Philemon – ‘Freely you have received, freely give’ – sermon notes

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Well, not a sermon really, but the notes of a talk given at a midweek meeting.  A revised version of something I produced many years ago.

Delivered with two voices (a) Philemon himself, and (b) Apphia, his wife, reading the text of Paul’s letter to Philemon (in italics).

I want to take you back to the year AD 61. My name is Philemon.  It is early evening, and my wife Apphia and I are looking out from the veranda of our home in Colossae.…

Rom 2:13 – ‘Those who do the law…will be declared righteous’

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Rom 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.  13 It is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.

These verses have generated considerable scholarly debate because they appear to teach justification by works.

So, how are we to understand the place of works (‘obedience to the law’) in relation to justification in this passage?…

Christian Zionisms

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According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Zionism is

‘a movement for the development and protection of a Jewish nation in Israel.’

My aim here is to briefly identify and distinguish between various expressions of Christian Zionism.

1. First phase

The Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions identifies the first phase of Christian Zionism as dating back to the 16th century.  It was a Protestant – mainly Calvinistic and Anglican phenomenon.

As documented in Iain Murray’s The Puritan Hope, there was a widespread belief among the Puritans in a latter-day spiritual awakening among Jewish people that would precede Christ’s return. …

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 Authentic Community (sermon notes)

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[This was delivered as a semi-scripted sermon; these notes represent the general drift of what was said.  Text in bold was shown on the screen]

‘Final instructions’

Not a random collection of odds and ends.  But a series of 17 quick-fire instructions, many of which are dealt with more fully in other letters by Paul and his associates.  (E.g. prophecy – 1 Cor 14).

There is a single overall theme:

Becoming the community God wants us to be.…

Mt 9:18–26, Mk 5:22–43 – The healing of Jairus’ daughter

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The healing of Jairus’ daughter is recorded in Mt 9:18–26, Mk 5:22–43 and Lk 8:41–56.

Bart Ehrman sees a ‘clear contradiction’ between Mark’s account  and Matthew’s.  The former has the daughter on the point of death; the latter has her already dead.

In response: It is quite probable that Matthew’s version is a simple abridgement, with consequent telescoping of detail.  (Matthew’s account has 9 verses, Luke’s 17 and Mark’s 23).

Sometimes, in the Gospels,

‘a passage may be so abbreviated that it seems to contradict a fuller parallel.

…

Andrew Wilson: four types of divine healing

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Some while ago, Andrew Wilson wrote about four different types of healing.

Type #1: The ongoing healing that takes place every time I graze my knee, or a virus enters my body:

‘My body is being healed all the time, and it’s a result of the grace of the God who created me, searches me, knows me and loves me that he has designed a body that functions that way. I never want to forget – although I often do – the daily wonder of living in a self-repairing physical body.’

…

Lloyd-Jones: cessationist, or continuationist?

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Even more than C.H. Spurgeon, Dr D.M. Loyd-Jones has divided his hearers and readers in respect of his views on the spiritual gifts.

In his book Strange Fire, John MacArthur offers a single quotation which demonstrates (presumably to MacArthur’s satisfaction) that Lloyd-Jones was a cessationist.

Actually, I’m going to present a rather more extended quotation than MacArthur offers:

‘A prophet was a person to whom truth was imparted by the Holy Spirit. . . .

…

Spurgeon: cessationist, or continuationist?

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It is a common fault of speakers and writers to quote sources and evidence that support their position, while ignoring those that would tend to undermine it.

I don’t regard myself as exempt from this danger.  But I do realise the danger.

In an appendix to Speaking in the Spirit (2019), Stephen Wexler cites Wayne Grudem (a continuationist) and John MacArthur (a cessationist) as each quoting C.H. Spurgeon in favour of their own position on spiritual gifts.…

1 Thessalonians 5:19 – ‘Do not extinguish the Spirit’

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1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NET) — Do not extinguish the Spirit.

Is the reference here primarily to the ethical fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22f), or to the charismatic gifts of the Spirit (or neither, or both)?

Let’s consider the possibilities.

1. It refers to ethical behaviour (the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit)

In support of this interpretation, note that joy and thankfulness have just been mentioned, and these are closely linked with the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5.…

Cessationism – representative voices

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‘Cessationism’ is the name given to the view that the miraculous or extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased at the end of the apostolic age, when the canon of Scripture was complete.

Following are some representative voices (from this source).  I have seen the originals of some of these quotations, but not all of them.

John Calvin (1509-1564): ‘…the gift of healing, like the rest of the miracles, which the Lord willed to be brought forth for a time, has vanished away in order to make the preaching of the Gospel marvellous for ever’ (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Bk IV:19, 18).…