Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio)

The essence of discipleship is a love relationship with the Lord Jesus (Matt 22:37-38, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). A true disciple loves the Lord and seeks to express that in his life by pleasing and glorifying Him. This is not a legalism, but the obedience of love. The keeping of commandments is an expression of love (John 14:15). Without the motivation of love our Christian life just becomes outward performance, and loses its meaning and excitement, but when we live in an overflow of love, it is all joy. The motivation of a true disciple is loving the Lord, so the heart must first be converted to Christ through the Gospel. The purpose and effect of the Gospel is to win our hearts to Christ, bringing us into a love relationship with Him, in which we receive His love, causing us to give our love (heart) to Him (Rev 2:2-5). Mary demonstrated this love, manifested in worship, when she anointed Jesus (Mark 14:3-6, John 12:3-5). He connected her act of extravagant love with the preaching of the Gospel (Mark 14:9), as it demonstrated its purpose - the total conversion of our heart, so that we give Him our heart, love, devotion, worship, surrender, and life. God’s love for us is extravagant, excessive and uninhibited, so our only appropriate response is to return that same kind of love to Him, giving Him our whole heart. That is the response the Divine Lover desires from His Bride. His love for us is prodigal (over the top, excessive, plenty too much) - Luke 15:20. The joy to which Jesus looked forward, that sustained Him through the Cross, was to have our heart, so we would be united with Him forever (Hebrews 12:2). True discipleship (obedience to Christ and His Word) follows on and flows out from a converted heart of love for the Lord, the fruit of the Gospel. Its essence is loving the Lord. It is the outworking of our love relationship with Christ, in the details of our life. Once we love Him, we want to please Him, to be like Him and do what He says. A disciple is a dedicated follower of Christ and learner of His Word, which teaches us how to live a life that glorifies Him. All true believers are His disciples, which is why Christians were originally called Disciples. It is not an optional extra. You can’t receive Christ without your life changing and starting on the life of discipleship. If you are not a disciple, your heart is unconverted, and you are unsaved. Without true conversion, there can be no true life of discipleship. The 2 STAGES of (1) the personal conversion of our heart to Christ, through the Gospel, followed by (2) a lifestyle of discipleship correspond to the 2 PARTS of the Great Commission: (1) preaching the Gospel (the Good News of His love) unto salvation (Mark 16:15-16), and (2) making disciples by teaching His Word (Matthew 28:19-20). (1) The Gospel is designed to convert hearts to the Person of Jesus, not to a religion. Conversion is sealed by water baptism, the first ordained response of a convert, by which he publicly declares his faith, love and commitment to Christ. (2) This initial act of obedience also officially marks him out as one who has entered into a new life as a disciple, who follows Christ, learning and obeying His Word. The 2 parts of the Great Commission are connected by baptism. Part 1 results in baptism, and baptism is the initial official act of part 2. The heart of the Gospel is the declaration, revealing God’s amazing unconditional LOVE for us (John 3:16), designed to convert our heart to loving God: “We LOVE Him, because He first LOVED us” (1John 4:19, Rom 5:8). The more we realise how much He has forgiven us, the more we will love Him (Luke 7:47). Trusting in His saving love, results in us giving (surrendering) our hearts to Him, receiving Him as our Lord and committing our lives to Him. We are His beloved Bride (2Cor 11:2-3). This devotion is created by Christ declaring His wonderful saving love for us in the Gospel. When we believe in His love for us, it produces love in our hearts for Him, so that we want to be with Him, be like Him, serve Him, glorify Him, and be united with Him forever. FAITH in Christ begets LOVE for Him, both of which together produce HOPE, the vision of a glorious future with Him (1Cor 13:13, 1Thess 1:9-10). This love of God in Christ for us began in eternity past, when God chose (foreknew, set His love on us, Jer 31:3, John 15:16). He loved us from eternity and will love us forever. In His love, He predestined us to glory, and then effectually called us to Himself by the Gospel, so that when we received Christ, He justified us (forgave us, put us into right-standing with Himself, and declared us righteous, based on the imputed righteousness of Christ). Justification then put us on the path of sanctification, where His Spirit changes us to become more like Jesus, through His imparted righteousness and life, as we trust in Him and obey Him, which will result in our glorification, when we are fully united with God (Romans 8:29-30).

God has a mission for us to fulfil. He sends us to preach the Gospel and make disciples (Mark 16:15-20, Matt 28:18-20). His Purpose is to save as many as possible and we must play our part. We need His POWER to be effective in His work of being His witness (Acts 1:8). That’s what the BAPTISM in the SPIRIT is about. If you are saved, you have the Spirit WITHIN, but you also need to receive the anointing of His Spirit UPON, like Jesus (Acts 10:38). There are 2 impartations of the Spirit, WITHIN and UPON. In both cases, God only gives us the Spirit when we surrender to Him. First, by faith we surrender to His saving Love and Lordship, and are saved. There is also a 2nd specific surrender to God that needs to happen, when we say: “Lord, I am willing to do whatever you want me to do, but I need your power. So, I dedicate myself to you to be empowered to fulfil my ministry.” When you do that, you are in position to receive the fullness of the Spirit UPON you to accomplish the mission He has for you. Acts 1:8: “You shall receive POWER (dunamis, potential energy) when the HOLY SPIRIT has come UPON you; and you will be My WITNESSES.” So, we have His potential Power upon us, if baptised in the Spirit, but we must ignite it by speaking His words. Once we have His POWER UPON, we must RELEASE it by PRAYING in the Spirit and SPEAKING His words. In Acts 2:3-4 the Spirit filled them (v4) and came upon them (v3), manifesting as fire (v3), as they prayed in tongues (v4). When we speak under the inspiration of the Spirit, we SHINE His LIGHT (2Cor 4:3-6, Matt 5:14,16). As we preach the Gospel, testify, and pray in the Spirit, that fire is ignited. By yielding to the Spirit and speaking His words, they activated His Power upon them, and their light shined forth. The outward evidence of receiving the Spirit UPON is SPEAKING in TONGUES (Acts 2:4, 10:44-48). This is the BAPTISM in the SPIRIT (Acts 1:5, 11:15-17). A spiritual law is you can’t make an UNCLEAN thing HOLY. It must first be CLEANSED by BLOOD, and only then can it be made HOLY, by DEDICATING it to God, for the HOLY SPIRIT to possess it. The Presence of the Holy Spirit in us makes us holy. You can only be BAPTISED in the SPIRIT, if you have first been BORN AGAIN, for you must first be CLEANSED by the BLOOD, before you can be made HOLY by the SPIRIT within and upon. When you receive Christ (1) you are cleansed by His Blood, and born again, and only then does (2) the Spirit come WITHIN you. You must first (1) be BORN AGAIN by the application of OIL of the Spirit, before (2) your spirit can receive the NEW WINE of the Spirit within and upon you (Matthew 9:17). When God poured His Spirit UPON the Gentiles in Acts 10, Peter knew God had fully accepted them, like the Jews, on the basis of their faith in Christ. Acts 15:8-9: “God, (1) who knows the heart (that they were saved), (2) acknowledged them (outwardly, before the Jews), by giving them the Holy Spirit (upon), just as He did to us (the Jews, at Pentecost), and (in this way, proved to us that) He made no distinction between us (Jews) and them (Gentiles) - that (1) He had PURIFIED (cleansed) their hearts by faith.” When you dedicate to God to do His will, He sets you apart to His work, by anointing you with His Spirit UPON. First (1) you are SET APART to God (made HOLY), to belong to Him, by the Spirit WITHIN. Then (2) you are SET APART to do His work by the Spirit UPON (the BAPTISM in the SPIRIT). God had to do 2 things in Isaiah to prepare him to be a prophet: (1) CLEANSE him by BLOOD. Then (2) ANOINT him with the SPIRIT, so his heart and lips were on FIRE with His Spirit. When he saw God’s glory, he repented of his unclean heart and lips, and dedicated himself to God (Isaiah 6:5). Then a BURNING COAL from the Altar of Sacrifice was applied to the incense altar of his heart and lips. These COALS, burning from the FIRE of the Sacrifice, had the BLOOD on them, which had paid for his cleansing. They represent the SPIRIT, who communicates the value of the Sacrifice to us, (1) CLEANSING us by the BLOOD, and (2) IMPARTING His holy FIRE, causing the incense of prayer and worship to ascend to God from our burning heart (v6-7). They also represent the ANOINTINGS of God, purchased on the Cross, where Christ shed His Blood for us. So, a burning anointing of God came on Isaiah. His heart was on fire with God’s fire, and his lips were on fire, declaring God’s truth. This fire of God on him was his anointing to be a prophet. The burning anointing of the coal set his tongue on fire, giving him power to prophesy. Having received this power, he was sent to go forth and speak for God (v8). This is how we receive the Baptism in the Spirit. If born again, you qualify, but you need to dedicate yourself to God and ask Him to FILL you with His SPIRIT, and yield your tongue to His Spirit to speak His words (Acts 2:4). The POWER of the SPIRIT (1) filled their HEART from the inside, and (2) came on their LIPS, to speak His words.

