Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000015
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors of Truth,
00:14 live from the 3ABN Worship Center, 00:17 the sanctuary series with John Bradshaw. 00:20 Well, this is our last in this series on the Sanctuary 00:25 with John Bradshaw and we have really been blessed. 00:30 We just feel that the Lord has been abundantly 00:34 present in our midst and we have felt the Power 00:37 of the Holy Spirit and we just really 00:40 have enjoyed, spiritually enjoyed, 00:44 these messages that we've been receiving. 00:48 And this afternoon 00:49 the final subject is called Finality, 00:54 and that is a fitting subject for Pastor John Bradshaw, 00:59 who is the Speaker Director of "It Is Written" 01:03 for him to finish this series with the word Finality. 01:08 And we're looking forward to listening and to learning 01:12 and to being inspired by the Spirit of God. 01:16 Before we do, I'm going to invite 01:19 Pastor C. A. Murray to come. 01:21 Going to ask him if he would to sing for us 01:27 and that song we're going to invite 01:29 him to sing, "Is It Any Wonder." 01:50 When I think how Jesus loves me 01:55 How He waited patiently 01:59 Even when I turned my back and walked away 02:06 When He knew I wanted everything 02:09 this world could offer me 02:13 Then I guess He knew the price I'd have to pay 02:21 So He watched me stumble downward 02:25 Saw each compromise I made 02:29 Heard each lie I whispered just to get my way 02:36 Still He waited there to hear me 02:40 When I cried to Him and prayed 02:45 Then He saved my soul and that is why I say 02:51 Tell me, is it any wonder 02:57 that I love Him 03:02 When you consider all He's done for me 03:10 And is it any wonder that I longed to do His will 03:18 And let His light shine out for all to see 03:24 And is it any wonder that I praise Him 03:34 Each time I think of how He's made me free 03:42 And is it any wonder that I've given Him my heart 03:50 When Jesus freely gave His life for me 04:09 When I think how Jesus loved me 04:14 How He waited patiently 04:18 How His arms are stretched to meet me when I run 04:25 When I'm feeling down and lonely 04:30 How He's there to comfort me. 04:34 In the darkness He becomes my morning sun 04:40 When I think of how He's healed me, 04:44 How He's touched me in my pain 04:48 How His gentle hand have whipped my tears away 04:55 How He's taken every heartache 04:59 and brought happiness again 05:04 OH I want the world to hear me when I say 05:09 Tell me, is it any wonder that I love Him 05:20 When you consider all He's done for me? 05:27 And is it any wonder that I want to do His will 05:35 And let His light shine out for all to see? 05:41 And is it any wonder that I praise Him 05:51 Each time I think of how He's made me free? 05:59 And is it any wonder that I've given Him my heart, 06:07 When Jesus freely gave His life for me? 06:39 Thank you Lord, good afternoon everyone. 06:42 I have the blessed challenge of speaking 06:45 to a group of people who have just eaten. 06:52 And I think we're gonna be okay though. 06:53 I think we're going to be all right. 06:56 You know, the Sanctuary subject is just a mile deep 07:00 and you might have noticed that I'm taking 07:03 a broad look at it. 07:05 I'm not looking at it with a microscope, 07:07 more like a telescope. 07:09 And I think that's okay. 07:14 There are themes surrounding the Sanctuary, 07:18 the existence of the earthly sanctuary 07:20 and in the reality of the Heavenly Sanctuary 07:23 that it would do us well to grasp, 07:25 just grab a hold off and understand that there is 07:28 a God who is keenly involved, actively involved. 07:33 I want to say desperately involved, 07:35 but I don't know if I would that word 07:36 in relationship to God 07:37 but strongly involved and employed 07:42 in doing everything He can for our salvation. 07:47 There are verses in the Bible that tell us 07:49 wonderful things about God. 07:51 God is not willing that any should perish, 07:55 which is not to say that none will perish, 07:57 but it is in the Heart of God that everybody 08:02 without fail would be, 08:03 would be saved if only they would be. 08:07 Well, let us pray and ask that as we look at number five 08:10 in our "Anchors of Truth" series on the Sanctuary, 08:15 Finality that God will bless us once again. 08:19 Let's pray together. 08:22 Our Father in Heaven, we are thankful 08:26 that we can be in Your presence. 08:28 Today, we come to You now in the name of Jesus, 08:31 Your Son and our Savior. 08:35 We are grateful that You've given us light. 08:40 We are thankful that You've given us Your sacred word. 08:48 Lord I recognize that not a soul has been saved 08:52 by the Gospel story, a story can't save anyone. 08:56 Yet we may and must be saved by the Gospel reality. 09:03 Let the good news be real in our hearts. 09:06 I pray that the Christ of the Bible 09:07 would not only live in the Bible, 09:10 but He would live in our hearts 09:11 and lives today even at this very moment. 09:16 So bless us please we ask, not selfishly we pray bless us 09:20 that You'll be glorified 09:22 and we pray this in Jesus name, amen. 09:30 I was surprised to learn one day that World War II began in 1941. 09:35 It came as a surprise to me. 09:38 Well, I'm from World War II begun in 1939. 09:42 and then it dragged on and dragged on 09:46 and dragged on and dragged on. 09:50 Just why World War II begun, we'd have to take 09:53 a series just to discuss 09:54 the Genesis of the World War II, 09:56 many complicating factors but the point was 10:00 hostility has began and by the time 10:02 it was done more than, do you know how many people? 10:06 More than 60 million people had died. 10:12 The most reliable estimates that I can find say that 10:15 between 62 and 78 million people 10:19 died in World War II. 10:21 Those are not all combat deaths or military deaths, 10:24 a number of those are civilian deaths. 10:26 Many millions of those people who died in the Holocaust. 10:29 But up to 70 some million close to 80 people 10:35 by some estimates died in World War II. 10:38 You know Poland lost about 17% of its population. 10:44 In that one great conflict, isn't that remarkable? 10:49 I wasn't alive then and I don't think I'm sorry about that. 10:54 What an unfathomable thing, 10:57 I mean I don't think I'm sorry I wasn't alive there. 11:00 I certainly wouldn't want to be misunderstood. 