Anchors of Truth

Intentionality

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000013


00:13 Welcome to Anchors of Truth live from the
00:15 3ABN Worship Center, the sanctuary
00:18 series with John Bradshaw.
00:21 Well, we're so happy that you can be with
00:24 us tonight because we've been having a real
00:27 rain storm here and just before the meeting
00:29 started. In fact, some of us were making really,
00:32 really praying that we would be on the air
00:35 tonight, real storm came through here,
00:37 a lot of hail. I'm hope there's not a lot of
00:40 hail damage, but there's a real heavy
00:44 windstorm, lot of rain, I'm sure there's some
00:47 kind of damage around somewhere.
00:49 But we're just so thankful that we're able
00:51 to start, start on time and from all indications
00:55 you are receiving us. So, that means that we
00:58 are getting out. We were just really enjoying
01:02 this series with Pastor John Bradshaw.
01:05 For some of you this is your first opportunity
01:07 to get acquainted with him. He's the new
01:10 speaker director of it is written.
01:13 And he is not a stranger to a lot of you
01:15 because for 16 years he was an evangelist
01:19 with Amazing Facts, converted at the age
01:21 of 23 by reading the Great Controversy,
01:25 he came to this country from New Zealand
01:28 and most of his ministry has been right here
01:31 in the United States. Pastored in Lexington,
01:35 Kentucky and also College Place, Washington
01:38 and he is now the speaker director as I said
01:43 of It Is Written. John has a wonderful wife,
01:47 Melissa and two children, Jacob is ten and
01:53 Shannon is eight. And they reside in Simi Valley,
01:58 California. And they are watching us tonight by
02:01 Internet. And some of you are watching by
02:04 Internet. And if you have a friend that maybe
02:07 cannot receive 3ABN by television,
02:10 you can call them and tell them to go to
02:13 3abn.org, click on watch live,
02:18 follow the instructions and they will be able to
02:21 see this program as well. We're so happy that
02:26 you could be with us; we're so pleased that
02:28 John Bradshaw is here.
02:30 Tonight we're looking forward to the title of
02:32 his message Intentionality, that's not
02:35 an easy word for me to say,
02:37 but it is a very important word and you
02:42 will see why? Before he comes to speak
02:46 John Lomacang, our pastor, our friend,
02:50 our ambassador of 3ABN is going to sing
02:54 "God leads His dear children along."
03:18 In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
03:29 God leads His dear children along;
03:38 Where the water's cool flow
03:43 bathes the weary one's feet,
03:48 As God leads His dear children along.
03:59 Some through the waters, some through the flood,
04:07 Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
04:18 Some through great sorrow, yet God gives a song,
04:26 In the night seasons and all the day long.
04:51 With sorrows befall us and Satan opposed,
04:58 Still God leads His dear children along;
05:06 Through faith we will conquer,
05:10 and defeat all our foes,
05:14 For God leads His dear children along
05:23 He lead some through the water,
05:27 and some through the flood,
05:31 Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
05:44 Some through great sorrows, yet God gives a song,
05:52 In the night seasons, in the night
06:05 seasons and all the day long, Lord.
06:41 Good evening everyone? Good evening.
06:44 It is a privilege to be here with you to be
06:49 able to open the Bible and talk about some
06:52 of the greatest that, the greatest things
06:54 that we could possibly talk about.
06:57 Themes not just of time, but of eternity.
07:02 This world I was talking with Pastor
07:05 John Lomacang just before. We were talking
07:08 about the weather. We've had some weather
07:13 here recently. And that was talk of a storm
07:19 watch. John was saying you know this;
07:22 this whole world is caught in a storm and it is,
07:27 it just is. There is a way out of the storm
07:29 though; there is a guide to get us out of
07:33 the storms of this world to a safe,
07:36 sheltered place and His name is Jesus. Amen.
07:39 And I just loved to be able to talk about that.
07:41 You know, I hope you don't mind me doing this,
07:42 I just want to mention one thing it,
07:44 it is written and we have something coming up
07:46 that 3ABN is gonna be a very important part of,
07:49 that's called Babylon rising, a four night event
07:52 looking at how the prophecies of the Bible
07:55 help us make sense of what's going on in
07:58 the world today. And I want to encourage you
08:00 to be part of that, starts May 25 then goes
08:03 26, 27 and 28 that's of May next month,
08:07 not far away. That's, that's its getting closer
08:10 everyday. Now, if you'd like to register to
08:13 be a host site, get in touch with us at it is
08:16 written babylonisrising.org,
08:20 babylonisrising.com, oh! Someone saying,
08:22 man he doesn't even know the address.
08:24 And that right, I'm pretty sure it's .com,
08:27 babylonisrising.com. And if, if you're really
08:31 confused just contact it is written,
08:34 itiswritten.com, babylonisrising.com that
08:37 will lead you through just what you need to
08:38 do be a host site. Now, I wanna encourage
08:40 you this is some that you can, you can,
08:43 you can sit in front of the television and
08:45 watch on 3ABN. This is something you can
08:47 access via the Internet, via your mobile device;
08:51 we've got ourselves a nice little what is that?
08:54 Mobile friendly website now,
08:56 so if you watch on your iPhone or whatever
08:59 then it's good for that. However,
09:00 you want to do it, tell someone about it,
09:02 let people know this is something that we
09:06 want to encourage you to be part of,
09:08 because we are letting people know that in
09:10 the storms of these last days of the earth's
09:13 history. There is a shelter, there is a save
09:16 place and we can make sense of the madness
09:20 looking at the prophecies of the Bible as they
09:22 point to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
09:24 That's Babylon rising starting May 25.
09:28 I wonder if we could pray now and ask God's
09:30 special blessing on our time as we study
09:33 the sanctuary Part-3 now series and this one
09:37 is called Intentionality. The first time around
09:41 Reality, second time Spirituality and now
09:45 Intentionality. And if you see a pattern
09:47 developing that's good. And if you wonder,
09:50 did I scratch my head trying to find words
09:52 ending in Ality? You know the answer is yes.
09:57 Let's pray. Our Father in heaven,
10:01 it is always a privilege to be able to come to
10:03 you in the name of Jesus Your Son.
10:07 We are thankful this day because there is a
10:10 Savior; we are thankful this day because
10:15 Your sacred word points us to Christ and shows
10:21 us that there is a hope for humanity in a
10:24 hurting world. As we study the,
10:28 study these "Anchors of Truth" we pray
10:33 Your special blessing in Jesus name, amen.
10:41 Here's the story as I read it,
10:44 it was reported in the Milwaukee Journal
10:47 in 1946. And so, because it appeared in a
10:50 newspaper I'm just going to assume that the
10:52 story is true I think it is. It was during the
10:57 last days of World War II in 1945,
11:03 German forces were occupying the City of
11:05 Sastin near the Czechoslovakian border
11:10 close to Austria. Now, I got to check and
11:13 see whether it's in Czechoslovakia that's it
11:15 is now in Slovakia because Czechoslovakia
11:20 split into two countries on the first day
11:22 of 1993. So, what was in Czechoslovakia is
11:25 now in Slovakia. Russian forces were bearing
11:30 down upon the German troops, and when
11:32 I say bearing down they were close,
11:34 you could hear them. Remember the war is
11:37 coming to an end, the German troops are
11:39 fleeing for their lives, trying to get back to
11:42 Germany before all hope for they must lost.
11:45 Now, there was a Nazi Commandant that
11:48 day they were, they had occupied the
11:51 mayor's office in the Townhall in Sastin
11:54 that's what the German troops it setup the
11:56 headquarters. And this particular military
11:59 leader was nervous, his personal car was
12:05 was outside, motor was running,
12:08 they was just waiting for him to come and
12:09 get into the car and leave and go to safety.
12:12 And, and he had become now,
12:15 but he had a problem, the problem was he
12:17 had a whole Pile of trunks not,
12:20 I mean swimming trunks I mean those kind of
12:23 trunks. He had trunks you know,
12:25 cases let's its call him cases, stuffed to the
12:28 brim with Czechoslovakian Korunas.
12:32 Now, Korunas, the Koruna was the unit of
12:35 currency. They had looted the
12:37 Czechoslovakian Central Bank and just
12:41 taken all of the money and stuff it into these
12:45 cases, these trunks and this man was planning
12:48 to be fabulously rich one day, but now here
12:51 came the Russian troops, what you're gonna
12:53 do? He had to get in this car, there wasn't
12:56 time to wait, there wasn't room in the car
12:58 for him and his trunks. So, he found a couple
13:01 of Czechoslovakian peasants, he said, look,
13:05 guard these trunks, I will be back for them
13:08 one day, don't let anything happen to them,
13:10 don't mess with them, don't look in them,
13:13 when I come back I will reward you handsomely,
13:15 you'll be very rich, you'll never have any
13:16 more financial worries, just guard these trunks.
13:20 Off he went, the next day Russian troops
13:24 came into their office, what was the mayor's
13:26 office in the Townhall and they found the Pile
13:29 of trunks they broke one open and discovered
13:32 filled with money. What a happy day for a
13:37 Russian military man to stumble across
13:39 an obscene amount of money and it was all
13:44 his, but you got to remember there was
13:47 something on his mind, on his mind was getting
13:49 the job done, getting the war over,
13:52 pursuing the, the fleeing Germans.
13:55 And as he said to somebody else,
13:57 who knows if I'll even be alive this time tomorrow.
14:01 So, let's do something with this money.
14:04 No one knows what that man's name was,
14:05 I bet if they found out that had built a memorial
14:08 to the man there in Sastin. He said here's
14:09 what we're gonna do? We're gonna divide
14:12 this money among all the people here in Sastin.
14:16 It was I think a hundred, now I wrote it down
14:17 a 105 million. No, no, no, no one hundred
14:21 and fifty, three million Korunas, three hundred
14:24 million. In 1946 dollars more than 6 million
14:30 US dollars. And so, they decided that they
14:35 would just divide the money up among the
14:38 people of Sastin, however old you were,
14:42 you got a thousand Korunas, 50 years old
14:45 50,000, 5 years old 5000, they split it all.
14:51 People with large families ended up with
14:53 maybe 200,000 Korunas, it was a massive sum
14:58 of money in that day. These poor literally
15:04 downtrodden people went in a moment
15:08 without expecting it from rags to riches,
15:15 from rags to great riches. And I have to
15:20 admit that when I first read that story,
15:23 I read that story with a little touch of envy.
15:27 Haven't you ever wondered what it would
15:29 be like? Just to fall into all that money.
15:32 I remember when I was a kid and we'd read
15:34 these comic books and that would be a
15:36 comic book story about Scrooge McDuck,
15:39 who had so much money, he had enormous
15:41 boats built and he would swim around in his
15:44 massive, I mean it was ridiculous of course,
15:46 but he would swim around his massive piles
15:49 of money and as a child look at that comic
15:52 book and think, well that would be nice,
15:57 money is not all bad you know, I mean if,
15:59 if you're burdened by your great riches,
16:01 just come and talk to me I'm sure we can
16:03 work something out without too much trouble.
16:06 God isn't against money? Not at all,
16:09 you read in the Bible there was Solomon
16:10 fantastically wealthy, David wonderfully wealthy,
16:13 Abraham very rich man. Now, the Bible says,
16:17 the problem is the love of money.
16:18 The love of money is the root of all kinds of
16:20 evil the word of God says. In reality, in the
16:23 grand scheme of things worldly wealth while
16:26 it's good, it's not what the Christian,
16:28 it's not what the believer in God is striving
16:31 after, worldly wealth can be a curse.
16:36 Not very many years ago a baker in England
16:38 his Keith Goff won the lottery, he won,
16:42 it was either eight or nine million pounds at
16:45 the time it was close to $14 million.
16:48 He said at the time my wife and I will never
16:52 have to worry again. About year ago he died,
16:57 he lost his marriage, he lost his friends,
17:01 now he gained a whole lot of friends to begin
17:03 with then he lost them. He lost most of his
17:06 money, he lost his health, ended up having
17:09 a heart attack and heart trouble because
17:10 he spend all his time worrying about his
17:13 money. Before he died he said that he
17:16 wished he had never won the lottery.
17:19 He said, what's the point of having money
17:21 when it sends you to bed crying?
17:24 Rags to riches, sounds nice, might be,
17:28 might not be. Rags to riches, well whatever
17:35 happens with you and your money,
17:37 if you get in an inheritance, or win the,
17:40 no you're not gonna win the lottery. Amen.
17:43 If you happen to fall into a whole pile of
17:45 money, may the road rise up to meet you
17:47 and God bless you, but that's not why
17:48 we're here on this earth. One good thing
17:51 we know for sure is that the believer in
17:53 Jesus can go instantaneously from rags
18:01 to righteousness. Amen. Open with me
18:03 your Bible, we gonna go to the Book of
18:04 Philippians, Philippians chapter 3,
18:08 Philippians chapter 3. In Philippians chapter 3,
18:12 the Apostle Paul is dealing with the question
18:14 of experiencing true righteousness.
18:18 Now, he made it clear that there was a true
18:20 righteousness and a false righteousness.
18:24 Philippians its right after Ephesians,
18:26 I've just discovered. Philippians and chapter 3
18:30 and, and the Apostle Paul was somebody who,
18:35 who if anybody could be self righteous it
18:38 would be the Apostle Paul. Here's what he says
18:42 in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 4 he says:
18:45 Though I might also have confidence in the
18:47 flesh. I might, if any man thinketh that he
18:52 hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
18:54 I more. If you think you've got a reason to
18:58 feel self-righteous, I've got more reasons than
19:01 you. And he goes onto say this.
19:06 He describes himself in verse 5 as having
19:08 been circumcised the eight day of the stock
19:11 of Israel, of the Tribe of Benjamin.
19:14 What do you think he, what do you think he
19:15 were, he referenced the Tribe the Benjamin
19:18 because that's the tribe that what?
19:20 That King Saul came from. It's possible that
19:22 Saul was named after King Saul possible.
19:26 So, he says, I'm even from the same tribe
19:28 as the first King of Israel. He says that:
19:31 I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews when it
19:33 comes to the law I am a Pharisee.
19:35 If you want to know how zealous I've been,
19:38 I persecuted the Church, when it came to the
19:40 righteousness which is in the law I was
19:44 blameless. Now, I don't know, if you can say,
19:48 when it comes to the righteousness as
19:51 contained in the law, when it comes to the
19:54 ideals and biblical teachings and principles
19:57 as held by the Church I am blameless,
20:02 if you tell me you are, well I'll tell you,
20:03 you're kidding yourself, but Paul was able to
20:05 say that he was blameless, that's a
20:09 righteous character, but then he went onto
20:13 say this: Yea doubtless, and I count all things
20:17 but what? Loss for the Excellency of the
20:22 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
20:24 for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.
20:27 And notice he says: And I do count them but
20:30 dung. That's, that's graphic I know,
20:33 there are some versions they put it politely
20:34 and say, refuse. I count them as refuse that
20:38 I might win Christ. Now, it's like somebody
20:44 saying, my family has been in the Church for
20:46 five generations. My father was a pastor,
20:49 my grandfather was a pastor,
20:51 I've got uncles and aunts, who sailed the seas
20:53 as missionaries, serving the Church in far
20:55 flung parts of the world. I eat ripe,
20:59 I tithe, I go to Church when the Lord says
21:04 in the Bible I ought to go to Church,
21:07 if the Church teaches it, I am for it,
21:11 that's the kind of attitude that Paul was
21:13 talking about here. Now, that's not to say
21:15 that those things are bad things, those are
21:17 good Paul's lineage was an advantage to him.
21:22 He grew up with rich traditions.
21:25 He grew up with solid teachings.
21:28 He grew up surrounded like he was an
21:32 incubator of the Church of his day.
21:34 Paul had some advantages down there,
21:37 but he recognized something.
21:39 He recognized that when it came to being
21:41 righteous. All the goodness that a man or
21:45 woman can conjure up isn't worth a thing.
21:53 And it wouldn't hurt us to think about that
21:55 for a moment because there are people still,
21:56 still, who assume that because they go to
22:00 Church every week, because they don't
22:05 commit adultery, because they don't cheat,
22:09 a text time, they think that that they got
22:13 to be righteous because they went to Church
22:15 school, went to a Church University,
22:19 you would be surprised how pervasive this
22:21 idea was? I grew up in the system,
22:24 system not going to save you, hasn't ever
22:27 saved anybody, they're as good as Pharisees,
22:31 when they rely on this stuff? Lots of outward
22:34 observance, great profession, the good
22:36 amount of dedication to what indeed is a
22:40 good and perhaps a just and godly cause,
22:44 but when you think that because of all of that
22:47 you're gonna get a leg up towards the
22:50 kingdom of heaven, that's not how Paul
22:53 saw it. He said all the attributes that I might
22:57 have considered to contribute to my
22:59 righteousness, all of the things that I
23:02 might have been tempted to lean on in the
23:04 flesh and cause me to think that maybe I'm
23:07 a little better or right in the eyes of God.
23:09 Paul said, it's just refuse, it's just dung.
23:12 Righteousness involves an awful lot, it,
23:15 it's not just saying the right words,
23:17 it's not just making the right movements,
23:20 it's not just doing the right things outwardly
23:22 that constitutes righteousness.
23:25 Now, there is no question. You may have
23:26 heard they said, righteousness is right
23:29 doing, now that's right, that's right,
23:32 but if you focus on the doing in order to be
23:34 right, you'll never be righteous.
23:36 Right doing can only come from right being.
23:41 Amen. And the sanctuary, that's helps
23:44 us understand how in the eyes of God we can
23:48 be right. Paul tells us explicitly in his letter
23:54 to the Philippians. That what we need is not
23:57 our own righteousness, but and you got to
24:00 try to get your head around us,
24:01 what we need is the righteousness of God.
24:07 Now, you start talking like this and you can
24:10 make people nervous. The righteousness
24:13 of God is some pretty righteous righteousness.
