Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000012
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors of Truth
00:14 live from the 3 ABN Worship Center, 00:17 the sanctuary series with John Bradshaw. 00:23 Hello and welcome to what is volume 00:25 3 chapter 2 in our Anchors of Faith series 00:29 and this particular set of meetings 00:31 deals with the sanctuary. 00:34 There is a word that we use couple of words that 00:38 we call systematic theology, 00:41 it's a term that people who go to college use. 00:44 But when you boil it down, that basically 00:46 means doctrines, systematic theology are 00:49 the doctrines, or the belief systems of 00:50 any group or organization. 00:53 When we talk about systematic theology, 00:56 these meetings are very, very important because 00:59 the subject matter that is the sanctuary is the one 01:03 part of systematic theology that is solely 01:07 Seventh-day Adventist. When we look at the 01:11 stew of doctrines, there are many, 01:14 many organizations, many believes 01:17 it says they can bring in the carrot and the 01:19 potatoes, Sabbath, state of the dead, salvation. 01:24 We do not hold those alone, there are many 01:26 churches that preaches these things, but when it 01:29 comes to the sanctuary that is the 01:32 one dare I say ingredient. 01:35 That is solely Seventh-day Adventist; 01:38 no one else is preaching the sanctuary 01:40 quite like we preach it. So, you're not gonna hear 01:43 what you will hear tonight in any other place, 01:46 because nobody preaches the sanctuary like we do. 01:50 The sanctuary is crucially important for a number of 01:52 reasons, one, it tells you who you are, 01:57 it tells you where you came from, 01:59 it tells you why you are here, 02:01 it explains how you got here, 02:03 it tells you where you're going 02:05 and it tells you how to get there. 02:08 That's why the study of the sanctuary is so crucial, 02:12 because it pinpoints you in time and space 02:16 and eschatology and prophecy and lets you 02:19 know precisely where you are 02:22 and where you are going. Many, many years ago 02:24 when the Adventist church got it's start, 02:26 we got our start coalescing around three 02:28 doctrines that we called the "S" doctrines, 02:31 Sabbath, Sanctuary, and State of the dead. 02:35 And those are the three main doctrines that began 02:38 to pull the Seventh-day Adventist church 02:40 together; together that is Sabbath, Sanctuary, 02:43 and State of the dead. And then of course we 02:45 grew from there, so these meetings are very, very 02:48 crucial because you are not gonna hear this stuff 02:51 any place else in the world because nobody 02:53 teaches the sanctuary like the Seventh-day 02:56 Adventist church teaches the sanctuary. 02:58 So, that is our one ingredient to the, 03:02 the stew of, of systematic theology and no one else 03:06 has it quite like we do. So it is my privilege 03:08 and pleasure to welcome you to the second night of 03:10 these meetings as our speaker 03:13 talks to us about the sanctuary. 03:15 He's of course John Bradshaw; 03:17 he is the speaker/ director for It Is Written. 03:20 And as those mentioned last night by our President 03:22 Jim Gilley, he follows in the long line of 03:25 very wonderful godly man who headed that 03:28 ministry George Vandeman, Mark Finley, 03:31 Shawn Boonstra and now John Bradshaw, 03:33 so we are very, very pleased to have him here 03:35 for these several nights. And I ask that you take 03:38 out pen and pencil here in our audience and home 03:41 and give ear to these messages. 03:43 This is sanctuary 101 dare I say, as we learn about 03:47 the things that God will teach us in the sanctuary, 03:51 before he comes to us tonight our Pastor, 03:53 our friend John Lomacang is gonna bring 03:55 us our music, he's going to be singing 03:57 "Wonderful Merciful Savior," 03:59 I'm sure you'll be blessed. 04:16 Wonderful, merciful Savior 04:22 Precious Redeemer and Friend 04:28 Who would have thought that a Lamb 04:33 Could rescue the souls of men 04:39 Oh you rescue the souls of men 04:51 Counselor, Comforter, Keeper 04:57 Spirit we long to embrace 05:03 You offer hope when our hearts have 05:09 Hopelessly lost our way 05:14 Oh, we've hopelessly lost our way 05:22 You are the One that we praise 05:29 You are the One we adore 05:35 You give the healing and grace 05:40 Our hearts always hunger for 05:46 Oh, our hearts always hunger for 05:54 You are the One that I praise 06:00 You are the One I adore 06:06 You give the healing and grace 06:11 My hearts always hungers for 06:18 Oh, my hearts always hungers for 06:29 Almighty, infinite Father Faithfully loving Your own 06:41 Here in our weakness You find us 06:47 Falling before Your throne 06:52 Oh, we're falling before Your throne 07:00 You are the One that we praise 07:06 You are the One we adore 07:13 You give the healing and grace 07:17 Our hearts always hunger for 07:24 Oh, our hearts always hunger for 07:32 You are the One that we praise 07:38 And you are the One we adore 07:44 You give the healing and grace 07:50 That our hearts always hunger for 07:56 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 08:18 Well, thank the Lord for that, 08:19 can you say amen? Amen. 08:21 Great to see you this evening. 08:23 We are gathering here tonight, 08:26 to gather around the Bible the holy word of God. 08:30 I believe that God has blessed us richly, 08:34 by giving us subjects in the Bible that we can go 08:38 to and mind deep, deep, deep, deep and still really 08:43 never get to the bottom of. 08:45 The sanctuary is one of those subjects, 08:48 here I am presuming to talk about the sanctuary 08:51 several times and rings have been written on the 08:54 subject and encyclopedic books and a whole sets of 08:59 books have been written about 09:00 this subject by experts. 09:03 But one wonderful thing about the Bible, 09:05 Jesus whose theology was incredibly deep, 09:11 very deep, was able to be understood by 09:14 boys and girls, the young, the old, 09:17 the highly educated, the ignorant. 09:20 The Bible is one of those books; there is something 09:22 there for every one of us, so not to be intimidated, 09:25 not to be presumptuous. We go back to the Bible 09:29 tonight and study part 2 of our Anchors of Truth 09:35 series on the sanctuary. I'm gonna pray as we 09:37 begin, if you would bow your head with me 09:40 I would be glad, let us pray. 09:43 Our Father in heaven, we thank you that 09:45 we can gather around your word, 09:48 we come to you tonight in the name of Jesus, 09:51 not presumptuously I pray but humbly asking 09:56 that your spirit would guide our spiritual steps. 