11:03 Experts say they were about 24 million deaths 11:07 in what was at that time the Soviet Union. 11:11 How do you get your mind around on that? 11:13 Twenty-four million deaths. 11:16 But, it seems that even all bad things 11:21 must come to an end. 11:23 May 8th or May 7th, it varied depending 11:25 on where you were, special day 11:28 was celebrated, V-E Day, 11:30 The Victory in Europe Day. 11:33 And it was then that victory was declared 11:37 in Europe fully Allies. 11:39 Finally, the war in Europe was over. 11:42 It dragged on for an interminably longtime, 11:46 six years, that's, I mean how long is that 11:50 when it's a matter of life and death 11:52 and war day in and day out? 11:55 That's forever, but then it was over. 11:59 August 28, 1945 and Japan officially surrendered 12:02 and there was that specially signing ceremony 12:05 on board the USS Missouri. 12:09 And where they had been war, now there was peace. 12:14 Finally, it was all over. Now you know what's interesting, 12:19 is that some of the Combatants in World War II 12:22 didn't find out it was over until well after it was over. 12:25 These were unthinking of Japanese soldiers 12:27 who were on pretty well deserted islands in the South Pacific. 12:31 Some of them were discovered into the 1970s 12:35 still hiding out there, 12:37 still ready to die for their nation and defend their nation, 12:41 word hadn't got to them that the war was over. 12:44 And so they just carried on under the assumption 12:47 that the war was carrying right on. 12:49 I wish I could say that when those papers were signed 12:52 on the USS Missouri that was the end of all war, 12:55 but it wasn't was it, it wasn't very long 12:58 and then there was the Korean conflict 13:00 and then Vietnam and then of course war in the Middle East 13:04 and then Africa and other parts of Europe 13:07 it just doesn't seem to wants to end. 13:11 But today we have good news. 13:15 Let's take our Bibles and open them 13:17 to Revelation Chapter 12, Revelation Chapter 12 13:21 and we will look in verse 7. 13:23 Revelation Chapter 12 and verse 7. 13:28 We're in God's last day Book of the Bible 13:30 and we read in Revelation Chapter 12 and verse 7, 13:34 "That there was war in heaven. 13:36 Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 13:39 and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not 13:44 neither was their place found 13:46 anymore in heaven." 13:48 War in heaven! You could hardly imagine that, could you? 13:52 Heaven is about perfection and the holiness 13:56 and everything is right. Everything is just how 13:59 it's supposed to be and yet there was war there. 14:02 We can't really explain it, can we? 14:04 We've read the passages 14:05 in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel Chapter 28, 14:09 talking about how pride was found in Lucifer, 14:12 how he was full of his own self and consume 14:14 with the idea of his beauty. Finally he said I will, 14:19 I want to sit on God's throne. 14:20 I will be like the most high. But does it explain it, does it? 14:25 How do you get from there-to-there? 14:27 But however you get there, he got there 14:29 and there was war in heaven. 14:34 And then it wasn't long and that war up there 14:38 there was transferred down here 14:39 and this sad tragic earth became the theater 14:44 of the most remarkable conflict in the history of the cosmos. 14:50 But, just like there was V-E Day 14:54 and I think there was a V-J Day. 14:56 Just like World War II came to an end there is good news, 15:00 if we turn just a few pages over in the Book of Revelation 15:03 to Revelation Chapter 19 and we're going 15:06 to look in verse 1, no we're not. 15:09 We're going to look in verse 11. 15:13 It's like one, isn't it? Revelation 19 verse 11, 15:17 the Bible says, "And I saw heaven opened, 15:20 and behold a white horse; and He and that is Christ 15:25 that sat upon Him was called Faithful and True, 15:28 and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. 15:33 His eyes were as a flame of fire, 15:34 and on His head are many crowns; 15:36 and He had a name written that no man you 15:38 but He himself.'' This is Christ. 15:41 When He returns in the clouds of heaven, 15:43 when He comes to put down the foes of God 15:46 and finally put an end to the conflict 15:49 raging you on planet earth. 15:51 "He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: 15:54 and his name is called The Word of God. 15:56 And the armies which were in heaven 15:59 followed Him upon white horses, 16:01 clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 16:04 And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, 16:05 that with it He should smite the nations: 16:08 and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: 16:11 and He treadeth the winepress 16:12 of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16:14 And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, 16:18 King of kings, and Lord of Lords." 16:21 There is something that boys ask up 16:24 as we travel through this world. 16:26 And that is we know how the story ends. 16:29 We know that ultimately God triumphs. 16:32 It's good news as we look ahead 16:34 because Jesus comes back in the clouds of heaven. 16:37 We will look up one day. 16:38 The heavens will depart as a scroll 16:40 and here will come Jesus riding on that symbolic white horse 16:45 and He is coming back to gather up the waiting saints 16:48 and He'll take us to be with Him forever and ever 16:52 and we can say as did the songwriter 16:55 Hallelujah, Hallelujah. 16:58 We've got confidence today. 17:00 But God is going to end this warfare we read 17:03 in the Book of Revelation 17:04 that the formal things are past away. 17:08 This is what the sanctuary service shows us? 17:13 Now David writing in the Psalms, 17:14 he wrote some interesting thing, didn't he? 17:17 He wrote some very beautiful sublimely tender things 17:21 and then he wrote some, 17:22 some lines that were hard-edged 17:28 and he wrote some very plaintive things. 17:30 He cried out to God out of his desperation in Psalm 77, 17:35 David cried out, Psalm 73, I beg your pardon. 17:38 He said, "God the ungodly seems to prosper.'' 