From the campus
of Andrews University
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this is New Perceptions
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with Dr. Dwight K. Nelson.
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Who has told
every lightning bolt
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where it should go
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Or seen heavenly storehouses
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laden with snow?
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Who imagined the sun
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and gives source to its light
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Yet conceals it to bring us
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the coolness of night?
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None can fathom
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Indescribable, uncontainable
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You placed the stars in the sky
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And You know them by name
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You are amazing, God!
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All powerful, untamable,
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Awestruck we fall to our knees
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As we humbly proclaim
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You are amazing, God!
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Indescribable, uncontainable
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You placed the stars in the sky
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And You know them by name
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You are amazing, God!
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All powerful, untamable
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Awestruck we fall to our knees
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As we humbly proclaim
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You are amazing, God!
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Holy, holy, holy!
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Lord God Almighty!
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Early in the morning
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our song shall rise to Thee
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Holy, holy, holy!
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Merciful and mighty!
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God in three persons
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blessed Trinity!
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Holy, holy, holy!
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Angels adore Thee
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Casting down their bright crowns
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Around the glassy sea
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Thousands and ten thousands
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Worship low before Thee
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Which wert, and art,
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and evermore shalt be
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Holy, holy, holy!
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Lord God Almighty!
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All Thy works shall praise
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Thy name In earth,
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and sky, and sea
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Holy, holy, holy!
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Merciful and mighty!
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God in three persons,
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blessed Trinity!
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Help me
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Help me
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Help me
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Help me
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Help me
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Help me spread your fragrance
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wherever I go
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Flood my soul
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Flood my soul
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Flood my soul
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Flood my soul
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with Your spirit and life
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Penetrate and possess
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my whole being so utterly
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That my life may be only
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a radiance of Yours
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That my life may be
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only a radiance of Yours
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Shine through me
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and be so in me
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That every soul
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I come in contact with
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May feel Your presence
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in my soul
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Let them look up
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and see no longer me,
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but only Jesus!
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But only You
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But only You
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Amen. Thank you,
university singers.
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We needed that prayer.
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Scribble the words down,
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help me spread your fragrance
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wherever I go
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and flood my
soul with your spirit.
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What a New Year prayer.
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It's a right prayer to pray.
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They are considered
among the most sublime words
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in all of sacred literature.
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The Prologue to
the Fourth Gospel
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just 18 verses in length
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and yet in this
majestic introduction
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we read the story of you
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and me and God
and this universe.
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It seems right in
this day of new beginnings
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that we read the
Prologue together.
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Pull your Bible out.
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Didn't bring a
Bible there is a pew Bible
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right in front of you.
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Eighteen short verses.
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Well, let's read them together.
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Any translation you
brought its fine with me.
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I'll be in the
Andrew's study Bible,
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New King James.
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I read out loud
you read in your heart.
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John 1:1
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"In the beginning was the Word,
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and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
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He was in the
beginning with God.
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All things were
made through Him,
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and without Him
nothing was made that was made.
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In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men.
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And the light
shines in the darkness,
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and the darkness
did not comprehend it.
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There was a man sent
from God, whose name was John.
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This man came for a witness,
to bear witness of the Light,
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that all through
him might believe.
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He was not that Light,
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but was sent to bear
witness of that Light.
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That was the true Light
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which gives light to
every man coming into the world.
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He was in the world,
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and the world
was made through Him,
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and the world did not know Him.
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He came to His own, and
His own did not receive Him.
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But as many as received Him,
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to them He gave the right
to become children of God,
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to those who believe
in His name who were born,
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not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh,
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nor of the will
of man, but of God.
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And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us,
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and we beheld His glory,
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the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,
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full of grace and truth.
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John bore witness of
Him and cried out, saying,
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'This was He of whom I said,
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"He who comes after me
is preferred before me,
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for He was before me.'"
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And of His fullness
we have all received,
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and grace for grace.
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For the law was
given through Moses
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but grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.
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No one has seen God at any time.
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The only begotten Son,
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who is in the
bosom of the Father,
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He has declared
Him." Let's pray.
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Oh God, show us the word
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and don't let
us remain the same.
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We pray in His name. Amen.
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Let me ask you a question,
think through this with me.
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Can you imagine a world
without any words at all?
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A world with out words?
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Let's just discover that
world together right now.
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I'm gonna give the command
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and all the
words will disappear.
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Let all the words now be gone.
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You think about it,
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this hypothetical
world with out words
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what changed?
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If you lived in a world with
out words what just changed?
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The sound of words gone.
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All conversation, all language
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all signing with
words you could hum
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but that would be a the writing,
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the printing, the preservation
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display of words gone.
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No more computer screens.
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No more books. No more hymns.
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The archiving of words gone.
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No history, no
science, no literature.
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You can't imagine.
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The point is we cannot
imagine a world with out words.
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All though there
are some people--
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listen to this, there
are some people alive today
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who suffer from
what is called aphasia.
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There's developmental aphasia
that means you are born with it.
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That is after you got your
head hit aphasia as an adult.
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Aphasia is the
inability to speak,
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read or write words.
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Can you imagine a
world with no words at all?
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So here's a
thought question for you.
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Could you be a senescent being?
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Could you be a feeling?
00:16:06.82\00:16:08.20
Could you be a thinking
being if words did not exist?
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Could you?
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Like at the turn
of the 19th century
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from the 18th
to the 19th century
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a German philosopher
and linguist an educator
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his name Wilhelm
Humboldt was grappling
00:16:25.61\00:16:29.36
with the inter relationship
between words and thoughts.
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It's pretty heavy but I
thought it's significant.
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Let me put it on
the screen for you.
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These are the words
of the German philosopher
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Wilhelm von
Humboldt, "Language" he wrote,
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"Is the formative
organ of thought."
00:16:43.47\00:16:47.15
Isn't that
something, not the brain,
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language is the
formative organ of thought.
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"Intellectual activity, entirely
mental, entirely internal,
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and to some extent
passing without trace."
00:16:59.63\00:17:02.53
So I'm looking in
your face right now,
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and you are looking into mine
can you tell what I'm thinking?
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With out trace I'm doing it.
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You have no concept of what
I'm thinking isn't that right?
00:17:09.06\00:17:12.09
"Intellectual activity,
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entirely mental,
entirely internal,
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and to some extent
passing without trace
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becomes through
sound, externalized in speech
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and perceptible to the senses."
00:17:20.81\00:17:23.35
Last line, "Thought and
language are therefore one
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and inseparable
from each other."
00:17:28.34\00:17:32.15
You can have
thought without words.
00:17:32.18\00:17:39.15
You agree with that?
00:17:39.18\00:17:41.17
I mean that's what
happening right now.
00:17:41.20\00:17:42.27
I'm trying-- I'm trying to
communicate something to you
00:17:42.30\00:17:44.09
so I had this
little this phonetic
00:17:44.12\00:17:46.62
internal
intellectual activity going on
00:17:46.65\00:17:48.32
and I'm
grabbing as fast as I can
00:17:48.35\00:17:53.92
audio symbols
00:17:53.95\00:17:56.62
so that the words
would describe you
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what I'm trying to say.
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I'm externalizing my thoughts.
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And by the way
you think about this
00:18:06.31\00:18:08.13
my thoughts are
my very identity.
00:18:08.16\00:18:11.42
Isn't that true?
I'm who I think, right.
00:18:11.45\00:18:18.28
If you can hear how I
think you will never know me.
00:18:18.31\00:18:23.31
That's how powerful the word is.
00:18:23.34\00:18:27.47
"In the beginning was the Word,
00:18:27.50\00:18:32.48
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
00:18:32.51\00:18:38.94
The same "was in
the beginning with God."
00:18:38.97\00:18:46.14
In that single
sublime pronouncement,
00:18:46.17\00:18:50.06
philosophy, linguistics
and theology all collide.
00:18:50.09\00:18:57.31
What's Humboldt
noted what do words do
00:18:57.34\00:18:59.90
but externalize
our inner thoughts,
00:18:59.93\00:19:02.25
then what would
God's capital W word do
00:19:02.28\00:19:05.24
but revile His inner thoughts.
00:19:05.27\00:19:07.32
If we cannot know
His inner thoughts
00:19:07.35\00:19:09.66
we will never know Him.
00:19:09.69\00:19:13.96
"In the beginning was the Word,
00:19:13.99\00:19:17.45
and the Word was with God,
00:19:17.48\00:19:18.63
and the Word was God.
