-------------------------<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> <1 December 2002> Contents: ----------- 1) <Devotional> "Treasury of David - Psalm 23:5"- C.H.Spurgeon 2) <Bible-Study> "Levitical offerings" (Pt-17)-C.E.Wigg 3) <Bible-Study> "The role of men and women..." (Pt-1)- F.J.R 4) <From-the-Gleaner> "Top-stories-of-the-week" - Ben 1) <DEVOTIONAL> TREASURY OF DAVID - PSALM 23:5 C. H. Spurgeon Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. The good man has his enemies. He would not be like his Lord if he had not. If we were without enemies we might fear that we were not the friends of God, for the friendship of the world is enmity to God. Yet see the quietude of the godly man in spite of, and in the sight of, his enemies. How refreshing is his calm bravery! Thou preparest a table before me. When a soldier is in the presence of his enemies, if he eats at all he snatches a hasty meal, and away he hastens to the fight. But observe: "Thou preparest a table," just as a servant does when she unfolds the damask cloth and displays the ornaments of the feast on an ordinary peaceful occasion. Nothing is hurried, there is no confusion, no disturbance, the enemy is at the door, and yet God prepares a table, and the Christian sits down and eats as if everything were in perfect peace. Oh! the peace which Jehovah gives to his people, even in the midst of the most trying circumstances! "Let earth be all in arms abroad, They dwell in perfect peace." Thou anointest my head with oil. May we live in the daily enjoyment of this blessing, receiving a fresh anointing for every day's duties. Every Christian is a priest, but he cannot execute the priestly office without unction, and hence we must go day by day to God the Holy Ghost, that we may have our heads anointed with oil. A priest without oil misses the chief qualification for his office, and the Christian priest lacks his chief fitness for service when he is devoid of new grace from on high. My cup runneth over. He had not only enough, a cup full, but more than enough, a cup which overflowed. A poor man may say this as well as those in higher circumstances. "What, all this, and Jesus Christ too?" said a poor cottager as she broke a piece of bread and filled a glass with cold water. Whereas a man may be ever so wealthy, but if he be discontented his cup cannot run over; it is cracked and leaks. Content is the philosopher's stone which turns all it touches into gold; happy is he who has found it. Content is more than a kingdom, it is another word for happiness. _______________________________________________________ 2) <BIBLE-STUDY> THE OBLATION OR MEAL OFFERING - AN EXPOSITION OF SOME OF THE LEVITICAL OFFERINGS - CHAPTER 2 (PART-17) Charles E. Wigg .... THE OVEN: First the oven is used, (verse 4). The heat of the oven is intense, yet what takes place inside is hidden from human view. It refers to the sufferings through which the Lord Jesus passed in His spirit. The life of the Lord Jesus was a life of suffering from the cradle to the grave.. Not all were physical sufferings. Some were deep inner sufferings that could not be seen outwardly. We read in Hebrews 2;18, that "He suffered being tempted". Temptation gives a certain pleasure to us, because of our sinful nature, but it brought pain to the heart of the Lord Jesus. That is why it says in Mark chapter one, that the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. It was as if He was unwilling to go. It was not that He feared Satan, but that He hated sin and did not wish to be confronted with it. The temptations of the Devil caused Him inner suffering. When healing the deaf man in Mark 7;34, He groaned; that groan was the expression of inner sufferings which He felt when He saw the terrible physical effects that sin had wrought on His creatures. This is like the oven. THE PAN: Other aspects of His sufferings were more outward, as when He went to the tomb of Lazarus and wept there. When the Jews saw Him weep they said, "Behold how He loved him". These kinds of sufferings are suggested in the pan in which the oblation was baked. The pan is a shallow vessel where the heat is likewise intense, but all that takes place there is open to the view of man. The sufferings that He experienced at the hands of man , cruel and horrible as they were, were all open to the gaze of men. All of these sufferings brought out His faultless perfection. When the soldiers drove the nails through His hands and His feet, which would have caused terrible pain, yet it drew from His lips that beautiful prayer, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." THE CAULDRON (FRYING PAN in the Authorised Version): The third vessel is the cauldron, which is a deep vessel, in which things are usually boiled for a long time. A vessel that is partly open, and in which the heat is intense. This category of sufferings was perhaps manifested when the Lord Jesus cried, "Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour..." (John 12;27. ) Then again in the Garden of Gethsemane, we are given, as it were, a glimpse into the boiling cauldron. When He began to be amazed and oppressed in His spirit, and He said to His disciples, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death", ( Mark 14;34.) His grief was so intense, and His agony of soul and anguish so great, that the disciples were overcome with the sleep of grief. These sufferings were viewed by but a few of His disciples, and were so deep that even they could not understand or enter into them. In it all the perfection of the Lord Jesus shone out so beautifully. Hating sin, shrinking in horror from the prospect of His being made sin. ) He did not shrink from the physical suffering, terrible though He knew it would be ! He turned not away back, but gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. He hid not his face from the shame and the spitting, (Isaiah 50;5 & 6.) Nevertheless His holy soul did recoil from that which was most abhorrent to Him , that was when on the cross, He, ( who knew no sin ), was made sin for us, so He prayed, "Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me!, yet in the grace of His perfect obedience He prayed, "Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done!" Thus we see the fulfillment of the type of the oblation prepared in the cauldron. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission] _______________________________________________________ 3) <BIBLE-STUDY> "THE ROLE AND POSITION OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CHURCH MEETING" F.J.R* Text - I Cor. 14:26-40 Introduction - This passage of Scripture is somewhat connected with the eleventh chapter of I Corinthians. In this passage we are dealing primarily with the meeting of the Church. Chapter 11 discusses the reason for our meeting and as we remember it was for remembrance. Now we discover what we may call the order of that meeting and what we might expect when we come together as a biblical based assembly. Now with this chapter there are a number of controversial issues involved. However, my purpose is not to be controversial, but it is to find what the inspired Word of God teaches concerning such issues. I have divided the passage under two main headings. I The Ministry and Position of Men (vs. 26-33) II The Ministry and Position of Women (vs. 34-35) Both of these headings refer primarily to the Church meeting. The Ministry and Position of Men vs. 26-33 1. Our Priesthood Before we go into the passage I would like us to consider momentarily our priesthood. This we will see is important to the application of this chapter. We briefly discussed this last time but we shall consider a few verses again. 1Peter 2:5, "you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And vs. 9, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." In the Church age then, we find that all Christians are unconditionally constituted a Royal Priesthood regardless of sex. We are all believer priests. The chief privilege of a priest is access to God. Under the law, the High Priest only could enter into the "Most Holy Place"; of the Tabernacle which was the dwelling place of God behind the veil; and this was only once a year. But we remember that when Christ died the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom which signifies that now all men have access to God in the Holiest, but only through the great High Priest who is Christ Himself. Thus we all have this priestly access to God by which we can offer sacrifice. [To be concluded] --- *Courtesy F.J.R _______________________________________________________ 4) <FROM-THE-GLEANER> A-GLANCE-AT-THE-TOP-STORIES-OF-THE-WEEK Ben WEAPONS INSPECTORS FEAR THEIR HQ MAY BE BUGGED: On the second day of the hunt for illicit weapons in Iraq, UN inspectors again found Iraqi officials well-prepared for their "surprise" visits. IRAQ WAR WILL PROBABLY END WITHIN 6 WEEKS: US will probably defeat Iraq within six weeks in a war that will see the rapid collapse of the regime of President Saddam Hussein, a leading U.S. expert says. IRAQ ADMITS PLAN TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS: IRAQ has given its first warning to the West that it does possess weapons of mass destruction and that President Saddam Hussein would be prepared to use them if his regime was threatened. LATEST AUDIO TAPE NOT OF BIN LADEN, SWISS LAB: The latest audiotape statement attributed to accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is not authentic, a Swiss research institute said. The Lausanne-based Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence said it is 95-per-cent certain the tape does not feature the voice of the long-absent terrorist leader. NEW TERROR ALERTS THREATEN ASIA: A new round of terror alerts threatening attacks "within days" has led to the closure of embassies in the Philippines and to 24-hour patrols of Australian landmarks. 3000 'SLEEPERS' TRAINED FOR TERROR: Terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah and radical Muslim organisations across Indonesia and Malaysia formed links with al-Qaeda nine years ago, and have sent up to 3000 followers to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan since the late 1970s, a new report reveals. BALI BLAST SUSPECT ADMITS AL-QAIDA LINK: The alleged field commander in last month's deadly Bali blasts has admitted an association with al-Qaida's pointman in Southeast Asia, Indonesia's police chief said Wednesday. PAKISTAN ISLAMISTS REJECT US HELP IN TERROR HUNT: The hard-line Islamic bloc set to govern the strategic Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan said Monday local authorities did not need U.S. support to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban operatives. ATTACK ON ISRAELIS IN KENYA (A NEW PHASE IN INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM) KILLS 15: AL-QAEDA BLAMED: Suicide bombers blew up a hotel in Kenya Thursday, killing 15 people, minutes after missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby, in apparently synchronized attacks on Israeli tourists. GUNMEN KILL 4 ISRAELIS AT BUS STATION: Three gunmen opened fire Thursday on a Likud Party office crowded with voters casting ballots in a leadership race and fired at passengers at a nearby bus terminal. Four Israelis were killed and dozens wounded in the attack in the northern town of Beit Shean. 9 WOULD-BE SUICIDE BOMBERS ARRESTED IN BETHLEHEM REGION: Since the onset of IDF operations in Bethlehem five days ago, troops have apprehended 45 wanted Palestinians, nine which were plotting to carry out suicide bombing attacks against Israel, Israel Radio reported. SHARON TROUNCES NETANYAHU IN LIKUD PRIMARY: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon trounced Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Thursday's Likud primary, held under the dark cloud of the day's terrorist attacks in Beit She'an and Kenya. AIDS PANDEMIC THREATENS WORLD STABILITY: UN OFFICIAL: The AIDS pandemic, which now claims some 42 million victims, is one of the greatest threats to world stability, Peter Piot, the head of the United Nations agency devoted to the ailment said. FLU OUTBREAK KILLS HUNDREDS IN CONGO: Deaths have been recorded in a number of towns – including Bosobolo, Gbadolite and Gemena – in the north of Equateur province, near the border with Central African Republic, Health Minister Mashako Mamba said. He said as many as 566 people have died since the outbreak began in October, adding that the figures were "certainly incomplete." HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER OUTBREAK IN PROVINCE ORIENTALE: The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has issued an alert regarding an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever that has so far killed eight people in Orientale Province, a region plagued by fighting among various rebel groups and ethnic factions VATICAN WON'T RULE OUT BID FOR UN MEMBERSHIP: Asked if that meant the Vatican might become a U.N. member, Sodano was quoted as replying: "If that were useful, I wouldn’t rule it out." SCIENTISTS ON ALERT FOR HIDDEN ISLAND OFF SICILY: A volcanic island submerged off the coast of Sicily for the last 170 years could reappear in the coming weeks if furious seismic rumblings continue, Italy's chief seismologist said Monday. ITALIAN DOCTOR SAYS CLONED BABY DUE IN JANUARY: Controversial Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori said on Tuesday a woman pregnant with a cloned embryo was due to give birth in January, but declined to give any details about her. _____________________<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 _______________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail