Author: Administrador

LUKE 12:35–40 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning” (Luke 12:35). Today we return to the gospel of Luke. Recall from our study on July 23 that Jesus told His disciples not to worry about the future, because the God of providence would take care of them. This leads our Lord to … Continue reading “THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST”

MATTHEW 10:26–31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father” (Matthew 10:29). Yesterday we saw that the answer for worry is to trust in God’s care for us. This leads us to consider the doctrine of God’s providential … Continue reading “THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD”

COLOSSIANS 1:15–23 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). One of the dominant ideas in Western thought during the past several centuries is that we live in a closed mechanistic universe. The universe, we are told, is like a machine that functions according to natural laws intrinsic to … Continue reading “GOD’S ACTIVE PROVIDENCE”

1 SAMUEL 6 “Keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance” (1 Samuel … Continue reading “PROVIDENCE OR CHANCE?”

ACTS 1:1–11 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8a). Why is the Holy Spirit called “holy”? Obviously each of the three persons of the Godhead is holy, so why is the Spirit singled out for the adjective holy? Surely part of the reason is that it is the … Continue reading “HOLY SANCTIFIER OF GOD”

ACTS 10:44–48 Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have” (Acts 10:46b–47). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the same as regeneration. Regeneration gives salvation, while the baptism of the Spirit is an empowering for service. In the … Continue reading “BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”

LUKE 12:13–32 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear” (Luke 12:22). Today we return to Luke’s gospel to consider Jesus’ teaching on covetousness. A man in the crowd asked Jesus to settle an inheritance … Continue reading “WORRY AND COVETOUSNESS”

EXODUS 35:4–35 And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts (Exodus 35:31). The Holy Spirit is the wellspring of creativity because He is the glorifier of God. We see this in Exodus 35, where God filled Bezalel with His Spirit. This was done … Continue reading “THE HOLY SPIRIT AND ART”

JOHN 14:15–31 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor [Comforter] to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17a). The word for Counselor or Comforter here is Paraclete, or in Greek, parakletos. The word parakletos means “one who is called alongside.” Another translation for this word would be … Continue reading “THE DIVINE COMFORTERS”

JOHN 3:1–21 “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6). A man named Nicodemus asked Jesus about the kingdom of God. Jesus told Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Being born again is an … Continue reading “REGENERATION BY THE SPIRIT”