The Caldwell Commentaries Podcast

Genesis 1:20-23 In this lesson on God's fifth day of the Creation Week, we discuss how the Biblical record of creation clashes "head on" with the naturalistic theories of origins. There can be no compromise between the two. We talk about Louis Pasteur (a creationist) and his work to prove the fallacy of the spontaneous combustion concept. We also discuss the important Law of Biogenesis! How does the creation account of Genesis, as well as the Book of Job, tell us dinosaurs did not live on millions of years before people? And how does the fossil record provide evidence that men and dinosaurs lived contemporaneously? We discuss the amazing DNA super-molecule, which stores all the coded hereditary information for every living organism (and how it defies evolution). Ever hear of the cleaning symbiosis arrangement between certain creatures? It is a process that would never have "survived" the "trial and error" process offered by evolutionists! What about the migratory instincts of many fish and fowl? Again, it totally disallows a piecemeal "trial and error" evolutionary process over millions of years. If man wants to truly understand where life came from, he merely has to look around at creation; it will tell him in abundant ways! "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain it to you!" (Job 12:7, 8).

Genesis 1:3-5. We discuss God's first set of "Ten Commandments" and His principle of separation (found from day one of creation until the end of Revelation), and the "Day-Age Theory". We discuss what the light of day one was, since the sun was not created until day four. We also discuss some of the vast differences between belief in Creationism from Evolutionism and how it is literally impossible to attempt to compromise the two in such ways proposed by "The Gap Theory," "Progressive Creationism," and "Theistic Evolutionism". The stages of creation found in Genesis chapter one follow a natural sequence; each creative act was necessary before the next creative act could take place. It was all done in a precise and orderly process. Man could not have survived if the order of creation was rearranged or in a different sequence.

This is the first lesson in our study of the Book of Genesis, "the book of beginnings". Genesis lays the foundation of history; it gives us the critical information needed to know about origins. Genesis is "the seed plot of the Bible" because all "the forests" of Scripture find their beginning as "seedlings" in it. Actually, it presents the beginning of everything in existence except God Himself (i.e. the origin of the universe, of order and complexity, of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, of life, of man, of marriage, of evil, of God's plan for salvation, of government, the nations and people groups, of the nation of Israel). In this Part I of our Introduction to Genesis, in additional to discussing how the book is foundational to history, we talk about the author of the book (we discuss "The Documentary Hypothesis" which teaches that Moses was not the author - and why we disagree). We also discuss the method involved in writing Genesis and the dating of the book (when it was written).

Since Israel's return to her land, the Book of Ruth is now seen with even deeper prophetic significance than ever before. It is far more than a picture of Christ and His redemptive love for His mostly-Gentile "Bride," the Church. There are two additional "love stories" in this account; they are between Naomi and Ruth (i.e., Israel and the Church) and Boaz and Naomi (Christ's love and eventual restoration of Israel). Find out the importance of Leviticus 23:22 - a verse that does not seem to belong in the middle of God's instructions regarding the seven Jewish feast days; yet it does fit - plus it connects us to the Book of Ruth! SO MUCH NEW INSIGHT TO AN OLD, FAMILIAR STORY - YOU WILL LOVE THIS STUDY!

Although you may be very familiar with the small Old Testament Book of Ruth, you will come away from this two-part study of it with a brand-new understanding of its prophetical significance. There is so much more to be "gleaned" than a romantic, redemptive "love story" between Boaz and Ruth and how their relationship pictures Christ and the Church! As history has progressed, new revelation from an old book has come to light!

Stephen's message of Acts 7 was the masterpiece of a skilled artist painting pictures of Jesus Christ from Old Testament characters; it was the discourse of a Scriptural scholar, the keenly selective historical dissertation of a Spirit-filled prophet, and the work of a lethally skilled warrior using the two-edged sword of truth! It was also Stephen's death warrant. He had lived like Jesus, he had spoken like Jesus, and he was to die for Jesus. Stephen, whose face glowed like that of an angel, was bound for Heaven. There are causes worth dying for, and Stephen found the best. He died for the sake of the only message on earth that saves the eternal souls of men, the Gospel of Christ. Stephen was the first person to die for the truth of Jesus' atonement work. When his spirit was about to depart from his body, he looked up to see the resurrected Lord standing on the right hand of God! He was not in His seated "finished-work of redemption" position! It was the body language of the Redeemer saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant"! Stephen finished his course; he ran the race to the finish line and was the first to cross - and the Lord gave him a standing ovation!

