Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001211
00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book. 00:13 The Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:22 It is written sharing hope around the globe. 00:50 Kim Philby was destined to make his mark in the world. 00:53 The son of a rather brilliant father, he was educated at 00:56 the best schools in England, including Trinity College in 00:58 Cambridge. 01:00 For 30 years Philby worked for British intelligence, 01:04 rising to a very high rank in the British Secret 01:07 Intelligence Service, M.I.6: he ran its entire 01:10 counterespionage programme - that is, he was in charge of 01:14 stopping spies collecting information on Britain - and 01:18 he set up the section that spied on the Soviet Union. 01:33 But what nobody knew was that while Kim Philby was in 01:36 charge of an important part of Great Britain's spy 01:39 programme, he himself was in fact a DOUBLE AGENT: while 01:46 supposedly protecting Britain from spies, Philby was a spy 01:50 himself, working for the Soviet Union. 01:54 He provided a lot of information to the Soviets 01:57 that led to the deaths of a large number of agents, and 02:00 he inflicted real damage to both American and British 02:03 intelligence. 02:18 Kim Philby died in Moscow in 1988. 02:21 A brilliant man, a capable man, but a double agent. 02:27 Nobody really knew just whose side he was on. 02:35 I've wondered often just how many people know whose side 02:37 GOD is on. 02:39 I'm not suggesting for a second that God is a double 02:41 agent, but that many people aren't entirely sure just 02:43 whose side He is on, as life plays out here on Planet 02:47 Earth. 02:48 God gets blamed for an enormous amount of bad 02:52 things: in 2005, not long after Hurricane Katrina, Time 02:55 Magazine featured an article titled, "Where Was God?" 02:59 It investigated the myriad responses from people about 03:03 the cause of the calamity - masses felt that it was God's 03:06 judgment for just about everything. 03:10 After the Asian tsunami, the Archbishop of Canterbury 03:13 said, "Of course, this makes us doubt God's existence." 03:16 So very often when personal tragedy strikes, the question 03:21 asked is "Why did God allow this?" 03:24 Now that's not always a bad question you know - even 03:27 Jesus cried out, My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me? 03:32 But all too often present in the question is the 03:34 suggestion that God is the villain. 03:37 And the question gets murky for some when we start to 03:41 wrestle with matters of personal sin - "Does God 03:44 still care for me, does God still love me, is God still 03:47 with me after what I've done?" 03:50 How far does the love and patience and acceptance of 03:53 God stretch in the case of sinners committing sin? 03:57 Serious questions. 03:59 And the Bible provides us with serious answers. 04:03 You don't really have to go too far in the Bible to 04:05 figure this out. 04:06 John Ch. 8 describes how Jesus handled 04:09 a broken life. 04:11 We find Jesus in the temple where you'd expect it to be 04:15 very reverent, very quiet, when something strange 04:19 happens. 04:21 A group of apparently upstanding men bring to Jesus 04:24 a women who had just been caught in an act of 04:27 immorality. 04:28 Angry men, a cowering, perhaps a weeping woman, 04:33 there is tension in the air as justice is being demanded. 04:37 Here's how John describes the scene. 04:39 John, Ch. 8: Then the scribes and 04:43 Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. 04:47 And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 04:50 "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the 04:52 very act. 04:55 "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should 04:57 be stoned. 04:59 But what do You say?" 05:01 (John 8:3-5) Well, what could He say? 05:04 If she's guilty, she's guilty. 05:06 Really, that settles it. 05:08 But aren't you glad that doesn't actually settle it in 05:11 the mind of God? 05:13 Not right away. 05:14 If guilt "settled it", our collective goose would have 05:17 been well and truly cooked a long time ago. 05:20 And according to the Bible, we're all in the same 05:22 situation. 05:23 Romans 3:23 says For all have sinned and fall short of the 05:28 glory of God. (Romans 3:23) If our misdeeds 05:32 settled it, if our sins settled it, none of us would 05:36 ever have the slightest hope of going to heaven. 05:39 We'd be done! 05:41 So how did Jesus respond? 05:41 John 8. 05:44 We pick it up in verse 6. 05:46 John 8:6, 7 But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground 05:49 with His finger, as though He did not hear. 05:52 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and 05:56 said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let 06:01 him throw a stone at her first." 06:05 Now, they were right. 06:07 She was a sinful woman, and she had done wrong. 06:11 But Jesus challenges those individuals and tells them to 06:15 go right ahead and stone this poor creature as long as they 06:20 themselves were without sin. 06:23 You know, when that woman heard what Jesus had said, 06:26 she no doubt thought she was dead. 06:28 These holy, righteous men, she thought. 06:32 They come off as being so holy they'll probably all be 06:35 throwing rocks at me. 06:36 It'll be a blizzard! 06:38 But instead they drop their rocks and walk away, leaving 06:43 Jesus, the perfect, holy, righteous Son of God - God in 06:48 the flesh - alone with this miserable, wicked, corrupt 06:54 individual, who really did deserve to have the book 06:57 thrown at her. 06:58 Now let's see how this story ends. 07:00 John 8:10-11 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no 07:05 one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those 07:09 accusers of yours? 07:11 Has no one condemned you?" 07:13 She said, "No one, Lord." 07:16 And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go 07:21 and sin no more." 07:24 Can you imagine how she felt?! 07:26 You know how good you feel when you got pulled up for 07:29 speeding and the police officer let you off with just 07:31 a warning, right? 07:33 And all you avoided was a $100 fine. 07:35 This woman escaped with her life. 07:38 Now why did Jesus do that? 07:39 Because that's whose side Jesus is on. 07:45 We remember the famous verse in John 3:16 but what about 07:48 John 3:17? 07:49 It says this: "For God did not send His Son into the 07:54 world to condemn the world, but that the world through 08:00 Him might be saved." 08:02 God is in the business of SAVING people. 08:05 In fact, God gives us an incredible illustration to 08:09 help us understand just whose side He is on today. 08:12 God had Israel build Him a dwelling place, a sanctuary. 08:18 In Exodus 25:8 the Bible says this: And let them make me a 08:23 sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 08:28 God wanted to spend time with His people. 08:33 Now this sanctuary was mobile - it traveled with the 08:36 Israelites through the wilderness. 08:39 And it was magnificent - gold plated boards set in sockets 08:42 of silver, fine linen, beautiful curtains, golden 08:47 candlesticks with seven lamps giving light day and night, 08:51 gold-plated furniture and items of pure gold. 09:03 And most magnificently of all, the Shekinah Glory was 09:07 in there - the presence of God Himself. 09:11 Of course, in time the mobile sanctuary was superceded by 09:17 the temple. 09:18 Yet you'll remember that when Jesus died the veil in the 09:20 temple was torn in two by an act of God. 09:25 God was signifying that the temple services were now 09:29 obsolete - the True Lamb had come and died. 09:32 As such, it was redundant for God's people to offer animal 09:34 sacrifices anymore. 09:36 In fact, you could say it was offensive - to have faith in 09:39 a lamb sacrifice would be to fail to recognize the True 09:43 Lamb had died. 09:45 The temple had really served its purpose. 09:48 So what is the Bible talking about when it talks about a 09:50 sanctuary that is still important to us today? 09:54 In the book of Hebrews we discover a sanctuary in 09:57 heaven. 09:59 And according the book of Exodus, Moses was told by God 10:02 to build the earthly sanctuary and pattern it 10:06 after the heavenly. 10:08 Now why is that important? 10:09 The simple existence of the building itself isn't the 10:15 item of most major importance. 10:18 What is most important is what is going on in that 10:20 sanctuary. 10:22 What is going on there shows us where God's mind is 10:27 towards the sinners of this world. 10:29 I'll tell you in a moment where Jesus is and what he is 10:32 doing. 10:33 And the answer will bless you incredible. 10:38 Today's Bible Question: I heard a preacher say that 10:57 hell is not a real place and that God is so loving that in 10:59 the end everyone will be saved, since they are all his 11:03 children and a loving God wouldn't kill any of them. 11:06 Do you agree with that? 11:07 Let me tell you this. 11:09 Jesus certainly believed in hell. 11:11 In Matthew 10:28 Jesus said, "And fear not them which kill 11:14 the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather 11:17 fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in 11:20 hell." 11:22 It isn't a pleasant thought at all, but the truth is that 11:25 the wages of sin is death, according to the Bible, 11:29 sinners ultimately will be destroyed in a lake of fire. 11:32 You read that in the book of Revelation. 11:35 Yes, God is loving. 11:37 Yes, God wants everyone to come to repentance. 11:40 But for those who do not, God isn't going to drag them 11:44 kicking and screaming into heaven. 11:46 If someone really doesn't want to go there, God is not 11:49 going to drag them there. 11:51 I'd like to prod your thinking a bit. 11:54 Hell has been a favourite for some preachers. 