Hills Alliance Church inc.

06/09/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed Through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 14f

From Servants to Friends

1. What if Christian discipleship is not primarily about imitating Jesus, but about participating in Jesus?

2. In John 11, Martha comes to Jesus in the midst of grief and discovers that resurrection is not merely something Jesus will do—“I am the resurrection and the life.” She responds, “Yes, Lord; I believe.”

3. This leads us into a deeper Johannine understanding of discipleship: we are not simply servants trying harder to become like Jesus. We are people who are known, loved and invited into His life. Jesus says, “I have called you friends.”

4. And this has profound implications for Communion. Paul speaks of the bread and cup as koinonia—participation in the body and blood of Christ—and then says, “We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

5. We come as many, but we receive the One; and receiving the One, we discover that we belong to one another.

6. This Sunday we will explore John 11:17–27, participatory discipleship, divine friendship, and why Communion is far more than simply remembering a past event.

Grace and peace in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-09-06-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt14f by Stephen James Davidson on

30/08/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed Through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 14e


John 11:11–16 From the Familiar to the Unknown

1. In John 11, Jesus tells His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him.” The disciples misunderstand Him, and Jesus eventually tells them plainly, “Lazarus has died.”

2. But the passage is about far more than a misunderstanding of the word “sleep.” Jesus is teaching His disciples to see death and ultimately reality itself from a different perspective. Their journey is not simply from ignorance to knowledge, but from understanding to participation. They learn by going with Jesus into a reality they do not yet understand.

3. This becomes particularly poignant when Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” Thomas does not yet understand what Jesus is doing, but he is willing to go with Him. His theology is incomplete, but his direction is right.

4. Perhaps this is at the heart of Johannine discipleship: we do not first master the reality and then follow Jesus; we follow Jesus into the reality He already knows.

5. In this lesson we explore friendship, death, misunderstanding, revelation and participation—and how Jesus takes His disciples from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the existential to the ontological, and ultimately from knowledge about life to participation in the One who is Life.

Grace and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ – Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-08-30-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt14e by Stephen James Davidson on

23/08/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed Through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 14d


John 11:7-16 “Let Us Go to Judea Again"

At first glance, Jesus' words, "Let us go to Judea again," sound like nothing more than a travel decision to visit a sick friend. Yet John rarely wastes a sentence or even a pronoun. In this study we discover that these simple words mark the beginning of our Lord's final journey to the Cross. Every step toward Bethany is also a step toward Golgotha. Jesus is not reacting to circumstances or fleeing from His enemies; He is advancing with sovereign determination according to the Father's appointed hour. The Good Shepherd is deliberately laying down His life for His sheep.

In this lesson we explore:

1. Why John 11:7–16 is much more than a travel narrative. It is the beginning of Jesus' final journey to the Cross.

2. The remarkable determination of Christ, who freely embraced the Father's will and whose life unfolded according to the Father's sovereign timetable.

3. The meaning of Jesus' enigmatic words about the "twelve hours in the day," and how they reveal His perfect confidence in the Father's appointed hour.

4. Why the Cross was never an accident of history, but the eternal purpose of God revealed in time.

5. The significance of Jesus saying, "Let us go" rather than "I will go," and how this small pronoun opens up John's theology of communion, participation, and discipleship.

6. How the Good Shepherd never asks His sheep to walk a path that He Himself is unwilling to walk.

7. The profound truth that the Christian life is not fundamentally imitation but participation. We accompany Christ in His mission before we fully understand where obedience will lead.

8. How John's Gospel moves from "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" to "Abide in Me" and finally to Christ's prayer, "Father...I desire that they also...may be with Me where I am."

Ultimately, this study traces one of John's deepest theological themes: the movement from the eternal communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into our humanity, and then the gracious invitation for believers to share in that same communion. The first word of discipleship is not simply "Go," but "Come with Me.” The One who set His face steadfastly toward Jerusalem still calls His people to walk with Him, sharing His mission, His sufferings, and ultimately His glory.

Grace and peace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ – Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-08-23-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt14d by Stephen James Davidson on

16/08/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed Through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 14c

John 11: The Glory of God – From Sinai to Calvary

1. This week's study pauses the narrative of Lazarus to explore one of the greatest themes in all of Scripture—the glory of God. In this lesson we discover:

2. Why Jesus' delay at Bethany was not the absence of love but the expression of it.
How the glory revealed at Mount Sinai finds its fullest revelation at the Cross of Christ.
Why John's Gospel presents the Cross, not the Transfiguration, as the supreme unveiling of God's glory.

3. The remarkable progression of God's glory from Creation to Sinai, to the Tabernacle and Temple, to the Incarnation, and finally into the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
Why Jesus never “acquires” glory but eternally possesses it as the Son in communion with the Father.

4. How John's signs progressively reveal Christ's eternal glory, culminating in His death and resurrection.

5. The profound relationship between God's glory, God's holiness, and God's self-giving love.

6. Why Jesus prays, "Father, glorify Me with the glory I had with You before the world existed."

7. The astonishing truth that Christ shares His glory with His sheep, drawing believers into the eternal communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

8. How John's Gospel moves from “pre-existence to participation”, revealing that the glory which once shook a mountain now shines in a family home, beside a graveside, and ultimately from the Cross.

9. John's Gospel teaches us that God's glory is far more than divine power or majestic splendour. In Jesus Christ we behold the very heart of God. His holy, self-giving love. The mountain of Sinai reveals God's majesty; Calvary reveals His heart. "And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14)

Grace & peace in the Lord Jesus Christ, Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-08-16-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt14c by Stephen James Davidson on

09/08/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed by Christ

John 11 – The Glory of God Revealed in Love

This week we continue our journey through John's Gospel as Jesus reveals not only His power over death, but the very heart of God Himself. Before Lazarus is raised, John tells us three times that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Why? Why does Christ delay? Why does the greatest sign in John's Gospel take place, not in the Temple before priests or kings, but in the intimacy of a family home?
In this lesson we will explore:
Review. Christ's Love and Christ's Delay: Why does love sometimes wait?

1. Common Conceptions of Glory. How Scripture overturns the world's understanding of glory.
2. Vain Glory. Humanity's pursuit of empty glory contrasted with the self-giving glory of Christ.
3. The Theme of Glory in John. The glory of God revealed as the radiance of the Father's eternal love for the Son.
4. Show Me Your Glory. Moses' longing fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the incarnate glory of God.
5.His Sheep Are Included. Christ shares His glory with His people, drawing us into the eternal communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
6. A Concluding Reflection. The glory humanity lost in Adam is graciously restored through union with Christ.

Friends at the heart of this study is a simple but profound truth: the glory of God is not revealed in self-exaltation but in self-giving love. The Cross is therefore not the contradiction of God's glory it is its supreme revelation.

Grace & peace in the Lord Jesus Christ, Ps Terry.

Listen to 2026-08-09-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt14b by Stephen James Davidson on

02/08/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 14a

John 11: The Raising of Lazarus – The Shepherd's Answer to Death

1. Introduction: This Sunday we begin our study of John 11, the climactic 7th sign in John's Gospel. Jesus has just declared: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any man sn**ch them out of my hand." (John 10:28). But what do those words mean when one of Christ's own sheep dies? John 11 is the Shepherd's answer to John 10. The raising of Lazarus is not an isolated miracle. It is the climactic sign of the Book of Signs and the visible demonstration that Jesus is not merely a giver of life but "the Resurrection and the Life."

2. The Place & Time. We consider the historical setting of the miracle and its place in the closing months of Jesus' earthly ministry as He moves steadily toward Jerusalem, the Cross, and His appointed hour."

3. Now a Certain Man... Why does John introduce Lazarus as "a certain man"? We explore John's movement from the particular to the universal, showing how Lazarus becomes representative of humanity itself in the face of death.

4.Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Before Lazarus becomes a sign, he is a brother whom Jesus loves. Before Mary and Martha become theological witnesses, they are grieving sisters. Here we encounter the deeply personal love of Christ.

4. The Participation of God. The Son of God does not save humanity from a distance. He enters our suffering, shares our grief, and stands before a grave and weeps. What Jesus is for this family, He is for all His sheep.

5. The Love of Christ and the Delay of Christ. Why did Jesus delay? What does God's love look like when prayers seem unanswered and heaven appears silent? John 11 teaches that divine delay is never divine indifference.

6. The Lords Table. The lesson concludes at the Lord's Table. We move from the tomb of Lazarus to the Cross of Christ, and finally to the Table of the Church, where we participate in the body and blood of Christ and the eternal life that resides in Him. "The One who called Lazarus from the tomb will shortly enter the tomb Himself, and through His death and resurrection bring humanity into His own life with the Father.

Grace and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ, Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-08-02-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt14a by Stephen James Davidson on

30/07/2026

Ps Andrew just messaged me: -

Shalom Pastor Terry, I would like to ask for your prayer requests.

An international missions conference will be held in Manila on August 22nd.

I, being as ignorant as myself, was nominated as a speaker, and after much deliberation, I accepted. As you know, my English is very poor. I need God's guidance.

it is an international event where over 10,000 missionaries will gather.

Please pray for an effective lecture

26/07/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 13r

John 10:37–42. The Shepherd Still Speaks

1. This week's study concludes Jesus' remarkable dialogue with the Jewish leaders that began at the Feast of Dedication. Surrounded by men holding stones, Jesus does not retreat, retaliate, or cease speaking truth. Instead, He continues to reason, appeal to His works, and graciously invite belief. In this lesson we explore several profound themes that lie at the very heart of John's Gospel:

2. The purpose of the signs. Jesus' miracles are never ends in themselves. They are signs that reveal who He is and point us to His relationship with the Father.

3. The works reveal the Son. Jesus places Himself under the scrutiny of His works: "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me." The issue is never a lack of evidence, but whether we will recognise what the evidence reveals.

4. “The Father is in Me, and I in the Father." We consider one of the greatest Christological statements in Scripture and why the unity of the Father and the Son became the foundation of Nicene theology, defended by Athanasius and later developed by theologians such as T. F. Torrance.

5. Only God can reveal God. The Incarnation is God's self-revelation. Jesus does not merely tell us about the Father—He reveals Him. To see the Son is to see the Father.

6. Revelation is participation. Throughout John's Gospel, God does not reveal Himself merely so that we may know facts about Him. He reveals Himself so that we may share His life. Eternal life is participation in the communion of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.

7. John the Baptist's final testimony. John performed no miracles, yet his witness proved true. His greatness lay not in spectacular signs but in faithfully pointing people to Christ.

8. The Beautiful Contrast. The religious leaders in Jerusalem take up stones, while beyond the Jordan many believe in Him. John's final word is not rejection but faith. The Shepherd still has sheep, and they still hear His voice. "These things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:31)

Grace and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ, Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-07-26-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt13r by Stephen James Davidson on

19/07/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 13p

John 10:31–38 — The Shepherd Still Speaks to … Non-Sheep and Adversaries

1. This week's study continues our exposition of the Good Shepherd discourse and one of the most dramatic confrontations in John's Gospel. Jesus has just declared, "I and My Father are one," and the response is immediate: "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him." The issue is no longer merely what Jesus does, but who Jesus is.

2. The Problem Is Not the Works: Jesus asks, "For which of those good works do you stone Me?" The tragedy is that the issue is not the works themselves, but the One to whom those works point. The stones reveal the hardness of the human heart; the works reveal the goodness of God.

3. An Often-Overlooked Feature of the Passage: Many readers stop at "You do not believe because you are not My sheep" (10:26). Jesus does not. He continues reasoning, appealing, and inviting. Even with stones in their hands, the Shepherd's voice has not fallen silent.

4. Addressing an Apparent Tension. How do we reconcile Jesus' continued engagement with warnings about hardened hearts and divine judgment? Scripture consistently reveals a God who calls, warns, reasons, and invites before judicial hardening ever occurs.

5. The Dialogue Takes an Intriguing Turn. The leaders admit that the works are good but accuse Jesus of blasphemy because, "being a man," He makes Himself God. The debate has moved beyond miracles to the meaning of the miracles and the identity of the One performing them.

6. Psalm 82 and the Context of Scripture. Jesus answers stones with exegesis. His appeal to Psalm 82.6 is not a lesson about human beings becoming gods, but a defence of His unique sonship. A text without a context becomes a pretext.

7. Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. Although Jesus knows who believes and who does not, He never stops speaking. Divine sovereignty does not eliminate witness. The Shepherd gathers His sheep through His voice, His words, His works, and His witness.

8. What Is God Like? The lesson concludes with a profound question: What is God like toward sinners? John's answer is simple: look at Jesus. We see a God who continues speaking to people holding stones, continues offering light to those preferring darkness, and continues saying, "Believe the works."

9. Conclusion: The Shepherd knows His sheep perfectly, yet He continues to let His voice ring out across the whole fold. That voice continues speaking right up to the Cross, where the ultimate revelation of God's heart toward a hostile world is displayed.

Grace & peace in Jesus, Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-07-19-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt13q by Stephen James Davidson on

12/07/2026

The Doctrine of God Revealed through Christ -The Book of Signs in John’s Gospel – Pt 13p


John 10:31–33 — Why Did They Pick Up Stones?

1. This week's study continues our exposition of the Good Shepherd discourse and explores one of the most dramatic moments in John's Gospel "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him." (John 10:31). What provoked such a response? Jesus has just declared "I and My Father are one." The leaders immediately recognise the significance of His words. The issue is no longer simply what Jesus does, but who Jesus is.

2. In this lesson we trace the growing conflict throughout John's Gospel and discover that the attempted stoning in John 10 is not an isolated event but the climax of a confrontation that has been building from the beginning of Jesus' ministry. As Christ reveals Himself with increasing clarity, the responses become increasingly divided. Some hear the Shepherd's voice and follow Him. Others harden their hearts and pick up stones.

3. Along the way we explore. Why Jesus and the Pharisees shared much more in common than we often realise. Why the clearest revelation of Christ frequently provokes the strongest opposition. The relationship between spiritual blindness, unbelief, and hearing the Shepherd's voice. What believers are called to do when people reject the Gospel. Paul's exhortation to "preach the word in season and out of season." Why Jesus continues bearing witness even while surrounded by hostility.

4. The significance of Jesus' question "Many good works have I shown you from My Father; for which of those works do you stone Me?" (John 10:32). Perhaps the great tragedy revealed in this passage is that the problem is not the works. The problem is the One to whom the works point. Again and again, Jesus reveals the Father's goodness through His words and deeds, yet many refuse to believe.

5.The lesson concludes with a powerful contrast: religious leaders standing with stones in their hands, while the Good Shepherd stands before them holding out evidence of the Father's love. The stones reveal the hardness of the human heart. The works reveal the goodness of God. The question John leaves with every reader is the same "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." (John 10:27). Do you hear the Shepherd's voice?

Grace and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ, Ps Terry

Listen to 2026-07-12-TheDoctrineOfGodRevealedThroughChrist-Pt13p by Stephen James Davidson on