Points of Tension - Dr. Ravi Zacharias

This sermon was preached by Dr. Ravi Zacharias during the commemoration of Reformation 500 at the Reformed Millenium Center Indonesia (RMCI), in Jakarta.

Hezekiah brought upon a great reformation in his era. And we must continue to reform every era, every age.
"History is like a drunken man swinging from one world to another, knocking himself senseless. Swinging to extremes" (Martin Luther).
One of my colleagues said that "the current president isn't the problem, but the problem creates a person such as this president".
Sansel Taylor Collridge said "If a man can learn from history, we could learn a lot. But passion and party have blinded us".

If we could briefly define history, we could say that it is a story of enumerable biography. Individuals come to the scene and go and they have left us a trail. We could learn two things from the men before us: their strength and their mistakes.

Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1-16) and Josiah (2 Kings 22:1-2) are examples of a pendulum that swings from one extreme to the other, although they only differ by a generation.
Manasseh was a terrible king, yet he reigned for 2,5 generations. He laid a rebellion against his father's reformation. He put down what his father put up. His father, Hezekiah had his problems too, but he pleads to God in his prayer.

Moses gave out 613 laws that replace 1 law of prohibition in the garden of Eden, do not eat from the tree.
This 1 law of prohibition has its own temptation: Be God, who knows everything.
Although the law was: Do not play God. Do not determine what is right or wrong.
David gave out 15 laws to replace this 1 law. Isaiah 11, Micah 3 (that are justice, mercy, and humility), and Jesus 2.
Jesus could have easily said 1, but he said 2. On these 2 commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39).  These 2 commandments touch on both the vertical and horizontal aspects. Because of the first law, the second law has a foundation and reason. Because God has created me, I have no reason to violate Him.

In the book of Mark, a man came up to Jesus and ask about tax paying to Rome.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” Then He said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away (Matthew 22:15-22)".

The man hoped Jesus would say, "No, you do not have to pay tax to Rome". But if He did, we could be both rebellious and be righteous at the same time. Jesus asked, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” Then He said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
If the man had a follow-up question, he would ask, "What then belongs to God?" and Jesus would answer, "Whose image is drawn on you?"

Post Truth Society & the Place of Faith & Reason - Dr. Ravi Zacharias

This sermon was preached by Dr. Ravi Zacharias during the commemoration of Reformation 500 at the Reformed Millenium Center Indonesia (RMCI), in Jakarta.

Have you heard the folk story of the bandit Jose’ Rivera, who became notorious in several little towns in Texas for robbing their banks and businesses? Finally the townsfolk, weary of the constant plundering, hired a ranger to track down Jose’ Rivera in his hideout in Mexico and retrieve the money. The ranger at last arrived at a desolate, ramshackle cantina. At the counter he saw a young man enjoying his brew. At one of the tables, hands over his ample stomach, hat over his eyes, snored another patron. With much gusto, the ranger approached the young man at the bar and announced that he was on a mission to bring back Jose’ Rivera, dead or alive. “Can you help me find him?” he asked. The young man smiled, pointed to the other patron, and said, “That is Jose’ Rivera.”

The ranger shifted his southern girth and ambled over to the sleeping bandit, tapping him on the shoulder, “Are you Jose’ Rivera? he asked. The man mumbled, “No speak English.” The ranger beckoned to the young man to help him communicate his mission.

The ensuing conversation was tedious. First the ranger spoke in English and the young man translated it into Spanish. Jose’ Rivera responded in Spanish, and young man repeated the answer in English for the ranger.

Finally, the ranger warned Jose’ Rivera that he had two choices; the first was to let him know where all the loot he had stolen was hidden, in which case he could walk away a free man. The second choice was that if he would not reveal where the money was stashed, he would be shot dead instantly. The young man translated the ultimatum.

Jose’ Rivera pulled himself together and said to the young man, “Tell him to go out of the bar, turn to the right, go about a mile, and he will see a well. Near the well he will see a very tall tree. Beside the trunk of that tree is a large concrete slab. He will need help in removing it. Under the slab is a pit in the ground. If he carefully uncovers it he will find all the jewelry and most of the money I have taken.”

The young man turned to the ranger, opened his mouth...swallowed...paused—and then said, “Jose’ Rivera says...Jose’ Rivera says...’Go ahead and shoot!’”

The question is, do you want to interpret something according to your convinience?
Do you really want to know the truth?

In John 18:33, Pilate asked Jesus, "Are You the king of Jews?", Jesus replied, "Is that a question from your heart, or did someone tell you that?" Why did Jesus answer the question with another question? The only reason why someone would do this is either to determine the direction of the conversation or to expose / humiliate the questioner.

George MacDonald said, "to give truth to him who loves it not is to only give him more multiplied reasons for misinterpretation".
And Winston Churchill once said that "the most valuable thing in the world was the truth. So valuable, that it needs to be constantly protected by a bodyguard of lies".

Yet, we are currently living in a post-truth era, when satan continues to proclaim that there is no absolute truth. Now, which science tells the scientist to tell the truth? To tell the truth is not a scientific imperative, but an ethical, philosophical, and spiritual imperative.

When you are a victim of a lie, you will value the coherence of statements. An example would be saying no to the others when you say yes to one thing. The Hollywood culture does not follow this rule: the show and entertainment are for the camera, but if all that begin to dictate our minds, it becomes a philosophy and a harassment.