11:57 They'll preach up the hottest hell and then almost scare 12:00 people into accepting Jesus just so they can avoid the 12:04 fires of hell. 12:05 That's what we might call, Fire Escape Religion - the 12:09 idea of getting religion just to escape the fire. 12:12 Now, I do believe that hell ought to act as a 12:16 disincentive to sinful living, that's for sure. 12:18 But it isn't even nearly the best disincentive to sinful 12:21 living. 12:22 The best inducement to draw a sinner away from sin and to 12:24 the heart of Jesus is the love of God. 12:28 And you know something? 12:29 Even hell-fire, when you understand it correctly, is a 12:32 manifestation of the love of God. 12:34 There is a hell, and it is hot, but I think it is 12:39 important to try to really accurately understand 12:41 hell-fire, and see that all God does is a reflection of 12:45 His character and a revelation of what he is 12:48 really like. 12:50 I'd love you to read an article I've written about 12:52 hell. 12:53 You can download it from our website, ItIsWritten.com And 12:56 if you have a question you would like answered, you can 12:59 go to that same website ItIsWritten.com, click on the 13:02 questions tab and submit your question. 13:05 And I would love to do my very best to answer your 13:08 Bible question. 13:11 If you have a Bible question for pastor John Bradshaw, 13:13 please write to It Is Written, Box O, Thousand 13:16 Oaks, California 91359 or visit our website 13:20 itiswritten.com and send us your questions on-line. 13:25 After Jesus died on the cross, we know where 13:27 he went to. 13:29 He went to the grave. 13:30 I know it says that in the Apostles' Creed - "He 13:32 descended into hell, on the third day He rose again..." 13:34 - but that's true in the Biblical sense where the word 13:37 'hell' is often used to mean the grave. 13:40 Jesus descended into the grave. 13:42 When he died, He didn't go to some hot place in the centre 13:44 of the earth. 13:45 That's just fantasy, with no Biblical basis at all. 13:48 The wonderful news is, though, that the grave could 13:51 not hold Jesus! 13:52 He came forth triumphant - then where'd He go? 13:56 He went to heaven. 13:57 And what did He go to heaven for? 13:59 Was it just to bide His time as He waited for 14:02 the Second Coming? 14:03 No, Jesus went to heaven to do far more than that. 14:07 According to the book of Hebrews, Jesus is performing 14:11 a specific role in heaven. 14:13 Hebrews 4:14 says, Seeing then that we have a great 14:18 high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the 14:21 Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 14:26 Jesus went to heaven to be our High Priest. 14:29 Now let's look at Hebrews 8, verses 1 and 2. 14:35 We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand 14:39 of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. 14:42 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, 14:47 which the Lord pitched, and not man. 14:51 Jesus has gone to heaven, to the heavenly sanctuary that 14:55 God made, so that He can be our High Priest. 14:58 Now think about what that means for us. 15:01 The old sanctuary service was essentially the gospel in 15:04 types and shadows. 15:06 How could God help Israel understand what the plan of 15:08 salvation was really all about? 15:12 He taught them - it's like this, He said. 15:14 Sin causes death. 15:16 I want to show you how it will cause the death of my 15:19 Son, so I'll put that in the figure of the death of a 15:21 lamb. 15:23 Because of your sin the lamb dies. 15:26 Here's what they'd do. 15:27 The sinner would take a lamb to this sanctuary. 15:30 He'd confess his sins over the lamb, and his sins would 15:33 be transferred - figuratively, obviously - to 15:36 the lamb. 15:38 The Lamb would be killed, and the blood would be taken 15:42 inside the sanctuary (some of the blood). 15:45 In that way, the sin was transferred into the 15:48 sanctuary. 15:50 At the end of the year the entire sin record would be 15:53 dealt with, on the Day of Atonement. 15:56 The sanctuary would be cleansed, and the people 15:59 would rejoice that they stood before God absolutely pure 16:04 and clean. 16:05 Does this relate to our salvation today? 16:08 You bet it does. 16:09 When we need cleansing from sin, we come to Jesus. 16:12 The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and then prompts 16:14 us to come to God. 16:15 We come - we are drawn to Him by God Himself. 16:19 We confess our sins. 16:21 Who takes our sins? 16:22 Jesus, the Lamb. 16:24 He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins once 16:26 and for all. 16:27 So we come to Christ, we profess faith in the 16:31 sacrifice of the Lamb when Jesus died on the cross, and 16:35 God takes our sins away. 16:37 Now, back in the OT time, when the sinner confessed, 16:40 there was a middle man - a priest, or a high priest. 16:43 Today, there's a Middle Man - our High Priest, Jesus. 16:49 Look at what we read in 1 John 2:1 - the Bible says: My 16:59 little children, I write these things to you that you 17:05 sin not. 17:06 But if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, 17:09 Jesus Christ the righteous. 