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Sacrament and mystery

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The word ‘sacrament’, explains Donald Macleod,  comes from the Latin sacramentum, which referred to the oath taken by a Roman Soldier.  It has therefore been suggested that the Lord’s Supper is the taking of an oath to Christ and an entering into an obligation of loyalty to him.  There is, no doubt, truth in this.  But the word sacramentum is not a biblical word, and cannot therefore the recruited for theological purposes for a meaning that is not sanctioned by Scripture itself.…

Hab 1:1-2:1 – How long, O Lord? – sermon notes

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‘Daily life…is the painful reality of starvation, AIDS, and violence. There is no food on the shelves, there are no medicines in hospitals, and no one can afford to buy from the drugstores.

We have become a nation of beggars who spend more time looking for food than working. Most employees’ monthly wages would not be enough to meet their transportation budget to get to and from work.

State schools have lost almost all qualified teachers.…

Isaiah 52:1-12 – Beautiful feet! – sermon notes

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Bringing good news of the redeeming Saviour, v9, the returning Lord, v8, the reigning King, v7.

The battle has been won, the long years of captivity are ended, the holy city and its temple will rise from the ruins, peace and joy and plenty will enjoyed across the land.

This was fulfilled following the decree of Cyrus in 539 BC.  But how complete was that fulfilment?

Neh 9:36 tells us that the return of the exiles was not all they hoped it would be: “We are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers.”…

Conviction precedes conversion?

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It has often been thought, in evangelical circles, that Christian conversion is normally preceded by intense conviction of sin and awareness of one’s perilous state outside of Christ.  This has been documented Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley in their recent book, Prepared by Grace, for Grace: The Puritans on God’s Ordinary Way of Leading Sinners to Christ, and is discussed here by Donald Macleod.

The template is summarised by Jonathan Edwards: ‘God makes men sensible of their misery before he reveals his mercy and love.’  …

‘Why Israel will never get everything it wants’

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For the Israelis, 1948 was a brave war of independence.  For the Palestinians, is was a catastrophe, with 750,000 of them being forcibly ejected from their homes, their children and grandchildren making up the 5 million Palestinian refugees of today.

To Israel, Hamas is a jihadist terrorist organisation that wants to kill every Israeli and turn the whole region into an Islamic state.  The stated aim of Hamas, on the other hand, is to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, and it has even expressed interest in a two-state solution.…

Eph 6:10-18 – ‘Be strong in the Lord’ – sermon notes

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On 6th June 1944 – ‘D Day’ – the Allied forces landed hundreds of thousands of troops in Normandy in France. More Allied troops had crossed from North Africa to southern Italy and were making their way northwards. At the same time the Russians were closing in on the eastern borders of Germany. The war in Europe was effectively decided. Hitler had lost too many men. He had run out of resources. There was no way he could win.…

Human wisdom in 1 Corinthians

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Corinth was a well-known intellectual centre. It was a cosmopolitan place, and many travelling teachers passed through. They sold wisdom, and charged big fees for it.

The gospel is not what the world would regard as wisdom. Rather, it is foolishness. Yet is is through the ‘folly’ of the cross that God has wrought salvation. There is indeed a true wisdom, but the Corinthians are still relying on the false wisdom of this world, 1 Cor 1:18-19 2:6 3:1.…

Contemplations from Corinth’s pulpit

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  1. Gospel preachers are not the only ones preaching, 1 Cor 1:20).
  2. In Christian preaching, substance is far more important than style,1 Cor 1:17f.
  3. Preachers should be wary of gaining a response by mere human eloquence; far less by emotional manipulation., 1 Cor 2:4.
  4. No preacher worth their gospel-salt will shy away from preaching the ‘crude’ subject of the crucified Christ, 1 Cor 1:23).
  5. Unbelievers will demand other things from the preacher instead of the gospel, 1 Cor 1:22f.
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First principles

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‘In all arts and sciences, logic, physic, mathematics, there are some praecognita, some rules and principles that must necessarily be known for the practice of those arts; so, in divinity, there must be the first principles laid down. The knowledge of the grounds and principles of religion is exceedingly useful.

(1.) Else we cannot serve God aright. We can never worship God acceptably, unless we worship him regularly; and how can we do that, if we are ignorant of the rules and elements of religion?…

Ungodly children of godly parents

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In the family of:-

  • Adam, there was murderous Cain, Gen 4:8.
  • Noah, there was immoral Ham, Gen 9:22ff.
  • Abraham, there was persecuting Ishmael, Gal 4:22ff.
  • Lot, there were adulterous daughters, Gen 19:32.
  • Isaac, there was profane Esau, Heb 12:16.
  • Jacob, there were treacherous sons, Gen 37:11ff.
  • Eli, there were ungodly sons, 1 Sam 2:12,22ff.
  • David, there was rebellious Absolom, 2 Sam 15:6.
  • Ahab, there was an ungodly wife, 1 Ki 16:29ff; 21:1ff.
  • Hezekiah, there was an idolatrous Manaseeh, 2 Ki 21:1ff.
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