Dithering.... so the internet decides for me

Having given myself two options this year for Bible reading, I neither find my lectionary nor want to use my back-up approach this morning.

Fickle, moi?

So instead, opening BibleGateway in preparation, I decide to read the Psalm from which the verse of the day (90:12) ("So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.") is taken. This could be a new approach, but is a little unstructured for long-term usage (I would prefer to work through a book at a time, so I know what it is about).

Psalm 90
Thoughts:
This is a really good reality check.

I love verses like vv1-2 - they cut through all the hustle and bustle of life and remind me that my true home is with God.

vv3-6 help cut through the self-importance of any age. I'm currently researching family history and also enjoying a book which gives an overview of great moments in British history. It's difficult to imagine a thousand years seeming as a day, but does force me to think 'big picture' (it's a bit easier if e.g. I try to think of the first thousand years of AD British History - hmm - Romans, Alfred, burnt cakes, William the Conq, Harold and the arrow).

vv7-8 a reminder that I cannot hide from God, (and thus all the rationalisation and justification of things I ought not to be doing really doesn't wash with Him).

vv9-12 - time is not as long as we think that it is (or, as The Wurzels put it "you're a short time living and a long time dead" - can't remember the song just yet, but it will bug me until I find it out, so will post the link...)

v12-17 - so, I should remember to number my days (and thank God for Jesus, or I would be in a very sorry mess indeed).

Hurrah!. I like the Psalms.

Did you know..... (Who was Cyrus?)

I found this (originally copied from an article in the Times I think, when I was doing Overview, or maybe Isaiah).... you've heard of Attila the Hun, but have you heard of Cyrus?

LISTOMANIA

The men who conquered the most miles

Genghis Khan (c1162- 1227): 4,860,000 square miles, including northern China, Mongolia, southern Siberia and central Asia.

Alexander the Great (356- 323BC): 2,180,000 square miles, including the southern Balkan peninsula, Asia Minor, Egypt and the entire Near East.

Tamerlane (c1336-1405): 2,145,000 square miles, including most of the Near East.

Cyrus the Great (c600- c529BC): 2,090,000 square miles including the Median Empire, Babylonia, Assyria, Syria, Palestine, the Indus Valley and southern Turkistan.

Attila (c406-453), king of the Huns: 1,450,000 square miles, encompassing most of central and eastern Europe and the western Russian plain, but not Gaul.

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945): 1,370,000 square miles, including most of continental Europe — extending from the English Channel to the outskirts of Moscow, and from North Africa to Norway — all of which he lost within 31/2 years.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821): 720,000 square miles, including France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Spain.

Notes on Hebrews 1

Hebrews 1
I had forgotten how incredibly dense the first few verses are: there is so much to learn and wonder at.

1Long ago, at many times and(A) in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but(B) in these last days(C) he has spoken to us by(D) his Son, whom he appointed(E) the heir of all things,(F) through whom also he created(G) the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and(H) the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.(I) After making purification for sins,(J) he sat down(K) at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name(L) he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

We see that Jesus
- is appointed the heir of all things
- was the Person through Whom God created the world
- radiates God's glory
- is the exact imprint of His nature
- upholds the universe by His Word
- made purification for sins
- is seated in honour

Random thoughts occurring:
This reminds me a lot of Colossians (without looking up the verses - but all from Chapter 1 of Colossians, through which I am working slowly with the Hellenists) - Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the world created through Him, all things reconciled to Himself by His blood (there's a long string of genitives in the Gk - note to self).
In terms of time, Jesus is is active in the past, present and future. God created the world through Him. Jesus is the heir of all things, and now he upholds the universe.
Surprised is not really quite the right word, but it is the best that I can think of with this rather foggy brain: in some ways it is a bit of a shock/surprise to realise that Jesus upholds the universe (and thus continues to uphold the universe). There's a risk, I suppose, that if I think of Romans 8 (creation groaning, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God - again - quoting from memory, which is never the most reliable way of doing it) I'm inclined to think that God created the world, gave it over (Romans 1) to the effects of mankind's rejection of God's rule, and that's that (while God is still sovereign, and in control over all that happens in this world). V3b reminds me that he continues to uphold the universe (to be fair, this is the logical extension of God's sovereignty - really just my ropey skills of logic which make this seem a little surprising) reminds me also that he upholds it while people continue to sin. This then makes me think of God's greater plan for His glory - insofar as this creation will continue until just the right moment.

That's really not terribly well expressed at all, but at least now I have written it down I can play around with it a little.

Numbers ... some thoughts

A collection of jottings from recent time spent reading Numbers in the mornings (July 2007).

Numbers 11
11v11 - Moses actually argues with the LORD (I know that this is known as something which he does, but it still comes as a shock to see it in print).
11v21 - 600,000 people. A huge number now, as well as then (frequently I find that the numbers in the OT are not that big, so I have to imagine myself back in OT times and think how big they would be for them. Not so here).
11v29 - would that all the LORD's people were prophets.

12v3 - Moses was the meekest man. What is meek?
12v6 - special relationship with Moses.

14v10 - the people are ready to stone those who are faithful to God.
14vv11-12 - 11And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."

Numbers 15
(within the context of offerings for intentional and unintentional sin:
30But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him."
Am intrigued by the 'high hand'. Must find commentary on Numbers at some point.

Numbers 16 - I've not noticed before the way that the phrases are repeated here as the rebels mock Moses(Korah's rebellion).
e.g.
16v9 Moses says "9is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, "
16v13 the rebels say "13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? "

16vv31-32 - the earth opens its mouth to swallow up Korah and his people for their rebellion.
16v41 - the next day the congregation of the people of Israel grumble against Moses and Aaron.
It seems so stark, against the context of Moses having been shown (by the swallowing up) to have been sent to do the LORD's works.

vv44-46 - the plague starts as soon as the LORD has said that He will consume these people. Moses runs and offers atonement, and stands between the dead and the living. Not entirely sure why the 'standing between the dead and the living' strikes me, but it does.

Numbers 20
v28 - Aaron's death - mused gently about whether Aaron dies because he's taken his clothes off on the mountaintop, or whether his clothes are removed because he dies. A question for coffee I suspect.

Moses ... the meekest man (12v3), probably in his eighties (need to find a source for this - Exodus??, leads a troublesome people through the wilderness, is told that he won't be entering into the Promised Land, but still leads them on, obediently, through confrontation with Edom, Arad and the Amorites.

Sunday Morning: Galatian 2:11-21

Sermon notes
- Difficult area of NT interpretation as deals with teh question of how the OT and NT fit together - Law and Gospel
- if you leave church with a full notebook, but an unchanged life you have missed the point
- what must I do to be accepted?
- previously - you need to be a Jew, a son of Abraham. This was a the great wall between Jews and rest of the world. Wall = Law.
- Exodus, Lev and Deut - particularly set out how to live acceptably as God's people.
- 20(?) years previous to this letter - the Temple curtain had been torn in two.

Truth of the gospel in essence vv11-16
- ignore the ESV break
- vv15-16 - the gospel explored (you are not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ. Typical Paul sentence - Not/But/So/In order/Because. No-one can keep the Law except Jesus)
- vv11-14 - the issue being faced. Gospel + is actually gospel -. vv12-13 Antioch - hypocrisy.
- what are you relying on?
- faith in Jesus +? denominational rules, experience/Holy Spirit, performance of daily prayer and quiet time, commitment to evangelism, conformity to Christian social norms, portfolio of service. Many are perfectly good things - but when we seek to rely on them - we are in danger of subtly becoming a hypocrite.
- how does it affect us practically?
Truth of gospel in experience
vv17-21 - where Paul says 'I', this can be read as 'one'
* I died to the Law v19
* I have been crucified with Christ
* I no longer live (it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me) v20
* The life that I now live I live by faith v20

Sunday Evening: John 20:24-31

Sunday evening sermon notes

John 20:24-31
Intro: Doubt and belief

Aim for confident belief - this is an eye witness who saw Jesus alive after the Resurrection

1. Reasonable doubt? vv24-25
- seeing is believing vv8,17,20
2. Persuasive evidence vv26-29
- what he saw, vv26-27
- what he had heard vv25,29,30-31
3. Rational worship v28
- the sincere seeker
v28. "Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" - this is not a blasphemous cry of astonishment, but heartfelt surrender. Thomas has integrity - when his questions are answered he doesn't create more - he worships.
Conclusion: belief and life

1 John - Chapter 2

1 John 2 notes
v1 - don't sin, but if you do - we have an advocate (Jesus) with the Father
v2 - He is the propitiation for our sins and for those of the whole world.
(but, presumably we need to know him?)
v3 - we know that we have come to know him (examine yourself?) - if we keep his commandments (what are they?)
v4 - if you say "I know him" but do not keep his commandements - you're lying,
v5 but if you keep his word (his word = his commandments?) - the love of God is perfected in you (what is the love of God? - if keeping his word = keeping his
commandments, the love of God should be linked to 'coming to know him' in v3)
vv5-6 - we may be sure that we are in him (cf v3 - may know that we know him) - if you say you abide in him, you should walk as he walked.

