Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: 11POFCM
Program Code: 11POFCM000021
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00:48 Well praise the Lord. We now have an opportunity to
00:51 study another wonderful topic from God's Word, 00:55 and during this hour we have Pastor Stephen Bohr. 00:59 We continue with the blessing in the study of God's Word. 01:02 And if you know Pastor Bohr from watching 3ABN 01:06 you will notice that he studies his Bible in depth. Amen? 01:11 Amen. So he's going to take us through a study of a topic 01:15 that is of great importance for all the Christian world. 01:20 It's a topic that is not very well understood by many. 01:24 And Pastor Bohr has even written some material on this. 01:28 And the people that are here have the opportunity 01:30 to go see that material. 01:32 So that's another reason why we say 01:34 "you should come to 3ABN Camp Meeting! " 01:37 Not only do you get to see the speakers 01:39 but you also get to speak to the speakers in person. 01:42 Amen? Amen. 01:44 How many of you have been blessed during this 01:46 Camp Meeting? Praise the Lord, every hand went up. 01:49 Praise the Lord for that. 01:51 During this hour we have a message entitled 01:54 Christ's Ministry in the Sanctuary. 01:58 Christ's Ministry in the Sanctuary. 02:01 Pastor Stephen Bohr has been serving the Lord 02:04 as a pastor for over 30 years. 02:06 He has been a professor in theology. 02:10 He has also been an evangelist, 02:12 and he currently is the Speaker/ Director of Secrets Unsealed. 02:17 But that's not all... he's very busy. 02:21 He also serves as the pastor of the Fresno Central church 02:26 in California. And they're very loving and caring there. 02:31 I was there for a weekend once and it's a wonderful church. 02:35 And Pastor Bohr one time told me: "They're very good to me. 02:39 I've been here for many years and they still haven't 02:41 thrown me out. " 02:43 It's because they appreciate what God does 02:46 through his ministry. 02:47 And I believe you will as well as you study with him 02:52 during this hour. Before we continue in this study 02:55 we would like to invite you to pray. 02:57 And if you wouldn't mind standing with me... 03:01 We ask those joining us by radio and television 03:04 to join us in prayer, 03:05 and we're going to ask for the Lord's blessing. 03:08 Let us pray together. 03:10 Our loving heavenly Father, 03:13 we thank you, Lord, for Your goodness and Your mercy. 03:18 We thank you, Lord, for bringing Pastor Bohr 03:21 to direct us in this study. 03:24 But we know, Lord, that even though he has studied 03:27 the scriptures for many, many years 03:31 from knowing him, he relies totally on You. 03:36 So we pray for Your Holy Spirit to once again use him 03:39 in a mighty way to bring us the message You have for us 03:43 through him. And we pray that You will be with us. 03:46 Help us to understand this message 03:49 and help us, Father, to share with others as well. 03:52 We ask for Your blessing in his ministry as he preaches 03:57 and we pray for Your blessing as well 04:00 in the music that we will hear. 04:02 We pray that it would draw us close to You. 04:05 We ask you, Father, for these blessings in Jesus' name, 04:08 Amen. Amen. 04:10 You may be seated. It is my pleasure once again 04:13 to introduce to you the music that will 04:19 lead us to God's throne of grace. 04:21 And it's a beautiful song from last year's Pillars CD... 04:25 or the year before. 04:26 And Reggie and Ladye Love Smith will be sharing 04:29 In The Sanctuary. Amen? Amen! Amen. 04:32 Afterward you will hear Pastor Bohr 04:35 bringing us the message: 04:36 Christ's Ministry in the Sanctuary. May God bless you. 10:02 Amen. 10:15 Very meaningful words. Amen. 10:20 Don't you love the music that was composed 10:22 for the first Pillars? Amen. 10:24 Praise the Lord! 10:26 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 10:28 Our Father and our God, we are going to study 10:33 the foundational truth that has made us what we are as a people. 10:40 And we just ask that the Holy Spirit 10:42 through the ministration of Your angels 10:45 will be present in this place 10:48 to give us understanding 10:50 not only intellectually but also experientially 10:55 that we might experience salvation 10:58 as it is revealed in the sanctuary. 11:00 We thank you, Father, for the privilege of approaching 11:04 Your throne with the assurance that You hear us. 11:07 And we know that You will answer this prayer 11:10 because we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, 11:13 Amen. Amen. 11:18 At the General Conference session last year 11:22 we head an impassioned plea 11:25 by our new General Conference president, Elder Ted Wilson, 11:31 in a kind and yet firm tone. 11:36 He spoke about the unique relevance 11:40 of the Seventh-day Adventist church 11:42 and the dangers of losing our self-identity. 11:50 Why does the Seventh-day Adventist church exist? 11:55 What makes us unique? 11:58 Should we be preaching what other churches are preaching 12:04 or do we have a distinctively- unique message for this time? 12:11 Amen. I believe the answer to these questions is found 12:16 in an understanding of the ministration of Christ 12:21 in the sanctuary. 