-----------------------------<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> <30 October 2002> Contents: ------------ 1) <Devotional> "Belief, action and Schopenhauer" - Ravi Zacharias 2) <Science> "Are we alone in the universe?" (Pt-2/5) - Dr. Ray Bohlin 3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-66)- A.W.Pink 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> BELIEF, ACTION AND SCHOPENHAUER Ravi Zacharias What do you really believe life is about? Quick, don't tell me about your philosophy or present some religious dogma. Instead, simply examine your life and let that be your answer. Consider how you live-what you value, what you devalue, what you pursue, what you reject, what you love, what you hate. You see, this is the window into what you truly believe and what you really think is true and how you ultimately find reality to be. Sermons and systems have theoretical value, but if they aren't cashed out in your daily life, what is their real worth? You know, surprisingly, not all agree with this thought. Some do not think that one's beliefs about reality must of necessity coincide with one's actions in reality. Schopenhauer, the German philosopher, said as much when he said, "It is difficult enough to devise a philosophy -one cannot be expected to exemplify it as well." (Footnote 1: As quoted in Philosophy Now, Issue 35, "The Uses and Abuses of Philosophical Biographies", pp. 26.) But notice that even with his cynicism he still recognizes that it would be better if he could exemplify a harmony between his beliefs and his actions. Don't we all see this to be true? If there is disharmony between belief and action in our lives, if we aren't deadened by pride, we feel the prick of hypocrisy. Now, I do grant that this harmony is often hard to achieve and even still harder to maintain. Our wills struggle at best. Our intentions and desires are sabotaged by lack of commitment. But our hearts are still, oh, so fickle. If honest, most of us recognize the chasm between belief and action in our lives-no matter whether we are an atheist like Schopenhauer or a Christian like I am. What are we to do? How do we cross this chasm? You know, I believe that there is one who has already bridged this chasm. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the only one to have perfectly harmonized goodness, belief, and action. Fortunately for us, Jesus didn't leave us out in the cold on conquering the chasm between belief and action-for He did not just cross the chasm, He bridged it. And that bridge is Himself. You see, at the core we need a greater strength than our own, and as He lives within us He gives us strength to harmonize the two. He said, "Come to me all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Are you burdened by the chasm in your life? Do you feel that strain? Come to Him and find rest. --- 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) <SCIENCE> ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE? (PART-2 OF 5) WHAT WOULD LIFE ON MARS MEAN? Dr. Ray Bohlin .... Because of the recent announcement of signs of life on Mars, many people were encouraged in their belief that we are not alone in the universe. These signs are far from certain and probably wrong, but if it's true, what would these results mean to evolutionists? Moreover, is there any reason for Christians to fear confirmation of life on Mars? Let us assume, then, for the moment that the evidence from this Martian meteorite is legitimate evidence for life on Mars--life that at some point in the past actually existed on Mars. What would it mean? For evolutionists the evidence is perceived as confirmation that life actually arises from non-life by purely chemical processes. In addition, evolutionists draw the conclusion that life must be able to evolve very easily since it did so on two adjacent planets in the same solar system. Therefore, even though origin of life research is actually at a standstill, such a discovery seemingly confirms the notion that some chemical evolution scenario must work. I will address this assumption later. On the other hand, some have stated that if there is life on Mars, creationism has been dealt a death blow. They rationalize that since (1) we now know that life can evolve just about anywhere, and (2) the Bible never speaks of life anywhere but on Earth, the Bible is, therefore, unreliable. Besides, they reason, why would God create life on a planet with no humans? However, since the Bible is absolutely silent on the subject of extra-terrestrial life, we can make no predictions about its possibility. God is certainly free to create life on planets other than Earth if He chooses. Getting back to the evolutionists' glee at the possibility of life evolving on other planets, the real question is whether this is the proper conclusion if life is indeed found on Mars? The simple answer, inexplicably avoided by the media, is NO! The simplest answer to the possible discovery of life on Mars is that the so-called "Martian life" actually came from Earth! Think about it this way. The meteorite that was found is supposed to have existed on Mars previously. How did it get to Earth? Well, it is hypothesized that a large meteorite crashed into Mars throwing up lots of debris into space, some of which finds its way to Earth and at least a few of which are found by Earthlings. If you are thinking with me, you now realize that the same scenario could have been played out on Earth. Evolutionists suggest that the Earth was under heavy meteor bombardment until at least 3.8 billion years ago--about the time they say life appeared on Earth. Christian astronomer Hugh Ross states it this way: Meteorites large enough to make a crater greater than 60 miles across will cause Earth rocks to escape Earth's gravity. Out of 1,000 such rocks ejected, 291 strike Venus, 20 go to Mercury, 17 hit Mars, 14 make it to Jupiter, and 1 goes all the way to Saturn. Travelling the distance with these rocks will be many varieties of Earth life.