What follows is a three part journey, exploring the three most prominent world religions, other than the largest faith; Christianity. My focus will be providing a basic understanding of the history, major beliefs, and holy writings of each of the three most prominent religions, outside of Christianity, and then to provide a concise comparison of them with Christianity. Then I will ask the simplest of questions of each of them: “What think ye of Christ.” (Mathew 22:42) You see, unlike the droves of spiritual teachers of this postmodern era, I am compelled toward a high view of the uniqueness of the Cross of Jesus Christ for salvation, the Bible is matters of faith and practice, and the sovereign hand of Almighty God working through Christ and His Church in this world.

Mortimer Jerome Adler, the American Philosopher, once wrote that, “Christianity is the only world religion that is evangelical in the sense of sharing good news with others. Islam converts by force; Buddhism, without the benefit of a theology; Hinduism doesn’t even try.” It is my deepest and strongest desire to show the uniqueness of the gift that we have been given in Christ by comparing and contrasting the pure religion of Jesus Christ with these three religions. In so doing, I trust that we may all have a renewed sense of awe at the advent of Messiah, Jesus Christ. Let me say in advance that this will not be an exhaustive treatment of the history or practices of Islam. Such a treatment would require a lengthy series of sermons. We’ll be doing a bit of a “fly by,” skimming the tree tops to get a sense of the nature of the forest.

Background. Islam dates from time of the last ten years of the life its founder, Muhammad Ibne Abdullah, or simply the prophet Muhammad. He was born at or around 570 A.D. in the city of Mecca, which is now located in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad was orphaned early in his life and tradition says that he was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu Talib. Muhammad was a poor man until he married a wealthy widow named Khadija. At about the age of 40, Muhammad is said to have begun to see visions and receive revelations.

It was at this time that Muhammad began preaching publicly against the multiplicity of idols which were worshiped at Mecca’s central shrine, the Ka’ba. Muhammad believed, or at least reported, that he has received his visions from Allah, through the angel Gabriel. For his monotheistic beliefs he was an enemy to many, not the least of which were the merchants whose wealth stemmed from the sale of goods and idols to pilgrims traveling to the Ka’ba to worship their gods.

Muhammad and his many followers were forced to leave Mecca to what became known as Medina for a time. From that time it took Muhammad, only ten years to build his band of followers into a strong army which conquered nearly all of central and western Arabia. Muhammad, who had been previously cast out of Mecca, returned less than a decade later and made it his capital. Muhammad was clearly a great military leader. He also considered himself to be the prophet of Allah, and as such, he founded Islam, which he taught was a return to the pure worship of the one true God of Abraham. Muhammad believed that was a descendant of the son born of Hagar to Abraham, when Abraham disobeyed God’s command to wait for a child to be born of his aging wife, Sarah.

This connection is crucial to understanding the Islamic religion. The Ka’ba, which was the central shrine of Arabs in Mecca, Muhammad believed to have been built by Abraham as a place of worship to God. Muhammad considered Abraham to be his father and thus, the religion he founded was to be, not so much a new thing, but a return to the worship of the one true God of his father. It is important to note, however, that the name given to god by Muhammad, Allah, does not find its roots in the true worship of Abraham, but in pagan traditions. “Allah corresponded to the Babylonian god Baal, and Arabs knew of him long before Mohammed worshipped him as the supreme. Allah was the god of the local Qurish tribe of whom was Mohammed’s tribe before he invented Islam to lead his people out of their polytheism.

Allah was known as the Moon God, of which he had 3 daughters who were viewed as intercessors for the people unto Allah. Mohammed drove the other idols away; he made one God now the only god and he was its messenger. Mohammed used the name Allah, which was of a specific idol without ever distinguishing it from the idol the Meccans were already worshipping… "These names show the devotion of Mohammed’s pagan roots, and also prove that Allah was part of a polytheistic system of worship before Allah was made the supreme and only god from the other God's. The crescent moon was the symbol of the moon God Allah and is used as a symbol of Islam today.” (www.answers-islam.org)

God had already preserved His written word through the nation of Israel, through Abraham’s son Isaac. He had already fulfilled the promises made to Abraham through His son, Jesus Christ. Islam did not arise until the Church was more than six hundred years in existence. Muhammad’s interest in establishing Islam seems to be almost entirely driven by a desire for power and a desire to unify that power around a central ideal or religion. In driving out the other pagan gods, the pantheon of more than 360 gods worshipped in the region of Mecca, and unifying people around just one of those gods, Allah, the moon god, he effectively unified his power by merging his political power, which had won by the sword, and his religious power where he had claimed to be the prophet of the only god worthy of affection.

Writings. The primary sources of knowledge of Islam for a Muslim are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur’an is the central source for Muslims. It is considered to be Allah’s final revelation to humanity and is said to have been revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel over a period of 26 years. The Hadith are a collection of oral traditions surrounding the sayings and teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Both are widely accepted among Muslims. Practices. To our western minds, I think it does a disservice to refer to Islam as merely the religion of much of the world. That is because in the west we tend to view our religious convictions as a major, even central, part of our life. But in Islam, the teachings of Muhammad dominate all areas of personal and social life.

In a country where the pure Islamic faith is present, you find that it dominates the legal system through what is known as Sharia law. The term means “way” or “path to the water source”. Sharia is the legal framework for all that goes on in a Muslim society. It offers strict guidelines for politics, economics, family, banking, sexuality, hygiene, and social issues. Under Sharia law women are treated as second class citizens with little or absolutely not voice whatsoever. The Islamic worldview is based on upholding the five pillars of Islam. For a Muslim, God has not provided a savior; there is no shed blood of Calvary for them. In their view, they are working hard every day to perhaps earn the opportunity for eternal life and favor from God. The first pillar is Shahadah. It is professing the oneness of Allah and accepting Prophet Muhammad as his messenger to humanity. As a profession of this faith, they would say, in Arabic, “I testify that there is only one god Allah and that Muhammad (Peace Be Unto His Name) is his messenger.”

The second pillar of Islam is Salat. This requires a Muslim to pray five times a day at specific times. The third pillar is Zakaat. This is alms-giving which is required from all who are able to do so. Sawm, the fourth pillar, is ritual fasting during the 9th month of the Islamic year, the season of Ramadan. Muslims have to abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk during this month. They are also to be especially mindful of other sins. The last pillar is the Haji. The Haji is a pilgrimage that occurs during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah to the holy city of Mecca. Every able Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, following only Christianity. It boasts 1.5 billion adherents, which Christianity, the largest world religion, boast 2.1 billion followers. Islam is most prevalent in the northern half of Africa, the Middle East, and it is in India and Russia to a lesser degree.

Islam is on the rise, though. In the west a more moderate form of Islam seems to be taking root in academic circles, in large cities such as Chicago and elsewhere. I am blessed to have a friend in Bishop E.C. Okoye of Nigeria, Africa. From his first hand accounts in Nigeria, I have learned why it is that Islam is on the rise today. He tells me that in Nigeria and elsewhere, the reason Islam grows is because they are very proactive in their missionary efforts. Islam in Africa receives support from Islamic leaders in oil-rich Islamic nations for the building of schools, roads, and hospitals. When you are poor and Islam built the school you attend and the hospital that cares for you it is easy to trust in Allah. I am not of the school of thought that says that Islam is a peaceful religion which has been perverted by a few extremists. The evidence is to the contrary. Islam is a religion of works which was created by a warlord. Muhammad conquered territories and then rallied the conquered peoples around one central religion, which, do not forget, he created. Islam is a religion bathed in bloodshed.

There are moderate Muslims, who appreantly focus on the peaceful elements of the teachings of Islam, to be sure, but I want to speak plainly to this issue, Islam is not another way of worshipping the one true God. It is not a similarly peaceful religion to genuine following of the way of Jesus. It is a religion of working to earn Allah’s favor and of evangelism by the sword. Jerry Rassamni, a former Muslim extremist who converted to Christ, wrote the book “From Jihad to Jesus.” He writes, “In Islam, the world is traditionally divided into two camps. Those are Dar Al Islam (literally house of Islam or submission) meaning House of Peace, and Dar Al Harb (House of War). Although the exact definitions of these terms vary widely, a traditional definition is as follows: Countries that are under Muslim rule are grouped in the House of Peace, whereas countries that are not are grouped under House of War. Muslim fundamentalists have Islamic world domination in mind. They are on a jihad until the whole world confesses the Islamic creed which is featured on the Saudi Arabian flag. The Wahabis are the dominant Islamic sect in Saudi Arabia. Their war cry was: “kill the infidels.” The national flag of Saudi Arabia, the religious center of Islam has the words, “La Illaha Illa Allah” (There is no god by Allah).

Beneath those words, is the key to making that happen – a [depiction of a] sword.”

I am compelled by a straightforward study of the Scriptures, that there are not many paths leading toward the same God, no, there is a clear stream of life proceeding from one source, God, the one true God of Israel, in Jesus Christ. Our hope is not build on so much shifting sand, but on the very word of God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:5-6 NET) It is by God’s grace alone that men are saved. All of our efforts, all of our works, are like filthy rags in the sight of God.

Islam is not the good news of Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the world. In Islam there is no savior, only the shackles of working to earn mercy. In Christ God has revealed His loving nature; grace. We are told to lay down the sword and pick up the Cross! We are told to let go of our earthly treasure and power and follow after the Master of Mercy! In Christ, God did what we could not do for ourselves. In Islam, I am left to my devices, working to earn the mercy of Allah. Islam, therefore, fails the litmus test of salvation which I proposed earlier in this sermon; “What think ye of Christ?”

In Islam Jesus is merely a wise prophet and there is no savior but one’s own works. But that isn’t enough. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. If He was not then he is a blasphemer, not a prophet. And if He is the Son of God then He is Saviour. Where Christianity offers hope, Islam only offers enslavement to the law. Where Christianity offers peace with God through Jesus Christ, Islam only offers war within me as I strive to please God and war with others; as I am commanded not, as in Christ, to share the truth in love and service, I am told to convert the infidel by whatever means necessary, including the sword.

