As we studied last week, love is the essential foundation for all true discernment. This is why we teach our prophetically gifted people not to trust a negative revelation about anyone they have been hurt or rejected by, but rather resolve to pray for them, grow in love for them, and only accept positive revelation about them until they are healed of any rejection or resentment. Of course, this is a principle and not a law. Principles have exceptions, but we have found this to be one that rarely has an exception.

Likewise, some of the most diabolical...

We have briefly looked at some of the eschatological views developed from a historical perspective. However, we should keep in mind that not all of the Reformers held to the same views about the end-time fulfillment of biblical prophecies. Neither did the Catholic theologians all hold to the same views, and there is a diversity of views in almost every major camp of Christianity today. Why is this?

First, more doctrine than we would like to admit is colored by our circumstances. It is to be expected that the Reformers' views of the Roman Catholic Church were colored...

We have briefly covered how the Reformers considered that many of the biblical prophecies were fulfilled in history by the church in the Middle Ages which had become apostate. A counter eschatology arose within the Catholic Church which presumed that the Middle Ages had in fact been the 1,000 year reign of Christ, and the Reformation was Satan being let loose for a short time to deceive the nations again, which of course is a very interesting perspective. However, to this day we tend to have new perspectives on eschatology quickly followed by counter-perspectives. This should not surprise us,...

For centuries, there has been much speculation and accusation about who the great harlot, or "mystery, Babylon," is in Revelation 17. Because of verse 9, "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits" (Revelation 17:9), the Reformers nearly universally agreed that this was a reference to the seven hills that Rome is built upon, and therefore was a reference to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformers later said that she was called ...

As we covered previously, the primary work of the kingdom is restoration. It is God's nature to restore that which has fallen, and when He does, He will make that which has been restored better than before, just as the "new creation" is even greater than the former. The restoration that we are called to accomplish now is helping to prepare the way for His kingdom. Because the church is the primary vehicle for the restoration of the earth, the church needs to be restored first. Therefore, we must have a vision for a complete restoration of the church,...