Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: 16SCM
Program Code: 16SCM000002A
00:51 Welcome to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting:
00:57 Live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 01:02 Now it begins. We want you to hold onto your seats 01:05 as we are going to hear the Word preached with conviction 01:08 and with power. Welcome to hour number two 01:12 of this opening night of our 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting: 01:16 Calvary, Christ, and the Sanctuary. 01:19 And our speaker for this particular hour 01:22 is a great friend of this ministry and just a great 01:25 Christian man. He stands in a long line of speaker/directors 01:30 for It Is Written... back to George Vandeman 01:33 and then Mark Finley for many years and then Shawn Boonstra. 01:36 And now Pastor John Bradshaw. 01:39 What a mighty man of God 01:41 and may I add a real neat guy. 01:45 Just a wonderful person, a wonderful friend. 01:47 We went out to a restaurant some time ago, and we talked 01:50 into the night. And you know, when they're closing 01:52 a restaurant down they put the chairs on top of the tables. 01:55 And we didn't know that they had put the chairs on top of 01:57 the tables and turned the lights out. The cook had left 01:59 and the fellow was just sitting there and we were just talking 02:01 into the night. He's a good talker and a good listener. 02:05 Most of all he is a good Christian 02:07 and a mighty man of the Word. 02:09 He is the husband of one wife. Amen! Father of two children. 02:13 And the speaker/director as I said of It Is Written. 02:16 Has gone around the world lifting up the mighty and 02:19 matchless name of Jesus. He is a student of the Word. 02:22 Most of all he is a child of the Lord... 02:25 a preacher of righteousness. 02:28 And as he talks about the Lamb tonight we are so thankful 02:32 that John Bradshaw could break from his very busy schedule 02:36 to be part of this Camp Meeting weekend. 02:39 Our music is going to come from Dr. Yvonne Lewis. 02:43 She's going to be singing Lamb of God. 02:45 And again, someone I've known for 30+ years. 02:49 We were children together - Amen - and has always 02:54 dedicated her considerable talents to the Lord. 02:56 She is, of course, the general manager of 3ABN's Dare to Dream 03:00 Network. Working hard doing a fabulous job. 03:03 I'm going to ask you to pray with me just now 03:04 then we'll invite Yvonne out. After she shall have sung 03:08 the next voice you will be hearing will be that of our 03:10 friend, a preacher of righteous- ness, Pastor John Bradshaw. 03:14 Father God, how we praise You this night. 03:18 How we love You and we thank you, Father, for 03:20 the sacrifice that Christ made in our behalf. 03:25 We thank you for the sanctuary, 03:27 for the benefits of that sacrifice that are ministered 03:30 to us each and every day. 03:32 Father, just now we ask for the unction of Your Holy Spirit 03:37 to touch the mind and lips of him who has been called 03:41 to lift up the name of Jesus. 03:43 Be with Yvonne as she sings. 03:45 May we see Jesus; may we take another step 03:49 on that road that leads to glory. 03:51 We love you, Lord. We praise You and we thank you 03:54 for the power of Your Word. 03:56 In Jesus' name, Amen. 04:21 Your only Son, 04:25 no sin to hide 04:29 But You have sent 04:33 Him from Your side 04:36 To walk upon 04:40 this guilty sod 04:44 And to become 04:47 the Lamb of God. 04:55 Your gift of love, 04:59 they crucified 05:02 They laughed and scorned 05:07 Him as He died 05:10 The humble King 05:14 they named a fraud 05:18 And sacrificed 05:20 the Lamb of God. 05:25 Oh, Lamb of God, 05:29 sweet Lamb of God 05:32 I love the holy 05:37 Lamb of God 05:40 Oh, wash me in 05:43 Your precious blood 05:47 My Jesus Christ, 05:50 the Lamb of God. 05:59 I was so lost, 06:03 I should have died 06:06 But You have brought me 06:11 to Your side 06:14 To be led 06:17 by Your staff and rod 06:21 And to be called 06:24 a lamb of God. 06:29 Oh, Lamb of God, 06:32 sweet Lamb of God 06:36 I love the holy 06:41 Lamb of God 06:44 Oh, wash me in 06:47 Your precious blood 06:51 My Jesus Christ, 06:54 the Lamb of God. 06:58 Oh, wash me in 07:02 Your precious blood 07:08 My Jesus Christ, 07:11 the Lamb of 07:17 God. 07:32 Amen! 07:36 Well we must say amen and thank you. 07:38 Amen - amen - and thank you. 07:41 Good evening everyone. Good evening. 07:43 What a blessing it is for me just personally 07:45 to be here with my friends at 3ABN. 07:47 I'm thrilled to be here. 07:49 I love Camp Meeting. That's where God's people get together 07:52 expecting to be blessed. Is that right? 07:54 Then so I imagine, therefore, if we all have an angel that 07:58 goes with us - maybe more in some cases, I don't know - 08:02 that there's a great gathering of angels here. 08:04 And if God's Spirit attends you, 08:06 then that means we must have a great gathering of God's Spirit 08:08 here. Amen! This is a powerful place to be! 08:11 Camp Meeting is a wonderful time! 08:13 And I am grateful for the opportunity to be here. 08:16 And I'm thankful for beautiful music. 08:19 And I'm thankful we serve a wonderful Savior. Amen! 08:22 I'm thankful for the Bible which I still believe is the 08:25 Word of God. Amen! And I am profoundly convinced 08:27 that Jesus is coming back soon. Do you believe that? 08:30 Do you believe that? Amen! I believe that; I believe that. 08:34 And even if He wasn't... 08:36 Now I'm not hedging my bets, but even if He wasn't 08:39 we would still serve Him. We would still be faithful. 08:45 The hope of eternity would still burn in our hearts. 08:49 That's even if He wasn't. 08:50 But He is - Amen! - and we are glad about that! 08:54 He is. His coming is nearer than when we first believed. 08:58 And I'm thrilled because tonight we have the privilege of 09:02 gathering around the Bible 09:04 and opening up the Bible. 09:06 I believe... I have this on good authority... 09:10 that the Word of God is quick and powerful 09:16 and sharper than any two-edged sword. 09:20 There's power in the Word of God. There just is. 09:23 There's power in the Word of God to raise the dead. 09:27 There's power to comfort the afflicted. 09:30 There's power to give us hope. 09:32 So tonight we ought to plan on being blessed, what do you say? 09:36 Amen! All right. Tonight we'll talk about the Lamb of God. 09:40 We're discussing the sanctuary so we'll discuss this very 09:43 important subject. Let's begin by praying together. 