Participants: Pr. Dwight Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP022716A
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00:27 Love divine, all loves excelling
00:32 Joy of heaven, to earth come down 00:36 Fix in us Thy humble dwelling 00:41 All Thy faithful mercies crown 00:46 Jesus, Thou art all compassion 00:51 Pure, unbounded love Thou art 00:55 Visit us with Thy salvation 01:00 Enter every trembling heart 01:08 Come, Almighty to deliver 01:13 Let us all Thy grace receive 01:17 Suddenly return, and never 01:22 Nevermore Thy temples leave 01:27 Thee we would be always blessing 01:32 Serve Thee as Thy hosts above 01:37 Pray, and praise Thee without ceasing 01:42 Glory in Thy perfect love 01:50 Finish, then, Thy new creation 01:55 Pure and spotless let us be 01:59 Let us see Thy great salvation 02:04 Perfectly restored in Thee 02:10 Changed from glory into glory 02:15 Till in heaven we take our place 02:20 Till we cast our crowns before Thee 02:25 Lost in wonder, love and praise. 02:36 You may be seated. 02:47 He is exalted the King is exalted on High 02:53 I will praise Him 02:56 He is exalted, forever exalted 02:59 And I will praise 03:03 His name 03:08 He is the Lord 03:11 Forever His truth shall reign 03:16 Heaven and Earth 03:20 Rejoice in His holy name 03:24 He is exalted, the King is exalted on high 03:32 He is exalted, the King is exalted on High 03:38 I will praise Him 03:40 He is exalted, forever exalted 03:44 And I will praise 03:47 His name 03:52 He is the Lord 03:56 Forever His truth shall reign 04:00 Heaven and Earth 04:04 Rejoice in His holy name 04:08 He is exalted, the King is exalted on high 04:16 He is the Lord 04:20 Forever His truth shall reign 04:24 Heaven and Earth 04:28 Rejoice in His holy name 04:32 He is exalted, the King is exalted on high 04:40 He is exalted, the King is exalted on high 04:49 He is exalted, the King is exalted 04:53 on high. 05:18 Sing with us, Alleluia. 05:21 Alleluia 05:28 Alleluia 05:33 For the Lord God Almighty reigns 05:43 Alleluia 05:50 Alleluia 05:55 For the Lord God Almighty reigns 06:05 Alleluia 06:10 Holy 06:15 Holy 06:18 Are You Lord God Almighty 06:26 Worthy is the Lamb 06:29 Worthy is the Lamb, 06:32 Amen 06:41 Alleluia 06:47 Alleluia 06:52 For the Lord God Almighty reigns 07:02 Alleluia 07:08 Alleluia 07:13 For the Lord God Almighty reigns 07:22 Alleluia 07:27 Holy 07:32 Holy 07:35 Are You Lord God Almighty 07:42 Worthy is the Lamb 07:45 Worthy is the Lamb 07:48 You are Holy 07:52 Holy 07:56 Are you Lord God Almighty 08:03 Worthy is the Lamb 08:06 Worthy is the Lamb 08:09 You are Holy 08:13 Holy 08:17 Are you Lord God Almighty 08:24 Worthy is the Lamb 08:27 Worthy is the Lamb 08:30 Amen. 08:52 Over the mountains... 08:54 Over the mountains and the sea 08:57 Your river runs with love for me 09:01 And I will open up my heart 09:04 And let the healer set me free 09:07 I'm happy to be in the truth 09:10 And I will daily lift my hands 09:13 For I will always sing 09:15 Of when Your love came down 09:20 I could sing of Your love forever 09:26 I could sing of Your love forever 09:32 I could sing of Your love forever 09:39 I could sing of Your love forever. 09:58 Well, good morning, boys and girls, 10:00 nice to see you on this spring time Sabbath. 10:04 The snow all melted yesterday, with those warm winds. 10:07 Wasn't that wonderful? 10:08 It's still winter. Well, yes, it is. 10:10 It's still winter, so keep that thought in mind. 10:13 But nice to see you on this beautiful day. 10:16 You look as happy as you feel, I can tell. 10:20 So as this ever happen to you, 10:21 as anybody ever accused you of doing something, 10:23 you didn't do. 10:25 Mummy, Mummy! He ate my cookie! 10:28 I did not. He did too. I did not. 10:30 He did too. I did not. 10:34 Has that ever happen to you? 10:35 Let me tell you, if it's a little sister calling to mom, 10:37 you've lost already. 10:40 Well, it happened to Ray. 10:42 Ray Hinton, early one morning the police came to his door, 10:46 his house door, Birmingham, Alabama, 10:50 "Yo! You Ray Hinton? 10:52 We got you, you going, you did it. 10:55 No, I did not. You did too. I did not. 10:58 You did too. I did not. You did too. 11:00 We know it, you're going to the judge right now. 11:02 And we're gonna put you in jail. 11:03 And then we're gonna take care of you 11:04 once and for all and down to the prison. 11:07 Down to the jail they drove. The judge had a hearing. 11:09 The judge said, "You did it." "I did not." 11:11 "You did too," "I did not." 11:15 "Too bad, you lose. 11:17 Two men are no longer alive because of you. 11:19 Yup! Yup! Yup! Bye-bye!" 11:22 And that's exactly what they did. 11:24 They put him in jail, not just jail, 11:26 they put him in the prison. 11:27 They put him on death row, 29 years old, 11:30 and they put him on death row. 11:32 Let me see a picture of Ray Hinton, 11:34 and there's the death row unit. 11:36 You see the prison bars? 11:39 Most of the time they put him in solitary confinement. 11:41 You know, what that means? 11:42 Nobody could talk to you, 11:43 you can't interact with anybody. 11:45 No, no, no. "You did it." I did not." 11:46 "You did too." "I did not." "Too bad you're here." 11:52 A few weeks went by. 11:54 A few months went by. A few years went by. 11:59 And then last year the judge called, Ray Hinton, 12:03 to stand in front of his high and lifted up seat. 12:09 The judge looked down at Ray Hinton, and said, 12:12 "You didn't do it. 12:15 You didn't do it." 12:16 "I've been telling you, I didn't do it." 12:18 "Well, we now know you did not do it." 12:20 And they let Ray Hinton out. 12:22 I want to see a picture of Ray Hinton, getting out. 12:25 Oh! He's gotten old in prison. 12:28 My, my, my, he's getting old. Yep. 12:33 Do you know how long they kept him in prison? 12:34 30 years, 30 years. 12:37 "I did not" "You did too." "I did not." 12:39 For 30 years, kept in jail. 12:42 Let me see that last picture of him please. 12:45 It's an emotional moment, 12:47 wouldn't you be filled with tears. 12:48 I would do, for 30 years my life is gone. 12:52 And I didn't do it. 12:55 There's another judge in this universe. 12:58 Everybody comes up in front of his court. 13:00 And guess what? He can say, "You did it." 13:02 And there's no excuse. "We did do it." 13:05 He knows, but I want to tell you about this judge, 13:08 this judge looks at you and says, "You know what? 13:10 I'm throwing the charges out." 13:12 Just like the judge did with Ray Hinton. 13:13 "I'm throwing the charges out. 13:15 You're innocent. 13:19 I pardon you." 13:22 Oh, boys and girls, 13:24 there is someone who died on a tree once upon a time, 13:27 so that we could all be pardoned right now. 13:30 Who is that someone? Who's that someone? 13:32 What's his name? What's his name Suzie? 13:35 His name is Jesus. 13:37 Jesus has thrown the charges out 13:39 because he died in our place, he was on death row, not us. 13:42 I mean, you want to say, "Oh Jesus 13:44 thank you for going to death row 13:45 and actually dying for me, so that I can be pardoned. 13:49 And the charges will all be thrown out." 13:52 Let's thank Jesus, shall we? 13:54 Who would like to thank Jesus for? 13:55 I need a young boy this time. I got a girl in first service. 13:58 Has there a young boy who would like to pray? 14:00 Yes sir, come on up. 14:02 Let's pray, let's fold our hands together. 14:04 What's your first name? 14:06 What? Kaden. 14:08 Kaden, come here, Kaden. 14:10 Come on, let's, let's, let's fold our hands 14:12 and close our eyes as Kaden prays. 14:15 Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. 14:18 Thank you for waking us up in this lovely morning, 14:22 and please keep us safe 14:24 and please don't let Satan harm us, 14:27 or tempt us to do the wrong thing. 14:29 And please don't let him, actually let anything happen, 14:35 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 14:37 Amen, Kaden, what a beautiful prayer. 14:39 Thank you, Kaden, God bless you. 14:40 And, boys and girls, you should go back to your seats, 14:42 you be saying that to Jesus, thank you Jesus. 14:45 You have thrown the charges out. 14:52 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 14:56 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 15:00 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 15:05 And obey the Spirit of the Lord 15:09 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 15:13 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 15:17 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 15:21 And obey the Spirit of the Lord 15:25 Obey, obey obey, obey 15:27 I'm gonna pray when the Spirit says pray 15:32 I'm gonna pray when the Spirit says pray 15:36 I'm gonna pray when the Spirit says pray 15:40 And obey the Sprit of the Lord 15:45 I'm gonna shout when the Spirit says shout 15:49 I'm gonna shout when the Spirit says shout 15:53 I'm gonna shout when the Spirit says shout 15:58 And obey the Spirit of the Lord 16:01 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 16:06 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 16:10 I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing 16:17 And obey 16:20 The Spirit 16:23 Of the Lord. 16:32 Amen. 17:39 Oh, God, we could sing, we could shout. 17:44 If what we're about to encounter is true. 17:49 We can be set free. Blessed few moments we have. 17:53 Energize us in our minds, engage us with our hearts, 17:59 we pray in Christ's name, amen. 18:03 Reynolds Price, the American author and poet 18:06 observed once, 18:08 there is one sentence, 18:13 people turn to more than any other sentence when they-- 18:16 when they turn to a story, 18:18 one sentence they crave in a story they read. 18:22 Just one sentence. 18:25 Here it is, 18:27 "The Maker of all things loves and wants me." 18:33 One sentence people crave, when they pick up a book. 18:38 Will this be true in this one? 18:39 "The Maker of all things loves and wants me." 18:46 Let's face it, we live in a world 18:48 where this longing to be loved, 18:50 this longing to be wanted is surely a universal desire. 18:56 Though not hardly a universal experience. 19:00 This last November, 19:01 the British young diva 19:05 and singer phenom Adele. 19:09 Much anticipated, 19:11 she releases her newest album, "25". 19:15 On that album is a sing-off called "Hello." 19:22 You didn't think I'd know, did you? 19:25 That's why you're laughing. I'm kind of laughing too. 19:32 Yeah, the singer Adele with "Hello." 19:35 And that song, that one song 19:37 tapped into this latent longing to be loved, 19:42 to be wanted. 19:44 And it, it just sold off the charts. 19:47 Forbes Magazine a few days after the album was released 19:51 announced that in the first week, 19:53 listen to this. 19:54 In the first week, she sold 1.71 million physical albums 19:58 or CDs. 20:00 Wow! People buying CDs still. 20:04 In that same first week, listen, 20:06 she sold 1.64 million downloaded copies. 20:10 And then, she broke all the record books 20:12 when in one day 20:14 she sold 1.49 million copies. 20:20 That's 62,000 copies in an hour, 20:23 that's about a 1000 copies a minute, 20:27 she's selling them. 20:28 "Hello." 20:33 I know you're dying for me to sing it, 20:35 forget it. 20:37 Maybe the choir, I don't know. 20:41 Okay, so here, here's one of the sets the lyrics, 20:44 "Hello from the other side. 20:47 I must have called a thousand times 20:49 to tell you I'm sorry for everything 20:52 that I've done but when I call, you never seem to be home." 20:56 We live in a world 20:58 that longs to be loved and wanted. 21:03 The Maker of all things loves and wants me. 21:08 Maybe Reynolds Price is absolutely right. 21:14 What if we tapped into that for a moment? 21:16 What if in a string of stories, we could come to grips 21:21 with the mystery of this notion, 21:22 the Maker of all things loves and wants me. 21:25 Open your Bible with me. Story number one. 21:27 Open your Bible with me to John, 21:29 fourth gospel John Chapter 13. 21:31 Let's go. 21:32 Chapter 13:1 you didn't bring a Bible, 21:34 you got to track this, pull the pew Bible out, 21:36 there you go, page 725 in the pew Bible. 21:39 John Chapter 13, 21:43 I'm in the New International Version. 21:46 Just one line, here we go, John 13:1, 21:49 And, "It was just before the Passover Festival. 21:52 Jesus knew that the hour had come for him 21:54 to leave this world and go to the Father. 21:57 Having loved his own who were in the world, 22:00 he loved them, he loved them to the end." 22:06 Isn't that something? 22:07 Hey, have you ever been loved to the end? 22:10 You say, "Yeah, Dwight, at the end of what?" 22:11 I'm talking about the end of life. 22:14 Is there? 22:15 Has there been anybody on this planet 22:18 who has loved you to the end of her life, 22:21 to the end of his life. 22:24 Most of us would think of mother. 22:27 Many of us would think of father. 22:30 Some of us would think of lover or friend or spouse. 22:35 And some of us would say, 22:37 "Nobody, except Jesus." 22:42 Let me read that again, 22:44 "It was just before the Passover Festival. 22:46 Jesus knew that the hour had come for him 22:47 to leave this world and go to the Father. 22:49 And having loved his own who were in the world, 22:52 he loved them. 22:53 He loved them to the end." 22:56 John Peckham in his marvelous book. 23:00 I tell you what, if I could give this book 23:01 to everybody here today, I'd do it. 23:04 And our seminary professors here at Andrews University 23:07 acclaimed John Peckham's book, 23:11 The Love of God: A Canonical Model. 23:13 In that book a single line. 23:14 Put it on the screen for you, Peckham writing, 23:17 "Profound love," speaking of this phrase we just read. 23:19 "Profound love is connoted by the expression "to the end," 23:24 likely connoting both intensity and endurance." 23:29 I want you to grab those two nouns 23:32 that are embedded in profound love. 23:33 Grab those two nouns right now 23:34 and scribble them down on your study guide. 23:37 You got a study guide in your worship bulletin. 23:40 Pull that study guide out. 23:41 And now, our favorite ushers are coming your way, 23:45 two ladies today, hold your hand up 23:46 if you need, if you need. 23:48 Well, we have a gentleman in the balcony. 23:49 If you need a study guide, just put your hand up. 23:51 You don't want to miss this one. 23:54 Pull it out 23:56 and let me just take a moment while they're handing this out. 24:00 Be patient they'll get you in the back. 24:02 I want to say to those of you watching online right now, 24:04 those of you who are live streaming, 24:05 you get the same, same study guide. 24:07 I'd love for you to have it. 24:09 The title of this little series, 24:10 put it on the screen for you, 24:11 title of the series "Charmed into Righteousness." 24:14 By the way, this is next to the last piece. 24:15 We end it all next week just before spring break. 24:18 All right. 24:19 "Charmed into Righteousness" 24:20 today's teaching, "The Most Loving God." 24:22 You go to that on the website, click on study guide, 24:24 you have it and you're with us. 24:26 Want you to get this John Peckham quote. 24:28 Two nouns imbedded in profound love. 24:31 Keep your hands up. They're coming, but let's go. 24:33 Let's put it on the screen please again. 24:35 "Profound love" Peckham writing, 24:37 "Profound love is connoted by the expression "to the end," 24:41 likely connoting both intensity." 24:43 Okay guys what's intensity? What's intensity? 24:45 When something is intense, it is what? 24:48 Very strong. If I have an intense hunger. 24:50 If I have an intense thirst, it's that strong, 24:52 I just hang it on. 24:54 Intensity, write that in. 24:56 And second word "endurance" endurance, what's endurance? 25:00 I'm holding on, I'm never going to let you go, 25:03 endurance to the very end. 25:07 "Profound love connoted by both intensity and endurance." 25:12 But the quotation goes on. 25:14 He's quoting Herman N. Ridderbos 25:16 renders this phrase, and I love this. 25:18 "Love to the last breath. 25:21 And love in the highest intensity. 25:24 Further, Christ's love is here described 25:27 as 'for his own,' it's a term of endearment." 25:30 So when he talks about He loves them. 25:32 He loves his own unto the end. 25:33 These are his, these are his friends, 25:34 these are those that his heart just longs to embrace, 25:37 it's a term of endearment 25:39 as found in ancient Near Eastern Literature. 25:43 So here's this stunning opening line. 25:45 Less than 24 hours and Jesus will be dead at Calvary 25:50 and it declares, leading us into the passion of the Christ. 25:53 He loves his own to the very last breath. 26:00 I want you to just brooding on that for a moment, 26:01 come on just let it, let it ferment in your mind. 26:08 Who we're talking about here? 26:10 We're talking about the incarnated God 26:11 of the universe. 26:13 John describes him, "In the beginning was the word 26:15 and the word was God, was with God 26:17 and the word was God, by Him all things animate 26:20 and inanimate have been created.' 26:21 This God, the word became flesh. 26:24 And we beheld the glory, the glories 26:26 of the only begotten of the Father. 26:28 This God love them to the last breath. 26:35 Because we have a love story here. 26:38 And every love story takes you to the final breath, 26:41 the last breath of that love. 26:43 One of my favorite love stories by the way. 26:48 I read this one again and again. 26:50 It's true story 26:52 about a young man named Sheldon and a girl named Davey. 26:59 One Christmas they fell madly in love over New Jersey. 27:03 They both were hopeless romantics, 27:05 they would read and write poetry 27:07 to each other late into the night, 27:09 you got to feel. 27:10 Both are agnostics, they grew up in wealthy homes, 27:13 but they're agnostics. 27:15 Within an year, tie the knot, they're married. 27:18 Then he's off to Oxford University 27:20 where Sheldon wants to pursue his degree 27:23 in English literature. 27:24 While there, they meet a professor C.S. Lewis. 27:28 You've heard of him. 27:30 C.S Lewis takes a shine to this 27:31 rather attractive American couple 27:33 and they become friends, 27:35 and through his friendship, listen to this. 27:36 Through his friendship, he leads them both to Christ. 27:40 They go back to the States Christians now. 27:44 And Sheldon finds a little private college in Virginia 27:47 where he's going to teach English literature. 27:49 And I'm telling you what the story is bright 27:52 with wondering love. 27:54 It couldn't be happier. 27:55 Life could not be grander until tragedy strikes. 28:01 Davey contracts a mortal disease 28:04 that cuts your life short. 28:07 So I read this time again 28:09 and I just go into tears every time. 28:12 This is the death scene. All right. 28:14 I'm gonna read it to you. This is the death scene. 28:16 This is the last breath, 28:18 as Jesus loves to the last breath. 28:21 Oh, by the way Sheldon Van Auken. 28:23 This is a best seller, 28:24 title of the book "A Severe Mercy." 28:27 It's a first person account of love, 28:29 and grief, and healing, 28:30 and he and Lewis remain friends through all of this tragedy. 28:34 Anyway here we are at the end. She's in the hospital. 28:37 He's holding her hand and then she stirred, 28:40 I read, "There was no change at all 28:43 in her half-parted lips or eyes or the hand I held. 28:47 But then her other hand 28:48 and arm came slowly up from her side. 28:51 I could not think of what she was doing. 28:53 The hand moved slowly across her. 28:55 It found my face. 28:57 She touched my brow and hair and then each eye in turn. 29:03 And then my mouth. 29:04 Her fingers moved to each corner of my mouth 29:06 as we had always done and I gave her fingers 29:09 little corner of the mouth kisses 29:11 as we had always done. 29:13 Then her arm fell slowly back. 29:16 Past seeing and past speaking, 29:19 with the last of her failing strength, 29:22 she had said goodbye. 29:23 In one of her earliest letters, when we were first in love, 29:25 she had spoken of 'the gentle awkward earning I feel for you, 29:29 just to touch your face'. 29:32 And touching my face, in the old way, 29:35 was her last act in this world." 29:42 The last breath. 29:46 As it read, "It was just before the Passover Festival. 29:51 Jesus knew that the hour had come for him 29:53 to leave this world and go to the Father. 29:56 And having loved his own who were in the world, 30:00 he loved them, 30:02 he loved them to the very last breath." 30:07 Wow, it's a love story. 30:14 It has its own death scene, where the love ends 30:18 and as we know in fact really begins. 30:21 I want to go to that death scene. 30:23 Here in John, it's over in Chapter 19 find it. 30:27 It's Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours 30:29 after the upper room. 30:31 "Jesus hang suspended between Heaven and Earth" 30:34 John Chapter 19, we picked up in verse 28, 30:38 verse 28. 30:42 "Later, knowing that everything had now finished, 30:45 and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, 30:47 Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' 30:52 A jar of wine vinegar was there, 30:53 so they soaked a sponge in it, 30:55 put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, 30:57 and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 31:00 When he had received the drink, 31:03 Jesus said, 'It is finished.' 31:08 And with that, he bowed his head 31:11 and gave up his spirit." 31:15 John is absolutely set and intent on making certain 31:20 that we understand that the lover of this love story 31:24 is in control to the very last breath. 31:29 He's done three, 31:30 he's inserted three actions the Synoptics do not discuss. 31:35 For John, Jesus is the only one to carry the cross, 31:38 there is no Simon of Cyrene, 31:40 Jesus carries the cross Himself. 31:41 He's in control. 31:43 For John, Jesus chooses His Last words. 31:46 He's in control. 31:47 And for John, Jesus chooses the moment of death. 31:51 Not like Davey in that death scene 31:53 just a moment ago, where her hand drops 31:55 and that's it. 31:59 I mean if that were the case 32:00 then John would have had Jesus breathed his last, 32:03 and then his head would fall collapse to his chest, 32:06 but no, no John says, "It was the exact opposite. 32:09 He put his head down." It is now time. 32:11 He put his head down and ceased breathing. 32:13 The lover in this story is in control 32:15 to the very last breath. 32:18 Why? 32:19 Because we must know that the maker of all things 32:22 loves and wants us, that's why. 32:25 He loves and wants us. 32:30 I think of this picture that Rochelle, 32:32 our graphics artist. 32:33 And she does such a great job 32:35 but this week, boy, she's above and beyond. 32:37 I think of the picture she put on the cover of our bulletin. 32:41 Take all the copy off of it, 32:43 I want you to see the picture now, it's just. 32:44 I need you to just look at that picture, 32:46 don't look at me, look at the screen. 32:48 Look at that picture. 32:52 Graphic, detail, artistic, 32:57 the hands of a lover, 33:00 who to his very last breath, 33:03 love the likes of you and me. 33:07 Wow! 33:08 Turns out that the sentence that Reynolds Price 33:12 once observed is what people crave 33:14 more than any of the sentence in a story, 33:18 "The Maker of all things loves and wants me." 33:20 Turns out, this sentence is cryptically imbedded 33:22 in every story 33:23 from the beginning to the end of this book. 33:25 And I want to show you that. Watch this. 33:27 Old Testament of all places. 33:29 A lover in the Old Testament, you got it. 33:31 Go back with me to the Book of Jeremiah. 33:33 Come on, let's go. Jeremiah Chapter 31, okay. 33:38 So just go back into the Old Testament, 33:39 you'll hit Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31. 33:43 Look at this. God is speaking, the pre-incarnate Christ. 33:48 This is Jeremiah 31:3, 33:51 "And the Lord appeared to us in the past..." 33:52 Notice, whatever he's going to say now 33:54 this has happened long ago. 33:55 This message has been around from the beginning. 33:59 "And the Lord appeared to us in the past saying..." 34:01 Here we go, let's put it on the screen please. 34:05 "I have loved. 34:08 I have loved you with an everlasting love, 34:10 I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." 34:14 I want you to grab your study guide. 34:17 And I want to just get this down 34:18 because there are three different words 34:21 that God who inspired this book make sure get used, 34:25 and you watch, they'll show up again. 34:27 So these three were, 34:28 jot it down in your study guide. 34:29 Need that screen up, please, bless you. 34:31 "I have loved" and that's the Hebrew word 'aheb'. 34:34 I have loved you my people with an everlasting love 34:37 'ahabah' with unfailing love "chesed" 34:40 I have drawn you to myself." 34:43 All right God, three Hebrew words, 34:45 what are you trying to tell us? 34:47 What kind of love do you really have for us? 34:50 He says, "I'll show you. 34:51 Three stories, let's go back, 34:53 let's go back to the Book of Genesis. 34:55 We don't have time to turn there. 34:56 We'll do it on the screen. 34:57 Put it on the screen please, Genesis Chapter 22, 34:59 you remember these words, 35:01 "Some time later middle of the night 35:04 God tested Abraham, and he said to him, 35:06 'Abraham!' 35:08 Abraham wakes up, 'Here I am,' he replied. 35:11 Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, 35:14 whom you love 'Aheb' 35:18 the very word we just read in Jeremiah 31. 35:20 And go to the region of Moriah." 35:21 What am I to do there God. 35:22 "Sacrifice him that's what I'm asking you to do. 35:25 "Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering 35:27 on one of the mountains I will tell you about." 35:32 This tale of a father and a son 35:36 who come to the moment of death together. 35:38 The storyline of Abraham and Isaac, 35:40 of course, embedded it is, 35:42 embedded in it is the shadowy story 35:46 of another father and another son, 35:49 who will make the same trip to that same Mt Moriah, 35:53 now known as Calvary. 35:55 How much do you love us God, 35:57 just like that, like father and son? 36:00 Both of us are in this love for you. 36:05 How deep is the love? 36:07 Watch this, turn a few pages over here, 36:08 you come to Genesis 29. 36:09 Everybody knows this love story. 36:11 Put it on the screen please. 36:12 This is Jacob, Jacob has run away from home, 36:14 he's just done his brother bad, and he's run away. 36:19 He's in the home of Laban, his uncle. 36:21 And Laban has two girls and, oh boy, 36:23 Jacob is smitten with the younger one. 36:25 Jot it down, "Jacob was in love..." 36:27 There is the same word again 'aheb'. 36:29 Jacob was in love with Rachel and he said to her papa. 36:33 I'll work for you seven years in return 36:35 for your younger daughter Rachel. 36:37 "So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, 36:39 but they seem like only a few days to him 36:42 because of his love 'ahabah' there they are both words. 36:45 Because of his love for her." 36:47 Get this, keep writing. 36:48 "God seizes the language of two lovers 36:50 and he declares, this is how much I love you 36:53 with the passion of a Lover." 36:56 That's how much I love you. 36:58 John Peckham again, his words on the screen, 37:00 fill it in, "Scripture consistently displays 37:03 God's intensely passionate, 37:06 passionate and profoundly emotional love 37:09 for his people." 37:11 Guess what? 37:12 The Maker of all things loves and wants me. 37:18 Every story embedded. 37:22 Oh, here's the third story. 37:23 The words will appear here as well. 37:25 Oh, this is a love story. 37:27 David and Jonathan were soul mates, 37:29 kindred spirits. 37:31 Like this, then Jonathan is cut down, 37:34 with his maniac father leading the charge into battle. 37:37 He and his father perished in that battle 37:39 when the word comes to young David 37:41 who will be the next king. 37:43 David sobs. 37:45 Put the words on the screen please, 37:47 "I grieve for you Jonathan my brother, 37:50 you were very dear to me. 37:52 Your love 'ahabah', Your love for me was wonderful, 37:56 more wonderful than that of women."' 37:59 Get this, God seizes, jot it down. 38:01 "God seizes the language of two friends and declares, 38:04 this is how much I love you with a deep love of a friend." 38:09 And by the way, here is a divine assurance 38:13 to those who do not experience married love. 38:15 And assurance that their experience of friendship love 38:18 is just as genuinely depicting the love of God 38:21 as does married love. 38:22 You don't have to be married to know this love. 38:24 You have a friend, you know the love of God. 38:27 You are mine. 38:31 I love you with an everlasting love. 38:33 The Maker of all things loves and wants me. 38:36 But the tragedy is, 38:38 not everybody wants to be loved by him. 38:43 That's the sad truth, even in the third millennium. 38:47 Go back to, wait, we have it still open. 38:50 Jeremiah 31, drop down now to verse 20. 38:53 How does God react 38:55 when not everybody loves him back? 38:58 Look at this Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:20. 39:01 God speaking, "Is not Ephraim my dear son, 39:04 the child in whom I delight? 39:06 Though I often speak against him, 39:08 I still remember him. 39:10 Therefore my heart yearns for him, 39:13 I have great compassion for him." 39:15 Jot it down, in your study guide. 39:17 Fill in that word there's a, 39:19 there's a fourth word inserted here. 39:22 You see it on the screen, "Is not Ephraim my dear son, 39:24 the child in whom I delight? 39:25 Though I often speak against him, 39:27 I still remember him. 39:28 Therefore my heart yearns, I yearn for him, 39:32 I have great compassion 'racham' 39:34 write that in, compassion. 39:36 "I have great compassion for him declares the Lord." 39:40 By the way, one scholar declares racham 39:43 as the strongest word for love in all Biblical language. 39:48 You just hit the jackpot in racham. 39:52 And when you combine it with yearning, 39:55 you have an explosive love, watch this. 40:01 Peckham on the screen again. 40:03 This language, watch this, 40:05 "This language depicts profoundly passable..." 40:09 Now passable means, 40:10 means capable of feeling, 40:12 because you see there in some circles, 40:13 can you believe that? 40:14 There are some circles who say God is impassable. 40:16 He is, He is, He is as unmoved as a crystal. 40:21 There's no variation in His emotion, 40:22 He's not affected by human emotions, 40:24 He is God and He's unchangeable. 40:27 They have a missed the wealth. 40:30 Most of us believe, oh no, God is passable. 40:33 Keep reading, 40:34 "This language depicts profoundly passible, 40:37 capable of feeling, and intense, emotionality, 40:40 evidence by the Hebrew idiom 40:42 which literally refers to turbulent 40:44 or roaring internal organs and here 'depicts..." 40:47 Jot it down. 40:49 "God's stomach being churned up 40:51 with longing for his son."' 40:53 I want to ask you a question. 40:55 Have you ever cried so hard 40:57 that you got sick to your stomach? 41:00 Oh you have. 41:01 And if you have it, you will. 41:03 You can't get through this life 41:04 without crying that hard. 41:08 Your stomach is just twisted in agony. 41:12 That's God. 41:15 Like a mother over her child. 41:19 Like a father over his runaway. 41:23 Like a spouse for a lover 41:24 who is turned away for another. 41:28 That's stomach twisting, churning agony. 41:33 Jot this down, 41:34 "We have but a faint and dim concept of how deep, 41:38 how deep is the love of God for us." 41:42 I mean it's like the storyline of David, 41:44 who would stomach churning sobs weaves out the cry. 41:47 Let me put this on the screen. 41:49 You remember his boy Absalom. 41:50 Oh, he loved Absalom. 41:51 Absalom has rebelled against his daddy. 41:53 He wants to kill him. 41:54 He's already usurped the throne. 41:56 But in battle Absalom is killed, 41:57 and when the news comes to David, 41:59 here it goes right here, 2 Samuel 18:33 42:01 and "The king was shaken. 42:03 David went up to the room over the gateway 42:05 and he wept. 42:07 And as he went he said, 42:08 " O my son Absalom! 42:11 My son Absalom my son. 42:15 If only I had died instead of you 42:17 O Absalom, my son, my son!"' 42:22 Do you think God is going to skeptically say, 42:25 "Hey, listen, you can't win them all, boy, 42:26 I sure miss her, 42:28 I sure miss him, are you kidding." 42:29 With stomach churning agony, 42:33 you say no to him, 42:34 you have the right, 42:36 you are perfectly free to say no to God, 42:37 because love can't be love, 42:38 unless you can say yes to it and no to it. 42:40 You may say no to God, 42:42 but when you say no to Him, 42:43 you will rip his guts out. 42:48 Look at David, that's true about a father, 42:50 about the father of us all. 42:52 Oh, here's another storyline. 42:54 The same stomach churning weeping, 42:56 it's Jesus this time. 42:58 Words on the screen. 42:59 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem- 43:02 how often I have longed to gather 43:03 your children together, as a hen 43:05 like a mother gathers her chicks under her wings, 43:09 and you were not willing." 43:11 We have but a faint concept of how deep God's pain 43:14 over unrequited love truly is. 43:18 Hey, listen, guys, come on. 43:19 Where do you think, we get the pain of rejection. 43:22 You know, how it feels when somebody says no to you. 43:23 Where do you think we've got that pain 43:25 of unrequited, unreciprocated, unreturned. 43:28 Where do we get that? 43:30 We got it from Him. 43:32 It's our Creator, our Savior, our God, 43:35 He's that way. 43:37 It kills Him when one He loves says no. 43:44 No, I reject it, I reject you. 43:49 How many times has He wept over Jerusalem, 43:53 has He wept over you, as He wept over me. 44:01 It's no wonder guy, I can't sleep at night. 44:03 Do you know how many people on earth, 44:04 I'm talking about men, women, and children. 44:05 Do you know how many people on earth 44:07 go to bed every single night not knowing 44:08 the story of this truth about God? 44:10 They have no clue. 44:12 They hope to find it in a book, 44:14 the Maker of all things loves and wants me. 44:16 They have no clue, it's true. 44:18 It's not fiction. 44:19 It's not just a great storyline, 44:20 it's a lifeline, 44:22 but they won't grab the lifeline 44:24 until somebody tells them the story. 44:29 If only they could existentially discover 44:32 the storyline of this book. 44:34 I got to share this with you. 44:35 Consider this sampling, this is only a sampling, 44:37 I'm gonna run them by, seven of them, seven of them. 44:40 You're going to get writer's cramp, 44:41 but keep writing. 44:42 There will be one word you'll write 44:44 over and over again. 44:45 Let's go 1 John 4:8 and 16, God is what? 44:50 "God is love." 44:52 Romans Chapter 5:8, 44:53 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: 44:57 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 45:01 1 John 3:1, 45:02 "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 45:05 that we should be called the children of God." 45:08 1 John 4:10, "This is love: not that we loved God, 45:12 but that he loved us and sent his Son 45:14 as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 45:16 John 3:16, let's read this one out loud together. 45:19 "For God so loved the world 45:21 that he gave his one and only Son, 45:24 that whoever believes in him 45:26 shall not perish but have eternal life." 45:29 Romans Chapter 8:35 and 38 and 39. 45:33 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 45:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, 45:40 neither angels, nor demons, 45:41 neither the present nor the future, 45:43 nor any powers, neither height in our depth, 45:45 nor anything else in all creation, 45:47 will be able to separate us from the love of God 45:49 that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 45:51 Number seven, John 15:13 45:54 "Greater love has no one then this: 45:57 to lay down one's life for his friends." 46:02 Do you understand what we just read? 46:06 Put that picture please back up on the screen. 46:08 Look at this picture. 46:10 This is the love story. 46:13 He is the lover. 46:16 And you are His longing. 46:21 Wow. As a result, because of that picture, 46:25 you know, you and I could be saying about ourselves. 46:28 I am loved, and I am wanted. 46:32 I say that on a week that ends 46:33 the Andrews University campaign, 46:35 I am not. 46:37 You've been following the campaign this week? 46:38 I'm not. 46:40 I'm not defined, 46:41 I'm not defined by my habits. 46:42 I'm not defined by my behavior. 46:46 Then what do you define by, sir? 46:47 I'll tell you what you're defined by. 46:49 You're defined by the God of the universe 46:51 who says you are loved, 46:53 and you are wanted, I am. 46:58 I am valuable, I am. 47:07 Perhaps this world could know the love of God, 47:09 if they could only read the story of 47:12 the love of God all around them. 47:14 Ernest Gordon found God in a Japanese prisoner of war 47:18 work camp in Thailand, during World War II. 47:21 He only barely survived, 47:24 found God in the camp by the way. 47:28 When he got out of the war, he's a Scotsman. 47:30 When he got out of the war, this is just a side note. 47:33 He ended up as 47:34 dean of the chapel of Princeton University, 47:36 was the pastor of that university. 47:38 He wrote a book much later, 47:40 title of the book, ''Miracle''. 47:42 Got it right here, 47:44 I want to read a story from it. 47:46 "Miracle on the River Kwai." 47:51 A story was going around, 47:52 while they were in camp that this work camp 47:54 and boy they are all down to skin and bones. 47:58 And so, so he picks it up here. 48:00 One story that went the round 48:01 soon after concerned another Argyll. 48:03 Okay, so he's an Argyll, 48:04 that's what the Scots call themselves that. 48:07 That's a Scottish warrior in the British army. 48:09 So that they are called Argylls, all right. 48:11 So this one around about a Scottish soldier, 48:13 who was, who was in a work detail on the railway. 48:16 Now listen, "The day's work had ended. 48:18 The tools are being counted 48:20 as usual as the party was about to be discussed, 48:23 dismissed rather, 48:24 the Japanese guard shouted that a shovel was missing. 48:28 He insisted that someone had stolen it 48:29 to sell to the Thais. 48:31 Striding up and down before the men, 48:32 he ranted and denounced them for their wickedness 48:35 and most unforgivable of all, 48:36 their ingratitude to the emperor. 48:39 As he raved, 48:41 he worked himself into a paranoid fury. 48:43 Screaming in broken English, 48:45 he demanded that the guilty one 48:47 step forward to take his punishment. 48:49 Nobody moved, 48:51 the guard's rage reached new heights of violence. 48:53 "All die, all die." 48:55 He shrieked, and to show that he meant what he said, 48:57 he cocked his rifle, put it to his shoulder 49:00 and looked down the sights ready to fire 49:02 at the first man on the other end. 49:07 At that moment, 49:08 the Argyll step forward stood stiffly to attention 49:12 and calmly said, "I did sir." 49:16 The guard unleashed all is whipped-up hate. 49:19 He kicked the helpless prisoner 49:20 and beat him with his fist. 49:22 Still the Argyll stood rigidly to attention 49:24 with the blood streaming down his face. 49:26 His silence goaded the guard to an excess of rage. 49:29 Seizing his rifle by the barrel, 49:30 he lifted it high over his head 49:32 and with a final howl brought it down 49:34 on the scull of the Argyll, 49:35 who sank limply to the ground and did not move. 49:39 Although it was perfectly clear that he was dead, 49:42 the guard continued to beat him 49:43 and stopped only when exhausted. 49:48 The men of the work detail 49:50 picked up their comrade's body, 49:52 shouldered their tools and marched back to camp. 49:56 When the tools were counted again at the guardhouse, 49:58 no shovel was missing. 50:03 Greater love hath no man than this, 50:08 and to lay down his life for his friends." 50:13 Makes you wonder, how often 50:15 that story is being played, played out all around us, 50:18 in this postmodern men, millennial society, 50:21 where if they only could know the storyline, 50:26 they would find him. 50:28 The Maker of all things loves and wants me. 50:35 Reminds me of this compelling sentence 50:37 from the American writer Ellen White, 50:39 I put it on the screen for you, 50:41 it's from her classic Christ Object Lessons. 50:45 "The last rays of merciful light, 50:47 the last message of mercy to be given to the world, 50:51 is a revelation of God's character..." 50:54 of what? Of what? 50:57 Go, go, go ahead and call it out of what? 50:59 "Of love." 51:00 The last word to go to this planet. 51:02 This is the last word. 51:04 So what should we do as a campus congregation, 51:06 come on, situated right here. 51:09 What shall we do to take this last message 51:11 of God's love to a dying world. 51:16 I want to read a letter to you 51:18 from one of our viewers from Iran. 51:23 You know the country Iran, don't you? 51:25 Listen to this, 51:27 "Dear, Dr. Nelson my name is..." 51:29 He writes his name, 51:31 "I'm a Muslim born non religious man. 51:32 Now, I'm 27 years old about your age. 51:36 I study..." 51:37 And he tell the discipline he is studying. 51:39 At this university he names it, 51:41 in this city and he names it. 51:43 "I've been listening to your podcast 51:45 since last autumn. 51:49 Almost last year for the second time in my life, 51:51 I experienced a terrible shock. 51:54 It was somehow a romantic one and I lost the girl I loved." 51:59 The whole world longing for love. 52:03 "I lost her. 52:05 Before that I used to be a pious person. 52:07 Someone who prays five times a day, 52:09 doesn't drink alcohol, 52:10 not interested in sex out of marriage, 52:11 but after that shock, I changed dramatically. 52:14 Maybe it was the voice of the evil or what, 52:16 that I lost my belief, not a Muslim anymore, 52:18 not a pious anymore, 52:20 I began drinking, smoking weed, 52:22 and just taking care of the moments, 52:23 a carefree life. 52:24 I have been questioning 52:26 the existence of God many times. 52:27 My only answer was 52:29 he exists and he created all." 52:32 The Maker of all things is the longing in every heart 52:35 to believe there is that creator. 52:40 What did he say, 52:41 "He exists and he created all. 52:42 There are other questions 52:44 that I don't have the answers like my own life. 52:46 If I die nothing different will happen to the world. 52:50 Nobody, even hears. 52:56 You see as an individual, my life is pointless. 52:59 Since the time I've been listening to you, 53:00 I'm not claiming that I became a true believer. 53:02 On the other hand, I understand that 53:03 sometimes we shouldn't live for our own sake, 53:05 but for the others. 53:06 I've been donating my blood, 53:07 as I listen to your sermons of addiction series. 53:09 It is good to listen to you. 53:11 I got to say that some of the verses 53:12 you read from the Bible are the same in the Quran." 53:15 And there are those who are trying to stir up 53:17 a controversy by saying, 53:18 "Oh, no, the Holy Books do not agree." 53:22 In critical places, here's a Muslim saying, 53:24 "I find it they're very alike. 53:27 I'm working on a western novel 53:29 and may be published in quite a while. 53:31 I teach English, 53:33 I try to live not for myself, to help others, 53:34 even that help would be listening to my friends 53:36 with the people's complaints about life. 53:38 Teach me more Dr. Nelson, preach me, I'm all ears." 53:44 How many are in the world. 53:45 How many in this postmodern millennial society 53:50 are there who say, 53:54 "The Maker of all things loves and wants me." 53:57 I wish it were true. 54:00 I really wish it were true. 54:04 Oh God, people turn to books. 54:09 They crave the thought, 54:10 the Maker of all things loves and wants me. 54:15 They don't know, there's a maker, 54:18 it's just something inside of them that wells up and-- 54:22 Oh, Father, we have to tell them the truth, 54:24 we've got to get to them soon. 54:25 We can't wait, 54:28 and so we humbly pray like this young man in Iran, 54:33 whatever country on earth they're in now, 54:35 just hold them, keep them, preserve them, 54:37 and when the word goes out, that hope trending is coming. 54:43 You, it's for you. 54:44 You raise up a generation within this generation 54:49 of people who know now for sure, 54:51 the Maker of all things loves me and wants me. 54:54 And I will give my life to Him, 54:55 and I will serve Him 54:56 until He comes. 54:58 May that be true of our hearts. 54:59 Take these, these volunteer decisions, 55:02 this prayer list, take it all. 55:05 Seal it and set us loose. 55:10 For this mission Christ has called us too, 55:12 we pray in Jesus' name. 55:28 The love of God is greater far 55:33 Than tongue or pen can ever tell 55:39 It goes beyond the highest star 55:45 And reaches to the lowest hell 55:50 The guilty pair, bowed down with care 55:57 God gave His Son to win 56:02 His erring child He reconciled 56:09 And pardoned from his sin 56:15 O love of God, how rich and pure! 56:21 How measureless and strong! 56:26 It shall forevermore endure 56:33 The saints' and angels' song 56:44 And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 56:48 and the love of God, 56:51 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 56:52 be with you all. 56:55 Amen. 56:58 May I take an extra moment with you 57:00 and let you know how grateful I am 57:01 that you joined us and worshiped today. 57:03 I have some viewers like you across the nation 57:05 and literally around the world 57:07 and I'm thankful. 57:08 If you would like to explore further 57:10 what we've just shared, 57:11 I hope you will visit us at our website. 57:12 It's an easy one to remember 57:14 www.pmchurch.tv. 57:18 We are the Pioneer Memorial Church 57:20 here on the campus of Andrews University. 57:22 So that's www.pmchurch.tv. 57:25 Click on to that website 57:27 and you will be able to listen to 57:28 a podcast of this material, 57:29 you can download the presentation, 57:31 you can print off the study guide, 57:32 you may have a special prayer need that you wish 57:34 to share with our prayer partners 57:36 or you may wish to partner with us 57:37 through a personal donation to help reach this generation 57:40 with the everlasting good news of Christ. 57:43 If you rather talk with someone, 57:44 call one of our friendly operators. 57:46 Here's the toll free number 877 57:48 and then the two words HIS-WILL, 877-HIS-WILL. 57:52 In the meantime, 57:54 may the grace and peace of Jesus 57:55 be yours every step of this adventurous way. |
Revised 2016-05-02