Mark 12:44

29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like i... Read More

In Romans 8 Paul gives us a further listing of the gifts of the Spirit. As believers we have one inlet of power and that is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8 NKJV). And the Holy Spirit is power in the life of the believer. But this... Read More

THE DEACONS In our study of bishops, we learned that their function is the spiritual care and oversight of the house of God. We noted that bishops are also called elders, and that there are several bishops in one church, rather than one bishop over several churches. We come next to the study of deac... Read More

It is commonly accepted that grace is equal to mercy and that grace only has to do with our salvation. This idea is perpetuated by the Amplified Bible which amplifies the word “grace” to mean “God’s unmerited favor”. In fact, as I sat down to work on this study, I looked at many commentaries and dic... Read More

The time draws near for the great climax of the Lord’s coming into the world. The nearer to Calvary, the more plainly does He declare who He is and the purpose of His manifestation in the world. His course through the great week devoted to the Jewish feast of Tabernacles has been described in chapte... Read More

St Theodoros the Great Ascetic (? 9"' century) (J'olume 2, pp. 13-47) Introductory Note The two works that follow, A Century of Spiritual Texts and Theoretikon,^ are ascribed in the Greek Philokalia to St Theodoros the Great Ascetic, a monk of the monastery of St Sabas near Jerusalem, who subsequent... Read More

Introduction to the Philokalia Volume 1 The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. It was compiled in the eighteenth century by two Greek monks, St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain of Athos (1... Read More

They wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom this world was not worthy); wandering in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth. 1. At all times indeed, but especially then when I reflect upon the achievements of the saints, ... Read More

Jude 1:19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.: houtoi eisin (3PPAI) oi apodiorizontes (PAPMPN) psucikoi pneuma me echontes (PAPMPN) who = Pr 18:1; Isa 65:5; Ezek 14:7; Hos 4:14; 9:10; Heb 10:25 sensual = 1Co 2:14; Jas 3:15 Jn 3:5,6; Ro 8:9; 1Co 6:19 Spurgeon... Read More

1. The Psalm which we have sung is short: but as it is written in the Gospel of Zacchæus that he was little of stature, Luke 19:2-9 but mighty in works; as it is written of that widow who cast two mites into the treasury, little was the money, but great was her charity; Mark 12:42, 44 thus also this... Read More