Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
December 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes
Probably one of the most obvious of all Christian doctrines is that of original sin, that we human beings are, in C. S. Lewis’ terms, ‘the bent ones’. We are all born with something radically wrong …
Peter Barnes | Ephesians 2:11-13
SERMON NOTES
Brought Near
(Eph. 2:11-13)
– To the Gentile, a Jew was a barbarian; to the Jew, a Gentile was a heathen or a dog.
1. Remember where you have come from.
– 2:11; unlike Ex.16:2-3; see Deut.15:15; 24:17-18, 21-22
– John Newton had …
Peter Barnes | Psalm 23
SERMON NOTES
The Lord is my Shepherd
Psalm 23; John 10:1-21
Douglas MacMillan would not allow it at non-Christian funerals. See John 10:3, 11, 14-15
1. The Shepherd cares.
– 23:1-3a; Gen.48:15
– Phillip Keller says sheep will roll over on their backs, and become …
Peter Barnes | Ephesians 2:8-10
SERMON NOTES
The Scheme of Salvation
(Eph. 2:8-10)
– Reformation solas: grace, faith, Christ, Scripture, to the glory of God
1. Salvation is all of grace.
– 2:8a; J. C. Ryle was converted by this.
And when I’m to die,
Receive me, I’ll cry,
For …
Peter Barnes | Psalm 19
SERMON NOTES
Knowing God
Psalm 19; Romans 1:18-32
C. S. Lewis called it ‘the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world’.
1. Nature declares God’s glory.
– 19:1-6; made known everywhere at all times
– The spacious firmament …
Peter Barnes | Ephesians 2:4-7
SERMON NOTES
God is Rich in Mercy
(Eph. 2:4-7)
1. God grants saving grace to some of His children of wrath.
– 2:4-7; ‘riches’ is found six times in Ephesians (1:7. 18; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16)
– God is wonderfully kind and rich in mercy …
Peter Barnes | Psalm 3
SERMON NOTES
Prayer in the Day of Trouble
2 Samuel 15:1-18; Psalm 3
Psalm 3 dates from the rebellion of 2 Sam.15-19.
1. David’s isolation.
– 3:1-2; 2 Sam.15:13, 1-6; 16:5-13; Matt.27:39-43
– a minority, facing hostility and mocking as to whether he was a …
Peter Barnes | Ephesians 2:1-4
SERMON NOTES
But God …
(Eph. 2:1-4)
Martyn Lloyd-Jones calls them ‘two wonderful words’.
– what happened to Christ (1:20-22) is parallel to what happens to the believer (2:6).
1. We are all naturally dead in sin.
– 2:1-3; Rom.3:9-18
Aristotle: ‘Virtue is in our …
Peter Barnes | Mark 10:26, 27
SERMON NOTES
Impossible with Men, Possible with God
Psalm 130; Mark 10:17-27
1. An astonished question.
– 10:26 – yet a better question than 10:17
2. Salvation is impossible with man.
– 10:27a
(a) Sinful man is unable to be perfect.
– Rom.3:20; 7:7-10; …
Peter Barnes | Ephesians 1:20-22
SERMON NOTES
Christ’s Victory is Ours
(Eph. 1:19b-23)
– picks up on the power in v.19.
1. Christ’s power in the believer.
– 1:19b-20 (omit the NIV’s ‘like’); Rom.8:11
– Christians often work in the dark, as it were
– 2 Peter 1:3-4
2. Where …
