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<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY>
<25 December 2002>


Contents:
------------
1) <Devotional> "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear..."-C.H.Spurgeon
2) <Devotional> "Indignation's leading" - Ravi Zacharias
3) <Bible-Study> "Will we see our loved ones?" (Pt-3/4)-Charles Wigg
4) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-111)- A.W.Pink


1) <DEVOTIONAL>
"BEHOLD, A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON, AND SHALL ALL HIS NAME 
IMMANUEL."  ISA 7:14
C.H.Spurgeon

Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds 
and adoring Magi, let us see Him who was born King of the Jews, for we by 
faith can claim an interest in Him, and can sing, "Unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given." Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, 
and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at 
the very first glance His miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of 
before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a 
Son. The first promise ran thus, "The seed of the woman," not the offspring 
of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin, which brought 
forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. 
Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to His human nature the Holy One of 
God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to 
manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that He may be formed in us, the 
hope of glory. Fail not to note His humble parentage. His mother has been 
described simply as "a virgin," not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron 
of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind 
a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; 
but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood 
affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born 
King!

Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our 
punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in 
resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.

_______________________________________________________________________

2) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY>
"INDIGNATION'S LEADING"
Ravi Zacharias

A recent headline related an unbelievable report; it read: "Killed for a 
Dollar." It was a story tangled with drugs and accusations, ending 
tragically with a 13-year-old boy beaten to death in a squabble over one 
dollar.

I recall an editorial that once made this stark observation:  "We are 
entering into a period in which we are seeing a diminished respect for the 
uniqueness of humanity.  Young people, in particular, reserve their greatest 
moral indignation for wrongs done to animals."

You know, indignation is not a word we hear often.  Yet as we hear today's 
headlines, how can we describe what wells up inside?  Is it not something 
like honest anger, asserting, "Surely, we exist for something more than 
this!"

A psychologist once noted three tests of a great character:  1. The capacity 
for great love 2. The capacity for great enthusiasm and 3. The capacity for 
great indignation. I find this so interesting because when you look at the 
modern struggle with the existence of God, often the struggle is rooted in 
one's definition of God's character. We want a God who is only love and 
nothing more, leaving God a kind of mono-emotional being.  Which is why many 
atheists note their inability to reconcile a God who is love with the 
hopelessness of pain and evil.

The Old Testament prophet Nahum reminds us that love degenerates into a 
vague diffusion of kindly feeling unless it is balanced by the capacity of a 
righteous indignation.

You see, God's capacity for wrath directly corresponds with the purity of 
His love. We are uncomfortable with the idea of God's anger because we do 
not understand God's love.

There is an intimate connection between love and indignation.  We are 
angered by the story of the 13-year-old killed for a dollar because 
exchanging life for a dollar is a mockery of life. God feels this injustice 
far more profoundly than even you and I.  In His just wrath, God's love is 
so intimately connected to creation that He takes a step towards what we 
might call un-creation, that we might experience creation as He intended.

Friends, each day we live our lives before the God willing to love the world 
with the passion that stood aside as we destroyed something He loved.  
Jesus, begotten of the Father, experienced the shame of death on a cross, so 
that you and I might experience life as God intended.  God is love, indeed!  
He is Love willing to descend so that we might ascend.  A more meaningful 
love cannot exist.
---
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.
_______________________________________________________________________

3)  <DOCTRINAL>
"WILL WE SEE OUR LOVED ONES?" (PART-3 OF 4)
Charles E. Wigg
...
Though the rich man's life was one of endless partying, and though he lived 
in luxury on this earth, yet he also found time to die. We are told that he 
was buried. Perhaps he had a very expensive coffin; maybe his body was laid 
in a marble mausoleum? Yet it did not matter, because during his life of 
plenty, he felt no need of God, or of faith and daily trust in Him. Death 
did not end his state of consciousness either. Because the moment his eyes 
were closed in death, he became conscious of being in another place. To his 
eternal regret he discovered immediately that he had his feelings. Though 
his body was buried with much ceremony, and perhaps many friends attended 
his funeral, yet now he seemed to have another body. He had eyes, he had a 
tongue and perhaps what was worst, he had his memory. During his earthly 
life, he never felt any need of God. He never had the time, or the desire to 
think of life after death. He never thought of taking the precious gift that 
God offered him. But now he had all eternity to curse himself for his folly. 
He had all eternity to regret his stupidity!

You may ask, 'Why are you saying these things?' My point is that if the rich 
man saw and recognized Lazarus reclining in the bosom of Abraham, then it is 
doubly sure that we will see, and we will recognize our loved ones when with 
them in the Glory! I have exposed the misery of the departed soul of the 
rich man, lest any un-saved person should read these words. With a longing 
that they may wake up, before it is too late.

