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00:14 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Carlos Munoz: Maranatha and Happy Sabbath. 00:38 Welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour," here at the Granite Bay 00:41 Hilltop SDA Church. 00:44 My name is Carlos Munoz. 00:45 I am the AFCOE director and associate speaker for Amazing 00:48 Facts, and we want to welcome everybody that's watching 00:52 the Sabbath School today, that's sharing this precious time 00:54 with us today. 00:56 I want you to know that we have a free offer for you also, 00:58 and it's called "The High Cost of the Cross." 01:02 You can get a copy of this if you call 1-866-788-3966 01:09 or 866-Study-More. 01:12 This would be offer lesson number 156, and this is only 01:17 mailed in North America and the United States territories. 01:21 If you would like a digital copy, you can also send 01:24 a text message to SH080, to number 40544. 01:31 So there, our free gift, "The High Cost of the Cross." 01:35 All right, well, welcome everybody. 01:37 Today we are studying lesson number 11, and it's titled the 01:43 "New Covenant Sanctuary," and so here's the memory text for you: 01:48 "Therefore He is the mediator of a New Covenant, so that those 01:51 who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--" 01:55 this is in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 15. 01:59 So, before we get started, let's have a word of prayer. 02:02 Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come 02:05 together and spend time studying Your Word. 02:07 So we just ask, Father, that Your Spirit guide us so that we 02:10 can have a deeper understanding, a deeper awareness of the 02:14 message that You have for us through the sanctuary and, more 02:17 importantly, Father, that we may apply these principles 02:20 in our daily lives. 02:22 We thank You, Father, for this opportunity, and we ask 02:23 and beg these things in Jesus's name, amen. 02:26 And so the "New Covenant Sanctuary," lesson number 11, 02:31 is one of my favorite topics, right? 02:34 I have a number of favorite words in the Bible, "Gospel," 02:38 "covenant," and "sanctuary" is one of them. 02:42 So, actually, in this lesson, we're combining two of my 02:45 favorite words: The "New Covenant Sanctuary." 02:48 Now, before we get into and talk about the "New Covenant 02:51 Sanctuary," we want to then talk a little bit about the aspect or 02:57 the sanctuary experience. 02:59 I think it will be a good introduction that will help us 03:01 and lead us into understanding exactly how the lesson is being 03:05 developed and what the lesson is trying to take us to do. 03:08 And so when you ask yourselves, "When was the first sanctuary 03:12 of God with humanity?" 03:14 "When was the first sanctuary of God with humanity?"-- 03:17 and we find that first sanctuary in the Garden of Eden, right? 03:21 "Sanctuary," "most holy place," what it meant is represented 03:25 is that we are in the presence of God. 03:27 And so we see in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve dwelled 03:31 in the presence of God. 03:33 Adam and Eve had face-to-face companionship with God. 03:37 They dwelt in that sanctuary experience with God. 03:42 And so the question is why? 03:44 How were they able to dwell in that sanctuary experience with 03:46 God, and how come we are not, right? 03:48 That's a great question. 03:50 Why can't we have that same experience? 03:52 Well, it's very simple because, in Genesis, it says in chapter 03:55 number 1, it says that, when God created Adam and Eve, He created 03:58 them in His image, according to His likeness, right? 04:02 Now, what does it mean that Adam and Eve were created 04:05 in the image of God? 04:08 What does that represent, and how will that help us understand 04:10 why we are not able to dwell in the presence of God 04:14 in this current moment? 04:16 Well, when we read here in the book "Great Controversy," 04:18 page 466-- 68, I'm sorry--it says, "In the beginning, 04:23 man was created in the image of God. 04:25 He was in perfect harmony with the nature and the law of God. 04:30 The principles of righteousness were written upon the heart." 04:34 So it says very clearly here that, when Adam and Eve were 04:37 created in the image of God, what it meant was--is that they 04:40 had the law of God written in their hearts. 04:44 In other words, they had the righteousness of God, right? 04:47 They had the character of God. 04:49 They had the image or the reflection of the character of 04:52 God and how God thought, His feelings, His desires, and they 04:56 were able to develop that character in perfect harmony 05:01 with God's will or with God's holy law. 05:05 They already had those principles written 05:07 in their heart, right? 05:08 But something happened. 05:10 Something broke that relationship, or something 05:14 impeded that humanity may continue to dwell in the 05:17 presence of God again, and what was that? 05:20 Well, the same quote continues to say, 05:22 "But sin alienated him from his maker. 05:25 He no longer reflected the divine image." 05:28 And now why was that? 05:30 Because "His heart was at war with the--" what? 05:33 "With the principles of God," and the principles of God 05:35 are--what? 05:37 His righteousness that are manifested through His law. 05:40 And so those principles of righteousness, 05:42 the image, the character of God 05:45 that were written in the hearts and the minds 05:47 of Adam and Eve, because of the transgression, because of 05:50 their disobedience, because of sin, now they were no longer had 05:55 a righteous nature, but now they had an unrighteous nature as 05:59 they had now fallen nature in that context. 06:02 And so we see then, that, because of this, because they 06:05 could not be in harmony any longer with the principles of 06:10 God's kingdom in harmony with the Word of God, with God's law, 06:15 then they could not be in the presence of God. 06:17 Now, why is that? 06:18 It's very simple: Because God's holiness would consume anything 06:22 that is unholy or unrighteous. 06:25 So there cannot be anything unrighteous in the pure sublime 06:28 presence of God. 06:30 And so God, out of love--right?--God then takes 06:34 them out of the most-holy-place experience, sanctuary 06:37 experience, in the Garden of Eden, for what reason? 06:41 Well, to protect them so that He doesn't destroy them, but also 06:44 because they had chosen--they had made the decision to say, 06:47 "No, you know, we got this, God," right? 06:50 They had the principles of the righteousness of God in their 06:53 heart, but now, all of a sudden, when they disobey God, 06:56 now they're thinking about themselves, right? 06:59 And that's what led to sin. 07:01 That's what led to rebellion, and they're saying, "No, God, 07:03 we don't need You to tell us what's right or wrong. 07:05 We can determine this on our own." 07:08 And so that's how then the human experience becomes contaminated 07:12 with selfishness, with what we know as sin, but despite God 07:20 ejecting them from the Garden of Eden, God did not 07:23 leave it there, right? 07:25 We see that God had from that moment in Genesis chapter 3, 07:29 as soon as Adam and Eve fell, God presented the everlasting 07:33 Gospel, the everlasting Gospel, the good, great news of--what? 07:37 Of the plan of salvation, that God was going to save humanity. 07:42 Now, what is the foundation? What is the pillar? 07:45 What is the basis of that everlasting Gospel? 07:49 Well, we sometimes think that the three angels' message is the 07:52 everlasting Gospel, and while they're definitely connected, 07:55 the three angels' message did not begin to be preached until 08:00 the year around the 1840s, 1844. 08:03 So what we see was, then, that the everlasting Gospel was 08:06 from all eternity. 08:08 From even before the Creation, God had already established His 08:11 plan, His Gospel, His covenant, with the Son, as it says in 08:16 Galatians chapter 3. 08:17 And so the question then is "What is this plan of salvation? 08:20 What is this Gospel that God is trying to reach the world 08:23 that He was presenting to Adam and Eve?" 08:26 And so we find it in Romans chapter 1, verse 16 and 17. 08:29 It says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, 08:31 for it is the power of God to--" what? 08:34 "To salvation for everyone who believes." 08:36 Now, "The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to do--" what? 08:40 "To save us." 08:41 To save us from--what? 08:43 To save us from sin, right? 08:44 But, of course, what does that condition? 08:46 You have to believe. 08:48 You have to accept it, right? 08:49 And so, when we accept God's plan of salvation, when we 08:52 accept His Gospel, His covenant, then what happens is we are 08:56 inserted into the covenant through faith in Jesus Christ. 09:00 And so that power, then, that Gospel saves us, but notice now, 09:05 what does that power represent? 09:07 What does this Gospel power--is? 09:10 Where is the essence of this Gospel power? 09:12 And so in a fascinating Hebrew parallelism, Paul says in verse 09:17 number 17, "For in it--" that means "in the Gospel," notice 09:22 this, "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, 09:27 as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" 09:31 So here, again, the principles of righteousness. 09:33 Notice that humanity has sinned. 09:36 Humanity has rebelled against God, and so God now, through 09:39 Christ, the Gospel of Christ, He reveals His power to save 09:44 everyone who accepts it, everyone who believes, and that 09:47 power is found--where? 09:49 Where is the essence of that power? 09:51 It is found in the righteousness of God. 09:53 Notice, the righteousness of God, which humanity had, which 09:56 we lost because of disobedience, because of sin, God, through the 10:01 Gospel, is offering us to restore that righteousness 10:04 again, to give us back His righteousness. 10:06 And it says that, that power, that Gospel, that righteousness 10:10 of God is revealed from faith to faith, and so that was perfectly 10:14 manifested through Jesus Christ. 10:16 It doesn't mean that throughout the rest of the Bible, 10:19 especially in what is known as the Hebrew writings or the Old 10:23 Testament, God revealed his righteousness, right? 10:26 His goodness. His character. 10:28 Adam and Eve fall. 10:29 Right there, God presents the plan of salvation, and we see 10:32 throughout all the Scriptures the righteousness 10:34 of God manifested. 10:36 The Gospel, the good news--right?--the covenant that 10:39 God the Father made with the Son to save humanity. 10:42 But then we see that, in Jesus Christ, that covenant, 10:45 that Gospel, that righteousness, is perfectly manifested, 10:48 perfectly represented in Jesus Christ, right? 10:51 So that means that the perfect righteousness of God 10:54 was manifested in the Son. 10:56 But when you read Romans chapter 1, verse 16 and 17, 10:59 not only does it say that, that righteousness was going to be 11:01 revealed in the Son, but it says, in the last part of verse 11:05 17, "The just shall live by faith," or in other words, 11:09 "The righteous shall live by faith." 11:12 So what it's saying here is that the Gospel, or the power of God 11:15 to save everyone, the righteousness of God is 11:19 manifested in faith. 11:20 The faith in Jesus Christ will also be manifested in us. 11:24 In other words, the Gospel is proclaiming that, through the 11:28 everlasting covenant, God is wanting to restore us back into 11:32 His presence, to bring us back into harmony with His Word, 11:36 with His law--how? 11:38 By writing the principles of righteousness, again, 11:41 in our hearts and in our mind, and this is 11:43 the everlasting covenant experience. 11:46 This is what the plan of salvation is about. 11:48 Look at how it talks about it in Job chapter 33, verse 26, 11:52 "For he shall pray to God, and He will delight in him. 11:56 He shall see His face with joy, for He restores to man--" what? 12:01 "His righteousness." 12:04 I say, "amen," to that. 12:05 It says very clearly that God wants to restore His 12:09 righteousness in us to manifest His righteousness 12:12 in the same way that it was manifested in Jesus Christ. 12:17 That same power, that same Gospel, that same righteousness, 12:21 that same faith that was revealed in the life of 12:24 Jesus Christ, the Father wants to reveal it in us, and that's 12:27 how we are to be restored back into the presence of God. 12:32 And so, when we look at this, then, we see that, in Genesis, 12:35 God, as soon as Adam and Eve fall, God presents the plan of 12:39 salvation through that promise that "Through that woman, a seed 12:42 was going to come," and that seed was going to do--what? 12:45 That seed was going to give humanity victory, right? 12:48 It was going to give humanity victory again because that seed 12:51 would be a descendant of the woman, a human being, 12:54 which is Christ, as it says in Galatians. 12:56 And so through that seed, we would also become victorious. 13:00 We would also be able to have victory over the enemy, 13:04 over temptation, and over sin, and the question is 13:06 "How is that going to happen?" 13:07 Well, in the same chapter in Genesis chapter 3, verse 21, it 13:12 says very clearly that--what? 13:13 That a Lamb was slayed, right? 13:15 There was a sacrifice in that moment. 13:17 The blood was shed, and the blood of that Lamb is 13:20 what gives us the power. 13:23 It's what gives us back the righteousness of God through 13:26 faith so that we can live a victorious life. 13:28 Let's go--let's look at this quickly at Hebrews chapter 19. 13:33 I want you to see this with me how the blood of the Lamb, 13:36 the blood of the sacrifice is the instrument, right? 13:41 It is the power of God to restore us back 13:43 into his presence. 13:45 So Hebrews chapter 13, verse 20, it says, "Now may the God of 13:48 peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great 13:53 Shepherd of the sheep," notice this, "through the blood of 13:57 the everlasting covenant--" what? 14:00 "Make you and me complete," or perfect "in every good work to 14:05 do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, 14:09 through Jesus Christ," amen? 14:11 So it is "through the blood," it says here, "of the everlasting 14:13 covenant of that seed that makes us--" what? 14:17 "That blood that makes us perfect, complete to do--" what? 14:21 "In every good work to do His will, working in you 14:25 what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ." 14:27 So notice, again, God is restoring us back into harmony 14:31 with Him, back into harmony with His law, in harmony 14:34 with His righteousness, right? 14:36 With His principles. How? 14:39 Through the blood that was sacrificed. 14:40 And through that, my loved ones, we see then that God is 14:44 going to do--what? 14:45 He is going to, once again, restore us back 14:47 into His presence. 14:49 That was the promise also in Genesis chapter 3. 14:51 We see these three main promises from the covenant. 14:53 The three main promises, God was going to forgive us of our sins, 14:56 God was going to give us victory over sin, and God was going to 14:59 eradicate and eliminate sin so that--what? 15:02 So that we may dwell in His presence again, right? 15:05 We may have the new heavens and the new earth, eternal life. 15:07 And, implicitly it doesn't say it, but explicitly it's talking 15:12 about the Resurrection too. 15:14 So all of these promises we find in the New Covenant, and they 15:16 were all broken down in Genesis chapter 3. 15:19 Now, what is that sanctuary experience that God 15:22 is wanting to do? 15:24 God is wanting to dwell in us, He wants to dwell with us, 15:28 He wants to dwell in us. Watch this. 15:31 Go with me to Ezekiel chapter 36. 15:33 Go with me to Ezekiel chapter 36, and we will see here this 15:37 New Covenant, this sanctuary experience that God is 15:41 wanting to have with each and every one of us. 15:44 Ezekiel chapter 36. 15:47 Let's go to verse number 25. 15:49 Watch this. 15:51 It says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, 15:54 and you shall be clean. 15:56 And I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 16:00 and from all your idols." 16:02 Notice, this is talking about cleansing us completely from 16:05 sin, from our unrighteousness, from our filthiness so that we 16:09 can live according to God's law. 16:11 Now, how is God going to do this? 16:13 Look at what he says in verse 26: "I will give you 16:18 a new heart and put a new spirit within you." 16:19 So, if He needs to give us a new heart and a new spirit, 16:21 that means a new attitude. 16:23 It's because our heart and our attitude is not 16:25 in the correct place. 16:26 God has to renew us. He's got to restore us. 16:28 And notice, "I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh 16:31 and give you a heart of flesh." 16:33 Why does He have to take the heart of stone out? 16:35 Because the heart no longer represents the principles or the 16:39 righteousness of God as we saw from that quote in 16:41 "Great Controversy," right? 16:43 The principles of righteousness were written in our heart 16:45 originally, but what happened is that, because of transgression, 16:49 because of rebellion, because of sin, those principles 16:51 are not present there anymore, right? 16:53 They're not part of our nature. 16:55 And so here it says God has to give us a new heart. 16:58 That means a new mind, a new attitude, new thoughts, 17:00 new feelings. 17:02 And how is he going to do this? 17:03 Verse number 27, "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you 17:07 to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments 17:11 and do them," amen? 17:12 Again, this is following what it says off of Hebrews chapter 13, 17:16 verse 20 and 21, that it's through the blood of the 17:19 everlasting covenant, which is this cleansing agent here in 17:21 verse 25, and it is through that experience, through seeing the 17:25 sacrifice, through seeing the great gift that God has given us 17:30 in His Son, Jesus Christ, that our hearts 17:32 are transformed, right? 17:34 Jesus says, "When I am lifted up, I shall draw all to Me." 17:37 When we see that, the human heart is brought 17:42 into enmity, right? 17:44 That enmity, which would be reconciliation, if we're at 17:46 enmity with God, then that means we're being reconciled--I'm 17:50 sorry--in enmity with the enemy, then we're being 17:52 reconciled to God. 17:53 And how is that entity brought in the human experience? 17:56 It's through looking at the cross, right? 17:58 It's through looking at Jesus Christ, the sacrifice. 18:01 And what happens with that is our heart starts to be renewed. 18:04 God puts His Spirit in us. 18:06 Notice, so that we can walk in His statutes 18:09 and judgments and do them. 18:11 Again, the obedience to compliance to God's law, 18:15 to living according to His Word, is the result of 18:19 the covenant, amen? 18:20 It's not the condition--right?--as it says 18:22 in Hebrews 13. 18:24 Some of us--I mentioned this in a previous lesson--obedience is 18:27 not the condition or the obligation of the covenant. 18:33 Obedience is the promise of the covenant. 18:36 It is the gift. 18:37 It is the blessing of the covenant that, through 18:39 Jesus Christ and the covenant that the Father made, we will be 18:42 restored into His presence, and we will be able to live 18:45 according to His Word, and that is the power of the work 18:47 of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, changing us, writing 18:50 His law in our hearts. 18:52 That is the New Covenant experience, and I say, "Amen." 18:55 Now, many believe that this New Covenant experience can 18:59 only happen in the New Testament after Jesus Christ, but that is 19:03 not the case because God says He wants to put His Spirit 19:06 within us. 19:07 Notice, we cannot dwell face-to-face right now because 19:10 of sin, so what God does is He says, "I will cleanse you 19:14 of your sins, and I will put My Spirit in you." 19:17 So God is already manifesting that He wants to have this 19:20 New Covenant experience with us. 19:22 He wants to dwell in us through His Spirit. 19:24 He wants to dwell in us and write His law in our minds 19:27 and in our hearts. 19:29 From the very beginning it was manifested, nothing has changed. 19:31 Look at Isaiah chapter 51, verse 6 and 7, "My salvation will be 19:35 forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished. 19:38 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you people 19:42 in whose heart is--" what? 19:44 Is my law." 19:46 Notice, God is already mentioning, from the time of 19:47 Isaiah, that there are many that are living according to the New 19:52 Covenant experience, to the everlasting covenant experience. 19:55 It's the same thing. 19:56 When you talk about the New Covenant, the everlasting 19:58 covenant, the covenant of Grace, the covenant of redemption, 20:01 it's talking about the same phrase. 20:04 It's just manifested in different manners--right?--in 20:08 that context, but it says very clearly here that God 20:13 wants--what? 20:14 He had--His people had His law in their hearts. 20:17 It also says it in Psalms chapter 37, verse 29 and 31, 20:20 "The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in forever. 20:24 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, 20:26 and his tongue talks of justice." 20:28 Notice, "The law of his God is in his heart. 20:34 None of his steps shall slide," amen? 20:36 Why is it that you shall slide?--making a reference 20:38 to sinning. 20:40 Because we are living in the New Covenant experience, 20:43 and that is God wants to manifest. 20:45 He wants that sanctuary experience, that New Covenant 20:48 experience, where the Spirit is dwelling inside of us. 20:51 That was from the very beginning. 20:53 It never changed. 20:54 And so we see that God did that with Adam, He did it with Seth, 20:58 He did it with the patriarchs. 21:01 We see then also Abraham showed up, and Abraham, right, 21:04 Abraham tried to live in the Old Covenant experience. 21:07 He tried to do things according to his flesh. 21:09 He tried to fulfill the promise of God, saying, "I'm going to 21:12 give you a son," and Abraham said, "Oh, God, 21:14 you need help, right?" 21:16 After 11 years, it wasn't happening, and so God--Abraham 21:20 tried to force God's hand and say, "I'm going to help 21:23 God fulfill His promise. 21:25 God doesn't need help fulfilling His promises. 21:27 When God says something, it's a promise, and when it's 21:30 a promise, God is putting all of His reputation, 21:34 all of His power, all of it behind that promise, 21:37 and it will be fulfilled. 21:39 But Abraham, of course, learning to live in the New Covenant 21:42 experience, he went back to the Old Covenant experience, 21:46 where it's by works, where it's human effort, right? 21:49 "I have to do X and Y to be able to fulfill God's requirements." 21:53 We see that that is not possible. 21:56 We don't have it. 21:58 That's why, in the New Covenant, in the everlasting covenant, God 22:00 is giving us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, 22:02 the ability, the power. 22:05 He is restoring His righteousness so that we can 22:07 live according to His words. 22:09 And so we see that as the sanctuary experience that God is 22:12 wanting to have, and Abraham learned. 22:14 Eventually he learned a lesson, and this happened with not only 22:17 Abraham, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, but something happened. 22:22 Eventually God's people--what? 22:25 They fell into slavery--right?--the story goes. 22:28 And when they fall into slavery, then we see that 400 years they 22:33 were in Egypt then. 22:36 Most of it was in--and this slavery under bondage, right? 22:40 But God heard them. 22:42 Go with me, please, to Exodus. 22:44 I want to show you something fascinating. 22:47 Exodus chapter 2. Watch this. 22:49 Exodus chapter 2, and let's go to verse number 23. 22:53 While they were slaves--now, why do you think they became slaves? 22:57 Let's think about this for a second. 22:59 Why do you think God's people became slaves? 23:01 Did God want them to be slaves? 23:03 Did God free us, create us to be slaves, a bondage on their sin? 23:08 Of course not. 23:10 Notice what it says in this quote in 23:12 "Patriarchs and Prophets." 23:14 It said, "If the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, 23:16 they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would 23:20 it have been necessary for them to suffer a life 23:23 of bondage in Egypt." 23:25 So why is it that they fell? 23:27 Because they stopped living the New Covenant experience. 23:31 They stopped depending on God. 23:32 They stopped depending on and leaning on God's promises, 23:36 on His law, right? 23:38 They started to do things in their own way, on their own 23:41 costs, and, of course, that led into bondage. 23:44 That was probably after Joseph died. 23:47 And so there's the slavery, but look at what it says in 23:49 Exodus chapter 2, verse 23 and 25. 23:54 This is just fascinating what God does here, and it says, 24:01 "Now it happened in the process of the time that 24:04 the king of Egypt died. 24:06 Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage," 24:09 or the slavery, "and they cried out, and their cry came up to 24:13 God because of the bondage." 24:14 So notice this: "So He heard their groaning, and God 24:18 remembered His--" what? 24:20 "His covenant--" now, which covenant do you think God is 24:23 remembering here? 24:25 Watch this. 24:26 "God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, 24:28 and with Jacob." 24:30 Now, what is that covenant? 24:31 The covenant is that God wants to dwell in us. 24:34 The covenant that God wants to put His Spirit in us. 24:36 The covenant is that God wants us to have that intimate 24:40 relationship with Him. 24:42 As it's mentioned, God says, "Nobody is going to have 24:44 to teach you who I am. 24:47 Nobody is going to have to teach you about Me because I am going 24:49 to know you personally. 24:51 That same relationship that I had with Adam, after the fall, 24:54 with Seth, with all the patriarchs, with Noah, 24:58 with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob, with Joseph." 25:02 God is saying, "I am going to have that covenant relationship 25:04 with you, where My Spirit is dwelling in me, and we know we 25:07 have a personal relationship," right? 25:10 But notice what it says here: "And God looked upon the 25:12 children of Israel, and God acknowledged them," amen? 25:15 So He remembered that covenant that He had made with Abraham, 25:19 with all of the previous patriarchs. 25:21 Now I have a question for you: What covenant was that? 25:24 Oh, it says it very clearly in Psalms chapter 105, 25:27 verses 8 through 10. 25:29 "He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He 25:32 commanded a thousand generations--" notice this-- 25:35 "the covenant which He made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac, 25:39 and confirmed to Jacob for a statute--" and notice this-- 25:43 "Israel--" that would be the 12 sons of Jacob-- 25:46 "as an everlasting covenant." 25:49 Again, God is trying to carry out--God is trying to tell 25:52 humans, "I want to have this everlasting covenant, 25:55 this New Covenant experience," which is--what? 25:59 God dwelling in humanity, God with us, the same covenant. 26:03 It says very clearly there that God had always presented God 26:07 wanted to do with Israel after He frees them. 26:10 Now, notice, God didn't tell them anything 26:12 about this covenant. 26:13 He just goes, and He saves them through Moses. 26:15 Says, "God, the God of your fathers, is wanting 26:17 to save you." 26:18 And after the miraculous liberation through--from Egypt, 26:22 with the nine plagues, with the destroying the Egyptian army, 26:26 crossing through the Red Sea, God takes them to the desert. 26:28 He gives them water. He gives them manna. 26:30 He provides everything, and then God says what to them 26:33 on Mount Sinai? 26:35 He says, "I'm the God of your Father Abraham, Jacob, 26:37 and Isaac. 26:39 I had an everlasting covenant with them. 26:42 I want to have that covenant with you. 26:44 I want to dwell in you." 26:47 God is telling Israel, "I want to be in your hearts. 26:50 I want to write My law on your hearts and your minds," 26:53 and what was their reaction? 26:55 "Oh, no, no, no, no." 26:57 It says, "They were terrified," in Exodus chapter 19, 27:00 and God reveals Himself. 27:03 Then He speaks the Ten Commandments, right? 27:06 And what do they say immediately after that? 27:08 "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 27:10 We're too afraid. 27:12 We don't want this intimate relationship with You, God. 27:15 Moses, you be the mediator, Moses, and you intercede 27:19 on our behalf. 27:20 We'll stay over here on the sidelines, Moses, 27:23 and you do that." 27:24 They were rejecting God's New Covenant experience. 27:28 They were rejecting the everlasting covenant, 27:31 and what happens is they said, "We want to make our 27:33 own covenant," right? 27:35 God says, "Here's my covenant. 27:37 Here's what I want to do with you," and they're like, 27:38 "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. 27:40 We'll make our own covenant"-- right? 27:41 And their own covenant was--what? 27:43 "We shall obey." That's immediately the problem. 27:45 God never asked them for obedience. 27:46 God said to keep, God said to uphold His covenant, right? 27:50 In Exodus chapter 19, He says, "Cherish it. 27:53 Hold it dearly to your heart," but they said, "No, we shall 27:56 obey," and God says, "You can't obey." 27:59 And so God says, "All right." 28:00 So God--how does God react? 28:02 This is so fascinating how this all happens. 28:04 How does God react to the covenant rejection, 28:08 to the everlasting covenant? 28:09 He says, "Okay, if that's what you want to do, 28:11 this is what we'll do. 28:13 We'll go on your terms." 28:14 And so, instead of God writing His law on their hearts, 28:16 what happens? 28:18 He writes it on tablets of stone, not because He wanted to 28:20 write it on tablets of stone, but because--what? 28:23 Because they rejected Him. 28:25 They rejected having the law written in their hearts and in 28:28 their minds, and God said, "Okay, you don't want to be 28:30 a sanctuary for Me? 28:32 You don't want Me to dwell in your through my Spirit?" 28:34 That's perfect. 28:36 Look at how it says it very clearly here in the book 28:37 "Patriarchs and Prophets": "If the descendants of Abraham had 28:40 kept the covenant, they would have kept God's law--" where? 28:44 "In their mind." 28:46 This is the New Covenant experience. 28:47 This is the everlasting covenant, God writing His law on 28:49 our hearts and in our minds-- "and there would have been no 28:52 necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or 28:54 engraved upon the tables of stone. 28:58 And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten 29:00 Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional 29:05 directions given to Moses." 29:08 Notice that everything that was given, Ten Commandments on 29:10 tables of stone, and the Mosaic Law, which had to do with the 29:16 ceremonies, the feasts, the offerings, the sacrifices, the 29:20 Feast Days, all of those things were not necessary if they would 29:25 have accepted that God wanted them to be a sanctuary, that God 29:29 wanted to dwell in him, as it said in Ezekiel chapter 36, that 29:33 He wants to put His Spirit in us. 29:35 If they would have accepted that, there would have been no 29:37 need for all the rest, and they would have continued, God with 29:40 them, living among them--inside of them--I'm sorry. 29:43 But they said, "No, Moses, we don't want this. 29:46 We need a mediator. 29:48 We need you to do it," and so Moses took on this step. 29:52 And so what happens, my loved ones, is--what is it? 29:55 They wanted the Old Covenant sanctuary experience, right? 30:00 And so God adapts to their request. 30:03 God says, "Okay, I'm going to show you that this is not going 30:05 to work," but the only way sometimes you learn is when you 30:08 do it on your own, when you realize that you're not 30:11 capable of doing it. 30:13 There's a phrase in Spanish that says-- [speaking Spanish] 30:17 That means that nobody learns through other people's mistakes. 30:21 We also have to commit our own mistakes. 30:23 And so God says, "Okay, go ahead. 30:24 This is what you want to do. 30:26 I'm going to show you how far you're going to get with this." 30:28 And so through this, then, them rejecting the everlasting 30:32 covenant and not wanting to be a sanctuary, God then says--what? 30:36 "I'm going to make a covenant"-- I'm sorry-- "I'm going to make 30:39 a sanctuary," right? 30:41 "Now, if I can't reveal My glory, if I can't reveal My 30:45 name, if I can't reveal My character, My righteousness, 30:48 through each and every one of us," which is what He wanted to 30:50 do, what does He say? 30:53 "Then I'll have to do it through some structure. 30:55 I'll have to do it through an earthly sanctuary," right. 30:58 And so that's effectively what God does. 31:01 God makes the earthly sanctuary as a response. 31:03 God is adapting to the people not wanting to have that 31:08 intimate relationship. 31:09 God makes an earthly sanctuary with the sacrifices, with the 31:12 feasts, with all of the elements that are explained, making or 31:17 representing the plan of salvation, right? 31:21 And this is what it says in Exodus chapter 25, verse 8, 31:23 and 26:30, "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I 31:26 may dwell among them." 31:28 Notice, God wanted to dwell in them, but they said, 31:31 "No, no, no, no, no," so God says, "All right, so let 31:33 Me dwell among you. 31:35 Let Me show you the blessings," right? 31:37 And God says, "Make Me a sanctuary." 31:40 And notice it says, "And you shall rise up the tabernacle 31:42 according to its pattern which was shown on the mountain." 31:44 So it was a manifestation or a representation of 31:48 the sanctuary in heaven. 31:50 God was trying the body, our temple, to be the sanctuary as 31:56 a representation of what was happening up in heaven, but 31:59 because of the rejection, God adapts again, as I mentioned, 32:02 and he creates the earthly sanctuary. 32:05 Now, when we walk through the earthly sanctuary, 32:08 we see then how every different aspect represents 32:13 the plan of salvation, right? 32:16 Remember, the Gospel is the plan of salvation, and the plan of 32:19 salvation is to reconcile humanity with Divinity, 32:23 to be at one with God again, the atonement, right? 32:27 To be able to dwell, to have that intimate relationship. 32:31 And so it is through the sanctuary that God 32:34 reveals that process. 32:36 He reveals and He explains or He details the process through 32:39 which we are going to be reconciled, and, of course, 32:41 that reconciliation has to do with the taking away 32:43 of sins, right? 32:45 Because it is sin that caused separation, so it must be then 32:48 through the sanctuary that it's explained how sin is going to be 32:53 separated from humanity, and we may dwell again 32:55 in the presence of God. 32:57 And so, in the sanctuary, we've studied this many, many times, 33:01 but it's always good to review in case there's somebody 33:03 new that is watching. 33:05 You have the lamb. 33:06 You would bring in a lamb that must be blameless, that must be 33:09 a perfect lamb, right? 33:10 There can be nothing wrong with it. 33:13 It cannot have one eye. 33:15 It cannot be a limp. 33:17 It has to be a perfect, clean lamb. 33:20 You have then the altar of sacrifice, where the lamb was 33:23 sacrificed and placed upon the altar. 33:25 We have the laver, where the priests would wash their hands 33:29 and their feet before they went inside of the sanctuary because 33:32 inside of the sanctuary was the presence of God, and so, again, 33:35 a representation of cleansing before we are able to walk 33:40 in the presence of God. 33:42 We have then the holy place, represented through 33:44 the showbread, the altar of incense, and the candlesticks. 33:47 These are all elements that God is representing principles of 33:52 how God is going to cleanse us so that we can dwell again in 33:55 His presence, and this all leads into the most holy place 33:59 experience, which is where God was present and God manifested 34:03 Himself, and we would dwell with Him, right? 34:06 But, of course, since Israel had rejected that New Covenant 34:11 experience, God then created the priesthood, the priesthood, 34:16 beginning with Moses as the intercessor but then we saw 34:19 through Aaron, right? 34:21 And so only the priest, especially the high priest, 34:23 would be the only one that would be able to be in the presence of 34:26 God as a representative of humanity in the face 34:30 of God, right? 34:32 And all of this, of course, is a representation of beautiful 34:35 principles that is being carried out in the heavenly sanctuary, 34:37 and there's the priesthood--right?--the 34:40 priesthood represented by Aaron in this context, but we also see 34:46 that that is the Old Covenant. 34:48 Now, again, this is not what God planned, but this is what the 34:51 people wanted, and so God adapted. 34:53 And despite when you go through the history of the Bible, after 34:57 Mount Sinai, when they established their own covenant, 35:00 which would be the Old Covenant, which would be the covenant 35:03 where it's human works, where it's our understanding, it's our 35:08 works--right?--it's we are carrying out God's covenant. 35:11 God says, "Okay, go ahead and try it. 35:13 That's not the covenant that I established," as we read in 35:15 Hebrews 13 and Ezekiel chapter 36. 35:18 God clearly says that "I am the one that produces in you the 35:22 good works and the desire to do them," right? 35:25 God is the one. 35:27 Remember, don't forget this, that the obedience, the 35:29 compliance to God's Word, God's law, is the gift of the covenant 35:34 through Jesus Christ, right? 35:36 And when we accept, when we receive it, when we believe it, 35:40 we are inserted into the covenant through 35:43 Jesus Christ and God. 35:45 Through that acceptance through that faith, gives us the power 35:48 of the Holy Spirit, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, 35:51 we are then able to obey in context of compliance with 35:58 God's Word, with His principles. 36:01 In this case, it would be His law because the Spirit is 36:04 writing His law in our hearts and in our minds. 36:08 And so this, then leads us to the aspect of the representation 36:13 or the manifestation of--what? 36:15 Of these principles, of this New Covenant principles, explained 36:20 in the Old Covenant, explained in the earthly sanctuary through 36:24 the services, through the sacrifices, through the 36:26 offerings, through the priests, through the feast, and through 36:30 every aspect and everything that was going on. 36:33 But then, Christ comes up, right? 