THE UNIQUENESS AND CONSEQUENT INTOLERANCE OF CHRIST
(An Enlarged Radio Message given over KMTR Hollywood)
By Maurice Johnson
“The Father judgeth no man, but hath
committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men
should honour the Son, even as they honour the
Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth
not the Father which hath sent Him.”
—John 5:22-23 “Jesus saith unto him; `I am the Way, the Truth
and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father
but by me.”—John 14:6 DE-NATURED “CHRISTS”
We are hearing on every hand today that all who
believe in God must get together. Recently, the
papers carried announcements and accounts of large
gatherings that were described as “The Fellowship
of Faiths,” where men that were introduced as “Christian,”
Jew, Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist, Mazdaznan,
etc. came together on the basis of religious brotherhood.
You Bible students know that in Revelation 17,
we have a vivid picture of just this sort of thing for
the closing of this age.
I attended the recent meeting here in Los Angeles
of “The World Fellowship of Faiths,” so-called. Besides
a Buddhist, a Hindu, and a Jew, there were two
prominent “protestant” preachers, Dr. Roy L. Smith,
pastor of the First M. E. Church here in Los Angeles,
(in which supposedly Christian “church” this antiChrist
conclave was held) and the pastor of the
First Mexican Baptist Church of Los Angeles. I was
very much interested to note the size and authority
of the “christ” of these two professing “Christian”
preachers. And sure enough, they had no Lord
Christ. In fact, they did not acknowledge that Jesus
was the Christ at all. Not once in the address of
either was the name, Christ, mentioned, nor was the
title, Lord, once mentioned. They referred to “Jesus”
and once mentioned, “the Master of Nazareth.” Thus
did they succeed in stripping the Lord Jesus Christ
of His uniqueness, His claim that He was, even during
His days of humiliation, none other than Immanuel,
which, being interpreted, is “God with us.”
First, let me assure you that I have nothing
to sell, nor am I going to ask for your money. And I
have nothing for you to join. It is my delightful privilege
to be known merely as a saved sinner, a Christian
(not Campbellite), not a member of some new
sect that may take the name, Christian, or Church
of Christ, or Church of God, or any other Bible phrase.
By the miracle of re-creation, I am a child of God and,
as such, the Lord Jesus Christ baptized me with the
Holy Spirit into “the church which is Christ’s body.”
1 Cor. 12:13. If you have ever sincerely called on the
name of the crucified, buried, and risen Lord, you too,
were born from above and baptized with the Holy
Spirit into this church, and you and I are, therefore fellowmembers
of the body of Christ. I sincerely greet all
Christians as such. If any sectarian wall is built to
separate us you must build it. I seek to destroy all
such denials of “the Spirit.”
In the 11th verse of Amos 8, we are told that an
unprecedented famine is coming, “…not a famine of
bread…but of hearing the Words of God.” Note
well that the prophet does not say there is to be a
famine of Bibles but of hearing the Word of God. I
can think of no surer proof that the famine is now
upon us than the fact that preachers go unquestioned
and, indeed, highly paid and complimented for telling
their congregations how tolerant Jesus was of
other people’s opinions and religions. I used to believe
that such preachers were merely ignorant of
the Bible’s inspired picture of Christ and were more
or less honestly giving what they had been taught
in the seminaries and had read in books about Christ
and the Bible. But I can’t so excuse them any more,
and be honest before God. I now believe they are
Satan’s most effective tools for denaturing and thus
destroying the Christ of the Bible; this is, destroying
Christ in the minds and affections of the masses of
denominational “church members.” Of course, none
of us who have been redeemed by the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ and who know that we have
passed from death unto life, that we now have eternal
life in and through Christ—I say none of us Christians
are excited or at all fearful lest these little clerical
squirt guns are actually going to succeed in putting
out the sun. We are concerned about the fact that
they are effectively getting their mist into millions of
people’s eyes.
CHRIST’S SPLENDID INTOLERANCE
The Christ of the Bible is the most intolerant Being
that man has ever known or had the privilege of
knowing. Hear Him speaking to the religious leaders
of the corrupt Judaism of His earthly day. Let us
read together John 8:12-59—
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am
the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
The Pharisees therefore said unto Him, Thou bearest
record of thyself; thy record is not true. Jesus answered
and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself,
yet my record is true: for I know whence I came,
and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come,
and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh; I judge
no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for
I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
It is written in your law, that the testimony of two
men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself,
and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus
answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye
had known me, ye should have known my Father
also. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he
taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him;
for his hour was not yet come. Then said Jesus again
unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and
shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
Then said the Jews, will he kill himself? because he
saith, whither I go, ye cannot come. And he said
unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above:
ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said
therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for
if ye believe not that I am ye shall die in your sins.
…If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed;
but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no
place in you. I speak that which I have seen with
my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with
your father…Ye do the deeds of your father. Then
said they to him. We be not born of fornication; we
have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them,
If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I
proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I
of myself, but He sent me. Why do ye not understand
my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which
of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth,
why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth
God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye
are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said
unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan,
and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil;
but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me. And
I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh
and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you. If a man
keep my saying, he shall never see death.
Then said the Jews unto him. Now we know that
thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets;
and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall
never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father
Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead:
whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, …Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw
it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou
art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up
stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them,
and so passed by.”
CHRIST’S UNIQUENESS
Do you not see how utterly impossible it is for any
honest person to read the eighth chapter of John and
then say that Christ was tolerant of other men s religious
opinions? As a great English preacher said
years ago, “Jesus of Nazareth was God or He was insane.”
Just hear Him: “I am the light of the world: he
that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life…You neither know me, nor
my Father: if you had known me you should have
known my Father also…I go my way and you shall
die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am, you
shall die in your sins.” Do you call that religious tolerance,
for Christ to say to those religious Jews who
believed in the “universal Fatherhood of God,” “If
you believe not that I am (in other words, if you
Jews will not believe that I, Jesus of Nazareth, am
the Eternal “I AM” that appeared to Moses, you are
utterly without hope), you shall die in your sins”?
The mind of man cannot conceive of anything more
intolerant than these statements of Christ.
But, my dear friends, it is the proper intolerance
of truth and light and life. Isn’t absolute truth intolerant
of a lie? Of all kinds of lies? Isn’t light intolerant
of darkness? “What fellowship has light with darkgness?”
Are life and death friends or foes? “What
agreement has the temple of God with idols?” According
to these modern union religious movements,
these “Fellowships of faiths,”—there are no such
things anymore as idols. They are telling us that
modern man has discovered that all of the idols are
true gods, and that somehow or other all of these
little gods are rapidly being fashioned into the one
great, good, grandaddy god who loves everybody
in the universe except these Christians who consistently
contend for the Christ of the virgin birth, the
sinless life, the perfect, substitutionary death, and the
bodily resurrection. For once, these modern godmakers
are about right. Their great big evolutionary,
jelly-fish god will love all of his human and demon,
creators but will hate with hellish fury the true Christ
and the true Christians. Let us open our eyes to
these fast approaching facts. Let us be ready to do
and dare for our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. These are, indeed, days in which there is
going to be increasing need for the martyr spirit, the
martyr kind of life, and, if need be, Christian
martyrdom, and I trust I will not be so spinelessly
silent that I will shun everything in the way of persecution
for the sake of our Lord Jesus Who is being
so whittled down by these modern truth trimmers.
CHRIST ENLIGHTENS AND DRAWS ALL MEN
Christ’s splendid intolerance is the result or characteristic
of His uniqueness. We cannot compare
Christ with other prophets and supposed saviours.
We may only contrast Him with them. He was not
different in degree from others. He was, and is, different
in kind. He said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before
me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not
hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in
he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to
destroy: I am come that they might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly, I am the
good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth His life for
the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the
wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and
the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.”
Jn 10:7-12. These modern tolerance peddlers must
believe their listeners read the funnies instead of the
Bible, or they would expect their audiences to laugh
them to scorn when they talk about Christ being tolerant.
“All that ever came before me are thieves and
robbers…” Can’t you see that that is the simple
statement of fact, or it is the egotistical lie of a mad
man? Again, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a
robber…I am the door.” Jn.l0:l,9.
REJECTING CHRIST IS DEADLY
Doubtless, some of you are saying: “But what
about the millions and millions who have never
heard or had an opportunity to hear about Christ?
Could God be just and fair to allow them to die in
their sins simply because they have not believed
that Jesus of Nazareth was the Great “I AM, Jehovah”?
Listen carefully, please, as I answer that
question with the unforced Word of God. “In the
beginning was the Word (capital W), and the Word
was with God, …In Him was life; and the life was
the light of men…That was the true Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world…”
Jn.1:1-9. In other words, there is no such thing as a
man who has never been lighted by Christ. He is
the Light that “lighteth every man that cometh into
the world.” “But,” you say, “doesn’t the Bible say
that ‘without the shedding of blood there is no remission,’
no forgiveness of sins? And surely not all the
heathen countries have heard the story of Christ’s
cross and resurrection” Let Christ answer that
question: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me. This He said, signifying what
death He should die.” In. 12:32-33. There we see that
on the cross the Lord Jesus Christ drew the heart and
conscience of every human being since Adam. That
is why all men, regardless of their state of barbarism,
have been found to be religious. They have been
drawn to look out of, and away from, themselves
toward the true God; but have stopped, in millions of
cases, to make their own god.
This is clearly taught in Romans 1, where we read
that after God revealed Himself to the peoples of the
earth so that they knew of His eternal power and
Godhead, “they glorified Him not as God but became
vain in their imaginations” and made some gods
of their own. Let us read Romans 1:16-32.
No one need doubt that as God sent Philip down
into the desert to preach Christ to the Ethiopian
eunuch who was obeying all the light he had, He
will also send men today to any spot on the face of
the earth where there is a man or woman whose
heart is obeying the light God has already given,
but needs more light. “Blessed are they who hunger
and thirst after righteousness for they SHALL be
filled.” Again, “If any man will do His will, he
shall know of the doctrine.” Jn.7:17. On the other hand,
we read in 2 Peter of those religionists who “willingly
are ignorant.” They are “escaped convicts.” They
have run from the convincing power of the plain
truth of the Word of God. Personally, I’ll take my
hat off to the convicts that murder their guards and
escape, before I’ll intentionally or knowingly link
arms with these men who took solemn ordination
vows that they would preach the Word of God as it
is and would do all in their power to banish false
and heretical doctrine, but are now crawling out of
the golden chains of love that would bind them to
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ Who is described in
1 Tim.6:15-16 as “the blessed and only Potentate, the
King of kings, and Lord of lords, Who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto.” Let me repeat with all the fervor of
my God-fearing soul that the most dangerous, escaped
convicts are not the fellows with striped clothes
but those with long-tailed coats.
Let us never forget that there is only ONE Saviour.
And He is the Man of sorrows, the nail-pierced
“scapegoat” of Golgotha Who shocked all heaven
with His anguishing cry, “My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?” That cry and that death
were utterly unlike any other cry and any other
death in all human history. Buddha never claimed
to be a God-forsaken substitute for all men,—for all
lost sinners. Confucius never made such a claim,
nor Mahomet, nor Zoroaster. They were mere teachers
who sought to set an example for others to follow.
Christ didn’t come into this world merely to live and
say something. He came primarily to die and do
something. He said: “As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must (note that “must”),
even so must, the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn
the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God…He that believeth on the Son
of God has everlasting life: and he that believeth not
the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides .
on him.” Jn. 3:14-18.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me…for I
the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” May our thrice
Holy Heavenly Father blot out of our minds all these
puny little pussy-footing “christs” that are being
banqueted today in our denatured Christendom, and
may our hearts be fired from on High with true knowledge
of and warm devotion to the Christ of glory,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
BELIEVING ON CHRIST BRINGS SALVATION
To you who are not saved,—who have never with
true repentance caused by “the goodness of God”
in giving His Own Well Beloved Son to suffer for
your sins and conquer your last enemy, death—to
you—I direct this word. “Why will ye die in your
sins”? “Today, if you will harden not your hearts”
but will call on the name of the Lord you “Shall be
saved.” God said it. Is He not the final One? “If God
be for us, who can be against us?”
O, won’t you just now bow your stubborn heart by
faith at the foot of the cross where God placed your
sinful blame and guilt on His sinless Son, and won’t
you receive Christ, by faith, as your own sin-bearer,
Saviour and Risen Lord?
Almighty God said this (Rom. 10:8-10). Will you
gratefully step out on it as God’s Bridge leading you
from sin to heart purity in His sight, from death to
life: from satan to Christ? You need no priest or
church building. Just where you are and just as you
are God, for Christ’s sake will instantly save your
soul as you honestly believe the gospel of Christ—the
Bible story of how Christ has perfectly taken
your place as a sinner before God’s bar of just judgment
and has risen to give you new life.
How I hope and pray some of you will write us, at
least a card, telling us that you have definitely received
Christ as your personal Savior. Also, those
who believe this study worth while will rejoice us
by telling us.
“Upon a life I did not live,
Upon a death I did not die;
Another’s life, another’s death,
I stake my whole eternity.”
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