Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: RT
Program Code: RT000001
|
00:04 3ABN presents The Robe with Stephen Bohr.
00:10 Well good evening and welcome to our beautiful 00:15 house of worship here. 00:16 Worship Center... Three Angels Broadcasting Network 00:20 in Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:22 And we welcome those that are here and we also welcome 00:25 you that are joining us by television. 00:28 We're so happy that you could be with us tonight. 00:31 We've been looking forward to this series for some time. 00:34 About two years ago our Board Chairman 00:38 said to me... Dr. Walter Thompson said... 00:41 "We would like to have a special series" 00:45 and he outlined exactly what he felt like should be presented 00:50 in that series. And then he said 00:52 "Who would you choose to do that? " 00:53 And I said: "One man," 00:55 and that is Pastor Stephen Bohr. 00:58 Pastor Bohr... I've known him for a number of years. 01:01 He's a man of God; He loves the Lord. 01:04 He's a Bible student. 01:05 He is the pastor of the Fresno Central SDA Church. 01:11 And he is the speaker-director of Secrets Unsealed... 01:15 which you see on 3ABN as well as other networks. 01:20 And we enjoy working with him. 01:22 He's been a speaker here for our Camp Meetings 01:24 a number of times. 01:26 And you know at 3ABN we love to bring you live events. 01:30 And this is another one of those live events. 01:32 In fact, I was counting up and over the past 20 months 01:35 we have brought you some 01:38 close to 200 live events. 01:42 Amazing number. Many of them brought from here, 01:46 some from our studios, 01:47 and some from Atlanta, some from Miami, 01:50 some from Orlando. And you name other cities 01:54 of the country. When I said Miami, I meant to say Orlando. 01:57 But we have been in so many different places 02:01 with live events. 02:04 And right now we're bringing you another one of those. 02:07 Those are made possible because 02:10 of your generosity to this ministry. 02:13 Because we could not bring you all of these productions... 02:16 some 67% of the productions that we bring to you 02:21 originate right here in our own studios. 02:24 And so this means that we have to employ a great number 02:28 of people. There are some networks that just let 02:31 somebody else produce the works for them somewhere else 02:34 and all they do is play them. 02:36 Doesn't take much to operate a network like that. 02:39 But we believe that you would like to have quality, 02:45 and so we do our very best to bring you the very best 02:50 in presenting God's Word. 02:53 Before Pastor Bohr comes, I'd like for us to bow our heads 02:56 and have just a short word of prayer. 02:59 Father in Heaven, 03:00 tonight we thank you for Jesus. 03:03 We thank you for His robe of righteousness. 03:08 As we look at weaving the robe 03:11 and we look at how this takes place in our lives, 03:15 Father, today, we pray for Your Holy Spirit. 03:19 We pray for Your Spirit to touch the lips of Pastor Bohr 03:23 once again as You have done so many times. 03:26 We pray that You will touch our hearts 03:30 and fill us with Your Holy Spirit. 03:33 And we ask it in Jesus' wonderful and powerful 03:36 and loving name, Amen. 03:40 Now Pastor Stephen Bohr. 03:54 Good evening. Good evening. 03:56 It's a real pleasure to be back at 3ABN once again. 04:01 It's always nice to come back to this neck of the woods. 04:07 Believe it or not, 35 years ago my son was born 04:10 in West Frankfort, Illinois. 04:12 I had the privilege of pastoring this church when it was downtown 04:16 for a little less than a year. 04:19 I also pastored the El Dorado district 04:23 which I think is what... 40 minutes from here? 04:26 Approximately. So we're quite well acquainted with this area. 04:31 Remember the many times that we had Camp Meeting 04:34 at Little Grassy Lake. 04:36 And probably some of you remember those good days too. 04:40 Before we get into our study 04:42 even though Pastor Gilley has already prayed, 04:45 I always make it a habit to pray before I preach, 04:48 so I invite you to bow your heads with me as we pray. 04:51 Father in Heaven, once again we come before Your throne 04:54 thanking you for the privilege of being here 04:57 to study Your Holy Word. 04:59 And Father, we ask that as we open the pages of Your Holy Book 05:03 that Your Holy Spirit will be with us 05:05 to enlighten our minds and to soften our hearts. 05:09 I not only ask for those who are present here 05:12 but I also ask for all of those who are watching 05:15 on television and those who are listening on the radio. 05:18 And we thank you Father for Your presence. 05:21 For we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, Amen. 05:29 Tomorrow marks the 166th anniversary 05:33 of what has come to be known as the Great Disappointment 05:38 of 1844. 05:40 And so we've decided to focus on the sanctuary 05:44 during these few days that we're going to be together. 05:48 And basically what we're going to do is follow Jesus 05:52 through the sanctuary. 05:55 You see, we can't understand what happened 05:58 on October 22, 1844, 06:01 unless we understand the previous steps that Jesus took 06:06 through the sanctuary before He arrived in the most holy place. 06:09 And so basically we're going to follow Jesus 06:13 as He moves in and out of the sanctuary. 06:18 This evening we're going to follow Jesus into the camp... 06:22 the sanctuary camp where sinners live. 06:25 And we're going to see that Jesus there lived 06:29 as the perfect Lamb. 06:32 Then we're going to follow Jesus into the court 06:34 where Jesus died as the perfect Lamb. 06:39 And then we're going to follow Jesus into the holy place 06:42 where Jesus applies the benefits of His life and His death 06:48 to individual sinners. 06:51 And then we're going to follow Jesus into the most holy place 06:55 where we find Jesus as Judge. 06:59 And then finally we're going to follow Jesus 07:02 as He closes the door to the most holy place 07:06 and leaves the sanctuary to come to this earth. 07:10 And so basically we're going to follow Jesus all through 07:13 the sanctuary. We're going to follow Him to the camp, 07:16 to the court, to the holy place, 07:18 to the most holy place, and then eventually 07:21 out of the most holy place to come back to this earth. 07:26 Now the subject that we're going to study today is titled 07:29 Weaving the Robe of Righteousness. 07:34 And first of all we want to know 07:36 what robe covers God. 07:39 Before we can understand the robe that God has prepared 07:42 for us we need to understand how God is garbed. 07:47 What clothes God? 07:49 And so I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me 07:52 to the book of Psalms. And we're going to read 07:55 Psalm 104 and verses 1 and 2 07:58 to find out how God is clothed. 08:02 What is the garment that covers God? 08:05 It says there in Psalm 104 verses 1 and 2: 08:20 And now verse two has 08:22 what I particularly want us to focus on... 08:35 So what is the robe that covers God? 08:38 We're told here that God is covered with light 08:43 like a garment. God's garment is not made out of artificial 08:47 cloth... it is made out of light. 08:51 There are other passages of scripture 08:53 that point to the same reality. 08:56 For example, Daniel 7:9-10 08:58 says that the garments of the Father were white as snow. 09:02 We're told in Matthew 17 verse 2 that when Jesus was transfigured 09:07 His garments were white as light. 09:10 And I like the way that Luke presents it. 09:12 In Luke chapter 9 verse 29 09:14 speaking about the transfiguration 09:16 it says that His garments were "glistening or shining. " 09:21 In other words, the garments that cover God 09:24 are garments of light. 09:27 But now the question is: what do those garments of light 09:30 represent? What is the symbolic value of that 09:35 literal garment of light that covers God? 09:38 Well, In Isaiah 61 we find the answer to this question. 09:44 Isaiah 61 and verse 10 09:46 we find what those garments symbolize or what those garments 09:51 of light represent. 09:52 They symbolize or represent something. 09:55 It says in Isaiah 61 and verse 10: 10:16 So even though God is covered with a literal robe of light, 10:21 a physical robe of light, that robe of light symbolizes 10:26 or represents His righteousness as it says here. 10:31 Now we all know that God decided at some point 10:36 past... about 6,000 years ago... 10:40 to create Adam and Eve. 10:43 And it was the purpose of God that Adam and Eve 10:46 should reflect His glory. 10:49 You see, it was God's plan that He as the sun 10:53 would shine on Adam and Eve and they would reflect 10:57 His glory like the moon reflects the glory of the sun. 11:02 Have you ever thought about the idea that the moon is 11:05 actually covered with the glory of the sun? 11:08 And so it was God's plan that Adam and Eve 11:10 be like the moon... that they should reflect the glory of God. 11:15 The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 25 11:19 that originally Adam and Eve were naked. 11:21 Now that doesn't mean that they didn't have any covering. 11:24 What it means is that they did not have any garments 11:27 artificially made. 11:29 They actually had garments that were composed of light 11:33 because they were reflecting the robe of glory that God had. 11:37 We're told in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 25: 11:46 And the reason why they were not ashamed is because 11:48 they were covered with the robe of God's light. 11:52 They were reflecting the light of God. 11:55 Kind of reminds me of that text in Revelation 12 verse 1 11:59 where it speaks about the true church. 12:01 And we're told that the woman was clothed with the sun. 12:05 You see the clothing with which God garbed Adam and Eve 12:09 was a garment of glorious light. 12:14 In other words, they were physically - literally - covered 12:18 with a robe of light. 12:22 But like God, that robe of light that covered Adam and Eve 12:26 symbolized something. It represented something. 12:29 It represented their righteousness... 12:32 the fact that they were covered with righteousness. 12:37 In the book Patriarchs and Prophets 12:39 page 45 Ellen White describes 12:43 the clothing that was worn by our parents... 12:47 our original parents. 12:49 This is what Ellen White had to say: 13:13 And you know it's interesting... She says that the clothing 13:17 that covered Adam and Eve was like the clothing that 13:19 covers the angels. 13:20 You know if you look at Luke chapter 24 and verse 4 13:23 speaking of the two angels that came to the sepulcher 13:26 we are told that the garments of the two angels gleamed 13:30 like lightning. 13:31 In other words, the angels are also covered 13:34 with a robe of light. 13:36 Further, Ellen White says this in 13:41 Christ Object Lessons page 310 and 311. 13:44 Once again, amplifying this idea 13:46 of the original clothing that covered Adam and Eve. 13:49 We're told there: 14:09 And now she explains why these robes 14:13 covered Adam and Eve. She continues saying: 14:26 In other words, they were covered with the spiritual robe 14:29 of righteousness because they lived in conformity 14:33 to the law of God. They had righteousness, 14:37 spiritually speaking. 14:39 But you know what? They were also covered with a glorious 14:42 robe of physical light. 14:44 Notice what Ellen White continues saying in this 14:46 magnificent book: Christ Object Lessons, page 311. 15:17 And so you notice they were covered with a robe 15:19 of literal, physical light. But that literal, physical light 15:22 represented their innocence or their righteousness. 15:26 So as God had a physical robe of light that represented 15:30 His righteousness, so Adam and Eve - 15:32 who reflected God's glory - 15:34 were covered with a robe of literal, physical light... 15:38 but that represented their innocence 15:40 or represented their righteousness. 15:43 If they had obeyed God, they would have conserved 15:47 both the physical robe and the spiritual robe 15:51 of righteousness. 15:53 But we all know the story. 15:55 Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. 15:59 Let's read about it in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6. 16:03 Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6. 16:05 And I'm sure that we have read this many times before 16:08 probably, but I think it would be good for us to read it again. 16:11 Genesis 3 verse 6 says: 16:34 Now I want you to notice what the first result 16:37 of their sin was. 16:39 Now they had broken their relationship with God, 16:43 and notice what the very first result was. 16:47 Genesis 3 verse 7... the very next verse says: 17:01 What had happened with the robe of light 17:04 that enshrouded Adam and Eve? 17:07 The robe of physical light had left! 17:11 And suddenly they see that they don't have the robe of light 17:15 and for the first time they realize that they're naked. 17:18 And the Bible says that they are "ashamed. " 17:21 Now what I want you to notice is first of all they lost 17:23 their spiritual robe of light 17:27 because they lost their righteousness. 17:30 But as a result of that they lost their physical robe 17:34 of light - which was the glorious light 17:37 that enshrouded Adam and Eve. 17:39 In other words, they first lost their spiritual robe 17:42 and then they lost their physical robe. 17:46 They lost their righteousness and in consequence 17:50 they lost their robe of light. 17:52 And as a result, now they are physically naked. 17:59 You see, because they are spiritually naked 18:02 their body becomes now physically naked. 18:07 Now the question is: how did Adam and Eve 18:11 try to solve this problem of spiritual nakedness 18:15 that led to literal nakedness? 18:18 Genesis 3 verse 7 - the last part of the verse - 18:22 has the answer. 18:38 Did you notice here that we're told that THEY 18:41 sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 18:46 In other words, they were going to cover the shame 18:49 of their nakedness by these fig leaves made by their own hands. 18:55 But you know what's interesting? 18:56 Even after covering themselves with the fig leaves 18:59 they still felt naked 19:01 because they did not have the robe of light... 19:04 because they did not have righteousness. 19:06 They had lost the spiritual robe and therefore they 19:09 had lost the literal robe of light. 19:12 By the way, the plan of salvation contemplates restoring 19:16 both robes. 19:18 The whole purpose of the plan of salvation 19:20 is to restore the spiritual robe of righteousness 19:24 which will lead to the restoring of the physical robe of light 19:28 that covered Adam and Eve originally. 19:31 Let me ask you: what did those fig leaves represent? 19:36 Those fig leaves - those aprons - represented something 19:39 and the question is: what did they represent? 19:42 Well, let's allow the context to tell us 19:45 what those fig leaves represented. 