-------------------------<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/groups/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <17 December 2002> Contents: ---------- 1) <Devotional> "The price of sacrifice"- Ravi Zacharias 2) <Bible-Study> "Knowing the enemy's plans" (Pt-35)-Charles Wigg 3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-106)- A.W.Pink 4) <Science> "Bible and Science" - (Pt-1) - Varghese John 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "THE PRICE OF SACRIFICE" Ravi Zacharias Joseph Damien was a nineteenth-century missionary who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. Those suffering grew to love him, revering the sacrificial life he lived out before them. But even he did not know the price he would eventually pay. One morning before he was to lead their daily worship, he poured some boiling water into a cup when it swirled out and fell on his bare foot. It took him a moment to realize that he had not felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what this could mean, he poured more water on the same spot. No feeling whatsoever. Damien immediately knew what had happened. He walked tearfully to deliver his sermon, and no one at first noticed the difference in his opening line. You see, he normally greeted them, "My fellow believers." But this morning he began with, "My fellow lepers." Think of the cost! It is one thing to minister and pour your life into others when distance remains between the minister and the receiver. It is quite another when sacrifice closes that distance in painful relief. In the greatest condescension imaginable, Jesus came into this world knowing what obedience to the Father would cost Him. He was fully aware, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, that it would be His Father's will to crush Him. Still, He came. Listen to "The Coming," a poem by R.S. Thomas: And God held in His hand A small globe. Look, He said. The son looked. Far off, As through water, He saw A scorched land of fierce Colour. The light burned There; crusted buildings Cast their shadows, a right Serpent, a river Uncoiled itself, radiant With slime. On a bare Hill, a bare tree saddened The sky. Many people Held out their thin arms To it, as though waiting For a vanished April To return to its crossed Boughs. The son watched Them. Let me go there, he said. (Footnote 1: R.S. Thomas, "The Coming" The Later Poems of R. S. Thomas, 1972-1982 (London: Macmillan, nd.) Jesus went to the cross willingly and with full knowledge of the price he would pay. He came to transform and restore broken lives. Perhaps you find yourself today, friend, beset by feelings of failure - perhaps even shame or worthlessness over a decision you've made or the direction of your life. Please hear me now. Jesus came and paid dearly the price for your failures, and this is a reason for hope - even a hope that does not disappoint as God pours His love into your heart. Seek Him today. ---- 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> "KNOWING THE ENEMY'S PLANS" (PART-35) Charles E. Wigg .... In the section that follows we learn the value of discernment. Elisha knew what the enemy's plans and intentions were. He did not keep this knowledge to himself, but passed it on to the king of Israel, by way of warning, thus he was saved from defeat and loss on several occasions. But it caused consternation to the Syrian king. He suspected that there was a spy amongst them. Perhaps he thought that it was Naaman? However once the truth was revealed, he decided to capture this man who was hindering his attempts. So he sent one of his bands to do this. It is a sad fact that today many experience defeat and loss, because of their lack of discernment. So often an idea is presented that seems to be of God, when all the while it is of the Devil. There is no excuse for us, as we have the Bible in our hands, and we have direct access to the throne of God. We are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and if we only allowed Him to teach and to lead us, we would then discern to true nature of what is suggested to us. We too would not then "Pass that such a place," and would be saved from much hurt and loss. Paul could say to the Corinthians, "We are not ignorant of his devices". 2 Cor. 2:11. The problem is that Satan is so cunning, and we can so easily be deceived and think that something presented to us is of God, when it really comes from Satan. John warns us that we are to allow the unction, (The Holy Spirit) to teach us, 1 John, 2:27, and that we are definitely not to believe every spirit, but to try, (or test the spirits), to see whether they are of God. Paul also tells us that " He that is spiritual judgeth, (discerns) all things, yet is judged of no man." 1 Cor. 2:15. The more dependent we are upon God, the more spiritual we are, (that is the more we are led, filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit) the greater will be our discernment. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced with permission] _____________________________________________________________________ 3) <SCIENCE> "THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE" (PART-1) Varghese John* [*Br. Varghese John (eldest son of Br. K.V. John {Pathanapuram}, a known Bible Scholar, teacher and writer of several Christian books) was teaching engineering till 1998. From 1998, he has been a Christian writer, webmaster and a teacher, teaching Bible in various Bible Colleges and other places in India. Many Christian periodicals and eMags carry the articles written by him. He is in fellowship with the Kunnukuzhy Brethren Assembly, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. We are grateful to Br. Varghese John for having permitted us to share some of his articles with the readers of BrethrenVoice. - Ben ] We live in an age of science and all of us enjoy the blessings and benefits of science everyday. Science has reduced the world to a global village. The unprecedented progress of science and technology fills our minds with wonder. Science has helped man to discover many truths about universe that were unknown to him in the past. Science is always in the relentless pursuit of searching more and more hidden truths of this physical world. This pursuit and progress has given science a worldwide credibility. In fact, science has become a synonym for truth in the minds of the masses. Atheists and critics of the Bible have steadily exploited this popularity and prominence of science among the masses down through the centuries. They often try to create doubts in the minds of Christians regarding the accuracy and reliability of the Bible. It has become the fashion of the day to claim that; 'science has disproved and discarded the Bible'. We may meet people who proudly ask the question: "Can the Bible be scientifically proved?" This question may sound a brilliant one. But if you think through the question you will understand the folly of it very soon. Let me analyse the question and show you how absurd the question is. The question given above has come out of one or both of the following assumptions: 1). The Bible is purely a scientific book and 2). Science is the ultimate tool to determine the reliability of anything and everything. We have to weigh these assumptions to see their worth. Let us consider the first one. The first thing we have to keep in mind is that the Bible is not a textbook of science. Of course, the Bible deals with some scientific facts--- the origin and end of the universe, functioning of natural laws etc. But these facts are described in the layman's language and not written in a technical style. The Bible primarily is a theological book presenting God's message to man and describing the story of man in God's perspective. That is why major portion of the Bible is historical narration. The Bible also contains poetry, prophecy and wisdom literature. Anyone who has a preliminary knowledge of the Bible will understand that the first assumption is wrong. Now consider the second one. If the first assumption has come out of the ignorance of the Bible, the second has sprung up from the ignorance of science. What is science? What is its scope? What are its limitations? The answer of these questions must be known before asking any question on science. [To be concluded} _____________________________________________________________________ 4) <PROPHECY> "THE CONSUMMATION OF THE REDEEMER'S RETURN OR THE MILLENNIAL REIGN"(PART-106) THE MILLENNIUM IN RELATION TO SATAN Arthur W. Pink .... The removal of Satan from this earth is described in Rev. 20:1-3, "and I saw an angel 1 come down from heaven, having the key of the Bottomless Pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the Bottomless Pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled." Satan will be "bound" which is the fulfillment of our Lord's word in Matt. 12:29--"How can one enter a "strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." The "strong man" is our , the Devil' his "house" is the children of this world, in contradistinction to the children of God who are the "House" of Christ (Heb. 3:6); the "binding" of the Strong Man is described in the Passage quoted above from Rev. 20; the "spoiling of his house" is the delivering of his captives (see Is. 42:7). Satan will be "cast into the Bottomless Pit" which is the fulfillment of Is. 14--"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the Pit" (vss. 12-15). Satan will be shut up in the Bottomless Pit and a "seal" shall be set upon him, which is God's answer to that which we read of in Matt. 27:66, "So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch--what he has sown that he also reap. Thus will terminate that struggle which has lasted for six thousand years, a struggle which has been waged for the dominion of the earth. At last the "roaring lion" (1 Peter 5:8) will have been overcome, overcome by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Man with the bruised heel will have crushed the Serpent's head, and the word spoken in Eden will then be fully accomplished. And who can describe or even imagine the blessed consequences! No more shall the brethren be accused before God (Rev. 12:10). No more shall the daughters of Abraham be "bound, lo, these eighteen years" (Luke 13:16). No more shall Satan tempt and try, harass and hinder the saints of God. For a thousand years the earth shall be rid of the Evil One and in his place there shall come "Times of Refreshing from the presence of the Lord." And this leads us to consider, We believe this "angel" to be the Lord Jesus Himself--the uncreated Angel of the Covenant (Mal. 3:1). If it should be asked, Why term Him an angel? the answer is, To connect Him with Israel, the covenant and earthly people. See Gen. 22:15, 16; 48:16; Ex. 3:2; and compare Rev. 7:2, 3; 8:3; 10:1. [To be concluded] ---------------------------<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