-------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------- [which seeks to be guided solely by the NT Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian info. To God be the glory!] [eMail Moderator: brethrenvoice-owner@...] [<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> Archives/Read online: http://associate.com/digests/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <24 September 2002> Contents: --------- (1) <Devotional> "Love" - Ravi Zacharias (2) <Devotional> "Joseph, beloved of the father" (Pt-3) - C.E.Wigg (3) <Prophetical> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-35)- A.W.Pink (4) <Poem> "Grace" - John Nelson Darby (1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "LOVE" Ravi Zacharias I have so far presented two essential components for finding meaning in life: the experience of wonder and the pursuit of truth. I now suggest that the third component essential to meaning is love. Christopher Morley has said, "If we all discovered that we had only five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that we love them." Isn't it true that we intuitively know that life would be unlivable were it not for love? I'd like to tell you a parable I heard as a boy growing up in New Delhi. Please pardon its bluntness. A young man fell in love with a woman from a neighboring village. His love for her was genuine and he sought her hand in marriage. She, however, felt no such affection for him and exploited his feelings to her own advantage. She made it a game, ever demanding more and more proof of his love. At last, she demanded the unthinkable. "If you really love me," she said, "I need to know there is no rival. Prove it to me. Take your mother's life and bring her heart to me as a trophy of my victory over your love for her." The young man was thoroughly confounded and grief-stricken. Unable to withstand his "loss" any longer, in a frenzied fit he killed his mother and took the heart out of her body. He ran as fast as he could to present this trophy to the girl he loved. But in the woods he stumbled and fell, and the heart tumbled out of his hand. As he feebly rose to his feet he frantically searched the undergrowth for her heart. Finally, he spotted it and picked it up and as he dusted off his knees he heard a voice coming from the heart saying, "Son, are you hurt? ...Son, are you hurt?" No one needed to explain this story to me, even as a small boy. And as I have contended throughout this series, such a sacrificial love could not have come from mindless matter but only from a Personal Being, indeed God's heart. May I add something more? Only in the Christian faith does love precede life. Love is, therefore, the posture of the soul and its entailments are binding. What meaning we find when the sacrifice and the origin of love is understood. We drink deeply from its cup and are fulfilled. --- 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. _______________________________________________________________________ (2) <DOCTRINAL> JOSEPH, BELOVED OF THE FATHER (PART 3) Charles E. Wigg .... After the revelation to Joseph of his future, which provoked such bitterness in the hearts of his brothers, we find that they had gone far away from their father, from Hebron in the south, to Shechem in the north. Their father was concerned about them and their welfare. Here we see a picture in the type of our Heavenly Father's concern for Israel. Joseph was sent out of the vale of Hebron, (communion), to seek after their welfare. Though he had experienced such hatred and bitterness at their hands, yet Joseph was willing to go. Our Lord Jesus said that He was not sent, except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When accosted by a "certain man" and asked what he was seeking, Joseph replied "I seek my brethren". Here we have a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus, the "Only begotten son of His Heavenly Father, who came forth at the age of 30 years, laden with the tokens of His Father's love and goodness, towards his wandering brethren, the Jews. But when they saw Joseph the hatred and bitterness rose up in the hearts of his brothers. They despised him, calling him "that dreamer", they plotted to murder him, but to do it in a cunning way so as to try to avoid the guilt that they would bring upon themselves. It brings to mind the statement of John's Gospel. "He came to His own, (creation), and His own,(people, the Jews), received Him not, (John, 1;11. It also reminds us of the parable that the Lord Jesus told, where the wicked husbandmen said, "This is the heir; come let us kill Him", (Mat. 22;38). Joseph's brothers took and enjoyed the good things that he brought, and cast him into a pit, in which there was no water. Though they observed his anguish of soul, they heard, and remembered many years later, his pleading with them, but they would not give heed. They just sat down and enjoyed the good things that he had brought, the visible tokens of their father's love for them. Again we see a picture of the attitude of the Jews towards our Lord Jesus. They marvelled at the words of grace that were coming out of His mouth, yet soon afterwards would have thrown Him over a precipice. They gladly accepted His healings, they ate of the loaves and the fishes, but soon afterwards they went away back, and walked no more with Him. Spurred on by the wicked religious leaders, they cried, "Away with Him, crucify Him", (John 19;15). It is also in John's Gospel that we hear the Lord Jesus say, "Now is my soul troubled:", (John, 12;27). However their greed for illicit gain rose above the spirit of murder that filled their hearts. They saw a caravan of Ishmaelite traders coming, drew Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the traders for twenty pieces of silver. Our Lord Jesus was sold by one of His disciples for thirty pieces of silver. "Just the price of a slave". The prophet Zechariah foretold this in his prophecy, (11;12-13). That deal did not profit Judas Iscariot. He cast the silver down in the Temple, then committed suicide. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission] _______________________________________________________________________ (3) <PROPHETICAL> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-35) THE TIME OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN Arthur W. Pink .... 2. An examination of Pre-millennialism. Pre-millennialists, as their name indicates, are looking for their Redeemer to return before the Millennium begins, looking for Him to introduce and usher in the Millennium itself. To them a Millennium without Christ is unthinkable. From their cradles they have been taught to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven," and they cannot conceive of a Kingdom without a King. The Millennium is the time when men's desire for a Golden Age will be realized, but that Golden Age cannot dawn until the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings. The Millennium is the time when the sword shall be made into a plough-share and the spear into the prunning-hook, when for a thousand years there shall be no war, but earth-wide peace will only be made possible by the return and personal presence of the Prince of Peace. Pre-millenialists believe that in the Millennium Christ will set up on the earth a visible, material Kingdom, that He will occupy the literal throne of David and reign from Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. They base their belief upon many plain declarations in Scripture to that effect. Isaiah predicted it--"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the Kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously." Ezekiel foretold it--"And He said unto me, Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and My holy name, shall the House of Israel no more defile by their admonitions that they have committed" (Ezek. 43:7), while at the close of his prophecy he says of Jerusalem in the Millennium, "And the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there." Zephaniah heralded it--"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee" (Zeph. 3:14-17). Zechariah announced it--"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent Me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land and shall choose Jerusalem again" (Zech. 2:10-12, and see further 8:3, 23 and 14:16). Pre-millenialists believe that the Messianic reign and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus are yet future. They believe that Christ Himself so taught. In the Parable of the Nobleman, He declared, "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom, and to return. And it came to pass, that when He was returned, having received the kingdom, then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading" (Luke 19:12, 15). Here we learn that Christ's return and His reception of the "Kingdom" are inseparably connected together. Not only do the Scriptures plainly refute the assertion that Christ is now reigning, but existing conditions cannot be made to square with this belief. How absurd it is to say that Christ is now reigning over the earth when His authority is despised and rejected by the whole of the unbelieving world! No Christ-rejector can be termed a follower of the Lamb, and if he is not a "follower" then he is not subject to the will and rule of the Lord Jesus, and if he is not subject to Christ, then in no sense is Christ his "King." Moreover, the conditions which prevail upon earth to-day repudiate the idea that Christ is even now reigning over it. The scepter which the first man lost has never been restored, the "Curse" has not yet been removed, and Satan is still at large! But all these things will be changed when the Lord Jesus takes the government upon His shoulder and reigns in power and righteousness. Pre-millennialists believe that it is God's purpose in this Age to take out of the nations "a people for His name" (Acts 15:14). To effect this the Gospel has been given and the Holy Spirit has come down to this earth. As the Gospel is preached, as many as are ordained to eternal life believe (Acts 13:48), for though "many be called," there are "but few chosen" (Matt. 20:16). God's purpose in this dispensation is an Elective one, and let it be said with emphasis, God's purpose has not failed, is not failing, will not fail--"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Is. 46:9, 10). The Gospel is not a failure, the Holy Spirit has not failed in His mission, it is theologians who have failed--failed to understand the purpose of God and to read aright His present programme. [To be concluded] _______________________________________________________________________ (4) <POEM> "GRACE" John Nelson Darby . GRACE is the sweetest sound That ever reached our ears; When conscience charged and justice frowned, 'Twas grace removed our fears. 'Tis freedom to the slave, 'Tis light and liberty; It takes its terror from the grave, From death its victory. Grace is a mine of wealth Laid open to the poor; Grace is the sovereign spring of health; 'Tis life for evermore. Of grace then let us sing, A joyful, wondrous theme, Who grace has brought, shall glory bring, And we shall reign with Him. Then shall we see His face With all the saints above, And sing for ever of His grace, For ever of His love. _____________________<BrethrenVoice>_____________________ Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: http://associate.com/digests/brethrenvoice/ <eFellowship> Home: http://groups.msn.com/BrethrenChristiansForum/ "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." 2 Cor 13:5 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jn 8:32 _______________________________________________________