Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 26/2/2012 Two features stand out so far in our studies in the Book of Daniel. The first is the faithfulness of God’s loyal servants such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, each of whom was prepared to die for his convictions concerning God’s demands. The second is the total sovereignty of God whether in his gracious workings in the life of Nebuchadnezzar or in his detailed knowledge of the fate of future empires and their rulers. In a sense, we see a combination of both features in Daniel 9: Daniel shows his faithfulness by praying to God about the release of his people from captivity (vv. 1-19) and the Lord shows his sovereignty by detailing what would happen to them in the future (vv. 20-27). This prayer is notable because of its contents, because of its answer, and because of who offered it. We will think of the contents shortly; with regard to its answer we can see from verses 20ff., that it was connected to the work of the Saviour; and w...

This sermon was preached on 12/2/2012 Saul of Tarsus, the great opponent of the Christian church, had encountered Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and discovered that he was the divine Son of God and that his followers were disciples of the Messiah, united to him in a real union. Until now, however, the meeting had been kept secret from the disciples in Damascus. Perhaps they were wondering where Saul of Tarsus was because news of his intended visit there had reached their ears (v. 14), but there was no sign of him. Whatever their thoughts, they did not have a true picture of what was going on. They were still apprehensive, not realising that their Lord in heaven had reached down and removed the source of trouble in a gracious manner. Right away we can see a powerful challenge to our own way of regular thinking. We judge current situations by the limited information we have of them, just as these disciples in Damascus did. Yet their limited information was actually dated in...

This sermon was preached on 5/2/2012 Lessons from Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8) Daniel received this vision during the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, when the Babylonian Empire was in seemingly total control. It is not clear if he was given the vision when he was away from Babylon in Susa, the capital of the province of Elam, or whether it was only in the vision that he found himself in Susa. The vision is interpreted for Daniel by an angel, Gabriel. It concerns the rise of two empires and focuses on an individual ruler that would come from the second empire. This is the first mention of this angel, although he appears again in Daniel 9 and also in Luke’s Gospel (1:19; 1:26) in connection with the birth of Jesus.   The prediction explained The first empire, depicted by a ram with two horns, is Media-Persia and it ruled for two centuries, from about 550 to 350 BC (the two horns represent Media and Persia). It was defeated by the second empire, depicted by a goat...

This sermon was preached on 5/2/2012 Every four years a power struggle takes place between the Democrat and Republican candidates for presidency of the United States. Yet when we think about it, the process reveals that neither of them has any inherent power because the choice does not depend on their individual abilities but on the opinions of the populace. Further, whoever wins the election cannot guarantee that he will be able to control the other government departments and he certainly will not be able to control events in other countries. Yet the one who wins the election is regarded as the most powerful man on earth. But is he? Acts 9 is the climax of a power struggle, the conclusion to a campaign waged in Jerusalem. On the one hand, there is the campaign of Saul of Tarsus to get rid of the growing movement of Christians. His tactics are described in verses one and two. We note that he had great determination, that he had friends in high places in the land, and he was re...

This sermon was preached on 2/2/2012 Peter brings his letter to a close by a short series of brief greetings in which he mentions at least three individuals who are with him. We may imagine that such verses are not important and perhaps we rush over them. Yet they are full of instruction. Silvanus Silvanus may be the Silas who accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey. Yet we cannot be sure about that detail. What is important about Silvanus is that Peter reveals he was a ‘faithful brother’. Perhaps he called Silvanus by this name because he carried the letter to them and if he was unknown to the readers he would need Peter’s commendation. What is a faithful brother? Clearly the description indicates a close relationship, members of the family of God. At one time, both Peter and Silvanus were outside God’s family. We know about Peter came into it, when he met the Saviour after Andrew had spent some time with him (John 1:35-42). But we have no idea how Silvanus was converted...

This sermon was preached on 29/1/2012 The Lord had revealed to Daniel that during the reign of the fourth beast (the Roman Empire) he would set up a kingdom over which his Son would rule. The onset of his rule is described in Daniel 7:13-14 and the event detailed there is his enthronement at God’s right hand following his ascension to heaven. Daniel’s natural wisdom, which was very great and was also a God-given talent, could not make sense of all that was in the vision, especially the details concerning the Son of man figure and the description of the fourth empire and its successors. So, in his vision, he asked an unnamed person, probably an angel, and was informed of its meaning. The explanation included some surprising details. What is the relevance of the explanation for us? No doubt many suggestions could be made and you may have applications in addition to the three subjects I will mention. The three topics I wish to consider are (1) the significance of the little ho...