GraceUnlimited

Jesus and Injustice

Jesus asks his disciples to pray as he prayed because he is not only the object of our justifying faith but also the example of our justifying faith. Jesus suffered more than anyone else. This can be said because Jesus was the sole person in the world who faced the greatest injustice. He was also betrayed by his close fiend. These are intensified by Jesus' agonies in the garden of Gethsemane as he anticipated the dreaded cross. The physical pain of astounding proportions precedes the overflow...

Thinking God's Thoughts

Our minds are filled with thousands of thoughts ever hour. When we combine this with the human propensity to constantly choose the wrong rather than the right, it is obvious that we can easily spirial down into a miserable funk. Simple positive thinking is not sufficient. Only God-centred thinking is sufficient to drive such a flow of thinking. Combine this with the purifying work of the indwelling Holy Spirit and you have a progressively God-like thought life. Voices in the world war against...

Peace in Anxiety

The world is anxious under lockdown. But anxiety is nothing new. Paul, in Philippians 4, even commands Christians in his day not to worry. This is in contrast to the world, that, in so many ways is tilling you to worry. Paul issues God's command while imprisoned- circumstances that could easily tempt him to become anxious. Anxiety wants you to take your eyes off God and rest them on you and people and circumstances around you. You live as if God doesn't exist. We trust him for his greater ext...

This is War

Devilish Demands

The Servant King

God's Guide to Lamenting Well

Is my Name Judas?

Jesus' Resurrection is Mine

How to Destroy Your Life Fast

What would it take to destroy your life fast- What would it take to destroy the life of a powerful king fast- Uzziah was such a king- very powerful and destroyed very fast. What was the force that was able to take him down so quickly- Actually, it was something that lives inside each one of us. Uzziah failed to hear the warnings and his destruction should be a warning for us too.

Why did Jesus eat the Passover?

A momentous event is about to take place and Luke wants us to pay attention. The Passover is imminent. The Jews had celebrated the Passover for approximately 1500 years before this particular Passover, and Jesus uses this meal to explain the meaning of his coming death. He prepares his disciples for what is about to take place. Jesus' crucifixion was God's fulfillment of the Passover. Jesus is God's Lamb. Is He your Lamb- Take some time to approach God on the basis of His Lamb.

Jesus the Great High Priest

God's Acceptable Righteousness

What kind of righteousness matters to God- People are driven by all kinds of desires to perform. These do not fly with God. Paul describes the kind of righteousness that God accepts. It is a righteousness that stands apart from the law, but at the same time it has been foretold by the prophets and the law. In other words, personal righteousness does not feature. it is God's righteousness that God approves. It is a righteousness that comes through saving faith in Christ's righteousness. God lo...

Worshipping Through Suffering

Suffering is often marked by grumbling and discontentment. Remarkably, Paul deliberately rejoices at the same time as he suffers. Paul knows the God of all comfort and mercy. God has given him strength. His comfort is timed exactly and is very personal. God himself is the source of all of this comfort and the guarantee of it. He also comforts us with a specific purpose. He comforts us in order that we can become comforters. Many Christians are suffering and are thus able to comfort. This is a...

Why did Jesus Die?

If Jesus died in shame, how can I be confident that he will return in glory- It is helpful to understand how he died. The Jewish leaders, by the time they lynched Jesus, had been opposing him for a long time. Judas was a money-lover whose ambitions seem to have been disappointed and as a result he betrayed Jesus. Satan also played a part by entering into Jesus. Jesus' years of incarnation are the height of the war for Satan and his demons. God comes into the world in Jesus and his ministry pe...

The Son of Man

A name helps us to identify a person. A title helps us to know something about them. In Jesus' case we discover volumes about him by understanding his title Son of man. It is a distinctively Hebrew title, which should have made his Greek-speaking audience take note. He is identifying himself as a human being. To many, his humanity was so obvious that this may not have been surprising. But when his deity is understood at the same time, this title is dramatic. He is the ultimate human. For this...

Beautiful Adoption

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been adopted. This adoption, to Paul, is eternal in its sweep. It is personal to the degree that you have been called a son. God did it because of his love for his children. he has had his adoption in his heart forever- He deeply desires to have his children with him. He wants us to be convinced of his love. Look at the agonies of Jesus to see the dimension of his love. God's love in adoption is greater than the universe. God's adoption makes Ch...

