Series Illustrations
I-118
There is an ancient legend which I'd like to use as the basis of my message
this morning. As the story goes, there lived, many years ago, in the city of
Baghdad, a wise man by the name of Hakeem. Many people came to him seeking advice
and counsel which he gave freely to all, asking nothing in return.
One day there came to him a young man who had spent a great deal of his wealth,
but who had gotten little in return. He said:
"Tell me, wise man, what must I do to receive the most for that which I have
to spend?"
Hakeem answered:
"Any object that is bought or sold has no value whatsoever unless it contains
that which cannot be bought or sold. Look for the priceless ingredient."
"But what is the priceless ingredient?" asked the young man.
Hakeem replied: "My son, the priceless ingredient of every product sold in the
market place is the honor and integrity of the man who makes it. Consider his
name before you buy!"
For Christians, the priceless ingredient of our faith is the good name -- the
honor and integrity -- of Jesus Christ, the one who is its center. Consider
His name before you place your soul upon the auction block of the world's religious
market. For I unhesitatingly say that Christianity stands or falls upon the
person of Jesus Christ.
Integrity, Name, Name of Jesus,
****
I-119
August Comte, the French philosopher, was talking one day with Thomas Carlyle
who was a noted Christian. Mr. Comte boasted that he was going to start a new
system of thought to be known as "Positivism" which he predicted would eventually
replace Christianity.
Thomas Carlyle listened very carefully to the plan, and then replied:
"Very good, Mr. Comte, very good indeed. Now all you have to do is live as Christ
lived, speak as Christ spoke, die as Christ died, be raised again as Christ
was raised again, get the world to believe you are still alive, and then your
new religion will have a chance to get on."
Thomas Carlyle was right. The priceless ingredient in Christianity is the person
of Jesus Christ, and the priceless ingredient within the person of Jesus Christ
is His deity.
From "The Preacher"
****
I-120
It is said that Paliaro, a faithful herald of Christ who lived in Spain around
the time of Luther, was arraigned before the officers of the church at Rome
and asked,
"What is the first means of salvation?"
He answered,
"Christ."
"Well, what is the second means?"
"Christ."
"And what is the third?"
To which Paliaro gave the same unflinching answer,
"Christ."
Because he gave the Christ of God his true place and made nothing of rights
or rituals or ceremony or church, the leaders of that inquisition cried,
"Away with Him. He isn't fit to live."
And they sent Him home to wear a martyrs crown.
But Paliaro realized the truth of what one has since said:
"Without the way, there is no going.
Without the truth, there is no knowing.
Without the life, there is no living."
How wonderful, then, to be able to sing with the saints of all the ages
"Our Lord, our life, our rest, our shield.
Our rock, our food, our light,
Each thought of Thee doth constant yield
Unchanging, fresh delight."
From "The Preacher"
****
I-121
I shall not soon forget my first visit to Knotts Berry Farm. I had heard about
a world famous painting of Christ which is on display in a little garden chapel
there. I wanted to view it alone, so I excused myself from the group of friends
with which I was traveling, and made my way across the grounds until I came
to the little chapel.
There was no one there but me. And yet, as I walked down the aisle and took
my seat, I was overcome by a feeling that I was not alone in the room -- and
looking up, I saw Him there, standing before me, Jesus of Nazareth.
It was just a picture. And yet I was transfixed, so real was His presence. His
eyes were closed, but even so the beauty of His face completely captivated me.
I saw Him as I had not seen Him before. I saw the pathos, the sorrow, the agony
of loneliness in the stoop of His shoulders. I saw the tenderness, the meekness,
the love in His gently outstretched hands.
I saw the regal bearing of the King of Kings in his noble head. I felt the biting
pain of the cruel whip, the stinging hate of the crown of thorns, the nails,
the spear. I saw Him there. I felt His heart throb. I tell you, I saw Him just
as you see me.
And then, a strange thing happened. For as I sat there, the sweet strains of
some far off heavenly music filling my ears, the lights changed, His eyes slowly
opened, and He saw me!
