Why One Way, Session 1

Well, it does seem just a little bit strange that Doug would talk about how much he likes me and stuff given that Over the past 30 hours or so. He has attempted to kill me so many times. Some of you know that or have been able to tell just sort of by looking that Doug and I share a common passion for pedaling around in cotton spandex shorts.

I think he demonstrates a true belief in the sovereignty of God in riding on the streets around here. If you can call them streets. We just did just a few hours ago a 75 mile bike ride out through Hicksville, Massapequa, down to Jones Beach and back again, and I can tell you some of those roads we were on Do not deserve the title road.

But yeah over the past 30 hours we've covered 126 miles and climbed 7 ,000 feet together, so if I all of a sudden go ah and fall down you'll know exactly what's What's going on up here, but so anyways it is good to be back I've I don't know how many times I've been here to New Hyde Park.

I just remember that a number of years ago. After a debate we had I think in Queens on a Wednesday night. We did a presentation here, and we had a little food right back there in the foyer actually Hello, I hate these Britney Spears microphones and but that night a whole group of Ahmadi Muslims showed up.

They canceled their mosque service to come here And to listen to the presentation on New Testament Reliability. I forget what year that was. I think it was about what about 2007-ish. Somewhere around there.

I guess you might remember where Chris is hiding. That's about right. Yeah, so it's been a little while and what's really strange is I come here this evening and Harold Camping is still here. That's the amazing thing.

It's just shocking to me That I had heard, but obviously misheard that Harold had gone on to his reward and Keep an eye on that guy. If he starts talking about numbers and stuff in scripture Turn with me please to the gospel of Luke chapter 13.

Please don't be throwing my books down there. I appreciate that. That hurts me. I work so hard on them. Luke chapter 13 I was telling Doug and Brian on our ride today that I was going to be speaking from this text.

Repentance, Faith, and the Meaning of Biblical Christianity

And I knew they would never guess given our topic that this is where I would be starting at. But hopefully by the end of the evening I will have tied it all together so you can see why it is relevant if there is anyone here this evening who Does not know the gospel of Jesus Christ has not bowed the knee in repentance and faith To Christ you could sort of ask yourself the question Do I live my life in such a way?

That I seek to do so for the honor and glory of Christ. Do I trust in him alone for my salvation is he my all-in-all and if your answer those questions is no I pretty much just live for myself then that would mean that you have not yet bowed the knee in repentance and faith To Jesus Christ if you maybe were raised as a slightly religious person you go to church once in the blue moon.

Maybe twice a year something along those lines. That is not biblical Christianity. There is nothing in the Bible about people who are Christians. Who are so only a couple of hours a year? Christianity is is an entire commitment of oneself.

It is a dying to this world and a living to Christ and so obviously much of what calls itself Christianity in this world that is focused primarily upon external things and Does not make an impact on a daily basis in people's lives.

That's not really Christianity. There's a lot of that out there, and if that's what you have seen and maybe have been offended by. Well, I would invite you to listen to what we have to say this evening.

And if you're not familiar with the Bible and why we might even start there on a subject like this. Fundamentally we believe that the Bible was revealed by God that it has been preserved down through the ages for us and that in Fact it is God breathed.

It is the very breath of God. God speaking. There are many people who call themselves Christians and don't hold that view. There are many destructive critics out there. There have always been destructive critics of the Bible and yet the Bible continues to be believed by millions not out of ignorance but out of knowledge out of faith and When we look to the words of Jesus we believe that Jesus Christ was not simply a moral teacher.

We do not view him as being on par with a Mohammed or a Buddha. Or any of the great philosophers of ages past. While he said many things that other people had said when Jesus talked about the golden rule for example He wasn't the first one to come up with that.

There's no question about that. But from our perspective the reason for that is that God has made us in such a way that that we have We are ourselves have been made in the very image of God. He has impressed his image upon us.

So we have a conscience we have an understanding of morality. In fact a fascinating study was done just recently that demonstrated that even one-year-old little children Just just the age of 12 months Long before they can really communicate and really show any kind of meaningful understanding of complex subjects or anything like that at all have an innate inborn sense of justice and It's interesting.

It's the atheists and the evolutionists that Saw this and are trying to come up with explanations for it and we Christians go nothing surprising there at all. Not only do we see the image of God in that but also we discover that You never have to teach that little child to say no to mommy and daddy.

They will do that on their own. Given a very short period of time and we see that as the fallen nature of man. And so when we look to Jesus we see not just a moral teacher. But according to the Bible he is actually God in human flesh.

He has eternally existed the second person in the Trinity. He entered into human flesh. He came to give his life a ransom for many. They said it was necessary to go to Jerusalem and die upon Calvary's tree that he rise again the third day and having Prophesied all that he then did all that and when you think about it of all the moral teachers in the world.

The only one who said I'm going to go do this. I'm going to die and I'm gonna be I'm gonna rise again. Was Jesus Christ and I think that gives him a leg up on everybody else as far as the authority of what it is He has to say and so When you really ask the question Why is it that Christians believe what they believe and can make such a in our society today?

Audacious claim as to say that the teachings of Jesus Christ the teachings of the Christian faith of the biblical faith Are the one truth that is binding upon all people at all times. That's an audacious claim today.

We live in a society where all religious claims are considered to be equal. Everyone's thoughts on religion are considered to be equal to everyone else's thoughts on religion. That's funny. We don't think that way about anything else.

We don't think that way about anything else. If you really think that that's how it always should be then I would like to suggest that If you ever need to have heart surgery done Why don't you just go knock on your neighbor's door and ask him because his view of heart surgery and things like that is just as valid as anybody else's.

Now your next door neighbor might be a plumber but You know if you're really committed to this idea of everyone's views are equal to everybody else's views. Then that should be okay for you to do. But I doubt you're going to do that and we all know why we do know that in certain areas.

Certain people's opinions and thoughts are significantly more More relevant and weighty than other people's thoughts, but the one great dogma. Well, there's a number of great dogmas, but our society is creating dogma all the time absolutely unquestionable things.

They're normally taught not in the form of a creed, but through media through the educational system. And one of those dogmas is that when it comes to religion Everyone's opinion is equal because There is no absolute truth.

There is no objective truth. There is no right and wrong when it comes to the area of religion. That's what's being said. They don't like to say it that boldly because then you can challenge that statement.

So what you do is you communicate that in another way and that is that everybody is equal in their opinion on that subject. If nobody knew anything about heart surgery then everyone else's opinions would be equal because we're all equally ignorant because there is no truth to know and.

So when the world tells us Well, everyone's opinions in religion are equal what they're saying is no one really knows anything. About the field of religion everything is equal. And so that's what our society tells us.

Well, obviously from our perspective if Jesus was who he claimed to be if there was an empty tomb if there was Resurrection if you do have all the fulfilled prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ prophecies that we can demonstrate were made hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born then we must give to him a Significant authority when it comes to teaching us what is true and false, especially from God's perspective.

And so I want you to listen with me to some words that Jesus Uttered these words are recorded for us in Luke chapter 13. These words have been preserved for us. We can go back and show you manuscripts of the New Testament that go far closer to the original writings than any other work of antiquity and so if you question the preservation of these words.

You would have to question the preservation of everything in history if you're going to be consistent very few people are. But the beginning of the chapter read these words now on the same occasion. There was some some president who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed their sacrifices.

And she has said to them. Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate. I tell you no. But unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Or do you suppose of those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed? Killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem. I tell you no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Now you may again be asking I don't see the relevance to the question about Jesus being the only way to what Jesus says here. Let's think a little bit about what he does say. Here the gospel message is rooted firmly in history.

We know that there was a man named Pilate. We know that Pilate was not a nice man. We know that Pilate was actually a rather evil man and that he ruled with an iron fist and. Evidently there was an occasion and it is recorded by others as well that that Pilate.

The Romans were well known for suppressing rebellion with a vicious vicious Hand as a crucifixion was all about crucifixion was a horrible way to die. No Roman citizen could be crucified that was that was beneath the dignity of any Roman citizen and so Pilate had mingled their blood with their sacrifices and had profaned the sacrifices in the process and and some people were Talking to Jesus about this and evidently they sort of had a theological question.

