2 Corinthians (Program #6) – The Ministry of the New Covenant (2)

Metaphors play an important role in Scripture. Webster says a metaphor is the use of one set of words to describe or illustrate a similar point.

John uses the technique when he speaks of Jesus approaching him in the gospel. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Surely he wasn’t saying that Jesus was a literal “lamb”. But the metaphor or picture gives us a much richer and clearer understanding.

The apostle Paul was also very fond of metaphors, particularly when conveying his deepest thoughts in teachings. We see it used intensively in 2 Corinthians. For example in 2 Corinthians chapter 2:14 he says “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ”  Here, the metaphor is the triumphant possession of captured and vanquished folks after a Roman battle. And Paul says that we, the believers had become such vanquished ones in the train of the victorious Christ.

Now, we come to another marvelous metaphor in the very next chapter, chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians begins this way:

1-3 “Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some do, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all men, Since you are being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone but in tablets of hearts of flesh.”

Living letters of Christ. This is our topic today.

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1 Corinthians (Program #39) – The Type of Israel

The Bible contains two histories. The history of Israel in the Old Testament and the history of the church in the New Testament. Actually these two histories are really one story. The history of Israel a type, a shadow while the church is the fulfillment, the reality.

In many of his writings the apostle Paul used the Old Testament as a book of types and pictures to help illustrate the New Testament economy that he was entrusted to preach.

In 1 Corinthians 5 he mentioned the Old Testament passover as our type of New Testament experience of redemption. In chapter 9 and 10 he again picks up the Old Testament to show us a pattern .

First, of our running the race that is our Christians life. Then as a picture of both aspects of our baptism by water and by the Spirit. And finally as a negative pattern regarding the possibility of the genuine, redeemed children of God could ultimately failed to overcome in their Christian life and missed the prize of the reward that is typified by the good land. This is a strong word, a word of warning, which we, like the Corinth believers should heed.

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Luke (Program #40) – The Ministry of the Man-Savior in His Human Virtues with His Divine Attributes from Galilee to Jerusalem (20)

The Bible is so marvelous.  Not only do the teachings convey truths to us, the parables and the stories illustrate those truths and even more marvelous, eventually we discover that even the arrangement and sequence of the story and accounts in the Bible help to underscore those truths. One example is found in Luke 18, where the Lord Jesus for the third time tries to unveil His coming death and resurrection to His disciples, but they simply do not have eyes to see or ears to hear. Then the Lord Jesus in a wonderful display of His sovereign arrangement heals a blind man. Who, in reality were the blind ones in this passage?

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Luke (Program #38) – The Ministry of the Man-Savior in His Human Virtues with His Divine Attributes from Galilee to Jerusalem (18)

Have you ever noticed how often the Lord Jesus spoke in parables to illustrate various aspects and great truths that He was presenting during His earthly ministry?   Parables are in effect pictures in words, pictures that can convey deep and profound truth with a simple story.  Some of the parables especially in Luke have a mysterious quality about them. Such as in Luke 16 when a story about an unrighteous steward who is praised for his unrighteous action was presented. This steward it turns out typifies us, servants of God, serving with Him to bring in His kingdom.
Now we come to Chapter 18, and a parable that represents God as an unrighteous judge.  Is He really unrighteous? and should we really serve Him unrighteously? well, surely not.  But the discovery of what this parable do depict is the focus of our life study today.

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Mark (Program #1) – The Slave-Savior’s Auxiliary Acts for the Gospel Service (1) & (2)

The gospel of Mark is not a book concerning the great doctrines of the Christian faith.  Much more it is a book of many cases that illustrate the reality of the gospel being carried out even lived out by the Slave Savior Jesus.

Early on in the book on the third chapter there is an account of the Lord instructing His followers to prepare a boat so that He can escaped the large crowd, the pressing throng that had come out to Galilee to see this One who was performing miracles and healing the sick.  It was because of the pressing of this large crowd had become a frustration to the real seeking ones who did not desire to be part of great new religious movement but rather longed for a simple, intimate touch with the Lord Jesus Himself.

Chapter 5 shows us such an intimate encounter, “When she heard the things concerning Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His garment, And immediately Jesus, realizing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, Who touched My garments?“

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