He saw me! He saw my sin. My shame. My sad failure to measure up. He saw me
just as I am, and I could only drop to my knees and pray,
"Lord Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of
sin I resign."
Oh, my friend, do you know Him? Have you seen Him? Have you beheld the look
of compassion and concern as through eyes of love He has seen you? Seen your
sin? Your sorrow? Your shame? And, despite it all, bids you come?
From "The Preacher
****
I-122
A number of years ago when I was quite young, a play called "The King of Kings"
was filmed in Hollywood. It covered the life and death of Jesus Christ.
Even though I was a child at the time, I can remember the controversy which
raged over whether or not the film should be shown. As you know, those who felt
it should be seen by as large an audience as possible eventually won out, and
the picture went down in history as one of the most important ever filmed.
Well, just this last week I came across a rather old clipping which carried
one journalist's report of the audience reaction to the film. He wrote:
"I stood and watched the city folks coming in, joking and laughing like any
other crowd of amusement seekers: and two hours later I saw then come out silent
and thoughtful, awed and subdued, with a look of wistful inquiry in their tear-stained
eyes."
Now why did that reporter see such a change is so short a span of time? Because
in those two hours, the audience had relived the greatest event in the annals
of time. They had witnessed a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ. They
had caught a fleeting glimpse of the cross in all of its stark reality, and
somehow they knew that what they had seen, at least in part, was
"the mightiest of all God's mighty acts."
****
I-123
One of our missionaries who has served many years in India tells how one day
he saw two men returning from an Indian religious festival. He stopped them
and struck up a conversation. In the course of their visit, they told him they
had just come from the shrine of their God.
"And what did you do there?" the missionary asked.
They answered,
"Well, when the Idol Car came by, we took hold of the rope to help pull the
car along."
"What else did you do?" the missionary asked.
They replied,
"Well, when we got to the shrine, we cut off a lock of our hair and deposited
it there."
"What else did you do ?"
"We left an offering for the priest."
"What else?"
"We broke a coconut and poured out the milk."
"What did you do with your sins?" asked the missionary.
"Oh, we confessed them at the shrine."
"Did you leave them there?" the missionary inquired.
With a look of sadness that revealed their inner discontent, they answered,
"Oh, no. We could not leave them there."
You see, my friend, the unique characteristic of the Christian gospel is that
it's cross not only receives our sins, but it keeps our sins. They are taken
from us as far as the East is from the West. To be lost forever in the abyss
of God's forgetfulness. To be remembered against us no more. For when we take
our burden to the cross, we leave it there! Indeed, the cross is the power of
God unto salvation.
****
I-124
When Charles A. Darwin, the progenitor of the doctrine of evolution, was alive
he made several scientific expeditions on his floating laboratory "The Beagle".
On one of them, he visited the island of Tierra del Fuego. There he found a
race of Patagonians so low, do depraved, so immoral, he thought perhaps they
might be the missing link.
Years later when he returned to the very same island for further study of these
people, he discovered to his utter amazement that where once there had been
vice, cruelty and ignorance, there was now virtue, sensitivity and enlightenment.
When he questioned the natives as to what had caused this remarkable transformation,
he was told simply that the missionaries had come and had preached the message
of the cross. Charles Darwin was so tremendously impressed by the remarkable
change, from that day forward until he died, skeptic though he was, Darwin made
an annual donation to the Patagonian Missionary Society.
****
I-125
A poor old woman whose life had been hard was brought into West Suburban Hospital
to die. Like so many of those who comprise the downtrodden, she had been so
busy keeping body and soul together in this life she had little time to think
about the next. But as the twilight hours of her journey here upon earth approached,
she suddenly felt a great concern for her soul. Reaching for the buzzer, she
called her nurse. It so happens West Suburban Hospital is the school where nursing
students from Wheaton College, a strong Christian school, go for their practical
training. The girl who responded to the buzzer was a girl from Wheaton.
Somehow the old woman seemed to know she was a Christian. Perhaps it was because
of some manner in which she had been of service. I don't know. At any rate,
the old woman rose up on her elbow and said: "Nurse, tell me straight. Do you
think God cares for the likes of me? Do you think He can forgive me? Do you
think He will receive me into heaven?"
