A church member criticized her pastor because he was preaching against sin in the lives of Christians. “After all,” she said, “sin in the life of a believer is different from sin in the lives of unsaved people.” “Yes,” replied the pastor. “It is worse.” While it is true that...
The New Covenant is wholly of God’s grace; no sinner can become a part of this New Covenant without faith in Jesus Christ. Grace and faith go together just as the Law and works go together. The Law says, “The man that doeth them [the things written in the Law]...
The hope of heaven is also an encouragement in times of suffering. As believers, we have our share of suffering; but in the midst of trials, we can rejoice “with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). When unbelievers suffer, they get discouraged and they want to give...
Christian living is a matter of the will, not the feelings. I often hear believers say, “I don’t feel like reading the Bible.” Or, “I don’t feel like attending prayer meeting.” Children operate on the basis of feeling, but adults operate on the basis of will. They act because it...
The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 describe the attitudes that ought to be in our lives today. Four attitudes are described in the Matthew passage. Our attitude toward ourselves (5:3). To be poor in spirit means to be humble, the opposite of the world’s attitudes of self-praise. Our attitude toward our...
Paul gave the believers at Thessalonica the commandments of God regarding personal purity. The word commandments is a military term. It refers to orders handed down from superior officers. We are soldiers in God’s army, and we must obey orders. Paul reminded these new believers that sexual immorality does not...
Today our Lord as our High Priest is seated because His work is completed. There were no chairs in the Old Testament tabernacle because the work of the priests was never finished. Each repeated sacrifice was only a reminder that none of the sacrifices ever provided a finished salvation. The...
Epaphras is an example of a New Testament person who not only won people to Christ, but taught them the Word and helped them to grow. He also prayed that they might become mature in Christ. When danger threatened the members of the church, Epaphras went to Rome to get...
Dr. A.W. Tozer used to remind us that the invisible world described in the Bible is the only “real world.” If we would only see the visible world the way God wants us to see it, we would never be attracted by anything it has to offer. The great men...
Christians are like sheep in more ways than one. Sheep tend to flock together, and God’s people need to be together. Like humans, sheep are notoriously ignorant and prone to wander away if they do not follow the shepherd. Sheep are defenseless, for the most part, and need their shepherd...