Participants: Ty Gibson
Series Code: 14SCM
Program Code: 14SCM000013S
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00:38 Hello and welcome to this hour of blessing
00:40 through 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 00:42 as we present to you The Second Coming: 00:45 an in-depth look. And we have been blessed 00:47 by many speakers already. And we are glad to have 00:50 a multitude of people that are eager to hear the preaching 00:53 of God's Word. Do you love Jesus? Say amen. 00:56 Amen! Amen. We welcome those of you that are joining us 00:59 in different parts of the world... be it radio, Internet, 01:03 local cable, local television, or whatever method you are using 01:07 to get 3ABN because now you can even get 3ABN on those 01:11 Smartphones and tablets. 01:13 And so we're using every means possible 01:15 to get the gospel out. And we praise the Lord 01:17 that many people are being won to Christ 01:19 through every one of those methods we have mentioned. Amen! 01:22 We are talking about the second coming. 01:25 The day will come when you could be driving down the road, 01:28 working in your garden, going to the grocery store 01:31 or whatever the case may be and that little cloud that 01:36 appears as a man's hand will be growing bigger and bigger 01:39 and eventually you will hear the sound of trumpets 01:44 and the mighty glory of Jesus and the angels. 01:48 And the sky will be lit 01:52 with the glory of that majestic second coming. 01:57 And I hope you'll be among those that their heart rejoices 02:01 and they say: "Finally the time has come 02:04 for our redemption from this evil world! " 02:08 There will be a group of people that will be very sad. 02:12 We hope you will be in the correct group: 02:15 the group that will be happy to see Jesus come. 02:17 So as we look at the prophecies we must understand 02:22 how to interpret these prophecies. 02:24 And Ty Gibson, the speaker during this hour, 02:27 he will be leading us through a Bible study 02:30 to help us understand the schools of Biblical 02:34 interpretation. And so we hope you have pens; Bible ready 02:39 and paper to be able to jot down this information. 02:42 And with this information you will be able to take a look 02:45 at the prophecies and understand the correct way 02:48 to interpret these prophecies and to stand on sure ground. 02:52 Amen? Amen. 02:54 Before Ty Gibson presents this message 02:57 we are blessed to have Sr. Celestine and Michael Barry. 03:02 Michael will be at the piano and Celestine will be singing 03:06 a hymn - very well known but very powerful - 03:09 The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power. 03:14 Before she sings and before the message 03:16 we would like to invite you to pray. 03:18 And if it is possible for you we'd like to invite you to 03:20 stand. And let us go to the Lord in prayer and ask 03:22 for His blessing. Because without His blessing 03:26 we will be lost. Let us pray together: 03:30 Our loving heavenly Father, 03:33 we are grateful to You, Lord, that You care 03:36 so much for us that even in this hour 03:40 You want to speak to us. 03:42 And we pray that You will speak to us 03:44 through Your servant Ty Gibson. 03:47 We thank you for his ministry through Light Bearers 03:51 that is winning souls for Your kingdom 03:54 through the preaching of the gospel, through literature. 03:58 And we praise the Lord that literally millions of pieces of 04:02 literature have been distributed throughout the world 04:04 through Light Bearers Ministry. 04:07 We thank you for his leadership as co-founder 04:09 and speaker for Light Bearers Ministry 04:12 and we pray that You will con- tinue to bless him and use him. 04:15 That even in this hour Your Holy Spirit will be upon him 04:18 to use him to lead us through this understanding of Your Word. 04:23 We pray, Father, that You will bless his wife Sue 04:27 and his children and that their ministry could have Your 04:32 protection, Your leadership, and Your leading in each and 04:35 every aspect. And Father, bless us also 04:38 with the Holy Spirit that we may understand the message 04:41 You have brought to us through him. 04:43 And we ask You for these things 04:45 in the holy and blessed name of Jesus, Amen. 04:49 Amen. You may be seated. I leave you with Sr. Celestine 04:53 and Michael Barry. 05:13 The blood that Jesus 05:17 shed for me, 05:22 Way back on Calvary; 05:28 The blood that gives me strength 05:32 from day to day, 05:36 It will never lose its pow'r. 05:43 It reaches to the highest 05:48 mountain, 05:50 And it flows to the lowest 05:55 valley, yes 05:58 the blood that gives me strength 06:02 from day to day, 06:06 It will never lose 06:10 its pow'r. 06:14 It soothes my doubts 06:18 and calms my fears, 06:24 And it dries all my tears; 06:29 Yes, the blood 06:31 that gives me strength 06:33 from day to day, 06:37 It will never lose 06:40 its pow'r. 06:44 It reaches 06:46 to the highest mountain, 06:51 And it flows 06:54 to the lowest valley 06:58 Yes, ooh, the blood 07:01 that gives me strength 07:03 from day to day, 07:07 It will never lose its pow'r. 07:14 It reaches 07:17 to the highest mountain, 07:22 And it flows 07:24 to the lowest valley 07:29 Yes, ooh, the blood 07:32 that gives me strength 07:34 from day to day, 07:38 It will never lose... 07:42 It will never lose... 07:45 It will never 07:50 lose 07:53 its 07:57 pow'r. 08:06 Amen! Amen! 08:11 Celestine, Michael... thank you. 08:14 Good afternoon everybody. Good afternoon! 08:16 I'm so glad to... Happy Birthday, Ty! 08:20 OK. 08:25 All the evidence I need 08:29 that James preached some time before me today. 08:35 But here's the fact of the matter; here's the fact of 08:37 the matter: I don't need that circumstantial evidence 08:40 because James thinks he's slick. 08:45 He thinks that he had a private conversation with you 08:49 forgetting the fact that this is on the airwaves 08:52 around the world 08:56 and that 3ABN is available in the very hotel room 08:59 where I was staying. 