2 Corinthians (Program #55) – Final Exhortations, Greetings, and Blessings (2)

The book of 2 Corinthians has a wonderful conclusions.  Paul after unveiling so many aspects of his own living and his own experience of Christ in this book, concludes with this 3-fold blessing.  2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  But this is not a blessing given in a merely religious way.  It’s a blessing that brings us into the very Triune God that Paul himself experienced, enjoyed and even lived out in his daily life.  Grace, love and fellowship were his portion and daily enjoyment of the very Triune God.  May we have Him as such a portion as well.

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2 Corinthians (Program #45) – The Apostle’s Fellowship Concerning the Needy Saints (4)

2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 are often used in campaigns for money-raising for various Christian causes or ministries.  But it’s interesting, although they both deal with the matter of giving, they don’t focus on the word “giving”.  In chapter 8, Paul refers to our giving as a kind of gathering, as the children of Israel gathered manna each day for their daily supply.   In chapter 9, our giving is called sowing, as a farmer sow seeds in order to produce a crop, in order to meet his family’s daily need.  Gathering and sowing, this is the renewed thought concerning the offering of material items to meet the needs in the Body of Christ.

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2 Corinthians (Program #44) – The Apostle’s Fellowship Concerning the Needy Saints (3)

The apostle Paul devoted two chapters in 2 Corinthians to  the matter of taking collections for the needy saints in Judea.  It must have been something weighing heavily upon him to devote the better part of two whole chapters.  But actually these two chapters present all believers with some very profound principles that should guide and direct the matter of giving.

In chapter 8, Paul liken our giving to the gathering of manna in Exodus 16.  In chapter 8 verse 15 he writes “..He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no lack.”  Then in chapter 9, our giving is liken a farmer, sowing seeds to produce a crop.  Chapter 9 verse 6, “now this I say, He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully;”  But the verse that follows is the concluding word for both of these portions; chapter 9 verse 7, “Each one as he has purposed in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

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2 Corinthians (Program #39) – The Minister’s of the New Covenant (12)

The book of 2 Corinthians is the book of the New Testament that’s not that well known, not frequently quoted and not really that well understood. One passage however that is familiar to most believers is found in chapter 6 in verse 14, where Paul tells the Corinthians,  “Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?”

It’s good to consider this verse in any context but better is to consider it in the context to which it was delivered to us in the divine revelation.

Here 2 Corinthians chapter 6 is in the context of the New Testament Ministry, the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry where Paul under his commission by the Lord charges the believers in Corinth to be fully reconciled to God.

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Leviticus (Program #24) – The Lesson and the Regulations for the Priests

Chapter 10 of the book of Leviticus is a wonderfully intriguing and interesting chapter. It begins with a day full of glory and a day full of blessing and enjoyment because God has accepted the offerings of the priests, the sons of Aaron. But then something severe happens to Aaron – two of his sons bring themselves under God’s judgment and the scene changes to one of God’s righteousness and holiness only to be turned again to God’s mercy. We invite you to stay with us for this life study of Leviticus today, as we look at chapter 10, a chapter that reveals God’s mercy and His holiness.

Chapter 10 follows a wonderful section that we cover yesterday in chapter 9 with the four issues of the priestly service.  But in this chapter there is a sad, even tragic event that is told and it has to do with these two sons of Aaron, Abihu and Nadab.  The account is found in the first 11 verses of chapter 10 and we are going to see how this tragic story really applies to us today in our situation.

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1 Corinthians (Program #44) – Dealing with the Lord’s Supper

In 1 Corinthians chapter ten, the apostle Paul first addresses the matter of the Lord’s table.

10:16-17 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?  Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.”

But then he moves quickly onto to talk a length about the matter of head covering at the beginning of chapter eleven. Heading covering that is a sign we, the believers are in absolute subjection to the unique headship of Christ. But following this he returns again to the Lord’s table in chapter eleven where he calls it the Lord’s supper and we see it developed in a marvelous and thorough way.

Why then he inserted this fellowship regarding head covering in the midst of his lengthily word regarding the Lord’s table?

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1 Corinthians (Program #41) – The Lord’s Table (1) and (2)

The believers in the church in Corinth were confused by a practical issue – whether or not to eat food that had been offered to idols. Well, in giving opportunity to address it, the apostle Paul took the occasion to bring them into a deeper understanding of reality of eating and drinking. Actually eating and drinking are a kind of fellowship. Fellowship really means to participate, to enjoy. Surely we would all admit it is a good description of eating.

But the spiritual point that we need to come away with in this portion of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 is that we become one with whatever we eat. The old expression – “you are what you eat”, is true both physically and spiritually.

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1 Corinthians (Program #26) – All Things for the Church and the Church for Christ

On one hand God can be quite easily seen, at least His work is clearly identifiable both in creation and in our hearts. On the other hand God is quite hidden or we can say God is a mystery. Actually the Bible says there are mysteries related to God.  1 Corinthians  4:1 “A man should account us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

What are these mysteries? That is the focus of our fellowship today of the life study of the Bible as we are still in this wonderful book the way it’s been unfolded.

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Exodus (Program #88) – The Ark of the Testimony (5)

God has a longing.  This might sound quite strange to our ears, but nonetheless, it’s the case.  His longing is to interact even to fellowship with man.  But how can man, saturated with sins enter into a sweet fellowship with the righteous and holy God?  For this man needs a way and man needs a place.   The way and the place for man to contact God are the focus of today’s life study of the Bible.

In the center of the tabernacle, the Ark of the Testimony resided with the 3 very significant items inside that we’ve covered.  These items are good material for bible school and Sunday school lessons and we’ve seen much rich details related to these 3 items.  To see the cover, the propitiation cover is so tremendous in terms of helping us entering into a deeper and more consistent regular experience of Christ.  Why is this cover such a meaningful item for us to focus on?

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John (Program #32) – Life’s Washing in Love to Maintain Fellowship (2)

We need to be those who actually experience Christ as life meeting our various needs.  The more we experience Him this way the more we are constituted with Him as the life that washes our brothers and sisters.

Here at a certain point, as the Lord was acutely aware that He was leaving the world and going to the Father, He engaged in a very particular, significant, and touching action.  He laid aside His garments.  That’s a sign.  He girded Himself with a towel, another sign.  And, He began to wash the disciples’ feet.  This is still yet another sign.  And in particular He said, “What I have done to you, you should do to one another.  If I, who am your Lord and master, has washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet”.

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