Deep People in a Shallow World

Notes from talks at a recent weekend away with our mid-week Bible study group:

Deep People in a Shallow World

(1) 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18
1. Introduction
We live by faith, not by sight - the world, however, is looking for the visible.

2. God's sovereign processions 2:12-17
Is not without its problems.
2v14 - put your Bible glasses on! - see things rightly.
I believe, therefore I have spoken.
Letters written on human hearts - are the letters the Corinthian converts? Probably not - on our hearts - real ministry not authenticated outside a person (they came, because of their love for the Corinthians).
3. God's spiritual transformation 3:1-6
It is easy for humans to fall into law-keeping - remember that God gave the law to His saved people.
4. God's superior ministry 3:7-18
How can the new New Covenant be more glorious than the Old Covenant?
The OC surely more spectacular? Paul traditionally thought to be weedy, bow legs.. just walked into a town and started speaking.
"You are all going to meet the Lord. Don't walk backwards towards Him"

(2) 2 Corinthians 4:1-18
1. Introduction
Ouk eg kakoumen (sp??) - we do not lose heart - 4v1, 4v16
We cannot change blind people ourselves.
God is a god who enlightens - light out of darkness.

2. Confident ministry despite trouble in our listeners vv1-6
v5 we make sure people know they must go to Jesus.

3. Confident ministry despite trouble in ourselves vv7-18
We are jars of clay.
Biographies can be encouraging - how great Jesus is to use them.
Resurrection confidence v13
Renewal confidence v16
Walking out of a church and putting a green sticker on everything that will remain, and a red sticker on everything which will pass away...

(3) 2 Corinthians 5:1-21
1. Introduction

2. Perspective vv1-10
The world is obsessed with food and clothes and homes.
v7 - we walk by faith, not by sight.

3. Incentive vv11-15
Fear (godly fear) v11
Love v14
v14 - is Christ teaching universalism? His death is sufficient (for the world) and efficient (for those who respond. BUT - the gospel does not sit on a table waiting for someone to respond.


4. Directive vv16-21
v18 - autobiographical?
v17 - new creation ready for the new creation
v21 - several PhDs could be written on this verse!
v20 - God's ambassadors - no 'you' added (Ambassadors must convey the message they are given - not their own response).


(4) 2 Corinthians 6:1 - 7:4
1. Introduction
The grace of God is (also) for the believer - not a case that (to the unbeliever ) "The Grace of God is for you" but (to the believer) "Get yourself together!!"

2. A decision about the gospel vv1-2

3. A decision about Paul vv3-15
vv3+4 - we aim to help people believe
vv6+7 practise godliness
v8 - we put up with assessment.
Widen your heart before opening your mouth.

4. A decision about lifestyle 6v14 - 7v4
What partnership can there be? Difficulty (e.g. righteous/unbelievers), and impossibility! (light/darkness).
In the same way - what harmony between Christ and Belial - spiritual battle.
Pray that God would help you not grow cold.
How often do we say (these days) that someone is "on fire" for Jesus - clear-headed, warm-hearted, Kingdom-focussed, love of the Lord Jesus.
Work on what cools and kills. Feed fellowship in the Father.

Acts 13:13-52

Acts 13:13-52
Sunday Morning
4 October 2009 (posted 6 October 2009)

Introduction: Certainty

1. God's message of salvation in Jesus is for all people.
a) God has sent his saviour to Israel, vv16-25

Paul's summary of early OT history
v17 - Genesis 12 - Exodus 15
v18 - Exodus 16 - Deuteronomy
v19 - Joshua
v20 - Judges and 1 Samuel 1-7
v21-22 1 Samuel 8 - 2 Samuel

b) God has sent his message of salvation to us, vv26-37
c) God offers complete forgiveness to all people, vv38-41

2. God's bearer of salvation to all people is the Apostle Paul
- his conversion: Acts 9:15-16
- his commission: Acts 13:2
- his conquest over magic: Acts 13:9-11
- his command: Acts 13:47

Conclusion: Unashamed

A New Light For The World?

A New Light for the World?
Acts 13:1-12
27 September 2009 (posted 6 Oct 2009)
Audio available online here

Introduction: Marching orders


In ch. 13 the focus shifts to Paul, operating out of the church in Antioch. Chapters 13 and 14 are a unit. The mission, the message, the man. This week, the first 'M'.

1. God commissions the church's deliverate mission to the nations (vv1-4)
- divine
- deliberate

V3 - the 'others' send them, but v4 - the Holy Spirit sent them.
Acts 13 encourages us to make bold and deliberate plans for the spread of the gospel.

'gossiping the good news of Jesus'

2. God will prosper the church's deliberate mission to the nations, despite opposition (vv5-12)
- the word proclaimed
- the word opposed
- the word triumphant

Conclusion: Confidence!