09:03 And I flipped it on knowing he was going to preach 09:06 at that particular time, and I stood there listening 09:08 to him preach because he tends to have things worth knowing. 09:14 So I knew... As soon as I walked on campus here 09:18 people were smiling at me. Sending me texts. 09:21 But listen, listen, here's what I know about James: 09:27 first of all, he's driving right now so he won't know 09:30 anything I'm about to share with you. 09:32 Second of all, I refer to him as 09:35 Elder James... not by virtue of ordination 09:41 but by virtue of age. That's right. 09:44 That is as a synonym for "Old Dude. " 09:48 James is older than me, but I want to tell you 09:50 something else about James because this Camp Meeting theme 09:53 is about the second advent, the second coming. 09:56 James and I began serving the Lord very early 10:00 and preaching the Word at a very young age together. 10:04 And James was so convicted that Jesus was coming soon - 10:10 and rightly so - that he said: "I'll never get married. " 10:14 I said: "Is that right? " 10:16 But he kept hanging around my house, and my wife was 10:18 making him clothes and feeding him 10:21 and just a great arrangement for James. 10:27 So I began to develop a conviction - straight from 10:30 the Lord, no doubt - that James ought to get married. 10:34 But James was sure that he shouldn't get married 10:37 because time was so short. 10:39 And then we had a Camp Meeting, and during that Camp Meeting 10:42 James made the acquaintance of a young lady. 10:46 We were all very young then. 10:48 And after the Camp Meeting he came to me 10:50 and he said: "Ty, I met this girl but you know I'm convicted 10:54 not to get married. " I said: "Yeah, I know you're 10:56 convicted not to get married but tell me about her. " 11:01 So he proceeded to tell me about this girl 11:03 that he met at Camp Meeting. 11:06 And I said: "James, here's what you need to do: 11:08 you need to write her a letter and you need to say something 11:12 like: 'My name is James. We met briefly. 11:16 You were at the Camp Meeting. 11:17 I would like to begin communication with you 11:19 to explore the possibility of marriage. ' " 11:26 He said: "That's not how you do it, is it? " 11:30 And I said: "When you believe that Jesus is coming soon, 11:34 brother, that's how you do it. 11:36 We're running out of time and we need to get you married up. " 11:39 He was absolutely determined not to get married; 11:43 I was absolutely determined that he would and should 11:45 get married just so there was somebody else to spend time 11:48 with him... although I enjoy thoroughly spending time 11:52 with him. One little part that you need to know 11:55 actually preparatory to our message, and that is this: 11:58 that he almost got hitched to a girl before the one... 12:02 Well, by the way... that girl actually wrote back. 12:04 He was so nervous: "She's not going to go for this. " 12:07 She wrote back and said: "Yes, let's begin communication. " 12:11 I said: "She will respect the fact that you got down to 12:13 business. " But there was a girl before that, 12:17 and he almost married her and I talked him out of that. 12:22 And you know why? 12:24 Because the only reason he considered marrying her 12:28 is because she was one of the very few human beings - 12:32 and the only female - who would listen to his entire two-day 12:36 explanation of the 7 trumpets. 12:41 And she believed it; she got it; it registered. 12:44 And he came to me excited: "She understands 12:47 the 7 trumpets. " I said: "James, that is a rare find! 12:52 That is a rare find that you found a girl 12:55 that understands the 7 trumpets. 12:57 But you're going to want to kiss her at some point 13:00 so you're going to have to make sure 13:02 that you are attracted on all levels... 13:05 not just the prophetic level. " Anyways... 13:09 So don't tell James I said any of that. 13:13 But it's all true. Well we need to get into the message. 13:16 You have seen the title, haven't you? 13:18 The title of this message? 13:20 The Schools of Interpretation. 13:22 How many of you salivate at the word school? 13:26 Me neither. 13:28 That title is such that I'm surprised that you're here. 13:33 Some of you could be napping right now 13:35 because that just does not sound very fascinating. 13:40 Doesn't sound interesting. 13:41 But I'm here to tell you that it's vitally important 13:45 that we understand that the Bible is written 13:50 in particular patterns. 13:53 There's a grid... there's a language to it. 13:56 God inspired the prophets to write these things 14:01 and God Himself - when He inspired these things - 14:05 had the interpretation in mind. 14:09 God knows what it means, and so just on a literary level 14:14 the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation 14:16 are an artistic wonder. 14:19 They are an incredibly beautiful coherent seamless 14:23 explanation of events that would transpire one after another 14:28 down through the corridors of time. 14:31 Now what we're about to discover is that God has 14:35 put in the prophecies themselves 14:39 the method by which the prophecies may be understood. 14:45 Now you should know at the outset that there are three 14:48 main ways of looking at Bible prophecy. 14:51 There is what is called the Preterist approach to Daniel 14:54 and Revelation. And that word simply means past. 14:58 Preter means past. So when you hear of the Preterist approach 15:03 it simply means that the prophecies of Daniel 15:06 and Revelation are largely for the most part interpreted 15:10 as having been fulfilled when do you think? 15:13 In the past... mostly with the Roman Empire in its pagan phase. 15:17 Are you with me so far? 15:19 Preterist means what? Past. 15:22 But then there's another interpretive approach 15:25 and it is called Futurism. 15:28 And of course Futurism looks at the prophecies of Daniel and 15:31 Revelation and for the most part interprets those prophecies 15:36 to be yet fulfilled in the... What do you think? The future. 15:42 Now there's another method of interpretation 15:46 and it's called the Historicist approach. 