2 Cor 11:16-33 – Boasting in weakness (sermon notes)

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[Notes of a sermon preached many years ago at Holy Trinity Norwich.  The allusion to the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ dates this sermon to around 1994]

BOASTING IN WEAKNESS, II Cor 11:16-33

The church at Corinth was Paul’s problem child. Of all the Christian congregations planted by the great Apostle to the Gentiles, this was the one that had given him the most sleepless nights. They’d had problems both of belief and behaviour. There were divisions, there was disorder, and there was doctrinal confusion.…

2 Sam 15 – Absalom – sermon notes

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[Here are some notes of a very early sermon of mine.  It’s not quite how I would go about constructing a sermon nowadays, but neither am I ashamed of it!]

Once upon a time there was a king who lived in a fine palace in a great city

This king had a number of wives. By one of his wives he had a son whose name was Amnon.

By another of his wives he had a beautiful daughter, named Tamar, and a handsome son named Absalom And the king loved his son Absalom.…

Authority and freedom

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Notes from chapter 1 of Freedom, Authority and Scripture, by J.I. Packer.

“Authority” – makes most people think of law and order, direction and restraint, command and control, dominance and submission, respect and obedience. The word has almost become a “dirty word”. Opposition to authority is now the name of the game.

The Quest for Freedom

“Freedom”, on the other hand, is today the “in word”; World War II was described in terms of Four Freedoms: want, fear, speech, religion.…

The intermediate state – possible schema

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Piecing together the (admitedly limited) biblical data on the intermediate state, Michael Bird proposes the following:

1. Prior to Christ’s ascension, all who died went to Sheol/Hades, which was divided into two parts, one compartment for the wicked and another compartment for the righteous.

2. After Christ’s descent to Sheol/Hades and with his ascension, Christ took with him into heaven all of the saints in the paradisal part of Sheol/Hades, while the wicked remain in Sheol/Hades waiting for judgment.

…

Evaluating the ‘soul-sleep’ view

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The doctrine of ‘soul-sleep’ interprets the period between a believer’s death and final resurrection as one of uninterrupted unconsciousness.

Habermas and Moreland identify a number of problems with this view:

First, numerous biblical texts (e.g., Luke 23:43; Phil 1:23; 2 Cor 5:1-10) clearly teach that death is a transition into conscious enjoyment of the presence of Christ. How could Christ’s presence be enjoyed if one were asleep?

Second, some of these same Bible passages describe death as a gain because the deceased is with Christ.

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What happens after death?

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J.I. Packer has a helpful summary of biblical teaching.

  • The separation of body and soul at death is both a fruit of sin and a divine judgement, Gen. 2:17; 3:19, 22; Rom. 5:12; 8:10; 1 Cor. 15:21.  This separation is a sign of the separation from God that first brought about physical death, and will be deepened after death for those who leave this life without Christ.  Death is, accordingly, to be seen as an enemy, 1 Cor 15:26 and a terror, Heb 2:15.
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Do the dead pray for us, and should we pray for them?

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Do the dead pray for us?

In Surprised by Hope, Tom Wright notes that there is no biblical warrant for supposing that the faithful departed are actively engaged in praying for us.  In particular,

We should be very suspicious of the medieval idea that the ‘saints’ can function as ‘friends at court’, so that, while we might be shy of approaching the King ourselves, we know someone who is, as it were, ‘one of us’, to whom we can talk freely and who will maybe put in a good word for us.

…

Lk 16:19-31 – What (if anything) does this story tell us about the afterlife?

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Lk 16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

16:22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.…

Dare to believe all that God has said about himself

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‘All of God’s acts are consistent with all of His attributes. All that God does agrees with all that God is, and being and doing are one in Him. He cannot act out of character with Himself.

‘I think it might be demonstrated that almost every heresy that has afflicted the church through the years has arisen from believing about God things that are not true, or from over-emphasizing certain true things so as to obscure other things equally true.…

Praise in heaven

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Summarising ch. 8 of Created to Praise, by Derek Prime

Psa 84: 4 – ‘How blessed are those who live in your temple and praise you continually!’

Full development

Some acts of worship – e.g. the Lord’s Supper – belong to this life alone. But praise will be our eternal employment; it will reach its full development in heaven (Rev 19). It will massive, enthusiastic, ceaseless (Rev 4:8).

Reserve

The Bible shows reserve in its description of heaven.…