Centennial Park Baptist Church – Sunday, September 21st, 2008 – 10:30 am

 

ARE YOU COMING BACK AGAIN?

 

Hinduism is the world’s 3rd largest religion, with over 900,000,000 followers, and over 80% of India’s population practices some form of Hinduism.

 

I           THE BEGINNINGS

 

            - Country of India – 4000 years ago

 

            A. People in Northwest India – Issues of LIFE

 

                        * Where do I fit?

                        * What is my purpose?

                        *Why has God made me?

 

            B. People from Russia and Central Asia – Issues of ETERNITY

 

                        * Annihilation

                        * Resurrection

                        * Reincarnation

 

            A. + B. = Hinduism

 

II          THE BRANCHING OUT

           

            - Hindu ideas influenced Western thought – 1850’s

            - Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau

            - New Age Movement

            - 1960’s – Beatles went to India – taught Transcendental Meditation ( TM)

               by Moharishi Mahesh Yogi

 

III        THE BOOKS

 

            - Veda;   Upanishads;  Bhagavad Gita

 

IV        THE BELIEFS

 

            - GOD – ultimate reality is Brahman – impersonal, without attributes

            - Never actually worshipped

            - Manifests itself in up to 330,000,000 gods

 

            - US – The eternal soul of each human is supposedly a manifestation of Brahman           mysteriously trapped in a physical body.   The highest goal is to get your soul        freed so that it can merge or be reabsorbed into Brahman ( similar to a drop of          water being reabsorbed into the ocean. 

            - How is this accomplished?

 

 

            REINCARNATION

 

           

 

SIN – KARMA

 

- good karma – reincarnated in a better way

- bad karma – reincarnated in a worse way

 

            - Your present life is also determined by the Law of Karma, which is the actions,           words and thoughts of previous lifetimes.

 

SALVATION

 

- There is no clear idea of salvation in Hinduism.  Hindus hope and strive to eventually leave the cycle of reincarnation, to leave behind the illusion of personal existence and become one with the impersonal god, which is cessation of activity

 

- This is a religion of DESPAIR

 

By contrast, Christianity:

 

            - Your personality, soul, body, mind are important to God

            - God desires a personal relationship with you

            - God sent Jesus to die so that forgiveness, relationship could be restored

 

HOW DOES A HINDU GET RELEASE FROM THE CYCLE OF REINCARNATION?

 

            * Activity

            * Knowledge – deep meditation – YOGA

            * Devotion – personal surrendering to one of the many gods or goddesses – how?

               Temple rituals, pilgrimages, good works, self-control

 

V         THE BARRIERS TO OVERCOME

 

            1. Jesus – “It was more that I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate Son          of God, and that only he who believes in Him would have everlasting life.”           Gandhi

 

            Answer:  John 14: 1-6;  Acts 4:12

 

            2. Reincarnation – Hebrews 9:27 - And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to             die once and after this comes judgment

 

            3. Sin – Humans are separated from the presence of God by sin

           

            Romans 3:23 - 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

 

            We stand in need of a Saviour who can rescue us from the power of sin in our   lives – Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

VI        THE BEST APPROACH?

 

            Yoga?  Yoga is an ancient spiritual discipline whose central doctrines are utterly incompatible with those of Christianity.  Take up another form of exercise that does not pose concerns to your spiritual beliefs.  True yoga has one specific goal:  to unite the person to Brahman through experiences of mystical consciousness.

 

Hinduism is completely different from Christianity at every level.  While it is respected as a peaceful religion and is shared by millions worldwide, we who are Christians have an obligation not only to understand Hindus, but to assist them in discovering the personal and knowable Jesus if Biblical Christianity.