Well, good evening, everyone.
It's great to be with you again.
I always enjoy coming to Brunsfield,
and Graham has given me a wonderful theme to look at.
Really, when we try to understand other people,
other viewpoints, I'm often encouraged
to rely upon those who are brighter than I am.
One of the great voices of the late 20th century
was a man called Francis Schaeffer,
and he addressed the University of Notre Dame in Indiana,
and he said this.
He said,
Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural,
but rather truth spelled with a capital T.
Truth about total reality, not just about religious things.
Biblical Christianity is truth concerning total reality
and the intellectual holding of that total truth
and then living in the light of that truth.
So not just a series of truths in the plural,
but truth with a capital T.
Twenty years later, there was a survey done in the United States
by the Barna Group,
and the Barna Group concluded that only 4% of Americans
held what could be described as a biblical worldview.
The surveyor said,
although most people own a Bible and know some of its content,
our research found that most Americans have little idea
how to integrate core biblical principles
to form a unified and meaningful response
to the challenges and opportunities of life.
So what we're talking about here is how you and I see the world.
So, for example, if I take off my glasses,
I know that there are people here.
I can't see you very well.
You're very, very blurry.
Everything I see, I see through these glasses.
But I'll tell you this.
If you put my glasses on,
I think you will be equally mystified as I am without them.
You can never really put on another person's pair of glasses
because they're suited for them.
And as we gather tonight,
we're trying to see the world
through the eyes of other people.
Maybe you are here tonight,
and maybe this term, a pluralist,
maybe this refers to you.
Maybe you're not sure where you're coming from.
But all of us have a way of looking at this world
and of processing what this world presents to us.
And what the challenge that Schaeffer identified is this,
is that if we aren't careful,
if we lack not just Christian knowledge,
but if we lack the ability of integrating
our faith and our life,
we will find ourselves quickly
at drifting along or being pulled
by a very different tide
along to a very different destination.
Nancy Piercy, if you've ever read any of her books,
she is the modern-day version of Francis Schaeffer.
She wrote a book called Total Truth.
And she said this.
She said,
The purpose of our studies and worldviews
is nothing less than to liberate Christianity
from its cultural captivity,
unleashing power to transform the world.
The gospel is like a caged lion,
said the great Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon.
It does not need to be defended.
It just needs to be let out of its cage.
Today, the cage is our accommodation
to the secular-sacred split
that reduces Christianity
to a matter of private, personal belief.
To unlock the cage,
we need to become utterly convinced
that as Francis Schaeffer said,
Christianity is not merely religious truth.
It is total truth.
Truth about the whole of reality.
And as bookends,
maybe in the later part of the 20th century,
Francis Schaeffer and C.S. Lewis
are two significant voices.
And C.S. Lewis said this.
He said,
I believe in Christianity
as I believe that the sun has risen.
Not only because I see it,
but because by it,
I see everything else.
So the question tonight really is,
do you have a worldview
that is rooted in the Bible?
Do you see the world
through the lens of the Bible
that's open in front of us?
Because if you don't,
there are many alternative worldviews
that are available,
and you will adopt one
or more of those views.
Our theme tonight is pluralism.
And as we begin,
we want to say that pluralism is a fact.
Plural just means more than one.
And there are more than one group of people.
There are more than one culture.
There are more than one philosophy.
There's more than one religion.
And we don't need to look far.
We live in a very diverse city, don't we?
With all different types of employment,
with different universities,
and folks coming here to live
and to work and to study.
You've heard different accents already this evening.
So we have different cultures.
Yes, we have different religions.
Yes, we have different nationalities.
But pluralism is more than a fact
because it's a worldview.
And the worldview of pluralism really tonight
signifies that celebration
or that cherishing of plurality,
meaning that no one group,
no one philosophy,
no one way of looking at the world
can claim a monopoly
or can claim authority
or can claim unique legitimacy.
You see, we're all seeing the world
and maybe we're all kind of seeing it
a little bit differently,
but that's a good thing.
You come from your background
and you see things your way.
I come from my background
and I see things my way.
You might be a Christian.
You might be a Buddhist.
