Inerrancy as an evangelical ‘boundary marker’

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According to one commentator, when Matthew came to write his narrative of Jesus’ birth, he based it on Luke’s account.  Matthew, however, was writing for a different readership, and so changed Luke’s true story about the humble shepherds coming in from the fields to visit the baby Jesus into a fictitious one about some high-ranking Magi coming from the East to pay their respects, offering costly gifts.  Matthew re-told the story because he wanted to emphasise Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles. …

Beware the disjunctive fallacy!

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Ephesians 5:23 says: ‘The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.‘

Lawrence O. Richards argues that headship in the NT has nothing to do with authority: ‘Authority, with its right to control and demand obedience, is not suggested.  The fact that the living head of the church, Jesus, is a person with supreme authority is presented to comfort and assure it of His ability to meet its needs…As head He is the source and origin of our life. …

Christ’s illegal trial and condemnation

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Outline of a sermon on Luke 23:23f by John Flavel (1628-1691).

I.  The trial of Christ was conducted most maliciously and illegally by his unrighteous judges.  The righteous Judge of all the world is judged most unrighteously.

1.  He was inhumanly abused, both in word and action.

2.  He was falsely examined by a court (the Sanhedrin) that had no authority to try him.

3.  He was absurdly accused of perverting the nation, and of denying tribute to Caesar.…

Quotes on Excuses

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A farmer asked his neighbour if he might borrow a rope. “Sorry,” said the neighbour.  “I’m using my rope to tie up my milk.” “Rope can’t tie milk.” “I know,” replied the neighbour.  “but when a man doesn’t want to do something, one reason is as good as another.” (Illustrations for Biblical Preaching)

A school teacher who is consistently late insists that she is a victim of compulsive lateness syndrome.

FBI agent who embezzled 2000 dollars from the government and gambled it away and he’s suing to get his job back because his compulsive gambling is a handicap and therefore protected by federal law.…

John 14:15-18 – Abandoned? – sermon notes

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These are the notes of a short talk given at an informal breakfast ‘event’.

The other day, someone I work with was waiting for a bus to take her to work. The bus came on time, but sailed straight past her. So much for that journey. She was abandoned.

A couple of months ago, my wife & I were expecting to attend the wedding of the daughter of one of her friends. The Wednesday before the wedding day, her fiancee called the whole thing off.…

Gen 18:1-15 – The three visitors – sermon notes

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The story of Abraham is the story of a promise. Back in Genesis 12, the Lord had called him from his home in Ur with the promise that he would make of his descendents a great nation, and that all peoples on earth would blessed through him and his descendents.

There’s just one problem: Abraham has no descendents. He and his wife Sarah are both elderly, and she has been childless all her life. But in our passage this morning, the promise is repeated in Sarah’s hearing.…

‘Suffered Under Pontius Pilate’

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The role of the Roman procurator who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus has been written into our Christian creed.

Pilate was appointed procurator (governor) of the province of Judea by Emperor Tiberius in AD 26.  He served for 10 years.  His reputation was that of an efficient administrator, but he could also be bad-tempered and cruel.  He was, moreover, contemptuous of the Jews, and was therefore despised by them in turn.  It was he who mixed the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices, Lk 13:1. …

2 Pet 3 – A sure and certain hope – sermon notes

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“If only we’d known how that holiday would turn out,” muttered the Jones family as they returned yesterday wet and muddy from a week of camping in the West Midlands.

“If only we’d known how that marriage would turn out,” reflected Jenny and Brian as they signed their divorce papers.

“If only we’d known how that evening would turn out,” lamented the family of James Oyebola, who was shot in the back after asking some bar customers to stop smoking.…

‘The First-Born Seraph’

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Charles Wesley’s famous hymn ‘And can it be?‘ is still sung from time to time today, even though many of the other hymns that were still popular when I was a Methodist teenager have fallen into neglect.  It is a shame, although I think that the vigorous tune Sagina prompts us to sing it more lustily than the awe-struck words suggest.  At any rate, we would reflect the words better if we didn’t crank the volume up until we reached the bit about ‘my chains fell off’.…

How should we refer to the Saviour?

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Don Carson writes of an awkward correspondence he had with an individual who criticised him for repeatedly referring to “Jesus” (rather than “the Lord Jesus Christ”) in an address.

The criticism was based on Romans 10:9 (‘if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”…you will be saved.’)

As Carson points out, there is no reason to suppose that Romans 10:9 provides a necessary and unvarying formula for how we refer to our Lord.  By such reasoning, Matthew 1:21 (“you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”) could equally be insisted upon as a formula.…