an of jctue Torche Cx

NINETEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS AGO, A BABY WAS BORN IN THE RELATEVELY
INSIGNIFICANT ROMAN PROVINCE OF JUDEA, IN THE TINY TOWN OF —s THE SON OF
A CARPENTER HE WAS RAISED IN THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH WAY sup OBVIOUSLY FULFILLED A
NORMAL CHILDHOOD. WHEN HE WAS THIRTY HE ASSUMED, LIKE Nay OTHERS OF HIS TIME, THE
ROLE OF PROPHET, TEACHER AND HEALER AND AFTER A SHORT cana HE WAS EXECUTED AS A
POLITICAL INSURGENT, HIS FOLLOWERS, SHORTLY THEREAFTER, cust MED THAT NOT ONLY
HAD HE RISEN FROM THE DEAD, BUT THAT HE WAS THE BSS ALi ANNOINTED ONE OF THE
LORD.

IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA, IN SUBURBAN CHICAGO, nts VERY EXXZEX EASY TO
ALLOW THE CRUCIAL AND ALL IMPORTANT STORY AND TEACHINGS OF | JESUS CHRIST TO BECONE
FADED AND EVEN NON EXISTENT IN LIGHT OF A MYRIAD OF OTHER ues TO DO AND CONSIDER «
OFTEN TIMES CHURCH ACTIVITIES, FUN AND Pi LOWSHIP, PICNICS SER TO OVERSHADOW THE
REAL REASON FOR THE VERY EXLSTENCE OF OUR FAITH AND OUR cHROH.

IN LIEU OF THLS WE ARE OBLIGATED TO R=TURN corms TO THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS
OF OUR LORD, NSVER CEASING TO SEARCH THEM FOR NEW, DEEPER MEANING AND INSPIRATION. IT
ac secre’ Awan canes yi aa AWD
IS ABORTED AND MISUNDERSTOOD BY A LARGE NUMBER OF BELIBVERSSAND I THINK IT IS FAIR

TO SAY THAT THE REASON FOR THIS LIES IN THE FACT THAT stoi BUT SURELY THE VERY

RANCHES AND TRUNK OF THE FALTH HAVE BECOME OBSCURED AMONG THE THICK FOLIAGE. IN

THE GAMB OF FOOTBALL EVERY PRACTICE SESSION BEGINS WITH A RENEW OF FUNDAMENTALS,
WHETHES THE THAM BE A JUNIOR HIGH TEAM OR THE CLEVELAND aRovnis. IF YOU WILL OVERLOOK
THE CRUDE ANALOGY I THINK THE POINT 15 CLEAR—-WE MUST wav FAIL TO REVIEW CHRISTIAN
FUNDAMENTALS ~-THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE CHRIST, :

IT IS MY ENTIA® PURPOSE THIS MORNING TO REVIEW A Fi oF THESE FUNDAMENTALS,

THAT WE MAY BE BOTH ENRICHED AND BETTER ABLE 10 NDLVIDUALLY INTERPRET THEM IN OUR
DAILY LIVES.

THE POINT AT WHICH I HAVE CHOSEN TO BEGIN IS THE AESTORICAL OCCURENCES OF A MAN@—~
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE LIF& LIVED BY THIS MAN AND HIS erica TEACHINGS OBVIOUSLY ARE
NOT ENOUGH TO MERIT HIS ROLE AS THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTEANETE. OTHER MEN THROUGHOUT
HISTORY HAVE ¥e\Wc wed EQUALLY PURE AND HOLY LIVES AND HAE TAUGHT DOCTRINES EQUALLY
AS GODLY AND RIGHTHOUS —-PLATO, SOCRATES, FRANCES OF assist, ALBERT SCHWEITZER--

TO NAME A FEW.
SURELY JESUS OF NAZARETH WAS A MAN WITH THE SAME cHARAOTERISTTOS, IMOTIONS AND

DRIVES AS OTHER MEN. HE ATE, DRANK, SLEPT, BECAME ANGRY, DISGUSTED, COMPASSTONA TE
VP eo Aas ei. WAR 4, Gls late - We. vB met Vike a tbe y

A Wwer& Vey
JUST AS WH ALL DBO. wa CHRISTIANITY RADICALLY CLAIMS HIM RS LORD IS IN THE BELIEF IN

THE INCRANATION, PUTTING IT AS SIMPLY AND EARTHY AS I5 roSsEBLE--aBSUS THE MAN WAS
ALSO GOD, THE INCRRNATE SON, THE WORD MADE FLESH. THIS LOGICAL PARADOX HAS BREN A