You might be a Muslim.
You might be a Sikh
or just you might choose
and pick and choose.
It's like if you,
I'm kind of harking back to those days
when I used to go out a lot for meals.
But in Edinburgh,
whatever cuisine you want,
you can find.
You want Thai food.
You can get Thai restaurants.
You want Chinese food.
Plenty of Chinese restaurants.
And many people will cherish pluralism
as you have a choice to make.
Just be honest and have integrity
and live according to the light that you have.
Now this fact and worldview
is a profound challenge
to what we find in the Bible.
Graham's already alluded to the words of Jesus.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
Now that statement in John chapter 14
is in direct conflict
with the spirit of pluralism.
The Roman Empire,
when we go back into the first century AD,
we want to say that pluralism is in fact biblical.
Well, let me put it this way.
The Bible captures pluralism on its very pages.
So pluralism is not a new thing.
You think on the Jewish side of the equation,
you have Sadducees
and you have Pharisees.
They believe different things.
You have those groups of Jews
that were pro-establishment.
We call them Herodians.
You see, they hitched their wagon
to the Roman Empire
because they saw the writing on the wall.
They saw the direction of travel
and they figured if we connect ourselves well
to this empire, we will do well.
But on the other hand of the spectrum,
you had the Zealots.
They didn't like Rome
and they rebelled against Rome.
And if you want to include
kind of like the half cousins,
the Samaritans.
So within that phrase
or that word Jewish,
there are several different groups,
several different groupings.
There are Jews who lived in the Middle East.
There are Hellenized or Greek Jews
who had their own culture.
And then when you go
to the other side of the world,
in the other part of the world,
the Gentile world,
that was even more diverse.
You had the Romans
and you had the Greeks.
You had pagans.
You had Platonists.
You had Stoics.
You had Epicureans.
We heard that just a few moments ago.
And these are all,
in many ways,
very conflicting worldviews.
If you're an Epicurean,
and we still use that word sometimes,
somebody that really likes good food
is often described as an Epicurean.
They like wine
and they like good food
and they like the good things of life.
But the Stoic
was quite a different approach
to the sensual pleasures of life.
Quite restricted.
Quite limited.
So we see here,
as you read through the Scriptures,
and isn't it interesting
that Jesus attracts
all different kinds of people
from all different kinds of backgrounds.
This is not a homogenous group.
And the church today
is not a homogenous group.
We aren't a homogenous group.
We look different.
We speak differently.
We represent different age groups.
We have different cultural backgrounds.
We have different upbringings.
Some of you may have grown up
in a Christian home
and you have heard the gospel
your whole life.
Others, like me,
may have come to faith
at a later age
and still others
may not yet be sure
what you actually believe.
So with this background
of the plural society
in which we live
and of that celebration
of plurality
that everyone has something
of the truth
but no one has all of the truth.
And as we engage
with a plural world
in the pages of the Bible,
Christianity makes
an audacious claim.
It makes this audacious claim
that there is but one God
and there is but one Savior
and there is but one Gospel
and there is but one Holy Book,
the Bible.
Over the years,
it's interesting,
when you have to teach,
you really have to learn
your material
and I tell you what,
I don't know what I was doing
preaching for all those years
before I was ETS
but I've learned so much
since I started to teach.
I came across a quote
by Leslie Newbigin.
He was a missionary,
an Anglican missionary in India.
And he captured this response
from an Indian religious person.
He said,
I can't understand
why you missionaries
present the Bible to us
in India
as a book of religion.
It is not a book of religion.
And anyway,
we have plenty of books
of religion in India.
We don't need any more.
I find in your Bible
a unique interpretation
of universal history,
the history of the whole creation
and the history
of the human race
and therefore,
a unique interpretation
of the human person
as a responsible actor
in history.
That is unique.
There is nothing else
in the whole religious literature
of the world
to put alongside of it.
Now, this is not to say
or to prove,
you might not think,
this is not a proof
that this is the right book
or the right gospel
or the right savior
or the right God,
but I'm suggesting that
within this plural view of life,
Christianity does not sit easily
within pluralism
because it makes unique
and particular claims
about God,
about us,
about the world,
about the past,
about the present,
and about the future.
And we need to come to terms
with what the Bible
is saying to us.
And if you have a chance,
you could read,
for example,
in 1 Corinthians chapter 1,
and you find there
the way in which
the gospel
has a way
of alienating
all kinds of people.
The gospel alienates the Jew.
Why?
It's a stumbling block.
The gospel alienates a Greek.
Why?
It's foolishness.
You see,
this idea of resurrection
never made much sense.
You see,
people 2,000 years ago
were not dumb
or dull
or stupid.
I think C.S. Lewis
used this phrase.
He talked about
a chronological snobbery.
We are modern people
or post-modern people
or technically
we are post-post-modern people.
So we are really bright.
And those people
of different generations,
they're really dim.
Well,
2,000 years ago,
death had this characteristic
of being final.
People who died
stayed dead.
It's a strange thing.
It's just the way it was.
It's just the way it is.
So the ancient people
aren't simple people.
And the Christian gospel
comes and proclaims
the resurrection
of Jesus from the dead.
And the Greeks say
this is utter foolishness.
And the Jews say
this is a stumbling block
to us believing
in what you are saying.
And as we turn
to Acts chapter 17,
we see that the way
in which the apostle Paul
presents the gospel,
he presents the same message,
but he presents
the same message
to very different audiences.
He speaks to the Thessalonians.
He speaks to the Bereans.
He speaks to the Athenians.
And as you read
through the book of Acts,
you'll see that the theme
remains constant.
One of the great missionaries
of the modern era
was a man called
James O. Fraser.
And he was a missionary
to the Yunnan province,
southwest Asia,
southwest China.
And in that province,
he encountered
one of the local
indigenous people groups
called the Lisu people.
And not only was
the Yunnan province
largely unreached
by the gospel,
the Lisu people
were completely unreached.
Not a single Christian
among their number.
And Fraser comes to China
and after nine months,
he's going to preach
his first sermon
in Chinese.
And he thought to himself,
the best way
to craft a gospel address
is to look at
the book that's open
in front of us,
the book of Acts.
I understand you're looking
at it in the morning.
You're going to get
two doses of it today.
And he said this,
he said,
in preparing my address,
I first went through
the Acts of the Apostles
with a view of finding out
the actual gospel
we are bidden to preach.
The result was
very instructive to me.
I had never imagined
the gospel was so simple.
Why, Peter and Paul
both preached the gospel
in words
which would not take
one minute to say.
And I found out
that there are just
four things
that seem to be essential
in preaching the gospel.
The first,
the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ.
No theological
explanation needed.
The resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
Most important of all,
the gospel was never preached
without this being brought in.
An exhortation,
three,
to hearers
to repent of their sins.
And four,
a promise to all
who believe on Jesus Christ
that they will receive
remission of their sins.
Beyond these four points,
others are mentioned
occasionally,
but they are not many.
In teaching Christians,
it is quite another matter.
To them,
we are to declare
the whole counsel of God
as far as they can receive it.
But the gospel is preached
to the unsaved
is as simple as it could be.
I should not care
to take the responsibility
of preaching another gospel.
And as we turn
to the pages of Acts chapter 17,
we have the same preacher
with very distinct audiences.
Now,
is he guilty
of imbibing
that pluralistic
environment
in which he was living?
Is he guilty
of preaching
one message
to the Jews
and one message
to the Greeks?
Well,
I hope you're not surprised
by me saying that.
No,
he's not.
He is not imbibing
the spirit of the age,
but he's proclaiming
the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
But he's proclaiming
the gospel
in a manner
that people
can understand.
The most distinct
contrast we see,
Acts chapter 17,
Paul in Athens,
and Acts chapter 2,
Peter in Jerusalem
at Pentecost.
These are gospel addresses.
There's a gospel response.
There is gospel blessing.
And yet the addresses
are very different,
aren't they?
Peter is speaking
to a Jewish audience
who knows the scriptures,
who knows the Old Testament,
who knows the great promises,
who knows the great prophecy.