I seek to better understand Islam and the heart of its followers. Even more so, I pray that they would find peace in Jesus Christ; the man of mercy; whose teachings are antithetical to working to earn mercy or fighting to spread "true worship" (as they see it) by any means necessary. As with all other world religions, followers of Christ are not at war with them, at least we should not be, we should be at war with the tyranny of unbelief and the shackles of false belief. Love for all people and radical grace should be what we are known for, as representatives of Christ love on this earth!

We need not concern ourselves with the five pillars in an effort to please God; it has already been done for us, in Jesus Christ. Be reminded today, child of God, that in Christ alone is found the grace of God. We don’t have to wear shackles of guilt and shame; working to please God. We are freed from our chains by grace in order that God, working in us, might bring glory to Himself.

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Part-2, Revelation 5:11-13
What About Hinduism?

What About Hinduism?

A Hindu said to a native missionary, “I am sure if I lead a good life and do what is right, giving up my bad habits, God will be pleased with me and receive me into heaven.” “That is the way most people reason today,” replied the missionary. “You know the babul tree (a tree with long, sharp thorns). Now, suppose you break off from its branches a hundred or more of the nasty thorns, then will the tree cease to be a babool tree?” “Certainly not.”

“Suppose you should apparently stop one or another or even many of your evil ways and habits, you would still remain the same like the babool tree. You must have an entirely new nature, must become a new man, in order to please God. Only Christ can give you a new heart.” The missionary’s reply was sound and scriptural. The message of Christ, His first and only message to sinful man, is his need, not of works, no matter how good they may be, but his need of repentance, and acceptance of the Truth; Jesus Christ.

Now, we will take the second part of our trip through the three largest religions in the world, outside of Christianity. Hinduism will be our focus in what is to follow. As we travel through the subcontinent of India, passing over the landscape to gain a sense of its most prominent religion, we will discover that religion without foundation is not a means of transcending this reality in favor of some great spiritual enlightenment, but a means of transcending both reason and revelation. While Hinduism seeks to aide its adherent in transcending this fleshly world in favor of a higher, more complete, spiritual understanding, it does not so much liberate a person from worldly human social and ethical constructs; it enslaves people to vain philosophies, superstition, and baseless beliefs.

The age of the Hindu religion is not easy to ascertain. Hinduism arose over a period of several thousand years and is indigenous to the subcontinent of India, with various influences coming into it from outside cultures, helping to shape it. Hinduism, in its present and constantly changing form, evolved, and is evolving from the end of that ancient period right up until today. Hinduism has no dogmas, rigid structures, or even a set of commonly held beliefs. It is Foundationless.

As a religion Hinduism is largely defined by its practitioners, not by its holy books or by any organized church structures. Rather than calling Hinduism a unified religion, its is much more appropriately to say that Hinduism is a set of religious practices which are connected primarily in that they are practiced by one people group; the variances in religious practice and belief within Hinduism would otherwise easily constitute a collection of many religions.

The primary thing that binds them together under one umbrella is that it is one people group, the Indian people, which practice them. In the Religions of Mankind, the author states, “The word Hindu originated, not as the name of a religion, but as a geographical marker. Hindu derives from the Sanskrit word for river, sindhu, from which the Indus River received its name. Sometime in the first millennium B.C., the Persians, who were then South Asia’s closest neighbors, mispronounced sindhu, and designated the land around the Indus River as hindu. Over a thousand years later, in A.D. 712, the Muslims invaded the Indus Valley. To distinguish themselves, they called all non-Muslims hindus; the name of the land became, by default, the name of the people and their religion (Schoeps, 1966, p. 148; referenced from http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2579)

So, as you can see, the term Hinduism does not refer specifically to a set standard of religious practices so much as it identifies a people group. Among Hindu belief and practice there is wide diversity. According to Edward Rice, in Eastern Definitions, “The Way of the majority of the people of India, a Way that is a combination of religious belief, rites, customs, and daily practices, many of which appear overtly secular but in most cases have religious origins and sanctions. Hinduism is noted as being the only one of the major beliefs that cannot be defined, for any definition is inadequate, contradictory, and incomplete.” (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978. p.166-167)

So, I will not here attempt to define the indefinable but rather examine briefly and learn from the central tenants of this ever changing and nonspecific belief system. Hinduism is essentially a collection of cults and religious practices from the various regions of India. The only defining motif is a lack of definition. The only thing that binds this religion together is that each of the various cults who worship its own god, gods, or conception of eternal reality, identify with one another culturally and ethnically and geographically. It is a polytheistic religion, (many gods). There is one predominant theme in Hinduism which pervades much of the variations and practices of the people of the Indian subcontinent. Because it is a polytheistic religion, by definition, their can be no standards.

