Ephesians (Program #25) – Both Reconciled to God in One Body and Fellow Citizens of the Household of God

Imagine that you are a lonely visitor in a foreign country and meet a fellow citizen of your own country, the American, Great Britain or Canada.  You immediately sense a kind of kinship. But how is that compare with the intimacy and share delight that would result from unexpectedly meeting one of your own family members in the same setting?

Well, this is the situation that should exist with all members of the Body of Christ, the Church. And not just with those who are in our circle of fellowship. For the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2 that not only we are fellow citizens with all the believers in the kingdom of God, but we are also His household, family members. This describes which should be a sweet and intimate relationship with all those who belong to Christ.  We will consider both of these aspects today.

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Judges (Program #4) – The Miserable History of Israel’s Forsaking God (3)

During a very difficult time in Israel’s history the Lord raised up Gideon to be a judge and ruler. Initially great victories were afforded under Gideon’s leadership and the account of his successes stands as the most glorious of those recorded in the book of Judges. His success can be attributed to 4 glorious factors of his relationship with Jehovah. However shortly after these successes he succumbed to serious temptations.  These ultimately overtook him and all of Israel eventually suffered as a consequence. These factors remained as major stumbling blocks to many of God’s people and especially to many leading ones among God’s people today.  We will look at the factors of both Gideon success and his failures on our program.

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Ephesians (Program #24) – Putting on the New Man

When people think about God’s work of creation they usually think of Genesis. After all Genesis begins with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

By the time we get to the New Testament we think that God’s creating work is over. But Ephesians Chapter 2 reveals that the most crucial item of God’s creation took place in the New Testament.  Chapter 2 :15 “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace”

So, what is this newly created item or more accurately this new creation?   it is the new man and it is the center piece of God’s work through out the ages. If we love God and love His word and desire to be in the center of His plan we need to see a vision of the one new man.

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Judges (Program #3) – The Miserable History of Israel’s Forsaking God (2)

If God’s people are to enjoy all the benefits of their relationship with Him, it is necessary for them to maintain this relationship in a proper way. In reality God is the king, the unique husband and the Head over all things. That means His people must be under Him, submissive and subject to Him in a tender and intimate way . But in much of the history of God’s people they rejected Him in His headship always resulting in a condition of His people falling lower and lower and been evidenced by defeat after defeat at the hands of the various enemies of God’s people.  At such times we occasionally see Jehovah acting in an extra ordinary way to jolt his people into the realization of their actual condition. Such a time existed in the book of Judges after the death of Joshua, God chosen leader over Israel as the people turned away from Him and their enemies began to prevail, God responded by raising up not a mighty king to lead Israel back to victory but rather He raised up Deborah, a female.  Though she was very capable, she was the one who lived in submission and in subjection to Him.

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Ephesians (Program #23) – The Two Created Into One New Man

When the Lord Jesus gave His life on the cross or our redemption, what were the main items that the Bible tells us were dealt with by His death?  Well, the first answer most people would give, of course is our sins. Then some might mention the devil, Satan. If you still would add the corrupted world, and our old fallen nature that the Bible calls our old man. These could be a good list an accurate one according to the New Testament but still incomplete. Or it is probably fair to say that the precious view would include on the list, the last item that the apostle Paul gives us in Ephesians Chapter 2 :15 “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.”  Isn’t this interesting? And isn’t it surprising? Included among the crucial items dealt with by Christ on the cross are ordinances. How could ordinances be included with such obvious matters as sins, Satan and the world. We’ll find out in today’s fellowship.

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Judges (Program #2) – The Miserable History of Israel’s Forsaking God (1)

In the history of the children of Israel God had manifested Himself to Israel in many aspects.  He fought for them as a warrior against Pharaoh and his armies, becoming their protector when they were still in Egypt. Then He supplied them with water and food in the wilderness as the source of all their living for more than 40 years. In addition He cared for them not just as a father but more so as their king.  Eventually He unveiled to them His deepest longing and that was to be a husband to them and for them to be a bride, a pure and chaste wife to Him.  But again and again Israel turned away from Him as their husband and as their king. At least 4 times, in the book of Judges we see the same words, “In those days, there were no kings in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes.”  How much these words must had offended Jehovah, Who had revealed Himself so faithfully to Israel again and again. But His love is greater than the weaknesses of His people, so He appeared to them again, not as a king not even as their husband but as a servant, a slave to minister to them in their poor condition and lowest state.

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Ephesians (Program #22) – The Breaking Down of the Middle Wall of Partition

The Bible in Romans tells us very clearly that Christ’s death on the cross resolved any conflict that exists between us and God. Roman 5 :1 “Therefore having been justified out of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And how we worship Him and praise Him for making such peace. But there is another peace that was accomplished through the redeeming death of Christ and Paul talks about this peace in Ephesians chapter 2:14 “For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.”

This specifically is not talking about peace between us and God. This is talking about peace between bitter and fierce enemies, peace between man and even between races and it is a crucial aspect of the salvation that we had received.  We’ll talking about this peace today on our life study of the book of Ephesians.

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Judges (Program #1) – An Introductory Word

The first chapter of the book of Judges records the marvelous story of Judah and Caleb fighting against the Canaanites after the death of Joshua. Jehovah displayed again that He was with Israel and that they can trust Him to fight with and for them against their enemy. But just as an unfaithful wife forsake her husband thereby damaging their marriage Israel eventually forsook Jehovah.

Listen to Judges 2 : 11-13  “And the children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah and served the Baals. And they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt; and they followed after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who surrounded them; and they worshipped them and provoked Jehovah to anger. And they forsook Jehovah and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. Then the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of plunderers; and they plundered them. And He sold them into the hand of their enemies around them, and they were no longer able to stand before their enemies.”

From this point on the book of Judges becomes an ugly history a failure and humiliation for Israel as she turned from the purity and enjoyment of her days as a bride to Jehovah, becoming a harlot in His eyes.

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Ephesians (Program #21) – Once Far Off, but Now Near

Let me ask you a question, before we were saved, what was our status before God?   Well, yes, we were sinners condemned to judgment. But actually according to Paul in Ephesians we had 2 major problems: first our nature.  We were dead in offenses and in sins, that’s verse 1 and 2 of Chapter 2.  But our problem also involved our status before God. As he points out in verses 12-13 “That you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have become near in the blood of Christ.”  So, we see that our problem before God extend far beyond sins and even beyond our being dead before Him. We have a status problem.

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Joshua (Program #3) – Spying Out the Land

The books of history in the Old Testament like Joshua are rich with stories but if we view them in light of the entire divine revelation, we see them far more than just great and inspiring stories. We see God in the move of His economy in Christ, working in, with and through His chosen people to possess Christ, to gain Christ and even to spread Christ.

Joshua chapter 2 is one of these portions in the Bible where it’s easy to be caught up in the marvelous story, the story of a harlot Rehab and two spies but it is also a chapter rich in revelation of God’s move on earth. Yes, the story of Rehab, the gentile harlot who exercised faith to join herself to God’s move and to His people and eventually had a honored place in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

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