Revelation 6:1-8 The tribulation starts out with the promise of peace and security, but things quickly take a turn for the worse. This terrifying time involves widespread disease, ravaging war, economic turmoil, and violent death. But Christ offers true peace that never fades away. He is contrasted with the antichrist’s fake peace in Daniel 8:25-26…

Revelation 6:1 It is important to rightly divide doctrine so in this episode we get an overview of the definitions, denominations, and defining times in history when various interpretations of end-times events occur. The real comfort for believers is that we are promised to be kept from the hour of temptation—the tribulation—which will come upon th…

Revelation 6:1 As Christ opens the scroll, we start into the tribulation. Today, we are reminded of the living and inviting aspects of God’s Word and we start to look topically at the time of the Tribulation. We will pick up with a defense of a literal 7-year tribulation next week. Looking forward to it!…

Revelation 5:9-14 In heaven, as in our passage today, it’s all about Jesus. How central of a place does He have in your life today? I hope this episode both encourages you and challenges you to make Him more preeminent this week.Par Max Taylor

Revelation 5:5-10 John describes Jesus as the Lamb, humble in His rejection and exalted in His worship. And heaven erupts with praise at Who Jesus is and what He has done. Take some time to reflect on what Jesus has done for you today.Par Max Taylor

Revelation 5:1-8 The Word of God—representing God’s last will and testament, His title deed to the earth, and His plan for humanity—is in the hand of God, but it is sealed, and there is no man in heaven or on earth with the authority to open it. This leads John to despair and weep until he sees the Lamb of God, who alone is worthy to open the book.…

Revelation 4:6-11 We’ve been introduced to two main groups in the heavenly crowd around the throne of God—the elders and the four beasts. These two parties have distinct roles in the praise of God, but both are important and beautiful. We begin this episode by examining the beasts more closely, and then we will turn our attention to the twenty-four…

Revelation 4:4-7 As we continue to read about this imagery of God’s throne room, we also start to see who else is there and what they are saying and doing. It is important for us to realize we will see this scene someday. That realization should shape and influence the decisions we make throughout our lives, even on a daily basis. We should live li…

Revelation 4:1-5 Today we step back into the scene of the throne room of God with all of its magnificence, trying to imagine what it will be like to experience this and be in God’s presence one day. It is important for us to think about eternity and strive to live each day as if it were our last. We see the sights and sounds around the throne of Go…

Revelation 4:1 After the letters to the churches, John was called up to the throne of God where he got to see a preview of the glory and presence of the Lord. This transition makes us think about the limited opportunity to serve God we have right now in this life. Our daily decisions have eternal implications. We need to know that (1) we should be …

Revelation 3:20-22 Today we get a glimpse of all seven churches with their locations and the problems Jesus points out. One of the most comforting aspects of these churches is that Jesus knows our conditions and can use them to teach us what we need to hear as long as we are listening. May we have soft hearts to hear His rebukes to us and to repent…

Revelation 3:18-22 This church, in its pride and self-sufficiency, was blind to their own condition. Because of their apathy towards God and love of money, they didn’t even realize the dire straits they were in. Jesus counsels us to come and find our fulfillment in Him rather than in the society around us. And the call is individual, which is an in…

Revelation 3:14-17 This final church is a cautionary tale to modern Christianity, because we struggle with the same apathy and lukewarmness that they are accused of by Christ. Today we start to get a glimpse of this church and the problems Jesus points out. May we have soft hearts to hear His rebukes to us and to repent. Laodicea: the Lukewarm chur…

Revelation 3:7-13 This is the loyal church, and how we should wish to be characterized this way. This church was not impressive—they had little strength, were little in number, relatively out on their own, and misunderstood by those around them—but they are directed by God, reliant upon His strength, and assured of the destruction of the wicked. So…

Revelation 3:1-6 The church at Sardis teaches us lessons about formalism or dead ritualism. Perhaps this comes out most frequently in some interpretations of end times. Christ tells us to watch for His appearing and not defile our garments, and to those who do this, he promises white raiment when we are with Him in heaven. That is to be our hope in…

Revelation 2:18-29 The church at Thyatira represents an age in history when the Christian church became mandatory, and that is not a good thing. In the letter to this church, Christ instructs them that He is the true Son of God, that they should not tolerate false teaching, and that we can look forward to the coming kingdom when the world will be m…

Revelation 2:14-17 The goal was to spend one week per church, but we are taking a week to catch up. Pergamos teaches us that we should not grow comfortable in the world or begin to tolerate ungodliness. The world uses harsh persecution, false teaching, subtle enticement, and many other tactics to draw us away from Christ, but we must allow the trut…

