Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts

223 When you come together - Prophecy - 1 Corinthians 14

When you come together Talk 10.   Paul’s Teaching on Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14 Having discussed Paul’s teaching on tongues and interpretation in 1 Corinthians 14, we now turn to the subject of prophecy. We will consider what it is, its value and purpose, its limitations, and its use in church. What is prophecy? In both Old and New Testaments the basic meaning of the word prophesy is to speak on behalf of someone else. A good illustration of this can be found in Exodus 7: 1-2 where...

222 When you come together - Interpretation of tongues

When you come together Talk 9 Paul’s Teaching on Interpretation of Tongues The gift of interpretation of tongues is a gift imparted by the Holy Spirit that enables Christians to understand what is said when someone speaks in tongues. It is given to individual Christians, as determined by the Holy Spirit, with the specific purpose of edifying the church. Paul’s entire teaching on this gift is found in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14. In chapter 12 it is mentioned twice, first in verse...

221 When you come together - Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14

When you come together Talk 8   Paul’s Teaching on Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 So far in this series we have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 should be taken as a serious indication of what God desires when we meet for worship, and we have been looking at chapters 12 and 13 to see how they might influence our understanding of this verse. In chapter 13 Paul has demonstrated the futility of spiritual gifts unless they are exercised in love. He now goes on to give practical instructio...

220 When you come together - Love - 1 Corinthians 13

When you come together Talk 7. We’re Nothing without Love – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the best-known chapters in the Bible. It is often chosen as a reading at weddings and is widely recognised as one of the greatest statements that has ever been written on the nature of love. I well remember how it was read on the first and last day of every term in the Chapel at Brentwood School where I attended as a pupil in the 1950s. Verses 4-8 are a favourite source of s...

219 When you come together - We're all needed

When you come together Talk 6 Everyone is needed 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 In our first talk we saw from 1 Corinthians 14:26 that one of the features to be expected when Christians meet together is the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in the use of supernatural gifts which are given as the Holy Spirit determines to individual Christians for the benefit of the church. In this talk we’ll be considering 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and its bearing on those words in 14:26 where Paul says ev...

218 When you come together - Baptism in the Spirit Part 3

When you come together Talk 5 Baptism in the Spirit (3) Applying what we’ve learnt from Acts to 1 Corinthians 12:13 In this series we are looking at what we should expect in our meetings as we gather together to worship the Lord. We have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives a clear indication about this and have noted among other things the importance of congregational participation and variety of manifestation, including supernatural gifts like speaking in tongues and interpret...

217 When you come together - Baptism in the Spirit Part 2 - Acts

When you come together Talk 4 Baptism in the Spirit (2) Baptism in the Spirit in the book of Acts Baptism in the Spirit in the book of Acts In this series we are looking at what we should expect in our meetings as we gather together to worship the Lord. We have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives a clear indication about this and have noted among other things the importance of congregational participation and variety of manifestation, including supernatural gifts like speaking i...

216 When you come together - Baptism in the Spirit Part 1

When you come together   Talk 3 Baptism the Spirit (1) 1 Corinthians 12:13   In the introduction to this series of talks we suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives clear biblical guidelines as to what Christians should expect as they gather together in worship. We noted that these include supernatural manifestations like speaking in tongues, interpretation, and prophecy. So in our last talk we considered the supernatural gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 and concluded tha...

215 When you come together - Supernatural gifts

When you come together Talk 2  Supernatural Gifts – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 As we’ve already seen from what he says in 1 Corinthians 14:26, Paul certainly expected manifestations of the supernatural in the meetings of the church. He refers to a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.  But these are by no means the only expressions of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. In 12:8-10 Paul mentions nine gifts: a message of wisdom, a message of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, mi...

214 When you come together - Introduction

When you come together - Introduction Three books – an old one, a new one, and a future one   I know that many of you will be familiar with my book on spiritual gifts, Body Builders – gifts to make God’s people grow. Since it was first published in 2002 it has been translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Finnish, and Amharic. I know it has been regarded by some as something of a Pentecostal classic, and for this I’m very grateful to the Lord. I’m happy to tell you t...

