Dr Paul Allen

How can you know which gift(s) of the Spirit you have? There is a way. Gifts of the Spirit The Apostle Paul has written a lot about spiritual gifts. To begin with, he says that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1st Cor 12:4-6), and “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1st Cor 12:7).  The first point is God is the One Who determines which gift is given to each person. It is not for their own good but for the church’s sake, or “the common good.” Never are gifts given for the believer’s benefit. However, it may help them develop spiritually; they are intended for the Body of Christ.  There are a “variety of activities” and “varieties of service.” Still, we must remember that God “empowers them all in everyone.” He deserves the glory for these gifts (Psalm 115:1), so both the gi...

What is Pentecost in the Bible? Most people associate it with the day God poured out his Holy Spirit on the Jerusalem church in the Upper Room, enabling his disciples to perform incredible acts—like healings, speaking in tongues, prophesying, and inspired preaching1—as told in Acts 2:1–4: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Jesus had promised his disciples a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5, 8), that he would send them a “Helper” who would “teach [them] all things” (John 14:26), and that he would not leave the disciples “as orphans” (John 14:18). That day, as about 120 disciples huddled in a room in Jerusalem, those promises ...

The book of Micah begins by telling us when Micah prophesied and the cities he addressed. “The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz , and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem .” Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel , and Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom, Judah. The years of the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah extended from about 735 to 700 BC. So Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied during those tragic days when Assyria conquered Samaria, took the ten northern tribes into captivity ( 722 BC ), occupied Judah, and besieged the holy city, Jerusalem. Micah is a hard prophet to understand because the book alternates back and forth between threats of doom and promises of hope. It is hard to figure out what situations he is referring to and how the hope and doom relate to each other. Probably the reason the book is arranged like this is to make the point th...

The terms “ Gog and Magog ” seem to factor into biblical prophecy quite a bit. Do a Google search for them, and you’ll come up with quite a few conflicting (and sometimes fanciful) articles. Most speculation attempts to tie Gog and Magog’s appearances in Ezekiel and Revelation to a specific geographical location or country. Gog and Magog: a mysterious northern force of evil Two passages in the Bible have cemented Gog and Magog in our minds when we think of the apocalypse: Ezekiel 38–39, and Revelation 20 . Both passages reference a figure named Gog, and a huge army that attacks the people of God . Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says to Gog (of the land of Magog), “You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land” (Ezekiel 38:15–16). Toward the end of our Bible, John the Revelator sees in a vision: “When...

Prophecy today with Wayne Grudem.  Although several definitions have been given for the gift of prophecy, a fresh examination of the New Testament teaching on this gift will show that it should be defined not as “predicting the future,” nor as “proclaiming a word from the Lord,” nor as “powerful preaching”—but rather as “telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.” The first four points in the following material support this conclusion; the remaining points deal with other considerations regarding this gift. Learn More at www.hopecollege.com 1. The New Testament Counterparts to Old Testament Prophets Are New Testament Apostles . Old Testament prophets had an amazing responsibility—they were able to speak and write words that had absolute divine authority. They could say, “Thus says the Lord,” and the words that followed were the very words of God.  The Old Testament prophets wrote their words as God’s words in Scripture for all time (see Num....