Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM210005S
00:09 Who was Jesus?
00:11 He had compassion for the weak and the hurting. 00:15 He loved every person He met 00:18 and taught them how to love. 00:20 His great heart helped all those who came near Him 00:24 but most of all He was a friend. 00:27 That was who He was. 00:29 Now find out who He is. 00:38 Hello friends. Welcome back to 3ABN Camp Meeting. 00:42 I know that you have been blessed 00:44 as the theme of Camp Meeting is: Who Is Jesus? 00:47 And if you've been watching, you know that from speaker 00:50 to speaker, from presenter to presenter 00:52 that question has been answered in multiple ways. 00:56 But right now Pastor Ryan Day is going to deal with the topic 00:58 Christ in the Sanctuary. 01:01 And this question is vitally important because many people 01:04 do not understand the sanctuary ministry of Christ 01:07 at the present time. 01:09 What is He doing now? 01:11 What is Christ mediating for? 01:13 Why is He mediating now in our behalf? 01:16 Stay tuned as you think about how close we are to the coming 01:19 of our Lord. This song is pertinent 01:22 to the ministry of Christ because in these closing hours 01:25 we should all question to Jesus: Search me, O God. 01:41 Search me, O God, 01:44 reveal my heart. 01:47 Expose my sin that it may be 01:53 confessed. 01:58 Search me, O God, 02:01 unveil each fault 02:05 and leave no hidden motive 02:09 unaddressed. 02:16 Uncover every action 02:21 born in pride. 02:25 Show me the worldly ways 02:28 I still embrace. 02:35 May every anxious thought 02:39 be brought to light 02:44 and each unspoken fear 02:48 with faith replaced. 03:00 Search me, O God, 03:03 observe my life. 03:07 Bring to my mind 03:10 each idle word I speak. 03:18 Search me, O God, 03:21 test my resolve 03:24 and alert me where 03:28 You find it weak. 03:35 Reveal all weakened walls 03:39 within my soul. 03:45 Show me potential dangers 03:48 unforeseen. 03:55 Then clothe my conscience 03:58 with Your holiness. 04:04 Help me to guard it well 04:07 and keep it clean. 04:15 Search me, O God, that I may walk 04:21 in peace 04:25 filled with the joy of knowing 04:28 that all is well: 04:35 my heart surrendered 04:38 and my conscience clean. 04:45 So great a joy of knowing 04:49 I can scarcely tell... 04:54 Oh, what a joy to know 04:58 that all is 05:02 well. 05:23 Hmm... praise the Lord! 05:26 Thank you Pastor Lomacang 05:27 for that beautiful beautiful song! Search me, O God. 05:32 Really that's what Camp Meeting's all about, right? 05:35 We're coming to Jesus and we're asking God to reveal 05:38 us to us... especially during this time 05:42 when we're asking the question: Who Is Jesus? 05:45 When you ask that question of "Who Is Jesus? " 05:48 and you're genuine about it 05:49 God will reveal to you exactly who He is 05:52 and you'll have that Isaiah moment where he saw God 05:57 high and lifted up. And then he saw himself, right? 05:59 And tonight we're going to be continuing through our study 06:03 of Who Is Jesus? And we're going to be asking the question 06:07 can we see Christ in the sanctuary? 06:11 Because the title of this mess- age is: Christ In The Sanctuary. 06:14 We're going to be looking at the beautiful themes 06:17 and multiple different elements of the sanctuary 06:20 to see: Can we find Christ in and through and hidden behind 06:25 all of the beautiful imagery and symbolism 06:28 that we find right there in the sanctuary message? 06:31 But before we go any further 06:33 let's go ahead and go right now to the Lord in prayer. 06:37 Our father in heaven, 06:38 Lord, we're so privileged and honored to be here 06:42 right now at this time. To be alive 06:45 during these very interesting and special times. 06:48 And Lord, the fact that we're all here tonight 06:51 at Camp Meeting learning of You 06:55 learning about You 06:57 learning exactly who You are. 07:00 This is important. And just as Pastor Lomacang sang beautifully 07:03 we want to plead that in our prayer: "Lord, search me, 07:07 O, God. " Show us who we are. 07:12 Show us who You are and who we can be in You. 07:16 Give us the spiritual mind of Christ, 07:19 the spiritual eyes and ears that we can rightly divide 07:23 Your word of truth this evening. 07:25 So Lord, more than anything 07:27 draw us to the uplifted Savior Jesus Christ. 07:30 We thank you for your never- ending love grace and mercy. 07:34 We ask a special blessing of the Holy Spirit right now. 07:37 In Jesus' holy name, Amen. Amen. 07:41 Perhaps the most central text - Bible text that is - 07:47 of all of the Bible 07:51 we see it in Genesis chapter 3. 07:54 Now everyone has their own special Bible verse 07:56 that speaks to them. But I'm speaking from a 07:58 theological perspective. If you could name one text 08:01 that is probably more central and probably can be argued as 08:06 one of the most important texts in understanding Scripture - 08:09 the theme of Scripture, the narrative of Scripture, 08:12 the overall story of the Bible - 08:14 I would have to say it would be Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. 08:18 I'm not going to go too deep into Genesis 3:15 tonight. 08:22 Sr. Shelley Quinn's probably going to do that in the next 08:25 hour as she talks about the covenant Son. 08:27 This is definitely a covenant text. 08:30 But what we see happening here 08:31 is Jesus is making a proclamation. 08:34 He's making a powerful declaration 08:37 in which He is communicating something that will forever 08:41 go on between the woman and the serpent 08:45 and the Seed of the woman all the way until the end of time. 08:49 In fact, let's read it right now. This is Genesis chapter 3 08:52 verse 15. And of course, Jesus is speaking to the serpent 08:56 and this is what He says: 09:15 This text is, as I said, probably the most central text 09:19 in all of Scripture because everything that comes after it 09:22 is connected to it. You cannot properly understand the story 09:25 of Scripture. You cannot properly understand the great 09:28 prophetic themes of Daniel and Revelation if you don't 09:31 properly understand Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. In fact, 09:36 the same characters that you find in the 3rd chapter of 09:39 Genesis are found all the way at the very end of the Bible 09:42 in the 12th chapter of Revelation. 09:44 And we see there very carefully... very clearly that 09:47 because sin entered into the world because man allowed 09:51 sin to be brought into the human race 09:54 God now had to make a declaration of this great 09:57 spiritual war that would go on between man and the enemy. 10:02 That is, of course, Satan himself. 10:04 In fact, he would through a very special system 10:09 that we'll come to know as the sacrificial system, 10:12 which by the way was established right here in Genesis chapter 3. 10:15 We see God had to bring this about to show 10:19 the important consequences and results of the sin 10:23 that Adam and Eve had allowed into the world. 10:25 In fact, we know that famous verse Romans chapter 6 verse 23 10:30 which makes it very clear to us as Jesus made it very clear 10:33 to Adam and Eve in the garden that day 10:36 for the Bible says in Romans 6.23: 10:48 My friends, it's vitally import- ant that we understand this 10:50 and tonight's message Christ in the Sanctuary 10:55 I believe will help us to further understand 10:59 why God gave us the sanctuary 11:01 and what the sanctuary system - that great sacrificial system 11:06 found within the sanctuary - is really all about. 11:10 In fact, it's so powerful to see the sacrificial system 11:14 established because right there again in Genesis chapter 3 11:17 and the 21st verse we see as God has just declared 11:21 openly that there's going to be enmity between the woman 11:24 and the serpent and between her Seed and the seed of the 11:26 serpent. We see very, very, very clearly 11:28 that in verse 21 of Genesis chapter 3 11:31 God did a powerful powerful work. 11:34 Genesis 3:21 says this: 11:45 You see, they were previously clothed with figs that they had 11:51 made themselves. 11:52 But where did Jesus get these skins? Of course this right here 11:56 would have been the very first literal death 11:59 in the garden there... in that garden scene 12:02 as Jesus Christ would have taken the life, of course, of a 12:05 lamb and He would clothe them with the skins of that lamb. 12:09 And of course, that lamb is central because 12:12 as the book of Revelation makes it very clear 12:14 the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world 12:17 that lamb pointed to no other person than that of 12:20 Jesus Christ and the work that He would do 12:23 to redeem man... LOST man... from their sins. 12:26 In fact, this sacrificial scene that we just began with 12:31 is made even more clear in the great beautiful passage 12:35 that we find in Patriarchs and Prophets 12:37 page 68. I want to read it. It's a little lengthy 12:39 but it's powerful to see these words and to put it on display 12:43 very clearly for everyone to understand from the context 12:46 and from the perspective of Adam himself, 12:48 right? Notice what this text says. It says: 14:18 So right there in the garden is where God actually initiated 14:23 and introduced the sacrificial system. 14:25 Many people think that it came later in the time of Moses 14:28 but when God introduced the sanctuary, the literal building 14:31 of the sanctuary which we're going to talk about tonight 14:33 no doubt, but I want to make it very very clear 14:36 my friend, when we're asking the question: "Who Is Jesus? " 14:40 first of all we need to start at its origin. 14:43 We need to start at the beginning of the story 14:45 and understand that God's plan of redemption 14:48 which only could come through no other person 14:51 than Jesus Christ Himself 14:53 was introduced right there in that garden of paradise. 14:58 But it wasn't long until this sacrificial system 15:02 became a little blurry... it became a little skewed. 15:06 Things began to change as time passed 15:09 with the descendants of Adam. 15:11 In fact, this very point is made clear in another part 15:15 of Patriarchs and Prophets, more specifically page 364. 15:19 Notice what it says. It says: 15:58 And so count about 2500 years or so past Adam - 16:04 a little more than 2500 years - 16:07 and you start to see according to history, according to 16:10 the prophet here, we see very clearly that the sacrificial 16:13 system began to lose its meaning as time went on 16:17 and man began to fall further away from God. 16:21 God would then bring through during the time of Moses 16:24 He would introduce a more definitive understanding, 16:28 a more meaningful understanding of what that sacrificial service 16:32 meant to the people as He would give more definite instruction. 16:35 And so we see that there came a time 16:38 in which God came to Moses and He said right there 16:41 at Mt. Sinai. In Exodus 25:8 you find these words... 16:47 God Himself saying: 16:56 Now let's make this very clear: 16:58 God wants to be with His people. 17:01 If you could sum up all the Scripture, 17:04 and come to understand what this powerful Book - 17:07 series of books - is all about known as the Holy Bible, 17:10 it's about a God who loves His people 17:12 and wants to be with His people. 