Today’s Reading: Hos 6:1–7:16, Acts 2:42–3:26, Job 15:21–35

Today’s Theme: The church or marks of a biblical church

Today’s theme is the church, we read about the marks of a biblical church from the account in Acts of the earliest church and the works of the apostles. We explore God’s plan for His people in our Old Testament reading which is manifested as the Church of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

Hosea 6:1–7:16

Remedial Discipline

“Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. Hosea 6:1 (ESV)

This is a call to repentance, we must like Hosea recognise that the purpose behind God’s discipline for his children is remedial.

God wants us to be reformed, never forget that God desires for you to grow and flourish.

Persevere as God’s Saints

Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3 (ESV)

Hosea calls us to perseverance in seeking and knowing God, we can do this through His word.

We have been called to perseverance as Christians, our walk is not for the faint hearted. We need to press forwards with courage and zeal.

If you do not have an appetite for God and His word then you need to examine yourself and realign your priorities by the centering of your delight on God.

Love, the active ingredient

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 (ESV)

Again this cuts to heart of Hosea’s message. God wants love not sacrifice and to be known rather than to be given offerings. This means that God has no desire for external observances without inward truth.

This is why those that teach that even the ungodly and backsliding / rebellious Christians can benefit from tapping into divine principles are simply wrong. This sounds more like the new age… NO ..our God is a God who delights in genuine love and relationship. In fact love for and in God is the active ingredient that makes the “divine principles” and “promises” of God work.

None of this is possible aside from the knowledge of God found in the special revelation of His word… it is not acquired by relativity because the truth is absolute and settled.

Deal with it today

For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. Hosea 7:6 (ESV)

Like Paul said, we should not let the sun go down on our anger in Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

If we hold on to things overnight, it will smoulder and a root of bitterness and anger will start to take root. We have been called to live in peace and freedom.

What is taking your strength?

Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not. Hosea 7:9 (ESV)

What is it that is taking your strength, be sure to know and prioritise accordingly?

We need to take personal inventory of our lives, where is our time, our thoughts, our money and our energy being used?

We need to plug the leaks and take hold of the reigns. Don’t go into a drift and be taken along by the busyness of life.

Don’t be silly

Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. Hosea 7:11 (ESV)

Lord keep us from being silly and without sense. Help us to run to you and not to the apparent help of this world.

Jesus calls us to wisdom in Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Desire God

They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. Hosea 7:14 (ESV)

It seems that the heart of rebellion amongst God’s people is our lack of desire for Him and the strength of our desire for other things. Lord help us today to have joy filled, healthy desires for You and the things that please You.

Acts 2:42–3:26

4 Marks of a biblical church

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 (ESV)

It is just wonderful to have this record of how the first of the early churches functioned, it should be remembered that all the members of this first Christian community were Jewish.

Here are 4 marks of a biblical church. The first is sound doctrine, followed by active fellowship, keeping of the sacraments and finally commitment to prayer.

Devoted to Apostolic Teaching

They were first of all devoted to apostolic doctrine. For us today we should be devoted to the bible and the sound exposition of it by our pastors and by tried and tested men in church history like Spurgeon and others God has raised up today like Piper. As they seek to build us up as God’s people that we might know God and live for Him, growing in the Lord daily.

There is no new doctrine in the church only cults come up with new things all the time. This is why our doctrine should be driven by the teaching of Jesus and the apostles of the New Testament.

Active Fellowship

They engaged in fellowship, this is one of the unique qualities of the church, without heartfelt, sacrificial and loving fellowship the church would be little more than a college of learning. The fellowship is what makes the church community into a family of believers living out their lives on mission together in accountability and mutual care.

Those who say they do not need fellowship break with the pattern of this the first ever church and the admonitions of scripture.

Keep the sacraments

The breaking of bread means they were keeping the sacraments that Jesus instituted at the last passover meal with the disciples which is the Lord’s supper and later we see the sacrament of baptism. These two are crucial to a church, they are rituals of faith and identification with Christ that MUST be practised by a church that professes to follow Jesus.

I think God gave us sacraments to humble us and remind us that we can’t do things just the way we want to and there are some things that should unite us all. Also, just like the sacraments of the Old Testament, they would display our faith and obedience, although doing them without faith and love are without effect as mentioned earlier and is in fact dangerous.

Commitment to Prayer

Finally the church was marked by a commitment to prayer. The church could do with reminding of this today, God has called us all to engage in corporate prayer. I would go as far as to say that if we are not praying we are committing a sin of omission. Jesus quoted the Old Testament and said His Father’s and His house is a house of prayer.

Also when we look at the pattern of Christ’s life it was marked by prayer. As a church we must pray. Notice it says “the prayers” it is likely the apostles wrote prayers that people would pray like the Psalms and we should not neglect this practice privately and corporately today.

God’s glory and order in the church

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. Acts 2:43 (ESV)

This tells us that those observing the church stood in awe of what God had done, this should still be the case.

Also notice that many signs and wonders were done, but not just by anybody, they were done by the leaders, the apostles.

The church would not be a safe place if it was a free for all and any untried and untested person could lay hands and perform miracles in Jesus name. In the same way the church would be unsafe if the pulpit were open to novices to lead the church into heresy.

God has order in the church, elders (including pastors) are there to minister to the people in order that God gets the glory, these are men that must be qualified through a tried and tested life.

Called to generosity

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, Acts 2:46 (ESV)

This gets to the heart of this passage about having all things in common. Some take this model too far and make it like a communist idea while others ignore it as a fad of the first church.

The fact is that this shows another great principle of any church and its people and that is the necessity of generosity. Notice there is no prescription of tithes, weights and measures here like in the Old Testament, instead this giving is done with a joyful, willing heart of generosity… we must be generous and give.

If (as in modern days) we want to use the OT principle of tithing (10%) as a guide to what we give that is fine although it does raise a danger of heartless, joyless and frankly unwilling and ultimately ungenerous giving by following the principle without our hearts being in it and our affections in giving remaining unmoved.

So we should give all we have with a generous, grateful and joy filled heart.

The Church, God’s project

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:47 (ESV)

A reminder at the end of the chapter that this first church in Jerusalem was the Lord’s great project, not Peter’s or anyone else. Also it reminds us that the Lord saves us and draws us into fellowship with the church.

Work in Jesus name

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Acts 3:6 (ESV)

Peter did this in the name of Jesus, so this miracle would bring glory to Jesus because it was done in His name.

The church must minister in Jesus name, not our own name.

Also notice that these men were not wealthy, contrary to the teaching of prosperity gospel proponents.

Preach the gospel

And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? Acts 3:12 (ESV)

The miracle was a draw for the people to hear the preached word. The bold and public declaration of the Gospel is a distinctive mark of the true church.

If God performs a miracle through us we should use it as an opportunity to preach the Gospel.

Preach from the Bible

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. Acts 3:13 (ESV)

Peter relates to the audience of Jews in the temple, by calling on the name of God in a way that they were familiar with “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers”.

We should also use this method today to reach both Jews and Gentiles. The Old Testament is where we find the rich roots of our faith. The Old Testament was the only bible Jesus and the New Testament church had.

The principle is that the church should preach from the bible.

Jesus, Author of life

and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. Acts 3:15 (ESV)

What an awesome title, Jesus is the author of life, that means He started life, He wrote the book of life, He is God.

Power in Jesus name

And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Acts 3:16 (ESV)

Lord help us today to have faith in the name of Jesus, there is power in the name of Jesus… but not in a magical way, there is power when we call upon his name in faith.

