God's deepest desire in salvation is to replicate within each of us, in a mysterious and marvelous way, the image of Christ.

There is an epidemic of spiritual immaturity in the church today. Christians need to grow up into Christlike maturity. Watch this video to find out more about the two journeys of spiritual maturity. Visit TwoJourneys.org for more info. bit.ly/4dtKtBK

Acts 17:6 "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also" - How awesome is that! Men who turned the world upside down for Christ! Preachers of the most powerful force that has ever entered the human race—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

amazon.com/Joy-Unspeakabl… One of the most exciting books I have ever read!

As each church is led in slightly different ways with slightly different approaches to ministry, it will develop different functions in Christ’s overall strategy for a region and for the world.

For all of us Christians in this present age, we are pilgrims passing through and all local churches are waystations along our way.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

The Book of Acts, and indeed all of church history, is rightly called a history of the Holy Spirit’s power through the church.

Calvin's comm. on Acts 2:13 regarding the mockers, “If God had come down from heaven in full view, his greatness and glory would have been scarcely more apparent than it was in this miracle....How beastlike must someone be to actually see it and yet ridicule the power of God!”

The foolishness of preaching, flawed humans standing in front of skeptical audiences speaking words, by that Christ has built his eternal kingdom! The emperors of the earth have built their kingdoms by the power of the sword. King Jesus, has built it by preaching.

Peter’s Pentecost Sermon is the single most influential sermon in the history of the church.

The most powerful weapon in the hands of the Lord for the building of the Kingdom of Christ is a healthy church.

“We are all beggars. This is true.” Martin Luther died with these words in his mind. He would stand before God on Judgment Day with his shameful nakedness covered in Christ’s robe of righteousness, a robe given him freely because he asked for it by faith.

Jesus, by his death, has defeated Satan and has begun to overthrow his dark kingdom. But that defeat and overthrow is a long, slow process… person by person, city by city, region by region, year by year, century after century.

In Acts 4, the “filling of the Spirit” is not a new baptism of the Spirit. Rather, it is the activity of the indwelling Spirit in the mind and heart of Peter, controlling his fear, giving him wisdom and words and boldness needed for the exact circumstance he was in.

My definition of a revival is an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit through an encounter with God resulting in a deep work of holiness in the people of God, boldness in evangelistic proclamation, and significant numbers of conversions among outsiders.

Revival is something God does to his people by the Holy Spirit.

I’m so excited to discuss the “Rich Blessing of Spiritual Disciplines” with Dan Doriani, Trillia Newbell, Ruth Chou Simons, and Afshin Ziafat at TGC25. You can register at tgc.org/tgc25 before March 1 for the best price. Hope to see you there!

Do you know a pastor or someone in seminary? This is going to be a helpful cohort on taking expositional preaching to the next level. David Platt Garrett Kell ن The Gospel Coalition thegospelcoalition.org/cohort/exposit…

On #GivingTuesday, help us equip thousands with God’s Word! We at Two Journeys are raising $10,000 today to give away my scripture memory book at CrossCon in January. Give any amount today and receive a free Christmas e-devotional as our thanks. twojourneys.org/donate/