Latest / Sacred Texts Archive / 17 - The Desire of Ages - Ellen Gould

Transcript

17 - The Desire of Ages - Ellen Gould · Sacred Texts Archive

• 0:00
  Nicodemus. Nicodemus held a high position of trust in the Jewish nation. He
• 0:06
  was highly educated and possessed talents of no ordinary character, and he was an
• 0:10
  honored member of the National Council. With others, he had been stirred by
• 0:15
  the teaching of Jesus. Though rich, learned and honored, he had been
• 0:20
  strangely attracted by the humble Nazarene. The lessons that had fallen from the Saviour's
• 0:25
  lips had greatly impressed him, and he desired to learn more of these wonderful
• 0:29
  truths. Christ's exercise of authority in the cleansing of the temple had roused the
• 0:34
  determined hatred of the priests and rulers. They feared the power of this stranger.
• 0:39
  Such boldness on the part of an obscure Galilean was not to be tolerated.
• 0:44
  They were bent on putting an end to his work. But not all
• 0:47
  were agreed in this purpose. There were some that feared to oppose one who
• 0:52
  was so evidently moved upon by the spirit of God. They remembered how prophets
• 0:56
  had been slain for rebuking the sins of the leaders in Israel. They knew
• 1:00
  that the bondage of the Jews to a heathen nation was the result of their
• 1:03
  stubbornness in rejecting reproofs from God. They feared that in plotting against Jesus,
• 1:08
  the priests and rulers were following in the steps of their fathers and would bring
• 1:12
  fresh calamities upon the nation. Nicodemus shared these feelings in a council of the
• 1:18
  Sanhedrin. When the course to be pursued towards Jesus was considered, Nicodemus advised
• 1:23
  caution and moderation. He urged that if Jesus was really invested with authority from
• 1:30
  God, it would be perilous to reject his warnings. The priests dared not
• 1:34
  disregard this council, and for the time they took no open measures against the
• 1:38
  Savior. Since hearing Jesus, Nicodemus had anxiously steadied the prophecies relating to the
• 1:45
  Messiah, and the more he searched, the stronger was his conviction that this
• 1:49
  was the one who was to come. With many others in Israel, he
• 1:53
  had been greatly distressed by the profanation of the temple. He was a witness
• 1:57
  of the scene when Jesus drove out the buyers and the sellers. He beheld
• 2:01
  the wonderful manifestation of divine power. He saw the Savior receiving the poor and
• 2:07
  healing the sick. He saw their looks of joy and heard their words of
• 2:12
  praise, and he could not doubt that Jesus of Nazareth was the sent of
• 2:15
  God. He greatly desired an interview with Jesus, but shrank from seeking him
• 2:21
  openly. It would be too humiliating for a ruler of the Jews to acknowledge
• 2:25
  himself in sympathy with a teacher as yet so little known, and should his
• 2:30
  visit come to the knowledge of the Sanhedron, it would draw upon him their
• 2:35
  scorn and denunciation. He resolved upon a secret interview, excusing this on the
• 2:40
  ground that if he were to go openly, others might follow his example.
• 2:46
  Learning by special inquiry the Saviour's place of retirement in the Mount of Olives,
• 2:51
  he waited until the city was hushed in slumber, and then sought him.
• 2:54
  In the presence of Christ. Nicodemus felt a strange timidity which he in davored
• 3:00
  to conceal under an air of composure and dignity. Rabbi. He said,
• 3:06
  we know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can
• 3:08
  do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. By speaking
• 3:14
  of Christ's rare gifts as a teacher, and also of his wonderful power to
• 3:17
  perform miracles, he hoped to pave the way for his interview. His words
• 3:23
  were designed to express and to invite confidence, but they really expressed unbelief.
• 3:29
  He did not acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah, but only a teacher set
• 3:32
  from God. Instead of recognizing this salutation, Jesus bent his eyes upon the
• 3:38
  speaker, as if reading his very soul. In his infinite wisdom, he
• 3:44
  saw before him a seeker after truth. He knew the object of this visit,
• 3:49
  and, with a desire to deepen the conviction already resting upon his listener's
• 3:53
  mind, he came directly to the point, saying, solemnly, yet kindly,
• 3:58
  verily, verily, I say unto thee except a man be born from
• 4:01
  above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. John three three margin.
• 4:06
  Nicodemus had come to the Lord, thinking to enter into a discussion with him,
• 4:12
  but Jesus laid bare the foundation principles of truth. He said to Nicodemus,
• 4:16
  it is not theoretical knowledge you need so much as spiritual regeneration. You
• 4:21
  need not to have your curiosity satisfied, but to have a new heart.
• 4:26
  You must receive a new life from above before you can appreciate heavenly things.
• 4:30
  Until this change takes place, making all things new, it will result in
• 4:35
  no saving good for you to discuss with me my authority or my mission.
• 4:41
  Nicodemus had heard the preaching of John the Baptist concerning repentance and baptism, and
• 4:46
  pointing the people to one who should baptize with the Holy Spirit. He himself
• 4:50
  had felt that there was a lack of spirituality among the Jews, that to
• 4:55
  a great degree they were controlled by bigotry and worldly ambition. Had hoped for
• 5:00
  a better state of things at the Messiah's coming. Yet the heart searching message
• 5:04
  of the Baptist had failed to work in him conviction of sin. He was
• 5:09
  a strict Pharisee and prided himself on his good works. He was widely esteemed
• 5:14
  for his benevolence and his liberality in sustaining the temple service, and he felt
• 5:18
  secure the favor of God. He was startled at the thought of a kingdom
• 5:23
  too pure for him to see in his present state. The figure of the
• 5:28
  new birth which Jesus had used was not wholly unfamiliar to Nicodemus. Converts from
• 5:33
  Heathenism to the faith of Israel were often compared to children just born. Therefore,
• 5:39
  he must have perceived that the words of Christ were not to be taken
• 5:42
  in a literal sense, but by virtue of his birth as an Israelite,
• 5:46
  he regarded himself as sure of a place in the Kingdom of God. He
• 5:50
  felt that he needed no change, hence his surprise at the Saviour's words.
• 5:55
  He was irritated by their close application to himself. The private the Pharisee was
• 6:00
  struggling against the honest desire of the seeker after truth. He wondered that Christ
• 6:04
  should speak to him as he did not, respecting his position as a ruler
• 6:10
  in Israel. Surprised out of his self possession, he answered Christ in words
• 6:15
  full of irony, how can a man be born when he is old like
• 6:18
  many others? When cutting truth is brought home to the conscience, he revealed
• 6:24
  the fact that the natural man receiveth, not the things of the Spirit of
• 6:28
  God. There is in him nothing that responds to spiritual things, for spiritual
• 6:32
  things are spiritually discerned. But the Savior did not meet argument with argument.
• 6:38
  Raising his hand with solemn, quiet dignity, he pressed the truth home with
• 6:42
  greater assurance. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man
• 6:46
  be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom
• 6:50
  of God. Nicodemus knew that Christ here referred to water, baptism, and
• 6:56
  the renewing of the heart by the Spirit of God. He was convince vince
• 7:00
  that he was in the presence of the one whom John the Baptist had foretold.
• 7:03
  Jesus continued, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
• 7:08
  that which is born of the spirit is spirit. By nature, the heart
• 7:12
  is evil. And who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not
• 7:15
  one Job fourteen four. No human invention can find a remedy for the sinning
• 7:21
  soul. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject
• 7:26
  to the law of God. Neither indeed, can be out of the heart
• 7:30
  proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
• 7:35
  blasphemies Romans eight seven, Matthew fifteen nineteen. The fountain of the heart must
• 7:42
  be purified before the streams can become pure. He who is trying to reach
• 7:46
  Heaven by his own works in keeping the law is attempting an impossibility. There
• 7:51
  is no safety for one who is merely a legal religion a form of godliness.
