Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

How do we pray when we already have been told what God will do? That may seem like a bizarre question, yet it is one that Elijah could have answered. It is obvious that his experience as he prays for rain provides an example for us because he had been told by God that he would soon send rain. No doubt, some will dismiss the question by saying that it could only be asked of someone like Elijah who had been given a special promise by God. Yet God has given us many promises in connection to prayer. Are they as real as the one he made to Elijah? We will consider this aspect later.  This incident is important for us as New Testament believers. When the apostle James wanted to encourage his first-century readers about the topic of prayer he chose this event. They too were living in difficult circumstances. What hope could James offer them? He told them about Elijah and how his prayers influenced the events in the natural world. This story from another time is always an encouragemen...

This sermon was preached on 24/2/2013 Can you remember what you said to one another as you came into church today? Perhaps you expressed your pleasure at seeing one another, and that is a good thing to say. The point I want to make by asking that question is this: Did you give any spiritual advice to one another? Maybe you don’t like to speak coming into church. So we can change the location and ask, Did you give any spiritual advice and encouragement to anyone this past week? If you did, you are like Hosea and any others who first used the words of our text. The prophet Hosea served God in days very like our own. First, God’s people were divided and it seemed impossible that they could be united again; second, the population was attracted to alternative lifestyles and were adopting the ideas and practices of the surrounding cultures; and third, those in power were not interested in maintaining God’s laws as the basis of society and there was no concern for the poor and needy...

This sermon was preached on 21/2/2013 There are several prayers recorded in the life of Elijah and each of them has lessons for us. We have already seen his prayers about the onset of the drought and his prayer for the dead son of the widow of Zarephath. In this incident at Carmel, there are two prayers by Elijah, one before the sacrifice is offered and the other when he prays later for rain. We will look at his prayer for rain next time, but for now we will consider his other prayer made when he offered the sacrifice.  The first prayer that he offered comes under the category of public prayer (it was made in the presence of the crowd) and the second would be classified as private prayer. Regarding the public prayer, what stands out immediately is its shortness whereas the private prayer was more prolonged. It is also interesting, I think, that the public prayer was answered far sooner than his private prayer, but whether anything can be deduced from that distinction, I c...

This sermon was preached on 14/2/2013 The three years of drought with which God judged Israel for her sin of idolatry are about to come to an end. Elijah has left the home of the widow in Zarephath in obedience to the command of God who has told him to go to King Ahab and announce that rain will soon fall over the arid countryside. We are not told how the Lord conveyed this message to his servant. Inevitably one wonders what the effect of the drought would have been on Ahab and on the people in general. We are about to find out, first with regard to Ahab. The conscience of a rebellious king When Elijah met Ahab, something strange happened. Instead of Elijah doing what Ahab wanted, Ahab did what Elijah commanded. Elijah wanted the king to arrange for all the people of Israel and all the false prophets to gather at Mount Carmel, and the king did so. The obvious question one wants to ask is why. I think we have an answer in the accusation made by Elijah to the king during thei...

This sermon was preached on 17/2/2013 The author of this marvellous letter continues to show his readers that Jesus is superior to angels. He has mentioned that Jesus is superior to them because of his resurrection from the dead (no angel experienced this display of power), because of his reign at God’s right hand (no angel received this position of honour), because of his role as creator and re-creator of the universe (no angel can create from his own resources), and because the message of the gospel is superior to that of the law (the angels conveyed the law, Jesus was the message). Now the author comes to another way in which Jesus is superior to angels, which is that he is the last Adam, the head of the new humanity.  Before we look at these verses, we can note that once again the author quotes from a psalm in order to explain the greatness of Christ. As we have noted in previous occasions in studying this book, the author’s method is a reminder that Jesus is the key t...

This sermon was preached on 10/2/2013 This passage suggests Paul was not the author of the book of Hebrews. In verse 3, the author places himself in a different category from the apostles who heard Jesus during his three years of public ministry. While it is the case that Paul was not one of the original group of apostles, usually he is very careful to state his apostolic authority in his letters and the author of Hebrews does not do so. Therefore, many commentators conclude that the writer of this book was not Paul or even another apostle. Several suggestions have been made as to who the author could have been, but the only detail we can be certain about is that no-one knows who wrote the letter. In fact, I don’t understand why people try to prove what they cannot prove regarding the authorship of Hebrews.  It is the case that the author is continuing to show that Jesus is greater than the angels. In this passage he considers the involvement of angels in the giving of th...

This sermon was preached on 10/2/2013 There is no doubt that if we were to compile a list of the individuals who have most influenced the course of human history and opinion we would include the name of the apostle Paul. Because of the greatness of his influence we may assume that he was a man marked by self-confidence and without fear. Yet as he tells us here the reality was very much different. He had come to Corinth, one of the prominent cities of the ancient world, round about the year 55. As far as we know, the gospel had never been preached there before. It was a city where sinful practices were prominent and where various religions were followed. So it is not surprising that Paul was apprehensive.  As he wandered round the city and took in its atmosphere, he must have given thought to how he would win some of its inhabitants to the Christian faith. What would he say to the intellectuals who lived there? What would he say to the immoral people who live there? What w...