Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM210011S
|
00:09 Who was Jesus?
00:12 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 and welcome back to 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting. 00:41 I don't know about you but I've been blessed. 00:43 Guess what? It's not over... it's just beginning. 00:46 It's such a privilege to be able to serve the Lord 00:50 and do it through such communications. 00:52 The devil thought he could stop us all by 00:54 COVID goin' around the world. But you know what? 00:57 Now we go virtual, and we can go through television, 01:00 radio, ways that we never thought possible before 01:03 because Jesus says: "When this gospel of the kingdom 01:06 goes into all the world then the end shall come. " 01:09 Which is really the beginning. I'm so looking forward to that. 01:13 Our next speaker is very easy for me to introduce 01:16 as I've known him for quite a while... in fact, all my life. 01:19 My brother Kenny Shelton, Pastor Kenny Shelton. 01:22 And afterwards now we're going to have a little Q&A... 01:25 question and answer thing. So if you want to 01:28 you can text actually. This is new to me. 01:30 This is Greg and Jill doin' all this new stuff. 01:32 But you can actually text your questions: 01:39 or you can e-mail: 01:42 and you can go register for these at: 01:47 So it'll be up on the screen. We invite you to do so. 01:51 So afterwards you have ques- tions I'm sure he'll be happy 01:55 to answer those. But what I'd like to say about my brother 01:58 is: growing up we had 4 boys and a girl in our family. 02:03 And Tammy was the baby. I'm the youngest of the four. 02:07 Kenny's the second in line. So we had Tommy, 02:10 Kenny, Ronnie, Danny, then came Tammy. 02:13 And Kenny... One thing that we all knew 02:16 by the time we were 10 or 12 years old 02:18 was he was never going to preach or never going to sing 02:21 in public. That's the two things he was never going to do. 02:24 Well you can see already that once in a while we get him up 02:27 to sing, but he's been preaching now 30+ years. 02:30 The difference is because when he was younger 02:33 he said: "I'm not gonna do it" but later he said 02:35 "Lord, what do You want me to do? " 02:37 And so the Lord had had him and he's been ministering 02:39 around the world with his wife Chris. 02:41 It's such a privilege for him to be here today. 02:44 Director and Founder of of course Behold the Lamb Ministry 02:47 seen right here on 3ABN and around the world. 02:51 But before he comes out 02:53 and his wife will come out with him - Chris - to pray 02:56 beforehand, but before they do my sister Tammy is here. 02:59 My baby sister we'll call her... younger sister. 03:01 She used to didn't like it but now she's happy 03:03 to be the youngest of all of us old guys. 03:06 And she's here with Tim Parton and she's going to be singing 03:10 We Shall Stand. 03:31 We wrestle not 03:33 with flesh and blood 03:35 but with powers of all darkness. 03:39 We fight battles every day... 03:44 it seems they'll never end. 03:48 As this war rages endlessly 03:52 our hearts start to falter 03:57 We cling unto His Holy Word 04:01 and know we shall stand. 04:05 We shall stand 04:08 in the midst of tribulation. 04:13 We shall stand 04:17 when the battle rages high. 04:22 We place our faith 04:25 in the King who reigns forever. 04:31 Let us rejoice 04:34 for we know we shall stand. 04:45 When we've done all we can 04:47 and therefore we stand 04:49 and wait upon the Savior 04:54 we learn from experience 04:58 to place our trust in Him. 05:02 And when we give Him full control 05:06 we cannot be defeated 05:11 for the battle's His 05:13 the victory's ours... 05:15 thank God we shall stand! 05:19 We shall stand 05:22 in the midst of tribulation. 05:27 We shall stand 05:30 when the battle rages high. 05:37 We placed our faith 05:39 in the King who reigns forever... 05:44 ever and ever... Let us rejoice 05:48 for we know we shall stand. 05:54 We placed our faith 05:57 in the King who reigns forever... 06:03 let us rejoice in tribulation, 06:08 let us rejoice... sing adoration, 06:12 let us rejoice 06:14 for we know 06:16 we shall stand! 06:27 Amen! Amen... thank you, Tammy. 06:31 Praise the Lord! Wasn't that beautiful? 06:33 We shall stand - AMEN - only by the grace of God - 06:37 YES - we're going to be able to stand. 06:38 There was a wonderful message in that song! 06:41 Oh, we could have prayer and go home, couldn't we? 06:43 Absolutely! That's such a blessing. 06:44 It was. Thank you both Tam and Brother Tim. 06:48 That really was. As your brother Danny said - 06:51 my brother-in-law - we are going to have prayer. 06:53 And we like to kneel when we pray 06:55 so if you guys at home would like to kneel with us 06:57 we invite you to kneel with us now. OK? 07:04 Most gracious heavenly Father, Lord we thank you for this 07:07 opportunity to lift up Jesus. Amen! 07:11 To hopefully bring more faith as the song said. 07:14 To have faith in Christ as never before as we see 07:18 our world changing right before our eyes 07:20 in ways we never thought possible. 07:23 Lord, we need that deep faith, that abiding faith in You. 07:28 And Father, I pray now for Pastor Kenny - 07:30 this vessel, this manservant of Yours that You did call 07:34 and that You're still using - that Your Holy Spirit will 07:37 speak in and through him that we may have a fresh look 07:41 today through the power of the Spirit of our risen Lord. 07:45 We give You all the praise, the glory, and the honor 07:47 in Jesus' name. Amen. Yeah! 07:50 Thank you. 07:52 Praise the Lord! All right... thank you. 07:55 Praise God! We're glad that you are here today. 07:58 Camp Meeting is a wonderful special time, is it not? 08:01 Absolutely! That we can sing praises unto Him; we can 08:04 study the Word of God. Today if you have your pencil 08:07 and paper be sure and just write down. 08:09 We're going to be talking about Our Risen Lord. 08:13 Our risen Lord. Praise God that He's not in the tomb. 08:16 Praise God that He's alive and well 08:18 and He's working in our behalf. 08:20 Again, we're very grateful and thankful for the messages 08:23 I know that we've heard, the songs that have been sung 08:25 that's brought honor and glory to Him and Him alone: to Jesus. 08:29 Our Risen Lord. There's a lot of passages 08:32 that we'll be going over here. We'll do it as fast as we can. 08:35 But again, make sure you write them down, please, 08:38 so that you can study to show yourself approved unto God. 08:43 There was a man one time - an old gentleman - 08:46 that because of the toil that we went through 08:49 and work that he went through he was kind of all stooped 08:52 and kind of bent over with the cares of this life. 08:55 You know, he tried to fix the problem himself 08:58 but he just couldn't seem to fix it himself. 09:01 He tried and he tried. "I'll straighten up 09:03 and I'll try to do better" but he became more bent over. 09:06 No avail. The thought came to his mind 09:09 and he said: "You know, I have a friend who is a sculptor 09:13 and if he will just make one of me standing straight 09:17 and tall and if I take the opportunity 09:20 to look at that every day and work toward that 09:23 maybe I can straighten up and I'll be better mentally, 09:27 physically, and even spiritually. 09:29 I know I need to have a change. " 09:31 The old gentleman now we're going to call Grandpa. 09:34 Now Grandpa said: "You know what? 09:36 I'm going to have this man to make that statue. " 09:38 And he did... he made him a statue. 09:39 Grandpa took the statue and he put it in his barn. 09:43 Kinda in the back so no one could really see it there. 09:46 He kind of hid it, but every day Grandpa went out 09:49 and Grandpa began to look at that statue. 09:53 But remember, the statue was made straight and tall 09:55 and made him look good. So Grandpa beheld that statue 09:59 every day and he began to exercise. 10:02 He began to strain and stretch and flex those 10:06 muscles to try to get his body to straighten up. 10:09 And as he saw this straight statue he said: "That's what 10:12 I want to be. " Now, one day his granddaughter 10:17 saw him quite a few times. She saw him 10:20 keep going out to the barn. Every day he'd go out to 10:22 the barn. She said: "Why is he going out to the barn? " 10:23 You know, every day. She thought: best for me to do 10:27 is I'm going to follow him out to the barn 10:29 and I'm going to see what Grandpa is doing there. 10:31 Because they had noticed and some people had noticed 10:34 in a matter of a couple of months 10:36 he was walking just a little bit straighter. 10:38 He was standing a little bit straighter and thought: 10:40 "Oh, this is a wonderful thing! " 10:42 So, well, as time went by - 10:44 we're talking about several months went by - 10:47 other changes were taking place. 10:49 And so anyway the grand- daughter comes out to the barn 10:52 and she begins to look, to study and see what Grandpa is doing. 10:56 Well as she looked at Grandpa she saw something else 10:59 there that looked like a second Grandpa. 11:01 Hmm! But this one was standing straight and tall. 11:04 And she watched Grandpa as he began to grab a few little 11:06 weights and he began to stretch and he began to you know 11:09 make some changes in his physical appearance. 11:13 She couldn't be still any longer. She said: "Oh Grandpa, 11:17 Grandpa, what are you doing? What are you doing? 11:18 You're standing straight and you're standing tall right now. 11:22 You're standing beside the other Grandpa 11:24 because it looks like you 11:26 but you're standing straight and tall and that's so good! " 11:29 Well, as we look at Grandpa's effort that he had put in 11:34 not only was he beholding but he also was working toward that 11:39 because he wanted to be straight and stand tall for Jesus. 11:43 And you know, by beholding and by putting forth an effort 11:48 there's some changes can be made in your life 11:51 and in my life today. 11:53 A pattern, our perfect pattern is none other than who? 11:56 Good! Jesus Christ. 11:58 And so we're to pattern our- selves after Him in all things. 12:01 And we're told in Scripture over and over that, 12:04 you know, as we behold Him we'll be changed into what? 12:08 Good! Into His image. 12:10 So as we're following Him and changed into His image 12:13 we become more and more like Him. 12:16 Today we're going to behold our risen Lord. 12:20 Our risen Lord... He is not in the tomb. 12:24 He's not in a grave somewhere. 12:26 He's alive and well and in heavenly places. 12:30 We're going to go through that study and look at it 12:32 carefully... maybe like we never have before 12:35 because we want certainly to be like Him. 12:38 In Matthew chapter 28... If you have your Bibles, 12:40 I know you do... You know Camp Meeting time is a time 12:42 to get close to Jesus. Time to visit and talk about 12:45 spiritual things. And I like this passage because 12:48 it really tells the whole message in Matthew 28:6. 12:53 So again, if you have your Bibles, be sure and turn to 12:55 Matthew 28 verse 6. I always like to say 12:57 "Here's what the Bible says. " 12:58 The Bible says there: 13:01 You remember they came to the tomb? What is it? 13:12 Isn't that really wonderful? What good news that is! 13:15 They came right to the sepulcher and they began to look 13:18 and He's not here. Well where did He go? 13:20 What is He doing? 13:22 Interesting: He wasn't there. 13:24 In the closing events as we begin to trace 13:28 from Calvary to the heavenly sanctuary 13:31 in this study today I pray that there's going to be 13:33 some blessings that will come your way. 13:35 Maybe it's more understanding as it's helped me in my study 13:39 to realize that Christ is not finished. 13:41 He's still working in our behalf today. 13:44 Aren't you glad about that? 13:46 So let's go back just a little bit in the closing events 13:48 of the crucifixion day. 13:51 More and more evidence began to come in. 13:54 Evidence? What are you talking about? Evidence came in? 13:57 Well, simply to the fulfilling of prophecy 14:00 to Christ's divinity. Please think it with me. 14:03 To His divinity. More and more people will begin to see 14:06 He had to be special. 14:07 Something very special was going on here 14:10 because there were voices that were heard 14:12 in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 54. 14:14 This is all we are going to say. Notice Matthew 27:54 says: 14:23 So what was happening here? More and more people were 14:25 saying: "This must have been the Son of God! 14:28 Something big; something special. " 14:31 "This truly was the Son of God! " 14:34 Many people came to the crucifixion 14:37 and many of them came because of curiosity. 14:39 You know, you see that today. 14:41 Many people come to church I think because they're curious 14:45 about what's taking place. 14:46 They're curious of what, you know... 14:47 They've got questions they want answered and so 14:50 some just wanted to see who this Man really was. 14:55 Some were caught up in this mob 14:57 as it were like scene against Christ. 15:01 There was a mob there and they wanted as it were 15:04 His blood. As evening came the crowd broke up 15:09 and they began to go different directions 15:12 and a lot of people began to go back to Jerusalem. 15:16 But they were changed individuals because they were 15:19 beholding the Lamb of God. 15:22 So some good changes took place. 15:24 And you know what? Just a matter of a few hours 15:27 made a difference. And a few hours can make 15:29 a difference in your life and in my life 15:31 as we behold Jesus, the Lamb of God. 15:33 Sad to say, the Jewish leaders... think with me 15:36 for a moment. The Jewish leaders... 15:40 They still had a hatred for Jesus Christ. 15:43 Now why did they have a hatred for Jesus Christ? 15:45 They were jealous of Jesus. 15:48 You know, they couldn't get past this hatred of Him. 15:53 At the crucifixion, for example, remember darkness 15:56 covered the face of the earth around the cross. 15:58 Darkness was in the hearts of the Jewish leaders 16:02 who knew not the Son of God. 16:05 Is it possible today maybe that we do not 16:08 understand or we have not seen Jesus, 16:11 we have not experienced Him in our hearts and in our life 16:14 and there's darkness you see in our home? 16:17 There's darkness in the church; there's darkness at our job. 16:20 There's darkness all around us which He wants to expel. 16:23 He wants that to change into light. 16:26 But very interesting: you would think the Jewish leaders, 16:30 the Jewish race, they wanted to what? 16:32 They wanted to crucify Jesus. 16:33 They wanted to get Him out of their hair. 16:36 And after He, as it were, died on Calvary's cross 16:40 there were some unexpected emotions. 16:44 Now what do you mean by that? Unexpected emotions 16:47 went through their heart and went through their mind 16:50 especially through the priest and through the rulers because 16:53 they expected a feeling of victory. 16:57 You know how it is? Maybe you've done certain things 17:00 and there was a victory. You felt good. 17:03 You won whatever it might be. 17:04 This is what they wanted to do with Jesus 17:06 and then they should be as it were feeling good... 17:09 but they weren't feeling good. 17:10 There was some unrest. There were some things that were 17:14 going on in their mind after He was put to death. 17:18 The apparent victory now was like: "Oh, oh! " 17:21 The question came up as: "What next? " 17:24 "Maybe there's something that's going to happen next 17:27 that we don't know about. " 17:29 And then you know as you think about it here 17:32 in their mind they thought: "Well, He's dead... 17:35 nothing can really happen. " 17:37 "Surely not. Nothing could happen, would it? " 17:40 "No... surely not, surely not. " 17:45 Huh! Because they had heard... Now notice with me: 17:48 they had heard in John 19 verse 30. 17:50 Think with me for just a moment. 17:52 They heard Jesus say these words: 17:56 You would think it would be all over with them. 17:58 They got rid of Jesus. They were threatened by Him. 18:01 They were jealous. Their hatred for Him 18:06 was to put Him... they were going to put Him to death. 18:09 The Bible says there in John 19:30 18:16 Now people heard that. The Jewish leaders heard that. 18:20 He's dead. There's no use to worry about it anymore. 18:23 He died... we don't have to worry about it. 18:25 I want you to listen to me very carefully. 18:27 This is an important quote here... a little bit long 18:29 but I think it's worthwhile that we spend a little time. 18:32 Found in Manuscript 111 in 1897. 18:36 To me this is very powerful. Listen to every word. It says: 18:52 So we know from the earthly sanctuary 18:54 right from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place 18:56 there was a thick curtain about the thickness of a man's hand. 18:59 Impossible to be rent or torn by man. 19:02 But when Christ died that curtain was ripped 19:05 all the way from the top to the bottom. 19:09 Well, what did that mean? 19:10 Some of you may ask: "Well, what did that mean? " 19:12 That simply meant that the way to the Most Holy Place 19:15 was now open. Praise God for that for man! 19:19 When Christ bowed His head, right? 19:22 bowed His head: "It is finished! " 19:24 God then would be satisfied with His offering. 19:27 Now we see justice and mercy, you see, 19:31 could be blended together. 19:34 God is just. We know that. 19:36 He also is the justifier of all who should believe 19:39 on Christ Jesus. 19:42 He looked, notice this, on the victim expiring on the cross... 19:45 Talking about God looking at the victim. Who? Jesus Christ 19:48 dying on the cross who said: "It is finished! " 19:51 The human race... This is good news. Somebody should be 19:54 getting excited about it because it simply said here 19:56 the human race shall have another chance. 19:59 They shall have a second chance. 20:01 Praise God for that! 20:03 Redemption's price has been paid. 20:07 And then notice in Luke ch. 10. If you think about it with me 20:11 verse I think it's 18. It says Satan fell like lightning 20:15 from heaven. Umm! Satan then was booted out 20:19 wasn't he? Christ died and said: "It is finished! " 20:22 But what? The human race had another opportunity, another 20:24 chance. I praise God for that. 20:26 But interesting: those who were around 20:29 Jesus Christ, those who were around Him 20:31 heard these words "It is finished! " 20:34 At that time they felt a mighty earthquake. 20:38 Things that were taking place they could not explain. 20:42 And it seemed like the rocks were torn 20:47 out of the mountainside and they were hurled 20:50 and there were holes that were left in the rock. 20:53 Oh my! There was a force there that was unexplainable. 20:56 And the people... it caught their minds and it caught their 20:59 eyes and it was a frightening time. 21:02 As I mentioned a while ago the religious leaders were 21:04 simply jealous of Christ. 21:06 They were jealous of Him and His life 21:09 and they were jealous of Him in death. 21:12 Interesting! They feared Jesus Christ in life; 21:16 they feared Him even more in death. 21:19 Wow! What a big statement. 21:21 They feared Him more in death. 21:26 They were jealous. Let me just read a little something here 21:28 I thought was interesting on jealousy. 21:30 I just think jealously is a killer. 21:33 Jealousy can kill a person spiritually. 21:37 It's deadly... and certainly it was. 21:40 Now where did this jealousy even start? 21:44 And, you know, who started it? 21:47 I'm going to Early Writings; page 145 says this. 21:51 Now we know who started it, do we not? 21:57 Read more if you want to in Isaiah 14. Just jot it down... 22:00 have the opportunity to read that. 22:30 Please listen to me carefully on that. 22:32 It starts out this way... and you know how it starts out 22:35 maybe in your life. Number one: it starts out 22:37 with a little bit of envy. We're a little bit envious 22:39 of that person. Why? They have this or what's going 22:41 on. And then it turns to a little bit of jealousy. 22:44 And first thing the temperature begins to rise just a little bit 22:48 and before long it's hatred. 22:50 And when it's hatred that means we want to do something 22:52 about it. We don't want to see that person. 22:55 We don't want to deal with that person. 22:56 And I can say right now I believe the world is now 22:59 infected by jealousy. 23:02 I feel like the world... and not only the world but may I 23:05 just be personal? I think it's infiltrated the church. 23:08 And many times we're jealous, we're envious 23:11 of other people. Let me just give a couple examples 23:14 of it, and you could give a whole lot more I'm sure. 23:17 You know, sometimes: "Why wasn't I elected to that office? " 23:21 "Well I've been in church a lot longer than they have! " 23:24 "Well, my family helped to start this church! " 23:27 "I'm more qualified than they are. Why are they in that 23:30 position? " 23:32 "It should have been me. " 23:35 Interesting kind of start of jealousy here. Huh! 23:39 You see they, at this point in time we realize that 23:43 what was taking place there with the crucifixion and Calvary 23:46 right now again the leaders were... they were worried about 23:49 the people. They were worried about a revolt. 23:51 They were worried about "What are we going to do now? " 23:54 And the thought once again is: "Is it possible He's going to 23:57 come back? And then if He does what are we going to do? " 24:00 And they said: "Oh, we don't want the attention of the people 24:06 to dwell on this too long. What we need to do: 24:09 we don't want their minds and their eyes 24:12 to be fixed upon Christ hanging upon the cross. 24:16 And so something we need to do: we need to get Him down. 24:19 We need to get Him out of sight 24:21 so the people can't see Him any more. " 24:24 Why? For fear that something would happen. 24:29 Huh! They thought: "Let's get Him down. 24:32 Let's just bury Him and all this nightmare's going to be over. " 24:36 Or so they hoped... 24:40 Or so they really hoped. 24:43 So His body was taken down and as we realize in Scripture... 24:47 There's a lot of times we're talking to people 24:49 who maybe have never heard these things. 24:50 And others you've heard them many times. 24:52 But it only took about six hours for Christ to die 24:54 on the cross. Remember: they didn't kill Him. 24:57 He died of a broken heart. 24:59 He carried you and He carried me with Him... 25:02 the sins of the world. 25:04 But remember: this is Preparation Day. 25:06 And I find it very difficult sometimes... 25:08 or kind of hard to explain... why people say: 25:10 "We can't figure out which day is the Sabbath. " 25:12 "We can't figure out what day is the first day of the week. " 25:14 Friday is the Preparation Day. That's the 6th day of the week. 25:17 That's when He died on the cross. 25:19 We know in death He rested on the seventh-day Sabbath. 25:23 Hah! Isn't that? He rested just like He lived. 25:26 When He lived life He rested on the Sabbath Day. 25:28 Praise God for that! 25:30 Now there's another thought here that I want to bring out. 25:35 If you think along this line that He died, remember, 25:39 and that He rose there must be something that had... 25:43 is going on. There must be something 25:46 that maybe the world is missing or maybe most Christians 25:48 are missing today because they say - and I pray 25:51 we have enough time to answer some of these questions - 25:53 is that: "Oh, well, now you know it was finished at the cross. " 25:58 Very interesting. 26:00 There were those that were with Jesus, you know Jesus' body, 26:05 and Luke 23:56 tells us this. It says: 26:10 When He died they took Him off the cross, it says: 26:16 Wow! How beautiful that is! 26:18 Light is brought to our minds and our hearts. 26:22 Notice that He rested the Sabbath Day according to 26:25 the commandment. So nothing seemed to change 26:27 after He died on the cross. 26:29 Huh! This was a never-to-be-forgotten day 26:33 a Sabbath for the disciples. 26:37 A never-to-be-forgotten day for the priests & for the rulers 26:40 and the scribes, and the people. 26:43 Why? What happened? Well, the trumpet sounded 26:46 you know as they did signifying that the Sabbath had begun. 26:49 You know, the trumpet was blown; you knew the Sabbath hours 26:53 were beginning. The Passover was observed. 26:57 The priests performed their duties. 27:00 Nothing seemed to change. 27:03 But something, and some of the believers were saying 27:06 "This is the Messiah! " 27:08 He died on the cross and so it seems the blood of bulls 27:12 and goats no longer... it doesn't matter. 27:14 It's not for the forgiveness of sin because Jesus the Lamb 27:17 was offered once for the sins of man. 27:22 Our risen Lord! 27:25 What powerful words! What impressive words! 27:29 What life-and-death words! 27:32 "And as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week... " 27:36 Did you notice? "The first day of the week. " 27:38 Christ still in the tomb... Christ still resting. 27:41 We talked about in death on the Sabbath Day 27:43 and on the Sabbath Day when He was alive He rested. 27:46 But the tomb was still sealed. 27:49 It was still guarded, but as Matthew 28:1-2 tells us 27:53 it says: "At the end of the Sabbath... " 27:56 If we have a hard time figuring it out let's just go to 27:57 the Word of God and we can figure it out. 27:59 Some people have sent me letters sometimes and they say: 28:01 "Well, it's an eight-day cycle. " 28:04 Oh come on now. 28:05 It's an eight-day cycle? 28:07 The Bible tells us very clear there's a 7-day weekly cycle 28:11 is there not? Absolutely. 28:12 And so by trying to change all that around 28:14 you change the Sabbath you can change anything you want 28:16 to change. YOU CAN'T CHANGE IT! 28:17 The Bible says here in Matthew 28:1-2: 28:52 He was in control... he was in charge 28:55 and proclaimed in Luke 24:6 29:02 See, we know after the resurrection 29:05 that He appeared to many the Bible says there in 29:08 Matthew chapter 27. 29:09 He appeared to many and many came out of the grave. 29:12 And they went into the towns and villages 29:13 to proclaim that Christ is risen and they had "rose" from 29:17 dead and they visited loved ones and family. 