10:01 And open the eyes of our understanding; 10:05 I pray that you would be merciful to this 10:09 frail, faulty human instrument. 10:13 That in spite of what you have to work with, 10:17 your voice would still be heard and we would still 10:19 see Jesus clearly and beautifully. 10:22 Bless us please to your glory, 10:26 we ask in Jesus name, amen. 10:34 In 1985, an event took place maybe I should say 10:40 a series of events took place that had a very, 10:45 very big effect on these United States. 10:50 It wasn't an election, it wasn't a death, 10:57 it wasn't a sporting event, 11:01 it wasn't an natural disaster. 11:06 The truth of the matter is that many 11:07 people thought it was way more important 11:09 than any of those things. 11:12 I tell you what had been taking place. 11:14 Sometime before that Coca cola had been losing 11:18 market share to Pepsi cola in fact I believe 11:22 I am right and saying that now there was 11:24 more Pepsi cola being sold in supermarkets 11:27 then there was Coca cola. And so the marketing 11:30 geniuses that Coca cola decided that they would 11:32 use their MBA's to good effect and they 11:35 would do something whatever it took to claw 11:38 their way back to first place in the cola wars. 11:42 See their tests reveal that people preferred 11:45 Pepsi because it was a little sweeter than 11:49 Coca cola and so they went to the lab and they 11:53 can concocted something they thought was going 11:57 to have a superior taste to the pretender Pepsi cola. 12:02 And so on a given day what everybody had, 12:06 I shouldn't say everybody, but what 12:07 America had been drinking as their 12:10 Coca cola beverage was pulled from the market 12:13 and new coke was rolled out in its place. 12:19 Now, to begin with sales of new coke were 12:22 good, but over a period of time and when I say 12:26 a period of time I mean a very short period of time. 12:31 Sales of the new coke tanked 12:34 and people were not happy. 12:36 In fact psychologists employed by the 12:39 Coca cola company said that people who called 12:42 Coca cola to talk about the ouster of old coke 12:45 and the introduction of new coke sounded 12:47 just like people who were mourning the 12:50 death of a close friend or a family member. 12:54 People who worked for Coca cola bottling 12:56 plants were reporting that they now had 12:58 friends who wouldn't even talk to them 13:00 anymore, talk show hosts and comedians 13:04 lambasted the new coke. At supporting events 13:08 like baseball games when advertisements 13:10 would appear advertising new coke, fans would boo. 13:13 They were even protests in some parts of the 13:15 United States, in the South, in many 13:18 Southern States people went to the streets and 13:21 they took their cans and their bottles of new 13:23 coke and poured them out in the streets, 13:26 that had to be a sticky mess, poured them out 13:28 in the streets in protests that the Atlanta based 13:32 Coca cola company would dare to do 13:34 something so terrible, as take away their old coke. 13:41 Well, Coca cola announced less then 13:44 three months after the introduction of 13:45 new coke that old coke was coming back, 13:49 that announcement was so important that Peter 13:52 Jennings interrupted ABC's nightly news to 13:55 make the announcement, one senator 13:58 it seems funny now doesn't it? 14:00 Arkansas Senator Pryor, 14:02 David Pryor believe his name was. 14:04 He said and I wrote down what he said, 14:06 he said that, that the reintroduction of old 14:08 coke was a meaningful moment in U.S. history. 14:13 Seventy seven days after being taken off the 14:15 market classic coke was reintroduced and before 14:18 along new coke was a relic of the past. 14:22 The simple fact of the matter was that 14:26 the withdrawal of old coke and the 14:30 introduction of new coke was a 14:33 monumental categorical failure. 14:39 They tried and they got it wrong, they reached 14:43 for the stars and they came up dreadfully 14:47 short, nobody likes to fail. 14:51 And there are millions of ways that we can 14:53 fail, basketball player takes a last minute 14:57 attempt at a game winning shot makes the 14:59 basket and he's a hero, tries the same thing 15:02 tomorrow night he misses 15:03 and he's a goat he failed. 15:08 Yours kids birthday is coming up and you 15:10 gonna make the mother of all birthday cakes 15:11 and it's gonna be great and on the afternoon of 15:14 the birthday party, you take the cake out of the 15:15 oven and there is a big crater where the cake is 15:18 supposed to be rising up like a lovely hill top. 15:22 And you don't feel good about that and you're 15:24 not even sure where to go now, because what 15:26 I'm gonna do replace junior's birthday cake, 15:30 you might have try to fix, 15:31 I'm gonna tell you about this. 15:34 What was it, that's right it was just recently we 15:35 were getting ready move and the dryer packed up. 15:39 Melissa said, the dryer is not working anymore, 15:41 I've had that problem before I can fix it. 15:43 You just, you just turn it back on it will go, 15:46 I had a very sophisticated method of fixing things, 15:48 you just turn it back on it will go. 15:50 Went down dryer I turn it on wasn't going, 15:53 I reached it I turned the little barrel around, 15:55 and I said well maybe something stuck, 15:57 try it again it wasn't going and then I realize 16:00 no doubt a belt around the dryer tumble 16:03 is broken that happens 16:05 after a few years you know. 16:06 And so I said I know what to do, 16:08 I will take the back off the 16:09 dryer and I will fix it up. 16:12 There was something telling me, 16:14 Google how to fix a broken dryer, 16:17 Google that, I said man I don't have time for 16:19 Google right now. And then something, 16:21 someone told me your ought to flip off the 16:24 power, before you mess around 16:26 the back of the appliance. 16:28 I said I am only taking off the back, 16:29 I am not gonna mess with anything, 16:31 it was later on I found out that if you wanna 16:33 fix the thing you take the top up, not the back off. 16:37 I found that out too late, I took the back off 16:39 I said there I looked I said well how in the 16:41 world, well I get to the what do you call I think 16:44 the belt I didn't know. So I had to take this 16:48 thing off, Google and in this ear unplug it, 16:55 Google, un, I said I don't have time for that. 16:58 And next minute there was, and there was a 17:00 spark and there was pop. Thankfully I didn't pop, 17:04 and the light that was shinning inside the 17:07 dryer went up and I had to go back upstairs with 17:11 my tail between my legs and announced to 17:14 my wife that heroic, wise all-knowing, 17:20 all fixing husband had failed. 17:25 And it was a spectacular failed, 17:27 a failure, at least I wasn't dead. 17:33 You know, other ways you can fail, 17:34 you can fail to find the perfect anniversary gift, 17:37 you can fail to remember your anniversary, 17:39 I wouldn't recommend that, that's not good, 17:41 you can fail an exam, you can fail just to get 17:45 everything done on a given day that you 17:46 wanna get done. A failure doesn't feel 17:49 good, nobody likes to fail, nobody wants to 17:53 fail, its not good, but the failures I'm talking 17:57 about, belts can be replaced you know what? 18:00 I Googled how to replace a belt, 18:04 then I called a place do you have a belt for this 18:07 model, I got the belt and did in twenty minutes 18:13 what had ended up costing me a couple 18:16 of weeks into the movement all of that. 18:19 But those things really inconsequential, 18:21 you can get over not being able to get a stain 18:26 out of your children's clothing. 18:27 You can get over that, but the failures that 18:30 really eat at you, that really nor at you, 18:33 really the ones that matter 18:34 most are spiritual failures. 18:38 What do you do at the end of the day when 18:41 you realize that you have failed spiritually 18:44 or you might think you are a failure spiritually. 18:52 Now, the truth of the matter is the word of 18:53 God says that we have all failed spiritually, 18:56 all of us, that's me, that's you, that's Mother 18:59 Theresa, that's the Pop, that's the General 19:02 Conference President, all, because I read in the 19:04 Bible that all have sinned, and come short 19:09 of the glory of God. It's an ugly reality 19:12 of our spiritual lives, but it's a reality 19:15 nonetheless, all have sinned and that's not 19:19 such a good thing. Because as we talked 19:21 about last night, sin separates between 19:24 us and God and the wages of sin is what? 19:27 Its death, the wages of sin is death. 19:32 We failed spiritually, and nobody feels 19:35 good about that. Do you know you lose 19:38 your temper with the kids? 19:39 Now, of course I wouldn't do that 19:40 but I mean you might lose your temper with 19:42 the kids and you say something you know 19:45 you shouldn't say, you manifest an angry spirit 19:48 like you know you should manifest and for 19:51 a brief moment you feel it's almost accelerating 19:54 because that's what anger is like you know 19:56 and then, and then you go away saying oh! 19:59 How could I do that, how could I speak to 20:00 my spouse, so unkindly? How could I slam the 20:05 door on the way out of my, my employee's 20:08 office and leave the office in a huff. 20:11 How could I, how could I do those things? 20:13 How could I, now that's a bad feeling, 20:16 a bad feeling? Every so often we feel 20:19 wrong spiritually and there was a tendency, 20:20 it's not a total bad tendency because a 20:24 little guilt will take you a long way. 20:28 But you can feel like a spiritual failure, 20:31 no one likes that, nobody. 20:35 Well, I have good news for you, 20:37 and that is that God has a remedy, a sure fire, 20:43 fail safe, full proof remedy for our spiritual 20:49 failings, and that's good news. 20:53 Last time we begin our Anchors of Truth 20:57 study series on the subject of the sanctuary 21:00 sanctuary reality, we discover there really is 21:07 a real sanctuary in a real heaven. 21:11 A real God is there and His very real Son, 21:15 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is there in 21:19 heaven's sanctuary, it's a glorious structure, 21:23 no earthly structure could ever come close 21:25 to representing it's vastness, it's majesty 21:29 and it's glory. Revelation talks about it, 21:32 the book of Hebrews is all over it of course 21:34 because Paul is writing to the very believers 21:38 who have a temple in their very midst. 21:41 Christ, our High Priest does minister for us, 21:46 real people, real sinners, in a real sanctuary 21:50 ministering the real benefits of His very real 21:53 sacrifice for us. Now, this time around 21:56 we're calling our presentation the 21:58 presentation the sanctuary spirituality 22:01 it's one thing to know that there is a sanctuary, 22:03 but how does that effect our lives spiritually, 22:06 we talked last time about having an 22:08 High Priest praise the Lord. 22:10 There's a spiritual reality, but what is it 22:14 about the sanctuary or what about the 22:17 sanctuary it takes us deeper into the mind 22:19 and into the heart of God, it gives us deeper 22:22 insights into the plan of salvation and God's 22:25 working for us and his grace for us 22:27 and his goodness to us. Now, first let's remember 22:31 some things its good nail some things down 22:33 and have them establish, 22:35 the Bible says that God is what? 22:39 Love, John wrote that in First John and he was 22:42 so impressed by that idea he repeated it 22:45 8 verses later in First John 4 and verse 16. 22:49 God is love Peter said that God is not willing 22:53 that any should perish but that 22:56 all should come to what? 22:59 Repentance, that's God's desire for us, 23:01 it's not to say that everybody will come to 23:03 repentance but if God had it His way or if God 23:08 had what He really wanted His will would 23:11 be that everybody would choose to come 23:14 to repentance. Now, remember this 23:16 verse, Matthew 1 and verse 21: 23:18 Thou shalt call his name Jesus. 23:20 For he shall do what? Save His people from what? 23:24 Alright now that's a reality you understand, 23:27 when Adam and Eve sinned what was it that 23:29 God do, let's remember that God is love it will 23:31 help us understand the sanctuary. 23:34 What did God do when Adam and Eve sinned? 