Blog Archives

24 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #11)

Joshua (Program #11) – The Destruction of All the Nations

The last chapter in the book of Ephesians gives us the clear speaking in all of the New Testament regarding spiritual warfare. Listen to a few verses from chapter 6,  “Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Throughout the ages these verses have aspired powerful sermons, stirring hymns, indeed of incredible faith and courage by the saints. But an enlighten study of the Old Testament provides us with even more of the details of how the forces of darkness are raged against God’s people, to frustrate and limit their pursuit and enjoyment of Christ. Among these portions are the middle chapters in the book of Joshua.  We will considered the warfare of the children of Israel and how their experience can be very meaningful in understanding much of what we go through in our Christian life.

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23 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #10)

Joshua (Program #10) – The Allotment of the Land (2)

When the children of Israel entered the good land, the land was apportioned to them according to their tribes. Each tribe received a different piece, some larger than others yet each one according to their condition and situation.

Bible interpreters long agrees that the good land is a type of Christ and Israel certainly typifies us, the Church.   So how is it that the Christ you receive may be in a sense bigger, more extensive than the one I have?   Well, it seems to be a paradox particularly in the light of the scripture clearly tells us in Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes, even forever.”  Well, we will see today that the Christ we experience matches our situation, our condition and our capacity.

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22 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #9)

Joshua (Program #9) – The Allotment of the Land (1)

We all know the story of Jacob, of course he had 12 sons, each one very different. These 12 sons then became the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel and the good land of Canaan was eventually apportioned to these tribes, the descendants of Jacob’s 12 sons.

The account of how these parcels were passed on to the various tribes of Israel may seems to us to be a meaningless bit of history as God’s New Testament people, yet it is recorded in the book of Joshua and as we will see today it helps to convey a very meaningful and very experiential aspect of our own enjoyment of Christ.

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21 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #8)

Joshua (Program #8) – The Destruction of Ai

After the wonderful victory at Jericho where the walls of the city crumbled before them upon their shout, the children of Israel then turned their attention to the city of Ai. No doubt full of expectation that this city would be delivered into their hands with equal ease.  But the record in the book of Joshua reveals that just the opposite happened. This time against a much less fierce opponent, the children of Israel were routed. Why such a change?  If the Lord had been with them to such an extent at Jericho what’s the reason that He abandon them now?

Well, the answers do not just tell us something about the history of Israel, they also tell us a lot of about our own history with God.

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20 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #7)

Joshua (Program #7) – The Destruction of Jericho

Remember the story of Jericho, for 6 days the children of Israel bearing the ark borne by the priests marched around the fortified city of Jericho.  No doubt as the inhabitants watched from the top of the city wall and sure wondered at the strange behavior of these occupying force.

And then on the 7th day after the priests blew the trumpet and the people shouted and they came about when the people heard the sound of the trumpets that “the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat. And the people went up into the city, each straight ahead, and they captured the city.  And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city with the edge of the sword: both men and women, young and old, and oxen and sheep and donkeys. And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, Go to the house of the harlot, and bring out from there the woman and all that belongs to her, as you swore to her. And the young men who had been spies went and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all that belonged to her; all her family they brought out and set outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire and all that was in it;” more…

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19 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #6)

Joshua (Program #6) – Taking Possession of the Good Land

Listen to the Lord’s word to Joshua, in Joshua chapter 1, “Moses My servant is dead; now then arise, and cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses…Be strong and take courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.

This was the Lord’s strong word to Joshua, the one God had chosen to replace Moses and lead the children of Israel, not just into the land but also to possess it, to occupy it, labor on it and gain their full sustenance from it.  Actually if our eyes are opened today, we can realize that God is speaking a similar word to us, as His New Testament people, for He had placed Christ before us and has prepared everything that we might enter into Him and to posses Him, as the children of Israel were to possess the good land.

Listen now to Paul’s word in the New Testament Philippians chapter 3:8 “But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.”

The children of Israel were about to gain the good land and we are exhorted by Paul to gain Christ. A real interesting parallel.