17:42 He was honest enough to voices concern 17:44 that maybe he had cleansed his heart in vain. 17:48 As he thought he said, "This is all too painful for me, 17:51 and then he said, and then I went 17:54 into the sanctuary of God 17:56 and it was there that I understood their end." 18:00 When he looked into the sanctuary 18:01 he understood how the Plan of Salvation 18:04 was going to play out? 18:05 He understood that in the end God wins. 18:08 In the end the wicked who seem to prosper but don't, 18:11 and it's not that we take any kind of joy in the idea 18:16 that the wicked don't prosper in the end. 18:18 You know, what I mean by that? 18:19 You get these hateful Christians, 18:21 who want all these wicked folks to be lost 18:24 and consigning them to the flames of hell, 18:26 that's not God. We talked just a few moments ago, 18:28 God wants all He wishes that all would come to repentance. 18:32 God has a heart of redemption towards everybody 18:35 there is and everybody there ever will be. 18:37 He would that everybody be saved. 18:39 David cried out, couldn't figure out how the righteous 18:42 seem to suffer, how the ungodly seemed to prosper, 18:45 but he looked into the sanctuary. 18:47 He considered these sanctuary services 18:50 and he realized that God makes it clear 18:53 that at the end of this whole thing 18:55 Christ triumphs, the righteous triumphs. 18:58 You know we as Christian shouldn't expect the ball 19:01 to bounce our way in this world. We really shouldn't. 19:05 Whether we are sick or whether we are well, 19:08 whether we are rich or whether we are poor, 19:10 whether we are popular or whether we're unpopular 19:13 it really doesn't matter. 19:15 Whether we get the job of our dreams 19:17 or whether we get fired, whether we end up 19:19 earning a million dollars or in the unemployment line, 19:22 what matters is that where ever we are, 19:25 we are faithful to God and we trust God 19:29 and we represent God as Christians 19:31 and believers committed to Him, 19:34 not out for the loaves and the fishes. 19:39 Is God faithful, yes or no? 19:41 Sure He is faithful. Is he always faithful? 19:43 Yes. Interesting thing, isn't it? 19:45 Peter goes to jail and while he is in jail, 19:49 an angel come wakes him up, he said let's go. 19:51 Put your sandals on. Time for us to get out of here 19:53 and they just walked right out of the jail 19:55 and Peter went to house 19:56 and he banged on the door and out came Rhoda, 19:59 this was very funny and Peter said it's me. 20:01 and she said what? And turned around and ran, 20:03 left them out on the street. 20:05 Now there's something crazy going on out there 20:07 Rhoda saying, Peter is banging on the door. 20:09 I mean, you just had to be there, I think. 20:12 On the other hand James goes to jail. 20:15 They cut off his head and he is dead. 20:19 Well, you would be, wouldn't you? 20:22 Was God right in one case and wrong in another? 20:27 Was God good in one case and bad in another? 20:30 Was God fair in one case and unjust in another? 20:33 No. God allowed the right thing 20:36 to happen in both cases. 20:39 Now that's easy for me to say. Nobody ever decapitated me. 20:44 But the truth of the matter is, 20:46 we don't trust God based on appearances. 20:51 We are saved by grace through faith. 20:54 we know that if we trust God and refuse to led go of God, 20:59 irrespective of what the devil may throw at us. 21:02 God is still faithful. The sanctuary service shows us 21:07 that in the end of all of this, God is vindicated. 21:10 God's people triumph and ultimately dwell in a place 21:15 where there is no sin, no sadness, no sorrow, 21:18 no suffering and everything works out right. 21:22 Evil isn't going to triumph. Amen. 21:27 You look around the world, you think evil already 21:29 got a mortgage on everything, evil is one. 21:33 I've got an idea that we haven't seen anything yet. 21:37 But Jesus is going to come back one day 21:39 and we'll be triumphant with Him. 21:41 I wonder if you would please turn with me in your Bible 21:43 to the Book of Daniel, Daniel Chapter 8. 21:46 The Book of Daniel, the Daniel Chapter 8 21:48 and as you turn to Daniel 8, 21:50 I wonder if you can multitask and listen to a quote 21:54 that I'm going to read to you. 21:57 This little quotation comes from, 21:59 comes from a book I learned to love very quickly, 22:02 a book that changed my life. 22:04 The book is called the "Great Controversy," 22:07 and I read that book and on the strength of meeting 22:09 Jesus in that book, I became a Christian. 22:12 And as I read that book here's what I read. 22:16 "All who have received the light 22:19 on these subjects are to bear testimony 22:24 of the great truths which God has committed to them. 22:29 The sanctuary in heaven is the very center 22:34 of Christ's work in behalf of men. 22:37 It concerns every living soul 22:39 or every soul living upon the earth. 22:42 It opens to view the plan of redemption, 22:45 bringing us down to the very close of time 22:49 and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest 22:54 between righteousness and sin. 22:57 It is of the utmost importance that all should 23:01 thoroughly investigate these subjects 23:05 and be able to give an answer to everyone 23:08 that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them." 23:14 We ought to know something about this. 23:16 We ought to be acquainted with this 23:18 on some type of intimate level. 23:22 We got to know that there is more than just something 23:25 going on up there in heaven, 23:27 but that Christ is engaged 23:30 actively in the work of assuring and securing 23:35 our salvation and changing our hearts 23:38 and making them new and making us 23:41 His totally and completely. 23:43 We were in Daniel Chapter 8 and verse 14, 23:49 and then Daniel Chapter 8 and verse 14, 23:51 an angel says to the Prophet Daniel. 23:54 "Unto two thousand and three hundred days 23:58 then shall the sanctuary be, what? cleansed." 24:02 Now so far as we've talked through 24:04 these sanctuary subjects, we dealt kind of a lot 24:07 with the idea that a sinner would bring a lamb 24:10 and offering down to the sanctuary 24:13 the lamb would die, blood would be shed, 24:15 the sin would be transferred from the sinner 24:18 to the animal and now in the blood of the dead animal 24:22 and taken into the sanctuary where as it were 24:26 it would go on record in there if you like. 24:30 And so the sin would be transferred into the sanctuary, 24:33 into the sanctuary, into the sanctuary. 24:36 The sinner is glad. He goes to home saying, 24:38 thank you God I have been forgiven 24:41 and I have been cleansed and I am made new 24:43 and my sin isn't on me now. 24:45 My sin is in there, that person rejoiced. 