Dr Paul Allen

There was an important truth behind that argument. Paul certainly appeals to “the signs of an apostle". W hile defending his ministry in 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul and Hebrews 2:3–4 describe God bearing witness to the proclaimed salvation through “signs and wonders, and with divers miracles.” So there is good biblical reason to say that miraculous signs could have an authenticating or confirming function.  But we also found that miraculous activity was not confined to apostles. Stephen performed “great wonders and miracles” (Acts 6:8). Philip performed signs in Samaria (Acts 8:6–7). Paul discusses gifts of healing and miracles among the wider congregation in 1 Corinthians 12, and even distinguishes apostles from those who work miracles when he asks, “Are all apostles?... Are all workers of miracles?” (1 Corinthians 12:29). That leaves us with the next part of the original argument. The viral post claims that these gifts were temporary and “ceased when the written revelation was com...

  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands, and amid the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and a golden sash around his chest. (Rev. 1:12–13)  John saw Jesus “amid the lampstands.” Much of the imagery in Revelation is challenging to understand, but we don’t have to wonder what these lampstands represent. Later in this first chapter, we are told that the lampstands represent the churches (1:20). When John turned to see the voice speaking to him, the first thing that caught his attention was Jesus standing among his people. Were these early Christians wondering if the church would be snuffed out as persecution increased? When they gathered to hear this letter read to them, it must have provided deep encouragement to see that Jesus was not standing off at a distance while his followers suffered for him. He was right there with them, walking in the midst of them, keeping their fire for the gospe...

When Christians are asked which millennial view they hold, some of the more cynical among them will sometimes answer: “I’m a panmillennialist. I believe it will all pan out in the end.”  Much of this cynicism is due to frustration over the seemingly never-ending debates about the last things. In some cases, it may also be due to exasperation with the endless train of falsified predictions of the rapture and/or second coming of Christ. For centuries, misguided teachers have repeatedly promised or strongly suggested to their contemporaries that they are the generation that will finally witness the end.  Isn’t it as plain as day that Napoleon Bonaparte was the Antichrist and his exile was a sign that the end of the world was imminent? Some Christians who lived in that generation thought so. Their generation was not the first to fall into the trap of date-setting, and it certainly wasn’t the last. For centuries, numerous Christians have compared the headlines of their day with the...

Robb Brunansky  Those of us old enough to remember will never forget the mass hysteria that gripped the globe in 1999.  The world stood on the edge of a new millennium, the year 2000. Not many people, historically, live to see the turn of a millennium, so the excitement was palpable. But the anticipation of seeing not one, not two, not three, but FOUR digits in the year column of the calendar change overnight was overshadowed by the fear that a computer bug known as “Y2K” might bring the world to a screeching halt. Computers went mainstream in the late 20th century, but unlike today, storage in computer systems was massively expensive. Because of the exorbitant price tag, computer programmers tried everything they could to save space.  One strategy they used was to minimize the amount of data required to store dates; so instead of storing the full four-digit year, they only stored the last two digits of the year, cutting the storage space used in half. They realized that ...

Ryan Ross In Revelation, John writes about “seven stars” in Jesus’s right hand (Rev. 1:16). These, he explains, “are the angels of the seven churches” (v. 20). The churches themselves are described as “seven lampstands” (vv. 12, 20). But who are the “angels of the seven churches?” At first blush, it may seem that “angels” are supernatural guardian angels in this context. Writebol, following Peter Leithart and a long history in Reformed teaching, argues that John isn’t talking about a church’s specially assigned angel but rather a messenger of the church: a pastor. This means “the letters are personal addresses from Jesus to these pastors about who he is and who they are” (6). This interpretative approach acts like a lens correcting astigmatism. It snaps pastoral implications into focus, like putting on brand-new glasses. It showed me things about myself and my ministry that were distorted before. These are letters from Jesus to pastors. This directness adds to their weight as they poin...

What the local church needs to know about angels, Satan, and demons is an intriguing question. In my experience, I have heard very little from the pulpit or in adult Sunday school on the topic. The question is intriguing because popular culture (movies and TV, for example) teems with treatments, often fanciful, on these themes, especially around Halloween. There are many aspects of the doctrine of angels, Satan, and demons worth making the local church aware of and here are only some of them.[1] The Bigger Canvas B. Philips, a noted Bible translator of the last century, wrote a small book which has proved very influential and is still in print, Your God is Too Small. The title is so instructive. He maintained that too many have a shrunken view of God. With debts to Philips, one could argue that your worldview is too small if it leaves out angels, Satan and demons.  This lack can be a problem at two levels: espoused and operational. At the espoused level, the believer never thinks a...

The biblical end times, also called eschatology, is a complex and varied topic with different viewpoints held by various Christian denominations and scholars. I'll provide a brief overview of some prominent biblical end-times viewpoints: Preterism: This viewpoint asserts that many prophecies regarding the end times, particularly those found in the book of Revelation, were fulfilled in the past. Preterists interpret these prophecies as referring to events that occurred during the early years of Christianity or around the time of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD. Historicist: Historicists interpret the book of Revelation as a symbolic representation of the entire course of history from when it was written until the second coming of Jesus. They see various events and figures mentioned in Revelation as representing specific historical periods and individuals. This viewpoint was prevalent among Protestant reformers. Futurism: Futurists believe that many of the prophec...

They will see His face (Rev. 22:4). As the Scripture sets before believers our enduring hope, the saints hear of the day when we shall see “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). Specifically, when Christ appears, “we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).  John Owen once asked,  “To who is it not a matter of rejoicing, that with the same eyes with which they see the tokens and signs of him in the sacrament of the supper, they shall behold himself immediately in his own person?”  He then adds “in the immediate beholding of the person of Christ, we shall see a glory in it a thousand times above what we can here conceive.” Believers have been longing for such a sight (Job 19:26), yearning to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord (Ps. 27:4). And while we have some faint acquaintance with Christ’s glory now by faith, a total transformation in us, changed from perishable to imperishable (1 Cor. 15:51–52), is necessary to see His unveiled glory. It is when we are like Him that we shall see Hi...

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard ; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's. And to it, the dragon gave his power, throne, and authority. —Revelation 13:1–2 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might ...