Revelation 2:12-17 In some ways, persecution is easier to bear than the invitation to join the world because persecution is direct opposition, whereas compromise can seem inviting. One of the greatest dangers of the Pergamos mentality is the subtle lie that if you live your life totally devoted to God, it will be a waste. But if we follow after Chr…

Revelation 2:8-11 The church at Smyrna was intensely persecuted because they did not conform to the idolatry that was required of them. And they suffered for it. Some of the main lessons from this church are that we have the strongest fragrance for Christ when we are pressured by persecution, riches are only found in Christ, and we have a different…

Revelation 2:1-7 We left off discussing the various views of these churches, and today we jump into the letter to the first of these churches. Christ presents Himself to the church at Ephesus—who had been given premier teaching on the church from Paul and the qualifications for church leaders through Paul’s letter to Timothy—as the One who cares fo…

Revelation 2-3 This is a really important part of Revelation because this is where we are living right now. This is the things which “are” so we should take note because it is written to our current time frame. In this first episode on these two chapters, we are introducing the seven churches and the three aspects of these churches as (1) literal l…

Revelation 1:17-20 John is here given the outline for the revelation he would record (1) the things which he had seen, (2) the things which were, and (3) the things which would be hereafter. When these last remaining things begin to happen, they will take place suddenly and in rapid succession (1:1). May we meditate on these things of eternal value…

Revelation 1:13-16 These verses give us a glimpse of Jesus, as He will be in the day of the Lord. For now, we can see Jesus as we study the truth of His Word, watch prophecy line up for His return, interact with other believers who are part of His Bride, and meditate upon Him personally. We need but to listen and turn and look as John did. And one …

Revelation 1:11-16 At the beginning of John’s vision, he hears the voice of God telling him to record the things he would see (beginning with a vision of Jesus Himself) to spread to the churches in the region. We then get a window into the voice and description of Jesus here. These verses remind us of how we have come to possess the Word of God and…

Revelation 1:9-10 In these two verses, we get a window into the life of John and what he was experiencing after his imprisonment and exile to the Isle of Patmos. But even there, his mind was on the Lord’s Day. They can imprison our bodies, but they cannot capture our hearts and minds. The important truth for us is that even when we feel exiled in t…

Revelation 1:7-8 We will all see Christ return to earth, the question is how will we respond. Some will mourn over not believing Christ sooner, others will be angry that God is coming to crush wickedness, and those of us who are saved right now will actually return with Him and watch Him set up His kingdom. So how should we live right now? We shoul…

Revelation 1:4-7 This closing book of prophecy was written in response to the question the disciples repeatedly asked Jesus while He was here. What mercy from God! And yet, how much time do we spend reading and analyzing our Lord’s long-awaited response? We pick up with some information on the Author, the audience, and the announcement in the next …

Revelation 1:1-3 I am excited to go through the book of Revelation relying on my education at Christian college and great commentaries such as the one by Clarance Larkin. The purpose of this book is to reveal to us Jesus through His letters to the churches and His revelation to John. There is an unequivocal blessing to those who read, hear and keep…

Inter-testamental Period I have these four statements written in my Bible between the books of Malachi and Matthew. These truths are mine! Whatever your silent period might be and however long it might last, you can cling to these four things relentlessly! If this has been a help to you, consider sharing this episode.…

Malachi 4:5-6 In John the Baptist, we learn the encouraging lesson of how to deal with our struggles and doubts. And he may not be the entire fulfillment of this prophecy, the tribulation will tell whether Elijah will be one of the two witnesses in the final days. The alternative to heeding the message of repentance and the hope of the gospel is th…

Malachi 4:5-6 John the Baptist came up back in Episode #97, or Part 13 of this study, where we mentioned his birth, life and ministry, and message of judgment. Today we see him mentioned again (as a type of Elijah) at the end of Malachi. This brings us to Matthew 11:1-15, where we see his doubts of Christ. Jesus lovingly responds by telling the peo…

Malachi 4:1-3 The day is coming when we will be tried by fire to see what will really last. And at that time, all that we will have done in this life will be over. The opportunities past. Time will be up. There will be only two outcomes—being consumed away by God’s holiness, or being cherished as a tender calf. The wicked have their day coming, but…

Malachi 3:16-18 We didn’t quite get to these final verses last time, but that’s okay because I would love to spend the whole episode today looking at them! This is an interesting passage that mentions such things as God’s book on the righteous and important matters related to end times doctrine, but the greatest reward is being with God. Be mindful…

Malachi 3:13-16 We look at our last accusation today, statement #8 in which the children admire the works of the wicked. It might seem like a long way away from where we are, but this progression starts small. Don’t get to the point where you are apathetic in your walk with God, it leads to departure from Him altogether. Thankfully, we don’t have t…

