Colossians (Program #44) – One with Christ in the Things Above

The full salvation that we receive in Christ is not a simple thing. Yes, we have been forgiven and eternally secure to be with the Lord. That, in itself, sounds simple, but our salvation brings with it much more than simply this. For example, do you know that you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Well, this is a direct quote from Colossians 3:3. So what does it mean for our life to be hidden with Christ in God? Well, we’ll find out a bit more today, but for sure it means that when we receive Christ into us as life at the moment of regeneration or rebirth, Christ then hides us in Himself and brings us into God as our realm and our sphere. Still think salvation is a simple thing?

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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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Colossians (Program #18) – Not To Be Deluded And Carried Off From Christ

Nearly every believer in Christ loves to hear an eloquent speaker with a solid knowledge of the Bible deliver an inspiring and uplifting message. Christians often elevate this aspect of the ministry to the highest degree as they measure the usefulness of a servant of the Lord. Yet, Colossians contains the following warning in chapter 2, verse 4 says, “This I say that no one may delude you with persuasive speech.”, and verse 8, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.”  What is it to be deluded with persuasive speech and be carried off according to the tradition of man?

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #26) – A Prophecy Concerning the Seed of David Being Called the Son of God

2 Samuel 7 contains ones of the great prophecies in all of scripture. When God tells King David, “I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son.”

Well, we all realize now that this Word was prophesying concerning the first coming of Christ. Christ is the seed of David. The Lord Jesus Himself referred to this passage when speaking to the pharisees during an exchange where they were trying to trap Him. Listen to Matthew 22:41-45, “Now when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned them, saying, What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He? They said to Him, David’s. He said to them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies underneath Your feet’? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?”

Well this question, “what do you think concerning the Christ?”, is the question in the universe and ultimately must be answered by every man.

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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 #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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2 Corinthians (Program #8) – The Ministers of the New Covenant (1)

All believers have their favorite verses, verses that just seem to minister particularly to us in our situation. But one verse that deserves to be on every list is 2 Corinthians 3:18, listen to the apostle Paul in this marvelous verse,

18 “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.”

Why is this verse so particularly important? Because it brings us face to face with the Lord Jesus in an intimate and personal way. But also in a way where by we are infused, transfused even transformed by Christ Himself as the very life giving Spirit.

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Acts (Program #15) – The Propagation in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria through the Ministry of Peter’s Company (11)

As Christians, we all know Christ as our Savior and our Lord. We may also know Him as our friend, even our healer, and many other precious items. Yet, can we say that we, like Peter in Acts chapter 4, know Christ as the stone for God’s building?  Stay tuned for today’s life study of the Bible as we get a priceless view into the very heart of God.

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John (Program #51) – Life in Resurrection (2)

We should treasure the way the Lord has ordained to be present with us now. May the Lord really open our eyes: that what is precious to God, that is the invisible, indwelling, pneumatic Christ, would also become precious to us.

In John 20 as in the Gospel of John as a whole, we see the Trinity both in His essence and in His economy. The Divine Trinity is a trinity of essence eternally that is the Father, Son, and Spirit coexist and co-inhere in the Godhead eternally. This is the Trinity in essence. But in order to have the fulfillment of God’s economy, the essential Trinity must function as the economical Trinity to pass through the process in order to, on the one hand, enter into God’s people, and on the other to bring God’s people, now redeemed and regenerated, into God. By the time we reach chapter 20, we have at least the initial completion of this process in which the very God who became a man and died for our redemption, in resurrection became the Spirit, so that, economically speaking, the Father, Son, and Spirit may indwell us.

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John (Program #35) – The Dispensing of the Triune God for the Producing of His Abode (3)

People think that the Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a big mansion for us in heaven. As though God had two dwelling places, or two buildings, God only has one building. Not one on heaven and one on earth. He has one building.

This chapter (John 14) is very mysterious I admit, and it’s very misunderstood. But, this chapter is really the last message that the Lord gave to His disciples. And, here He’s talking about going away. Many people misunderstand this. But, He’s just talking here about His going to the cross. And, when He goes to the cross, He is also promising that He will come again. His coming again of course is after His resurrection. He will come back to them. And when He comes back to them, He will be the Spirit because in His resurrection He becomes the life giving Spirit.

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