12:23 In fact, we find in the book Counsels to the Church 12:27 page 347 written by Ellen White 12:31 these very significant words: 12:34 "The correct understanding... " 12:37 notice the correct understanding - 12:40 "of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary 12:45 is the foundation of our faith. " 12:50 Now as we look at the sanctuary 12:53 I believe that the sanctuary reveals five stages 12:57 in the work of Christ for our salvation. 13:01 The first stage takes place in the camp. 13:05 We usually begin our study of the sanctuary 13:08 in the court, but the sanctuary begins in the camp 13:12 where sinners are. 13:14 Needy sinners. 13:17 And so Jesus came to this earth and He came to dwell among us 13:22 and to face all of our temptations 13:26 and all of our trials... and never to sin, not even once. 13:31 Because Jesus not only came to live with us 13:36 Jesus came to live for us. 13:39 He came to live in our place. 13:43 He came to live the life that we should live. 13:47 You see, the law of God demands absolute perfection. 13:51 You cannot deviate from the law - 13:54 which is a reflection of the character of God - one iota. 13:58 Amen. And none of us can offer the law that perfection. 14:01 And so we needed Jesus to come to this earth 14:05 to live the perfect life that God requires from us. 14:10 And then, of course, we move into the second part 14:12 of the sanctuary which is the court. 14:15 In the court we find the main piece of furniture: 14:19 the altar of sacrifice. 14:21 That is where Jesus died for us. 14:26 You see, it wasn't sufficient for Jesus to live the life 14:29 we should live because the law also condemns us to death 14:32 because we're all sinners. 14:34 And so somebody had to come and pay the penalty for our sins. 14:38 And so at the altar of sacrifice in the court 14:42 Jesus dies... 14:45 paying the penalty for every person who has ever lived 14:47 on planet earth. The work that Jesus did 14:50 in the camp and in the court is corporate. 14:53 In other words, it was done for every person 14:56 who has ever lived on planet earth. 14:59 He lived His life for all 15:02 and He died His death for all. Amen! 15:06 And then He resurrected at the laver. 15:09 It's called the laver of regeneration 15:12 in Titus chapter 3 and verse 5. 15:16 And then He enters upon the third stage of His work 15:20 of salvation which takes place in the Holy Place 15:25 of the heavenly sanctuary. 15:26 There Jesus applies the benefits of His earthly work 15:32 to people who come to Him in repentance... 15:36 confessing their sins and trusting in His merits. 15:40 You see, the resources are there, 15:43 but the resources must be individually claimed. 15:47 On earth Jesus gained the benefits of salvation: 15:51 a perfect life and a death for sin. 15:53 But those must be personally and individually claimed 15:57 in order for us to benefit from what Jesus did. 16:00 And so in the Holy Place Jesus receives prayers 16:05 of repentant sinners who confess their sins 16:09 and say: "Jesus, I trust Your merits. I trust in Your life. 16:14 I trust that You can take Your life and Your death 16:17 and put them to my account. Thank you, Jesus. 16:19 Please accept me. " 16:22 And Jesus then takes His perfect life 16:25 and He takes His death for sins 16:27 and He places them to my account. 16:29 And God looks upon me as if I had never sinned. 16:34 That's the work that Jesus performs in the Holy Place. 16:38 And so our sins enter the sanctuary 16:42 through the blood of Jesus. 16:44 And some people say: "Well that's a threat 16:46 to our salvation for if our sins enter the sanctuary 16:49 and they're written in the sanctuary 16:51 they're against us. " 16:53 I beg to differ. 16:55 You see, if your sins do not enter into the sanctuary 16:59 by the blood of Jesus they are here! 17:02 You don't have to worry about your sins being in the sanctuary 17:06 as long as they enter the sanctuary through the blood 17:08 of Jesus. Amen! What is written in heaven 17:11 is forgiven sins! 17:14 They are not sins that will be held against you. 17:17 But nevertheless, our sins are recorded in the books. 17:22 And next to the books is written when we confess our sins 17:25 when we repent, when we come to Jesus and trust in His merits 17:29 next to those sins Jesus writes FORGIVEN. 17:33 Amen. 17:35 And then of course we have the 4th phase of the work of Jesus, 17:39 and this is where the Seventh-day Adventist church 17:42 is unique. 17:44 You see, we believe that all of those sins 17:48 that have entered the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus 17:51 must be cleansed from the sanctuary. 17:54 And that takes place during the Day of Atonement. 17:57 The purpose of a Day of Atonement - as we are going to 18:00 see - is to reveal before the universe who was a true believer 18:05 and who was not. 18:08 In other words, the purpose of opening up the books 18:11 and revealing the records is to show 18:13 who truly repented, who truly confessed sin, 18:17 and who truly trusted in the merits of Jesus 18:20 which is shown by a changed life. 18:24 And once the sanctuary is cleansed from all forgiven sins 18:29 they are placed on the head of the scapegoat: Azazel. 