-------------------------<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> <7 December 2002> Contents: ---------- 1) <Exhortation> "God vs. man" - Connie Giordano 2) <Bible-Study> "Tragedy strikes" (Pt-28)-Charles Wigg 3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-99)- A.W.Pink 4) <Q&A> "Rahab and the Hebrew midwives" - John Mathew 1) <EXHORTATION> "GOD VS. MAN" Connie Giordano "In heaven there is perfect peace; for there is perfect holiness, and there is God, Who is love." - Matthew Henry How would you describe God? The Scriptures give us many wonderful concepts. 1 Chronicles 29:12 - "Riches and honor" come from Him. He reigns over all. In His hand is "power and might." Job 9:4 - "He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength." Job 9:8 - He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea. Job 9:10 - He does "great things past finding out," and "wonders without number." Job 26:6 - "Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath no covering." Job 26:7 - "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." Job 26:10 - He has "compassed the waters with bounds." Job 26:12 - "He divideth the sea with His power, and by His understanding He smiteth through the proud." Job 40:12 - He treads down the wicked in their place. Psalm 99:1 - He reigns. Psalm 99:2 - He is "great in Zion; and He is high above all the people." Jeremiah 10:6 - He is "great," and His name is "great in might." Daniel 4:34 - His "dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation." Daniel 4:35 - He does "according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." Daniel 4:35 - None can stop His hand or say to Him, "What doest Thou?" Matthew 6:13 - His is the "kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Matthew 28:18 - All power is His in heaven and in earth. Ephesians 1:21 - He is "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." In Job 25:2, Bildad the Shuhite described Him as such - "Dominion and fear are with Him..." In other words, he was saying that God is the Sovereign Lord over all. He is clothed with terrible majesty. He is so great and glorious. He has the incontestable authority to give and enforce laws and to dispose of His creation as He wills. Job 25:2 - Bildad goes on to say - "He maketh peace in His high places." In the heavenly worlds, amidst the numerous and mighty armies of heaven, He keeps order, peace, and blessed concord among all. Colossians 1:20 - "Through the blood of His cross," He "made peace," reconciling "all things unto Himself," "whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." Job 25:3 - Bildad then asks - "Is there any number of His armies?" It is a known fact that one can tell of the greatness and power of a leader or prince by the size and might of his army. God's troops, bands, or armies of heaven are ever victorious. These hosts of angelic beings are at His beck and disposal. Revelation 5:11 - John the Apostle described them as such - "and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Job 25:3 - What about His overall influence over His creation? Bildad asks - "...and upon whom doth not His light arise?" The "light" of His sun penetrates all places. The "light" of His knowledge exposes all and makes all things "naked and open" before Him. And the "light" of His goodness extends to all of His blessed creation. Job 25:5 - His "light" is so magnificent that even the "moon" and the "stars" are dark, obscure, dim, and defective when compared to Him - "Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight." With such an Awesome Being in the background, how would you then describe man? Job 25:4 - In the midst of God's penetrating and blinding Light, Bildad asks - "How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?" In comparison to God, man is earthly, corrupt, filthy, and vile. Job 4:19 - He dwells in "houses of clay" and his "foundation is in the dust." Job 15:16 - He is "abominable and filthy" for he drinks "iniquity like water." Psalm 51:5 - He was "shapen in iniquity." Ephesians 2:3 - Unless otherwise restrained, he continuously lives out his life in the "lusts" of the flesh, "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind." Job 25:6 - Bildad's final question concerning man was - "How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?" In comparison to God, man is poor, feeble, powerless, little, weak, and filthy as a maggot that beds down on rotten substances. Isaiah 40:17 - The Prophet Isaiah declared of the Lord - "All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity." This is the might of our God. The very nations are "as nothing" "before Him." What an Awesome Being He is! No man could ever compare to Him in His glory, power, or majesty. Yet, the wonder of it all cannot be better expressed than is found in David's words in Psalm 8:4 - "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest Him?" To think that such an awesome, incomparable Being would stoop so low to become like such "worms" as you and me to redeem us unto Himself! What an Mighty God we serve! Wouldn't you agree? He can - ...solve any problem ...calm any raging, emotional "storm" ...break down any wall of separation between a given people ...change the course of anyone's life or circumstances ...remove any hindrance ...destroy any yoke of bondage ...reverse any curse ...supply any need ...heal any body of sickness, disease, pain, or deformity ...deliver from any impossibility ...or defeat any foe. The world needs to hear about Him. Let's spread the Good News about our God to all, allowing nothing to hold us back! Our God reigns! --- Copyright 2002 by Connie Giordano ______________________________________________________________________ 2) <BIBLE-STUDY> "AN EXAMPLE TO ALL LITTLE MAIDS " (PART-28) Charles E. Wigg .... Thus this little maid whose name is not given, became an example to all other little Maids, especially to those little maids that belong to the Lord Jesus. It seemed that she had learned to accept the circumstances that were beyond her control, and sought to serve God in those very circumstances. She enjoyed a close relationship with her mistress as a result, and through her conveyed a message of hope to her master. She knew that her God, the God of Israel was the only true God, and that He possessed the power of life and death. Though Israel was in a backslidden state, though they were disobedient to God’s word, yet still He had not forsaken them, and that He still had His messenger amongst them, in the person of Elisha. Little did she know that her story would be read and told by countless people, all over the world, and over several millenniums. May every little Christian maid that reads this story take courage. May they realise that the same mighty God can make use of them, to the eternal blessing and salvation of others! When the news was passed on to Naaman, it seemed too good to be true. It was indeed ‘good news’ but too good to be true?? It was nay centuries later that the Lord Jesus said, “That which is impossible with men, is possible with God”. Nevertheless it was the only hope that the Syrian General had, so he passed the information to his king. The king did not wish to lose the services of such a successful and valiant man, so hoping against hope, he decided to send Naaman to Samaria. He wrote a letter to Israel’s king, and sent Naaman loaded with gifts and rewards on his journey. In due course Naaman stood before Israel’s king, who on reading the letter tore his clothes in distress. He knew that he had no power to cure the incurable, and saw it as a pretext for the Syrian king to attack or to make trouble for him. It never entered his head that Jehovah the God of Israel could be behind this matter. However the mighty, yet gracious prophet was sitting untroubled in his house. He knew what was taking place in the palace and sent a message to the troubled king, asking why he was so distressed as to tear his clothes, and telling him to send the visitor down to him, and that he would then know that there was a prophet in Israel. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced by permission] _____________________________________________________________________ 3) <PROPHECY> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-99) THE RETURN OF CHIRST TO THE EARTH ITSELF PART 2/6 Arthur W. Pink .... He Comes as the "Faithful and True." This is in vivid contrast from the abounding unfaithfulness of men. He comes now faithful to His promises and true to His threatenings. To-day, men may single out those parts of His teachings which accord with their own sentiments, and reject and deny His solemn threatenings of judgment against the unbelieving; but, in that day, it shall be seen that He is Faithful and True to every word He uttered, whether of promise or of threatening. He comes back again as "Judge." Here we have another striking contrast. When he was here before, wicked men dared to arraign Him. He was brought before the judgment-bar of Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod. But now the tables shall be turned. He Himself shall be the Judge. God hath "appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained" (Acts 17:31). And now the appointed "Day" (the Millennium) has dawned; the ordained Man is at hand. Observe it is said, "In righteousness He doth judge" (Rev. 19:11). This also points a contrast. He was judged un-righteously. No charge could be preferred against Him. He was guiltless; even His judge had to acknowledge "I find no fault in Him;" and yet he sentenced Him to death! How un-righteous! But in marked contrast, our Lord shall judge "in righteousness:" nought but Justice shall He dispense. He comes to make war! Ah! once our blessed Lord ministered to the needy, fed the hungering multitude, healed the sick, gave peace to the burdened conscience. Beforetime, He invited the heavy-laden to come to Him for rest. But here all is changed. Now He comes seated upon a war-charger, and with the express purpose of making war. At the Red Sea, where Jehovah destroyed Pharaoh, and his hosts, Israel sang "The Lord is a Man of War" (Ex. 15:3), and now has struck the hour when this shall be demonstrated as never before. He returns to earth with the deliberate design of shedding the blood of His enemies. "And His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God" (Rev. 19:12, 13). [To be concluded] _____________________________________________________________________ 4) <QUESTION & ANSWER> "RAHAB AND THE HEBREW MIDWIVES" [Question: In Judges 2, we find the story of Rahab secretly hiding two spies and then blatantly lying about knowing where they were. How do you account that through a lie her faith was commended? Or was it? (Hebrews 11:31) What about the Hebrew midwives who lied to Pharaoh and were blessed of God? (Exodus 1)] ---- ANSWER AS SENT BY BR. JOHN MATHEW: As children of God, we are not obliged to obey evil and wicked laws against God's people. Midwives or Mose's sister din't actually lie. They were upholding the righteousness of God. The same goes to Rahab. Thanks ---- [Thank you very much Br. John Mathew. More answers will follow. If you have an answer, you could still send it to: <brethrenvoice@...>. - Ben] ---------------------------<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