Participants: Pastor Stephen P. Bohr
Series Code: SOP
Program Code: SOP000003A
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00:14 Welcome once again to this very important series,
00:18 The Secrets of Pentecost. 00:20 And our subject of study today is, 00:22 The Lord Is Our Rock. 00:26 But before we begin our study, before we open the pages 00:30 of God's holy book, we always need to ask 00:34 for the Lord's guidance. 00:35 Never should the Bible be opened without prayer. 00:38 And so I invite you to bow your heads with me as we ask 00:41 for the Lord's presence. 00:43 Our Father and our God, what a privilege it is 00:47 to call You, Father. 00:49 To know that You want the best for Your children. 00:52 You especially want us to understand Your will. 00:55 But our minds are limited. 00:57 We can't understand on our own. 01:00 And therefore, we need divine wisdom. 01:03 So we ask that You will bless us with the presence 01:06 of Your Holy Spirit; 01:08 the same Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost 01:11 in abundance without measure. 01:14 We ask that that Spirit will be present here. 01:17 And we thank You, Father, for the promise 01:19 that You will be with us when we ask. 01:21 And we have asked for it in the precious name of Jesus, amen. 01:28 As we begin our study today, I would like to say 01:33 that there is a very close connection between what Jesus 01:39 performed on the cross and the descent of the fire 01:44 on the day of Pentecost. 01:46 In fact, these two events are totally inseparable. 01:51 Without the cross, there would have been no fire. 01:53 It would have been impossible. 01:55 And we're going to see that in our study today. 01:58 A second fact that I would like to share, 02:01 other than the connection between the cross and the fire, 02:04 is the fact that most people, when they study what happened 02:08 at Pentecost, they focus on what occurred on earth. 02:13 And they fail to realize that what happened on earth 02:16 was only an earthly announcement 02:20 of the most important event that took place in heaven. 02:25 In other words, the earthly event was a sign of something 02:29 very significant that occurred in the heavenly courts. 02:33 You know, when you mention the day of Pentecost, 02:35 people immediately say, "Oh, the mighty rushing wind 02:38 and the tongues of fire. 02:40 And people started talking in languages and tongues." 02:43 That's all they remember about Pentecost. 02:46 But the day of Pentecost is not primarily about 02:49 what happened on earth. 02:51 Primarily, it is about what happened in heaven. 02:54 And the earth was simply a repercussion 02:57 of the heavenly event. 02:58 So two things that I want us to remember as we begin our study: 03:02 number one, there is an intimate connection between the cross 03:06 and the fire that fell on the day of Pentecost; 03:08 and number two, and very importantly, equally important, 03:12 the event that was significant on the day of Pentecost 03:16 was not so much the one on earth as the event that took place 03:20 in heaven. 03:22 Now as we begin our study, I would like to mention 03:24 that there is a recurring pattern in the Old Testament 03:28 that we want to study as we begin our analysis 03:34 of this topic, The Lord Is Our Rock. 03:38 What is this pattern that we find in the Old Testament? 03:42 Basically I'll explain it, and then we're going to notice 03:45 several examples. 03:46 What happens is that an animal or animals are sacrificed, 03:52 they're placed on the altar, and then God rains fire 03:56 to consume the sacrifice as a sign that the sacrifice 04:01 has been accepted by Him. 04:03 In other words, the signal that God gives 04:06 that He accepts the sacrifice that was made 04:09 is the fact that He rains fire to consume the sacrifice. 04:13 And we're going to notice this recurring pattern 04:16 in the Old Testament. 04:17 Time and again you find the idea of sacrifice and fire, 04:21 sacrifice and fire. 04:23 Now I want to begin with the first sacrifice 04:27 that the Scripture mentions; 04:29 the sacrifice that was offered by Abel. 04:33 Now the Bible, of course, tells us that Abel offered 04:37 a better sacrifice than Cain. 04:39 We know that. 04:41 But the question is, how did God show that He approved 04:44 of Abel's sacrifice but He did not approve 04:48 of the offering that was brought by Cain? 04:51 You know, sometimes I snicker at the speculations 04:53 that scholars offer. 04:55 You know, I read some books where the scholars say that 04:58 the way in which Abel knew that God accepted His sacrifice 05:02 is that the smoke went up, where as the way Cain knew that 05:06 his wasn't accepted was that the smoke blew down. 05:09 Now that's an interesting speculation, but it's not 05:12 in harmony with this pattern that we find in Scripture. 05:15 Now I must mention that Genesis does not tell us 05:19 exactly how God showed visibly that He accepted 05:22 Abel's sacrifice and He rejected Cain's. 05:25 But as we look at the pattern in the Bible, 05:27 we know the way in which God showed it. 05:30 Now Ellen White does tell us explicitly how God revealed 05:34 that He accepted the sacrifice of Abel. 05:37 The Bible doesn't explicitly mention it, 05:39 but Ellen White does. 05:40 And we're going to find that all of the other cases show that 05:42 Ellen White was right. 05:43 Now I want to read from, Signs Of The Times, 05:46 February 6, 1879, where Ellen White is describing 05:50 the sacrifice that was offered by Abel and how God showed 05:54 His acceptance. 05:56 It says there... 06:02 That is, the sacrifice of Abel. 06:09 So how did God show that He accepted the sacrifice of Abel? 06:13 By raining fire to consume the sacrifice. 06:17 So the first example that we find in Scripture is 06:20 of Abel offering his sacrifice and God showing His approval 06:25 by consuming the sacrifice with fire. 06:29 Now the next example that I would like us to take a look at 06:32 is when the tabernacle in the wilderness was inaugurated; 06:36 when the services in the tabernacle were begun. 06:39 The record is found in Leviticus 9:22-24. 06:45 Leviticus 9:22-24 06:48 I want you to notice here once again the connection 06:50 between sacrifice and fire. 06:53 It says... 07:04 So notice, there are three types of offerings 07:06 that are sacrificed. 07:09 And then it says in verse 23... 07:33 So do you see the pattern here? 07:35 These three types of sacrifices are placed on the altar. 07:38 And then we're told that fire came out from before the Lord 07:42 and consumed these sacrifices that were placed on the altar. 07:46 So once again, we have the idea of offering the sacrifices, 07:51 and then God consuming them with fire as a signal 07:55 that He accepted the sacrifices. 07:57 Now the next example that I want to give you from the 08:00 Old Testament is from the period of the Hebrew monarchy. 08:04 The period of the Hebrew kings. 08:06 Now you remember that the ark of the covenant was 08:09 taken captive by the Philistines. 08:11 And you know, as the ark was there in the cities 08:15 of the Philistines, the ark started pouring out 08:17 plagues upon the Philistines. 08:18 And so they sent a message to David, 08:21 "David, we don't want the ark anymore. 08:23 Come and get the ark." 08:24 And so eventually David goes and he takes the ark 08:27 and he's bringing it back to Jerusalem. 08:29 And it's going up a hill and it looks like the ark 08:32 is going to fall off. 08:33 And so Uzzah extends his hand to hold the ark. 08:36 And immediately when he touches the ark, he drops dead. 08:40 And so David didn't feel like he could take the ark 08:42 all the way to Jerusalem, and so he put it on 08:44 Ornan's threshing floor. 08:47 And I want you to notice that after he placed the ark 08:51 on Ornan's threshing floor, David built an altar 08:54 and he sacrificed a victim. 08:57 And then I want you to notice what happened. 08:59 It's found in 1 Chronicles 21:26. 09:03 1 Chronicles 21:26 09:23 Do you see the same pattern once again? 09:25 God answers the call of David by raining fire 09:30 to consume the sacrifice. 09:31 So you have the sacrifice and the fire. 09:34 Now it's interesting, I mentioned at the beginning 09:36 that there's a connection between the cross, 09:38 which is the sacrifice, and the fire on the day of Pentecost. 09:41 That's the line that I want us to begin thinking of. 09:44 Now the next example that I want to give is from the time 09:48 when the temple that was built by Solomon was dedicated. 09:52 By the way, we should never call it, Solomon's temple. 09:55 Because it was not his temple. 09:57 It was the temple built for the Lord by Solomon. 10:01 You know, we say, Noah's ark. 10:02 It was not Noah's ark, it was the Lord's ark 10:05 built by Noah. 10:07 And so we need to be very careful about our terminology 10:10 lest we glorify the builder instead of glorifying the Lord 10:14 who used the builder. 10:16 But anyway, when Solomon built the temple, 10:20 he offered a prayer to the Lord in dedication 10:24 and he had placed sacrifices upon the altar. 10:27 And I want you to notice what happened. 10:29 2 Chronicles 7:1. 2 Chronicles 7:1. 10:47 Do you see the pattern once again? 10:48 Sacrifices and then fire. 10:51 God showing His approval of the sacrifices by raining fire. 10:55 Now let's notice one more example of this recurring 10:58 pattern in the Old Testament. 11:00 This is from 1 Kings 18:38. 11:04 You remember the days of Elijah? 11:06 How did God show that He did not approve of the 11:08 sacrifices that were offered by the prophets of Baal? 11:12 There was no fire from heaven. 11:14 That showed God's disapproval. 11:16 But how did God show that He accepted the sacrifices 11:19 that were placed by Elijah upon the altar? 11:22 Let's read about it. 11:23 1 Kings 18:38 11:46 So we have this recurring pattern in the Old Testament. 11:49 You have a sacrifice or sacrifices that are offered, 11:52 and then God shows that He approves and accepts 11:55 the sacrifice by raining fire from heaven 11:58 to consume the sacrifice. 12:01 Now, I want us to study this from a different perspective. 12:06 Instead of talking about sacrifice and fire 12:10 as a sign of acceptance of the sacrifice, 12:13 I want us to study other symbols that teach the same lesson. 12:19 In other words, it's the same lesson, 12:20 but it's different symbolism. 12:22 I'm referring specifically to two rock episodes that we find 12:27 in the Old Testament. 12:29 We find two different rock episodes in the Old Testament. 12:32 Now let's go to our first rock episode. 12:34 It's found in Exodus 17:1-6. 12:39 Exodus 17:1-6 12:42 And I want you to notice, there are several details 12:44 that we're going to take a look at in this passage. 12:48 The children of Israel were in the wilderness. 12:50 They were in the desert. 12:51 And of course, they needed water. 12:53 And they had no water. 12:55 And so they're going to start murmuring against the Lord. 12:57 Let's read about it beginning with verse 1. 13:06 Very appropriately named, by the way. 13:10 It's coincidental that it's called, Wilderness of Sin. 13:12 That's the name of it in Hebrew. 13:14 But it says... 13:40 So notice, in murmuring who are they tempting? 13:42 Only Moses? 13:43 No, they're tempting the Lord. 13:45 By the way, are they sinning against the Lord? 13:47 Yes, they're showing a lack of faith. 13:49 The Bible says that whatever is not of faith is sin. 13:52 They're showing their distrust in God 13:55 and they're sinning against God. 13:56 And they deserve to be punished because of their 13:59 murmuring against God. 14:01 So notice verse 3. 14:16 And so now Moses, you know, in his regular patient way... 14:21 You know, in forty years he never lost his patience 14:24 except for the very end where he struck the rock twice. 14:27 And we're going to talk about that in a few moments. 14:29 You know, he was the meekest man on earth, 14:32 according to Numbers 12:3. 14:34 Amazing. 14:35 With a congregation of a million men, not counting 14:37 women and children. 14:39 And it was not an easy congregation, 14:40 it was a very difficult congregation. 14:43 Now notice what it continues saying, verse 4... 14:55 And now the solution that God gives is very interesting. 14:58 Verse 5... 15:12 That is the river Nile. 15:13 You remember he struck the river Nile with the rod? 15:15 So it says... 15:24 And now something very interesting in verse 6. 15:28 This is the Lord speaking. 15:30 By the way, this is Jesus Christ speaking. 15:38 I want you to visualize this. 15:39 There's this great big literal rock, the rock of Horeb. 15:44 But standing on the rock is Jesus Christ. 15:49 So you have the two things together. 15:52 You have the symbol, which is the rock, 15:54 and the reality to which the symbol points 15:56 standing on the rock. 15:57 You have the symbol and the reality together. 16:01 Now I want you to notice what it continues saying. 16:03 Verse 6... 16:12 And of course, He who is standing on the rock as well. 16:24 So you can visualize this. 16:25 By the way, did the people know the power that was found 16:28 in the rod of Moses? 16:29 Oh, they did. 16:31 I can only imagine how they felt when Moses raised his rod. 16:35 They'd say, "Uh-ho, we're in trouble now." 16:38 But something very interesting happened. 16:40 Now, we have three basic symbols in this passage. 16:44 And when we interpret each symbol and understand 16:47 what each symbol represents, and then put them together, 16:50 we'll know what God wanted to teach through this episode. 16:54 The first symbol that we have is the rock. 16:57 Now what does the rock represent? 17:00 This is a literal rock, but the rock symbolizes something. 17:03 What does it symbolize? 17:05 Let's go to Deuteronomy 32:4. 17:08 See, Israel should have known this in the Old Testament. 17:11 They didn't have to wait until the apostle Paul wrote 17:13 that the rock was Christ. 17:15 They could have known in the Old Testament 17:17 that the rock was symbolic of a person. 17:20 You say, "How do we know that?" 17:21 Notice Deuteronomy 32:4. 17:24 And by the way, nine times this is underlined in this chapter. 17:27 I'm only reading one of the verses. 17:29 It says there... 17:33 So is the rock a person, yes or no? 17:35 Yes, the rock is a He. 17:52 So the rock represents a person. 17:54 The rock represents the Lord. 17:57 Now the question is, which of the three Persons of the Godhead 18:02 is the Person that is being described here? 18:04 We don't have to guess. 18:06 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 tells us specifically who that Person was 18:11 that stood upon the rock and whom that rock represents. 18:15 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 18:19 This is what the apostle Paul has to say. 18:41 Was the manna real food? 18:43 Yeah, the manna was real food. 18:45 Did it have vitamins and minerals 18:46 and carbohydrates and proteins? 18:48 Of course it did. It was real food. 18:50 But did God want to teach a spiritual lesson 18:52 through that real food? 18:54 See, the real food was symbolic of a spiritual reality. 18:58 And the manna represented Christ. 19:00 We know that. 19:01 So the apostle Paul says... 19:11 Was it real water that came out of the rock? 19:13 Was it H2O? 19:15 It was certainly H2O. 19:17 It was real water that people drank. 19:19 But the water had a deeper dimension. 19:20 It was symbolic, just like the rock. 19:22 Now notice what it continues saying here. 19:34 Is it clear what the rock represents? 19:36 The rock represents Christ. 19:38 So who was standing on the rock? 19:40 Standing on the rock was none other than Christ. 19:42 In other words, you have the rock, which is the symbol, 19:45 and you have the Person who is represented by the symbol 19:48 standing on it. 19:49 You have the reality and the symbol together in this story. 19:54 So we know what the rock represents. 19:56 The rock represents Christ. 19:58 But now we need to ask the question, 20:00 what does the rod represent? 20:02 Because we have a second symbol, 20:03 which is the rod that strikes the rock. 20:06 Now what does the rod represent? 20:08 As we examine the rod of Moses, we discover that his rod 20:12 primarily represents judgment. 20:15 Because every time that Moses raises his rod, 20:18 a judgment falls. 20:20 So the rod represents God's judgment. 20:25 And the rod is used to what? 20:28 The rod is used to smite. 20:31 In other words, the rod smiting means that 20:34 God's judgment is falling, God's judgment is afflicting. 20:39 God's judgment is falling upon someone when the rod falls 20:45 upon that someone or upon that something. 20:48 For example, the Bible says that Moses smote the waters 20:53 and they turned into blood. 20:54 The judgment upon the Egyptians. 20:56 He smote the dust, and from the dust came a plague of lice. 21:02 A judgment of God. 21:03 And then the same word is used for God smiting 21:06 the first born in Egypt. 21:07 So smiting with the rod represents the fact 21:10 that God's judgment is falling upon whatever the rod strikes. 21:16 Now what's interesting is, that rod should have 21:19 fallen upon whom? 21:22 That rod should have fallen upon the people. 21:25 Because the people were murmuring against the Lord. 21:28 They were sinning against the Lord. 21:30 But instead of the rod striking the people, 21:33 the rod struck what? 21:35 It struck the rock. 21:37 And the rock represents who? 21:39 Christ. 21:40 Go with me to Isaiah 53:4, 21:43 this magnificent Messianic prophecy. 21:45 Isaiah 53:4, where the identical word, "smite," or, "strike," 21:52 is used; the same word that we find in Exodus chapter 17. 21:55 Isaiah 53:4 21:58 It says here... 22:00 This is the Messiah. 22:09 That is the identical word that is used in Exodus 17, 22:12 "You shall strike the rock with your rod." 22:15 And so it says here... 22:20 The word, "nakah," incidentally, the word, "nakah," is a very 22:24 interesting word. 22:25 It means, to strike. 22:26 It means, to beat, to smite, to hit, to slay, to kill, 22:31 to receive a blow, or to be wounded. 22:34 All of those definitions are given in the Old Testament 22:37 in translations. 22:38 And so it says... 22:50 So who is it that smote the rock, so to speak? 22:54 The rock was smitten by Moses, 22:57 but really Moses was a type of whom? 23:00 He was a type of Christ. 23:03 And so the rock, Jesus Christ, was smitten by the rod 23:08 of God's judgment. 23:10 Let me ask you, who deserved to suffer under the rod of 23:13 God's judgment? 23:15 We did. 23:16 Do we deserve to be smitten by the rod of God's judgment? 23:19 You better believe we do. 23:20 Because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. 23:25 But the rod of God's judgment did not fall on those 23:28 who are guilty. 23:30 The rod of God's judgment fell upon the one who was innocent. 23:34 Upon Jesus Christ. 23:36 And so, what is being taught here is that the rod 23:40 of God's judgment, instead of falling upon us sinners, 23:44 it fell upon Jesus Christ. 23:46 Jesus fell under the judgment of His Father 23:49 because He was bearing our sins. 23:51 Isaiah 53 presents that when it says, 23:54 "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; 23:57 yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." 24:03 Now we have one more symbol that we have to take a look at. 24:06 And that's the water. 24:08 You see, the rock is there; the rock represents Christ. 24:12 The rod smiting the rock represents the fact that 24:14 God's judgment fell upon Christ in our place. 24:18 And when the rod hits the rock, what does the rock do? 24:22 The rock gives its waters. 24:25 Now what could that possibly represent? 24:27 What does the water represent? 24:29 We must go to John 7:37-39. 24:33 John 7:37-39 24:37 Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles. 24:40 And it's actually the eighth day of the feast, 24:43 which is known as the great day of the feast. 24:45 It's the conclusion of the feast. 24:47 And Jesus is in Jerusalem and He says something very interesting. 24:51 Notice John 7:37-39. 25:06 So who is the rock? 25:08 The rock is Christ. 25:10 Jesus is saying, "If you're thirsty, come to Me and drink." 25:14 So the rock represents Christ, 25:16 because the water comes from Him. 25:18 Now let's continue reading in verse 38. 25:21 Jesus says... 25:26 So what does it mean to drink from the rock? 25:29 It means to what? 25:30 It means to believe or trust, or have faith in Jesus. 25:33 That's what it means. 25:43 So whoever believes in Jesus, out of that person's heart 25:47 rivers of living waters will flow. 25:50 Now where did that water come from that flows 25:52 out from the heart of that person who believes in Jesus? 25:56 It comes from the fact that the person drank from the rock. 26:01 In other words, you drink from the fountain 26:04 and then you become a fountain. 26:06 That's what Jesus is saying here. 26:08 Now what was Jesus referring to when He says, you know, 26:11 "He who believes in Me," which means, "He who comes and drinks 26:17 the water that I give," that person will then become 26:21 a fountain of water? 26:22 What was Jesus referring to when He talked about the water 26:25 that was coming forth from Him? 26:27 We don't have to guess. 26:28 Notice verse 39. 26:38 See, those who trust in Him, 26:40 those who have faith in Jesus, would what? 26:43 Would receive. 26:44 In other words, the water that comes from the rock 26:46 that you drink when you believe in Jesus 26:48 is receiving Jesus Christ. 26:51 And then it says at the last part of the verse... 26:59 Of course, He's glorified on the day of Pentecost. 27:01 The Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus had not yet 27:04 been glorified on the day of Pentecost. 27:07 He had not sat down at the right hand of God. 27:11 And so I want you to visualize what's happening here. 27:14 Basically, Jesus is the rock. 27:16 And Jesus says, "If you're thirsty, come to Me and drink." 27:19 That means, believing or trusting in Jesus. 27:22 He says, drink. 27:24 And then when you drink, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, 27:27 when you receive the Holy Spirit, then you will be filled 27:31 with water, and then you will become a fountain of water 27:34 to other people. 27:36 Let me give you an illustration. 27:38 You know, you go outside on a clear Fresno night 27:41 and you see this beautiful full moon. 27:46 You ever seen one of those before? 27:48 Oh, the sky is clear. 27:50 You know, it's one of those few days where you have 27:52 clear air in Fresno. 27:54 And so you see this beautiful, beautiful full moon. 27:58 And you look at the sky and you say to your husband 28:00 or to your wife, "Oh, dear, isn't that moon romantic 28:03 and beautiful tonight?" 28:07 But you know, that's not the full truth, and the whole truth, 28:09 and nothing but the truth, so help you God. 28:12 Because the moon has no light. 28:15 Where does the moon get it's light from? 28:17 The moon gets the light from the sun. 28:19 So what you need to say, "Oh, dear, isn't the sun 28:22 beautiful tonight?" 28:24 Because the glory of the moon is the glory of the sun. 28:27 The moon is simply projecting the light of the 28:29 sun to the earth. 28:31 That's why Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." 28:35 But He also said, "Ye are the light of the world." 28:37 In other words, when you are connected with the 28:40 source of light, then you become a reflector of the light. 28:44 When you drink the water, you're full of water, 28:46 and therefore now you become a fountain of blessing 28:50 to other people. 28:52 By the way, the water represents the Holy Spirit 28:55 that we receive when we trust in Jesus. 28:57 And when we receive the Holy Spirit, 28:59 we become a blessing to others. 29:01 Notice 1 Corinthians 12:13. 29:04 Here, the apostle Paul says... 29:18 So clearly, the water represents what? 29:21 The Holy Spirit. 29:22 So I want you to visualize this. 29:25 The rock is smitten with the rod. 29:29 And as a result, the rock gives its water 29:33 that people can come and drink. 29:36 Now let me ask you, who is the rock? 29:39 Jesus. 29:40 What does the act of smiting the rock represent? 29:44 It's the judgment, the death of Christ. 29:47 Now let me ask you, what made it possible for Christ 29:50 to pour out the Holy Spirit? 29:53 The fact that He fell under the judgment of God. 29:56 The fact that He went to the cross. 29:58 Because Jesus was smitten by the rod of God's judgment 30:01 He could pour out the Holy Spirit. 30:03 He could give the water from the rock, so to speak, 30:05 on the day of Pentecost. 30:07 And so even though you're dealing with different symbols, 30:10 the lesson is the same. 30:12 You see, sacrifice and then fire showing that God accepted 30:16 the sacrifice means the same thing as striking the rock 30:19 and God, by sending water from the rock, showing 30:23 that the smiting of the rock has been accepted by Him. 30:26 Are you following me or not? 30:28 Now there's a second episode of the striking of the rock. 30:31 And we should not forget that, because this is very important. 30:34 Numbers 20:7-11 contains that record. 30:38 It says here... 30:48 But now there's a difference between the first rock episode 30:51 and the second. 30:52 The first, Moses was to strike the rock. 30:54 Here, he was suppose to do something different. 30:57 He was suppose to ask the rock to give its water. 31:01 Notice... 31:14 So God says, "Now you are to speak to the rock," 31:17 and the rock represents Christ, 31:18 "and then the rock will give its water." 31:21 But what did Moses do? 31:23 He lost it. 31:25 After 40 years. 31:26 Do you know that Ellen White says that if Moses 31:28 had not committed this one sin, he would have been translated 31:32 to heaven from among the living. 31:35 But this one sin made it necessary for him 31:39 to go through death. 31:41 And of course, he was resurrected and went to heaven. 31:43 But, you know, he was an extremely patient man, 31:46 but here he lost it. 31:47 And the Bible says that instead of speaking to the rock 31:50 and saying to the rock, "Please give me your water," 31:53 he took his rod and he struck the rock twice. 31:58 Now what was so terrible about Moses' sin? 32:01 Ellen White explains in, Patriarchs and Prophets, 32:03 page 418. 32:05 I use to wonder, you know, when I was a kid, 32:07 "Man, God punished Moses so drastically because of that one, 32:11 just smiting the rock the second time, you know." 32:15 And Moses was dying to enter the Promised Land with the people. 32:18 I mean, he had longed for that all 40 years. 32:22 And now God says, "You can't go in." 32:24 Just because he struck the rock. 32:26 What was so serious about that? 32:28 Something very serious. 32:29 Notice, Patriarchs and Prophets, 418. 33:01 Moses destroyed the symbolism that pointed to Jesus Christ. 33:05 That was the reason why his sin was so terrible. 33:08 He disfigured the symbol about Christ. 33:13 If we want the Holy Spirit today, Jesus doesn't have to 33:15 fall under the judgment of the Father again. 33:17 He doesn't have to die again. 33:18 Do you know there's a church in the world, 33:20 the Roman Catholic Church, that teaches that Jesus 33:22 dies anew in every single mass? 33:26 If there's a million masses being celebrated all over 33:29 the world, Jesus is being sacrificed a million times. 33:32 Time after time, after time, after time sacrificed anew. 33:37 If God excluded Moses from the Promised Land, 33:39 how does God look upon that? 33:43 Are you following me or not? 33:45 The book of Hebrews says that Jesus was sacrificed 33:48 once for all. 33:49 It says in the book of Hebrews, He needs to die no more. 33:52 Because He already died. 33:54 Once for all for the sins of the world. 33:58 Ellen White says in the book, In Heavenly Places, page 113... 34:17 So now what we want to take a look at is the geography 34:21 of the Sanctuary. 34:24 And I want you to notice that there are four key places 34:28 in the Sanctuary that we want to take a look at now. 34:30 We're not going to look at the Most Holy Place. 34:32 We're going to look at the first four places 34:34 of the Hebrew Sanctuary. 34:36 The first place is the camp. 34:38 We usually don't begin the Sanctuary at the camp, 34:40 but that's where we really need to begin, is at the camp. 34:43 Because that's where sinners lived. 34:44 And before Jesus went to the cross, 34:46 Jesus came to live in our midst. 34:48 See, before He died, He had to live a perfect life 34:50 in our midst. 34:52 And He did that in the camp where the people lived. 34:55 "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 34:58 See, that's where the Sanctuary begins; 35:00 with Jesus living in our midst. 35:02 And He had to live a life without sin, 35:05 because He had to offer the law that perfect life in our place. 35:09 Then after He lived His perfect life in the camp, 35:12 then Jesus went into the court. 35:15 And there you have the altar of sacrifice. 35:17 There's where animals were sacrificed 35:18 and placed on the altar. 35:20 After Jesus lived His perfect life, He was a blameless Lamb, 35:23 a perfect Lamb because He lived a perfect life, 35:26 now He goes to the cross and He is sacrificed 35:29 because He's bearing the sins of the world. 35:31 And so He's taking the next step in the Sanctuary. 35:34 From the camp where He lived His perfect life, 35:36 now He goes to the court where He dies 35:38 for the sins of the world. 35:40 And then the next piece of furniture that you have 35:42 in the court is the laver. 35:44 And the laver represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 35:48 It's called in Titus 3:5, the laver or the fountain 35:54 of regeneration. 35:55 To regenerate means, to give life to something 35:58 that has lost its life. 35:59 In other words, the laver is the place where the priest, 36:02 after he made the sacrifice he was full of blood 36:05 and full of the signs of death, he washes off all of the 36:08 vestiges of death before He goes into the Holy Place. 36:12 And so Jesus dies, He's in the tomb, 36:15 but He resurrects from the dead and He cleanses Himself 36:18 totally and completely from death when He 36:20 resurrects from the dead. 36:22 So we have the steps of Jesus in the Sanctuary. 36:25 We have His perfect life in the camp, 36:27 then we have His death at the altar of sacrifice, 36:30 we have His resurrection at the laver. 36:32 And now let me ask you, where is the next place in the Sanctuary 36:36 after the laver? 36:38 The next place after the laver is the Holy Place 36:41 of the Sanctuary. 36:43 You have the entrance, and then you have the Holy Place. 36:45 Do you know that many are teaching today that Jesus 36:48 went directly into the Most Holy Place when He 36:50 ascended to heaven? 36:51 And I say, "Well, what about the Holy Place? 36:54 Did He jump over the Holy Place?" 36:57 Of course not. 36:58 Because the next place in the Sanctuary after the camp, 37:02 after the altar, after the laver, was the Holy Place. 37:05 Not the Most Holy Place. 37:07 So in the temple geography, the next place after Jesus 37:11 died and resurrected would be His function or His service 37:17 in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 37:19 And that's where Jesus went when He ascended to heaven. 37:22 He went to the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 37:26 Now I want us to notice Revelation 4:5. 37:29 This is very interesting. 37:31 We already took a look at this in our first study together, 37:35 but now we want to review that in the context of 37:37 what we're studying today. 37:39 Revelation 4:5 37:41 You remember that Revelation chapter 4 is describing the 37:45 preparation of the heavenly throne room 37:47 for the return of Jesus to heaven. 37:49 And the throne room, of course, is the Holy Place 37:51 of the Sanctuary. 37:53 Because there is the candlestick, 37:55 the seven lamps of the candlestick, 37:57 and there is also the altar of incense, 37:59 according to what we've studied. 38:01 And so the place is being prepared, in Revelation 4, 38:04 for the return of the war Hero to the Holy Place 38:07 of the Sanctuary. 38:08 And of course, the Father is waiting for Him, 38:10 the cherubim and seraphim are waiting for Him, 38:13 the representatives of the worlds are waiting for Him. 38:16 And we're going to notice that the Holy Spirit 38:17 is waiting for Him as well. 38:18 Notice Revelation 4:5. 38:20 It says... 38:29 And what was there? 38:38 So what was present there? 38:42 Seven lamps, which represent the seven Spirits. 38:46 We're not dealing with seven Holy Spirits. 38:48 The number seven means, fullness or completeness. 38:51 So let me ask you, in Revelation chapter 4 is the Holy Spirit 38:54 present there in a symbolic way, expressed in a symbolic way? 38:57 Absolutely. 38:58 It simply says there that, "The seven lamps of fire 39:02 were burning before the throne, 39:03 which are the seven Spirit of God." 39:04 So in Revelation chapter 4 the seven Spirits are simply there 39:08 in the Holy Place. 39:09 But then we're going to notice that the Lamb arrives, 39:12 in chapter 5. 39:14 We've studied this. 39:15 And then something happens with the seven Spirits 39:17 when the Lamb arrives. 39:19 Notice Revelation 5:6. 39:22 The very next chapter is where Jesus arrives 39:24 upon His ascension. 39:26 It says there in Revelation 5:6... 39:40 So at this point has Jesus died already? 39:42 Of course. 39:43 But is He alive? Of course. 39:46 He's presenting Himself alive, but He still has the wounds 39:49 fresh on His body. 39:51 Are you with me or not? 39:52 And so it says... 40:04 Now notice a very interesting detail. 40:08 And now what happens to the seven Spirits? 40:10 They were there in chapter 4, 40:11 but now something is going to happen. 40:13 It says... 40:21 What historical occasion are we talking about here 40:24 when the seven Spirits were sent out to the earth? 40:28 It is the day of Pentecost. 40:30 And so what is being described in Revelation 4 and 5 40:33 is what happened on the day of Pentecost. 40:35 Jesus appears before His Father as the Lamb. 40:39 You see, He's been stricken, smitten by the 40:41 rod of God's judgment. 40:43 And He's been resurrected. 40:45 Because He has the wounds, but He's presenting Himself 40:47 there alive. 40:48 And so He comes before His Father and He shows, 40:51 we've read this before, He shows His Father the wounds. 40:54 And He says, "Father, is My sacrifice sufficient 40:57 to save My people?" 40:59 The Father says, "Yes, it is sufficient." 41:00 And then, what is poured out on earth as a result 41:05 of the sacrifice of Christ and the acceptance of His sacrifice? 41:08 The Holy Spirit is poured out. 41:10 And you know what? 41:11 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost 41:14 was simply the signal that the sacrifice of Christ 41:17 had been accepted by His Father in heaven. 41:19 Just like were there tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost? 41:23 Yes. What was the purpose of the tongues of fire? 41:26 The purpose was, God was saying, "Listen, the Lamb 41:29 has presented Himself, the Lamb as though it had been slain, 41:32 has presented Himself to the Father. 41:33 And look, just like the fire would fall upon the altar, 41:36 here's the fire falling down, showing that the Father 41:40 has accepted His sacrifice." 41:43 And so the purpose of the fire on the day of Pentecost, 41:46 or the water coming out of the rock, which represents 41:48 the Holy Spirit, is to let the disciples know that Jesus 41:52 has presented Himself before His Father 41:54 and His sacrifice has been fully accepted. 41:59 Now, where do we fit in? 42:03 Let me ask you, what good would it do for Jesus 42:08 to have begun His ministry in the heavenly Sanctuary, 42:12 to have poured out the Holy Spirit, 42:15 if nobody on earth knew about it? 42:19 Would that be very useful? 42:22 It would be totally useless. 42:24 Did other people need to know that Jesus had now 42:27 been installed as the High Priest, as the Mediator, 42:30 as the Intercessor, and that people could now come to Him 42:33 in faith and they could also drink the water? 42:36 And that after drinking the water, they could go forth 42:38 and they could share the water with others? 42:41 And they would drink the water and then they would be able to 42:43 share with others. 42:45 Did the disciples need to go out now and let the water flow 42:48 from them that they had received on the day of Pentecost? 42:51 Absolutely. 42:53 And so the mission of the apostles was to go to the world. 42:56 They had drunk the water because they had trusted 42:58 and believed in Jesus. 43:00 And now their role is to go out and to let the water 43:03 flow from their hearts to other people. 43:07 Because Jesus lived a perfect life in our place, 43:11 and because Jesus died on the cross, 43:13 He could now intercede for sinners. 43:16 See, Jesus could now take His life and He could take His death 43:19 and He could credit those to those who believe in Him. 43:23 You see, Jesus died on the cross, He died for everyone, 43:26 but that doesn't mean that everyone is going to be saved? 43:29 Does that mean that everyone is going to be saved? 43:31 Did Jesus live for everyone on planet earth? 43:33 Yes He did. 43:35 Did He die for everyone on planet earth? 43:36 Of course. 43:38 You say, "Well, if He lived for all and He died for all, 43:40 then everybody is going to be saved." 43:42 No. You see, you have to come and you have to claim 43:46 His life and His death as your own. 43:48 You have to trust or have faith in Him, or believe in Him. 43:52 You have to repent and confess your sins 43:54 and trust in Jesus. 43:56 And then Jesus will take His life and His death and He will 43:59 place them to your account. 44:01 And God will look upon you as if you had never sinned. 44:04 That's the work that Jesus does in heaven, 44:07 beginning with the day of Pentecost. 44:09 The provision has already been made. 44:10 He's already lived the life and He's already died the death. 44:13 He's only waiting for us to personally come and claim them 44:17 by taking the right steps. 44:18 Are you with me or not? 44:20 Now let me read you this statement from Ellen White. 44:22 A very interesting statement. 44:23 Story of Redemption, 386, where Ellen White is describing 44:28 what happened on the day of Pentecost, 44:31 how Jesus was ministering in heaven. 44:34 She says on page 386, Story of Redemption... 45:13 So He won the benefits while He was on earth, 45:16 and He says, "Come and claim them now as your own. 45:21 As your personal property." 45:23 And by the way, the Christian world believes that 45:26 Jesus forgave everybody at the cross. 45:29 You know, I go to Adventist churches and I ask the question, 45:32 "Did Jesus forgive everyone's sins at the cross?" 45:34 And everybody says, "Amen." 45:36 And I say, "What theological planet are you on?" 45:40 Jesus did not forgive people's sins at the cross. 45:43 Jesus made provision to forgive people's sins at the cross. 45:47 My Bible tells me that if we confess our sins, 45:50 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 45:52 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 45:55 He made provision by His perfect life and His death 45:58 to forgive sin, but I must come to Him in repentance, 46:01 in confession, trusting in Him with a desire to overcome sin. 46:05 And then Jesus will take His life and His death 46:08 and He will place them to my account, 46:09 and God will look upon me as if I had never sinned. 46:13 That's what the Bible teaches. 46:16 So the mission of the disciples was to receive 46:19 the Spirit on the day of Pentecost to give. 46:23 Notice what we find in Acts 1:7-8. 46:29 And what I want you to see here is that the expression, 46:32 "you shall," is used twice. 46:35 "You shall," is used twice. 46:37 And I want you to notice the connection between the two. 46:40 Acts 1:7-8 46:43 Here, Jesus is about to ascend to heaven. 46:58 This is happening ten days, this is ten days before 47:01 the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. 47:03 Okay? Ten days before. 47:05 Jesus is saying... 47:13 So what is the first step? 47:14 They shall what? Receive power. 47:17 But now notice the second, "you shall." 47:24 So the first, "you shall," is, you are going to what? 47:27 Receive power. 47:28 And what is the purpose of receiving the power? 47:30 "You shall be witnesses to Me..." 47:33 Where? 47:41 What is the purpose of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit? 47:46 It is to be a what? 47:48 It is to be a witness. 47:51 You drink the water to give the water. 47:55 You receive the light to impart the light. 47:59 Isn't this a marvelous thought? 48:01 And that's what happens on the day of Pentecost. 48:03 On the day of Pentecost, Jesus pours out His Holy Spirit 48:07 upon the apostles. 48:09 And the apostles now are all full of water. 48:12 And they say, "What shall we do with this water?" 48:14 Jesus says, "Ah, you've got to be a fountain. 48:16 You've got to continue giving, and you'll continue receiving." 48:20 Marvelous thought. 48:22 Now there's a biblical example of this, 48:24 with which I want to end our study. 48:28 Jesus once met with a woman in Samaria. 48:32 She's known as the Samaritan woman. 48:35 The story is found in John chapter 4. 48:38 And this woman came to draw water at noon. 48:42 Which is very unusual in the Holy Land, because people 48:45 don't draw water at noon. 48:47 They come early in the morning or late in the afternoon 48:49 when it's cool, because it gets very hot. 48:51 And so this woman, you know, she had a reputation. 48:54 She didn't want to meet with people 48:56 because she had kind of a immoral life. 48:59 She had five men in her life, and the one she was living with 49:02 wasn't her own husband. 49:04 And so she didn't want to see anybody. 49:06 So she comes to draw water and Jesus is sitting there. 49:09 And He says to the woman, "Give me water to drink." 49:15 And the woman immediately says to Him, "How is it that You, 49:18 being a Jew, would ask a Samaritan for water?" 49:23 Now I want you to notice that this woman grows in her 49:26 consciousness of who Christ is. 49:28 First, He's a Jew. 49:30 "How is it that You, a Jew..." 49:31 Then when Jesus reveals the secrets of her heart, 49:35 the men that she's had in her life, she says, 49:37 "Hmm, I believe that You're a prophet." 49:40 And then a little later on, when Jesus gives her 49:42 the water of life, she says, "I believe that You're the 49:45 Messiah and the Savior." 49:46 She grows in her understanding. 49:49 And so Jesus says, "You know, this water that you draw from 49:51 this well, oh, you drink and a little while later 49:55 you're thirsty again. 49:56 But I have water that if you drink of it, 49:57 you'll never thirst again." 49:59 And she says, "Jesus, I want that water." 50:00 Let's read about it in John 4:13-14. 50:05 John 4:13-14 50:15 Because it's simply H2O. 50:25 See, the water flows from Jesus, right? 50:44 Are you catching the picture? 50:46 You drink the water, and then what happens? 50:48 You become what? 50:50 You become a fountain of water. 50:52 That's what it says. 50:53 "But the water that I shall give Him..." 51:01 You drink from the fountain, and you then become a fountain. 51:05 You become a tributary, in other words. 51:09 And so this woman accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. 51:12 She accepted Christ as the Messiah, 51:15 and she drank the water. 51:17 And what did she do? 51:19 She said, "Thank You, Lord, for the benefits of salvation. 51:23 See You later." 51:24 No. 51:25 She went back to her town, to Sychar. 51:30 And now she wasn't afraid of meeting people. 51:32 She wasn't embarrassed. 51:33 She went from house to house. 51:35 And with joy, you know, with a spring in her step, 51:40 and with a smile on her face. 51:42 People say, "Wow, she's really been changed. 51:44 What happened with her?" 51:46 She says, "I found the Messiah." 51:48 "Really?" 51:50 "Yes, you've got to come and listen to Him. 51:52 It's amazing." 51:54 And so she recruited the whole town. 51:56 And the whole town she brought to meet Jesus. 52:00 While she was coming, the disciples came back. 52:04 Jesus had sent them to get some food. 52:06 And so they came to Jesus and said, "Lord, here's the food 52:09 that You sent us to get." 52:10 And Jesus said, "My food and My drink is to do My Father's will 52:14 and to finish His work." 52:16 And the disciples, you know, they didn't get it. 52:18 They say, "Well, maybe somebody brought Him some food 52:20 while we were gone." 52:22 They didn't get it. 52:24 And then it says in John chapter 4 that Jesus 52:26 pointed out and He said, "You've heard that there's 52:29 four months until the harvest." 52:31 Jesus says, "No." 52:32 He says, "Look at the fields. 52:34 They're ripe already for the harvest." 52:38 And if you read, Desire of Ages, Ellen White states that 52:41 Jesus was not pointing at fields of wheat or fields of barley. 52:46 He was pointing at this woman who was coming with the entire 52:50 town of Sychar, bringing them to hear the words of Jesus Christ. 52:55 Those were the fields that were ripe for the harvest. 52:58 She had accepted Christ as her Savior, 53:02 and now she became a missionary. 53:04 She drank from the fountain, and now she became a fountain. 53:08 She received the light of the sun, and now she 53:11 became the light. 53:15 I'd like to read you a statement from Ellen White 53:17 about this woman. 53:19 It's found in, Ministry of Healing, page 102. 53:23 Ellen White states... 53:37 They said, "Don't waste Your time in Samaria. 53:39 There's no souls there." 53:42 That's what they were saying. 53:44 Ah, but they thought like many Adventists think. 53:47 See, many Adventists say, "Well you know, 53:48 we're not progressing and growing much today, 53:51 but when the Holy Spirit falls in the future, 53:54 there's going to be a great harvest of souls." 53:57 The disciples thought that way. 53:58 Ellen White continues saying... 54:29 There is an impractical faith, which means that you believe 54:32 up here, but it doesn't impact or affect the way that you live. 54:37 You see, when you truly love Jesus, you want to tell 54:40 everybody about Him. 54:42 And if you don't feel that strong urge to tell everybody 54:45 about Him, then it's because You don't truly love Him. 54:50 Ellen White continues saying in, Ministry of Healing, 54:53 page 102-103... 55:00 And then comes that famous statement 55:02 that we've all read before. 55:10 I'll repeat that again. 55:12 "Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God 55:15 as a missionary..." 56:07 Isn't that a magnificent description of this woman? 56:11 And so what is the greatest sign that a person truly 56:15 has known Christ and truly loves Christ? 56:19 The greatest sign, folks, is not that you speak in tongues, 56:23 or that you perform miracles, or that you prophesy, 56:27 or you cast out demons, or you perform all these 56:30 magnificent supernatural wonders like the Christian world 56:32 teaches today. 56:34 It is the fact that you have an uncontrollable desire to go out 56:41 and share the experience that you have with Jesus Christ 56:45 as your Savior and as your Lord. 56:47 It is the acid test of your relationship, 56:50 your true genuine relationship, with Jesus Christ. 56:53 You cannot keep Him inside. 56:55 You must proclaim Him from the rooftops. 56:58 He is the wonderful Savior. 57:00 Come and meet Him and know Him, and see for yourself 57:03 that life is good when we receive Jesus Christ 57:06 as our Savior and Lord. |
Revised 2016-06-22