Sabbath School Study Hour

Longing for More

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: SSH

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00:36 Rod Thompson: Good morning, everyone.
00:38 Welcome to the Granite Bay Hilltop Church
00:40 Sabbath School Study Hour.
00:42 I'm Pastor Rod Thompson, I'm going to be leading
00:44 our study this morning.
00:46 But before we get into that, we're going to have some special
00:49 music, and before we get into that,
00:51 I want to point you to our free offering this morning.
00:54 It is the "Amazing Facts" Study Guide Number 7,
00:59 titled, "The Lost Day of History."
01:02 And this is a free offer that you can get by calling
01:05 866-788-3966 and ask for Offer Number 113.
01:13 If you're in the United States, you can also text to the number
01:18 40544 and you can ask for--or you can put in there "Sabbath
01:26 Hour Number 082," and you'll be able to get that study.
01:30 If you're outside of North America,
01:33 then you can go study.aftv.org and you can get
01:37 a digital download of that.
01:39 Once again, that is "The Lost Day of History."
01:45 So I invite you to open up your Bibles to John chapter 5.
01:51 John chapter 5.
01:52 Actually, it's a good thing because I've got a lot to go
01:55 over today and I was worried about having enough time.
01:58 So praise the Lord for that. He answered that prayer.
02:02 And we are looking at the Quarterly,
02:05 "Rest in Christ," and we are continuing our study today in
02:11 this week's lesson titled, "Longing for More."
02:15 Let's begin with a word of prayer.
02:21 O loving Father, You have pulled us out of the world.
02:24 You've set us apart for Your good purpose.
02:26 You've given us a hope and a future, and Lord, we have come
02:30 this morning to the Sabbath School Study Hour and we've
02:32 opened up the word of life because we're seeking wisdom.
02:36 We're seeking understanding.
02:38 We're seeking You.
02:39 And Lord, we want to draw near to You,
02:41 so our prayer is that the Holy Spirit would give us ears to
02:45 hear, give us eyes to see, and, Lord,
02:50 our prayer is that You would do in us those things that
02:55 we cannot do in ourselves.
02:56 We surrender our hearts to You and we pray for Your guidance
03:00 now and we ask for it in Jesus's name, amen.
03:06 This morning, I want to talk to you about types,
03:13 shadows, symbols, patterns,
03:20 models, and examples.
03:24 Those are all words that are used to describe the things that
03:28 are happening in the Old Testament that are pointing to a
03:34 greater reality in the New Testament.
03:38 In the book of John, it tells us that the Jews
03:42 were persecuting Jesus.
03:47 They were giving Him a hard time.
03:50 And it shows us there were two very important reasons.
03:53 The first was because He was doing some things
03:58 on the Sabbath that they didn't like.
04:00 It wasn't that He was breaking the commandments of God,
04:03 it was that He was breaking their rules and traditions that
04:06 they had added to the law of God.
04:10 And He also was claiming to be equal with the Father, and so
04:15 they were persecuting Him.
04:16 And as a result of that, you have your Bibles open to John
04:20 chapter 5, in verse 39, Jesus said to them,
04:25 "You search the Scriptures daily because in them you think you
04:30 have life but these are they that testify of Me."
04:35 Now, let me say it just a little bit different way.
04:40 Jesus was hidden in the Old Testament but He
04:46 is revealed in the New Testament.
04:49 In other words, Jesus was hidden behind all of the types,
04:54 the patterns, the symbols, the shadows,
04:57 the models, the examples.
04:59 He was hidden behind all of those things, but all of those
05:02 things were brought out and brought to light
05:06 in the New Testament.
05:10 I want to give to you this morning a definition of a type.
05:15 This is a biblical definition.
05:17 A type is a divinely purposed illustration of truth.
05:24 Now, let me pause for a moment and let that just sink in.
05:27 A type is a divinely purposed illustration of truth.
05:33 And there are a lot of these divinely purposed illustrations
05:38 that God gives to point to a greater reality, and so there's
05:42 a lot of ways that He did this.
05:44 There--one way is that a type can be a person.
05:51 If you do a study of Joseph, you will discover that
05:55 he was a type of Christ.
05:58 The Bible also tells us that Adam was a type of Christ.
06:02 In fact, in Romans chapter 5, verse 14,
06:04 it says this: "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to
06:08 Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the
06:13 likeness of the transgression of Adam,
06:15 who was a type of Him who was to come."
06:19 And so here we see Adam was a type of Christ.
06:24 He's the type but Christ is the anti-type.
06:28 And he was pointing us to Christ.
06:33 And so a type can be a person.
06:35 A type can also be an event.
06:39 In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul says that the
06:44 Israelites in their wilderness wanderings,
06:47 they were under the cloud, they passed through the sea,
06:52 they were baptized into Moses, they ate spiritual food,
06:57 and they drank spiritual drink.
06:59 Those were all events that were pointing forward
07:04 to a greater reality.
07:06 And so a type can be a person, it can be an event,
07:11 it can also be a thing.
07:15 In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19 and 20,
07:17 it says: "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the
07:20 Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He
07:24 consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh."
07:30 Here we see that the veil is a thing, and it is the curtain
07:36 that separated the holy from the Most Holy Place, right?
07:39 But it tells us that the veil symbolized, it was a pattern,
07:44 it was as--it was a type of the flesh of Christ.
07:49 You'll remember that Jesus said, "I am the way,
07:53 the truth, and the life," right?
07:54 You had to go through the curtain to get into the Most
07:58 Holy Place, just like you've got to go
08:00 through Christ to get to heaven.
08:02 So it was pointing to a greater reality.
08:06 And so, a type can be a person, it can be an
08:09 event, it can be a thing.
08:10 It could also be an institution.
08:14 God had instituted the sacrificial system, and notice
08:18 what it says in Hebrews 9, verse 11 and 12: "But Christ came as
08:24 High Priest of the good things to come,
08:27 with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with
08:30 hands, that is, not of this creation.
08:33 Not with the blood of goats and calves,
08:35 but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once
08:38 and for all, having obtained eternal redemption."
08:42 The Jewish economy was built around the sacrificial system.
08:47 It was an institution, and it was all designed to be a type.
08:52 It was pointing us from that earthly tabernacle to a greater
08:58 tabernacle, the heavenly, and it was pointing us from those
09:02 priests who offered the sacrifices in that system to the
09:07 greater priest, Jesus Christ, our high priest,
09:10 in that heavenly temple.
09:12 And so a type can be a person, it can be an event,
09:15 it can be a thing, it can be an institution.
09:18 It can also be ceremonial in nature.
09:21 In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7,
09:23 it says: "Therefore purge out the old leaven,
09:26 that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.
09:30 For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
09:35 So you'll remember that in the Old Testament there were five
09:39 festivals that the Jews kept every year,
09:42 and one of those was the Passover.
09:44 And it was a ceremony that they had every year to remind them of
09:50 God bringing them out of bondage.
09:53 But we see here that it was pointing us not to those lambs
09:57 that were sacrificed every day, but rather,
10:00 it was pointing us to a greater sacrifice.
10:03 It was pointing us to the Lamb of God that would take
10:07 away the sins of the world.
10:10 In other words, Jesus was hidden in the types,
10:14 in the shadows, in the patterns, in the symbols,
10:17 in the models, and in the examples.
10:20 And that's why Jesus could say, in John chapter 5,
10:24 verse 39, "You search the Scriptures daily because you
10:27 think in them that you have life,
10:29 but they testify of Me."
10:32 So, let's look at a couple of scriptural examples of this.
10:37 Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10.
10:41 Hebrews chapter 10, and I've got to move along quickly, so
10:46 forgive me if I get ahead of you.
10:48 Hebrews chapter 10, look with me in verse 1.
10:52 The apostle Paul says to the Hebrews,
10:54 he's saying to us, "For the law, having a shadow of the good
11:00 things to come, and not the very image of the things,
11:05 can never with these same sacrifices which they offer
11:08 continually, year by year, make
11:11 those who approach perfect."
11:13 What's Paul saying here?
11:14 He's simply saying that all of those sacrifices that were
11:19 accomplished day after day, year after year,
11:22 they couldn't save anyone.
11:25 They were simply a type pointing to the One who could.
11:31 They're pointing to the Lamb of God that was slain from the
11:35 foundations of the world.
11:37 And so he's saying, simply, those things were a type
11:41 pointing to a greater reality.
11:44 Go one page back with me.
11:46 Go to Hebrews chapter 8 and look with me,
11:48 starting in verse 4.
11:51 The Bible says: "For if He were on earth,"
11:54 that's talking about Jesus.
11:56 "If He were on earth, He would not be a priest,
12:00 since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the
12:03 law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,
12:08 as Moses was divinely instructed when he was
12:11 about to make the tabernacle.
12:13 For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the
12:15 pattern shown you on the mountain.'
12:18 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry,
12:21 inasmuch as He also was the Mediator of a better covenant,
12:24 which was established on better promises."
12:27 So here we see Paul telling us once again that earthly
12:31 tabernacle was pointing to a greater reality,
12:34 and those priests were pointing to a greater reality,
12:38 and that is Christ.
12:40 He is the Anti-type.
12:42 He's the One that all of those were pointing to.
12:44 But if He were here on earth, He could not be a priest.
12:48 Why?
12:49 Because the Levitical law required that they be Levites
12:53 and He was from the tribe of Judah.
12:55 And so, it wasn't pointing to them, but they were pointing
13:00 to a greater ministry, and He came after the
13:04 order of Melchizedek, a higher priesthood.
13:07 And so they were pointing to those things.
13:11 Now, let me just point you to another one.
13:14 You don't need to go there but just listen
13:16 to 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 16.
13:19 Paul says, "However, for this reason I obtained mercy,
13:24 that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering,
13:29 as a pattern to those who are going to believe
13:34 on Him for everlasting life."
13:36 What's Paul saying here?
13:38 He's simply saying, "I'm a blasphemer.
13:41 I'm a murderer."
13:43 In one place, he says, "I am the worst of all sinners," right?
13:48 But he says, "I'm a pattern, I'm a type of those
13:51 who were going to be saved."
13:53 And who is that? Everyone, right?
13:56 No one is beyond the reach of God.
13:59 Paul says, "I'm the worst and if I can be saved,
14:02 you can be saved too."
14:03 We must surrender our hearts to him and allow him to
14:07 do in us those things that we can't do in ourself.
14:12 In Colossians chapter 2, verse 16 and 17,
14:14 it says: "So let no one judge you in food or drink or
14:17 regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths which are a
14:21 shadow of the things to come but the substance is of Christ."
