Job (Program #6) – The First of the Three Rounds (2) – Job’s Vindication

God put the book of Job into the Bible as a black background. The speaking of Job and his friends indicated that although they were apparently godly men, they were short of God and they did not express God. Job and his friends came together to debate not to fellowship.

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Judges (Program #7) – The Abominable Chaos in their Worship

The life study of the books of Joshua and judges reveals not just the history of Israel with its’ successes and failures possessing the good land of Canaan, but also even more importantly it teaches us how we can gain and possess the all inclusive Christ as our full portion, our enjoyment and our inheritance. Israel in the good land typifies us, the New Testament believers in Christ and just as Israel allowed their departure from a close and intimate fellowship with Jehovah to impede their progress gaining the land we too can see our spiritual progress and our enjoyment of Christ impeded if we don’t take care of our day by day, even moment by moment fellowship with Him.  Listen to this verse in 1 John 1:3 “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

A very marvelous portion related to this matter of fellowship typified of course by the picture in the Old Testament of Israel gaining, possessing the land. We enter into the fellowship the moment we receive Christ and this fellowship is a fellowship that is life long.

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Ephesians (Program #25) – Both Reconciled to God in One Body and Fellow Citizens of the Household of God

Imagine that you are a lonely visitor in a foreign country and meet a fellow citizen of your own country, the American, Great Britain or Canada.  You immediately sense a kind of kinship. But how is that compare with the intimacy and share delight that would result from unexpectedly meeting one of your own family members in the same setting?

Well, this is the situation that should exist with all members of the Body of Christ, the Church. And not just with those who are in our circle of fellowship. For the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2 that not only we are fellow citizens with all the believers in the kingdom of God, but we are also His household, family members. This describes which should be a sweet and intimate relationship with all those who belong to Christ.  We will consider both of these aspects today.

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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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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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