Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 28/2/2010 One of the demands commonly made in many walks of life is for authenticity. We live in a world of shallow imitations, where pretence is the order of the day. Recently we have observed Members of Parliament taken to task because they did not make genuine claims. Their way of life was not appropriate to their position. Of course we know that such behaviour is not limited to them. Indeed, if it was possible to invent a machine that would give a regular check-up on the level of our authenticity a lot of people would want it banned. The desire for authenticity should mark the Christian church. At times, people suggest what is wrong with the church. I recall that a book was published a few years ago that suggested that worship was the missing jewel from the church. If you were to ask me what I think is wrong with the church, I would say that there is not a high level of sanctification. In case you think I am looking at you, I am not. Instead I see

This sermon was preached on 28/2/2010 The time in which Samuel was born was very similar to our own times. Historically we are coming, in the biblical story, to the end of the period when judges ruled the land and the beginning of the era of the kings, beginning with Saul and followed by the house of David. It was a time when there was a lack of civil leadership, but what was even worse was the lack of religious leadership. So the future of God’s kingdom did not lie with those in the nation who had abandoned their commitment to God; rather it lay with the members of a faithful remnant, exemplified by Elkanah and Hannah. There are some basic principles that we can note at the beginning of our study of this book. First, we have here an aspect of God’s preparation for the man of his choice. Samuel became a great man of God, but much of it can be traced to what his mother did before he was born. Second, God’s plan to reverse decline can be a long-term one; often his answer to such

This sermon was preached on 28/2/2010 The four disciples continue in the school of Jesus as he teaches them to become fishers of men. So far they have been to the classrooms of public worship, of using their homes, and of personal prayer. If Peter is behind much of the details recorded by Mark, as is generally accepted, then he would have passed on incidents that impressed him to Mark (of course, Mark was under the guidance of the Spirit as he wrote his Gospel). The only incident mentioned by Mark from the preaching plans about which Jesus had prayed is the one involving this leper. Concerning what else took place during those preaching occasions we will have to wait until the Day of Judgement to discover what happened – after all, those who heard Jesus preach will give then an account of their responses. This is a reminder that just because our story is not highlighted it does not mean it is not important. What was significant about the case involving leper? As is well-known, lepers w

This sermon was preached on 25/2/2010 Paul here, in referring to God’s activity in searching the heart, is imitating other biblical writers. David, the godly king of Israel, advised his son Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9: ‘And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.’ The psalmists in Psalm 44 use this activity of God as an argument in prayer. In that psalm, the sad state of spiritual life in Israel is described. But the writer(s) know that they are different from those who are departing from the ways of God and they appeal to his searching of hearts as evidence of their loyalty in verses 20-21: ‘If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.’ In Psalm 139

This sermon was preached on 21/2/2010 We have seen in previous studies in Genesis how Moses, under the supervision of the Holy Spirit, was guided to describe several events that together provide a framework for understanding where we are today. We noted that initially the human race was made in the image of God, with holy characters and position of status as God’s representatives. But we were told that there was also an evil power present (Satan) who succeeded in tempting the original human pair to turn from God. This rebellion resulted in a range of judgements, including death and the curse on creation. Nevertheless God revealed that a future deliverer was coming. So grace was there along with judgement. This resulted in the human race being divided into two groups represented by the line of Cain and the line of Seth, with the former being rebels against God and the latter being worshippers of God. Eventually, the outlook associated with the line of Cain became so dominant t

This sermon was preached on 21/2/2010 The four disciples – Peter, Andrew, James and John – are now in the process of learning how to become fishers of men. So far, Jesus has taught them about the importance of attending worship services (in the synagogue) and of opening their homes for Jesus to use. Lesson 3 is about to begin and it involves the importance of personal prayer. It is important for us to remember how disciples were taught. A disciple was not the equivalent of a university or college student who learns from an individual whose private life is detached from his public role, and which may be inconsistent with his position in life. Instead a disciple learned by observing his teacher as well as listening to his teacher – the quality of life was as important as the truth of his words. So Jesus had to model the importance of prayer for his disciples as well as teach them about its necessity and features. We are familiar with the practice of Jesus to pray at significant times in

This sermon was preached on 21/2/2010 In this section of his letter, Paul again details the spiritual pleasure Silas and himself had after receiving Timothy’s report of the spiritual progress of the young Thessalonian church. Their focus on evangelism (1:6-10), their fortitude in persecution (2:13-16) and their love for the team that had brought the gospel to them (3:6) greatly encouraged Paul and his colleagues. His account here reminds us of several important features of Christian living, which we can mention briefly. First, a church making progress is a great source of encouragement to other Christians, in this case a new church that brought spiritual comfort to those who founded it. A sad sight in the business world is a company that fails to develop despite the input of hard work by those who commenced it. Their energy and enthusiasm was not duplicated in others who joined the company. A similar scenario can happen with a church. It can have a good onset, but for various rea

This sermon was preached on 18/2/2010 In the Bible we find many surprising statements, although Paul’s comment here may rank as the one of the most surprising of all. He has already mentioned how the creation groans in anticipation of its release from bondage and how the Christian groans as he waits for the redemption of his body. Neither of these groanings are extraordinary once we understand their contexts. But to describe the Holy Spirit as also groaning is remarkable because the other two groanings are connected to the consequence of sin and the Holy Spirit is sinless. An obvious aspect of the Spirit’s groaning is that it indicates his sympathy with his people in their aspirations. As we noticed in previous studies, the groaning of the Christian, as with the groaning of creation, is not a negative groaning. This spiritual groaning is a positive one because the believer, while aware strongly of the way his body is a cause of personal sin and suffering, knows that he will yet receive

This sermon was preached on 11/2/2010 Paul has been describing the impersonal groanings of the universe because of the curse place on it by God because of Adam’s sin. This, of course, is a reminder to us of the necessity of divine revelation for understanding the condition of the natural world. We can look at the created world and discern by process of reasoning that there is something wrong with it. Some have even detected in the annual cycle of spring of following winter, an attempt by creation to bring about a kind of resurrection; of course, they realise that spring is inevitably followed by another winter. All our reflecting on the created world would not conclude this wonderful revelation of God’s Word that there will be liberty for the creation from the consequences of human sin. Paul turns from the impersonal groaning of creation to the personal groaning of the Christian. He indicates that this personal groaning is connected to the groaning of creation in that it is concerned w

This sermon was preached on 7/2/2010 In this passage Paul twice refers to activities of the devil: in 2:18 he says that Satan hindered him and in 3:5 he mentions the possibility that Satan may have tempted the Thessalonians in such a manner that the work of Paul’s team in Thessalonica would have disappeared. The first reference details Paul’s consciousness of devilish opposition and the second mentions Paul’s concern for what the devil may do to a church. Paul’s consciousness of the devil’s opposition Of course, the devil’s opposition could arise in a wide variety of circumstances. Inevitably we have to examine a particular situation in order to learn lessons that will help us in other situations. Examining Paul’s circumstances will give us some insights into what we can expect the devil to do. Fellowship It is clear from 2:17-18 that Paul and his friends wanted to return to Thessalonica. The reason for the return was for fellowship and upbuilding. They realised the church t