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Woodland Hills Church of Christ episodes

August 04, 2024 Am I Going to Make It
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37 min
August 04, 2024 1 Samuel 11-13
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46 min
August 04, 2024 God, Relationships and Forgiveness
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46 min
August 01, 2024 Psalm 51
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45 min
July 28, 2024Revelation 13:1-10 The Beast That Rises Out of The Sea
The Beast that Rises Out of the Sea
The Dragon’s Last Gasp
Revelation 13:1-10
Introduction: Chapter 12 is the pivotal chapter in Revelation. It is heart-warming to think of first century Christians reading this letter up through chapter 11 with all its judgments fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy against the Jewish nation. Then suddenly in chapter 12 God reveals what all of this has been about. The turmoil on earth is a result of a battle in heaven where the “serpent of old” and his angels have tried to take the dominion of God’s earthly creation from him and destroy mankind. But God to the rescue through the Lamb.
Though the battle is still being fought, the Dragon will ultimately lose and God’s saints will be victorious. In the meantime, the serpent is furious, and with a last gasp, makes war with the woman and her offspring. Obviously, the war is still raging!
Daniel 7: the Four Beasts & the Beast Out of the Sea
As you noticed in the reading, the dragon stood on the sand of the sea and seemed to call up a vicious beast that had all the characteristics he has. He is like a leopard, a bear, and a lion and given all the power and authority of the dragon. The picture is an allusion from Daniel 7.
7:1-8 Notice the following details:
The beasts come up out of the sea (3)
One was a lion, then a bear, then a leopard, and the 4th was a diverse beast, terrifying, dreadful, and exceedingly strong with iron teeth.
The fourth beast had 10 horns, three of them were plucked up, with a little one that came up speaking great things.
7:9-14 is a picture of the judgment that will be rendered on the beasts and especially the horn speaking great things.
7:15-22
The four beasts are four kings which are representative of kingdoms (vs. 23, 2:31-45). These would represent Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
These kingdoms will end but the kingdom of the Lord will last forever.
The horn on the fourth beast was a persecuting horn that made war with the saints until God came and judged him and made it so the saints could possess the kingdom.
7:23-27
The diverse beast is the fourth kingdom: Rome.
The ten horns are ten kings, with an 11th rising up and three being plucked up – leaving only eight. Revelation will talk about these 7 plus the 8th which is the persecuting horn. We see this more clearly in Rev. 17.
This horn will wear out the saints for a “time, times, and a half a time.” Revelation will say the same or refer to it as 42 months or 1260 days.
After the time given him to persecute, God will judge him and destroy not only the horn but also the beast.
The Rise of the Sea Beast: Revelation 13:1-8
It is clear now that the beast in Revelation is the fourth beast of Daniel and a composite of all of Satan’s beasts that he used to destroy and persecute God’s people. Psalm 2: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed…”
Notice how Satan imitates God and that which is divine:
He calls up two beasts to whom he gives power and authority. They are his allies in his battle for supremacy over mankind. Later in chapter 14, we will see God’s two allies: the Lamb and the saints.
Just as God created us to reflect him and share in his glory, Satan’s two beasts reflect him, but will share in his demise.
Just as Jesus draws all people to himself by his resurrection, Satan deceives the world when one of heads of the beast receives a mortal wound, but then the mortal wound is healed causing the people of the earth to marvel and say, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
Just as God’s people worship Jesus, all who dwell on the earth worship Satan’s beast. It is interesting that the earth dwellers blaspheme those who worship God, and yet do not understand that they are worshiping a beast.
The heads of the beast and the mortal wound:
In Daniel 7, we saw 10 horns which were 10 kings with one rising up who would persecute the saints. Now in this chapter, the beast’s heads refer to rulers/emperors (see 17:8-11). Since the emperor is the essence of the empire, a mortal wound would be a threat to the fall of the empire and cause the people to believe that Rome was about to fall. But just as it seems the beast will not survive, the mortal wound is healed and the empire becomes stronger than ever.
This likely refers to the civil war that arose following the death of Nero (June, AD 68) over the control of the empire. Four emperors competed for the throne: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian, and all seized power in less than one year. The first three died, two by murder and one by suicide, leaving Vespasian, who became emperor December 21, 69, solidified power and stabilized the empire.
Verse 6: “given a mouth to utter blasphemies against God.” We must immediately ask the question, what would this look like? The idea is that the ruler and the empire speak evil of God’s people and even those “who dwell in heaven.” But this isn’t just speaking evil of a person who worships God, but also of what God teaches and how these people adhere to it.
Mark 8:38 “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 describes this same picture as Paul warns the Thessalonians of the coming “lawless one.”
Notice verse 4: he exalts himself above every other god and even God himself.
He is characterized by lawlessness. That is, he defies God’s laws and teachings.
Applications and Conclusion: 13:9-10
While it is easy to quickly apply this text to the Roman Empire, we need to see the broader picture. The Roman Empire is not the only government Satan has used to crush Christians. Remember, the principles of Revelation, as well as every biblical writing, are to be applied to all peoples. And Psalm 2 warned us about this!
