3ABN Today

The Courtyard Experience

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TDY

Program Code: TDY190066A


00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people
00:12 I want to spend my life
00:18 Removing pain
00:24 Lord, let my words
00:30 Heal a heart that hurts
00:34 I want to spend my life
00:40 Mending broken people
00:46 I want to spend my life
00:51 Mending broken people
01:09 I'm Shelley Quinn
01:11 and we are so excited that you're joining us today.
01:13 I believe you will be excited as well.
01:16 On the set with me is Pastor Ryan Day,
01:19 and we are going to do a Bible topic.
01:22 What is our topic today?
01:24 We're gonna talk about The Courtyard Experience.
01:27 We're gonna be doing some sanctuary talk today.
01:29 Oh, you know, I love Psalm 77:13 says,
01:33 "Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary."
01:36 The sanctuary was theology in physical form,
01:40 all of its structures and its ceremonies
01:44 show the process, God's process of salvation,
01:48 and it all centered around Jesus Christ.
01:50 That's right.
01:51 So we will have a rousing Bible study today...
01:54 Absolutely. I know.
01:55 And the reason I know is, I heard you this past weekend.
02:00 And you were preaching on this.
02:02 And I said, "That's what we've got to do today."
02:04 Yes.
02:05 So we're excited about that. Amen.
02:06 We want to thank you
02:08 for your love, and your prayers,
02:10 and your financial support of 3ABN
02:13 and we are the Mending Broken People Network
02:15 because every day we get phone calls,
02:18 and letters, and emails from people
02:21 who have found the Lord,
02:23 people who are coming back to church
02:27 or looking for a church.
02:29 And it is so exciting to know
02:32 that everything we're doing here
02:35 has an eternal benefit.
02:37 Now, Ryan, you're a singer.
02:39 You've got a beautiful voice.
02:41 I know you love music. Absolutely.
02:43 And I don't know if you know our guest singer today,
02:46 but she's one of my favorite sisters in Christ.
02:50 And she's from down under, her name is Sandra Entermann.
02:53 I love her vibrato.
02:55 And she will be with Christy and Elita
02:58 and they are going to sing "Replace It With Your Love."
03:17 Where there's hate
03:21 Give me love
03:24 And where there's pride
03:28 Make me be humble
03:32 And where there's pain
03:35 Don't let me feel
03:37 Resentment deep inside
03:43 I want You to make it right
03:48 So replace it with Your love in my heart
03:56 Replace it with Your love in my heart
04:03 Just take out all the hatred
04:06 And cleanse every part
04:10 And replace it with Your love in my heart
04:25 When I'm tired lift me up
04:32 And when I'm weak, Lord, don't let me falter
04:39 But if I fall,
04:41 Don't let me harbor bitterness inside
04:49 I want You to take it out
04:54 So replace it with Your love in my heart
05:02 Replace it with Your love in my heart
05:09 Just take out all the hatred and cleanse every part
05:16 And replace it with Your love in my heart
05:24 'Cause Lord, I'm just a girl
05:28 Who wants to be like you
05:32 Living in Your perfect love in everything I do
05:40 So now I'm yielding I'm yielding all to you
05:46 To take out every wrong
05:49 I feel inside
05:56 And replace it with Your love
06:00 In my heart
06:04 Replace it with Your love in my heart
06:12 Just take out all the hatred and cleanse every part
06:19 And replace it with Your love in my heart
06:24 In my heart
06:30 And replace it
06:35 With Your love
06:38 In my heart
06:56 Amen. Amen.
06:57 Let that be our prayer is that God's will remove everything
07:01 that is not pleasing to Him.
07:03 Amen.
07:04 And replace it with His love. Praise God.
07:06 Ryan, I'm excited about today's study.
07:08 Oh, me too.
07:09 And what I think we got to do is let's just back up
07:11 and why don't we begin in Exodus Chapter 25?
07:16 Absolutely.
07:17 And let's look at Exodus 25:8-9.
07:21 Yes. And I'll let you read that.
07:24 But this is the purpose of the sanctuary.
07:30 So Exodus 25:8-9.
07:33 Yes.
07:34 Says, "And let them make Me a sanctuary,
07:36 that I may dwell among them.
07:39 According to all that I show you,
07:42 that is, the pattern of the tabernacle
07:44 and the pattern of all its furnishings,
07:47 just so you shall make it.
07:48 Amen.
07:50 So here we've got a covenant keeping God
07:53 who announced in Genesis 3:15
07:56 that there was going to be one
07:58 who would stomp the head, crush the head of the serpent.
08:03 Everybody is expecting a Messiah to come.
08:08 But when God wants, when it comes time,
08:11 what has been His desire always?
08:15 He wants to be with us. He wants to dwell.
08:16 He wants to dwell among His people.
08:18 Yeah.
08:20 So, you know what I love about the sanctuary?
08:22 And this is how God got my attention,
08:24 by the way, this is how He changed my life
08:28 through a study on the sanctuary.
08:31 There are three compartments of the sanctuary if you will,
08:37 and they represent the three different phases
08:40 of Jesus' ministry,
08:42 and the three different phases of our salvation.
08:46 You wanna tell? Absolutely, yeah.
08:48 So obviously, you...
08:50 We're gonna go through this,
08:51 but you have to start first at the door.
08:54 The ministry of the sanctuary always begins
08:57 at the door of the tabernacle,
08:59 and so obviously, Christ is that door.
09:03 The Bible says that He, Jesus said, "I am the door."
09:06 Anyone who tries to go in any other way
09:09 is a thief and a robber.
09:10 And so if we are to enter at that door,
09:12 we are entering, obviously, into Christ's way
09:15 because as you mentioned earlier,
09:17 Psalm 77:13 says,
09:19 "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary."
09:22 And so once you get into that door,
09:23 you get into the courtyard, you get into the courtyard,
09:26 and like unto Christ ministry,
09:28 Christ spent His time with us here on earth in the court,
09:32 you know, that would represent the courtyard experience.
09:34 We also must go through
09:36 and have a courtyard experience.
09:39 And, of course, those two articles of furniture
09:40 that we find in the courtyard
09:41 is the altar of burnt offerings,
09:44 and, of course, the laver
09:45 which again points to Christ's ministry,
09:47 as well as the experience that a Christian should have.
09:50 And then you get into the...
09:52 That's the experience of just that's the case.
09:53 Absolutely, absolutely. Okay.
09:55 And so, then we go
09:56 into the holy place, which, of course,
09:59 has three articles of furniture.
10:00 We have on the far right side if you were to go
10:03 through the door of the holy place,
10:05 on the far right side is the table of showbread,
10:07 which again points to Christ is the living Word of God.
10:10 He said, that you shall have, excuse me,
10:13 "Man shall not live by bread alone,
10:15 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
10:17 And, of course, Christ is the bread of life.
10:19 So that points to Christ's ministry,
10:21 and we also should eat of that bread daily.
10:23 So that's an experience that we should experience.
10:25 We'll go into detail probably about that
10:27 in just a few moments.
10:28 But then right across from the table of showbread,
10:30 obviously is the seven-branched candlestick
10:33 which points to Christ as the light in the world,
10:35 it also represents the work of the Holy Spirit
10:38 in our life each and every day
10:39 as that oil had to be present for their light to burn.
10:43 We must also have that oil of the Holy Spirit in our life
10:47 on a daily basis that Christ light
10:49 and His righteousness can shine from us.
10:51 Then we move closer to the dividing veil
10:54 of the tabernacle.
10:56 And, of course, right before that veil
10:57 is the altar of incense, and, of course,
10:59 that would represent our prayers
11:01 ascending to Christ as He is our intercessor
11:04 in the heavenly throne room above
11:06 that as we pray and we open our conversation
11:10 in our lives to Him in prayer,
11:11 He receives that prayer.
11:13 Christ as the Book of Hebrews says, "Is the High Priest.
11:17 He is the great intercessor."
11:19 He was an intercessory figure while He was here on earth,
11:22 and He is still that intercessory
11:24 figure as High Priest,
11:25 now in the heavenly courts above.
11:27 Amen.
11:28 But if you go through that veil, obviously,
11:30 you get into what's called the Most Holy Place,
11:33 one article of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant.
11:37 And, of course, inside that Ark of the Covenant
11:40 was God's holy covenant laws,
11:43 The Ten Commandments on those tablets of stone,
11:46 which represents God's holy character,
11:49 and that is the ultimate goal.
11:50 We wanna have that most holy place experience, Shelley,
11:54 in which God's character is replicated inside us
11:57 that when we walk inside that most holy place,
12:00 as we're having that most holy place experience
12:02 we were brought into the very presence of God
12:05 because God's glory resided above the mercy seat
12:09 where that Ark of the Covenant was.
12:11 You know, what amazes me is that many people feel like,
12:14 "Well, the sanctuary is Old Testament.
12:16 We don't need to know it."
12:18 But this is, you know,
12:19 when God told them make Me a sanctuary,
12:22 according to the pattern that I will show you.
12:25 He's referring, of course, Hebrews 8:5 says
12:27 that it was just a copy and a shadow
12:30 of what's in the heavenly places.
12:32 But in my estimation,
12:34 here's how I figure it is that
12:36 when God delivered the Hebrew children from Egypt
12:43 out of the slavery, you know, the bondage of slavery,
12:47 a lot of them could not read.
12:49 So what God did
12:51 is He gave this pattern of this sanctuary.
12:54 Right.
12:55 Because every element of the sanctuary,
12:57 the courtyard was 150x75 feet
13:01 covered with linen hangings.
13:04 And did you know that
13:05 what those linen hanging, the curtains did?
13:09 Was veiled the presence of God.
13:12 And, you know, think about this
13:15 Christ's flesh veiled His divinity.
13:19 That's right.
13:20 So when they came in,
13:23 there was no way to shortcut
13:26 going through the courtyard experience.
13:28 That's right. Absolutely.
13:30 And when we talk about the altar of burnt offering,
13:34 here's the thought that really grabbed me.
13:37 When you see the blood stained exterior of that altar,
13:42 it shows us the seriousness of sin,
13:46 and that our sins deserve the wrath of God,
13:51 but on that altar
13:53 is where they gave a substitute.
13:57 And this is all part of God's plan.
13:59 It's, you know,
14:00 salvation by grace through faith
14:03 that He was pointing the lamb that they offered there
14:08 pointed to the Lamb of God,
14:10 who was slain from the foundation of the earth
14:13 is what Revelation 13:8 says.
14:15 Absolutely.
14:16 But think about this.
14:18 So as they see that,
14:21 now they see the smoke ascending,
14:24 which was a manifestation
14:26 of God's grace and mercy knowing,
14:31 and they knew a Messiah was coming.
14:34 So they knew what this pointed to.
14:37 And when you think about the seriousness of sin that,
14:43 you know, explain what happened
14:46 when they brought a little lamb in?
14:47 Absolutely.
14:48 So and I just wanna just for a moment,
14:51 before we get right into those details,
14:53 I just wanna emphasize the fact
14:54 that the sanctuary is obviously,
14:56 it's a progressive experience...
14:58 Absolutely.
15:00 Into kind of illustrate that or compare it to something.
15:04 It's kind of like the three angels' messages.
15:06 There's a first, second, and the third angel's message.
15:09 And if you try to take those out of order
15:11 or you try to teach them, comprehend them out of order,
15:14 you're doing yourself a disservice
15:15 because there's a progression
15:17 to the first, second, and third angel's message.
15:19 First, the first angel's message,
15:21 then comes the second angel's message,
15:22 which is the response from the first angel's message,
15:25 and as well as the third as well.
15:27 And you're talking about from Revelation Chapter 14.
15:28 I'm talking about from Revelation Chapter 14
15:30 where we find the first, second,
15:32 and third angel's message
15:33 which are delivered to the entire world.
15:35 I'm using that as an example because again,
15:37 the Book of Revelation, Genesis, Exodus
15:40 all the way through the Bible,
15:41 we find this sanctuary language,
15:43 we find that there's this theme
15:45 of the sanctuary constantly reappearing
15:49 and is shown to us all throughout Scripture.
