There has always been one main criteria for those who seek membership in Christ’s church – to love God with all one’s mind and heart and to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37-40). Those who truly understand this criteria give up the pursuits [...]
There are only three instances where speaking in tongues is recorded in the New Testament - Acts 2:1-11, 10:38-48 and 19:1-8. In each instance, those who spoke were apostles who had been given the gift of the holy spirit, done for very specific purposes [...]
The phrase “bottomless pit” is found seven times in the Bible, all in the book of Revelation. Revelation is a highly symbolic text. Over the centuries, much confusion has arisen from taking its writings literally. The “bottomless pit,” for example, is not a literal [...]
1 Corinthians 3:6-7: (NASB) 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.The brethren In the Corinthian church had a lot [...]
There are many wonderful details in Revelation chapter 12 that are worthy of deeper study. But briefly, the chapter traces the history of Christians down through the age. The woman described in verse 1 is the early church after the death of Jesus. The red dragon [...]
We quote from a sermon by Robert Bennett called "Seven Churches:"In the first three chapters of Revelation, there are seven churches named after seven cities in Asia Minor, “seven” being a symbol of completeness. A list of those seven churches is given in Revelation 1:11.We [...]
In John 7:16, 17 we read, “Jesus answered them, and said, ‘My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.’” Jesus felt [...]
It is a challenge to determine who the first Christian might be.One might say the first Christians were those who first followed Jesus. John 1:36-51 lists a number of men who later became apostles: Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. But there were different [...]
In Matthew 23:1-30, Jesus warns his disciples to avoid the love of worldly pride and prestige that were enjoyed by the religious leadership of the time. In his words, Jesus emphasizes the importance of recognizing God alone as the supreme authority of all things. [...]
There are not seven sealed books in Revelation. There is one book, or rather a scroll, with seven seals on it. That scroll first appears in chapter 5: “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written [...]
The question assumes that the various denominations comprise the body of Christ. They do not. The body of Christ is being developed in this present age on an individual basis. The Apostle Paul said this. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not [...]
The tradition that the Roman Catholic Church is the true church established by Jesus Christ is based on the following scripture, which we will need to examine in order to come to the correct conclusion. Mat 16:15-19 (GNB)"What about you?" he asked them. "Who [...]
The seven churches in Revelation are a chronological prophecy of what will happen in Christianity (both true and nominal) after Jesus’ departure through His second advent. The church in Smyrna is the second church. It covers a period of severe persecution of true Christians [...]
Summary: The “falling away” has historically occurred. Discussion: In this scripture, the Greek word for “falling away” is apostasia meaning apostasy. It is referring to leaving Bible truths. The falling away started to occur even when the apostles were alive. Some Christians believed they [...]
The foundation of the great abomination of desolation rests in the doctrine of the Mass. The Mass substitutes human (priests’) performances in place of the great sacrifice of Calvary, for the cleansing away of sin. Jesus’ sacrifice was “once for all,” Romans 6:10. “For [...]
Some historical events of the tyrannical reign of the church of Rome include:The city of Beziers, France was stormed and taken in 1209, and 60,000 citizens, without regard for age or sex, perished by the sword. The blood of those who fled to churches [...]
In Revelation (2:20-25; 18:7), Queen Jezebel symbolizes a great religious system (the apostate church of Rome) in this Gospel Age. Roman Catholicism did great violence to God's truth and to true Christians by putting to torturing and killing hundreds of thousands of Christians during [...]
The word antichrist, first mentioned in 1 John 2:18, is the compound Greek word antichristos. “Anti” means “in opposition to,” or, “in place of” and “Christ” means “anointed.” Consequently, in order to understand who anti-Christ is — those who take “a position in place [...]
The Catholic Church desired to distance itself from the Jewish Law and its association with Judaism. It also wanted to blend and incorporate some of the pagan rituals and holidays with Christian holy days. This double motivation led the Catholic church to compromise the [...]
Daniel 9:24-27 takes us from rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls through the coming of the Messiah. When did the rebuilding of Jerusalem begin? Nehemiah 2:1 records that the Persian King, Artaxerxes, gave Nehemiah permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the “year 20” of [...]