Therefore, when any nation lifts itself up against God and his words, they fit the profile of this chapter and it is evident that the Dragon is still at work.
Not too many years ago, we used to have discussions about “politics,” that is, we debated taxes, government spending, and Social Security. In the meantime, we tried to keep politics out of the pulpit. But that kind of politics is long gone.
During Covid, many mayors and governors learned that they could exercise absolute control over the populace even to the point of taking away their jobs and threatening churches if they did not comply. The government learned it could make itself a supreme god.
Since that time this has gone to another level. Children in some schools are urged to choose their gender, and those children are protected from the knowledge of their parents (California law).
Corporations and even the military have been threatened and coerced into celebrating and promoting so-called “Pride” or lose their jobs.
And now, elected government leaders are saying that those who object to this new morality are threats to democracy and threats to America. That is not a little bit like Rome during the their persecution, it is exactly like them.
“Rome’s practice of deifying its emperors is reflected here as the earth worships the beast and as the beast utters “haughty and blasphemous words.” At first, it may seem quite strange to us that the emperor might consider himself to be a god or that people would believe such a thing. But it is vital to understand that emperor cult worship was less about religion and more about politics.” (Scott Kercheville)
Gordon Fee: “Part of the adhesiveness of the Empire had been made possible by the cult of the emperor, which was the primary reason — thus political rather than religious — for it to exist in the first place. It is in fact highly unlikely that the emperor…took himself seriously as a god; nonetheless he was quite willing to have temples built in his honor and thus for the cult of the emperor to flourish. After all, such ‘divinity’ was to his advantage.”
Remember, this is Psalm 2! Compare, Acts 17:6-8, “And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.”
Verse 8: Who worships the beast? Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” Don’t worship the beast! Satan is still using government to threaten and persecute God’s people.
By the way, their is a reason Roman Empire type governments are called a beast. They act like “irrational animals” (2 Peter 2:12), as do those who follow it.
Verses 9-10: shows how God wants the saints to view the matter. They are to put their complete trust in God and let be what will be. If they are to be taken captive, then to captivity they will go. If killed, then they must be killed. But God will take care of it all in the end. Don’t worry about it, you are just going to be completely out of control for awhile until judgment is made on the beast.
Conclusion: Psalm 115:1-8
Berry Kercheville
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48 min
July 28, 2024Contentment vs. Discontentment
Contentment vs. Discontentment
Introduction: Dangers of Discontentment
As we engage in this study we need to talk about the necessity of living a contented life. This is not a matter of contentment being a better life than discontentment. It is a matter of a life that is sinful and a life that isn’t. It is a matter of fully trusting God to provide for us as he pleases or living with lustful desires and thus being frustrated that we can’t have what we want when we want it.
Not being content is the root of idolatry. Colossians 3:5, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Desiring what we cannot have or should not have and allowing those desires to affect how we use our time for God, how we spend our money, and be able to live with mental peacefulness, is idolatry.
Jesus said that “thorny ground” in the Parable of the Sower referred to, “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).
God, through Jeremiah said, “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly dumbfounded, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:12-13)
If we will admit it, we know that we easily fit that description without giving it a second thought. Why? Because it is so commonplace both in and out of the church that we excuse it.
The Causes of Dissatisfaction (Ecclesiastes)
The context is Solomon’s search (1:13). It is a search to discover “what is good for man to do under heaven during the few days of their life” (2:3). This search is typical of all people, and is considered by Solomon as “an unhappy business that God has given the children of man to be busy with” (1:13). Please keep that statement in mind: it is an unhappy business. Run away!
Therefore, in 2:3-11 Solomon goes on a search to “find out what is good for man to do during the days of their life.” In order to illustrate the frustration and vanity, Solomon proclaims: “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil” (2:10). However, in 2:11 he proclaimed that once he had finished his efforts, “behold all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained [no profit] under the sun.” Do not quickly pass over the phrase, striving after wind, or other versions, chasing the wind. The implication is, it is the dumbest thing a person could do.
As a result, Solomon said, “I hated life…” (2:17). Question: What caused Solomon to end his experiment in finding what is good by saying he hated life? Solomon, what caused you to hate life after all you were able to enjoy and accomplish? The answer is simply his expectations. Everyone’s expectation is that doing what Solomon did would provide the best life ever! But no! He hated the outcome! It wasn’t the answer to contentment and joy.
Expectations and Discontentment
Job 3:1-13 Any doubt about Job’s level of contentment? It is obvious that Job expected his life to be different than it was, and who can blame him!
Consider an opposite situation with the apostle Paul in Philippians. He has been unjustly imprisoned for about four years. Even though he is in chains (Eph. 6:20) and is facing possible death by the hands of Caesar, does Paul hate life or love life? Is Paul content with his life or discontent? Is Paul joyful or and angry and disappointed with the hand he has been dealt?
Test yourself for the likelihood of discontentment and disappointment:
Do you have expectations for your life? If you do, you are not only sinning, your are doomed to a life of disappointments and ultimate discontentment.
Do you get angry and frustrated when life does not fulfill your expectations?
