The Caldwell Commentaries Podcast

In this second half of our look at Christ's words to the believers of the First Century church at Philadelphia, we discuss two special assurances the Lord gave them.  He promised them vindication from their enemies and deliverance from "the hour of temptation" that would come upon the whole world (Revelation 3:10).  This is a wonderful promise regarding Christ's true Church (the Body of all born a...

The sixth church, the church at Philadelphia (which means "brotherly love"), represents the Missionary Church, the church of "the open door" - the evangelistic church.  Prophetically, this represents the time in Church history when the modern missionary movement began and great spiritual awakenings swept over much of Europe, the British Isles, and into America. There is not one word of accusation...

The resurrected Christ had very bluntly told the church at Sardis (representing the Church of the Reformation and Protestantism) that although she had "a name" as a Church faithful to His teaching, yet His assessment of her spiritual life was that she was "dead".  Sadly, we find today that many Protestant churches are just going through the form, rituals, traditions, and motions of external Christ...

This is a continuation of our study on Christ's words to "The Dead Church," the church at Sardis.  This stage in Church history began well (it was a work of God), but, sadly, did not continue well.  She began to rest in ease on her good name (she had good heritage) and her good doctrinal position, and subsequently neglected her practice.  As with the history of the original city named Sardis, the...

This lesson discusses the remainder of what the resurrected Lord said to the members of the church at Thyatira (see lessons 15 and 16), where the evil "Jezebel" had a tremendous influence, which unfortunately continues to this day in much of Christendom.  We also begin to study the Lord's letter to the fifth church, the church at Sardis, which means "escaping ones" or "remnant," and represents the...

This is our continuation of Christ's fourth church letter of Revelation chapters 2 and 3.  A very, very serious letter, which corresponds to the stage in Church history when the Papal Church dominated Christendom.

The seven church letters given by the resurrected Christ prophetically spelled-out exactly what would take place in Church history!  It is amazing!  Coming to His fourth letter, to the church at Thyatira, we find the longest letter and it represents the period from approximately A.D. 600 to 1500.  It was when Romanism (an ungodly mixture of paganism, Judaism, and Christianity) dominated Christendo...

The First Century city of Pergamos was a very prominent religious center loaded with temples for the worship of Zeus, Athena, Dionysus, and Asklepios and temples dedicated to worship of the Roman emperors ("the Caesar Cult").  It was an atmosphere completely adverse to Christianity.  In this lesson, you will learn some fascinating facts about this time in history, including Emperor Constantine's "...

The Lord's letter to the church at Smyrna is the shortest of the seven Revelation letters, but it contains the most comfort, encouragement, and assurance of victory.  It also does not contain a single word of condemnation!  Christ's words to this First Century church have aided persecuted believers not only during the "ten days" of Roman persecution (see Revelation 2:10), but to our modern day, as...

In this lesson (and half of lesson 13), we discuss the resurrected Christ's words to the church at Smyrna; a name derived from the word "myrrh," from the word "martyr".  As with Ephesus, the name is most appropriate for the second church, which  represents the second stage of Church history (A.D. 64 to 313); the stage of enormous persecution.  Myrrh is a resin-like substance that emits a beautiful...

The members of the original church at Ephesus lived in a very perverse, immoral, and dark city at a time when Emperor Domitian reigned.  He was the first Roman emperor to seriously persecute Christians.  Yet, even under heavy persecution and opposition, the Lord Jesus was able to commend the Ephesian believers for their strong doctrinal stand and their determination to not "faint" in their well do...

As in each discussion of the seven churches, we take a look at the setting: the original city in which each church existed.  Ephesus was both the largest and the capital city of the Roman province of Asia Minor.  It housed a massive, ornate Temple dedicated to the Roman "goddess" of fertility, Diana (called Artemis by the Greeks).  It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  The church...