17:14 He wanted to be with Adam and Eve in the beginning. 17:16 It wasn't His plan that they would be separated. 17:19 We see very clearly right there in Genesis in the very first 17:21 2 chapters this beautiful perfect uninterrupted communion 17:25 between God and man just as God intended it to be. 17:28 But because of sin it caused a separation. 17:31 And so now we see God right here in Exodus chapter 25. 17:36 He's pouring His heart out to Moses right there atop 17:39 of Mt. Sinai. He says: "Look, I want to be with My people. 17:41 Let them make Me a sanctuary 17:43 that I might come and I may dwell and be with My people. " 17:48 Now there's a purpose to this which we're going to get to 17:50 in just a moment. 17:52 But I want to ask the question. 17:54 The question that we're asking here at Camp Meeting 17:56 is "Who Is Jesus? " 17:58 And that question is tied to the question I want to ask right now 18:01 about "Who Is It? " Let's be very clear: 18:04 who is it that said: "Let them make ME a sanctuary 18:10 that I may dwell among them. " 18:14 I believe the answer is found very clearly 18:16 in Exodus chapter 3 verses 13 and 14. 18:21 You see, this same God that was speaking to Moses 18:24 atop of Mt. Sinai he had an encounter with 18:26 a few chapters before in Exodus chapter 3. 18:29 It's that famous burning bush scene 18:33 as he is now being for the first time addressed 18:35 by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 18:39 The God of his ancestors... his very Creator. 18:43 And so in Exodus chapter 3:13-14 we find this record: 18:47 It says: 19:18 So this same God in Exodus 25 19:21 who says: "Let them make Me a sanctuary 19:24 that I can come down and dwell among My people" 19:26 this is the same God that Moses had a conversation with 19:29 at the burning bush when Moses said: "Look, Lord, You want 19:32 me to go and talk to these people on Your behalf? 19:33 Who in the world am I going to tell them You are? " 19:35 He says: "You tell them I AM WHO I AM. " 19:38 You tell them "The GREAT I AM has sent you. " 19:41 Now that's powerful because we can even be more definitive 19:44 as to who this is because there's no doubt! 19:47 If you are a student of the Word of God, then you know 19:49 that by the time you get to the New Testament 19:51 right there in that powerful, famous, amazing text found in 19:55 John chapter 8 we see none other than Jesus Christ Himself 20:00 identifying Himself as THE GREAT I AM. 20:03 In fact, let's read it. This is John chapter 8 20:06 verse 58. Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and He says: 20:19 So let's be very clear my friends: 20:21 when God said: "Let them make Me a sanctuary 20:24 that I may dwell among them" 20:26 who was it that was asking this question? 20:29 Who was it that was giving this command? 20:31 It was, no doubt my friends, our loving Savior Jesus Christ. 20:36 It was THE GREAT I AM: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 20:40 who was communicating with Moses during this time 20:44 atop of Mt. Sinai. 20:46 Now this shouldn't surprise us 20:49 that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 20:52 the God of Jacob, the God of Moses and David, 20:54 the God of all through the Old Testament 20:57 is none other than Jesus Christ Himself... THE I AM. 21:02 And it shouldn't surprise us that Jesus 21:05 desires to be with His people. 21:09 He desires to dwell among His people. 21:14 In fact, we are told right there in the book of Matthew 21:18 opening chapter, chapter 1 verse 33... 21:23 excuse me, verse 23... 21:24 Matthew 1:23... notice what it says about Jesus 21:28 who would be robed in flesh and come into this world 21:31 as a babe. The Bible says this: 21:46 So my friends, God says: "Let them make Me a sanctuary 21:52 that I may dwell among them. " 21:56 Who was that God? 21:57 It's the same God that said: "You tell them THE I AM 22:02 has sent you. " It was Jesus Christ Himself 22:06 who identified Himself as THE I AM. 22:09 "Before Abraham was I AM. " 22:13 And it shouldn't surprise us because the Bible foretold 22:17 that baby Jesus would come into this world. 22:19 His name would be called Immanuel: 22:22 God with us. God desires to be with us my friends. 22:28 And you may ask the question "Why? 22:31 Why does God desire to be close to us? " 22:34 Well, the ultimate answer obviously is love. 22:39 A man desires to be close to his wife. 22:42 Why? Because he loves her. 22:44 A parent desires to be close to their children. 22:49 Why? Because they love them. 22:51 Of course the very foundation of this question should be 22:55 answered: "It's because of love. " 22:58 But I'm going to take it a step further: 23:00 God loves us so much that not only does He just want to be 23:04 with us because He loves us so much 23:06 but He wants to be with us, my friends, 23:09 because He wants to show us His way. 23:15 That's right. We know those famous words 23:19 from Jesus Christ Himself - the GREAT I AM of Scripture - 23:23 in John chapter 14 verse 6 23:25 He would say those famous words: 23:34 Jesus identified Himself as the only way 23:39 to reach the Father is through Him. 23:42 He said: "I am the way. " Why does God desire 23:46 to dwell among His people? 23:48 Yes, it's because He loves us. 23:50 Yes, it's because He wants to be close to us. 23:52 But more importantly my friends, let me make this very clear: 23:55 You see the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 53 23:57 that "All we like sheep have gone astray. " 24:02 We've... everyone, every man, has gone his own way! 24:08 We're lost! We're like lost little sheep. 