29:19 God had witnesses all over the place 29:22 so no one would doubt. No one could say: "Oh, we 29:25 didn't know. " And He was here for 40 days - 29:29 Jesus was - before He ascended up to heaven. 29:32 Awesome! What must He have done all those 40 days? 29:37 Now just to remind you, and I'm sure you know this 29:39 right here, but we talk about three earthquakes. 29:42 There's a lot of others we know in prophecy 29:44 that we need to be aware of. 29:46 But notice the three earthquakes to remember. 29:50 Number one: when Christ died on Calvary 29:52 there was a great earthquake. 29:54 When Christ came out of the grave there was a great 29:56 earthquake. And when He comes again the second time 30:00 there's going to be another earthquake. It's going to shake 30:03 the earth and the heavens the book of Hebrews tells us. 30:06 Hebrews 12:26. 30:08 Now, maybe it comes to this: 30:10 maybe our question is: So where is He now? 30:13 We've kind of followed Him to the cross, to the tomb 30:16 and resurrection. And is He doing something now 30:19 because we're talking about our risen Lord. 30:21 Many believe that His work was finished. 30:24 Many believe that His work is done at the cross. 30:28 It was complete... there's nothing more to do many believe. 30:34 And many believe that when He died that automatically 30:37 the Father accepted His sacrifice 30:39 so there was no need for anything else to take place. 30:43 Is that really true? 30:44 Huh! And others say: "As soon as He died he went 30:48 straight to heaven? " Oh, is that really true? 30:51 Huh! Well if He did then why did He say to Mary 30:56 in John chapter 20 verse 17... 30:59 Why did Jesus say this to Mary? 31:09 Now we should be able to leave it there, but 31:11 some people's not going to leave it there. 31:13 "Oh, " they say, "He went straight to the Father 31:15 at death. " He didn't go straight to heaven 31:17 at death. He didn't go anyplace else. 31:20 He slept in the tomb and He rested. 31:22 Because when Mary came to Him after His resurrection 31:24 what happened? He said: "Don't touch Me; don't touch Me. " 31:27 Not in the sense that we might think 31:28 "For I have not yet ascended. " 31:30 Because the Father had to accept what? 31:32 His sacrifice that was made. 31:34 People say: "Oh well, need to think on this. " 31:36 But He said: "I go to My brethren. " 31:38 Now notice this... I love this part. 31:41 I love the part here because it talks about 31:44 after His resurrection, after He came out of the grave 31:46 Jesus was so concerned still about us. 31:49 He was concerned about His brethren. 31:52 Be sure and tell them that I'm going, I'm ascending to My 31:54 Father and to your Father 31:56 and to My God and your God. " 31:58 Huh! Surely with passages like that 32:02 just a few simple ones that would quiet all of our 32:05 questions on what happens when you die. 32:08 Surely it would, but it seems like it hasn't done that. 32:11 When He said: "Don't touch Me, Mary, for I have not ascended 32:14 to My Father. " So when He died upon the cross, 32:19 when He took His last breath 32:22 the soul of Jesus did not go to heaven, did it? 32:26 You know, in Genesis 2:7 it talks about 32:28 the body and you know the breath equal soul. 32:33 Many believe that it did, but how could His words be true? 32:38 If He went straight to heaven, how could they be true 32:41 when He said: "I have not yet ascended? " 32:43 Jesus called death a sleep. 32:45 Oh yeah, we can get sidetracked a little bit with that because 32:48 He called it a sleep. Best illustration is certainly 32:51 about Lazarus in John chapter 11 verse 11. 32:54 We can read that. It's beautiful when you go in there. 32:57 He said, you remember? "He's asleep. " 33:00 Jesus called death a sleep: he slept. 33:03 Now remember: part of Him didn't go to heaven 33:06 and part didn't stay in the tomb. 33:09 Part didn't go to heaven for Him to look down 33:13 and see those who were embalming His body? 33:15 Is somebody still with me? 33:18 And of course, He didn't have to call down His spirit 33:22 from heaven to unite with His body in His resurrection. 33:29 So where did Jesus go then 33:31 after His 40 days on earth after His resurrection? 33:35 Oh I love it. The Bible says in Acts chapter 1 verse 3. 33:39 Notice what the Bible says... notice it says: 33:58 Now this heavy-duty Acts chapter 1 verse 3 34:01 if you're a New Testament believer and you believe in the 34:03 book of Acts, praise God. It's powerful! 34:06 God's people need to be studying it for today. 34:09 But notice then: He shewed Himself to people what? 34:12 What did He do? Huh? Infallible proofs. 34:17 But somehow we read it and we just say: "Well that... 34:19 we're not sure about that. " Why not? 34:22 He was seen 40 days. You remember we were talking 34:24 about that. And now in Acts chapter 1 34:26 verse 9 it says: 34:36 Interesting! Christ then went back to heaven. 34:39 After His resurrection He came and He ministered 34:42 to His disciples, He ministered to people. 34:43 He gave infallible proofs that He came out of the tomb. 34:47 He was the Messiah and that there was something still left 34:50 for Him to do. He was going to go back into heaven. 34:53 He was going to address His Father. Interesting! 34:56 Christ ascended into heaven 35:00 simply signaling this: that His ministry on earth 35:02 had ended. Huh! Christ came to the earth 35:07 to live - you know this - and to die for man's salvation. 35:11 Oh, it's so simple... so many Bible passages. 35:14 John chapter 3 and verses 13 and 16. 35:17 "God so loved the world... " We understand that. 35:20 But now Jesus returns back to heaven. 35:23 There must have been a reason because we're talking about here 35:26 Christ, you know, going back to heaven and doing something. 35:29 Not just to sit but there's something else 35:32 that needed to be applied here. 35:35 In John 14:2 Jesus simply said bottom line: 35:40 Oh, it's comforting. Oh, it's exciting to me 35:43 to think: "I've gone to prepare a place for you. " 35:45 He had you in mind; He knows what you like. 35:48 He's prepared exactly what will make you happy. 35:51 "I've gone to prepare a place for you. " 35:53 But when He went back we understand He went back 35:56 to mediate. Why would He go back to mediate if 35:59 everything is OK and everything is already settled? 36:01 Something's not - you know - right. 36:05 Where is Jesus now and what is He doing? 36:08 Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1 says this: 36:17 I love bottom lines! 36:19 "This is the way that it is. " 36:21 "This is the sum of it. " This is the total picture right here. 36:35 Where's Jesu? Went back to heaven. 36:37 Hmm! Went back to heaven! 