23:36 The Bible says that God came down to the 23:39 Garden of Eden, now I don't know if you've 23:43 ever had maybe the noisy kids playing in 23:46 your front yard, you went out to see them 23:47 alright, you run them off. Amen. 23:50 The God had some noisy kids playing in 23:52 His front yard they had sinned, 23:54 God came down to the Garden of Eden to see 23:57 Adam and Eve and when He did He was 23:59 not coming down to run them off. 24:02 He was not coming down to read them 24:04 the right act, God was not coming down so He 24:06 could look at them sternly, to rebuke them 24:09 sharply, turn His back on them and walk away. 24:12 The Bible says that when God came down 24:14 to the Garden of Eden He called out to Adam, 24:16 He said Adam, where are you? 24:20 Which is a curious thing for God to say? 24:24 God who created the universe, 24:27 God whom the Bible says the heaven of 24:30 heavens cannot contain, God came down to a 24:33 garden can't have been the biggest garden in 24:35 the universe I would have thought. 24:36 And He said Adam, where are you? 24:38 As though he had lost him? 24:39 No, God had not lost him. God wasn't saying 24:42 Adam, where are you geographically, 24:44 God was saying Adam where are you spiritually? 24:48 Adam where is your heart, I have come 24:50 down here to do something about the 24:52 separation between me and you. 24:54 God is love, He could have nuked Adam and 24:58 Eve the moment they had their first crooked 25:02 thought, but He didn't and when sin had 25:05 happened God came down here seeking the sinners. 25:09 As they draw them back to His heart of love, 25:11 I say praise the Lord. Amen. That's the God 25:15 we serve, let me make a statement in the hope 25:18 that you will understand it, in the way I wish for 25:20 it to be understood. Our problem isn't sin, 25:24 now we could have a whole series of sermons 25:26 pointing out that the problem is sin. 25:28 But let me make my point our problem isn't 25:31 sin, God has got a remedy for that, 25:36 just take a look at Calvary that will show 25:39 you that when it comes to sin God has done 25:42 everything necessary, everything imaginable, 25:48 everything possible to get us back 25:51 over the hump of sin. No sin's not our 25:54 problem, now I mean I'm not recommending 25:57 sin by the way don't think for a second that 25:59 I am saying sin's not a problem, 26:01 massive problem. My suggestion tonight 26:04 is that sin is not The problem, 26:06 I want you to think about a sinner his name 26:08 we don't know, but he's referred too in the Bible 26:10 as the prodigal son. The prodigal son said to 26:14 his dad it's time for me to go, I would like my 26:16 share of the farm one third, 26:19 wait was he the older brother 26:20 or the younger brother? 26:22 Alright, one third because the older 26:24 brother would have taken double portion, 26:26 give me my share of the farm dad I am out of here, 26:28 and the boy takes a bag full of money and goes 26:32 to a far country and squanders it, 26:35 just like he went the Vegas and run around 26:37 in limousines and went to the fancy casinos. 26:40 Now, there is a oxymoron for you, 26:42 and a fancy night clubs that was another one 26:44 and he blow it all and he made a fool of himself. 26:48 While he was sitting in the mud of the pigs 26:50 stall, he said in his heart, man what an idiot 26:53 I've been, I got to go back to dad, 26:55 but I'm gonna go back and I will say dad if you 26:57 would take me back as a slave, 26:59 that's what I'm asking for. 27:01 And so he's going back home somehow dad 27:04 sees him coming from a great way off, dad said, 27:07 man, my son is back he leaps the fence and runs 27:11 up the road to meet the boy what would you 27:12 thought you were the boy. 27:16 He is dad, well that's not what God was 27:19 thinking, the dad runs up to the boy he hugs 27:24 and he kisses him and he says come on now, 27:26 let's kill the fatted calf and get a new robe on 27:28 you and that signet ring that that 27:30 shows that you have authority. 27:32 You know that's the only place in the Bible 27:34 at least that I am aware off that shows God 27:36 running, you know that the dad represents God 27:40 we know that. And here the dad representing 27:43 God runs, the only time in the Bible God runs 27:47 what he is running to do? He's running towards 27:50 the sinner not to chase the sinner away, 27:53 but to grab hold of the sinner and draw him 27:55 back to God's great heart of love, 27:57 that's the God we serve friends. Amen. 27:59 The Bible says that God is love, 28:02 no sin is not the problem, the problem is 28:05 our unwillingness to come to God, 28:07 so that He can do something about the sin problem. 28:11 You understand what I mean, right I don't 28:12 want to leave the wrong impression on you here. 28:14 It's the not the sin, sin is a reality now a man 28:17 we've all sinned let's get over that. 28:20 Now, let's deal with the solution, 28:22 the solution run to God, here is my heart Lord, 28:25 you've got to do something about it. 28:28 And when you pray a prayer like that 28:30 you know that God is gonna do something 28:31 about it, God wishes for us to run to Him. 28:35 So, that he can clean us up and make us whole. 28:37 The word of God says in Psalms 77 and verse 13: 28:41 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary, 28:45 who is so greater God as our God remember 28:48 the big picture. God creates a world, 28:51 populates it with two people very happy, 28:54 very holy people, Adam and Eve his wife. 28:58 And then inexplicably there is no, 29:00 there is no excuse for it, there is no real 29:05 satisfactory explanation for it, 29:07 Adam and Eve fell into sin. 29:09 Sin separated between God and Adam and Eve 29:13 that was terrible but God had thought of 29:17 that ahead of time. Because we know that 29:18 as soon as there was sin, there was a savior. 29:22 But God now could not dwell in 29:24 the midst of his people. He was unable to do 29:27 that as he once did, his great grand holy 29:31 presence would be just too much for sinful 29:34 human beings to bear. God had a plan then, 29:38 after his people were free from Egyptian 29:39 slavery He said to Moses: And let them 29:42 make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 29:44 As a matter of fact, I'm gonna read you a 29:46 couple of verses here from Exodus chapter 29:48 25, Exodus and chapter 25 verse 1: 29:53 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 29:55 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they will 29:57 bring me an offering: of every man that gives 30:00 willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 30:03 And you know they did go to the place Moses 30:05 said enough don't bring anymore wouldn't that 30:07 be great, next time there's a church 30:09 building project, building many he had to 30:12 say, don't bring anymore money 30:13 we had enough, what a privilege they consider 30:17 it to be, to support the building of the 30:20 sanctuary of God. And it is a privilege 30:23 to support God's word can you say amen? 30:24 Amen. There is no question about it, 30:26 alright verse 8: Let them make me a 30:28 sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, 30:30 verse 9: According to all that I show you, 30:33 after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the 30:34 pattern of all the instruments thereof, 30:37 even so shall you make it. Moses have me make 30:40 a sanctuary I want to dwell in the midst of 30:43 my people and he did, God's visible presence 30:46 was there, the Shekinah glory was manifest there. 30:49 It filled the sanctuary to overflowing, 30:52 God wanted to dwell in the midst of His people. 30:57 Another reason for having the sanctuary 30:59 it would be a teaching tool, it would be to 31:02 reveal to the people what God was really 31:04 like hundreds of years now, and they've been 31:06 dwelling in the midst of, of abject hedonism. 31:10 And they may have come out, there were 31:11 some strange ideas is to what God was really like, 31:14 God wanted to show them what he was like, 31:17 what he would do for them in the present and 31:19 what he would do for them in the future. 31:21 He also wanted them to understand and future 31:24 generations to understand that one day 31:27 a Messiah would come; he would deal with the 31:30 problem of sin. And usher in a forever 31:34 with no sin and no curse. Stephen Haskell book 31:39 The Cross and It's Shadow, called the 31:41 Sanctuary the most wonderful object lesson 31:44 ever given to mankind that's what he called it. 31:49 So, God was gonna help them understand what 31:50 the plan of salvation was all about, 31:52 what is mercy and graceful like? 31:54 What his unfailing love was all about? 31:57 The people surrounded by darkness, 31:59 we're gonna see a great light and light would 32:02 shine out of the sanctuary and so they 32:04 build a sanctuary a dwelling place for God, 32:07 a beautiful two room structure. 32:09 First room holy place, second room most holy 32:11 place it was grand, inside there the walls 32:15 were lined with Gold there 32:17 were fabulous rich curtains, 32:20 some of them had angels embroiled on there. 32:23 God was telling them the angels look on and 32:26 the angels are part of the plan of salvation, 32:29 I will send you hope that half of the time 32:32 not hope, help. I will send you and hope, 32:34 I'll send you hope, and I'll send you help 32:38 that half of the time you won't even know who's 32:40 there, you thought you got lucky crossing the 32:44 street and you didn't get hit by that bus. 32:46 Wait a minute I had an angel run up there and 32:48 slow it down, God said there are gonna be 32:51 angels helping you through all of this. 32:54 God had the roof made out of four different 32:56 cloths or skins inside the sanctuary varying 33:00 items of furniture. Now, that first room 33:04 I mentioned was a room called the holy place 33:06 and what was inside there, inside the holy 33:09 place was the table of Shewbread on the 33:11 North side and the seven branch 33:14 candlestick lamp-stand on the South side and 33:17 straight your head was the altar of incense. 33:22 Now, these were wonderful pieces of 33:24 furniture, but even in the furniture God 33:28 poured meaning and blessing and representation 33:33 and lessons and opportunity for learning. 33:38 The table of Shewbread, now that was a meal 33:42 offering to the Lord. I wrote down what 33:45 M.L. Andreasen said about it, 33:47 he said it was an ever- present testimony that 33:50 Israel was dependent upon God for sustenance, 33:54 and a constant promise from God that 33:57 He would sustain them. The bread of the 34:01 presence is symbolic of the one who ever lives 34:03 to make intersection for us, Jesus said, 34:07 I am the bread of life, He was the living bread 34:12 who came down from heaven, that Shewbread 34:16 represented Jesus and further than that. 34:21 Remember what Jesus said in John 6 and verse 34:23 33, no John 6 and verse 63, He said the flesh 34:27 profits nothing, He said the words that I speak 34:31 to you they are spirit and they are life. 34:36 So the bread in the sanctuary takes us in 34:40 our thoughts to Jesus, the bread of life and to 34:44 His word which for us is truly bread. 34:49 Matthew 4 and verse 4: Jesus said, it is written; 34:54 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by what? 34:58 By every word that proceeds from the mouth, 35:00 of the mouth of God." That bread inside 35:03 the sanctuary reminds us and reminded them, 35:06 that just like we are dependent upon food 35:11 to live physically, we are absolutely 35:16 completely totally 100 percent dependent upon 35:20 God's word to exist and to live spiritually. 35:26 We can't survive without the word of God, 35:32 what did Jeremiah write: Thy words were found, 35:36 and I did eat them. In Revelation chapter 10, 35:40 a chapter that is, that is, can I say, 35:43 I think I can, a chapter that is pregnant 35:45 with meaningful believers today? 35:49 Daniel took a little book, it wasn't Daniel, 35:54 John took a little book but it was Daniel's book 35:57 and he ate it and it was sweet in his mouth, 36:02 bitter in his belly. God's word is like food for us 36:07 today and so friend if we're not reading, 36:10 if we're not opening the Bible, if we're not doing 36:13 more than just glazing over the surface, 36:16 grazing at the surface. We are not growing and 36:19 benefiting spiritually like God wants us to, 36:23 now keep something in mind when you come to 36:24 the Bible and you think about us being bread. 36:28 You know that there was bread and then 36:31 there is bread you knew that right. 36:34 Not a bread you make at home with the whole 36:37 wheat and maybe you get extra fancy and you 36:41 make it out of little sprouts 36:43 or something like that. Oh! That's good 36:45 now there is, there is some substance to that. 36:48 If you drop that I mean you get your foot out of 36:50 the way I mean there is something in there. 