Acts 7:44-50; Stephen's defense against the charge that he had blasphemed the Temple. Tensions are beginning to rise in the Council members listening to his powerful message! He is coming close to his conclusion. Stephen had evidently spoken a lot (in his past debates in the Greek-speaking synagogues) about the One (Jesus) Who was greater than the Temple, which is why he was accused of blaspheming the Temple. In his sermon, Stephen stressed how the Tabernacle (later the Temple) served as a witness of that which was Greater! It was a picture-type witness of the day when the Messiah would tabernacle with men and open the way for God to bring a redeemed people boldly into His holy Presence to tabernacle (dwell) with Him forever! Stephen's point was that he was not blaspheming the current Temple by his understanding that its purpose was ended, and it would give place to the next stage: God dwelling in His people.

In Stephen's historical narrative regarding Moses, he came to his Divine Commission at the Burning Bush. Learn how the thorny bush is a picture of Israel! Stephen's message about Moses was powerfully applied to the Lord Jesus and Israel's rejection of Him when he got to verses 35 to 37. Dr. John Phillips wrote that Stephen "skillfully dropped his brush and pallet and picked up his sword" as he brought home to the Council all he had been saying about Moses in light of Jesus! With Moses, God honored the one Israel had rejected. He sent them the very one they had rejected to be their ruler and deliverer. His implication was that the Jews had done to Jesus what their forefathers did to Moses. It is often said, by Jewish people today and others, as well, that if Jesus was their Messiah, the leaders of Israel would have known and recognized Him. However, that would not be consistent with her spiritual leaders throughout her history. This was the point Stephen was making in Acts 7. It was their typical response NOT to accept the men God sent to deliver them, as exemplified with Joseph and Moses - and how God's prophets were treated. What they did to Jesus was exceedingly more serious, for in having rejected Him, they rejected the Great I AM of the Burning Bush - they only One Who provides spiritual deliverance!

Stephen had "an irresistible ministry"! He was a Scripture-scholar, extremely skilled and astute in using the Old Testament to defend his faith in Jesus. He was a Christian apologist ("apologia" is a Greek word that refers to "a speech in defense of something"). Stephen's POWERFUL message of Acts chapter 7 was basically a last major appeal to the leadership of Israel (the Sanhedrin Council) to accept Jesus as the long-promised Messiah. Stephen was brought for trial before the Council, falsely accused of four things: speaking blasphemous words (1) against Moses, (2) against God, (3) against the Temple, and (4) against the Law. While he stood before his opponents and their lying accusations, his face was glowing with the righteousness of truth and the glory of God! Amazing. By visibly putting His "glory stamp" on Stephen's face, the Lord Jesus was showing forth His approval of the message he had been proclaiming in the synagogues and which he was about to proclaim in Acts 7. Stephen's message was his response to the evil high priest's question, "Are these things so?" - referring to the four accusations against him. In verses 2 to 50, he managed to keep his hostile listeners' attention by talking about their favorite subject: themselves and their heritage! Yet, as he reviewed the major periods of Jewish history, he indirectly was responding to the false and accusations against him and building his case against them! His sermon is brilliant on so many levels! It was completely irrefutable, and cost him his life. In this lesson, Stephen began his "history lesson" regarding Israel's period of the patriarchs by speaking about Abraham. You have to listen to how absolutely clever Stephen was in using "father" Abraham to convict the Jews of their own sinful prejudices!

The Early Church grows both in numbers and in spiritual maturity, which is not without it's "pains"! With growth by multiplication comes “growing pains”; more potential problems arise whenever bigger numbers of people are involved. With growth, there is always the need to make adjustments; there is the need for the spiritual leadership to wisely delegate the workload of the ministry with others who are spiritually qualified. As Moses learned through the wisdom of his father-in-law Jethro, he could not single-handedly “do it all” (Exodus 18:13-26), so the twelve Apostles discovered they could and should not attend to all the multi-faceted aspects of the ministry alone. Fortunately, the Early Church was led by twelve Spirit-filled men, who rightly handled the first threat to the beautiful unity of the Church with God-given wisdom. What the problem was and how the Apostles took care of it is the subject matter of this lesson, entitled, “Growing Pains and Gains”. The outline for this look at Acts 6:1-7 consists of two parts: I. “Slighted Widows” (6:1-4) and II. “Seven Workers” (6:5-7).

