He is, after all, the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the tabernacle and the priests who served in it were sanctified to the Lord. Given the detail of the instructions regarding its structure and their service, one might be excused for imagining that these details somehow led to the sanctification of the tabernacle, or […]
What brand name are you? A friend of mine observed a couple praying for their food in a restaurant. Guessing that they were Christians and encouraged by their boldness in the Lord, he went to their table and introduced himself as a fellow believer. Their response was, “What’s the name of your church?” Instead of […]
My wife has never asked me to tell her that I love her or to buy her a Christmas present. (In fact, she regularly insists I needn’t buy her any presents at all. I am not fooled.) I would be a foolish man (in more ways than one) if I were to conclude that her […]
The fledgling saints at Thessalonica show us the way. What makes a local church a model to be admired or even emulated? Most would look at the visible signs of growth. For many Christians, the number of people meeting would be proof that the right things are happening. They would conclude that the programs would […]
Principle Number Three: The Good Shepherd volunteers to shepherd (Jn. 10:16-18). This third principle is first suggested in John 10:16: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring…” The word for “must” (dei) carries the idea of an unavoidable and urgent necessity based on the very nature […]
Roots in the Bible bring fruit in the saints. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Such were Paul’s parting words to the elders at Ephesus (Ac. 20:32). […]
Learning to draw lines. To fathom, even to a limited degree, the depths of God’s wisdom and savor the beauty of His ways, the Bible student must “rightly divide” the Word. If we fail to do so, our view will be distorted, our position unbalanced, and our interpretation faulty. What do we mean by the […]
Their spiritual growth was evident to all. Is ours? Paul the apostle wrote the first letter to the Thessalonian church while he was in Corinth. According to Acts 17, Paul spent approximately three weeks with the fledgling church. After his success in depleting the ranks of the synagogue by exposing them to the light of […]
We have received “grace upon grace,” “manifold” and “unsearchable riches” of His grace. We may ransack every dictionary in the world only to discover that there are no adjectives that adequately describe the grace of God. It is so multifaceted, versatile, all-inclusive, and all-embracing. By this we dare to mean that there is no circumstance […]