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Word of Grace Studies

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Word of Grace Studies is a church in Monroe, WA, dedicated to changing the lives of believers through equipping them to live out who they are in Christ by edifying the body of the Christ (the Church). sermons.wordofgracestudies.org

1d ago

Doubt, Cowardice and Lying | How Satan Attacks Christians

The lesson continues the Christian Life series on Satan and demons, focusing on ways they attack a Christian. Previous sessions treated independence from God, Job, discouragement, and disappointment. Three further attacks are taken up: doubt, spiritual cowardice, and lying. The aim is awareness so that the believer can respond without fear and, later in the series, take up the defense. Doubt is set against faith. Several Greek words are rendered “doubt.” The passages used here employ diakrino. The word can mean to distinguish or to differ from another; in the middle or passive it is often “doubt,” because one is differing with oneself and second-guessing what is so. Matthew 21:18–22 records the withered fig tree. Jesus tells the disciples that if they have faith and do not doubt they will not only do what was done to the tree but may speak to the mountain and it will be done, and whatever they ask in prayer, believing, they will receive. Christians are expected to walk by faith; doubt is the opposite. James 1:5–7 applies the same contrast to asking. If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and does not upbraid, and it will be given. Let him ask in faith, nothing doubting. The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed and is not to think he will receive anything from the Lord. Asking is for what is in God’s will; wisdom is such a request. Asking while wondering whether it will work is not asking in faith. Romans 4:19–20 gives Abraham as the positive example. He was not weak in faith. He did not consider his own body as good as dead, about a hundred years old, nor the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Unbelief is unfaith. Faith and this kind of doubt cannot coexist regarding the same promise. Faith is a piece of the armor of God, the shield of faith in Ephesians 6, to be treated later. Romans 14 shows why doubt is dangerous: one cannot act on faith and on doubt at the same time. In the matter of food, nothing is unclean of itself, yet to the one who reckons it unclean it is unclean. Love limits liberty so a brother is not destroyed. Happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he allows. But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith. Whatever is not from faith is sin. Satan can take an otherwise innocuous act and make it sin by bringing the person to do it without believing it is right. Satan and demons often work first on frame of mind, attitude, or mental state, then present an action. Job shows the same pattern: long labor on the inner life aimed at getting him to curse God, which he never did. The sin nature campaigns through what appeals. Satan’s method is frequently different: produce a state, then an act that may not in itself look like a listed sin. Spiritual cowardice is such a state. It is fear that begins to govern behavior. Luke 22:31–34: the Lord tells Simon that Satan has asked to have “you” (plural, the disciples) to sift them as wheat, but He has prayed for Simon that his faith not fail, and when he is converted he is to strengthen the brethren. Peter claims readiness for prison and death. Jesus answers that the rooster will not crow before Peter has denied Him three times. After the arrest, Peter denies the Lord three times by the fire (Luke 22:54–62) and weeps bitterly. Between the warning and the denials he had even struck with the sword; fear of prison and death then changed his conduct. The denials are lies produced by that fear. 2 Timothy 1:6–9: Paul reminds Timothy to stir up the gift of God. God has not given a spirit of cowardice (deilia, timidity that affects behavior, not general phobos), but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Timothy is not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord or of Paul His prisoner, but to share the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Given who God is and what He has done, is doing, and will do, such cowardice is not logical. Unpleasantness may be ahead, as the garden showed of the Lord, without calling the path off. 1 Peter 5:8–9: be sober and vigilant, because the adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; resist him steadfast in the faith. The roar is not appealing; it is meant to freeze. Peter knew the method from his own denials. Lying is itself an action and is tied to Satan. Acts 4:34–5:11: early in the church, possessors of lands sold them and laid the prices at the apostles’ feet. Ananias and Sapphira sold a possession, kept back part with the wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion as if it were the whole. Peter asks why Satan has filled Ananias’s heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. The land was their own before and after the sale; they lied not to men but to God. Ananias expires; about three hours later Sapphira repeats the lie and likewise expires. The reasoning was convenience and fear of looking bad when others gave all. Satan filled the heart; the line of thought made lying seem safer. John 8:43–45: those who cannot hear Christ’s word are of their father the devil and want to do his desires. He was a manslayer from the beginning and did not abide in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. “The lie” is specific. Manslaughter here is a means to an end, distinct from the flesh’s appeal in Galatians 5. The lie reaches back to independence from God in the garden: “You will not surely die.” Romans 1:18–25: men suppress the truth in unrighteousness though what may be known of God is manifest. They knew God and did not glorify Him or give thanks; they became vain in their reasonings; they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into images; they exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator. Satan is involved in a world system that teaches independence from God. 2 Thessalonians 2:7–12: the mystery of lawlessness already operates; the restrainer will be taken out of the way; the lawless one will be revealed, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, connected again with the lie. In the tribulation many will know they face the wrath of God and still choose independence, growing angry at Him. Christians are not to lie. The references given with the outline include putting away the lie and speaking truth (Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 4:25; James 3:14). The collection of attacks differs from the flesh. Doubt and fear are not themselves the act; they are used to change the mind so that conduct follows. Lying is the act. Additional resources: wordofgracestudies.org for verse-by-verse teaching and notes; thechristianlife.org for ongoing Bible teaching through the week. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
1d ago

