Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CUTJ
Program Code: CUTJ000001
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00:34 Father in heaven, we thank You for the awesome privilege
00:37 of being in Your house of worship on Your holy Sabbath. 00:41 What a beautiful day. 00:43 So crystal clear and sunny. 00:46 We just ask that the sunshine of Jesus will shine in this place. 00:51 Give us clear minds and tender hearts 00:54 to receive the word of truth. 00:57 And we thank You for hearing and answering our prayer, 01:00 for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus. 01:04 Amen. 01:08 Every knowledgeable Seventh-day Adventist 01:12 has heard of the Great Disappointment 01:16 of October 22, 1844. 01:21 At that time, a group of believers known as Millerites 01:27 expected Jesus to come to this earth for His second coming. 01:36 And yet, we know that October 22, 1844 passed, 01:41 and that group was bitterly disappointed 01:46 when Jesus did not come according to their preaching 01:50 and according to their expectations. 01:54 Among those who preached this message 01:56 and belonged to the movement were several of the great 02:01 pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:05 Among them, James and Ellen White, 02:09 Joseph Bates, J.N. Loughborough, and Hiram Edson. 02:17 After the disappointment, those who had belonged to the 02:21 movement who did not abandon it restudied the prophecies 02:28 that they had studied before which seemed to indicate 02:31 that Jesus was going to return on October 22, 1844. 02:37 And they discovered that they has been wrong about 02:42 the event which was going to take place at that date. 02:47 They found that their timing was correct, 02:50 but the event which was going to transpire, 02:54 they were wrong about. 02:57 Now, to many in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 03:01 particularly some of our scholars, this event, 03:07 October 22, 1844, and its posterior explanation 03:14 have become an embarrassment. 03:18 They wish that the event and its explanation 03:21 could be expunged from Seventh-day Adventist history. 03:26 "After all," they say, "how can a church 03:29 which claims to be the remnant church of Bible prophecy 03:33 have its origin in a great disappointment? 03:38 How could that be God's remnant church?" 03:44 In fact, in the early 1960's an evangelical theologian 03:49 by the name of Donald Grey Barnhouse, 03:52 who was editor at that time of Eternity Magazine, 03:56 actually called the explanation of the Great Disappointment 03:59 by the pioneers, "The greatest face-saving explanation 04:06 in human history." 04:10 Yet, in the series that we're going to study beginning today 04:15 titled, Catching Up With Jesus, we are going to see 04:21 that in the formative years of the Christian church 04:25 there were three other great disappointments that occurred. 04:32 And no Christian theologian today will question 04:36 the fact that even though these disappointments existed, 04:41 that God was not involved directly and positively 04:46 in those movements. 04:49 In our next series, which begins today, 04:53 we're going to study six topics related to the movements 04:59 of Jesus through the Hebrew Sanctuary. 05:03 In fact, we're going to follow Jesus through five stages 05:07 of His ministration in the Sanctuary. 05:09 We're going to begin when He presents Himself in the court 05:12 as the perfect unblemished lamb. 05:17 Then we will move on to the moment that He comes to the 05:20 altar to be sacrificed as the Lamb of God 05:23 who takes away the sin of the world. 05:26 Then we will follow Jesus into the Holy Place 05:30 on the day of Pentecost. 05:33 Later on we will follow Jesus into the Most Holy Place 05:37 in 1844 to begin the judgment of the dead. 05:41 And finally in our last stage we will follow Jesus 05:45 into the Most Holy Place to observe His judgment 05:49 of the living. 05:51 In other words, we're going to follow Jesus in five stages 05:54 that He marches through in the Hebrew Sanctuary. 05:57 The perfect Lamb, His death, the day of Pentecost, 06:00 the beginning of the judgment of the dead in 1844, 06:03 and the judgment of the living which will take place 06:06 very, very soon. 06:09 Now at each of these stages we're going to notice 06:12 that there are common denominators. 06:15 And I want to share those common denominators 06:18 that characterize all five of these experiences, 06:22 perhaps with the exception of the last one. 06:24 There's one or two details in the last stage, 06:28 the judgment of the living, where God's people are 06:30 finally going to catch up with Jesus. 06:32 I'll come back to that in a moment. 06:36 At each of these stages, when Jesus is going to begin 06:41 that stage of His ministration, there are specific Bible 06:46 prophecies which pointed to that work of Jesus 06:51 that He was going to begin in the Sanctuary. 06:53 Specific Bible prophecies. 06:56 Secondly, before Jesus actually took that step 07:01 in that Sanctuary service, there was great publicity 07:06 announcing that something very important was going to occur. 