09:47 Our Father in heaven, we thank You that we can 09:49 come to You tonight in the name of Jesus. 09:53 We are grateful. 09:55 David said long ago: 09:58 "What is man that Thou art mindful of him? 10:01 Or the son of man that You visit him? " 10:03 What are we? And yet 10:08 in spite of our "littleness" 10:11 we are assured that "God so loved the world 10:16 that He gave His only begotten Son. " 10:20 So we are encouraged tonight 10:23 in spite of our weakness, 10:25 in spite of our too-frequent failings, 10:29 we are encouraged that Your eyes are on us 10:33 and Your heart is towards us. 10:36 Tonight we come to discuss a subject dear to Your heart, 10:39 and I pray that You would give us heavenly eye salve 10:42 that we might see 10:44 and anointing of Your Holy Spirit that we might hear... 10:47 but only what You want us to hear. 10:51 And I pray that You would grant me special grace 10:53 that as I handle the Word of God I would do so 10:55 according to Your will. 10:57 Let my words be filtered through Your Spirit. 11:00 And Lord, if I say the wrong thing 11:03 let there be one of those miracles of divine grace 11:06 that would cause people to hear the right thing. 11:09 Bless us now, we ask You, for Your glory. 11:12 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 11:21 I had a job once... 11:26 not only once... 11:30 I had a job once working... This was one of my favorite 11:34 jobs I ever had. It was a great job! 11:38 It paid OK. 11:40 I worked with a variety of characters. 11:47 Made some good friends; didn't make any enemies. 11:51 That was a good job. 11:53 I worked at a meat works. 11:56 While I was a university student it was largely responsible 12:00 for my ability to pay my way through school. 12:03 I worked at a meat works. 12:05 I grew up in a blue collar town just four miles 12:09 up the road from this meat works. 12:11 The meat works actually formed the backbone 12:13 of our little town. About 1,500 men - 12:16 almost all were men - worked at this meat works. 12:21 And so the animals would come in the front door whole 12:26 still mooing and baaing. 12:30 And then they would leave back out the front door 12:34 no longer mooing and no longer baaing. 12:40 No longer together as a matter of fact... 12:42 but they did leave and they found themselves 12:46 afterwards escorted to a variety of different locations. 12:51 You know, an almost family member of mine... 12:55 the husband of my sister-in-law... 12:57 began work as a meat inspector. 13:01 And he worked at this very meat works. 13:04 After a while of inspecting the meat at the meat works 13:08 he became a vegetarian. Isn't that interesting? 13:13 Now the meat inspector is supposed to catch the bad stuff 13:17 and say: "No, you can't send this on. 13:20 This animal is too diseased; 13:22 there are too many tumors on this one. " 13:24 He managed to save the consumer from a lot of hazards 13:29 or from many hazards but not from all of the hazards. 13:32 He said: "When I saw what was ending up going through 13:36 and ultimately landing on a plate near mine 13:38 I decided I was better off without it. " 13:41 That meat works did perform some good functions, 13:44 some helpful functions. 13:46 Where I worked in the meat works was one of the 13:49 less glamorous places. 13:52 All of my brothers worked at that same meat works... 13:54 all but one. Three of my four brothers worked 13:56 there at various times. 13:58 My... the third of the five Bradshaw boys 14:03 worked there for some time. And you know, you could work 14:05 on the boning floor. You could work on the... 14:09 on the chain. 14:11 You could work... You know, it's been years. 14:13 I'm forgetting all the various departments. 14:15 But my brother, when he came home for his first day at work, 14:18 smelled so bad I couldn't be near him. 14:21 He told me he worked in the fellmongery. 14:25 Now I don't expect you to know what happens in a fellmongery - 14:27 or maybe somebody here does. 14:28 A fellmongery is that department of the meat works 14:31 that handles the animal skins. 14:33 And so the skins will come - if they are cow skins, 14:37 covered in hair or sheep or lamb skins 14:39 covered in wool - and the intent is that they 14:42 leave without hair and without wool. 14:44 And so you have to apply a lot of pretty powerful chemicals 14:47 and acid formulations to remove all of the wool 14:50 and remove all of the hair. 14:52 And some of that stuff doesn't smell... it just plain stinks! 14:55 So my brother would make his way home from work, and I would flee 14:58 from his presence because he smelled so bad. 15:01 I said: "When I work at that meat works I will make sure 15:04 I never work at the fellmongery 15:07 because it just stinks so bad. " 15:17 I didn't work upstairs on the paint table where my brother had 15:19 worked. I worked downstairs. I had one of the least 15:23 glamorous jobs in the whole meat works. 15:26 The sheep... I didn't deal with cow skins. 15:29 The fellow over there handled them. But where I was 15:31 we were dealing with sheep and lamb pelts. 15:34 And they would... When I got a hold of them 15:36 they were in a tub of some acid formulation. 15:40 If you didn't wear your gloves and you had any little 15:43 pieces of skin missing, you soon felt that keenly. 15:47 And some of the little indentations ended us as big 15:50 indentations as the acid ate away at my fingers. 15:52 But we would lean over into this formula of acid. 15:57 I don't know... I'm guessing it was acid. 15:58 It had to be acid. We'd reach in and we'd grab 16:01 these things with our hands and turn around and drop them 16:04 on a little cart. 16:07 And then we'd get down and when it was full, we'd push the 16:08 cart over to the person grading the pelts. It was backbreaking! 16:12 And it stunk! And I was longing for one of those 16:16 cushy jobs further up there where you got paid the big 16:19 bucks. But instead I was down here doing the grunt work. 16:22 A job designed to enrich chiropractors. 16:28 That's really what the job was... and little more. 16:32 But then I got a promotion. 16:34 When Tom Raumati, my boss, came over and said: 16:37 "We're moving you, boy. " 16:39 I was so glad. I knew I was going to go up to one of these 16:42 highly-paid, low-effort jobs. 16:45 But instead of moving me across the meat works 16:47 he moved me across the fellmongery. 16:49 So I stayed in that place that smelled like death. 16:52 He moved me over to a very responsible job: 16:54 a job where I graded the pelts. 16:57 And they'd bring me the lamb skins or the sheep skins - 16:59 they were the big ones - and I'd look them over... 17:01 you had to do it quickly - for any signs of imperfection. 17:05 And we'd put the bad ones on the "C" pile 17:07 and the pretty good ones on the "B" pile 17:10 and the really good ones on the "A" pile. 17:12 And so we just got to stand and grade pelts, 17:14 tossing them this way and that. And if you were faster than 17:17 the guys fishing them out of the acid 17:18 you had a little down time... which suited my friend 17:21 the triathlete. It was a meat works, but we 17:23 had some luminaries there. This fellow was a triathlete. 17:26 And he had a happy knack of just disappearing every so often. 17:30 I knew where he slept 17:32 and I'd go and wake him up and drag him back onto the job. 17:35 And the guy working next to me was a swimmer... 17:37 a very good swimmer who swam internationally. 17:40 They were the luminaries. Other than that, just a rough 17:43 assortment of various... I don't know... characters. 17:49 We had one fellow. We called him... His name was Hector. 17:52 We called him Hectorpottamus. 17:55 Biggest human being I had ever met. 18:00 A giant of a man. A giant! 18:03 1,500 men... there were all kinds. 18:06 And there I was: grading with the international swimmer 18:10 and with the triathlete when he wasn't asleep. 18:14 And I had a lot of time to reflect on the fate 18:18 of the sheep and the lambs 18:21 as I tossed their skins this way and that way 18:24 knowing that just a day or so before they had been 18:28 very much connected to the rest of themselves. 18:33 I spent many many hours pondering the fate 18:37 of lambs. 18:40 Now on Sundays I'd go to my local church. 18:43 And in the church I'd look up above the altar and see 18:46 Jesus hanging on a cross. There was a large crucifix 18:49 above the altar. 18:50 Now even though today in churches I have pastored 18:53 we don't major in crucifixes. 18:55 Back then, and God will use almost anything He can 18:58 to speak to a person, 18:59 that crucifix spoke to me. 19:01 Not literally, but it spoke to me. And I would look up there 19:04 and consider the fact that Jesus hung on a cross 19:07 once and died for me. 19:10 And He was described in various ways, but in the mass 19:14 He was described as "The Lamb of God. " 19:17 And we would say a prayer that said: 19:19 "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, 19:22 have mercy on us. " And then that line would be repeated. 19:25 "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, 19:28 have mercy on us. " And then we would say: 19:30 "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, 19:33 grant us peace. " 19:35 Lamb of God. I thought about that. 19:39 Jesus... the Lamb. I handled lamb skins 19:44 for a living. We had pet lambs in our back yard 19:49 as we were growing up. 19:50 I might have told you this story before, so I'll keep it short. 19:54 I hadn't planned on telling about the pet lamb. 19:56 We had a pet lamb, a little white... In fact, 19:58 when we got it it was kind of yellow 19:59 so we named him Sweet Corn. 20:02 Sweet Corn... he was yellow. 20:03 We were kids. What are you going to call a lamb? 20:05 I think my brother named him Sweet Corn. 20:08 To begin with we would feed Sweet Corn out of a bottle 20:11 and he would suck on the end of that bottle just like 20:13 1,000 miles an hour. And then he got too big for a bottle. 20:16 And it was a good thing we had a big back yard... 20:17 he had lots of grass to eat. 20:19 And we'd take him just about anything we could. 20:20 And lambs... they're docile. They're good pets. 20:24 They're nice animals. If you turned up with food, 20:26 Sweet Corn would come a'running. 20:28 All I had to do was call his name and he heard 20:30 "FOOD" and he came running. 20:33 Sweet Corn got big... real big. 20:35 I wondered what we were going to do with a sheep. 20:37 Evidently my dad had it all figured out. 20:41 Came home from school one day... no Sweet Corn. 20:46 "Dad! " "Yes, son. " 20:49 "I'm not seeing Sweet Corn anywhere. 20:52 What happened to Sweet Corn? " 20:54 "Well, son, Sweet Corn was getting a bit big 20:57 so you know I took him out to" - I forget the man's name - 21:01 "took him out to Joe's farm. Took him to Joe and let 21:04 Joe have him. " 21:06 "OK... whatever... he was getting a bit big. " 21:09 But about a week later I went to get something out of the 21:14 freezer. The freezer was full! 21:21 I said: "Mom, where'd we get all that beef? " 21:27 Mom wasn't thinking. She said: "That's not beef, son. 21:31 That's mutton. " I said: "Well where did... " 21:40 You know, you've probably said in the past 21:42 "I could never eat my pet. " 21:46 Yes you could. 21:51 Poor old Sweet Corn. 21:53 With a little mint sauce he tasted just fine. 22:02 I thought about lambs a lot. 22:07 And they would tell us that Jesus was the Lamb. 22:13 Had to have been some Biblical origination to that idea... 22:17 surely there was. Surely there was. 22:20 Let's open up our Bibles together. Can we do that? 22:22 We're going to go to John chapter 8. 22:26 John chapter 8 and we'll pick it up in verse... 22:31 hmm... 51... just because we can. 22:35 John 8 and verse 51. 22:37 And the Bible says: "Verily, verily... " this is 22:39 Jesus speaking... "I say unto you: if a man keep My saying 22:43 he shall never see death. " Now the Jews were apoplectic. 22:49 How could this man say this thing? 22:52 "The Jews said to Him: 'Now we know 22:56 that You have a devil. ' " Isn't that just the most 22:58 remarkable thing? This is the Son of God! 23:01 And they're saying: "We are convinced now 23:04 that You are demon possessed. " It's Jesus they are speaking to. 23:07 "Abraham is dead and the prophets 23:11 and You say: 'If a man keep My saying 23:13 He shall never taste of death. ' 23:15 Art Thou greater than our father Abraham which is dead? 23:20 And the prophets are dead. 23:23 Whom makest Thou Thyself? " 23:27 There's a good question. In fact, I'll jump to verse 56. 23:32 Jesus answers and says: "Your father Abraham rejoiced 23:37 to see My day. And he saw it and was glad. " 23:42 Now if you ask a scholar what this really means 23:44 you know a scholar is going to give you a scholarly answer. 