36:41 So He's in heaven. So what is He doing? 36:46 Well again we go back to the Word of God 36:47 in Hebrews 7:24. 36:50 Notice what the Bible... I like what the Bible says: 36:57 I like that word because it means He's going to completely. 37:00 That means fully... that means what? 37:03 At all times. Notice this: 37:12 Praise God that He's what? He's interceding for us 37:15 right now. So there must be something different 37:17 rather than saying on the cross it was all finished, all said, 37:20 all done. There must be something else. 37:21 He went back to heaven, right? Got the approval of God 37:24 and then what? Interesting: in the earthly sanctuary 37:27 and I hope we go more into this in a moment here 37:30 remember there's two phases of it. 37:33 There's the sacrifice, right? There's the sacrifice 37:36 there, the death of the victim, 37:37 and then there's an application of the blood. 37:40 See? There's two phases of it. 37:42 He died on earth on Calvary 37:44 and now the blood has to be applied. Interesting! 37:48 Hebrews 9:24 says, notice: 37:54 So it says now for sure the earthly sanctuary wasn't 37:57 in being at this time. But it wasn't in the earthly sanctuary. 38:07 Now who are you, who am I that He would die on Calvary's 38:11 cross? Who are we? It says He's appearing to the Father 38:14 what? For US right now because we need a Savior. 38:17 We need someone to stand in our behalf. 38:20 We need a Savior... we need forgiveness of sin. 38:23 You know, hopefully from just a few of these texts 38:26 we've read we can begin to glean... 38:29 we begin to glean, right? 38:32 that there was more work. And I say this in a nice way. 38:35 There's more work. There's more things for Christ to do 38:38 for us in heaven rather than just to go back. 38:42 Because we've already read what? He went back and He's 38:44 our High Priest and He's doing what? 38:46 He's interceding just like the high priest was in the earthly 38:49 sanctuary for the people. 38:51 The thought comes here: there must be more... something. 38:55 This is not... When you say it's finished 38:57 at Calvary... I'm not trying to take anything away from Calvary. 39:00 Praise God because of the gift of Calvary. 39:03 We need that, but it's simply... 39:07 We talk about a sacrifice now must be applied. 39:12 So how do we apply that sacrifice? 39:15 It's applied to those who's going to be saved 39:17 in the kingdom. The moral in this just a few minutes here 39:20 but first: some people have got a problem... 39:23 they have a problem when you talk about studying 39:25 about a sanctuary in heaven. 39:27 They have a hard time, a difficult time to understand 39:30 about what's taking place in heaven. 39:32 Aren't you glad that God said: "Let them make Me a sanctuary 39:35 that I may dwell among them? " 39:37 God's drawing us pictures; God's making it very clear 39:39 of the work that's going on in heaven for man. 39:42 And yet the world tries to basically deny that that... 39:44 that work's going on. 39:46 Let's go over it just... I'm going to call it just 39:49 a small little outline. Maybe it will help us to understand. 39:53 I pray that it does. 39:54 And it's imperative that we do understand this. 39:56 Now I'm going to read a passage from the Great Controversy. 40:00 Which I love the Great Controversy, page 488 and 489. 40:03 You may think: "This is not important; it doesn't really 40:06 matter. " Really? 40:09 When you look at the earthly sanctuary 40:11 it really mattered. 40:12 It didn't end when they took the sacrifice, right? 40:15 And they killed the sacrifice in the outer court 40:18 and just left it there. They took the blood 40:20 and then what? It was applied. 40:23 So Calvary: blood was shed... but now what do you do? 40:27 That blood of Christ must be applied 40:30 to each of our lives. You think about it: 40:33 what about Calvary? How wonderful Calvary is. 40:36 But what if no one by faith accepts Calvary, 40:38 the death of Jesus on Calvary's cross? 40:40 His death then would be of no avail 40:44 if no one would accept it by faith. 40:47 So we realize there's two phases of it, 40:50 and we need to look a little bit closer at it. 40:51 And the importance of it! Great Controversy p. 488-489 says: 40:55 "It deals... " Notice this... "with the work of Christ 40:58 in the heavenly sanctuary and the plan of salvation. " 41:01 Notice the words. You've read this many times I'm sure. 41:04 Many of you have never heard but please pay attention. 41:18 Remember it was outlined in the earthly sanctuary. 41:21 That's why the devil tells you to stay away from studying 41:23 the sanctuary... the earthy sanctuary. 41:25 Remember? A pattern. 41:46 There's the battle royale going on. 41:49 You're either going to be victorious or you're going to 41:50 lose the battle. We need Christ on our side. 41:53 He's ministering for us; He's standing for us. 41:55 He's applying His blood right now for us, 41:57 but you must accept that. I must accept that. 42:05 Now, let's get down to this... notice this: 42:18 Shock some Adventists some time! 42:21 But can't you see it now? As you study the earthly sanctuary 42:24 notice this: the intercession of Christ. 42:26 What is He doing? In Hebrews 7:25 42:28 "He's ever interceding. " We sing songs about 42:30 He's ever interceding. He's working in our behalf. 42:34 He's pleading our cases. 42:36 What is He pleading? He's pleading His blood 42:37 before the Father. "Father, My blood, My blood. " 42:39 If anything comes up, 42:41 I have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. 42:43 How wonderful that is that He's interceding HIs blood! 42:58 So we MUST talk about it. 43:00 There's two aspects of it. Evangelism page 223 says this... 43:04 notice with me: 43:21 Now think with me a minute: God's people are to do what now? 43:23 We're to have our eyes where? Fixed upon what? 43:26 The heavenly sanctuary where Christ is working in our behalf. 43:30 Where He's applying the blood. Sacrifice was made. 43:32 He died on Calvary's cross for everybody but He said: 43:36 "Now I take My blood and I plead My blood to the Father. " 43:39 That's for forgiveness of sin! 43:40 So we must be there... we must accept that. 43:42 He's our High Priest. 43:44 The judgment is going forward right now. 43:46 The world doesn't know it; they don't want to hear it. 43:48 But think about the judgment hour. How different our lives 43:51 may really be if we realize we're just so close 43:54 to the end of time. 43:55 The world so dictates that. 43:56 Things that are going on... it's almost frightening. 