Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

If there is one thing that many people in today’s world would desire, it is peace. Many aspects of our contemporary world indicate its absence. This is the case at different levels. There is an absence of peace between nations and in some cases within nations. In addition, there is an absence of personal peace in the lives of countless individuals. Yet peace is a very common word in the Bible. This should be surprising because initially it might seem impossible. Take these two biblical statements: all humans are wicked and God says that there is no peace to the wicked from him. How can there be peace? Paul reminds us here. Whenever we see the word ‘therefore’, we should ask, ‘What is it there for?’ It is a connecting word to a previous comment or passage. The previous comment concerns how believers in Jesus are regarded as justified by God the Father because of what Jesus did in his life, death and resurrection. As Paul says elsewhere, they are accepted in the Beloved, that is, J...

The Lord Jesus is instructing his disciples about the importance of abiding in him and is informing them about several effects of this abiding. So far he has mentioned some effects as they are expressed towards himself (absorbing his word, praying about it, obeying it, experiencing joy). Now he speaks in verses 12-17 about an effect that will be displayed towards each other, that is brotherly love; in verses 18-25 he will explain an effect concerning the world, which is opposition. So abiding in Christ has effects in three directions: towards himself, towards other believers, and from the world. It is the second relationship that we will consider today. One of the strongest influences that our society has had on the church is its concept of individualism. It stresses an individual’s rights and privileges. It is impossible to love in a Christlike way if we follow that emphasis. The opposite of individualism is community, and the church is a community, a family. Jesus is reminding his...

What do you expect to speak about when you come near the end of your life? Some people pay a lot of attention to last words. The Bible contains several examples of people who had important things to say as they drew near the end of their lives. For example, Jacob said particular things about his children and Moses delivered appropriate messages to his nation. The most important example recorded for us in the Bible is that of Jesus. So what was he speaking about as he drew near the end of his life on earth? We might be surprised to discover that the Bible records a great deal of what he said during the twenty-four hours before his death. Perhaps the best-known words are the seven statements he made when on the cross. The longest description of his words is given by the apostle John in the section of his gospel running from chapter 13 to chapter 16, and you may want to read that passage this afternoon and note down the issues that Jesus spoke about. After Jesus had completed his tea...

In the previous section, Paul had said that the Old Testament message had not been communicated by the Jews, although it had been entrusted to them to tell the nations about the coming of the promised Messiah. The apostle had also reminded his readers that the Old Testament witnessed to the message that he was declaring everywhere he went, which was that salvation from God’s wrath was experienced through a sinner having faith in the promised Messiah, who had now come, that is, Jesus, had suffered the penalty for sin. The obvious response from a Jew would be, Where are we told such things in the Old Testament? We can see that Paul is still speaking to Jews because he reveres to Abraham as ‘ our forefather according to the flesh’, which would not be true of Gentiles who were not Christians. And Abraham is the example from the Old Testament that Paul chooses to use as one who reveals the way of salvation that he has been spreading. He also refers to the psalmist David as another clear...

I once read what Arthur Pink wrote about Christian living: ‘There are four relationships which need to be distinguished. Life in Christ is salvation. Life with Christ is fellowship. Life by Christ is fruit-bearing. Life for Christ is service.’ It is the third of these relationships that we are thinking about from these verses. The Lord Jesus continues to teach his disciples about abiding in him. He has already likened this relationship to branches abiding in a vine. But what are the evidences that a person is abiding in Christ? The Saviour mentions several throughout chapter 15, and we will consider in this sermon those he mentions in verses 7-11. Effect 1 – The Word is absorbed The first evidence that Jesus mentions is that his words abide in his disciples (v. 7). What does Jesus mean by this? We can begin by suggesting what he does not mean. He does not mean that his words merely are retained in our memories. Some people have very good memories and others have memories that do...