Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days

Ephesians 5:18 commands us: "Be being filled with the Holy Spirit." Pastor Derek explains what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and how we can be filled with the Spirit of God, and the difference it will make in our lives.

The Promise of the Spirit in the New Covenant has 2 aspects, as exemplified by Jesus: (1) The Spirit WITHIN, at the New Birth. (2) The Spirit UPON, at the Baptism in the Spirit. The apostles received the Spirit in 2 stages. (1) In the evening of His resurrection day they received the Spirit WITHIN (John 20:22). (2) Then 50 days later they received the Baptism in the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), when He ca...

The 2 stages of receiving the Holy Spirit: (1) At salvation, we receive the Spirit within. (2) At the Baptism in the Spirit, we receive the Spirit upon. Jesus is the classic example: (1) He had the Spirit WITHIN from birth, but (2) did not have the Spirit UPON until He was 30. We see these 2 stages with the apostles, for on the day of His resurrection Jesus imparted the indwelling Spirit to them (...

There are 2 Stages of receiving the Holy Spirit: (1) When we receive Christ, we are baptised into Him, born again, and receive the Spirit of God WITHIN, for our own personal blessing, holiness and life with God. (2) There is a subsequent experience of the Spirit after salvation, called the Baptism in the Spirit, when we receive the Spirit UPON, for the purpose of empowering us to witness to Christ...

How should we respond to all the things that happen to us in life, especially the bad things. One of the great promises of God is that: "God all things work together for good to those who are loving God, the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). So as long as we keep loving God through the trial, we can thank God that He will work all things (including evil things) together for our ultim...

"SEEK the LORD and His STRENGTH; SEEK His FACE forevermore!” (Psalm 105:1-4). Derek reveals the BENEFITS of SEEKING the Lord. When we SEEK His FACE, His Hand of STRENGTH comes upon our hearts, filling them with His life (like a hand filling a glove), righteousness, love, joy, peace, and wisdom (Proverbs 21:1, John 7:37-39, Ezra 8:22, Hosea 10:12, Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 5:5, Psalm 16:11, 40:16,...

Derek shows how Israel's journey from Egypt into their Promised Land is a picture of our spiritual journey from the kingdom of darkness into the promised land of God's perfect will for our lives. God has given us an inheritance (promised land) both for this life and throughout eternity, which is hidden in Christ in God. Christ is our life, and as we trust, follow and obey Him, He will lead us into...

The Prophecies of the New Covenant promise a 2-fold provision of the Spirit for all believers (the Promise of the Father): (1) The Spirit WITHIN, at salvation, enabling us to live holy lives (Ezek 36:26- 27), and (2) the Spirit UPON at our Baptism in the Spirit (Joel 2:28-29), releasing supernatural gifts and empowering us for ministry. The Promise of the Spirit is the 2-fold Blessing of Abraham (...

There are 3 Morning Star scriptures. In Revelation 22:16, Jesus said: “I am the Bright Morning Star.” In Revelation 2:28, Jesus promised: "I will give him the Morning Star." 2Peter 1:19 says: "you do well to heed (God's prophetic word) as a light that shines in a dark place, until (1) the DAY DAWNS, and (2) the MORNING STAR arises in your hearts.” This speaks of 2 different future manifestations o...

The Lamb's Book of Life is God's Family Album with the names of all those saved through the Blood of the Lamb. At the Great White Throne at the end of time, Christ will open this Book to verify that the names of those who had rejected God and His salvation were not included in it (Revelation 20:11-15). So they are judged according to what is written in the books of their lives. Whether or not you...

The Baptism in the Spirit is when we receive the Spirit upon us, clothing us with His power to witness. 'Baptism means immersion, so to be Baptised in the Spirit means to be immersed in the Spirit (the Spirit upon us). There is a 2-fold ministry of the Spirit in Scripture for us to receive: (1) the Spirit WITHIN, at salvation, for our own blessing, holiness and life with God, and later (2) the Spi...