14:26 Here, once again, Paul is saying that ceremonial service where
14:31 oftentimes the priests ate and they drank of the sacrifices or
14:36 the offerings that were given, he says those
14:38 things were a shadow.
14:41 Those things were a type.
14:43 And he also adds in there, the new moons and the Sabbath and
14:46 the festivities, those five festivals that they celebrated
14:51 every year, often they had a Sabbath associated with them.
14:55 And so there was sometimes a Sabbath
14:58 rest in the middle of the week.
14:59 So this is not talking about the weekly seventh-day Sabbath,
15:03 but it is talking about those festivals.
15:06 And he says, "Those things are shadows
15:09 of a better thing to come.
15:11 And so, that's why we don't keep those anymore because
15:14 those things were fulfilled.
15:16 They were shadows, they were types
15:19 that were pointing to something greater.
15:21 And that's why in 1 Corinthians chapter 10,
15:24 verse 11, Paul says, "All of these things happened to them as
15:29 examples and they were written for our admonition upon which
15:33 the ends of the ages have come."
15:35 So let's think about this for a minute.
15:38 The Old Testament saints couldn't understand how a
15:44 reigning Messiah could also suffer the ignominious death
15:50 that Isaiah and others were pointing to.
15:54 And so, they couldn't get it.
15:58 They couldn't understand it.
16:00 And they couldn't understand the significance of that death.
16:04 Let me give you an example of this.
16:06 You remember when Jesus was walking with His disciples and
16:11 He said to them, "Who do people say that I am?"
16:13 And they said, "Elijah," and "Moses," and,
16:18 you know, "the prophet who was to come."
16:20 But Jesus said to them, "Who do you say I am?"
16:23 And you'll remember what Peter said.
16:25 Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
16:29 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you,
16:31 Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to
16:35 you, but My Father in heaven."
16:37 He's essentially saying, "Peter, you've got it right."
16:39 But then you'll remember that right after that,
16:42 Jesus told him that He was going to be crucified.
16:46 And you remember what Peter said?
16:48 "Oh, no, not You, Lord.
16:50 We won't let that happen," right?
16:53 And you'll remember what Jesus said to him:
16:55 "Get behind Me, Satan.
16:56 You don't have the things of God in mind."
16:58 Peter couldn't wrap his mind around how the King of kings
17:03 and Lord of lords could be sacrificed.
17:06 He couldn't see it.
17:08 You see, they had the Levitical law of sacrifices,
17:13 but they didn't realize that all of those sacrifices were a
17:17 shadow of something greater to come,
17:21 of a greater sacrifice that God had intended.
17:25 But you and I today, in the light that is shed upon the
17:30 cross, we can understand much more clearly what those Jewish
17:36 sacrifices meant, what they were pointing to.
17:40 So let me see if I can try and explain this to you.
17:45 This lectern is here, and I want you to imagine for a moment that
17:50 there is light shining on it from here.
17:54 But if I am standing over here, then I am standing in the shadow
17:59 of the lectern, right?
18:01 And as I look at the shadow and I'm trying to figure out what is
18:06 that a shadow of, what does that mean,
18:09 as I'm looking at the lectern, it's dark and dim.
18:12 I can't tell exactly what it is.
18:15 But if I come over here, and I look at it from the light,
18:20 I can look at it and I can say, "Oh,
18:21 I can see all the details.
18:23 That's a lectern."
18:24 And now, when I go back and I look at the shadow,
18:27 now I can understand, "Oh, that's what--that's
18:31 what that is."
18:32 But the Old Testament Christians,
18:34 they didn't have that perspective.
18:37 They were looking at it in the shadow of the cross,
18:41 and so they couldn't understand it like we could today.
18:46 Well, by now, friends, there might be someone here who's
18:50 thinking to themselves, "That's great,
18:51 Pastor Rod, but what does that have to do with rest in Christ,
18:56 because that's what our study is about this quarter," right?
19:00 And today, our topic is "Longing for More."
19:03 What does all of this have to do with it?
19:05 Well, simply said, it's this: all of these things were
19:12 shadows, types, patterns, models, of something greater,
19:21 but all of these things represented something physical,
19:27 but they also represented something
19:31 spiritual, something better.
19:35 And that's how models work.
19:37 A model is not the original.
19:42 It is a shadow, it is a pattern.
19:46 But it functions as a symbol of the original.
19:50 A model helps us grasp the essence of the
19:53 original but it cannot replace it.
19:57 Rather, it is there to help us to understand the original.
20:02 So as Scripture is full of these miniature models and these
20:07 activities and these people and these institutions,
20:11 all of these things are pointing to a greater heavenly reality,
20:16 and the reality is that the rest that is being spoken of in the
20:22 Old Testament is a type pointing to a greater rest that's going
20:27 to be revealed in the New Testament.
20:30 So let's take a look at it.
20:31 Turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 33.
20:36 Second book of the Bible, Exodus, chapter 33.
20:41 And I want you to notice what it says in verse 14.
20:49 The Bible says, "And He," that is Jesus,
20:51 "said, 'My presence will go with you and I will do,'" what?
20:59 "I will give you rest."
21:02 Now, let's put this in the proper perspective.
21:04 God was bringing the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage,
21:09 and He had given them a land.
21:13 It was the land of Canaan.
21:15 It's referred to as what?
21:18 As the Promised Land, right? Why?
21:22 Because God promised to give it to them.
