Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: TGCC
Program Code: TGCC000006A
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00:15 Well hello, everybody.
00:17 Welcome to session number six of our series 00:21 titled, The Great Cosmic Controversy. 00:25 And the subtitle is, How God Clears His Name 00:29 of All False Charges. 00:31 Our subject for today is part one of, 00:34 The Most Holy Place Message. 00:37 We're going to review, however, what we studied before. 00:40 But let's have a word of prayer, first of all, 00:42 to ask for the Lord's blessing as we open His Word. 00:45 Let's bow our heads. 00:47 Father in heaven, thank You once again for the awesome 00:50 privilege of being here gathered together to open Your holy Word, 00:54 to hear Your voice speaking to us through that Word 00:57 that You inspired long ago. 00:59 We ask that the same Spirit that inspired the Word 01:03 will come and explain it to us in the next 01:06 few minutes together. 01:07 We thank You for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in the 01:10 precious name of Jesus. 01:12 Amen. 01:14 Let's review, first of all, the work that Jesus performed 01:18 in the camp and in the court of the Sanctuary. 01:23 You'll remember that in the camp Jesus lived 01:26 His perfect life for every single person who has 01:29 ever lived in the history of planet earth. 01:32 Then Jesus went to the altar of sacrifice 01:35 and He died on the cross, bearing the sins that have 01:40 ever been committed in the history of the world. 01:42 Everyone's sins Jesus bore on the cross. 01:47 And then we noticed that at the laver the Lord Jesus 01:50 resurrected from the dead. 01:53 Now we need to understand that these functions of Jesus 01:57 in the camp and in the court really have nothing to do 02:01 with the response of man. 02:03 We covered this in our last study together. 02:06 In other words, Jesus did not come to our camp, 02:09 He did not die on the cross, because we requested it. 02:13 It was not by our choice. 02:15 It was because of God's grace that He decided to do it. 02:19 He took the initiative, in other words. 02:22 It had nothing to do with the response of man. 02:26 However, we were studying in our last topic 02:30 the work of Jesus in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 02:34 And there we noticed that it has to do with the response of man 02:39 to the work that Jesus performed in the camp and in the court. 02:45 And basically, in the Holy Place Jesus pours out the benefits 02:51 of His earthly work upon individuals who respond 02:56 by repenting and trusting in Jesus. 03:00 In other words, summarizing, when a person repents, 03:05 that person places his sins upon Jesus. 03:08 Remembering the service of the Sanctuary in the Old Testament, 03:12 the sinner would come repentant. 03:14 He would place the sin on the head of the victim. 03:19 He would confess that sin on the head of the victim. 03:22 And then he would slay that animal, and the sinner 03:27 was forgiven or he was cleansed. 03:30 But then the priest would take the blood 03:32 into the Sanctuary, the blood bore the record of the sin, 03:36 and the blood deposited the sin in the Sanctuary. 03:40 So in other words, the Sanctuary was defiled. 03:44 And because the Sanctuary had the stain of sin, 03:47 it was necessary at the end of the year for the Sanctuary 03:51 to be cleansed. 03:53 And so we noticed in our study last night 03:55 that our sins were placed upon Jesus when we 04:00 repented and we confessed our sins. 04:03 Jesus takes our sins and He forgives us, and takes the sins 04:08 into the Sanctuary covered by His blood. 04:11 And in this way, the heavenly Sanctuary is defiled with 04:14 the record of sin. 04:16 And therefore, just as in the earthly, the heavenly Sanctuary 04:20 must be cleansed from the record of sin that is introduced there. 04:25 So what I want to emphasize is that in the daily service, 04:28 it is the sinner who is forgiven and cleansed. 04:32 In the yearly service in the Most Holy Place, 04:35 it is the Sanctuary that is cleansed from the cumulus 04:40 of the sins of the people. 04:42 Let's read 1 John 1:7 and 9 to see what happened 04:48 in the daily service. 04:50 It says there in verse 7... 05:06 So in the daily service, who is cleansed from sin? 05:08 Who is forgiven from sin? 05:10 It is the sinner. 05:12 Not the Sanctuary. 05:14 We're going to notice that the priest takes the sin 05:16 into the Sanctuary through the blood, 05:18 and it's deposited in the Sanctuary. 05:20 But clearly here it says that, "...the blood of Jesus Christ 05:23 His Son cleanses us from all sin." 05:26 And then verse 9 says... 05:40 So in the daily service, it is the sinner who is forgiven. 05:44 It is the sinner who is cleansed. 05:46 But now when the blood of Jesus takes the sin 05:50 into the Sanctuary, the Sanctuary is what? 05:53 The Sanctuary is defiled. 05:56 So summarizing, when a person repents, confesses his sin, 06:01 trusts in Jesus, and is baptized, 06:05 his sins are forgiven. 06:07 And his or her name is written in the Book of Life. 06:12 Now there's a very important point here. 06:14 And that is, that the sincerity of the person's repentance 06:18 and confession is not evaluated in the daily service. 06:22 In other words, Jesus takes the sinner's word 06:25 that he's repentant and he's confessed his sin. 06:28 The sincerity of his confession and his repentance 06:32 is evaluated on the Day of Atonement in the judgment. 06:36 There it's going to be determined whether the person's 06:39 repentance and confession and faith in Jesus were genuine 06:43 or they were not. 06:46 Now let me read you a statement from the book, 06:48 Great Controversy, page 421, where we find an explanation 06:54 of the daily service. 06:56 We read this statement last night, but it would be a 06:58 good idea to read it again. 07:30 Are you understanding that? 07:31 It's so clear. 07:33 So in the daily service the sins were transferred 07:36 into the Holy Place through the blood of the victim. 07:40 As in the Old Testament, we find this same thing happening 07:47 in the Sanctuary in figure or in illustrative form. 07:52 Now I mentioned last night that Leviticus 1 through 15 07:56 uses words for, "sin," in the singular. 08:00 For example, some of the words that are used are: 08:02 sin, transgression, uncleanness. 08:06 In Leviticus 1 through 15, these words are used in the singular. 08:10 Because what is in view is the individual sinner 08:14 who's introducing his sins into the Sanctuary. 08:17 Whereas on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16, 08:20 which is the judgment day, these words are in the plural. 08:24 In other words, it is: sins, and transgressions, 08:29 and uncleanness in the plural sense of the word. 08:32 And it's because on the Day of Atonement, the day of judgment, 08:35 all of the sins that have gathered in the Sanctuary 08:38 are now going to be cleansed from the Sanctuary. 08:43 Now I want to read the rest of the quotation 08:46 that we began to read just a few moments ago from, 08:49 Great Controversy, page 421. 08:52 We're going to complete that statement now. 08:54 You remember that the first part of the statement says 08:56 that in the Old Testament system the sinner placed the sin 09:00 on the head of the victim, and then the blood of the victim 09:03 was taken into the Sanctuary. 09:05 So that represents that our sins are placed upon Jesus 09:09 when we repent. 09:10 And Jesus, through His blood, introduces them 09:12 into the Sanctuary, into the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 09:16 Now let me complete the statement to explain 09:18 what happened on the Day of Atonement. 09:21 This is how it reads... 09:43 So in other words, the sins that entered in the Old Testament 09:46 had to be cleansed from the Sanctuary. 09:49 In reality in heaven, the sins that enter through the 09:52 blood of Jesus must be what? 09:53 Must be cleansed from the Sanctuary. 09:56 She continues explaining in this statement the following, 10:00 "But before this can be accomplished..." 10:03 Before the Sanctuary can be cleansed. 10:21 In other words, there has to be an examination to see 10:23 if individuals really are entitled to the benefits 10:27 of Christ's atonement. 10:30 Now she continues saying, "The cleansing of the Sanctuary..." 10:54 Are you understanding what Ellen White is saying here? 10:58 She's saying that in the yearly service the sins were 11:02 cleansed from the Sanctuary. 11:04 But before that, there had to be an examination to see 11:08 which sins really could be cleansed from the Sanctuary 11:13 based on whether the person had truly repented 11:16 and confessed his sins, and had trusted in 11:20 Jesus Christ as his Savior. 11:21 So in other words, it's investigated to see 11:24 if each individual is entitled to the benefits 11:28 of Christ's atonement. 11:30 On page 428 of the book, Great Controversy, 11:34 we find something very important. 11:37 You know, Jesus began a new phase of His work in 1844. 11:41 We're going to talk about 1844 in a few moments. 11:44 He began a work of judgment. 11:46 But that doesn't mean that Jesus suspended 11:49 His work of intercession. 11:50 He continued the work of the Holy Place 11:53 in the Most Holy Place. 11:55 He continued interceding. 11:57 Because, of course, if He didn't intercede anymore 11:59 after 1844, everybody would be lost. 12:02 So notice what Ellen White has to say about this in, 12:05 Great Controversy, 428. 12:09 That's the Old Testament service. 12:46 So Jesus simply assumes an additional function in 1844. 12:51 He does not cease interceding. 12:53 Does His life sill have lasting significance for us today? 12:57 Yes. Does His death still have lasting significance for us? 13:01 Does His resurrection have lasting significance for us? 13:04 Does His work in the Holy Place continue in the Most Holy Place? 13:08 Yes. 13:09 And when the work in the Most Holy Place is finished, 13:12 then it is all finished, as we are going to study 13:16 as we go along. 13:17 Now some people say, "Pastor Bohr, how can you say that 13:22 in heaven there is a record of sin that defiles the Sanctuary? 13:27 A place that is most holy. 13:29 How can a place that is most holy have also 13:33 a record of sin in it? 13:35 How can these two things co-exist?" 13:38 And my answer is very simple. 13:40 The sin that is placed in the Sanctuary does not 13:43 belong to the Sanctuary. 13:45 It is imputed to the Sanctuary. 13:48 It is accounted to the Sanctuary. 13:50 But it does not belong to the Sanctuary. 13:53 Now let me give you an example so you can understand 13:55 how a place that is most holy can also have 14:00 something as vile as sin recorded there. 14:04 Was Jesus absolutely sinless and holy? 14:10 Was He? 14:11 Of course He was. 14:12 The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 14:15 that He knew no what? 14:18 He knew no sin. 14:20 So He was absolutely holy. 14:21 But let me ask you, was sin imputed to the one who was 14:26 absolutely holy? 14:27 Absolutely. 14:29 Because it continues saying, "He who knew no sin 14:31 was made to be sin for us." 14:33 The sins were given to His account. 14:36 The sins were imputed to Him, but they did not belong to Him. 14:39 And in the same way, the sins that go into the Sanctuary, 14:43 they are imputed in the Sanctuary until 14:45 the real culprit gets the final blame for it 14:48 They are placed in the Sanctuary, but they 14:51 do not belong to the Sanctuary. 14:52 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 14:54 Now, let's notice something else very interesting. 14:59 And that is, that in John 3 Jesus uses the example 15:04 of the serpent in the wilderness. 15:06 What does a serpent represent in Scripture? 15:09 Well a serpent represents Satan. 15:11 It represents evil, it represents sin. 15:14 Is Jesus represented as a serpent in the Bible? 15:17 Yes. 15:18 He's the serpent that was raised in the wilderness. 15:21 It's a symbol of Christ. 15:23 So you say, "How can the serpent representing sin and evil 15:28 be a symbol of Christ?" 15:29 It's very simple. 15:30 Because Jesus assumed the sin of human beings. 15:34 He was made to be sin in our place. 15:37 Are you with me? 15:38 Even though He was most holy, the sins of the world 15:42 were imputed to Jesus. 15:46 Now somebody might say, "Well, Pastor Bohr, 15:48 where in the Bible does it say that the Sanctuary 15:51 has to be cleansed?" 15:53 Well, I want to read two verses in the Bible. 15:56 One is in the Old Testament and the other one is in the New. 15:59 The first one, of course, is Daniel 8:14. 16:02 What Adventist doesn't know Daniel 8:14? 16:06 It says there, "And he said to me..." 16:09 And we're going to take a closer look at the 16:10 chronology here in a moment. 16:20 Which Sanctuary? 16:21 When the 2300 days end, is there any Sanctuary on earth? 16:26 No. At that time the Jewish temple is destroyed. 16:29 It was destroyed in the year 70. 16:31 So there was no earthly Sanctuary to cleanse 16:34 at the end of the 2300 days. 16:36 So what must be the Sanctuary that must be cleansed 16:39 at the end of the 2300 days? 16:41 It must be the what? 16:43 The heavenly Sanctuary. 16:44 So very clearly, the heavenly Sanctuary needs to be what? 16:48 It needs to be cleansed. 16:49 Notice also Hebrews 9:23. 16:52 Hebrews 9:23 16:55 First of all, it's speaks about the earthly Sanctuary. 16:58 They're called, the copies of the true, 17:00 the copies of the heavenly. 17:01 It says there, speaking about the earthly Sanctuary... 17:10 That's the earthly Sanctuary. 17:19 So did the copies have to be purified? 17:22 Yes. But now notice the last half of the verse. 17:32 What are the better sacrifices that cleanse 17:35 the heavenly Sanctuary? 17:37 It is the blood of whom? 17:39 Of Jesus Christ. 17:40 Are you seeing the parallel? 17:42 So does the Bible teach us that there is defilement 17:44 in the heavenly Sanctuary that needs to be cleansed? 17:47 Absolutely, the Bible makes it very clear. 17:49 It's the sins that have entered there when the sinner repents, 17:53 confesses his or her sin, trusts in Jesus, and is baptized. 17:59 And if a person sins after baptism, they can still repent, 18:02 and confess their sins, and trust in Jesus. 18:04 The sins go into the Sanctuary through the blood. 18:07 The sinner is now forgiven. 18:09 You can have a good night sleep because your sins are forgiven. 18:13 You can jump for joy. 18:14 But now the problem is where? 18:17 The problem is in the Sanctuary. 18:19 And God has to take measures to cleanse the Sanctuary 18:22 at some point. 18:24 Now somebody might say, "But, Pastor Bohr, 18:27 why does God even need to examine the sins 18:33 that have gone into the Sanctuary? 18:35 Why must the life of the individual who has 18:39 trusted in Jesus, confessed sin, repented of sin, 18:43 and sent the sins into the Sanctuary, why does there 18:47 need to be a work of judgment and examination 18:49 to decide which sins are going to be eradicated or cleansed 18:54 from the Sanctuary?" 18:56 Let me ask you, does God know everything? 19:00 Does God know every sin that every person 19:02 on planet earth has ever committed? 19:04 Of course He does. 19:06 The Bible says that God is omniscient. 19:08 In other words, God is all knowing. 19:10 So the question is, why would God have to open up the records 19:13 to determine who truly repented, who truly confessed, 19:17 who truly had faith in Jesus, if God already knows 19:21 who did and who didn't? 19:24 The bottom line, folks, is that the judgment is not for God. 19:28 The judgment before the second coming of Christ... 19:31 Which is what we're talking about now. 19:33 The Day of Atonement is before Jesus comes. 19:35 The judgment before the second coming of Christ 19:38 has a specific purpose. 19:40 And that is to convince the heavenly universe 19:43 that God acted correctly in every single case 19:46 that is judged in that judgment. 19:49 Jesus is going to show that those people that He is going to 19:52 take to heaven when He comes again, He has a right 19:55 to take each one of those individuals to heaven. 19:58 When the judgment is finished, all of the heavenly beings 20:01 will say, "You acted correctly in every single case, 20:05 and You have a right to bring all of those people home." 20:08 So the purpose of the judgment before the second coming 20:11 is not to inform God. 20:13 It is to inform the heavenly universe, 20:16 because they are not omniscient. 20:18 They can't read the mind, they can't read the heart. 20:21 It's to inform the heavenly universe concerning the case 20:24 of each individual for God to show that He has a right 20:27 to bring all of these individuals that pass 20:31 the judgment to heaven. 20:32 You see, Satan says this, "If everyone is a sinner, 20:37 why does God save some and condemn others? 20:41 On what bases does God save David, an adulterer 20:46 and a murderer? 20:47 On what basis does God save Saul of Tarsus 20:50 who killed so many members of the church? 20:53 Whereas other individuals who didn't commit such terrible sins 20:57 they're left behind and they're not saved 21:00 Why?" 21:01 God is going to open up the records in heaven 21:03 and He's going to show each case so that the heavenly universe, 21:08 when the judgment is finished, they'll say, 21:10 "You're right in bringing these, 21:12 and You are right in leaving those behind." 