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Life-Changing Tools for theGrowing Christian

The

LIVING FAITHSeries

The

LIVING FAITHSeries

Life Application Guide

distributed

LIFE APPLICATION GUIDE 1

Life-Changing Tools for the Growing Christian

The

LIVING FAITHSeries

Life Application Guide

2 The LIVING FAITH Series

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ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Luis Palau — Go to the Ends of the Earth! .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Bill Hybels — Christianity 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Haddon Robinson — Don’t Doubt God’s Goodness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Os Guinness — A Faith That Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Ravi Zacharias — If the Foundation Be Destroyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Stuart Briscoe — Why Christ Had to Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Dr. James Kennedy — Message from an Empty Tomb . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Bill Hybels — Understanding the New Age Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Life Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Scriptural Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Add These Inspirational Titles to Your Listening Library . . . . . . . . . . 96


IntroductionWe’re living in a culture where the evil just seems to be increasing around us. And,our entertainment choices, finances, job stress, and ever-increasing schedules canseem to divert us and pull us off in a hundred directions, forgetting what our pri-ority needs to be. Therefore, it is more important than ever to gird ourselves andour families with the study of God’s Word of Truth. David opens the Psalms with“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in theway of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of theLord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” (Revised Standard Translation)Our hope lies in the Lord Jesus Christ, in strengthening our relationship withHim, in establishing a walk with Him where nothing can jar us off course.

These selected sermons and life application guide have been designed to do justthat. Listen to the first introductory sermon by Bill Hybels on “The Mystery ofUnanswered Prayers.” Then you will be ready to dive into this study guide andthe sermon that follows by Luis Palau. Pray and work through the life applicationguidelines for the sermons and study the Scripture references. Each will help yougain deeper insights into God’s Word. Strong teachers of God’s Word such asHaddon Robinson, Ravi Zacharias, and others will help guide you through thedaily challenges many Christians face today. You’ll learn throughout this serieshow you can connect with the plan that Christ has for your life and gain a betterunderstanding of how to live and strengthen the choices you make daily. You’lllearn to ultimately connect with our culture in a way that will make you a strongwitness for Jesus Christ. We pray you’ll get as much out of this series as we putinto it. May God richly bless you.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Our prayer foryou is that this series helps you in drawing nearer to our Lord and that your walkwith Him will grow even deeper.

The missionaries that ledmy family to Christ made all thecultural mistakes in the book, andthen some. They were British,and I remember as a little boythey’d sit me in the front rowand I would watch this poorBritish minister. It was hot asblazes in the summer, but a prop-er Britisher wore a tweed suit, avest and thick socks, and hewould stand there sweating andsweating. I remember looking atthe poor fellow and thinking,“Why doesn’t he take his coatoff?” But a proper Britisher inthose days kept his coat on andtoughed it out.They massacredthe Spanish language, and theyhad strange foreign habits, but myfather went to heaven, thankGod, for that fellow.

I thank God for the mission-aries who led me to the LordJesus Christ, who have plantedchurches all over the world, andnow that there are missionariesfrom all nations to all nations, Ioften tell the Hispanic missionar-ies and others, yes, we got a lot ofkicks laughing at the missionaries— imitating their poor accents.Now our missionaries are goingto get it when they go to othercountries.The Hispanics aregoing to go minister the Muslims,Asians going to Latin America: thecontrast is amazing.

But anyway, thank God forthe missionaries.What intriguesme is that God uses individuals.He uses his people. I think God’schoice would be you and I, hispeople. But God also uses unbe-lievers to accomplish his purpos-es. The great thought this morn-


LUIS PALAU

Completing more than 30 years of massevangelism, evangelist Luis Palau has spo-ken to hundreds of millions of people inthe 95 nations through radio and televi-sion broadcasts, and face to face to 12million people in 65 countries. Since1990, the Luis Palau EvangelisticAssociation has led evangelistic crusadesin 17 U.S. cities, including Chicago,

Kansas City, Grand Rapids, Miami, Tulsa, San Antonio,Phoenix, Fort Worth, and the San Fernando Valley in LA.

Equally at ease in English and Spanish, Dr. Palau commandsaudience’s attention wherever he goes. His solidly Biblical,practical messages hit home in the minds and hearts of listeners.

“Sometimes it seems I have been preaching all my life,” he says inhis autobiography, Calling America and the Nations to Christ (TomasNelson Publishers, 1994). “Actually, although I began preachingin Argentina as a teenager, it really wasn’t until I was in my thir-ties that God opened the door for me to pursue full-time massevangelism.”

During the 1970s, Dr. Palau and his team conducted evangelisticcrusades and rallies throughout Latin America. Invitations alsostarted coming from Europe and other parts of the world. By theearly 1980s, Luis Palau’s ministry had made a great impact inBritain, and new doors were opening all around the globe.

Since then, huge crowds in countries as diverse as Argentina andBrazil, Colombia and Costa Rica, Denmark and Guatemala,Hong Kong and Hungary, India and Indonesia, Jamaica andMexico, New Zealand and Peru, the Philippines and Romania,Russia and Singapore, and Thailand and the United States havepacked concert halls, arenas, and stadiums to hear Luis Palau.More than half a million people have committed their lives toJesus Christ. Cities and nations have heard a clear-cut procla-mation of the gospel.

“I wholeheartedly believe in one-on-one evangelism,” says Dr.Palau. “But it can only be a complement to the greater move-ment of God within a nation. You can prepare the groundwork,but eventually it’s necessary to move the masses and sway publicopinion. A nation will not be changed by timid methods.”

Go to the Ends of the Earth

ing is this, that the purposes ofGod around the world will befulfilled. No man can frustratethe purposes of God. But Goddelights to use us, his people,to accomplish his purposes.

In Isaiah 49:6 God says,“Is it too small a thing for youto be my servant, to restorethe tribes of Jacob, and bringback those of Israel I havekept? I will also make youalike for the Gentiles, that youmay bring my salvation to theends of the earth.” It has been500 years since Columbustouched the shores of theAmericas. Do you know whenColumbus took off to look forwhat he thought was India, hisobjective was the proclamationof the Gospel of Jesus Christ?That is documented.

This verse was one ofColumbus’ guiding verses toleave the shores of old Europe,Spain and Italy, where he wasborn, and he felt that his name,Christopher, which in Italianactually means “at the foot ofthe cross,” or a banner bearerfor the cross, and it also means“the one who carries the ban-ner” in old Italian. He felt thatGod had even inspired hismother to give him that namebecause he was to take thebanner of the cross to othernations. It’s exciting to me thatGod spoke to ChristopherColumbus with this verse,“Ihave made you alike to theGentiles, to take my salvationto the ends of the earth.”Hewrote a commentary on Isaiah.

Now, I’m not here todefend Columbus, he can takecare of himself when he gets tothe judgment seat of Christ.But I am here to tell you that

this verse is so appropriate,and if we would all take it toheart and say,“God, have you

made me one of those that insome measure or other,whether you ever take meoverseas or keep me inAmerica, could you use meGod to take your salvation tothe ends of the earth?” Eitherin person, through another per-son, a missionary, or anotherservant of God, or by beingused of God among foreignerswho come to the USA who inturn will take the Gospel toother places.

Now let’s read Psalm 96:“Sing to the Lord a new song;sing to the Lord all the earth.Sing to the Lord, praise Hisname; proclaim His salvationday after day. Declare His gloryamong the nations, His mar-velous deeds among all peo-ples.”

Now there are three thingsthat I see here that the HolySpirit is saying to us in NewEngland today. First of all, weare to declare the character ofGod.Verse 3 says,“Declare hisglory among the nations.” Theglory of God is multifaceted.But I feel that it speaks of His

character, that we go to othernations and declare the greatcharacter of God.That God is apowerful God.That God is a

Holy God.That God is a goodGod.That God is a forgivingGod.

What a privilege if Godever takes you even on vaca-tion to other countries, whenyou meet with people oreven the fellow who serves atable in Italy or Greece orwhere ever you go on vaca-tion. To be able to start a con-versation and say,“I am here,even on vacation, to declarethe glory of God.” What a

privilege. And that’s what Godwould have us do.Whereverwe go, our first duty is to sospeak well of God so that hisglory is seen by other people.The thing I notice aboutdeclaring the Glory of God isthat it says “declare his gloryamong the people.”

There’s authority here. Allof us who know the Lord JesusChrist, we know God. Notenough, but personally.Wehave authority to speak withauthority about God. Not witharrogance, not overwhelmingother people, not offendingtheir religions, not pointing totheir weaknesses, but lifting upthe name of our living God.

The Lord’s been good tome, my family and team.We’vegone to over 60 countriesdeclaring the glory of God. It’swhen I first went to theMuslim nations and to theHindu nations and theBuddhist-majority nations, Iwas really with fear and trem-bling to do the right thing forthe glory of God. But I talkedto a fellow who was a Hindu


guru years ago and he said,“Luis, don’t ever use theWestern style of arguing andtrying to show my religion isbetter then your religion. MySavior is superior to your reli-gion. Just simply tell them whoJesus is, tell them of his charac-ter, tell them who he’s like, letthem do the comparing forthemselves.”

That was great advice. Ifyou ever have people of otherreligions that you minister to,there’s no need to put downanything they do. Simply speakwell of Jesus Christ and thecomparison will be done bythe Holy Spirit. It’s amazinghow attractive the character ofJesus is. It’s amazing how

appealing he is for those whohave a heart for God whenthey hear what he’s really like.

The second thing here isthe great works of God. It says,“Declare His marvelous deedsamong all peoples.” It is fasci-nating to people around theworld what Jesus Christ hasdone. If you start arguingChristianity verses Hinduism,you’re in hot water. But if youbegin to tell about Jesus Christ— his power to liberate peo-ple, what he did on his earthlydays, raising the dead, healingthe sick, feeding the multi-tudes, and then his resurrec-tion power, the great works ofGod — there is a power.

You know what I found

when I went to Soviet Unionthe first time? I was going inthe bus through the town and Iwas saying,“Lord, what shall Iemphasize, what shall I empha-size?” The Lord seemed to sayto me,“What do you think St.Paul would do if he was here?”I thought,“He’d preach on thecross,” so I just took three mainpoints — the cross reconciles,the cross regenerates, the crossredeems. And then I explainedall those heavy terms. But justtelling about the cross, youcould feel the gripping powerof the cross of Jesus Christ, andso when we talk about himthere is authority and poweraround the world.

Thirdly, note the

scope of God’s strategy.Younotice he says,“Declare Hisglory among the nations.Tell ofhis marvelous deeds among allpeoples.” In the last few years,it’s amazing to see how Godhas opened nations and thenwhen you scratch behind thesurface you find the hand ofGod working through men andwomen in obedience to theHoly Spirit.

For instance, I know a mis-sionary, whose name is JimMontgomery. He was a highschool teacher in San Jose,California. I remember whenwe were young, when the Lordcalled him out, I was around.He owned a house in San Jose,and he kept it, thinking,

“Someday I’ll finish my work inthe Philippines as a missionary,so it’s good to have a house inSan Jose.”His brother-in-lawhad it rented out so he couldhave a little income and whenhe was in the Philippines, hehad a tremendous vision of aplan that is called The “DAWNPlan,” disciplining a wholenation. He was on fire.Thebasic idea of the program isthat there should be a Bible-preaching church within walk-ing distance of every person inthe Philippines. Now it’s goneon to other nations of theworld.

It was a grand plan, thoughit sounded over-idealistic. But itwas burning in his soul, and he

couldn’t get anybody to sup-port him because it soundedtoo big a deal. In fact, I am a bitof a big dreamer myself, but Ithought that Jim was goingcrazy. I mean, this is exaggera-tion. But he had it burning inhis soul, and nobody wouldgive him money. He’d writeprayer letters, but he’d neverget any support. So one day hecame back to California, got hishouse, sold it, and funded thethe DAWN program himself.And he got rid of the housethat was sort of his securityback in the USA.When I heardthat way in the 60’s I knewthat the Lord was going tohonor Jim, one way or another,since he even gotten rid of the


Declare His glory among the nations.Tell of His marvelous deeds

among all peoples.

one and only house he had.And has the Lord honored

Jim! The Lord has used thatconcept of disciplining nationsin Guatemala, in Africa, nowthey’re going to the old EasternEuropean countries. He startedout sacrificing, quietly,unknown, as a missionary forthe cause of the Lord. But theLord used him. So what if hedoesn’t have a house — heprobably will never go back toSan Jose. Maybe he doesn’teven want to go back to SanJose.Who wants to go toCalifornia? Therefore old Jim

now knows the joy. Sure he gotrid of his house, but look atwhat God has done throughthis man.

You may not be impressed.Jim, humanly speaking, is notimpressive. But he’s the kind ofguy who always carries hisown pure water all over theplace because all the water ofthe world is contaminated.And he wears a beard sonobody can tell who he is. He’sa slim fellow — he used to bean athlete, but now he’s justJim. If he walked in here you’dsay, who is that guy? Why arethey putting him up there? ButI tell you, there is power in hislife.

You may be here today andyou’re the same way, you carryyour own water, and you growyour own beard, whatever yourstylistic thing may be, but in

your heart there’s a burningfire to win people to JesusChrist.When the Holy Spiritwhispers to you,“Do this … dothis … do this,” yes, check withyour spouse … check with theelders of your church, be sureyou’re not losing your mind,but on the other hand if theLord is really speaking to you,do it. Do it. Obey the HolySpirit.

The Virgin Mary preachedonly one sermon, but it waspowerful. She said,“WhateverHe tells you to do — Do it.”Nike stole it from her.You

know,“Just Do it.” Whateverthe Holy Spirit tells you to do,just do it. Many of us sit therewith dreams that God hasgiven us for years, but wenever get on to do it, and there-fore we drool when we hearthese stories, and we wish thatwe could write this and that,but it never happens called tous. And part of the reason maybe that we simply haven’t doneit.

The second illustration thatI have is of Secretary of State,James Baker. I don’t know ifyou I knew that James Bakerhas become a truly committedservant of Jesus Christ.This isthe way it happened. He’s alawyer from Houston,Texas.He’s Episcopalian, so he has agood tradition of lots of Biblein his background, but as hehimself said at the Presidential

breakfast two years ago, whenhe testified of his faith in JesusChrist to heads of state, and allsorts of people, he never reallypaid much attention to thetrue gospel of Jesus Christ.

Everything was going hisway.And then his first wifecame down with cancer, andhe really began to think aboutdeath and eternity, and God,and why was he going to beleft alone with all these chil-dren and so on. But he stillcouldn’t get the key to eternallife.Then he remarried. His sec-ond wife, Susan, came to know

the Lord Jesus. She began toteach community Bible studies,and naturally prayed for JimBaker, this is the Secretary ofState, her husband.And shebegan to pray and pray.

And then some of theSenate members who knowJesus Christ, they began to prayfor him too.And then one dayhe said at breakfast in front ofthe President and everybodyelse, he understood.Thethought all his life he thought Ihave to earn the love of God.And then he said,“I realized Icould never earn the love ofGod. God loved me before Iwas even formed in my moth-er’s womb. God loved mewhen Christ died on the cross,”and so James Baker, theSecretary of State, about 3 anda half years ago, bowed to theknee to Jesus Christ, and


When the Holy Spirit whispers to you,“Do this … do this … do this,”

do it. Do it. Obey the Holy Spirit.

opened his heart to the Savior.That was thrilling, but the

immediate result was this: Hewas dealing as Secretary ofState with the foreign secretaryof the USSR, EdwardSchevernazi, and he had aninstinctive liking toSchevernazi. As soon as hebecame a believer, the firstthing that crossed Jim Baker’smind was,“I’ve got to winSchevernazi to Jesus Christ.”And he did!

Baker has a ranch inWyoming, and so when theyhad a diplomatic thing to do in‘89, he had Schevernazi comeover to the States, to talk ‘inter-national diplomatic business,’but his personal goal was tolead him to faith in the LordJesus.

So they took him to hisranch in Wyoming, and ifyou’ve been in connectionwith Russians, you know whenyou meet a Russian, you throwa nice dinner, the best, and yougive each other gifts, and the

men kiss three times, smoochsmooch smooch, and you reallyhave to do it or else move yourcheek fast (that’s what I do!).

So they were throwing thisparty, and Baker thought,“Well,I’ll slowly walk aroundSchevernazi, like we all do, beataround the bush, soften himup” and so on. Then he gavehim some really good westerncowboy boots, and thenSchevernazi came back with

his gift. It was an enameledpicture, and what a surpriseBaker got. It was an enameledpicture of Jesus washing thedisciples’ feet. And he said tohim,“You see, Mr. Secretary,even some of we Communistsare changing our minds aboutspiritual things.”

Baker thought to himself,“Here I beat around the bush,and he gets straight to thepoint.” So they went fishing atthe lake on the ranch, andinstead of beating around thebush, Baker began to share hisfaith. And it wasn’t long after-wards that Schevernazi openedhis heart to the Lord JesusChrist.

Now, there is a vision forthe world.There is a man whocomes to know Jesus Christ.Yes, in diplomatic circles you’renot supposed to meddle in per-sonal religion and all that, butwhen you’re filled with thelove of Christ, you want otherpeople to come to faith inJesus Christ.

Now, somebody couldthink,“Well yes, but Baker’s abig man, he can afford tothrow his weight around.”Onthe contrary.The more power-ful you become politically, themore difficult it is “to goaround.” It’s not diplomaticallykosher to do those things.You’re not supposed to mixpolitics with the spiritual life.But when you know Christ, ithappens, and God opensdoors.

Jimmy Carter was presi-dent of the USA. I don’t knowwhat your party affiliation is, itdoesn’t even matter whetherhe was a good President, badPresident — heaven will tell.But what I do know is thatCarter really loves Jesus Christ.And he really shared his faithwherever he went.

I went to a presidentialdinner in Columbia, SouthAmerica, and for the first timein Columbia, the president ofthe Republic came to a dinnerput on by evangelicalChristians, there to thank Godfor the country, to pray for thenation, and share the goodnews.

His cabinet was there,members of the Senate ofColumbia, and these were dayswhen there were still quite abit of problems for theChristians of Columbia.Andwhen finally the presidentcame, and we went throughthe whole ceremony and soon, suddenly he turned to me

and he said,“Palau, that presi-dent of yours, that JimmyCarter, is something else —the reason I’m here tonight isbecause of him.When we werethere for the signing of thePanama Canal Treaty, all thepresidents of Latin Americaexcept one were there. Somewere dictators, some were left,some were right, but we wereall there.

“And on Friday JimmyCarter said,‘Gentlemen, tomor-


When you speak in obedience to the promptings of the Spirit,the Lord opens the doors.

row morning I invite you all tothe White House for a Biblestudy.’ Well, we Latin men, wedon’t do those things. But ifthe President of the UnitedStates invites you, you go.When we arrived thereSaturday morning, there was acircle of chairs. Carter is aBaptist and that’s what Baptistsdo in Sunday school — put acircle of chairs. On each chairthere was a Bible, and we satdown and he said,‘Lets look upMatthew something or other’,but none of us knew whereMatthew was.

“So Carter told us the pagenumber it turned out to beMatthew 24, and then he madeus read one verse apiece, allthese presidents of LatinAmerica doing Sunday schoolagain.”

They had never read theBible, most of them in theirlife.The president of theRepublic continued:“And thenCarter explained to us what hethought it meant — thatthere’ll be wars and rumors ofwar, there’ll be pestilence anddarkness on the face of theearth.Then when he finishedexplaining it, Carter said,‘Gentlemen, lets all pray.’

“Palau, we Latin men, wenever pray, we don’t evenknow what to say. So one ofthe Latin aides suggested thatPresident Carter should justpray. And so he prayed.Andthen he wanted us to singAmazing Grace. But we don’tsing songs in Latin America likethat so the aide had to say toJimmy Carter,‘Mr. President,lets sing it later.’And JimmyCarter said ok, we’ll sing itlater. He got the point.

“But, the President ofColumbia said to me,“I wastruly impressed that he caredthat much for us. Let’s face it,though it isn’t diplomatic to dothis, I realize that Carter reallyliked us and wanted us toknow Jesus Christ.”

The other day I was in acrusade in San Antonio,Texas,at the Hemisphere where theLord really blessed.The chair-man of the crusade said to me,would you like to talk to JimmyCarter? I said I I would love to,but I never thought I would. Sohe connected me on thephone, and I reminded him ofthat story I just told you. Hesaid he didn’t know the effectsof what he had done that day.He said that he had been a lit-tle nervous about doing it, buthe appreciated hearing aboutwhat happened in Columbia.

So here is a man, happensto be president, sure impor-tant, but he obeys the HolySpirit. He takes his reputationin his hands, so to speak. Hedidn’t know that it had openedtremendous doors in SouthAmerica when he obeyed theHoly Spirit of God. So if thespirit prompts you, obey thespirit.Whatever He tells you todo, do it. Do it.

And then, we all tremble. Ido, too.You might think,“Youare an evangelist, loud andaggressive, that’s easy from thepulpit.” But I get sweaty handsjust like everybody else. I’vegot neighbors in Portland thatI’ve been praying for years,Billy Graham is coming inSeptember, now I’ve got to putinto practice what I tell peopleto do for us all over the world.And some of my neighbors are

really nervous about having anevangelist in the neighbor-hood. That whenever I walkout the front door they alwaysseem to be looking the otherway. It’s a massive miracle.

We all get nervous to wit-ness. But when we obey theHoly Spirit, the Lord uses that— we declare His glory.Wedeclare His marvelous deeds.We speak well of his son, andthe Lord will honor those whohonor Him. 1 Samuel 2:30“Those who honor me, I willhonor. But those who despiseme shall be lightly esteemed.”When you speak in obedienceto the promptings of the Spirit,the Lord opens the doors.

One day we were inBudapest, Hungary. It was thefirst public rally since theMarxists allowed it. And wehad an English singer calledCliff Richard, and they knewhim as a secular singer becausehe sings love songs, but he alsosings for Jesus Christ, and hereally proclaims the resurrec-tion. Whenever he sings beforeI preach, I feel like a tiger. Ithrow out my notes and I say,“Let me at ‘em,” because he notonly sings with authority buthe testifies to the resurrectionwith such power. So we werefinished, the Lord blessedtremendously, we got on theHungarian airlines to go backto London, and as we sat therewith one of my team membersI overheard the lady in fronttalking to her neighbor — shehad a British accent and theother one had a Hungarianaccent — and she was obvious-ly talking about the Lord JesusChrist.

And then there came a lull


in their conversation, and I hadbeen snooping in on the con-versation, as she was quiteloud, then I began to talk to myteam member when suddenlythe lady turns around and saysto me,“You don’t know if CliffRichard or Luis Palau are onthis plane, do you?” Well, I did-n’t know about Cliff Richardbut I knew I was Luis Palau.“Oh,” she said,“I was lookingfor you, I figured you’d be onthis plane. I’ve been talking tothis lady here about the Lord,but I haven’t been able to closethe deal. Could you help me toget her into the Kingdom ofGod?”

I’d been listening to hertalking with the lady and shewas doing a terrific job. I toldher to go ahead and finish itoff. She said,“Oh, I don’t know,I’ve never done it.” So I askedher why had she come toHungary? She answered,“Iheard in England that you werehaving this first public rallysince the communist took overand I just came to pray. I flewover, and I walked around thestreets praying for the youngpeople, and because I wasn’t

young they didn’t even let meinto the auditorium, so I juststood outside praying allthrough the service, and I’mjust going home because myprayer group in England are allpraying for this rally.”

I told her,“Well sister, youfinish the job.” She didn’t knowwhat to say, so I recommendedRevelations 3. I gave her aquick counseling on how to doit, and I told her to lead her toChrist, and I’ll stand by. So Istood up, greeted this womanwho was a Hungarian businesswoman, and then I said to her,“Now your friend hereexplained to you the way ofsalvation in Jesus Christ, nowshe’s got you right to the doorof the Kingdom of God. She’snow going to open the doorand help you to get in.”

The Hungarian womansaid that would be fine. So Ilooked at the English womanand she was desperate, so Isaid, “Sister, do it.” And she did.She fumbled a bit but theybowed their heads right onthat Hungarian airplane andshe gave her life to Jesus

Christ. Here’s a sister, in aprayer group in southernEngland, hears that there’sgoing to be a rally in Hungary,jumps on a plane all by herself,goes over and walks thestreets, praying — they would-n’t even let her into the colise-um. But then, she finally caps itoff by leading a business-woman to the feet of JesusChrist.

It isn’t only well-knownpeople, it’s just ordinary believ-ers obeying the promptings ofthe Holy Spirit of God. As theLord lays on your heart, as youhear the challenges and thestrong words from the Lord, lis-ten carefully. Try praying,“Helpus to hear the tiniest whisperof the Holy Spirit.” That’s agood phrase, the tiniest whis-per of the Holy Spirit. If theLord is speaking to you, let thewhisper become a little louder.Say,“Lord are you really sayingthis to me? Is this of you? ShallI obey? Shall I really do thisthing that you’re laying on myheart?”And, you know, the Lordcan really open doors for you.


L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : GO TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

Consider the difference between the widely held relativistic idea “there are many ways to God” andthe claim of Jesus in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to theFather, but through me.” In His last words to His disciples Jesus instructs them to “go therefore andmake disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19). As followers of Jesus, THE way to God, we need tobe reminded of the priority of sharing Christ with others. Corrie ten Boom, in a daily devotional, givesthis illustration, “to travel through the desert with others, to suffer thirst, to find a spring, to drink of it,and not to tell others, that they may be spared, is exactly the same as enjoying Christ and not tellingothers about Him.” It is both our privilege and our responsibility as Christians to be able to share ourfaith with others. Evangelist Luis Palau drew attention to the Biblical theme of declaring the glory ofGod among all peoples (Psalm 96, Isaiah 49:6). It is not religious arguments that we are told to


declare, but the glory of God in the face of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:6). Further, this declaration is not tobe self-initiated but through God’s spirit. In this study we will consider aspects of the purpose, power,people and preparation for declaring the glory of God.

PURPOSE

The simple question may be asked, “Why evangelize?” The purpose of evangelism is rooted in thelarger redemptive mission of God as revealed in the Bible. George Vicedom states, “God is the actingSubject of mission. God the Father sent the Son, and the Son is both the Sent One and the Sender.Together with the Father, the Son sends the Holy Spirit, who in turn sends the church, congregations,apostles and servants, laying them under obligation in discharging his work. There is no participation inChrist without participation in his mission.” We are, then, not the initiators of evangelism. God Himselfinitiated and purposed through redemptive history to reestablish relationship with His creation. Throughthe covenants (Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic and New), God established the manner, the terms, thenature, the effects and the parameters of relationship between Himself and humankind. “The call ofAbraham and the ensuing narratives bring to sharp focus at least seven important themes that aretaken up later in the Bible.”1 Find within the covenant with Abraham the themes of election, covenant,faith and obedience, nation and land, and Gentiles (see Genesis 12:1-3).

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These relate to the purposes of God in redemptive history. In evangelism we participate in God’s mis-sion of redemption as we tell the revealed aspects, and specifically the story of Jesus, necessary forrelationship with God. Why evangelize? Because God has sent us to continue His redemptive pur-pose in the world. This in part is motivated by the love of God which desires that people be savedfrom sin and death. Read Revelation 20:11-15 and 2 Corinthians 5:10-21. What are motivations forPaul’s persuasion and pleading that people be at peace with God?

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Habakkuk 2:14 prophecies that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord asthe waters cover the sea.” Why evangelize? Because in evangelism God uses us to help to fill theearth with the knowledge of His glory. Love for God results both in following His command to lovepeople by telling them the way of salvation and in rejoicing as God receives the glory due to Hisname.

POWER

What exactly is to be declared and what is the content of our witness? Luis Palau spoke of Psalm 96as a call to declare the character of God and His great works as revealed in the Bible. The power ofour witness is not in our knowledge and understanding of the religion, life philosophy, or culture of our

audience (although knowledge of these can be used by God to facilitate communication). The powerof God for salvation is the gospel (Romans 1:16) as it is revealed in the life, death and resurrection ofJesus. C.S. Lewis describes the basic message of Christianity as follows: “We are told that Christ waskilled for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. Thatis the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed.”2

Evangelism involves communicating the gospel as seen in the life of Jesus. It also can involve testimo-ny of the transforming power of the gospel to change the lives of individuals. Consider the transformedlives of Biblical characters such as Peter, the Samaritan woman of John 4, and Paul. We also are totestify of how God works in our lives.

PEOPLE

Who is to evangelize? Who is to be evangelized? Read Acts 1:8. Who is Jesus speaking to and whatare they to do?

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Read Ephesians 4:11. Note that evangelism is listed as a spiritual gift given by Jesus to some mem-bers of the church. Not all members of the Church have the same gift (see 1 Corinthians 12). Thereis, then, a general command to all followers of Jesus to tell of what God has done for them, or, inother words, to evangelize. However, to some He has given evangelism as a gift, and so as a mainfocus of their spiritual life. Consider and pray whether you may have this gift.

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Now read again Matthew 28:18-20. Read also Romans 1:16. Who is meant to hear the good newsor gospel with the goal that they are to become disciples of Jesus?

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As Luis Palau pointed out, there is no imperative to travel to distant lands to obey the ‘GreatCommission’ of Matthew 28 (although God may call us to do so). People of many nations are here inAmerica. These, if they become disciples, could bring the gospel to their countries. Also, post-modernAmerica is a place that needs to hear the gospel. New Testament scholar Dr. D.A. Carson states that“in many parts of our country we cannot assume any Biblical knowledge on the part of our hearers atall: the most elementary Biblical narratives are completely unknown.”2 This being the case, it is certainthat few have heard and understood the Biblical gospel message. We are to proclaim His glory among


the nations, including our own nation.

Read Romans 1:16. All people need to see a true, Biblical picture of Jesus the Messiah. Biblicalknowledge, including knowledge of redemptive history, prophecy and the life of the Messiah, areimportant for presentation of the way of salvation to all people. Prayerfully consider who God maywant you to tell about the way of salvation.

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PREPARATION

How is effective testimony given? Read the story of the blind man in John 9:13-41. Write the progres-sion of the blind man’s understanding of Jesus. What is the content of his testimony to the Pharisees?

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We do not need theological degrees in order to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.When we are unable to answer some of the questions posed by others we need to remember thatthe fact remains the same: I was blind and now I see. We have experienced the saving power of theCross and the life-transforming work of the Holy Spirit, and this is an important aspect of the gospelthat we share with others.

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PRAY AND OBEY

Read 1 Timothy 2:1. Paul urges believers to pray for all men, including those who do not yet knowGod. Now read Colossians 4:2-5. Biblical prayers are excellent models for our prayers. What is thecontent of Paul’s prayer request and what are the expected results?

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Note that Paul expected God to open doors for the Word. It is God who prepares people to hear thegospel. Our role is to pray and obey His direction as doors are open and He gives us clear andappropriate words.

PREPARING A PERSONAL TESTIMONY

1 Peter 3:15 urges us to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reasonfor the hope that we have. Our personal testimony provides a balance of theological truth and person-al experience.

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Now read Acts 26:1-32. The Apostle Paul stood before King Agrippa and told him how he met thepromised Messiah of Israel and how his life had been changed by that encounter. Luis Palau told usof a similar situation between former Secretary of State James Baker and his Russian diplomaticfriend. Paul’s testimony is a Biblical model that we can follow in its basic outline. Read Acts 26:4-11.Our actions are often a result of our unsatisfied spiritual need. Can you list some of those needsbefore you met Christ?

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Read Acts 26:12-20. Describe as Paul did, the circumstances that led you to Christ as the way, thetruth and the life. What specific events played a key role in becoming a follower of Jesus? Rememberto include the gospel message (John 3:16; Romans 6:23, 3:23).

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Read Acts 26:21-23. Paul stated how his Messiah fulfilled his spiritual need. Can you briefly state thedifference between what Christ has done in your life compared to what you were trying to do before?

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Read Acts 26:24-32. What did Paul do after he shared with King Agrippa his new-found faith andwhat can we learn from this?

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The responses to these questions provide a basic structure, which could be used in presenting a tes-timony either in a formal situation or with anyone who may observe a distinctness in your life for whichthey want an explanation.

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Take time to summarize your responses and build your personal testimony. Carry your outline with you.Share it with your family and friends, and encourage them to prepare one for themselves. As God pre-pares others to hear His word, we must in turn be prepared to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

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Hear again the words of Jesus:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go thereforeand make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of theFather and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Icommand you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”.

1 Corrie Ten Boom, Each New Day. (Minneapolis, Minnesota: World Wide Publications, 1977).2 The Gagging of God; Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Zondervan Publishing 1996) page 43



S C R I P T U R A L R E F E R E N C E G U I D E

G O T O T H E E N D S O F T H E E A R T H

Isaiah 49:6

Psalm 96

Matthew 24

1 Samuel 2:30

John 14:6

Matthew 28:19

1 Corinthians 4:6

Genesis 12:1-3

Revelation 20:11-15

2 Corinthians 5:10-21

Habakkuk 2:14

Romans 1:16

John 4

Acts 1:8

Ephesians 4:11

1 Corinthians 12

Matthew 28

Romans 1:16

John:9:13-41

1 Timothy 2:1

Colossians 4:2-5

1 Peter 3:15

Acts 26:1-32

John 3:16

Romans 6:23

Romans 3:23

Acts 26:21-32

I want to begin this morningby saying that the basic messageof the Christian faith is not at alldifficult to understand. I’ll admitthat it might be difficult for someto accept or to act on but theChristian message itself is notdifficult to understand.God hasmade sure of that.God made surethat the essence of the Christianmessage was so straight-forwardand clearly spelled out that evena child can understand it.

I’ll prove that to you thismorning by briefly reviewing thecentral message of the Christianfaith and all of you will under-stand it.All of you will. How manyof you will accept it? Act on it?That’s another question, perhapseven a bigger question.We’ll han-dle that later.

As many of you know, themassive and emotional homecom-ing parade for Vietnam veteranshappened in downtown Chicago.All week long theTV news peo-ple covered the story and inter-viewed the soldiers who werecoming to Chicago to march inthat parade.One Vietnam vet wasinterviewed on camera.He wasstanding by the mobile VietnamMemorial Wall with all the names,the soldiers who didn’t comeback from Vietnam:All thosewho died in battle.

One newscaster asked thatparticular veteran why he hadcome all the way to Chicago tovisit this memorial and to partici-pate in this parade.The soldierlooked straight into the face ofthe reporter and with tears flow-ing down his face he said,“Because this man, right here,”and as he talked, he was pointingto the name of a friend whose

BILL HYBELS

From 125 people in 1975 to over 16,000today, the ministry of Willow CreekCommunity Church continues to growunder the leadership of Senior Pastor BillHybels. Started in a rented movie theatre asa means of reaching the non-churchedparents of teenagers in Son City, a youthministry that Bill co-founded, the church

now operates on a 145-acre campus in South Barrington,Illinois, with a staff of over 450.

Since its inception, Willow Creek Community Church hasadhered to a two-pronged philosophy of ministry. OnSaturday evenings and Sunday mornings, drama, multi-media,contemporary music, and practical messages are used to pres-ent the ageless truths of Scripture at an introductory level easilyunderstood by non-churched people.

The low-key evangelical environment of the weekend servicesstands in marked contrast to the worshipful atmosphere of theWednesday and Thursday evening services, where approximate-ly six to seven thousand believers gather together for worship,communion, and in-depth Bible teaching. Bill Hybels leads ateam of teaching pastors who feed the Body at Willow Creek.

Although he intended to follow in the footsteps of his father, asuccessful businessman, Bill clearly sensed God calling him outof the marketplace and into the ministry. He received a B.A.degree in Biblical Studies and an honorary Doctorate ofDivinity from Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois. Bill hasauthored a number of books, including Who Are You WhenNo One’s Looking, Too Busy Not To Pray, Honest to God?,Fit To Be Tied, Descending Into Greatness, Tender Love,Becoming A Contagious Christian, Rediscovering Church,The Story and Vision of Willow Creek CommunityChurch,The God You’re Looking For, and Making Life Work.

An internationally sought-after speaker, writer, and consult-ant, Bill is chairman of the Board of Willow Creek Association,serves on the Board of World Vision, and was Chaplain of theChicago Bears for five years.

Bill and his wife, Lynne, reside in Barrington with their twochildren, Shauna and Todd.

Christianity 101


name is etched in the wall.Ashe pointed to the name, hetraced the letters of his friend’sname.And he continued toanswer the reporter by saying,“This man, right here, gave hislife for me.He gave his life forme.”And that sort of said it all. Imean, that explained every-thing. No further questions.Andas that news clip ended, thatsobbing soldier simply let thetears flow without shame as hestood there continuing to tracethe name of his friend with hisfingers.

You know what, friends?This Wednesday night abouttwenty-five hundred people aregoing to come to a memorial. Amemorial service called Com-munion.We’re going to bow ourheads together and we’re goingto say with a wonderment thatnever goes away,“He gave Hislife for me.He gave his life forme.The sinless, spotless Son ofGod died in my place.”That’sthe central message of theChristian faith: for God so lovedthe world, people in the worldmattered so much to God, thathe provided his Son Jesus to diein the place of people whodeserved to die eternally as apayment for their sin. But Godsent Jesus to die in their placeso that guilty parties like youand me, undeserving peoplelike you and me could go free.

Do you understand that?Let me make sure that you do.Because a holy and a just Godpresides over this entire uni-verse, all crimes against HisHoliness, all crimes must bepaid for.There must be punish-ment. In a just society like welive in, a judge with any amountof integrity does the very samething. I have a friend fromPortland,Oregon who is a feder-

al judge.When a man embezzlestwenty thousand dollars fromhis company and then blows iton a gambling spree out in LasVegas and then appears inMike’s courtroom.Mike must

see to it that that crime is paidfor. Someone has to get pun-ished for that crime if there isany justice left in this society.

So after a trial and a convic-tion, a sentence is assigned forthat criminal to serve out. Sojustice can be accomplished. Inthat case there would probablybe a fine and then a prisonterm.Many of you know thatmy friend,Mike, is a Christian.And he’s a tender, caring man.But he’s also committed to jus-tice as he must be. So in spite ofhis tenderness, in spite of howbad he feels when someone likethat walks off facing a stiffprison sentence and fine,whena crime is committed,Mikemust see to it that justice isserved, the crime is paid for, andthat someone gets punished.

Imagine Mike, a federaljudge handing down a sentenceof a twenty thousand dollar fineand ten years in prison to ourgambling, embezzling, convictedfriend.Now imagine howshocking it would be for Miketo get up from his bench, totake off his judicial robe, to paythe twenty thousand dollar finefrom his own life savings, andthen to voluntarily exchangehimself for the guilty man andserve the entire prison sentencehimself.

What do you think theresponse of our gambling,embezzling friend would be ashe, the guilty party, is set free?Shock, disbelief,wonderment,gratitude? Can you see himscratch his head as he walks outof the courtroom saying,“Whywould someone pay for mycrime? Why would someoneabsorb my punishment? Whywould someone substitute him-self for me voluntarily?”

You see the obvious parallelto the central message of theChristian faith, don’t youfriends? It’s not that difficult tounderstand.Our God is a HolyGod. Immediately following thecreation of mankind,God says,“Because I am a Holy God,crimes against my Holinessmust be paid for.There will beconsequences and punishmentfor sinners.”There must be.

The Bible says,“The wagesof sin is death.”Eternal separa-tion from God forever in hell.Eternal condemnation for allsinners and yet the Bible saysall of us have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.All ofus fit into the category of thosewho are moral failures. So a lov-ing, Holy God sees all of thepeople who are created in Hisimage.All of the people whoreally matter to Him and theyare all headed for eternal con-demnation because they haveall sinned and committedcrimes against him, against HisHoliness.

So God does an amazingthing.He sovereignly chooses tosend Jesus, the second personof theTrinity,God in humanflesh, to shoulder all of the con-sequences of the sin of all peo-ple. They’re all going to be laidon the shoulders of His Son.Allof the punishment, all of the


This man, righthere, gave his life

for me.He gave hislife for me.

condemnation, all of the crimes,all of the sentences, all of thefines are going to be laid on theshoulders of Jesus. But the sinsare so serious and so many thatthe death sentence is the onlyjust sentence.A fine or a prisonterm or a good beating wouldnever do.That wouldn’t be jus-tice.

So the Bible records thatJesus,God’s Son,willingly, volun-tarily, lovingly and courageouslytook your place of punishmentand my place of punishmentand paid for our crimes withHis own blood.He paid forthe crimes against God, forthe sins of the whole world.Making it possible for guiltyparties not only to be set freeand forgiven in this life but toinherit eternal life with Godforever in heaven.Which iswhy we read that when Jesusfinally died, just before He died,He cried out,“It is finished. Ihave paid for the crimes againstGod committed by people allover the world, throughout thehistory of the world, past, pres-ent and future. I have paid forall of them, I have shoulderedthe sins of the entire world.”

And when He shed the lastdrop of His blood on the crossand He cried out,“It is finished,”the whole world shook.The skywent black, the rocks splitopen. It was the single most cat-aclysmic event in world history.The cosmos went into convul-sions. His death on the behalf ofall of us was an earth-shatteringportrayal of love.Now He didthat for you and He did that forme because we mattered toHim.More than we’ll everunderstand.He couldn’t bearthe thought of all of us beingsentenced to eternal condemna-tion for our crimes against the

Holiness of God so He tookupon Himself our sins, our sen-tence and our fine and He paidfor it with His life.

You know the Vietnam vetstands there sobbing at thememorial, tracing the fingers,tracing with his fingers thename of his friend and he says,“This man died for me.”Thegambler, the embezzler watchesin amazement as the judgeoffers up his life savings andthen serves his prison term vol-

untarily so that he, the guiltyparty, can go free.And Chris-tians come to a Communiontable and they sit down, dum-founded, in reverent silence andthey contemplate the fact thatGod’s Son voluntarily, lovinglydied in their stead in order topay for their crimes so thatthey, they guilty parties couldbe forgiven and cleansed andmade right with God not onlyfor a better standard and qualityof life in this world, but for aneternal residency as part of theblessing of salvation.A newhome promised us in heaven.That’s the central message ofthe Christian faith.The Person,the love, the work of JesusChrist for you.That’s the centralmessage of the Christian faithand you can all understandwhat I’ve just said.A child can.It’s not shrouded in mystery, it’snot cloaked in confusing lan-guage, it’s straight-forward. It’struth on the bottom shelf so we

can all comprehend it. But theBible says that understandingthe central message of theChristian faith is not enough.

Understanding the messageis not enough.You can under-stand the Christian message andstill go to hell.You can teach theChristian message and lose yoursoul.The Bible says you’re goingto have to do something withthe Christian message.You mustappropriate it personally.Youmust accept it for yourself.You

must apply it to your ownlife.And that’s a tall orderbecause it involves a conceptthat independent, self-madeAmericans just plain don’tlike.A concept called trust.

My favorite way of illus-trating what I’m talking abouthere is to recount what I’m

told is a true story. I don’t knowthat it is but I’ve read in severalplaces that it is.The true storyof a famous tightrope walkerwho once strung a cable acrossNiagara Falls, from the Americanside all the way over to theCanadian side.And to theapplause of thousands of peo-ple, he would walk across thattightrope, the rushing, cascadingwaters thundering him, under-neath him.Right on the veryedge of the falls, that one cablesupporting him as he wouldwalk back and forth. Peopleapplauding wildly and then tofurther wow the crowds, hewould put a blindfold on, goback and forth.Then he wouldride a bicycle back and forthand then he would push awheelbarrow back and forthand every day people came outto watch him.He, quite simply,was the greatest! As the storygoes, one day while pushing thewheelbarrow back and forth, hecalled out to the crowd at one


Why would someone pay formy crime?Why would some-one absorb my punishment?Why would someone substi-

tute himself voluntarily?

end, enquiring whether or notthey thought he could success-fully push the wheelbarrowacross with a human beingriding in the wheelbarrow.Thecrowd went berserk,“Surely youcan.You are remarkable.We’ve watched you for days.We understand and appreci-ate your skills.We believe inyour abilities.You are thegreatest.”

On and on they went towhich he responded,“Thensomeone volunteer.” “Youcome right up here, singlefile, form a line and get in thewheelbarrow and prove yourtrust in my ability.”And a deafen-ing silence overtook the crowd.There were no takers.You seeeveryone in the audienceunderstood his act.Theybelieved in his abilities butwhen the moment of truthcame where they had an oppor-tunity to demonstrate their ownpersonal trust in his abilities byplacing their lives in his hands,nobody stepped forward.Noteven one.

Let me change the story alittle bit. Imagine with me for amoment that same kind ofscene but let’s just say that all ofhumanity, all of sinful humanity,which is all of us, all of sinfulhumanity is standing on theCanadian side.God is standingon the American side andthere’s that rushing, cascadingwater thundering in that chasmbetween the two pieces of land.And then there’s the falls.Youknow the Bible tells us thatthere is an uncrossable chasmbetween sinful mankind andthe Holiness of God. Sin sepa-rates us from being able to fel-lowship with God.Now sup-pose God shouted across to thecrowd on the far side,“All you

people over there, I want you toknow, you matter to me eventhough you’ve sinned and failedmany,many times.You matter tome. I’m going to give you twen-ty-four hours to come across to

my side where you can fellow-ship with me and live on thisside forever.Now I’ve arrangedto have my Son, Jesus, pay foryour sins by dying on the cross,taking your punishment onHimself.That’s all been accom-plished. That’s all been complet-ed. Do you understand that?”

But God continues,“All thatremains now is for you to letHim escort you across thechasm on a tightrope in awheelbarrow, one by one.He’sdone it before,He’s neverdropped anybody,He won’tdrop you. It’s the only way tocross the chasm.Come. Forma line.Act on what youbelieve to be true.Demonstrate your trust.”

So Jesus comes across onthe tightrope and stands fac-ing the seas of humanitythere, all the faces on theCanadian side and He says,“Iknow that you know who Iam and I know that youunderstand what I’ve alreadydone for you. See my hands.See my feet, see my side.Understanding isn’t enough.Youmust act on your understandingindividually, one by one.Youmust get in, you must trust meand you must let me take you

across to God’s side. I am theonly way.Who will be the firstone to act on what you alreadyunderstand to be true? Who willbe the first one to demonstratepersonal trust? Who will it be?”

This is the place wherethe troops thin out.You knowunderstanding the Christianmessage is the easy part.Acting on it by demonstratingpersonal trust in Christ iswhat separates the men fromthe boys.Trusting isn’t easy. Itstrips away from us,what welike to clutch, cling to, hold

on tightly. So Jesus waits patient-ly and time runs down nowthere’s only twenty hours left.He’s waited for four hours.Noone’s climbed in. Picture this,time is running down,peopleare getting nervous.

No one wants to trust butsomething must be done so theintellectuals all start intellectual-izing. They all huddle togetherand they say,“Is there really aGod? Is there really a chasmbetween God and man? Is therereally man?”Then picture anoth-er group, the“activists.”Theystart tearing off their shirts and

they’re testing the current.They’re seeing how strong it is.They’re wondering if they swimreal hard at an angle maybethey can cross the river andmake it.They like to keep their


The whole world shook.The sky went black, the

rocks split open. It was thesingle most cataclysmicevent in world history.

fate in their own hands.Thenthere are the“hardballers.”Theylight up a cigarette and breakopen a can of beer and theycurse a little and they say,“Ithink God’s bluffing. I think wegot more than twenty hoursleft.The whole thing doesn’tscare me,”but they smoke a lot.

And then you got the“wheeler dealers.” They’ve beenable to figure out an angle foreverything. So they’re busy find-ing someone to try to charter ahelicopter you know, they’regoing to try to find a way.The“engineers” are contemplatingbuilding a bridge.Anothergroup decides to just get highor get drunk, so they don’thave to worry about things,and others worry and fret butmeanwhile Jesus waitspatiently with an emptywheelbarrow.

Why? I’ll say it again.Because entrusting your lifeinto the hands of someoneelse is a terribly difficult thingfor self-sufficient humanoids todo.We’d rather do almost any-thing than put our plight, ourfate, our eternal destiny insomeone else’s hands. But aftera time, a young man says to allthe others,“Face it, face it all ofyou.There ain’t no other way.God is over there.We do matterto Him. Jesus has already paidthe price.We can’t swim acrossor fly across.Time is runningdown. I’m givin’ him a shot.Youdo whatever you want to do.I’m going to trust Him. I’m get-tin’ in.What do I have to lose?”So he looks into the loving,peace-filled eyes of Jesus and hesays,“I trust you, Jesus. I believeyou’re sent from God and you’rethe only way across to His side.I’m ready, let’s go.”

And you know what hap-

pens? All of you know whathappens. Jesus safely takes himacross the chasm. Presents himto God the Father; there is awarm embrace.There’s a cele-bration. There is joy unspeak-able. Jesus has never droppedanyone, failed anyone, not evenwavered once. So the lad gets tothe other side and while he’sexperiencing the joy of being inperfect fellowship with theFather, he looks across thechasm and he sees all the peo-ple on the other side.He startsscreaming at the top of hislungs,“He can be trusted,Hecan be trusted! Look at me overhere,He can be trusted.Get in!

He’s the only way.”Friends, I want to tell you,

I’m like that kid.And I have theheart of the activist: I’d ratherswim across. Can’t make it. Sothere came a point in timewhen I just had to trust my lifeto Christ and say,“You are theonly way. I’m gettin’ in. I’m act-ing on what I already under-stand to be true but now I’mmaking a private personal com-mitment in entrusting my life toYou andYou alone. If You don’ttake me across, I don’t go.”AndHe took me across.He present-ed me forgiven before theFather.And now I belong in thefamily of God. I’m there.Notonly do I have strength in mylife and all the other attendantblessings that come with beinga true Christian, but I have an

eternity in heaven to look for-ward to because of what JesusChrist did for me and becauseof finally appropriating, actingpersonally on that message ofsalvation.

You know I happen tothink that we have several hun-dred people here this morningwho understand the messagebut have never acted upon itpersonally.And I want to tellyou that you matter to God.Andunderstanding ain’t enough.Time’s running down.You can’tdo one thing to cross the chasmof sin in and of yourself. Can’tdo it. So you must get in.You

must make a personal, sin-cere plea for Jesus to be yourown Saviour.And you mustexpress that trust by commit-ting your life to Christ andsaying,“I want you to be mySaviour.Take me across toGod.You’re the only personwho can do it.And I’mthrowing all my eggs intoyour wheelbarrow.”What about it, friends?You

understand the message, Jesus isthe only way that you can bereconciled to God.He’s the onlyone who can forgive you, takeyou across the chasm of sin andpresent you acceptable to aHoly God on the other side.He’s the only one.He’s the onlyway.You understand that, Iknow you do.How many of youthis morning are willing to acton that? How many of you thismorning are willing to say,“Today I want to express thattrust and I want to get in…Iwant to appropriate the mes-sage personally and as best Iknow how right now I want tocommit my life to Christ.He’sthe only way”?

How many of you are will-ing to do that?You say,“Well


He can be trusted! He canbe trusted! Look at me overhere, He can be trusted.Get

in! He is the only way!

how do I do that?”You pray this simple prayer and you may want to pray along with me in your ownspirit as I sort of say this prayer for you. Lord Jesus, I admit that I’m a sinner.No doubt in my mindabout that.And I know I need a Saviour. I understand that you took my place, you shouldered the con-sequences and the punishment for my sin when you died on the cross in my stead. I understand whatyou did for me and now I personally appropriate it and embrace it and embrace you.Here I am, I’mclimbin’ in.Take me.Take me across.You just made the most important decision of your life.The mostimportant decision of all eternity. Let’s bow with closing prayer.

Our Father I thank you for the tremendous outpouring of the work of your Holy Spirit which isthe only power that brings people to God.Thank you for the person and the work and the love ofJesus Christ who alone can take across the chasm of sin and present us forgiven to the Father.Thankyou for how many people made decisions this morning that affect all of life and all of eternity.What agreat day of celebration and rejoicing this is.And we give you all the praise for Jesus’ sake,Amen.


L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : CHR I S T I AN I T Y 1 0 1

The Gospel message is not a difficult one. Paul lays out the blueprint for us quite succinctly in Romans6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Forsome, however, this basic message is too simple. The idea that salvation is a “free gift” runs contrary to theway most of us are raised to think. In our increasingly achievement-oriented society we like to think thatwhat we receive is what we deserve — what we have earned and worked for. What God has to offer, how-ever, we could never earn, for the price He requires is simply beyond our ability to pay. That price is perfec-tion. In order for us to receive salvation at all, therefore, God had to make it a free gift, and that gift iscentered in the person and work of His son Jesus.

T H E P R I C E

The price of eternal life is perfection — or, more specifically, perfect holiness. This price is certainly notarbitrary, but is a reflection of one of the most fundamental attributes of God. Read Isaiah 6:3. The rootmeaning of the word “holy” (qadosh) here is “separate” or “distinct.” As used in the Bible, “holy” is normallyused in contrast to that which is “sinful.” Note as well how many times the word “holy” is repeated. In theBible — especially the Old Testament — words are repeated for emphasis. To repeat a word three timesgenerally indicates maximum emphasis. What then is this passage telling us about the holiness of God?Keep in mind that no other attribute of God is repeated three times.

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It is thus the attribute of God’s holiness, more than anything else, that distinguishes us from Him. AsEdward Young aptly remarks in his commentary on Isaiah, “Qadosh [in Isaiah 6:3] signifies the entirety ofthe divine perfection which separates God from His creation.”1 Man can, in some small way, attain somemeasure of the various attributes of God — we can love, be merciful, be gracious, be just, be wise, beknowledgeable (though not omniscient), be creative (though not omnipotent), but in no way can we be,even in the most minuscule degree, holy. This attribute, more than anything else, distinguishes us fromGod and defines who He is in relation (and by contrast) to us.

T H E P R O B L E MIf the requirement for salvation (that is, communion with God) is perfect holiness, the problem at oncebecomes apparent. Read Romans 3:23. Is there any person or group of people that do not fall into thecategory of those who “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”? Why?

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It is important to note that sin, as the Bible talks about it, is more than just a wrong act, but is more funda-mentally a state of being — the opposite of holiness. In Psalm 51 David implores God to forgive the sins ofadultery and murder which he committed. As David also indicates, however, the problem of his sin is muchdeeper than those two acts. Read Psalm 51:5. Is David trying to excuse himself by tracing the root of hissin to his mother? Would this understanding be in keeping with the character of David’s confession andfocus on self-culpability as expressed elsewhere in this Psalm? Also keep in mind that nowhere in the Bibleis David’s conception or birth referred to as having taken place in a sinful manner. Rather, David is heredescribing the state of sin into which he was born. As Franz Delitzsch observes in his outstanding com-mentary on the book of Psalms, “David here confesses his hereditary sin as the root of his actual sin. Thedeclaration moves backwards from his birth to conception, it consequently penetrates even to the mostremote point of life’s beginning.”2 Now read Romans 5:12. Through whom did sin enter the world? How didit happen?

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As a result of Adam’s sin, Paul tells us, all men are considered guilty before God. Does this seem fair toyou? According to the typically individualistic way of thinking in which we are raised, it does not. If we werenot around when Adam sinned, why should we incur his guilt?

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The Biblical perspective on personhood is somewhat different from that of modern society. Read Hebrews7:9-10. This passage is referring to Genesis 14:17-20, in which Abraham is described as having paidtithes to Melchizedek. What is the point that the writer of Hebrews is making with regard to Levi? How doesthis same point apply to our being in the “loins” of Adam when he took the fruit from the tree and ate?

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Thus, just as sinfulness is a state which we “inherited” from Adam, so too do we inherit the consequencesof that state: separation from God, or eternal death. Read Genesis 2:17. How did Adam and Eve die onthe day that they ate (read Genesis 3:8)? How does this principle apply to you?

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T H E P R O V I S I O NIn light of our inability to attain perfect holiness, God, in His mercy and love, took the initiative to do for uswhat we could never do for ourselves. Read Romans 5:6-8. Think of the person or persons whom you lovethe most. Would you give your own life for them if the situation ever called for it? Now think of the person orpersons whom you most dislike. Would you give your life on their behalf? The life of your son or daughter?Only a love as intense and as deep as God’s own could motivate the provision of such a dear and costlysacrifice. Read 1 John 4:9-10. Was it necessary for us to love God before He would love us? What earthlyrelationships (ideally) illustrate this kind of unconditional love?

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Jesus is thus God’s answer to sin — through Him, and only through Him, can we fully attain the standardof perfect holiness which God requires. In fact, it is only because of the fact that Jesus is God that Hissacrifice on our behalf can be truly effective. Read Hebrews 10:11-12. What are the sacrifices which thewriter of Hebrews tells us could “Never take away sins”? What is the only sacrifice that does? What is thedifference?

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If the sacrifices which were required under the Law never actually took away sin, why were they command-ed to be given in the first place? Read Hebrews 10:1-3. What does the writer of Hebrews say was “in”those sacrifices?

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This same Greek word “reminder, memorial” (anamnesis) is used three other times in the New Testament(Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25). Look up each of these occurrences. What do they refer to? In lightof your answer, what can you say about the purpose of the sacrifices offered in the Temple of old (see alsoGalatians 3:24)?

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What, then, are we to do with this provision? How do we appropriate it and make it our own? Simple intel-lectual understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done is not enough. Read James 2:19. How is thebelief of the demons different from the belief that leads to salvation?

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James Adamson, in his commentary on the book of James,3 points out that the Greek construction used in


verse 19 “emphasizes intellectual acceptance,” but not “belief” in the sense of “to trust God,” for which adifferent verbal construction is used. To believe in God, as opposed to simply believing that God exists,means to trust in the provision for sin which He has made for you. Indeed, the entire point of what Jamessays in 2:19 becomes apparent when you read the next verse. Faith without works is useless because thelack of works proves that it is only intellectual faith. True faith — that is, trusting in that provision which Godhas provided — is proven to be true faith because of the very fact that works come along with it. Trust inGod is not simply a one-time event, but something which one does throughout their life as a Christian.Trusting in God is evident by the things that we do — what James calls “works.” Read James 2:21-22.What was the “work” in which Abraham’s trust in God (that is, his faith) was demonstrated?

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With regard to each of the following areas, how have you (or how can you) demonstrate your own trust inGod?

1. Salvation

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2. Finances

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3. Dating/Marriage

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4. School/Work

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5. Family

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6. Friends

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___________________________________________________________________________1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1965; reprint 1997), 242., 2 Vol.2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970),136.3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1976),125.




C H R I S T I A N I T Y 1 0 1

R o m a n s 6 : 2 3

I s a i a h 6 : 3

R o m a n s 3 : 2 3

P s a l m 5 1

R o m a n s 5 : 1 2

H e b r ew s 7 : 9 - 1 0

G e n e s i s 1 4 : 1 7 - 2 0

G e n e s i s 2 : 1 7

G e n e s i s 3 : 8

R o m a n s 5 : 6 - 8

J o h n 4 : 9 - 1 0

H e b r ew s 1 0 : 1 1 - 1 2

H e b r ew s 1 0 : 1 - 3

L u k e 2 2 : 1 9

1 C o r i n t h i a n s 1 1 : 2 4 - 2 5

G a l a t i o n s 3 : 2 4

J a m e s 2 : 1 9

J a m e s 2 : 2 1 - 2 2

One of the more difficultresponsibilities I have as the presi-dent of the seminary lies in readingmy morning mail.A few monthsago I received a letter from ayoung man in a penitentiary inTexas.He was serving from ten totwenty years for attempted rape.He was a Christian and he asked ifI would send him a book that wasnot available to him in the prison. Igladly responded to his request.But his letter deeply disturbed mebecause the young man had been astudent of mine when I’d taught atDallasTheological Seminary.Whenhe left the seminary,he left withgreat gifts and great vision.He pas-tored two churches and both ofthem were successful congrega-tions. In the second church,hedemonstrated a gift of Evangelism.Many of the people in that churchwere led to Christ as a result of hiswitness.He was a careful studentof the Scriptures and there werethose in the congregation who tes-tified that again and again as hestood to speak, they could sensethe power in the presence of God.

He had a disciplining ministry.He left his thumb print upon thepeople of that congregation. Infact,when his crime was discov-ered and he had admitted his guilt,that congregation raised over twen-ty thousand dollars for his legaldefense. And now he is a prisonerin a penitentiary inTexas. In onedark hour of temptation,he fellinto the abyss.He ruined his repu-tation, destroyed his ministry andleft an ugly stain on the testimonyof Christ in that community.

When I read that letter andknew what had happened, I foundmyself wrestling with all kinds ofquestions and emotions.What hap-pens in a person’s life who doesthat?What went through his mind?What was it that caused him to


DR. HADDON ROBINSON

Dr. Haddon Robinson is the Harold JohnOckenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching atGordon — Conwell Theological Seminary, andis widely regarded as an expert of preaching. Inthe fall of 1997, Dr. Robinson also became theDirector of the Doctor of Ministry program at

Gordon — Conwell. A Baylor University poll in 1996 namedhim as one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English— speaking world.

Dr. Robinson, a native of New York City, has completed gradu-ate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., 1955),Southern Methodist University (M.A., 1960), and University ofIllinois (Ph.D., 1964).

He comes to Gordon — Conwell from the presidency of DenverConservative Baptist Seminary in Denver, Colorado, where heserved since 1979. Dr. Robinson has served as Director of theDallas Youth for Christ (1952 — 1955), Associate Pastor of theFirst Baptist Church in Medford, Oregon (1956 — 1958), and aninstructor of speech at the University of Illinois (1960 — 1962).In addition, he taught homiletics on the faculty of DallasTheological Seminary for nineteen years. From 1970 — 79 hewas General Director of the Christian Medical and DentalSociety, whose membership is made up of over 7,000 physiciansand dentists in the United States.

Dr. Robinson has done extensive work in radio and televisionand has served as host for the television program Film Festival,and is the teacher of Radio Bible Class, a daily program broad-cast that airs 600 times a day on stations around the world andwrites for its publication, The Daily Bread. He has served as edi-tor of the field of preaching for the Theological Annual, as acontributing editor for Preaching, and as a Fellow and SeniorEditor for Christianity Today. He was president of theEvangelical Theological Society (1983) and has served on theexecutive committee for that group of evangelical scholars. Healso serves on the boards of Black Evangelistic Enterprise, VisionNew England, EvanTell, and Marketplace Network.

A prolific writer, Dr. Robinson has edited the Christian MedicalSociety Journal, published articles in Leadership, ChristianityToday, Bibliotheca Sacra, The Quarterly Journal of Speech,Moody Monthly, and Decision Magazine. Dr. Robinson hasauthored six books: Psalm 23, Grief, Biblical Preaching, BiblicalSermons, What Jesus Said About Successful Living, andDecisions by the Book. Biblical Preaching is currently being usedas a text for preaching in 120 seminaries and Bible colleges inNorth America and around the world.

Don’t Doubt God’s Goodness

turn his back on all that he hadgiven his life? But I realized thatas I was asking the question, Iwas not simply asking about him,but I was asking about myself. Iwas asking about men andwomen who graduated from thisseminary,but have destroyed theministry to which they havegiven themselves through someact of disobedience.What is itthat causes someone to mortgagehis ministry to pay the high priceof sin?What is it that lures us todestruction?

That question is not just aquestion that I face or that thatyoung man faced, it’s a questionyou face.Temptation dogs yourpath and trips you at every turn.The question you must face,sometime in your life, is howdoes the tempter do his work?How does he come to us? Howdoes he destroy us? Here,early inthe ancient record,we have oneof the themes that is wovenagain and again throughout theScripture:The theme of sin andits destructive power.What wehave here in Genesis 3 is a casestudy in temptation.

In a case study,you want toget rid of the independent vari-ables, study the thing itself.Certainly, there are many thingsthat were not true of Eve thatmight be true of us.For example,she had no poison blood in herveins.She did not have a heritageon which she could blame hersin.Eve came,asAdam did, fromthe direct creation of God.WhenGod createdAdam and Eve,Goddeclared that the creation wasvery good.Unlike many peopletoday, she was not half-damned inher birth.What is more,Eve andAdam lived in a perfect environ-ment.There was nothing in thepollution of that atmosphere thatwould lead them away fromGod.She stood there in the

morning of creation,a creature ofgreat wonder.No sinful heritage,no sinful environment.Here wehave a case study in temptation.

As we watch the way thetempter came to Eve,we recog-nize that while this story comesto us out of the ancient past, it’sas up-to-date as the temptationyou may be facing this morningor that you faced last night.Thetemptation that you face in yourstudy, in your home, in your min-istry, in your life.The scene haschanged but the methodologyhas not.

As you read this story,one ofthe things you discover is thatwhen the tempter comes,hecomes in disguise.The writer ofGenesis says that the serpent wasmore crafty than all of the wildanimals the Lord God had made.I gather that he is telling us thatwhen the serpent came,he didnot come as a thing of ugliness.This was before the curse, thishappened before the serpentcrawled on its belly on theground.There were no rattlersthat warn of a an approachingpoison.There’s nothing thatwould have made Eve feelalarmed.

When Satan comes to you,he does not come in the form ofa coiled snake.He does not comewith the roar of a lion.He doesnot come with the wail of asiren.He does not come wavinga red flag.Satan just slides intoyour life.He comes and seemsalmost like a comfortable com-panion.There seems to be noth-ing about him that you woulddread.NewTestament says thathe comes as an angel of light, as a

minister of God,sometimes as aminister of righteousness. It’squite clear that when the enemycomes to attack you,he comes indisguise.As Mestophalese says inFaust,“The people do not evenknow the devil is there evenwhen he has them by thethroat.”

Not only is he disguised inhis person,but he is disguised inhis purposes.When he comes,hedoes not come to say to Eve,“Ihave come to tempt you.”Instead,he comes to have a reli-gious discussion.He wants to talktheology.He doesn’t want to talksin.He begins his temptation bysaying,“Did God really say,‘Youmust not eat from any tree in thegarden?’”

You can’t argue with that.Satan comes and says,“Look I justwant to be sure of the exegesis. Ijust want to be sure the idea Godwas trying to get across.Did Hereally say,‘You can’t eat of any ofthe trees of the garden?’”You see,he’s a religious devil.He doesn’tcome to you and knock on thedoor of your soul and say,“Pardon me,sir.Give me a halfhour of your life, I’d like to damnyou and destroy you.”No,all hewants to do is to talk a bit of the-ology. He wants to be sure heunderstands the theWord ofGod.

It is possible to discuss theol-ogy to your peril. It’s very possi-ble to get into those kinds of dis-cussions in which you talk aboutGod in a kind of abstract waylike sort of mathematical formulathat you can construct a theolo-gy that leads you to the disobedi-ence of God.You’re big on grace.Very strong on Christian liberty.You know the freedom of thesons of God and you will debatethat with anyone who comesalong.You can do anything you


The people do not even knowthe devil is there, even whenhe has them by the throat.

want at any time you want withanyone you want,no restrictions,no hang ups,you’re free,youknow God’s grace.

Every man who’s everyturned liberty into license hasdone it on a theological ground.You can get to the place whereyou decide that even when I sin,God’s grace abounds. Isn’t itwonderful that I am servingGod’s grace as I show His for-giveness?You could be big onGod’s sovereignty.No one willoutpace you when it comes to adoctrine like that.God is sover-eign over the affairs of men andnations.God’s eye is not onlyover history,His hand is on histo-ry. His hand is upon your life andbefore long,God is so sovereignthat you have no responsibility.After all in a sense,all the world’sa stage all the men and womenmerely players.

God maps out the action,plans the dialogue.You gothrough your paces but it’s allGod.Even your sin.And out ofthat discussion,you come awayfinding good, sound reasons,orreasons that sound good, for dis-obeying God.You want to dis-cuss theology with the wrongmotive.

One advantage of coming toseminary is you can find a lot ofreasons for doing wrong.Andyou can sound theological inyour disobedience.Another thingthat Satan did in this conversa-tion was focused Eve’s attentionon that single tree in the centerof the garden.He comes andsays,“It seems inconceivable tome that God wouldn’t let youhave any of these trees.”And nowEve comes to God’s defense.She’s a witness for God.But oneof the things that people do indefending God is that theybecome more righteous than

God,become stricter than God. Itis one of the problems that peo-ple often have on the religiousright that they not only look atGod’s commands but they thinkthat they are holier if they gobeyond God’s commands andthere is destruction in that.

She says,“Oh no,we can eatof all the trees of the garden butthat one tree.That tree there inthe center,we can’t eat from thattree.”Eve makes it a point to say,“Well,we can’t taste it,we can’teven touch it.”What Satan hasdone,of course, is to focus hermind on that single tree.The onething prohibited.

Sometimes you wonder howsomeone could turn his or herback on all of the good thingsthat they have,all of the blessingsthat have been poured into theirlives and throw all of that awayfor that single sin in their lives.And the answer is they don’t seethe blessings.Satan shifts thefocus and there is that one thingyou want so desperately thatyou’ll do anything to get it. Itbecomes the focus of your life.And everything else God does,you forget.

So Satan comes in disguise,he conceals who he is.He con-ceals what he wants to do.Thesecond thing you discover is thatin his attack,he attacks God’s

word.After Eve responds andsays,“We may eat from the treesin the garden,but God did sayyou must not eat the fruit fromthe tree that’s in the middle ofthe garden.You must not touch itor you will die.”

Satan throws his head backand with irrepressible laughtersays,“Surely you don’t believethat,do you?That you will surelydie? Oh,come now,ha,ha,ha,abit of fruit? Surely die?That’s justa bit of exaggeration that God’susing to get your attention,butHe doesn’t mean that.Surely die?Come now.You’re too sophisti-cated, you’re too aware tobelieve that God,who gave youthis marvelous garden and allthese trees and that bountifulfruit is going to be that excitedabout your taking that one pieceof fruit from that tree...surely die?You don’t believe that,do you?God doesn’t mean that.God cer-tainly doesn’t mean that.”

And how easily we fall intothat.How easily we can come tobelieve in some doctrine of anerrancy about the Bible as awhole but this particular issuethat is an issue between me andGod.He doesn’t mean it whenHe says,“You will surely die.”Forthousands of years,Satan hasrepeated that. It is the theme ofmany modern novels to movethe plot so that the people leavein deep disobedience to God butthey come out well at at the end.It’s in modern movies in whichthe characters live life in rebel-lion against God,but they livehappily ever afterwards. It’s theword from the sponsor on televi-sion.You see it in four-color ads.There’s a perfume, it’s been onthe market a long time,called ‘MySin’.The huckster in MadisonAvenue who named that bottleof fragrance chose that label


because he said,“Here is a fra-grance which is so alluring, socharming, so exciting, so harm-less.You can call it ‘My Sin’.”Andthat fragrance is a stench in thenostrils of God.

How do you feel about it?These warnings that fill the Bibleabout disobedience...How doyou feel about it? Does Godmean it when He says that theywho live after the flesh shall die?Does God really mean it whenHe says,“If you sow to your fleshyou will reap corruption? DoesGod mean it when He says,“Whatever a man sows, that shallhe also reap?”Does God mean itwhen He says that the eye of theLord is against the wicked? DoesGod mean it when He says,“Heshall judge His people”? DoesGod mean it when He says,“Fornicators and adulterers,Godwill judge”? How do you feelabout that? Does God mean itwhen He says things like that?

God is serious about sinbecause God is serious aboutyou.God is serious about sinbecause God loves you and Godknows the devastation that sincan have in your life, in your rela-tionships, in your character, inyour ministry.

God is serious about sin as aloving parent is serious about fireand warns a child about it,know-ing that it can maim that childfor life,destroy the home he livesin,and do untold damage.Buthow do you feel about it? DoesGod mean it when He says thosethings? Not only does Satanattack God’s word,but he goesdeeper than that and attacksGod’s character.For the serpentsaid to the woman inVerse Five,“For God knows that when youeat of that tree your eyes will beopened and you will be like God,knowing good and evil.”

You see Satan is attackingGod’s goodness.What he is say-ing is,“You know why God gaveyou that command? He gave youthat command because He wantsto spoil your fun.The reason Hegave you that command is thatHe wants to keep you on a tightleash,He doesn’t want you to befree.He doesn’t want you to real-ly experience the abundance oflife.He wants to deny your pleas-ures. He wants to show you Heis in control.He wants to keepyou down.He doesn’t want youto have the excitement that lifecan offer other people.Heknows that when you eat it,you’ll be like Him and you’llknow good and evil.You willhave experiences you can havein no other way.God has an ulte-rior motive,a hidden agenda,andit’s an evil one.”Once the well ispoisoned,all the water isdestroyed.

For example,one of themost beautiful confessions oflove and faith in the Bible is aconfession that Ruth makes toNaomi.She says,“Entreat me notto turn away from you.Whereyou go, I will go.Where youabide, I will abide.Your peoplewill be my people.Your God willbe my God.Where you die, I willbe buried.”Beautiful,but supposesomeone came to Naomi andsaid to her,“Naomi listen,Ruth’s agold digger, she’s a manipulator.You see what Ruth really wantsto do is to get back into Israeland she wants to marry awealthy Jew and she knows herpassport home is with you,andshe’ll tell you just about anythingto get a free pass into Israel.”IfNaomi believes that, then thewell is poisoned and every goodthing Ruth does,Naomi will sus-pect. Every kind word Ruth willspeak,Naomi will reject.You see

when you poison the well, all thewater is poisoned.When youcome to the place where youdoubt God’s word because youreally doubt God’s goodness,then Satan has done his work.How easily we do that.All of ushave served the prince of dark-ness and lived in his realm andwhen we come to the kingdomof God’s Son,we have a way ofbringing our doubts and suspi-cions with us.

Something happens in yourlife that is difficult and you findyourself asking why and thatquestion mark is like a daggerpointed at the heart of God.Howeasily we begin to suspect thatwhat happens in this particularcase in our life is really a demon-stration that God is against us.Even when good things happento us,we doubt God’s goodness.Something marvelous comes intoyour life, something unexpected,then all at once there is a shad-ow that crosses your mind: It allwill be taken away,God reallydoesn’t want me to enjoy theexpansion of His goodness, some-how He has a way of giving mesomething and then just as I getto enjoy it,He snatches it back,like some cruel, sadistic parent.So we knock on wood andsmash at the heart of God.Whenyou doubt God’s goodness, thenyou’ll doubt His word and youwill see God restricting you andholding you back and the workis done.

So when Eve saw that thefruit of the tree was good forfood and pleasing to the eye andalso desirable for gaining wis-dom, she took some and ate it.Hmm, it wasn’t good for food.But it becomes pleasing to theeye and desirable because nowshe has listened to the lie of thetempter and her senses take con-


trol. See,when you get God outof your life,when you come toquestion God’s word and God’sgoodness, then suddenly yoursenses come alive to what is evil.And what once was out ofbounds to you becomes thething that you desire and oftenthe thing that will destroy you.

Piece of fruit? Surely,not apiece of fruit.Ha,you,you’re notgoing to tell me that that Eve’ssin was with a piece of fruit in afruit orchard,you’re not going totell me that that’s whyAdamsinned and that’s why murdercame into their family.You’re notgoing to tell me a piece of fruitdamned the race?

No,not a piece of fruit.A dis-obedience to God’s word.A dis-trust of God’s character.The fruitis out at the periphery.The sin is

at the center.Whenever youcome to deny or doubt the good-ness of God, then at the point inwhich you are struggling in yoursoul,you’ll come to deny Hisword. If Satan had come to Evein that early morning and said,“Look, sign this paper, say thatyou are done with God,shewould never have signed it.

When Satan comes,he nevercomes dragging the chains thatwill confine us.He comes bring-ing a crown that will ennoble us.He comes offering us a pleasure,expansiveness,money,popularity,freedom,enjoyment.Fact is,henever really says there are anyconsequences at all.Except thatwe will fill all of the desires ofour hearts.And it is there that weare destroyed.

That’s the lesson.That

the temptations that destroy us,strike at the heart of God,God’sintegrity, and God’s goodness.When we deny His goodness,wereject His word.When we rejectHis word,we do so at our peril.Hear me well this morning. I donot come to you to bring yousome kind of tight religion.

Christianity is not meremorality. It’s not a matter of toe-ing the line and keeping therules.Christianity is a relation-ship.A relationship with a Godwho loves you so much that Hegave you His Son.And loves youso much that He has made youHis child.God whose every gift isgood and perfect.Who can nevercast a shadow on your life byturning to something else thatHe is not.But we sin,we fallwhen we doubt His goodness


Temptation — that is, the enticement to sin — is a fact of life. No one is exempt. All of us, whether a newChristian or experienced leader in the church, have been and will continue to be tempted in various ways todisobey God. Yet, whereas popular culture would have us believe that giving in to temptation is sometimesinevitable (and, in fact, sometimes even acceptable), the Bible tells us otherwise. Read 1 Corinthians 10:13.Whom is Paul addressing? How is what Paul says in this verse different from what popular culture would haveus believe about temptation?

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Despite this promise, many Christians continue to find themselves overcome by the temptations of life, notnecessarily because they are weak Christians, but because of a basic misunderstanding of how temptationworks and how one is to handle it when it comes. The first temptation which humanity ever faced provides avivid case for study. Read Genesis 3:1-6. The serpent in this passage (as well as what he did) is alluded toin Revelations 12:9. Who is he?

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L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : DON ’ T DOUBT GOD ’ S GOODNES S

and thus disobey His word.Notice how the temptation begins. Not with an explicit statement or enticement to disobey God, but ratherwith a question of theology — what, exactly, has God said?

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By questioning the meaning of God’s Word, the tempter seeks to weaken the foundation underlying Eve’sbasic understanding of what is sinful. In this respect the most fundamental foothold of temptation is in ourthinking — if that can be changed, the body will naturally follow. Read Proverbs 23:7. What does this versesay about the relation of one’s thinking to one’s person’s character — and, by consequence, to one’s life?

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Once the process of questioning God’s Word has begun, the end result of contradiction is not far off. What isthe contradiction to God’s Word as stated by Satan in verse 4?

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Was Satan right? Was God referring primarily to physical death when he said “you shall surely die”? Howdoes the result of Adam’s sin affect you (see Romans 5:12)?

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Once her thinking concerning God’s Word is changed, Eve turns to consider the object of temptation itself:the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Three aspects of the fruit’s appeal are presented, andin this respect, Eve’s temptation was no different from those we face today, for everything in the world that wecan possibly be tempted with falls into these three categories. Read 1 John 2:16. What are the three cate-gories?

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These three categories are likewise the very same ones with which Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness(Luke 4:1-13; Matthew 4:1-11). Unlike Adam, however, Jesus is successful in withstanding the temptationsHe is faced with. Read Romans 5:14-15. What is the significance of Jesus’ victory over temptation andAdam’s failure?

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__________________________________________________________________________________________Some would say that Jesus did not experience temptation in the way that we do, since He was God andhad more ability to withstand it. What does Hebrews 4:15 say to this issue?

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The fact of Jesus’ divinity, rather than making the experience of temptation easier, actually means that Heexperienced temptation to a far greater degree than any of us ever could. As B. F. Westcott aptly states in hiscommentary on Hebrews:

“Sympathy with the sinner in his trial does not depend on the experience of sin but onthe experience of the strength of the temptation to sin which only the sinless can know in itsfull intensity. He who falls yields before the last strain.”1

In following we shall thus consider each of the three aspects of the temptation as experienced, on the onehand, by the first couple in the garden, and, on the other hand, by Jesus in the wilderness. In the latter casewe have a relevant example of how to withstand temptation in our own lives as well.

T H E L U S T O F T H E F L E S H

What is the very first aspect of the fruit tree that appeals to Eve? Is the bodily desire to which that aspect ofthe temptation relates sinful in-and-of itself? Where then did the temptation lie?

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Just as this first aspect of the fruit’s appeal focuses on Eve’s legitimate bodily need for food, so too is Jesustempted with food in the wilderness. Read Luke 4:1- 4. Is Jesus’ desire for food wrong? Why was the temp-tation to make bread especially tempting in His situation?

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Note as well that there would have been nothing sinful in Jesus exercising His divine powers in changingstones into bread. Where then did the temptation (that is, the enticement to sin) lie? Consider carefully thewords of Satan in verse 3. What is Satan questioning (read Luke 3:21- 22)? How does Jesus respond?

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What are some ways that Satan tempts us through the “lust of the flesh”? — that is, enticing us to meet legit-imate bodily needs and desires in illegitimate ways? Can you think of any Biblical passages that would be


helpful in resisting those temptations when they arise?

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T H E L U S T O F T H E E Y E S

What is the next thing that Eve notes about the fruit? The basic meaning of the word “delight” (tauavah) hereis “a thing desired, object of desire.” Because of the fruit’s beauty, Eve wanted to have it — to possess it.Consider as well the English idiom, to “cast one’s eye upon something” — that is, to desire something. Is thebasic desire to possess things wrong? Where then did the temptation lie?

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Just as Jesus was tempted to the utmost degree with regard to his flesh — that is, satisfying his desire forfood after 40 days of fasting — so too is He tempted to the utmost degree with regard to the desire for pos-sessions. Read Luke 4:5 — 7. Is the idea that Jesus should possess the kingdoms of the world wrong?

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The idea of Jesus possessing the kingdoms of the world is certainly not wrong — and thus Jesus desire forsuch would not have been sinful. Indeed, in Psalm 2:8 the Father says to the Son, “Ask of me, and I will givethee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” What, then,was the temptation? How does Jesus respond?

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What are some ways that Satan tempts us through the “lust of the eyes”? — that is, enticing us to meet thefulfill our non-sinful desire to possess things through illegitimate means? Can you think of any Biblical pas-sages that would be helpful in resisting those temptations when they arise?

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T H E B O A S T F U L P R I D E O F L I F E

What is the final aspect of the fruit’s appeal noted by Eve? Is the desire to be “wise” wrong? Where then didthe temptation lie?

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Whereas the previous two aspects of the temptation (food, possession) dealt with exterior appeals, this thirdone concerns the “exalting” of the person himself. In a similar manner Jesus is tempted by Satan with regardto exalting Himself before the Jewish people. Read Luke 4:9-12. Note that the pinnacle of the Temple wouldhave been quite visible to the Jewish people below. By casting Himself down from the pinnacle and beingrescued by angels, what would have been the reaction of the Jewish people?

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If Jesus had done what Satan had asked of Him, He would undoubtedly have been received as the Messiahby the Jewish people. Again, would such a reception have been wrong? Certainly not! Where then did thetemptation lie?

