Dr Paul Allen

The LORD shall reign for ever and ever .” ( Exodus 15:18 ) The Bible is a book of eternity, its words “for ever . . . settled in heaven” ( Psalm 119:89 ). The theme of eternity is prominent throughout; in fact, the words “for ever,” “everlasting,” and the like occur more than 600 times. Many occurrences (49, to be exact) seem to make the concept even more complete, being combined either as “for ever and ever” or “from everlasting to everlasting.” The first of these is in our text: “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.” He is the eternal King of all creation! How beautiful and appropriate it is, then, to find that the last (the 49th) of these occurrences tells us that we—His redeemed saints—also “shall reign for ever and ever” ( Revelation 22:5 ). To note just a few of the other truths that will last for ever and ever, consider first of all the creation: “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. . . . For he commanded, and they were created. He that also ...

King David in Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Let’s say you’re praying with a suffering friend who blurts out to God , “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. You have turned cruel to me.” Would you wince? He just accused God of being cruel! Yikes. Would you want to quickly pray a correction? “Lord, we’re just so thankful that you are sovereign over everything and for the reality of Romans 8:28!” Well, your prayer might be biblical, but so would be your friend’s prayer. In fact, your hypothetical friend’s prayer is actually in the Bible (Job 30:20–21) and came out of the mouth of the man God considered the most blameless and upright on earth in his lifetime (Job 1:8). Thank God the Bible Is So Honest Let’s read Job’s frank prayer again: “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. You have turned cruel to me.” Doesn’t reading that anguished prayer of a godly man make you thankful? I love how hon...

Frans Floris - The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Gathering and Protecting Mankind - WGA7949 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist . 2 JOHN 7 Jesus was a man who convinced those closest to him that he was also God ; his humanness is not therefore in doubt. John’s condemnation of those who denied that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” ( 1 John 4:2–3; 2 John 7) was aimed at Docetists , who replaced the Incarnation with the idea that Jesus was a supernatural visitant (not God) who seemed human but was really a kind of phantom, a teacher who did not really die for sins. The Gospels show Jesus experiencing human limitations (hunger, Matt. 4:2; weariness, John 4:6; ignorance of fact, Luke 8:45–47) and human pain (weeping at Lazarus’ grave, John 11:35 , 38; agonizing in Gethsemane , Mark 14:32–42; cf. Luke 12:50; Hebrews 5:7–...

English: End of the Second Epistle of Peter and beginning of the First Epistle of John in the same column of the codex. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." ( 1 Peter 5:4 ) In these days of relativism, situational ethics , and changing mores, it does a Christian good to note the many things in Scripture we can know, things we can count on, things that do not change. Following is a sampling of such truths, with little comment, intended to encourage the reader to extend the list, perhaps as an ongoing project. We can know that Christ is God : "I and my Father are one" ( John 10:30 ). We can know that we are saved: "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" ( John 6:47 ). We can know we are His dear children: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God " ( 1 John 3:2 ). We can know His protection: "And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pl...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." ( Romans 8:29 ) One of the greatest dangers facing Christians is the temptation to become conformed to the things of the world around them, thus destroying their testimony for the Lord. We are specifically commanded, in fact, "Be not conformed to this world" ( Romans 12:2 ). One cannot serve two masters, and the great privilege of the believer is the privilege of becoming conformed, not to a dying world, but to the living Christ . But first we must be conformed to His death, dying to the world and its standards. The greatest desire of the apostle Paul was to "win Christ. . . . That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" ( Philippians 3:8 , 10 ). Death is far...

Hagia Sophia ; Empress Zoë mosaic : Christ Pantocrator; Istanbul, Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 20:30–31 “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ , the Son of God , and that by believing you may have life in his name” ( v. 31 ). Even though orthodox Christianity often receives criticism in our day, it is not too difficult to find people who admire Jesus. Politicians of all stripes invoke the name of Jesus, or at least what they believe He teaches, in their policy proposals. References to Him abound in popular films, books, and songs. The Jesus that is presented to us in these different ways, however, often bears little resemblance to the one we find in the Bible . In other words, many people respect a Jesus who does not exist. Instead, the Jesus that is exalted in our culture is one who has more in common with whatever is currently in vogue than with what the New Testament record has to say about Him. Of course, this is dangerous because the...

German nativity scene with depiction of Trinity (God the Father and dove of Holy Spirit accompanying the Christ child (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 16:13-20. Jesus could be a bit mysterious about his identity. He tended to shy away from forthrightly proclaiming to be the Messiah or the Son of God . Though some people read into his mysterious statements, there were very good reasons for him to remain vague. New Testament scholar Dr. Ben Witherington III addresses this topic straight on: “If he had simply announced, ‘Hi, folks; I’m God,’ that would have been heard as ‘I’m Yahweh ,’ because the Jews of his day didn’t have any concept of the Trinity. They only knew of God the Father —whom they called Yahweh—and not God the Son or God the Holy Spirit . “So if someone were to say he was God, that wouldn’t have made any sense to them and would have been seen as clear-cut blasphemy. And it would have been counterproductive to Jesus in his efforts to get people to listen to his m...

Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “… They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (John 17:6b). The first words of this passage are filled with doctrinal significance: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.” Jesus is, of course, speaking of the disciples in particular, but He is also referring to the elect in general (v. 20, “for all those who believe in Me”). Jesus makes known the name of God , which is His character and all His attributes, to those “who believe in Me.” And those who believe in Christ are those whom the Father has graciously chosen from all the people of the world. One of the best commentaries on this is found in the Canons of Dort : “Now election is the immutable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundations of the wo...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." ( Romans 1:3-4 ) It is noteworthy that the identification of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is directly associated with His resurrection from the dead. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" ( 1 Corinthians 15:26 ), and since only God Himself can conquer death, Christ’s bodily resurrection is the conclusive affirmation of His unique deity: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" ( Matthew 16:16 ). Many others have claimed divine sonship, but all are dead--only Christ validated that claim by defeating death. "God . . . hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee" ( Acts 1...

Frans Floris - The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Gathering and Protecting Mankind - WGA7949 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ( 2 Peter 1:17 ) Most people today consider Jesus Christ to have been a great man, but will not believe He is the unique Son of God . Nevertheless, He is indeed God 's only begotten Son. Before His birth, the angel Gabriel predicted it. "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" ( Luke 1:35 ). John the Baptist identified Him: "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" ( John 1:34 ). His disciples recognized Him. "Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God" ( John 1:49 ). " Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" ( Matt...