The young nurse leaned close so she might be one in spirit with this poor, lonely,
broken heart, and then, lifting her soul to heaven as if to receive confirmation
from God, she answered:
"Yes, I tell you straight. God cares for the likes of you. And if you'll make
room in your heart for Him, He will make room in His heart for you."
The old woman leaned back in her cot and, as her tired head touched the pillow,
it seemed as though the lines in her face were softened and there was quiet
peace in the hush of death.
You ask: Was that soul saved or lost? I can't answer. But I can tell you this
-- and you will never convince me otherwise -- there was a golden thread connecting
that hospital cot to a barren hill beyond a city wall. A hill on which stood
the pulpit of the cross which had been her consolation.
****
I-126
The first is a woman who seems tired beyond her years. The lines in her face
are deep. Her eyes reflect an inner wound whose pain somehow will never subside
completely. Even though there is a faint glimmer of the haunting beauty that
once was hers in her youth, there is something in her bearing that is reminiscent
of a mis-spent life. Such is the curse of sin. Though it be forgiven, it's scars
remain, and we bear them as long as we live. Her name is Magdalene.
What we know about her must be pieced together from only a few references in
scripture plus an inference here and a suggestion there. Tradition has it that,
coming from the unsavory city of Magdala, her past certainly left something
to be desired. Luke puts it this way in Chapter 8, Verse 2 of his gospel: "Mary
called Magdalene, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities...out
of which went seven devils."
Some believe her first meeting with Jesus was a sad and somber one. If that
be so, I'm sure that as she watched the soldiers nail Jesus to His cross, she
was thinking of that day when, according to tradition, she first met him.
He had been standing on the steps of the temple teaching a group of his disciples
when a disturbance was heard at the edge of the crowd. The disciples parted
to make way for the disturbers and through the path in the crowd, the Pharisees
pushed a woman who had been taken in the act of adultery.
With a cruel shove, rough hands had hurled her at the feet of Christ. As she
lay there like a heap of gaudy rags, trembling with fear and shaking with embarrassment,
knowing full well the dreadful fate which awaited her, she heard Him speak.
There was something in His voice that made her heart leap with hope.
Perhaps it was the gentleness. In all her life, she had never known such gentleness
as she heard in His voice that day. Maybe it was the strength with which He
spoke that gave her courage. Or His compassion. Or the quiet understanding she
picked up in the tone of His voice.
I don't know what it was. But at any rate, as she lay there in a huddled heap
entranced by the voice of Him who was called The Friend Of Sinners, she heard
the dull thud of stones falling in the dust, and the soft shuffle of sandals
as her accusers walked silently away. When she lifted up her face, she saw they
were alone, Mary Magdalene and The Stranger Of Galilee.
As she looked into his eyes, she was something there she had never seen before.
For the first time in her life, she was looking into eyes which returned love
instead of lust, compassion instead of contempt.
No, she would never forget that day when tradition says she first met Jesus.
That was the day life began for Mary Magdalene. That was the day when, in response
to the impulse of love, she went forth to obey His quiet command:
"Go, and sin no more."
Surely all this must have been among her thoughts as she watched them plunge
the spear into the hole. And, as she saw him hanging there like a bunch of purple
rags, she must have whispered to herself: "This man who is dying is my Lord,
and He loves me."
From "The People"
****
I-127
In Hebrew his name means "Son of a Rabbi." He belonged to that religious aristocracy
of Jews who gloried in the greatness of Israel. He was a nationalist. A militant
patriot who rebelled against the hatred yoke of Rome and for this we must give
him credit. All of us admire a man who is loyal to his native land.
But we cannot approve of the methods he used to achieve the noble end of freedom.
Like some of our more influential people today, Barabbas found the plodding
democratic process too slow. He wanted short cuts, so he resorted to force.
In our day, his political descendants use the more civilized techniques of slander
and wild accusation. Instead of the accused being innocent until proven guilty,
these character assassins claim people to be guilty unless they can prove themselves
innocent!