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If Jesus had done what Satan has asked and been immediately received as the Messiah, He would neverhave experienced the rejection and suffering that God had intended for Him to experience in order to makeonce-and-for-all atonement for sin (see Hebrews 10:12). Satan was asking Jesus to circumvent sufferingand, consequently, to reject the plan that the Father had laid for Him from the prophets of old (see, for exam-ple, Isaiah 53). What are some ways that Satan tempts us through the “the boastful pride of life”— that is,enticing us to exalt ourselves in ways that go against God’s will and fail to bring glory to Him?

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Can you think of any Biblical passages that would be helpful in resisting those temptations when they arise?

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Thus, whereas the subtlety of temptation lies in its often veiled appeal to legitimate needs and desires, itsunderlying challenge centers upon the infinite goodness of God. To give in to temptation is to question theexpression of God’s goodness in one’s life — to say that we must take it upon ourselves to do what Godhas not yet done for us. In His constant desire for our good, however, God not only gives, but withholds.Take time to consider at least five things that God, out of His goodness, may have withheld from you.

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Can you think of a recent situation in which you gave in to temptation? To which one of the three categories


of temptation does it belong? In light of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, what do you think was thereason you gave in to that temptation? How can you overcome that same temptation if it arises again?

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D O N ’ T D O U B T G O D ’ S G O O D N E S S

G e n e s i s 3

1 C o r i n t h i a n s 1 0 : 1 3

R e ve l a t i o n s 1 2 : 9

P r o ve r b s 2 3 : 7

1 Jo h n 2 : 1 6

L u k e 4 : 1 - 1 3

M a t t h ew 4 : 1 - 1 1

R o m a n s 5 : 1 4 - 1 5

H e b r ew s 4 : 1 5

L u k e 3 : 2 1 - 2 2

L u k e 4 : 1 - 4

L u k e 4 : 5 - 7

P s a l m 2 : 8

H e b r ew s 1 0 : 1 2

I s a i a h 5 3

1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984),59.

May the words of my mouthand the thoughts of all our heartsbe acceptable now and always inyour sight, oh Lord, our strengthand our redeemer.Amen.

Not long ago,one of our Britishplaywrights, Joe Orton, had a char-acteristic anti-Christian line in oneof his plays:“It’s not death, it’s life,that defeats the Christian church.She’s always been equipped to dealwith death.” In other words, theChristian faith is great in the crisis,but how about the commonplace?It’s wonderful in the emergencyand the every-so-often but how‘bout the every day? Go back in his-tory and you can see that alongsidemany of the great objections toGod’s being there and God’s beinggood are powerful objections toChristian character.

Non-Christians have claimedthat there’s a link betweenChristianity and cowardice, sociallyspeaking.There’s a link between atype of piety and eventual passivity.That same taunt is often said today,if quietly. For example, I know peo-ple have looked down to Americatoday and said,“Look at the passivi-ty of many Christians.”Faith in somecircles is being described as, “pri-vately engaging, socially irrelevant.”Or now, that other Christians areout busy and almost too active insome areas in some parts of thecountry.

They say, “Yes, but that’s notreally quiet, assured, solidly-basedfaith.”There’s a panic in this;peopleare losing control of the dominancethey had in culture, so there’s apanic and a paranoia behind the


DR. OS GUINNESS

Dr. Guinness is a writer and speaker living inNorthern Virginia.Born in China during World War II where

his parents were medical missionaries, heremained there until 1951 when the communistsforced most foreigners to leave. Since then he

has lived mostly in England, Switzerland, and the United States.Educated in England, he did undergraduate studies at the

University of London and postgraduate studies at University ofOxford where he graduated with a D.Phil in the social sciencesfrom Oriel College.He is the author of The Dust of Death (1973, revised 1994), a cri-

tique of the counterculture; In Two Minds (1975), recently rewrittenas God in the Dark: the Assurance of Faith Beyond a Shadow of Doubt (Crossway,1996); and The Gravedigger File (1983), an examination of the socialand cultural forces shaping religion in the late twentieth century.He is the co-editor of Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace (1990) and NoGod But God: Breaking With the Idols of Our Age (Moody Press, 1992). Onerecent book, The American Hour, is an analysis of the United Statedtoward the close of the American Century, published by the FreePress in October 1992. He is also the author of Dining with the Devil:the Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity (Baker, 1993) and FirmBodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think (Baker, 1994). His nextbook will be on the subject of vocation.Since 1984, he has lived in the Washington, D.C. area. He was

a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for InternationalStudies, and then a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at theBrookings Institution. He was the Executive Director of theWilliamsburg Charter Foundation, one of the drafters of theWilliamsburg Charter, and co-author of the pubic school cur-riculum “Living With Our Deepest Difference.”He is currently the senior fellow of the Trinity Forum, a semi-

nar-style forum for senior executives and political leaders thatengages the leading ideas of our day in the context of faith. He isa member of The Falls Church, Episcopal, in Falls Church,Virginia.His deep concern is to bridge the chasm between academic

knowledge and popular knowledge, taking things that are academ-ically important and making them intelligible and practicable to awider audience, especially as they concern matters of public poli-cy. He has been involved in several projects in this area, includinga BBC television documentary on the presidential election in1980, a major public opinion survey, and the American Expressstudy on the United States, “America in Perspective.”

A Faith That Functions

activism.Again,where is the quietassurance that comes out acrosssociety?

All too often, some of thosecriticisms have an element oftruth about some styles of thefaith in public today. But that has-n’t always been so by any means.And it’s certainly not so of thegreat examples we see inScripture.I’d like you to turn withme in your mind to the story thatwas read to us of Paul in the mid-dle of the shipwreck where wesee a very different type of faith.Robust, enterprising, full of ini-tiative. You can see that hisaction,busy and sturdy through-out the whole chapter, totallyflows out of his affirmation offaith. Above all in the lines,“Keep up your courage ‘cause Ibelieve in God and that thingswill turn out as I’ve been told.”

Now to really see somethingin what Paul was doing, unwit-tingly, because he’s not talking ofwhat he’s doing, he’s not preach-ing, nothing like that. He unwit-tingly betrays the secret of faith inaction.To see it, you need just tosee some of the forces againstwhich Paul, in this very practicalsituation of the shipwreck withwhich he was wrestling. Andabove all, there are three.

First of all,Paul’s faith is inten-tion with the great forces of histo-ry around him.You can put it verysimply:Paul starts the story,inActs27,as a prisoner but at the end ofthe chapter, he’s giving orders tohis captors. From a passenger onboard ship to giving the com-mands to the sailors. Now, what’shappened?

He wasn’t bossy and strivingand ambitious. Simply the causehere is faith in crisis. It means thatwhen every one else is panickyand demoralized, he is catapultedcenter-stage and he ends up in the

position of extraordinary authori-ty. Why was Paul there at all? Hedidn’t need to go to Rome, hewanted to go,God wanted him togo, but we know that whatlaunched him off was his unchar-acteristic opportunism.

First you see the way heenters into this particular chapter.Having sailed cautiously around,the crew is asking,“Shall we go onor should we stop here for thewinter?”He enters the debate andsays, “Stop here. It’s dangerous.”

Clearly his advice was not basedon any supernatural prediction, infact he was wrong. He says thenthat everyone would be lost andthey weren’t. It wasn’t based onsupernatural prediction but it waswise council.

He’d been shipwrecked, aswe know, three times but heenters in responsibly to thedebate although he was clearlyone of the lowest on the totempole.Then the story goes on.Firsthe enters as everyone else is sopanicky and demoralized thatthey don’t even eat,and he comesin and says,“I told you so.”

After establishing his authori-ty, he brings them assurance andshows them that no one’s liveswill be lost and therefore, theycan take heart.Therefore,they caneat and so on.

But the most extraordinarypart of Paul’s entering in is lateron.He goes out on deck, sees thesailors about to cut off thelifeboats and escape for them-

selves and he speaks to the sol-diers and he says,“If these men dothis,none of you can be saved.”Inother words, Paul, a prison-er/passenger, is giving orders tohis captors, the Centurion,to con-trol the people in charge of theship—the captain and the sailors.

This is characteristic of theway a crisis had thrown everyoneelse into disarray and had broughtout the best in Paul because of hisfaith in God. Now, some peoplewould merely say that, of course,

Paul was unusual, the great heroof the faith and so on. But lookthrough Scripture and you seethat this is not so much Paul’sheroism as something that’sdeeply rooted in Paul’s human-ness in the Biblical and Christianunderstanding. If you lookaround the other cultures of thetime, very few of them had a

high place for individuals.Yes, the king or the priest or

the great people in society, butnot the small individuals. Thesmall individual was just the tinyperson lost against the great vast-ness of the universe,merely livingto play out his role.But not in theBiblical view. In the Biblical view,the transcendent God has createdthe world and He has made peo-ple in His image so He speaks andacts into history and people.He’smade, however small, to speakand act into history. So history’sthe great arena for the acts of Godand the acts of individual humanbeings, however small. One per-son with faith in God can causeripples that never cease, andthere’s a great sense of historyand humanness in the Scriptures.

Worship is always historical.What God did at that time and inthis place,for which we now wor-ship Him. And the story of thepeople of God is historical.Abraham, Deborah, David and so


The greatest people in thechurch have a towering

sense of the sovereignty ofGod and through that, a

sense of their ownsignificance.


on.Great men and women with ahigh sense of being under God.One person counted and that’swhat Paul reflects here. Not con-sciously, self-consciously.He’s justacting it out here:his faith in God.All they know is God has madehim to be and robustly he gets onwith it.

Now in the west, we pay lipservice to individualism.Yet stud-ies show that very few people liveit in practice unless they be thehigher and the mightier in ourtimes. Most people are subtlycaressed by the shared images ofadvertising or corralled by thepressures of peer groups, orcowed in the sense by the greatthings in our times, like thenuclear issue. Then no matterwhat we say about the place ofthe individual, many people donot feel very significant.

But Paul, despite how weakand small he was in this situation,trusts in God and then acts andbecomes important.Not becauseof his power and control andauthority and might, but simplybecause obedience is the key tohistory under God. The secondthing you see here is Paulwrestling, not only with thesegreat historical forces aroundhim,but Paul wrestling even withthe sovereignty of God.

Have you ever noticed howextraordinary this incident is? Inmost places in Scripture, God’ssovereignty and what He says anddoes and our human significancein what we’re able to do and say,go hand in hand even if we’re notalways able to see the inter-weav-ing too clearly and closely. Buthere, for a minute or two, God’ssovereignty appears to go oneway and human significanceanother way and they go com-pletely against each other.

On the one hand, we have

statements of absolute sovereign-ty. The angel appears to Paul andsays,“It is ordained and includedin the fact that you will reachRome safely. In fact, everyone on

board ship with you will besaved.”And as Paul says later,“not ahair on your heads will be lost.”Absolute, blanket, unequivocalauthority. Enough for the mostuptight,dogmatic,hyper-Calvinist.

But unlike the hyper-Calvinist,Paul doesn’t settle downin his bunk and go to sleep, hegoes out on deck and seeing thesailors escaping, he says to sol-diers, “Unless you stop them,we’re all lost.”Now, think of whathe’s saying.

The word of God is thateveryone will be saved.Absolutely, unconditionally. Paulsays that depending on what ahuman being does in the nextthirty seconds,not only will we allbe saved or lost, but the word ofGod will be true or false.So appar-ently it depends on humanbeings—but not only humanbeings: pagan human beings, andtwo sets of them. First the sol-diers, and then the sailors.

In other words, if you read itcarefully, you see that as Paulspeaks dramatically like that,it’s asif the word of God dangles over

the side of the ship alongside thelifeboats.The lifeboat is about tobe cut off and a knife’s cut can doit, and equally the word of Godcan be falsified in a second by thesoldiers saying, “Who are you?”and the sailors saying,“We don’tcare.We’re off on our own.”

But you see, for Paul, his sig-nificance is not because of whohe’s made to be as a human beingby God,but because of God’s sov-ereignty, too.But God’s sovereign-ty doesn’t leave him overpoweredand passive and lacking in initia-tive. It’s precisely the springboardon which he bounces in faith todo that which he must do,so theydo what they must do so thatwhat God says will be done isdone.A tremendous, robust enter-prise. Paul almost wrestles con-sciously with the sovereignty ofGod and uses it in this enormous-ly dynamic way as the spring-board for his own obedience inhis own time.

Now sovereignty doesn’thave very good press today.Argued about as a theologicaldoctrine and by-in-large, mostpeople in a highly activist ageleave it for minionism which is amuch more comfortable doctrinefor people who are activists andself-reliant and so on. But lookback in history and you see notonly the greatest people in thechurch who’ve had a toweringsense of the sovereignty of God—and through that, a sense of theirown significance.

You see in the church thegreat troubled periods of transi-tion, which are most needed assense of the sovereignty of God,towering over the uncertainty oftheir time…the midst of theearthquakes and storms allaround them, they were the lastpeople to be ruffled. So it takesthe fall of the Roman Empire. In

what did Augustan believe? Thesovereignty of God.

Or look at the break-up ofChristiandom in the Renaissanceand the Reformation: what didLuther and Calvin and the othersbelieve in?The sovereignty of Godand they were men of deepawareness of their significancewho knew in the towering senseof the sovereignty of God. Thestrength which only that couldgive them.

Paul wrestles and he demon-strates it in practice by the robust-ness of his action.But there’s a lastthing which I think is deeply stir-ring in this passage. Paulwrestling, not only with his otherforces, but wrestling with mortaldanger and the threat of death allaround him. There’s somethingextraordinary in this passagewhich someone in the Bible studyin our home once pointed out tome. He said,“What did Paul thinkabout death here and what doyou see?”And I looked and there’snothing much at all. And that’ssurely the interesting thing.Everyone else was only thinkingof death. So much so they could-n’t even eat. Paul, looking deathright in the eye,in the heart of thestorm,is not thinking about deathat all. He’s getting on with life. Inother words, if there’s no peace,be still.

God didn’t call him to do thathere. There’s no seizing themoment as he did on Mars Hilland preaching the gospel. It was-n’t the place for that here.There’sno gathering the Christian grouptogether to pray and sing “Abidewith Me” as the Titanic goesdown, or anything like that. Pauljust gets on with life although he’sright in the midst of death andeveryone else is so pre-occupiedwith it that they cannot even per-form the basics of life, like eat.

Why? Why we’re speculatingis we’re not told,and Paul doesn’tsay, but my suggestion is this: forPaul,he is able to get on with life,even in the face of death for a sim-ple reason, death is not the issue.Death has been dealt with and lifeis the issue until it runs out, andhe’s able to get on with life evenin the face of death.Well,what arethe sort of things we see else-where in Paul’s writing that givesus a clue to this extraordinaryassurance and action in the faceof death?

The major one is obviouslyPaul’s theme of the assurance oflife over death in the victory ofChrist, but I’m not meaning thatparticularly.The two other strongthemes that come in Paul’s writ-ings, which are surely the heart ofthe secret of the way he acts here.

First of all you see in Paul themost realistic awareness of deathin life: a realistic awareness. Freudspeaks of the human communityand its deadly silence about death.As he says,“The human communi-ty is a conspiracy in the face ofdeath.No one wants to face it.Tospeak of it.To really put it into ourphilosophy as something that’sthere in life.”But not the Bible. Inthe Bible,death in a fallen world isnatural in an unnatural world. It’srooted in sin. It results in a judge-ment after death far worse thanany physical death like drowning.And it ranges this side of death inall sorts of things, like decay andentropy, and destructivenessworking out so that Paul knowsdeath even in his own body.

There’s a deep realismthroughout Paul’s writings aboutthe place of death in life. Nowwhat difference does that make?Simply this,when death breaks in,as it does in all our lives, it’s notthe creation of a new situation.It’sthe clarification for the Christian

of what is always our situation,but we’re apt to forget as wedrown it out. Death is not theinterruption of the normal: deathis the illumination of the abnor-mality of what we call normal andoften forget is highly abnormal.

So for the Christians, we livein the midst of death in life. Itmight be the news of the doctor,it might be a mugging,it might bethe nuclear cloud with it’s gigan-tic question mark over the exis-tence of human beings in theplanet. Death is almost every-where in modern society in oneform or another, and you can seethe realism in the Christian posi-tion.We know the place of deathin life, so whenever it crops up, itdoesn’t surprise and shock us.

Yes, we may be shocked andyes,we grieve.Yes,we may be out-raged because death is abnormalin God’s world and yet, in theabnormal world, it’s normal andwe’re not surprised cause weunderstand the realism of theChristian view of the awarenessof death in life. So Paul forgetsdeath and gets on with life.There’s probably a second part inhis teaching too. And that is inPaul the sense of the radical antic-ipation of death in life.What do Imean? Baptism.

We often think of Christ, oursubstitute. He died for us in ourplace. But in Paul’s writing in theScriptures, Christ is not only oursubstitute but our representative.In Him, we die and we live. So inbaptism and confirmation, as wedeclare our faith,we publically dieto the old nature. We die to theworld and we die to all theirclaims and their holds on ourlives. Now, of course we test thatwhen disaster comes.We immedi-ately are disappointed, feel likeclutching onto things we have noright to, and we realize that hav-



is the biggest challenge of all. Butin Paul’s understanding,we die todeath in life before it comes.

Kamikaze pilots in Japan hadtheir funeral services before theyflew, and in a way, that’s the clos-est that any non-Christian religionever comes to the symbol of bap-tism. Baptism is our funeral serv-ice. By faith in Christ we die to all

the old person is and his claims aswe rise to the newness of life inChrist.Having done that, it has nomore hold on us thereafter.

So all this is in Paul’s theologyand it’s a practical theology and itallows him to live in the midst ofdeath as the only one who isaware,not of death,but of life.Hegets on with it and he lives as the

moment requires.“It’s not death,”says JoeOrton,“it’s life that defeatsthe Christian. The church hasalways been equipped to dealwith death.” Too many Christiansfit into that all too truly. Let’s letGod be God and,out of expectan-cy, show an enterprise of faith inall that we are,and all that we do.

L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : A FA I TH THAT FUNCT IONS

How do you define faith? Many Christians today would say that faith is simply the act of belief in Jesus —that process described in Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in yourheart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” According to the Bible, however, faith is much,much more. It is not something we take hold of, stick in our pockets, and then pull out as a curio for discus-sion from time to time. The Bible tells us, both in direct statements, as well as in the life-examples of peoplelike us, that true Christian faith is a way of thinking and acting which impacts every area of our lives, everysingle day.

Read Philippians 2:12. What does this verse tell us about Christian faith? Is it simply a mental or emotionalprocess? Note that Paul uses the phrase “work out” and not “work for.” What is the difference?

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Paul is not telling the Philippians that they can somehow earn salvation — that would contradict what heclearly says elsewhere (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Rather, he is telling the Philippians, who are already believers,that they need to demonstrate the faith which they already have by living out the humble life of Jesus, both inand out of the church body. True faith, Paul is saying, is exemplified by good works. Now read James 2:20.How does this verse relate to what Paul says in Philippians?

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A vivid example of “faith in action,” as pointed out by Dr. Guinness, is provided in the 27th chapter of Acts.Here we find Paul, not in an upper room preaching a sermon on faith, but applying his faith in the midst of alife-threatening situation: a shipwreck. Although few of us are likely to experience events of the same intensity,there are three aspects of that situation which apply equally well to us in the application of our own faith on a

daily basis. Take some time now to read through Acts chapter 27, paying careful attention to Paul’s attitudeand behavior.

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FA I T H A N D T H E F O R C E S O F H I S T O R Y

One of the fundamental problems which people are faced with today is the feeling of insignificance. We areeach only one among billions of others. Can anything we do be of lasting consequence or meaning? Theexample of Paul tells us that, though we might be feeling weak and small, the exercise of our faith can bringabout results of lasting historical significance. How did Paul begin his voyage to Italy? Was he in a situationone would normally consider conducive to the exercise of power and authority? Why was Paul able to “takecharge” of the situation, even as a prisoner, and encourage the rest of the crew (see verses 31-36)? Can youthink of a situation in your own life in which you felt powerless? How did you handle that situation? In whom,or what, did you put your trust?

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Hebrews chapter 11, often referred to as the “Faith Hall of Fame,” also cites the examples of several differentmen and women who, despite their seeming inability and “normality,” were able to achieve great things oflasting historical consequence because of their faith. Consider the following people and the things whichwere accomplished through them because of their faith — were they in a position of great social and politicalpower at the time they did those things?

Noah______________________________________________________________________________________

Abraham___________________________________________________________________________________

Sarah_____________________________________________________________________________________

Moses_____________________________________________________________________________________

Gideon____________________________________________________________________________________

What are some ways in which you can exercise your faith to make a lasting impact on the people aroundyou? Give consideration to the following areas:

Your spouse________________________________________________________________________________

Your children_______________________________________________________________________________

Your job/school_____________________________________________________________________________

Your giving in church_________________________________________________________________________


Your non-Christian friends or

family______________________________________________________________________________________

FA I T H A N D T H E S O V E R E I G N T Y O F G O D

We often tend to place the men and women in the Bible on “pedestals” of faith, distancing ourselves fromthem and their example because, after all, they are in the Bible. The strength of their example, however, liesnot in the fact of their being great saints to whom we can in no way relate, but in their obvious humanity and,in many cases, their struggle with the same fundamental issues that we deal with in the daily exercise of ourown faith. It is thus that we find Paul struggling with the issue of God’s sovereignty. Read verses 23-24. Nowread verse 31. What is the discrepancy between what Paul says and what the angel says? How do youexplain this discrepancy?

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Paul certainly had a correct theological understanding of the sovereignty of God — that is, His completelyunfettered authority and rule over everything that exists. Indeed, one of Paul’s classic statements regarding thesovereignty of God is to be found in Romans 9:14-24. Take a moment to read this passage and ascertainthe point that Paul is making.

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Notwithstanding his correct mental understanding of God, Paul, as is so often the case with us, finds himselfstruggling with the issue of God’s sovereignty when in the midst of a trying and seemingly hopeless situation.God, through His angelic messenger, had promised Paul that all those on the ship with him would be saved.In the panic of the moment, however, Paul tells the soldiers that, unless they act quickly and keep the sailorsfrom leaving, all those on the ship will perish. From a human perspective this would certainly seem to havebeen the case. Yet do you think God would have been hampered in His ability to save those on the shipeven if the sailors had left? Why?

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In our own Christian walk we tend to believe in those things which appear probable, at the same time avoid-ing putting too much trust in those things which seem unlikely to happen. If God is truly sovereign, however,then what happens in this world is based not upon what appears likely, but upon what God has said He willdo. As George Mueller has aptly said, “Faith has nothing to do with probabilities. The province of faith beginswhere probabilities cease and sight and sense fail. Appearances are not to be taken into account. The ques-tion is — whether God has spoken it in His Word.” 1


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In order for us to truly trust that God will do what He has said, we must know what it is that He has said.Regular reading of the Bible is nourishment which no Christian — whether a new believer or elder in thechurch — can do without. Only through knowing what He has said can we, in the midst of our trials, trustthat He will sovereignly bring us through. Consider the interplay between God’s sovereignty and the exerciseof our faith in the following situations:

You find yourself being tempted in the area of your greatest weakness (read 1 Corinthians 10:13).

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You fell into sin, are genuinely sorry, yet feel as if God is disappointed with you and has rejected you (readRomans 11:29; 2 Timothy 2:13).

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You find yourself struggling to make ends meet and provide even the basic needs of your family (read Luke12:27-31).

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You find yourself in a situation, either at work or at home (or perhaps even both), from which you can see nogood thing resulting (read Romans 8:28).

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FA I T H A N D T H E I N E V I TA B I L I T Y O F D E AT H

Despite Paul’s temporary struggle with the issue of God’s sovereignty, the manner in which he handles him-self during the entire life-threatening situation is quite different from that of the other people on the ship. Howwould you describe the difference?

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As Dr. Guinness points out, whereas everyone else is preoccupied with the threat of impending death, Paul isconcerned with getting on with life. To the Roman soldiers and pagans on the ship, death was undoubtedlyseen as a mystery — something unknown and feared. To Paul, however, death was seen as necessary andwelcome precursor to a more permanent existence and more intimate relationship with God. ReadPhilippians 1:21-24. What is Paul’s preference, life or death? Why?

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Although Paul earnestly desired to move on to the next phase of his eternal life with God, he yet recognized aresponsibility to “remain in the flesh.” Why? Read 1 Corinthians 15:54-57. What is the “sting” of death? Howis that “sting” removed? Paul understood that the only way for people to enjoy the eternal life of joy and com-munion with God that he looked forward to, was to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf. It is for thisvery purpose, therefore — that is, to tell people about Jesus and what He had done for them — that Paul feltthe responsibility to “remain in the flesh.” What is it that compels you to “remain in the flesh”? Are those thingsperishable or of eternal value? If you were given the choice today of going to be with the Lord or remaining onearth, which would you choose? Why?

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Paul’s confidence and boldness in the midst of the storm came from a faith in action. He knew that a gloriousfuture with God awaited him and nothing would keep him from eventually achieving it. His faith in God’s prom-ise, as revealed through His word, gave Paul the confidence to act boldly in the service of God when man’snatural instinct would have been to cower and think of one’s self. In light of God’s promises concerning thefuture of those who believe in Christ, how are we to act (or react) in the following situations?

The death of a Christian friend or relative.

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Personal sickness and terminal illness.

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Persecution for proclaiming the Gospel (or simply claiming to be a Christian).

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The possibility of nuclear war.

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1Quoted by M.J. Stanford, The Green Letters: Principles of Spiritual Growth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,1975), 10.



A FA I T H T H AT F U N C T I O N S

Acts 27

Romans 10:9

Philippians 2:12

Ephesians 2:8-9

James 2:20

Hebrews 11

Romans 9:14-24

1 Corinthians 10:13

Romans 11:29

2Timothy 2:13

Luke 12:27-31

Romans 8:28

Philippians 1:21-24



Many years ago, KingGeorge VI addressed theCommonwealth— on NewYear’sEve, at the turn of a moment inhistory. While the whole worldwas standing on the brink ofuncertainty, despondency was inthe air and people did not knowto whom to turn. And as heclosed his New Year’s Eve mes-sage, unknown to him, his bodyitself was being wracked by can-cer, and before that year wasover, his life was going to be lost.

With all of the uncertainty ofthe world and the unknowing ofhis own physical maladies, heuttered these memorable words,“I said to the man at the gate ofthe year, ‘Give me a light that Imight walk safely into theunknown.’ And he said to me, ‘Goout into the darkness and putyour hand into the Hand of Godand it shall be to you, safer thanthe life and better than theknown.’” As we concentrate onthe theme of The Christian andSociety, let us ever-remember aswe go through the litany of woesand horrors and emasculations ofmorals, it would be very easy toget despondent.

There have been manymoments in history where peo-ple have had to walk out into thedarkness and put their hand intothe hand of God, knowing itwould be better than the lightand safer than the known.Thereis a well-known Chinese proverbthat says, “If you want to knowwhat water is, don’t ask the fish.”

The reason is because that isthe sum and substance of theworld in which the fish isimmersed. It does not ponderlong enough to reflect on its own

RAVI ZACHARIAS

Ravi Zacharias has spoken in over 50 countriesand at numerous universities worldwide, notablyHarvard and Princeton. He has addressed writersof the peace accord in South Africa, President

Fujimori’s cabinet and parliament in Peru, and military officersat the Lenin Military Academy and the Center for GeopoliticalStrategy in Moscow. He is well-versed in the disciplines of com-parative religions, cults, and philosophy, and held the Chair ofEvangelism and Contemporary Thought at Alliance TheologicalSeminary for over three years.