15:50 What's it called? The Historicist approach. 15:53 Now don't be deceived by this word. 15:56 Historicist is not a word in this technical sense 16:00 that means to convey the idea that it was all 16:04 fulfilled in history. That's the Preterist approach, right? 16:09 The Historicist approach spans 16:12 the entire area of prophetic history. 16:18 It takes in fulfillment of events in history. 16:23 It takes in the fact that we are poised as it were 16:27 on the edge of our seats right now in the present 16:30 awaiting the fulfillment of certain events. 16:33 And it takes into account that there are yet future events 16:37 that have yet to unfold. So the Historicist approach 16:42 straddles the entire span of prophetic history. 16:48 It's not all in the past; it's not all in the future. 16:51 And therefore the Historicist approach is not only 16:55 relevant to history but the Historicist approach 16:59 is the only approach that is inherently calculated 17:05 to give us the proper kind or quality of urgency. 17:11 Because as we're about to discover 17:13 according to the Historicist approach we are... listen very 17:16 carefully... we are on the tail end of the fulfillment 17:22 of every one of the great prophetic lines. 17:26 We are teetering on the edge of eternity 17:30 as we're about to discover. 17:32 Now, the Historicist approach is embedded in the text. 17:37 The Preterist approach and the Futurist approach 17:40 need to be imposed on the text. 17:44 Whereas the Historicist interpretation 17:47 is what is obviously intended in the text itself. 17:53 Turn to Revelation chapter 1. 17:55 Revelation chapter 1... and here we have 17:59 the first vision that John received 18:04 for the book of Revelation. 18:06 And it's important to notice the first vision. 18:09 We tend to run off into the future visions 18:14 of the seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets 18:17 etc. and to overlook the fact 18:20 that there is an introductory vision. 18:23 There is a preliminary vision that constitutes 18:27 the lens if you will... the paradigmatic window... 18:30 the grid through which all the other prophecies 18:34 are to be understood, all right? 18:36 So the first vision is in chapter 1 of Revelation. 18:41 And for the sake of time I'm not going to read all the words. 18:44 You're going to have to be a Bible student with me 18:46 right now because this is a big picture message. 18:50 We're looking at the forest right now, not the individual 18:53 trees. I'm going to turn you to all the texts 18:56 but I'm not going to read long passages to you 18:58 because I want you to do kind of a fly-by with me 19:01 of the prophecies of Revelation. 19:03 I want you to get the aerial view so you get oriented on 19:06 the landscape of prophecy so that you're equipped 19:10 to go back and read the book of Revelation 19:13 with clarity of vision because now you know 19:17 how to read the text, all right? 19:19 So in Revelation chapter 1 we have the first vision. 19:22 It is a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ 19:26 in verses 13 and onward 19:30 and the description picks up in verse 13. 19:35 "And in the midst of the seven lamp stands one like 19:38 the Son of Man. " Notice the language very carefully. 19:40 In verse 13 it says: "He was clothed 19:43 with a garment down to the feet. " 19:46 And then it says in verse 13 that He was "girded about" 19:49 what part of His body? "His chest, " and it was with a 19:54 "golden band" or another version says a golden girdle 19:58 around His chest. Try to visualize Jesus and 20:02 something is going to emerge to our understanding here. 20:05 Clothed with a garment. That is a white garment of linen 20:09 down to the feet. Down to the feet. Girded 20:13 with a golden band. And then notice verse 14: 20:16 "His hair was white like wool, as white as snow 20:19 and His eyes were like... " What everybody? "like fire. " 20:24 This is fascinating. But not only were His eyes like fire. 20:28 Notice in verse 15 that John now moves to His feet. 20:32 And he said that "His feet were like fine brass 20:36 as if burning in a furnace. " 20:40 Brass burning in a furnace. 20:44 "His voice was like many waters. " Verse 16. 20:47 "And He had in His right hand... " specifically... 20:51 "His right hand seven stars. 20:55 And out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. " 20:58 And notice this: "His countenance... " His face... 21:02 "was like the sun shining in all its strength. " 21:08 I want you to notice that what John has ingeniously done here 21:13 is that he has given us a description of Jesus 21:18 that is filled with Old Testament codes. 21:24 Language is important. It's vitally important for you 21:28 and I to have a language base in order to understand 21:31 the composition of words. 21:32 That's the study of etymology. 21:34 If I say to you for example 21:36 "You're adorkable" you know that what I've done 21:41 is amalgamate two words that you are familiar with 21:44 so you can come up with the definition. 21:47 You know that I've just employed adorable and dork 21:50 which means you're adorable in a dorky kind of way. 21:54 So you can decipher the word based on the etymology. 21:59 You know - right? - that two words have been combined 22:02 to create this new concept. 22:04 If I say to you that the meal that I just had was 22:07 "scrumbilicious" I'm making up a new word 22:12 in order to convey it was scrumptious and delicious. 22:17 That's right. If I say: "My daughter Leah 22:20 is a fantabulous human being 22:23 I'm not content with fabulous... 22:26 she's fantastic AND fabulous. 22:30 So because we have language 22:33 we know how to make sense 22:35 out of the new things that we encounter in language, right? 22:39 Are you with me so far? So the book of Revelation 22:44 assumes Biblical literacy. 22:47 You can't read the book of Revelation in a vacuum. 22:51 It is a book that is composed of Old Testament 22:56 symbols and types. It's a language all its own. 23:01 So John in a very short space 23:04 is describing things - get this - that are referring back. 23:10 Notice what he's describing 23:12 as the first graphic comes on the screen. 