-------------------------<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> <15 October 2002> Contents: --------- (1) <Devotional> "The loss of honour" - Ravi Zacharias (2) <Doctrinal> "Shall we meet our loved ones again?" (Pt-4) - D.L.Moody (3) <Prophetical> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-53)- A.W.Pink (1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> THE LOSS OF HONOUR Ravi Zacharias In the Hindi language, the word for father is Pita, and the word for mother is Mata, yet you do not call your parents by these words. As with many other languages, you add another word denoting honor because they are your parents. You always add the suffix "jee". So you call your father Pita-jee and your mother Mata-jee, because jee denotes respect and reverence. While surveys show that most of us believe God is our Creator, how much reverence is given to Him? The new television show "God, the Devil and Bob," created by, of all things, a former seminary student, is just one example. It's received critical acclaim yet God is frivolously portrayed as enjoying Lite beer and marveling at the invention of Pop Tarts. Yes, such a show is an easy target for criticism from the religious community, and even some stations refused to run it. But even more, may I suggest that it is symptomatic of something larger: a loss of reverence in our attitude toward God. In the 1950's, Jesse Owens paid a visit to India. As a little boy, I was thrilled to be in the front row as he spoke of his triumphs in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where he ran under Hitler's glare and won four gold medals. After his talk, as the crowd engulfed him for autographs, I managed to squeeze in even closer, right next to his side. I just leaned toward him, making sure that at all times some part of me was in contact with some part of him. Perhaps sensing this, he bent down, reached out, and shook my hand. Imagine my excitement! Suppose for a moment that once Jesse Owens had shaken my hand I had lost the distinction between his athletic greatness and my contrasting inability. Would that not have been the height of folly? Now that he had come close was there sufficient reason for me to have patted him on the back and to say, "All right, Jesse. It's just you and me, one-on-one. To the track we go"? Of course not. He was still the champion of the world, and I was just an admirer. Dear friend, let us not lose the distinction between God and us, between the Creator and His creation. When we lose a sense of reverence toward our parents or elders, there is a sad result. Yet when we lose a sense of reverence toward our Maker, we forfeit the greatest of all relationships. --- 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> SHALL WE MEET OUR LOVED ONES AGAIN? (PART-4) A STUDY OF 1 CORINTHIANS 15 D.L. Moody .... IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: But what was referred to only at long intervals in the Old Testament became in the New Testament a prominent matter of fact and teaching. The word "resurrection" occurs forty-two times in the New Testament. Many times during His ministry did our Lord refer to the resurrection of all the dead. The sadducees once came to Him with a difficult question about the marriage relation hereafter; and Jesus said, "As touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." On another occasion Christ said, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." When Lazarus died, Jesus spake the consoling words to his sisters: "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha replied, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus then said unto her, "I am the resurrection and the life." A SPLENDID GUESS: We see then that the belief in a future life did not begin with Christ. But though the idea existed before Christianity, it was at best only "a splendid guess." The natural man cannot look across the narrowest grave and see what is beyond. Strain his eyes as he will, he cannot pierce the veil of death. It is ever before him, blighting his hopes, checking his plans, thwarting his purposes, a barrier that nothing can break down. Ever since sin entered the world, Death has reigned, making the earth one huge graveyard. He has not rested for a moment. In every age and every country, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return" has been the sentence overhanging mankind. All the generations of men as they pass across the earth do but follow their dead. Many unexpected things happen to us in this life, but death is not among them. We do not know how or when it will come, but come it will, if the Lord tarry. We have heard of doctors who have performed wonderful cures, but all their skill and knowledge have been unable to undo the work of Death. In all these six thousand years since Death entered this sin-cursed earth, human means have failed to win back a single trophy from Death. Advancing civilisation, increased education, progress in commerce and art -- none of these things make us superior to the most degraded savages. Death always triumphs in the end. The flow is always in one direction -- onward and never backward. [To be concluded] _____________________________________________________________________ (3) <PROPHETICAL> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-53) THE IMMINENCY OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN Arthur W. Pink .... 