https://podnews.net/podcast/1500410875/episode-links In this lesson, we discuss the Lord's final week of His public ministry on earth. It is commonly referred to as His "Passion Week," and it began on Palm Sunday. We briefly talk about the events of each day of that most significant week, but the primary emphasis of this study is on the day of His crucifixion. There are three main views on this debate. They are the (1) Wednesday view, (2) the Thursday view, and (3) the Friday view (of which there are two). We discuss each view and its pros and cons. The conclusion reached is that the Bible best supports a Thursday crucifixion. Although the most important fact is that Jesus did, indeed, die for the sins of the world, it is still good for believers in Him and His Word to know why they believe what they believe. Should we simply believe something because it has always been "the traditional" way of things, or should we search the Scriptures to find what best supports our view?

A very, very interesting lesson! This is the first recorded serious intrusion of "Sin from Within" the Church! Learn why this lesson is really "the tale of two men, Barnabas and Ananias"? What did the married couple of this account do to cause both their lives to be taken by God Himself? Were they saved (true believers) or unsaved? How do Ananias and Sapphira compare with Adam and Eve? Peter's word to Ananias of Acts 5:4a repudiate those who claim the Early Church was practicing communism (no private property; an enforcement of communal property)! Find out how!

In this important lesson on Acts 4:23-33, we learn, by example, how a Spirit-filled Church responds to persecution! In the previous lesson, we had an example of how Spirit-filled individual Christians respond to opponents of the Gospel. Now, we are given the example on how the entire body of believers corporately should respond to the persecution of those in the Body of Christ, which is a threat on all of them. What is our response to the pressures being increasingly brought on Christians in our world (and nation) today? Do we magnify the power of the Lord in our responses or do we magnify the enemy? Are we filled with anxiety and fear and anger and resentment? If so, we are magnifying evil men way out of proportion to the power and authority and sovereignty of our Almighty God!

While Peter (accompanied by John and the healed lame man) was still in the midst of his powerful second sermon (Acts 3:12-26), he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of "the priests . . . the captain of the Temple [guard] . . . and the Sadducees" (4:1). They came to arrest both Peter and John (likely also the former lame man). These enemies of Christ were not only furious that His followers were preaching His resurrection, but doing so in broad daylight in the Temple! Interestingly, in Acts, it is primarily the Sadducees who take the lead in persecuting the Church. This is because their erroneous theology taught there is no resurrection of the dead! In this lesson (Acts 4:1-22), we not only discuss the interruption of Peter's sermon (the arrest), but the interrogation he and John faced the next morning before the Sanhedrin Council, the inspiration of Peter's remarkable speech in answer to that interrogation, the immense impression his speech made on the Council, and then their intention to silence them with threats to never speak or teach in the name of Jesus again! The response of the two Apostles to the threat of those in authority over them to never preach of Jesus was fantastic!! They would obey the Higher Authority, God! Anti-Christian governments and powerful institutions are increasingly trying to stop the spread of the Gospel message of Christ Jesus - we need to follow the example of Peter and John!

From Acts 2:42-47, Luke takes us into the early life of the Church; the days and weeks that followed as the 3,120 "charter members" of the Church met together and grew, both in knowledge and in number ("deep and wide")! The Book of Acts is the record of the first generation of the Church and how that one generation expanded to the uttermost part of the world at that time. If we really want to know what the Early Church was like in her character, we look at these verses (2:42-47). We discuss the desired characteristics of the surrendered Early Church, the divine confirmations of the Spirit-filled Early Church, and the daily consequences of the sanctified Early Church. The Early Church had an invigoration and vibrancy that was yet unaffected by the wrinkles, scars, and gray hairs that come from troubles and trials. She was yet naive about the things that lay ahead. Like the freshness, wonder, and purity of a newborn, the Early Church had leaders who had a vivid remembrance of Jesus, Who had so recently walked with them. The Early Church was unified! She may have been inexperienced and naive in certain ways, but she was a model Church in spirit (not perfect, for she was comprised of sinners saved by grace). We can benefit greatly by studying the characteristics that made-up the Earthly Church.