24:49 Well, what about all that sinner just collects it, 24:51 collects it, collects it, collects, 24:53 got to do something about that sin, 24:54 O yes, God he said, 24:55 I will do something about that sin. 24:58 Each day throughout the year, 25:00 the sins were transferred into the sanctuary. 25:03 But at the last day of the year, the Day of Atonement, 25:07 the day when God's people were truly 25:09 declared to be act one with God. 25:13 The day of act one meant special things took place there. 25:19 Let's get this in time before we talk just a little bit more 25:22 about the special things that took place there. 25:25 Daniel was told that the vision was for the time of the end. 25:29 Now let's go over to Daniel Chapter 9. 25:31 You may well be familiar with these verses 25:33 in Daniel Chapter 9 but that's okay. 25:36 We look at them and anchor something down, 25:37 nail something down. We'll get our touch points 25:40 all lined up here. In this part of the prophecy, 25:44 Daniel is told by the angel, Daniel 9 and verse 24, 25:48 "Seventy weeks are determined upon your people to, 25:51 and upon by holy city to finish the transgression, 25:54 make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity 25:58 bring in everlasting righteousness, 26:00 seal up the vision and prophecy, and anoint the most Holy." 26:03 Seventy weeks is one year and four months, 26:05 and all of this was gonna happen 26:06 in one year and four months, 26:08 not likely because in prophecy a day 26:10 symbolically represents a what? 26:13 A day for a year, a week, seven years, seventy weeks, 26:16 seventy times seven that's 490 years. 26:19 "Know therefore and understand that from, 26:21 here's a beginning point, from the going forth 26:24 of the commandment to restore 26:26 and build Jerusalem unto Messiah 26:28 the Prince shall be sixty-nine weeks, 26:31 the street shall be built again, and the wall, 26:33 even in troublous times and so forth.'' 26:35 Daniel was given a beginning point 26:38 for the great time prophecy of Daniel 9 and Daniel 8. 26:42 The time when the command went forward, 26:46 that one that talked about restoring 26:49 and rebuilding Jerusalem, history would tell you. 26:52 Biblical history would point this out very clearly 26:55 that decree was issued in the 457 B.C., 457 B.C., 27:00 the issuing of that decree was the starting point 27:03 for the 2300 days or years. 27:08 And if you do your math right 27:10 you get down to the year 1844. 27:12 Now you may have heard this. 27:18 Getting close to 200 years ago there was a fine man, 27:21 a man of God. He's given his heart to Jesus. 27:24 He really had. He was a preacher, 27:26 a lay preacher and his name was William Miller. 27:30 Now William Miller was a church going man and he was a Baptist. 27:35 He was a good Baptist. Now there is a reason 27:39 I want you to know what church he went to. 27:42 You'll find this out in a minute. 27:43 William Miller looked at that prophecy about the 2300 days, 27:46 he said that sanctuary is gonna be cleansed. 27:48 Well, I know what that means? 27:50 That means that the earth was gonna be cleanse with fire, 27:52 that means Jesus is coming back, see. 27:56 And he looked at that prophecy and he said, 27:58 if I can only understand when the sanctuary 28:01 will be cleansed that will tell me 28:03 when Jesus is coming back and He did his math 28:05 and he figured out that Jesus was coming back in 1843. 28:09 And then when that didn't happen, 28:10 he realized he had made a mistake. 28:12 There was no year zero, what a fundamental mistake 28:14 to make. He was off by a year. 28:16 They came back they said, Jesus is coming back in 1844. 28:23 Now you know, there are certain churches have been tagged 28:25 with making a mistake about 1844, 28:27 but I think we should all be honest 28:28 and admit that that idea about Jesus coming back in 1844 28:31 was a good Baptist mistake. 28:34 Is it fair to do that? All right. 28:36 It's Baptist not an Adventist mistake, 28:39 not a Seventh-day Adventists, 28:40 there were no Seventh-day Adventists 28:41 but there were plenty a Baptists 28:43 and the Baptist Miller made a mistake. 28:46 He believed Jesus was coming back in 1843 28:49 and then 1844 but he wasn't right about that. 28:51 He was wrong. Good fellow though 28:53 when God used his research as faulty as it was. 28:57 I mean he was right about the time prophecy, 28:59 right about 457, right about 1844, 29:02 but he got as his event wrong. 29:04 And in 1844 something began. 29:07 The cleansing of the sanctuary began. 29:10 Hold, wait a minute, what's that? 29:12 We come back to what took place in the Day of Atonement, 29:15 way back then on the Day of Atonement, 29:19 the sin record was cleansed, expunged 29:25 and God's people rejoice. 29:28 You know, back then they took 29:29 the Day of Atonement seriously. 29:31 I read where one Hebrew scholar has called the Day of Atonement 29:34 a crisis of confession and repentance. A crisis! 29:39 They had to be at one with God. 29:44 They had to be. They sort God. 29:47 They turned to the Lord. 29:49 They amended their lives so that when the Day of Atonement 29:53 was over, they knew that they were included 29:56 among that joyous company of the redeemed 29:59 who had security in the Lord Jesus Christ. 30:03 Now of course they were looking forward 30:05 to the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, 30:07 but you know, what I'm saying. 30:09 Now in heaven we understand that the sanctuary 30:13 is being cleansed. In writing to the Hebrews 30:16 the Bible writer was very, very clear 30:19 that what took place in the earthly sanctuary 30:21 was a shadow of what went on in the heavenly sanctuary. 30:25 So just like the earthly sanctuary would be cleansed, 30:29 the heavenly sanctuary would be cleansed as well. 30:35 You see what God wants to do is not just take our sins 30:38 and cast them behind us back, 30:40 not just take our sins and put them in the depths of the sea, 30:43 not just take our sins and separate them from us 30:45 as far as the east is from the west. 30:47 He wants to take our sins and block them out. 30:52 Gone. We're going to live one day in a world 30:55 where they'll be no books filled with the records of sins, 30:59 where there will be no memory of misdeeds 31:04 and wrongs that have been committed. 