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 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 1.
The lesson on July 29, 2007 begins a new series that studies our hope in the church today. This series ask the question what is your hope based on?
Everyone has hope but what do you place your hope in? We studied several weeks ago the three spheres of blessings and iIn that study we
learned that hope is the confident expectation of a promise that is to be enjoyed or fulfilled. Worldly hope compared to a spiritual hope has no confidence
that a future expectation will happen. For instance, you may ask somebody that has had a calamity if they will be okay... and the answer may be “I hope
so”. This shows the difference between spiritual hope where you have confidence in what has been promised to you because God has said so.
Every endeavor that God starts, He will complete it. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:9-10 “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:” In the book of Job, which is probably the oldest book in the Bible,
we see Job has hope being redeemed which includes a resurrection (Job 14:13-14 “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest
keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days
of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” and in Job 19:25-26 “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:”) The hardest question we have is when will
God fulfill the hope that we have?   Click here to listen now.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 2. The lesson on August 5, 2007 continued the
series on the hope of the Church of the One Body. It is the second lesson and comes from a spin off of the three spheres of blessings. The beginning of
this study was initiated from our Timothy Study. Specifically, the charge that Paul gave Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:13-14 “I give thee charge in the sight of
God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ:” That word appearing is “Epiphany” which is our hope as we see in Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” This is the hope of the Church of the One Body. The calling always determines
the hope. The calling in Abraham is the hope of Abraham. And that’s where this study is going to begin in understanding the hope of Abraham.
The lesson covers the four covenants that were given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their offspring. These covenants of promise are:
Abrahamic Covenant, Palestinian Covenant, Davidic Covenant, and finally the New Covenant. All of these covenants have as their focus Israel and
the hope of Israel. We find that most of what Abraham was promised was earthly in nature (at least initially).  There is a handout that was made that covers all of the scriptures in the lesson. Click here to listen now.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 3. Most of Christianity today teaches only
two spheres of blessings, and the lesson here teaches on the second sphere of blessing which is New Jerusalem. The first sphere of blessing involved what was promised to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who had the 12 fathers of Israel) being their seed would be like
the sand, and stars in heaven and that they would inherit the Promised Land. This involved
promises made through covenants with the nation of Israel (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic,
and the New Covenant). It’s discussed that most of this lesson falls under what is called
Dispensational teaching versus what is taught by Covenant theologians (who believe that the New Covenant was made with the church). The first sphere of blessing is the earth. Therefore, we will look at the
second sphere of blessing which involves New Jerusalem which is a heavenly inheritance that was given to Abraham.
It’s important to make the distinction between a heavenly inheritance and an inheritance located far above the heavens.
The heavenly inheritance that Israel will enjoy is New Jerusalem and we see a description of that in Rev. 21:1-2. The lesson on August 19, 2007 continues the audio series on our hope. It takes time to expound on the heavenly blessing
Israel receives with New Jerusalem and in the end compares it to the third sphere of blessing the church of the one body
receives in Christ (which is in the heavenlies, far above all). Click here to listen now. There was
a handout prepared afterwards that covers the scriptures given in this lesson. You can download that here to
follow along while you listen.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 4. This lesson on August 26, 2007
continues with Part 4 in the series on the hope of the one body. The church’s hope is based on
the “appearing” (Epiphany) of our Lord, Jesus Christ which places our hope far above the
heavens where Christ is seated. However, if you ask a Christian today where he would go if
he died, most of the time you hear the response of “heaven” and they are thinking of the other
appearing (Parousia), which is tied to Israel. It seems by and large, that is the confusion in the
hope of Christianity today. In Acts 23:6 “But when Paul perceived that the one part were
Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a
Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question
.” Here Paul brings up the hope and the resurrection of the dead. In fact, this is what most
people would say is part of the end times. Specifically, Christians would list three events in this
order: 1) the rapture (resurrection), 2) the tribulation (70th week of Daniel), and 3) the
Millennium (the 1,000 year reign). This lesson looks at this resurrection and also covers the “trumpets” that are in
Revelation since they are intimately associated with the resurrection. Click here to listen now.
