Participants: Ivor Myers
Series Code: 16SCM
Program Code: 16SCM000004A
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00:51 Welcome to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting:
00:56 Live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 01:01 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 01:05 2016. You guys having a great time? 01:08 Amen! Amen. All right... another question: 01:10 have you been blessed? Amen! Amen. 01:13 Jill and I have, too. You know, here at 3ABN 01:15 I have what we call a production calendar. 01:18 And these Camp Meetings are put on the calendar way in advance. 01:21 So... I'll turn my back to the camera. But I've got the 01:23 calendar behind me and I have this date circled 01:26 months in advance. It's a high- light... one of the highlights 01:30 of the year is 3ABN Camp Meeting - that's for sure. 01:34 And I know that we're blessed always by being a part of it. 01:37 But I know you guys are blessed. Um-hmm. 01:39 And we know that you're blessed at home but I tell you what: 01:41 there's nothing like being here. Is that right? That's right! 01:43 OK. It's nice to see all the smiling faces out here isn't it? 01:46 It is... it's wonderful. We're excited. We have a wonderful 01:49 group of excited happy Christians - 01:51 that's right - ready to come into God's presence 01:54 to learn more about Christ, Calvary, and the Sanctuary. 01:58 Our speaker today is Pastor Ivor Myers. 02:02 Are you familiar with Pastor Myers? 02:04 Praise the Lord! He's an incredible man of God. 02:08 God called him out of the hip-hop industry 02:11 back in 1995. That was what? Twenty, twenty-one years ago. 02:15 He is the speaker/director for Power of the Lamb Ministries. 02:19 He also is a pastor at the Campbell SDA Church. 02:23 He has a precious wife: Atonte. 02:25 And they have four kids. And I remember, sweetheart, 02:27 when they came to 3ABN and the kids were little. 02:30 That's right. They're not so little any more. 02:32 Uh-uh... they're growing up. Amen. That's right. 02:34 You know, and those of you... How many of you have... 02:37 or have seen Dare to Dream's network? 02:40 OK. There is a new series that Pastor Ivor Myers 02:44 is doing with James Rafferty 02:48 and Yvonne Lewis and Jason Bradley. 02:51 Have any of you seen that yet? Have they started to air it? 02:53 They have! They just started to air it. 02:54 Have you seen it? Amen! You have. It's fantastic. 02:58 It's on the book of Revelation so make sure you look at the 03:01 program schedule and tune in to that. They're doing a great 03:03 job with that program. That's right. 03:05 And who do we have for music? We have Celestine Barry. 03:07 And her daughter, Farrah Barry, will be accompanying her 03:11 on the piano. The song they're going to do is 03:13 What Love Is This? 03:14 And then we'll hear from Pastor Myers. His subject 03:17 for today is Justification, Sanctification, 03:21 and Glorification. 03:23 Now before we start let's actually have a word of prayer. 03:26 We can always gain a lot of blessing from talking 03:28 to the Lord. Father in heaven, 03:30 what a blessing and a privilege it is to turn to You. 03:33 Father, You hear us 24/7. 03:36 There's no "Oh, I'm busy... wait. " 03:39 You're always there. Father, thank you for being here 03:42 at Camp Meeting. Thank you for these precious souls that 03:46 are here in this audience, for those that are tuning in 03:48 around the world. We thank you for the ministry of 3ABN... 03:52 for sustaining it for 31 years. 03:54 And Father, we know there's a great work yet to be done, 03:57 a great harvest yet to be reaped. 04:00 And Father, we want to be faithful to that calling 04:02 that you've given to each one of us to share Your Word 04:04 to others. We pray for Pastor Ivor Myers as he 04:07 presents Your Word today. Yes. Father, we want to be 04:10 soft clay that can be molded by Your Holy Spirit today. 04:14 Father, we want You to take our stony hearts 04:17 and Lord just turn it really soft that we'll be... 04:20 Lord, it's so easy to hear a sermon and say: "Wow! 04:22 That was great! " But Father, we want it to change our hearts. 04:25 We want to turn our hearts toward You. 04:28 Lord, I pray for the music as well. 04:29 Bless Celestine and Farrah as they bless us with 04:32 this music. And in Jesus' name we pray, 04:34 Amen. Amen. 05:07 You never change, 05:11 You are the God You say You are; 05:15 When I'm afraid 05:19 you calm and still my beating heart. 05:23 You stay the same, 05:27 when hope is just a distant thought, 05:31 You take my pain 05:35 and You lead me to the cross. 05:39 What love is this, 05:43 that You gave Your life for me 05:50 and made a way for me to know You. 05:55 And I confess 05:59 You're always enough for me... 06:05 You're all I need. 06:09 I look to You, 06:13 I see the scars upon your hands. 06:17 And hold the truth, 06:21 that when I can't You always can. 06:25 And standing here 06:29 beneath the shadow of the cross 06:33 I'm overwhelmed 06:37 that I keep finding open arms. 06:41 What love is this, 06:44 that You gave Your life for me 06:51 and made a way for me to know You. 06:56 And I confess 07:00 You're always enough for me... 07:06 You're all I need. 07:11 Jesus, in Your suffering 07:17 You were reaching, 07:21 You thought of me 07:26 Jesus, in Your suffering 07:32 You were reaching, 07:36 You thought of me 07:45 What love is this, 07:48 that You gave Your life for me 07:55 and made a way for me to know You. 08:00 And I confess 08:04 You're always enough 08:08 for me... 08:11 You're all I need. 08:15 What love is this, 08:19 that You gave Your life 08:23 for me 08:26 and made a way for me to know You. 08:30 And I confess 08:34 You're always enough 08:38 for me... 08:42 always enough 08:46 for me... 08:52 always enough 08:56 for me. 09:14 Amen! 09:18 Amen, amen, amen. 09:24 I'd like to invite you to bow your heads with me 09:28 as we have a quick word of prayer 09:30 before we open the message today. Heavenly Father, 09:34 I ask, Lord, that You would please speak through me today. 