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Problems with miracles

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When it comes to belief contemporary miracles, many conservative evangelicals declare themselves to be ‘open but cautious’ (by which they usually seem to mean, ‘almost completely closed and extremely cautious’).  In other words, they will pay lip-service to the possibility of miracles, but have a high index of doubt as to whether they actually occur.

It feels a little strange, therefore, to read an article from a thoughtful Christian who makes no concessions at all to the possibility of contemporary miracles; who is, in effect, a cessationist (although not using that word).…

Mt 13/Mk4/Lk8 – The Parable of the Sower – Exposition

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It was springtime by the Sea of Galilee. Great numbers came enthusiastically to hear our Lord preach, v2, but would they remain faithful? The seed was being faithfully sown, but what would the harvest bring? We can picture Jesus sitting in the prow of a boat, pointing his hearers to the fields where the green corn shoots a promising a rich harvest. But how much of the seed scattered by the sower would be fruitful?

Our Lord, knowing that many who thronged to him would, sooner or later, neglect, or misunderstand, or reject his message, gives a solemn word of warning in the form of a parable.…

Discussion starters – Acts 27-28

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To Rome! Acts 27-28

‘Agrippa said to Festus, “[Paul] could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”’ (Acts 26:32).

Do you ever think about ‘what might have been’?

Chapter 27

Using a map, track the progress of Paul and his companions on their journey from Caesarea to Rome.  (I hope you do not feel too seasick!)

Why do you think that this journey is related in such vivid detail?  (I don’t think the answer is very complicated!)…

Mt 13/Mk 4/Lk 8 – The Parable of the Sower – Intro

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Here is the text, based on Matthew’s account, but including significant variants from Mark and Luke.

Mt 13:1 On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake. 13:2 And such a large crowd gathered around him [Lk: and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another] that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore. 13:3 He told them many things in parables [Lk: he spoke to them in a parable], saying: “Listen!…

Mt 13/Mk 4/Lk 8 – Why did Jesus speak in parables?

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The so-called ‘Parable of the Sower’ is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels.  And, in each case, the parable itself is followed by an explanation by Jesus of why he taught in parables.

Luke’s is the briefest account, followed by Mark’s and then Matthew’s:

Lk 8:9-10
8:9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 8:10 He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.”
…

1 Thess 5:22 – ‘Abstain from all appearance of evil’

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Summary.  This text is not about abstaining from apparent evil.  It is, rather, simply saying: ‘Abstain from every kind of evil’;  ‘abstain from evil at all times’).

1 Thess 5:22 in the NET version reads: ‘Stay away from every form of evil.’

The AV reads: ‘Abstain from all appearance of evil’.  Without a doubt, the translators meant what the NET, NIV and other modern translations say.  But I have heard members of a previous generation of evangelical Christians, brought up on the AV, take it to mean: ‘Don’t do things that are really evil, or even things that appear to be evil.’  …

John 19:41 – ‘Turning your place of crucifixion into a garden’

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Jn 19:41 – ‘At the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden.’

In ‘Preaching and Preachers’ D.M. Lloyd-Jones mentions ‘a certain famous preacher’ who used v41 as the text for a sermon on ‘Turning the place of your crucifixion into a garden’.  The message was about how people suffering from illnesses could and should react to their trial.

‘He told us that good people who took it in a beautiful spirit, and never grumbled and never complained, turned their place of crucifixion into a garden.’

…

Ecclesiastes 7:29 – In praise of simplicity?

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NASB – ‘God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.’
NIV – ‘God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.’
RSV – ‘God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.’
ESV – ‘God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.’
AV – ‘God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.’

This verse in its GNB version…

‘This is all that I have learnt: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated’

…has been recruited by at least one preacher as the text for a sermon on simplicity. …

Luke 5:4 “Put out into the deep water”

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Luke 5:4 “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

Let the preacher beware of allegorising and over-spiritualising such details.  Example:

‘The invitation to put out into the deep for a catch provides a sharp contrast to our human penchant for the predictable and the routine. It is an invitation to venture into new ground or new depths, but it also points to new challenges in mission and ministry for the church in every generation…In the case of Simon, as for the Christian faced with such a command, there is the realization that the most profound and significant experiences of God and life are not to be found in the safe ways and places.’

…

Isaiah 9:6 – ‘Wonderful counsellor’

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In the NIV, Isaiah 9:6f reads:

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.…