Let me just announce as well that the Free Presbyterian
Church Mission Board have a prayer update for May.
And if you would like a copy, please find one on the porch as
you leave. OK?
We are delighted to have the Reverend Smiley and Mrs Smiley
with us this evening and we've been looking forward to him
coming. And we're going to ask them now
to come and minister to us. Thank you brother.
I'd like to thank Reverend McLaughlin for the words of
welcome, and it's a joy to be here tonight.
It's always a joy to share our testimony to the saving grace of
God and what the Lord has done in our lives over the years.
And we thank God for all of that.
We give the glory to him and we pray that God will meet with us
and bless us and as you pray for us in the work of God that we're
still engaged in, we pray for you that God will bless you here
and your God's servant here and his wife and and the church here
and carried off. We're reading together some
verses from Second Timothy chapter 3 and Paul, of course,
his writing to Timothy here and he's speaking to him about those
things that are essential as far as his ministry was concerned.
And then of course he reflects upon his own life and and his
own testimony. And you'll notice here what he
says in Second Timothy 3 and verse 10.
We break into the chapter, but that was fully known.
My doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering,
charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions which came unto me
at Antioch, at I Cunningham, at Lystra, what persecutions I
endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
Yeah, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and has
been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that
from a child thou hast known in the Holy Scriptures which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is
in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for a
proof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished onto
all good works. Amen.
That we know that God will bless the reading of His inspired,
inerrant, and infallible word to all our hearts.
This bow for a moment of prayer, please.
Our gracious God and eternal Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for this meetinghouse tonight in which we're gathered.
We thank You for all that that was done here through the years.
And we thank You for Thy servant and his faithfulness in the
preaching of Thy word and for those who have stood by the
stuff here in this place. And we pray that that will give
encouragement and blessing not only now, but into the days
ahead, that many souls will be brought into your Kingdom.
Bless us now as we turn to Thy word, as we think about all the
Lord hath done for us, and we never will cease to praise him.
And we pray that tonight, oh God, the word of testimony will
reach some heart or hearts in this meeting or listening into
this service. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
I want to base my testimony here upon verse 15 of Second Timothy
chapter 3, and that from a child of us known, the Holy Scriptures
which are able to make the wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. And as we think about these
words, we think about the period here from a child.
And of course, that's something that comes in to my testimony
very clearly, as you will hear as we go through it.
And then, of course, the great privilege of the Scriptures,
hearing the Scriptures. And again, that will come in to
the testimony, the Holy Scriptures, knowing the Holy
Scriptures, the knowledge of God's Word, and then the power
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. Well, I was born in County
Fermanagh, right on the border of Fermanagh and County Cavan.
Kleena, Newtown, Butler, County Fermanagh.
That's the town land in which I was born, a few 100 yards from
the border, the youngest child of five.
In fact, there would have been 7 if all had lived but three girls
and two boys in the family. Five in total remain.
I was the youngest of course, of that.
I was the only one in fact that was born in in County Fermanagh.
The rest were all born in County Down because my father actually
worked on a farm out between Saintfield and Balna Hinch
there, Patterson's farm. And he, he worked there for many
years. And my mother and father lived
up the lane actually beside the mission hall and was on that
road. And I don't know if it's still
there. I haven't been on that road for
a while, but I do remember preaching in that hall on one
occasion when I was ministering in Ballygahn at the mission
hall. I used to have to park up in a,
a farmer's yard, I think to get off that dangerous corner on the
road there. But that's where most of my
family were brought up. But then when my grandparents
passed away, the farm, that part of the farm came my mother's way
in County Fermanagh. And so the family moved to
County Fermanagh and my father took up the farm there and
farmed during that period. And so I was born on the farm.
I was born actually at home there at Klina, Newtown Butler.
But as I've said in the preface there I had the greatest of all
privileges, being brought up in a Christian home and from a
child knowing the Holy Scriptures.
I can remember my father from my earliest days coming in from
milking, and before we went to school, he opened the scripture
on the kitchen table and he taught us from the Word of God.
