Author: David Ellis

Continued from last week Don: On the face of it, this seems to be a simple metaphor about those who are saved, those who are lost, and so on. But on closer inspection, it grows more puzzling. It seems as if the purpose of the vine is to produce fruit. Fruit is apparently the key…

Don: We have studied several of the “I am” statements of Jesus, including: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12) which emphasizes God’s creative power. God created light in the Genesis, and he will create a world of light in the Revelation. “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35) which emphasizes God’s…

Jay: In the story of Lazarus we discussed last week were two verses concerning the glory of God: … when Jesus heard [that Lazarus was ill], He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” (John 11:4)…

Don: Jesus’ statement: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11) is the great reversal, the promise of restoration, the break in the chain of cause and effect, the demonstration of God’s…

Don: Last week, in discussing Jesus’s statement that he is “the resurrection and the life” Jeff noted that resurrection marks the dispensation—the end—of natural law. Mankind was created as part of a supernatural world, and to that world we shall return upon the restoration of our relationship with God. The two trees in the Garden…

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”…

In Genesis, we hear four voices: God’s, Adam’s, Eve’s, and the serpent’s: Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:9-10) Then to Adam…

Don: When Jesus’s sheep hear the voice of the shepherd—God—what does it sound like? If we tell people God told us to do something, they are usually sceptical. But we all tend to think that if we do hear directly from God, our lives will be richer, better, and easier. Your ears will hear a…

Don: Scripture has many references to door. The only legitimate way into the sheep pen is through its door. Any other entry is illegitimate—the way of the thief and robber. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other…