Participants:
Series Code: SSOS
Program Code: SSOS190008A
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00:01 Music...
00:25 Welcome to the Series that we've entitled: 00:28 The Sanctuary, Salvation and our Savior 00:31 where we're studying the relevance of the sanctuary 00:34 to our practical Christian lives. 00:36 Now, I want to begin by showing you this picture 00:39 on the screen 00:41 of a loaf of bread that is over 2,000 years old. 00:48 It was discovered in Italy in an archaeological excavation 00:53 and they found that this piece of bread 00:56 had been preserved by the volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius 01:02 that covered the cities around it 01:04 and this piece of bread... you can find 01:07 in the British Museum today. 01:10 It was preserved by the volcanic ash 01:12 and the British Museum did this interesting episode 01:17 using an Italian Chef 01:19 and it's a video that you can watch... 01:22 it says, "How to make 2,000-year-old bread. " 01:25 What they did was, 01:26 they analyzed the bread that they had discovered 01:29 in this archaeological discovery 01:31 and found the recipe or deciphered the recipe 01:35 and they had this Italian Chef re-make this recipe 01:40 and you can re-make a recipe that is 2,000 years old today. 01:46 Now, bread has been something that has been eaten 01:48 since the days of antiquity 01:51 and the subject of our study today is: 01:54 Bread in the Sanctuary. 01:56 The Table of Shewbread otherwise known as 01:59 the Table of the Presence... 02:02 or the Bread of the Presence 02:04 found in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 02:07 Here is a picture of "Messiah's Mansion" 02:11 which is a group... a ministry of individuals 02:14 that take Moses' sanctuary around the country 02:16 showing the articles of furniture 02:19 and you can see the Table of Shewbread 02:23 there in the Holy Place of the sanctuary 02:25 and you come into the sanctuary... 02:29 you accept Jesus as your Savior at the Altar of Burnt Offering, 02:33 you're baptized at the Laver 02:35 and then Jesus brings you into the Holy Place 02:38 into a walk and relationship with Him 02:41 and there are three articles of furniture in the Holy Place. 02:45 Now, you'll notice in the sanctuary 02:47 as we go to the screen 02:49 that there are two articles of furniture 02:52 by implication and position 02:54 that are to be in a distinct order, 02:57 you come into the sanctuary, 02:59 then you come to the Altar of Burnt Offering 03:00 and second... you come to the Laver, 03:03 you accept Jesus and are baptized 03:05 but in the Holy Place, it's in a triad form 03:09 and there is no explicit way of knowing 03:14 which article of furniture that you come to first. 03:18 In actuality, these three even by position 03:23 imply the reality 03:25 that these three articles of furniture 03:27 are to be continued simultaneously and continuously. 03:33 Each of these articles of furniture 03:35 indicate an important part of growing in Christ. 03:39 Now, the only illustration that I can use 03:43 to help us to understand the essential nature of nutrition 03:48 in our Christian experience is from the birth of a baby. 03:52 Now, this is very vivid in my mind 03:55 because we had a child two years ago, 03:57 and we focused on the birth, 04:00 we had breathing classes and we had our bag ready 04:04 and the contractions started to come... 04:07 it was a very nervous and yet exciting time 04:10 and then, finally, the baby came 04:13 and then, suddenly, it came over our sleep-deprived consciousness 04:19 that this baby needs continuous and a protracted period 04:27 of non-stop care. 04:30 I remember the first time someone told me 04:33 that this baby needs feeding every two hours 04:36 and I told... I asked the nurse, "You mean every two hours 04:40 24 hours around the clock?" 04:42 And they said, "Yes. " 04:44 When a baby is born, it's not as though 04:45 you just take the baby and put it on the shelf 04:47 and say, "Oh, praise God, we had the birth, 04:49 we're just going to move on. " 04:50 No, that baby requires continuous care and nutrition 04:55 and in the same way, after we come to Jesus, 04:59 after we are born again spiritually, 05:02 God brings us into the Holy Place. 05:06 After we're baptized... after we accept Him as Savior, 05:11 He brings into the Holy Place and He provides us bread. 05:14 He provides us food for our souls. 05:17 He provides us nutrition 05:19 and there's something called, "Failure to thrive. " 05:24 In other words, when a baby is born and does not grow 05:29 and does not get proper nutrition, 05:31 they call that, "Failure to thrive" 05:34 and I believe that there are many Christians today 05:37 that unfortunately have been born again 05:39 but because they're not feeding the nutrition 05:44 that has been provided... 05:46 feeding on the nutrition that God has provided for them, 05:49 that they are failing to thrive in their Christian experience. 05:54 Now, when we go to the Courtyard, 05:58 as we noted earlier, 06:00 you were born again in the Courtyard, 06:02 you become alive in Christ 06:05 and then God takes you by the hand 06:07 and says, "Walk with me... grow with me... " 06:08 He takes you into the Holy Place 06:10 where you grow as a Christian 06:12 and you thrive after you become alive. 06:15 In the Courtyard, you become alive, 06:17 in the Holy Place, 06:19 you stay alive after you've become alive, 06:23 both are essential to the Christian experience 06:25 and in the Holy Place, 06:27 there are three articles of furniture, 06:29 you have the Table of Shewbread, the Altar of Incense 06:33 and the Candlesticks 06:35 and these three represent 06:37 an important part of Christian growth. 06:40 We feed on the Word through Bible Study, 06:43 we participate in the Altar of Incense through prayers 06:47 and the candlesticks represent 06:50 our witness and service for Jesus 06:52 and these three parts are essential 06:55 for our Christian experience. 06:57 We need to feed on the Word, 06:58 we need to pray and we need to witness as well. 07:02 There's another way of looking at this Table of Shewbread... 07:05 you Feed... Read... 07:07 Altar of Incense... Air... Prayer... 07:10 and the Candlestick... Fitness... Witness... 07:13 that's an easy way of remembering it. 07:15 Now, here's one clue, 07:18 one hint... one tip that you can know 07:21 if you are a born-again Christian 07:24 and you're noticing that your spiritual experience... 07:29 your walk with Jesus seems to be dying, 07:32 or you're not thriving as a Christian 07:35 or you've lost your first love, 07:37 here's an important diagnostic you can take... 07:40 a self-diagnosis... 07:41 ask yourself, "How's my prayer life? 07:44 Have I been spending time feeding on the Word? 07:48 And have I been sharing the love of Jesus Christ with others?" 07:52 And what you'll find is that, one of those areas 07:57 you will... at least one of those areas 08:00 have diminished in your experience. 08:03 Now, all of us know that if we do not eat regularly... 08:07 if we don't breathe... especially 08:10 and if we don't exercise, 08:12 there is a dramatic decrease or cessation of physical life, 08:17 in the same way, 08:18 when Jesus brings us into the world spiritually 08:22 through the born-again experience, 08:24 He brings us into the Holy Place to sustain us 08:27 in our walk with Jesus. 08:29 Read... Feed... 08:31 Prayer... Air... 08:33 Witness... Fitness... 08:35 now, these are all here 08:37 because of the provisions of Jesus Christ 08:39 they're not meritorious, 08:40 they don't earn our way to heaven, 08:42 but they're provided for us to keep us alive 08:45 after we have become alive. 08:48 Notice what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 4 verse 4, 08:51 "But He answered and said, 'It is written, 08:53 man shall not live by bread alone, 08:57 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. '" 09:02 Here Jesus uses "bread" as a metaphor 09:05 in comparison... in an analogous way 09:08 to compare it with the Word of God, 09:11 He says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, 09:12 but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. " 09:16 In other words, 09:18 the same way we need food for physical sustenance, 09:22 we need the Word of God for spiritual sustenance as well. 09:27 Now, this was not a new quote that Jesus made 09:33 here in the New Testament, 09:34 this is actually a direct reference to the Old Testament. 09:39 Remember, the New Testament was not written in the time of Jesus 09:43 it was written after He went to heaven... 09:45 Jesus here is citing actually the book of Deuteronomy... 09:49 Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3, 09:50 He humbled you, causing you to hunger 09:53 and then feeding you with manna, 09:56 which neither you nor your ancestors had known, 10:01 to teach you that man does not live on bread alone 10:05 but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." 10:11 Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 verse 4 10:14 is quoting the Old Testament. 10:18 He's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3 10:22 and the bread that is here 10:24 in context that's being talked about 10:28 is none other than manna. 10:30 In other words, "Man shall not live by bread alone 10:33 but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God... " 10:36 is not talking about the loaf of bread 10:38 that you get in your local store in the book of Deuteronomy, 10:41 this is talking about heaven's bread. 10:43 The bread that fell from heaven 10:46 that the Israelites called manna. 10:49 Now, when the Israelites were in the wilderness... 10:53 this is a miracle story because during their 40 years 10:57 from Egypt to Canaan... 10:59 every day during that journey in their experience 11:05 from bondage to liberation 11:08 was sustained by heaven's bread... 11:11 heaven's manna that fell on the earth. 11:14 It's interesting because manna literally in the Hebrew 11:18 means, "What is it?" 11:21 That's because the Israelites... the first day they got manna, 11:25 they went outside and they saw this stuff on the ground 11:28 and they said, "What is it?" 11:29 And evidently that name stuck 11:31 because manna literally means, "What is it?" 11:34 And it was heaven's bread that came from heaven 11:37 in Exodus chapter 16 verse 15, "When the Israelites saw it, 11:41 they said to each other... " here's the reference, 11:42 "What is it? Manna... 11:44 for they did not know what it was. " 11:46 And Moses said to them, 11:48 "It is... " and notice what he says here, 11:50 "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. " 11:56 Now, remember what the Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 8, 12:00 it said, that God had given them manna 12:04 to teach them that man shall not live by bread alone 12:07 but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 12:10 In other words, the manna was a living illustration 12:16 of their dependency not just on physical food 12:21 but of their need and dependence 12:24 on spiritual sustenance and food. 12:27 Now, the way that manna fell is very significant 12:32 because the Bible indicates 12:34 that it's actually bread from heaven... 12:36 in Psalm chapter 78 verse 24, "Food from heaven... " 12:40 Psalm 78 verse 25 said, "It's the bread of angels... " 12:43 and the color of it according to Exodus was white 12:46 and it tasted like wafers made with honey. 12:50 Now, when I get to heaven, 12:52 I want to taste what manna is like 12:55 and this provided all of the nutrition for the Israelites 12:59 to go from Egypt to Canaan. 13:01 Now, you and I 13:03 are on a journey 13:04 from bondage to heavenly Canaan 13:09 and the way that God will sustain us 13:12 in our journey to heavenly Canaan 13:15 is by giving us our daily bread 13:19 and I'm not talking about physical food 13:23 the Bible is talking about spiritual food 13:26 that God provides for us each and every day. 13:30 Man shall not live by bread alone, 13:32 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 13:37 In our journey... in our Christian experience, 13:40 God has provided everything in His Word 13:42 for our spiritual sustenance. 13:45 We're going to take a brief break 13:47 and when we come back, 13:48 we will continue in our study of manna 13:51 and how we are not to live by bread alone 13:54 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. |
Revised 2019-10-07