What the word of God says about the word of God

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Jared Wilson has pointed out that each and every book of the Bible has something hugely significant to say about the word (and words) of God.

I can’t do better than reproduce his outline in full:-

The word of God is . . .

Effectual

Genesis 1:3 – And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Personal

Exodus 6:2 – God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.”

Authoritative

Leviticus 20:22 – You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.…

Acts 4:5-31 Praying under pressure – sermon notes

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Praying Under Pressure, Acts 4:5-31 (esp. 23-31)

The healing of the crippled beggar, 3:1-10 – Peter’s speech to the people, 11-26 – Peter & John brought before the Sanhedrin, 4:1-7 – Peter’s reply, 8-12 – They are warned to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, 13-17 – Peter refuses, 18-22 – They return to their fellow-believers, who offer a remarkable prayer.  So:-

1. Be clear who you are praying to, vv24-28

This is the longest part of the prayer!…

Signs and wonders today?

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Does God grant signs and wonders in response to the prayers of Christians today?  Some very readily answer, ‘No’, and every scrap of interest or belief in contemporary miracles is dismissed as ‘strange fire’.  Others reply with a simple, ‘Yes!’, regarding any doubt of qualification as a quenching of the Holy Spirit.

I like John Piper‘s candour, when he tells us how much he has struggled over the question of whether we should pray, as the early Christians prayed (Acts 4:29-30), for such miracles today. …

Miracles: sixteen theses

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After all these years, my thoughts and feelings about miracles are still a bit of a jumble.  I offer the following as an attempt to ‘nail my colours to the fence’ (as it were).  These are pretty much bare propositions; elaboration by way of argument or evidence may be found elsewhere:-

  1. A miracle is an extraordinary event in the natural world, prompting people to respond, “This is the Lord’s doing, it is wonderful in our eyes.” 
…

Scripture: three steps forward, two steps back?

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No thoughtful reader of the Bible will deny that there is progression and development as God’s revelation unfolds.  Sometimes, this means that the old has become redundant, in the light of the new.  The good becomes the better, and the better becomes the best.  Read the book of Hebrews if you have any doubt about this.

But this is a far cry from the teaching of Richard Rohr, who says:-

‘Scripture is a polyphonic symphony, a conversation with itself, where it plays melodies and dissonance— three steps forward, two steps back.

…

Jesus’ view of the Old Testament

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See also: Christ and the Bible (John Wenham), chapter 1, the substance of which is available in the form of this article.
There is overwhelming evidence that Jesus regarded the Old Testament scriptures in an entirely positive light in respect of their inspiration and authority.  The following summary of this evidence comes from The Topical Analysis of the Bible (ed. Elwell).

1. Christ Affirmed the OT’s Historicity

a) The Historicity of OT Persons

(1) Abel, Matt.…

Gambling

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“I was very sorry to hear, some days ago, that a member of the Church had won a prize in the State Lottery. Gambling is a great social evil, and when a thing like this happens I think that it is my duty to say something about it.…

“Money is the most inclusive sign of the material aspect of human life. It represents the results of man’s labour made available for use of others. We accept it as a gift from God, and we offer a part of it in worship as the token of our gratitude to Him.…

Christian witness

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An outline of a talk by John Stott:-

I. Doctrinal Aspect
“Witness” q.v.

II. Practical Aspect
A testimony is NOT (necessarily) a biography, i.e., sketch of circumstances of one’s conversion, BUT a recommendation of Christ. A testimony is a testimonial—recommending Christ from personal experience.
Its purpose is to advertise or uplift Christ as:

• Savior who found and forgave us
• Keeper who is holding us fast and leading us on
• Master who is teaching us His will
• Guide who is revealing His plan
• Friend who never leaves us

Therefore—

(i) Be humble.…

Discussion starters, Ruth

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(a) This has been described as one of the most beautiful books ever written.  Do you agree?  What makes it so beautiful?

(b) What do you think God wants us to learn from this book about love and loyalty?

(c) Look at what Boaz says to Ruth about her reputation (Ruth 2:11).  What would a honest person say about your reputation?

(d) What does this book teach us about ‘learning to trust God in the dark’?…

Discussion starters, Acts 3 – 4:31

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(a) What, according to this passage (see especially Acts 3:13-26; 4:10-12), were the main things that the early Christians stressed when they spoke about Jesus?

(b) Can you think of any recent occasion when a celebrity has confessed publicly to some wrongdoing?  How similar, or different, is the ‘repentance’ that Peter talks about in Acts 3:19?

(c) Do you think that Christians in our own country can expect more, or less, opposition to their faith in the future? …