We hope that these studies will inspire you to dive into the Word of God yourself, to gain revelation through the Holy Spirit of God’s Will for your life.

Note: For most of the studies, the audio recording of our group discussion is available. Click on the Play arrow to play the audio in the current window, or click on the study title to play the audio in a new window. Click on Study Notes to view the study notes.

Treasures Old and New – New Covenant Truths Depicted in the Old Testament

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This week: The Spiritual Response to Accusation
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September 9, 2009: The Coming of the Son of Man
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September 23, 2009: Cain and Abel
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September 30, 2009: The Tower of Babel
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October 7, 2009: Abraham and Lot
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October 14, 2009: The Life and Times of Noah
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November 4, 2009: Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls
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November 11, 2009: The Lessons of Nehemiah
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November 18, 2009: How the Enemy Attacks the Work of God
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November 25, 2009: Love: The Unity of the Spirit
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December 2, 2009: The Contrast Between Esau and Jacob
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December 9, 2009: Our Birthright
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December 16, 2009: The Life of Joseph
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January 6, 2010: The Slave and the Free
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January 13, 2010: Take Heed Lest Ye Fall
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January 20, 2010: The Tabernacle of God
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January 27: The Mercy Seat
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February 3, 2010: Sacrifices and Offerings
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February 10, 2010: The Day of Atonement
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The Parables of Jesus

A List of the Parables of Jesus
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September 24, 2008: The Parable of the Soils
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October 1, 2008: The Parable of Ten Virgins
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October 15, 2008: The Parable of the Wedding Feast
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November 5, 2008: The Parable of the Friend at Midnight
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November 19, 2008: The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
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December 10, 2008: Two Parables of the Old and the New
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January 21, 2009: The Lost Parables
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February 4, 2009: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-Gatherer
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February 18, 2009: The Parable of the Faithful and Wise Slave
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March 11, 2009: The Parable of the Good Samaritan
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April 15, 2009: Two Parables about Counting the Cost
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April 29, 2009: The Parable of the Wise Man and the Foolish Man
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May 27, 2009: The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
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June 10, 2009: The Parables of Earthly and Heavenly Treasures
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June 24, 2009: The Parable of the Talents
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July 8, 2009: Two Parables On Humility
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July 29, 2009: The Parable of the Vinedressers
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Other Studies

July 2, 2008: The Law and Legalism
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July 9, 2008: The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
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September 10, 2008: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
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April 1, 2009: The Lords Prayer and The ”Glory” of God
The Lord’s Prayer and The ”Glory” of God
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May 13, 2009: The Biblical Teaching on the Covering of the Head
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May 17, 2009: Love, and its Opposite
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July 22, 2009: The Biblical Teaching on Baptism in Water
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Study Notes and The Example of Noah
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July 26, 2009: The End Times and the Two Groups
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by Zac Poonen

In Genesis 11:4 we read that the people of the world decided to build a tower. They said to each other, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top would reach to heaven.” They wanted their tower to be the gate of God (Babel). Human effort to reach God is a major constituent of false religion. False religion is always a religion of works – and not one of faith and dependence on God. The leaders of false religion are always strong personalities with the charisma of film stars. They are not weak, unimpressive men like Paul, nor are they men with no reputation like Peter. The leaders of false Christianity are people who seek fame and honour for themselves. The true prophets of God however are always misunderstood and called “heretics” and cast out by religious Christendom. That’s how Jesus and the apostles were.

There can be a lot of unity in Babylon. It says here that the whole earth used the same language (Gen.11:1) – not just the same language in terms of speech, but also the same language of human cleverness, human ability and human glory. That is the language spoken by the world and that unfortunately is the language spoken by many “Christian” leaders as well. Jesus Christ however was crucified through weakness and there was no beauty in Him to attract people (2 Cor.13:4; Isa. 53:2). He was a servant Who washed people’s feet. He was not a General Director or a Superintendent or a Pope. He called himself an ordinary man (“son of man”) and had no title whatsoever. These are the identifying marks of a true servant of God.

