We must remember, too, the constant coming and going which in those days took place throughout the world, how Jews from all quarters went up to keep the Passover and other feasts at Jerusalem; how the great Roman empire stretched from our own island of Britain as far as Persia and Ethiopia, and people from all parts of it were continually going to

MatthewThis book opens the New Testament with the genealogy of Jesus, and the Good News breaking forth. Like all the gospels, Matthew covers the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Appearing in the late 60s AD, it was written by Matthew, one of the disciples. His Jewish cultural heritage significantly influences the events Matthew highl

Like the spies Joshua sent into Jericho, the apostles were an advance force for the conquering purposes of God. But the means of their conquest were quite different. Jesus rebuked James and John for wanting to execute holy war on Samaritans that had rejected the gospel (Luke 9:51–56). Their mission was to preach the gospel of Christ’s kingdom. Jesu

2) No other Christian will accept you and love you now, so you must disguise your sin by any means you can.But in mutual confession we discover and overcome his lies, and break the blackmailing grip that Satan has gained over us. It brings us back into the fellowship from which we have withdrawn out of guilt and a fear of discovery.5. Forgiveness a

The enemies of the church have been restless in their endeavours to wear out the saints of the Most High, Daniel 7:25. But he that sits in heaven shall laugh at them. See Psalms 2:4.(Adapted from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, Exodus 1:15-22)A Thought to KeepWe choose to fear God or to fear man every day in little ways. Do you have

1. The Birthmark of ConfessionThe first is the birthmark of confession, described in 1 John 5:1: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”The Bible teaches that we are sinners, separated from God by a sinful nature. We can never earn, buy, or climb our way into heaven. By our own efforts or goodness, we can never be saved. That’s

READ From The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard3 Never Again(Apsley Cherry-Garrard was one of Scott’s expedition members. Heformed a search party and eventually found the bodies of Scott and hiscompanions, along with Scott’s journal entries.) There are many reasons which send men to the poles, and the Intellectual Forc

The lines of promise and pattern point to conquest and suffering. Building on Isaiah, the angel Gabriel informs Daniel that the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing (Dan. 9:26). Similarly, Zechariah speaks of Israel looking on the Lord, “him whom they have pierced,” and mourning over him “as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zech. 12:10). Zechariah

Zephaniah – the Warrior who savesHaggai – restores our worshipZechariah – prophesies a Messiah pierced for usMalachi – sun of righteousness who brings healingMatthew – the Messiah who is KingMark – the Messiah who is a ServantLuke – the Messiah who is a DelivererJohn – the Messiah who is a God in the fleshActs – the Spirit who dwells in His peopleR

1. The witness of the churchFor virtually all of church history the people of God have held that homosexual behaviour is sinful. This is still the case for the vast majority of Christians around the world today. Those in the church who demand that we affirm homosexual behaviour are proposing something that virtually every member of the universal ch

Marriage is a gift – an amazing blessing from God. Yet often, the greatest gifts in life are not always cherished the way they should be. Maybe because life gets busy, or we get hurried and distracted. Maybe because we start to take one another for granted. Or we disagree and let resentments hang on longer than they should. Life gets hard.There&rsq

Another Gospel?Liberal Christianity, most readers will agree, is not Christianity at all, or, at best, a corrupt version. As J. Gresham Machen argued so eloquently in the last century, liberal Christianity has many appealing features, and much to commend it. In many ways it is a quite fascinating and alluring religion. It even uses all the language

Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."  David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it

3.Jesus came to establish a New Testament, as the puts it, better translated as a New Covenant, not attainable by any other means than His death on the cross for us.The Scriptures affirm the Church age believer to be intimately involved in the New Covenant, but in no way does this involvement limit its ultimate and complete fulfillment with Israel.

The motives behind many of our desires, James implies, is friendship with the world. And that isn't as innocent as it sounds; friendship with the world is enmity with God. We choose either to seek his character, ways, and blessings or the world's character, ways, and blessings, but we can't seek both. And the reason it's an either/or proposition is

Excerpt from a study on Isaiah 6: The Inward Reality of Worship.

5. Fasting produces results.Recently I spoke at a church where everyone was doing the "Daniels Fast" ... eating only fruit, vegetables and nuts. Although I sure some were tempted to go off the fast, there seem to be an ease to doing it. Well, as a body of believers, it is always easier to do things together. However, Anna fasted all alone. What str

1. Make it part of your job.“Thinking is necessary for your job” seems like a silly statement, but it’s a necessary one. Otherwise, we simply complete tasks non-stop and never come up with a new idea.2. First things first.Don’t allow the menial tasks of the day to take precedence over the opportunity to see ahead, hear what’s really going on, and t

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)Jesus crossed three boundaries in just this brief exchange.

1. Paul didn't jump right into full-term ministry.(Galatians 1:13-18)In my mind, Paul met Jesus on a dusty road, spent three days fasting in Damascus, regained his eyesight, then jumped right into ministry to the Gentiles and never looked back. But a closer examination of Scripture tells a little different story. In his letter to the Galatians, Pau