Mr. Zacharias was born in India in 1946 and immigrated toCanada with his family 20 years later. While pursuing a career inbusiness management, his interest in theology grew; subsequently,he pursued this study during his undergraduate education. Hereceived his Masters of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical DivinitySchool. Mr. Zacharias was honored by the conferring of a Doctorof Divinity degree from Houghton College, a Doctor of Lawsdegree from Asbury College, and a Doctor of Divinity degreefrom Tyndale College and Seminary, Toronto.

At the invitation of Billy Graham, he was a plenary speaker at theInternational Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdamin 1983 and 1986. In 1995, he addressed church leaders duringBilly Graham’s worldwide outreach in Puerto Rico. Mr. Zachariashas been a visiting scholar at Cambridge University, where hestudied moralist philosophers and literature of the Romantic era.

While at Cambridge he also authored his first book, A ShatteredVisage: The Real Face of Atheism. His second book, Can Man Live WithoutGod?, was awarded a Gold Medallion for best book in the categoryof doctrine and theology, and has been translated in 10 languages.Deliver Us from Evil: Restoring the Soul of a Disintegrating Culture, his thirdbook, was released in 1996, with an accompanying video series.His fourth book, Cries of the Heart, was published in February 1998.

Mr. Zacharias is listed as a distinguished lecturer with the StanleyFoundation. His radio program, “Let My People Think,” isbroadcast over 700 stations worldwide. He has appeared on CNNand other international broadcasts. He is president of RaviZacharias International Ministries, headquartered in Atlanta,Georgia, with additional offices in Canada, India, and the UK.

Mr. Zacharias and his wife, Margaret, have three children; Sarah,Naomi, and Nathan. They reside in Atlanta.

If the Foundation Be Destroyed

environment until suddenly it isthrust out onto dry land and isstruggling for its life.Then it real-izes what water really was andwhat it provided for its suste-nance.You and I are like that.

As the ideas were being gen-erated over the last 30 years,wewere in a sense, immersed inthat environment, and failed totake the ramifications seriously.Now all of a sudden we aret h r u s tinto thishumanis-tic world-view thatwe nowlive inand wewond e rwhere it all went and how it real-ly happened. DanielYankelovich, the social watch-dog, defines culture in theseterms. “Culture is an effort toprovide a coherent set ofanswers to the existential situa-tions that confront all humanbeings in the passage of theirlives.”

Then he says,“A genuine cul-tural revolution, then, is one thatmakes a decisive break with theshared meanings of the past,par-ticularly those which relate tothe deepest questions of the pur-pose and the nature of humanlife.” So culture is to provide acoherent set of answers, and acultural revolution takes placewhen you’re breaking away radi-cally from some common sharedmeanings in the past, then thedeepest questions of life remainunanswered.

I don’t always agree withPaul Thilick’s theology, but oneof the things he said was verytrue. “Religion is the essence ofculture and culture is the dressof religion. Now, ask yourself

what is the religion of America?Is it possibly the willingness todie for a higher standard of liv-ing? If religion is the essence of

culture and culture is the dressof religion and the cultural revo-lution is underway, then you andI find ourselves now at thismoment in history having torespond and deal with it.Something happened inAmericain the 1960s and the cultural rev-olution was underway and all ofa sudden we find ourselves thehapless possessors of a culturethat has come unhinged from itscreators’moorings.

The foundations are beingdestroyed and there are threethings that I see as the context inwhich I want to address it.Number one:It is real.The cultur-al revolution is real.The antago-nism against things spiritual isreal.William Bennett, in his bookThe De-Valuing of America,talks of the time in 1985 whenhe had just become Secretary ofEducation.The news media wasaware of his religious commit-ment, and Mike Wallace had hiscrew from CBS and 60 Minutesfollowing him around for severalweeks, indeed for a few months.They said they wanted to do a

profile on him. He said whatthey really didn’t tell me wasthat they were giving me a longrope by which to commit politi-cal suicide.

At the end of all of that tour-ing, followed by cameras and abattery of microphones, MikeWallace broughtWilliam Bennettinto his office and for one and ahalf hours interacted with him,very casually, and, he says, sud-

d e n l ydangledt h enoose infront ofme andhe said,“ M r .Bennett, I

have this question for you. Doyou believe every young persongrowing up in America has theright to go to a public school andgraduate out of that publicschool without necessarilybelieving in Jesus Christ as theirLord and Saviour?”

Bennett says, “Absolutely,Mike, of course they have thatright.” He said, “My concern isthey are graduating from highschool without believing thingsthey ought to be believing.”“MikeWallace,”says Bennett,“lift-ed his papers, threw it in thedirection of the producer andsaid, ‘We don’t have a storyhere.’” Bennett was too smart aman to reply glibly to such aquestion. So, it’s real.

Secondly, it’s proximate. Irecall the day my daughter camehome from her school inAtlanta,just half a mile away from wherewe live and she said her class-mate that afternoon beforeschool was over was walking inthe corridor and one of hisfriends asked him where theBible Study was to be held that


once you start tampering with the foundations,you begin to see serious effects …The foundations

of our culture are not providing coherentsets of answers anymore.

evening.And he took out a pieceof paper and handed the timeand the place of where the BibleStudy was to be held. He wasinstantly suspended for propa-gating religion in his highschool.That is the case that wentto the Supreme Court and wasonly decided a few months ago.It was so close, it was terrifying.So this cultural revolution is real.

Thirdly, it is intense. It isgoing for the jugular by affectingevery institution in the land. Afew weeks ago I was doing a lec-ture at Ohio State Universityand, as I was being driven to thelecture auditorium, I was drivenpast the Wexner Art Center.Brand new. The Wexner ArtCenter and the man driving mesaid this to me, he said,“This is abrand new art building here forOhio State University. It is a mostfascinating building.”He says is itdesigned in the post-modernistview of reality.

Here’s what it is. The build-ing doesn’t make sense.There isno pattern to it. There are stair-cases that don’t go anywhere.There are pillars that don’t joinany surfaces. It is a random,mindless design, and the archi-tect said he designed theWexnerArt Center to reflect what lifewas about. It didn’t go any-where, it was mindless, it wassenseless. I turned to the mandescribing it to me and said,“Didthey do the same thing with thefoundation?”

See, you can’t do that with afoundation. You can get awaywith that in the infrastructure —you can get away with all theserandom thoughts that sound sogood in defense of a world viewthat ultimately doesn’t makesense,but once you start tamper-ing with the foundations, youbegin to see the serious effects

of all of that and what I suggestto you, is that the foundationsare in jeopardy.

The foundations of our cul-ture are not providing coherentsets of answers anymore. I wantto present to you the fourdimensions with which God hadcreated us foundationally. Ideasthat were needed and indispen-sable to survival and Godliness,and I leave you to decide andcheck out these foundations thatare now in jeopardy at the tailend of the 20th century — par-ticularly in theWestern world.

The first is what I call thedimension of eternity.The Bibletells us, particularly through thewords of Solomon in the Book ofEcclesiastes, that God has puteternity into the heart of man.That sense of the eternal isunshakable.I think of going backto the fellow great watershedphilosopher of theEnlightenment, Immanuel Kant.He is the one who ended upgoing great damage to the ration-al dependability of the Christianfaith.

But even Immanuel Kantwas well-intentioned and he saidthis,“I have learned to limit myreason in order to make roomfor my faith.”I don’t think by thathe meant credulity, but suddenlysomething that transcendedmere reason. Kant went on tosay, “There are two things thatforever hold me in awe: the star-ry hosts above and the moral lawwithin.”

Many centuries later wecome in to the middle of the1960s, when the revolution isbeginning culturally. And I thinkback on Christmas Day, 1968,when these three astronautswere on Apollo 8 going aroundthe dark side of the moon and,asthey were propelling their rock-

ets, about to make their home-bound journey towards theearth, all of a sudden, they werevouchsafed a vision not given toany other human eyes before.They saw the earth rise over thehorizon of the moon,draped in abeauteous blue and white, gar-landed by the glistening light ofthe sun,against the black void ofspace.

The only thing that couldcapture the awe-inspiring thrillof the moment in this magnifi-cent sensation, as billions heard,came the voice from outer spaceas the astronaut read it, “In thebeginning,God…”

It was the only conceptworthy enough of describingthat unspeakable awe.Unutterable in any other way.But what is it that the infiniteand the eternal really do?What isit that they end up explaining foryou and for me? I want you tobear with me as I try to unfoldan argument here which mayseem a little ponderous, but it isdone brilliantly and lucidly byC.S. Lewis as he takes us onestep at a time to explain to uswhat the eternal really signifies,albeit in this temporal experi-ence of ours.

He talks about the timewhen, as a young boy, he wasstanding in front of a floweringbush when suddenly he wasthrown back to a memory. It wasa marvelous memory that over-whelmed him almost as if rays oflight would cover his body. Hesaid, “Suddenly it flashed intome, and as I thought of it, it wasan extraordinary feeling. But justas I reached out to grab a hold ofthat feeling, it was gone. All Irecall of that feeling was that itwas a longing and all I was leftwith now was a longing for thatlonging.”


Listen to how he describesit, “There suddenly rose in me,without warning, as if from adepth not of years but of cen-turies, the memory of that earlymorning at the old house whenmy brother had brought his toygarden into the nursery. It is dif-ficult to find words strongenough for the sensation whichcame over me. Milton’s enor-mous bliss of Eden comes some-where near it. It was a sensation,of course,of desire but desire forwhat? Not, certainly, for a biscuittin filled with moss. Not eventhough it came into it from myown past, but before I knewwhat I desired, that desire itselfwas gone.Then the world turnedcommonplace again. It had onlytaken a moment of time and in acertain sense everything elsethat happened to me wasinsignificant in comparison.”

But he goes on to say what itmeans. He said, “You’ve experi-

enced something like that. Yousit down in your room all aloneone evening and you turn apiece of music on and suddenlyyou find the tears running downyour face. It takes you back to amemory and just as you’re begin-ning to latch onto that memory,it’s gone.”

I had it just a few days ago inmy home in Delhi. As I walkedinto the home that I had left 27years ago and walked into theroom where I used to sleep forall those years in my early teens— all of a sudden that flash, thatflash of a memory.

You’ve had it. Sometimes it’sin a book. Sometimes in the

strains of music. Lewis tries toanswer it. Listen,“The books andthe music in which we thoughtthe beauty was located willbetray us if we trust to them.It isnot in them. It only comesthrough them.And what comesthrough them is a longing.Thesethings, the beauty, the memoryof our own past are good imagesof what we really desire but, ifthey are mistaken for the thingitself, they turn into dumb idolsbreaking the hearts of their wor-shippers for they are not thething itself. They are only thescent of a flower we have notfound. The echo of a tune wehave not heard. News from acountry we have not visited.”

What he’s really trying to sayis,there’s a burst of eternity com-ing in. It comes in the form of alonging for heaven is the heart’sdeepest longing. The ApostlePaul is lifted into the third heav-ens. He comes back and says,

“Let me tell you about it,” andthen says,“Forget it.Whether inthe body or out of the body, Icannot tell.” It is the same Paulwho says,“Eye has not seen, earhas not heard, neither hasentered into the heart of manthe things which God hath pre-pared for them that love Him.”

That inexhaustibility of theeternal concept. It is the sameidea that the Apostle John haswhen he’s shown the new heav-ens and the new earth, he fallsprostrate before God in wor-ship. It is the same intonationthat Peter gets to a lesser degreeat the Mount of Transfigurationwhen his Lord is enveloped in a

glistening, brilliant whiteness. Awhiteness for which there wasno analogy and all of a sudden,intypical fashion, unable to sayanything else, in the most oxy-moronic of all propositions, hesays,“Let’s put up a tent here sothat we can enjoy this grandsplendor forever.”

Eternity, when it invadesinto your consciousness. Nowlisten to a secular thinker as sheagrees with what I’ve just beensaying to you. I’m referring toPeggy Noonan,one of the bright-est journalistic minds around.She says this in an article enti-tled, You’d Cry Too, If ItHappened to You. It came inForbes Magazine, September 14,1992,when 11 men and womenaround the world,many of themNobel laureates,were asked byForbes,“Why are we as a peopleso unhappy?”

And they all agreed that wewere unhappy because we’d lost

our moral and spiritual center.Listen to what Peggy Noonansays, “Auden called his era theage of anxiety. I think what wasat the heart of the dread in thosedays just a few years into mod-ern times was that we could tellthat we were beginning to loseGod. Banishing Him from thescene and from our own con-sciousness. Losing the assump-tion that He was part of the dailydrama or its Maker. It is a terriblething when people lose God.Life is difficult and people areafraid. To be without God is tolose man’s greatest source ofconsolation and coherence.There is a phrase I once heard or


Nothing that religion does is more important than equipping usto endure life’s passages by helping us find meaning in pain or

made up that I think of when Ithink about what people withdeep faith must get from God: Itis the love that assuages all. Idon’t think it is unconnected tothe Boomers’ predicament thatas a country we were losing Godjust as they were being born.”And she says, “The loss of theeternal has ended up in theemptiness of the temporal.”Number one, the dimension ofeternity. When eternity is lost,you redefine existence.

The second is the dimensionof morality. The Hebrewsbelieved in it as they anchored itin God.The Greeks believed in itas they anchored it in the ideal.Every major religious system inthe world believes in a moralcode. Arnold Toynbee has said,“OurWestern civilization now isthe first one in 21 civilizationsthat is attempting to go byassuming there is no moral law.”And something has happened.Let me read Peggy Noonan againand tie this thought together foryou. This is brilliantly worded. Ihave heard nobody say it as wellas she says it.“We have all had amoment when all of a suddenwe looked around and thoughtthe world is changing. I am see-ing a change.

“This for me was themoment when the newAmericabegan. I was at a graduation cer-emony,” says Noonan,“at a publichigh school in New Jersey. It was1971 or 1972. One by one thestream of black-robed studentswalked across the stage andreceived their diplomas, and apretty young girl, big under hergraduation gown, walked up toreceive hers. The auditoriumstood and applauded. I looked atmy sister and said,‘She’s going tohave a baby.’ The girl was eightmonths pregnant and had the

courage to go through with herpregnancy and take her finalsand finish school despite soci-ety’s disapproval.

“But society wasn’t disap-proving. It was applauding.Applause is a right and generousresponse for a young girl withgrit and heart, and yet in thesound of that applause I heard awall falling — wall of sanctionsthat said,‘We as a society do notapprove of teenaged, unwedmotherhood because it is notgood for the child, not good forthe mother and not good for us.’

“The old America had a deli-cate sense of the differencebetween the general, ‘We disap-prove,’ and the particular, ‘Let’sgo and help her.’”

I remember when my wifegave me the assignment ofteaching my little boy, Nathan,the facts of life last year at theage of 11. I dodged it for a longtime. I’d say I was tired, I wasunwell. I’ve never had so manyprayer times just to get awayfrom that. Finally, she said,“LookI’ve done it with the girls. Ravi,it’s your turn.” I said, “Summervacation. When it comes, thenthere’ll be time.” Summer vaca-tion came and went. It was thelast night. She said, “When areyou going to do it?” I had noescape. She cornered me, so Isaid,“Nathan.”As soon as I said it,he knew what was coming andhe took off.

He ran and we couldn’t findhim. I needed the help of ourdog to track him down. Andwhen I finally found him,he wassitting there, alone and crying.He was seriously troubled. I putmy arms around him. I said,“What’s the matter, son? He said,“Nothing, Dad, nothing. I justdon’t want you to do it. I justdon’t want you to talk to me

about it.”Finally I said, “Can you tell

me why? Have you heard any-thing about these things of whatwe are made like physically?Therelationship between men andwomen,physically, how God hasfashioned us and so on? Haveyou heard anything from yourfriends about these things?” Henodded his head and he said,“Yes.”Finally what came out wasthis: All that he’d heard was socrass and so vulgar and so unde-sirable, he did not want to seehis father lose his dignity in talk-ing about such things.

Finally,we talked and sharedabout the wonder of the repro-ductive system, the grandeur ofconsummation within thesacredness of marital covenantthat only God in His marvelouswisdom could give to us as mor-tals. To think of all that God hasgiven to us in the intimacy ofthis as we explained it, it beganto...the clouds began to rollaway…

With the loss of a sense ofeternity, existence was rede-fined. With a loss of a sense ofmorality, essence was redefined.

Thirdly, was the jettisoningof accountability.So we lost eter-nity, we lost morality, we lostaccountability. Let me just readthis to you and move to my finalthought. Hobart Mower was anatheistic psychologist whotaught at Yale for four years,taught at Harvard for eight years,was,once upon a time,presidentof the American PsychologicalAssociation, but ended up com-mitting suicide, himself. Hewrote this article in 1960 inAmerican Psychologist entitled,“Sin, the Lesser of Two Evils.”

Listen to what he says,“Forseveral decades,” listen, he’s an


atheist. “For several decades wepsychologists have looked uponthe whole matter of sin andmoral accountability as a greatincubus and acclaimed our liber-ation from it as epoch-making.But at length we have discov-ered that to be free in this sense.

“That is, to have the excuseof being sick rather than beingsimple, is to also court the dan-ger of becoming lost.This dangeris, I believe betokened by thewide-spread interest in existen-tialism which we are presentlywitnessing. In becoming amoral,ethically neutral and free, we

have cut the very roots of ourbeing — lost our deepest senseof selfhood and identity, and,with neurotics, find ourselvesasking, Who am I? What is mydeepest destiny? What does liv-ing mean?”And he ends his arti-cle with these words quotingAnna Russell in her psychiatricfolk song.“At three I had a feelingof ambivalence towards mybrothers, and so it follows natu-rally, I poisoned all my lovers.But now I’m happy. I havelearned the lesson this hastaught,that everything I do that’swrong is someone else’s fault.”

Speaking to the religiousbroadcasters earlier this week inWashington, I heard a commentby a philosopher of jurispru-dence. He said, “Ours is an agewhere ethics has become obso-lete. It is superceded by science,deleted by psychology, dis-missed by philosophy. It isdrowned in compassion. It evap-orates into ascetics and retreatsbefore relativism. The usual

moral distinctions betweengood and bad are simplydrowned in a maudlin emotionin which we feel more sympathyfor the murderer than for themurdered. We have actuallybegun to believe the real guiltyparty, the one who somehowcaused it all is the victim and notthe perpetrator of the crime.”

Watch the law court deci-sions of just the last month inour land. Nobody is to blameanymore.We have jettisoned theprinciple of accountability and,in the process, eradicated con-science. By losing eternity,we’ve

redefined this existence. By los-ing morality, we’ve destroyedessence. By losing accountabili-ty, we’ve eradicated conscience.And lastly is the dimension ofcharity.And by losing the dimen-sion of charity, we have lost theidea of beneficence. So exis-tence, essence, conscience andbeneficence are leaving our cul-ture as eternity, morality,accountability and charity havebeen in jeopardy as foundations.

I think the last days of thiscentury will be best symbolizedby the fires burning in LosAngeles. And the videotape ofwhatever happened there.Watching one man pummeledby somebody else and watchingan innocent man pulled out ofhis truck and pummeled by agroup of whole other radicalsevidently to avenge the wrong ofthe first one. And we see theflames of anger rising. We’veredefined existence.We have jet-tisoned essence.We are destroy-ing our conscience and we are

losing beneficence. Somethingradically is wrong systemicallyand the foundations are in jeop-ardy. Outwardly the stairs maybe going nowhere, the pillarsmay be joining nothing.You canaccept that and laugh at it, and Ican laugh at it,but what happenswhen the foundations aredesigned that way?

Into such a time as this,Godhas called you and me. ProfessorWilford McLay of TulaneUniversity attended the funeralof a young woman who was afriend of his, and at the end ofthe funeral, this professor wrote

these words,“Where the rest ofus had been stunned into reflec-tive silence, awed and chastenedby this reminder of the slenderthread by which our lives hang,the minister had other things inmind. He did not try to comfortthe family and friends,nor did hechallenge us to remember thehard words of the Lord’s Prayer:Thy will be done. Instead hesmoothly launched into a well-oiled tirade against the mis-placed priorities of a society inwhich billions of dollars werebeing poured into Star Warsresearch while young womensuch as this one were beingallowed to die on the operatingtable. That was all this ministerhad to say. His eulogy was, ineffect, a pitch for less federalspending on defense and morespending on the development ofmedical technology. The onlything omitted was an injunctionthat we write our congressmenor Ralph Nadar about this out-rage.


In her loneliest moment, her greatest hunger was filled,because that’s what our faith in Christ can do.

“I could hardly believe myears. Leave aside the eulogy’sunspeakable vulgarity and it’sunintentional cruelty to thewoman’s family. I’m willing toconcede for the sake of argu-ment that the minister may havebeen right in everything he said.All of these considerations arebeside the point but nothing canalter the fact that he failed us.Hefailed her and failed his callingby squandering a preciousmoment for the sake of a sec-ond-rate stump speech and byforcing us to hold our sorrowback in the privacy of our heartsat the very moment it neededcommon expression. Thatmoment can never be recov-ered. Nothing that religion doesis more important than equip-ping us to endure life’s passagesby helping us find meaning inpain or loss.

With meaning, many thingsare bearable but our eulogist didnot know how to give it to us.Allhe had to offer were his politicaldesideratum. For my own part, Ileft the funeral more shaken andunsteady than before. Part of mydistress rose from the frustrationthat my deepest thoughts andthe thoughts of others aroundme, as I later discovered werecompletely in accord in this cer-emony and in these words. But

another part of my distress musthave stemmed from a dark fore-boding that I was witnessinganother kind of malpractice andanother kind of death.

Two years ago when I spokehere there was a woman in theaudience I knew nothing about.A few weeks ago I was in herhome city along with my team-mate and my wife. She asked ifwe would come and see herbecause she was dying. She wasdying of AIDS. She had come toLegoneere two years ago. I’venever told RC this story. She’dcome to Legoneere two yearsago, knowing she was dying ofAIDS, with a hunger for some-thing more than she’d found inlife, and she had found Christand came here for the deeperteaching and enrichment.

When my colleague, Gavin,my wife, Margie, and I walkedinto her apartment, she wasabsolutely surprised. I’ll never,never forget her expression.Wriggled up with her mum anddad next to her and a friend —looking like a bag of bones.Pathetic sight. Her eyes rolledand she just muttered words ofinexpressible gratitude that wewere there. I stood by her sofaand we talked and she asked meif I would pray for her, and thenI bent down and gave her a hug.

As I was leaving, she mutteredwords of thanks. Unknown tome four days later she was goingto be dead. But as I turnedaround to say goodbye andwalked away, on her table nextto her sofa I saw a Bible and Isaw R.C. Scroll’s book, TheHunger for Significance. Shehad it face down at a page whereshe was reading. The greatesttribute to anybody’s teaching iswhen somebody, through thepassages of their painfulmoment in life, can find a wordfrom God in the writings of theminister of the Gospel.

In her loneliest moment,hergreatest hunger was filledbecause that’s what our faith inChrist can do. It can take peoplein enduring life’s unavoidablepassages and, in that book, shewas taught about the dimensionof eternity — about the dimen-sion of morality — about thedimension of accountability andabout the dimension of charity.So she knew her essence, herexistence and conscience andbeneficence and now she is withher Lord. I say to you at such atime in history,it is your momentand mine. Let us put our handinto the hand of God as we walkinto the darkness, for it is betterthan the light and safer than theknown.


L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : IF THE FOUNDATION BE DESTROYED

On what is our life built ? What values or beliefs inform our major life choices and the myriad of smalldecisions we make each day? How do we find meaning in the suffering of life? What transformingtruth could we bring to a woman dying of AIDS? These are questions that cause us to consider thefoundations of our culture and of our life. As Ravi Zacharias said, the foundations of our culture arebeing destroyed. Specifically, four dimensions indispensable to survival and godliness with which Godcreated us are in jeopardy: the dimensions of eternity, morality, accountability and charity.

Read Luke 7:24-27. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives a parable or word picture.

The wise man and the foolish man have much in common: they both need to build a house, they bothhave a choice as to how and where this will be done, they both have access to building materials,and they both will encounter the storms of suffering in life and finally in death. What distinguishesthese two men? Both hear the words of Jesus, but one acts on them and the other does not. Thehouse of the wise man who acts on Jesus’ words stands. The house of the foolish man falls. Thefoolish man hears the words of Jesus but does not act on them.

Read also Psalm 127:1,2, a Psalm written by Solomon, the King of Israel to whom God gave wisdom.This text reflects our building choice from a slightly different angle. On one level we make choices inour life that build our houses. On another, if we choose to act on the words of Jesus, we are choos-ing for God to build our house. We are embracing the foundations He provides that will stand the testof any storm.

The God-given aspects of foundation are being attacked by our culture and are increasingly distant tothe individual which results in lives that look like post-modern houses with stairs leading nowhere. Theassumptions of post-modernism barrage us in conversations, literature, and television. New Testamentscholar Dr. D.A. Carson describes post-modernism as the outlook spawned by philosophical plural-ism, which states that “any notion that a particular ideological or religious claim is intrinsically superiorto another is necessarily wrong. No religion has the right to pronounce itself true, and the others false,or even (in the majority view) relatively inferior.”1 How many times have you heard “if your religion worksfor you, that’s great; its just not for me?” Underlying this statement is the pluralistic idea that there is noabsolute truth, nothing that would work for everyone, no reality that could give meaning to every per-son’s life. Viktor E. Frankl, author-psychiatrist and holocaust survivor, gives an interesting response tothe best seller status of his book Man’s Search For Meaning. He says “if hundreds of thousands ofpeople reach out for a book whose very title promises to deal with the question of a meaning in life, itmust be a question that burns under their fingernails.” Many people in our culture have lost a sense ofmeaning for their lives, and so most search for it.

The Bible describes human meaning as being rooted in relationship to God. From the time of Adam tothe revelation given to John, God revealed himself in very particular ways and provided a way for us toknow Him. The foundations he gave that are essential to our well being are being attacked in our postmodern world. It is essential for us to consider and appropriate a Biblical understanding of the founda-tions provided for us by the God who made us, specifically in the areas of eternity, morality, accounta-bility and charity.

ETERNITYWhen we adopt a Biblical view of eternity it will lead to the redefinition of our existence and to the fulfill-ment of the longing in our hearts. Having an eternal perspective will give us hope and purpose in ourlives. The Bible teaches that God is eternal.

Read Psalm 90:2 and Job 36:26. What do these state about God in comparison to His creation?

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Theologian Dr. Wayne Grudem defines God’s eternity as follows: “God has no beginning, end or suc-cession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in timeand acts in time.”

Not only is God eternal but He has “put eternity into the heart of man” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This is notto say that man is eternal in the same way that God is eternal. In fact eternal life is described by Jesusin this way, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christwhom you have sent” (John 17:3). Our eternal life is contingent on knowing God. Our souls thirst forthe living God as the deer pants for water (Psalm 42:1). This is true within our lives on earth as well asin the “eternity” of life after death. If the water of our life is God, if we were made to know him, imaginethe state of those around us and of our culture in general which has rejected God, or like the fool “hassaid in his heart that there is no God” (Psalm 53). What can distract people from knowing God, orwhat mirages are there in life that promise nourishment but dissipate when we seek them?

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How can we begin and continue to know God and so experience eternal life? Consider Matthew13:45-46.

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Now read Genesis 1:26-27; James 3:9-10; Romans 8:29 and Colossians 3:10. What do we learnfrom these passages which focus our attention to humankind being made in the image of the eternalGod? How should this affect how we live in the temporal?

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Now read Hebrews 4:15; John 15:13 and Matthew 26:39. Who is the complete revelation of God’simage and should this be the pattern of our lives?

