Participants:
Series Code: SSOS
Program Code: SSOS190007B
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00:01 Welcome back...
00:02 before the break, we were taking a look at the Laver 00:05 which is the second article of furniture in the sanctuary. 00:08 It was a place of washing 00:10 where the priest would wash their hands and their feet 00:14 and this physical washing typified a spiritual washing 00:17 that God wants to do with each one of us. 00:19 In Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 25 the Bible says, 00:22 "I will sprinkle clean water on you; and you will be clean; 00:28 I will cleanse you from all your impurities 00:32 and from all your idols. " 00:34 I like the emphasis of how this verse brings out the reality 00:38 that it's actually God who does the cleansing. 00:42 We can't cleanse ourselves. 00:44 God says, "Look, I'm going to be the One that cleanses you... 00:47 I'm going to be the One that washes you... 00:49 I'm going to be the One that makes you pure... " 00:52 and the Laver... 00:54 the washing represents the spiritual regeneration 00:57 that God wants to do with each one of us. 01:00 The implication of the spiritual washing that we experience 01:04 by the grace of God 01:06 indicates that there is defilement that takes place 01:10 every time we sin. 01:14 We get spiritually dirty 01:16 and the Laver represents the washing that God wants to bring 01:21 into our lives and our spiritual nature. 01:23 Now, in Acts chapter 22 verse 16, the Bible says, 01:27 "And now what are you waiting for? 01:29 Get up, be baptized and wash away your sins, 01:35 calling on His name. " 01:37 This is an instance in Scripture where the Bible brings out 01:41 that baptism is a symbol of the washing away of sin. 01:47 In the Christian experience, 01:49 this is one place in which water is used 01:52 and that water... the waters of baptism, 01:55 according to Acts, represents the washing away of sin. 01:59 Now, when you get baptized, that water is not holy water... 02:05 I've news for you, 02:06 that water is not sanctified water 02:09 but that water is a symbol... an important symbol 02:13 of what the Holy Spirit has done in your heart 02:17 and you want to publicly demonstrate in that ceremony... 02:22 that beautiful ceremony of baptism... 02:24 of the cleansing that has taken place in your heart... 02:28 the washing away of sin. 02:31 So, that's one place where baptism is mentioned. 02:34 Now, you notice that the Laver 02:36 is the second article of furniture in the sanctuary... 02:39 It is not the last article... it is not the first article... 02:42 it is the second article of furniture 02:44 and some people think that when they're baptized 02:47 it's like graduation... it's like you've arrived. 02:51 In reality, you have just begun. 02:54 It does not indicate that you're perfect, 02:56 far from it... 02:58 but it indicates that you've accepted of the provision 03:01 of Jesus Christ, 03:02 and you've asked for the cleansing in your own heart. 03:04 You see, graduation is not this thing 03:06 where you come to this place and you say, 03:09 "Lord, I'm perfect... I've arrived... 03:11 I've achieved all these things. " 03:13 Quite the contrary... 03:15 baptism is a symbol 03:17 of the new birth 03:19 and when you look in the sanctuary, 03:21 it is the second article of furniture. 03:24 In other words, you come to Jesus just the way that you are, 03:27 you accept Him as Savior of your life, 03:30 and you are baptized. 03:32 You come to the altar... the burnt offering... 03:34 accept Him as Savior, 03:36 then you come to the Laver and you say, 03:38 "Lord, I want to be baptized. " 03:40 I want to be cleansed by this water 03:42 which symbolizes the cleansing of my own heart. 03:46 This is where baptism comes into place. 03:49 Now, some people have asked this question, 03:51 "Is there a case for re-baptism?" 03:55 Now, the Bible brings out two instances 03:58 in which re-baptism is appropriate. 04:00 One of them is, when you're given new life 04:03 like in the book of Acts, 04:04 individuals had only been baptized 04:06 by the baptism of John, 04:07 they did not hear... 04:09 or had not heard of the Holy Spirit or Jesus Christ, 04:11 they were re-baptized, 04:13 so, if you have been walking with Jesus 04:15 and you come upon new light such as the Sabbath 04:19 or the state of the dead... 04:21 new light in Scripture that has been rediscovered 04:24 or discovered for you... 04:26 that is a case in which it's Biblically supported 04:29 to be appropriate to be re-baptized. 