Freedom Streams Podcast

6. Condemning Sodom and Gomorrah to Ruin by Fire In the old dispensation, God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah to ruin by fire. This He did as an example to those who would live an ungodly life. To live an ungodly life is to live in the flesh in the lusts of men, not in the will of God 7. Choosing the Children of Israel, the Descendants of Abraham, and Making Them His People as a Type of the Church Th...

10. Promising the Coming Gospel of the New Dispensation through the Prophets among the Chosen Race God’s work in His old administrative arrangement included promising the coming gospel of the new dispensation through the prophets among the chosen race. The word “gospel” means glad tidings, good news. The gospel is news that gladdens those who hear it. It is good news from God, from the heavens. .”...

In this message we shall consider further God’s work in the old dispensation, in His old administrative arrangement. 4. Calling Abraham, the Father of the Chosen Race, out of the Idolatrous Generation Abraham was called by God. Adam was the father and head of the created race, but Abraham was the father and head of the called race. As recorded in Genesis, the history of the created race concluded...

B. IN THE OLD DISPENSATION God’s work in the old dispensation was His work in the Old Testament. The old dispensation was God’s old administrative arrangement or economy. In the Old Testament as well as in the New, God had an economy, a dispensation, an administrative arrangement. 1. Creating the Universe 2. Creating Man and Determining Mankind’s Appointed Seasons and the Boundaries of Dwelling 3....

In this message we shall begin to consider God’s work as revealed in the New Testament. Our God is a working God. The Lord’s word in John 5:17 indicates this: “My Father is working until now.” In the New Testament we see God’s work in eternity past, in His old dispensation, in His new dispensation, and in eternity future, with many aspects. A. IN ETERNITY PAST 1. Making the Divine Economy In etern...

10. Its Street . The street signifies the way, and the street being pure gold indicates that the nature of God is the way in the New Jerusalem. Because it is one street that proceeds out of the throne to reach all the twelve gates of the city, it should be spiral that passes through the entire city. 11. Its Supply The river of water of life, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, sig...

3. Its Components Revelation 21:12 says that on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, and Revelation 21:14 tells us that on the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 4. Its Base Revelation 21:18 says, “The city was pure gold, like pure glass,” and Revelation 21:21 says, “The street of the...

C. IN THE NEW JERUSALEM AS THE CONSUMMATE CORPORATE EXPRESSION IN THE NEW CREATION The final stage of God’s manifestation will be in the New Jerusalem as the consummated corporate expression in the new creation. .” In eternity past God purposed to have a corporate expression so that He might be fully expressed and glorified (Eph. 3:9-11; 1:9-11). For this, He created the heavens, the earth, and ma...

GOD—HIS MANIFESTATION In the foregoing message we saw that God’s good pleasure, God’s heart’s desire, is to have many sons for the expression of His Son so that He may be expressed in the Son through the Spirit. For this purpose, God has manifested Himself, first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh and then in the church, the Body of Christ, as the enlarged corporate expression in t...

B. IN THE CHURCH—THE BODY OF CHRIST— AS THE ENLARGED CORPORATE EXPRESSION IN THE FLESH We have pointed out that the fullness of God is the expression of God. According to John 1:16, the fullness of God came with Christ, who is the embodiment of God’s fullness. With Christ, the expression of God was an individual matter. This expression needs to be enlarged from an individual to a corporate express...

FOR THE EXPRESSION OF HIS SON It is God’s good pleasure, the desire of His heart, to have many sons for the expression of His Son. As we have seen, Romans 8:29 says that God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His Son. To have us conformed to the image of His Son is for the expression of His Son. C. THAT HE MAY BE EXPRESSED IN THE SON THROUGH THE SPIRIT God desires to have many sons f...

GOD—HIS GOOD PLEASURE In this message we shall consider: GOD’S GOOD PLEASURE—GOD’S HEART’S DESIRE Ephesians 1:5 says, “Having predestinated us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Ephesians 1:9 goes on to say, “Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.” God has a will in which...

X. LONGSUFFERING Romans 2:4 also speaks of God’s longsuffering. This also is a divine attribute. Longsuffering is something more than patience. It means to suffer long. “Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger, and it is associated with mercy” Y. ENDURANCE In Romans 15:5 God is calle...

In these messages we have seen the many aspects of what God is in His person. We have also considered God’s attributes. This God is now dispensing Himself into us. This means that God with all that He is and with all that He has is being dispensed into us. The more we are under God’s dispensing, the more the divine attributes are infused into our being. While God is dispensing Himself into us, He...

U. ENCOURAGEMENT In Romans 15:5 God is called the God of encouragement. Encouragement, as an attribute of God, is slightly different from comfort and consolation. V. KINDNESS The New Testament reveals the divine attribute of kindness. Kindness is a benevolent goodness which issues out of mercy and love. W. FORBEARANCE Regarding the way God deals with sinners, Romans 2:4 refers to His excellent att...

Q. GRACE Ephesians 2:7 says, “That He might display in the ages which are coming the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul testifies, “But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” The grace of God is a matter of tre...

O. MERCY Romans 9:16 says, “So then, it is not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of God, the One who shows mercy.” Mercy is the most far reaching of God’s attributes. Mercy goes further than grace. God’s love does not reach as far as His grace, and His grace does not reach as far as His mercy. If I am in a good condition and my standing matches yours, and you give me a gift, that...

In this message we shall continue to consider God’s attributes. J. FAITHFULNESS First Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” This word is a continuation of 1 Corinthians 1:8, strengthening the thought with the assurance of God’s faithfulness. In His faithfulness He will confirm the believers till the end, making...

H. WISDOM Romans 11:33 speaks of God’s wisdom: “O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments, and untraceable His paths!” At the very end of the book of Romans Paul says, “To the only wise God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen” (Rom. 16:27). Wisdom is different from cleverness and deeper than cleverness. It is possible t...

In this message we shall consider more of God’s attributes. F. HOLINESS Holiness is one of the main attributes of our God. Revelation 4:8 says, “The four living creatures…have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God the Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is coming.” The mentioning of “holy” three times, as in Isaiah 6:3, implies the thought of God being triune, as the mention...

In Colossians 1:19 and 2:9 we see two aspects of the fullness. According to 1:19, all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Christ. According to 2:9, all the fullness dwells in Christ bodily. This implies the physical body which Christ put on in His humanity. It indicates that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ as the One who has a human body. Before His incarnation, the fullness of t...

FULLNESS Another attribute of God is fullness. Colossians 1:19 says, “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” What is the fullness spoken of in this verse? Many would answer that it is the fullness of the Godhead. Although this is correct, here Paul does not modify the word “fullness” by a phrase such as “of the Godhead” or “of God.” He simply says that all the fullness was pleased to d...

In this message we shall conclude our study of the aspects of God’s person revealed in the New Testament. 25. The One Who Is, Who Was, and Who Is Coming Twice in the book of Revelation we are told that God is the One who is, who was, and who is coming. This is the meaning of the name Jehovah. In Hebrew Jehovah means “I am that I am.” His being the I Am signifies that He is the One who exists from...

C. LIGHT The divine light, as we have seen in the foregoing message, is the nature of God’s expression. Thus, it is an expressive attribute of God. Revelation 21:23 says, “The city has no need of the sun nor of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” In the millennium the light of the sun and the moon will be intensified (Isa. 30:26). Bu...

In this message we shall begin to consider the many attributes/traits of God revealed in the New Testament. Attributes refer to something more than virtues/qualities. When we speak of God’s attributes, we refer to all that belongs to God. Of course, when the things that belong to God become our experience, they become our virtues. Therefore, with God there are attributes, and with us there are vir...