Does that mean those people were worse than other people and Jesus said to them do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate and So he understood that these people had the idea that if you had a particularly gruesome death there's something like that happened to you that would demonstrate you are more of a sinner than someone else and Jesus's response to these people was very straightforward and may I suggest to you that from our perspective today.

It was very politically incorrect. It was in fact we would call harsh. Very often truthfulness is harsh from our perspective today. He says I tell you no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish and So he's teaching us that we needn't worry about judging other individuals and trying to discern why it was that they died in the way that they died or Received judgment in the way that they received judgment.

Notice Jesus is not in any way denying the truth that death is a judgment from God or That God could have been bringing judgment upon these particular individuals for their sin. That's what death is. Death is the punishment of sin.

And in fact, it's a necessary punishment. Not only is it necessary because God had said long ago That a person who sins shall die. But likewise if you think about it, it would be horrible if sinners didn't die.

Why? If sinners didn't die, they just keep keeping up to themselves judgment. Do they not? Is it not actually a mercy from God. That we don't live for a thousand years if we're going to stand before the judgment seat.

We're going to be judged what we did in the flesh. Is it better to be judged for 60 or 70 years or for six or seven hundred years? When you think about it The answer is fairly obvious. Jesus does not deny that sin is a judgment from God.

But what he does deny is that we can look at how someone dies and go aha. They must have been more of a sinner than someone else. But what I want you to focus on is the fact that he says the people in front of him.

It would have been a mixed group. It wouldn't have been all people from just one group. He says no, I tell you but unless you repent. You change your attitude you change your direction. You do it about face and move toward God rather than away from God.

You will all likewise perish evidently somewhere in these people's minds with an idea of self-righteousness. The idea that since they had not received this kind of punishment since since they were living a good life Before God or at least they thought they were.

That they would have life that they would not perish and then Jesus brings up another incident. And this is an incident not where you had an evil Roman ruler who does something terrible. But instead or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Ceylon fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem.

So there was a historical reality that at that time in in history. There had been a tower in Ceylon. It was being built and obviously Building technology was not quite the same then as it is today. But then again, I It's it's pretty common each year you see something about a building that was being built.

Are partially collapsing or completely collapsing and things like that does does in fact happen and a tower in Ceylon fell and killed 18 people and so he asks them Do you think that because this what looks like to us natural type of?

Error takes place. There's this tragedy and it just so happens that they were there these 18 people. It happened to be there. Maybe there are some of the workers. Maybe there's people passing by. Whatever it might be.

Do you think that means that they were worse than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you no and immediately Jesus turns it to them, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Now there is obviously a very strong message of repentance in the scripture for every single one of us.

And I think all of us need to hear that the Christian life is a life of repentance. Often Christians think of the fact well, I repented of my sins, but we we need to recognize that repentance and Confessions very Greek term confession means to say the same thing.

It's a we live a life of confession. We are agreeing with God constantly about our own sin and agreeing with God constantly about his holiness. That's that marks our lives each and every day when we seek to live in holiness before God.

That's something that that if you don't understand why Christians do that. The reason is that we believe that God has taken out our old heart and given us a new heart of the physical blood-pumping organ.

But the very center of our being in our person which was dead set against him now has been supernaturally changed to where it now loves him and Desires his will and his way in our life, and that's why we respond to things differently we have different sets of desires than those who fulfill their own desires in their lives and so.

When we have that kind of a change in our in our life then confession and repentance is something that we experience each and every day as as we. As we recognize areas in our life where we are not walking in such a way that is pleasing to God.

We're not trying to earn our way to salvation that's taken care of in Christ alone. But a new creature in Christ does not want to live in such a way as to as to bring Disgrace to the one who has given his life for us and so.

That's why we want to do this and so this idea of of repentance and confession is very important to us. But notice that the message is for everyone. The message is for everyone and that's where I want to bring us to our topic this evening.

The Universal Proclamation of Repentance and Forgiveness

Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the message to all the world. To all of the nations in fact if you'll turn to the end of the gospel of Luke if you're already looking at the gospel of Luke. And if you'll look at the stories at the very end of the chapter.

