Ephesians (Program #5) – The Praise of the Glory of God’s Grace

In all the Bible, no book gives us a perspective of the church from the heavenlies as Ephesians does. From the opening verse to the end, the view presented in Ephesians is God’s view, not man’s. And it’s from this view that we see that we have been chosen from the foundation of the world, not to be sinless or even perfect but to be holy. And further, that we have been marked out, predestinated not to be spiritual giants but to be sons of God.

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2 Corinthians (Program #21) – Shining the Glory of the New Covenant (2)

Two items are marvelously connected in 2 Corinthians that you may have never noticed or linked before. These two things are the New Covenant and the shining of the glory of Christ.

The Old Covenant was a Covenant of law and of letters with the affect of bringing us into spiritual death. The New Covenant on the other hand has everything to do with the Spirit and life. And to be brought into the reality of the New Covenant is to be brought into the glory of the face of Jesus Christ.

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2 Corinthians (Program #20) – Shining the Glory of the New Covenant (1)

The Bible is very rich in the many titles that it describe to God. Of course He is the almighty, the God of glory, the all sufficient One and on and on. It opens in Genesis 1 with the Hebrew word, Elohim, meaning the creator of the heavens and the earth. But interestingly at the end of the Bible, in the final chapter, Revelation 22, God is called simply, the Spirit.  But along the way between these two great bookends of the Bible, we see the journey or the process, that God has passed through in time to accomplish His great eternal purpose.

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Exodus (Program #175) – The Erection of the Tabernacle – The Cloud, the Relationship Between Cloud and Glory, Comparison between Genesis and Exodus

In 1983, Witness Lee conclude his life study of Exodus.  It spanned nearly 4 years.  It includes 185 messages and nearly 2000 pages.   In the final paragraph of volume number 8, he wrote “I have the full assurance that those who have been with us throughout the years can never be the same.  Eternity will reveal what the Lord has been doing within us and among us for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.  Praise Him for the glorious conclusion of the book of Exodus.”

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2 Corinthians (Program #9) – The Ministers of the New Covenant (2)

What should be the important criteria or qualities to be a genuine and proper minister of the gospel of the New Testament? We all might have our own ideas and thoughts about what are the most important qualities. But the Bible devotes several chapters to the subject in the book of 2 Corinthians and it’s there that we see several items that we likely would never have even considered.

First, the ministers must be those that are constituted with the life giving and transforming Spirit as chapter 3. This means that they are full of Christ and therefore able to minister this very Christ into people.

Second, as we will see today in chapter 4. They are those who conduct themselves in such a way that the glory of the gospel of Christ might shine through them and out from within them. In other words, their goal should not be just to preach the gospel, but to allow the gospel in its glory to be shined out through them for other to see. Oh, how we Christians today need such healthy, heavenly ministers.

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Exodus (Program #174) – The Erection of the Tabernacle – God’s Side and Our Side, Two beginnings, Moses, The Need for Reality

In the final chapter of Exodus we see the people of God carrying out His plan and erecting the tabernacle, His dwelling place.  The completion of this work brings in a two-fold presence of God’s glory.  First it covered the tabernacle or tent of meeting as a cloud outwardly and then it filled the tabernacle within.  God’s House brings man into contact with God’s glory.

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2 Corinthians (Program #7) – The Ministry of the New Covenant (3)

You probably remember the story of Moses coming down from Mt.Sinai after having been in God’s presence when he received the ten commandments. His face was shining so brightly that he had to put a veil over it before he can encounter the rest of the children of Israel. That shining was the outward reflection of God’s glory. A shining reflected off of Moses face. But as marvelous as that shining was in 2 Corinthians Paul calls it a fading glory. And rightly so, because in a very short time it was gone from Moses face. Actually this shining represents the glory of the Old Testament ministry. A ministry of as Paul called it “death and condemnation”. No wonder this glory fades.

But the New Testament ministry that Paul declares to us in 2 Corinthians is more in glory, an unfading, eternal, surpassing glory, that shines not just upon us but even out from within us, as the New Testament ministers.

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Exodus (Program #118) – The Priestly Garments (3) Beauty and Glory

If we happen to be on the street in our city and find ourselves in trouble, we would immediately turned to someone wearing a uniform.  There is something about what the uniform expresses that qualifies the person wearing it.  He or she has instant credibility by virtue of what they express.  What do we express?  Can people see Christ within by looking at our outward expression?

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John (Program #42) – Life’s Prayer (1)

When the Spirit as the essence of the Word makes that written Word living, immediately we receive the dispensing of the Father’s life. And, in that life we can be one with all the believers in Christ Jesus.

Upon a first reading or a rather superficial reading of John 17, we may have the impression that the central point is the oneness of the believers. Although this point is crucial, it is neither the central point of the chapter, nor the subject of the Lord’s prayer in this chapter. The subject is clearly indicated in verse 1, where the Lord Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, … glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify you.” This sets the tone and reveals the subject of the Lord’s prayer. He is praying for His glorification so that in His glorification the Father would be glorified.

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Zechariah (Program #3) – The Visions of Consolation and Promise (2)

Zechariah chapter 2 is one of the mysterious chapters in the Bible and to be sure the book of Zechariah is considered quite mysterious by many, if not most believers. A man with a measuring line appears in verse 1 and this man is measuring Jerusalem. Then, Jehovah declares that He will be the glory within Jerusalem and the fire round about her protecting the city and His people and its inhabitants. All of this is against the backdrop of the previous seventy years of history where Jehovah seemingly was silent and inactive. What has caused the Lord to rise up and take such an active and vigorous stand on behalf of His people?  The answer is clear – His people has returned from captivity in Babylon and they are re-inhabiting Jerusalem and Jehovah is re-inhabiting His house, the temple.

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