-----------------------<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@...] [The Moderator would welcome your comments/feedback] [<SUNDAY-GLEANINGS> archives/read online: http://associate.com/digests/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <SUNDAY-GLEANINGS> <17 November 2002> Contents: ----------- 1) <Devotional> "Treasury of David - Psalm 23:3"- C.H.Spurgeon 2) <Bible-Study> "Levitical offerings" (Pt-15)-C.E.Wigg 3) <Devotional> “Freedom ‘to be’” – M.J. Stanford 4) <Doctrinal> "The Church" (Pt 2/3) - FJR 5) <From-the-Gleaner> "Top-stories-of-the-week" - Ben 1) <DEVOTIONAL> TREASURY OF DAVID - PSALM 23:3 C. H. Spurgeon Verse 3. "He restoreth my soul." When the soul grows sorrowful he revives it; when it is sinful he sanctifies it; when it is weak he strengthens it. "He" does it. His ministers could not do it if he did not. His Word would not avail by itself. "He restoreth my soul." Are any of us low in grace? Do we feel that our spirituality is at its lowest ebb? He who turns the ebb into the flood can soon restore our soul. Pray to him, then, for the blessing--"Restore thou me, thou Shepherd of my soul!" "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." The Christian delights to be obedient, but it is the obedience of love, to which he is constrained by the example of his Master. "He leadeth me." The Christian is not obedient to some commandments and neglectful of others; he does not pick and choose, but yields to all. Observe, that the plural is used--"the paths of righteousness." Whatever God may give us to do we would do it, led by his love. Some Christians overlook the blessing of sanctification, and yet to a thoroughly renewed heart this is one of the sweetest gifts of the covenant. If we could be saved from wrath, and yet remain unregenerate, impenitent sinners, we should not be saved as we desire, for we mainly and chiefly pant to be saved from sin and led in the way of holiness. All this is done out of pure free grace; "for his name's sake." It is to the honour of our great Shepherd that we should be a holy people, walking in the narrow way of righteousness. If we be so led and guided we must not fail to adore our heavenly Shepherd's care. _______________________________________________________ 2) <BIBLE-STUDY> THE OBLATION OR MEAL OFFERING - AN EXPOSITION OF SOME OF THE LEVITICAL OFFERINGS - CHAPTER 2 (PART-15) Charles E. Wigg .... SALT: To each oblation salt was added. The characteristic of salt is that it savors, or brings out the taste of every food to which it is added, and it is used from ancient times also as a preservative to keep foods from corruption, that are subject to decay. I suggest that it represents the graces of holiness and sincerity of our Lord Jesus that were ever present, and evident. His presence was a rebuke to evil, without His publicly rebuking it., as John the Baptist did. His absolute sincerity, and His perfect holiness exposed the evil that was present in others. Just as the light dispels darkness, so evil men, who "loved darkness rather than light", could not abide His presence. As well as this, He had the ability to bring out all that was best in His own disciples, as we see in Peter, Nicodemus, Thomas and all whose lives were affected by Him. The salt was added to each oblation, they were not to "suffer the salt of the covenant of...God to be lacking", verse 13. God never breaks His covenant, never goes back on His word, nor did the Lord Jesus ever shrink , or turn away from doing the will of God, or from keeping His promises. Thus when we offer to God our appreciation of Christ and His perfect life, we are always to be reminded of this aspect of His character. QUANTITIES: We now notice that in regard to the ingredients, no measure or proportion was mentioned. This would suggest to our hearts that what these things portray in the person of Christ, were beyond measure. But no matter what quantity was made, only the handful of the fine flour and the oil was offered. The handful was just what the person was able to grasp. It follows the pattern of the burnt-offering, that is, the more the person grows, the larger his hand will be, and he will be able to grasp more of these precious truths. This means that God accepts from me only that which I have really grasped in my own soul of the beauty and glory of the life and person of Christ. We may read, or memorize what others have said or written, and from those things compose a beautiful response that may seem to be worship, but it is only what I have personally grasped and made my own through meditation, the reading of the scriptures, and personal communion with the Lord Jesus, that is acceptable to God. We notice that though only the handful of the flour and oil was offered, yet all of the frankincense was to be offered. . This is something like the fat of the burnt-offering, it was not for the enjoyment of the offerer, but wholly for the pleasure of God. The fragrance of the graces of Christ are so rich, so sweet, so overwhelming, so all pervading, that only our great God and Heavenly Father is able to fully comprehend and appreciate it. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission] _______________________________________________________ 3) <DEVOTIONAL> ‘FREEDOM “TO BE”' M.J. Stanford "Having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6, ASV). The law was applied to the natural man, that he might produce; grace is given to the spiritual man, that He might produce. "Almost every believer makes the same mistake as the Galatian Christians. Very few learn at conversion at once that it is only by faith that we stand, and walk, and live. They have no conception of the meaning of the Word about being dead to the law, freed from the law, about the freedom with which Christ makes us free (Romans 7:6). Regarding the law as a divine ordinance for our direction, they consider themselves prepared and fitted by conversion to take up the fulfillment of the law as a natural duty. They cannot understand that it is not to the law, but to a living Person, that we are now bound, and that our obedience and growth are only possible by the unceasing faith in His power and life ever working in us (Philippians 2:13)." -A.M. "Good and holy and perfect as the law of God is, it is entirely powerless either to justify or sanctify. It cannot in any way make the old nature better; neither is it the rule of the new nature. The old man is not subject to it, and the new man does not need it. The new creation has another object before it, and another power that acts upon it, in order to produce what is lovely and acceptable to God Christ the object, realized by the power of the Holy Spirit." -W.K. "Not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life" (Hebrews 7:16). --- © Copyright 1996-2002 TrueBranch Ministry _______________________________________________________ 4) <DOCTRINAL> "THE CHURCH" (PART 2 OF 3) F.J.R* The Old Testament speaks of two dwelling places of God. First in the tabernacle that Moses built, "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them". Ex.25:8. Second, the temple that Solomon built, 1Kings chapters 5,6,7. The tabernacle or tent of the wilderness speaks of that which is temporary, whereas Solomon’s temple speaks of that which is permanent. Both foreshadow aspects of the Church, the House that the Lord is building, the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. Heb.8:2. This morning I have my eyes focused on those stones in Solomon’s temple. 1 Kings 5:17 speaks of great stones, 7:9 - costly stones, 7:9 –hewn stones, 7:10 - large stones, all stones to built the temple. No doubt the temple stones are a figure of the living stones taken out of natures quarry by the work of Christ. In the song of David, 2Sam.22:36 David said the Lord’s gentleness had made him great. So if there are great stones they are made that because of the Saviour. Blood, sweat and tears was needed to dig these stones out of the quarry. There was a cost involved to produce costly stones. Then there were hewn stones, rough ones, cut out and shaped, trimmed to fit. Silver, Gold and costly stones, precious stones went into that temple. Computer estimates made in the seventieth put Solomon’s temple in the order of $87 Billion and at today’s prices you can easily double that. So today's price tag for Solomon’s temple would be 174 Billion Dollars. Cool, hey. Boggles the mind, but this is exactly what was in Peters mind when he penned these words, for he was writing to Jewish Christians who had an understanding of the temple and its cost, and this is his comparison, 1 Pet. 1:18 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold...19 but with the precious blood of Christ," in other words, the riches even as in Solomon’s temple pale into insignificance compared to the precious blood of Christ. 2 Cor.8:9, says, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that ye through his poverty ye might be rich. There is another extraordinary truth I would like to bring out and it is found in 1 Kings 6:20,21,22. And the inner sanctuary in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height of it; and he overlaid it with pure gold and so covered the altar, which was of cedar. 21, So Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure Gold; and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. 22, And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also the whole altar that was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 18, and the cedar of the house within was carved with knobs and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.. Before I finish this I like to read you an eyewitness description of the temple as it was seen before A.D. 70 when Titus destroyed it. Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes; for it was all covered with plates of Gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as those parts of it that were not of gold, they were exceeding white. Remember what we read in 1 Kings 6:20-22? After the whole temple, all the stones were assembled, they were all covered with gold, no stone to be seen, v.18. [To be concluded] --- *Courtesy F.J.R _______________________________________________________ (5) <FROM-THE-GLEANER> A-GLANCE-AT-THE-TOP-STORIES-OF-THE-WEEK Ben SADDAM BOWS TO UN - WITH A LIE: Saddam Hussein accepted tough new United Nations conditions for disarmament yesterday but risked provoking a major confrontation within weeks by insisting that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. INSPECTORS HEAD TO IRAQ FOR FIRST TIME IN 4 YEARS: With President Saddam Hussein's acceptance of a tough new U.N. resolution, a team of disarmament experts leaves for Iraq on Friday to get ready for the most intrusive inspections in history. IRAQ WAR 'COULD KILL 500,000': A war against Iraq could kill half a million people, warns a new report by medical experts - and most would be civilians. US WARNS WAR ON IRAQ MAY START BEFORE CHRISTMAS: President Bush issued a tough new warning to Saddam Hussein yesterday as administration officials said that a war could begin before the end of the year. 'BIN LADEN' HAILS RECENT ATTACKS: An Arabic news channel has broadcast what it says is an audio recording of Osama Bin Laden praising anti-Western attacks committed as recently as last month. US BASES ATTACKED IN AFGHANISTAN, HEAVY FIGHTING: U.S. war planes bombed and strafed enemy positions after rocket and ground attacks on two bases in southeastern Afghanistan and at least two attackers were suspected killed, the U.S. military said Friday. THIS TIME THE THREAT IS 'SPECTACULAR' - BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? The FBI's warning about a "spectacular" terrorist attack could mean something bigger than Bali, where nearly 200 people died, says a former agency analyst. WEAPONS-GRADE NUKE MATERIAL MISSING, RUSSIAN OFFICIAL SAYS: The head of Russia's nuclear regulatory agency says small amounts of weapons- and reactor-grade nuclear materials have disappeared from the country's atomic facilities. 'A SUPERSNOOP'S DREAM': Language tucked inside the Homeland Security bill will allow the federal government to track the e-mail, Internet use, travel, credit-card purchases, phone and bank records of foreigners and U.S. citizens in its hunt for terrorists. A KILLER KILLED: A Pakistani man who killed two CIA employees in a 1993 shooting rampage outside the agency's headquarters was executed Thursday as the State Department warned of global retaliation against Americans. 12 ISRAELIS DIE IN HEBRON SHOOTINGS: Palestinian militants raked Israeli troops and settlers with massive gunfire Friday in a carefully orchestrated ambush, killing 12 Israelis and wounding 15 in Hebron, a divided city long plagued by religious tensions and flashes of furious violence. NETANYAHU MAY NOT WIN PARTY VOTE: Benjamin Netanyahu, once considered a shoo-in to become Israel's next prime minister, is sliding in the polls and may not even win an upcoming contest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for leadership of the Likud Party. RADICAL NEW PLAN FOR MIDEAST PEACE: There's a new peace plan gaining support in Israel that has nothing to do with making land concessions to Arabs, negotiations with Yasser Arafat, extending the Oslo Accords or creating a new Palestinian state. ANNAN: ISRAEL MUST GIVE UP "NEARLY ALL OF THE TERRITORY" FOR PEACE: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan denounced Israel as an expropriator of Arab land and said it must give up "nearly all of the territory" for peace with the Arabs. EU OFFICIAL SUPPORTS ENTRY OF ISRAEL AND MOROCCO INTO EUROPEAN UNION: President of the European Union Commission, Romano Prodi, said Friday that he favors the entry of Israel into the EU. EU COULD RUN FROM MOSCOW TO MOROCCO: ROMANO Prodi, the president of the European Commission, has sketched out an ambitious plan for the next stage of European Union enlargement, which could see the trading block run from Moscow to Morocco. POPE ADDRESSES ITALY'S PARLIAMENT IN HISTORIC VISIT: In a 45-minute speech that marked the first time a pope had ever addressed the legislature here, John Paul told Italians to make sure that the expansion of the European Union did not diminish the role and importance of Christianity on the Continent. FLORIDA FIRM SEEKS TO MICROCHIP AMERICANS: A Washington forum debated on Friday the benefits and hazards posed by a new way of identifying people with a microchip implanted under their skin to replace conventional paper identification. 'YOU ARE A SUSPECT': Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend — all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database." MEET THE CLONED CASH COW - COMING SOON TO A FARMYARD NEAR: Within a year to 18 months, milk from cloned calves and their natural-born offspring could be on the American breakfast table, and there may be no requirement for producers to label it any differently from conventional milk. MILLIONS FACE FAMINE IN ETHIOPIA: A famine several times worse than the 1984-85 disaster (which killed a million people and triggered a global relief effort) is looming over the Horn of Africa, threatening more than 15 million people with starvation, the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, said yesterday. SMALL EARTHQUAKE REPORTRED OFF THE COST OF CHARLESTON, SC: A small earthquake struck off the coast of Charleston on Monday but caused no damage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. BUSH TAKES ON CHRISTIAN RIGHT OVER ANTI-ISLAM WORDS: President Bush on Wednesday took on the Christian right core of his political base, denouncing anti-Islamic remarks made by religious leaders including evangelist Pat Robertson. _____________________<BrethrenVoice>_____________________ Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: www.brethrenvoice.com <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 _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail