Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 11/4/2010 I wonder what day of the week Levi was converted. It looks as if it was either a Monday or a Thursday because they were the two days of each week when the Pharisees fasted. Remember the parable Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax-collector – one of the claims made by the Pharisee is that he fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12). It is interesting that Jesus chose to go to a feast on the day that prominent religious groups were having a fast. This practice of fasting twice a week was a man-made rule and Jesus had no intention of allowing his followers become ensnared by such religious actions. Instead he went to Levi’s home and participated in the celebration. This discussion about fasting is a continuation of the disagreement the Pharisees had over the company that Jesus was keeping. It is important to note that this is not a passage on which to base the features of Christian fasting. A casual reading of it might deduce that Jesus did not approv...

This sermon was preached on 18/4/2010 Both the Old and New Testaments contain several benedictions, which indicates that flexibility is allowed in what is said through them. A benediction is not the same as a doxology – a doxology is a statement of praise. Most people, I think, regard a benediction as a form of prayer. Such a view is not wrong, but we need to be more specific when working out what it is. It is more a pronouncement than a petition, although it is composed of petitions. Further they are words that contain definite promises, which means that we cannot insert earthly matters into them (a benediction cannot specify that a congregation’s members will have health and wealth simply because there is no divine guarantee that God will give them). The focus of a benediction is God, sometimes on a particular attribute, at other times on God as the Trinity. The character of God Paul describes the Lord as the God of peace, and he has the Father in view. In calling him the G...

This sermon was preached on 18/4/2010 We are familiar with the scenario of an individual being escorted round an ancient castle or palace by an old guide. At some stage in the tour the visitor discovers that the guide is actually the owner of the castle, a person with great knowledge of its history and of the original intentions of the builders. The visitor will be pleased if he has not made any critical assessments during the tour, and he will be embarrassed if he has given his opinion on any aspect that has turned out to be wrong. Of course, such an incident is not very serious. Yet it does picture what happened in the two incidents we will consider this morning, and they are different from our imaginary situation because they were serious occasions. The Pharisees saw themselves as experts on the Sabbath and they practised a range of ideas which they thought suitable for keeping it. Often the individuals they came across were unable to assess their teachings on the Sabbath, which o...

This sermon was preached on 15/4/2010 Paul, in these verses, considers the third question that he asks as he draws this section of Romans to a close. So far in his conclusion, he has asked, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ and ‘Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?’, and has provided answers to each question. The first is answered by the reminder that God has already given his Son for us, and he will with him give all that we need; the second is answered by the twofold reality that God has justified his people and Jesus is interceding for them. The third question that he asks is, ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?’ He amplifies the question by bringing into view the various experiences his readers have had as a result of following Christ. Each of the details in the second question in verse 35 are associated with persecution that believers were then facing. Therefore this list is made up of visible sources of opposition. This tells us that the Christian...

This sermon was preached on 11/4/2010 Paul has dealt with the issue that was causing a difficulty in the young church in Thessalonica – the issue was the second coming and what role Christians who had died would have when Jesus returned. The apostle had exhorted his readers that they had to live as those who knew Jesus was coming, even although they did not know when his coming would be. But what does it mean to live as children of light in a community that is in spiritual darkness? Paul gives answers to this question in the verses we will study. Perhaps we are surprised that Paul gives such advice to a church that was obviously in a healthy spiritual state (as we noticed when we considered its work of faith, labour of love and patient hope mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1). Sadly Paul was aware that a healthy church can very quickly become an unhealthy one – he knew what had happened to the churches in Galatia who had a good start but were misdirected by false teachers after Pa...

This sermon was preached on 8/4/2010 Paul has now reached the application of his argument and is presenting reasons why Christians should have a strong sense of security. He does this in the form of three applicatory questions: (1) Since God has already given his Son as the sacrifice for their sins, will he not with him not also give everything else that is required? (2) Who can condemn Christians? (3) What can separate Christians from the love of Christ? It is the second of those questions that I want to consider in this sermon. The first matter to be addressed is the identity of those who are likely to want to charge or condemn Christians and what standard will they use to do so? First, the accusation will come from their spiritual enemies – the devil and the world – and they will base their criticism of believers on the law of God. The devil can use God’s law in many ways, which is why he is called ‘the accuser of the brethren’. Similarly, the world can identify when a Christian f...

This sermon was preached on 4/4/2010 Today is Easter Sunday, the day on which Christians all over the world celebrate the wonderful fact that Jesus arose from the dead on the third day. While there is not a biblical requirement to focus for a specific day on the resurrection of Jesus, it is useful for us to do so because many people will make reference to it in one way or another. A Fact to be Celebrated The church in Corinth was in a part of the world where Greek intellectual thought held sway. One prominent feature of its outlook was the denial of the possibility of a resurrection, although they did not deny the ongoing existence of human souls. This predominant outlook quickly affected the church, with the result that some taught that there was no resurrection. Paul begins his response to the situation by reminding his readers of the facts and reminds them of all the witnesses that saw Jesus risen from the dead. Today, two thousand years later, we live in an intellectual envi...

This sermon was preached on 1/4/2010 In his letter to the Romans Paul gave to the church a clear explanation of the Christian faith, both its doctrinal beliefs and its practical expressions. In chapters 1–8, he has explained God’s remedy for the problem of human sin, a remedy which was to provide salvation, a salvation that includes the standing of justification, the status of adoption, and the prospect of glorification. All who have received this salvation have also been given the Holy Spirit to enable them to work out in their lives the consequences and effects of these new blessings, and the all-embracive term for this work of the Spirit is sanctification. In a sense, Paul’s remaining words are his conclusion to what he has taught in the preceding part of his letter. The enquiry that Paul makes As Paul comes to this closure, he functions as a barrister summarising his case by asking several relevant questions based on the evidence he has presented. The questions that he will bring u...