24:18 Do you think we could call this righteousness
24:20 that Paul was talking about complete
24:22 righteousness? Could we call it that?
24:25 I, I hope we can because it's God's
24:27 righteousness of it's incomplete and God
24:29 got some issues. Do you think we could call
24:32 God's righteousness perfect righteousness?
24:34 Yes or no? Yes. No question.
24:37 God's righteousness would be perfect
24:39 righteousness. And what Paul is telling us is
24:42 that we ought to have perfect
24:45 righteousness, complete righteousness,
24:49 God's righteousness. Now, that might be
24:53 intimidating, if you would have take a
24:56 little violent think about your wickedness
25:00 and your sinfulness. Let me digress you for a
25:04 moment. Did you way that here it said that
25:07 the biggest battle we ever have to fight
25:09 is the battle against self? Did you ever
25:11 hear that's it? Let, let me define that for you.
25:14 That might be, that might be driving pass
25:17 McDonalds and saying, I can't go by without
25:20 getting a quarter pounder with cheese,
25:23 I have to do it. That might be,
25:29 that that might be self, right? I, I know I
25:35 shouldn't eat that big bucket load of M&Ms,
25:38 but I can't help it. I have to have them.
25:42 That might be self, right? Sure it might.
25:45 It might be sitting at the table and someone
25:46 says, I'm gonna reach over and take the
25:48 last crop of corn and you say,
25:50 no you won't. And you grab and say,
25:52 I got it. That might be self, could that be self?
25:57 Could you call it that? Could you call that
25:58 self? Sure, you could, you could that would
26:01 be okay. But let me come at this from
26:03 another angle, if you're sitting around be
26:06 molding your spiritual lack and you were
26:08 saying, God couldn't love me.
26:11 I'm gonna tell you what you've got.
26:12 You've got a problem with self.
26:15 If you're saying, I'm too sinful to go to
26:17 heaven, then you've got a problem with self,
26:19 you've got a problem way worse then
26:21 somebody who lies awake at night dreaming
26:23 of a plateful of Spare Ribs. You've got it way
26:25 worse than that. If you're saying, well God
26:28 calls me to come, but I fell into sin this
26:31 morning and so I think I need to just go away
26:34 from God for a while and I'll come to God,
26:36 that's just self-centeredness.
26:39 Because what you're doing is you're looking
26:41 at yourself, your own sin and you're saying
26:44 my sin is bigger than my savior.
26:48 You'll fixated on self, when you're doing that?
26:51 When we ought to be fixated on Jesus,
26:54 bigger than any sin we can commit,
26:56 with grace that abounds much more than the
26:58 sin that abounds in our lives. I'm not
27:00 minimizing sin, don't you think for a moment
27:02 I'm. Sin leads to death, it brings separation
27:05 from God, God wants it out of our lives,
27:09 but if you sit around whole day worrying
27:11 about how bad you are instead of praising
27:13 the Lord all day for how good Jesus is?
27:15 You've got a major self problem. Amen.
27:18 And it would be good to get the victory.
27:21 Now, again I say, if we talk about having the
27:23 righteousness of God, some folks are gonna
27:26 get nervous because it's very, very righteous,
27:29 righteousness. And of course it's difficult to
27:32 imagine you wouldn't even, you wouldn't
27:34 even want to use those words, would you?
27:36 How you're doing today buddy?
27:37 I'm great. What makes you so great?
27:39 I got the righteousness of God.
27:43 That would be a hard thing to say in
27:45 conversation, wouldn't it? That would be
27:47 difficult. It's hard to imagine, but that's
27:50 exactly what Paul said, we are after in
27:52 this world is not self-righteousness,
27:55 not our own righteousness, but the
27:56 righteousness of God. Isaiah got it straight,
28:00 he said in Isaiah 64 and verse 8 that:
28:02 Our righteousness is as, what?
28:05 Filthy rags, we know that verse.
28:08 Our righteousness is our as filthy rags.
28:12 We all fade as a leave. Our inequities like
28:15 the wind have taken us away.
28:17 What you can come up with in your best
28:19 efforts? Nothingness, what God has?
28:23 Now, that's a different story.
28:26 I want you to consider the crises that we
28:28 find ourselves in. I know I've mentioned this
28:30 before in this theater on, but I will
28:33 mention it again. In the beginning we had
28:35 some righteousness grandparents,
28:37 Adam and Eve and they were okay.
28:39 They will make perfect, they didn't have a
28:41 sin problem, it could be said they, they didn't
28:44 need a savior to save them from their sin
28:47 because they had never sinned.
28:49 They were made right created perfect;
28:54 they were on face-to -face terms with God.
28:57 They could dwell in the presence of God
28:59 when God came in all His full glory and
29:02 righteousness. They didn't have to run in
29:03 high. They're not like to people in Revelation
29:05 chapter 6. Who see a lamb? A lamb and
29:09 instead of looking at a lamb they call to
29:11 the mountains to fall on them.
29:12 No, Adam and Eve could say, hey here God
29:14 coming, lets go. They could go and communion
29:17 with God face-to-face, but then they sinned,
29:21 their sin separated them from God and then
29:24 they had children. And their children were
29:28 born not with the perfect righteousness
29:31 that Adam and Eve were created with.
29:34 Their children were born bent, they were
29:37 born tainted, they were born touched by sin.
29:42 I'm not suggesting they were born sinners.
29:45 Now, that's a different story,
29:47 I mean when I and, and we're not gonna
29:48 play around splitting hairs and fighting
29:50 about words Yea. But when folks were born
29:54 after sin they were, they were not in the
29:59 same standing as Adam and Eve would,
30:02 they needed something,
30:05 they needed righteousness.
30:07 They were born bent now; there were something
30:11 in them that was gonna drive them
30:13 in a selfish direction. Sin was going to occur
30:18 in their lives. They needed some help.
30:22 Adam and Eve could not say after sin,
30:26 God we're sorry and from now on we're gonna
30:28 get it right, we'll never sin again.
30:30 And then that that wouldn't help because
30:33 the perfection had been broken.
30:35 They couldn't say, how about if we never think
30:38 another bad thought, never eat another piece
30:40 of food that we shouldn't eat.
