Rev. David Holwick ZO Big Questions sermon series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 15, 1996
John 1:9-14
|
I. A politically-incorrect Christmas.
A. "Merry Christmas" is taboo.
1) "Happy holidays" is kosher.
2) School programs are tending to honor Winter solstice.
3) Much emphasis on toys (Nintendo 64) and shopping experience.
a) Jesus erased.
B. Satellite dish religion.
1) Christians are not the only channel out there.
a) Sunday School class - are Jews going to heaven?
b) Experience of Cantor Heather Feffer.
Grew up a Methodist.
Became a Jew in college.
Her view on Jesus? A great teacher.
But great teachers do not make claims Jesus did.
c) On other hand, Alison Kokaj and Hasidic believers.
2) Comparative religion causes many to stumble.
a) Since everyone has faults, who can say they are right?
b) Broader world tends to blend out distinctives.
c) Convictions equate to bigotry.
3) Several years ago the UPI wire services carried this prayer
by Reverend Fred Holloman, chaplain of the Kansas Senate:
Omniscient Father:
Help us to know who is telling the truth.
One side tells us one thing, and the other just the opposite.
And if neither side is telling the truth, we would like to
know that, too.
And if each side is telling half the truth,
give us the wisdom to put the right halves together.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
#2766
II. The need for toleration.
A. There is much good in other faiths.
1) High morals and ethics.
a) Foreigners are appalled at what comes out of "Christian"
America.
b) Even if we don't control this country, we don't even
seem to have much impact.
2) Richness of their traditions.
a) Common ground and beliefs.
b) Work together when possible.
B. Inadequacies in our own faith.
1) Historical atrocities.
a) (Protestant Cromwell wiping out Irish towns...)
b) Incorrect views.
c) Bigotry and narrowness.
2) Disillusionment among college students.
a) Do Christians ever rise above their culture?
3) We need to be humble.
a) From CHRISTIAN HISTORY's "Glimpses," #69:
In spite of his many discoveries and honors, including
being the first person knighted for scientific
achievements, Isaac Newton remained a humble man.
He once wrote his nephew:
"To myself I seem to have been only a boy playing on the
seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding
a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary,
while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered
before me."
#535
b) There is a lot we still don't know.
C. Tolerance doesn't mean agreement.
According to Professor William Craig, tolerance does not mean
Christians must accept other religious claims as true.
"The concept of tolerance implies that you disagree," Craig said.
"You can't tolerate something you agree with."
"Toleration is treating those with whom you disagree with
respect and charity.
The correct basis of tolerance is the inherent worth of the
individual, who has rights to free speech."
Free speech includes sharing the gospel.
However, Christians should be prepared to encounter people with
radically different views of God, Craig said.
Be prepared to do a lot of listening and learning.
#3942
III. Is there any such thing as objective truth?
A. Modern society is hungry - for something.
1) A revival in Harvard.
Most people do not usually find Jesus in a Harvard
University lecture hall.
But Tricia Lyons became intrigued by an "Is God Dead at
Harvard?" poster on campus during her sophomore year.
So she attended a lecture by apologist Ravi Zacharias.
She emerged a changed woman.
"It was a complete road-to-Damascus conversion for me,"
she said.
A growing number of universities are hosting an apologetic
Christian outreach program with a much different flavor.
It asks perhaps the hardest questions of all:
Does truth exist? And is it worth seeking?
Forums have taken place across the country, with 25,000
people attending.
Between one-fifth and one-half of forum attendees are
unchurched students, faculty, or community residents.
Bob Fryling, of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, says
that "if you want a huge attendance, you plan a concert
and talk about sex."
But these forums attract those who are interested in truth.
And they find out that not all Christians are dummies.
#3944
2) Truth is superior to feelings.
a) America wallows in pop-psychology and feel-good
philosophies.
b) Most of us are not conditioned to ask, "Is this true?"
but rather, "How do I feel about this?"
3) But there are limits to human reason.
a) People have warped ideas about what is true.
b) Therefore we cannot argue people into heaven. John 16:13
1> Without God's help, no one can understand the gospel.
2> Christian truth is not an achievement of clear
thinking. It is grace, a gift of God.
