It is hard not to get angry at the way the world is going today.  As Christians we know what the truth is; we know what right and wrong are; we know how people are to live their lives as married couples, parents, in holiness and truth.  We know that God is to be acknowledged and worshipped.  We know what the laws of the Land ought to be when it comes to things like homosexual marriage, euthanasia, abortion, etc.  But what are we seeing?  The Christianity that used to shape our society is now marginalized, no worse than that it is blamed for all sorts of problems and perceived problems in the past, it is aggressively rejected.  In fact anyone who associates with it becomes part of the problem and public enemy number one.  More than that we are seeing big government; big education; big pharma; big business; big tech; big social media; big main stream media; big Hollywood; big sports all leaning in a leftist direction.  We are seeing the influence of critical theory, transgender ideology, soft forms of communism and many other insidious ideas take over the voices that are heard in the public square and worse than that are now after our children.  It is very hard not to get angry in a world like ours.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT, is a modern method used in psychology to treat things like anxiety and depression. As with any school of psychology, there is a lot of truth in it. Anytime, anyone studies God’s world, they will inevitably see true things about it. It is true because God made it to be so; all truth is God’s truth. Yet also with the various schools of psychology, because they are not working within the framework of the Biblical worldview they will get many things wrong. In fact any truth embedded in a false worldview becomes an untruth. CBT explores the relationship between what we think, how we feel, and how we act. It understands the fact that thinking right can make us feel good and act constructively; and how good behavioral patterns can impact good feeling and thinking. These three aspects are interrelated. From a pastoral point of view I have seen some of the value in these things, but when presented in a godless worldview, when we are merely reducing these truths to techniques that are not done in the context of glorifying God, or in light of the reality of our sinfulness or our fallen world, and with no dependence upon the Spirit, it can become a deceptive counterfeit that draws people from God not to Him. because from a theological perspective self-improvement is a contradiction in terms, we can only be improved by God. What is so wonderful about the psalms is that an exploration of the mind and emotions and actions of a human being are put on display. They predate our schools of psychology and anticipate the various techniques that people come up with today, but in the right worldview. And instead of a cold and abstract technique of pushing buttons to get right...

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I can remember those times as a young Christians when I was confronted with cults like theSeventh Day Adventists; and the International Church of Christ, how unsettled I felt whenall that I thought to be true was being challenged. The teachings of these groups made itfeel like the salvation that I was thought I had was not real. Did I have the 666 of the bookof Revelation because I did not keep a Saturday Sabbath; did I need to get rebaptized withtheir baptism so that I could be truly saved? I did not yet have a full understanding of howGod saves us by grace alone; through faith alone; in Christ alone. I did not have the joy ofmy salvation that comes from the assurance of my salvation. At times I would believe thepromise that if I believe I have eternal life but there was so much I did not know and sowould flounder. I was wide open to be intimidated and manipulated through guilt and mydesire to be saved. I would read their books, listen to hours of their teaching, and would bewilling to do all sorts of things just to get the salvation I longed for. I have since learnedthat the greatest defense against false teachings and false gospels is the joy of my salvationthat comes from a proper grasp of the gospel of grace. The joy of salvation is our greatestdefense against temptation; against trials; and false gospels

500 slaughtered for their faith in Nigeria ( www.persecution.org/slaughter/ , accessed June 10, 2010). On the 21 st of January 2010, “A crowd of at least 1000 people burned down two Protestant churches last night in Sibuhuan (district of Padang Lawas, North Sumatra). The blaze was the culmination of tension between the faithful and the local Islamic community, tired of seeing ” too many faithful and too many prayers ” in a place not registered as a church.” ( www.asianews.it/news- en/North-Sumatra,-two-Protestant-churches-burnt , accessed June 10, 2010). On the 9 th of January 2010, ‘The Australian’, reported that 3 Malaysian Churches were attacked with petrol bombs. ( www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/malaysia- churches-burnt/story , accessed June 10, 2010). On and on we could go giving stats about the Church being persecuted, added to that we could give a long list of anti- Christian legislation that has been gaining ground in the area of prayer in schools, abortion, censorship, homosexuality, and many other topics. For example, on the 18 February 2022 the NZ government passed the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022. We could speak of the growth of Islam as the fastest growing religion in the world at the moment according to birth rates, and the cults. The increase in sin in society for example, for the first time in NZ history more babies were born to unmarried parents than married in 2022; the weakness of the Church where only 9% of the NZ population go to Church. By all appearances Christianity is losing its influence, under attack, and on a seeming retreat. What is our response to all this?

