Letters of Commendation. The use of “letters of commendation” was very common among believers in the early Church (Acts 18:27; 2 Corinthians 3:1). The purpose of the letter was to express the unity of the Body of Christ, and the resulting communion between local assemblies gathered to the Lord’s Name. By receiving one who comes […]
Salvation is a term used in the Bible very broadly. There are three main aspects of salvation, and we do well to understand and distinguish them. In fact, many errors have arisen from not understanding how the Spirit of God is using the term “salvation” in a given passage of scripture. As always, context is […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Personal Beast; Antichrist The revival of the Old Roman Empire is a common theme in prophecy. It is described clearly twice in Daniel and twice in Revelation: Daniel 2 (the “feet of iron mixed with clay”) Daniel 7 (the “fourth beast” with “terrible iron […]
Main article: Battles of the Indignation Related: The Great Tribulation; The Prophetic Week The indignation is a 75 day period that will occur at the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. It is a technical term in the prophetic scriptures that refers to a series of judgments. A number of references will make clear that […]
The Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The ten commandments are central tenets of God’s law, and they were later expanded on to fill in the details. The ten commandments give God’s bare minimum standard for man. The do not give us the full revelation of God’s character and will […]
Aquila and Priscilla. Aquila was originally from Pontus, which is the Black Sea region of modern Turkey. He was a Jewish believer living in Rome with his wife Prisca as tent-makers. They were in Rome when Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans. At that time, Paul had never been to Rome, but the couple […]
Related: New Testament Apostles and Prophets; Servanthood; Office, Gift, Priesthood Introduction. Every believer has been given a special gift to aid them in their service for the Lord, and to benefit the whole body of Christ. These spiritual gifts are special abilities, and they are supernatural, although they do not always appear to be “miraculous” […]
What is the Millennium? The Millennium is the literal, undisputed, 1000-year-long reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the time when the glory of Christ will be displayed to this world. It is the time when Christ will take what rightfully belongs to Him. It is the “end goal” of the purpose and counsels of God. By the end of the millennium, every enemy will be put down and the kingdom delivered up to God (1 Cor. 15:24-28).
Related: Justification; New Birth; Cleansing; Footwashing; Holiness Sanctification. The verb “to sanctify” means ‘to declare or set apart as holy, or for a holy purpose’. God is holy (Rev. 4:8), and all that is in association with God or in proximity to Him must be holy too; “Who shall ascend into the hill of […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Personal Beast; Revived Roman Empire The coming prince is mentioned only twice in scripture. He is mentioned in Daniel 9, as the prince of the people who destroyed Jerusalem. Which people destroyed Jerusalem? The Romans, in A.D. 70. This man will be the political […]
Main article: Battles of the Indignation Related: Harvest Judgment; Judgment of the Quick and the Dead The Vintage (Winepress) Judgment. The winepress judgment, also known as the vintage, will take place at 1335 days measured from the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week (Rev. 14:17-20; Isaiah 26:20 – 27:5; Isaiah 63:1-6). Those destroyed are Russia […]
Related: The Son of Man The Son of David is a title of the promised Messiah, according to: the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-13), the prophetic scriptures that speak of Him; e.g. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isa. 11:1), […]
Judaizing teachers are mentioned in many of the Epistles: they had made inroads among the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:22), the Philippians (Phil. 3:2), the Colossians (Col. 2:18), the Cretans (Tit. 1:10), but nowhere with as much success as among the Galatian assemblies. The tendency towards natural religion has been the bane of Christianity. They were […]
Related: The Assembly; The Ground of Gathering What are assembly meetings? There is a difference between the times when believers are gathered together “in assembly” (1 Cor. 11:18) and the times when believers meet together for recreational purposes, casual fellowship, or even a bible study. Assembly meetings are official meetings, where the assembly comes together in […]
Related: Church Heresies Gnosticism. The word Gnostic comes from the Greek word ‘gnosis’, which means knowledge. The word is used by historians to describe a school of thought. Gnosticism arose from a group of evil workers who claimed to have higher light, special spiritual knowledge, or “secret wisdom”. This movement began in the days […]
“The Mystery”. Often we think of a “mystery” as something that is difficult to discover or decipher. Paul does not use the word in this way. Rather, it refers to a secret counsel of God that was previously unknown in the Old Testament, but now revealed and made plain. It could not be known by […]
What is sin? An important yet grim subject in scripture is that of sin. Sin is the reason for pain, suffering, and sorrow. Sin is the reason for death. Sin is the reason why Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross. Sin the reason the present universe will one day be dissolved, and […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Personal Beast; The King of the North The King of kings and Lord of lords is a reference to Christ returning from heaven in a warrior character (Rev. 19:11-16; Rev. 17:14). He will come “judging and making war in righteousness”. Accompanying Him will be […]
Satan’s Fall. It would appear that the original creation (Gen. 1:1) was committed to the hands of angels, over which Satan was the chief. It was an earthly paradise, called “Eden, the garden of God”. Satan was not a serpent then, but “the anointed covering cherub”, clothed with the reflected glories of God (Ezek. 28:14). […]
Solomon’s porch was a porch or colonnade attached to the Temple. It was originally constructed by King Solomon (1 Kings 6:2–3), and later rebuilt after a fashion by Herod. Solomon’s porch comes up three times in the scripture, and each time it is connected with a notable rejection of God by Israel. The first mention […]