Philippians (Program #4) – The Different Preachings of Christ

In Philippians 1:15 the apostle Paul says, some indeed preach Christ even because of envy and strife and some also because of good will.  Our topic today on this life study program is the different preachings of Christ.

We all heard it said that as long as Christ is been preached everything is OK. But in this book, the book of Philippians there are quite a few different ways of preachings Christ and they are not ALL OK as we will find out.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #15) – The Reign of Azariah, Jotham, and Ahuz over Judah

The history of Israel and the various kings over Israel is recorded in the book of Kings and 1 Chronicles and other history books reveals again and again how Israel and its kings failed God and His expressed intention for them as His people.  Yet even when their failure reached extraordinary levels forcing God to temporarily abandon the nation of Israel, there always remain a line of faithful ones.  Ones that would stand with God for His purpose and for His testimony.  The prophets were such ones, prophets like Nathan and Elijah, Elisha and even Isaiah.  The New Testament has a name for such ones; it is overcomers.  In the book of Revelation, this title appears seven times, most of which sounding like this reference in Revelation 2:7, “he who has an ear, let  him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.”

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Philippians (Program #3) – Paul’s Suffering for the Gospel and His Enjoyment of Grace

Through out the ages many people had suffered for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Among these the apostle Paul stand prominently. In fact in many of his Epistles they are specific references and even details regarding not only his suffering but also the suffering we may experience as well. Philippians gives us such an account not just the suffering because of his willingness to preach the gospel in a general way.

Today on our life study of the Bible we will see Paul as an example not just of suffering but as one who also had the enjoyment of grace under suffering and the high gospel for which he had suffered.

This phrase” enjoyment of grace under suffering”, almost sounds like kind of contradiction to our natural ear…

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #14) – The Reign of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam over Israel

In reading the Old Testament it’s easy to become lost at times in page after page of history because much of the Old Testament is devoted to telling this history, the history of God’s people Israel in both their triumphs and in their many failures.  To study it in this way does have some values, but if that is the extend of our realization of the Old Testament, we will miss a lot.  In fact, we will miss the Lord’s burden for us in that portion of Scriptures.  For both the Lord Jesus Himself in His direct speaking concerning the Old Testament and the apostle Paul in example after example of how he applied the Old Testament made it clear that in reality the Old Testament is a book of types and symbols that if properly understood reveal Christ to us in marvelously clear pictures that can often convey more of the spiritual reality than even the direct and condensed passage of the New Testament.  One of the great types of Christ in the books of history surely is the prophet Elisha, who typified Christ in his living, his ministry and as we will see today even in his death.

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Philippians (Program #2) – The Church in Philippi

Have you ever wonder why there are so much dissension, division among genuine Christians?  It is not new among believers of Christ today, the apostle Paul addressed this problem in his Epistle to the Philippians as well as many other places. And we are going to visit Philippians today.  We promise you some new insights from God’s word.

Let’s look at Philippians 1:1, it says “Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons”. Philippians is the only book in the New Testament that uses this phrase “to all the saints with the overseers and deacons”.  We are going to find out how this phrase is a window into God’s administration, His plan for administration for the church.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #13) – The Reign of Athaliah and Joash over Judah

The history of the kings of Israel and Judah recorded in the books Kings and Chronicles includes many troubling accounts of corrupt politics, twisted and distorted religion and even murder between those vying for leadership over the kingdom of Israel and Judah.  As startling as problems of this magnitude may seen among God’s people, an honest consideration of the more contemporary history of God’s people, that is us, His New Testament believers, the church reveals that within the church today, at least in principle many of these same kinds of problem are still present.  But what is most critical for us today is to realize whether we are talking about that ancient history between the kings of Israel and Judah or leadership among those in the church today.  The root cause of many of these things is the same and that is the ease with which God’s people accept and tolerate division.

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Philippians (Program #1) – The Background and Subject of the Book

Living Christ and magnifying Christ in whatever circumstance is the message of the book of Philippians.

Marvelous book, what a precious book is the book of Philippians. Today is a happy day, because Philippians is a very special book for this ministry because it relates so much so specifically to the experience of Christ.

The past several months we’ve been covered life studies in Matthew, Revelation, Daniel, tremendous books with a lot of prophesies and items related to coming features events and a lot of doctrines and teaching, very healthy teaching.  But we are going to focusing now on Christ and the practical experience of Christ. They are two phrases I like to read that represent the basic concept of the entire book of Philippians and also this life study.  First one is found in Philippians 1:21 “Christ will be magnified in my body”.  And that is not doctrine by any means.  The second is found on the next verse, it says, “to me to live is Christ”. So we have magnifying Christ and living Christ as the big subjects.  We all hope and pray that all of our listeners to get into and appreciate these items more and more in the coming weeks.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #12) – The Reign of Jehu Over Israel

Many prominent figures of the Old Testament are important not only because of the actual events associated with their lives historically but also because they represent or typify something greater and more significant than themselves.  For example, in the New Testament, Moses still typifies the law and similarly Elijah represents the prophets.  Of course, Moses and Elijah were godly and used by Him to advance His purpose in the Old Testament age.  But there is another Old Testament figure that was utterly evil and led God’s people into idolatry and inequity and is also referred to in the New Testament typifying the idolatry and inequity that still consume many of God’s people today.  Today we come to consider the evil prophetess Jezebel from the books of 1 & 2 Kings.

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Ephesians (Program #74) -The Spirit and the Church

One of the major changes that takes place in the life of a Christian is in their mind.  As unbelievers we were as Paul described in Ephesians 4, darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which was in us and because of the hardness of our heart.

Contrast that to the conditions of the believers that follow in Chapter 5, For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord, walk as children of light for the fruits of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth.  How does this transformation in our minds take place?  The answer to this crucial matter is also found in Ephesians.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #11) – Elisha’s Ministry of Grace

The mighty prophet Elijah was a clear type of John the baptist in the New Testament.  John the baptist was mighty and most assuredly he was clothed with the Spirit of power as was Elijah.  But John’s most critical role was to announce and usher in Christ.  Centuries before Elijah ushered in Elisha.  Just as Elijah was a type of John the Baptist, the prophet Elisha typified Christ and the New Testament ministry of grace.

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