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18 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #5)

Joshua (Program #5) – The Preparation Before the Attack

The children of Israel were preparing to enter into the good land to do battle with the kings that occupied the land that God had given them to occupy and possess. Prior to their engaging these enemies, Jehovah performed a miracle quite similar to one that He had performed for their fathers, a generation before when they escaped Egypt.  He once again held back the waters allowing them to cross. Only this time not the waters of the Red Sea but the waters of the Jordan River. News of this miracle reached the kings within the land and it caused them no small amount of fear for they realized that God was among the children of Israel once more. Yet the preparation of Israel was still not complete. As we consider the preparation of Israel in Joshua chapter 5, an interesting chapter.

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17 Apr 2022 Joshua (Program #4)

Joshua (Program #4) – Crossing the River Jordan

On two occasions in the history of the children of Israel God caused waters to be held back so that Israel can pass over.  The first time of course was their crossing of the Red Sea providing them an escape or an exodus out of the land of Egypt. All Bible scholars agreed that this miracle is actually a type of our own baptism affecting our own escape from the corrupt world, that is under God’s condemnation and judgment.

The second time such a miracle occurred was when the children of Israel were crossing the Jordan river, this time providing them an entrance into the good land, the land of Canaan. The interpretation on this point is not so clearly understood. Many believed that this crossing refers to the believers passage through physical death and their entrance into heaven. But as we will see today such an interpretation misses the real significance of the crossing of the river Jordan

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23 Mar 2022 Deuteronomy (Program #1)

Deuteronomy (Program #1) – An Introductory Word

The first five books of the Bible form a unit. You probably have heard of this group of books written by Moses refer to as the Pentateuch. The last of these five, Deuteronomy is a conclusion not only to the writings of Moses but the law given first to Moses on Mount Sinai back in Exodus and then developed and enlarged with the judgments, statues and ordinances were added in the latter books of Pentateuch namely Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus.

Today we begin this book with an odd sounding name, Deuteronomy.  This book is marvelous and we believe the Lord will show us many wonderful things as we fellowship through this book.  It would be good to start with a quick look, the name of the book, Deuteronomy, an odd sounding name.  Many do not have much understanding what Deuteronomy refers to.  The word itself actually means second law. At the beginning of this book. Moses and children of Israel are standing on the border of the good land. They are no longer at Mt Sinai. But they are at the border of the good land preparing to go in and possess the land. So, here Moses gives the people a Deuteronomy, a second law, which is not another law, but is a re-speaking of the law that had been spoken previously nearly 40 years before at Sinai in the wilderness.

Now, when the opening of the of Deuteronomy, we have a new generation of the children of Israel. The first generation that came out of Egypt with Moses with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, had all died out. And now, we had a new generation, they had either not been present at the first speaking of the law or they were too young to receive that speaking. So here they all were at the border of the good land before they enter into the land God burdened Moses to re- speak the words of the law to these people to prepare them for what they needed to do to enter into the land and to taking possession of it.

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04 Mar 2022 Hebrews (Program #9)

Hebrews (Program #9) – The Captain of Salvation (1)

God’s goal is not to bring us to heaven. The goal of God’s salvation is to bring us into the very glory which in Christ has been sown into us at the time of our regeneration. Christ is many things to His saved ones. We may appreciate Him as our Savior and our Redeemer or may be even as our friend. But Hebrews unveils Him as the Captain of our Salvation. We’ll see Him as the fighting captain in today’s life study of the Bible.

Logically, we think that for salvation you need a savior or a redeemer but why do we need a captain for our salvation?

We need to make it emphatically clear that we surely need Christ as the Savior and we absolutely need Christ as the Redeemer. There’s no way to be saved without this personal Savior, the God-man. And we surely need Him as the Redeemer who bought us back with His precious blood and has brought us back to God that we may enjoy God as everything to us in Christ as the Spirit. Regrettably, many believers have a shallow even elementary concept of salvation. If we understand salvation merely as a rescue from hell to heaven then we don’t really need a captain. We just need a savior and a redeemer, one who allegedly who brings us out of the likelihood of going to hell and brings us to heaven. However, the goal of God’s salvation is not heaven. We are told in the book of Hebrews that God is bringing many sons into glory. For this we need a captain. Why? more…

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