Philippians – Salisbury Baptist Church

The Oil of Readiness: Preparing for Christ’s Return

18th August 2024

The Kingdom of Heaven is not merely about going to Heaven when we die, but also about living under God's rule now. There are three stages of salvation: justification (becoming a Christian), sanctification (growing in holiness), and glorification (being perfected in Heaven). Many believers focus solely on justification but neglect sanctification. This neglect can lead to unpreparedness for Christ's return or our own death. We must actively pursue spiritual growth, eagerly awaiting His return. The delay in Christ's coming is a grace period for us to deepen our relationship with Him. Our goal should be to know more intimately, not just to secure a place in Heaven.

Sanctification: The Journey to Perfection in Christ

7th July 2024

The biblical concept of sanctification includes the idea of perfection, first given forensically to an individual by God’s grace and then progressively brought about into the individual’s experience by the Holy Spirit. It explains the differences between justification and sanctification, highlighting that justification is the gift of perfect righteousness given by Christ's sacrifice, while sanctification is involved in this but also in the ongoing process of becoming more Christ-like. The message encourages believers to rely on the Holy Spirit for spiritual growth and to understand that their ultimate perfection will be realized in glory.

Understanding True Sonship in Christ

2nd June 2024

This sermon explores the concept of sonship in Christianity, highlighting the transformative power of understanding and embracing one's identity as a child of God through Jesus Christ. It explores the differences between the Old and New Testament teachings on God's Fatherhood and how Jesus' introduction of the Lord's Prayer took this revolutionized this understanding. The sermon also underscores the importance of being born again, emphasising the role of the Holy Spirit in making believers true sons and daughters of God by new birth from above, as further to our being sons of God by just being His creatures. The message extends an invitation for listeners to experience this divine relationship personally.

The Full Circle of Christ’s Love

31st March 2024

The sermon intricately weaves through the concepts of “Kenosis” and “Plerosis” (emptying and then returning to fullness) in the life, incarnation and exaltation of Jesus. The message highlights Jesus' journey from self-emptying humility to being exalted by the Father as Lord of all. It focuses on Christ's ascension, His ultimate authority, and the impact of His humility, then exaltation on our understandings of salvation and discipleship. The preacher calls for repentance, urging believers to reverse their verdict on Jesus — moving from being outside the Divine favour to acceptance within the “Beloved” — in the salvation that Christ has achieved. This message not only recounts the theological significance of Jesus' actions, but also emphasizes the practical implications for believers, calling them to a life of humility, repentance, and a deeper dedication to the exalted Christ as Lord and Savior.

Raised for our Justification

31st March 2024

This sermon emphasises the profound impact of Jesus' resurrection, not only as a historical event but as a transformative reality in the lives of believers. It delves into the Apostle Paul's teaching on knowing the resurrected Jesus intimately and experiencing the empowering resource of His resurrection in our daily lives. The sermon outlines how Jesus' resurrection serves as the foundation for our justification, ushering us into a new life in Him, assured of eternal life. Through Christ's victory over death, and consequent ongoing life, believers are invited into a personal relationship with Him, marked by empowered Christian living and the ultimate fulfilment of eternal fellowship with God. The message invites individuals to embrace the risen Christ, enabling them to live lives characterised by His resurrection's power and the certainty of God's love and salvation.

Have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus

3rd December 2023

"this is the beginning of the Beatitudes, as Jesus is actually teaching those closest to him, the twelve disciples, and maybe some others that came with them. He's teaching them about what it is to be a real disciple. And there's eight things that he says, and up until where we've come to so far in the exegesis, the exposition of these, they're all positive. They're things that are shown in the life of a person who seeks to be under the kingly rule of Jesus. And so anyway, here we have Jesus teaching the disciples. And that's what the Beatitudes are all about. But as we come down to about verse 20 or so, you'll discover that there's a reversal."

Exploring the Significance of Human Decision in God’s Plan

8th October 2023

"One of the things I like in watching a movie is where, whether it be the hero or the heroine or whoever, is put in a position to have to make a difficult decision, put on the spot, and it's always of interest to me about why human beings make the decisions that they do... And that's actually something in movies I like to see where someone comes to a circumstance they didn't expect and have to make either a rash decision or a very brave decision or one that gets them killed. And that's the part of movies that really grip me. And I think that's been a part of me even before I watched many movies at all. And I have a great interest in the human decision mechanism. Some of that also comes about because my involvement in Christian ministry has been, in my younger days, very much about calling people to come to Christ and wanting them to make a decision."

The Temptation of Christ

The Temptation of Christ 4

18th June 2023

"Jesus only did what he saw the Father leading him or what the Father led him by the Spirit to do. And the words that he gave were the words of the Father. Jesus was the conduit of the kingdom of heaven, now down on earth, by virtue of him being that Messiah. He was expected by the Jewish nation, and that's who he was. And someone here has very nicely fixed that book and left it out on the table there by taking something and sticking it over that last page, it just says God, and allowing the final page to be the previous one, which very clearly says who he is, that he is the Son of God."

Shining Like Stars: The Path to Church Unity

15th January 2023

"The unity that will shine out amongst the community, the unity that will help foster reconciliation is going to be underpinned by people clinging to the word of life, together clinging to the gospel, the message of Jesus. That kind of church community, one that is a community of people together seeking Jesus, seeking to understand his word, seeking to live out the grace of the gospel. It's that kind of church that shines as lights in the world, shines like stars in the darkness. The church can still shine like stars in this dark and depraved world by clinging to the word of life in gospel-shaped unity."

Pursuing Humble Unity

8th January 2023

"It's a group of people who believe in Jesus together, and are striving together for the faith of the gospel, to make the gospel known, to help one another work out, apply, live out the gospel in their own lives."