B. The gospel avoids asking for mere intellectual agreement.
1) We believe in Jesus, not a set of doctrines.
2) Jesus did not preach a list of propositions that we are
to agree to.
a) Jesus never says, "You need to believe four propositions
about me:
Number one: I was born of a virgin;
Number two: Scripture is inerrant..."
b) Jesus doesn't talk like that; he never asks us to agree.
He asks us to join up, to follow.
#3904
C. What is demanded is conversion, detoxification, being born again.
1) In Bible, truth is personal rather than intellectual.
2) Instead of saying, 'I am here to tell you about the truth,'
Jesus says, 'I am the truth.'" John 14:6
IV. The real meaning of Christmas. John 1:9-14
A. Most don't recognize Jesus.
1) You can't think your way into heaven, or attribute it to
your family.
2) You can only receive it by faith.
B. Truth became a man.
1) When we look at how Jesus lived, we see how God wants
us to live.
C. "Peace on earth" was not for everyone. Luke 2:14
1) Literally, peace to those on whom God's favor rests.
2) Limited to those who honor and obey God, and come in faith.
V. Truth doesn't convert, but it can lead to Jesus.
A. Our problem with the gospel is moral more than intellectual.
B. Love works better than arguments.
When Jeff Yourison was in college, another student he knew
joined him one day on a street corner.
Jeff was waiting for the light to change.
The friend, whose name was Kevin, said, "Jeff, I've been
watching you, and I think you're very strange.
"Nobody else - and I mean no one - waits for the light to change
before they walk."
Jeff explained that he never used to wait either, until three
things happened to him.
First, he had been struck by a car a few months before while
crossing on a "Don't Walk" signal.
Second, he was the one who got the ticket and the fine; the
police officer didn't buy his argument that "everybody else -
and I mean everyone - crosses regardless of the light."
Third, he had just run across a verse in the Bible that ordered
believers to obey the government (Titus 3:1).
Kevin was stunned.
He shook his head slowly, searching for something to say.
The light changed, and they walked on toward their classes.
Finally Kevin spoke.
"I've been taking dishes and silverware from the cafeteria
where I work between classes.
Are you saying that's wrong?
They treat me like dirt in there sometimes, and besides,
tuition is high here.
If the system rips me off, why can't I rip off the system?"
It was Jeff's turn to search for words.
"Kevin, can I make two observations?"
"Sure."
"Well, for one thing, I detected just a little guilt in your
last question.
Maybe you're not so sure you're right in stealing from the
cafeteria.
Second, you think in terms of getting back at 'the system'
while I think in terms of people.
Aren't people - like the rest of us students who pay for your
stolen silverware - the ones who are getting ripped off?"
Kevin halted in his tracks.
They looked at each other for a few seconds.
His face was growing red.
Jeff couldn't tell if he was cut to the heart or about to tear
him apart.
Finally, as Kevin turned to head for his classroom building,
he muttered, "You really are strange."
Jeff left Kevin in utter confusion that day.
Kevin didn't let their brief conversation die.
It turned out that he felt tremendous guilt underneath his tough
exterior.
It wasn't just for stealing from the cafeteria, but for deep
personal sin.
He had never really wanted to face it, and had figured that his
childhood experience in Catholic schools had warped him.
Jeff challenged Kevin to start meeting Jesus rather than
rejecting Christianity on the basis of vague, bad memories.
The other Christians on their floor started to pray for him,
and Kevin and Jeff began to study the Gospel of John together.
What Jeff saw happening to Kevin reveals an ironic truth about
coming to faith in Jesus:
Very few people come into the Kingdom through rational arguments.
Certainly, Christianity is a reasonable, defensible faith and
God is real and has a claim on our lives.
But there's the rub.
Once God gets past our arm's-length scrutiny, He gets scary.
The smokescreen of relativism is gone, the gospel starts to make
sense, and now we're faced with a choice:
to embrace Him, or to turn and keep running.
Kevin stalled, holding off his decision with endless, picky
questions.
One evening, Jeff asked Kevin if perhaps he know enough truth
to trust Jesus for the unanswered questions.
Kevin admitted that he was evading the inevitable.
He knelt to pray a simple prayer of repentance, asking God to
take him into His kingdom, questions and all.
#3378
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Free HTML Help documentation generator