You may want to review all of the audio lessons on the Hope of the Church of the One Body. Be sure and review all of the audio lessons for this month. A lesson review was prepared as well. You may want to download and read while you follow along.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 5. If you were to ask the average
Christian, what his or her hope would be, they might speak of the return of Christ. Then they may take you to this passage in the Matthew 25:31-34 (KJV) “When the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his
right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come
, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” This passage in Matthew 25 ties in with the verses in Revelation 19:11-16. However, all of the passages that deal
with these timeframes have Jesus in the context of King because his Kingdom will be established here on Earth. The
gentiles have nothing to do with this calling or inheritance. All these scriptures are directed to Israel. There are three
prophetic periods that Jesus talked about in the Gospels. This lesson covers these periods but when reviewing all the
scriptures, it is important to keep them in context since none of these passages applies to the church of the one body. You see the context in these three passages: Matthew 15:24 “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:5-6 “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into
the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The lesson on September 2, 2007 continues the audio series on the hope of the church. Click here to listen now. There was a lesson review made available as well.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 6. Christianity teaches today that the
rapture is the next thing in God’s plan. This is pre-millennial in scope which is a relatively new
approach in the church. At the end of the Second World War, and pre-millennialism came into
view and post-millennialism lost its popularity because of two reasons: 1) It advocated that the
gospel would be preached to all nations and they would respond to it and 2) this response
would usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. Modern Pre-Millennial Christianity today is looking for
the rapture, the tribulation, and then the Millennium Kingdom. Now, where does the church fit
into that line of thought since all of the scriptures that teach on these subjects belong to Israel?
There are those Christian circles that teach the gospel of wealth and they claim they have been given Kingdom authority to
get whatever they need. Kingdom authority not only applies to healing but also in gathering money and that’s how they end
up spending their time. Do we have the gospel of cash, Cadillac, and comfort or do we have the gospel of the kingdom?
The answer is No to both! Kingdom doctrine doesn’t apply to us. This is why it’s important to know the proper doctrine
since doctrine always lays the groundwork for the way you behave. When Christians begin to mix up doctrine from
different dispensations, it becomes very confusing and their walk suffers. The lesson on September 9, 2007 is the sixth
lesson in the audio series “ the Hope of the Church of the One Body” and addresses the phrase found in scripture “foundation of the world”. It reviews the seven passages that say “from or since” as well as the three that say “before”
the foundation of the world. You will see a great distinction in the demarcation that this establishes in the different callings in scripture. Click here to listen now. There was a lesson review prepared for you as well. Be sure and download for reading while you listen.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 7 The close relationship we have with Christ that was
established before the foundation of the world. The three scriptural references (John 17:22-24, 1 Peter 1:18-20, Ephesians 1:3-4) that pertain to before the foundation of
the world involve two that establishes the love that God had with his Son, Jesus Christ, the third talks about us! What an amazing relationship we have with God. Every
calling has a hope and every hope has a promise and every promise has a unique relationship with the Lord and his glory. The calling always determines the hope that the
believer has. Most of Christianity today thinks that Christ only has one return or advent which is here on the earth. But
when the common thinking today involves the rapture, tribulation, and millennial reign that should happen in that order, it
appears this would involve at least two advents of the Lord. There is some fault with this thinking. The first advent would
be when they meet Him in the air (rapture) which is discussed in the Acts period, and the second would be when he
comes back to the earth to set up his kingdom which is discussed in the Gospels and in Revelation (this is the Lords
“Parousia”). Christianity doesn’t recognize the third advent of Christ which is the “Epiphany” where he appears in glory
and we appear there with Him (that is the hope of the church of the one body). When it comes down to it, the calling and
hope that we have in the Church of the One Body, is what Paul is explaining in Philippians 3:11 and Colossians 3:4 which
involves the “out-resurrection”. This is not the same as the resurrection that was expressed called the “rapture” which is
Jewish. The lesson on September 30, 2007 continues the audio series on the Hope of the Church with part 7. Click here to listen now. You may also want to download the handout to review while you listen to the audio.
 The Hope of the Church of the One Body - Part 8 (final). The lesson on October 7, 2007
finishes the audio series on the hope of the church. We have been studying the hope of the Church of the One Body for eight lessons now and we have seen hope as defined as
something of what is expected, or trusted in. The word “trust” in verse 12 could have been
translated as “hoped in Christ”.In the previous lesson, we looked at the hope of the one body
being the out-resurrection which the Apostle Paul revealed in Philippians 3:11 “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” and Colossians 3:4 “When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” There is a second coming of
Christ to each group that has been called. The second coming to Israel according to the flesh they are looking for Jesus to
come back which we looked at in Matthew 24 when he sets up the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth. Another advent of
the Lord is when he presents Heavenly Jerusalem coming down to be set up here on Earth which was covered in
Revelation. This involves the group known as Abraham’s seed which was identified in Galatians 3. Now the third group
that is looking for Christ’s appearing is that of the church of the one body which involves the heavenly inheritance. In
Philippians 3:10-11, we read of Paul trying to express some very important issues: “That I may know him, and the power of
his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” The translators have not recognized the three spheres of blessing. This is the
failure in the translation of this verse which has not been accurate. The phrase “resurrection of the dead” here should
have been “the resurrection from the dead”. This is because in the Greek it says “ek nekron” which denotes “out from
among the dead people”. This is the only time in scripture where this occurs. This final lesson in the series is an important one to review. Click here to listen now. You may also want to download the handout for review while you listen.
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Audio Lessons on “The Hope of the Church of the One Body”