Whereas Paul
is speaking to an audience
that knows
the Greek philosophers,
but knows next to nothing
about Jesus Christ.
And yet we see
that the power
of the gospel
can only accompany
the gospel.
Men and women
can only be transformed
by this message.
So if there is gospel blessing,
there must be gospel preaching.
There must be a conveying
of the good news
concerning Jesus Christ.
When Paul goes to Thessalonica,
his pattern, of course,
is to search out
the Jewish community.
He is a Jew.
He knows them.
They know him.
He knows where
they're coming from.
They know where
he's coming from.
And when he gets
to Thessalonica,
what does he do?
He reasons with them
from the Sabbath,
explaining and proving
that Christ had to suffer
and rise from the dead.
Jesus died
and Jesus rose.
And this Jesus
I am proclaiming to you
is the Christ.
Some were persuaded
and yet some were enraged.
That's one way you know
that the gospel
is being proclaimed.
You see gospel blessing
and you see gospel opposition
together.
We see that in Athens
and we'll see that
in a few moments.
So, when we turn
to the Christian message,
now, we need to be clear
on this.
Because other religions
and other world views
are seeking to give answers
to life's questions.
We're not going to deny that.
Because everyone is looking
for answers.
Everyone is looking
for insight.
Everyone is looking
for a way of making sense.
Where have I come from?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?
So, we shouldn't be surprised
that many people
are asking the same questions
and seeking answers
to those questions.
But we need to be clear
that Christianity presents
a unique answer
to these common questions.
The best explanation
I was given many years ago now
was most, if not all,
world views, philosophies,
and religions
largely suggest
that the problems of life
are outside of ourselves.
You know, you.
You know, in this context,
if I have problems,
the problems are largely with you.
Whereas the solutions
are largely here.
You're the problem for me,
but the solution
is somewhere within me
if I can just find it.
If I can just understand it.
If I can just realize it.
If I can dig deep.
Now, you might not be surprised
at me saying
is the Christian worldview
is completely opposite.
Because the Christian worldview
says there is a problem,
but that problem
is primarily internal.
My major problems
are me, not you.
And your major problems
are you and not me.
But what Christianity says
without hesitation
is that the solution
is completely outside
of ourselves.
Even if we realize
that we are the problem,
and even if we realize
that we can't fix the problem,
the solution has to come
completely outside
of ourselves
to us.
Now, that sharply distinguishes
a pluralistic worldview,
which suggests
that we all have
part of the truth,
some of the truth.
Maybe some ideas
are more or less valid.
Some ideas
are more or less helpful.
No.
The Bible
and the gospel
says there's a problem.
There's one main problem
that's called sin,
where I put myself
at the center of my world,
and I want everyone
to orbit that center.
I want things done my way,
when I want,
how I want,
as I want.
God is useful
only insofar
as he serves my ends.
That's a problem.
That's a problem
from a biblical point of view,
because you and I
are not the center
of the universe.
God is the center
of all things,
for from him
and to him
and through him
are all things.
To him be glory
forever and ever.
Amen.
So there is one problem,
and you see,
God not only has
to solve the problem,
he has to tell us
about the problem
because we're not
going to get it.
Not only are we not
going to get the solution,
we're not even going to
figure out what
the problem is.
And that's why
we need the Bible
open before us,
because the Bible
tells us,
here is the problem.
There's a human heart
that's darkened,
a human mind
that's clouded,
human emotions,
human actions,
human thoughts,
everything about us
has been corrupted.
Why?
Because we've inherited
a nature.
You know,
we all have inheritance.
You know,
we look like
our parents,
we act like
our parents,
we have genetic
characteristics,
and we have
personality traits.
But the Bible
tells us that
we've inherited
something from
our first parents,
an inclination
to sin.
So not only does
God have to tell
us the problem,
not only does God
have to explain
the problem to us,
God has to tell us
and provide for us
the solution.
God the Father
sends God the Son
on a rescue
mission.
God the Son
lives a perfect
life,
dies a sacrificial
death,
rises from the
grave,
ascends to heaven,
and the Father
and the Son
then send the Spirit,
God the Holy Spirit,
to take what
belongs to Jesus
and to apply it
to us.
