Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP021112
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00:06 From the campus of Andrews University
00:08 this is New Perceptions with Dr. Dwight K. Nelson. 00:26 From the highest of heights 00:29 To the depths of the sea 00:35 Creation's revealing your majesty 00:40 You sound beautiful this morning 00:42 From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring 00:49 Every creature unique in the song that it sings 00:57 All exclaiming 00:59 Indescribable, uncontainable 01:03 You placed the stars in the sky 01:05 And you know them by name 01:09 You are amazing, God! 01:16 All powerful, untamable 01:20 Awestruck we fall to our knees 01:22 As we humbly proclaim 01:26 You are amazing God! 01:37 Who has told every lightning bolt 01:40 Where it should go 01:45 Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow 01:53 Who imagined the sun 01:56 And gives source to its light 02:02 Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night 02:08 None can fathom 02:10 Indescribable, uncontainable 02:14 You placed the stars in the sky 02:16 And you know them by name 02:20 You are amazing God 02:27 All powerful, untamable 02:31 Awestruck we fall to our knees 02:33 As we humbly proclaim 02:37 You are amazing God 02:44 Indescribable, uncontainable 02:47 You placed the stars in the sky 02:50 And you know them by name 02:54 You are amazing God 03:00 All powerful, untamable 03:04 Awestruck we fall to our knees 03:07 As we humbly proclaim 03:11 You are amazing God! 03:20 You are amazing God! 03:26 You have an amazing God! 03:28 A God who being in the vary nature of God. 03:33 Do not consider Himself equal with God. 03:38 Rather He made Himself nothing and humbled Himself, 03:44 Being obedient to death, even the death of the cross. 03:48 He would anything to conquer your love 03:53 And there is nothing He would not do for you. 03:57 He is unchangeable, untamable. 04:05 Incomparable, unchangeable 04:09 You see the depths of my heart 04:12 And you love me the same 04:15 You are amazing God! 04:19 Let's sing that one more time. 04:22 Incomparable, unchangeable 04:26 You see the depths of my heart 04:29 And you love me the same 04:33 You are amazing God! 04:48 You are amazing God! 04:50 We are so amazed by you 05:11 Let's sing together 05:13 "You dance over me, 05:20 While I am unaware 05:27 You sing all around, 05:34 But I never hear the sound 05:40 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 05:46 Lord, I'm amazed by you 05:53 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 06:00 How you love me 06:07 You paint the morning sky 06:14 With miracles in mind 06:21 My hope will always stand 06:27 For you hold me in your hand 06:33 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 06:40 Lord, I'm amazed by you 06:46 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 06:53 How you love me 06:59 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 07:06 Lord, I'm amazed by you 07:12 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 07:19 How you love me 07:26 How wide, 07:32 How deep, 07:39 How great 07:44 Is your love for me 07:52 How wide, 07:59 How deep, 08:06 How great 08:11 Is your love for me 08:15 Lord, I'm amazed by you, 08:22 How you love me 08:32 I would like to invite you, 08:35 to say with me one of the most powerful verses, 08:39 I think and it's John 3:16 08:43 and I want to invite you to say it 08:46 like if it's your very first time. 08:50 Let's say it together. 08:52 "For God so loved the world 08:55 that He gave His only begotten Son, 08:59 that whosoever believes in Him 09:03 should not perish but have everlasting life." 09:25 "How deep the Father's love for us 09:30 How vast beyond all measure 09:36 That He should give His only Son 09:41 To make a wretch His treasure 09:46 How great the pain of searing loss 09:51 The Father turns His face away 09:57 As wounds which mar the Chosen One 10:02 Bring many sons to glory 10:18 Behold, the Man upon a cross 10:23 My sin upon His shoulders 10:28 Ashamed I hear my mocking voice 10:33 Call out among the scoffers 10:38 It was my sin that left Him there 10:43 Until it was accomplished 10:48 His dying breath has brought me life 10:53 I know that it is finished 11:08 I will not boast in anything 11:13 No gifts, no power, no wisdom 11:19 But I will boast in Jesus Christ 11:25 His death and resurrection 11:29 Why should I gain from His reward 11:34 I cannot give an answer 11:40 But this I know with all my heart 11:44 His wounds have paid my ransom 11:49 Why should I gain from His reward 11:54 I cannot give an answer 12:00 But this I know with all my heart 12:05 His wounds have paid my ransom 12:26 The love of God is greater far 12:32 Than any tongue or pen can tell 12:38 It goes beyond the highest star 12:44 And reaches to the lowest hell 12:49 The guilty pair, bowed down with care 12:55 God gave His Son to win 13:00 His erring child He reconciled 13:07 And pardoned from his sin. 13:13 Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! 13:19 How measureless and strong! 13:24 It shall forevermore endure 13:31 The saints' and angels' song. 13:40 When hoary time shall pass away, 13:46 And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, 13:53 When men who here refuse to pray, 13:59 On rocks and hills and mountains call, 14:06 God's love so sure, shall still endure, 14:12 All measureless and strong; 14:18 Redeeming grace to Adam's race 14:24 The saints' and angels' song. 14:35 Could we with ink the oceans fill, 14:41 And where the skies of parchment made, 14:47 Were every stalk on earth a quill, 14:53 And every man a scribe by trade; 14:59 To write the love of God above 15:05 Would drain the ocean dry; 15:11 Nor would the scroll contain the whole, 15:17 Though stretched from sky to sky. 15:23 Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! 