He read the Scriptures and he prayed with us before the next
sister to me, an older sister, went off to school.
And so I was acquainted with God's Word from my earliest
days. We went and attended Ballyhoe
Bridge Presbyterian Church. Now you may not have the
faintest idea where that is, but I could drive you there tonight.
I know exactly where it is, and in fact, many times my brother
is 12 years older than me. He used to bring me on the bar
of the bicycle to Sunday school in that church.
Sometimes the car wouldn't start and so we had to either hoof it,
as you would say, or go on the bicycle and well, health and
safety didn't come into play then, but I went on the bar, the
bicycle. My brother took me to Sunday
school. Now sadly, in that church, I
never heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The lady who taught me in Sunday school, she usually arrived
about half an hour late and and even when she did come, she was
a lovely lady, but she wasn't seeing.
And I was taught nothing of the gospel other than what I learned
from the child's catechism and of course learned at home.
I can never remember the Word being preached from the pulpit,
except maybe on the odd occasion when the visiting preacher came
and preached the gospel. But my mother and father were
faithful in bringing us to various gospel missions that
were held throughout the area. And there were many missions
that were held. And I can remember being brought
to those missions. In fact, I can't always remember
coming home because I usually fell asleep in the car.
But I was brought to those missions and I heard the word of
God. I heard the message of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I was taught the
Scriptures, I was brought up in the things of God.
I was taught the way of salvation.
My father took ill in his late 40s.
He developed a rare heart condition.
And so my brother had gone off at this stage to Bible college
to train in the 5th Mission Bible College and I was 9 year
old at the time. So I was going to take over the
farm. My sisters of course were, one
was still at school and the others were away working in
Belfast. And so the farm had to be sold
and it was sold in the mid 60s and we came to Belfast.
We came to the Ravenhill Rd in Belfast, bought a three Storey
house there and my father and mother used that house as a
boarding house, bed and breakfast, that type of thing.
People coming into work in Belfast found a place to stay
over and got meals there and that's how they made their
living, that's how they survived.
And so from being a little lad brought up on the farm until I
was 9 year old in County Fermanagh and then moving to the
Ravenhill Rd in Belfast, it was quite a culture shock wasn't it?
From County Fermanagh to Belfast that's how it was.
But we can see in all of this the working of God because
again, I was brought under the sound of the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We eventually went to Ravenhill
Presbyterian Church, was a very evangelical church, and the
minister, a faithful preacher of the gospel, Doctor Fetch A
Scotchman, and he preached the word of God.
And there in that church I heard again the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In that Sunday school I attended
in Ravenhill Presbyterian Church, there was one particular
man who taught us in Sunday School, a man who emigrated to
Australia. Mr Beatty was his name, a godly
man. I can remember him, the tears
running down his face as he taught us the gospel and pleaded
with us to come to Christ. I must admit he was teaching a
class of brats, cheeky brats, and I was one of them.
We tortured that man every Sunday.
We tortured, but he persisted and he brought before us the
gospel of Christ and he told us the way of salvation.
And I can still recall that. And also a man later on in
Sunday school who taught me the Shorter Catechism, a man called
Harry McKinney. I believe it certainly Harry.
I don't know what has become of Mr Beatty, but I would presume
with the passage of time he moved to Australia.
He has passed on to glory as well.
But certainly Harry McKinney in recent years I used to see him
the odd time in Belfast again, a faithful man of God who taught
us the the way of salvation and taught us the Shorter Catechism.
But as yet I had not come to Christ.
I was taught the word of God. I I knew the gospel from my
mother's knee, from my father, from my brother, but I wasn't
seen. And then when we moved to the
Ravenhill Rd in Belfast, I fathered a great love for Doctor
Paisley. And he used to bring me to hear
Doctor Paisley on a Sunday night in the Ulster Hall.
