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The Holy Spirit

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INTRODUCING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Here are some of his names and titles:-

Breath of the Almighty…Power of the Most High…Spirit of power…Spirit of the Father…Spirit of the Living God…Eternal Spirit…Holy Spirit…Power of the Most High…Sevenfold Spirit…Spirit of the Lord…Spirit of fear of the  Lord…Spirit of life…Spirit of truth…Spirit of revelation…Spirit of knowledge…Spirit of understanding…Spirit of wisdom…Spirit of prophecy…Spirit of holiness…Spirit of glory…Spirit of fire…Spirit of counsel…Spirit of Christ…Spirit of sonship…Spirit of grace…

It is clear that we are talking about a Divine Being. …

Faith lessons from Abraham

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Some lessons on faith from the story of Abraham in Genesis 15-18.

1. Faith is a response to God’s Word

Abraham took God at his word concerning the birth of a son in his old age.  Faith is not some kind of quality worked up in our own minds (‘believing in God for a miracle’).  It is simply taking God at his word.  If this is so, then the more we get into God’s word the stronger our faith will become.…

Biblical words for ‘love’

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In an article in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, D.A. Carson warns against ‘word-based reductionism’:-

‘When Amnon incestuously rapes his half-sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13, LXX), twice we are told that he ‘loved’ her, once with agapaō and once with phileō. It is hard to see how this love differs from erōs, acquisitive and sexual love (though the word erōs is never found in the Bible). Twice John tells us that the Father ‘loves’ the Son, once using agapaō (John 3:35), once using phileō (John 5:20), and it is difficult to detect any difference in meaning.

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Platitudes tested

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Trevin Wax reports:-

In 1911, Holbrook Jackson, a disciple of Nietzsche, wrote a book called Platitudes in the Making.  He sent a copy to G.K. Chesterton, who write, in a green pencil, a response to nearly all of Jackson’s pithy platitudes.

Here are some examples: with Jackson’s proposals in bold type, and Chesterton’s responses in italics:-

  • As soon as an idea is accepted it is time to reject it. No: it is time to build another idea on it.
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Ryle and the future of the Jews

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In his book ‘Coming Events and Present Duties’ (1867/1879), J.C. Ryle summarises his views on prophecy and presents a handful of sermons preached on various aspects of this subject.

Concerning the future of the Jews, Ryle states:-

‘I believe that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ, after going through great tribulation. (Jeremiah 30:10, 11; 31:10; Romans 11:25, 26; Daniel 12:1; Zech.

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Gen 12:1-9 – The three horizons (sermon notes)

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Genesis 12:1-9

After repeated failure, here is God’s new beginning.

Three horizons:-

1. An individual – Abraham

v2 – “I will bless you…I will make your name great.”

Many obstacles: – too old; childless wife; land already occupied, v6;  famine (v10)!  imperfect character!  not the top candidate (why not Melchizedek?)!

He ‘did not receive the things promised,’ (Heb 11:13).  By the end of his life, all he had was one field and one son.

He ‘obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going, (Heb 11:8). …

Jews for Jesus?

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‘Older Younger Brother: ‘The tragic treatment of the Jews by the Christians’.

This is a 50-page booklet by Canon Andrew White (‘The Vicar of Baghdad’), published in 2014.

It has been placed into my hands by some Christian friends, and I offer here some words of summary and response.

White begins by setting out the context of his life-long ‘love for the Middle East and…hatred of all anti-Judaic polemic.’

He reminds Christians of how much they owe to the Jews:-

Their total history of salvation from the time of Abraham came through the Jewish people. …

‘If the church were Christian’ – intro

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In his 2010 book, If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus, Quaker pastor Philip Gulley offers a recipe for, well, making the Church Christian.  Richard Rohr thinks that the recipe is ‘superb’, and restates it in the following words:-

  1. Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship.
  2. Affirming people’s potential is more important than reminding them of their brokenness.
  3. The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.
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Praying the Psalms politically

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John Goldingay writes:-

In his book Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community, Eugene Peterson studies “psalms that shaped the politics of Israel and can shape the politics of America” [or Great Britain]:

2            the unselfing of America
87          unself-made
110        unself-centered
93          unself-government
46          unself-help
62          unself-assertion
77          unself-pity
14          unself-righteous
82          unself-serving
114        unself-sufficient
45          unself-love

He comments, “writing about prayer is not prayer; neither is reading about it.…

Who are ‘the righteous’ in the Psalms?

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On a number of occasions, David and the other psalmists claim for themselves an innocence that appears to be unwarranted.  Was not David guilty of grievous sins, and did he not know it (Psa 51)?  Are we all not at best forgiven sinners, for whom protestations of innocence are always and entirely out of place?

This issue is helpfully discussed by Christopher Ash in Volume One of Teaching Psalms (chapter 6).  Here’s a summary.

We meet those who can be referred to as ‘righteous’ as early as Psalm 1:5.…