Participants:
Series Code: SSOS
Program Code: SSOS190001B
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00:01 Before the break, we referenced Exodus chapter 25 verse 8
00:04 where the Bible says that Moses was given a blueprint 00:09 of the sanctuary and it was to be a pattern 00:12 implied that there was an original 00:14 that preexisted the time of Moses. 00:17 Now, let's come over to this screen 00:19 and take a look at the sanctuary from a bird's eye view, 00:23 this is the pattern that Moses was given on Mount Sinai... 00:26 there are three different compartments, 00:29 you have the Courtyard 00:30 and then you have the Holy Place 00:32 and then you have the Most Holy Place. 00:35 In the Courtyard, you have two articles of furniture, 00:37 you have the Altar of Burnt Offering 00:39 and the Laver. 00:40 In the Holy Place, you have the Lampstand 00:42 which is illustrated by this LED to my right here, 00:45 this is the Menorah... the candlesticks... 00:47 seven lamps of fire were seen in the Book of Revelation 00:50 that were burning before the throne 00:52 and here we see a replica of that. 00:54 In the bird's eye view of the sanctuary, 00:57 you have the Altar of Incense 00:58 which was also seen in the book of Revelation, 01:00 and then the Table of Shewbread as well. 01:02 Last but not least, you have the Most Holy Place 01:05 where the Shekinah Glory of God was 01:07 and on the screen behind me 01:10 is a LED of the Shekinah Glory of God 01:13 you see two wings on either side of this 01:17 and this represented the cherubims 01:19 which were hovering over the Throne Room of God. 01:23 So, you have the Courtyard, 01:24 you have the Holy Place, 01:26 and then you have the Most Holy Place 01:28 with the Ark of the Covenant. 01:30 Now, one of the questions that people have asked 01:32 is, "Did God's sanctuary exist before sin?" 01:36 In Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 14, the Bible says, 01:40 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; 01:44 I established you; 01:46 you were on the holy mountain of God. " 01:49 Now, this passage is referring to Lucifer 01:53 and Lucifer later became the devil and Satan 01:56 but prior to sin arising in the heart of Lucifer, 02:01 the Bible says in the book of Ezekiel 02:03 that Lucifer's role was a covering cherub. 02:07 Now, the other place where the covering cherub is mentioned 02:11 is in reference to the Throne Room of God 02:14 and the Ark of the Covenant which is a replica 02:17 of the Throne Room of God 02:19 and there are two cherubim's 02:21 that are covering the Shekinah Glory of God 02:23 as depicted in the Ark of the Covenant. 02:26 Now, what Ezekiel is referring to here and implies 02:31 is that this... a model of the Ark of the Testament 02:36 and the Throne Room of God 02:38 and by implication the sanctuary preexisted 02:42 the... the inception of sin, 02:45 in other words, Lucifer was there 02:47 as one of the covering cherubs 02:49 that stood closest to the Shekinah Glory of God. 02:52 This implies that the sanctuary and the Throne Room of God 02:56 was there even before sin. 02:59 Let's go on, in Isaiah chapter 14 verse 13, 03:03 the Bible here refers to Lucifer again 03:06 but here it says, "I will sit enthroned 03:08 on the Mount of the Assembly. " 03:11 Lucifer not only wanted to be like God, 03:15 he wanted to be God 03:17 and he says, "Look, I want to sit on the Mount 03:20 of the Assembly. 03:22 Now, this concept of the Mount of the Assembly 03:27 implies that the Throne Room of God... the House of God... 03:30 the Sanctuary of God... 03:32 was a place of what we would call, "Adoration and Praise" 03:36 otherwise known as Doxology, it was a place of worship 03:40 where all the intelligent beings of the universe... 03:43 created beings... angels... would gather together 03:47 to worship and adore 03:49 and give doxology... which is praise 03:53 to the Creator of the universe. 03:55 So, theologians believe that the function of the sanctuary 04:00 prior to sin was of doxology. 04:03 It was a place of worship. 04:06 It was a place where all the intelligent beings 04:09 in the universe would gather together 04:11 to worship before the King of kings 04:13 and the Lord of lords. 04:16 There are other clues in the Bible, 04:18 here in Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 13, 04:21 the Bible says, "The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes... " 04:24 and interestingly enough timbrels and pipes 04:28 were sanctuary instruments. 04:30 So, there are clues in Scripture indicating 04:33 that God's house, prior to sin, 04:36 took on the role of doxology and worship 04:40 and after sin, the house of God 04:43 took on additional responsibilities 04:46 in the plan of salvation. 04:48 Now, this tells you how important 04:50 saving you and me really is. 04:53 It is so important that God brought 04:55 the activities of the plan of salvation into His home... 05:00 the Command Center of the entire universe. 05:04 Going back to our first reference, 05:06 in Psalm 27... what did God call David to do in His temple? 05:11 In Psalm 27 verse 8 which is at the high point 05:15 of the structure of Psalm 27, 05:17 He says, "When You said, 'seek my face,' 05:21 my heart said to You, 05:23 "Your face, Lord, I will seek. "'" 05:26 Remember what David said in Psalm 27? 05:28 He says, "If I have one desire, 05:30 I want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. " 05:33 He says, "I want to inquire in Your temple, 05:36 I want to see Your beauty. " 05:38 But here, he says that God's call to us... in His house 05:43 is to seek God's face. 05:47 Now, remember, Adam and Eve before sin 05:50 were able to have a face-to-face encounter with God... 05:54 a conversation... 05:55 a face-to-face encounter 05:57 in which they could look into the eyes of God 06:00 and have a communion... a conversation with God 06:03 that... that we can't even imagine today 06:05 because of sin. 06:07 Now, the sanctuary shows us the telos or the end-goal 06:11 of what God is intending to do in the plan of salvation. 06:15 He wants to bring us all the way back 06:18 to that face-to-face encounter with Him. 06:21 Now, this is what we referenced in regards to Eden before sin... 06:26 here it is in Genesis chapter 3 verse 8, 06:28 God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 06:33 God had a face-to-face communion... 06:36 conversation with Adam and Eve. 06:37 The Bible is implying that every day God would come down 06:41 and walk in the Garden in the evening 06:44 to have this conversation with Adam and Eve. 06:47 I wonder what that would have been like 06:49 to have a conversation with God every single day 06:51 and God says... the sanctuary motif... 06:54 the sanctuary goal is for God to bring us back. 06:59 We lost that relationship with God 07:01 and He wants to bring us back. 07:03 Now, you can see immediately after the fall 07:06 that this face-to-face encounter with God 07:09 was no longer possible 07:10 because we see in Exodus chapter 33 verse 20, 07:13 when Moses went up to see God, he says, 07:16 "Look, I want to see Your face... 07:18 I want to see the face of God" 07:19 but God said in Exodus chapter 33 verse 20, 07:23 "But He said, 'You cannot see my face 07:26 for no one may see My face and live. '" 07:30 Now, notice the change, 07:32 now the Bible indicates that Moses was a righteous man 07:35 but immediately after sin, this face-to-face encounter 07:39 was no longer possible 07:40 not because God had restricted it 07:42 because He no longer wants to have a relationship with us, 07:45 but the Bible indicates 07:47 that sin changed our relationship with God 07:49 so that we could not longer have this face-to-face encounter 07:52 with Him anymore. 07:54 We can see another instance in 1st Samuel chapter 6 verse 20 07:58 and the people of Bethshemesh asked, 08:00 'Who can stand in the presence of the Lord? 08:03 This holy God to whom will the ark go up from here. '" 08:08 You remember the story? The Ark of the Covenant 08:11 went into a town and the people of Israel uncovered the Ark 08:15 and many people died and notice what they said, 08:18 they said, "Who can stand in the presence of a holy God?" 08:23 Because of our sin, we are unable to have a relationship... 08:28 a face-to-face relationship with God anymore 08:30 and here is the condition for seeing God face to face 08:35 found in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14. 08:38 "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. " 08:43 God wants to have a face-to-face encounter with us. 08:46 He wants to have that intimate conversation with us 08:50 and we're told that conversation is relationship 08:53 but the criteria... the condition 08:56 for having this face-to-face encounter with God 08:59 is holiness. 09:00 Now, I don't know about you but when I hear this 09:03 it's overwhelming... there's anxiety 09:06 because I see myself and I'm anything but holy 09:10 but when we look at the sanctuary, 09:12 we see the beauty of what God wants to do 09:16 in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14, 09:19 He says, "I am the Lord who makes you holy. " 09:24 In other words, we don't have to make ourselves holy, 09:28 the beauty of the sanctuary experience 09:30 is that really... it is God Who makes us holy 09:34 and we can rest in that assurance. 09:37 Here we see the bird's eye view of the heavenly sanctuary 09:40 this is a model of the heavenly sanctuary... 09:43 the model that Moses was given on Mount Sinai 09:45 and we can see that Adam and Eve back in Edenic perfection 09:49 had a Most-Holy-Place experience. 09:52 They were to have that face-to-face communion with God 09:55 but because of sin the entire human race 09:59 was placed outside of the gate 10:01 and what God wants to do in the sanctuary model 10:05 is to bring us into the courtyard... 10:08 into the Holy Place 10:10 and finally, into the Most-Holy-Place experience 10:15 to that face-to-face encounter with God. 10:17 The problem is sin 10:19 and the sanctuary shows us how God takes care of sin 10:24 and how God makes us holy... 10:27 the sanctuary is the model of salvation 10:29 how God will bring us back 10:33 and here in the book of Revelation... 10:35 Revelation chapter 22 verse 5, you can see 10:38 that God has restored Edenic perfection 10:41 not only in the place but in the person. 10:44 Revelation chapter 22 verse 4, the Bible says, 10:46 "And they will see... " and notice the language here, 10:50 "And they will see His face" just like Adam and Eve 10:55 were able to see the face of God. 10:56 We will be able to see the face of God 10:58 when the heavens and earth are created 11:00 "They will see His face, 11:02 and His name shall be on their foreheads. " 11:05 What is on the forehead? 11:07 This is not a literal name like Yaweh or Jehovah 11:11 that is placed on the foreheads 11:12 of God's redeemed and restored people. 11:15 On the forehead, the pre-frontal cortex 11:18 is our conscience and our character. 11:21 In other words, God will recreate the image of God in man 11:25 in other words, He will make us holy 11:28 and because He has done this work, 11:30 we will be able to see the face of God. 11:34 We come to our last text, Revelation chapter 21 verse 3, 11:40 "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with man 11:45 and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. 11:50 And God Himself will be with them and be their God. " 11:55 Here we see that David's request 11:59 to live in the house of the Lord forever 12:03 will come to actualization... it will be a reality 12:08 because the Bible tells us that the temple of God... 12:12 the New Jerusalem will come down to earth 12:17 and we will live in the house of God forever. 12:21 Some people have said, "Didn't John see no temple?" 12:25 Well, when you look at the dimensions 12:28 of the Most Holy Place, it is a perfect square. 12:32 The New Jerusalem is also a perfect square. 12:35 In other words, 12:37 the reason why John was not able to see a temple 12:39 is because the New Jerusalem is the temple. 12:43 God has completed the plan of salvation 12:47 in bringing man all the way back... 12:51 Eden lost... Eden restored... 12:55 and my appeal to you today is to allow God to do His work 13:00 to bring you into the Courtyard... 13:02 into the Holy Place 13:04 and into the Most Holy Place 13:06 so that we could have again 13:08 that face-to-face encounter with God. 13:12 I want to encourage you to walk with Jesus Christ. 13:16 Stay tuned for our next installment of this Study 13:20 as we study the sanctuary, salvation and our Savior. 13:25 May God bless you and keep you to that end. 13:27 Music... |
Revised 2019-08-08