-------------------------<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> <9 November 2002> Contents: ---------- 1) <Devotional> "The Coalescence of Worship" - Ravi Zacharias 2) <Devotional> "I am a sinful man, O Lord" - M.J. Stanford 3) <Bible-Study> "The prayer of Jabez" (Pt-3/3) - Charles Wigg 4) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-75)- A.W.Pink 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "THE COALESCENCE OF WORSHIP" Ravi Zacharias One of the great longings of the human heart is to worship; yet, within that very disposition there are tugs in many directions that contradict the essence of worship. This fragmentation is felt in every life. But there is a further complication. The idea of worship itself is not monolithic or uniform when you get a glimpse of the different kinds of worship in which people engage. The thirst for worship or for the sacred across cultures and across time is ineradicable among the educated and the uneducated, the young and the old. During my days as a student at college in New Delhi, I well remember students seated around me with colored ash smeared on their foreheads, having visited the temple on their way to school. All over the world, churches, temples, mosques, and tabernacles abound. Sacred books still line the shelves of seekers after truth—the Gita, the Koran, the Bible. Religious ceremonies are performed and prayers are invoked in life’s most significant moments. Even a casual look at the record of human history reveals a fervent pursuit of spiritual things. Jesus was very much aware of this bent within the human spirit. That is why He said worship should be done in truth, as well as in spirit. Without truth there is no limit to the superstition, deception, and sadly, even violence that can come in the name of religion. You see, worship alone cannot justify itself; it needs the constraints of truth, and that truth is the person and character of God. As an individual makes a commitment to God, not only is his or her life unified for God’s glory, but the impetus of truth is given for all other pursuits and relationships. In other words, worship must not only be formal, it must also be substantive. You see, we humans are not a collection of isolated and unrelated senses just seeking expression. We are fashioned to bind these expressions by the character and reverence of God. So much goes on in the name of religion today that must make us question whose character is being revealed in the process. Worship that is true and spiritual binds all the diverse aspirations and propensities creating a tapestry of beauty and a life that is in harmony with the goodness and the holiness of God. So next time you pause to worship or even to observe it, ask the question: Is this what Jesus Christ meant when He said we are to worship God in spirit and in Truth? --- Copyright (p)(c) 2002 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <DEVOTIONAL> "I AM A SINFUL MAN, O LORD" (LUKE 5:8) M.J.Stanford When the believer first becomes aware of the sinful self-life, he often makes the mistake of attempting to deal with its symptoms. He struggles to curb his sins and tries to live righteously. The resultant failure leads him to reliance upon the work of the Cross, which is effectively applied to the root of the matter by the Holy Spirit. The old life is crucified; the new life is manifested. "We are apt to think that what we have done is very bad, but that we ourselves are not so bad. God is taking pains to show us that we ourselves are wrong, fundamentally wrong. The root trouble is the sinner; he must be dealt with. Our sins are dealt with by the Blood, but we ourselves are dealt with by the Cross. The Blood procures our pardon for what we have done; the Cross procures our deliverance from what we are." -W.N. "It is for want of a complete or adequate realization of the meaning of the Cross, that so many Christians are carnal, or try to live for God out of themselves. This goes to the root of the ever-present weakness and poverty of spiritual life. There is much prayer for 'revival,' and much effort for 'the deepening of the spiritual life.' The only answer to this is a new knowing of the Cross, not only as to sins and a life of victory over them, but as to Christ as supplanting the natural man." -T. A-S. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). --- Copyright © 1996-2002 TrueBranch Ministry _______________________________________________________________________ 3) <BIBLE-STUDY> "THE PRAYER OF JABEZ" (PART-3/3) Charles E. Wigg 1 Chron. 