Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

In the closing section of his prayer for the Colossians, Paul had mentioned that they were members of the kingdom of Jesus. This may have led him to focus on the greatness of Jesus, which is described through his relationship with his Father, with the created universe, and with his church. The desired outcome for the Colossians is that they would grow in their appreciation of the dignity and majesty of their King. Relationship with the Father The first aspect identified by Paul of the greatness of Jesus is that he is the image of the invisible God. This description of God is a reference to his essential nature. The apostle John reminds us that ‘No one has ever seen God’ (1 John 4:12). Paul also, in one of his doxologies, expresses this reality: God is ‘the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen’ (1 Tim. 6:15-17). Ou...

This sermon was preached on 14/11/2010 Although the author of the psalm is anonymous, it is straightforward to see why it was included in this collection of psalms that were sung during the periods of the year when pilgrims attended the annual feasts. One of the first things that had to be done after the return from the exile was the rebuilding of the temple of Solomon that had been flattened by the Babylonians. What better response could they have made than to recall the building of the first temple? As they did so, they would see that it also had small beginnings, and this fact would encourage them as they saw the small beginnings of the new temple that they were erecting. Even after they had constructed the restored temple and saw its apparent insignificance in contrast to the splendour of Solomon’s temple, they would be encouraged by the promises that the Lord had given to David. There is an important principle here for us to note with regard to the past. We tend to recall ...

This sermon was preached on 14/11/2010 We have been considering various names of Jesus found in the Bible and presently we are focusing on the seven ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus found in the Gospel of John. So far, we have thought about his claims to be the Light of the world and the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). A glance at the Bible references shows that we have not taken the sayings in their biblical order – in fact, the one that comes first is the one we will consider today, ‘I am the Bread of Life.’ Sometimes Jesus gave his teaching during a discussion that involved an Old Testament feature. Here, the context of this saying of Jesus concerns the response of some of the crowd who had participated in the feeding of the 5,000. During their interaction with Jesus they had referred to the manna which their ancestors had received daily during their journey through the desert from Egypt to Canaan. The crowd were comparing Jesus and Moses – Jesus had miraculously fed a large...

This sermon was preached on 11/11/2010 It is often assumed that the text of the ten commandments begins with the first commandment. Such an assumption fails to take account of the preface, and it is important to pay heed to the preface because it provided the context in which the ten commandments were given to Israel. The preface contained the motivating factors for an ongoing commitment of obedience to the ten commandments. There were three such factors: (1) a personal understanding of God; (2) a particular activity of God on their behalf; and (3) a reminder of what and where they used to be. The personal understanding of God was found in the clause ‘I am the LORD your God’; the particular activity was stated in the clause ‘who brought you out of the land of Egypt’; and the reminder of their previous state was described in the phrase, ‘out of the house of bondage.’ 1. The personal understanding of God There are many names of the God of Israel found in the Bible. Sometimes he...

Warren Wiersbe comments that the problem with too many people is that they have grown old without growing up. Many people look adult bodily, but once we begin to speak to them they reveal that they are immature. Sadly this can also happen in the Christian life, as is clear from 2 Peter 1:8-9: ‘For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.’ Similarly, the writer to the Hebrews rebukes his readers in Hebrews 5:12-14: ‘For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained...

As we begin our study of the ten commandments, perhaps we wonder why we should study them. Many connect the ten commandments to a spirit of legalism which they endured at some stage in their lives. What are the benefits of understanding this ancient collections of rules? Can we keep them in the modern world, a world in which there are so many pressures on time and so many priorities to meet that seem a long distance away from the simplicity of the ten commandments. I suppose the first question we should then ask is, ‘For whom are the ten commandments given as a rule of life?’ Before we do, let me mention the common threefold division of God’s law into civil, ceremonial and moral. The three categories come from Israel’s experience of God’s law. The civil referred to matters such as laws about taxes, the ceremonial was concerned about religious rituals (individual and corporate), and the moral is summarised in the ten commandments. Civil requirements can be utilised by modern govern...