Ephesians 6:17: The Sword of the Spirit: Part One
Outline The sword that gives life The sword that transforms character Introduction In Pilgrim’s Progress in the Valley of Humiliation on Christian’s journey to the Heavenly City he encounters Apollyon, i.e. the devil. Here is how it went: Apollyon: Whence come you, and whither are you bound? Christian: I am come from the city of Destruction, which is the place of all evil, and am going to the City of Zion. Apollyon: By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects; for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it. How is...
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Homosexual Marriage 3: Compassionate Engagement
Outline Compassion Truth Introduction One good thing about the latest homosexual marriage legislation is…. We can now put away politics and get on with Evangelism. The homosexual contingent of society has been pushed into a ghetto around which we have wanted to build a fence, and all of our engagement with them is one of militant legislation and a media shouting match. This has hindered the gospel to an extremely broken and needy people group. I am not happy about the legalisation of homosexual marriage, it is my duty as a Christian to be a prophetic voice that tells...
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Romans 10:15: Biblical Foot Fetishism
Introduction: In 490 B.C. the Greek soldier Pheidippides ran about 25 miles from a town called Marathon to Athens to announce the news that the Greek army had defeated the Persians. Upon arrival he spoke the word ‘Niki!’ which means victory, and then died. Today’s marathons which are between 24-26 miles are called by this name because of that historical event. Today as we continue our look at Romans 10:15, Paul quotes from Isaiah 52:7 which tells of another runner who bears even greater news, ‘And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written,...
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Romans 10:15: Being Sent
Introduction: The Son did not send Himself into this world to be our Saviour, He was sent by the Father. The Spirit did not send Himself at Pentecost, but was sent by the Father and the Son. The apostles did not send themselves on the Great Commission but were sent by the head of the church, Jesus Christ. Paul did not send himself but was called by Christ on the Damascus road and this call was confirmed by the laying on of the hands of the elders in the church at Antioch, Acts 13:1-3. The preaching of the gospel...
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Romans 10:14: Faith by preaching
Introduction: How do we discover the truth? Sadly this most important question goes unconsidered by many people today. How do you discover the truth about yourself, about your world and most importantly about God and salvation? In the humanistic world we live in in the West, we have portrayed ourselves as the discoverers of our own truth. You can hardly watch one movie or TV series today without hearing the typical humanistic cliché, ‘the truth lies within you;’ or, ‘you will discover the truth if you just put your mind to it;’ or, ‘we all need to find our...
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Romans 10:14: What about the unevangelised? Part Two
Introduction: Today if you ask someone, ‘What is your biggest problem with Christianity?’ The answer that often comes is, ‘Christianity is too exclusive.’ In other words, we are seen to be dogmatic, intolerant, arrogant and oppressive for trying to get everyone to believe as we do. In our age of secular materialism and humanism Christianity with its insistence upon truth and the exclusive need for salvation in Christ is at best and annoyance to be ignored and marginalised, at worst a poisonous enemy to be crushed. Timothy Keller in his book ‘The Reason for God’ outlines three reactions that...
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Romans 10:14: What about the unevangelised? Part One
Introduction: Where do those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ go when they die? This is the question that is forced upon us this morning as we continue with Romans 10:14. Paul is talking about Jewish unbelief in 9-11. He has spoken about Gentiles being included in the people of God by faith but the large part of the Jews not being saved because they were trying to manufacture a righteousness by law keeping instead of accepting the free gift of Christ’s righteousness by faith. Paul has spent some time proving that the universal way of...
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Church Membership 8: Mission
Introduction: For what purpose does the church in general and MRBC in particular exist? A cheap and easy answer is this: Three things, to minister to God; each other and the world! We have touched on our worship to God and our responsibilities to one another, but it is the third purpose, ministering to the world that we want to define today. What is the mission of the church? 50 years ago if you spoke about mission everyone knew that you were talking about cross cultural evangelism. Through the influence of the Liberation movement that has emphasised political liberation...
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Romans 10:1: A Heart for the Lost
Introduction: Do you have a love for those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you ever cried out as George Whitfield has done, ‘O Lord, give me souls, or take my soul’? Have you felt the love for your own country that moved John Knox to pray, ‘Give me Scotland or I die!’? Richard Baxter urges us: ‘Oh, if you have the hearts of Christians or of men in you, let them yearn towards your poor ignorant, ungodly neighbours. Alas, there is but a step betwixt them and death and hell; many hundred diseases are...
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