We need to bear in mind, that this event took place before the Lord Jesus 
died, was buried and rose again. When He did, He led captivity captive. He 
led out those spirits of just men, now made perfect, into another better 
place, where they await the final completion of the plan of God. Now 
Paradise is no longer down, it is up. Eph. 4:9-10, 2Cor. 12:2-4. Now 
everything is different for those that die in Christ. We will deal with this 
in due course.

To return to our passage, we notice that the rich man prayed when in Hades. 
Hades is the unseen world of the dead. It was in two parts, one place a 
place of blessing and rest, the other a place of torment and suffering. The 
Lord when telling this story made it clear that the place of blessing was 
visible from the place of torment. How the once rich man, must have cursed 
himself, as he remembered his past life. Cursed himself for his cold-hearted 
lack of compassion towards his suffering fellow man! He never thought of 
praying during his earthly life, but he prayed now. But his prayer was too 
late, and it was addressed to one that could not help. What a warning!

As we have mentioned earlier, he lifted up his eyes, he had eyes. He had a 
mind, he could think. He had a voice, he prayed to Abraham. He recognized 
Lazarus, whom he had seen many times, laying in misery at his gate. But he 
also recognized Abraham, whom he had never seen. Though alone now in his 
misery, yet he did not want his brothers to join him in that place of 
torment. Here is a warning for those that pray for their dead relatives, and 
pay others to say masses for the repose of the souls of their dead 
relatives. You are wasting your time and money. If only you knew it, if your 
relatives have died in their sins, then they too are suffering in Hell, and 
are praying for you, that you will not join them there.

This passage also shows the uselessness of praying to 'saints'. They cannot 
hear your prayers, and they are powerless to help you in any way.

Abraham had a bosom, Lazarus had a finger. It seems that there was water in 
that place. The once rich man had his memory, because Abraham told him, 'Son 
remember'. The man in Hades, wanted personal relief from his torment, but he 
had reached a place that was fixed. Death decides forever where we will be 
eternally. Those that go to Hell choose to go there. They have rejected the 
offer of God's mercy, and their rejection of it left God with no 
alternative, but to let them have their chosen way! There is no release from 
that place of eternal punishment. It is not God's fault; He has made every 
provision, and offers to all men His wonderful free salvation, as a gift. 
But He will never compel any person to accept the gift that He offers freely 
to them. [To be concluded]
---
[Reproduced by permission]
_______________________________________________________________________

4) <PROPHECY>
"THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-111)
THE MILLENNIUM IN RELATION TO ISRAEL  (PART 2 OF 6)
Arthur W. Pink
....
In Gen. 13:14, 15, we read "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was 
separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where 
thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the 
land which thou seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever." And 
again in Gen. 15:18 we are told, "In that same day the Lord made a covenant 
with Abram, saying, "unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of 
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." The land of Palestine has 
been given unconditionally to Abraham and his descendants, "For the gifts 
and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29). But these Divine 
promises have never received anything more than a partial fulfilment. The 
patriarchs themselves were but sojourners in a strange country, so much so, 
they needed to purchase a burying ground in it for their dead. It is true 
that in the days of Joshua, Israel entered into possession of the Promised 
Land, but it is to be particularly noted that they entered Canaan under the 
Covenant of Law (see Deut. 27:1-3, 8-10; 28:1 etc.), and hence their 
continued tenure of it was conditioned upon their obedience to Jehovah. But, 
as is well know, they failed to walk in the Divine statutes, and turned 
aside after false gods. And long did Jehovah bear with their waywardness. 
Prophet after prophet was sent unto them, calling them to forsake their sins 
and return unto the Lord and He would abundantly pardon. But in vain. 
Ultimately the point was reached when God's patience became exhausted, and 
in judgment upon them He sent them into captivity, from whence nothing more 
than a remnant has ever returned to their own land. It was to the 
descendants of this remnant that the Lord Jesus came. To the "lost sheep of 
the house of Israel" He was sent (Matt. 10:5-7; 15:24).

But He received no better treatment at their hands than did the prophets who 
were before Him--"He came unto His own and His own received Him not." He was 
despised and rejected of men, and Israel disowned their King and put Him to 
a shameful death. While their Messiah was hanging upon the Cross, "All the 
people said, His blood be on us, and on our children" (Matt. 27:25), and God 
took them at their word! A few years later Jerusalem was besieged, captured 
and destroyed by the armies of Titus; hundreds of thousands of Jews were 
slain, and the remainder of them carried away into captivity. Since that 
time they have been a homeless nation, and wanderers on the face of the 
earth. Literally has the prophecy of Hosea been fulfilled, "For the children 
of Israel shall abide many days without a king" (Hosea 3:4). And yet, in 
spite of all, they have preserved their national individuality, and have 
never been absorbed by the other nations. [To be concluded]

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