Acts 4 recounts the first of many instances of persecution experienced by the followers of Jesus. Here, Peter and John find themselves on trial before the very men who had accused and condemned their Lord. Yet they faithfully bear witness to Jesus, declaring that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no […]
Under the Old Covenant, when the Law was given to the people of God on tablets of stone, three thousand fell by the sword (Ex 32:25-29). But under the New Covenant, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on God’s people to write the Law on their new-creation hearts, three thousand were saved, baptized, and […]
What does the church need for effective witness in the world today? Do we need celebrity pastors to attract ‘seekers’ with inspiring messages? How about awesome worship ‘experiences’ that merely copy the world’s entertainment? Do we need a fresh demonstration of signs and wonders? Or should we keep quiet on the sound doctrine that the […]
Today, we live in a secular age, where belief in God is simply one of many options available to us to improve our quality of life. We live in a distracted age, where we think and live only in materialistic terms, concerned with our immediate comfort and personal fulfillment, viewing this present life as all […]
After two years through the gospel of Luke we come to the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. But this is far from the end of his story. The exaltation of the risen Lord Jesus to the right hand of the Father, and the sending of the promised Holy Spirit, was the catalyst that sparked the […]
In the Old Testament, three significant types of people were anointed and set apart for service: prophets, priests, and kings. When Jesus came into the world, he came as the Christ, the Anointed One par excellence. And as the Christ, he holds all three of these offices. As prophet, he reveals the will of God for our […]
After the devil had ended his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, Luke tells us “he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, however, that time had now come. It was time for the Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, to be led like a lamb […]
During the days leading up to his death in Jerusalem, Jesus has spent his time pronouncing judgment on the temple leadership and the nation of Israel for rejecting him as the Christ, the Son of God. It’s within this context of judgment that we find one of the more familiar stories in Scripture: the story […]
For the unbeliever, the truth of God’s omniscience and omnipresence is a terrifying reality. There is no word, no deed, no thought, nor hidden motive of the heart that is not completely exposed before our all-knowing God; “no creature is hidden from his sight” (Heb. 4:13). And if we dare attempt to flee from the presence of […]