21:24 And now we see in this passage that God is not only going to
21:28 give them the physical land of Israel over there in the Middle
21:32 East, but He also wants to give them physical rest.
21:36 But these things are types pointing to something greater.
21:42 Now, let's go to Numbers chapter 14.
21:49 You're in Exodus, go through Leviticus and then into Numbers,
21:53 and we're going to look at chapter 14,
21:57 and I want you to notice what it says in verse 34.
22:01 It says, "According to the number of the days in which you
22:04 spied out the land, 40 days, for each day you shall bear your
22:08 guilt one year, namely 40 years, and you
22:12 shall know My rejection."
22:14 Now, let's put this in the proper perspective.
22:18 God is bringing the children out of Egyptian bondage.
22:22 He's bringing them to the Promised Land,
22:25 the land that He promised to give them,
22:27 that He can give them the rest that He promised them.
22:31 They come to the borders of Canaan, and Moses sends 12 spies
22:36 into the land, and you'll remember there were 10 spies
22:39 that came back and they gave a bad report.
22:43 They said, essentially, "It's rugged,
22:47 there are fortifications, there are giants in the land.
22:52 We are like grasshoppers in their sight.
22:54 We can't do it."
22:56 You remember that, right?
22:58 Now, I want you to put yourself in the place
23:00 of God for a moment.
23:02 Imagine God as He is listening to this report that's being
23:08 given and they're saying, "We can't do it."
23:12 I imagine God, at least in His mind,
23:14 in His--and in His heart, saying,
23:17 "But I promised to give it to you.
23:20 I promised to give you the land.
23:22 I promised to give you rest."
23:26 But then, notice the last part of verse 34.
23:29 He says, "And you shall know My rejection."
23:34 That's the way it says it in the New King James.
23:36 But I really like the way it says it in the King James.
23:40 He says, "And you shall know My breach of promise."
23:47 That word "breach" is a verb meaning to hinder,
23:51 frustrate, or restrain, and it can also be translated as
23:57 disallow, discourage, or make of no effect.
24:01 And I want to focus on that last definition.
24:04 To breach is to make of no effect.
24:07 So what's God saying?
24:08 He's saying I want you to know, I want you to understand,
24:13 what it means to make of no effect My promise.
24:20 You see, God didn't take away His promise,
24:23 but rather, He said, "I want you to understand what you've done.
24:29 The children of Israel had alienated themselves from God
24:34 and they were in opposition to God and in order that they might
24:38 learn to cooperate with God, He ordained that they should
24:42 experience opposition, that they should have their plans
24:48 frustrated, and so He says, "You are going to go back out into
24:52 the wilderness and you're going to learn what it means to make
24:57 of no effect My promise."
25:00 Now, I want to show this to you, so turn with me in your Bibles
25:05 to Hebrews chapter 3.
25:08 Hebrews chapter 3, and I want you to know what the apostle
25:12 Paul says to us starting in verse 7.
25:17 He says, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today,
25:20 if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the
25:23 rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
25:26 where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
25:29 and saw My works 40 years.
25:32 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
25:35 and said, "They always go astray in their heart,
25:38 and they have not known My ways."
25:41 So I swore in My wrath that "they shall not,"'" what?
25:46 "They shall not enter into My rest," right?
25:51 Because they didn't put their trust in God, He was not
25:58 going to take them into the land that He had promised.
26:01 He was not going to give them the rest that He promised.
26:05 That's the physical rest.
26:06 And if they didn't receive the physical rest,
26:09 then they wouldn't receive the anti-type,
26:12 that spiritual rest that God had intended.
26:15 Let's keep going.
26:17 Look with me, here, still in chapter 3 of Hebrews,
26:19 verse 16: "For who, having heard, rebelled?
26:24 Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
26:28 Now with whom was He angry 40 years?
26:31 Was it not with those who sinned,
26:33 whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
26:35 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest,
26:39 but to those who did not obey?
26:41 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."
26:49 It was because they didn't have faith.
26:51 They didn't trust God.
26:52 God promised, "I'm going to give you the land.
26:56 I'm going to give you rest," but because they didn't trust Him,
27:00 they were looking to their own abilities,
27:02 their own power, and they said, "We can't do it."
27:06 And so they were not allowed to go into the land that God had
27:12 promised and the rest that God had promised.
27:15 But those were just the physical,
27:17 those were just the type, that were pointing to something else.
27:21 And so they couldn't enter into that either.
27:24 But you do remember that 40 years later, that Joshua
27:30 did take the children of Israel into the land, didn't he?
27:34 He took them in and so they were given the physical land and they
27:39 were given physical rest, but God couldn't give them the
27:44 spiritual rest that He intended
27:48 because there was still unbelief.
27:49 And you'll remember that there were times when they fell into
27:53 apostasy and God had to allow their enemies to come in and
27:57 harass them, so they couldn't have that spiritual rest.
28:01 Now, look with me in this.
28:03 Go to chapter 4 of Hebrews and look at starting in verse 1:
28:08 "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest,
28:11 lest--let us fear lest any of you
28:14 seem to have come short of it.
28:16 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to
28:19 them; but the word which they heard did not profit them,
28:22 not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
28:26 For we who have believed do enter that rest,
28:30 as He has said: 'So I swore in My wrath,
28:32 "They shall not enter My rest,"' although the works were finished
28:35 from the foundation of the world.
28:37 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this
28:42 way: 'And God rested on the seventh day from all of His
28:45 works'; and again in this place: 'They shall not enter My rest.'"
28:51 So here we see that they were not able to totally enter into
28:57 the rest that God had offered them.
29:00 Yes, they went into the physical land,
29:02 yes, they went into physical rest,
29:04 at least for a time, but they couldn't enter into the
29:07 spiritual rest that God was trying to lead them into.
29:13 And notice verse 6 and 7: "Since therefore it remains that some
29:18 must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not
29:23 enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain
29:27 day, saying in David, 'Today,' after such a long time,
29:32 as it has been seen: 'Today, if you will hear His voice,
29:34 do not harden your hearts.'"
29:37 Here we see that in the days of David, God once again renewed
29:43 His invitation to the nation of Israel to enter into that
29:49 spiritual rest that He had promised.
29:52 And why is it still available, even in spite of the failures of
29:57 the nation of Israel?
29:59 Simply this: because God said it.
30:02 And God is not a liar, right?
30:05 And those things were just types pointing to a greater reality.
30:09 And so there was still a spiritual
30:11 rest to be entered into.
30:13 And He invites David and that--the people
30:17 of that time, to enter in.
30:18 Notice verse 8: "For if Joshua had given them rest,
30:23 then He would not afterwards have spoken of another day."
30:26 So here we see, it wasn't just a physical rest that God was
30:31 promising, but He was promising a spiritual rest, and the nation
30:36 of Israel had still not entered into it.
30:39 Look at verse 9: "There remains therefore a rest
30:44 for the people of God."
30:46 Let me say it another way: "There remains therefore a
30:50 Sabbath rest for the people of God."
30:55 In spite of Israel's failure, the invitation was still there
31:01 because God is eternal.
31:03 God, when He sets something in motion,
31:07 He doesn't retract it.
31:08 He--it's still available to everyone today.
31:15 And so, since God's people have not entered into that rest,
31:21 it therefore is evident that that rest
31:24 remains still available.
31:26 Let's take a look at it. Couple of verses here.
31:28 Go with me to Hebrews chapter 3, and verse 1.
31:33 The Bible says: "Therefore, holy brethren,
31:35 partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle
31:39 and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ."
31:43 Paul is simply saying here think about Christ.
31:48 Think about the anti-type who is in the heavenly sanctuary and He
31:54 is our heavenly high priest and He is
31:57 ministering on our behalf.
31:59 Now go with me to chapter 4 and look at verse 16.
32:03 Paul says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
32:06 grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace
32:09 to help in time of need."
32:11 Go back to the verse before that, verse 15:
32:13 "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
32:16 sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as
32:19 we are, yet without sin."
32:22 Now, let's put this all together.
32:24 What's Paul saying?
32:25 He's simply saying those types were
32:29 pointing to a greater reality.
32:31 There is a heavenly sanctuary, there is a heavenly high priest,
32:35 Jesus Christ, who is able to sympathize with us.
32:41 He was tempted just like we are, He knows our infirmities,
32:45 He knows our weaknesses, and we can come to Him and receive
32:52 mercy and grace and pardon from sin.
32:57 And as we surrender our hearts to God and ask Him to come into
33:02 our life, be our Lord and Savior,
33:04 forgive us of our sins, He not only cleanses us of that sin,
33:09 but He also gives us the power to not sin anymore.
33:13 And we can rest from sinning.
33:17 But we also rest in the merits of the blood of Christ.
33:22 His death on the cross was our substitute.
33:25 He paid our penalty for us and so we can rest in the work that
33:31 He has done on our behalf, no longer trying to earn our
33:35 salvation, trying to, by our own merits and our own goodness,
33:40 get ourselves into heaven.
33:42 But there is a spiritual rest that is at play there.
33:47 And He's saying you can have that spiritual rest.
33:53 Here we see that the experience that the nation of Israel failed
33:59 to obtain is still available to us today.
34:03 Why? Because God said it.
34:05 Because God doesn't lie.
34:07 God promised, "I'm going to give you a heavenly Canaan.
34:14 I'm going to give you spiritual rest."
34:18 Look at with me in Hebrews chapter 4 at verse 1 again:
34:21 "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest,
34:26 let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it."
34:30 I like that word "fear" there.
34:33 It reminds me of that proverb that says,
34:35 "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," amen?
34:40 You see, brothers and sisters, the problem that Israel had,
34:45 the problem that many people have today,
34:49 is we look to the types and the symbols and the patterns and the
34:53 shadows and the models and the examples.
34:56 We look to those things to save us, but they can't.
35:02 They can only point us to the One who can.
35:07 And we can't enter into that spiritual
35:09 rest until we recognize that.
35:14 Now, let me take you to Hebrews chapter 11.
35:18 Hebrews chapter 11 is referred to by many people
35:21 as the Hall of Faith.
35:24 That's because it talks about the faith of Abel and it talks
35:27 about the faith of Enoch.
35:33 It talks about the faith of Noah.
35:37 It talks about the faith of Abraham.
35:39 It talks about the faith of Isaac and Jacob and Sarah.
35:43 And then notice what it says, Hebrews 11, verse 13.
35:47 It says: "These all died in faith,
35:50 not receiving the promise."
35:53 Now, hold on a minute.
35:54 At least Isaac and Jacob, they had lived
35:57 in the Promised Land, right?
35:59 So obviously, the promise is not referring to the type,
36:02 but it's referring to the anti-type.
36:05 It's referring to a heavenly Canaan and it's referring to a
36:09 spiritual rest that God is offering to us.
