Accept No Substitutes

TITLE: Accept No Substitutes
DATE:  September 6, 2019
TEXT: Hebrews 9: 26b - 28 – ESV - But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Recently, a prominent young Christian pastor, and songwriter, confessed he is losing his faith, indeed, may have lost it already. He listed some of the causes that bother him... problems which he says the church avoids addressing, because it can’t. Well, this week we are talking about these stumbling blocks. And today we are looking at his charge:

• Science keeps piercing the truth of every religion. Lots of things help people change their lives, not just one version of God“

To be quite frank, this question gives me difficulty...and that difficulty is: “How many questions are here? One, two, three? My best guess is two. At least that’s the way I’m going to answer it. Which means I begin with our Doubter’s matter-of-fact statement; “Science keeps piercing the truth of every religion.”
The statement is impossible on many different levels.

• If it’s “TRUTH” science cannot pierce it. Not and be accurate. Truth, wherever it is found can only be supported.  
• If he’s saying Science disagrees with religion, that also is impossible. Science, by definition deals with facts which are verifiable and repeatable. Religion, and by that I mean Christianity, deals with God’s one-and-only plan of salvation; which was brought into being by the one-time sacrifice of His One-and-only Son. There is no possible way for Science to verify the truth of Scripture.
• But, Pastor suppose, just suppose science found the body of Jesus. Wouldn’t that shoot a hole in Christianity? My answer is, “No. It wouldn’t shoot a hole in our faith? Why? Because whatever science said it found, it wasn’t the body of Jesus.” The bottom line is, “Whom will you believe?” Me, I believe the Holy Spirit.

EXAMPLE: In 2021 I am going to Israel. One of the spots we will see is the theater in Caesarea by the Sea. It is a Biblical site and is mentioned in Scripture. Before we go in, I will show you a small stone which reads: “To the Divine Augusti (this) Tiberieum . Pontius Pilate ... prefect of Judea... has dedicated (this)” The stone was found in 1961.

And what’s so important about the stone. Before this stone was found, critics of the Bible doubted if Pilate really was real. Critics eager to dismiss the New Testament Gospels as pure fiction, happily pointed to the lack of evidence concerning Pilate as proof that the Bible was a hoax.

But Science ended up backing the truth of Scripture. It has done so before and will continue to do so in the future.

Which takes me to the second part of his question: about many gods changing peoples’ minds. He’s absolutely right. That is the way it happens. The question is: how do people know what they believe is true. If a Christian asks, I can point him to prophecies fulfilled; to a resurrection which turned the world upside down. No other religion has these kind of internal proofs. Period.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, humanity has often made up gods in our own image. Help me see the reality of You and the wisdom of following Your truth. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

The devotion for today was inspired by various recent news articles. For further reading you may wish to go to this address: https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/hillsong-s-marty-sampson-i-m-genuinely-losing-my-faith.html and the article written by Michael Foust .
The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html