Because even when
we're presented
with a solution,
we are completely
incapable of
receiving it.
Such is the
nature of human
sin and such is
the implication
of the fall
that we're dead,
Paul says.
We are dead
in sins and
dead in
transgressions,
dead in mind,
dead in heart,
dead spiritually.
So God must
make us alive.
Now when we
begin to compare
that view of the
world to any
other worldview,
we have to say,
now Christianity
might be wrong,
but Christianity
cannot be easily
or at all
incorporated into
a pluralistic
worldview.
It's just
impossible.
people.
And you see,
in fact,
if we're being
fair to other
worldviews,
neither can
they.
You see,
I think it's
actually quite
patronizing and
quite insulting
to say to
someone who
follows another
world religion,
well, you
actually believe
pretty much what
I believe.
Because I don't
think they do.
And neither do
they.
I think we need
to be honest
with ourselves.
I think we need
to be honest with
each other.
That doesn't
mean to be
insulting,
and that doesn't
mean to be
patronizing,
but to say,
well, look,
if this is what
you believe,
and this is
what I believe,
these are
different beliefs.
I remember I was
involved for many
years in university
chaplaincy.
It's an interesting
experience.
And in the
university chaplaincy,
I met many
different chaplains
from many different
Christian traditions.
The ones that I
had most affinity
with were the
Roman Catholic
and the Eastern
Orthodox,
because they had
a firm set of
beliefs.
They had a firm
idea of what
they believed,
what was right,
what was wrong,
and where it
came from.
I would say
alongside the
Roman Catholics
and the Eastern
Orthodox,
the next natural
affinity was the
Muslim chaplain.
It was quite
remarkable.
I remember one
time talking about
Eid and talking
about the various
festivals, and I
never realized that
Hajj,
was a form of
Hagar.
Remember Abraham
and Hagar?
Well, you see,
we're big on
Abraham, Sarah,
and Isaac,
right?
Abraham, Sarah,
and Isaac.
Those are the
three for us,
right?
But from the
Muslim worldview,
it's Abraham,
Hagar, and
Ishmael.
And my Muslim
friend, the
chaplain, he said,
we believe that
the child of
promise was
Ishmael.
He didn't say
it provocatively.
He didn't say
it insultingly.
He just said,
this is what we
believe.
Now, you can't
reconcile those
two, can you?
We say the
child of promise
was Isaac
through Sarah.
They say the
child of promise
was Ishmael
through Hagar.
Now, it's
patronizing to
say to these
two people,
you're saying
the same thing.
They're patently
not saying the
same thing.
One might be
right, the
other wrong.
They might both
be wrong, but
they can't
possibly be
right.
And that's one
of the great
weaknesses of
this pluralistic
worldview.
We're not saying
that there
aren't plurality.
Of course, there
is.
But the worldview
that says we're
all pretty much
saying something
of the same,
or we're kind
of moving in
the same direction,
or we've kind
of captured
something of a
similar truth.
well, we're not.
And I think it's
unfair to say
so.
So Paul speaks
to the Thessalonians.
He preaches the
gospel to the
Jews.
And what
happens?
There's a
riot.
Some believe.
Some are
persuaded.
Others are
enraged.
It's now time
for Paul to
leave.
And you see,
Paul is
proclaiming that
there is another
king.
You see,
there's a
source of
authority here,
and that source
of authority
isn't Jesus.
The source
of authority
isn't you
and isn't me.
The source
of authority
is not
Caesar,
is Jesus.
Jesus is
this other
king.
He's called
Jesus,
another king.
Paul then
goes on to
Berea,
and again,
he's speaking
to a Jewish
audience.
They examined
the scriptures.
They were eager
to make sure
that what Paul
was saying
was right.
But again,
that crowd
from Thessalonica,
they found
their way
to Berea,
and it was
time for
Paul to
leave.
So Paul
is preaching
Jesus.
He's preaching
the gospel.
He's preaching
the message,
and there is
a reaction.
Some believe,
and some
respond,
and then he
comes to a
very different
setting.
