Participants: Charles Byrd (Host), Andrea Endries, Levi Longoria, Stephen Fowler
Series Code: THL
Program Code: THL000007
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00:03 I don't know how dark the night was.
00:06 As he made his way out of the Old City gate 00:09 down the hill and into the Kidron valley. 00:12 You see, Nicodemus had a problem on his hands. 00:16 There was this new teacher and his teachings, 00:18 his doctrines weren't at all matching up 00:21 with what he was teaching. 00:23 Nicodemus was not the only person 00:25 aware of that teacher from Nazareth. 00:27 The whole Sanhedrin was troubled by this new Rabbi. 00:31 I guess if he had to put a label on this Jesus fellow. 00:35 He'd have to just call him up a liberal. 00:38 Jesus was certainly disturbing the status quo. 00:41 He was the type who would forgive a prostitute. 00:44 Jesus, who was known to sit down and eat with sinners, 00:48 this Jesus even embraced publicans, 00:50 tax collectors and had made one of them His disciple. 00:54 Now, the Sanhedrin did not like it. 00:57 And Nicodemus might have just written Jesus off 01:00 as another radical trouble maker. 01:02 Except for one thing or make that two. 01:07 First of, Daniel's time prophecy was absolutely clear. 01:12 This was the very time Messiah should show up. 01:15 And there really weren't any good alternatives 01:18 other than Jesus that fit the time prophecy. 01:21 The second thing that troubled Nicodemus was the miracles. 01:25 If he was going to be honest with himself, 01:28 he just couldn't get around the miracles. 01:31 Jesus actually made blind people see 01:34 and the lame people walk. 01:37 Others had seen him touch a leper restoring his skin 01:41 to perfect health and reports were still coming in, 01:44 that He had actually raised the dead to life. 01:48 A fake and a fraud couldn't do real miracles. 01:52 And surely, the God of creation, 01:54 the God of the Jews wouldn't answer the prayer of a sinner. 01:58 He greatly desired an interview with Jesus 02:02 but shrank from seeking Him openly. 02:05 It would be too humiliating for a ruler of the Jews 02:07 to acknowledge himself in sympathy 02:09 with his new teacher. 02:11 So to avoid the scorn and denunciation 02:13 from his fellow members on the Sanhedrin, 02:16 he resolved upon a secret interview. 02:19 He made some special inquires and discovered 02:21 that Jesus often retired at night to the Mount of Olives. 02:25 He waited until the city was hushed in slumber 02:28 before setting out on his secret errand. 02:33 Nicodemus was about to learn something that would shake 02:36 the entire world with a clap of truth 02:39 that would make the largest thunderstorm 02:41 seem like a whisper. 02:44 Nicodemus was about to learn that love is a "P" word. 03:40 Love is a "P" word. 03:42 Clever attention you get I know but, it really is true. 03:46 Let me see if I can set the stage here. 03:48 If I told you, I just bought a new car 03:51 and I took you out beside my house 03:53 and there in the carport were four tyres and a windshield, 03:57 would you agree with me 03:58 that I had just bought a new car? 04:00 I definitely wouldn't. 04:03 I hope so. 04:05 You see a car by definition is something 04:07 that takes you from point A to point B. 04:10 A car is transportation. 04:12 If it isn't mobile, 04:14 if it doesn't take you where you want to go, 04:16 we don't call it a car. We call it junk. 04:20 Let's keep our definition straight. 04:22 Love is constantly being talked about, 04:25 sung about, written about. 04:27 And though most everyone has experienced 04:29 true love at one time or another, 04:31 very few people have come to embrace 04:33 the truth about what love really is. 04:36 That love is a "P" word. 04:39 Let's join Levi who's standing by 04:41 on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. 04:45 Levi! Thanks Charles. 04:48 I'm here on the side of the very mount 04:50 where Jesus shared with Nicodemus 04:51 perhaps one of the most famous scriptures in the entire Bible. 04:55 It's found in the book of John 04:57 in the verse 16 of the 3rd chapter. 05:00 In fact, if any one has ever heard 05:01 or memorized any verse in the Bible, 05:04 it was probably John 3:16. 