GOD’S WORD FOR  NOVEMBER 16

Our  book excerpt today, and ongoing,  is from “Chiseled by the Master’s Hand”  Lessons from the Life of Peter, by Erwin  Lutzer.  Dr. Lutzer is  Canadian-born and served as Senior Pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years, until his retirement in 2016.   He now serves as Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church.  He’s written many books and has radio and internet teaching programs.

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Read John 6:60-71

There is a story about a monastery in Portugal perched high on a 300-foot cliff.  It can be reached only by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket.  The basket is pulled with a single rope by several strong men who labor as they pull their cargo up the sheer cliff.  One American tourist became nervous as he began the journey because he noticed that the rope was old and frayed.  “How often do you change the rope?” he shouted to the monk as the trip up the mountain began.  “Whenever it breaks!” came the reply.

Millions of people who would never entrust their lives to a frayed rope have entrusted their souls to themselves, or to a religious leader such as Buddha or Muhammad.  In the end everyone has to trust somebody.  The question is:  Who has the most credibility?  Which rope is most likely to hold in a crisis?  Scan the horizons of history, study the works of the philosophers, investigate the claims of those who claim to be prophets of God.  

TO WHOM WILL YOU GO?

Our age prides itself in pluralism, the notion that every opinion is as valid as any other. There is no standard, we are told, by which morality and religion can be judged.  All of these issues are simply a matter of personal preference.

Even within Christendom there are many denominations, many competing beliefs, and each is presented as a viable option.  Eastern religions are becoming popular here in the West, giving our nation even more alternatives that compete for the allegiance of men.  Just as cable television gives viewers forty or fifty channels,  and the internet so much more, so people today want to choose their own religion and moral beliefs from a wide variety of possibilities.

Subjectivism is king.  Your choice of a religion or values is just as personal as walking into an ice cream parlor and choosing one of thirty-one different varieties.  Just as you can mix and match your ice cream dish, so people take whatever they want from various beliefs and create their own special concoction.  A smattering of Eastern religions along with some of Christ’s words, and the advice of a pop psychologist – all these are blended together into a private creed.

Jaques Maritain said, “there are as many ways to approach God as there are wanderings on the earth or paths to His heart.”  So the message of today is, choose the path that’s right for you.

This kind of eclecticism is not new.  Men and women have often selected paths suited to their tastes and inclinations.  Yes, even in the first century, the multitudes were confronted by a multiplicity of choices.  The Greek world offered its philosophy and esoteric experiences; the Romans had their gods that promised political power.  Various branches of Judaism all claimed to have the correct version of Abraham’s religion.  

Then, when Christ appeared, He offered yet another choice – and unavoidable choice – to either accept Him or walk away.

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Joshua 24:15 ~ ~ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

John 14:6 ~ ~ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Matthew 4:10 ~ ~ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

John 1:14 ~ ~ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 3:18 ~ ~  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 17:3 ~ ~  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

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