Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 26/1/2012 As we have observed in previous studies, Peter has provided divinely-inspired guidance for his readers as they face the likelihood of continued suffering for their faith. He has urged the elders to take seriously the responsibilities connected to shepherding believers under their care (5:1-4), he has urged the believers to submit to the directions of their elders (5:5), he has detailed the importance of humility in their relationships with one another (5:5-6), he had stressed the necessity of prayerful dependence on God regarding the many concerns they will have (5:6), and he warned them about the importance of ensuring that they were ready for the devil’s inevitable attack.   Those requirements may have seemed daunting for all concerned. Nevertheless it is a necessary feature of a pastor’s work for him to be precise about what is required for living the Christian life in specific situations. It is not a sign of insensitivity to the needs of C...

This sermon was preached on 22/1/2012 Luke is the Gospel writer who gives most details of the ascension of Jesus. Matthew closes his Gospel by referring to the Great Commission given in Galilee; John finishes with the story of the restoration of Peter, also in Galilee. Mark mentions the ascension briefly when he writes, ‘So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God’ (Mark 16:19). This is not to say that these writers did not mention the ascension elsewhere in their books. Luke closes his Gospel by describing the ascension, indicating that he presented it as the climax of Jesus’ life on earth; he begins his second volume, the Book of Acts, with an account of the day of the ascension, so indicating that he also perceived the ascension as the catalyst for the launch of the church of Christ on to the stage of world history. The ascension is obviously a key event in the life of the Saviour. It ranks with his...

This sermon was preached on 19/1/2012 There are moments in life that one never forgets. Peter had his highs and lows, and one of his lows occurred when he was not sober-minded and watchful, and then discovered that he was under intense attack by the enemy of his soul which led to the denial that he knew Jesus. That occasion was when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Peter had followed them to the high priest’s house where he denied that he knew Jesus. Peter had not been thinking soberly and had not been watchful, even in a literal sense, and shortly afterwards was caught in the devil’s trap. And we can see his memory at work as he recalled that sad time. The focus to have Peter calls on his readers to have a certain attitude all the time. They are to be sober and alert. Sobriety refers to their way of thinking and alertness describes their concern about possible dangers. Such sobriety and alertness can co-exist together. We would expect a soldier on guard duty to be...

This sermon was preached on 15/1/2012 As we can see from 7:1, the details described in Daniel 7 happened before the events that were the focus of Daniel 5 and 6. In Daniel 5, the time was the last year of Belshazzar’s reign whereas in Daniel 7 it is the first year of his reign. Belshazzar reigned for about a decade in Babylon as a co-regent with his father who spent most of the period away from the city. Daniel 7 concerns a vision that Daniel had and the interpretation he was given. The vision has two parts to it: the first part concerns four unusual animals (vv. 2-8) and the second part concerns the beginning of the kingdom that God would set up (vv. 2-9). Daniel is told that the beasts will come out of the sea (v. 3), which is figurative language for the Gentile world. Each of the beasts is very powerful and aggressive, especially the fourth one. There are similarities between the four beasts and the four sections of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his earlier visi...

This sermon was preached on 1/1/2012 Because the celebration arranged by Belshazzar took place on the evening before the fall of Babylon we know the date on which the event was held – October 11, 539 B.C. This means that about twenty-five years have passed since the details recorded in the previous chapter took place. Nebuchadnezzar himself died in 562 BC, and perhaps because of his passing Daniel seems to have been sidelined. Perhaps there was an attempt to forget the rather embarrassing behaviour of Nebuchadnezzar and his advisor Daniel. But the earthly powers forgot that God does not forget and neither can he be sidelined. The sudden fall of Babylon – Why did it happen? Babylon was a powerful empire, so why did it fall? Three answers can be given to this question. The first reason is that a more powerful empire came along. This is not very surprising for us to note because we are aware of many empires that have come and gone since the days of Belshazzar. Our own cou...

This sermon was preached on 8/1/2012 A new regime is now in place in Babylon. The new rulers may have decided to retain officials from the previous government, which would explain why Daniel was still involved. It was not long before Darius discovered the worth of Daniel and further promotion was planned for him. By this time Daniel was about eighty years of age, and his fellow officials thought it was about time he retired. Yet since retirement did not seem to be on Daniel’s agenda, they had to resort to other means of getting rid of him. The testimony of the officials It is one thing for a gifted individual to be assessed by the general public and it is another thing for him to be assessed by his fellow-experts. These men knew all about the running of government departments and what was expected of those working in them. Therefore their conclusion about Daniel is very noteworthy – they could not find even a fault with all his work. This tells us that he was diligent and car...

This sermon was preached on 8/1/2012 Luke begins his second volume (the Acts) by first summarising what Jesus taught his apostles during the forty days between his resurrection and ascension. During these days Jesus instructed them about various aspects of the kingdom of God. Luke then gives details about the final day that Jesus spent on earth with his disciples and we can see that his main focus was on the coming the Spirit. Jesus distinguishes the coming of the Spirit from two other important religious events: the ministry of John the Baptist and the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. In effect he is saying to his disciples that they are not to look back to the days of John or to look forward to the ingathering of Israel. Instead they are to wait for the coming of the Spirit which was to happen shortly. 1. The coming of the Spirit had been foretold in the past We know that the coming of the Spirit had been a central theme of the teaching of Jesus, for example, in the upper room...