One of the great judgements of the Bible is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah along with the whole area of the Dead Sea. This book, filled with photographs from the region, demonstrates that the remains of these Cities are still there to be seen, perfectly confirming the Bible account of this dramatic Divine Intervention. Moreover, this book aims to expound the vital spiritual lessons God gave to the whole human race through this unique judgement. In particular, it provides a major revelation of the Final Judgement. This book is available on Amazon and from www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk (online shop).

In Acts, we see a consistent pattern when people came to faith in Christ: (1) They were born again and received the Spirit WITHIN. (2) Then later, they received the Spirit UPON, empowering them to fulfil the Great Commission. This separate experience is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Acts gives the PATTERN for the Church for the whole Church Age, including the 2-stage ministry of the Spirit. We see this 2-stage experience in the life of JESUS, and the APOSTLES: (1) the Spirit WITHIN (John 20:22) and (2) the BAPTISM in the SPIRIT (Acts 1:4,5,8, 2:1-4). The disciples needed special preparation before receiving this, because it requires a specific surrender to God. We must embrace His Mission (the Great Commission), and dedicate to do His will, asking His Spirit to come UPON us, to empower us to fulfil it. For our personal life with God, we need the Spirit within. But for our ministry (like Jesus), we need the anointing of the Spirit upon us, to be fully effective. The SAMARITANS had a 2-stage reception of the Spirit (Acts 8). They received the Gospel and were baptised (v5-6,12,14). At this point (1) they were SAVED with the Spirit WITHIN (Mark 16:16), but (2) they had not yet received the Spirit UPON (v14-16). So, Peter and John prayed for them to receive the Spirit, for He had not yet fallen UPON them. Then they received the Spirit (v14-17). The apostles knew the Spirit had fallen upon them, for there was outward evidence. Also, Simon SAW the SPIRIT was GIVEN through the laying on hands by the apostles (v18). This was speaking in tongues as in Acts 2:4 & 10:44-46. When Simon offered Peter money for this gift (v19), he replied: “You have neither part nor portion in this MATTER (‘logos’ = word or utterance)” (v21). PAUL was saved when Jesus appeared to him (Acts 9:5-6,15-17). Then 3 days later (9:9) Ananias came to him and laid his hands on him, to be FILLED with the SPIRIT (v17), as in Acts 2:4, which he confirmed later in 1Cor 14:18: “I thank my God SPEAKING in TONGUES more than you all.” Paul confirmed these 2 stages when he asked the EPHESIANS: “Did you RECEIVE the HOLY SPIRIT when you BELIEVED” (Acts 19:1-2). When it was clear they were not saved (v3), he preached the Gospel and baptised them (v4-5), so now they were saved, but had not yet received the Baptism in the Spirit, for it was only when he laid hands on them, that the Spirit came UPON them and they SPOKE with TONGUES” (v6). The Gentile Pentecost proves speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of receiving the Spirit UPON, just as it was at Pentecost (Acts 10:44-47, 2:4). The Baptism in the Spirit includes speaking in tongues, so you have not received the full experience until you have yielded your tongue to the Spirit - only then have you allowed Him to fully come upon you. Acts 11:15: “As I began to speak, the Holy SPIRIT fell UPON them, as UPON us at the Beginning (Pentecost).” This is called being BAPTISED in the HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 1:5, 11:16). Peter interpreted this event in Acts 15:7-9. “So, God (1) who knows the heart (that they were saved), (2) acknowledged them (outwardly, before the Jews), by giving them the Holy Spirit (upon as well as within), just as He did to us (Jews at Pentecost), and (demonstrated to us that) He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts (salvation) by faith” (v8-9). Although in Acts 10 the Gentiles received the Spirit UPON at about the same time they were saved, Peter pointed out it was still a 2-stage experience, for (1) they first received the inner experience of being purified by faith, and then soon after (2) He gave them the Spirit upon, as an outward sign, proving that He had accepted them. There are 3 spiritual STATES: *(1) UNCLEAN (negative) because of sin. *(2) CLEAN (a neutral state - zero), also COMMON. *(3) HOLY (positive). Only BLOOD can cleanse the unclean. A CLEAN thing can only be made HOLY by the HOLY SPIRIT, symbolised by OIL. Thus, anointing with oil makes something holy. Only God’s Spirit in us makes us holy. The more we surrender to God, the more His Spirit possesses us, and the holier we become. You can’t make something HOLY unless it’s first been CLEANSED. (1) It has to be CLEANSED by BLOOD, and then (2) it can be anointed with the OIL of the SPIRIT, and so be made HOLY. (1) BLOOD was applied, cleansing the unclean thing and then (2) OIL sanctifies the common thing. (Ex 29:21, Lev 8:30, 14:17,28, Ezek 16:9). In Acts 15, Peter was saying the fact these Gentiles were anointed with the HOLY SPIRIT upon, was an OUTWARD PROOF that God had CLEANSED their HEARTS, when they put their faith in the BLOOD of Christ. (If they had only received the Spirit WITHIN, there would have been no outward evidence to the Jews that God had saved them). When we believe (1) we are cleansed by the Blood of Christ, and (2) set apart to God, by the Spirit within us, who is manifested outwardly, when He comes upon us. The fact they had the Spirit upon proved they were accepted by God.

God's WORDS are mighty WEAPONS with Divine Power to pull down enemy strongholds, including fear. Derek illustrates this through the Pirate Warfare of 2Corinthians 10:4-6, and the destruction of Joshua's Jericho through the WORD of FAITH, which was necessary for Israel to enter her Promised Land (likewise to enter our Promised Land we must pull down the strongholds that stand in the way). Jesus said, we can remove the mountains of enemy opposition to the will of God by declaring His WORD, and believing that what we say will come to pass, by the the power of God's Spirit released through our words (Mark 11:23, Zechariah 4:6-9).

