Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: GPL
Program Code: GPL000007
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00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Coming up next on "The Grace Pipeline," 00:04 we will answer the question, is God involved in a cover-up? 00:09 Please join us now and learn how you can stand 00:11 before God just as if you had never sinned. 00:35 Welcome to "The Grace Pipeline." 00:38 In our last program we considered how our God 00:41 is a just God, perfect in all His ways. 00:45 His judgments against sinners are sure and righteous, 00:49 but His mercy is shown in that, 00:51 He also is the justifier of mankind, 00:55 offering us salvation by grace. 00:58 We also examined how an angel of God 01:00 created in perfection allowed his selfish pride 01:04 and lust for power to turn him into the devil 01:07 and started the great controversy 01:09 between good and evil. 01:11 When Satan lodged lying accusations against our Creator 01:16 and forced to rebellion, God limited his response 01:19 to casting him and his followers out of heaven. 01:22 For a limited time, the great controversy 01:25 between good and evil now rages on earth. 01:28 When God's just character has been proven 01:30 beyond doubt to all of His created beings, 01:34 angels and humans alike. 01:36 He will cut short the sin experience 01:38 by the second coming of Christ. 01:41 Today, we will look back to the mercy seat 01:44 of the ancient sanctuary and learn 01:46 that the saints of the Old Testament 01:48 were saved by grace just as we are. 01:51 If you're following along in the series 01:53 companion book also title "The Grace Pipeline," 01:56 we are beginning on page 50 of Chapter 4. 02:01 How do you see God? 02:03 Is your image of Him one of a stern taskmaster, 02:07 who is just watching from His throne, 02:10 eager to meet out punishment on wrong doers? 02:13 You know, unfortunately some people think that God of love 02:17 of the New Testament is in sharp contrast 02:20 to the image of God in the Old Testament. 02:22 If you've ever thought like that, perhaps because like me, 02:27 you are taught such nonsense. 02:29 I challenge you to take off those biased blinders 02:33 and read the Old Testament. 02:35 God is the same yesterday, today and forever, 02:38 He does not change. 02:40 The God of love written about in the New Testament 02:43 loves the sinner but hates the sin. 02:46 He is still a God of judgment. 02:48 In the Old Testament, you will see constant evidences 02:51 of the love of God and reflections of it 02:54 even in His most stern warnings against sin. 02:58 Listen to this precious passage 03:01 from the Old Testament found in Micah 7:18. 03:05 "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity 03:09 and passing over the transgression 03:11 of the remnant of His heritage? 03:13 He does not retain His anger forever, 03:16 because He delights in mercy." 03:20 The Bible teaches us that God is love. 03:23 He is not just loving in action, 03:26 His very nature and essence is love. 03:29 And love delights in mercy. 03:32 Rebellious human kind was held captive by sin. 03:36 We were on the auction block so to speak, as slaves of sin. 03:40 God's Holy law demanded justice for sin. 03:43 In Romans 6:23, the Apostle tells us, 03:45 "That the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 03:50 is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 03:53 With relentless love and by the precious blood 03:55 of His only begotten Son, 03:57 God provided the ransom payment to redeem us. 04:00 He purchased our freedom from sin's bondage 04:04 through the death of Jesus Christ. 04:06 And that's why Peter could write in 1 Peter 1:18, 19. 04:11 "That we can know that you were not redeemed 04:14 with corruptible things, like silver or gold, 04:18 from your aimless conduct received by tradition 04:20 from your fathers, but you were redeemed 04:24 with the precious blood of Christ, 04:26 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 04:32 In an act of a mercy and grace, God sent Christ 04:36 to win back humanity's love and loyalty. 04:39 Jesus willingly gave Himself on our behalf. 04:43 He stood in our place as the perfect substitute 04:47 and Christ sacrifice satisfied the demands for justice 04:52 that were required by the holy law of our loving God. 04:56 Christ became the propitiation for our sins. 05:00 As is written in 1 John 2:1, 2. 05:06 "My little children, these things I write to you, 05:10 so that you may not sin. 05:12 And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, 05:16 Jesus Christ the righteous. 05:18 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, 05:22 and not for ours only but also for the whole world." 05:26 And it is written again in 1 John 4:9, 10. 05:31 "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, 05:35 that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, 05:38 that we might live through Him. 05:41 In this is love, not that we loved God, 05:45 but that He loved us and sent His Son 05:48 to be the propitiation for our sins." 05:53 Only the author of Romans and the author of Hebrews, 05:57 whom I believe may both be attributed to the Apostle Paul, 06:02 also used this word in the New Testament, 06:05 propitiation, it's one of those words 06:08 that many of us stumble over 06:10 when we read and just keep pressing forward 06:12 without stopping to investigate it. 06:14 But to understand this word is to understand 06:18 why John the Baptist could exclaim 06:21 when he saw Jesus behold the Lamb of God, 06:24 who takes away the sins of the world. 06:29 Propitiation is another of those valuable words in scripture 06:33 that to appreciate we must first learn to define. 06:37 It is the very foundation for our justification by grace, 06:41 which means the acquittal of our sin 06:43 and the declaration of our innocence. 06:46 Propitiation is such a vital aspect of the Savior's ministry 06:50 that we should strive to understand it. 06:53 It's a difficult word to define, but bear with me 06:56 as I do my best to explain it. 06:59 You know, in Texas we have this saying 07:01 that when there is a difficult task at hand 07:03 we call it, "heavy ploughing." 07:05 Well, that's what we're about to do. 07:07 We're going to plough through trying to define propitiation, 07:11 so that we can breakthrough to the other side of it. 07:14 Why is this necessary? 07:15 What benefit is it to you? 07:17 When you understand propitiation, 07:20 you will gain a greater understanding 07:22 of salvation by grace and an expanded appreciation 07:26 of the atoning work of Christ. 07:29 In a symbolic sense, Jesus propitiation means, 07:34 "to cover sin" and is closely related to the concept 07:40 of atonement, which means "to cover over." 07:45 Propitiation represents the atonement of a merciful God 07:49 who covers sin so that humanity can receive reconciliation. 07:55 That just simply means that we receive 07:57 a change of attitude to make us friendly 07:59 toward God and restore us to Him. 08:02 When we accept Christ as our propitiation, 08:05 our sins are remitted and we are reinstated 08:08 into the family of God. 08:10 Now for a clear understanding of propitiation, 08:14 we must look back to the mercy seat 08:17 that covered God's throne of grace in the earthly sanctuary. 08:21 Allow me to set the same. 08:24 Immediately after God spoke the Ten Commandments 08:27 from Mount Sinai to His people, He made a special 08:30 temporary covenant with the nation of Israel. 08:33 Found in Exodus Chapter 20, and it begins with verse 22, 08:38 and it goes through Chapter 23 and verse 33. 08:41 And this dictated a series of civil, 08:44 social and religious laws to Moses. 08:47 Then Moses wrote the words of the Lord 08:50 in the Book of the Covenant, and afterward 08:53 God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger. 08:57 This is-these words are the only portion of scripture 09:00 that were hand-recorded by God. 09:03 Then God said in Exodus 25:8, 9. 09:10 "And let them make me a sanctuary 09:12 that I may dwell among them. 09:14 According to all that I show you, that is the pattern 09:19 of the tabernacle and the pattern of all 09:21 of its furnishings just so shall you make it." 09:26 Under the old covenant, God poured out 09:30 the grace of forgiveness in salvation to humanity 09:33 through the divine sanctuary services. 09:36 Sacrificed animals that stood in as substitutes 09:40 secured forgiveness for sinners. 09:43 The system of ceremonial laws 09:45 established in Exodus and Leviticus, which is called 09:48 the Book of the Priesthood, 09:50 was as Hebrews 10:1 refers to it, 09:53 just a shadow of good things to come. 09:56 This pointed to Christ, who is the substance, 09:59 the body that cast the shadow. 10:02 In the New Testament, in Hebrews 9:1-28, 10:08 provides a brief sketch 10:09 of the earthly sanctuary services. 10:12 And it summarizes the rituals of the priesthood 10:15 and the crucial role of animal sacrifices 10:18 in the ceremonial system. 10:20 What I'd like to do is just take a moment 10:22 to review some highlights of this passage of scripture. 10:26 We find in verse 6 that it was recorded each day 10:32 the priest carried out their ministry for the people 10:35 in the outer court and within the Holy Place. 10:39 The first compartment of the sanctuary 10:41 was called the Holy Place. 10:43 So the priests maintained daily sacrifices to confirm 10:47 the nation's consecration to God 10:50 and their constant dependence upon Him for atonement from sin. 10:54 They also set forth, guilt, sin and trespass offerings 10:59 on behalf of individuals. 11:01 And the death of the animals demonstrated 11:04 that sinners deserve to die, but were reconciled to God 11:08 by transferring their sins to a sacrificed victim 11:12 that served as a substitute. 11:15 By grace the blood of the substitute 11:18 made atonement for the soul. 11:21 This is an important point. 11:23 So let's take note of what Leviticus 17:11 says, 11:27 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, 11:30 and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement 11:34 for your souls, for it is the blood 11:37 that makes atonement for the soul." 11:40 The New Testament clearly teaches that Jesus blood serves 11:45 as atonement for the sin of humanity. 11:48 Now, let's continue in Hebrews 9, 11:51 and I'll summarize verses 2-5 for you. 11:55 In this Chapter that provides the overview 11:59 of the sanctuary and its furnishings. 12:01 Now, located in the inner sanctuary 12:05 which was called the Holiest of Holy 12:07 and sometimes it was identified as the Holy of Holies 12:11 or the Most Holy Place. 12:13 Inside there was the Ark of the Covenant 12:15 with the mercy seat, and this symbolized 12:18 God's throne of grace. 12:20 It was here that the visible presence, 12:23 the Shekinah Glory of God filled the space 12:26 between the cherubim and here God communed 12:30 with people, and He heard their prayers. 12:33 And from His mercy seat, the God of grace 12:36 extended forgiveness of sins. 12:39 Now in verse 4 of Hebrews, it explains that the contents 12:45 of what were inside the Ark and inside this sacred chest 12:49 were the golden pot of manna. 12:51 That was a memorial of God's supernatural provision. 12:56 Also was the rod of Aaron which was dead then budded, 13:01 and it was a sign given to verify that Aaron 13:04 had the right to serve as high priest. 13:07 This pointed to Christ, our branch 13:10 as the Old Testament calls him, who was dead 13:13 then resurrected with new life to serve 13:16 as our only high priest in heaven. 13:19 Also inside the sacred chest 13:21 were the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. 13:24 And these represented the twin pillars that support 13:27 the moral foundation upon which God's government rests. 13:33 Now in verse 5, it tells us that the covering was- 13:40 of the Ark was a lid that was called the mercy seat. 13:44 And the literal meaning of the Hebrew word 13:46 for mercy seat meant to wipeout or cover over. 13:51 God's people identified the Most Holy Place 13:55 as the place of the mercy seat. 13:57 The high priest and He alone entered 13:59 the Most Holy Place once a year, on the Day of Atonement, 14:03 which you may have heard it called Yom Kippur. 14:06 On this Day of Judgment, he made atonement 14:09 for the sanctuary and all the people. 14:12 For the congregation, he would sprinkle 14:14 the atoning blood of the authorized sacrifices 14:17 on the mercy seat, first for himself 14:19 and then for the collective errors 14:22 and sins of ignorance of the nation. 14:24 As verse 7 attest. Let's read it. 14:28 "But into the second part the high priest 14:31 went alone once a year, not without blood, 14:35 which he offered for himself and for the people's sins 14:39 committed in ignorance." 14:43 These services at this most sacred of all ceremonial days, 14:47 represented cleansing from sin and reconciliation to God 14:52 through the atonement our covering over by blood. 14:55 This pointed to Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross, 15:00 an occasion of solemn nationwide repentance. 15:04 The Day of Atonement eventually ended for the pennated with joy. 15:09 By grace they received forgiveness 15:11 and a fresh start with God. 15:14 You know, the author of Hebrews explains in verse 8, 15:18 that the limitation of entering God's presence only once a year 15:23 indicated that the way into the holiest of all 15:26 was not yet made manifest 15:28 while the first tabernacle was still standing. 15:31 Repeated year by year, the annual sacrifices 15:35 could not bring about what verse 10 calls 15:38 the great time of reformation, not until Christ, 15:43 our eternal Savior, provided the most excellent 15:46 and permanent sacrifice was the new and living way 15:50 into the presence of God opened 15:52 and unbroken fellowship restored. 15:56 Verse 11 says that, "He came as high priest 16:00 of the good things to come." 16:02 And we see in Hebrews 9:15, "That Christ became 16:07 the mediator of the new covenant that we might receive 16:11 the promise of the eternal inheritance." 16:15 Now let me read to you portions of verses 12, 25 and 28 16:20 of Hebrews 9, because this emphasizes, 16:23 it was only necessary for Christ to be sacrificed once. 16:27 Let's read this together. 16:29 It says, "With His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place 16:35 once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." 16:40 "Not that He should offer Himself often. 16:44 Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many." 16:52 Christ needed only to be sacrificed once. 16:55 His propitiation was perfect and complete. 16:59 By His death Christ nailed the ceremonial law 17:03 and the temporary old covenant 17:04 with the nation of Israel to the cross. 17:07 The mercy seat of the Old Testament sanctuary 17:11 typified the redemption and justification 17:14 that we receive through Christ in a figurative sense. 17:19 Christ is our mercy seat of judgment upon which God 17:23 rules from His throne of grace in heaven. 17:26 His atoning blood covers this mercy seat. 17:29 He is the propitiation, the covering for our sin. 17:34 Let's read Romans 3:21-26. 17:40 "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law 17:43 is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 17:46 even the righteousness of God, through faith 17:50 in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. 17:55 For there is no difference, for all have sinned 17:58 and fall short of the glory of God, 18:00 being justified freely by His grace 18:05 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 18:07 whom God set forth as a propitiation, 18:11 a covering of sin by His blood, through faith, 18:15 to demonstrate His righteousness, 18:18 because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins 18:22 that were previously committed, to demonstrate 18:25 at the present time His righteousness, 18:27 that He might be just and the justifier 18:32 of the one who has faith in Jesus." 18:36 An unfailing love the God of heaven 18:40 became the justifier of humanity. 18:42 He declares that all who'll believe 18:45 in His great gift of grace, 18:47 Jesus Christ, are redeemed from the bondage of sin 18:51 made righteous by faith and justified. 18:55 As we looked at in our last program, 18:57 the simple request of Demas, a condemned criminal 19:00 dying on a cross located to the right of our Savior. 19:03 His simple request is the perfect 19:06 picture of how propitiation by Christ blood 19:09 can result in forgiveness and salvation. 19:12 In an instant at the sound of His cry, 19:15 the sinner was justified, restored to a right relationship 19:19 with God and saved from his righteous wrath. 19:23 To be justified requires the process of God 19:27 granting an acquittal and declaring 19:30 the sinners innocence. 19:32 The justified person may say, 19:34 "It is just as if I'd never sinned." 19:37 This comes to us by grace 19:39 through Christ death and resurrection. 19:42 Do not think for a moment that you're too bad 19:44 to be saved by grace. 19:47 Romans 5:8-9 says, "God demonstrates His own love 19:51 toward us, in that while we were still sinners, 19:54 Christ died for us. 19:56 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, 20:01 we shall be saved from wrath through Him." 20:06 Now in considering the work of atonement and justification, 20:10 we cannot separate Christ resurrection 20:13 from His death on the cross. 20:15 The resurrection proved Christ claims to be the Son of God 20:19 and it released Him from the penalty of sin. 20:22 Only a resurrected Savior could serve 20:25 as our faithful high priest and complete 20:28 the work of atonement in the sanctuary of God in heaven. 20:31 Only a resurrected Savior is able to save us completely 20:35 as He lives to make intersession for us. 20:38 Let's read what the Bible says in Romans 4:25. 20:42 "Who," speaking of Christ, 20:44 "Was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds 20:49 and was raised to secure our justification, 20:53 our acquittal making our account balance 20:57 and absolving us from all guilt before God." 21:02 Christ died that we might receive justification by grace 21:06 and He was raised to secure our justification. 21:10 You know, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:6, 21:13 "He has made us accepted in the beloved." 21:17 Our hearts should overflow with appreciation and love 21:21 as we consider how he has clothed us with the robe 21:25 of Christ righteousness and accepted us 21:28 in His beloved Son. 21:30 The atoning blood of Christ our propitiation for sin 21:35 was the redemption price to release us 21:38 from our yoke of Satan's bondage. 21:41 The redeemer paid the ransom in full 21:44 for the condemned captives of sin. 21:47 It is because of this bloodbath part in that we can receive 21:53 His righteousness and justification 21:56 by the grace of God. 21:59 So you see, I am not insane to ask 22:02 if God is involved in a cover-up. 22:05 He most definitely is. 22:07 He is involved in the cover-up of our sins. 22:12 So let's summarize what this most important 22:15 word propitiation means. 22:18 This word that's so strange 22:20 to our vocabulary and our thinking. 22:22 It is symbolic sense, propitiation means to cover sin. 22:28 And it is closely related to the concept of atonement, 22:31 which means to cover over. 22:33 Remember this the next time you stumble across that word 22:37 in the Bible, Christ, our propitiation represents 22:42 the atonement of a merciful God who covers sin, 22:47 so that He can work a change of attitude in our hearts 22:52 that will make us friendly toward Him. 22:55 This results in our God restoring our relationship 22:59 with Him by reconciling us to Himself. 23:03 Let me ask you. 23:04 Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? 23:08 If you have, then you accepted Him as your propitiation. 23:13 Your sins are remitted and you've been 23:16 reinstated into the family of God. 23:18 If you have not made that firm commitment in your heart, 23:22 I invite you right now to join me in this prayer 23:27 and let's just tell the Lord that you're tired of living 23:31 in your sin sick empty way of life, 23:34 and we'll ask Him to grant you the gift of repentance. 23:38 Father, we come in the name of Jesus and I pray, 23:42 Lord, for those who are out 23:45 there yearning for a better way of life. 23:48 Father, I thank You, that You are opening their eyes 23:51 to turn them from darkness to light 23:53 and from the power of Satan to You. 23:55 And I ask in the name of Jesus that even at this very moment 24:00 as they cry out, Lord, to be forgiven of their sins 24:05 that You would grant them the gift of repentance 24:08 and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. 24:11 Turn them away, Lord, and turn them away from sin into You. 24:16 Welcome them into the family. 24:19 Father, we ask these things in the name of Jesus 24:22 and receive them in the name of Jesus. 24:25 Thank you, amen. 24:28 Now, God will give you a fresh start. 24:31 He is the God of new beginnings and He eagerly awaits 24:36 anyone who would make a decision for Him. 24:38 Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit 24:41 so that Jesus may live in your heart by faith. 24:45 Tap into the grace pipeline 24:47 and God will grant you power over sin 24:50 and cause you to be rooted and grounded in His love 24:54 which is the compelling power behind His grace. 24:59 Well, our time is quickly coming to an end, 25:04 but I'm going to-I-I could continue on right now. 25:08 But I think that we're getting ready to delve 25:11 a little deeper in our next program, 25:14 into this topic of justification and God's extreme grace. 25:20 And it is such a wonderful teaching and to understand 25:27 from the Bible, what justification is all about 25:31 because justification is just the first stage of salvation. 25:38 So what we're going to do in this program 25:41 is we will not only go 25:43 and we'll be talking about justification. 25:47 But then in upcoming programs, 25:50 your heart is going to be thrilled 25:52 and as we start looking at sanctification, 25:55 which is the second stage of salvation. 25:59 And you'd be filled with the wondering of God's love 26:03 in all that He does for us. 26:06 He is-it is according to the pleasure of His will 26:11 that a just and Holy God became the justifier 26:16 of unholy humanity. 26:19 Justification is ours through Jesus alone. 26:24 The result of the cross and salvation 26:27 is a gift of His grace, and is yours for the asking. 26:32 If you didn't make that prayer with me while ago, 26:35 I hope if you- if you're finding 26:39 that you're not sure about God. 26:42 If you're not even sure that God exists 26:45 and you're watching this program 26:47 from anywhere around the world 26:49 and you're saying, "Is this true?" 26:51 I want to challenge you to do this one thing. 26:54 Tonight, when you go to bed, you just ask the Lord and say, 26:59 "Lord, if You're real, reveal Yourself to me." 27:04 And if you seek Him, I promise you, 27:09 He will come to you. 27:12 And this salvation is too great to be ignored. 27:18 Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He loves you, 27:23 He died for you, and you were worth nothing less 27:27 than the precious price that He paid to redeem you from sin. 27:32 Life doesn't have to be the way it's been in the past. 27:36 You can release your past and press forward with Christ, 27:41 knowing that He came to give you life abundantly. 27:47 And trust me, it is an abundant life. 27:50 I am so thankful to know there is nothing I can do 27:53 to save myself, but that in Christ I have everything. 27:57 Now grow in grace. Goodbye. |
Revised 2014-12-17