24:11 And when a person is lost 24:13 what do they need? 24:14 They need a guide. They need a map. 24:17 They need to be set on the right way. 24:19 I can't count on my hands and toes how many times 24:21 I've been traveling this nation doing evangelistic work 24:24 and I find myself in a situation where I don't know where 24:26 in the world I am. I know about where I am; 24:29 I could tell you the general area that I am 24:31 when I'm trying to get from point A to point B. 24:33 I might need to be at a church, I might need to be at a certain 24:36 facility or certain area 24:38 and I don't know where I'm at. And sometimes just looking 24:40 at the paper map doesn't give you all that much information 24:43 but praise the Lord we live in a modern age of something called 24:46 GPS - global positioning system. 24:50 My friends, let me make this clear: 24:52 we are lost and without God - 24:56 His GPS system - we're not going to be found 25:00 and we're not going to be found on the right path. 25:03 So that's why God wants to dwell among us: 25:06 because He wants to show us His way. 25:09 All we like sheep have gone astray. We went our own way. 25:12 And He says: "No, no, no, no. Your way is the wrong way 25:14 but I want to point you down the path the right way. 25:18 I want to show you My will. I want to lead you down the path 25:21 of righteousness. " And that's why we find that 25:23 beautiful powerful text. There found in Psalm chapter 77 25:27 verse 13. The Bible says: 25:36 So let's put this together very clearly. 25:39 When you're lost you need a map. 25:42 In this case, in modern terms, when you're lost you need 25:44 a good GPS. God's GPS is the sanctuary. 25:50 Why? Jesus said: "I am the way. " 25:53 And right here in Psalm 77:13 he says: 25:59 My friend, where is Jesus found? 26:02 Jesus is found in the sanctuary. 26:05 His righteous way is found in the sanctuary. 26:09 My friends, the sanctuary is the blueprint of salvation. 26:13 If you want to know how to be set on the right path, 26:15 the right path to salvation, to know God 26:18 right there as we quoted before in John 17:3 26:27 My friends, if you're going to be put on the right path 26:30 to knowing Jesus Christ as personal Savior, 26:32 to truly know who Jesus is, 26:36 then we have to understand His will. 26:38 And His will is put more clear on display 26:42 in no other place than that of the sanctuary. 26:48 It's not much to look at when you see it, right? 26:50 Especially the wilderness sanctuary. 26:53 We might see pictures of it and we might see images. 26:55 In fact, if you look here you'll see this is kind of 26:58 an outside portrayal of what the sanctuary might look like 27:01 as a blueprint model. 27:03 You can see there's the walls and the gate, the door, 27:07 the entry. You're seeing the courtyard seen here with the two 27:09 articles of furniture. And of course, the tabernacle building 27:12 itself where the Holy Place and Most Holy Place is contained. 27:16 When you look at it it doesn't look like anything 27:19 special, especially the city... the wilderness version. 27:23 But my friends, nonetheless, it was never meant to be just some 27:27 special little building where people go. 27:30 God gave the sanctuary to show you the way 27:36 to Christ and not only to show you the way TO Christ 27:40 But to reveal to you who Christ is. 27:46 What'd the title of this sermon? 27:48 Christ in the Sanctuary. 27:52 Well let's investigate a little bit and see indeed if we can 27:55 find Christ in the sanctuary. 27:58 Now in that previous picture you're looking at kind of an 28:01 outside version here. This is kind of an outside view 28:05 of what you might see if you were to see the sanctuary. 28:08 As you can see, there's a gate there. There's a door. 28:10 First step, #1, if you're going to come to know who God is, 28:14 if you want to know who Christ is and you want to know His way, 28:17 my friend, you've gotta find yourself at the door. 28:21 You've gotta humble yourself and come and walk to that door 28:25 because if you find yourself at the door, then you can walk 28:28 through the door. And when you walk through the door 28:30 now you have set yourself on the path of salvation. 28:34 You have set yourself on the path to the right way... 28:37 and that is Christ's way. 28:40 In fact, Jesus Himself said in John chapter 10 28:42 verse 9... again, Christ in the sanctuary. 28:46 I love this! Christ said: 28:55 Isn't that powerful? And so back in the day 28:58 when God had introduced the sanctuary model to the children 29:02 of Israel. Yes, they had to take that long walk of shame 29:06 from the camp and walk all the way and find themselves at the 29:10 door in which the priest would meet them at the door. 29:12 But it was at this very moment where they would meet the priest 29:15 at the door that their salvation journey would begin. 29:19 Powerful incredible journey! 29:22 And it was there that they would begin to know 29:25 who Jesus is. 29:29 Jesus said: "I am the door. " 29:31 Thieves and robbers? They enter just any old way 29:35 that they like. They might climb over; 29:36 they might try to sneak under; 29:38 they might try to go around. 29:40 But if you're going to come in the right way, 29:42 enter at the door. 29:45 So when you come to the door of the sanctuary 29:47 it may not appear to be much but my friends there's 29:49 some highly symbolic powerful message right there 29:53 and that is: if we're going to come to know who Christ is, 29:57 we have to approach the gate. We have to approach 30:00 the door with humility 30:02 and humble ourselves in the presence of Christ 30:05 and recognize that HE is the ONLY WAY to salvation. 30:09 He is the only way we can enter in order to come to know 30:13 the way of righteousness. 