15:52 God is showing us the sanctuary as a blueprint of His way.
15:55 Amen.
15:57 He said thy, again, Psalm 77:13,
15:59 "Thy way, O Lord, is in the sanctuary."
16:02 Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
16:06 So Christ is in the sanctuary.
16:08 And, of course, we know the Book of Isaiah 53,
16:11 I think verse 6 tells us that,
16:13 "All we like sheep have gone astray,
16:16 every man has went his own way."
16:19 And so when we get lost in our own way,
16:21 we kind of need a blueprint, or a GPS, or a map
16:24 to point us back into the way of Christ.
16:27 And so here we are,
16:28 we know we're lost, we need Jesus.
16:32 But Christ has a specific pattern.
16:34 He has a specific way of progressive experience
16:38 that He wants to almost like a parent taking their child
16:41 by the hand and saying,
16:42 "Follow me, let me take you through my way."
16:44 And so a sinner who wants forgiveness,
16:47 a sinner who sees their need of God
16:50 who has hit rock bottom and they say,
16:52 "You know what, I need a savior."
16:55 How it would work in the Old Testament
16:56 before Christ became that ultimate antitype?
17:02 How it be in the Old Testament
17:04 if you wanted forgiveness, Shelley?
17:06 The closest tent to the sanctuary
17:10 was about a half a mile.
17:11 And they would have to take a lamb, or goat,
17:15 or a dove or of some sort,
17:17 it had to be without spot or blemish.
17:19 They would have to take that live animal
17:22 and they would walk it, that I call it,
17:25 it's not in the Bible, but I call it that,
17:27 it had to been that half mile walk of shame
17:29 'cause you feel shameful.
17:30 Because you're having everyone you can imagine,
17:32 everyone looking and seeing you walk into the sanctuary,
17:35 then people knew all of it,
17:36 there's a sinner, sinner walking, you know.
17:39 And so, you walk and you find yourself
17:41 at the door of the tabernacle.
17:43 We might have a graphic for this
17:45 where you can kind of see, there it is, beautiful.
17:47 Right there you see the door and it's in, of course,
17:50 that point right there at the door.
17:53 The priest would meet the sinner
17:55 at the door of the sanctuary.
17:57 And then you would commence
17:58 to take the life of that animal,
18:01 but before you would take the life of that animal,
18:03 you would pray and confess your sins
18:05 into that animal,
18:07 signifying that now the record of sin
18:10 has went from the sinner to the animal
18:12 and into the animal's blood
18:13 because the Bible says
18:15 that the life of that animal is in the blood.
18:17 So now they would probably take a knife of some sort,
18:21 and he would cut the throat of that animal,
18:23 the blood would spew.
18:25 And then the priestly figure would catch that blood
18:28 and then some type of sins or blood or bold of some sort.
18:32 And then, of course, that blood would be taken
18:35 into the sanctuary.
18:38 But how does this picture God's plan of salvation?
18:41 Absolutely.
18:43 Explain how that is?
18:44 Obviously, that lamb,
18:46 we're just gonna use the lamb for example,
18:47 that lamb would represent
18:49 obviously the Lamb of God
18:50 who takes away the sin of the world, right?
18:52 I think of John 1:29. You know, "Behold!
18:55 The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
18:58 We know that God makes it very clear that
19:00 from the foundation of the world,
19:02 Christ was that lamb.
19:04 Christ became that sacrificial figure
19:08 that would take upon the sins of the world upon Himself
19:10 that we might be saved.
19:12 And so when that person
19:13 was taking the life of that animal
19:15 that was a type of Christ.
19:18 It was to point forward to the ultimate sacrifice
19:21 that Christ would give for all of humanity.
19:23 And by doing that, by going through that act,
19:26 you are humbling yourself to recognize
19:29 that you need a savior.
19:30 So basically, when they came to the...
19:33 to give and let the lamb become their substitute.
19:37 Absolutely.
19:39 Did the altar of burnt offering
19:41 was synonymous with the New Testament,
19:43 the cross of Jesus Christ?
19:44 Absolutely, absolutely.
19:45 So they were at the foot of the cross.
19:48 And we use this word justification,
19:51 but maybe you don't know what that means at home.
19:53 What does justification mean?
19:56 So justification is basically
19:58 God's divine providence upon you,
20:01 it's basically God's favor Him saying,
20:04 "You are declared justified,
20:06 you are pardoned for your sins."
20:08 See and that's, it's a forensic term.
20:11 Oh, absolutely.
20:12 You know, so what happened was, the blood covers your sinning
20:16 and when God looks at your record
20:19 you have accepted Christ as your Savior.
20:21 If you've confessed your sin,
20:23 He looks at your record and there's nothing,
20:25 it's blotted out so He, it is a legal term
20:29 that He declares you pardoned,
20:33 you're acquitted, you are no longer...
20:36 Absolutely.
20:38 Worthy of death. So, okay.
20:40 So in light of the sanctuary, it's interesting
20:42 because once the sinner
20:46 had now confessed their sins into that animal
20:49 and taken that animal's life, they walk away forgiven,
20:52 they walk away their part is finished.
20:56 Now the intercessory figure,
20:58 the priesthood would now carry out the work
21:02 that would need to be done
21:04 in order to deal with the record of that sin,
21:05 and we know Christ is our great intercessor,
21:08 Christ does a work in us.
21:09 Amen.
21:10 And again, as we go through this sanctuary,
21:12 we see that obviously the work in our life
21:15 does not cease at the door,
21:17 although there's a lot of people that believe that
21:18 and I wanna emphasize that strongly.
21:21 A lot of people believe that just by simply saying a prayer
21:23 and saying, oh, Lord, you know, forgive me of my sins,
21:25 I accept, you know, they're at the burnt offering,
21:27 the altar of burnt offering,
21:29 which would signify or represent,
21:31 you know, the cross Christ on the cross,
21:33 as they would place that lamb upon the burnt offering,
21:35 and they would offer it as a sacrifice
21:37 that would serve to represent Christ
21:39 on the cross lifted up high, as He said,
21:42 "If I will draw all men into myself if I be lifted up."
21:45 So Christ is that sacrifice but many people's experience,
21:48 Shelley, stop right there.