• 7:58
  The Christian's life is not a modificationation or improvement of the old, but
• 8:01
  a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and
• 8:05
  a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual
• 8:11
  working of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus was still perplexed, and Jesus used the
• 8:16
  wind to illustrate his meaning. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
• 8:20
  hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it
• 8:26
  goeth. So is every one that is born of the spirit. The wind
• 8:31
  is heard among the branches of the trees, rustling the leaves and flowers.
• 8:35
  Yet it is invisible, and no man knows whence it comes or whether it
• 8:39
  goes. So with the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, it
• 8:43
  can no more be explained than can the movements of the wind. A person
• 8:48
  may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or to trace
• 8:52
  all the circumstances in the process of conversion, but this does not prove him
• 8:56
  to be unconverted by an agency as unseen as the wind. Christ is constantly
• 9:01
  working upon the heart. Little by little, perhaps unconsciously, to the receiver.
• 9:07
  Impressions are made that tend to draw the soul to Christ. These may
• 9:11
  be received through meditating upon him, through reading the scriptures, or through hearing
• 9:16
  the word from the living preacher. Suddenly, as a spirit comes with more
• 9:20
  direct appeal, the soul gladly surrenders itself to Jesus. By many this is
• 9:26
  called sudden conversion, but it is a result of long wooing by the Spirit
• 9:31
  of God, a patient, protracted process. While the wind itself is invisible,
• 9:37
  it produces effects that are seen and felt. So the work of the
• 9:41
  Spirit upon the soul will reveal itself in every act of him who has felt
• 9:45
  its saving power. When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart,
• 9:50
  it transforms a life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced,
• 9:56
  Love, humility and peace take the place of anger, envy and strife.
• 10:00
  Joy takes a place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of
• 10:03
  heaven. No one sees the hand that lifts the burden or beholds the light
• 10:09
  descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith, the soul
• 10:13
  surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see,
• 10:18
  creates a new being in the image of God. It is impossible for finite
• 10:24
  minds to comprehend the work of redemption. Its mystery exceeds human knowledge. Yet
• 10:30
  he who passes from death to life realizes that it is a divine reality.
• 10:35
  The beginning of redemption. We may know here through a personal experience. It
• 10:41
  results reached through the eternal ages. While Jesus was speaking, some gleams of
• 10:46
  truth penetrated the ruler's mind. The softening, subduing influence of the Holy Spirit
• 10:52
  impressed his heart, Yet he did not fully understand the Saviour's words. He
• 10:56
  was not so much impressed by the necessity of the new birth as by the
• 11:01
  manner of its accomplishment. He said, wonderingly, how can these things be?
• 11:07
  Art Thou, a master of Israel and knowest not these things, Jesus
• 11:11
  asked, Surely one entrusted with the religious instruction of the people should not be
• 11:16
  ignorant of truth so important his words conveyed the lessons that, instead of feeling
• 11:20
  irritated over the plain words of truth, Nicodemus should have had a very humble
• 11:26
  opinion of himself because of his spiritual ignorance. Yet Christ spoke with such solemn
• 11:33
  dignity, and both look and tone expressed such earnest love that Nicodemus was not
• 11:37
  offended as he realized his humiliating condition. But as Jesus explained that his mission
• 11:43
  on earth was to establish a spiritual instead of a temporal kingdom, his hearer
• 11:48
  was troubled seeing this. Jesus added, if I have told you earthly things
• 11:54
  and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly
• 11:58
  things. If Nicodemus could not receive Christ's teaching illustrating the work of grace upon
• 12:05
  the heart, how could he comprehend the nature of his glorious heavenly kingdom.