A biblical church will trust in the name of Jesus

The call to repentance

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, Acts 3:19 (ESV)

The great imperative, the call of the gospel, to repent. Peter makes it very clear (for the Easy Beliveists of our day) that repentance means we need to turn back to God, it is only when we repent that our sins which are many will be blotted out.

A true church will call people to repentance in mind and actions. Repentance and saving faith are inextricably linked.

Living in the gap

whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Acts 3:21 (ESV)

This is the gap the Jews did not foresee, we are living in the gap now. Jesus is in the heavens and will come again at the restoration of all things when He consummates His kingdom.

While the church is in this age we are called to be the light of the world, ambassadors of the King and His kingdom proclaiming the good news.

The exclusive gospel

And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ Acts 3:23 (ESV)

There are no grey lines here, Jesus is the only way. Anyone ( Jews, Gentiles, rich, poor, educated, religious etc) who do not follow Jesus will be destroyed in the ultimate judgement of hell.

Our gospel message is exclusive, any church that does not hold to the core doctrine that Jesus is the only way to salvation is no church at all.

Love the sons of covenant

God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” Acts 3:26 (ESV)

Appealing to the Jews as sons of the covenant and reminding them that God sent the prophets and Jesus to them first is a great way to reach them today.

God loves His people the Jews and wants them to repent and be saved.

A biblical church will love Gods people the Jews, seeking their salvation in Jesus, not seeking to replace them.

Job 15:21–35

The trap of emptiness

Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. Job 15:31 (ESV)

Although the basic assertion that the wicked have terrible lives is not true, this statement really is true because Paul picks this up in the New Testament reminding us that the wages of sin is death.

Also as saints we need to recognise what emptiness can represent for us. It could be a film, television, a conversation, a book, a website. What is it in our lives that is empty because we will reap nothing good from it.

Replace emptiness by living for God and His people, the Church of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Acts 3

Today’s Reading: Hos 3:1–5:15, Acts 2:1–41, Job 15:10–20

Today’s Theme: Filled with The Holy Spirit

Today’s theme is the wonderful filling of the Holy Spirit which gave birth to the church, saves us and keeps us from the spirit of whoredom so we cherish God above all as we declare God’s great works to the world.

Hosea 3:1–5:15

The love story

And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” Hosea 3:1 (ESV)

This is the love story between God and His bride. He loved her in spite of who she was, this is the sort of love Jesus taught us about.

We need to ask ourselves the question, are we committing spiritual adultery?

Knowledge of God

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; Hosea 4:1 (ESV)

We will not have faithfulness and steadfast love for God without knowing God through His word.

We must know about God, that is why God recorded truth in the written form of Bible for our benefit. He knows we need knowledge of Him to flourish.

Give thanks for the means of knowing God in your life including the Holy Spirit, Bible reading and study, pastors, teachers, books, blogs, videos and mp3s.

Rejecting knowledge

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6 (ESV)

God’s contention was with the priests and prophets because they did not teach the people the word of God.

This is picked up in the New Testament where Paul says teachers and pastors have double accountability before God.

We should thank God that we have good leaders and pray for them. Also any time we are called to serve we must do it knowing God will hold us accountable for it.

As Christians we must avoid anti intellectualism, which is a culture of rejecting faithful biblical exposition and study. Without true knowledge of God we are open to the ‘spiritual elements’ and destroyed by the winds of evil doctrine and heresy.

Cherish the Lord

They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. Hosea 4:10–11 (ESV)

We should cherish The Lord. Notice wine and new wine are mentioned alongside whoredom and God says that this takes away a man’s understanding and discernment.

Cherish in the Hebrew means to keep, watch over, take care of, preserve, protect, save, retain and to guard. Think about each of these words in regards to your relationship with the Lord.

What do you cherish?

The spirit of whoredom

My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. Hosea 4:12 (ESV)

Lord deliver your people from the spirit of whoredom. We may not think of ourselves as being under a whoring spirit but we must ask God to show us our own hearts so we can see what we put above God and prefer over God.