We used to walk down Park Rd, if you know that area of Belfast,
down Park Rd onto the Armour Rd, down the lower Armour into
Bedford St. I don't think you'd walk down
that way now very safely anyway. But we used to walk on a Sunday
night. Now that was a good 45 minute
walk. And then when we got to the
Ulster Hall, at that particular time you could hardly get into
the Ulster Hall, such was the crowd.
I can remember going to services there and we had to stand the
whole service. They were standing 3 deep, every
seat was taken. And I can remember the most
powerful preaching of the gospel from the lips of Doctor Paisley
as he preached the word of God. And they can remember many souls
coming out in the in the gospel invitation and people passing by
and into the enquiry rooms to get saved.
God was working, God was moving, God was answering prayer.
Yet I wasn't saved. They hadn't come to Christ.
You see, going to church doesn't make you a Christian.
Reading the Bible doesn't make you a Christian.
Going to Sunday school and learning the catechism doesn't
make you a Christian. All of these are commendable
things. But I wasn't seeing.
And after standing for an hour before the service and standing
for an hour and a half through the service, we walked all the
way home again, up the up Bedford St and up the Armour
Road and up into Park Road and back into 153 Ravenhill Rd.
That's where we live. But you know, my father was a
faithful man of prayer and he used to pray for us as a family.
And I can remember listening to his prayers.
He he always prayed out loud. I can remember naming me before
the throne of grace and prayer, naming every member of the
family that wasn't saved before the throne of grace and prayer,
but yet I wasn't a Christian. And then he went to every
mission that could possibly get to.
My father was a great man for attending missions and mission
halls, and there was a particular mission in the
Christian Workers Union Hall in Lisburn Market Street.
It's still there. And I attended that mission.
Reverend Sam Workman was the evangelist.
And night after night we attend. I think we must have attended
every night of that mission. And in those days the missions
were not just Monday to Friday, but Saturday night as well, and
Sunday night and after church meeting at half 8.
And it was one of those meetings that God really spoke to me.
God spoke to my heart and brought me to realise my need of
God's salvation. 15th of January 1969.
I came home from that meeting that particular night and my own
bedside. 153 Raven Hill Rd. I came to Christ and trusted the
Saviour. Hallelujah.
That was the transformation that took place in my life as a young
lad of 11 years old, brought up in the gospel, taught the things
of God and I came to Christ that night.
Of course, from being in a country school and going to a
school in Belfast again was Rosetta Primary School.
And then now at this particular age into Park Preyed secondary
School and Park Preyed secondary school was known in Belfast as
one of the toughest schools. We're now into the time of the
Troubles and it was a tough school and I must admit those
early years were difficult. I find it difficult to
transition from a primary school to a secondary school and
meeting people that I'd never saw before.
But it's wonderful how God works.
And you know, I was looking for Christian company and the Lord
provided that Christian company. As a man who still in the
martyrs to this day. He's one of the elders there,
Gary Parkes, I met him at church in Martyrs started to sit beside
him and his dad on a Sunday morning.
And obviously he was the one who looked out for me at school.
It's very important you see that young people get the right
company. You choose your friends wisely.
Canon unto the sound of God's Word is vitally important, of
course, but also outside of that in the world.
And we remain friends until this day.
It was a great help to me in my Christian life, in my early
Christian experience after I'd become a Christian.
And so I was still attending Ravenhill Presbyterian Church at
that time, a good church in many ways.
But in 1969, just a lot of months after, I could see if the
Martyrs Memorial Church opened. I used to walk past it every
day, and I saw this building going up.
As I made my way to school, I could see this building being
built. My father got tickets for the
opening. Now you didn't have to pay for
the tickets, but you had to have a ticket for the opening, such
was the number of people that wanted to go.
And I couldn't get a ticket for the afternoon.
But my father somehow got me a ticket for the evening service.
There were two services and I went to the evening service of
the opening of that church and just when I heard Doctor Paisley
preach again, and I'd heard him in the past and saw the crowds
of people gathered and my interests were stirred in going
to that church. I used to go to Ravenhill in the
morning, was in the Boys Brigade and of course the Boys Brigade
Bible class was on. And if you didn't go to the Boys
Brigade Bible class, well, you didn't get on the football team.