He comes to
Athens,
and the first
thing he does
was let the
city speak to
him.
He listens,
and if
we're wise,
we listen
before we
speak.
We listen
to what the
city says.
We listen
to what the
culture says.
We listen
to what people
think,
and if they
don't tell us,
we ask them,
what do you
think?
What do you
believe?
Because when
Paul was there,
he saw that
this city was
not irreligious,
but very
religious.
And you see,
maybe modern
Scotland is not
so much
non-religious,
it's just
multi-religious.
Everybody has
different ideas
of what they
worship.
They worship
many different
things.
They might not
call them
gods, but
they worship
many different
gods.
And Paul
realizes that
as he
circulates,
as he
listens,
and as he
speaks,
what does he
do?
He tells the
good news in
verse 18.
He tells the
good news about
Jesus and the
resurrection.
salvation.
It's the same
theme.
It's the same
gospel.
It's the same
Jesus.
The same
Jesus that
caused a
riot in
Thessalonica,
the same
Jesus that
caused a
revival in
Jerusalem when
Peter preached
the Pentecost,
is the same
Jesus that
Paul preaches
here in
Athens.
They're
interested,
they're
curious,
they're
talkers,
they're
thinkers,
believers,
and then
Paul gets
an opportunity
to speak.
And what
does he do?
He finds a
bridge.
You see,
there's always
a bridge.
There's always
a bridge between
the gospel and
people.
Well,
one reason is
this.
We are all
made in the
image of God.
We are all
made by God.
We are all
made for God.
We are made
to know Him.
So there is
always a bridge.
We just need
to look for it.
And Paul
found that
bridge in
the altar
to an
unknown God.
This very
religious people,
they were
worshiping all
different kinds
of gods.
And they
recognized that
maybe they
might have
missed the
real God,
so they
had an
altar to
an unknown
God.
And Paul
says,
I'm going
to introduce
this God
to you.
You don't
know Him,
but I do.
You worship
Him as
unknown.
Let me
tell you
who He
is,
and let me
tell you
what He
is like.
And what
does Paul
do?
He preaches.
He preaches
in a way
that is
understandable,
that is
comprehensible.
He finds
that bridge,
the altar.
He finds
the poets,
the philosophers.
He connects
with the
culture.
Quoting the
Old Testament
do no good.
They don't
know the
Old Testament,
but they do
know their
Greek poets.
They do
know their
philosophers.
And Paul
is constantly
finding bridges
between the
gospel and
people.
And maybe
that should
be our
prayer as
we go
into the
world.
God,
give me a
bridge with
my neighbor.
God,
give me an
entry point.
Give me
some way of
conveying the
gospel in a
way that
makes sense
to them.
Not just in
a way that
makes sense
to me.
Help me
convey the
gospel in
a way that
makes sense
to someone
who does
not share
my biblical
worldview.
Someone who
does not
understand what
the scriptures
are saying.
And Paul
conveys
Jesus.
He speaks
about judgment.
He speaks
about resurrection.
He calls
people to
repent.
Again,
this is a
Greek audience.
This is a
philosophical
audience.
This is a
pluralistic
audience.
There's
Epicureans
and there's
Stoics.
There's
talkers.
There's
thinkers.
There's
any number
of different
people with
any number
of different
backgrounds.
But he
says he's
given proof
in verse
31.
For he
has set
a day
when he
will judge
the world
with justice
by the
man he
has appointed.
He has
given proof
of this
to all
men by
raising
him
from
the dead.
The time
is coming.
The message
now is
repent.
And you
see,
sometimes the
Bible uses
shorthand.
You see,
when you're
commanded to
repent,
implied in
a command
to repent
is believe.
When you're
commanded to
believe,
implied in
the command
to believe
is repent.
The two
things go
together.
You can't
separate them.
Jesus'
first sermon,
repent and
believe the
good news.
The kingdom
of God is
at hand.
The time
has come.
Repent and
believe the
good news.
God is
proclaiming
Jesus to
a Jewish
audience.
In
Thessalonica,
he's
proclaiming
Jesus to
a Greek
audience,
to a
philosophical
audience in
Athens.