Be governed by the Holy Spirit, not the deceptive spirit of whoring after other spiritual lovers and the world.

Dear darling sins

When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame. Hosea 4:18 (ESV)

Our problem can be that sins are dear to us, we cherish them, we hold them close, we love them, we adore them. However they will bring us to ruin (see verse 14).

Sin is like a drug, it draws the user into a false sense of satisfaction and a relationship of dependence which is really slavery.

In reality when you love sin you are in love with shame, pain and death masquerading as life.

Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.

Sin blocks us from God

Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the LORD. Hosea 5:4 (ESV)

Our actions can bar us from knowing or approaching God. Sin works against us by putting a gulf between us and the only one who can deliver us.

Stop sinning and return to God.

The slave master, Sin

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. Hosea 5:11 (ESV)

The driving forceful nature of sin is seen here.

Paul teaches us in Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

The prodigal method

I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. Hosea 5:15 (ESV)

God will not always pursue man. When His people need discipline He will leave them to themselves until they seek Him like the prodigal sons

Acts 2:1–41

The church is born

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4 (ESV)

This is the birth of the church, also here we see a reversal of Babel where languages were confounded. Here men and women are speaking in languages they were never taught, like Spanish, French etc.

A great functional, evangelical move by God through His Spirit to reach many people from many lands without the barrier of language.

As we read yesterday God fills us with His Holy Spirit for service and to speak for Him.

Declare God’s mighty works

both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Acts 2:11 (ESV)

They were quite specifically talking about God’s mighty works, likely the mighty works of redemption Jesus had just accomplished. This is wonderful in itself but to speak this in unlearned languages is miraculous.

Open to all

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Acts 2:21 (ESV)

Peter was saying that this prophecy was fulfilled this day. It is wonderful that now because of Jesus the offer of salvation is more clearly open to all people.

God’s plan

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Acts 2:23 (ESV)

The cross was no tragedy it was a victory, God planned it all and nothing took Him by surprise.

The OT in light of Jesus

he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Acts 2:31 (ESV)

Peter who was taught personally by Jesus shows us how we are to exegetically read the Old Testament in light of Jesus.

Foundational Apostles

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Acts 2:32 (ESV)

This (witness to the resurrection) is the foundational key to the apostles ministry, these who were foundations of the church were eye witnesses to the resurrection. This is one of the reasons they went from cowardice to boldness and God even used some of them to write holy scripture.

Those called apostles today are not a part of this special and particular class of apostle.

The victory of the Son

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Acts 2:36 (ESV)

The victory of God and exaltation of the Son through the cross and resurrection, this is the Gospel we proclaim as God’s heralds.

Salvations’s requirements

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 (ESV)

This is the requirement and goal for salvation for all of us. Repentance is crucial, baptism essential and the Holy Spirit is the gift necessary for salvation.

God’s elect

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Acts 2:39 (ESV)

This salvation is for all God’s elect. God knows whom he has predestined and chosen. We preach to everyone the Holy Spirit works to save whom He wills.

We rejoice that we were elected and when others are chosen too.

Salvation is of God.

A great Start

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41 (ESV)

What a start to the church! Thousands were saved at the first open air sermon given by Peter. This is a sign of the victory of our sovereign God and the healthy and exponential growth the church would go through over the next 2000 years.

Job 15:10–20

Be around older people

Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father. Job 15:10 (ESV)

This gives us a little insight into the age of Job’s friends and the sort of company he kept. It is always good to have friends who are older than you are

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Acts 2

Today’s Reading: Hos 1:1–2:23, Acts 1:1–26, Job 15:1–9

Today’s Theme: Enduring Love

Today we begin two new books, Hosea and Acts. In Hosea we read about the unfaithfulness of Israel and God’s enduring love for His covenant people. We see this manifested in the New Testament as we observe the birth of the church and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Hosea 1:1–2:23

Forsaking the Lord

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” Hosea 1:2 (ESV)

The fact that God uses this sort of language shows that for Him faithful relationship is more important than religious observance which is so often not done in truth.

