Sanctuary, Salvation, & Our Savior

The Laver

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: SSOS

Program Code: SSOS190007A


00:01 Music...
00:25 Welcome to: The Sanctuary, Salvation and our Savior.
00:29 I'm so glad that you joined us on this journey
00:32 as we study the relevance of the sanctuary
00:35 to our practical Christian lives...
00:36 also, how it points to Jesus Christ as Savior
00:40 in the sanctuary as the Lamb and our High Priest.
00:44 Today, for our presentation, I want to cite a study
00:48 from Michigan State University.
00:50 A team from Michigan State University
00:54 trained a dozen students
00:55 to inconspicuously observe and collect data
01:00 on handwashing behavior in restrooms in bars, restaurants
01:05 and other public places in a college town.
01:08 In all, 3,749 people were observed.
01:12 After using the bathroom,
01:14 95% of people failed to wash their hands long enough
01:20 to kill harmful bacteria.
01:21 A new Study finds, among men, only half use soap
01:26 and 15% didn't wash their hands at all
01:29 compared with 78% of women who used soap
01:33 and 7% of women who didn't wash their hands.
01:37 This is interesting because Charles Gerba,
01:40 Professor of Microbiology at the University of Arizona
01:43 swabbed close to 5,000 surfaces in several office buildings
01:48 with at least 3,000 employees
01:50 and one of the places that ranked the highest for bacteria
01:54 was the drinking-fountain button.
01:57 Now, you may ask,
01:59 "Why is it that the drinking-fountain button
02:02 is to be found one of the dirtiest places in this building
02:05 well, what did people do after using the bathroom?
02:08 They go to get a drink
02:10 and so, this microbiologist actually recommended
02:14 that you pushed the drinking-fountain button
02:17 not with your fingers but with your shirt sleeve.
02:20 Now, I want to recite this study some more...
02:23 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
02:27 the CDC recommends that you wash your hands vigorously
02:30 using soap and water for 15 to 20 seconds
02:33 or the time it takes to sing or hum "Happy Birthday" twice.
02:37 "The CDC says handwashing is one of the most effective ways
02:41 to cut the spread of infectious diseases.
02:44 Dirty hands are estimated
02:46 to contribute to 50% of all foodborne-illness outbreaks. "
02:52 Now, today's study is not about personal hygiene,
02:55 though this is a good reminder especially around Flu Season
02:59 to wash our hands but this study today
03:03 is on the Laver which was the 2nd article of furniture
03:07 found in the sanctuary
03:09 and it was a place of washing.
03:12 The laver literally meant in the Hebrew, "to wash... "
03:16 so the priests... in their daily rituals and routines,
03:21 they would go to this place
03:23 and wash their hands and their feet daily
03:26 and likely, multiple times a day.
03:29 Now, the physical washing also had a deeper spiritual
03:35 significance in the symbology of the sanctuary.
03:39 In other words, this physical washing
03:41 represented a spiritual washing and cleansing from sin.
03:47 So as we look at this Laver,
03:49 we see that it's the second article of furniture
03:52 that you find in the sanctuary...
03:53 first you come into the door of the sanctuary,
03:56 you accept Jesus as your Savior,
03:59 and then Jesus takes you by the hand and says,
04:02 "Look, I want to bring you to the water for cleansing. "
04:06 Now, baptism symbolizes this cleansing process
04:09 but more than that...
04:11 in acuality the baptism rite and ceremony
04:15 is talking about a cleansing of the heart.
04:19 The water is a symbol of that cleansing
04:22 that Jesus wants to do for each one of us.
04:25 In John chapter 19 verse 34,
04:28 it's interesting that when Jesus was pierced on the cross,
04:31 one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear
04:33 bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
04:38 Blood and water flowed from the side of Jesus.
04:43 Blood and water are found in the sanctuary.
04:46 Both blood and water are required to cleanse us from sin.
04:50 So, you can see that God brings us into the sanctuary
04:54 to the altar... there is blood there...
04:56 then He brings us to the water for cleansing
