What is implied here?
1. That the soul outlives the body. The house in which it dwelt falls into ruins, and it seeks a new home with God.
2. That the soul’s true rest is in God. During this earthly pilgrimage, we long to be with God, Psa 73:25.
3. That the soul is of great value. We commit our dead bodies to our friends; let our living souls be kept safe by God.
4. That a great change comes upon us at death.…
(Source unknown)…
There are three principal ways in which Christ’s death has been understood in the church:-
First, there is the type of account which sees the cross as having its effects purely on us: it reveals God’s love to us; it tells us how much God hates sin; it sets us a supreme example of godliness; it blazes a trail to God, which we may now follow. The cross motivates us to seek God and it opens up the flow of divine life. …
‘Holiness’ means the same as ‘sanctification’. These terms occur 1,000 times in the OT; 300 times in the NT.
To be ‘holy’ means (a) to be set apart for a special (usually religious) purpose; (b) to be morally pure.
‘Holiness has love for its essence, humility for its clothing, the good of others as its employment, and the honor of God as its end.’ (Nathanael Emmons)
Many things are persons are referred to in the Bible as being holy, including:-
1.…
Summarising a recent post written by J.D. Greear:-
We tend to think of idolatry as something practiced long ago by primitive peoples. But idolatry is just as alive today as it always has been; it just wears different clothes.
A reading of Acts 19 prompts the following thoughts about idolatry, ancient and modern.
1. An idol is anything that promises you a life of security and joy apart from God. In Acts 19, Artemis is described as the ‘protector’ and prosperer’ of Ephesus. …
Under the heading of ‘The Pervasive Influence of the Cross’, John Stott has identified the following affirmations in the letter to the Galatians:-
1. The cross and salvation, Gal 1:3-5
2. The cross and experience, Gal 2:19-21
3. The cross and preaching, Gal 3:1-3
4. The cross and substitution, Gal 3:10-14
5. The cross and persecution, Gal 5:11; 6:12
6. The cross and holiness, Gal 5:24
7. The cross and boasting, Gal 6:14.…
Attempts at harmonisation
The earth is a sphere, floating free in space. Matter consists of microscopic particles. There are mountains on the ocean floor. Light can be divided into separate colours. There are an incalculable number of stars. The continents originated as one large land mass. The universe contains black holes and dark matter.
These just some of the anticipations of the findings of modern science that are said to be found in the Bible.
‘Righteousness is that attribute by which God’s nature is seen to be the eternally perfect standard of what is right. It is closely related to God’s holiness (or moral perfection), on one hand, and to God’s moral law or will as an expression of his holiness, on the other hand. Even though there is no distinction between righteousness and justice in the biblical vocabulary, theologians often use the former to refer to the attribute of God in himself and the latter to refer to the actions of God with respect to his creation.…
This is a summary of a paper written by J.C. Ryle, and published as the first chapter of his book Practical Religion.
Text: Acts 15:36
We live in an age of peculiar spiritual privileges. There is a great deal of interest in the Christian faith, and in the way of salvation.
We live in an age of peculiar spiritual danger. There is a great deal of nominal or superficial Christianity.
1. …
Not all prayers for healing will be answered in this age. God may withold healing for his own sovereign reasons. Though we continue to experience the ‘sufferings of this present time’, Rom 8:28, and ‘groan inwardly as we wait for…the redemption of our bodies’, Rom 8:18,23, we nevertheless ‘know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose’, Rom 8:28. Paul recognised that ‘our outer nature is wasting away’, 2 Cor 4:16, and that sometimes sickness and disease would not be healed.…