18:34 And then Jesus changes His garments 18:38 from his High Priestly-garments to His Kingly robes 18:42 and He returns to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 18:47 And that is stage number five. 18:51 I once had somebody say to me 18:53 "Pastor Bohr, 18:56 true Ellen White said that Jesus is going to change His garments 18:59 from His High-Priestly garments to His Kingly garments. 19:02 Where do you find that in the Bible? " 19:07 And I looked at him - I knew that his question was not 19:10 a sincere question... it was a loaded question 19:14 because he didn't believe in the writings of Ellen White - 19:17 and so I looked at him and in my normal, diplomatic way 19:25 I said: "If you just use a little of the gray matter 19:29 that God has given you, 19:33 you would be able to figure it out. " 19:36 And he looked at me with surprise. And I said: 19:40 "Let me tell you where it is in the Bible. 19:44 How is Jesus clothed today? " 19:47 He says: "Well, He's serving as High Priest 19:50 so He's clothed as a High Priest. " 19:52 I said: "Good answer. " 19:54 I said: "When Jesus comes again, how is He clothed? " 19:59 Oh, now he knew he was up a creek without a paddle. 20:03 Says: "Well, in Revelation 19 it says that He comes clothed as 20:07 King of Kings and Lord of Lords. " 20:09 So I said: "The inevitable conclusion is that before 20:12 He came He changed! " 20:20 It's simple! 20:23 What Ellen White says is found in scripture if you look 20:26 hard enough. 20:28 The trouble is we are lazy Bible students. 20:31 We are not in-depth Bible students. 20:33 And so we have these 5 stages of the work of Christ. 20:38 Now I would like to ask this question 20:40 and we're going to dedicate the rest of our time to answer 20:43 this question. Before that let me make a statement. 20:47 Would you agree that all of these statements - 20:51 all of these phases of Christ's ministry - are truth? 20:55 No doubt about it. All of these stages are truth. 21:01 But let me ask you: 21:04 are all of these stages of the work of Christ 21:07 present truth? 21:10 No. 21:12 You say: "Now wait a minute. 21:14 All these stages are not present truth? " 21:18 Do you want to know what present truth is? 21:21 It's very simple. 21:23 If you want to know what present truth is, all you have to do 21:27 is find out where Jesus is and what He's doing now. 21:33 And that's what we should be preaching! 21:36 Now don't misunderstand me. The perfect life of Christ 21:39 is indispensable. His death on the cross is indispensable. 21:44 His ministration of receiving sins in the sanctuary 21:47 is indispensable. 21:49 But present truth has to do with the apartment where 21:53 Jesus is ministering today. 21:55 What is He doing today 21:57 and what are the truths revealed there where Jesus is? 22:02 And let me ask you... where is Jesus? 22:05 He is in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary 22:10 which means that present truth... 22:13 In order for us to preach present truth 22:15 it must be the truths that are revealed where? 22:19 That are revealed in the Most Holy Place 22:22 of the heavenly sanctuary. Are you with me? 22:25 Amen. 22:26 Now I'd like to take our minds to the book of Revelation. 22:31 I want us to take a look at Revelation's seven churches. 22:36 Now most conservative Bible scholars believe that the 22:39 seven churches represent seven periods of church history. 22:44 In fact most of them - even Hal Lindsey, 22:48 who is a dyed-in-the-wool futurist 22:51 who believes in the rapture and the re-establishment of 22:54 Israel and the rebuilding of the temple and all of those 22:57 things - even he says that the seven churches represent 23:01 seven stages of church history. 23:03 And this is the way they look at it: 23:05 the church of Ephesus is the apostolic church. 23:10 The church of Smyrna is the church that was persecuted 23:14 under the Roman emperors. 23:15 The third church - Pergamum - is the church when 23:19 compromise comes into the church 23:21 in the days of Constantine the Great. 23:24 The church of Thyatira where that woman Jezebel 23:28 does her work, that harlot woman, represents the period 23:32 of the Middle Ages... the dominion of the 23:35 Roman Catholic papacy. 23:37 The church of Sardis represents the period of the Protestant 23:41 Reformation. In other words, the first five churches 23:45 take us to the period after the Protestant Reformation 23:49 and the period of papal supremacy. 23:51 Now I would like to take a look at the 6th church in the series. 23:57 Remember that according to Adventists and non-Adventist 24:00 conservative scholars 24:02 the sixth church would come after the period of papal 24:05 supremacy and after the period of the Protestant Reformation. 24:10 Now I want you to notice church number six 24:14 is called Philadelphia. 24:16 Let me ask you this question: 24:19 would church number six be a period before the second coming 24:24 of Christ? Yes. It would have to be 24:27 because after the sixth church there is a seventh. 24:31 And you can't have a seventh church if Jesus came 24:33 during the sixth church! 24:35 And so the period of the sixth church is some time 24:39 after the fall of the papacy in 1798 AD 24:42 but before the second coming of Jesus Christ. 24:46 Interestingly enough, the word Laodicea 24:49 which is the very next church means "judging the people. " 24:54 So the church after the church of Philadelphia is the church 24:58 of the what? Is the church of the judgment... 25:01 interestingly enough. 25:04 Now I'd like us to read from Revelation chapter 3 25:07 and verses 7 and 8 something very interesting 25:11 that is placed before the church of Philadelphia. 25:13 The sixth church - before the second coming of Christ 25:17 but after the year 1798 AD. 25:19 It says here: 25:39 So there's a key and something is going to be shut 25:42 and something is going to be what? Opened. 25:44 Now what is it that's going to be shut and what is 25:46 going to be opened? Verse 8: 26:02 So what is placed before the church of Philadelphia? 26:05 The church before the second coming but after the period 26:08 of papal supremacy? An open door. 26:11 Interesting. 26:14 How many doors does the sanctuary have? 26:17 Actually the sanctuary had 3. 26:20 The first door led from the camp to the court. 26:25 The second door led from the court to the Holy Place 26:28 and the third door led from the Holy to the Most Holy Place. 26:30 Now the question is: which of these doors 26:33 was open before Philadelphia? 26:35 It cannot be the door to the court 26:38 because Philadelphia is church number six 26:41 and Jesus came to the court even before the church age. 26:46 Are you understanding me or not? 26:48 It cannot be the second door - the door that leads into 26:51 the Holy Place - because Jesus opened that door 26:54 and entered the Holy Place when He ascended to heaven. 26:57 And we talked about that in my first two presentations. 27:01 So it can't be the first door 27:03 because the first door is the door to the court 27:05 and the work of the court Jesus did on earth when He 27:07 died on the cross. 27:09 It can't be the second door - the door to the Holy Place - 27:11 because that door was opened when Jesus ascended 27:14 and began His High-Priestly ministry in the Holy Place. 27:17 So how many doors does that leave? 27:19 One. It only leaves one door! 27:22 The door of the sixth church after 1798 AD. 27:26 Now the question is: where does this door lead to? 27:30 We've noticed that it leads to the Most Holy Place. 27:33 But now let's prove it from scripture. 27:35 Revelation chapter 11 and verse 19. 27:38 Revelation chapter 11 and verse 19. 27:42 This verse is in the context of the sixth trumpet. 27:45 Interesting. 27:46 You have the sixth church and you have the open door. 27:49 Now you have the sixth trumpet and you're going to notice also 27:53 an open door. 27:55 It says there in Revelation 11:19: 28:03 Which means that it must have been what? 28:05 It must have been closed until then. 28:09 So it says: "the temple of God was opened in heaven" 28:13 and where does this door of the temple lead to? 28:17 It says: "And the ark of His covenant was... " What? 28:22 "The ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. " 28:26 Which temple is this? The earthly or the heavenly? 28:29 It's the heavenly temple. 28:31 Which door is this? To which apartment? 28:34 To the Most Holy Place. 28:35 How do we know that? 28:39 The word temple here is the word naos. 28:42 It is used 15 times in Revelation. 28:45 Every single time it refers to the Most Holy Place 28:49 of the heavenly sanctuary. 28:50 Not only that, but the text itself tells us that 28:54 the temple was open in heaven and what was seen? 28:57 The ark of the covenant. 28:59 Now here's my question: 29:00 on which day of the Hebrew year was the Most Holy Place 29:05 opened and the ark of the covenant seen? 29:08 It was on the Day of Atonement. 29:11 So under the sixth trumpet - under the sixth church - 29:15 you have an opening of a door 29:16 and that door leads to the Most Holy Place 29:19 where the ark of the covenant is found. Are you with me? 29:22 This gives us the chronology of the judgment. 29:26 Now I'd like to remind us about Daniel 7 29:29 because Daniel 7 follows the same pattern... 29:31 the same chronology. 29:33 I can only review this. 29:35 I'm sure that many of you - probably most of you - have 29:37 studied Daniel chapter 7. 29:38 We have a lion. What does the lion represent? 29:41 The kingdom of Babylon. 29:43 Then we have a bear. What does the bear represent? 29:45 The Medes and Persians. 29:46 Then we have a leopard and that represents what? 29:49 The kingdom of Greece. 29:50 Then we have a dragon beast which represents what kingdom? 29:54 Rome. And then that dragon beast sprouts ten horns 29:58 and what do the ten horns represent? 30:00 Rome in a divided state. 30:02 And then among the ten horns rises what? 30:06 A little horn. 30:08 And what does the little horn represent? 30:10 It is a new Rome... it is papal Rome. 30:14 And how long does the little horn rule? 30:17 Time, times, and the dividing of time 30:19 which is 1,260 what? 30:22 Years... applying the year/day principle. 30:25 And then in Daniel 7 after the little horn rules 30:30 for 1,260 years we have this heavenly scene of judgment 30:36 where the Ancient of Days goes and He sits. 30:41 And it says that the "judgment is set and the books are... " 30:47 What? "Opened. " 30:49 Is that after 1798 AD? 30:51 Absolutely after 1798 AD. 30:54 But then we find that coming on the clouds of heaven 30:58 to where the Ancient of Days entered... and by the way, 31:01 it doesn't say He came on the clouds of heaven to the earth. 31:04 That was a fundamental mistake of the Millerites. 