1 00:00:00,290 --> 00:00:03,050 The following message is by Pastor John Piper. 2 00:00:03,550 --> 00:00:06,230 More information from Desiring God is available at 3 00:00:06,230 --> 00:00:13,810 www.DesiringGod.org The Star Tribune reported on 4 00:00:13,810 --> 00:00:18,330 Friday that a perceptible change had taken place 5 00:00:18,330 --> 00:00:25,070 in the image of Saddam Hussein from a 6 00:00:25,070 --> 00:00:27,770 secular strategist to a Muslim zealot. 7 00:00:28,130 --> 00:00:31,130 In these words, with the outbreak of war, 8 00:00:31,330 --> 00:00:35,790 some sense an almost messianic tone, particularly in 9 00:00:35,790 --> 00:00:38,330 his speech Thursday after the first wave of 10 00:00:38,330 --> 00:00:41,870 Allied bombing raids, using images of President Bush 11 00:00:41,870 --> 00:00:47,170 as Satan and courageous Iraqis as descendants of 12 00:00:47,170 --> 00:00:48,390 prophets and believers. 13 00:00:50,050 --> 00:00:52,910 Now what that does is make crystal clear 14 00:00:52,910 --> 00:00:54,970 for us that we live in a world 15 00:00:54,970 --> 00:01:01,350 of radical pluralism, in which radically contradictory claims 16 00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:03,890 are being made on our lives. 17 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:09,200 It's a global village, you can follow the 18 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,460 war moment by moment halfway around the world. 19 00:01:11,460 --> 00:01:18,390 So, is President Bush Satan? 20 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:28,520 Are zealous patriotic Muslim Iraqis true sons of 21 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,400 the prophets and true believers? 22 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:35,280 Which is another way of asking, is Allah 23 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,020 the one true God and is Mohammed his 24 00:01:38,020 --> 00:01:38,420 prophet? 25 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:44,880 Which is another way of asking, is Islam 26 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:52,240 a pathway to God or the pathway to 27 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:52,600 God? 28 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:58,320 Now I want to be real clear at 29 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,000 the beginning and I'll say this again at 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,920 the end, that in what I'm saying here 31 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,500 I'm not implying or saying that the war 32 00:02:05,500 --> 00:02:08,460 is a conflict between Christianity and Islam. 33 00:02:08,460 --> 00:02:10,460 I don't believe that it is because I 34 00:02:10,460 --> 00:02:13,160 don't believe America is a Christian nation. 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,360 One of the glories of our faith is 36 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,840 that it has no national identity, it has 37 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,480 no geographic center, it has no national shrine. 38 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,600 Christians, if they are real Christians, are aliens 39 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,440 and exiles in every country and are out 40 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,940 of step with every human authority and every 41 00:02:35,940 --> 00:02:40,060 human institution even when we submit to them. 42 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:41,720 Is that clear? 43 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,440 America is not a Christian nation and Christians 44 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,840 cannot be identified with any national or ethnic 45 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:51,600 group. 46 00:02:52,220 --> 00:02:55,800 We are aliens and exiles upon the earth. 47 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,420 Out of step with every government and every 48 00:03:01,420 --> 00:03:03,080 human way of thinking. 49 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,700 But there is a powerful religious impulse to 50 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:12,360 this conflict. 51 00:03:13,660 --> 00:03:16,120 President Bush did call Billy Gray. 52 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,740 Hussein did kneel on his carpet. 53 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:25,640 And he does want to cast the war 54 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:27,780 in terms of a holy war. 55 00:03:27,780 --> 00:03:31,980 But all of that points to this crucial 56 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:32,580 fact. 57 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,980 We live in a world that is radically 58 00:03:35,980 --> 00:03:42,740 pluralistic with radically contradictory claims being made upon 59 00:03:42,740 --> 00:03:44,480 our lives for our allegiance. 60 00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:50,180 Nationally and it is happening more and more 61 00:03:50,180 --> 00:03:51,860 and more at home. 62 00:03:54,670 --> 00:04:00,250 You know the consensus that once existed in 63 00:04:00,250 --> 00:04:00,870 this land. 64 00:04:01,530 --> 00:04:04,790 You could call it Judeo-Christian or you 65 00:04:04,790 --> 00:04:06,290 could call it Protestant. 66 00:04:07,350 --> 00:04:11,350 There was once a consensus that enabled the 67 00:04:11,350 --> 00:04:15,810 social structures of our land to proceed upon 68 00:04:15,810 --> 00:04:19,850 a fairly coherent set of moral expectations. 69 00:04:20,850 --> 00:04:25,030 And it is disappearing very rapidly if it 70 00:04:25,030 --> 00:04:28,030 is not gone almost entirely. 71 00:04:28,230 --> 00:04:33,990 Now in the place of that coherent sort 72 00:04:33,990 --> 00:04:37,310 of broadly Judeo-Christian ethic. 73 00:04:37,310 --> 00:04:44,090 There is coming not an open and mutually 74 00:04:44,090 --> 00:04:50,270 respecting pluralism where all views are equally approved 75 00:04:50,270 --> 00:04:51,710 or equally heard. 76 00:04:52,050 --> 00:04:54,910 That is not the alternative that is emerging 77 00:04:54,910 --> 00:04:57,550 upon the scene of American culture. 78 00:04:58,350 --> 00:05:01,310 Rather what is emerging in the name of 79 00:05:01,310 --> 00:05:04,310 pluralism is a secular orthodoxy. 80 00:05:04,310 --> 00:05:09,050 And that orthodoxy is being used to judge 81 00:05:09,050 --> 00:05:11,510 the parameters of the pluralism. 82 00:05:11,710 --> 00:05:15,820 And the old views are not respected. 83 00:05:16,410 --> 00:05:21,410 They are intensely disapproved of and hostilely treated 84 00:05:21,410 --> 00:05:25,210 and forced to the margin of our corporate 85 00:05:25,210 --> 00:05:27,050 and public discourse. 86 00:05:27,050 --> 00:05:29,530 That is the reality in America today. 87 00:05:29,690 --> 00:05:32,950 And therefore not only does the war highlight 88 00:05:32,950 --> 00:05:36,850 the radical pluralism and contradictory claims upon the 89 00:05:36,850 --> 00:05:38,450 lives of human beings in the world today. 90 00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:41,710 But American civilization does as well. 91 00:05:41,830 --> 00:05:43,750 The old consensus is gone. 92 00:05:44,090 --> 00:05:46,930 The new consensus is emerging as a secular 93 00:05:46,930 --> 00:05:47,330 one. 94 00:05:47,330 --> 00:05:49,870 Christianity and all of the old views are 95 00:05:49,870 --> 00:05:52,230 being pushed to the perimeter and are becoming 96 00:05:52,230 --> 00:05:58,010 increasingly offensive because of their moral claim on 97 00:05:58,010 --> 00:06:00,390 the emptiness of relativism. 98 00:06:01,350 --> 00:06:02,730 That is the world in which we live. 99 00:06:03,030 --> 00:06:05,190 That is the world in which you and 100 00:06:05,190 --> 00:06:07,730 these little ones that we just dedicated are 101 00:06:07,730 --> 00:06:10,630 going to increasingly have to bear witness to 102 00:06:10,630 --> 00:06:14,450 the uniqueness and the supremacy of Jesus Christ, 103 00:06:14,610 --> 00:06:15,590 Lord of the Universe. 104 00:06:16,290 --> 00:06:21,320 And it's not going to get easier or 105 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:21,940 safer. 106 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,720 Now the text, remarkably, and I praise God 107 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,600 for it, in my trek through Acts, I 108 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:32,340 have not had to change the text for 109 00:06:32,340 --> 00:06:35,400 today or for next Sunday on abortion. 110 00:06:38,310 --> 00:06:39,590 Let me bring you up to date. 111 00:06:39,930 --> 00:06:41,550 It's been some time since we've been in 112 00:06:41,550 --> 00:06:41,810 Acts. 113 00:06:41,890 --> 00:06:42,650 Here's where we are. 114 00:06:43,470 --> 00:06:45,830 Chapter three, Peter and John going up to 115 00:06:45,830 --> 00:06:46,270 the temple. 116 00:06:46,910 --> 00:06:49,430 Jesus Christ, the living Lord, heals a man 117 00:06:49,430 --> 00:06:52,530 through them who was lame from birth. 118 00:06:52,730 --> 00:06:54,850 He leaps and runs through the temple. 119 00:06:55,230 --> 00:06:58,610 A great crowd gathers and Peter has a 120 00:06:58,610 --> 00:07:00,550 great opportunity to preach the gospel. 121 00:07:00,550 --> 00:07:03,750 And he preaches and he moves from the 122 00:07:03,750 --> 00:07:06,790 local and the particular to the global and 123 00:07:06,790 --> 00:07:10,570 the universal with words like he, this Jesus 124 00:07:10,570 --> 00:07:12,970 who just healed this man, is the author 125 00:07:12,970 --> 00:07:14,130 of life. 126 00:07:14,830 --> 00:07:17,030 This Jesus who just healed this man is 127 00:07:17,030 --> 00:07:20,310 the fulfillment of fifteen hundred year old prophecy. 128 00:07:20,810 --> 00:07:22,790 This Jesus is the one who in heaven 129 00:07:22,790 --> 00:07:25,410 now waits and will come again and restore 130 00:07:25,410 --> 00:07:27,750 all things to paradise. 131 00:07:27,750 --> 00:07:32,330 This Jesus will bless all the families of 132 00:07:32,330 --> 00:07:35,310 the earth including Iraqi families and Saudi families 133 00:07:35,310 --> 00:07:37,050 and Russian families and American families. 134 00:07:37,390 --> 00:07:39,430 The Jesus who just raised this man from 135 00:07:39,430 --> 00:07:42,930 the dead is Lord of all and maker 136 00:07:42,930 --> 00:07:44,050 of all. 137 00:07:44,850 --> 00:07:47,230 That's the way this Peter in this out 138 00:07:47,230 --> 00:07:49,150 of the way land called Palestine over this 139 00:07:49,150 --> 00:07:50,930 one little event preached. 140 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,280 He moved from the local to the global 141 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,180 and then he got arrested. 142 00:07:57,180 --> 00:07:59,300 Chapter four verse one. 143 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:01,840 He got arrested and he got put in 144 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,540 jail overnight and then he is brought before 145 00:08:04,540 --> 00:08:07,080 the rulers and verse seven tells us how 146 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:07,840 it goes now. 147 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,100 By what power and by what name did 148 00:08:12,100 --> 00:08:13,200 you do this? 149 00:08:13,740 --> 00:08:15,120 Meaning heal this man. 150 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,420 And now watch again how Peter moves from 151 00:08:18,420 --> 00:08:21,060 the local and the specific and the particular 152 00:08:21,060 --> 00:08:23,300 to the global and the universal. 153 00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:24,540 Verse ten. 154 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,140 Be it known to you all, Peter says, 155 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,659 that by the name of Jesus Christ of 156 00:08:31,659 --> 00:08:40,880 Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from 157 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,940 the dead, by him this man is standing 158 00:08:44,940 --> 00:08:46,200 before you well. 159 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:48,240 Now do you see the movement there? 160 00:08:49,740 --> 00:08:53,800 Now can anything good come out of Nazareth? 161 00:08:53,980 --> 00:08:54,860 Remember those words? 162 00:08:55,420 --> 00:08:57,200 Can anything good come out of Nazareth? 163 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,360 No, it's a no count Galilean village where 164 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,580 nobody who's anybody came from. 165 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,620 And not only that, he is less than 166 00:09:07,620 --> 00:09:08,280 a nobody. 167 00:09:08,900 --> 00:09:11,620 He was crucified by you people. 168 00:09:11,620 --> 00:09:16,980 He says, and only miserable, no good criminals 169 00:09:16,980 --> 00:09:20,280 get crucified on the killing hill of Golgotha 170 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:21,320 outside Jerusalem. 171 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,540 So he's real specific. 172 00:09:24,980 --> 00:09:26,700 He's real nobody. 173 00:09:27,220 --> 00:09:28,580 He's real low. 174 00:09:29,740 --> 00:09:31,680 And God raised him from the dead. 175 00:09:32,420 --> 00:09:34,180 And he's the Lord of the universe and 176 00:09:34,180 --> 00:09:35,180 just healed this man. 177 00:09:36,940 --> 00:09:38,240 A shock effect. 178 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,280 Peter's doing that intentionally. 179 00:09:41,220 --> 00:09:43,520 To move from the particular, which is so 180 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:48,860 offensive in the world, so offensive, that our 181 00:09:48,860 --> 00:09:51,000 Savior has to be a Jew. 182 00:09:52,380 --> 00:09:53,920 What if you don't like Jews? 183 00:09:56,500 --> 00:09:59,400 What if you don't like Galilee of the 184 00:09:59,400 --> 00:09:59,800 nations? 185 00:10:00,740 --> 00:10:02,880 What if no good can come out of 186 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:03,500 Nazareth? 187 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:08,460 Well, Peter is saying, that's it. 188 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:09,740 That's reality. 189 00:10:10,060 --> 00:10:13,720 That's God's choice to humble us and get 190 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,780 us off of our proud ethnocentrism. 191 00:10:20,860 --> 00:10:25,620 And then, he takes up a picture and 192 00:10:25,620 --> 00:10:26,900 says the same thing again. 193 00:10:27,020 --> 00:10:27,600 Verse 11. 194 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,180 A picture taken from Psalm 118. 195 00:10:32,060 --> 00:10:36,600 This is the stone, which was rejected by 196 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:41,120 you builders, but which has become the head 197 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:41,900 of the corner. 198 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:43,180 So now we get the picture. 199 00:10:43,620 --> 00:10:45,920 The kingdom is pictured like a building. 200 00:10:47,140 --> 00:10:50,400 And stones are people who might have some 201 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,640 significant or more or less insignificant place in 202 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:54,300 the building. 203 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:55,740 A brick in the wall maybe. 204 00:10:55,740 --> 00:11:00,420 And the stone from Nazareth is examined by 205 00:11:00,420 --> 00:11:03,160 the builders, the Jewish leaders, and he is 206 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:03,800 rejected. 207 00:11:04,020 --> 00:11:05,360 It's not a good brick. 208 00:11:06,260 --> 00:11:07,840 And they throw it out on the killing 209 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,320 hill of Golgotha and it gets buried in 210 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:11,880 a tomb. 211 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:15,440 And the architect comes forth from his heaven 212 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:22,020 and sees the brick, his brick, insignificant, thrown 213 00:11:22,020 --> 00:11:24,380 out, rejected by men, buried. 214 00:11:24,380 --> 00:11:28,620 And he picks him up, cleans him off, 215 00:11:29,260 --> 00:11:30,820 and puts him as the head of the 216 00:11:30,820 --> 00:11:32,020 corner of the kingdom. 217 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:38,520 Same move from the local, the particular, the 218 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:40,920 specific, the out of the way, the rejected, 219 00:11:41,140 --> 00:11:45,980 the no good, no count, to the Lord 220 00:11:45,980 --> 00:11:46,680 of the universe. 221 00:11:48,300 --> 00:11:51,200 Oh, how offensive this is in our world. 222 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,280 And then he draws out an awesome implication 223 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,240 in verse 12 and says it flat out. 224 00:12:02,020 --> 00:12:06,480 There is salvation in no one else. 225 00:12:07,380 --> 00:12:09,740 For there is no other name under heaven 226 00:12:09,740 --> 00:12:14,520 given among men by which we must be 227 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:15,120 saved. 228 00:12:15,940 --> 00:12:20,120 That's the implication of having been recognized and 229 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:25,000 seen as rejected and found by God, lifted 230 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,960 out of death, installed at the right hand, 231 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,040 made Lord and Christ over all. 232 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,240 Now we might respond to Peter and say, 233 00:12:34,340 --> 00:12:35,060 whoa, wait a minute. 234 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,900 Don't you really mean that you're in a 235 00:12:40,900 --> 00:12:44,520 Jewish context there and when you say there's 236 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,360 no other name to be saved by, you 237 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,440 mean Jews have to go through their Messiah, 238 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:49,780 right? 239 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:51,220 That's all you mean. 240 00:12:53,380 --> 00:12:55,340 There's one Jewish way of salvation. 241 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:56,800 They better believe on their Messiah. 242 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,060 You're not saying anything about Chinese or American 243 00:13:00,060 --> 00:13:02,380 Indians at 33 AD, are you? 244 00:13:07,210 --> 00:13:09,470 And the answer is that he is. 245 00:13:13,410 --> 00:13:19,230 He is not just speaking about Jews. 246 00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:23,450 The reason is given right here. 247 00:13:24,110 --> 00:13:27,190 There is no other name under heaven. 248 00:13:28,190 --> 00:13:31,990 Not under the Jewish heaven or the American 249 00:13:31,990 --> 00:13:36,310 heaven or the Iraqi heaven or the Saudi 250 00:13:36,310 --> 00:13:36,870 heaven. 251 00:13:36,870 --> 00:13:40,870 There is no other name anywhere under heaven 252 00:13:40,870 --> 00:13:43,350 by which you can be saved. 253 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,280 Moreover, there is no other name under heaven 254 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:55,420 given among men, not just among Jews, but 255 00:13:55,420 --> 00:13:58,780 among people by which you must be saved. 256 00:13:59,340 --> 00:14:01,780 It won't do to say he's only addressing 257 00:14:01,780 --> 00:14:02,640 the Jewish context. 258 00:14:02,820 --> 00:14:04,900 Peter explicitly universalizes it. 259 00:14:05,980 --> 00:14:07,420 And then here comes another objection. 260 00:14:07,420 --> 00:14:09,400 This is very common today. 261 00:14:10,260 --> 00:14:19,040 It says, okay, there is salvation from no 262 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,900 other source but Jesus and his atoning work 263 00:14:22,900 --> 00:14:23,500 on the cross. 264 00:14:23,620 --> 00:14:25,680 But you don't have to know him to 265 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:26,960 benefit from his salvation. 266 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,900 All you have to be is a faithful, 267 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:32,460 sincere Muslim. 268 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:34,900 Or a faithful, sincere Buddhist. 269 00:14:35,220 --> 00:14:37,040 Or a faithful, sincere Hindu. 270 00:14:37,340 --> 00:14:39,100 Or a faithful, sincere animist. 271 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,400 Or just faithful and sincere and God in 272 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,520 mercy will apply the death of Jesus to 273 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,060 you and you'll be saved by him incognito. 274 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:53,820 Real common view running through academic types especially. 275 00:14:55,100 --> 00:14:56,180 Will that work? 276 00:14:56,460 --> 00:14:57,460 It won't work. 277 00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:58,860 It won't work in this verse. 278 00:14:58,980 --> 00:15:00,600 It won't work outside this verse either. 279 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:02,480 Let me show you why I think it 280 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:02,780 won't. 281 00:15:03,660 --> 00:15:07,120 Peter says there is no other name under 282 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:08,720 heaven given among men by which we must 283 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:09,120 be saved. 284 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:09,960 Now why name? 285 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,020 What's the implication of the word name? 286 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,820 He is saying more than there's no other 287 00:15:15,820 --> 00:15:18,460 source for salvation that you can have under 288 00:15:18,460 --> 00:15:19,200 other names. 289 00:15:21,510 --> 00:15:22,270 Get that? 290 00:15:22,270 --> 00:15:26,010 He is not saying merely there is no 291 00:15:26,010 --> 00:15:29,690 other source of salvation which you could get 292 00:15:29,690 --> 00:15:30,630 under another name. 293 00:15:31,370 --> 00:15:33,230 He's saying there is no other name to 294 00:15:33,230 --> 00:15:33,910 appeal to. 295 00:15:34,690 --> 00:15:37,330 Salvation comes by calling upon the name of 296 00:15:37,330 --> 00:15:37,810 the Lord. 297 00:15:38,130 --> 00:15:39,670 And there aren't any other names to call 298 00:15:39,670 --> 00:15:39,910 upon. 299 00:15:40,150 --> 00:15:42,390 If you try to call upon another name, 300 00:15:42,750 --> 00:15:43,590 you lose. 301 00:15:47,270 --> 00:15:48,830 The name is very important here. 302 00:15:49,110 --> 00:15:50,530 Let me try to buttress that a little 303 00:15:50,530 --> 00:15:50,970 further. 304 00:15:50,970 --> 00:15:53,130 Acts chapter 10 verse 43. 305 00:15:53,350 --> 00:15:55,530 Peter is preaching and he says, Everyone who 306 00:15:55,530 --> 00:16:00,670 believes in Him, Jesus, receives forgiveness of sins 307 00:16:00,670 --> 00:16:03,270 through His name. 308 00:16:03,570 --> 00:16:05,850 It's a faith issue in the name. 309 00:16:06,670 --> 00:16:10,190 When you believe in Jesus, you get salvation 310 00:16:10,190 --> 00:16:12,090 and forgiveness through the name. 311 00:16:12,490 --> 00:16:14,630 If you don't believe in Jesus, you don't 312 00:16:14,630 --> 00:16:15,790 get it through the name. 313 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:19,560 Here's the way Paul put it. 314 00:16:19,580 --> 00:16:21,660 It's even more clear in Romans 10, 13. 315 00:16:21,660 --> 00:16:24,980 Everyone who calls upon the name of the 316 00:16:24,980 --> 00:16:26,660 Lord will be saved. 317 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,620 But how are they to call upon Him 318 00:16:29,620 --> 00:16:31,080 whom they've not believed? 319 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,020 And how are they to believe in Him 320 00:16:33,020 --> 00:16:34,600 of whom they've not heard? 321 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:36,860 And how are they to hear without a 322 00:16:36,860 --> 00:16:37,140 preacher? 323 00:16:37,260 --> 00:16:38,720 And how are they to preach unless they 324 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:39,720 be sent? 325 00:16:39,940 --> 00:16:41,320 Now, do you get the implication there? 326 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,900 You must call upon the name to be 327 00:16:44,900 --> 00:16:45,360 saved. 328 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:47,440 How can you call on one you don't 329 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:47,720 believe? 330 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:49,260 How can you believe if you haven't heard? 331 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:50,420 How can you hear without a preacher? 332 00:16:50,420 --> 00:16:51,600 How can you preach if you're not sent? 333 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,640 Missions is the only answer to people who 334 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:57,600 have not been reached with the gospel. 335 00:16:58,820 --> 00:17:01,820 There is no incognito road to heaven. 336 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:04,740 There is no Muslim road to heaven. 337 00:17:04,859 --> 00:17:06,380 There is no Hindu road to heaven. 338 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,540 There is no Buddhist road to heaven. 339 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,660 There is no Judaism that leads to heaven 340 00:17:12,660 --> 00:17:14,140 apart from their Messiah, Jesus. 341 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,319 There is no animistic road to heaven in 342 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:17,980 Irian Jaya. 343 00:17:17,980 --> 00:17:22,180 There is no secular or moral road to 344 00:17:22,180 --> 00:17:22,500 heaven. 345 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:29,140 Jesus is the way, the truth, and the 346 00:17:29,140 --> 00:17:29,500 life. 347 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,300 No one comes to the Father but by 348 00:17:33,300 --> 00:17:33,720 Him. 349 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,900 Peter pushed the universality of Jesus, this no 350 00:17:38,900 --> 00:17:47,250 count Nazareth born teacher to the limit, and 351 00:17:47,250 --> 00:17:52,770 said He is absolutely supreme and Lord of 352 00:17:52,770 --> 00:17:56,610 all, and everyone must come to terms with 353 00:17:56,610 --> 00:17:57,030 Jesus. 354 00:17:57,170 --> 00:17:59,930 Listen to how he calls for repentance in 355 00:17:59,930 --> 00:18:00,750 Acts 17. 356 00:18:01,510 --> 00:18:05,730 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but God 357 00:18:05,730 --> 00:18:09,850 commands now all men everywhere to repent because 358 00:18:09,850 --> 00:18:11,050 He has fixed a day on which He 359 00:18:11,050 --> 00:18:13,170 will judge the world in righteousness by a 360 00:18:13,170 --> 00:18:16,970 man whom He has appointed, and of this 361 00:18:16,970 --> 00:18:19,350 He has given assurance to all men by 362 00:18:19,350 --> 00:18:21,530 raising Him from the dead. 363 00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:24,570 Jesus is Lord of all. 364 00:18:25,250 --> 00:18:28,090 Jesus is the universal and the only way 365 00:18:28,090 --> 00:18:28,910 of salvation. 366 00:18:29,850 --> 00:18:35,350 This is a radical, crucial, biblical truth with 367 00:18:35,350 --> 00:18:38,550 which we must come to terms in our 368 00:18:38,550 --> 00:18:39,710 pluralistic day. 369 00:18:40,610 --> 00:18:44,010 It is the kind of truth that either 370 00:18:44,010 --> 00:18:47,050 makes converts or makes enemies. 371 00:18:52,020 --> 00:18:54,720 It isn't a live and let live truth. 372 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,000 We're aliens. 373 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:58,560 We're exiles. 374 00:18:58,820 --> 00:19:02,320 We don't fit in America, nor have we 375 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,560 ever fit in America. 376 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,960 We don't fit in the America that's coming 377 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,660 with its laissez-faire morality. 378 00:19:11,660 --> 00:19:14,880 We don't fit in do-your-own-thing 379 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:19,500 religious atmospheres because we make a universal claim 380 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:20,380 to our faith. 381 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:28,420 There is salvation in no one else, for 382 00:19:28,420 --> 00:19:31,400 there is no other name under heaven given 383 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,060 among men by which we must be saved. 384 00:19:34,060 --> 00:19:37,800 Now, in closing, let me ask, what does 385 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,660 this imply for us today? 386 00:19:42,020 --> 00:19:47,180 One, it implies the urgency of understanding our 387 00:19:47,180 --> 00:19:47,840 faith. 388 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,160 If all ways lead to God, it doesn't 389 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,420 matter if you know the right way. 390 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,000 It doesn't matter if you know how to 391 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,800 stay on the Christian road. 392 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,160 It's not important, and therefore you don't need 393 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:08,180 to read your Bible. 394 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,920 You don't need to study. 395 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,080 You don't need to be vigilant over your 396 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:16,100 mind because understanding is of very little significance 397 00:20:16,100 --> 00:20:19,420 if all roads lead to the kingdom. 398 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,960 But if Peter is right and the Bible 399 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,000 is true, there is one road that leads 400 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,060 to heaven, one way of salvation, and therefore 401 00:20:32,060 --> 00:20:36,680 knowing it, understanding it, following it, staying in 402 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,040 it, is all important. 403 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,860 There isn't anything more important in your life. 404 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:43,980 That's number one, understanding. 405 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:47,120 The second implication of the supremacy of Jesus 406 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,880 is courage, brothers and sisters. 407 00:20:50,340 --> 00:20:51,840 Courage, courage today. 408 00:20:53,140 --> 00:20:58,020 The supremacy and absoluteness of Jesus among all 409 00:20:58,020 --> 00:21:00,640 the religions of the world is the cause 410 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,160 of all Christian martyrdom. 411 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:11,200 If Christ is not unique and supreme, no 412 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:12,840 one should die for him. 413 00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:18,500 If all ways lead to the kingdom, you 414 00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:22,060 would be a fool to die for Jesus. 415 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:30,980 If the state says, confess Caesar as Lord, 416 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:37,100 or more relevantly, if the state says, confess 417 00:21:37,100 --> 00:21:41,020 that Allah is the only God and that 418 00:21:41,020 --> 00:21:46,280 Muhammad is his prophet, a Christian must say, 419 00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:53,000 I will not and I cannot because Caesar 420 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,000 is not Lord, Allah as he is known 421 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,200 in Islam is not the true God, and 422 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,120 Muhammad is not a true prophet. 423 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:07,160 Jesus is Lord of the universe and Jesus 424 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,800 alone is the way to truth and everlasting 425 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:11,700 life. 426 00:22:12,900 --> 00:22:16,200 You must say that if you're a Christian. 427 00:22:17,660 --> 00:22:21,920 And the question will be put to you 428 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,460 sooner or later in more or less dangerous 429 00:22:25,460 --> 00:22:26,340 circumstances. 430 00:22:29,860 --> 00:22:34,940 Finally, and thirdly, it means understanding, it means 431 00:22:34,940 --> 00:22:39,100 courage, and the supremacy of Jesus means that 432 00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:42,660 we must have a radical interpretation of war 433 00:22:42,660 --> 00:22:43,800 in the Middle East. 434 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,880 A radical interpretation of war in the Middle 435 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:47,160 East. 436 00:22:50,660 --> 00:22:53,160 I will ask you a trick question, don't 437 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:53,740 answer it. 438 00:22:55,140 --> 00:22:59,780 The trick question is, is there a war 439 00:22:59,780 --> 00:23:01,240 going on in the Middle East? 440 00:23:04,130 --> 00:23:06,850 And the answer is no, there are two. 441 00:23:09,490 --> 00:23:12,230 One of them is being fought with cruise 442 00:23:12,230 --> 00:23:14,770 missiles and scud missiles and fighters and bombers. 443 00:23:15,550 --> 00:23:19,810 It is a war between states that are 444 00:23:19,810 --> 00:23:20,710 not Christian. 445 00:23:21,630 --> 00:23:24,070 I'm going to emphasize again where I began. 446 00:23:24,630 --> 00:23:28,570 This is not a conflict between Christians and 447 00:23:28,570 --> 00:23:29,330 Muslims. 448 00:23:30,510 --> 00:23:34,550 Most of the pilots in the fighter planes 449 00:23:34,550 --> 00:23:36,590 and most of those who are manning the 450 00:23:36,590 --> 00:23:41,010 missiles from the allied forces are secularists who 451 00:23:41,010 --> 00:23:44,550 believe less in Jesus than Muslims believe in 452 00:23:44,550 --> 00:23:44,970 Muhammad. 453 00:23:45,410 --> 00:23:48,430 We are not a Christian army in Saudi 454 00:23:48,430 --> 00:23:48,850 Arabia. 455 00:23:48,850 --> 00:23:52,710 This is not a conflict between Muslims and 456 00:23:52,710 --> 00:23:55,290 Christians in spite of there being many of 457 00:23:55,290 --> 00:23:57,550 our brothers and sisters there. 458 00:24:01,140 --> 00:24:03,040 There's another war going on. 459 00:24:03,980 --> 00:24:07,320 The first one is between a Muslim state 460 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,300 and secular states over national boundaries and rights 461 00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:14,560 of nations and securities of states and availability 462 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:15,640 of natural resources. 463 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:20,600 The other war is vastly more important. 464 00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:27,200 The other war is more important because the 465 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,380 stakes are infinitely higher. 466 00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:35,200 They are eternal life and eternal judgment. 467 00:24:36,700 --> 00:24:43,120 The one war is risking the earthly death 468 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:44,800 of thousands. 469 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,360 The other war is risking the eternal death 470 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:50,620 of millions. 471 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,560 This isn't being fought with missiles or bombers 472 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:56,240 or tanks. 473 00:24:56,860 --> 00:24:59,440 It's being fought on the Christian side with 474 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,660 weapons of love like faith and prayer and 475 00:25:03,660 --> 00:25:07,900 spiritual wisdom and sacrifice and the glorious good 476 00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:12,340 news that Jesus Christ forgives any race, any 477 00:25:12,340 --> 00:25:16,280 ethnic person, person from any background who will 478 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:18,240 simply repent in belief. 479 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,000 And it is being resisted on the part 480 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,420 of Iraqis and Saudis with oppression and anti 481 00:25:26,420 --> 00:25:28,360 -Christian state sanctions. 482 00:25:29,420 --> 00:25:34,720 In Iraq, Patrick Johnstone says, quote, It is 483 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:39,120 virtually impossible for a Muslim to confess Christ 484 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:40,220 and live. 485 00:25:42,140 --> 00:25:42,780 Close quote. 486 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,160 No open Christian witnesses allowed in Iraq. 487 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,140 Missionaries were expelled in 1969. 488 00:25:50,540 --> 00:25:54,580 14,000 believers under harassment left Iraq between 489 00:25:54,580 --> 00:25:56,760 1972 and 1977. 490 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,980 There are today in Iraq 12 million Muslims 491 00:26:00,980 --> 00:26:05,720 and 2.8 million Kurds, Arab Muslims and 492 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,900 Kurdish people and many smaller ethnic groups, all 493 00:26:09,900 --> 00:26:13,300 of whom are without Christ and without hope 494 00:26:13,300 --> 00:26:19,100 forever unless someone goes to tell them. 495 00:26:21,180 --> 00:26:26,560 And Saudi Arabia is almost the most un 496 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,420 -evangelized country in the world. 497 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:35,640 There are no known Saudi Christians in Saudi 498 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,360 Arabia, though just as she was leaving, one 499 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:40,920 woman said to me of a contact she 500 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:45,060 had about 500 underground Christians in Saudi Arabia, 501 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,140 which was a great encouragement to me. 502 00:26:47,140 --> 00:26:49,980 No known Christian workers. 503 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,540 No Christian is even allowed to set foot 504 00:26:54,540 --> 00:26:57,640 in Mecca, the holy city of Islam. 505 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,320 Christian literature and Bibles are banned, though many 506 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:03,920 of our troops took them against the rules. 507 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,220 There are 10 million Muslims in Saudi Arabia 508 00:27:08,220 --> 00:27:11,700 without Christ and without hope in the world 509 00:27:11,700 --> 00:27:18,480 and in eternity because there is salvation in 510 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,080 no one else. 511 00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:22,540 For there is no other name under heaven 512 00:27:22,540 --> 00:27:27,100 given among men by which they and we 513 00:27:27,100 --> 00:27:29,240 must be saved. 514 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,640 So there are two wars going on. 515 00:27:32,660 --> 00:27:35,880 The one is risking the loss of thousands 516 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:41,360 of people to temporal earthly death and the 517 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:46,180 other is risking the loss or possible salvation 518 00:27:46,180 --> 00:27:53,500 of millions in view of eternal life or 519 00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:54,480 eternal death. 520 00:27:54,940 --> 00:27:56,640 And the question I want to close with, 521 00:27:57,060 --> 00:27:58,720 and I'm not sure what God wants to 522 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,520 do with it in our lives, is this. 523 00:28:04,620 --> 00:28:09,620 What does it mean that we are almost 524 00:28:09,620 --> 00:28:13,420 addicted to this war? 525 00:28:14,100 --> 00:28:19,620 That we are totally consumed and taken up 526 00:28:19,620 --> 00:28:25,880 with this new war and almost totally oblivious 527 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,820 and indifferent to the more important war? 528 00:28:31,300 --> 00:28:32,460 Let's pray. 529 00:28:43,530 --> 00:28:49,270 Father, I pray that you would take Peter's 530 00:28:49,270 --> 00:28:55,330 perspective now, your apostle, and apply it to 531 00:28:55,330 --> 00:28:58,930 our hearts to make us strong and courageous 532 00:28:58,930 --> 00:29:02,450 and radical and loving. 533 00:29:03,470 --> 00:29:09,730 Oh, that we might not believe the accusation 534 00:29:09,730 --> 00:29:13,790 that the claim of Christ's uniqueness is an 535 00:29:13,790 --> 00:29:18,190 arrogant claim, but know that it is the 536 00:29:18,190 --> 00:29:22,370 only loving claim that can possibly be spoken 537 00:29:22,370 --> 00:29:26,990 in downtown Minneapolis or in school or in 538 00:29:26,990 --> 00:29:27,550 our neighborhoods. 539 00:29:28,430 --> 00:29:32,350 Let not the world interpret for us what 540 00:29:32,350 --> 00:29:35,930 is loving and caring and what is not. 541 00:29:37,030 --> 00:29:41,110 May we hear your voice to know that 542 00:29:41,110 --> 00:29:44,830 the most important war of the ages is 543 00:29:44,830 --> 00:29:48,430 the spiritual war to overcome obstacles in the 544 00:29:48,430 --> 00:29:51,530 cause of love, to reach people with the 545 00:29:51,530 --> 00:29:55,750 gospel of Jesus Christ by which alone people 546 00:29:55,750 --> 00:29:57,730 can be saved. 547 00:29:59,830 --> 00:30:01,550 I don't know what you want to do 548 00:30:01,550 --> 00:30:03,390 right now in people's lives, Lord, but I 549 00:30:03,390 --> 00:30:05,750 invite you to come in power and minister 550 00:30:05,750 --> 00:30:06,350 to people. 551 00:30:07,890 --> 00:30:11,090 And I invite you, to whom he's ministering 552 00:30:11,090 --> 00:30:14,370 and calling, to pray. 553 00:30:15,470 --> 00:30:17,430 People will be standing at the front here 554 00:30:17,430 --> 00:30:17,870 afterwards. 555 00:30:17,870 --> 00:30:19,910 They're here to pray with you about anything 556 00:30:19,910 --> 00:30:20,390 at all. 557 00:30:21,270 --> 00:30:22,990 You may have brought it or God may 558 00:30:22,990 --> 00:30:24,510 have spoken to you about it. 559 00:30:25,390 --> 00:30:27,350 And just seek the Lord together for a 560 00:30:27,350 --> 00:30:28,710 few minutes after this service. 561 00:30:31,190 --> 00:30:34,770 Now unto the king of ages, immortal, invisible, 562 00:30:35,590 --> 00:30:40,190 the only God, be majesty and glory forever 563 00:30:40,190 --> 00:30:40,690 and ever. 564 00:30:41,830 --> 00:30:43,870 And all the people said, Amen. 565 00:30:43,870 --> 00:30:47,750 Thank you for listening to this message by 566 00:30:47,750 --> 00:30:50,990 John Piper, pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist 567 00:30:50,990 --> 00:30:53,230 Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 568 00:30:53,550 --> 00:30:55,790 Feel free to make copies of this message 569 00:30:55,790 --> 00:30:57,870 to give to others, but please do not 570 00:30:57,870 --> 00:31:00,810 charge for those copies or alter the content 571 00:31:00,810 --> 00:31:02,390 in any way without permission. 572 00:31:03,090 --> 00:31:06,150 We invite you to visit DesiringGod online at 573 00:31:06,150 --> 00:31:09,870 www.DesiringGod.org. 574 00:31:10,850 --> 00:31:14,410 There you'll find hundreds of sermons, articles, radio 575 00:31:14,410 --> 00:31:17,190 broadcasts, and much more, all available to you 576 00:31:17,190 --> 00:31:18,250 at no charge. 577 00:31:18,610 --> 00:31:21,370 Our online store carries all of Pastor John's 578 00:31:21,370 --> 00:31:23,570 books, audio, and video resources. 579 00:31:24,070 --> 00:31:25,370 You can also stay up to date on 580 00:31:25,370 --> 00:31:27,450 what's new at Desiring God. 581 00:31:27,750 --> 00:31:33,630 Again, our website is www.DesiringGod.org. 582 00:31:33,630 --> 00:31:37,510 Or call us toll free at 1-888 583 00:31:37,510 --> 00:31:40,370 -346-4700. 584 00:31:40,770 --> 00:31:45,110 Our mailing address is Desiring God, 2601 East 585 00:31:45,110 --> 00:31:51,270 Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406. 586 00:31:52,030 --> 00:31:54,510 Desiring God exists to help you make God 587 00:31:54,510 --> 00:31:58,190 your treasure, because God is most glorified in 588 00:31:58,190 --> 00:32:01,830 us when we are most satisfied in Him.