213 "With One Accord"

  Preached live at Brixham Community Church.

212 Saying 'No' to God

As we embark on a new year, let us allow God to speak to us, however uncomfortable or challenging it may be, and resolve to let saying 'no' to God never be an option.

211 The Humanity and Deity of Jesus

Dr David Petts preaching on 'The Humanity and Deity of Jesus'

210 Living in victory

Dr David Petts preaches on Living in Victory! For all podcasts visit https://www.davidpetts.org/podcast

209 Victory over the enemy - Lessons from the life of Benaiah

Victory over the enemy - Lessons from the life of Benaiah For all podcast episodes visit www.davidpetts.org/podcast

208 Amen!

AMEN! How often do we say the word, ‘Amen!’? In this sermon audio, Dr David Petts considers: It’s meaning and use The value of saying it Things we can’t say ‘Amen’ to The greatest ‘Amen’ of all

207 Seven reasons for praising the Lord - Psalm 146

Dr David Petts - Seven reasons for praising the Lord - sermon audio Psalm 146 1 Praise the Lord.a]">[a] Praise the Lord, my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord all my life;     I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 3 Do not put your trust in princes,     in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;     on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,     whose hope is in the Lord the...

206 Responding to God's voice Part 2

How God speaks to us   Talk 22 Responding to God’s Voice (Part 2) Receiving and using spiritual gifts 1 Corinthians 12:11 tells us that it’s the Holy Spirit himself who determines what gifts he should give us. But that does not mean that we cannot put ourselves in a position where we are most likely to receive them. As we draw this series to a conclusion, let me share with you five keys to receiving and using them. They are relevant, not only to spiritual gifts, but also to the whole que...

205 Responding to God's voice Part 1

How God speaks to us   Talk 21 Responding to God’s Voice (Part 1) This series has been about how God speaks to us. In our last talk we were considering how to hear him. In this talk and the next – apologies for saying last time that this would be the last talk – we’ll be talking about how we should respond. It’s a wonderful privilege to know that the Creator of the universe has spoken to you, and our initial response may well be a mixture of surprise, disbelief, awe, excitement, gratitude,...

204 How to hear God's voice

How God speaks to us       Talk 20 How to hear his voice Throughout this series we’ve been looking at the many different ways in which God may speak to us. But now it’s important that we consider two final things: How to hear his voice How to respond (which we’ll talk about next time) Before we do so, however, it will be helpful to remind ourselves of what we’ve said about the various ways he speaks to us. How God speaks – a reminder In Talk 1 we saw that God speaks to all humankin...

203 Other ways God guides us

How God speaks to us Talk 19 Other ways God guides us In recent talks we have identified five ways in which God may speak to us directly without involving other people: By his audible voice By angels By dreams and visions By supernatural signs By promptings, the inner voice of his Spirit Today we’re going to consider other ways in which God may guide us. Throughout this series we’ve been discussing ways in which God may speak to us. But he sometimes guides us without speaking at all. ...

202 The voice within - God speaks to us through promptings

Talk 18 Promptings – the voice within In recent talks we’ve been looking at ways in which God speaks to us directly rather than through other people. We’ve considered how he may speak with an audible voice, or through angels, or by dreams and visions, or by supernatural signs. We now turn our attention to what are often called promptings, by which I mean the voice of God’s Spirit inside us. In John 14-16 Jesus told his disciples that he was going away, but that he would not leave them wi...

201 God speaks through supernatural signs

How God speaks to us            Talk 17 Supernatural signs Another way God speaks to us is by supernatural signs.  In Acts 2:22 Peter refers to Jesus as a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs. And in Hebrews 2:4 we read that God testifies to our salvation by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit.    These three words, miracles, signs, and wonders, reveal three different aspects of the miraculous power of God. The word that is often tr...