Each cult or regional worship system is regarded as just as valid as any other. The central theme is the idea that man can attain, through various means, a connection with the Brahman. In their system all lesser gods proceed or are born of Brahman; the ultimate reality and the key to cosmic control. In Hinduism the highest state of reality comes when one experiences the state of Moksha, and it is the goal of all Hindus. Moksha is the supreme goal of all Hindus as it is said to be a kind of ultimate “self realization” or god (Brahman) realization where a person loses him or her self as all of their material worldly understanding melts away until all that is left is the complete awareness of being one with the reality of one’s unity with Brahman.

The idea is that none of us really exist. All of our self awareness and understanding of our self is illusionary in that we are all expressions of Brahman. Life is seen as the endless cycle of birth and rebirth, known as Samsara where each soul is born and reborn until finally achieving this state of awareness, of Nirvana, and finally being separated from the cycle to enjoy eternal bliss. Some Hindus see this eternal state as a sort of heaven while others see it as becoming one with Brahman and escaping “self awareness” entirely. In this endless cycle of birth and rebirth a soul continues to carry with it the positive and negative “energy” into each existence as each soul works out its Karma in each successive life. In between lives a soul is said to either spend time in a sort of heaven or hell depending on its works in the most previous life.

Among the many holy books in Hinduism, the Bhagavad-Gita is perhaps the most important, or at least the best known. In one of its pages, it says, 2:22 states, “Just as a man discards worn out clothes and puts on new clothes, the soul discards worn out bodies and wears new ones.” Reincarnation is central to Hinduism. Hinduism is a fascinating set of religious ideas and beliefs, but it is a religion with out any foundation of truth. In Hinduism all truth is relative and unknowable. Hinduism has also given rise to a highly separated caste or class system where the rich and the poor are separated intentionally by these economic divisions.

These divisions are an entrenched part of the society and affect society negatively in numerous ways. According to Soma Wadhwa, in here book, “For sale childhood,” states, “India, along with Thailand and the Philippines, has 1.3 million children in its sex-trade centers. The children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to relatively richer ones.” (1998) According to Human Rights Watch, “There are approximately 10 million prostitutes in India.” (Robert I. Freidman, “India’s Shame: Sexual Slavery and Political Corruption Are Leading to An AIDS Catastrophe,” The Nation, 8 April 1996) Because Hinduism has no standards of moral or ethical obligations, the faith of the Indian people can not even speak to this catastrophe of human rights.

In examining Hinduism, even is such a cursory fashion, we easily see that it does not pass the litmus test of salvation that I proposed earlier in this series of examinations of the world’s most prominent religions outside of the Christian faith; “What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42 KJV) Hinduism says that there is no ultimate source of truth, yet Jesus said, “Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NET) Jesus gives us a clear picture of truth. He shows us the way of truth, He points us to the ultimate source of truth; the one and only true God.

Jesus used the Word of God in His earthly ministry, gave authority to the Apostles to write down His words and His teachings as we have them in the New Testament, and then He not only died for our sin but rose again from the dead that we might know eternal life and … TRUTH. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer, on the eve of the crucifixion prayed to His Father, saying, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NIV) Truth can be known, Hinduism, in denying the reality of truth denies the reality of Christ. I heard a missionary from India speaking once who said that if you give a Gospel presentation to a room full of Hindus and then ask them “Who wants to receive Christ as Lord and Savior,” every hand in the room will raise. But if you then ask them “who wants to receive Christ as your only Lord and Savior, and Him alone,” far fewer hands will remain raised.

You see, in rejecting the very notion of knowable and absolute truth, Christ and His message must be rejected. My fear for the American Church in general, across all denominational lines, is that the very similar lies of the New Age movement, which find their roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, have infected the minds of many well intentioned and well meaning Christians. I fear further that where absolute truth has been removed that vacuum has been filled with pride. Many in our day do not accept the notion of absolute truth because if there is such a thing then it demands something of me; And this, they say, simply cannot be. The fastest way to free oneself from obligation to God and commitment to Christ is to free oneself of the very notion that there is anything absolute in the universe. But Jesus said, “If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27 NLT)

Being a disciple is about strapping on your sandals, picking up your walking stick, and following after the Master of Mercy, wherever that road leads, no matter how dusty the trail gets, regardless of how callused and worn your hands may become; being a disciple of Christ requires forsaking all other masters to follow after truth. The modern worldview constantly bombards us with the notion that truth is not knowable and that truth is incredibly relative. We hear lies that all roads lead to the same god and to follow Christ does not necessarily entail rejecting false gods.

This, however, is not the case. The Gospel is exclusive to other truth claims.

“I am by birth,” said a converted Hindu, “of an insignificant and contemptible caste; so low, that if a Brahmin should chance to touch me, he must go and bathe in the Ganges to purify himself. Yet God has been pleased to call me, not merely to the knowledge of the gospel, but to the high office of teaching it to others.” Then addressing a number of his countrymen, “My friends, do you know the reason of God’s conduct? It is this: If God had selected one of you learned Brahmins and made you the preacher, when you were successful in making converts, people would say it was the amazing learning of the Brahmin, and his great weight of character, that were the cause. But now, when anyone is convinced by my instrumentality, no one thinks of ascribing any of the praise to me; God gets all the glory.”