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MORALITYA second God-given foundation attacked by our culture is morality. As Dr. D.A. Carson states, “in themoral realm, there is very little consensus left in Western countries over the proper basis of moralbehavior. And because of the power of the media, for millions of men and women the only venuewhere moral questions are discussed and weighed is the talk show, where more often than not theprimary aim is to entertain, even shock, not to think.”2 Without belief in God, on what basis can we call


an action right or wrong? If it is accepted that each man does what is right in his own eyes, and sobecomes a law unto himself what safeguards exist against lawlessness?

Biblical morality, firmly grounded in the existence, character and working of God with humankind,provides laws for evaluating human behavior. Fundamental to this is the Biblical idea of God’s right-eousness and the original and ongoing sin of humankind. The morals or standards set by God aregiven succinctly in the ten commandments of Exodus 20:1-18. List the Ten Commandments, and ifyou haven’t already, work on memorizing them.Old Testament scholar Dr. Richard E. Averbeck notes that part of the essence of the New Covenant in

Christ is the “unity of the Old Testament law on the heart,” so that we live it from the heart, affectingour attitude and action.3 In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says that the whole law and the prophetsdepend on the two commandments “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all yoursoul and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These also provide the moralbasis for evaluating specific modern moral questions such as the morality of abortion. Think of waysthese two commandments could practically be followed in your life. How could we love God with all ofour being? What would it look like to love our family, friends and neighbors as ourselves?

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Do we obey these commandments perfectly and consistently? Clearly we all sin and fall short of theglory of God.

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ACCOUNTABILITYGuilt is often transferred in our culture to parents, society, social conditions and mental illness. ReadRomans 1:18-32. The existence of God and His attributes are clear to us in creation so we are with-out excuse for sin. What is the progression of sin in this passage?

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Romans 2:2 states that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice these things. ReadGenesis 3:8-19. What was God’s response to Adam and Eve when he heard their excuses for thefirst sin?

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Clearly the Biblical perspective is that people are responsible and are accountable to God for theirsins. Further, people are to make restitution for sins committed against other people (see Exodus22:1-6 and Luke 19:1-10).

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CHARITYSo far it is clear that the Bible teaches that humankind is made for fellowship with the eternal God, thatthis God is righteous and applies a righteous moral standard to humankind, and that we are account-able if we do not keep this righteous standard. The fourth foundational idea comes as good news tous. It is the foundational idea of charity or love. God loves us. Greater love has no man than this, thata man lay down his life for his friends. The Eternal God sent His Son, Jesus (His Hebrew nameYeshua means “the Lord saves”) in order to give his life for us who were enemies of God because he“so loved the world.” We could never attain to the righteous standard of perfect obedience to the Law,but Jesus lived this standard perfectly and gave this life and righteousness to us while taking the pun-ishment for our disobedience.” Paul clarifies in his letter to the Romans in stating that “the wages of sinis death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We cannotearn the gift, we can only take it and trust God for our security. We no longer need to bear the heavyburden of striving to love God and neighbor. We now bear the yoke of Christ (Matthew 11:28-30) andthrough His Spirit we are able with power to forgive one another as we have been forgiven, and

to love the Lord our God and each other.

Read John 15:9-14. What commandment does Jesus give to his followers?

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As we abide in him we are also to love as he loved in this world. Read 1 John 4:19, 1 Peter 1:8,22

and Matthew 5:43-48. How do we learn to love God and each other? Who are we to love?

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Read 1 Corinthians 13 and list the attributes of Biblical love. Apply these where they are lacking inyour relationship to friends or enemies.

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One cold and icy dawn, Viktor Frankl was walking to work in a German concentration camp duringWorld War II. In the midst of this the thought of his wife came to him. He says this: “A thought trans-fixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimedas the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal towhich man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry andhuman thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I under-stood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment,in contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself inpositive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way —an honorable way — in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carriesof his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning ofthe words, “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.”4

We are made to know and love the Eternal God. God has moral standards; we break them and areaccountable, yet God loves us and gave Jesus to take our punishment. With these elements of theGod given foundation, even in the midst of suffering in life and death the house built by God on therock will stand. Let us never forget the foundation of our faith and may we strive to know Him whogave us hope, joy, rest, peace, purpose, and eternal life with Him.

1 The Gagging of God; Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Zondervan Publishing, 1996) page 192 The Gagging of God; Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Zondervan Publishing 1996) page 243 Quoted by Dr. Richard E. Averbeck, Professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL.

4 Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Touchstone Books, Simon & Schuster, 1984) pages 48-49




I F T H E F O U N D AT I O N B E D E S T R O Y E D

Luke 7:24-27

Psalm 127:1,2

Psalm 90:2

Job 36:26

Ecclesiastes 3:11

John 17:3

Psalm 42:1

Psalm 53

Matthew 13:45-46

Genesis 1:26-27

James 3:9-10

Romans 8:29

Colossians 3:10

Hebrews 4:15

John 15:13

Matthew 26:39

Exodus 20:1-18

Matthew 22:37-40

Romans 1:18-32

Romans 2:2

Genesis 3:8-19

Exodus 22:1-6

Luke 19:1-10

Romans 6:23

Matthew 11:28-30

John 15:9-14

1 John 4:19

1 Peter 1:8,22

Matthew 5:43-48

1 Corinthians 13


N O T E S

Charles Hutton Spurgeon,the great British preacher, on oneoccasion said that preaching islike throwing a bucket of water ata row of bottles: some of thewater goes in some of the bottles.But by talking to people personal-ly, you have the opportunity oftopping off every one of the bot-tles and making sure none of thewater spills.If I had the chance to go back

over the forty-two years that I’vebeen preaching, I’d really like to beable to sit downwith all the peopleto whom I’ve ever preached andask them, “Do you really feel thatChrist is your Saviour and yourLord?”Well, clearly I can’t do that, but

I felt that I wanted to talk to you insuch a way that, if at all possible, Icould explain in the simplest possi-ble terms why Christ died for you.The significance of it, the impor-tance of it and what it should meanto you.The Bible explains carefully

that the human condition is veryserious indeed. I’m aware that wecan live our lives reasonably happi-ly. We can get things reasonablywell-organized. We can get our-selves into relatively comfortablesituations and not really feel thatlife is all that serious or the humancondition, before God, is all thatdrastic.Yet if we are to take what the

Scriptures say seriously, we reallyhave to come to terms with thefact that the human predicament isextreme.What we are is fundamentally

at odds with God. That’s the rootproblem.The technical term for itis“total depravity.”Now that’s not aterm you use in polite company.


STUART BRISCOE

Stuart Briscoe was born in Millom,Cumbria England in 1930, graduatedfrom high school at the age of 17 andpromptly embarked on a career inbanking. He studied law, economics andaccounting in his spare time and even-tually became personal assistant to the

Chief Inspector of the bank. At the age of 17 he was vol-unteered to preach and for 12 years his preaching andbanking careers kept him fully occupied.

During the Korean War he was drafted into The RoyalMarines, volunteered for the Commandos, but spent mostof his time playing Rugby.

In 1970, Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin,U.S.A. asked Stuart to become pastor. The church hassince grown to a weekly attendance in excess of 6,000 andhas planted five sister churches. Elmbrook’s TV show, “InReality” is viewed by over 25,000 people in Wisconsin,and “Telling The Truth”, a daily radio broadcast is heardin many parts of the world, while his extensive video andaudio tapes and more than 25 books extend his ministry.

Various schools have honored him with honorary doctor-ates, and God has blessed him and Jill with nine grand-children at the last count.

He has preached in more than 100 countries and is invit-ed to minister to pastors, missionaries and church lay-leaders on all continents.

In his spare time he likes to read and run — not at thesame time — and play dreadful golf.

Why Christ Had to Die

But it’s a term that theologiansuse.It’s not a biblical term but it’san accurate one, provided weunderstand it correctly.Doctor Jim Packer has put it

this way, “Total depravity meansnot that at every point man is asbad as he could be,but that at nopoint is he as good as heshould be.”That is the fundamental

human condition in a nutshellaccording to Scripture. Somepeople go around trying topersuade people that they aretotally rotten, totally despica-ble, utterly, totally depraved.And people, understandably,react to that because theythink that what the preacheris saying is this,“at every pointof your life, you are as bad asyou possibly could be.”No, that’s not what it’s say-

ing.What it’s saying is there isno point in our life at whichwe are as good as we shouldbe. We have come short ofGod’s glory.There are variousways to describe the humancondition: powerless, ungodly,sinners, enemies.These are alldifferent words that can beadded up to this concept that atno point are any of us as good aswe should be.We have fallen,we have failed

to be what we were created tobe.That is in essence, the mean-ing of the word, sinner. Someonewho comes short. Someone whomisses the mark.One of the sad tragedies of

being sinners is that there is acertain powerlessness about us.This powerlessness manifestsitself in different ways.One of the speakers at the

International Congress on WorldEvangelization in the Phillipineswas a Methodist pastor named

Martin Alphonse. He told aninteresting story. He explained,first of all, that his father whowas an orthodox, dedicatedHindu, got seriously ill and, as aresult of his illness, tried veryhard to get proper medical carebut none was available to him. Indesperation, he turned to some

Christians and the Christiansprayed quite specifically for hishealing and this man was healedby a dramatic DivineIntervention. At that point, hebecame convinced that JesusChrist was Lord. As a result of aspecific physical need being met,he acknowledged Christ asSaviour.Now, there’s a certain physi-

cal powerlessness about him thatwas the direct or indirect resultof sin. But Christ was able tointervene.Martin Alphonse said that his

experience was totally different.Hewas a Marxist sympathizer.He

was training for a particular min-istry but had an overwhelmingsense of inferiority. It was sosevere that he was practicallycrippled in his every day relation-ships with people.But somebodytold him that Jesus Christ wouldbe able to give him a thoroughhealing in the area of his inferior-ity complex so that he wouldbegin to understand his truesignificance before God as acreated being whom Christloved. And when he heardthis message, he turned toChrist and Christ became hisSaviour and Lord.He was met, not like his

father at the point of physicalneed,but due to his deep psy-chological need.Both of themwere powerless as a result ofsin. It manifested itself in dif-ferent ways.Pastor Alphonse went on

to say that there’s a delightfulfamily in his congregation inMadras, India that were origi-nally Brahmans. They werelooking, as is normal forHindus, for inner peace.Theywent through all the rituals,they went through all the

orthodoxy of their religion, theywere totally committed anddeeply involved but at no pointdid they ever get close to thesense of an inner peace deep intheir souls. Somebody told themthat it was possible for men andwomen, and boys and girls toexperience peace with Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ.They heard it, and they

believed it and Christ becametheir Saviour and Lord. Theywere met, not at the point ofphysical need or the point of psy-chological need but a point ofclear, acute spiritual need.He went on to explain that

just before he had gone to


Man is not as bad as hecould be, but at no point ishe as good as he should be.

Manilla for the conference, hehad had the great privilege ofbaptizing eleven Hindu convertswho lived in the shanty townsoutside Madras. I’m sure youknow something of the excruci-ating poverty in which thedowntrodden, the Untouchableslive. These people came fromthat caste. They had beenreached, however, by Christianswho had shown them that it waspossible for them to be lovedeven at the point of their socialextremity. As they had seen thelove of Christ in people who’dtouched them at the point oftheir social need, they had dis-covered Christ as Saviour andLord.I was very intrigued with

Pastor Alphonse’s illustrationbecause he showed differentways in which human sin pro-duces human powerlessness. Itcan be social, emotional, psycho-logical, or physical, but it showsitself in all of us, one way oranother and that is the humanpredicament.Not that at every point we are

as bad as we could be but that atno point are we as good as weshould be.And as a result of this,there has been a debilitatingimpact of sin in our lives.We’resinners and we’re powerless.Thispowerlessness can manifestitself, not just in passive inability,but in active hostility. We canengage in ungodly behavior.Wecan behave as those who are atenmity with God. We canbecome rebellious.We can shakeour fist in the face of God.We canderide His name.We can disobeyHis commands.We can go aboutshowing that we have no timefor God at all.We enthrone our-selves and we de-throne God andwe do all that we can to resistHim in our lives.

Not that at all points we’re asbad as we could be, but at nopoint are we as good as weshould be. It manifests itself inpowerlessness, ungodliness, hos-tility, and sin.That’s basically thehuman condition.Now I wonderif, honestly, deep down, you seeyourself in those categories.I wonder if you acknowledge

that there is something funda-mentally wrong with who youare as a person.Has that sunk in?Do you believe it? You’ll have nodifficulty,if you do believe that,inrecognizing the second partwhich is this: if what we are iswrong,what we do is wrong.Forwhat we are spills out, what wedo is a manifestation of what weare.If you look at the terms,“sin-

ner” and “powerless,” this willgive you the impression thatwhat we do is wrong becausewe fail to do what we’re requiredto do. If you look at the terms“ungodly”and“enemy”,you’ll seethat that suggests we do thethings that we are forbidden todo or the technical terms are,“sins of omission,” or “sins ofcommission.”Now some people who’ve

lived rebellious lives have no dif-ficulty whatsoever identifyingspecific sins of commission.Theyhave no difficulty understandingthat they have insisted on doingwhat is forbidden. I have actuallyhad people come and talk to mewho’ve said, “As you took usthrough the TenCommandments, I have brokenevery single one of them.”But probably the majority of

people who go to church don’tfind themselves in that category.They don’t see themselves somuch as sinners by commissionbecause they live reasonablyrespectable lives, but I’ll guaran-

tee this: every one of them, ifthey’re honest, will admit tobeing sinners of omission.Have we truly loved Godwith

all our hearts,and all our soul andall our strength and our neighboras ourselves? Of course not.Thatis evidence that what we are isfundamentally wrong. Whatwe’ve done is intrinsically unsat-isfactory.Which leads to the third

point, if what we are is all wrongand what we’ve done is allwrong, where we’re heading isall wrong.You see, God pays usthe incredible compliment ofmaking us accountable. This iscomplimentary in that Godregards us as creatures of signifi-cance. If God is keeping track ofwhat we do, that proves thatwhat we do is worth keepingtrack of in heaven. God has paidus the inestimable complimentof making us accountable.But pause for a moment. If I

truly understand my personalcondition before God, manifest-ed either in sins of omission orsins of commission,if I see myselfas fundamentally a powerlesssort of sinner or a hostile ungod-ly enemy, then God wants me toknow that I’m accountable toHim and He is just and holy andrighteous and He is indignantabout our sin.We then come to what the

Bible calls,“the wrath of God.” Irealize that this is not a popularsubject for polite conversation,but it is a subject that needs to becarefully addressed and thor-oughly understood.The wrath ofGod is not to be seen as some-thing like the wrath of man bal-looned up to divine proportions.The wrath of man is often totallyunwarranted, utterly hypocriti-cal, thoroughly unreasonable,given to extremes.


The wrath of God, John Stottsays, is His righteous hostility toevil,His refusal to condone it andHis just judgement upon it.Thatbeing the case, the Scriptures tellus that every mouth is closedbefore God.What it means is it’sas if you’ve stood in the court ofGod and He’s presented the evi-dence and He then looks at youas you’re judged and says, “Doyou have anything to say foryourself?” And at that moment,you can’t say a word. The evi-dence against you is so over-whelming and so utterly incon-travertable, there’s not a thingyou can say.You are utterly with-out excuse.That is the human condi-

tion... I wish I could sit downwith each one of you and makesure that each one of you under-stand.The divine compassion is the

second thing we note.While wewere still powerless, Christ diedfor the ungodly. God demon-strates His own love for us in thiswhile we were still sinners.Christ died for us. It is while wewere still in this condition thatthe divine compassion waspoured out towards us. God isnot in the business of saying“Reform yourself and I’ll seewhat I can do.” Neither is Godprepared to sit there and listen toour self-righteous expostulationsand say,“You’re a good kid.”God is looking down into our

hearts, He knows that we arewithout excuse and, knowingthat, while we’re still sinners,while we’re still powerless,He ismoved with compassion towardsus. Now compassion isn’t just afeeling. Compassion is demon-strated by action. And noticeplease, the action that demon-strates the divine compassion forpeople like you and me. The

action that demonstrates thatis that Christ died for us.I’ll put it this way: the Son of

God loved me and gave Himselffor me.Utterly incredible and yetthat is the crux of what the crossis all about. It is Jesus Christ evi-dencing God’s love for peoplewho are totally unsatisfactory.Tosuch an extent that He movesout and empties heaven of itsgreatest treasure,Christ, and giveChrist to die on a cross for us.The word“for” is a translation

in various scriptures and somevery specific Greek words. It canmean Christ died instead of us. Itcan mean Christ died on behalfof us.Think of it.The wages of mysin is death. I stand before you assomebody who thoroughlyunderstands that, in and ofmyself, I deserve nothing morethan the righteous indignation ofGod and banishment from Hispresence for the whole of lifeand the whole of eternity. Iunderstand that. I honestly, gen-uinely believe it.In and of myself,that’s what I deserve and Godtook the initiative and sent HisSon and said, Briscoe, it is notnecessary for you to live in thecondition that you deserve, mySon will take it on behalf of youinstead of you. And die for you.Incredible but true.Notice He did it while I was

still a sinner. Notice he did itwhile I was still powerless.Where does that leave me then?Well, the Apostle Paul sums it upbrilliantly inVerse Nine:Since wehave now been justified by Hisblood, how much more shouldwe be saved from God’s wraththrough Him? For if when wewere God’s enemies we werereconciled to Him through thedeath of His Son, how muchmore having been reconciled,shall we be saved through His

life?Notice please, three expres-

sions here, “as a result of thedeath of Christ for me,” “I havebeen justified by His blood,” andmuch more than that, “I will besaved from God’s wrath throughHim.” I shall be saved by His life.Now if I’m to understand whatthe cross is all about, I not onlyneed to understand my condi-tion and the divine compassionbut the eternal conclusion.The eternal conclusion is this,

that it is possible for me to be jus-tified by His blood.Which,put inthe simplest of terms means, thatall that I have done has been blot-ted out,has been utterly forgivenand I stand now just as if I’dnever sinned.Totally inadequate,superficial definition of “justi-fied” is... Justified means Godlooks upon me just as if I’d neversinned.Not only has He taken away

my accountability for sin, He hasalso taken away the guilt of mysin and purged eternity of allrecord of my sin. I have been jus-tified by Christ’s blood which isanother way of saying becauseHe died on behalf of me insteadof me. Incredible! But true. It isincredible to think that I havebeen justified by His blood butover and above that,He says thatI will be saved from wraththrough Him. In another words,instead of there being that fearfullooking forward to of judgement,that horror of death,the agony ofwondering what will happen tome after I die and that dreadful,sinking feeling that if God judgesme, I won’t have a leg to standon.Instead of all that, I can say,

having been justified by Hisblood much more than that.When the day comes for me tostand before God, I will be saved


from God’s wrath, not throughwhat I have done but throughHim.He will intercede for me.Which means that in the

same way that being justified byHis blood, saves me from theconsequences of what I’ve done,being saved from wrath throughHim, means I have been savedfrom where I’m heading. Butthere’s much more. As if beingjustified by His blood wasn’tenough and knowing I will besaved from wrath through Himwasn’t enough, much morethan that, He says I will besaved by His life, which meansthat God has raised up the cru-cified Christ and sent His spiritinto the hearts and lives of thejustified.So that having been justi-

fied by His blood,knowing thatone day they will be savedfromwrath through Him,in theinterim, they can know thepresence of the living Christ byHis spirit in the power of HisResurrection deep withinthem.To save them from whatthey are. Powerless, ungodlyand to begin to see them trans-formed from the inside out.Partakers of the divine nature.New creations, being changedfrom glory to glory. Incrediblebut true.What does it mean that I can

be saved by His life? It means thatI can be saved from being as hos-tile as I am through the gentlepersuasion of His spirit withinme. It means that I can be savedfrom being as ungodly as I am tothe transforming power of Hisgrace as the word of God takesroot within me. It means that Ican be saved frommy powerless-ness as nothing less than the lifeof the risen Christ is credited tome and instead of always fallinghopelessly short of the mark, I

can begin to discover Christ isnerving my faint endeavor withHis own life.And I begin to discover new-

ness of life. Saved by His life.Many years ago I wrote a littlebooklet called,“This is Exciting.”It simply told the story of myown spiritual life.The first stageof my spiritual life was just aseasy.All you do is say you’re sorry,have your sins forgiven andbang! go to heaven when youdie.That’s easy.

Then somebody pointed outto me that I was supposed to livelike a disciple of Jesus Christ.Andso I started half-heartedly tryingto do it and I changed from“thisis easy” to“this is difficult.”Then somebody began to

show me what it really means tolive as I’m supposed to live and Icame to the conclusion that itwas neither easy nor difficult andI came to the third stage of myspiritual life: this is impossible.Then I got mad with God. I

was perfectly happy with Godwhen it was easy and I got alongfine with Him when it was diffi-cult but I got very upset when I

discovered it was impossible.And then and then only Hebegan to show me that in addi-tion to being justified by Hisblood and promising me that Hewould save me from wraththrough Him that He sent Christinto my life to save me from thesheer impossibility of trying todo it on my own.To save me from my power-

lessness my ungodliness and myinner hostility my anger and mybitterness.He began to move meby His Spirit step-by-step, and Inot only trusted the Christwho but as by faith I began tolive with the Christ who liveswithin me.Incredible.But true.Many years ago when the

children were very small, I wasleaving for another of thoseawful three or four or fivemonth trips and we had just afew hours before Jill wouldhave to take me down to theairport and I’d say goodbye tothe family again. And on thatparticular occasion we wentfor a little drive in the lovelyEnglish countryside and therewas some fresh snow and Istarted doing some donutsalong the road and Jill said,

“Will you never grow up?”And Isaid in all probability,“No.”The kids thought it was won-

derful. Then I saw a lovely field.Not a single blemish on the vir-gin snow so I stopped the carand I vaulted over the gate and Iran around in a great big circle,striding as wide as I could then Icame back to the kids and I said,“Now children, I am your fatherand I want you to follow in myfootsteps. So I want you to runaround that circle in the snowand I want you to put your feetwhere your father put his feet.”Well,David tried and couldn’t

quite make it. Judy, overachiever,


Experience peace withGod through ourLord Jesus Christ.

was certain she would make it.Couldn’t make it.Pete,the littlest,took a great run at it,put his footin my first footprint and thenstrided out as far as he could andfell on his face and his motherpicked him up as he cried. Andshe said,“What are you trying todo?” I said,“I’m trying to make asermon illustration.”So I picked up little Peter. I

put his left foot on my foot and Iput his right foot on my foot andI began to stride one big stride ata time with my hands under hisarmpits and his feet lightly onmine. He looked at me and said,“Dad, I’m doin’ it!” I said, “No,you’re not.” He said, “Dad, I amdoin’ it.”I said,“No you’re not, I’m

doin’ it.” So who was doing it?Well, in a sense he was doing itbecause I was doing it.There wasa commitment of the little boy tothe big dad. And some of theproperties of the big dad wereworking through the little boy. Inexactly the same way, in ourpowerlessness,we can’t stride aswide as we should. We don’twalk the way we should. Wedon’t hit the target the way weought. It isn’t at every pointwe’re as bad as we could be. It’sjust that at no point are we asgood as we should be.Somethingmust be done. Message of Easteris,“it has been done.”You can bejustified.You can be saved fromwrath.You can be saved by His

life. All that is the message ofgrace.God offering you what youdon’t deserve. Do you knowwhat it takes? It takes the hand offaith to receive what God offersand to say“thank you.” I’d love tosit down alongside everyone ofyou and ask you,“Have you said“Thank you, Lord Jesus for dyingfor me?” Have you said, “Thankyou Lord Jesus for offering tocome and live within me?” Haveyou said, “Lord Jesus, walk yourwalk in me?” I will be your disci-ple?” I can’t do that.But at least Ican throw a bucket of water at arow of bottles and I hope you’lltake the time to fill up the rest.


One of the primary distinctions between Christianity and every other world religion is the emphasis whichthe Gospel message places upon the death of Christ — not a glorious death in battle, as he sought toredeem his people from oppression by military might, nor even the inevitable death of old age following along and brilliant career, but rather the unremarkable death of a common criminal, suffered on the cross inthe prime of his life and at the height of his ministry. Nonetheless, it is because of this very death, as wellas the resurrection that followed, that salvation has been made available to all mankind.

By human standards, however, this Cross-centered message makes little sense. Indeed, it is the very“insolubility” of this basic message with human logic — as opposed to the reasonableness of every otherknown religious system — that attests most strongly to its divine origin. Read 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 (notethat the word “Greek” here is a representative term denoting all gentiles, as in Romans 1:16). What exactlyis each group (Jew and gentile) looking for? How does the message of the Cross run contrary to theirexpectations?

Regardless of any man’s expectations or understanding of how “religion” should work, the death of Christwas absolutely necessary for salvation to be made a reality. His death was not “Plan B” following thenation’s rejection of Him, but rather something which God had planned on and announced through Hisprophets many hundreds of years prior in the Old Testament (see Psalm 22:15-18; Isaiah 53:7-9;Zechariah 12:10). Indeed, the necessity of Christ’s death becomes painfully apparent when we considerthe reason for it: the condition of man. Every aspect of our humanity is wrong — who we are, what we do,and where we are headed — and it was to “correct” this situation that God, in His boundless love, gaveHis only begotten son on our behalf (Romans 5:8; John 3:16).

L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : WHY CHR I S T HAD TO D IE

W H O W E A R E

Pastor Briscoe speaks of the “total depravity” of mankind. This is the idea, based upon the collectiveteaching of Scripture, that “sinfulness affects the whole of one’s nature and colors all that one does.”1

While this does not mean that we are always as sinful as we can be, it does mean we are at no pointin our lives as good as we should be — and must be to meet God’s perfect and holy standard. Theproblem is not what we do, but, more fundamentally, what we are. Our very nature prevents us frombeing what we were created to be and do — that is, to have communion with our Creator. In Romans5:6-8 Paul uses three different words to mankind, each one of which highlights a slightly differentaspect of our depraved nature. Take a moment to pick out these three words.

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The first word Paul uses to describe us is “powerless” or “weak” (verse 6). What do you think hemeans? The same Greek word is used in Galatians 4:9 where Paul refers to the “weak and worthlesselemental things,” referring to the basic principles which directed Jewish life under the Law, as well aspagan life in the service of false gods. In what sense, then, are those “elemental things” of which Paulspeaks in Galatians “weak” or “powerless”?

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Now apply the same sense to “powerless” in Romans 6:5. We thus see that Paul is emphasizing thatpart of our depravity which renders us incapable of achieving inner peace or acceptance before God.Even the best religious system will not do. Read Romans 7:16-18. What does Paul say about theLaw? Why can’t he keep it?

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The second word Paul uses to describe us, also in verse 6, is “ungodly.” This same word is usedtwice in 2 Peter 2:5-6. Who are the people there referred to as “ungodly”? Why?

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In essence, therefore, a godless person is one who lives as if God and His righteous standards didnot exist. Whereas the references to “godless” men in 2 Peter are extreme examples, the same princi-ple may be applied in some measure to every one of us. Can you think of any area of your life inwhich you do not give due attention to the character and requirements of God?

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The third word which Paul uses to describe us is “sinners” (verse 8). As pastor Briscoe notes, the rootmeaning of this word is “someone who misses the mark.” A vivid example of this point is provided inJudges 20:16. The word “miss” in this verse is the same root word used most often in the OldTestament to refer to “sin.” How would you apply this idea of “missing” to us as “sinners”? What is itthat we miss (see Romans 3:23)? Sinfulness is that part of our depravity which ensures that we shallnever hit the “bullseye” of holy perfection which God has set.Take a moment to consider again if andhow these three categories of depravity (powerless, ungodly, sinners) apply to you. Keep in mind thatthe focus of these categories is not so much on what we do as on what we are.