31:07 You know they... clouds of heaven, Jesus coming. 31:09 That's the second coming. No! Daniel 7 says 31:12 that He came on the clouds to the Ancient of Days. 31:15 Where does the Ancient of Days live? 31:17 Since 1844 AD He is in the Most Holy Place 31:20 of the heavenly sanctuary. 31:21 So Jesus goes into the Most Holy Place 31:24 and there He is given His kingdom. 31:29 The purpose of the judgment is for Jesus to receive 31:32 His kingdom. Now the question is: 31:34 what is the kingdom? 31:38 Folks, the kingdom has nothing to do with territory. 31:44 The kingdom has everything to do with what persons 31:49 belong to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 31:52 Amen. The purpose of the judgment is to determine 31:55 who is a true genuine follower of Jesus Christ. 32:00 Who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? 32:05 That's the purpose of the heavenly judgment. 32:07 And when Jesus has judged the case of all of those 32:10 who profess Jesus Christ then His kingdom will be made up 32:15 because it will have been revealed who are members 32:19 of His kingdom. 32:20 Amen. Now you say: "Why do we need this judgment 32:23 if God knows everything? " 32:25 The purpose of the judgment is not to inform God. 32:29 The purpose of the judgment is to reveal before the universe 32:33 that God was right in the way that He dealt with those 32:37 who professed the name of Jesus Christ. 32:40 Let me ask you: are there true and counterfeit believers 32:45 in the church? Yes. 32:46 Did Jesus say that there are wheat and tares in the church? 32:50 Yes. Absolutely. 32:52 Does the gospel net gather good and bad fish? Yes. 32:57 Absolutely. Were there wise and foolish virgins 33:01 in the church? Yes. 33:03 Was the wedding hall filled with guests? 33:07 Yes! But there were some that did not have the robe. 33:11 They were in the books but they did not have the robe. 33:14 Are there those who say "Lord, Lord" 33:18 but their life denies "Lord, Lord? " Absolutely. 33:22 Are there even ministers who claim to be ministers of 33:24 righteousness but are not? Absolutely. 33:27 Are there those in the church that have a form of godliness 33:30 but not the power of godliness? 33:32 Are there those who have been forgiven a huge debt by Jesus 33:37 but then refuse to let that forgiveness flow through them 33:42 to others to forgive others? 33:44 By the way, for those who say that forgiveness cannot be 33:48 revoked just read Matthew chapter 18. 33:51 This individual that was forgiven much 33:56 then he goes out and he grabs somebody by the neck 33:59 that owed him a pittance. 34:01 And he started shaking him and saying: "Pay me. " 34:06 And this man said: "Well give me time and I'll pay you. " 34:08 "No! No time! Pay me now! " 34:11 And he has him thrown in prison! 34:13 Haa! When the king heard that he called him in 34:16 and he revoked his forgiveness. 34:20 So don't you tell me that forgiveness cannot be revoked 34:23 when the cases are examined and it's discovered 34:27 that those who claimed Jesus as Savior and Lord 34:31 did not really embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 34:39 What else do we find in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary? 34:43 The Ten Commandments. 34:45 Could that be part of the preaching of the 34:48 Seventh-day Adventist church? Yes. 34:50 What is found in the center of the Ten Commandments? 34:54 The Sabbath. 34:56 And by the way, the Sabbath is highlighted in the 35:00 Most Holy Place. You say: "How is it highlighted? " 35:04 Because God placed in the ark of the covenant two things 35:07 related to the Sabbath. 35:08 The first is in the fourth commandment: 35:11 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. " 35:13 But He also placed in the ark a pot of manna. 35:18 So the Sabbath is doubly highlighted. 35:20 And I believe that's the reason why Ellen White saw the 35:22 Sabbath commandment with a halo around it. 35:25 It's enhanced... it's highlighted. 35:28 And if you remember, when God rained the manna from heaven 35:31 He gave that as a test to Israel 35:34 to see if they would walk in His law. 35:36 Which means that in the ark of the covenant you have the law, 35:40 you have the Sabbath, and the Sabbath as a test 35:44 whether God's people will walk in God's law or not. 35:48 But another lesson of the manna was healthful living. 35:51 God gave the manna to show that we should live healthy - 35:56 vegetarian, vegan - 36:01 lifestyle. 36:02 And not only... we should also sleep enough. 36:05 And we should drink enough of the right things, of course. 36:11 And that we should exercise. 36:15 So in the ark of the covenant the manna highlights the 36:19 Sabbath but it also teaches healthful living. 36:23 And then, of course, you have the idea of the judgment 36:26 in the Most Holy Place. 36:27 In fact, the judgment of Israel took place in the 36:29 Most Holy Place. So you have the investigative judgment 36:32 in the Most Holy Place. 36:33 You also have in the Most Holy Place 36:35 the idea that the dead are dead. 36:38 You say: "Now where do you find that? " 36:40 Well, I'll tell you briefly. 36:42 There was also a rod in the ark of the covenant 36:47 and that rod sprouted life. 36:51 That rod represented Jesus who has life in Himself. 