36:54 I'm not talking about the real bad bread that, 36:56 that healthy bread that really taste super 36:59 healthy, I don't mean that. But I mean that good, 37:02 good bread there's some substance to it right, 37:04 there is something in it, but long ago somebody 37:07 got a bright idea. If we take a grain of 37:10 wheat and take out everything that's good 37:15 and then make bread out of the fluff that's 37:18 left, maybe we'll sell and sell it did like, 37:23 that stuff I mean if you put on your plate, 37:26 if you don't put enough peanut butter on it, 37:29 it will levitate right up off the plate, 37:30 how many of you have ever seen that. 37:32 It will levitate, right up you see there is bread 37:38 and bread someone said is not an original thought. 37:41 But somebody said, there is some bread you 37:44 would get more nutritional benefit if 37:46 you threw the bread out and ate the wrapper that 37:48 the bread came in. You know what I'm 37:50 talking about, if you just had a diet of just 37:55 that white bread no whole wheat in there, 38:00 if that's all you have you would ended up 38:04 probably sick, end up unwell. 38:06 Little bit of that, that's okay but that's what you 38:09 majored in, you wouldn't do well. 38:12 If got to get some refuge into your diet, 38:18 isn't that right? You've got to get 38:21 when we come to the Bible there is a 38:24 tendency for some people to have a white 38:26 bread religion and they graze through the Bible 38:31 like, a buffet, you know buffet is great. 38:34 When you were a child your mother said 38:36 eat that and eat that and eat that and so. 38:40 My brother, I never did tell you this did I, 38:43 my brother I didn't go back even further 38:47 my mother had a, had a way of cooking cabbage 38:51 when I was a child and she would put in the pot 38:55 and, and murder the cabbage, 38:59 torture the cabbage, when it came out it was, 39:02 it was, it was white and it was nasty. 39:07 And she would say now eat that cabbage 39:09 and there were times that we just, 39:11 we would sit there till 8 O'clock at night looking 39:14 at the cabbage, being a good boy I would eat 39:18 the cabbage, my brother would take the plate 39:20 over to the trash can. And he would now this 39:23 is an education for any child wanting to sneak 39:27 around behind the parents back and he 39:29 would lift up the trash and the trash can put his 39:32 cabbage in there and then covered it back up 39:33 and say I have done because my father 39:35 would go look in the trash can. 39:37 Well, where I was going with this, 39:41 the cabbage would be cooked to death. 39:43 There was a reason I was telling you this 39:45 and a very good reason, the Lord might even 39:48 help me remember what the reason was. 39:55 You got to get some refuge in your diet, 39:58 you had to eat the cabbage but when you 40:00 went to buffet when you were older you saw. 40:02 I don't know if anyone put boiled cabbage on 40:04 the buffet, but you saw some of that and said 40:05 I am not eating that my mother 40:07 is not here to make me. 40:10 Some people do that with the Bible, 40:12 they skip through the Bible and they say 40:14 well I take a little loaf, I think little graze, 40:17 a little of the gospel of John and I kind of like a 40:20 proverbs, some of them I like the Psalms 40:23 that's my Bible. That's no way to take 40:27 the word of God is it? God gave it all for us 40:30 it all good, it's all in our favor, sometimes it will 40:34 rub your further wrong way, sometimes it will 40:37 step on yours toes. But that's okay if it's 40:41 the word of God we need it and we need it 40:45 all, every time I turn around today, 40:47 I am hearing about somebody down on the 40:49 word of God I just read today about a popular 40:52 young evangelical pastor who has got 40:55 tongues wagging in the evangelical world. 40:58 By writing a book in which he suggests that 41:01 there might possibly be no hell and that maybe 41:04 at the end of the day everybody is gonna saved. 41:09 Now, where in the world are you coming 41:12 from with an idea like that, you've got a want 41:16 to reject parts of the Bible in order to write 41:19 something like that? Somebody told me 41:21 recently that his pastor, pastor of a great big 41:23 church made it clear. Oh no, no there were never 41:27 come a time when anyone of God's people 41:30 could possibly give up sinning 41:32 and give up disobeying God. 41:34 By the way if you think like that it certainly 41:39 won't happen but if that would true what are we 41:41 gonna do with Revelation chapter 14 41:43 and verse 12: Here are they that keep the 41:46 commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 41:50 I know there is always room for honest 41:53 disagreement among people who look at a 41:55 verse, you're looking at from this angle and 41:57 I am looking at from that angle and because 41:59 we are different. And we are in different 42:01 places we don't see everything alike, 42:03 there is room for honest disagreement but 42:05 friends there is no room for rejecting the word 42:08 of God, taking what you like 42:11 rejecting what you are don't. 42:13 We are to live by every word that proceeds 42:16 from out of the mouth of God, could you say amen? 42:18 Amen. Well, I thank God for that, that bread 42:20 was there to remind people that Christ the 42:22 Messiah was the bread of life it was made by 42:25 flour that had been beaten down Jesus had 42:28 been bruised or would be bruised for our iniquity 42:31 and there is something I like about this. 42:34 The bread was in there every day of the week, 42:37 but they were two little piles of six loafs twelve 42:41 in each and they replaced the old bread 42:44 with fresh bread you know what other day of 42:47 the week they did that on, on the Sabbath, 42:50 which says to me that if God's people want fresh 42:53 bread they ought to get themselves down to the 42:56 sanctuary on the Sabbath day. 42:59 So, it's also a challenge to the preachers, 43:01 the preachers in the sanctuary on the 43:03 Sabbath ought to be serving up fresh bread 43:05 for the people of God. That's true we've got to 43:08 remember that, now there was a Lamp-stand 43:11 in the sanctuary, the table of Shewbread told 43:13 us about Jesus, the bread of life. 43:18 Jesus essential for our daily lives, 43:21 Jesus essential for our spiritual well being then 43:25 the Lamp-stand, made from beaten gold, 43:28 interesting each branch of the seven branch 43:32 candlestick had beautiful ornaments 43:34 carved on to it or designed into it on each 43:37 of those seven branches there were almonds 43:39 which is fascinating that God 43:41 chose to put almonds there. 43:44 What do they called, what do they called the 43:45 almond tree back in Jewish days now I write 43:49 it down here I think I did yes the awakener, 43:53 the awakener. I have driven through 43:54 California in the early, early before is this right 43:58 before spring or early spring? 