This book is available from www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk, and it is also available on Amazon under the title: 'Keys to Long Life'. See also Derek's Youtube Series called 'Keys to Long Life.' Do you want to live a long and satisfying life? Did you know that God wants you to live long and strong? What does the Bible actually mean by a long life? God wants you to live a full and long life, with quality and quantity of days. Few people are aware that there are promises from God on the subject of living a long life. Although there is much teaching on divine healing, there is very little on living in divine health and youth renewal. In 'Live Long and Strong', Derek addresses this lack, providing an in-depth study of what the Bible has to say on living a long life. God's promise in Psalm 91:16 is: "With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation." Jesus said: "I have come that they may have life in abundance" (John 10:10). However, God also says: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). If you do not hear God s Word on a subject, you will not have faith to receive His promised provision in that area. 'Live Long and Strong' introduces you to the wealth of Scripture on long life and fully persuade you of God's will for your life in this area. This book will renew your mind and build your faith, so that you can receive God's promises for a long life, resulting in receiving His health, strength, and youth renewal. It will also impart the wisdom you need to see these promises come to pass. It will inspire you to receive God's grace for youth renewal, so that you live long and strong! It will lengthen your life! Your life will be lengthened and strengthened for God's glory!

One of the great miracles of the Bible is how the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, when all of Israel shouted together in faith. This book, filled with photographs from Jericho, demonstrates how the archaeology of Jericho perfectly confirms the Bible account. Moreover, it shows how God's destruction of Jericho is a type of God's future judgement of this world-system, as well as revealing the keys we need to successfully posses our Promised Land today. This book is available from Amazon and from www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk

Psalm 83 is a Prophetic Prayer describing by name a confederacy of nations, which surround her, who all want to destroy Israel in the end-times. Derek and Tim explain how this Prophecy has been fulfilled in detail in the wars that Israel has faced since her rebirth in 1948, including the present Israel war with Hamas. The Psalm is an inspired prayer that God would give Israel military victory, as in her ancient victories by Gideon and Deborah, with the help of God. God has answered this prayer again and again by giving Israel victory against her enemies, even when it was against all odds. This prayer also gives a blueprint for how we should pray in the present situation. The stated purpose of this victory is to glorify the Name of the true God, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel, so that Israel's enemies, who worship and trust in a false god, may repent and trust in the true God instead, and so be saved.

Do you want to grow up spiritually and become strong in spirit, in faith and love, or just stay a spiritual babe? God wants us to be spiritual giants not wimps, and He has provided all we need for our growth in God. This book will reveal God’s will and ways to gain a dynamic spiritual life and to promote a consistent growth in grace. Discover the keys that will activate and perpetuate your growth. The Chapters are: The Stages of Growth, The Milk - Rebound Techniques, The Love Walk, Our Spiritual Food, Our Baptism into Christ, The Tongue, Moving into Ministry, Growing in Grace, through the Means of Grace. This book is available from Amazon and from www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk

This book is available from www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk It is also available from Amazon under the title: 'How to Receive your Healing' You CAN RECEIVE your HEALING! “Therefore I say unto you, whatsoever things (including healing) you desire, when you pray, BELIEVE that you RECEIVE them (healing), and you will have them (healing)” (Mark 11:24). Did Jesus mean what He said here? Can we really come to God and receive our healing? By reading this book you will discover how to do this. This Book is designed to teach you how to BELIEVE you RECEIVE. It reveals how to get into POSITION, to BELIEVE you RECEIVE your HEALING from God when you pray. It will build your faith and lead you carefully, step by step, until you reach the position of being able to believe you receive your Healing when you pray. Mark 11:24 says that we will have what we ask for, if we believe that we receive it when we pray. Therefore we must attain the position of faith, where we can believe we receive the answer when we pray. There is diligent preparation required to reach this position of faith, which involves gaining some vital knowledge of God from studying His Word. This book is designed to help you in this preparation, by giving you the key truths you need to be in position to obey Mark 11:24, and believe that you receive your Healing when you pray. Step 1: Know God’s Will: He wants to heal us. Step 2: Know God’s Nature: He is a liberal Giver of Healing. Step 3: Know God’s Gift: He gives us Healing-Power when we ask Him for Healing. Step 4: Know God’s Method: How He gives us Healing.