<BrethrenVoice>
<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY>
<13 September 2002>
Contents:
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(1) <Devotional> "Ironic Surprise" - Ravi Zacharias
(2) <Doctrinal> "In the beginning it was not so!" (Pt-16) - C.E.Wigg
(3) <Prophetical> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-26)- A.W.Pink
(4) <Apologetics) "Christian Apologetics" (Pt-14) -M. Copland
(1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY>
IRONIC SURPRISE
Ravi Zacharias
One of the recurring elements in the Bible, especially in encounters
involving Jesus, is the element of surprise. That surprise is not only
contained in what Jesus said, but more often it is to whom He said the
words that brings the surprise.
Consider Jesus' claim in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the father except through me." These words of Jesus
certainly establish what we would call exclusivity. Jesus is saying here,
"I am the only way to God. There is no other religious practice or guru or
prophet that can lead you to God." Now no doubt, such a claim provokes a
strong response and perhaps you yourself find it difficult to believe. But
friend, let us be honest here: Every major religion in the world claims
exclusivity and has a point of exclusion. And truth by definition is
exclusive. Everything cannot be true. If everything is true, then nothing
is false.
But back to this element of surprise. Yes, Jesus did say that no one could
come to God except through him alone. But have you ever noticed to whom
Jesus said these words? He said them to Thomas, the apostle whose name,
even after two millennia, is synonymous with doubt. Thomas was the last to
believe in the resurrection of Jesus because he did not want to trust such
a magnificent claim secondhand. He needed to see and feel before he would
bend his knee to the Christ he knew had been crucified. Ironically, Thomas
went on to preach the gospel in India, my homeland, a land of over 330
million deities and innumerable "ways to God." Ultimately he gave his life
for the exclusive claims of Christ.
Another example of the Gospel's apparent irony is found in Jesus' question
to his disciple Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus patiently waited
for Peter's response—"You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God"—knowing later that three times Peter would eventually deny knowing
Jesus. Yet, Peter recovered from that painful moment and spent the rest of
his life striving for the gospel and in the end, he himself was crucified
upside down.
What surprises us in these instances is Jesus' ability to understand our
weaknesses and to touch our hearts and minds where each of us needs it
most. You see, He knew of Thomas' doubt before it was spoken. He knew of
Peter's denial before the act. And He knows you and me and can still
surprise us today wherever we are and meet us in our weakness.
---
Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).
Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a radio ministry of
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
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(2) <DOCTRINAL>
IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO! (PART-16)
READ THE SCRIPTURES/WITNESS
Charles E. Wigg
....
READ THE SCRIPTURES - One of the greatest assets any believer can have in
serving the Lord, is a good knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. There is only
one way to gain such knowledge and that is by constantly reading the word.
Read, and re-read, and commit to memory as much as you can of the word of
God. If you have it hidden in your heart, then it will not only keep you
from sin, but when called to witness for the Lord, or to preach the Gospel,
or to minister to the believers; the Holy Spirit will bring it to your
remembrance. He will take a passage from one place, and a passage from
another, and fit them together so beautifully, like the pieces of a jigsaw
puzzle.
WITNESS - To witness for the Lord to others, is also a part of the means the
Lord uses to teach and prepare His servants. When a person is truly saved,
there is such joy in that person's heart that they naturally want to share
it with others. Many make a mistake at this juncture, and as a result become
discouraged. The mistake they make is to have confidence in themselves and
their ability. Often they pray about witnessing to a person, then make up in
their mind what they are going to say. However when the opportunity comes to
witness, it does not come out right, they make a mess of it, and spoil a
good opportunity, and my even turn the person away from Christ.
However you must not be discouraged, for the Lord will teach you how to go
about it. As space is gone, we will continue this subject in our next
article. May God bless you, prepare you, and make you a blessing to many!
[To be concluded]
---
[Reproduced with permission of Charles E. Wigg]
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(3) <PROPHETICAL>
"THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-26)
THE FACT OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN
Arthur W. Pink
....
3. THE TWOFOLD BEARING OF THIS FACT - We come now to a point concerning
which it behoves believers, particularly young believers and beginners in
the study of prophecy, to be quite clear upon. Like the other two great
Facts which we have reviewed--the First Advent of our Lord to this earth and
His going away, and the presence now of the Holy Spirit upon this
earth--this third great fact of the Redeemer's Return also has a double
bearing, a bearing upon the Church and a bearing upon the world. The Second
Coming of Christ will occur in two stages. Just as a man living in New York
might take a railroad journey to California, and while enroute break his
journey at Chicago, so Christ will break His journey from heaven to earth.
He is now in heaven; He will return to the earth. His ultimate destination
is the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4), but He first breaks His journey in the
air (1 Thess. 4:16). It is highly important to the understanding of
unfulfilled prophecy that these two stages in the Return of Christ should be
clearly distinguished, failure to do so will inevitably result in the utmost
confusion. There are not yet to be two Returnings of Christ, but on Return
in two stages.
The two stages in the Return of Christ are clearly distinguished in the New
Testament. We now call attention to some of the leading differences between
them. 1. The first stage will be in grace, the second will be in judgment.
