Blog Archives

06 Oct 2022 Song of Songs (Program #9)

Song of Songs (Program #9) – Sharing in the Work of the Lord

There are many ways to study the Bible. We may study it from a historical perspective or from a theological doctrinal perspective or we may study it as a book of moral precepts or as a pattern for our living. Surely the Bible is a book of truth but preeminently, the Bible is also a book of life. “I have come that you might have life”, the Lord Jesus said in John. And also in John He said, “The words that I speak are spirit and are life”.

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04 Aug 2022 Jude (Program #3)

Jude (Program #3) – Charges to the Believers (1)

Jude a short book of only one chapter with twenty five verses is known primarily for the classic call in verse three “to contend for the faith”.

Yet in addition to this well known passage it also contains some marvelous utterances that help bring the believers into a rich and glorious experience of the divine life. And even some practical help on how not just to live a godly manner but how to live in the Triune God Himself. Listen to verses 20 and 21 – “But you, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

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28 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #36)

1 John (Program #36) – The Virtues of the Divine Birth to Overcome the World, Death, Sin, the Devil, and the Idols (4)

The marvelous book of 1 John stresses the divine birth, the divine life and the fellowship all believers can experience and enjoy in the flow of this divine life.  It is not a book of great doctrine but rather it is a book as is John’s gospel  revealing the living and true God subjectively and experientially to mankind.

Finally in its concluding verses it tells us that above all we now possess the capacity to know Him not just know about Him.

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27 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #35)

1 John (Program #35) – The Virtues of the Divine Birth to Overcome the World, Death, Sin, the Devil, and the Idols (3)

The final few verses of 1 John serve as a strong conclusion to a book that stress over and over, the divine birth and the divine life that all believers received at divine birth.  Closely associated with the divine birth are the divine fellowship and the divine anointing and all of the virtues that flow out of the divine birth.  Of course, the source of the divine life is the divine being, God Himself and His Son Jesus Christ.  And part of the heritage that we received at the divine birth is the capacity to know, experience, enjoy and ultimately even to possess God,  not merely in an objective way but in reality.

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24 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #32)

1 John (Program #32) – The Virtues of the Divine Birth to Practice the Divine Love (5)

All of the apostle John’s writings in the Bible stress the divine birth through which the divine life is imparted into the believers.  In his gospel he says you must be born again.  In chapter 3 of his first epistle, John says,  3:9 “Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin.” And once again the stress is on the divine birth.  But in chapter 5 he gets even more specific about not just the fact of the divine birth, but the location of the divine birth. When he says,  5:4 “For everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world;

Why does he change everyone in chapter 3 to everything in chapter 5?   The answer reveals very much about the key to overcoming not just sin and the world but all of the negative things surrounding us in our day to day living.

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17 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #25)

1 John (Program #25) -The Virtues of the Divine Birth to Practice the Divine Love (1)

When the believers in Christ are born again at the time of their salvation the divine seed is sown into their being. This seed is the divine life and the divine life has the divine nature.

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16 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #24)

1 John (Program #24) – The Virtues of the Divine Birth to Practice the Divine Righteousness (2)

In the epistle of first John there are three main sections. The fellowship of the divine life from the beginning of the book to 2:11. The teaching of the anointing starting in 2:12 through 2:27 and the virtues of the divine birth from 2:28 to the end of the book, 5:21.

The sequence of these three sections is important and it indicates the fellowship of the divine life and the teaching of the anointing bring us into the virtues of the divine birth.

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15 Jul 2022 1 John (Program #23)

1 John (Program #23) – The Virtues of the Divine Birth to Practice the Divine Righteousness (1)

The book of 1 John though short in length is anything but short in its’ spiritual content.  This short epistle conveys some of the richest and deepest thought in all of the New Testament. Even its’ sequence is marvelous. Beginning with the divine life and the fellowship of the life which is our participation in God’s life. It then moves on to the teaching of the anointing. Which as we had already seen and is crucial to the experience and growth of every believer. Finally it come to the last main section that of the virtues of the divine life that we possess by the divine birth. And it is here that we see the progression brought to its’ consummation. That the children of God become His eternal expression and counterpart. All in this short book of 1 John.

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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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