30:16 And so, we've come to the door right there. 30:18 Now let's imagine that we kind of get in a helicopter 30:21 and we go high above the sanctuary. 30:23 And we're looking at kind of an aerial view 30:25 of the layout of the sanctuary. We have a picture 30:28 for that. An aerial view of the sanctuary. This is kind of what 30:31 it would look like. So you can see there's some... 30:33 there's some arrows and some numbers here. 30:35 We'll get into that in just a moment 30:36 as we're going to identify these articles. 30:38 But right now you can see there. I'll go ahead and do that 30:40 for you. You can see right there 30:43 in number one, that is the altar of sacrifice. 30:47 So you've just come through the door 30:49 and you come to the very first article of furniture 30:51 which is the altar of sacrifice. 30:53 And then you keep walking straight forward 30:55 and you're going to come to the second article of furniture 30:58 represented by #2 there. 30:59 That is the laver. We're going to about that in a moment. 31:02 And then you're going to enter the actual first compartment 31:06 of the sanctuary which is known as the Holy Place. 31:08 There are three articles of furniture there. 31:10 We see the table of Shewbread at #3 on the far right there. 31:13 Then we have the altar of incense at #4 31:17 right before the veil. 31:18 And then at #5 there to the far left we have 31:20 the candlestick... the seven-branched candlestick. 31:23 And then of course the ultimate goal is to make it 31:26 into the Most Holy Place, 31:29 the second compartment, which of course there is only found 31:31 one article of furniture. That is the ark of the covenant. 31:36 So Christ in the sanctuary. 31:40 Let's make this very, very clear my friends. 31:43 Christ is IN the sanctuary. 31:46 Let me show you right now. We're going to go through this 31:48 rather quickly because I believe the Bible is very clear on this. 31:50 But I want to show you here that when you start at the base 31:54 at the very entry of the sanctuary... 31:57 Again, Christ has already said: "I am the door. " 31:59 "I am the entry... I am the ONLY way. " 32:01 But now you've made your way in. You're on that plan of 32:04 salvation. You have accepted the way that God has for you. 32:07 The very first step you're going to come to is you're 32:09 going to come to that first article of furniture, the altar 32:11 of sacrifice and that points to none other than Jesus Christ as 32:16 the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 32:20 My friends, the Bible makes it very clear. Right there in John 32:23 chapter one verse 29 when John the Baptist sees Jesus coming 32:26 and he says: "Behold the Lamb of God 32:29 who takes away the sin of the world. " 32:30 He's identifying Jesus Christ as that lamb that was slain 32:34 from the foundation of the world. 32:36 In fact, consider Ephesians chapter 5 verse 2 32:39 identifies Christ as that ultimate sacrifice. 32:42 Ephesians 5:2 says: 32:57 So right there, my friends, Jesus Christ is our ultimate 33:02 sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God and there's no doubt. 33:06 There's no way of denying that all the way through the Bible. 33:09 Again, Christ IN the sanctuary. 33:11 Let's move on to that second article of furniture that we 33:14 find there. And of course, we're talking about the laver. 33:17 And that laver points to the fact that Christ 33:20 is our cleansing Savior. 33:23 Jesus Christ: His blood, His sacrifice 33:27 paves the way not only for us to receive forgiveness. 33:31 See, many people's gospel experience stops right there. 33:34 They come to Jesus and they say: "Lord, I'm... 33:37 I'm asking for forgiveness. I'm a sinner. 33:40 I recognize I've done wrong. " And that's great, 33:42 but we can humble ourselves at that point. 33:43 But God wants to take us further. 33:46 He wants to cleanse us. That's why first John 1:9 33:49 says that: "He is just to forgive us our sins 33:52 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " 33:55 Christ is our cleansing Savior. 33:57 And so the priests, as they were dealing with... 33:59 You know, the sanctuary was a bloody messy business. 34:03 That's why they would get blood perhaps on their hands 34:06 and maybe even splattered on their feet. 34:07 Before they were to enter the tabernacle building itself 34:11 they had to go to the laver and they would wash their hands 34:14 and their feet. And you could just imagine looking down 34:16 into that water as it's mixed with blood. 34:18 Yes, that was a type and a symbol of the cleansing 34:22 work of Christ. I love Galatians chapter 3:27. 34:26 Notice what it says. We've read it many times. 34:34 You see, when we are baptized into Christ 34:37 then we are putting on Christ just as that laver 34:40 points to the cleansing work of Jesus Christ. 34:44 Now we're cleansed, right? Now we walk into 34:47 the first compartment of the sanctuary and we come to 34:51 the first article of furniture to our right: 34:55 and that is none other than the table of Shewbread. 34:59 And it's powerful to consider how that was placed there 35:03 and how it was refilled, 'cause every Sabbath, every 7th-day 35:05 Sabbath, the priests were instructed to basically replace 35:10 and refill those 12 loaves of bread that the priesthood 35:14 would eat throughout the week as they were ministering 35:17 in the sanctuary. Well, this does none other than 35:20 point to Jesus Christ as our bread of life. 35:24 In fact, He says those words in John chapter 6 verse 35. 35:28 Notice what the Bible says: 35:39 So Jesus Christ is our bread of life. 35:41 We are to eat of Him and His Word each and every day. 35:45 Matthew chapter 4:4 when Jesus was being tempted 35:48 by the devil himself what did He say? 36:00 He is the Living Word and it proves it right there. 36:03 Within the sanctuary those 12 loaves of bread 36:06 weren't just placed there just by some coincidence 36:08 or happenstance. They were there because it 36:11 points to Jesus Christ as the Living Word of God 36:13 that you and I should eat up every single day. 36:16 That famous verse John 1:1. 36:26 My friends, there's no mistaking when you look at that 36:29 table of Shewbread you are looking at Jesus Christ, 36:33 The Living Word of God. And can you live a righteous life 36:37 separate from the Living Word of God? No, my friends! 36:40 "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. " 36:44 "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 36:47 proceeds from the mouth of God. " 36:49 So Jesus is our Living Word. 36:52 Now you keep going on that journey through the sanctuary 36:56 right before the veil you come to the second altar 36:59 which is called the altar of incense. 37:02 Of course, this points to Jesus Christ 37:05 as our great Intercessor. 37:08 Praise the Lord that Jesus is our Intercessor! 37:12 Who is Jesus? Jesus is our Intercessor. 37:16 Right now as we speak He is our High Priest 37:19 in the heavenly sanctuary and He is doing the work 37:23 of intercession... that great intercessory work 37:26 that He does as our High Priest. 37:28 Roman chapter 8 verse 34 witnesses to this. 37:31 Notice what it says: 37:47 Powerful that as the priest would come... And oftentimes 37:51 in many situations they might take some of that lamb's blood 37:53 or that goat's blood and they would touch it to the four 37:56 corners of the horns of that altar of incense. 37:59 And the incense would rise up and it would go over the veil 38:02 into the Holy Place signifying that yes, our prayers - 38:05 our communication - is heard, it's received 38:08 and Christ is there to intercede on our behalf. 38:12 In fact, that's what also Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25 38:16 is witnessing to. Again, we're asking: "Who Is Jesus? " 38:19 We're looking at Christ in the sanctuary Hebrews 7:25... 38:22 notice what it says: 38:34 My friends, how often does He? 38:37 "He ALWAYS lives to make intercession for us. " 38:41 Praise God that we serve a Savior who is always there 38:44 for us. We may not always be there for Him 38:47 but He promises to always be there for us. 38:50 Christ is our Intercessor. 38:54 We have one more article of furniture in the Holy Place. 38:57 And it actually is the only light source in the Holy Place 39:02 and that happens to be the seven-branched candlestick. 39:05 And you say: "Ryan, how in the world do you see Jesus 39:07 in a candlestick? " Well... 39:09 Jesus did say: "I am the Light of the World, " right? 39:13 John chapter 8 verse 12. What does the Bible say? 39:30 My friends, when you look at that seven-branched candlestick 39:34 they had to make sure the oil was filled 39:37 all the time to make sure that it was burning constantly. 39:41 Of course, we know that oil is just another representation 39:43 of the Holy Spirit. Why did Jesus say that He was sending 39:46 the Holy Spirit? That parakletos, another helper? 39:50 He said the Holy Spirit would come to minister to us 39:54 but he would always show us who Jesus Christ is. 39:57 Jesus Christ is the original light source. 40:01 John chapter 1... right back to John chapter 1 40:04 notice verses 4, 5, and verse 9. 40:07 I love this! It says: 40:21 My friends, Christ is our light. 40:24 We are living in a dark world. 40:25 In fact, we are living in a dark time 40:28 and we need a little bit of light in our life. 40:32 And right there in the... Remember: "Your way, O God, 40:36 is in the sanctuary. " Oh, my goodness! We are living 40:38 in a dark time. I have a dark life; 40:41 I have some dark shadows in my life. " 40:43 We need the light of Christ to penetrate those dark shadows 40:46 in our life. The sanctuary shows us 40:49 the light of Christ. How in the world do you think 40:53 the priesthood are able to do the work inside the Holy Place 40:56 which is a major, major important work 40:58 in the sanctuary service? 40:59 They had to have the light shining therein 41:03 from the candlestick. 41:06 So we've been through the courtyard. 41:08 We've been to the Holy Place. 41:11 But the ultimate goal of course is the Most Holy Place. 41:15 You see, we need to be having a Most Holy Place experience. 41:19 And so when you go past that veil into the second compartment 41:24 of the sanctuary... Whoo! This is where it gets powerful. 41:29 Because now you walk in and you see this one article of 41:32 furniture: the ark of the covenant. 41:38 Is Christ seen in that ark of the covenant? 41:43 Of course, He is. 41:45 You see Christ is the Lord of the law. 41:51 He is the Lord of mercy. 41:55 You see, it's called the ark of the covenant for a reason. 41:58 because it has God's Ten Commandments. The heart of His 42:01 covenant is found inside that ark of the covenant. 42:06 But on top of that ark is what's called the mercy seat. 42:09 It's the lid that covered it: the mercy seat. 42:11 You see, you can't have law without mercy. 42:13 And you can't have mercy without law. 42:15 They go together. And it just so happens to be 42:17 that when we look at that ark of the covenant it's not just 42:20 a golden box with rocks in it. 42:22 My friends, it points to the ministry & the very personality 42:25 and the very character of Jesus Christ as the Lord of 42:29 the law... the Lawgiver and the Lord of mercy. 