In Babylon they say, “Come, let us build.” They don’t need to consult God about such matters. They could build the gateway to heaven themselves! False religion does not depend helplessly on God for its every need. They may pray. All religions have prayer, but it will be meaningless prayer. The prophets of Baal prayed for hours on Mount Carmel, but nothing happened? Elijah prayed for one minute and the fire of God fell from heaven! Some of us may glory in hours spent in prayer. That may be good. Jesus spent all night in prayer too. But prayer has value only if it is an expression of our helpless dependence on God for His guidance and help. Babylonians however do not need to seek God’s will, for they depend on human cleverness. False religion begins with man, not with God. It’s motto is: “In the beginning man,” not “In the beginning God,” (as in Gen. 1:1). False religion originates in man, it is done through man’s power and it is propagated for man’s glory.

The Bible speaks about building with wood, hay and straw or with gold, silver and precious stones (1 Cor.3:12). What does it mean to build with gold, silver and precious stones? The answer is found in Romans11:36: “From God, through God and to God”. This is how Jerusalem (the true church of God) is built. The opposite of that is “From man, through man and to man.” That is how Babylon is built.

Babylon is built by man’s ideas. A lot of Christian organizations are doing their work today through human ideas and not God’s. They follow the principles of multinational companies and large business corporations, rather than the teachings of the apostles. They run their organisations like business enterprises and not like the churches that the apostles built. Why didn’t Jesus give His gospel to an advertising agency? Wouldn’t they have done a better job than those twelve apostles? But that would have been man’s method. God’s methods are different.

Very few people know God’s methods, because very few people know God. Man is a religious creature and he would rather have religion than God. It is uncomfortable to live with God. It is comfortable to live with religion. You cannot live with God and be a great man in the world. But you can have the “Christian religion” and still be a great man. People don’t want God. Even most believers would rather have Christianity than God Himself. They don’t want the yoke of Jesus Christ on their necks.

Babylon is built through man’s power. It does not need the Holy Spirit’s anointing or the supernatural gifts that God gives. With natural gifts, good music and electronic gadgets, the job can be done! No wonder our work for God is of such poor quality! We do not know the power that the early apostles knew. The baptism in the Holy Spirit that many people claim to have experienced today, I am convinced is a counterfeit baptism of their own human soul – a psychological experience that satisfies them but far removed from what the apostles received on the day of Pentecost. Few today have experienced that genuine anointing of the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus and the apostles. I would urge you to seek for that genuine enduement with power that Jesus promised His apostles, before He ascended to heaven. Thus alone can we truly serve God. Why do I say that a lot that goes on today in the name of the Holy Spirit is counterfeit? Because Jesus said that we would be able to identify false prophets by their fruits. The love of money is so glaringly obvious in most of those who claim to be baptized in the Holy Spirit today. Such fruit is certainly not from God, for the Holy Spirit is not a lover of money. These people love power, position and the honour of men. These are not the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Then their “power” must be coming from some other source, from some other spirit.

Babylon is built for man’s glory. “Let us make a name” is what we read in Genesis 11:4. Years later, we read in Daniel 4:30 that Nebuchadnezzar looked over the city of Babylon that he had built. I have heard that it was built as a square, 25 kilometres long and wide, with walls that were 87 feet thick and 350 feet high. It had a beautiful hanging garden that was one of the wonders of the world. And Nebuchadnezzar said, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built, by the might of my power for my glory?” It was built from man, through man and to man. Nebuchadnezzar lived nearly 2000 years after the building of the tower of Babel. But he had the same spirit. 2500 years after Nebuchadnezzar, we find the same spirit in operation in Christendom today. This is what Babylon is – From man, through man and to man. And it is the very opposite of Jerusalem.

We read in Genesis11:5 that “the Lord came down to see what man had built”. Remember that the Lord will come down to examine whatever we build. He does not come to examine the size of our church or organization, but the motive with which it was built. For whose glory was it built? If He were examining the size of the Tower of Babel, it was very impressive. But God came down looking for something else at that time. And He comes down looking for something else today as well.

© Copyright – This article has been copyrighted to prevent misuse. It should not be reprinted or translated without written permission from the author. Permission is however given for this article to be downloaded and printed , provided it is for FREE distribution, provided NO ALTERATIONS are made, provided the AUTHOR’S NAME AND ADDRESS are mentioned and provided this COPYRIGHT notice ["Copyright by Zac Poonen"] is included in each printout.

For further details, please contact: CFC

by Santosh Poonen

Every Bible, no matter what translation you use, contains a powerful story in John Chapter 11. Jesus had a close friend in Bethany named Lazarus who fell seriously ill one day. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, rather than rushing quickly to his bedside, He hung out for a couple more days where He was staying at the time, and then decided to go see Lazarus. By the time Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days – long enough for his body to begin decomposing! You know how the story ends… Jesus stands in front of the stinking grave and calls Lazarus out. Imagine the shock that the witnesses experience when they see Lazarus emerge, still attired in his funeral “suit”, but hale, hearty, and probably a little hungry.

Then there’s the everyday life Bible. This is the “Bible” that corresponds to the faith and practical experience of most Christians. According to this “Bible”, Jesus rushes up to Lazarus’ tomb like an ambulance in panic, and being an EMT, performs emergency CPR on Lazarus, hoping and praying that somehow there’s a little life left in his body to bring him back to life. Imagine performing CPR on a four-day dead body!

You get the point. This is another “Bible” (not the powerful Word of God) and another “Jesus” (not the omnipotent Son of God). Sadly, most Christians read the KJV or the NASB or the NIV, but live this counterfeit version. You see, we’re struggling to resuscitate the little bit of life that’s left in “Me.” And that’s the problem. “Me” has to die, and die so completely that he starts to rot. Then Jesus can impart His resurrection life, so that He, not I, lives in me (Galatians 2:20)!

What Jesus said before He raised Lazarus from the dead was not, “I am the resuscitation,” but “I am the resurrection” (v25). Small difference in spelling, big difference in impact! The dictionary defines resuscitation as “revival from apparent death or from unconsciousness; revitalization; coming to.” Resurrection is defined as “rising again to life from the dead.”

If our spiritual lives lack power over sin and death, then the Jesus we believe in was merely revived on the cross after swooning for a few hours (as some religions claim). Rather, because of Christ’s resurrection after His body was dead for 3 days, and our partaking in that death and resurrection, we can confidently say, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:54-57).

It’s quite fashionable to talk about revival these days. You may be surprised, however, to learn that the word “revival” appears in the Bible a total of zero times.

You will find the powerful word “resurrection” plenty of times in your Bible, though. And that’s what you really need!

© Copyright – This article has been copyrighted to prevent misuse. It should not be reprinted or translated without written permission from the author. Permission is however given for this article to be downloaded and printed , provided it is for FREE distribution, provided NO ALTERATIONS are made, provided the AUTHOR’S NAME AND ADDRESS are mentioned and provided this COPYRIGHT notice ["Copyright by Santosh Poonen"] is included in each printout.

For further details, please contact: RLCF

by Zac Poonen

In Revelation 1:9-10, John refers to himself as a “fellow-partaker in the tribulation which is in Jesus”. Every wholehearted disciple of Jesus should be prepared to partake in the “tribulation which is in Jesus”, as long as he is in this world. John did not get this unveiling while living in comfort. He received it, while experiencing tribulation at Patmos, because he had been faithful to “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 1:9). He had to experience tribulation himself in order to be able to write about the saints experiencing the great tribulation from the Antichrist in the last days. God takes us through trials and tribulations first before giving us a ministry to others who are facing tribulation. Paul said, “God encourages us in all our affliction so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction, with the (same) encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God” (2 Cor.1:4 – Amplified).

It is not surprising therefore that the doctrine that Jesus would come secretly and take (rapture) His church out of the world, before the great tribulation, arose for the first time in a country (England) where Christians were living in comfort, and at a time (mid-19th century) when they were not facing any persecution for their faith at all. Today this doctrine continues to be proclaimed and believed by Christians who live in ease and comfort, in countries where there is no persecution against Christians at all. Since the prayers of most Christians are basically of this order : “Lord make my life more comfortable on earth”, it is not surprising that they have gladly accepted this teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. Thus Satan has succeeded in lulling multitudes of Christians with a false comfort, so that they will be unprepared for the great tribulation when it does come upon them.

The words of Jesus are clear: “In the world YOU HAVE TRIBULATION. But take courage; I have overcome the world” (Jn.16:33). He never promised that we would escape tribulation – whether small tribulations or the great one. But He did say that we could overcome even as He overcame. He is far more interested in making us overcomers than in saving us out of tribulation, because He is far more interested in our character than in our comfort. Neither did Jesus ever say that escaping the great tribulation was a reward for faithfulness, as some teach. On the contrary, He said that those who forsook everything to follow Him would have even more tribulations than others who didn’t follow Him (Mk.10:30). When He prayed to His Father for His disciples, He said, “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil.” (Jn.17:15). He did NOT want His disciples to be raptured out of the world at that time, just because they were going to face tribulation.

