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Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP180825A
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00:09 [ "To God Be the Glory" begins ] 00:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:16 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:28 [ Song ends ] >> Amen. Hallelujah. 03:30 You know, when Adam and Eve woke up from that sleep that God had 03:34 put them in, He woke them up, and what's amazing is they 03:38 walked into -- they were breathed into a story, and the 03:41 story was this, that there was a God in the universe who saw this 03:45 dark, chaotic, messy place, and He says "I'm not afraid of that. 03:49 I'm gonna draw near to that darkness, I'm gonna draw near to that chaos, and I'm gonna create 03:55 something beautiful." And here's the thing. Most of us are here this morning 03:59 because we have a story already of God doing that very thing. He saw the darkness in our life, 04:05 He stepped in, and He created something beautiful. And then there are others of us 04:10 here this morning who are looking for God to come near to our darkness, to our chaos, and 04:16 you want Him to create something beautiful. So while you are waiting for Him 04:20 to do that, we're gonna reach into our family songbook this morning, and we're gonna give 04:26 God praise because He has done it, he is doing it, and he will continue to do that. 04:32 So let's sing together. 04:33 [ "Family of God" begins ] 04:37 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:57 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:17 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:37 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:57 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:17 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:31 >> So let's give Him praise for the good that He's done through 06:35 Jesus this morning. [ "Lord I Lift Your Name on 06:38 High" begins ] ♪♪ 06:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:50 ♪♪ [ "There Is None Like You" 07:55 begins ] 08:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:40 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:40 ♪♪ 09:42 [ "One Day" begins ] What God wants to do is come into our life and do something 09:48 we've never seen or experienced before. One of my favorite longings, one 09:58 of my greatest hopes, is that He's coming again and that, one day, I'll get to see Jesus face 10:07 to face. Let's hang on to that hope. 10:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:23 In Isaiah 40:31, it says, "For those who wait on the Lord, for those who hope in the Lord, He 13:31 shall renew their strength." And that seems profound to us because the thing that He's 13:38 asking us to do for our strength to be renewed is to wait for Him to act, right? 13:45 We got to let some of these things go. We got to wait on God and let 13:51 Him show up. That's where we get our strength. 13:57 It's in our waiting on Him that we get our strength. We get our strength to fly, we 14:03 get our strength to run, we get our strength to walk when we wait on Him. 14:09 Some of you are looking at some darkness. Some of you are facing some 14:15 chaos. And right now, in your story, what you need is just to wait on 14:21 the Lord. He will give you the strength that you need to keep going. 14:25 So, this morning, we want to give you the opportunity to ask Him for that. 14:30 Come forward. We're gonna keep singing. Come forward, right here near 14:34 the foot of the Cross, and ask Him -- ask Him to give you what it takes to wait on Him, and 14:41 with it, comes the strength. So come forward. 14:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:26 ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ 16:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 16:26 ♪♪ 16:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Song ends ] 17:02 >> Good morning, boys and girls. Nice to see you on this -- Is this the last Sabbath of August? 17:08 Whoo! [ Chuckles ] It's all gone, and the new year is here almost, and 17:14 it's so nice to have you here. So, what'd you do this summer? Oh, I wish we could go around 17:18 the circle and say, "Did anybody do any traveling this summer?" How many did traveling this 17:21 summer? 17:22 Let me see the hands of those who traveled somewhere this 17:25 summer besides staying at home. Okay, one, two -- Oh, a bunch of 17:28 you traveled. We went to a place -- Have you 17:30 ever heard of this city before? 17:33 The city's name is Hong Kong. Anybody heard of Hong Kong? Ha! 17:39 One of the great cities in the world, and our friends Bob and Audrey Folkenberg said, "Come on 17:44 over here and spend a week," and so we did, did a little bit of preaching, but I want to tell 17:49 you about Hong Kong. It is a city of steel and glass. Let's see a picture of Hong Kong 17:53 when we're up in a higher building, looking down at the others. 