The glory of God, the truth, has been expressed in the very Word of God; the Bible. Where Hinduism says that life is an endless cycle of birth and rebirth, truth says that it is appointed unto man once to die and then he is to give an account of sins, but the glory, the truth, is that Christ died for our sins. We are not so much required to account for our sins, because Christ has already accounted for them. What we are to account for is but one thing, what did you do with Christ? What think ye of Christ?” Hinduism fails that test by rejecting truth. What about us? Have we bought into the lie of the modern worldview, the New Age movement which has crept in the back door of the Church, which has borrowed mystic philosophy from Hinduism? Lord, let it be not said of us that in embracing the postmodern philosophy of the relativity of truth, we rejected Christ.

Heaven forbid that I should boast in anything less than Christ and His righteousness! O, Lord that we should never trust in man’s philosophy but in God’s truth; in Jesus Christ alone; forsaking all others and traveling the roads of this life, following after the revealed truth; Jesus Christ! All things are not equal. All roads do not lead to the same destination. Our experience bears this out. Who among us would trust our own guesses when traveling on a long road trip of many hundreds of miles rather than trusting a compass and a map? Let us embrace truth. Let us embrace Christ.

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Part-3, Titus 3:1-7
What About Buddhism?

Frederick Buechner, in his book Now and Then, has a section on his comparison of the teachings of Buddha and of Jesus Christ, a topic he wrestled with when he was teaching at Phillips Exeter Academy: “Finally, lest students of comparative religion be tempted to believe that to compare them is to discover that at their hearts all religions are finally one and that it thus makes little difference which one you choose, you have only to place side by side Buddha and Christ themselves. “Buddha sits enthroned beneath the Bo tree in the lotus position. His lips are faintly parted in the smile of one who has passed beyond every power in earth or heaven to touch him. ‘He who loves fifty has fifty woes, he who loves ten has ten woes, he who loves none has no woes,’ he has said. His eyes are closed.

“Christ, on the other hand, stands in the garden of Gethsemane, angular, beleaguered. His face is lost in shadows so that you can’t even see his lips, and before all the powers in earth or heaven he is powerless. ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,’ he has said. His eyes are also closed.“The difference seems to me this. The suffering that Buddha’s eyes close out is the suffering of the world that Christ’s eyes close in and hallow. It is an extraordinary difference, and even in a bare classroom in Exeter, New Hampshire, I think it was as apparent to everyone as it was to me that before you re done, you have to make a crucial and extraordinary choice.”

Here, we will consider the last of the three largest world religions, outside of Christianity; Buddhism. At its heart, Buddhism is about emptying oneself of concern, attachment, or care for this life. In Buddhism, it is said that in the pouring out of one’s earthly entanglements, in achieving a state of “nothingness” through meditation and other means, a person is able to achieve nirvana, which breaks the cycle of birth and rebirth through reincarnation.

Buddhists regard nirvana as freedom from all worldly concerns such as greed, hate, and ignorance. Nirvana is enlightenment through disentanglement with the world. In what follows, we will consider the central disagreement between Buddhism and the true faith of Jesus Christ; in Buddhism man is to “pour out” all of his concerns, cares, and worries from this life to achieve a state of pure emptiness. In Christ, God has poured Himself out in the person of Jesus Christ, so that, rather than seeking to empty ourselves of cares, we are enabled to cast our burdens at the Cross; so that rather than achieving a state of “nothingness,” Christ is poured out into us so that, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13 KJV)

Whereas in following after the Buddha, I am continually pouring myself out, in Christ, my cup runneth over, and out of the abundance of His grace, from me “shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38 KJV) The Chief difference between Buddhism and Christianity is the difference between leaving this world for nothing and leaving this world for Christ and His righteousness! Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century B.C. There was no biography written during his lifetime, so much of what comes to us from history regarding Siddhartha Gautama is intertwined with myth.

Tradition holds that he was born around 563 B.C. He was the son of King Suddhodana Gautama, who was a chieftain, or a raja, of the Sakya clan. His father reigned over a small district in the Himalayas between India and Nepal. At birth he received the name Siddhartha, meaning “he who has accomplished his objectives”, but was also called Sakyamuni (“the wise sage of the Sakya clan”), Ghagavat ("blessed with happiness"), Tathagata ("the one who has gone thus"), Jina ("the victorious"), and, probably most common, the Buddha or "the enlightened one." When Siddhartha was an infant, a sage visited the King's court and prophesied that Siddhartha would become either a great ruler like his father if he remained in the palace or, if he went out into the world, he would become a Buddha. The King believed that if Siddhartha was exposed to any human misery, he would leave his home to seek the truth. Therefore, he ordered his subjects to shield Siddhartha from any form of evil or suffering.