Beginning at verse 44 of Luke 24. Now he said to them these are my words I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses. And the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled that he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and he said to them thus it is written that Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day and.

That repentance for forgiveness of sin to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem all the nations. Here Jesus is meeting with his disciples the very first time after his resurrection.

He is opening their minds to understand the scriptures. And what's one of the very first things he communicates to them not only have the scriptures Testified of him from the law of Moses on where they all pointed to him.

He was the fulfillment of these things. But because they now understand this that repentance for forgiveness of sin to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations. Now here's the question why? If Christianity is just one of many answers that are acceptable to God Why would Jesus say this?

Why would the proclamation have to be made to all nations? There are certain nations on this planet that have official religions and From the perspective of our world today We are told that those religions should be honored as being equal to all other Religions and that and that as long as you're just sincere in whatever it is you believe That that's good enough for God.

I Mean the whole idea is that that God's biggest concern is not his glory. It's not his law. It's not his holiness. You never get to talk about things like that in our society any longer. Instead it seems that God's biggest thing is are you just sincere in what you believe?

No, let me just ask you a question. There is not even a single Christian in this room That will claim that even in this day. You have loved God perfectly with everything you said done and thought. But if you were really sincere you would have right?

Can any of us claim to be completely 100 Sincere because honestly if we're sincere that we're going to make perfect application right and yet we all fail and So the world has snuck in and basically said well the standard is sincerity.

If you sincerely believe it to be true, then in the field of religion, that's good enough for God. I simply want to ask a question. Who told us this. What's the what's the Epistemological foundation to use a nice $10 Latin philosophical term what's how do we when did God reveal to us and to whom did he reveal it?

That the standard is not what you believe. It's not about what God has done. It's all about your level of sincerity where they come from. Again it's one of those many things that have been communicated to us and to those to whom we as Christians are speaking in a subtle way through the media through education through philosophy through all the things that we expose ourselves to.

That is another dogma that has been communicated to us, and we cannot question it but we need to recognize that it's functioning in the minds of Everyone that we as Christians are talking to and if you're not a Christian this evening.

It's functioning in your mind as well, and you may actually like that idea that yes I just think it's a matter of sincerity. I just think it's a matter of you if you just believe hard enough. So for a Christian, it's okay.

If you really believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who entered into flesh and lived a perfect life and gave his life upon Calvary's tree is a sacrifice for sins, but anyone who believes in him might be saved and he rose again the third day.

He's going to come to judge the living and the dead. But it's okay if you believe that as long as there's nothing in there that says and that's the only way to have peace with God, but the problem is that's what Jesus said.

And when you think about it. The whole idea that well, that's good enough for you but you know actually the way of contemplation a Hindu contemplation and reincarnation or Buddhist contemplation and emptying of oneself or or or maybe the way of going on Hajj and saying the shahada and and Living in such a way as to to earn God's favor in Islam or whatever else.

But that's good enough for other people think about it for just a moment if those other ways are as equally valid in God's sight as the cross. And wasn't God? Incredibly to have Jesus die in such a fashion.

Think about it for just a moment crucifixion was so ignoble so Repulsive that there were certain writers that period it would not even use the word. It was almost a dirty word. It was so repulsive to see a body that had been whipped with a cat of nine tails.

Often so badly that bones and innards would be exposed by the whipping nailed to a cross. Now Jesus experienced a full crucifixion including was called the death blow where the spear is placed into the side and Piercing the heart causing death the reason being because of the date of the crucifixion.

He didn't want to risk rebellion amongst the Jews. And because the Passover and so we want to hasten death. But normally they would be allowed to be up there for a lengthy period of time. So much so they would become praise the birds of prey and it was very common to hear of birds coming and Picking at the flesh of living people on those crosses.

It was such a horrible way of death and you didn't bleed to death. You eventually suffocate. Because you become so Dehydrated and so exhausted that you could not push yourself up to get breath because you're hanging on your arms.

And so you would eventually suffocate and that's why they broke the legs of the two thieves on the crosses next to Jesus. So they could no longer push themselves up and hence that would hasten death by suffocation.

