-------------------------<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: ben@...] [<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> archives/read online: http://associate.com/groups/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <17 January 2003> Contents: ------------ 1) <Devotional> "The meaning of God" - Keith Cox 2) <Bible-Study> "Be wise as serpents..." - Charles E. Wigg 3) <Exhortation> "Where all the religions go wrong" - Connie Giordano 4) <Poem> - "Life's clock" - Author unknown 1) <DEVOTIONAL> "THE MEANING OF GOD" Keith Cox When you hear the word God, what comes to your mind? Warm feelings? Theological terms? Confusion? Nothing? No doubt, our reactions are very diverse to this simple word. This diversity of reaction issues, at least partially, from the diversity of definitions of the term. In our pluralistic age there is no generally accepted definition of this incredibly important word. So when someone asks, "Does God exist?" it is right to reply, "What do you mean by God?" This question is of utmost importance, and so deserves our careful attention. Blithely accepting dogma or anti-dogma on this question serves no one. So allow me to ask this all-important question of you: what does God mean to you? To Aristotle, the ancient philosopher, God meant the Unmoved mover who is the starting point of the universe. God, for him, was an impersonal force, the eternal hinge about which the universe swings. God then is a postulate and not a person. Is that what God means to you? Is He merely a principle you posit to make your world make more sense? In stark contrast to Aristotle is the polytheist who believes God to be immanently human, maybe even overly so. Here, God, or the gods, means somebody like you or me except with a lot of power, who also happens to be immortal. I have always felt that this turns the transcendent into either a wish-receptacle or a big-bully in the sky to appease. Is this what God means to you? Is God just a source of power that you worship when you want to get some of his power? Do your sacrifices only aim at currying the favor of God? Many anthropologists explain away such notions of the divine as mere anthropomorphic projections –a making of God in human image. The Bible radically reverses this equation. It states that we, humans, are made in God’s image. God is not a really big man in the sky. More accurately, we are like little gods here on earth. We are fashioned in his image. We are creative, relational, spiritual, moral, love-seeking, free. In a word, we are persons. This is the fingerprint of the divine in our nature. Yes, the Bible also tells of our Fall, which we see evidence for everyday, but the image of God in us is not completely defaced. So when you think of God, realize He is not an impersonal force, nor is He just a big guy in the sky. God is a person, the ultimate Person. Open yourself to Him, and He will open Himself to you. --- Copyright (c) 2000 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <BIBLE-STUDY> "BE AS WISE AS SERPENTS, AND AS HARMLESS AS DOVES" - (PART 1 OF 6) Charles E. Wigg This verse found in Matt. 10:16, is a puzzle to many. They seem to think it strange that the Lord Jesus would tell His disciples to be as wise as serpents. This is because the Serpent in the Bible is the name given to Satan. But we need to notice that Jesus did not say 'as wise as the serpent' it is obvious then that He is not referring to Satan. We will look some more at this later in this paper. BACKGROUND. In this chapter the Lord Jesus is about to send His disciples out to preach in the towns and villages. He is giving them their final instructions. He is not only thinking of their immediate mission, but also of what was to follow once He had returned to heaven. More than this, He was thinking of all that down through the ages would go out to serve Him. The things that He said are just as relevant to us even today. It seems that He could for-see that money would be a curse to those that would profess to be His servants. We live in a day when many use what they call the 'service of the Lord', to make themselves fabulously rich. Such people live in luxury. And they prefer not to read the instructions that the Lord Jesus gave in the earlier part of this chapter. Some have gone as far as to attempt to prove that the Lord Jesus lived in luxury. One man had the temerity to say from the platform that the Lord Jesus wore the finest and most expensive clothes, so it was quire OK for him to wear designer suits. He said that when Jesus wanted to ride into Jerusalem He borrowed the finest ass. So that justified the preacher for driving about in a Rolls Royce motor car. In fact I knew of one Preacher who arrived at his meetings in a helicopter, even in India, where masses live in abject poverty. But it is not our intention to expound the teaching of the whole chapter, so we will return to verse sixteen. BEHOLD I SEND YOU FORTH. Perhaps this is the most important part of the verse. It is quite essential for all that would serve God, to have a definite cal and a genuine commission from Him. We live in a strange day, when many take to themselves the