Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Peter closes his second letter with an exhortation and a doxology. Both concern Jesus. The exhortation is connected to growing in knowledge of him and the doxology is a desire for him to have glory. Growth and Jesus Jesus is identified by two titles – he is the Lord and he is the Saviour. The first title refers to his position and the second refers to his purpose. When did he become Lord? While several answers could be suggested to that question, the likely answer is at his exaltation. It is possible that Peter is referring to a personal relationship rather than his position, and if he is doing so, then he became the Lord of Peter and his readers when each of them was converted. But usually this title refers to his position given to him as his reward for his successful work on the cross. This position is a very high one because he is at God’s right hand. The Father invited the ascended Saviour to sit there, on the throne of God. He is in control of all things, which means that it is a

As we have observed already regarding Psalm 107, it is a psalm in which the author considers four sets of circumstances that the Lord used in his providence to bring sinful people to himself – lost, imprisoned, affliction and a storm at sea. In these verses, we have the third feature that he uses, that of affliction. It is the case that this feature is the one of the four that most people are familiar with. As has often been said, many don’t get lost in a desert, many don’t get put in a cell and many may not be in a storm at sea. But most have experienced sickness in one way or another. Therefore, we should be able to relate to this section of the psalm. There are some qualifiers that we need to make. First, the writer does not mean that every illness occurs for the reason of converting someone. The biblical teaching is that illness exists as an outcome of the fall of man and there can be no obvious connection between an illness and a person’s salvation. People can be ill and yet not f

Paul’s farewell address to the elders in Ephesus is a very moving one. We have heard of people saying farewell to those that they did not expect to see again in this world, and how emotive the experience was. Paul knew that he would not see those elders again and he gave them several exhortations about imminent dangers facing the church in Ephesus. We can read about the development of those dangers in 1 Timothy which was written by Paul to him in Ephesus where he had gone to deal with those issues. The address also gives encouragement for the elders in Ephesus and that is how our text would be described. We can see from what it contains that it could also be applied to all who belonged to the church there, and how it can be applied to us. Its basic focus is the importance of the Word of God and what it can do for us and in us and through us. The prayer Prayer has many different forms. It can be described as petition, adoration, intercession, confession, thanksgiving, fellowship, and nu

Psalm 107 is a psalm about divine providence in which the author uses several common life situations to illustrate how God eventually brings spiritual blessings to those described as the redeemed. The first example is of persons who are lost in a desert without any way of discovering where to go, but when they call on God he comes to their rescue and brings them to a city where their needs are met. That example is like those who are lost in sin, but who are found by Jesus and brought into his city (the church) where all their spiritual needs are met. The second example of persons whom God delivers are described as prisoners in a dark dungeon with no prospect of liberty. They are there because they had rejected the instruction that they had received about living for God. From that point of view, they are different from those described in the previous example because those wanderers in the desert seemed to be unaware of God’s demands. Unlike them, the ones in prison found themselves wher

Having mentioned the coming of the new heavens and new earth, Peter now mentions three responses that his readers should make. They are diligence, reckoning and carefulness. The first two are stated in verses 14 and 15, with the third mentioned in verse 17. Waiting for the glory to come They are to be diligent, which means to make every effort. This call is a reminder of the responsibility that believers have about sanctification. They cannot take their focus of it for a moment. Sanctification is stated here as being without spot or blemish, which reminds us of the description of a suitable animal in the Jewish sacrificial system. Peter may be thinking here of the necessity of consecration, similar to how Paul speaks of believers offering themselves as living sacrifices. The other requirement about which they are to be diligent is peace. Peter does not say whether he has in mind peace with God or peace with other humans. A similar verse in Hebrews says that believers have to follow pea

The doctrine of providence has been part of the church’s doctrinal convictions. The Heidelberg Catechism asks in Question 27. What do you understand by the providence of God? Answer. The almighty, everywhere-present power of God, whereby, as it were by his hand, He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.’ The Larger Catechism defines providence in this way: ‘Question 18. What are the works of providence? Answer. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures; ordering them, and all their actions, to his own glory. What is providence? It is God’s activity in time and space concerning all his creatures. It includes this life and the next, heaven and hell. Maybe we think it is fatalistic to thing that way, but th

So far, in the Book of Acts, Luke has mentioned several benefits that come from the fact that Jesus is alive. The New Testament Church has begun and people in Jerusalem have been impressed to some extent by the behaviour of the followers of Jesus. In chapter 3, we have the first account of a miracle that Peter and John attributed to the action of the risen but invisible Saviour. But now in chapter four, another dimension takes place in the life of the new church. The civil authorities had intervened and tried to adjust what the apostles were teaching about Jesus. Why did those Christians pray? An obvious answer is that prayer had marked them already. They had prayed in chapter 1 as they waited for Jesus to send the Holy Spirit. Those in chapter 2 who had become followers of Jesus met in groups to pray from house to house. In chapter 3, Peter and John went to pray at the temple at the official hours of prayer. So we can see that participation in prayer was the regular practice of those