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www.truthworks.com 4 SEP 03 devotion archive send this page to a friend |
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OUR STRANGE RELIGION I tell you the Truth, “The old Deist attempt to replace revelation by reason was wrong-headed from the beginning. Reason has a vital role in the understanding and application of revelation, but it can never be a substitute for it. Without revelation reason gropes in the dark and flounders in the deep.” From page 83 Essentials by David L. Edwards and John Stott (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1988). While Paul was traveling through Athens, he found a people who were highly intelligent, a great many thinkers. Let’s catch up with Paul in Athens as the writer explains what he finds.
Acts 17: The Athenians were deep thinkers. They spent a great amount of time reasoning things – our existence, our future and who God(s) is. Paul tried to “reason” with them. Hey, what else can you do with people who spend their time doing nothing but talking and listening to the latest ideas. Unfortunately, reasoning has its short comings when preaching the gospel of Christ. As the Athenians said, Paul had some strange ideas to their ears. You see, the real Christ does not make any sense to the unbeliever. Jesus Christ was (and still is) the most radical person to ever walk this planet. Even the term “radical” when applied to Christ is radical to the world. We think of radical as very different from the majority. Christ was different from the majority, the minority and every thing in between. His radical approach to handling the problems of this world do not make real sense to the world. “It’s better to give than receive.” “Love your enemy as yourself.” “Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” What is it that these thinkers could not understand? Perhaps the life of Christ – exhibiting great humility, yet proclaiming to be the Son of God. Perhaps His death – dying for those that sin against God, yet rising from the dead in victory. Perhaps His weak defense of Himself – He remained silent when being convicted, yet He could have spoke and silenced the tongues that accused Him with the power of the Father. The real problem with preaching a gospel solely of reason is that there is no revelation. It is the whole-hearted, undeniable belief that Christ is the Son of God that brings about the reasoning. Christ makes no sense to the world because the world prefers the “prove it and I’ll believe it” method. To the believer, who has the mind of Christ, the world appears foolish in its thinking. These same people will take evolution for fact. They will put their trust in a banking and financial system that is weak enough to break at any moment. They build their world up with things that are temporary, rather than eternal. They do not understand that it is simply by faith that we are saved. That, perhaps is the most radical part of Christ that we cannot understand. Faith involves nothing on our part except submission. Simple faith cannot be achieved or earned. Faith believes that which is unbelievable. And that is what the world cannot believe. So let’s not pray today just for understanding of those we encounter. Let’s pray for revelation, by the Holy Spirit, of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. It is the Holy Spirit that reveals. Pray that He reveals Himself through you. Then, and only then, will they understand.
Your Servant,
<*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Prayer Requests (and Praises!)
Please
continue to pray for our nation. While men remove Please reply if you have prayer requests, comments or simply need an open ear. I always enjoy hearing from you. <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2003 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
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