Participants: Ty Gibson
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000001
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors of Truth
00:14 live from the 3 ABN Worship Center, 00:17 the extravagant love series with Ty Gibson. 00:20 And we do welcome you right here 00:24 to the Worship Center at 3ABN 00:27 at Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:29 And we are so happy to begin this series, 00:32 this is a new series to 3 ABN 00:34 for the last couple of years we've been enjoying 00:37 very much the kind of Cox series. 00:39 Ands now this series that will be taking place 00:44 almost each month is a series that is 00:47 going to feature a number of speakers. 00:50 We'll be inviting individuals to come 00:53 and to speak on subjects that they have 00:56 on their heart to share with you our 00:59 television audience. We know that you 01:01 like this live presentation because 01:04 you let us know that you do. 01:05 They are exactly what you see 01:09 and you mean anything might happen, 01:11 there's no script, we come to you and 01:14 we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us, 01:17 and in the things that takes place here. 01:21 I would invite my good friend John Lomacang 01:25 to come out at this time. 01:27 John pastors the church here, 01:29 but he's also the ambassador of goodwill 01:32 for 3 ABN around the world. 01:35 And we are happy to have him back, 01:37 he's back from Africa. 01:38 That's right, that's right. 01:40 And you have a tremendous trip did you? 01:41 Yes we did, built about 40, 54 churches there, 01:44 wow, with Maranatha, 01:46 it was very, very productive, 01:47 the God was praised to that. 01:49 Well listen I am going to ask you 01:51 the lead us in the word of prayer 01:52 and then to sing for us one of my favorite songs 01:57 "There Is a Savior". 01:59 Okay, let's bow our heads. 02:01 Our gracious Father in heaven 02:03 what an opportunity it is to be able to 02:05 stand where Jesus can flow through a 02:08 human instrument. Heavenly Lord 02:11 tonight as we come before you 02:13 and as we go before the people, 02:15 we pray that there will be an unbroken stream 02:19 from earth to heaven, 02:20 from heaven to earth pouring into your 02:23 man servant Ty Gibson. Lord give him wisdom, 02:27 he has put words on paper, 02:30 but we pray you'll give it life that Jesus 02:33 may be magnified, Jesus may be glorified 02:37 and hearts will be drawn to this loving savior. 02:40 And so Lord we invite you to tabernacle 02:43 with us that all that is done here 02:44 tonight will draw people closer to you 02:47 in a saving relationship, 02:49 we ask in the Jesus name amen. 02:53 You know just before you do sing John I, 02:55 I want to say word about Ty; 02:59 Ty Gibson is one of the best known speakers 03:02 that we have on 3 ABN. 03:04 He's the co director and speaker 03:08 for Light Bearers Ministry, 03:10 they have spread the gospel around the world 03:14 through the printed page, 03:16 and millions and millions of pamphlets 03:21 that they have had printed in books 03:23 and booklets that have gone around the world, 03:26 it's an amazing. In addition to that 03:29 Ty has been speaking in places around the globe. 03:33 And through 3 ABN tonight, 03:37 he's able to reach approximately potentially 03:40 over 1.6 billion individuals. 03:45 And we are praying that million of those people 03:49 will be watching and listening as he speaks 03:53 about God's extravagant love. 03:57 And now John "There Is a Savior". 04:10 There is a Savior, What joys expressed, 04:25 His eyes on mercy, and His word is rest, 04:37 for each tomorrow for yesterday, 04:52 there is a Savior who lights our way. 05:05 Are there burdens in your heart, 05:11 Is the past a memory that binds you, 05:19 Is there a pain that you've carried 05:26 far too long, well strengthen 05:36 your heart with His good news, 05:44 there is a Savior and He's forgiven you. 05:56 There is a Savior, What joys expressed, 06:12 His eyes on mercy, and His word is rest, 06:24 for each tomorrow for yesterday, 06:38 there is a Savior who lights our way. 06:51 There is a Savior, What joys expressed, 07:05 His eyes on mercy, and His word is rest, 07:18 for each tomorrow for yesterday, 07:32 there is a Savior who lights our way. 07:46 there is a Savior who lights our way. 08:15 Thank you John what a blessing, 08:21 it amazes me how much can be 08:24 communicated in song. It takes a preacher 08:27 an hour to communicate what can be brought 08:31 for forth in two or three minutes 08:33 in a song because in a song there's 08:37 that beautiful intersection between 08:40 mind and heart. You know what I am 08:42 talking about don't you, 08:43 well it just reaches down into you 08:45 and opens not only your thinking process, 08:49 but opens your emotions to God. 08:53 And I just, I so appreciate 08:54 music for that reason. 08:56 Well this evening where I am embarking 08:59 on a five part series, 09:01 I think you know that, 09:02 and we've given this series a title 09:06 that I hope is somewhat provocative for you. 09:09 I hope it just draws you in but I have to say 09:11 that I know its going to put some off. 09:15 Some are going to look at this title 09:17 of this five part series and say you know 09:19 are we suppose to be talking about 09:21 the Three Angels messages or maybe 09:24 the book of Revelation, 09:25 or shouldn't we be launching into some 09:27 final events series or something like that. 09:30 I want to tell you that I believe with 09:32 all my heart in the power of the prophecies 09:37 of Daniel in Revelation. 09:39 I can't even do justice to how deeply 09:43 I feel about the relevance 09:47 of these prophecies. 