05:06 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 05:11 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 05:14 but have everlasting life." 05:16 And most of us are probably so sure that we already know 05:19 what this verse teaches and means 05:21 that we just came over it. 05:23 But perhaps like Nicodemus, 05:25 we need to humble our proud hearts 05:26 and listen very carefully to the words 05:28 of the simple teacher from Nazareth. 05:30 And because this verse opens to our minds the core, 05:33 the nucleus of Jesus' teachings and ministry, His entire life. 05:38 And the best way to understand scripture 05:40 is to let it interpret itself. 05:43 So the first thing you need to look for is the key word 05:46 or words in a passage of scripture. 05:48 In John 3:16, what is the key word? 05:52 Everything in this verse revolves 05:54 around the four letter word l-o-v-e. 05:59 For God so loved the world 06:01 that's why He gave His only begotten Son. 06:04 Now, here's an important question 06:05 that you need ask yourself 06:07 whenever you're studying the Bible. 06:09 If this was the only text 06:10 I had in the whole Bible regarding love, 06:12 what would I know about love? 06:15 Now, just look at that verse for a moment. 06:17 Don't add another layer of understanding, 06:19 let the truth come out of the verse. 06:22 For God so loved the world, that he what? 06:27 He gave. Loving is giving. 06:31 God so loved that He gave. 06:34 But not just giving anything or something. 06:37 Now that could be a counterfeit. 06:39 If I give a drug addict a $1000, 06:41 that wouldn't be love. 06:43 Let's unpack the rest of that verse. 06:46 God loved this world, you and me so much 06:50 that He gave us something in particular. 06:53 What was it? His Son. His own Son. 06:58 But, why did He give us His Son? 07:00 Now, the verse goes on to explain 07:01 that whosoever believes in Him will not perish 07:05 but have everlasting life. Everlasting life. 07:11 Is there anything more important than eternal life? 07:15 Would you give up eternal life for new car 07:18 or new job or a flat screen TV 07:21 or weekend of party life or a new relationship? 07:26 Is there anything that you need more than eternal life? 07:31 So God didn't give us a car, a plane or a computer, 07:35 objects, items they can wear out and become old, 07:38 they can be broken and lost. 07:41 God gave us something that can never be taken away. 07:45 Eternal life in a perfect world. 07:49 In the gift of Jesus, 07:50 God didn't simply give us something, 07:53 He gave us what we needed most. 07:58 In Matthew 22:36, an expert in the law 08:01 asked Jesus this question. 08:03 "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" 08:06 Many times in the Bible Jesus is known 08:08 to answer a question with a question. 08:11 But in this case, He reaches back into the Holy Bible 08:14 and pulls out of the book of Deuteronomy, 08:16 the one passage of scripture 08:18 that He deems to be the great commandment in the law. 08:21 The one foundational truth on which 08:24 we can build our entire lives. 08:26 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, 08:31 and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." 08:35 Here, Jesus informed the lawyer and here He informs us 08:39 that the most important commandment, 08:41 the most important law in the scriptures is love God. 08:46 This is the first and great commandment. 08:49 And the second is like unto it. 08:52 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 08:55 This second commandment is taken from Leviticus 19:18. 08:59 Every person then who claims to be a Christian, 09:02 a follower of Christ 09:04 must take these two Old Testament laws seriously, 09:08 making them the foundation of their life. 09:11 Because Jesus said, 09:13 "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." 09:17 Now, don't miss what Jesus says here. 09:20 The entire history of the human race 09:22 from Adam to the time of Christ is like a giant tapestry mural. 09:27 There is one giant nail in the wall of eternity 09:30 that holds up this great portrait. 09:33 That single nail, that great element is love. 09:38 Every commandment of God, 09:39 every righteous law of government is based on love. 09:44 Everything the prophets foretold, 09:46 every story, every doctrine, every truth is built upon, 09:51 is supported by, is held together by love. 09:56 Let me highlight this point here for just a moment. 09:58 In Genesis 1:26, God said, 10:02 "Let us make man in our image". 10:06 We were created in God's image. 10:09 The intention of the Almighty was to create beings 10:12 that were similar to Himself. 10:15 And I would like to show you the chief attribute, 10:17 the premiere quality that makes God, God. 10:22 In both 1 John 4:8 and verse 16 are these three words, 10:27 "God is love." Love is not just something God does. 10:34 It's not merely an activity 10:35 He participates in from time to time. 10:38 Love is what God is. 10:41 Love is at the heart 10:42 and center of everything God touches or is involved in. 10:46 And where did John get this idea? 10:49 From Jesus himself. 10:51 "That which was from the beginning, 10:53 which we have heard, 10:55 which we have seen with our eyes, 10:58 which we have looked upon, 10:59 and our hands have handled, of the word of life." 11:04 John was there as Jesus preached the multitudes. 11:07 He listened as Jesus shared with the eager crowds 11:11 the truth about a Father we could--we could talk to. 11:15 One who loves us. 11:17 Perhaps that is why when Nicodemus 11:19 shared with the Apostle John, 11:20 the story of his nighttime visit with Jesus. 11:23 It made a vast impression on his heart. 11:25 For God so loved the world. 11:27 You and me, that He gave us what we needed most. Savior. 11:32 When you see this word love through the lens of scriptures, 11:35 through the life of Jesus, 11:37 love ceases to be some sappy sentimental emotion. 11:40 The love that Christ revealed is not a fitful feeling 11:43 but a principle of life. 11:44 It is His intention that this love 11:46 become a living principle 11:48 and an abiding power in our heart. 11:50 That the character and deportment of Jesus 11:52 is an example of the truth 11:53 He advocates and His followers will be strikingly 11:56 different than the world. 11:57 That's why Paul told the Christians in Ephesus, 12:00 "Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, 12:04 and has given himself for us an offering 12:06 and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor." 12:11 One of the abiding principle of love is our motivator. 12:14 When love is the radar and key of our lives, 12:17 we live like Christ lived. 12:19 And it kind of gets personal if you check out verse 25. 12:22 "Husbands, love your wives he told them, 12:25 even as Christ also loved the church 12:27 and gave himself for it." 12:29 And how did Christ love the church? 12:31 It was the church leaders who harassed Jesus. 12:34 It was the ruling council 12:35 that arranged for Jesus to be arrested, 12:37 tried and turned over to the Romans for crucifixion. 12:40 It was the church. 12:42 It was His church that killed Jesus. 12:45 Two things are worthy of notice here. 12:47 First, Jesus knew everything 12:48 that was gonna happen before it even happened. 12:51 At least ten different times in the four gospels, 12:53 Jesus revealed that He knew 12:55 how He would be mistreated, abused and finally killed. 12:58 He knew in advance, who would betray Him. 13:01 But, He didn't avoid this mistreatment 13:02 by running to Tarshish. 13:04 The second thing we notice is that, 13:06 even in the face of abuse and mistreatment, 13:09 even though betrayed, scourged, mocked 13:11 and finally nailed to the cross, 13:13 Jesus never became angry, loud, rude or bitter. 13:17 He didn't hurl recriminations at His abusers 13:19 nor did He threaten them with vengeance. 13:22 And this profound love is not only revealed in 13:25 what Jesus didn't do. 13:27 While hanging in agony on the cross, 13:30 He prayed for us. Yes, us. 13:34 It was our sins that took Him to the cross. 13:37 And yet He prayed for us. 13:39 And that's why Paul wrote, 13:41 "Husbands, love your wives, 13:44 even as Christ also loved the church, 13:46 and gave himself for it." 13:49 When husbands are willing to love like this, 13:51 the world will be compelled to take note 13:53 that there is a living God, 13:54 who abides in the hearts of all men. 13:57 You see, love is not a feeling. 14:00 It's a principle. 14:02 Mothers don't just get up in the middle of the night 14:04 to take care of a colicky baby because they feel like it. 14:08 They get up because of love. 14:10 Love is the principle of giving what is needed most. 14:15 To have a car, you don't need much. 14:18 An engine, some wheels and tyres, a drivetrain 14:21 and some kind of frame to hold it all together. 14:24 Henry Ford's, first car was pretty basic. 14:27 But it was an automobile. 14:29 This car teaches us 14:31 that there are certain minimum requirements, 14:33 certain items that you must have or you don't have a car. 14:36 In the same way, 14:39 love can have feelings just like a car can have a radio. 14:43 But a radio is not a car. 14:45 You're gonna have a car with a windshield, 14:48 but a windshield is not a car either. 14:51 You can have a car with lovely leather seats 14:53 but leather seats are not a car. 14:57 Love can have feelings, but love is not a feeling. 15:02 At its heart, love is a principle. 15:06 It does the right thing just because that's what love does. 15:11 Love is its own motivation. 15:13 And the only reason we love is because, He first loved us. 15:19 Do you think Jesus came to earth 15:21 and humbled Himself to become a human being 15:24 because it felt good? 15:27 Do you think the Father felt happy to let His Son 15:30 leave the safety and sanctity of heaven to come down 15:33 to planet earth to be abused and mistreated? 15:38 It was not easy. 15:40 But, God so loved each and every one of us, 15:43 that He chose to put His feelings aside 15:46 and act on the great principle of love 15:48 and give us what we needed most. 15:52 You see, love is a "P" word. 15:56 Love is the principle of giving what is needed most. 16:02 But, how do we know, 16:03 what is needed most? Who gets to decide? 16:06 The husband or the wife? The child? 16:11 Or would God be best suited to make that decision? 16:17 Well, that's a great question. 16:18 In life there are standards. 16:21 Parameters that we operate within for our safety. 16:25 When your tyre is a little low on air, 16:27 it says right here with a safe PSIs. 16:29 And then this handy little gadget that tells you 16:33 if you've got enough air pressure in your tyres. 16:35 Along the winding mountain roads, 16:37 signs are posted with speed limits 16:38 that direct us within the margin of safety. 16:41 But what are the guidelines for love? 16:43 The answer to that is simple 16:44 when you let the Bible interpret itself. 16:46 What is needed most is defined by God's moral love. 16:50 Jesus made that very clear 16:51 when He said "If you love me, keep my commandments." 16:55 Commandments like the one Jesus quoted from in Deuteronomy 6:5, 16:59 "To love God with all our hearts." 17:01 Verse 24 in that same chapter tells us 17:03 why Jesus directs us to keep the commandments. 17:06 Those commandments of God are actually there for our good. 17:09 "The Lord commanded us to do all these statues, 17:12 to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, 17:16 that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day." 17:20 Paul highlights this same truth told by Jesus 17:22 in the epistle to the Romans. 17:24 "Love works no ill or does no harm to his neighbor, 17:28 therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 17:31 It is often reported that Paul said 17:33 the law was done away with. 17:34 Well, that clearly can't be true unless he also believed 17:37 that you can get rid of love. 17:38 And anyone who reads 1 Corinthians 13, 17:40 knows that Paul was a big believer in love. 17:42 If Paul believed that the law was done away with 17:45 then why did he say the law is holy 17:47 and the commandment holy and just, and good? 17:50 Why would you get rid of or make void something that is good? 17:53 The question is so obvious, 17:55 that Paul himself asked the question. 17:56 "Do we then make void the law through faith? 18:00 God forbid: yea, we establish the law." 18:02 It seems a little contradictory to establish 18:04 something you're getting rid of. 18:06 A careful reading of Paul makes it absolutely clear 18:08 that he never thought that God's moral law 18:10 was in anyway diminished after the cross. 18:13 The only law that was done away with 18:15 or nailed to the cross was that law which was a type 18:19 or a law that pointed forward to Jesus as the Messiah. 18:23 The anointed one, the Lamb of God 18:25 who would take away the sins of the world. 18:28 That's true, Steven. 18:30 And Paul talks about the ceremonial law 18:32 in Colossians Chapter 2. 18:33 And Colossians 2:14 says, 18:36 "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 18:38 that was against us, which was contrary to us, 18:41 took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." 18:45 And now remember, 18:46 the Bible has to interpret itself. 18:48 When we look at the context of verse 16 and 17, 18:52 Paul is clearly talking about the ceremonial law. 18:55 Meat offerings, drink offerings, holy days, 18:57 festivals and ceremonial Sabbaths. 19:00 "Let no man therefore judge you 19:02 in meat offerings, or in drink offerings, 19:07 or in respect of an holyday or days, 19:09 or of the new moon festivals, 19:12 or of the ceremonial Sabbaths" like the feat of trumpets 19:16 and in the Passover etcetera. 19:17 And then in verse 17, 19:19 Paul makes it clear which law was done away with 19:21 or nailed to the cross. 19:23 "The laws which are shadow of things to come." 19:27 These were fulfilled in Christ at the cross. 19:29 But Jesus didn't come to get rid of the moral law, 19:32 for He said, "Till haven and earth pass, 19:35 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 19:39 from the law till all be fulfilled." 19:42 Now this word jot comes from the Greek word iota, 19:45 which was the 10th and smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. 19:49 The word tittle comes from the Greek word keraia, 19:52 which is the least stroke you can make 19:55 in writing like an accent mark. 19:58 Again from Matthew 5:18, "For verily I say unto you, 20:01 till heaven and earth pass, 20:03 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, 20:08 till all be fulfilled." 20:12 While heaven and earth are still here 20:14 and every iota of the moral law, 20:16 every tittle of the Ten Commandments 20:17 are still valid and binding on our lives today. 20:20 That is, if we want to be safe and happy. 20:23 "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot 20:26 or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, 20:29 till all be fulfilled." 20:31 And where is the moral law to be fulfill? 20:34 According to Paul, in us. Romans 8:4, 20:39 "That the righteousness of the law 20:40 might be fulfilled in us." 20:43 According to the Apostle Paul, 20:45 Jesus didn't come to get rid of the law, 20:47 He came to get rid of the curse. 20:49 At least, that's what Paul told the folks in Galatia. 20:52 "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law." 20:56 Paul's real concern wasn't the law itself 20:59 but the way that it was misused by the over zealous Jews. 21:03 The law is not a problem 21:04 if we use the law for what it was intended. 21:08 "What shall we say then? 21:09 He asked. Is the law sin? 21:12 Certain not! On the contrary, 21:14 I would not have known sin except through the law. 21:17 For I would not have known covetousness 21:18 unless the law had said, "You shall not covet.''' 21:22 Paul's quoting here from 21:23 the moral law of the Ten Commandments. 21:26 Paul believed that the law was good. 21:29 "But we know that the law is good" 21:32 He wrote to Timothy. "If a man use it lawfully." 21:37 When Jesus was here on earth 21:39 one of His purposes was to reveal our heavenly Father 21:42 and His wonderful love. Thus John 3:16. 21:47 That love was revealed in His obedience to His Father. 21:51 Jesus said that is also how we reveal our love to God. 21:56 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, 22:00 even as I have kept my Father's commandments, 22:03 and abide in his love." 22:05 If Jesus had failed to keep 22:07 just one of the commandments of our heavenly Father, 22:10 He could not have been the savior of the world, 22:13 the spotless Lamb of God. 22:15 Then He would have been a sinner just like us. 22:19 One of the most radical teachings of His love 22:22 is found in Matthew 5:44, 22:25 "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, 22:28 do good to them that hate you and pray for them 22:31 which despitefully use and persecute you." 22:35 Notice here that Jesus isn't talking 22:36 about how we feel about our enemies. 22:39 He's talking about our choice, 22:42 the choice of loving or giving what is needed most. 22:46 Look at the verse again it says, 22:48 "Love your enemies even of your own household, 22:52 if they curse you bless them, 22:55 with deeds of kindness and mercy, 22:58 when others hate you do something good to them." 23:02 Paul says that's how we heap coals of fire on their head. 23:06 And finally Jesus said that when people 23:09 with malaise of forethought despitefully use you 23:12 and even persecute you, pray for them, 23:16 bless them, do good to them, 23:20 pray for them no matter how you feel. 23:26 We're not talking about feelings, 23:27 we're talking about the principle of giving 23:30 what is needed most. 23:33 And what is the result of this choice 23:35 to cooperate with Jesus and His kingdom of love? 23:39 This is good, look at this. 23:41 Matthew 5:45, 23:44 "That ye may be the children 23:46 of your Father which is in heaven." 23:49 This is how we become sons and daughters of God 23:52 by embracing that kind of love. 23:56 "For our Father makes his sun 23:58 to rise on the evil and on the good, 24:01 and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." 24:05 Our Father in heaven is good to everybody. 24:10 That's why Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, 24:15 even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 24:21 If that command seems impossible, 24:24 then you need to let the Bible once again interpret itself. 24:28 "Peter," Christ's disciple said, 24:31 "His divine power has given to us all things 24:35 that pertain to life and godliness, 24:38 through the knowledge of Him 24:40 who called us by glory and virtue." 24:43 Jesus came to show us where to park our minds. 24:46 On the Father, on His remarkable and enduring love. 24:51 Jesus didn't just come to call us righteous, 24:54 He came to also make us righteous. 24:58 His divine power the power that can create galaxies, 25:02 the power that can create life 25:04 can recreate us into new beings. 25:08 God has already written the Ten Commandments on stone 25:11 to reveal their enduring character. 25:14 As part of the new covenant experience 25:16 He also wants to write them on our hearts. 25:19 "This is the covenant 25:21 that I will make with them after those days, 25:23 saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, 25:28 and in their minds will I write them." 25:31 It is His divine power 25:32 that makes that change from the old man to the new man. 25:37 That's why Jesus told Nicodemus 25:39 that to receive the truths of God 25:41 we must be born again. 25:43 We must allow--we must invite the Holy Spirit into our heart, 25:49 and mind and life. 25:51 Let me tell you why this is important, 25:53 one more added teaching of Jesus here. 25:56 This is important because it is the purpose of Christ 26:00 for each of us to be a living testimony 26:03 of His life changing transforming power. 26:07 We are to be the proof. 26:10 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 26:14 if you have love one to another." 26:19 Our friend Savior and Lord Jesus said, 26:22 "Let your light so shine before men, 26:25 that they may see your good works, 26:27 and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 26:31 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, 26:34 or the prophets, 26:35 I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." 26:40 That law is to be fulfilled in us 26:43 as we seek after the Holy Spirit. 26:47 How much are we to love others. 26:50 Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you, 26:53 That ye love one another, as I have loved you, 26:58 that ye also love one another." 27:00 Two key words, Love and commandment. 27:04 Once again they come together, 27:07 but Leviticus 19:18 already said to love one and another. 27:11 What makes this a new commandment? 27:14 "A new commandment I give unto you." 27:16 Jesus said, "That ye love one another, 27:19 as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." 27:25 Back in the day we had the law, now we have the law giver. 27:30 It is no longer just to command, we've been given an example, 27:36 God is love and God was here. 27:40 Accept that love and let Him love the world through you. |
Revised 2014-12-17