Participants: Pr. Dwight Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP082711
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00:06 From the campus of Andrews University
00:08 this is New Perceptions 00:11 with Dr. Dwight K. Nelson. 00:23 Who has told every lightning bolt 00:25 where it should go 00:30 Or seen heavenly storehouses 00:33 laden with snow? 00:39 Who imagined the sun 00:40 and gives source to its light 00:46 Yet conceals it to bring us 00:48 the coolness of night? 00:52 None can fathom 00:54 Indescribable, uncontainable 00:58 You placed the stars in the sky 01:00 And You know them by name 01:04 You are amazing, God! 01:10 All powerful, untamable, 01:14 Awestruck we fall to our knees 01:16 As we humbly proclaim 01:20 You are amazing, God! 01:26 Indescribable, uncontainable 01:30 You placed the stars in the sky 01:33 And You know them by name 01:36 You are amazing, God! 01:43 All powerful, untamable 01:47 Awestruck we fall to our knees 01:49 As we humbly proclaim 01:53 You are amazing, God! 02:12 Holy, holy, holy! 02:18 Lord God Almighty! 02:24 Early in the morning 02:29 our song shall rise to Thee 02:36 Holy, holy, holy! 02:42 Merciful and mighty! 02:48 God in three persons 02:54 blessed Trinity! 03:03 Holy, holy, holy! 03:09 Angels adore Thee 03:14 Casting down their bright crowns 03:19 Around the glassy sea 03:26 Thousands and ten thousands 03:31 Worship low before Thee 03:37 Which wert, and art, 03:42 and evermore shalt be 03:58 Holy, holy, holy! 04:05 Lord God Almighty! 04:11 All Thy works shall praise 04:15 Thy name In earth, 04:18 and sky, and sea 04:23 Holy, holy, holy! 04:30 Merciful and mighty! 04:36 God in three persons, 04:43 blessed Trinity! 05:06 Help me 05:09 Help me 05:13 Help me 05:17 Help me 05:23 Help me 05:33 Help me spread your fragrance 05:37 wherever I go 05:46 Flood my soul 05:52 Flood my soul 05:59 Flood my soul 06:10 Flood my soul 06:14 with Your spirit and life 06:26 Penetrate and possess 06:31 my whole being so utterly 06:43 That my life may be only 06:50 a radiance of Yours 06:58 That my life may be 07:02 only a radiance of Yours 07:09 Shine through me 07:15 and be so in me 07:22 That every soul 07:27 I come in contact with 07:31 May feel Your presence 07:36 in my soul 07:44 Let them look up 08:17 and see no longer me, 08:25 but only Jesus! 08:33 But only You 08:38 But only You 09:08 Amen. Thank you, university singers. 09:13 We needed that prayer. 09:15 Scribble the words down, 09:19 help me spread your fragrance 09:21 wherever I go 09:25 and flood my soul with your spirit. 09:32 What a New Year prayer. 09:36 It's a right prayer to pray. 09:43 They are considered among the most sublime words 09:45 in all of sacred literature. 09:49 The Prologue to the Fourth Gospel 09:55 just 18 verses in length 09:59 and yet in this majestic introduction 10:03 we read the story of you 10:06 and me and God and this universe. 10:12 It seems right in this day of new beginnings 10:17 that we read the Prologue together. 10:19 Pull your Bible out. 10:21 Didn't bring a Bible there is a pew Bible 10:23 right in front of you. 10:25 Eighteen short verses. 10:28 Well, let's read them together. 10:30 Any translation you brought its fine with me. 10:36 I'll be in the Andrew's study Bible, 10:39 New King James. 10:43 I read out loud you read in your heart. 10:48 John 1:1 10:55 "In the beginning was the Word, 10:59 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 11:06 He was in the beginning with God. 11:09 All things were made through Him, 11:10 and without Him nothing was made that was made. 11:14 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 11:20 And the light shines in the darkness, 11:22 and the darkness did not comprehend it. 11:27 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 11:30 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, 11:34 that all through him might believe. 11:35 He was not that Light, 11:37 but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 11:41 That was the true Light 11:42 which gives light to every man coming into the world. 11:47 He was in the world, 11:49 and the world was made through Him, 11:51 and the world did not know Him. 11:54 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 11:58 But as many as received Him, 12:00 to them He gave the right to become children of God, 12:04 to those who believe in His name who were born, 12:08 not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 12:10 nor of the will of man, but of God. 12:13 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 12:18 and we beheld His glory, 12:20 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 12:23 full of grace and truth. 12:26 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, 12:28 'This was He of whom I said, 12:30 "He who comes after me is preferred before me, 12:33 for He was before me.'" 12:37 And of His fullness we have all received, 12:39 and grace for grace. 12:41 For the law was given through Moses 12:43 but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 12:47 No one has seen God at any time. 12:50 The only begotten Son, 12:51 who is in the bosom of the Father, 12:54 He has declared Him." Let's pray. 13:03 Oh God, show us the word 13:10 and don't let us remain the same. 13:15 We pray in His name. Amen. 13:22 Let me ask you a question, think through this with me. 13:25 Can you imagine a world without any words at all? 13:33 A world with out words? 13:37 Let's just discover that world together right now. 13:41 I'm gonna give the command 13:42 and all the words will disappear. 13:45 Let all the words now be gone. 14:30 You think about it, 14:31 this hypothetical world with out words 14:34 what changed? 14:37 If you lived in a world with out words what just changed? 14:41 The sound of words gone. 14:44 All conversation, all language 14:48 all signing with words you could hum 14:51 but that would be a the writing, 14:55 the printing, the preservation 15:00 display of words gone. 15:06 No more computer screens. 15:09 No more books. No more hymns. 15:14 The archiving of words gone. 15:17 No history, no science, no literature. 15:23 You can't imagine. 15:24 The point is we cannot imagine a world with out words. 15:30 All though there are some people-- 15:31 listen to this, there are some people alive today 15:35 who suffer from what is called aphasia. 15:39 There's developmental aphasia that means you are born with it. 15:43 That is after you got your head hit aphasia as an adult. 15:50 Aphasia is the inability to speak, 15:53 read or write words. 15:56 Can you imagine a world with no words at all? 16:01 So here's a thought question for you. 16:04 Could you be a senescent being? 16:06 Could you be a feeling? 16:08 Could you be a thinking being if words did not exist? 16:13 Could you? 16:17 Like at the turn of the 19th century 16:19 from the 18th to the 19th century 16:20 a German philosopher and linguist an educator 16:25 his name Wilhelm Humboldt was grappling 16:29 with the inter relationship between words and thoughts. 16:32 It's pretty heavy but I thought it's significant. 16:35 Let me put it on the screen for you. 16:36 These are the words of the German philosopher 16:38 Wilhelm von Humboldt, "Language" he wrote, 16:43 "Is the formative organ of thought." 16:47 Isn't that something, not the brain, 16:49 language is the formative organ of thought. 16:54 "Intellectual activity, entirely mental, entirely internal, 16:59 and to some extent passing without trace." 17:02 So I'm looking in your face right now, 17:04 and you are looking into mine can you tell what I'm thinking? 17:07 With out trace I'm doing it. 17:09 You have no concept of what I'm thinking isn't that right? 17:12 "Intellectual activity, 17:13 entirely mental, entirely internal, 17:15 and to some extent passing without trace 17:16 becomes through sound, externalized in speech 17:20 and perceptible to the senses." 17:23 Last line, "Thought and language are therefore one 17:28 and inseparable from each other." 17:32 You can have thought without words. 17:39 You agree with that? 17:41 I mean that's what happening right now. 17:42 I'm trying-- I'm trying to communicate something to you 17:44 so I had this little this phonetic 17:46 internal intellectual activity going on 17:48 and I'm grabbing as fast as I can 17:53 audio symbols 17:56 so that the words would describe you 17:59 what I'm trying to say. 18:03 I'm externalizing my thoughts. 18:06 And by the way you think about this 18:08 my thoughts are my very identity. 18:11 Isn't that true? I'm who I think, right. 18:18 If you can hear how I think you will never know me. 18:23 That's how powerful the word is. 18:27 "In the beginning was the Word, 18:32 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 18:38 The same "was in the beginning with God." 18:46 In that single sublime pronouncement, 18:50 philosophy, linguistics and theology all collide. 18:57 What's Humboldt noted what do words do 18:59 but externalize our inner thoughts, 19:02 then what would God's capital W word do 19:05 but revile His inner thoughts. 19:07 If we cannot know His inner thoughts 19:09 we will never know Him. 19:13 "In the beginning was the Word, 19:17 and the Word was with God, 19:18 and the Word was God. 19:21 He was in the beginning with God." 19:24 So who is this word? 19:27 And what difference does it make to you 19:29 and me in the third millennium? 19:31 Well, let's see how I'm able to externalize 19:33 my internal thought processes to give you some instructions. 19:36 Can you do two things at once? Can you? 19:39 All right, two things please do them simultaneously. 19:42 Number one, find-- 19:43 first find the first chapter John in your Bible. 19:46 Grab your Bible, if you don't have a Bible 19:47 pull the pew Bible out. You want to track this. 19:50 Number one first find the first-- 19:52 John Chapter 1, 19:54 one and number two looking at New Year bulletin 19:58 and pull out your study guide. 20:00 Let's see if you can do both together. 20:03 Open your Bible to John 1:1 pull out your study guide. 20:06 You didn't get your study guide we got some friendly ushers 20:09 who will make sure that you have your study guide 20:12 as we go on for these next few moments. 20:19 Take out that brand new study guide 20:20 for a brand new season 20:21 as we begin a new journey here in the Pioneer Memorial Church 20:24 in the campus of Andrews University. 20:26 Brand new journey. 20:27 By the way I need to say this to for those of you 20:28 who don't know and there could be some of you, 20:30 some of you watching right now. 20:32 This school year in this school year 20:36 every public venue for worship, dawn worship, co-ed worship, 20:42 co-curricular worships, chapel, 20:44 house of prayer on Wednesday nights, 20:48 Sabbath mornings. 20:50 Every venue for public worship 20:52 this school year at Andrews University 20:55 is gonna take one of the-- 20:57 one of the fourth gospel of the Book of Acts. 20:59 This university will spend the entire year tracking Jesus. 21:06 I bet you could trace all the way 21:07 back to Battle Creek College 21:08 and you would never find a school year 21:10 where the entire institution said 21:13 we will devote our spiritual journey to the life of Christ. 