All Sunday teaching sermons

From study of the great commission we turn to Christ's personal word to Peter and other disciples. Here is the searching question to all who are saved, and its implications for bearing fruit. Our answer determines the kind of service we will render to Him.

To Mark's Gospel we add the promise of the great commission in Matthew, viewing the scope of the Lord's words to all who uphold His name and message to this hostile world. Here is the essence of the nearness and power of the risen Lord.

The risen Lord's command and commission to the disciples (and their successors) refers to their hearers who 'believe'. Here we show that belief in Christ means dependence upon Him as a Saviour from sin; faith and repentance being inseparable graces. We define true repentance.

None of the Lord's disciples and immediate followers, men or women, expected the resurrection. All lost sight of His teaching of His rising again the third day. Only the hostile chief priests remembered it. Here is why, and what we should learn from it.

What provision was made for the Lord at death? Where did His soul go? Are there two departments of Sheol? Did the Lord literally descend into hell? First, we see how Calvary galvanised Joseph of Arimathea, then provide answers (with application) to these questions.

'Incidental' events at the cross of Calvary that have momentous significance for the soul, showing how God has made salvation possible, and how this is experienced by all those who turn to Christ and trust in Him.

The scene at Christ's crucifixion, especially the words of onlookers, who showed their guilty rejection of His mighty miracles, their blindness to what was really taking place, and who unwittingly (in their jeers) affirmed the necessity of His atoning work. Also - the dark hours.

The events of Christ's three hearings before Pilate, the monumental choice of Barabbas over the Lord, and the Saviour's humiliation by the imperial guard all show the full depravity of unbelief, and the immeasurable love of God in redemption.

'For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;…

'Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.'