Witchcraft in a Modern Guise

In reviewing the sins of the flesh (Galatians 5.19-21) the apostle uses a word for ‘witchcraft’ which we have in English today. It is a form of our word ‘pharmacy’. Obviously, no translation would use this term, because for us it denotes a healing profession, not a sin of the flesh. So in what way were witches of old times involved in pharmacy?

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Beware of the Counsel of Gamaliel

Whenever wisdom is needed to assess the latest strange idea or movement to penetrate the churches, we hear the ‘counsel of Gamaliel’ quoted – especially when there is no scriptural support for something. When the rest of the Bible seems to say ‘No!’ – then the counsel of Gamaliel comes to the rescue.

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Companions of the Apostle Paul

Towards the end of Paul’s remarkable letter to the Colossians, written during his first imprisonment in Rome, he names seven men who assisted him at that time, men whose lives have much to teach us, and who continue to challenge and encourage us today.

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Long-Term Praying

We constantly need the help of God in different situations, but why does the Lord cause us to pray for some things repeatedly, often over a long period of time? Frequently the Lord hears and ­answers relatively instantly, especially in emergencies, but equally every praying Christian experiences long waits in prayer, extending even to many years.

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Antidotes to Backsliding

Every believer in Christ wants to know the biblical antidotes to backsliding, and this passage in Hebrews 3 is the inspired guide to many of them. Of course, the primary purpose of the passage is to warn unconverted people about the consequences of unbelief, but the points that are made apply also to believers, and this will be our concern in this article.

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Recognising and Responding to Seasons of Exceptional Apostasy

The remarkable picture of the present age given in the prophecy of Paul in 2 Timothy 3 is breathtaking both in scope and detail. It is the voice of God that speaks in this passage, providing his people living in days of apostasy with the explanations, warnings and guidance so sorely needed for their safety and survival.

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The Biblical Grounds For Divorce

When problems are brought to a pastor, our first aim is the preservation of the marriage bond, and the keeping of husbands and wives and families together. This must be our first objective: a much better and happier relationship. But sometimes this is not possible.

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The Awesome God

Three thousand years ago an outstanding king pointed out the way to know God, saying – ‘Stand in awe!’ But what is awe?      I remember a teenage boy who went to see the Niagara Falls and was over­whelmed by the power of that mighty cascade of water. Riveted to the spot, he really felt its danger and magnificence. He went down to the lower shelf to view the…

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Long-term Resentment in the Young

‘And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord’ (Ephesians 6.4). It hardly needs to be said that ­­­­parenthood is a tremendous responsibility, and we are glad of every word we have in the Bible showing how we should go about it.    In Ephesians 6.4 Paul gives direction to fathers. Mothers seem to be out of the picture, but obviously…

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Raiders of the Soul

‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves’.  This urges us to watch out intelligently. Do we assess and evaluate the ideas about life which are pressed upon us today? Do we check the various lifestyles and values on offer?

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God’s Love in a Pandemic

These are momentous days when we find ourselves in the midst of a worldwide ‘discipline’ or warning from God, calling us to acknowledge and seek Him. And although we shrink from the thought, this is the reason for all unexpected catastrophes, whether epidemics, floods or vast fires. The Bible says these things will come more often in the ‘last days’, when atheism abounds and people generally have no thought or…

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Recent Race Demonstrations

In the light of recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations might I offer these comments.  All manifestations of racial disrespect are disgraceful to sincere Christian people. They flow obviously from the Fall of man. All hatred, all superiority, all disdain, all persecution of ‘other’ ethnic groups and religions, together with all ideological persecution (which is the greatest killer in modern times), and all class prejudice is forbidden by the sixth…

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All articles by Dr Masters

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From Regeneration and Gospel Persuasion

WE BEGIN with Paul disputing with people at Athens (Acts 17), meaning that he laid out his case to convince people of their need of Christ. He presented arguments and reasoned with them. At Corinth also he reasoned and persuaded constantly (Acts 18.4), eventually being charged with persuading people to worship God (Acts 18.13). Apollos also mightily convinced people (lit: with well-stretched arguments, utterly proving his case).

