Participants: Pr. Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP033107
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00:30 Come, now is the time to worship
00:38 Come, now is the time to give your heart 00:46 Come, just as you are to worship 00:54 Come, just as you are before your God 01:02 Come! 01:06 Come, now is the time to worship 01:14 Come, now is the time to give your heart 01:22 Come, just as you are 01:26 To worship 01:31 Come, just as you are before your God 01:39 Come! 01:43 One day every tongue will confess You are God 01:47 One day every knee will bow 01:51 Still the greatest treasure remains for those 01:55 Who gladly choose You now 02:01 Come, now is the time to worship 02:09 Come, now is the time 02:13 To give your heart 02:17 Come, just as you are 02:21 To worship 02:26 Come just as you are 02:29 Before your God 02:34 Come! 02:38 One day every tongue will confess You are God 02:42 One day every knee will bow 02:46 Still the greatest treasure remains for those 02:50 Who gladly choose You now 02:54 One day every tongue will confess You are God 02:59 One day every knee will bow 03:03 Still the greatest treasure remains for those 03:07 Who gladly choose you now 03:40 I have a Maker 03:46 He formed my heart 03:53 Before even time began 03:58 My life was in His hand 04:06 He knows my name 04:12 He knows my every thought 04:18 He sees each tear that falls 04:24 And hears me when I call 04:32 I have a Maker 04:38 He formed my heart 04:45 Before even time began 04:50 My life was in His hand 04:57 He knows my name 05:04 He knows my every thought 05:10 He sees each tear that falls 05:16 And hears me when I call 05:24 And I have a Father 05:30 He calls me His own 05:37 He'll never leave me 05:42 No matter where I go 05:50 He knows my name 05:56 He knows my every thought 06:03 He sees each tear that falls 06:08 And hears me when I call 06:16 He knows my name 06:23 He knows my every thought 06:29 He sees each tear that falls 06:35 And hears me when I call 06:44 He sees each tear that falls, 06:48 He knows our names, 06:50 He knows everything about us. 06:52 What a good God. 06:54 Isn't it amazing, how glorious, how strong He is 06:59 and yet how He cars for us. 07:03 As we sing "I love you, Lord" 07:06 I invite you to come to the front 07:09 and join us for prayer. 07:11 Sing with us, "I love you. Lord." 07:28 I love you Lord, 07:34 And I lift my voice 07:42 To worship you, 07:48 O my soul rejoice 07:56 Take joy my King, 08:03 In what You hear 08:09 May it be a sweet, 08:13 Sweet sound in Your ear 08:22 Sing it one more time. 08:26 I love you Lord, 08:32 And I lift my voice 08:39 To worship you, 08:46 O my soul rejoice 08:54 Take joy my King, 09:00 In what you hear 09:07 May it be a sweet, 09:11 Sweet sound in Your ear 09:25 Let's kneel together. 09:44 Lord, as we sing those words 09:47 professing our love for You, 09:49 I couldn't help thinking about Your love for us 09:52 which I really feel like 09:54 it's a pittance, it's an overstatement, 09:56 it's a pittance to say we love You in comparison 09:58 to how much You are consumed with love 10:03 for this planet and for each one of us. 10:09 The words again aren't enough to say God, thank you. 10:15 Thank You for Your amazing plan of salvation 10:21 and the power which we see all around us 10:23 each moment of every day. 10:28 It's a privilege God, to kneel before You 10:34 knowing that Your character is good, 10:38 knowing that You are trustworthy. 10:40 There are so many things that happen to us in life Lord, 10:43 that cause our trust to diminish 10:49 but we know we can trust in You. 10:56 Thank You for always hearing, 10:58 always seeing, always knowing. 11:04 Lord, we praise You and we thank You. 11:08 Without You where would we be? 11:11 Lord, if haven't experience that yet today that idea, 11:15 that concept, that notion 11:17 that without You we can do nothing. 11:18 I pray that You would make it 11:20 crystal clear this morning to us 11:22 that truly without You there is no life. 11:26 Life eternal, You will take care of that 11:28 but even life right here today 11:31 even as we are breathing. 11:35 Lift up Pastor Dwight too as well this morning 11:38 so to speak through him, 11:39 but You can speak though him all You want 11:41 but if our hearts and minds aren't open 11:42 through the power of Your Holy Spirit, 11:46 why would he even want to speak? 11:48 So please, we need You. 11:51 We don't want to leave here 11:52 the same way we walked in this morning. 11:55 We desire an experience with You. 11:59 Thank You for hearing our prayer, 12:00 than You for being our God, 12:02 thank You again for the cross. 12:04 In Your wonderful name we pray, amen. 12:12 This morning we're going to sing 12:14 Tengoku no kodomotachi, Children of Heaven. 12:17 This song is composed and written by Jun Nemoto 12:20 as he is a Japanese Adventist composer 12:24 who also teaches music at Adventist Academy 12:26 and he taught some of us here. 12:28 Anyways, this song is about the anticipation 12:31 for our future home in heaven 12:33 and what it will be like to enter there. 12:36 So we sing, just try to imagine 12:39 how beautiful it will be 12:41 and how joyous the second coming experience will be 12:44 and how grateful you would feel to Jesus. 12:47 So just listen, you may not understand every words 12:50 but just feel and imagine and be there. 13:12 (Singing in foreign language) 16:53 Holy Father, it's true 16:57 we have loved You more than this 16:59 because this is the moment 17:01 we're at in all of our journeys 17:05 and You've never loved us less than today. 17:10 In the matrix of that love we come, 17:16 made a teaching of Holy Scripture, 17:20 the word You have for us may we hear it clearly, 17:24 hide every voice including mine 17:27 so that Your voice might be preeminent 17:29 when we read Your word. 17:31 We pray in Jesus name, amen. 17:38 Let me ask you 17:41 what your answer to this would be, 17:44 if you had to pick one of the Ten Commandments 17:46 to be the number one, 17:49 which one would you pick? 17:51 Which are the Ten Commandments 17:54 do you suppose and arises to the top 18:00 as the premier commandment? 18:03 Oh, no, maybe it's not fair to even ask that question. 18:05 Maybe that would be like asking a father 18:08 who has 10 kids, which one of these kids is your favorite? 18:10 Which one of these kids is your greatest? 18:12 And how could a dad answer that, although it did happen once. 18:15 Delightful story in Brennan Manning's 18:19 wonderful little book, Lion and Lamb. 18:22 I want to read the story to you, it did happen. 18:25 He actually a heard the story 18:27 from an old Dutch professor of his, 18:29 he was taking graduate studies 18:31 at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh 18:34 and the professor got up in front of class one day, 18:36 told the story. 18:37 So that first person here is that old Dutchman professor. 18:42 And the professor speaking now, 18:43 "I'm one of 13 children." 18:46 Think of that, mom. Thirteen children. 18:49 "One day when I was playing 18:51 in the street of our hometown in Holland, 18:53 I got thirsty and came into the pantry for house 18:55 for a glass of water. 18:57 It was around noon and my father had 18:58 just come home from work to have lunch. 19:00 He was sitting at the kitchen table with a neighbor. 19:03 A door separated the kitchen from the pantry 19:05 and my father didn't know I was there, all right. 19:08 And the neighbor said my father Joseph, 19:11 'There's something I wanted to ask you for a long time 19:14 but if it's too personal just forget about it.' 19:17 Well, what's the question? 19:20 'Well, look, you have thirteen children, 19:22 out of all of them is there one that is your favorite, 19:26 one you love more than all the others?'" 19:30 The professor continued the story, 19:32 "I have my ear pressed against the door, 19:34 hoping against hope that it would be me. 19:37 'That's easy,' my father said. 19:39 Sure, there's one I love more than all the others, 19:41 that's Mary, the twelve-year-old. 19:44 She just got braces on her teeth 19:45 and feels so awkward and embarrassed 19:47 that she won't go of the house anymore. 19:50 Oh, but did you asked about my favorite. 19:53 That's my 23 year old Peter. 19:55 His fiancée just broke their engagement and he is desolate. 19:59 But the-- no, the one I really love the most is little Michael. 20:03 He's totally uncoordinated 20:04 and terrible in any sport he plays. 20:06 The other kids on the street make fun of him. 20:08 But you know the apple of my eye is Susan, 20:12 only 24 living in our own apartment 20:14 and developing a drinking problem. 20:16 I cry for Susan. 20:18 But I guess, of all the kids, 20:20 and my father went on mentioning 20:22 each of his thirteen children by name." 20:26 Isn't that precious? 20:28 I mean, how could a father, 10 kinds, 20:29 how you gonna pick one and say, 20:30 this is my favorite, this is the greatest? 20:32 And yet Jesus did and because He did 20:35 we know now the answer to, 20:37 "Which of the comment is the greatest?" 20:39 Open your Bible find out please, to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, 20:42 kind of our home base for this series, this season. 20:46 The Gospel of Matthew, first book of the New Testament. 20:51 Go to these words, this is fascinating, 20:54 fascinating, fascinating. 20:55 Matthew 22. 20:58 By the way if you did bring a Bible 21:01 we've got it about right there in front of you. 21:02 Grab the pew Bible, it will be the same translation 21:04 as I have right here, the New King James Version. 21:07 If you go to the pew Bible this is the page 21:10 and I'll promise we'll never go to this page again. 21:12 The page is 666, all right? 21:15 All right, you can find that one. 21:18 Matthew 22, please, pick up the story, 21:26 pick up the story in verse 34. All right? 21:32 Mathew 22:34, here we go, 21:35 "But when the Pharisees heard 21:37 that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, 21:40 they gathered together." 21:42 And I hit the pause button right there 21:43 because Pharisees and Sadducees, what do we have here? 21:45 We have two opposing intellectual factions 21:48 within the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem. 21:50 They are forever at each others throats 21:52 over some matter of biblical interpretation. 21:56 Envy, you got to admit, 21:57 envy makes the strangest bedfellows 21:59 and now the Pharisees have heard 22:01 that the liberal Sadducees had just been silence 22:04 by this young teacher, preacher, healer. 22:07 And so the conservatives now say, 22:09 "It's our turn to have it. 22:10 While we will get him where you guys missed it." 22:13 All right? 22:14 So that's what's happening here. 22:16 They gathered together, verse 34. 22:17 Now verse 35, then one of them, 22:19 one of the Pharisees, "Then one of them, 22:21 a lawyer, asked him a question, testing Him," a test. 22:27 Now by the way, when it says lawyer here 22:28 this is not a city slicker lawyer 22:30 who has a storefront you know, 22:33 downtown Jerusalem and he's dealing with civic law. 22:35 No, no, no, no. 22:36 Mark is clear, this is a scribe, 22:38 that means this is an ecclesiastical 22:40 policy wonk of the highest degree 22:43 who knows the divine codes and laws inside out. 22:47 The man is brilliant. 22:49 So they pick him, you do it for us, all right. 22:52 So he's gonna test Jesus. 22:55 Verse 36, here it comes. 22:56 So he says, he comes to Jesus and he says, 22:58 "Teacher," teacher, rabbi, 23:04 "which is the great commandment of the law?" 23:10 Of all the commandments in the law, 23:13 which one is the greatest? You just tell us numero uno, 23:17 which is the numero uno, we want to know. 23:21 Not a bad question by the way for people 23:24 who champion the Ten Commandments 23:26 and believe that their divine mission in life 23:29 is to draw the world's attention to the Ten 23:30 by focusing on the fourth commandment 23:33 like the Pharisees did 23:36 because that's what they believed. 23:38 These Pharisees who are actually convinced, 23:40 they are the great defenders of the law of God. 23:43 Hey, young rabbi, so which one, 23:45 which one of these, which won the Ten is the greatest? 23:47 You see they did have a-- this is this is not a straw man, 23:50 this is not a paper tiger. 23:51 They really did have a debate among the Conservatives, 23:54 these conservative leaders 23:56 because they're sure that 23:57 there's got to be some sort of hierarchy at work here. 23:59 And the way they have it figured is if we-- 24:01 if two commandments ever come in conflict 24:04 the higher commandment demands our adherents 24:06 and we are there for release 24:08 from any obligation for the Lord commanded. 24:11 Problem with that is when you make 24:12 the commandments of God the highest 24:14 you do very poor with the commandments 24:16 that deal with interpersonal relationships 24:17 and that was where they struggled. 24:19 So they're having a debate 24:20 and this aggressive lawyer is pushing, 24:22 "Listen, we want to know we have our ideas, 24:25 where you stand, sir?" 24:28 Whatever Jesus says, they're gonna nail it. 24:30 He knows it's a test. 24:31 Jesus speaks, he's ready. 24:34 Verse 37, Jesus said to the lawyer, 24:38 verse 37, "You shall love the Lord your God 24:42 with all your heart, with all your soul, 24:45 and with all your mind. 24:48 This is the first and great commandment." 24:53 Well-spoken, Master. 24:54 By memory, on the spot, 24:56 Jesus quotes the great Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. 25:00 Those words are repeated every morning 25:02 and every evening by every devout Jew in the land. 25:05 Those are the words to begin every morning 25:07 and every evening's prayer services, 25:09 in the Great Temple in Jerusalem. 25:10 Those are the words that are woven into the phylactery, 25:13 these little-- these little tassels 25:15 worn by the religious elite of Jerusalem. 25:17 These are the words still spoken today 25:20 in every synagogue in our land. 25:23 Good choice, Jesus. 25:25 "Hear, O Israel. 25:26 The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 25:28 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 25:30 with all your soul, and with all your strength." 25:34 Well spoken, Master. 25:35 But then in a surprise and run, 25:39 Jesus nails His inquisitor by doing something 25:42 no rabbi had here to fore ever done. 25:45 And that he adds a line to the Shema. 25:49 Watch this, verse 39, 25:51 And oh, hey, lawyer, lawyer, stay right here. 25:53 Don't you leave, I'm not through yet. 25:54 "And the second," listen to me, 25:56 "And the second is like it, 25:58 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" 26:03 This marks the first time that a rabbi intentionally 26:06 join together Deuteronomy Shema 26:08 that well worn line from Leviticus, 26:11 thundering on the truth. 26:13 And I love how one writer puts it, 26:15 "Obedience without love is as impossible as it is worthless." 26:22 That point is so significant. 26:23 I want us to get it before we forget it. 26:25 Would you pull out your study guide, please? 26:26 "Obedience without love is as impossible as it is worthless." 26:30 Pull out your steady guide. 26:31 It should be in a worship bulletin right now. 26:33 Brand new study guide for today. 26:34 Thank you, ushers. 26:35 Let's get this to our eager worshipers as quickly as we can. 26:41 Hold your hand up if you didn't get a study guide. 26:42 You're gonna want this one, there's a clincher, 26:44 there's a clincher that you want to gonna have 26:47 and it will only be in the study guide. 26:48 And while they're doing that, 26:49 those of you watching on television, 26:51 I'd like you to have the same study guide. 26:52 You can go to our website. 26:53 Let me put it on the screen for you. 26:56 There it is www.pmchurch.tv. 27:00 Go to that website, this series is called 27:03 'Mercy Came A Runnin'." 27:05 And in this series the teaching you're looking for, 27:08 for today, "Something More Important Than Truth." 27:12 When you see that title, 27:13 right beside it is the word study guide, 27:15 click on their and you will have the same study guide 27:19 that we're gonna fill in together, all right? 27:21 So you're getting it on your computer at home, 27:24 you are getting it in here, 27:25 in the back of the balcony as well, good. 27:27 Let's go, let's fill it up please. 27:29 "Obedience without love." 27:31 Write that in please, "Obedience without love 27:33 is as impossible as it is worthless." 27:38 Oh, that's heavy, "Obedience without love 27:41 is as impossible as it is worthless." 27:46 Pick up again as we read verse 36, 27:48 "'Teacher, which is a great commandment in the law?' 27:51 Jesus said to him, 27:53 'You shall love the Lord your God 27:55 with all your heart, with all your soul, 27:57 and with all your mind.' 27:59 This is the first and great command. 28:00 And the second is like it. 28:01 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28:04 Now notice verse 40, 28:05 "On these two commandments 28:07 hang all the Law and the Prophets." 28:11 I. e., jot this down please, 28:13 "Every divinely inspired word or command 28:15 ever written hangs on this two-fold commandment 28:19 to love our God supremely 28:22 and to love our neighbor impartially." 28:25 Get that down please. 28:27 All of it hangs on this. 28:29 Keep your pen moving, "For, according to Jesus," 28:32 hold on now, "according to Jesus 28:34 love is more important then truth." 28:37 Write that in. 28:41 Love is more important than truth. 28:43 Hey, I got to ask you. Does that bother you? 28:45 Does that bother you that the Pharisees were right, 28:48 that in fact there is an hierarchy the divine truth 28:51 and that the Pharisees were wrong 28:53 that in fact there is something more important that truth, 28:56 does that bother you? 28:57 I mean, as a community that precedes 28:59 its divine modus operandi to be the champions 29:02 of the Ten Commandments in the law of God. 29:04 Does it bother you that Jesus just kind of waves 29:06 aside these Ten Commandments and He says, 29:08 I want to tell you about 29:09 something more important than truth? 29:11 Should it bother us as a people 29:13 who prize truth and value it above all else 29:16 that Christ speaks a word and defines a reality 29:19 that is even more important than those truths? 29:24 Could it be, jot this down-- "Could it be that in fact James" 29:26 and by the way this is James, the stepbrother of Jesus. 29:29 "Could it be that James 29:30 the stepbrother of Jesus is right, 29:31 that 'mercy,'" write it in, 29:33 "That mercy triumphs over judgment." 29:38 Could it be that in the heart of even Almighty God Himself 29:41 there is a hierarchy of truth 29:43 and hierarchy of commandments 29:46 so that there is something, jot this down, 29:47 so that there is something more important, 29:52 more important than truth? 29:54 Does Jesus teach such a hierarchy of truths? 29:58 The incontrovertible answer is just one page away, 30:00 just one page away. 30:02 Turn--just go a little further in Matthew, just turn. 30:04 It's only one page in your Bible, trust me. 30:06 Matthew 23, turn the page. 30:09 Matthew 23, eight stinging woes 30:13 pronounced upon the conservative religious leadership of His Day, 30:16 eight woes, that just like Samson 30:17 brought the roof down on Jesus head and destroyed Him. 30:21 He would be dead in three chapters and three days later. 30:24 He's gonna be dead. 30:26 But this is it, he knows its curtains now. 30:29 Eight woes, we will not note the eight, 30:31 we will only observer one of the woes. 30:34 Woe number five, jot this down, 30:35 "A single woe that proves an hierarchy," 30:38 write in the word, hierarchy "an hierarchy of truth." 30:44 As soon as you get there written in we'll read it. 30:48 Matthew 23:23, there we go. 30:52 This is woe number five, "Woe to you, 30:58 scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" 31:01 Hey, you remember the word hypocrites, don't you? 31:03 Remember it's a Greek book word, hupokrites. 31:07 A technical term describing an actor 31:08 on the Greek stages of theatre. 31:10 The hupokrites was one who put a mask on his face 31:14 or her face and pretend to be something she is not, 31:17 pretends to be something he is not. 31:18 When I am hypocrite, when you are a hypocrite 31:20 that's exactly what we're doing, 31:21 we're wearing a mask and pretending 31:22 what we are not, see. 31:25 "Woe to you." 31:27 In other words it's not a real complimentary word 31:30 when Jesus is using it here. 31:32 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 31:36 For you pay tithe." Hold it right there. 31:40 You know what the tithe is, don't you? 31:42 That's a 10%, that's the 10% the God 31:44 to the ancient prophet Malachi, 31:45 Malachi 3:10, God says, that tithe belongs to Me. 31:50 Now before you get all upset let me remind you 31:52 what God is saying here. 31:53 He says, hey, look here, 31:54 by virtue of being your Creator 31:56 because I am your Creator, by virtue of being your Creator 31:59 I'm asking you now for permission to become your CFO, 32:02 you know what that stands for? 32:04 Chief Financial Officer. 32:06 I want to be the CFO of your life 32:08 but I need your permission and the only way 32:09 I know I have your permission 32:11 is if you will returned to me, you know what, 32:13 I could ask for all ten tenths of it. 32:15 But I'm only gonna ask for one-tenth. 32:17 I want one-tenth of your increase. 32:19 You return that to me 32:20 because it belongs to me and not you. 32:22 And when you do that it will say to me, Oh, Lord, 32:25 I cannot manage my life on my own 32:27 would you please be my CFO? 32:30 And I tell you what my friend, 32:31 I will stay with you every step of the way 32:33 and I will never let you down. 32:34 You can count on me to the last dying breath 32:36 and I'm gonna open as it were the very windows of heaven 32:39 and I gonna empty a universe of blessings upon you 32:42 if you will simply asks me to be CFO. 32:47 Who could turn down an offer like that? 32:49 You and I shouldn't. 32:51 And the Pharisees didn't. 32:53 Boy, in fact the Pharisees went to the school that taught, 32:57 if sum is good, more must be better. 33:02 And so they tithe, everything they could get, 33:04 their sanctimonious fingers on tithe, tithe, tithe, tithe. 33:07 And that's what Jesus is talking about here, 33:09 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 33:12 For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin." 33:19 Now I need to tell you that in our home 33:21 Karen is the green firm of our family. 33:24 I mean, she just has this natchie, 33:26 she's a hallelujah, its springtime and she's-- 33:29 she surrounds our house 33:32 with the glorious colors of God's blossoms. 33:35 One year she planted a little sprig of mint. 33:38 Do you ever, have you ever planted a sprig of mint? 33:39 You know what its like when you-- 33:40 have you ever picked the mint leaf off 33:42 and just crushed it in your finger and then, 33:45 can you smell it from there? 33:47 Can't you smell it? 33:48 It's just a mint, mint, it's in our minds. 33:51 The Pharisees loved mint too, by the way. 33:53 In fact according to Jesus here 33:55 they tithe three culinary herbs, 33:59 two of which are also medicinal. 34:01 So I mean, this is a big time, 34:02 we're gonna tithe all of these. 34:06 Hey, let me ask you this, was it a sin-- 34:08 was it a sin to tithe their herbs? 34:12 But of course not, it's not a sin. 34:14 Nothing wrong with that. 34:15 But you see the problem, God blessed them, the scribes. 34:19 They have concocted such an elaborate 34:22 an artificial arrangement of Judaism's laws 34:25 and their premises, we have a hierarchy of laws 34:28 that are focusing on external, 34:29 observable, and measurable behavior. 34:31 Those are what count the most. 34:34 What people can see me doing, 34:35 what God can measure, 34:37 in terms of my response, that's number one. 34:39 And Jesus says, "What is wrong with this picture?" 34:43 Plenty, according to Christ. 34:47 Look at this, "Woe to you, 34:48 scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 34:51 For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, 34:54 and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, 34:57 justice and mercy and faith. 34:59 These you ought to have done 35:00 without leaving the others undone." 35:03 You catch that? 35:05 Write it down, would you, please. 35:06 "You have omitted the weightier," 35:09 the weightier "matters of the law, 35:11 justice and mercy" write it in, please. 35:17 "And faith." Mercy being our series. 35:19 Now isn't that something? 35:21 Hey, come on guys, just stake with me. 35:23 Apparently in the mind of Christ, 35:24 in the mind Almighty God himself 35:27 there are weightier matters in life and in law, 35:30 weightier than tithing. 35:34 The very word weightier, in fact, jot this down. 35:36 "The very word 'weightier' clearly suggests 35:39 an hierarchy" there's that word again, 35:41 "an hierarchy of values and truths 35:44 and laws and duties does it not?" 35:45 There are some realities more important than truth itself, 35:49 certainly more important even tithing, that's His point. 35:53 Although Jesus is very clear by the way. 35:54 Hey, hey, time out. 35:56 I'm not asking anybody to stop tithing, 35:57 please keep doing that but I'm also making an appeal 36:01 to you, that's Christ's point. 36:05 Amazing. 36:07 And by the way, what is it that Jesus determined 36:09 are the weightier, matters of the law? 36:11 Did you see that, justice? Wait, what's next one? 36:14 And mercy and faith. Yep. 36:19 "When Luke," Dr. Luke "records these words," 36:21 jot this down, in Luke 11:42, 36:24 "he renders it, 'justice and the love of God.'" 36:29 You know what, this is all straight out of-- 36:31 this is straight out of the Old Testament. 36:34 Do you remember that, do you remember 36:35 that verse in Malachi 6:8, 36:37 "He has shown you, O man, what is good 36:40 and what does the Lord require of you but to" How's it go? 36:45 "Do justly and to love mercy." 36:48 Write it down. 36:49 "And to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." 36:53 We used to sing those words. Did you sing those words? 36:56 Oh, come on, sing it with me. 36:58 He has shown you, O man, what is good 37:02 And what does the Lord require of thee 37:06 But to do justly and to love mercy 37:12 And to walk humbly with thy God 37:17 Jesus whispering to us now, He said, hey guys, 37:21 that's what I've been trying to teach you 37:23 that even more important than truth is love. 37:27 Love with all your heart for God, 37:29 love for all your life, for your neighbor. 37:32 You know what, I'd rather have your love then your tithes. 37:36 Now don't misunderstand me, 37:37 I would be happy to have your tithe but-- 37:38 and be happy to have both 37:40 but if it's a choice I'd rather have you love. 37:42 I rather have your love than your Sabbath. 37:44 Though I want your Sabbaths but I prefer to have them both. 37:47 I'd rather have your love than the 28 fundamental beliefs 37:50 that I have told you. 37:51 Though don't misunderstand me, 37:53 I want those 28 fundamental beliefs but I need them both. 37:57 If you have to choose between love and truth, 37:59 I chose love, I want love from you. 38:03 Whoa. 38:06 If you can't give me both, 38:09 I'd rather have your love, I really would. 38:14 For upon supreme love to God 38:16 and impartial love for our neighbor. 38:20 Hey, hang, all the law, all the prophesy, 38:25 all the doctrines, all the truths, 38:29 all the commandments, all the time, 38:33 love the supreme commandment. 38:38 Nothing wrong with-- 38:39 nothing wrong with good behavior you understand. 38:45 But how did Jesus put it? 38:46 "For you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 38:48 and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38:50 And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." 38:53 Hey, listen folks, what does love's hierarchy teach us? 38:56 Let me share with you what love's hierarchy teaches us. 38:58 First of all, oh, this is embarrassing. 39:00 It spares us actually the embarrassment 39:02 of becoming a community 39:03 that is known for straining at the gnats 39:05 but keeps swallowing the camel. 39:07 Take a look at verse 24, right under verse 23, 39:10 there's verse 24, "Blind guides." 39:12 He's talking to the leaders. 39:13 "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel." 39:19 Now this is a bit of stinging metaphor from the Lord Jesus. 39:23 He knows it's over. 39:25 So what He does, is He goes to the dietary code. 39:27 You remember, that have a dietary code, 39:29 clean and unclean foods, Leviticus Chapter 11. 39:31 And in the dietary code Jesus isolates 39:34 what is the smallest creature listed as forbidden to eat 39:38 and the smallest creature would be the gnat. 39:39 You ever seen the gnat? 39:41 There's an enlargement of a gnat. 39:42 And then he says, "Let me find the largest, 39:44 the largest mammal that is forbidden is unclean," 39:48 and what's He come up with, 39:49 the dromedary better known as the camel. 39:53 Now here comes the biting metaphor 39:55 because you see it's based on the Pharisees' practice 39:57 to filter their drinks to avoid 40:00 the ingestion up any little, tiny unclean insect. 40:06 Strict Jews would take a piece of gauze or linen 40:09 and place it over their cups and will strain their wine, 40:12 their vinegar, other potable liquids. 40:15 And so here they are, you just to try to picture this, 40:16 here they are now, the Pharisees 40:19 sipping sanctimoniously from their cups net filtered 40:26 to the max all the while inside that cup, 40:31 they're just getting ready to swallow it, 40:32 here comes the smelly, splish-splashing of a hairy 40:35 big lip humpback dromedary better known as a camel. 40:39 Ain't that a great picture? 40:43 They got the gnat out but they're just-- 40:45 they did tilt it back and the camel goes inside. 40:49 They choke on the camel, 40:51 they strain that little tiny gnat. 40:54 Did cheers and then they swallow a camel. 41:00 Do you get the biting irony of what Jesus has just said? 41:02 Oh, mercy. You blind hypocrites. 41:06 You major in the minors 41:07 and your minor in the majors, that's your problem. 41:12 You strain out a gnat but you swallow a camel, 41:16 you tithe your pennies but you ignore your neighbors. 41:20 You say you love the truth but you never live the truth. 41:24 What is the truth? 41:26 Oh, what did He say, "For you shall love the Lord 41:29 your God with all your heart, 41:30 and with all your soul and with all your mind. 41:32 And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." 41:34 And then 1 John 4 comes along it says, 41:35 oh by the way, by the way "If anyone says. 41:38 'I love God' yet hates his brother, he is a liar." Why? 41:41 Because, "For anyone who does not love his brother, 41:43 whom he has seen, cannot love God, 41:45 whom he has not seen." 41:48 Ladies and gentlemen, we can preach on satellite, 41:50 we can preach in satellite seminars 41:52 till we are blue in the face 41:53 but if we omit the weightier matters of the law, 41:57 Jesus is absolutely clear, "Woe do you, 41:59 scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 42:01 For you cross sea and land to make a single convert 42:03 and you make a new convert twice 42:05 as much a child a hell as yourselves." 42:08 Have mercy. 42:09 We can boast to the nation 42:11 of our nationally ranked university. 42:13 We have appeared, wow, we have appeared in US News 42:17 and World Report and we're so harsh telling everybody 42:20 but if in the process of our becoming a harsh, 42:23 extolling ourselves we have omitted 42:26 the weightier matters of the law. 42:27 I'm telling you what, woe, Jesus is right, 42:30 "Woe to you, scribes and hypocrites! 42:32 For you like white-washed tombs, 42:33 which on the outside look beautiful, 42:35 but insider for the bones of the dead 42:37 and all kinds of filth." 42:39 Yuck. 42:44 Jesus somber warning is clear, my friends. 42:47 If this community of faith does not yet learn and practice 42:50 loves hierarchy the demise of our community 42:53 and the disintegration of our faith are assured 42:56 because we will choke to death unaccountable, 42:58 we will choke to death unaccountable. 43:02 What does loves hierarchy teach us? 43:05 Jot it down. 43:06 First, it teaches us, write this down, please. 43:09 "It spares us of the embarrassment 43:11 of becoming a community that majors in the minors 43:16 and minors in the majors." 43:20 And then number two, 43:21 that the other lesson, number two. 43:23 "Secondly, it teaches us that the value of people 43:27 transcends the virtue of duty." 43:33 There's nothing wrong with our duty to tithe 43:35 or any other duty for that matter 43:37 but more important than the virtual duty 43:39 is the value of people. 43:42 I just found this, this last week, 43:44 I want to share with you, a hundred years ago 43:46 these words were written very perceptive. 43:50 Put it on the screen, you have to fill it in. 43:52 "Cleanliness and order are Christian duties." 43:55 Write that down. 43:56 I agree that's a duty, you agree that's a duty, okay? 43:59 "Cleanliness and order are Christian duties, yet," 44:02 keep reading, "yet even these may be carried too far, 44:06 and made the one essential, 44:08 while matters and greater importance are neglected." 44:12 Whoa, hold on, keep reading. 44:15 "Those who neglect the interests of the children," 44:18 you see those words, those two words, the children? 44:20 Those can be the children by age 44:23 or they can be children when it comes to faith, 44:26 the young in the faith. 44:28 "Those who neglect the interest of the children 44:31 for these considerations are tithing the mint and cummin 44:36 while they neglect the weightier matters of the law, 44:38 justice, mercy and the love of God." 44:42 Did you catch that? Did you get it? 44:45 It might take a little bit a brooding to sink in. 44:49 Even Christian duty, come on guys, 44:51 even Christian duty can be carried too far 44:54 and made the one essential that everybody 45:00 has to conform to prove that we are Orthodox. 45:05 Please, I'm aware of some Christian communities 45:12 that proudly identify themselves 45:15 by emphasizing certain external behaviors and duties 45:18 as essentials and prove that they are loyal to God, 45:21 can't say that for the rest if you but we are. 45:24 Look at this, it's measurable, that's observable, 45:27 it's noticeable and that's proof. 45:32 How sad. 45:34 It's where the Pharisees lived, how about us? 45:39 I want you to think about this community of faith right here. 45:42 Are there some duties here that we are carrying too far, 45:48 pushing some behaviors too hard 45:53 all to prove our Orthodoxy and holiness 45:55 like the Pharisees and yet all the while 45:58 we are not loving to each other, 46:00 we are not loving to each other. 46:01 We are not loving to our neighbors 46:02 and therefore we are not loving to God. 46:04 For if in the name of heaven, if you can't love somebody 46:08 standing in front your nose 46:10 how can you possibly love a guide 46:12 you have never seen in your life? 46:14 Don't give me this, oh, I love God, 46:16 it's just Him I'm not sure about, 46:17 just her I'm not convinced about. 46:19 Impossible, you can't do it. 46:22 You say, oh, Lord, when did-- 46:25 wait, when did we see you naked? 46:29 When do we see you hungry? 46:31 We never saw you sick, 46:34 we never knew you were in jail, 46:35 we never saw you. 46:36 And Jesus says, you know what, listen to me carefully, 46:39 because you refused to do it the least these-- 46:42 my children, 12 miles up this road, 46:44 you didn't do it to me. 46:45 Whoa. 46:48 Oh, Lord, but you know what my problem 46:50 is I'm not even sure who is my neighbor anymore. 46:52 Who is my neighbor? 46:54 There was a man once who went down 46:56 from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among thieves 47:02 and the religiously correct left in there 47:06 until rejected an outcast Samaritan came by. 47:12 Want to know who the neighbor is in that story? 47:15 "Go thou and do likewise." Oh, the Pharisees. 47:20 And Jesus painfully clear is He not? 47:23 That there are weightier matters in the divine economy 47:25 in which the value of people transcends the virtue of duty. 47:29 He's teaching is clear, jot this down please. 47:31 He's teaching is clear. 47:32 "The great Commandment transcends the Ten Commandments 47:37 for they must hang up on it and not it upon them." 47:43 The Cross of Christ declares that truth. 47:48 Surely my friends, it is a Calvary 47:51 that we see the truth at mercy triumphs over judgment. 47:55 Surely at the cross you see there on the screen, surely, 47:59 the transcendence of self-sacrificing 48:02 love exalted over self-centered duty. 48:07 You know maybe that's our problem. 48:08 Maybe we don't go to the cross enough. 48:09 Maybe we don't look full into His wonderful face 48:13 while He's hanging there 48:16 because hanging there is everything. 48:19 All the law and the prophets hang on the Great Commandment 48:24 who was crucified that day when mercy came a running. 48:29 We need to go to the cross 48:31 a lot more than we do, don't we? 48:33 We're not going to the cross, you know, that's our problem. 48:36 Sharpening our swords and quitting our blades. 48:42 We need to go to the cross. 48:44 I want to end with a story, incredible story. 48:49 C.S. Lewis, brilliant, apologist, 48:54 Christian apologist of the last century. 48:56 Did you know this, C.S. Lewis learned 48:59 about Seventh-day Adventists, true story. 49:04 I read in a book given to me entitled, 49:08 "Letters to an American Lady." 49:11 Sometime after Lewis died in November of 1963, 49:15 he died on the same day 49:16 that President Kennedy was assassinated. 49:19 Sometime after Lewis died, 49:21 an American woman came forward and she went to a publisher. 49:24 She says, "I got some letters." 49:26 Who they are from? "They are from C.S. Lewis." 49:28 Oh really? He wrote you? "Yeah, he wrote me. 49:29 For 13 years we've carried on correspondences." 49:33 Thirteen years prior to his death 49:35 he gets this letter from across the pond 49:37 as the British refer to it and a strong American lady. 49:40 And she says you know, I really, I enjoyed your book, 49:43 this last book I read. 49:45 And after she extols the book then I said, 49:47 I am having a little challenge, can you help me? 49:49 And so like the gracious Christian gentleman 49:52 that he was he wrote her back. 49:55 When she got his letter she wrote him back 49:57 and he got her letter he eventually wrote her back 49:59 and back and back and back. 50:00 As far as we know they never met face to face, 50:03 there is not a shred romance in these letters. 50:06 We have all of Lewis' letters, 50:08 we don't have hers you understand 50:09 because she wrote to him and they're gone. 50:12 But we have C.S. Lewis's, his brilliant mind, his letters 50:16 and it's from one of those letters, 50:18 two of them actually that I discovered 50:20 he found out about Seventh-day Adventist. 50:23 I want to share this with you. 50:25 Apparently here's what's happened 50:26 as far as I can put it together. 50:30 She writes and asks him, 50:32 what do you know about Seventh-day Adventist? 50:36 His brilliant mind response you know, 50:38 I really don't know that much. 50:40 Then she writes him back 50:42 and describes an event that happened to her 50:44 with a Seventh-day Adventist Christian 50:46 and I am so grateful to God 50:48 that it was a very positive moment. 50:53 She describes what happened with that Advantest in America 50:59 and then he writes back to her. 51:02 Listen, to what this mine that cutting edge of Christianity 51:06 in the 20th century. 51:07 Listen to what he observed. 51:09 What you say about the Seventh-Day Adventists? 51:14 Interests me extremely now, 51:18 if they have so much charity 51:22 there must be something very right about them. 51:27 Let me put that on the screen for you. 51:29 "What you say about" and I love the way 51:31 he gets our name wrong. 51:34 "What do you say about the VII Day Adventists" 51:36 You know what that's gonna happen 51:38 who really ought to be this being an Adventist 51:39 is only on the seventh day is crazy. 51:41 We got to be Seventh-day Adventist, don't you think? 51:44 Seven days a week. 51:46 "What you say about the VII Day Adventist 51:48 interest me extremely. 51:49 If they have so much charity" Write right that down. 51:51 If they have so much love "there must be something 51:56 very right about this people." 51:59 Isn't that amazing? 52:03 If they have so much love there must be something 52:06 very right about them. 52:08 Hey, listen friend, hey, hey, you. 52:10 You want to get the attention of your world where you live? 52:14 Want to get the attention of your world 52:15 then live out the hierarchy of Jesus for it is more than clear, 52:20 is it not that there is something 52:21 more important than truth for if you have that much love 52:27 there must be something very right about you. 52:35 Amen and amen. Let us pray. 52:40 Oh, God, there must be something very right 52:44 about Jesus, that's the truth. 52:46 He's the one who teaches us this truth. 52:50 He says everything, every shred revelation 52:53 and inspiration hangs on a hierarchy of loves 52:57 transcendence over even duty, over even truth. 53:02 Love God with all your heart 53:05 and love your neighbor as yourself. 53:08 Oh, God, please, that we might become people 53:14 that this 20th century mine suggested must be something 53:20 very right about those people, 53:22 if they have that much love 53:24 there must be something very right. 53:27 Oh, God, let it be right about this perish 53:32 and this campus and this church 53:35 for the glory the Lord Jesus Christ 53:38 that all the people say, amen and amen. 53:41 I want to sing Jesus command to us, this is beautiful. 53:44 We're gonna sing it to a tune. 53:45 Don't sing that-- don't sing 53:47 the melody written on the page. 53:48 You'll immediately recognize the tune, 53:50 this is Jesus command to us 53:52 to now do what He has taught us. 53:55 The tune you know, sing with all your heart. 53:57 I want you to stand please. Let's stand as we sing. 54:12 This is my will, my one command 54:19 That love should dwell among you all 54:27 This is my will that you should love 54:35 As I have shown 54:39 That I love you 54:48 No greater love a man can have 54:56 Than that he die 54:59 To save his friends 55:04 You are my friends if you obey 55:12 What I command 55:16 That you should do 55:24 You chose not Me 55:29 But I chose you 55:33 That you should go and bear much fruit 55:41 I chose you out that you in 55:49 Me Should bear much fruit 55:53 That will abide 56:03 All that I ask 56:08 My Father, dear 56:12 For My name's sake 56:17 You shall receive 56:22 This is My will 56:26 My one command 56:31 That love should dwell 56:36 In each, in all 56:47 And now may the communion of the Father 56:51 and the love of the Son and the fellowship 56:54 of the Holy Spirit be with us all, amen. 57:01 Let me take one more moment of your time 57:02 to let you know that one of the blessings 57:04 I receive from this telecast 57:06 is being in touch with viewer like you 57:07 all across Michiana and our nations 57:09 and literally the world. 57:11 I am humbled and honored 57:12 with your sharing of journey with us. 57:14 Sometimes it's a Bible question, 57:15 other times it's an observation or suggestion 57:18 and sometimes just a note 57:19 to share our prayer or a prayer request. 57:21 I'd love to hear from you and it's so easy to be in touch. 57:24 Just go to our Pioneer Memorial Church website, 57:26 www.pmchurch.tv and click on contact 57:31 and then word pastor and then jot down 57:33 the message you wish to send. 57:35 If you have a prayer request, click on those words 57:38 or call our toll free number 1-877-HIS-WILL 57:42 and I promise you that our prayer partners 57:44 will lift your personal need to God 57:46 because nobody should have the journey alone. 57:48 Not only do we have Jesus but we also have each other. 57:51 So write me, won't you? 57:52 At www.pmchurch.tv 57:56 In the meantime may the God 57:57 whose mercy continually runs after us, 58:00 be with you 24/7, every step of the way. 58:04 I'll see you again right here next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17