Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Verse 4 describes a continual activity of all believers in Jesus. Such come to him for grace and keep on coming to him for provision of grace. There are different ways of coming to Jesus, of course. There is an initial coming to him at conversion, but that coming is only the first of many by every believer. We come to him afterwards for forgiveness, fellowship, protection and guidance. It is an obvious sign of spiritual health to keep coming to Jesus for our needs to be met.   Yet we don’t only come for our needs to be met. One incident from the Gospels particularly points to this. On one occasion, Jesus healed ten lepers. Their healings needed to be verified by a Jewish priest. After they had done this, only one of them, out of a desire to praise God, returned to thank Jesus for curing him. He was the only one who expressed gratitude, who acknowledged Jesus in this manner, and Jesus commented on it (Luke 17:12-19).   The word that Peter uses here has the idea of worship,...

It is probably the case that most governments and political parties say something about peace, even when they happen to be visiting a battlefield. Yet despite the good words, there does seem to be little expectation of ever achieving it. Will Jesus be more successful with his promises of the benefits of peace? In this verse, he speaks about those involved in making peace and he also mentions the benefit that they will receive from having engaged in it. Those involved are the blessed among people and the benefit is connected to membership of the family of God. Of course, he is informing his disciples of his intentions about his kingdom that he has come into the world to set up and what actions the members of it should be engaged in.   What peace does Jesus have in mind? In order to achieve peace, the antagonists need to be identified, the conflict has to be stated. The absence of peace that Jesus has in mind is not that caused by hostility between nations. In fact, at the time he...

Accounts of the lives of our ancestors tell us that they looked forward to letters from family who had emigrated to other lands. In those letters they read descriptions of what life was like in their relatives’ new situations. Many of those letters were written before there were photographs, so they had to use illustrative words to convey where they were, what they were doing, and what life was like for them. The recipients would not have full understanding of the new life of their relatives, but they would have a true understanding of it, and that knowledge would give them a sense of peace and gladness about it all.   In a sense, that is how  statements about heaven or the eternal state function in the Book of Revelation. They tell us what the place is like and what the inhabitants are doing. There are many examples we could think about, in addition to the verses we will consider. Still, a great deal is said in Revelation 22:3-5: ‘No longer will there be anything accursed, bu...

We are all familiar with the idea of a substitute whether it is a player being replaced in a football match or in a member of the Cabinet standing in for the Prime Minister when he is away. Such are only utilised when the original choice cannot fulfil the role, and their contribution is temporary. Often, no one remembers what they did or said. Jesus is not a substitute in that sense. He took our place indeed, but he was not inferior to us, merely helping us in a small way, because we had become tired or because we were given a temporary role. There are other words that can be used instead of substitute. We can use the words agent or representative if we wish. When did he become our substitute? It is no doubt the case that a footballer can be informed when he is going to be introduced as a substitute and a member of the Cabinet will be told beforehand when he will be on duty. With regard to Jesus as our substitute, the first indication of his role is given in Genesis 3 with the announ...