Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days

We see how God used a plant as a covering to show Jonah the contrast between being covered and uncovered, so that he could develop a heart of compassion for the people of Nineveh. We consider the evidence that shows God was successful in this, and that Jonah wrote his book for Israel to learn from his experiences. We then see how the whole story of Jonah is a wonderful type of Christ, in His death...

When Nineveh repents, God decides to not destroy her. But Jonah is angry. Why was he so upset? We contrast Jonah's attitude with God's heart of compassion for the lost, revealed through His Plan of Salvation, not only for the people of Nineveh, but for all mankind, as demonstrated by the Cross. We also explore the connection of Jonah with the Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles, confirmed by...

Jonah preaches to the Ninevites. What did he say? How was it that they all repented and turned to God from the greatest to the least? If God gave wicked Nineveh a great revival, can He not do the same in our communities today? We also discuss the theological issue raised by the fact that God relented or changed His mind concerning His declaration that He would destroy Nineveh. If God is perfect an...

In Matthew 12:39-41, Jesus said that Jonah was a type of Himself, especially in His death and resurrection after 3 days: "The sign of the prophet Jonah - for as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth - a greater than Jonah is here." We discuss, did Jonah really get swallowed by a whale? Did Jonah die and...

When God hurls a storm at the ship, the sailors cast lots to find out why. The lot fell on Jonah, forcing him to declare his faith in Jehovah. As a type of Christ, he offers himself to die, so that the sailors might live. As a result the sailors are saved both physically and spiritually, because they now believe in the LORD.

Jonah flees to Tarshish. Where and what is Tarshish? Could it be the UK? If so, what are the implications for us today? We look at the many Scriptures that mention Tarshish, both in history and in end-time prophecy, including Ezekiel 38:13, Isaiah 60:9 and Psalm 72:10-11.

Introduction to the prophecy of Jonah, and its historical, geographical and spiritual background. Was Jonah a real person or is it just an allegory? Why did Jesus compare Himself to Jonah? We explore the balance between God's judgement and His mercy, and how it applies to our life and society today in the modern age.

Whether you are a believer or unbeliever makes a huge difference at your death, because the condition of each soul at death will determine its eternal destiny (Ecc 11:3). All mankind will be divided into 2 groups. There is a HEAVEN to gain and a HELL to shun! Before the Death and Resurrection of Christ, at death both believers and unbelievers went down to a place called ‘Hades’ (Greek) or ‘Sheol’...

God's eternal Judgment will determine each person's eternal destiny. This Judgment, which happens when we cross over the threshold from this life to the next, will be solely a judgment of that individual, and the decisions he has made in his life (Ezekiel 18:20). The Bible teaches that mankind generally goes through 3 Phases of Existence: (1) This Life. (2) The Intermediate State - after our spiri...

Christ’s future Coming is in 2 Stages. (1) He comes in the Rapture for His Church, when we meet Him in the air, and then (2) He comes with His Church and sets His feet on the earth to judge the wicked and establish His Kingdom on the earth. These 2 Stages explain why the prophecies of His Coming contain 2 very different kinds of description. Some describe Him coming in power and glory, after a seq...

The Rapture of the Church is the final event of the Church Age, the ingathering of the harvest of the Church, when Christ comes for His Bride (all believers in Christ, who have been saved in the Church Age), and takes them to Heaven. In this video, we see how the Pre-Tribulation Rapture originates from the teaching of Jesus. In John 14:1-3, Jesus established key truths about the Rapture, distingui...

In this 3-part Series, we take an in-depth look at the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, showing how it harmonises many prophetic Scriptures. The End of the Age (the Tribulation) will be by far the worst period of time that will ever be, utterly unlike the Church Age, because it will be (1) a time when evil comes to its fullness (in the antichrist), and (2) a time of ever intensifying Divine Wrath (through...

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 fait...

