Tolerance – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Good morning. In reading Luke 23 and 24 today, we see the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pharisees would not tolerate Jesus anymore. They wanted people to look at them and see how spiritual they were. Jesus had come out, and called them sinners, the same as we all are. They were not going to stand for that. They took Jesus to Pilate, and Pilate had Him crucified.
They were not going to tolerate any other way to heaven except by keeping the Law. They were not going to tolerate the truth that they were hypocrites. They were not going to tolerate the new life that Jesus had for all believers. And I’m sure, if they had a bumper on their chariot, it would have a “tolerance” bumper sticker. I’m seeing more and more of these bumper stickers on cars. I want to get one. Then underneath it I’ll place another bumper sticker that says, “BUT…JOHN 14:6!” John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Because we live in the United States of America, the land of the free, you are free to worship whoever you like. You can worship the moon god, Allah; but Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. You can bow down to statues of Mary, and the saints, but Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. You can worship a fat bald guy, but Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Or some multi-armed figment of someone’s imagination; but Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. You can be a Mormon, and worship a Jesus who is satan’s brother, or for that matter you can even worship satan himself; but Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. You can worship plants, trees, and shrubbery; but Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Why you are so free that you can even bow down before a mirror and worship yourself! But Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him.
As Christians, we tolerate other religions, why is it that they do not tolerate us? Because Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Romans 12: 1 says to make your bodies a living sacrifice, so why blow yourself up? How about those statues you bow down to? Leviticus 26:1-9 tells us: “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.”
HMMmmmm…. could that be why we are having so many problems in America? Maybe we should put the Real God first, and stop worshiping everything but Him, including ourselves. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6).
Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and it’s amazing how much He has tolerated us.
Peace. (1John 5:12-13)
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.