23:46 And scholarly answers are very helpful because they 23:49 keep the rest of us who don't claim to be scholars 23:51 kind of between the scylla of presumption 23:56 and the charybdis of ignorance. 23:58 They keep us kind of, hopefully, about where we ought to be. 24:03 But a scholar would dance around this 24:04 or should I say - let me say this kindly - 24:06 I mean to be kind and appropriate - 24:08 a scholar will give maybe a broad answer because 24:10 it's not always good to be too narrow. 24:12 Abraham saw Jesus' day by faith. 24:15 Abraham saw Jesus' day by 24:20 what now? The prophecies. You get a variety of answers. 24:24 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day 24:27 and he saw it and was glad. " 24:30 "Then said the Jews to Him: 'You are not yet 50 years old 24:34 and hast Thou seen Abraham? ' " 24:36 Jesus said to them in verse 58: 24:39 "Verily verily I say unto you 24:42 before Abraham was... " What? "I AM. " 24:45 "They took up stones to cast at Him, but He hid Himself... 24:47 went out of the temple going out through the midst 24:49 of them and so passed by. " 24:52 Abraham saw Jesus' day and he was glad. 24:57 Jesus said: "Before Abraham was, I AM. " 25:00 He claimed the prerogatives of God. 25:03 He made Himself... claimed to be equal with God. 25:05 In fact, He claims to be God. 25:08 That's how the Jews understood it. They were crazy mad! 25:11 They decided they would kill Him, and Jesus had to take 25:13 evasive action. Let's to back to when Abraham really saw Jesus' 25:17 day. Rewind now; go back to Genesis and chapter 22. 25:20 Genesis chapter 22. It's one of the most remarkable... 25:24 it's one of the most heart- rending stories in the Bible. 25:27 It's a story about a father and a son 25:29 and at the same time... at the same time 25:32 it's the story about a Father and a Son. 25:35 You know, I have a son. This month he will turn 16 years old. 25:38 They told me when he was born 25:41 "Time will pass by like that! " 25:43 Clearly they didn't understand. 25:47 It has passed by much faster than that! 25:50 Sixteen! My goodness. He was born; I blinked; 25:53 he's about to turn 16. I'm afraid to blink again. 25:58 This is a story about a father and a son. 26:00 If you have a son... even a daughter... 26:02 then this story will reach you. It will speak to your heart. 26:06 Genesis chapter 22 and verse 1: 26:09 "It came to pass after these things that God did tempt 26:11 Abraham. " God tempts no man. He tested Abraham. 26:14 And He said to him: 'Abraham! ' 26:16 Abraham said: 'Behold, here am I. ' 26:19 God said: 'Take now thy son, 26:23 thine only son Isaac. ' " 26:27 Now that was God just rubbing it in. 26:31 "Take your son. " "My son? " 26:36 "Your ONLY son. " By now this man was old. 26:42 By now this man didn't have much to his name. 26:46 No claim to fame. He hadn't written a book. 26:50 He hadn't discovered a lost civilization. 26:53 This man had not invented anything 26:56 by which society was bettered. 26:58 All he could say about himself was: 27:02 "Sarah gave me a son... my only son, Isaac. " 27:07 God says: "Take now your son. " 27:10 "My son? " "Yes, your ONLY son, Isaac, 27:13 whom you love and get thee into the land of Moriah 27:17 and... " And Abraham didn't know what was coming 27:22 but he felt it when it hit him right between the eyes... 27:26 "and offer him there for a burnt offering 27:28 upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. " 27:32 Offer him for a burnt offering. 27:36 Now friends, if you would take a moment to read 27:39 about the way the burnt offering was prepared. 27:41 This was a grizzly business. 27:44 This was not what a father had in mind for his son. 27:50 But Abraham clearly was willing to consent 27:55 to God's will and acquiesce to God's desires. 27:59 "Abraham rose up early in the morning. " 28:02 Now stop there with me. 28:04 God says to you: "I'm calling you to the mission field" 28:08 and there is a crisis. God says to you: 28:12 "Put $5 more in the offering plate. " 28:16 And you are saying: "God, am I hearing You right? " 28:22 God seeks to lead you across town 28:25 and it can shake your life and upend your world. 28:30 When God calls you to follow, best to follow... 28:34 whether it's something small or something great. 28:37 God here called Abraham and it was something GREAT. 28:41 Something vast! "Abraham, I'm asking you to give your son. " 28:45 And Abraham... what did he do? He got up in the morning. 28:47 "Saddled his ass. Took two of his young men with him 28:50 and Isaac his son. 28:52 He cut the wood for the burnt offering; rose up 28:55 and went to the place which God had told him. 28:57 Then on the third day he lifted up his eyes 28:59 and he saw the place afar off. " 29:00 Imagine traveling for 3 days knowing that when you get 29:04 to where you are going you are going to have to take a knife 29:07 and cut your son's throat. 29:11 Have you ever seen a lamb being killed? 29:14 When we worked at the meat works I was glad I handled the skins. 29:17 'Cause if you were at the front end of the process 29:19 you are drowning almost in a river of blood. 29:25 I remember going with my friend Joey Ryan. 29:27 In fact, Joey's dad was my godfather 29:29 and he died just a couple of days ago at the age of 93. 29:33 Matt Ryan died. God bless him. 29:36 And I went with Joey Ryan to Mr... You know, I can't even 29:41 remember the man's name but I could show you the farm. 29:43 It was on Futta Futta Road. 29:49 It was on Futta Futta Road. 29:51 We could go there, and I went there. I was bored stiff 29:54 to be quite honest. The farmer was just doing farm stuff, 29:56 and Joe couldn't get enough of that and I was ready to go home. 29:58 And I didn't know what was coming. The farmer brought in 30:01 a couple of sheep and Joe said: "Oh, we've gotta watch this. " 30:04 "Watch what, Joe? " And I looked up just in time 30:07 to see Farmer Brown turn back that sheep's neck like that 30:11 and take the knife like this 30:13 and with one deft movement it was all over. 30:18 Blood poured out! 30:21 It poured out. 30:24 And here was Abraham, knowing what was going to take place 30:27 when he took his son three days to the place that 30:30 God showed him. "Abraham said to the young man: 30:34 'Abide here with the ass... ' - now notice what he said - 30:38 'and I and the lad will go yonder and worship... ' 30:43 And do what? Tell me now. 