At age sixteen, Siddhartha won the hand of his cousin by performing 12 feats in the art of archery. He may have taken more wives during his life, but his cousin Yashodara was his principle wife. Despite his father’s attempts to keep him confined to the palace, he ventured outside and observed a leper, a corpse, and an ascetic. From these observations he determined that happiness was an illusion. As soon as his first son was born, assuring him that the royal bloodline would be continued, Siddhartha left the kingdom on a pilgrimage of inquiry and asceticism as a poor beggar monk seeking truth. For six or seven years, he sought communion with the supreme cosmic spirit, first through the teachings of two Brahmin hermits and then in the company of five monks.

However, despite his efforts, he didn't feel he had found truth. At this point he discovered the importance of what he called the Middle Way. Instead of denying himself food or sleep as the other monks did, he ate solid food and did not deny himself worldly things. This angered the monks he was with, so Siddhartha moved on. At Gaya in northeast India, he sat at the foot of a fig tree where Mara, the evil one, tried to thwart his becoming the Buddha. After withstanding the temptations from Mara, he received a revelation. He now felt he knew the way to escape the cruel cycle of rebirth. He claimed to have discovered the four noble truths (Pativedhanana), and henceforth was the Buddha.

Four Noble Truths
1. The universality of suffering - People discover through rebirth, aging, and death that life is full of sorrow. We suffer this sorrow until deliverance is achieved
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2. The origin of suffering - Suffering is caused by the false desires of the senses that have been deceived into clinging to the impermanent world. The quest for immortality further aggravates human suffering.

3. The overcoming of suffering - If false desires cause suffering, then the desires need to be suppressed, abandoned, or rejected in order to nullify their effects. Ignorance of the way of deliverance and the delusion that there is a permanent self are the primary cause of suffering.

4. The way leading to the suppression of suffering - The noble eightfold path is a sacred path with eight branches called right views of understanding, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct or action, right livelihood, right effort or endeavor, right mind control or concentration, and right mindfulness. These eight branches are not stages that can be lived out in succession or isolation from one another. They are different dimensions of a total way of life.

The Buddha was then faced with a choice. He could retreat into solitude with his knowledge as the other monks did when they felt they had reached spiritual truth, or he could remain with the people and share his knowledge. It is because he chose to stay with the people that Buddhists feel Buddhism is based not only on truth, but on compassion as well. (http://contenderministries.org/buddhism) Buddhism is primarily about emptying oneself to achieve a higher state of conciseness in order to achieve enlightenment. Through enlightenment, one is said to be able to be freed of the cruel cycle of birth, death, and rebirth into worldly suffering. But in Christ, we see another kind of pouring out.

According to an old legend, a man became lost in his travels and wandered into a bed of quicksand. Confucius saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this.” Next, Buddha observed the situation and said, “Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of the world.” Then Muhammad came by and said to the sinking man, “Alas, it is the will of God.” Finally, Jesus appeared. “Take my hand, brother,” he said, “and I will save you.” Grace has been poured out in Christ, even as Christ poured Himself out into Human flesh, and ultimately poured out His blood at Calvary’s Cross. We have no need to pour ourselves out in any manner, be it for a supposedly holy quest for enlightenment, like that of the Buddha, or for any other reason.

Enlightenment does not come as a result of emptying oneself; it comes from turning on the light in the midst of the darkness of our sin and separation from God. Where once darkness reigned in my life, as in yours, where once the void of not knowing God ruled, now the light of Christ shines! The hope of eternity is not to escape a cruel cycle of birth, death, and rebirth to earthly suffering. The hope of eternity is life with Christ; knowing Christ; being known by God; living in fellowship with the creator of the Universe! Pour myself out to achieve enlightenment? We have already been emptied as we have received the wages of sin; we need not to be further emptied but to be filled with Christ and Christ alone.

For the Buddhist, enlightenment comes by way of letting go of this life, but since that is where it stops, it falls short. You see, enlightenment comes by letting go of this life and clinging to Christ life! “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV) Pouring out Illustration: Begin with a pitcher of water, two classes and a large bowel, then demonstrate Buddhism’s pouring out by emptying one class into the bowel; emptiness = enlightenment. Then demonstrate the second glass being filled over flowing with water from the pitcher; emptiness being filled with the living water of Christ life! (Read John 7:38 again)

In this series, I have quoted or alluded to John 14:6 many times, where Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” Jesus says that He is not “A Way” but “The Way.” To our minds, which have been utterly saturated by relativistic, anything goes; all roads lead to the same place, thinking, this may sound very unreasonable. To make matters worse, he then has the audacity to say that no one can get to heaven except through him. Not only is He the Way, He claims He is the only way. There are a lot of folks who disavow faith in Christ on the grounds that this way of thinking is too narrow minded and small headed. But is it narrow minded to check a map too see which way will take one to the desired destination, rather than spending so much time wondering the wilderness or the dessert? Is it small minded to seek the answer to a perplexing question?