44:00 Early in the session and everything else was 44:03 dead as anything. And there these beautiful 44:05 trees covered in white blossoms. 44:08 The almond tree is the awakener; 44:11 it's the first one back from the dead, 44:14 if you like at points that Jesus the 44:17 first born of the dead. Now, the first fruits of 44:19 them that sleep in the grave, the almond tree, 44:24 the almonds on the seven branch 44:25 candlestick speak about Jesus the one who is the 44:29 resurrection and the life. And that candlestick 44:32 was in the sanctuary for a reason, 44:34 it was there to defuse light. 44:38 And what is Jesus? He is the light of the world 44:42 and then Jesus said you are the light of the world. 44:48 Now, how in the world can we 44:49 be the light of the world. 44:51 When Jesus is the light of the world, 44:53 Colossians 1 and verse 27 tells us about the 44:55 mystery of the gospel, it is Christ in you the 44:59 hope of glory. When Christ gets in you 45:03 He shines out of you when my boy was little 45:06 and it was just getting on a solid fruits first he 45:09 give that little what is that the little corn or 45:11 wheat or something around that, instead of 45:13 cereal you give him. Now then when he was 45:15 getting bigger and more adventures, 45:18 we discovered that he likes sweet potato, 45:20 the more he like more we gave hi, the more 45:22 we gave him, the more he like it until there was 45:24 this incredible transformation, 45:25 his nose turned orange and, and really his 45:28 whole face not his whole face but his 45:30 whole face was orange. The sweet potato got in 45:34 and the sweet potato was shinning out, 45:37 it was making a difference when Jesus 45:39 gets in to you and me, he is gonna shine out, 45:43 we won't be what we used to be. 45:45 Christ changes us powerfully and now 45:48 with Christ in us Jesus can save us you are the 45:52 light of the world, thank the Lord for that. 45:56 Now, keep in mind Jesus wants us to be 45:58 light, the light makes a difference if we turned 46:03 the lights up where would we be. 46:06 We will be in the dark, turned the lights on, 46:08 what happens to the darkness? 46:11 It just runs away, the darkness flees, 46:14 light scatters before the light of the morning 46:17 sunrise you understand. Now, Jesus said I want 46:21 you to make a difference in this world. 46:23 Now we are to be light but you know that light 46:25 is simply a form of energy. 46:28 Electromagnetic energy. 46:30 It's energy that people can see. 46:33 Now I believe that when the energy of 46:35 Jesus gets into us. He wants us to make 46:39 a difference, so I will not just light but also 46:43 salt, salt is tasty, makes a 46:47 difference when you add salt. 46:49 Salt can't be present without making 46:52 a difference that's just what it's like. 46:54 Now, I'm gonna tell you what God is saying go 46:56 and be what my persuasion leads me 47:00 to what saying is that, what God is saying 47:02 here's what I will do in your life. 47:07 Now, in His book The Apocalyptic Vision 47:09 and the Neutering of Adventism, 47:11 George Knight talked about people who were 47:14 guilty of committing the sin of Bible study. 47:19 Now, I'm faithfully reproducing what he is 47:21 said and I may just mangle it a little bit but 47:24 he is hopping I get it right. 47:26 He said the sin of Bible study as when people 47:28 study and study and study and study the 47:30 Bible, but that's it instead of putting that 47:33 in use and sharing that with others and going 47:36 and showing and sharing Christ with the 47:37 world, they just study and it's 47:39 like you know, it's like a kind of 47:41 spiritual gluttony, spiritual obesity. 47:45 Jesus wants to come into our lives so that 47:47 He can get out of our lives, somebody writing 47:49 in the Review and Herald long time ago 47:52 said, there is a constant tendency among the 47:56 trees of the Lord to be more 48:00 profuse in foliage then in fruit. 48:03 When Christ gets into the life fruit will be 48:05 there, the fruit of the spirit must be where 48:08 Christ Holy Spirit is and we can go and bear 48:10 fruit for God's glory by His grace. 48:15 You see what God is doing, he's saying to the 48:17 sinner come to the sanctuary. 48:19 Now that sinner would make the walk of shame 48:21 from the camp of Israel out there, a cross that 48:23 open space and inside into the courtyard of the 48:26 sanctuary complex. And there was walk of 48:29 shame because his neighbors were saying 48:31 ooh ooh guess who's being up the something 48:35 and of course it was gonna cost 48:36 his family something. Maybe they priced 48:39 lamb, maybe even a pet lamb, cost them some 48:43 money, cost them some shame and he might 48:45 even be embarrassed. But God was saying 48:49 when you come down here and the lamb dies 48:51 there is a way back to the throne room for you. 48:54 There is a way back to my heart, there's a way 48:57 back to oneness with me you know we call 49:01 the last day, the Hebrew here the Day of 49:03 Atonement, the Day of Atonement. 49:05 The sanctuary was designed so that a 49:07 rotten, weak, lazy, wretched, sinner could 49:12 through the mercy and the grace of God be 49:15 connected with God and made to be at one with 49:19 God in spite of his or her failings. 49:23 The alter of incense, it was called the altar of 49:25 continual and decision, it represented the 49:28 prayers of God's people ascending 49:30 continually, continually. 49:32 Oh! I need to say, the altar of 49:36 the seven branch candlestick was fed by 49:38 olive oil, that's a symbol of the Holy Spirit 49:41 we'll only be bright for the Lord when the 49:43 Holy Spirit comes into our lives what the Jesus 49:46 say he will give the Holy Spirit to us when 49:49 we ask for the Holy Spirit. 49:51 Now, let me jump over here again, that altar of 49:55 incense the prayer is going, now Paul said what? 49:57 Pray without ceasing, I got to tell you I know 50:00 its busy, life is busy you have a late night, 50:03 early morning you jump out of the bed 50:06 we will talk later and that could happen days 50:10 all in, if you led it and you can get out of the 50:12 grove and pray can become a hit and midst thing. 