36:13 Let's keep reading.
36:14 "They all died in faith, not having received the promise,
36:16 but having seen them afar off were assured of them,
36:20 embraced them and confessed them that they were strangers and
36:23 pilgrims on the earth.
36:24 For those who say such things declare plainly
36:27 that they seek a homeland.
36:29 And truly if they had called to mind the country from which they
36:32 had come out, they would have had opportunity return.
36:36 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.
36:41 Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
36:44 for He has prepared a city for them."
36:47 You see, all of those types and shadows and symbols and
36:51 patterns, all of those things were pointing
36:54 to a greater reality.
36:56 They were pointing to a heavenly Canaan.
36:59 They were pointing to a spiritual rest that God
37:02 intends for all of us.
37:05 And brothers and sisters, I don't know about you,
37:09 but when I look at the shadows and the patterns and the types
37:12 and the symbols, I long for something more.
37:18 And isn't that the title of our study this week?
37:21 "Longing for Something More."
37:23 Do you long for the heavenly Canaan?
37:26 Do you long for that spiritual rest that God
37:30 has intended for us?
37:32 Not trying to earn our own salvation but resting in the
37:35 work that Christ has done on our behalf.
37:38 And all we have to do is surrender ourselves to him and
37:42 allow him to do those things that we cannot do in ourselves.
37:47 Brothers and sisters, do you long for more?
37:53 Well, you know what?
37:54 You and I are not the only ones longing for something more.
37:57 Let me show it to you.
37:58 Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8.
38:03 Romans chapter 8, and I want you to notice what it says,
38:11 starting in verse 18.
38:15 Romans 8:18.
38:17 Paul says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present
38:21 time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
38:26 shall be revealed in us.
38:28 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for
38:34 the revealing of the sons of God.
38:36 For the creation was subjected to futility,
38:41 not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
38:46 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the
38:50 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty
38:54 of the children of Israel."
38:55 Here we see the earth itself longs for something more.
39:01 It was subject to the curse.
39:03 God said to Adam, "Because of
39:05 you, I'm going to curse the earth.
39:07 It's for your good."
39:08 And the earth itself is groaning,
39:12 it is desiring something better.
39:15 Let me show you another one.
39:16 Go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
39:20 You're in Romans, just go to the right, through 1 Corinthians,
39:23 then into 2 Corinthians chapter 5,
39:25 and notice what it says in verse 1 and 2.
39:30 "For we know that if our earthly house,
39:34 this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God,
39:37 a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
39:40 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our
39:45 habitation which is from heaven."
39:48 Here we see that Paul is telling us we groan,
39:52 we desire something better, and you'll remember in
39:56 Thessalonians, it says that when Christ comes, that this mortal
40:01 must put on immortality,
40:02 that this corruption must put on incorruption.
40:06 And we long for that, don't we?
40:09 We long for more.
40:11 We want more than what this world filled
40:14 with sin has to offer us.
40:15 We're looking for a heavenly Canaan
40:18 and we're looking for a spiritual rest.
40:21 Brothers and sisters, do you want that?
40:25 So think about this for a moment.
40:27 The true Sabbath, that true Sabbath rest,
40:32 is the rest of grace in the loving arms of the One who
40:37 created us, the One who redeemed us,
40:41 the One who is coming again, I believe very quickly,
40:45 very shortly, to receive us unto His self.
40:49 Now, let's think about this for a moment.
40:51 Back in Genesis chapter 2, you have the story of creation.
40:56 And on the seventh day, it says this,
40:59 Genesis 2, verse 3: "In it," that is in the Sabbath,
41:04 "He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
41:10 And we just read in Hebrews chapter 4,
41:13 verse 9 and 10, that it likens God's rest at the end of
41:19 creation that He ceased from all His works.
41:24 And it likens it to that for us.
41:27 We are to cease from all of our works.
41:30 Stop trying to earn our salvation.
41:36 Stop trying by our own merits to get to heaven.
41:41 So many times, I've seen Christians who are trying to
41:45 live the Christian life in their own power.
41:51 And it's miserable.
41:52 We can't do it.
41:54 But we can rest in the work that Christ has done for us.
41:59 The Sabbath is God's rest.
42:02 He rested on the seventh day as a divine acknowledgement of the
42:06 work that He had completed.
42:10 And those verses put it this way.
42:12 That's Hebrews 4, verse 9 and 10.
42:15 "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
42:19 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his
42:25 works as God did from His."
42:28 And so, according to the Scriptures,
42:31 our Sabbath rest that we celebrate every single week is
42:36 also a type of a greater rest that God intends for us,
42:43 a Sabbath rest for all eternity.
42:47 God is doing away with sin and He has promised us a heavenly
42:52 Canaan and he has promised us a eternal rest from sin.
43:00 Oh, praise God, amen?
43:03 God has promised us something better.
43:07 So think about the type and the anti-type.
43:11 For Israel, imagine as they were wandering in the wilderness for
43:16 40 years, there would have been a longing in their heart that
43:21 would not have been fulfilled until they went
43:24 into the Promised Land.
43:25 And the same is true for us today.
43:28 We long for something better.
43:30 And we are not going to truly be at rest until we get the eternal
43:36 rest that God has promised.
43:37 But we can begin to enjoy it now,
43:40 every week, as we rest in Him on the weekly Sabbath which is
43:45 pointing us to that eternal rest.