Deep down, do you believe that if you do “all the right things” in life, that life will reward you with contentment and joy? In other words, if I “check all the boxes” in the way I live my life – with wisdom and moral uprightness – will I be rewarded with a “good life?”
Do you expect that “crooked things in life” ought to be fixed so you do not have to deal with them? In other words, do crooked things drive you nuts?
The above questions are a good test on whether you are living life under the sun, and therefore striving for the wind. Please consider that striving for the wind is another way of saying living the dumbest life possible!
Finding Joy and Contentment to Defeat Discontentment
Remember that in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11), we saw the pronouns “I” used repeatedly as Solomon extols his efforts to find profit under the sun. But in the end, there was nothing to be gained.
However, in 2:24-26 we see a marked contrast.
The approach in this text is quite different from the description of Solomon’s life. This person realizes that “apart from God” no one can eat or have enjoyment.
And again, twice in verse 26 the emphasis is on the “one who pleases God.” It is to this person that God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. Instead of trying to attain profit under the sun by one’s personal efforts, this person trusts God, puts God first, and is content with what God provides.
This person recognizes that wisdom, knowledge, and joy are not attained by one’s ingenuity, but is a gift from God. If we pursue contentment, we will lose contentment. Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” LIFE! How is it found? How is it lost?
To prove this point, 3:1-9 lists 14 pairs of contrasting events in the lives of humans. This is an excellent description of life following the fall from the Garden. As we read these events we quickly realize that we have no control over any of these, whether they will happen or when they will happen. We simply know that they will happen, and there is no profit for the worker to stop or manipulate these events for ones own benefit. Is that a key reason for discontentment? Certainly.
Therefore, in 3:12-13, the Preacher again asserts that there is nothing better than to be joyful and do good as long as we live. The preacher repeats the principle that joy and pleasure is “God’s gift to man.”
In 3:14, the Preacher gives the reason for God ordering life in this fashion: “Whatever God has done endures forever…so that people fear before him.” In other words, God has created us in a world in which we cannot change the major events of life that would affect our happiness on this earth. The expectation is that a wise person will come to realize the vanity of such a search and instead turn and fear God, knowing that he is the only one who has ultimate control.
The Preacher ends this section of his sermon in 3:22 by repeating the principle a third time. Therefore, consider, why is joy and contentment found in knowing that we cannot manipulate the bad things in life and that we have no idea what will happen tomorrow? The answer to that should be fairly obvious! There is nothing left to do but let God handle it. That is truly what it means to trust!
To understand, consider God’s “answer” to Job. What was the answer? Let’s take a quick look:
Job 38:1-11
Job 40:1-2, 6-14
Therefore, what is God’s answer? Job, you don’t know anything about what is going on and what and why I’m doing what I’m doing! As in the case of Job, trust means that if God does not grant me some earthly desire, that is perfectly okay! After all, this is not my life; he can do whatever he wants with it! We were “bought with a price…” Your greatest joy will come when you accept whatever comes your way that is beyond your control.
Therefore notice that three times in the text the Preacher stated, “There is nothing better…” (2:24; 3:12; 3:22). These words should be a huge motivation for us to quit thinking that there is some possession, some pleasure, some experience that is eluding us and therefore keeping us from the ultimate joy. No person has or will find any greater enjoyment or anything better than what is found by one who devotes his life to pleasing God.
The Greatest Joy and Contentment Comes Knowing God
When Paul in Philippians says, “Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice,” to what is he referring? Is he saying, “Christian, you should be happy?” Or, “don’t let bad things in life make you sad?” No! The idea is that our focus is to be what the Lord has done for us so that our rejoicing happens whether in trials or in good times.
Paul follows with the command: “Be anxious for nothing…”
Trust requires that we know God and pursue him:
What keeps us from it? Cares, riches, and desires. He followed this statement with these words: “…the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Did you see that? What is being choked?
Knowing all scripture is critical because it is the means of knowing God: 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
Could you have a conversation about Isaiah? Chronicles? 2 Corinthians? Is knowing Isaiah or the other prophets as important as knowing Matthew or Acts? It certainly is, and more! Without the prophets, and especially Isaiah we cannot see and know God nor know the full message of the Gospels or Acts.
We need to understand that true pursuit of God is time-consuming and requires us to put away pursuits that compete with God. the amount of time we spend on worldly pursuits usually far outweigh the efforts we put in to truly knowing “all scripture”, and thus the fulness of God.
Even more dangerous is teaching our children that the primary goal of living is fun, recreation, and possessions, without which they will be discontent. Are our children regularly complaining that we haven’t given them the next level of fun? Are we teaching them where true joy is found by what we say and how we live?
Conclusion: If you had enough to eat & drink and a place to live, but didn’t have the money to do anything else, would you have enough time? (1 Tim. 6:6-8)
What is it that you are pursuing in life that is better?

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38 min
July 28, 2024 1 Samuel 7-10:27
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45 min
July 25, 2024 Psalm 22
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48 min
July 25, 2024 Psalms 122, 124, 131, 133
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46 min
July 21, 2024 Value In Christ
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20 min