36:56 "Because I live... " Jesus said, "you shall live... What? 37:01 "also. " There's something else in the Most Holy Place 37:05 that reveals that people are dead until the resurrection. 37:08 That there's no immortal soul that goes to heaven or to hell 37:10 when you die. You say: "What is that? " 37:13 Well, if the judgment began in 1844 AD 37:16 at a certain point in history and the first ones to be judged 37:22 were those who first lived upon the earth 37:26 it must mean that Adam who was judged first 37:29 because he was the first being created... 37:31 Adam - who was judged first in 1844 AD - 37:37 he couldn't be in heaven. 37:39 How could he be in heaven before he was judged? 37:42 Are you with me? Yes. 37:44 So in other words, the idea that the judgment begins 37:47 at a certain point of time indicates that people did not 37:51 go to heaven or to hell when they died 37:53 because they would not be taken to heaven 37:55 or they would not be sent to hell 37:57 before they were what? Judged. Before they were judged. 38:02 Now let me ask you: are these all the distinctive 38:05 beliefs of the Adventist church? 38:07 Are those the points of conten- tion with the Christian world? 38:11 The commandments? The Sabbath? Healthful living? 38:15 The state of the dead? 38:17 The investigative judgment? 38:20 Absolutely. These are the doctrines that are contended 38:24 in the Christian world 38:26 and are rejected to a great degree in the Christian world. 38:30 And the reason why is because the Christian world 38:32 has not followed Jesus Christ into the Most Holy Place 38:36 of the heavenly sanctuary which is present truth. 38:39 Amen. 38:40 Now we need to go to Revelation 13 and 14 quickly. 38:45 You see, in Daniel chapter 7 we have the judgment 38:48 as a heavenly scene. 38:50 In other words, what you see in Daniel 7 about the judgment 38:52 is taking place in heaven. 38:56 But of course it wouldn't do any good for this judgment 38:59 to take place in heaven if nobody knew about it on earth. 39:02 So in Revelation 14 we have the same judgment but 39:06 the emphasis is the announcement of that judgment on earth. 39:10 Go with me to Revelation chapter 13 and verse 2. 39:14 Revelation chapter 13 and verse 2. 39:16 It's referring clearly to Daniel chapter 7. 39:20 It says here: 39:36 What do those beasts bring to mind? 39:39 Daniel 7. 39:42 Is that correct? Yes. 39:44 So notice you have the same four beasts: 39:46 you have a lion, you have a bear, you have a leopard, 39:49 and you have a dragon. 39:51 And Revelation 12 says that that dragon has ten horns. 39:54 And then the 10-horned dragon gives its seat, its authority, 39:58 and its power to the beast 40:00 and the beast rules for 42 months or 1,260 years. 40:06 Do we have the same time frame in Revelation 13 40:10 as we have in Daniel 7? Absolutely. 40:12 But now I want you to notice in chapter 14 40:15 what transpires after these powers rule. 40:19 Revelation chapter 14 and verses 6 and 7. 40:24 Revelation chapter 14 and verses 6 and 7. 40:27 Right after talking about the lion, the bear, the leopard, 40:30 the dragon, the ten horns on the dragon 40:33 and then the beast that rules for 1,260 years 40:37 we have an earthly announcement of a very important event. 41:02 "for the hour of His judgment will come... " 41:06 Thank you very much... you're with me. 41:09 It doesn't say "for the hour of His judgment WILL come... " 41:12 it says "the hour of His judgment HAS come. " 41:20 Now here's my question: 41:23 Does the judgment begin while the gospel is being preached? 41:27 Of course. 41:32 This angel is saying: "Proclaiming the everlasting 41:35 gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people... " 41:37 And the angel said: "Fear God and give glory to Him 41:40 for the hour of His judgment has come! " 41:42 So the judgment begins while the gospel is being preached. 41:46 So does the judgment begin before probation closes? 41:49 It most certainly does. 41:52 After these powers rule 41:54 and immediately afterwards what do we have? 41:59 The warning in Revelation 14 that the hour of God's judgment 42:04 has what? The hour of God's judgment has begun. 42:08 See, this isn't rocket science. 42:11 All you have to do is follow the logical sequence 42:16 of prophecy. It's called historicism. 42:19 It's the main method that is used to interpret prophecy 42:24 in the Adventist church and if I dare say 42:27 there are those in the Adventist church 42:28 that are starting to fiddle with this method. 42:31 And they're starting to project portions of Revelation 42:33 purely to the future. 42:36 They're on dangerous ground. 42:39 Now do you know that the three angels' message contains 42:43 the same things as the Most Holy Place? 42:46 Let me just share it with you. 42:50 If you look at the expression "Fear God, " 42:54 almost invariably in the Old Testament it's used in 42:58 connection with keeping God's commandments. 43:00 Ecclesiastes chapter 12 says: "Fear God and keep His 43:04 commandments for this is the whole duty of man. " 43:07 Furthermore, the third angel's message says: 43:10 "Here are they who keep... " What? 43:13 "the commandments of God. " 43:14 Do the three angels' messages bring the commandments to view? 43:17 How about the Sabbath? 43:20 Hmmm. 43:22 "Worship Him who created the heavens, the earth, the seas 43:26 and the fountains of waters. " 43:28 The first angel's message brings to view the Sabbath. 