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No One Ever Spoke Like This Man

The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” – John 7:46 Those words are more true than probably the officers knew. Never a truer word was spoken by those officers than what they said there. And John intentionally frames it in that way for that reason. Truly, no…

A Little Knowledge = Danger! (John 7:40-52)

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.— A Scandal in Bohemia (Arthur Conan Doyle) How often wrong assumptions are made about people! “That person hates me because he did this.” or…

Why the Whole Church Need to Think About Eldership

The matter of eldership is not just a matter for those who are elders because—as we saw in the Ephesians passage last week—the whole church—not just the elders, the whole church—grows into maturity through Christ’s gift of leaders, and therefore the whole church—including non-elders—need to understand and be shaped by…

Once Repented, Always Repented?

You may be concerned that you have repented already so what’s the point of being urged to repent again? Well it’s important that we don’t repent in circles, sins forgiven are forgiven and we have no need to repeat ourselves. But on the other hand, in the Christian life, sometimes…

How to be Made Like Jesus

If you come to the Lord Jesus, you will be accepted with open arms, welcomed. And you too will be given a measure of the Holy Spirit. You too will be given wisdom. You too will be able to do the work of God. You will be able to be…

The Law That Drives Us to Christ

We’ve talked quite a lot in the past about the importance of the Ten Commandments for believers, and that’s quite clear. I don’t want you to miss Exodus 20:2: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’ So, salvation is…

Ezekiel Recap

Right, just to give you some background as to what the book of Ezekiel is. The people of God in Judah were exiled to Babylon as part of the discipline that the Lord brought them through, and Ezekiel went with them. And he received visions while he was among the…

Quote: The Cross is First of All for God, Not Us

Christ’s death had its effect first on God, who was hereby propitiated (or, better, who hereby propitiated himself), and only because it had this effect did it become an overthrowing of the powers of darkness and a revealing of God’s seeking and saving love. J.I. Packer, 1973. Source.

Union with Christ in the Local Church

The most significant expression of union with Christ is in the local church. Yes, there is a personal aspect—a Christian does come to Jesus individually—but it does not stop there. God has given the church to confirm and strengthen that union. Just like a marriage involves witnesses and a community,…