21:49 They walk away as the sinner would,
21:52 but the work that God wants to do in you does not start,
21:56 begin and end at the foot of the cross
21:58 or at that particular altar of sacrifice.
22:01 There is a continual, wonderful sanctifying work
22:04 that God wants to continue in our life,
22:06 which is represented by the progressiveness
22:09 of the sanctuary as you continue to go
22:11 all the way through.
22:13 So when we think about that,
22:14 before we jump into and will, don't let me forget,
22:17 we need to explain sanctification.
22:19 But once you,
22:21 when you walk through the door of the sanctuary,
22:23 you see that altar of burnt offering
22:26 that's about halfway between.
22:29 It's out in the courtyard, and it's about halfway
22:32 between the door and then the holy place,
22:35 which the two compartments that were going further,
22:39 but there's also this laver.
22:42 Yes.
22:43 And the laver was made of bronze.
22:45 It was from the mirrors that the women
22:48 had brought out of Egypt.
22:50 I think of that as a reflection pull somewhat,
22:54 and let me explain what I'm saying.
22:57 To me, the laver,
22:58 the priest went daily to wash their hands and feet
23:02 after they'd finish this work before they could,
23:06 you know, they've received the sacrificial blood.
23:09 Before they would go further,
23:11 they would wash their hands and their feet
23:15 and make sure there were no spots on them.
23:17 And, of course, you think of the laver as what,
23:21 it became what was it called,
23:23 the Sea when it was in Solomon's temple.
23:26 The laver represents baptism, but more than baptism,
23:31 and let me say this,
23:33 when these outer court experience
23:36 isn't just a onetime thing
23:38 that you've confessed your sins.
23:40 1 John 1:9.
23:44 1 John 1:9 says that
23:47 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
23:52 to forgive us our sins and," what?
23:55 "To cleanse us of all unrighteousness."
23:58 Right.
23:59 So we see that the altar, this was Jesus the cross.
24:04 But then when we go to the...
24:07 The laver.
24:08 The laver, it's Jesus as our cleanser.
24:11 That's right.
24:13 And it is a daily thing.
24:14 I think, you know, one time I was giving a series
24:18 and I made a comment that, "Oh, I repent daily."
24:21 And this guy came up to me and said,
24:23 it was a non-denominational, all right.
24:25 And he said,
24:26 "Well, you don't understand justification."
24:29 And I said, "Yeah, I do.
24:30 But I also know that I'm not without sin."
24:32 That's right.
24:34 So this was and is the first phase
24:38 before you go forward into the holy place,
24:43 which is we'll talk about that sanctification.
24:47 Let me say this so I don't forget.
24:49 Sure.
24:51 Sometimes, people as you said,
24:54 think that they can walk to the altar and turn around,
24:57 go to the cross and turn around and live like the devil.
25:00 Sure.
25:02 That's not God's plan.
25:03 First phase is justification.
25:05 The second phase was pictured in the holy place,
25:09 and we'll talk about those items.
25:11 But sanctification,
25:13 Jesus came not just to cleanse us of sin,
25:17 but to separate us from sin.
25:19 That's right.
25:20 And that's what sanctification is to separation from sin.
25:24 And it's a lifelong process. It takes time.
25:27 So let's talk about those articles,
25:29 start with the table of showbread.
25:31 Absolutely, well, I want to back up
25:33 just real quick with that laver.
25:34 You know, it's interesting with the laver.
25:35 You can imagine that as again, you know, and by the way
25:39 for scriptural reference for those at home,
25:41 you can go read Exodus Chapter 26,
25:44 all the way through to about the first 11 verses
25:47 of Chapter 31 of Exodus.
25:49 And you have a very detailed diagnostic breakdown
25:52 of God giving Moses and Aaron
25:54 the detailed breakdown of the sanctuary.
25:57 Each article of furniture is explained,
25:59 what they are to do with it.
26:00 And I can imagine
26:02 because that laver was there in the courtyard,
26:04 that, you know, they did two offerings,
26:06 the priesthood will do two offerings a day
26:08 for Israel, and for the people
26:10 one in the morning, one at twilight in the evening.
26:12 And so and then, of course,
26:13 not counting all the other sacrifices
26:15 that were given throughout the day,
26:17 of course, that's why it's called the daily work.
26:20 This everything that was done
26:21 in the courtyard and in the holy place
26:23 was a daily work done by the priesthood.
26:26 And so as they've just dealt with that the bloodiness
26:29 of that altar scene, that burnt offering scene,
26:32 now they're gonna go to the laver
26:33 and you can imagine all throughout the day
26:35 them washing their hands and their feet,
26:37 and you could probably go to that laver
26:39 and look down into that laver
26:41 and you would see kind of a bloody ready watery mixture.
26:45 And it reminds me
26:46 of when Christ was on the cross.
26:48 Amen.
26:49 You know, what did they do after He died?
26:51 They stuck Him, and pierced Him,
26:52 and what came out?
26:53 Blood and water.
26:55 I think that it signifies the cleansing work
26:57 that Christ had done for us on the cross.
27:00 It all points to the cross.
27:02 And we're gonna get to that in just a few moments
27:04 to emphasize that if you do not have
27:07 that cross experience,
27:08 if you do not take time to dwell in the courtyard,
27:12 everything else really is not gonna make sense.
27:16 But once you've had that courtyard experience,
27:18 and you go into the holy place,
27:21 now you're in that sanctifying process
27:24 where God is now taking time with you,
27:27 to teach you more about Him,
27:29 to show you more of His character,
27:32 to open up to you more of who He really is.
27:35 And so He might take a stop at the showbread
27:38 because the showbread
27:39 as the priest would eat of it daily,
27:41 as we are to eat
27:43 of the Word of God, daily again,
27:45 "Man shall not live by bread alone."
27:46 That's Matthew 4:4.
27:49 So Matthew 4:4 says that,
27:52 "Man shall not eat by bread alone
27:54 or man shall not live by bread alone,
27:55 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
27:58 The table of showbread represents a daily work
28:01 that must be done in us each and every day
28:04 as we dwell upon God's Word
28:06 as we spend time with Him in His word,
28:08 as we come to know Him.
28:10 He is the bread of life, Shelley.
28:12 Amen.
28:13 And I find every single day that if I do not take time,
28:17 devotional time set aside for the Word of God,
28:20 to eat of His word,
28:21 and just spend time with Him and His Word.
28:23 I can feel it, you know,
28:24 emotionally, physically, spiritually within me
28:27 because there is as the Bible says,
28:29 "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word."
28:31 Amen.
28:32 Where our faith is built on Christ
28:34 more and more as we dwell upon His Word.
28:36 And so, just as that priesthood would eat of the table
28:40 or eat of the showbread that was on that table daily,
28:42 we must also eat of the Word of God,
28:45 we must also take in Christ and His Word
28:47 each and every day.
28:48 So Jesus said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life.
28:51 Whoever eats of Me,
28:54 or takes in Me will never hunger."
28:56 You know, when you think about it,
28:58 God's Word is filled with so many promises.
29:01 2 Corinthians 1:20 says that,
29:04 "All of His promises find there Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus."
29:09 But if these words are not in your heart,
29:13 if you're not returning them in prayer,
29:16 these promises are inoperative...
29:17 Oh, absolutely.
29:19 Until you put them, so there is this personal need
29:23 of daily Bible study.
29:26 And when you look at the seven-branched candlestick,
29:30 when Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.
29:33 Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness."
29:37 Was that John 8:12? I think it is.
29:39 But he said or that when you look at that,
29:45 those candlesticks,
29:48 this is in the form of the tree,
29:49 these seven-branched like the Tree of Life.
29:51 Right.
29:53 They're filled with oil and the light never went out
29:55 because it represented,
29:58 this was the light that lit up the holy place
30:02 which was your first compartment
30:04 and it represented God's presence
30:06 because God says,
30:07 "I'll never leave you or forsake you."
30:10 But that oil we see in Zachariah,
30:13 the oil represents the Holy Spirit.
30:17 So the priest would fill the oil daily in each one
30:22 of these never extinguishing all at once,
30:25 but would cleanse and fill and that is us
30:29 needing to come before the Lord day by day
30:32 and asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
30:35 That's right. Absolutely.
30:36 In fact, if you go to Exodus Chapter 30,
30:39 I believe it is.
30:41 Exodus Chapter 30,
30:42 I believe gives us an insight
30:44 on what God expected of the priesthood
30:47 as they were working
30:48 in the holy place on a daily basis
30:50 while the priests were refilling the oil,
30:53 they were also, now get this,
30:55 notice how this goes back to the courtyard.
30:57 They would go and take a shovel.
31:00 Some type of shovel or censer of some kind,
31:03 and they would go out
31:04 and they would scoop some of the coals
31:05 from the burnt, the altar of burnt sacrifice.
31:09 They would take some of those hot coals
31:10 and they would bring it back into the holy place.
31:13 And they would place it up on the altar of incense
31:16 and they were to grind down to a powder,
31:19 certain special spices.
31:20 And they were to offer that powder upon those coals,
31:24 which is on the altar of incense,
31:26 which again was to be done in simultaneous
31:29 with this refilling of the oil at
31:33 the seven-branched candlestick.
31:35 Now what does that say to us?
31:36 First of all, what does that say
31:38 about the ministry of Christ and who Christ is?
31:40 Because remember, Christ, He says,
31:41 "I am the way and the way is found in the sanctuary."
31:44 So obviously, Christ said, "I am the light of the world."
31:47 So when you're looking at that seven-branched candlestick,
31:50 it's a representation of the light
31:52 that Christ brought to us
31:54 by the power of the Holy Spirit.
31:56 Back to the Holy Spirit,
31:57 God's work through the Holy Spirit
31:59 showing us who Christ is.
32:01 You can go read John Chapter 14 and John Chapter 16.
32:04 It tells us the significance of the work
32:06 of the Holy Spirit in our life.
32:07 That fire, Shelley,
32:09 that light would not have burned,
32:11 it would not have shown if the oil wasn't there.
32:14 And I have to say this
32:15 because when you think about the altar of burnt offering
32:19 at the courtyard, men never lit that fire.
32:22 Right.
32:23 You know, that was, it was divinely lit,
32:26 when they were dedicating the temple
32:29 and fire from heaven fell and it never went out.
32:33 They carried that fire
32:35 'cause this was the portable tabernacle.
32:37 So they carried that fire in a fire pot
32:40 because this is showing only God can forgive sins,
32:44 man cannot forgive sins.
32:46 So this was a divine flame.
32:49 That's exciting to me.
32:50 Amen. Absolutely.
32:52 And so, you know, I could just imagine that,
32:54 you know, the tabernacle was a busy place.
32:57 Then those priests were abuzz all the time
32:59 doing the work of God as it was their time to serve.
33:03 And, you know, you go into that holy place
33:05 and you see this fire burning
33:06 and you recognize that the oil is present there
33:09 and the fire is burning,
33:10 the work of the Holy Spirit in our life.
33:12 Jesus even said right here in John, excuse me,
33:14 Matthew Chapter 5 beginning with verse 14 here,
33:19 so Matthew 5:14, of course,
33:22 this is Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount.
33:24 And, of course, He has already said that,
33:27 you know, "We are the salt of the earth."
33:29 But notice what He says in verse 14,
33:31 "You are the light of the world.
33:32 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
33:34 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket,
33:37 but on," notice, "a lampstand, and it gives a light
33:40 to all who are in the house."
33:42 So again, the ministry of the Holy Spirit,
33:45 and the light and the righteousness of Christ
33:47 should be reflected within us.
33:49 Amen.
33:50 So as we are eating of that of God's Word daily,
33:53 as we are communicating with the Lord
33:55 and the incense of our prayers
33:57 are going to the Lord each and every day.
33:59 There's a third stool,
34:01 there's a third leg to that stool
34:03 that we should add to our daily experience.
34:05 And that is letting our light shine,
34:07 being a witness for God.
34:09 In fact, another text that comes to my mind,
34:11 dealing with this same aspect is Acts 1:8,
34:15 where Jesus says that,
34:18 "When the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
34:20 you shall be a witness unto Me unto all the earth."
