Blog Archives

10 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #18)

1 John (Program #18) – The World and the Things in the World

One of the interesting words in the original language of the New Testament is cosmos. This Greek word is normally translated in the Bible as “world”.

In John 3:16 “For God so loved the world (cosmos) that He gave His only begotten Son..” to save it.  Yet in John’s epistle we are told not to love the cosmos, because it’s impossible for us to both love the world and love God the Father at the same time.

The reason that we as believers need to flee and any attachment of the world is that the world is a mask for God’s enemy, Satan.

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09 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #17)

1 John (Program #17) – The Teaching of the Divine Anointing (1)

John first epistle is a short book but very rich in contain. It is composed of three main sections. First it presents the fellowship of the divine life in a marvelous way. The second section covers the teaching of the anointing while the third develops the virtues of the divine birth.

Today we come to section two the teaching of the anointing from chapter two.  2:27 gives us a wonderful summary of this critical matter in the Christian life.

27 “And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.

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08 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #16)

1 John (Program #16) – Conditions of the Divine Fellowship (9)

John first epistle as a continuation of his gospel stresses the eternal life. And specifically the fellowship or flow of this divine life that is available for all of us as His children to experience.

But though our salvation is unconditional there are conditions for us to stay in the fellowship of life experimentally. The first of this condition is found in chapter one and this is a basic requirement for every believer to maintain their enjoyment of Christ as life.

1 John 1:7, 9
7 “But if we walk in the light as He 1is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.

9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Keeping sure account by confessing our sins before God is vitally important. But John brings us another important condition for maintaining the fellowship of life and that is to love the brothers.

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09 Dec 2021 Colossians (Program #30)

Colossians (Program #30) – Objective Revelation, Subjective Ministry and Practical Experience

The Gospel of John surely is loved by nearly every believer and presents Christ as life and even the mystery of life. Yet for its marvelous revelation of Christ as both God and man and as our life, it still cannot compare with the high peak of the Christ that’s revealed in the book of Colossians.  As we consider not just this high revelation of Christ but how seeing it can help us all to be brought into the practical experience of such Christ.

The expressions used in this book of Colossians, even though it is a short book, they are unique in the whole Bible. But Paul wasn’t trying just to be different, he was really endeavoring to present to us a Christ that is higher, deeper, and richer than we’ve ever imagined.

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13 Nov 2021 Colossians (Program #4)

Colossians (Program #4) – Delivered out of the Authority of Darkness And Transferred Into The Kingdom Of the Son Of His Love

The Lord Jesus declared in John chapter 8, “I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” What is it to walk in darkness? We all likely have our own set of mental images that are initiated by such a question. But the darkness that may be blinding us today may not be so obviously evil or sinister as you might think. Colossians reveals that anything, even any good thing, that occupies us that is not Christ Himself is likely an instrument of the authority of darkness.

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25 Mar 2021 2 Corinthians (Program #6)

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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