21:16 So the purpose of the judgment before the second coming 21:19 is to persuade the heavenly beings that God has acted 21:23 justly in every single case. 21:25 You see, there are true believers 21:27 and counterfeit believers in the church. 21:30 Is that true? 21:32 There are those who truly repented from sin, 21:35 and there are those who only have crocodile tears. 21:41 Let me just show you some examples from Scripture 21:44 that in the church there are many who have confessed Jesus 21:48 that are not true children of Jesus. 21:50 They claim to have repented. 21:52 They claim that they confessed their sins. 21:54 They claim that they trusted in Jesus. 21:57 They were even baptized. 21:59 But it's proven that they are not true believers 22:03 in the judgment. 22:05 Now I want you to notice Matthew 6 22:08 and we're going to read verses 2, 5, and 16. 22:13 Notice what Jesus had to say to the church of His day. 22:17 Were there true and counterfeit believers in the Jewish church 22:19 in Christ's day? 22:21 Oh, listen to this. 22:22 Verse 2, Matthew 6. 22:32 What is a hypocrite? 22:34 It's a person that's two-faced. 22:36 A person who it appears that they're one thing 22:39 when really they are what? 22:41 They're another. 22:42 Can you see on the surface the real nature of that person? 22:46 No. 22:47 So notice, "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed..." 23:00 Notice it doesn't say, "They shall have their reward." 23:02 They have their reward. What is their reward? 23:04 To be praised by everybody, right? 23:05 So they have their reward right now. 23:07 Notice verse 5. 23:12 Once again, the word hypocrites; two-faced. 23:22 So are these religious people? 23:24 Oh yea. 23:26 Do they claim to be servants of God? 23:27 Oh yea. 23:29 Now notice what Jesus says. 23:30 "I say to you, they have their reward." 23:33 What is their reward? 23:34 To be praised by men. 23:35 Notice verse 16. 23:40 "...hypocrites..." There's the word again. 23:55 So are there individuals that are true believers 23:58 and counterfeit believers that claim to serve God? 24:00 Absolutely. 24:02 In the church, is there wheat and also tares in the church? 24:06 Yes. 24:08 Does the gospel net gather good and bad fish? 24:12 Absolutely. 24:13 Does the church have wise and foolish virgins? 24:16 Yes. 24:17 Does the bridal chamber gather individuals who 24:20 have the wedding garment and those who don't? 24:24 Absolutely. 24:26 Are their individuals who profess the name of Jesus 24:29 and even perform miracles and cast out demons 24:32 in the name of Jesus that are counterfeit believers 24:36 to whom Jesus says, "I do not know you"? 24:39 Absolutely. 24:40 There are those who say, "Lord, Lord," 24:43 but Jesus refuses to recognize them. 24:45 Is it true that there are even some ministers 24:48 that disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, 24:52 according to the apostle Paul, but they are really 24:54 emissaries of the devil? 24:56 Absolutely. 24:57 Are there those in the church that have a form of godliness 25:00 but do not have the power of godliness? 25:02 Absolutely. 25:04 So where is the separation going to be made 25:06 between true believers and counterfeit believers? 25:10 It will be done when? 25:12 In the judgment. 25:14 The purpose of the judgment before the second coming 25:18 is to reveal who was truly sorry and who wasn't. 25:22 And when the judgment is finished, all the heavenly 25:25 beings will say, "Ah, Jesus, Your kingdom is made up. 25:29 All of these are genuine. 25:31 When You go to the earth, 25:32 You can bring all of these people home." 25:35 And they'll say, "All of those that You chose to leave behind, 25:38 all of those hypocritical believers, 25:40 those are staying behind. 25:42 And we agree that You are right, 25:44 That You are just in what You did." 25:46 The purpose of the judgment is not to inform God. 25:49 The purpose of the judgment is to inform the heavenly universe 25:53 that God acted correctly in the cases 25:56 of every single human being. 25:59 Now this judgment is done in three stages, or three steps. 26:04 First of all, you have an investigation. 26:06 The system of jurisprudence that we have on planet earth, 26:09 is it very similar to the system that God has? 26:14 When a crime is committed, what do you have first of all? 26:16 The court investigates it, right? 26:19 And then based on the investigation of the evidence, 26:22 what do you have? 26:23 The sentence is pronounced, right? 26:26 And then the time comes when the reward 26:29 or the execution of the sentence is implemented. 26:32 And so, the judgment that takes place before the second coming 26:37 of Jesus Christ, the case of each individual 26:40 is going to be investigated. 26:42 Based on the evidence, when that individual's case 26:47 is ended, has already been evaluated, 26:49 what will be pronounced? 26:51 What will be pronounced is the sentence. 26:53 And then when Jesus comes, what is Jesus going to do? 26:56 He is going to give what? 26:58 The reward. 27:00 So is God's system of justice similar to the 27:03 system of justice on earth? 27:04 Maybe I should say it the other way around. 27:06 Is our system of justice similar to the system of justice of God? 27:10 God will not condemn anyone without an investigation 27:14 to prove that He was right and Satan was wrong. 27:17 Are you understanding the purpose of this 27:19 particular stage of the judgment? 27:21 Now let's answer a few questions about the judgment. 27:26 Who is going to be judged in this judgment 27:30 during the Day of Atonement 27:31 before the second coming of Christ? 27:34 Let's read a couple of verses. 27:36 2 Corinthians 5:10 27:38 Remember that the apostle Paul here is writing 27:41 to church members. 27:43 Okay? He's not writing to the world. 