19:48 Genesis 9 and verses 9 to 13. 19:52 Genesis 9... 3, excuse me, verses 9 to 13. 19:57 It says: 20:11 But the previous verse is telling us that he had already 20:15 covered himself with fig leaves. Why does he still feel naked? 20:18 Because he did not have the robe of light. 20:21 Notice verse 11: 20:42 Let me ask you: is Adam trying to justify his sin? 20:46 Yes! He's trying to cover his unrighteousness by justifying 20:52 his sin - by giving an excuse or an argument explaining 20:57 why he had done what he did. 20:59 And then notice verse 13: 21:07 By the way, the serpent that God had made... 21:13 Is Eve trying to justify her sin? 21:15 She most certainly is. 21:17 And so the fig leaves represent our attempt 21:21 to justify our sin according to the context. 21:25 Now allow me to read you an interesting statement 21:27 that we find in the writings of Ellen White. 21:30 This is Review & Herald, November 15, the year 1898. 21:36 Notice what she said about the fig leaves. 21:38 And by the way, I noticed the Biblical context first 21:41 so that you see that the Spirit of Prophecy is in harmony 21:43 with the Biblical context. This is what she says: 22:22 And so basically the fig leaves represent Adam and Eve's 22:27 attempt to justify their sin. 22:31 And by the way, there's a lot of justifying of sin 22:34 that goes on today. 22:37 People say: "Well, pastor, the flesh is weak. " 22:41 "The enticements of the world are too strong. " 22:46 "The devil made me do it! " 22:48 "My parents gave me a bad example. " 22:52 "I was born that way... it's in my genes. " 22:56 "It's the wife or the husband that You gave me. " 22:59 "I grew up in a bad environment. " 23:01 We give all kinds of reasons - 23:03 all kinds of arguments - 23:06 to justify our sin. 23:09 That's exactly what Adam and Eve did. 23:11 But all of the fig leaves that we create will not... never 23:15 cover the shame of our nakedness. 23:18 And so because Adam and Eve had lost their spiritual 23:22 robe of righteousness and they had lost their 23:24 literal robe of light, as a result God pronounced 23:29 upon them the sentence of death. 23:33 Notice Genesis chapter 3 and verse 19. 23:37 God is speaking to Adam, and He says: 23:52 Now let's review the very important steps 23:56 that led ultimately to Adam and Eve's death. 24:01 Number 1: they sinned. 24:04 Number 2: because they sinned they lost their spiritual robe 24:09 of righteousness. 24:11 As a result of losing their spiritual robe of righteousness 24:15 they lost their physical robe of light 24:20 that covered them. 24:22 But ultimately they were going to suffer the greatest 24:27 nakedness of all... and that is the nakedness of death. 24:32 Do you know that the apostle Paul in II Corinthians chapter 5 24:36 compares the decomposition of the body in the grave 24:41 as being naked? In other words, nakedness 24:46 of soul leads to nakedness of body 24:49 which leads ultimately to the nakedness of death. 24:54 And so Adam and Eve were doomed. 24:58 Now what is it that happened? 25:03 The law demands perfect righteousness. 25:08 The law of God demands sinless perfection. 25:13 If you don't offer the law sinless perfection, 25:17 the result is that you have sinned. 25:21 We all know that text in I John chapter 3 and verse 4. 25:25 And I'm reading from the King James version: 25:35 So in other words, the sin... the law demands 25:39 absolute sinless perfection. 25:42 If you don't render the law sinless perfection, 25:46 that is sin. 25:49 And the Bible tells us that the consequence of sin is death. 25:54 Notice for example Romans 6:23. It says: 26:02 Romans 5 verse 12 says: 26:16 So we notice here that the law demands perfection. 26:20 If we don't render the law perfection, it's sin. 26:24 The consequence of sin is death. 26:27 The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, " 26:30 and therefore all of us are on death row. 26:34 In fact, Romans 3 verse 23 26:36 and Romans 3 verse 10 say "all have sinned 26:40 and come short of the glory of God. " 26:43 "There is none righteous... no, not one. " 26:49 And so you can see the predicament that Adam and Eve 26:52 and all of their descendants were in. 26:55 As a result of not rendering the law perfect obedience 27:00 which the law requires, man is a sinner. 27:04 Because he's a sinner, the Bible says that he deserves death. 27:07 And because all have sinned 27:10 everyone deserves the ultimate nakedness which is death. 27:17 Now the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve 27:20 should have died the very day that they sinned. 27:26 Notice Genesis chapter 2 and verse 17. 27:29 Genesis chapter 2 and verse 17. 