Luke 3:1-14: The Ministry of John the Baptist
On the big screen at the moment is the latest instalment in the Downton Abbey world. The latest movie revolves around the King and Queen coming for a one day visit to the Crawley family estate. The movie opens up for us a little window into what an event a royal visit really was. Back in the day the whole town would have to prepare for the coming royalty, things would get freshly painted, roads would be repaired, and uniforms would be remade all in preparation of the visit. On the Island of St Helena they painted a giant...
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Jonah 3:1-10: God’s grace in Nineveh
Jonah 3 is usually known as the chapter where Jonah was obedient, but in truth this chapter is not about Jonah but about God. God and His grace, not man and his obedience are the centre of the chapter and the heart of the Gospel. Jonah is often employed as a sword to induce guilt over our disobedience and lack of faithfulness to missions, and this certainly is one of the applications. However, the primary use of this chapter is, in my opinion, to portray the God of grace to sinners. And having seen this grace afresh we will...
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Jonah 1:17-2:9: The sign of Jonah
One of the major stumbling blocks to people accepting the book of Jonah is the issue of ‘the big fish.’ Modern man has spurned the story thinking that is it absolutely impossible that a man could be swallowed by a fish and live for three days. Gleason Archer reports the following account: “In February 1891, the whaling ship, Star of the East was in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands, and the lookout sighted a large sperm whale three miles away. Two boats were lowered and in a short time one of the harpooners was enabled to spear the...
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Jonah 1:1-3: Jonah’s flight
When I say, ‘the book of Jonah’ what comes to mind? For most of us we think of that memorable story of a runaway prophet from Sunday school. As you get older you may think about the controversy over whether the miracle of the big fish happened, there is no mention of a whale. And perhaps you have even heard about whether Jonah is in fact a real historical narrative or an allegorical story meant to convict a racist and nationalistic Israel. The real hero of the book of Jonah is God not Jonah. When you get to the...
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Romans 16:20 – Grace
Introduction: If you had to boil down God, the Bible and the gospel down into one word, what word would it be? I think Paul would say that ‘grace’ sums it all up. Grace was the central theme for Paul in all his letters. He bracketed his letters with grace.
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Romans 14:4 – Forgetting Grace
Introduction: At the heart of all false religion is a false view of grace. On the one hand we have legalistic type religions that put the emphasis on their own efforts and making ourselves worthy and righteousness enough that we earn our way into rightstanding with God. On the other hand we have antinomian type religions who have divorced grace from the person of God and His holiness, and a hypergrace results where God is not holy and just and does not expect a payment in order for sins to be forgiven. Forgetting grace is a common problem among Christians, and...
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Romans 14:1-3: Gospel Based Community
Introduction: Welcoming people of differing convictions is a hot topic today. Inclusivism is the politically correct thing to. Divisions among Christians are a perennial problem and the new sub-section we are beginning in Romans speaks to these matters. Paul has been talking to us about being living sacrifices as our response to God’s mercy to us in Christ. He has covered several areas of ethics. He has spoken about our minds, our attitudes, our body life and use of gifts, the love we ought to have to various parts of society, and our responsibility to the government. Out of...
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2 Samuel 23:1-7: David’s Last Words
INTRODUCTION: In death all our masks are stripped away. Any appearances of power are taken away as we impotently die; all apparent beauty disappears in rot; our deathbed tends to bring out of our hearts what we have been putting into it our whole lives and we are revealed. Some die full of fear and terror; others self-deceived think they have nothing to fear; but many a Christian has died what was called a good death. We don’t hear much about these anymore. In part this is because we die in old age homes away from family and friends,...
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2 Samuel 19: 9-43 The King’s Gracious Return
INTRODUCTION: In Christianity there are two types of happily ever afters. There is the final happy ending where Jesus will return and all enemies will be put under foot. All evils will become undone and there will be no taint to our eternal joy. And then there are happy endings under the sun. These are resolutions from conflict that bring about good but not ultimate good. These are the sorts of victories that you and I enjoy as Christians whether it is in our sanctification, church growth or preaching the gospel. We make head way but we are harassed. ...
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Romans 13:1: God and the Government
Introduction: There are two extremes we need to avoid as we investigate the biblical teaching on our relationship to the government. We can call these overrealised and underrealised views of the kingdom. The overrealised view of the kingdom totally confuses the governments of this world with the rule of Christ. That rule which will one day rule over the new creation is attempted to be installed now. This results in conflating the work of the church and the state. This spiritualises the work of political activism as kingdom activity. It tends to be a liberal tendency and attaches to...
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2 Samuel 15: Absalom Steals the Throne
Outline Absalom’s plot David’s retreat Introduction There are certain times in your life that you reveal who you really are. We are often able to wear a mask, but there are times when that mask is stripped away and the real us is revealed. When we are alone with no one to act for or impress we are ourselves as we really are. When things are going well and we have everything we want, is God still our priority or was He merely a means to an end? But the most revealing times are times of difficulty. When everything...
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2 Samuel 10: David defeats the Ammonites
Outline Hanun’s rejection Ammon’s defeat Joab’s faith Introduction 2 Samuel 10 reads like just another chapter out of the wars of the Ancient Near East. However, this chapter plays an important role in the life of David as well as the life of the believer. These two chapters of 9 and 10 where David is honouring promises and human life are a backdrop for the coming catastrophe with Bathsheba and Uriah where David dishonours the covenant of marriage and human life. The Ammonite wars are the historical situation for these events. But for the believer who is in a...
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2 Samuel 9: David and Mephibosheth
Outline David’s faithfulness Mephibosheth’s blessing Introduction If you had to pick the highlight of David’s life, what would you choose? Some might choose David as a young man slaying Goliath in defence of God’s honour; some might choose David’s desire to build God a temple. I would choose 2 Samuel 9 where David keeps a covenant and shows covenant love to Mephibosheth. It is not David’s bravery, or wit, or military strategy, or good looks, or riches and success; it is not even his faith, but his mercy to Mephibosheth that is put on display. This chapter stands out...
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2 Samuel 7: The Davidic Covenant
Outline David’s promise David’s praise Introduction One of the key things the covenants of the bible do is manifest the grace of God. To a greater or lessor extent God’s glorious grace is put on display. And in this chapter we have the Davidic Covenant presented putting forward another glorious glimpse of our gracious God. This is one of the most important chapters of the bible because it is one of the major steeping stones in the lead up to the coming of Jesus as the Saviour of the world. As you move through the OT you see a...
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Romans 9:24: The Marvel of God’s Electing Grace
Introduction: I have found that the true understanding of grace is a truth that puts everything else into perspective. When we see God’s grace clearly everything becomes clear. I remember I had a Seventh Day Adventist friend who was bogged down in a legalistic view of Christianity and it was a biblical view of grace that helped her see the truth. To see that salvation was not based on what I could earn by my works but was a free gift of God through Christ, a gift not merited, this is what set her free. If we are struggling...
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