So I always had to, such was my love of football.
I still like it to this day, but it's not an idol.
But it's it's still like a game of football.
And so I had to get to the Bible class in order to get my name
down for the football team on the next Saturday.
But then I used to slip out of the Bible class and up to the
martyrs Sunday morning. My dad used to say why were you
not church this morning, didn't see you at church this morning.
I said it was up at the martyrs and he was fine with that
because he knew that it was under the ministry of Doctor
Paisley and a great respect and love for the preaching of Doctor
Paisley. And of course, as I became more
linked into the church in Ravenhill Martyrs Memorial, I
began to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, it's one thing to be
saved, it's one thing to have been born again of the Spirit of
God, and that's absolutely essential.
But it's another thing to grow in grace and in the knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ to go on with God.
And so of course, I began to grow in grace, began to attend
the services, the prayer meetings.
I can still remember those prayer meetings of powerful
prayer meetings when when heaven came down, remember those
midweek prayer meetings on Wednesday night, hundreds of
people gathering and, and people, maybe sometimes two or
three people getting up at the one time to pray.
Such was the spirit of prayer. Youth Fellowship became
involved. I remember Reverend David
Priestley became friends with him and he took me on door to
door work. We used to go out and round the
doors. I became involved in door to
door outreach, open air work, youth fellowship work, Sunday
school work. I remember going to the Sunday
School Bible class and I was, I must have been just 16 at the
time. I remember feeding this hand on
my shoulder. It was one of the elders and
martyrs, Bob Gunning, great man of God.
And he said to me, Alan, did you ever think about teaching a
Sunday school class? I said, no, I haven't thought
about that. He said, well, would you pray
about it? I said, well, I'll be prepared
to pray about it. The next week the hand was on my
shoulder again. He said, Alan, have you prayed
about it? I said, well, yes, I'm praying
about it. He said I've got a class for
you, got a class for you. So that was my entrance into
teaching children involvement in the Lord's work, a further step
into the work of God. It was again the Lord teaching
me that not only have you to become a Christian, but you have
to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's not only about
salvation, it's about service for the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so I became involved in this service, Youth fellowship, door
to door outreach, now Sunday school work.
And so the Lord was showing me through all of this that this
was a church for me. I heard about all that was going
on and the churches at that particular time and the World
Council of Churches and the compromise and the ecumenical
movement and all of these things.
And of course, my father was very unhappy with the
Presbyterian Church. He was an elder and he was
unhappy with how things were going.
And eventually I saw that I needed to separate from this
denomination the Irish Presbyterian Church and to join
the Free Presbyterian Church. And that's what I did.
You see, it's important young people and people in general
tonight that if you're truly saved and you find a church that
is true to Christ and true to the word of God, that you not
only become involved in that church, but do you become a
member of that church. You think of Saul of Tarsus when
he was wonderfully saved on the Damascus Rd.
But then he joined the Fellowship of Believers, he
joined the church. He didn't just float around.
He became identified with a local church that's so
important, and I saw that, and I can remember still when I, along
with many others at that particular time, became members
on that particular day at the Lord's Table in Martyrs
Memorial. I still remember the crowd of
people that were there who were joining the same day as I was
joined, becoming members of the church.
Of course there was salvation, there was service in the local
church, but I can remember God challenging me.
This is a young lad, a young teenager, just finding my feet
as far as Christian service was concerned, becoming involved in
the prayer meetings of the church.
And that's another vital part of growing in the Christian life.
And I became involved in the prayer meetings.
I can remember those late night prayer meetings at Martyrs,
Friday night, late night prayer meetings.
David Priestley, Reverend David Priestley, as he is now, of
course, late Reverend Almarat, many others.
In fact, these guys used to all come up to my house on a Friday
night, about 3:00 on a Saturday morning in fact, and he kept
down for the night. 153 Ravenhill Rd after being at the
prayer meeting, half night of prayer martyrs.