It is not necessary that there be any facts. It's enough that a charge be made.
People are judged guilty by a bevy of short-sighted souls who somehow cannot
see that by resorting to Gestapo methods, they are undermining America's most
valued possession: FREEDOM!
That was the sin of Barabbas. The way of love and patience, the Christ-like
way of changing society by changing individuals was not fast enough. So he resorted
to other methods.
When, at last, he was caught and thrown into prison, he knew it meant certain
death. And then, before he realized what had happened, because of the Passover-release,
he was a free man again, and the mob was roaring for the blood of Jesus.
It wasn't necessary that he attend the crucifixion. But there was a kind of
magnetism which drew him to Golgotha that afternoon. Perhaps it was curiosity.
Perhaps it was an insatiable desire to see the Man who was taking his place
on the cross. I don't know. But at any rate, as they lifted Jesus up between
two thieves, Barabbas was there.
Can you imagine what his thoughts were as he looked up at those three crosses?
On the ones to the right and left of Jesus hung his former cell mates. They,
too, were men of violence. Barabbas found himself remembering how the Jerusalem
jail had reverberated with their raucous laughter as, on the eve of their execution,
they had kept their spirits up by spinning wild tales of their criminal escapades.
He knew they were deserving of death and so, as he watched them dying, he found
little sympathy in his souls for them. He only felt sorry they had been so careless
as to get caught.
But as he turned to the central cross, he felt an emotion he wasn't used to.
Criminals are not supposed to feel shame and sadness. But try as he might, Barabbas
could not put down the haunting thoughts which picked away at his brain: "This
man is hanging on a cross which had been hammered together for me. He is dying
on a cross that should have been mine." As he paused to look up at the darkened
sky and then back to the center cross, the wonder of it struck him with an impact
which made him shudder: "This man...this Jesus...is dying for me."
From "The People"
****
I-128
He had come from North Africa to join in the Passover celebration to be held
in the city of Jerusalem. It was perhaps a matter of chance that he should have
been standing at that particular point just outside the city walls as the death
march of Calvary passed by.
Many a man had gone stark raving mad under the cruel lash, weighted as it was
with lead and jagged bits of flint, and Jesus was no superman. He was no mock
human. The pain He felt was just as real as that of the two criminals who walked
beside Him. And so, as Simon watched Him stagger by, he saw that He was stumbling
under the great weight of that ghastly cross, His shoulder quivering with pain
from the constant rubbing of rough timber on raw, open flesh.
Simon started to turn away in disgust at the cruelty of men when he heard a
dull thud, followed by the breathy gasp of the crowd. Turning back, he saw that
the central figure had collapsed and lay prostrate in the street, pinned there
by the weight of the cross.
For a moment, Simon searched the face of the fallen figure and something in
it compelled him to rush forward and pick up the load. So it was that a great,
burly black man form North Africa had the privilege of carrying the cross of
our Lord. To our knowledge, this was the one and only time Simon of Cyrene came
in contact with Jesus. But it must have made a tremendous impact upon him. Tradition
has it that when he returned to his home, he told it all to his sons and they
later became leaders of the church.
As they grew older, they never tired of hearing their aged father tell them
the story of the crucifixion. And, as he finished it, he would always walk over
to an open window, and looking wistfully up toward heaven, he would say:
"I was there when they crucified my Lord.
I saw Him fall on the road side.
I rushed to his aid.
I had the privilege of carrying His cross."
****
I-170
It has been said "you can compare every great and good man who has
ever lived with another man just as great and just as good--until you come to
Jesus Christ. And then you discover there is none go great and none so good."
He stands alone. He is the Great Unlike. The one Character in all history who
shines sublimely above the rest.
And there is nothing quite so significant as the fact that Jesus Himself was
obviously aware of the grand distinction which was His.
He deliberately put Himself at the very center of His message. He did not suggest,
as did the founders of the world's great ethical systems, there might be a better
way of living if only it could be found. He declared:
"I am the way."
He did not say with other teachers:
"I will give you an idea of how to recognize the truth when you see it."