'and come again to you. ' " 30:47 So Abraham went in faith 30:51 believing that God was able to do the miraculous 30:56 after he had done the difficult. He said to the servants: 31:01 "We are going AND we're coming back. " 31:04 And off they went. Still you have gotta believe 31:08 this did not make it easier for Abraham. 31:12 What he said he said in faith. 31:14 You've said a lot of things in faith that never panned out. 31:17 You've said: "I will pray for your relative, believing that 31:19 the great Physician will make her well. " 31:21 And three weeks later you were at a funeral. 31:24 What happened there? You believed one thing. 31:26 You knew God COULD but you couldn't be certain. 31:30 You cannot be certain that God would in every situation. 31:33 Here is where Abraham found himself, except he's dealing 31:35 with his son now, and he's going to slit his throat 31:38 and watch blood pour out of his dead body like a river. 31:42 Off he went. "We are coming back. " 31:45 "Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and he laid it 31:48 upon Isaac his son, and he took the fire in his hand 31:52 and a knife. And they went both of them together. " 31:56 Remember what Jesus said? "Abraham saw My day. " 32:01 "Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and he said: 32:04 'My father... ' and Abraham responded 32:10 'Here am I, my son. ' " 32:12 Isaac was perceptive. He said: "Behold, 32:17 the fire and the wood 32:20 but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? " 32:23 What would you say if you were the father? 32:27 Abraham said the only thing he really could say. 32:30 He said: "My son, God will provide Himself 32:36 a lamb for a burnt offering. " 32:39 "And so they went both of them together. " 32:41 We could read the rest of the story, but you know how it works 32:43 out. It works out well for everybody involved. 32:46 Maybe we'll read a little bit of it. 32:48 I just want to pause and consider this 32:50 because you know this story has a great parallel... 32:53 a great parallel. 32:55 We would say it took great faith for Abraham to go 32:57 and be prepared to offer his son Isaac. Great faith! 33:00 GREAT FAITH! Sure. 33:03 Think about the faith of Isaac. 33:07 Isaac is standing around thinking to himself 33:09 "Now hold on here. I see the wood 33:13 and I reckon you've got some fire here. 33:16 I see a knife in your hand 33:19 or in that scabbard hanging from your belt 33:24 but where's the lamb? " 33:26 And this thing starts to dawn on Isaac. 33:30 God Himself... or "God will provide Himself a Lamb, son. " 33:36 "They came to the place which God had told him of. 33:38 Abraham built an altar there. Laid the wood in order 33:42 and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar 33:46 upon the wood. " You can imagine that. 33:48 He's tying his hands and he's tying his feet. 33:50 He's tying up his son, and the son is saying: 33:53 "Dad, if you'd just move my hands a little you'd get... 33:55 it'll cinch the rope down better. " 33:58 Now I love my son. I mean, more than I can tell you. 34:02 And I want to believe that my son loves me. 34:05 In fact, I think I can say with some confidence that he does. 34:08 But I can guarantee you 34:12 that if I tried that and I said: "Son, I have some 34:17 wood. Ah, look, we've built an altar. 34:19 I have some rope. I would like to tie your hands together 34:23 before I cut your throat, " 34:25 my son would say: "Yeah? Naw, I don't think so. " 34:31 And he would be out of there like a flash. 34:35 Not because he doesn't love me 34:38 but because he would think I had lost my mind 34:43 and the best thing he could do is run for his life. 34:46 Isaac did no such thing. 34:49 Instead he meekly we would have to assume 34:53 laid down on that altar, 34:56 allowed his father to bind his hands and his feet, 35:01 and watched as his father took a knife 35:03 and was preparing to kill his son. 35:08 The father had great faith. I don't know, but I think 35:11 the son had even greater faith. 35:12 He had to trust his father and trust God. 35:15 And if you've been raised by anybody at all you know 35:18 it's not always easy to trust your father. 35:22 "Abraham, " Jesus said, "saw My day 35:26 and he was glad. " 35:29 This Camp Meeting we are talking about the subject of the 35:32 sanctuary. This is a magnificent subject. 35:36 We learn so much about the love of God, 35:38 God's plan for our lives, and the plan of salvation 35:42 by studying the sanctuary. 35:44 As a matter of fact, in writing the Psalms, the Psalmist wrote 35:46 in Psalm 77 and verse 13: 35:48 "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. " 35:52 God's way is there. God's dealings with humankind 35:55 is there. God's love for the world; 35:58 God's plan for the future; the way God deals with sin. 36:02 It's all found there in the subject of the sanctuary. 36:06 And I'll just give you the brief overview, because I'm speaking 36:09 about a specific aspect of the sanctuary tonight. 36:13 You understand what happened? There were Israel wandering in 36:17 the wilderness. And God said: "Let them make Me a sanctuary 36:20 that I may dwell among them. " 36:22 He showed Moses the plans and said: "Build this thing 36:25 according to the plans. " And it was an interesting structure. 36:28 There was silver and gold. Wood, wood plated with gold. 36:31 Linen; animal skins; statues in the Most Holy Place. 36:37 A box. The ark of the covenant was built and put in there. 36:42 Ten Commandments were in there. 36:45 There were - what would we say - there was needlework 36:50 on the curtaining inside the sanctuary depicting various 36:52 things. It was a wonderful structure. 36:55 It was based on, modeled after, patterned after 36:59 the sanctuary that is in heaven right now. 37:02 No earthly structure could match the heavenly structure's 37:06 vastness and glory. That just wouldn't be possible. 37:09 But God showed Moses the plans, and he built that sanctuary 37:12 so that God could dwell there. 37:15 And associated with the sanctuary were the sanctuary 37:18 services. There were many offerings. 37:20 Feast days... a bunch of offerings. 37:22 You know that at the sanctuary they offered lambs. 