Dr Paul Allen

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 12:22 –23 “All the people were amazed, and said, ‘Can this be the Son of David ?’” (v. 23). Jesus warns the people not to spread the news of His healing miracles in order to keep His identity from being disclosed too soon (Matt. 9:27–31; 12:15–16), but He does not tell them they are wrong to call Him the son of David — the  Messiah . Our Savior does not yet proclaim Himself as the Messiah publicly, but neither does He correct those who see that He is the Christ . This passage reveals that Jesus’ healings and exorcisms prompt many to see Him as the son of David (vv. 22–23). A study of this title will help us understand why this is the case, and it will give us more insight into Christ’s role. David was the greatest king of ancient Israel . However, the idea of a ruler does not originate with the birth of David, for the necessity of kingship goes all the way back to creation itself. I...

  Author: Tim Challies. Is it fact or fiction? That is the question everyone asks when they first encounter Jonathan Cahn’s book  The Harbinger . The answer is both, I guess—a little from column a and a little from column b. How about this:  The Harbinger  is meant to be fact presented in the form of a novel; in reality it is an unfortunate mixture of truth and error presented in the form of a script. Still with me? What is demonstrably factual is that  The Harbinger  is a phenomenon. It has held steady for forty weeks on the  New York Times  list of bestsellers, selling over 700,000 copies through fifteen reprints. At the time I write this, Amazon ranks it #2 on their list of Christian fiction and #7 on their list of Christian theology . The book had largely escaped my view until the past few weeks when I received a series of emails from people wondering what it was all about. I finally caved and read it. Consider this more of ...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia "For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water." ( Isaiah 3:1 )   Isaiah lived and wrote during a time of spiritual poverty in the nations of Judah and Israel , as well as national decline. He foresaw and foretold in graphic detail the coming captivities of both nations, but was particularly concerned with the state and future of his homeland, Judah, and his hometown, Jerusalem.   The first several chapters of his book consist of a strong denunciation of the practices of the people of Judah. The nation was literally disintegrating due to rampant sin. In preparation for the coming national and ultimate judgments, Isaiah warned against personal pride and reliance on human resources. "The loftiness of man shall be . . . made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day" ( 2:17 ).   In our text, the word...