00:19:18.66\00:19:21.67
He was in the
beginning with God."
00:19:21.70\00:19:24.74
So who is this word?
00:19:24.77\00:19:27.71
And what
difference does it make to you
00:19:27.74\00:19:29.16
and me in the third millennium?
00:19:29.19\00:19:31.58
Well, let's see how
I'm able to externalize
00:19:31.61\00:19:33.26
my internal thought processes
to give you some instructions.
00:19:33.29\00:19:36.83
Can you do two
things at once? Can you?
00:19:36.86\00:19:39.54
All right, two things
please do them simultaneously.
00:19:39.57\00:19:42.47
Number one, find--
00:19:42.50\00:19:43.82
first find the first
chapter John in your Bible.
00:19:43.85\00:19:46.15
Grab your Bible, if
you don't have a Bible
00:19:46.18\00:19:47.89
pull the pew Bible
out. You want to track this.
00:19:47.92\00:19:50.07
Number one
first find the first--
00:19:50.10\00:19:52.21
John Chapter 1,
00:19:52.24\00:19:54.25
one and number two
looking at New Year bulletin
00:19:54.28\00:19:58.91
and pull out your study guide.
00:19:58.94\00:19:59.97
Let's see if you
can do both together.
00:20:00.00\00:20:03.14
Open your Bible to John
1:1 pull out your study guide.
00:20:03.17\00:20:06.37
You didn't get your study guide
we got some friendly ushers
00:20:06.40\00:20:09.08
who will make sure that
you have your study guide
00:20:09.11\00:20:12.28
as we go on for
these next few moments.
00:20:12.31\00:20:19.06
Take out that
brand new study guide
00:20:19.09\00:20:20.24
for a brand new season
00:20:20.27\00:20:21.30
as we begin a new journey here
in the Pioneer Memorial Church
00:20:21.33\00:20:24.78
in the campus of
Andrews University.
00:20:24.81\00:20:25.97
Brand new journey.
00:20:26.00\00:20:27.03
By the way I need to
say this to for those of you
00:20:27.06\00:20:28.35
who don't know and
there could be some of you,
00:20:28.38\00:20:30.34
some of you watching right now.
00:20:30.37\00:20:32.64
This school year
in this school year
00:20:32.67\00:20:36.10
every public venue for worship,
dawn worship, co-ed worship,
00:20:36.13\00:20:42.07
co-curricular worships, chapel,
00:20:42.10\00:20:44.54
house of prayer
on Wednesday nights,
00:20:44.57\00:20:48.42
Sabbath mornings.
00:20:48.45\00:20:50.41
Every venue for public worship
00:20:50.44\00:20:52.89
this school year
at Andrews University
00:20:52.92\00:20:55.83
is gonna take one of the--
00:20:55.86\00:20:57.00
one of the fourth
gospel of the Book of Acts.
00:20:57.03\00:20:59.53
This university will spend
the entire year tracking Jesus.
00:20:59.56\00:21:06.19
I bet you could
trace all the way
00:21:06.22\00:21:07.28
back to Battle Creek College
00:21:07.31\00:21:08.34
and you would
never find a school year
00:21:08.37\00:21:10.33
where the
entire institution said
00:21:10.36\00:21:13.08
we will devote our spiritual
journey to the life of Christ.
00:21:13.11\00:21:21.02
And can you believe it?
00:21:21.05\00:21:23.64
Sabbath morning
00:21:23.67\00:21:24.92
we get the most
sublime gospel of the four.
00:21:24.95\00:21:29.42
By the way, not
just Sabbath mornings
00:21:29.45\00:21:30.92
but this is the
third bit of instruction.
00:21:30.95\00:21:33.83
You already have
your Bible open at John 1,
00:21:33.86\00:21:35.13
you already
have your study guide
00:21:35.16\00:21:36.23
but I need to quickly
point this out to you.
00:21:36.26\00:21:38.87
This is the New
Year bulletin for today.
00:21:38.90\00:21:41.62
On the back cover every Sabbath
00:21:41.65\00:21:43.44
you will find a list of
reflecting brooding questions
00:21:43.47\00:21:48.23
over the next assignment.
00:21:48.26\00:21:50.31
Now today we have to
do what's happening today
00:21:50.34\00:21:53.27
and so you go to page 10
for next week's assignment.
00:21:53.30\00:21:56.16
You know, what that means?
00:21:56.19\00:21:57.22
That means you can collaborate
with the small groups and say,
00:21:57.25\00:22:00.16
hey listen, let's just
journey through John together.
00:22:00.19\00:22:03.14
Small group questions are here
00:22:03.17\00:22:04.20
by the way our
small group pastor
00:22:04.23\00:22:06.11
you just saw her on the screen
a moment ago Esther Knott.
00:22:06.14\00:22:08.70
She is coming up with in little
00:22:08.73\00:22:11.14
get acquitted
activities at the beginning
00:22:11.17\00:22:12.60
of those small groups
you will have that here.
00:22:12.63\00:22:14.74
But reflected questions
00:22:14.77\00:22:15.84
so that we can journey
for the gospels together.
00:22:15.87\00:22:17.93
And in this case
we are gonna journey
00:22:17.96\00:22:19.33
through the
gospel the fourth gospel.
00:22:19.36\00:22:23.63
By the way you can
get it on the web as well
00:22:23.66\00:22:25.68
these question will
be posted on the web.
00:22:25.71\00:22:27.33
And before I forget this,
00:22:27.36\00:22:29.14
next Sabbath,
starting next Sabbath
00:22:29.17\00:22:30.92
if I didn't have a
chance to announce this to you
00:22:30.95\00:22:32.33
when you're here last
week, but starting next Sabbath
00:22:32.36\00:22:34.57
bring your
smart phone to church,
00:22:34.60\00:22:36.21
only second service.
00:22:36.24\00:22:38.45
Bring your smart
phone next Sabbath
00:22:38.48\00:22:40.48
because next Sabbath
I'm gonna hear from you
00:22:40.51\00:22:42.27
through this smart phone
00:22:42.30\00:22:44.00
and I'll know exactly
how you are responding
00:22:44.03\00:22:45.64
by putting the
responses right on that screen.
00:22:45.67\00:22:49.48
So it's gonna be
interactive this journey
00:22:49.51\00:22:50.89
through the fourth
gospel next Sabbath.
00:22:50.92\00:22:53.80
Put it on vibrate when you come
00:22:53.83\00:22:55.49
but bring your smart
phone next Sabbath, all right.
00:22:55.52\00:23:00.21
Oh, boy, I
forgot about our viewers
00:23:00.24\00:23:01.62
we are so glad to
have you joining us
00:23:01.65\00:23:03.01
for this brand new series
look at the title of series,
00:23:03.04\00:23:04.75
let me put it on screen for you
00:23:04.78\00:23:05.82
so you get our website
you can get the study guide.
00:23:05.85\00:23:08.43
Title of this new
series, The Last Word.
00:23:08.46\00:23:10.97
The Fourth Gospel
for a Final Generation.
00:23:11.00\00:23:14.90
And there is the website
00:23:14.93\00:23:16.44
because the study
guide that we are just
00:23:16.47\00:23:18.24
getting ready to plunge
into its sitting for you there
00:23:18.27\00:23:20.43
in the at the
website www.pmchruch,
00:23:20.46\00:23:23.49
pioneer memorial pmchruch.tv.
00:23:23.52\00:23:25.17
Go to the website you are
looking for part 1 of the series
00:23:25.20\00:23:27.58
it says study guide
click on you will have it.
00:23:27.61\00:23:29.87
By the way all of you who
are watching live streaming
00:23:29.90\00:23:32.04
across the nation
or wherever you are
00:23:32.07\00:23:33.52
on this planet right now,
we are delighted to have you.
00:23:33.55\00:23:36.13
The same computer you are using
00:23:36.16\00:23:37.40
can access the
study guide for you
00:23:37.43\00:23:39.99
and you can share
this journey with us.
00:23:40.02\00:23:41.91
Oh, we have done
that bit of house keeping.
00:23:41.94\00:23:44.16
Let's go put it down please,
"In the beginning was the word."
00:23:44.19\00:23:47.69
Fill in your study guide.
00:23:47.72\00:23:49.67
"In the beginning was the word."
00:23:49.70\00:23:55.81
Time out pastor, time out.
