Ephesians 6:18-20: The Armour of God: Part six
INTRODUCTION We come to the last message on spiritual warfare. We have spoken about the strength that God gives us by His Spirit; and we have looked at the pieces of the armour as the equipment every Christian is equipped with for the fight. But our last message was on one of the most important aspects of our warfare and that is prayer. Prayer is indeed the greatest need of every believer and the greatest need of the church. Prayer is the God given means by which we appropriate all of God’s strength for the fight. Paul spends more...
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Ephesians 6:14b: The Armour of God: Part Two
The various parts of the armour seem well suited to the parts of the body they attach to. The word of God is well suited to be a sword because of its ability to penetrate the heart. The helmet of the hope of our salvation is well suited to protecting our heads. The gospel of peace prepares us for all of our Christian actions and is well suited to the shoes of gospel peace readiness. The truth makes us well prepared as a belt. And righteousness is well chosen to protect our hearts as a breastplate. Sin is a...
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1 Corinthians 7: Singleness
We have said many things about marriage, but I am aware that not everyone who hears these messages is married or will get married. So I think it is appropriate that we also address the matter of singleness. Now in announcing that this is the topic of the sermon I am sure that all the singles out there will be squirming because they think that this is a sermon directed at them, but it is a sermon for all. Just as we can all benefit by listening to a sermon addressing those who are married, we can all benefit...
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Ephesians 5:28-32: The Realities and Responsibilities of Union
The Bible often argues from what you are to what you should do. Because you are a new creature in Christ, act in a new way. Because you are in a one Spirit union with believers of other races, put away racism. Because your life is joined to the resurrected Christ consider your life in His and live appropriately. Because you are in a one flesh union with your spouse love them as yourself. What you are, or what realities are true about you imply how you ought to live. This is a basic truth which the bible assumes....
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Ephesians 5:25-27: Words of Life and Death
‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.’ Prov. 18:21. One of the most effective weapons and one of the greatest fertilizers in marriage is our speech. What we say and how talk to one another will either make or break your marriage. James 3:6, ‘And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.’ We can all think of words that have...
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Ephesians 5:26-27: Glorify Your Wives
When Lynn and I got married we asked for a full sermon to be preached. Our pastor at the time, Leigh Robinson preached a four point sermon on the purpose of marriage. Marriage is for partnership, marriage is for procreation, marriage is for pleasure, and marriage is for perfection. One of the main goals of marriage is holiness. This is a distinct perspective that Christianity brings to the issue of marriage. For many marriage is about not burning, or not being lonely, or having kids, these are true but a major part of marriage is God’s purpose to make...
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Ephesians 5:18: Be Filled with the Spirit: Part Two
When I say ‘be filled with the Spirit,’ what comes to mind? You might think of power to do miracles, you might think of having a mystical experience, you might think of the Toronto Blessing. The problem with these conceptions and those like them is that they are extraordinary events that are reserved for the few where the command to be filled with the Spirit is something that is for all Christians to grasp. We continue then this week looking at what Paul means to be filled with the Spirit.
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Ephesians 5:5-7: Living in Light of Judgement
What do all these verses have in common? 2 Cor. 5:10-11, ‘For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.’ 2 Pet. 3:11, 14, ‘Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?’ ‘Therefore,...
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Ephesians 5:3-7: Motivations for Personal Purity
Why should a Christian not have sex before marriage or any other form of sexual sin? Why should a Christian not tell dirty jokes? Why should a Christian not swear? Why should a Christian not be greedy? It is to these questions that we turn as Paul gives the Ephesians motivations to be personally pure. Paul has been speaking to the area of unity, to the area of relationships, and about those sins that we do against each other like lying, stealing, slandering, unforgiveness, etc. But Paul is not only concerned about our unity he is also concerned about...
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Ephesians 5:1-2: Imitators of God
Motivation is something we have wrestled with all our lives. You will remember when your parents gave what appeared to you to be unreasonable rules and when you asked why you had to do them, and they responded, ‘Because I said so,’ you know how you felt. You might have been willing to obey but you needed to know why, you needed the proper motivation, especially when what was required went against your desires. Paul is the master teacher who tells us what to do and then motivates us to do it as well. The pattern of Paul’s method...
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Ephesians 3:14-19: Praying for power
Praying when we are in need is easy, we always pray from the heart, but praying for others often deteriorates into shallow requests without heart. We often pray generic prayers for health, provision, and spiritual well-being. Paul in the portion before us prays under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prayers of pastoral care, and prayers that flow out of the realities of the gospel. Paul as a minister of the gospel is not only called to preach the message of Christ to the Gentiles, but to pray for the church as well. Eph. 3:14-21 consists of 2 main...
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Ephesians 1:15-23: Prayer for the Saints: Part One
What do you pray for other Christians? You might have found yourself in your quiet time and you pick up the church phonebook to pray through a page as part of your daily devotions. This is the third time you have gone through the book and the prayers are beginning to feel heartless and robotic. You aren’t really sure what to ask for. Should you ask for happiness, prosperity, good health, emotional wellbeing, peace? These are broad categories of well-wishing which are not informed by the gospel, what you want are prayer requests that are not what any uninformed...
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Colossians 2:6-7: Christ is Enough
Special thanks to Russell Cannons from Shore Baptist in Auckland, for sharing God’s Word with us this morning. Colossians 2:6-7 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
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2 Peter 3:18: Regeneration
It is 2 days away from the end of 2019, and I’m sure you have all thought about this as the year draws to a close. New Years resolutions. As the clock clicks past midnight on Tuesday, the realisation dawns upon Christians and non-Christians alike, that they probably weren’t as good as they intended to be last year. Perhaps you wanted an improvement on your health, but that gym membership didn’t get the same amount of use as you hoped. Perhaps you wanted an improvement on your finances, but you just didn’t save as much as you hoped. Perhaps...
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Romans: Final Overview
Introduction: You have heard the saying, ‘I can’t see the forest for the trees.’ Some of you may feel this way as we come to the end of the book of Romans, it is the longest of all Paul’s letters, and the most theological. If I had to ask you to give me a quick rundown of Romans could you do it? Are you familiar with its content and the development of its argument or is it a maze? Romans is a long development of the theological twists and turns of the gospel of God. So it is my...
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Colossians 2:18-19: How Does a Christian Grow?
Introduction: Our text this morning is Colossians 2:16-23, turn with me there now. It is on page 984 of the black pew bibles. As you turn there, let me ask you this question: How do you become a better person? If you wouldn’t consider yourself a Christian, perhaps you would phrase the question like this: how do you develop to be a person of integrity and character? If you are a Christian, you probably normally phrase the question like this: how do I become more like Christ? But however, you phrase the question, the answer is important: how are you going to be a better person this year?...
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