In the previous lesson (Lesson #6), we discussed "The First Sermon" ever preached during the God-designed period of time known as "The Church Age". I was preached by a completely restored Peter, who now yielded a new sword, the two-edged sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon of the Christian warrior. It was the "fully come" Day of Pentecost - the fulfillment of all God planned it to be when He first gave His prophetic, Messianic, redemptive calendar to His people in Leviticus 23. It was the day proclaimed through Joel when God would pour-out His Spirit on "all flesh" - whether Jew, Gentile, man, woman, free, or slave. When the Spirit came, as the Father promised once His Son was glorified, the 120 believers were baptized by Christ with the Spirit into the mystical, spiritual body the Old Testament saints knew nothing about - the Church! In this lesson, we review Peter's powerful, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Christ-centered sermon, and then we discuss the results! There was: 1. Great Conviction, which was summarized by the people with one question, "What shall we do?" Then there was 2. Peter's Great Solution, "Repent! Come to Jesus for the remission of sins!" 3. This was followed with Peter's Invitation (2:40), and the wonderful conclusion was Great Addition! Much fruit in 3,000 human souls was added to the new-born Church!

In-depth commentary/study books to ACCOMPANY EVERY STUDY on our podcast are available through Amazon.com and scripturetruth.com Search under Katherine Caldwell Commentaries) This is a single, one-hour long message that takes the listener from Eternity Past to Eternity Future and God's whole plan for HIS-story and His redemption plan for the apex of His creation, mankind! It's a "Jet-tour" through the Bible! Everybody on Planet Earth needs to understand the substance of this message, for it is the absolute truth about our existence and the meaning of life!

A great SUMMARY of the 7 GOD-GIVEN FEAST DAYS, which serve as PROPHETIC PICTURE-TYPES of the MAJOR EVENTS in His OVERALL REDEMPTION PLAN (4 Spring Feasts: Christ's First Coming / 3 Fall Feasts: His Second Coming). The Feast of Weeks (in Hebrew, Shavuot and in Greek, Pentecost) is the fourth Spring feast given to Israel by God in Leviticus 23. It comes 50 days after the third Spring feast, the Feast of Firstfruits. It was on the 50th day of her "new life" (freedom from her bondage to Egypt) that God, from Mount Sinai, gave Israel the Torah (the Law). The rabbis declare this to be the "birth" of Judaism. Is it not fascinating that the same feast day is celebrated by the Jews as the birth of Judaism and by Christians as the birth of the Church! The Spirit's arrival on Pentecost 50 days after Christ's resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits was the fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks. This is what Luke meant when he wrote, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come" (Acts 2:1). A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO LEARN!

This lesson is on Acts 1:12-26 and what the disciples of Christ did after His Ascension. They were told by Him to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father. We discuss all those we know were included in the 120 disciples, as well as others we speculate may have been included. We learn about their unified minds (they were all in "one accord") and their passionate prayers and the very high regard they had for the Word of God! We also discuss the decision of the eleven Apostles to appoint a replacement for Judas, who had betrayed the Lord (and had then hung himself). We discuss the three qualifications needed to be one of the Twelve. We also discuss how it was that Matthias, whose name means "gift of God," was chosen - and if this choice was "of God". Was not Paul the Lord's choice for Judas' replacement? Tune in to find out!

The Lord's final post-resurrection appearance. It took place in Jerusalem, where He was again with His Apostles, teaching them for the last time about Himself from the Old Testament Scriptures. When He completed His teaching session, He took His men to the Mount of Olives; the same place He had gone 43 days earlier to pray in Gethsemane and then allowed Himself to be arrested. It had been the appointed hour for Him to be lifted up on a cross to die for the sins of the world. Now, in His glorified, resurrected body, it was the appointed hour for Him to again be lifted up, but not on a cross! This time, He would defy gravity and return to the glory He had with His Father in Eternity Past. Do you know what the last act of the Lord Jesus was before He left this earth? He lifted up His forever nailed-scarred hands to bless the men He entrusted with the task of blessing the world with the message of the blessed Gospel of salvation in Him! Learn about Christ's Ascension, and the important words of two angelic messengers to the Apostles about His one-day Return!