Great Multitude, Seventh Seal & Golden Censer | Revelation 7–8 Explained

Last week covered the sixth seal: the sun and moon darkened as a result of the war of Gog of Magog and the man of lawlessness. The sky rolled up like a scroll and stars falling like figs describe the shaking of that war. Gog of Magog is Russia with allies including Germany, Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya. They attack Israel while Israel is still at peace with the man of lawlessness and is not suffering the worldwide famine. They come because Israel has goods. Russia and her allies are destroyed on the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 38–39). The war causes Israel to recognize that God is dealing with them again. The man of lawlessness is slain and resuscitated, not resurrected. After he is restored he sets himself up as God in the temple of God, and Israel flees into the wilderness. Just before mid-tribulation the two witnesses come—Elijah and a contemporary Jew (Revelation 11). Revelation 13 records the man of lawlessness brought back to life. Israel flees and the Great Tribulation begins. Revelation 7 then shows the 144,000 sealed Jews so they cannot be harmed. Angels at the four corners hold the four winds. Later demons from the abyss also cannot harm them. They preach the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. They are from the tribes of Israel. After the church is gone God deals with Israel again in the realm of the dispensation of law. That does not mean Israel returns under the law to be obedient; Israel failed under the law by crucifying the Messiah who would wipe out the nation’s sins and settle them in the promised land. There is judgment on the dispensation of law. In the first half of the tribulation Israel is under the protection of the man of lawlessness. Heavy destruction on the Gentiles comes in the Great Tribulation. The 144,000 go throughout the world with the message of the kingdom of the heavens—12,000 from each listed tribe. Levi is included because the list is not about land inheritance. Dan is omitted because Dan brought idolatry into Israel; the tribe is not wiped out, but Dan has no protected 12,000. Revelation 7:9 jumps three years forward to the result of their ministry. A great multitude with palm branches cries, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” These are those saved by the 144,000. They serve day and night in His temple—the temple on earth, not the heavenly temple. “Dwell” means He tents among them. Palm trees in Ezekiel 41 mark the millennial kingdom temple, which is not Solomon’s temple. Cherubim and palm trees decorate it. Those saved by the 144,000 reside in that earthly temple for the thousand years. The throne in the heavens will be visible from the temple on earth. New Jerusalem is over the earth and supplies its light (Revelation 21:23–24). The nations walk in that light. These come out of the Great Tribulation. They are not the fifth-seal saints under the altar slain by the harlot in the first half. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb—they believed the message of the 144,000. They will not hunger or thirst. The sun will not scorch them. If God did not shorten those days, not even the elect would survive. The Lamb in the midst of the throne shepherds them to living fountains of water and God wipes every tear from their eyes. They live in the temple the entire thousand years. Revelation 8 opens the seventh seal. Silence in heaven for about half an hour returns the narrative to mid-tribulation. Silence does not mean no sound; it means no one is speaking. Satan is being cast out of the third heaven (Revelation 12:7–9). Michael and his angels fight the dragon and his angels; no place is found for them in heaven. Satan and his angels are cast to the earth. His time is short; his wrath is on the earth. Angelic warfare is not clashing swords; spirit beings are described in human terms so we understand. Michael, an angel, casts out Lucifer, a cherub—the highest rank of created beings. Michael had previously said to Satan over Moses’ body, “The Lord rebuke you.” Seven messengers who stand before God are given seven trumpets. The trumpets belong to the messengers, not to God. They are for Israel’s deliverance while Israel is in the wilderness. Satan attempts to destroy them and fails. Gentiles are occupied with other judgments. Six trumpets are detailed; the seventh jumps to the end of the millennial kingdom just before eternity. Revelation covers more than the seven years. Another messenger with a golden censer stands at the altar. He is given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. “Angel” means messenger and can be a spirit being, a human, or the second Person of the Godhead as the Messenger of Jehovah. This messenger acts as high priest for Israel. The earthly temple was a shadow of the heavenly. The brazen altar, laver, and altar of incense (Exodus 27; 30) explain the scene. The golden censer belongs with the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:4) and was used on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:12). Coals and incense filled the place of covering so the high priest would not die when he sprinkled blood on the place of propitiation. The incense is the prayers of the tribulation saints (Revelation 5:8). Saints after the church is gone are not added to the church. The church has a heavenly hope; Israel has an earthly hope. Different groups in the tribulation have different promises. The 144,000’s converts serve in the earthly temple. Christ adds His prayers to theirs. The messenger puts the incense on the golden altar, fills the censer with fire from the altar, and throws it to the earth. There are voices, thunders, lightnings, and an earthquake. The coals relate to cleansing of lips for judgment on Israel (Isaiah 6:6–10). Isaiah was sent to make ears heavy, hearts hard, and eyes shut—to judge, not to save. The fire purges unbelievers from Israel in the wilderness, as carcasses of unbelievers fell in the desert for forty years. The work now is three and a half years. “Noises” means voices; cleaned lips can now be heard. Judgment falls on unbelievers. The messenger is Christ acting as the Messenger having a quality of Jehovah, completing the dispensation of law. After the incarnation the Angel of Jehovah is not seen because He is no longer dealing with Israel in that manner. In the tribulation He submits again to the Father for Israel. The same Person delivered Israel from Egypt (Exodus 14:19, 24)—Jehovah in the pillar of cloud and fire. God will keep a remnant of Israel. They will possess the land from the river of Egypt to the headwaters of the Euphrates. The seven messengers then prepare to sound the trumpets. God the Son performs priestly duty related to Israel and the purging of unbelievers from Israel. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
5d ago

