Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001312
00:09 On that first Easter Sunday morning, some women went
00:11 to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body for burial. 00:14 An angel met them and told the women Jesus was risen 00:17 from the dead, so they hurried 00:19 off to tell the eleven remaining disciples. 00:21 Luke 24:11 reveals the disciples surprising reaction. 00:32 In their disappointment, they forgot some of the 00:34 plainest statements Jesus had made to them. 00:38 Jesus had said, "I'm going up to Jerusalem, 00:39 and I'm going to die." 00:40 He said that He would be rejected by the elders 00:42 and the chief priests and the scribes, and that He'd 00:45 be killed, and He said He would rise again - 00:48 but the disciples didn't quite get it. 00:51 And now that the women were there telling the disciples 00:53 that Jesus' prophecies had been fulfilled, they 00:56 refused to believe. 00:57 Such is the power of preconceived ideas, and such 01:00 is the power of crushing disappointment. 01:03 The disciples were foolish to refuse to believe - they had 01:07 let what they saw totally destroy their faith in what 01:10 they couldn't see Maybe we make that mistake. 01:12 Because we don't see the big picture we might jump to a 01:15 wrong conclusion that doesn't involve hope. 01:17 The cross of Jesus tell us that victory often comes out 01:20 of defeat, and it reminds us that what we see is often 01:23 not the whole picture. 01:25 Trust God today, even if it seems your hopes have been 01:28 dashed, even if something just doesn't make sense. 01:30 The resurrection had taken place and yet the disciples 01:33 were all doom and gloom. 01:36 That resurrection says there's a God who is alive - and He's 01:39 working in your life right now. 01:41 Have faith to know that God isn't simply the God of what 01:44 you can see, He's also the God of what you cannot see. 01:50 I'm John Bradshaw for It is Written. 01:52 Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and let's live 01:56 today by Every Word. 02:03 ♪ [Music in background - ♪ ♪ "Were you there when ♪ 02:07 ♪ they crucified my Lord?"] ♪ 03:04 It has stood the test of time. 03:09 God's book, the bible. 03:10 Still relevant in today's complex world. 03:21 It Is Written sharing hope around the globe. 03:35 [Music in background] Kim Philby was destined to 03:49 make his mark in the world. 03:50 The son of a rather brilliant father, he was educated at the 03:53 best schools in England, including Trinity College 03:56 in Cambridge. 03:57 For 30 years Philby worked for British intelligence, rising 04:01 to a very high rank in the British Secret Intelligence 04:04 Service, M.I.6: he ran its entire counterespionage 04:09 programme - that is, he was in charge of stopping spies 04:12 collecting information on Britain - and set up the 04:15 section that spied on the Soviet Union. 04:24 [Music in the background] But what nobody knew was that 04:32 while Kim Philby was in charge of an important part of Great 04:36 Britain's spy programme, he himself was in fact a DOUBLE 04:40 AGENT: while supposedly protecting Britain from spies, 04:46 Philby was a spy himself, working for the Soviet Union. 04:52 He provided a lot of information to the Soviets 04:54 that led to the deaths of a large number of agents, 04:57 and he inflicted real damage on both American 05:00 and British intelligence. 05:15 Kim Philby died in Moscow in 1988. 05:18 A brilliant man, a capable man, but a double agent. 05:23 Nobody really knew just whose side he was on. 05:30 I've wondered often just how many people know 05:34 whose side GOD is on. 05:36 I'm not suggesting for a second that God is a double 05:38 agent, but that many people aren't entirely sure just whose 05:41 side He is on, as life plays out here on Planet Earth. 05:45 God gets blamed for an enormous amount of bad things: 05:49 in 2005, not long after Hurricane Katrina, 05:53 Time Magazine featured an article titled, 05:55 "Where Was God?" 05:57 It investigated the myriad responses from people about 06:00 the cause of the calamity - masses felt that it was God's 06:04 judgment for just about everything. 06:07 After the Asian tsunami, the Archbishop of Canterbury 06:09 said, "Of course, this makes us doubt 06:12 God's existence." 06:14 So very often when personal tragedy strikes, 06:17 the question asked is "Why did God allow this?" 06:20 That's not always a bad question - even Jesus cried 06:25 out, My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me? 06:28 But all too often present in the question is the suggestion 06:32 that God is the villain. 06:35 And the question gets murky for some when we start to 06:38 wrestle with matters of personal sin - "Does God still 06:41 care for me, does God still love me, is God still with me 06:45 after what I've done?" How far does the love and patience 06:49 and acceptance of God stretch in the case 06:52 of sinners committing sin? 06:54 Serious questions. 06:56 And the Bible provides us with serious answers. 07:00 You don't really have to go far in the Bible to 07:02 figure this thing out. 07:03 John chapter 8 describes how Jesus handled a broken life. 07:08 We find Jesus in the temple where you'd expect it to be 07:12 very reverent, very quiet, when something 07:17 strange happens. 07:18 A group of apparently upstanding men bring to Jesus 07:21 a woman who had just been caught in an act of immorality. 07:25 Angry men, a cowering, perhaps a weeping woman, there's 07:30 tension in the air as justice is being demanded. 07:34 Here's how John describes the scene. 07:37 John Chapter eight 07:59 Well, what could He say? 08:01 If she's guilty, she's guilty. 08:02 Really, that settles it. 08:05 But aren't you glad that it doesn't actually settle it in 08:09 the mind of God? 08:11 Not right away. 08:12 If guilt "settled it", our collective goose would have 08:15 been well and truly cooked a long time ago. 08:17 And according to the Bible, we're all in 08:19 the same situation. 08:21 Romans 3:23 says, 08:28 If our misdeeds settled it, if our sins settled it, 08:32 none of us would ever have the slightest hope 08:35 of going to heaven. 08:36 We'd be done! 08:37 So how did Jesus respond? 08:39 John 8, we pick it up in verse 6 09:02 Now, they were right. 09:04 She was a sinful woman, and she had done wrong. 09:07 But Jesus challenges these individuals and tells them to 09:13 go right ahead and stone this poor creature as long as they 09:17 themselves were without sin. 09:21 You know, when the woman heard Jesus say that, she no doubt 09:25 thought she was dead. 09:27 These holy, righteous men, she thought. 09:29 They come off as being so holy they'll probably all be 09:32 throwing rocks at me. 09:33 It'll be a blizzard! 09:35 But instead, they drop their rocks and walk away, leaving 09:40 Jesus, the perfect, holy, righteous Son of God - God in 09:45 the flesh - alone with this miserable, wicked, corrupt 09:50 individual, who really did deserve to have the 09:54 book thrown at her. 09:55 Now let's see how this story ends. 09:57 John 8, again we pick it up in verse 10. 10:22 Can you imagine how she felt?! 10:23 You know how good you felt when you got pulled up for 10:26 speeding and the police officer let you off with 10:27 just a warning, right? 10:29 And all you avoided was a $100 fine. 10:32 This woman escaped with her life. 10:35 Now why did Jesus do that? 10:38 Because that's whose side Jesus is on. 10:44 Do you remember the famous verse in John 3:16, but what 10:46 about John 3:17? It says this: 10:59 God is in the business of SAVING people. 11:02 In fact, God gives us an incredible illustration to 11:06 help us understand just whose side He is on today. 11:09 God had Israel build Him a dwelling place, a sanctuary. 11:14 In Exodus 25:8 it says: 11:27 God wanted to spend time with His people. 11:29 The sanctuary was mobile - it traveled with the Israelites 11:34 through the wilderness. 11:35 And it was magnificent - gold plated boards set 11:38 in sockets of silver, fine linen, beautiful curtains, 11:43 a golden candlestick with seven lamps giving light 11:47 day and night, gold-plated furniture and 11:49 items of pure gold. 12:00 And most magnificently, the Shekinah Glory was in there 12:05 the presence of God Himself. 12:07 Of course, in time the mobile sanctuary 12:11 was superseded by the temple. 12:13 Yet you'll remember that when Jesus died the veil in that 12:18 temple was torn in two by an act of God. 12:22 God was signifying that the temple services were now 12:25 obsolete - the True Lamb had come and died. 12:29 As such, it was redundant for God's people to offer animal 12:32 sacrifices anymore. 