43:59 He's interceding for you and me right now. 44:01 He may be giving the last call to you right now 44:03 and last call to me. 44:05 Over and over in Scripture God shows man His plan to save them. 44:10 I'm so very grateful and thankful for that! 44:13 That great plan of salvation. God shows us over and over 44:16 He shows about Calvary. 44:18 And then He shows us the continued ministry of Christ. 44:21 Notice: ministry on earth. It ended at Calvary. What? 44:24 But now He continued His ministry in the heavenly places. 44:27 Let's go over it just quickly. 44:28 God's plan: just quickly here notice. 44:31 Exodus 25 verse 8... you know this well. 44:33 Exodus 25:8 He says: 44:40 God's always wanted to dwell with His people. 44:42 Sanctuary quickly. The earthly sanctuary 44:44 was divided into two parts. 44:46 Sometimes we can't even figure that. 44:47 There's only two parts... come on, now. 44:49 Sometimes we try to: "Oh, there's only 1 apartment. " 44:51 There are two apartments... we understand that. 44:53 The first apartment with the different pieces of furniture 44:56 in there as we well know. 44:58 The first apartment is ministry going on every day. 45:02 But the second apartment - the Holy of Holy Places 45:05 that was only 1 day a year like on the Day of Atonement - 45:09 and had the ark of the covenant, the Ten Commandment law, 45:12 in there. The sanctuary was made according to the pattern 45:16 given to Moses in Exodus 25. You can read that for yourself. 45:18 In fact, the New Testament... You say: "Well it's New 45:21 Test... " Acts chapter 7 verse 44. 45:23 So heaven then what? We saw in heaven 45:26 is found the original of which the earthly sanctuary 45:30 is a shadow. Oh... Hebrews 8:5 45:33 if we had time to do it; Hebrews 9 verse 23. 45:37 Remember John in Revelation? Just give you a little more 45:39 proof here in the last few minutes that we have here. 45:41 Remember John in Revelation, the vision. 45:43 Remember? He saw the tabernacle. 45:46 The temple of tabernacle of the testimony in heaven. 45:49 Revelation 15 verse 5. Huh! Interesting! 45:52 In the temple he saw the ark: Revelation 11 verse 19. 45:55 Ten Commandment law. 45:57 He also saw the altar of incense there in Revelation 8:3. 46:01 So just give you some quick proof here. 46:03 Paul saw our High Priest you remember in heaven. 46:06 Hebrews 3:1 and 9:24. 46:10 Paul saw it; John saw it. 46:12 The prophets of God, they were telling you the truth. 46:14 So from what is known of the earthly 46:17 we can understand what's going on now what? 46:20 In the heavenly. 46:21 That's exciting and we need to be there. 46:23 We need to be thinking about it; we need to be praying about 46:25 these things. So now notice this 46:27 about the priest... so about the priest. 46:31 When did Jesus really begin His work as the High Priest? 46:34 Huh? He could only begin His work as High Priest 46:38 after He had offered Himself. 46:41 He had to offer... The priest had to have a sacrifice 46:43 as you well know. 46:45 Christ continued to work in the first apartment of the heavenly. 46:49 We call it the what? The first phase 46:52 until He began His second phase there of the priestly ministry 46:56 representing the work of the Most High Place, the Holy Place. 46:59 And when He began that... We realize, right? 1844. 47:03 And judgment hour, Rev. 14, given in the three angels' 47:06 messages. You read that in Daniel 8:14 when you have 47:09 the opportunity to do that. 47:10 "2300 days and then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. " 47:14 What does that really mean? 47:16 Well that's a pretty heavy-duty subject. 47:18 We won't have time to go into all that. 47:20 But remember: beginning with the investigative phase 47:23 and ending with the executive phase 47:25 and ends in the permanent eradication of sin. 47:29 We're coming to that very point right now. 47:31 God's cup is full, right? It's running over 47:33 and He's going to say one of these days: "That's it! " 47:37 We've tried by the grace of God to follow our risen Lord 47:41 in the short amount of time that we have here 47:44 from the grave - right? to our High Priest in heaven. 47:47 Now, let's try to put this in a little nutshell here. 47:51 Just put it together for some thoughts. First, 47:54 remember the Great Controversy page 488 and 489? 47:58 I want you to... Now make sure: this is very important again. 48:01 We've read it, but I think it's important that we grasp it 48:03 again. Remember? 48:15 That's heavy-duty stuff when you look about it: 48:18 His work that's going on in the heavenly sanctuary. 48:22 So remember, in the earthly services the priest 48:24 after the death of the sacrifice 48:29 right? would place the blood on the horns of the altar. 48:34 That's saying two phases: after the death 48:36 of the sacrifice then something had to be done 48:39 with the blood. The blood then had to be applied 48:41 to the horns of the altar. Just one illustration here. 48:44 And then Leviticus 4 says then our sins are forgiven. 48:48 "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. " 48:51 Now again, second phase: talking about here 48:54 to the atonement. Two phases. Number one is the sacrifice 48:58 is provided. Number 2: the atoning sacrifice 49:02 has to be applied. This is where maybe the world is 49:05 missing it and we don't want that. Right? 49:08 We've got sacrifice. OK... Calvary. 49:10 Now we have to take the blood and it has to be applied. 49:14 So the plan of redemption involves - notice this - 49:17 atoning death of Christ and now in the heavenly sanctuary 49:21 He ministers the benefits of that atonement 49:25 for those who will accept it. 49:27 Are you accepting that? 49:29 Are you accepting what Christ has done for you? 49:31 Am I accepting that in my life, in my heart right now? 49:34 Do I really believe that Christ is working in our behalf? 49:36 Do I really believe that He's interceding for us right now? 49:41 Oh, I think it's important that we realize His death 49:43 on the cross to the truly repentant... 49:46 for those who are sorry and they ask for forgiveness of sin... 49:49 can only become effective only through Christ's 49:53 priestly ministry as He applies His blood to sinful man. 49:58 Where? In the sanctuary. 50:01 Praise God for our risen Lord! 50:04 Praise God for the example that He set for us! 50:08 Praise God that He stayed on the cross! 50:11 Isn't that wonderful? 50:13 Praise God, right? He didn't say: "Well there's no use. " 50:15 You know, today we struggle. Sometimes we just don't 50:18 understand like: "Oh, life is too difficult. 50:21 I don't know what I'm going to do right now. " 50:23 I encourage you to stay in there my brothers and sisters. 