04:59 and both of these are provided
05:01 because of Jesus Christ.
05:03 In 1st John 1:9, the Bible says,
05:06 "If we confess our sins,
05:07 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
05:11 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. "
05:15 This verse beautifully encapsulates this notion
05:19 and this idea that God's role in the plan of salvation
05:23 is to forgive... that's what takes place at the brazen altar
05:27 and to cleanse... that's what takes place at the Laver.
05:32 In other words,
05:33 God is not in the business of just covering us up,
05:37 He's in the business of cleansing.
05:40 Now, we've used this illustration before,
05:42 if you find a baby naked and dirty
05:45 and there are no parents around,
05:48 what's the first thing you're going to do?
05:50 You're going to cover that baby
05:52 and then by the grace of God,
05:54 you're going to give that baby a bath.
05:57 You cover and you cleanse.
06:00 In the same way, when we come to Jesus
06:02 just the way that we are,
06:04 He covers us with His robe of righteousness
06:06 and then He says, "I want to bring you to the water...
06:10 I want to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. "
06:13 Jesus wants to forgive and to cleanse
06:17 from all unrighteousness.
06:19 Jeremiah chapter 33 verse 8 says,
06:21 "I will cleanse them
06:23 from all the sin they have committed against me
06:25 and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. "
06:30 We are forgiven at the altar...
06:33 we are cleansed at the Laver.
06:36 God is about restoration, He wants to bring us all back,
06:39 first He covers... then He cleanses...
06:42 He forgives... and then He purifies us from all sin.
06:47 Now the question arises,
06:49 "What was the original Laver made from?"
06:52 Exodus chapter 38 verse 8, "They made the bronze basin
06:56 and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women
06:59 who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. "
07:03 It was a donation...
07:06 Moses called upon the people and said,
07:08 "Look, we want to make the sanctuary,
07:10 would you give sacrificially to make it possible?"
07:14 And these dear women got their precious bronze mirrors
07:17 and gave them to Moses to build the sanctuary.
07:21 It's interesting because
07:23 the mirror represents the Law of God.
07:27 The Law doesn't save us... the Law shows us our need
07:31 and it's interesting that at the Laver which is made by mirrors,
07:34 you also have water,
07:36 now, when you go to the restroom,
07:38 you'll find a mirror and you'll also find water.
07:42 A mirror provides a moment of self-awareness...
07:46 of self-reflection... it shows us our need.
07:49 I praise God for mirrors because there have been times
07:53 that I'd gone through my day and I think I just looked fine
07:58 and then, I looked in the mirror and I notice...
08:03 I remember in this one case, I had a big chunk of olive
08:06 stuck in my tooth,
08:08 and I went through that whole day
08:10 and no one told me,
08:11 I wish someone would have told me,
08:12 I had a big olive stuck in my tooth
08:14 but the mirror did not provide the solution,
08:15 you know, I put some water on my finger and took care of it
08:19 so, the mirror provides a moment of self-awareness...
08:22 of self-reflection... and shows us our need.
08:26 You know, there are times in our Christian experience
08:28 or I should say, prior to being a Christian
08:31 or even in our Christian experience,
08:32 that we can come to the place
08:34 that we don't know that we are in need of cleansing.
08:38 There have been times when I've done visitation...
08:43 I remember in high school, I went to school in Arkansas
08:46 and in this particular school,
08:49 we would go out and do Sunshine Bands and visit
08:52 and there were certain homes that we would go to
08:55 and in a particular home, I always knew
08:59 that before I entered that home, I would take a deep breath,
09:02 just ooofsssss...
09:04 because I knew that the odors and the aromas in that home
09:07 just would be something that would be just undesirable,
09:11 for lack of a better word...
09:13 and this person that lived in that home... I found out,
09:18 did not even sense the smell.
