-------------------------<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> <23 December 2002> Contents: ------------ 1) <Devotional> "There's more!" - M.J.Stanford 2) <Bible-Study> "Will we see our loved ones?" (Pt-1/4)-Charles Wigg 3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-109)- A.W.Pink 1) <DEVOTIONAL> "THERE'S MORE!" Miles J. Stanford "Let us go on past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ" (Hebrews 6:1a, Amp.). The milk of the Word is necessary for the immature years. But in order to carry out His purpose in our lives, our Father brings in needs that call for more than milk-we become hungry for the meat of the word, and are thereby strengthened and matured. "'When I see the Blood, I will pass over you' (Exodus 12:13). The Blood shelters from the Judge, but there is no rest there. In this state, the believer is like a man in a lifeboat: he is rescued, but still in the place where the danger is; he would like to get to shore. He is safe, but not clear of the power of the enemy, not clear of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. That is really where most Christians are today." -J.B.S. "There are vast numbers who profess to believe in the atoning virtue of the death of the Lord Jesus, but who do not see ought therein beyond the forgiveness of their sins. They do not as yet see the crucifixion, death, and burial of the sinner-the entire displacement of the old system of things belonging to their first-Adam position; in a word, their perfect identification with their risen and ascended Lord." -C.H.M. "With Israel, after its deliverance from Egypt, there were two stages. The one, this life in the wilderness, with its wanderings and its wants, its unbelief and its murmurings. The other, the land of promise, with rest instead of desert wanderings, and with abundance instead of want-symbols of the two stages of the Christian life. The one in which we only know the Lord Jesus as Savior from Egypt, in His work on the Cross for atonement and pardon. The other, where He is known and welcomed as our Life in heaven; Who, in the power of that endless life, leads us to find our home in the Holiest of our Father's presence." -A.M. ". . . advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity" (Hebrews 6:1b, Amp.). --- (c) Withchrist.com _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <DOCTRINAL> "WILL WE SEE OUR LOVED ONES?" (PART-1 OF 4) Charles E. Wigg A series of excellent articles from the pen of a servant of the Lord, who was greatly used of God in a past generation, appeared in an email programme recently. This has moved me to put down a few thoughts, and to offer them to you for the consideration, and comfort of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sometimes been asked this question after a funeral, or when a loved one is nearing the gates of heaven. It is always a joy to be able to answer with an emphatic yes. Of course this yes is conditional upon both we and our loved ones having accepted God's offer of mercy and salvation. The fact that we have been born to 'Christian' parents, or even that we have been baptized as babies, or even adults. The fact that we have been confirmed, or have been in the fellowship of a Church or Assembly, does not guarantee us a place in Heaven with Christ. He said, "If ye believe not that I am HE, ye shall die in your sins", John 8:24, & 8:21, "Where I go you cannot come". It is sad to think that there are so many, that live ungodly worldly lives, that have no time for God or for His Son, or for His word, yet they think that they have a perfect right to enter heaven when they die. Such will find out when it is too late how mistaken they have been. Jesus said, that "no man cometh unto the Father but by ME" John 14:6. But the believer in Christ knows that their sins are forgiven, and that the Lord Jesus whom they have received as their own Savior, has entered heaven as man, and gone their as their representative. They have the assurance from His own lips, recorded in His word, that when they die, they will go to be with Him, and that when absent from the body, they will be present with the Lord. John 14:3, 17:34, 2 Cor. 5:8. Death should hold no terror for the believer in Christ, because such will never have to die in their sins, but they will die in Christ. It is true that it will involve parting from those that they love here, and that parting is always sad, but more so for those that remain here. We are not told not to sorrow, but we are told not to sorrow, "as others who have no hope", 1 Thess. 4:13. But for the one who 'falls asleep in Jesus', there is no sorrow, no parting. The very moment that they part from their loved ones here, they join their loved ones there, those who are already 'with Christ, which is far better', Phil. 1:23. There is a cult that teaches that once a person dies, all becomes black for them and that they lapse into a state of perpetual unconsciousness. This cult takes a text out of its context, to support their hopeless theory, and that text is found in Eccl. 9:5, "The dead know nothing". The purpose of this verse is to encourage us to use the opportunities presented to us in this life. Now is the time for learning, now is the time to buy up the opportunities, to serve the Lord whom we love, and to witness to the lost and perishing around us. Now is the time for us to learn all that we can of the scriptures, and of eternal things, because there is no learning in heaven. The let us redeem the time, for surely the days in which we live are evil. Col. 4:5, Eph. 5:16. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced by permission] _______________________________________________________________________ 3) <PROPHECY> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-109) THE MILLENNIUM IN RELATION TO THE CHURCH Arthur W. Pink .... In the Parable of the Pounds we have a Scripture which sets forth one aspect of the reward which shall be enjoyed by the faithful in that day. "And He (Christ) said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou has been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities" (Luke 19:17). This Scripture seems to intimate that during the Millennium the saints will occupy a prominent part in the government of the world. Yes, it is written, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" (1 Cor. 6:2). Ah! how different things will then be. The first shall be last, and the last first. Positions shall be completely reversed. Today the children of God (that is, those who really walk as such) are despised and hated by the world, but they shall yet be placed in authority over the world. This is the promise of our Lord: And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father" (Rev. 2:26, 27). Yes, Christ's position, Christ's power, Christ's prerogatives, shall be shared by His people, for He and they are one. Again; it is during the Millennium that the unity of the Church--in contradistinction to the innumerable sects in Christendom which now divide believers--will be fully manifested, and our Lord's prayer of John 17:22, 23 fulfilled--"And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." Not until the "Day of Christ" will the world "know" these things, for then it is that we shall all have come "in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). Yes, and then it is, also that Christ shall come "to be glorified in His saints and admired in all that believe" (2 Thess. 1:10). In that day, the Church will be an object of beauty, wonderment, and admiration to all the world. It will then be fully seen what great things the Lord hath done for His Church, in giving it a higher place--a place nearer to Himself than that which even the holy angels will occupy. We turn now to consider, [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