Participants: Pr. Dwight Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP170826A
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00:07 ♪♪ 00:31 [ Congregation sings ] 03:21 >> Amen. Please be seated. ♪♪ 03:35 [ Congregation sings ] 04:05 ♪♪ "He walks." 04:56 "He lives." ♪♪ 05:58 ♪♪ "He walks." 06:01 ♪♪ 06:33 Amen and amen. And because He lives, He's 06:36 provided the solution. He's provided the answer. 06:39 And we need so much from Him, and all our prayer can be is, 06:45 "Lord, I need you." So sing with us this next 06:48 song, "Lord, I Need You." ♪♪ 06:55 [ Congregation sings ] 07:52 "Where sin runs deep." ♪♪ 08:46 "So teach." ♪♪ 10:20 [ "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" plays ] 10:33 [ Congregation sings ] 10:55 "Turn your eyes open Jesus." ♪♪ 12:18 So this is the time for your look. 12:20 This is the time to gaze up into the eyes of Jesus. 12:25 So come forward this morning. If you have a burden on your 12:27 heart, something that you're struggling with or maybe a 12:29 praise that you're jumping through the roof of how God has 12:33 worked in your life, take this time now and come forward. 12:36 Lay your burdens at the cross. Bring your praises before God as 12:40 we sing to our mighty savior and redeemer, Jesus Christ, and look 12:44 at him. 12:51 [ Congregation sings ] 13:16 "Turn your eyes." ♪♪ 14:12 >> Nice to see all of you. It's been awhile since we've been together. 14:16 I think the end of June, was it? Where have you been all this summer? 14:19 Let me tell you where I've been. Because Karen and I did something we've never done 14:24 before. 14:25 We took all four weeks of our vacation at one time and, in the 14:28 month of July, went out to be with our kids and our little 14:31 granddaughter, Ella. All our kids live in Oregon, and 14:35 that's where Ella is. 14:37 So I got a story that comes from right out of that moment when we were in Ore-- 14:41 Anybody here been to Oregon? Anybody here been to Oregon? Yes, a few have. 14:45 Let me show you a picture of the little family. Where are they? 14:48 Oh, there they are, The Great Northwest. Yeah, that's The Great 14:52 Northwest. That's where Oregon is, but, of course, when you go to see your 14:55 kids, you really go to see your grandchild. That's just what you do, to let 14:58 you know in advance. Let me just see. Is Ella -- Do we have -- 15:02 Oh, there's Ella. Can you believe it? She'll be 4 this October. 15:05 Look at her. Let me see another picture of Ella. 15:08 I could spend all -- Ohhh. Papa took -- That's what she calls me, "Papa." 15:12 Papa took Ella to Dairy Queen. Is it okay once in a while to take your granddaughter? 15:16 Is it okay to go to Dairy Queen? Okay, that's what Papa did. Oh, she put her whole face in 15:22 that. Is there one more we have? Oh, it's 4th of July! 15:25 So we're celebrating 4th of July with her, and she's got her little red, white, and blue 15:30 whatevers on. Ahh! But we went hiking. 15:35 We went hiking in the northwest. One more picture. One more. Yeah. 15:38 We went hiking. There's the whole family. Kirk and Chelsea and little 15:41 Ella. We went hiking. Oh, it's so beautiful in the 15:45 northwest. There is a lake out there not far from where our kids live. 15:50 And one day, we were going to the lake, and a man came running up to us, and he said, "Hey! 15:56 You going down to the lake? You're not gonna believe this. There is a turtle, and you're 16:02 not gonna believe what this turtle is doing right now." I want to see a picture of that 16:06 turtle, please. Oh, there it is. That's the actual turtle. 16:08 Now, can you see a little red stripe up right up by its ear? They call that the red-eared 16:15 terrapin -- slider. The red-eared slider. It's the most popular pet turtle 16:21 in the world. If you have a pet, this is probably the kind of pet you're 16:25 gonna get. They start out small, but they get big and big and big. 16:28 But it's what they -- Listen. They call it the most invasive. That means if you don't like 16:32 your pet and you throw the pet turtle out -- "Well, you're on your own now" -- These guys, 16:36 [Trilling] and they multiply, and that's what this mother is doing. 16:40 Look at her back legs. Can you see her back legs? There are her back legs reaching 16:44 in. She's made some mud. Don't ask me how she made that 16:47 mud, but she's made the mud, and she's dropped her eggs. The average mother will have 16:53 between 2 and 30 eggs. Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop. 16:58 There they go. Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop, plop. 17:00 And as soon as the eggs -- Do you think she wants to leave her eggs in the top of the 17:03 ground? No, because what would happen? Sshhhhh! 17:05 There goes that old hawk. That hawk will eat those eggs so fast, it would make your head 17:09 swim. So the mother knows -- Wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, 17:12 wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt. When we got there, that's what she's doing. 17:15 Wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt, wkt. And we're all standing around. 17:18 "Wow! Look at that." When she's through, you can't hardly tell she's there. 17:22 Let me see that next picture. Oh, you can hardly tell. Somebody walking by would never 17:27 know that a mother turtle buried her eggs right there. The little babies are gonna come 17:32 out of right there. And guess what the mother does? She leaves! 17:37 I could not believe this. Let me see the next picture. There she goes. 17:41 She's just -- Ella's sitting there watching. She's planted her eggs. 17:45 She's buried the eggs. And now, "Bye-bye, see you later." 17:48 And that's exactly what she does. Crawl across the sidewalk. 17:51 Some beautiful homes right there by the lake. They're looking right down on 17:55 this. But you see the lake up in the corner? 17:57 Next picture, please. She goes into the grass, and there's a rocky bank. 18:01 She went down that bank, and she just slid -- pow, pow, pow, pow, pow -- into the water -- psh! 18:07 Swims away. Those babies are all on their own. 18:11 Do you understand that? Those babies will be born between 56 and 112 days later 18:17 underground, and then guess what? When they wake up inside the 18:22 egg, Jesus made them with a very interesting, little tooth. They call it the eyetooth. 18:30 The egg tooth is right here on the beak of the little baby inside the shell, and with that 18:36 little pointed tooth -- tchkt! -- breaks the shell. Baby comes out. 18:40 And in one hour, the tooth disappears, never to grow back again. 18:45 Who told that little turtle about how to do that? Isn't that something? 18:50 But then they have to wait 21 days all on their own till they can find water and live on their 18:56 own. Mother never comes back. Oh! 19:01 Let me see the last picture, because we were talking to Kirk last night. 19:05 And the owners of the houses right here, you see this little sign? 19:09 It says, "Do not disturb. Turtle nest." Well, I hope the cats can read 19:15 that, and I hope the dogs that go running by. [ Girl crying ] 19:19 Oh, somebody's saying, "Don't tell me about the mother turtle leaving her babies all alone." 19:24 I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. But that's really what happens. 19:28 Hey, listen, guys. Aren't you glad that your mommy doesn't just go walking off 19:34 after you're born and just leave you to yourself? No! 19:38 There's a little girl crying for her mommy right now, and her mommy's out here. 19:42 She'll get her in a moment. But would it be sad if a mother just -- We came out of Mom, 19:48 "Goodbye. See you later. Good luck." No. 19:52 Do you think a human mother would ever do that to a baby? No, God says in Isaiah 49, 19:57 "Maybe even a mother might forget, but I will never forget you." 20:02 Jesus will never leave us. He will never forsake us. What a wonderful savior. 20:07 Does Jesus love turtles? Yes, he does. Does he love us more? 20:11 Oh, yes. As you go quietly, reverently back to your seats, after you're 20:15 saying in your heart, "Thank you, Jesus. You will never leave us or 20:19 forsake us." 20:23 ♪♪ 23:32 >> Oh, God, [Clears throat] blessed assurance just washes over us, the blessed, blessed 23:41 assurance that Jesus is ours. There's so much competing for attention on this planet today, 23:46 in this nation today, in our private worlds, but blessed assurance this Jesus offers 23:54 everything that he is to us. What does that mean for us? Take this teaching. 24:01 Set it ablaze for your glory. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. 24:06 This is a story about running. I'm talking about a lot of 24:10 running. I don't know if you run or not, 24:12 but I happen to run for a living, which means I run to 24:16 keep living. But the running that's going on 24:19 in this story is quite the opposite, I must tell you. 24:22 Nobody's talking about the living. 24:24 They're thinking about the dead, and that's why she runs and 24:26 that's why he runs and that's why he runs. 24:29 Three runners, one story. Here we go. But here's the question. 24:33 Let me just ask you this. When you see somebody running -- I don't care where they are and 24:37 where you are -- except for exercise, when you see somebody running, what do you think? 24:42 When you see somebody running, what does that communicate to you? 24:44 You tell me. What does that communicate to you when you see somebody 24:47 running? Okay, they're in a hurry. Good. They're late, yeah. 24:52 You're in an airport, and when a guy in a business suit go "psh!", you know exactly what's 24:57 happening. "Hold the plane!" the woman's crying out, the woman with her 25:01 little briefcase. Yeah, you're late to an appointment. 25:05 Mm-hmm. What else? What else? What's another reason why a 25:07 person runs? Yeah, you got good news. You could have good news you 25:12 want to share with somebody. That's good. Or it could be bad news. 25:16 It could be you're chased, you're being chased. You ever been chased while 25:19 you're running? Now, Dave's a runner and I'm a runner, and so are some of you, 25:23 but I tell you what, every runner knows that the two sounds you don't want to hear coming up 25:27 behind you -- sound number one, the sound of a dangling chain. If you hear the sound of a 25:33 jangle, jangle, jangle and it's getting closer and closer, do you know what happens to you? 25:38 You freeze. Why? What's the deal about a dangling chain? 25:41 It's on a beast. It's on a beast. I was running -- No kidding. 25:45 I was running Red Bud Trail right out here. Red Bud Trail. 25:48 It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and I ran by a beautiful red barn. 25:51 I said, "Lovely barn." And as soon as I got past the barn, I heard this chain, and 25:54 the chain is getting louder, and it's coming behind me, and I turned around -- this is the 25:58 truth -- I turned around. It was a German Shepherd. Yeah. 26:03 Fortunately, gray goatee, gray hair, and I said, "Oh!" Because he go like... 26:10 [ Grunting ] I said, "There's nothing to worry about that dog." 26:17 Phew! Saved by the chain. Another time -- I'm telling you 26:22 the truth -- dark, winter, Tudor Road by little Three-Mile Loop. 26:28 Tudor Road. And this is the other sound. The sound of a chain, and this 26:32 is the other sound that every runner knows to listen for. I'll get the microphone near it. 26:38 [ Tapping ] When you hear that sound coming behind you on the concrete, 26:44 what's it telling you? There's something with claws that is getting closer to you. 26:49 6:30 in the morning, pitch black, winter, I hear this. I say, "Okay." 26:53 So I grabbed my -- I had a flashlight, fortunately. I had a flashlight. 26:58 I just, fwoo! And when I went "schwoo!" like that, I tell you the truth, 27:02 already he is off the ground and his fangs are open just like this. 27:09 And I did the first thing that came to my mind. I screamed like a girl. 27:12 I just screamed! [ Laughter ] That poor dog. 27:18 Midair -- just like the cartoons -- Midair, U-turn. Sshhh, pshoo! 27:25 And I am absolutely awash. I am trembling in adrenaline. Karen and I later figured it 27:32 out. It looked like a small German Shepherd. 27:35 It wasn't. Coyote. Coyote. 27:39 We got coyotes around us. 27:41 Probably thought I was some old, dumb deer running in the dark on 27:44 down the road and said, "I'll eat that one." 27:46 [ Laughter ] 27:48 So when you run, there are multiple reasons for running. Somebody could be chasing you. 27:55 You could be crying for help. When she runs -- There are three runners in this one story -- 28:00 when she runs, there's something anxious, there is something agitated. 28:06 She is driven by an urgency. And I want you to track these three runners for a moment. 28:13 Open your Bible with me, please, to "Ground Zero Number Two." 28:16 "Ground Zero Number One," last Sabbath. 28:19 Ground Zero number one -- Last night, the cross. 28:23 36 hours later, and just a few yards away, here we are at 28:27 Ground Zero two. Open your Bible to the Gospel of 28:30 John Chapter 20. The Gospel of John Chapter 20. 28:34 What's in the story for us? Living on the cusp of a new 28:39 year. John Chapter 20. 28:42 Verse 1. "Early on the first day of the 28:45 week" -- Good Friday's passed. Restful Sabbath is over. 28:50 This is early in the first day of the week. 28:54 "While it was still dark" -- Key point. 