37:25 They offered goats; they offered oxen. 37:29 They offered birds... birds of various kinds 37:31 as a matter of fact. In one situation 37:35 they even offered a wild... Why is my mind slipping me here? 37:42 A sparrow if I'm not mistaken. Was it a sparrow? 37:45 Some little bird that even the poorest person could afford 37:48 to get. In the sanctuary sometimes the offerings were 37:52 offerings of meat or offerings of flour. 37:55 Various offerings. All the offerings were seasoned 37:58 with salt. Jesus alluded to this. In fact, He spoke 38:02 directly to this: "Every sacrifice shall be salted with 38:05 salt" He said in Mark chapter 9 38:07 signifying that only the righteousness of Christ 38:11 could make a sacrifice truly acceptable in the sight of God. 38:15 The burnt offering was slain for centuries 38:17 each morning and each evening. A variety of animals. 38:20 But when we think of Jesus we don't think of Jesus as 38:23 the sparrow of God or the turtledove of God. 38:27 Even though these offerings virtually always pointed to 38:32 Jesus Christ. Well, in the sanctuary they always did. 38:34 We don't refer to Jesus as the oxen of God 38:38 or the flour - F- L-O-U-R - of God. 38:42 We remember Jesus as the Lamb of God. 38:45 And with good reason... with good reason. 38:47 Jesus is depicted as a lamb frequently through scripture. 38:51 "Behold the Lamb of God" John said in John chapter 1. 38:55 In fact he said it twice in verses 29 and verse 36. 38:59 Abraham was getting ready to slay the lamb. 39:03 Let me say that again. 39:06 Abraham was getting ready to offer his son as a sacrifice. 39:09 He said: "God shall provide Himself a Lamb" 39:14 prefiguring the death of Jesus on the cross 39:18 and prefiguring the sanctuary services where many lambs 39:21 would be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the people. 39:24 And you know what happened. I need to go back and read this. 39:27 As he was about offer his son Isaac God spoke up. 39:31 The angel of the Lord it says. He said: "Lay not thine hand 39:34 upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him 39:37 for now I know that you fear God seeing you have not withheld 39:40 your son - your only son - from Me. " 39:42 "Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him 39:46 a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. 39:49 And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up 39:53 for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. " 39:57 The ram - I'm going to take a little liberty and call 40:00 it a lamb - the lamb died in the place of his son. 40:04 This story is multi-layered and multi-faceted, 40:07 and I'm discovering time is running out on me. 40:10 But here an animal - a ram - 40:15 died as a sacrifice so a human being could go free. 40:19 A sinful human being could go free. 40:22 Ladies and gentlemen, let's understand something. 40:24 Before we think we are something that we are not 40:26 the Word of God says that all of us have sinned and come short 40:29 of the glory of God. All us us... we are sinners. 40:32 The wages of sin is what? 40:34 There is no way out. 40:36 Not one. Not any way out for the sinner 40:38 other than the blood of Jesus. 40:41 Jesus died so that we might live. 40:44 This ought to light us up with gladness and gratitude 40:49 towards God. The Lamb was Jesus! 40:53 The sanctuary services said someone will die in your place. 40:59 Someone else will give His life so that you might live. 41:03 You are a sinner, but you have the easy way out. 41:07 God said: "Bring a lamb down there. " 41:09 When they brought a lamb - and not always did they bring 41:12 a lamb - but when they brought the lamb it was to be 41:14 a perfect lamb. Spotless... without blemish. 41:17 The best lamb they had. 41:21 You know, friends, I've got to keep the layers where they ought 41:25 to be - but let me just share this with you. 41:28 God calls for us to give Him the best that we have. 41:31 Not the leftovers. We ought not tip God. 41:35 Try to cram Him in. Let me share this with you. 41:38 I was at an airport not too terribly long ago. 41:41 I got a phone call, and it was from an area code I didn't 41:45 recognize. And I was this close to security. 41:48 I looked at that area code. I said: "I don't know anyone 41:50 in that area code. I'll just let it go to voicemail. 41:52 I've got to go catch a plane. " 41:54 And time was tight. But some- thing said "answer the phone" 41:59 and so I did. And someone said: "Hello, Mr. John? " 42:01 I said: "Mr. John? This must be a telemarketer. " 42:03 "Yes, how can I help you? " Wasn't a telemarketer. 42:06 The person said: "We have your computer. " 42:08 Well I couldn't imagine who in the world this could be. 42:12 I said: "Who is this? " She was calling from the hotel 42:14 I stayed at the night before. 42:15 I looked down in the bag hanging from my shoulder. 42:17 "Where's my computer? " 42:19 I had left my laptop in the hotel room! 42:22 I'd gone all day without it which I don't know how. Anyhow, 42:26 I said: "I cannot live without that. " 42:28 It would be easier to get along without my brain than without 42:31 my computer. There's more in my computer 42:34 than in my brain. Please don't say Amen... 42:36 but I'm just making a point... making a point. 42:44 I said: "Can you sent it to me? Can you overnight it to me? 42:48 I have to have it! " 42:49 She said: "Well, I can do better than that. 42:51 I can send the shuttle driver over from the hotel to 42:54 the airport right now. " I'm looking at my watch. 42:56 There's not time for that. "How long will that take? " 42:58 "Five minutes. " I knew she was lying but I'm: "OK! " 43:01 "Fine. I'll be outside waiting by door #13 or whatever 43:06 it was. " And I went outside and I was pacing. 43:09 I was walking backwards and forwards 43:10 and I was praying: "Oh Lord, please. I've got a plane 43:13 to catch and the security line is always so long 43:15 and what am I going to do? And it's my laptop 43:18 and I have to have the laptop. " And soon swsss... 43:20 a shuttle pulled up. 43:22 "Man, there's a shuttle. " I ran over. 43:24 He was smiling. He handed me the laptop. 43:25 I said: "Oh, thank you, man! " And then I remembered: 43:27 "Wait, this is America. You're not grateful until you've 43:31 given somebody some money. " 43:35 You can't just say thanks. 