"Those of you who were here last
Sunday night know that I promised to start a series of lessons
on Jesus, and what we know about Him. Knowing all we can is obviously
important if we are going to try to do what Jesus would. Tonight
will be pretty basic because I think most - maybe all - of us
here tonight are Christians. Still, it's very important to set
the stage so that we know what we have a right to expect in the
days and weeks ahead.
"Is there any question in your mind
that Jesus really was God in human form? There shouldn't be, because
as C. S. Lewis wrote in his book 'Mere Christianity', Jesus made
it impossible for us to believe anything except that He is the
Son of God, that He can forgive sins, and that He would rise from
the dead. When a person says things like these, you can only believe
one of three things: that he is who he says he is, that he is
a liar, or that he is nuts! Think about it; would any 'normal'
person claim those things? And it isn't too logical, is it, to
base your life and hopes on a religion founded by either Number
Two or Number Three.
"Also, you can't fool yourself by
taking the mid-way stance on some of the Eastern religions, that
Jesus wasn't the Son of God but He was a good teacher worth following.
Again, how much teaching would you like to take from an instructor
who you knew was either unbalanced or was purposely trying to
deceive you? What's that? You say you had teachers like that?
Well, they probably felt the same about you!"
"One other thing: we didn't actually
hear Jesus say these things about Himself. It was reported to
us in the Bible, our only written authority on Jesus. If the report
wasn't true, what would be the basis for our belief? Could we
be Christians?
"Well, as I said at the start, this
is all pretty basic for the Christian. Jesus is the Son of God,
God incarnate who actually walked among women and men. It's wild
- it's never happened before or since - but we believe it! Why
is that? How can hardheaded, skeptical men and women like you
and me believe something that might have come out of a fairy tale?
I think the answer is that God Himself put it into our hearts
to believe it. For most of us, I suspect He had to turn off our
'head switches' before our 'heart switches' would work. But did
you know that, once He gets through, you can use your head again,
too? Why not? Turning ourselves over to Him is so logical (once
you've done it) that we wonder how we could have had doubts before.
"Where do I go from here? Well, I
take the plunge and say that if we believe that Jesus is the Son
of God, and if we believe it because it is written in the Bible
and because God Himself gives us the faith to believe it, then
we must also believe that the other things that the Bible relates
are true. And we do believe them. You who are 'official' members
of this church signed a statement that said you believe the Bible.
It has become a basic premise of the Christian faith that the
Bible is the infallible word of God.
"But now comes a little glitch in
the system. We say we believe the Bible, and the church folks
down the street say they believe the Bible, and the folks across
town say that they believe it, too. But we 'believe' it differently
enough that we've formed separate denominations so we can each
pass on our beliefs in peace. So, who's right? Well, obviously,
we are!
"I didn't hear unanimous applause there. And really, I didn't
expect to, because I know you people, and I know that you all
realize that some of what we believe is not 'Bible truth' at all,
but is really church doctrine. Differences in interpretation have
sprung up because the Bible is not really all that easy to read
and understand. Some passages are very obscure, and Bible scholars
have argued for years about the precise meaning of certain words
and phrases. Denominations have often arisen because certain Christians
felt so strongly about their interpretation that they had to separate
themselves from other Christians.
"I was able to accept all this arguing
about the true meanings of Bible passages because, in most cases,
the arguments were about pretty obscure things. Almost no group
that regards itself as Christian departs very far from the basic,
greatest Bible belief - salvation through Jesus Christ. Therefore,
what we believe versus what they believe in the church down the
street usually comes down to what we are comfortable with. You
worship here rather than down the street because, to quote a famous
fast food slogan, ' we do it your way'.
"Having said that, I find I'm having
some trouble now accepting that we as Christians can separate
ourselves into groups in which we're comfortable, and isolate
ourselves from other Christians. It seems to me that if the Bible
is true, then it ought to be true for everybody. If we are right
and other Christians are wrong, they may be missing some very
important wisdom and direction. It works the other way around,
too, with the possibility of them being right and us being wrong.
"Now, I think - and I emphasized
'think', because this is a new idea for me - I think we are missing
some good things because we are making God's word too hard. I
think (and we can pursue this in scripture, if you like) that
God meant every one of us to deal directly with Him. Teachers
and pastors are used by God (please remember that - Ev and I like
the job and need the money!), but if you were on that proverbial
desert island all by yourself, I am confident that God could -
and would - talk directly to you without any help from me. And
I don't think you need to wait for a shipwreck. I think you can
communicate with Him right now, without using me as either your
teacher or your spokesperson.
"And since I'm getting myself into
deeper water all the time, I'll say that I think (there's that
word again!) that denominational teachings have sprung up because
we haven't relied on God to teach us our Christianity, but instead
we've depended on the fallible interpretations of our fellow men
and women. I think the phrase that some of us have come to regard
as a cop-out - that the Bible is true 'when properly discerned'
- is maybe absolutely true. But 'when properly discerned' doesn't
refer to which scholar is right, but to the ability of the Holy
Spirit to tell us what is true. I believe that this is pointed
out to us, among other places, in James 1:5. Let me read it to
you: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given
unto him. I like that!
"Well, I'm going to stop there for tonight, but let me invite you to do something this week. Before you read your Bible, pray a little prayer first. Make it something simple, like: God, if Your Holy Spirit is available to me to help me understand Your word, then I want that help now. I think James 1:5 gives me the right to expect it. Thank you, Lord. I'm going to be praying that prayer, too."
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NOTE: This sermon by Pastor Josh Felton comes from Chapter 14
of "If God is God," by Sandy Wilbur. Read more of Josh's sermons, or get
them all complete with all the amazing business that surrounds
them.