-------------------------<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> <8 October 2002> In this issue: -------------- (1) <Devotional> "My final answer (Pt-1)" - Ravi Zacharias (2) <Doctrinal> "Fasting, what does the Bible teach?" (Pt-7) - C.E.Wigg (3) <Prophetical> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-47)- A.W.Pink (1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> MY FINAL ANSWER (PART-1) Ravi Zacharias During our series on loneliness we have spoken much about gratitude or Appreciative love as the key to the cry of our hearts and in most basic terms we have concluded that worship is the answer to loneliness. The reason I have spent time on this is because it is important. To bring this to a close, let me introduce three ways worship counters the ache of loneliness. We will consider the first today, and the second and third tomorrow. Worship is the legitimate sense of mystery and the rightful expression of awe. Look at our pursuits in every avenue of knowledge. Why do the horizons of science continue to expand? Only because of our desire to know. And inevitably the more we uncover, the deeper we find layers that remain, and what lies beneath them all is unknown. Some cynically quip that it is all DNA. Others reduce it to mere chemistry. But even the most informed naturalist admits that beyond a certain miniscule fragment of time the book of origins is silent. Only recently, as the close-up surface of Mars was televised to the world, those who had worked on the project gave names to the rocks they saw and to the machines that they themselves made; they stood in awe of matter because it was 120 million miles away. But it may not be thanked. How soon the first response of wonder has died! Have we forgotten what the astronauts felt when they first went around the dark side of the moon? The only suitable expression for them was, "In the beginning God." It is little wonder that we have learned to live with loneliness because our mysteries have a very short shelf life. Is it possible that God, who Himself is pure spirit, has placed a particular kind of mystery within us so that only in awe of Him can we find perpetual novelty? We are finite persons. When that finitude loses gratitude and is in awe of the impersonal, the branches of existence lose connection with the roots of essence and behavior is studied detached from the mystery of life itself. Friend, let us remember that the very life we have is a gift. This reminder to ourselves again and again is at the heart of worship. Out of a worship that is pure, all other loves gain their definition...which leads us to the second and third considerations of worship. Please join me tomorrow, as we conclude looking at the ways that worship answers the human problem of loneliness. --- 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> FASTING - AN EXAMINATION OF WHAT THE HOLY SCRIPTURES TEACH (PART-7) Charles E. Wigg NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES OF FASTING: ANNA: (Luke.2:36-38.)Is the first person mentioned in the N.T. who fasted. She was a most Godly person, one through whom God spoke to others, and had been a widow for 84 years, living a life of daily dependence upon God. She departed not from the temple, (that is, she lived constantly in the presence of God,) and served Him night and day, with fastings and prayers. To Anna, fasting was not a haphazard thing, she understood the sad and sinful state of Israel, she was expecting the Messiah to come, and she knew those who frequented the temple, who also had the same expectation. Neither was it an outward show with her, but it showed the sincerity of her soul, and the intensity of her desires. She stands out as a worthy example, and we need such as her today. However SIMEON, who is mentioned in the same chapter, was a righteous and devout man, he also was looking for the coming of the Messiah, the Consolation of Israel, as well it says of him that the Holy Spirit was upon him. But we are not told that he fasted, or that he prayed. He certainly would have prayed, he may even have fasted, but we are not told that he did. This would teach us that we should not think that those who practice fasting, are more godly and spiritual than those who don't. God looks on the heart of man, not on the outward show. THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN: These were truly repentant and godly people, who wanted to live for God. Their leader was a man of rugged self-discipline, who habitually denied himself the luxuries of an easy life. He wore the roughest of clothes, and lived in the wilderness. It was quite natural for his disciples to follow the example of the one who had been such a blessing to them. Their fasting could have been for two purposes, (a) to gain victory over the principle and practice of sin in their lives, or (b), because of the sinful state of the nation to which they belonged. It needs to be pointed out that they were not Christians, they had not yet come to a personal faith in Christ. Those referred to in Acts ch. 19, were willing to received the gospel the very first time that they heard its message. Though linked with the Pharisees, in Matt. 9:14, yet they were surely a very great contrast to those hypocrites. CORNELIUS: We read about this man in Acts chapter 10. He was an Italian, a centurion in the Roman occupation forces, and was posted to Caesarea. He too was a devout man, and one who feared God, he was kind and generous to those in need. He had been fasting, verse 30, until 3 pm, when in a vision an angel was sent to instruct him to send for Peter. He was told that his prayers and his alms, deeds of kindness, had been seen by God, but nothing was mentioned about his fasting. This would show us that God places more value and importance of prayer, and godly practical ways and living, than He does on fasting. Further let us point out that what Cornelius had learned about God, he had not learned from the Romans, but from the Jews, whose religion was one of works of the law, though the law did not command anyone to fast. He had no contact with Christ, Christians, or Christianity, so had not learned to fast from them. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission _______________________________________________________________________ (3) <PROPHETICAL> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-47) THE IMMINENCY OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN (2/3) Arthur W. Pink "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (Heb. 10:37) .... At the close of St. Mark's account of the Olivet discourse he records at greater length than does St. Matthew our Lord's command to His disciples to watch for His return--"Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (Mark 13:33-37). A careful reading of these verses makes it apparent that the design of the Master was to impress upon His disciples two things: first, that while it was certain He would return, yet it was uncertain when He would appear; second, that in view of the uncertainty of the exact hour of His second coming the Lord's followers must maintain an attitude of constant watchfulness, looking for Him to return at any moment. On another occasion the Lord said to His disciples, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning: and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding: that when He cometh and knocketh, they may open unto Him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants" (Luke 12:35-38). The comparison is a very impressive one. The believer is exhorted to be like a faithful servant, standing on the threshold with loins girded and his lamp lighted, peering through the darkness for the first sign of his returning Master and listening eagerly with attentive ear for the first sounds of His approaching steps. "For even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. ** I tell you in that night there shall be two men in one bed: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be girding together: the one shall be taken and the other left" (Luke 17:30-35). The force of this passage is in full harmony with the others already considered. The Lord's appearing is to be unannounced and unexpected. It will occur while men are busy at their daily vocations, and therefore it behooves us to be constantly on the qui vive. In passing, we may observe how the last quoted Scripture brings out the marvelous scientific accuracy of the Bible. We are told in verse 31 above, that it shall be "day" (in another part of the earth), thus anticipating a comparatively recent discovery of science and demonstrating that the Lord Jesus was perfectly cognizant of the rotundity and rotation of the earth! "And take heed to yourselves, least at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:34-36). Mark particularly, above, the words "lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting (self-indulgence) ** and so that day come upon you unawares." Daily, nay, hourly, readiness is required of us. Language could not be more explicit. Let those who speak so disparagingly of the "any moment theory" weigh the words "at any time" and remember they were uttered by the Lord Himself. The precise Date of the Second Advent has been designedly withheld from us in order that we should maintain our attitude of watchfulness and that we remain on the very tiptoe of expectation. Just here we must take note of an objection that is brought against the position we are now advocating, namely, In view of the fact that in the above quotations it is clear that our Lord taught His disciples to look for His Return in their own lifetime, how can we harmonize this with His teaching in Matthew 13 where we found He foretold that certain conditions must arise before the end of this age could arrive? How can we square the presentation of the Redeemer's Return in the language of imminency with the predictions that before He came back the little mustard-seed must grow into a great tree and the whole of the three measures of meal be completely leavened? At first sight this appears a real difficulty, but further reflection will show it is more apparent than actual. When we examine the parables of Matthew 13 in the presence of the above objection our first question must be, What impression were these parables calculated to make upon the minds of the apostles, or on Christians in apostolic days? That these parables contain prophetic pictures which it has taken many centuries to fully develop is evident to intelligent believers living now, but we insist that these predictions were couched in such terms that there was nothing in their surface and obvious signification which forbade the apostles and their converts looking for the Redeemer to return in their own lifetime. In other words, there was nothing direct in these parables which argued the inevitable postponement of the Second Advent until a long interval of time had elapsed after they were uttered by the Lord Jesus. In our exposition of Matthew 13 (see the previous chapter) we showed how, very early in the apostolic era, these parables began to receive their fulfillment, and, as we would now point out, they were fulfilled to such an extent that as a matter of fact they presented no necessary obstacles to the first century saints who believed in the Imminent appearing of the Saviour. [To be concluded] _____________________<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 _______________________________________________________