Matthew 1 Genealogy: David to Jehoram | Royal Line of Judah

The teaching continues Matthew chapter 1 in the genealogy of Christ, picking up after Judah through Jesse and moving through the royal line from David to Jehoram. Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, moved from giving up a brother to protecting his brethren, and the royal line comes through him. Perez broke through at birth after his brother’s hand appeared first. Hezron headed the Hezronites in a princely role. Ram is briefly noted. Amminadab became father-in-law of Aaron the high priest through his daughter Elisheba. Nahshon marked the rise of Judah’s authority, including military leadership. Salmon married Rahab. Boaz acted as kinsman-redeemer, marrying Ruth and raising a seed for Elimelech so his name would not be cut off; Obed was born. Jesse is tied to the prophetic branch that would come from his line. David is the one God selected; Saul is the one the people selected. Samuel was sent to anoint one of Jesse’s sons and anointed the youngest (1 Samuel 16:1–13). God promised that after David’s days a seed from his body would have his kingdom established and his throne established into the ages (2 Samuel 7:12–13). David is described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), focused on obedience, in contrast to Saul, who was disobedient, took forbidden possessions, and lost the throne and his seed. David is the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Samuel 23:1), establishing the literary foundation of temple worship. He occupies the tenth generation from Perez. Ten denotes completeness in biblical symbolism: ten generations from creation to the flood (Genesis 5), ten from the flood to Abraham (Genesis 11:10–26), and ten from the breach (Perez) to the royal dynasty (Ruth 4:18–22). David lived seventy years and reigned forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem—beginning to reign at thirty (2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Kings 2:11). He refused to usurp the throne and waited for God to appoint him. Solomon, son of Bathsheba the wife of Uriah, was chosen by God among David’s many sons to sit on the throne of the Lord over Israel (1 Chronicles 28:5). Nathan named him Jedidiah because the Lord loved him (2 Samuel 12:24–25). He asked God for an understanding heart to judge the people and discern good and evil (1 Kings 3:9). He was wise but not known as merciful in establishing his throne: Adonijah was put to death after a failed coup (1 Kings 2:23–25); Joab, who supported Adonijah, fled to the horns of the altar and was executed (1 Kings 2:28); Shimei of Saul’s house was executed after violating the terms of exile, with the warning “dying you will die” (1 Kings 2:36–46). God gave Solomon wisdom, riches, and honor and promised lengthened days if he walked in the ways of David (1 Kings 3:12–14). David was not permitted to build the temple because of blood on his hands; Solomon built it (1 Kings 6:1). Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel (1 Kings 11:42–43). In the end, wives and idolatry entered. Rehoboam, son of Solomon, was forty years old when he became king and reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem; his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess (1 Kings 14:21). The restriction on Ammon and Moab concerned males, not females. He went to Shechem to be made king. He rejected the elders’ counsel to serve the people and lighten the yoke and followed the young men who said his little finger would be thicker than his father’s waist (1 Kings 12:7–11). The turn of events was from the Lord to fulfill the word spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam: ten tribes torn from Solomon’s house (1 Kings 11:31; 12:15). Israel answered, “What share have we in David? … To your tents, O Israel” (1 Kings 12:16). The kingdom split: two tribes with the house of David, ten with Jeroboam. Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord and all Israel with him (2 Chronicles 12:1). High places, pillars, wooden images, and abominations of the nations were permitted (1 Kings 14:23–24). Abijah claimed the throne of David, blamed the split on worthless men, and adhered to the Mosaic priesthood of Aaron and the Levites against the northern calves and self-made priests (2 Chronicles 13:4–12). He still walked in the sins of his father and his heart was not loyal to the Lord as David’s heart had been (1 Kings 15:3). Asa did what was upright in the eyes of the Lord, as David had done (1 Kings 15:11; 2 Chronicles 14:2). He banished the perverted persons, removed the idols his father had made (1 Kings 15:12), deposed his grandmother Maacah from being queen mother and cut down and burned her obscene Asherah image, restored the altar of the Lord (2 Chronicles 15:8), and led the people into a national covenant to seek the Lord (2 Chronicles 15:12). Jehoshaphat sent leaders and Levites throughout the cities of Judah with the book of the law of the Lord to teach the people (2 Chronicles 17:7–9). He established judges in the fortified cities to hold the people accountable to the law (2 Chronicles 19:6). He aligned himself with Ahab by marriage (2 Chronicles 18:1), went to war with him, and nearly died. Jehu the seer rebuked him for helping the wicked and loving those who hate the Lord, so wrath came upon him (2 Chronicles 19:2). He is presented as one who sought the Lord with all his heart (2 Chronicles 22:9), yet the alliance ignored the spiritual divide with the idolatrous north. Jehoram, fifth king of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat, began to reign in the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab (2 Kings 8:16). When established, he killed all his brothers with the sword and the princes of Israel (2 Chronicles 21:4). He walked in the way of the kings of Israel because the daughter of Ahab was his wife and he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 8:18). A letter from Elijah rebuked him for not walking in the ways of Jehoshaphat and Asa, for making Judah play the harlot like the house of Ahab, and for killing his brothers who were better than himself; the Lord would strike the people with a great affliction (2 Chronicles 21:12–15). After two years his intestines came out because of the sickness; he died in severe pain and his people made no burning for him (2 Chronicles 21:18–20). Only his youngest son survived. From Jehoram the line continues through Joash (whose sister preserved the royal seed), Amaziah, and Uzziah. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
Sep 11

Satan’s Attacks on Believers | Independence, Job & Discouragement

The lesson continues the Christian Life series on Satan and demons by distinguishing Satan’s attacks from the campaign of the sin nature. The flesh campaigns against the soul through appetites and emotional appeal, as listed in Galatians 5. Satan and his demons typically present a thought or line of reasoning aimed at the rationale. The method is not necessarily appealing; Job’s losses were not desirable. Scripture describes Satan as walking about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Handling an attack from Satan differs from handling an attack from the flesh. Satan and demons ordinarily work through a thought put before a person; the person is not mind-controlled. Three attacks are assembled from different passages: independence from God, disappointment, and discouragement. Independence from God is at the center of Satan’s own fall and of his first recorded dealing with mankind. In Genesis 3 the serpent questions what God has said, contradicts the warning of death, and offers the prospect of being like gods, knowing good and evil. Eve is beguiled and eats; she later says the serpent deceived her. Adam is not deceived. First Timothy 2:14 states that Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression. Romans 5:12–19 traces sin and death entering the world through one man, Adam, who knew what he was doing. The attack is to know God’s command and act independently of it. James 4:13–17 addresses the same independence in planning: those who say they will go, stay a year, buy and sell and gain ought instead to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” To know to do good and not do it is sin. Acts shows the contrast in Paul’s travels. In Acts 16:6–7 the Holy Spirit forbids preaching in Asia and does not allow them to enter Bithynia. In Acts 18:21 Paul says he will return to Ephesus if God wills. In Acts 19:21 Paul purposes in the spirit to go to Jerusalem. In Acts 21 disciples speak through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem, and Agabus binds himself with Paul’s girdle, saying the Holy Spirit declares the Jews will bind the owner of the girdle. Paul is not persuaded and continues. The pattern illustrates the danger of setting one’s own course apart from the Lord’s will. Satan peddles independence from God; believers are dependent on God. Job supplies the examples of disappointment and discouragement. In Job 1 the Lord points to Job as a blameless and upright man. Satan answers that Job fears God only because of the hedge and blessing, and claims that if all Job has is touched he will curse God to His face. Permission is given except against Job’s person. Messengers report the loss of oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, servants, and Job’s sons and daughters. Job tears his robe, shaves his head, worships, and says, “Naked I came… the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job does not sin or charge God foolishly. In Job 2 Satan returns and claims that if Job’s bone and flesh are touched he will curse God to His face. Job is struck with boils from sole to crown. His wife says, “Curse God and die.” Job answers that they should receive evil as well as good from God; he does not sin with his lips. After seven days of silence with his friends, Job opens his mouth in chapter 3 and curses the day of his birth, wishing he had died from the womb so as to be at rest. The attitude has shifted from blessing the Lord to disappointment that events do not match his expectations. The friends then press a reasoning that such calamity cannot fall on the righteous. Eliphaz asks who ever perished being innocent (Job 4:7). Bildad says God will not cast away a perfect man and that Job should seek God so his habitation would be prosperous (Job 8). Zophar says God exacts less than Job’s iniquity deserves and that Job should put iniquity far away (Job 11). Job is bewildered. In Job 10 he asks God not to condemn him and to show why He contends with him, insisting he is not wicked. In Job 19 he says God has overthrown him, fenced his way, stripped his glory, kindled wrath against him, and counts him as an enemy. The attitude moves from disappointment to discouragement—the sense that God has turned against him. The opening chapters show that God has not abandoned Job; Satan’s aim is to bring Job to curse God. First Thessalonians 2:17–18 records that Paul desired to see the Thessalonians again but Satan hindered him. The Thessalonians themselves were in tribulation, and some were teaching that they were already in the Day of the Lord. Paul sent Timothy lest the tempter have tempted them and the labor be in vain. Timothy brought good news of their faith and love. Believers can pass through suffering without falling into disappointment, discouragement, or the conclusion that God has abandoned them. Christians do not face wrath from God as Job described. Satan remains permitted to hinder and to present reasoning that would produce a wrong attitude and a wrong action. Further lessons will treat the armor of God. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
Sep 11

