If you do want to listen to something by Tim Keller, then I think that the best place to start is here.

This is a free samples page from the church that he pastors in New York, and there is plenty to listen to. I’d recommend his because I find him both thoughtful and Biblical. He is someone who has evidently thought long and hard about the way in which we communicate the gospel to modern people while remaining faithful to the gospel.

If you want to read, hear or watch more, the best resource page I have found so far is here.

What this is… This is not a finished article! I find it helpful to write in order to try and understand things as I prepare my sermons. That is what this is! It occurred to me that my blog provided an ideal way of keeping old bits of thinking. I hope that they are useful to you, but please remember what they are!

I’ve been thinking about a  preaching series on Psalms for Sunday evenings come September. I’m wondering if it might be helpful to look at different Psalms using the title format: “A song for…..”

The Good Book Company publish a little study guide that uses this format entitled “Soul Songs”. We may well use this as the House Group material next term. The booklet has the following titles:

Psalms 3 and 4 “A song for sleepless nights”
Psalm 16 “A song for when sin seems good”
Psalm 18 “A song for when we want to run away”
Psalm 23 “A song for dark days”
Psalm 27 “A song for when we are afraid.”
Psalm 32 “A song for secret guilt.”

Wondering if their list could be extended I looked through the Psalms and noticed where there is a comment concerning their occasion. Here is a list for those who are interested. I’ve left out Psalms with musical comments and Psalms listed as for individuals:

Psalm 3: A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
Psalm 7: A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
Psalm 18: To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
Psalm 30: A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.
Psalm 34: Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
Psalm 38: A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
Psalm 45: To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.
Psalm 51: To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
Psalm 52: To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
Psalm 54: To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
Psalm 56: To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Psalm 57: To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
Psalm 59: To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
Psalm 60: To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
Psalm 63: A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
Psalm 70: To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.
Psalm 102: A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
Psalms 120-134 A Song of Ascents.
Psalm 142: A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

I’m still thinking about this, but here are some of the Psalms I may do!

Psalm 42 “A song for battling depression”
Psalm 46 “A song for days of turmoil”
Psalm 51 “A song for when I have sinned”
Psalm 57 “A song for trouble”
Psalm 95 “A song for the Lord’s day” or “A song for tender hearts”
Psalm 117 “A song of missionary passion”
Psalm 148(or149,150) “A song for praising”
Psalms 3,4,5,7,10,13,17 or 25 “A song for lamenting”

I should probably do one of the imprecatory psalms (the ones with curses in them. See for example Psalms 69 and 109)

If you have read this and you want to make a comment – then feel free!

What this is… This is not a finished article! I find it helpful to write in order to try and understand things as I prepare my sermons. That is what this is! It occurred to me that my blog provided an ideal way of keeping old bits of thinking. I hope that they are useful to you, but please remember what they are!

Continuing to think as I prepare for Sunday Morning….

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 NIV

This is a well known verse, but what does it mean in it’s context? John has been explaining to his readers how they are able to discern the difference between truth and error. IN the middle of that discussion comes this verse.

Verses 1-6 remind me how I can recognise the Spirit of God (v2) and how my receptivity to truth is a sign that I am from God (v6) But none of this is a basis for feeling conceited.

If I am able, to distinguish between truth and error and my heart is eager for the good things of God, then that is of God’s grace.

Notice that John does not remind his readers that they overcame them (the false prophets) by a careful application of a wise strategy, and by the application of a new counseling technique combined with years of careful study. They have overcome and survived the ravages of the false prophets because the one who is in them is greater than the one who is in the world.

This is no basis for laxity in seeking to be discerning, but it is a basis for grateful humility once again to the God of the gospel for his wonderful saving and keeping work.

1 John 4:4-6 say….

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

The false prophets that John has been warning about are “from the world” rather from God. Consequently their message is from the world and their willing audience is the world.

John’s “dear friends” (v1) however are from God. What John does here is set a clear distinguishing line between those who are from the world and those who are from God.

It strikes me that you can break down verses 5-6 like this:

1) They are from the world
1,i) Therefore they speak from the world
1,i,i) The world listens to them

2) We are from God
2,i) Implied by the context but not explicit.. therefore our message is from God
2,i,i) Whoever knows God listens to us
2,i,i,i) And… Whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

3) This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

How can I tell if I am from God or from the world? I should ask myself whose message I listen to. Which is more attractive to me? If I am an avid hearer of the world’s message, eager for novelty and ideas that are utterly inconsistent with the gospel, I should be warned that I lack evidence that I am from God. If on the other hand I am eager for the message of truth, God’s message, the apostle’s teaching, the Biblical gospel, then I should be reassured that I know God.

To put all this in another way, one of the authenticating marks of the work of the Holy Spirit is a readiness to listen to God’s message.

Some thinking as I prepare for Sunday:

1 John 4:2-3 says:

“This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” NIV

What does John mean? Surely he cannot mean that verbally agreeing with orthodox doctrine about the identity of Jesus is enough to prove without a doubt that a teacher of prophet is from God.

Jesus said that: “Not everyone who says to me, “‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”(Mat 7:21) “Lord, Lord” is doctrinally orthodox verbal confession, but Jesus indicates that in and of itself it is not enough.

What about the word? Other translations use another word instead of “acknowledge”. The E.S.V. for example uses the word “confesses” which gives the English reader the clue needed to link this verse with 1 John 1:9 where the same word is used. (See also 1 John 4:15)

Confession, be it of sin, or of the identity of Christ, cannot be merely verbal affirmation with no heartfelt commitment. Surely what John means here is that a prophet is from God when both their lips and their lives confess that Jesus has come in the flesh.

Does my life give tangible evidence that My mind and heart believe that God, in his grace and kindness become incarnate in this world in Jesus Christ in order to redeem me? Does my life give tangible evidence that I revere and submit to Jesus Christ as Lord?

(John Piper reflects on the meaning of confess in this sermon.)

I’ve found a number of sermons and articles by Tim Keller helpful as I have been thinking about the application of the gospel. I came across this article online and thought it very helpful as a summary of some of his ideas. It’s called “The centrality of the gospel,” and you can read it here.

 I’m getting ready to preach on Sunday morning on 1 John 3:24-4:6. The big issue in this passage is discernment. How will God’s people distinguish between truth and error?

John’s test in verses 2-3 of Chapter 4 can seem a bit arbitrary at first glance:

1 John4:2 “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” NIV

The false teachers claims however are a significant attack on the gospel. The gospel teaches us that Jesus became like us, but without sin. He was like us in every way, he fulfilled the Father’s requirements as one of us, and died for us in order to redeem us. If God didn’t become like us, he didn’t save us.

Some time ago I listened to a message by Mark Dever on the subject of discernment. He encourages us to discern in terms of proximity to and effect on the gospel.

In every generation when false teaching rears its head, what it attempts to do is accommodate the gospel to human pride.

I’m reminded of a quote from H. Richard Niebuhr who writing in 1937 described what he saw happening as churches drifted from the gospel. 

“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

Check out the New Attitude conference set on Discernment here. The message by Mark Dever is here. (You might have to register, but these messages are free)

I’ve been reading through “Praying: Finding Our Way from Duty to Delight” by J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom. I think it’s quite a helpful book. I stumbled across a set of messages by Dr Packer which look from their titles as though they may be the ones on which the book was based. I haven’t listened to them yet, but if you are interested they are here.