Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio)

The Beauty of the Lord is His Holiness - the sum and perfection of His moral attributes. When we trust in God and surrender to Him, He imparts His holiness to us through His Holy Spirit.

One common objection to the claim that it is God’s will to heal His people is Paul’s THORN in the FLESH. Many say that it was a sickness that God gave Paul to keep him humble, and that when Paul asked to be healed God said 'No.' In this video, Derek proves that this interpretation is wrong. The key questions are: (1) what is Paul’s Thorn?, and (2) where did it come from - from God or the devil? The answers are made clear in God's Word. We also explore the significance of God's answer to Paul: "“My GRACE is sufficient for you, for My STRENGTH is made perfect in WEAKNESS.” We also see how this principle was demonstrated in Paul's life, when he was stoned to death.

Israel's sin resulted in her capital city being sieged by the Syrians and experiencing serious famine. When the king repented, Elijah prophesied that within 24 hours, the siege would be lifted and Israel would possess abundant provisions. However, this promise could only come to pass if God's people believed His Word and acted on it. We see how God brought His Word to pass through 4 heroes of faith, namely 4 lepers, who rose up at twilight, and marched their March of Faith to the Syrian camp. When the lepers acted (marched) on the Word of God, then God’s power was released. When the 4 lepers marched, God’s army marched with them, and as a result, the enemy fled in terror and victory was assured! It was only when they acted in faith, walking on the Word of God, that Heaven marched with them, resulting in total victory and abundant provision. Likewise, for God’s promises to be fulfilled in our life, we must rise up out of passivity, and do what God tells us to do, and march our March of Faith. When we arise and march our March of Faith, walking on the Word of God, we are not marching alone, because God and His army will march with us, causing the enemy to flee in terror before us, and bringing us into the full possession of His promise. If the 4 lepers could do it, then so can we!

God wants us to live today to the fullest. God has designed us to live ONE DAY at a TIME. A great life is made up of lots of good days. We need to learn from the past and plan for the future, but we need to learn to LIVE in the NOW. He wants us to focus all our energies into TODAY. The best way you can prepare for tomorrow is by living today well.

In this teaching we look at the healing of a leper (Luke 5:12-15). This is the first of 4 Messianic Miracles, which were specific signs of the Messiah. The others are casting out a dumb spirit, healing of a man born blind, and resurrection after 3 days - the sign of Jonah. The special significance and symbolism of Leprosy in the Bible explains why it was a Messianic Miracle. God uses leprosy to teach us about sin. That’s why it was treated differently from all other sicknesses. Leprosy is a picture of sin (Isaiah 1:18), which is why the Bible only talks about the cleansing of a leper. Derek shares how leprosy is a picture of sin. The healing of a leper is a picture of Messiah saving us from sin, for we were all spiritual lepers. Since only Messiah can save us from our sin, it was appropriate that only Messiah can cleanse lepers, which is why it was a Messianic Miracle, so when Jesus healed lepers it was a special sign proving He was the Messiah. The cleansing of the leper in Mark 1:40-44 is a picture of how a sinner receives salvation from the Lord, who is full of compassion for us. 2 chapters are devoted to what the priests should do with lepers. Leviticus 13 told them how to diagnose leprosy. Leviticus 14 told them what to do when a leper was healed. While the priests constantly practiced Leviticus 13, they never practiced Leviticus 14, for no leper was ever healed in Israel! They came to conclude that only Messiah will heal lepers. There was a prescribed Ceremony for leprosy that was ordained in the Leviticus 14, that the priests had to fulfil whenever a leper was healed. When Jesus sent the leper to go to the priests to verify his healing and perform the Ceremony, that was a testimony to them that the Messiah was on the scene. This Ceremony which involved 2 BIRDS. It revealed the basis upon which leper was healed (Leviticus 14:1-7). This Ceremony gives us a wonderful picture of the Atonement of Christ. God is declaring that the cleansing and healing of the leper was accomplished through the Atonement. Since leprosy represents both (1) sin and (2) sickness, this Ceremony shows both (1) that we are CLEANSED from SIN, and (2) that we are HEALED from SICKNESS through the ATONEMENT of Christ. This confirms that Healing is in the Atonement. Healing from sickness and cleansing from sin is only possible through Christ's Atonement - that is what the ceremonial Law of the Leper proclaimed.

Isaiah 12 is a prophetic song describing how New Covenant believers have a spring of everlasting life within them. Derek explains how we can draw water from these springs of salvation by praise, prayer, witnessing, singing and shouting.

After the Rapture, all believers will stand before Christ to give an account of our lives. This is not a judgement to determine our salvation or condemnation, but to receive our eternal rewards. Derek discusses the 4 classic passages on the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10-13, 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, 1 Corinthians 4:2-5, and 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

When we received Christ, He (Christ in us) became our firm Foundation (1Corinthians 3:11). In order to build our whole life on Christ, we must develop a strong Devotional Life with Him, in which we put down our roots of faith deep into God, and turn away (repent) from our old life of depending on self. In this way we increase our heart connection with Him. This is where we cultivate our FAITH toward God, and deepen our REPENTANCE from our old dead ways. The whole Christian life is centred on our LOVE relationship with God through Christ. We have been brought into a New Covenant, which operates by us receiving love from God and giving our love to God (Matthew 22:37). A good acrostic for your prayer-life is: A.C.T.S *A = ADORATION – start your prayer time with praise and worship. *C = CONFESSION – when you sin confess it to God (1John 1:9). *T = THANKSGIVING – acknowledge God as the Source of every good thing in your life. *S = SUPPLICATION – don’t just pray for yourself, but pray for others too. Our Devotion to God also consists of our public worship in CHURCH. Pat of our honouring God in our life is to worship regularly at a Bible-believing CHURCH that honours Jesus Christ as Lord (Hebrews 10:25, Acts 2:42-46). By cultivating a strong devotional life through Prayer, Bible Study, and Church, we are implementing the first 2 foundational doctrines of Hebrews 6:1-2, developing our FAITH in God, and REPENTING from a life lived independently from God. This is GODLINESS (orienting our life toward God), resulting in more of God’s Presence coming into our heart, bringing HOLINESS and TRANSFORMATION (spiritual growth). God changes us from the inside out. He transforms us (metamorphosis), like a butterfly comes forth from within a caterpillar. Transformation is the process of an inner life and reality being manifested outwardly. Likewise, we have the life, love and wisdom of Christ in our spirit through the New Birth, and metamorphosis is the process whereby that new life within us comes into our heart and changes it, so that we can then express it in our life by our words and actions. Pastor Derek completes his message by sharing how God transforms us (John 2:1-10, Romans 12:1-2, 2Corinthians 3:16-18, James 1:23-25).

Galatians 6:16 is a key verse in the theological debate about Israel: "as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, AND upon the Israel of God." Replacement theologians, who teach that the Church has now replaced Israel in God's purposes, point to this verse (in fact this is the only verse to which they can point) and use it to say that the Church is now the Israel of God. This is reflected in the NIV, which substitutes the AND for EVEN, translating it as: "Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, EVEN the Israel of God." However this is an invalid interpretation because the word 'kai' means 'and' rather than 'even' 99.8% of the time. If Paul wanted to imply that the Church was the Israel of God, all he had to do is not write the 'kai' at all. We see that this interpretation also contradicts the consistent use of 'Israel' in the New Testament (with over 70 examples) as meaning the Jewish people and nation. The New Testament was written in a time when both Israel and the Church existed together, and it rightly distinguished between them. It always describes saved and unsaved Gentiles as still being Gentiles', and both saved and unsaved Jews as being part of Israel. Paul however does talk about the subset or remnant of Israel, who are also true believers, as being the true Israel (Romans 2:28, 9:6), so the natural interpretation of what Paul means by 'the Israel of God' is the Jewish believers in Christ or Messianic Jews. This is supported by a plain reading of Galatians 6:15-16: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a New Creation. And as many as walk according to this rule (salvation by grace through faith), peace and mercy be (1) upon them (saved Gentiles), and (2) upon the Israel of God." In 6:15, he introduces 2 groups - the Circumcision (the Jews) and the Uncircumcision (the Gentiles) - see Galatians 2:7-8, saying that as far as becoming a New Creation (salvation by grace through faith) is concerned, it makes no difference whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Then Paul says that all those who live as New Creations in Christ have God's mercy (forgiveness) and peace upon them, whether they be (1) Gentiles or (2) Jews. The fact that he is speaking of 2 groups within the Church is confirmed by the double use of UPON, and the use of 'kai' (AND). Paul describes the saved Gentiles as 'them' because he was a Jew. Paul himself was part of the Israel of God: "the remnant (of Israel) according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5). Understanding this removes any basis in Scripture for replacement theology. Since most of the Galatian Church was Gentile, perhaps Paul perceived the danger of the Church becoming anti-semitic and turning against Jewish believers generally, in view of Paul's strong words against the these false Jewish teachers of the law. This is probably why he affirmed 'the Israel of God' in their midst. Paul finishes as he began in Galatians 1 by affirming (1) his apostleship (6:17) and (2) his message (6:18). (1) To establish his apostleship he points to the marks of the Lord Jesus on his body, received through his persecutions, as if to say, since you are so impressed by the outward mark of circumcision, look at my marks, which prove I am a true slave and soldier of Christ, rather than a self-serving man-pleaser, so let no one trouble me any more with attacks on my apostleship (6:17). (2) "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (6:18) summarises the Gospel of salvation by grace. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, then as a free-gift, His grace (purchased on the Cross) goes into your spirit, making you a New Creation in Christ, and now that grace continues to work from your spirit, changing you from the inside out. In the Greek, this is followed by 'brethren', reminding them that although he has had to correct them, they are family. This is a final tender appeal, assuring them of his love, holding out his arms to them to be reconciled. Then, by his final word 'Amen' ,he was saying 'let this issue be settled once and for all now.' God indeed used this letter to set the Galatians free from legalism, but this same issue has reared its head again and again in Church history, whenever man-made religion overshadows Divine Grace, and God has used Galatians to set the Church free from legalism so that it can live under grace (for example Galatians was central to the Reformation). The key revelation, the starting point for the whole Christian life, is justification by grace through faith alone (apart from works), and everything else flows out from that truth. Tim, John and Derek conclude their study of Galatians by sharing their favourite scriptures from Galatians.

Paul generally dictated his letters to a scribe, and then wrote the greeting at the end in his own handwriting, to personalise and authenticate the letter. But in Galatians 6:11-18 he wrote his whole conclusion in his own handwriting, using large letters (v11). He clearly wanted to put great emphasis on these final verses. In them, he contrasts the 2 kinds of religion (the 2 ways of salvation and living) represented by his opponents and himself. On the one hand, the legalists promoted a religion of human accomplishment, emphasising the keeping of externals, focusing on the outward form of godliness, but denying its power, making a good showing in the flesh to gain the praise of man, and to avoid persecution (6:12-13). On the other hand, Paul preached the Gospel of Divine achievement (grace), centred on the Cross of Christ, which is is the power of God unto salvation, able to make us New Creations, and change our hearts with the love and grace of God (6:14-15). These 2 ways oppose each other because legalism encourages self-righteousness, but the Cross declares that everything that a man can produce from himself in his external works and law-keeping is only worthy of judgment, and therefore he cannot save himself, because he continually breaks the law of God in his heart (v13). Therefore, preaching the Cross to the self-righteous often results in persecution, because it bursts their bubble. The true faith is based on the Cross, and true believers embrace and boast in the Cross rather than in themselves and their own achievements (6:14), because they know all their righteousness and salvation comes through the Cross of Christ. We are saved through personally receiving Jesus as our Lord and trusting in His perfect work on the Cross. When we trust in Christ for our salvation, we were put (baptised) into Christ; our old man was crucified with Christ and we are risen with Christ as a New Creation - this is a work of God's grace, independent of our works, or whether or not we are circumcised (6:15). This truth of salvation by grace through faith (6:15) is described as the fundamental rule, which characterises and governs the life of all true believers (6:16). That is, our whole christian life flows out from the foundation and well-spring of our salvation by grace through faith. When we accept the Cross and are crucified with Christ, we are born again into the Kingdom of God. This fundamentally changes our relationship with the world, as Paul says: "by whom (Christ and His Cross), (1) the world has been crucified to me, and (2) I have been crucified to the world" (6:14). The Cross created a separation between us and the world. (1) Now we see the true nature of the world through the standpoint of the Cross, as being under God's judgment - so we no longer love the world, or get our values from the world, but instead we find our meaning and value from our relationship with God. (2) Like a man hanging on a cross, we are in this world, but no longer of it (John 17:14-18). We are still alive in this world and it can still tempt us, but we know that we no longer belong here - we are outsiders, not insiders. A crucified man is no longer enmeshed in the world-system. The world can offer him nothing. He knows his time is short here, and he is just passing through, for he is on his way to a different destination. Likewise, through embracing (boasting in) the Cross, we lose our attachment to this world, knowing that our destiny is with God, and so we look for His praise, rather than the world's praise. In this way, Paul contrasts himself with the motives of the egotistical false-teachers. Whereas Paul seeks the praise and glory of God and the triumph of His grace in the lives of the Galatians, his opponents want them to be circumcised, so that they would look good to their fellow Jews (for turning the Galatian believers into Jews), and so be praised by the Jewish world. Therefore, they reject the message of Cross, which glorifies God and condemns all man-made righteousness, because identification with the Cross would mean rejection and persecution from their world.