<BrethrenVoice> <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <26 August 2002> Contents: --------- (1) <Devotional> "The joy of faith" - M.J. Stanford (2) <Devotional> "Faith, hope and love" - Le Lien Fraternal (3) <Doctrinal> "In the beginning it was not so" (Pt-1) - C.E.Wiggs (4) <Prophetical> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-13)- A.W.Pink (1) <DEVOTIONAL> THE JOY OF FAITH Miles J. Stanford "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8). Although both faith and joy are included in 'the fruit of the Spirit,' joy can only flourish upon the foundation of faith. When faith is present and active, favorable circumstances are not necessary for joy; trials and tribulations cannot daunt it. "There are some Christians who seem to be afraid of enjoying all the rays of the Son of Righteousness. They are afraid of being too happy. Perhaps some of us have not really considered that 'joy' is itself a part of that fruit by which the Father is glorified. There is nothing to be gained by despondency. Doubts are not marks of humility; unbelief is really evidence of pride. And there is no cloud that so effectively shuts out the glad sunshine of our gracious Father's face as the thick cloud of unbelief." -E.H. "Although as to His circumstances the Lord Jesus was the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, yet He had a joy always before His eyes. But we never find Him rejoicing in anything but the will of His Father. 'I delight to do Thy will' was His true testimony. So may we 'rejoice in the Lord' though all is dark around, with the joy of faith that sees the unseen and looks beyond the present and temporal to the eternal." -G.G. "The Old Testament believer had joy for God's gifts to him. God's power made things here contribute to him. But the Christian's joy is in heaven and springs from what the Father is to him there. He demands nothing from this world, but in the life of the Lord Jesus he contributes to it, of the grace that nourishes and comforts him outside it." -J.B.S. "Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In thy Name shall they rejoice all the day" (Psalm 89:15,16). --- Copyright ©1996-2002 TrueBranch Ministry. _______________________________________________________________________ (2) <DEVOTIONAL> FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE (1 COR 13:13) Le Lien Fraternel These three elements of the Christian life become vague if we do not see them in connection with the supreme object for our hearts. The object of faith - the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect work accomplished for us at Golgotha. The object of hope - the Lord Jesus Christ and His coming for us on the clouds. The object of love - the Lord Jesus Christ, His adorable Person; we love Him because He first loved us. These three things are under exercise during the Lord's Supper: - We show the Lord's death (1 Cor. 11 :26)- object of faith. - Until He comes (1 Cor. 11 :26) - object of hope. - We remember Him - object of love, who so loved us and now loving Him in return, we give Him the desire of His heart (John 14 :15). --- [Reproduced with permission of Michel Payette] _______________________________________________________________________ (3) <Doctrinal> IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO (PART-1) Charles E. Wigg An examination of what took place, and the things practiced when the Church began. Contrasting it with present practices. HOW IT ALL BEGAN: (Acts chapter 2.) After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, He never appeared publicly, but only to His disciples. He told them that this would be so, before His crucifixion. John,14:21-22. Before He left them, to return to heaven, He commanded them to abide in Jerusalem, until they were clothed with power from on high. We do not know how many of His disciples followed Him to Bethany, there could have been up to 500, 1Cor.15:6. But we do know that there were 120 souls in the Upper Room, in Jerusalem, & that they were "men of Galilee", for they were called so by the angel. In the Upper Room, they continued in prayer & supplication, but as well according to Luke, they frequently visited the temple, where they were continually praising & blessing God. They continued thus, until the day of Pentecost, (10 days), "with one accord", that is there was a lovely attitude of unity, & expectation amongst them. On that 50th day, the Holy Spirit came, with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, or hard breathing, filled the house where they were sitting, & appeared to them, not as a dove, or doves, but as cloven tongues of fire, & sat on each of them. We may wonder why the difference in this coming, than when He came from Heaven, as a dove, & abode upon the Lord Jesus at His baptism. I would suggest that when He came upon the Lord Jesus, everything about Him, was absolutely holy, there was nothing to correct, or consume, but in the Lord Jesus He found all that was delightful to the Father, & perfectly agreeable to Himself. But when He came upon the disciples, in that upper room, there was still that remaining in those imperfect people, which had to be consumed & removed, before He could find perfect rest in each of them. It is also a testimony to His perfect one-ness, because it was the