Theology & Doctrine
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Gospel to All Nations: God’s Global Mission Before the End
Jesus explained that the proclamation of the gospel— the good news of God’s saving grace— as a “witness” to “all nations” is the pivotal factor of earth’s final events. Once that happens then the end will come. Everyone will have decided for or against Christ. The apostle Paul defined the gospel of Christ as “righteousness by faith” empowered…
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Loud Cry: God’s Final Call to the World Before the End
The true beauty of God’s character will go global. John saw “an angel coming down from heaven having great authority and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice saying Babylon the great is fallen is fallen”. The proclamation of the gospel in the context of the three angels’…
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Millennium: A Thousand Years of Peace, Judgment, and Renewal
At the second coming of Jesus, the Millennium begins. With the saints in heaven and the wicked dead on earth, Satan and his demonic hosts are bound in isolation to a desolate planet in complete ruins. With nobody to tempt and deceive, the devil and all his fallen angels are left alone to contemplate their…
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Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Hope, Glory, and Final Redemption
As the suffering, struggling children of God flee from the rage of the wicked and wrestle in their hearts to be assured of God’s favor, suddenly, an unusual cloud approaches the earth, small at first, but increasing in size until it fills the whole sky. The followers of Jesus recognize this as their Savior returning to earth…
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Jacob’s Trouble: A Time of Testing Before Christ’s Return
God’s people enter an experience of deep spiritual heart- searching and self- examination, tightening their grip on God’s grace, and not their own good works, as their only hope. Each one sees their life of sin and feels their unworthiness before God, but the Holy Spirit impresses upon them a sense of God’s acceptance and love. Their…
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New Heaven and Earth: God’s Promise of Eternal Restoration
As the earth is cleansed by fire, the saints abide safely in the city of God, the New Jerusalem. The trauma of the whole ordeal, including the destruction of the wicked, is so overwhelming that the righteous are weeping. But God, who is perfect with empathetic love, “will wipe away every tear from their eyes”…
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New Jerusalem: When Heaven Descends and Evil Ends
At the conclusion of the Millennium, the New Jerusalem, and inhabited by the righteous of all ages, descends to the earth. The wicked of all ages are resurrected. Satan picks up where he left off before the second coming of Christ. He deceives the wicked with the promise that under his leadership, they can take…
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Song of Moses: A Hymn of Deliverance and God’s Faithfulness
Lessons from the ancient Israelites can be learned. Had Israel continued in faith and gone on singing and had not once stopped to murmur, they would have speedily reached Zion, the city whose Builder and Maker is God. When the redeemed of the Lord do at last stand on Mount Zion, having the harps of…
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Word of God: Finding Life, Power, and Truth in Scripture
The Jews found it difficult to believe the words of Christ, that He would give them Himself to eat. They said, “How can this man give us flesh to eat?” Jesus repeated the statement still more emphatically and then said: “It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto…
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Mercy and Justice: How God Balances Grace with Righteousness
Through Jesus, God’s mercy was manifested to men; but mercy does not set aside justice. The law reveals the attributes of God’s character, and not a jot or a tittle of it could be changed to meet in his fallen condition. God did not change His law, but He sacrificed Himself, in Christ, for man’s redemption. “God…
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Moses Strikes the Rock: A Lesson on Faith and Living Water
If we believe the Word, we may know that we drink as directly from Christ as did the Israelites in the wilderness. He made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water. In Him all things consist. The water which we drink, coming forth from the ground, is as truly from Him…
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Sinai and Calvary: The Riven Rock of Law and Grace
When God spoke the law from Sinai, that living stream of water, which gushed forth from the smitten rock in Horeb, was still flowing. If it had ceased to flow, the Israelites would have been in as bad condition as before, for it was their only water supply, their only hope of life. It was from…
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Spiritual Growth: Building on the Foundation of God’s Government
The ten commandments on the two tables of stone were in the ark, under the mercy seat, showing that the law of God is the basis of His throne and government. “The Lord reigns; Let the earth rejoice let the multitude of isles be glad thereat. Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and judgment…
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What Does In Christ Mean? Living in Union with Jesus
The key phrase that runs throughout Paul’s epistles some 64 times is the recurring phrase, the central theme of Paul’s theology, which is the expression “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus”. This phrase is sometimes expressed by other synonymous phrases such as in Him, by Him, through Him, in the Beloved, together with Him, etc. If these…
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Promises of God: Seven Things He Will Do for His Children
An everlasting covenant was made with Abraham and his descendants. It was a covenant of faith. The covenant of God with Abraham assured to him and his seed the righteousness of the law by faith. Not by works but by faith. The covenant was so ample in its scope that it embraced all nations, even…
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God’s Compassion: Embracing the Covenant of Peace
God designed that the children of Israel, and we also, should learn that the law is infinitely above the reach of all human effort, and to make it plain that, since the keeping of the commandments is essential to the salvation which He has promised, He himself will fulfill the law in us. “Hear, O…
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The Temple Veil: Its Meaning and the Shadow It Revealed
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4: 3,4 Let us reflect back to the experience of Moses and the…
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Carnal Christians: The Divide Between Spirit and Flesh
The New Testament divides Christians into two camps: spiritual and carnal. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth; “I, brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as to babes in Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:1. Notice that Paul doesn’t refer to these carnal Christians as the unconverted, but as babes in Christ. Babies as you…
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The Work of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives: Guiding and Transforming
Pray that the mighty energies of the Holy Spirit, with all their quickening, recuperative, and transforming power, may fall like an electric shock on the palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, restoring the whole man from his dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness. You will thus become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped…
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Surrender to God Bible Verse: Finding Hope in Life’s Struggles
What is God’s solution to our problems? How can we grow to be happy and strong Christians? “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15: 4 This two-part divine solution…
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Sons of God: Sharing in the Life and Nature of the Father
Not those whose hearts are touched by the Spirit, not those who now and then yield to its power, but they that are led by the Spirit, they that build wisely, sharing the life of God, are the sons of God. Build wisely on the sure foundation of God’s Word. Do you desire to become a…
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Price of Redemption: God’s Sacrifice and the Cost of Grace
God suffered with His Son. In the agony of Gethsemane, the death of Calvary, the heart of Infinite Love paid the price of our redemption…. Nothing less than the Infinite Sacrifice made by Christ in behalf of fallen man could express the Father’s love to lost humanity…. It is from the Father’s heart that the streams of divine…
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God’s Love: Our Father Cares and Gives the Greatest Gift
Jesus pointed His hearers to the Ruler of the universe, under the new name, “Our Father.” He would have them understand how tenderly the heart of God yearned over them. He teaches that God cares for every lost soul; that “like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him.” Psalm 103:13.…
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Questions About the Second Coming: 3 Vital Truths to Consider
For the longest time the thought was that the three most important questions in life that require answering were: Where have you come from, what is your ancestry and heritage? Why are you here and what is your life’s purpose? Where are you going after you die? Is there life after death? Having ruminated on…