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00:34 Good morning, friends,
00:35 and welcome to Sabbath School Study Hour 00:37 here at the Granite Bay Church. 00:39 I'd like to welcome those who are joining us on Facebook 00:42 and online across the country and around the world. 00:45 We'd also like welcome our online members. 00:47 Thank you for being a part of our study time 00:49 together this morning. 00:51 Now over the past few weeks, we've been studying through 00:53 a new lesson quarterly entitled Preparing for the End Times, 00:57 just a great series of lessons. 00:59 And today, we're on lesson number 5, 01:02 which is entitled 01:03 "Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary," 01:05 so that's going to be our study for this morning. 01:07 Before we get to our lesson, however, 01:09 I'd like to let those watching online 01:11 on our Facebook, 01:12 I'd like to let you know about our free offer for today. 01:15 Now it's going to be a little different, 01:16 so you'll want to pay attention to this. 01:17 We have a digital download of a sermon 01:21 dealing with this subject 01:22 called the Cleansing of the Temples. 01:24 Now the way that you get this free download 01:26 is you need to text 01:28 the following code SH014, 01:32 that's Sabbath School Study Hour 014, SH014, 01:37 and you want to text that to the following number, 01:39 40544. 01:42 So the phone number is 40544. 01:45 You text the number SH, or the latest SH014, 01:50 and you'll be able to download 01:52 a digital copy of our free offer for this morning. 01:55 Well, before we get to our study time this morning, 01:58 as we normally like to do, 01:59 we like to begin our program 02:01 by lifting our voices in song. 03:39 Thank you so much for singing with us. 03:41 And at this time, Pastor Ross will have our opening prayer. 03:46 Dear Father in heaven, again, 03:47 we thank You for the opportunity 03:48 to gather together and open up your Word 03:50 and study this very important subject, 03:52 talking about Jesus 03:54 and His high priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, 03:56 please be with us. 03:58 Guard our thoughts, our hearts, and help us to see the work 04:01 Jesus is doing for us 04:02 and the work He wants to do in us. 04:04 Thank you, Lord, for Your promise to be with us. 04:06 In Jesus name, amen. 04:09 Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by Pastor Doug. 04:14 Morning, everybody. Good morning. 04:16 And we're glad to see every one of you 04:18 here at the Granite Bay Church. 04:19 I want to welcome those who are watching 04:21 our Sabbath School Study Hour. 04:23 And as Pastor Ross mentioned, we are continuing on 04:26 through our lesson dealing with preparation 04:28 for the end time. 04:30 That's pretty appropriate, don't you think? 04:32 I heard in the news yesterday 04:34 that missiles had been fired in the Middle East. 04:39 But I don't let that shake me. 04:41 The Bible says there will be 04:42 wars and rumors of wars until the end. 04:45 The important thing is not so much 04:47 what's happening in the headlines 04:48 but what's happening your heart. 04:50 That's how we get prepared for what's coming. 04:53 So our lesson today is dealing with a very important 04:56 and often neglected 04:58 and misunderstood subject about the sanctuary, 05:01 and in particular, talking about Christ 05:04 in the Heavenly Sanctuary. 05:05 It's lesson number 5, and we have memory verse. 05:09 And the memory verse is from Philippians 2:9, 10. 05:14 I'll be reading it from the New King James Version, 05:17 Philippians 2: 9, 10. 05:19 Are you ready? I'd like you to say it with me. 05:21 Here we go. 05:22 "Therefore God has highly exalted Him 05:26 and given Him a name 05:28 which is above every name, 05:30 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 05:33 of those in heaven, and those on earth, 05:36 and those under the earth," 05:38 heaven above, on the earth, under the earth, 05:41 who are those under the earth? 05:43 It's talking about the... 05:45 It's sort of a poetic language, talking about... 05:48 even the devil and his forces will someday bow. 05:52 Now I don't know 05:55 how I can possibly overstate 05:58 the importance of understanding the subject of the sanctuary 06:02 because it is woven in the warp and woof of all the Bible. 06:09 It appears there in the beginning, in Genesis, 06:12 if not there, 06:14 Exodus all the way to Revelation. 06:16 Just to give you a little score here. 06:18 The word "temple" is found 378 times in the Bible. 06:23 The word "sanctuary" 165 times, 06:27 the word "tabernacle" 333 times, 06:30 and sometimes various sundry places 06:33 it'll say "my house" 06:35 adding up to about 928 times in the Bible, 06:39 the sanctuary is referenced, 06:41 that's more than the name of Jesus. 06:43 And so this is a very important subject. 06:46 Now there are 06:47 important characters in the Bible. 06:50 You can talk about Moses, 06:52 and he's a great character in the Bible. 06:54 You can talk about Abraham, talk about Jesus, 06:57 talk about David, 06:59 but there's a great building in the Bible, 07:01 when we think about personalities, 07:04 we can learn so much from the people, 07:06 but you can actually learn something from a place. 07:09 It's a building that teaches us. 07:12 Now the reason this is so important 07:14 is 'cause Christ compares himself 07:16 with the building, 07:18 He integrates himself with the building. 07:19 I'm going to give you a number of verses to look at. 07:23 And a matter of fact, I'll be surprised 07:24 if we get through all our verses, 07:26 I should probably pause here and remind our friends, 07:28 I want to welcome those who are watching online 07:30 and satellite, but if you have questions, 07:33 if you're watching either online, satellite, 07:36 you can text us or Facebook us questions. 07:40 Last third of the lesson 07:41 we usually take two or three questions 07:42 that come in and that are on the lesson. 07:45 I'm going to cover a lot of scriptures. 07:49 Psalm 77:13, 07:51 "Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary." 07:55 The way of God, the will of God, 07:57 the way He saves us, it's in the sanctuary. 08:00 And maybe before I go any farther, 08:02 I should just give you a little visual picture. 08:05 When the children of Israel came out of Egypt 08:09 and they went through the Red Sea, 08:11 God did not say, 08:12 "Okay, we're going to make a beeline 08:15 to the Promised Land," 08:17 instead they headed south. 08:20 And He took them to Mount Sinai 08:22 and gave them the Ten Commandments. 08:23 But while he was on the mountain, 08:24 he also received the ceremonial law 08:27 and basically, 08:28 they had a whole new economy that was begun. 08:32 They had a new calendar that began with the Passover. 08:35 And He said, "You're going to build a place, 08:37 a temple for Me." 08:40 The later temples that were built... 08:41 The first one was portables, it was very ingenious. 08:45 The other ones built by Solomon, 08:47 subsequently by the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, 08:51 and it was refurbished by Herod the Great, 08:52 that was the third temple. 08:54 So they were like these three earthly tabernacles. 08:57 They all followed basically the same principle design. 09:02 You entered, there's a main door, 09:04 and there was an altar in the courtyard, 09:07 place of sacrifice, one door in. 09:12 Then beyond that, there was a lever, 09:15 big basins where hands and feet of the priests could be washed 09:19 and other things could be washed. 09:21 Then from there, you entered into 09:23 what they called the Holy Place, 09:25 which was a sacred room 09:28 that only the priests could enter into, 09:31 the sons of Aaron. 09:32 The Levites would do ministry in the courtyard, 09:34 but only the sons of Aaron served as priests. 09:37 And in there you had three articles of furniture. 09:40 You had a table with bread on it, 09:42 you had a candlestick, seven lamp stands. 09:46 We talk about menorah today, but they had that back then. 09:50 And you have an altar of incense. 09:52 It was a little altar 09:53 where they would put incense on. 09:55 Then there was the final room 09:57 which was what you would call 09:59 the Holy of Holies or the inner sanctum 10:03 and it's where there was one article of furniture, 10:05 it was the national treasure, 10:07 and inside the national treasure 10:09 was the Word of God. 10:11 It was a golden box, sometimes called an ark, 10:14 the word ark just means container. 10:16 Noah built an ark. 10:19 Jochebed, Moses's mother, built an ark. 10:23 She put her baby in it, and it's a container. 10:25 And this container, this golden container, 10:27 everybody would love to find the golden container. 10:30 But the important thing was the rocks inside 10:32 that had the Word of God written on them, 10:34 the law of God, the Word of God, 10:36 the rock upon which the government was built. 10:39 It was the constitution of Israel. 10:41 It was holy. 10:42 It was something that was sacred 10:44 because God's finger etched it, 10:47 God's mouth spoke those words, 10:50 and so it represented the presence of God. 10:53 Above the ark, they called it the mercy seat, two angels. 10:58 And between the two angels 10:59 looking down towards the Word of God, 11:01 there sometimes His glory would appear 11:05 and this Shekinah glory would shine out of there, 11:08 and it represented the presence of God. 11:10 Moses would often walk into the sanctuary 11:12 to commune with God 11:13 and He would speak with this Shekinah glory 11:16 that was there above the mercy seat 11:19 in the Holy of Holies. 11:20 Moses, a type of high priest, he could go in, 11:22 is also a type of Christ, okay. 11:24 There's a picture of the sanctuary. 11:27 So first thing, if you want to be forgiven, 11:30 the sanctuary represents the presence of God. 11:33 They were told to pray towards that place 11:35 if they were carried away. 11:37 So Daniel prayed towards that place, 11:38 it represented the presence of God, 11:40 the earthly sanctuary was a model, 11:44 a miniature model, 11:45 of a very real dwelling place of God in heaven. 11:48 Now it's an imperfect model, 11:50 and each time they built the sanctuary, 11:52 they tried to make it a little better. 11:53 The Temple of Solomon was the most beautiful of all, 11:56 it was a lot more elaborate 11:57 than the wilderness portable sanctuary they have. 12:01 But they all represented the dwelling place of God. 12:03 On earth, there were golden angels above the ark, 12:07 in Heaven, God does not have golden angels by His throne, 12:10 He's got real ones. 12:11 On earth, they had wallpaper with angels engraved in it, 12:15 in heaven, there is not a wallpaper golden angels, 12:19 they have a living wall of angels, 12:21 ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of the thousands 12:24 ministering spirits that God has created, 12:26 the angels. 12:28 And on the veil between the holy place 12:31 and the most holy place, 12:32 there were angels woven into the fabric. 12:35 God does not have a curtain hanging in heaven somewhere, 12:39 he's probably got a wall of angels. 12:40 And so the things about the heavenly sanctuary 12:43 are going to be a little different. 12:45 But notice really quick, you walk in, 12:47 you're separated from God on the outside, 12:49 the whole idea of the sanctuary is to approach God. 12:51 Do you notice it's a straight line? 12:53 You walk through the door, you got the altar of fire, 12:57 you got the altar of water, you walk in, 12:59 and then there's a door beyond that, 13:02 you get the Holy of Holies, you're trying to get to God. 13:04 There's three rooms, there's three phases. 13:07 You are justified in the courtyard, 13:10 you're sanctified in the holy place, 13:12 and if you get to the presence of God, 13:14 you are glorified, that's glorification. 13:17 The children of Israel went through 13:18 three stages in salvation. 13:20 They were justified by the lamb in Egypt, 13:24 they were sanctified in the wilderness, 13:27 they finally received the promise 13:28 when they're glorified in the Promised Land. 13:32 How many doors were there into the sanctuary? 13:35 One door. 13:36 How many doors does Jesus say there are? 13:39 One door. Who does Jesus say is the door? 13:42 He says, "I'm the door. 13:43 If anyone tries to go over the wall, 13:44 he's a thief and a robber," there's one door, 13:46 there's one way. 13:47 People, "Oh, there's many rivers 13:49 that lead to the ocean." 13:50 It doesn't matter what you believe. 13:52 There is one way, there is no other name 13:54 given among men whereby we must be saved. 13:56 He is the door. 13:58 Then you walk to the altar. 14:00 And that's a symbol of the cross 14:03 where Christ suffered for us, 14:04 and He was offered for us, 14:06 and they put a lamb on the altar there, 14:09 the lambs were slain by the side of the altar. 14:11 Who is the lamb? Jesus. 14:14 And then the lamb's blood was offered by the priest. 14:17 Who is the priest? 14:18 Jesus. Jesus. 14:20 And then you went to the water. 14:23 Who is the living water? 14:24 Jesus. Jesus. 14:25 And then you went into the holy place 14:27 and you got a stack of bread. 14:30 Who is the bread of life? 14:31 Jesus. Jesus. 14:32 And then on the other side 14:34 you got a candle stick with light. 14:35 Who is the light of the world? 14:36 Jesus. Jesus. 14:38 And then you have the altar of incense, 14:41 and it tells us in Revelation 14:42 that the prayers of the saints ascended, 14:44 in whose name do we pray? 14:46 Jesus Jesus. 14:47 Then you go into the Holy of Holies 14:49 and it's this ark that contains the Word of God. 14:53 When did God come to earth 14:55 where His Word was contained in a person? 14:57 Jesus. It's Jesus. 15:00 Who is the rock? It's Jesus. 15:03 The whole sanctuary 15:04 is telling us something about Jesus. 15:05 Now I'm just giving you the fifth grade level here. 15:09 I'm just doing a quick flyover, 15:11 it is much, much deeper than that, 15:12 but I don't have time to go into it. 15:14 So you can see how this building is telling us 15:17 not only about how we're saved, but it's all talking, 15:19 it's telling us something about Christ. 15:21 I want to just give you a few scriptures 15:24 that illustrate how much the Bible 15:26 has to say about the sanctuary, and it's just a few. 15:29 In a moment, someone's going to read for me Psalm 63, okay. 15:33 Isaiah 6, the vision, conversion of Isaiah. 15:36 How does it happen? 15:37 Isaiah 6:1, "In the year that King Uzziah died, 15:41 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, 15:43 high and lifted up, 15:44 and the train of His robe filled the temple." 15:46 What's the Lord sitting on? His throne. 15:48 Where is it? In the temple. 15:50 "Above it stood seraphim, 15:52 each one had six wings: 15:54 with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, 15:57 and with two he flew. 15:58 And one cried to another." So how many seraphim are there? 16:00 Two. 16:02 It's like the cherubs by the throne of God. 16:04 "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." 16:06 It's one for the Father Son and Spirit. 16:09 "The whole earth is full of His glory! 16:10 And the posts of the door," these pillars, 16:13 there are two great pillars 16:14 when you entered Solomon's sanctuary, 16:17 they even named them. 16:18 I just know one that's called Boaz, 16:20 I forgot what the name of the other one was. 16:21 Jachin. Jachin. 16:23 And you remember what they mean, 16:24 Boaz means strength, what does Jachin mean? 16:26 I forgot. 16:27 I'm getting old, I forget some of these things. 16:29 Anyway, there are two big pillars, 16:30 bronze pillars. 16:32 And so here Isaiah's vision is the heavenly sanctuary. 16:36 Go to Daniel 8, an important verse for us. 16:39 Read in verse 11. 16:41 "He even exalted himself," speaking of the beast power. 16:44 "He exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host, 16:46 and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, 16:49 the place of His sanctuary cast down." 16:52 So what does the devil want to do? 16:53 Cast down the sanctuary. 16:56 You go to verse 14, "He said, 16:57 'Two thousand three hundred days, 16:59 the sanctuary will be cleansed.'" 17:01 There will be a restoration. 17:02 So there's a battle going on about this sanctuary. 17:06 Go ahead, please read for us Psalm 63. 17:09 "So I have looked for You in the sanctuary 17:12 to see Your power and Your glory." 17:15 If you want to see the power and the glory of God, 17:18 David said, "It can be found in the sanctuary." 17:22 Look at Ezekiel 10, 17:25 and I should probably tell you 17:26 if you want to read about the sanctuary in Ezekiel, 17:29 you may as well read the whole book 17:30 because you find the word 47 times. 17:34 Ezekiel 10, you can read all of them, 17:36 read verse 3 here. 17:38 "Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple 17:41 when the man went in," this angel 17:43 "and the cloud filled the inner court." 17:45 That happens in the Book of Chronicles. 17:47 "Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub 17:49 and paused over the threshold of the temple; 17:52 and the house was filled with the cloud, 17:54 and the court was full of the brightness 17:56 of the glory of God." 17:58 And so you just see that here these prophets, 18:00 they're often talking about these prophecies 18:02 happening in the sanctuary. 18:04 Look at Haggai 1:7, 18:06 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Consider your ways! 18:09 Go up to the mountains, bring wood, 18:11 and build the temple, 18:12 that I might take pleasure in it'" 18:15 Haggai is the one who said, 18:16 if you want God to bless your house, 18:18 you need to build His house. 18:20 Now that's always a good thing for a pastor to say 18:22 when you're in a church building program. 18:25 And it is true, but it's bigger than that. 18:27 If you want Him to build your house, 18:28 then we need to build up His church, His work. 18:32 It's not just talking about the building, 18:33 but it can be used that way. 18:35 Revelation 1:12, 18:38 "Then I turned to see the voice of Him 18:40 who spoke with me. 18:41 And having turned, I saw seven candlesticks." 18:43 Where does that appear? 18:45 First chapter of Revelation, 18:47 the vision is taking place where? 18:49 Sanctuary. 18:50 And you go a little later in Revelation, it says, 18:52 I saw the temple of God open in heaven, I saw the ark. 18:54 A little later in Revelation, it says, 18:56 I saw the altar of incense, and under this altar, 19:00 the saints are praying and crying, 19:02 and so you see the furniture of the sanctuary 19:05 all through Revelation. 19:06 It's very hard to understand some of these prophecies 19:09 if you don't understand 19:10 the importance of the sanctuary. 19:13 Quite a few of the Bible prophets, 19:16 Daniel, Ezekiel, 19:18 Zechariah, Isaiah, 19:20 their visions are in some way 19:22 in the context of the heavenly temple. 19:24 Now let me give you a quote from the book 19:26 The Great Controversy. 19:27 This is page 488. 19:30 "The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment 19:34 should be clearly understood by the people of God. 19:37 All need a knowledge for themselves 19:39 of the position and work of their great High Priest." 19:42 That's what we're studying today. 19:44 "Otherwise it will be impossible for them 19:46 to exercise the faith 19:48 which is essential at this time 19:51 or to occupy the position that God designs them to fill." 19:54 That's pretty serious. 19:56 Now why is that important? 19:58 There is a false teaching that goes around, 20:00 it's called once saved, always saved. 20:03 And it places great emphasis, 20:05 and it's appropriate to place great emphasis 20:07 on the work of Jesus as our lamb. 20:11 But if you stop there with the work of Jesus 20:13 as our lamb, 20:15 then really it's all justification 20:17 and you don't understand sanctification 20:19 and glorification. 20:21 Is Jesus' work for us over? No. 20:25 Matter of fact, He rested in the tomb on the Sabbath, 20:27 He rose on the first day to continue His work 20:30 at the right hand of the Father, 20:31 where He ever lives to make intercession for us. 20:34 When you pray, we plead the blood 20:37 that was offered 2,000 years ago, 20:38 but we're talking to a living God, 20:40 the Bible says, through faith we boldly come 20:42 before His throne of grace, where Jesus is entered for us, 20:45 He is our High Priest. 20:47 And so understanding that He is still a living God, 20:50 He's very active and He's involved, 20:52 and there's a work that He is doing on our behalf in heaven 20:55 is very important for the people of God. 20:58 If there's going to be people in time 21:00 that are going to be mature 21:01 in understanding the role of God, 21:04 this would be that generation, right? 21:06 If not now, then when? 21:08 And so this is important. 21:11 So what is Christ doing for us in the sanctuary? 21:13 That's what the lesson is talking about. 21:15 And why is it important for us to understand in the last days? 21:18 Okay, we're going to... 21:20 That was a long introduction, sorry. 21:22 We're going to the first section, 21:26 the supreme sacrifice, 21:28 talking about the lamb that was offered. 21:31 Well, actually, the importance of the lamb, 21:32 we get to the lamb in just a moment. 21:34 Now look for instance in Romans 8:3. 21:38 "For what the law could not do 21:39 in that it was weak through the flesh, 21:41 God did by sending His own Son 21:45 in the likeness of sinful flesh, 21:47 on account of sin. 21:49 He condemned sin in the flesh," that's a very important verse, 21:53 talking about the incarnation. 21:55 When Jesus came, 21:56 did He come down as a divine being? 21:59 Did He walk around glowing 22:01 or did He take on the form of sinful flesh? 22:04 Doesn't mean He sinned, but He took the body... 22:09 Was Adam taller than us? 22:12 And Eve? Yes. 22:14 And they lived longer. Yes. 22:16 More powerful. 22:18 Has something happened to the human race 22:20 in the last 6,000 years? 22:23 Sin has degenerated the race. 22:26 We've got genetic problems 22:28 and our lives have been shortened. 22:30 Did Jesus take the form of a 20-foot tall Adam 22:33 when He came or did He take the form 22:35 that had been degenerated by sin? 22:38 That's right. He took sinful flesh. 22:40 He didn't have sin, it just means He took a body. 22:42 How does the Book of Matthew begin? 22:46 The generation of Jesus Christ, right? 22:51 It goes through His family tree. 22:53 Why does it go through His family tree? 22:55 It tells us about all the different DNA 22:58 that ended up coming into this body. 23:00 Yes, it is true, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, 23:02 but there was definitely something human in Him. 23:06 He probably looked very much like the people of His time 23:09 because He had some of that DNA. 23:11 So Jesus came as a human, He condemned sin in the flesh 23:16 because while He was in His flesh, He, 23:19 through the power of the Father and the Spirit, 23:21 lived a holy life 23:23 as an example that through the same power 23:26 we through trusting in Him can be new creatures. 23:29 Amen. Did that make sense? 23:31 All right, read in 1 Timothy 1:17, 23:36 "Now to the King eternal, 23:39 immortal, invisible, to God alone who is wise." 23:44 And you read in 1 Timothy 6:16, speaking of God, 23:47 "Who alone has immortality." 23:49 So one of the things we learned about Jesus was He created. 23:55 Remember, the Bible says, "For God so loved the world 23:58 He gave His only begotten," 23:59 begotten, that means there was a time 24:00 when He was brought forth. 24:04 Was Jesus created? 24:05 Did God make a creature to die for our sins? 24:10 If He's created, then He's not the creator. 24:14 Jesus is immortal. 24:17 He's eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, 24:19 He is the Alpha and Omega, 24:21 He's without beginning and without end. 24:24 Christ is everlasting. So I want you to... 24:26 This first part of the lesson is trying to help us 24:28 grasp the magnitude 24:30 of what was given in the sacrifice. 24:33 Almighty God gave Himself in His Son. 24:37 And you can read again 1 Corinthians 15:53. 24:40 When do we get immortality? Are we immortal now? 24:43 Every day I look in the mirror, it's looking worse. 24:47 And I'm reminded that I'm not immortal. 24:51 Something is happening that isn't good. 24:54 Hopefully, something good is happening on the inside, 24:56 but the outside, not so good. 25:01 You know, when I got my first gray hair, 25:03 I plucked it out. 25:06 Unfortunately, all of my gray hair appeared on top, 25:10 so see what happened? 25:13 You can't fight it. 25:16 Philippians 2:5, 25:18 "Let this mind be in you," 25:19 and this explains how he condescended 25:21 and humbled Himself. 25:22 Someone's going to read for me John 2:19 later. 25:26 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus 25:29 who being in the form of God," so prior to the incarnation, 25:33 He is in the form of God, 25:35 "did not consider it robbery to be equal with God," 25:37 for Him to claim equality with God is not stealing, 25:40 it was appropriate, 25:41 "but He made himself of no reputation." 25:44 He not only... 25:46 he didn't say, well, yeah, I'm closely related to God, 25:48 He took no reputation, 25:50 "taking the form of a bondservant," 25:52 born in a stable, 25:54 "and coming in the likeness of men 25:56 and being found in appearance as a man, 25:59 He humbled himself," laid aside his divinity, 26:02 "and became obedient to the point of death," 26:05 when He said, "Father not my will, 26:06 thy will be done," 26:07 He surrendered to the death, even the death of the cross. 26:10 And for this cause, God's going to exalt him 26:13 above every other name. 26:15 All right, and then go ahead... 26:18 Well, no, here I'll read Luke 9:22, 26:21 Jesus warned them about his suffering several times. 26:24 "He said, 'The Son of Man must suffer many things 26:27 and be rejected by the elders 26:28 and the chief priests and the scribes, 26:30 and be killed, and be raised the third day.'" 26:33 So he came as a sacrifice. 26:35 He knew that was part of the plan. 26:37 Go ahead and read for us John 2. 26:41 "Jesus answered and said to them, 26:43 'Destroy this temple, 26:44 and in three days I will raise it up.' 26:47 But He was speaking of the temple of His body." 26:49 All right, so here we've got the connecting link in this, 26:54 between Jesus and the temple. 26:58 He said, you know, Bible says, don't you know, 27:00 your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? 27:03 But Christ said, My temple, My body is a temple too. 27:08 The church is the body of Christ. 27:11 The Bible says that you and I are living stones. 27:15 Ephesians says we are build up 27:17 into a holy house that is inhabited by God. 27:20 When Christ died, and this is just so important, 27:24 when Jesus died in 31 AD, 27:27 and there was a great earthquake, 27:28 what happened in the temple on earth? 27:32 The earthquake, 27:33 the veil was ripped from top to bottom by hand? 27:38 An angel. 27:39 And when Christ died during the Passover, 27:43 He fulfilled the purpose of the sacrificial system. 27:45 He was the Passover Lamb. We all together? 27:48 Not only was the veil in the temple rent, 27:51 representing that we now have a new temple. 27:54 Remember, Jesus said, 27:55 destroy this temple made with hands, 27:56 three days I'll make one without hands. 27:58 In fact, what I just quoted to you 28:00 is a little different from John. 28:01 What I quoted to you is what they said at his trial. 28:04 They couldn't get any two witnesses to agree. 28:07 The only two witnesses they could get to agree 28:09 are the ones you said, we heard him say, 28:10 destroy this temple made with hands, 28:13 and I will raise up another one made without hands. 28:16 Now we know He's speaking of His body, His church. 28:19 Church is the body of Christ. 28:21 So we are built up to be a dwelling place of God, 28:25 Christ is the cornerstone, 28:28 look at all the verses on the cornerstone. 28:30 Why cornerstone? Cornerstone of the temple. 28:32 And so much of the Bible is saying now, 28:34 we are a living house, 28:36 Christ doesn't inhabit a building 28:38 where you go in and you've got just a few priests to come in, 28:41 we become a nation of priests, as a living temple, 28:45 as the Body of Christ, we are to make atonement, 28:47 every believer is to bring others to Christ. 28:50 When you bring them to church, you bring people to Jesus, 28:53 you help them find out about the plan of salvation. 28:56 It's all depicted in this Old Testament economy. 29:00 Am I making sense or am I rambling? 29:02 Karen tells me sometimes, "You're rambling." 29:03 And so I just... I wanted to know. 29:06 A little bit, huh? Okay. 29:08 Let me tell you why I think this is so important, 29:10 and I'm spending a lot of time on it. 29:11 Now this is a quote you don't hear very often. 29:14 This is Review and Herald, May 25, 1905, 29:18 from the Spirit of Prophecy. 29:20 "In the future, 29:22 deception of every kind is to arise, 29:25 and we want solid ground for our feet. 29:27 We want solid pillars for the building. 29:30 Not one pin is to be removed 29:32 from that which the Lord established. 29:34 The enemy will bring in false theories 29:37 such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary." 29:41 Have we encountered that? 29:43 This was foretold in 1905. It perfectly came to pass. 29:48 "This is one of the points 29:50 on which there will be a departing from the faith. 29:53 Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths 29:56 that the Lord has gives us for the last 50 years?" 29:58 When she wrote that, for 50 years, 30:00 the Lord had given them truths 30:01 about the importance of the sanctuary message. 30:04 And I think that is still true today. 30:06 Can you say amen? Amen. 30:08 All right, now we're going into the next section, 30:11 the Lamb of God. 30:12 We talked about the importance of the sacrifice, the value. 30:15 The Bible tells us that when you brought a lamb, 30:17 could you bring any kind of lamb? 30:20 It had to be perfect. 30:21 So what greater gift could be given than God? 30:26 God gave Himself. 30:28 And when you think, what could be more valuable... 30:31 You know, kids like to ask the question, 30:33 "Can God make a rock too big for Him to lift?" 30:35 If He can do anything, 30:37 He should be able to make a rock too big for Him to lift. 30:39 But if He can do anything, He can lift it. 30:40 It's one of those circular questions 30:42 supposed to just waste your time. 30:46 But how can you find anything more valuable than the Creator? 30:54 Because if the Creator, 30:55 one had to make something more valuable, 30:58 well, the one who made it 30:59 is always going to be worth more than what He made 31:00 'cause He can make another one. 31:02 You know what I mean? 31:03 It's like eating the goose that made the golden egg. 31:06 So when you sacrifice Jesus, it's the Creator. 31:08 What more can God give than when He gave His Son, 31:12 and He is referred to as the Lamb. 31:14 That's what they brought for their forgiveness. 31:16 Someone's going to read in just a moment. 31:19 Looks like John is going to be reading John. 31:21 John 1:35, I'm going to read 1 John 1:29, 31:26 "And the next day," this is at the Jordan River, 31:29 "John saw Jesus coming towards him and he said," 31:31 John the Baptist said, "Behold! 31:34 The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" 31:37 Now why did he say that? 31:40 I'll get to that in a minute. 31:41 Go ahead, read your verses are very similar. 31:43 "Again, the next day, 31:44 John stood with two of his disciples. 31:47 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, 31:50 'Behold the Lamb of God!'" 31:52 So on multiple occasions he says, 31:54 "Behold the Lamb, Behold the Lamb," 31:56 that's the whole sermon in itself. 31:58 Now we are told to behold Christ. 32:00 Christ said, "If I am lifted up, 32:02 I will draw all men to me." 32:05 When they lifted up the serpent and the people looked in faith, 32:08 they were healed from the venom that was killing them, 32:11 they looked and they lived. 32:13 And so there's some power in beholding Christ. 32:17 We are transformed, the Bible says, 32:18 "By beholding, we become like what we look at." 32:22 And so when John said, "Behold, the Lamb of God," 32:24 there's really a very important lesson in that. 32:28 How was Isaiah converted? 32:31 In the year the King Isaiah died, 32:33 I saw the Lord. 32:34 He sees the Lord in the year that he died. 32:36 You know the song if we sing about 32:38 looking at the cross, 32:39 beholding the cross, beneath the cross, 32:41 there's something about looking at the Lamb of God. 32:46 Do you remember when Abraham 32:47 went up the mountain with Isaac, 32:49 and God had told him to offer his son. 32:52 Abraham had not revealed it to Isaac yet. 32:55 And as they're going up the mountain, 32:56 he knows the time is coming, 32:57 he's got to tell him what's going on 32:58 'cause he's a smart young man 32:59 and he realizes we're going to sacrifice. 33:02 Okay, Father, we've done that before, 33:03 they've gone to the mountains of Moriah, 33:06 and Abraham said, 33:08 "Isaac, you carry the wood, 33:10 and I've got what it takes to make the fire, 33:13 we've got a knife, 33:14 let's head on up to the place of sacrifice." 33:16 And finally, he didn't want to question 33:18 that his dad was getting old and forgetful. 33:20 But he says, "Father, help me, we've got the wood, 33:23 we've got the fire, where's the lamb?" 33:26 And Abraham said in those immortal words, 33:28 "My son, God will provide himself a lamb." 33:32 Now that's understood that God provided a lamb 33:35 that day for Abraham, 33:37 there was a ram caught by its horns, 33:39 God provided a ram. 33:40 But it's a bigger picture, 33:42 God would provide himself a lamb, 33:45 and that's what happened. 33:46 God the Son provided himself a lamb for our sacrifice. 33:53 So when... 33:54 And through the ages, they all keep wondering, 33:56 "When will God come incarnate? 33:59 When will the Messiah come?" 34:01 When John the Baptist, there at the Jordan said, 34:03 "Behold the Lamb of God," 34:05 that was a breathtaking statement 34:06 because they were coming to John, saying, 34:08 "Are you the Messiah? 34:09 Are you Elijah who is to come? 34:11 Are you that prophet that Moses talked about?" 34:14 And he said, "No, no, 34:16 I'm not worthy to bear the shoes 34:17 of the one that's coming." 34:18 Finally, when he saw Jesus, it's like, you know, drumroll. 34:23 I mean, I can't emphasize how important it was, 34:25 it was a moment. 34:26 They saw the heavens open, they saw Him illuminate, 34:28 especially the baptism of Jesus. 34:31 So He was identified as the Lamb of God, 34:33 even a voice from heaven, said, "This is My beloved Son," 34:36 so it was a big announcement. 34:37 This is the Lamb of God. 34:40 Okay, I've got a couple questions 34:41 I see have come in. 34:42 I just want everyone to know, 34:43 I don't see these questions in advance. 34:46 So, "Where is the Ark of the Covenant today?" 34:48 Well, it's a good relevant question. 34:50 People always want to know that. 34:51 That question has become popular 34:53 for a couple of reasons. 34:56 One of them is they made a movie about it. 34:59 But as near as we can tell, 35:02 there's no statement that tells where it is 35:04 but you can deduce with some safety. 35:08 We know that when Nebuchadnezzar came 35:09 in the days of Jeremiah, 35:11 and he destroyed the temple and he burned it with fire, 35:13 before he burnt with fire, 35:14 he took all the precious articles out of the temple, 35:18 and it itemizes most of those things 35:20 because they returned to the temple 35:23 in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, 35:24 King, was it Darius or Ahasuerus, 35:28 gave the holy vessels back to Ezra. 35:31 The ark is never mentioned. 35:33 The last time the ark is mentioned, 35:35 I think it's during the time of Hezekiah. 35:37 It was still in the temple, 35:39 I think it also says during the time of Josiah 35:43 if I'm not mistaken. 35:45 Because Jeremiah said very plainly, 35:48 the city is going to be destroyed, 35:50 a palace will be burned, the temple will be burned, 35:53 it's believed that Jeremiah has connected 35:56 with the priest's family 35:58 and some of the faithful priests 35:59 that were left. 36:00 They took the ark by night 36:03 and they hid it in a cave 36:05 and sealed it somewhere in the vicinity of Jerusalem 36:07 because Jerusalem was besieged 36:09 by the Babylonians for two years, 36:11 they couldn't... 36:12 Some people say, "Oh, they carried it off 36:13 to Egypt or Ethiopia." 36:14 No, they had to hide it 36:16 in a pretty close proximity to the temple. 36:20 If you've been to Jerusalem, it is honeycombs with caves. 36:25 And so literally, 36:26 they have tombs and caves and tunnels, 36:28 every time they try and dig and build there, 36:30 they run into another one. 36:32 It's in a sealed cave 36:33 somewhere no one has found it from that day to this. 36:36 And wouldn't it be something if they did discover it? 36:39 Wouldn't that be nice? 36:41 Might be one of the greatest archaeological 36:43 finds of history. 36:45 All right, another question. 36:47 Do you think Jesus will come on the Day of Atonement? 36:50 As far as the day of the Second Coming, 36:52 will it be on the Day of Atonement? 36:55 I don't know. 36:57 I don't know that He's obligated to do that. 36:58 Sometimes people say, 36:59 "Will Jesus come at the very time 37:02 when the jubilee is fulfilled?" 37:06 You know, God, when we get to heaven, 37:07 I think we're going to see that God did follow a calendar. 37:10 When we look back and say, 37:11 "Look at that, it all happened right on schedule." 37:13 I mean, He died on the Passover, right, 37:15 why wouldn't he come on some special event? 37:19 The only reason I say He may not 37:21 is because Christ said in such an hour 37:23 you think not He comes. 37:26 So He might surprise everybody. 37:27 And you think He's going to be coming on Sabbath 37:29 while He might show up on a Wednesday. 37:31 I mean... 37:32 So we got to be very careful to say, 37:34 oh, this is when He should come. 37:37 There were seven different days, 37:40 annual days, in the Jewish feasts, 37:45 and He could come any one of those. 37:47 Some say, well, wouldn't it be the Feast of Trumpets? 37:49 Because He's going to come and there will be a trumpet. 37:51 And Revelation talks about seven trumpets. 37:54 And others say, well, it would be like the Passover 37:56 'cause it's the great deliverance, 37:57 they had the Passover and they came out of Egypt. 38:00 And others are asking, well, 38:01 would it be the Day of Atonement, 38:02 the final judgment? 38:04 Almost, every one of the feasts could be connected 38:06 with the Second Coming if you want. 38:08 You see what I'm saying? So we don't know. 38:11 It probably will be one of them, 38:12 but I wouldn't start to speculate. 38:14 What do we know about the day and the hour? 38:17 Nothing. 38:18 If you meet someone that says they figured it out, 38:20 be very careful 38:21 'cause Jesus is pretty clear on that. 38:22 Do we have another question? Oh, here it is, yes. 38:26 Does the cleansing of sin happen before 38:28 or after the Day of Atonement? 38:31 Well, the putting away of sin 38:32 is supposed to be happening in God's people now. 38:36 I mean, God forbid that anybody thinks, 38:39 well, it's not the Day of Atonement yet, 38:40 so I'm not going to repent and turn from my sins. 38:44 The Lord wants us to... 38:45 What's the best time to repent of your sins? 38:48 When the Lord convicts you of your sins, right? 38:51 What's the best time to apply the blood? 38:54 When the temple is still open, 38:55 you don't want to wait until the Day of Atonement 38:57 when the laundromat closes. 38:59 Amen? 39:01 And so, ultimately, the... 39:06 And maybe I should explain. 39:07 That gets into the lesson here, 39:08 so I'm going to finish 39:09 answering that question in the lesson, 39:11 looks like I still have time to do that. 39:13 All right, let's go back. 39:14 So we talked about the Lamb of God. 39:16 Let me tie this off. We talked about Abraham. 39:19 And go to Revelation, who is the Lamb? 39:21 Revelation 5:6, "I looked, and behold, 39:23 in the midst of the throne 39:25 and of the four living creatures, 39:26 and in the midst of the elders, 39:28 stood a Lamb as though it had been slain..." 39:31 Now when John writes that, 39:32 what does that mean to all of his readers? 39:36 They need to have some context in the Old Testament, 39:39 why are you slaying lambs? 39:40 What does the slain lamb represent? 39:42 It represented the Lamb of God, forgiveness for sin, 39:45 a sacrifice happened in the sanctuary. 39:49 It not only tells us 39:50 a Lamb as though it had been slain 39:52 having seven horns and seven eyes. 39:56 Have you ever seen a lamb with seven horns? 39:59 Now you might see a deer... 40:00 If you're a hunter, 40:01 you might see that was a 6 pointer, 40:02 that was an 8 pointer, that was a 12 pointer, 40:05 they're talking about an even number of antlers, 40:08 how big the horns were. 40:10 But you don't ever say that was a seven pointed lamb. 40:14 The lambs don't grow their horns that way, 40:16 they have two horns. 40:18 And then seven eyes, this is obviously symbolic, 40:21 talking about that God knows all things. 40:24 Okay. 40:25 A horn in the Bible represented power. 40:28 Remember, the visions of Daniel 40:29 where one horn pushed against the other horn, 40:32 and these little horns, 40:33 these kingdoms and powers come up, 40:35 the Christ had this lamb with the seven horns 40:37 represents perfect power. 40:40 Now the next section talks about Jesus is our High Priest. 40:44 In Hebrews 7:1, 40:46 so we got another question we'll get to in just a moment. 40:49 Hebrews 7:1-3, 40:51 he talks about this enigmatic individual called Melchizedek. 40:56 Hebrew 7:1-3, "For this Melchizedek, 40:58 king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, 41:01 who met Abraham returning 41:02 from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 41:05 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth of all, 41:08 being first translated 'king of righteousness,' 41:11 and then also king of Salem, meaning 'king of peace,' 41:14 without father, and without genealogy, 41:18 having neither beginning of days nor end of life, 41:20 but he's made like the Son of God, 41:22 he remains a priest continually." 41:24 Now you need to read Genesis. 41:26 Let me give you the story. 41:29 Abraham went to rescue Lot. 41:32 Lot had been carried away captive by Chedorlaomer 41:35 and four other kings from the north. 41:38 He attacked Sodom and Gomorrah, 41:40 and the two lesser kingdoms in the south, 41:43 they conquered them. 41:44 They carried away all the booty from those cities 41:47 and the people as slaves and they were heading up north. 41:50 Before they got all the way back to Damascus, 41:52 Abraham in confederacy 41:54 with some of the other local nomads, Mamre and Eshkol, 41:59 they came together with Abraham 42:00 who had 300 soldiers of his own. 42:03 They snuck up by night, 42:04 they attacked Chedorlaomer and their forces, 42:07 they soundly defeated them. 42:09 They were all drunk celebrating. 42:11 And he liberated Lot and all the captives. 42:14 It's interesting that God would use Abraham 42:17 to save Sodom and Gomorrah. 42:20 That's why it says in James, don't forget that God saved... 42:24 Talks about God saved them before He destroyed them. 42:27 So God had shown them mercy. 42:28 Anyway, so on his way back, 42:30 Abraham leading this coalition, he's like the general, 42:35 he has rights to all of the bounty of this war. 42:38 He doesn't even give it to the kings, 42:40 he liberated them. 42:42 He said I'm not gonna take even a shoelace from Sodom lest 42:44 you say I made Abraham rich. 42:45 If I become rich, it'll be God that does it, 42:48 not because I robbed it from you, 42:50 but he takes, he says, 42:51 I will take a tenth 42:52 and I'm giving it to Melchizedek, 42:55 the king of Salem. 42:57 The word Melchizedek means a king, 43:01 zedek means righteousness, 43:03 but he's the king of Salem, Salem, shalom means peace. 43:07 Later that same spot was known as the Jeru-Shalom. 43:10 So here you've got Melchizedek, a king of righteousness, 43:14 he's a priest, it says, of the most High God. 43:16 Now I thought these were Canaanites. 43:18 What is a priest of the most High God doing in Canaan? 43:21 It's a little mysterious, isn't it? 43:24 Well, there's been some speculation. 43:26 Some people say, well, the Bible says, 43:28 He is without beginning of days or father or mother, 43:30 that means it was the Holy Spirit. 43:31 That means it was Jesus. 43:33 And who was Melchizedek? Melchizedek was a real person. 43:36 The reason it says, 43:38 Paul says he's without father or mother or genealogy, 43:42 it just means, there's no genealogy, 43:44 it doesn't tell what his people are, 43:45 he just appears and disappears, but he was a real person. 43:49 The best explanation I've heard, 43:52 do you realize at the time of this event, 43:55 Shem was still alive, the son of Noah? 43:59 He had heard, 44:01 and he was hundreds of years old, 44:02 and he served Jehovah. 44:04 He had heard that 44:05 even though they were serving idols now in Mesopotamia 44:09 that God had led Abraham 44:11 and he was still serving the true God 44:12 and given this land to Abraham, 44:15 he took his family 44:16 and he moved into the hills of Salem. 44:20 And who else would be greater than Abraham? 44:23 And he was recognized 44:24 as a priest of the most High God. 44:25 He was still live. 44:27 He's one of the only survivors... 44:28 the only survivor of the flood at that point, 44:31 I've heard that explanation, 44:32 I forget if it's Josephus 44:33 or some of the Jewish traditions 44:35 that say that, I thought, don't know that. 44:38 I can't prove it, you probably can't disprove it, 44:40 but it's just interesting. 44:42 And so we don't know who Melchizedek was, 44:43 but he's a real person. 44:45 He's a type of Christ. 44:47 It says when Abraham comes, he brings forth bread and wine. 44:51 And doesn't Jesus make a covenant with us 44:53 with bread and wine, His blood and His body? 44:55 And so you look at this, king of righteousness, 44:57 king of peace, bread and wine, we pay tithe to him. 45:02 And so Paul then makes a case 45:03 that Melchizedek is a type of Christ, 45:06 and even though Abraham is going to end up 45:08 having the Levites 45:10 and the sons of Aaron in his genes, 45:11 he says Abraham is paying tithe 45:13 to a greater priest in Melchizedek 45:16 who's a type of a different priesthood, 45:17 he represents Christ. 45:19 That was kind of deep, but that's what Paul says, 45:21 Paul's a little deep. 45:23 All right, another question. 45:26 How do you explain the importance of the Sanctuary 45:28 to someone who doesn't believe in its relevance? 45:32 I'd say we need to prioritize what God prioritizes. 45:36 And as I mentioned, if God mentions something, 45:39 almost a thousand times in the Bible, 45:42 and it goes virtually from Genesis to Revelation, 45:45 it must be something he wants us to understand. 45:48 If so many of these apocalyptic visions 45:50 happened in the context of the sanctuary, 45:53 now Paul says so much about the plan of salvation 45:55 connected with the sanctuary and the priesthood in Hebrews, 45:58 it's a subject he wants us to understand. 46:00 Does that make sense? 46:02 So I'm trying to do that really. 46:03 All right, go to Hebrews 7, 46:06 talking about Jesus our High Priest, verse 24. 46:10 "But He, because He continues forever," 46:13 unlike Melchizedek, 46:14 "has an unchangeable priesthood. 46:16 Therefore He is also able to save 46:18 to the uttermost of those who come to God through Him..." 46:22 How do we come to God? Through Christ. 46:24 Christ is our intercessor. 46:28 You know what a mediator is? 46:30 Sometimes you get two parties 46:31 and they just can't come to some solution, 46:34 you get a third party to come and try 46:35 and objectively look at both sides and develop peace. 46:40 Some of you remember the old gas stoves 46:43 that were really simple? 46:44 We had one growing up in my day, 46:46 and it had three settings on it. 46:49 It had a high, low, and in the middle, 46:53 it had medium. 46:55 And medium meant in between the two others. 47:00 Moses was a mediator. 47:02 He would go up the mountain, 47:03 he talked to God for the people. 47:05 The people said, "Don't let God talk to us, 47:07 we're gonna burn up," you remember? 47:09 They said, "Don't let God talk to us, 47:10 we can't handle it." 47:12 They said, "Moses, you talk to God." 47:13 When Moses came down, they said, 47:15 "Moses, your face is shining, cover your face." 47:18 So Moses was like a go-between, he talked to God, 47:20 his face would shine, he covered his face, 47:22 he talked to the people. 47:23 And so he was the mediator. 47:26 Now who is the mediator now for us with the Father? 47:30 Jesus. 47:31 The cross was a ladder 47:33 that reached from heaven to earth. 47:36 And do you remember when Jacob had a dream? 47:42 And what did he dream about? A ladder. 47:45 And the ladder had angels going up and down, ostensibly, 47:49 they're bringing prayers 47:50 and bringing answers to prayers, 47:52 they're ministering spirits to humanity, 47:54 they're dispensing the grace and the requests of the saved. 47:57 It's a heavenly escalator. 47:59 Philip comes to Jesus. 48:02 And Jesus said, "Oh, Phillip, I saw you under the fig tree." 48:06 He says, "Wow, Lord, You're the Messiah." 48:08 "Are you impressed 48:09 because I said I saw you under the tree?" 48:11 Jesus said to Philip, 48:12 "Hereafter, you will see greater things than these, 48:14 you will see the angels of God 48:16 ascending and descending on the Son of Man." 48:20 Christ is the mediator, 48:21 He is the ladder that connects earth with heaven. 48:24 We pray in whose name? Jesus' name. 48:27 It's through Christ 48:28 that the Father gives us His grace. 48:30 So He is a mediator, it's telling us. 48:33 That's the priest's job. 48:35 Able to save to the uttermost of those 48:37 who come to God through Him 48:39 since He always lives to make intercession for them. 48:43 What time of day can you pray to God 48:45 and ask for your prayers to be answered? 48:47 Always loves to make intercession. 48:50 Does the Lord ever say, 48:51 "Uh, you know I've been at this all day, 48:52 can you just give Me a break?" 48:54 Or is He eager to hear you pray? 48:57 You can't worry the Lord. 48:58 He wants to hear you pray more than you want to pray. 49:03 Let me see here. 49:06 "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, 49:08 who is holy, harmless, 49:10 undefiled, separate from sinners, 49:13 and has become higher than the heavens." 49:15 I'm gonna read now jump down to Hebrews 9:11-15. 49:20 "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, 49:23 with greater and more perfect tabernacle 49:26 made with hands that is not His creation. 49:29 Not with the blood of goats and calves, 49:31 but with His own blood," 49:32 it's a better temple, it's better blood, 49:35 "He entered the Most Holy Place for all, 49:37 having obtained eternal redemption. 49:40 For if the blood of bulls and goats 49:42 and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, 49:44 sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 49:48 how much more shall the blood of Christ, 49:51 who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself 49:53 without spot to God cleanse your conscience," 49:56 so the cleansing happens here too, 49:57 "from dead works to serve the living God? 50:00 And for this reason 50:01 He is the Mediator of a new covenant, 50:04 by means of death, 50:05 for the redemption of the transgressions 50:06 under the first covenant, 50:08 that those who are called 50:09 might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance." 50:12 Well, it's a powerful verse. 50:14 So Jesus is our intercessor. I want to read this to you. 50:18 I'm looking at the clock, 50:19 and I wanna make sure and cover something here. 50:21 Hebrews 9:11, 50:23 "But Christ came as High Priest 50:25 for the good things to come, 50:27 with a greater and the more perfect tabernacle 50:29 not made with hands, not of this creation, 50:32 not with the blood of goats and calves, 50:33 but with His own blood 50:34 He entered the Most Holy Place." 50:36 When did Jesus entered the most holy place? 50:42 He first entered the most holy place 50:44 when He ascended to heaven. 50:47 Now the Day of Atonement 50:48 was something that happened once a year, 50:51 is typically Yom Kippur the end of the year. 50:55 But there was one other time 50:56 when Moses entered the holy place. 50:58 You know when that was? 51:00 After they built the temple, He went in. 51:02 And the Bible says he offered a sacrifice 51:05 and he activated the temple, 51:08 he consecrated all the furniture, 51:10 he sprinkled blood on it, 51:12 and then it began their ceremonial cycle. 51:15 But he first went in and after it was all complete, 51:18 he sanctified it, he activated it. 51:20 And he went into the holy of holy places 51:22 when he did that. 51:23 Moses could do that 51:24 as our mediator and high priest. 51:26 When Jesus ascended to heaven, 51:28 there is a big argument in the Adventist church 51:30 because we know what happened in 1844, 51:32 we entered the last phase of his work as our high priest, 51:35 and he entered into his final ministry 51:37 in the Holy of Holies. 51:39 But when Christ told Mary, 51:41 "Do not cling to me, 51:42 for I have not yet ascended to my Father," 51:45 He had not yet... 51:46 when He rose from the dead, He had not yet been to heaven. 51:48 He went to heaven. 51:49 Now what was the heavenly sanctuary doing 51:51 before Christ died? 51:53 Are they offering blood of goats up there? 51:55 No, the only thing that would be offered 51:57 in the heavenly sanctuary 51:58 is Christ pleading His own blood. 52:00 Am I right? 52:02 So when Christ rose, 52:04 He went into the most holy place, 52:06 He was enthroned. 52:08 The Father said, "Your gift is successful." 52:10 The angels rejoiced. 52:11 He spread out His hands and bled His blood, 52:14 then He comes down to earth. 52:17 He activated, you might say the heavenly sanctuary, 52:20 He comes down to earth, and He says, "All hail." 52:24 Do you notice, He told Mary, "Do not detain me." 52:27 But Sunday evening, 52:29 by the time He comes back down again, 52:30 He says, "All hail," and they worshiped Him. 52:33 He went to the Father. 52:35 Jesus says, "I go to my Father and your Father." 52:38 And so when people say, 52:40 "You know, He didn't enter the Holy of Holies 52:44 until He ascended until 1844." 52:48 He did when He first died on the cross 52:50 and ascended into heaven 52:51 and activated the heavenly sanctuaries. 52:54 You've got the biblical example of that in the Old Testament. 52:59 Why did the high priest rend his garments 53:03 when he condemned Jesus? 53:07 Not only was a veil in the temple rent 53:09 because we have a new temple, 53:12 the high priest rent his garments 53:13 because we have a new priesthood. 53:15 You and I are a nation of priests in that 53:18 we make intercession for others with God, 53:21 we're to do that special work. 53:23 Ephesians 2:18, 53:25 "For through Him, through Jesus, 53:27 we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." 53:31 Hebrews 9:24, 53:32 "For Christ has not entered the holy places 53:34 made with hands, which are copies of the true, 53:37 but into heaven itself, 53:38 now to appear in the presence of God for us." 53:42 So isn't that... 53:43 You know, don't you like having friends in high places? 53:47 See, I know people that know the president. 53:49 And that makes me feel important 53:50 because I know someone that knows the president. 53:53 But you and I can say, 53:56 "We know someone who knows the Father." 53:59 Through Christ we can have a personal relationship, 54:02 we can boldly come into His presence. 54:05 Why wasn't Moses instructed 54:06 to take the tablets out of the Ark 54:08 to be read to the people? 54:10 Well, because it was really a sacred object, 54:13 they had a written transcript of that as well. 54:16 You'll notice not only in the Book of Deuteronomy 54:18 but in the Book of Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, 54:21 the Ten Commandments were written by Moses 54:23 so we could look at that. 54:25 How many of you have read the Constitution? 54:28 Some of you have read. 54:29 How many of you read part of the Constitution? 54:31 Okay, did you pull out the original 54:34 and read it or did you read a copy? 54:37 So it serves the same purpose. 54:39 Well, you know, it looks like 54:40 we've got just a moment or two left, 54:42 let me read a couple more verses to you here. 54:46 Hebrews 8:5, it says, 54:48 "The earthly things serve as a copy. 54:51 They are shadows of the heavenly things. 54:54 As the Moses was divinely instructed 54:56 when he was about to make the tabernacle. 54:57 For He said, 'See that you make all things 55:00 according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'" 55:03 And so this was an example of the heavenly. 55:06 And then I want to close with this verse 55:07 in Hebrews 9:19. 55:09 Hebrews 9:19. 55:11 This is referring to 55:12 what I just told you about in Exodus. 55:14 "For Moses, when had spoken every precept to all the people 55:17 according to the law, 55:19 he took the blood of calves and goats, 55:21 and water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, 55:24 and he sprinkled both the book itself 55:26 and all the people, saying." 55:28 So when he activated the temple, 55:30 he sprinkled all the furniture, he sprinkled the people saying, 55:35 "This is the blood of the covenant 55:37 that God has commanded you. 55:38 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood 55:40 both the tabernacle 55:42 and all the vessels of the ministry." 55:44 Would that include the Ark of the Covenant? 55:46 To sprinkle the Ark of the Covenant, 55:47 do you have to go in? 55:50 "All the vessels of the ministry. 55:52 And according to the law 55:54 almost all things are purified with blood, 55:56 and without shedding of blood there's no remission." 55:58 So in 1844, 56:03 you entered the last phase of the church, 56:05 you got seven phases of the Church history. 56:07 It starts with Ephesus and ends with Laodicea. 56:09 The age of Laodicea, 56:11 which means the judging of the people, 56:13 began in 1844, 56:15 there's a great revival in the church. 56:17 And Christ entered the last phase of His ministry 56:20 which is a time of judgment. 56:22 God's people right now 56:23 are a nation of kings and priests, 56:25 but we ought to be sanctifying and evaluating our hearts 56:28 and making sure we are ready. 56:30 Was God more severe with the priests 56:32 when they disobeyed? 56:34 When the sons of Aaron went into the temple drinking, 56:37 what happened? 56:39 They were struck down. 56:41 We are a nation of priests. 56:42 God is calling for us, 56:43 standard of holiness among his people, 56:45 we need a revival. 56:46 But what does God say about Laodicea? 56:49 Poor, wretched, miserable, blind, naked, 56:51 think they're rich and increased with goods. 56:53 We need a revival, friends. 56:54 God's calling us to be a holy generation, 56:57 a royal priesthood, 56:58 and this is the sanctuary message. 57:00 So there's so much more I could say. 57:02 Hopefully, you got the gist of it though. 57:04 One reminder, friends, we have a unique offer, 57:06 you need to text to get it, 57:08 and you're going to get a sermon 57:09 called Cleansing the Temples, The Cleansing of the Temples. 57:14 And it's from our series, The Doctrines That Divide. 57:17 The text number is 40544, 57:20 40544 and text the letters SH014, 57:27 SH014. 57:29 And they'll give you the information 57:31 how you can view that or even I think request a DVD. 57:35 Thank you very much, friends, 57:36 I think we're out of time for today's study. 57:37 God bless you, 57:38 and we'll study His Word together again next week. 57:42 Let's face it. 57:43 It's not always easy to understand everything 57:45 you read in the Bible. 57:47 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, 57:50 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 57:53 To get biblical straightforward answers, 57:55 call into Bible Answers Live, 57:57 a live nationwide calling radio program 58:00 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor 58:02 and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. 58:05 For times and stations in your area 58:07 or to listen to answers online, 58:09 visit bal.AmazingFacts.org. |
Revised 2018-04-30