04:32 There are other cases where re-baptism would be appropriate 04:35 and that is when there is a significant 04:38 public falling away from sin. 04:40 Now, there are cases in which we make a mistake 04:45 or someone in the Christian community makes a mistake 04:48 that causes a stain upon the community of Christ 04:53 and that would be a case 04:55 in which someone would be re-baptized. 04:58 Now, I would say that re-baptism should be something 05:01 that is prayerfully considered 05:02 I was meeting with this one individual 05:05 that wanted to be re-baptized 05:07 and I said, "How many times have you been re-baptized?" 05:11 And he said, "Eight. " 05:12 And I said, "Brother, I think you're... 05:15 you're overdoing it here a little bit 05:17 because re-baptism was not something 05:19 that was to be done over and over again. 05:23 There are special instances for re-baptism. " 05:26 In Titus chapter 3 verse 5, the Bible says, 05:30 "He saved us, not because of righteous things 05:33 which we have done, but because of His mercy. 05:36 He saved us through the washing of rebirth 05:40 and the renewal by the Holy Spirit. " 05:43 You notice what the Bible says 05:45 that it's the Holy Spirit that washes us. 05:48 He cleanses us... 05:49 the Holy Spirit comes into our lives 05:52 after we accept Jesus as our Savior, 05:55 and He cleanses us and He renews us 05:57 and when we are re-baptized, 06:00 that is a symbol of what has taken place 06:03 in our own lives... in our own hearts... 06:06 There's another place where we use water 06:09 and it's found in John chapter 13 verses 8 through 10, 06:12 Peter said to Him, You shall never wash my feet, 06:15 Jesus answered to him, "If I do not wash you, 06:19 you have no part with me. " 06:21 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only 06:25 but also my hands and my head. " 06:27 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed... " 06:31 and notice the language here, 06:32 "needs only to wash his feet... " 06:36 what did Jesus mean? 06:37 "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet. " 06:42 Scholars believe that this bathing 06:45 is a reference to baptism. 06:47 In other words, baptism is a symbol 06:50 of that bathing and washing 06:52 but he says that you must wash your feet 06:55 after you have bathed. 06:57 What this is a metaphor of 06:59 is that after we have accepted Jesus and been baptized 07:03 and we're walking the Christian walk, 07:06 metaphorically, our feet get dirty. 07:08 They need cleansing 07:10 and the foot-washing service 07:12 which takes place on a regular basis 07:16 in our community of faith, is sort of like a mini baptism 07:22 because after baptism, because of human weakness, 07:25 we make mistakes... we make foibles... 07:27 we make errors... 07:29 and every time we have that foot washing, 07:31 one of the symbols in the ceremonies 07:33 of the foot-washing service, 07:34 is that it takes care of those incidental mistakes... 07:39 it's like a mini-baptism 07:41 as we are walking the Christian walk 07:43 and the Christian experience. 07:45 So, I don't believe that re-baptism for... 07:49 for that individual that wanted to be re-baptized eight times 07:53 perhaps, he should have been using the foot-washing service 07:57 for those times that he felt that he made mistakes 08:00 that were not of an egregious nature. 08:02 What did Solomon call the Laver when he built the temple? 08:07 In 2nd Chronicles chapter 4 verse 2, 08:10 "He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, 08:13 measuring ten cubits from rim to rim 08:17 and five cubits high. 08:19 He took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. " 08:24 Now, Solomon was called to build the temple 08:27 and this temple was to replace the Mosaic sanctuary 08:32 that God had told Moses to build. 08:34 The... the tabernacle built by Moses was a... a... 08:38 a portable structure 08:40 and God instructed Solomon to build 08:43 a more permanent structure 08:45 and everything was upscaled including the Laver. 