Malachi 3:10-12 We are challenged here to give God the little bit that we have (rather than trying to keep it for ourselves) and then see how He will bless us. There is nothing more fulfilling than living for the Lord and trusting His promises. This does not mean life will be easy, but we can depend upon God’s promises to meet our needs, just as Is…

Malachi 3:7-10 We’re covering questions six and seven in our episode today. And we are learning that when we are not close to God, we are often confused, accusatory of God, and stubborn in our ways. Rather than resorting to these reactions, we should return to the Lord, and we will find that in humble and simple obedience to Him, He will richly ble…

Malachi 3:1, 4-6 This is the first of two times we will look at John the Baptist in our study through the book of Malachi. John is really a near type of messenger of God and Christ is the ultimate messenger sent from the Father. When Jesus began His earthly ministry, John was subordinate to Him in every way, shifting the focus and the attention ont…

Malachi 2:17-3:3 After a quick recap of the Lord’s accusations against the Israelites, we zero in on the weariness of God with the people. It is important that we properly understand the indifference and apathy as the backdrop against which God gives hope in the coming prophecy. Jesus shows us God’s faithfulness, justice, and His ultimate desire fo…

Malachi 2:14-17 We close off the chapter by looking at God’s purpose and the beautiful spiritual picture of marriage to represent our union with God made possible through Christ. There are some good lessons on marriage from these verses that we should glean, as well as a warning about divorce or viewing marriage too loosely. Then Malachi closes out…

Malachi 2:10-13 We see two sad realities concerning the children of Israel in today’s verses, their callousness towards each other and their lack of commitment to God. They took awful advantage of one another and they arrogantly refused God’s love and instead pursued a strange woman as it were. These acts were not taken lightly by God. He denied th…

Malachi 2:10-11 Today we are just beginning to look at these verses, and we are seeing that how we treat one another is directly linked to how we treat God, just as New Testament books like 1 John teach. Their cold treatment of their brethren (brethren in a spiritual sense) was connected to their abandonment of God to pursue their own selfish desir…

Malachi 2:7-11 This rebuke is relevant for us because as New Testament believers, we are all priests. We have been dedicated to God just as the Levites and the firstborn of the Israelites before them. So when we read this indictment, we ought to read it from the viewpoint that it could be addressing us as priests. What are we doing with the covenan…

Malachi 2:1-7 I love that God’s Word is personal, its messages are directed to us individually. And it is also sufficient to meet our deepest needs and speak into our deepest problems. The question is, will we take His Word to heart? The Levites of this time failed that question, but it didn’t have to be that way. We can take God seriously. We can …

Malachi 1:12-14 In the final verses of Malachi chapter one, God contrasts the sad condition of Israel with His own greatness. The people are described as defiling and destroying God’s name, calling the table of the Lord marred, and counting God a weariness, and God will not accept their offering. But then we get a glimpse of Him. Perfect, exalted, …

Malachi 1:10-11 As we continue to unpack accusations two and three, God traces the root of their problem to covetousness. It is our love for other things that creep in and redirect our love for God that causes us to offer unworthy service to Him, profane His name, and ultimately question His love for us. God shows His people here that their greed a…

Malachi 1:6-9 We cover the next two questions against God today. The people’s offering showed what they really thought about God’s name. Their thoughts of God corrupted their service for God. Because they didn’t appreciate His love, they didn’t view Him as a loving Father, and therefore they did not offer Him their best. Are we offering God less th…

Malachi 1:1-5 When God describes you as having a certain attitude, you do. It is so important that we realize it is only by being near to God that we can actually discover ourselves. We must spend time with Him, not only to know His thoughts towards us, but so that He can reveal our true thoughts towards Him. If you are struggling with knowing God …

Outline of Malachi There are eight rebuttals against the children of Israel in this short book, and God describes the people as having these views: “Wherein hast thou loved us?” (1:2) “Wherein have we despised thy name?” (1:6) “Wherein have we polluted thee?” (1:7) “Wherefore?” (2:14) “Wherein have we wearied him?” (2:17) “Wherein shall we return?”…

Background to Malachi Welcome to the last words of God before the coming of the Messiah to the world. These writings precede over four hundred years of silence from God before the He broke the silence with the glorious announcements that the promises of the Messiah (and of this prophecy) were being fulfilled. Today we lay the groundwork for this bo…

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 The words “comfort” and “consolation” appear ten times in this short passage. In today’s bonus episode, we are going to pause and reflect on Christ’s consolation in the midst of our suffering in this life. And we also remember the imminent rapture of believers which will end all suffering for the followers of God.…