Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 10/1/2010 Having described the appearance of the forerunner or messenger, Mark now tells his readers about the arrival of the Son of God. Sometimes our familiarity with the story can prevent us from experiencing its full impact. So, imagine if we were reading this story for the first time, what questions would come to mind? They would include, ‘Where will he come from? What will happen when he arrives? How will we recognise him? What will be the first thing he will do? Mark perhaps anticipated such questions because he does provide answers to them. Where did the Messiah come from? In a very brief comment, Mark informs his readers that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee. Mark does not say how Jesus was guided to leave his work as a carpenter and begin his public ministry – perhaps he heard about what John was doing near the Jordan and realised from his knowledge of the Old Testament that the Forerunner was preparing the way. Or Jesus may have experienced hea...

This sermon was preached on 7/1/2010 The witness of the Spirit is an important Bible doctrine, although it is not a topic that is often referred to in the Scripture. It is important because possession of it affects Christian experience. The language of the Spirit witnessing to believers is also used by Jesus in John 15:26: ‘But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.’ That verse was spoken originally to the apostles, who received this witness in a special way. The Spirit, ever since the completion of the canon of Scripture, witnesses to Christ through the contents of the Bible. But that is not the type of Holy Spirit witness that Paul refers to in Romans 8. Paul, in Romans 8:17, connects it to the privilege of adoption and in particular links it to the believer’s cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ What is the witness of the Holy Spirit? In order to appreciate what Paul means we have to look at...

This sermon was preached on 14/1/2010 Paul continues detailing the blessings of adoption, of what it means for a person to belong to God’s family. The main blessing is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s people, as he enables them to pray as children to a Father and to do so with a strong measure of assurance, not only about their status but also about their possessions. In verse 17 Paul mentions that adoption brings to every believer the status of an heir of God, although perhaps surprisingly this status does not remove suffering in this life. His words here are staggering in their height, and in their depth. The position we enjoy Paul informs his readers that they are ‘heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ’. To appreciate what the inheritance is, we need to discover what Christ’s inheritance is. One description of the Saviour’s inheritance is given in Hebrews 1:1-2: ‘Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these ...

This sermon was preached on 3/1/2010 Each of the Four Gospels tells the story of Jesus Christ but each begins in a different way. Matthew begins with a genealogy that identifies Jesus as the one promised to Abraham and to David by God; Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus; John begins by saying that Jesus is the eternal Word who always existed with God the Father; Mark begins by stating that Jesus was the Son of God. As he begins his letter, Mark does not refer to the birth of Jesus or to his childhood. It is appropriate for us to contemplate reasons for this variety. One helpful suggestion is that in his introduction each Gospel writer suggests his particular focus on Jesus and the introduction becomes a pointer for readers to see where the author is going in his account. Mark begins with a statement indicating the divine dignity of Jesus and then describes the ministry of his forerunner (only an important person sent messengers ahead of him). Then Mar...

This sermon was preached on 3/1/2010 The church in Thessalonica was a young church, having been founded by Paul, Silas and Timothy only a few months previous to the writing of this letter. Shortly after the church had been founded, Paul and Silas had been forced to leave the city because of the strength of the opposition (Acts 17:10). They were taken to Berea, after which Paul went on to Athens and Silas waited for Timothy, before joining up with Paul. In Athens, the team were concerned about how the young church was doing and eventually they sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how the church was getting on (1 Thess. 3:1), and since Paul was left alone, perhaps Silas went back to Berea. They rejoined Paul after he had moved to Corinth (Acts 18:5). Timothy came back with a very good report in the main, and the team wrote this letter in response. He had also identified some problems, such as wrong ideas about the second coming of Jesus, and these are corrected in the letter....

This sermon was preached on 27/12/2009 In this chapter we have a dialogue between a despondent prophet and a determined God. I use the word ‘determined’ because this book clearly shows that the Lord will not leave a task unfinished, be that task a pagan city in need of forgiveness or a moody prophet in need of restoration. It is also worth reminding ourselves that, in all likelihood, this account was written by Jonah himself, so we can say that he was an honest reporter. As Hugh Martin observed, ‘Let us not forget, therefore, that he has with much simplicity and frankness owned all his sin in this matter.’ This leads to the obvious question: how do we describe ourselves when we are part of a story we are telling? Do we exaggerate our good contribution and play down our sinful involvement? Jonah informs us of his response to the repentance of Nineveh. He was more than angry – he regarded their repentance as an absolute disaster. Perhaps he had not expected them to repent, and h...

This sermon was preached on 27/12/2009 It is common for leaders to make promises of peace. I suppose if we could ask people what they most wanted to see in 2010, many of them would say peace because we live in a world in which peace is lacking in many areas of life. Yet I suspect that if we asked them to define what they mean by peace, a variety of answers would be given. Some would intend external peace whereas others, who live in fairly steady circumstances, would desire internal peace. When we look back into history, we can see that peace has eluded many who sought for it. Sometimes a form of peace was imposed on other nations who had been conquered by a dominant country, yet its rule was resented by its subjects. Its peace was merely an absence of war. When we look around our world today, we conclude that politicians cannot give peace (despite their genuine attempts at times), prosperity does not bring peace (materialism cannot satisfy the heart), advances in technology have...