07:11 There was a great religious revival leading up to 07:14 Jesus beginning that phase of His work. 07:17 Because it was necessary to point people 07:19 to the fact that Jesus was going to begin 07:22 something very significant. 07:25 At each stage there is an opening or a closing of a door 07:30 in the Sanctuary. 07:32 And there were three doors; the door to the court, 07:35 the door to the Holy Place, 07:36 and the door to the Most Holy Place. 07:38 At each one of these stages there is an opening of a door 07:42 or a closing of a door in the Sanctuary. 07:46 We're going to notice that at each of these stages, 07:49 with the exception of the last stage, 07:52 God's professed people initially misunderstand 07:57 the work which Jesus is about to begin. 08:01 They're preaching it, they're announcing it, 08:05 there's this great religious revival, 08:07 but those who are announcing the message 08:10 actually do not fully understand what Jesus 08:13 is really going to do. 08:17 At each stage God chooses always humble instruments 08:22 with very little formal education 08:25 to proclaim the message. 08:27 He bypasses those in academia. 08:31 He bypasses those who belong to the religious establishment. 08:36 At the first stage He raises up John the Baptist. 08:39 Home schooled. 08:41 Second stage, He uses babes to announce that Jesus 08:45 is the king of Israel as He marches into Jerusalem 08:49 in the triumphal entry. 08:50 From the mouths of babes, we're told in Scripture. 08:56 When He enters the Holy Place the announcement is made by 08:58 Simon Peter, a fisherman. 09:01 When He begins His work in the Most Holy Place; 09:04 William Miller, a farmer. 09:07 And finally, the last stage when He's going to judge the living, 09:11 we're told by the spirit of prophecy that God will use 09:14 few great men. 09:18 At each stage, the individual or individuals that God calls 09:22 to announce what Jesus is going to do 09:25 are home schooled and very little educated. 09:30 But they allow themselves to be used by the Lord. 09:34 At each stage, as Jesus marches through the Sanctuary, 09:39 the church of the day outright rejects the message. 09:43 In other words, the religious establishment of the day 09:46 opposes the religious revival and rejects the message 09:50 which God is sending through His instrument. 09:54 And the reason why is because the church of the day and age, 09:56 the established church, has no spiritual discernment. 10:02 And therefore, they continue their meaningless religious 10:04 ceremonies, oblivious to what Jesus is about to do. 10:11 Finally, what takes place in all of these cases 10:16 is that eventually a small remnant, after they're 10:20 disappointed because Jesus does not fulfill their expectations, 10:25 a small remnant catches up with Jesus and understands fully 10:32 what Jesus is doing at that stage. 10:35 And they follow Jesus through the open door 10:39 to understand fully what He's doing at that moment. 10:44 Each stage portrays a different function of Jesus. 10:49 The first stage amplifies His perfect life. 10:55 The second stage deals with His vicarious death. 10:59 The third stage deals with His intercessory ministry 11:03 in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary and His 11:05 empowering of the church to preach the gospel. 11:08 The fourth stage involves the judgment of the dead. 11:13 And the fifth stage deals with the judgment of the living. 11:20 So those are the common denominators 11:22 of these movements of Jesus through the Sanctuary. 11:26 Once again, I would like to review them 11:28 because they're very important. 11:30 We're going to come back to them on a regular basis. 11:33 Each stage is announced by specific Bible prophecies. 11:37 At each stage there's a religious revival to announce 11:40 that something is going to happen. 11:41 Jesus is going to do something to attract attention to Him. 11:44 At each stage there's an opening or closing 11:47 of a door in the Sanctuary. 11:49 At each stage God's people initially 11:52 misunderstand what they're preaching. 11:54 They don't fully understand the import of what they're saying. 11:57 At each stage God chooses humble instruments, 12:01 to proclaim the message, with little formal education. 12:06 At each stage the religious establishment of the day 12:08 rejects the message. 12:10 At each stage there's a great disappointment 12:13 that takes place when Jesus does not fulfill the expectations. 12:17 But at each stage, after the disappointment 12:19 there's a small remnant who catches up with Jesus 12:23 and fully understands what He is doing. 12:28 So 1844 was not unique. 12:32 What happened in 1844 happened three other times 12:36 early in Christian history. 12:40 And I'd like to share the first of those occasions 12:44 in our study this morning. 12:47 I would like to speak first of all about the prophecy 12:50 which indicated that Jesus was going to present Himself, 12:57 as He came through the door of the Sanctuary, 13:01 of the court of the Sanctuary, to present Himself 13:04 as a lamb without blemish. 13:08 You see, the death of Jesus could have no value 13:11 unless He lived a perfect life. 13:12 Because it would have been an imperfect sacrifice. 13:15 So the first movement of Jesus into the Sanctuary 13:17 is when He comes into the court. 