In the 3rd-century when Christians were being thrown to the lions in the Roman amphitheatres and being burnt at the stake in different parts of the Roman empire, the Lord did not rescue them from such tribulations. The God Who shut the lions’ mouths and took away the power of the fiery furnace in Daniel’s day, did NOT do such miracles for these disciples of Jesus – for these were new-covenant Christians who were going to glorify God through death. Like Jesus their Master, they neither asked for, nor expected twelve legions of angels to come and protect them from their enemies.

From heaven, God watched the Bride of His Son being torn to pieces by lions and being burnt to ashes; and He was glorified in their testimony – for they had “followed the Lamb, wherever He went”, even unto a violent physical death (Rev.14:4). The only word that the Lord spoke to them was, “Be faithful until death and I will give you a crown of life.” (Rev.2:10). Even today, when the disciples of Jesus are being tortured and persecuted for His Name in many lands, the Lord does not take them away from the earth. And He will not rapture us to heaven before the great tribulation either. He will do something far better. He will make us overcomers in the midst of the great tribulation.

Jesus is far more interested in saving us from evil than in saving us from tribulation. He permits us to go through tribulation because He knows that that is the only way that we can become spiritually strong. Such a message is strange teaching indeed to a comfort-loving Christendom that has been coddled in their pews every Sunday for years by ear-tickling preachers. But this is the message that the apostles preached to the early churches. “They (the apostles Paul and Barnabas) strengthened the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.’” (Acts 14:22). The little trials that we face at home and at work now, are but a preparation for the greater ones that will come in the days to come. That is why it is essential that we are faithful now. For God says, “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses?” (Jer.12:5).

John speaks here about being a “fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus” (Rev 1:9). We have to enter into fellowship with Jesus in tribulation first, before we can share His throne with Him in His kingdom. Perseverance is a great virtue that is emphasised throughout the New Testament. Jesus Himself said “They will deliver you to tribulation…..but the one who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mt.24:13).

© Copyright – This article has been copyrighted to prevent misuse. It should not be reprinted or translated without written permission from the author. Permission is however given for this article to be downloaded and printed , provided it is for FREE distribution, provided NO ALTERATIONS are made, provided the AUTHOR’S NAME AND ADDRESS are mentioned and provided this COPYRIGHT notice ["Copyright by Zac Poonen"] is included in each printout.

For further details, please contact: CFC

by Thomas Eskine

Man expects life in having his flesh unhurt in any of its feelings, and in having the current of his blood unchecked. And the will of God breaks the flesh and shreds the blood, and seems to destroy life instead of giving it, and thus appears as if it were not meat be which man could live.

Yet Jesus came to give this meat to men; that is, he came to show men that the will of God, although it crucified the flesh, was meat indeed, yet the only meat that nourisheth unto eternal life. He showed them this by showing them the will of God fulfilled in himself,- in his own person. He, in their sight, ate this meat which seemed so deadly; he did not his own will in anything, but the will of the Father. He lived by the will of the Father. And they saw that this will of God did indeed break his flesh and shed his blood; but after it had brought him to the dust of death, they saw it raise him from the dead, freed forever from all touch of mortality and corruption, to partake in the glorious and blessed life of the Father for ever and ever. Thus he showed them that it might be safely taken, that he who had provided this meat for man might be trusted by man; for he says, “I have trusted him and I am delivered”. He showed them that love in the heart of God towards them, which had sent forth the only begotten Son from his bossom to taste death for every man, to be the Head of every man, and the channel of sonship to every man, so that every man might through him look up to God as a present Father, forgiving him and loving him even as he loved Christ. He thus showed them that as God was his Father, whom he could trust, so he was their Father, whom they might trust; and that his will concerning them was nothing else than the outcoming of a Father’s love, who had made them and redeemed them, and who afflicted them not willingly, but that they might be partakers of his holiness.

He thus showed them that there was a purpose in the heart of God towards them, of love and of righteous blessedness, which could not have its fulfillment except through the crucifixion of the flesh.