Dr Paul Allen

One of our Scottish preachers used to say that the believer has three looks at the Lord's Table. There is, first, a retrospective look. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a commemoration, a celebration of an event in the past. It is an aid to us in remembering the pivotal, redemptive point of history, the point at which the Son of God died for his people. It is not a re-enactment of the sacrifice, but it is a dramatic visual aid to faith as it looks back over history to the point at which the sacrificial lamb died for us. Second, there is a prospective look in the sacrament. It looks forward as surely as it looks back. It anticipates the return of the Lord. It belongs to the design of the Lord's Supper that it is a temporary arrangement "till he comes." The bride of Christ does not remember the death of her bridegroom as a widow but as one who longs for the day when the bridegroom will return to take her home. But, third, there must be an introspective loo...

The first four commandments of the law teach us how to love God, even how to love Him in worship on the day of His choosing. It is important for us to understand the fourth commandment, in which God gives His command for the day of His worship: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). How are we as Christians to observe this commandment? From Creation to Re-Creation From creation until Christ, the people of God worked six days and then rested on the seventh day. This was a picture of their looking forward to eternal rest; the seventh day of creation was not structured with an "evening and morning" as the previous six days (Gen. 2:1–3), which signified that the seventh day had no end and was thus a foretaste of eternity itself. On the other hand, from the work of Christ until the consummation, the people of God rest on the first day and work the next six, looking back on the finished work of Christ. Yet we too look forward to the full consu...

Observing the Sabbath-closing havdalah ritual in 14th-century Spain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) From creation onward, the people of God worshiped on the seventh day of the week. This was a "creation ordinance" that the Creator Himself established by His example, with the intent that His creatures would follow it. He worked six days and called His image-bearers to work (Gen. 2:15); He rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:2; Ex. 20:11; 31:17) and called His image-bearers to rest. He signified this with His benediction, setting apart the seventh day as "holy" (Gen. 2:3). Later, when the Sabbath command was reiterated, we read: "In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed" (Ex. 31:17). The word refreshed (Hebrew, naphash) is used only two other times in the Old Testament : once in reference to giving rest to animals, servants, and visitors within Israel (Ex.23:12), and once in reference to David and his men...

Whore of Babylon (french illuminated "Book of Revelation") (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD .” ( Malachi 4:5 ) This is the next-to-last verse of the Old Testament and so marks the final mention in the Old Testament of the fearsome theme of the Day of the Lord. As the text says, it will be a “great and dreadful day.” This phrase occurs frequently in the Bible , reminding us over and over again that although God is merciful and longsuffering, He will not remain silent forever. Man’s “day” will end someday, and the day of the Lord will come. Note some of the other prophecies: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! . . . the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light” ( Amos5:18 ). “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come” ( Joel 2:31 ). “The great day of the LORD . . . is a day of wrath, a da...

Sunday Morning (Photo credit: jspaw ) Let's talk about church members who attend their home church with great irregularity. These aren’t unchurched folks, or de- churched , or under-churched. They are semi-churched. They show up some of the time, but not every week. They are on again/off again, in and out, here on Sunday and gone for two. That’s the scandal of the semi-churched. In fact, Thom Rainer argues that the number one reason for the decline in church attendance is that church members don’t go to church as often as they used to. We’ve had Christmas and Easter Christians for probably as long as we’ve had Christmas and Easter. Some people will always be intermittent with their church attendance. We're not talking about nominal Christians who wander into church once or twice a year. We're talking about people who went through the trouble of joining a church, have no particular beef with the church, and still only darken its doors once or twice a month. If ther...

Prophet Isaiah, Russian icon from first quarter of 18th cen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty  (Isa. 13:6). From chapter 13 to chapter 24 of Isaiah , the prophet foretells the dreadful and shocking calamities that awaited the Gentiles and those countries that were best known to the Jews , either because they were their enemies or because of their inappropriate commercial connections. Times were changing for these countries , and it is typical when things are in upheaval for men to think that everything is being swept away by blind fate. Very few are aware that such trials and tribulations are appointed and regulated by the purpose of God . Sometimes the few discerning observers of God ’s purposes feel like they are lone voices in a storm, but they nevertheless lift their voices and warn others of God’s righteous judgment. There is nothing more difficult than to convince men that the provid...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Matthew 6:9-15 "If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" ( v. 14 ). After Jesus tells us not to pray like the hypocrites, He teaches us how to commune with God properly. Today's passage contains what is traditionally called the Lord's Prayer , though this title is bit of a misnomer. Properly speaking, our Savior cannot pray this prayer in the same way we can because He has no need of forgiveness ( Matt. 6:12 ; 1 Peter 2:22 ). The Disciples' Prayer is probably a more accurate title, commentators note, since Christ 's followers pray it. In any case, these words from our Lord are among the most beloved sections of Scripture, and our study can offer only the barest glimpse of their meaning. First, it is significant that Jesus teaches us to pray our Father, not my Father ( v. 9 ). This prayer is meant to be prayed corporately; Christian piety is not an individualistic affair...