43:38 I opened up my wallet and there was a... "Oh, that's a lot 43:40 of money. " I was so grateful I grabbed a fist full of money; 43:44 thrust it into his hand. 43:46 "Thank you, and make sure you give this much to the kind lady 43:49 who called me on the phone and saved my day. " 43:51 And I walked away feeling glad and slightly conflicted 43:54 because it was a BIG tip. 43:56 And I made it to the plane. 44:00 But I was grateful. I don't regret giving that man that tip. 44:03 He went out of his way for me and he bailed me out. 44:06 I was grateful! 44:11 How grateful should we be that Jesus gave His life 44:17 so that we might live? 44:20 You know, in the offices the other day a friend - 44:23 a colleague - shared a testimony from someone 44:28 who had contacted her. We'd been praying for this individual 44:30 at work. And the lady said: "I remember that day when 44:34 they told me I had three weeks to live. " 44:37 Three weeks! How would you feel if you were told you have 44:41 three weeks to live? That's all she had. 44:44 And she said: "Now the test results have come back 44:47 and they show that I am cancer free! 44:51 They say that I will live on! " 44:53 Man! Can you say: "Praise the Lord? " 44:55 How thankful should a person be who had three weeks to live 45:01 and now has been told she has the rest of her life? 45:03 She has little kids! She's got her life back. 45:07 Friend, when Jesus died for us we got our life back! 45:12 No longer were we looking at death and death only. 45:16 But then when we exercise faith in Christ 45:19 we pass from death to life. 45:22 Now tonight I could talk to you about the various offerings 45:24 and the Passover, the peace offering 45:27 and the sin offering and the trespass offering. 45:30 But at the end of the day they boil down to one thing: 45:33 and that one thing isn't a thing... that one thing 45:35 is a person... and that person is Jesus. 45:38 Every time a lamb died, every time a bull died, 45:41 every time a turtledove died down there at the sanctuary 45:45 God was saying again: "Through faith in the sacrifice 45:49 who was to come you need not die 45:52 but you can have life everlasting. " Praise the Lord! 45:55 We have so much to be thankful for ladies and gentlemen. 45:58 And I would like to just impress something on you if I may. 46:01 Our message to the world as an end-time people 46:07 is Jesus. He's our message. 46:11 Now I'm not going soft on the fundamentals, don't get me 46:14 wrong. I'm not going soft on the book of Revelation. 46:16 But I read where somebody with a great deal more wisdom 46:19 than you wrote that the message of the third angel 46:23 is the message of righteousness by faith in verity. 46:28 So what's our message for the world? 46:30 Before you think our message for the world has got anything 46:32 to do with the pope, I've got to straighten you out. 46:34 Our message for the world is Jesus! Amen! 46:37 Before you think that our message for the world is to 46:40 correct all the wrong people in Babylon 46:43 I'm here to tell you that our message for the world 46:45 is Jesus. He is the message. Now... now... now... 46:49 When you get into the details of our message of Jesus 46:55 oh praise the Lord, you discover there's a Judgment Hour message. 46:58 What does that tell you? It tells you that Jesus the Lamb 47:01 is now Jesus the Priest. And He is in heaven 47:03 for ya... Amen! Amen! 47:06 You're going to read: "Worship Him who made heaven and earth 47:09 and the seas and the fountains of waters. " 47:10 You know why God gave us that beautiful day? 47:13 So we could know Jesus more fully, more reflect His 47:16 character. It's not just so we can be right and they can be 47:19 wrong. Our message is Jesus, and all of the particulars - 47:23 all of the beauty of the powerful particulars 47:27 of the end-time message were given us by God 47:30 so that we can point people to Jesus who is the Lamb. 47:34 That's why they were given. We have a wonderful message 47:38 and it's the crux of the sanctuary. 47:41 That sanctuary was beautiful 47:42 but if there was no sacrifice it was worth nothing. 47:47 What would happen if Israel was camped around the sanctuary 47:53 and you can see the beautiful walls around 47:57 and those posts: silver posts and silver sockets. 48:01 And if you were outside you could see the sanctuary 48:04 itself rising up above the curtained walls. 48:08 And were you to go inside you'd see a laver 48:10 and an altar of burnt offerings. 48:13 And then you'd see the two apartments of the sanctuary. 48:15 Were you to go inside you'd say: "Look at this! " 48:17 The table of showbread on the right and the seven-branched 48:20 candlestick on the left and the altar of incense 48:22 in front of me. And were we to go into the Most Holy Place 48:25 you'd say: "It's beautiful in here! " 48:27 And none of that would have been worth two cents 48:32 without a lamb offered as a sacrifice for sin. 48:39 The Lamb means everything to us! 48:42 No Lamb... no nothing. 48:44 No Lamb... no point. No Lamb... no message. 48:49 He is the message, and every- thing we share with the world 48:53 must be in the context of the righteousness of Christ. 48:59 The righteousness of the Lamb slain from the foundation 49:03 of the world. Jesus died for our sins. 49:08 The Lamb... without the Lamb we're nothing. 49:10 John said and I said it before: 49:12 "Behold the Lamb of God 49:16 who takes away the sins of the world. " 49:18 And when John said behold he didn't mean think about 49:21 he meant look upon... look upon. 49:25 Friend, we sing about the Lamb. 49:27 "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. " 49:30 And that's right. And there's another song that says: 49:34 "Look upon Jesus, sinless is He. " 49:37 John wrote in the gospels quoting John the Baptist. 49:41 Later on: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed 49:46 upon us that we should be called the sons of God. " 49:50 Behold. Ours is to look upon Jesus. 49:54 Open up your Bible and look in Jesus' face. 49:59 Open up the Word of God and read about what makes 50:03 the heart of God tick. Open up the Bible 50:07 and focus on the goodness of a Lamb who gave His life 50:11 so that you might live. If we were to go back and consider 50:15 the story of Abraham and Isaac, 50:17 you'd think about the father with his heavy heart 50:20 going to offer his son as a sacrifice. 50:23 It makes me think of the heart of God 50:26 who must have given up Jesus with a deep pain in His heart 50:30 but in faith that He would be reunited with His Son again. 