Mark (Program #46) – A Life Fully According To and For God’s New Testament Economy (2)

Most readers of the Bible appreciate the gospel of Mark partially as a wonderful collection of the stories concerning the miracles of Jesus. But much more than the mere collection of the Bible stories, during the course of this life study of the book of Mark, we have been brought into the view, that what Mark really presents is the biography of another kind of person, another kind of living, another kind of humanity, another kind of life, the life of the Godman, Jesus Christ. He was one Who fully rejected His natural life, even allowing that He would be put to death in every way. Instead He lives moment by moment by the very divine life that was also present within Him.

This brings up for our consideration today a profound and utterly crucial question, do we have the realization that the divine life of God is also present within us, and available for us to live by moment by moment?

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Mark (Program #45) – A Life Fully According To and For God’s New Testament Economy (1)

If one were to take a pull of Bible scholars through out the centuries as to which of the four gospels is the most important, very few would probably pick the gospel of Mark. In many ways it’s overshadowed by the grandeur of Matthew, the depth of John or the magnitude of Luke. In fact to many non-scholars Mark is mainly thought of as a collection of their favorite Bible stories that are good for children and new believers.

But if our eyes are enlightened as Paul the apostle prayed in Ephesians, then we can obtain a controlling vision from the pages of Mark, a vision of the life lived by the wonderful God Man, Jesus. A life that was 100% according to and for God’s New Testament economy.

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Joel (Program #4) – On Joel (5)—The Four Factors in the Book of Joel

The Old Testament, Minor Prophet Joel is an interesting book. It was quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost and its’ prophecy concerning both the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the second coming of Christ are of great importance even to us, the New Testament believers.

The book can be summarized into 4 principles. These are the consuming locusts representing the 4 great empires of the human history and how they had been consuming Israel for more than 27 centuries.  The second principle is the suffering, that this is caused to Israel and how Israel had continued to endure under the suffering.  The third principle in Joel is that the Church, that’s us, God’s New Testament people are the beneficiaries of all these consuming and suffering.  And finally, the fourth principle is that of restoration. For all the suffering that Israel has endured there is a day coming when Israel will enjoy God’s full restoration.  This is Joel a wonderful and important book.

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Mark (Program #44) – The Resurrection and Ascension of the Slave-Savior and His Universal Spreading of the Gospel Through His Disciples

Chapter 16, the final chapter of Mark’s gospel presents three tremendous events in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  First it reveals His resurrection then His ascension for His exaltation and finally the spreading of His gospel to all the creation. All of these matters are important to genuine believers as they relate to the truth of the divine revelation. But they also should be very real aspects of our experience of the marvelous salvation that we have received. But that leads us to a very important question, How can we experience Christ in the reality of His resurrection and how can we experience the exalted and ascended Christ?  Well, this chapter gives us some very helpful signs from some of the Lord’s followers who were living in the reality of Christ in His crucifixion and therefore we are also able to experience Him in His resurrection.

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Joel (Program #3) – On Joel (2)—The Content (1)

The Old Testament Prophets Daniel, Zechariah and Joel all speak prophetically of 4 great empires that would come against God’s chosen people Israel to consume and devour. This consuming had been going on for more than 27 centuries now. History tells us that Daniel got it right when he prophesied in Chapter 2 that these 4 empires that would rule the world and wreck havoc upon Israel would be the Babylonian, the Medo Persian, the Greek and the Roman Empires.  Zechariah saw them as 4 horns. And the Prophet Joel described them as 4 kinds of locusts as in Chapter 1 : 4 “What the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the licking locust has eaten; And what the licking locust has left, the consuming locust has eaten.”

Whatever metaphor we use to depict these 4 great empires, the fact is, Israel had been sustained through this long period of suffering and ultimately will turned back to God, and receive a salvation and a restoration. For us, God’s New Testament people these consuming locusts representing all of human government had also been used by God for His specific purpose and goal, and that is the Christ might be manifested.

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Mark (Program #43) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (5)

The account of the resurrection is unique in each of the four gospels. Each one brings its’ own prospective and emphasis to this greatest of all event.  The account in Mark is typically uncomplicated but deeply and profoundly touching.

Here are the first 11 verses from Mark chapter 16:

“And when the Sabbath was past, Mary the Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him.
And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb as the sun rose.
And they said to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?
And when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was extremely large.
And when they entered into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, clothed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has been raised; He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him.
But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him, even as He told you.
And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary the Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.
She went and reported to those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping.
And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.“

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Joel (Program #2) – On Joel (2)—The Content (1)

The book of Joel in the Old Testament contains 3 main points. The first is the plague of the 4 locusts found in Chapter 1. These 4 locusts in Joel 1, the 4 horns in Zechariah, the 4 beasts in Daniel 7 and the great image in Daniel 2 seen in 4 sections all refer to the four great empires of human history. The Babylonians, the Medo Persian, the Greek and the Roman Empires. These 4 empires representing the totality of human government had been consuming Israel for 27 centuries.

The second main point of Joel is the outpouring of the Spirit prophesied in Chapter two, and referred to by the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost.

The third main point in Joel is the coming restoration, not only of Israel but of the whole universe. Such a short book, a Minor Prophet in the Old Testament, yet such a great content.

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Joel (Program #1) – On Joel (1)—The Introductory Word and the Day of Jehovah

The book of Joel one of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament is very short only three Chapters. And yet interestingly the phrase “the day of Jehovah” is used 5 times in these three Chapters. The day of Jehovah corresponds to the New Testament phrase the day of the Lord, as in such verses as :  1 Thessalonians 5 :2 “For you yourselves know perfectly well that like a thief in the night, so the day of the Lord comes.”  Whether in the Old Testament or the New is a very specific phrase that points not just to the Lord’s coming in a general way but specifically to the day when the Lord comes to establish His judgment on the earth. In that day, the day of the Lord all other judgment will be render meaningless and vain, especially our own judgment.  This matter is the central point in the book of Joel but it requires the whole Bible to gain a proper and accurate view concerning it.

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Mark (Program #42) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (4)

As Jesus was hanging there on the cross for six agonizing hours bearing the reproach of man and the judgment of God, He did so as a genuine man. Yes, He was unique among all mankind in that He was without sin even of Himself, but His humanity was the same as ours in every other way.

Yet at the same time He was also God and despite the fact that for the final three hours of His suffering, God as the economical Spirit had to forsake Him, while He took upon Himself the sins and transgressions of every man.

Yet intrinsically and essentially He was and still is God.  This is Christ Jesus, the Lord our Savior. The immortal Who put on mortality.  And this mysterious and marvelous God Man died a death that accomplish what no other death could ever accomplished.

His death accomplish far more than just the forgiveness of sins as we will see today. And in addition to dealing with all the negative things, His death also release the divine life to create the New Man, the New Creation and ultimately to bring in the kingdom of God.

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Hosea (Program #6) – On Hosea (7)—Jehovah’s Unchanging Love Versus Israel’s Stubborn Unchastity (2)

Ask any married man, and he will tell you that the single most important virtue of a wife is her chastity or her faithfulness. Once that is gone is very difficult to hold a marriage together. In the Old Testament book of Hosea, Jehovah liken the nation of Israel to an unchaste wife. Israel had been betrothed to God but soon after another and became caught up in spiritual harlotry. As a result Jehovah was left with no choice but to chasten her. His chastening or discipline was motivated not by His wrath but rather by His unchanging love. And Hosea Chapters 11 through 14 give the account of how this mighty and powerful unchanging love of God eventually subdued Israel and even transformed her.

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