27:45 He's writing to the Corinthians. 27:47 So notice what he has to say in 2 Corinthians 5:10. 27:55 Is he talking about church members? Yes. 28:09 So who are the ones that are judged? 28:11 The ones that are judged are those who belong to the church, 28:17 according to this. 28:18 Notice 1 Peter 4:17. 28:21 This verse has been misinterpreted by many. 28:24 They've said that, you know, the judgment will begin 28:27 with Seventh-day Adventists. 28:28 But actually, this applies to everyone who claimed 28:31 the name of Jesus Christ. 28:32 Notice 1 Peter 4:17. 28:38 What is the house of God? 28:40 The apostle Paul defines the house of God as the church. 28:43 You can read it in 1 Timothy 3. 28:45 Notice... 28:49 "...and if it first begins at us..." 28:54 Are you catching that? 28:56 When he says, "us," who is he referring to? 28:59 The house of God, the church. 29:00 It begins with us. 29:02 "...what shall be the end..." 29:07 So are you noticing that there's a judgment of the house of God, 29:10 and then there's another judgment of those who what? 29:13 Of those who obey not the gospel. 29:17 Only the cases of those who claimed Jesus as Savior 29:21 are examined in the judgment 29:23 before the second coming of Christ. 29:26 Why? 29:27 Once again, because Jesus is going to show the heavenly 29:30 universe that He was right in taking to heaven 29:35 those that He will receive unto Himself 29:38 when He comes the second time. 29:41 Is there another judgment that takes place later 29:44 for those who did not obey the gospel? 29:47 Absolutely. 29:48 When do those stages of the judgment take place? 29:50 During the millennium and after the millennium. 29:53 We are going to study those two stages later on in this series. 29:58 The only sins that are cleansed from the Sanctuary 30:01 are those that entered there by the blood of Jesus, 30:04 and those of which people truly repented, confessed, 30:09 and manifested faith in Jesus Christ. 30:12 Ellen White explains in, Great Controversy, page 480, 30:16 the following... 30:18 "In the typical service..." 30:20 That's in the Old Testament. 30:37 Who were the only ones who were in view on the Day of Atonement? 30:39 Those who what? 30:41 "...with confession and repentance, 30:43 and whose sins, through the blood of the sin offering 30:46 were transferred to the Sanctuary..." 30:47 Only those were included in the Day of Atonement service. 30:51 She continues writing... 30:53 Now here's the fulfillment. 31:27 Are you following me? 31:29 So what are the only cases that are looked at 31:32 in the judgment before the second coming of Christ? 31:34 Only those, she says, who, through confession 31:37 and repentance, have placed their sins in the Sanctuary 31:41 through the blood of the sin offering. 31:43 And who is the sin offering? 31:45 Jesus Christ. 31:46 So now we know who will be judged in this pre-advent 31:50 investigative judgment. 31:51 Now another question that we must answer is, 31:53 when did this judgment begin? 31:57 I can assure you that it did not begin in the days 31:59 of the apostle Paul. 32:01 Let's read Acts 17:30-31. 32:05 Acts 17:30-31 32:09 Here, the apostle Paul explains... 32:20 Now notice that he says, now what does 32:23 God command people to do? 32:25 "...all men everywhere to repent." 32:29 Why must people now repent? 32:31 That's the daily service, we noticed. 32:33 Notice, "...because He has appointed..." 32:36 What? "...a day..." 32:38 What is the name of that day? 32:40 The Day of Atonement. Very well. 32:43 "...He has appointed a day on which He will judge..." 32:48 Is this future? 32:50 In other words, God commands people now to repent 32:53 because a day is coming when "He will judge the world 32:59 in righteousness..." By whom? 33:01 "...by the Man..." Who is that? 33:04 Jesus. "...whom He has ordained..." 33:10 Was the judgment still future in the days of the apostle Paul? 33:15 Were people to repent at that time, and place 33:17 their sins in the Sanctuary? 33:19 Sure. 33:20 But had the judgment taken place? 33:22 No. God has appointed a future day, the Day of Atonement, 33:25 when He would judge. 33:28 Now there are other verses that tell us when this judgment 33:31 was going to begin. 33:33 Daniel 7 33:34 And we're going to have to go through this quickly 33:36 because time is going very fast. 33:38 Daniel 7, we have a sequence of beasts. 33:41 We have a lion; what kingdom does that represent? 33:44 Babylon. We have a bear. 33:46 That is what? The Medes and Persians. 33:48 Then we have the leopard beast. That's Greece. 33:51 Then we have a dragon beast. That represents what nation? 33:54 Rome. 33:55 And then the dragon beast sprouts ten horns. 33:57 What happened with Rome? 33:59 Rome was divided into ten kingdoms. 34:01 We're at the year 476. 34:03 And then among the ten horns rises a little horn. 34:06 And how long does that little horn rule? 34:08 1260 years. 34:10 And those 1260 years end at which date? 34:14 In 1798. 34:16 Now I want you to notice that in 1798 34:18 something happens in 1798. 34:22 Notice Daniel 7:9-10. 34:27 Now this doesn't happen immediately at 1798, 34:31 but it must happen after 1798 at some point. 34:34 Notice Daniel 7:9-10. 34:38 This is immediately after the little horn rules 1260 years. 34:48 Where does the Ancient of Days live? 34:50 He lives in heaven. 34:52 "Our Father, which art..." Where? 34:53 "...in heaven..." 34:55 So this is happening in heaven. 35:14 Who are these thousands of thousands, 35:16 and ten thousand times ten thousand? 35:18 They're the angels. Where do the angels live? 35:20 In the presence of the Father. In heaven. 35:22 So this is taking place in heaven 35:25 immediately after the 1260 years. 35:27 At some point after 1798. 35:30 And then I want you to notice what we find in verse 13. 