08:48 The Laver was so large in Solomon's temple 08:52 that the Bible called it, "A Sea... " 08:55 it was... it was huge... it was huge 08:58 now give me the dimensions of this... 09:00 we don't use cubits in today's age 09:02 and there's a debate out there 09:03 as to which cubit this was using... 09:06 the ancient cubit or the royal cubit 09:08 but it said... it took a line of 30 cubits to measure around it, 09:12 to give you some comparison, Noah's ark was 30 cubits high 09:17 and that was to house all the animals 09:20 so this was 30 cubits around... this was a huge structure... 09:24 I mean it was a huge Laver, 09:26 it was so large that when the Israelites looked at it, 09:28 they said, "It looks like the sea. " 09:30 So the Laver is also referred to the Sea in Solomon's temple. 09:35 Now, why are we emphasizing this? 09:37 Because in Revelation chapter 4 verse 6, 09:40 the Bible indicates... "Also, in front of the throne 09:44 there was what looked like a sea of glass... " 09:48 this is a scene in the New Jerusalem... 09:51 clear as crystal... 09:52 "In the center around the throne, 09:54 were four living creatures, and there they were 09:57 with their eyes in the front and in the back. " 10:00 So, you can see in front of God's throne, 10:02 in His holy temple, there is a sea... 10:05 and the Bible also points out in Revelation chapter 15 verse 2, 10:10 "I saw as it were a sea of glass 10:16 mingled with fire: 10:18 and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, 10:21 and over the image, and over his mark, 10:23 and over the number of his name, 10:24 stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. " 10:30 This is a fascinating picture 10:31 because when the redeemed are standing before God... 10:35 they're standing not in the sea... 10:37 they're standing on the sea. 10:40 Now, the implication of this verse 10:43 is that God's people... 10:45 when they're in the New Heavens and the New Earth, 10:47 have no further need of cleansing. 10:50 They were on the sea... not in the sea. 10:54 This is from Dr. Leslie Hardinge, 10:56 "The final vision of the Laver leaves us with the assurance 10:59 that Christ-transformed disciples 11:02 would need no further purifications hereafter. 11:05 They will stand before the throne of the eternal judge 11:08 without fault. 11:09 Their robes of character washed and made white 11:13 by Calvary's twin streams. " 11:17 I praise God for that. 11:18 I praise the Lord for His cleansing power... 11:22 that he's able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 11:24 and when we get to heaven, 11:26 we will not be in the sea... 11:27 implying that there's no need for cleansing, 11:30 we'll be on the sea 11:31 indicating that God has brought us all the way back. 11:36 Now, when you look in Scripture, 11:38 you can see that God wants to cleanse us 11:43 and in the story of the leper in Matthew chapter 8, 11:48 the leper comes to Jesus and says, 11:50 "If you are willing, you can make me clean. " 11:54 The Bible indicates that Jesus reached out His hand 11:59 and touched him. 12:01 Notice the order that God engages with this leper... 12:05 God did not say to the leper, 12:07 "Look, be clean and then I will accept you. " 12:11 He said... or He acted by touching the leper... 12:16 an act of acceptance and then He cleansed him. 12:20 This typifies what Jesus does in the sanctuary. 12:25 We come to Him just the way that we are. 12:28 We come to the brazen Altar... we accept Jesus as our Savior, 12:32 and then He brings us to the Laver to cleanse us. 12:36 There is nothing that you can do 12:39 that will make God love you less or more... 12:43 His love for you is not based on your condition... 12:47 not based on your actions or your performance... 12:51 God's love for you is there despite our uncleanness. 12:55 In other words, the washing is not a pre-requisite 12:59 of God's acceptance, 13:00 it comes after His acceptance. 13:03 Jesus loves to have us come to Him 13:05 just the way that we are. 13:08 Won't you accept Him today? 13:10 Won't you come into the sanctuary? 13:12 Won't you accept Him as your Savior? 13:14 Won't you be washed by His Spirit at the Laver? 13:18 Won't you accept Him as your Savior and Lord? 13:21 I want to invite you to join us the next time 13:24 as we continue in our study 13:26 of the sanctuary, salvation and our Savior. |
Revised 2019-10-14