Jesus said,
"I am the truth."
He did not say with Buddha, Confucius, or any of the others...
"I will strive together with you in an effort to find the key to the meaning
of life."
Jesus stated:
"I am the life."
As Kierkegaard, the great Swiss theologian expressed it,
"All other religions are oblique. The founder stands aside and points the way
to truth and life. Christianity alone is direct speech, for Jesus says I am
the way, the truth, the life."
From "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
****
I-171
There is a book by Mark Twain which is not only humorous but philosophical,
in which he describes is his own curious way a man searching in the universe
for this world.
He comes across some supernatural being out in the infinitudes of space and
asks him the way to the world. The being replies: "Which world?" The man answers,
"The world for which Jesus died." "Oh" says the being, "He died for many worlds."
That may very well be true, for the Colossians 1:20 says that "though the blood
of his cross (the Father has) reconcile(d) all things unto Himself...things
in earth, or things in heaven." How far that cross reaches up into the infinite
heights to bring reconciliation there, I do not know. But this I do know: it
reached down into the depths of my heart to bring reconciliation here! And,
as a result, I have life. Eternal life. Abundant life. Glorious life. Life worth
living day by day.
From "I Am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life"
****
I-172
I came across an article in guidepost magazine some time ago which
gave these ancient words of Jesus a twentieth century twist. It said:
"You can have 25,550 lives."
It pointed out that each morning, in effect, we awaken to a new day as a babe
awakens, by birth, to a new and wonderful world. A curtain falls on the last
act of that old life which was yesterday and, through the alchemy of sleep,
we are reborn.
And thus, every 24 hours becomes a lifetime in miniature. So, actually, we live
not one, but hundreds of lives. In fact, should we reach the biblical threescore
and ten, we would have, to be exact, 25,550 lifetimes.
And the glorious thing about all this is that we can live this multitude of
lifetimes with God's help for we have these promises: "I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee" (Heb.13:5)..."I am with you always, even unto the end" (Matt.
28:20).
Oh, the blessedness of this divine companionship. For the same Christ who has
given us life, who has planted the seeds of eternity in our soul, is walking
beside us--
Guiding our feet in the way everlasting,
Showing us the necessity of a daily rebirth,
Revealing the relevancy of the present
as He reminds us that in Him the past is forgiven and forgotten and the future
is secure.
From "I Am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life"
****
I-173
So many of our fellows are like a chap I was talking to recently. We were trying
to get at the root of a problem which was bugging him. I felt strongly it was
rooted in what he believed, for what we believe colors everything about us.
And so, calling him by name, I said,
"Friend, what do you believe in?"
And with a kind of old man look in his eyes, he said:
"John, I'm fresh out of things to believe in."
Much of our world is like that. It is fresh out of things to believe in. But
this need not be so. It isn't necessary for you to exist in such a forlorn state,
for in Jesus we have the truth. And, if you focus your attention upon Him, you
will find the truth--or better yet--you will be found by the truth and He, Jesus,
will set you free.
From "I Am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life"
****
I-174
Some time ago, I was told the story of a young Chinese student who had come
to our country as an exchange student just after the War. He took his undergraduate
work in one of the Western universities and then received a doctor's degree
from the University of Southern California. Following that, he journeyed to
the east where he earned a second doctorate at M.I.T. During the course of his
studies, he was led to Christ through the work of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship
and became a very active and dedicated Christian.
When our government began to relax its position thereby permitting students
who wished to return to China to do so, this young man chose to stay in America.
Primarily because his strong anti-communist position had become well known and
it seemed certain death if he returned to his native land.
However, a while ago, word came through the bamboo curtain that one of the leading
native Christian pastors had been put to death because he refused to cooperate
with the puppet church which had been set up by the communist regime. When this
young scientist heard of the great loss which had befallen the Christian church
in China, he decided to return.
When he was asked why he was doing so in the face of almost certain imprisonment,
if not death, he answered: "There should always be someone waiting in line to
take the place of the martyrs who fall. I am standing in that line, and so I
will return. I do not know whether I will live five hours, five days or five
months. It doesn't really matter. The only thing that counts is that I remain
true to my Lord and my Christ."