35:43 And where does He go? 35:45 Not to earth. 35:46 It says, "He came to the Ancient of Days..." 35:48 He's moving to where the Ancient of Days moved 35:52 to begin the judgment. 35:53 So notice it says... 36:12 So you have Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, 36:15 Rome, Rome is divided into ten kingdoms, 36:18 then you have the papacy ruling 1260 years. 36:20 You're at the year 1798. 36:22 At some point after that, it says that the judgment sits 36:27 and the books are opened. 36:30 And then shortly after that, you have the Son of Man 36:32 coming on the clouds to whom? 36:35 He's coming on the clouds to the Ancient of Days. 36:38 And why is He going there? 36:40 It says He's going there to receive His what? 36:44 His kingdom. 36:46 Now what does that mean, that Jesus is going there 36:48 to receive His kingdom? 36:50 What is Christ's kingdom? 36:52 You know, we usually think of His kingdom as a territory. 36:56 The planet earth. 36:57 But really, the kingdom are the subjects 37:01 that belong to His kingdom. 37:03 How does He determine who is a true subject of His kingdom? 37:06 He does it in the what? 37:08 In the judgment. 37:09 So in other words, the Father moves, the judgment sits, 37:13 the books are opened. 37:14 Because now it's going to be shown who is a 37:17 subject of Christ's kingdom. 37:18 And when the judgment is over, the kingdom of Jesus 37:22 is made up because it has been revealed 37:25 who is a subject of His kingdom. 37:27 Are you with me or not? 37:29 Now, Revelation 13 adds its testimony. 37:33 Revelation 13:1-2 has the same beasts as Daniel 7. 37:58 By the way, the dragon has ten horns, 37:59 if you look at Revelation 12, the previous chapter. 38:09 Does that have any relationship with Daniel 7? 38:12 Of course it does. 38:13 Do you have the same sequence of powers? 38:15 Absolutely. 38:16 Notice, you have lion, bear, leopard, dragon, 38:19 ten horns, little horn. 38:21 In Revelation 13 you have lion, bear, leopard, dragon, 38:25 ten horns, beast. 38:27 So the little horn is the same as the beast. 38:31 Now what was the next event after the little horn 38:33 rules 1260 years, after the beast rules 42 months? 38:37 What is the next event? 38:39 Let's go to Revelation 14:6-7. 38:42 Revelation 14:6-7 38:45 It says there... 38:55 Let's stop there for a minute. 38:58 Can people still be saved while the gospel is being preached? 39:01 Well that's kind of a ridiculous question. 39:03 If people can't be saved, why would you preach the gospel? 39:06 So when the first angel is proclaiming his message, 39:10 people can listen to the message, accept it, 39:13 and be saved, right? 39:14 Now notice verse 7. 39:16 I want to show you that the judgment takes place 39:18 while probation is still open. 39:20 While people are still living here on earth, 39:23 before the door of probation closes, 39:26 before Jesus comes, that's when the judgment takes place. 39:28 Notice verse 7. 39:30 It says in verse 7... 39:37 "...for the hour of His judgment will come..." 39:40 That's not what it says. 39:42 It doesn't say, "will come." 39:44 The first angel says, while the gospel is being preached, 39:47 "...the hour of His judgment has come." 39:49 So does the judgment begin while the gospel is being preached? 39:53 Before the second coming of Jesus. 39:55 Absolutely. 39:57 Just like we saw in Daniel 7. 40:00 Now can we specify a little more exactly 40:04 when this judgment begins? 40:06 We know it begins after 1798. 40:09 But can we know the specific date when it was to begin? 40:13 I'm going to go quickly on this because we don't have time 40:17 really to get into all of the chronology. 40:19 I've done this in other lectures that you can acquire 40:22 from Secrets Unsealed. 40:23 But the Bible tells us which month and day 40:28 the Day of Atonement was to begin. 40:29 Notice Leviticus 23:27. 40:33 Leviticus 23:27 gives us the month and the day 40:37 when the judgment or the Day of Atonement began 40:39 in the Old Testament. 40:56 So do we have the day and the month when the Day of Atonement 40:59 was going to begin? 41:01 Absolutely. 41:02 It is the tenth day of what? 41:04 Of the seventh month. 41:05 Now the question is, can we know which year the judgment 41:09 was going to begin? 41:10 Absolutely. 41:12 Daniel 8:14 tells us... 41:23 Now we don't have time to get into all of the chronology, 41:25 but let me just explain that the 2300 days 41:28 began in the year 457 BC. 41:32 The first part of the 2300 days are the 70 weeks. 41:36 Which all scholars agree, practically, that the 70 weeks 41:42 are really 490 years. 41:44 They are weeks that are years. 41:46 And so you go from 457 BC, you go 70 weeks. 41:50 That's 490 years. 41:52 And then beyond that you go 1810 years to complete the 2300 days. 41:59 And it leads you to the year 1844. 42:04 So basically, from 457 BC all the way to 1844, 42:09 that is the period that covers the 2300 days 42:13 that are mentioned in Daniel 8:14. 42:18 So we know then that the year of the judgment 42:21 was going to be when? 42:22 It was going to be in 1844. 42:24 So we would have to look for the day and the month 42:28 in 1844 when this was going to begin. 42:32 And it just so happens that in 1844, 42:35 the tenth day of the seventh month was October 22. 42:40 So we know that the judgment was going to begin 42:43 on October 22, the year 1844. 42:47 Is that after 1798? 42:49 It most certainly is. 42:51 It follows the chronology. 42:53 Now there's another way in which we can approach 42:56 this matter of when the judgment takes place. 43:02 You remember the seven churches of the book 43:04 of Revelation, right? 43:05 Most scholars agree, conservative scholars agree, 43:09 that the seven churches represent seven periods in the 43:12 history of the Christian church. 