v7 - commandment isn't new, but old, from the beginning - the word you have already heard (old as in OT? is this making the point that 'the life made manifest' is
the fulfilment of Scripture?)
v8 - but something is changing - the darkness is leaving, and the 'true' light (what is the false light?) already shining.
vv9-11 - brother-haters are in the darkness, blinded by the darkness and don't know where they are going (they can't see!)
Brother-lovers abide (contrast abide and is) in the light and have no cause for stumbling.

vv12-14 - writing to little children / fathers / young men

vv15-17
loving the world vs. the love of the Father being in him
desires of the flesh, eyes, pride in possessions vs. doing the will of God
world passing away vs. abiding forever

vv18-26
Antichrists were among us, but were not 'of us'. They deny Father and Son. Whoever denies the Son, does not have the Father. Truth is that Jesus is the Christ

(as the liar denies this).
'You' have been anointed by the Holy One, have knowledge, know the truth. Let what you have heard from the beginning (when is the beginning?) abide in you - if

so, you will abide in the Son and the Father - eternal life.
v26 - The anointing - abides in you, you don't need anyone to teach you (?? why then are there teachers - Eph 4?), his anointing teaches you about everything -
the anointing (itself?) is true and is no lie. Abide in him.

vv28-29
Abide in him - so that we may be confident when he appears and not shrinking/ashamed.
If you know that he is righteous (what does this mean?) - you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

Thoughts:
Abide!
Light, darkness
Commandment that you have heard from the beginning

1 John - Chapter 1

1 John 1

v1 - experienced with 3 of the 5 senses (can you smell and taste that which they've seen?)
v2 - what was it? the life made manifest = the eternal life = was with the Father = was made manifest
v3 - can be proclaimed, proclaiming will lead to fellowship with them, their fellowship is already with the Father and his Son (is this because they have seen the life?)
v4 - joy would be complete (if you have fellowship with them?)

v5 - there is a message: God is light and not at all dark.
v6 - cannot have fellowship with him and walk in darkness.
v7 - walk in the light, have fellowship with one another, and Jesus' blood cleanses us from all sin.

What is walking in darkness? Not 'sinning' per se - as this seems to be included within v7 - you can walk in the light and Jesus' blood cleanses from all sin..

ah yes,
v8 - lying if you say you have no sin.
v9 - we confess our sins - He is faithful and forgives us and cleanses us (is confessing part of walking in the light - the result is the same).
v10 - we really shouldn't say that we have not sinned..... that makes him a liar.

John 19:31-42 - A Matter of Death and Life

Sermon notes from Sunday Evening 1 April 2007 (posted 11 April 2007)

A uniquely unique evil.....

Difficult to imagine anything more evil than the Holocaust. Children burned alive in the Holocaust
He who saw it has borne witness - his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth - that you also may believe
There is another uniquely unique event. Fundamental evil. Once seen, we are not surprised by other evil in the world. However, the event leaves us with hope, not despair
Jesus, God's Son and King, has been killed and is now definitely dead
Don't believe the lie that Jesus didn't die.
- the evidence
- the testimony why do we not believe? We believe Holocaust testimonies. Matt, Lk, John cc. 60 years after Jesus' death, Mark earlier
Believe the 'unbelievable' truth that God's Son was killed.

Yet through the death of his Son, God is bringing life
31, 42, These are preparations for the day of life - Sabbath
36 - A Passover death - Exodus 12:46
37 - A scandalous death - Zech 12:10
bringing hope out of despair. Passover death that the Scripture might be fulfilled
Maybe... blood = symbol of death, water = symbol of life - cf 1 John 5

So believe, with a wholehearted, open devotion to the King
38-42 - Joseph and Nicodemus - out from the shadows
secret disciple for fear of the Jews.
75lbs of spices = £2,200 at today's priaces at www.simplyresin.co.uk
Buried like royalty - cf Herod's burial 1st century AD.
Meditate on the trut.
Keep your commitment and allegiance to Jesus

Miscellania

Qn: is the above title actually a word?

Anyway - brief notes.
Prayer supper this evening - excellent. Lots of people there which is very encouraging.

I've come across some excellent mp3s - Biblicaltraining.org has an interesting series on Systematic Theology which I am working my way through.

I have also just seen that David Peterson has put some Biblical theology mp3s on the Oak Hill website here.

The Future Perfect (1) - Ezekiel 40, 43

Sermon notes

The Future Perfect (1)
Exekiel 40:1-4, 43:1-12
God dwells among His people
1. In His holiness
2. In His initiative
3. By His provision

43v10 - twice Ezekiel is told to describe the vision to the people of Israel.
Yr 25 of exile - half of a Jubilee (50) where all should be returned to the rightful owner. Suggests that @ some point in future land will be returned in future.
14th year 10th day - Passover.
Designed to remember God's rescue of His people. Underlines potential of future rescue to people in exile.
43v27 - I will accept you.

