1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,660 Thank you Mark Henderson. 2 00:00:03,660 --> 00:00:10,160 Remember to pray for John Benham and Melody and Tom Adelsman, that team that is serving 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,680 the Lord for this month in Indonesia. 4 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:20,920 And I think if my mind serves me correctly, they're on Sulawesi at this particular time 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,140 and will return in something like two weeks. 6 00:00:25,140 --> 00:00:26,740 Keep remembering them in prayer. 7 00:00:26,740 --> 00:00:29,640 We appreciate Mark filling in. 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,680 Thank you for those of you who are volunteering for the choir this summer and we still need 9 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:39,400 more of you, so join them if you can on Sunday mornings at 8.30 for a time of rehearsal and 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:40,400 then ministry. 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:47,880 I invite you to open your Bibles today to Luke chapter 2 as we look at this familiar 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:55,760 Christmas passage and think about the majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior. 13 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:02,000 Now I can just imagine what it was like at your house this morning, Dad. 14 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:09,800 Your wife gently nudged you and said, sweetheart, happy Father's Day. 15 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:11,400 It's time to get up. 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,920 The coffee's on, the French toast and bacon's all prepared. 17 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:24,540 Won't you come down and sit at the table and join us for this special Father's Day breakfast? 18 00:01:24,540 --> 00:01:29,520 And you rolled out of bed and got your robe on and went downstairs and there the kids 19 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:37,120 were with the newspaper and presented it to you, still all in one piece. 20 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:47,400 And then they sat around the table and they said, how we wish you a happy day, your majesty. 21 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:53,560 Didn't it go something like that? 22 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,080 Well maybe something like that. 23 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:02,480 We are going to talk about this term majesty because it is one that perhaps seems a little 24 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,880 passe or outmoded for the day in which we live. 25 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:12,480 Recently I heard a report on the radio about King Olaf, the oldest reigning monarch in 26 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,000 the world. 27 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:19,720 He suffered a stroke a few weeks ago and is partially paralyzed and as the spokesman was 28 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:26,160 reporting it, he referred several times to the condition of his majesty. 29 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:31,200 And it almost seemed as he did that he was speaking to another generation because that 30 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,460 simply isn't a term that we use anymore. 31 00:02:36,460 --> 00:02:46,660 Majesty points to the grandeur, the loftiness, or the dignity of a person, place, or thing. 32 00:02:46,660 --> 00:02:53,720 Those of you who follow the comic strip Feline Garfield know what a majesty complex is, for 33 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,520 that's what Garfield has. 34 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:03,040 If you've ever been to the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming and beheld their beauty, you understand 35 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,280 what majesty is. 36 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:12,800 We sing about it in our hymn to America, the purple mountains majesty above the fruited 37 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:13,800 plain. 38 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:21,640 Or if you've ever attended a concert by a symphony orchestra and gone away, exhilarated 39 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:26,960 and uplifted, you know what majesty is. 40 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:36,240 But when speaking about the majesty of Jesus Christ, we are addressing a unique grandeur 41 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:46,440 of personage and office, singular, without any equal, a majesty that is different from 42 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,760 all other majesties. 43 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:57,960 My goal in the series of messages as we address the majesty of Jesus Christ is to talk about 44 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:06,160 the various titles and offices which belong to him and which help us understand his majesty 45 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:12,440 and, in part to do that, we're going to address the themes on these lovely banners that some 46 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:18,840 ladies in our church have prepared for us over the last two or three years. 47 00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:23,160 We're going to start right up here with this one this morning. 48 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:30,760 The majesty of Jesus Christ is displayed in his work as savior. 49 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:42,320 And his majesty may be summarized by saying that he is the only savior of all humanity. 50 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:50,540 We return to Luke 2 and the words of the angel who said, do not be afraid, for behold I bring 51 00:04:50,540 --> 00:04:57,120 you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people. 52 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:08,960 For today in the city of David there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord. 53 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:16,200 The majesty of Jesus Christ is that he is the only savior of all humanity. 