Over 2000 language groups do not have the Bible in their own language. 15k more professional practitioners of the occult in France than gospel workers. The need is great.
Take note of the spread of the gospel in the last century - Nepal, China, Iran, S.Korea

People of Distinction: Love and Sex (Ephesians 5:1-6)

Cracking sermon from the Vicar this morning - I completely filled my A5 side with notes and had to turn over to annotate the notice sheet. So - here goes....(if the notes are unclear [or would be good to do so in any case] - listen to the mp3 via www.st-helens.org.uk - St.Helen's Audio link)

People of Distinction: Love and Sex - Ephesians 5:1-6

Quoted Ted Haggard. Haggard's statement shows that he and his church takes his sexual immorality seriously. Raising it today because we need to be v.v.aware of how insidious sexual immorality and lust is within the church. Immorality v.wide - not just pornography - the internet, daydreaming etc. We all know there is a part of our our lives that is so repulsive and dark that it makes us blush.

The sweet smell of love vv1-2
These are transitional verses, summing up the previous chapter. We are in the second half of Ephesians - therefore in the application section of the letter. Earlier in Ephesians we have seen that we are to live in a manner worthy of our calling. Eph 4:17 - do not walk as the Geniles do. Summed up as - we should imitate God. Be like Christ - other-person centred, loving sacrificially. Throwing onesself off the Gherkin wouldn't prove anything. Perhaps throwing onesself under a bus (if one had just pushed you out of the way) - substitutionary. God likes the smell of warm bread and roast lamb - covers up the stench of our sin. All sacrifices in the Bible actually point to Christ. Love to the uttermost for the benefit of others.

The stench of immorality vv3-4
Mentioning love these days is usually linked to sex. So far Paul has focussed on what it looks like to be changed. chs5-6 applying with a different twist. Ch.5 - be different - be distinct - stand out (hence 'People of Distinction' as title of this series).
Three things should not be named (i.e. have no place) amongst God's people
* Sexual immorality
* Impurity
* Greed.
The first two appear to be most important - as these are the ones picked up and expanded upon in verse 4. BUT - don't forget covetousness. Lust for 'more stuff'. We ought not to ignore this, particularly given that we are in the richest square mile in the country. Sexual immorality = porneia = fornication (as previously translated) - includes all outside heterosexual marriage - from one-night stands to promiscuity, incest, bestiality, homosexual practice. Porneia = the limits and order set in place by God have been exceeded. Not that sex isn't great - but it is so great that God gave it as a wedding gift. If we take it out of context, we rip it out of place. Hints and innuendos, crude talk is basically sex without your clothes off. We are not banned from appreciating God's comic genius in creating sex - but context. Need to think about this carefully as a church. Do you want your
life to smell good?.

Be sure of serious consequences
We need to be sure of serious consequences. Let no-one deceive you with empty words.
v5 - those who as a matter of course are sexually immoral are not going to heaven. Show by their lives that they won't enjoy it in heaven. Idolaters - worshipping another - not Jesus but self-gratification.
Cut it out of our lives -w e know what happens to people who don't. We were exactly like that once. We hear empty words about the deception of sex and the coming wrath. We are told - 'God isn't angry', or 'God is angry but we will be OK'. We are told that it is not good for us to abstain (Freud, Cosmo psychologists).
But, we are not immune to making excuses within the church. Some pastoral examples:
A. The Blind Spot - "the Bible isn't clear / commentators disagree" - no - look at v.6
B. The Minimiser - "it isn't THE unforgivable sin" - but v.5
C. The Presumption - "God will forgive me - he always does"
D. The Sola Scriptura - "show me the verse - you're just referring to a systematic ethical framework"
E. The Freedom/Spirit argument - "I lead a Spirit-led life - Spirit didn't tell me it was wrong"
F. The Antinomian argument - "I don't live under law".
G. The Self-Pity argument - "I am so weak, I can't help it"
H. The Evasion argument - "We are all sinners - I'm no better than the rest of you"
I. The Blame Shift - "I was seduced/couldn't help it"
J. The Corinthian Dualism argument - "It doesn't matter what I do physically - the Spirit is what matters. I still go to RML, I still evangelise my friends - that's what's important".

Be sure before you risk everyhing and blow your inheritance.

Romans 1:18-32 - God's Good News "Why Do We Need Saving?"

Uncharacteristically, I went to the barge this Thursday lunchtime.
Sermon notes as follows....

If someone said "Don't worry! I can save you!" - you'd listen if you were at the bottom of a crevasse in the Alps, but possibly not if you are sitting at your desk in the Wharf.....

What are we being saved from? Rom 1:18 - the wrath of God

Divine revelation
- with clarity
- in creation and conscience
General revelation
v20 + Rom 2v15 - sow that the work of the Law is written on their hearts and their conscience.

Human rebellion
- the great rejection
- the great exchange
*imagine a dearly loved daughter who at 13 rejects her parents, but continues to live in their house, eat their food. Fills the void with unsuitable advisors and puts other things in their place
*claiming to be wise - v23 exchanging glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man etc. - we see this as the pursuit of money, investing heavily in a relationship with another.

Divine judgment
- wrath in the present
- wrath in the future
v18 - revealed from heaven, v24, v26, v28 - gave them up
This wrath is nothing compared to what lies ahead
Rom 2v5 - storing up wrath for yourself.
2v16 - that day when God judges the secrets of men. 1v32 - deserve to die - physical and spiritual death.

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