09:48 But I want to tell you something else 09:49 that as we begin this ongoing 09:52 Anchors of Truth series, 09:55 there is an anchor that reaches deeper 09:59 than any other, and that is 10:02 the love of God. We're going to be 10:05 exploring the power of God's love 10:08 in a way that I hope will open and expand 10:12 our understanding to just what the Bible means 10:15 when it uses this word. 10:16 So, so let's begin our five part series 10:20 together this evening by defining our terms. 10:25 As I said our title for the whole series 10:28 is extravagant love. Now the word extravagant 10:31 think about it for a minute, 10:32 it's a word that sometimes 10:35 people don't know how to wrap their minds around, 10:38 in fact just before beginning tonight 10:41 somebody came to me and said 10:43 now what's this series is about? 10:44 What was is it extenuating love. 10:47 No I said its not extenuating love; 10:49 they said is it, is it, is it exceptional, 10:52 is that the word, I can't remember, 10:53 is it exceptional love? 10:55 I said that's getting close, 10:56 is it extreme? Well, yeah it is extreme 11:00 but that's not the word that I gave 11:02 in the title the word is extravagant. 11:05 And if you think about some synonyms 11:08 for that words or words that would be 11:10 in the vocabulary proximity 11:13 if you will of the word extravagant. 11:16 You would come with words like, 11:18 like lavish, do you like that word, 11:21 or how about this one luxurious, 11:25 ooh I like that word, 11:27 how about this one? 11:28 This is not a word that is 11:30 commonly in use today in our vocabulary, 11:33 how about the word posh? 11:35 You like that word too I like that one a lot, 11:39 and how about this? 11:41 Extravagant love is radical love, 11:47 it is in fact extreme or we could say this 11:51 way it is over, what do we say, 11:53 over the top, it's over the top, 11:56 it supersedes our expectations, 12:02 it's beyond what we would normally comprehend. 12:06 We don't on a daily bases reside in mental 12:11 and emotional territory that they just quickly 12:15 and easily understands the magnitude 12:18 of God's love. It is truly enormous in its scope, 12:24 as we are going to learn, 12:25 it is universal in its embrace. 12:29 It takes in literarily every man, 12:31 woman and child but that love that is so posh 12:37 and extreme and lavish, 12:40 that love that is radical beyond any humans 12:46 ability to describe. 12:47 That love is not only universal, 12:50 it is also we are going to be discovering it is 12:53 empowering. In other words once you drink it 12:57 in to your mind and heart, 12:58 once you give it access to your thinking process, 13:02 once you allow it to make its impact on your deep 13:07 interior as a human being, 13:08 now what Paul called in Ephesians 3, 13:11 the inner man, the inner person, 13:13 once you let that love have access 13:16 to the deep inner person that you are, 13:21 it will radically transform your life 13:26 and all your relationships. 13:28 So, so this is getting in the proximity, 13:32 in the neighborhood of what we mean 13:34 when we employ the word extravagant. 13:38 But what about this word love? 13:40 What about the word love? 13:42 I want to tell you right at the outset, 13:44 the word love is problematic. 13:47 It is a word that has a baggage; 13:52 it has freight, its carrying with it some 13:57 connotations that do not always set 14:02 well or at least clear in the human mind 14:05 and heart. And the reason for this 14:08 is because the word love has in our 14:12 popular culture nearly being slaughtered 14:15 beyond recognition. I mean the word is so 14:19 loosely used, and so ill used 14:23 that we scarcely know what it means anymore? 14:27 I'll just demonstrate the problem for you, 14:29 in the course of just a few hours 14:31 you might hear me say I love surfing, 14:33 and I do, you might hear me say 14:36 twenty minutes later, oh, I love tacos, 14:40 and I do, and then right on the heels of those 14:44 two same that you might hear me say 14:46 and I love my wife Sue. 14:48 But immediately your feeling the dissonance 14:52 that I am feeling, I'm feeling like but 14:55 wait a minute there are ought to be some 14:57 discernable margin of difference between 15:00 my wife and tacos. Right, 15:03 are you feeling not? 15:05 In fact if I were to say in the same breath, 15:08 in the same sentence, 15:10 I love tacos and baby I love you too, 15:13 she might say please Ty, 15:17 please could you at least separate them 15:20 in some fashion, okay. 15:23 But then to complicate matters I love surfing, 15:26 I love tacos, I love my wife, 15:29 I love God and God loves me. 15:35 Now suddenly I'm really feeling like there 15:40 needs to be some kind of clear distinction 15:45 because our popular culture has for all intents 15:49 and purposes drained this word of its meaning. 15:53 So that when we hear the word love, 15:55 in fact if you do a seminar like this 15:58 speaking of the extravagant love 16:00 of God's love, you have people come to you 16:02 as they do to me all the time and say 16:04 ah that is such a insipid sentimental 16:07 weak subject, could you deal with something 16:09 powerful like the Three Angel messages? 16:12 And I say in my mind and sometimes 16:15 I loud to them, I say this idea 16:20 that there is something biblically 16:23 more powerful than God's love 16:26 is indicative that you don't understand 16:29 really what the Bible means when it uses 16:32 that word. Look at our popular culture 16:37 use of the word love, a popular music magazine 16:40 which I think I brought to your attention 16:42 on a former occasion but it fits nicely here. 16:45 A popular music magazine with a large data base 16:49 of song lyrics, popular song lyrics all the songs 16:53 that are being played on the radio, 16:55 and all the songs that young people 16:58 and older like are very familiar 17:00 with our popular culture, 17:01 they have all this lyrics in their massive lyrics 17:05 data base in their computer. 17:07 And they were curious this popular music 17:09 magazine to discover what words, 17:14 what ideas are the most commonly occurring words 17:19 and themes in popular music. 17:21 And so they began to do this data base search 17:24 on all the song lyrics, 17:25 going back to the Beatles and before. 17:27 And you know they discovered 17:29 that the most frequently used words 17:33 were without even a close second, 17:35 the most frequently used word in popular music 17:39 is the word love, that's right, 17:44 going all the way back to early 1960 17:47 she loves me yeah, yeah, yeah, 17:52 and then going all the way forward to our time 17:56 there's not a single word that occurs 17:57 more times than the word love 17:59 in popular music. But here's a thing 18:02 that is interesting, they discovered that 18:05 while love is the most frequently used 18:07 word in popular music, the second most 18:09 frequently used word in popular music is baby, 18:14 having nothing whatsoever to do with 18:17 infancy by the way. 18:18 But more in the context of 18:21 I love you baby because after all you are so 18:25 babe-able, you are so beautiful 18:28 and therefore I love you. 18:30 Do you know the third most frequently 18:32 used word in popular music? 18:33 I already said it, 18:35 yeah as in baby I love you, 18:37 oh yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, 18:40 lot say yeah, yeah, yeah, 18:41 in fact there is a popular music group 18:45 today, and you know what the name of 18:48 that group is? I mean, 18:50 I am familiar going way back; 18:52 I am familiar with Beatles 18:53 and the Rolling Stones 18:54 and Led Zeppelin but this band, 18:55 a popular band presently in our world 18:58 is called the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, 18:59 that's the name of the group. 19:02 So, so you are getting the feeling, 19:04 you are getting the picture, 19:05 here's the basic content of popular culture, 19:09 I love you baby, oh, yeah, yeah. 19:13 So if you take any given CD off the shelf, 19:17 or just go on iTunes and download whatever 19:20 songs are available in album form, 19:22 they are total album, 19:23 you'll discover a pattern 19:24 and the pattern goes something like this, 19:26 track one on the album, 19:28 baby I love you, oh yeah, 19:31 track two on the album, 19:33 baby I don't love you anymore 19:36 breaking up is hard to do because 19:39 after all I'm more babe-able babe 19:40 has just got my attention, 19:42 so I am going to move on 19:43 now but moving on is hard to do, 19:45 oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 19:48 Track three baby I love you again 19:51 but here's the thing it's not the same babe 19:54 or baby as track one, there's been a shifting 19:58 today that has taken a place 20:00 and this of course is reflected in the actual 20:03 romantic lifestyles of those 20:06 who sing these songs, if you haven't noticed. 20:10 Moving on from one babe to the next, 20:13 now here's the thing about this theme 20:16 in popular music when the singer says 20:19 baby I love you o yeah 20:21 but that love is not of sufficient constitution 20:26 to hold the individual in faithfulness. 20:32 It's not love at all because the fact is 20:37 when I love you baby because of what you do 20:41 for me actually who is that I love. 20:45 It's all about me; you're dispensable 20:50 to my needs being met. 20:56 Like the lady who said to me right 20:57 in front of her husband in a marriage 21:00 counseling session, I mean 21:01 this lady nailed it like nobody I've ever heard, 21:04 and I have done a lot of marriage counseling. 21:05 She said looking straight past him into my eyes, 21:10 my husband doesn't love me, 21:13 he uses me to love himself. 21:16 She got right to the heart of the matter. 21:22 Right to the heart not only a popular love 21:25 as it is conceived and portrayed 21:27 in popular media, but right to the heart 21:29 of really what it is, 21:31 it's going on in all of our hearts as 21:33 human beings in our following condition. 21:35 We can't look out there at that popular culture 21:38 and condemn it for this conception, 21:42 this love and self serving 21:44 and self centered conception of love. 21:46 It is simply the corporate expression 21:50 of what's going on in all of our fallen hearts 21:53 except for the converting grace of Christ 21:57 get hold of us, and teach us how to live 22:01 in a love that supersedes self interest. 22:07 Just a day or two ago a friend of mine 22:11 called my attention to a song that is one of 22:15 if not the mot popular song on the radio 22:17 right now in the United States of America, 22:18 and in this song the man is portrait as saying 22:23 and here is the part of the lyric 22:24 "I wouldn't be a real man if I could resist 22:29 a woman like you". Now at first listen that 22:36 feels flattering, doesn't it? I mean be honest, 22:39 doesn't it? Just, just and that's why 22:41 he is singing it. He is expecting her 22:43 to just really feel like she is something special 22:47 because after all, he is a real man 22:49 and a real man couldn't resist a woman like you. 22:52 But one that feels flattering right at first, 22:57 there is not a woman in the world 23:00 on second thought would wanna spend her life 23:02 committed to a man who can't resist loving 23:07 any woman that walks by that 23:09 he can't resist loving. 23:12 Are you getting what I am saying, 23:13 the fact is our popular culture has glamorized 23:19 and romanticized selfishness as love. 23:23 Our popular culture is basically said 23:26 I have no self control because after all 23:30 I am living entirely for myself, 23:34 and so the word love has been slaughtered 23:41 nearly beyond recognition 23:43 in our popular culture 23:46 but here's a thing. When the Bible employs 23:50 the word love as in God is love, 23:53 and God loves you. 23:54 It's not using the word in the same context 24:00 and with the same definition of the word 24:03 as it is commonly used in popular culture. 24:06 Let me just demonstrate for you, 24:08 how the word love is defined biblically, 24:13 so that we can wrap our minds around it, 24:15 and I want to do this by introducing 24:17 to you a new word. 24:19 How many of you like new words, 24:21 you like expanding your vocabulary; 24:22 you like new words or is it just to much of 24:24 a hassle. You like new words I am glad, 24:26 okay so you like new words. 24:27 I am gonna share with you three new words, 24:29 these are my three favorite new words 24:31 that I've learned within about the last year okay. 24:34 Number one, my wife introduced 24:35 this word to me, I had never heard 24:37 this word believe it or not that's probably 24:38 because I had not read Jane Austen 24:40 and the word is cooketish, 24:43 any body raise your hand if you know 24:44 the word cooketish. 24:46 Some of you actually know the word, 24:48 I am from L.A, we don't use the word cooketish, 24:51 I grew up on the beach, 24:52 never heard the word cooketish, 24:54 I said Sue what are you talking about, 24:56 what is this word cooketish? 24:57 She said that she was cooketish with me. 24:59 I said it sounds good, but I don't know 25:02 if it's good that might be a bad thing 25:04 because I don't know trying to run 25:06 on my computer and Google that word 25:07 Sue or you just gonna tell me what it means. 25:09 She said it means flirtatious, 25:13 I am just playing with you. 25:15 I am just flirting with you which is a great, 25:17 great thing that we have the privilege of enjoying 25:21 I said to J.D just this evening. 25:23 He walk in I said how are you doing brother? 25:25 He said great, I said how's your romantic life? 25:27 He was stunned, he didn't expect that question, 25:30 but he immediately said its going great, 25:33 and I was happy to hear that. 25:35 Cooketish that's my recent new word 25:38 I thought wow that is a new word from 25:40 but just move on from there. 25:43 Second word that one of students taught 25:45 to me recently, love this word. 25:47 Here it is your second new word 25:49 tonight adorkable, how many of you know 25:53 the word adorkable, raise your hand 25:54 if you've heard the word adorkable. 25:56 Yeah everybody under 20 knows the word adorkable, 25:59 no body beyond the age of 20 has ever heard 26:02 the word adorkable, I've never heard it, 26:04 I looked it up in the dictionary, guess what? 26:05 It's not there, it is in fact the amalgamation 26:10 of two words and that is adorable and dork. 26:13 Do you know the word adorkable means? 26:17 The word adorkable means my friends; 26:20 it means that you are adorable in a dorky 26:24 kind of way. So it is a compliment, 26:27 it is a compliment and one of my students 26:29 try to render it as a compliment to somebody 26:33 in the class room. 26:34 I won't tell you it was me, 26:35 and I thought you know adorkable really 26:38 that doesn't sound good, 26:39 that's not a good thing, 26:40 she said no it's a good thing I like you, 26:42 you're my teacher and I like you. 26:44 Adorkable that's my second new word 26:46 for you tonight. Okay, 26:47 here's the third new word. 26:48 You like new words, 26:49 you want to expand your vocabulary 26:50 here's number three. 26:51 This one is a Hebrew word, 26:55 it is barring none the most significant word 26:58 employed in the Old Testament scriptures. 27:01 It is without question, without a close second 27:04 the most frequently used word to describe 27:08 the identity of God not even a close second 27:11 almost 300 times this word is used to describe 27:14 the identity of God. The word that I want to 27:17 share with you right now is the word hesed, 27:21 everybody say hesed, hesed actually 27:24 that's not the correct pronunciation, 27:26 you did it wrong. The word has to have 27:28 that kind of that, that guttural throat sound 27:33 that you hear in German, 27:34 that you also hear in Hebrew, 27:36 so it's hesed, hesed, hesed but 27:39 you will get a sour throat if you use 27:41 the word like that so I just say hesed, hesed, 27:45 H-E-S-E-D hesed barring none the most significant 27:50 word in the Old Testament scriptures 27:52 to describe the character of God. 27:54 Let me give you a sampling of its usage; 27:56 turn in your Bible quickly 27:57 to chapter 36 of Psalm, Psalm 36, Psalm 36, 28:04 do I hear pages wrestling, 28:06 are you going to Psalm 36 28:07 or am I going there alone? 28:08 Check it out with me here Psalm 36; 28:11 notice this studying with verse 5. 28:13 If you take notes go ahead 28:15 and underline in your Bible 28:16 and write the word hesed where it applies. 28:17 I'll share with you because off course 28:19 we're reading in the English, 28:20 this isn't Hebrew and so I am gonna 28:22 have to tell you where the word hesed is used. 28:24 Notice the word hesed chapter 36 28:28 of the Psalms, verse 5. 28:31 Your mercy I'm in the New King James 28:33 version by the way. Your mercy oh Lord 28:36 is in the heavens by which is meant 28:39 your mercy is as high as 28:42 or higher than the heavens. 28:45 Notice this he says your faithfulness 28:49 reaches to the clouds. 28:53 Well the word mercy here is the word hesed; 28:57 sometimes the translators render 29:00 it as your unfeeling love. 29:04 Some of you are familiar with that translation 29:06 usually the new Americans standard 29:08 Bible uses or employs unfeeling love 29:12 to describe hesed. Sometimes it is defined 29:15 as unchanging love, what kind of love? 29:18 Unchanging, love that doesn't change 29:20 is unalterable. No external circumstances 29:24 can make it increase or decrease, 29:27 are you with me so far. 29:29 So notice what word is used 29:32 in association with hesed to define 29:35 its contents. Your mercy that is your hesed 29:39 oh Lord is in the heavens, 29:43 your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 29:50 This is a style of Hebrew writing 29:52 called a couplet, 29:53 it's a poetic style in which the 29:57 Prophet says something in one way 29:59 and then turns around and says precisely 30:01 the same thing but with a different word. 30:03 He is saying your hesed, 30:05 your mercy is as high as the heavens, 30:08 your what's the synonym for hesed here? 30:11 Your faithfulness Lord, 30:14 just reaches to the clouds. 30:16 And then verse 6, your righteousness 30:19 is like the great mountains, 30:23 and your judgments are as the great deep. 30:27 Oh Lord you preserve both man and beast. 30:31 Look at verse 7 now, 30:32 how precious that word precious means valuable, 30:38 that's what it means, 30:40 how precious is your loving kindness. 30:46 It's the same word that is translated in verse 5 30:50 as hesed. He translated as mercy, 30:53 now it's translated as what everybody? 30:55 Loving kindness, which is what? 30:58 It's a kind of love; 31:01 it's a quality of love that is kind, 31:04 it is condescending. It renders an undeserving 31:09 kind of attachment and focus, and devotion, 31:15 and then he says amazingly he says 31:18 therefore the children of men put their trust 31:23 under the shadow of your wings. 31:26 Please notice that in the understanding 31:28 of the Psalm is the hesed of God, 31:32 the unchanging, unalterable love of God, 31:37 he evokes trust. It calls forth from 31:42 the human experience, a reliance on the Lord 31:46 that expects him to be consistent 31:49 and unwavering in his deeds and his character. 31:54 Amazing, this is the Hebrew idea 31:58 of the love of God, is this is a lofty thing 32:00 or a low simplistic sentimentalism. 32:04 Is this a cotton candy sweet Hollywood kind of 32:07 I love you baby, is that what this is describing? 32:10 No, this is a strong powerful love 32:15 that is characterized by what everybody? 32:17 Faithfulness, and so probably the 32:22 best definition of the word hesed 32:27 and there are many, the best way to define 32:30 this word is with two words and that is 32:35 faithful love, or try this covenantal love: 32:40 Love that makes promises and follow 32:44 through to keep them at any cost to self. 32:50 You are not going to hear about that, 32:52 not generally in popular culture. 32:56 Love that follows through to love 32:59 the other above and before the self, 33:01 no matter what it cost myself. 33:05 Promise keeping love, that's the love of God. 33:11 One scholar told me, he said Ty this word hesed. 33:15 He said it is so rich and multifaceted. 33:19 The scholars have struggled to really wrap 33:23 their minds around the best way 33:24 in just a few words to describe 33:26 what it means because in Hebrew thinking 33:28 this word hesed really would require a 33:33 minimum of 26 English words to really capture 33:39 its essence. Now he didn't tell me 33:41 what 26 words he came up with but I searched 33:45 the scriptures and here is my 26. 33:47 The hesed of God, the love of God 33:51 that is described by the Old Testament 33:54 prophets my friends includes faithfulness, 33:58 and mercy, and compassion, 34:01 and changelessness, and determination, 34:05 and constancy, and reliability, 34:09 and commitment, and dependability, 34:11 and predictability, and trustworthiness, 34:16 and integrity, and patience 34:20 and hope and devotion, 34:22 passion and long suffering which is to 34:28 suffer long, and justice, 34:32 and truthfulness, and goodness, 34:34 and kindness, and grace, and loyalty, 34:40 and generosity, and faith, that's my 26, 34:46 it's all there. Read the Bible from Genesis 34:49 to Malachi, go ahead and go into the 34:52 New Testament where Jesus becomes 34:54 the living personification of 34:56 God's hesed, God's covenant 34:58 keeping love is magnified, dramatized, 35:03 amplified in the person of Jesus Christ 35:06 as a living reality. All of it's there, 35:11 he is trustworthy and loyal, 35:14 and he is every thing, let's put it this way, 35:18 that your heart could possibly desire 35:22 and crave if somebody were to said 35:25 you hey I want you to write down a list of 35:27 what you would like to experience 35:30 if you could imagine the best conceivable God 35:36 that you could possibly come up with. 35:38 You might come up with a list like this 35:41 and you would find that this kind of God 35:44 that is portrait in scripture evokes trust. 35:48 This kind of God arouses at the deepest level of 35:51 the human spirit and adoration 35:54 that is voluntary, it's not forced. 35:57 You find yourself literally falling in love 36:00 with this God and then saying to yourself 36:04 I am un-queerest. 36:07 He is not threatening me, 36:09 he is just loving me to be in degree of 36:14 personal self sacrifice and his beauty 36:16 is so without parallel that I find myself 36:19 reaching out voluntarily spontaneously to him, 36:23 that is the hesed of God. 36:27 Let me give you another example go over 36:28 in your Bible to Isaiah 55, 36:32 Isaiah 55 the word hesed. 36:35 There are so many I had to be selective, 36:39 but I am just gonna give you chapter 55 36:42 of Isaiah and verse 3, 36:44 and here the prophet says incline your ear 36:52 and come to Me, 36:55 capital M this is God appealing to you and I, 36:57 come to Me incline your ear, 36:59 listen up I am gonna tell you something. 37:02 Hear what I have to say and your soul 37:06 will live and I will make an everlasting 37:13 covenant with you, what kind of a covenant? 37:15 Everlasting covenant with you 37:18 my faithful love promised to David, 37:25 that's the New International rendering 37:27 of the text New King James, 37:29 The Sure Mercies of David 37:33 and the word hesed is present in the word 37:36 again mercies. And what God is saying here, 37:39 he is saying listen I want to tell you that 37:43 if you will listen, if you will take it 37:45 and really comprehend my love for you, 37:48 you will realize that my love is a covenant 37:53 keeping kind of love. It is a kind of love 37:59 that promises and follows through, 38:03 it is a strong and powerful thing, 38:06 it's not a weak insipid sentimentalism; 38:10 it is Me, loving you above 38:15 and before myself. 38:17 It is Me loving you at any cost to myself. 38:23 That God says is how I love you. 38:26 The sure mercies of David, 38:30 the faithful love of God promised to David, 38:36 so okay come with me now to the definitive 38:41 Biblical statement. The Zenith, if you will, 38:46 the apex of divine self revelation, 38:49 this is God disclosing to you 38:52 and he peeling back the layers of his character, 38:56 and allowing us to have a vision and epiphany 39:00 if you will of the deep inner sanctum 39:04 of the divine character. 39:06 Do you wanna know what's going on in God's psyche, 39:09 you wanna know how God thinks, 39:12 how God feels. You wanna know 39:15 the quintessential truth about God. 39:19 It is brought to us by the Apostle John 39:22 and perhaps the simplest three words 39:25 you will find in scripture that 39:28 simultaneously double as the most profound 39:31 statement in scripture. 39:33 Paradoxically the simplest thing 39:35 you can ever comprehend 39:36 and the most profound thing 39:38 that you can ever comprehend. 39:39 First John chapter 4, tell me the verse. 39:42 Verse 8 repeated in verse 16, 39:46 what are the three words that I am talking about 39:48 the most powerful words that can be uttered 39:50 by human lips. God is love, my friends, 39:55 God is love, this statement now 39:59 just flush it out with me here, 40:01 this statement is without parallel 40:03 in scripture, and what I mean by that is this. 40:06 This is the only, listen carefully now, 40:10 this is the only total identity statement 40:14 made about God in scripture. 40:15 There is no other statement about God 40:19 in scripture that describes the totality 40:23 of God's character and identity. 40:24 There are verses that will tell you 40:26 for example that God is just, 40:29 but never that God is justice, the noun. 40:32 There are verses that will tell you 40:34 God is merciful but never that God is mercy. 40:37 That God is holy but never holiness; 40:41 this is the only noun that describes 40:45 the content of God's identity in scripture. 40:48 God is not loving, that's true too 40:53 but God is this is the only noun 40:57 in scripture to describe God's character, 41:00 God is love my friends. 41:03 You see well wait a minute, 41:04 God is other things too only a few misunderstand 41:07 the biblical word, only if you are locked 41:09 into our cultural popular concept of love. 41:14 But the word love biblically, 41:15 the word love is an umbrella 41:19 that takes in everything else 41:21 that is true of God. 41:22 In other words God is just because God is love, 41:27 in other words justice is a dimension of love 41:30 not contrary to it. Doing the right thing 41:35 is the loving thing to do; 41:37 God is merciful because God is love. 41:40 God is holy because God is love. 41:42 God is gentle because God is love. 41:44 God is patient because God is love. 41:46 There isn't a single word, 41:48 a single verb or adjective that you can 41:50 bring forth from scripture to describe 41:53 God that is not an extension of 41:57 and expression of enacting out of his love. 42:01 God is love and there we have before us 42:05 in total, the truth about God. 42:09 It is the one statement in scripture 42:11 that defines every biblical doctrine 42:13 that we believe by the way, 42:14 and I wish I had time to explain to you 42:16 what I mean by that. 42:17 But every biblical doctrine 42:19 that is truly true, that is a true biblical 42:21 doctrine is merely a explanation of, 42:25 an amplification of, an exposition of 42:27 the love of God in some dimension. 42:29 Every truth of scripture 42:32 is an extension of the love of God. 42:37 This statement God is love is without 42:42 any parallel in scripture, 42:44 but what does it mean again. 42:45 We've already seen what it means 42:47 in the Old Testament, 42:48 it means covenantal faithfulness, 42:50 it means unchanging love, 42:53 it means faithful follow through 42:56 if you will, that means making promises 42:59 and keeping them at any cost to oneself. 43:02 Now what does that mean in the 43:04 New Testament? I'll give you what I regard to be 43:07 the two most simple straight forward 43:10 definitions of Biblical love in the 43:12 New Testament. The first is in 43:14 1st Corinthians chapter 13, 43:16 we call that the what chapter? 43:18 The Love chapter, we put that on plats 43:21 and hang them in our houses 43:22 and is just so beautiful. 43:23 It's sometimes read at weddings, 43:26 love is patient, love is kind, etc, etc. 43:28 What a beautiful, actually it's a song 43:31 that Paul wrote, we think of Paul as 43:34 cerebral brainiac, but he was also emotionally 43:39 in touch with the love of God. 43:40 Now check this out Paul comes to the real points 43:45 of what he is talking about here, 43:47 and he says love is not in verse 5 self seeking. 43:52 That's New International version, 43:53 King James version says love is not 43:55 or seek if not it's own, 44:00 King James version. 44:01 In other words love is not self seeking 44:05 that's a negative grammatical formulation. 44:07 What if you would've turn that 44:08 around and make an equally true statement, 44:10 but render it as a positive 44:11 grammatical declaration. 44:13 If love is not self seeking, what is love? 44:17 If love is not self seeking 44:19 we might say love is other centered, 44:23 if it's not self centered what is it? 44:24 It's other centered. It's not selfish, 44:28 it's not centered on self, 44:30 if we can even imagine what this means. 44:33 The God of the universe who occupies 44:35 the throne of the universe is a God 44:38 who literally in every single thought 44:40 and feeling and action. 44:42 Literally is completely other centered 44:49 and self giving. He never thinks a thought 44:53 or feels an emotion that is not other centered. 44:59 Literally when push comes to shove God 45:01 would rather die forever than to live 45:05 without you. Personally 45:07 and you can just put your name there. 45:09 God would rather cease to exist 45:12 then for you to be banished and alienated 45:20 into an eternity without life 45:22 and without his love. 45:23 God literally loves you more than his own life, 45:27 His love is not self seeking. 45:29 And here's another one 1st John 3:16. 45:32 We know John 3:16, 45:33 what about 1st John 3:16? 45:35 Here's a biblical definition 45:36 of what love is. By this we know love, 45:42 so it's a definition it's about to follow, 45:44 you want to know what love is, 45:45 John says by this we know love because 45:49 he laid down his life for us. 45:54 Do you see that in this text, 45:56 John says that love has a specific disposition 46:00 toward self, any specific 46:02 disposition toward others, right? 46:04 There is the self and how does 46:08 love regards self? Secondary to all others, 46:15 so that if necessary and you know 46:18 and we will discover in greater detail, 46:20 it has become necessary literally 46:25 if necessary love is known by the fact 46:29 that he takes himself and the totality 46:33 of himself without reserve, 46:34 and he plunges over the precipus 46:38 into eternal nights. 46:40 Literally willing to cease from existing, 46:45 so that you and I could have eternal life. 46:49 He laid down his life for us 46:53 that's how you know love my friends. 46:55 So when the Bible says God is love 46:58 you should allow a translation to quickly 47:00 occur in your thinking like those 47:02 nifty translation programs where you can 47:04 type in a word on the computer 47:06 and it tells you what the Spanish, 47:07 or the German, or the Italian is. 47:09 You need to have a translation occur 47:11 don't allow popular culture to define 47:14 for you this word. Take the word back, 47:17 it's been hijacked by the devil, 47:18 and infused with all kinds of ill meaning. 47:23 Take the word back and when you read 47:25 in scripture God is love, 47:26 here a powerful, beautiful, 47:29 self giving kind of concept in reality. 47:33 When you hear the words God is love, 47:36 where it take your breath away because 47:38 it is saying God is conveniently faithful. 47:43 God is totally trustworthy, 47:47 God is completely other centered 47:50 in self giving in all his ways. 47:54 God literally values your life 47:57 more than his own. 47:58 That's what the Bible means, 47:59 when it says God is love. 48:00 And now when somebody comes 48:02 and says shouldn't we be preaching something 48:04 something more powerful than God is love, 48:06 I say do a reality check. 48:09 Allow the Bible to define this truth for us 48:12 and you can't imagine anything more 48:17 arresting and powerful than the love of God. 48:20 And it is the fabric, it is the interior 48:24 of the Third Angel's message my friends, 48:27 and if we don't understand it, 48:29 we feel to understand the 48:31 Third Angel's message. So now let's shift gears 48:35 in the moments that remain, 48:36 and I want to take you, 48:39 I want to portray for you in this first time 48:42 together. I want to share with you 48:44 the extravagant love of God as he had 48:49 existed in eternity past before creation. 48:55 In the Bible according to Psalm chapter 19 48:58 verse 2, all of reality may be comprehended 49:02 as being composed of two basic parts, 49:04 eternity past and eternity future. 49:09 If I had a board I would draw a gently 49:11 arching line and there I would have write 49:14 in the middle another line crossing it, 49:16 and I would say eternity past, 49:19 eternity future from everlasting 49:25 to everlasting. David says you are God. 49:28 What is this everlasting to everlasting, 49:31 eternity past, eternity future? 49:36 God has existed forever. 49:39 The Bible says that God existed in this 49:43 remote region of reality called eternity past, 49:48 and Paul says in Titus chapter 1 49:50 and verse 2 that this remote region 49:53 that we can scarcely comprehend. 49:54 He says it was before there was time, 49:58 can you imagine a time before 50:00 there was time. 50:01 No we are time bound creatures. 50:04 We can't comprehend a time without time, 50:07 we're linear, we're creatures 50:09 that understand the succession of events 50:12 one upon another. All we know is time, 50:15 but there was a time according to Paul, 50:16 when there was no time. 50:19 There was just this absolute being 50:22 and that absolute being that never had 50:26 a beginning, and will never have and end 50:28 is none other than God. In Galatians chapter 1, 50:33 the Apostle Paul says that He that is 50:37 Christ is before all things, 50:41 and in Him all things consist or cohere 50:46 or hold together. Are you with me so far? 50:48 There is this eternity past. 50:52 In chapter 7 of Daniel, 50:54 amazingly we're told that God 50:57 one of his names, God is called the 50:59 ancient of days, the what of days? 51:02 Ancient of days, what's a synonym for that, 51:04 is God old? What do you think? 51:06 Is he elderly? Allow the word, 51:13 He is ancient, but He is not old, 51:15 He is not, he may be old that's understatement, 51:17 but He is also very young. 51:21 In fact if God appeared to us and said hey, 51:23 hey guess my age, just by the appearance, 51:26 we say I don't know 26. 51:28 No God's teeth are not in a jar 51:31 by the bed, God is eternally young, 51:38 the law of entropy has no power over Him. 51:41 Nothing is falling apart, nothing is bulging out, 51:45 God is eternally young, 51:49 He is the ancient of days, 51:51 He has always existed in eternal youth, 51:53 but what was God doing for all the eternity 51:56 before creation my friends. 51:58 The Bible tells us we don't need to guess, 52:00 this God who always existed 52:03 in all eternity past, 52:04 the Bible says of this God 52:05 that he was engaged in an other centered 52:11 self giving love that never had a beginning, 52:16 and it always existed Father, 52:19 Son and Holy Spirit, each one living 52:24 for the others with no self consciousness, 52:28 with no desire to get, 52:30 with no demands, with no manipulation, 52:34 with no coercion, no force, just, 52:39 just absolute other centeredness 52:43 for all the eternity past. 52:45 This is what Jesus told us 52:48 when in His prayer we over heard Him 52:51 speaking to the Father. 52:52 In John chapter 17 and verse 24, 52:56 one of my favorite this is like one of the 52:57 mountain top scripture for me 52:59 where we're hearing Jesus in this intimate 53:01 conversation with the Father, 53:02 and he says Father I want them 53:07 to behold the glory that I had with you 53:12 before the world was, I want them to tap into, 53:15 I want them to comprehend it Father. 53:16 And then he defines what it is, this glory, 53:18 this radiance, this beauty, this out going 53:23 beautiful radiant thing whatever it is, 53:27 He defines it for us. He says Father 53:30 I want them to access this because 53:34 Father you loved me before the foundation 53:39 of the world. There my friends 53:41 is the infinite before, that's eternity past. 53:45 If you reach back as far as the human mind 53:49 can imagine or reach back you discover 53:52 that God not only is love, 53:55 but always has been love. 53:58 God has always existed in this beautiful 54:01 ebb and flow of social self-givingness 54:07 if you will. God is a unit, 54:10 God is a communitarian being, 54:14 God is literally a neighborhood if you will, 54:17 God is a social unit, God is a friendship, 54:21 and reality at its foundation, 54:24 at its core where we come from, 54:28 what Isaiah calls them matrix of reality, 54:31 the womb of reality, 54:33 the point from where every thing came? 54:35 Do you know what it is? 54:36 It is a perfectly self giving love, 54:42 the Father living for the son 54:45 and the Holy Spirit in total delight 54:47 and pleasure that we can scarcely even imagine. 54:51 We get little glimpses of it 54:53 and the Son living for the Spirit 54:55 and the Father, and the Holy Spirit 54:57 living for the Father and the Son. 55:00 We taste it occasionally, 55:02 don't we? In little moments in our 55:04 matrimonial bless. J.D 55:08 when you feel absolutely affirmed 55:12 and loved by Shelley in those moments 55:17 of total affirmation and acceptance, 55:22 it is as if the tip of your tongue is tasting 55:27 what God is like, what eternity is all about 55:32 that's the truth about God my friends. 55:38 God is love in the most beautiful sense 55:42 imaginable; in the most powerful sense 55:44 imaginable, He will never alter his course, 55:47 He is the same yesterday, 55:49 today and forever, 55:50 that's the constancy dimension of God, 55:53 hesed his love, God is the same yesterday, 55:58 today and forever and James says 56:00 that with Him there is no variableness 56:03 not even a shadow of turning. 56:07 You see a shadow shift on the pavements 56:10 under the movements of your body. 56:12 God's love it never shows, it never changes. 56:17 There's nothing you can do to make Him love you 56:20 more than He already does because 56:22 He already loves you 56:23 with the totality of His love. 56:24 There's nothing you could do to make Him 56:27 love you less because God's love is not like 56:30 the dimmer switch in your dining room, 56:32 it doesn't move up or down, 56:35 it's not like the throttle on your car 56:37 where it goes faster and slower. 56:39 God's love is a full throttle pedal 56:43 to the metal non stop reality that knows 56:48 no boundaries, and will never ever, 56:51 ever cease from holding you as the 56:55 apple of His eye. 56:57 Father in heaven you're beautiful 57:00 beyond description, we can scarcely take 57:04 in who you are. We love you because 57:11 of your great love for us, 57:13 may we never sees to be amazed 57:19 at your great love for us, 57:22 and may we drink it in and allow it 57:27 to register in our hearts as the most powerful. |
Revised 2014-12-17