PSALM 23
1. WHO HE IS (1)
• The Lord is my shepherd
• I shall not want/lack
2. HOW HE CARES (2-6)
1. “He” (2-3)
• Makes me lie down in green pastures
• Leads me by still waters
• Restores my soul/life
• Leads me in paths of righteousness – for his names sake
2. “You” (4-5)
• Fear no evil in valley of deep shadow
• Rod and staff comfort
• Prepare a table, in presence of enemies
• Anoint head with oil, cup overflows
3. “Me” (6)
• Goodness and mercy, all days of life
• Dwell in his house, forever
A. THE SHEPHERD LOOKED TO (1)
• THE RELATIONSHIP
• THE RESULT
B. THE SHEPHERD LOOKED AFTER (2-6)
1. PROVISION (2-3) “He”
• Restful pastures
• Refreshing pools
• Restoring periods
• Right paths
1. PROTECTION (4-5) “You”
• Courage
• Comfort
• Confidence
• Consecration
0. PROSPECT (6) “Me”
• Right through life
i. Goodness
ii. Mercy
• Long after death
iii. In his house
iv. For ever
1
I CORINTHIANS 13
A. NECESSITY OF LOVE (1-3)
1. GIFTS (1-2) “If you have…… I am nothing”
• Tongues – of men and angels
• Prophecy – fathoming all mysteries and knowledge
• Faith – to move mountains
2. GIVING (3) “If I give…… I gain nothing”
• Possessions to the poor
• Flesh to the flames
B. QUALITY OF LOVE (4-7)
1. WHAT IT IS (4a) – others
• Patient
• Kind
2. WHAT IT DOESN’T (4-6) – self
• Envy
• Boast
3. WHAT IT ISN’T (4c-5a) – self
• Proud
• Rude
• Self-seeking
• Easily angered
4. WHAT IT DOESN’T (5b-6a)
• Keep record of wrongs
• Delight in evil
5. WHAT IT DOES (6b-7) – others
• Rejoices with the truth
• Always protects
• Always trusts
• Always hopes
• Always perseveres
C. SUPERIORITY OF LOVE (8-13)
2. TEMPORARY (8) “pass away”
• Prophecy
• Tongues
• Knowledge
3. CHANGE (9-12) “now, then”
• Bits/whole
• Child/adult
• Reflection/sight
• Partial/full
4. PERMANENT (13) “remain”
• Three graces – faith, hope, love
• One greatest – Love
2
This letter is from Judas, I prefer to be called Jude one of the bought slaves of king Jesus and a brother
of James, whom you all know. I am addressing all those over there who have heard and responded to the call of
God our Father, enjoy the love of his family and have so far been kept safe by your relationship with his son
Jesus. May you experience more and more of his undeserved mercy, inward peace and loving care.
My dear friends, I had fully intended to write an encouraging note about the wonderful salvation you and I
share but I now find I must send you a solemn warning and appeal to you to fight on for the old faith which was
first given to the believers once and for all.
I have heard that certain men, who shall be nameless, have sneaked in to your fellowship; they are not in
touch with God. Their sentence of doom was pronounced and recorded ages ago.
They distort the amazing grace of our gospel into an excuse for blatant immorality and indecent behaviour.
They deny that the Messiah Jesus is the only true Head and Lord of all.
Now I want to remind you of some facts you are already familiar with, which warn us not to trifle with God.
Remember that he brought a whole nation out of slavery in Egypt, yet destroyed most of them because they would
not go on trusting him. Nor were his angels any more exempt than his people; when some of them deserted their
proper place and function, he took them into custody and is keeping them in the lowest and darkest dungeon until
their trial on the great day of judgement. Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah glutted themselves, with debauchery,
hankering after forbidden pleasures, just as the angels had done; their fate, in the fire that burned for so long, is a
sober omen for us all.
In spite of such examples from the past, these interlopers abuse their own bodies, despise the authority of
the Lord and deride the angels in glory. In contrast, when the archangel Michael argued with the devil about the
disposal of Moses’ body, he did not presume to condemn him for slander directly but simply said: ‘The Lord is the
one to reproach you!’. Yet these men among you don’t hesitate to malign what they don’t understand; and the little
they do understand is based on natural instinct rather than supernatural inspiration, as if they were animals without
reason.
Woe betide them! They walk in the same way Cain went. They plunge into Balaam’s blunder, for the same
profit motive. Sharing the rebellious attitude of Korah, they will come to the same ruin. They think they are
shepherds but they’re not interested in feeding the sheep, only themselves.
They are like clouds driven away by the wind before they drop any rain, like uprooted trees in the autumn,
with neither leaves nor fruit, dead as dead; like crashing wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their
shameful behaviour; like shooting stars, destined to disappear down a ‘back hole’ for ever.
It was about such as these that Enoch, in only the seventh generation after Adam, made a prophetic
announcement: ‘Look out! The Lord is coming with hordes of angels to carry out his sentence on all the godless
people for their godless deeds which they have done and all the godless words they have spoken, against God
himself and his godly people.’
These infiltrators are discontented grumblers, always complaining, pursuing their own ambitions. Full of
big talk, they even use flattery to gain their ends.
