Dr Paul Allen

Antichrist with the devil, from the Deeds of the Antichrist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Antichrist is not a system of evil, nor an anti-Christian organization, but instead, a single individual being, a person yet to appear. In support of this we appealed to the declaration of our Lord recorded in John 5:43; “I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” Here the Saviour both compares and contrasts the Man of Sin with Himself. The point of comparison is that, like the Saviour, he shall offer himself to Israel ; the contrast is, that unlike Christ who was rejected by the Jews , the false messiah shall be “received” by them. If, then, the Antichrist many be compared and contrasted with the Christ of God, he, too, must be a person, an individual being. Again; we called attention to the expression used by the apostle Paul in 2 Thess. 2:—“That Man of Sin,” “the Son of Perdition ,” “he that opposeth and exalteth hi

The Jordan River (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Gospel writers point us to any number of watershed moments in the life of Jesus —moments that dramatically changed his life on earth. But the first such moment is one that literally involved water. From the day of his baptism, Jesus was recognized as one who taught with authority, and he was baptized in the water of the Jordan River for a reason. Within the culture of first-century Judaism, ritual immersion in water was used in a variety of ways, each of which involved living water. The Jewish oral law known as the Mishnah carefully defines various sources for such living water. The purest form of living water is rainfall. Therefore, any water source that flows or directs rainfall is said to contain living water.4 Thus by definition, the water of a river, lake, or sea was considered living water. A manmade pool (Hebrew, mikveh) could also contain living water if it was constructed properly and was fed from a source that collected

1 Corinthians 12:4–6 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Next, Paul emphasizes that a variety of gifts are needed. But this variety must have the underlying unity of the Trinity, as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cooperate to bring a harmonious expression that edifies the assembly. The Holy Spirit wants to honor Jesus, not only by calling Him Lord but by distributing “different kinds” of spiritual gifts ( Gk. charismata, freely given, gracious gifts; cf. charis, “grace”). The one Holy Spirit is the source of them all. Similarly, the variety of kinds of service, or ministry, (Gk. diakoniōn) has its source in the one Lord Jesus , and the different kinds of working, or activities, (Gk. energēmatōn) come from the one God who works effectively in all of them and in everyone (see Eph. 3:20; Col. 1:29). The terms “gifts,

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” ( 1 John 4:14 ) This unique title of the Lord Jesus Christ assures us that when the Father sent His Son away from the glories of heaven down to a world lost in sin, it was not just to be the Messiah of the Jews , or to assume David’s throne as King of Israel , or to punish the wicked Gentile nations. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” ( John 3:17 ). In fact, this special title is used only one other time in the Bible, and it was used by Samaritans rather than Jews when they came to know Jesus as He ministered among them for two days. These people were mostly of Gentile background with a mixture of Israeli blood who had become adherents of a quasi- Jewish religion that was also part pagan. But they were actually looking for a Savior, and their testimony after meeting Jesus was: “Now we believe . . . and know th

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The great unmentioned subject at the heart of much of Pauline theology is God himself. Paul most fully celebrates the glory of God when he presents his gospel, not simply as a message of how individuals get saved from sin and death, but how God has brought Jew and Gentile together into one body. Romans 15:1–13 states this great aim: that Jew and Gentile alike “may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (Rom 15:6).  Mutual welcome is mandatory within the body of Christ —

English: Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew , ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" ( John 4 :7-9) In John 4:7-9, Jesus crossed three barriers. The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews. In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the Israelites who lived there. In their place, the Assyrians brought other peoples to populate the land (see 2 Kings 17:24). These Gentiles sought to worship both the gods of their homelands and the local deity, the God of the Israelites, so they mixed the religions. This was a grave offense to the Jews, and over the centuries their hatred only grew as the Samari

Christ and the Samaritan woman  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew , ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" ( John 4 :7-9) In John 4:7-9, Jesus crossed three barriers.  The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews. In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the Israelites who lived there. In their place, the Assyrians brought other peoples to populate the land (2 Kings 17:24). These Gentiles sought to worship both the gods of their homelands and the local deity, the God of the Israelites, so they mixed the religions. This was a grave offense to the Jews, and over the centuries their hatred only grew as the Samaritans developed their o

St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees , hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” ( Matthew 23:15 ) Among the eight “woes” in Matthew 23 is this frightening possibility that false teaching will produce double wickedness—a multiplying effect that redounds to terrible consequences. Jesus said that these self-righteous and hatefilled Pharisees were of the devil ( John 8:44 ) and were so intent on resisting the truth that they were ready to kill if they could silence the message of liberty. Paul condemned Elymas the sorcerer as “full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness” ( Acts 13:10 ). During a great revival in Iconium , “the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles , and made their minds evil affected against the brethren” ( Acts 14:2 ). And they were not conten