Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This verse is an important one in our multi-faith society. Life in Britain today involves awareness that there are alternative religions on our doorsteps. In the verse Jesus says that followers of these other religions will not find the way to God through their beliefs. There is a well-known summary of this verse found in Thomas a Kempis’ book, The Imitation of Christ : ‘Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou must follow; the truth which thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth, the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life true, life-blessed, life uncreated.’ A common way of interpreting the verse is to say that ‘way’ refers to discovering Christ as Savio ur at the beginning of the journey to heaven, that ‘truth’ refers to being discipled by Christ as ‘teacher’ as we travel to heaven, and that ‘life’ ref...

From one point of view, Paul is coming to the end of his explanation of the contents of the gospel that he had composed for the Roman Christians in this letter. In the first chapter, he had said that he would give his understanding of the gospel of which he was not ashamed. Of course, in the letter, he will yet deal with the important matter of Israel in the plan of God as well as give instructions about several aspects of Christian living about which the Roman Christians needed divine guidance. This book may have been the first of the New Testament letters that they saw. While we have no idea about the precise circumstances Paul was in while he dictated this letter, we can see that he is aware that he is concluding this section of the letter because he asks several applicatory questions. The first question looks back to what Paul has said either in this chapter of Romans or in the earlier chapters of the book. The other words in this set of verses are part of Paul’s answer to his fir...

1 Timothy 3:16 seems to be a mini-creedal statement about the earthly life of Jesus, either composed by Paul or quoted by him. It begins with the arrival of Jesus at his birth, closes with his departure, and makes six affirmations of him. In today’s sermon, we can think briefly about each affirmation, although each of them could be the basis of a separate sermon. Introduction We should note Paul’s preamble because he mentions three crucial details about the following affirmations: they together describe a revealed mystery, each highlights the greatness of Jesus, and they together form a common verbal confession of believers. The term ‘mystery’ in the New Testament does not have the meaning that we usually give to the word. In a sense, it almost means the opposite of how we use it. The word was used in the first century to describe a revealed truth that had been previously hidden by God. We can think of another New Testament reference to a mystery which is clearer: ‘… the church, of wh...

This verse describes the good that Paul had in mind in verse 28. Many suggestions are made concerning what Paul meant by good, yet it is clear from verses 29 and 30 that the good Paul had in mind is connected to the ultimate destiny of all Christians, to what things will be like for them at the end of time as we know it. Paul wanted his readers to have a proper perspective on life, indeed on the history of the world. The best perspective will include seeing what happened before this world was and what will happen after its current story ends. I mentioned before how commentators and authors have likened Romans 8 to mountain ranges like the Alps which give great panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. We can recall how Bunyan’s pilgrims could, on a clear day, view the Celestial City from the Delectable Mountains by using the telescope of God’s Word. In this pair of verses Paul gives two ways of looking at things, and each of them looks backwards and forwards from a great viewpoi...