• 12:09
  Not discerning the nature of Christ's work on earth, he could not understand his
• 12:13
  work in heaven. The Jews whom Jesus had driven from the temple, claimed
• 12:18
  to be children of Abraham, But they fled from the Saviour's presence because they
• 12:22
  could not endure the glory of God which was manifested in him. Thus they
• 12:26
  gave evidence that they were not fitted by the grace of God to participate in
• 12:31
  the sacred services of the temple. They were zealous to maintain an appearance of
• 12:35
  holiness, but they neglected holiness of the heart. While they were sticklers for
• 12:41
  the letter of the law, they were constantly violating its spirit. Their great
• 12:45
  need was that very change which Christ had been explaining to Nicodemus, a new
• 12:50
  moral birth, a cleansing from sin, and a renewing of knowledge and holiness.
• 12:56
  There was no excuse for the blindness of Israel in regard to the work
• 13:00
  of regeneration. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah had written,
• 13:05
  we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
• 13:11
  rags. David had prayed, created me a clean heart, O God,
• 13:16
  and renew a right spirit within me. And through Ezekiel the promise had been
• 13:20
  given. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
• 13:24
  will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out
• 13:28
  of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And
• 13:31
  I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
• 13:37
  Isaiah sixty four six, Psalms fifty one ten, Ezekiel thirty six, twenty
• 13:41
  six, and twenty seven. Nicodemus had read these scriptures with a clouded mind,
• 13:46
  but he now began to comprehend their meaning. He saw that the most
• 13:50
  rigid obedience to the mere letter of the laws applied to the outward life,
• 13:56
  could entitle no man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In the estimate of
• 14:00
  men, his life had been just and honorable, but in the presence of
• 14:03
  Christ he felt that his heart was unclean and his life unholy. Nicodemus was
• 14:11
  being drawn to Christ as the Savior explained to him concerning the new birth.
• 14:16
  He longed to have this change wrought in himself. By what means could it
• 14:20
  be accomplished? Jesus answered the unspoken question. As Moses lifted up the serpent
• 14:26
  in the wilderness, even so must the son of Man be lifted up,
• 14:30
  that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Here
• 14:35
  was the ground with which Nicodemus was familiar. The symbol of the uplifted serpent
• 14:41
  made plain to him the Saviour's mission. When the people of Israel were dying
• 14:45
  from the sting of the fiery serpents, God directed Moses to make a serpent
• 14:48
  of brass and place it on high in the midst of the congregation. Then
• 14:54
  the word was sounded throughout the encampment that all who would look upon the serpent
• 14:58
  should live. The people knew well that in itself the serpent had no power
• 15:03
  to help them. It was a symbol of Christ. As the image made
• 15:07
  in the likeness of destroying serpents was lifted up for their healing, so one
• 15:11
  made in the likeness of sinful flesh was to be their redeemer Romans eight three.
• 15:18
  Many of the Israelites regarded the sacrificial service as having in itself virtue to
• 15:22
  set them free from sin. God desired to teach them that it had no
• 15:28
  more value than that serpent of brass. It was to lead their minds to
• 15:31
  the Savior, whether for the healing of their wounds or the pardon of their
• 15:35
  sins. They could do nothing for themselves but show their faith in the gift
• 15:39
  of God. They were to look and live. Those who had been bitten
• 15:43
  by the serpents might have delayed to look. They might have questioned how there
• 15:48
  could be efficacy in that brazen symbol. They might have demanded a scientific explanation.
• 15:54
  But no explanation was given. They must accept the word of God to
• 15:58
  them through Moses. To refuse to look was to perish. Not through controversy
• 16:04
  and discussion. Is the soul enlightened? We must look and live. Nicodemus
• 16:10
  received the lesson and carried it with him. He searched the scriptures in a
• 16:14
  new way, not for the discussion of a theory, but in order to
• 16:17
  receive life for the soul. He began to see the Kingdom of heaven as
• 16:22
  he submitted himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit. There are thousands to
• 16:26
  day who need to learn the same truth that was taught to Nicodemus by the
• 16:30
  uplifted serpent. They depend upon their obedience the law of God to commend them
• 16:36
  to his favor. When they are bidden to look to Jesus and believe that
• 16:40
  he saves them solely through his grace, they exclaim, how can these things
• 16:45
  be like Nicodemus. We must be willing to enter into life in the same
• 16:49
  way as the chief of sinners. Then Christ, there is none other name
• 16:55
  under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts for twelve.
• 17:00
  Through faith we receive the grace of God. But faith is not our
• 17:04
  savior. It earns nothing. It is the hand by which we lay a
• 17:08
  hold upon Christ and appropriate his merits the remedy for sin. And we cannot
• 17:15
  even repent without the aid of the spirit of God. The scripture says of
• 17:19
  Christ him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a prince and
• 17:23
  a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Acts
• 17:29
  five thirty one. Repentance comes from Christ as truly as does pardon. How
• 17:34
  then are we to be saved As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
• 17:38
  So the son of Man has been lifted up, And every one who
• 17:41
  has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and live. Behold the
• 17:48
  lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. John one twenty
• 17:52
  nine. The light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His
• 17:57
  love is drawing us to himself. If we do not resist this drawing,
• 18:03
  we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the sins
• 18:06
  that have crucified the Savior. Then the Spirit of God through faith produces a
• 18:11
  new life in the soul. The thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to
• 18:15
  the will of Christ. The heart the mind are created anew in the image
• 18:21
  of Him who works in us to subdue all things to himself. Then the
• 18:25
  law of God is written in the mind and heart, and we can say,
• 18:29
  with Christ, I delight to do Thy will, O my God Psums
• 18:33
  forty eight. In the interview with Nicodemus, Jesus unfolded the plan of salvation
• 18:40
  and his mission to the world. In none of his subsequent discourses did he
• 18:44
  explain so fully, step by step, the work necessary to be done in
• 18:48
  the hearts of all who would inherit the kingdom of Heaven. At the very
• 18:52
  beginning of his ministry, he opened the truth to a member of the Sanhedrin,
• 18:56
  to the mind that was most receptive, and to an appointed teacher of
• 19:00
  the people. But the leaders of Israel did not welcome the light. Nicodemus
• 19:06
  hid the truth in his heart, and for three years there was little apparent
• 19:11
  fruit. But Jesus was acquainted with the soil into which he cast the seed.
• 19:15
  The words spoken at night to one listener in the lonely mountain were not
• 19:19
  lost. For a long time. Nicodemus did not publicly acknowledge Christ, but
• 19:25
  he watched his life and pondered his teachings in the Sanhedrin council. He repeatedly
• 19:30
  thwarted the schemes of the priest to destroy him. When at last Jesus was
• 19:34
  lifted up on the cross, Nicodemus remembered the teaching upon Olivet. As Moses
• 19:41
  lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of Man
• 19:45
  be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
• 19:49
  eternal life. The light from that secret interview illumined the Cross upon Cavalry,
• 19:56
  and Nicodemus saw in Jesus the world earl's redeemer. After the Lord's ascension,
• 20:03
  when the disciples were scattered by persecution, Nicodemus came boldly to the front.
• 20:07
  He employed his wealth in sustaining the infant church that the Jews had expected to
• 20:12
  be blotted out at the death of Christ. In the time of peril,
• 20:17
  he who had been so cautious and questioning, was firm as a rock,
• 20:22
  encouraging the faith of the disciples and furnishing means to carry forward the work of
• 20:26
  the Gospel. He was scorned and persecuted by those who had paid him reverence
• 20:30
  in other days. He became poor in this world's goods, yet he faltered
• 20:36
  not in the faith which had its beginnings in that night conference with Jesus.
• 20:41
  Nicodemus related to John the story of that interview, and by his pen it
• 20:45
  was recorded for the instruction of millions. The truths there taught are as important
• 20:51
  to day as they were on that solemn night in the shadowy mountain, when
• 20:55
  the Jewish ruler came to learn the way of life from the lowly teacher of
• 20:59
  Galilee. End of Chapter seventeen.