43:14 Seventh-day Adventists believe that the first church 43:16 is the apostolic church. 43:17 The second church is the church that was persecuted 43:19 by the Roman emperors. 43:21 The third church is Pergamum where apostasy comes into the 43:24 church in the days of Constantine. 43:26 The fourth church, the church that is governed over 43:29 by that woman, Jezebel, represents the period of the 43:31 Roman Catholic papacy. 43:33 The fifth church represents the period of the 43:36 Protestant Reformation when the church is coming 43:38 out of apostasy. 43:40 And the sixth church we believe to represent 43:43 the Millerite movement. 43:45 The church of Philadelphia. 43:47 Now I want you to notice what the Bible has to say about 43:50 the church of Philadelphia. 43:51 Which is the sixth church, 43:53 the church right before the last church; the church of Laodicea. 43:57 Revelation 3:7-8 43:59 Something happens during the period of this church. 44:13 What do you use a key for? 44:15 To open or to close a door, right? 44:17 So it says... 44:26 So is this key going to shut a door 44:29 during the period of the sixth church? 44:31 Yes. Is it going to open another door? 44:33 It most certainly is. 44:34 You say, "Are you sure it's a door?" 44:36 Absolutely. Notice the next verse, verse 8. 44:43 What is it that opened the door? 44:45 The key. 44:57 So under which church is the door opened? 45:00 It is under church number six. 45:02 Which is after the period of the papacy 45:05 and after the period of the Protestant Reformation. 45:07 Are you following me or not? 45:09 During the period of the sixth church 45:11 is where you have the open door. 45:12 Now the question is, where does that open door lead to? 45:15 Well the Sanctuary had three doors. 45:18 The first door was between the camp and the court. 45:22 Could that have been the door that was opened 45:24 during the period of the sixth church 45:25 towards the end of Christian history? 45:27 No. When was that door opened? 45:31 That door was opened when Jesus went in 45:33 to die on the cross, right? 45:34 And to resurrect from the dead. 45:36 That's when He entered the court. 45:38 There was a second door, the door that divided the 45:40 court from the Holy Place. 45:41 Can that be the door that was opened in 1844? 45:44 No. Why not? 45:46 Because Jesus entered that door into the Holy Place 45:49 when He ascended to heaven. 45:51 So let me ask you, how many doors are left? 45:53 There's only one door left. 45:55 The door that divides the Holy from the Most Holy Place. 45:58 So under the sixth church, it must be the door that 46:01 leads to the Most Holy Place that is opened. 46:03 And which door is closed? 46:05 The door that is closed is the door to the Holy Place 46:10 of the Sanctuary. 46:11 Now here's something very interesting. 46:14 If you study Revelation 11, you're going to discover... 46:18 Actually it begins with chapter 8 46:20 all the way through chapter 11. 46:22 You have seven trumpets. 46:24 The seven trumpets cover the same time period 46:26 as the churches, but it emphasizes different events 46:29 during that large time period between the apostolic church 46:33 and the end of time. 46:35 At the moment of the sixth trumpet, listen carefully now, 46:39 we're going to see what was opened. 46:41 Sixth church, opened door. 46:43 Sixth trumpet, we're going to see where the 46:45 open door leads to. 46:47 Revelation 11:19. Revelation 11:19. 46:52 It says, "Then the temple of God was..." What? 46:56 So if it was opened, what condition was it in 46:59 before it was opened? 47:00 It was closed. 47:02 So it says... 47:06 And what was seen in the temple when the door was opened? 47:15 Where was the ark of the covenant? 47:18 In which apartment of the Sanctuary? 47:20 In the Most Holy Place. 47:22 So which door is opened in 1844 during the period of 47:26 the sixth trumpet and the sixth church? 47:28 It is the door that leads to where? 47:30 That leads to the Most Holy Place. 47:32 Is there biblical evidence as to when the judgment 47:36 was going to begin? 47:37 Absolutely. 47:39 Now the question is, where does the judgment take place? 47:42 We already answered this question, but let's just 47:46 read a couple of text. 47:47 Daniel 7:13-14 47:50 We already read it. It says... 47:58 Now He's not coming at His second coming. 48:00 It says here that He came where? 48:02 To the Ancient of Days. 48:22 So the question is, where does the judgment take place? 48:25 In heaven where the Ancient of Days is. 48:28 Where the ten thousand times ten thousand are. 48:31 That's where the judgment sits and the books are opened. 48:34 The judgment does not take place on earth. 48:37 The judgment takes place where? In heaven. 48:40 Do you remember the parable of Matthew 22 48:43 where this man sneaked into the wedding hall 48:45 without the garment? 48:48 Do you think that's describing the second coming of Jesus? 48:50 You know, Jesus comes and He takes His people to heaven. 48:53 And then He starts examining the garments 48:55 and He says, "How did you sneak in here?" 48:57 Of course not. 48:58 Jesus isn't going to take to heaven anyone 49:00 who doesn't have the garment. 49:02 This is describing the examination 49:05 of the garments of people, the spiritual garments 49:07 of people, before Jesus comes again. 49:11 You see, He's going to determine if you're covered with the robe 49:14 of Christ's righteousness by examining your case 49:17 before He takes you to heaven. 49:20 Are you following me or not? 49:21 And so the judgment takes place where? 49:24 It doesn't take place on earth. 49:27 It takes place in heaven. 49:29 Now here's another question. 49:31 What evidence is examined in the judgment? 49:36 It is not the faith of individuals that is 49:38 examined in the judgment. 