27:32 It's speaking about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 27:35 And we've read this verse many times before. It says: 27:51 When were they going to die? In the what? 27:54 "In the day that you eat of this tree 27:57 you will surely die. " 28:00 And they ate. They lost their spiritual robe, 28:03 they lost their literal robe, 28:04 the sentence of death was pronounced, 28:06 God said: "this very day... " 28:08 But we all know that Adam and Eve did not die that very day. 28:12 Now some people say: "Well they started dying 28:14 because they died spiritually, " and so on. 28:16 But there's a more accurate explanation 28:19 to why Adam and Eve did not die precisely 28:23 that very day. 28:25 You see, that very day a very important ceremony took place. 28:31 That ceremony is described in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21. 28:36 And then I want to read you an interesting statement from 28:38 the Spirit of Prophecy. Genesis chapter 3 verse 21. 28:42 Always go to the Spirit of Prophecy in confirmation 28:44 of what scripture has to say. 28:45 She amplifies and helps us understand a little bit more 28:49 amply what scripture says. 28:51 Genesis 3 verse 21... it says here: 29:00 Somebody else is doing this... 29:19 Who made the tunics? 29:20 God. Who clothed them? 29:23 God. What were the tunics made of? 29:26 They were made out of skins. 29:29 Now let me ask you, how do you get the skin of an animal? 29:33 You have to kill the animal. There was a death that very day, 29:39 And most likely it was a lamb, because Jesus is the Lamb 29:43 slain from before the foundation of the world. 29:46 Other texts says "from the foundation of the world. " 29:48 So most likely it was a lamb. 29:50 In other words, a lamb was slain that day. 29:54 God took the skins of this blameless, immaculate 29:57 lamb and with the skins He covered the nakedness 30:02 of Adam and Eve. 30:05 The physical nakedness of Adam and Eve. 30:08 In the journal The Bible Echo, 30:11 May 21, 1900, we find these very significant words 30:17 written by Ellen White. She says: 31:04 And that happened the very day that Adam and Eve sinned. 31:10 God was saying: "The way in which your nakedness 31:13 is going to be covered is as a result of a perfect, 31:17 immaculate Lamb being slain. 31:21 And that is going to cover the shame of your nakedness. " 31:26 Now this lamb ceremony indicated that Jesus had to do two things. 31:31 Usually we think of one... but really two. 31:35 First of all, the lamb had to be immaculate 31:41 and perfect. You see, even before the lamb was sacrificed 31:46 the priest had to make sure that the lamb was without blemish. 31:51 And we're going to find that the lamb without blemish 31:54 represents the life of Jesus Christ. 31:57 And then that lamb without blemish 32:00 afterwards was sacrificed. 32:03 And by the way, this plan was made from the ceaseless ages 32:07 of eternity but was only implemented when man sinned. 32:11 Notice I Peter chapter 1 and verses 18 through 20. 32:16 I Peter chapter 1 and verses 18 through 20. 32:20 Here it says: 32:45 So what is the first thing that you see about the lamb? 32:49 Is it the death of the lamb? 32:51 Or is it the fact that the lamb is without blemish? 32:54 Notice the... the death of Jesus would have had no value 32:58 unless Jesus had lived a perfect, unblemished life. 33:01 And sometimes we start the sanctuary service in the court. 33:05 The sanctuary service doesn't start in the court... 33:07 it starts in the camp where sinners live. 33:10 We're going to notice that in a few moments 33:13 so notice what it says, verse 19: 33:30 In other words, what scripture is telling us 33:32 is that Jesus Christ was going to come as the Lamb of God 33:37 to live a perfect, unblemished life. 33:42 And after He had lived His unblemished life 33:45 He was going to the cross and He was going to pay our debt 33:50 of sin. In other words, Jesus first of all came to the camp 33:55 and only afterwards went into the court. 33:58 And some people say: "Well, why did Jesus come 34:01 to live His perfect life? Why did He come to die? " 34:04 Simply, folks, because He was taking the place 34:07 of every human being who has ever lived on planet earth. 34:12 And you say: "Why could Jesus 34:14 live the life that we should live? " 34:16 "Why could Jesus die the death that we all should die? " 34:19 The reason is very simple. 34:21 The Bible tells us that Jesus created us all. 34:25 And only He who created all could offer His life 34:30 in place of all. 34:32 Notice John chapter 1 verses 1 to 3 34:35 where we're told that Jesus was the creator of everything... 34:39 every human being on planet earth. 34:41 It says there in John chapter 1 verses 1 to 3: 34:44 "In the beginning was the Word, 34:47 and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God. 34:51 He was in the beginning with God. 34:55 All things were made through Him, 34:58 and without Him nothing was made that was made. " 35:04 And sometimes when I say: "You know that Jesus created 35:07 all human beings, " somebody comes and says: 35:09 "Pastor Bohr, but I was born from my mother. " 35:12 I say: "Oh, OK, good. Who was your mother born from? " 35:15 "Well she was born from her mother. " 35:17 "OK, who was her mother born from? " 35:20 If you go back far enough, where do you end up? 35:23 With Adam and Eve! 35:24 When Jesus created Adam and Eve he created the whole human race. 35:29 And by the way, from creating us, Jesus was responsible 35:32 for our existence. 