Advantages of heart-changing, expository preaching

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Expository preaching:

  1. does justice to the biblical material which makes it clear that God works through his word to change people’s lives—as it ‘uncages the lion’ and allows God’s word to speak.
  2. acknowledges that it is God alone, through the Spirit, who works in people’s lives, and that it is not our job to change people through clever or inspiring communication.
  3. minimizes the danger of manipulating people, because the text itself controls what we say and how we say it.
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Undesigned coincidences in the Bible

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The term ‘undesigned coincidences’ was coined by J.J. Blunt in his 1851 book, ‘Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences‘.  The idea has been popularised by a number of modern authors, most notably Lydia McGrew in her book ‘Hidden in Plain View‘ (2017).  There is also a chapter on ‘Undesigned Coincidences’ in Peter J. Williams, Can We Trust the Gospels?.

(I am aware that atheist Richard Carrier has denied the existence of ‘undesigned coincidences’. …

Mt 12:28/Lk 11:20 – Has the kingdom already come?

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Matthew 12:28 – “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.’

Luke 11:20 – “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.”

This saying has featured prominently in scholarly discussion about the kingdom of God.  If ephthasen is correctly translated as ‘has come’, as most scholars think, then the kingdom was to be regarded, in at least some important senses, as present. …

Preachers and their preaching – Vaughan Roberts

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Vaughan Roberts (born 1965) has been rector of St Ebbes, Oxford, since 1998, and Director of the Proclamation Trust since 2009.

He is committed to consecutive expository preaching.  He and his associates will preach through a book of the Bible (or a significant portion of a book), taking between five and thirty verses at a time.

A fairly typical specimen is a sermon entitled ‘God’s merciful plan’, which is part of a series on Romans 9-11 headed ‘The Gospel and Israel’.…

Spurgeon: against consecutive expository preaching

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Many present-day evangelical preachers are strongly in favour of expository sermon series.  That is to say, they like to preach through a book of the Bible (or an extended portion of the book) paragraph-by-paragraph or section-by-section.

These same preachers tend to admire C.H. Spurgeon as ‘the prince of preachers’.

How curious, then, that Spurgeon’s preaching was textual, rather than expository.  His texts were usually just one or two verses.  He would often introduce thoughts that did not arise from the text itself. …

Biblical revelation

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J.I. Packer writes:

If we ask what in a nutshell was God revealing in the biblical period, several things must be said together.

First, God was revealing Himself. He was showing His ‘eternal power and deity’ (Rom. 1:20) as maker and master, and with that His character and His ways with men (see Exod. 34:6f.; 5:9f.; Jer. 9:24; 1 John 1:5; 4:7-10), so that He might be acknowledged and worshipped for all that He is and does and gives.

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Good Friday

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I confess that I struggle a bit with attending church on Good Friday.  In my experience, we come into church with long faces because we remember that this was the day on which our Lord suffered and died, and then return, two days later, full of smiles because – surprise, suprise! – he’s not dead, but alive!

It’s not a great idea to separate Good Friday from Easter Sunday in this way, as though Friday is ‘bad’ and Sunday is ‘good’? …

Jn 17:24 – What Jesus wants (sermon notes)

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John 17:24 – “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

A long time ago, a young man finished an evening meal with his friends, spoke to them about various things, then looked up to the sky, and prayed.  He prayed for himself, for his little band of friends, and for all those future generations who would come after them.…

Crafting a story the Jesus way

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Writing in the Evangelical Times, Peter J. Williams uses the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) to demonstrate just how skilful a story-teller Jesus was.

1. Use of words

We can readily visualise each person’s situation and daily movements:

‘At his gate’ – conjures up the image of the rich man’s large and enclosed house.  He would have to pass Lazarus every time he approached or left his home.  Yet he would ignore him.…

Burial or cremation?

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Although in primitive times cremation was uncommon, in the ancient civilised world it became the normal means of disposing of the dead.  The main exceptions were Egypt, Judea and China.

Because of their belief in bodily resurrection, the early Christians favoured burial, and this remained common practice until the 19th century.  This change was due partly to the influence of free-thinkers (the secular humanists of their day), although the practice of cremation has become increasingly accepted among Christians.…