49:40 It is rather the works of people 49:43 that are examined in the judgment. 49:45 You see, we are saved by grace through faith, 49:50 but the Bible says that we will be judged by our works. 49:54 You say, "Is this really a contradiction, Pastor Bohr?" 49:57 No. 49:58 You see, faith is the invisible side of works. 50:03 And works are the visible side of faith. 50:06 Some Adventist scholars are dualists. 50:10 When it comes to the state of the dead, they say, 50:13 "Oh, you can't have the spirit without the body. 50:16 They have to go together." 50:18 But when it comes to righteousness by faith, 50:20 they say, "Oh, it's faith alone. 50:22 And works have nothing to do with it." 50:24 Well, I'll tell you what. 50:25 James begs to differ with these anthropological dualists 50:31 when it comes to righteousness by faith. 50:33 Notice James 2:14-17, and then we'll read verses 20-26. 50:39 The Bible is clear. 50:40 This is in the Bible, by the way. 50:42 You know, we need James along with the apostle Paul, don't we? 50:46 Was James just as inspired as Paul? 50:48 Of course. 50:49 Notice verse 14. 50:58 So if a person doesn't have works, they're only 50:59 saying they have faith, right? 51:01 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord.'" 51:06 Then James asks, "Can faith save him?" 51:08 "Can that kind of faith without works save him?" 51:12 Now he's going to talk about the works. 51:26 "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not 51:29 have works is..." What? 51:30 "...is dead." 51:37 Wow, some people... Martin Luther didn't like that. 51:40 He wanted to get rid of the book of James. 51:42 Because it says that Abraham was justified by works. 51:45 We need to understand what he's saying. 51:47 He's really saying that he was justified by a faith that works. 51:50 In the context, isn't that what he's saying? 51:52 Can faith exist without works? No. 51:54 He's saying he was justified by a faith that works. 51:58 And notice once again, verse 22... 52:05 "...faith was made perfect." Or complete, in other words. 52:21 Notice the context once again. 52:23 He is justified by a faith that works. 52:27 Because a faith that does not work is not really faith. 52:30 Are you following me? 52:31 Now notice what he says in verse 25. 52:44 And now here comes the key verse. 52:54 So you can't say, "Oh, you have to have the body 52:56 and the spirit together. 52:59 They can't exist independently." and say, "Yeah, but you can 53:02 have only faith and no works." 53:04 They have to go together, in other words. 53:07 And those who say, "When it comes to the state of the dead, 53:09 we put them together. 53:11 When it comes to righteousness by faith, 53:12 you know, we'll just separate faith and works." 53:14 You can't do that, because faith and works are a package deal. 53:18 So what will be examined in the judgment? 53:20 Our works. 53:22 Because our works show if our faith was genuine or not. 53:26 Notice Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. 53:30 Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 53:53 You see, folks, when people repent and confess their sins, 53:56 and trust in Jesus, the sincerity of their experience 54:00 is not examined when they repent. 54:04 Jesus takes them at their word. 54:06 He says, "I'll take you at your word. 54:07 I'll forgive you." 54:08 But let me ask you something. 54:10 Can forgiveness be revoked? 54:13 Can God forgive someone in the daily service 54:16 and then revoke their forgiveness? 54:18 Absolutely. 54:19 You say, "Where is the biblical evidence for that?" 54:22 The biblical evidence is found in two passages. 54:25 I don't think we're going to be able to get to one of them, 54:27 so I'll just mention the reference. 54:29 Ezekiel 33:13-16 54:32 You'll want to read that passage. 54:34 Ezekiel 33:13-16 54:36 But what I want to read is the parable of the two debtors. 54:39 Have you ever heard about that parable of the two debtors? 54:42 We'll begin in Matthew 18:23 and following. 54:49 The king represents God. 54:51 "...who wanted to settle accounts..." 54:53 That's the judgment. 54:55 Are these people who claim to serve God? 54:58 Yeah, they're not unbelievers. 54:59 They're people who claim to serve God. 55:08 It was a debt that could not be paid. 55:10 It was basically unpayable. 55:22 So he said, "You're going to receive the punishment 55:24 for not paying your debts." 55:26 What does this individual do? Verse 26... 55:35 And the master is saying, "Forget it. 55:36 You can't pay this debt. It's impossible to pay." 55:39 Verse 27... 55:49 Was this man forgiven, yes or no? 55:51 He was forgiven. 55:52 Listen carefully. 55:54 Verse 28... 56:01 A small debt that could be paid. 56:03 It was the equivalent of a hundred days work 56:06 for the common laborer. 56:07 And so he finds this servant, a fellow servant. 56:22 Is he doing the same thing as this individual who had been 56:25 forgiven a large debt? 56:26 Absolutely. 56:28 Now notice this... 56:36 Interesting. 56:37 Verse 31, "So when his fellow servants..." 56:40 Which represents the angels, by the way. 57:21 Can forgiveness be revoked if it's seen that we 57:25 do not treat others according to the mercy that 57:27 God has shown us? 57:29 Forgiveness will be revoked if it is shown 57:31 that our works contradict our faith. 57:35 Because our works show if our faith is what? 57:38 Genuine. 57:39 Are there many individuals who claim to be believers 57:42 that will be found wanting in the investigative judgment? 57:45 Absolutely. 57:47 Because they gloried in the forgiveness that God gave them, 57:52 but they were not able to forgive others. 57:54 You know, this man had just crocodile tears. 57:57 Because he was afraid of the punishment 57:58 he was going to receive. 58:00 He was not really sorry for the sin that he had committed. |
Revised 2016-09-19