responsibility of serving the Lord, when they have never been called by Him, or sent by Him. There are those that look upon the service of the Lord as a business, a means of getting a livelihood, or even worse as a means of making money, of gaining riches or fame. On the other hand, there are those that have been definitely called by the Lord to serve Him, yet they refuse to go at His command. They make all kinds of excuses for not going none of which are acceptable to the Lord. We even have people that have never come to Christ yet they feel that they must serve Him, and they go to seminary or Bible School to prepare themselves to fill a place in His service. In Matthew 11:28 the Lord Jesus said "Come unto Me", and in Matt. 28:19, He said "Go ye therefore", but we have the strange anomaly of people feeling no need to come to Christ to be cleansed and relieved of the burden of their sins. Yet such people feel a great burden to 'Go', to tell the lost world of a Savior whom they do not know. I have personally met men of 'the cloth' that are not saved from the guilt and punishment of their sins, yet they are posing as the servants of God? They are 'blind leaders of the blind', and both will fall into the ditch. Matt. 15:14. The very idea of making the service of the Lord a business or profession, is absolutely contrary to the Holy Scriptures. Paul made clear to the Corinthians that such was not his intention, and in 2Cor. 2:17, he says that "We do not as the many, make a trade of the word of God". (Darby trans.); but as of God, in the sight of God, they spoke in Christ. Moses is an example of what we mean. Before God had called or sent him, he was keen to show the people of Israel that he was the one that would be their deliverer. He then attempted to do the work of God in his own strength. The result was disaster, and he had to runaway. Yet after licking his wounds in the wilderness for 40 years, when at last God did call him, he made every excuse that he could think of to avoid going to do God's work, even when promised the help, wisdom and strength of God. Such is the contrary character of human nature! Let us then examine our own hearts. Let us ask ourselves the question, "Am I really sent of God?" If not then you are wasting your time, because the word says, "How shall they preach except they be sent?" Rom. 10:15. Yet if we have been sent by God, and have refused to go, then we are guilty, because the previous verse to the one just quoted says "How shall they hear without a preacher?" [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced by permission] _______________________________________________________________________ 3) <Exhortation> "WHERE ALL THE REGIONS GO WRONG" Connie Giordano "God can do without men, but man cannot do without God." - Adam Clarke "A prominent historian who made a thorough study of the various religions of the world summarized their chief doctrines briefly as follows: The Greek says, 'Man, know thyself.' The Roman says, 'Man, control thyself.' The Confucian says, 'Man, improve thyself.' The Buddhist says, 'Man, destroy thyself.' The Brahman says, 'Man, absorb thyself.' The Muslim says, 'Man, submit thyself.' But Jesus says, 'Without Me ye can do nothing.'"- The Encyclopaedia of Sermon Illustrations The religions of the world are centered on man and what, they assume, he is capable of doing. Christianity is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He can do in and through yielded vessels. It is gross deception to think that man is in control or can control anything. All he attempts is bound for failure. If, for some reason, he meets with success in his undertakings, it is only because God is working in the background to bring about great accomplishments for the benefit of others. Man needs God. This is a fact! It is a truth that will never change. What makes Christianity differ from the other religions of the world is the concept that Christ's followers have come to the realization that, without Jesus, they can do nothing in this life. They have had their understandings enlightened to see that they cannot change themselves nor their eternal destiny. They realize that they once were Hell-bound sinners in total rebellion toward God and could not change their direction. Someone bigger and better than themselves had to come and rescue them from the downward spiral of evil and wickedness. That Someone was Jesus. Jesus is, was, and always will be every man's only solution in life. To believe otherwise is to believe a lie! Religion says - "Man, save thyself. Deliver thyself. Change thyself." The only problem is - he can't do it. Jeremiah 13:23 - It is as possible for a man to change his sinful ways as it is for the Ethiopian to change his skin and the leopard his spots - "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Man cannot turn from his evil ways on his own. Jeremiah 31:18 - In fact, in the Scriptures, he is oftentimes likened unto an untaught calf or an untrained, unbroken, or untoward steer who needs correction and discipline - "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn Thou me, and I shall be turned..." The only way he can possibly turn from