1 Thessalonians (Program #17) – Our Heart to be Established Blameless in Holiness (1)

In the final chapter of 1 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul uses a few very short verses to point out fifteen different items that he was concerned about in the experience of the young believers in Thessalonica.   He gave them this list against the backdrop of his fellowship in chapter 4 concerning the Lord’s second coming, the rapture of the church and the judgment seat of Christ, which will impact every born again person at the Lord’s return.   No doubt this word sobered them and brought forth a watchful attitude as they contemplated meeting the Lord of Lords and King of kings face to face.  Then in verses 23 and 24 of chapter 5, he summarizes his burden on a marvelous and clear utterance that reveal both God’s operation and the need of man’s cooperation.  “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it. “

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Philippians (Program #59) – Highlight Portions

Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  These words from the apostle Paul from the first chapter of this book perhaps summarize better than any, the essence of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians.  A book focus on the experience of Christ, experiencing Him in every situation, magnifying Him whether through life or through death.

Welcome to our final broadcast from the life study of Philippians. We have a special program today.  We have enjoyed a tremendous life study through the past weeks and months as we have explored the riches in this book of Philippians. For the sake of those who perhaps missed many of the programs we decided for our final broadcast today to go back to the weeks to pick up a few highlight portions and try to bring them together to give you a taste and idea of what we have experience and enjoy in this tremendous life study.

For the first portion of this program we like to go back to life study on magnifying Christ by living Him…

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Philippians (Program #45) -The Word of Life Being Identical to Living Christ

What is the secret of strong faith in Christ?  Well, today we will look back at the experience of some fathers in the faith to learn helpful lessons from them that would hopefully save us a lot of time and trouble.

It’s good to look back at some of our predecessors in the faith and to see how they learn to receive God’s word through prayer.

We’ve been talking a lot about the relationship between the Word and the Spirit and how these two should never be separated.  When we come to the Bible we need prayer and we also need to add the words of the Bible itself to our prayer.

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Philippians (Program #32) – Grace, Salvation, the Spirit and Christ

Is grace just something you call amazing when you sing that famous song? Or do you experience grace to the extent that you called it my grace as apostle Paul did in Philippians 1:7.   Do you know really know what it means to magnify Christ in your daily life as Paul did in Philippians 1:20?   Or is Christ just a doctrine to you that never make it out of your Sunday morning service?   We hope you all are experiencing the marvelous, personal, saving Christ day by day in an intimate way, if you are, you will really enjoy today’s program because it is very much on this experiential side. If you are not we also like you to stay tune to be attracted to the deeper experience of Christ.

Four words that we want to look at today in Philippians 1, and these 4 words that Paul used in a very experiential way. These words particularly: grace, salvation, the Spirit and Christ.  Each of them points to a deeper experience and enjoyment of Christ.

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Philippians (Program #25) – Awaiting Christ for the Transfiguration of His Sufferings

What is the body of our humiliation referred to by the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:21?  Many people are trying to excessively glorified their physical body today and make it more honorable by indulging in the enjoyment of the material things. But the Bible says it’s not until the Lord comes that we would be conformed to the Body of His glory.

The believers in Philippi have been saved of course and regenerated in their spirits but there is still the need for them to care for the two others parts of their being; the soul and the body.  We will see in some greater details today.  The background of this book is that the Philippians believers were been hampered or frustrated by two different groups of people. One was the Judaizers, which Paul had called dogs in the concision in the some other very derogatory name. The other group is the group called Epicureans.  Why were these two groups so damaging?

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Philippians (Program #8) – Standing Firm in One Spirit Striving Together with One Soul

In Philippians 1:27 the apostle Paul says, “that you stand firm in one spirit with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel.”  We need to not only stand firm in one spirit for the experience of Christ but also to strive together with one soul in the faith of the gospel. To be with one soul for the gospel work is more difficult then to be in one spirit for the experience of Christ. This unique use of term would be our focus today on the life study of the Bible from the book of Philippians.

Concerning our standing it says we need to be firm in one spirit and then concerning our striving together we need to be with one soul. So this verse shows us an exercise of both the spirit and the soul. Many believers, many Christians may not realize or perceive the critical difference between these two portions or aspects of our being, the spirit and the soul. So, to clarify, to reveal this very basic and important understanding.

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Ephesians (Program #74) -The Spirit and the Church

One of the major changes that takes place in the life of a Christian is in their mind.  As unbelievers we were as Paul described in Ephesians 4, darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which was in us and because of the hardness of our heart.

Contrast that to the conditions of the believers that follow in Chapter 5, For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord, walk as children of light for the fruits of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth.  How does this transformation in our minds take place?  The answer to this crucial matter is also found in Ephesians.

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Ephesians (Program #73) – Faith But Not Doctrine

The book of Ephesians which stresses the Church places tremendous importance on the matter of Oneness. The oneness of the Spirit and the oneness of the faith are both highlighted in this book. But notably it does not speak about the oneness of teaching or of doctrine, in fact both teaching and doctrine are the subject of Paul’s warning in Chapter 4:13-14, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, …That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error.”  Obviously the oneness of the faith is something other than that of doctrine or teaching.

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Ephesians (Program #17) – The Triune God Dispensed Into Us and Wrought Into Us

Ephesians Chapter 1 is truly a wonderful portion of the scripture. It begins with God’s blessing to us, the believers and concludes with the Church, Body of Christ as the fullness of Christ. The implication is that everything in between, all that God in Christ has passed through and accomplished has an issue or a result and that result is the Church. But what this Chapter also reveals is that it is not just the doctrines or teachings of this marvelous things that has such an issue, it is the transmission of them by the Spirit to the Church. This transmission or dispensing is the focus of our program today.

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Ephesians (Program #14) – A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation and the Eyes of Our Heart

Ephesians is a book filled with marvelous spiritual facts, it reveals the mystery of the will of God. Yet to many people even Christians, Ephesians is a closed book; though they read it and understand the words, they do not gain the vision that is conveyed in this book. That’s because to see spiritual truth in reality is different from mere mental comprehension. That’s why the apostle prayed so earnestly in the first chapter that the readers would have all the necessary tools to see and enter into the vision that he is presenting in his letter. Listen as he prays in verse 17 & 18, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. The eyes of your heart having been enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”

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