12:33 In fact, you could say it was offensive - to have faith in a 12:37 lamb sacrifice would be to fail to recognize the True 12:40 Lamb had died. 12:42 The temple had really served its purpose. 12:45 So what is the Bible talking about when it talks about 12:48 a sanctuary that is still important to us today? 12:51 In the book of Hebrews we discover a sanctuary 12:55 in heaven. 12:56 And according the book of Exodus, Moses was told to by 13:01 God to build the earthly sanctuary and pattern it after 13:05 the heavenly. 13:07 Now why is that important? 13:08 The simple existence of the building itself isn't the item 13:12 of most major importance. 13:15 What is most important is what is going on in that sanctuary. 13:20 What is going on there shows us where God's mind is towards 13:23 the sinners of this world. 13:26 I4ll tell you in a moment where Jesus is and what he 13:29 is doing. 13:30 And the answer will bless you incredibly. 13:35 [Indian folk Music] 13:38 Eyes for India is giving sight to the blind and you can be 13:41 a part of this amazing work that God is doing. 13:44 Fifteen million blind people live in India, more than any 13:47 other country in the world, and many of the blind in India 13:50 could see again, if only they could have simple cataract 13:54 surgery. 13:55 It Is Written is making that happen. 13:58 Would you support eyes for India. 14:01 For just $75, you'll be giving the gift of sight to someone 14:06 who desperately wants to see. 14:08 Here's all you need to do. 14:10 Call 1.800.253.3000 to donate and support Eyes for India, 14:17 or you can write to It Is Written, Box O, 14:19 Thousand Oaks, California 91359. 14:23 You will also find Eyes for India on-line 14:26 at It Is Written.com. 14:31 After Jesus died on the cross, we know where He went. 14:33 He went to the grave. 14:36 I know it says in the Apostles' Creed - "He descended 14:38 into hell, on the third day He rose again..." - 14:40 but that is true in the Biblical sense where the word 14:42 'hell' is often used to mean the grave. 14:45 Jesus descended into the grave. 14:48 When he died, he didn4t go to a hot place in the center 14:49 of the earth. 14:50 That is just fantasy with no biblical basis at all. 14:52 The wonderful news is, though, that the grave could 14:56 not hold Jesus! 14:58 He came forth triumphant. 14:59 Then where did He go? 15:01 He went to heaven. 15:03 And what did He go to heaven for? 15:05 Was it just to bide His time as He waited for 15:07 the Second Coming? 15:08 No, Jesus went to heaven to do far more than that. 15:12 According to the book of Hebrews, Jesus is performing 15:16 a specific role in heaven. 15:18 Hebrews 4:14 says, 15:31 Jesus went to heaven to be our High Priest. 15:34 Now let's look at Hebrews 8, verses 1 and 2. 15:56 Jesus has gone to heaven, to the heavenly sanctuary 15:58 that God made, so that He can be 16:01 our High Priest. 16:03 Now think about what that means for us. 16:06 The old sanctuary service was essentially the gospel in 16:10 types and shadows. 16:11 How could God help Israel understand what the plan of 16:14 salvation was really all about? 16:17 He taught them - it's like this, He said. 16:20 Sin causes death. 16:21 I want to show you how it will cause the death of my Son, 16:24 so I'll put that in the figure of 16:26 the death of a lamb. 16:27 Because of your sin the lamb dies. 16:31 Here's what they'd do. 16:32 The sinner would take a lamb to this sanctuary. 16:36 He'd confess his sins over the lamb, and his sins would 16:39 be transferred - figuratively, obviously 16:41 - to the lamb. 16:43 The Lamb would be killed, and the blood would be taken 16:46 inside the sanctuary, some of the blood. 16:50 In that way, the sin was transferred into 16:54 the sanctuary. 16:56 At the end of the year the entire sin record would 16:58 be dealt with, on the Day of Atonement. 17:01 The sanctuary would be cleansed, and the people would 17:04 rejoice that they stood before God absolutely pure and clean. 17:08 Does this relate to our salvation today? 17:10 You bet it does. 17:12 When we need cleansing from sin, we come to Jesus. 17:16 The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and then prompts 17:19 us to come to God. 17:21 We come - we are drawn to Him by God Himself. 17:24 We confess our sins. 17:26 Who takes our sins? 17:27 Jesus, the Lamb. 17:29 He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins 17:32 once and for all. 17:34 So we come to Christ, we profess faith 17:36 in the sacrifice of the Lamb when Jesus died on the cross, 17:40 and God takes our sins away. 17:42 Now, back in the OT time, when the sinner confessed, 17:46 there was a middle man - a priest, or a 17:49 high priest. 17:50 Today, there's a Middle Man - our High Priest, Jesus. 17:55 Look at what we read in 1 John 2:1 - The Bible says, 18:17 As our High Priest in heaven, Jesus intercedes for us. 18:20 We come to Him with our sins, repentant. 18:22 He takes our sins from us, appeals to God in our behalf, 18:27 and gives His own perfect righteousness in place 18:31 of our sins. 18:33 What this tells us is that in heaven there is a Saviour who 18:37 invites us to come to Him, just as we are, knowing that 18:41 He will have mercy on us. 18:44 Remember what it said back in Hebrews 4:14? 19:00 If you're a sinner who has faith in Jesus 19:02 and you've got your struggles, the answer is not to let go! 19:06 The knowledge that a holy, righteous Jesus is your High 19:09 Priest in heaven absolutely must inspire you 19:13 to hang on tight! 19:14 The Greek word that is translated into "hold fast" 19:18 means "to cling to tenaciously." That's like 19:21 a barnacle clinging to the side of a ship. 19:24 You can hardly pry those things off! 19:28 And when you know that Jesus is on your side in heaven, 19:30 that ought to give you confidence to live on in on 19:34 such a way that nothing can pry you off. 19:39 Continuing in Heb 4:16 19:56 We are to come with confidence, because Jesus is our High 19:58 Priest, and our intercessor. 20:01 I spoke to someone recently who said to me, 20:03 I hope I'm good enough to go to heaven. 20:06 And you know what I told this person? 20:07 I said, You'll never be good enough. 20:10 That's why we need Jesus! 20:12 And in fact, if you're hoping to ever be good enough for God 20:15 to save you, you need to stop hoping that right now. 20:19 Now, if what you mean is that you hope to be ready, 20:22 or you hope to see Jesus, well that's fine. 20:25 But if you're hoping to be good enough to go to heaven, 20:27 you've got another thing coming. 20:29 Now this might surprise you, but I've taught my children to 20:32 never pray that God will help them to be good. 20:37 Now why would I say that? 20:38 I'll tell you why in a moment. 20:43 Planning for your financial future is a vital aspect 20:45 of Christian stewardship. 20:48 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free 20:50 planned giving and estate services. 20:52 For information on how we can help you please call 20:54 1.800.992.2219. 20:59 To receive additional material on the advantages of life 21:01 income plans such as a Charitable Gift 21:05 Annuity, which can provide you with tax benefits and income 21:07 for life, call today or visit our special website: 21:10 www.hislegacy.com. 21:14 You can also write to It Is Written, Planned Giving 21:17 and Trust Services, Box O, Thousand Oaks, California, 21:21 91359. 21:23 Our toll free number again is 1.800.992.2219 and our web 21:29 address www.hislegacy.com. 21:37 It Is Written is dedicated to sharing the gospel around 21:40 the world. 21:41 To discover more about It Is Written, I invite you to visit 21:43 our website, itiswritten.com and browse the dozens of pages 21:47 that describe what we do and how we do it. 21:50 Let's get to know each oer better. 21:52 Visit our website itiswritten.com today. 21:57 You know, I4ve taught my children to never 21:59 pray to be good. 22:01 I remember my little boy praying that - "Dear Jesus, 22:03 help me to be good." 22:06 And I said, No, we are not going to pray that way. 22:07 Not that I want my children to pray to be bad, 22:10 you understand! 22:12 But what happens if you pray to be good? 22:15 You're doomed to fail. 22:16 In Romans chapter 3, Paul is quoting the Psalms when he 22:19 writes these words: 22:28 And then verse 12 adds. 22:33 So you're going to try to be good, 22:36 or pray to be good? 22:37 All you can do is FAIL! 22:40 The person who prays to be good is sooner or later going 22:42 to figure out that such an approach cannot work, 22:45 and before long one of a couple of things 22:48 is going to happen: they're either going to give 22:49 up on God, or just as bad, they're going to stay in the 22:53 church and be miserable and feel condemned. 