Ezekiel (Program #25) – The Holy Land and the Holy City

Clearly the subject and central focus of the last section of the book of Ezekiel is the temple, the house of God. Show the house to the house, the Lord tells Ezekiel and that is exactly what he does in the final chapters. Yet, there’s a very profound postscript to Ezekiel’s vision that is found in the final chapters of the book and that is the land upon which the temple sits. In fact the land and the house are the central focus of the entire Old Testament. Recall Jehovah’s words to Joshua following the death of Moses as the children of Israel were encamped at the border of the good land in Canaan, “Moses My servant is dead; now then arise, and cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses…Be strong and take courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.” (Joshua 1:2-3,6). Well if the temple typifies the church as the fulfillment of the house of God, what then does this land typify?

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Ezekiel (Program #24) – The River Flowing from the House

An outstanding feature that appears again and again throughout the pages of the Bible both in the Old Testament and the New is a river. The river was prominent in Genesis and the river appears in the books of history and the books of the prophets in the Old Testament. This river is still flowing in the gospels especially in the Gospel of John where the river flows out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus. And it continues to flow right through the final chapters of Revelation where it is seen proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem. In all of these mentions the river is a very positive factor, very much related to the matter of the divine eternal life. One of the more striking appearances that this river makes is in Ezekiel 47 where it’s seen flowing out of the house of God. In this chapter it becomes a deep river – too deep and too wide to be passed over. The one that we have no choice but to abandon ourselves to and swim in.

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Mark (Program #16) – The Move of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (4)

Mark chapter 7 verses 5 through 7 tells us “And the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with common hands?  And He said to them, Well has Isaiah prophesied concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart stays far away from Me; But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commandments of men.”“

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Mark (Program #15) – The Move of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (2) & (3)

Mark chapter 6 presents us with 4 seemingly unrelated cases. To our shallow understanding these 4 cases seems to be merely 4 separate stories of events that took place during the Lord’s earthly ministry. However if we receive even a little enlightenment we can see that once again the sequence in the divine record of how these events are unfolded is really marvelous.  And that when taken together these 4 cases really are layers of meaning and significance.

So here are 4 cases, 2 negative and 2 positive. That individually show us the rejection, hatred and justice even martyrdom that typifies the world’s response to the gospel. But collectively they fill us with encouragement, conviction and even a renewed determination to go forth to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth.

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Ezekiel (Program #23) – The Priests and the Offerings

The Lord revealed to Ezekiel that above all, He desires a place on the earth where He can put the soles of His feet that would also be the place of His throne. In other words, God desires to have a dwelling place, a place of rest and satisfaction; and, a place where He can administrate His heavenly rule and His divine move over the entire earth. This is the real significance of the house of God as revealed to Ezekiel and as revealed to us, the church, which is the reality of the house of God in the New Testament. But after we receive such a high revelation concerning the significance of God’s building, we need a further realization as to the kind of persons that are qualified to serve Him in His house.

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Ezekiel (Program #22) – The Return of God’s Glory to the House

Early in his ministry as recorded in chapters 9 and 10, the prophet Ezekiel had seen the glory of Jehovah depart from the temple and even from the earth. It was the gross sin of the people, the abominations, the whoredom, the carcasses and the degradation that caused the Lord’s glory to depart. But after receiving the vision of the completion of the building of the temple in chapter 43, Ezekiel saw another vision. This time a vision of the glory of Jehovah returning to the earth and filling the temple. This is Ezekiel 43:1-5, “Then He brought me to the gate, that is, the gate that faces toward the east. And the glory of the God of Israel was there … and His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth was illuminated with His glory. And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, that is, like the vision that I had seen when He came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face. And the glory of Jehovah came into the house through the gate which faced toward the east. And the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court, and just then the glory of Jehovah filled the house.”

Following the vision of the glory of the Lord filling the house, the Lord had many things to say to Ezekiel as He also does to us concerning His house. Question is, do we have ears to hear and eyes to see the house of God?

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Mark (Program #14) – The Move of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (1)

Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 41 say, “And He said to them on that day when evening had fallen, Let us go over to the other side.  And leaving the crowd, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat; and other boats were with Him.  And there arose a great windstorm, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already beginning to fill up.  And He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, Teacher, does it not matter to You that we are perishing?  And having awoken, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Be silent! Be still! And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  And He said to them, Why are you cowardly in this way? How is it that you do not have faith?  And they became greatly frightened and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  Today we see the move of the Slave-Savior gospel service in the book of Mark.

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Mark (Program #13) – The Parables of the Kingdom (3)

The Bible is a book of life. In Mark chapter 4 the crucial item related to the parables of the kingdom of God is that there is a gene or a seed of life sown into man that is growing and developing into the kingdom of God.

We are bringing you a special meaning today to the word “life“.

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Ezekiel (Program #21) – The Building at the Back, the Walls, the Incense Altar, the Holy Chambers, and the Boiling Places

Ezekiel, a book of visions, begins in chapter 1 with the vision of God’s glory. The final vision in chapter 40 is a vision of the house of God or the building of God. Hopefully, we like Ezekiel, have seen both of these great visions in our life – a vision of God’s glory and a vision of His building. But the sad truth is that though Christians speak much concerning the glory of God, there are precious few words spoken concerning His building. Most likely, it’s because this great vision is yet to be seen by the vast majority God’s children.

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Mark (Program #12) – The Parables of the Kingdom (2)

All genuine Christian believers love to hear the preaching of the gospel. We admire greatly those whom the Lord had raised up with the gift of evangelism and most of us prayed fervently for the spread of the gospel.  But as such believers we should also asked ourselves a couple of basic questions regarding the gospel.

First, what is the gospel?  Then, what is the goal of the gospel?  If our answer to the first question did not incorporated the realization that the gospel really is just Christ Himself then we need some further enlightenment.  And if our answer to the question in regarding to the goal of the gospel was something along the line that the goal of the gospel is to save sinners so that they can go to heaven then we should pray as Paul the apostle prayed that the Father in His mercy would grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

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