STUMBLING BLOCK THROUGHOUT THE AGES AND STILL is, CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCLOUSLY FOR

26
SOR MANY A CHRISTIAN. IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES co MEN TRISD TO
RESOLVE THE ISSUE BY CLAIMING THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS sone THEM IN THE FORM OF
JESUS, THAT HIS MATERIAL BODY WAS ACTUALLY NOT A PART OF HIS ESSENCE, A SIFTH
CENTURY WORK OF ART CLEARLY ILLUSTRATES THIS EVASLON OF sass HUMANITY BY POR*
TRAYING THE SPIRITUAL ~-THE REAL, CHRIST, OBSERVING THE CRUCTFLATON OF THE MAN
JESUS FROM ANOTHER HILL.

GONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY, PARTICULARLY AROUND THE wu OF THE CENTURY TRIED TO
RESOLVE THE PROBLEM BY DESCRIBING. JESUS AR A GOOD MAN, BH IOALLY THe BST MAN THAT
EVER LIVED. IN HIS LIFE WAS SEEN THE ULTIMATE REALITY OF Lovett CHRISTIANS MUST
IMITATE.

BOTH OF THe LOCERR ANSWERS ARE DRASTICALLY INADEQUATE scavse BOTH NEGLECT AN
ESSENTIAL PERT OF THE VALID BELIEF ABOUT THE NATURE OF sa. THE ONE FAILS TO RE@*
NIZE HES COMPLETE "HUMANESS"--THE OTHER HIS COMPLaTE "DEVINENESS .*

WHEN APPROACHING THIS PROBLEM ONS MUST RBAULLY R600 RIZE THE FINI TENESS OF HIS
OWN REASON. ‘HH INCARNATION CAN NEVER BE EXPLAINED RATLONALLY--10R CAN IT BH IGNCRED,
THE BEST WE CAN DO, IN OUR STARTING POINT IN cu STANLY As OUR LOGIC ERCOMES MORE INADES
QUATE TO DEAL JUSTLY WITH THE ISSUE—IS TO REALIZE THAT wig TNCARNATION IS A WRK OF

GOD—-SIMPLY NOT AVAILABLE IN ITS ENTIRETY TO THE FINITS MIND. QUR STARTING AND BEGIN

ING POINT MUST BE —-IN THE EMPHATIC WORDS OF THE NICENE CREED—THAT JESUS WHRIST WAS

V2RY GOD AND VERY MAN,

IN THIS UNIQUE ROLE AS GOD'S INCARNATION JESUS MADE Mate RADICAL DEMANDS AND
PROMISES. THESE DEMANDS AND PROMISES ARE FAMILLAR TO YOU sib LIKE ALL OF
CHRISTIAN DOCSRINE--ARE SUBJECT TO CONSTANT ABUSE, EXAGGERATION AND ABORTION,

THE OCCURRENCE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE LIMITS OF TIME an SPACE POINTS TO THE
AWEING FACT THAT GOD HAS ACTED IN HIS}ORY, IF WE ACCEPT ats FACT WE HAVE AUTOMA-
TICALLY SHUT OUT ALL OTHER RELIGIONS FROM THE REALM OF anno ETY, IF THE ONE GOD HAS
ACTED WITHIN THE LIMITS OF HUMAN PERCEPILON ~-THERE CAN HE x0 OTHER WAY --ONLY THE
WAY REVEALED IN THIS ACT. IN THe ROMAN EMPIRE THE CHRIST. ans GOD WAS WELCOME AT
ALL TIHSS TO JOIN THE GODS OF THE STATE. AS YOU WELL KNOw ru EARLY CHRISTIANS ReALlZ BD
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF THIS OFFER. BECAUSE GOD ACTED IN asm, BECAUSE THE CHRIST
LIVED AMONG THEM~-THEY COULD RECOGNIZE NO OTHER OInTY. HIS SITUATION IS APPARENT IN
CERTAIN CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES TODAY. A FAMTLIAR REMARK IN sayy A DISCUSSION OF RELIGION
Is THAT "—-ALL RELIGIONS MEAN THE SAME THING--MOSLEMS, muop4taS., HINDUS, CHRISTIANS--
ARE ALL STRIVING FOR THE SAME THING, AND ARE WORSHIPPING nip SAME GOD-—-UNDER DIFFERENT
NAMES." THIS APPEASING AND APPEALING ATTITUDE IS SIMPLY Not CHRISTIAN. THE EXT STENCE

OF JESUS CHRIST I5 OUR PROMISE THAT THE WAY, THE ONLY WAY HAS BEEN REVEALED TO US BY

THE ONE AND ONLY Lory.

be

JEUS PROMISES CONCERNING THE RESULTS OF ACCEPTANCE OF HIMSELF AS THE SON OF
GOD HAVE BEEN IGNORED BY MANY AND INFLATED BY aiaer. \ WHAT HE OFFERED TO MEN WAS
LI¥E--A NEW LIRG OF UNDELSTANDING, HUMILITY~-AND RECOGNITION OF AN EVES, PRESENT
FORGIVENG GO.