Ch.43 - the arrival of God to dwell with His people. God's intention to return and to dwell in perfect purity - cf Rev 21 - no temple - glory is attached to the temple.

Twice Ezekiel is told to report back - so they may be ashamed of their....

Let them consider future glory and be ashamed of now.
vv6-8 - spell out the sordid past. Ppl should see this and turn from it.

Biblical Lego

The Brick Testament
is amusing and I may have to admit to having used this once or twice as a visual aid during RML Overview.... (ho-hum...).
Particularly amusing pictures include:

David and Goliath

Instructions for Women .... hmm!

Samson Commits Mass Murder .... you may need to scroll back and forth to see the whole story - I've just linked to the most amusing picture.

N.b. I've discovered there are some slightly rude elements on this website - not that you would think that Lego could be rude, but yes, actually quite rude. If you try to maintain 'delicate eyes', take heed of the warning symbols on the website....

The Passion of the Christ: 'Judged' John 18:28-19:16

Notes from Sun pm sermon.

The Passion of the Christ (3)

* Pilate is not Captain Mainwaring. Roman Empire is about ludicrous levels of power.

1) King and Authority
Don't read this passage and pity Pilate

2) Innocence and Guilt
Pilate has to ask Jesus - "what have you done?"
Caiaphas is the high priest of the only people of God. Position of immense privilege.
19v7 Lex Divina - invoking the law of God - but against the law of God He is impeccablew.
Penal substitution = difficult word for a beautiful thing.

The Passion of the Christ (2)

Sermon notes from 11 March 2007

John 18:12-27

"You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better (n.b. Gk. 'expedient') for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish". High Priest Caiaphas (John 11:49-50)

Caiaphas wants to kill a problem.
Read through and see yourself in Peter.

Better

Peter is the best disciple ever. Peter = Rock.
13:37 - everyone would have believed him.
18:15

1) Peter - I am not - vv.12-18
18:17 - slave girl contrast with big Rocky Peter - "I will lay down my life" - what happens? "I am not" - complete failure.

2) Jesus - I am - vv19-24
Jesus alone, but in control. Opennness (taught in the world - synagogue) vs. secrecy (they have hidden in the background, trial takes place at night). An illegal secret trial.

Annas the former High Priest.
Caiaphas - Roman appointed High Priest. Who has authority?
Jesus is the true High Priest - sacrificial victim - cf. Hebrews.

3) Peter - Follow me vv25-27

The next day Jesus dies in Peter's place/

Verse of the Day

Isaiah 46:3-4

3 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all you who remain of the house of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth.

4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

All warm and contented.

Prayer Supper this evening. Turned up in a bit of a strop, much calmer after a couple of hours of prayer and good company. It's often when I feel least like praying that I need to the most.

Understanding Jesus: Less ruthless than we are

Sermon notes from this morning on Luke 13:1-12

1. Repent or perish
Stark warning is given twice in verses 3 and 5. Jesus is addressing the underlying attitude and common misconception that if someone is suffering then they deserved it.
This is an incorrect, indeed outrageous assumption - are we morally superior to those who died in the tsunami? to those who died on 9/11?
Perhaps we don't think like this. But we should think there but for the grace of God go I....
But perhaps if we are suffering we think - what did I do to deserve this?
Jesus doesn't say that there is no connection between suffering and sin - but the connection goes back to Eden, not a specific sin. We cannot draw comparisons between ourselves and the victims of tragedy. But also, it doesn't say that they were just unlucky, we're all good people really - Jesus assumes that we are all guilty. He then warns us that we are all destgined to perish and unless we repent we will all perish.

2. Cry Freedom

What kind of fruit is in the vineyard? This is the third, of four times in this gospel that the parable is used (prev in ch.4,6, next is in ch.14). This is the 3rd chance to respond properly. One more chance vv10-17 - Freedom. Jesus brings freedom. Jesus straightens the woman's back and brings her freedom. Jesus sets us free from Satan. Satan is strong and guards his captives jealously, but Jesus is stronger.
Jesus is more compassionate than religious people often are (they have compassion for the donkey by untying on the Sabbath, but criticise Jesus for freeing (same word as untying in Gk apparently - luO?) the woman. Play on words. Are we with Him or against Him?

3. Think small
vv18-21 - this parable is also used in Matt, and Mk, but the emphasis is different here. There, it is a parable about the smallest seed becoming the largest tree, here the point is about the small actions of individuals being used to build the Kingdom of God. God doesn't rely on the great and the powerful. We need to recover a healthy distrust of worldly power. Small strategies needed - a single verse in a condolence card, a single conversation, a single tract left on the Tube...

3. Think small