The Moderator’s Address was delivered to the 2013 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) on Tuesday, 21 May 2013. It is based on the Scripture text Ezekiel 16:46-59.

It is an honourable custom that this Assembly should commence with an address. With the Lord’s help I will speak to some of the trials that the church faces in these days. It is amazing how similar our present circumstance is to the challenges faced by righteous Lot in Sodom. Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world. In every generation the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is comprised of a faithful remnant and also of multitudes who have contempt for faithful doctrine and who conduct their lives in a shameful manner. When we consider the breadth of the whole church in our day, we observe great diversity. A few are like Elijah in the wilderness, thinking we alone are left. Then there are those of the ilk of the ‘seven thousand who have not bent their knee to Baal’ who still live faithfully in the midst of a corrupt society. And sadly there are the professors of faith who are hardly distinguishable from the world – confessing Christ but by word and deed denying Him. No, our situation is not new! I would now draw our attention to the words of the prophet Ezekiel as the Lord our God reproves His church for excesses that dwarf the sins of Sodom and Samaria. I would submit to you that in Ezekiel 16 the Lord clarifies the sins of Sodom and highlights the challenges that we face in our own day. Continue reading →