Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

We could say that in the garden of Eden there were two gardens. There was the garden that Adam was living in and there was the garden that was living in Adam. We can say of the eternal state of God’s people that there will again be two gardens – they will be in Paradise and Paradise will also be in them. Today, we don’t live in a garden, but if we are Christians there should be a garden in us. What is that garden? Our souls should be like a garden. Before we believed in Jesus, our souls were like a piece of ground full of horrible weeds. At our conversion, the heavenly Gardener changed the ground of our souls, giving it life and planting the seeds of beautiful graces. However, he did not eradicate all the weeds, although he did reduce their power. He wants each of us, through the power of the indwelling Spirit, to continue weakening these weeds and watering the graces. As time goes by, there should be more signs of grace and fewer weeds in our garden. Paul’s solution Paul in Romans 7 s

  ‘ I am the door. If anyone enters by me,  he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture’ (John 10:9).   Two of the seven ‘I am’ sayings occur in this passage in John, and both sayings refer to Jesus describing himself as a shepherd. In the first five verses, Jesus could be referring to a fold in a town or village where every shepherd took his sheep. That fold had a porter who opened the door of the fold so that the shepherd could lead his sheep in for the night and take them out again on the following day. Jesus then says that he fulfils the functions of the porter at the door as well as those of the shepherd who looks after the sheep.   Describing the Christian Life People look for ways of describing the Christian life. Some may focus on what God does for a believer and others may mention what disciplines a believer should engage in to help his spiritual life. No doubt, they would want a description that is straightforward and short. ‘Fifty-two steps to healthy Chris