Psalms (Program #39) - The Preciousness of Zion and Jerusalem in the Experiences and Praises of the Saints (1)

15 Psalms from Psalms 120 to 134 comprised a section known as the Psalms of ascent. They are all very short and very sweet.  Lord will we will see they bring us to the high peaks.

Psalms 120:1 ” In my distress I called out to Jehovah, And He answered me.”
That tells you a lot right there. The whole thing starts with distress and up until Psalms 119 is full of the law and they loved the law but they can’t keep the law, eventually the children of Israel don’t follow the law. And eventually start to serve idols. So, the result is they go to captivity and they are in distress. These Psalms of ascent started out with distress. If you do not have the distress where you go down you can never come up. So there is a lot of appreciation. more…

 

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Psalms (Program #38) - Christ—The Reality of the Law as the Testimony and the Word of God

consider for a moment an interesting observation.  Suppose the ruler of a country were to pass a law legalizing corruption, what will that tell you of the character of that ruler?  It will likely tell you that this person, this one making such law was also corrupt himself.  You see, laws are actually a kind of portrait of the law-giver.  So when we come to the laws of God we shall realize that they are a portrait of the Person that gave them.  In another word, the laws given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai is a portrait of the Person of God, a portrait of Jesus Christ.  So when we come to a passage of Scripture such as the 119th Psalm with its 176 verses many speaking of the law, we should have the impression that what we are seeing is not God’s demands upon you and me but rather we are seeing Christ as God’s expression and also the one to whom we are coming that He may supply us with Himself in order that we as His members could live Him out fully meeting even surpassing God’s every demand.

 

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Psalms (Program #11) - The Lines, the Principles and the Spirit of the Bible Concerning Christ and the Law

In order to understand, that is to really understand the Bible, we need several things. First, of course, we need light from God for we simply cannot apprehend the real spiritual significance with our natural understanding. But practically, there are some helpful points to bring us into that light. First, we need to see the lines or the threads that run throughout Scripture. Then there are the principles that govern Scripture. And finally, there is the Spirit of the Bible. If we see the lines, the principles and the Spirit of the Bible, we will begin to enter into not just a superficial knowing of God’s word but we will begin to enter into the depths of His words.

 

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Psalms (Program #2) - Christ in God’s Economy versus the Law in Man’s Appreciation (1)

Many of the 39 books of the Old Testament touched the matter of the law. The law generally refers to the commands that God delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai after the children of Israel had their exodus from Egypt. And the impact that these laws has had not just on God’s people but on all of western civilization is hard to overstate.

God’s people both in New and Old Testament heirs treasure the law of God.  But there is a key word in the New Testament that reveals something crucial concerning God’s entire economy and how the law relates to it.  In Rom 5:20 it says, “And the law entered in alongside that the offense might abound”  What does it mean that the law entered in alongside?  Well, we will discuss this in many more items relate to the law and the central focus of God’s economy on today’s program.

 

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1 & 2 Chronicles (Program #9) - A Concluding Word to the Supplement to the History of the Kings of Judah

The kings of Judah were faithful to Jehovah, at least in part they held on to Jerusalem, the ground that God had given them for their worship.  They also kept allegiance at least outwardly to the word of God, which was His law.  The law of Mose, in two sections was God’s way in the Old Testament of both exposing man as well as revealing the divine plan for man to express God, bear His image and be His testimony.  In the end, God’s people, Israel were unable to keep either the moral law of God, the ten commandments or the ceremonials of God.  And the result was that they eventually lost the good land entirely and lost their enjoyment of God’s portion.  This is a strong warning to us but also as we look into these two aspects of the law, there is a great hope and we hope to bring that out in today’s program.

 

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1 & 2 Kings (Program #12) - The Reign of Jehu Over Israel

Many prominent figures of the Old Testament are important not only because of the actual events associated with their lives historically but also because they represent or typify something greater and more significant than themselves.  For example, in the New Testament, Moses still typifies the law and similarly Elijah represents the prophets.  Of course, Moses and Elijah were godly and used by Him to advance His purpose in the Old Testament age.  But there is another Old Testament figure that was utterly evil and led God’s people into idolatry and inequity and is also referred to in the New Testament typifying the idolatry and inequity that still consume many of God’s people today.  Today we come to consider the evil prophetess Jezebel from the books of 1 & 2 Kings.

 

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Colossians (Program #21) - Christ the Body of All Shadows and Christ versus Mysticism

Paul the Apostle is marvelous in his writing in the book of Colossians. He begins with a universal presentation of Christ, and not just Christ, but Christ in us the hope of glory. But then he turns and becomes very practical in leading us into the genuine experience of such a Christ. Listen to verses 16 and 17 in Chapter 2, “Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ”. Here, he begins to remove things like the law and angels and anything else that represents God to us in an indirect way. For God’s desire is that nothing stands between us and Him no matter how good or how religious it may seem.

 

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Colossians (Program #20) - The Economy Of God’s Salvation

As the Church in Colossae continued after its promising beginning, several factors became important to the believers there. Among these were the practice of keeping various ordinances and aspects of the Old Testament law as well as the influence of those who promoted the worship of angels to serve as intermediaries between sinful and fallen man and the righteous and holy God. Though these things may not seem harmful or dangerous, Paul the Apostle went to great lengths to completely eradicate these factors from the sphere or the realm of the salvation of the saints.

 

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Galatians (Program #44) - Walking by the Spirit as Sons of God (1)

Galatians, much like the book of Romans, reveals God’s salvation to us in a most dynamic and marvelous way. We are saved by faith, through grace and fully according to the operation of the Spirit and not by the works of law. But the revelation of the New Testament and of these books especially does not stop here. There is a goal to this salvation, a wonderful goal, that should become our goal as well. This was the deep burden of the apostle Paul in Galatians.

 

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Galatians (Program #40) - Walking by the Spirit as The Essence of our Life

The book of Galatians gives us a clear contrast; the wonderful person of Christ is contrasted with the harsh and demanding law of the Old Testament. Surely all of God’s saved ones love this Christ. But, why then in our living do we embrace the principle of living by law rather than living by this attractive, divine person who came to replace the law?  This is our focus as we look at walking by the Spirit to live Christ on today’s edition of life study of the Bible.

 

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