Psalms (Program #20) – The Psalmist’s Intensified Enjoyment of God in His House and City Through the Suffering, Exalted, and Reigning Christ (1)

The Old Testament book of Psalms includes 150 individual Psalm. Well, majority of these were written by David, others contributed to this wonderful portion of the Scripture.  Bible scholars throughout the centuries have realized that by virtue of how the Psalms are arranged, they are broken into five distinctive groups or books.  Book one of the Psalms for example include Psalms 1 through Psalms 41.   The second book begin with Psalms 42.  But what is critical to realize in this divine arrangement is that each successive book takes us to a higher spiritual plain than the previous one.  So that at the end of Psalms we are brought to the highest peak in the experience and enjoyment of God.

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Psalms (Program #19) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (6)

The Psalms are beloved by Bible readers universally. In part, maybe because for the mot part, the Psalms seems easy to understand and identify with. For example, when David or the other Psalmists were suffering, they would cry out to God for comfort, deliverance and help. We can readily identified with these. But actually some of the Psalms are mysterious to the uttermost. Consider Psalm 40, in this Psalm, on of the highest prophecy concerning the coming Christ, David appears to say to Jehovah “You do not delight in sacrifice in offering. You do not require burnt offering and sin offering.” Well, the question that must be asked is “how must the Old Testament scholars have understood such a verse?” or even more importantly how do we, as God’s New Testament believers understand such a verse?

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Colossians (Program #3) – The Apostle’s Prayer

Colossians 1:13 says, “Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”. This is a marvelous verse that is well beloved by many that love the Lord Jesus especially those whose background is easily described by the phrase “authority of darkness”. If we had a particularly sinful and dark past then likely our appreciation of this transfer is quite keen. To many others that may not have such an evil and wicked past seemingly, so while they may agree doctrinally that such a transfer has taken place, the heartfelt realization may not be quite as strong. But what was the apostle Paul referring to when he wrote these words to the believers in Colossi?  The answer to this question will likely surprise you.

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Psalms (Program #18) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (4 & 5)

The Bible is The Book.  It is one book yet it is made up of 66 books.  All of God’s people love this book and yet to one person it may be a book of laws, to another a book of ethics and morality, to others it is just a book of stories and metaphors.  Actually, the kind of book it is to us depends mainly on what kind of person we are as we read it.  May we be those who have come to the end of keeping the law, the end of human ethics and story-telling.  May we be those who had been brought to the end of ourselves and have discovered that we truly have been crucified with Christ and that it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.

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Colossians (Program #2) – Introduction

Today’s life study is from the book of Colossians. The book revealing that Christ is everything to us, being profound and all-inclusive and is unveiled to us to a fuller extent  than any other book in the Bible.  We must not allow anything to replace Christ or to be a substitute for Him.

It has been said that the book of Colossians reveals or unveils Christ to a fuller extent than any other book in the Bible. The first 8 verses of Colossians serve as somewhat an introduction to the book. In this introduction, the apostle Paul seemed to be saying, ‘Dear Colossians, if you follow the Jewish observances or the Gentile ordinances you will not lay up anything for yourselves in the heavens as a hope – you need to live by Christ. One day, Christ who is our life will appear in glory’.

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Psalms (Program #17) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (3)

The Bible is a book of two’s.  In it we have two trees, two men, two creations and two purposes or plans, represented by two mountains.  All of which become two lines that run through entire Scripture resulting eventually in two outcomes or two consummations.  The book of Psalms clearly shows these two lines often giving us stark contrasts between the two, helping us to bring into sharp focus that God desires all His people to always be occupied with the central line, the line of Christ, the line of life.

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Colossians (Program #1) – The Background And Position of the Book

Witness Lee opened the life study of Colossians this way, “In the book of Colossians, Christ is unveiled to a fuller extend than in any other book in the Bible.”  That’s quite an introduction; the fullest unveiling of Christ is in this book.  We will devote ourselves to bringing this unveiled Christ to you each day during the coming weeks as we continuing on day by day on this life study of Colossians.

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Psalms (Program #16) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (1 & 2)

One reason that the Psalms may be so beloved among Bible readers is that for the most part that the Psalms were written very simply and they are easy to understand. The Psalmists often had problems and distresses we can relate to and they came to seek the Lord out of these troubles. But if you contrast this to the way the New Testament is written, there is a big difference. Take the apostle Paul for example, he also had problems and was frequently in distress. But he didn’t speak of these troubles in the same way. His language was on a higher plan. “Great is the mystery of Godliness”, Paul writes, “Who was manifested in the flesh.” Well, surely this was referred to Christ and Paul’s focus was always, always, always on this Christ, who not only manifested God in His own flesh, but is waiting to manifest Himself in our flesh, even through the most difficult of circumstances.

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Philippians (Program #53) – The Unique Mind and the Unique Walk

“Let us therefore as many as are full grown have this mind.”  What is this mind spoken of in Philippians 3:15?  When we find out what this mind is then it will affect how we walk in our daily lives.  In today’s program we are going to see as Christians we should have a unique mind inwardly and the unique walk outwardly of Christ.

Philippians 3:15 “Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown, have this mind; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to you.”  We shouldn’t take the apostle Paul’s word for granted but really seek the Lord what this mind is that we would been pointed out to here. We need to consider Paul’s word in verses 13 and 14 “Brothers, I do 1not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.” And finally as the concluding phrase Paul says “let us therefore have this mind.”

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Psalms (Program #15) – The Enjoyment in the House of God

In the Old Testament, God dwelt among His people in the tabernacle and later in the temple.  The tabernacle was the place that God and man could meet.  And in this meeting place God found His delight, His enjoyment.  The New Testament began with this expression in John chapter 1 “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”  Of course, we all realize now that this refers to Christ in His incarnation.  But the deeper realization is that Christ became the tabernacle, the House, the very place where God and man could meet and eventually mutually enjoy one another.   The book of Psalms unveils the same lovely portrait of the enjoyment of both God and man in the House of God as we will see in today’s program.

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