54 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,760 Now, from that statement there arise at least four thoughts I'd like for us to look at 55 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,160 in some detail this morning. 56 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:30,560 Let's think first about the fact that he is the savior and talk about the meaning of 57 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:37,000 that term, both its identification and its implication. 58 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:43,280 The word savior is identified in the Bible only with God. 59 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:52,040 The word savior is found only 13 times in the Old Testament and 24 times in the New Testament. 60 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,120 The apostle Paul uses it more frequently than any other writer. 61 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,620 He uses it 12 times in his epistles. 62 00:06:00,620 --> 00:06:07,540 The original Greek word for salvation however is used 45 additional times. 63 00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:14,740 And the verb save is used 106 times. 64 00:06:14,740 --> 00:06:21,720 The idea behind the word savior is to preserve or to rescue. 65 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:27,720 And it's not always used in the Bible in a spiritual sense. 66 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:40,540 Sometimes it denotes rescue or deliverance from danger at sea or from the threat of war 67 00:06:40,540 --> 00:06:43,920 or the peril of illness. 68 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:51,840 But it's always used in the sense of averting some threat or danger to an individual. 69 00:06:51,840 --> 00:07:05,440 The title is first used of God by David who in 2 Samuel 22 verse 3 called God my savior. 70 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:11,600 And in the context there was thinking about God saving him from his enemies. 71 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,160 God uses the term of himself a number of times. 72 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:24,880 For example Isaiah 43 in verse 3 God says, I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, 73 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:26,880 your savior. 74 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:34,820 It is a term that is used of God even in the Gospel of Luke in the first chapter where 75 00:07:34,820 --> 00:07:41,080 Mary says of God that he is her savior. 76 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:47,000 By the way that certainly undermines the teaching that Mary was born without sin. 77 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:55,440 For she recognized that she was in need of God's grace and of a savior. 78 00:07:55,440 --> 00:08:02,320 The implication of the title savior is that something or someone is in danger whether 79 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,880 it's realized or not. 80 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,760 One of the theological books that one can use for study is the dictionary of New Testament 81 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:12,320 theology. 82 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:17,280 It says this regarding the idea in savior. 83 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:23,080 Whenever men by their own fault or through some superior power have come under the control 84 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:30,960 of someone else and have lost their freedom to implement their will and decisions and 85 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:37,980 when their own resources are inadequate to deal with that other power they can regain 86 00:08:37,980 --> 00:08:45,560 their freedom only by the intervention of a third party. 87 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:50,320 That idea is wrapped up in this word savior. 88 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:55,680 Now there are some other New Testament words as well that would describe that but certainly 89 00:08:55,680 --> 00:09:00,360 the word savior is the key to them all. 90 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:07,960 And so to call Christ the savior is to imply that there is something from which one needs 91 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,960 to be saved. 92 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:18,840 It implies that there is a need on the part of someone for his work to rescue them. 93 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:28,560 Indeed people who think that they need no savior cannot appreciate a savior. 94 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:37,560 It is only when the proud heart of the sinner is laid low by the conviction of the Holy 95 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:46,960 Spirit and the application of God's righteous law to his heart that he will see his need 96 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:53,920 and will then cry out for rescue because it is when he sees his need that he recognizes 97 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,120 his peril. 98 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:06,440 It is only as he sees the offense of his sin to the holiness of God and perceives the just 99 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:17,540 judgment that is coming upon him that he will grasp the importance of a savior. 100 00:10:17,540 --> 00:10:22,360 The majesty of Jesus Christ is underlined in this fact that he is the savior but there 101 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:30,160 is another thought that comes out of this theme and that is that he is the savior of 102 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,640 humanity. 103 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:39,960 To the shepherds the angels said, for unto you is born a savior. 104 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,680 Notice he did not say for unto us is born a savior. 105 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:50,180 He is not the savior of angels. 106 00:10:50,180 --> 00:10:55,880 He is not the savior of animals or of any other creature. 107 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:03,240 Although by his grace some day the creation itself will share in the blessing of his work 108 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,280 of salvation. 109 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,680 But he is the savior of humanity. 