We only send this newsletter to those who have requested it. If you wish to no longer receive this newsletter, or are receiving it in error, you can un-subscribe. Just reply to this e-mail and write the word "Un-Subscribe" in the subject window.

Many Christians, and for that matter many Christian leaders make the mistake of treating Christmas like the drunk uncle at the family reunion. They spend all their time either ignoring it because they are too spiritual or repudiating it because of it's pagan roots. I am well aware of the truth that believers in the Church Age are not to recognize holy days, and that Christmas was a creation of the church to compete with Saturnalia. I am also aware that Christ was not born on the 25th of December. However, the propensity of the intelligentsia to ridicule instead of reason works to flaunt knowledge in a self interested way rather than to make the most of an opportunity to glorify God by magnifying Christ. I recently heard a fellow dispensationalist on a local radio show say that when his family celebrates his birthday, they don't do so by looking at pictures of him as a baby. This isn't some brilliant point that exposes a secular world's comfort with Christ in a manger and not Christ on the Cross or the throne. Quite frankly it's foolishness. If this man's birth was foretold by a number of prophets ranging from 400 to nearly two millenia beforehand, If this radio bible teacher's mother was a virgin who conceived of the Holy Spirit, if not only men but Satan himself tried everything to prevent his birth from taking place, if his birth was celebrated by the worship of men and of Angels then maybe he could reasonably begin to make such a foolish comparison. The truth is Christmas, whatever it is to the rest of the world, is a terrific opportunity for believers to brag about their Savior. Don't fritter away your chances to present Christ, beyond the manger, by embracing the obnoxious position of a humbug. When the Apostle Paul approached the pagan philosophers on Mars Hill to testify of Christ, he did it with courtesy and respect in order to earn a hearing, not waving a sign of reproach to his hearers, and yet not compromising the true message of the gospel.

The Reverend Charles H. Spurgeon once said, "Christianity rests on three great pillars, the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Incarnation alone could not redeem sinful men. But apart from the Incarnation there could be no propitiatory sacrifice that would avail to put away sin. God became man in order to die. We cannot, therefore, make too much of the mystery of the union of the human and the divine in Him who was both Son of God and Son of Mary. In Him we have the Daysman for whom the patriarch Job longed, one who can lay His hand upon both God and man (Job 9:33) because He combines the natures of both in one glorious Person. Bethlehem, Calvary, and the empty tomb, all alike should stir our souls and draw our hearts out to God in wonder, love, and praise.

Ours is a unique time in which we live. It is actually deemed the enlightened view to claim to have no knowledge. In the past it was popular for philosophers to claim to be atheists. In other words there were men who claimed to have absolute knowledge that there did not exist a Being in the Universe who had absolute knowledge. When this view became philosophically indefensible these same men then claimed to be agnostic - to not have enough knowledge. Plato and Aristotle surely revolved a few times on this claim, because the meaning of that word in the Greek is actually translated ignoramus. In our time the only absolute is that there are no absolutes. The only thing one can be dogmatic about is that everything is relative. And when there are no absolutes then there are no taboos . . . except one: The Exclusivity of Truth. One is free to talk on nearly any subject today no matter how bizarre or how shocking and be near certain of, if not approval at least acceptance in the guise of tolerance. That is unless one talks of the Incomparable Christ:

Back to the top

"More than nineteen hundred years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once, did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His exile in childhood. He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous and had neither training nor formal education. In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined. He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students. He never marshaled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired. He never practiced medicine, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near. Every seventh day the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes went their way to worshiping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him. The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone, but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Through time has spread nineteen hundred years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. Herod could not destroy Him and the grave could not hold Him. He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Savior."

The Author neglected to mention the other reaction to this "Jewish Carpenter", and that is that while He has inspired more works of Art, more songs, and influenced more charitable movements than any other man in History he has also inspired men to spend their lives and their fortunes to blot out this man and His words. Kings have banned his words from being read and dictators have ordered the Bible to be burned and those holding a Bible to be jailed or put to death, and authors and philosophers have spent their time and money in bitter opposition to His Life, His work and His People. When one hears the speeches of those who claim to be atheists and agnostics, one cannot help but notice the invectives directed at The God of The Bible and the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ, while it is remarkably noticeable the absence of the same attitude toward other "gods" or other religions. Christ said of Himself in a remarkable prophecy for a little known Galilean, "The world hates me, and will hate you if you follow me. . ." The great question then, when all is said and done, is not what one thinks of this church or of that church, or what about the crusades and the inquisition or even the televangelist who practices evil in God's name, but What are we to make of Jesus Christ?

Back to the top

On the one side, clear, definite moral teaching. On the other, claims, which, if not true, are those of a megalomaniac, compared with whom Hitler was the most sane and humble of men. There is no half-way house and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him "Are you the son of Bramah?" He would have said, "My son, you are still in the vale of illusion." If you had gone to Socrates and asked, "Are you Zeus?" He would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Mohammed and asked, "Are you Allah?" He would first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off. If you had asked Confucius, "Are you Heaven?" I think he would have probably replied, "Remarks, which are not in accordance with nature, are in bad taste." The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion, the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man. . . I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . .

We may note in passing that He was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him.
He produced mainly three effects -
Hatred - Terror - Adoration.
There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.

Back to the top

Finally, and I know that philosophers have their problems with it, because at first glance it seems to reduce the most important question in time and eternity to the fate of a coin flip; I leave you with a slight paraphrase of Pascal's Wager. The thought is his, but the words are mine:
If one believes in God and He (God) does not exist, then nothing has been lost. In this case, the worst case scenario is that one would have spent his life loving, not only his neighbor but also his enemies, forbearing with the faults of others, giving more than receiving, in general living on a higher plane than one's primal nature would suggest. However, if one does not believe in God and He does exist, then all is lost. He has ignored the greatest truth in life. He has spent his part in time rejecting ultimate reality and will spend his part in eternity banished from it. In life's greatest equation, there is no neutral ground. To claim neutrality is to reject the Claims of Christ. He Himself expressed that one "is either with Me or against Me." As Heaven is not Harps and Clouds, but being in the presence and service of Almighty God, Hell is not pitchforks and pointed tails, but the absence of Him and all his blessing. For the God of the Bible is not a spiritual rapist, He would not force those who have rejected Him in time to serve Him for eternity. So, in the end, no one really is sent to Hell, as much as one chooses it.