Philippians (Program #13) – Holding Forth Christ

In Philippians 2:14 the apostle Paul says “do all things without murmurings and reasonings.”  This is a very small verse that many of us pass over or may be even take for granted. In today’s life study from the book of Philippians,  we are going to focus how it affects our obedience to work out our salvation to live Christ, to express Christ and to hold forth Christ.

Murmurings and reasonings that are mentioned in this verse are a big problem and frustrated our Christian life. These are two little annoying things always troubling us in our daily life to undermine the real experience and enjoyment of the Lord.  Many of us probably take not only this verse for granted but we probably take our murmuring and reasoning for granted.  We just consider this as normal path of our daily experience, but actually these are the main items that the apostle Paul is laboring not just to deliver the Philippians that we ourselves would be saved from these things. more…

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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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2 Corinthians (Program #16) – A Pattern of Living Christ for the Church

The apostle Paul’s two epistles or letters to the Church in Corinth are definitely related. But if we read carefully we can see that really they are in two different realms.

The first letter dealt with many major problems in the Church. Problems that are in many ways still plague the Church today. The solution that Paul presents in 1 Corinthians is for the believers to live Christ for the church. And this is the link to the other realm that is clearly presented in 2 Corinthians. For in this book more than any other in the Bible, we see the pattern of person living Christ for the church not merely spoken of but demonstrated. The apostle Paul and even other apostles with him really lived this pattern.

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2 Corinthians (Program #3) -Introduction (3)

The apostle Paul after his strong rebuke and dealing with the Corinthians in his first letter had good reason to visit the city at his first opportunity. It would had given him the chance to answer first hand any misunderstandings and to sue any lingering stinging from his rebuke.

In the realms of public relations or human wisdom he surely would had taken this way. But Paul’s living was not directed by such things as “PR” in human wisdom. And though he was criticized by some of the Corinthians for delaying his coming after he told them of his desire to come.  We see the real reason for his delay. The reason was the Lord Jesus Himself. And Paul’s first concern which was not to live just a Godly life, but to live Christ, to live in perfect oneness with Him. This is the pattern that Paul had become not just to the Corinthians but to all of us.

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Job (Program #10) – The All-Inclusive Spirit as the Consummation of the Processed and Consummated Triune God

The book of Philippians refers in chapter 1 to the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in verse 19. By which we live Christ, magnify Christ, pursue Christ and gain Christ. By this bountiful supply of the Spirit we can count everything as loss and as refuse. Because Job did not have this Spirit, he was overly sensitive toward God and toward his friends. He had no joy and he never rejoiced. But the apostle Paul having this Spirit, rejoiced even in prison according to Acts 16:25.

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Colossians (Program #29) – To Live Christ

When we look at the kind of human life the Lord Jesus lived on the earth and if we take His teachings as an ethical standard for us to imitate, we will set our Christian life on a direct path that will lead us to utter frustration and failure. And worst yet, it will leave God’s heart’s desire unsatisfied because the real example of the Lord Jesus was not just that He lived the perfect life, but that He all the time practiced to live another life. This might sound strange and contrary to what you’ve known and practiced concerning the Christian life, but it, nonetheless, is the clear teaching of the Bible. We need not live a good life. We need to live Christ.

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Philippians (Program #38) -The Riches of Christ Realized in the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit

Philippians 1:21 says “For to me to live is Christ.”  What does the apostle mean when he says “for me to live is Christ”?  And how do we actually live Christ?

The subject today is “to live Christ”.   We have been on this verses for a number of programs now from Philippians 1:21.  It is important for us to see the basis by which Paul made such a comment and the basis is our relationship to God. Of course every one knows and realizes in listening to this program that God is our creator and that also He is our redeemer but Paul was focusing on something even more organic.

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Philippians (Program #34) – To Live Christ by the Spirit

If you were asked what’s the goal of the Christian life, how would you respond? How would most people respond?  A likely answer might be the goal of the Christian life is to go to heaven. This might be the most frequent answer to this question. But it is not an answer that the Bible supports. Philippians gives us some help in answering this question. Paul says, “For me to live is Christ.”  We will explore this marvelous quotation from Philippians chapter 1.

Paul’s intense focus on Christ. Paul did not speak of going to heaven, he spoke of living Christ…

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