The Christian Faith Podcast

Broken by God to Know Christ

If we desire to know Christ, our outer man must be broken so the treasure we have been given in our inner man may come forth. This was the experience of the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 4:6-12, 12:7-10), and even of Christ Himself (John 12:24). That is why the prophet says, concerning Christ,It pleased God to crush Him.— Isaiah 53:10And eventually, this must become our experience as well. Thus, the Lord will also bring us through this same “crushing” in our daily life, the same process of death and resurrection that Christ went through, to bring us into the real knowing of Christ.So, in the first segment of this episode we review our recent sharing regarding the need to be in the genuine New Testament fellowship if we are to truly experience Christ. Then, in the second segment, we go on to consider our need to be broken by God for the sake of knowing Christ.
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See  Episode #99: Broken by God to Know Christ
RESOURCES
BooksWatchman NeeOrder Online: The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit
Hymn:Olives That Have Known No Pressure
Additional books mentionedSee  Episode #99: Broken by God to Know Christ
Online ResourcesA. Coates: “The Flocks of His Companions”
Podcast on Colossians 1:27:  Episode #80: The Bible in One Verse
Video Testimony of DAC: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship”
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Website for the church of the Chicagoans: ChicagoMeeting.org
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 25 July 2024

The Seven Churches (12): Laodicea, the Degraded Church of Christianity Today

The church in Laodicea is the last of the seven churches the Lord addresses in Revelation 2-3, and of all the seven churches, it is the one most severely reproved by the Lord.The name means “the Judgment of the People,” and it signifies the church as it has become degraded among so many Christians today, with “everyone doing what is right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 21:25). No doubt it is composed of genuine believers who are loved by the Lord (Rev. 3:19), but nonetheless, the Lord tells them,“You say, I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing! And you do not know you are the wretched one and pitiful and poor and blind and naked.”— Revelation 3:17If we are those who desire to follow Christ, we surely need to consider His word to Laodicea for ourselves, so that we do not follow in their footsteps, but who instead become those who are “hot,” even “boiling” (Rev. 3:15) for Christ.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #98: The Seven Churches (12): Laodicea, the Degraded Church of Today
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BooksWatchman NeeOrder Online: The Orthodoxy of the ChurchOrder Online: The Normal Christian Church Life
Online Resources
Note: “He Will Only Open to Us Then If We Open to Him Today”Video Testimony of DAC: Video Testimony of DAC: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship”Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Website for the church of the Chicagoans: ChicagoMeeting.org
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 16 July 2024

“Written, Not With Ink....”

The Lord’s promise to the overcomers in Philadelphia is that He will write upon them the name of His God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and His own new name (Rev. 3:12). This experience, however, is not only for the future; rather, even today, we should be those who open to the Lord and give Him the full ground to write Himself into our being, so that we may become living letters of Christ to the fallen world around us (2 Cor. 3:2-3).
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OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
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RESOURCES
BooksWitness LeeKindle Edition: The Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit
Online Resources
Note:  “His Closest Followers”
Note: “Can the Lord Change Your Name?”
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #97: “Written, Not With Ink....”
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Recorded...in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 11 July 2024

The Seven Churches (11): Philadelphia, Rewarded by the Lord

Among the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, Philadelphia is the one that fulfills the Lord’s desire. This church signifies the recovery of the genuine New Testament church life, which began in the 1800s with the Plymouth Brethren and John Nelson Darby, and continued in the 20th century with the local churches raised up through the ministries of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.To this church alone the Lord gives the promise of the pre-tribulation rapture (Rev. 3:10; cf. Luke 21:36). But, He also exhorts her to “hold fast what you have, that no one take your crown” (Rev. 3:11); so many of us in the local churches today surely need to heed this word!And to the overcomers in this church, the Lord speaks of how He will write upon them, not only the name of His God and His own new name, but also, the name of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 3:12). This is because, wherever you have the reality of the church in Philadelphia, there you have, even today, in the midst of this dark age, a foretaste of that heavenly city as the eternal dwelling place of God and man.
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OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
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RESOURCES
BooksWatchman NeeOrder Online: The Orthodoxy of the Church
Order Online: The Normal Christian Church Life
Online Resources
Video Testimony of DAC: How I Found the New Testament Fellowship
Pamphlet: What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?
Website for the church of the Chicagoans: ChicagoMeeting.org
Hymn Text: “I Am Not My Own,” by A.B. SimpsonRecording: The Church in Willoughby
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #96: “The Seven Churches (11): “Rewarded by the Lord”
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RecordingRecorded in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, 1 July 2024

The Seven Churches (10): Philadelphia, the Church that Keeps the Lord’s Name

The Lord appreciated the church in Philadelphia because she had not denied His name (Rev. 3:8). This does not only mean she was faithful to Christ in the face of persecution, but even more, that she refused to take any name for herself other than the name of Christ.This is in strong contrast to what Christians have practiced throughout history, which has been to call themselves by the name of some denomination or sect, such as “Presbyterian,” “Methodist,” or “Baptist.” In fact, “to denominate” literally means “to give something a name.”Only in the early 1800s, beginning in Dublin, Ireland, did some saints finally begin to realize the evils of denominationalism. They saw in the New Testament that, as the believers in Christ, they should come together simply as Christians, “those who belong to Christ,” calling themselves “brothers” and nothing more. Eventually they became known by others as the Plymouth Brethren.That was the beginning of the recovery of the New Testament fellowship of the believers, which is signified by the church in Philadelphia, “the church of brotherly love.” In the 20th century the Lord went on, using Watchman Nee and Witness Lee to recover the practical, New Testament way for believers to keep the oneness of the testimony of Christ, namely, by meeting together as the believers in the city where they live.In this episode, after covering some introductory points,  we continue to consider the Lord’s word to the church in Philadelphia about not denying His name.
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OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
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RESOURCES
BooksBy Watchman NeeOrder Online: The Orthodoxy of the Church
Video: The Testimony of DAC: How I Found the New Testament Fellowship
Pamphlet: What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?
Website of the church of the Chicagoans: ChicagoMeeting.org
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #95: “The Seven Churches (10): “Philadelphia: The Church of the Lord’s Desire”
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Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 26 June 2024

The Seven Churches (9): Philadelphia, the Church of the Lord’s Desire

Of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, it is the church in Philadelphia alone that fulfills the Lord’s desire. While almost all of the other churches are reproved by the Lord, to this church alone the Lord says, “You…have kept My word and have not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8).Prophetically, Philadelphia, “the church of brotherly love,” signifies the recovery of the genuine church life, beginning with the Plymouth Brethren in the 1800s and continuing, many would say, with the local churches raised up in the 20th century through Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.However, the testimony of Philadelphia is spiritual, not organizational, and so today it may not be easy to identify. Yet, if we seek to be in the fellowship of Philadelphia (and we surely should!) there are two particular traits we may look for, based on the Lord’s word above. That is, in this fellowship there is, positively, the keeping of the Lord’s word in an absolute way, and negatively, there is not the denying of His name by calling ourselves something other than believers in Christ.
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RESOURCES
BooksSince there is not enough room to list all of the books referred to in this episode here, they are listed on the website instead, here:Episode #94: “The Seven Churches (9): “Philadelphia: The Church of the Lord’s Desire”
Online Resources
J.N. Darby: Considerations on the Nature and Unity of the Church of ChristVideo Testimony of DAC: How I Found the New Testament Fellowship
The church of the ChicagoansChicagoMeeting.org
Bible VersesSee  Episode #94: “The Seven Churches (9): “Philadelphia: The Church of the Lord’s Desire”
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RecordingRecorded in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 19 June 2024

Who Are We Married To?

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul considers how our efforts to keep the law bring us under bondage. In doing so, however, he brings to light, by means of an analogy regarding the relationship of a wife with her husband, a great secret concerning our relationship both with ourselves and with Christ (Rom. 7:1-4).If we see this secret, it will give us a deeper realization of our need to be freed from our self-life so that we may walk with Christ in newness of life (Rom. 6:4, 8).
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RESOURCES
The Standard Version of the New Testament on Amazon
For More Information visit TheStandardVersion.org
Books
Titus ChuThe Song of Songs: A Divine Romance
HymnText: “I Am Not My Own,” by A.B. SimpsonA Recording by the Church in Willoughby
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
Romans 7:1-4: Who are we married to?Romans 6:1-8: Dying and living with Christ in newness of life.
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RecordingRecorded in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, 10 June 2024

The Seven Churches (8): Why “Philadelphia”?