17:11 As our High Priest in heaven, Jesus intercedes for us. 17:14 We come to Him with our sins, repentant. 17:17 He takes our sins from us, appeals to God in our behalf, 17:21 and gives His own perfect righteousness in place of our 17:26 sins. 17:27 What this tells us is that in heaven there is a Savior who 17:31 invites us to come to Him, just as we are, knowing that 17:35 He will have mercy on us. 17:38 Remember what it said back in Hebrews? 17:40 Hebrews 4:14? 17:43 "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is 17:46 passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us 17:51 hold fast our profession." 17:54 If you're a sinner who has faith in Jesus and you've got 17:57 your struggles, the answer is not to let go! 18:01 The knowledge that a holy, righteous Jesus is your High 18:04 Priest in heaven absolutely must inspire you to hang on 18:07 tight! 18:09 The Greek word that is translated into "hold fast" 18:12 means "to cling to tenaciously." 18:16 That's like a barnacle clinging to the side of a 18:18 ship. 18:19 You can hardly pry those things off! 18:22 And when you know that Jesus is on your side in heaven, 18:25 that ought to give you confidence to live on in such 18:28 a way that nothing can pry you off. 18:32 Continuing in Heb 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto 18:41 the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find 18:46 grace to help in time of need." 18:49 We are to come with confidence, because Jesus is 18:52 our High Priest, and our intercessor. 18:55 I spoke to someone recently who said to me, I hope I'm 18:58 good enough to go to heaven. 19:00 And you know what I told this person? 19:02 I said, You'll never be good enough. 19:04 That's why we need Jesus! 19:06 And in fact, if you're hoping to ever be good enough for 19:09 God to save you, you need to stop hoping that right now. 19:13 Now, if what you mean is that you hope to be ready, or you 19:16 hope to see Jesus, well that's fine. 19:19 But if you're hoping to be good enough to go to heaven, 19:22 you've got another thing coming. 19:24 Now this might surprise you, but I've taught my children 19:27 to never pray that God will help them to be good. 19:31 Now why would I say that? 19:33 I'll tell you why in a moment. 19:43 It Is Written is sharing the gospel around the world. 19:48 Part of our mission is to bring the Word of God to some 19:50 of the most remote places on earth. 19:53 Right now we are providing audio Bibles to the people of 19:55 Papua New Guinea. 19:57 We call this audio Bible the Godpod. 20:00 Through this solar powered mp3 player, people can hear 20:03 God's word in their own language. 20:09 If you'd like to help It Is Written share the Word of God 20:11 by providing solar-powered Godpod Bibles, please call 20:14 our toll-free number 1 800 253 3000. 20:18 Call right now. 20:20 Just tell the operator you would like to help with the 20:22 Godpod project. 20:24 You can also participate by sending your gift to It is 20:27 Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, California 91359. 20:31 And for your convenience you can also make a gift on line 20:34 at itiswritten.com. 20:38 This ministry uses every reasonable effort to fund its 20:41 projects as described. 20:42 Should the project become fully funded or should the 20:45 nature of the project change due to unexpected 20:47 circumstances, funds will be directed toward similar, 20:50 worthy projects. 20:51 Our toll-free number 1 800 253 3000 and our web address 20:57 is itiswritten.com I have taught 21:03 my children to never pray to be good. 21:06 I remember my little boy praying that - "Dear Jesus, 21:09 help me to be good." 21:10 And I said, No, we are not going to pray that way. 21:13 Not that I want my children to pray to be bad, you 21:15 understand! 21:17 But what happens if you pray to be good? 21:20 You're doomed to fail. 21:22 In Romans chapter 3, Paul is quoting the Psalms when he 21:25 writes these words: (Romans 3:10) As it is written: 21:29 "There is none righteous, no, not one." 21:33 And then verse 12 adds. 21:35 There is none that doeth good, no, not one. 21:39 (Romans 3:12) So you're going to try to be good, or pray to 21:42 be good? 21:43 All you can do is FAIL! 21:45 The person who prays to be good is sooner or later going 21:48 to figure out that such an approach cannot work, and 21:51 before long one of a couple of things is going to happen: 21:54 they're either going to give up on God, or just as bad, 21:58 they're going to stay in the church and be miserable and 22:00 feel condemned. 22:02 But God didn't ever ask us to be good. 22:04 He asked us to be HOLY! 22:07 And where are you going to get holiness from? 22:09 Not from yourself, that's for sure! 22:12 I've encouraged my children to pray instead that Christ 22:16 will live in their hearts; that God would forgive them 22:19 and give them new hearts. 