There are many types or kinds of promises in God’s kingdom. I want to focus on five huge ones in this article. To start with, Jesus’ death on His cross opened the door for the believer to receive several powerful, eternity changing benefits. When Jesus said, “It is finished (John 19:30),” He extended to His believers several benefits. The believers must cooperate and believe for these truths to be effective in their lives. These truths of the cross are one type of promise found in the Bible and New Testament. I will focus on many of these truths later in this article. A second type or kind of promise in the New Covenant and Bible, is the promise of the Holy Spirit (John 20:16 17 and John 20:21-22). After Jesus rose from the dead, He told Mary not to cling to Him (vs 17)because He had more work to do. He needed to ascend to the right hand of His [... read more...]

In several sections of the Bible, “the living creatures” and their “four faces” or appearances are talked about.  One verse that speaks of them is Ezekiel chapter 1, verse 10.  In this passage of scripture, each of four living creatures had four faces. Their faces were described as follows:

6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings….

10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:6, 10

These four living creatures which had these four faces, were with God’s Presence as God’s Presence left the temple of the Hebrews (Ezekiel chapter 10, and Ezekiel chapter 1).  God was leaving because of the willful sins and rebellion of His people. Also, in the book of Revelation which is the last book in the Bible; there were four living creatures and they were “… in the midst of the throne, and around the throne” (Revelation 4:6-7).   In this verse the four living creatures were next to God Almighty.  In addition to this, the living creatures are mentioned in connection with the appearance of a throne in Ezekiel 1:26, and [... read more...]

         1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

      2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

      3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that

         these stones become bread.” 

      4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every

          word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

      5 Then the devil took Him up to the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written,

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

      7 Jesus said to him, “It is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

      8 Again, the devil took Him on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the

kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the

Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Matthew 4:1-10

The bread of the Lord’s Supper symbolizes the truths that the believer died with Christ and is being raised up to walk in newness of life (1Peter 2:24, Romans 6:1-4, 1Corinthians 5:6-8, etc.).  This is all by grace through faith and repentance. The cup of the Lord’s Supper has the meaning of the believer being delivered from death and curses into life and blessings. Remember the “cup of blessing” mentioned in 1Corinthians 10:16. Regarding the bread of the Lord’s Supper; what does the sin nature look like?  How can we identify carnal or sinful tendencies? Actually, the opposites or parallels of the four faces of the living creatures indirectly give us great insight into our body of sin (Romans 6:6).  Because man was made in God’s image, this makes some sense just on the surface of things. In the above passage in Matthew, the devil tempted Jesus in three basic areas.  While the specific temptations might not worry us, [... read more...]

Regarding the cross, the meaning of the bread and the cup can be summarized as follows: BREAD CUP 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 10:10, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Colossians 1:14, Ephesians 1:7, Romans 5:9 Deliverance from sin Forgiveness for sin Deliverance from the power of sin Deliverance from the penalty of sin Sanctification Justification Crucified with Christ Forgiven in Christ Deliverance from sin Deliverance from death Deliverance from sin and self Deliverance from death Authority over sin and self Authority over death (curses) Authority over the devil and his ability  to keep us in bondage to some sin Authority over the devil’s ministry of death and curses in some area of our life He bore our grief and sorrow, our infirmities and sicknesses in His body. Our bodies are now free to function right. (Isaiah 53:4, Matt. 8:17) He broke the curse of sickness. (Isaiah 53:5, Mark 2:5-12, James 5:14-15) Sickness seen here as a penalty for sin.  The blood paid the price Bread [... read more...]