THE DEMANDS JESUS MADE IN HIS SSRHONS RECORDED IN THE aesPuLs ARE HOST PER-
TIENENT TO ANY PERSON WHO CALLS HIMSELF CHRISTIAN. HUNDREDS OF BOOKS HAVE RAEN WRITTEN
DESGHE BING THE CHISITIAN ETHIC, MILLIONS OF MEN HAVE arneserip IN MILLIONS OF
DIFFERENT WAYS TO PRACTICE THE CHRISTIAN ETHIC. CHRIST'S batanos HAVE BEEN BOLLED
DOWN TO LOVE FOR ALL, TO DOING UNIO OTHERS AS YOU WISH THEM Fs DO TO YOU, TO CON-
QUERING MANKIND IN His NAME; TO REFUSING TO PARTICIPATE IX ur TYPE OF ARMED VIGLENCE .
FOR ME TO STAND HERE AND TELL YOU HOW CHRIST'S DEMANDS sHow MATERIALLZE IN YCUR
RESPECTIVE LIVES WOULD BE VAIN AND ALSO QUITE ILLS@GITIMATE, : AGAIN WHAT I HOPE To BO
IS POINT (] THE STARTING POINT,IN LIGHT OF Jasus's peace PLACE WHER ONS MUST
BEGIN IF HE IS TO UNDERSTAND THE NEW TESTAMENT DEMANDS.

THE INEVITABLE SPRING BORRD IS THE FACT THAT MAN IS SmuPUL. THROUGHOUT HISTCRY

OUTSTANDING HEN HAVE REALIZED AND EXPRESSED IN DIFFERENT WATS THE HORRIFYING FACET

THAT MAN IS BASICALLY EVIL-THAT HE DESPERATELY NEEDS HELP, SOMEHOW THIS VERY COR—
NERSTONE OF OUR FAITH(OR BETTER YET) THE VERY REASON FOR IT IS RARELY RECOGNIZED

AND UNDERSTOOD BY CHRISTIAN MEN, IN THE SURGE OF OPTIMISM THAT OCCURRED AFTER THs

Wh Dat

6.

FRENCH REVOLUTION AND ENLIGHTENMENT, AND WHICH HAS VERY RECENTLY SUBSIDED A BIT, THs

DOMINANT BELIEF WAS THAT MAN WAS BASICALLY GOOD, THAT THROUGH EDUATION AND ENVIRON-

MENTAL IMPROVEMENT HE COULD ULTIMATELY ACHIEVE PERFECTION. TO THIS FANTASY...
CHRISTIANITY MUST SHOUT A UNANIMOUS NO. VERY RECENTLY THE AGE OLD CHRISTIAN TRUTH OF SIN+

FUL MAN HAS BEEN AFFIRMED IN ACADEMIC CIRCLES, IN THE FLELD OF DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY. IW

PROBING THE DEPTHS OF THE HUMAN MIND LEADING SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE UNANIMOUS
IN CLAIMING THAT MAN PS PRONE D EVIL, DESTRUCTION, PERVERSION OR HOW EVER YOU wANT
TT, I ADD THIS JUST AS A SIDE NOTE FOR SINCE JESUS SAID ra MEN NwiD FORGIVENSSS
AND PAUL THAT ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE cuoRy OF GODs CHRISTIANS HAVE
KNOWN THE TERRIBLE TWH.

A POPULAR CONCEPTION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE Is TO rouLoW A SET OF RULES—-THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE S#RMON ON THE MOUNT OR OTHERS, IF on BREAKS NO RULES HE AVOLDS
SIN, BEFORE WE LOOK AT JESUS'S DEMANDS WE MUST REALIZE ovat TO BE HUMAN IS TO BE
SINFUL, PRIDE, JEALOUSIE, COMPLETE AND UTTER INPA'U ATi ON wrrn THE SELF ARE THE IN-
HERENT PLAGU:S OF HUMANITY-—THOSE THAT MAKE US SINFUL.