CHRIST is our ROCK, our sure FOUNDATION (Isa 28:16, Matt16:18, 1Cor 3:11), the Rock of our Salvation (Ps 89:26, 2Sam 22:47). He contains the waters of life and salvation. "They drank of that spiritual ROCK that followed them, and that ROCK was CHRIST" (1Cor 10:3). Derek studies and compares the 2 stories of WATER flowing from the ROCK, showing how together they give us a picture of the Holy Spirit...

Derek explores what it means to be in Christ - who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ, by grace through the New Birth. This includes a special study of the classic passage - Romans 5:12-21.

In John 3, Jesus shared with Nicodemus that we must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. This New Birth is accomplished by the Triune God: (1) the Father brings us to birth, through (2) the work of the Spirit (the wind of God), when we believe in (3) the Son of God, who died for our sins on the Cross, in fulfilment of the type of the Bronze Serpent lifted up on a pole.

Derek shares how God accomplished the rebirth of our spirit in the New Birth, and describes the nature of our New Man (our regenerated spirit).

Derek shares 3 keys to receive your healing from God: (1) know God's will to heal, (2) know God's gift of healing power, (3) surrender yourself to God.

The BAPTISM in the SPIRIT is to receive the Spirit UPON. In Acts, new believers normally received this Baptism soon after their salvation. The PURPOSE of the Baptism in the Spirit is to EMPOWER us to fulfil the Great Commission (Acts 1:8). As well as (1) having the Spirit WITHIN for our own blessing and walk with God (HOLINESS), we also need (2) the POWER of His Spirit, through His Spirit UPON us,...

There is a 2-fold RECEIVING of the SPIRIT: (1) WITHIN, at the New Birth (Romans 8:9), and then (2) UPON - the BAPTISM in the SPIRIT. (1) The Spirit WITHIN is for our personal holiness. (2) The Spirit UPON is to EMPOWER us to fulfil the Great Commission. It is a separate experience that comes after salvation. Old Testament Prophecy said when Messiah comes and brings in a New Covenant, it would incl...

Central to the Christian faith is the revelation of the Deity of Christ. A saving faith in Christ includes believing that Jesus is the God-man, the Son of God, who is both our Lord and Saviour, and who is therefore worthy of our worship. Therefore the key Christian confession is: "Jesus is Lord." Derek shows this from a number of Scriptures.

The Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament consistently speak of the Coming Messiah as being both GOD and MAN (the unique God-man). The prophecies were given so that we might recognise the true Messiah when He comes. The New Testament proclaims that all these Prophecies were fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is the LORD JESUS CHRIST (Lord = His Deity, Jesus = His humanity, and Christ...

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). As well as teaching us what it means to be a good neighbour this Parable reveals the Gospel in code. It also gives a hint that Jesus will return after 2 DAYS (2000 years).

The word BAPTISE means IMMERSE. There are 3 foundational Christian BAPTISMS: (1) Baptism into Christ, (2) Baptism into Water, and (3) Baptism into the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Although we received the Spirit WITHIN at salvation, we also need to receive the Spirit UPON to empower us to be a witness (the Baptism in the Spirit). The PURPOSE of this Baptism is to RECEIVE POWER to fulfil the great comm...

In Matthew 24:37-39 Jesus confirmed that the Genesis account of Noah's Flood was a true historical account, and He used it as a picture and warning of a sudden future judgment coming upon the whole world (the Day of the Lord). He also said that just as God rescued the believers in Noah's day from judgment through Noah's Ark, so God will also provide salvation from the coming judgment for those who...

After saying: the just shall live by faith" (Hebrews 10:38), in Hebrews 11, Paul describes what it means to live by faith by giving illustrations from the lives of a number of the Old Testament heroes of faith, who pleased God. These men who have run their race are now the clouds of witnesses in the grandstands of Heaven, inspiring us as we run our race on earth (Hebrews 12:1-2). Their lives witne...

God became a Man in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is God, the Son, and the Son of God. Jesus is the central Person in the Bible, our Saviour and the Source of Eternal Life, and we must believe in Him and come to Him to receive salvation and eternal life (John 5:39-40, 1John 5:11-12). Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), and only God can be our Saviour, so if Christ came to save us He must be God...