Dr Paul Allen

Unknown man, formerly known as Matthew Henry, by unknown artist. See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch are listed as "unknown author" by the NPG, who is diligent in researching authors, and was donated to the NPG before 1939 according to their website. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew Henry was born in 1662, the same year that the Act of Uniformity barred his father, Phillip, and 2000 other pastors (including Thomas Brooks ) from official ministry in the Church of England. Henry was raised by godly parents in the Puritan way (daily Bible reading , prayer, self-examination, etc.) and always wanted to be a pastor. However, believing there was little chance of ever becoming one, he decided to study law and pursue theological study only on the side. Before long he began preaching on the side as well. This led to him...

The Temptation of Christ, 1854 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It is one of the Bible's many sweet and powerful promises: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The question is, though, how do we do this? In very practical ways, how do we resist the devil? Thomas Brooks offers a list of ten ways the Christian can resist Satan 's temptations. 1. Be Ruled by the Wor d. Make the Word of God your rule and authority and live in obedience to all it says. It will keep you walking straight and guard you from all manner of temptation. “When men throw off the Word, then God throws off them, and then Satan takes them by the hand, and leads them into snares at his pleasure.” 2. Beware of Grieving the Holy Spirit . It is the Holy Spirit that gives the Christian the ability to discern Satan's temptations and to see his hand in and behind life’s circumstances. If you grieve the Spirit, you drive off the one whose ministry involves guarding you against Satan's a...