I can remember those nights when God came down and God visited
the power of the praying of our brethren and others who joined
with us in those seasons of prayer.
You see salvation, service and supplications all has to be
linked together. It's all part and parcel.
We think about the call to the ministry.
As I said, I was being challenged about serving God in
a full time capacity. I just started work in the civil
service and of course opportunities to go on in that
particular career and but I can remember hearing Doctor Cairns
preach on the will of God. I was sitting in the martyrs.
The church hall. In fact down at Glentoran St,
the old church building used to be used as a church hall.
I remember sitting on the stairs at a youth rally.
Used to have a youth rally on the 1st Saturday of every year,
first Saturday night of every year, the beginning of each
year. And he preached on the will of
God. And that night I could take you
if I don't know what that building's like now, but I can
remember the exact place and that staircase where I was and
responding to that challenge that night that Doctor Cairns
put out about the will of God and serving the Lord Jesus
Christ and entering the ministry and entering full time service
for Christ. There was I-17 years of age
willing and saying that night in my heart before God, here am I
send me, here am I send me. I'm not sure how much my family
understood. All was going through my mind
and working in my heart at that time, but I knew that God had
called me. I knew that this was the work
that God had called me into the ministry of the Free
Presbyterian Church. I remember going to Doctor
Paisley and telling him, and I can still remember that night
and fear and trembling. I went into the little vestry
there in the Ministers room, the Martyrs Memorial, and he said to
me, If God has called you to be a preacher, don't stoop to be a
king. I can always remember that.
Then he got down on his knees and he put his hand on my
shoulder and he prayed for me. I can never forget the
experience I had that night and just the prayer that Doctor
Paisley offered. And then of course as Doctor
Paisley, those of you who know me just immediately said where
are you applying? We need ministers.
And so we, the application came forward, of course in 1974.
We were called to the Presbytery September 1974.
And those particular days you had to preach before the
presbytery and there was, I don't know how many of us, there
must have been 6 or 7 or 8 preached that particular night.
So it was about midnight when I got on, maybe they were sleeping
when they decided to give me the go ahead to come into the
Theological hall as it was then. But we started to train in 1974
and then of course went through that course until 1978, four
years of study and those were great days.
We we had some tremendous times of fellowship.
In fact, I think at that particular time there were 21 in
the class, 21 men who were training for ministry here.
I think Reverend John Hannah, he was training for a missionary
work, but apart from him there was 20 of us who were training
for the work here in Northern Ireland.
Some great times of fellowship, some difficult times for me, who
wouldn't be the the brightest of sparks, but we got through
tremendous times of opportunity. God was working at that time
throughout our country and there were tremendous opportunities of
preaching every week and souls were getting saved.
I can remember even in martyrs itself, there were scores of
people saved. Every Sunday night God came
down. The Spirit of God was moving.
Can remember Doctor Paisley preaching the most powerful
sermons and and people coming down the aisles and seeking the
Lord for salvation. We were in the midst of revival,
if we'd only had known it. And God worked in a mighty way,
in the most powerful manner. The Spirit of God was poured out
and the opportunity of serving as a assistant to Doctor Douglas
for a while in Lisburn during the time I was in college and
then as a student minister. In those days, student ministers
were put into some of the congregations that were starting
up and draw war was starting up and I was put in there for a
period of 18 to 20 months. Eventually, upon training days
were finished, I was called to the church in Karagari in County
Maniton, 1979, and shortly after that I'd met my wife some time
before that and we were married in 1979 and Vivian joined me
there in the ministry there in Corrigari.
And then of course in subsequent years to that.
I became minister of John Knox Free Presbyterian Church.
That time it was in Clifton Park Ave, but the IRA burned the
building down or severely damaged it.
Anyway, we moved down to the Shankill Road and then built a
new church there eventually, and I served in that congregation
for some 24 years. And then in 2004, I felt the
call of God to take up the ministry in, in Ballygun and
served there for almost 18 years until my retirement in 2022.
