Mark (Program #7) – The Ways the Slave-Savior Carried Out His Gospel Service (2)

Mark chapter 2 gives us the account of the Lord Jesus as the Slave-Savior carrying out His gospel service to care for the need of fallen people. It’s a marvelous chapter that shows us 5 cases or incidents, each one demonstrating this loving care in a particular way meeting the need of all manner of weak, sick and sinful people.

What a picture of the glad tidings being lived out in their midst!  Of course, not all the people are eager and happy to see such a manifestation of the reality and the enjoyment of God.  The scribes and the pharisees, the self-righteous and religious among the people were indignant that their own the authority and their time on the traditions were completely ignored by the Lord Jesus.  For as He Himself told them, “those who were strong have no need of a physician but those who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.“

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1 Peter (Program #26) – The Mighty Hand of God and Its Goal (1)

The apostle Peter says “to gird yourself with humility toward one another because God resist the proud.”  Then he says “to be humble under the mighty hand of God.”   Well, humility is a striking virtue in a Christian and genuine humility bears an unmistakable fragrance, a sweet aroma of Christ being expressed in a person’s living.  False, religious humility also carries an identifiable fragrance as well, but not one that attracts and drives man to it.  Of course the greatest humility in the universe is that of the Lord Jesus Himself who humble Himself for our benefits, putting off His own glory and even becoming a slave for us.  God’s desire today is not for us to try to imitate such humility but rather to submit ourselves to His mighty hands, receiving Him not only as our Savior from sin but even as our humility.

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James (Program #4) – Practical Virtues of Christian Perfection (4)

In chapter one of the Epistle of James, three major points are covered: the divine birth in verse 18, receiving the implanted word in verse 21, and the perfect law of freedom in verse 25. First God brought us forth he regenerated us by the word of truth. Hence the word of truth is the seed of life for our divine birth. After being regenerated by receiving this seed, we need to continue to receive the implanted word, which is able to save our soul in our daily life.

According to verse 18, the word of truth is for regeneration in our spirit. According to verse 21, we need the implanted word for the daily salvation of our soul. Moreover according to verses 25-27, we need the perfect law of freedom so that we may live a God-fearing life. A life that might be considered religious in a proper sense. Such a life corresponds to God’s heart, which is love, and to God’s nature, which is holiness.

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Colossians (Program #21) – Christ the Body of All Shadows and Christ versus Mysticism

Paul the Apostle is marvelous in his writing in the book of Colossians. He begins with a universal presentation of Christ, and not just Christ, but Christ in us the hope of glory. But then he turns and becomes very practical in leading us into the genuine experience of such a Christ. Listen to verses 16 and 17 in Chapter 2, “Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ”. Here, he begins to remove things like the law and angels and anything else that represents God to us in an indirect way. For God’s desire is that nothing stands between us and Him no matter how good or how religious it may seem.

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