43:30 Is that a Most Holy Place teaching? 43:32 Absolutely. 43:33 Does... Do the three angels' messages bring to view 43:37 the idea that the Sabbath will be a test? 43:40 Yes, because the test will be over the mark of the beast 43:43 or what? Or the seal of God. 43:46 Those are in the three angels' messages. 43:49 Do the three angels' messages bring to view the hour 43:52 of God's judgment? Is that in the Most Holy Place? 43:56 It most certainly is! 43:58 How about the state of the dead? 44:00 Is the state of the dead in the three angels' messages? 44:03 Of course. If the hour of God's judgment begins at a certain 44:06 point, then people did not go to heaven or to hell 44:09 when they died. 44:10 Do the three angels' messages have the idea of health reform? 44:16 Yes, because the first angel's message says: 44:18 "Fear God and give GLORY to Him... " 44:21 And the apostle Paul says: "Therefore glorify God 44:24 with your body and with your spirit which are God's. 44:28 If therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do 44:31 do all to... " What? "to the glory of God. " 44:34 In other words, the three angels' messages are the 44:36 earthly proclamation of the message of the Most Holy Place 44:41 of the heavenly sanctuary. 44:43 This is present truth. 44:48 And it worries me when I see Adventist churches changing 44:51 their names to Adventist Community Church 44:56 or Adventist Fellowship. Like we want to get rid 45:01 of the distinctiveness of the Adventist church. 45:04 We should be proclaiming this from the rooftops - Amen! - 45:09 that we are Seventh-day Adventists - Amen! - 45:12 and then we must explain to people what that means. 45:16 But the Most Holy Place has another message 45:19 which has been greatly ignored by the Christian world 45:22 and even by Adventists. 45:24 You see, before the Day of Atonement - which is the message 45:28 of the Most Holy Place - you have the Feast of Trumpets 45:32 which announced the coming Day of Atonement and the need 45:35 to prepare. You know, sometimes we have emphasized so much 45:39 what Jesus does in heaven that we forget what the people did 45:43 outside the sanctuary as the priest was working inside. 45:48 What were the people doing outside? 45:51 Oh, they were jumping and they were speaking in tongues 45:54 and they were shouting and they were laughing in the Spirit? 45:57 No! What were they doing? 46:00 They were afflicting their souls and they were fasting. 46:07 And they gathered around the sanctuary because 46:10 their minds had to be in the sanctuary. 46:12 Because once the Day of Atonement closed, that was it! 46:16 He who was filthy was still filthy 46:20 and he who was holy was still holy. 46:23 You see, as Jesus cleanses the sanctuary in heaven 46:27 He does a parallel work of cleansing the temple of the soul 46:32 on earth. 46:34 I want to read Joel chapter 2. 46:37 Of course, the clock is our greatest enemy. 46:41 Joel 2 verses 10 and 11. 46:44 If you read the first 9 verses, that's describing the second 46:46 coming of Christ. 46:48 And the climax is in verse 10, and verse 11 46:51 asks the question. Notice what it says: 47:18 So it's describing the second coming and it says: 47:21 "Who can endure the day of Christ's coming? " 47:25 The answer is in the very next verse. 47:27 And I'm only going to read verses 12 and 13 47:30 and then I'm going to jump down to verses 15-17 47:33 because of the time. It says in verse 12: 47:37 Because the day of His wrath is going to be so great 47:41 and terrible, who is going to be able to stand? 47:44 God says beforehand: 47:54 Is that what we're supposed to be doing now? 47:56 Amen. Yes! 47:58 It's not time for celebration. 48:01 The time for celebration is tabernacles in heaven. 48:05 Now that doesn't mean that we can't celebrate 48:07 what Jesus did on the cross and we can't experience salvation 48:10 like Shelley told us this afternoon. 48:13 We can have the joy of salvation. 48:15 We can even say that Christ has saved us by His grace. 48:19 It doesn't mean that we can't have joy, but it does 48:21 mean that we're doing soul searching. 48:23 Amen. 48:25 And it continues saying: 48:39 And then you have a reference to the Feast of Trumpets. 49:16 That's the spirit of the Day of Atonement on earth 49:19 because Jesus is not going to cleanse anything there 49:23 that has not been cleansed here. 49:27 You know, that question that you find in Joel 2:11 49:32 is repeated in Revelation. 49:35 After describing the second coming... signs in the moon 49:38 and the stars and the great earthquake and so on 49:41 it says in Revelation 6:17 at the conclusion of this passage: 49:52 Is that the same question we noticed in Joel? 49:55 Absolutely. Do you know where the answer comes? 49:57 In the very next chapter. 49:59 There are 144,00 which represent the living saints when 50:03 Jesus comes. 50:05 They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. 50:09 They have the name of their Father 50:10 written on their foreheads. 50:13 They are virgins... 50:15 which means that they have not become defiled 50:17 with the apostate women... with fallen churches. 