Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP042112
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00:06 From the campus of Andrews University,
00:08 this is New Perceptions with Dr. Dwight K. Nelson. 00:55 Everyone needs compassion 00:58 A love that's never failing 01:03 Let mercy fall on me 01:08 Everyone needs forgiveness 01:11 The kindness of a Savior 01:15 The hope of nations 01:20 The hope of nations 01:24 Savior 01:26 He can move the mountains 01:29 My God is mighty to save 01:33 He is mighty to save 01:37 Forever 01:38 Author of salvation 01:42 He rose and conquered the grave 01:45 Jesus conquered the grave 01:50 So take me as You find me 01:54 All my fears and failures 01:58 Fill my life again 02:03 I give my life to follow 02:06 Everything I believe in 02:10 Now I surrender 02:15 Now I surrender 02:19 Savior 02:21 He can move the mountains 02:24 My God is mighty to save 02:27 He is mighty to save 02:31 Forever 02:33 Author of salvation 02:36 He rose and conquered the grave 02:40 Jesus conquered the grave 02:43 Shine your light 02:45 And let the whole world see 02:49 We're singing for the glory of the risen King, Jesus 02:56 Shine your light 02:58 And let the whole world see 03:01 We're singing for the glory of the risen King 03:08 Savior 03:09 He can move the mountains 03:13 My God is mighty to save 03:16 He is mighty to save 03:20 Forever 03:22 Author of salvation 03:25 He rose and conquered the grave 03:29 Jesus conquered the grave 03:33 Shine your light 03:34 And let the whole world see 03:38 We're singing for the glory of the risen King, Jesus 03:45 Shine your light 03:46 And let the whole world see 03:50 We're singing for the glory of the risen King 03:56 Savior 03:58 He can move the mountains 04:02 My God is mighty to save 04:05 He is mighty to save 04:09 Forever 04:11 Author of Salvation 04:15 He rose and conquered the grave 04:19 Jesus conquered the grave 04:38 God sent His son 04:44 They called Him, Jesus 04:49 He came to love 04:55 Heal and forgive 05:00 He bled and died 05:06 To buy my pardon 05:12 An empty grave is there to prove 05:18 My Savior lives 05:24 Because He lives 05:29 I can face tomorrow 05:35 Because He lives 05:41 All fear is gone 05:46 Because I know 05:52 He holds the future 05:58 And life is worth the living 06:03 Just because He lives 06:10 How sweet to hold 06:16 A newborn baby 06:22 And feel the pride 06:28 And joy he gives 06:34 But greater still 06:40 The calm assurance 06:45 This child can face uncertain days 06:52 Because He Lives 06:57 Because He lives 07:03 I can face tomorrow 07:09 Because He lives 07:15 All fear is gone 07:21 Because I know 07:27 He holds the future 07:33 And life is worth the living 07:38 Just because He lives 11:35 Oh, God, it is well with our soul. 11:36 You're on the throne of the universe. 11:38 We are here, Lord of heaven is in our mist, it is well. 11:45 Now we go to Holy Scripture. 11:48 A word to third millennium goes like this, 11:51 that today's teaching be clear 11:54 this next of the last Sabbath of this series. 11:57 We want to see the risen Christ, 11:59 we want to sense Him here in His name, we pray, amen. 12:04 Remember the little rhyme. 12:05 Mary, Mary, quite contrary 12:08 How does your garden grow 12:11 With silver bells and cockle shells 12:15 And pretty maids all in a row 12:18 Poor Mary. 12:21 She's wild with grief. 12:23 Hasn't slept a wink tonight. 12:27 Too short the night. 12:31 She drags herself out of bed against the stubble 12:34 through the dark shadows 12:36 made silver by the still full Passover moon. 12:41 Finally she's all alone, all alone in front of the tomb, 12:46 no guards, no soldiers to call, ho. 12:53 No sound. 12:58 Say this silence of an empty now ominously empty tomb. 13:05 They've stolen her master's corpse, 13:09 still wild the tears. 13:13 She runs back through the same silver shadows. 13:16 Now the city gate ajar. 13:17 She's quick in up a dark alley, up the staircase, sobbing aloud. 13:22 Now she's pounding on that wooden door, 13:24 barred and shattered. Somebody find the stirs. 13:29 The door slowly, cautiously cracks open. 13:34 A slice of orange light like a CAT scan down her face. 13:42 We've grown up with the story. 13:44 But today we go back to it, because we're in the story. 13:48 Open your Bible to 4th Gospel, 13:49 this next to the last Sabbath in the Gospel of John. 13:52 I can't believe the school year is almost over. 13:54 Find the Gospel of John, Chapter 20. 13:57 You've got to relive this narrative. 13:59 If you didn't bring your Bible, 14:00 grab the pew Bible in front of you. 14:01 Track it with me, please, New King James Version. 14:04 What's the page number 731? 14:06 Put the title slide on the screen. 14:08 Those of you are watching on live streaming, 14:09 we're delighted to have you right now. 14:11 Those of you are watching on Television as well. 14:13 Coming to the end of this year long series, 14:16 this half of the series called "The Last Days." 14:19 The last days of Christ. 14:21 Today's teaching, "Mary and Thomas, 14:23 Patron Saints of Higher Education." 14:25 Let's go. 14:26 By the way those of you are watching, 14:27 you see that website www.pmchurch.tv 14:30 You go there and all of these teachings 14:33 are archived at your pleasure. 14:35 You may review them. 14:38 So I'm not looking it up while I'm talking. 14:40 John 20, let's go. 14:41 John 20, let's pick it up in verse 1, 14:43 "Now on the first day of the week 14:45 Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, 14:50 and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 14:53 Then she ran," verse 2 14:55 "and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple," 14:58 that would be John boy, 14:59 "whom Jesus loved, and said to them. 15:01 'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, 15:03 and we do not know where they have laid Him.'" 15:05 So verse 3 "Peter therefore went out, 15:07 and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb." 15:10 Verse 4 "So they both ran together, 15:12 and the other disciple outran Peter 15:15 and came to the tomb first." 15:18 What would you expect? 15:21 Of course, the boy is gonna win. 15:22 You go John boy. 15:24 Some of us got older this last week. 15:28 And we who run know that when you run with younger soles 15:33 that would be S-O-L-E-S. 15:35 It's a given, they're gonna win. 15:38 Got a big race tomorrow, you know, 15:39 the youngest are gonna win. 15:40 So what's the big deal about that? 15:43 I think we ought to be proud that Peter even ran it all. 15:44 You go, Pete. 15:47 You go Pete, I tell you. 15:50 You know what, there's a little-- 15:52 I sense just a little bit of hubris 15:54 and John putting in that Hebrews there first. 15:57 We didn't need to know that. 16:02 Okay, Verse 4 "So they both ran together, 16:05 and the other disciple outran Peter 16:08 and came to the tomb first." 16:09 And he," John boy, "stooping down and looking in, 16:12 saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. 16:17 Then Simon Peter came-- 16:21 Then Simon Peter came, following him." 16:24 One thing you can say about age. 16:26 We're not timid when we get old. 16:28 Peter straight into that, head into that sepulcher. 16:33 "And Peter following him, and went into the tomb, 16:35 and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 16:38 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, 16:41 not lying with the linen cloths, 16:43 but folded together in a place by itself." 16:45 Can have grave robbers now? 16:47 No grave robbers gonna snatch a body 16:49 and fold all the linen before leaving can't possible. 16:55 "Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first," 16:59 he's not gonna let us forget, 17:02 "went in also, and he saw--" 17:05 And get this, the first human being to believe 17:08 in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 17:10 "And he believed." 17:13 Verse 9 "For as yet they did not know the Scripture, 17:16 that He must rise again from the dead. 17:17 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes." 17:22 But not Mary. 17:24 Perhaps the two have already left 17:26 by the time she arrives through those same shadows. 17:30 Now a dawn, quietly growing lighter. 17:33 And hour later she returns to that spot 17:39 and now weeping. 17:41 She peers into the sepulcher. 17:44 Verse 11, "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, 17:50 and as she wept she stooped down and she looked into the tomb." 17:55 Verse 12 "And she saw two angels in white sitting, 18:00 one at the head and the other at the feet, 18:02 where the body of Jesus had lain." 18:04 So I'm brooding on this passage this last week 18:06 and I come across the writer named Robert Smith. 18:09 And I discover a point 18:10 and observation I have never heard in all my life. 18:12 And I'll predict you haven't heard it-- 18:14 You haven't heard it either. 18:15 This is Robert Smith in his delightful book, 18:17 "Wounded Lord: Reading John Through the Eyes of Thomas." 18:21 In that book, Smith asks the question, okay. 18:23 He says, "Hey, reader, 18:24 what Old Testament scene immediately comes to your mind 18:28 when you see what Mary has just seen?" 18:30 You have an angel here and then you have a slab 18:33 and you have an angel here. 18:35 What scene comes to your mind? 18:37 Of course, "The Ark of the Covenant 18:39 in the Most Holy Place." 18:40 How come I never saw that before? 18:44 He says, "You have it right there in that sepulcher." 18:46 And then Smith observes. 18:47 Let's put Robert Smith's words on the screen, please. 18:50 Jesus' tomb, I love this. 18:52 "Jesus' tomb is the new inner sanctum, 18:55 source not of contamination, but of new and eternal life. 18:59 By telling the story the way he has, 19:01 John is declaring that the crucified 19:03 and resurrected Jesus is himself 19:05 the place of most intimate and gracious meeting with God. 19:10 He is the place where heaven and earth meet 19:13 in holy and creative communion." 19:17 Isn't that beautiful? 19:18 The risen Christ is the new meeting place 19:20 of heaven and earth. 19:22 God and man, Savior and sinner. 19:25 It's all there now in the resurrected Christ. 19:30 Ah, verse 13 Then they-- Those two angels right there. 19:34 Then those angels, "They said to her, 19:37 'Woman, why are you weeping?'" 19:40 They rather tongue-tied in the fourth gospel. 19:42 They do a lot of talking in the other three. 19:44 But here they're just three words in the Greek, 19:46 why are you weeping? 19:48 "And she said to them," keep reading, 19:50 "'Because they have taken away my Lord, 19:52 and I do not know where they have laid Him.'" 19:55 Now, keep reading. 19:56 Verse 14 "Now when she had said this, 19:58 she turned around and she saw Jesus standing there, 20:01 and did not know that it was Jesus." 20:03 May be because the sun has just coming up behind him 20:07 and so she can't quite see. 20:08 Maybe it's the tears she-- 20:10 all she knows is there is this man standing behind her. 20:20 And she-- 20:23 not knowing who he was. 20:25 Looks-- Now verse 15, "Jesus said to her," I like this. 20:30 "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? 20:34 Whom are you seeking?'" 20:36 Now hit the pause button right there. 20:38 Because in the beginning of the fourth gospel, 20:40 the very first spoken words of Jesus are these, 20:44 "What are you seeking?" 20:46 The gospel opens, His first words, 20:48 "What are you seeking?" 20:49 And the gospel close closes with His words, 20:52 "Whom are you seeking." 20:53 A little mini inclusio, two little book ends. 20:56 As if John would have us know that what-- 20:59 when life's quest begins with the, 21:01 what that goal always is to move from the, what to the, who. 21:06 The human race clamoring for the meaning of life, 21:09 what are you seeking? 21:10 The human race that must be led to the urging question, 21:14 whom are you seeking? 21:16 Isn't that great? 21:18 Woman, why are you weeping? 21:21 Whom are you seeking? 21:24 And she-- Keep reading. 21:25 "She supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, 21:28 'Sir, if You have carried Him away, 21:32 tell me where You have laid Him, 21:33 and I will take Him away.'" 21:36 Now by the way this is the same language John has already used 21:39 when John the Baptist looked at Jesus 21:40 and he said "Behold the Lamb of God 21:42 who takes away the sin of the world." 21:44 That word takes away, she now uses it. 21:47 John has her using it. 21:49 The savior who has taken away her guilt 21:51 and she has a guilty past. 21:54 The savior who has taken away her guilt. 21:56 She says-- She is so devoted. 21:58 She said "Just give me his body, I'll take him away." 22:09 And Jesus said to her 22:13 as if He was gonna prove the claim that he made in John 10. 22:16 Remember in John 10, Jesus said, 22:17 "My sheep know my voice and I call them by name 22:22 to prove that that in fact is true. 22:24 "And Jesus said to her, 'Mary! 22:29 Mary. And she turned.'" 22:34 And she cries out-- 22:36 I mean you can just see this moment as if it were a DVD. 22:38 "And she cries out to Him, 'Rabboni!' 22:40 (which is to say, Teacher). 22:41 Jesus said--" Oh, verse 17, "'Do not cling to Me.'" 22:43 Because she's holding onto him. 22:45 She just naturally flew at Him and grabbed Him, 22:47 maybe around the kneels but she's got Him 22:49 and He says, "'Oh, don't, don't cling to Me, 22:52 for I have not yet ascended to My Father, 22:55 but go to My brethren and say to them, 22:57 I am ascending to My Father now 22:58 and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" 23:01 So verse 18 "Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples 23:04 that she had seen the Lord, 23:06 and that He had spoken these things to her." 23:10 I tell you what, every time I relive this story, 23:12 every single time I find it utterly stunning 23:16 that the godly universe, the creator Himself. 23:19 Fernando, what's -- Last name Ortya? 23:25 Yeah, Ortega. 23:26 Fernando Ortega, I love that song of his, 23:28 Jesus, King of Angels. 23:31 That is a beautiful song. 23:33 The king of Angels, 23:34 who after this victorious resurrection 23:38 wants to hurry to His father with Whom He has spent eternity 23:42 and say "Is it a done deal?" 23:45 Instead of hurrying to His father, 23:46 He wakes for this devoted, this dear friend of His. 23:51 He stands in the shadows of that dawning morning, 23:56 wakes to see Mary. 23:57 I found it absolutely stunning. 24:01 He wakes to meet with her. 24:03 I tell you why I find it so stunning, 24:05 because scholars, some scholars and desire of ages. 24:10 I want you to listen carefully here. 24:11 Have drawn the rightful, I believe, 24:13 the rightful conclusion that this Mary of Magdalene. 24:16 Now listen some of you had a little problem 24:18 this last time around. 24:19 But I'm gonna show you Mary-- 24:22 this Mary Magdalene is Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha? 24:28 Mary Magdalene, whenever that name is used in the four gospels 24:33 it is a cryptic link to her sullied 24:37 and stained sexual past. 24:43 Desire of Ages tells us that she was let into sin 24:47 by her uncle Simon the Pharisee for whom they had this big-- 24:51 For whom the feast was provided. 24:57 An insatious advance by her uncle 25:03 has driven Mary into shame she has fled Bethany. 25:07 She has found a little village of Magdala 25:10 and there because she has been led into sin. 25:13 She sinks deeper and deeper into sin 25:17 and guilt and further shame. 25:20 Until one day, a young itinerant preacher 25:24 and teacher and healer, they're calling Messiah, 25:27 came by her way and she found her savior at last. 25:35 I want to put Desire of Ages on the screen for you, 25:36 look at this. 25:38 "Mary had been looked upon as a great sinner, 25:42 but Christ knew the circumstances 25:44 that had shaped her life. 25:46 He might have extinguished 25:47 every spark of hope in her soul, but He did not." 25:49 Listen girl, you should be going to this church, 25:51 find another church. 25:52 Don't come and please don't you know who we are. 25:55 He could've done that he didn't. 25:58 "It was He who had lifted her from despair and ruin. 26:02 Seven times she had heard His rebuke of the demons 26:05 that controlled her heart and mind." 26:07 The synoptics tell us that her name is Mary Magdalene. 26:10 And I'm quoting now the synoptics 26:13 out of whom he had cast seven demons. 26:17 The demon of gratification has held her a slave. 26:21 "Seven times--" Keep reading. 26:23 "Seven times she had heard strong cries 26:25 to the Father in her behalf. 26:26 She knew how offensive is sin to His unsullied purity, 26:29 and in His strength she had overcome." 26:32 Mary Magdalene is the code language for her past. 26:36 When that gospel writers want to talk about her present, 26:39 it's Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, 26:42 same woman, same savior. 26:45 What a savior Jesus is. 26:49 I mean can you believe it. 26:51 And He's waiting in the shadows. 26:53 He's waiting in the shadows. 26:55 He could go to heaven 26:56 but He's waiting for this forgiven one to come 26:58 so that He might speak to her, 27:00 the first human to hear the resurrected one. 27:07 Wow. Amazing. 27:09 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. 27:11 It saved a wretch like me. 27:14 I once was lost but now I'm found. 27:16 I was blind but now I see. 27:19 What a God, we worship right now. 27:23 Ah, but there's more to Sunday. 27:25 Keep reading, verse 19, 27:26 "Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, 27:30 when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled," 27:32 now notice this, "for fear of the Jews." 27:34 Because some people say, 27:35 "Oh, they're already having Sunday night prayer services." 27:38 Are you crazy? 27:40 There is no prayer is going on. 27:41 There is only sweat and adrenaline. 27:44 They are in the bared and shattered upper room 27:47 for fear of the Jews. 27:49 They're scared spit less. Trust me. 27:51 Nobody is having a worship service. 27:56 And all of a sudden, keep reading. 27:58 And all of a sudden, "Jesus came and stood in the midst, 28:02 and He said to them, 'Peace be with you.'" 28:09 Several years ago my friend, Melchizedek Ponniah 28:11 with the communication department 28:12 here at Andrew's University. 28:13 Sent me a Reuters news agency story about a man. 28:16 Listen to this. A man in Nicaragua lived down-- 28:18 The outskirts of Managua. 28:20 Who suddenly turned up missing, 28:22 his wife goes frantic. 28:23 He's been missing for three days. 28:25 Something terrible has happened to him. 28:26 They go to the city morgue-- 28:27 There he is. They got the body. 28:29 Brought the body back in a cascade 28:31 and while they were having the actual funeral service itself, 28:35 the victim comes walking through that door. 28:38 The place goes bananas. 28:43 It's a ghost. 28:46 Turns out the man had left town 28:47 to check on some property in the country-- 28:50 have forgotten to tell his wife. 28:55 Who now is about to bury the wrong man 29:00 but is surely attempted to burry the right man. 29:05 I mean, you can only imagine the pandemonium went suddenly shock. 29:08 There he is, he's bigger than life. 29:11 The dead one, the risen Christ. 29:15 Luke says, they actually convince themselves, 29:18 this is a ghost. 29:19 And Jesus comes to them, where is this in verse 20. 29:22 "When He had said this, He showed them His hands 29:24 and His side and then the disciples," 29:26 then they say, oh. 29:27 "Then the disciples are glad when they finally see the Lord." 29:34 Verse 22 "And when He had said this, 29:37 He breathed on them, and said to them, 29:41 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" 29:43 Oh, I love this. 29:45 You know I have. That old hymn. 29:46 Somebody don't know that old hymn but I do. 29:49 And I have the words written right here, right-- 29:51 all around the white space 29:52 I can find in Andrew study Bible for this first stanza. 29:55 Breathe on me, Breath of God 29:58 Fill me with life anew 30:00 That I may love what Thou dost love 30:04 And do what Thou wouldst do 30:08 What a prayer? 30:09 Every morning when you go to your prayer closet 30:10 that little corner in your dome room, 30:12 that little corner in your family room, 30:15 that corner in your study. 30:16 When you go to your prayer closet, you can say, 30:18 "Oh, Jesus would you breathe on me today? 30:21 Fill me with the Holy Spirit." 30:23 I mean, look what Jesus promise. 30:24 Luke 11:13, Jesus said look at, "If you who are evil, 30:28 know how to give good gifts to your children, 30:29 how much more will your Father in Heaven 30:31 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask." 30:34 You got to ask. 30:35 Tomorrow morning, when you go to have your prayer, 30:37 worship, just say, "Jesus, breathe on me, please. 30:39 Breathe on me." 30:41 And He breathes on them. 30:43 Breathe the Holy Spirit upon them. 30:45 Ah. 30:47 All right, verse 24, "Now Thomas," oh, oh, plot thickens. 30:52 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve." 30:55 By the way, they're 11, now one committed suicide. 30:59 But they will be remembered 31:00 as 12 for the rest of their lives. 31:02 That's their moniker, now they're called the 12. 31:04 "Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, 31:07 was not with them when Jesus came." 31:09 Maybe he stepped off for some fresh air, 31:10 sweaty bodies that are nervous, 31:12 really feel a room anyway. 31:14 Maybe it was for a few hours, 31:15 maybe it was over night, we don't know but he wasn't there. 31:18 And the other disciples, now when he comes back, 31:22 next morning, next day, who knows. 31:23 The other disciples when he comes back 31:26 they are clapping him on the back 31:27 and squeezing his beard to cheek 31:29 and saying, Thomas, you're not gonna believe this, 31:31 but "we have seen the Lord. He's alive." 31:35 And Thomas said, "Huh?" 31:38 Do you know why, he said, "Huh?" 31:41 Because he is a graduate of a university, that's why. 31:46 That's exactly why. 31:48 Higher education, what is it train us to do. 31:50 Those of us enmeshed in the life 31:52 of higher education in this little perish. 31:55 What is higher education train us to do? 31:58 You have to thank for yourself. 32:00 You don't take nobody-- Excuse me. 32:02 You don't take anybody's word for it. 32:07 You have to have empirical evidence. 32:12 Do you know what empirical evidence is? 32:15 I'm sure you do. 32:16 Empirical evidence is what you do in a laboratory 32:17 for four hours on a Wednesday night. 32:21 Empirical evidence is what you spend days doing in a library, 32:24 it's how you come to conclusions, 32:26 it's after you've examined all the evidence that you say, 32:31 "Aha, this must be true." 32:34 Thomas has gone to university, a graduate. 32:36 And he's been trained that whenever somebody 32:38 lays an audacious claim upon you, "Huh" is the response. 32:43 And that's exactly what he does. 32:45 Verse 25, now the disciples therefore said to him, 32:49 "Hey, Thomas, 'We have seen the Lord.'" 32:51 "And he said to them, 32:53 'No, unless I see in His hands the print," 32:57 empirical evidence number one, 32:59 the print of the nails.'" 33:00 And by the way this is the only place in all four gospels 33:02 that nails are mentioned leading us 33:04 to know Jesus was crucified by nails. 33:06 You read it into the others because it's in your mind, 33:09 only because of Thomas' word do we know? 33:13 He said empirical evidence number one, 33:15 "I must see in His hands the print of the nails." 33:17 Empirical evidence number two, 33:18 "I want to put my finger in those print of the nails." 33:20 And empirical evidence number three, 33:21 "I want to put my hand into His side, 33:22 I will not believe until I do." 33:28 Is it wrong to insist on empirical evidence? 33:35 And is empirical evidence 33:36 antithetical to faith in religion? 33:40 Some think so. 33:42 George Marsden in his delightful little book, 33:44 "The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship." 33:47 Listen to him. 33:48 I put his words on the screen for you. 33:50 "It is very common... 33:52 for academics to dismiss religion as simply non-empirical 33:56 and therefore the idea relevance of religious perspectives 33:59 to respectable scholarship as absurd." 34:03 Keep reading. 34:04 In the Chronicle of Higher Education 34:06 and the faculty here know what that is. 34:07 A leading American intellectual historian 34:10 responded that "the notion that scholars' beliefs 34:13 are compatible with their academic interests is loony 34:17 and reflects a self-indulgent professoriate." 34:23 And somebody else wrote in 34:24 "Went even further, asserting that matter of religion are 34:27 'by definition not amenable to logic.'" 34:33 Clearly, ladies and gentlemen 34:34 in the realm of higher education. 34:35 There are those who reject the compatibility 34:38 of personal faith prospectus with serious, logical, 34:42 empirical scholarship, they just don't work. 34:45 But just as clearly in what we are about to witness 34:51 we would see the evidence that personal faith 34:55 and empirical evidence are not antithetical at all. 35:02 Read on, verse 26, "And after eight days," 35:06 okay, so it's next week now. 35:08 "His disciples were again inside, 35:11 and Thomas with them." 35:15 And then it happens again, Jesus-- there it is. 35:17 "Jesus came, the doors being shut, 35:20 and stood in the midst, and He said again, 35:22 'Shalom to you!' 35:23 " Verse 27, and then He turns, 35:25 where are you-- 35:26 And then He turns and looks straight to Thomas. 35:30 One little piece and now He's going for Thomas. 35:34 And He looks straight to Thomas. 35:35 "And He says 'Reach your finger here, 35:37 and look at My hands, and reach your hand here, 35:39 and put it into My side. 35:41 Do not be unbelieving, but believing.' 35:46 And Thomas answered and said to Him, 35:49 'My Lord and my God!'" 35:55 That's a major Christological Christ. 35:57 That's a major Christ book in-or inclusio. 36:01 The book opens declaring Christ is divine, 36:03 the book closes again confessing Christ is divine. 36:07 Intention, my Lord, and my God. 36:11 Jesus goes on. 36:12 "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, 36:16 you have believed. 36:17 But blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 36:24 If you please. 36:25 Let's consider Thomas and Mary, 36:27 the patron saints of higher education, 36:28 particularly Christian higher education, 36:31 even more particularly 36:32 Seventh-day Adventist higher education. 36:35 You know I say patron saints, of course, 36:37 we know that they are sleeping in the dust of the earth 36:39 and they await the glorious return 36:41 and resurrection, the return of Christ. 36:43 But let's just for imagine-- 36:45 Let's say that Thomas and Mary 36:48 are the gospel representatives of all of us, 36:50 who are enmeshed in higher education today, okay. 36:54 Why them? I tell you, why. 36:55 Because they like us operate out of an empirical bias 37:00 and empirical bias I have to have that to believe. 37:04 Mary has to see, Thomas has to touch, 37:08 but what is so amazing, listen to this. 37:10 What is so amazing is that 37:12 Jesus rebukes neither one of them for that empirical bias. 37:16 Not a word, not a scolding word. 37:19 He accepts it. 37:22 In fact He acquiesces to their empirical bias 37:24 and offers each of them what would be most convincing to them 37:27 for Mary, it's a sound of His voice 37:30 and that bring forth the confession. 37:31 For Thomas, it is the touch and that bring forth the confession. 37:35 Why? 37:36 Because our creator knows that He made us 37:39 for the very quest that higher education thrives on today. 37:44 He made us that way. 37:45 Intellectually we've been created 37:47 to exercise the highest powers of our minds 37:49 to grapple with the most empirical of all evidences. 37:53 We've been made that way which means, 37:55 it's okay to ask for empirical evidence. 37:59 Empirical evidence is not countered to God, 38:02 it's what God is, and it's what God does. 38:08 One of the seminarians in my preaching class, Nestor Soriano. 38:13 I told the class on Wednesday 38:14 what I'm gonna be preaching on today. 38:15 And he found something yesterday, 38:18 he sent me an email and he said, 38:19 "Hey, Dwight, did you see this latest-- 38:21 in that latest issue of the Adventist Review, 38:23 a story written by Addison Hudgins. 38:26 Title of the article, "Lost sheep? 38:29 Discovering Why Young People Choose to Leave Church." 38:32 So we just slipped this in, 38:33 I want you to see this, look up here. 38:36 "As one young adult expressed," 38:38 this is Hudgins writing, this is the young adult speaking. 38:41 "I always felt very guilty 38:44 when I had questions I wanted to ask." 38:47 Because apparently there are some communities 38:49 within the community of faith 38:51 where it is verboten to ask questions. 38:53 What are you asking that for? 38:54 You ought to believe, it says it right here, 38:56 just take it girl, come on boy. 38:59 Apparently there are some communities 39:01 where asking questions is a sign of loss of faith 39:06 or heresy or off the beam. 39:10 One young adult says, "I always felt very guilty 39:12 whenever I had questions I wanted to ask." 39:14 Now Hudgins goes on, 39:16 "We need to cultivate critical thinking skills 39:19 and not discourage young adults from questioning. 39:22 When we avoid challenging Bible passages 39:24 or brush off difficult questions, 39:26 we do the questioner a disservice," 39:29 but I thought this was insight full 39:31 "and we do God a disservice. 39:36 God is the one searching for us-- 39:38 which means He is big enough 39:40 to handle our doubts and discouragements." 39:43 "Let Him. Let the questions come. 39:45 Ask Me. Ask Me anything you wish. 39:49 Let me help you find the answer." 39:51 We ought to not be cutting off questions, please. 39:55 It's okay to ask God for evidence 39:58 to dispel our doubts but we need to do so. 40:01 Listen seriously. 40:03 We need to do so remembering the limits. 40:06 Remembering that there is something beyond 40:09 where empirical evidence goes, 40:11 reason goes to the end of empirical evidence 40:13 but then faith has to keep traversing, 40:16 faith can't stop, it has to keep going. 40:18 Richard Rice, I have his book in-- 40:22 I want to share a line from his book. 40:23 The title of the book "Reason & the Contours of Faith." 40:26 And I'm gonna hang this sentence 40:27 on the screen for you for a moment 40:29 and if I were tweeting the one line from this Bible teaching 40:32 this will be the line I would tweet, this is it. 40:35 Richard Rice, "Faith always affirms 40:39 more than reason can support." 40:42 Just look at that for a moment. 40:44 "Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 40:48 Reason gets down to here, 40:49 empirical evidence stops right here, faith keeps going. 40:51 Faith said, I'm not stopping there, I keep going. 40:53 Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 41:01 Which is why Jesus, He does not rebuke Thomas. 41:04 But Jesus pronounces this benediction. 41:08 Read that again in verse 29. 41:09 "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, please, 41:11 because you have seen Me, you have believed.'" 41:13 That's okay, that's okay. 41:14 "But blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 41:20 How does that line go 41:21 "Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 41:26 I mean you think about it. 41:28 First generation, okay, so here is Jesus 41:30 and here is that all that first generation crowd of believers. 41:35 The fact of matter is ladies and gentlemen, 41:36 they're gonna die. And they did die. 41:39 In fact John boy is now John the Elder, 41:42 they are dying off. 41:44 We are now in the second generation. 41:45 We're possibly into third generation. 41:47 And guess what for second generationers 41:49 and third generationers, 41:50 there is no empirical evidence. 41:52 It's gone where I couldn't touch him. 41:54 1 John 1, what we saw, what we handed, 41:57 what we touched, we don't have it. 42:01 Still for us 3rd millennium as what, 42:03 we have no empirical evidence which means. 42:05 Now hold on, which means 42:07 that the only empirical evidence we can handle 42:11 is the actual testimony of those who were here, 42:17 when the resurrection happened. 42:19 I say, come on, I don't like that. 42:21 I'm not gonna just do that kind of really nearly going back 42:24 and taking somebody else's word for it. 42:26 What do you mean you're not gonna do that? 42:27 You do it all the time. 42:28 You study history at all? Do you study history at all? 42:31 Ever heard of the declaration of the independence? 42:34 Of course, you have. It's a forgery. 42:36 I'm telling you, it's a forgery. 42:38 That signature at the end of that document, 42:40 what is it, Thomas Jefferson? 42:42 Oh, that's a forgery I can tell. 42:45 You say, Dwight it's not a forgery. 42:47 I've been to the National Archives 42:48 and I have actually looked at the document. 42:49 Guess what, so have I? 42:50 But who is to tell us that isn't a forgery. 42:52 Who is to tell us that this thing gets slipped in one night? 42:55 And we're all now believing that a declaration of independence 42:57 that was never made, 42:58 there never was a Thomas Jefferson. 43:00 No. We don't do that with history. 43:02 We believe if somebody who knew Thomas Jefferson 43:05 told somebody else about knowing Thomas Jefferson 43:07 who told somebody else, who told somebody else, 43:08 who told somebody else, and we're down here 43:10 and guess what without a question we accept by faith 43:15 there once was a Thomas Jefferson 43:17 and he really did sign the declaration of independence. 43:19 How do you like that? 43:20 But the moment we talk about the Bible 43:23 and history from the story of Christ. 43:25 Oh, I can't, I can't believe that 43:27 there's just bunch of tales that were written. 43:29 You have no more way of knowing the Bible is a bunch of tales 43:33 than you do American history is a bunch of tales. 43:37 We got a crazy logic don't we? 43:39 When it comes to God, 43:40 oh, suddenly picky, picky, picky, picky. 43:43 When it comes to our own history, oh, yeah. 43:45 Yo, Tom. Nice to see you. 43:49 What's up with that? 43:50 We've split. We have split ourselves. 43:53 And we do not use the same modus operandi with both stories. 43:56 We're hard on the resurrection story. 43:59 People who saw him and wrote it down, we're hard on them. 44:04 But we take Thomas Jefferson for granted. 44:09 That's why, "Faith has to affirm more than reason can support." 44:16 Let me read verse 30 to you. 44:18 And John-- This is the formal ending, 44:20 there will be one more story, the last one next Sabbath. 44:22 "And truly," John writes, 44:24 "And truly Jesus did many other signs." 44:27 See there they are, the signs are-- 44:29 We-- Hey guys, we saw it all, and you haven't seen anything. 44:32 But I've written some of these signs down. 44:34 Why? 44:35 So that you may-- where are we, 44:36 "And truly Jesus did many other signs 44:38 in the presence of His disciples, 44:39 which are not written in this book." 44:40 Verse 31, "But the ones that I did write down are written 44:44 so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, 44:47 the Son of God, and that believing 44:49 you may have life in His name." 44:51 I'm giving you empirical evidence, 44:53 first person testimony. 44:54 I'm giving you first person testimony. 44:57 You have to believe what I tell you. 45:01 You believe Thomas Jefferson. 45:02 Why don't you believe Thomas? 45:05 Believe, when he says my Lord and my God. 45:12 I'm giving you these signs 45:14 so that you too like all history 45:18 will come to believe the veracity of our story. 45:23 Isn't that amazing? 45:26 Wow. 45:28 "Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 45:35 And by the way that is precisely why 45:37 Adventist higher education exists today. 45:39 That's why it flourishes today, 45:41 because faith must affirms more than reason can support. 45:44 The states school system get you down to the end of reason 45:47 and it has to stop right here. 45:49 But faith, the faith school system 45:52 moves beyond that terminus. 45:56 And says there is more. 45:57 "Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 46:02 Hence the reason for the existence of Andrews University 46:05 and all of our sister universities, 46:07 we exist because faith always affirms 46:12 more than reason can support. 46:15 So around here unabashedly we mix them together. 46:23 In the end, I am telling you about a young man 46:25 I met on the plane two weeks ago. 46:27 I'm flying over to Mannheim, Germany. 46:30 For a big youth convention, these are young adults, 46:34 1,200 plus German young adults. 46:36 It was an incredible experience. 46:38 So anyway I'm flying over. This is like a Wednesday, 46:40 I got to fly all night to start preaching on Thursday. 46:43 I got on the plane in the South Bend 46:46 and here comes this guy down the-- 46:48 And I'm looking him over, this is gonna be my seatmate. 46:50 He is I guess about 29 years old, 46:53 three-day growth of beard, you know, 46:55 how these guys do it now. 46:56 And he has his Jeans on 46:58 and he just plops into the seat beside me. 47:01 So I'm reading a book and I looked over to him. 47:04 And I never start a conversation right way. 47:06 So I notice he has an academic paper in his hand. 47:09 Well, that's intriguing for me. So I'm looking to the title, 47:12 Heidegger, Schleiermacher, Kant. Oh! This guy's into philosophy. 47:17 So after we took off, I leaned over to him and said, 47:20 "Hey, is this is a paper you are writing 47:22 or is it a paper you are reading?" 47:24 Turns out he's a Notre Dame PHD almost graduate, 47:28 in two weeks he'll be a graduate philosophy. 47:30 And he's going to the American Philosophical Association, APA. 47:34 And he is gonna-- 47:35 This is one of the papers that's being read. 47:36 And so he's studying it in advance. 47:38 He says, "What do you do?" 47:39 I said, "I'm at a little school 47:41 just up the road from you, Andrews University. 47:43 And pastor at the university church. 47:47 Oh, yeah. 47:51 I always get some. That's okay. They get over it. 47:55 And so this is the perfect entree now 47:57 because he's brought it up. 47:58 So I saw and look at him 47:59 and I said by the way what church did you grow up in? 48:04 If you want to ask somebody about their faith, 48:06 just ask the question like that. 48:07 Watch you're not saying anything, 48:09 you just-- what church did you grow up in? 48:11 Oh, I'm an agnostic. 48:12 I grow up in a Lutheran church but I'm an agnostic. 48:15 You know, I said, "Well, why are you an agnostic?" 48:17 He said, "Well, because look I've done all the studying 48:19 and I'm finding out that there are questions 48:21 that just do not have answers. 48:23 I'm not saying there is no God. 48:24 I'm just saying I don't know from the evidences here. 48:28 And so I'm an agnostic. 48:33 Why do you believe? 48:34 Oh, good question. 48:37 And so flying over late Michigan. 48:39 We only have like 25 minutes. 48:41 Flying over late Michigan. 48:43 We're in this conversation. 48:44 We're talking about theodicy, good God, evil world. 48:47 We're talking about how can you believe 48:51 and when we're landing I'm thinking, 48:53 you know, I got to keep in touch with him. 48:55 And so I said to him, hey, give me your email address, 48:58 I want to give you -- 48:59 I want to give you C.S. Lewis's book 49:01 Mere Christianity, brilliant. 49:02 By the way he was an agnostic/atheist 49:05 and became a believer in Christ. 49:08 I want to send you this book Mere Christianity. 49:09 He said, "I think I read that back in --" 49:11 I said, "You probably did but let me send it to you. 49:12 Give me your e-mail, when I get back to Germany, 49:14 I'll e-mail you, give you address. 49:16 Because it is a safe way, there's a two step way." 49:19 So he said, "Sure." 49:20 I said, "I will send you another book too." 49:24 No, I told him what the book was, 49:26 little book I've written called "Outrageous Grace" 49:28 which deals with how can you have 49:29 a good God in the evil world 49:30 so it's a little bit of theodicy. 49:31 And I said, "I send you my book as well." 49:33 So I get back, email him, shoots me. 49:36 I want that book. 49:37 Hey, I found I found CS Lewis. 49:38 So don't bother to sending me that 49:39 I'm gonna read that like you suggested. 49:41 Because CS Lewis, here is the deal. 49:42 CS Lewis defends the Christian faith 49:45 philosophically without quoting a single Bible text. 49:50 Good for somebody who doesn't want to hear the Bible 49:52 but it is open to think. 49:54 So anyways I got the book so don't send it to me. 49:56 But I want your book, so I sent him that book 49:59 and I threw in another book, two for the price of one. 50:03 I threw in a book called the Great Controversy, 50:05 I don't know if you've heard about it. 50:08 But I wrote, I script it in the cover, 50:09 I script it in the cover. 50:10 Listen you grew up a Luther, 50:11 here are the three chapters that really moved me 50:13 when I'm feeling down and out 50:14 I go to these three chapters and I read them, 50:16 I hope they bless you too, 50:17 it's a history of Christianity blessings. 50:22 That short visit across late Michigan 50:24 with a young agnostic in my way of thinking proves it true. 50:29 This bottom line that 50:31 "Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 50:36 Get your reasons going. 50:38 You say, "Dwight, I'm not a believer here either." 50:40 Well, I'm glad you identified yourself. 50:43 Get your reasons going. 50:44 You can-- You can take the first step of reason. 50:48 And what's the first step of reason? 50:49 Be just like Thomas. 50:50 He say, "Hey, I have to have empirical evidence. 50:54 That's the way I'm wired, my mind works that way. 50:56 Go ahead be my guest. 50:58 Ask him for empirical evidence." 51:02 Who is to say that the same living Christ 51:04 will not show up one night in your room stand before you 51:08 and He'll say put your finger out and touch me I am. 51:18 Could a young philosopher, 51:19 professor to be open himself 51:22 up to the possibility of empirical evidence 51:24 that would be convincing to him? 51:26 Why not? 51:27 "Faith always affirms more than reason can support." 51:31 So you take the first step, declare like Thomas. 51:34 I must have empirical evidence 51:37 and see that Christ will not open for you 51:39 the windows of heaven 51:41 and give you reason to believe. 51:43 What did He say? 51:44 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 51:49 Reach out like Thomas. 51:50 And I believe. 51:52 I believe you may believe too. 51:59 Why not? 52:00 Bright mind that you are, what have you got to lose? 52:05 Reach out and ask for empirical evidence. 52:09 See what He does? 52:15 There's a little card in your worship bulletin today 52:21 because life is about taking the next step. 52:23 Would you pull the card out? 52:25 Ushers are gonna come in just a moment 52:27 receive these cards from all of us. 52:29 But this is a card you have already put your name, 52:32 put your email address here, 52:33 because I'm gonna send you something if you ask for, 52:34 only if you ask for. 52:36 I'm gonna send you something 52:37 I think you're gonna you be appreciative of it. 52:39 Turn the card over where it says my next step today is 52:43 --Could you put a check mark here, 52:44 I choose to exercise a daily faith in Christ 52:47 beyond empirical evidence that reason supports. 52:50 I choose to exercise a daily faith in Christ. 52:54 I want to put a check mark there, 52:56 but now here is the offer. 52:57 Here is offer, box number two, 52:59 next week I would like to read, 53:02 CS Lewis's Mere Christianity section. 53:04 Don't read the whole book. 53:06 I don't think the whole book is all that great really. 53:07 But book two within the book 53:10 I'm gonna send you a link 53:12 when you click on to that link 53:13 you will go immediately to book 2. 53:16 Read, book 2, I think there are four chapters 53:18 where he gives an apology for the Christian faith. 53:21 Next week I'd like to read it, 53:22 would you please send me that section. 53:24 I'll send you a link. 53:25 You can read it in your only leisure on your laptop, 53:30 your ipad, your smart phone or whatever. 53:32 But put a check mark there 53:34 and within 48 hours we'll get, 53:35 but we have to have your email address, 53:36 don't give it to us with no address. 53:38 If you have your email address, 53:39 we'll get this to you within 48 hours. 53:42 This Sabbath, you know, Dwight, 53:43 I'm just kind of thinking about this thing with Jesus, 53:45 Thomas, that young agnostic, I mean what about me? 53:49 If you are open to considering 53:52 a new relationship with Jesus, 53:54 beginning a new relationship with Jesus, 53:55 would you put a check mark right there 53:57 in another little box, I'm interested in beginning 53:59 a relationship with Jesus? 54:01 We'll send other material to you, 54:03 we're not gonna come knocking at your door. 54:05 We'll send it to you. 54:07 Somebody was saying you know what? 54:09 Watching that baptism, 54:11 I'm not 16, I'm a little older than 16. 54:13 But you know what I need to make that same step. 54:18 It's as easy as making the decision, 54:20 put a check mark there. 54:21 I like information about baptism we'll get it to you. 54:24 We'll get that information to you. 54:27 I want to sing a chorus, 54:28 Jose thank you for leading us in that-- 54:30 Let's just sing the chorus of-- 54:32 Because He Lives, you know that part. 54:34 Let's just sing that part. 54:35 We'll put the words on the screen for you 54:37 and then the ushers are gonna come. 54:38 I want to have a prayer and then the ushers would come. 54:42 Because He lives 54:46 I can face tomorrow 54:52 Because He lives 54:57 All fear is gone 55:02 Because I know 55:08 He holds the future 55:13 And life is worth the living 55:18 Just because He lives 55:26 Oh, God we are the product of higher education. 55:29 We need that empirical evidence. 55:32 You were so gracious. 55:33 Jesus was with Thomas and Mary. 55:36 What will you do for us? 55:38 We're not being presumptuous. 55:39 We're not demanding. 55:41 We're humbly asking, grow our faith. 55:44 We recognize in faith we'll one day have to move beyond 55:48 what reason supports, 55:50 but when that faith comes 55:53 take it deep into our minds and our hearts. 55:57 To believe in Him, whom to know life eternal, 56:01 what could be better than that? 56:03 Do father what You must do, 56:05 replace our little cards in the-- 56:09 the offering prayers come by now. 56:11 Replace our morning tithes and offerings. 56:13 The tithes are yours, the offerings are ours 56:15 and we're grateful and so we return to You 56:18 and we give to You. 56:19 Please take all of this as we worship this last moment 56:23 in giving in Christ name we pray, amen. 56:31 I like to take a moment here at the end of the service 56:33 to tell you about one of the most 56:34 important groups of people 56:35 that make this ministry possible. 56:38 There are teams of people, 56:40 they're not afraid to get down into the thick of life itself 56:43 which is why you're gonna find them, 56:44 you will find them moving forwards on their knees. 56:48 There are prayer partners, a group of men and woman 56:51 and young adults who believe 56:53 that this humble television ministry 56:56 has been raised up by God for such a time as this. 56:58 And so they pray honestly that God will use 57:00 the preacher that God will use me, 57:02 and that God would use the countless other volunteers 57:05 to spread the everlasting gospel and the word of God 57:08 in ways we could never have imagined before. 57:10 They're the once who are praying that God is gonna 57:13 open up the hearts of the people, 57:15 open up the hearts of viewers around the world, 57:18 for the message, the critical message 57:20 for this end time generation. 57:23 And what I would like to do is ask you, 57:25 would you be willing to be a prayer partner with us? 57:28 A prayer partner with New Perceptions. 57:29 You don't have to call a toll free number. 57:31 You don't have to go online to register. 57:33 All I need to know is that 57:35 you'd be willing to lift this little ministry up. 57:40 Day after day after day. 57:42 Pray that somehow through radio and television 57:45 and the web God will open up new doors, 57:48 new regions on earth 57:50 where the everlasting gospel can be proclaimed. 57:53 There is no question the power of prayer 57:55 has potentially to takes this ministry 57:57 to places that we could never have imagined before. 58:00 So that's it would you please be willing 58:03 to partner with me in prayer? 58:05 The times are urgent, 58:07 the need is critical and I hope you will say yes. 58:11 Till we're together next time. 58:13 May the prayer answering God 58:15 accompany you every step of a way. |
Revised 2014-12-17