And in
each of
these
situations,
something
happens.
When you
share the
gospel,
something
happens.
When the
gospel is
proclaimed,
something
happens.
The one
thing that
can never
happen when
the gospel
is proclaimed
is nothing.
Because God
promises that
whenever his
word goes
forth, it
will accomplish
what he
purposes.
And that
for which he
has sent
it.
That's his
commitment.
And that's
his promise.
One of the
great voices
in the
18th century
was a man
called George
Whitefield.
He said
this, he
said,
other men
may preach
the gospel
better than
I, but
no man
can preach
a better
gospel.
The gospel
is powerful.
Paul said
it himself.
I'm not
ashamed of
the gospel
because it
is the
power of
God unto
salvation
for all
who believe.
So when
you find
that bridge,
when you
find that
point of
contact,
you have
to make
a beeline
to the
gospel.
You need
to make
a beeline
to Jesus
because just
building bridges
is not
sufficient.
We need
to proclaim
the good
news.
We need
to tell
something
about Jesus'
death.
We need
to tell
something
about his
resurrection.
We need
to convey
something
about his
call to
repentance,
and we need
to convey
something,
as Fraser
said to
that Chinese
audience about
that promise
that to
those who
repent,
their sins
will be
forgiven.
This simple
formula is
powerful.
When the
gospel is
proclaimed,
step back
and watch
out because
God will
do something.
We don't
know what,
we don't
know when,
we don't
know how,
but we
know that
he will
do something.
I want
to close
by reading
a passage
at the
very end
of the
Bible,
Revelation.
It's in
chapter 7
of that
wonderful
book.
And you
see,
the Bible
is pluralistic
in its
content and
describing the
world of the
first century,
but the Bible
is also
pluralistic in
describing heaven
because it
tells us about
all nations
and all
peoples and
all tribes
and all
tongues.
Revelation 7
and verse
9.
After this
I looked
and there
before me
was a great
multitude
that no
one could
count.
From every
nation,
tribe,
people,
and language
standing
before the
throne and
before the
Lamb.
They were
wearing white
robes and
they were
holding palm
branches in
their hands
and they
cried out
in a loud
voice,
salvation
belongs to
our God
who sits
on the
throne and
to the
Lamb.
So here
we have
all nations,
all peoples,
all tribes,
all tongues,
and what do
we have?
One place,
one throne,
one song,
one savior,
one way,
one hope.
That's what
we have in
the gospel.
We have a
message of
universal
relevance,
universal
application,
of universal
invitation to
all peoples,
all world
views,
all philosophies,
all world
religions,
whoever,
wherever,
whenever.
There's again
a great quote
I love
quotations.
I'm sure
Graham is
sick of
me quoting
in class,
but I'll
close with
a man who
himself has
a level of
enthusiasm.
He has a
similar accent
to mine,
but I can't
do John
Piper.
But if I
could,
I would say
this.
God is
pursuing with
omnipotent
passion a
worldwide purpose
of gathering
joyful worshipers
for himself.
From every
tribe and
tongue and
people and
nation,
he has
an
inexhaustible
enthusiasm
for the
supremacy of
his name
among the
nations.
Therefore,
let us bring
our affections
into line
with his,
and for the
sake of his
name,
let us
renounce the
quest for
worldly
comforts and
join his
global purpose.
There is going
to be a day
when all tribes,
tongues,
and nations are
gathered in
front of the
throne.
In that
day,
we will
see what
God has
done.
Until that
day,
let us
seek,
with all the
strength,
with all the
wisdom,
with all the
courage,
to bring
people to
a knowledge
of Jesus.
We cannot
save them,
but we can
convey something
of this truth
to them.
And when we
do so,
we can
confidently state
and be
confident that
God will
use even
our feeble,
weak efforts
to accomplish
his steadfastness
and powerful
purposes.
So may God
bless you.
And if you
happen to be a
pluralist here
tonight,
I would
ask you to
please consider
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
You will
find no
greater Savior.
You will
find no
greater gospel.
And you
will find no
greater assurance
for the future
than when you
find him.
May God
bless you
all.