Participants: Ty Gibson
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000421
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01:02 The blood that Jesus shed for me
01:11 Way back on Calvary 01:21 The blood that gives me strength 01:26 From day to day 01:31 It will never, never, never lose its power. 01:38 For reaches to the highest mountain, mountain 01:49 And it flows to the lowest valley, valley 02:00 All the blood that gives me strength 02:04 From day to day 02:09 It will never, never, never lose its power. 02:17 It soothes my doubts and calms my fears 02:28 And it washes all way all way on my tears 02:38 The blood that gives me strength 02:42 From day to day 02:47 It will never, never, never lose its power. 02:54 For it reaches to the highest mountain 03:02 Calvary and it flows to the lowest valley 03:13 Down to me all the blood that gives me strength 03:20 From day to day 03:25 It will never, never, never lose 03:30 No, it will never, never, never lose 03:35 It will never, never, never lose its 03:43 Power, power, wonder working power 03:47 In the blood of the Lamb 03:51 There is power, power, wonder working power 03:55 In the precious blood of the Lamb 03:59 Would you be free from your burden of sin? 04:03 There's power in the blood, power in the blood 04:07 Would you o'er evil a victory win? 04:11 There's wonderful power in the blood 04:15 There is power, power, wonder working power 04:19 In the blood of the Lamb 04:23 There is power, power, wonder working power 04:27 In the precious blood of the Lamb 04:32 In the precious blood of the Lamb 04:46 Well, those songs were just so perfect, 04:48 so appropriate for the message that I want to bring to you, 04:52 because I want to talk to you about power. 04:56 Now, that's a subject 04:57 that we all ought to be interested in, 05:00 the subject of power. 05:01 But I want to look at the subject 05:03 from a biblical perspective, 05:05 have you considered the biblical idea 05:09 of power recently, or have you ever considered 05:14 what the Bible says about power. 05:18 Well, let's think about it for a moment. 05:20 If you just look at the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, 05:23 and then you take an aerial view, 05:27 a sweeping glance of everything 05:29 the Bible has to say about power, 05:32 which you're going to discover is that there are basically 05:35 three kinds of power in the Bible, three kinds. 05:40 And I want to look at each one of them with you, 05:42 and then focus in more intently on the third kind of power, 05:47 because that's where our greatest degree of interest 05:50 is going to be as we close up this time together. 05:54 Well, the first kind of power in the Bible 05:56 is what we might call miraculous power. 05:59 Now we all have heard of miracles, 06:02 and some of us may have even experienced miracles. 06:06 I wonder if I could just see the hands of anyone here 06:08 who believes that you've actually 06:10 witnessed with your own eyes, 06:12 or experienced in your own life 06:14 what you would call a miracle, anybody? 06:17 Oh, quiet a few people. 06:19 Miraculous power is brought to you 06:21 a number of times in the Bible. 06:24 For example when Moses led the children of Israel 06:27 out of Egyptian bondage, you'll remember 06:30 that they came to an impasse, 06:32 and that impasse was the Red Sea. 06:36 Now, the Bible tells how that Moses spoke words 06:40 from God and tapped the waters with his rod. 06:44 And what happened to the waters? 06:46 Well, they parted and the people 06:48 walked through on dry land. 06:51 Now, there's no human explanation 06:52 for that kind of event. 06:55 There is no way to explain that, 06:57 except for to point to a power 07:00 outside of and above human power, 07:04 and so we call it a miracle. 07:06 A miracle from a biblical perspective 07:09 is when God intervenes in human affairs to either suspend 07:14 or override the natural laws that are in force in our world 07:20 to cause something to happen 07:21 that otherwise would not happen. 07:24 And that's what we call a miracle, 07:26 waters parting and people walking through o dry land. 07:29 Well, that is a miracle. 07:32 God did it without any human involvement. 07:36 Another miracle we read about in the Old Testament 07:40 is when the leader of a certain nation 07:44 was diseased with leprosy, 07:48 and the prophet of God told him 07:50 to submerge his body in the River Jordan, 07:54 how many times, does anyone remember. 07:56 Seven times. And on the seventh time 07:59 he dunked and came up, he was cleansed of leprosy. 08:03 This was a demonstration 08:05 of what kind of power, do you suppose? Anybody. 08:11 Miraculous power, that's right. 08:13 This wasn't something 08:14 that was inherent in this ruler named Namen. 08:18 This was something that happened to him, 08:20 because God intervened in human affairs 08:24 to suspend the laws of nature to override the disease 08:29 that was eating away his body and to heal him. 08:33 There are many miracles 08:35 brought to view in the New Testament. 08:36 For example, when Jesus touched blind eyes, 08:39 and they could see for the first time, 08:41 that was a miracle when Jesus did that. 08:44 When Jesus cause the lame man 08:46 who hadn't walked for 38 years to take up his bed and walk. 08:50 This was a demonstration of miraculous power. 08:54 And there are many other examples 08:56 throughout scripture of miraculous power. 08:59 Now, there's something 09:00 we want to carefully notice about miraculous power. 09:04 And that is that throughout the Bible, 09:07 miraculous power is only employed 09:10 with regards to temporal matters, 09:14 that is with regards to those things that have to do 09:18 with our material and physical existence. 09:22 Healing of disease for example. 09:24 We've examples of miracles in the Bible, 09:27 that had to do with finances, with money. 09:31 God may perform a miracle in our financial affairs. 09:36 But never in the Bible 09:37 do you find God using miraculous power 09:42 to impact a person's life 09:45 on the very personal spiritual level for what we call, 09:49 and what the Bible calls salvation. 09:51 In another words, follow me carefully. 09:54 While God will use miraculous power to heal disease. 09:59 While God will use miraculous power to maybe impact 10:03 our financial situation if we're in trouble. 10:07 While God may use miraculous power 10:11 for these types of things, 10:13 God will not use miraculous power 10:17 for the salvation of our souls from the power of sin. 10:23 Now, some of you maybe skeptical 10:24 with that point as I say that. 10:27 And you maybe pointing to your own conversion, 10:30 your own born again experience as a miracle. 10:34 And in a sense it is a miracle 10:37 for any human being to be saved from sin. 10:41 But listen, in the classical biblical sense, 10:45 that's not what the Bible would classify as a miracle. 10:50 And I'll explain why? I'll demonstrate. 10:52 Let's just hypothetically imagine 10:54 that you've had a really bad day today. 10:58 And I don't know what a bad day looks like for you, 11:00 because we're all different. 11:02 We've different strengths and weaknesses, don't we? 11:05 And what maybe a temptation for you, 11:08 maybe no temptation for me. 11:10 For example, I'm not tempted ever 11:14 to indulge in any kind of use of illicit drugs for example, 11:20 that's not a temptation for me. 11:22 I'm not tempted for example to drink alcohol. 11:26 But there are other temptations 11:28 that I do experience just as serious 11:32 and I'm just as weak in my particular areas of weakness 11:37 as another person maybe in their area of weakness, 11:40 do you understand what I mean by that. 11:41 What maybe a struggle for you, 11:43 may not be a struggle for me. 11:44 And what may be a struggle for me, 11:47 may not be a struggle for you. 11:49 So I don't know what a bad day would like for you? 11:52 Maybe you had a really bad day, let's say. 11:55 And that involved loosing your patience completely 11:59 and flying off into a raging anger at somebody 12:04 who crossed your will. 12:06 Maybe they're involved loosing patience 12:08 and becoming very angry with one of your children, 12:11 or with your spouse. 12:13 Maybe a bad for you is when you found yourself 12:15 in a very sticky situation, and it seemed to you 12:19 that the only way out was to compromise the truth 12:22 and to sacrifice the integrity of your character, 12:25 and begin lying your way out of a situation. 12:29 Whatever the case maybe, 12:31 just imagine whatever your particular weaknesses 12:33 are that you've had a really bad day. 12:38 And now the day is at end 12:39 and you go home and you close your eyes, 12:42 and you're feeling really guilty and bad. 12:44 We've all felt those feelings of guilt at times doing things 12:48 that we felt like we should not have done. 12:51 And let's just say in those feelings of guilt 12:53 and in that failure that you experience 12:56 yielding to temptation. 12:59 You're fed up with having such days. 13:01 You're fed with yielding to temptation. 13:03 And so you offer up a prayer like this. 13:05 You say Lord, I'm so tired of my failures. 13:08 I'm so tired of my weaknesses. 13:10 Lord, please right now, right now 13:13 perform a miracle upon me before I go to sleep. 13:17 So that when I wake up in the morning Lord, 13:19 I want to wake up perfect, 13:23 absolutely completely perfect, morally perfect. 13:28 Perfect in my character. Perfect in my attitude. 13:31 Perfect in all my behavior. 13:33 Lord, snap Your fingers, 13:35 or turn some screws in my head. 13:37 Wave Your hand over me, 13:38 or speak a word, do something Lord, 13:40 but please perform a miracle while I'm sleeping, 13:43 so that I'll be perfect. 13:45 Now how many of you would pray a prayer like that, I wonder. 13:48 Okay, there are two people that would pray for perfection 13:52 by means of a miracle while they're sleeping. 13:55 Now how many of you would actually expect 13:58 to wake up perfect after praying 14:01 that prayer never again to struggle with temptation. 14:04 Can I see the same hands, no, I didn't think so. 14:08 Now why is it that you don't think that, 14:11 that kind of prayer would be answered? 14:13 Where you may not be able to write 14:15 on the spur of the moment to put into words, 14:17 but I'm gonna try for you. 14:20 I think it's because intuitively 14:22 we know that God will not bypass our freedom of choice, 14:29 our freedom of will to make us into something 14:34 that we do not choose in our freedom 14:36 to be in the heat of the moment of temptation. 14:40 In other words, God is going out of his way at all times 14:45 as we learned in the previous time together two days ago. 14:49 God is in the business 14:51 of honoring human freedom, isn't He? 14:55 And why did we learn that God is interested 14:58 in honoring and preserving our freedom. 15:01 Well, because God is aiming for something higher, 15:06 something better, something more beautiful 15:08 and substantial than merely 15:11 to get our outward behavior under control, isn't He? 15:16 He is aiming for something higher 15:17 and what did we learn in our previous time together, 15:20 those of you who may have been here. 15:21 What did we learn? 15:23 What is God really aiming for in your life and mine? 15:27 And it's not just control on a behavioral level, 15:31 because it's possible to have a person 15:34 under control behaviorally, 15:37 and yet not to have the loyalty, and trust, 15:40 and love of that person's heart. 15:42 So we learn that God is actually aiming, 15:46 not merely for control of our behavior, 15:49 but that God is aiming for a love relationship with us, 15:54 not a control relationship, but a love relationship. 15:59 And love can only be rendered in freedom, isn't that right? 16:04 Your wife will not love you, 16:06 because she had better 16:08 or you're going to inflict pain upon her. 16:13 Your husband will not love you, 16:15 because he has to, or else buddy, 16:19 you're going to get it. No. 16:22 Love cannot be manipulated. Love cannot be forced. 16:26 You can't coarse a person to love you. 16:29 You can control a person's behavior, can't you with force. 16:36 But then the relationship would be more like slavery, 16:39 wouldn't that. It wouldn't be friendship. 16:42 You certainly wouldn't call it marriage. 16:45 There is no relationship whatsoever of substance 16:49 when a person's behavior is controlled against their will, 16:53 which by the way brings us 16:55 to the second kind of power in the Bible. 16:58 Now, we said there are three kinds of power in scripture. 17:01 The first kind of power is what we've called miraculous power. 17:05 That's when God performs a miracle to do something 17:09 that human beings cannot participate in. 17:13 God does it by His power suspending the laws of nature, 17:17 overriding the laws of nature to cause something to happen 17:21 that would not otherwise occur, that's a miracle. 17:24 But there is a second kind of power, 17:26 and that is what we might call looking at the Bible, 17:29 that is what we might call 17:31 authoritative power or sovereign power. 17:34 Now, you've all heard that phrase, 17:36 haven't you, the sovereignty of God. 17:39 What does sovereignty mean? 17:41 Sovereignty is the word 17:44 that defines a particular kind of power. 17:47 It's the power of authority. 17:50 A nation enjoys sovereignty over its citizens 17:55 and does not enjoy sovereignty 17:58 over the citizen of other nations. 18:01 Sovereignty is the power of authority. 18:05 And we all know that God is definitely sovereign. 18:09 He has a great deal of authoritative 18:12 kind of power, doesn't He? 18:15 God wanted to for example, 18:17 He can just pull rank on us to use a military term. 18:20 And what does it mean to pull rank. 18:23 It means to call the attention of the people 18:27 that you're dealing with, 18:28 to the fact that in your rank, you're what? Above them. 18:35 And that they are under obligation 18:38 whether they want to or not to comply, 18:42 to yield to your authority, to your rank, 18:45 to your sovereignty over them. 18:48 Now, God is powerful, there is no doubt about it. 18:50 And if He wanted to, if it was in His heart 18:53 and in His character to do so, God can just pull rank. 18:57 He can simply come to you and me right now 19:00 in dazzling brightness and in the majesty 19:03 of some kind of physical appearance. 19:07 And He could simply command us into subjection 19:11 to His will by the sheer authority of His power as God. 19:16 He can say listen, I'm God, and you are not. 19:19 This is My universe, this is My world, 19:21 I'm bigger than you, I'm more powerful than you are. 19:24 I could cause you harm if I wanted to. 19:27 You're My creation 19:30 and you're subject to My authority basic arrangement, 19:35 you do what I say or else. 19:39 That would be pulling rank on God's part, 19:41 to communicate with us in such a way as to demand 19:46 or to command our compliance 19:48 with His will purely on the basis 19:52 of His authority over us and His ability to do us harm. 19:57 This is the power of authority. 20:01 Now as I pointed out, God will not use miraculous power 20:07 for the salvation of our souls. 20:11 Likewise God, will not employ authoritative power 20:15 for the salvation of our souls, 20:18 because again God is not looking for mere 20:21 outward behavioral compliance. 20:25 Any more than the man in marrying a woman 20:28 or a woman in marrying a man 20:31 is looking for mere behavioral conformity 20:35 to the person's will in the relationship. 20:40 When we get married, we're not expecting a relationship 20:44 in which one person is the master 20:46 and the other person is the slave, are we. 20:49 Now often times that's what marriages look like. 20:52 But I don't think anybody goes into marriage 20:55 expecting there to be dominance 21:00 of one person over the other person, 21:02 that's not what people are looking for in marriage. 21:04 What are people looking for in a good marriage relationship? 21:10 Well, of course they're looking for mutual love, right, 21:13 mutual respect, an equality of heart, 21:18 and mind, and soul, that leads them 21:21 to have respect for one another 21:23 and to enjoy one another's company in freedom. 21:28 Now according to the Bible, 21:31 God is so great and so wonderful a person, 21:36 that even though He could force us 21:39 into subjection to His will, 21:42 because He happens to be more powerful than we are. 21:45 Even though He could force us, He chooses not to. 21:51 God chooses not to make us His slaves, 21:56 because He is aiming for something higher. 21:58 Well, what exactly is He aiming for? 22:01 From the Gospel of John, Chapter 15 and verse 15. 22:07 I want you to listen to these words that Jesus spoke, 22:11 the Son of God as He came to this world as our Savior. 22:14 He said to you and me 22:16 and to the disciples of that time, 22:18 He said, "No longer do I want you 22:21 to regard yourselves as My servants, 22:26 because the servant does not know what His master is doing, 22:31 but rather I want you 22:33 to perceive yourselves as My friends, 22:38 because everything that My Father has told me, 22:42 I've made known to you." 22:43 Now let's just distill that text into a simple statement. 22:48 Jesus simply says here, 22:50 "I don't want you to be my servants, 22:53 I want you rather to be my friends." 22:56 Now think about that for a moment. 22:58 What is the difference between slavery and friendship? 23:03 Well, there are number of differences, aren't there. 23:06 But if you were to just think 23:07 of the characteristics of the slavery, 23:09 what would some of those characteristics be? 23:12 Just feel free to shout out, 23:13 the first thing that comes to your mind, anybody. 23:16 What are some of the characteristics 23:18 of slavery, anybody? Bondage. 23:21 Bondage, that's the good one, what else? 23:24 What do you think of when you think of slavery? 23:26 What kind of relationship is it, what? Control. 23:29 Control, that's involved in slavery, 23:31 yes excellent, what else? Punishment. 23:34 Punishment, you do what I say, or else, right. What else? 23:41 What's the motivation for the slave? 23:45 Why does the slave do what the master tells him? Fear. 23:48 Fear, the key characteristic of a slave master relationship 23:53 is that of fear, of course. 23:56 The slave does what he is told to do, 23:59 because he'd better do it, or else. 24:03 And it's that fear that motivates the slave. 24:07 Now there are lot of people who do religion like that. 24:11 There are lot of branches of Christianity down 24:13 through history that has sort to govern people by fear. 24:19 In the Dark Ages, the people were told 24:22 that if they didn't give 24:23 a certain amount of money to the church, 24:26 then they would suffer a certain amount of years 24:29 in the burning flames of purgatory 24:31 with no way of escape, 24:33 unless their relatives on earth were to give more money. 24:37 Now if you were told 24:39 that you're going to burn for millions 24:41 and billions of years in the flames 24:45 of the place called purgatory. 24:47 Let me ask you a question? 24:50 Would you be careful 24:51 about maybe giving some money to the church 24:54 if you believe that idea? 24:55 If you believed that if you didn't give that money, 24:58 you would burn and be tortured, 25:00 how many of you would give some money. 25:03 Yeah, but let me ask you, what would be your motive. 25:06 Yeah, you would have such an ugly picture of God, 25:10 because God would basically be saying to you, 25:13 listen you do what I say or I'll torture you. 25:17 Now of course, that's going to arouse 25:19 some fear in the person's heart. 25:22 And so outwardly, that person will begin 25:25 complying, right outwardly. 25:28 But let me ask you another question? 25:29 Let me ask you this? 25:32 While the person is complying or cooperating 25:36 on a behavioral level governed by fear, 25:40 what's going on in that person's heart? 25:45 Well, there is fear of course. 25:47 But how does the person 25:48 who is governed by fear and the threat of harm. 25:52 How does that person feel toward 25:54 the one who is doing the threatening? 25:57 Yeah, vengeful, resentful, 26:00 even hateful, would you say, yeah. 26:03 When somebody is threatening to do you harm, 26:07 unless you comply with their will, 26:09 you're nothing more than a slave governed by fear. 26:14 Now Jesus said, I don't want you to be my slaves, 26:19 that is a very incredible thing for God to say to you and me. 26:25 It is so powerful for a person 26:27 who is greater than all of us to choose not to exercise 26:34 that kind of power and to give us the freedom 26:37 to serve Him from an entirely different motive. 26:40 Now let's explore what that motive might be. 26:43 Jesus said, "I don't want you to be my servants, 26:46 I want you rather to be my friends." 26:50 So call out the first thing that comes to your mind now, 26:53 loud and clear, so I can hear you, 26:54 because up on this stage 26:55 there is some distance between you and me. 26:57 So call out loud and clear. 26:59 What are some of the characteristics 27:01 of friendship that come to your mind? 27:04 What is friendship like? 27:06 Anyone. 27:09 Danny, if you have any friends. 27:11 You have some friends, don't you? 27:12 What are some of the characteristics 27:14 of friendship, what's it like? Trust. 27:17 Trust, excellent. What else? Concern. 27:20 Concern When you're someone's friend, 27:23 you're genuinely concern with their well-being, exactly. 27:27 Someone else, what do you think 27:29 of when you think of friendship? Encouragement. 27:31 Encouragement, and what did you say? Closeness. 27:34 Closeness, intimacy, excellent. 27:37 We're describing something entirely different now, 27:40 aren't we than slavery. 27:42 And whereas in slavery, the motivation for behavior, 27:47 the motivation for action is fear. 27:50 Let me ask you, in a friendship 27:52 what is the motivation for action? Love. 27:55 Love, that's right. 27:57 And so the contrast here that Jesus is drawing our attention 28:01 to is the contrast between fear and love. 28:05 It's the contrast between slavery versus friendship. 28:11 The friend does for his or her friend 28:16 whatever needs to be done, not out of fear of punishment, 28:21 but just out of love. 28:23 This is what Jesus meant 28:25 when He spoke of His own relationship 28:27 with His heavenly Father, and He said these words, 28:29 He said, "I do always those things that please God." 28:34 Isn't that interesting? 28:36 What is that sound like when someone says, 28:38 I want to do what pleases you, what does that sound like? 28:42 Is there some fear there? No. 28:46 It's there some bondage there? No. 28:50 Why is it, the person want to do 28:51 something to please another person? 28:55 Only out of love, right. 28:57 And that's what friendship is really like. 29:00 So Jesus, the Son of God, came all the way 29:02 from heaven to earth and tells you and me, 29:04 I don't want you to be My slaves, 29:07 I'd rather want you to be My friends. 29:10 Which brings us to the third kind of power in the Bible. 29:13 Now, let's just make sure we know where we're at. 29:16 What's the first kind of power we've talked about? 29:20 Somebody, miraculous power. 29:23 What's the second kind of power that we've talked about? 29:26 Authoritative power, sovereignty, okay. 29:31 But there's a third kind of power in the Bible. 29:33 And aren't you curious now what that third kind of power is? 29:37 Well, if you have a Bible, look at First Corinthians, 29:40 Chapter 1 and verse 18. 29:41 And if you don't have a Bible, that's fine. 29:43 It's a short verse, I'll just read it to you, 29:45 and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. 29:48 There's a whole different kind of power 29:51 from the Bible's perspective. 29:54 It's in First Corinthians, Chapter 1 and verse 18, 29:58 and I want you to particularly notice the word 'power' here. 30:02 It says, "The message of the cross is to those 30:06 who are perishing foolishness, 30:09 but to those who are being saved the message 30:13 of the cross is the power of God." 30:17 Isn't that something? 30:18 So what is the power of God in this text? 30:23 The message of the cross. 30:25 Well, what is the message of the cross? 30:27 When you look to the Cross of Calvary 30:29 and you see the Son of God, 30:32 Jesus Christ dying on the cross for you and for me. 30:36 What is the message that we get from that cross? 30:40 What does it say to you and me? 30:44 I want you to notice one more text with me. 30:46 It's in Romans, Chapter 5 and verse 8. 30:51 Words could not be clearer than this. 30:55 It says, "That at the cross 30:57 God demonstrates His love for us 31:02 in that while we were still sinner Christ died for us." 31:06 Isn't that incredible. 31:08 So according to this text, 31:10 what does Paul say is demonstrated 31:11 with the Cross of Christ. 31:13 God's love, that's right. 31:15 Well, what is God's love? 31:17 Another text that comes to mind 31:19 is probably the most popular Bible verse, 31:24 most quoted Bible verse in all of history, 31:27 John 3:16. "For God so loved the world 31:31 that He gave His only begotten Son, 31:34 that who ever believes in Him will not perish, 31:37 but have everlasting life. 31:39 So again that text defines what happens at the cross 31:44 as a demonstration of God's love. 31:47 And what is love according to that text? 31:50 For God so loved that He, what's that word? Gave. 31:54 So to love means to give, doesn't it. 31:58 It means to give off yourself for the others 32:03 that you love so much. Love means to give. 32:06 In First Corinthians 13 and verses 7 and 8, 32:10 the Apostle Paul, defines love this way. 32:13 He says, "Love does not seek its own." 32:17 See, that's a great biblical definition of love. 32:20 What is love? Love is selflessness. 32:24 Love is other centeredness. 32:26 Love is when you do something for others, 32:32 for their well-being, 32:33 their happiness above your own concerns. 32:38 And God manifested the ultimate demonstration of love, 32:44 by not giving wealth, or substance, 32:47 or money, or material things. 32:50 God didn't give stuff for you and me. 32:54 God didn't give things for you and me. 32:58 God gave His life in the person of Jesus Christ. 33:03 That was the ultimate sacrifice. 33:06 Not the sacrifice of things, but the sacrifice of self. 33:10 And so Hebrews Chapter 9 and verses 26 and 27 says 33:15 "That Jesus saves us by the sacrifice of Himself." 33:20 Those are the words. 33:23 What happened at the cross then? 33:26 At the Cross of Calvary, 33:27 we witness the most amazing spectacle in all of history. 33:32 We witness the person who occupies the highest place 33:36 in all the universe, stepping down from that highest place, 33:42 not to force us by His authority, 33:46 but to win us by His love. 33:49 To preserve our freedom, 33:51 to preserve the dignity of our free choice. 33:55 And to give us the opportunity 33:58 in that freedom to say yes or no to Him. 34:02 To say, yes or no to His love. 34:05 To say, yes or no to His salvation. 34:09 And so in the person of Jesus Christ, 34:12 we experience and we witness 34:14 a great release of power on God's part. 34:19 As Paul says, "The message of the cross is the power of God." 34:25 Well, in what sense is the cross the power of God? 34:28 Think about it with me for a moment. 34:30 We talked about miraculous power. 34:33 We talked about authoritative power. 34:36 What so powerful about love? 34:39 Well, I'll tell you what's so powerful about love. 34:42 The power of love is that it influences 34:47 the object of its passion and its concern. 34:52 It influences that person 34:54 to reciprocate and return that love. 34:58 I'll give a text on that. 35:00 First John Chapter 4 and verse 19 says, 35:02 "We love Him, because" And what's the because? 35:08 "Because he first loved us." 35:10 So who did the loving first? God loved us first. 35:16 He took the initiative. 35:17 He stepped forward and sacrificed His own life 35:22 in order to prove to you and me 35:25 that He loves you and me above Himself. 35:29 And when God in Christ gave His life to demonstrate His love. 35:35 When we see that love demonstrated at the cross, 35:39 it exerts its influence on our heart. 35:42 It doesn't make slaves out of us. 35:44 It makes friends out of us. 35:46 Some of you are involved in relationships in this life 35:50 and you know that the only way 35:53 for those relationships to be all that you want them 35:56 to be is for you to give due space to the freedom 36:01 of the other person involved 36:04 and you will notice over and over again 36:06 that if you want someone else to love you, 36:11 the best way to do it is not try to manipulate their love. 36:15 You certainly can't force their love. 36:18 You can't trick them into loving you. 36:21 You can't bet them, or arm wrestle them into loving you. 36:26 You can't make a deal 36:28 to extract love from people, can you? 36:32 If you want someone else to love you, 36:34 you can't force it, you can't manipulate it. 36:37 The only way that you can ever arouse love 36:41 in someone else's heart for you is to do what? 36:45 To love them, that's right. 36:47 To just love them with selfless abandon 36:50 with no concern for yourself. 36:53 And as you love others guess what happens? 36:57 Jesus said, in Luke Chapter 6 and verse 38, 37:00 "Give" and do you know the rest of the verse. 37:04 Yeah, you knew it. 37:06 "Give and it shall be given unto you." 37:09 That is the principle of the universe. 37:12 That is the foundational rule of life. 37:15 Give and it shall be given unto you. 37:19 And the opposite holds true as well. 37:21 Take and it shall be taken from you. 37:26 But God is working on the principle of love. 37:30 And the principle of love says, 37:32 I'm going to give myself to you, 37:34 I'm going to give myself for you in totality 37:39 in order to awaken and arouse your love for me. 37:44 So the Bible says, we love God only for one reason. 37:47 Why do we ever love God? We don't love God, 37:49 because we've enough will power to love Him. 37:53 We don't love God, because of a sense of obligation 37:56 that we'd better love Him, or we're going to suffer pain. 38:01 We only love God according to First John 4:19, 38:04 we only ever loved God for one reason. 38:07 We love Him, because He what? First loved us. 38:14 So the text implies that what is needed is for you and me 38:19 to see God's love, to believe in God's love, 38:24 demonstrated in Christ at Calvary. 38:26 And once we see and receive God's love, 38:29 it awakens God's love in our hearts 38:32 and that love becomes a powerful influence 38:35 working deep within us, 38:38 to bring us into friendship and loyalty with God. 38:43 And He could have never brought us there by a miracle. 38:48 Because if God would have performed a miracle, 38:50 while you and I are sleeping and must wake up 38:54 different people than we were before, 38:58 well, He would not have by that miracle 39:00 really gained our hearts. 39:02 We would be mere robots, 39:04 preprogrammed to act and behave in a certain way, 39:07 whether we want to or not. There's no love in that. 39:11 If God were to pull rank and exercise authority, 39:15 there would be no love in that, no friendship. 39:19 So what has God done? 39:21 He send Jesus from heaven to earth 39:23 unlike any other religious ideology in the world. 39:28 True biblical Christianity stands out in the sense 39:32 that all the religions of the world 39:35 basically say in way or another, 39:38 you need to take the initiative mister. 39:40 You need to take the initiative ma' am. 39:43 Get your act together, do what's right. 39:46 Live a good clean moral life. 39:48 Do what's right and then if you repent of your sins. 39:51 If you do what's right. 39:52 If you live good and clean, 39:54 then God will love and accept you, 39:56 and you will be saved. 39:58 Christianity stands out distinct and says, 40:01 while you are yet in your sins, unclean, 40:06 morally filthy, powerless to do anything about your sins. 40:11 That while we're still in our sins, 40:14 God already loves us. 40:17 And He stepped out of Himself and in the person 40:20 of Jesus Christ, He gave His life. 40:22 Not once we got our act together. 40:25 Not after we lived a good clean moral life. 40:29 Not after we did any good thing at all. 40:33 But while we were yet in our sins, 40:36 God demonstrated His love toward us, 40:39 by sending Jesus to die on the cross and giving His life. 40:42 And that my friends, is the most incredible thing 40:46 that you will ever believe 40:48 if by faith you can bring your heart to believe it. 40:51 It is the most astounding thing that you could ever imagine 40:56 God to do, to not require anything in advance. 41:03 But to give everything of Himself to the point 41:06 of giving His life in order to demonstrate 41:08 that He loves you and me. 41:09 Now that's powerful. And when you believe it, 41:12 you begin to sense that power 41:15 up surging deep from within you, 41:18 from an unknown spring, from a secret source 41:21 that you never knew it was there, 41:22 you begin to sense God's power moving in your life, 41:25 because now you're not motivated by fear. 41:29 You're not doing religious duties 41:31 in order to make sure you get to heaven, 41:35 but you're serving God out of a heart of love, 41:39 not because you have to, but because you want to. 41:42 And I'll tell you the whole quality of your life elevates 41:46 when you're serving God, not because you have to, 41:49 but because you want to, because you love Him, 41:53 because He first loved you. 41:54 It makes all the difference in the world in that perspective. 41:58 And so I leave you with a statement by the theologian 42:03 of many hundreds of years ago. 42:05 A theologian who is popular in some circles 42:08 and very unpopular in other circles, 42:11 his name was Augustine. 42:14 And Augustine promoted some theological ideas 42:17 that were good, and he promoted 42:19 some theological ideas that were bad. 42:20 And I want you to make a guess, just out of your opinion, 42:24 I'm going to tell you 42:26 one of the theological ideas of Augustine, 42:29 and I want you to tell me 42:30 whether you think its true or false, okay. 42:32 Just one sentence, Augustine said, 42:35 love God and do as you please. 42:40 What do you think? How many of you like that idea, 42:42 and think that's good theology. 42:43 Love God and do as you please. 42:46 How many of you agree? There are three, okay. 42:50 Out of this many people only three. 42:52 Okay, how many of you hate that idea. 42:54 You think that's bad theology, 42:55 love God and do as you please, no way. 42:58 How many of you are not committing 43:00 right now, you're neutral. 43:01 Okay, there are some neutrals. 43:05 Augustine said, love God and do as you please. 43:08 Now think about it for a moment. 43:09 There's one way or two ways you can look at that statement, 43:12 one of two ways you can process it. 43:14 You can emphasize the first part of the statement, 43:16 or you can emphasize the second part of the statement. 43:19 You can say, love God, and do as you please. 43:24 And the implication there is what? 43:26 That if you truly love God, 43:29 doing as you please will be doing as He pleases, right. 43:34 Or you can say, love God, whatever that means, 43:37 and do as you please and you can sin with gusto, 43:40 because God loves you. 43:43 Well, this is the way Augustine meant it. 43:45 Augustine meant it this way, 43:47 and I'll quote you another author 43:49 that some of you might be have, 43:50 a little bit more confidence in than Augustine. 43:53 From a book called Desire of Ages, 43:55 page 668, we read these words. 43:58 "All true obedience comes from the heart. 44:02 It was heart work with Christ. 44:05 And if we consent, He will so blend our hearts 44:09 and minds into conformity to His will, 44:12 that when obeying Him, 44:14 we shall be but carrying out our own impulses." 44:20 Well, that's pretty much what Augustine said, 44:23 love God and if you truly do partake of God's love. 44:28 If you see God's love for you at the Cross of Calvary, 44:31 and you drink that love in deeply 44:34 and allow to permeate 44:35 every aspect of your mind and your emotions. 44:38 If you take in God's love for you, 44:43 then a deep and radical change will occur. 44:47 And when that deep radical change occurs, 44:50 your new impulse, your new desire for be to please God. 44:54 To only ever do those things, 44:56 that would bring Him happiness and pleasure. 44:59 And so you can love God, and if you truly love God, 45:03 you're safe in doing as you please. 45:07 But it is never safe, as some of you caught on to, 45:12 to love God with a weak sentimental kind of love, 45:16 and then do as you please, 45:18 because then you will take advantage of that love 45:22 that you obviously do not have, 45:26 a biblical idea of and in doing as you please, 45:30 you will sin with gusto, with a shallow ideas of God's love. 45:33 But think about it friends. 45:35 If you truly know God's love for what it is, 45:39 it's a powerful influence, 45:41 and it will change the way you think, 45:44 the way you feel, and the way you live, 45:48 and you will be able to say with Jesus, 45:50 I do always those things that please God. 45:56 I want to invite you to consider 45:59 entering into that kind of relationship with God. 46:02 I want to invite you to right now 46:04 make a conscious decision to eject out of your mind, 46:10 out of your heart, out of your theological paradigm, 46:14 that you would eject out of your life every notion, 46:18 every picture, every concept of God 46:22 that would cause you to serve Him as a slave in fear. 46:26 And that you would embrace the picture of God 46:28 that we see in Jesus, that would invite you 46:32 in the freedom of your will to serve God as a friend. 46:37 That's my invitation to you as we just pause and pray. 46:41 I'm gonna give you just a few seconds of silence 46:45 to in your own heart in the privacy of your own soul 46:47 to reach out to God and say yes to Him, yes to His love. 46:51 Let's bow our heads. 47:00 Gracious Father in heaven, 47:04 we spent these few moments together 47:05 contemplating the glorious beauty of Your love. 47:10 Oh, God, please help us to see it 47:12 more and more clearly as the days go by. 47:14 Help us to see how deeply, how passionately, 47:18 how truly you do love us. 47:21 And help us to see that Your love 47:24 led You all the way to Calvary, 47:27 where Your very life was laid down in death, 47:31 so that we could have eternal life. 47:34 And father, may we in the sight of that beautiful sacrifice 47:41 in the full light of your love, 47:42 may we find our hearts reaching out 47:44 to you Lord in this very moment, 47:47 may we each one say yes to you 47:49 with all the energy and vigor of our hearts. 47:54 This is our prayer Lord, this is our desire, 47:56 in Jesus name, amen. 48:00 Again I want to invite you 48:01 that if you would like to deepen 48:03 your knowledge of Bible truth. 48:05 And most importantly deepen your relationship with God 48:09 as a person, and learn how to fall in love with God. 48:14 I want to point you to the Bible studies 48:15 that are available on the tables as you exit. 48:18 These Bible studies are absolutely free, 48:21 and they will be happy to make them available to you. 48:24 Just stop at one of these tables on your way out 48:26 and you will begin an incredible journey, 48:29 step by step free of charge, 48:31 just studying the Bible at your own pace. 48:33 So I want to encourage you to do that. 48:34 God bless and have a great day. |
Revised 2014-12-17