But you, my dear friends, need to remember the sombre predictions of the apostles themselves. They said
that as history enters its final stages, there will be those who are contemptuous of godliness, while they pursue and
practice the very opposite. The result will be splits among you, initiated by those who follow their fleshly impulses,
strangers to the Holy Spirit.
As for you, my dear friends, reinforce yourselves by becoming more mature in your faith, praying regularly
in the way the Spirit leads you. Stay within the boundaries God lovingly set for you as you patiently wait for the
return of our Lord Jesus Christ and the everlasting life he will bring in new bodies.
Deal gently with those who are wavering between you and the interlopers. Do anything you can to rescue
those who have already gone over to them, as you would snatch a child from a burning house. You must even feel
compassion for the villains themselves, but alongside that keep a healthy fear of being contaminated by them, even
by their stained clothing.
Now let’s praise the One who is able to keep you from slipping into all this and enable you to stand before
his glorious throne blameless and jubilant. To the only God who can save us and bring us to glory belong radiance,
majesty, all power and dominion, before all time, all through history and for evermore.
3
JUDE
INTRODUCTION (1-4a)
Usual Sender, address, greeting
Unusual Didn’t write about shared salvation
Reason Infiltration (secretly slipped in) = A1
condemnation (written long ago) = A2
1. LEARNING FROM THE PAST (4-19)
1. THEIR CORRUPTION
• Creed (3-4)
• Conduct (8)
• Cogitation (10)
• Character (12-13)
• Conversation (16)
• Compulsion (19)
2. THEIR CONDEMNATION
• Retribution (5-7)
• Respect (9)
• Rebellion (11)
• Revelation (14-15)
• Ridicule (17-18)
•
2. LIVING IN THE PRESENT (20-23)
1. YOURSELVES
• Edification
• Petition
• Submission
2. OTHERS (2-3)
• Wavering
• Wayward
• Wicked
3. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE (24-25)
1. THE ABLE GOD
• Edification
• Petition
• Submission
2. OTHERS (2-3)
• His sovereignty
• His Eternity
4
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
(Jude 3-19)
1. THEIR CORRUPTION 2. THEIR CONDEMNATION
a. CREED (3-4)
• Grace – licence for immorality
• Christ – lordship denied
a. RETRIBUTION (5-7)
• Exodus generation
• Fallen angels
• Sodom and Gomorrah (scripture)
b. CONDUCT (8)
• Pollute own bodies
• Reject authority
• Slander angels
b. RESPECT (9)
• Archangel Michael
• Devil (tradition)
c. COGITATION (10)
• Don’t understand, so abuse
• Do understand, like animals
c. REBELLION (11)
• Cain
• Balaam
• Korah (scripture)
d. CHARACTER (12-13)
• Fleeting clouds - drought
• Fruitless trees - death
• Foaming waves - debris
• Falling stars - darkness
d. REVELATION (14-15)
• Enoch’s prophecy
• Coming judgement (scripture)
e. CONVERSATION (16)
• Grumblers, faultfinders
• Follow own desires
• Boast about themselves
• Flatter for advantage
e. RIDICULE (17-18)
• Apostle’s waiting
• Scoffers (scripture)
f. COMPULSION (19)
• Divisive
• Follow own desires
• Do not have the Spirit
5
BIBLICAL COVENANTS &
THE CHRISTIAN
All five can be found in the OLD “TESTAMENT”
‘Testament’ = ‘covenant’!
All five can be found in the NEW “TESTAMENT”
But only one of the five is called the “OLD” covenant (The Mosaic)
And only one of the five is called the “NEW” covenant (The Messionic)
THE “NEW” COVENANT – completed
1. Announced in the Old Testament
JEREMIAH – WHAT?
• Inclination Therefore: internal
FATHER
• Intimacy individual
• Innocence
ISAIAH – WHO?
• Supreme sovereign SON
• Suffering servant
EZEKIEL – HOW?
• Human spirit renewed
• Holy Spirit received
HOLY SPIRIT
2. Achieved in the New Testament
LORD JESUS CHRIST
• Atonement – to take away our sins Resurrection between
• Ascension – to fill us with the Spirit
THE HOLY SPIRIT
• Baptised in – once
• Filled with – continually
NEW COVENANT PEOPLE
• Body of Christ – his flock and family
• Fellowship of the Spirit – his gifts and fruit
6
THE OTHER COVENANT – continued
Note pattern international and national
NOAHIC Matt 5:45b
ABRAHAMIC Luke 1:54, 72
Matt 22:32
Heb 6:13-20
DAVIDIC Luke 1:32
Acts 13:34
Rom 1:3
John 7:42
Acts15:16
“Son of David” Mark 11:10
Matt 12:13; 21:9, 15; 22:42
Rev 3:7; 5:5; 22:16
THE “OLD” COVENANT – cancelled
MOSAIC ‘old’ Heb 8:6
Obsolete Heb 8:13
versus Mosaic John 1:17
Rom 10:4-11
Gal 4:21-31
Dead to law Rom 7:4
Temporary Gal 3:23-25