50:34 And then it speaks to the faith of Jesus 50:37 who went to that cross after having prayed to His Father 50:41 "I don't want to do this. Please, if You can, 50:44 let this cup pass from me. " 50:46 But then He said: "Not My will but Thy will be done. " 50:52 Jesus was the Lamb. Isaiah wrote about this Lamb 50:55 in Isaiah chapter 53. 50:57 Interestingly, the word lamb is used in the gospels 51:00 only four times. Luke said: "I send you forth as lambs. " 51:04 Jesus said to Peter: "Feed My lambs. " 51:07 And then it was John the Baptist who spoke of Jesus 51:10 as the Lamb twice in John chapter 1. 51:13 Peter said that we were redeemed with the precious blood of 51:16 Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 51:20 Friends, as you look at the sanctuary, there is a lamb 51:22 being led across the open courtyard 51:24 by a family patriarch 51:28 who is bringing this lamb down to the sanctuary to be 51:31 slain as a sacrifice for the sins of himself and his family. 51:34 And he's leading with... I was at a 4H thing once. 51:38 We were at the county fair when we lived in Walla Walla, 51:40 Washington... or College Place actually, Washington. 51:43 We went to the county fair and we hung around to watch 51:46 the 4-H kids parading their animals and selling 51:49 their animals. Bit of a cruel business as a matter of fact. 51:52 And here the kids were parading their little lambs around. 51:56 And then the bidding started and I'm wondering why the kids 51:58 didn't raise cows 'cause they get a whole lot more 52:00 for the cows. But here they were parading the little lambs 52:03 around. And the winning bid goes to this little girl 52:07 over here who raised Snowy the lamb or the sheep by now. 52:12 And so: congratulations, she won. The only person 52:15 who's not happy is her because as she's handing over 52:18 her sheep tears are cascading down her face. 52:21 It's not easy to give up something that you love. 52:25 Not easy for God to give up His only Son 52:28 Jesus... someone He loved. 52:31 Not easy for Jesus to go willingly to the cross. 52:34 But He went willingly. 52:37 Jesus is the Lamb. John wrote about Him in the 52:40 book of Revelation referencing Jesus as the Lamb 52:42 a couple of dozen times. 52:44 "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. " 52:47 Friends, the sanctuary service tells us that "God so loved 52:50 the world that He gave. " That Jesus so loved 52:54 the human family - a wicked, sin-tainted, 52:59 corrupted human family - He loved that human family 53:02 so much He was willing to give His life. 53:05 He would die so that we might live. 53:08 What does this call forth from you today? 53:11 Now as Jesus gave Himself as the Lamb 53:14 we can talk about that. But we mustn't without at least 53:18 mentioning that God calls us to give ourselves 53:22 as lambs. You've read, haven't you, Romans chapter 12 verse 1. 53:25 "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God 53:28 that you present your bodies... " What? 53:29 "a living sacrifice. " 53:32 All His... laid out on the altar. 53:36 God's property... a living sacrifice. 53:40 Yes, Jesus died for our sins. 53:43 Now He calls us to die. 53:46 Literally? Perhaps... but in the vast majority of cases no. 53:51 He calls us to die by living. 53:54 Living our lives yielded to Him. 53:56 Given to Him. Friend, how is it with you today? 53:58 A living sacrifice. You're not a sacrifice until God has you all. 54:05 And He doesn't have you all if there's something you're 54:07 holding back. Well that makes your normal. 54:09 If there's something you're holding back, you can easily 54:11 run to God now and say: "God, remedy this. " 54:13 And God will do that. You see, the gospel isn't about 54:16 us telling God we're good. "Here I am; I have made it. " 54:19 The gospel contemplates our complete recovery from the 54:21 power of sin. We turn up to God broken, 54:25 sinful, incomplete, 54:28 admitting that we cannot be what He wants us to be 54:31 except as we exercise faith in the Lamb: 54:36 the Lamb Christ Jesus. 54:38 Claim Him as yours. You are credited for His death, 54:43 credited for His life. 54:45 And now as Jesus lives His life in you 54:48 He will raise you up to be all that you can be... 54:52 in His power, not in yours. 54:56 All we need to be is willing. 54:58 God calls us to surrender. You can cast your burdens 55:02 upon Him. You can take your weakness to Him. 55:05 You can take your failings to Him and admit: 55:08 "God, that's all I am, " but with Jesus living His life 55:12 in me, with the Lamb as my Savior, 55:16 with Christ at work in my life, 55:20 then Jesus' death as the Lamb for you 55:25 will mean something throughout eternity. 55:28 What a terrible thing that Jesus died in vain. 55:31 Don't let it be in vain for you. 55:35 Back in the 1990s a young South African fellow named 55:37 Deon Dreyer was diving in a hole in the ground. 55:43 In northern Cape Province in South Africa there's a little 55:46 hole in the ground but it goes down hundreds and hundreds 55:49 of feet. It's the third deepest fresh water diving site 55:55 on the planet... at least it was. 55:57 Bushman's Hole is the name of it. 56:00 Diving that deep, and Deon Dreyer went down 900 feet, 56:04 is dangerous. He never came back up. 56:10 A pilot named Dave Shaw 56:13 was diving in the same place a dozen... ten years later 56:17 and he found Deon Dreyer's body at 900 feet down. 56:23 He came to the surface slowly, met Deon's parents. 56:27 He said: "I want to go down and bring his body up 56:29 so we can bury him. " The parents were touched. 56:32 It was dangerous. 56:34 But Dave Shaw decided that he would take the risk 56:38 to go that far down and bring up his fallen comrade. 56:42 Well Dave Shaw went down and he didn't come up either. 56:47 They found both men some time later at about 500 feet. 56:52 Dave Shaw gave his life to bring someone up from 56:56 the depths. Jesus gave His life 57:01 to bring you and me up from the depths of sin. 57:05 Jesus is the Lamb. Without the Lamb we are nothing. 57:08 Without the Lamb we have no hope. 57:12 With the Lamb, we have heaven to look forward to. 57:16 Will you pray with me right now? 57:18 Our Father and our God, let Jesus, the Lamb, 57:22 be our Lamb. Grant that He might live His life in us now 57:26 and always. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen and Amen. |
Revised 2023-07-17