34:25 And so, when we look inside that holy place,
34:28 if you are having a holy place experience in your life,
34:33 God is taking you through this sanctifying process,
34:36 where He's showing you who you are,
34:38 at the same time showing you who He is.
34:41 And, you know what?
34:42 We all might have a conversion experience
34:43 if we spent more time with God and His Word.
34:45 If we spent more time in prayer,
34:47 if we spent more time sharing the goodness of God
34:50 and allowing the work
34:51 of the Holy Spirit to change us.
34:53 We might actually have a conversion experience
34:54 much like unto Isaiah,
34:56 where he saw God beholding the stone,
34:58 he saw God's righteousness.
35:00 He saw his own unrighteousness.
35:02 And then he again, that sanctifying process,
35:04 he began to confess, he began to repent.
35:06 And again, the coal that angel brought
35:09 and put upon his lips,
35:11 he was cleansed through that sanctifying process
35:14 that we find there in the holy place.
35:16 Okay, so we're gonna hit the pause button
35:18 'cause we wanna get to the altar of incense as well
35:21 that's in the holy place.
35:22 Right.
35:24 The thing I don't wanna forget to say, of course,
35:27 Luke 11:9-13.
35:29 Luke 11:9-13, is where Jesus said,
35:34 "Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find,
35:36 knock and the door will be open."
35:38 And it is in the Greek.
35:43 It's in a linear verb, that's in a continuing process.
35:48 So Jesus was saying, keep on asking,
35:52 keep on seeking, keep on knocking.
35:54 Absolutely.
35:55 But then in verse 13,
35:57 He lets us know what we're asking for.
35:59 He says, "If you being evil know how to give good gifts
36:02 to your children,
36:04 how much more will the Heavenly Father
36:07 give the Holy Spirit
36:08 to those who ask and keep on asking?"
36:11 So it's a daily experience.
36:13 But here's what I wanna say 'cause our time just,
36:16 and we wanna get to prayer,
36:18 but was anyone able
36:23 to go from the door
36:27 and jump right into the holy place?
36:29 Oh, absolutely not.
36:31 See, and the thing that I wanna say is,
36:34 sometimes I will watch a documentary.
36:38 And I actually had a lady
36:40 who was coming to a series of meetings that I was doing,
36:43 who had a Th.D., a doctorate in theology.
36:48 And this woman had never had a courtyard experience.
36:54 She'd spent all of these years in school.
36:57 She felt like she was...
36:59 and she was eating of the word.
37:02 And I know she prayed,
37:05 you know, at the altar of incense.
37:07 I know she was a woman who prayed.
37:12 She was mean spirited,
37:15 and never had given her heart to the Lord.
37:18 So when we titled this program,
37:23 The Courtyard Experience,
37:26 what we're saying is, that's the beginning of it all.
37:30 That's right.
37:31 And it's not a onetime thing.
37:32 It's a daily as we approach the Lord.
37:35 We begin with asking Him for the gift of repentance.
37:40 Acts 5:30, that we're asking Him
37:43 for the gift of repentance.
37:45 That's right. Absolutely. Go ahead.
37:47 You know, I think of, you know,
37:49 many people may be listening to this message right now
37:51 and saying, you know,
37:53 courtyard experience is great,
37:54 but Ryan, our ultimate goal is to have a holy place
37:57 where our most holy place experience
37:59 and we certainly are,
38:01 if we're talking about present truth,
38:02 we know that right now present truth would be talking
38:05 about what is Christ doing right now for us
38:07 in the Most Holy Place?
38:09 He is doing an intercessory work.
38:10 And we certainly don't want to diminish the message
38:13 of the Most Holy Place
38:14 or the message of the holy place.
38:16 But, you know, I think the emphasis
38:18 that we're trying to make here,
38:19 at least for myself here, I wanna be very clear,
38:21 is that you must,
38:22 you have to go through the courtyard
38:25 before you get to the holy place
38:26 before you get into them.
38:28 That having a holy, as you just mentioned,
38:30 having a holy place experience
38:32 or trying to leap from the door
38:34 into the Most Holy Place
38:35 without having stopped in the courtyard
38:37 to have that experience to, again,
38:39 set at the foot of the cross and behold,
38:41 what transpired at Calvary, my friends,
38:43 you're doing yourself a major disservice
38:45 because everything that you see happening in the sanctuary work
38:50 from the courtyard into the holy place
38:52 into the Most Holy Place,
38:53 all is somehow interconnected to what is happening
38:57 at that altar of burnt sacrifice.
38:59 What is happening on that altar
39:02 as the Lamb of God is being offered up?
39:04 And so, you know, I think somebody may be saying,
39:06 "Yeah, but that's milk,
39:08 of course, we want the steak and potatoes,
39:10 you know, that's milk, that's the milk of the gospel."
39:13 But yet even Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18.
39:17 So again, 1 Corinthians 1:18.
39:19 I love this scripture 'cause it's so true, Paul says,
39:22 "For the message of the cross is foolishness
39:25 to those who are perishing,
39:27 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
39:32 And it is interesting because when you think
39:35 of a Most Holy Place experience, Shelley.
39:38 Most people think of the Day of Atonement
39:40 where they think of,
39:42 you know, this great judgment work
39:44 that has been done the holiest day
39:45 on the Hebrew calendar,
39:47 Yom Kippur, where...
39:49 Where the high priest entered into the Most Holy Place
39:51 only once a year, it wasn't daily.
39:53 Absolutely, but it was most definitely
39:56 the holiest day on the calendar
39:58 where all of Israel sins,
40:00 any sins that had been taken
40:02 into the sanctuary throughout the year,
40:04 the record was wiped clean.
40:06 God dealt with that record of sin.
40:08 It was a powerful Day of Judgment.
40:11 And so we don't want to diminish
40:13 the fact that it is,
40:14 it was most definitely a powerful work.
40:16 And it was, and still is a most powerful message
40:19 within that Day of Atonement.
40:21 But it's interesting that the high priest
40:23 could not approach God's presence
40:26 in the Most Holy Place,
40:28 unless there was a work done at the altar first.
40:31 In fact, you can go to the Leviticus Chapter 16.