Among the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, it is the church in Philadelphia that fulfills the Lord’s desire. But, why did the Lord, under His sovereignty, name this city so that the church there would be “the church in Philadelphia,” and not “the church in Agape?” In other words, why is this church called “the church of brotherly love,” rather than, “the church of divine love?” (That’s what the Greek words mean, respectively.) We might expect that, since the divine love is so much richer and higher than brotherly love, it should be the church in Agape that fulfills the Lord’s desire, not the church in Philadelphia.But in fact, in our experience, the divine love can only grow and develop within us in the environment of brotherly love (2 Peter 1:7). It is because the church in Philadelphia provides the environment for us to love the brothers and sacrifice ourselves for their sake, so that we enter into the experience of the divine love, that this church fulfills the Lord’s desire.
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RESOURCES
Books
Watchman NeeThe Orthodoxy of the Church
E.H. BroadbentThe Pilgrim Church
Bible VersesSee  Episode #92: “The Seven Churches (8): Why “Philadelphia”?
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RecordingRecorded in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 28 May 2024

The Seven Churches (7): Lessons from Sardis

The Lord’s word to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 is a truly remarkable prophecy of the seven stages the professing church would pass through before the Lord’s return. Understanding this prophecy will ground us much more firmly in our following of the Lord.But, we can also view this prophecy in terms of the lessons it provides regarding our own spiritual experience, and that is what we focus on in this episode. The Lord’s word to Sardis, together with the negative aspect of Protestant history, help us to see how we should view the Protestant denominations; how we should stand with the Lord for His kingdom on the earth; our need to avoid useless contentions of words (1 Tim. 6:4-5, 2 Tim. 2:14); and the crucial importance of always watching for the Lord’s return.
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RESOURCES
Previous Episodes
Episode #90: “The Seven Churches (6): Sardis, the Reformed but Dead Church”Episode #74: “Out of Egypt” (3)
Books
Watchman NeeThe Orthodoxy of the Church
E.H. BroadbentThe Pilgrim Church
Bible VersesSee  Episode #91: “The Seven Churches (7): Lessons from Sardis”
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RecordingRecorded in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, 13 May 2024

The Seven Churches (6): Sardis, the Reformed but Dead Church

Understanding the Lord’s word to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 will greatly help us to see where we need to be in terms of our own church fellowship. So, in this edition of the podcast we come to His word to the church in Sardis, which is found in Revelation 3:1-6.Just as during His earthly ministry, the word the Lord speaks to the seven churches is not at all political; rather, He gives a very strong, direct, and frank word of judgment to deal with so many of the negative and harmful things that had come in among the churches. And yet, at the same time, it is a word of love, for as the Lord says in Revelation 3:19,“As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline.”As we saw in the previous episode, the Lord would not even speak directly to Thyatira, which signifies, prophetically, the pagan, apostate, Roman Catholic church; He would only speak to the remnant of His people there.When we come to Sardis, however, which signifies the Protestant church of the Reformation, we see that, on the one hand, He does speak directly to this church. But, on the other hand, the Lord has nothing good to say about it; He only appreciates a “few” there who have not defiled their garments. To the church itself the Lord says, very simply, “You are dead!” (Rev. 3:1).Considering such a sober word will help us to realize that, while Sardis was indeed a real improvement over Thyatira, it still falls far short of the Lord’s desire. Thus, we still need to go on until we arrive at the church in Philadelphia.
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OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
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RESOURCES
Books
Watchman NeeThe Orthodoxy of the Church
E.H. BroadbentThe Pilgrim Church
Bible VersesSee  Episode #90: “The Seven Churches (6): Sardis, the Reformed but Dead Church”
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RecordingRecorded in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 9 May 2024