4. Why is it that our Lord has tarried till now? Why has not the Redeemer returned long ere this? (1/2) At first sight perhaps this inquiry might appear almost irreverent and some may feel inclined to remind us that "secret things belong unto the Lord." In response we would say, It is not in any spirit of idle curiosity nor is it to indulge an inquisitive speculation that we take up this question, but simply because we believe that a humble examination of it will prove profitable to our souls, inasmuch as the answer to our inquiry demonstrates the wisdom and grace of Him with whom we have to do. Of old, the mother of Sisera cried concerning her son, "Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?" (Judges 5:28). We might well appropriate these words to our present inquiry. On the eve of His death,the Lord Jesus said "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also," but eighteen centuries have run their weary course since then and He has not yet returned! Is not this deeply mysterious? A world in which iniquity abounds more and more; an Israel without a home and without a king; a church rent by divisions and, like Samson, shorn of its power; a groaning creation and a war stricken earth , all unite in crying with the souls under the alter "How long, O Lord!" (Rev. 6:10). Why then such delay? Why has the millennial era of blessedness been thus postponed? Why has not the Redeemer returned to enter into His blood-bought inheritance long ere this? Stupendous questions surely. Questions which sometime or other exercise the hearts of all the saints of God. Is it possible to discover a satisfactory answer? A complete answer--No; for now we "know in part." But an answer--yes, an answer that will at least enable us to see, even though it be through a glass darkly, something of the meaning of our Lord's delay. Why this protracted interval since the time of His departure? Why has He not returned long ere this? We answer-- First, because God would give man full opportunity to develop his schemes and thereby demonstrate the world's need of a competent Ruler. Man cannot complain that God has not allowed him full opportunity to experiment and test his own plans. Man has been permitted to do his utmost in ruling and regenerating the world. God, as it were, has put the reins of government into his hands, and withdrawn for a season. Why? To show whether man was sufficient for these things. To show whether or not man was capable of governing himself. To show whether man was competent to grapple successfully with the powers of evil which war upon his soul. Throughout the ages man's efforts have been directed toward ruling and regenerating the world. Man has been given full scope. With what results? With the result that the incurable hatred of the human heart to God and the utter depravity of human nature have been fully displayed. How has man used the freedom, the opportunities, the privileges, the talents with which his Maker has endowed him? To what profit has he turned them? Have they been used with the purpose of glorifying God or of deifying himself? To ask the question is quite enough. Loud have been man's boasts. Lofty have been his claims. Pretentious has vauntings. Such terms as improvement, advancement, enlightenment, evolution, civilization, have been his favorite slogans. But the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and the folly of the world's wisdom and the vanity of man's claims are now displayed before our eyes. What has "civilization" effected? With all our so-called enlightenment and progress unto what have we attained? Let the records of our Law-courts tell us. Let the columns of the daily newspapers make response. Let the economic political and moral conditions of the day make answer. Let the world war with all its inhumanities, its barbarities, its fiendish atrocities, give reply. And mark, it cannot be said that these things are due to man's ignorance and inexperience. Man is not just starting out to make history. We are now living in the twentieth century of the Christian era. Man then cannot complain that God has not given him plenty of time to mature his plans. No; God has given ample time, time enough to show that he is an utter failure, time enough to demonstrate that he is totally incapable of governing himself, time enough to prove that if relief comes at all it must come from outside himself. Here then is the first part of our answer. Christ's return has been delayed in order to provide opportunity for man's plans to fully develop. God waits till harvest-time. He has been waiting for the harvest time of man's schemes and efforts. He has been waiting patiently with sickle in hand, and as soon as the crops of human industry have fully matured, the word will go forth--"Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe"(Rev. 14:15). [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 _______________________________________________________