It was a horrible way to die. When you think about when people say that that the Apostle Paul made up Christianity. Yeah, that makes brilliant sense. He wanted to come up with a religion that the world really liked and so he based it upon a Jewish Messiah that the Romans killed by crucifixion.

Yeah, that's really really attractive to a lot of people in the ancient world. Not really. Not really, but when you think about what crucifixion was and You think about the fact that Jesus himself was sinless.

He fulfilled God's law perfectly. He lived the exact life that Adam didn't live and Yet we did that to him. We the human race Could not have such purity could not have such holiness in our midst and For all sorts of different reasons.

You think of the people that were involved, Pilate, political expediency, Herod, he was just nuts. The Jewish leaders They hated the fact that Jesus exposed their hypocrisy. The Roman soldiers, it's killed people right and left anyway.

All sorts of different motivations. All illustrating the the breadth of human depravity and sin and Yet the whole message of Scripture is that was God's will that was God's purpose that was fulfilled upon the cross of Calvary.

Now if that was just to provide one amongst a number of different ways. That the beloved Son of God Did not have to die on the cross of Calvary. There are other ways you could have just been a sincere follower of.

Line them up! Way to truthfully and meaningfully Make the argument that our society is making today is to say that the cross of Calvary was an insane mistake an Insane mistake. Now, I realize the vast majority of the people you're talking to have never thought this.

They had a philosophy teacher in college or whatever freshman year that threw out a few silly arguments. And oh, okay, that sounds good. And they've just bought the whole, you know. All roads lead to heaven routine and have never really seriously thought through that to really believe that Is actually to show disrespect not only horrifically toward the cross when you think about it pretty much toward all religious belief in Antioch.

Because I know Doug mentioned that I've had the opportunity recently of you know, Doug was with me in London. One week to the day after the Benghazi consulate attack Doug and I got on we got on the tube in London.

We got on in London and we got off in Pakistan. They didn't think the tube went that far. The tube by the way is an underground in London but we got on in London and when we got off we walked out of the station and it's like Everything's in Arabic.

Everyone's wearing Arabic clothing. We were now in East London and it was amazing and We had a debate that evening the debate was on whether Muhammad is prophesied in the Bible. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube if you would like.

And We had the opportunity of speaking with young Muslims there afterwards and oh it was it was a it was a tremendous tremendous evening. In reality when you think about it What our society is saying about all religions being equal is not only Deeply disrespectful toward Christianity, but it's even deeply disrespectful toward the Muslims.

Because the Muslims don't even believe Jesus died on a cross. The Quran, Surah 4, verse 127 specifically says that he did not. Well, if all things are equal, then they're not really right. The Christians are like, no one's really wrong because nothing's really right.

It is a deeply disrespectful attitude. I mean I suggest to those of you who are looking for some ways of breaking our conversations out of the ruts. That very frequently the secularization of our society gets us into and that's exactly what's happening.

Europe's ahead of us. They're there they're we're catching up fast but we are really living now in the first generation of 20 some odd year olds now who have been raised by thorough secularists themselves.

And that's why we're seeing the massive shift in ethics and morals in our society. And it's only going to accelerate. It's only going to accelerate. And so very often we feel Constrained and Shoved into this narrow field of conversation.

Because we don't know how to change the conversation and start it in such a way as to get the thought process Going in the mind of the person we're talking to. But I'm trying to give you some practical hints as to how you might do that and one way you might do that Is by pointing out that the attitude that someone has.

When they in essence say all religions are equal all road leads to heaven so on and so forth is a fundamentally deeply disrespectful attitude. Toward every religious belief that says otherwise. Sure, there are some religious beliefs that are so squishy and so Nebulous and fuzzy and cloudy or whatever the terms you might want to use that that's basically what they said.

That yeah sure whatever anybody believes is fine, but there really aren't all that many people that seriously believe that I mean those Universalist Unitarian churches you ever gone and visited them. You know, there's there's there's four people in the congregation median age 72 you know, they're just not really making a big impact in the world shall we say and so when someone In a conversation with me starts off that perspective with that perspective I want to try to communicate to them in such a way as to immediately get them to begin to examine The foundations of what they are assuming is true.

