Participants:
Series Code: HC
Program Code: HC210012S
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00:01 Three Angels Broadcasting Network
00:02 is pleased to bring you something better, 00:05 a faith inspiring picture of a loving God 00:08 from the Book of Hebrews. 00:10 Welcome to 3ABN's Virtual Homecoming Camp Meeting. 00:18 Hello, friends, and welcome to 00:20 the 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2021. 00:25 My name is Ryan Day, 00:26 and we are so blessed that you're continuing to be with us 00:29 and follow us through this exciting 00:31 camp meeting weekend. 00:32 And during this hour 00:34 we're going to hear from our sister Shelley Quinn. 00:37 She's going to be bringing a special message to us 00:39 entitled "Love Without Measure." 00:42 I'm excited to hear it 00:44 because I know Shelley always brings a beautiful message 00:46 of grace and love to remind us 00:48 of who our Savior is and our need for Him. 00:51 But before we get to Miss Shelley Quinn, 00:53 I'm going to... 00:54 I've been selected to do the special music 00:56 and after I sing this song, 00:59 Shelley is going to come out and deliver the message 01:01 and she's going to pray with us as well. 01:03 But the song I'm going to sing at this time beautiful song, 01:06 beautiful gospel song, 01:07 and it is entitled "The Solid Rock." 01:10 I hope it blesses you. 01:35 On Christ, the solid 01:37 Rock, I stand 01:41 All other ground is sinking sand 01:48 All other ground is sinking sand 02:01 My hope is built on nothing less 02:05 Than Jesus' blood and righteousness 02:12 I dare not trust the sweetest frame 02:17 But wholly lean on Jesus' name 02:22 On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand 02:27 All other ground is sinking sand 02:32 All other ground is sinking sand 02:44 When darkness veils His lovely face 02:49 I rest on His unchanging grace 02:55 In every high and stormy gale 03:00 My anchor holds within the veil 03:05 On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand 03:10 All other ground is sinking sand 03:16 All other ground is sinking sand 03:26 His oath, His word, His blood 03:28 Support me in the flood 03:31 When all around gives way 03:34 He then is all my hope and stay 03:42 When He shall come with trumpet sound 03:48 Oh, may I then in Him be found 03:54 Dressed in His righteousness alone 04:00 Faultless to stand before the throne 04:10 All other ground is sinking sand 04:15 All other ground is sinking sand 04:21 On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand 04:26 On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand 04:30 All other ground is sinking sand 04:36 On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand 04:56 Amen. Whoo! 04:57 Mercy. Thank you, Ryan. 05:00 Oh, we've had church already, haven't we? 05:03 I don't know about you, but this has been 05:07 such a blessed camp meeting to me, 05:11 I have loved James' messages. 05:14 He's such a wonderful addition to the 3ABN team, 05:18 but every one of our group, 05:21 God has hand-selected messages 05:25 and put them in people's hearts. 05:26 And they dovetail together. 05:28 I just have two words for you. 05:31 And those words are infinity focus. 05:37 Infinity focus. 05:39 If you are an amateur astronomer, 05:43 or an amateur camera photographer, 05:46 then you're familiar with this term infinity focus, 05:50 cameras, telescopes, and microscopes all have 05:54 what is called an objective lens, 05:57 and it gathers the light from the object being observed. 06:01 And it focuses those light rays to produce a real image. 06:06 But, you know, 06:07 as you look through the viewfinder, 06:10 if you're an amateur, often you have a difficult time 06:13 getting the correct infinity focus. 06:17 And this principle applies to 06:19 our spiritual viewfinder as well. 06:23 What today's message is all about 06:26 is to help us increase the focus, 06:31 our infinity focus on the love of God, 06:35 Love Without Measure. 06:36 Let me ask you three questions. 06:39 What is the most important thing about you? 06:43 What is the most important thing about you? 06:46 And what is love? 06:49 How do you measure it? 06:51 The third question is this. 06:54 Do you realize that you are the object of God's love? 07:00 You are the object of God's love. 07:02 You may scorn the Bible, you may reject God's counsel, 07:07 you may even resist His authority in your life, 07:10 but whether you know it or not, 07:12 you are the object of God's love. 07:17 But this love, however, cannot save you 07:19 if you continue to resist the power of His love. 07:25 So let's pray. 07:27 Heavenly Father, and we pause again today 07:29 to come before You in the name of Jesus. 07:33 Oh, Lord, our prayer right now is that 07:36 You will send Your Holy Spirit to give us 07:40 and give us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit 07:43 has to say to us through Your Word. 07:46 Oh, Father, increase our infinity focus. 07:51 Help us to see You for who You are. 07:55 Lord, I pray You will get me out of the way, 07:59 just lead me by the power of Your Holy Spirit 08:02 that the words I speak may line up 08:05 with the Scriptures we are presenting. 08:08 Father, help us to know Your love. 08:12 In Jesus' name, we pray, 08:14 thanking You for the answer to the prayer of faith. 08:17 Amen. 08:19 What is the most important thing about you? 08:24 The thing that matters most in your life, 08:28 is how you see and understand the nature 08:33 and the character of God. 08:35 Why you ask? 08:37 Because an accurate picture of God 08:41 can prevent a wasted life. 08:44 You can achieve financial freedom. 08:48 You can have great fame in the world, 08:51 but you can live a wasted life. 08:56 I grew up in a New Testament Church. 08:59 And we had an out of perspective focus. 09:03 I was taught that 09:05 the Old Testament didn't matter to Christians, 09:08 I didn't see that both Testaments 09:11 were the unfolding progressive revelation of God 09:17 of His everlasting covenant. 09:20 I didn't see that the New Testament 09:24 is contained in the Old and the Old Testament 09:29 is explained in the New. 09:32 I was taught that God, the God of the Old Testament 09:37 was stern and demanding, 09:39 and I couldn't see that both the Old Testament 09:43 and the New Testament present our Creator God 09:46 as a God of love. 09:49 I was also taught that I would spend 09:52 if I was not perfect that 09:54 I was going to spend aeons of ages 09:58 in unceasing torment in hellfire. 10:02 I didn't know that the scriptures taught 10:07 that man was mortal 10:09 and we didn't put on immortality, 10:10 this saved until Jesus returned, 10:13 and that people who were sinners 10:16 and rejected Him would perish in hellfire 10:22 as the second death. 10:24 So what happened? 10:25 I thought, "Well, Lord, You're impossible to please. 10:28 There's no way I can avoid hell. 10:31 And I turned my back on the Lord." 10:33 But the best thing my mother ever taught me was this. 10:37 She said, "Shelley, 10:38 don't believe something just because you hear 10:40 it from a pulpit, you focus on the Word, 10:43 you get into the Word of God, 10:45 and make sure that 10:47 what you're hearing is correct." 10:49 In my blurred vision, my beliefs were wrong, 10:54 they did not line up with God's self-revelation 10:58 in His Word. 11:00 Instead, they reflected 11:03 a demonic disinformation campaign 11:06 that the devil has been spreading 11:09 since he was in heaven. 11:11 But still, you know what, 11:13 it's difficult to rid ourselves of preconceived opinions. 11:18 Preconceived opinions 11:19 will insulate our mind against truth. 11:23 And for me, the turning point was one day 11:25 as I read Hebrews 1:3, 11:27 and I saw in Hebrews 1:3 that it says, 11:30 Jesus is exact expression of the Father, 11:36 the person of Jesus Christ, who walked this earth, 11:38 as loving as He was as loving as He is. 11:43 Jesus is the exact expression of the Father. 11:47 So we see that the Father is love. 11:51 And I read the Bible 11:52 with a new focus through the lens of love, 11:55 and I learned life changing truths. 11:57 I want to read you a quote from CH Spurgeon. 12:00 He was a Baptist preacher in the 1800s. 12:03 Here's what he wrote, 12:05 "When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin, 12:10 but when I found God so kind, 12:12 so good, so overflowing with compassion, 12:16 I smote upon my breast 12:18 to think that I could ever have 12:20 rebelled against One who loved me so, 12:23 and sought my good. 12:24 It is God's kindness that leads us to repentance." 12:30 Oh, how I can relate to that scripture. 12:34 So what is love? 12:37 The Bible defines love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 12:42 and it says, 12:43 "Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, 12:47 it does not parade itself, it is not puffed up, 12:50 it does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, 12:53 it is not provoked, it thinks no evil, 12:56 does not rejoice in iniquity, 12:59 but always rejoices in the truth, 13:01 it bears all things, believes all things, 13:04 hopes all things, endures all things." 13:07 And in 1 Corinthians 13:8 concludes this by saying, 13:12 "Love never fails." 13:14 You may be saying, "Oh, really?" 13:16 See, human love can waver and waned, 13:21 but this is talking about divine love, 13:25 agape love, 13:26 and we're going to take focus in 13:29 on that in just a moment. 13:30 As I was contemplating this message, 13:33 you know what I realized? 13:34 We humans measure everything 13:38 because measurements give us answers to our question, 13:42 but to measure anything, the size, 13:46 or the amount, or the degree of anything, 13:50 we must compare it 13:53 to something that exists 13:56 a standard unit of something. 14:00 We have standards 14:01 by which we measure intelligence, 14:03 wealth, civil justice, social justice, 14:07 the list is endless. 14:11 But, biophysicist measure microscopic molecules, 14:16 and then astronomers measure the vast galaxies 14:20 in our universe, but how do we measure love? 14:25 How do we measure love? 14:27 Love is measured by heartfelt commitment, 14:32 and self-sacrifice. 14:34 In 1 John 4:16, the Bible says, "God is love." 14:39 Can we measure God's love? 14:41 If to measure anything, 14:43 we have to have a standard unit 14:46 by which we can compare it to. 14:50 I submit to you God's love is immeasurable 14:54 because there is nothing to which it can be compared. 15:00 It is hard 15:01 for the finite human mind to direct to, 15:06 get the correct infinity 15:09 focus on an infinite God. 15:13 God's love cannot be measured, 15:15 but it can be known through the truth 15:17 that we find in Scripture 15:18 and through our personal experience. 15:20 In John 15:13, Jesus said this. 15:24 "Greater love has no one than this, 15:27 than to lay down his life for his friends." 15:32 Now most often we associate this scripture with the cross, 15:36 with Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross, 15:40 when the supreme expression of God's love 15:43 when He paid the penalty for our sins. 15:45 And, you know, Jesus could, at that moment of crucifixion, 15:49 He could have called a legion of angels 15:52 to come and rescue Him. 15:54 It wasn't nails that helped Jesus to the cross, 15:57 it was love. 15:59 Love is self-sacrificing. 16:01 Often we will hear of a parent dying 16:04 in the place of a child, 16:06 or we will hear of a soldier who falls 16:09 on a grenade to save his unit. 16:13 God did much more than falling on a grenade for us. 16:19 I want to read to you, 16:20 I have many favorite scriptures. 16:22 But one of my two most favorite scripture 16:25 passages is found in Philippians 2:5-8, 16:31 I'm going to read it to you from the Amplified. 16:34 Philippians 2:5-8 pictures 16:39 a love that is without measure. 16:43 Verse 5 says this. 16:44 "Let the same attitude and purpose 16:46 and humble mind be 16:47 in you which was in Christ Jesus. 16:49 Let Him be your example in humility. 16:52 Who, although being 16:55 essentially one with God 16:58 and in the form of God possessing 17:02 the fullness of the attributes which make God 17:07 God, did not think this equality with God 17:10 was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, 17:14 but stripped Himself of all the privileges 17:18 and rightful dignity, 17:20 so as to assume the guise of a servant, 17:24 a slave, 17:26 in that He became like men and was born a human being. 17:30 And after He appeared in human form," 17:32 verse 8 says, 17:34 "He abased and humbled Himself still further 17:36 and carried out His obedience to the extreme of death, 17:42 even the death of the cross!" 17:45 So what is Philippians 2:5-8 say to us? 17:49 The second person of the Godhead, 17:51 our Creator God existed throughout eternity 17:56 in the essential unchanging nature 18:00 and character of God. 18:03 And our Creator God didn't cling 18:05 to His divine privileges, but He emptied Himself, 18:09 He stepped out of heaven, He came to earth. 18:13 And God became a human, 18:17 in the person of Jesus Christ, 18:20 becoming like us in every way. 18:23 Bible scholars refer 18:25 to this not as His humility, 18:30 but his humiliation, 18:32 and then He humbled Himself further, 18:35 and He took our sins upon Him, 18:39 and He died as a criminal on a cross. 18:44 What amazes me is this plan was in place to rescue us, 18:48 before the foundations of the world, 18:50 before we were even formed 18:53 in anticipation of God 18:57 being incarnated as a human being. 19:01 The Bible says this about Him. 19:04 And this is my most favorite scripture, 19:08 Revelation 13:8 that He was, 19:13 is the Lamb who was slain 19:16 from the foundation of the world. 19:19 God had a plan to save us. 19:24 Let me give you a quick recap of why this was necessary. 19:28 The first Adam created in the Garden of Eden, 19:31 was the first human representative of all mankind. 19:36 Adam sinned, he fell, 19:39 and his fallen nature was passed on to us. 19:41 But from the moment that Adam and Eve sinned, 19:45 God began to shape history toward reconciling Adam and Eve 19:51 and all of their children to Himself. 19:54 He took him on Himself, 19:58 our flesh to become humankind's 20:03 new representative 20:06 to become in the person of Jesus Christ, 20:11 the New Covenant Son of God 20:15 through whom all the blessings 20:17 of the covenant would be passed on. 20:19 God's government 20:21 is based on His Ten Commandment law of love. 20:26 And you know what that law of love does? 20:28 It puts boundaries around behaviors 20:32 to show our love for God, and our love for humankind. 20:36 But unfortunately, 20:37 man has broken God's 20:41 Ten Commandment law of love since the fall. 20:44 And you know what the Bible identifies 20:46 that as sin. 20:48 God set the penalty for sin. 20:51 It was death. 20:53 But God paid the penalty for sin. 20:57 In the person of Jesus Christ 21:00 He became our human substitute sacrifice. 21:05 He had to become a human to stand 21:07 in as a substitute for the human, 21:09 and He paid the full penalty of our sins. 21:14 I'm sure if you're a Christian, you will agree with that. 21:18 But let me give you a little thought. 21:20 If the penalty for our sin 21:24 is unceasing torment, 21:27 then Christ didn't pay the full penalty, 21:31 something to think on. 21:33 But on the cross something amazing happened. 21:38 God imputed or credited, 21:42 all of our sins were taken from our account, 21:45 and they were put on our Savior's bleeding back, 21:51 He carried the burden of our sins, 21:54 but He did that 21:55 so that there could be this exchange. 21:58 And He took Christ's righteousness. 22:01 And He imputed or credited to our account. 22:05 In 2 Corinthians 5:21 it says, 22:08 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 22:13 that we might become the righteousness 22:16 of God in Him." 22:19 But He offers more than forgiveness of sin. 22:23 He offers us reconciliation. 22:27 He offers us righteousness by faith. 22:31 For those who accept the Lord 22:34 as Jesus Christ as their Savior. 22:37 He restores our relationship with Himself. 22:41 He restores us. 22:42 In 2 Corinthians 5:19, Paul says, 22:45 "God was in Christ restoring the world to Himself, 22:51 not imputing their trespasses to them." 22:55 You know what's amazing? 22:56 He ascended in this human flesh. 23:01 Yes, it was glorified human flesh. 23:03 But He ascended to heaven. 23:06 He took our flesh nature back to heaven, 23:11 He was forever changed. 23:15 When we understand that our Creator became one of us. 23:20 And He will retain our human nature 23:23 throughout eternity, 23:24 so that He can be completely man 23:27 and completely God. 23:29 You talk about a life changing infinity 23:32 focus on His love. 23:34 Now He serves as our High Priest 23:38 who sympathizes with our weaknesses. 23:41 Oh, it's so much more than falling on a grenade, 23:45 not only did He die for us, but He lives for us. 23:49 Hebrews 7:25 says, 23:51 "He is able to save to the uttermost those 23:54 who come to God through Him, 23:56 since He always lives to make intercession for them." 24:02 Can you clearly see this picture 24:07 of His love? 24:08 There's no human standard 24:10 by which we can or which we can use 24:13 to compare this. 24:15 God's love is immeasurable. 24:17 It is love without measure. 24:19 And Paul explains that the only way 24:21 that we can know this love 24:23 is by the power of the Holy Spirit. 24:25 Listen to what he says to you. 24:28 In Ephesians 3:16-19, 24:30 "You must be strengthened with might 24:33 through the Spirit in the inner man, 24:36 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." 24:41 That's the only way Christ can dwell in our hearts 24:43 is through faith. 24:46 "That you, being rooted and grounded in love, 24:50 may be able to comprehend with all the saints 24:54 what is the width and the length and the depth 24:57 and the height to know the love of Christ 25:01 which passes knowledge." 25:04 Paul's resorting to language of cosmic dimensions 25:09 to explain this immeasurable love. 25:12 The width includes all peoples, 25:15 every nation, tongue, tribe, and people. 25:19 The length extends to all ages of earth's history, 25:24 the depth of His love reaches down 25:27 to the lowest need of humanity, 25:30 and the height of His love goes beyond the highest heavens. 25:36 You know, it amazes me. 25:38 Astronomers have measured 25:41 hundreds of billions of galaxies, 25:45 but no one can measure God's love. 25:48 It is measureless, but yet, 25:51 His love can be known by experience. 25:53 Romans 5:5 says, 25:55 "God pours His love 25:57 into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." 26:01 So what does this scripture mean? 26:03 God is love. 26:05 I'm going to tell you, 26:06 the English word love is overused. 26:08 We say, "Oh, I love the color blue. 26:09 I love pizza. 26:11 I love my friends. 26:12 I love my family." 26:14 But a quick study of the word love 26:16 in the original languages 26:18 of the Bible provides a sharper focus. 26:22 The New Testament employ, 26:24 the writers employed several Greek words 26:28 to describe the kinds of love that God expresses. 26:32 And we're just going to focus on one. 26:33 All three of these words 26:35 are just merely "love" in English. 26:38 But we're going to focus on the Greek word 26:40 that is used most often of God to describe His nature. 26:44 And that word is agape, agape. 26:49 In 1 John 4:16 it says, "God is love." 26:54 In the Greek it's saying, "God is agape." 26:58 It is used to define the essential nature of God. 27:04 God is not just loving. 27:07 God is love, His nature, 27:11 the essence of His being is love. 27:14 Now Christians have 27:16 a familiar definition for agape, 27:19 we could say it's unconditional love. 27:23 But we need to focus our objective lens 27:26 just a little bit more 27:28 so that we can produce a real image of God. 27:32 Agape recognizes the worth of every individual, 27:36 it seeks opportunity to do good for all, 27:41 it esteems people highly and it's a commitment 27:47 that's not an impulsive feeling, 27:50 but a commitment to the welfare of all. 27:53 In James 1:17, the Bible says, 27:57 "God is the giver of every good and perfect gift." 28:00 His gift of common grace is made known to all mankind. 28:05 The rain falls on the just and the unjust. 28:08 And His gift of saving grace is given to all 28:14 who will accept Him as Savior. 28:17 So this agape, 28:19 unconditional love is a matter of principle and duty. 28:24 It's unselfish love that is ready to serve 28:28 that's who our God is. 28:30 How is love manifested? 28:33 How is love made known? 28:35 Love is made known by the actions that it prompts. 28:40 God's nature of self-sacrificing love 28:45 was made clearly known to us 28:49 when God came down from heaven and became a man to die for us. 28:55 In John 3:16, the Bible says, 28:57 "For God so loved the world 28:59 that He gave His only begotten Son, 29:03 the person of Jesus Christ, the covenant Son, 29:08 that whoever believes in Him 29:11 should not perish but have everlasting life." 29:15 God is a Savior by nature. 29:19 God is not hostile. 29:21 He is not indifferent. 29:23 In Romans 5:8, it says, 29:25 "That God demonstrates His love for us 29:28 in that while we were still sinners, 29:32 Christ died for us." 29:34 See, agape love is not partial. 29:38 God's nature is just, 29:41 He cannot be partial. 29:45 He cannot show partiality. 29:47 Romans 2:11 says, 29:50 "There is no partiality with God." 29:53 He loves all of humanity, not because we're deserving, 29:57 but because His nature is love. 29:59 Are you getting a clearer infinity 30:02 focus on the love of God, 30:05 His inherent essential essence, 30:09 His nature, His unconditional, unselfish, 30:14 other centered love, 30:16 and I have to add this. 30:22 His nature of love establishes 30:27 His character of perfect holiness. 30:32 Love cannot sin. 30:36 Divine love and divine holiness are inseparable. 30:40 God is holy, He is morally pure, 30:43 He is just, He is righteous. 30:46 God is completely separated 30:50 from sin. 30:52 God cannot sin. 30:55 He cannot lie and use the weapons of Satan's warfare. 31:00 God's attributes, 31:02 and His character must be viewed 31:06 as compatible with His nature of love, 31:10 including His holy anger 31:15 and His wrath against sin. 31:18 Sin is an offense against love. 31:22 And it invokes God's 31:25 holy sense of justice. 31:28 His justice is rooted and grounded in love. 31:34 And His justice was satisfied at the cross. 31:38 Psalm 85:10 says, 31:39 "Mercy and grace had met together, 31:41 righteousness and peace have kissed." 31:44 God revealed His truth at the cross. 31:47 When mercy, 31:49 pardon and truth met God's righteous justice 31:54 and His peace, 31:55 embrace with a kiss of a loving friend. 32:00 Don't let His love blur your vision 32:04 of His holiness. 32:06 His plan of salvation is by grace through faith. 32:10 But His love, His grace toward us 32:14 is not sentimental hogwash 32:18 that doesn't expect behavioral changes. 32:21 God doesn't put lipstick on a pig and say, 32:25 "Oh, you're beautiful." 32:27 Matthew 7:21, Jesus said these words. 32:32 And He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 32:34 'Lord, Lord, 'shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 32:37 but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.'" 32:42 He who walks in obedience, motivated by love. 32:47 Jesus wants those who died for... 32:50 That He died for to be in heaven. 32:53 And I want you to listen to this message 32:55 that He spoke to a lukewarm half-hearted church 33:00 of Laodicea. 33:02 In Revelation 3:19. 33:04 Jesus says, "As many as I love, 33:07 I rebuke and chasten, 33:09 therefore be zealous and repent." 33:12 He's talking to complacent, 33:14 self-satisfied church folk, 33:18 but His love and His concern is still with them. 33:22 He seeks 33:23 to bring their conviction of sin 33:28 by His rebuke, 33:30 and He seeks to bring them 33:33 to repentance through His chastening. 33:35 Both His rebuke and His chastening 33:38 are an expression 33:40 of fatherly love, not anger. 33:44 And we see that in the very next verse. 33:47 Here, He's talking to these people. 33:49 And then He says suddenly to them, 33:52 "Behold," this is Revelation 3:20, 33:55 "I stand at the door and knock. 33:57 If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, 34:00 I will come in and dine with him, 34:01 and he with Me." 34:04 Whether you're out of the church, 34:07 or in the church, God seeks access to your heart. 34:11 1 Timothy 2:4 says, 34:13 "God's heart wants all humanity to be saved 34:19 and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 34:21 He seeks to save the lost 34:25 and He rejoices every time someone repents, 34:29 changes their mind about sin, and is converting, 34:32 turning away from sin and toward Him for salvation. 34:36 God wants all to be saved. 34:39 You are the object of His agape love. 34:43 Now, is the God of the Old Testament 34:45 different than the God of the New Testament? 34:48 Let me tell you something. 34:49 God's nature of love is unchanging. 34:55 God says, "I'm unchanging." 35:00 In Malachi 3:6 in the Old Testament, 35:03 He says, "I am the Lord, I change not." 35:07 And then the New Testament in Hebrews 13:8 says, 35:10 "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever." 35:13 So His loving concern, 35:16 the generosity and care of God is consistent. 35:21 It's same in both the Old and New Testaments. 35:24 So we've looked at agape from the New Testament, 35:28 let's look at one of the Hebrew words 35:32 that expresses God's love in the Old Testament. 35:36 And this is, there's several, 35:38 but we're going to look at this Hebrew word, 35:41 we're going to focus on hesed. 35:44 H-E-S-E-D. 35:46 Sometimes you see it's spelled with a C, 35:49 generally they just H-E-S-E-D, 35:52 it is used 250 times in the Old Testament. 35:55 It is a rich word, it has layers of meaning, 35:59 and it's a window into the heart 36:02 and the nature of God. 36:04 Hesed is the Old Testament 36:08 equivalent of agape love plus grace 36:12 in the New Testament. 36:13 Hesed is the equivalent of 1 John 4:16. 36:19 Hesed in the Old Testament is saying, 36:22 God is love just as 1 John 4:16 says, 36:27 "God is agape. 36:28 God is love." 36:30 Hesed is such a unique Hebrew word. 36:33 It cannot be translated into a single English word. 36:38 In fact, 36:40 this has troubled translators for generations, 36:43 who've been trying to come up with a way to translate hesed. 36:48 Some translated as steadfast love, 36:52 goodness, loving kindness, mercy, grace, 36:55 and it particularly indicates God's covenant loyalty, 37:01 and faithfulness. 37:02 The most famous use of the word hesed 37:06 is when God used it up Himself not once, but twice. 37:11 In Exodus 34, Moses had asked the Lord, 37:15 He said, "Oh, Lord, show me Your glory. 37:18 Show me Your glory." 37:19 And God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock, and God pass by. 37:25 And as God passed by, 37:27 He spoke, proclaiming His character, 37:32 His character is His glory. 37:34 This is what the Lord said, 37:36 "The Lord, the Lord God, 37:38 merciful and gracious, longsuffering, 37:42 and abounding in goodness." 37:44 That's hesed, steadfast love, grace, mercy, loving kindness, 37:50 abounding in hesed and truth, and verse 7, 37:54 he says, "Keeping mercy," 37:57 that's hesed, "mercy for thousands, 38:01 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, 38:03 by no means clearing the guilty." 38:07 Those who don't come to Him 38:09 in repentance aren't going to be saved. 38:14 But God says, "I am hesed. 38:18 This is My nature. 38:20 I have steadfast love, grace, 38:22 and goodness, and loving kindness, and mercy. 38:26 That's who I am." 38:28 Now God's love is not a matter of covenant obligation only. 38:32 It's freely given to all. 38:33 Listen to Deuteronomy 10:17-19. 38:39 This is what the Bible says, 38:40 Deuteronomy 10:17-19. 38:43 "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, 38:47 the great God, mighty and awesome, 38:49 who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 38:53 He administers justice for the fatherless 38:57 and the widow, and loves the stranger." 39:02 God loves the stranger, 39:04 giving him food and clothing. 39:08 And then Moses says, 39:10 "Therefore, you love the stranger." 39:14 Did you know that God loves the unlovely? 39:18 Have you ever wondered 39:19 why it took Noah 120 years to build the ark? 39:24 Because he was witnessing, 39:26 he was preaching to the hardcore sinners 39:31 of his society. 39:33 In Septuagint I love, I love the Book of Deuteronomy. 39:36 This is a covenant document, the Book of the Law. 39:40 What Moses was doing was renewing the Old Covenant 39:44 with the Hebrew children as they stood 39:46 at the land of the edge 39:49 of the Promised Land getting ready to go in. 39:51 And so he's repeating the civil and ceremonial laws. 39:55 It's kind of a repeat 39:57 and enlarge based on the moral law. 40:00 He expounds on God's blessings for obedience, 40:03 and God's curses for disobedience. 40:07 Does that sound stern that there's curses 40:10 for disobedience? 40:12 Let me share something. 40:14 In Deuteronomy 4:27. 40:17 This is what Moses is doing. 40:18 Oh, God is good. 40:20 He's going to bless you. 40:21 Oh, if you do this, though you're in trouble. 40:24 But there's a sudden shift when we reach verse 28. 40:28 Deuteronomy 4:28, 40:30 it shows God knew these people 40:34 were going to apostatize, 40:37 turn away from Him, 40:39 after they crossed over into the Promised Land. 40:42 God knew that. 40:43 What did God say? 40:44 Listen, Deuteronomy 4:28. 40:49 "There," in the Promised Land, 40:51 "you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, 40:54 wood and stone, which neither see, 40:56 hear, eat nor smell. 40:58 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, 41:03 and you will find Him 41:04 if you will seek Him with all of your heart 41:08 and with all of your soul." 41:10 Verse 30, "When you are in distress, 41:14 and all these things come upon you in the latter days." 41:18 All these warnings that God told them 41:22 would happen if they disobeyed. 41:25 Listen, it says, 41:26 "When you turn to the Lord your God 41:29 and obey His voice, 41:31 for the Lord your God is a merciful God, 41:34 He will not forsake you nor destroy you, 41:37 nor forget the covenant of your fathers 41:40 which He swore to them." 41:42 Can you believe that? 41:44 I mean, to me this is, I just love this. 41:47 You're reading along, and God's telling Israel, 41:50 you're going to violate My covenant, 41:52 and you're going to suffer the consequences 41:55 of your own actions because you won't listen to me. 42:01 But still, He says, 42:02 I will not betray My faithfulness. 42:05 I will cut you off from My love. 42:08 I won't cut you off from My promises, 42:11 if you will return to Me. 42:16 What love, God loves the unlovely. 42:20 He sent a reluctant prophet Jonah 42:25 to the city of Nineveh. 42:27 And I'll tell you what? 42:28 Nineveh was Sin City. 42:29 Whoo! 42:31 The inhabitants of Nineveh were a cruel people. 42:36 They were the enemies of God's people. 42:40 But God sends a prophet to warn them, 42:45 repent or be destroyed, and what happened? 42:50 Nineveh repented, and God relented. 42:55 God loves the unlovely. 42:58 My mother used to read Jeremiah, 43:00 and she didn't read 43:01 the Old Testament through the lens 43:03 of understanding God's love. 43:05 So she thought God was extremely harsh. 43:10 But now I read Jeremiah, and you know what I see. 43:13 God sent Jeremiah, 43:15 Jeremiah prophesied for over 40 years of God's 43:20 impending judgment on the wicked kingdom of Judah, 43:23 if they would not repent. 43:25 Oh, they were flagrant idol worshipers. 43:28 They practiced grotesque pagan rituals 43:34 and practices even sacrificing their children to the fire. 43:38 God graciously offered these people opportunity 43:43 after opportunity to repent, but they weren't like Nineveh. 43:48 They would not repent. 43:50 They scorned His prophet, 43:53 and God's wrath against sin was finally executed. 43:57 He removed His hand of protection. 44:01 And the Babylonians conquered Judah, 44:05 and took God's people captive. 44:09 Now here's the amazing thing. 44:12 Jeremiah is an eye witness 44:16 to this divine judgment. 44:19 Yet, as Jeremiah is looking out, 44:24 over the rubble of the destruction, 44:26 he writes the Book of Lamentations, 44:29 and he is still confident 44:34 in God's faithfulness, 44:37 God's mercy, God's hesed. 44:41 Listen to Lamentations 44:43 3:22-23. 44:47 Lamentations 3, 44:50 Jeremiah writes, after the destruction, 44:55 he writes, "Through the Lord's mercies," 44:59 the word is hesed, 45:00 "Through God's hesed we are not consumed, 45:04 because His compassions fail not. 45:06 They are new every morning," 45:08 and he breaks out in praise and says, 45:10 "oh, great is your faithfulness." 45:13 You talk about an infinity focus. 45:16 Then he continues in Lamentations 3, 45:20 just a few verses down 31. 45:22 Listen, Lamentations 3:31, 45:26 "For the Lord will not cast off forever." 45:30 I guess he'd read Deuteronomy 4, huh? 45:33 "Though He causes grief, 45:34 yet He will show compassion according to the multitude 45:38 of His mercies." 45:40 His hesed. 45:43 "For He does not afflict willingly, 45:47 nor grieve the children of men." 45:50 God's consuming commitment to His creatures 45:54 is one of compassion because God is love. 45:59 God is hesed, God is agape. 46:04 You know, King David sinned against the Lord. 46:06 He repented, he was restored. 46:09 He experienced God's compassion. 46:11 He had an accurate infinity focus. 46:14 Listen to what David writes in Psalm 139:1-6. 46:19 Psalm 1:39, "O Lord, 46:23 You have searched me and know me. 46:26 You know my sitting down and my rising up, 46:28 You understand my thought from afar off. 46:31 You comprehend my path and my lying down, 46:34 and are acquainted with all my ways. 46:37 For there is not a word on my tongue, 46:39 but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 46:42 You have hedged me behind and before, 46:46 and you've laid Your hand upon me. 46:48 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. 46:53 It is high, I cannot attain it." 46:56 See, God's omniscience, 46:59 His ability to know all. 47:03 That's beyond human comprehension. 47:07 God watches over the entire universe 47:10 without sleeping or slumbering, 47:12 and yet He is intimately, 47:15 personally involved with every creature. 47:19 God knows you. 47:21 He knows your thoughts. 47:23 He knows your behavior. 47:25 Now that's either comforting or concerning. 47:29 God knows your junk. 47:32 He knows your wounds. 47:34 He knows your insecurities. 47:38 He knows your heart. 47:40 God observes and understands. 47:43 And God's loving correction is part of His plan. 47:48 What happens to you matters to God. 47:53 In 1 Peter 5:7, 47:55 we are invited to cast all of our cares upon God, 48:00 all of our concerns, all of our anxieties, 48:04 "Cast them on Him, because He cares for you." 48:09 Well, that's New Testament. 48:10 What does the Old Testament say? 48:12 Zephaniah 3:17. 48:15 Zephaniah 3:17, 48:17 "The Lord your God in your midst, 48:20 the mighty one will save, 48:23 He will rejoice over you with gladness, 48:27 He will quiet you with His love." 48:33 What a tender picture. 48:35 "He will rejoice over you with singing." 48:39 Is that how you seek God? 48:42 Let me tell you something. 48:43 God longs to be known 48:48 by His created beings. 48:50 God longs to be known by you. 48:54 Why? 48:56 So that He can strike a responsive 49:00 chord of love 49:02 in your heart. 49:04 1 John 4:19 says, 49:06 "We love Him because He first loved us." 49:11 He reveals Himself to us through the creation. 49:14 He reveals His love to us through the Word 49:17 and by personal experience. 49:19 He reveals His love to us by the works that He has done 49:25 in the lives of other people 49:27 throughout the entire history of the world 49:31 and His commitment, 49:33 His unfailing commitment 49:35 to His promises. 49:39 When we think about this, 49:42 the entire Bible is the unfolding revelation 49:45 of God's love. 49:47 When the focal point, 49:51 when our infinity lens is focused 49:55 on His nature of love, 49:58 we will read through the lens of love, 50:02 and the Old Testament read 50:05 through the lens of love is correctly understood 50:10 as the witness to God's everlasting gospel, 50:15 His eternal covenant, salvation by Messiah, 50:20 Jesus Christ, His work and righteousness by faith. 50:24 He established the everlasting covenant, 50:29 everlasting eternal covenant. 50:32 Hebrews 13:20 says, 50:34 "Christ's blood is the blood of the eternal covenant." 50:39 But He established that 50:41 way back in Genesis with Abraham. 50:45 And Abraham seed in Genesis 15:6 says, 50:49 "Abraham believed God, 50:51 and God credited to him as righteousness." 50:56 The covenant continued to grow and unfold. 51:00 And we see it is given with the Hebrew children, 51:04 when they are in bondage in Egypt in Exodus 2:24, 51:08 it says, "God heard their groaning, 51:11 and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, 51:15 and Isaac, and Jacob." 51:18 So even the Old Covenant 51:22 was part of the unfolding of the everlasting covenant, 51:28 but now here's something 51:30 that many Christians do not realize. 51:33 Would it surprise you to know that the New Testament 51:39 picks up on the Revelation 51:43 be progressive unfolding 51:46 of God's everlasting covenant? 51:50 The New Testament picks up 51:53 with the Abrahamic covenant. 51:57 In the New Testament, Zacharias, 51:59 who is the father to be of John the Baptist, 52:04 his wife Elizabeth was pregnant. 52:06 Well, when her cousin Mary comes to visit her 52:09 and Zacharias finds out 52:12 that Mary is going to give birth to the Messiah, 52:17 he begins to prophesy. 52:19 And this is right in the gospels, 52:21 right at the beginning of the New Testament. 52:24 Listen to what he says, 52:25 in Luke 1:72-73. 52:30 He says, "God is performing 52:33 the mercy promised to our fathers 52:36 and remembering His holy covenant, 52:40 the oath to which He swore 52:44 to our father Abraham." 52:48 So the New Testament is just a continuing unfolding 52:53 of the everlasting covenant of grace. 52:57 Even Paul says in Galatians 3:29, 53:00 "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, 53:06 and heirs according to the promise." 53:12 What is the promise? 53:14 The promise is salvation by grace through faith. 53:18 Salvation that 53:21 is because our sins were put on God, 53:25 and God credits His righteousness to us. 53:30 Indeed, 53:32 the Old Testament contains the New, 53:37 and the New Testament explains the Old. 53:42 I'll tell you, 53:43 the more I study on God's love, 53:48 the more I realize, 53:50 I'll never understand it throughout eternity, 53:54 I'm going to be looking at my Savior Jesus Christ, 53:57 and thinking, I can't believe You took on humanity. 54:02 You took on my human flesh, You became like me, 54:07 so that You could stand in as my substitute 54:10 for my sins. 54:11 I don't think we'll ever grasp 54:15 what Christ had to give up to become a man. 54:21 God's nature of love is more magnificent 54:24 than we can fathom. 54:26 And it's really the brilliance of His love is almost blinding. 54:31 We've only glimpsed it here. 54:33 When I started this study, 54:35 I had over 40 pages of scripture 54:38 and had reduced it down to 10. 54:42 So I cut it in half, and I cut it in half again. 54:47 There's so much about God's love, 54:50 but the bottom line is this you. 54:55 You. 54:58 You, Brian. 55:01 You, Jay. 55:05 You, Karen. 55:07 You, Nancy, 55:10 You, listening to my voice at home, 55:13 you are the object of God's love. 55:17 He knows you by name. 55:19 He wants to be the object of your love. 55:23 He wants you to be born again of His Spirit 55:25 and to become His child. 55:27 In 1 John 3:1, 55:29 John, just the apostle breaks out and says, 55:33 "Behold what manner of love 55:36 the Father has bestowed on us, 55:38 that we should be called the children of God!" 55:41 God is the perfect Father. 55:44 He's someone you can trust 55:46 and when you can't trace His hand, 55:49 trust His heart. 55:51 He promises He will never abandon us. 55:55 Are you alienated from God 55:56 then I ask you to praise 55:58 King David prayed in the Old Testament, 56:00 Psalm 143:8-10, He says, 56:04 "Cause me to hear your loving kindness." 56:07 O, Lord, I want to know Your hesed. 56:10 "Cause me in the morning to hear Your lovingkindness, 56:12 for in You do I trust, 56:14 cause me to know the way by which I should walk, 56:17 for I lift up my soul to You. 56:20 O teach me to do Your will, for You are my God, 56:23 Your Spirit is good. 56:25 And lead me 56:26 in the land of uprightness." 56:31 You know, it's clear to measure anything 56:37 we have to have a standard unit 56:40 to which we can compare it. 56:42 Nothing can compare to God's love. 56:45 It is love without measure, 56:48 but love without measure 56:51 is offered to you right now. 56:55 Won't you quit resisting God's love? 56:57 Won't you receive His love? 57:00 Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. 57:04 Confess your sins, He will abundantly pardon. 57:08 If you turn to Him, 57:10 He will break you free from the chains that bind you. 57:15 He'll bring you out of darkness into His marvelous light 57:18 and change your infinity focus. |
Revised 2022-01-06