Dr Paul Allen

“So God never forsakes his people, but he sometimes withdraws from them the sweetness of communion with him. He hides his face, as the psalmist says in about a dozen places.” His question is, Why would God do that to his own children? God Hides His Face First, let me make the case that he already accepts. He doesn’t need me to make the case. But my guess is some of our listeners are saying, “Really?” There is evidence in our very songs that we sing these days that there’s disagreement about this. For example, Edward Mote wrote this great hymn, which most of us would recognize, 150 years ago: My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’s name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. That’s what he wrote: “W...

“Give me this hill country . . . and I shall drive them out.” These are the words of eighty-year-old Caleb, recorded in the book of Joshua, as the Israelites surged into the land and prepared to engage their enemies ( Josh. 14:12 ). In light of the obstacles in front of Caleb and the dangers they represented, one would be hard pressed to think of him as being anything less than ambitious. But were Caleb’s ambitions good or bad? Too often the word ambition conjures up negative images of Wall Street investment bankers rationalizing self-serving greed. Or, one might find the word plastered across a motivational poster with a climber clinging to the side of a mountain attempting an ascent. But which is it? Is ambition bad, or should we cultivate it in ourselves and in our children? Does the Bible promote ambition? When we do a search for the word ambition in the Bible—looking through various English translations—we see it in multiple texts translated from several Greek words. The word ...

Discipline is an important part of the Christian life, for God disciplines his children (Heb. 12) and we must discipline ourselves (1 Cor. 9:24–27). God expects the pastor to discipline his own children (1 Tim. 3:4–5), and also to discipline God’s children when they need it.  Church discipline is actually God’s exercising spiritual authority through a local church for the purposes of reclaiming an erring believer and maintaining the purity of the local church. Begin by talking the matter over with the church leaders before informing the church. In as loving a manner as possible, let the church know that you want to obey the Word. Explain that discipline is an evidence of love. If you love your members, you will want to rescue them from sin. First Corinthians 5 indicates that discipline is exercised for the sake of the offender (1–5), the church (6–8), and the unsaved society that needs the witness of a godly church (9–13).  Church discipline isn’t a pastor thr...

And as long as there are sinful people in the church—which is to say, always, on this side of heaven—the church needs to be equipped to deal with sin according to the instructions the Lord Jesus left us. And we turn to Paul’s directives in 2 Corinthians 2:5–11 to observe five stages of faithful and successful church discipline and restoration. This week we come to that first stage, and that is the harmful sin that makes discipline necessary. This passage teaches us that all sin is harmful to the body of Christ . Paul says in verse 5: “But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you.” Grace and Charity Notice, first, the great pastoral sensitivity that Paul exhibits here. He speaks so vaguely about the offender and his sin that you almost have a hard time understanding what he’s talking about. He’s careful to avoid mentioning the man’s name; he only says, “If any has caused sorrow. . . .” That’s the most...