50:25 Signs foretell the coming of Jesus Christ. 50:29 See, in this study it's most important for us 50:32 as Christians... So you're a Christian? 50:34 Say I'm a Christian. It's very important that 50:37 Christians sense the difference. Sense the what? 50:39 The difference of the atoning act of Christ on the cross 50:44 and forever completing that sacrifice - 50:48 mmm - and the work in the sanctuary of the High Priest 50:52 ministering the benefits of that sacrifice. 50:55 Are you by faith accepting those benefits 50:57 of His death on the cross? 50:59 Oh, I pray that you are today. 51:02 I mentioned before that the cross is for all mankind, 51:05 anyone who wants to accept it. Salvation is a free gift. 51:08 I John 2:2. 51:12 So again, what does it mean in the sanctuary for those? 51:15 It means something very very important, right? 51:17 Only for those who accept this great salvation. 51:20 Remember that. Think about this with me. 51:23 What He does in the sanctuary is for those only 51:26 who accept His salvation. 51:29 Both parts are essential: God's work and His redemption. 51:35 You know, in Desire of Ages 774 51:37 is a quote before we end today I think is very very important 51:41 for us to maybe grasp this. Maybe you can see why 51:44 people think the way they do or maybe what happened 51:46 in the time of Christ our risen Lord. 51:48 I love the book Desire of Ages. It tells this... brings it out 51:52 so clear to us. It gives us a fresh vision 51:55 of who He is, a fresh vision of how He's going to come 51:57 back and how He would have His people to be 52:00 before He comes back. 52:02 And the challenge goes out: are we ready? 52:05 Are we really ready? Do we really understand 52:08 the plan of salvation? Do we really understand 52:10 the importance of the sacrifice and then applying it 52:13 in the heavenly sanctuary? His blood, His blood. 52:16 It's very important that we do. 52:17 Desire of Ages page 774 says: 52:38 They continued right on after Christ died 52:40 like still the blood of bulls and goats was OK. 52:44 He offered Himself once and it certainly is sufficient. 52:47 I think the power, the power of the blood of Jesus 52:50 Christ, certainly can bring you out of the doldrums of everyday 52:53 life and set your feet on higher ground. 52:56 You think about it: all the billions and the trillions 52:59 and the quadrille... however far it goes 53:01 of sins. His blood cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. 53:07 I mean, isn't that really won- derful when you think about it? 53:09 His blood is so powerful! 53:11 Hebrews 9:12 says this as we close up this portion: 53:26 Our risen Lord. 53:28 He entered in once to the Most Holy Place. 53:32 He's pleading our case. Will you accept that today? 53:34 Oh, I pray that you accept that. You know, Jesus is calling. 53:39 Song said He's tenderly calling... calling today. 53:42 Would you accept that? This Camp Meeting, this is the time 53:44 the Holy Spirit is drawing near 53:46 bringing conviction upon your heart, upon your life. 53:48 Today is the day certainly of salvation. 53:52 I'm going to ask my wife to come out here as we close 53:57 and to maybe have a thought. And then we want to close 53:59 with prayer because I know that people have made decisions. 54:01 Oh, what a message! 54:04 Amen! Talking about our risen Lord. Yes! 54:06 And His sacrifice is just like "Wow! " 54:09 Well there's so many people... they have no idea that He is 54:11 still working in behalf of our salvation. 54:14 But praise God for what you brought out. 54:17 And the Bible tells us that: "Thy way, O God, is 54:20 through the sanctuary. " 54:21 And it is so important that we understand 54:24 that He is still there pleading, He's still there 54:27 making a way. And the one verse that came to my mind 54:30 as you were starting to close - um-hmm - 54:32 because we look at the cross - 54:35 yes - and our hearts are very touched. 54:38 But if He hadn't risen - OOH! 54:41 all right - all of us would be lost. Yes. 54:43 Because He's still there pleading. Um-hmm. 54:45 And this verse in Revelation chapter 22 54:49 and verse 14... Well, no, it's verse 17... 54:53 it reads: "And the Spirit and the bride 54:58 say come. " That's all Jesus wants for all of us 55:02 is to come. Amen! "And let him that hears 55:04 say come and him that is athirst come, 55:09 and whosoever will let him come 55:12 and take of the water of life freely. " 55:15 Jesus is there... He's given EVERYTHING. 55:18 Oh yeah. He shed His blood for our salvation. 55:22 He is the door... He is the ONLY WAY to heaven 55:26 and He's still pleading for each and every one of us 55:29 that we will come to Him. 55:31 That we will take of that water of life freely. 55:35 It's a free gift. 55:36 Um-hm. And praise God there's no way to heaven 55:39 without Jesus. Amen! He is our only hope... 55:42 our only salvation. And as I mentioned in the very beginning 55:45 we are seeing our world change. 55:47 And if we ever needed Jesus before - yes - it's 55:51 holding onto Him now. 55:52 So He's ever interceding. 55:55 Again, that means that He's ever standing in our behalf. 55:59 Again, another phase of His ministry 56:03 in the heavenly sanctuary. 56:04 We realize that work began in 1844 and that's part 56:07 of our risen Lord and our Savior. Amen! 56:09 But people need to understand that so we can say 56:12 "OK, You died. Praise God for that! 56:14 There's sacrifice... now I need it applied. " 56:16 I've gotta apply it now... that blood to our lives 56:19 as the earthly priest did: applied it to the horns 56:21 of the altar. He's our High Priest. That's... Oh, Yes! 56:23 He's our High Priest. And He says He's coming again! 56:25 We just have 13-14 seconds. We need to pray for the people 56:27 who made a decision for Jesus Christ right now. 56:29 We'll just have a short prayer right now. OK. 56:31 Thank you; God bless you. 56:33 Most gracious heavenly Father, as we bow before You now 56:36 Lord we just pray that people WILL hear Your voice. 56:39 That they will take of that water of life freely. 56:42 That they will accept Your invitation to salvation. 56:45 Father, thank you for this message today 56:48 and may it NOT return unto Thee void. 56:50 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen! 56:55 His body was broken 56:59 so that we could live, giving us the gift of eternal life. 57:04 He pursues us relentlessly with an everlasting love. 57:09 Regardless of our failures and mistakes 57:12 the One who loves us like no other. 57:17 This is who Jesus IS. |
Revised 2021-11-16