The Sixth Seal Is Not the End | Gog Magog War & 144,000 Sealed

The sixth seal is not the end of the world. It is the moment the world sees God step back into Israel’s history: sun darkened as sackcloth of hair, moon like blood, sky receding as a scroll, every mountain and island moved, while Israel is still at peace. Revelation 6:12–17 describes a great earthquake and atmospheric obstruction so the sun can still be seen through sackcloth-like darkness and the moon appears blood-filtered. This is not Matthew 24:29, where the sun stops giving light and the stars go out just before the Lord’s return. Stars here fall as a fig tree drops late figs when shaken by a mighty wind; they are shaken, not extinguished. Ezekiel 38:11 places this at mid-tribulation. Gog of Magog comes against a land of unwalled villages, a peaceful people dwelling safely without bars or gates because the man of lawlessness’s covenant has protected Israel. The motive is plunder: livestock and goods in the midst of the land after the earlier seals have left the nations in famine and death. Gog of Magog is the expander of the expanse, prince of Rosh, farthest north—Russia—with Meshach (Turkey), Tubal (Georgia), Gomer (Germany), Togarmah from the far north, Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya (Ezekiel 38:1–6; Genesis 10:2). The Lord puts hooks in the jaw and brings them down. Every man’s sword is against his brother. Pestilence, bloodshed, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone fall on Gog, his troops, and the many peoples with him (Ezekiel 38:19–22). Mountains are thrown down, steep places and walls fall. Revelation 6:13–14 describes the same shaking and the sky rolling up like a scroll—the language of nuclear detonation affecting earth and atmosphere together. They fall on the mountains of Israel; birds and beasts devour them (Ezekiel 39:4). Fire is sent on Magog and on those who live securely in the coastlands; homelands are destroyed with the armies (Ezekiel 39:6). The nations know that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 38:23). Kings, great men, rich men, commanders, mighty men, slave and free hide in caves and rocks and cry for the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come (Revelation 6:15–17). God is not dealing with Israel as a nation in the present dispensation of grace; He calls them “not My people” while preserving a remnant among the Gentiles. A Jew today is saved by the same gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose the third day. In the tribulation the dispensation of law is under judgment. The first half God again deals with Israel; this war makes Israel realize He is protecting them. Zechariah 14:1–7 gathers nations against Jerusalem; spoils are divided; a remnant flees; the Lord fights; His feet stand on the Mount of Olives, which splits east to west; light diminishes so it is neither day nor night until evening light signals His coming. Russia succeeds in assassinating the man of lawlessness; one of the beast’s heads is mortally wounded and healed, and the world marvels and follows him (Revelation 13:3). Two witnesses prophesy 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth; they are the two olive trees and two lampstands (Revelation 11:3–4)—Elijah and a contemporary Jew, not Enoch. The woman (Israel) flees into the wilderness to a place prepared by God and is nourished 1,260 days, given two wings of a great eagle (Revelation 12:6, 14). The Great Tribulation begins when the man of lawlessness sits as deity in the temple of God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The church will not know who he is; that day cannot come until the standing away (the gathering of the church from the earth) and then the man of lawlessness is revealed. After these things four angels hold the four winds so they do not harm earth, sea, or trees until the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads (Revelation 7:1–3). Another angel from the east with the seal of the living God commands the delay. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel are sealed for physical protection so they can proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens—the Messiah coming to Israel and the earth—not the gospel of grace. They are sealed just before mid-tribulation and then spread through the earth. Levi is included because the sealing is not about land inheritance (Numbers 18:20). Joseph receives a double portion; Manasseh is listed. Dan is omitted; that tribe first set up carved images and its own priesthood (Judges 18:30). The dragon, unable to destroy the woman in the wilderness, makes war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus the Messiah (Revelation 12:17). Next the great multitude that results from their ministry (Revelation 7:9–17). Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
Sep 6

Judah to David | Matthew 1 Genealogy: Perez, Rahab, Ruth & Jesse

The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, traces the promise God gave Abraham. The line did not follow firstborn custom. God rejected Ishmael and appointed Isaac, the son of promise born to Sarah. From Isaac the line passed to Jacob rather than Esau, the firstborn. Before the twins had done good or evil, God chose the younger so that the purpose of election might stand. Jacob’s name means heel-grabber or usurper. Esau sold the birthright for a meal; Jacob, with his mother, took the blessing. Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, first proposed selling Joseph rather than killing him (Genesis 37:26–27). God used that act to place Joseph in Egypt so that Jacob’s house would survive the famine. Later Judah changed. Facing Joseph, he pledged his own life for Benjamin. Israel (Jacob renamed) blessed Judah as a lion’s whelp: the scepter would not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes (Genesis 49:9–10). When God calls the nation Jacob He speaks of the usurper; when He calls them Israel He speaks of the prince of God. From Judah the line runs through Perez and Zerah, sons of Tamar. Perez received his name because he broke through after his brother’s hand had appeared first (Genesis 38). His house became a leading clan in Judah (Numbers 26:20). Perez’s descendants settled in Bethlehem. Ruth 4:12 treats the house of Perez as a blessing. Perez begot Hezron, head of the Hezronites and the primary clan of the later royal line (Genesis 46:12). Hezron begot Ram. Scripture records no deeds of Ram; he stands as a structural link in the tables of Ruth and 1 Chronicles that validate the house of David. Ram begot Amminadab, whose name means “my people are noble.” Amminadab’s daughter Elisheba became the wife of Aaron (Exodus 6:23), joining the coming royal line to the priestly line. Amminadab begot Nahshon, the first man in Scripture explicitly called a nasi, a prince or leader of Judah (Numbers 1:7; 2:3). Nahshon offered the first gift at the dedication of the tabernacle (Numbers 7:12) and led Judah as the vanguard of the wilderness march (Numbers 10:14). Judah was already set as military and political head before the monarchy. Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon married Rahab of Jericho. Rahab hid the spies, confessed that the LORD had given Israel the land, and bound the scarlet cord in her window (Joshua 2). By faith she did not perish with those who did not believe (Hebrews 11:31). Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab. Boaz means “in him is strength.” He acted as go’el, kinsman-redeemer, under the law of Deuteronomy 25:5–10. Before the elders at the gate he acquired the estate of Elimelech and took Ruth the Moabitess as wife to raise up the name of the dead (Ruth 4:9–10). Boaz was a mighty man of wealth (Ruth 2:1) and kept the Torah toward the poor, leaving extra grain for Ruth. Ruth, a Moabitess descended from Lot, left her land and gods and clung to Naomi: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Deuteronomy 23:3–4 bars an Ammonite or Moabite male from the assembly of the LORD even to the tenth generation. The restriction applies to the male line, the line of seed; it does not bar Ruth. There is therefore no legal defect in her place in David’s genealogy. Boaz and Ruth begot Obed. In the legal sense of redemption Obed was accounted the heir of Elimelech and Naomi so that the name and inheritance would not be cut off (Ruth 4:10, 14–15). Obed begot Jesse of Bethlehem. The LORD sent Samuel to Jesse after rejecting Saul: “I have provided Myself a king among his sons” (1 Samuel 16:1). David, the youngest, was keeping sheep. Samuel anointed him; the Spirit of the LORD came upon him. David did not seize the throne while Saul lived. Isaiah 11:1 promises a rod from the stem of Jesse and a Branch from his roots. Romans 15:12 applies that word to Messiah, who will rise to reign over the Gentiles. Revelation 5:5 names Him the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the One worthy to open the scroll. The Spirit was with David, not in him as in the Church; David could plead that the Spirit not be taken from him. The earthly monarchy would later be cut down, yet the right to the throne remained in Jesse’s line and is fulfilled in Christ. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
Sep 6

You Already Know the Truth | 1 John 2:21 Antichrists Deny Father & Son

The message continues in 1 John chapter 2, approaching the end of the chapter. Last week covered antichrists in verses 18–20. John writes that it is the last time; antichrist will come, and even now many antichrists have gone out from the assembly. They were not of the assembly; if they had been, they would have remained. They went out so that it might be made plain they were not all of us. Believers have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things. John has not written because they do not know the truth, but because they do know it, and no lie is of the truth. The liar is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that which was heard from the beginning abide; if it abides, they will also abide in the Son and in the Father. The focus is verse 21. The audience already possesses the information needed to identify these liars. John does not give new information; he reminds them that the ones they heard were coming are present, and they already know how to recognize the lie. Verses 26–27 add that some would try to deceive, yet the anointing received from Him abides and they need not that any man teach them; the same anointing teaches all things, is truth and no lie, and they will abide in Him. Ephesians 1 shows salvation as the work of the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, chosen them before the foundation of the world, marked them off for placement as sons through Jesus Christ, given redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins, made known the mystery of His will, and granted an inheritance. After hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of their salvation, and believing, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the guarantee of the inheritance. Believers hope and believe after these things have already been accomplished by God. Those who deny the Father and the Son undercut the very provision of that salvation. “The truth” with the article points to something specific determined by context; it is not identical in every passage. In some places it refers to the doctrine necessary for victory over the sin nature. Romans 6 asks whether believers should continue in the sin nature that grace may abound. Those who died to that sinfulness cannot live in it. They were immersed into Christ’s death, co-buried with Him, and are to walk in newness of life. The old man was crucified with Him so that the body of that sinfulness might be destroyed and they should no longer serve it. He who has died is freed from sin. 2 Corinthians 4:2 speaks of the manifestation of the truth, not walking in craftiness or handling the Word of God deceitfully, but commending themselves to every man’s conscience. The truth affects visible behavior. Galatians 1:6–7 marvels that the Galatians were so quickly removed to a different kind of gospel, which is not the same. Some would pervert the gospel of Christ by adding that something must still be done about sins or that the law must be brought in for righteousness. That is not believing Christ died on behalf of sins and paid the price; it is believing He died but. Galatians 5:6–7 states that in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails, but faith working through love. They ran well; who hindered them that they should not obey (be persuaded by) the truth? 1 John 1:5–8 declares that God is light and in Him is no darkness. The one who claims fellowship yet walks in darkness lies and is not doing the truth. Walking in the light brings fellowship and cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ His Son. The one who says he has no sin deceives himself and the truth is not in him. The truth here is meant to change behavior: in Christ believers have died to the sin nature. 1 Peter speaks of purifying the soul by obeying the truth, because the sin nature campaigns against the soul; victory over it positively affects the soul. 1 John 2:4 states that the one who says he knows Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is perfected. The old commandment is the word heard from the beginning. Verse 24 again calls them to let that which was heard from a beginning abide, so that they abide in the Son and in the Father. John has already linked the truth to not denying the sin nature and walking in darkness (chapter 1) and to keeping His commandments (chapter 2). At the end of chapter 2 he contrasts it with antichrists who deny the Father and the Son. Most Christians already have the information needed to recognize that denial. The implications of what God has done in salvation are past, present, and future: not only a past moment of belief and a future heaven, but present freedom from the sin nature and present effects. Ephesians 4:14–24 exhorts that they no longer be children tossed by every wind of teaching and the cunning of those who lie in wait to deceive, but speaking truth (truthing) in love they grow up into Christ the Head. They are not to walk as the Gentiles in the uselessness of the mind, darkened understanding, and alienation from the life of God. They have learned the Christ; truth is in Jesus. They are to put off the former manner of life, the old man corrupt according to deceitful lusts, be renewed in the spirit of the mind, and put on the new man created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Denial of the Father and the Son creates fundamental issues for doctrines already stated in 1 John, including living free from sin. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe
Sep 5