same cloven tongues of fire that sat on each of them. These are the only two times in holy scripture that the Holy Spirit appeared. He has never appeared since, in spite of the false claims made by some. By the coming of the Holy Spirit, He consummated the work of God in each of those believers, mystically fused them together, & baptized them into one Body, the Body of Christ. Thus the Church, began to exist on this earth, at that moment, & has continued ever since, & shall do until the Lord Jesus comes at the rapture. Also we need to note, that the Holy Spirit, coming from heaven, (as the Lord Jesus, & the Father promised), took up His abode in the Church, & has never left. For believers today, to pray for the Holy Spirit to come, or to "tarry", fast, grovel, & plead for Him to come, is to ignore what took place on that wonderful fiftieth day, (Pentecost). [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission of Charles E. Wigg] _______________________________________________________________________ (4) <Prophetical> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-13) II. THE CHARACTER OF OUR HOPE Arthur W. Pink .... 2. OUR HOPE IS NOT THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL -------------------------------------------- In the New Testament the word "Salvation" has a threefold scope--past, present and future, which, respectively, has reference to our deliverance from the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin. When we say, above, that our Hope is not the Salvation of the soul, we mean that it is not our deliverance from the wrath to come which is the prospect God sets before His people. To certain of our readers it may appear almost a wearisome waste of time for us to discuss these points, but for the sake of the class for which this work is specially designed we would ask them to bear with us in patience. In these days when the Bible is so grievously neglected both in the pulpit and in the pew, we cannot afford to take anything for granted. Multitudes of those in our churches are ignorant of the most elementary truths of the Christian faith. Experience shows that comparatively few people are clear about even the A, B, C, of the Gospel. Talk to the average church-member, and only too often it will be found that he has nothing more than a vague and uncertain hope about his personal salvation. He is "trying to live up to the light that he has," he is "doing his best," and he hopes that, somehow, everything will come out right in the end. He does not dare to say I know I have passed from death unto life, but he hopes to go to Heaven at the last. Nowhere does Scripture present the Salvation of the soul as the believer's hope. Salvation from the guilt, the penalty, the wages, of sin is something for which believers thank God even now. Said our Lord to His disciples, "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). The present-tense aspect of our salvation is presented in many Scriptures--"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life" (John 5:24). How simple and definite this is! Eternal life is something which every believer in Christ already possesses, and for him there is no possibility of future condemnation in the sense of having to endure God's wrath. Again we read, "Beloved now are we the sons of God" (1 John 3:2). We do not have to obey God's commandments, walk worthy, and serve the Lord, in order to become God's children, we are to do these things because we are, already, members of the household of faith. The salvation or redemption of our bodies is future, for it will not be until our Saviour's return that he "shall" change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21). But the salvation of the soul, deliverance from the wrath to come, is an accomplished fact for every sinner, that has received the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her personal Saviour. All such have been "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). All such have been "made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). all such have been "perfected for ever" (Heb. 10:14). So far as their standing before God is concerned. As another has said, "Salvation is not away off yonder at the gates of Heaven; salvation is at the cross. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared, and it brings salvation all the way down to where the sinner is--right there. You know our Lord's own picture of it. It is the illustration to which my mind recurs most instantly--that illustration of the good Samaritan. You know how beautifully that shadows out this blessed truth; that just as the good Samaritan went down the Jericho road and ministered to the wretch who lay there half dead, pouring oil into his wounds right there where he lay, just so the grace of God, that brings salvation, has come to the sinner in the place where he lies in his sins. No matter how great a sinner he may be, if he can be persuaded to turn the eye of faith toward the cross, there salvation comes" (Dr. C. I. Scofield). Again-- [To be concluded] ________________________<BrethrenVoice>________________________ [which seeks to be guided solely by the New Testament Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian information. 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