat nations," all leading to the glorious establishment of the Kingdom Age.**Chapters:**00:00 - Introduction00:30 - Parable or Prophecy?01:53 - Saints or Nations: Which Interpretation is Primary?02:43 - The Three Sections of the Olivet Prophecy05:15 - Old Testament Basis for National Judgment10:01 - The Throne of Glory vs. The Judgment Seat13:47 - National Delegates & The "Righteous Nation"15:42 - The Midheaven Proclamation: The Moment of Division21:35 - The King Speaks to the Sheep Nations26:29 - "Inherit the Kingdom" for the Nations30:15 - The Test: Feeding the Hungry & Clothing the Naked33:57 - The Suffering of the Jewish Diaspora & The Second Exodus41:12 - The Goat Nations & The False Shepherd45:20 - The Reality of "Everlasting Fire" (Not Eternal Torment)50:29 - The Life of the Aion: National Inheritance53:40 - Conclusion: Our Responsibility to Tell the Next Generation**Bible Verse Category:**📖 Matthew 25:31-46📖 Jeremiah 25:31📖 Psalm 67:4📖 Isaiah 2:2-4📖 Revelation 14:6-7📖 Genesis 12:3📖 Deuteronomy 32:8📖 Zechariah 10:3**Tags:**Bible Study, Matthew 25, Sheep and Goats, Last Judgment, Prophecy, Eureka, John Thomas, Olivet Prophecy, Israel, Nations, Christadelphian, End Times, Kingdom of God, Bible Truth, Second Coming, Jesus Christ, Bible Prophecy, Midheaven, Gospel, British EnglishWe are a Christadelphian team, Brothers and sisters of Christ, and we're passionate about delivering powerful, Scripture-based content to strengthen and inspire your faith journey. If this presentation resonated with you, help spread the encouragement—share it with a friend today!

    The Sheep and the Goats: Judgment of the Saints or the Nations with Bible scholar Roger Lewis
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Christadelphians Talk about various subjects concerning True Bible Teaching.

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