From "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
****
I-175
Before Jesus came, folks could only think of God as a stranger, at best, and
an enemy at worst. This is dramatically portrayed in John 9 which records the
events immediately preceding this pronouncement by Jesus that He is "the door".
Turn to chapter 9 and follow along as I capsule the events for you. In the early
verses we're told Jesus met a man, born blind, spat on the ground, mixed clay
with the spittle, anointed the man's eyes and told him to go wash in the pool
of Siloam. John 9:7 says:
"He went...and washed...and came back seeing."
Wouldn't you think everybody in town would jump up and down for joy because
of this? Well, they didn't. Their view of God had been so twisted and distorted
by the religious establishment with their "God In A Box Of Rigid Legalisms",
the common folks couldn't imagine God doing something kind like that. He was
a Not-So-Friendly Stranger whom they had to appease, rather than the kind and
loving Father Jesus revealed Him to be.
And so, because of their fear, they put this poor fellow through an inquisition.
It was against the Rabbinical law to do any kind of work on the Sabbath and
that's what Jesus had done. He had made clay! He had also opened a blind man's
eyes, but the Pharisees didn't care about that. They couldn't rejoice in that.
All they cared about was this minor infraction of a rule which wasn't even God's
Law, but one of their own.
And so, instead of congratulating this fellow on his new-found sight, they put
him on trial.
John 9:17-24 records how they pressured and badgered him trying to get him to
say Jesus had not performed this healing. Instead, the man insisted that this
man called Jesus, who was a prophet, (no, he added, more than a prophet, a Man
from God!) had restored his sight. Look at the progression of his perception.
"The man called Jesus" (verse 11),
"who is 'a prophet'" (verse 17),
"no", he added, "more than that" (verse 33),
a man "from God" had restored his sight.
And that did it! When the man said Jesus had to be from God to heal someone
like himself who was congenitally blind--"blind from birth"--do you know what
the Pharisees did? Look at the last part of verse 34: "They cast him out."
They excommunicated him. That's the true meaning of the phrase "cast out": Excommunicate.
So that's what they did to this fellow. They cut him off from the House of Israel.
He was excluded from the society of so-called devout and decent souls.
What did Jesus do when He learned what had happened? Look at verse 35:
"Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He found him, He said to him,
'Do you believe on the Son of God?' He answered, 'Who is He, Sir, that I may
believe in Him?' Jesus said to him, (and note the calm, clear, unequivocating
nature of Christ's claim to be the Son of God), 'You have seen Him, and it is
He who speaks to you.'"
The once-blind man said,
"Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Him" (John 9:38).
What a wonderful transformation!
****
I-176
I love that old hymn:
"Just as I am and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot
For Thee alone canst cleanse each spot
Oh Lamb of God I come."
Human pride would have us try to cleanse each spot on our own, instead of letting
Jesus do it. In other words, human pride would have us raise the door a bit
as if to suggest we are capable of coming to God on our own.
But it's raising the door which keeps us out. All we do is put it out of reach.
From "I Am the Door"
****
I-177
We must also understand that Jesus is a narrow door. He, Himself, said it:
"Narrow is the gate that leads to life" (Matt. 7:14).
As the Hessons point out, "At first the road to the cross seems broad, and we
can all go together. But as we get nearer to the place of repentance, the path
gets narrower. There is not room for us to get lost in the crowd. And when,
at last, we come to the One who is the door Himself, there is not room even
for two. If (we) are going to enter (we) will have to stand before Jesus alone."
We don't like to do that! We don't like to be the only one to repent. The devil
tells us the folks all about us--especially some of those Christian folk--are
just as bad as we. Maybe worse. He tries to make us unwilling to repent unless
others repent first. But we'll never get through the door that way.
You must face Jesus alone, my friend. As if you were the only sinner on earth.
For Jesus is a personal Savior for a personal sinner and the only way to God
is through that low and narrow door, The Door Named Jesus. You must come to
Him as you are, and you must face your need alone.