13:20 By the way, there were specific Bible prophecies that pointed 13:23 to this aspect of the ministration of Jesus. 13:27 Notice Leviticus 21:21. 13:31 Leviticus 21:21 13:33 It's speaking here about the priest 13:36 that offered the sacrifice. 13:38 Actually, the priest not only offered the sacrifice, 13:40 he had to examine the victim to make sure that the 13:44 victim had no blemish. 13:45 And unblemished priest had to examine the sacrifice 13:50 to make sure that the sacrifice had no blemish. 13:53 Notice Leviticus 21:21. 14:14 So notice that the priest who was going to offer the sacrifice 14:18 had to be himself without defect. 14:22 But there was more. 14:24 The victim which he was going to sacrifice 14:27 also had to be without defect. 14:30 Notice Leviticus 1:10. 14:33 Leviticus 1:10 14:35 It's speaking about the sacrifices of animals 14:38 that belonged to the flock. 14:40 And it says there in Leviticus 1:10... 15:02 So in the ceremonial service, which was a prophecy 15:05 about Christ, you had to have a perfect priest, 15:10 unblemished priest... 15:11 Not morally speaking, but physically speaking, 15:14 in the Old Testament. 15:15 Which represented the perfect character of Christ 15:19 in the New Testament. 15:21 But the unblemished priest had to examine the victim 15:25 to make sure that the victim was unblemished. 15:29 In other words, had no defect. 15:32 Now the question is, when and where 15:37 were these prophecies fulfilled of the perfect unblemished 15:41 priest and the unblemished sacrifice? 15:45 Well the fact is that this was fulfilled when John the Baptist 15:50 introduced Jesus on the banks of the Jordan. 15:54 Go with me to John chapter 1 and we'll read verses 29 and 36. 16:01 John 1:29, and we'll also read verse 36. 16:10 It says there... 16:35 What was the message of John the Baptist? 16:37 "Repent, because the Lamb of God is here." 16:43 He presented Jesus as the Lamb of God. 16:46 Well let me ask you, was Jesus a priest? 16:51 Certainly He was. 16:53 Was He an unblemished priest? 16:56 See, the unblemished priest in the Old Testament 16:58 represented the fact that Jesus was to be an unblemished priest, 17:02 in terms of not having sin. 17:04 Notice what we find in Hebrews 7:26. 17:09 It's speaking about Jesus. 17:10 Hebrews 7:26 17:15 It says there... 17:21 And what characteristic does this High Priest have? 17:36 Was Jesus an unblemished priest? 17:40 Yes He was. 17:41 In fact, the Old Testament unblemished priest 17:43 pointed to Jesus who would be an unblemished priest. 17:47 But let me ask you, was Jesus also an unblemished sacrifice 17:51 when He offered His life? 17:52 Was He an unblemished lamb? 17:54 Yes He was. 17:56 Notice what we find in 1 Peter 1:18-19. 18:01 1 Peter 1:18-19 18:06 This is a passage which is very, very well known. 18:09 It says there... 18:25 But how were we redeemed? Notice... 18:40 Did Jesus live a sinless life? 18:42 He did. 18:44 You see, He was the perfect priest 18:46 and He was the perfect victim, the perfect sacrifice. 18:51 In fact, notice what we find in Hebrews 4:15. 18:54 You probably don't even have to look this up, 18:56 because it's quoted so many times. 18:59 It says there in Hebrews 4:15... 19:19 So the unblemished priest and the unblemished sacrifice 19:22 in the Old Testament represented the fact that Jesus was 19:25 going to be the unblemished priest, and He was 19:28 going to be the unblemished victim as well. 19:32 I'd like to ask a question. 19:34 Did John the Baptist fully understand this? 19:40 Did John the Baptist fully understand what he was 19:42 preaching when he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God 19:45 who takes away the sin of the world. 19:47 Look, here's the perfect unblemished Lamb." 19:49 Did John the Baptist understand fully what he was preaching? 19:54 He didn't. 19:55 In fact, in Desire Of Ages, page 112, we find this 20:00 very interesting statement. 20:03 When John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God..." 20:20 John the Baptist did not understand 20:22 the import of his words, interestingly enough. 20:25 Now let me ask you, did the mission of John 20:29 have great publicity? 20:31 Yes. 20:33 Was it necessary for the eyes of people to be focused on Jesus 20:36 as the Lamb of God? 20:37 Certainly. 20:38 Even though John the Baptist didn't fully understand 20:40 what he was preaching, how Jesus was going to be a lamb, 20:43 it was still necessary for there to be publicity. 20:45 So he went out into the desert and he preached. 20:49 And the message reached Jerusalem, Judea, 20:51 and the surrounding areas. 20:52 Notice what we find in the gospel of Matthew 3:5-6. 20:59 This was a greatly publicized event. 21:02 Matthew 3:5-6 21:07 It says there... 21:21 Was there a great religious revival 21:23 as a result of the preaching of John? 21:25 There most certainly was. 21:27 It says here, all Jerusalem, Judea, all the region 21:30 around the Jordan went out to him. 21:32 There was this enthusiasm because they knew 21:34 that the Messiah would come only after the 21:39 forerunner had come, Elijah had come first, 21:42 to prepare the way. 21:43 So they said, "John the Baptist, he lives in the desert 21:46 like Elijah, he dresses like Elijah, he eats like Elijah. 