Soldiers returning home from the battlefront can be a time of conflicting emotions. There is the joy of having loved ones back, but there are also a number of other issues. Is a soldier returning under a cloud like so many American soldiers after Biden basically pulled out the American forces from Afghanistan, 73% felt betrayed by their country; and 67% felt humiliated. 1 If they return home early before their tour is up is it because of injury or have they disgraced themselves. Many soldiers have risked their lives and those back home are unaware of their sacrifice and they can feel disconnected and unappreciated; not to mention the PTSD that many soldiers experience. Homecoming can be difficult. Epaphroditus is a returning soldier who has risked his life on the front line. He has represented those who sent him and is now coming home early. He has been injured in the line of duty and rumours of his death were rampant. Paul, the field general is sending Epaphroditus home and the verses before us give an outline of his service record and the reason for the home assignment. 2:25-30, ‘I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all...

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We are continuing on with our study of anthropology from the 1689, and today I want to direct your attention to what it says about us being made in the image of God. ‘After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created; being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.’ I am passing over the immortality of the soul for now to direct our attention to the info on the image of God. Let’s begin with an exercise. Let us answer this question, in what way are we made in the image of God? I have written three umbrella categories on the whiteboard, Constitutional (what we are); functional (what we do); relational (who we relate to). I will ask you to call out any number of characteristics that you think make up the image of God and you will see that they will likely be able to be put in one of these categories.

The church is saved by the service of a sacrificial Savior; and the church flourishes and grows by the service of sacrificial saints. When we love one another in the way we have been loved by Christ; when we serve one another in the way in which we have been served the church will be healthy and effective. This is the basic principle that Paul has been pushing throughout this book. Selfishness has gotten hold of the Philippians church and is causing damage, self-preservation in the face of persecutions; and self-interest towards the saints. Paul has called the Philippians to walk worthy of the gospel that has saved them, and this means dying to self and living the crucified life in the same manner our Savior did. In particular Paul has been dealing with the matter of selfless humble service and using Christ as the ultimate example. But Paul also multiplies the examples of selfless service using himself as an object lesson, and now in the verses we want to consider Timothy, v19- 24; and Epaphroditus, v25-30. V19-24, ‘I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.’

‘2. After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created; being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfil it, and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change. 3. Besides the law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which whilst they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.

Stop your grumbling and arguing with God and each other; be children of God who shine as lights in this dark world; and lean into suffering service for others with joy. These are the exhortations that Paul gives to the Philippian church in 2:14-18, ‘Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.’ Today we come to that part where Paul is talking about suffering, v16-18, but notice that Paul talks about his own suffering. The Philippian church is suffering persecution, we see this clearly in 1:29-30. They are discouraged because their favourite apostle is in prison, the gospel seems to have ground to a halt, and they themselves are in the thick of it with persecutions, false teachers and divisions. Life is hard and like so many of us, when life is hard we are not able to be joyful, hopeful, full of faith and trust in God. One of the things Paul does throughout this letter is put a Christian perspective on suffering.

In practically all the older systematic theology textbooks on anthropology there is little to no discussion on the differences between male and female. Even our own confession only gives a passing glance at it, ‘After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female.’ The rest of the paragraph emphasizes mankind in God’s image and in covenant with Him. What the confession takes for granted without explanation we must take the opportunity to stop and expand on. Historically we would have spoken about the sexes, male and female; today we talk about gender, what’s the difference? Here is one attempt at definitions: ‘Sexuality refers to God’s anthropological design and pattern for the procreative relationship between male and female and to the experience of erotic desire within that design. Gender refers to biological differences in male and female embodiment and the different cultural ways in which the creational distinctions between male and female are manifested. The creational narrative of Genesis 1–2 provides the Christian with the foundational truths behind these distinctions: God created humanity, male and female, in his image for one another. To deny any part of this teaching is to subject God’s purposeful design to the desires of humanity. While much of modern culture desires to deny these distinctions and to untether gender from sexuality, the New Testament reaffirms the Old Testament’s teaching on this topic and brings the male-female distinction to its culmination in the Christ-Church relationship.’ 1 Sex tends to describe our biological realities, gender the expression of them. And we are seeing an untethering of gender from sex, so that gender is now being defined without reference to biological sex. Gender is seen as a social construct placed upon an incidental biological reality. We have seen a radical shift in how sex and...

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