2 Corinthians (Program #3) -Introduction (3)

The apostle Paul after his strong rebuke and dealing with the Corinthians in his first letter had good reason to visit the city at his first opportunity. It would had given him the chance to answer first hand any misunderstandings and to sue any lingering stinging from his rebuke.

In the realms of public relations or human wisdom he surely would had taken this way. But Paul’s living was not directed by such things as “PR” in human wisdom. And though he was criticized by some of the Corinthians for delaying his coming after he told them of his desire to come.  We see the real reason for his delay. The reason was the Lord Jesus Himself. And Paul’s first concern which was not to live just a Godly life, but to live Christ, to live in perfect oneness with Him. This is the pattern that Paul had become not just to the Corinthians but to all of us.

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Exodus (Program #168) – Moses Stay With God – Recovery of a Broken Covenant, Warning Concerning Idolatry, The Lord’s Promise

Most of us know the story of the great sin of Israel at Mount Sinai as Moses is coming down the mountain with the tablets containing the ten commandments.  The people get fully caught in idolatry even gross sin.  Moses reflecting God’s own indignation smashes the tablets containing the law, deal sternly with the people.  What follows this well-known account is very fascinating, yet it’s usually overlooked when the story is told.

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2 Corinthians (Program #2) -Introduction (2)

The apostle Paul was a remarkable person. He was used by the sovereign God to unveil much of the New Testament revelation. He also performed wondrous miracles and was a mighty evangelist. Yet in the book that had been understood to almost be his autobiography, he tells us that his only boast was in the singleness or sincerity or purity with which he and his co-workers lived and served the faithful God by living Christ. Listen to his words to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians chapter 1,

12 “For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in singleness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.”

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Exodus (Program #167) – A Companion of God – Propitiating for the People, Interceding, Bargaining With God

In Genesis, Abraham is called the friend of God.  And in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus referred to His disciples with the same intimate expression.  But in Exodus, God called Moses not just His friend but His companion.  As a  companion, Moses became God’s associate, His partner in pursue of a single enterprise.  How can we become God’s partner?  We will look at this intriguing question today.

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2 Corinthians (Program #1) -Introduction (1)

The apostle Paul’s first epistle to the believers in Corinth was of sixteen chapters and was full of his strong rebuke and argument with the church there. In that letter he subdued them and defeated them. Now in his second letter just as a parent would spend a long period of to comfort and encourage a child that had received the strong chastisement. Paul minsters to comforting ointment and the encouragement of love. Listen to his opening words in his cherishing epistle :

1:1-3 ” Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy the brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassions and God of all comfort;”

This is a very subjective book, 2 Corinthians, where by Paul brings the Corinthians back to the experience of Christ and is a book that can lead us to experience Christ as well.

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Exodus (Program #166) – A Companion of God – Mediator, Knowing God’s Heart

Exodus reveals a tremendous breach between God and His people Israel, brought on by the sin of the golden calf.  At the very time God was giving the commandments to Moses, Israel was breaking several of them at the bottom of the mountain.  To rectify the situation more was needed than just God’s forgiveness;  God and man needed a mediator.

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1 Corinthians (Program #55) -Dealing with the Collection of the Gift and Conclusion

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul dealt with eleven serious problems that had overtaken the church there. Then in chapter 15, the next to the last chapter, after dealing with all of these matters specifically he points them to the unique solution to all the problems both of the church life and our human life and that is the reality of the resurrection life of Christ as our portion, the new creation. That brings us to the conclusion of the book, Chapter 16.  And as he begins this final chapter its’ almost as if he puts the Corinthians on the test, the most vigorous of tests to see if his words concerning living in the reality of the resurrection had penetrated. He challenges them on the matter of money and material possessions. And this matter of money is still testing all of His believers even today.  We will fellowship this and see the sweet conclusion to the book of 1 Corinthians.

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Exodus (Program #165) – The Principle of the Golden Calf Idol – Moses’ Petition for the Idolatrous People, Jehovah’s Word

In one of the truly remarkable passages in the Bible, the very God and Creator of the universe is provoked beyond His patience by the idolatry of His people Israel.  In His anger He vowed to destroy them but in the midst of His righteous and holy indignation, He is persuaded not only to spare them but even to repent of His justifiable plan.  What is it or who is it that can change God’s mind?

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1 Corinthians (Program #54) – Dealing with the Matter of Resurrection (3 & 4)

The Bible of course tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and man and all the living things. This is His creation work. But there is another creation revealed in the Bible. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:17 “So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.”

In Christ, God has a new creation. In fact all of His work in the New Testament is centered on and focused in this new creation. There is another verse that implies both of these creations in the most profound way. This time in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:45 “So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.”

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Exodus (Program #164) – The Principle of the Golden Calf Idol – Two Scenes, An Idol Made by God’s Redeemed People

We all have heard the story of God calling Moses to Mount Sinai and gave him the ten commandments.  And while Moses was there in God’s presence, God also gave him the design and instructions for building His habitation on earth with man, the tabernacle.  This was the wonderful scene at the top of Mount Sinai.  Yet at the same time, God’s people, Israel were at the base of the mountain, worshiping at the feet of a golden idol.   What a contrast!  These two scenes will our focus on this life study program.

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