The disciples had lost their confidence that their Master was going to rise to prominence in the land, and that meant their hope of being exulted with Him was fading. Jesus was talking about dying, and within a few days He would. The mood among the band of followers was turning grim. The opposition of the pharisees and the elite class seemed to have gained a following of their own against the One who claimed to be the Messiah. This … Continue reading →
The first verse of Revelation sets the approach for the prophecy we sometimes call the Apocalypse. It begins, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass” (Revelation 1:1). Revelation 1:1 points our attention to the Lord Jesus Christ as the focal point of the book and all that John was about to receive in vision to put down in writing. This final book of the Bible … Continue reading →
If you pick up any book on Bible prophecy you will likely find an introduction to the four main schools of interpretation in approaching the book of Revelation. Those four approaches are 1) Preterists, 2) Futurists, 3) Idealists, and 4) Historicists. The Preterists view is an approach that assumes the book of Revelation is speaking to past circumstances, visions, and descriptions that they say were fulfilled in the era of Nero’s Rome when Christians were under sever persecution and martyrdom. … Continue reading →
In recent years I have been going through a theological journey and have been deeply studying the questionable issues in Dispensationalism and Historicism views of eschatology. My own ministerial education has been in the Historicism school of eschatology but I have not been one to make an issue of those who hold to a Dispensationalism school of thought. For some reason I haven’t ran into pre-trib people ridiculing post-trib people, it has always been the post-trib that seem to want … Continue reading →
The book of Revelation spells out some details of the end time events that the Old Testament prophets proclaimed. What is interesting to me — in light of our current coronavirus crises —is the use of the phrase “shortly come to pass” used in it’s opening verse. Revelation 1:1 gives this introduction, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it … Continue reading →
In recent months voices have been raised in American Christendom criticizing the pre-trib position regarding our Lord’s return. (Perhaps church leaders are finally getting tired of arguing about Calvinism.) If you ask me if I am pre-trib or post-trib, I will answer “pre-trib” because I am looking for my Lord to return soon so I can meet Him in the air. If you think differently, this article is not about arguing my position or trying to disprove your position. It’s … Continue reading →
In John 21:15-17 we read where Jesus asked Peter do you “agapa” me? Peter responded by using a lesser word for “love.” Jesus used the word meaning “unconditionally” while Peter used the word meaning “brotherly.” After the same a second time, Jesus came back a third time and asked Peter if he loved Him but this time Jesus used the same lesser word for love that Peter was using. Sometimes God does come down to our level in order that … Continue reading →
A big takeaway from our teaching time this morning in Revelation 10 is the seven thunders, which John was told not to write down for us to know what they were. As followers of Christ Jesus, we don’t always have all the information we may think we need or want, but Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do … Continue reading →