31:06 We're gonna live one day in a land that is fairer 31:09 than day and what God chose us in the sanctuary service 31:14 is that He is interested in Finality. 31:17 It's going to be over one day. 31:21 Over, gone, and through. 31:25 I can think back on things I've done in my life 31:28 and I wince and I recoil and I get embarrassed 31:32 even when I'm on my own and not you all know about it, 31:36 and maybe you have the same experience but thank God 31:39 one day it's gone, sin gone. 31:44 There will be no more guilt. There will no more shame. 31:47 There won't be any embarrassment. 31:48 There won't be any separation from God. 31:51 It will all be gone, sin record gone. 31:57 I've just gonna praise the Lord for that. 31:59 Now Satan hates the idea. He hates it. 32:03 He does not want you to know that you can go 32:05 to your high priest in heaven right now 32:07 and heaven take care of your sin issues. 32:09 So he says, well you know, let's build a substitute here. 32:12 Let's have some earthly priest and when I was this big, 32:15 maybe this big I was encouraged to go to an earthly priest 32:20 and tell the earthly priest about my sins 32:22 and there is just something unnatural about that, 32:25 I think everybody who goes through that, 32:27 feels that discomfort that this just isn't right. 32:33 I couldn't figure out why in the world 32:35 I couldn't just go straight to God. 32:38 If I need to confess something God knows about it. 32:40 He is the one who I ought to apologize to. 32:42 What am I doing, going through a man, 32:44 couldn't figure that out. 32:46 But you know, the Bible says that the devil raise up 32:49 a system that cast the truth down to the ground. 32:53 If there is one thing the devil does not want you to know, 32:55 he does not want you to know that you can go 32:57 with confidence to the throne of grace 32:59 and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. 33:02 He would like you to think that you ought 33:04 to go through a middleman. 33:07 He would like you to think that you've got to work your way 33:10 back into God's good books. 33:11 He would like you to think that it takes a sum of money 33:14 or a pilgrimage or an offering left in front of a statue. 33:18 He would like that. He hates the grace of God. 33:22 He does not want us going straight to Jesus 33:25 and having Christ take away our sins and give us new heart. 33:28 He doesn't want that, and he does not want you 33:31 to know that one day sin will be gone 33:34 and you'll be separated from sin forever. 33:37 He doesn't like that. 33:38 The idea shakes the foundation of his kingdom. 33:42 He hates it. Jesus said, "He that comes to me, 33:45 I will in no wise cast out." I say praise the Lord. 33:48 Christ said, "Come to me, all Ye that Labor, 33:51 and a Heavy Laden." And I will give you rest. 33:55 Jesus said, "Oh, no don't be so hasty." 33:57 Christ says, "The Spirit and the bride say, 34:00 'Come.' Let all, who at first, 'Come'. 34:03 Jesus says I'm knocking on your door, 34:05 just open that door up and I will come in 34:09 and dine with you. You will dine with me. 34:11 I'll help you up, sit with me on my throne, 34:14 just like I sit with my Father in His throne. 34:17 Christ opens that to us, freely come to the sanctuary 34:22 He says, "Meet Me there and receive grace and mercy, 34:27 thank the Lord.'' That last day of the Hebrew 34:31 is Day of Atonement. High priest got involved, 34:34 high priest got involved on the Day of Atonement. 34:38 Now there was some interesting things 34:39 about the service on that day. 34:41 They brought a couple of goats down to the sanctuary, 34:45 a couple of goats and after the priest 34:48 had prepared himself and his family, 34:51 the two goats were brought to the door of a sanctuary 34:53 to determine which goat was useful for which purpose 34:55 because there were two goats. 34:58 There was the Lord's goat 35:01 and then there was the scapegoat, 35:04 the Lord's goat and the scapegoat. 35:07 The Lord's goat was offered as a sin offering. 35:10 You'll read about that in Leviticus Chapter 16. 35:12 I think verse 9 will tell you that straight up. 35:16 Now we ought to notice carefully. 35:19 Only one goat functioned 35:21 as a sin offering, just one. 35:26 Now people who understand what I would teach on this 35:28 and they would say that's not right. 35:29 You're making this goat somehow a sin bearer, 35:34 the scapegoat. Not true. 35:37 Only one of those two goats functioned as a sin offering. 35:41 The offering was for everybody. 35:44 The sin wasn't actually confessed 35:47 over the head of the Lord's goat. 35:51 Bearing the blood of this goat, 35:54 the priest passed into the most Holy Place. 36:00 This was a goat that was offered 36:02 as a sacrifice for sin. 36:07 The second goat, the scapegoat was different. 36:13 Now the reason I want to talk about this is, 36:14 this is important because this is integral in God's plan 36:19 to get rid of sin. 36:21 To show us that He's going to get rid of sin. 36:24 This will happen with Finality and certainty. 36:28 When the high priest had made an end, 36:31 when the high priest had finished making atonement 36:34 for the people and for the sanctuary, 36:35 when that was done, overdone, atonement done. 36:41 He then symbolically bears all of the confessed sins 36:44 of the congregation in his person. 36:47 And he placed these sins symbolically on the head 36:49 of the second goat and that second goat 36:53 was led away into the wilderness, 36:55 to a land of separation. It wasn't sacrificed 37:01 by the shedding of blood. 37:03 If it talked about that in the scriptures 37:06 we might make the mistake of thinking well somehow 37:08 this goat made atonement for sin, but it did not. 37:13 Now undoubtedly the goat perished out 37:16 there in the wilderness, but God didn't 37:17 make a big deal of that. In case somebody said, 37:19 oh, this was for atonement. It was not. 37:22 The record of sin was eradicated 37:27 through the act of sending 37:29 the scapegoat into the wilderness. 37:32 I don't want to sound vindictive here but I'm kind of glad 37:35 that at the end of all this, the devil gets his. 37:39 I'm kind of glad about that. 37:42 Everything that's going wrong in my life, 37:44 devil had a hand in it. 37:46 Now I don't go for the devil made me do it. 37:49 And sometimes we blame the devil when we should 37:51 just be blaming ourselves. 37:52 But sin originated with him. 37:54 And everything that grows out and develops out of sin, 37:58 he can trace all the way back to the devil, 38:00 who is the father of sin. I say thank the Lord, 38:03 that scapegoat represent Satan. 38:07 And Satan went off into the wilderness 38:09 where undoubtedly he would die, 38:10 punished the goat for the sins that Satan committed 38:16 and the sins that he had or his part 38:18 and all of the other sins that were committed. 38:21 Ultimately the devil pays for what he has done. 38:25 No we're not talking about atonement. 38:26 We're talking about sin punishment. 38:31 If you look in Ezekiel Chapter 28, 38:33 the word of God says that, ultimately Satan is burned up 38:36 and reduced to ashes. 38:37 He is what's being symbolized in Leviticus Chapter 16 38:41 with the scapegoat and thank God the scapegoat 38:45 gone into the wilderness. Sin has gone with him 38:48 and the people around the sanctuary that day, 38:51 on the Day of Atonement, they praise the Lord. 38:53 They thank to God. Sin is gone and they were free, 38:57 free, and free at last. 39:01 This sinner has walked through the sanctuary now. 39:04 In the courtyard with the lamb died 39:05 that's where justification took place. 39:08 The sacrifice was made and accepted. 39:13 And then the Holy Place experienced, 39:15 growing in the grace of God, growing up into Jesus, 39:18 experiencing sanctification, through Christ the bread of life 39:23 through the oil of the Holy Spirit feeding 39:27 the seven branch candlestick, 39:29 through the ministration of prayer and communication 39:31 with God and the righteousness of Christ mingling 39:34 with our prayers as they are send towards God in heaven. 39:40 And on that final day of the year, 39:41 the high priest took the people of God 39:43 as it were into the very presence of God, 39:48 Right into the throne room of God, 39:52 the most Holy Place. 39:54 The people were at one with God now. 39:57 There was peace between the people and the law of God 40:01 if we can put it that way. 40:03 God's law, its claims have been satisfied. 40:08 God's mercy, I love the fact 40:10 that in the throne room of heaven, 40:12 the God of heaven dwells on the mercy seat. 40:16 Mercy is the foundation of his throne. 40:18 I got to thank God for that. 40:21 And when you get into that most Holy Place 40:23 it teaches you some things. 40:25 It teaches you that when you're back in harmony 40:27 with God you're keeping the commandments of God. 40:30 Somebody looked into his Bible one time 40:32 and looked in Revelation 11:19, 40:34 a picture of the throne room. 40:37 It shows the Ark of the Covenant there, 40:39 and therefore the Ten Commandments, 40:43 of which the Ark of the Covenant was the repository. 40:47 If the ark is there the commandments are there, 40:49 if the commandments are there then the commandments 40:53 ought to be kept here. 40:55 So when someone looks at the commandments and says, 40:57 now there is a fourth commandment, 40:58 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy 41:01 that person is standing on solid rock when they decide 41:04 to accept that commandment into their life. 41:06 It's in heaven. It's in the throne room of God. 41:09 God did not eradicate it from the Ten Commandments 41:12 that are in His presence at this moment. 41:15 God's people discovered that God's people living 41:18 in the last days would be keeping 41:20 the Ten Commandments of Almighty God. 41:22 Let me pick up on a point here. 41:25 You know, what God has called 41:26 his last day church into existence? 41:28 Do you know, why? He has called his last day 41:31 church into existence so that through His last day church 41:35 He can prepare a people who are ready to meet 41:38 Jesus when He comes back. 41:41 Now I don't know if you can say 41:42 that about too many churches in the world. 41:44 God specially called the church into existence, 41:47 so that through that church God could work to affix 41:52 upon people the seal of the living God 41:55 and not the Mark of the Beast. 41:57 God has given His people an end time message 42:00 that message is a message that prepares 42:02 people to meet their God. 42:06 We look at the Three Angels Messages, 42:08 Second Angels Messages, Babylon has fallen 42:11 I shouldn't have started there; 42:12 I should have gone to the First Angels Message. 42:15 "Fear God and give glory to Him 42:16 because the hour of His judgment has come 42:18 and worship Him who made heaven and earth 42:20 and seas and the fountains of waters 42:22 complete surrender to God, hearts open wide, 42:27 Jesus moving into our life, 42:29 Babylon has fallen get out of confusion. 42:31 Don't receive the Mark of the Beast message number three. 42:34 You know, that that message about a specific day and time 42:39 that messaged is about leaning on God with your whole life. 42:44 The whole world is going to wander after the beast. 42:47 Who do you think you are to swim 42:49 that kind of tide. you can't do it, 42:51 but with God's help you're gonna do it, 42:53 leaning on Him you're gonna do it, 42:55 trusting in Him, connected to Him, 42:57 abiding in Him, things are gonna workout okay. 43:01 And if you're trusting, believing, leaning, 43:03 and abiding issues about days and behavior 43:08 and right and wrong will be worked out in your life. 43:14 We get too caught up in the little picture, 43:16 we miss the big picture. 43:19 Sanctuary, you get inside that sanctuary talks 43:21 about your growth in Jesus, it talks about, 43:23 it talks about what we believe as a people. 43:26 You know, somebody said that our bodies 43:28 are the temple of the Holy Ghost. 43:29 And so therefore there are some things 43:30 we leave out and somethings we want to put in. 43:33 A friend of mine shared me this just the other day 43:35 you probably heard this already. 43:37 When you look at the sanctuary where were the unclean animals? 43:40 Where were they? They are outside. 43:43 Where were the clean animals? 43:45 Courtyard. Now after justification 43:49 now when you started growing in sanctification, 43:51 you got into the sanctuary, where were the animals? 43:53 Now they weren't any animals, you've gotten then 43:55 what did you have? Olive oil and bread. 43:58 And then you progressed a little further on 44:01 in the sanctuary you got into the throne room of God 44:03 and what did you find there? 44:05 Harmons and Manna, that's it. 44:08 So as you progressed through the sanctuary 44:11 you see a sanctifying influence taking place, 44:15 even when it comes to your diet. 44:17 Is it okay to say that? 44:19 Or is that just a little bit too far of the right? 