200 God speaks to us directly Part 2

Talk 16 God speaks to us directly     Part 2       Dreams and visions I guess most Christians know that the Bible contains many references to God speaking to people through a dream or vision. The book of Genesis alone contains some 40 references to the word dream, and at least seven people are mentioned as having been spoken to in a dream or vision. These include: Abimelech (20: 3, 6) Abraham (15:1) Jacob (31: 10, 11) Laban (31: 24) Joseph (37: 5, 6, 9, 10) Pharaoh’s Butler and ...

199 God speaks to us directly Part 1

Talk 15      God speaks to us directly (Part 1) The Bible is full of examples of God speaking very directly, often without any human involvement. Some of the ways he speaks like this include:  an audible voice angels dreams and visions supernatural signs promptings. We’ll look at each of these in turn, starting with some biblical examples and then illustrating wherever possible from my own experience. I say ‘wherever possible’ because I can’t honestly say that God has spoken to m...

198 God speaks through Prophets and prophecy Part 2

How God speaks to us    Talk 14 Prophets and Prophecy (Part 2)   The ministry of a prophet From what we’ve said so far, it should be clear that although all Christians are to ‘prophesy’ in the general sense of speaking on God’s behalf, not all will exercise the gift of prophecy. And not all who exercise this gift will be prophets in the Ephesians 4:11 sense. In short:   All God’s people should prophesy (speak on his behalf) Some, but not all will receive the spiritual gift of prop...

197 God speaks through Prophets and prophecy Part 1

How God speaks to us    Talk 13   Prophets and Prophecy (Part 1) We saw last time that God speaks to us through pastors and preachers, but, as we shall see today, he also speaks to us through prophets and the gift of prophecy. We’ll begin by explaining what prophecy is. In the English language the word prophet is often used to refer to someone who foretells the future. But its basic meaning is someone who speaks on behalf of someone else. A good illustration of this can be found in Exodus ...

196 God speaks to us through pastors and preachers

How God speaks to us       Talk 12       Preachers and Pastors In recent talks we’ve been considering how God speaks to us through our parents and through other Christians. We now turn our attention to how God speaks to us through the preaching of his word by those he has called and gifted to do so. We have already seen that God expects all Christians to spread the good news of the gospel to those with whom they come in contact. The gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all Christians an...

195 God speaks to us through other Christians

Talk 11 God speaks through other Christians Welcome back after a short break. Let’s remind you what we’ve been saying so far. We’ve seen that: God speaks to all humanity through his creation He spoke to Israel by the prophets He has finally spoken by his Son He speaks today through the Bible He speaks through other people - parents   Why believe that God speaks to us through the Bible Tells us about Jesus Jesus believed that God speaks through scripture The apostles and e...

194 God speaks to us through our parents

How God speaks to us  Talk 10  God speaks to us through our Parents   So far, all that we have said has centred very much around the Bible. We have said that God speaks to us through the person of Jesus, but what we know about Jesus we derive from the Bible. We have also considered various ways in which God speaks to us directly through the Bible, but now we turn our attention to other ways in which God speaks to us.   We’ll start by looking at how he speaks to us through other peopl...

193 Different ways God speaks through the Bible - Part 3

Talk 9.  How God speaks to us through the Bible (Part 3) He directs us by bringing key verses to our attention So far we have identified three ways in which God speaks to us through the Bible. He shows us what to believe and how to behave. Through the lives of God’s people in the Bible he teaches us what to expect. And he encourages us by the promises he has made. We now turn our attention to how God sometimes directs us by bringing key verses to our attention.   Now we need to tread...

192 Different ways God speaks through the Bible - Part 2

Talk 8 Different ways God speaks to us through the Bible – Part Two Last time we saw that God speaks to us through the Bible by teaching us: What to believe and how to behave What to expect by giving us examples from the lives of God’s people Today we will see that: He encourages us by the promises he has made We read in 2 Peter 1:3-4 that God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and good...