21:49 This must be the Elijah which is going to prepare the way." 21:52 And there was a great revival and enthusiasm. 21:57 And John preached that Jesus was the Lamb of God, 22:01 but he did not fully understand what he was preaching. 22:06 Ellen White, speaking about the extent of the reach 22:09 of the message of John, says in, Desire Of Ages, page 104... 22:26 Great religious revival, 22:28 pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God; 22:31 the preaching of John the Baptist. 22:35 And yet, did John fully understand in what sense 22:39 Jesus was going to be the Lamb of God? 22:42 We already read, he didn't. 22:46 He was wrong about the kind of kingdom 22:49 that the Messiah was going to establish. 22:52 He did not understand that the Messiah's kingdom 22:54 would come in two stages. 22:57 A first coming as King of suffering, 22:59 of the kingdom of grace, 23:01 and His coming later as King of glory. 23:06 He did not understand in what sense the Messiah 23:09 was going to establish His kingdom. 23:11 He believed He was the Lamb of God, 23:13 he preached He was the Lamb of God, 23:14 but he failed to understand the sense in which 23:18 He was the Lamb of God in all of its fullness. 23:21 In fact, John the Baptist thought that Jesus 23:23 was going to destroy the Romans and He was going to put 23:26 His throne in Jerusalem and He was going to rule 23:29 over the world in righteousness. 23:32 We catch this in Matthew chapter 3, if you go with me, 23:35 Matthew 3:12 where John the Baptist is preaching. 23:39 This is at the beginning of his ministration. 23:42 And it says there in Matthew 3:12... 23:49 Speaking about the Messiah. 24:05 In other words, when Messiah comes 24:07 He's going to save the righteous, 24:09 and the wicked He's going to burn with fire. 24:11 He believed that was going to happen with the first coming 24:14 of the Messiah. 24:17 Did he misunderstand what he was preaching? 24:20 He most certainly did. 24:22 He was wrong about the kind of kingdom that the Messiah 24:25 was going to implement. 24:26 Surprise, surprise. 24:28 There's nothing new under the sun. 24:31 Desire Of Ages, page 103, Ellen White has this 24:35 very interesting statement about John's understanding 24:39 of what he was doing. 24:41 She says... 25:10 Expected Him to come in glory, to establish a kingdom of 25:14 righteousness, according to this. 25:17 He did not fully understand the nature of Messiah's kingdom. 25:21 In another statement that we find in, Desire Of Ages, 25:24 page 136, Ellen White amplifying the misunderstanding 25:28 of John says, "During the weeks that followed 25:31 the baptism of Jesus, John, with new interest, 25:36 studied the prophecies and the teaching of 25:39 the sacrificial service." 25:40 See, after Jesus was baptized he says, "I need to understand 25:43 a little bit more about this lamb concept, 25:46 what kind of a lamb He's going to be; 25:48 this perfect unblemished lamb." 25:51 And then she says, "He did not distinguish clearly..." 26:16 In other words, he's studying the prophecies, saying, 26:18 "I know this fellow is the Messiah, 26:20 and I know He's the Lamb of God, but I need to understand 26:24 a little bit better in what sense He is the Lamb." 26:27 And he struggled with Scripture, 26:29 but he did not fully understand. 26:33 And therefore, John was bitterly disappointed. 26:41 So you thought 1844 was the first great disappointment. 26:46 But as Jesus begins His ministry in the Sanctuary 26:49 you have the idea of a disappointment 26:52 from the very start. 26:54 And we're going to notice at the cross 26:55 another disappointment. 26:57 In the Holy Place, another disappointment. 27:00 1844, another disappointment. 27:02 It follows this very pattern 27:03 that we're studying this morning. 27:05 So if you say that the Adventist Church cannot be the 27:07 remnant church of prophecy because it started 27:09 with a disappointment, you're going to have to disqualify 27:12 all of Christianity. 27:14 Because all of Christian movement originated 27:18 in a series of disappointments, 27:20 where eventually God's people caught up and understood 27:24 the true import of what Jesus was going to do. 27:28 John was deeply disappointed because the Messiah 27:31 did not come according to his expectations. 27:35 Therefore, Matthew chapter 11, he gathers some of his disciples 27:39 and he says, "Fellows, come here." 27:42 He's in prison at this time. 27:44 He says, "I want you to go and find Jesus. 27:50 And I want you to ask Him a question, 27:52 because I'm having my doubts about Him" 27:55 Matthew 11:2-3 has the story. 27:58 Matthew 11:2-3 28:16 Now wait a minute. 28:18 Hadn't he announced triumphantly, 28:20 "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 28:23 The spotless Lamb, here He is." 28:27 And now he's disappointed. 28:28 Because Jesus isn't measuring up to what he thought 28:32 He was going to do. 28:34 So he sends his disciples, "Ask Him whether He's 28:36 the one we're expecting, or whether the Messiah is another." 28:41 Matthew 11:3-5 tell us what Jesus did. 29:10 Concerning this, in Desire Of Ages, page 214, 29:15 Ellen White makes this very penetrating remark. 