Philippians (Program #18) – Counting All Things Loss on Account of Christ

“I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.”  What a blessing for a believer in Christ to reach a point the apostle did in Philippians 3:7-8 where the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus caused him to count all things as dung.

Before Paul was converted to Christ he was not one who had a problem loving the material things, the material world. Quite the contrary he was a person who was fully given to the Jewish religion, to philosophy and to the culture of his time. His whole being was for Judaism and for everything that’s included in it.  So, we read these verses in Philippians 3, how Paul, the apostle counted all things loss on account of Christ, we have to realize he is talking about here giving up his Jewish religion, his philosophy and his culture, that were all referred to in earlier verses and not the aspect of the material world. more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

1 & 2 Chronicles (Program #1) – An Introductory Word

The 12 books of history in the Old Testament occupy an unique portion in the Holy Scriptures.  They give us the story of God’s chosen race Israel in some of their glorious times as well as show us the degradation and fall of God’s people to their lowest condition overtaken by idolatry and the hardness of their hearts.  Ten of these books deal almost exclusively with Israel, God’s chosen people in the Old Testament.  But the two books of Chronicles show us not only God’s move within the history of Israel but also His move within the history of the entire human race.

To fully understand the burden and get into the heart of these books, we need what the Apostle Paul prayed for in Ephesians and that is a spirit of wisdom and revelation and that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened that we could see how these are not just books of history but how these books are books of types and pictures that can more clearly reveal to us the very center of God’s heart desire, His eternal economy which is fully centered and focused on the excellent Christ.

‘

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Philippians (Program #17) – The Three Positive Aspects of the Believers vs the Three Negative Aspects of the Religious Judaizers

“Bewares of the dogs.” No, we are not talking about the warning sign on your neighbour’s gate.  We are talking about the apostle Paul’s warning at the beginning of Philippians chapter 3. Paul was warning the Philippians of the Judaizers, the Jewish leaders who were troubling the believers in Christ.  We are in for an enlightening message today.

We are at the beginning of chapter 3 in our life study in Philippians.  There is a background to this chapter, the Epistle to the Philippians was written when Paul received material supply from the believers in Philippi. Through Epaphroditus they had sent the supply to take care of Paul’s need during his imprisonment.  After receiving their gift, Paul wrote them this Epistle.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

1 & 2 Chronicles (Program #10) – The Resemblance of God and Man in Their Images and Likeness

Anthanasius, referred by many as the father of Orthodoxy, said in the forth century “God became a man to make man god.”  What did the champion of Christian faith mean by such a striking statement?  To find out more about this intriguing topic stay with us for the next half hour.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Philippians (Program #16) – Being Like-Soul and Risking Our Soul

What causes divisions among Christians today?  Virtually every division in the Body of Christ comes from Christians who truly love the Lord and desire to do something for Him.  In this life study of Philippians program today we want to examine the source of division.  This is a fascinating life study and very much related to the experience of Christ.

Because our experience of Christ is affected by the matter of division. The basis for fellowship is the apostle Paul’s comment in Philippians 2:20 about Timothy been like-souled with him.  Paul says “I have no one like-souled who would genuinely care for what concerns you.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

1 & 2 Chronicles (Program #9) – A Concluding Word to the Supplement to the History of the Kings of Judah

The kings of Judah were faithful to Jehovah, at least in part they held on to Jerusalem, the ground that God had given them for their worship.  They also kept allegiance at least outwardly to the word of God, which was His law.  The law of Mose, in two sections was God’s way in the Old Testament of both exposing man as well as revealing the divine plan for man to express God, bear His image and be His testimony.  In the end, God’s people, Israel were unable to keep either the moral law of God, the ten commandments or the ceremonials of God.  And the result was that they eventually lost the good land entirely and lost their enjoyment of God’s portion.  This is a strong warning to us but also as we look into these two aspects of the law, there is a great hope and we hope to bring that out in today’s program.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Philippians (Program #15) – The Apostle’s Concern for the Believers

“Ministering to the House or to God”  Watchman Nee gave a message with this title once.  Hope our listeners can stay to grasp the depth that are contained in this thought. Are we too busy taking care of the Church, God’s house, that we’re not taking care of God?   Or are we too busy taking care of God that we forget about caring for the Church, His Body?

We are going to see in our program today from the book of Philippians chapter 2, that these two aspects of our experience and our service cannot be separated.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

1 & 2 Chronicles (Program #8) – Living Christ for the Expression of God

After the division of Israel into two kingdoms, God was still able to point to some among His people that have not given up their proper standing and had maintained at least outwardly some devotion to His fundamental word.  God’s word at that time of course, consisted of the laws.  But many don’t realize the law came in two sections, both of which came through Moses.  The first section is the law of commandments, were the ten commandments we commonly referred to them.  These are the moral laws that God gave to His people cover all aspects of relationships.  The second section is called the ceremonial law, the laws governing the details of the offerings and the priesthood and the feasts that God established for His people.

Though the kings of Judah stood on the proper ground of Jerusalem and professed allegiance to all the laws of God, in reality they kept neither the moral law nor the ceremonial law.  The result was that ultimately they lost their possession and enjoyment of the good land that God had given them.  What can we, God’s New Testament people learn from such a tragic example?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Philippians (Program #14) – A Drink Offering Poured Out Upon the Sacrifice of the Believer’s Faith

Philippians 2:17 says “But if i am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and priestly service of your faith, I rejoice together with you all.” What is this drink offering that the apostle said he was poured out at?  If our experience of Christ has not come to the point where we have been constituted as a drink offering we have not yet experienced Christ to the uttermost. The drink offering is our topic today on this life study of the Bible from the book of Philippians.

We touched the drink offering back in the life study of Genesis, it was a remarkable program at that time, and we had several calls from people who have some inkling of what it was but really had an experience of being brought into a vision of it for the first time. more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

1 & 2 Chronicles (Program #7) – The Supplement to the History of the Kings of Judah (2)

Hezekiah, one of the top kings of Judah is a breath of fresh air to readers of the Bible.  Today we are going to spend our entire life study from Chronicles enjoying this fresh air.

This is a sweet program and a program of fresh air.  The reason for that is because with Hezekiah we see with so many positive things; we see recovery, we see restoration and the result of that is bringing revival to God’s people.  What a contrast to the black situation there in Hezekiah’s day.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS