Ephesians 4:7-10: ‘…He Gave Gifts…’
Paul is a man who loves to contrast things. In Romans 1-3 he gives us the bad news and the good news, the impossibility of sinners being righteous and then using the word ‘But’ talks about the free gift of righteousness that God provides, 3:21-31. In Ephesians 2:1-3 Paul talks about how dead in sin we are, then again in v4 beginning with a ‘But,’ God, by His sovereign grace intervenes and makes us alive in Christ. We have another contrast like this in the portion before us. Paul has been talking about unity, unity, unity, ‘BUT’ v7, diversity....
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The Problem of Hell
Introduction: One of the most emotional arguments against Christianity is the problem of hell. Many are ready to accept a God of love but will not believe in the God of the Bible because of the doctrine of endless conscious torment. The Bible’s teaching on hell is one of the most nightmarish images we can imagine, and our minds and emotions have drawn back in horror from them. The enemies to this teaching are everywhere, outside Christianity, inside the church and even our hearts cringe in the face of such harsh realities. We must recognise as we begin this...
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Revelation 21:5-8: Promises
Outline Promises of life Promises of death Introduction When you want something in writing you are asking for assurances that something will come to pass. God puts in writing His promise to make all things new. We are in Revelation 21 which has already shown us a future vision of the new creation where the deepest desires of our hearts, God Himself will be fulfilled. A time when all the things that make our life hard now will be removed. 21:1-10 can be structured around the two pronouncements of v3 and v5. We have looked at the first announcement...
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