-------------------------<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> <17 October 2002> In this issue: ---------------- (1) <Devotional> "'Fact or fantasy?' Resurrection," (Pt-2/8)" - Ravi Zacharias (2) <Doctrinal> "Shall we meet our loved ones again?" (Pt-6) - D.L.Moody (3) <Doctrinal> "Three tenses of salvation" (Pt-1/3) - William MacDonald (4) <Prophetical> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-55)- A.W.Pink (1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "'FACT OR FANTASY?' RESURRECTION," (PART 2 OF 8) Ravi Zacharias A few years ago, a very influential philosopher named John Searle wrote a book called "The Rediscovery of the Mind". Searle is a philosophical naturalist, and as such he has no room for God or anything else supernatural. In his book, he comments on the reactions he receives when people realize that in his worldview there is no God, no soul, and no afterlife. He writes, "When we encounter people who claim to believe [in God], we may envy them for the comfort and security they claim to derive from these beliefs, but at bottom we remain convinced that either they have not heard the news or they are in the grip of faith." Searle continues, relating a time when he lectured in India and some in the audience objected due to their belief in the afterlife. Their objections did not move him one bit, he says, because their beliefs simply were not "serious candidates for truth." In other words, once you move beyond the material, all you have are pie-in-the-sky fantasies rather than facts. For some of you, Searle's beliefs may seem shocking. But to those of you familiar with the trends in higher education over the last few decades, this is standard fare. Many will not discuss belief in God or supernatural events because they have already decided, a priori, that things of this nature cannot exist. To put it simply, the existence of all things is due to the purely physical processes of evolution, so there cannot be anything besides matter. People can believe in God or that the moon is made of green cheese if they want to, as long as we all recognize that to be faith, rather than based on reality. We have been discussing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you are wondering, what does John Searle's book have to do with the resurrection? More than you might think. This drift in academia that I have roughly outlined has incredible consequences for beliefs in events such as the resurrection. Indeed, naturalism has changed the very rules of the debate! How? If you attend a debate on the resurrection these days, often the opponent will not even argue against the historical record, as you might expect. Instead, he almost ignores the entire topic, and argues that a supernatural belief should not even be considered a viable option for a rational person. Can a rational person believe in a supernatural event such as the resurrection? Give it some thought, my friend, as we continue to consider this. --- 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-6) A STUDY OF 1 CORINTHIANS 15 D.L. Moody .... AN ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE: Some people claim that the question of a risen Saviour is not essential. Hear what Paul says: "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." I tell you, it is very essential. It is not a mere speculative question that we are dealing with; it is of the greatest practical importance. The resurrection is the keystone of the arch on which our faith is supported. If Christ has not risen, we must impeach all those witnesses of lying. If Christ has not risen, we have no proof that the crucifixion of Jesus differed from that of the two thieves who suffered with Him. If Christ has not risen, it is impossible to admire His atoning death which was accepted. Someone has said that the power of Christ's death to take away sin is always conditioned in the New Testament with the fact of His resurrection. If Christ has not risen, it is impossible to admire His words and character. He made the resurrection a test-truth of His divinity. The Jews once asked for a sign, and He answered -- "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" -- referring to the temple of His body. On another occasion He gave the sign of the Prophet Jonah: "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Paul says, "Declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead." "If He had not been divine," says one, "the sins of any one of us would have been a gravestone too heavy for Him to throw off; the claims of Jehovah's justice would have been bands of death too strong for Him to burst." What would Christianity be without the resurrection? It would descend to the level of any of the other religious systems of the world. If Christ never rose from the dead, how do His words differ from those of Plato? Other men besides Christ have lived beautiful lives and have left behind them beautiful precepts to guide their followers. We should have to class Christ with these. [To be concluded] _____________________________________________________________________ (3) <DOCTRINAL> "THREE TENSES OF SALVATION" (PART-1 OF 3) William MacDonald When we first become Christians most of us can think of only one type of salvation, the salvation of our souls. In our Bible study we automatically try to fit this meaning into every occurrence of the word. But soon we find that it will not always fit. Then we come to realize that salvation is a very general word meaning deliverance, safety, or soundness. In Philippians 1: 19, for example, Paul uses it concerning his expected release from prison: "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." In Philippians 2:12 salvation means something quite different; it means the solution of a problem that had broken out in the church at Philippi. A serious case of disunity had arisen (Phil. 2:1-4; 4:2). Paul reminds the Christians that the answer to the problem was for them all to have the humble, self-sacrificing mind of the Lord Jesus. Then in verse 12 he says: Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, "I have told you the way of deliverance from the problem that vexes you. Now work out the solution with fear and trembling. In three passages salvation is used to describe deliverance from drowning: 1) And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved (Acts 27:30, 31). 2) By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house (Heb. 11:7). 3) "...He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight, persons were saved through water (1 Pet. 3:19, 20 RSV). But the uses of the words "salvation" or "saved" in which we are principally interested are those which have to do with deliverance from sin. This is the most common meaning in the New Testament. Here we must learn to distinguish the three tenses of salvation-past, present, and future: PAST: I was saved from the penalty of sin. PRESENT: I am being saved from the power of sin. FUTURE: I shall be saved from the presence of sin. [To be concluded] --- Copyright 1975 by William MacDonald _____________________________________________________________________ (4) <PROPHETICAL> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-55) THE SIGNS OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN (1/2) Arthur W. Pink .... As we have shown in the last chapter, the apostles and their converts looked for Christ to return in their own lifetime. They did not affirm that He would but they believed that He might. But eighteen [twenty] centuries have passed since then and yet He has not come. The question therefore arises, What evidence is there that the second advent of our Lord is now nigh at hand--that is, nigh as judged even by human measurement of time? May there not be another eighteen centuries which must yet run their weary course before the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings? Have we any means for ascertaining the approximate period when our Lord may be expected to appear? Have we any good ground for believing that another long interval will not yet elapse before the Saviour comes back again? In connection with other great events which God has brought about in human affairs, fair warning has been given to announce their approach. The Flood-judgment, the length of sojourn and the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, and the time of our Lord's first advent, may be cited as illustrations. Thus, before each of the marked interpositions of God in the past, plain intimation of their approach was given. Has then the time--the approximate time--of the great consummating event of all events been left shrouded in such secrecy that it is impossible for us to know anything about it until it arrives? Nay verily. The inspired language of Holy Writ declares--"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thess. 5:1-6). Words could scarcely be plainer. God does not desire His people to remain in ignorance concerning the period when His Son shall return. Just as of old, He said concerning the impending destruction of Sodom "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" so has God graciously taken the Church into His counsels and revealed to us a "part of His ways" at least. We do not know the day or the hour, we are unable to determine the precise year when the Redeemer shall return, but we do know that His coming is now near at hand. We know it from the testimony of God's living oracles. He has not left us in darkness, but has placed in our hands the more sure Word of Prophecy "whereunto we do well that we take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts." The prophets of Old Testament times are commended because that they "searched what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow"(1 Pet. 1:11); surely, then, a similar "searching" is commendable in us. [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 _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access -- and 2 months free! Try MSN. http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp