“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31)

President George W. Bush, while campaigning in the Republican primaries (Feb. 2000) made a very profound statement, more intellectually brilliant than many of the theologians, philosophers and politicians I have studied for the past forty years!

News reporters asked Governor George W. Bush, whom he considered was the world's greatest philosopher. He answered: "Jesus Christ. He changed my life.."

They asked him about his previous days of heavy drinking and how he had managed to change his life-style. George W. Bush answered: "Jesus Christ came into my heart."  

When asked to explain that statement, he said: "If it has happened to you you will know. If it hasn't you will not understand it."

I have often used those very same words.  I have often stated unequivocally that the ‘philosophies of Jesus’ are unparalleled and incomparable to any other philosopher or religious guru. 

Jesus Christ's teaching:: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart...and thy neighbor as thyself", is unparalleled among any group of secular philosophers or religious gurus you may name!

The Great Philosopher and Fount of all Truth, Jesus Christ and His parable about the Good Samaritan is unique in the annals of human history!

Ask yourself: "Could anyone improve upon His parable of the 'Good Samaritan' which He used to lecture the lawyer who asked, "Who is my neighbor?" The answer is: ‘Certainly not!’

PLATO - THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER 

Let’s look at the statements and actions of some of the so-called great philosophers we have had to study over the years: Plato (427-348 B.C.) Greek Philosopher - a student of Socrates, a Greek teacher of wisdom and ethics - in 375 B.C. stated:

“Our men and women should be forbidden by law to live together in separate households and all women should be common to all men. Similarly, all children should be held in common. No parent should know its child or child its parent.”

PLATO WAS A WARPED AND TWISTED PHILOSOPHER - HOW COULD THIS SO-CALLED GREAT PHILOSOPHER BE TRUSTED ON HIS OPINIONS OF GOD, EXISTENCE, LIFE, DEATH OR THE AFTER-LIFE?

Have you heard of anything so warped, wanton and twisted, coming from the pen of a so-called brilliant philosopher? Without doubt, Plato was a deviant and pervert of the first degree!

After reading such a carnal, lustful and immoral statement about the sacred state of marriage, love and family, how could anyone trust his opinions about God, existence, the purpose of life, death or the ‘afterlife’! The teaching of Socrates, who advocated that “virtue is wisdom”, was most certainly lost on his protégé, Plato!

JESUS CHRIST HAD A LOT TO SAY ABOUT LIFE!

He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me”. (John 14:6) 

He stated, “The thief (devil) cometh not but to steal, kill and destroy. I am come that ye might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

He spoke about Eternal 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." (John 3:16, 17). 

In His High Priestly prayer our Lord Jesus Christ addressed God His Father thusly: "And this is LIFE ETERNAL, that they might know Thee the Only true God, and Jesus Christ Who Thou hast sent." (John 17: 3)

And St. John clearly articulated the message of Salvation and eternal life that God's Eternal Son - True God and True Man -  provided through His vicarious, substitutionary death for us all on Calvary's rugged cross and His glorious resurrection from the dead:

"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us ETERNAL LIFE and this life IS IN HIS SON. He that hath the SON hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life." (1 John 5: 10-12)

BERTRAND RUSSELL - WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN

This supposedly brilliant philosopher lived to be almost 100 years of age and died as an unbeliever. And, that is sad! 

He wrote the book, ‘Why I am Not a Christian’, even after having had the privilege of reading the greatest of all books, the Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. And having had access to the writings of great men of God like Martin Luther, John Knox, John Wesley, George Whitfield, General William Booth and Charles  Spurgeon!!

How he must feel now to be consigned to a devil's hell for all eternity together with Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Ze Deng, Rudolf Khomeini, Usama bin Laden and every other murderer, liar, thief, sadist, pervert, atheist and unbeliever!  

And to stand before God Almighty on the 'Day of Judgment' like a blithering idiot trying to tell the Creator of the universe and Judge of the entire earth, why he rejected His gift, Jesus Christ Whom He sent to seek and save the lost!

Jesus Christ declared: “Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me”. (John 5:39), and St. Paul stated that “the Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation”. (2 Tim. 3:15)

WE CANNOT COMPARE JESUS TO CARNAL, HUMAN PHILOSOPHERS

We cannot compare Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with a spiritual illiterate like Bertrand Russell, who at an advanced age - when he should have known better - allegedly dispensed advise about loosening our moral codes to give more license to “free sex”!

How irresponsible to give such advice to a generation of young people - who were already ‘chomping at the bit’ to kick-over-the-traces sexually, causing broken hearts, broken homes, aborted babies and untold suffering for so many for years to come!

They say, “There’s no fool like an old fool” and I say, “There is no fool like an old philosopher.” I challenge any pointy-headed university professor, seminary theologian or media talking-head to come up with a better philosophy than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which changes hearts and lives for the better!

 JESUS REGULARLY QUOTED THE LAW, PSALMS & THE PROPHETS!

Jeremiah stated, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (incurably sick): who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9; Eccl. 9:3) 

And Jesus declared, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” (Mark 7:21,22)

Ezekiel admonished: "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions...A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

“And will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 18:31; 36:26,27)

St. Paul says: “Therefore, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation; behold, old things are passed away; all things become new." (2 Corinthians  5:17) Jesus Christ is not only the Saviour of the world, the Great Physician and Healer of broken hearts, minds and families, but He is also the greatest Teacher and dispenser of Wisdom and Understanding this world will ever know!

JESUS WAS THE WORLD'S GREATEST PHILOSOPHER AND  TEACHER

It is true, not only was Jesus the greatest philosopher, but He was also the world's greatest teacher.  His message of love, mercy, repentance, forgiveness and salvation has healed millions of hearts for the past two thousand years!

And Jesus is still changing hearts and lives today! And isn’t that what everyone hopes and longs for? To be freed from the burning spirit of lust, the uncontrollable demon of anger and hatred and the tormenting spirit of envy, jealousy and fear? And from the agonizing, condemning spirit of guilt, shame and remorse?

Through the Person of the blessed Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is reaching out even now to bring forgiveness, love, peace, joy and healing to each one of us at this very moment! He said, “Come unto Me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. (Matthew 11:28)

The Bible says: “And it came to pass, when He had ended these saying, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (Matt.7: 28, 29) 

He said: “Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall in the ditch.” (Matt.15: 14)

Unmasking their hypocrisy, He warned: “Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew  5: 20) 

He admonished the multitude: “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not after their works: for they say and do not.” (Matthew  23:3). Jesus hated hypocrisy, saying that we should practice what we preach!

He detested legalism and man-made moral laws that were unfair. He castigated the religious leaders of that time with these words: “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves” will not lift a finger to move them! 

Pride is an abomination in God’s sight. He charged: “But all their works they do to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the border of their garments, and they love the uppermost seats in the synagogues.”

Jesus advocated humility: “He that is greatest among you, shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matt.23: 4-12)

THE PHILOSOPHY OF JESUS ON LOVE & COMPASSION: JESUS WAS MOVED BY COMPASSION!

Jesus’ great love and compassion was anchored in truth. He knew Who He was, why He had come and what His mission was! He stated: “I am come to seek an to save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10)

The Bible says: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

 “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35. 36)

Jesus shook the consciences of His religious adversaries when he stated: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shall love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5: 43, 43)

JESUS ON WHY SHOULD WE LOVE THOSE WHO HATE US?

Jesus, the great philosopher gave us a powerful philosophy on why we should love people who  hate us.  Jesus Christ gives us the answer: 

“That ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

If we love only those who love us, we are no better that the drunk who loves his fellow drunks, the mafia members who love only their own ‘families’ or the Islamic Jihad terrorists who hate all Christians and Jews, and love only their own select group of Arabs and Muslims!

Why must we love even our enemies? We are followers of the Nazarene, the Jewish Messiah and the world’s only Saviour, God’s Son Who was incarnated (God in human flesh) so that He could die for our sins on a rugged cross on Golgatha’s hill!

St. John stated: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. We love Him because He first loved us.” (I John 4: 7-11, 19).

A fallacy in the teachings of Islam states that their god Allah, loves only those who love him. If that is true, we serve very different Gods, for the True God the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - loves us all so much, that He sent His Son to procure our salvation, through His all-atoning Blood that was shed for us! And He commands us to love one another!

And that’s the bottom line! 

DO YOU HAVE HAVE A SAVIOUR?

During one of his massive Gospel Crusades in India, Missionary Evangelist T. L. Osborn was  approached by a highly educated scholar, who had spend 18 years studying World Religions. He made this statement: 

" I have attended several of your meetings and after seeing the great miracle which have taken place and hearing your messages of hope and life, I have come to the conclusion that all religions have their deities, holy men and gurus but only Christianity has  a Savior!"

After his close brush with death at the hands of a deranged assassin, President Ronald Reagan was asked by his pastor: "Were you ready to die, Mr. president?"

Ronald Reagan answered: "I have much more to do!" The pastor interjected: "No. I meant, were you ready to meet God? The President answered: "Yes!" 

"Why?" asked the pastor. "I have a Savior." answered the President!

Here is my question to you dear friend: "Do you have a Saviour?" Why don't you like the president, ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and life today?