29:44 In another statement on page 215, she says this... 30:25 See, Jesus was fulfilling prophecy in a different way 30:27 than he expected. 30:30 And by the way, there were specific prophecies that 30:32 pointed to the work of John the Baptist. 30:34 Isaiah 40:1-3; a voice that cries into the wilderness. 30:41 Also the book of Malachi chapter 3 where God says 30:44 that He's going to send His messenger to prepare the way 30:47 for the Lord. 30:48 Specific prophecies that pointed to the mission and ministry 30:52 of John the Baptist. 30:56 Now the good news is that even though John the Baptist 30:59 was bitterly disappointed, which is the term that 31:04 Ellen White uses, he did not lose his faith. 31:11 Many of his followers did. 31:12 Many of those who had become excited in the desert 31:15 when he was preaching said, "Oh yeah, the Messiah is here." 31:17 They jumped on the bandwagon. 31:18 After a while when Jesus didn't fit in with what they viewed 31:23 as the mission of the Messiah, they all fizzled out. 31:27 But John the Baptist was not one of them. 31:30 In fact, Ellen White says in, Desire Of Ages, page 216... 31:44 He knew that there was an explanation. 31:47 He didn't know exactly what it was yet, 31:50 but he was searching. 31:52 Now let me ask you, what did the religious establishment 31:54 of the day do with John's message? 31:58 The established church of the day and age. 31:59 The Jewish church, is you please. 32:01 How did they react to the message of John the Baptist? 32:04 They rejected it outright. 32:09 You have some people say, "Oh no, how could that 32:11 little group of Adventists in 1844 be God's true church? 32:17 And say that all of Christendom in that day and age was wrong." 32:23 We're going to notice that at every stage 32:24 the established church was wrong. 32:27 And there was a small remnant that was right. 32:31 Not only in 1844, but at each stage that Jesus enters 32:36 His ministry this takes place. 32:38 Let's notice how they reacted to the message of John, 32:40 the religious establishment. 32:42 Notice Matthew 11:18. 32:44 Matthew 11:18 32:49 They even went so far as to say that John the Baptist 32:51 had a demon. 32:55 By the way, I've heard people say that about 32:58 the ministry of Ellen White too. 33:02 People who once walked with us. 33:06 There's nothing new under the sun. 33:10 It says there in Matthew 11:18... 33:22 How did the religious establishment respond 33:24 to his message? 33:25 They rejected it outright. 33:27 The established church rejected the message. 33:30 Luke 7:29-30 is another text which speaks about the reaction 33:34 of the religious leaders. 33:37 Luke 7:29-30 33:40 There was no problem with the people. 33:42 The people enjoyed the message of John. 33:44 But the leadership was the problem. 33:46 The hierarchy of the church, if you please. 33:49 It says in verse 29-30 of Luke 7... 34:02 In other words, the common ordinary people had no 34:04 problem with John. 34:06 Who had the problem with John? 34:08 Notice verse 30... 34:13 By the way, in Christ's day those were the preachers. 34:17 "But the Pharisees and lawyers..." 34:19 The lawyers were the theologians. 34:23 "...rejected the will of God for themselves, 34:27 not having been baptized by John." 34:33 How did the religious establishment 34:35 react to the message of John? 34:37 They rejected it outright. 34:41 Notice Matthew 17:12. 34:44 Matthew 17:12 34:45 Another text that speaks about how the religious establishment 34:48 responded to the message of John. 34:53 Matthew chapter 17 and we'll read verses 11-13. 35:01 It says there... 35:24 How did they treat John? 35:27 They did to him whatever they wished. 35:35 Notice that whoever rejected John the Baptist 35:38 also rejected Jesus. 35:42 Is it just possible that if we reject the testimony of Jesus 35:45 we are going to reject Jesus? 35:49 You show me one prophet in the Bible that the people loved. 35:54 Just one. 35:55 Anybody want to try? 35:58 There's no prophet in the Bible the people loved. 36:01 They were hated by the very people to whom they were sent. 36:07 So if Ellen White is not loved that much in the 36:09 Adventist church, she was on the right track. 36:14 Because if everybody loved her, she would most likely 36:16 be a false prophet because she would be telling people 36:20 what they want to hear. 36:25 Do I need to apologize for being so bold? 36:29 Good. Because I'm not. 36:34 Verse 12, "But I say to you that Elijah has come already, 36:37 and they did not know him but did to him 36:40 whatever they wished..." 36:45 If you reject the prophet, you reject Jesus, 36:48 is what it's saying. 36:59 Now let me ask you, was the reason for the disappointment 37:03 ever explained to John? 37:05 And what method did God use to explain the reason 37:09 for the disappointment? 37:12 Well the fact is that John was in prison, 37:15 as we've already noticed, and he sent his disciples 37:19 to ask Jesus whether He was the Messiah. 37:22 And Jesus, according to, The Desire Of Ages, 37:26 did not answer that question right away. 37:27 He said, "Stick around today and watch." 37:33 And then at the end of the day Jesus spoke these words 37:36 in Matthew 11 beginning with verse 3, Jesus said this, 37:41 showing them what He wanted them to see, 37:46 He says, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 37:54 The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, 37:59 and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, 38:04 and the poor have the gospel preached to them." 38:08 And then He warns John. 38:10 "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." 38:16 Now you say, "What's so significant 38:17 about the answer of Jesus?" 38:20 What's significant is the fact that Jesus is actually 38:24 paraphrasing Isaiah 61:1-2. 38:30 You know, when Jesus said, you know, "I'm healing the lame 38:32 and the lepers," and all of these things, 38:36 He was actually paraphrasing a prophecy from the Old Testament; 38:39 Isaiah 61:1-2. 38:41 So what He's telling the disciples of John is, 38:44 "You go tell John that this individual is doing 38:48 what Isaiah 61 says He's suppose to be doing." 38:53 In fact, allow me to read that passage from Isaiah 61:1-2. 38:57 By the way, this is the very passage that Jesus 38:59 began His ministry with in Nazareth. 39:04 You can find it in Luke chapter 4. 39:07 It set the tone for the ministry of Jesus. 39:11 It says there in Isaiah 61:1-2... 39:26 "...good tidings..." which can also be translated, 39:29 "the gospel." 39:30 To preach the gospel to the poor. 39:32 Is that one thing that Jesus told the disciples 39:34 of John to go tell John? 39:37 Absolutely. 39:41 "...the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; 39:45 He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, 39:48 to proclaim liberty to the captives, 39:51 and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 39:54 to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." 39:58 So Jesus is paraphrasing a passage of the Old Testament 40:01 that refers to His ministry. 40:03 He's explaining to John the Baptist 40:05 that he needs to hang in there because He is the Messiah. 40:08 And He's using Scripture to persuade him. 40:15 Ellen White has this remarkable statement to make in, 40:17 Desire Of Ages, page 217. 40:22 She says that John recalled the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2. 40:28 She specifically says so. 40:29 And that's not surprising because the disciples 40:32 of John quoted that verse or paraphrased that verse 40:35 when they went back to talk to John. 40:39 She says that he understood that the works of Christ... 40:56 Same book, Desire Of Ages, page 224, 41:00 Ellen White has this to say... 41:30 How did God explain the disappointment to John? 41:34 By using what? 41:36 Scripture. 41:38 He took him to Scripture. 41:39 The angels led him to Scripture. 41:42 And he came to understand that Jesus was the Messiah, 41:46 how the Messiah was going to come, 41:47 and what He was going to do. 41:49 And therefore we're told in, Desire Of Ages, 41:52 that John died in peace. 41:56 He did not die a disappointed man. 41:59 Because Scripture explained the reason for the disappointment. 42:04 Are you seeing a pattern in this story? 42:06 Hmmm. 42:09 Specific prophecies of the Old Testament 42:11 that point to the Lamb, unblemished Priest. 42:18 And that John would be the one who would preach this message 42:22 about the Lamb. 42:24 A great religious revival... 42:27 ...pointing to Jesus. 42:29 And John is preaching what he doesn't fully understand. 42:32 He's mistaken about what kind of kingdom 42:34 Jesus is going to establish. 42:39 Everybody jumps on board. 42:41 Many of them by emotion. 42:44 The religious establishment says, "We don't want any of it. 42:48 We don't believe any of his message." 42:51 And after a while John is disappointed because 42:53 Scripture isn't fulfilled the way he thinks 42:55 it's going to be fulfilled. 42:58 Afterwards God comes, through the ministration of angels 43:04 and through the disciples of John, 43:06 and explains to him prophecies of Scripture 43:10 from the Old Testament. 43:12 And John says, "Ah, it makes sense." 43:17 Instead of dying a disappointed man, 43:19 he dies in full assurance that Jesus is the promised Messiah. 43:26 Do you think that this is just coincidence? 43:30 That's why I called this series, Catching Up To Jesus. 43:37 We're going to find, folks, in our study together 43:39 that God's people are always catching up to Jesus. 43:43 You know, Jesus doesn't want that to happen. 43:45 When Jesus moves, He wants His people to move right with Him. 43:52 But God's people are slow of understanding. 43:55 Therefore Jesus can't wait, because He has a calendar 43:58 that He needs to fulfill. 43:59 So He says, "See you later. 44:03 You'll catch up some day. 44:04 You'll have an understanding of prophecy." 44:06 He says, "I'm going to go do what I'm going to do." 44:08 So He goes in and He begins to do the work. 44:10 And He knows that through a study of prophecy 44:13 people will say, "Oh, now I get it." 44:18 And so now the people are going to follow Him 44:20 and they're going to catch up with Him. 44:23 Interestingly enough, John catches up with Jesus 44:26 there in the court. 44:28 And we're going to notice in future studies 44:30 that when Jesus died on the cross, the hopes of everybody 44:34 were dashed. 44:36 Afterwards, Jesus catches up to two disciples 44:38 on the road to Emmaus. 