44:22 Seems to be about as biblical to me as the day as long. 44:25 God's people preparing to live in the Day of Atonement 44:28 will remember, I shouldn't say preparing, 44:31 I mean preparing to live in the side of a Holy God. 44:34 They will recognize that during the year 44:37 whenever the high priest dressed up, 44:39 he put on the splendid vestments. 44:41 He had on him a breastplate and ahead, 44:44 beautiful jewels and stones in it, 44:47 gorgeous but on the Day of Atonement, 44:51 what did he do with that? He laid it aside. 44:54 And he dressed simply and plainly, I'm not suggesting 45:00 that we all ought to do like the high priest 45:01 and wear a plain linen smock everywhere we go, 45:06 but on the Day of Atonement God was getting 45:08 through His people the idea that even 45:09 when it comes to how you appear, 45:11 the attention is to be diverted to Jesus 45:14 and not sucked up by you. 45:17 And I know that's getting to be just a little too old fashion 45:19 for lot of God's people today, but God's an old fashion God. 45:23 I mean, He is old, and old fashion. 45:27 And truth doesn't go out of style with Almighty God. 45:31 What was right? Once is right forever with the Lord, 45:34 see there's something that maybe we forget, 45:37 I don't know, maybe you don't. 45:40 But maybe as forgotten sometimes. 45:41 I read this in another book I like a lot it; 45:43 this little book was called the Education 45:45 and the little statement said, 45:46 "Higher than the highest human thought 45:49 can reach is God's ideal for His children." 45:53 And then the author went on to say, 45:55 "Godliness, God-likeness is the goal to be reached." 46:02 That's a high ideal, isn't it? 46:04 Godliness, Godlikeness is the goal to be reached, 46:08 but there is nothing that God cannot do when 46:12 in your life when you yield 46:14 your life fully and completely to Him. 46:17 In fact, I read this somewhere 46:20 and I liked it so much I remember it, listen to this. 46:25 "When we submit ourselves to Him, 46:30 the heart is united with His heart, 46:34 the will is merged in His will, 46:38 the mind becomes one with His mind, 46:42 our thoughts are brought into captivity to Him 46:47 we live His life. This is what 46:53 it means to be clothed in His righteousness. 46:57 Wow! That's what God can do, 47:03 but remember what came first? 47:04 When we submit ourselves to Him. 47:10 See the sanctuary service was setup 47:12 but nobody was force to go and participate, 47:14 it was there taking place you can have faith, 47:16 you can bring your offering, you can buy 47:17 in or you could live town and go wander off 47:20 anywhere you wanted to. 47:22 You know, if you're on the television program 47:25 and you are asked, who is the 16th President 47:27 of the United States? And you're given some option 47:29 Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, 47:31 John F. Kennedy or Richard Nixon? 47:34 You say, I don't know, can I phone a friend? 47:35 Yes, yes, of course, you phone a friend. 47:37 You can tell the person if you want to Richard Nixon, 47:40 you can say that. Yeah, you would be dead wrong, 47:42 but you can say that it's a free country. 47:44 My costume a million dollars 47:45 but you can say what you want? 47:48 Or you could say Abraham Lincoln 47:50 and you're on the tract to winning or let go. 47:53 See the sanctuary service would setup 47:55 and you have freedom of choice. 47:57 God's not gonna drag you over there, 47:59 "make the offering, repent of your sin." 48:02 The goodness of God leads us to repentance. 48:05 God demonstrated His goodness to us 48:07 in a million different ways and He said, 48:09 "This is the land, believe, here's the sanctuary service 48:13 participate, I am a God of love, 48:15 why don't you trust? And we can choose to do so, 48:18 or we could choose not to do so, 48:22 I suppose, but why would we choose not? 48:26 If we consent, God will do great things in our life. 48:32 He will separate us from our sin and there will be Finality. 48:36 Now I want to say this let's somebody grab this thing 48:39 by the wrong end and come away thinking 48:42 that heaven's judgment is bad news. 48:46 We confess our sins as sins go up. 48:48 We confess our sins just like they went 48:50 into the sanctuary they go to Christ. 48:53 Figuratively obviously, I've never seen 48:55 a curious service taking them up, 48:57 but the sins go to God that's what happens today. 49:01 On the Day of Atonement during 49:04 the investigative judgment something happens. 49:08 I got a sneaking suspicious there are some people 49:10 who have a little too much fear 49:13 when it comes to the investigative judgment. 49:15 I was coming out of early service in church one day 49:17 and I said something to the assenting. 49:19 She said well Pastor, I hope I'm ready for Jesus 49:24 when He comes back. 49:27 We had to stop right there and I had to help 49:30 my sister understand that in our church we don't 49:32 hope to be ready for too much. 49:36 Through faith in Christ we plan, we expect to be ready 49:41 when Jesus comes back. If Jesus is truly your Savior 49:45 and you chewing your finger and saying, 49:46 man I hope he saves me when I comeback, 49:48 when he comes back you've got a very small Savior, 49:51 but if you've cast your Lord and with Christ accepted Him 49:54 as your Lord and Savior, believed on Him unto salvation. 49:57 You said, great when Jesus comes back 49:59 I'm gonna rushing outside to meet Him, 50:01 can't wait to see Him when He comes back. 50:05 Now, I've read what Arnold Wallenkampf said 50:08 about the investigative judgment. 50:10 I want to share with you an idea that he wrote down here. 50:15 He said that for some people perhaps 50:17 the term, investigative judgment con,veys the wrong idea. 50:23 Hear him out. He said, 50:26 "If you say investigative judgment, 50:28 well, people might think that investigative judgment 50:32 is God judging as a making decisions 50:37 as to a person's destiny." 50:40 And that's not really the case. 50:42 Now listen with both ears now. 50:44 Wallenkampf suggests that the word audit 50:49 is a better word to use than judgment. 50:52 And frankly I think he's right, 50:53 I'm looking at fault people who use the word judgment, 50:55 but I like his explanation here. 51:00 He says, "What an audit of paid financial bills does? 51:06 and you know, when the auditor comes, 51:09 the auditor is coming 51:10 to make sure bills have been paid 51:15 that's what he is doing. 51:17 The auditor isn't making financial decisions 51:21 during the audit. The audit simply confirms 51:27 what has taken place, that's what the audit does. 51:31 So Dr. Wallenkampf says, 51:32 we could call the investigative judgment 51:34 the pre-advent heavenly audit. 51:39 And I understand this point. 51:40 I get it entirely. I think it's fair comment. 51:42 It conveys a good understanding. 51:45 This investigative judgment, the audit 51:48 that Dr. Wallenkampf is talking about, 51:50 it's not a time when God's people are being judged 51:55 as though new information has come to light. 51:59 For instance, a person lives and dies. 52:03 Investigative judgment takes place and 52:05 however the process works they come to this guy, 52:07 John Q. Citizen. All right. 52:11 Here's the record. It's not God sitting about 52:15 with some angels or turning to Jesus. 52:17 Well, what do you think we should do with this guy? 52:18 what do you think? Let's consider. 52:22 The decision has been made. God opens up the books 52:26 and before the angels of the Universe, 52:32 God looks and says, John Q. Citizen trusted 52:36 in Jesus that's another one right there. 52:38 Let's move onto the next page. 52:41 He is looking to see what decision you made 52:43 and then he validate or rubberstamps 52:47 that decision you have made. 52:49 John Q. Citizen rejected Jesus all right. 52:51 We will honor his decision. John Q. Citizen chose Christ 52:55 as Lord and Savior and abided in Christ 52:59 until the day he died. Hallelujah, here's another one. 53:02 Next, so when you live your life 53:06 and you confront the end of your life, 53:08 you don't have to sweat what's Jesus gonna find 53:12 when He looks at my page in the investigative judgment? 53:15 Jesus isn't sleuthing around looking 53:17 for some dirt on you. 53:19 Seen mister, you've lived a good life, 53:20 I wonder what we can find. They'll do that. 53:22 They'll send private detectives tracking people down, 53:26 everybody thinks this politician lives such a good life. 53:28 Let's find some dirt. You think Jesus is doing 53:31 that in the investigative judgment, what? 53:34 He's not that malicious or cynical. 53:36 Jesus comes to you and say, did this person choose me or not. 53:40 Yes! Beautiful, looking forward to seeing 53:42 that one in a resurrection. 53:44 Next page. You're not saying well as I said, let's see 53:49 if we can find something that tripped that person up with. 53:53 But God's just auditing during the investigative judgment. 53:55 He's gonna honor the decisions that we've made. 53:57 He's not looking for new information. 53:59 He's omniscient. He doesn't need new information. 54:01 He will know who has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. 54:05 As Paul wrote to Timothy, the Lord knows who He is? 54:08 Jesus said, I know my own and my own know me, 54:12 Jesus said in John 5 and verse 24, and I read, 54:15 "Hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. 54:19 He does not come into judgment, 54:22 but has passed from death to life." 54:25 If Christ is your Savior today, praise the Lord, 54:31 if you've surrendered your life to Him today, 54:34 there is no worry in terms of an investigative judgment. 54:38 This is just God doing what's got to be done 54:42 for the benefits of the Universe. 54:44 I'll make my most important point even though 54:46 I have just a fraction of time left. 54:50 When Jesus came to this earth, 54:51 He came to two reasons one was important 54:53 and that was to save us from our sins. 54:56 Here's a reason that was more important, 54:58 much more important, and that was to demonstrate 55:03 to the universe what the character of God was all about. 55:08 Satan charged God with unfairness and unkindness 55:12 that's why I said I ought to sit in that throne, 55:13 you ought to follow me don't follow God. 55:15 I can do better job of being the God of this universe. 55:18 You charged God with unfairness. 55:20 He came down to the earth. 55:21 He did just the same thing with Adam and Eve. 55:23 Oh, really God said, you can't eat that fruit. 55:25 No, no, no. He just knows that if you eat it 55:28 then you'll be better off and He's unfair 55:30 and wants to keep you from being blessed. 55:31 This liar tells the world, tornado taste through 55:35 Oklahoma act of God hang on a minute 55:38 devil ought to be getting the credit for that. 55:40 He is a liar. Jesus came to this earth 55:42 and that's why He said, if you have seen me, 55:45 you have seen the Father. 55:46 He came here, so we would know what the Father was like, 55:49 and if you know what the Father is like 55:51 you're gonna reach out to Him and love Him. 55:54 The sanctuary service is not God trying to find 55:57 oh, I found a reason that for you to be lost, boom. 56:01 Is not God, what do you call, exterminator bug killer? 56:05 This is God the lover of our souls. 56:08 Looking for a, looking this one had faith thank God. 56:13 This one chose Jesus I'm so, 56:16 why didn't God say thank God, I don't suppose so? 56:18 This one had faith in Christ. 56:21 Great. The sanctuary tells me 56:25 that God is love and Roman says there is therefore, 56:28 now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. 56:31 You chose Jesus today, if you are in Christ 56:34 because there's no condemnation, and we can be confident. 56:37 In Japan there is a City, funny enough 56:40 the City is named SUA, SUA and you'll know 56:43 why that's funny in just a moment. 56:46 They were paying for years to have this sewage hold away, 56:48 the sewage in SUA. They had to pay, they had to hold away 56:52 And then they got a bright idea they said, 56:53 no, no, no, we'll save a whole pile of money 56:55 we will burn it up, we'll incinerated. 56:58 So they started incinerating the sewage, 57:00 but you know what they discovered 57:01 when they incinerated sewage they found gold. 57:06 Whole bunch of minerals and talent and, 57:10 and when the sewage was all gone it was gold, 57:12 hundreds of thousands of dollars was of gold. 57:15 They started with sewage ended up with gold. 57:18 God can take the mess that is our life 57:22 and add His grace and add His goodness 57:24 and the sanctuary shows us that when it's all done 57:26 God will have brought us through as gold. |
Revised 2014-12-17