John 8:12-30 – “I am the light of the world” – sermon notes

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Whereas the main question in chapter 7 is, ‘Who is Jesus?’, in chapter 8 this question develops into ‘How do we know that his testimony is valid?’

1. Declaration: “I am the light of the world”

“I” – Jesus points to himself, begging the question: mere man? madman? myth? menace? mistaken? Messiah?

“I am” – The 2nd such statement in this Gospel.  N.b. Yahweh’s self-revelation in Exodus and Isaiah.

“I am Light” – representing learning, love laughter, and life (in contrast to darkness, which represents dullness, depravity despair and death).…

Presuppositionalist apologetics

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Many Christians will be aware of the evidentialist approach to apologetics.  This approach uses among other strategies, logical arguments for the existence of God and historical evidence for the person and work of Jesus Christ.  These are marshalled in order to convince the unbeliever see that the Christian faith is reasonable and evidence-based.

Less familiar, however, is the presuppositionalist approach.  Rooted in the thought of Augustine and Anslem (“I believe in order to understand”), it is most often associated with Cornelius Van Til and his disciples. …

The three loves

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1. GOD’S LOVE FOR US

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world” – Heaven’s brightest beam.

“That he gave his only-begotten Son” – Earth’s greatest theme.…

On being filled with the Holy Spirit

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INTRODUCTION

If you are truly a Christian, then the Holy Spirit dwells in you, Roman 8:9.

There is no ‘Premier Division’ to be promoted to.  But we should all seek to be filled more and more by the Holy Spirit.

SOME EXAMPLES

John the Baptist, Luke 1:15;

Our Lord, Luke 4:1;

Peter, Acts 4:8;

Stephen, Acts 6:5; 7:55;

Saul, Acts 9:17; 13:9;

Barnabas, Acts 11:24.

We also read of larger numbers being filled at the same time, Acts 2:4; 4:31; 6:3; 13:52.…

The Holy Spirit

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INTRODUCING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Here are some of his names and titles:-

Breath of the Almighty…Power of the Most High…Spirit of power…Spirit of the Father…Spirit of the Living God…Eternal Spirit…Holy Spirit…Power of the Most High…Sevenfold Spirit…Spirit of the Lord…Spirit of fear of the  Lord…Spirit of life…Spirit of truth…Spirit of revelation…Spirit of knowledge…Spirit of understanding…Spirit of wisdom…Spirit of prophecy…Spirit of holiness…Spirit of glory…Spirit of fire…Spirit of counsel…Spirit of Christ…Spirit of sonship…Spirit of grace…

It is clear that we are talking about a Divine Being. …

Faith lessons from Abraham

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Some lessons on faith from the story of Abraham in Genesis 15-18.

1. Faith is a response to God’s Word

Abraham took God at his word concerning the birth of a son in his old age.  Faith is not some kind of quality worked up in our own minds (‘believing in God for a miracle’).  It is simply taking God at his word.  If this is so, then the more we get into God’s word the stronger our faith will become.…

Biblical words for ‘love’

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In an article in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, D.A. Carson warns against ‘word-based reductionism’:-

‘When Amnon incestuously rapes his half-sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13, LXX), twice we are told that he ‘loved’ her, once with agapaō and once with phileō. It is hard to see how this love differs from erōs, acquisitive and sexual love (though the word erōs is never found in the Bible). Twice John tells us that the Father ‘loves’ the Son, once using agapaō (John 3:35), once using phileō (John 5:20), and it is difficult to detect any difference in meaning.

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Platitudes tested

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Trevin Wax reports:-

In 1911, Holbrook Jackson, a disciple of Nietzsche, wrote a book called Platitudes in the Making.  He sent a copy to G.K. Chesterton, who write, in a green pencil, a response to nearly all of Jackson’s pithy platitudes.

Here are some examples: with Jackson’s proposals in bold type, and Chesterton’s responses in italics:-

  • As soon as an idea is accepted it is time to reject it. No: it is time to build another idea on it.
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Ryle and the future of the Jews

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In his book ‘Coming Events and Present Duties’ (1867/1879), J.C. Ryle summarises his views on prophecy and presents a handful of sermons preached on various aspects of this subject.

Concerning the future of the Jews, Ryle states:-

‘I believe that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ, after going through great tribulation. (Jeremiah 30:10, 11; 31:10; Romans 11:25, 26; Daniel 12:1; Zech.

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Gen 12:1-9 – The three horizons (sermon notes)

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Genesis 12:1-9

After repeated failure, here is God’s new beginning.

Three horizons:-

1. An individual – Abraham

v2 – “I will bless you…I will make your name great.”

Many obstacles: – too old; childless wife; land already occupied, v6;  famine (v10)!  imperfect character!  not the top candidate (why not Melchizedek?)!

He ‘did not receive the things promised,’ (Heb 11:13).  By the end of his life, all he had was one field and one son.

He ‘obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going, (Heb 11:8). …