42:32 In fact, in Matthew 5:17 He said those famous words: 42:43 He did not come to do away with the law, but He came to fill up 42:47 the law. He came to live out the law and to show that it is 42:51 Him: the Lord of the law, the Lord of righteousness, 42:54 that would live it perfect among us. 42:57 Even in John chapter 14 verse 15, those famous words: 43:04 Jesus is the Lord of the law... He can say that 43:07 because He was the Lord that talked to Moses 43:11 and gave the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai! 43:13 We already established that. He is THE GREAT I AM. 43:18 "If you love me, keep my commandments" He says. 43:22 Powerful! And we know He's the Lord of the law 43:25 because right there in the heart of God's law - 43:27 the Ten Commandments - we find the Sabbath commandment. 43:30 And what were those famous words in Mark chapter 2 verses 27-28? 43:34 Let's put it up on the screen here... beautiful! 43:35 Mark 2:27-28... it says: 43:47 My friends, not only could He declare who and for what 43:50 Sabbath was made for because He's the One that made it! 43:53 He's the One that created it because He is the Creator. 43:56 He is the Lord of the Sabbath and He can only say that because 44:00 He is the Lord of the law! 44:02 But of course, where there is law there is mercy. 44:08 Praise God! 44:10 He is a God of mercy. 44:13 There's a reason why the lid, the covering 44:18 it would sit ever so gently up on top of that box. 44:21 There's a reason why it's called the mercy seat. 44:27 That's why I love Matthew chapter 9 verse 13. 44:30 Never forget these words: 44:32 because Jesus said these words in Matthew 9.13: 44:49 My friends: make no mistake... 44:52 Jesus Christ is Lord of the law 44:54 and He does have a people He's coming back for 44:57 that are a commandment-keeping people. 44:59 But the reason why those people will be with Him for all of 45:03 eternity is because He had mercy on them. 45:08 And not only did God have mercy on them, but He is Lord 45:14 of a people who show mercy to others. 45:18 Wow! Powerful! 45:23 You see, the sanctuary no doubt reveals Jesus Christ. 45:29 That's what the sanctuary is all about. 45:32 It's all about Jesus Christ. 45:35 It would be like saying: "Show me a sea without water! " 45:39 It's impossible, right? You can't get into the sanctuary 45:42 and try to separate the sanc- tuary message, the meaning of 45:45 the sanctuary - the sanctuary in its entirety - 45:47 and separate it from Jesus Christ 45:49 because then it would cease to exist. 45:51 "My way, " He says, "is in the sanctuary. " 45:54 "Your way, O God... " Psalm 77:13... 45:57 "is found in the sanctuary. " Christ is in the sanctuary. 46:01 It reveals His mercy. 46:06 It reveals His longsuffering. 46:09 It reveals His kindness. 46:12 It reveals His judgment. 46:15 It reveals Christ as a God of justice. 46:18 And more than anything, it reveals Jesus 46:22 as the ultimate God of love. 46:29 You see, the nation of Israel was given 46:32 the sanctuary model as a gift. 46:36 Because we go back to Genesis 3:15. 46:40 You see, Genesis 3:15: that's kind of the epicenter. 46:44 Everything that comes after Genesis 3:15 is a still 46:48 or a continuation of the great story we find there 46:52 in Genesis 3: the promise of a coming Savior. 46:56 The promise of a Seed that would come and crush the enemy 47:00 and redeem His people from their sins. 47:04 How would God reveal His love? 47:07 How would He reveal His plan of salvation? 47:10 Through the sanctuary blueprint. 47:17 Israel was given it. 47:19 Did they accept it? 47:21 Did they follow it? 47:23 Well, if you read your story, you read the Bible, very clearly 47:26 you will know it wasn't always the case. 47:29 In fact, the ultimate end for Israel in their first stage 47:34 of their history came right before their Babylonian 47:38 captivity in which God Himself 47:40 had to evacuate His own temple. 47:45 You see, in Exodus God filled the temple with His glory. 47:48 He had a move-in day, right? where He filled the temple 47:51 with His glory. 47:53 But by the time you get to the book of Ezekiel 47:55 Israel had fallen so far away from the Lord 47:58 they were defiling God's house constantly 48:02 to the point that God was evicted from His own sanctuary. 48:08 We read this in Ezekiel chapter 11 verses 22 and 23. 48:11 Notice what it says here: 48:25 You can visualize this as God has evacuated the temple 48:28 and He hovers there over the temple 48:30 as if He doesn't want to leave His people. Because why? 48:33 He wanted to dwell with them; He wanted to be with them. 48:35 But they have evicted Him and so now He leaves the temple 48:38 but before He leaves, He goes over on the East side 48:41 of the city where there's a famous mountain. 48:43 Do you know what that mountain is? 48:44 It's the Mount of Olives. 48:47 And He hovers there and resides by the Mount of Olives 48:50 before returning to heaven. 48:53 I want you to keep that in mind in just a moment. 48:55 You see, this evacuation 48:59 of God from His own sanctuary led to the fall of Israel 49:03 into Babylonian captivity seventy years. 49:07 But coming out of the Babylonian captivity God still gave them 49:11 a second chance. 49:13 And we see there's a powerful, powerful text 49:17 in Haggai chapter 2. 49:20 It's a Messianic prophecy of Jesus Himself. 49:22 Notice what it says... Haggai 2:6, 7, and 9. 49:26 Notice what it says. It says: 49:53 Of course, this temple that is spoken of is the temple of 49:56 Herod. It's the temple that Jesus Himself would walk into. 49:59 But even still to this day, the words that we just read 50:02 right there in Haggai chapter 2 50:04 the Orthodox Jewish people are still scratching their heads 50:06 today going: "What in the world? " 50:08 Hold on because there's no longer a temple standing. 