09:40 Take these words, Lord, and breathe life into them. 09:47 And Father, I thank you for what You are about to do 09:50 because we pray it in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen! 09:56 Well, hello everyone. Hello! 09:58 It is good to be here with you today. 10:02 I am going to be talking to you about the theme of 10:06 justification, sanctification, and glorification. 10:11 And I've entitled the message today very simply 10:15 The Flow of the Gospel. 10:18 The Flow of the Gospel. 10:20 So, you have your Bibles? Amen! Let's begin. 10:24 We're going to go to the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. 10:28 I'm sorry... chapter 47. 10:30 Ezekiel chapter 47. This is going to be 10:34 the main portion of scripture we're going to be looking at. 10:39 But we're just setting the foundation right now 10:41 so I just want to read it. Ezekiel chapter 47 10:47 beginning with verse 1. When you're there please say Amen. 10:51 Amen! The Bible says: "Afterward he brought me again 10:55 unto the door of the house. And behold, the waters issued out 10:59 from under the threshold of the house eastward 11:03 for the forefront of the house stood toward the east 11:06 and the waters came down from under, from the right side 11:11 of the house at the south side of the altar. 11:15 Then he brought me out of the way of the gate northward 11:18 and led me about the way without 11:21 unto the outer gate by the way that looketh eastward. 11:25 And behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 11:29 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth 11:32 eastward he measured a thousand cubits 11:34 and he brought me through the waters. " The waters were where? 11:38 "to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and 11:42 brought me through the waters. " And the waters were where? 11:45 "to the knee. And he measured a thousand and brought me 11:48 through the waters. " Were where? "to the loins. 11:52 And afterward he measured a thousand and it was a river 11:56 that I could not pass over for the waters were risen... 12:01 waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. " 12:06 Wow! This portion of scripture is actually... 12:10 it's amazing. But we're not going to talk about this 12:14 right now. I'm simply going to tell you 12:16 that this story reveals to us 12:23 how the gospel works. 12:26 And it is revealed in this river that Ezekiel sees 12:30 flowing out of the sanctuary. Amen! 12:34 Now, before we get to Ezekiel's river here 12:38 I want to just point out a couple things. 12:41 First of all, what is the purpose of water? 12:44 Absolutely... water is used to cleanse. 12:47 And so we'll read in the Old Testament how God speaks about 12:50 using water to purify His people and to give them new hearts. 12:54 In the New Testament it talks about Him purifying His church 12:58 with water. So water in the Bible is a symbol of 13:02 purification and of cleansing. 13:05 And in light of that, I want to share with you something 13:09 that... that to me is absolutely amazing. 13:12 You see, I believe that the waters of the Bible 13:15 reveal to us a story. 13:17 They reveal to us the process whereby God will purify 13:23 His people ultimately. Amen? 13:25 Amen! And so what I want to do right now... 13:27 Again, this is setting the foundation for the book 13:30 of Ezekiel and the river flowing out of the sanctuary... 13:34 but I want to take you back to the very first bodies of water 13:37 mentioned in the Bible, and those are the waters of Eden. 13:42 The waters of Eden. So let's talk about that very quickly. 13:46 The Garden of Eden... If you and I were to go back... 13:49 were able to go back to the Garden of Eden 13:52 and look at the rivers there and take a trip there... 13:55 I know we cannot do that, but if we were 13:57 the rivers of Eden would tell us the story of creation. Amen? 14:01 Amen! It would tell us the story of how God 14:05 created man in perfection 14:07 and how He made him in His image and in His likeness. 14:12 However, it would also tell us the story of how 14:16 man fell because he rejected the word of God. 14:21 So those are the rivers of Eden. 14:24 They tell us the story of how man turned away from God. 14:28 How he was first made perfect but turned away from God. 14:30 Now, the next major body of waters found in the Bible 14:36 is the waters of Egypt. 14:40 It's found in the book of Exodus. 14:43 And it's specifically the Nile. 14:46 Now if you and I were to take a trip to the Nile 14:48 what do you think the Nile would say to us if the Nile 14:51 could speak? The Nile could tell us history. 14:54 The Nile would point us to the captivity of the children 14:59 of Israel, yes? And it would talk about... It would tell us 15:02 about the bondage that they experienced under Egypt. 15:06 So I want you to check this out. 15:08 You know, when man... before sin entered 15:15 man was perfect and made in the image of God. 15:20 But when sin entered 15:22 man became bondaged 15:27 to the flesh. Think with me now. 15:30 Rivers of Eden? Purity... but then man falls. 15:36 The Nile? Captivity. 15:40 OK... So we're going to try that again. Hmm. 15:43 The rivers of Eden tell us about man in his perfection 15:48 but then he falls. The river Nile tells us 15:51 the result of the fall: captivity... bondage. 15:56 Working for pharaoh building his house. 16:01 We might say in a very practical sense 16:03 that each one of us has a Nile experience 16:10 where we were under bondage to pharaoh, yes? 16:15 And we were building his things; we were working for pharaoh. 16:18 We were slaving for pharaoh. 16:20 Yes. Now... so that's the river Nile. 16:23 But the next major body of water found in the Bible 16:27 is guess what? It's the Red Sea. 16:30 Now... the Red Sea. All right, you're not following me. 16:35 The Red Sea. Let me tell you about the Red Sea. 16:39 You see, the Red Sea would tell us the story of a man 16:42 by the name of Moses who comes into Egypt because 16:47 he's going to deliver his people. Yes! Very interesting. 16:52 As Moses comes... You know, Moses as he's born he's 16:56 drawn out of water. He goes into the wilderness for forty years 16:59 and then he returns to deliver his people. 17:02 And what he tells them to do just as they're about to be 17:04 delivered is he says: "Look, I want you to take a lamb 17:08 and sacrifice that lamb. " 17:11 And that lamb being sacrificed is the... was the event 17:16 that led the children of Israel out of captivity - 17:20 yeah - and then leads them to the Red Sea. 17:25 I find it interesting that it's a red sea... red... red! 17:31 So that Red Sea... what happens? 17:33 They cross over the Red Sea and they escape their enemies. 17:38 They are set free from captivity. 17:41 Now let me tell you something: do you realize these first few 17:43 bodies of water explain the process of salvation? 17:47 How we fall into sin and as a result 17:49 we end up in captivity to this world. 17:53 But Christ comes into our lives and says: "Listen, 17:55 I'm going to give you a Red Sea experience. " 17:57 Yes! The sacrifice of Christ allows us to be set free. 18:02 Now I want to share this with you on another level 18:04 because listen: these first 3 bodies of water 18:07 explain to us the entire history of the Old Testament. 18:11 Man created in perfection; man in bondage to sin; 18:15 and then the Messiah coming to deliver His people 18:20 from their sins. We might say that the Red Sea 18:24 symbolically points us to the 70-week prophecy 18:31 where Christ comes to do what? Deliver His people! 18:35 In reality, what was type at the Red Sea - 18:39 the lamb being slain - becomes reality 18:42 in the 70-week prophecy. 18:44 Now, the next body of water found in the Bible 18:47 is the Jordan. Do you remember what happened 18:49 at the Jordan? At the Jordan the children of Israel 18:53 cross over. See, at the Red Sea they were running from 18:56 their enemies. They were running fearful. 18:58 But at the Jordan they cross over ready to conquer. 19:02 They cross over as conquerors. 19:05 Yeah. Do you realize that when you give your life to Christ 19:09 and you get baptized you're running from your enemies. 19:11 Do you know that? Yeah, yeah. You're running from a cigarette. 19:15 You're running from all these things and a past life. 19:18 But Christ says that there's a second baptism. 19:21 And in that second baptism He calls us to go forward 19:26 as conquerors. You know, this is just like the early church. 19:31 So after this Red Sea experience in reality where 19:34 Christ's death sets the church free, then you have 19:38 Pentecost where you have the... we might say the birth of 19:42 the New Testament church where they go forward 19:45 conquering and to conquer. 19:47 Are you with me so far? 19:49 Amen! Now check this out. 19:51 The next major body of water found in the Bible 19:53 is found in the book of Kings. And in the book of Kings 19:57 it's the story of Elijah - right? And the Jordan. 20:02 Now if we were to go to the Jordan, what would the river 20:06 Jordan tell us about it? Who remembers what happened there 20:09 at the river Jordan? In fact, not the river Jordan. 20:13 I'm sorry... it's the brook Kidron. 20:16 Do you remember what Elijah did there? 20:19 He was hiding there, right? 20:21 For how long? Anyone knows how long this famine lasted? 20:27 Three and a half years. Give me that in terms of days. 20:33 Twelve hundred and six... Oh wow! 20:37 Check this out: here you have Elijah. 20:39 He is hiding in the wilderness 20:43 for 1,260 days. 20:49 While he is there in the wilderness he's being fed. 20:53 Do not make me get excited all alone by myself. 20:56 I'm here right now. 20:58 Look at what's happening here. It seems that the bodies 21:00 of water in the scripture are showing us the history - 21:05 excuse me - the history of the plan of salvation. 21:09 The history of the great controversy. 21:12 Now... now I'm building to a point here because I want you 21:14 to understand something. After Elijah is caught up... 21:18 Elijah is caught up - you know that Elisha comes next 21:21 on the scene. Yes? And you remember what Elisha's... 21:24 one of his first miracles was dealing with water? 21:27 He takes a cruse, and there's salt in the cruse 21:31 and he throws it into the water 21:34 and the Bible says the waters "were healed. " 21:38 Healed... very interesting. 21:40 Because look: if Elijah's story of hiding in the wilderness 21:44 would be symbolic of God's church going through this 21:47 1,260-year period then this event 21:52 that happened after Elijah hiding in the wilderness 21:56 this event of Elisha casting salt into the waters 22:01 might mean something significant to us. What do you think? 22:05 Well listen: what do waters symbolize in the Bible? 22:08 Peoples, nations, multitudes, and tongues. 22:13 Do you know the Bible says you are the salt of the earth? 22:18 Do you know that salt was designed to bring healing 22:21 to the waters? You're not feeling it. 22:27 God's end-time message for His people is a message 22:31 of healing for the waters! 22:34 Amen! 22:35 So God says: "I call you to be the salt! " 22:38 This is why, beloved, it is so important for us to understand 22:42 this process of justification, sanctification, glorification 22:46 because it is in this, the everlasting gospel, 22:50 that true healing is found. 22:53 Now that sets us up for... Because that happens 22:57 in II Kings. Then we get to the book of Ezekiel 23:00 where we find this river. 23:05 By the way, Ezekiel... 23:07 the river that is spoken of in the book of Ezekiel 23:09 is the river Chebar. It's the river at which Ezekiel 23:13 is called to speak against the abominations 23:16 being done in the temple and then speak of the glory of God. 23:21 Very interesting... because first you have this... 23:26 Elijah hiding out in the wilderness 1,260 days 23:29 and then the next body of water that we find significant in the 23:32 scripture is the speaking of the abominations being done 23:36 in the temple. All right. 23:39 So... this brings us to the book of Ezekiel 23:42 chapter 47... what we began with. 23:45 And I want to share with you why Ezekiel 47 is so crucial. 23:50 Because, look... let's go back there. Ezekiel 47 23:53 and we're going to start from verse 1. 23:55 Ezekiel 47 and verse 1. The Bible says: 23:59 "And afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house 24:03 and behold, the waters issued out from under the threshold 24:07 of the house eastward... for the forefront of the house 24:09 stood toward the east. And the waters came down 24:12 from under the right side of the house at the south side 24:16 of the altar. Where is this water coming from? 24:22 What is it coming from? 24:24 It's coming from the sanctuary! 24:27 Are you with me? The water is coming from the sanctuary. 24:31 When you read the entire vision that Ezekiel is having here 24:34 he's talking about the purifying power of the water... 24:39 the healing power of the water. 24:41 In fact, down in verse 12 it says something to the effect of 24:44 wherever the waters went there was healing. Amen! 24:48 So... check this out: the waters are coming from where? 24:52 The sanctuary. Where? The side of the sanctuary, yeah? 24:56 So the waters are coming from the side of the sanctuary. 24:59 They're coming specifically from the altar. 25:06 Do you realize that Jesus Himself said: "I am the... 25:11 sanctuary? " He said: "Destroy this.. " What? 25:14 "temple and I will raise it again. " 25:16 So in a sense Jesus used the Old Testament sanctuary 25:20 to symbolize Himself. Now I want you to notice this. 25:23 This cleaning water is coming from the side of the sanctuary. 25:33 What are you guys getting so excited about? 25:35 I'm just saying the side... the side of the sanctuary. 25:38 Yeah, yeah. The waters were coming from the side 25:42 of the sanctuary... specifically the altar of sacrifice. 25:45 Oh, yeah, that's very interesting because the altar 25:48 of sacrifice points us to the sacrifice of Christ. 25:52 Amen! And when Christ was on the cross... guess what? 25:55 His side was pierced and something was opened up. 26:01 So what do we know then? We understand then 26:03 that this vision just may be 26:07 a symbol of the process whereby man is cleansed. 26:12 So now, the Bible says this angel takes Ezekiel on this 26:16 walk. By the way, that would remind us of justification, 26:19 wouldn't it? When Christ died for our sins 26:23 He was justifying us - right? forgiving us of our past sins. 26:28 Amen! Justification, yeah? 26:30 Now check this out: chapter 47 verse 3. 26:35 And the Bible says here: "And when the man that had 26:38 the line in his hand went forth eastward 26:41 he measured a thousand cubits and brought me through 26:44 the waters, and the waters were to the ankles. " 26:50 So notice where the waters are. 26:52 They're at the ankles. 26:55 You know, when you first give your life to Christ 26:58 "Oh man, this is great! " 27:02 "Now I'm walking in the water and this is no trouble at all. " 27:06 The waters are at the ankles. "I'm pretty good, man. 27:10 If this is what life is all about, if this is Christianity, 27:13 I'm in... because this is a piece of cake. " 27:16 "All that stuff I did in the past, Christ forgives me 27:19 and now I can just walk. And I'm just walking in water. 27:22 It's at the ankles... no problem! " 27:26 "Justification... I love it! " 27:30 But the watch what the angel does. 27:33 Verse 4. 27:37 "And again he measured a thousand and brought me 27:40 through the waters. " The waters were now where? 27:44 To the knees. Oh wait a minute. 27:47 You know, it's one thing to walk in water at the ankles. 27:50 You know: "I'm at the ankles now... everything is easy. " 27:53 But now it's at the knees. Ever walked in water 27:57 to the knee? It's a little bit more difficult. 28:00 By the way, what is Ezekiel doing now? 28:03 He's walking. 28:08 Beloved, justification is very simple. 28:12 I come to Christ and He forgives me. 28:15 Sanctification is my walk with the Lord. 28:21 I am now growing in faith. 28:25 Yeah? So I'm walking and now I begin to notice that 28:29 as I walk, the Lord begins to take me deeper. 28:39 The Lord begins to take me deeper. 28:43 Why? Because there are things in my life that need to be 28:47 purified. Yes... Amen. And you know, as we read on 28:52 we see that the water then comes up where? 28:55 To the loins. And you've got to understand, 28:57 beloved, that as Christians it's not enough to stay... 29:01 for us to stay at the ankles. 29:03 Amen! We like ankle stuff. 29:07 You know: "Lord, just keep it at the ankles 29:09 and I'll be all right. " But the Lord says: "No! 29:11 Justification is good but listen, there needs to be 29:15 more in the Christian life. " 29:17 Amen! "I need to take you deeper. I need to take you... 29:20 I need to show you things in your life that need to be 29:24 cleansed and purified... things you don't even know about. " 29:27 Yeah. So as Ezekiel's walking he's going deeper. 29:31 Beloved, how many of you want to go deeper with the Lord? 29:33 Amen! 29:35 So look, we have to leave aside... I don't mean leave... 29:38 Praise God for justification, but not justification 29:42 just by itself. There's a process connected with it 29:46 and that is sanctification. Amen! 29:49 Sanctification is my walk in the Lord. 29:52 Now... listen, listen, listen... check this out: 29:54 come down with me to verse 8... or rather verse 5. 29:59 "And afterward he measured another thousand 30:03 and it was a river that I could not pass over 30:06 for the waters were risen. Waters to swim in... 30:09 a river that could not be passed over. " 30:12 This seems impossible! 30:14 Oh, you're not feeling it now. 30:16 Yes! This was the impossible part. You see, beloved, 30:19 there is not only justification, there is not only sanctification 30:24 but ultimately there is glorification. Amen! 30:28 And you see, beloved, glorification is the total 30:32 removal of sin. Amen! Wait a minute. 30:35 Yeah, yeah, but that's impossible! 30:37 You can't pass over that. 30:43 Listen... listen: justification, sanctification, 30:49 and then what? Glorification. 30:52 Justification is God forgiving me of my past sins. 30:55 I'm sorry... Justification: God forgiving me of my past sins. 30:59 Sanctification is me walking and growing in grace. 31:04 God is delivering me from present sins in my life. 31:09 Glorification is God removing me from sin 31:15 past, present, and future. Amen! 31:19 Yeah? It's the total removal of sin 31:24 so that we get to that place where we no longer have sin 31:28 dwelling in us. I've got a question for you. 31:32 When you're justified, do you have sin dwelling in you? 31:36 Yes. You know why? 31:38 Because you still have the carnal flesh. 31:41 Amen! You still have this flesh. 31:44 Yeah. And so sin is dwelling in you because 31:47 you have not been perfected yet. That's right... that's right. 31:51 Yeah. I mean, God forgave you of all sins during justification 31:55 but guess what, you get up in the morning after baptism 31:58 and... "Oh man... I can't believe. 32:01 What did I just do? " There you go. 32:03 "How did I get up this morning and just let that come out 32:07 of my mouth? " So then begins the process of sanctification. 32:11 "Lord, remove that from my mouth. " 32:14 "Lord, remove that from my heart. " 32:16 And God is through this process moving you from stage to stage. 32:20 You're growing in grace. Amen! 32:24 But glorification is the total removing of sin. 32:30 Amen! And beloved, this is ulti- mately what God wants for us. 32:38 That's why you have the first angel's message. 32:43 "Fear God and give... " What? "glory to Him. " 32:46 It's a message of glorification! 32:50 God's ultimate desire for His people 32:54 is not just to justify them, it's not just to sanctify them, 32:58 it's ultimately to remove them from all their sins. 33:03 Amen! You see, that's why we have this message called 33:06 the cleansing of the sanctuary. 33:11 By the way, did you know that YOU are the sanctuary? Amen! 33:15 Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Ghost? 33:18 So if you are the sanctuary then the cleansing of the sanctuary, 33:23 beloved, is not just this idea of God cleansing something 33:27 up there but God cleansing something right here. 33:30 Amen! "Unto 2,300 days then shall the sanctuary... " 33:37 "be cleansed. " That is, glorified. 33:41 All sins have been removed. 33:52 I don't even know where to go from here! 33:54 I'm just like: "OK, what now? " 33:58 Yeah, so as you read this... Ezekiel 47. 34:03 Ezekiel 47 verse 7: 34:07 Verse 6: "And he said unto me: 'Son of man, hast thou seen 34:10 this? ' Then he brought me and caused me to return to the 34:13 brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold 34:15 at the bank of the river there were many trees on the one side 34:19 and on the other. " Many trees! Things that have grown up. 34:24 Trees, right? "Then he said unto me: 'These waters 34:27 issue out into the east country and go down into the desert 34:30 and go into the sea. Which being brought forth into the sea 34:34 the waters shall be healed. " 34:38 God has a message for the waters: 34:43 the peoples, nations, multitudes, and tongues. 34:47 Wherever this stream goes there will be healing. Amen! 34:53 Verse 10... verse 10. So it says here... oh, verse 9: 34:57 "And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth 35:00 which moveth whithersoever the river shall come shall live 35:04 and there shall be a very great multitude of fish. " 35:08 Oh, no... "Follow Me and I will make you... " What? 35:12 "fishers of men. " "There will be a very great 35:14 multitude of fish because these waters shall come thither. 35:17 For they shall be healed and everything shall live 35:20 whither the river cometh. " Verse 12: 35:23 "And by the river upon the banks thereof on this side and on 35:26 that side shall grow all trees for me whose leaves shall not 35:31 fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed. 35:34 It shall bring forth new fruit according to his month 35:38 because the waters, they issued out of the sanctuary 35:42 and the fruit thereof shall be for meat and the leaves 35:45 thereof for medicine. " Wow! 35:47 Do you know that this river is leading up to the river of life 35:50 in Revelation chapter 22? 35:52 Wait a minute: the Bible starts with the rivers of Eden 35:56 and it ends with the rivers of Eden. 35:59 Full circle... full circle! 36:04 So listen... listen. You see, the Christian is 36:07 ultimately longing for the glory of God 36:11 manifested in us. That's why the Bible says 36:14 that "the whole creation groans, waiting - or travailing - 36:19 as if in birth to see the manifestation of the sons 36:23 of God. " That's why the Bible says it is our hope. 36:28 "Our hope is Christ in you: the hope of glory. " 36:32 Now, do you hope for something that you already have? 36:35 No... no, no, no. 36:38 Which means that the hope of glory 36:41 has not yet been fully manifested in God's people - 36:45 Amen - because we're still what? Hoping for it. 36:50 Yeah? Amen! It's like, umm... 36:54 It's like... look: I John 3:2. 36:57 The Bible says this: "Beloved, now we are the sons of God. 36:59 And it does not yet appear what we shall be 37:02 but we know that when He shall appear we will be like Him 37:06 for we shall see Him as He is. " 37:08 Check this out: we don't know when He appears, do we? 37:13 But when He appears, we will already be like Him. 37:17 Amen! Oh... wait a minute. 37:20 Are you telling me, pastor, that we will be glorified 37:23 some time before He appears? 37:29 Beloved, listen, listen, listen. 37:37 God's people are going to be glorified together. Amen! 37:40 That's why the Bible says in Hebrews 11:39 37:43 and verse 40 that "they without us will not be made perfect. " 37:49 Talking about all the people that came before us. 37:53 Those last people at the end of time... 37:57 they that came before us will not be made perfect without us - 38:02 Amen - those who are alive at the second coming of Christ. 38:05 That's why the dead in Christ shall rise together. 38:08 Amen! Let me say it this way: 38:11 we're going to be born together. 38:13 Oh, you didn't hear me. 38:15 You see, beloved, listen: right now we are just born again 38:18 by faith. That's right... praise the Lord! 38:21 But when Christ comes again we will literally be born again. 38:26 It's like this: do you know that there are... 38:29 you know this... maybe you know this... 38:31 there are three trimesters in a pregnancy. 38:37 When a baby is going to be delivered 38:40 before that baby is delivered... before that baby is delivered... 38:44 Hey I feel it. Before that baby is delivered! 38:48 Did you hear that word? 38:49 Delivered... there are three trimesters. 38:53 In the first trimester you don't see anything. 38:58 Yeah... you can't even tell the person's pregnant. 39:03 Do you know that that's just like justification? 39:10 Yeah, yeah, yeah. "You know, last night I gave my life 39:14 to the Lord. " And people are looking like: "Wait, you? What? 39:17 I know you! No change... 39:20 You just made a decision with your mouth. " 39:22 Justification is much like that first trimester. Yes! 39:28 Justification we might say points us to the outer court 39:32 of the sanctuary - amen - where the altar of sacrifice is. 39:36 Justification: outer court, first trimester. 39:39 Can't really see any changes, but you just claimed 39:44 with your mouth that you believe in Christ 39:46 and you've asked Him for forgiveness, yeah? 39:48 But beloved, in the second trimester 39:51 that's where you begin to show. 39:55 I'm seeing some evidence now that somethin's goin' on, right? 40:00 Amen! Yeah, yeah... that's sanctification. 40:05 Yeah? That would be like the Holy Place 40:11 in the sanctuary. Yeah? 40:12 Amen! Because in the Holy Place what do you have? 40:15 You have the seven-branch candlestick 40:17 representing letting your light shine. 40:19 You have table of showbread representing the Word of God 40:22 and you have the altar of incense representing prayer. 40:24 Now, if I want to grow in grace, guess what I have to do? 40:27 I need to study: I need to pray; I need to let my light shine. 40:30 Amen! That's the process whereby I grow... 40:34 grow in grace. I've got a question: 40:37 have I been born yet? No! Yes? 40:43 I was conceived - yes? but I haven't been born. 40:48 Look, I don't want a baby born in the first trimester. 40:51 No! The baby's not done. That's right. Amen! 40:58 Beloved, Christ is looking down at humanity 41:01 and He's saying: "The baby's not done. " That's right. 41:05 All the generations have simply been a reflection 41:08 of these different trimesters. So... check it out: 41:12 under the third trimester, this is where the baby is completed. 41:17 Wait a minute. The baby's not born yet in the third trimester. 41:21 He's completed. The baby must be completed 41:26 before he is born. Amen! 41:29 Now, it's in the third trimester that no one really knows 41:32 the day or the hour. No one knows the day nor the hour 41:36 but you know it's coming. Amen! Amen! 41:40 So, beloved, listen: in the same way... 41:42 in the same way glorification is what occurs 41:46 in the Most Holy Place. Amen! 41:49 This is why we have such a powerful message, beloved. 41:52 Listen: Martin Luther... he started the Reformation 41:55 with justification. And then the other reformers that followed 42:00 began to move into this concept of sanctification: 42:03 living right. But beloved, as Adventists 42:07 we have a very special message. Amen! 42:10 We have a third trimester message! 42:15 We are living in the third trimester, 42:19 and when the baby is completed 42:24 Jesus comes to deliver. Amen! 42:33 The baby will be delivered only after it's ready. 42:38 And beloved, listen: the baby has to be... Listen: 42:41 do you know that Jesus, when He leaves the Most Holy Place 42:45 in the sanctuary above, there is no Intercessor. 42:49 There's no Intercessor. 42:52 And the reason why that's OK 42:54 is because the baby has been glorified 42:59 shortly before Jesus leaves the sanctuary. 43:05 Yeah? So there's no need to be afraid... 43:08 "How am I going to make it? " No! The baby's been glorified. 43:11 Why? What babies are glorified? 43:14 The ones that were justified and sanctified. Amen! 43:20 Yeah... justification. We have something to do with that. 43:22 You know: "Lord, please forgive me of my sins. " 43:26 Or sanctification... we have something to do with that. 43:29 "Lord, I'm walking with You. I know You're doing this 43:31 but I'm walking with You. " Glorification we have nothing to 43:34 do with it. Glorification... That is something that God alone 43:39 will do for us. Amen. 43:42 We can't: "OK, Lord, now glorify me now. " 43:45 No! Glorification is that which is impossible! 43:51 But with Christ all things are possible. Amen! 43:55 So look: that's why we have... 43:57 Listen... so think about it this way: 43:59 the seventy-week prophecy is justification. 44:03 The 1,260-year prophecy: sanctification. 44:08 The 2,300-day prophecy: glorification. Amen! 44:15 The outer court? Justification. 44:20 The Holy Place? Sanctification. 44:23 The Most Holy Place? Glorification. Glorification. 44:27 Listen: glorification is the removal of all sin. 44:31 Amen! Guess what the cleansing of the sanctuary is about? 44:34 The removal of all sin. Amen! Do you know the process works? 44:38 Let me share with you very quickly. Very, very simple. 44:41 Every time a person sinned in the Old Testament they would 44:43 lay their hands on the head of an animal. 44:45 They would confess their sins over the head of that animal 44:49 and then the animal was slain. 44:52 The blood was taken into the sanctuary 44:54 and therefore the record of sin was transferred 44:57 into the sanctuary. Right? Now, on the Day of A... 45:00 This happened throughout the year, 45:02 but on the Day of Atonement the high priest would cleanse 45:06 the sanctuary and take all the sins and put them on the head 45:10 of the scapegoat and send the scapegoat out 45:14 into a desolate place. OK? 45:16 You go through this very same process 45:18 every week in your house. Every week in your house. Listen: 45:22 day by day you take the garbage out of the kitchen, 45:28 yeah? How many of you do that? And you take it and you put it 45:30 at the side of your house. Is your house clean when you 45:33 remove the garbage? No. Is it clean? 45:36 It is... kind of. 45:42 But there is a memory of the garbage. 45:46 You can't just walk away like: "Haha! Yes! Garbage is gone. " 45:50 No! There's a memory of the garbage. 45:53 Right? Because why? Even though in a technical sense 45:58 your house is clean the garbage is at the side 46:00 of the house. Now, now, now... one day of the week. 46:06 Right? That day you know 46:12 that if you don't get all the garbage out to the curb 46:18 for that truck to come and take it out to a desolate place 46:26 you know that if you don't do that you are stuck 46:29 with the garbage. 46:32 Nobody wants to be stuck with the garbage, beloved. 46:35 This is exactly what the process of justification/sanctification. 46:40 Glorification is the removal of the garbage 46:44 into a desolate place. So by the way, 46:49 when that happens the sanctuary is cleansed. 46:51 Do you know what that means? There's no more memory of sin. 46:56 There's no more memory of sin. 46:58 You don't need to remember it any more because it's been 47:01 removed. God says He's going to cast it into the sea 47:05 of forgetfulness. So you know how He does that? 47:09 Azazel. Anyone know what Azazel is? 47:11 That's the scapegoat that the sins were put on. 47:14 You know what God does in glorification? 47:17 He takes the sins; He puts them on the head of the scapegoat; 47:22 and He sends the scapegoat ultimately into a sea. 47:28 Amen! Remember when He said: "I will cast your sins 47:33 into the sea of forgetfulness? " 47:36 He puts those sins on the scapegoat 47:39 and the scapegoat is put into a lake of fire 47:42 and he is destroyed carrying... In fact, listen: 47:48 before Jesus comes again those who are glorified 47:52 are going to be going through this time of trouble 47:54 and they're going to be trying to confess sins 47:57 and won't remember any. Amen! 48:03 You want to know why? Because the sins 48:08 have been removed from the temple! 48:12 The sins have been removed from the temple. 48:21 The sins have been removed from the temple. 48:27 Because that's where the record of sin is! 48:32 So Christ said: "I'm going to remove those sins 48:34 so that you're not even going to remember them. " 48:38 Glorification... glorification. 48:43 So ultimately beloved, what is God calling us to do? 48:50 He's calling us to be justified. 48:53 He's calling us to be sanctified 48:57 because ultimately He is going to glorify us. Amen! 49:02 Now, there is one more thing I want to share with you 49:05 and I'm going to see if I can summarize it. 49:12 If glorification is in the Most Holy Place, 49:17 there is one key that is important for us to understand 49:21 regarding how to be glorified. 49:24 In the Holy Place in Leviticus 16 verse 2 49:28 the Bible says - God there is speaking. He says: "I will 49:31 appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. " 49:34 I will do what everyone? "Appear in the cloud. " 49:38 "I will appear in the cloud... I will appear in the cloud. " 49:42 God appears in the cloud. Amen! 49:44 You will remember that in the Old Testament 49:47 the cloud led the sanctuary. 