We need to ask ourselves today, are we being faithful to God in the marriage like covenant relationship we have with Him? Have we forsaken the Lord in any way? Are we guilty of spiritual whoredom?

Shameful results

“Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. Hosea 2:2–3 (ESV)

We must forsake spiritual adultery (loving and being dedicated to anything or anyone more than God) or suffer the shameful consequences. As well as open shame our thirst will not be satisfied, we will be in the torment of unfulfilled desire.

God is a jealous God, He will not share His glory (due honour, worship, praise, victory, beauty and admiration) with anyone else. His love for His covenant people will not settle for a marriage of convenience with no passion, love, faithfulness or single hearted devotion.

God, the one who provides

For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ Hosea 2:5 (ESV)

God is our provider, we must be careful not to idolise other apparent sources like our jobs, family or friends.

Look past the means God uses to provide for you and see that it is by His grace that you have anything.

Pray for Backsliders

She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ Hosea 2:7 (ESV)

We should pray this for those who are in a backslidden state, we should pray that God would take away their satisfaction in sin.

We should find our ultimate satisfaction in God alone.

Enduring Love

And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. Hosea 2:19–20 (ESV)

God’s love for Israel and His chosen people is strong and enduring.

God’s commitment to Israel is like a faithful husband’s for his wife. The Church has this too as the bride of Christ in the New Testament.

God’s love for us is enduring, our love for Him should be enduring too.

Acts 1:1–26

Many Proofs

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 (ESV)

In the Greek the phrase many proofs was nearly always used in Greek historical works. It is a term belonging to the realm of historiographical biography which is what Luke has produced in this second volume (the 1st volume was Luke) where he provides apologetics to confirm and build our faith.

The Bible is no book of myths, this is a historical book rooted in real events filled with eyewitness, historically faithful reports contrary to the propaganda of the enemy which always marginalises the Bible as historically inaccurate.

This must have been an amazing time where Jesus taught the apostles about the kingdom of God. It is likely that Jesus explains the mission the Apostles as witnesses of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection had in founding the church and the twofold nature of the kingdom (now and not yet).

The restoration of Israel

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Acts 1:7 (ESV)

Only God knows when the kingdom will be restored to Israel, this is all connected to Jesus’ second coming and the millennial kingdom.

Baptised in the Holy Spirit

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (ESV)

The gift of the Holy Spirit was one of the surest signs that the Messiah had come and the new covenant age had begun.

Every Christian should be baptised with the Holy Spirit. This happens when we are born again in a general sense. However as we walk with the Lord we should always ask God to fill us with His Spirit.

We receive the Holy Spirit to be witnesses, it is for a very functional rather than mystical reason. We receive power to be witnesses to Jesus like the first disciples.

Jesus will not come through birth again

and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11 (ESV)

Another verse to deal with any cult that says Jesus has returned in some other form like the Rastafarians, Mormons or Jehovahs Witnesses

God’s new people

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Acts 1:14 (ESV)

This was already a big change that the men and women were waiting on God together. In Jewish culture this was not the way things were done, men and women would stay separate.

The freedom and unity of the new covenant in Jesus means men and women can come before God together. Notice both Judaism and Islam still keep the sexes separate in worship.

Special Apostles

beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” Acts 1:22 (ESV)

One of the qualifications for the apostles in this mission was that they had to have seen the resurrected Lord. Paul will qualify as he sees the resurrected Lord too.

Genuine evidence is important to the New Testament narratives.

Job 15:1–9

Without the Holy Spirit

What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? Job 15:9 (ESV)

Without the Holy Spirit we are left to the whim of our own ideas and the pride and offence that comes when we don’t see eye to eye. Thank God that we have the Holy Spirit given by Jesus.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Acts 1