Ephesians (Program #73) – Faith But Not Doctrine

The book of Ephesians which stresses the Church places tremendous importance on the matter of Oneness. The oneness of the Spirit and the oneness of the faith are both highlighted in this book. But notably it does not speak about the oneness of teaching or of doctrine, in fact both teaching and doctrine are the subject of Paul’s warning in Chapter 4:13-14, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, …That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error.”  Obviously the oneness of the faith is something other than that of doctrine or teaching.

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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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Galatians (Program #10) – No Longer I, but Christ Living in Me

We have come to an extreme crucial verse in the New Testament economy. Today we’re on Galatians 2:20:

“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

This is a mysterious verse to be sure, but one that contains crucial revelation of what it means to live the Christian life. Some people have used the expression “an exchanged life” to help describe the truth that’s being conveyed here. Is this a valid way of looking at it?

No. It’s not a valid way, even though some of us at one point considered using this expression. The reason I say it’s not valid is because it doesn’t apply to the whole verse…

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Galatians (Program #2) – The Apostle’s Gospel

The New Testament reveals the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact the first 4 books of the New Testament are called the Gospels. Each one is unique in its focus and what it unveils regarding our wonderful Lord Jesus. But the New Testament also reveals the Gospel through the writings of the Apostle Paul. And, it’s this 5th Gospel that we come to today particularly in the book of Galatians.

We need 4 different versions of the Gospel because Christ is such a wonderful person. And, the 4 Gospels are just unveiling this most wonderful person from the angle of His being a king, the angle of His being a servant or a slave, from the angle of His being the most precious man ever revealed in the universe, and also being the Son of God who gives us Himself as the eternal life.

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Romans (Program #21) – Heirs of Glory (3)

Our destiny in Christ as we will see today is not to die and go to heaven but to become heirs of glory, fully conformed to the image of God’s Firstborn Son.

Christ is not only the only begotten Son of God with respect to His eternal deity but He is also in God’s economy the Firstborn son. The New Testament gives us a full and balanced revelation concerning Christ. It is an undeniable fact that Christ always was, is, and always will be with respect to Godhead the only begotten Son of God. This is His status eternally in the Godhead but when the Son of God as the embodiment of the Father and by the Spirit, became a man, He took on humanity.  more…

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John (Program #24) – The Need of the Thirsty – Life’s Quenching (2)

Today the Lord does not expect a welcome in religion, but He surely appreciates His lovers, His seekers, those who enjoy Him, not in the temple but in their little house. That’s where He is.

The Gospel of John frequently uses the feasts as a background for the presentation of Christ, the Son of God as life to us. In chapter 6, the background was the feast of Passover, the first of the annual feasts. In chapter 7, the background is the feast of tabernacles: the last of the annual feasts, a time of celebration, and joy, and in a sense success in the harvest. The Lord uses this feast as a background to address the need of the thirsty, and to present life as the unique capacity to quench the thirst of human beings.

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John (Program #11) – An Introduction to Life and Building (7)

God drove His economical car from the first section of eternity through the time bridge to the last section of eternity. By driving through the bridge, He got everything finished.

We still have another message for chapter 1. This message in a sense is a kind review of what we have seen already. But, some different aspects are shown up in this message. Chapter 1 reveals to us two sections of eternity. In the beginning was the Word. That was the eternity in the past. At the end of this chapter, the Lord says, “you will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”, and that we all know will happen in eternity future. In eternity past, Christ was merely the Word, and the Word was God. And, God by that time had only divinity, nothing human. By that time He didn’t have the humanity what He had was just divinity.  But in eternity future, His main aspect will be, not the Son of God, but the Son of Man. If He’s not the son of God, He could never be life to us. If He is not the Son of Man, He could never be the essence for the building of God. For life to us, He has to be the Son of God. For the building of God, Christ has to be the Son of Man. The Son of God is for life and the Son of Man is for building…

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Luke (Program #10) – The Ministry of the Man-Savior in His Human Virtues with His Divine Attributes in Galilee (1)

The Bible is full of inspiring stories recounting the miracles performed by the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry.  Surely this demonstrates Christ is none other than the Son of God.  Yet it’s interesting that many of the touching stories are the ones not demonstrate not His divinity but His humanity.  It is His humanity that attracts us and causes us to love Him.  The gospel of Luke is particularly meaningful in this regard for in Luke more than any other book of the Bible, we see Christ as the Man-Savior.

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Mark (Program #5) – The Contents of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (1) & (2)

The book of Mark opens with these words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” It then reveals that this gospel is really the fulfillment of the types, the promises and the prophesies of the Old Testament. Along with the removal of the custody of the law. But Mark chapter 1 goes further because it shows us not what just the gospel is but the content of the gospel. This gospel is not something vague but rich in its’ details.  And in this chapter, chapter 1 which is divided into 5 sections. We see the rich content of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

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Mark (Program #4) – The Beginning of the Gospel and the Initiation of the Slave-Savior (2)

Each of the four gospels is unique in how it begins.  The gospel of John begins with Jesus Christ in eternity past.  Matthew began with the generations of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the king.  Luke also presents us with the genealogy but not in the line of the kingship.  Luke’s introduction shows us Jesus as the genuine and proper man.

Mark on the other hand does not begin with any reference to the origin of the man, Jesus. Rather it begins this way. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” Notice is not the gospel of Jesus or the gospel of the Son of God. But the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is a marvelous beginning to Mark’s gospel because it highlights both His divinity as well as His humanity.

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