The Lord Jesus came to make all things new through His death and resurrection. (1) God made all things, but (2) man has corrupted all things, including himself, but (3) God became a man in the Person of Jesus Christ to make all things new, and if we receive Him as our Lord and Saviour, He will make us a New Creation in Christ. One day, God will destroy this universe and make all things new, by cre...

The first 4 Divine Institutions were established by God before man fell into sin: (1) FREE-WILL, (2) WORK, (3) MARRIAGE, and (4) FAMILY. Therefore these are the primary DIs, which God ordained to form the main structure for our social life. When the Fall happened, sin came into the world, along with the lawless spirit of satan, which attacks the Divine Institutions (e.g, crime attacks our personal...

Human authorities are imperfect, but we are still required to submit to their authority, which is from God. Authority can be abusive, when it oversteps its boundaries, especially if it tries to override our free-will without good cause. In such cases, we are not required to OBEY it, especially if it tells us to do something that is contradictory to God’s Word, which is the higher authority: “We ou...

A major key to the order, peace and stability of our society is that the Divine Institutions (DIs) are upheld as God intended, and a major key to our personal success in life is discerning, honouring and submitting to God’s authorities in these DIs. Our submission to God is not just about our direct relationship with Him. A major part of being submitted to God is being submitted to His Government...

God governs this world through delegated authorities, through human beings, who carry His authority. There are 7 different realms of delegated human authority called the Divine Institutions. The spirit of lawlessness in the world comes from satan. Lawlessness is not just disobedience to God, but the very rejection of God’s authority and His right to rule over us. It is rebellion against all law an...

A major way God, the Lawgiver, governs this world and expresses His authority is through the DIVINE INSTITUTIONS, which are spheres of delegated human authority in the earth. He governs through human beings, who carry His authority, in 7 distinct realms: (1) FREE-WILL – our God-given authority over our own life, (2) WORK, (3) MARRIAGE (between a man and a woman), (4) FAMILY (this includes their ch...

Hilary shares from the story of the forgiven sinful woman, who responds by worshipping and loving Jesus extravagantly (Luke 7:36-47). She is given as an example of the truth that the one who is FORGIVEN much, LOVES much. A big reason that we don't love Jesus more and deeply appreciate His forgiveness is because we don't know how just how much we've been forgiven ourselves. We need to understand th...

Jesus Christ gave His Divine Blood to pay the price in full for all of mankind's sin, offering us His full forgiveness as a free gift. In the light of His amazing grace and mercy toward us, it is a serious sin for believers to harbour unforgiveness and bitterness toward others. It cuts us off from the grace and blessing of God and opens the door to sickness, mental torment, oppression and bondage,...

Many Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament speak of the Coming Messiah as being both GOD and MAN (the unique God-man). The New Testament proclaims that all these Prophecies were fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ, and claims that He is both fully Man and fully God, and because He is God, He is able to save us, if we call upon His Name, and He is worthy of our full and absolute love, loyal...

The Gospel proclaims that God became a man in the Person of Jesus Christ in order to save us. Jesus Christ is not just a man, but he is fully God, He is God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, and because He is God, He is worthy of our full devotion, our absolute love and loyalty, the total submission of our heart and life, our wholehearted worship and service. The Deity of Christ is expres...

Paul's teaching on head-coverings in Church (1Corinthians 11:1-16) is one of the most complex passages in the New Testament. Derek explains how his argument is on 3 levels: *(1) The THEOLOGICAL basis: HEADSHIP in Marriage. *(2) The PRINCIPLE of HEAD-COVERING – a woman should cover her head as a symbol and expression of her SUBMISSION to the HEADSHIP of her man. *(3) The PRACTICE – what constitutes...

Hilary shares from Isaiah 53:1-5 how Divine Healing was purchased for us on the Cross, confirmed by Matthew 8:5-17, for: “He took our sicknesses and bore our diseases." The risen Christ has poured out the Holy Spirit for us all to receive. The Spirit dwells within the spirit of every believer and wants to flow out through our hearts as rivers of life-giving water (John 7:37-39), bringing us health...