Christ, Calvary, and the Sanctuary

The Lamb of God

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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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.


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Revised 2023-07-17