As we continue our look at the resurrected Christ's seven-church letters in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we discuss how their order coincides with Scripture's revelation about a progressive increase in apostacy, how they have a remarkable comparison with the seven inter-advent parables of Matthew 13 (the eighth parable in that chapter does not deal with the specific nature and characteristics of t...

You are in for a real treat as you go with us through a deep study of the resurrected Christ's personal "letters" to seven First Century churches located in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey)!  There is so much more revealed in these church-letters than you can imagine!  They were, first of all, real churches with real strengths and weaknesses addressed by Christ.  They also represented the various ty...

Continuation of Part I, "Banishment to Blessing".

In this lesson, we learn about the Apostle John's banishment to the Isle of Patmos; we discuss the cruelty of the Roman Empire against Christians during the Emperors Nero and Domitian.  We learn what John's banishment entailed, possibly even forced labor in underground mines.  We also learn how that banishment was turned into a blessing when the aged Apostle received from the Lord the most extensi...

There is a very easy outline for the Book of Revelation; it is found in Revelation 1:19.  It neatly divides the 22 chapters of the book into three sections.  People who think Revelation is difficult to figure out are wrong!  It is actually one of the easiest books to outline and follow sequentially! Besides the key verse (1:19), Revelation has a key phrase, "Behold, He cometh" (1:7a).  The Subject...

The first five verses of the Book of Revelation (prologue) contain a number of important details.  They tells us of Who is the Subject (Source) of the book, the scribe of the book, and about the specialness of the book and include the salutation of the book.  If we ever are prone to question the fantastic predictions of Revelation, we need only remind ourselves of God's flawless track record.  The...

A must-study to rightly understand how God's redemptive plan for Israel and for this world ends!  Learn why the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle John to use the apocalyptic writing style for the Book of Revelation (it had to do with Roman persecution of Christians), and what the five features of apocalyptic literature are.  Learn how the true account of the Prophet Hosea and his marriage to a harl...

Anyone who does not understand the Book of Revelation has only half the story of Jesus Christ given in the New Testament.  We do not see Christ in Human humiliation in Revelation; we see Him in His resplendent glory!  We see Him in His salvation glory, His judgment glory, His heavenly glory, and His Kingdom glory.  The day is soon approaching when He will return with all His glory unveiled.  The p...

Get ready for an exciting study through the Book of Revelation!   Of all the books for today, Revelation is the one book in particular that should be read and studied!  It gives us clearer detail about the future than any other.  Through John, the glorified Christ describes the temporary government operation (and their ultimate end) of the Satanic trinity (Satan, Antichrist, False Prophet); the ho...

In Acts chapter 7, Stephen was making his defense against the accusations that he had blasphemed Moses, God, the Temple, and the Law.  In doing so, he was also (unknown to the High Council of Israel, at first) building his case of indictment against his accusers! The most important thing Stephen was accomplishing in his powerful sermon was presenting the Jews of the Sanhedrin with evidence for fai...

Genesis 45:16-50:26 In this final lesson on the life of Joseph, we come to perhaps the most emotional moment in the entire Old Testament - the tearful reunion of Joseph with Benjamin, his other 10 brothers (who betrayed him), and, finally, with his father Jacob, who thought he was long dead.  It is an excellent account of a truly Christlike man's ability to forgive those who hurt him and to give t...

Genesis 43:11-45:15 The plot grows thick as Joseph, the Vizier of Egypt, deals with his brothers, who do not yet know he is their brother they betrayed and sold as a slave for 20 pieces of silver many years earlier!  He speaks Egyptian and does not let them know he understands everything they say to one another in Hebrew.  This is surely one of the most thrilling narratives of Scripture as Joseph...

Genesis 41:14-43:10 Joseph finally arrived at the time we label his "years of forgetting (forgiving) and fruitfulness"!  The butler's brain at long last remembered the godly young man in the prison who so accurately interpreted his (and the baker's) dream, and he recommended him to Pharaoh who likewise needed a dream interpreter!  In one day, Joseph was lifted from the prison to the palace, where...