Dr Paul Allen

Peter O’Brien’s translation of Colossians 4:2 surprised me: “Persevere in prayer as you watch for the Lord’s return, and be thankful.”[i] What is surprising about that? None of my English translations mentioned “the Lord’s return” — nor does the Greek text! Translated literally, the verse just says: “In prayer, persevere, watching in it with thanksgiving.”  There is nothing explicitly eschatological, and my understanding over the years — it's not my first time to read these words — has been along the lines of Bishop Lightfoot’s comment: “Long continuance in prayer is apt to produce listlessness.  Hence the additional charge that the heart must be awake if the prayer is to have any value.”[ii]If it is not explicit in the text itself, from where did O’Brien import the reference to the Lord’s return? He believes it was implied in the word “γρηγορέω” (English: the name, “Gregory”).  He explained: “Certainly γρηγορέω with the figurative meaning to ‘be vigilant’ turns up in co...

Jesus ’ first direct conflict with the Pharisees as recorded in the Gospels comes about because of a party. At first, this conflict doesn’t make any sense, because there’s a good reason for this party to take place.  A first-century man named Matthew (also known as Levi) was far from God. Matthew would go on to write down his experiences with Jesus into a book we now know as the New Testament book of Matthew. He was wealthy and successful, but he was looking for something more. And then Jesus comes along and changes everything. Look how the book of Luke records it: “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi [Matthew] got up, left everything and followed him.  Luke 5:27-28 Isn’t that amazing? Matthew had money and success but was willing to leave behind a lucrative business all to follow Jesus. That should have been a cause for celebration, and it was. A short while later, Matthew held a large banquet at his house and invited his friends and former co-worke...

This article is from Bible Gateway. The author of the Gospel has traditionally been identified with “Matthew,” who according to this Gospel is one of Jesus ’ twelve disciples (see Matthew 9:9 ; he is called “Levi” in Luke 5:27 ). The main source of this tradition is Irenaeus (a second-century bishop) who writes: “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect” (Against Heresies 3.1.1). It is also possible that Papias (another second-century bishop) refers to this tradition: “Matthew put together the oracles [of the Lord] in the Hebrew language ” (quoted by Eusebius, in his Church History, 3.39.16). It is extremely unlikely, however, that this tradition is accurate. The main argument against it is that Matthew is widely agreed to be dependent for much of his information on Mark’s Gospel , and if Matthew were an eye-witness (as on the traditional view) it is unclear why this would be the case. The high level of verbal agreement between Matthew and Mark als...

On the mountain, Jesus revealed his divine glory to Peter, James, and John. The four had just rejoined the rest of the disciples and the ever-present, clamoring, curious, constantly needy crowd when a desperate father threw himself before Jesus and pleaded, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” (Matthew 17:15–16) Jesus’s response must have caught everyone off-guard: “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” (Matthew 17:17) You can almost see the impotent, humbled disciples casting chastened glances at each other. The afflicted boy was brought to Jesus whose omnipotent word soon dispatched both demon and disease. The Holy Exasperation of a Grieving God Who was Jesus calling faithless and twisted? These words were aimed at the disciples...

Matt. 27:45-50 reads : 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.” Here’s some quick observations: –  In Matt. 27:45, there was an eclipse, or some other condition resulting in darkness (it may  not  have been an eclipse), that was three hours long.  This is certainly significant, especially in relation to the Messiah, but I’m not going to work through this specific detail right now.  In a nutshell, ...

“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” ( 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 ) When God grants the gift of faith that enables us at the point of salvation ( Ephesians 2:8 ), it should not be seen as a static power that merely resides in our minds but rather an empowerment that is expected to grow into a dynamic and demonstrable “divine nature” ( 2 Peter 1:4-9 ). Faith preserves and protects us. Jesus insisted, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” ( John5:24 ). These words are precise. Once faith is exercised, an eternal transaction takes place wherein a person is “passed” from spiritual death to eternal life. This is an absolute change and eliminates the possibility of hell ( John 10:28-29 ). Faith is power for ef...

Plate 16 of 22 for the Macklin Bible after Loutherbourg. Bowyer Bible. Christ Stills the Storm (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “But seek ye first the kingdom of God , and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” ( Matthew 6:33 ) There are innumerable things to do and things to buy and things to read. How does one choose between them? An important guideline is the use of the word “first” in the New Testament . For example, consider the following priority items. Priority in awareness: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers . . . saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for . . . all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” ( 2 Peter 3:3-4 ). The primary intellectual heresy of these latter times is the anti-God philosophy of naturalistic evolutionism, as succinctly outlined in this passage. Priority in behavior: “Cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter, that the outside of them may be c...

Agape feast 04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “… Showing forbearance to one another in love.” EPHESIANS 4:2 In order to walk worthy, we must forgive our enemies and love them. The term forbearance is not often used today and is therefore unfamiliar to many of us. The Greek word translated “showing forbearance” means “suppressing with silence.” It carries the idea of throwing a blanket over sin. First Peter 4:8 says, “Love covers a multitude of sins,” and Proverbs 10:12 declares, “ Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.” A forbearing person doesn’t trumpet other people’s sins but rather forgives them. Forbearance has room for the failures of others. A forbearing person also loves people in spite of the wrongs they might have done to him. Agape , the word used for “love” in this verse, is the love that gives but never takes. It’s the kind of love that seeks the highest good for another, no matter what the cost. God showed His agape by giving us His onl...

The Sower (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) MATTHEW 13:18 –23 “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit ” (v. 23) Matthew groups Jesus ’ teaching into five major discourses, and the parables in chapter 13 constitute the third of these collections. Of these parables, few are more well known than the parable of the sower (vv. 1–9, 18–23). Though this parable is more commonly named after the sower of the seed, the “parable of the soils ” is a more fitting title. The role of the sower in the story is important, but the parable’s point is twofold: first, to explain why different soils—different people—respond differently to the Gospel and, second, to invite us to examine ourselves to think about the kind of soil we hope to be. The parable and its explanation are straightforward enough. All of the first three people portrayed are ultimately hard in heart, but the hardness is especially clear in the person described in ver...

English: English translation of hebrew version. Map of the twelve tribes of Israel, before the move of Dan to the North (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) " Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” ( Hosea 4:17 ) Our God is longsuffering and full of mercy, but there is a line which must not be crossed. It is dangerous to presume that God will always continue to forgive; He can become a “consuming fire” ( Hebrews 12:29 ). The leaders of Ephraim (a collective term for the ten northern tribes of Israel ) had passed this point of no return. They had become completely infatuated with the pantheistic polytheism of the nations, being “joined” to their symbolic models of natural forces and all the immoral practices which accompanied such nature worship. The word for “joined” means “fascinated by.” They had been brought so deeply under the occult powers behind these nature-god idols as to be irrevocably committed to them, so that it would be a waste of time and tears to try to reclaim th...

Bless the Lord, O my soul , and all that is within me, bless his holy name!( Psalm 103:1 ) The psalm begins and ends with the psalmist preaching to his soul to bless the Lord—and preaching to the angels and the hosts of heaven and the works of God ’s hands. The psalm is overwhelmingly focused on blessing the Lord.  What does it mean to bless the Lord? It means to speak well of his greatness and goodness. What David is doing in the first and last verses of this psalm, when he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is saying that speaking about God’s goodness and greatness must come from the soul. Blessing God with the mouth without the soul would be hypocrisy. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” ( Matthew 15:8 ). David knows that danger, and he is preaching to himself that it not happen. Come, soul, look at the greatness and goodness of God. Join my mouth, and let us bless the Lord with our whole being. Related a...