22:21 See, if you are praying to be good, it'll never work. 22:24 If you pray for Jesus to live in your heart, it'll never 22:26 fail! 22:28 When Jesus comes into your life He brings His goodness, 22:31 His righteousness, His power and His holiness. 22:34 And that's what we need. 22:36 And we can get that - sinners like us! 22:40 We can receive Christ's holiness freely when we come 22:43 confidently to the throne of grace. 22:47 So what's the worst thing that can happen if you admit 22:49 to God that you are a sinner? 22:50 Do you think God is going to be shocked to find that out? 22:53 I don't think so! 22:54 When Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me all ye 22:58 that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you 23:00 rest," He wasn't referring to just the holy folks! 23:03 If you are burdened, if you are weary, if you are feeling 23:08 crushed by the weight of the mess in your life, Come to 23:11 Jesus, just as you are!!! 23:14 Hebrews 9:24 is a powerful text. 23:17 It tells us that Jesus has gone "into heaven itself, now 23:27 to appear in the presence of God for us." 23:32 Now I'm not attempting to minimize the seriousness of 23:34 the spiritual mess we find ourselves in, but I'm telling 23:37 you it is impossible to overstate the importance of 23:41 the wonderful truth that Jesus is in heaven, as our 23:46 High Priest, FOR US! 23:49 Not against us, but FOR us! 23:53 That means He will give you spiritual help. 23:56 He will provide emotional help. 23:58 He will not cast you off the moment you make a mess. 24:02 Hebrews 7:25 says this: Wherefore He is also able to 24:08 save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, 24:13 since He always lives to make intercession for them. 24:17 Jesus lives "to make intercession" for us. 24:20 You can know where Jesus is -He is in heaven. 24:23 You can know what He is doing - He is acting as your High 24:25 Priest. 24:27 And you can know that He is for you, and not against you. 24:31 And that's good news. 24:34 I want to thank him for that right now. 24:37 And why don't, as we pray, we commit ourselves to accepting 24:41 Christ, His ministry as our High Priest, and whenever we 24:46 ask God for help, to trust that Jesus through His 24:49 ministry will do in our lives everything he wants to do. 24:53 Let's pray together. 24:54 Our Father in heaven, we thank you today that we have 24:56 a High Priest in heaven. 24:58 Jesus isn't AWOL, He isn't missing. 25:01 We know where He is. 25:02 In heaven's temple. 25:05 Heaven's sanctuary. 25:06 And we know what He is doing. 25:07 He is not sitting around on a fluffy cloud eating grapes, 25:10 hanging out with angels just waiting to return to this 25:13 earth. 25:14 No. 25:16 He is actively engaged in our salvation. 25:18 Interceding for us in your presence. 25:20 And so we thank you. 25:22 We thank you for his blood shed that we might be 25:25 cleansed from all of our sins. 25:28 Lord, give us grace to have faith in you. 25:31 Give us confidence knowing Jesus is in heaven for us and 25:37 not against us. 25:39 And we pray with thanks today in Jesus' name. 25:42 Amen. 26:07 Perhaps our program today has touched your heart and 26:11 impressed you with a personal need for deeper Bible study. 26:14 If you desire to listen to God and follow where he 26:17 leads, we've got a wonderful resource that can help you do 26:20 that in a systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides. 26:24 These study guides will take you through the essential 26:27 truths taught in Scripture. 26:28 They give you the big picture showing how it all fits 26:31 together. 26:32 The Discover Bible Guides are a wonderful way for you to 26:35 become grounded in the Word of God and to see how Jesus 26:38 Christ relates to all the areas of our lives. 26:41 Please call or write us and the Discover Bible Guides 26:45 will be on their way to you. 26:46 If you live in North America, we'll mail these Bible guides 26:49 free of charge. 26:50 Or for even easier and immediate access from 26:53 anywhere around the world, you can get these wonderful 26:55 Bible lessons on our website itiswritten.com. 27:00 Request the Discover Bible Guides by calling our toll 27:04 free number 1 800 253 3000. 27:06 Call right now and tell us the name of today's free 27:11 offer, the Discover Bible Guides. 27:14 Lines are open 24 hours. 27:16 If they are busy when you call, keep trying. 27:18 You can also request today's offer by writing to It Is 27:22 Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. 27:27 Thank you for your letters and for your continued 27:30 support. 27:31 Our toll free number is 1 800 253 3000 27:34 and our web address is itiswritten.com 27:41 Thanks for joining me today. 27:42 Look forward to seeing you next time. 27:45 And until then, remember - It Is Written: man shall not 27:50 live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from 27:55 the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-06