00:23:55.84\00:24:00.08
I thought you are
gonna say something about
00:24:00.11\00:24:01.21
who wrote the book.
00:24:01.24\00:24:02.31
How can we plunge into a book
00:24:02.34\00:24:03.55
if you don't say something
about the author of the book?
00:24:03.58\00:24:06.69
Well, actually there
is no point in saying
00:24:06.72\00:24:08.05
anything about
the author of the book
00:24:08.08\00:24:10.45
because if you have
the Andrews study Bible,
00:24:10.48\00:24:12.52
you already have
the answer right there.
00:24:12.55\00:24:14.75
If you don't have
the Andrews study Bible
00:24:14.78\00:24:15.83
you know what to do about.
00:24:15.86\00:24:19.00
But the other point is and
I'm serious now with this one.
00:24:19.03\00:24:20.87
The other point is the author
00:24:20.90\00:24:22.98
purposely does not
identify himself in his gospel.
00:24:23.01\00:24:28.19
Not a word
about-- hi, this is me.
00:24:28.22\00:24:31.50
So obviously he believes
his identity is now crucial
00:24:31.53\00:24:34.62
to our understanding
of the fourth gospel.
00:24:34.65\00:24:37.23
Now, he does include five--
00:24:37.26\00:24:39.37
five times he
includes this code phrase
00:24:39.40\00:24:41.83
and we try to extrapolate
from this code phrase.
00:24:41.86\00:24:45.16
When you hear the code
phrase for the first time
00:24:45.19\00:24:47.42
it may come across as a
bit with a bit of hubris
00:24:47.45\00:24:50.47
but I'm telling you what it
is a self effacing code phrase.
00:24:50.50\00:24:53.78
Let me show you the last
time this code phrase appears.
00:24:53.81\00:24:57.00
Hint about who
this author might be.
00:24:57.03\00:24:58.96
Go to the last page
of the Gospel of John.
00:24:58.99\00:25:00.56
John chapter 21.
00:25:00.59\00:25:02.44
So you already in John 1,
00:25:02.47\00:25:03.58
I'm sorry I'll make you to
go to the end of the gospel now.
00:25:03.61\00:25:07.47
Last page, John 21
00:25:07.50\00:25:09.51
this is the fifth
occurrence of this code phrase
00:25:09.54\00:25:13.09
or the phrase itself is a
sermon which we will resist.
00:25:13.12\00:25:16.29
John 21:20 "Then Peter,"
00:25:16.32\00:25:19.11
the last story
has just taken place,
00:25:19.14\00:25:21.38
it is a powerful story
00:25:21.41\00:25:22.79
and we will get to it by
the end of the school year
00:25:22.82\00:25:24.64
so don't read ahead.
00:25:24.67\00:25:26.98
Verse 20, "Then
Peter, turning around, saw"
00:25:27.01\00:25:29.36
here comes the code phrase,
00:25:29.39\00:25:30.47
"the disciple whom
Jesus loved following,
00:25:30.50\00:25:36.84
who had also leaned on
His breast at the supper,
00:25:36.87\00:25:39.75
and said, 'Lord, who is
the one who betrays You?'"
00:25:39.78\00:25:42.68
The disciple whom Jesus loved.
00:25:42.71\00:25:44.10
He said oh, men, that is a bit
of a kind of an egocentric way.
00:25:44.13\00:25:46.54
Hey look at it I'm
the one that Jesus loved.
00:25:46.57\00:25:48.14
No, not in the Greek,
00:25:48.17\00:25:49.85
is that the
Greek literally reads
00:25:49.88\00:25:51.10
the disciple that
Jesus kept on loving
00:25:51.13\00:25:54.79
in spite of my
mess ups and my failures
00:25:54.82\00:25:58.18
He kept loving me anyway.
00:25:58.21\00:26:00.47
I told you there is
a sermon in that line.
00:26:00.50\00:26:02.67
The disciple
Jesus kept on loving.
00:26:02.70\00:26:05.46
Isn't that just
like Jesus by the way?
00:26:05.49\00:26:07.51
Isn't that like Him?
00:26:07.54\00:26:08.57
I fail again and again and again
00:26:08.60\00:26:11.34
and He keeps coming
back to me and He says,
00:26:11.37\00:26:12.80
I'm giving you
another opportunity.
00:26:12.83\00:26:14.35
I'm giving you another chance.
00:26:14.38\00:26:15.48
I'm still loving you, I
haven't quit loving you.
00:26:15.51\00:26:18.71
The disciple whom, the disciples
whom Jesus kept on loving.
00:26:18.74\00:26:22.89
Wow, five times he says it,
00:26:22.92\00:26:25.44
he says it in the upper room
00:26:25.47\00:26:26.62
He is the one leaning
against the chest of Jesus.
00:26:26.65\00:26:30.37
He says it at the cross
Jesus looks down from the cross,
00:26:30.40\00:26:33.09
He says, boy,
this is your mother,
00:26:33.12\00:26:35.62
mother this is your
son, that's the second time.
00:26:35.65\00:26:38.73
Third time in the
resurrection morning
00:26:38.76\00:26:41.41
this disciple whoever he is
00:26:41.44\00:26:42.76
has a foot race
with Peter to the tomb
00:26:42.79\00:26:44.74
he outruns peters
obviously younger.
00:26:44.77\00:26:51.07
Fourth time this is
the-- this is one sharp eyes,
00:26:51.10\00:26:54.80
eagle eyes in the pre dawn light
00:26:54.83\00:26:57.37
recognizes that the
stranger in the mist
00:26:57.40\00:26:59.20
on the shore is the Lord
00:26:59.23\00:27:01.15
and he turns to Peter
and says, yo, it's the Lord.
00:27:01.18\00:27:04.39
Fifth time we just read it,
00:27:04.42\00:27:05.84
he is falling right
behind Peter and Jesus.
00:27:05.87\00:27:09.72
He loves staying
near Jesus that's why.
00:27:09.75\00:27:13.37
So who is he? Who is he?
00:27:13.40\00:27:15.15
Church tradition says
oh, we know who that is.
00:27:15.18\00:27:18.42
That's the
youngest son of Zebedee,
00:27:18.45\00:27:20.40
that the kid brother
of James, that's John boy.
00:27:20.43\00:27:25.11
That's who that is.
00:27:25.14\00:27:28.19
He was one of the inner circle.
00:27:28.22\00:27:29.73
You remember the inner
circle, Peter, James and John.
00:27:29.76\00:27:32.75
They go on the
mount of transfiguration
00:27:32.78\00:27:33.82
everybody stays behind.
00:27:33.85\00:27:34.88
They go into Jairus daughter
00:27:34.91\00:27:35.94
for the resurrection
everybody stays behind.
00:27:35.97\00:27:37.47
They go into the
inner recesses of Gethsemane
00:27:37.50\00:27:39.67
everybody stays behind.
00:27:39.70\00:27:40.98
What is this
Jesus playing favorite's
00:27:41.01\00:27:43.12
kind of elevating the
three above the others?
00:27:43.15\00:27:44.90
No, no, no.
00:27:44.93\00:27:47.03
Jesus is always hungry for
those who are hungry for Him
00:27:47.06\00:27:50.23
that's how it works.
00:27:50.26\00:27:51.39
He is not playing
favorites with John.
00:27:51.42\00:27:53.09
John was pushing,
00:27:53.12\00:27:54.95
pushing to get
closer and closer to Jesus.
00:27:54.98\00:27:58.70
I hope that's
the kind of pushing
00:27:58.73\00:27:59.88
you do in this
forth gospel of journey
00:27:59.91\00:28:01.29
that you and I
embarked on together.
00:28:01.32\00:28:03.02
Push, push just like John boy.
Push Jesus big on the young.
00:28:03.05\00:28:09.59
Push brings a man.
00:28:09.62\00:28:11.89
By the way, this John boy
00:28:15.22\00:28:20.62
out lived all
the other disciples
00:28:20.65\00:28:23.23
the other 11 you know why,
00:28:23.26\00:28:24.79
they all died violently.
All 11 died violently.
00:28:24.82\00:28:29.07
John will die of old
age he is a last savior.
00:28:29.10\00:28:32.53
And scholars
believe, listen to this,
00:28:32.56\00:28:33.78
scholars believe
that they now elderly John
00:28:33.81\00:28:37.19
sat on after he wrote
the Book of Revelation
00:28:37.22\00:28:42.57
he sat down and
for his final work
00:28:42.60\00:28:45.76
he tells his story of Jesus
00:28:45.79\00:28:49.28
which makes kind
of logically speaking
00:28:49.31\00:28:51.29
the forth gospel the last
word of the New Testament.
00:28:51.32\00:28:58.33
It's the book
written closes to us in time
00:28:58.36\00:29:02.58
and so you and I will
return to this fourth gospel
00:29:02.61\00:29:04.69
again and again and again
00:29:04.72\00:29:05.85
and we will keep
running into that last word
00:29:05.88\00:29:07.89
again and again and again.
00:29:07.92\00:29:09.27
It will be the
last word about death.
00:29:09.30\00:29:10.97
It will be the last
word about the Sabbath.
00:29:11.00\00:29:12.58
It will be the last word
about the divinity of Christ.
00:29:12.61\00:29:14.60
It will be the last
word about His humanity.
00:29:14.63\00:29:16.62
It will be the last
word about eternal life.
00:29:16.65\00:29:18.09
It will be the last word
about communal forgiveness.
00:29:18.12\00:29:20.67
It will be the last
word about the great I'm.
00:29:20.70\00:29:22.44
It will be the last
word about the Lamb of God.
00:29:22.47\00:29:24.89
It will be the last
word about knowing God.
00:29:24.92\00:29:28.37
It will be the last word
about the Judgment of God.
00:29:28.40\00:29:30.93
It will be the last word
about salvation and the Savior.
00:29:30.96\00:29:33.98
It will be the last
word about the Holy Spirit.
00:29:34.01\00:29:36.97
We will find there the
last word about transformation
00:29:37.00\00:29:39.66
because look if
Jesus can look at John boy
00:29:39.69\00:29:44.00
remember He
gave him a nick name.
00:29:44.03\00:29:45.17
If Jesus can look at John boy
00:29:45.20\00:29:47.79
and say you what I'm
gonna name you brothers
00:29:47.82\00:29:49.37
the heart head
brothers. You are so angry.
00:29:49.40\00:29:53.94
If Jesus can look at John
boy, and keep on loving Him
00:29:53.97\00:29:56.90
and change in his own image
00:29:56.93\00:29:58.61
then there is hope for the
lives of you and me as well.
00:29:58.64\00:30:00.93
Isn't there hope for us
00:30:00.96\00:30:03.35
who can change us
into his image as well?
00:30:03.38\00:30:05.87
All right, John 1:1
00:30:05.90\00:30:08.83
"In the
beginning" get your Bible.
00:30:08.86\00:30:12.26
"In the beginning was the Word,
00:30:12.29\00:30:17.32
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
00:30:17.35\00:30:22.73
He was in the
beginning with God."
00:30:22.76\00:30:25.75
And you already knew
this, but I'm gonna remind you
00:30:25.78\00:30:27.70
that the Greek
word for word is logos.
00:30:27.73\00:30:30.77
And once come out word logo
or logic or all the ologies.
00:30:30.80\00:30:37.64
You know all the
ologies? What's biology?
00:30:37.67\00:30:40.58
Greek word, Bios, logos,
00:30:40.61\00:30:44.13
biology is a word
about life. Bios mean life.
00:30:44.16\00:30:47.36
What's zoology?
00:30:47.39\00:30:48.44
Zoa life logos
00:30:48.47\00:30:51.37
word about life, zoology.
00:30:51.40\00:30:54.11
What's anthropology?
00:30:54.14\00:30:55.65
Anthropology
Anthrop man word about man.
00:30:55.68\00:30:58.38
What's theology,
theos God word about God.
00:30:58.41\00:31:02.38
We all know the word Logos.
00:31:02.41\00:31:05.59
In the beginning was the Logos,
00:31:05.62\00:31:07.34
and the Logos was with
God, and the Logos was God.
00:31:07.37\00:31:11.48
Hey, guess what
John didn't coin this
00:31:11.51\00:31:13.62
personification of logos
00:31:13.65\00:31:15.10
Greek philosophers
had already done it,
00:31:15.13\00:31:17.42
but here is what's amazing,
00:31:17.45\00:31:18.82
Craig Keener in
this illuminating
00:31:18.85\00:31:20.10
two volume commentary on John
00:31:20.13\00:31:21.82
which I'm gonna
be reading through
00:31:21.85\00:31:23.17
through out this series
00:31:23.20\00:31:24.25
carefully unfolds
how John masterfully
00:31:24.28\00:31:26.56
has combined two
ancient personifications.
00:31:26.59\00:31:29.53
You know, what
personification means don't you?
00:31:29.56\00:31:31.26
It means giving human attributes
00:31:31.29\00:31:33.14
to a non human reality.
00:31:33.17\00:31:36.12
The Hebrews came along
00:31:36.15\00:31:37.30
and they turned
them into people.
00:31:37.33\00:31:38.83
Wisdom and Torah the
two were turned into people.
00:31:38.86\00:31:45.07
John combines those
two Hebrew personifications
00:31:45.10\00:31:47.67
into his brand new
moniker for Christ, the word.
00:31:47.70\00:31:50.80
John is the only
Bible writer by the way
00:31:50.83\00:31:52.62
that names God the word.
00:31:52.65\00:31:55.23
He does it in all
three of his books.
00:31:55.26\00:31:57.15
I'll say all three of his
in three of his five books.
00:31:57.18\00:32:00.01
We have already seen it in John,
00:32:00.04\00:32:01.21
look at 1 John
1:1 the opening line,
00:32:01.24\00:32:04.02
"That which was
from the beginning,
00:32:04.05\00:32:05.15
which we have heard, which
we have seen with our eyes,
00:32:05.18\00:32:07.03
which we have looked upon,
and our hands have handled,
00:32:07.06\00:32:09.04
concerning the Word of life."
00:32:09.07\00:32:10.89
He loves the logos that picture
the second person of the God.
00:32:10.92\00:32:14.71
Now, watch this,
00:32:14.74\00:32:15.80
this is the most
spectacular picture
00:32:15.83\00:32:17.92
in all the
scripture the-- the explosive
00:32:17.95\00:32:25.02
return of Christ to this planet.
00:32:25.05\00:32:26.39
You will not
read in more dramatic
00:32:26.42\00:32:28.92
portrayal of the second coming.
00:32:28.95\00:32:30.01
This is-- this is
Revelation Chapter 19
00:32:30.04\00:32:32.22
notice how he
leaves it in here 19:11
00:32:32.25\00:32:34.35
"Now I saw heaven opened,
and behold, a white horse."
00:32:34.38\00:32:37.53
I love the
picture that pine champing
00:32:37.56\00:32:40.53
at the bits white stallion.
00:32:40.56\00:32:42.33
He is riding
that white stallion.
00:32:42.36\00:32:43.86
"Now I saw heaven opened,
and behold, a white horse.
00:32:43.89\00:32:46.08
And He who sat on him
was called Faithful and True,
00:32:46.11\00:32:48.70
and in righteousness
He judges and makes war.
00:32:48.73\00:32:51.36
His eyes were
like a flame of fire,
00:32:51.39\00:32:52.96
and on His head
were many crowns.
00:32:52.99\00:32:54.52
He had a name written that
no one knew except Himself."
00:32:54.55\00:32:57.47
Now watch this, "He
was clothed with a robe
00:32:57.50\00:32:59.67
dipped in blood, and His
name is called The Word of God."
00:32:59.70\00:33:05.54
Keep reading, "And
the armies in heaven,
00:33:05.57\00:33:08.16
clothed in fine
linen, white and clean,
00:33:08.19\00:33:10.43
followed Him on white horses."
00:33:10.46\00:33:12.78
You have the heavens
filled with white horses.
00:33:12.81\00:33:15.02
Final line, "And
He has on His robe
00:33:15.05\00:33:17.00
and on His thigh a name written,
00:33:17.03\00:33:18.97
King Of Kings
And Lord Of Lords."
00:33:19.00\00:33:22.71
Isn't that amazing?
00:33:22.74\00:33:24.92
The returning Christ
with a blood dipped robe
00:33:24.95\00:33:27.12
is called the
logos the word of God.
00:33:27.15\00:33:29.70
"In the beginning was the Word,
00:33:29.73\00:33:30.83
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
00:33:30.86\00:33:32.88
And the word of God
shall return one day
00:33:32.91\00:33:35.16
to this planet in a
robe dipped in blood.