110 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:16,880 A humanity in the first place that owes its origin and existence to him. 111 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:23,560 Humanity is not an alien race to Jesus Christ. 112 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:29,800 Humanity is not some unknown species of a higher form of life to him. 113 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:36,760 Indeed he gave to humanity the unique characteristics that make us human. 114 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:44,900 Our personhood, our sense of morality, our spirituality. 115 00:11:44,900 --> 00:11:50,360 Jesus Christ is the master designer of humankind. 116 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:58,080 As it says in Colossians 1,16, all things, all things were created by the eternal Son 117 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,320 of God. 118 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:08,520 And the apostle Paul declared on Mars Hill in Athens in Acts 17, he himself gives to 119 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,680 all life and breath and all things. 120 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:20,040 And he made from one every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth. 121 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:25,200 The Bible declares that humanity is created in the image of God. 122 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:30,720 Male and female he created them. 123 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:39,320 His majesty is revealed in the marvelous works of his hands in you and in me. 124 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:46,240 Some of us were talking about some illnesses and medication and symptoms this last week 125 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:55,000 of disease and concluded as we chatted that in fact we are fearfully and wonderfully made. 126 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,520 We owe our existence to Jesus Christ. 127 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,600 He is the savior of humanity. 128 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:10,280 But humanity is also that which rebels against his rule and his goodness. 129 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,520 As a race, the sons of Adam are at war with God. 130 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:22,480 As Paul says in Colossians 1, we are alienated, hostile in mind and evil in deeds. 131 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,040 That's what we're like. 132 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:31,920 We are a humanity that is at war with God. 133 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:45,480 Although Jesus Christ is humanity's only hope, by most he is disregarded or blasphemed. 134 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:55,500 Have you ever heard one of your friends take the name of Buddha in vain or curse using 135 00:13:55,500 --> 00:13:58,440 the name of Mohammed? 136 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,000 Unlikely. 137 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,520 That majestic name that is above every name, Jesus Christ is the one that the human race 138 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,840 drags in the gutter of its blasphemy and denigrates. 139 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:18,600 Nonetheless, he is the savior of humanity. 140 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:28,440 His majesty is witnessed in his great patience with sinners, sinners who treat him with disrespect 141 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,880 and neglect. 142 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:38,320 He is the savior of humanity, a humanity whose likeness he shares. 143 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:43,520 The shepherds were told to look for a baby. 144 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,400 The savior did not come as an adult. 145 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:53,200 He did not come merely pretending to be human, but he entered the world as a man. 146 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,760 That's why you see the manger on that banner. 147 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:04,800 Because he was born as a baby through the miraculous virgin conception. 148 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:14,800 He was incarnated and he joined himself to all that it means to be human. 149 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:25,280 That fabulous hymn of Philippians 2, the apostle says, being found in the likeness of men. 150 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:30,160 Being found in appearance as a man. 151 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,880 So he describes the incarnation of Jesus Christ. 152 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:38,760 And it must have been so. 153 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:44,480 He had to come as a man in order to be the savior of humanity. 154 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:51,880 For only a human could be the sacrifice for lost humanity. 155 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:59,600 And we see his majesty as savior in that he was willing to become one with us and then 156 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:09,800 to take our place as he died under the judgment and wrath of God. 157 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,520 So he is the savior. 158 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:18,600 He is the savior of humanity, but there is more that arises out of this majestic thought. 159 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:23,800 And that is that he is the savior of all humanity. 160 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:31,760 Notice that the angel said, great joy, which shall be for all the people. 161 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:40,680 Now of course, in the direct focus of that thought, the Jewish people. 162 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:45,480 But the savior is for all humanity, beyond the Jewish race. 163 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:46,760 Gentiles are included. 