09:21 In other words, they had become so accustomed to it,
09:24 they didn't even know that their home needed to be aired out
09:28 and sometimes, we can become so climatized to sin...
09:33 we can become so accustomed to sin...
09:35 that when God says, "Look, I want to cleanse you.. "
09:38 we say, "Lord, I'm clean...
09:40 I have no need of cleansing...
09:42 I'm just absolutely fine... "
09:45 and it's only when we're brought to Jesus
09:47 and Jesus touches our hearts
09:49 and we're able to look into the Law of Liberty
09:53 which is like a mirror...
09:54 that we sense our need.
09:56 Now, the mirror is not like a bar of soap,
09:59 it does not clean us up,
10:01 but it shows us our need of a Savior.
10:04 So, what a beautiful metaphor here
10:06 that the Laver was made from the bronze mirrors
10:11 that the women gave to... to Moses.
10:14 Now, what was the Laver used for?
10:16 We mentioned this before but here it is from Scripture,
10:18 Exodus chapter 30 verse 18, "Make a bronze basin,
10:22 with its bronze stand, for washing.
10:25 Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar,
10:29 and put water in it. "
10:31 The priests would regularly wash their hands and their feet,
10:35 it was a regular form of cleansing
10:37 and this form of cleansing... physical cleansing
10:40 typified a spiritual cleansing as well.
10:44 Now, in Psalm 51 verse 2, David says,
10:47 "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
10:50 and cleanse me from my sin. "
10:53 This was after David had committed murder...
10:57 killed the husband of Bathsheba
11:01 and then had committed adultery with her,
11:04 and in Psalm 51, he senses his need.
11:08 It was after Nathan came in before him and said,
11:11 "You are the man... "
11:12 and in this text, you can sense
11:15 that David knows that he is in need of cleansing.
11:20 He says, "Wash me from my sin. "
11:24 I pray that all of us can come to the place of a realization
11:28 of our spiritual uncleanness
11:30 and we can come to God just like David
11:33 and be accepted by Him and say,
11:35 "Lord, cleanse me, wash me from my sin. "
11:41 Have you ever sinned before and felt dirty?
11:46 I have.
11:48 Have you felt unclean after making a mistake or sinning?
11:53 Here Jesus provides the solution
11:56 but notice the order in which Jesus provides the solution.
12:00 He invites us into the sanctuary...
12:02 we accept Him as our Savior...
12:04 He accepts us just the way that we are...
12:07 but He loves us too much to leave us in that condition.
12:12 God wants to cleanse us
12:13 but that cleansing is not the pre-requisite
12:18 to God's acceptance,
12:19 I praise God that that Laver
12:21 was not placed outside of the tabernacle,
12:23 now that would have implied something very differently
12:26 than what we see here in the gospel.
12:28 If the Laver was placed outside of the sanctuary,
12:32 it would have implied,
12:33 "Look, before you come into the tabernacle,
12:36 clean yourself up...
12:37 before you come to Jesus, get yourself right...
12:40 take care of all these things, cleanse yourself...
12:43 and then, God will accept you... "
12:45 but the reality is,
12:46 that the Laver is the second article of furniture
12:50 not the first...
12:52 you come into the sanctuary...
12:53 you're accepted by God
12:55 and then He says, "I will cleanse you. "
12:59 Do you know that God loves you no matter your behavior?
13:05 Now, it breaks His heart when we sin...
13:07 this is not to say that
13:09 but there is nothing that you can do
13:12 that will make God love you more.
13:16 In other words, your condition and your uncleanness
13:20 is not something that is a pre-requisite
13:23 to earn the acceptance and the love of God.
13:27 God says, "Look, I love you even though you are unclean,
13:32 even though you are morally deprived,
13:35 I love you... I invite you into the sanctuary
13:38 to the Savior...
13:39 and then, I will cleanse you. "
13:42 We're going to take a short break
13:44 but stay with us and when we come back,
13:47 we will see the plan of salvation
13:49 and the cleansing process in the sanctuary.
13:53 Jesus washes us at the Laver.


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Revised 2019-10-14