21:21 And can you believe it? 21:23 Sabbath morning 21:24 we get the most sublime gospel of the four. 21:29 By the way, not just Sabbath mornings 21:30 but this is the third bit of instruction. 21:33 You already have your Bible open at John 1, 21:35 you already have your study guide 21:36 but I need to quickly point this out to you. 21:38 This is the New Year bulletin for today. 21:41 On the back cover every Sabbath 21:43 you will find a list of reflecting brooding questions 21:48 over the next assignment. 21:50 Now today we have to do what's happening today 21:53 and so you go to page 10 for next week's assignment. 21:56 You know, what that means? 21:57 That means you can collaborate with the small groups and say, 22:00 hey listen, let's just journey through John together. 22:03 Small group questions are here 22:04 by the way our small group pastor 22:06 you just saw her on the screen a moment ago Esther Knott. 22:08 She is coming up with in little 22:11 get acquitted activities at the beginning 22:12 of those small groups you will have that here. 22:14 But reflected questions 22:15 so that we can journey for the gospels together. 22:17 And in this case we are gonna journey 22:19 through the gospel the fourth gospel. 22:23 By the way you can get it on the web as well 22:25 these question will be posted on the web. 22:27 And before I forget this, 22:29 next Sabbath, starting next Sabbath 22:30 if I didn't have a chance to announce this to you 22:32 when you're here last week, but starting next Sabbath 22:34 bring your smart phone to church, 22:36 only second service. 22:38 Bring your smart phone next Sabbath 22:40 because next Sabbath I'm gonna hear from you 22:42 through this smart phone 22:44 and I'll know exactly how you are responding 22:45 by putting the responses right on that screen. 22:49 So it's gonna be interactive this journey 22:50 through the fourth gospel next Sabbath. 22:53 Put it on vibrate when you come 22:55 but bring your smart phone next Sabbath, all right. 23:00 Oh, boy, I forgot about our viewers 23:01 we are so glad to have you joining us 23:03 for this brand new series look at the title of series, 23:04 let me put it on screen for you 23:05 so you get our website you can get the study guide. 23:08 Title of this new series, The Last Word. 23:11 The Fourth Gospel for a Final Generation. 23:14 And there is the website 23:16 because the study guide that we are just 23:18 getting ready to plunge into its sitting for you there 23:20 in the at the website www.pmchruch, 23:23 pioneer memorial pmchruch.tv. 23:25 Go to the website you are looking for part 1 of the series 23:27 it says study guide click on you will have it. 23:29 By the way all of you who are watching live streaming 23:32 across the nation or wherever you are 23:33 on this planet right now, we are delighted to have you. 23:36 The same computer you are using 23:37 can access the study guide for you 23:40 and you can share this journey with us. 23:41 Oh, we have done that bit of house keeping. 23:44 Let's go put it down please, "In the beginning was the word." 23:47 Fill in your study guide. 23:49 "In the beginning was the word." 23:55 Time out pastor, time out. 24:00 I thought you are gonna say something about 24:01 who wrote the book. 24:02 How can we plunge into a book 24:03 if you don't say something about the author of the book? 24:06 Well, actually there is no point in saying 24:08 anything about the author of the book 24:10 because if you have the Andrews study Bible, 24:12 you already have the answer right there. 24:14 If you don't have the Andrews study Bible 24:15 you know what to do about. 24:19 But the other point is and I'm serious now with this one. 24:20 The other point is the author 24:23 purposely does not identify himself in his gospel. 24:28 Not a word about-- hi, this is me. 24:31 So obviously he believes his identity is now crucial 24:34 to our understanding of the fourth gospel. 24:37 Now, he does include five-- 24:39 five times he includes this code phrase 24:41 and we try to extrapolate from this code phrase. 24:45 When you hear the code phrase for the first time 24:47 it may come across as a bit with a bit of hubris 24:50 but I'm telling you what it is a self effacing code phrase. 24:53 Let me show you the last time this code phrase appears. 24:57 Hint about who this author might be. 24:58 Go to the last page of the Gospel of John. 25:00 John chapter 21. 25:02 So you already in John 1, 25:03 I'm sorry I'll make you to go to the end of the gospel now. 25:07 Last page, John 21 25:09 this is the fifth occurrence of this code phrase 25:13 or the phrase itself is a sermon which we will resist. 25:16 John 21:20 "Then Peter," 25:19 the last story has just taken place, 25:21 it is a powerful story 25:22 and we will get to it by the end of the school year 25:24 so don't read ahead. 25:27 Verse 20, "Then Peter, turning around, saw" 25:29 here comes the code phrase, 25:30 "the disciple whom Jesus loved following, 25:36 who had also leaned on His breast at the supper, 25:39 and said, 'Lord, who is the one who betrays You?'" 25:42 The disciple whom Jesus loved. 25:44 He said oh, men, that is a bit of a kind of an egocentric way. 25:46 Hey look at it I'm the one that Jesus loved. 25:48 No, not in the Greek, 25:49 is that the Greek literally reads 25:51 the disciple that Jesus kept on loving 25:54 in spite of my mess ups and my failures 25:58 He kept loving me anyway. 26:00 I told you there is a sermon in that line. 26:02 The disciple Jesus kept on loving. 26:05 Isn't that just like Jesus by the way? 26:07 Isn't that like Him? 26:08 I fail again and again and again 26:11 and He keeps coming back to me and He says, 26:12 I'm giving you another opportunity. 26:14 I'm giving you another chance. 26:15 I'm still loving you, I haven't quit loving you. 26:18 The disciple whom, the disciples whom Jesus kept on loving. 26:22 Wow, five times he says it, 26:25 he says it in the upper room 26:26 He is the one leaning against the chest of Jesus. 26:30 He says it at the cross Jesus looks down from the cross, 26:33 He says, boy, this is your mother, 26:35 mother this is your son, that's the second time. 26:38 Third time in the resurrection morning 26:41 this disciple whoever he is 26:42 has a foot race with Peter to the tomb 26:44 he outruns peters obviously younger. 26:51 Fourth time this is the-- this is one sharp eyes, 26:54 eagle eyes in the pre dawn light 26:57 recognizes that the stranger in the mist 26:59 on the shore is the Lord 27:01 and he turns to Peter and says, yo, it's the Lord. 27:04 Fifth time we just read it, 27:05 he is falling right behind Peter and Jesus. 27:09 He loves staying near Jesus that's why. 27:13 So who is he? Who is he? 27:15 Church tradition says oh, we know who that is. 27:18 That's the youngest son of Zebedee, 27:20 that the kid brother of James, that's John boy. 27:25 That's who that is. 27:28 He was one of the inner circle. 27:29 You remember the inner circle, Peter, James and John. 27:32 They go on the mount of transfiguration 27:33 everybody stays behind. 27:34 They go into Jairus daughter 27:35 for the resurrection everybody stays behind. 27:37 They go into the inner recesses of Gethsemane 27:39 everybody stays behind. 27:41 What is this Jesus playing favorite's 27:43 kind of elevating the three above the others? 27:44 No, no, no. 27:47 Jesus is always hungry for those who are hungry for Him 27:50 that's how it works. 27:51 He is not playing favorites with John. 27:53 John was pushing, 27:54 pushing to get closer and closer to Jesus. 27:58 I hope that's the kind of pushing 27:59 you do in this forth gospel of journey 28:01 that you and I embarked on together. 28:03 Push, push just like John boy. Push Jesus big on the young. 28:09 Push brings a man. 28:15 By the way, this John boy 28:20 out lived all the other disciples 28:23 the other 11 you know why, 28:24 they all died violently. All 11 died violently. 28:29 John will die of old age he is a last savior. 28:32 And scholars believe, listen to this, 28:33 scholars believe that they now elderly John 28:37 sat on after he wrote the Book of Revelation 28:42 he sat down and for his final work 28:45 he tells his story of Jesus 28:49 which makes kind of logically speaking 28:51 the forth gospel the last word of the New Testament. 28:58 It's the book written closes to us in time 29:02 and so you and I will return to this fourth gospel 29:04 again and again and again 29:05 and we will keep running into that last word 29:07 again and again and again. 29:09 It will be the last word about death. 29:11 It will be the last word about the Sabbath. 29:12 It will be the last word about the divinity of Christ. 29:14 It will be the last word about His humanity. 29:16 It will be the last word about eternal life. 29:18 It will be the last word about communal forgiveness. 29:20 It will be the last word about the great I'm. 29:22 It will be the last word about the Lamb of God. 29:24 It will be the last word about knowing God. 29:28 It will be the last word about the Judgment of God. 29:30 It will be the last word about salvation and the Savior. 29:34 It will be the last word about the Holy Spirit. 29:37 We will find there the last word about transformation 29:39 because look if Jesus can look at John boy 29:44 remember He gave him a nick name. 29:45 If Jesus can look at John boy 29:47 and say you what I'm gonna name you brothers 29:49 the heart head brothers. You are so angry. 29:53 If Jesus can look at John boy, and keep on loving Him 29:56 and change in his own image 29:58 then there is hope for the lives of you and me as well. 30:00 Isn't there hope for us 30:03 who can change us into his image as well? 30:05 All right, John 1:1 30:08 "In the beginning" get your Bible. 30:12 "In the beginning was the Word, 30:17 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 30:22 He was in the beginning with God." 30:25 And you already knew this, but I'm gonna remind you 30:27 that the Greek word for word is logos. 30:30 And once come out word logo or logic or all the ologies. 30:37 You know all the ologies? What's biology? 30:40 Greek word, Bios, logos, 30:44 biology is a word about life. Bios mean life. 30:47 What's zoology? 30:48 Zoa life logos 30:51 word about life, zoology. 30:54 What's anthropology? 30:55 Anthropology Anthrop man word about man. 30:58 What's theology, theos God word about God. 31:02 We all know the word Logos. 31:05 In the beginning was the Logos, 31:07 and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. 31:11 Hey, guess what John didn't coin this 31:13 personification of logos 31:15 Greek philosophers had already done it, 31:17 but here is what's amazing, 31:18 Craig Keener in this illuminating 31:20 two volume commentary on John 31:21 which I'm gonna be reading through 31:23 through out this series 31:24 carefully unfolds how John masterfully 31:26 has combined two ancient personifications. 31:29 You know, what personification means don't you? 31:31 It means giving human attributes 31:33 to a non human reality. 31:36 The Hebrews came along 31:37 and they turned them into people. 