30:41 How about if we never talk to another snake?
30:43 Well that work okay. It couldn't, I wonder,
30:46 if you've a broken something.
30:48 I know you have, you broke a vase.
30:50 A vase is like vase, but better.
30:57 You broke a vase and you scurried around
30:59 to get the pieces and you put it back together.
31:01 It wasn't perfect again, was it?
31:04 No, there was a crack or there was something
31:05 missing or if you looked you knew where the
31:08 Super Glue had gone, you could just tell.
31:11 It's floored now, but that's not the best
31:14 example of that. You could say maybe,
31:18 maybe the sin issue that you have is a bit like
31:20 a computer that has a virus.
31:23 You say, well we'll be careful about
31:24 what we run on our computer,
31:26 we'll be careful about what websites we go to,
31:27 we won't open any other, it's any,
31:29 any email attachments that we can't be
31:31 certain about. We'll get it fixed and
31:34 then we'll keep it straight.
31:36 That wouldn't be the best example of this.
31:39 Maybe it's like somebody dying
31:41 and the doctor saying; well if we tries real hard
31:43 maybe he'll be able to drive himself home
31:46 from the mortuary. Now, we're getting close to it.
31:52 See what Adam and Eve sinned the nature
31:53 was fundamentally changed. They now had
31:57 a flaw in nature there was nothing perfect
32:00 about them anymore. You see, they now had
32:04 a problem within, which meant that they needed
32:08 help from above? Amen. Something had to step
32:13 into their life now, instead of righteousness.
32:15 Amen. They were wearing rags.
32:21 That's what happened in the Garden of Eden,
32:23 perfect example. When Adam and Eve find,
32:26 they figured out what they've done,
32:27 they found themselves unclothe not clothed
32:29 anymore, naked. They said we outta do
32:31 something about this, this is embarrassing.
32:33 So, they made themselves some clothing,
32:34 they stitched some fig leaves together
32:36 and God said, no that, that's not gonna do.
32:41 You need something else. You know friend,
32:48 when you wake up to the fact that there's sin
32:50 in your life and you say well I'll, I'll change
32:53 myself from now on. Now, sure there needs
32:56 to be some changes, but your changes cannot
32:59 bring you back into right standing with God,
33:01 cannot do it. When you wake up and you say
33:05 I got to, I got to behave differently,
33:07 talk differently, act differently,
33:08 dress differently. Whatever the case might be
33:10 that might be right, but your changes don't bring
33:14 you back to righteousness in the sight of God.
33:17 It just doesn't work. Adam and Eve's fig
33:21 leaves weren't going to help them one little bit.
33:24 They weren't going to be clothed until
33:28 God clothe them. And He clothe them
33:32 there with skins. Where those skins come from?
33:38 Animals, what happened to those animals
33:43 that enabled them to furnish clothing for
33:45 Adam and Eve? They died and it can not
33:48 have been good, but death of the animal
33:54 was necessary before Adam and Eve could be
33:58 clothed and acceptable in the Sight of God.
34:04 You see what we have to understand today
34:06 is that the death of Jesus is necessary before
34:12 unrighteous sinners can be seen to be righteous
34:17 or acceptable in the Sight of an Holy God.
34:24 Our own righteousness cannot get it there,
34:28 Jeremiah asked a question,
34:30 can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin?
34:34 Can a leopard change his spots? You know,
34:38 the answer to those questions obviously no,
34:40 you are not gonna find a striped,
34:44 a striped leopard. Not gonna do it,
34:49 if I stood before you and said you know,
34:52 really I'm an Ethiopian, but I had surgery
34:56 and now I'm the whitest person in the world.
35:01 I don't know anyone whiter than me.
35:03 I get sunburn in the dark; I had to be careful
35:07 when there is a full moon. Feels that way sometimes,
35:14 if I tell you I once was black and now I'm white.
35:16 You're gonna say, oh! That, that's really funny,
35:19 that's really it would, it would be kind of silly,
35:20 really. It's just not possible. Jesus goes on
35:24 and says through the Prophet Jeremiah.
35:26 Neither can you do good who is accustomed
35:30 to doing evil. Just in the same way these
35:33 other things are impossibilities,
35:36 so you evil person becoming righteous
35:38 person not possible at all.
35:40 It's like when Paul wrote to the Romans
35:42 and he said: There was none that do with
35:45 good no, not one. When my son was this big,
35:51 we were kneeling down to pray one night
35:52 and I don't know, if, if I said this in response
35:54 to him, but I said listen, when you pray
35:58 don't ever pray that Jesus will help you
36:02 to be good. Don't ever pray that, never.
36:06 And from that day to this and I say that
36:08 kindly now, from that day to this I have
36:11 drilled it into my kids never ever pray
36:15 that Jesus will help you to be good,
36:19 don't do it. And you know, why right?
36:21 If my kids pray that prayer long enough
36:23 you know, what they're gonna end up doing?
36:25 They're gonna end up leaving the Church,
36:26 here's why? Because they'll pray,
36:28 dear Jesus help me to be good and then they'll
36:31 run out into the world and they say.
36:32 Wow! That was a failure and the next day
36:34 they're gonna said, Oh! Lord help me to be good
36:37 and, and they're gonna fall again and
36:38 then they say, well the problem is I'm not
36:40 praying hard enough. So, they'll pray for an hour,
36:42 help me to be good, help me to be good
36:45 and then they'll go out into the world
36:46 and crash and burn and then they're gonna say,
36:50 this doesn't work. It doesn't and it doesn't,
36:53 because we read in the Bible there is none
36:56 that does good and, if you are praying that
36:59 God will help you to do good you are praying
37:01 a loosing prayer. It won't happen.
37:06 You're praying an impossibility.
37:09 Jesus hasn't asked us to be good.
37:12 Jesus has asked us to be Holy. Amen.
37:16 When Christ comes into your life,
37:18 He'll make you Holy. And then when Jesus
37:21 lives His life in you, His goodness is gonna be
37:24 manifest in your life. You, you're not gonna
37:26 claim to be good, you might claim to be
37:28 surrendered to the Lord. You might claim to be
37:31 emptied of self and filled with the Spirit
37:33 that's all right, but if you're praying God
37:36 make me good, you are praying in opposition
37:40 to the plainest statements in the Bible.
37:43 Amen. No point praying to be good it won't happen;
37:48 you can pray instead of ask my children to do.
37:51 Pray that Jesus will give you a new heart. Amen.
37:54 Pray that Christ will recreate you in His image;
37:57 pray that Jesus will live His life in you,
37:59 if Jesus is living his life in you,
38:01 you can't be bad, because Christ is living
38:06 His life in you. What we need is Christ?
38:12 What we need is Christ's righteousness?
38:15 Without the righteousness that Jesus gives us
38:18 we are dirty, we are desperate,
38:22 we are decadent and we are dead,
38:25 spiritually dead. And so, now let's consider
38:29 this in the light of the heavenly sanctuary.
38:31 You will recall at one day a diet reform preacher
38:34 wearing an interesting outfit made from
38:37 camel's hair. Looked into the crowd one day
38:40 and he saw somebody that he recognized
38:41 and I don't know that he'd ever seen him
38:43 face-to-face, but you don't have to meet
38:45 Jesus face-to-face to recognize him.
38:48 And he looked into the crowd and he said:
38:49 Behold the Lamb of God who takes away
38:52 the sins of the world. Jesus, He could have
38:55 called them the door; He could have called
38:57 him the way, the truth and the life,
38:59 He could have called them the Amen,
39:01 He could have called them the bread instead
39:03 He said there is the Lamb, the Lamb.
39:06 And He said that in a certain
39:07 sense prophetically. In a certain sense
39:10 prophetically because looking forward Jesus
39:13 the Lamb would die on an old rugged cross.
39:17 He chose his metaphor carefully quoting the
39:20 Prophet Isaiah who said that he was oppressed
39:22 and he was afflicted, yet he didn't even
39:24 open his mouth. He was brought as a Lamb to
39:28 the slaughter and as a sheep before a sheer
39:30 is dumb or mute. So, he openeth not his mouth,
39:33 Isaiah 53 and verse 7. Isaiah said there he,
39:36 that's the one right there.
39:38 The Lamb, they knew what Lambs did?
39:41 Lambs died, they understood,
39:44 Lambs were taken to the temple and their throats
39:48 were slit from ear-to-ear.
39:50 And if you've never seen that, you don't want to,
39:52 it's ugly blood flows out of the open throat
39:56 of a Lamb and gushes forth like a river.
39:58 It's awful, Jesus was described by John Baptist
40:04 as the Lamb and when was saying that
40:07 he was announcing, ladies and gentleman
40:09 I bring to you the true sacrifice,
40:12 the great sacrifice, the one who will pay the
40:16 ultimate price for the sins of the world.
40:18 Writing to the Hebrews the writer said,
40:20 sacrifices couldn't make the people who brought
40:22 them pure, the only thing that could make sinners
40:25 pure would be the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen.
40:30 Jesus the Lamb, come with me to Calvary.
40:34 Calvary is out in an open space not on a hill,
40:37 it's out in an open space.
40:40 Everyday there was a Calvary;
40:43 Israel was camped around the sanctuary
40:48 in this middle place. There was an area
40:50 you had to walk across an open piece of the field
40:53 or ground to get to the sanctuary and inside
40:58 that sanctuary enclosure in the courtyard.
41:01 It was an alter there and there was an alter
41:04 of burnt offering and near that alter animals
41:08 of all kinds not just Lambs, but animals
41:11 were sacrificed and given and offered up
41:18 out in the courtyard. There was an alter
41:21 and we could name that alter Calvary.
41:25 You know, you know what's interesting
41:26 and let me say this, I will probably come back
41:28 to this in a later presentation
41:31 Jesus death on the Cross was pre-figured out
41:33 there in the courtyard that alter,
41:35 isn't that right? Jesus death on the Cross
41:38 was pre-figured out on that alter where the,
41:41 where the animals died right there.
41:43 You know, what was interesting?
41:46 And maybe this is out of context a little bit,
41:48 but I'll say it anyway. Jesus died,
41:51 the Lamb died. Now, what if the sinner had
41:55 come down to the sanctuary,
41:56 killed the Lamb and said, great I'm out of here
41:59 and just left and nothing more happened.
42:02 That sacrifice wouldn't have helped him.
42:05 The Lamb would die, the blood needed to be taken
42:09 inside the sanctuary for the death of the Lamb
42:13 to be worth anything. You know, if you don't
42:17 have a Savior, who's ministering his blood
42:18 for you in heaven's sanctuary then frankly
42:21 you have a worthless Savior. That's the truth,
42:24 Jesus could have died on a thousand crosses,
42:26 yet if He never ministered the blood
42:28 in the sanctuary, the sacrifice on the Cross
42:31 wouldn't be enough. Now, I know I just opened
42:34 myself up there to be really misunderstood,
42:36 but in the sanctuary service the death
42:39 of the Lamb was a sufficient sacrifice,
42:45 but the blood of the Lamb then had to be ministered.
42:48 When Jesus died on the old rugged Cross that
42:51 was a complete and perfect sacrifice,
42:55 but there was blood that still had to be ministered
42:57 in the sanctuary. Jesus died out there on
43:01 the Cross, recognized at the, at the sanctuary
43:08 where the animal died. You see before the sinner
43:12 could get anywhere in the plan of salvation,
43:15 they had to be death. What if there was no Lamb,
43:18 what if there was no animal sacrifice?
43:20 What if God had said, you figure out how
43:23 to make your way into the throne room of God?
43:26 The sinners would have been desperate without
43:28 hope in the world. There would have been
43:31 nothing for them to do and no way for them to go,
43:34 there had to be a Lamb, there had to
43:39 be a sacrifice. We look at the sanctuary
43:43 and its parade, if I can use that word of
43:45 sacrifices and animals and, and blood that
43:48 flowed and sacrifice-after-sacrifice
43:52 without those sacrifices. There was no way at all
43:57 into the presence of Almighty God.
43:59 You couldn't come down to the sanctuary
44:01 and do a deal with the priest and say,
44:03 I've been good this week, I've been giving
44:08 money to the poor; I've been helping little
44:10 old ladies to cross the street, I've been running
44:12 errands for people, I've been volunteering,
44:15 I've been helping out of the
44:16 Church Community Center. The priest would look at
44:18 you like you are not, he would say,
44:20 this is nothing man, where's the Lamb? Amen.
44:25 And when it comes to our relationship with God,
44:27 you can do it all, you can be from the Tribe
44:30 of Benjamin, circumcised on the right day
44:33 of Pharisee, zealous, persecuting the Church
44:36 and God will say, I'm not recommending
44:39 persecuting a Church by the way.
44:40 And God will say, well that's fine,
44:44 where is the Lamb? Where is the Lamb?
44:47 All our goodness amongst are nothing,
44:50 God's question is where's the Lamb?
44:53 Abraham took his Son up to the hillside
44:56 you know, you know, the most amazing thing
44:57 about that story. God speaks to Abraham,
44:59 he says Abraham, I want you take your son
45:01 then God rubs it in there. Take your son,
45:06 your only son, God had the knife stuck
45:08 and then he twisted it, he said whom you love?
45:11 Amen. And Abraham he is gonna ah!
45:14 That hurts, and take him up there and offer him
45:18 as a burnt offering. And so, Abraham takes
45:22 the boy and you think, Abraham is a hero
45:25 for taking the boy. I think the boy is a hero
45:29 for going along with his dad.
45:30 Amen, amen. How old is that kid?
45:34 Sixteen, 17, 18 years old and Dad said,
45:37 boy I have something to explain to you.
45:42 God spoke to me and he said, I have to kill you.
45:50 My recommendation, this is just my recommendation.
45:54 If there are any 16 or 17 year old boys
45:57 and your dad ever says that to you, I would,
46:00 I would seek a second opinion.
46:02 I just, I absolutely would, I would. Isaac says,
46:09 alright, where do I lay? Give me,
46:12 I mean we know the, we know the story.
46:15 Here's the wood and all, but where is the Lamb?
46:19 Isaac said, I'm willing that just knocks me out.
46:23 He said, dad I'm willing for you to go through
46:25 with that. Amen. You know what?
46:27 You know what it says to me? If you want to say
46:29 to this father, it says Abraham must have been
46:32 such a Godly father. Amen. Isaac must have
46:37 known that his dad was the real deal,
46:41 so that when dad said, boy I know this might
46:44 sound strange to you, but God told me.
46:46 The son said, well that makes sense to me
46:48 because I know you and God are mighty close.
46:50 Amen. Unbelievable, here's the wood,
46:53 but where's the Lamb? That's the question
46:57 God says to us where is the Lamb?
47:00 Oh! Friend, where would we be without the Lamb?
47:04 Amen. We'd have nothing, we'd be without hope.
47:07 This life would be miserable,
47:10 if we didn't have the Lamb. Jesus the light,
47:16 I've seen them, I've seen them.
47:17 That little potter, they don't bleed anymore,
47:22 they twitch a little bit and then they bleed
47:24 like mad dead. And Jesus, the Lamb slain
47:30 from the foundation of the world carried the
47:32 wood himself as far as he could before Simon
47:35 was a, was enlisted to help out. God up there,
47:40 at the top of Calvary and he didn't put up
47:42 a fight Bible says, he laid down his life.
47:46 I imagine Jesus laying down on a Cross moving
47:49 His hand over and looking up with the
47:50 Roman soldier with the mallet and
47:52 the nails and say, is this way you'd like my hand?
47:56 Have I got this one in the right place?
47:58 He didn't fight, he submitted,
48:01 he surrendered, he laid down His life.
48:05 Why in the world would Jesus who made the cosmos?
48:10 Jesus who spoke and the Milky Way appeared.
48:13 Did you know there are billions of
48:15 galaxies out there? I can't even get my
48:16 head around there. Our galaxy is 200 million
48:18 light years across, if you travel the 186 thousand
48:22 miles a second for, for 200 million years.
48:26 That's not isn't it? That's just one that
48:28 Jesus made, He made billions. Amen.
48:32 And after He had made billions of galaxies.
48:35 He came down to this tiny little infinitesimally
48:39 small corner of the galaxy 'cause a couple
48:41 of people had sinned, if was me,
48:43 I'd have said, start again. I made them like
48:47 that I can make more, but Jesus said,
48:51 oh! No, no I can't do that, I understand
48:54 they were big issues to take, the honor of God,
48:56 the character of God, Satan making accusations
48:59 about God. God said we'll show everything
49:01 Jesus came to this teeny, tiny place and laid down
49:06 His life, so that you and I might live
49:08 and not die. Amen. Doesn't make sense to me?
49:14 The only way it can make sense is when I read
49:16 the Bible and it says, God so loved the world
49:19 that He gave us only begotten Son
49:21 and I look at Calvary and say, if that's what
49:23 love looks like. Wow! Jesus gave all.
49:33 And out there that alter of burnt offering.
49:39 The sacrifices offered out there signified
49:42 not only Christ's sacrifice primarily,
49:45 but secondarily us. The rabbis used to teach
49:50 that when the sinner brought the Lamb,
49:52 he was in a very real sense bringing himself.
49:55 Amen. And he was giving himself to die.
49:58 You know in figure, so down there when the
50:03 offering was given, this is representative
50:05 of the idea that we give ourselves.
50:09 So, Jesus died how do I, how do I benefit
50:11 from there. You know something when it comes
50:18 to Christianity and I hope I don't come up
50:20 wrong when I say this? You can't really be
50:23 in until you're all in. Amen. That's just
50:25 the truth, isn't that right? Amen.
50:27 You've heard that all saying, it's been said
50:29 a million times Jesus isn't Lord at all until
50:32 he is Lord of all. And that's true isn't it?
50:36 That's absolutely true, that burnt offering.
50:38 Now, what's interesting about the burnt offering,
50:41 it was given willingly, it was a, you don't have
50:44 to bring it, no one said, you have to.
50:46 It was a free will offering if you please.