17:56 Can we see that picture on the front screen, too? There we go. 18:00 Whoa! Look at that! Do you know what? Listen to this. 18:03 There are more skyscrapers in Hong Kong than any other city on Earth -- three times the number 18:07 of skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York. Ohh! Lookit. 18:10 Everybody lives in a skyscraper in Hong Kong. Let's see the next picture. 18:15 Ohh! There's a very thin series of condominiums. 18:20 Wow. Nearby, there's a hospital. Let's see the -- Oh, there's the 18:24 Adventist Hospital in Hong Kong. Whoa! 18:28 Steel and glass. I told you. Hey, let's see a night picture of Hon-- Oh, there is Hong Kong. 18:36 We're on the Kowloon side, looking back at the big city. Wow! 18:41 Hey, you know what our friends said? "Hey, Dwight, Karen, come on. 18:46 We're gonna show you a big light show." A big light show. Now, lookit. 18:50 I have it right here in my pocket. [ Exhaling sharply ] 18:53 Where is it? It is here. Have you ever seen... 18:57 a laser? >> Yes! >> Have you seen a laser? 18:59 All right. Watch this. Watch this right here on the floor. 19:01 I can't point it at you. Oh, oh, oh. Can you catch the little green 19:04 thing? Can you catch it, can you catch it? 19:06 [ Vocalizing ] How about over here? Okay. 19:10 So, this is a laser. I can't shine this in your eyes, because it would ruin your eyes, 19:14 but this is a laser. But in Hong Kong, you know what they do? 19:17 They put big lasers on top of those skyscrapers, and at the night, when we're all gathered 19:24 and everybody's crowding -- the tourists and the regulars, everybody's there -- symphonic 19:29 music begins to play behind us, and across the harbor, the lasers start. 19:33 Let's see a picture of a little bit of laser activity. Ohh! 19:36 You see those streaks shining right up into the low clouds? Those are lasers. 19:42 Can you believe that? In a dark, dark night, a laser just stands out with its 19:47 beautiful light. How about another one? Oh, there's another one piercing 19:51 into the heavens, big -- Oh, I'm sure glad they didn't point it at us on this side, no. 19:56 And everybody's cheering, and everybody's going "Ooh," and the music is playing. 20:00 Let's see another one. Whoa! >> Oh! 20:03 >> [ Laughing ] Wow. That's a time-lapse picture that I didn't take, but that's too 20:09 pretty to miss. Isn't that something? Look at all those lasers. 20:13 [ Exhales sharply ] Into a dark world. You know what Jesus says? 20:18 Jesus says, "I am the laser of the world." Well, He actually said, "I'm the 20:22 light of the world." He shines in the darkness, and you know what he says? 20:26 "If you'll please go for me to your friends and neighbors and the new friends you're making at 20:32 school, if you'll please go for me, I'll shine my laser through you. 20:36 Let your light so shine before all," He says. Oh, my. 20:42 Do you want to be a light for Jesus this new year? Would you like to be? 20:46 Be a light for Jesus. Shine everywhere you go. He'll shine right out of your 20:50 smile. He'll shine right out of your life. 20:53 Who wants to thank Jesus for being the light and then for letting His light shine through 21:01 us? Well, I think I saw this young man right there. 21:07 Come on up. Come on up. What's your first name? >> Kipyegon. 21:13 >> What? >> Kipyegon. >> Kipyegon. 21:16 Let's fold our hands and close our eyes with Kipyegon, who is going to thank Jesus for being 21:22 the light. Okay, shh! Kipyegon's gonna pray. 21:26 >> Oh, Lord, thank You of your good things. Thank You that You bless this 21:30 day. Thank You that everyone had a good day today. 21:32 In Jesus' name, we pray. >> Amen. Thank you, Kipyegon. 21:39 >> Wish you could've been here last night when, boy, we had 21:44 more new students than I've ever seen come up to this platform, 21:49 step up to that "renovate" banner high overhead, and add 21:53 their signatures to the faculty, staff, and administration who 21:57 first put their signatures up -- only in red, the faculty, staff, 22:02 and administration in red -- last Sabbath. 22:05 Last night, these new students came. 22:08 I don't know about you, but every time I witness that, 22:13 there's just something that stirs up in me. 22:16 God. Every name up there -- "I will 22:20 take a stand for Jesus this year as a moral leader on this 22:22 campus." Every name up there. 22:25 We wondered if we could get them all on, but you know what? Good job. 22:31 And that will hang where that cross is coming down. These are a cycle of four. 22:34 We're on our second cycle now. It'll hang right there, and every time you come, new 22:39 student, to this place to worship and you look up there, and you know exactly where your 22:43 name is, and it will never be moved. It will always be there. 22:47 And it will remind you, "I made a stand. Christ has called me to be a 22:52 moral leader," as a faculty member, as an administrator, as a staff member. 22:57 We've all been called to moral leadership -- community, campus alike. 23:02 "Be not afraid." God is on the throne. Let's pray together. 23:08 God, we do thank You. We're not afraid. Because of You, what shall we 23:13 fear? What can anyone do to us? Not even the enemy. 23:17 We're asking You to stand by us now and make this eve of the new-year moment all that You 23:27 need it to be. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We learned a Latin word last 23:33 week -- renovare. Renovare. It means "to make new again," 23:38 from whence comes our English word "renovate." Hence the banner above. 23:45 Today, we're gonna learn another word. It is not Latin. 23:49 It's an unusual word. I'll put it up on the screen for you. 23:55 Etavoner. Etavoner. To be candid with you, scholars 24:03 are not quite sure what the word means. As near as anybody can tell, 24:08 etavoner is the word "renovate" spelled backwards. [ Laughter ] 24:19 You came to college to learn this? Yeah, I guess it is. 24:24 Because you know what? That's the whole point. Sometimes life just turns out 24:28 backwards. It just turns out backwards... until the moment comes, and it's 24:37 gonna come for you. Once upon a time, there was a little boy whose mother was a 24:43 prostitute. Mm-hmm. He was conceived because his 24:49 father was sleeping around. It happens. He grew up in a home with the 24:58 sons of the legitimate wife, half-brothers... until that day, when, in a 25:07 moment of sibling rivalry, those half-brothers said, "You know what? 25:12 You're out of here. You're not sharing our inheritance. 25:16 Do you understand?" And the little boy, grown up, ran away. 25:22 It happens. Maybe it's you who's the little boy running away. 25:28 Maybe that's your life, at least what you feel about your life -- nothing more than a 25:34 castaway, a throwaway, a do-away, or, worse yet, a do-over, because you can't do it 25:41 over. You're chained to your past, handcuffed to the life you've 25:46 already lived, it seems... until, one day, your day comes. And I promise you, it will come. 25:56 It could be today. Because it came for him. Open your Bible with me to a 26:02 story that nobody -- and read my lips, nobody -- talks about in public. 26:05 Open your Bible, please, to the Book of Judges. We were in Judges last week with 26:10 Gideon. We're going back to Judges one more time. 26:12 Don't miss the new series, beginning next week, "Tales from a Vineyard." 26:18 Oho! Some of the great vineyard stories in the Bible, but that's 26:20 next week. So, the Book of Judges. You're going to the 26:23 Book of Judges. Judges chapter 11. Judges chapter 11. 26:27 I'm in the New International Version. Whatever translation you brought 26:31 today, I'm glad you brought it. Don't have one, pull the pew Bible out in front of you. 26:35 You can track along. What's the page number? Page 176. 26:40 Here comes the story now. Judges 11:1. "And Jephthah the Gileadite was 26:45 a mighty warrior." Great warrior. Who is he? 26:50 Well, "His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute." Uh-oh. 27:07 [ Laughs mockingly ] 27:20 The Contemporary English Bible says, "And they became his posse." 27:25 Bunch of discontents. 27:29 "Some time later --" verse four -- "when the Ammonites --" 27:32 ooh, the enemy -- "were fighting against Israel, the elders of 27:36 Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 27:38 How did they know he was in the land of Tob? 27:41 You know why? Because these elders are his 27:43 half-brothers. [ Chuckles ] 27:45 "The elders went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob." 27:53 Can you believe that? These half-brothers have all become civic leaders in their 27:59 region, and now they're having to eat crow, humble pie, and say, "You know what? 28:05 We really need you, mighty warrior, half-brother." This story has all the makings 28:13 of the story of Joseph and his half-brothers bowing in front of him, begging him to save their 28:20 families, not knowing that he's their half-brother. [ Chuckling ] Jephthah looks at 28:27 them. He says, "You got to be kidding me. 28:30 Time out. Come on, come on, come on. Let me ask you a question." 28:36 Verse seven. Jephthah then said to them, "Hey 28:40 aren't you the guys that hated me? 28:42 Aren't you the guys that drove me from my father's house? 28:47 Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble? 28:50 Hmm?" And the elders of Gilead, his 28:53 half-brothers, said to him, "Nevertheless -- Yep, yep, yep, 28:56 yep, yep, you're right, you're right, but, nevertheless, we are 28:59 turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you 29:02 will be head over all of us who live in Gilead." 29:05 Come on. "Jephthah answered --" 29:07 verse 9 -- "'Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and 29:10 the Lord gives them to me -- will I really be your head?'" 29:16 The son of the prostitute that you kicked out of the family? And they answer him. 29:22 [ Chuckles ] 29:23 They answer, "The Lord is our witness --" verse 10 -- "we will 29:28 certainly do as you say." So Jephthah went with the elders 29:32 of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over 29:35 them. And --" Oh, I love this line 29:37 now, the very tail end of 11. "And he repeated all his words 29:42 before the Lord in Mizpah." Because sometimes you just need 29:47 to tell God everything all over again. 29:51 You got to tell Him. 29:54 Because you have to choose all over again who your Lord really is. 29:59 Doesn't matter who your mommy is. Doesn't matter who your daddy 30:02 is. Doesn't matter what you decided yesterday. 30:04 The question is, today, what are you gonna -- What will you decide today? 30:08 "Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house --" How's 30:12 it go? "As for me and my house, we will..." 30:15 >> Serve! >> "...serve the Lord." >> Amen. Amen. 30:20 >> Last Sabbath, a whole lot of you came forward, put your names on that banner overhead. 30:24 That was a decision you were making. Last night, a whole lot of you 30:27 came forward, put your names on that banner overhead. That's the decision you were 30:30 making. "I will take my stand and be a moral leader for God on this 30:34 campus. I have chosen this day." But the deal about choices is 30:39 you got to make them today and today and today. It can't just be long ago. 30:46 I have chosen this day, and I praise God that you chose. I'm so proud of you. 30:52 Good for you. Jephthah made the same rededication. 30:55 Renovare, to make new again, renovate. "I choose this day." 31:02 And he did. But as it so often happens, when you make a decision like that, 31:09 war will break out in your life. War. Because there's somebody that 31:15 hates the thought of you giving your best energies to his archrival. 31:20 So that's what happens here. 31:22 Verse 12. 31:32 "And the king of the Ammonites," in verse 13, "answered 31:35 Jephthah's messengers. 'Look, when Israel came up out 31:38 of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, 31:41 all the way to the Jordan. Now, my friend, give it back 31:44 peaceably.'" 31:47 Turns out that Jephthah is a rather skilled diplomat and negotiator, because he now will 31:54 send messengers back, and they recite the entire history of Israel, Israel coming out of 31:58 Egypt, and Jephthah will point out that, "We never put a single finger on Ammonite territory. 32:03 What are you talking about?" And right in the middle of that message back to the pagan king, 32:08 Jephthah speaks a line -- oh, this line is so rich. We can't miss it. 32:13 It's at the end of verse 24, in the middle of his message. The last line of verse 24. 32:17 I'll put it on the screen for you. "Whatever the Lord our God has 32:21 given us -- Hey, mister king. Mister enemy king. Whatever the Lord our God has 32:27 given to us, we will possess it." Ooh! I like that. 32:31 "Whatever the Lord our God has given to us, we will possess it." 32:35 We're on the verge of a new year. Aw, there'll be a war, but never 32:40 mind. God is on our side. We're on the verge of a new 32:45 year, and it is important for us to be reminded that whatever the Lord God has given to us this 32:51 new year, we will possess it. Because he gave it to me -- not to, you, enemy. 32:55 He gave it to me. We will possess it. I wonder what it is that's in 32:59 your life right now, sitting right there on the doorstep, ready for you to open the door 33:03 and say, "I will possess this because it has come to me from God." 33:06 What is it? Let's put -- May I give a few suggestions here? 33:09 I'll put them on the screen for you. What has God given you to 33:12 possess? Number one, he's given you His gifts. 33:14 Any gift you want to mention, He's already given that gift to you. 33:17 Watch this. Matthew 7:7, 33:19 Sermon on the Mount. Jesus speaking. 33:28 Good things! He says, "I'll give you good things. 33:30 Would you like good things this new year?" "Yeah, I'd like good things." 33:33 "What would be good things?" "I'd like some forgiveness. Good things. 33:36 I'd like some peace." "Would you like peace? I'll give you my peace." 33:40 "I need money!" "I know. I can handle that department, as 33:44 well. Good things. What do you need?" 33:49 What does God give -- How's that line go? "Whatever the Lord our God has 33:53 given us, we will possess." Ooh, I like it. What about -- Here's the second 33:56 gift. His Spirit. In fact, Luke takes the same 33:58 verse you just saw in Matthew. Luke puts another ending to it. Watch this. 34:02 Luke 11:13. "If you then, who are evil, know 34:05 how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will 34:07 your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who --" in 34:09 the Greek tense, it's "continually." 34:11 Day after day, ask for the Holy Spirit. 34:15 Not only will you get good things, but you will get the Holy Spirit. 34:19 Now, listen to this. I think it was last year because last year the emphasis was on 34:23 the daily baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think there was a line that we 34:27 quoted somewhere last year that said, when you ask for the gift of the Spirit, when you ask for 34:31 the blessing of the Holy Spirit, you get -- with the coming of the Holy Spirit, you 34:35 get every other blessing in the universe with that gift. Come on. 34:39 Why wouldn't you ask for the Holy Spirit on the threshold of a new year? 34:43 Of course. Daily. Every day, you wake up, and you say, "Jesus, today, I need you 34:48 to send to me the Holy Spirit. May He bring Your consciousness to mine. 34:52 May He bring your life into me. Today let me live my life as it were yours, through the 34:57 Holy Spirit." Just every day. "Baptize me today." 35:00 I do it every morning myself. "Baptize me today." What's wrong with that? 35:05 What did Jephthah tell the enemy king? "Whatever the Lord our God has 35:08 given us, we will possess." It's to quit whimping and whining around, saying, "Poor 35:15 me. I just don't have anything." Time-out. 35:18 I just read two promises that tell you you have every good gift that God has, and, 35:23 moreover, He will give you His Holy Spirit every day if you'll ask Him, and that brings every 35:29 other gift in the treasury. What's not to like? One more. 35:35 What is it that God would give to u-- Oh, I'm gonna put "Christ's Object Lessons" on the 35:38 screen for you. 35:40 I love this. Just found this this last week. 35:45 Ooh. Demand and reception. Why? 35:48 Because whatever the Lord our God given us, we will possess. We will take it today, right 35:52 now, Lord. I receive Your Spirit. Don't go running out of your 35:55 dormitory room or your house in the community thinking, "I don't feel any different." 36:00 It's not about feeling. If you've asked, you got the gift. 36:05 Just ask every day. There's one more category. What is it? 36:08 Number 3, on the screen. What does God want you to possess this year? 36:11 His promises. Come on, the book is filled with promises. 36:14 Let me just share this with you before we continue the story. 36:17 2 Peter chapter 1. "His --" God's -- "divine power 36:22 has given us everything we need for a godly life. 36:26 Through these He --" God -- "has given us His very great and 36:31 precious promises." You got 'em all. 36:33 Just go through your Bible from Genesis to Revelation. 36:35 Read a little bit every morning. You'll run into a promise. 36:38 Put your finger on that promise and say, "Lord God of Israel, 36:41 I'm asking please." We will possess everything the 36:49 Lord our God has given us to possess. 36:54 Wow. So Jephthah sends that message. 36:58 Oh, it really warmed the cockles of the enemy king's heart -- not. 37:03 Verse 28. When the enemy king gets that message -- verse 28. 37:06 Read it. "The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to --" this 37:10 idea of you possessing everything that the Lord has given you. 37:13 The devil won't pay any attention either. He knows that you're supposed to 37:16 possess this. He knows this gift was given to you. 37:18 The devil's strategy is to get you to forget about the gift so that you quit asking, and if you 37:23 quit asking, why would God give you what you don't want? The enemy king paid no attention 37:29 to the message Jephthah sent him. 37:31 Oh, here it comes now -- verse 29. 37:32 "Then the Spirit of the Lord," the Holy Spirit, "came on 37:35 Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, 37:37 passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced 37:39 against the Ammonites." 37:41 Verse 30. "And Jephthah --" Aw, Jephthah. Did you have to do this? 37:45 Did you have to do this? "And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, 'If you give me the 37:51 Ammonites into my hands --" hit the pause button right there. He makes a vow. 37:58 [ Clicks tongue, sighs ] Listen, Jephthah, what's the problem here? 38:03 Haven't you already committed your life and mission to Him? Hasn't He already assured you 38:07 that He will be with you always, even to the end of the world? Why are you mucking up a 38:10 perfectly good story with a hasty, ill-thought vow? Why are you doing this? 38:15 I'll tell you why. He has three good reasons why he does it, because, number one, it 38:20 was the custom of the times to make vows to the Lord. Everybody does it. 38:23 Number two, he was under pressure to deliver. He's the son of a prostitute. 38:27 Will this boy deliver, mighty warrior or not? So there's a lot of pressure on 38:30 him. And, number three, there's nothing like a little quid pro 38:34 quo to help God hold up His end of the bargain, you know what I mean? 38:38 Like, "God, if You'll do this for me, I'll do this for You." "If then," quid pro quo. 38:45 That's what Jacob did to God. "If You bless me, I'll return tithe." 38:49 God says, "Don't come to me with this quid pro quo stuff. Just trust me." 38:55 But, no, that's what he's doing. [ Sighs ] By the way, when it comes to 38:59 making vows, don't make them -- except when you're getting married. 39:04 [ Laughter ] That's the one time when those vows are very appropriate, and 39:11 we clergy hold you to that vow. All right. Ecclesiastes 5:5. 39:14 Solomon warns about vows. On the screen. 39:20 I like the way Jesus put it in the Sermon on the Mount. "Let your yes be yes and your no 39:24 be no, and none of this oath and vow stuff. Just lay off. Trust me. 39:27 Either it's yes or no." Well, sad to say, Jephthah made the vow. 39:34 All right. Verse 30 again. 39:42 Then -- verse 31. 39:54 "Yes, Lord! Amen!" 39:58 It's out of his mouth. Can't pull it back. [ Scoffs ] Jephthah, no doubt, 40:03 was convinced that some little innocent barnyard critter would come topsy out of the farm and 40:10 be the first to meet him returning. "And I'm gonna offer that as a 40:14 sacrifice to God." But guess what. 40:20 It wasn't a creature, not a barnyard one. God gives Jephthah this massive 40:26 victory over the Ammonites, and he returns home a triumphant conqueror, son of a 40:32 prostitute -- a triumphant conqueror, and everybody is calling him their leader. 40:38 What's not to like about that? 40:41 Except the story didn't go that way, quite. 40:44 Verse 34. 40:53 And tambourines! 40:58 "And when he saw her --" [Exhales sharply] -- "he tore 41:01 his clothes and he cried, 'Oh, no, my daughter! 41:04 You have brought me down and I am devastated. 41:07 I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break." 41:13 Of course you can, Jephthah. Time-out again. Stop the story. 41:17 You don't have to keep this. God knew the intent of your heart. 41:20 The intent of your heart was, "I'll give You something from my flock or something from my 41:24 herd, and that'll be a big gift for You, God, if You'll give me victory." 41:28 God gave you the victory. Give Him what you wanted to give Him. 41:31 But, oh, no. Jephthah's understanding of God is a rather rigid and unpliable 41:39 portrait. [ Clicking tongue ] God would never hold somebody to 41:46 so rash a vow, but it's his little girl. She comes racing out the door 41:52 because she's an only child. This is her daddy. She is so proud. 41:55 You know little kids -- [Chuckles] and not-so-little kids -- they are so proud of 41:59 their daddies. "My daddy is the greatest." And he's the mighty conqueror, 42:04 and she's dancing and singing, comes twirling out of that house to greet him, and he is 42:10 absolutely shattered. Now, I want you to watch what the writer of Judges skillfully 42:15 does when he continues to lower the level of emotional depth to the story. 42:20 I'm gonna run 12 levels by you. Watch this. Because he didn't just say the 42:24 girl came out and -- "Oh, what am I gonna do?" No. 42:27 Here's how the writer of Judges does it. First, level number one, the 42:30 daughter comes out with tambourines and dancing. It's a picture of such pure and 42:34 innocent joy. Is there a father alive whose heartstrings wouldn't be already 42:38 plucking right now? But of course. Level number two -- she is his 42:42 only child. In other words, all his hopes, all his dreams, all his joys 42:47 revolve around her. She is his one and only. Level number three -- little 42:52 lower. To reinforce that, the writer writes, "Except for her." 42:59 Except for her. But we already got this. She's an only child. 43:02 No, except for her. In other words, she's not only his pride and joy and love. 43:06 She is his future. If she disappears, his lineage is gone. 43:10 There is no lineage. There's no family tree. [ Exhales sharply ] Cut. Gone. 43:16 Level number five. No, no, level number four. "He had neither --" Lookit, we 43:21 already got this, writer. We already got this. He had neither son nor daughter. 43:25 But that's the point. He has nothing now. Level number five -- when he saw 43:29 her. Because when he sees her -- I mean, all the way home, he's 43:32 been dreaming about, you know, "When that sacrifice comes, me and my little girl, we're gonna 43:36 walk out to that altar, and we're gonna sacrifice this altar in gratitude to the God who gave 43:40 us triumph." There's no walking hand in hand now. 43:44 Level number six -- he tears his clothes, just -- [ Exhales sharply ] 43:48 Level number seven -- "Oh, no, my daughter!" Just the words, "my daughter." 43:53 The anguish. Level number eight -- "You have brought me to my knees." 43:56 Down -- He must be sobbing by now. "I'm devastated." Number nine. 44:02 "You are my agony." And then, number 10 -- "I cannot break it. 44:08 I cannot break this vow." Two more levels come in the daughter's reply. 44:12 Let's get her reply. Verse 36. "Oh, my father." And in the Hebrew, it's abi. 44:17 It's "daddy." "Oh, my daddy. Oh, abi." [ Scoffs ] 44:24 Just like a knife -- [ Exhaling sharply ] 44:27 "Oh, my father..." 44:36 Verse 37. 44:43 [ Exhaling sharply ] Her little girlhood dreams are all over. 44:47 Just the stab, slicing through that father's heart. That's what happened. 44:54 Verse 39. 45:05 Scholars are nearly unanimous that Jephthah did to his daughter what God would not 45:11 allow Abraham to do to his boy, Isaac. Jephthah sacrificed his daughter 45:16 as a burnt offering to God -- slayed her, burned her. 45:25 And, yeah, get this -- when the prophet Samuel is summarizing the whole history of the judges 45:30 and he looks back over the judges, guess whose name he pulls out as evidence of the 45:36 Lord God stepping in at critical moments and delivering his people. 45:39 Yeah, you got it -- Jephthah. He remembers Jephthah. And, yeah, get this -- when the 45:44 Bible's walk-of-fame, Hall of Fame, hall-of-faith chapter is written in Hebrews 45:48 chapter 11, guess who is listed among the great men and women of faith throughout sacred history. 45:53 You got it -- Jephthah. Apparently, the fact that your mother is a prostitute does not 46:05 mean God cannot do major kingdom business through you. Apparently, being so wrong about 46:15 God's character, that you end up sacrificing your own flesh and blood, does not halt or diminish 46:22 the love of God -- mistakes and warts and all that you possess. I mean, how else are we gonna 46:31 explain how a nobody, a castaway, a reject ends up the hero of his people and a star 46:38 embedded in the Bible's walk of fame? Jephthah. 46:44 God, why did You put this story -- This is barbaric. This is terrible. 46:51 I don't know why God put it in. I'm thinking out loud with you, just wondering if maybe -- maybe 46:57 the reason God preserved the story of Jephthah is because this narrative of a father who 47:05 had to sacrifice his one and only child would become a faint shadow of another father who 47:15 would have to sacrifice his one and only child one day. 47:21 Repeat the words with me on the screen. 47:23 You know them by heart. "For God so loved the world..." 47:30 We'll put them on the screen. "...whosoever believes in Him 47:35 shall not perish but have everlasting life." 47:40 Two fathers, two only childs, two tragic deaths, but the truth is, you know what? 47:46 When we're thinking about Calvary -- come on, let's be honest -- most of our thinking 47:52 is about Jesus, what Jesus went through, what Jesus suffered, what happened to our Lord, the 48:01 sacrifice He made." And we can't help it. It's just the sacrifice of the 48:08 Father is just quietly pushed to the perimeter of the narrative. The story of Jephthah, with the 48:16 12 levels of emotional depth, reminds us that the Father, with a heart broken into a thousand 48:26 shards, suffers in the sacrifice. Yeah. 48:34 I was listening to WBBM Newsradio out of Chicago, and I heard a story I'll never 48:40 forget as long as I live. It was a story about a little 10- or 11-year-old girl who had 48:44 invited a friend of hers over to the house for a sleepover. You see, her parents were gonna 48:48 go out for dinner that night. I don't know if it was an anniversary or birthday they 48:52 were celebrating. But the parents didn't want their only-child daughter to be 48:56 alone in the house, and so they said, "Bring a friend of yours over, and you girls just have a 49:00 sleepover. We'll be back late tonight. You go to bed. 49:02 Don't you stay up." 49:04 Well, do you know what happened to the two little girls? 49:09 They had fun. They had fun all through the 49:11 evening. In fact, they stayed up later 49:12 than they should, actually. 49:14 Finally went to bed, but then the little daughter of the parents sat up and said, "You 49:17 know what? [ Whispering ] There's a surprise. 49:19 Let's surprise my parents. Okay? [ Exhaling sharply ] 49:22 [ Normal voice ] So they go down to the entryway. They get in the closet. 49:26 They get in the closet. They're waiting for Mom and Dad to come. 49:29 Takes forever. "Where are Mom and Dad?" They don't come. 49:33 Finally, there is a key in the door, and they hear the door click open. 49:38 And when the door slowly opened, the little girl and her friend 49:43 leaped out of the closet in the dark and yelled, "Boo!" 49:50 And the father, thinking it was an intruder, reached into his 49:56 side, pulled out a handgun, and shot the intruder in the dark. 50:01 When they turned the lights on, it was his daughter. She died in his arms. 50:06 And the last words she whispered to him were, "Daddy, I love you." 50:15 When I heard that story, I had to pull over to the side of the road just to recover. 50:18 There was just no way I could keep driving. I mean, how could Jephthah ever 50:25 sleep at night again peacefully? How could this father in Chicago ever sleep at night again 50:30 peacefully? How could the Father of this universe, who sacrificed 50:34 everything He had in the gift of His one and only child, how could He ever sleep again 50:39 peacefully? Except for the way the story ended for Him. 50:45 We forget the Father, don't we? 50:48 "Steps to Christ," that little classic -- let me put the words 50:51 on the screen for you. "...this great sacrifice --" at 50:54 Calvary, "Steps to Christ" -- "was not made in order to create 50:57 in the Father's heart a love for us men and women, not to make 51:00 Him willing to save us. No, no!" 51:02 Exclamation mark. 51:13 "Christ was the medium through which the Father could pour out 51:17 His infinite love upon a fallen world. 51:20 'God was in Christ.'" 2 Corinthians. 51:22 "God suffered with His Son." Here it comes. 51:34 End quote. 51:36 And because of that infinite love in a father's heart, you have nothing to fear on the eve 51:41 of this new year. I don't care what's happened in your past, who your mommy is, 51:46 daddy -- it doesn't matter a hoot now. It's you and infinite love. 51:53 The once-heartbroken Father says, "Hey, let me be your Savior. 52:02 Let me be your Lord. Let me be your God. And in the death of my one and 52:08 only, let me secure your salvation forever and ever -- if you'll receive it, please." 52:15 Gone the past, washed. Prostitute's son -- washed away. How does that line go in 52:25 2 Corinthians 5:17? On the screen, please. 52:36 What do you say to that? "The new is here!" The heartbroken Father, the one 52:46 and only child have covenanted together to save only you if you're the only one -- to save 52:54 only you, if you're the only one. "We'll do it. 52:59 We did it. You're covered forever." Aw, [Chuckles] man, wouldn't you 53:06 like to have a fresh new beginning, not just because you're a freshman or a new 53:10 student, but just because you're you? Wouldn't you like to have a new 53:14 beginning? You can -- right now. Possess what the Lord our God 53:22 has given us to possess. The salvation is yours. Take it. 53:28 As I pray, take it in your heart. Father. 53:33 Oh, Father above, we have pushed You out of the story so many times, not because we intended 53:40 to. It's just -- You know how it goes. 53:43 But one obscure story reminds us the Father's heart was shattered. 53:52 The good news is You love us. You have drawn us to the threshold of a new year, and 53:57 here we are as a worshiping community. Now, Father, every heart bowed 54:02 before You now, in this quiet moment, every heart asking You, please, for that new beginning, 54:09 the fresh creation -- renovare, to make new again -- please receive our humble prayers in 54:15 this silent moment, I pray. 54:23 In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. [ "Give Me Jesus" begins ] 54:33 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 55:03 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 55:33 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:03 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Song ends ] 56:23 And so, Father, that's our prayer. Just give us Jesus. 56:28 With Him, the Holy Spirit, and You, there's nothing we cannot face this new year, and we go 56:34 forward with courage right now. And so now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love 56:45 of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 56:53 ♪♪ 57:07 >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes 57:09 from our viewers, and we've made a conscious decision not to 57:12 continually appeal to you for that support. 57:15 The fact is, as everyone in the industry will tell you, we're 57:19 needing to make constant upgrades to our technology. 57:21 So if God has blessed you and you'd like to further the work 57:24 of this ministry, we invite you to partner with us. 57:26 Not a single penny of your donation will go to me. 57:29 Every bit of your gift goes to the mission of blessing your 57:33 community and our world. You can donate on our website, 57:36 newperceptions.tv. Or call the number. 57:39 You know the number -- 877-HIS-WILL. 57:41 Again, that number is 877 -- the two words "HIS-WILL." 57:46 And may the God who has blessed you continue to pour into your 57:48 life the gifts of His joy and His hope. 57:52 Thank you. And I'm looking forward to 57:54 seeing you, right here, again, next time. 58:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:21 ♪♪ |
Revised 2018-09-12