Ezra (Program #1) – The Need of a Return from Captivity

The history of the children of Israel in the Old Testament gives us a picture of the church today in the New Testament.  And today what we want to look at is the picture of the children of Israel going into captivity and the recovery out of that captivity.  Today when God’s people are defeated in their spiritual life they remain in captivity until they repent and have a turn back to Him.  This repentance brings us back to the enjoyment of Christ.

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Joshua (Program #9) – The Allotment of the Land (1)

We all know the story of Jacob, of course he had 12 sons, each one very different. These 12 sons then became the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel and the good land of Canaan was eventually apportioned to these tribes, the descendants of Jacob’s 12 sons.

The account of how these parcels were passed on to the various tribes of Israel may seems to us to be a meaningless bit of history as God’s New Testament people, yet it is recorded in the book of Joshua and as we will see today it helps to convey a very meaningful and very experiential aspect of our own enjoyment of Christ.

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Galatians (Program #42) – Walk by the Spirit in the Enjoyment of Christ in our Spirit

To many people, the main item of the book of Romans is justification by faith and the main item in Galatians is to be free from the bondage of the law. Although both of these truths are present in these two books, the real goal and focus of both books is something else. For both Romans and Galatians reveal that God’s purpose or economy in justifying us and freeing us is for one thing – to make forgiven sinners into genuine sons of God in life.

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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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Leviticus (Program #40) – Devotions for a Vow (1) & (2), A Concluding Word

The conclusion of the book of Leviticus is a remarkable one. The early chapters present in great detail the offerings that depict so vividly that our Saviour Christ as the solution to every problem and barrier between God and man. Then come the festivals and the jubilee pointing us to the enjoyment and experience of God in Christ as our food, our rest and ultimate satisfaction. But then we are warned not to neglect such an all-inclusive provision and finally the last chapter presents the child of God making a devotion with a vow to live in the reality of all that God has prepared for us.

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Leviticus (Program #20) – The Law of the Meal Offering

Psalm 36:9 says, “For with Thee is the fountain of life/ In Thy light we see light.” The Old Testament offerings from Leviticus when properly applied in our New Testament walk with the Lord will bring us to experience Christ as the very fountain of life. This life brings us into the light, God’s light. In His light, we see even more clearly our true condition and how short we are and how in need we are of the very Christ God has provided us to be our offering, to bring us more into God’s presence.

The meal offering is the wonderful offering for us to enjoy Christ which is related to the cycle of life, and that is related to our walking in the light. God is light!  This really is the Christian life – we walk in the light, God shines in us, this leads us to enjoy Christ as the offerings, then we have more life and this life brings us more light and we get more shining, more brought to Christ as our offering…

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Leviticus (Program #11) – The Practical Experience and Enjoyment of Christ as the Offerings

The Old Testament established a definite principle that sinful and fallen man must have an offering before coming into God’s presence.  In Leviticus and other Old Testament books sacrifices of animals and grain were prescribed by God.  But what about now?  Has God’s principle been abandoned?  Is it acceptable to approach Him empty-handed?  Or do His people still need an acceptable offering to come into God’s presence?

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Exodus (Program #72) – The Implications, Indications and Significances of the Ordinances of the Law (3)

Several times a year, God’s people in the Old Testament were instructed to come together to enjoy very specific feasts unto the Lord.  Of course, as Christians today there is no such commands for us to outwardly keep these annual feasts.  But why then are they directly referred to in the passages of the New Testament?  Actually, the Christian life should be a life of feasting continually.  This is our theme on today’s life study of the Bible.

In chapter 21, 22 and 23, we saw yesterday that there were 3 feasts mentioned.  We want to continue to look at them a little further today because the feasts in the Old Testament always show us something very marvelous regarding our enjoyment of Christ in the New Testament dispensation.

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Acts (Program #23) – The Propagation in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria through the Ministry of Peter’s Company (18)

The early Church life of the saints in first-century Jerusalem was typified by extremes in their environment. On the one hand, the Lord was moving mightily among them and their enjoyment of Christ was nearly boundless. But outwardly, their environment was harsh due to the oppression and persecution by the religious and political leaders. This persecution resulted in the eventual scattering of believers away from Jerusalem. But, this scattering was used by God to spread the Gospel into new regions. Stay with us for another remarkable exploration of the book of Acts on today’s life study of the Bible.

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John (Program #9) – An Introduction to Life and Building (4)

God embodied Himself in Christ for our enjoyment.  John 1:16 tells us “of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”  The fullness of the Godhead dwells in this Jesus bodily, for our enjoyment. This is grace. Grace is just God Himself for our enjoyment. When you enjoy God, when you participate in God, that is grace. Grace is God for your enjoyment, not in doctrine but in your experience as your strength, as your life, as your comfort, as your rest, as your power, righteousness and holiness. Christ declared the Father to us in the way of enjoyment. The more we enjoy God, the more we know God…

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