50:22 They are without spot before the throne of God. 50:25 In other words, those who have been in the sanctuary with Jesus 50:31 and through the power of the Holy Spirit have overcome sin 50:35 in their lives. You know, I have people say 50:38 "Well Pastor Bohr, nobody's perfect. " 50:43 In fact they say: "Are you perfect? " 50:47 And when I... And I answer: "No, I'm not perfect. " 50:50 But the possibility of perfection does not depend 50:55 on whether I'm perfect or not. It depends on whether 50:58 God is able or not. Amen. 51:01 Some people say: "You can never overcome sin 51:03 before Jesus comes. The flesh is too strong. " 51:06 So you're saying that the flesh is stronger than God? 51:09 "The world is too powerful! " 51:11 So you're saying the world is more powerful than God? 51:13 "The devil is more powerful. " 51:15 You're saying that the devil is more powerful than God? 51:18 "Oh, my genes made me do it. " 51:22 So your genes are more powerful than God? 51:24 "The environment I grew up in made me do it. " 51:27 So you're saying that your environment is more powerful 51:30 than God? See, when you say that it is not possible 51:32 to reach perfection, you're not really saying that man is weak, 51:36 you're saying that God is not strong. 51:40 You know that text in the Bible that says: "I can do almost 51:43 all things through Christ who strengthens me? " 51:49 OK, you didn't like that. 51:51 OK. How about: "I can do some things 51:55 through Christ who strengthens me? " 51:56 My Bible says: "I can do ALL things through Christ 52:00 who strengthens me. " 52:02 And by the way, there are no parentheses. 52:04 He doesn't say: "I can do all things except overcome sin 52:08 through Christ who strengthens me. " 52:11 Allow me to read you a couple of statements from Ellen White. 52:13 From the book Maranatha page 249 she says: 52:56 In the devotional book The Upward Look page 344 53:01 she says this: 53:47 In other words, this is present truth. 53:51 While most of the Christian world, you know, follows what 53:54 the bumper sticker says: "I'm not perfect... just forgiven. " 53:59 Well God wants you to be forgiven but He wants more 54:01 than forgiveness. He wants to pour out His power 54:05 to overcome. Amen. He doesn't want us to have 54:08 a frustrated Christian walk where we are just constantly 54:11 coming: forgive, forgive, forgive. 54:13 He will forgive if we're sincere and we love the Lord. 54:18 But Jesus wants us to have victory over sin. Amen. 54:21 You see, this is the one doctrine that distinguishes 54:26 Seventh-day Adventists from every other church. 54:32 It's no coincidence that shortly after 1844 AD 54:35 our pioneers discovered all of the distinctive truths 54:37 of the Adventist church. 54:39 Because once you enter the Most Holy Place 54:41 you see the ark and you know that the law is there. 54:44 So it wasn't done away with at the cross. 54:46 And once you examine the law you see that the Sabbath 54:49 is there. And once you're in the Most Holy Place 54:52 you say: "That's where the judgment took place. " 54:55 And once you see the pot of manna you say: 54:57 "God gave that to Israel for healthful living 54:59 and it highlights the Sabbath. " 55:02 And once you believe that the judgment began at a certain 55:04 point, the dead are dead until the resurrection... 55:07 until after they're judged. 55:09 All of the distinctive truths of the Adventist church 55:13 are found in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. 55:17 That IS present truth. 55:19 And Ellen White has said in Early Writings page 256... 55:23 She says about the three angels' messages which are the earthly 55:27 announcement of the heavenly event: 55:47 Is the final controversy going to be over God's law? Yes. 55:50 Is it going to be over the Sabbath? Yes. 55:54 Is spiritualism going to be involved 55:57 which is a wrong concept of the state of the dead? 56:02 Are you understanding that the distinctive truths of 56:05 the Adventist church are the issue in the end-time conflict? 56:09 Do we need to warn the world about this? Amen. 56:14 This is what we need to be warning the world about. 56:16 Yes, we need to teach people to follow Jesus. 56:19 We don't start with people in the Most Holy Place. 56:21 We need to take them first of all to the camp. 56:25 Jesus lived His life for you. 56:26 We need to take them to the court. 56:28 Jesus died the death for you. 56:30 There we need to take them to the Holy Place and say: 56:32 "Now you can come to Jesus and if you're repentant 56:35 and you confess your sins and you trust in the merits of Jesus 56:38 Jesus will take His life and He'll take His death 56:41 and He'll put them to your account and you'll be 56:42 covered by the blood in the sanctuary. 56:44 Amen. But we need to lead them one step further 56:47 and reveal to them the truths of the Most Holy Place. 56:50 The idea that through the power of God 56:53 sin can be overcome 56:56 because sin is not more powerful than God. 57:01 Amen! 57:03 This is what Elder Wilson was calling us to do. 57:07 This is what makes our church special 57:09 and gives us the reason for our existence. 57:12 And woe to us 57:16 if we should think that we need to preach 57:18 what everybody else is preaching 57:19 and we need to grow churches 57:21 the way everybody else grows churches. Amen. 57:23 The truth will fill the church with those who are sincere 57:27 and loving, and that's the way we should do it. |
Revised 2014-12-17