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W H AT W E D O

Our depravity — that is, our wrong nature — inevitably affects the things that we do. Read Matthew7:17-19. Can you draw out a principle from these three verses? How does this principle apply to us?

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When thinking of the sinful “fruit” that man’s depraved nature produces, more often than not we thinkof “sins of commission” — that is, the wrong things we actively commit, such as lying, stealing, cheat-ing, etc. However, sin also includes the things we actively fail to do, or omit (= “sins of omission”).Read Leviticus 5:1. What is the sin here described? Now read James 4:17. How is what James saysconnected with Leviticus 5:1?

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Most of us probably fall into the category of being sinners by “omission” rather than “commission.”That is, it is more likely than not our failure to do what we should, rather than our intentional commis-sion of evil, that confirms our depravity before God. Take, for example, the most fundamental andimportant command in the Bible: Deuteronomy 6:5 (read also Matthew 22:36-38). Do you feel thatyou’ve adequately lived up to this command? What other “sins of omission” can you think of? In whatareas of your own life are sins of omission especially tempting (taxes, sales, etc.)?

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Contrary to what modern society would have us believe, the thoughts we think are just as real in theeyes of God as the actions we do or don’t do. Read Matthew 5:27 and then Proverbs 23:7. How arethese two verses connected? What do they tell us about our thought-life?

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W H E R E W E A R E H E A D E D

The inevitable consequence of who we are (sinners) and what we do (sin) is that the wrath of Godrests upon us.

Read Ephesians 5:6 and Colossians 3:5-8. What do these verses tell us about the reasons for andobject of God’s wrath?

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Not only does our depravity result in separation from God (See Isaiah 59:1-2), but it also demandsthat He punish us to the full extent of His law. Though He is infinitely gracious, God has absolutely notolerance for sin; whatever sin taints He must ultimately and completely destroy (Psalm 9:5). It isbecause of His infinite grace, however, that God has provided a way of escape from His wrath. ReadRomans 5:9.What is it that saves us from the wrath of God? Read 1 Thessalonians 1:10. Accordingto this verse, upon whose action does deliverance from God’s wrath depend?

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Note that the expression “Christ died for us” in Romans 5:8 may also be translated “Christ died on ourbehalf.” In light of this latter translation, what can we say about the process of justifica-tion/reconciliation with God?

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A common misconception among Christians is that justification is the end-point of God’s involvementin our lives. Once saved, there is little we need to do other than go to church once a week and titheas regularly as possible. According to the Bible, however, salvation includes much, much more. Read1 Thessalonians 5:9-10. What does Paul say about the way our lives are to be lived after salvation?What does this imply about the way our lives were lived before salvation? What does it mean to livewith Christ (read Romans 8:29; 12:1-2)? Do you consider yourself to be living fully with Christ? Whatstops you? What changes can you make?

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1 Millard J, Erickson, Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1986), 43.


1 Co r i n t h i a n s 1 : 2 2 - 2 4

Roman s 1 : 1 6

P s a lm 22 : 1 5 - 1 8

I s a i a h 5 3 : 1 7 - 1 9

Ze ch a r i a h 1 2 : 1 0

Roman s 5 : 8

John 3 : 1 6

Roman s 5 : 6 - 8

Ga l a t i a n s 4 : 9

Roman s 6 : 5

Roman s 7 : 1 6 - 1 8

2 Pe t e r 2 : 5 - 6

Ju d g e s 2 0 : 1 6

Roman s 3 : 2 3

Ma t t h ew 7 : 1 7 - 1 9

L e v i t i c u s 5 : 1

Jame s 4 : 1 7

Deu t e r onomy 6 : 5

Ma t t h ew 22 : 3 6 - 3 8

Ma t t h ew 5 : 2 7

P r ove r b s 2 3 : 7

Eph e s i a n s 5 : 6

Co l o s s i a n s 3 : 5 - 8

I s a i a h 5 9 : 1 - 2

P s a lm 9 : 5

Roman s 5 : 9

1 Th e s s a l o n i a n s 1 : 1 0

Roman s 5 : 8

1 Th e s s a l o n i a n s 5 : 9 - 1 0

Roman s 8 : 2 9

Roman s 1 2 : 1 - 2


W H Y C H R I S T H A D T O D I E

What we have always said inthe church is that our faith is basedupon facts and it is an evidentialfaith built upon evidence and wewould go where the facts led. Butmy friends, something that hascome to light just in this past weekthat is out now in the professionaljournals,will be out shortly in maga-zines and newspapers,I’m sure.AndI felt it best that it come from me,atleast I may make some conciliatorycomments with it. Let me simplyread the announcement,“Archeologists have made a startlingand remarkable discovery. Theyhave found recently in a newlyunearthed tomb in the suburbs ofJerusalem the remains of an ancientman who quite evidently died ofcrucifixion. On the walls of thattomb they found also a plaque writ-ten in ancient Hebrew which trans-lated reads thusly, quote ‘Here liesJesus of Nazareth.A great and goodteacher.We secreted His body awayin order to place Him beyond thereach and rage of His enemies. Hewas the best of men.May He rest inpeace.’” That is a scene from arecently published novel inEngland. It is, I’m happy to say,purefiction.

I hope, however, that it did itswork.It had its impact in your heartthis day.The author of this book enti-tled“When it was Dark,”describes asituation which a wealthy atheist, askeptic, an unbeliever decides todestroy Christianity and hires avenal archeologist to create thisfraudulent find in Israel and bring tolight this contrived discovery, sup-posedly the remains of Christ. Theresult in the novel is catastrophic.

It seems as if a new IceAge hasdescended upon the earth. Spiritsflag like the branches of a willow


DR. JAMES KENNEDY

A.B., M.Div., M.Th., D.D., D.CacLit., PhD., LittD.,D.Sac.Theol., D.Humane Let.

Dr. D. James Kennedy is the most listened toPresbyterian minister in the world today. His forthrightand rational presentation of the Gospel is heard via televi-sion and radio throughout America and in various parts ofthe world, including the former Soviet Union.

It all began on a Sunday morning in 1953 whenhe was startled awake by a preacher’s stern question on his clock radio. “Supposeyou were to die today and stand before God, and He were to ask you, “What rightdo you have to enter into My Heaven?” — what would you say?” Dr. Kennedy soondiscovered the answer, was converted to Christ, and shortly thereafter was calledinto the Gospel ministry.

Today, Dr. Kennedy’s broadcast messages are televised from the 9,500 mem-ber Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, to 35,000 cities andtowns across the United States. A modest mission church of 45 people when Dr.Kennedy arrived in 1959, the rocketing growth of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Churchsince then made it, for 15 years, the fastest growing Presbyterian church in America.Decision magazine named the church one of the “Five Great Churches of NorthAmerica.”

Beyond his leadership at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Dr. Kennedy’senergetic commitment to both evangelism and cultural renewal is demonstrated byfour organizations he founded and now oversees: Evangelism ExplosionInternational, Knox Theological Seminary, Coral Ridge Ministries Media, Inc.,and Westminster Academy.

Dr. Kennedy developed Evangelism Explosion International in 1962, a lay-witnessing training program, and it is now used in every nation on earth. EE hasbeen used by God to spark explosive growth in congregations around the world.

Dr. Kennedy launched Knox Theological Seminary in 1990 to prepare andequip Christians to fulfill the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate. KnoxSeminary offers courses in five locations: Fort Lauderdale, Miami; ColoradoSprings, Savannah; and Seoul, Korea.

Dr. Kennedy founded Westminster Academy in 1971 to help meet FortLauderdale’s need for quality Christian education. A K-12 academy with more than1,200 students, Westminster is accredited by the Southern Association of Collegesand Schools, the Florida Council of Independent Schools, Christian Schools ofFlorida, and the Florida Kindergarten Council. It is a nationally recognized exam-ple of excellence in Christian education.

Dr. Kennedy earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tampa, aMaster of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary (cum laude), a Master ofTheology from Chicago Graduate School of Theology (summa cum laude), and aPh.D. from New York University. He is the author of more than 40 books, includ-ing Evangelism Explosion (more than one million copies) Character & Destiny; A Nation InSearch of Its Soul, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?, The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail, New EveryMorning, Skeptics Answered, and What If The Bible Had Never Been Written?.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Dr. Kennedy was raised in Chicago and moved toFlorida while in high school. He and his wife Anne, and their daughter Jennifer,live in Fort Lauderdale. Dr. Kennedy went to be with the Lord on September 5,2007.

Message from an Empty Tomb

tree. Hope goes out like a candlein the wind. Joy disappears fromlife.Men seek formirth,saying eat,drink and be merry for tomorrowwe die and it is all a lie.Thousandsupon thousands of missionariesreturn to their native lands, thelights in the churches go out andthe doors are locked for good.Thelaw of Sinai is exchanged for thelaw of the jungle.The Sermon onthe Mount gives way to savageryin the street. The hand of everyman is raised against his neighbor.Soon nation rises against nationand in a while the whole world isone huge blackened, smolderingruin because a few bones werediscovered in a tomb inJerusalem.Andwith that discov-ery, hope died.

My sermon is entitled,‘Message from an EmptyTomb’.The message whichcomes from the empty tomb,and indeed the tomb is empty,is that there is hope, there is aneverlasting hope, there is a cer-tain hope of life eternal in JesusChrist.

For many centuries themen and women in Europelooked out upon the western sea,what we call the Atlantic Oceanand they saw the sun upon theglittering surface of the watersand they wondered if there wasanything beyond. Scholars saidthat you could sail off the edge ofthe world and that there wasnothing out there at all. In fact,inscribed on the coat of arms ofthe nation of Spain was its nation-al motto which said, “Nay plusultra”: there is nothing beyond.Then one day Columbus wentwestering on the shiny waters.Sailed off into the sunset and peo-ple waited expectantly and finallyafter a long time, the sails reap-peared and the crowdswere exul-tant. They shouted with joy and

Columbus announced that therewas a land beyond the sea thatwas rich beyond your dreams. Itwas a glorious paradise.The kingof Spain changed the motto ofthat land until it reads as it doestoday, “Plus ultra.” There is morebeyond.

For many centuries innumer-able people stood beside the darkhole which we call a grave andthey watch the remains of theirloved ones lowered into the earthand they wondered, is there any-thing beyond? Beyond the darkwaters of death? Is there anythingbeyond? And then one day ayoung explorer went westeringinto the setting sun and descend-

ed into the blackness of the pit.Sailed off the edge of the worldand crashed into hell.

And people waited expec-tantly. Finally on this Resurrectionmorning as the sun arose in theeast,the Son of God stepped forthfrom a grave and declared,“Thereis something beyond. There is aparadise beyond your greatestexpectations and there awaits aHeavenly Father,waiting with out-stretched arms to wipe awayevery tear from your cheek.”

Yes,my friends,there is some-thing beyond the black hole inthe earth.But how tragic it wouldbe if this were not the case. IfEaster be not true then faith must

mount on broken wing. Thenhope no more immortal spring.Love must lose its mighty urge.Life prove a phantom and thedirge, if Easter be not true.

But I am delighted toannounce that it is true.No boneshave been or ever will be discov-ered for Jesus Christ on the firstday of the week arose from thedead and with a mighty stride,hecame forth,bursting the bonds ofdeath. And he is alive forever-more. The greatest historical evi-dence for any historical fact is thatan institution be built upon thatfact.

Any secular historian will tellyou that the Church of JesusChrist began in the year 30A.D.in Jerusalem when the follow-ers of Jesus of Nazareth beganto proclaim what? That he hadrisen from the dead. That’swhat.

The church was built on aempty tomb.The greatest insti-tution the world has ever seenwas built on a hole in theground with nothing in it.Youmay go to the tomb ofMohammed and they will tell

you, “Here lie the bones of thegreat prophet.”You may go to thetomb of Napoleon and they willsay, “Here lie the bones of theemperor of France.”Youmay go toMoscow and see the tomb ofLenin and they will say,“Here liethe bones of the great founder ofSoviet communism.”

But you may go to the tombof Jesus and they will tell you andyou may walk in and see for your-self,“Here lie the bones of no one.He is not here. He is risen as Hesaid”.

The message from the emptytomb is a message of hope butsecondly, it’s also a message oflove because we should never for-


He knew, as sure as thesun came up in the

morning, if he pushedthat lever, his son wouldbe ground in the midstof eight tons of whining,

grinding steel.

get, though the tomb was empty,it was a tomb. It wasn’t an emptyhouse, an empty palace, it was anempty tomb. And that emptytomb speaks a message of love.

Eight years ago I shared a truestory with this congregationwhich I think bears repeating.John Griffith grew up with onedream in his heart. A dream oftravel. He wanted to travel to faraway places and see exotic sights.That’s what he dreamt about andread about. That was his wholeconsuming passion of life.But thatdream crashed with the stockmarket in 1929. The GreatDepression settled like a funeralcloak upon the land. AndOklahoma, his native state, wasturned into a swirling dust bowlby the dry winds and his dreamswere swept away with the wind.So he packed up his wife and histiny baby boy and their few,mea-ger belongings in an old car andhe drove away to find greener pas-tures.

He thought he might havediscovered those on the edge ofthe Mississippi where he got a jobcaring for one of those great hugerailroad bridges that crossed themighty Mississippi.It was in 1937,Dennis Hensley tells us when thistrue story took place.For the firsttime, he brought his then eightyear old son, Greg, to work withhim to seewhat Daddy did all day.

The little boy was wide-eyedwith excitement and he clappedhis hands with glee when thehuge bridge went up at the beckand call of his mighty father. Hewatchedwithwonderment as thehuge boats steamed down theMississippi. Twelve o’clock cameand his father put up the bridge.There were no trains due for agood while and they went outcouple hundred feet on a catwalkout into the river to an observa-

tion deck and they sat down,opened their brown bag and theybegan to eat their lunch.

He told his little son aboutsome of the strange, far-awaylands that some of these shipswere going to visit, and the boywas entranced.The time whirledby and suddenly theywere drawninstantly back to reality by theshrieking of a distant train whis-tle. John Griffith quickly looked athis watch,he saw that it was timefor the 1:07,theMemphis Expresswith four hundred passengerswhich would be rushing acrossthat bridge in just a couple ofmin-utes.

He knew he just had time sowithout panic, but with alacrity,he told his son to stay where hewas,he leaped to his feet, jumpedto the catwalk, ran back, climbedthe ladder to the control room,went in,put his hand on the hugelever that controlled the bridge,looked up the river and down tosee if any boats were coming aswas his custom and then lookeddown to see if there were anybeneath the bridge and suddenlyhe saw a sight which froze hisblood.

It caused his heart to leapinto his throat. His boy, his boyhad tried to followhim to the con-trol room and had fallen into thegreat, huge gear box that had themonstrous gears that operatedthis massive bridge and his left legwas caught between the twomain gears and he knew that assure as the sun came up in themorning, if he pushed that lever,his son would be ground in themidst of eight tons of whining,grinding steel.

His eyes filled with tears ofpanic, his mind whirled, whatcould he do? He saw a rope therein the control room. He couldrush down the ladder,out the cat-

walk, tie off the rope, lower him-self down,extricate his son,climbback up the rope, run back intothe control room and lower thebridge. And no sooner had hismind done that exercise than heknew,he knew there wasn’t time.He’d never make it. And therewere four hundred people on thattrain.Suddenly he heard the whis-tle again, this time startlinglyclose. He could hear the clickingof the locomotive wheels on thetrack and he could hear the rapidpopping of the train.What shouldhe do?What could he do?

There were four hundredpeople but but this was this washis son, this was his only son. Hewas a father, he knew what hehad to do so he buried his head inhis arm and he pushed the gearforward. The great bridge slowlylowered into place. Just as theexpress train roared across and helifted up his tear-smeared face andlooked straight into the flashingwindows of that train as theyflashed by after another.

He sawmen reading the after-noon paper, a conductor in uni-form looking at a large vest-pock-et watch,ladies sipping tea and lit-tle children pushing long spoonsinto plates of ice cream andnobody looked into the controlroom.Nobody looked at his tears,nobody, nobody looked down tothe great gear box. In heart-wrenching agony, he beat againstthe window of the control roomand he said,“What’s wrong withyou people? Don’t you care? Igave my…I sacrificed my son foryou. Don’t any of you care?”Nobody looked, nobody heard,nobody heeded and the train dis-appeared across the river.

The mills of God grind slowbut exceeding fine. God theFather cast His Son into the millsof His justice, bearing upon


Himself all of the sin of the worldand in a great gears of God,Christgave up His life for us. And theremains of that were placed in atomb outside of Jerusalem. Atomb which has a message for usof unspeakable love. That Godshould thus love us.That I shouldgain an interest in the Saviour’sblood.Amazing Grace,how can itbe thatThou,myGod shouldst diefor me is a message of hope and amessage of love but it also is amessage of grace, of amazing,astounding,astonishing grace thatthe Creator of the Universewouldcome and die for the creatures’sin.

The wages of sin is death weare told and there at Calgary andthere at that tomb those wageswere paid in full. Signed, sealedand delivered. Signed in blood,sealed with the Roman seal anddelivered into the pit of hell. Jesuspaid it all.All to Him I owe.Ohmyfriends, how tragic we be that onEaster day,even whenwe think ofthe great death and Resurrectionof Christ that we fail to grasp itsmeaning.That He did all of that forus.That He endured it all in ourplace, that we might have the giftof eternal life.

Did you get that? Could Iunderline it for you again, that wemight have the gift of eternal life.Listen, it is free.The gift of God iseternal life through Jesus Christour Lord, paid for by Jesus Christour Lord, purchased by JesusChrist our Lord, paid in full andoffered freely to all of those thatwill receive Him into their heartsand trust in His atoning death asthe payment for their sins.

Theologians divide the work

of Christ into two parts. Thehumiliation of Christ and His exul-tation or glorification.The first Hedid for us, the second we do withHim.He left heaven for us.He leftthe ivory palaces and came intothis world ofwoe.He endured themockery of men.He endured thepain and agony of the spikesupon the cross.He endured deathand hell and the grave for us. Hedescended into the pit for us.Allof this, He did for us in our placeas our substitute, vicariously inour stead.

He did it all for us but now inHis exultation, He rises from thedead with us.Calls us to rise withHim.He ascends into heaven andcalls us to do the same.He sits atthe right-hand of the Father andinvites us to take a seat.He judgesthe world and invites us whobelieve to have a part in the judge-ment of the world. All of thesethings, including our glorification,we have with Him.Ah but thereare those right here who knownone of this. For them, it’s anancient event that happened longago and far away and does nottouch them.That is because theyhave never yet experienced a res-urrection in their own soul. Didyou know that you can experi-ence a resurrection right in thislife,right here today?You have thequickening which were dead, theBible says. You can experience aspiritual resurrection. Many yearsago I experienced that resurrec-tion and my life was transformed.Ye shall be changed, the Biblesays.If any man is in Christ,he is anew creature.All things are passedaway. Behold, all things arebecome new! Have you experi-enced that transformation? If you

do not know, that spiritual resur-rection in your life,you will neverknow the resurrection of thebody unto eternal life that Christoffers you.

My friends,you’ll never knowlife till you really know Him.MayHe come into your hearts asSaviour and Lord. May you rollaway from the door of your heartthat heavy stone and ask Him,who came out of an empty tombto come into an empty heart andto fill it with His love andwith Hisjoy and with His hope. And youcan know that when they loweryou down into that hole in theground that you’ll already be inmansions above.You already willhave crossed the sea andwill havebeen taken into the Father’s arms.You will have met your BlessedRedeemer who said in fact thatthose that trust in Him shall neverdie.

I want you to know that Iwill never die. Now some of youmight think I will but when youthink I did, let me tell you rightnow I will be more alive on thatday when some of you gatherhere in this church.I will be morealive than I have ever been in mylife but I will be with Christ mySaviour. Because I live,He said, yethat trust in me shall live also.Have you received Him? Have youtrusted in Him? Have you repent-ed of your sins? Or do you havethe poor and beggarly outwardelements of religion alone? Oh,dear friend, you’re missing thegreatest thing in all of the world,your Creator came,that youmighthave life and have it abundantly.Open your hearts, and let Himcome in. And do it today.


The Christian faith stands or falls upon the resurrection of Jesus. If true, the resurrection is withoutquestion the single most important event of human history. If it did not happen, however, the resurrec-tion is just as surely the greatest and most abominable hoax ever perpetrated upon mankind. Indeed,no other religion makes the claim to resurrection that Christianity does. As professor Childersobserves, “All the millions and millions of Jews, Buddhists, and Mohammedans agree that theirfounders have never come up out of the dust of the earth.”1 The resurrection of Christ, however,stands at the heart of the Christian message.

Belief in the resurrection is not simply a matter of blind faith, for at least 6 proofs may be set forth insupport of its occurrence:2

1.The empty tomb. Read Matthew 27:64-65. How does this bear upon the contention that thedisciples stole Jesus’ body?

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2.The linen wrappings. Read John 20:5-8. What was it about the linen wrappings that caused thedisciples who saw them to believe?

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3.The resurrection appearances. Read 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. What is the significance of thesewitnesses to the resurrection?

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4.The transformed disciples. Read John 18:25-27. Now compare this the description of Peter given inActs 2:37-40. What accounts for his change in behavior?

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L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : MESSAGE FROM AN EMPTY TOMB

5.The observance of the first day of the week. Read Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2. Why do youthink the Bible specifically refers to the believers meeting on the “first day of the week”?

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6.The existence of the church. Read Acts 2:24-32; 3:15; 4:2. Considering that the growth of the earlychurch was based primarily upon the preaching of the disciples, what is the significance of the res-urrection as a part of those early sermons?

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According to the Bible, the significance of the resurrection surpasses the fact that it was simply agreat miracle. Belief in the resurrection is presented as one of the fundamental requirements for salva-tion itself. Read Romans 10:9. What, in addition to the resurrection, must be believed for one to besaved? Is it possible for anyone today to be saved apart from belief in the resurrection of Jesus?

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In addition to its being a fundamental requirement for salvation, the resurrection of Christ serves as aniron-clad guarantee of at least three of the most important truths of Christianity: the truth of Christ’smessage, the fact of our justification, and the hope of our own future resurrection.

G U A R A N T E E # 1 : T H E T R U T H O F C H R I S T ’ S M E S S A G E

Jesus was not the only “Messiah” to arrive on the scene in his day. There were many Jewish menbefore him — and even more after him — who claimed to be the long-awaited leader and deliverer ofthe Jewish people. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus, who himself lived during the time of Jesus,tells us of three such men (Judas, Simon, and Athronges) who arose just about the time of Jesus’birth, between 4-2 B.C. Each of these men, however, were eventually killed by the Romans or died,and their movements scattered or dispersed. The New Testament likewise tells us of such messianicclaimants. Read Acts 5:34-37. What happened to the men here described? Read also Acts 21:37-38. The man here referred to as “the Egyptian” (that is, a Jew from Egypt) is also described byJosephus, who tell us that, after the Romans killed four hundred of his followers, he “fled the battleand vanished without a trace.”3 What happened to Jesus’ own “movement” when He was arrested bythe Romans? Read Mark 14:50. What happened to reverse this situation, causing His followers to laydown their very lives in the service of their Master?

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For the Jewish people, the resurrection of Jesus should have been the last, and most important,credential for establishing his legitimate claim to the title of Messiah, the Christ. While many beforeHim had died, none, except for Jesus, had risen from the dead. This, the prophets had said, wouldbe a characteristic event in the career of the Messiah. Consider how the following Old Testamentprophecies apply to the resurrection of Jesus: Psalm 16:10 (see Acts 2:25-32), Isaiah 53:10, Jonah1:17 (see Matthew 12:40; 16:4).

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How important is the resurrection to your own understanding of the reality of the Christian message?What emphasis do you place upon the resurrection when you share the Gospel with others?

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G U A R A N T E E # 2 : T H E F O R G I V E N E S S O F O U R S I N SNot only does the resurrection of Jesus prove his claim to be the true Messiah and Savior, in fulfillmentof Old Testament prophecy, but the resurrection also ensures that the process of atonement whichbegan with the sacrifice of Jesus has been brought to eternal completion. Read Romans 4:25. Whatis the expression “delivered up” here referring to (compare the same expression in Romans 8:32 andMatthew 10:21)? Why was Jesus delivered up?

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As Paul indicates, Jesus was put to death first and foremost because of our sins. If atonement was tobe made, a sacrifice had to be offered (see Leviticus 17:11). However, in order for a sacrifice to beefficacious — that is, in order for the process of atonement to be completed and applied to the sinner,that sacrifice had to be accepted by God. If that sacrifice was brought improperly it would be rejected.Read Isaiah 1:11. Why did God reject these sacrifices (read Isaiah 1:15-17)? How does this contrastwith the self-sacrifice of Jesus (see Hebrews 5:7-9)?

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Because of His absolute perfection and piety, the self-sacrifice of Jesus was accepted by God. Themark of His acceptance was the resurrection. Conversely, if God had found the sacrifice of Jesus tobe anything less than perfect, the resurrection would never have taken place. Read 1 Corinthians15:17. In light of what Paul says here, would you consider the death of Jesus alone as comprising themain point of the Gospel message? How then would you present the Gospel message to someonewho had never before heard it?

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G U A R A N T E E # 3 : O U R F U T U R E R E S U R R E C T I O N

In addition to being an iron-clad guarantee of once-and-for-all forgiveness of sin, the resurrection alsoprovides us with the glorious assurance of following in the footsteps of our Lord’s resurrection. Toemphasize this point, the apostle Paul uses the symbolism of an important Old Testament festival.Read 1 Corinthians 15:20. What is the significance of the term “first fruits” here?

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During the “First Fruits” festival, described in Leviticus 23:10-14, the Israelites would bring to theTemple the first and best of their crops and then give it to the priest to be offered up to God. The sig-nificance was two-fold: first, it indicated that the first and best of the harvest crop rightfully belongs toGod (how would you apply this principle in your giving?); secondly, it indicated that, in the eyes of thatIsraelite, not only the first fruits, but the entire crop from which they came belonged to God, and it wasonly by His grace and mercy that they could be partaken of by man. With regard to this second point,what is the significance of Christ’s being the “first fruits raised from the dead”? Who is His crop (see 1Corinthians 15:23)?

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“True Christian joy,” writes A. W. Tozer, “is the heart’s harmonious response to the Lord’s song of love.”If the Gospel is this song, then the empty tomb is its refrain — God’s loving guarantee that we shallsomeday be with Him, having left our own empty, earthly shells behind. How will you live in light of thisguarantee?

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1 Cited by J. McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972),

187.2 These six proofs are adapted for P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody,1989), 234-353 For a fuller description of all these figures and more, see R.A. Horsley, Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular

Movements at the Time of Jesus ( New York: Harper & Row, 1985).4Knowledge of the Holy (HarperSan Francisco, 1961), 102.



