1 Thessalonians (Program #5) – The Church in the Triune God

In all of his epistles, the apostle Paul under scores that our God is Triune. That is He is God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. And as such He becomes available to us not only as our Father and Savior without but also as the very source of our Christian life within.

Paul concludes 2 Corinthians, a marvelous book with an unmistakable reference to the Trinity, 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 in both 1 & 2 Thessalonians he begins the books by drawing our attention not just to God in a general way but to the Triune God as he says, “to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.“

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Philippians (Program #32) – Grace, Salvation, the Spirit and Christ

Is grace just something you call amazing when you sing that famous song? Or do you experience grace to the extent that you called it my grace as apostle Paul did in Philippians 1:7.   Do you know really know what it means to magnify Christ in your daily life as Paul did in Philippians 1:20?   Or is Christ just a doctrine to you that never make it out of your Sunday morning service?   We hope you all are experiencing the marvelous, personal, saving Christ day by day in an intimate way, if you are, you will really enjoy today’s program because it is very much on this experiential side. If you are not we also like you to stay tune to be attracted to the deeper experience of Christ.

Four words that we want to look at today in Philippians 1, and these 4 words that Paul used in a very experiential way. These words particularly: grace, salvation, the Spirit and Christ.  Each of them points to a deeper experience and enjoyment of Christ.

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #2) – The Reign of Solomon (1)

After the death of the great king David in Israel, his son Solomon assumed the throne.  Solomon achieved much glory and splendor during his reign and there is no doubt this was a high peak in the history of Israel.  But Solomon’s ending, like that of his father was not so glorious.   To read the account of the events in the Old Testament book of Kings is interesting to be sure, but if God is merciful and grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, we can realize much more from these accounts than just the great stories and historical events.   We can perceive that behind all, is a God that is on one hand full of mercy and forgiveness in grace.  But on the other hand He is righteous and holy in all His dealings with His people.  There is an encouragement in these stories but there was also a warning that should sober us to take great care in all of our doings.

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Ephesians (Program #44) – A Summary of Learning Christ

The Gospel of John begins in a marvelous way with God Himself been incarnated as the man, Jesus Christ.  1:14 “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.”

In Ephesians, Paul also refers to Grace and Truth, only with the order reversed, exhorting us to learn Christ as the truth is in Jesus and then bringing us to the reality of the details of the life we’re learning through grace.

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Ephesians (Program #7) – The Mystery of God’s Will

In the first chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul begins by establishing man’s pitiful and sinful condition; almost as though, he is proving to all mankind the need for redemption. Ephesians, however, another letter written by the apostle Paul, also speaks of redemption in the first chapter but from an entirely different perspective. This time it’s from the perspective of God and how He sees us and our need for redemption from the heavenlies. Listen to the marvelous way in which it’s presented in Ephesians chapter 1 “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved; In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace,” What an uplifted view of this matter of redemption we have in Ephesians.

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Ephesians (Program #6) – Redemption in the Son

If we take three simple words from the New Testament like ‘praise, glory and grace’, we may feel quite comfortable that we understand what they mean. But the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1 links them together in one verse, verse 6 “To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved;” How about now? Do you feel that your understanding is adequate according to the divine revelation especially when you put this verse in it’s context; that is, as the issue of our being predestinated unto sonship in verse 5?  Well, Ephesians is rich, high and mysterious because it is written from the viewpoint of God in the heavenlies. And from that point of view, ‘praise, glory and grace’ flowing out of our sonship are not simple at all but marvelous.

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Ephesians (Program #3) – Chosen to be Holy

Let me ask you to consider a simple question, “How has God blessed you?” Most people when asked to recount the many blessings that they received from God would likely list things like their family or their good health or maybe success in business and earthly possessions. Others might give a more spiritual answer like ‘God has blessed me with His enduring mercy or undying love’. But the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians says very clearly that God’s blessings are all spiritual and they’re in the heavenlies and they’re in Christ. Furthermore, when he had the opportunity to offer his blessing to God, it was not for His mercy that endures forever or for His love or grace, rather it was being the God and Father of our Lord and Jesus Christ. Well this is how Ephesians opens – it is most unusual to say the least but it also conveys a wonderful sense of the rich and profound content of this book.

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Galatians (Program #44) – Walking by the Spirit as Sons of God (1)

Galatians, much like the book of Romans, reveals God’s salvation to us in a most dynamic and marvelous way. We are saved by faith, through grace and fully according to the operation of the Spirit and not by the works of law. But the revelation of the New Testament and of these books especially does not stop here. There is a goal to this salvation, a wonderful goal, that should become our goal as well. This was the deep burden of the apostle Paul in Galatians.

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Galatians (Program #37) – Receiving and Enjoying the Grace of the Lord in Our Spirit

There are two references to walking by or walking in Spirit in Galatians 5. Verse 16 says, “But I say, Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh”. Then in verse 25, Paul comes back and says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit”. Particularly, we’re going to see something about these two references and how they actually are not talking about one kind of walk but two.

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Galatians (Program #36) – Sow unto the Spirit for the New Creation

The book of Galatians ends with this marvelous word in Galatians 6:18 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”  If grace is God Himself in Christ through the Spirit to be our daily supply, it’s most helpful to find out how to experience such grace be with your spirit. These are the words that we’ll focus on in today’s life study of the Bible.

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