1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 2: Paragraph 3: The Trinity: Part Five
OUTLINE Union Communion INTRODUCTION Today we want to conclude our look at the doctrine of the Trinity. There are many aspects of the doctrine we have not explored. This is indeed one of the deepest doctrines we could ever hope to encounter as we are dealing with the triune nature of God. There are complexities here which can occupy the Christian for eternity. But we want to look at the practical value of this doctrine before we leave it. The doctrine of the Trinity is not just a mystery to occupy the intellectually curious, not it is the very...
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Ephesians 6:21-24: Final Encouragement
Overview We come now to the end of the book of Ephesians. This is one of Paul’s denser letters as it focused us on God’s work of building the church. Where Romans is a tour de force of the Gospel, Ephesians is considered Paul’s tour de force of the church. In concluding our sermon series let me attempt to give a view from 30 000 feet. The basic thrust of the letter is God’s work in Christ to make a new humanity for a new creation. Firstly, let me give the large sections that we covered. After the introduction...
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Ephesians 5:8-14: Children of Light
We are in the middle of a section that is all about motivation. Why should you live the Christian life? Paul is in the middle of exploring several reasons for why we should be holy. Here they are, V1-2, walk in love because God has loved you; v3-7, walk in purity sexually and verbally because there is a judgement; v8-14, walk in light because of your identity as children of the light; v15-17, walk in wisdom because of the times we are living in; and finally walk in the Spirit. Paul has just spoken about striving after personal purity...
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Ephesians 4:17-24: A New Creation in Christ, Part Two: The New Man
Last week we began to look at Ephesians 4:17-24. We said that this is Paul’s call for the Christian to stop living as though dead but to be alive as they are in Christ. Paul is about to set off on a long list of how to live the new life, in this section he gives us the rationale for that. Because we are not dead but alive, because we are in Christ not Adam, because we are in the Spirit not the flesh, because we have put off the old and put on the new, we must no...
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Luke 9:46-50: A Lack of Humility
Jesus Christ is the greatest example and the greatest teacher of humility in human history. And the disciples like ourselves are in constant need of teaching on the evil of pride and the value of humility. We are in a section that is focusing in on the immaturity of the disciples and Christ’s attention to their discipleship and development. Christ has just addressed them on the matter of their lack of faith, as well as their lack of understanding, He now turns to the area of their lack of humility. If you look up a definition of pride today,...
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Ephesians 3:2-6: Steward of the Mystery of Christ
The word mystery has various connotations. If you are a book lover it may cause you to think of a favourite genre of who-done-it crime thrillers. The common English word means something that is difficult or impossible to understand it, it is often used in the sense of defeat: ‘It is a mystery, we will never know.’ In the ancient world there were various mystery religions who had secret knowledge which only the initiated could understand. The mysteries were the secret truths revealed to those who had proven themselves worthy of ascending to being indoctrinated in this higher knowledge....
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Ephesians 3:1: ‘Paul, a prisoner’
At Bible college during one of the chapel services a pastor by the name of Bill Hughes shared with us. He was a very godly man who was serving in a church that wanted to fire him because of His Calvinistic convictions. It was a long a painful process that ended in him resigning to save the church from a split. During the long and painful time of enduring the difficulties Bill struggled to find a reason to get out of bed being extremely demotivated by the ordeal. But he had a faithful wife who put a sign on...
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Ephesians 2:11-22: The United People of God
Do all lives matter or do Black Lives Matter? Do we need separate safe spaces for black Christians to worship, or do we need united worship spaces? The problem of unity in God’s people is a perennial problem. The portion before us, Ephesians 2:11-22 speaks to our identity as a united people of God. What defines you and determines your relationship to other Christians? Do we subscribe to modern views that seek to define and relate us as intersecting minorities situated in relation to oppressive structures; or views that divide us by our gender preferences; are we stratified generational...
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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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Being and Doing Church
Introduction: When Hitler was trying to enthuse the German nation to get behind his expansionist programs he told them that the German race was the Ubermensch, the Beyond-man/Hyper-man. He understood the psychology of action, we do as we believe. If we think we are better than others we will happily walk over their heads. We have also given the name slave mentality to a state or mind that acts out of the way it sees itself. This is a life of subservience and submission that thinks of itself as less. Activity follows identity. We see this everyday in life,...
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Romans 16:5-16: Paul sends his love to the Church in Rome
Introduction: ‘I love Jesus but I don’t love the Church.’ How many times have we heard such a sentiment? It can come in many different flavours. There are those who have a high view of membership and a deep ecclesiology who love the idea of the ‘biblical church’ or the ‘healthy church’ but they are so taken with the ideal that they are critical and distance from the real flesh and blood church made up of sinners that they are in. It can come in the liberal and emergent flavour of disliking the church where on account of a...
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Romans 15:17-19a: The Nature of Paul’s Ministry
Introduction: What is the nature of the ministry of the church? For what purpose does the church primarily exist? Paul will help us answer these questions as he reflects on the nature of his own ministry in Romans 15:17-19. V17-19a, ‘In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God….’ What is the mission of...
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Colossians 3:1-17: Fixing our minds
INTRODUCTION: If you want to be a better Christian, you need to (fill in the blank). What is it that you think you need to do? What is it that some voices are telling us we need to do? Many tell us how we can be successful in our Christian walks. There are many fads that take advantage of our sincere hunger for holiness and obedience, and as a result there are many quacks with their quick fixes. ‘In order to live the victorious Christian life you need Christ and Christian psychology; Christ and inner healing; Christ and casting...
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Romans 12:15-16: Sympathy, Harmony and Humility
Sorry, no audio recording is available for this sermon. Outline Sympathy Harmony Humility Introduction Our oneness in the body of Christ is not a reality that we create but rather a reality that we recognise; it is not something that we work towards but rather something that we live out of. Our unity with Christ and one another is not our accomplishment but a gift. Our task as believers is to realise what we are and live out what we are, the burden of creating unity is not laid upon us, merely being what we are in Christ. This...
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1 Corinthians 12:12-13: Baptism into the body
Outline Unity of the Spirit Baptism of the Spirit Drinking of the Spirit Introduction What is baptism? For some it is a cultural tradition which goes along with your nationality. For some it is a private devotional moment that becomes subject to personal taste and timing. For others it is something irrelevant you don’t have to worry about, an optional extra like a fashion accessory. For some it is baby insurance applied to babies as a type of protection. There are many things we could say about baptism but today we want to focus on baptism as a command...
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Galatians 3:19-29: Children by faith
Outline Law Faith Introduction How does one become a child of God? A most simple but a most important question, and one which has been answered a number of different ways. The Liberal answer to this question is, every human being is a child of God; that man is basically good, and therefore they believed in the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. This is a view of our being children of God without taking into account the problem of sin, and God having to judge us for our sin, and having to provide a...
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