Numbers (Program #6) – Being Formed into an Army (7)

In the Old Testament arrangement, all those who were born in the line of Aaron were designated automatically to the priesthood.  To be a priest was not available to everyone.  But the Lord made a provision for any among God’s people who voluntarily choose to serve Him in an absolute way.  It was called the vow of the Nazarite.  Under the provision of this vow, a person’s living and characteristics were subjected to the highest and strictest standard.  Though such a formal vow with its restrictions is not directly associated with the New Testament economy, in principle, the Lord desires all of His children to be real Nazarite even today, just as the Lord Jesus lived so absolutely for God and to God.  As we look into the vow of the Nazarite on today’s life study.

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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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Numbers (Program #5) – Being Formed into an Army (5 – 6)

There is a lot of talk about spiritual warfare among believers.  Nearly all Christians have realization that there is a battle that must be waged if we are to prevail against God’s enemy.  But what are the factors that we can see from the Old Testament books like Numbers that can be helpful to us in allowing God to form us into an army to fight for Him and with Him for the accomplishment of His purpose?  We will see several things we can begin to apply immediately in our individual and corporate Christian walk on today’s program.

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2 Corinthians (Program #54) – Final Exhortations, Greetings, and Blessings

The apostle Paul concludes the two long letters to the church in Corinth in a most wonderful, sweet and loving way.  “finally, brothers” he writes in verse 11 of chapter 13, “rejoice, be perfected, be comforted, think the same thing, be at peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  Actually these concluding words, especially verse 11 gives us a marvelous summary or recap of all the crucial points of the whole book of 2 Corinthians.

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Numbers (Program #4) – Being Formed into an Army (3 – 4)

After the children of Israel escaped the tyranny of Egypt and built a tabernacle in the wilderness according to the plan God showed Moses, the Lord set about forming an army to protect His testimony and fight against His enemies.  Members of each of the various tribes were called to serve in this army, saved one, the tribe of Levite.  To them it was given not to fight directly but to serve God in the tabernacle in a holy service and ministry.  Today God’s people are still called upon to war against His enemy and to fight to protect His testimony on the earth.  Just as in ancient time, God needs His people to minister and serve Him in His dwelling place on earth.  Another wonderful picture of a New Testament reality awaits us today from the Old Testament book of Numbers.

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2 Corinthians (Program #53) – Paul’s Vindication of His Apostolic Authority (8)

The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians are known as Paul’s vindication of His apostolic authority.  On one hand it was something of a shame that Paul was compelled to make such defense on his own behalf.  It’s in this light that he says in chapter 11 “What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord but as if in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.” (11:17)  But in the same section just a few verses later, chapter 12 he says “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Before God in Christ we speak; but all things, beloved, are for your building up.”  This apparent reversal left Paul vulnerable to the charge of being inconsistent.  Was he speaking foolishly not in the Lord or was he really speaking in Christ and before God?  The key is found in the last few words of that verse “…all thing, beloved, are for your building up.“

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Numbers (Program #3) – Being Formed into an Army (2)

A central feature of the Old Testament was the tabernacle with the Ark of the Covenant.  Once built, God then formed His people into an army and arrayed them around the tabernacle in an orderly even beautiful fashion.  God’s people, properly ordered and arrayed around His testimony is a beautiful picture in His eyes.  Yet regrettably, it’s difficult to see such an orderly and beautiful picture today.

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2 Corinthians (Program #52) – Paul’s Vindication of His Apostolic Authority (7)

The concluding chapters of 2 Corinthians are Paul’s vindication of his apostleship.  His authority, especially with the believers in Corinth had been challenged and undermined by religious men  posing as apostles seeking to  lead them away from the simplicity and purity in Christ back to the Mosaic and Judaic practices of the old covenant.  It would be easy to consider that the points Paul makes in this portion would have little or any application to us. believers in a much different time and not necessarily in the capacity of leadership.  Yet as with all the Scripture the divine revelation contain in this portion is full of meaning and shows us once again a true pattern for all of us who desire to live Christ and experience Him day by day.

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Numbers (Program #2) – Being Formed into an Army (1)

The first five books of the Bible are generally attributed to Moses and they formed a unit commonly referred to as the Pentateuch.  The fourth of this series is the book of Numbers, perhaps the most obscure among the five.  Outwardly it seems simple enough not overly inspiring for chronicles the numbering of God’s people Israel for the purpose of forming them into an army to fight for God’s testimony as they travel for 40 years through wilderness.  But if our eyes are open, our spirit set to receive God’s divine light, we can see the whole of the divine revelation express in picture forms through its pages.  Even the key elements of Christ’s ministry on earth and the ultimate consummation of the Bible, New Jerusalem are depicted here in Numbers.  Seem dubious?  Well stay tune.

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2 Corinthians (Program #51) – Paul’s Vindication of His Apostolic Authority (6)

The church in Corinth was born directly out of the ministry and care of the apostle Paul.  Yet later, many of the believers there were affected negatively towards him because the accusations of false prophets that had come into Corinth, in an effort to draw the church away from their enjoyment of Christ and back to the Old Testament practice of law-keeping.  These ones claimed that they were the real apostles and that their knowledge and gifts far surpassed those of Paul’s.  So because many in the church were confused and no one stood up for Paul to make his case, Paul himself was compelled in the final chapters of this book to make his own “boast ” and to defend his own apostolic authority.  What he revealed to the church in Corinth in chapter 12 is some of the most remarkable speaking in all of the New Testament, for Paul himself tells of the incredible and mysterious vision that the Lord had permitted him to see in an effort to rescue the Corinthians.

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