Duties of parents
- Encouragement, 1 Chron 28:20.
- Reproof, Pr 19:18.
- Instruction, Pr 22:6; Eph 6:4; 2 Tim 3:15.
- Provision, 1 Tim 5:8.
Glory
Old Testament – usually Heb ‘kabod’ = ‘heaviness’; ‘weight’; (cf. 2 Cor 4:17) ‘worthiness’. Used of men to describe wealth, splendour or reputation (honour). God shows his glory by displaying his excellence and praiseworthiness, Isa 44:23 Jn 12:28 13:31f. God also glorifies his Son, Jn 13:31-32 17:5 Acts 3:13. We give glory to God when we respond by honouring and adoring him, Jn 17:4 21:19 Rom 4:20 15:6,9 1 Cor 6:20 10:31 1 Pet 4:12-16.
The glory of the Lord shows in the reality of his active presence, sometimes accompanied by physical manifestations, such as lightning, Ps 29:3; and cloud, Ex 16:7,10 40:34-38.…
The abominations of the heathen
Some crucial passages are: Deut 7:1-5; cf Ex 23:23ff; Deut 20:16-18.
Although our Lord did not explicitly endorse this particular act of judgement, as he did the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and of Noah’s contemporaries, he set his general seal on the book of Deuteronomy, which, from the number of times he quoted from it, must be regarded as his favourite book.
Specific endorsement is found in Acts 7:45; 13:17ff; Heb 11:31; 12:29. ‘Unquestionably the New Testament view is to take the Old Testament at its face value.…
Preaching Christ
We do so when we:-
- represent him as a living person as distinct from an historical character.
- remind the hearers that he is present in the gathering.
- represent ourselves as his ambassadors bringing a message from him.
- press his claim upon the hearers.
- tell of his finished work and testify that his blood cleanses from all sin.
- preach Christ as a present deliverer from the power of sin.
- warn sinners that to reject him is to perish.
Mutual encouragement
While this is the special duty of the ministers of the gospel, 1 Tim 6:2; 2 Tim 4:2; Tit 2:6,15, it is also the duty of all the members of the churches -and a most important, but much neglected duty. This does not refer to public exhortation, which more appropriately pertains to the ministers of the gospel, but to that private watch and care which the individual members of the church should have over one another.…
From what are we called?
‘From what does God call men?
(1.) From sin. He calls them from their ignorance and unbelief. 1 Pet 1:14. By nature the understanding is enveloped with darkness. God calls men ‘from darkness to light,’ as if one should be called out of a dungeon to behold the light of the sun. Eph 5:8.
(2.) From danger. As the angels called Lot out of Sodom, when it was ready to rain fire; so God calls his people from the fire and brimstone of hell, and from all those curses to which they were exposed.…
Prophecy and prediction
Biblical prophecy is more than “fore-telling”: two-thirds of its inscripturated form involves “forth-telling,” that is, setting the truth, justice, mercy, and righteousness of God against the backdrop of every form of denial of the same. Thus, to speak prophetically was to speak boldly against every form of moral, ethical, political, economic, and religious disenfranchisement observed in a culture that was intent on building its own pyramid of values vis-à-vis God’s established system of truth and ethics.…
New Testament preaching
Robert Mounce, in his 1960 book The Essential Nature of New Testament Preaching, explains that the in outline form kerygma consisted of three parts-
1. A historical proclamation of the death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, seen as the fulfilment of prophecy and involving man’s responsibility.
2. A resulting theological evaluation of Jesus as both Lord and Christ.
3. An ethical summons to repent and receive forgiveness of sins.
This summary is derived from an analysis of Peter’s five speeches recorded at the beginning of Acts.…
How Scripture describes death
1. Sleep
See Gen 47:30; Deut 31:16; 2 Sam 7:12; 2 Chron 9:31; Psa 13:3; Dan 12:2; Mt 27:52; Lk 8:52; Jn 11:11-13; Acts 7:60; 1 Cor 7:39; 11:30; 15:6,18,51.
The comparison between death and sleep is apt, because:-
(a) sleep implies rest from labour, Rev 14:13.
(b) sleep implies cessation of activity in the environment of one’s wakeful life.
(c) sleep is a prelude to awakening, 1 Thess 4:16.
Notice, it is the body which sleeps in death; the person (if the Lord’s) goes to ‘be with Christ’.…
Characteristics of the church
The church is described in the ancient creeds as:-
1. One, Eph 4:4-5.
2. Holy, 1 Pet 2:9; 1 Cor 1:2.
3. Catholic, Col 3:11; Gal 3:28.
4. Apostolic, Eph 2:20; Acts 1:8.…