When revival broke out in Jerusalem, an angel spoke to the apostle Philip. He instructed him to go to the Gaza desert, and there Philip met an Ethiopian diplomat riding in a chariot. The man was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. So Philip asked the official, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” (Acts 8:30).
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world" (1 Peter 5:8-9).
If you are a member of the body of Christ, get ready to face a mad devil. You may not want to think about it or even accept it - but if you have determined to follow Jesus with all your heart, Satan has marked you for destruction. And he's going to flood your life with troubles of all kinds.
The Old Testament is full of types and shadows of New Testament truth. Whenever I have a difficult time trying to understand a truth from the New Testament, I turn back to its foreshadowing in the Old. In fact, I believe there isn't a single episode or story in the Old Testament that is not full of ripe truth for New Testament believers.
My preacher grandfather once told me, "David, if you're going to teach about character, you have to go to the Old Testament. That's where all the character teaching is." I believe he was right.
Without a doubt, the blood of Jesus Christ is the most precious gift our heavenly Father has given to His church. Yet so few Christians understand its value and virtue.
Christians often sing about the power of the blood. Indeed, the anthem of the Pentecostal church is, "There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb." But most believers seldom enter into the power of that blood.
Thousands of God's people lined the shore, watching as a miraculous scene unfolded: "The swift waters of the sea had collapsed over Pharaoh's great army!"
What an incredible scene it must have been — the sights and sounds awesome to behold! Horses bellowed, soldiers screamed, chariot wheels spun off in all directions, men bobbed up for air and then disappeared beneath the flood tide, thousands of bodies washed up on the shore.
"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
"For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation" (Hebrews 2:1-3).
A young Christian wrote these sad words to me recently, "For the last few years I have heard evangelists, pastors and teachers tell their audiences to give up everything for Christ. They set my heart on fire and created in me a desire to reject the world and all it stands for. I was told to put Christ first in all things, to seek His holiness, and to go all the way with Him. So I did it! I went all the way — I gave up everything — I started giving myself to the Word and to diligent prayer. Then the Lord began to reveal Himself to me about the backslidden condition in God's house.
God is doing a secret work in our day. He is raising up a hungry people who are growing more and more dissatisfied with the fleshly, worldly system as it now exists — even in the church.
This message is for husbands and wives who want their marriage to succeed. It is also for those who are remarried and are finding it is necessary to work as hard, or harder, the second time. This message is also for the singles who hope to establish a good Christian home someday in the future.
This message is for honest marriage partners only. It is not for those who are looking for a way out of their marriage or who are wanting a way to simply exist in a bad arrangement.
Whenever Christians speak of the Upper Room, they usually refer to Pentecost. The very phrase “Upper Room” carries joyful meaning for the church, and not just because amazing things took place that day. It was an event filled with powerful promises for every follower of Jesus throughout the ages.
