Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Paul had been out of sight of the church in Jerusalem for almost a decade after he was sent back to Tarsus by them. Those unknown years were years of preparation for him. Luke takes his readers back to the persecution initiated perhaps by Paul himself because he was heavily involved in the death of Stephen. That persecution had many effects on the church in Jerusalem. But Luke points out that the Lord was at work in the lives of countless others from the church there for the development of his kingdom and Luke mentions some of them in his brief description of the commencement of the church in Antioch. There are two Antiochs mentioned in the Book of Acts and this Antioch was located in Syria. It was a cosmopolitan city, with a population of about half a million. The church there was to play an important role for several centuries. Commenced Believers had been forced to leave Jerusalem by the persecution connected to Stephen and Luke mentions that some of them travelled north. ...

We have all met individuals who were exceptionally competent in what they did. Yet if we knew them long enough we would see that they made occasional mistakes or came across situations for which they did not have an answer. There is only Person of whom it can be said that he has been, is and will be fully competent for his roles and that Person is Jesus. Three of his roles are mentioned in this psalm. We looked previously at what it means for him to be king and next time we will consider his role as judge. In this sermon we will focus on what it means for Jesus to be a priest. Context It looks as the psalmist is speaking here to his Lord. Remember that in verse 1 David had distinguished between two persons, each of whom is called a divine title. One is LORD and he is the Father; the other is David’s Lord and he is the Son. David addresses the Son personally and mentions what the Father has said to his Son. David says two things about what the Father said. First, his words...

No one knows very much about Nain. It was a small town and the only reason why we know about it is because Jesus went there on one occasion. The name of the town means ‘beauty’, which suggests it was located in an attractive place. No-one can identify its exact location, although it is assumed that it was close to Nazareth. It has been connected to an Arab town called Nein. This is the only time it is mentioned in the Bible and we can see that something very ugly has happened in the fair town of Nain. But we know that Jesus can give beauty for ashes, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. The decision of Jesus Luke tells that Jesus decided to go to the town. He was travelling to Jerusalem for the Passover. But why stop at Nain? Obviously he wanted to go there because he intended to help the sad situation that had developed there. What can we say about his intention? The first detail that we can observe is Jesus’ compassion. This is mentioned in verse 13. But we ...

Sometimes we can find ourselves in a place where something is happening and not be aware of its significance. Maybe someone is travelling somewhere and people are waiting for his arrival and we don’t get the connection because no one has told us about it. Did anyone see Jesus and his disciples walk to Bethany before he ascended? Did he gaze on the home of Martha and Mary for one last time? Perhaps that is where the disciples thought they were going? In contrast, up in heaven they were waiting for his arrival and looking forward to what would happen afterwards. I read a sermon this afternoon on the ascension of Jesus by a nineteenth century preacher called Edward Griffin. Among other things, Griffin mentioned four things that took place when Jesus ascended. ‘ There for the first time the inhabitants of heaven beheld a created nature on the throne of the universe.’ That comment is similar to the one by Rabbi Duncan about the dust of the earth on the throne of God. Of course, when Gr...