his evil ways is if God helps him. Read the following prayers in Scripture that prove our point - 1 Kings 18:37 - "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the LORD God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again." Psalm 80:3 - "Turn us again, O God...and we shall be saved." Psalm 80:7 - "Turn us again, O God of hosts...and we shall be saved." Psalm 80:19 - "Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts...and we shall be saved." Psalm 85:4 - "Turn us, O God of our salvation..." The only way that we can possibly be saved from our sins or our troubles is for God to intervene by His Amazing Grace and rescue us. Outside of Christ, man is spiritually stupid, ignorant, and blind. He doesn't consider his folly and its end result. Isaiah 44:18-19 describes his condition this way - "They have not known nor understood..And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say..." Isaiah 44:20 - The Prophet then goes on to graphically describe those people who are pursuing after the ways of sin and the world, seeking for riches and honor in that which is vain, unsubstantial, and unsatisfying - "He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Oh, that all religions of men would hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah today. They say that man can save himself. Can he? What does God's Word say? Man cannot turn himself around or deliver his own soul for he has a "deceived heart" which is bent on pursuing after the vain pleasures of this life - "...ashes..." The Scriptures clearly define that salvation comes from the Lord. It is a gift from God. It does not proceed from man. Ephesians 2:8 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Titus 3:5 - "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us..." Titus 3:3 - It is absolutely absurd for "foolish," "disobedient," and "deceived" people, "serving divers lusts and pleasures," to imagine that they have any "works of righteousness" to plead their case. Man needs God's help. He, being overpowered by the world and the flesh, cannot come to the Lord on his own or even attempt to change his own lifestyle. He needs God's Supernatural, "Drawing" Grace. Song 1:4 - "Draw me, we will run after Thee..." Jeremiah 31:3 - "...therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Hosea 11:4 - "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love..." John 12:32 - "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Calvary's Love has and always will be God's greatest magnet which draws men, women, boys, and girls from their sinful lifestyles unto a holy relationship with Himself and His Son. Acts 4:12 - The Bible clearly singles out salvation as coming from one source alone - Jesus - "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." If man accomplishes anything in this life, all glory must go to God. Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ Which strengtheneth me." 2 Corinthians 3:5 - "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." 2 Corinthians 4:7 - "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Matthew 10:19-20 - "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Luke 21:15 - "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist." 1 Corinthians 3:6 - "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." 1 Corinthians 3:10 - "According to the grace of God, which is given unto me...I have laid the foundation..." 1 Corinthians 15:10 - "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Philippians 2:13 - "For it is God Which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." In closing, is it Man or is it God? Is the answer for man to know, control, improve, absorb, or submit himself? If he leans on his own imagined power, strength, and skills; he will eventually do as the Buddhists advocate - "destroy thyself." Oh that the Church would shout from the highest mountain to all those yet to be saved - "For it is God...it is God...it is God...it is God..." It is not what man can do. On the contrary, it is what God must do. If man does any good, it must immediately be attributed to God's Power and Grace operating in his life at the moment. How can you tell a religious man from a Christian? The man of religion boasts in what he has done; the Christian boasts in the Lord. Let's always remember and be sure to remind others as well - "...If there be any Praise, let it go to Calvary." Philippians 3:3 - "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." --- Copyright 2002 Connie Giordano _______________________________________________________________________ 4) <POEM> "LIFE'S CLOCK" Author unknown The clock of life is wound but once, And no man has the power To tell just where the hands will stop — At late or early hour. To lose one's wealth is sad indeed, To lose one's health is more, To lose one's soul is such a loss As no man can restore. The present only is our own, Live for Christ with a will; Place no faith in tomorrow, For the clock may then be still. ---------------------------<BrethrenVoice>--------------------------- Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: www.brethrenvoice.net <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