Judgement Day is Coming

Jesus is at pains to warn his disciples that the day of the Lord will actually happen. There is a danger looming ahead so every person should be dead serious about it. He is most concerned about our hearts. They can easily be distracted and anesthetized by the concerns of the day. A spiritual blackout is too dangerous- You need to be clinging to God deliberately. You need to be doing this in prayer and by being in a clinging church. Are you awake- Are you living in light of Jesus' return- Are...

God's Deal of the Century

God's deal of the century has been unfolding throughout the millennia. The foundations were laid in the Old Testament, directed by God's eternal intention. It took on a whole new life when the King rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He walked the streets of the city, but not yet ready to rule the earth. Even the temple would still be destroyed. His disciples couldn't understand this, so they asked him in confusion. He warned them of the dreadful times that would come. The devastation of Jerusal...

Romans 10:12-17 (Part 1)

Disciples who Shine

At the heart of the church is discipleship. At the heart of discipleship is a growing knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ. This is suited to deep Christian relationships that are courageous enough to love in God's way. Such relationships are built upon the right goal- constant growth into Christ-likeness because of the reality of Christ in the heart. This motivates effort toward the goal. God empowers His people. Seek these relationships out in the church and deliberately pursue t...

Romans 10:12-17(Part 3)

Romans 10:12-17 (Part 2)

Christ my Goal

God saved you to glorify you. God saved you to make you like Jesus, His glorious Son. Are your goals for this year focused on this reality- Are you working toward endless happiness- Would your day today be different if you truly believed that you will rise from your grave and live forever in a state highly influenced by what you do this year- How will you live now even if you don't get to be a radical Christian martyr- Who do you have in your life for example, who knows the real you- Are you ...

Responding to Evil

You have likely been victimised in this evil world. You know how you have typically responded. Paul explains how Christians should respond to evil. We need to remember our own evil and need for salvation too. Are you graceless- If yes, then it is likely that you don't understand your need for grace. This salvation comes only through God's salvation. We tend to treat people the way they treat us, but we should treat people the way God treats us. God has lavished on us far more than we deserve ...

No Holy Spirit No Salvation

No Jesus means no salvation. No Holy Spirit means no salvation. Many Christians do not know what the Holy Spirit does to save them. He begins spiritual life through regeneration. He grants spiritual understanding. he grants us a heart of repentance. He grants faith that can see spiritual realities. Without the Holy Spirit you have none of these. The Holy Spirit takes up residence those whom He saves. The indwelt believer is considered baptised in the Spirit. The Spirit adopts, gifts and seals...

Longing for Jesus

Photoshopping Spirituality

People desperately cling to the idea that they are basically good, but still cling to personal sins. The gospel is not a message that you can do something to save yourself. Think about what you were like before you were saved. Foolish. Godless and self-seeking. Deceived. Helpless. Consider what you deserved apart from God's saving grace. You deserve the dreadful weight of God's wrath. Also, look at when God responded to you. When you were still wicked, not when you began to reform yourself. B...

The Ultimate Universal Truth

We are about to consider the most important truth in the world. It is important because it is important to God. The whole Old Testament foretells and establishes the environment for God's salvation. The whole New Testament describes Christ's accomplishment of that salvation and how it comes to God's people. It closes with the final consummation of His salvation. It is also important because it focuses on your and my eternity. Wrath and salvation are opposites. This is personal. This is eterna...

Keeping on Keeping on

Jesus the Greatest Treasure

In the middle of a really long sentence, Paul stops to quote a hymn. This hymn, that majestically exalts Jesus, is also the the hymn that soothes the fears of Christians living in a dark world.

Train Yourself

The Voice of Conscience 2

If you doggedly stick to your preconceived rights, regardless of how it impacts other people, you may need Paul's teaching of the conscience to the Corinthian church. A God-honouring conscience is considers the fact that other people have convictions too- even in issues that are not clearly sin or non-sin issues. A God-honouring conscience is also alert to the impact of your behaviour on other Christians. It is informed by Scripture and desires to do what is loving toward others. It is also s...

The Voice of Conscience 1

While the conscience can plague a person to desperation, it is also a blessing. Those who are experienced at observing their inner lives will know how the conscience remembers, drives you into hiding, makes you feel fearful, anxious, irritable, restless or even fakely religious. Sadly, many of us ignore the alarm system and eventually don't hear it anymore. God gratefully grants Christians a way to live with a clear conscience. That way is Jesus Christ, the way by which we can draw near to Go...