In Acts 19.8-9 there are two references to disputing and one to persuading, showing the degree of reasoned convincing and remonstrating carried out by Paul at Ephesus. Before Felix, Paul famously ‘reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come’, until Felix trembled (Acts 24.25). This was typical apostolic preaching. Even when a prisoner, Paul turned the dock into a pulpit and persuaded his hearers. At the very close of Acts (28.23), Paul was still persuading and reasoning – to the very end.

Are we preachers? Have we cultivated our skill in reasoning? Paul goes so far as to say – ‘Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men’ (2 Corinthians 5.11). We are called to make a persuasive presentation of the Gospel because it is God’s way of bringing the redeemed into his kingdom. When we are gathered into eternal glory, our cry of gratitude will be, ‘I was humbled to the dust; I felt my spiritual emptiness and need; I saw my desperately sinful state; I grasped how evil and foolish I was; I saw the Christ of Calvary, and I came to him longingly, willingly and freely for salvation.’

It is the will of God that preachers, witnessing believers, and the printed page, should be instrumental in this. Of course, the vital work is performed by the Lord, so the apostle rises no higher than saying, ‘we are labourers together with God.’ But we are his spokespeople.

Do you wrestle with souls as a preacher? It is a wonderful calling to search the Scripture, foraging for evangelistic arguments and parallels to salvation in both Testaments.

The hallmark of the Reformation was evangelistic preaching. And soon afterward the Puritans  reasoned with, appealed to and expostulated with souls. Evangelistic preaching was a defining characteristic of the rise of the Baptists, particularly through the golden age of Baptist expansion. We may read the classic sermons of John Bunyan to see the tender affection for souls, and the striving to gain them.

It was also the hallmark of preaching in the 18th-century Great Awakening (read the sermons of George Whitefield), not to mention the revivals of the 19th century and the high era of the Victorian pulpit, with all its persuasiveness.

From Expository Preaching – Benefits and Pitfalls

WHAT EXACTLY is ­expository preaching? It is preaching that draws the message from the biblical text, clearly and methodically, honouring the sense of the text, and the style of communication employed. Before looking at classic examples from sermons of C H Spurgeon, here are some of the benefits and common mistakes of consecutive expository preaching.

Firstly, if the preacher works through a book of the Bible week by week it becomes obvious to everyone that the Word of God is the supreme authority for all that is taught. The preacher is clearly in captivity to the Bible. Consecutive expository preaching is the greatest witness to biblical ­authority.

A second virtue of consecutive expository preaching is that it helps the preacher to suppress his personal opinions. Because he is dominated by the Scripture, and bound to follow its presentation of information and its arguments, the preacher’s personal style of reasoning should be helpfully subordinated to that of God’s Word.

A third virtue of consecutive expository preaching is that it obliges the preacher to present ­everything that is in the Scripture. By nature, most preachers will tend to emphasise a certain group of subjects and to neglect others. But by proceeding through a book they are bound to address every topic that presents itself, and so preach on a comprehensive range of vital themes.

A fourth virtue of consecutive expository preaching is that it shows the people of God the plan and the purpose of a whole Bible book, which would probably not happen if the preacher darted from book to book selecting individual sermon texts. Think of the immense advantage to the people of God of becoming familiar with the overall scheme of entire books of the Bible. It is a very great help to private study.

Fifthly, consecutive expository preaching also enables the preacher to bring out the themes that often run through one or more chapters. He pays more attention to the context, and this delivers him from many mistakes. Would the so-called ‘holiness movement’ have developed if its proponents had been consecutive preachers? Would they not have hesitated to preach sanctification-by-faith when they saw that the whole chapter or passage was speaking about justification?