191 Different ways God speaks through the Bible - Part 1

Talk 7 Different ways God speaks through the Bible (Part 1) In recent talks we have been considering the fact that God speaks to us through the Bible. We have seen why we should believe that God speaks to us through the Bible and how we can understand the Bible correctly. We now turn to considering different ways in which God speaks to us through the Bible. Today we will see that:   He shows us what to believe and how to behave He teaches us through the lives of God's people.   In ...

190 Understanding the Bible correctly - Part 2

How God speaks to us    Talk 6 Understanding the Bible correctly (Part 2) In the last talk we saw that to understand the Bible correctly we must be aware of what part of the Bible we are reading and of the context of the passage we are looking at. We considered the literary context and the cultural/historical context. It’s now time to talk about the immediate context.   The immediate context By the immediate context I mean the verses and chapters around the verse or passage you’re lo...

189 Understanding the Bible correctly - Part 1

How God speaks to us   Talk 5   Understanding the Bible correctly (Part 1) In the last talk we considered why we should believe that God speaks to us through the Bible. In the next few talks will be looking at how he does so. But first it will be important to consider how to understand the Bible correctly. We have already seen that as far as Jesus was concerned, when the Bible spoke, God spoke[1]. We also said that the writings of the Scriptures are as much the voice of God as the experi...

188 God speaks to us through the Bible

Talk 4. God speaks to us through the Bible So far we have seen that God speaks to all people through creation, that in Old Testament times God spoke to Israel through the prophets, and that now God has spoken finally and definitively by his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We now turn our attention to another way that God speaks to us. He speaks through his written word, the Bible. In this talk we will consider why we should believe that God speaks to us through the Bible. In the following talk...

187 God speaks to us in Jesus - Part 2

Talk 3. God speaks to us through Jesus (Part 2) Last time: God speaks to us in the person of Jesus God speaks to us in the words of Jesus Today: God speaks to us in the actions of Jesus In his letter to the Galatians Paul lists nine wonderful qualities which he calls the fruit of the Spirit[1]. These qualities should be evident in the life of every Christian as they reflect the character of Jesus which the indwelling Spirit of Christ seeks to reproduce in us. They are love, joy, ...

186 God speaks to us in Jesus - Part 1

Talk 2 God speaks to us in Jesus (Part 1) In the last talk we gave an outline of what the Bible teaches on how God speaks to us. We saw that: God speaks to all humanity through creation He spoke to Israel by the prophets He has finally spoken by his Son He speaks today through the Bible He speaks by his Spirit He speaks through other people Now because this series is primarily about how God speaks to us as Christians today, I won't be developing points 1 and 2 any further. This...

185 God speaks in so many different ways

How God speaks to us Introduction As I look back over 70 years of Christian experience, the most exciting thing I have discovered is that God has a plan for my life. Notice, I did not say God had a plan but that God has a plan, because although I am now 83 years old, God still has a plan.   And he has a plan for you too, and the most important thing you can possibly do is to find out what it is. God loves you. He wants what’s best for you. He knows you better than you know yourself. ...

184 Daily Bible Reading Talk 11 - Bible Reading Pitfalls

183 Daily Bible Reading Talk 10 - Bible Reading Habits

182 Daily Bible Reading Talk 9 - Understanding the Bible in the light of Pentecost

181 Daily Bible Reading Talk 8 - Old Testament / New Testament and The Importance of Context

180 Daily Bible Reading Talk 7 - The Importance of Context

179 Daily Bible Reading Talk 6 - Aids to help you study the Bible

178 Daily Bible Reading Talk 5 - Understanding the Historical and Cultural Background to the Bible

177 Daily Bible Reading Talk 4 - Understanding The Message of the Bible

176 Daily Bible Reading Talk 3 - Maximize your Daily Bible Reading

175 Daily Bible Reading Talk 2 - How God speaks to us through the Bible

174 Daily Bible Reading Talk 1 - Why Reading the Bible is Important