22:56 But God didn't ever ask us to be good. 22:58 He asked us to be HOLY! 23:02 And where are you going to get holiness from? 23:05 Not from yourself, that's for sure! 23:07 I've encouraged my children to pray instead that Christ will 23:10 live in their hearts; that God would forgive them 23:14 and give them new hearts. 23:15 See, if you are praying to be good, it'll never work. 23:18 If you pray for Jesus to live in your heart, 23:21 it'll never fail! 23:22 When Jesus comes into your life He brings His goodness, 23:25 His righteousness, and His holiness. 23:29 And that's what we need. 23:30 And we can get that - sinners like us! 23:34 We can receive Christ's holiness freely when we come 23:38 confidently to the throne of grace. 23:41 So what's the worst thing that can happen if you admit to God 23:43 that you are a sinner? 23:45 Do you think God is going to be shocked to find that out? 23:47 I don't think so! 23:49 When Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, 23:56 He wasn't referring to just the holy folks! 23:58 If you are burdened, if you are weary, if you are feeling 24:02 crushed by the weight of the mess in your life, Come to 24:05 Jesus, just as you are!!! 24:09 Hebrews 9:24 is a powerful text. 24:12 It tells us that Jesus has gone... 24:27 Now I'm not attempting to minimize the seriousness 24:29 of the spiritual mess we find ourselves in, 24:32 but I'm telling you it4s impossible to overstate 24:35 the importance of the wonderful truth that Jesus is in heaven, 24:40 as our High Priest, FOR US! 24:43 Not against us, but FOR us! 24:47 That means He will give you spiritual help. 24:50 He will provide emotional help. 24:53 He will not cast you off the moment you make a mess. 24:56 Hebrews 7:25 says this 25:12 Jesus lives "to make intercession" for us. 25:14 You can know where Jesus is - He4s in heaven. 25:18 You can know what He is doing - He4s acting as your 25:20 High Priest. 25:21 And you can know that He is for you, 25:24 and not against you. 25:26 And that's good news. 25:28 I want to thank him for that right now. 25:31 Why don't as we pray, we commit ourselves to accepting 25:35 Christ, his ministry as our High Priest, and why don't we 25:41 ask God for help to trust that Jesus, through His ministry, 25:44 will do with our lives everything He wants to do. 25:47 Let's pray together. 25:51 Our Father in heaven, we thank you today that we have a High 25:53 Priest in heaven. 25:54 Jesus isn't AWOL. 25:55 He isn't missing. 25:56 We know where He is - in heaven's temple, 25:59 heaven's sanctuary. 26:01 And we know what he is doing. 26:02 He is not sitting around on a fluffy cloud eating grapes, 26:05 hanging out with angels, just waiting to return 26:08 to this earth. No. 26:10 He is actively engaged in our salvation, interceding for us 26:13 in Your presence and so we thank you. 26:17 We thank you for his blood, shed that we might be cleansed 26:20 from all of our sins. 26:22 Lord, give us grace to have faith in you. 26:25 Give us confidence knowing Jesus is in heaven for us 26:30 and not against us! 26:34 And we pray with thanks today, in Jesus' name, amen. 26:40 [Prayer Music] 27:04 Perhaps our program today has touched your heart and 27:07 impressed you with a personal need for deeper Bible study. 27:10 If you desire to listen to God and follow where he leads, 27:13 we've got a wonderful resource that can help you do that 27:15 in a systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides. 27:17 These Bible guides are easy to use and can be yours 27:21 absolutely free. 27:23 If you live in North America, we'll send you these 27:25 full-color guides. 27:27 Or you can find them on our website, itiswritten.com 27:29 Request the Discover Bible Guides by calling our toll 27:34 free number 1 800 253 3000. 27:37 You may also request today's offer by writing to 27:40 It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 27:42 CA 91359. 27:46 Thanks for joining me today. 27:48 Look forward to seeing you next time. 27:50 And until then, be sure to remember: It Is Written: 27:54 man shall not live by bread alone, 27:57 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God |
Revised 2015-02-05