44:40 He opens up beginning at Moses and all the prophets, 44:42 He told them all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 44:46 They say, "Oh, now we get it." 44:50 And so now they follow Jesus to the stage of His ministry 44:53 at the altar. 44:55 The same thing we're going to notice happened 44:58 when Jesus entered into His ministration in the 45:01 Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 45:03 Then the disciples didn't even understand 45:05 what Jesus was going to do in heaven. 45:07 Ten days before, they say, "Lord, are you going to 45:09 restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?" 45:12 Hello! 45:15 And then when the Spirit is poured out, the others say, 45:18 "What could this mean?" 45:21 Others said, "Oh, they're drunk." 45:24 They didn't understand... 45:26 ...until Peter stood up and started preaching 45:29 prophecies from the Old Testament. 45:31 "Oh, now we get it." 45:34 And the disappointment is turned to joy. 45:38 So what's so unique about 1844? 45:42 Nothing. 45:44 Just because the Seventh-day Adventist Church 45:46 originated in a disappoint means nothing. 45:50 Because at each stage in the ministry of Jesus 45:52 you have the same phenomenon occurring. 45:55 And you would expect it to happen in 1844. 45:59 Wouldn't you? 46:01 Now allow me to say this: 46:05 When Jesus gets to the fifth stage of His ministration, 46:09 we're going to notice, which is the judgment of the living, 46:16 there will no longer be any catching up. 46:20 Because you will either be caught up... 46:25 ...or you will be left behind forever. 46:30 Because once Jesus finishes His judgment of the living, 46:34 the door of the Most Holy Place is going to close. 46:39 And there will be no more opportunity 46:41 for God's people to catch up. 46:45 So in the final stage, there is no catching up. 46:49 In the final stage we're either with Jesus, 46:52 we enter with Him into His final stage of ministration 46:55 in the Most Holy Place when He begins the judgment 46:58 of the living, or we will be left behind forever. 47:07 Now I'd like to read a passage that we find in, Desire Of Ages, 47:12 pages 224-225. 47:15 Some people say, "How could Jesus ignore John the Baptist 47:19 in prison?" 47:21 Well we've noticed that angels came and they comforted him. 47:24 He died in peace, he died a happy man. 47:27 But some people, you know, they say, "How could that happen? 47:30 Why didn't Jesus at least go visit him? 47:33 Why didn't Jesus go deliver him? 47:35 Why didn't He encourage him when he was discouraged?" 47:41 Ellen White has this to say about this experience. 47:45 You've heard this statement many times before. 47:47 You know, when we have calamities come to our lives, 47:49 let's praise the Lord. 47:53 Because there's always a silver lining. 47:55 There's a plan even though we can't see it at the moment. 48:01 She says... 48:23 So when we get into eternity, into heaven, 48:27 when all our trials are over and we have a chance to 48:32 speak with Jesus face to face... 48:36 That's my second most favorite hymn, by the way. 48:38 The first is, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Him. 48:40 The second is, Face To Face. 48:43 When we have a chance to talk to Him face to face, 48:45 Jesus is going to say, "So I suppose that you're wondering 48:48 why I allowed that calamity to come to your life." 48:52 Notice I didn't say, "Why I sent that calamity to your life." 48:55 "Why I allowed that calamity to come to your life." 48:58 Jesus is going to say, "Now let me explain it." 49:00 And He's going to give an explanation. 49:01 And we'll say, "Lord, thank You for doing it that way." 49:06 See, the trouble is, we're not able to see the future. 49:13 We're not able to see all of the circumstances 49:16 of why things happen the way they do. 49:17 So God doesn't explain everything. 49:20 He says, "Trust Me. 49:22 And some day I will explain it." 49:25 So He says, "Hang in there." 49:26 And John the Baptist hung in there... 49:30 ...until he was able to understand fully 49:33 what was transpiring. 49:34 Ellen White continues saying, 49:36 "Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven..." 50:25 You know, this brings to mind something very interesting. 50:28 Do you know when Ellen White wrote the book, Desire Of Ages? 50:33 And where? 50:35 She wrote it in Australia... 50:39 ...near Avondale College... 50:42 ...where these days Ellen White is not too popular... 50:46 ...and greatly disliked in some circles. 50:51 Do you know that when she wrote, she was suffering 50:55 with rheumatoid arthritis. 50:59 She was in constant agonizing pain 51:03 when she wrote, Desire Of Ages. 51:05 The interesting thing is, she wrote the most beautiful 51:07 things about Jesus when she was experiencing the worst pain. 51:13 Because she was sharing in the sufferings of Jesus. 51:20 So Ellen White says, "And of all the gifts that heaven 51:23 can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ 51:26 in His sufferings is the most weighty trust 51:29 and the highest honor." 51:30 So it's honor to suffer with Him. 51:35 In fact, the Bible says that if we suffer with Him, 51:39 we will reign with Him. 51:43 See, He was a suffering Messiah before He was 51:46 the glorious Messiah. 51:47 We must be the suffering people before we are glorified. 51:50 We must share in His sufferings. 51:53 It's a blessing to us. 51:56 Is it not a blessing? 51:58 You say, "No it isn't. 51:59 I don't enjoy being in pain." 52:02 I'm not saying that we enjoy it. 52:04 What I'm saying is that it brings us closer to Jesus, 52:07 if we look at it the way we should. 52:11 Because He went through it far worse than we do. 52:16 Now allow me in closing to mention one final thing. 52:18 Why was it important for Jesus to fulfill this stage 52:22 of His ministry; present Himself as a perfect unblemished lamb? 52:27 See, at each stage Jesus performed something 52:29 that is going to qualify Him for the following stages. 52:32 Jesus couldn't suffer the death on the cross 52:34 without living a perfect life. 52:36 The sacrifice had to be perfect. 52:38 Jesus could not begin His intercession in the Holy Place 52:42 unless He offered His blood with which He could minister. 52:46 And He could not begin the process of cleansing 52:48 the Sanctuary unless He had His blood that He could use 52:50 to cleanse the Sanctuary. 52:52 So in other words, each step of Jesus is a building 52:55 or a stepping stone. 52:58 Now why was it important for Jesus to live a perfect life 53:03 as the Lamb of God? 53:05 Let me put it succinctly. 53:09 The Bible says that the law is holy and just and good. 53:17 And the law demands perfection. 53:20 Doesn't the law demand perfection? 53:23 It does demand perfection. 53:25 How many of those present here are able to offer 53:27 perfection to the Lord? 53:32 No hand comes up. Praise the Lord. 53:36 You know, some of the hands of the Pharisees 53:37 would have gone up. 53:40 "Oh yeah, I'm ready." 53:43 The fact is that the law demands a perfect life. 53:51 None of us in this world have that perfect life 53:53 to offer the law. 53:55 And therefore, the law says you must what? 53:58 You must die. 54:00 So what did Jesus do? 54:03 He came to this world to live the life that we should live. 54:07 And He could do that for all human beings 54:09 because He took the place of all. 54:11 He created us all, so He could take the place of all. 54:15 When He made Adam and Eve, He made us all. 54:17 Because we all come from Adam and Eve. 54:21 I mean, if you want to make a monkey of yourself, that's fine. 54:25 But my Bible tells me that I was created in the 54:27 image and likeness of God. 54:31 And so Jesus lived a perfect life... 54:35 ...in my place... 54:38 ...so that He could offer His life, His perfect life, 54:41 in place of my imperfect life so that He could represent me 54:46 in heaven and I could be accepted in the Beloved, 54:50 and God could look at me as if I had never sinned. 54:54 Is that good news? 54:56 If you were willing to accept that, you would 54:58 never be depressed. 55:01 Wow. 55:03 You know, a psychiatrist once said, "If people 55:05 would be willing to accept the forgiveness of God, 55:08 half of them could go home tomorrow." 55:14 Because God forgives; but we can't forgive ourselves. 55:18 If God says that He's faithful and just to forgive our sins 55:21 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 55:22 if we confess our sins, take it to the bank. 55:26 Because God does not make a promise He's not able to fulfill 55:28 or willing to fulfill or will not fulfill. 55:32 So Jesus lived a perfect life 55:35 so that we could be accepted in the Beloved. 55:37 That's why He had to live as the unblemished lamb. 55:41 And by the way, Jesus officiated in His own sacrifice. 55:45 In the Old Testament you needed two symbols; 55:47 a priest and a lamb. 55:50 But both of those symbols are gathered in Jesus, 55:52 because the Bible says that Jesus offered Himself, 55:55 in the book of Hebrews. 55:57 He was the unblemished Priest 55:58 who officiated His own sacrifice. 56:03 And you know, Jesus not only lived that perfect life 56:07 so that His life, His perfect life, could stand in place 56:11 of my imperfect life, but Jesus lived as a perfect lamb 56:16 because He wants to take that life and He wants to 56:18 impart it to us. 56:21 Not only impute, not only that His life stands in place 56:23 of my life and I can continue living as the devil. 56:27 No. 56:29 The gospel contemplates full recovery from sin. 56:33 His perfect life is so that He can represent me. 56:36 His life can stand in place of my life. 56:37 But also so that He can take that life, 56:40 through the Holy Spirit, pour it into my heart 56:43 so that then His life can shine through my life. 56:47 And that could not happen unless Jesus had lived a perfect life. 56:52 So His perfect life makes it possible 56:54 for His righteousness to be imputed to us, 56:57 and it makes it possible for His righteousness 56:59 to be imparted to us. 57:02 That's why that first stage was so critically important. 57:07 In our next study we're going to talk about 57:09 the death of Jesus at the altar. 57:12 It's going to be fascinating. 57:14 We'll go through the same process all over again. 57:17 And we'll see that there's nothing new under the sun. 57:21 That Jesus fulfills His ministry by stages. 57:24 And each one of them is extremely significant for us. |
Revised 2016-05-23