00:33:35.19\00:33:39.30
Wow, no wonder the fourth gospel
00:33:39.33\00:33:44.91
is for the final generation
because it's the gospel closest
00:33:44.94\00:33:49.71
to those who live at the end.
00:33:49.74\00:33:56.63
How close are we to this
return of the logos of God?
00:33:56.66\00:34:00.33
How close?
00:34:00.36\00:34:02.61
President of this
university Niels-Erik Andreasen
00:34:02.64\00:34:06.48
this week,
addressing the entire campus
00:34:06.51\00:34:08.84
in an opening
convocation reminded us
00:34:08.87\00:34:12.28
that it is no
longer the evangelists
00:34:12.31\00:34:13.78
who are calling our attentions
to "The sings" any more.
00:34:13.81\00:34:17.99
Journalists of every
stripe and perseveration
00:34:18.02\00:34:20.35
are raising
their voices with alarm
00:34:20.38\00:34:23.28
warnings about the
fragility of national
00:34:23.31\00:34:25.15
and global
economies are mounting.
00:34:25.18\00:34:26.78
Scientists fearful of
human destruction of eco system
00:34:26.81\00:34:30.51
are raising their
voices as well in the alarm.
00:34:30.54\00:34:32.70
Ramping
starvation, political collapse
00:34:32.73\00:34:35.23
in the Middle
East, the pent up anger
00:34:35.26\00:34:37.27
and the downtrodden
masses, darkly for shaded
00:34:37.30\00:34:39.98
in London's
burning rage a few ago.
00:34:40.01\00:34:42.72
Mother Nature turning on us
with a vengeance as we speak.
00:34:42.75\00:34:49.67
It have to be a
sleep to miss the ominous
00:34:49.70\00:34:53.53
similarity between the
alarm of the news media today
00:34:53.56\00:34:57.22
and the ancient
prophetic writings long ago.
00:34:57.25\00:35:00.97
The last word for
a final generation,
00:35:01.00\00:35:05.55
if ever that word generation
needing to be gripped in mind
00:35:05.58\00:35:09.31
and heart by
the gospel of Jesus.
00:35:09.34\00:35:12.36
It would have to be
this one sent out compelled
00:35:12.39\00:35:15.14
into a rapidly
disintegrating civilization.
00:35:15.17\00:35:20.36
We made the right choice.
00:35:20.39\00:35:22.73
We are journeying
with the right gospel.
00:35:22.76\00:35:28.48
"In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God,
00:35:28.51\00:35:33.73
and the Word was
God." Fill that in please.
00:35:33.76\00:35:38.87
And the word was God.
00:35:38.90\00:35:41.81
The reader of the
fourth gospel quickly discovers
00:35:41.84\00:35:44.74
that one of the primary
missions for the elderly John's
00:35:44.77\00:35:47.73
composing of
his story with Jesus
00:35:47.76\00:35:49.47
is to assert an
unequivocal terms
00:35:49.50\00:35:52.30
that Christ is divine.
00:35:52.33\00:35:57.06
And here in the prolog
00:35:57.09\00:35:59.08
he moves instantly to his point
00:35:59.11\00:36:00.28
"And the word was God" period.
00:36:00.31\00:36:05.84
That's some new idea being
slip into the New Testament
00:36:09.59\00:36:12.46
just before the canon
doors are slam shut hardly.
00:36:12.49\00:36:17.02
The New Testament
abounds with evidences.
00:36:17.05\00:36:19.01
I wish you jot them down,
00:36:19.04\00:36:20.07
evidences for the
divinity of Christ.
00:36:20.10\00:36:23.26
Many of them irrefutable
for the deity of Christ,
00:36:23.29\00:36:27.26
here we go jot them down.
00:36:27.29\00:36:28.81
There is evidence of
the life Jesus lived.
00:36:28.84\00:36:33.24
Which of you convicts me of sin.
00:36:33.27\00:36:35.67
Show me one nobody step for
and say its defective goods.
00:36:35.70\00:36:42.97
Evidence number one,
the life Jesus lived.
00:36:43.00\00:36:44.87
Evidence number two,
The words Jesus spoke.
00:36:44.90\00:36:49.11
No man speak like this man.
00:36:49.14\00:36:50.83
Nobody spoke
with such authority.
00:36:50.86\00:36:53.84
He says, as if he
wrote the book Himself.
00:36:53.87\00:36:58.07
Evidence number three,
The miracles He performed.
00:36:58.10\00:37:04.21
We need to linger along there.
00:37:04.24\00:37:07.81
Evidence number four,
the prophecies He fulfilled.
00:37:07.84\00:37:11.78
Please not in that
little list everyone of these
00:37:11.81\00:37:13.53
is collaborated by scripture
00:37:13.56\00:37:14.59
but notice slipped in
something from Daniel. Daniel 9,
00:37:14.62\00:37:18.10
Isaac Newton the
brilliant English
00:37:18.13\00:37:20.11
mathematician
described Daniel 9:24-27
00:37:20.14\00:37:25.02
as the crown jewel
of the Old Testament.
00:37:25.05\00:37:28.53
It identifies the
Messiah and the specific time
00:37:28.56\00:37:33.23
the date, of his arrival.
00:37:33.26\00:37:35.63
It's the great Messianic Jew
00:37:35.66\00:37:39.00
and finally the eternity
he previously inhabited.
00:37:39.03\00:37:43.39
Unabashed declaration
in John 1 Colossians 1,
00:37:43.42\00:37:47.30
Hebrews 1 that Jesus predated
00:37:47.33\00:37:49.99
His existence on this planet
00:37:50.02\00:37:51.42
into the into eternity
past as the eternal one.
00:37:51.45\00:37:57.95
You say, come on Dwight,
00:37:57.98\00:37:59.72
please these verses don't
prove the divinity of Christ.
00:37:59.75\00:38:02.30
They simply prove
the Bible's teaching
00:38:02.33\00:38:04.40
of the divinity of Christ.
00:38:04.43\00:38:07.12
Yes, but, the bright
mind much brighter than mine.
00:38:07.15\00:38:11.64
C.S Lewis, himself an
agonistic in the 20th century
00:38:11.67\00:38:15.60
became the
greatest arguable apologist
00:38:15.63\00:38:19.67
for Christianity in
the previous century 20th.
00:38:19.70\00:38:23.61
C.S Lewis in his
amazing book, Mere Christianity,
00:38:23.64\00:38:30.44
he says, I want to give
you a series of propositions
00:38:30.47\00:38:32.31
that I believe prove
the divinity of Jesus
00:38:32.34\00:38:35.55
and I'm gonna
run by you right now.
00:38:35.58\00:38:36.83
I have my little Mere
Christianity, right here.
00:38:36.86\00:38:38.95
I have to keep a
rubber band around it
00:38:38.98\00:38:40.65
so that the
pages don't fall out.
00:38:40.68\00:38:42.17
I want to read from one of
those pages in just a moment.
00:38:42.20\00:38:43.88
So I won't take the
rubber band off yet.
00:38:43.91\00:38:45.68
So, here comes the propositions,
00:38:45.71\00:38:47.23
jot these down please
this is from C.S Lewis,
00:38:47.26\00:38:49.49
brilliant mind
became a believer.
00:38:49.52\00:38:52.73
Number one, "God
gave us something
00:38:52.76\00:38:54.35
called the
conscience. Well, that's true.
00:38:54.38\00:38:57.12
What does he call the conscience
00:38:57.15\00:38:58.19
"the sense of right and wrong."
00:38:58.22\00:39:00.14
There are people
all over this planet
00:39:00.17\00:39:01.35
he points out
who spend their lives
00:39:01.38\00:39:03.01
trying to be true
to their conscience.
00:39:03.04\00:39:04.68
That is absolutely
true. You are one of them.
00:39:04.71\00:39:08.04
People who have absolutely
no religious connection
00:39:08.07\00:39:10.68
like you to still
try to obey this voice.
00:39:10.71\00:39:13.17
Number two, God
chose a particular people,
00:39:13.20\00:39:16.57
and then Lewis write,
00:39:16.60\00:39:17.69
"spent several centuries
hammering into their heads
00:39:17.72\00:39:20.50
the sort of God he was."
00:39:20.53\00:39:22.64
The children of
Israel, come on you got to tell
00:39:22.67\00:39:25.12
the world who I'm so
that's why I picked them.
