Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

In these verses, Jesus summarises what he did when he was his disciples during the three years that were drawing to a close. He states that he is only praying for them in this section of the prayer. We are not to read from this that Jesus never prayed for unconverted people. He prayed for such on the cross, and later in this prayer he mentions he prays for some who were at that time unconverted – those who would yet believe in him through the word of the apostles. His words highlight the features of his mission among the apostles and what he was preparing them for. Some of the details only concern them and are not relevant to Christians in general whereas other details would be common to all Christians.    Giving and taking Jesus mentions that the disciples were given to him by the Father (v. 6). This giving does not mean that they ceased to belong to the Father because Jesus says they still belong to the Father (‘for they are yours’, v. 9). The reason for that is because the ...

It was common when a purchaser obtained or redeemed a slave for him to put a mark on the slave indicating that he or she now belonged to the purchaser. Paul, in Ephesians 4:30, takes that practice from his times and uses it to illustrate what it means to be a Christian - each has the same mark on them.  A Christian is a redeemed person who is a member of a redeemed people. The redeemed people are more than redeemed, but we need to understand what the significance is of being redeemed. We become the property of Jesus.   The gospel of redeeming grace A Christian before he was converted was a slave to sin, under the control of an evil taskmaster, the devil, who by various methods deceived the unconverted person that he was living the best life. It was not until he heard the gospel that he realised that he needed to be liberated.  There are many ways of explaining the gospel. For example, we can speak of sinners being condemned by the law of God, but that by believing in Jesu...

Joseph does not know it yet, but he has arrived in the place where God is going to fulfil his original promises to him. We know the whole story, so we can see that is the case. Egypt is the place where Joseph will yet flourish, as Jacob is yet to describe him, having seen what happened to him in Egypt. Yet he is going to face further trials before he will be exalted.   Joseph, the son who became a slave Joseph, as we know, is the heir of Jacob. Perhaps, Jacob had replaced Joseph now that he believed Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. I assume if he had he would have given the role to Benjamin, the other son of Rachel, but who can say? For Joseph, it must have been incredulous that he had become a slave. Yet what should he do in his new circumstances? The answer is to become the best slave possible. And that is what Joseph did and he eventually found himself running the household of Potiphar. We could say that although he did not seem to be the number one son, he had become th...

Jesus asks here for glorification. The fact that he has to ask indicates that he is speaking here as the Father’s servant. His glorification is connected to the service he had given to the Father when he was here. He mentions that service in verse 4: ‘I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.’ What encouragements would Jesus, as the servant, have for asking the request?   One encouragement was the number of prophecies in the Old Testament that describe what would happen to the Servant of the Lord. Take Isaiah 52:13 where the Father speaks and says, ‘Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.’  When would that exaltation happen?  In the next verse, the Father says to the Servant: ‘As many were astonished at you,’ and then describes what would happen at the cross. ‘His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.’  What would th...

As we know, the background to the letter of Galatians is that false teachers had infiltrated the newly formed congregations that Paul and Barnabas had planted in Galatia. We can read in the Book of Acts about how they started, and when we read about their origins we would anticipate a period of steady growth for them. Yet, that is not what took place. Maybe because they were new churches, it was easy for the false teachers to convince them that it was necessary for them to practice the ceremonial law in order to become genuine Christians. They were making a wrong use of the divine law, but that should not mean that we should ignore the law.     What does the law of God require from us? It requires ongoing, continual obedience. It not only requires that response, it also requires perfect conformity to its requirements. This conformity includes the inner life as well as the outward behaviour. We need to be perfect in our thoughts and in our affections. Primarily, the law tells u...

Joseph is now the official heir in the family of Jacob. He has no idea for how long he will be the heir. There is no evidence that his father is about to die and in any case he has been told that his father would yet bow to him. All Joseph has to go on is the dreams that he received from God which told him that a day would come when his family members would bow to him. Joseph would have no idea how that would happen, and things were about to happen that would test in Joseph’s mind whether God could keep his promise.   The dedication of Joseph We are not told how much time has passed between the previous recorded incident in the life of Joseph and the decision here of Jacob to send Joseph to see his brothers. The mission itself is probably similar to what Jacob had asked Joseph to do when he had sent him to the sons of the concubines in the previous incident. We may want to ask why Joseph was not away with his brothers. Probably, the reason is connected to the position he had in his...