Text: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Let’s begin by celebrating some of the great achievements of the human race….
But there is one path of enquiry that is shut to us; one horizon beyond which we are unable to see…
The world, through its own unaided wisdom, cannot, does not, and never will, know God, 1 Cor 1:21.
But there is a wisdom that comes from God, a wisdom of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.
It is invisible, inaudible, unimaginable, 1 Cor 2:9.…
It is sometimes thought that because the ‘charismata’ are directly discussed only infrequently in Paul’s writings, they were regarded by the apostle as the marks of an immature church, and needed to be discouraged or actually suppressed.
However, it is at least as plausible to argue that Paul took the exercise of spiritual gifts more or less for granted in the churches, and he felt the need to discuss them in detail only when there were problems (as at Corinth).…
Ephesians 4:1-16
Ephesians the Switzerland of the NT.
But Switzerland isn’t all mountain peaks, and Ephesians isn’t all lofty doctrine.
We move from belief to behaviour, from principles to practice, from our wealth in Christ to our walk in Christ, from doctrine to duty, from exposition to exhortation, from the indicative to the imperative, from what God has done to what we must do, from the credenda to the agenda
Yet the two parts of Ephesians are closely connected. …
It is a horrible thought to try to imagine life without someone you dearly love.
The disciples were having to get used to the prospect of life without Jesus.
There they are, sitting around the table sharing one last meal with Jesus. They listen with increasing alarm as he tells them that he must leave them. On top of that, he warns them that they can expect to be treated with terrible hostility after his departure.…
J.I. Packer writes:-
…‘Prior to Pentecost…the Spirit sustained creation and natural life, renewed hearts, gave spiritual understanding, and bestowed gifts for service both in leadership and in other ways, and all this he still does. The difference since Pentecost is that all his present ministry to Christian believers relates not to Christ who was to come, as was the case when he ministered to Old Testament sains (see, for hints of this, John 8:56-59; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Hebrews 11:26; 1 Peter 1:10); nor as it did when Simeon and Anna recognised him (Luke 2:25-38), and during his three years of public ministry; it relates now to Christ who has come and has died and risen and now reigns in glory.
These are the notes of a short talk given at an informal breakfast ‘event’.
The other day, someone I work with was waiting for a bus to take her to work. The bus came on time, but sailed straight past her. So much for that journey. She was abandoned.
A couple of months ago, my wife & I were expecting to attend the wedding of the daughter of one of her friends. The Wednesday before the wedding day, her fiancee called the whole thing off.…
Jonathan Edwards famously identified the distinguishing marks of a work of the Holy Spirit. It is by these that we may tell the difference between mere religious excitement and a genuine work of God.
1. The Spirit of God in his work in men raises ‘their esteem of that Jesus who was born of the Virgin, and was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem’, confirming ‘their minds in the truth of what the gospel declares to us of his being the Son of God, and the Saviour of men.’…
It has been said that ‘the Bible without the Holy Spirit is like a sun-dial at night.’
J.I. Packer has written:-
‘The Spirit’s witness to Scripture is like his witness to Jesus, which we find spoken of in Jn 15:26 and 1 Jn 5:7. (cf. 1 Jn 2:20,27) It is a matter not of imparting new information but of enlightening previously darkened minds to discern divinity through sensing its unique impact – the impact in the case of the Jesus of the gospel, and in the other case of the words of Holy Scripture.…
A key question in debates about the ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ is whether this describes a separate stage of salvation or not.
Some have argued in the affirmative. For instance, Pentecostal leader Ralph Riggs asserted that:-
The baptism with the Spirit is a work of the Holy Spirit distinct from and subsequent and additional to His regeneration work. A man may be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit.…
Baghdad, July 30th 1919.
Dear Walter,
I’ve got some very sad news to tell you, last night when down at the river bathing poor old Eric was drowned. You must forgive me for putting it so blunt, but I feel too full up with it to say much about it. We were bathing as usual and poor old Eric went down. We dived with ropes round us and swam about for half an hour but nothing was seen of him. …
