Queen's Road Cell

To apply Acts to our lives sensibly, we need to distinguish when Luke is describing an example we should follow; when he is describing one we may follow; and when he is giving details to portray the overall message, not to be exact models for us. One clue to this distinction is that primary patterns recur whereas specific details vary. For instance, people repeatedly pray for God’s guidance to make decisions in Acts but casting lots occurs only once, before the Spirit is poured out at Pentecost. Likewise, when people become believers in Acts, water baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit normally occur, but “these can be in reverse order, with or without the laying on of hands, with or without the mention of tongues; and scarcely ever with a specific mention of repentance, even after what Peter says in 2:38-39.” You’ll find more guidelines for applications later in this study guide. For now, keep this question in mind: When is a practice in Acts a norm we should follow; w...

  7  All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied 8  For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9  Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. 10  Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. 11  The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? 12  For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?   In this study we see Qoheleth asking many questions and not providing answers. We will unpack his thought in 3 parts to unravel his meanings: v.7-9 (What is Qoheleth saying here?) v.10-11 (Compare the idea of naming in Gen 2:19-20 ...

Today we addressed the idea of whether one can receive Jesus as Saviour, but not as Lord - or put another way, whether we can be saved without at the same time showing evidence of submission to Jesus' authority in our lives. This used to be called "the Lordship controversy" and the underlying ideas are carried on by the "Free Grace movement". So, the teaching goes that one can be saved, and yet show no outward evidence of salvation for a time, with the possibility that one's works are only known to God. The ideas behind this are represented by some churches in Singapore that teach that, once saved by grace, there is no need for continued repentance, and that our salvation is assured. This is an important pastoral issue, because it is true that modern evangelistic methods downplay the need for repentance and surrender. This leads to people inside churches who think they are saved but have never known true salvation and the experience and reality of the indw...