{2} Ross also documents that many forms of microscopic life are quite capable of surviving such a journey. All this is quite well known in the scientific community, but I have not seen it mentioned once in any public discussion. I believe the reason is that the possibility of life having evolved on Mars is too juicy to pass up.[To be concluded] --- [Copyright © 2002 Probe Ministries - This file is the sole property of Probe Ministries. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this file must contain the copyright notice and this Copyright/Reproduction Limitations notice.]_____________________________________________________________________ 3) <PROPHECY> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-66) THE RECOVERY AND REVIVAL OF THE BLESSED HOPE ITSELF Arthur W. Pink .... 10. Because there is not a single Scripture in the Church Epistles which, rightly interpreted, teaches a partial rapture (1/2) How could there be? Scripture cannot contradict itself. If the Pauline Epistles explicitly teach and expressly affirm that "all shall be changed in a moment," that "they that are Christ's at His coming shall be raised from the dead, that "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ" and that when our lord returns to the earth to be glorified in His saints He shall be "admired in all them that believe" then these same Church Epistles can not teach that a part of the Church only shall be taken to be with the Lord, that merely a favoured selection from among His people shall be conducted by Him to the Father's House, and that the remainder shall be left behind on the earth to suffer the judgments of the Great Tribulation or be left in their graves until the close of the Millennium. Even though there should be certain passages which seem to teach or imply a partial rapture we know that it cannot be so, and that is we who fail to expound these passages in harmony with those which positively teach a total rapture of the Church. It is a fundamental principle of Scriptural interpretation that whenever God's Word speaks plainly and emphatically on any subject that obscure passages which treat of the same theme must be explained in accord with those passages about which there is no dubiety. For example, when we hear our Lord saying "My sheep shall never perish" etc. then we know that in such passages as those of Hebrews 6 and 10, which treat of the irrecoverable doom of apostates, the apostle must have had before him professors and not persons who had been born again. In like manner when we find a passage which appears to bear upon the Rapture and which is in anywise ambiguous then we must not make it teach that which would conflict with other passages which deal with the Blessed Hope and which are plain and positive. "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil. 3:10, 11). These words, "If by any means I might attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead" (Greek) are understood by partial-rapturists to refer to a select resurrection from among the dead at the time of our Lord's Return, and hence, they conclude that as the resurrection here referred to is spoken of as a matter of attainment, then, only a select company of believers will participate therein. But let us ask the question, Does the apostle here refer to a physical resurrection? In the New Testament the terms "death" and "resurrection" have a fourfold scope, viz:--physical death and resurrection, spiritual death and resurrection, judicial death and resurrection, and experimental death and resurrection. We need not submit proof texts for the first, but we will do so with reference to the last three. In John 5:24-26 we read, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." Now the words "death" and "life" in this passage can only refer to spiritual death, spiritual life, and spiritual resurrection--"passed from death unto life." By nature we are spiritually dead--"dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1), but by the new birth we pass from death unto life. Regeneration is therefore a spiritual resurrection. Further. In Rom. 6:2 we read, "How shall we that died to sin (Greek), live any longer therein? and in Col. 3:1--"If then ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are above." These two verses refer to the believer's judicial death and resurrection. This side of the truth is little known or understood, but we cannot now dwell upon it at any length. One word sums it all up--identification. On the Cross there was a double identification--all believers understand the first side of it, but few are clear upon the second. In the reckoning of God and in the eye of the Law Christ was identified with us as lost sinners. He took our place and bore our sins. He endured the full penalty of the broken law in our stead. But further, (and it is deeply important that we should apprehend this) in the reckoning of God and in the eye of the Law all believers were identified with Christ. Hence, every believer can say "I was crucified (Greek) with Christ" (Gal. 2:20). In the sight of God I died on the Cross because Christ hung there as my substitute and what a substitute does or suffers is imputed to the account of the one on whose behalf he is acting. Hence, we repeat, in God's sight, when Christ died I died, "died to sin," died to the law, died to the world, died to everything that had to do with my old standing in Adam. [To be concluded] -----------------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------------------ Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: http://associate.com/digests/brethrenvoice/ <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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------