Who Is Satan? Cherub, Fall, Demons & the World | Christian Life

Who Is Satan? Satan is a person, not an impersonal principle or force. He is a cherub. His name comes from the Hebrew sathan and means enemy or one who hates. Origin. Ezekiel 28:12–15a addresses the king of Tyre yet describes what no human is: presence in Eden the garden of God, covering of every precious stone, tabrets and pipes prepared on the day of creation, the anointed cherub who covers, set upon the holy mountain of God, walking in the midst of the stones of fire, and perfect in his ways from the day he was created. Fall. Ezekiel 28:15b–19 continues: iniquity was found in him; the multitude of his merchandise filled him with violence and he sinned; his heart was lifted up because of his beauty; his wisdom was corrupted by his brightness; he is cast as profane from the mountain of God and the covering cherub is destroyed from the stones of fire. Motivation. Isaiah 14:12–14 records Lucifer, son of the morning, fallen from heaven: “I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mountain of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.” After the attempt failed he doubled down and made it his business to oppose God. Opposition. In Job 1–2 the sons of God present themselves before the Lord and Satan comes among them. He argues that Job fears God only because of the hedge and blessing; the Lord permits testing of Job’s possessions, then of Job’s person. In 1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number the people. In the garden he persuaded Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Demons. Satan did not fall alone. Revelation 12:3–4, 9 identifies the great red dragon as that old serpent called the devil and Satan; his tail draws a third of the stars of heaven and casts them to the earth. Those fallen angels are demons. Ephesians 6:11–12 and Colossians 1:16 speak of principalities and powers among the ranks. Demons remain active: a lying spirit stands before the Lord and is sent into the mouths of Ahab’s prophets (1 Kings 22:19–23); in latter times some depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1). A demon is a person. Satan is not omnipresent; many temptations come from demons rather than from Satan himself. Relation to the world. Jesus calls him the prince or ruler of this world who shall be cast out (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). In the wilderness the devil claims all the kingdoms and their authority have been delivered to him and he gives them to whom he will (Luke 4:6). The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19). Unsaved people are under the authority of Satan and must be turned from darkness to light (Acts 26:18). The god of this age blinds the minds of the unbelieving (2 Corinthians 4:4). Relation to Christians. Satan cannot touch, possess, or indwell a Christian (1 John 5:18). He is an enemy who walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He is the accuser (Revelation 12:10) and attacks through desires placed in the mind. The defense against the flesh and the defense against Satan are not the same; the kinds of attack also differ. The flesh offers appetites people find appealing. Satan operates as a roaring lion—discouragement, doubt, bitterness, and other unwelcome pressures meant to freeze the prey and produce a response such as cursing God. Word of Grace Studies is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Word of Grace Studies at sermons.wordofgracestudies.org/subscribe

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