It Is Written

Easter: Not Against Us

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

Home

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


Home

Revised 2015-02-05