28:57 Dark. Tricky time to be running, when 29:01 it's dark. "While it was still dark, 29:04 Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been 29:08 removed from the entrance. So she came running." 29:13 She comes running. She came running. 29:16 She's not jogging. She's not loping. 29:19 She's flat-out, flat-out. "She came running to Simon Peter 29:26 and the other disciple, the one Jesus loves," and that's the 29:29 author of this book. That's John boy. 29:30 "And she cries out" -- [ Breathing heavily ] 29:34 Because when you -- male or female, when you're flat-out, 29:37 [Breathing heavily] that's how you breathe. 29:40 "'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know 29:44 where they have put him!'" 29:46 She's nearly wild with grief. She hasn't been able to sleep all night, and finally rolling 29:52 out of that bed before the crack of dawn, she stumbles through the night, shadows still silver 29:57 beneath the almost still full moon of Passover. Through the shadows, the young 30:05 woman darts. One mission. Until all alone, mission 30:12 accomplished, she stands before the tomb of her Lord, but like a shrine that has been grotesquely 30:20 violated. The sepulchre door thrown aside and nobody -- nobody, not a 30:29 guard, not a soldier, not nobody, just silence emanating from this gaping hole into which 30:39 she peers. They've stolen -- Somebody has stolen her master's corpse. 30:49 Poor Mary, blind with grief. Back through the same silver shadows, through the city gate, 30:57 ajar, in through, up the stairways, now in front of a wooden door. 31:01 Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! 31:04 It's barred and shuttered for fear of arrest. Finally somebody comes to the 31:10 door, and the door opens just wide enough to cast an orange CAT-scanned streak right down 31:18 the middle of her face. She's recognized. She comes in. [ Breathing heavily ] 31:28 Poor Mary. Runner one, and, oh, boy, that's all it takes. 31:36 Runner two and runner three, here they come. Three runners, one story. 31:40 Here comes the next two. Number two. "So Peter" -- that would be 31:43 runner number two -- "and the other disciple" -- that's John boy, runner number three -- 31:47 "started for the tomb." This is a foot race, and this one will be flat-out, as well. 31:53 They're not just sauntering down, a little bit of jogging. This is flat-out. 31:57 It can't be. It just cannot be. Flat-out they're running. 32:02 "Both were running" -- verse 4 -- "but the other disciple" -- that would be John 32:07 boy -- "outran Peter and reached the tomb first." John, in this one little 32:12 paragraph, twice is gonna tell us, "I got there first." [ Laughter ] 32:18 You got a problem with this, John? Of course you got there first. 32:22 Look at you. 20 years old. Peter, the big fisherman. 32:28 Of course you won. Twice in one story. "Oh, I was there first." 32:36 So John does get there first. Verse 5. Oh, and he bends over, looks in 32:41 at the strips of linen lying there, but did not go in. So...[ Breathing heavily ] 32:47 And here comes Peter, the big fisherman. And by the way, these boys are 32:51 buds. Everywhere in the Book of Acts, they appear together. 32:53 They are buds. They fish together for all their young and not-so-young life. 32:58 They are friends. Now big Peter -- [ Breathing heavily ] 33:02 "Step aside, boy. Let me see." And Peter, no, no, he's not worried about a thing. 33:06 He goes straight in, and Peter sees that the linen is lying there folded here, folded here, 33:14 for the torso, torso. And then the little handkerchief for the head has been folded up 33:19 very nicely and placed there. Peter comes out saying, "What's up with this?" 33:27 Now watch this. John boy, verse 8. John boy now goes in. 33:33 "Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside the tomb. 33:39 And he saw and" -- what? He said, "I believe." How could you do that, boy? 33:46 How'd you figure that out? Simple. If it were grave robbers and 33:50 they're going for a body -- tft, tft, tft, tft -- they're not keeping it folded. 33:54 Get out. Let's go. Wouldn't be folded. If it were the priests, high 33:59 probability -- could be the priests. If it were the priests, they 34:02 wouldn't become unclean by touching this corpse, so they would have sent the rabble, and 34:05 the rabble would have done the same thing. Tft, tft, tft, tft, go, let's 34:08 get out of here, quick. If it had been the Romans, there would be nothing left, because 34:13 they would have cleaned that place clean, spanking, empty, not a shred of evidence. 