23:16 Notice what he's describing. The Old Testament sanctuary 23:20 was composed of a high white linen wall 23:25 for the entire enclosure called the courtyard. Right? 23:30 As you step in through the first gate into the courtyard 23:34 you encounter an altar that was made out of brass 23:39 that had a fire continually burning upon it 23:42 for sacrificial purposes. 23:44 As you step into the holy place you encounter 23:48 seven luminous lamps... 23:53 the candelabra. 23:56 And as you step into the Most Holy Place 23:59 you're crossing a threshold of the third veil. 24:03 The first into the courtyard; the second into the holy place. 24:07 There's a third veil. It's unique. It's interwoven 24:11 with gold. It's the only one. And then in the Most Holy Place 24:17 is the Shekinah glory. 24:21 John says: "I saw Jesus and He was clothed with a garment 24:25 down to the feet. And His feet were like fine brass 24:30 as if they were burning in a furnace. 24:33 And as I looked at Him in His right hand were 7 stars. 24:38 And He was girded about His chest with gold 24:42 and His face was like the sun shining in all its glory. " 24:49 What John has described is the person of Jesus Christ 24:53 and simultaneously He has described the Old Testament 24:58 sanctuary with little trigger points so that the Biblically 25:02 literate person - the person who is familiar with scripture - 25:05 will say: "Oh, we're dealing with sanctuary language 25:10 and terminology as these prophecies unfold before us. " 25:14 It's brilliant, but there's more to it than that 25:18 because not only has John described Jesus as the temple 25:24 Himself, which - parenthetical statement just for a moment 25:26 here - Jesus Himself did the same thing. 25:29 You remember His conversation with the disciples where He said 25:31 "Destroy this temple and in 3 days I'll raise it up. " 25:34 They said: "How can You do that? They've been building this 25:37 temple for years. How can You? " And then what did the text say? 25:41 "He spoke of the temple of His body. " 25:46 Jesus described Himself as the temple of God. 25:50 If you simply do a body overlay 25:54 and transpose it over the sanctuary's aerial view, 25:57 the floor plan, the head would fall in the Most Holy Place 26:00 area and the feet at the altar of brass. 26:04 And the right hand would fall at the 7-branched candlestick 26:08 and the golden band of the veil into the Most Holy Place 26:13 would be at His chest. John has done something amazing here. 26:17 But it's more amazing... because the sanctuary, if you 26:20 could go back to that graphic, the sanctuary is not only 26:25 an illustration of individual Christian experience. 26:30 The sanctuary is an illustration of the entire historic span 26:36 of the plan of salvation. 26:38 It's a historic illustration of the various junctures 26:44 of the plan of salvation. 26:46 Jesus is incarnate. He comes into the world 26:51 and into the courtyard. And the cross of Christ is symbolized 26:56 by this altar of brass. 26:58 Jesus is crucified there. The courtyard represents 27:02 that phase of salvation history that is encompassed 27:07 by the incarnation, life, death, 27:10 and burial and resurrection of Jesus. 27:13 But then Jesus rose again and He ascended on high 27:17 to the right hand of the Father. 27:20 Jesus went into the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, 27:24 there to continue... there to continue the salvation 27:28 work now in the role of High Priest. 27:33 And then Jesus in 1844... 27:36 we don't have time to demonstrate or prove that, 27:38 that's in another study entirely... this is the aerial 27:40 view, this is the forest - not the trees... 27:43 In 1844 Jesus moved 27:48 into the Most Holy Place phase of the plan of salvation 27:52 preparatory to what we sometimes refer to as the 27:57 final atonement - Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement, 28:00 the Day of Judgment and involv- ing the scapegoat transaction 28:05 where the scapegoat is sent into the wilderness 28:09 to perish for want of sustenance and support 28:12 representing the fact that ultimately 28:15 while Jesus by His sacrifice is the Savior of the world 28:19 Satan will finally bear the responsibility 28:24 for the sin problem as the one who is the originator 28:29 of sin. And the devil will come to the place where he 28:34 is going to perish as it were for want of the support 28:39 that he has had due to the lies he has told regarding 28:43 the character of God. Again, that's a whole "nother" study. 28:46 But simply what has happened is salvation history has 28:50 unfolded forward so that great clarity has been brought 28:54 to the issues in the great controversy, most importantly 28:58 great clarity has been brought regarding the love of God. 29:02 The character of God. The glorious beauty of the 29:06 character of God has been fully exonerated and vindicated 29:10 on the premise of the life, death, burial, and resurrection 29:15 of Christ: the vindicator of God's character. 29:18 And that vindication - when it is preached, when the gospel 29:22 is preached to the world - shifts the sympathies 29:27 of the world in the direction of Christ away from 29:31 the edifice of lies that have been told regarding 29:33 the character of God. And this is where the loud cry 29:37 of the third angel's message, illumines the whole world 29:40 with the glory of God. 29:41 People globally, through the proclamation of the gospel, 29:45 begin to believe a new doctrinal system 29:49 that makes God out to be the beautiful God that He really is. 29:53 And the lies that Satan has propagated through the system 29:58 of Babylon begin to fall for want of believability 30:03 on the premise of the beautiful proclamation of the gospel. 30:07 Now, with that brief background 30:10 Revelation chapter 1 has told us 30:13 that what we're about to encounter in the prophecies of 30:17 Revelation is a series of prophecies that take in 30:22 a span of time beginning with Christ 30:27 and His death at the cross: 30:28 His life, death, burial and resurrection. 30:31 This is the grounded point of the prophecy. 30:36 This is the starting point of the prophecy: 30:39 the apostolic period. All of the prophecies that follow 30:43 are intended to give us a repeat and enlarge picture 30:48 of events that will transpire from the time of Christ and the 30:52 apostles straight on through the courtyard phase, 30:56 the holy place into the Most Holy Place. 30:58 Final atonement, the shifting of the weight of 31:01 responsibility onto Satan, the vindication of God's character, 31:04 the end of the great controversy and the second advent. 31:07 This is the span of history covered. 31:10 Now with that in mind, let's do a brief overview 31:15 of the prophecies that unfold at this point 31:18 in order to grasp the Historicist pattern 31:23 that follows the sanctuary out- line of the vision in chapter 1. 31:26 First of all, in chapters 3 through 5 of Revelation 31:29 we have the first prophecy that covers the prophetic span. 31:34 Of course, Revelation 1 is the first prophecy 31:37 that's introductory in setting course for us 31:40 as we've just established. 31:42 But Revelation 3 through 5 is the seven churches 31:47 prophecy. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... 31:51 they cover a span of history. 31:53 Ephesus, the first church, is the apostolic age. 31:57 And as church history unfolds forward 32:01 we come to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 32:05 Now watch this carefully: 32:07 When we come to the 6th church 32:09 which is the church of Philadelphia 32:11 we have very fascinating language that ought to be 32:15 familiar to us at this point 32:16 that is invoked for the interpretation. 32:20 In chapter 3 of Revelation 32:22 in the Philadelphia period - that is, in the 6th church... 32:26 the little hinge period between churches 6 and 7- 32:30 seven being Laodicea preparatory to the 2nd coming - 32:33 Watch this: when we come to the 6th church 32:36 suddenly John is told: "Behold I have set before you 32:41 an open door and no man can shut it. " 32:47 What is this language? 32:49 Suddenly we're face to face with a door... a passageway. 32:53 Now it is an experiential door, and experiential passageway, 32:58 that we can apply to our individual Christian experience 33:02 but it's a historic transition. 33:06 During the Philadelphia period, "Behold I have set before you 33:09 an open door" specifically refers to the door into the 33:12 Most Holy Place. This is telling us that at this 33:16 particular juncture of prophetic history 33:19 a great transition is going to occur. 33:22 Jesus is going to move from the holy place phase of His 33:26 High Priestly ministry into the Most Holy Place phase. 33:32 So... Most Holy Place language is invoked 33:37 for us to understand where we are in the span 33:41 of prophetic history. 33:42 Then we come to the prophecy of the seven seals. 33:45 Seven churches... seven seals. 33:48 As the seven seals prophecy unfolds in chapters 6 through 8 33:52 please notice with me that again 33:56 we're grounded in history with the 1st seal referring to 34:00 political events that are transpiring in the larger world 34:05 whereas the first vision of the seven churches 34:09 is specifically interested in what's going on among God's 34:12 people within the church. 34:15 When we come to the seven seals we've got a repeat and enlarge 34:19 principle that we're encountering. 34:21 It's as if God is saying: "OK, I've just moved you from 34:24 the first church down through time... apostolic period down 34:28 to the 7th church preparatory to the 2nd coming. 34:31 OK... you got that? " 34:33 We say: "Yes, Lord. " 34:34 He says: "Now back up with Me 34:36 and I'm going to give you another vision that's going to 34:39 emphasize different events that are running concurrent... 34:43 simultaneous to the unfolding of this same span of history. " 34:47 I want to emphasize same span of history. 34:52 So the seven seals unfold forward until we come 34:57 to the 6th and 7th seal. And again we find 35:02 that sanctuary language is suddenly invoked again. 35:06 When we come to chapter 8 and verses 1 through 4... 35:10 fascinating... suddenly we have a golden censer 35:15 that is filled with incense which the prophet tells us 35:19 constitutes the prayers of the saints mingled with that incense 35:23 which is the righteousness of Christ which makes our 35:26 prayers acceptable before God. 35:29 So what is the censer? Just as the door that is invoked 35:35 at the end of the seven churches prophecy 35:38 brings our minds to the Most Holy Place - 35:41 to that veil into the Most Holy Place - 35:43 the censer belongs to what part of the sanctuary? 35:48 The Most Holy Place. 35:50 The censer belongs to the Most Holy Place. 35:53 The priest on the Day of Atonement - 35:56 post 1844 in the anti-type... 35:59 The priest takes some of the incense off of the altar 36:02 of incense in the holy place, right? 36:05 Puts it in the censer and then goes into the Most Holy Place 36:09 on the Day of Atonement, waving the censer to fill it 36:11 with smoke. There's practical purpose for this, by the way, 36:13 that Isaiah chapter 6 points out to us, and that is 36:17 that the Shekinah glory is there, so the priest is filling 36:19 the Most Holy Place with smoke in order to dim the glory 36:23 of God's presence so that he can endure 36:27 moving through the Day of Atonement ceremony 36:29 and not be destroyed. Josephus tells us - 36:32 and this is extra-Biblical - Josephus tells us 36:35 that they also tied a rope around brother high priest's 36:38 ankle and let him feed his way in there 36:43 and they're listening for the bells that were at the bottom 36:46 of his garment. As long as you hear those bells 36:49 you know everything is cool. 36:51 But then all of a sudden... no bells. 36:55 "Let's wait a little longer. " Still no bells. 36:57 "Let's wait a little longer. " No bells. "I say we pull. " 37:00 They pull the rope and out comes the high priest. 37:04 This was the holy presence of God 37:08 that required a certain preparedness 37:13 to endure. So we see that at the seven seals prophecy 37:18 as we come to the conclusion of the seven seals 37:22 that hinge point between number six and number seven. 37:27 Again, Most Holy Place language is invoked. Why? 37:31 To orient us. Remember we're dealing with a language here. 37:37 We're dealing with sanctuary language. 37:39 The first vision prepared us by teaching us the language. 37:44 The first vision referred us back to the sanctuary 37:48 and with that language now continually we are oriented. 37:52 Where are we in the span of prophetic time? 37:55 We're again between the sixth and the seventh seal. 37:58 We're at that phase of salvation history 38:01 represented by the Most Holy Place. 38:03 Post 1844 just prior to the second coming of Christ. 38:07 OK... watch the pattern continue. 38:10 We come then to the seven trumpets prophecy 38:14 of Revelation in chapters 8 through 11. 38:19 As the seven trumpets prophecy unfolds, again 38:23 First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth trumpet. 38:28 And when we come to the seventh trumpet 38:31 look at the language in chapter 11 verse 19 of 38:35 Revelation. Chapter 11 and verse 19 of Revelation. 38:44 We're now at the 7th trumpet - 38:48 in the period related to the seventh trumpet - 38:52 verse 19 of chapter 11 of Revelation: 38:55 "Then the temple of God was opened in heaven 38:59 and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. 39:03 And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings 39:09 an earthquake and great hail. " 39:12 What is this ark? And where does it belong 39:15 in your Biblical orientation? 39:18 Where does it belong? The Most Holy Place. 39:22 So the ark that belongs to the Most Holy Place 39:26 is now brought to our attention 39:29 during that period represented by the seventh trumpet. 39:34 Fascinating! What we see here is a pattern of language 39:38 in which the prophet over and over again is saying 39:41 We begin here - apostolic age, the time of Christ. 39:44 The Christ event in it's totality: death, burial, 39:47 resurrection. The entire Christ event is the launching point, 39:52 the anchor, the beginning of the prophecy. 39:55 Seven churches unfold. Boom! 39:57 Most Holy Place language is triggered 40:00 in the sixth church. 40:04 He backs up... seven seals. Most Holy Place language 40:09 is invoked again at the end of the sixth seal. 40:15 Seven trumpets? Back up. Again, repeat and enlarge 40:19 dealing with other events that are running simultaneous to 40:23 this same period of time. 40:26 And as they back up and begin to move forward 40:29 what happens again? 40:31 We come to the end of the seven trumpets prophecy 40:34 and John very consistently again invokes Most Holy Place 40:39 furniture, Most Holy Place language. 40:42 Again we're oriented. We know where we are in time. 40:46 This next vision, and this is extremely important to grasp 40:50 this next point, is what we're going to refer to as 40:53 "the cosmic war vision. " Chapters 12 through 14. 40:59 You remember chapter 12 begins in verse 1 where John 41:04 sees a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet 41:08 with a garland of 12 stars on her head, right? 41:13 And as the vision unfolds we realize that this woman 41:17 is about to give birth to a Man Child. 41:20 And we understand in the Historicist interpretation 41:25 that this Man Child to be born to the woman - 41:27 that is, born to Israel and born to the church 41:31 at that critical juncture of transition 41:34 between Old Testament Israel, New Testament Israel - 41:37 at that critical juncture Israel which is the posterity 41:42 through which Messiah was to come 41:46 Jesus is born to the world through an Abrahamic lineage. 41:51 He comes into the world and the prophecy unfolds and tells us 41:55 there was an attempt on His life. 41:57 We corroborate the evidence in the gospels and find out 42:00 that it was Herod that made the attempt on the baby Jesus' life. 42:04 Right? This is all in Revelation 12. 42:06 Revelation 12 brings us right up to the cross 42:09 and tells us in verses 7-9 that there was war in heaven. 42:13 That Michael and His angels fought and the devil and his 42:16 angels fought and prevailed not. Neither was a place found 42:19 for them any more in heaven. 42:21 And the devil was cast out. 42:23 And that entire segment of the prophecy - 42:27 this is remarkable... John is doing something amazing - 42:30 he is giving us a picture of the great controversy 42:34 as it began in heaven with Lucifer's rebellion 42:38 and simultaneously he's taking us to the cross 42:41 where Jesus conquers the devil in principle 42:46 by revealing the unparalleled love of God 42:50 at Calvary so that Jesus could say in John chapter 12 42:55 "I beheld Satan fall like lightning from heaven 43:00 and I, when I am lifted up, will draw all back to Me... 43:06 all peoples to Me. " 43:08 What is Jesus explaining? 43:10 He's saying that "When I die on the cross there will be 43:13 such a brilliant and beautiful revelation 43:17 of the character of God in this unprecedented 43:21 selfless love for you that everyone who sees it 43:25 two things will happen for them: 43:27 Satan will lose credibility in their theological paradigm, 43:31 in their emotional experience, 43:33 in their entire life experience Satan will lose credibility. 43:37 He will fall as it were from heavenly sympathies 43:41 and from human sympathies by the revelation of God's love 43:44 at the cross. " But not only that, not only will Satan fall 43:48 but Jesus said: "And everybody who sees Me 43:51 dying on the cross will be drawn back to Me. " 43:54 That's the vindication principle. 43:56 This is where Jesus is giving a revelation of the character 43:59 of God that is unprecedented in all of universal history 44:03 and persuades intelligent, sentient, free-will creatures 44:09 that God is love in the most extreme and beautiful sense 44:12 imaginable. This brings the hearts of free-will creatures 44:17 to a voluntary worship of God. 44:19 Not under compulsion. No coercion. 44:22 No force; no manipulation. 44:24 We simply see the beauty of God's character 44:27 and voluntarily we begin to gravitate toward Him. 44:31 That's the power of Calvary. 44:33 And as the prophecy of the cosmic war unfolds... 44:38 Watch this... go to Revelation 12 now... 44:40 Revelation chapter 12. 44:43 The whole history unfolds. We have the church in the 44:46 wilderness during the 1,260-year period 44:48 brought to view from 538 AD to 1798 AD. 44:52 That's all in chapter 12 of Revelation. 44:54 But then watch this as we come again following the same 44:58 pattern, the same trajectory, we come to Revelation chapter 12 45:02 to the last verse. We have moved from the birth of Jesus 45:08 in the earlier verses of chapter 12, 45:10 the attempt on His life, the church going into the wilderness 45:15 during a persecution period, 45:17 and now we have a people emerging post 1844... 45:22 and here's how they're described. Verse 17: 45:25 "And the dragon was enraged... " He was wroth 45:28 the King James says... "with the woman and went to make war 45:33 with the remnant of her seed... " 45:37 Now notice this: "who keep the... " What? 45:39 "the commandments of God and have the... " What? 45:42 "the testimony of Jesus. " Again, where are you 45:44 on the landscape of history? 45:47 The law of God, the tables of stone, the Ten Commandments 45:50 pertain to what part of the sanctuary? 45:54 Are they out in the courtyard 45:56 tucked under the altar of brass? 45:58 No! They're in the Most Holy Place in the ark. 46:02 Do you remember where we were in the seven trumpets 46:05 as we came to the seventh? 46:07 "I saw the heavens opened 46:10 and the ark of His testament was seen in His temple. " 46:16 So the seven trumpets end and you're right there in the 46:18 Most Holy Place... Now watch this: 46:20 when you come to the end of the cosmic war vision 46:22 the law of God which has been in the ark - 46:26 right? - is now invoked as the Most Holy Place 46:30 symbol because John is following a pattern here. 46:32 A beautiful, beautiful artistic pattern 46:35 of communication. If you didn't use this symbolism 46:38 you'd have to have entire volumes to explain 46:41 what John is trying to give us here 46:42 in a series of trigger points of symbols. 46:44 It's brilliant! 46:46 And as we come to the end of the cosmic war vision, 46:50 wait a minute... Now the law, the Ten Commandments, 46:53 which are associated with the ark in the Most Holy Place 46:57 now that law shows up... watch this... 47:00 in the experience of a people. 47:05 Now you have the new covenant 47:09 of the law of God being written in the heart and in the mind 47:13 taking place. And this is perfectly logical. 47:15 in the trajectory that John has unfolded for us. 47:19 Because earlier in the cosmic war vision 47:21 what is the centerpiece of focus? 47:24 Jesus Christ incarnate and crucified. 47:28 That event 47:31 of the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ 47:34 constitutes precisely the revelation of God's love 47:41 that leads and escorts God's people into a new covenant 47:44 experience where the law of God is not externally imposed... 47:48 it's internally realized. 47:50 In other words, the law of God which symbolically is in the ark 47:54 that was all symbolic. 47:57 God's not interested in golden boxes and tables of stone. 48:01 That's all symbolic. That's all pointing to something else. 48:05 The Most Holy Place, the ark, the law 48:09 ultimately is to represent the human heart and mind 48:14 and the re-establishment of the Shekinah glory 48:17 in the soul temple, in the citadel of the human heart 48:21 and mind. Not in a room that is being carted around the desert 48:26 thousands of years ago. 48:29 That was all... THAT was pointing to THIS! 48:32 That was pointing to realities that God wants to achieve 48:36 in your heart and mine. 48:38 Writing His law of love in the inner fabric... 48:44 the tender inner fabric of human thoughts and feelings. 48:49 Bringing you and me to the point where Ellen White describes 48:52 the experience of this people when she says: 48:55 "When the impulse to help and bless others 49:00 springs constantly from within 49:03 then God's purpose for us is accomplished. " 49:07 In other words, the law of God is not an external code 49:11 to be imposed with manipulation and pressure 49:15 for outward compliance. The law of God is to be 49:18 inscribed in our very thought processes, 49:21 in our emotional make-up. It's to be written in our hearts 49:24 so that we are pleased to live in obedience to God's law. 49:30 Not because we have to but because we want to 49:33 because His law is in our hearts. 49:36 Now what we've seen here is the unfolding of a series 49:40 of prophetic historic periods of time. 49:45 And as this historic period is unfolded with a 49:50 repeat and enlarge dexterity... just back and forth, 49:53 back and forth replay. OK... here we are again. 49:56 OK, and this happening too and so is this. 49:58 We need to understand something: that we are living 50:02 at the very end - the fulcrum point - 50:07 of eternity on all of these prophetic lines. 50:12 I said to you earlier that there are 3 prophetic views 50:17 of interpretation. The Preterist view which 50:19 applies it all to the? 50:21 The Futurist view which puts it all in the? 50:24 The Historicist view that encompasses both the past and 50:28 the future... present as well. 50:30 But there's a fourth view that is totally unique to Adventists. 50:35 We made it up all by ourselves. 50:40 And the way we made it up is because and rightfully so 50:45 we're urgent for the time. No disrespect is meant. 50:48 But what we've done is we have looked at the prophecies 50:52 and we have lost our bearings on the Historicist plane 50:57 and we have begun to develop a hunger and a thirst 51:02 for what is being called "re-applications" 51:06 of these prophecies to the future. 51:10 And I'll tell you what the problem with that is 51:13 if it hasn't already dawned on you. It should just be clicking. 51:16 The Historicist interpretation 51:19 is the official established Adventist view. 51:23 Up until just not more than about 120 years ago it was 51:27 the official Protestant view. 51:28 Preterism and Futurism is a rather new phenomenon 51:32 in church history. These views were concocted, 51:37 both of them, by Jesuit priests in order to get the heat off 51:40 of the papacy in the Historicist interpretation. 51:44 I don't have time to say more about that. 51:46 But Adventists who are grounded historically in the 51:51 Historicist view of prophecy 51:53 not content to realize the urgency of the fact that we're 51:56 living right there between 6 and 7 and the world is about 52:00 to end, we've begun to back up and say: "Hey, let's take those 52:05 seven seals and put them in the future. 52:07 Let's take those seven trumpets and come up with a future 52:10 application. " Even "Let's take the time prophecies 52:14 of the 1,260-year prophecy of Daniel, the 1,290-year prophecy, 52:18 the 1,335-day prophecy and even the 2,300-day prophecy 52:22 and let's just find literal applications 52:25 that we can have here and now. 52:27 At the end of time we need new applications; 52:31 we need re-application. " This view - this fourth view 52:34 that is unique to Adventists - 52:36 is an effort to hold on to the Historicist view 52:39 'cause we feel like we need to, we have to 52:41 for a couple of reasons. One is because it's embedded 52:43 in the text. Number two, there would be no Adventism 52:46 without the Historicist view. The church would not have 52:49 emerged on the scene of human history 52:51 without the Historicist view of prophecy. 52:54 Number three, Ellen White very firmly 52:57 adheres to and articulates the Historicist view. 53:00 So we feel like we have to maintain the Historicist view. 53:04 So rather than be bold enough to just reject it 53:07 and say: "that's not true" which some have. 53:09 But they eventually just leave the church all together. 53:11 Rather than just say: "That's not true! 53:13 This is the true application. Seven seals, seven trumpets... 53:17 all this. It goes here at the end of time. " 53:18 Rather than have that boldness, language has been 53:22 devised and brought to bear upon it 53:25 to say: "We're going to re- apply. It's a re-application 53:30 of these. " "Oh, we affirm this - 53:33 the Historicist view. We're just giving a second application, 53:36 a dual application, a repeat application. " 53:39 But here's the problem. Here's the problem in the 53:41 3 minutes and 48 seconds that I have... 53:43 Here's the problem: 53:46 The Historicist view... listen carefully now... 53:49 already accounts for the entire span 53:55 of the historical prophetic timeline. 54:01 In other words, we're already between 54:06 six and seven on churches, seals, and trumpets. 54:10 To pick up the historically-fulfilled parts 54:14 back up and pull it all into the future 54:16 would give us an absolute nightmare 54:21 of interpretive logic that can't be sustained. 54:24 Because now to affirm Historicism 54:28 and to come up with new future applications 54:31 is simply to say that we have to unravel the idea 54:34 that we have a new seven seals, a new seven trumpets 54:38 that are unfolding during the Historicist unfolding 54:41 of number six and seven. 54:43 So number six and seven are being fulfilled 54:45 but now we have an overlay of the entire seven. 54:50 So in the interpretive logic 54:53 it's very confusing... it doesn't exist. 54:55 In other words, we don't need a re-application 55:01 of the seals, the trumpets, or the time prophecies. Why? 55:04 Why? Is it logical? Do you see it? 55:06 Why do we not need a reinterpretation for the future? 55:12 Because the Historicist interpretation already accounts 55:16 for the future inherent in its hermeneutic logic. 55:22 There's no reason to have another application. 55:26 But here's the bottom line: 55:29 it's not all about Preterism, Futurism, Historicism, 55:32 and re-application. Can't help but want to end with good news. 55:35 Every single prophecy invokes the Most Holy Place 55:39 at the end in Revelation. 55:41 Watch this. You come to the end of the book of Revelation 55:44 and with beautiful language, unimaginably beautiful language, 55:48 John says: "I saw a holy city, New Jerusalem, 55:51 and the angel that attended me told me 55:54 it's measurements. " And as the angel describes the measurements 55:59 of the Holy City... check this out... he's described 56:04 a geometric cube. There's only one other cube 56:09 in the Bible. It's the Most Holy Place 56:11 of the Old Testament sanctuary. 56:13 You have a small cube where the Shekinah glory was 56:17 and then you have the big cube which is the cubed city 56:20 if you will... the New Jerusalem. 56:22 And the whole story comes to a beautiful, artistic 56:27 resolving logic with God's people all finding themselves 56:32 in the New Jerusalem 56:36 and Revelation ends by telling us: "Now God 56:39 is with His people. They're with Him. 56:43 There's no need for a temple any more. 56:46 There's no need for the light of the sun 56:48 for the Lord God is the light. " 56:50 And we are forever in intimate Most Holy Place 56:55 communion with the most beautiful person in all the 56:58 universe: God Almighty Himself. 57:01 And as we take rest and joy and peace 57:05 in that eternal fellowship we realize at that point 57:10 that all along it was about the restoration 57:14 of this communion with God. 57:17 All the details of the prophetic lines were 57:21 all along pointing to this ultimate end 57:25 the Shekinah glory and you and I face to face. 57:29 Please pray with me. Father in heaven, 57:32 thank you for the clarity of Your Word. 57:34 May we hold fast to what this Word has conveyed to us. 57:40 Please, Lord, help us to re-discover the beauty 57:44 and power of the Historicist view of prophecy 57:46 and the inherent logic that it holds 57:51 to tell us where we are in the stream of time. 57:54 In Jesus' name, Amen. |
Revised 2022-04-12