Colossians (Program #18) – Not To Be Deluded And Carried Off From Christ

Nearly every believer in Christ loves to hear an eloquent speaker with a solid knowledge of the Bible deliver an inspiring and uplifting message. Christians often elevate this aspect of the ministry to the highest degree as they measure the usefulness of a servant of the Lord. Yet, Colossians contains the following warning in chapter 2, verse 4 says, “This I say that no one may delude you with persuasive speech.”, and verse 8, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.”  What is it to be deluded with persuasive speech and be carried off according to the tradition of man?

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Psalms (Program #33) – The Saints’ Deeper Experience of God in the Identification with Christ

The book of Psalms actually a collection of 150 Psalms of poetry, prophecies and hymns show us many aspects of the Christian walk by ways of types and symbols.  Aspects of Christ in His suffering for example, in His death on the cross, His resurrection, ascension and even enthronement are seen in rich details in the Psalms.  But there is another aspect, perhaps the deepest experience of God that is also revealed yet seldom spoken of from this book and that is that Christ took God the Father as His very habitation.  What does this mean?  More specifically, what does it mean for us?  We will fellowship the matter of God’s habitation today.

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Colossians (Program #17) – To Walk In Christ-The Mystery Of God

The book of Colossians is a book to give us the highest vision of Christ. It’s a book unveiling Christ. In chapter 1, Christ is shown as item after item until finally He’s revealed as the very mystery of God. But there’s also a practical side to this book, a practicality that is expressed in chapter 2 in verse 6, “As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.” This is a popular verse to many Christians, but also a perplexing one. For though it sounds simple enough, just how is it that we can walk in the One whom we received?   Well, if our eyes can be enlightened, the Bible in several key portions gives us the key, provided our hearts are open and clear, and that we have full assurance of understanding.

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Psalms (Program #32) – Christ versus Restoration of God’s People, Personal Salvation, and Release from Sufferings

God has purpose, an economy.  If we have ears to hear what the Spirit is speaking then we can see this plan is centered on Zion with Christ, love by God in Psalms 87.  Christ as God anointed to possess the entire earth in Psalms 89.

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Colossians (Program #16) – The Experience Of Christ As The Mystery Of God

Here is a question for you to ponder.  What is the mystery of God?  Well, how many endless philosophical discussions, how many thousands of pages of mystical speculations had been prompted by such a thought. Yet the Bible answers this question with a single word, the mystery of God is “Christ”. Colossians 2:2 says “That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” As we consider not only this mystery but how we can experience Christ as the mystery of God

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Psalms (Program #31) – A Supplement to Message Thirty-Two on Psalm 84

Psalms 84:1-4 say “How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! My soul longs, indeed even faints, For the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out To the living God.  At Your two altars even the sparrow has found a home; And the swallow, a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young, O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will yet be praising You.”

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Colossians (Program #15) – Christ-The Mystery Of God

All believers love the Lord to some extend even if we were backsliden and fallen far from God if we are honest still we sense a degree of love for Him, even if it is a small degree.  But the key in the matter of loving the Lord has everything to do with our realization of Him; the more we know Him, the greater our love will be.  This explains the struggle of Paul, the apostle that he expressed in chapter 2 of Colossians verses 1 and 2 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you… that your hearts may be comforted…being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.”

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Psalms (Program #30) –  The Psalmist’s Love for the House of God with Christ

Psalms 84 is a lovely expression of the Psalmist’s intense love and longing for God’s house.  “How lovely are Your tabernacle.” he writes.  “Oh Jehovah of hosts, my soul longs even faints for the cores of Jehovah.”  As this wonderful Psalm develops it becomes clear just what it is regarding God’s house that draws him so.  For it’s here, in God’s habitation which in His time was the tabernacle but today we realizes it’s the church that we find Christ.  It is Him that we long for and desire above all else.  Of course, this Psalm also shows us that on the way to God’s house, the journey brings us through many stations, like a valley of weeping and eventually to the two altars that reside in the tabernacle,.

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Colossians (Program #14) – Struggling According To The Operation Of Christ

Listen to Paul the apostle as he speaks of his great struggle in Colossians 2:1-2 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those in Laodicea, even all who have not seen my face in the flesh, That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.” After unveiling Christ as the great mystery of God hidden from ages, he confesses that his great struggle for the believers was that their hearts could be comforted and knitted together. From something so high and spiritual to something so seemingly shallow and human as a care for the comfort of the believers. This was the Apostle Paul. Today we will consider these two bookends and how they related one to another.

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Psalms (Program #29) – The Way of Restoration—Exalting Christ

For most believers the Christian life is one of peaks and valleys.  At times we may be carried in a marvelous and victorious condition with little or no self effort.  At other times we are dried, weary and easily overcome.  In the historical record of the Bible, we can see that God’s people corporately go through similar ups and downs.  But from their experience, we may be able to learn some wonderful keys to help us deal with our own period of spiritual desolation and even we might be brought into a full restoration.

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