15:29 How measureless and strong! 15:35 It shall 15:37 forevermore endure 15:43 The saints' and angels' song. 15:54 The saints' and angels' 16:01 song. 16:18 Thank you Bradley, 16:20 powerful, saints' and angels' song, 16:21 The love of God. 16:24 Dear Father, 16:27 but Bradley just sang the love of God, wow, 16:31 if every ocean sink 16:34 and every stock a quill 16:37 and all of us subscribe by trade. 16:42 We could write and write and write 16:44 and write and write for ever 16:45 and we would never capture the immensity of your love. 16:48 Now Father, given them your love 16:51 how then should we live, 16:53 what about our love, teach us, teach us today, 16:56 we pray in Jesus' name Amen. 17:00 So I'm on my way 17:02 from South Bend to Chicago on a commuter flight 17:07 and because of the arrangement I got assigned the word is 17:12 I got consigned to the last seat in the commuter flight, 17:16 it's the worst seat trust me in the plane. 17:20 I'm muttering my whole way back down the aisle, 17:23 I see however there is a businessman, 17:26 very well-dressed older man sitting in the aisle seat, 17:29 I have to crawl over him to get to the window 17:31 and as I'm crawling over him, 17:33 I notice that he's taken his ticket stub, 17:36 you know that they let you keep and he stuck it in his glasses 17:39 so it's just sticking up like this. 17:41 Very interesting so I crawled over him, 17:44 I sit down and I, I want to get a conversation going. 17:47 So I tap him, I said listen, 17:48 is that those of us who sit on the back 17:50 are we supposed to be doing this. 17:54 So he laughed and we fell in a conversation turns out 17:56 he's a management consultant for some fortune 500 companies, 18:02 I am a speaker flying across the country to speak, 18:05 he's a Jew, I'm a Christian. 18:08 So what do you speaking up, he asked, 18:12 I said the eleventh commandment. 18:15 He looked at me and he got this in question his expression, 18:18 he said the eleventh commandment good grief, 18:21 we have a hard enough time with the ten, 18:24 I don't know what we do in the eleventh. 18:27 Eleven, you guys are something. 18:32 You know what? 18:34 Maybe that Jewish gentleman is right. 18:38 What do we do with the eleventh commandment? 18:44 Another Jew also a gentleman but much younger 18:47 is facing his last 24 hours on earth. 18:51 When you're on death row, 18:54 you pick your words very carefully. 18:57 No flim-flam and fluff. 19:00 You're going to move to what is the deepest in your heart, 19:06 when you're counting down every word counts 19:08 and so Jesus looks into the flickering orange 19:11 that upper room torch. 19:15 He looks into their upturned faces and he speaks, 19:19 we come to this moment in our series, 19:21 let's put the tile slide on the screen please, 19:23 this is our second semester series 19:25 the last days, 19:26 the last seven days of Jesus life. 19:29 In the fourth gospel, we've been in the fourth gospel, 19:31 first semester fourth gospel, this semester 19:34 title this teaching of course the eleventh commandment, 19:36 you see the website WWW.PMCHURCH.TV 19:41 You're here visiting, we're glad to have, 19:43 you can get all of our podcasts and video casts right there. 19:46 Study guides are there as well, today, no study guide, 19:48 this is so clear, you don't need a study guide trust me. 19:51 Open your Bible with me to the, to we're now in John 13, 19:54 we were in John 12 the last time you and I were together. 19:56 Now it's John 13. 19:58 The Gospel of John 13. 20:01 I'm in the New King James Version here. 20:03 We'll cut to the chase, get to the eleventh commandment 20:06 right here, right now John 13:1. 20:12 Now before the Feast of the Passover, 20:14 remember John is the only gospel writer that indicates 20:17 there are four Passovers in Jesus' ministry. 20:19 So we know the exact length, it's three and a half years. 20:22 He carefully chronicles a passing of the Passovers, 20:24 now before the Feast of the Passover, 20:26 when Jesus knew that His hour had come 20:30 that He should depart from this world to the Father 20:32 having loved his own who were in the world. 20:35 He loved them to the end. 20:38 Now this is the book in that begins the last 24 hours 20:41 and we're gonna be, we're gonna be 20:42 slowly going through those 24 hours. 20:45 We're not going to hurry through this day and time. 20:49 Drop down now to verse 34, 20:51 we have a red letter Bible these words are bright red. 20:53 Jesus speaking to eleven faces, 20:56 one of them has left never to return. 20:59 He too will be dead in less than 24 hours. 21:04 Jesus speaking to the eleven 21:06 "A new commandment I give to you, 21:09 that you love one another; 21:10 as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 21:13 Verse 35, "By this all will know 21:16 that you are My disciples, 21:18 if you have love for one another." 21:22 What's on the heart of a man who is about to die? 21:24 I give you a new commandment that you love one another. 21:30 Less you are tempted to conclude, 21:34 love is some sort of passing fancy of Jesus 21:36 till he gets to the big red meat stuff 21:39 of his last will and testament. 21:41 I need to remind you that in the upper room 21:45 portion of these chapters of John. 21:48 John 13 we'll include 17 in that. 21:51 Five times, five times Jesus will speak these words, 21:55 love one another, love one another, 21:58 love one another, love one another, 22:00 love one another, 22:01 five times those words spoken from his lips. 22:05 In fact what you're gonna notice if you ever read that 22:07 13 to 17 in one sitting you will notice 22:10 the word love appearing outside of those five. 22:13 In fact I noticed that, I said I'm going to circle 22:16 every love word or derivative, 22:18 loves or loved or loving. 22:20 I went through, you know, how many I found. 22:22 33 times John 13 to 17, 33 times, 22:27 31 of those times on the lips of Jesus. 22:31 Don't tell me that this is some kind of an aside, 22:34 a little, a little passing tay to tay 22:36 before he get onto the heavy stuff. 22:38 This is it, this is what is on the mind of the master 22:42 before the master's death. 22:44 I give you a new commandment 22:47 that you love one another, 22:53 which of course is hardly a new commandment. 22:55 I mean please, millennia earlier God himself, 22:58 the pre incarnate Christ by the way 23:00 who is in the upper room today, tonight. 23:02 God himself thunders from the rocky crag at Mount Sinai 23:05 and you remember that and He said, 23:07 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 23:11 Leviticus 19:18. 23:13 It's not new commandment, it's been around for millennia. 23:16 In fact Jesus Himself has woven it into parables. 23:19 It has been embedded in life incidents in Christ's ministry. 23:23 So how can Jesus call this a new commandment? 23:25 I'll tell you why He call it a new commandment, 23:27 you know that as well. 23:28 In less than 24 hours His followers are going to 23:31 with their own eye's witness a radical bloody 23:35 redefining of love that they will never forget, 23:39 the human race will never forget for the rest of time. 23:44 Love will be redefined in the contest of Calvary. 23:48 President Ronald Reagan, you ever heard of him. 23:50 I was talking to my PowerPoint guy, Robin Hardy, 23:52 he's running the PowerPoint for me up in the mezzanine. 23:56 I said, hey, Robin, you know President Ronald Reagan. 23:58 Oh yeah. 23:59 Were you alive, were you born, was he around? 24:02 No. 24:04 So he's way back. 24:06 The president Ronald Reagan, quoted Jesus 24:09 from the upper room you know that. 24:11 I shared the story last night by the way with the -- 24:13 as we're talking about Darwinism because Darwin a scientist 24:17 cannot explain how, how self-sacrificing 24:20 fits into their scheme. 24:21 What they want to call a kinship selection 24:23 or the preservation of maternal genes, 24:27 doesn't make sense. 24:29 They were looking at self sacrificing love as well. 24:31 But Reagan quoted these words and here's the answer. 24:34 I saw it on TV after the fact, an Air Florida, 24:39 Air Florida flight taking off from national airport 24:42 in the nation's capital 24:44 which coincidentally is named today 24:45 Ronald Reagan International Airport. 24:47 This Air Florida flight had been deiced, 24:49 spent too long on the tarmacs, some of you remember 24:52 who are a bit older than college students? 24:55 You remember that that plane attempted to take off, 24:59 but the ice had already formed on the leading edges, 25:02 it lost its lift came down over the bridge 25:05 over the Potomac in the nation's capital 25:08 took off the side on that bridge crashed, 25:10 I put on the screen crashed into the Potomac 25:14 the fuselage broken half 25:16 disgorging its surviving occupants. 25:19 That's a picture got it off a Google, that's Air Florida. 25:22 And then they sent in the rescue helicopters 25:24 put that next picture please, 25:26 rescue helicopters come in and -- 25:30 And they're hovering over the news cans 25:32 and this is before 24 hour cable as much as today, 25:36 but they're going and they're dropping a life ring. 25:38 They find a baldheaded man, remember the story, 25:40 they find a baldheaded man, they drop in the life ring 25:42 and say hold on and he sees a flight attendant 25:46 he puts the, throws a ring to her she grabs on, 25:49 they drag them to the shore paramedics waited. 25:51 They come back for the baldheaded man, 25:53 he gets the ring, he see somebody else he throws it. 25:55 They come back for him again, that happened again and again 25:57 when they finally came back for him the last time, 25:58 he's gone slipped into the frigid waters a death. 26:01 He's gone, Ronald Reagan that night 26:04 stood before the nation live television 26:07 and quoted Jesus in intoning the sacrificial death 26:12 of this unknown at the time, stranger. 26:15 Who was he? 26:17 And he quoted these words to Jesus John 15:13, 26:20 greater love, you can almost say this out loud can't you? 26:24 Greater love has no one than this 26:26 then that he lays down his life for his friends. 26:30 Jesus just moments after the eleventh commandment 26:33 will breathe those words. 26:35 I'm telling you what there is no question 26:37 Calvary has rewritten 26:39 self sacrificing love forever and ever, amen. 26:43 But did you notice what Jesus says here. 26:48 Let's put that line that Jesus has just spoken 26:50 because as I was brooding on this passage this last week, 26:52 I suddenly realized, wait a minute 26:54 put the line up please Jesus says, 26:56 "Love one another as I have loved you." 26:59 So I pull out my Greek, so I want to check that 27:01 the tense here, eras that means punctilio, 27:04 one point in the past. 27:06 Jesus, in other words, Jesus is not saying 27:08 I want you to love one another as I'm about to love you, 27:11 that's the way I've always read, 27:12 I'm about to love you this way and you do the same. 27:14 No, he says as I already did love you. 27:18 What are you talking about Lord, 27:20 what did you already do? 27:23 Chapter 13 what did he already do? 27:27 Walks into that room and Doctor Luke tells us 27:29 they are red hot, the 12 are red hot and angry debate 27:36 over who's going to be numero uno in the kingdom of Christ 27:39 that he's surely about to set up. 27:41 They are fighting cats and dogs. 27:45 And whoever and we know the two that were assigned to find, 27:48 prepare this upper room. 27:50 You guys are the ones who will need to provide for a servant 27:53 because you obviously forgot to order a servant 27:55 and I'm not doing it and nobody moves the basin in water, 28:00 the towel are there, nobody moves. 28:05 Jesus strips down like a slave, naked to his waist. 28:10 And watch what happens. 28:12 This is verse 4. 28:14 Look at this Jesus rose from supper, 28:17 laid aside his garments, 28:20 took a towel and girded Himself. 28:23 After that, He poured water, 28:25 you can hear the water splashing in a very silent room 28:28 in which you could have heard a pin drop 28:30 nothing but splashing water now. 28:36 He poured water into a basin 28:38 and He began to wash the disciple's feet, 28:40 and to wipe them with the towel 28:42 with which He was girded. 28:47 That's the love that he's talking about. 28:50 As I just loved you. 28:51 What is it? Self sacrificing love. 28:53 It's a love that says, I'll be the slave, 28:56 you be the master. 28:57 I know my position is higher than you, 28:59 but I'll be the slave, you be the master, I serve you. 29:05 Love one another just as I have loved you. 29:07 Let's read it, let's read the eleventh commandment 29:09 again verse 34, 29:10 "A new commandment I give to you, 29:14 that you love one another, as I have just loved you, 29:18 that you also love one another." 29:20 By this verse 35, 29:21 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, 29:24 if you have love for one another." 29:27 I tell you what it is unmistakable, unequivocal, 29:32 it is unconditional what Christ has just declared, 29:35 not just to the 11 but to everybody 29:37 who would call him or herself a follower of His. 29:40 By this all red and yellow, black and white 29:44 by this all literate and educated, rich and poor, 29:48 by this all first world, second world, third world, 29:52 "By this the whole world will know 29:54 you people are My people, 29:56 if you have love for one another." 29:59 I mean you can't miss the point, 30:02 so the question that bakes to be asked right now 30:05 is are we a loving people in here--in here? 30:11 Not out there, I don't care about out there 30:13 are we a loving people in here 30:15 or wherever it is you're watching from right now. 30:17 Are we a loving people in here? 30:19 Or are we as Mark Twain once cynically put it, 30:22 "Good in the worst sense of the word?" 30:29 I mean you've known people like that, haven't you? 30:31 Present company accepted, of course. 30:33 People who are so right in their truth, 30:36 who are so correct in their orthodoxy, 30:38 who are so proper in their observances and standards, 30:42 but they are as mean as the brazens. 30:45 Don't ever do business with them. 30:47 And pray to God they never move in next door to you. 30:51 Please they're right and proper and correct and awful, 30:58 good in the worst sense of the word. 31:01 It's like this, this little, this little, this jingle out, 31:04 somebody wrote this. 31:11 I'll find it. 31:14 Oh, that's to live with the Saints above, 31:19 oh, that will be glory, to live with the saints below, 31:25 well, that's another story. 31:28 Good in the worst sense of the word 31:29 like the little English girl prayed oh, God, 31:32 make the bad people good and the good people nice. 31:39 Are we a nice people? 31:41 I'm talking about Andrews University, where you work? 31:43 Are we a nice people? 31:45 Is that what Berrien Springs has concluded 31:46 it's really great to have these people 31:48 they're something, they are very nice. 31:51 Are we a nice people, are we a loving people 31:53 or are we good in the worst sense of the word? 31:57 Wow. 32:00 What kind of people are we at Pioneer Memorial Church 32:03 and Andrews University, wherever it is you're watching 32:06 from in live streaming right now. 32:10 In this classic love within limits, 32:12 the late Lewis meets delightful ethicist, 32:16 had the privilege of interviewing him 32:17 once on our evidence program. 32:20 Lewis means in his book makes his observation, 32:23 I'll put the words on the screen for you, 32:24 I want you to take a look at this, 32:25 "God weeps when people think they can love only him. 32:30 God is the first to admit that he alone 32:32 is not enough for man or woman." 32:35 Keep reading, "People need people 32:38 as surely as they need God. 32:41 Because God knows this and here comes a line that I love, 32:43 "Because God knows this, 32:46 his redemptive love creates a company of love-sharers." 32:51 Don't you like that? 32:52 A company of love-sharers, that's where to be. 32:55 A company of love-sharers, that's what Christ has called 32:57 the Third Millennial Church to be, 32:59 a company of love sharers. 33:02 I love the way Desire of Ages puts it, 33:04 put Desire of Ages on the screen, 33:06 certainly concurring here 33:07 but you see the words there, "Love to man and woman 33:11 is the earthward manifestation of the love of God." 33:13 Bradley just sang about the love of God, a moment ago. 33:16 This is the earthly manifestation of it, 33:17 it's love to each other. 33:19 It was to impart this love 33:21 to make us children of one family, 33:23 by the way how many families, 33:25 one, how many families? 33:27 One family, the whole human race 33:29 is the same family as yours. 33:31 You are not a member of another family to make us 33:34 children of one family, it was for this 33:36 "That the King of glory became one with us. 33:38 And when his parting words are fulfilled, 33:41 'Love one another, as I have loved you' 33:44 when we love the world as He has loved it, 33:46 then for us His mission is accomplished. 33:50 We are fitted for heaven," hold it, hold it, hold it, 33:53 hold it, hold it, okay, I just want to find out 33:55 how many here want to go to heaven. 33:56 Put your hand up if you want to go to heaven. 33:58 Hey, I just found out 34:00 how we get fitted for going to heaven. 34:02 You want to be ready when Jesus comes? 34:04 Here it is, love one another by loving 34:08 we are fitted for heaven. 34:10 What's up with that? 34:14 We are fitted for heaven, why are we fit for heaven? 34:17 "For we have heaven in our hearts." 34:23 What Jesus say by this, 34:26 put it on the screen, look at that, 34:27 "By this all the world will know that you are My people, 34:32 if you have love for one another." 34:36 So ladies and gentleman, here's a--here's a question, 34:39 what would the eleventh commandment 34:41 look like around here? 34:43 All right. 34:46 What I want to do in these closing moments 34:48 and then I'll end with the story. 34:49 What I want to do in these closing moments 34:52 is reflect with you as your pastor, 34:57 I've been around a few years, 34:59 had a chance to watch, be part of life here. 35:04 I'm concerned about four areas 35:07 and I'm going to reflect on these four. 35:09 Area number one, the workplace, the workplace, 35:14 area number two, race relations, 35:18 area number three, gender relations 35:21 and area number four, cyberspace. 35:25 What would the eleventh commandment mean for us? 35:29 What would it do? 35:31 How would it affect the way 35:32 we treat each other in the workplace? 35:37 Now look, I understand there are times 35:40 when we must come to a parting of the ways 35:43 for whatever reason. 35:45 I've gone through those times too, I understand that. 35:48 And by the way I also understand, 35:49 now listen very carefully, there are always two sides. 35:55 I've only been around the block 35:56 one or two times in my short life 35:59 but I have learnt there are always two sides to the story 36:03 and if you've only heard one side 36:05 you need a little voice inside of you saying, 36:07 but there's another side to this. 36:10 All right, I understand that. 36:12 But here he's my-- here's what I'm wondering, got it. 36:16 Out loud with you, could there be a way 36:19 to avoid some of the rawest, can I make that word? 36:24 Some of the rawest wounds that I encounter as a pastor. 36:29 The wounds, the hurt and the pain 36:33 it comes with hiring and firing. 36:39 It hurts. 36:42 Now look, I wonder if it might turn out differently for Dwight, 36:47 if I would keep this question in mind. 36:50 Okay, Dwight, look, if the tables were turned, 36:56 would you want to be treated the same way 37:00 as you are treating her now? 37:03 The same way as you are treating him now? 37:07 If it's turned, you are the one who is being employed. 37:12 Would you still do it this way? 37:19 Rabbi Hillel famous Rabbi died 20 years 37:24 before Jesus public ministry. 37:26 But very well known in the time of Christ. 37:28 Rabbi Hillel one day was accosted by a Gentile 37:31 who said, "Rabbi, I want you 37:35 please to give us summary of all the law 37:40 while you're standing on one foot." 37:43 In other words, keep it short. 37:46 Well, the Rabbis believed in the plentitude, 37:49 they counted them, in fact, 613 laws. 37:53 So summarize all of that in one sentence, 37:55 that's really what I want. 37:56 And Rabbi Hillel quietly reflected for one moment 38:00 and then spoke these words, 38:02 I'll put them on the screen for you. 38:04 "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. 38:09 That is the whole law, the rest is commentary." 38:14 That's pretty good, isn't it? 38:16 Along comes another younger Rabbi named, Rabbi Jesus. 38:20 And in a sermon on the mount 38:21 he takes that negative expression, 38:23 turns it into a positive and it has been 38:26 immortalized as the Golden Rule. 38:28 Here's Rabbi Jesus, "Whatever you want others to do to you, 38:34 do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." 38:38 The whole law is in the golden rule, 38:42 treat others the very same way you want to be treated. 38:47 If you are a landlord in this community, 38:50 treat your tenants the same way 38:55 you'd like to be treated if you were renting. 38:59 If you're a business person, 39:01 we got a lot of renters here, I see. 39:04 If you are a business person in this community, 39:09 treat your customer the way 39:11 you would want to be treated as a customer. 39:15 It would be sad if we kept 39:16 cutting each others legs out from under us, 39:19 we'll all be crippled in the end. 39:24 What did Jesus say? 39:26 "A new commandment I give to you 39:28 that you love one another." 39:30 By the way, the golden rule helps you know how to love. 39:34 Because if I just tell you, love, you say okay. 39:37 But if I say treat others the way 39:39 you want them to treat you. 39:41 You certainly know that no matter 39:42 whether you feel warm fuzzes for this person or not, 39:45 you're gonna treat her, you're gonna treat him 39:47 the very way you would want to be treated 39:49 if the tables were turned. 39:50 That's the golden rule 39:51 and that's what love is all about. 39:53 It's not warm fuzzes at all. 39:54 You make a commitment to another human being. 39:59 "A new commandment I give you 40:00 that you love one another as I just loved you," 40:03 you become the serpent, you strip down to your waist, 40:06 you wash the feet of the one that you think 40:08 should be taking care of you, as I have loved you. 40:13 You also love one another, 40:15 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, 40:18 if you have love for one another." 40:21 I suppose if the eleventh commandment 40:25 were to be lived out among us, 40:27 it would significantly impact race relations 40:32 on our campus, in our congregation, 40:35 in our community, in our country. 40:39 I already told you that I had the privilege 40:40 of going down to GYC over the New Year break. 40:44 On Sabbath morning preached 7,500 40:46 Seventh-day Adventist young. 40:48 God had impressed me to change the sermon overnight, 40:50 I was up most of the night 40:51 changing and I preached on Acts 10 and 11. 40:54 I got to the end of the sermon, we're talking about 40:55 the Holy Spirit taking walls down 40:57 and I got to the end of the sermon and I said, 40:59 "Hey, listen guys, I didn't have any preparation 41:01 for doing text messaging, so let's do this. 41:04 I'm going to ask you to call it out loud, I will hear you 41:07 and I will repeat it to the audience here. 41:10 What is--what walls 41:11 would the Holy Spirit wish to take down 41:14 in order for revival and reformation to take place? 41:16 Are there any walls left up in our church? 41:18 All right. 41:19 Go and the first person to speak is a young woman 41:23 she's sitting about the fourth 41:24 or fifth row right about over there 41:26 and I didn't even -- I couldn't tell who it was, 41:28 I just heard that young voice calling out. 41:31 When I said what walls would the Holy Spirit 41:33 need to take down and she cried out, 41:34 "The wall of racial division." 41:39 Just like that, the first one to speak. 41:44 And a few moments later that 41:46 entire convocation erupted in applause. 41:51 The young of the church know 41:53 we got a problem, we have a problem. 42:03 I know what you're thinking, 42:04 well, okay, yeah I -- you know, 42:06 in fact, Dwight, I actually agree with that, 42:07 that wall needs to come down, 42:09 they need to get the wall down, 42:11 they need to get the wall down. 42:13 I don't care which you are 42:16 in this--which side of the wall you are on, 42:19 no, we-- In fact, as God has always shown us 42:23 now I'm gonna step on your toes, 42:24 as God has always shown us, 42:28 the Trinity has always shown us this. 42:30 It is always the responsibility of the majority 42:35 to look out for an advocate 42:39 on behalf of the needs of the minority. 42:42 I don't care where you are in this equation, 42:44 it's always the responsibility of the majority. 42:49 Well, I've learned just hanging 42:51 around this world for a few years. 42:53 Is that fear is a huge factor 42:56 in much racial misunderstanding today? 42:59 Fear, fear that you'll take over. 43:07 Fear that I'll be marginalized, we'll be marginalized. 43:14 Fear that we'll lose influence. 43:25 The golden rule, that would be true racially, 43:27 by the way that would also be true genderly, 43:29 can I make up a word, that would be true genderly. 43:32 In a male majority world, now listen, fellows, 43:36 in a male majority world not majority by numbers, 43:39 no but majority by positional influence 43:45 and you know what I mean. 43:47 In a male majority world we cannot require women 43:52 to become their own advocates. 43:56 Nothing deflects communal interest faster 43:59 than women having to serve 44:01 as their own advocates particularly in the church. 44:09 Which means that it is a responsibility of men 44:12 as Jesus himself powerfully modeled an example, 44:17 it is just responsibility of men to speak up 44:19 on behalf of their sisters, their mothers, 44:25 their daughters, their colleagues. 44:31 It is always the responsibility of the majority 44:36 in God system to look out for an advance in needs 44:41 and interests of the minority, 44:43 racially or genderly. 44:46 Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, 44:48 that you love one another, as I have loved you, 44:50 that you love also that you also love one another. 44:52 By this the whole world will know you are My people, 44:55 if you have love for one another." 44:58 In eleventh commandment community 44:59 like this university and like the church 45:02 that founded this university must become the incarnating 45:06 of the love of Christ in this world. 45:10 One more concern, eleventh commandment, 45:16 which I suppose would even affect the way we write emails, 45:20 text messages and post on facebook. 45:27 This same Jesus in the upper room 45:29 is utterly clear in Matthew 18, 45:32 that if your sister or your brother 45:35 has sinned against you, you go to her, you go to him, 45:41 you do not post it on facebook, 45:43 you do not forward an email, 45:45 you do not upload it on YouTube, 45:47 you go to her, you go to him. 45:53 The anonymity, now listen very carefully you high-techers. 45:58 The anonymity of cyberspace provides a cloak for cowards 46:07 and demagogues who wax eloquent only 46:12 when they can remain anonymous. 46:15 Suddenly someone says, "Hey, 46:16 who's saying this, you know what, 46:17 the cat's got my tongue, I can't speak," 46:19 because you're embarrassed to speak that's why. 46:25 And you should be, 46:27 what you just put on that blog forum, 46:30 you ought to be embarrassed. 46:32 Cutesy little codename for you. 46:39 That's why I believe, pardon me, 46:42 that these blog forums that so many websites offer. 46:47 And by the way I never--I never write, 46:50 I never let anybody know I'm there, I just go to watch. 46:56 That's most of us right there. 47:02 Maybe we ought to quit watching and let it die a natural death. 47:06 I believe these blogs-- these blog forums 47:11 that so many websites offer and which you can emotionally 47:14 and intellectually if not physically, 47:16 skin alive anybody you happen to disagree with. 47:20 I believe there is somebody called by the apocalypse, 47:23 the accuser of the brothers and sisters who just salivates 47:28 when that anonymous 47:31 decapitation takes place. 47:36 Don't you give me this, oh, it's all in the interest 47:39 of open conversation and dialogue, rubbish. 47:43 There are some things that never ought to see the light of day. 47:47 It's not a sign of open mindedness, 47:48 it's the side of cowardice. 47:52 You want to have a discussion, go to him, 47:55 you want to have a discussion, go to her. 47:57 Don't go to the world, go to the offender 48:00 that's Jesus point, that's how you love. 48:03 That's how I'd want to be treated, 48:04 you got something against me? 48:05 I wish you'd come straight to me, 48:06 don't post it somewhere, 48:08 don't make a YouTube about it, just come to me. 48:10 I need to hear from you, maybe we can work this out. 48:15 Don't you think that's what Jesus wanted, 48:17 I mean here's Jesus in the upper room 48:19 less than 24 hours guys, less than 24 hours 48:22 and he's dead, he's gone, finish. 48:25 Don't you think the golden rule in Jesus had was boy 48:27 I'd sure love it if somebody in my closest, 48:31 my closest companions, 48:33 somebody here would strip down to the waist, 48:35 become a slave just once in their blue moon lives 48:39 and wash my feet and tell me that 48:41 I'm important to them. 48:42 So what does he do? 48:44 He does what he wishes somebody would do to him, 48:46 nobody would do it, so it's okay, I'll be the slave. 48:50 I'm the king of this universe, 48:52 let me be the slave too and He washes the feet. 48:56 Unbelievable. Wow. 49:01 And by the way not only washes the feet of the man 49:03 who was about to destroy him. 49:05 Sometimes you know who you destroyer is going to be, 49:07 you hang in the same office, you know who you destroyer is. 49:11 He washes the feet of His destroyer 49:13 and then turns to the feet of one of his closest companions 49:17 who under the pressure of public intense scrutiny 49:21 will--will deny that he even knows him. 49:25 You can be sitting in a circle 49:26 and they start taking on a church leader 49:30 and they start ripping that leader to pieces 49:33 and you're a friend of -- and a acquaintance 49:36 rather friendly acquaintance of that leader 49:38 and what do you do, you sit as if, 49:40 your tongue does not function, 49:42 you say not a word and by your presence 49:44 you deny that individual 49:47 who's being excoriated without giving a chance 49:50 to even respond a single sentence. 49:56 You and I know better than Peter, no better, 49:59 Jesus washes the feet of the one who deny Him. 50:05 And then yeah, what is more for Peter and Judas 50:10 and you and me and his executioners, 50:12 Jesus prays a prayer 50:14 the next day that goes like this, 50:17 "Father, forgive Peter and Judas 50:21 and Dwight and these Romans. 50:24 They don't know what they are doing, 50:26 they don't know what they're doing." 50:31 Wow. 50:33 Read it one more time, 50:34 "A new commandment I give to you, 50:37 that you love one another, as I have loved you 50:40 that you also love one another. 50:41 By this all will know that you are My disciples, 50:46 if you have love for one another." 50:50 Will it work? Does it really work? 50:52 Let me end with the story I promised you. 50:53 Here it goes. 50:55 A few years ago a friend of mine gave me the book 50:57 entitled, Letters to an American Lady, 50:59 it's a collection of letters written by CS Lewis 51:02 to an anonymous woman in Illinois. 51:05 CS Lewis arguably the greatest 51:07 Christian apologist of the 20th century. 51:10 So this woman initially, apparently sent a letter 51:15 to Doctor Lewis and he wrote back 51:20 and that began a 13 year correspondence, 51:23 they never met face to face. 51:26 It was just across the pond as the bricks we put it, 51:29 letters back and forth. 51:30 When the woman died 51:33 Lewis obviously preceded in death, 51:34 when the woman died her estate gave the letters to a publisher. 51:38 Now we don't have the woman's letters to Lewis, 51:40 they're gone. 51:41 But the letters of Lewis to this woman 51:43 went to the publisher and so we have the book, 51:45 Letters to an American Lady. 51:47 Imagine my surprises as I'm reading these letters 51:49 and I discover that the woman 51:52 in one letter apparently has asked CS Lewis 51:54 what he knows about Seventh-day Adventist? 51:57 You got my attention now. 52:00 I have his reply and it's so short in any case 52:03 he doesn't know much at all. 52:05 Her next letter, her subsequent letter 52:06 back to him describes an experience 52:09 she had with a real live 52:11 Seventh-day Adventist in Illinois, 52:15 could have been Michigan. 52:18 And Lewis after reading that description writes back to her 52:23 and I want you to see how CS Lewis responds, 52:27 "What you say about the VII," 52:30 I like that Roman numeral Seventh-day Adventist. 52:33 You know, you're not Adventist just on a seventh day, 52:35 you're all seven days you're an Adventist. 52:37 "What you say about the Seventh-day Adventist 52:41 interest me extremely. 52:43 If they have so much charity, 52:46 if they have so much love 52:48 there must be something very right about them." 52:57 That Jesus says, it's how it works, 52:59 one of the brightest minds in Christendom 53:02 in the 20th century says, "Hey, 53:04 that's it, I find that story amazing 53:07 if those people have that kind of love, 53:10 there must be something very right about them." 53:16 Wow. I guess Jesus was right. 53:20 By this the whole world will know 53:23 that you are My people. 53:24 By this everybody will know 53:25 there's something very right about you. 53:28 By the way you love one another. 53:33 I want to be that kind of human being 53:37 who loves everyone, don't you? 53:43 I do. 53:44 I want to be that kind of human being. 53:46 And so I'm going to ask you. 53:50 Is it your desire to love as Jesus loved? 53:54 To live by the golden rule, to treat others the way 53:58 you would wish to be treated? 54:00 Would you like to live that way? 54:02 How about just telling God, the people in your pew, 54:07 I want to live that way 54:08 by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 54:10 Dwight, I'll stand with you 54:12 and by standing I'm going to say to all this campus 54:15 and to the world, I wish to live 54:20 by the self-sacrificing love of Christ Jesus. 54:23 If you want to live that way 54:25 would you mind just standing to your feet. 54:44 Oh, God. 54:48 Jesus couldn't have been clearer. 54:50 We get the point, we don't need a study guide, 54:53 we got the point. 54:55 Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit try--God, 55:00 please there's nothing great about us, 55:03 we understand that but we stand 55:06 because we want the story to turn out the same way. 55:13 If he has that much charity, 55:17 if she has that much love, 55:19 there must be something very right 55:22 about that nice person. 55:26 We want to be those people on this campus 55:29 and this congregation in this world. 55:31 Dear God, please, the golden rule 55:36 let us love like the Lord Jesus 55:40 and may the world through us be drawn to Him. 55:50 Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. 55:54 May He make His face shine upon you. 55:58 May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you 56:01 and give you peace both now and forever more, amen. 56:24 I'd like to take a moment here 56:25 at end of the service to tell you about 56:27 one of the most important groups of people 56:29 that make this ministry possible. 56:32 They're team of people, 56:33 they are not afraid to get down into the thick of life itself, 56:37 which is why you're going to find them, 56:38 you will find them moving forward on their knees. 56:41 They are our prayer partners. 56:43 A group of men and women and young adults, 56:46 who believe that this humble television ministry 56:49 has been raised up by God for such a time as this. 56:52 And so they pray earnestly that God will use the preacher, 56:55 that God will use me, the God would use the countless 56:57 other volunteers to spread the everlasting gospel 57:01 and the word of God in ways 57:02 we could never have imagined before. 57:04 They're the ones who are praying 57:06 that God is going to open up the hearts of people, 57:09 open up the hearts of viewers 57:10 around the world for the message, 57:12 the critical message for this end time generation. 57:16 And what I'd like to do is ask you, 57:19 would you be willing to be a prayer partner with us? 57:21 A prayer partner with new perceptions, 57:23 you don't have to call a toll-free number, 57:25 you don't have to go online to register. 57:27 All I need to know is that you'd be willing to lift this 57:31 little ministry up, day after day after day. 57:35 Pray that somehow through radio and television and the web, 57:39 God will open up new doors new, new regions on earth 57:44 where the everlasting gospel can be proclaimed. 57:46 There's no question the power of prayer 57:49 has potential to take this ministry to places 57:51 we could never have imagined before. 57:54 So that's it, would you please be willing 57:57 to partner with me in prayer? 57:59 The times are urgent, the need is critical 58:02 and I hope you'll say yes. 58:04 Till we're together, next time may the prayer answering God 58:08 accompany you every step of the way. |
Revised 2014-12-17