40:33 Let's go there real quick. Leviticus Chapter 16.
40:35 I wanna emphasize this, this is powerful.
40:38 So most people think, you know,
40:40 I'll just go into the Most Holy Place
40:42 where the God's presence is,
40:43 where the Ark of the Covenant is.
40:45 I'll focus on God's holy law.
40:46 I'll preach the commandments, live the commandments,
40:48 breathe the commandments, teach the commandments,
40:50 and all of that stuff is great,
40:51 but if you have not had a cross experience,
40:55 all of that's in vain.
40:57 Notice this, Leviticus Chapter 16.
40:58 So this is obviously going to be entitled
41:00 The Day of Atonement.
41:02 This is where God gives all of the great details pertaining
41:04 to what Moses and Aaron or the high priests
41:07 where this was pertaining to Aaron's work,
41:08 what he had to do to prepare to enter God's presence
41:12 in the Most Holy Place.
41:13 Notice I'm gonna, so in verses 1-2,
41:15 he's basically telling...
41:17 Leviticus 16:1-2?
41:18 Leviticus 16:1-2,
41:20 you'll see there that he's telling Aaron,
41:22 basically, that they're not just to come in
41:24 just any old time that this had to be very done
41:27 in a very specific way.
41:29 But notice, starting with verse 3,
41:30 so this is Leviticus 16:3,
41:33 and we're gonna read through these opening verses here,
41:34 powerful.
41:36 Notice the author's work here
41:38 that the presence of the altar in this work
41:40 from the burnt offering in the courtyard.
41:42 So it says here,
41:44 "Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy place," notice,
41:46 "with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering,
41:50 and of a ram as a," notice, "burnt offering."
41:53 So before he was to enter into the Most Holy Place,
41:56 there had to been some type of sin offering,
41:58 some type of burnt offering.
42:00 He continues on to describe it in verse 4-5 and onward.
42:04 He says, "He shall put the holy linen tunic
42:07 and the linen trousers on his body,
42:10 he shall be girded with a linen sash,
42:12 and with the linen turban he shall be attired."
42:14 But notice this last part, "These are the holy garments.
42:17 Therefore," notice,
42:18 "he shall wash his body in water,
42:21 and put them on."
42:23 There's the laver. Yeah.
42:24 So before coming into the tabernacle itself
42:26 and before going past that veil into the Most Holy Place,
42:30 did Aaron the high priest
42:31 have to have a courtyard experience?
42:33 Absolutely.
42:34 He had to have that burnt offering,
42:35 that sin offering already prepared,
42:37 and he also had to cleanse himself,
42:39 wash himself at the laver before entering in.
42:42 And again, this is all on the Day of Atonement.
42:44 Notice verse 5,
42:46 "And he shall take from the congregation
42:47 of the children of Israel two kids of the goats
42:50 as a sin offering,
42:51 and one ram as a burnt offering."
42:53 So notice how we keep going back
42:55 to that altar of burnt offering.
42:57 Verse 6, "Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering,
42:59 which is for himself,
43:01 and make atonement for himself and for his house.
43:04 He shall take the two goats
43:05 and present them before the Lord
43:06 at the door of the tabernacle of the meeting."
43:10 Notice verse 9.
43:11 "And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell,"
43:14 so these two goats,
43:16 "and offer it as a sin offering."
43:18 Where he's gonna offer it as a sin offering?
43:19 Yeah.
43:21 Right back at that altar,
43:22 so notice how significant and powerful
43:25 the message of that altar of burnt offering is,
43:28 and how important it was for the judgment work
43:31 that was to be done on the Day of Atonement.
43:33 Aaron could not even approach and this was the high priest,
43:37 you know, this is someone whom someone would say,
43:40 "oh, Aaron's he's God's chosen high priest."
43:42 He's already had a courtyard experience.
43:45 He's already had his holy place,
43:47 sanctifying experience.
43:48 So he's now rep ready and prepared and prepped
43:51 to go into the very presence of God.
43:53 He doesn't need to revisit the courtyard,
43:56 but that's exactly what God was telling him,
43:58 before you come into My presence,
43:59 I need you to go back to the cross.
44:02 I need you to sacrifice self.
44:03 Absolutely.
44:05 And I'm thinking our time is just quickly slipping away.
44:09 Yeah.
44:10 And I wanted to point something out.
44:12 When we're talking about Jesus as the Lamb of God,
44:16 Revelation 13:8 says,
44:19 that's Revelation 13:8
44:21 that Jesus was the Lamb of God who was slain
44:26 from the foundations of the earth.
44:28 That is the everlasting gospel.
44:30 That's right.
44:31 That's the everlasting gospel of the Revelation 14,
44:34 the three angels' messages.
44:36 So the lamb being slain is present truth.
44:41 Absolutely.
44:42 And when you look at Revelation Chapter 5,
44:45 when it's talking about the lamb,
44:47 taking the scroll,
44:49 I'm gonna begin with verse 5, John,
44:51 there's a scroll that's got seven seals on it,
44:54 and they can't find anybody worthy of opening it.
44:57 And he says,
44:58 but one of the elders said to me,
45:00 this is Revelation 5:5, "Do not weep.
45:02 Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
45:06 the Root of David,
45:07 has prevailed to open the scroll
45:10 and to loose its seven seals."
45:12 So here he is calling him the lion.
45:17 But then verse 6, he says,
45:18 "I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne
45:23 and of the four living creatures,
45:25 in the midst of the elders, stood," what?
45:28 A Lamb.
45:29 "A Lamb as though it had been slain,
45:33 having seven horns,"
45:35 seven is the number of perfection,
45:36 horn was authority,
45:38 so this is perfect authority,
45:40 "having seven eyes being all seen,
45:42 and the seven Spirits of God
45:44 the seven fold ministry of the Holy Spirit
45:48 sent out into all the earth."
45:49 Now what I wanna point out, all through Scripture,
45:53 the word used, I mean, in John said,
45:57 "Behold, the Lamb of God
45:58 who takes away the sins of the earth."
46:00 Yes.
