In this thought-provoking episode, we delve into the profound concept of eternity and how it unfolds in the Millennium. Join Dr. J. Vernon McGee and his team as they explore the nature of infinity and its mysteries as outlined in the Bible. The conversation opens up vistas on how early believers in Ephesus, much like the church today, were challenged to maintain their first love for Christ despite trials and tribulations.
How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
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How do you wrap your mind around the concept of eternity? Well, that’s a tough question. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, our teacher on Through the Bible, addresses in this special introduction to our study.
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Before we leave the subject of the Millennium altogether, and before we get to the book of Revelation, I probably should add one little note, and that is the fact that in the Millennium, I think for the first time man will begin to see something of the meaning of infinity and eternity. And I’d just like to read a statement that I got out of Dr. Stokes’ book on the Genesis Answer. And here is what he writes, infinity and eternity are difficult, if not impossible, for the human mind to comprehend. It’s much easier to deal with beginnings and endings because these are what we experience and observe every day. The world is one of finite things with edges, Boundaries, dimensions, origins, endings, startings, stoppings, appearances, disappearances. Only when we gaze into the starry heavens do we begin to grasp, however dimly, the idea of infinity. But the same questions that stirred the first inquiring minds thousands of years ago still plague the sophisticated, far-seeing scientists of today. What lies beyond? Always one can imagine a boundary, but never a boundary with nothing beyond. May I say to you, I think that in the millennium, We’re going to begin to see this stretching out for the first time that God let us in on something that he has not let the world in to before.
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That’s an interesting thought, and we’re in for a few more in our study today. I’m Steve Schwetz, thanking you for your company on this five-year journey through God’s entire Word. In Malachi, the Bible bus has come to the end of the Old Testament, and soon we’ll be in our final book of the Bible, the long-anticipated study of Revelation. Now is really the perfect time to download your copy of Briefing the Bible that includes all of Dr. McGee’s notes and outlines. from Genesis to Revelation. These notes are really a terrific roadmap as we journey through the pages of God’s Word. So grab them in our app, download a digital copy at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE to request an abridged paperback version. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, use this instruction from your Word to shine light into a dark world so that all who hear it will see Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Open to Malachi 2 as we go through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
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Now, I just lifted out last time that statement that the Lord Jesus made to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2-4. Nevertheless, I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love. Now, the church in Ephesus is the church at its best. It has never been on a higher spiritual level since then. It’s difficult for us in this cold day of apostasy to conceive of the lofty plane to which the Holy Spirit had brought the early church in its personal relationship to Christ. The believers in the early church were in love with Christ. They loved him. And five million of them sealed their love with their own blood by dying as martyrs for him. I’ve made a little change, as you will notice in the translation here of Revelation 2, 4, and I want to make another change. The word for first love is proton in the Greek, and it means best. It’s the same word that the Lord Jesus used in the parable of the prodigal son, so-called, where the father put on the son the proton robe. That is the best robe. And to the Ephesian believers, Christ is talking about the best love. To the church on its high plane into which a coolness was creeping, Christ says, nevertheless, I have against thee that thou art leaving, not have left, but you’re leaving your best love. Salvation is a love affair. The question that the Lord asks all of us is, do you love me? He’s not asking, are you going to be faithful? Are you going to the mission field? Are you going to give? Are you going to do something? He’s asking, do you love him? Then he’ll tell you that you’re to obey him and there’ll be something for you to do. He’s not asking, how much are you going to give? It’s very clear. He said, if you love me, keep my commandments. And we love him because he first loved us. Now, the second book I ever wrote was on the little book of Ruth. My reason for writing it was to show that redemption is a romance. God took the lives of two ordinary people, a very strong and virile man and a very beautiful and noble woman. And he told their love story. In that story, God revealed to man his great love for him. It was a way to get this amazing fact through to us. Salvation is a love affair. In Christ’s last letter to the Ephesian church, here in Revelation, he sounds a warning. We do not quite understand this. But I go back 30 or 40 years to his first letter to these believers. written through Paul. We call it the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. In this epistle, he discussed this matter of marital love and compared it to the love of Christ for the church. This has been one of the most misunderstood passages in the Word of God. Now, I gave it last time. Listen again today. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. That’s Ephesians 5.22. Now, there’s been a natural resentment against this on the part of some, especially very dominant women, and that’s gone on for years. And the women’s lib would oppose it. But to resent this is to miss the meaning that is here. Submission is actually for the purpose of headship in the home. It’s not a question of one lording it over the other. It’s headship for the purpose of bringing order into the home. But in addition to this, it reveals something else that’s quite wonderful. The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the church, and he’s the Savior of the body. The analogy you see is to Christ and the church. Christian marriage down here, if it’s made under the Lord, is a miniature of the relationship of Christ and the church. Christian marriage is an adumbration of that wonderful relationship between Christ and the believer. Christian marriage and the relationship of Christ and the church are sacred. Now, will you listen to me very carefully? The physical act of marriage is sacred. It’s a religious ritual. It’s a sacrament. I do not mean a sacrament made by the church, nor is it made by a man-made ceremony. But it’s a sacrament that is made by God himself, one which he sanctifies, and he says that this relationship is to reveal to you the love of Christ for your soul. Therefore, the woman is to see in a man one to whom she can yield herself in a glorious abandonment. She can give herself wholly and completely and find perfect fulfillment and satisfaction in this man because this is the man for her. And that is what he’s talking about in Genesis. Spurgeon had something to say about this, and let’s listen to him. She delights in her husband, in his person, his character, his affection. To her, he’s not only the chief and foremost of mankind, but in her eyes, he’s all in all. Her heart’s love belongs to him and to him only. He is her little world, her paradise, her choice treasure. She’s glad to sink her individuality in his. She seeks no renown for herself. His honor is reflected upon her and she rejoices in it. She will defend his name with her dying breath. Safe enough is he where she can speak of him. His smiling gratitude is all the reward she seeks. Even in her dress, she thinks of him and considers nothing beautiful, which is distasteful to him. He has many objects in life, some of which she does not quite understand, but she believes in them all. And anything she can do to promote them, she delights to perform. Such a wife as a true spouse realizes the model marriage relation and sets forth what our oneness with the Lord ought to be. How wonderful that is, by the way, and that’s the end of the quote. Now, my beloved, that’s a marvelous picture of the wife in a real Christian marriage. Now, the man is to see in the woman when he can worship. Somebody says, worship? I mean just that. Worship means that there’s something worthy. As someone says, you really mean worship? I mean exactly that. You will find that worship is respect. that is tied to worth. If you go back and read the old marriage ceremonies, you will find that the bridegroom always said, I with my body worship you. That is, he sees in her everything that’s worthwhile. He must love her so much that he’s willing to die for her. Now, the Bible is very expressive, and I do not know why we should be so reluctant to speak as plainly If you turn back to the Song of Solomon, you’ll see the picture of the bridegroom and what he thinks of his bride. He says, Thou art all fair, my love. There’s no spot in thee. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. That’s rather expressive, is it not? That’s what the bridegroom says. Now hear the words of the bride. My beloved is mine. And I’m his, he feedeth among the lilies. And that is Song of Solomon 2.16. Now, my friend, you can’t go any higher than that. In that moment of supreme and sweet ecstasy. Either the wife will carry him to the skies or plunge him down to the depths of hell. Either the husband will place her on a pedestal and say, I worship you because I find no spot in you, or else he’ll treat her with brutality. When this happens, he’ll kill her love and she’ll hate him and become cold and frigid. In counseling, I found that this is one reason that a great many marriages are breaking up. Bacteriologist Rene Dubot of the Rockefeller Institute has made this statement. Will you listen? Aimlessness and lack of fulfillment constitute the most common cause of organic and mental disease in the Western world. In other words, this thing that he’s talking about is breaking up many a marriage. A wife becomes dissatisfied and frustrated. She becomes nervous, neurotic, and nagging. The husband settles down to a life of mediocrity. He becomes lonely and either develops into a hand-pecked milquetoast or a domineering brute. You’ll find both in our society today. Now, let me ask a question, and this is rather personal. Are you the kind of a woman that a man would die for? I’m going to be very frank. If you are just one of these little beetle brains who’s merely a sex kitten making eyes at every boy that comes along, you’ll never be the kind of a woman that a man would die for. If you do not have beauty of character, if you do not have nobility of soul, you will be but a flame without heat, a rainbow without color, and a flower without perfume. The Word of God deals with that outward adorning. And do not misunderstand, the Bible does not militate against it. All of us ought to look the best we can, and some of us have our problems. But we should do the best we can with what we have. God intends us to enhance the beauty He’s given us. There’s no reason for any woman not dressing in style. That’s no reason for her not to look the best she possibly can. But God puts the emphasis not on outward adorning, but on the meek and quiet spirit, the inward adorning, which is with God of great price. Listen to Peter. We’ve had this before. First Peter 3, 3 and 4, whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel. But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Now, will you listen? I want to say something to the young man. Are you the kind of a man that a woman would follow to the ends of the earth? You may look like a model for Hart, Schaffner, and Marx, but have no purpose, no ambition, no heart for serving God as a Christian, no capacity for great and deep things, no vision at all. If you are that kind, a woman will not follow you very far. She may go with you down to get the marriage license, but she’ll also be going down later to get the divorce. All across our West, There are monuments erected to the pioneer wife and mother. I’ve referred to this before, and I want to refer to it again. I noticed one that’s over here in Colorado, and I found out that the statue’s up here in California also. But I’ve always been impressed by it. It’s a statue of a pioneer wife and mother. She’s a fine-looking woman, crowned with a sun bonnet. The children are about her holding on to her long flowing dress. Four or five of them, by the way. You know, she did not go to the psychiatrist or marriage counselor. You know why she never had to go to the preacher to talk about her marriage breaking up? Because one day a man came to her and said, I’m going west to build a career and home. Will you follow me? And she said, I will. And she learned that this man would stand between her and danger. She had many experiences when he protected her from the menacing Indians of that day. She had no problems about whether he loved her or not, and he did not doubt her loyalty. They loved each other. These are the kind of people who built our country. It’s the other element that’s tearing it to pieces today. My lovely country, and I don’t like it. I hate to see it happening. I know that someone is saying right now, Preacher, I’m not that kind of a person. I’m no hero. Well, young man, God never said that every girl would fall in love with you. 99 women may pass you by and seeing you only the boy next door who uses that greasy kid stuff. That’s all. But let me say to you very seriously, one of these days there will come by a woman who’s seeing you the night in shining armor. It’s God who gives that highly charged chemistry between a certain man and a certain woman. A young woman may be saying, but I’m not beautiful of face or figure. May I say this to you? God never said that you’d attract every male. Only animals do that. 99 men will pass you by in seeing you no more than what Kipling described, a rag of bone and a hank of hair. But one of these days, they’ll come by a man who’ll love you. If you’re the right kind of person, you’ll become his inspiration. You may inspire him to greatness, to write a book, to compose a masterpiece of poetry and music, to paint a picture, or even to preach a sermon. If you are his inspiration, do not ignore him. Do not run from him. God may have sent you together for that very purpose. There will come that one. Perhaps you’re thinking, Preacher, you’re in the realm of theory. What are you talking about is idealistic. It sounds good in a storybook, but does not happen in life. You’re wrong. It does happen. I think of the story of Matthew Henry. I’m right now looking up here in my study down at radio headquarters at a set of books called Matthew Henry’s Commentary. And I want to say this candidly. I don’t think I’ve opened one of those books in years. I used to open them quite a bit. But I’ve never read anything as dull as Matthew Henry. I have to confess that. But I want to say something about that man, something that I found out that’s given me a great respect for him. He may be a boring writer, but I tell you, he had a thrilling life. And I never knew, reading some of his material, that he could ever have been romantic at any time in his life. But when he came to London as a young man, he met a very wealthy girl of the nobility. He fell in love with her, and she loved him. Finally, she went to her father to tell him about it, and the father, trying to discourage her, said, why, that young man has no background. You do not even know where he came from. She answered, you’re right. I do not know where he came from, but I know where he’s going, and I want to go with him. And she went. Nathaniel Hawthorne was merely a clerk that anybody would have passed by, working in the customs in New York City until he was fired for inefficiency. He came home and he sank into a chair, discouraged and defeated. His wife came behind him, placed before him pen and paper and putting her arm about him, said, Now, Nathaniel, you can do what you always wanted to do. You can write. He wrote The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter and other enduring literature because a wife was his inspiration. That was an eternal love. In one of her last letters, the widow of Nathaniel Hawthorne penned this ineradicable hope. which became an anchor of comfort in her soul, Sarah. Listen to what she wrote now. I have an eternity, thank God, in which to know him more and more, or I should die of despair. He said that when he died. You say I’m talking about history. I’m talking about fact. Let’s go back to the very beginning. I’ve taken you to Adam and Eve at the beginning of this series, and we’ll go back there. Again, that was a romance. Listen to Paul again. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. You love your wife, she’s the other part of you. She’s you. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth even as the Lord the church. But we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones for this cause. Shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. You see, Eve was created to be a helpmate for Adam, a help that is fitted for him, one that would just fit right in, my friend. And she’s taken from his side, not molded from the ground as were the animals, but taken from a part of him so that he actually was incomplete until they were together. God fashioned her the loveliest thing in creation and he brought her to Adam. She was a help that was fit for him. She compensated for what he lacked. He’s not completing himself. She was made for him and they became one. Again, I read it. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out a man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother. to Cleve and his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” Let me move down in history. I want to take a story that always has thrilled me. It’s the story of Abelard and Heloise. When John Lord wrote his Great Women, he used Heloise as the example of love, marital love. The story concerns a young ecclesiastic by the name of Abelard. He was a brilliant young teacher and preacher in what became the University of Paris. And the canon there had a niece by the name of Heloise, whom he sent to be under Abelard’s instruction. She was a remarkable person. He was a remarkable man. You know the story. They fell madly in love. But according to the awful practice of that day, and still is, the marriage of a priest was deemed a lasting disgrace. And when John Lord wrote their story, he gave this introduction, which I’d like to share with you. It’s almost too beautiful to read in this day. It’s like a dew-drenched breeze blowing from a flower-strewn mountain meadow with a slop bucket and pigsty of our contemporary literature. Here’s what he wrote. When Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, they yet found one flower. Wherever they wandered, blooming in perpetual beauty, the flower represents a great certitude without which few would be happy, subtle, mysterious, inexorable, a great boon recognized alike by poets and moralists, pagan and Christian, yet identified not only with happiness but human existence and pertaining to the soul in its highest aspiration, allied with the transient and the mortal, even with the weak and corrupt. It’s not immortal in its nature and lofty in its aims. It wants a passion, a sentiment, and an inspiration. Now, I won’t read the rest of it, but Abelard and Heloise, having fallen in love, were not permitted by the church to marry. Therefore, they were married secretly by a friend of Abelard. He continued to teach. But the secret came out when a servant betrayed them, and she was forced into a nunnery. She was never permitted. to visit him, and he was never permitted. He was 20 years older than she was, and when he was dying, he asked that he might be with her, that she might attend him, but it was forbidden, and so he wrote this. “‘When it pleased thee, O Lord, and as it pleased thee, thou didst join us, and thou didst separate us. Now what thou hast so mercifully begun,’ mercifully complete, and after separating us in this world, join us together eternally in heaven. And may I say, friends, that it’s my personal belief that if you have a wife that you love or a husband that you love, They’re not given in marriage in heaven. You got married down here, but there’s no reason in the world why you can’t be together throughout eternity. That’s something to think about. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
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That little peek into heaven is a great thing to think about. We’ll pick up here next time. Until then, to be in touch, call us at 1-865-BIBLE or visit ttb.org. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll meet you back here next time.
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All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
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Today’s study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee is brought to you by Through the Bible, and it’s made possible by the generous prayer and financial investments from listeners like you on the Bible bus all around the world.