35:34 And because Jesus felt responsible for our existence, 35:37 He says: "I'm going to provide a way of escape: 35:39 I'm going to live the life that they should live, 35:42 I'm going to weave the robe that they should wear, 35:45 and I'm going to die the death that they should die. " 35:48 "I am going to be their substitute in terms of My life 35:52 and in terms of My death 35:54 so that they can have righteousness and so that 35:57 eventually they can be covered with a glorious robe 36:00 of physical light. 36:03 And so the first thing that Jesus does is He comes 36:06 to this earth to live as the immaculate Lamb of God. 36:13 In other words, Jesus didn't come first to the court 36:15 of the sanctuary where the altar of sacrifice was. 36:18 Jesus came to the camp where sinners live 36:21 because He was going to live the life in our midst 36:25 that we should live. 36:26 In other words, the sanctuary begins in the camp. 36:29 The sanctuary begins with the perfect life of Jesus 36:33 in our midst. 36:34 You're all acquainted with John chapter 1 and verse 14. 36:42 By the way, do you know that word dwelt is the Greek word 36:46 skenoo... which means 36:48 He pitched His tent among us. 36:52 It can be translated He tabernacled among us. 36:57 In other words, He came to the camp where our tents 36:59 were pitched and He came and pitched His tent in our midst. 37:03 And so it says: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. " 37:15 And so Jesus came to the camp where we live, 37:19 and He came with the purpose of living the life 37:23 that all of us should live... 37:25 facing the same trials and temptations. 37:28 Facing the same difficulties. 37:30 Coming in the likeness of sinful flesh 37:33 and conquering the flesh in the likeness of sinful flesh. 37:38 And by the way, every time that Jesus Christ obeyed God 37:43 in the midst of trials and tribulations 37:45 He added a thread to the robe. 37:48 By His obedience Jesus was weaving a robe of righteousness. 37:52 Every time that the devil tried to get Him to entertain 37:56 a sinful thought and He said: "No, I won't go there, " 37:59 another thread was added. 38:00 Every time that Jesus said "No! " to the devil, 38:04 another thread was added. 38:05 And when Jesus said on the cross "It is finished! " 38:08 the robe was complete... it had every single thread 38:14 of a perfect robe of righteousness 38:17 weaved by Jesus Christ Himself. 38:21 And so Jesus came to the camp 38:25 to live the life that we should live. 38:28 Now let's go to a couple of Old Testament prophecies 38:32 that pointed to Jesus as the unblemished sacrifice 38:38 or the unblemished Lamb and the unblemished Priest. 38:43 Let's go in our Bibles to Leviticus chapter 22 38:46 and verses 20 to 22. 38:48 Leviticus chapter 22 38:50 and verses 20 to 22. 38:52 It's speaking here about the animals that were offered 38:56 in the sacrificial service. 38:58 Even before the animals were killed 39:01 the animals had to be without blemish... 39:05 which represents the perfect life of Jesus Christ. 39:09 It represents all of the threads 39:11 that Jesus put on the robe of righteousness. 39:13 He lived a righteous life 39:17 so that He could give us that righteous life. 39:20 Notice Leviticus 22 verse 20: 40:06 Now what did those victims represent? 40:09 Those lambs and those rams without defect, without blemish? 40:15 They represented the life of Jesus Christ. 40:19 The unblemished, sinless life of Jesus. 40:21 His robe of righteousness... which He wove in our midst 40:25 in the camp where we live. 40:27 But it wasn't sufficient for Jesus to be a perfect lamb. 40:31 He also had to be an unblemished Priest. 40:36 Notice what we find in Leviticus chapter 21 40:39 and verses 17 to 21. 40:42 Leviticus chapter 21 and verses 17 through 21. 40:47 It's speaking here about those who could serve as priests. 40:51 "Speak to Aaron saying: 40:54 'no man of your descendents in succeeding generations 40:59 who has any defect 41:02 may approach to offer the bread of his God. ' 41:06 For any man who has a defect shall not approach. 41:10 A man blind or lame, who has a marked face, 41:14 or any limb too long. 41:16 A man who has a broken foot or broken hand 41:19 or is a hunchback or a dwarf 41:22 or a man who has a defect in his eye 41:25 or eczema or a scab or is a eunuch. 41:29 No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest 41:33 who has a defect shall come near to offer 41:36 the offerings made by fire to the Lord. 41:39 He has a defect, he shall not come near 41:43 to offer the bread of his God. " 41:48 And so the Old Testament sacrificial service said that 41:51 the victim had to be without blemish and the priest 41:55 also had to be without blemish. 41:58 This was even before the animal was sacrificed. 42:03 Now let me ask you: who is the priest 42:05 represented by the sacrifice? 42:07 The priest is Jesus. 42:12 And what does the victim represent? 42:15 The victim represents Jesus. 42:18 You see, in the Old Testament service you needed a priest 42:21 and you needed a victim. 42:22 But Jesus gathered both meanings within Himself 42:27 because the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus offered 42:31 Himself a sacrifice. 42:33 In other words, Jesus was the Priest 42:36 and Jesus was also the victim. 42:38 But in order to be a priest, He had to live a perfect life. 42:43 In order to be a victim, He had to live a perfect life. 42:47 You see, the robe is the perfect life of Jesus Christ. 42:52 The robe - every thread - is an act of obedience 42:56 of Jesus during His life. 42:58 And I repeat once again, when Jesus said on the cross 43:01 "It is finished, " He had placed the last thread 43:04 upon that robe of righteousness which God requires 43:08 from us... but we can't give. 43:10 And so Jesus lived that life that we should live 43:13 so that He could give us as a free gift 43:16 the robe of His righteousness. 43:19 Notice Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15. 43:23 We are told concerning the earthly life of Jesus 43:28 the following: 43:47 You see, Jesus was that Lamb, tempted in all things... 43:51 without sin, without blemish. 43:54 Notice Hebrews 7 verse 26 43:57 where we find the description of the high priest. 44:00 Hebrews 7 verse 26 it says: 44:18 In John chapter 8 and verse 46 44:22 Jesus asked those who were listening to Him 44:25 "Which of you convicts Me of sin? 44:29 And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? " 44:34 There are in the New Testament an abundance of verses 44:38 that show that Jesus lived a perfect life without sin. 44:44 Every act of obedience - whether it be in thought 44:48 or in actions or feelings or emotions of Jesus - 44:52 was an adding to the thread 44:54 of His perfect robe of righteousness. 44:58 So the robe of righteousness represents the perfect life 45:03 of Jesus. The sinless life of Christ 45:07 which we can't offer the law. 45:09 But we're going to see in our study tomorrow that 45:12 when we come to Jesus and we receive Him 45:15 He takes the robe of His righteousness - 45:17 the life that He lived - and He places it upon us... 45:22 the spiritual robe of His own righteousness. 45:25 But it wasn't enough for Jesus to come 45:28 to live His perfect life in the camp with us. 45:30 You see, we need to start the sanctuary service in the camp, 45:33 don't we? We can't start in the court. 45:35 Jesus couldn't just come to die. 45:37 He had to be the perfect Lamb who lived in our midst. 45:40 Who by every act of obedience wove this wonderful robe 45:44 of righteousness which we cannot offer to the Lord. 45:47 But it wasn't enough for Jesus to live a perfect life. 45:51 Jesus also had to suffer our penalty of death. 45:56 You see, at the beginning... I want you to notice 45:59 this sequence of things... 46:01 At the beginning, we all know that man sinned. 46:06 And as a result of sin, 46:07 man lost his spiritual robe of righteousness 46:12 because he was disobedient now. 46:14 And as a result of losing his spiritual robe of righteousness 46:18 he lost the literal robe of light. 46:21 And of course this would lead to the ultimate unclothing 46:25 of man... through death, in the grave. 46:30 But Jesus came to undo what Adam and Eve 46:34 and all of their descendants have done. 46:37 You see, Jesus took our sins upon Himself. 46:42 Jesus took our spiritual nakedness upon Himself. 46:47 And as a result, Jesus hung on the cross 46:51 totally naked - physically speaking - 46:55 because Jesus was bearing our spiritual sin. 47:00 Jesus now hangs physically naked - just like Adam and Eve 47:05 sinned and they lost their righteousness 47:07 and then they lost their physical robe. 47:09 Jesus Christ now has taken the sins of the world upon Himself. 47:13 And as a result, He doesn't have a robe... He's naked 47:16 hanging on the cross! And I know some people say 47:18 "You're saying that Jesus hung naked on the cross? " 47:21 You know, usually artists cover up Christ's private parts. 47:26 That's not Biblical. 47:28 Jesus hung between heaven and earth stark naked. 47:32 Notice what we find in John chapter 19 47:36 verses 23 and 24. 47:38 John 19:23-24. 47:41 Speaking about the soldiers when they were going to... 47:44 you know... cut the robe of Jesus into four parts. 47:48 It says there, John 19:23: 48:13 That's also symbolically significant. 48:16 It represents the perfect life of Christ which He wove 48:21 while He was on earth. 48:22 Verse 24: 48:44 They took His garments and they took His tunic. 48:47 Jesus Christ hung naked on the cross of Calvary 48:52 because Jesus was taking upon Himself our nakedness. 48:56 Jesus had taken our sins, and the result of sin was nakedness. 49:01 So Jesus now takes our sin, 49:03 and therefore Jesus hangs naked on the cross of Calvary. 49:07 And by the way, He suffered the ultimate nakedness 49:09 which is death. "Father, into Your hands 49:14 I commend My spirit. " 49:16 And so the law demands our death. 49:19 The law says: "Hey, you obey me perfectly 49:22 you live. You disobey me, you lose your spiritual robe 49:28 of righteousness, you lose your physical robe of righteousness, 49:31 and ultimately you will be unclothed by death. " 49:37 The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ came 49:39 and He took my spiritual nakedness upon Himself. 49:45 And He paid the penalty that I should have paid. 49:48 In other words, in the camp Jesus lived the life 49:51 that we should live. 49:52 And in the court, Jesus died the death that we should die. 49:56 Notice Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13. 49:59 "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law 50:05 having become... " what? "a curse for us. " 50:10 "For it is written: cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. " 50:15 We were the cursed ones! But Jesus took upon Himself 50:18 our curse. He took our sin. He suffered our punishment. 50:24 Notice II Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. 50:27 These are well-known verses. 50:30 Speaking about God the Father it says: "For He made 50:32 Him - that is, the Father made Jesus 50:35 who knew no sin - to be... " what? 50:44 And of course, Isaiah 53 verses 5 and 6: 51:16 Isn't this marvelous? The message of the camp 51:20 and the court? 51:21 Jesus lived a perfect life which is His robe of righteousness. 51:27 And then He went to the court - the cross - 51:30 and He suffered the penalty of death that every human being 51:34 on earth should suffer. And by the way, 51:37 the work that Jesus did in the camp and in the court 51:40 He did for every single human being who has ever lived 51:43 on planet earth. 51:45 No matter how wicked or how evil they have been, 51:49 the robe was weaved for everyone! 51:52 And the death of Jesus was a death for everyone. 51:56 Allow me to read you several verses of the Bible 51:59 that underline this point. 52:01 John 3:16. Have you ever heard of that verse? 52:04 For God so loved West Frankfort. 52:09 Yeah, West Frankfort too! 52:17 So for... for how many did Jesus come? 52:20 Came for the world. But don't miss tomorrow night, 52:23 because tomorrow night we're going to talk about the 2nd part 52:25 of John 3:16. "Whosoever believeth in Him... " 52:28 Because you're probably thinking, Pastor Bohr is 52:31 teaching universalism here. 52:33 Pastor Bohr is saying that Jesus lived the life that 52:35 we should live; He died the death that we should die. 52:38 Hallelujah! And that's it! 52:40 Everybody's going to be saved. No! 52:42 Because we have to receive the benefits of what Jesus did 52:46 in the camp and what Jesus did in the court. 52:50 But His death and His life were for everyone! 52:53 Notice I John chapter 2 and verse 2. 52:56 We'll go quickly through these. 52:57 I John 2 verse 2. It says: 53:08 So not only for ours but for the whole world. 53:11 Notice Romans chapter 5 and verse 8. 53:27 And of course we all known John 1:29. 53:37 You see, what Jesus did in the camp and in the court 53:41 He did corporately for every person who has drawn breath 53:46 in the history of planet earth. 53:48 But as we're going to study tomorrow night 53:50 as we go into the holy place 53:53 we're going to see there is something that we must do 53:55 in order to respond to what Jesus has done 53:59 for Him to pour out the benefits of His life and His death. 54:03 Allow me to close by reading you a few statements 54:06 from the Spirit of Prophecy. 54:08 We find in Selected Messages volume 1 page 309 54:13 these words: 54:24 Did you catch that? 54:28 What redemption price did Jesus pay? 54:30 He paid it for what? 54:33 "For the race. " That's all of us. 54:35 On page 321, Selected Messages volume 1... 54:39 Listen to this... this is powerful: 55:21 One final statement that we find in the little booklet 55:24 Confrontation, page 17. 55:27 She says: 56:14 So folks, Jesus - by coming to this earth 56:18 in the camp with us - lived the life that we should live. 56:25 Jesus came to this earth and Jesus died 56:29 the death that we should die. 56:31 He prepared a robe of righteousness 56:34 complete with every thread through His obedience 56:38 that He can give freely to human beings. 56:43 He paid the penalty that every single one of us deserves. 56:48 And this He did for the whole human race 56:53 from Adam and Eve to the last person 56:56 that lives on planet earth. 56:59 But there's a catch. 57:02 We must come to Jesus and we must ask Him 57:08 for Him to credit His life to our account. 57:13 We must come to Him and ask Him to credit His death 57:18 to our account. 57:20 And when we respond individually and personally 57:23 then we are accepted in the beloved. 57:26 This will be our study for tomorrow. |
Revised 2014-12-17