4:9-10. .... I once heard a story about a Christian man who prospered in business, and it became his preoccupation in life. He had no time, nor any desire to attend the meetings, when believers gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, to worship Him, or to learn of Him. However at last the man found time to die, and when nearing his end, he was visited by some of the believers who tried to comfort him. But he was full of regret, and lamented over his wasted life. He said, "I have filled my pockets with the sands of the desert, and I have lost my crown". May it please the Lord to save us from such regret! Let us learn from the prayer of Jabez, to seek spiritual riches, to enjoy more of the blessings of God which are ours in Christ. He longed that God's hand would be with him, so too we need to constantly sense the hand of God upon our lives. Nehemiah often made mention of the fact that the "Good hand of his God was upon him". It was because of this that the amazing things recorded in that book could be accomplished. The request that God's hand might be with him, implies the thought of help and support. It is well for us to remember what the Lords Jesus said in John 15:5, "Without Me you can do nothing". May God give to you and I, this lovely spirit of absolute dependence upon Him! Jabez' final request was that God would keep him from evil. This is indeed a noble desire, and was just what the Lord Jesus asked His Father to do for us. (John 17:15). If you and I are enabled to live a holy life, then that is a testimony to the keeping power of God. It grieves the heart of God, when we sin, or fall into evil. It grieves the Holy Spirit who indwells us, and we are commanded not to do this, (Eph. 4:30). We also lose our joy when we sin, and this joy will not return until we have confessed and forsaken the sin. But thank God for the ongoing power of the blood of Christ, that goes on cleansing us from all sin. (1John 1:7-9.) The prayer of Jabez shows us how that his heart was really in tune with the heart of God, because he asks that he may be kept from evil, "that it may not grieve ME". It is wonderful to realize that our hearts can be brought into tune with the heart of our loving Heavenly Father. We must admit that such holy desires are unfortunately quite rare today. We find to our sorrow that there is a very shallow sense of the horrible nature of sin, and what it cost our Lord Jesus Christ. May the He strengthen in us every right desire, and give us a hunger for the spiritual and the eternal things! Let us remember the words of Mary, "He hath filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He hath sent empty away", Luke 1:53. Let us also remember the words of the Lord Jesus, "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled", Matt. 5:6. May He save us from covetousness, which we are told is idolatry, Eph. 5:5. May He enable us to "Be content with such things as we have", Heb. 13:5. Knowing that He is all that we could ever need and that He will never leave or forsake us. Thank God that He has translated us from the kingdom of darkness, into the Kingdom of the Son of His love. That He has made us fit to share the inheritance of the saints in light. Col. 1:12-13. Let us have a much deeper longing, to enjoy all that is ours in Christ, those spiritual and eternal blessings. [Concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission]_____________________________________________________________________ 4) <PROPHECY> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-75) THE CHURCH-WARD RESULTS OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN Arthur W. Pink The Examination and Rewarding of the believer's works 1/2 "Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be" (Rev. 22:12). If it is true that the general teaching of Christendom upon the subject of the Resurrection is unscriptural, the popular conception of future judgment is still more erroneous. It is generally believed that at the end of time saints and sinners shall all stand before the judgment-bar of God; that they will be divided into two great classes--"the sheep and the goats;" that those whose names are found written in the book of life will pass into Heaven, and that the wicked will be consigned to the Lake of Fire. For this conception (excepting the last clause) there is not a single verse of Scripture when rightly interpreted. So far as believers are concerned the Sin question has been closed for ever, for their sins were all judged at the Cross where their Substitute died the Just for the unjust. Consequently, all who have believed in the Lord Jesus are for ever beyond the Curse of the Law. This is clear from our Lord's own words--"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him sent Me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation," or as the Revised Version more correctly renders it, "shall not come into judgment" (John 5:24). How erroneous then the prevailing conception; and how absurd! Shall the apostle Paul, who has already been in Heaven for more than eighteen hundred years, yet have to appear before the judgment-bar of God, in order to ascertain whether he shall spend eternity in Heaven or in the Lake of Fire? How could this be, when we are distinctly told "There is therefore no no condemnation (judgment) to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). Furthermore, observe that it is said of the sleeping saints they are raised in glory" (1 Cor. 15:43). How then could a glorified saint be consigned to the Lake of Fire? And if there is no possibility of him going there, then what need is there for any Assize to decide his eternal destiny? No; the judgment of the Great White Throne concerns the wicked only. [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 _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail