Participants: Ty Gibson
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000081
|
00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 The Final Revolution with Ty Gibson. 00:22 Welcome to West Frankfort and to our Worship Center 00:25 here at Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 00:28 And we're so glad for those that are here with us live, 00:32 and we're so happy that you could join us by television. 00:35 And again, we're live going all around the world tonight 00:39 with a message by Ty Gibson. 00:42 And the message is, The Final Revolution. 00:45 In fact, this entire series is entitled, The Final Revolution. 00:52 And Ty Gibson is giving us part one tonight. 00:57 Ty is no stranger to those of you that watch 3ABN. 01:01 He is one of our best known and one of our favorite speakers 01:05 on this network. 01:07 And we have asked him to be the first speaker of the year 01:13 to kick off the new Anchors Of Truth series. 01:19 He is the co-director and founder, co-founder, 01:24 of Light Bearers Ministry. 01:28 And this ministry has been used by God to reach people 01:32 all over the world primarily with the printed word, 01:36 though they also are very active in presenting 01:41 the word through preaching. 01:44 We are so happy to have Ty here. 01:47 And tonight, before he comes to speak to us, 01:51 I'm going to ask our friend C.A. Murray to come 01:56 to pray with us first and then to sing for us that song, 02:01 No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus. 02:06 Shall we pray. 02:08 Gracious Father, we do praise You and thank You 02:11 for another opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus. 02:15 We do so secure in the knowledge that Christ has said, "If I be 02:19 lifted up, I will draw all men, all women, unto Myself." 02:25 And so we ask for Ty this night a holy boldness and holy unction 02:32 as he preaches of the things of God. 02:35 Give us listening and attentive ears and hearts wherever we are; 02:41 in our cars, at work, at home, wherever we're listening, 02:45 by computer, internet, however we receive this message. 02:50 May it be received with the power and presence 02:53 of the Holy Spirit that we may not be just hearers of the Word, 02:58 but doers thereof. 03:00 And we thank You for being our honored guest tonight. 03:04 In Jesus' name, amen. 03:08 In the world, they have songs that are called standards. 03:13 Usually, a standard is a song that's been around a long time, 03:17 has a particular message, a lot of people sing it. 03:19 And it has a message that sort of resonates with those who 03:25 sing it and with those who hear. 03:27 I suspect, if we were to list standards in the 03:30 Christian realm, No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus 03:34 is a standard. 03:35 I have a very good friend, he's a Conference president. 03:38 He bought a new Oldsmobile in New York about 10 years ago. 03:42 And after having it only 3 days, he came down stairs and 03:45 all four doors were stolen off of his brand new Oldsmobile. 03:49 And he went upstairs, he played the piano. 03:53 And for an hour before he called the police, he just played, 03:56 No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus. 04:00 And if you've ever been through any trauma 04:05 or drama in your life, you've had hard times 04:08 and perhaps friends and family have deserted you, 04:10 you know that it is true, it's not just words, 04:12 no one ever cares for you like Jesus. 04:16 He is consistent. He's always there. 04:25 I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus, 04:34 since I found in Him a friend so strong and true. 04:42 I would tell you how He changed my life completely; 04:50 He did something that no other friend could do. 04:59 No one ever cared for me like Jesus. 05:09 There's no other friend so kind as He. 05:17 No one else could take the sin and darkness from me. 05:28 O how much He cares for me. 05:39 All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me; 05:48 all my heart was full of misery and woe. 05:56 Jesus placed His strong and loving arms around me, 06:04 and He led me in the path I ought to go. 06:13 No one ever cared for me like Jesus. 06:21 There's no other friend so kind as He. 06:30 No one else could take the sin and darkness from me. 06:40 O how much He cares for me. 06:53 Every day He comes to me with new assurance. 07:02 More and more and more I understand His words of love. 07:09 But I'll never know just why He came to save me 07:16 till someday I see His blessed face above. 07:25 No one ever cared for me like Jesus. 07:33 There's no other friend so kind as He. 07:41 No one else could take the sin and darkness from me. 07:53 O how much He cares, 07:59 O how much He cares, 08:06 O how much He cares for me. 08:28 Thank you, C.A. 08:29 What a blessing. 08:31 Well good evening, everybody. 08:33 I'm glad you've come to study this important subject with me. 08:37 I'm going to begin our five part series by sharing with you 08:42 the story of a little girl named Cami. 08:45 Children, often times when they are little, 08:48 have profound insights. 08:50 And Cami is no exception. 08:52 When she was in the first grade, her teacher gave 08:55 a pretty exciting assignment. 08:58 Children like to play Show And Tell, but on this occasion 09:01 the Show And Tell was very, very specific. 09:05 They weren't to bring something from home. 09:07 The children were to draw a picture of anything they wanted 09:11 and then show the picture to the class and tell about it. 09:14 So all the children went to work busily drawing. 09:19 And the teacher roamed around the room and 09:21 came to little Cami. 09:23 And she was so devoted to her piece of art that the teacher 09:28 leaned down and whispered to her, "Cami, that's a very 09:32 interesting piece of art that you're constructing there. 09:36 What are you drawing?" 09:38 And then she said, "I'm drawing a picture of God." 09:42 And the teacher said, "Cami, nobody has ever seen God. 09:48 You can't draw a picture of God. 09:49 Nobody knows what He looks like." 09:52 And Cami said, "Why do you think I'm drawing this picture? 09:56 They going to know in a minute." 09:59 And that, my friends, is precisely the calling 10:05 that God has put upon His end time people. 10:08 We, often times, imagine that perhaps the Lord has 10:12 something else in mind, that it might be 10:15 something more profound. 10:17 But I believe there's nothing more profound than this. 10:21 God's people, at this end time segment of human history, 10:24 are called to paint a picture of God for the world. 10:30 Specifically, the character of God. 10:33 Now we know, of course, that nobody has ever seen 10:37 the face of God, just as Cami's teacher said. 10:41 But the fact is, we can see His heart. 10:44 We can probe into the way God thinks and feels. 10:48 And we can see the way He behaves in history. 10:51 We can, therefore, begin to understand the kind of person 10:56 that God is. 10:58 And when we begin to know Him as He really is, 11:03 things marvelous begin to take place inside of us. 11:06 We begin to trust Him when we know Him. 11:11 And when we trust Him, we begin to serve Him with an 11:14 intelligence and a passion that we've never know before. 11:19 Now in Scripture, Jesus, right before He left this world, 11:25 offered a profound insight regarding the problem 11:29 with the human race. 11:31 You and myself included. 11:33 We are in a predicament, and Jesus pinpointed 11:37 the nature of that predicament. 11:39 Turn in your Bibles to John 17. 11:42 And here, Jesus is praying pretty much His last prayer 11:48 before He leaves this world, before He goes to 11:51 Calvary and dies. 11:53 And the apostles are the focus of this prayer. 11:57 He's praying specifically for His followers in the 12:01 immediate historic context. 12:04 But Jesus is also praying for all believers 12:08 down through history that will follow. 12:10 He's praying for you and He's praying for me. 12:13 Now we're going to look at this prayer in a very unique way. 12:17 We're not going to begin at the start and work our way through. 12:20 I just want to come to the very final words of the prayer. 12:24 And here we discover that right before Jesus departs 12:28 from this world, He offers a diagnostic statement, 12:33 if you will, regarding the human race. 12:35 Notice what He says in verses 24 through 26. 12:40 "Father," He says, "I desire that they also whom 12:45 You have given Me may be with Me where I am..." 12:50 Now notice this very carefully. 12:51 He wants you and me, He wants us to be with Him 12:54 for a specific purpose. 12:56 "...that they may behold My glory..." 13:00 Now we're going to discover later on in our time together 13:03 in this five part series that when the Bible uses the 13:07 word "glory," it is invoking a large idea. 13:13 It is everything that pertains to the character of God. 13:19 The word in the Greek... 13:22 And we're in the New Testament here, so this is 13:24 the Greek part of the Bible. 13:25 The Old Testament being in Hebrew originally. 13:29 The Greek word is "doxa." 13:32 And it just means; to radiate outward, to shine, 13:37 to give some kind of brilliant out-shining of radiance. 13:43 And the concept of glory is that whatever it is 13:47 that composes a person's character finds manifestation 13:52 in the way they interact with people, in the way they behave. 13:55 So the glory of God is what makes up His heart, His mind, 14:01 His thoughts, His feelings, His motives. 14:03 Everything that pertains to the character of God manifested 14:08 or radiating outward in His dealings with humanity. 14:13 So Jesus says, "Father, I want them to be with Me. 14:17 I want them to be with Me for a specific purpose. 14:19 I want them to behold My glory." 14:22 And we're going to take that to mean, "I want them 14:25 to behold My..." What? "...character." 14:27 "I want them to become acquainted with who I am; 14:31 how I think, how I feel, how I behave, 14:33 the kind of person that I am." 14:35 And we're going to see this evening why this is so crucial 14:38 that we know God for who He really is. 14:42 So Jesus goes on and He says, "I want them to behold My glory. 14:47 For You loved Me, Father, before the foundation of the world." 14:51 Now Jesus is kind of thinking back to what He was 14:56 experiencing before He came to our world in the incarnation. 15:01 And this is a beautiful insight regarding the place Jesus had 15:07 prior to His time on planet earth. 15:10 What was Jesus doing before He came to this world? 15:15 Well according to Scripture, He was in some way experimentally 15:19 involved in the love of the Father. 15:23 "Father, you loved Me before the foundation of the world." 15:26 Before the world was created. 15:28 And, of course, before He came to this world incarnate, 15:32 Jesus was involved in a love relationship with His Father. 15:36 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit compose a social unit, 15:41 a community. 15:42 One scholar refers to the triune God as a communitarian God; 15:49 God exists in community, in friendship. 15:53 And Jesus is thinking back to the time that He shared 15:58 with the Father before He came to this world. 16:01 "Father," He says, "I want them to be with Me where I am, 16:06 where I'm going after My crucifixion to reunite with You. 16:10 Because I want them to be with us as participants 16:15 in the same quality of love that, Father, You and I had 16:19 before I even came to this world, before the world 16:23 was even created. 16:24 I want to bring them in to that relationship." 16:28 Now I would submit to you that there is nothing 16:32 that we as human beings could even begin to imagine 16:37 that would in any way compare with the glorious future that 16:42 Jesus is describing here for fallen, 16:45 yet redeemed, human beings. 16:47 Our redemption, our salvation, is not merely about getting us 16:52 out of trouble with God for our transgressions. 16:57 Our salvation is God saving us out of sin, but into something. 17:03 Not just to take us out of a problem, but to safely 17:08 deliver us into something remarkable and glorious. 17:12 He's not just trying to take something out of us; 17:16 namely sin and guilt and shame. 17:18 He's trying to put something in us to fill the void, 17:22 to fill the vacancy. 17:23 And here, Jesus pinpoints precisely what that is 17:28 that God wants to fill our hearts with. 17:31 "Father, I was with You before the foundation of the world. 17:37 You and I were engaged in a love relationship 17:41 that was glorious. 17:42 And Father, I want them to be with Me in the future 17:46 as sharers in that relationship." 17:50 Then Jesus goes on and He says, now giving the diagnosis 17:54 of the human predicament, verse 25, "O righteous Father," 17:59 notice carefully, "the world has not..." 18:02 What does it say? 18:04 "...known You..." 18:05 "The world has not known You, Father." 18:08 There is a void of knowledge, of awareness, of intimacy with God. 18:15 Jesus goes on to say, "The world has not known You, 18:19 but I have..." What? 18:22 "... known You. 18:23 And these," speaking in the immediate context of the 18:27 disciples, but also speaking of all human beings 18:32 subsequent to this, "...these have known that You sent Me." 18:37 Now watch this very carefully. 18:39 "And I have declared to them Your name, Father." 18:43 Which is another biblical word for character. 18:47 Throughout Scripture, the word "name" is 18:51 synonymous with character. 18:53 Why? Because names in biblical times, unlike our time, 18:59 had meaning that signified the character or personality of 19:03 the child or of the place. 19:05 For example, Jacob was called "Jacob" because he had 19:09 grabbed the heal of Esau as he was exiting the womb. 19:12 Or at least his parents imagined that he tried to pull him 19:15 back in so he could be the first born. 19:18 And so when Jacob came out of the womb after attempting 19:24 to be the first born, they said, "Your name is Jacob." 19:28 Which means basically, "You little deceiver." 19:31 How would you like to have that name affixed to you at birth? 19:34 But then he prevailed with God later in life. 19:38 And God said, "Now I'm going to change your name. 19:40 You're not Jacob anymore. 19:42 Now you're Israel. You're victor. 19:45 You have prevailed with God, so a name change is in order." 19:50 Throughout Scripture, every name has character significance. 19:54 When Jesus says, "I came to this world for the specific purpose 19:59 of declaring the name of the Father," He means, 20:02 "I'm here to disclose the truth about the character of God. 20:08 I'm here in this world to make known who God is." 20:14 So are you getting the sense here that there is a 20:18 colossal mission that is being launched from this prayer? 20:22 Jesus says, again, "O righteous Father," verse 25, 20:26 "the world has not known You." 20:29 That's the problem. 20:31 In the simplest terms possible, Jesus looks at humanity 20:37 and He says, "The problem is, they don't know the Father." 20:45 They are under the impression that they know God, 20:49 as we'll see in just a moment. 20:50 Because Jesus is speaking in a very religious context. 20:53 Everybody around Him claims to believe in God. 20:57 And I'll call attention to the fact, this evening, 21:00 that the world in which we live in right now 21:02 with its 7.2 billion people, of those 7.2 billion people 21:08 fully 6 billion of them claim to believe in God. 21:13 Or let's say it this way. 21:15 ...claim to believe something about God. 21:20 And there's the operative word, "something about God." 21:24 Everybody on the planet pretty much has a conception, 21:27 a picture, a view of God. 21:30 Even the approximately one billion people, 21:34 about 800 million people, it's approaching one billion, 21:37 now claim to be atheists in our world out of the 7 billion. 21:42 About one billion say, "No, we don't believe in the 21:44 existence of God at all. 21:46 No such being exists." 21:48 But even the atheists in our world, by and large, 21:51 are saying, "I don't believe in God," by which they mean, 21:57 "What I've been told about God, I reject. 22:01 The picture that has been portrayed to me, 22:04 what I was taught to believe about God, I reject." 22:09 Which leaves us with a glorious evangelistic opportunity. 22:13 Because we might conclude, and rightly conclude, 22:17 that there are many people who don't believe in God 22:20 who might believe in God if they received a picture of God 22:26 that was rational and attractive and healing and satisfying 22:32 and beautiful. 22:33 If God could be repainted on the canvas of human hearts 22:39 and minds, we might find people we never imagined who now 22:45 align themselves as enemies of God might say, 22:48 "Well, wait a minute. 22:49 Why didn't somebody tell me He was like that? 22:51 I can believe that." 22:53 Many people are rejecting a caricature; 22:58 a picture of God that is anything but true. 23:02 Jesus gives an assessment of the human problem 23:08 upon the closure of His ministry. 23:12 It's coming to an end, He's about to go to the cross, 23:14 and He says, "Father, the problem is they don't know You. 23:21 But I know You," Jesus says. 23:23 I know exactly who You are. 23:24 And I have declared to them Your name." 23:28 Jesus came to this world to set in motion 23:33 a movement that would disseminate to the world 23:38 the picture of God, precisely the picture of God, 23:42 that was represented in Himself. 23:44 Jesus is, the book of Revelation calls Him, 23:48 the true and faithful Witness. 23:51 By which Scripture means, He is the one that testifies 23:56 the truth about God. 23:59 So continuing on to the closure of His prayer. 24:02 "O righteous Father, the world has not known You, 24:04 but I have known You. 24:06 And I have declared to them Your name." 24:08 Which means what, again? 24:10 Character of God. 24:12 "I have declared, made known to them, Your name. 24:14 And will declare it..." 24:17 Watch this. 24:19 "...so that the love with which You have loved Me, Father, 24:24 may be in them, and I in them." 24:29 This is one of the mountain tops of Scripture. 24:34 This is an incredible disclosure for you and me of exactly 24:40 what the problem is with our world, what the world needs, 24:43 and what God's ultimate plan is for human beings. 24:49 He wants you and me, and everybody that you have 24:51 any contact with, anybody you've ever seen; 24:54 the person that you buy your groceries from 24:57 and exchange a little bit of laughter as you're departing 25:01 the grocery store, the person that works in the 25:04 cubicle next to you, the person that you just pass ever so 25:08 briefly as you're walking on the sidewalk in your town 25:12 and your eyes just briefly meet, every single person without 25:17 exception is in need of knowing the glorious truth 25:22 of who God is. 25:24 And there is a sense in which, as we'll discover through this 25:28 five part series, that right now the human race 25:31 is teetering on the tipping point. 25:36 That is to say, the human race is right there on the 25:40 razor's edge of going one way or the other 25:44 regarding the character of God. 25:48 Our world is filled with people who right now are more ready, 25:52 more ripe, more curious than ever about who God is. 25:57 A poll was conducted in a large western European city. 26:05 Very much like the American situation; becoming increasingly 26:08 more and more secular here in America, just as 26:13 western Europe is secular. 26:15 And in this city, they just had two questions. 26:17 They're roaming the streets and they're asking people 26:20 just two questions. 26:21 Now watch this. 26:22 Just walking up and saying to one individual after another, 26:25 "Question number one, we're talking a poll. 26:28 Do you have an interest in religion or church?" 26:34 Ninety percent of the people just said, "Nope," 26:38 and walked away. 26:41 "Well wait a minute, wait a minute." 26:42 Those doing the poll stopped them. 26:44 "We do have a second question. 26:46 A second question, just one more. 26:49 Do you have any interest in God?" 26:52 And the numbers switched. 26:54 Ninety percent of people said, "Oh, God? 26:56 Sure, I have an interest in God. 26:58 God? Curiosity about God? 27:02 The person? 27:04 Religion? No. Church? No. 27:07 God? I'm curious about God." 27:09 Do you see what's happening there? 27:11 There's a very interesting dynamic going on socially, 27:16 emotionally, psychologically in our world today. 27:19 Down through history God has, as we're going to learn 27:23 in this series, God has been grossly misrepresented. 27:27 Or as one author says, using a word that you will not 27:30 find in your dictionary, God has been uglified. 27:34 And the uglification of the character of God 27:38 down through history through religion, as we're going to 27:41 discover, the uglification of God's character, 27:44 that is the misrepresentation of God's character, 27:47 has given rise to a violent reaction, psychologically 27:51 and emotionally, against God. 27:52 People have shut Him out, not because they know Him as He is, 27:58 but because He has been misrepresented to them. 28:03 And so many people are eager to know who God really is. 28:11 And the moment we begin, as God's people, as His church 28:17 at this very crucial juncture of history, 28:19 the moment we begin to focus our attention 28:25 on magnifying the truth about the character of God, 28:30 the identity of God, when we begin to talk to people about, 28:34 "Hey, this is the kind of person God is." 28:37 "This is how He thinks." 28:39 He's also an emotional Being, "This is how He feels." 28:42 Every time you ever experience trouble or pain or tragedy 28:46 in your life, the Bible says that He experiences 28:49 a resonating pain with you. 28:51 God is very sensitive. 28:53 I've talked to people who want nothing to do about God. 28:56 And they say, "But what do you believe?" in our discussion. 28:58 And I begin to share with them, "I believe that God 29:02 is, first and foremost, a personal Being. 29:06 Not a massive energy, 'May the force be with you.'" 29:09 God isn't a distant King or Judge seated on the throne 29:13 with outstretched arm and pointed finger 29:16 and His other finger poised over the zap button to make sure 29:19 that misery occurs from time to time. 29:23 The picture of God that has been painted for the world 29:25 is indeed ugly. 29:28 And people are reacting against it. 29:31 But what would happen if God were revealed to the world 29:38 with irresistible beauty? 29:40 What if God, to use a very simple illustration, 29:45 were to get people's attention like a beautiful field of 29:50 flowers that you can't help but look at, 29:54 or a beautiful piece of music that you didn't expect to 29:56 encounter as you're going through some public place 29:59 and suddenly there's Beethoven's Third Symphony 30:02 and you're thinking, "Wow, that's incredible." 30:04 And you just pause to listen. 30:07 It's spontaneous when beauty is disclosed. 30:11 Do you hear what I'm saying? 30:13 Rather than God being framed or communicated 30:18 in a light that repulses the human heart, 30:22 God needs to be revealed as He really is, 30:25 as Jesus revealed Him, to be irresistibly attractive. 30:30 God is beautiful when we know Him for who He really is. 30:35 And when we find ourselves encountering beautiful 30:39 aspects or dimensions or traits of His character, 30:44 we find ourselves spontaneously leaning forward getting more 30:48 curious, wanting to know this kind of God. 30:53 And Jesus says, when the world begins to encounter 30:58 a knowledge of God in that kind of light, 31:01 Jesus makes it very clear that at that point 31:06 they will be encountering a God of infinite love who 31:09 is having no other agenda but to re-induct them into His love. 31:17 What does He say here again? 31:18 "The world has not known You." 31:20 That's the assessment, that's the diagnosis. 31:23 Number two, "But I have known You. 31:25 I know who You are, Father." 31:28 "And I have," number three, "declared Your 31:30 character to them. 31:31 And I'll continue to declare it." 31:34 That is through the church down through the ages. 31:37 And then finally, what does Jesus say? 31:39 "When they know You, Father, they will begin to love You. 31:44 And they will be brought back in to the inner circle 31:48 of the love relationship that You and I have had 31:51 for all eternity past." 31:53 That's the picture that Jesus paints of the work that 31:58 needs to be done by the church at this end time 32:02 segment of human history. 32:03 Now having laid that foundation, giving Jesus' final words 32:09 in prayer before He leaves this world, pretty much, 32:12 before He comes to the cross, at least, 32:15 I want you to back up in the gospel of John now 32:17 and notice a pattern that develops that will lead us 32:21 to where we want to be tonight regarding the final revolution 32:25 of human history that needs to occur. 32:27 Go all the way back in the gospel of John to chapter 1. 32:29 And you're going to notice a pattern here that builds up 32:33 to what we just read in John chapter 17. 32:37 First of all in John chapter 1, Jesus is revealed as the Word. 32:43 Capital "W." 32:46 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 32:50 and the Word was God." 32:53 What do you think about when you read the word, "Word?" 32:58 Communication maybe? 33:00 That's what I think of. 33:01 Words are for the purpose of communicating. 33:05 Right? 33:07 Jesus has come to this world to communicate. 33:10 One version says, "In the beginning was the Voice, 33:14 and the Voice was with God, and the Voice was God." 33:18 And the point is that God has been speaking. 33:22 Down through history before the incarnation, 33:25 God has been speaking into human hearts all along. 33:30 I know that this was true for me. 33:32 Before I encountered any public preaching or Bible study 33:37 in a formal sense, as I look back now in retrospect. 33:42 I wonder if this is true about you. 33:44 As I look back now, I can see that before 33:48 I had any formal introduction to God, that there were 33:52 providential leadings and He was active in my life 33:58 before I ever knew Him, 34:00 orchestrating, arranging, putting together situations 34:07 and encounters with people. 34:09 So that having stimulated desire in my heart for Him, 34:15 that when I hear the Word preached, it resonates 34:18 with what He's already been doing in my heart. 34:21 And that's going on with people around you all the time. 34:24 God is active now with every person on the planet 34:29 whispering truth into their consciousness, 34:32 opening their minds to Him. 34:33 Go down to verse 9. 34:34 Verse 9, Jesus is called the true light who gives light 34:39 to how many people? 34:40 Every person who comes into the world. 34:43 Are there any exceptions here? 34:45 No, Jesus has been illuminating the hearts and minds of all 34:53 men, women, and children down through history 34:56 preparatory to a living encounter with Him. 35:01 So Jesus comes into the world, according to John chapter 1, 35:04 for the specific purpose of communication. 35:08 Go down to verse 14 now. 35:10 "And the Word became..." What? 35:14 "...flesh and dwelt," or tabernacled or lived, 35:18 "...among us, and we beheld..." 35:21 What does the word "beheld" indicate? 35:24 We saw. 35:26 We encountered. 35:27 We saw Him, we beheld Him. 35:30 And when we beheld Him, what did we see? 35:32 Jesus came into the world and we beheld His glory. 35:38 What does the word "glory" mean again? 35:40 Character. 35:41 We beheld His character, His glory. 35:44 But whose glory ultimately is this? 35:47 "...the glory as of the only begotten of the Father..." 35:53 Notice this. 35:55 There is a direct linkage... 35:57 This is important. 35:59 There is a direct link between who Jesus is and the 36:02 glory, the character, we see in Him as His life unfolds, 36:07 and the Father. 36:09 Everything we see in Jesus is an accurate rendering 36:15 of the character of the Father. 36:18 That's the point here. 36:19 Look now... 36:21 This is so exciting when you see the connections here. 36:24 Look now at verse 18. 36:26 "No one has seen..." Who? 36:29 "...God at any time." 36:31 I mentioned that at the opening of the message. 36:33 We haven't seen God's face. 36:35 Moses, at one point, said to the Lord, 36:38 "Father God, I want to see You. Show me Your glory." 36:41 And God said, "You can't see the face of God and live. 36:44 No, not at this juncture of human history." 36:47 The sin problem has so damaged the human being 36:53 that an immediate encounter with God would cause 36:57 immediate destruction. 36:58 His glory would destroy us because of the sin problem. 37:02 So Jesus basically is revealed here as the one, 37:07 it goes on to say, the one who declares Him. 37:12 Declares who? 37:13 Verse 18, are you there? 37:15 "No one has seen God at any time. 37:18 But the only begotten Son..." 37:20 Who's that? 37:21 Jesus. Who is where? 37:24 "...in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." 37:28 So Jesus, before His incarnation, existed 37:33 where precisely, according to this text? 37:37 In the bosom of the Father. 37:38 What might that mean? 37:40 In intimate friendship with the Father. 37:43 Again, it is indicating to us that if anybody knows God, 37:48 Jesus does. 37:50 He, before He came to this world, existed in 37:54 the bosom of the Father. 37:56 That is, in the heart of the Father. 37:57 In fellowship with the Father. 38:00 And so because He was with the Father, 38:03 in the bosom of the Father, what does He come to the world to do? 38:05 Verse 18 again, the last part. 38:08 "He has..." What? 38:09 "...declared Him." 38:11 So, there is declaration. 38:14 There is communication that we can expect to occur. 38:18 We can expect this communication to occur 38:21 in two specific ways. 38:23 Number one, He's the Word. 38:25 So does Jesus, throughout His life leading up to Calvary, 38:30 does He speak words? 38:31 Does He teach? Does He preach? 38:32 Yes or no? Yes. 38:35 But also, what did it say back in verse 14? 38:39 We beheld. 38:41 Not only do we hear, but we what? 38:44 We see. 38:45 We see the glory of the Father in living color 38:49 personified in Jesus, in action. 38:53 And when we see that glory, the glory of the Father 38:57 in Jesus, there are two words in verse 14 39:01 that encapsulate the character of God. 39:04 What are they? Do you see them? 39:06 He comes to the world full of... 39:11 Two things. 39:12 Grace and truth. 39:14 Isn't that fascinating? 39:16 One Psalm, I think Psalm 85, it may be verse 10, 39:21 foretells that when the Messiah would come, 39:24 that mercy and truth in Him would kiss each other. 39:30 Here, Jesus comes to the world to reveal the character of God, 39:33 and the character of God is composed of 39:38 both grace and truth. 39:40 What if God were to come to you and me, and to the human race 39:43 as a whole, with nothing but undiluted truth? 39:48 Period, end of subject. 39:49 Jesus just comes to the world to tell it like it is. 39:52 No grace, no mercy. 39:54 Just the raw data of truth. 39:58 The way we do evangelism sometimes. 40:01 What if Jesus only came with truth? 40:05 We wouldn't be able to bear the revelation. 40:08 Later on in His ministry, He would say, "There are 40:11 many things I would say to you, but you cannot..." 40:13 Do you know? 40:15 "...bear them right now." 40:16 So Jesus is giving a measured disclosure. 40:20 He's not using the dump truck approach to evangelism 40:24 where you basically just pull up to any willing victim and 40:26 pull the level and dump everything you know on them. 40:30 Jesus is revealing the truth incrementally, 40:35 paying attention to the emotional and psychological 40:40 capacity of those that He's interacting with. 40:44 And Jesus comes, not merely with truth, but yes with truth. 40:49 Coupled with what? 40:51 Grace, mercy. 40:53 "I'm going to tell you the truth about yourself 40:57 and about the Father, and you'll feel that painful contrast 41:00 between His righteousness and your sinfulness. 41:03 But I want you to know something. 41:05 I want you to know something," Jesus says. 41:07 "I'm going to give you the truth. 41:08 But every step of the way, I'm going to lavish 41:12 My grace upon you. 41:13 I'm going to, not only tell you the truth, 41:17 I'm going to forgive and exercise mercy and 41:21 compassion every step of the way so that you can 41:23 process the truth. 41:26 So we encounter the glory of God in two forms 41:29 in Christ, in Jesus. 41:32 In word and in deed. 41:36 We hear the preaching of the gospel. 41:38 But what gives the gospel its validity? 41:43 And what gives the gospel credibility? 41:47 It's the life of the Savior. 41:49 He loves people as He interacts with them. 41:54 And because He loves them, they can bear the truth He has 41:58 to speak to them. 42:00 And as Jesus unfolds His ministry, we are receiving 42:06 a living model of how the gospel is to be proclaimed 42:10 straight on down to the end of time. 42:13 Notice chapter 5 now and verse 19. 42:17 Continuing this theme. 42:19 John chapter 5 verse 19. 42:22 "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 42:26 'Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing..." 42:32 What does Jesus say? 42:33 "...of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. 42:40 For whatever He," that is the Father, "does, 42:42 the Son also does in like manner." 42:46 What is Jesus saying here? 42:49 As you encounter Me, you are encountering the Father. 42:55 "I'm the Son, and everything that I'm doing, 42:59 all My interactions with you and with everybody else, 43:03 as My life unfolds before you..." 43:06 Right up to the apex revelation of God's glorious character 43:10 at the cross. 43:12 Every step of the way, what is Jesus saying here? 43:15 "I'm doing what I see in the Father. 43:19 I'm acting out what I know to be the truth 43:23 about the character of God." 43:26 And as we're going to discover, this is a law of human nature 43:31 and human experience. 43:32 Finally we're going to discover that the great controversy 43:37 reaches forward to the final events of human history 43:41 disclosed in Revelation 13 and 14, and when that 43:45 final crisis occurs. 43:47 If you want to summarize what Bible prophecy is 43:50 basically telling us, it is this; 43:52 that ultimately there will be a convergence of 43:57 events and pressures socially, politically and religiously 44:03 that will prompt every human being to act out 44:06 their picture of God. 44:08 Ultimately, all of us will disclose what we really believe 44:14 about the Father in the way we deal with others every day, 44:19 and finally in that climactic crisis of human history. 44:23 Everybody acts out their picture of God. 44:26 Whatever you believe about God's dealings with you 44:31 will come out in the way you deal with others. 44:34 Jesus is articulating that principle. 44:38 "I do nothing of Myself," He says. 44:40 "Whatever I see the Father doing, the Son does 44:44 in like manner. 44:45 I am like He is, He is like I am. 44:47 We are one in character. 44:49 And your encounter with Me is an encounter with the 44:52 character of the Father." 44:55 That's John 5:19. 44:58 Now skip over to chapter 8. 45:01 So here we have an example of Jesus living out 45:07 the character of God, living out and mirroring the character of 45:12 the Father in His dealings with the woman caught in adultery. 45:16 As we said in chapter 1 of John, there are two ways in which 45:20 the character of God is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. 45:24 In His speaking, preaching; in His words. 45:27 And in His life; in His way of relating to people. 45:33 And here we see Jesus putting on display a remarkable 45:38 revelation of the character of God. 45:40 This woman was caught, the Scripture says in 45:43 John chapter 8, in the very act of adultery. 45:47 There was no question whatsoever of her guilt. 45:50 She was in fact caught in the act. 45:52 She was guilty. 45:54 In fact, you get the impression that she was set up 45:57 in order to put Jesus to the test. 46:00 And as this woman is thrown before Jesus, 46:04 He interacts with those who are accusing her 46:07 who, by the way, and this becomes crucial in our 46:09 understanding here, are the religious leaders of the time. 46:12 These aren't secular people, these aren't atheists, 46:16 these aren't unbelievers who are perpetrating this act 46:19 upon this woman. 46:21 These are the, quote unquote, "people of God." 46:24 These are the religious leaders of the time. 46:26 They bring the woman to Jesus and they basically 46:29 say, "We're looking for a verdict of condemnation. 46:36 She needs to be stoned. 46:38 Moses says so." 46:40 They're giving, of course, their own interpretation 46:44 of the larger scope and context of what that system of the 46:49 Old Testament was really all about, tending toward Christ. 46:54 But here's the point. 46:55 In this immediate context, they want a verdict of what? 46:59 Condemnation. 47:01 But Jesus deals with them in a very creative way 47:05 by writing with His finger in the dust of the marble 47:10 of the temple floor in the courtyard. 47:14 And one by one, beginning with the oldest down to the youngest, 47:17 all of these accusers depart. 47:19 Jesus is left alone with the woman. 47:21 Now watch this. 47:23 And He asks a question. 47:25 "Woman," verse 10, "where are those accusers of yours? 47:32 Has no one condemned you?" 47:35 Now notice the irony here. 47:37 She's heard the rumors that this is the Christ, 47:40 this is the Messiah, this is Son of God. 47:43 At least that's what some are saying. 47:46 So she knows that she is having an encounter 47:50 with a religious personage of some kind. 47:54 She may even believe at this point that, sure enough, 47:57 He may be the Messiah. 47:58 We don't know at this point in the story whether she 48:01 believes that or not. 48:02 But she's heard the rumors. 48:04 And if God, here's the key, is rightly represented 48:09 in the religious leaders of the time, then what is she 48:13 expecting from Jesus? 48:15 More of the same. 48:17 More accusation, more condemnation. 48:20 But Jesus poses a question, "Where are your accusers? 48:26 Does anyone condemn you?" 48:28 And she says, "No man, Lord. 48:31 Nobody is accusing me." 48:32 No condemnation, it's gone. They've all left. 48:35 And now what's hanging in the air? 48:38 "What's coming next from You?" 48:40 And what does He deal out to her? 48:43 A glorious beautiful revelation of the love of God in the 48:48 form of mercy. 48:51 "Neither do I condemn you. 48:53 Go and sin no more." 48:55 We don't have time to get into this here, 48:57 but Jesus has given the formula there of what I like to 49:02 refer to as the moral dynamic of the gospel. 49:05 The moral dynamic of the gospel is that all 49:09 future victory over sin is predicated upon 49:12 the forgiveness and mercy and love of God. 49:15 Precisely to the degree that I understand God's forgiving mercy 49:20 will I be morally empowered to go and sin no more. 49:24 I am incapable of victory over sin except as I live in 49:30 the immediate conscious context of God's pardoning love. 49:35 That's where the power resides. 49:38 But then, verse 12. 49:39 This is where we wanted to get. 49:41 "Then Jesus spoke to them again..." 49:44 You can imagine that there are people standing around 49:47 watching this whole thing unfold. 49:49 They've seen the character of God purportedly represented 49:53 in the religious leaders. 49:55 And now they have seen by contrast, what? 49:58 Another picture. 50:00 Both are making a claim. 50:03 What are the religious leaders, unspokenly in a direct sense, 50:08 what are they making claim to? 50:10 "We represent God. 50:13 She needs to be condemned and stoned." 50:17 Jesus is making a similar claim by His actions. 50:20 "No, I represent God. 50:23 And I forgive you." 50:25 So two pictures are before the people here. 50:28 And Jesus then, after He forgives the woman 50:32 and morally empowers her by His forgiveness, 50:36 He says in verse 12, "Jesus spoke to them," 50:39 the people standing around, "saying, 'I am the...'" What? 50:43 "I am the light of the world. 50:45 He who follows Me shall not walk in..." What? 50:48 "... in darkness, but have the light of life." 50:52 What just happened there? 50:53 Contextually, Jesus, listen carefully now, 50:56 has just identified, specifically identified, 51:02 His forgiveness, mercy, His pardoning love 51:07 in His interaction with this woman, as the light 51:11 of the world. 51:12 The light the world needs to encounter. 51:17 Jesus forgives her, He restores her innocence 51:22 by pardoning her of her sin, He empowers her 51:27 with that pardoning love. 51:28 And then He turns to the people around Him and He says, 51:30 "You just saw the light. 51:32 You just saw the light of the world shining with 51:35 brilliance upon your minds. 51:36 And I hope you got it as it was flashing by. 51:40 Because you just saw God in this act of mercy." 51:45 Wow. 51:47 Jesus has just identified Himself as the true 51:51 representation of the character of God. 51:53 So verse 13 isn't surprising. 51:55 "The Pharisees therefore..." 51:57 It seems that some of them have now returned 52:00 to hear this declaration. 52:02 They're processing all of this. 52:04 "The Pharisees therefore said to Him, 52:07 'You bear witness of Yourself. 52:10 And Your witness is not true.'" 52:12 What did they just say? 52:15 "You're a liar. 52:16 You claim that how You just dealt with this woman 52:21 is the true light that reveals the character of God. 52:24 And we reject it. 52:26 No, that's not what God is like. 52:30 You're a liar. 52:31 Your witness, that is, Your testimony of 52:35 the character of God is a false representation 52:39 of the character of God." 52:40 Do you see what's happening here? 52:42 They are rejecting the true light of God's character 52:49 as it is shining upon their minds. 52:51 Well the chapter unfolds with an interaction, 52:55 a rather long interaction, all the way to the 52:57 close of the chapter. 52:58 The Pharisees precede to say, "We're the ones who rightly 53:03 represent God. 53:05 We're the true witnesses, not You." 53:07 And Jesus begins to say to them, He says, "Listen, 53:12 My witness is accurate. 53:14 I know the Father. He sent Me. 53:16 And the way I interacted with that woman 53:19 is the truth about God." 53:21 That's His testimony. 53:23 "No, no, no," they say. "We represent God." 53:25 And then Jesus says, look now, this is remarkable, 53:30 in verses 31 and 32, "Then Jesus said to those Jews 53:35 who believed Him..." 53:36 Those who were beginning to see the light. 53:39 "If you abide in My word..." 53:41 What's the context here? 53:42 You've got to get the contextual flow. 53:43 Are there two words that are being spoken? 53:46 Are there two theologies that are being presented? 53:49 Yes or no? Yeah. 53:51 There is a clash of doctrinal insight here, 53:55 doctrinal knowledge, doctrinal representation. 53:58 Jesus says, "If you abide in My word, 54:01 you are My disciples indeed." 54:04 Verse 32 is crucial. 54:06 "And you shall know..." What? 54:08 "...the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 54:12 It'll liberate you. 54:14 Contextually, what's the truth that Jesus was referring 54:17 to here in the singular? 54:19 Not truths, as in a list of theological points. 54:24 Singular. 54:25 "You shall know the truth." Singular. 54:29 What is "the truth," contextually? 54:31 It is the truth about the character of God 54:34 that has been accurately rendered in Jesus 54:38 as He interacts with people. 54:40 Specifically with this woman. 54:42 "You shall know the truth. 54:44 The truth of the radiant glory of the character of God 54:46 manifested in the forgiveness that I just showered 54:51 upon her heart with which I empowered her to overcome 54:55 this thing that was destroying her." 54:59 "You shall know the truth, and the truth will liberate you." 55:02 The truth of God's love is the liberating factor of the gospel. 55:07 That's what Jesus is saying here. 55:09 Well then, these Pharisees... 55:12 The Pharisees who are disputing. 55:13 Not the believing ones. 55:15 ...begin to argue with Him. 55:16 "Hey, hey. We have the truth. 55:18 Abraham is our father. We know our lineage." 55:21 And Jesus says, "Listen, if Abraham were your father..." 55:26 That is spiritually. 55:27 "Yeah, you've got the biological lineage going on. 55:29 That's fine. 55:30 But spiritually, if you really were children in the spiritual 55:35 lineage of Abraham, you would love Me. 55:39 You would know that I am telling the truth 55:42 about the Father." 55:44 And then Jesus says something remarkable to them. 55:47 He says, "You claim to worship God. 55:50 The fact is," He says, "your father is the devil. 55:57 But you've done something terribly deceptive 56:01 by putting the character of Satan in the place 56:06 of the character of God." 56:08 In other words, He tells them, "You have installed 56:13 a false theological paradigm and transposed God's name over it. 56:18 You are attributing things to God that are not true of Him." 56:22 But Jesus says, "I have the true testimony 56:26 of what God is really like." 56:28 And His ministry then continues to unfold 56:33 up to that closing prayer where Jesus says, "Father..." 56:37 Now you can see the context, right? 56:40 "Father, the world does not..." What, again? 56:43 "...know You, but I know You. 56:45 And I've come to this world for the single purpose 56:48 of making Your character known." 56:51 Everything hinges, my friends, on the picture we hold 56:56 in our hearts of the character of God. 56:58 The call that we have, as a people, is to do what Cami did. 57:04 To draw, as it were, to paint, as it were, 57:06 a picture of God so that the world can know 57:10 what He's really like. 57:12 That is the revolutionary light that will cause the world 57:18 in which we live in to be illuminated 57:22 with the glory of God. 57:24 Let's pray. 57:25 Father in heaven, You are truly incredible. |
Revised 2014-12-17