M E S S A G E F R O M A N E M P T Y T O M B

Ma t t h ew 27 : 6 4 - 6 5John 20 : 5 - 81 Co r i n t h i a n s 1 5 : 5 - 8John 18 : 2 5 - 2 7Ac t s 2 : 3 7 - 4 0Ac t s 2 0 : 71 Co r i n t h i a n s 1 6 : 2Ac t s 2 : 2 4 - 3 2Ac t s 3 : 1 5Ac t s 4 : 2Roman s 1 0 : 9Ac t s 5 : 3 4 - 3 7Ma r k 1 4 : 5 0P s a lm 16 : 1 0I s a i a h 5 3 : 1 0

Jon ah 1 : 1 7Ma t t h ew 12 : 4 0Ma t t h ew 16 : 4Roman s 4 : 2 5Roman s 8 : 3 2Ma t t h ew 10 : 2 1L e v i t i c u s 1 7 : 1 1I s a i a h 1 : 1 1I s a i a h 1 : 1 5 - 1 7Heb r ew s 5 : 7 - 91 Co r i n t h i a n s 1 5 : 1 7 1Co r i n t h i a n s 1 5 : 2 0L e v i t i c u s 2 3 : 1 0 - 1 41 Co r i n t h i a n s 1 5 : 2 3

82 The LIVING FAITH SeriesN O T E S

One month ago the mostwidely-read weekly news magazinein this country removed any linger-ing doubt about the growth andthe breadth of what is known asthe New Age Movement. ShirleyMcLaine was the smiling face onthe cover and the by-line read,“Faith Healers, Channelers, SpaceTravelers and Crystals Galore”.

Some of us midwesternersshrugged our shoulders and said,“Must have been a slow news weekfor another west coast fruit and nutclub to get on the cover of TimeMagazine.” But it is not a fruit andnut club that we’re talking about,and it’s not just a west coast fad.Did you know that millions andmillions of people all across thecountry and around the world aregetting involved in this thing calledthe NewAge Movement?

Shirley McLaine alone has sold8 million copies of her books andmany of you saw her prime-timemovie. New Age book stores havedoubled recently and number overtwenty-five hundred nationwide.Bannon Books reports that NewAge book titles have increased ten-fold in ten years.About twenty per-cent of Fortune 500 companies inthis country are devoting budgetdollars for New Age-related semi-nars for their employees and manyhave attended them.

A Gallup Poll reveals thatapproximately 25 percent of thepeople in this country believe insome form of reincarnation.Thereare over a thousand channelers inthe L.A. area alone who, for a fee,claim that they will get in touchwith some person from antiquityand then be a channel for theirwords of wisdom to come to you.All over the United States every


BILL HYBELS

From 125 people in 1975 to over 16,000today, the ministry of Willow CreekCommunity Church continues to growunder the leadership of Senior Pastor BillHybels. Started in a rented movie theatre asa means of reaching the non-churchedparents of teenagers in Son City, a youthministry that Bill co-founded, the church

now operates on a 145-acre campus in South Barrington,Illinois, with a staff of over 450.

Since its inception, Willow Creek Community Church hasadhered to a two-pronged philosophy of ministry. OnSaturday evenings and Sunday mornings, drama, multi-media,contemporary music, and practical messages are used to pres-ent the ageless truths of Scripture at an introductory level easilyunderstood by non-churched people.

The low-key evangelical environment of the weekend servicesstands in marked contrast to the worshipful atmosphere of theWednesday and Thursday evening services, where approximate-ly six to seven thousand believers gather together for worship,communion, and in-depth Bible teaching. Bill Hybels leads ateam of teaching pastors who feed the Body at Willow Creek.

Although he intended to follow in the footsteps of his father, asuccessful businessman, Bill clearly sensed God calling him outof the marketplace and into the ministry. He received a B.A.degree in Biblical Studies and an honorary Doctorate ofDivinity from Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois. Bill hasauthored a number of books, including Who Are You WhenNo One’s Looking, Too Busy Not To Pray, Honest to God?,Fit To Be Tied, Descending Into Greatness, Tender Love,Becoming A Contagious Christian, Rediscovering Church,The Story and Vision of Willow Creek CommunityChurch,The God You’re Looking For, and Making Life Work.

An internationally sought-after speaker, writer, and consult-ant, Bill is chairman of the Board of Willow Creek Association,serves on the Board of World Vision, and was Chaplain of theChicago Bears for five years.

Bill and his wife, Lynne, reside in Barrington with their twochildren, Shauna and Todd.

The New Age Movement

weekend there are seminars thatare put on that are attractingthousands of people to thisthing called the New AgeMovement? Well, what is thisthing? And what do New Agersbelieve? And why is this move-ment growing so rapidly?

The New Age Movement isnot a single organization. It doesnot have a single identifiableleader and there is not an identi-fiable constituency with a clear-ly-spelled out set of beliefs.Quitethe contrary. The New AgeMovement is actually a veryloose coalition made up of hun-dreds of independent, localgroups that have somewhat sim-ilar beliefs that are propagatedby seminars, tapes and maga-zines. The movement is quiteeclectic in nature and beingsuch, it is tough to pin down.

There are some unifyingthemes of the movement as awhole. First about God. MostNew Agers believe in God as animpersonal energy or force.NewAgers abandon the notion of apersonal God with whom onecan have a relationship.The godof the New Agers is more of acosmic power that can betapped into or a cosmic con-sciousness that can be experi-enced from time to time.

New Agers are overtly pan-theistic in their view of God.“God is all,” they say and “all isGod and all is one.”“Everythingthat exists is an expression ofthe divine essence,” New Agerswould say. There is a universalenergy in all matter in this pul-pit, in a rock, in a tree, in an ani-mal. There’s a universal energyin all matter. A life force thatunites the entire cosmos.

Then what do New Agersbelieve about human beings?”That there is this universal life

force that is found everywhereand in everything and so it onlyfollows that this godness is inyou and in me. Therefore with-out shame or hesitation or apol-ogy New Agers believe thathuman beings are God.

But you see, most humanbeings haven’t discovered thatyet and therefore they desperate-ly need to be enlightened.“Oh, ifonly more people were aware oftheir divinity,”a NewAger wouldsay,“The whole world would besuch a better place if all of uswould be enlightened to under-stand who we really are. We’regods. The major theme in theseminars and the tapes and themagazines and lectures that arebeing held all across this coun-try, probably many tonight, insome places around this coun-try, is that human beings need tobecome conscious of their owngodness.”

Once that awareness occursthen unlimited powers can berealized. You see, then you cando anything. You can becomeanything. You can create yourown destiny. You can arrangefuture affairs.You might be won-dering— where do New Agerscome up with these ideas?Who’s telling these people thesethings?

If you ask a Christian whathis truth source is, you’ll get atwo-word answer, the Bible. Asingle-inspired volume that hasstood the test of time.A volumethat defines and explains thetenets of the Christian faith. Itexplains the nature of God, thenature of man, the nature of theworld.

That would be a stumblingblock to a New Ager. A singletruth source is much too narrowfor them to swallow. If you ask aNew Ager what his truth source

is, prepare yourself for a kaleido-scopic response. One New Agerwill say “my truth comes frommy guru.” If you say,“Well,what’sthat?” he’d say, “Well, it’s a cele-brated master teacher who trans-mits truth.”You say,“Well, wheredoes he get his truth?”“He gets itthrough his guru.” “Well, wheredoes that guru…”and you knowhow it goes. It just goes back andforth.

Another will say, “My truthcomes from peering into crystalswhich are shards of glass that arebelieved to hold mystical knowl-edge and power.” Another willsay, “My truth comes from a fif-teenth-century Tibetan monkwhose wisdom can be tappedthrough a process as I discussedearlier known as channeling.”

You see,for a fee,these chan-nelers will quiet themselves andgo into what appears to be atrance. Their body will go limpfor just a little while and thenthey claim that they tune intothe vibrations in the universeand that they can, sort of like anantenna, pick up some knowl-edge that is being transmitted bysomeone who lived in antiquity.And that person then, whoeverthis fourteenth or fifteenth-cen-tury person is, will say truthfulthings and the channeler will bethe conduit and then you can gettruth for you that way.

Another will say, “My truthcomes through meditating.” Butnot the kind of meditating thatthe Bible commands us to do.You see, the Bible says in Psalm1, “You need to meditate. Youneed to quiet yourself and medi-tate but you need to focus yourmind on God’s word.”We needto meditate on God’s word dayand night. Meditation for theChristian is a very thoughtfulconcentrated effort where you


seek to understand the depths ofthe truth of God’s word andthen apply it to your life.That’snot what meditation is for a NewAger.

Meditation for them is aprocess whereby the persondoing the meditating seeks verydiligently to empty his mind.Notto focus it on a single truthsource but to empty his mindand to make it available forsomebody somewhere todeposit some kind of truth. Butyou see, there is no single identi-fiable truth source for NewAgers which, of course, hasfrightening implications formorality.

This isn’t talked aboutmuch, but some call this anabsence of an identifiable truthsource, some call it a recipe formoral anarchy. Yesterday morn-ing I met a man who had beendeeply involved in the New AgeMovement for over five years. Isaid,“What caused you to secondguess what you were involvedin?” He said, “It was the moralanarchy.” He said, “I became apart of a group and we used tosit around and talk about whatmy truth was.” He said, “So oneperson would say, ‘My truth isdoing, saying, feeling, acting outthis form of morality,’ and some-one would say, ‘Oh, that’s nice,that’s your truth.Well, this is mytruth,’ and ‘This is my truth,’ and‘This is my truth.’”

“Then I heard you give amessage about human beingsstanding morally accountablebefore a holy God, while youwere talking, I became con-scious for the first time of mysin.” He said,“I knew I was play-in’ games. I was just makin’ upthe truth. That’s all I was doin’.Manufacturing the truth I want-ed for myself so that I could live

the way I wanted to live. Thevery next morning I fell on myknees and I received Christ and Ireceived forgiveness.”

But this recipe for moralanarchy is a frightening thing.This kind of relativism manifestsitself in the area of what is calledholistic health. Holistic medicaltreatment which is, sort of, themedical arm of the New AgeMovement.

Many New Agers are sickand tired of conventional med-ical treatment,which they feel isreductionistic, ineffective andhorrendously expensive.Holistichealth practices have soared innumber and so have the reportsof bizarre treatments thatinclude attempts at healingbased on homeopathy and life-force massages and visualizationhealing techniques, hypnosis,crystal gazing, psychic sessions,yoga, and the list goes on.

Now, as strange and aspotentially dangerous as some ofthose healing techniques maybe, it has to be stated honestlythat New Agers are leading theway in our generation’s long-time-in-coming realization of theimportance of proper nutritionin the quest for health and well-ness. Vegetarianism is very com-mon among New Agers. Nowthey attach it to more than justgood physical health.

They attach it to this wholelife force that’s existing in theuniverse. But, charlatans aboundin the field of holistic medicaltreatment.And many of the tech-niques used are overtly occulticand they make no bones aboutit.

What do New Agers believeabout death and the life here-after? On this point there isalmost total agreement in the

New Age camp: Reincarnation.But, not the historic Hindu kindof reincarnation that teachesthat if someone lives wickedly,they can devolve or be reincar-nated into a lower life form suchas a dog or a black widow spiderto work off bad karma.Traditional, historical Hinduismwould teach that a life ofwickedness would result in akind of reincarnation into alower life form, whereas if youlive righteously and so you’ll bereincarnated into a better situa-tion in the next life.

NewAgers tend to believe ina westernized,optimistic,no-loseform of reincarnation whichsimply suggests that the moreaware you become of your god-ness, the more you flow withthe life force within you, themore you trust the divine energyand the more you love the othergod-men and god-womenaround you, the greater the like-lihood of upward evolvement inthe next life until…finally youwill break free from the need fora human body and you willbecome one with the universein a kind of spirit form forever.And I’m telling you friends,thereis almost a euphoric optimism inthis upward evolvement theory.It’s a no-lose situation.

We could go on and on dis-cussing the various tenets ofNew Age thinking.There are somany beliefs…quasi-doc-trines…and so much more thatcould be said but, because oftime constraints, I just want topose one more final questionabout beliefs and it’s a key ques-tion:What do NewAgers believeabout Jesus?

Once again, it is difficult topin down a single universally-accepted New Age doctrineabout the identity of Jesus Christ


because so many New Age writ-ers have differing truths fromdifferent truth sources on thisissue. However, one popularnotion is that Jesus Christ wassimply a good human beingupon whom a special, concen-trated life-energy descended.

It’s called a “Christ con-sciousness.” In other words, theybelieve Jesus was born to a phys-ical father and mother: a totaldenial of the virgin birth. Jesuswas born to an earthly fatherand mother and He was a goodman. In fact, because the Bibleonly traces the life of Jesusbetween His birth and agetwelve,and then picks up His lifestory at around age thirty,many New Agers believe thatin the intervening eighteenyears, Jesus spent Histime…guess where, doingguess what? In India studyingunder gurus!And that’s a wide-spread New Age belief. ThatJesus,during those silent years,as they’re called, migrated toIndia and sat under the teach-ing of gurus and then, as aresult of receiving that kind ofknowledge from these gurus, aChrist consciousness descendedupon Him.

Now Jesus, they say, con-ducted His business with thisChrist consciousness. Krishna,Buddha and others experiencedthe same Christ consciousnessin their day and, if you and Iwere only more enlightened andmore aware of our godness, thevery same Christ consciousnesscould descend on us. No prob-lem. So those are sort of the tipsof the iceberg of the New Agebeliefs.

Wouldn’t you agree thatthey differ radically, radicallyfrom Biblical Christianity? TheNew Agers, when we talk about

God, believe in an impersonalforce, but Christianity is taughtthat we have a personal Father.That there is a God who has per-sonality and characteristics andattributes and He tells us, whoknow Him personally, to callHim Father. New Agers believethat man is just a god unaware.

Christianity teaches just theopposite: man is the creatureand God is the Creator and thatthere never be confusion as towho the Creator is and who thecreature is.Man is created in theimage of God but he is not God.

About truth,NewAgers havean infinite number of truth

sources that can contradict oneanother and they simply handlethat by saying,“That’s one truth,that’s another truth, they don’thave to agree.” They can beopposite in what they’re tryingto purport and they think theycan both be true.That is logicalnonsense you understand but, inthe mind of a New Ager, that’sok.

In historical Christianity, ofcourse,there is one truth source:the Bible. Death, New Agersbelieve, is westernized forms ofoptimistic reincarnation pat-terns. Christianity says, “It isappointed unto man once to dieand then stand before God.”NewAgers say,“Jesus Christ is a goodman with a Christ consciousness

for a period of time.”Christianitysays,“Jesus is God’s son and He isthe only Saviour for mankind.”

Now, let me pose a questionI’ll bet many of you are asking inyour minds right now.You’ll say,with beliefs as unusual as theones the NewAgers hold,what isthe attraction? What’s the draw?Why are so many people beingdrawn into this movement? Letme offer multiple explanationsfor the phenomenal growth ofthe NewAge movement.

The first one being, the inad-equacy of secular humanism.Foralmost a century now, thephilosophers have been beatingthe “God-is-dead” drum.You allheard it? God is dead, there isno one home in heaven.Man isthe measure of all things.

We evolved from unorgan-ized gasses and we are all head-ed for cosmic oblivion. Secularhumanism.The result of secu-lar humanism has been a senseof futility rampant in the popu-lous. It it all seems so absurd,doesn’t it? We come fromunexplained gasses and we’regoing towards oblivion. Secularhumanism was found to beempty and inadequate. It did notanswer the yearnings of the soul.So what is the opposite of,“thereis no God”?

God is everywhere and Godis everything.What is the directopposite of atheism? Pantheism.Atheism says,“There is no God.”Pantheism says, “Can’t you seeand feel Him,He’s everywhere ineverything.There is the essenceof God in all matter, in you and inme.”

The second reason for theappeal of the New Age is that itresonates with one of thestrongest drives in humans: tobe God. Admit it. To be in total


It was moral anarchy:I was just making up

the truth that I wantedfor myself so that Icould live the way I

wanted to live.

control of your life and your des-tiny.To answer to no one,to bowto no one, to worship no one, tocontrol everything, arrangeeverything, to know everything.The NewAge gurus and authorskeep pleading for people towake up and become awareof their godness.

They say,“You’re it.Wakeup. Claim it. Believe it.Express it.” And friends, Iwanna tell you, that is a high-voltage doctrine for peoplelike you and me to ponder.That’s high-voltage stuff, Imean it resonates, doesn’t it?Now Christianity at this pointis at a decided disadvantagebecause, at its core,Christianity says, “No, no,none of that. There is aCreator and we are the crea-tures.” And we creatures kick,stomp and fuss about our sec-ond-class status.We want to beGod rather than bow to God,don’t we?

Third appeal of the NewAgeis that it is morally unchalleng-ing. At the outset, this soundsfantastic, doesn’t it? No rules. Orto be more accurate, make upyour own or receive your ownpersonal set of rules, your owntruth.Your truth revealed to youby your private truth source isjust as valid as my truth revealedto me by my truth source whichall plays out to this ethical anar-chy: you live by your truth and Iwill live by mine. My predictionis, in the next five to ten years,the New Age Movement will becrippled by moral confusionfrom the inside of the move-ment.

It’s happening, to someextent already, because somecharlatan, some deceptive chan-nelers are being exposed andsome people doing holistic med-

ical kinds of practices are beingexposed as being deceivers andguess what’s happening? Somepeople inside the New AgeMovement are saying, “Hey,you’re being deceptive,” and theguy says,“Well, that’s my truth.”

So if some people say,“Well,that’s deception,” othersrespond, “You just work withyour truth, I’ll work with mine.”It’s breaking down already andit’s going to happen in greaterand greater form. When youoperate with ethical anarchy awhole bunch of people will gethurt, badly. And pretty soonthere are going to be peoplecrawling out of those seminarssaying, “Show me one absolutetruth source and I’ll buy it.Anything beats ethical anarchy.”

The fourth appeal of theNewAge Movement is the prom-ise of an optimistic future. Thiswesternized reincarnation thingthat New Agers believe —thatthings are going to get betterand better in the future and thatfinally, as you go from middleclass to royal class to aristocracyto this wonderful oneness withthe universe— that is a veryexciting optimistic and pleasantthought, isn’t it? It’s a no-losepromise.

Again, Christianity speaks of

a day of reckoning. Hebrews9:27: You live once then youstand before a Holy God andgive an account of your life.Askan average guy to make a choice.What is he most drawn to? Aguaranteed fairy tale ending tohis existence or a day of reck-oning where he must standaccountable for his sins andmistakes.What do you thinkhe’ll choose? The fairy taleending,nine out of ten times.This all focuses on the issueof how a man saves his soul,doesn’t it? You see, in theNewAge Movement, one hasto improve himself over anumber of lifetimes and theneventually he will experi-ence oneness with the uni-verse, which is just another

way of saying you save your soulby good intentions, good deeds,moral living, et cetera, et cetera.

And Christianity says, “No,no.No matter how hard you try,no matter how long you work atit, you’ll never be able to saveyourself.You must humble your-self, repent of your personal sinthat’s against absolute truththat’s recorded in God’s word,and you need a forgiver fromyour sin and a saviour. One hasbeen provided in Jesus Christ.”

Finally, one last point and itwill hurt me to say this, but I’mtrying to be truthful. I think NewAge is moving rapidly aheadbecause Christians and Christianchurches are failing miserably indemonstrating and presentingthe truth of Biblical Christianity.Now hear this loud and clear. Iknow a lot of people who are inthe New Age Movement and Ican say that many of them areintelligent, kind, honest, gentle,open-minded people who sim-ply fit Jesus’ description inMatthew 9:36.They’re like sheep


without a shepherd.Large numbers of NewAgers

used to go to churches. But afterfive or ten years of lifeless lec-tures about a distant, demandingGod, they said, “I’m sorry,” andmade exits from churches withstained glass windows to moveon to look for something orsomeone or a force, if need be,that would touch their spirits,activate their senses, and renew

their hope.Now partly as a result of the

failure of Christians like you andme, to represent and communi-cate the truth of the living JesusChrist passionately and prayer-fully and in the power of a per-sonal witness, there are millionsof people way out on a brokenlimb.These people matter to thetrue God. They really do, andthey are sheep without a shep-

herd. It is my prayer that all of uswho know Jesus Christ in a per-sonal way will do our part toeducate ourselves,to understandthese people, to love these peo-ple, to interact with themrespectfully, and to lead thesepeople back, one-by-one to atruth-filled, vital, satisfying rela-tionship with the only Saviour inthe world, Jesus Christ.


The New Age movement is, without a doubt, one of the most popular religious movements of our day.The New Age message is championed by celebrities, taught in schools, and promoted, often in subtleways, by some of today’s most popular movies and television programs. For many people, the NewAge religion has become a preferable alternative to Christianity. Yet what is it about this movement thatholds such appeal? Is what the New Age movement offers truly more preferable than the Gospel? Inanswering these questions, we shall consider four basic “doctrines” of the New Age religion in com-parison to those of Christianity — namely, God, Humanity, Truth, and the Afterlife.

G O D

“There is nothing new under the sun,” says King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:9. The truth of thisproverb is borne out by the New Age belief about God — that is, that He is an impersonal energy orforce which is found in every part of the cosmos. This belief represents an ancient pagan religiousoutlook known as pantheism (the belief that God is in everything). How does this view run contrary tothat of the Bible? Read Colossians 1:16. What does this verse tell us about God’s relationship toCreation? Creation’s relationship to God? Is God presented as “impersonal” in the Bible? Why?

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In Romans 1:25, Paul addresses the very same belief in his own day. What was the result of this fail-ure to acknowledge the Creator (read verses 26-32)?

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L I F E A P P L I C AT I O N : THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

While the sin of idol-worship, which Paul is addressing, seems far removed from us today, A. W. Tozerrightly points out the principle underlying Paul’s words:

“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy ofHim...Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idol-atry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God andacts as if they were true.” 1

By eliminating the concept of a personal God, the New Age movement also eliminates man’s obliga-tion to live in light of the character and revealed will of God. The inevitable result of shifting the focus ofworship from the Creator to his creation is religious and social anarchy. If God were indeed nothingmore than an energy force, would this affect your own ethical and moral standards? Why or why not?

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H U M A N I T Y

The necessary follow-up to the New Age belief that God is “in everything” is that God — that is, theenergy force which pervades the universe — is in us. We, in effect are each individual manifestationsof God. How is this view different from what the Bible teaches about humanity? Read the followingpassages and consider how they present man as distinct from God:

Exodus 15:11; Romans 3:23________________________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________________________________________________Psalm 103:15; Revelation 4:8-9______________________________________________________________

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Why do you think the New Age view that man and God are one is so appealing? By teaching thatman is actually God, the New Age movement fills our most basic desire to control our own destinies— to create our own future. Again, this “theology” is nothing new, but goes back to the very beginningof human existence. Read Genesis 3:5-6. What was the essence of Satan’s misrepresentation ofGod’s prohibition on eating the fruit? Why do you think Satan chose to say what he did? How didAdam and Eve respond?

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From that very first sin in the garden until the present time, man’s first and foremost desire has beento control his own destiny — to be his own God. Can you think of any situation in your life which youwould like to be able to change with the snap of your fingers? Why do you think God has allowed thissituation to continue?

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If it were up to us, we would eliminate every trial and hardship from life — yet it is sometimes thesevery hardships and trials which cause us to grow and mature as Christians. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Did God correct the situation Paul was going through? What was Paul’s response to this? Is thereany situation in your life that you think God might also be allowing for the sake of your growth and Hisglory?

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There are situations, however, which we can change — not because we are gods and have thepower to do so ourselves, but because God chooses to exercise His own sovereign power on ourbehalf if only we ask. Read Matthew 7:11. What is the promise of this verse? Take a moment to thinkof at least three things in your life that you would like to do, have, or change. Have you asked God forthese things? Do so now.

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T R U T H

According to the Bible, God is the source of all truth. According to the New Age movement, however,man replaces God — or, to be more precise, becomes God — and therefore becomes his ownsource of truth. The inevitable result is relativism — that is, the denial that there is actually only oneTruth, for the truth that one person has may be quite different from that of another person; yet theyare both right because, after all, they are both God. Can you foresee any potential problems with thisrelativistic view of truth? Consider the following situations:

A man considers it his “truth” to divorce his wife and remarry. The man’s wife disagrees.

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A co-worker considers it her “truth” to borrow the company car for a holiday drive to the country, even

though this is against company policy._____________________________________________________

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An unlicensed “doctor” considers it his truth to practice medicine, often to the detriment of his unsus-pecting patients. ______________________________________________________________________

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Can we say that there is a clear “wrong” and clear “right” in any of these situations? By New Agestandards we cannot. Each side has its own truth, and each side is therefore equally right. The co-worker may be fired, and the doctor imprisoned, yet this is only because the rest of the world doesnot accept the validity of their “truths.” As one can see, and as pastor Hybels vividly points out, suchan approach to “truth” is nothing but a recipe for moral anarchy.

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For the Christian, however, truth lies not in the mind of man, but on the pages of the Bible. If God isthe source of truth, then the Bible is the revelation of that truth to us. Read 2 Peter 1:20-21. Whatdoes this passage tell us about the Bible? Keep in mind that the word “prophecy” here refers not justto predictions of the future, but to the revelation of God’s word, whatever the content and purpose ofit might be. In this sense, all of Scripture is “prophecy.” Was human will an ingredient in the formulationof Scripture? The word “moved” in verse 21 is the same word used in Acts 27:15 and 17 to refer tothe “driving along” of the ship in the midst of the storm, completely out of control of the sailors onboard. What does this tell you about the role played by the writers of the books of the Bible?

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Read John 14:6. What is the “truth” claim of this passage? Does it leave any room for another way toGod?

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The New Age view of Jesus, we should note, is that He was simply a man, albeit one who had ahighly enlightened consciousness. Yet what did Jesus have to say about Himself? Read John 10:30.How did Jesus’ listeners understand Him (read John 10:31-33)?

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T H E A F T E R L I F E

A final result of replacing God with man is that the afterlife becomes a no-lose situation. It would benonsensical to think that we could die and live for the rest of eternity in Hell separated from God — forwe are God! According to New Age teaching, reincarnation is assured, and it will continue until weachieve a final state of enlightened consciousness, at which point we will leave our mortal bodies


behind and become one with the energy force of the universe. Again, the biblical perspective on theafterlife is quite different. Read Hebrews 9:27. Does this allow for the possibility of reincarnation? Whatdoes judgment imply (read Matthew 13:40-43)?

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Pastor Hybels points out that one of the fundamental reasons for the phenomenal growth of the NewAge movement is the failure of the church to present the truth of biblical Christianity. What are someways in which you, as an individual, can do more to present this truth to your family, friends, andpeers?

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1 The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper San Francisco, 1961),3-4.



T H E N E W A G E M O V E M E N T

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Colossians 1:16

Romans 1:25

Exodus 15:11

Romans 3:23

1 Samuel 15:29

Romans 11:29

Psalm 103:15

Revelation 4:8-9

Genesis 3:5-6


Matthew 7:11

2 Peter 1:20-21

Acts 27:15 & 17

John 14:6

John 10:30-33

Hebrews 9:27

Matthew 13:40-43

T H E A F T E R L I F E


W R I T E T O U S …Are you inspired, moved, or drawn closer to Godby a story you heard in the Living Faith Series?

We would love to hear from you.Send your comments to:

Christian Fellowship Publishing Editor6245 W. Howard St.Niles, Illinois 60714


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A final result of replacing God with man is that the afterlife becomes a no-lose situation. It would benonsensical to think that we could die and live for the rest of eternity in Hell separated from God — forwe are God! According to New Age teaching, reincarnation is assured, and it will continue until weachieve a final state of enlightened consciousness, at which point we will leave our mortal bodiesbehind and become one with the energy force of the universe. Again, the biblical perspective on theafterlife is quite different. Read Hebrews 9:27. Does this allow for the possibility of reincarnation? Whatdoes judgment imply (read Matthew 13:40-43)?

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Pastor Hybels points out that one of the fundamental reasons for the phenomenal growth of the NewAge movement is the failure of the church to present the truth of biblical Christianity. What are someways in which you, as an individual, can do more to present this truth to your family, friends, andpeers?

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1 The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper San Francisco, 1961),3-4.



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