34:21 So John boy steps in. It can't be any of these options. 34:27 Somebody folded his handkerchief on his face. [ Snaps fingers ] 34:35 And John believed. Now verse 9 tells us, "Oh, by the way..." 34:49 And somewhere along the way, runner number one is no longer running. 34:54 There's no purpose for her to run now. She knows the bad news. 34:58 She's walking. Somehow she misses Peter and she misses John. 35:03 And Mary -- poor Mary -- is back to the tomb, the dawn by every slipping moment grows quietly 35:13 brighter as she returns to the hole in the ground. And she looks in again. 35:20 Verse 11 now. 35:26 Verse 12. 35:34 Verse 13. 35:54 Isn't that amazing? The Gospel of John, the first red-letter words in the entire 36:01 Gospel of John are obviously the words of Jesus. When he turns around -- when the 36:05 same John boy three and a half years younger with Peter's brother, probably kid brother, 36:10 Andrew, they're tagging behind him. They're following him. 36:13 And Jesus turns around and he says, "What are you looking for?" 36:17 Isn't that something? The first words of Jesus in the Gospel, "What are you looking 36:21 for?" And near the end of the Gospel, his words now are, "Who are you 36:27 looking for? Whom do you seek?" A little -- A little inclusio. 36:37 It's a literary device where the author sticks a bookend here and a bookend here to make a point 36:42 when you see both bookends as if to tell us to remind us that if you're struggling through life, 36:46 looking for your purpose -- and you may be new at Andrews University and asking, 36:50 "Listen, God, what am I supposed to do? I haven't made up my mind on a 36:54 major. I'm not quite sure if You have a plan for me." 36:57 If you're asking the question, "What am I looking for?", the little inclusio is to remind you 37:03 and me that the ultimate question of life is not, "What are you seeking?" 37:07 It's "Whom are you seeking?" And Jesus whispers to you, "I hope it's me you're looking 37:14 for." Embedded right there in the fourth Gospel. 37:22 And Mary responds. Go on to verse 15. Mary responds, "Thinking he was 37:26 the gardener" -- because he's against the light, perhaps, or is just a silhouette... 37:39 It's amazing. It's amazing that she takes the very words "carried him away," 37:44 "have you taken him away" are the very words that John the Baptist used when he 37:48 saw Jesus coming, and he says, "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the 37:52 world." So there is another embedded clue that the man who is 37:56 standing here has already forgiven Mary. She knew she had been forgiven 38:00 by the dead Jesus of Nazareth. She knows. 38:04 And so she uses the language. "Did you take him away, like the 38:12 lamb of God took away my sins?" 38:27 And then it is... that Jesus speaks. "Where have you put him? 38:38 I'll get him." 38:45 There's no way -- if you could YouTube this moment, there is no way you could capture the 38:49 electricity of what happens next. You just can't. 38:53 You couldn't act it out. Just in stark, plain detail, Mary, who tells John the story, 39:02 records it. Verse 16. "And Jesus said to her" -- 39:12 I love this. "And Jesus said to her, 'Mary. Mary.'" 39:18 Proving, too, by the way what he said in John 10. "My sheep will hear my voice and 39:25 know I call their name." "Mary." 39:41 Obviously she's thrown herself at the nail-scarred feet of her master. 39:45 She's clinging to him, sobbing. Jesus said, "Don't hold on to 39:48 me, Mary. No, no, no. Let me go. 39:50 Let me go." 39:59 Verse 18. 40:10 I got to tell you -- Hit the pause button right there -- Every time I read this story, I 40:15 find it absolutely stunning to me. I mean, come on. 40:20 You have the king of the universe, the savior of the world, the Lord of the galaxies, 40:28 king of angels. And all of heaven is waiting for daddy's boy to just show up, 40:35 just show up for just a moment, to let us know. But before returning to the 40:43 Father, with whom he has shared eternity like this, he waits. He waits in the shadows for a 40:54 little woman whose stained and sullied life is known to the whole community. 41:04 Some scholars believe -- and I happen to agree with them, along with "Desire of Ages," I believe 41:09 it's the rightful conclusion that Mary Magdalene -- Listen, listen, listen -- Mary Magdalene 41:14 is the same Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. "Desire of Ages" tells us that 41:24 Mary was led into sin by her uncle, Simon the Pharisee. You know, as a pastor, I do a 41:32 lot of interacting with people. And oftentimes I have found that because of... 41:44 sexual abuse as a little girl, as a little boy. And some of you here know of 41:51 what I speak. But because of previous sexual abuse by someone you trusted, 41:57 someone you said, "I'm safe with him, I'm safe with her," oftentimes -- not always. 42:06 I'm not a psychologist. But oftentimes the link to a life of promiscuity goes back to 42:14 that violation long ago. It's what happened to Mary. Her uncle, her trusted Pharisee. 42:22 He's a clergyman. "A clergyman would never do this to me." 42:25 He abused her sexually. And as the victim often does, the victim blames herself. 42:32 The victim blames -- "This is my fault," and she flees. 42:35 She goes to a little village around the corner of Galilee called Magdala, away from 42:40 Bethany, away from Martha, away from Lazarus, and there she plunges even deeper into sin 42:45 because shame is that powerful. It will drive you away from the people that you love. 42:51 Shame. So let me tell you about a book I've been reading this summer 42:55 written by a writer named Alan Mann. Title of the book -- Fascinating 42:59 title, by the way -- "Atonement for a Sinless Society." Let me repeat that. 43:04 "Atonement for a Sinless Society." Because guess what, ladies and 43:07 gentlemen? This is the culture that says, "There's no such thing as sin. 43:10 I don't have a problem with sin." The only sin we have, according 43:14 to this culture, is the sin against ourselves, when we hurt ourselves. 43:18 Well, that's a terrible sin. Don't hurt yourself. Otherwise, no sin. 43:23 How can you present the Gospel to a culture that says, "I don't have sin. 43:27 I have no need of a savior"? "Ah," Alan Mann says. You know what this culture has? 43:32 Instead of sin, here's how it reacts. It responds to what's called 43:36 shame. Brené Brown, the most watched YouTube around. 43:41 Brené Brown. She's dealing the whole time with shame. 43:45 John Bradshaw -- What's he talking about? Shame. 43:47 Shame is the moniker of this generation. We don't have sin. 43:52 We have shame. And so here's this bright mind struggling with this and saying, 43:57 "How can we apply the Gospel to shame?" Listen, I'll put his words up on 44:00 the screen, Alan Mann. Alan Mann. 44:07 Of course it doesn't create this notion in reality. It's just perception. 44:12 Don't have sin. Don't have sin. 44:22 Keep reading. 44:33 The divine Other or just the other, the neighbor next to you. 44:38 How many of our hearts here today are struggling with shame? Something that came into our 44:44 lives. We can't blame it, in the end, on anybody else. 44:48 We know the shame. How many of us here today, just like Mary, in shame have fled 44:57 the evidence of the truth? "Desire of Ages." Oh, this is something. 45:03 On the screen for you. 45:31 Mary Magdalene is the name of her past. They've tried to hide that 45:35 identity. When she's around Martha and Lazarus, she's just called Mary. 45:39 But she's now dead when John writes the Gospel, so he goes ahead and uses the code name. 45:44 This is the woman that fell. This is the sexual sinner that Jesus forgave. 45:49 The Gospels say out of Mary he cast seven demons. This is that Mary that Jesus 45:57 waits in the shadows. Can you imagine that? He waits in the shadows for her 46:03 before going to the Father to receive seal of approval. "Done, son. You go." 46:12 What a Christ. What a savior. Come on, guys. He waits. 46:20 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 46:26 Shame. Shame. How's verse 18 go again? 46:40 "I've just seen Jesus." By the way, Pilate -- Jesus stood in front of Pilate. 46:44 He never saw him. Jesus stood gagged and bound before Caiaphas. 46:47 Never saw him. Jesus stands before the rabble. They don't see him. 46:51 But this fallen woman sees Jesus and sees him for all he is. "I've just seen Jesus." 46:59 [ Scoffs ] 47:05 The Ground Zero of Calvary and the Ground Zero of the empty tomb now meet in Mary. 47:15 Now, hold on. This is really important. Hold on now. 47:19 Two spiritually nuclear Ground Zero events within the space of 36 hours, parts of three days. 47:24 The Ground Zero of the wooden cross, the Ground Zero of the empty tomb, and together -- and 47:29 by the way, ladies and gentlemen, only together -- this is the key point -- only 47:33 together can they remain Ground Zero for eternity because either one of them isolated by itself 47:38 could not possibly ignite the explosive nuclear fallout that is still radioactive with the 47:44 human race, and that's called salvation. Isolated, they are not -- 47:50 They are impotent. Only when the two Ground Zeros are united, because the cross is 48:00 all about redemption. The empty tomb is all about ratification. 48:04 If you have the cross with no resurrection, you have no resurrection means no atonement, 48:09 no salvation, no redemption, no hope. You have to have the two 48:13 together. That's why Paul writes -- We'll end with this, 48:16 1 Corinthians 15. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 15. Here's the point that Paul is 48:19 making. So many people focus on the cross, on the cross, on the 48:24 cross, and that's all they focus on. Wrong, wrong, wrong. 48:27 You have to have both Ground Zeros together. Watch this. 48:30 1 Corinthians -- What is it? 1 Corinthians 15. Drop down to verse 17. 48:34 "And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile." 48:38 No point in it. 48:43 Verse 18. 48:52 You can't have Calvary without the empty tomb. No empty tomb, no Calvary. 48:58 Does that make sense? Which means in the Book of Acts, when they talk dominantly about 49:03 the resurrection, more than they talk about the cross, there's a reason -- because it's the 49:07 resurrection that ratifies it, that empowers the witness. You got to talk about both. 49:13 It's not just "I have a savior who died on Calvary for me." No, I had a savior who died on 49:17 Calvary for me but rose again for me. And in the power of that 49:21 resurrection, I now live. I've just seen Jesus. See, your life will breathe that 49:27 testimony. I've just seen Jesus. He's alive. 49:31 [ Scoffs ] Inseparably bound. The cross declares his 49:36 lordship -- but hold on. The cross declares his lordship, but the empty tomb declares his 49:41 kingship. You have to have the kingship along with the lordship. 49:45 It's the two together, the two together. And that's why Jesus -- I love 49:50 this -- Jesus is the hero of Ground Zero. Come on. That's the tag line. 49:53 You can take that one home. Now, you go ahead and smile at it, because that's the truth. 49:57 Jesus is the hero. Come on, say that out loud with me. 49:59 Read it out loud with me. Jesus is the hero of Ground Zero. 50:03 Say that again. Jesus is the hero of Ground Zero. 50:07 Both of them together. Nuclear, radioactive, unleashed when the cross and the empty 50:14 tomb are a part of your testimony. I've just seen Jesus. 50:17 And guess what? He wants to be the hero of your story, as well. 50:21 He wants to be the hero of your story, as well. He was Mary's hero. 50:26 Hey, he was Peter's hero. In fact, do you know this? Maybe you don't. 50:30 Do you know that Jesus did the same thing for Peter as he did for Mary? 50:34 Do you know that? Come on. You don't know this? 50:39 Do you remember when the two disciples -- talking about run -- you remember the two 50:43 disciples that run seven miles from Emmaus in the middle of the night, they're running to the 50:46 upper room in Jerusalem. You remember the two disciples from Emmaus? 50:49 And they go, pound, pound, pound, pound! The door opens. 50:51 [ Breathing heavily ] "Man, you guys are not gonna believe this. 50:55 He's alive! He just broke bread, and our hearts burn within us!" 50:59 You remember that? Do you remember in Luke 24 what the disciples say, "Calm down, 51:03 calm down," and they announce something else. Do you remember what they 51:06 announced? "Yo, he's already appeared to Peter! 51:10 He's already appeared to Peter, alone!" He hasn't appeared to the Twelve 51:15 because nobody in the room has seen him, except the two from Emmaus. 51:19 And now Peter. And Paul is so big on this. You still have your Bible open 51:23 to 1 Corinthians 15. Go up to verse 5. Look at Paul. 51:26 "And don't forget," Paul writes to the Corinthians, that Jesus "appeared to Cephas" -- that 51:30 would be Simon Peter -- "and then to the Twelve." 51:36 Oh, my. You want to talk about shame? 51:39 Come on, guys. Come on. You want to talk about shame, 51:41 shame, shame? How do you think Peter felt over 51:46 that long weekend? How do you suppose the 51:49 crushing... brokenness of that tirade of 51:58 cursing in front of all of Jesus' enemies, cursing, "I 52:04 never knew this blankity blank blank man in my life. 52:07 I don't know what you're talking about." 52:11 How do you think he carried that? Shame, shame, shame. 52:17 And guess what? When shame's around, it spreads, spreads, spreads. 52:23 Everybody knows. Everybody knows. And this is early Sunday 52:29 morning. So the risen Christ, who, by the way, has every reason to throw 52:37 Peter out of his inner circle, "You're out of here, boy. It was a nice try." 52:41 Every reason to throw the book at him. The risen Christ -- get this -- 52:46 maybe right after meeting Mary, before going back is in the shadows where Peter's going 52:55 home. He's waiting for Peter to walk by, because he doesn't want 52:58 John boy there. Peter walks by, and Jesus, the risen Christ, draped in the 53:03 shadows steps out of the shadows and does the same thing. "Peter. 53:11 Hey, Pete." And every time I imagine this, I just get -- Oh, my. 53:20 Peter bursting into tears. I mean, what can you say? "Sorry"? 53:27 Peter bursting into tears at Jesus' feet, and Jesus picking him up and just holding him 53:35 while this big, burly man sobs his repentance. 53:47 Peter driven by shame, who, by the way, came that close to be driven to the same recourse that 53:56 Judas chose, which is suicide. Shame can become so oppressive to you. 54:04 But I need to tell you that if Judas had just backed away from the cliff after everything -- 54:09 just let the record be as it is, but he returns on Sunday in repentance to the risen Christ, 54:19 that Jesus would have forgiven Judas just like he forgave Peter, just like he forgave 54:24 Mary. Shame gone. He just didn't have the guts. 54:31 His pride was too strong. He couldn't walk back a loose face. 54:37 Some of you are struggling. 54:39 Sir, walk back. Walk back. Come on. 54:42 Back up. Sister, back up. 54:46 You don't need to go there. 54:48 There is no shame so deep and dark that the same Jesus who waited in the shadows 54:56 resurrection morning to hug Mary and Peter is waiting to hug you, to hold you and say, "We can get 55:03 over this together, you and me." You'll see Jesus, and then you'll have the greatest 55:08 testimony the human race ever hears. "I've just seen Jesus." 55:18 Wow. Ground Zero. The hero of Ground Zero. 55:25 I tell you what, as we were singing this morning all these beautiful songs, as we were 55:30 worshipping this morning, I'm saying, "Oh, Jesus, you are my hero." 55:37 You say, "Dwight, I cannot see Jesus like these people saw Jesus." 55:43 Wrong. Isn't this Jesus the one that spoke the red-letter words in 55:49 Revelation 3:20? "Behold, I stand at the door and..." 55:53 "If anybody hears me knocking, just, hey, you, just go to the door. 55:57 Just go to the door. Open the door. I will come into you, and I will 56:01 eat with you, and we will grow close together. We will walk together. 56:05 Just let me into your life." And you'll walk out of that moment along with Jesus every 56:11 single day, and the first person you meet, you're gonna say, "Guess what? 56:14 I just saw Jesus. I've just seen Jesus." That's your testimony. 56:19 It's not just Mary's. It's not just Peter's. It's yours. 56:23 Don't be like Judas and walk away and say, "It won't work for me." 56:27 It will work for you. Give it up. Give yourself up and let Jesus 56:35 just grab you. Let him start over with you. Why would you hold back now? 56:44 I've just seen Jesus. It's your testimony. 56:54 Shame no more. Shame gone. We've just seen Jesus. 57:07 Give us that testimony every new day until he comes. We pray in the name of our hero 57:20 of Ground Zero. Amen. 57:28 >> Think back to your last heartfelt, meaningful prayer. 57:30 Has it been awhile? Has your prayer life felt stale, 57:33 routine, or boring? I want to take an extra moment 57:36 at the end of our worship today to share with you a new way to 57:40 pray. I invite you to re-energize your 57:42 devotional life with this little prayer journal. 57:44 In fact, I'd love to send you a copy. 57:46 Just call 877 -- those are three numbers -- 877 -- the two 57:49 words -- HIS WILL. That's it. 57:51 877-HIS-WILL. One of our friendly operators 57:54 will be happy to assist you. I believe this new way to pray 57:57 can raise the prayer bar for all of us, so I hope you'll take 58:00 advantage of it. Again, call us 877-HIS-WILL. 58:04 And I hope I'll see you right back here next time. 58:10 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-08-31