I submit that it is not small minded at all. Why can Jesus say things like “no one can come to heaven except through me?” It is precisely because he owns heaven. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16 that through Christ, as the Logos of John chapter 1 – the eternal word of God – God created Heaven. “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16 NIV) The bible also goes on to tell us that God has given Jesus the reign and dominion. If you stop by to visit a person’s home, who gets to decide whether you are invited in? They do! It’s their place. If you have chosen to disregard and disdain the owner of the home, is it not reasonable to think that that person would not want you to live in their home? Of course it is not!

What is truly narrow minded, arrogant, and outwardly foolish, is to think “I will spend my life in pursuits other than the pursuit of Truth, and at the end of it all, I'll just assume that there's an eternal dwelling ready for me.” C oming to the Truth of Christ is like coming to the truth that when I am thirsty and take a drink, my thirst is quenched. When I hunger and am fed, my hunger is satisfied. Only, when we eat of the bread of life and drink of the cup of Christ, we are eating and drinking of things which are eternal and satisfy without end.

Today, let us turn our hearts ever toward the One True God who has poured out His love in Christ and showered us with His Grace.

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Part-4, Genesis 2:9 Revelation 22:1-7
What About The Cross?

One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up the truck did too. The faster she drove the faster drove the truck. Now scared, she exited the freeway. But the truck stayed with her. The woman then turned up a main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck ran a red light and continued the chase. Reaching the point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a service station and bolted out of her auto screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden in the backseat. The woman was running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would-be rapist in the woman’s car. The chase was not his effort to harm her but to save her even at the cost of his own safety.

Likewise, many people run from God’s provision of atonement on the cross, fearing what He might do to them. But His plans are for good not evil – to rescue us from the hidden sins that endanger our lives; that threaten our eternal destiny and the current blessedness of this life. At the Cross Jesus was repairing the creator-creature relationship. At the Cross Jesus was restoring what had been previously broken in the Garden of Eden; namely the intended beauty of the relationship between God and man. God created humanity in His very image; Imago Dei.

Man was created to live in harmony with the world around him and in the splendor of closeness with His creator; God. The trouble is that from the very beginning human freedom has entailed human failure and sin. God, in creating humanity in His very image, gave to man the freedom to create; the freedom to love; the freedom to obey; and necessarily the freedom to rebel. It is in our freedom, at least in part, that we see the image of God within us. We have been created with moral capacity for good and evil, complexity in creative ability and culpability for our actions. All of this is true; God is sovereign and He has given us free will and choice. We are at the same time responsible for our actions, accountable to our creator, and free to make our own choices.

Inherent in having been created Imago Dei is the possibility of our misusing our creative nature in rebellion to God; just as Adam and Eve, though tempted, did. At the Cross we find Jesus, whom the Bible refers to as the second Adam, atoning for sin and restoring the broken relationship between God and man. I Corinthians 15:21-22 says, “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (NKJV) That is what Calvary’s Cross is all about; reconciliation between God and man, and subsequently, a means of reconciliation between man and man as we are enabled to love one another by the power of God’s grace.

That’s what we will be talking about this morning: The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden which was lost, the restored Tree of Life in the book of Revelation which is promised, and the Tree of Life which has brought about the hope of the reconciliation of the two – the Cross of Jesus Christ!

The Garden
In the very beginning of creation God placed mankind in a state of perfection. Adam walked with God daily, spoke to Him, and knew Him in an intimate personal way that often seems terribly foreign to us today. Surely we are all at least familiar with the story of how Satan, the fallen and formerly chief angel of God, appeared to Adam and Eve in the form of a serpent and tempted Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She later gave that fruit to Adam to eat.

This is the account of the fall of humanity into sinful rebellion and disobedience to God. According to the Genesis account there were two trees in the Garden of Eden which were of particularly special value; the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Humanity ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and became, not gods as Satan had promised, but quit to the contrary, invited death through sin into man’s dominion; the earth. Up to this point humanity had lived in perfect connection to God. Had sin not entered the world, this relationship with God would have remained the same. Prior to the fall there was no sickness and no death; the world was as it was intended to be; a blissful paradise of communion with God. Man had been given dominion by God to rule and reign in peace over all that He had created and in harmony with his fellow man. We see the effects of the fall all around us, even to this day.

I, as most or all of you do doubt do as well, remember vividly where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001. I turned on the news just as the second plane hit. I watched for several minutes and witnessed live the towers falling to the ground. It was a great tragedy which will not soon be forgotten. The images are seared into the minds of most every American and many people around the globe as a result of the images which were broadcast on television. Perhaps the most sobering part of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, though, was the aftermath of the disaster. It took several months for firefighter and rescue and work crews to even begin to adequately clean up the disaster. The rubble pile smoldered for weeks after the crashes.

We, like the rescue workers and firefighters and clean up crews, are standing amidst the aftermath of a terrible disaster. We look around at the horrifying ability of man to harm his fellow man, we see the curse of sickness and death which was brought about by sin, and we see the rebellion of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve all around us; though most often we live our lives as though this is how it is supposed to be. The trouble is with our perspective. Rather than holding onto an eternal perspective on the nature of this life and the realities of this world, our minds become trapped in the temporary view from amidst the rubble and the debris from the fall of mankind into sinful rebellion.