164 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:55,360 As it says in verse 32, these words of Simeon, he says that this babe is a light of revelation 165 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:03,000 to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. 166 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:07,160 Over and over again in the New Testament we see the emphasis on the fact that he is the 167 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:13,240 savior of all mankind. 168 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:18,760 It is God's desire to save all, you see. 169 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,920 For example, in 1 Timothy chapter 2, we have a marvelous encouragement of the apostle to 170 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:24,920 pray. 171 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:31,640 And he says that as we pray, we ought to pray for those who are in authority. 172 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:37,360 And he explains why, so that our lives might be honoring to God, that we might lead them 173 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:40,720 in tranquility and quietness. 174 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:48,320 And he says in verse 3, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior, who desires 175 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:55,760 all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 176 00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:00,280 My friend, that's the heart of God. 177 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:06,880 That's the majesty of Jesus Christ, that he came into the world to be the savior of all 178 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,480 humanity. 179 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:22,000 Not just one race, one color, not just one language group, but all humanity. 180 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:28,840 He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 181 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:36,960 And so God's provision in his Son is sufficient to save all men. 182 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:42,080 One verse that declares that so plainly, it seems to me, is 1 John chapter 2 and verse 183 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:55,480 2, where it says, and he is the propitiation, the satisfying sacrifice for our sins, and 184 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:02,200 not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. 185 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:09,920 God desires all men to be saved, and God has provided that all men might be saved. 186 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:17,120 There can be no limit placed upon the merit of the death of the Son of God for the sins 187 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:22,440 of humanity. 188 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:31,600 But God's forgiveness is limited to those who will believe. 189 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,960 God is willing to save all. 190 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,740 God has provided to save all. 191 00:19:38,740 --> 00:19:47,720 But it is only those who will bow the knee in repentance and faith who will be saved. 192 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,360 You see, the problem isn't on God's side. 193 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:56,840 The problem is on man's side. 194 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:03,840 God's heart is that all might enjoy the glories of heaven. 195 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:09,720 And he has sent his Son into the world and provided that every person might one day walk 196 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:15,520 on those golden streets and share the glory of eternal life. 197 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:27,520 But from man's perspective, it is only those who will believe who will be saved. 198 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:35,400 The majesty of Jesus Christ is observed in that he is potentially the Savior of all, 199 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:40,120 as it says in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. 200 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:47,000 It is for this we labor, writes Paul, and we strive because we have fixed our hope on 201 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:56,160 the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. 202 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:06,520 The majesty of Jesus Christ is that potentially he is the Savior of all, though experientially 203 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:14,040 he is the Savior only of those who believe on him. 204 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:21,160 And his majesty is likewise witnessed in the fact that he will save anyone, anyone who 205 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,760 believes, anyone without exception. 206 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:32,200 It makes no difference how far away from God one has been or how deep the sin may be in 207 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,080 one's life. 208 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:40,640 He is the Savior of all humanity and will save any who will come to him. 209 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,560 He is the Savior. 210 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:49,040 He is the Savior of humanity. 211 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,120 He is the Savior of all humanity. 212 00:21:51,120 --> 00:22:01,480 And finally, his majesty is that he is the only Savior of all humanity. 213 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:06,320 The lie of human speculation is that there are many truths. 214 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,680 I say that's a lie. 215 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:18,000 And we hear it repeated over and over until we almost ourselves begin to believe it. 216 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,940 Truth is relative, we are told. 217 00:22:19,940 --> 00:22:23,920 What may be right for one is not right for another. 218 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,280 You can't judge. 219 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,600 There are many ways to God. 220 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,840 It's like the roads to Chicago or the airlines that fly to Hawaii. 