50:50 And that person brought that, burnt offerings
50:52 were given for about seven different reasons,
50:54 but one reason and I, I want to say a
50:56 primary reason was to show consecration
50:59 and total consecration to God.
51:02 The offering was given and burned up.
51:06 The Hebrew name for that sacrifice was "Olah,"
51:10 not as an Olah, but Olah, the word means
51:14 to cause to a sin, the idea of an offering
51:17 that reaches up to God. Now, when the Greeks
51:21 translated, this Olah was translated into Greek.
51:23 The word used was "Holocausta."
51:28 In fact, if you read the do 8 version
51:29 of the Bible or a Jerusalem Bible;
51:31 you'll read for the word burnt offered.
51:33 It would just say holocaust.
51:35 And all into recent history that, that's,
51:37 that's a jarring way to describe this
51:40 burnt offering, all given, all consumed
51:46 totally given. The burnt offerings
51:49 were offered daily, morning and evening.
51:51 God we are consecrating ourselves to You.
51:54 We are giving ourselves to You.
51:59 The burnt offering was given totally;
52:01 the burnt offering was burnt completely.
52:04 This says, when we come to God
52:06 and consecrate ourselves we're, we're not to hold
52:08 something back. Now, listen if you're growing
52:11 in your faith, if you can be honest enough
52:14 to admit you're not a spiritual superman.
52:16 You say, well I'm just the spiritual,
52:19 I'm, I'm just growing that's alright.
52:22 We're not, we're not worrying today about
52:24 where we're not yet, we're thankful that
52:26 where we are because Jesus is growing us
52:29 and guiding us. Can I say it like that? Amen.
52:31 I don't want anybody being discouraged,
52:33 but what God asks is that we give ourselves
52:35 to Him completely, completely.
52:41 Lord take everything that I've got.
52:45 There's no point saying, well Lord I'll give you
52:47 a little and hold back a lot. I'll give you some,
52:49 but I won't give you most. I'll give you most,
52:51 but I won't give you all. God is saying when
52:55 we look into the sanctuary, these offerings
52:57 were given totally. Penitent sinners brought
53:01 their offerings and there were a variety
53:03 of different offerings off course.
53:04 Burnt offerings were totally consumed,
53:07 it's as though we come to God and say,
53:10 Lord consume me totally and completely.
53:17 Which says to me that as a Christian
53:19 and again I've got to be hood carefully
53:21 as you're gonna think that I'm, I'm
53:23 I'm pussyfooting here. Before you worry about
53:30 behavioral issues, can I say that?
53:33 First thing is get your attitude right.
53:36 Amen. Lord take all of me.
53:39 Now, I might not be complete yet.
53:41 There might be difficulty here and a stumbling
53:44 block there and a weakness there,
53:46 but Lord please take all of me and if you take
53:51 all of me, you'll complete all of me and
53:54 with Christ in my life. I will have his
53:58 righteousness and that's gonna be enough
54:01 for you Lord. Amen. The one who came to God
54:05 with a burned offering say, Lord I've got
54:09 to be all yours. And you know,
54:12 you know what I agree, what I don't read
54:14 in the Bible. I don't read about God saying
54:19 to a penitent sinner. I don't, I don't want
54:22 your offering, you're not righteous enough
54:25 for me. Isn't it good to know that you can
54:29 turn up by faith to heaven's sanctuary
54:31 and say I'm here? And know that doesn't
54:34 say oh! Not you're again. God doesn't say
54:37 you're not good enough for me,
54:39 God says you are welcome. Amen.
54:42 I will take your heart. Amen. There is a story
54:45 and it's told and that I think the eight chapter
54:47 of Luke, it come to Jesus they say,
54:51 Lord, there's a centurion here and
54:53 he has a sick servant and he wishes that you
54:57 would go down to his house and heal the servant.
55:00 And we are recommending that you do that
55:02 because after all he's given a whole bunch
55:04 of money to the Church and he helped us build
55:06 the synagogue, they said he is worthy.
55:09 That's his words or their words.
55:14 The centurion sends a message on the other hand.
55:16 He says, Lord, do not come to my house
55:20 for I'm not worthy. What's going on here,
55:26 one group says he's worthy another and
55:28 the man himself says he is not.
55:29 Maybe they don't have their story lined up.
55:34 The man said, I know all you need to do is say
55:36 the word and my servant will be healed.
55:38 Jesus said, now that's faith, I've never seen
55:39 faith like that before that's faith.
55:43 And the brother's servant was healed not because
55:46 of his worthiness because he was right,
55:49 he was unworthy. Do you know what
55:51 I read in a book? A little book called
55:53 Steps to Christ, a powerful book.
55:56 The book said, our great need is itself
56:00 an argument. And please most eloquently
56:03 in our behalf. Amen. You know what says to me,
56:06 if you've got a need and you recognize that
56:09 need and you press that need up against
56:11 God's throne. God will say, yes I will press you,
56:15 yes I will help you, yes I will restore you
56:19 and if you come to God saying Lord as
56:21 unworthy is I am I trust in the worthiness
56:25 of the Lamb. God says, you thank you I will
56:28 take your sin and give you my righteousness.
56:31 Amen. Tonight we're gonna have the
56:34 righteousness of God, tonight?
56:37 Isn't that something? Not as a cloak for sin,
56:39 God will remove our sin and clothe us with
56:43 His own righteousness. Without it there's no
56:45 heaven for us, without it there's no eternal
56:48 life for us, but with it stretching before us
56:51 eternity and all of its blessings and
56:54 the greatest blessing that we might be forever
56:56 in the presence of Almighty God. Amen.
56:59 Let us pray briefly, oh! Father in heaven,
57:02 we thank you that the sanctuary service
57:04 with its sacrifices teaches us,
57:07 our righteousness just won't cut it,
57:10 but we need the righteousness of the Lamb.
57:12 We ask for it yea verily we claim it,
57:14 we believe in it now tonight.
57:17 We thank You that You would give us
57:18 Your righteousness and we pray in Jesus name, amen.
57:24 I'm so glad you joined us, may God richly bless you.


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Revised 2014-12-17