00:39:25.15\00:39:27.82
Now, keep going,
"Among these Jews
00:39:27.85\00:39:30.39
a Man shows up,
'who' Lewis writes,
00:39:30.42\00:39:34.44
"goes about
talking as if He was God."
00:39:34.47\00:39:37.44
He just shows
up he says I'm God.
00:39:37.47\00:39:40.32
Well, and keep
writing proposition four,
00:39:40.35\00:39:43.36
"He says He has always existed
and claims to forgive sins."
00:39:43.39\00:39:51.32
Well, who could do that?
00:39:51.35\00:39:52.49
Let me take the
rubber band off here,
00:39:52.52\00:39:55.37
and I want to read this line.
00:39:55.40\00:39:58.64
Nice thing about a
book that's falling apart
00:39:58.67\00:39:59.90
as you can take the
pages out and just read them
00:39:59.93\00:40:01.56
without having to
keep them in the book.
00:40:01.59\00:40:03.90
By the way somebody
after first service says,
00:40:03.93\00:40:05.42
I use to be a book binder
00:40:05.45\00:40:06.68
thank you, Lord, he
said, I will take this
00:40:06.71\00:40:08.25
and I will bind
that back for you.
00:40:08.28\00:40:09.91
Hallelujah.
00:40:09.94\00:40:11.63
All right, so this is
page 55, Mere Christianity,
00:40:11.66\00:40:14.52
"One part of the claim
tends to slip past us unnoticed
00:40:14.55\00:40:17.62
because we have
heard it so often
00:40:17.65\00:40:18.86
that we no longer see
it for what it amounts to.
00:40:18.89\00:40:20.96
I mean the claim
to forgive sins."
00:40:20.99\00:40:23.16
Now, think think think
00:40:23.19\00:40:24.46
that Jesus came to
forgive sins any sins.
00:40:24.49\00:40:29.23
Now unless the speaker is God,
00:40:29.26\00:40:31.11
this is really so
preposterous as to be comic.
00:40:31.14\00:40:34.29
"We can all
understand how a man forgives
00:40:34.32\00:40:35.83
offences against himself.
00:40:35.86\00:40:37.11
You tread on my
toe and I forgive you,
00:40:37.14\00:40:38.94
you steal my
money and I forgive you.
00:40:38.97\00:40:40.79
But what should
we make of a man,
00:40:40.82\00:40:42.85
himself unrobbed
and untrodden on,
00:40:42.88\00:40:45.51
who announced
that he forgave you
00:40:45.54\00:40:47.72
for treading on other men's toes
00:40:47.75\00:40:49.57
and stealing other men's money?
00:40:49.60\00:40:52.37
Asinine fatuity is
the kindest description
00:40:52.40\00:40:56.11
we should give of his conduct.
Yet this is what Jesus did.
00:40:56.14\00:40:59.88
He told people that
their sins were forgiven,
00:40:59.91\00:41:02.07
and He never waited to
consult all the other people
00:41:02.10\00:41:04.60
whom their sins had
undoubtedly injured.
00:41:04.63\00:41:06.81
He unhesitatingly behaved
00:41:06.84\00:41:08.82
as if He was the
party chiefly concerned,
00:41:08.85\00:41:11.98
the person chiefly
offended in all offences."
00:41:12.01\00:41:16.75
And now, the words
are in your study guide
00:41:16.78\00:41:18.28
I put them on the screen,
00:41:18.31\00:41:19.34
"This makes sense only
if He really was the God
00:41:19.37\00:41:24.64
whose laws are broken
00:41:24.67\00:41:26.44
and whose love is
wounded in every sin."
00:41:26.47\00:41:30.17
Isn't that
amazing a brilliant mind?
00:41:30.20\00:41:35.26
What's Lewis' point, you
have it in your study guide
00:41:35.29\00:41:37.58
I'll put them on
the screen for you,
00:41:37.61\00:41:39.17
Lewis wrapping it up here.
00:41:39.20\00:41:40.62
"I am trying here to
prevent anyone saying
00:41:40.65\00:41:43.39
the really foolish thing
that people often say about Him.
00:41:43.42\00:41:46.81
Well, I'm ready to accept
Jesus as a great moral teacher,
00:41:46.84\00:41:49.58
but I don't accept
His claim to be God."
00:41:49.61\00:41:52.85
Lewis responds,
"That is the one thing
00:41:52.88\00:41:54.75
we must not say.
00:41:54.78\00:41:56.68
A man who was merely a man
and said the sort of things
00:41:56.71\00:41:59.11
Jesus said would not
be a great moral teacher.
00:41:59.14\00:42:01.83
He would either be
a lunatic-on a level
00:42:01.86\00:42:04.40
with the man who
says he is a poached egg
00:42:04.43\00:42:06.63
or else he would
be the Devil of Hell.
00:42:06.66\00:42:10.51
You must make your choice.
00:42:10.54\00:42:12.60
Either this man was,
and is, the Son of God,
00:42:12.63\00:42:15.76
or else a madman
or something worse.
00:42:15.79\00:42:18.03
You can shut Him up for a fool,
00:42:18.06\00:42:19.51
you can spit at Him
and kill Him as a demon,
00:42:19.54\00:42:22.51
or you can fall at His
feet and call Him Lord and God.
00:42:22.54\00:42:27.30
But let us not come
with any patronizing nonsense
00:42:27.33\00:42:31.06
about His being a
great human teacher.
00:42:31.09\00:42:32.94
He has not left that open to us.
00:42:32.97\00:42:34.85
He did not intend to."
00:42:34.88\00:42:38.94
Lose plum the depths of
the gospel and Holy Scripture
00:42:38.97\00:42:44.46
and then came to the conclusion
00:42:44.49\00:42:46.97
He was who He said
He was and Lewis fell
00:42:47.00\00:42:50.17
at the feet of
Christ, my Lord and my God.
00:42:50.20\00:42:55.33
"In the beginning was the Word,
00:42:55.36\00:42:59.32
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
00:42:59.35\00:43:03.95
He was in the
beginning with God."
00:43:03.98\00:43:11.47
John's point is inescapable.
00:43:11.50\00:43:15.73
The Christ we have to
come to love is as divine
00:43:15.76\00:43:18.94
and eternal as the
father we must come to know.
00:43:18.97\00:43:25.71
Christ is God even as the
father and the spirit of God.
00:43:25.74\00:43:31.88
A century ago Desire
of Ages put it this way,
00:43:31.91\00:43:34.03
I'll put it on
the screen for you.
00:43:34.06\00:43:35.89
"From the days of eternity
00:43:35.92\00:43:38.54
the Lord Jesus Christ
was one with the Father,
00:43:38.57\00:43:42.00
He was 'the image of God,'
00:43:42.03\00:43:43.45
the image of His
greatness and majesty,
00:43:43.48\00:43:45.61
'the outshining of His glory.'
00:43:45.64\00:43:47.45
By coming to dwell with us,
00:43:47.48\00:43:49.34
Jesus was to reveal God
both to men and to angels."
00:43:49.37\00:43:52.33
Now, here comes the,
here comes the pinnacle.
00:43:52.36\00:43:55.59
"He was the Word of God--
God's thought made audible."
00:43:55.62\00:44:01.84
The italics are mine.
00:44:01.87\00:44:03.94
God's thought made audible
00:44:03.97\00:44:08.18
which takes us full circle
00:44:08.21\00:44:09.79
doesn't it back to
the German philosopher
00:44:09.82\00:44:12.09
Wilhelm von Humboldt.
00:44:12.12\00:44:13.93
And how did Von Humboldt put it,
00:44:13.96\00:44:15.74
put the words on
the screen again.
00:44:15.77\00:44:17.32
"Thought and
language are therefore one
00:44:17.35\00:44:19.54
and inseparable
from each other."
00:44:19.57\00:44:23.22
John's portrayal
00:44:23.25\00:44:24.65
In Chapter 1 is
of the eternal word
00:44:27.84\00:44:32.27
who stood beside
the eternal father
00:44:32.30\00:44:35.72
and who reviles
to us the thought
00:44:35.75\00:44:39.88
and heart of the eternal God.
00:44:39.91\00:44:43.65
And so what? So what?
00:44:43.68\00:44:47.39
Great teachings. So what?
00:44:47.42\00:44:49.91
What difference does
the divinity of Christ
00:44:49.94\00:44:52.08
make from our living
in the third millennium?
00:44:52.11\00:44:56.38
I'll tell you so what.
00:44:56.41\00:44:59.03
Would you jot these down please?
00:44:59.06\00:45:01.57
I'll close with these.
00:45:01.60\00:45:05.22
If Christ is divine,
there are seven implications.
00:45:05.25\00:45:08.97
Seven implications
for you and me let's go.
00:45:09.00\00:45:11.63
If Christ is
divine it means that
00:45:11.66\00:45:13.76
number one, "I must seek Him."
00:45:13.79\00:45:17.79
Jot that down please.
00:45:17.82\00:45:19.95
And why not just like
the Greece on that Tuesday
00:45:19.98\00:45:22.98
before Jesus
crucifixion in John 12 they come
00:45:23.01\00:45:25.70
and they say we
want to see Jesus
00:45:25.73\00:45:27.72
we would see Jesus.
00:45:27.75\00:45:29.81
Wise men from the
east came at his birth.
00:45:29.84\00:45:32.41
Wise men from the
west came at His death.
00:45:32.44\00:45:34.49
And like that old quip
goes it's always a wise man
00:45:34.52\00:45:37.64
and wise woman who seeks Jesus.
00:45:37.67\00:45:40.72
We are beginning a
journey here together.
00:45:40.75\00:45:42.49
I'm inviting you to
plunge into that Journey.
00:45:42.52\00:45:44.45
Seek Jesus as
you never had before.
00:45:44.48\00:45:45.86
You say, Dwight,
00:45:45.89\00:45:46.92
I have already
believed about Jesus.
00:45:46.95\00:45:48.75
But what does the divinity
of Christ do to your life today?
00:45:48.78\00:45:55.74
What difference does it
make in the way you are living?
00:45:55.77\00:45:58.81
When was the last
time you meditated
00:45:58.84\00:46:00.90
on the divinity of the word?
00:46:00.93\00:46:05.83
Go back to the
Gospel of John all through
00:46:05.86\00:46:07.62
the week come back on Sabbath
00:46:07.65\00:46:09.14
we will just we will let
the word rise to the front
00:46:09.17\00:46:12.22
and then we will
return to the week
00:46:12.25\00:46:13.39
and study at the end.
00:46:13.42\00:46:15.21
Move through the gospel with me.
00:46:15.24\00:46:17.97
Think, that's why you
are in this university.
00:46:18.00\00:46:21.12
You've learnt to think.
00:46:21.15\00:46:24.07
What is the picture of
the divine Christ mean?
00:46:24.10\00:46:26.35
Number one, I must seek Him.
00:46:26.38\00:46:27.59
Number two, it means
"I must believe in Him."
00:46:27.62\00:46:31.04
It's not enough to seek Him.
00:46:31.07\00:46:32.13
I must make a
decision about Him.
00:46:32.16\00:46:34.10
In fact, John
is very unambiguous
00:46:34.13\00:46:38.73
about this being his primary
purpose for writing the book.
00:46:38.76\00:46:41.41
This is near the
end chapter 20:31,
00:46:41.44\00:46:43.78
why do you write this,
00:46:43.81\00:46:44.98
disciple of the
Jesus kept on loving.
00:46:45.01\00:46:46.64
"But these things are
written that you may believe
00:46:46.67\00:46:49.08
that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God,
00:46:49.11\00:46:51.21
and that believing you
may have life in His name."
00:46:51.24\00:46:55.09
It's about believing.
00:46:55.12\00:46:57.30
Its not just any old belief
00:46:57.33\00:46:58.93
that's why
there is number three,
00:46:58.96\00:46:59.99
I must trust Him
because the devils believe
00:47:00.02\00:47:02.07
and he tremble.
00:47:02.10\00:47:04.22
Is there a demon that is
been changed by believing?
00:47:04.25\00:47:06.27
No.
00:47:06.30\00:47:08.06
It's no enough just to
believe you must trust.
00:47:08.09\00:47:11.19
I must trust Him
just like the disciples
00:47:11.22\00:47:12.83
on that pitch black
stormy midnight light
00:47:12.86\00:47:16.68
and this apparition
00:47:16.71\00:47:18.76
is walking through
the mist toward them
00:47:18.79\00:47:21.34
and in panic they cry out
00:47:21.37\00:47:23.26
and a voice comes,
00:47:23.29\00:47:27.00
"It is Ibe not afraid."
00:47:27.03\00:47:31.91
I don't know what kind of storms
00:47:31.94\00:47:33.05
we are gonna run into this year,
00:47:33.08\00:47:34.28
I have no clue for the planet,
00:47:34.31\00:47:35.82
I have no clue for my own life.
00:47:35.85\00:47:37.58
Later on yours
but I must trust Him,
00:47:37.61\00:47:43.01
He is the divine one.
00:47:43.04\00:47:45.06
Whatever happens
to me goes through Him
00:47:45.09\00:47:48.80
and He says, boy girl I
know this has happened to you
00:47:48.83\00:47:53.53
but I determined that if
you go through this with me
00:47:53.56\00:47:59.06
this becomes a
win for you one day.
00:47:59.09\00:48:01.78
Hold My hand on the water,
00:48:01.81\00:48:03.92
hold My hand
you can pass through
00:48:03.95\00:48:06.67
this storm together.
00:48:06.70\00:48:08.67
Seven implications
if Christ is divine.
00:48:08.70\00:48:10.56
It means, I must seek Him.
It means, I must believe in Him.
00:48:10.59\00:48:12.39
It means, I must trust Him
00:48:12.42\00:48:13.78
and it means, I must
worship Him and why not.
00:48:13.81\00:48:17.18
The patron saint
for the third millennium
00:48:17.21\00:48:18.75
by the way is
the doubting Thomas.
00:48:18.78\00:48:20.76
Show me, prove it.
00:48:20.79\00:48:24.07
And when Jesus
appeared before Thomas,
00:48:24.10\00:48:27.73
Thomas fell to the
ground and he worshipped Him
00:48:27.76\00:48:29.71
and what did He cry
out? My Lord and my God.
00:48:29.74\00:48:36.87
By the way John wrote his gospel
00:48:36.90\00:48:40.58
for un, un eyewitnesses.
00:48:40.61\00:48:44.37
He wrote his gospel
for the second generation
00:48:44.40\00:48:46.81
not the first.
00:48:46.84\00:48:48.32
That's why Jesus
miracles in this gospel
00:48:48.35\00:48:50.07
don't need Him up close.
00:48:50.10\00:48:51.58
He can just speak the word.
00:48:51.61\00:48:53.66
That's why Jesus teachings
are caps the way they are.
00:48:53.69\00:48:56.40
So that from a distance
you can know it's still true.
00:48:56.43\00:49:01.54
You don't have
to touch His wounds.
00:49:01.57\00:49:03.39
Blessed are they who
never see but believe
00:49:03.42\00:49:05.96
that's to us
second-generationers
00:49:05.99\00:49:07.90
we never saw Him.
00:49:07.93\00:49:09.33
Blessed are you
who believe anyway.
00:49:09.36\00:49:11.76
That's us, it's our gospel.
00:49:11.79\00:49:17.10
Number five, "I must
love Him." And why not.
00:49:17.13\00:49:22.36
I must love Him
extravagantly just like Mary
00:49:22.39\00:49:25.32
who in sobbing tears
breaks open her alabaster box
00:49:25.35\00:49:31.41
and the perfume fills the room.
00:49:31.44\00:49:35.75
When was the last time
you love Jesus extravagantly
00:49:35.78\00:49:39.70
to where your
friends and family said
00:49:39.73\00:49:41.29
did you have to go that far?
00:49:41.32\00:49:46.23
They said to Mary. I
must love Him and why not.
00:49:46.26\00:49:51.02
Number six, "I must obey Him."
00:49:51.05\00:49:52.53
It's not enough to love Him,
00:49:52.56\00:49:53.59
if you love me you will
obey me I must obey Him.
00:49:53.62\00:49:56.66
Just like the blind man
who hears Jesus clearest throat
00:49:56.69\00:49:59.39
and feels His
warm spit on his eyes.
00:49:59.42\00:50:03.21
And Jesus snares
the dirt with the spit
00:50:03.24\00:50:05.40
all over the
man's eyes in John 9.
00:50:05.43\00:50:07.35
He says, all right, I
will go and wash it off
00:50:07.38\00:50:08.78
at the pool of Siloam.
00:50:08.81\00:50:10.50
And the blind man could
have said this is so crazy
00:50:10.53\00:50:12.45
I'll not do it and he would
have been blind till his death.
00:50:12.48\00:50:16.53
You must obey Him.
00:50:16.56\00:50:18.32
When He gives you a
command you must obey Him.
00:50:18.35\00:50:22.11
It's not up for negotiation.
You want a miracle in your life.
00:50:22.14\00:50:25.54
You want the supernatural
in your life obey Me.
00:50:25.57\00:50:29.16
I must obey Him and
finally I must follow Him.
00:50:29.19\00:50:33.54
I must follow Him.
00:50:33.57\00:50:35.58
Peter heart broken,
00:50:35.61\00:50:37.07
thrice curses the
name of Jesus, cures Him
00:50:37.10\00:50:40.76
and Jesus three
times around that camp fire
00:50:40.79\00:50:43.26
says Peter, do you love me?
00:50:43.29\00:50:44.93
I do, I do, I do.
00:50:44.96\00:50:46.01
Peter, do you really love me?
00:50:46.04\00:50:47.70
And then like music to his ears
00:50:51.50\00:50:56.11
Peter hears the
words all right boy,
00:50:56.14\00:50:59.34
you do love me, come follow me.
00:50:59.37\00:51:04.10
John, Peter failures yes,
00:51:04.13\00:51:08.29
but in Christ the call I
call failures to follow me.
00:51:08.32\00:51:13.98
You feel like a failure at
the beginning of this New Year
00:51:14.01\00:51:16.70
its okay, there
are all bunch of us
00:51:16.73\00:51:19.23
in that category
don't worry about it.
00:51:19.26\00:51:21.95
Jesus specializes in failures,
00:51:21.98\00:51:25.46
I'm calling you
come here follow Me.
00:51:25.49\00:51:30.81
I'm the word of God
00:51:30.84\00:51:33.55
and through My word
00:51:33.58\00:51:35.67
you will know the
mind of God one day.
00:51:35.70\00:51:40.16
What a God we have
to follow Him, come on,
00:51:40.19\00:51:43.67
we have to follow Jesus.
00:51:43.70\00:51:46.47
So, here is the
deal I'm asking you
00:51:46.50\00:51:48.65
would you be
willing today at this--
00:51:48.68\00:51:50.04
at this New Year
movement to say Dwight,
00:51:50.07\00:51:52.93
I don't know where
this gospel is going
00:51:52.96\00:51:54.76
but I'll join you.
00:51:54.79\00:51:57.89
We will journey
through the fourth gospel.
00:51:57.92\00:52:00.60
And what I would like
to say before all of heaven
00:52:00.63\00:52:02.44
today is by the
grace of the word of God
00:52:02.47\00:52:06.88
by His grace, I'll
follow wherever He leads.
00:52:06.91\00:52:12.42
Would you be
willing to pray that prayer?
00:52:12.45\00:52:15.16
It's a simple prayer.
00:52:15.19\00:52:16.93
Would you stand on your feet?
00:52:16.96\00:52:18.99
By standing to your
feet you say dear God,
00:52:19.02\00:52:24.73
I'll follow
wherever the word leads.
00:52:24.76\00:52:30.20
We see that's the truth.
00:52:30.23\00:52:33.12
Come on guys, that's the truth.
00:52:33.15\00:52:37.54
Follow John as he follows Jesus.
00:52:37.57\00:52:41.89
Because you know why,
00:52:41.92\00:52:44.57
God's first word
here is his last word
00:52:44.60\00:52:49.54
and his best word.
00:52:49.57\00:52:52.33
I say let's follow
him what do you say? Amen.
00:52:52.36\00:52:56.80
It our tradition here in
this university congregation
00:52:56.83\00:53:00.72
that at this moment
in the New Year beginning
00:53:00.75\00:53:04.21
that we are
standing in commitment
00:53:04.24\00:53:07.31
and then we sing together
00:53:07.34\00:53:10.29
the Lord's prayer
the most powerful prayer
00:53:10.32\00:53:13.67
you can pray in commitment
00:53:13.70\00:53:17.47
to the word of God.
00:53:17.50\00:53:22.04
Let's sing together.
00:53:22.07\00:53:23.55
Our Father,
00:53:29.92\00:53:33.75
which art in heaven
00:53:38.88\00:53:45.28
Hallowed be
00:53:48.65\00:53:52.31
Thy name
00:53:57.18\00:54:01.23
Thy kingdom come
00:54:05.00\00:54:11.69
Thy will be done
00:54:11.72\00:54:17.51
On earth
00:54:17.54\00:54:21.70
as it is in heaven
00:54:21.73\00:54:29.70
Give us this day
00:54:45.57\00:54:50.10
our daily bread
00:54:50.13\00:54:55.59
And forgive us our debts
00:54:55.62\00:55:01.53
As we forgive our debtors
00:55:01.56\00:55:08.35
And lead us not into temptation
00:55:13.07\00:55:19.67
But deliver us from evil
00:55:19.70\00:55:26.19
For Thine is the kingdom
00:55:26.22\00:55:33.80
And the power
00:55:33.83\00:55:37.46
And the glory
00:55:37.49\00:55:42.16
forever
00:55:42.19\00:55:49.16
Amen
00:55:52.26\00:56:00.26
I'd like to take a moment
here at the end of the service
00:56:20.51\00:56:22.45
to tell you
about one of the most
00:56:22.48\00:56:23.59
important groups of people
00:56:23.62\00:56:25.11
that make this
ministry possible.
00:56:25.14\00:56:27.95
They are team of people,
they're not afraid to get down
00:56:27.98\00:56:30.57
into the thick of life itself,
00:56:30.60\00:56:33.22
which is why
you're gonna find them,
00:56:33.25\00:56:34.33
you will find them
moving forward on their knees.
00:56:34.36\00:56:37.72
There are prayer partners,
a group of men and women
00:56:37.75\00:56:40.52
and young adults who believe
00:56:40.55\00:56:43.20
that this humble television
ministry has been raised up
00:56:43.23\00:56:46.19
by God for such a time as this.
00:56:46.22\00:56:47.89
And so they pray earnestly
that God will use the preacher.
00:56:47.92\00:56:51.12
The God will use me, the
God will use the countless
00:56:51.15\00:56:53.36
other volunteers to
spread the everlasting gospel
00:56:53.39\00:56:57.03
and the word of God in ways
00:56:57.06\00:56:58.18
we could never
have imagined before.
00:56:58.21\00:57:00.39
They're the ones who are praying
00:57:00.42\00:57:01.93
that God is gonna open
up the hearts of people,
00:57:01.96\00:57:05.14
open up the hearts of viewers
00:57:05.17\00:57:06.65
around the
world for the message,
00:57:06.68\00:57:08.73
the critical message for
this end time generation.
00:57:08.76\00:57:12.93
And what I'd
like to do is ask you,
00:57:12.96\00:57:14.95
would you be willing to
be a prayer partner with us,
00:57:14.98\00:57:17.72
a prayer partner
with New Perceptions?
00:57:17.75\00:57:19.35
You don't have to
call a toll free number.
00:57:19.38\00:57:20.97
You don't have to
go online to register.
00:57:21.00\00:57:23.23
All I need to know
is that you'd be willing
00:57:23.26\00:57:25.92
to lift this little ministry
up day after day after day.
00:57:25.95\00:57:31.60
Pray that somehow through radio
and television and the web,
00:57:31.63\00:57:35.46
God will open up new
doors, new regions on earth
00:57:35.49\00:57:39.97
where the everlasting
gospel can be proclaimed.
00:57:40.00\00:57:42.45
There is no
question, the power of prayer
00:57:42.48\00:57:45.09
has potential to take
this ministry to places
00:57:45.12\00:57:47.27
we could never
have imagined before.
00:57:47.30\00:57:50.23
So that's it.
00:57:50.26\00:57:51.29
Would you please be willing
to partner with me in prayer?
00:57:51.32\00:57:54.85
The times are
urgent, the need is critical
00:57:54.88\00:57:58.71
and I hope you'll say yes.
00:57:58.74\00:58:00.40
Till we're together next time,
00:58:00.43\00:58:02.60
may the prayer answering God
00:58:02.63\00:58:04.76
accompany you
every step of the way.
00:58:04.79\00:58:07.86