50:12 But the glory of the Lord never filled the temple 50:15 the second time as it did the first time. 50:18 But yet right here this promise says 50:20 that it will even be greater than the first time. 50:24 How is that? 50:25 Of course it's because Jesus Christ was that glory. 50:30 The very temple that pointed to Him; the very temple, 50:33 the very sanctuary that revealed who He was, 50:36 He would be that beautiful Shekinah glory that would enter 50:40 that temple and be right there in the flesh among His people. 50:44 Did they recognize Him? 50:46 Some did and some did not. 50:51 So that by the time you get to the end of His ministry 50:56 He would walk into that temple one day for the last time. 51:00 Now get this: remember what we read earlier 51:02 from Ezekiel... God being evicted from His temple? 51:05 Jesus walked into the temple one day for the last time. 51:08 He overturned the money- changers and the tables. 51:11 He said: "You have turned My Father's house into a den 51:14 of thieves" and then He would walk out of that temple. 51:19 And you know where Jesus went from there? 51:22 Well, before He went somewhere 51:25 I want you to notice what He said to Jerusalem. 51:28 It's found in Matthew chapter 23 verses 37 and 38. 51:33 He would say these words to them... heartbreaking: 52:04 Jesus would walk out of that temple, but I can imagine 52:07 He hovered there for... He dwelt there for a short time 52:11 so not to leave because He wants to dwell among His people. 52:15 But where would He go? Well, the very next chapter 52:19 and the very next chapter... Matthew 24 verses 1 and 3, 52:22 Notice what it says. It says: 52:29 There it is! 52:34 My friends, Jesus would go into that temple 52:39 for the last time. 52:42 But because He was evicted by His own people He would leave 52:45 and He would go to the Mount of Olives for a short time. 52:50 And it's powerful to consider that within a week from this 52:54 incident Jesus would be arrested 52:56 and He would be taken and nailed to a cross. 53:00 This is even more powerful. You want to talk about Christ 53:03 in the sanctuary? 53:04 Did you know that every place that Christ was wounded 53:08 it was in a place where you find one of the articles of 53:12 furniture in the sanctuary? In fact if we pull that image up 53:15 one more time notice if you trace around 53:18 all of the articles of furniture what do you have? 53:20 You have a cross! My friends, I don't think that's 53:22 a coincidence. That's not a coincidence. 53:26 You trace around these articles of furniture it points to 53:29 Jesus Christ as the redeeming Savior of the world. 53:32 But also look at every single place that you find an article 53:35 of furniture Jesus was also wounded for you and me. 53:38 He was wounded as represented by number one in His feet. 53:42 A nail in the feet. He was pierced in the side. 53:45 What came out of His side by number 2, the laver? 53:48 Blood and water! Notice this: 53:51 He was nailed in the right hand. He was nailed in the left hand. 53:56 And notice this: He died from a broken heart 54:00 with a crown of thorns up on His head. 54:04 Umm! 54:09 My friends, the purpose 54:13 of the sanctuary is not for us to just learn 54:17 articles of furniture and what they mean. 54:20 It's to point us in the direction 54:25 of the only salvation that matters. 54:31 The sanctuary points to the only event that matters. 54:39 You see, if you don't have a cross experience 54:44 then none of it matters. 54:47 If you don't find yourself at the foot of the cross, 54:50 accepting and receiving the great sacrificial work 54:56 that Jesus has done for you and me, 54:59 then none of it matters. 55:02 It's the glue that binds every message within the sanctuary 55:08 together. 55:10 You say: "But Ryan, we need to be in the Most Holy Place. " 55:12 You can't get into the Most Holy Place unless you have 55:15 the blood of the Lamb. We can't. 55:19 We're living in a world today full of thieves and robbers 55:23 trying to bypass the altar of sacrifice. 55:26 Trying to bypass the laver; trying to bypass 55:29 and get right into the Most Holy Place. 55:31 And yet we've not even had a genuine experience 55:34 at the foot of the cross of Jesus. 55:36 If only we could see those events 55:39 that transpired at Calvary 55:40 and to know that all of that sanctuary message 55:45 as powerful and amazing and incredible as it is 55:49 it all points to one person 55:52 and one event: 55:55 Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 55:59 You want in the Most Holy Place? Amen! 56:02 We need to have that Most Holy Place experience. 56:04 And right now Jesus is crying out to all of us 56:08 like He did Jerusalem. "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! 56:10 My friends, My children: how long I wanted to gather you 56:14 as chicks under My wings. " 56:16 But are you willing? 56:18 Are we willing to surrender to Jesus Christ today? 56:23 Who is Jesus? 56:26 He's the Savior of the world. 56:29 He is our High Priest. 56:31 He is our God of love. 56:34 Let us pray to Him as we close at this moment. 56:37 Father in heaven, short, sweet and simple and to the point: 56:43 pour out Your love upon us. 56:45 Give us Your Holy Spirit to convict us. 56:48 Point us in YOUR way: the way of the sanctuary, 56:52 the way of Jesus Christ. 56:55 We ask in Jesus' holy name, Amen... amen. 57:02 His body was broken 57:05 so that we could live giving us the gift of eternal life. 57:11 He pursues us relentlessly with an everlasting love. 57:16 Regardless of our failures and mistakes 57:19 the One who loves us like no other: 57:24 THIS is who Jesus IS. |
Revised 2021-08-24