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

After receiving Christ, we are being transformed by God's SPIRIT as we HEAR and DO God's WORD (Romans 12:1-2, 2Corinthians 3:16-18, James 1:21-25). (1) A man must first receive GOOD TREASURE into his HEART, by meditating on the Word of God and receiving His transforming life into your heart from the Spirit. This way his heart has an abundance of good treasure. (2) He must then BRING FORTH those GOOD THINGS from his HEART into his LIFE, by his words and actions. The primary way we express and release what is in our heart is by our WORDS: “For out of the ABUNDANCE of the heart the MOUTH SPEAKS” (Matthew 12:34-35). Your WORDS are very important to the final outcome of our lives (Matthew 12:37). We release the good things in our heart into our life by our words, for: “with the HEART one BELIEVES unto RIGHTEOUSNESS (right standing in the promise of God), and with the MOUTH CONFESSION (of the promise) is made unto SALVATION (the manifestation of the promise in our life)” (Romans 10:10).

We must be DOERS of the WORD, and not HEARERS ONLY, otherwise we are deceiving ourselves if we think we are growing spiritually (James 1:22, Matthew 7:24-27), for we are BLESSED in our DOING of God's Word (James 1:25). Then James says that DOING the WORD starts by CONTROLLING our TONGUE – that is the first thing (James 1:26). James expands his teaching on the TONGUE in James 3, which is a chapter entirely devoted to our use of the TONGUE. He says is it the CONTROL CENTRE of our BODY and LIFE. If we can control our tongue, we are mature, and able also to bring our whole body under control (v2). We control the direction of our life by controlling our tongue, just as we can control a horse by using a bit in their mouth (v3), and just like a pilot can control the direction of a large ship, by using a small rudder, representing our tongue (v4). The tongue is also capable of great destruction, like a fire. If you do not control it, it has the power to destroy the course of your whole life. Because God set the tongue as our control centre, if we allow our tongue to be controlled by the fire of evil, then that destructive fire will spread to our whole body and life (v5-6). The tongue is like a wild beast, so we need God’s help to tame our tongue (v7-8). If we do not exercise control, both blessing and cursing will proceed from our mouth, which should not happen (v9-10).

In nature, a spring either sends forth fresh water or bitter water through the opening, but not both (v11). The reason why both blessing and cursing can come out of our mouths, is that there are 2 springs or fountains within us - the SPRING of the SPIRIT and the FOUNTAIN of the FLESH. We choose which spring we yield to. Your FLESH FOUNTAIN can produce nothing good, and your SPIRIT SPRING can only produce good (v12). We need to learn to discern between these 2 FOUNTAINS, between the wisdom from BELOW (words which are earthly, sensual, demonic and produce evil fruit), and the wisdom from ABOVE, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. Words from above flow in a Spirit of peace and TASTE good (sweet), and produce good FRUIT (righteousness and peace) - (James 3:13-18).

Join Pastor Derek as he reveals the origins of the Gospel in the Year of Jubilee, which took place on the Day of Atonement, when the Jubilee trumpeters proclaimed forgiveness, release and restoration for all, throughout all the land, on the basis of the great sacrifice made on that day (Leviticus 25). Jesus initiated the preaching of the Gospel, and commanded us to continue preaching this same Gospel. In Luke 4, Jesus claimed that His preaching of the Gospel was the fulfilment of Isaiah 61, a prophecy of the Messiah fulfilling the Type of Jubilee for all men by preaching Good News to the poor, proclaiming the Acceptable Year of the Lord, on the basis of God's acceptance of His great final Sacrifice (Isaiah 53).

Two miracles of Jesus demonstrate how we can walk in victory over the power of sin, circumstances and satan: (1) The crossing to the other side of Galilee through a storm, and (2) Walking on the Water. God has called us to be overcomers, who go over, not under!

There are 2 ingredients to every miracle of God: (1) God's SPIRIT and WORD, which are the active agents of the miracle, and (2) a receptive VOID, which is necessary to receive a miracle. This is illustrated with a number of examples.

The Sacrifice of Praise is when we thank God before we see the answer or manifestation, based on His Promise and His Name (Hebrews 13:15). This opens up a spiritual highway through which God can move (Psalm 50:23), as seen in Jehoshaphat's victory over a massive enemy army (2Chronicles 20), and Jonah's deliverance from the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2), and what happened to Paul and Silas when they prayed and sung praises in prison at midnight (Acts 16).

The Spirit of Faith is described in 2 Corinthians 4:13: "we (1) BELIEVE and therefore (2) SPEAK." Derek shares about (1) believing God's Word with our heart, and then (2) speaking it forth with our lips.

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.