Related: Pharisees; Sadducees; Leaven Herodians. This was a faction of the Jews in the first century that was sympathetic to Rome. They were a highly political group, hence their name. Naturally, they aligned more with the Sadducees (ruling class) than the Pharisees, but they were seen joined with the Pharisees to temp the Lord […]
Main article: The Sufferings of Christ Christ’s Official Sufferings are connected not so much with the Person of our Lord, but with His Messianic offices. When the Lord came into this world according to the seed of David, He had a people (Israel). He had certain rights with respect to Israel that were denied Him. […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Personal Beast; Revived Roman Empire The Antichrist is a reference to a future world leader that will play a remarkable role in the fulfillment of Daniel’s seventieth week. Like the Personal Beast, he will come to power in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, and he […]
Related: Development of God’s Dispensations; Dispensational Truth Dispensations or administrations are the various ordered dealings of God with men on the earth at different times. The Children of Israel in the Old Testament were in a different dispensation than we are in today. In the Millennium, inhabitants of the earth will live in a […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Assyrian; The King of the South; Daniel 11 The King of the North is a future world leader that will come into play at the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. He will have a huge confederacy of Arab nations that will be allied with him; ten nations, to be […]
The “Righteousness of God” is an expression that occurs in three senses in scripture; the Kingdom sense, the Gospel sense, and the Promise sense. In all cases, righteousness means “equity of character” and has the thought of consistency. The Righteousness of God is God’s total and absolute consistency in His actions with who He is in His […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The King of the North; Gog and Magog; Daniel 11 The Assyrian in Prophecy. The Spirit of God in the Old Testament used the political circumstances of Israel as a pattern of future coming events. Prophecy was given to warn Israel about the events that would […]
Main article: Preliminary Events in Prophecy Related: The Great Tribulation “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them […]
Paul’s Four Revelations which all have to do with the Church of God: The Identity of the Church as the mystical body of Christ; composed of believers from among the Jews and Gentiles, united to one another in one body, and to Christ the glorified Head, by the indissoluble link of the Holy Ghost sent […]
Apostle. The word ‘apostle’ means ‘sent one‘ or ‘messenger’. It can be used for any messenger, or it may refer to specific offices. Here are a few examples of its general application: Titus and other brethren; “they are deputed messengers of assemblies” (2 Cor. 8:23). Epaphroditus; “your messenger” (Phil. 2:25). Any sent one; “neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him” (John 13:16). […]
Two Orders of Manhood. The first man and the second man are abstract terms that describe two different orders of manhood. The terms come from 1 Cor. 15:46-49: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the […]
Related: Pharisees; Sadducees; Herodians Leaven. Leaven in scripture is always a symbol of evil, and often of evil doctrine as well; e.g. “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:6). As in physical baking, leaven is characterized by its infesting and spreading character. Yeast works in this way to create evenly spaced bubbles in […]
Related: New Creation; Eternal State The Sabbath is a vastly important subject, tying together Old and New Testaments. The Sabbath was the pride of the Jew. It was ordained of God (Exodus 20:10) in his merciful consideration for man’s blessing (Mark 2:27). God knew man’s heart, that it was so driven by greed that man […]
Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The King of the North; The Vintage Judgment Gog and Magog is a reference to Russia, who will come down at the end of the indignation (1335 days from the middle of Daniel’s 70th week) to attack the land of Israel. We know this is […]
Eucharistic Theology. There are a number of theological views on the Eucharist. Real Presence. This belief is that somehow (and there are a variety of theories) the bread and wine either become or are the literal body and blood of Christ. I believe these views are unsupported by scripture, and come from those who do […]
Main article: The Sufferings of Christ Christ’s Martyrdom Sufferings are what our Lord suffered as an innocent victim of man’s cruelty, especially in the last week leading up to the cross, which is often called the Passion Week. These sufferings were not only physical. We must remember that the Lord perfectly felt the wicked […]
Related: Predestination, Foreknowledge, Corporate Election Election. Election is the truth that believers in Christ were elected, or chosen, by God for blessing. “According as he has chosen us in him before the world’s foundation” (Eph. 1:4). Election is the choice of one out of many. God’s sovereign choice was made “before the world’s foundation”, […]
Related: Apostasy of the Christian Profession; Eternal Security What is Apostasy? Apostasy is abandoning a belief once professed, especially in the context of renouncing the profession of faith in Christ. Apostasy is different from backsliding. A backslider is one who has truly believed on the Son of God, but has fallen into systematic failure, […]
The Four Gospels. Following is a comparison of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is a work in progress so please have patience. The long term goal is to have all the miracles and parables of our Lord hyperlinked to their places in the gospels. Differences. The theme of all the […]
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 […]