IN JESUS DAY RETGHTEOUNESS WAS INDENTIPLED WITH OBBDL ANCE TO THE JEWISH Law
BY A MAJORITY OF HIS LISTENERS AND SPECIFICALLY & BeDyor STRICT RULE BOOKERS CALLED
PHARISEES. AGAINST THESE PEOPLE H® WAS MOST snRsi-—ExPaCTING SALVATION T BE EARNED

BY FOLLOWING RULES WAS HYPOCRIGY OF THE WRUS?T SORTS. EVEN ACTS THAT ARB OUTWARDLY

GOOD ORIGINATE IN A HEART FILLED WITH EVIL,

Ve

JEUS DID NOT DISCARD THE LAW AS MEANINGLESS. THE Szsafon ON THE MOUNT IS AN
ENLARGEMENT OF THE OLD JEWISH LAW. HE SAW THE PURPOSE OF vip LAW IN QUITE A DIFFERENT
LIGHT PROM THE PHARISEES. FOR JESUS AND EAR FOR ALL cuRTSTTANS, THE LAW, OR A QODE
OF BTHIcS IS A GUIDE POST, A POINTER TO OUR HOPELESS SINUS,

JESUS REALIZED THAT THE LAW AS SUCH WAS EASY TO PULETLL AND THUSLY Hi DUG
DEEPER DEMANDING MORE AND MORE PERSISTENTLY POINTINGOUT oi BLUNT FACT THAT ALL MEN
ARE SINNERS, THAT REGARDLESS OF THE STRENOUSNESS AND SINCERITY WITH WHICH THEY FOLLOW
THE RULES THEY CANNOT ESCAPE THEIR SINFUL NATURE, TO THE Conn? "THOU S HALT
WOT KILLt"——-HE ADDED THE CONDEMNATION-~THAT ANGER IS A SIN Fe IS NO LESS EVIL THAW
KILLING, TO THE COMMANDMENT "THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT aovureny HE ADDER THE
CONDEMNING NOTE THAT LUSTFUL THINKING IS AS SINFUL AS THE ace OF ADULTERY ITSELF, let
US FACE, IN TERMS OF THE LAW ,THE FACTS --~WE ARE ALL ADULITERS AND MUDERERS,

IF ONE WERE TO S}P AT THIS POINT THE SITUATION WOULD sua HOPELESS AND TO SAY

THE LEAST UNBEARABLE. STOPPING WOULD SEEM TO HAKE A CHRISTIAN LIFE A COMPLETE

ere |

THPOSSIBILITY. THE QUESTION INEVITA’ LY ARISES THAT if WE ARE SINFUL AND CANNOT IM-
PROVE~WHY TRY, WHY BE A CHRISTIAN. AND HERE JESUS CHRIST OFFERS MAN THE MOST JOY-
FUL AND RADICAL MESSAGE POSSIBLE--IN THE SUMPLE ASSURANCE THaT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL

FORGIVE US. ALTHOUGH HIS ETHIC APPEARS TO BE AN IMpOSSIBILLTY Wi SHOULD NOT DISPAIR.

REING A CHRISTIAN Is GROUNDED IN THS RECOGNITION OF OUR Sl NFULNESS, RacOGNI TION OF THE

8.
FUTILITY OF ALL OUR ATTEMPTS FOR SURELY WE WILL FALL SHORT - FINALLY RECOGNITION
OF THE DIRE NEED FOR THE FORGIVENESS. CERTAINLY WE ARE GUILTY--BUT JUST AS CERTAINLY

THERE IS ONE WHO RRGIVES. 4 |
ay we Weds nqie Lor"
- BRIDGED

JESUS CHRIST BRRXMER THIS GAP BETWEEN HOLY LORD AND SINF UL MAN, SIMULTANEOUSLY

/
POINTING OUT OUR GUILT AND OFFERING US FORGIVENSS. MANS ONLY OBLIGATION IS TO
PROSTRATE HIMSELF BEFORE HIS CREATOR, IN HUM. LITY AND PENETENCE,AND ASK THE FORGIVERBSS

|
HE DESERVES SO LITTLE,GOD'S GRACE, FORGIVENSS AND LIFE BYERUASTING ARE FRE TO ALL

FOR THE AXING,

AMEN
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WE \IES er we Waa, © ak eC servile ta, -

BENEDIC Ti ON

NOW TO HIM WHO IS AELE TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING AND 10 PRESENT YOU WITHOUT
BLEMISH BEFORE THE PRESENCE OF HLS GLORY WITH REJOICING, “ THE ONLY GOD, OUR SAVIOR
NNQME TRHOUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY, MAJESTY, DUE uNON, AND AUTHORITY,

BERORE ALL TIME AND NOW AND KOREVER. AMEN