221 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:36,340 They all get there. 222 00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:42,600 It doesn't make any difference which one you take. 223 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,080 Or we all worship the same God. 224 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:49,780 We just call him by different names. 225 00:22:49,780 --> 00:22:52,840 It doesn't make any difference what you believe. 226 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,940 The important thing is that you're sincere about it. 227 00:22:55,940 --> 00:23:00,780 And I repeat, all of those are lies. 228 00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:04,660 They are the lies of human speculation. 229 00:23:04,660 --> 00:23:13,280 The truth of God's revelation is that there is only one truth. 230 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,040 Period. 231 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:20,360 One God who exists eternally in three persons. 232 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:25,240 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 233 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:36,560 One way of being forgiven and of having a right relationship with God. 234 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:46,800 The absolute exclusive claim of the Christian message is that there is one way of salvation. 235 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:52,280 There is one way of salvation for the Jew. 236 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,060 And that is Jesus Christ. 237 00:23:55,060 --> 00:24:00,280 There is one way of salvation for the religious Gentile. 238 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,080 And that is Jesus Christ. 239 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:07,880 There is only one way of salvation for the pagan heathen Gentile. 240 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,340 And that is Jesus Christ. 241 00:24:10,340 --> 00:24:14,080 There are no other possibilities. 242 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,500 The Christian message excludes them all. 243 00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:26,760 For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. 244 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:31,760 And Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 245 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:38,000 No man comes to the Father but by me. 246 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:52,960 The majesty of Jesus Christ is that he is the only savior of all humanity. 247 00:24:52,960 --> 00:25:02,040 If that's what we believe, how does that fit into a pluralistic society like ours? 248 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:09,120 Because ladies and gentlemen, our faith is not a pluralistic faith. 249 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:14,720 Our faith is an exclusive faith. 250 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:23,280 How does this kind of a message that we preach from the Bible fit into a pluralistic society? 251 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:33,480 The answer to that is that we are on a collision course with our society. 252 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:38,960 It is this very exclusive message that I have presented to you that gave birth to the freedom 253 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,720 of our nation. 254 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:47,500 But we are now substituting something in its place called pluralism. 255 00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:56,200 The idea that there are many truths and they're all equally true. 256 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:01,000 In fact, the idea of pluralism is itself a deception. 257 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:07,200 Philosophically, it's impossible that there be many truths. 258 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:12,400 And yet our philosophers have bought into that lie. 259 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:24,480 In pluralism, you have competing value systems and ultimately one will win. 260 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:35,240 Pluralism is really a state in which a society is in transition from one truth that it accepts 261 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:40,800 to another truth that it accepts. 262 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:46,280 The message that you and I hold dear to our hearts, the message of the majesty of Jesus 263 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:54,940 Christ as the Savior, the only Savior of all humanity, is a message that our society will 264 00:26:54,940 --> 00:27:01,080 not continually tolerate. 265 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:09,220 We can expect in the near future increasing pressure upon people who believe like we do 266 00:27:09,220 --> 00:27:18,120 to soften our message, to compromise it, to accept the fact that well, maybe there is 267 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:23,720 another way for the Jew. 268 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:32,740 Or perhaps though one calls God Allah and says Mohammed is his prophet, he's nonetheless 269 00:27:32,740 --> 00:27:39,840 acceptable to God in his goodness and his love. 270 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:46,800 We are under pressure to accept that kind of theology and it's a lie. 271 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:53,000 If we forsake this message of the majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior, we have forsaken 272 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,240 our faith. 273 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,600 It's as simple as that. 274 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:10,640 The majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior to me is the greatest motive that we have for evangelism. 275 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:16,520 It means that my neighbor who is worshiping another God, whether it be a God of ideas 276 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:27,880 or a God of materialism or a God of statues, that my neighbor is lost. 277 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:33,440 It means that those people in tribal areas over there, in Indonesia, in Africa, in New 278 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:41,440 Guinea and other places in the world, they're lost unless they hear the news of Jesus Christ. 