All of us need to start thinking this way. We need to look at the presuppositions the beginning Assumptions that we have and that the person we're speaking to has if we don't think this way. We're never really going to be able to get past square one.

We're never really going to be able to get to getting them to think through what it is they're saying because the error in what they're saying is in their assumptions and Very rarely certainly not in our society and education today in much of education we are teaching people not how to think but what to think.

It's a vast difference between the two and We as believers need to be able to break through that. By causing people to think about why they're assuming the things that they're assuming. And that requires us to do a lot of thinking before the conversation begins.

We need to be doing some preparation. We need to know why we believe what we believe and how the Christian faith as a whole fits together. And this is this is something I know I've spoken on before maybe not here, but certainly on Long Island over the years.

We as believers every single one of us is called to be an apologist today. We are each called to give an answer to the hope that lies within us. Given the opposition of the society to what we believe we don't have any choice about this anymore.

We can't just rely upon quote-unquote apologists. Who knows how long some of us will even have access to a larger audience? And have the freedom to say the things that we say. Now we see those freedoms under attack in our in our culture.

At an alarming speed this is taking place. And so you as an individual Need to recognize the danger of holding a theology where you have your doctrine of God here your doctrine of Jesus here. You're docking the Bible Church and time salvation Etc etc and they're all in in little chicken coops.

They're all separated from one another and they never get close enough you to find out how they're all related. The beauty of the Christian faith is its harmony and its unity and If you can get a hold of that if you can see how for example the gospel is Trinitarian.

The gospel is rooted in the decree of the father the accomplishment of the son the application of the spirit. That's a Trinitarian gospel when you can see how all of this is related together that the the gospel gives rise to the church.

All this is related to the coming of Christ all this is related to the holiness of the individual it all is a beautiful Tapestry of divine truth once you see how it all hangs together. Then when you're talking with somebody else and you hear them and you hear their thought process.

You can start to realize oh, I see they have assumed this I need to bring that out. And it's not just you come out and go you've assumed this right now hit it with a hammer. Instead you realize okay, they've assumed this how can I get them to see?

That they've assumed this and that they need to question this so that brings us back to well. If you say all these religious faiths are the same then do you realize that you are in essence Saying that everyone who is held to Islam everyone who is held to Buddhism and Hindu is all the various thousands of forms of Hinduism and To obviously all the Christians down through the ages who proclaimed Jesus Christ as the only savior of the sinners that these individuals Were not only wrong But they were promoting something directly Opposite to what God would have us to believe that in essence what you're saying is all these religions at their heart.

Should not have our respect a lot of people today sort of back off at that point and go well I didn't I didn't mean to put it that way. I didn't mean to offend. But what you've done is you've got them to start thinking why are you assuming certain things?

Which brings us back to what Jesus was saying. Used to be quoting Jesus for almost anybody in our society would bring a fair amount of respect. And even today though the number of people willing to do this is growing larger and larger, but even today.

Most people are loathe to say something directly nasty. About Jesus Christ it's becoming more. Still what did Jesus? Did Jesus teach that he was one way amongst many ways now I know most of you have probably heard John chapter 14 verse 6.

I haven't quoted it yet this evening one of the main reasons is it's because it's the first verse. That almost anybody does quote and Hence a lot of people have heard it many times and sort of have a emotional reaction to it.

They may have heard certain skeptics and unbelievers. Say that what we don't know Jesus said in John is accurate and so on and so forth as I haven't gone to John 14 6 I am the way the truth like no one comes the father but by me, but that is Part of what Jesus taught.

But the fact is that's simply consistent with everything else Jesus taught and here's an example of it. Here in the gospel of Luke unless you repent You all likewise. Who does he say that to is that limited is that just to Jews.

Where are the texts and say now? I only mean this for Jews. I don't mean this for Buddhists. I Don't mean this for pagans. I Don't mean this for Muslims, although there weren't any at that time. He does not limit anything.

The only limitation is that those words are addressed to everyone who has need to do what repent? The reality is if every one of us looks in our own heart in our own mind. We know that every one of us has need.