When an important issue like this arises, it brings to light the spiritual state of everyone involved. Let us first consider the candidate. Over the past few years, this individual will doubtless have faced problems, difficulties, and opportunities that have arisen in their family, their assembly, and in the community. If they have not handled […]
Egocentrism is the spirit of the age. Our lives as believers should be centered on Christ, loving what He loves—especially His people. We often apply the things we read in the Bible to ourselves as individuals, as though the instructions were written to us in isolation from other Christians. But having the privilege of reading […]
How crucial to understand what the Bible says about that Person who has taken up residence in every believer’s heart. The Holy Spirit is arguably the most misunderstood person of the Trinity. Thanks to the twentieth century rise of Pentecostalism, along with the subsequent emergence of the “Signs and Wonders Movement,” the Holy Spirit is […]
Having gone to great lengths to preserve this revelation in written form, the Spirit of God now leans over our shoulders as the gracious teacher of His own text. One of the most enjoyable studies the believer can engage in is the study of how each of the persons of the Godhead is involved in […]
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. [Mt. 6:33] A new believer does not initially need a crash course in homiletics, Bible commentaries, computer programs, or topical studies on any and every possible spiritual theme. While there is not necessarily anything wrong […]
Don’t count the days; make the days count. The apostle Paul often alluded to athletics to illustrate divine truth. In every case, he used it, not as we often think of sports today—for leisure and entertainment—but to call the people of God to a life of rigor, sacrifice, determination, and single-mindedness. The runner lays aside […]
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” [1 Cor. 12:7] The Holy Spirit of God plays a vital role in the proper functioning of the Church. The Holy Spirit baptizes individuals into the body of Christ, “makes” men overseers of the flock, manifests spiritual gifts in the […]
The first time I had the privilege to preach through the book of Nehemiah was immediately following a sad division in a local assembly. It seemed as if the local testimony was on the verge of ruin. The saints had asked for something to encourage them. The clarion call of “let us rise up and […]
Forever is coming, whether we like it or not. The question is: which forever? Physicists and astronomers proclaim they know how and when the universe began and approximately when and how it will end. In the book, Endless Universe, the authors begin the story of the universe with the words: “From nothing” and “from nowhere” […]