43:50 Whew, amen.
43:55 So let me close with a poem by an unknown author: "Just let me
44:04 rest in Thee, O Lord, nor strive, nor fret, nor strain
44:10 against the burdens of the day that bring me tears and pain.
44:16 Let me remember that Thy hand can lighten every load.
44:21 And in Thy presence, I shall be safe on life's dark road.
44:29 For Thou hast said that Thou art near to all who need Thy aid.
44:34 Then, foolish mortal man that I am,
44:38 why should I be afraid?"
44:42 Brothers and sisters, we have nothing to fear
44:45 if we are resting in Christ.
44:48 And all of those types and shadows,
44:51 all of those things were designed to point us to that
44:56 heavenly Canaan and that eternal rest.
45:01 God promised it, and He will deliver.
45:06 Every single one who has a hunger and a desire and
45:11 surrenders their heart to Him, He is going to take to that
45:16 eternal home in heaven, the city made without hands,
45:20 that he has promised, but like Israel,
45:24 are we going to learn to make of no effect God's promise?
45:33 Or are we going to enter into that rest?
45:38 Is that the desire of your heart?
45:40 Do you want to know that eternal city?
45:43 Do you want to have that eternal rest?
45:45 If you do, why don't you pray with me now.
45:51 O loving Father, Lord, thank You for opening our eyes.
45:57 Thank You for giving us ears to hear.
46:00 Thank You for revealing to us in the blazing light of the cross
46:06 that all of Scripture points to Jesus.
46:09 He is the way, the truth, and the life.
46:12 We must come through Him and He promises to give us an eternal
46:17 Canaan and He promises to give us rest through You.
46:23 And Father, we pray that You would continue the work that
46:28 You've begun in each of us.
46:30 Lord, we don't have anything to fear if we surrender our will to
46:35 You, and allow You to do in us those things
46:38 that we cannot do in ourselves.
46:41 And so, Lord, our prayer today is that
46:44 You would do a work in us.
46:46 Lord, if we're not willing, help us to be willing to surrender it
46:50 all to You, because we know, Lord,
46:52 every single person who arrives in heaven is going to arrive
46:55 there with their free will still intact.
46:58 Because we, of our own volition, surrendered our will to You,
47:04 and You can do a work in us that we cannot do.
47:07 We want a rest from sin.
47:09 Lord, I look at what's happening in the world today
47:12 and I'm sick of sin.
47:13 I see what it's doing to this world,
47:16 and it's driving us apart.
47:19 And Lord, it's driving us away from You.
47:21 But we want to draw nearer to You.
47:23 We want to enter into a physical Canaan and we want to enter into
47:28 a physical rest, but more than that,
47:31 Lord, we want that heavenly Canaan.
47:33 We want that eternal rest that You have promised.
47:36 And we celebrate it today as we keep the Sabbath holy.
47:42 And it is a reminder to us of the eternal rest that You want
47:47 to give to us from sin.
47:49 You are going to make sure that sin never rises up again.
47:53 We're going to be able to rest from the affects of it.
47:57 And, Lord, we long for it.
48:00 We long for more.
48:02 And so we pray You would fill us,
48:04 empower us, enable us, Lord, watch over us and protect us and
48:09 guide us to that heavenly Canaan and that heavenly rest.
48:13 And we pray in Jesus's name, amen.
48:18 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's
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48:22 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail,
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48:41 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with
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48:56 announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives.
49:06 female: You know, I wasn't raised to be a
49:08 methamphetamine manufacturer.
49:10 I wasn't raised to be a drug dealer.
49:12 I was raised in the church.
49:15 I wanted to fit in, I wanted to be in the "in" crowd.
49:18 I wanted to feel accepted, so I got in to all the things
49:21 that my friend was in to.
49:23 She was an avid drinker and, by the time I was 16,
49:28 I was drinking quite a bit.
49:31 And pretty soon, someone asked me if I wanted
49:33 to have some cocaine.
49:36 And one thing led to another, that I--pretty soon,
49:39 I started to sell cocaine.
49:41 And I thought, you know, I can quit any time I want.
49:44 That this really doesn't have a hold on me.
49:48 And one day, my friend, she was driving.
49:52 A train went by, and somehow she didn't see
49:55 the other train coming.
49:57 And she didn't make it.
50:00 And that, right there, just devastated me.
50:06 It was at that point that I just cried out to God and I said,
50:10 "God, you know, do whatever You have to do.
50:14 I don't care what it is.
50:15 Intervene in my life."
50:19 My parents, in the meantime, had been praying for me that I would
50:23 come back to the Lord.
50:25 They actually had invited me to a prophecy seminar.
50:30 I decided to come but I went there high.
50:32 And I'm not proud of it.
50:35 Why I even mention it today is because I just want you to know
50:38 the Holy Spirit is much more powerful.
50:43 And He started working in my heart.
50:48 It's like I knew that the Holy Spirit was convicting me, but
50:51 yet it wasn't even like it was me.
50:53 Literally, I was picked up and taken down to the front.
50:58 You can be raised in the church and do all kinds of things and
51:03 the devil will make you think that you don't--that God
51:06 won't accept you back.
51:08 But God is merciful.
51:10 He is loving and He--it doesn't matter what you've done.
51:13 He just wants you to come back home.
51:15 ♪♪♪
51:24 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel
51:26 much farther than ever before.
51:29 Thank you for your support.
51:40 announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives.
51:49 Jason: We were going to church every other week.
51:52 About 19 years old, things really started
51:53 to make sense for me.
51:55 I started to go to church for myself,
51:57 and the pastor wanted to study with me.
52:00 Well, we came to the study about baptism, and I kind of
52:04 just shrugged, put my head down, and said, "I'm not ready."
52:07 He looked me in the eye and said,
52:09 "Jason, you'll never make yourself ready.
52:14 You know, this is something you have to do."
52:17 I put a lot of things behind me, the drinking and smoking
52:19 and all that stuff stopped.
52:20 All throughout the time I'd been learning about God,
52:23 it was just me and God.
52:25 Comes around, up to about August, and I meet this girl.
52:31 About two years into the relationship,
52:33 we're talking about marriage and everything.
52:34 We didn't pray, we didn't study together.
52:38 We were arguing a lot, but we were engaged.
52:43 I started drinking again.
52:45 And that was a slow downward spiral in different things and
52:48 my devotional life started really weaseling away.
52:51 We broke up in 2008.
52:53 It was heavy for me 'cause, again,
52:55 being with somebody for that long,
52:57 it's almost like a divorce.
53:01 I started to fall back away even more.
53:04 I remember looking in the mirror, just looking at myself,
53:06 and saying, "What are you doing?
53:08 How can you do this to God?
53:10 He brought you so far."
53:14 And, you know, God really heard my cry.
53:19 There was a testimony telling at my church, and
53:22 there was a call, and kids started getting up.
53:24 Bunch of high school kids started getting up
53:26 for calls of baptism.
53:28 I'm back doing the P.A. system at this time and I
53:30 feel just like this urge, just my heart just started
53:33 ripping out of my chest.
53:35 And I just had this feeling just to go up.
53:37 I get up to the front and I meet the pastor in open arms.
53:44 I realized that there's so much more to life
53:46 than just living life for myself.
53:48 And, you know, falling away, it's not a necessity, but God
53:53 can work through anything in the bad to make it the good.
53:57 That's a promise he makes.
54:00 ♪♪♪
54:09 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel
54:12 much farther than ever before.
54:15 Thank you for your support.
54:25 announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives.
54:33 Jennifer: So as a teenager growing up,
54:35 I was getting into all sorts of trouble.
54:37 I was drinking, smoking.
54:41 I would look for love in all the wrong places.
54:43 I thought that those were ways that could make me happy,
54:46 and it didn't, it just made everything worse.
54:49 I was very confused. I didn't know who I was.
54:52 I had no identity whatsoever and just, I had such a hole in me,
54:56 such hurt, that I would do anything and everything
55:00 just to try to fill that void.
55:02 I was making a lot of bad decisions,
55:04 a lot of bad choices.
55:06 I got pregnant when I was 19 years old and
55:09 I was a single mother.
55:10 And to try to prove to myself and the world that I can make it
55:13 on my own, I became an exotic dancer.
55:16 My mom, she started sending me links to Amazing Facts Ministry,
55:19 just sermons and seminars and Bible studies and YouTube
55:25 videos with Doug Batchelor.
55:26 And I started watching it, and beforehand I would delete them,
55:30 but now here I am watching and I couldn't get enough of it.
55:33 My heart was on fire, I wanted more and more.
55:36 So instead of going to the club, I would go to the website,
55:38 the Amazing Facts website, and then I would go to the Bible
55:41 studies and I would go after one,
55:45 study one, which would make me want to study another one.
55:48 So I'd study another one and another one and I went through
55:50 the whole set, and that wasn't enough for me.
55:53 I wanted more. So I just--I would do it again.
55:56 I would read the whole set over again.
55:58 And I was learning so much,
55:59 and I just couldn't get enough of it.
56:01 And this made me where I didn't even want to go to work,
56:03 I just had this fire in my heart.
56:05 And then it got to where I was on the interstate to go to work
56:08 and I pulled over and God, He just--He told me,
56:15 like, He's like, "Jennifer, we can't do this no--anymore."
56:19 And so I told Him, I said, "God, I know this is You.
56:22 I know that You're speaking to me right now."
56:25 And for the first time ever, my eyes were opened to the whole
56:29 situation and how I was living my life.
56:31 And I went home and I got down on my knees
56:34 and I fell before God.
56:36 I started to beg Him, "God, please take me out of this
56:39 lifestyle, and if You do, I promise You I will serve You
56:42 for the rest of my life."
56:44 And so, for the first time in my life, I was healing and I was
56:47 learning and I was coming to a knowledge of the truth,
56:50 and that truth was Jesus Christ Himself and that He loved me.
56:54 So, as I'm going about these studies,
56:56 Amazing Facts comes to my local church, and Pastor Wyatt Allen,
57:01 he puts on this evangelistic series and he makes a call for
57:06 baptisms, and I'm impressed, you know,
57:10 that I need to do this, and I want to make this decision for
57:13 Christ to rededicate my life to Him.
57:17 My life has been completely changed in so many ways,
57:20 just seeing where God has taken me on this journey where He took
57:26 me from this, to this lost confused girl,
57:32 to this woman He knows who she is,
57:34 her identity in Christ.
57:40 Jennifer: My name is Jennifer.
57:42 Thank you for changing my life.
57:44 ♪♪♪
57:54 ♪♪♪
58:04 ♪♪♪
58:14 ♪♪♪

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Revised 2021-09-03