279 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:52,920 For unto them too the Savior has been born, the only Savior. 280 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:59,200 Jesus Christ is worthy too of the obedience of every person. 281 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:06,360 You see the motivation for evangelism is not only the value and the worth of the human 282 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:14,260 soul, but it's the value and the worth of Jesus Christ to be worshiped by all men. 283 00:29:14,260 --> 00:29:19,760 He deserves that. 284 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:24,320 Here to come to Him results in eternal damnation. 285 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:30,960 One can be so close and yet miss it. 286 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,680 One can use the right language. 287 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,180 One can sing the hymns. 288 00:29:37,180 --> 00:29:45,560 One can hear the message over and over again and think himself to be on that narrow way, 289 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:52,080 to have entered through that narrow gate that leads to life. 290 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:57,280 And yet in the end be turned away by the Lord. 291 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,000 And though he would say, Lord, did I not prophesy? 292 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,040 Did I not do miracles in your name? 293 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,720 Lord, did I not serve you? 294 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,120 Didn't I go to church? 295 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,560 Didn't I sing the hymns? 296 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,560 Didn't I pray? 297 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:24,400 And then to hear uttered those frightful words, depart from me, I never knew you. 298 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:32,880 Jesus Christ is the only Savior of all humanity and the only way that we may be rightly related 299 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:42,480 to God is by bowing the knee to the majesty of Jesus Christ and receiving him as Lord 300 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,200 and Savior. 301 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:51,640 As we declare this message to our culture, we need to be wise. 302 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,800 It needs to be done within the context of our day. 303 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:59,120 We need to use methods that will work in the 1990s. 304 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:06,440 And let us never forget that our mission is to proclaim him. 305 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:11,220 It is to lift up his majesty. 306 00:31:11,220 --> 00:31:19,840 It is to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord to all men and to declare that he is the only 307 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:24,820 Savior of all humanity. 308 00:31:24,820 --> 00:31:29,920 That is our mission and let us not waver from it. 309 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:38,520 And using those tools that God puts into our hands, utilizing the means that God gives 310 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:46,160 us a burden for, finding those keys of culture, those cultural keys that we can use to unlock 311 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:54,920 the doors of our neighbors and our community, let's be faithful to the majesty of Jesus 312 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:59,360 Christ as Savior. 313 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:07,720 And bow to it in our own lives and recognize his glory and serve him alone. 314 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,280 Let's pray. 315 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:17,160 My friend, this is the only resting place for your faith. 316 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:21,720 There is no other foundation. 317 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:30,220 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 318 00:32:30,220 --> 00:32:37,220 His majesty is that he is the only Savior for you, for me. 319 00:32:37,220 --> 00:32:48,380 How wonderful that he should come and become one of us, that he might rescue us from our 320 00:32:48,380 --> 00:32:50,760 deserved judgment. 321 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:57,600 Friend, have you bowed the knee in truth to him or have you been playing a game? 322 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,680 Do you really belong to him? 323 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:08,480 Or is this just a cultural thing that you've learned to be adapted to? 324 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:14,220 His majesty is that he is the only Savior you can ever have. 325 00:33:14,220 --> 00:33:20,960 And if you play games with him, if you neglect him or God forbid, should you actually reject 326 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:29,600 him, you leave yourself no alternative but the judgment of God. 327 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,520 Would you believe on him today right where you are? 328 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:36,360 If so, tell him. 329 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:40,540 You don't have to come forward, you don't have to pray some magic words. 330 00:33:40,540 --> 00:33:48,000 All you need to do is open the door of your heart, the door of faith, and receive him. 331 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,880 Believe on him to the saving of your soul. 332 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:58,400 Oh Spirit of God, may some friend here today be quickened to do that. 333 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:09,040 To genuinely and truly understand the majesty of Jesus Christ and receive him and live for 334 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,040 him and for his glory. 335 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:28,840 Amen.