Fearing Submission to Christ

If you say you are a Christian, are you living for Jesus- Many who claim to be Christians don't anticipate, or are not prepared to face persecution. Moreover, fear is a liar and tries to make Christians live timidly rather than boldly. Fear wants to scare you into not living for Jesus. but Jesus has called His people to unspeakable glory- a glory that follows suffering. He has confirmed the reality of this coming glory by the near fulfilment of His prophecy regarding the destruction of the te...

Embracing Persecution

Being persecuted can bring out the worst in people. Especially when you are being persecuted for doing what is right. Persecution is a constant reality throughout Scripture. Jesus' disciples in Luke 21 were expecting thrones, but Jesus warned them of persecution. Pain must be expected all the way to the end- until Jesus returns. What if this was your future- What if you are going to be shamed and gossiped about- Make up your mind now that this will not defeat you. This is your opportunity. Go...

The King is Coming 2

We respond to the evil in the world in varying ways. Some will ignore it. Some will become discouraged. Some will become afraid. Jesus' disciples could see the evil all around them and they eagerly anticipated the glorious kingdom Jesus was about to inaugurate. They had to face the reality, however, that Jesus would actually be leaving earth and returning at a future date to establish His kingdom. The intervening time, as the apostles discovered in Luke's record in Acts, would be marked by ev...

The King is Coming

The Olivet discourse is just as crucial for its content as it is for the place from which it was delivered. The disciples have asked about the signs of Christ's coming and the close of the age. Remarkably, the disciples are asking Jesus when His return would take place. The disciples believed, surprisingly, from the Old Testament, that Jesus would return because God had a future plan for Israel. That plan would be accomplished through the Messiah. They knew that Jesus was that Messiah, the gr...

Facing Trials

Christians face trials. If you have not experienced trials, you will. You will be tempted to stop doing what honours God in your trial because honouring God takes discipline. The pain should drive Christians to endure because there is remarkable joy for the person who endures, both now and in eternity. To endure is better than to abandon responsibility. It is better because God is bringing good to you and to others through this pain. It is making you holy. It helps you to refocus on what real...

The Priceless Gift

It is hard to share the gospel with people who don't think they need it. But when God has done a work of grace in the heart, the wonder of forgiveness never grows old, does it- Actually, this is why we need communion, because we need to be constantly reminded of the value of this priceless gift. It came to us when we were dead to God and alive to rebellion and sin. We only related to God as Judge and had accumulated a stockpile of sin-debt we could never repay. Our state was more dreadful tha...

Glory Leaving the Temple

What does the temple in Luke 21 have to do with me- Historically, it was the house of God. It was the place where heaven and earth met. God walked with Adam and Even in Eden and He also built and rescued the nation of Israel in order to be with them. Israel was intended to be the vehicle through which God's blessing would come to the nations but their failure has set them up for God's judgement. Astoundingly, that is not the end of the story. Their failure has set them up for God's blessing t...

Deacons

Jesus and the Temple

Biblical Church Members 12

It is always easy to start big with a dream to change the world. But then when people don't share your dream or when people come or don't listen, that dream can eventually see you simply living a chore. So how do you keep going with the joy of a starting dream- Paul was driven in his daily life by five convictions that we should also adopt. The first is that the message matters more than I do. Paul saw himself as the servant of the gospel. the gospel is God speaking. The message was not there...

Biblical Church Members 11

Christians have been called to function in a community of love. Therefore every Christian receives God's love and has one sing job to do- love. This helps us to summarise our primary drive in the face of all Christians responsibilities. Remember Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 13- What does love look like- It means not being bitter. Not overreacting. Not taking offense at small slights. Encouraging people who don't encourage you. Being tender hearted. Not being self-centred. It means being w...

Biblical Church Members 10

There are many things we can't predict about the future of this church. But there is one thing we can predict. It is likely that within the next few years, some will wander from the faith and maybe even fall away. James starts with this sad reality. Some will lie, some will give in to sin, and others will fall in love with the world. The Christian faith will no longer appear as attractive to them. But even here there is hope. Biblical church members will go after them. In fact, James presuppo...

Biblical Church Members 9

Biblical Church Members 8

Biblical Church Members 7

Christianity is not something Christians do alone but together. In fact, the church is called the household of God. Paul is amazed as he writes his letter to the Ephesians. The magnitude of God's plan of salvation is astounding. It is eternal and includes all nations represented in the church. This privilege translates to real practicalities in the church. Truthful speech is one thing Paul highlights. Resolving anger quickly is another. Both are destructing in relationships. Deliberate effort...

God-glorifying Singleness

Living a God-glorifying life as a single is all about worship. Consider some thoughts in this regard in this evening seminar.