50:16 Someone said to me recently God bless him, 50:18 he said you know in the morning well I take like 50:20 five minutes to pray, brother, five minutes, 50:24 I am barely done saying hello to 50:26 God after five minutes. You got to take time 50:29 to pray, pray without ceasing, no don't live on 50:32 your knees but spiritually keep the 50:34 communication open between us and God. 50:37 God says in the sanctuary, there's bread, 50:43 Christ, there is the seven branch 50:47 candlestick Christ, there's the prayers of 50:51 God's people going up. The spirit of God 50:53 intercedes for us with groaning which cannot 50:56 be uttered, this sanctuary is about what 50:59 God will do in the life of an individual to bring 51:02 her, to bring him back to oneness with God, 51:05 we'll talk more about the most holy place 51:07 another time. But if you get in there, there is the 51:10 Ten Commandments you stand before the 51:12 Ten Commandments and look at them and 51:14 you will see that you have broken them, 51:17 that you have sinned, that you are guilty 51:20 before God, but thank the Lord on top of the 51:23 Ark of the Covenant was something called 51:26 the mercy seat. So, when you come 51:29 face to face with your sinfulness and your sin 51:32 and you're failing, look up just a little bit and 51:36 see mercy attached to law. 51:41 The Bible says right mercy and truth have 51:43 met together righteousness 51:45 and peace has kissed each other, 51:48 you've got to love that verse. 51:50 And you see that absolutely happening in 51:52 the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, 51:55 who is, who is the stern God? 51:58 Who is the God of Malice and vindictiveness? 52:02 I don't know that God, I got to tell you I knew 52:05 them once, but then I started reading the 52:08 Bible, then I discovered God ways in the 52:11 sanctuary and then in the sanctuary God 52:13 would reveal himself as a kind God, as a now a 52:17 just God, sure a just God. If at the end of the 52:21 day I say thanks but no thanks God will say 52:23 well you know that's up to you. 52:26 Might say that with a tear in his eye, 52:29 but that would be up to us. 52:31 You read in the sanctuary about a God 52:33 who bids us come the sanctuary shows yeah, 52:37 God is good and God is merciful, 52:40 you ought to read Psalm 136 sometime soon, 52:44 26 times it says his mercy endures forever. 52:52 Twenty six times the Lord is merciful and 52:57 gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. 53:00 David wrote, David was somebody who 53:02 understand a person's need for mercy. 53:06 Hebrews 9 verse 24 Jesus is in heaven, 53:11 appearing in the presence of God for us, 53:18 Hebrews 7 and verse 25 Jesus ever lives to make 53:21 intersection for us, yes God wants 53:27 to sanctify His church. He says He will have a 53:31 church without spot or wrinkle or any such 53:35 thing, I've read the end of the story. 53:37 They can read the end of the story and various 53:39 parts of the story, but if you read in Song of 53:42 Solomon 6 and verse 10: the Bible write us 53:44 says: "Who is this that looks forth as the 53:46 morning, clear as the moon, fair as the Sun 53:51 and terrible as an army with banners." 53:55 He is talking about His church, he's faulty, 54:00 feeble, frail church made new because they 54:05 have met the God of the sanctuary. 54:09 What are you gonna do about 54:10 your spiritual failings? Thomas Edison said, 54:15 "Many of life's failures are people who do not 54:17 realize how close they were to 54:18 success when they gave up." 54:23 That might be that like that spiritually for some 54:26 of us, you wanna throw in the towel but wait a, 54:29 wait a second, wait a second, you might be 54:33 on the verge of spiritual breakthrough the lights 54:35 might come on. We might learn what 54:36 faith is, we might yield fully to God 54:42 without place for giving up Edison said, 54:44 I haven't failed, I just found 54:46 ten thousands ways that work. 54:49 I might have found ten thousand ways that 54:50 don't work for me spiritually. 54:52 But I found a way that works tonight, 54:55 God's way in the sanctuary it works. 54:58 Faith in this great God, someone said mishaps 55:02 are like knives, they can either serve us or cut us, 55:05 depends if we grab the blade or the handle. 55:08 When the spiritual failing comes along 55:09 as somebody once wrote, we can by the grace of 55:13 God turn our defeat into victory, 55:19 man who worked five year and made a 55:21 mistake cost his company $10 millions. 55:23 He went to the boss he said I quit boss said, 55:25 you can't quit we just spend $10 millions 55:27 on your education, we spend too much money 55:30 on you for you to quit. Michael Jordan got 55:33 kicked off or cut from his high school 55:35 basketball team. Did you ever hear of 55:38 company called Traf O Data; it was a failure, 55:42 man it was a, it was a terrible company? 55:46 It was the company Bill Gates began 55:48 not long before he began Microsoft. 55:51 And then somebody saying I lost my temp 55:52 again, I went and looked at something 55:54 I shouldn't have looked at again. 55:55 I am not playing with that that's a serious 55:57 business, but if you will get inside that sanctuary 56:00 with Jesus if you will look to God 56:03 have faith in God, God will do great, 56:05 great, great, great things. 56:07 The sanctuary shows us. God separates us 56:10 from our sin and reunite us with his heart of love. 56:15 I heard a radio interview when I was 56:17 living in Lexington, Kentucky with a fellow 56:19 name John Bishop, he had amnesia, and he 56:21 had a real amnesia. He had, had aseptic 56:25 meningitis, comatose for seven days, 56:29 when it came to he couldn't remember 56:30 anything, nothing. Didn't know how to walk, 56:35 he couldn't talk, he didn't remember 56:38 who his wife was, even to this day old 56:42 photographs don't help him. 56:43 He said that his wife even had teaching 56:45 how to kiss again. He said that part was 56:47 okay but the rest he didn't like, it wasn't any good. 56:53 You know what he said? He said this man is our 56:56 pastor, now an evangelist he said that, 56:59 that learning over this again was like being reborn. 57:05 Now friend, you can come to God with all of 57:06 your lack of capacity, all your faults, all your 57:11 failings, all your mess, you know what God 57:13 would do, he will take, he hold you close, 57:16 he will clean you up and you'll be able to say 57:19 you know what? Through the grace of 57:21 Jesus, I have been reborn and we 57:25 praise God tonight for giving us that great 57:26 object lesson, the sanctuary. |
Revised 2014-12-17