-------------------------<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 November 2002> Contents: ---------- 1) <Devotional> "Full Pantries Empty Hearts" - Ravi Zacharias 2) <Bible-Study> "Jericho" (Pt-8)- Charles Wigg 3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-80)- A.W.Pink 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "FULL PANTRIES EMPTY HEARTS" Ravi Zacharias For its seventy-fifth anniversary issue, Forbes magazine invited scholars worldwide to address the question “Why are we so unhappy?” These scholars, including writer Saul Bellow and historian Paul Johnson, approached the topic from their various perspectives but all agreed on one point: We are a troubled civilization because of the loss of a moral and spiritual center. Considering the gains that medical technology has made to minimize physical hurts, perhaps this is why the issue of pain and suffering is more of an enigma in our time than ever before. Ironically, our pain is aggravated by the naive hope that all of our problems can somehow be resolved by scientific and technological advancement. In our most idolatrous moments, we have believed that progress and its handmaiden, prosperity, would bring us all the answers. Yet how hollow our man-made solutions have proven to be. A few years ago, physician Richard Swenson wrote a book called Margin, about the overload endemic to our time. In his chapter “The Pain of Progress,” he describes his grandfather’s immigration to the United States in the early 1900’s and his struggle to support his family. Listen to his words: If my grandfather could have asked for whatever he wanted to make his life...more fulfilling during those difficult years, he would have requested health for himself and his family, and that his babies would not die from unnamed diseases. He would have wished for education, a warm home in the winter, and a reliable supply of safe and healthy food.... All of these advantages have been granted in America today. Yet the formula for happiness has proven to be more elusive than the simple bestowing of these benefits. Somewhere the equation has broken down. Food plus health plus warmth plus education plus affluence have not quite equaled Utopia. We have [wealth], leisure, entertainment, convenience, and comfort. We have insulated ourselves from the unpredictable ravages of nature. Yet stress, frustration, and...even despair unexpectedly accompany our unrivaled prosperity. I have observed, sadly, that this despair and meaninglessness is not the exception but the rule. I believe if we face this reality seriously there is an answer. That answer lies in going God’s way, not yours. Perhaps today you find yourself with a full pantry and an empty, despairing heart. Take your emptiness to the One who can fill your heart with meaning and fulfillment. God will not turn you away empty-hearted. Immigration to another land may fill the pantry, but only a transformation of the heart can fill the soul. --- 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) <BIBLE-STUDY> "JERICHO" (PART-8) Charles E. Wigg .... Though Bethel was such a wonderful and important place in the plan of God, yet there were further tests to be undertaken. Once more Elijah tested his successor’s determination. He asked him to stay at that place, though God had sent him to Jericho. However also, once more Elisha manifested the same determination, as previously, he would let nothing separate him from his master. Jericho represents the world. Not in its sordid, or presumptuous character, not in its religious orthodoxy, and hypocrisy. But the more pleasing aspects, the refined aspects, of the world. The elders later said of Jericho, that the situation of the city was pleasant. Yet it was Jericho that shut up and barred, stood like a sentry, to defy the children of Israel, and forbid them entrance into the inheritance that God had given them. It represents the world in its more cunning aspects. We would reject the world in its more sordid and evil aspects, but the Jericho aspect is more readily accepted. Thus the question is often asked, ‘why, what harm is there in it?’ It seems to be of particular danger to young people, because in passing the sentence of judgment Joshua warned that the person who rose up to rebuild Jericho, would sacrifice the lives of his sons, Josh. 6:26. This actually happened in the days of Ahab, when Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. When he laid its foundation his eldest son died, and when he set up its gates, his youngest son died. This is a solemn warning to us all. The servant of God must have a judgment of the world in all of its aspects. Its stout walls were brought down by faith and simple obedience to the word of God, though what He commanded seemed so foolish. Heb. 11:30. John asks the question, Who is it that overcomes the world? But then gives the answer, “He that believeth”. We have already seen that Elisha was a man of faith, and when challenged by his master to remain at Jericho, to settle down there and to enjoy its pleasures, he was equal to the test, he would go the whole way. He would not let anything part him from his master, and when tested by Elijah, he resolutely refused to remain at Jericho. However the sons of the prophets were content to live there, and they added to Elisha’s sorrow, by vaunting their knowledge, but were rebuked by him. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission] _____________________________________________________________________ 3) <PROPHECY> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-80) THE WORLDWARD RESULTS OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN Arthur W. Pink .... In the last chapter we considered seven of the Churchward Results of the Redeemer's Return. We saw that the One who left His disciples almost nineteen centuries ago, is coming back again, that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout; that this Shout will be heard by all the saints whether alive on the earth or asleep in their graves, and that at the time He gives this Shout our Lord will exert a miraculous "drawing" power which shall "catch up" His people unto Himself so that they meet Him in the air, after which they come before the Bema in order that their works may be examined and their service rewarded; subsequently, after an interval of seven years or more, the Lord returns to the earth accompanied by His people in glory. It is concerning the Interval which follows the Rapture and some of the things which shall occur during this period of time which are now to engage our attention. What is to take place on earth after the Church has been removed from it? What are the conditions that will obtain in this world during the interval which divides the two stages in the second advent of Christ? What is the course of events which shall culminate in the Return of the Redeemer to the Mount of Olives to usher in the long-promised Millennium? The Scriptures which make answer to these questions are exceedingly numerous and our chief difficulty is to select and classify. What will occur on earth after the saints have been removed? In seeking to summarize the predictions which bear upon this time, we shall confine ourselves again to seven of the most prominent items, namely, the Consternation of the world at the removal of the Church, the Hopeless condition of those left behind, God's dealings with the earth in judgment, the character and career of the Antichrist, the situation of the Jews during this period, the Battle of Armageddon, and the Return of Christ to the earth itself. Before we study these seriatim, a further word or two is necessary to prepare the reader for what follows. The length of time which separates between the secret coming of Christ to the air for the purpose of catching up His people and His subsequent and public return to the earth itself is not clearly defined in Scripture. It is certain, however, that this interval will last at least seven years and if, as the writer believes and an increasing number of prophetic students conclude, a goodly proportion of the Jews are to return to Palestine, if their Temple in Jerusalem is to be re-built, if Babylon is to be restored until it becomes again the metropolis of the world, then it will last much longer, possibly seventy years in all. For the sake of convenience we shall refer to this interval as the Tribulation period, though to be strictly accurate the "great Tribulation" is but three and a half years in length, the final three and a half years before the Lord Jesus returns to the earth. Anyone who has given himself at all seriously to the study of Prophecy will immediately recognize the difficulty of seeking to arrange in chronological order the things which are shortly coming to pass. Concerning the exact sequence of details we cannot be absolutely dogmatic, but so far as the general outline is in question that is plain. With these explanatory remarks let us now turn directly to the subject before us. And, [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." 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