31:38 Wisdom and Torah the two were turned into people. 31:45 John combines those two Hebrew personifications 31:47 into his brand new moniker for Christ, the word. 31:50 John is the only Bible writer by the way 31:52 that names God the word. 31:55 He does it in all three of his books. 31:57 I'll say all three of his in three of his five books. 32:00 We have already seen it in John, 32:01 look at 1 John 1:1 the opening line, 32:04 "That which was from the beginning, 32:05 which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, 32:07 which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, 32:09 concerning the Word of life." 32:10 He loves the logos that picture the second person of the God. 32:14 Now, watch this, 32:15 this is the most spectacular picture 32:17 in all the scripture the-- the explosive 32:25 return of Christ to this planet. 32:26 You will not read in more dramatic 32:28 portrayal of the second coming. 32:30 This is-- this is Revelation Chapter 19 32:32 notice how he leaves it in here 19:11 32:34 "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse." 32:37 I love the picture that pine champing 32:40 at the bits white stallion. 32:42 He is riding that white stallion. 32:43 "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. 32:46 And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, 32:48 and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 32:51 His eyes were like a flame of fire, 32:52 and on His head were many crowns. 32:54 He had a name written that no one knew except Himself." 32:57 Now watch this, "He was clothed with a robe 32:59 dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God." 33:05 Keep reading, "And the armies in heaven, 33:08 clothed in fine linen, white and clean, 33:10 followed Him on white horses." 33:12 You have the heavens filled with white horses. 33:15 Final line, "And He has on His robe 33:17 and on His thigh a name written, 33:19 King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords." 33:22 Isn't that amazing? 33:24 The returning Christ with a blood dipped robe 33:27 is called the logos the word of God. 33:29 "In the beginning was the Word, 33:30 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 33:32 And the word of God shall return one day 33:35 to this planet in a robe dipped in blood. 33:39 Wow, no wonder the fourth gospel 33:44 is for the final generation because it's the gospel closest 33:49 to those who live at the end. 33:56 How close are we to this return of the logos of God? 34:00 How close? 34:02 President of this university Niels-Erik Andreasen 34:06 this week, addressing the entire campus 34:08 in an opening convocation reminded us 34:12 that it is no longer the evangelists 34:13 who are calling our attentions to "The sings" any more. 34:18 Journalists of every stripe and perseveration 34:20 are raising their voices with alarm 34:23 warnings about the fragility of national 34:25 and global economies are mounting. 34:26 Scientists fearful of human destruction of eco system 34:30 are raising their voices as well in the alarm. 34:32 Ramping starvation, political collapse 34:35 in the Middle East, the pent up anger 34:37 and the downtrodden masses, darkly for shaded 34:40 in London's burning rage a few ago. 34:42 Mother Nature turning on us with a vengeance as we speak. 34:49 It have to be a sleep to miss the ominous 34:53 similarity between the alarm of the news media today 34:57 and the ancient prophetic writings long ago. 35:01 The last word for a final generation, 35:05 if ever that word generation needing to be gripped in mind 35:09 and heart by the gospel of Jesus. 35:12 It would have to be this one sent out compelled 35:15 into a rapidly disintegrating civilization. 35:20 We made the right choice. 35:22 We are journeying with the right gospel. 35:28 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 35:33 and the Word was God." Fill that in please. 35:38 And the word was God. 35:41 The reader of the fourth gospel quickly discovers 35:44 that one of the primary missions for the elderly John's 35:47 composing of his story with Jesus 35:49 is to assert an unequivocal terms 35:52 that Christ is divine. 35:57 And here in the prolog 35:59 he moves instantly to his point 36:00 "And the word was God" period. 36:09 That's some new idea being slip into the New Testament 36:12 just before the canon doors are slam shut hardly. 36:17 The New Testament abounds with evidences. 36:19 I wish you jot them down, 36:20 evidences for the divinity of Christ. 36:23 Many of them irrefutable for the deity of Christ, 36:27 here we go jot them down. 36:28 There is evidence of the life Jesus lived. 36:33 Which of you convicts me of sin. 36:35 Show me one nobody step for and say its defective goods. 36:43 Evidence number one, the life Jesus lived. 36:44 Evidence number two, The words Jesus spoke. 36:49 No man speak like this man. 36:50 Nobody spoke with such authority. 36:53 He says, as if he wrote the book Himself. 36:58 Evidence number three, The miracles He performed. 37:04 We need to linger along there. 37:07 Evidence number four, the prophecies He fulfilled. 37:11 Please not in that little list everyone of these 37:13 is collaborated by scripture 37:14 but notice slipped in something from Daniel. Daniel 9, 37:18 Isaac Newton the brilliant English 37:20 mathematician described Daniel 9:24-27 37:25 as the crown jewel of the Old Testament. 37:28 It identifies the Messiah and the specific time 37:33 the date, of his arrival. 37:35 It's the great Messianic Jew 37:39 and finally the eternity he previously inhabited. 37:43 Unabashed declaration in John 1 Colossians 1, 37:47 Hebrews 1 that Jesus predated 37:50 His existence on this planet 37:51 into the into eternity past as the eternal one. 37:57 You say, come on Dwight, 37:59 please these verses don't prove the divinity of Christ. 38:02 They simply prove the Bible's teaching 38:04 of the divinity of Christ. 38:07 Yes, but, the bright mind much brighter than mine. 38:11 C.S Lewis, himself an agonistic in the 20th century 38:15 became the greatest arguable apologist 38:19 for Christianity in the previous century 20th. 38:23 C.S Lewis in his amazing book, Mere Christianity, 38:30 he says, I want to give you a series of propositions 38:32 that I believe prove the divinity of Jesus 38:35 and I'm gonna run by you right now. 38:36 I have my little Mere Christianity, right here. 38:38 I have to keep a rubber band around it 38:40 so that the pages don't fall out. 38:42 I want to read from one of those pages in just a moment. 38:43 So I won't take the rubber band off yet. 38:45 So, here comes the propositions, 38:47 jot these down please this is from C.S Lewis, 38:49 brilliant mind became a believer. 38:52 Number one, "God gave us something 38:54 called the conscience. Well, that's true. 38:57 What does he call the conscience 38:58 "the sense of right and wrong." 39:00 There are people all over this planet 39:01 he points out who spend their lives 39:03 trying to be true to their conscience. 39:04 That is absolutely true. You are one of them. 39:08 People who have absolutely no religious connection 39:10 like you to still try to obey this voice. 39:13 Number two, God chose a particular people, 39:16 and then Lewis write, 39:17 "spent several centuries hammering into their heads 39:20 the sort of God he was." 39:22 The children of Israel, come on you got to tell 39:25 the world who I'm so that's why I picked them. 39:27 Now, keep going, "Among these Jews 39:30 a Man shows up, 'who' Lewis writes, 39:34 "goes about talking as if He was God." 39:37 He just shows up he says I'm God. 39:40 Well, and keep writing proposition four, 39:43 "He says He has always existed and claims to forgive sins." 39:51 Well, who could do that? 39:52 Let me take the rubber band off here, 39:55 and I want to read this line. 39:58 Nice thing about a book that's falling apart 39:59 as you can take the pages out and just read them 40:01 without having to keep them in the book. 40:03 By the way somebody after first service says, 40:05 I use to be a book binder 40:06 thank you, Lord, he said, I will take this 40:08 and I will bind that back for you. 40:09 Hallelujah. 40:11 All right, so this is page 55, Mere Christianity, 40:14 "One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed 40:17 because we have heard it so often 40:18 that we no longer see it for what it amounts to. 40:20 I mean the claim to forgive sins." 40:23 Now, think think think 40:24 that Jesus came to forgive sins any sins. 40:29 Now unless the speaker is God, 40:31 this is really so preposterous as to be comic. 40:34 "We can all understand how a man forgives 40:35 offences against himself. 40:37 You tread on my toe and I forgive you, 40:38 you steal my money and I forgive you. 40:40 But what should we make of a man, 40:42 himself unrobbed and untrodden on, 40:45 who announced that he forgave you 40:47 for treading on other men's toes 40:49 and stealing other men's money? 40:52 Asinine fatuity is the kindest description 40:56 we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. 40:59 He told people that their sins were forgiven, 41:02 and He never waited to consult all the other people 41:04 whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. 41:06 He unhesitatingly behaved 41:08 as if He was the party chiefly concerned, 41:12 the person chiefly offended in all offences." 41:16 And now, the words are in your study guide 41:18 I put them on the screen, 41:19 "This makes sense only if He really was the God 41:24 whose laws are broken 41:26 and whose love is wounded in every sin." 41:30 Isn't that amazing a brilliant mind? 41:35 What's Lewis' point, you have it in your study guide 41:37 I'll put them on the screen for you, 41:39 Lewis wrapping it up here. 41:40 "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying 41:43 the really foolish thing that people often say about Him. 41:46 Well, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, 41:49 but I don't accept His claim to be God." 41:52 Lewis responds, "That is the one thing 41:54 we must not say. 41:56 A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things 41:59 Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. 42:01 He would either be a lunatic-on a level 42:04 with the man who says he is a poached egg 42:06 or else he would be the Devil of Hell. 42:10 You must make your choice. 42:12 Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, 42:15 or else a madman or something worse. 42:18 You can shut Him up for a fool, 42:19 you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, 42:22 or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. 42:27 But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense 42:31 about His being a great human teacher. 42:32 He has not left that open to us. 42:34 He did not intend to." 42:38 Lose plum the depths of the gospel and Holy Scripture 42:44 and then came to the conclusion 42:47 He was who He said He was and Lewis fell 42:50 at the feet of Christ, my Lord and my God. 42:55 "In the beginning was the Word, 42:59 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 43:03 He was in the beginning with God." 43:11 John's point is inescapable. 43:15 The Christ we have to come to love is as divine 43:18 and eternal as the father we must come to know. 43:25 Christ is God even as the father and the spirit of God. 43:31 A century ago Desire of Ages put it this way, 43:34 I'll put it on the screen for you. 43:35 "From the days of eternity 43:38 the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father, 43:42 He was 'the image of God,' 43:43 the image of His greatness and majesty, 43:45 'the outshining of His glory.' 43:47 By coming to dwell with us, 43:49 Jesus was to reveal God both to men and to angels." 43:52 Now, here comes the, here comes the pinnacle. 43:55 "He was the Word of God-- God's thought made audible." 44:01 The italics are mine. 44:03 God's thought made audible 44:08 which takes us full circle 44:09 doesn't it back to the German philosopher 44:12 Wilhelm von Humboldt. 44:13 And how did Von Humboldt put it, 44:15 put the words on the screen again. 44:17 "Thought and language are therefore one 44:19 and inseparable from each other." 44:23 John's portrayal 44:27 In Chapter 1 is of the eternal word 44:32 who stood beside the eternal father 44:35 and who reviles to us the thought 44:39 and heart of the eternal God. 44:43 And so what? So what? 44:47 Great teachings. So what? 44:49 What difference does the divinity of Christ 44:52 make from our living in the third millennium? 44:56 I'll tell you so what. 44:59 Would you jot these down please? 45:01 I'll close with these. 45:05 If Christ is divine, there are seven implications. 45:09 Seven implications for you and me let's go. 45:11 If Christ is divine it means that 45:13 number one, "I must seek Him." 45:17 Jot that down please. 45:19 And why not just like the Greece on that Tuesday 45:23 before Jesus crucifixion in John 12 they come 45:25 and they say we want to see Jesus 45:27 we would see Jesus. 45:29 Wise men from the east came at his birth. 45:32 Wise men from the west came at His death. 45:34 And like that old quip goes it's always a wise man 45:37 and wise woman who seeks Jesus. 45:40 We are beginning a journey here together. 45:42 I'm inviting you to plunge into that Journey. 45:44 Seek Jesus as you never had before. 45:45 You say, Dwight, 45:46 I have already believed about Jesus. 45:48 But what does the divinity of Christ do to your life today? 45:55 What difference does it make in the way you are living? 45:58 When was the last time you meditated 46:00 on the divinity of the word? 46:05 Go back to the Gospel of John all through 46:07 the week come back on Sabbath 46:09 we will just we will let the word rise to the front 46:12 and then we will return to the week 46:13 and study at the end. 46:15 Move through the gospel with me. 46:18 Think, that's why you are in this university. 46:21 You've learnt to think. 46:24 What is the picture of the divine Christ mean? 46:26 Number one, I must seek Him. 46:27 Number two, it means "I must believe in Him." 46:31 It's not enough to seek Him. 46:32 I must make a decision about Him. 46:34 In fact, John is very unambiguous 46:38 about this being his primary purpose for writing the book. 46:41 This is near the end chapter 20:31, 46:43 why do you write this, 46:45 disciple of the Jesus kept on loving. 46:46 "But these things are written that you may believe 46:49 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 46:51 and that believing you may have life in His name." 46:55 It's about believing. 46:57 Its not just any old belief 46:58 that's why there is number three, 47:00 I must trust Him because the devils believe 47:02 and he tremble. 47:04 Is there a demon that is been changed by believing? 47:06 No. 47:08 It's no enough just to believe you must trust. 47:11 I must trust Him just like the disciples 47:12 on that pitch black stormy midnight light 47:16 and this apparition 47:18 is walking through the mist toward them 47:21 and in panic they cry out 47:23 and a voice comes, 47:27 "It is Ibe not afraid." 47:31 I don't know what kind of storms 47:33 we are gonna run into this year, 47:34 I have no clue for the planet, 47:35 I have no clue for my own life. 47:37 Later on yours but I must trust Him, 47:43 He is the divine one. 47:45 Whatever happens to me goes through Him 47:48 and He says, boy girl I know this has happened to you 47:53 but I determined that if you go through this with me 47:59 this becomes a win for you one day. 48:01 Hold My hand on the water, 48:03 hold My hand you can pass through 48:06 this storm together. 48:08 Seven implications if Christ is divine. 48:10 It means, I must seek Him. It means, I must believe in Him. 48:12 It means, I must trust Him 48:13 and it means, I must worship Him and why not. 48:17 The patron saint for the third millennium 48:18 by the way is the doubting Thomas. 48:20 Show me, prove it. 48:24 And when Jesus appeared before Thomas, 48:27 Thomas fell to the ground and he worshipped Him 48:29 and what did He cry out? My Lord and my God. 48:36 By the way John wrote his gospel 48:40 for un, un eyewitnesses. 48:44 He wrote his gospel for the second generation 48:46 not the first. 48:48 That's why Jesus miracles in this gospel 48:50 don't need Him up close. 48:51 He can just speak the word. 48:53 That's why Jesus teachings are caps the way they are. 48:56 So that from a distance you can know it's still true. 49:01 You don't have to touch His wounds. 49:03 Blessed are they who never see but believe 49:05 that's to us second-generationers 49:07 we never saw Him. 49:09 Blessed are you who believe anyway. 49:11 That's us, it's our gospel. 49:17 Number five, "I must love Him." And why not. 49:22 I must love Him extravagantly just like Mary 49:25 who in sobbing tears breaks open her alabaster box 49:31 and the perfume fills the room. 49:35 When was the last time you love Jesus extravagantly 49:39 to where your friends and family said 49:41 did you have to go that far? 49:46 They said to Mary. I must love Him and why not. 49:51 Number six, "I must obey Him." 49:52 It's not enough to love Him, 49:53 if you love me you will obey me I must obey Him. 49:56 Just like the blind man who hears Jesus clearest throat 49:59 and feels His warm spit on his eyes. 50:03 And Jesus snares the dirt with the spit 50:05 all over the man's eyes in John 9. 50:07 He says, all right, I will go and wash it off 50:08 at the pool of Siloam. 50:10 And the blind man could have said this is so crazy 50:12 I'll not do it and he would have been blind till his death. 50:16 You must obey Him. 50:18 When He gives you a command you must obey Him. 50:22 It's not up for negotiation. You want a miracle in your life. 50:25 You want the supernatural in your life obey Me. 50:29 I must obey Him and finally I must follow Him. 50:33 I must follow Him. 50:35 Peter heart broken, 50:37 thrice curses the name of Jesus, cures Him 50:40 and Jesus three times around that camp fire 50:43 says Peter, do you love me? 50:44 I do, I do, I do. 50:46 Peter, do you really love me? 50:51 And then like music to his ears 50:56 Peter hears the words all right boy, 50:59 you do love me, come follow me. 51:04 John, Peter failures yes, 51:08 but in Christ the call I call failures to follow me. 51:14 You feel like a failure at the beginning of this New Year 51:16 its okay, there are all bunch of us 51:19 in that category don't worry about it. 51:21 Jesus specializes in failures, 51:25 I'm calling you come here follow Me. 51:30 I'm the word of God 51:33 and through My word 51:35 you will know the mind of God one day. 51:40 What a God we have to follow Him, come on, 51:43 we have to follow Jesus. 51:46 So, here is the deal I'm asking you 51:48 would you be willing today at this-- 51:50 at this New Year movement to say Dwight, 51:52 I don't know where this gospel is going 51:54 but I'll join you. 51:57 We will journey through the fourth gospel. 52:00 And what I would like to say before all of heaven 52:02 today is by the grace of the word of God 52:06 by His grace, I'll follow wherever He leads. 52:12 Would you be willing to pray that prayer? 52:15 It's a simple prayer. 52:16 Would you stand on your feet? 52:19 By standing to your feet you say dear God, 52:24 I'll follow wherever the word leads. 52:30 We see that's the truth. 52:33 Come on guys, that's the truth. 52:37 Follow John as he follows Jesus. 52:41 Because you know why, 52:44 God's first word here is his last word 52:49 and his best word. 52:52 I say let's follow him what do you say? Amen. 52:56 It our tradition here in this university congregation 53:00 that at this moment in the New Year beginning 53:04 that we are standing in commitment 53:07 and then we sing together 53:10 the Lord's prayer the most powerful prayer 53:13 you can pray in commitment 53:17 to the word of God. 53:22 Let's sing together. 53:29 Our Father, 53:38 which art in heaven 53:48 Hallowed be 53:57 Thy name 54:05 Thy kingdom come 54:11 Thy will be done 54:17 On earth 54:21 as it is in heaven 54:45 Give us this day 54:50 our daily bread 54:55 And forgive us our debts 55:01 As we forgive our debtors 55:13 And lead us not into temptation 55:19 But deliver us from evil 55:26 For Thine is the kingdom 55:33 And the power 55:37 And the glory 55:42 forever 55:52 Amen 56:20 I'd like to take a moment here at the end of the service 56:22 to tell you about one of the most 56:23 important groups of people 56:25 that make this ministry possible. 56:27 They are team of people, they're not afraid to get down 56:30 into the thick of life itself, 56:33 which is why you're gonna find them, 56:34 you will find them moving forward on their knees. 56:37 There are prayer partners, a group of men and women 56:40 and young adults who believe 56:43 that this humble television ministry has been raised up 56:46 by God for such a time as this. 56:47 And so they pray earnestly that God will use the preacher. 56:51 The God will use me, the God will use the countless 56:53 other volunteers to spread the everlasting gospel 56:57 and the word of God in ways 56:58 we could never have imagined before. 57:00 They're the ones who are praying 57:01 that God is gonna open up the hearts of people, 57:05 open up the hearts of viewers 57:06 around the world for the message, 57:08 the critical message for this end time generation. 57:12 And what I'd like to do is ask you, 57:14 would you be willing to be a prayer partner with us, 57:17 a prayer partner with New Perceptions? 57:19 You don't have to call a toll free number. 57:21 You don't have to go online to register. 57:23 All I need to know is that you'd be willing 57:25 to lift this little ministry up day after day after day. 57:31 Pray that somehow through radio and television and the web, 57:35 God will open up new doors, new regions on earth 57:40 where the everlasting gospel can be proclaimed. 57:42 There is no question, the power of prayer 57:45 has potential to take this ministry to places 57:47 we could never have imagined before. 57:50 So that's it. 57:51 Would you please be willing to partner with me in prayer? 57:54 The times are urgent, the need is critical 57:58 and I hope you'll say yes. 58:00 Till we're together next time, 58:02 may the prayer answering God 58:04 accompany you every step of the way. |
Revised 2014-12-17