You know, I, I thank God for all of the opportunities that God
has given me as far as the ministry of the gospel is
concerned, the doors that have opened to preach the word of God
and the doors that are still opening.
People talk about retirement. I, I haven't found it yet.
I haven't found it yet. I'm still as busy as ever.
In fact, my wife talks about are you slowing down and I'm
thinking doesn't look like it. Every Sunday morning at 9:00 I'm
preaching in Maghaberry Prison. This morning I was in Randall,
started at 11:30 preaching there.
Tonight I'm here and carried off.
Next week I'm in Claher Valley, all over the place.
Newtownards is intermoderated, that's the other thing.
Couple of days a week I'm involved in prison ministry in
Maghaberry, in Hyde Bank Wood, young offenders in ladies
prison. So really don't have much time
for retirement as of yet. Great opportunities to still
serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to work in his vineyard to
preach the glorious gospel of Christ.
But you know, I couldn't have done all this without the Lord's
help. Having obtained the help of God,
I continue unto this day. It's all about Alan Smiley.
I am a nobody. It's about Christ, it's about
what we do for him and his glory that we seek.
And I also must say this, and I couldn't have done all this
without my wife's help, without her by my side.
Vivian, who's been a source of great strength to me and help to
me in my ministry. Minister's wives are often
overlooked, undervalued maybe in many cases, but I thank God for
my wife and 2013. We had probably the darkest
period in her life when she was diagnosed with cancer, and I can
remember those dark days very vividly.
But the Lord graciously intervened.
Vivian is here tonight having known the healing touch of God.
2013, It's now 2026. I was never good at maths, but I
think that's 13 years that the Lord has been gracious to her
and spared her and brought her to this time.
We thank God for the opportunities that God has given
to us. We thank God for our college.
I've been involved in that in the building of a new college as
far as the training of our ministers is concerned.
And just in March there that new building was opened.
But there's a need for young men and young women to say, as I did
way back in 1974, here am I sent me for young people to say I'm
going to that college. I'm going to be training for
ministry or training for work among children or work that I,
Chris Killen needs desperately workers to come alongside him
and his wife in the ministry of to those that are addicted.
There's such a great need at this point in time.
I only know of one young man who has applied for this year.
Now we're not despising the day of all things, we rejoice in
that. But we need many more and pray
that God will send forth labourers into his harvest
field. But if you're not a Christian
tonight, you've never been saved.
And perhaps from a child you've known the Holy Scriptures,
you've known the this word of God that is able to make you
wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
But you have never known God's so great salvation.
Is God calling you tonight, calling you from your sin?
Calling you from the darkness of this world, calling you into the
glorious light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If that is so, I pray that you will come to Christ even now a
prisoner in the prison this morning he said to me this, he
said I was out on parole. I was visiting my sister is from
a Catholic background and he said this man does profess faith
in Christ. He said I I spoke to her about
her need of salvation. She said I want to confess my
sins now get me the priest. He said you don't need the
priest, you can confess your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And my dear friend, tonight you don't need a minister.
We have our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You have direct access to him. Will you call upon him tonight?
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall they see
it. I trust that what has been of
the Lord in this testimony will be a blessing to your heart
tonight. Thank you.
Well, we do thank the Lord for what the Reverend Smiley has
shared with us this evening by way of testimony.
And we thank the Lord for him. And I have learned a lot of
interesting things that I didn't even know about our dear
brother. You'll have opportunity around
the cup of tea to have a little chat with him after as we
conclude the service. Let me just before we come to
our him asked you that question. Are you saved tonight?
Do you know and love Christ? Is he your Lord and Saviour?
Been a time when you called upon him.
Lord, save me, I perish. Are you separated tonight unto
the gospel? Have you a real, genuine love
for Christ in the things of God? Are you supplicating God's
throne for God's will for your life?
And are you serving the Lord in the place where he has you?
Those are very challenging questions, but I pray tonight
that the Spirit of God will apply them even as you've
listened to the Lord's servant. We're going to sing in closing
some verses of 325.