46:02 The word used for lamb in the Greek
46:05 is completely different than what is used the word lamb
46:11 in Revelation 29 times the word
46:16 is a lambkin L-I-M-B-K-I-N
46:20 a little baby pet.
46:23 That's right.
46:26 When, let's look at Exodus Chapter 12.
46:29 And I'm gonna let you elucidate on this.
46:31 Yeah.
46:33 But Exodus Chapter 12.
46:37 When the Passover lamb was,
46:40 each family had to give up the Passover lamb
46:44 or slay the Passover lamb.
46:49 This wasn't just,
46:50 "Oh, honey, go pick up a spotless lamb
46:52 out of the herd and go ahead and take him down."
46:57 God made them bring that little lamb
47:01 into their house.
47:02 Read Exodus 12.
47:03 Yeah, Exodus Chapter 12, let's begin with verse 3.
47:06 Of course, this is the initiation
47:09 of the Passover.
47:11 And so we see here it says,
47:12 again, Exodus 12:3
47:15 and we're gonna read through verse 6 here.
47:17 It says, "Speak to all the congregation of Israel,
47:19 saying, 'On the tenth of this month
47:21 every man shall take for himself a lamb,
47:24 according to the house of his father,
47:26 a lamb for a household."
47:29 And verse 4 says,
47:30 "And if the household is too small for the lamb,
47:32 let him and his neighbor next to his house
47:34 take it according to the number of the persons
47:36 according to each man's need
47:38 and shall make your account for the lamb."
47:40 So there's one lamb for the entire household,
47:42 but you notice verses 5 and 6,
47:44 "Your lamb shall be without blemish,
47:45 a male of the first year."
47:47 So there's that lambkin aspect, it was a baby lamb.
47:51 "You shall take it from the sheep
47:52 and from the goats."
47:54 Now notice verse 6,
47:55 this is where it really starts to come alive here.
47:57 "Now you shall keep it
47:59 until the fourteenth day of the same month.
48:02 Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel
48:05 shall kill it at twilight."
48:07 And so if you read these verses carefully,
48:09 he says, you're gonna go out on the tenth day of the month.
48:12 Get the lamp. And you're gonna get that lamb.
48:14 The baby lamb.
48:15 But you don't kill it
48:17 until twilight on the fourteenth day.
48:19 Now if you do your math correctly,
48:21 that's about three and a half days.
48:24 Which is exactly the same amount of time,
48:27 you know, in comparison to Christ ministry,
48:29 Christ was the Lamb of God
48:31 and His ministry was three and a half years.
48:34 But the thing that you have to think about is here
48:38 is when Jesus is personal to us.
48:41 That's right.
48:42 You know, the first time you go
48:43 through the courtyard experience,
48:45 He's your Passover lamb. That's right.
48:46 I mean, that's that justification.
48:48 And then we go beyond that on a daily basis
48:51 that we were confessing and repenting,
48:54 but when they brought that cute little baby lamb
48:58 in their house for three and half days.
49:00 Oh, I could imagine.
49:01 Oh, don't you know they just loved.
49:03 I love little lambs.
49:04 The kids you can imagine, the kids were playing with it.
49:07 They would feed it, they would water it,
49:09 they would pet it for three and half days.
49:11 Their parents would say don't give it a name.
49:14 But because they, but it's inevitable.
49:15 Yeah.
49:17 Fourteenth day at twilight, they're gonna,
49:18 the father of the household, the men of the household
49:21 would take that walk of shame
49:22 with that little baby pet lamb.
49:25 And he would confess the sins of himself and his household
49:30 into that little baby lamb lifeless there just,
49:33 again, not even fighting.
49:35 And then he would take the life of that lamb,
49:37 you know, Christ, He is the lamb.
49:40 He is the perfect little baby, pet lamb.
49:44 And there's no doubt in my mind,
49:45 the reason why God starts
49:47 at the altar of burnt sacrifice,
49:50 is he wants us to have a personal,
49:53 heartfelt experience at the foot of the cross.
49:56 And if you look back at that graphic,
49:58 there's a graphic we had of an aerial view.
50:01 If you trace around all those articles
50:03 of furniture in...
50:05 There it is.
50:06 It makes a cross, Shelley. Yeah.
50:07 And what is at the foot of that cross?
50:10 It's the altar of burnt offering.
50:12 There's no doubt that God wanted us
50:14 to start there with the sanctuary
50:16 so we could have a heartfelt experience,
50:21 looking and beholding at the foot of the cross.
50:23 So let's leave that up for just a second.
50:25 Let me put how I'm gonna ask control.
50:26 Okay, so that outer courtyard where the altar is,
50:31 the laver is, this is the justification process.
50:36 But day by day we sin, so day by day we need to go
50:38 through that repentance and be cleansed of sin.
50:41 And then the progression is into sanctification,
50:44 our separation from sin,
50:46 and that's by reading the Word of God
50:48 by having the light of Jesus,
50:52 light our path and having the oil
50:55 of the Holy Spirit in us.
50:56 And then those prayers
50:58 that are sending from the altar of incense
51:01 that's sanctification separation from sin.
51:04 But that third process,
51:06 that third step into the Holy of Holies
51:11 when the veil, when Jesus was crucified,
51:16 the veil was ripped from the top to the bottom.
51:20 To the bottom.
51:21 And He is the new in living way into the Holy of Holies.
51:25 That's right.
51:26 We have access to God through Him.
51:28 That's right.
51:29 In Hebrews 7:25,
51:31 "He is able to save to the uttermost
51:33 because He lives to intercede for us."
51:36 But the whole point that we are trying to make
51:42 is that you can't jump into a sanctification process.
51:46 You can know the 2300 day prophecy,
51:50 you can know all of this and be out preaching it.
51:54 But if you haven't had a courtyard experience,
51:58 you are not saved,
51:59 you are just like a clanging cymbal.
52:03 That's right.
52:05 So God knows there was a process.
52:07 He drew this out in the shape of the cross.
52:10 And thy way is in the sanctuary, O God.
52:15 That's right. Praise God.
52:17 Amen.
52:18 Our time's just nearly gone.
52:20 We're going to take a quick break,
52:21 go to a news break
52:23 and we'll come back for a closing thought.


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Revised 2019-11-12