36:35 And when Christ shows up, something very 36:37 interesting happens. 36:39 Now we're starting to see God going to say, "Through My Son, 36:43 I am going to show you what I wanted to do with you from the 36:47 very beginning--" right?-- "what I wanted to do with you, what I 36:50 was doing with Adam, what I was doing with Seth, what I was 36:53 doing with the patriarchs, what I was doing with Abraham, what I 36:56 was doing with Noah, what I was doing with every single one of 36:58 them that accepted, and there were many also that did live 37:02 the New Covenant experience. 37:04 Even after Sinai, we have Jacob and Joshua, right? 37:08 We have many, David, despite the many flaws of all his children, 37:12 they all had that personal relationship with God, that 37:16 one-in-one connection with God, but the majority of people were 37:19 content with the Old Covenant experience. 37:23 They were content with "No, no, no, no, no, God, 37:25 you stay over there. 37:26 We'll stay over here. We still want the blessings. 37:29 We still want the protections. 37:31 We still want the benefits from being Your people, but we don't 37:35 want You to have that Your law written in our hearts. 37:39 We just want them in tablets of stone," right? 37:41 "We want that old covenant experience," which was more 37:44 comfortable than having to do all of the sacrifices, 37:48 all of the surrendering, the constant surrendering. 37:51 They wanted to follow and live in their own ways. 37:53 And, again, God adapts to that, but when Christ comes along, 37:55 now, the Father says, "Now I want to show you something. 37:57 Now I want to show you what it is I wanted to do in you 38:01 and through you, and I'm going to manifest and show 38:03 this through--" who? 38:05 "Through My Son, Jesus Christ." 38:06 And so, as Jesus Christ comes on, the first thing that we see, 38:10 as Jesus Christ appears, is the Lamb, right? 38:14 That's what it says in John chapter 1, verse 29. 38:16 It says, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and 38:20 said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away--" what? 38:23 "The sins of the world." 38:24 So the first thing that John says when he sees Jesus is 38:28 "This is the Lamb of God." 38:30 Again, that's sanctuary language, right? 38:32 That's sanctuary language, and effectively, 38:35 Jesus Christ did--what? 38:36 He died on the cross as the Lamb, but notice that, after 38:40 Jesus was called the Lamb of God, what is the next thing 38:43 Jesus does? 38:45 The next thing He does is He gets baptized, right? 38:47 That's a representation of--what? 38:49 Of the laver in this context, right? 38:51 Jesus goes to the laver, which also represents 38:53 the Resurrection. 38:55 Laver represents the water cleansing, and Jesus goes 38:56 through the laver. 38:58 Now, here's where it gets very interesting. 39:00 Because he's called the "Lamb of God," He gets baptized, and 39:04 then, when you follow in John chapter 1 and chapter 2, He goes 39:07 through the ceremony, the wedding ceremony, which is a 39:10 representation of Jesus saying, "I am making--I am here to 39:14 restore the New Covenant, the everlasting covenant with my 39:18 people, which is this marriage ceremony through--what? 39:22 Through the blood of the Lamb, represented by the wine. 39:25 Jesus is saying, "I am here to restore the New Covenant, the 39:29 everlasting covenant, with My people." 39:31 And it's--but right after that, Jesus does--what? 39:34 Jesus goes into the sanctuary, and what does He do 39:36 in the sanctuary? 39:38 In the sanctuary, He does--what? 39:41 He takes the works of the priest. 39:43 Why? 39:45 Well, because if you go through the Lamb of God, He goes through 39:46 the baptism. 39:48 Then the next step, if you follow the earthly sanctuary, is 39:50 to go into--what? 39:52 Into the heavenly sanctuary, right? 39:53 Or into the holy place if you're talking about 39:56 the earthly sanctuary. 39:57 So Jesus goes into the sanctuary, and He--What? 40:00 He starts to kick out all of the naysayers, all of the 40:04 corruption, all of the converting God's house into a 40:10 money business, right? 40:13 He starts to cleanse the sanctuary as He would, and He 40:16 kicks out--who? 40:17 He kicks out the Pharisees. He kicks them all out. 40:19 What is he saying? 40:20 "This priesthood, it does not work. 40:22 This priesthood is not any good anymore. 40:24 I am coming to show you what the real purpose of the priest is." 40:28 That's what He's basically saying. 40:30 He's saying, "This priesthood, look at what has happened. 40:32 They have corrupted the sanctuary," or "They have 40:35 corrupted the plan of salvation." 40:37 And Jesus says, "I'm going to show you how. 40:40 What is the real purpose of the priesthood? 40:42 And the real purpose of the priesthood is to guide God's 40:45 people to sanctity, to guide God's people in righteousness, 40:50 to guide God's people, into victory and cleansing from sin." 40:55 That's what He's trying to show them, and He's saying, 40:57 "This is what I'm doing." 40:58 And this is exactly why, in the book of Hebrews, 41:02 it talks to Jesus about this high priest, right? 41:05 Go with me, please, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 8, 41:08 Hebrews chapter 8, and I want to show you this. 41:11 This was in the lesson when it talks about Jesus as our high 41:16 priest, and I think this is very important to understand, 41:19 and we'll see exactly how this all plays out. 41:22 Hebrews chapter 8. 41:24 Look at what it says in verse number 1: "Now this is the main 41:27 point of the things we are saying: We have such a High 41:30 Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the 41:33 Majesty in the heavens, and Minister of--" what? 41:36 "Of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord 41:40 erected, and not man," right? 41:43 "For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts 41:46 and sacrifices." 41:47 This is earthly sanctuary, Old Covenant. 41:50 "Therefore it is necessary for this One," talking about Jesus, 41:54 "also having something to offer." 41:56 What is He offering? He's offering Himself. 41:59 He's not offering something else. 42:00 He's not offering an animal. 42:01 He's not offering something external to Him. 42:04 He's giving His own life as an offering for humanity. 42:07 "For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since 42:11 there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law, who 42:14 serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was 42:18 divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. 42:23 For He said, 'See that you make all things according 42:25 to the pattern that shown you--'" where? 42:28 "On the mountain." 42:30 And so Jesus Christ is clearly saying here, 42:32 "It is the manifestation." 42:33 I love it how Paul, in the book of Hebrews, is trying to explain 42:36 to the Hebrews, to Jews, to Israel, he's trying to explain 42:41 to them, using the earthly sanctuary, pointing to 42:44 Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of that sanctuary, right? 42:47 Because they continued in the Old Covenant experience 42:51 and the Old Covenant mind-set. 42:53 Verse 6, "But now He has obtained a more excellent 42:56 ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, 42:59 which was established on better promises." 43:01 Why? 43:03 Because this is not based on our promises which we 43:05 cannot fulfill. 43:07 It is not based on our works. 43:09 It is based on the promises of God that everything would be 43:11 fulfilled in Christ and through Christ. 