BBC Sermon Cast

Aquila and Priscilla walked onto the stage of redemptive history at several points, quietly did what God called them to do, and then faded into the background until the next opportunity to serve. Their names are mentioned, always together, seven times in the New Testament, but they never hog the limelight. It is in their quiet faithfulness, however, that we learn three valuable lessons:

1. Faithful Membership (vv. 1–4; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19)

2. Serving Membership (vv. 1–4, 24–28)

3. Sacrificial Membership (Romans 16:3–4)

The believer’s life is a life of remembrance. Peter teaches us something about this truth in 2 Peter 1:12–21. In these verses, Peter asks and answers two basic questions:

1. What should we remember? (vv. 12–15)

2. Why should we remember the truth? (vv. 16–21)

We often long for more than we need, in various aspects of life. When it comes to living a life of godliness, however, the apostle Peter assures us that we have everything we need, by God’s promise, to confirm our calling and election.

Returning to our study of generally overlooked, or “hidden,” figures throughout Scripture, we turn our attention to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the scribe of Jeremiah the prophet. From God’s words to Baruch recorded in Jeremiah 45, we can learn about the suffering involved in Christian life and ministry, the ever-present temptation to pride, and the reward that awaits the servants of the Lord. These three things form our outline:

1. Christian Life and Ministry is Often Painful (v. 3)

2. Beware of Pride (v. 4)

3. There is a Reward (vv. 4–5)

John Newton once prayed, “When I see thee as thou art, I will praise thee as I ought.” If we are honest with ourselves, we often fail to worship God the way we ought, because we so often lose sight of who God is. Perhaps we’ve become too familiar with him, perhaps we’ve fashioned him after our image, or perhaps we’ve side-stepped him completely. Regardless, we would do well to remember who our God is: a God who kills people. We will study 2 Samuel 6 under four broad headings:

1. The God who Deserves Our Worship (vv. 1–2)

2. The God who Demands Our Obedience in Worship (vv. 3–11)

3. The God who Discerns Our Hearts in Worship (vv. 16, 20–23)

4. The God who Delights in Our Blessing (vv. 12–19)

In this text, we see a man—Epaphroditus—with a deep love for Christ and the church, so deep that his own well-being becomes secondary, he selfishly serves Christ and the kingdom even if it meant death for him. A rare jewel for the church. We consider these verses and the ministry of Epaphroditus under three broad headings:

1. The servant

2. The selfless

3. The sacrificial

Those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God have been washed, sanctified, and justified, which means that they respond to conflict in a radically, because reverently different way. We see this in the text before us as we continue to learn about the sufficiency of the saints to govern the church through scriptural church discipline. As Prior points out, “There will always be disagreements among Christians, but the disciplined approach of Jesus to such matters needs more uninhibited obedience (cf. Matthew 18:15–17).” This was a lesson the Corinthian church needed to learn, and we do as well. We will study these verses under three broad headings:

1. A Scandalous Question (vv. 1–3)

2. A Shameful Question (vv. 4–8)

3. A Sobering Question (vv. 9–11)

Tychicus was a faithful brother, whom Paul trusted to encourage the church in Ephesus. In Ephesians 6:21–22, we learn that this faithful brother was trusted to offer gospel encouragement to stand for gospel work and to offer gospel encouragement to stand in gospel holiness.

Having examined the importance of having a pure membership (as opposed to a mixed membership of saved and unsaved members) (vv. 1–5), and then emphasising the need for each member to pursue an increasingly holy, purified membership (vv. 6–8), the closing verses of this chapter (vv. 9–13) address the sobering matter of excommunication, the final step of church discipline in which the church membership is purged of an individual who has proven to be an unrepentant covenant-breaker. We will consider these verses together under the following headings:

1. Purging Requires Dissociation (vv. 9–11)

2. Purging Requires Discernment (vv. 12–13a)

3. Purging Requires Dismissal (v. 13b)

Paul did not have an easy ministry. Among his many challenges, some of his closest companions at times abandoned him. But there were some faithfully selfless servants who stood at his side in his darkest moment, among whom was Onesiphorus, who often refreshed Paul, unashamed of his imprisonment. Onesiphorus teaches us important lessons about selfless service in God’s kingdom.