Category Archives: Christian Life

James 4:4-17 – Talking, planning – sermon notes

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[Asked to preach twice on the same day from James 4:4-17, I developed two sermons, the first focussing on what this passage teaches about pride in relation to talking (verses 11-12), and the second on pride in relation to planning (verses 13-17).]

Sermon 1

Overall theme of this section: arrogance.

Specific danger areas: talking (v11-12), planning (vv13-17), spending (5:1-6).

Let’s focus on the first of these.  James has yet more to say about the tongue, and so must we.…

Praying with right motives

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‘When we pray for things pertaining to this life, we must desire temporal things for spiritual ends; we must desire these things to be as helps in our journey to heaven. If we pray for health, it must be that we may improve this talent of health for God’s glory, and may be fitter for his service; if we pray for a competency of estate, it must be for a holy end, that we may be kept from the temptations which poverty usually exposes to, and that we may be in a better capacity to sow the golden seeds of charity, and relieve such as are in want.…

Toolbox for Skillful Shepherding

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Member Condition Spiritual Danger Proper Response Scriptural Support
Living fruitfully Failing to Continue Encourage; Praise 1 Thess 4:1; Phil 2:29
Lacking information Doctrinal Ignorance Teach; Instruct 1 Cor 12:1; 1 Thess 4:13; Acts 18:26
Needing to get moving Laziness; Neglect Exhort; Spur On; Urge Heb 5:11-12; 6:12; 10:24; 2 Cor 9:4-5
Suffering Trial Discouragement Comfort; Console 2 Cor 1:4; 7:6
Starting to Go Astray New Sin Pattern Warn; Correct; Admonish Titus 3:10; 1 Cor 4:14; Luke 9:54-55; Matt 16:23
Determined to Wander Habitual Sin Rebuke Rev 3:18-19; Titus 1:12-13; Gal 2:11
Stubborn Unrepentance Apostasy Excommunicate Matt 18:17; 1 Cor 5:5

Andrew M.…

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew and Luke

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Matthew 6:9–13 Luke 11:2–4
Our Father in heaven Father
May your name be sanctified May your name be sanctified
May your kingdom come May your kingdom come
May your will be done
As in heaven, so also on earth
Give us today our daily bread Give us each day our daily bread
Forgive us our debts Forgive us our sins
As we also have forgiven our debtors As we also forgive everyone
who sins against us
And do not lead us into temptation And do not lead us into temptation.
…

Counting the cost

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In his celebrated book Holiness, J.C. Ryle urges ‘the true-hearted and holy Christian’ to count up and compare,

1. The profit and the loss. You may possibly lose something in this world, but you will gain the salvation of your immortal soul. It is written: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36.)

2. The praise and the blame. You may possibly be blamed by man, but you will have the praise of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.…

Forgiveness in the teaching of Jesus

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According to N.T. Wright (Jesus and the Victory of God)  “Forgiveness of sins is another way of saying ‘return from exile’”.

‘However,’ (writes Robert Stein) ‘this is at best an overstatement. There is much in the Gospels concerning the great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents and receives forgiveness (Luke 15:7, 10). It is difficult to see in Jesus’ forgiving the paralytic’s sins (Mark 2:1–12), in his forgiving of the sinful woman (Luke 7:36–50), in the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10), and in all the accounts of the forgiving of sinners the theme of the return of the nation from exile as being more central than the forgiveness of these individuals.’…

The life of prayer

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Albert Barnes offers the following guidelines:-

1. Every Christian should have some time allotted for this service, and some place where he may be alone with God.

2. It is not easy, perhaps not possible, to maintain a life of piety without regular habits of secret devotion.

3. The morning, when we have experienced God’s protecting care, when the mind is fresh, and the thoughts are as yet clear and unoccupied with the world, when we go forth to the duties, trials, and temptations of the day; and the evening, when we have again experienced his goodness, and are about to commit ourselves to his protecting care, and when we need his pardoning mercy for the errors and follies of the day, seem to be times which commend themselves to all as appropriate seasons for private devotion.

…

‘Father, forgive them’

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A summary of ch. 30 of John Flavel’s The Fountain of Life

In Lk 23:34, says Flavel, we find the best of mercies desired for the worst of sinners.

Peter (Acts 3:17) and Paul (1 Cor 2:8) also stress the ignorance of those who crucified the Lord Jesus.  These people may have known many things, but they did not know that this was the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.  This was because

  • though they had the Scriptures, they misunderstood them: they could not believe that the Messiah would arise out of Galilee (Jn 7:52), or that he would die (Jn 12:34; cf.
…

Holiness

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Introduction

‘Holiness’ means the same as ‘sanctification’. These terms occur 1,000 times in the OT; 300 times in the NT.

To be ‘holy’ means (a) to be set apart for a special (usually religious) purpose; (b) to be morally pure.

‘Holiness has love for its essence, humility for its clothing, the good of others as its employment, and the honor of God as its end.’ (Nathanael Emmons)

Many things are persons are referred to in the Bible as being holy, including:-

1.…

Self-inquiry

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This is a summary of a paper written by J.C. Ryle, and published as the first chapter of his book Practical Religion.

Text: Acts 15:36

Introduction

We live in an age of peculiar spiritual privileges.  There is a great deal of interest in the Christian faith, and in the way of salvation.

We live in an age of peculiar spiritual danger.  There is a great deal of nominal or superficial Christianity.

Questions for self-inquiry

1.  …