49:51 And the children of Israel... the way that they moved 49:54 through the wilderness ulti- mately into the Promised Land 49:58 was by the cloud, yeah? 50:02 So check this out: the cloud represents the presence of God. 50:07 Now, now... the Bible tells us that Moses one time went 50:11 to go speak with God. And the Bible says he entered 50:15 the cloud. Amen! 50:20 And when he entered the cloud he's there speaking with God 50:25 and then the Bible says that when he came out of the cloud 50:27 the glory of God was on his face. Amen! 50:34 How did Moses get the glory of God? 50:38 He entered the cloud. 50:43 He was spending time with God. 50:49 The Bible tells us that the glory of God is seen in the face 50:52 of Jesus Christ. When Moses comes out of the cloud 50:55 his face is shining 50:59 because by beholding... 51:04 The more I learn to behold Christ in the cloud... 51:08 The more I learn to behold... By the way, 51:11 Ezekiel has a vision of God, remember? You remember that? 51:14 Of Christ. And the Bible says that Ezekiel saw this 51:19 rainbow around... around the throne. 51:26 And then he says the rainbow was like the glory of God. 51:30 It was as the appearance of the glory. 51:32 So we know that the rainbow is a symbol of the glory of God. 51:38 Did you know that in the Most Holy Place in the sanctuary... 51:41 do you know that there was a rainbow in the sanctuary? 51:43 Amen! Did you know that? 51:45 "Pastor, what are you talking about? " Listen: 51:47 do you know that there were curtains that were of all the 51:50 colors? Yes. These various colors. 51:52 And then the walls in the sanctuary were made of... 51:55 of mirror-like gold 51:58 so that if you entered the sanctuary it gave the appearance 52:02 of a rainbow around the throne. Amen! 52:06 The glory of God. 52:09 Now you remember that when God sent rain to destroy 52:12 the earth that then He told Noah: "Hey, I'm going to 52:16 put My rainbow... " Where? "in the cloud. " 52:19 If the rainbow is a picture of the glory of God, 52:23 then the rainbow in the cloud tells us that the glory of God 52:27 is found in the cloud. 52:32 If I want the glory of God, I've got to enter the cloud. 52:36 Amen! I've got to let the cloud lead me. 52:40 It's the cloud that led the children of Israel on their 52:43 journey from captivity all the way to the Promised Land. 52:46 It is the cloud that leads us from justification 52:50 to sanctification to glorification. 52:54 Follow the cloud. Yes! 52:57 Follow the cloud. Not only follow the cloud.. 53:00 follow the cloud but get into the cloud. 53:02 Amen! Amen! Get into the cloud. Learn what it means 53:07 to have that intimate relationship with Christ. 53:11 Because it is that intimate relationship with Christ, 53:13 that living in the cloud with Christ, 53:16 that allows our faces... that will allow our faces 53:21 to shine with the glory of God. 53:26 Enter the... Now, when Jesus... 53:32 You've gotta read it: Revelation 14. 53:35 Amen! Revelation chapter 14 and I want you to notice this. 53:38 Revelation chapter 14 verse 14. 53:42 The Bible says: "And I looked and behold... " 53:48 I'm going to wait for you. 53:51 "I looked and behold... " What? 53:54 "a white cloud... " And what else? 54:00 Listen: "and upon the cloud one sat like unto the 54:05 Son of Man. " Why does Jesus come back on a cloud? 54:16 Beloved, listen to me: 54:17 The cloud... Jesus returns on a cloud 54:21 for those who have been following the cloud. 54:26 Jesus returns on a cloud for those who have been following 54:32 the cloud, for those who have been living in the cloud. 54:34 When Jesus comes we are like Him because we have seen Him 54:38 face to face in the cloud. Amen! 54:41 And so the glory of God is upon those who have been 54:45 following the cloud, walking in the cloud, 54:47 living by the cloud. Beloved, it is the cloud - 54:50 the Holy Spirit of God - that leads us 54:54 step by step. It is never something you do alone. 54:59 Not justification, not sanctification, 55:03 not glorification. The Bible ends 55:08 with the river of life... full circle. 55:14 The story began at the river of life; 55:17 it ends at the river of life. 55:20 The waters of the Bible reveal to us 55:23 how God plans to cleanse His people from their sins. 55:29 Amen! And beloved, 55:35 justification... first trimester. 55:41 Sanctification... second trimester. 55:45 Glorification... third trimester. 55:49 And then birth. Yes! 55:52 We will all be born together. 55:55 Those who died under the first trimester, yeah? 56:01 We thought: "Man, they died under the first tri... " No. 56:05 They will be born. 56:07 Those who died under the second trimester? 56:10 God says listen: "They without us will not be made perfect. " 56:12 And beloved, I am looking for... I'm born again 56:15 by faith now. Amen! And so are you. 56:19 But I can't wait to be born again in actuality then. 56:25 Heavenly Father, we pray 56:32 that You would help us to understand more clearly 56:34 this message of justification, sanctification, 56:39 and glorification. 56:41 Father, we thank you for reveal- ing to us that we are living 56:44 in the third trimester 56:47 and that the child - the sons of God - are about to be born. 56:53 Thank you, Lord, for walking us through the rivers. 56:56 Thank you, Lord, for bringing the waters up not just to the 57:00 ankles, not just to the knees, 57:01 not just to the loins, but to cover the entire man 57:04 that we may be born again. 57:06 Thank you, Lord, for cleansing the temple from sin. 57:11 Thank you for loving us. 57:15 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. |
Revised 2019-11-26