Romans (Program #32) – A Closing Word

The book of Romans in its final three verses concludes with a beautiful offering of praise to God. Theologians have dubbed it a doxology; though it might aptly be called a melody, a melody of praise that we can fully enter into. It’s the peak of the gospel of God as presented in Romans.

This message begins with a concise overview of the entire book. The perspective is that of the revelation of God’s entire economy revealed in the New Testament. And the feeling is that in our experience and practice, we should have a book of Romans with sixteen chapters, that is with all of the stations or all of the sections, and not just part.  We appreciate the fact that when the reformation began, God used a segment of the book of Romans to recover a tremendous truth – that of justification by grace, through faith.  This is the first major station in the book of Romans.  The station or section of justification.  The importance of this can hardly be over-emphasized…

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Exodus (Program #71) – The Implications, Indications and Significances of the Ordinances of the Law (2)

After the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20, the Lord continued for 3 more chapters to give item after item of regulations regarding man’s relationships. These added items are called “ordinances”, many if not most, seem to us to have nothing whatsoever to do with us as New Testament believers. They deal with such things as treatment of slaves and the ancient feasts and rituals of Jewish religion; and, even such things as “not boiling the kid in its mother’s milk”. So how do we as Christians regard these Old Testament details? Do we just skip over and dismiss them? Or, in the light of God’s New Testament ministry, is there a real and meaningful application of these items for us?  We return once again today to the book of Exodus and the remarkable journey of God’s people out of their bondage of worldly captivity and through the wilderness.

We’re continuing today to look at Exodus chapter 22 and 23, chapters that as we said offer many items all contain in these ordinances that were supplements or additions to the basic ten Commandments that we’re all quite familiar with. In an earlier message, we heard that though we cannot directly see Christ in the ten original commandments, these supplemental ordinances contain all of the rich details of Christ – what do we mean by this kind of speaking? more…

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Romans (Program #25) – God’s Economy in His Selection

Seemingly there are many hard to reconcile statements in the Bible.  We are going to be looking at one of those statements today.

Today once again we are going to look at God’s selection.  What can be a hard topic for many people, probably ourselves included by virtue of the fact that  God has selected some,  it seems that others must not be selected.  Yet the Word says that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How do we reconcile these two items?

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Romans (Program #23) – God’s Selection, Our Destiny (1)

God’s selection is not according to our work, our effort, our labour but altogether it is of God who shows mercy.

We begin a new chapter in our life study of Romans today which marks a whole new section of Romans.  At the beginning of this life study of Romans, sections of this book has been pointed out.  We have covered the section of condemnation – this section showed us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and are under condemnation. This was followed by the section on justification and this happily pointed out how God’s wonderful way in which justifies us freely through the redemption of Christ Jesus can be our experience and justifies us before God.  more…

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Romans (Program #5) – The Vanity of Religion and the Totality of Hopelessness

Paul is saying here, “My gospel is for God’s economy, but to do that, you don’t need religion. It’s not a matter of outward practices, it’s not a matter of just not doing or doing certain things – it’s a matter of getting into God’s salvation.”

We are going to look today at God’s condemnation as is presented in Romans chapter 1. Why is it important for mankind to have a realization of God’s condemnation? more…

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Romans (Program #4) – The Source of Wickedness and the Way of Restriction

We can be protected so that for the sake of God’s interest, God’s purpose – yes, for the sake of the divine romance, we may be preserved vessels that the Lord can train, fill, and use, to fulfill His heart’s desire of a bride, a wife, for eternity.

We have a message today that includes a strong section on God’s condemnation. We know that as believers in Christ, we have been saved from God’s condemnation, so why we are going back today to see the source of wickedness and the way of restriction?… more…

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Acts (Program #66) – The Propagation in Asia Minor and Europe through the Ministry of Paul’s Company (32)

God’s faithful servant, the Apostle Paul, remained in the custody of the Roman governor in Caesarea for two long years. Though this may have seemed like a waste to have the mighty Apostle detained. In God’s economy, it proved to be a most profitable use of his time. We invite you to journey with us back to the first century as it’s unfolded in the pages in the book of Acts on today’s life study of the Bible.

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Acts (Program #39) – The Propagation in Asia Minor and Europe through the Ministry of Paul’s Company (5)

The book of Acts has been studied throughout the centuries primarily as a book of history, the history of the early Christian Church. But, beyond this kind of surface examination lie the great and profound insights into God’s economy, His purpose as it relates to His plan and His dealings with man. This deeper exploration of one of the great books of scripture continues on today’s life study of the Bible.

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John (Program #51) – Life in Resurrection (2)

We should treasure the way the Lord has ordained to be present with us now. May the Lord really open our eyes: that what is precious to God, that is the invisible, indwelling, pneumatic Christ, would also become precious to us.

In John 20 as in the Gospel of John as a whole, we see the Trinity both in His essence and in His economy. The Divine Trinity is a trinity of essence eternally that is the Father, Son, and Spirit coexist and co-inhere in the Godhead eternally. This is the Trinity in essence. But in order to have the fulfillment of God’s economy, the essential Trinity must function as the economical Trinity to pass through the process in order to, on the one hand, enter into God’s people, and on the other to bring God’s people, now redeemed and regenerated, into God. By the time we reach chapter 20, we have at least the initial completion of this process in which the very God who became a man and died for our redemption, in resurrection became the Spirit, so that, economically speaking, the Father, Son, and Spirit may indwell us.

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John (Program #49) – Life Processed for Multiplication (4)

Let us all let the wind blow where it wills. And, instead of trying to systematize or schematize the experience of the Spirit, let’s experience the Spirit for the carrying out of God’s economy, letting God truly be God.

John 20 is in many respects, a chapter of realization or actualization. By using these terms, I’m trying to say, that in this chapter we have the reality in actual experience of what the Lord revealed concerning His process elsewhere in the Gospel. He made it emphatically clear in chapters 14 through 16 that He needed to go, that is, die on the cross, and come again, that is come into the disciples as the pneumatic Christ in order to indwell them. He had, as the first half of the Gospel emphasizes, become flesh and tabernacled among human kind. But, God’s goal is to be in His chosen and redeemed people, not merely among them.

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