43:14 That is the promise that Jesus Christ was going to be the one 43:17 that was going to bring reconciliation between humanity 43:20 and Divinity, and all we can do in this covenant is accept it by 43:24 faith to be inserted inside of it. 43:26 That is the main difference between the Old Covenant 43:29 and the New Covenant, right? 43:31 It's the New Covenant experience of saying, "God, I have 43:33 nothing to offer to you. 43:35 I have nothing to bear. 43:36 I cannot but in faith, holding on to your promises, 43:40 the promises of--" what? 43:42 "Of the seed of forgiveness, of victory, of Resurrection, of 43:46 reconciliation, of atonement, all of those promises, we accept 43:50 them through Jesus Christ, and we know that is only through 43:53 Him," and that is living by faith. 43:56 You accept it by faith, and then you live in those promises. 43:59 That is the New Covenant experience. 44:01 And sadly, today, we have many people that believe--they look 44:04 at the covenants from a historical perspective, which it 44:06 can be applied historically, but I prefer to look at the 44:09 covenants in the essence of an experience, right? 44:12 Because you can be what is perceived to be now in the New 44:15 Covenant time where Christ has come, but you can still be 44:19 living in the Old Covenant because you could still be 44:21 living according to your own ways, your own works, your own 44:23 wants, and not living by faith, but living according to your 44:27 heart, and that's not the New Covenant experience because it 44:30 says--God-- "I want to circumcise your heart. 44:33 I want to write My law in your hearts and your minds. 44:35 I want to make a new creature of you." 44:37 So many people, in the same way that there are many people in 44:40 what is known as the Old Covenant dispensation which, 44:44 again, is the historical interpretation of the covenants, 44:47 there were many that were in that Old Covenant timeframe, but 44:49 they live in the New Covenant promises and in the New 44:51 Covenant experience. 44:54 And vice versa, there are many now that are believed or 44:57 perceived to be living in the New Covenant dispensation which 45:00 are living in the Old Covenant. 45:03 And so, again, that's why I prefer--doesn't mean that it's 45:06 wrong to look at it from a historical dispensational 45:08 aspect, but I prefer to study it and grab a greater understanding 45:13 of the covenants and of the plan of salvation when I look at it 45:15 through this New Covenant experience. 45:17 Of course, everybody starts in the Old Covenant experience, 45:20 trying and trying and trying, and God has to teach us, as He 45:23 did with Abraham, how to live in the New Covenant, everlasting 45:27 covenant experience. 45:29 And so that's why it says very clearly, for example, here in 45:32 Hebrews chapter 4, I just want to read this one more verse with 45:34 you as we then close up. 45:38 Looking again at the sanctuary, Hebrews chapter 4, look at what 45:41 it says here. 45:43 Hebrews chapter 4, and it says in verse number 16--Hebrews 45:49 chapter 4:14, "Seeing that we have a great High Priest who has 45:53 passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us 45:55 hold fast our confession. 45:57 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our 46:00 weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet--" 46:03 what? 46:05 "Yet without sin. 46:06 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may 46:09 obtain mercy and find grace in time of need." 46:13 That same grace and that same mercy and that same patience and 46:16 that same love that God had for Adam, for Eve, for all of the 46:21 ones previously, it's that same manifestation now through--who? 46:25 Through Jesus Christ, amen? 46:26 And He is the one. 46:28 He can understand our weaknesses, our struggles, 46:29 our battles. 46:31 Why? 46:32 Because it says here, "He can sympathize as us because He was 46:36 tempted in all ways as we are," yet He never surrendered. 46:40 He never gave in to temptation or to sin, amen? 46:43 Now, as we look at this, I think that Jesus was also trying to 46:48 show us something else in this when He cleanses the sanctuary. 46:51 Not also was He trying to say--trying to point to Him as 46:55 the new Priest, the one that was going to be interceding, the one 46:58 that was going to be reconciling, making atonement 47:02 between God and His people, as He's showing the traditional 47:05 priests, the Old Covenant priesthood. 47:08 He's kicking them out, and He's saying, "Now the real Priest 47:10 has come. 47:12 The real Savior has come." 47:14 He's pointing to it, but He was also trying to point to 47:16 a new temple. 47:18 He was trying to point to something different, not just a 47:21 sanctuary as a structure--right?--but the 47:24 sanctuary as us, as the people. 47:27 Look at what it says here in the book "Desire of Ages." 47:30 It says, "The courts of the temple at Jerusalem, filled with 47:32 the tumult of unholy traffic, represented all too truly the 47:37 temple of the heart, defiled by the presence of sensual passions 47:41 and unholy thoughts. 47:43 In cleansing the temple from the world's buyers and sellers, 47:46 Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the 47:49 defilement of sin, from the earthly desires, the selfish 47:54 lust, the evil habits that corrupt the soul." 47:58 Notice that the sanctuary is pointing to us, right? 48:02 The sanctuary is pointing to us. Why us? 48:05 Again, that was the original experience that God was having. 48:08 After sin came in, God wanted to dwell in us to--what? 48:13 To cleanse us--right?--to prepare us to be able to dwell 48:17 in his presence again. 48:18 Notice how the quote continues: "No man can of himself cast out 48:22 the evil throng that have taken possession of the heart. 48:25 Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple. 48:27 His presence will cleanse and sanctify the soul, so that it 48:31 may be a holy temple unto the Lord--" and notice this-- "and 48:36 'an habitation of God through the Spirit.'" 48:41 That's Ephesians chapter 2, verse 21 and 22. 48:43 In other words, what she's saying is God is wanting, again, 48:47 to have that everlasting covenant experience, that New 48:51 Covenant experience of dwelling in us through His Spirit, for 48:54 what purpose or for what reason? 48:56 To cleanse us, right? 48:58 That is what God was showing us. 49:00 And when you read in there, in John chapter 2, Jesus says very 49:04 clearly, He says, "The sanctuary shall be lifted up 49:08 in three days." 49:10 And they say, "What are you--crazy? 49:12 It took us 46 years." 49:13 And Jesus says, "No, three days," right? 49:15 And what is He pointing to? 49:16 He's pointing to His body, right? 49:18 Yes, you have the heavenly sanctuary where He is 49:19 ministering as our high priest, but it's pointing to the 49:21 cleansing of this body also. 49:23 It's pointing to the cleansing of Jesus Christ wanting to do a 49:27 renewing of His righteousness, a renewing of His character. 49:30 Remember, at the beginning, we looked at that we were created, 49:34 Adam and Eve, with God's law in our heart, in our mind, right? 49:37 Those principles were there. 49:39 We were in harmony with Him, but what happens is that, 49:42 after we fall, we are no longer in harmony, and there's 49:43 a separation. 49:45 So, obviously, the New Covenant, the everlasting covenant, 49:48 is about reconciling us to God again. 49:51 How? 49:52 Because He writes His law in our hearts and in our minds again. 49:55 And so Jesus is pointing to not just the structure of the 49:57 sanctuary, but the person, the mind, the character, and wanting 50:02 to restore all that He is, all that He has. 50:05 So, when we look at the sanctuary, we see these 50:08 principles written in our hearts and in our minds. 50:11 We see that through Jesus Christ. 50:13 For example, when we look at the altar of sacrifice, it points to 50:18 Philippians 2:5 and 8: "Let this mind be in you which was also in 50:22 Christ, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality 50:24 with God something to be used to His own advantage, but on the 50:27 contrary," it says, what is that mind? 50:30 "He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a 50:33 servant, being made in human likeliness. 50:35 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by 50:39 becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross." 50:42 So it talks about His humility, His service, His obedience, 50:47 His surrender to the will of God. 50:49 That is the mind-set of the Son of God. 50:52 And as we walk through the sanctuary, we see Jesus Christ 50:55 in every aspect, showing us how to live in the New Covenant. 50:59 Every aspect, He's presenting to us how God is wanting to do the 51:05 same work that He did in Christ, He wants to do in us. 51:08 He wants to reveal His righteousness through 51:10 you and me. 51:12 How? 51:13 Through the New Covenant experience, Christ ministering 51:15 in the heavenly sanctuary to--what? 51:17 To cleanse the earthly sanctuary. 51:19 I want to finish with this quote. 51:21 This is a fascinating quote from the 1888 materials, chapter 12. 51:26 Look at what it says: "The human race is accepted in the Beloved. 51:29 His long human arms encircled the race, while with His divine 51:34 arm, He grasps the throne of the Infinite, and He opens 51:37 to man all of heaven. 51:40 The gates are ajar today," amen? 51:42 "Christ is in the heavenly sanctuary and your prayers can 51:46 go up to the Father. 51:48 Christ says, 'If I go away, I will send you the Comforter--'" 51:51 this is the New Covenant experience-- "and when we have 51:54 the Holy Spirit we have everything." 51:57 And look at how it closes: "Then we must enter by faith into the 52:01 sanctuary with Him," amen? 52:03 "We must commence the work in the sanctuary of our souls. 52:07 We are to cleanse ourselves from all defilement." 52:11 Woo-hoo, what a beautiful, beautiful promise. 52:14 Christ is ministering in the heavenly sanctuary to do--what? 52:17 To do the cleansing in this sanctuary in our minds and in 52:21 our thoughts to restore his character, and that's what it 52:24 says in Job's 33:26, "He shall pray to God, 52:29 and He will delight in Him. 52:31 He shall see His face with joy, for he restores to man 52:35 His righteousness," amen? 52:38 My loved ones, this is the New Covenant experience in 52:42 the New Covenant sanctuary. 52:44 It's not just looking at the old sanctuary, 52:46 "Yes, that's done away with." 52:47 We look at the heavenly sanctuary, and we see the 52:49 heavenly, and we see the New Covenant Christ ministering as 52:53 he does through all Book of Revelation, and you say, "Amen," 52:56 but what I want you to understand and keep the focus is 53:00 that the purpose of His ministering in the heavenly 53:03 sanctuary is to minister and to cleanse this sanctuary, to 53:06 cleanse us from all defilement, all selfishness, all 53:09 unrighteousness, to write His law in our hearts and in our 53:13 minds, to prepare us to be a temple to show the world His 53:18 glory, to show the world His name, to show the world who God 53:20 is, that God is a wonderful, merciful, loving God and that He 53:24 deserves--that's what He wants to use us for. 53:27 He wants us to be a sanctuary in the same way that the sanctuary 53:30 was in the desert, to show all of the pagan nations, 53:33 "Look at how God takes care of His people. 53:35 Look at how loving, how patient, how merciful He is." 53:38 That's what God wants you and me to be, a witness to the world of 53:42 how loving, how patient, how merciful, how great a God we 53:47 serve, and that can only happen if we surrender completely to 53:51 God and recognize that we have nothing and say, "God, I want 53:54 this New Covenant experience. 53:55 I want you to write Your law in my heart and in my mind, and I 53:58 want You to reflect Your glory through me. 54:00 That's why God has created you. 54:02 That's why He has created us, not to condemn us, but to reveal 54:05 His glory to the world, His name, His character, 54:09 His righteousness. 54:11 And I don't know about you, but I say I want to be 54:13 a sanctuary for God. 54:14 I want to be a New Covenant sanctuary where God's glory can 54:17 be revealed and manifested through me. 54:19 Let's have a word of prayer. 54:20 Father, we thank You for this opportunity to come together to 54:23 spend time in Your Word, and we just ask You, Father, that You 54:27 help us, Father, because sometimes we're in 54:29 this Old Covenant experience. 54:31 We're not aware of it. 54:32 We're trying and trying our best to try to do things so that we 54:36 can please You, not knowing that there is nothing that we can do, 54:39 that we are unrighteous. 54:41 There is nothing righteous in us, that the only way we can 54:43 live a pleasing life and live in Your holiness is through a 54:47 complete and total surrender to let Your Spirit do His work in 54:51 us and through us and write Your law in our hearts and in our 54:53 minds, those principles of righteous. 54:55 Help us, Father, every day, to have that consistent, constant, 54:58 total surrender so that Your will may be manifested through 55:02 us and many others may see Your glory through us and come and 55:05 want to know You too. 55:06 We thank You, Father for this opportunity, and we asked this 55:09 in Jesus's name, amen. 55:10 Thank you very much. God bless. 55:15 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 55:17 free resource. 55:19 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 55:21 download a digital copy straight to your computer 55:23 or mobile device. 55:25 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 55:28 the key word on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 55:33 shown on your screen, and be sure to select the digital 55:35 download option on the request page. 55:38 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 55:41 "Amazing Facts," wherever and whenever you want and, most 55:45 important, to share it with others. 55:49 ♪♪♪ 55:53 announcer: "Amazing Facts Change Lives." 56:03 female: I grew up in a family that was 56:04 very saturated with God. 56:06 We had morning worship. 56:08 We had evening worship. 56:10 We were taught from young children to have personal 56:12 devotions each day, but for whatever reason, I seemed to 56:15 always find myself alone. 56:19 I never really had a big group of friends, and it always seemed 56:24 to be like friends were just taken away from me. 56:27 You know, I prayed for friends, and then I'd meet someone, and 56:30 then six months later, then they moved to Washington, you know, 56:32 across the United States. 56:34 And so, finally, I was just like, "I'm not going to pray for 56:37 any more friends because it hurts too much to lose them." 56:45 female: But over the next two years, as I got 56:47 closer to God, I started to be able to be thankful for the 56:50 alone times because I was forced in that aloneness to seek God. 56:59 That is probably what has made me who I am and given me the 57:03 experience with God that I have now. 57:07 The place where I feel most comfortable is 57:10 being alone with God. 57:16 I know a lot of people have questions 57:18 about "Where is God when it hurts?" 57:20 "If God is such a loving God, why is the world so bad?" 57:28 Embrace the pain, embrace the hard times, 57:35 and let God reveal Himself through that because He 57:39 has answers to questions you don't even know how to ask. 57:53 announcer: Together, we have spread the 57:54 Gospel much farther than ever before. 57:57 Thank you for your support. |
Revised 2021-06-10