"Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God". You can neither please nor serve both God and mammon. There are no double-agents in Christ's kingdom! Satan is responsible for our fallen nature and he makes sure that he controls it. Those who serve sin are sin's servants. The Devil declared war on God and ... Read more

"All the nations will be gathered before him". The Second Advent of the Lord Jesus will be in stark contrast with the First. At the Incarnation God presented His Son to mankind: at His Second Appearing all nations will be made to appear before Him. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem only a handful in ... Read more

"in the end he is nothing but a fool". Jeremiah describes the person who gets money dishonestly as a bird that hatches eggs it did not lay and adds that in the prime of life he will lose his riches. You may have a lot, but if all you have can be taken from you, ... Read more

"receive the kingdom of God as a little child". A child's acceptance is characterised by - Unquestioning trust Unabashed delight at receiving Readiness to accept more Continued expectancy The anticipation of constant attention - and no child is deterred by either the size or apparent impossibility of what is asked. Too many of us try ... Read more

"the King's Highway". This is the name of the road through the land of the Edomites that Moses and the Israelites agreed to keep to if permission was given for them to pass. Any freedom-loving country values its rights of way and government should seek to make them secure. In all of life there is ... Read more

"I was afraid". Some people say anything. The man in this parable with one talent was one of them. Of what was he afraid? He was lazy - pleasure loving too - for he felt able to please himself once the talent was safely buried. He was short-sighted. He did not consider the consequence he ... Read more

"woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel". The Apostle Paul felt the need to preach the gospel because he had heard it, received it and experienced its blessings. The same holds for all who know the truth of the gospel. Preaching is proclaiming and Paul preached to individuals and to groups. Our ... Read more

"whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple". A turning point came in the 21st chapter. Up to that time the Apostle had more or less been free to plan and make his own itinerary. In this chapter he was mobbed by his fellow countrymen in Jerusalem and rescued by the Roman militia ... Read more

"He was a burning and a shining light". John was what all who hear God's voice should be. He shone in the darkness that was around in his day. He was more anxious to convey the truth than to please his hearers. Note these distinctive features about his ministry. 1 He ever exalted Jesus, preparing ... Read more

"supposing to add affliction to my bonds". The Apostle Paul was referring to those who sought to ridicule his faith and who made evil insinuations about the followers of the Lord. Their intentions back-fired for, as Paul says later, 'every way … Christ is preached'. Today there are those around who take delight in stirring ... Read more