When Adam an Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they chose their own way and disunity with God rather than obedience and harmony with God. In this fallen state God removed them and their lineage, us, from the Garden, as the Bible says in Genesis 3:22, “… lest he (mankind) put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (NKJV) It is an interesting side note to consider that the biblical text does not suggest or imply anywhere that these are anything other than literal trees which possessed the ability to give eternal life and to make one cognoscente of good and evil; thus removing the state of innocence that Adam and Eve had enjoyed up to this point.

Many modern have dismissed the Genesis account on the basis that it is not scientifically viable that the fruit of any tree could possibly have the ability to grant such gifts. I would suggest to you that until modern science can prove what causes aging and sickness to begin with, I will leave my faith in the God who has proven Himself in the very act of creating all that is, which science itself tries, rather vainly at times, to understand. If the Bible is to be trusted as a reliable record of God’s dealings with humanity then there is nothing within the text to suggest that these trees are anything other than literal trees.
At the fall, mankind is stripped of access to his intended state of perfect communion with God, eternal life, and the Garden of Eden, but, as the famous radio commentator would say, “That is not the end of the story.”

Blessed Hope
Immediately following the fall of Adam and Eve, God, in His infinite wisdom and foreknowledge, sets out His plan to redeem humanity to Himself; to make an offer of salvation available to fallen humanity. In Genesis 3:15 the Lord declares, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (NKJV) Though Jesus would come to suffer and die as a propitiation for sin, He is coming back in glory to crush the head of the serpent, the Devil, and to establish His reign on earth; this is our blessed hope! One day we will regain access to the Tree of Life. One day Christ will return for His bride – the Church.

1 Peter 1:19 says, “…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 2 Peter 3:14 goes on to say, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” (NKJV) Peter is telling us that Christ Church, we who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ, are made clean by Christ blood alone. God has made salvation possible to all humanity through the blood of Christ and He has called out for Himself a people through the gift of faith. All have been invited but few are they who choose to partake. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (NKJV)

Jesus Christ is coming back. I’ll not soon lay any claims to predicting when, but He has promised that He is coming back to establish His reign on earth, to reestablish what was intended; that God and man might live in perfect communion with one another, that man and man, woman and woman, woman and man, might live the abundant life that God intended from the very beginning. Revelation 21:3-5 says, “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (NKJV)

Write, for these words are true and faithful… this is not a nursery rhyme, this is not a vain and empty promise that preachers make to comfort those who mourn, Jesus, who, according to eye witness testimony and sound historical evidence, rose from the dead… says that these words are true and faithful. Revelation 22:1-7, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (NKJV)

The Cross
The ultimate Tree of Life is the Cross of Christ. The Cross is the tree that built the bridge upon which we might walk from the separation of the Garden of Eden to the communion of the New Jerusalem. At the Cross Jesus did two things. First, He highlighted the brokenness of the world’s ways. While those of the world seek power through force, Jesus showed His power through peace. While the world seeks to dominate and oppress, Jesus came to serve and save. As the world crushed a sinless man, that sinless man cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34 NKJV)

At the Cross Jesus paid the price of the sin debt which no amount of effort on our part could ever have paid. Forgiveness of our sins, salvation, has nothing at all to do with us! Even the gift of faith through which we come to God is a gift that He gives to us! Salvation is God’s work alone; let none of us think that salvation is the result of our good efforts, our good deeds, or our good heritage. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV) Imagine if you will a scale. On one side of the scale, firmly forcing that side all the way down, is a huge black piece of the heaviest and ugliest mass of rocky slimly sludge-like material imaginable. If, in your imagination it seems immovable, that is because it is!

On the other side of scale are our good works in the shape of so many little gold and silver bars. First to be placed on the pile on our side of the scale is a gold bar representing baptism. Though heavy and significant the scale does not even budge! Next to be placed on the scale is a large silver bar which represents confirmation and our Sunday school certificate, still fresh in its frame, though somewhat yellowed by the years; the scale does not even move a little. On and on it goes, seemingly without end; though we have amassed a great pile of good works, though we have done what we thought was right, it is simply not enough. But just when we are ready to give up hope, in walks our savior, Jesus Christ, who unburdens Himself with a splintered, scarred, bruised, and bloody Cross; placing it on our side of the scale.

The weight of that Cross is far more than that of the blackened mass of sin on the other side! The weight of the Cross causes the scales to fly out of balance in favor of our forgiveness, for it was at the Cross that the chains of sin were broken and access to the tree of life restored! “The highest joy to the Christian almost always comes through suffering,” said Alexander Maclaren. “No flower can bloom in Paradise which is not transplanted from Gethsemane. No one can taste of the fruit of the tree of life that has not tasted of the fruits of the tree of Calvary. The crown is after the cross.”

Our blessed hope, a trustworthy assurance, is that we will once again eat of the Tree of Life as we have been given access to the grace of God through the Cross of Calvary. Amen.

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