1 & 2 Kings (Program #16) – The Reign of Hoshea over Israel

As the kings of both houses of Israel slid further and further into degradation and failure, the Old Testament provides us with a parallel account of the prophets that God had raised up during the same period to carry on the line of His testimony and of His economy.  Often the prophecies of these ones touch the very center and focus of God’s New Testament economy in His eternal purpose which was embodied and manifested in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The prophet Isaiah particularly is rich with references to both Christ’s incarnation, His marvelous and all-effective redemption.Yet the challenge for us as believers today is not to stop with Christ’s wonderful redemption but rather to take it by faith as God intends as a starting point for our Christian life and walk.  This is what we hope to touch in today’s life study.

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2 Corinthians (Program #33) – The Putting to Death of Jesus and the Renewing of the Inward Man (3)

2 Corinthians 4:10 says,  “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”  Then in verse 16, the apostle Paul goes on to say “Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

The experience of the putting to death of Jesus results in the renewing of the inner man.  We are going to look at the putting to death of Jesus and what it means on today’s life study on 2 Corinthians.

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Amos (Program #1) – The Introductory Word, Jehovah’s Judgments on the Surrounding Nations, and His Judgments on Judah and Israel, and Jehovah’s Contending with the House of Jacob

There are many ways to look at and interpret human history. But if we study the divine record in the Bible, we can see a clear and on going pattern. And that is that for more than 20 centuries God’s people Israel had been under a kind of suffering, a chastisement at the hands of the surrounding nations.  At the same time God has been judging and punishing those nations for their excessive brutality toward Israel. And during these entire period beginning from the incarnation of the Savior, Christ had been increasingly manifested on the earth. This clear, concise summary of the past centuries is the topic and focus of most of the Old Testament books of the prophets. Amos is one of the Minor Prophets that continues this revelation.

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Psalms (Program #16) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (1 & 2)

One reason that the Psalms may be so beloved among Bible readers is that for the most part that the Psalms were written very simply and they are easy to understand. The Psalmists often had problems and distresses we can relate to and they came to seek the Lord out of these troubles. But if you contrast this to the way the New Testament is written, there is a big difference. Take the apostle Paul for example, he also had problems and was frequently in distress. But he didn’t speak of these troubles in the same way. His language was on a higher plan. “Great is the mystery of Godliness”, Paul writes, “Who was manifested in the flesh.” Well, surely this was referred to Christ and Paul’s focus was always, always, always on this Christ, who not only manifested God in His own flesh, but is waiting to manifest Himself in our flesh, even through the most difficult of circumstances.

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1 Timothy (Program #9) – Dealing with the Saints of Different Ages

1 Timothy chapter 3 ends in a very high, divine and spiritual note. Talking about “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”

But in chapter 5, the apostle drops to the human level. “Do not upbraid an elderly man, but exhort him as a father.” And continues discussing other human relationships. It’s not enough to be spiritual, we have to learn how to be human.

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1 Timothy (Program #8) – A Good Minister of Christ

The apostle Paul reached the highest peak in his letter to young Timothy when he wrote at the end of Chapter 3:16 ” And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”

Surely godliness is a great mystery but in Christ this mystery become manifested. Following this marvelous revelation to Timothy, Paul goes on to warn him of the degradation that was about to befall the church. And then Paul gives Timothy a direct and personal exhortation with some very clear speaking that would equip Timothy to be a genuine minister of the New Testament Economy.

4:6 “If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.“

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1 Timothy (Program #7)- The Prediction of the Decline of the Church

In reading the Bible, sometimes it is the short, simple words that can provide the greatest insight into the richer meaning been conveyed. For example take the little word “but”.  In Chapter 4 of 1 Timothy, Paul begins with this three letter word, the clear implication been that what is about to be spoken is in start contrast to what’s been previously presented. And likely no way in scripture is the contrast between two adjoining verses any more start than these passage.  Listen as the apostle Paul turns from one of the highest revelation in the entire Bible to one of its’ darkest portions.

In Chapter 3:15-16 Paul says, “But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.  And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons.”

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1 Timothy (Program #6)- The Function of the Church

After clearing away several important problems that were affecting the  churches under Paul’s ministry and then establishing the proper leadership the apostle comes to the crucial point and some of the highest speaking in all of scripture concerning the church, moving the reality of the church far away form the traditional and common thought that identifies the Church with a physical structure.

Listen to Paul’s word in 1 Timothy Chapter 3 : 14-16 “These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly.  But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.  And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”  We’ve come to the critical and crucial point in our fellowship in the life study of 1 Timothy.

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Colossians (Program #23) – Christ-Our Life

We live in an age when Christians and faith in God and belief in His Word are under much outward attack. Things that were once accepted as firmly part of our heritage and foundation as a nation are now ridiculed, publicly criticized. Many believers see this as a time to rise up and be heard, be seen. Many high profile ministries, Christian workers vie for exposure in the media to make a name for themselves to counter this attack of God’s enemy against His people. But, what does the Bible say about our outward visibility? Yes, we are to be lights in the world shining forth with the Word of light, but we need to consider Paul’s word to the Church in Colossians 3. “If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.”

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Colossians (Program #12) – Christ-The Mystery Of God’s Economy

What kind of book is the Bible to you? Maybe a book of stories of inspiring men of faith or perhaps a book of deep teachings and doctrines. Or, a book of ethics or words of wisdom for men to live by. Well, surely it’s all of these things but if these are all we see in the Bible, we’d missed the mark. Because embedded in all the stories, all the teachings, and all the ethics and wisdom lies the mystery of God and of His heart’s desire for man. Listen to Paul the Apostle in Colossians 1:25  “Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God, The mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints;”

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