2. The first stage will reach no farther than the air, the second will reach
to the earth itself. 3. The first stage is when the Redeemer returns to
catch up the saints unto Himself, the second is when He returns to the earth
to rule it with a rod of iron. 4. The first stage will be secret, unseen by
the world, the second will be public and seen by every eye. 5. The first
stage is Christ returning as "The Morning Star" (Rev. 22:16), the second is
His appearing as "The Sun of Righteousness" (Mal. 4:2). 6. At the first
stage he comes for His saints (John 14:3), at the second He returns with His
saints (Jude 1:14). 7. The first stage, His secret coming for His saints, is
not the subject of a single Old Testament prophecy, the second stage, when
He returns to the earth, is referred to in numerous Old Testament
predictions. 8. The first stage of Christ's Return will be followed by God's
blessings being poured upon the earth, and by the Holy Spirit being poured
out upon all flesh. 9. The first stage will be followed by Satan coming down
to this earth in great wrath (Rev. 12:9), the second will be followed by
Stan being removed from the earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:2, 3). 10.
Between the present hour and the first stage of Christ's Return nothing
intervenes, no prophecy needs first to be fulfilled, for our Lord may return
at any moment; but before the second stage of Christ's Return can occur many
prophecies must first be fulfilled. 11. Concerning the first stage of our
Lord's Return we "wait for God's Son from heaven" (1 Thess. 1:10), whereas
the second stage is distinguished as "the coming of the Son of Man." 12. The
first stage was typified by the translation of Enoch to heaven (Heb. 11:5),
the second was foreshadowed by Elijah who has yet to return to this earth to
herald the judgments of the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5).
13. The first stage is our Lord's Coming as our Saviour (Heb. 9:28), the
second is His return to earth as King(Rev. 19:11, 16). 14. The first stage
will be followed by the saints coming before the "judgment-seat" (Bema) of
Christ to be judged according to their works and rewarded for their service
((2 Cor. 5:10), the second will be followed by the "Throne of glory" upon
which shall set the Son of Man who will judge the nations that are upon
earth at the beginning of His millennial reign and apportion them their
positions in His Kingdom (Matt. 25:31-46). Here then is the double bearing
of the Fact of the Redeemer's Return--it respects first His own people and
then the whole world.
These two stages in the Redeemer's Return are in strict accord with the
order of events which transpired at His First Advent. At the first coming of
the Lord Jesus there was a secret or private manifestation of Himself, and
subsequently a public revelation. The newly-born Saviour was actually seen
by very few. The shepherds in the field, the wise men from the East, Anna
and Simeon in the temple saw the Redeemer in the days of His infancy, but
Herod and Pilate, the scribes and the Pharisees--the unbelieving civic and
religious heads--saw Him not! After His return from Egypt on the death of
Herod, He retired to Nazareth and it was not until an interval of nearly
thirty years had passed that He was publicly manifested. Thus will it be at
His second coming. First there will be the secret manifestation (in the air)
unto His own people, and then after an interval of seven years or more He
will be publicly revealed to the world.
[To be concluded]
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(4) <APOLOGETICS>
"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS, AN INTRODUCTION" - (PART-14)
M. Copland
MANUSCRIPT ATTESTATION FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT
Introduction
1. In an effort to demonstrate the RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AS
A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT...
a. We considered evidence which confirms that the New Testament was
WRITTEN AND BEING CIRCULATED SOON AFTER THE EVENTS TOOK PLACE;
e.g.:
1) The internal evidence
2) Papyri fragments
3) Patristic writings
b. We noted that ARCHAEOLOGY CONFIRMS THE NEW TESTAMENT RECORD (as
we have it today) in those areas which can be checked; e.g.,
references to:
1) People
2) Places
3) Events
2. But ONE MORE QUESTION REMAINS in order to establish beyond a
reasonable doubt the historical reliability of the New Testament:
"What assurance is there, that what we have today in the form of
the New Testament, is that which was penned by its original
authors?"
3. In other words, since we don't have the original "AUTOGRAPHS" (the
manuscripts penned by the authors), how do we know...
a. There hasn't been SIGNIFICANT CHANGES OR ERRORS made in the
process of copying over the years?
b. There hasn't been COLLUSION (secret cooperation for deceitful
purposes) among those who possessed the early copies of the
originals?
4. This is where "THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST" in attesting ancient
manuscripts can be applied to help answer such questions!
[The answer this "test" gives to the historical reliability of the New
Testament is an amazing one! But first, it may help to briefly
explain...]
I. THE "BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST"
A. THIS TEST IS APPLIED TO ALL ANCIENT HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS...
1. Such as:
a) Julius Caesar's "Gallic War"
b) "Histories" of Tacitus
c) "Annals" of Tacitus
d) The New Testament
2. In an effort TO ESTABLISH THE LIKELIHOOD THAT WHAT COPIES WE
HAVE:
a) Are faithful representatives of the originals
b) And have come to us free of changes, errors, or collusion
B. QUESTIONS RAISED IN THIS TEST...
1. "How many copies of the document in question are available?"
a. In order to compare them with one another
b. The more, the better
2. "Where were the copies found?"
a. If they all came from one place, collusion is possible
b. But if they are from places far removed by time and location,
collusion is unlikely
3. "What length of time passed between the original and the
earliest copies?"
a. If the earliest copies we have were written hundreds of years
after the original, a lot of changes could have been made and
we would not know it
b. But a short interval of time would increase our assurance in
the reliability of the copies
4. "What variances exist between the copies?"
a. If the copies of a document are filled with significant
differences, then it would not be possible to know what the
original author wrote!
b. But if the variances are few and minor, then the process of
copying over the years has been faithful to the original!
[What answers do we find when these questions are applied to the New
Testament? And how does the New Testament compare with other
historical documents of antiquity?]
[To be concluded]
---
© M. Copland 2002
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