Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001245
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00:08 On that first Easter Sunday morning, some women went
00:11 to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body for burial. 00:14 An angel met them and told the women Jesus was risen 00:16 from the dead, so they hurried 00:19 off to tell the eleven 00:20 remaining disciples. 00:21 Luke 24:11 reveals the disciples surprising reaction. 00:32 In their disappointment, they forgot some of the 00:34 plainest statements Jesus had made to them. 00:37 Jesus had said, "I'm going up to Jerusalem, and I'm going to 00:40 die." 00:40 He said that He would be rejected by the elders and 00:43 the chief priests and the scribes, and that He'd be 00:45 killed, and He said He would rise again - but the disciples 00:49 didn't quite get it. 00:51 And now that the women were there telling the disciples 00:53 that Jesus' prophecies had been fulfilled, they 00:56 refused to believe. 00:57 Such is the power of preconceived ideas, and such 01:00 is the power of crushing disappointment. 01:03 The disciples were foolish to refuse to believe - they had 01:07 let what they saw totally destroy their faith in what 01:09 they couldn't see Maybe we make that mistake. 01:12 Because we don't see the big picture we might jump to a 01:15 wrong conclusion that doesn't involve hope. 01:17 The cross of Jesus tell us that victory often comes out 01:20 of defeat, and it reminds us that what we see is often 01:23 not the whole picture. 01:25 Trust God today, even if it seems your hopes have been 01:28 dashed, even if something just doesn't make sense. 01:30 The resurrection had taken place and yet the disciples 01:33 were all doom and gloom. 01:36 That resurrection says there's a God who is alive - and He's 01:39 working in your life right now. 01:41 Have faith to know that God isn't simply the God of what 01:44 you can see, He's also the God of what you cannot see. 01:50 I'm John Bradshaw for It is Written. 01:52 Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and let's live 01:56 today by Every Word. 02:03 ♪ [Music in background - ♪ ♪ "Were you there when ♪ 02:07 ♪ they crucified my Lord?"] ♪ 03:04 It has stood the test of time. 03:09 God's book, the bible. 03:10 Still relevant in today's complex world. 03:21 It Is Written sharing hope around the globe. 03:35 [Music in background] Kim Philby was destined to 03:49 make his mark in the world. 03:50 The son of a rather brilliant father, he was educated at the 03:53 best schools in England, including Trinity College 03:56 in Cambridge. 03:57 For 30 years Philby worked for British intelligence, rising 04:01 to a very high rank in the British Secret Intelligence 04:04 Service, M.I.6: he ran its entire counterespionage 04:09 programme - that is, he was in charge of stopping spies 04:12 collecting information on Britain - and set up the 04:15 section that spied on the Soviet Union. 04:24 [Music in the background] But what nobody knew was that 04:32 while Kim Philby was in charge of an important part of Great 04:36 Britain's spy programme, he himself was in fact a DOUBLE 04:40 AGENT: while supposedly protecting Britain from spies, 04:46 Philby was a spy himself, working for the Soviet Union. 04:51 He provided a lot of information to the Soviets 04:54 that led to the deaths of a large number of agents, 04:57 and he inflicted real damage on both American 05:00 and British intelligence. 05:15 Kim Philby died in Moscow in 1988. 05:18 A brilliant man, a capable man, but a double agent. 05:23 Nobody really knew just whose side he was on. 05:30 I've wondered often just how many people know 05:34 whose side GOD is on. 05:36 I'm not suggesting for a second that God is a double 05:38 agent, but that many people aren't entirely sure just whose 05:41 side He is on, as life plays out here on Planet Earth. 05:45 God gets blamed for an enormous amount of bad things: 05:49 in 2005, not long after Hurricane Katrina, 05:52 Time Magazine featured an article titled, 05:55 "Where Was God?" 05:57 It investigated the myriad responses from people about 06:00 the cause of the calamity - masses felt that it was God's 06:04 judgment for jus about everything. 06:07 After the Asian tsunami, the Archbishop of Canterbury 06:09 said, "Of course, this makes us doubt 06:12 God's existence." 06:14 So very often when personal tragedy strikes, 06:17 the question asked is "Why did God allow this?" 06:20 That's not always a bad question - even Jesus cried 06:25 out, My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me? 06:28 But all too often present in the question is the suggestion 06:32 that God is the villain. 06:35 And the question gets murky for some when we start to 06:38 wrestle with matters of personal sin - "Does God still 06:41 care for me, does God still love me, is God still with me 06:45 after what I've done?" How far does the love and patience and 06:49 acceptance of God stretch in the case 06:52 of sinners committing sin? 06:54 Serious questions. 06:56 And the Bible provides us with serious answers. 07:00 You don't really have to go far in the Bible to 07:02 figure this thing out. 07:03 John chapter 8 describes how Jesus handled a broken life. 07:08 We find Jesus in the temple where you'd expect it to be 07:12 very reverent, very quiet, when something 07:17 strange happens. 07:18 A group of apparently upstanding men bring to Jesus 07:21 a woman who had just been caught in an act of immorality. 07:25 Angry men, a cowering, perhaps a weeping woman, there's 07:30 tension in the air as justice is being demanded. 07:34 Here's how John describes the scene. 07:37 John Chapter eight 07:59 Well, what could He say? 08:01 If she's guilty, she's guilty. 08:02 Really, that settles it. 08:05 But aren't you glad that it doesn't actually settle it in 08:09 the mind of God? 08:11 Not right away. 08:12 If guilt "settled it", our collective goose would have 08:15 been well and truly cooked a long time ago. 08:17 And according to the Bible, we're all in 08:19 the same situation. 08:21 Romans 3:23 says, 08:28 If our misdeeds settled it, if our sins settled it, 08:32 none of us would ever have the slightest hope 08:35 of going to heaven. 08:36 We'd be done! 08:37 So how did Jesus respond? 08:39 John 8, we pick it up in verse 6 09:02 Now, they were right. 09:04 She was a sinful woman, and she had done wrong. 09:07 But Jesus challenges these individuals and tells them to 09:13 go right ahead and stone this poor creature as long as they 09:17 themselves were without sin. 09:21 You know, when the woman heard Jesus say that, she no doubt 09:25 thought she was dead. 09:26 These holy, righteous men, she thought. 09:29 They come off as being so holy they'll probably all be 09:32 throwing rocks at me. 09:33 It'll be a blizzard! 09:35 But instead, they drop their rocks and walk away, leaving 09:40 Jesus, the perfect, holy, righteous Son of God - God in 09:45 the flesh - alone with this miserable, wicked, corrupt 09:50 individual, who really did deserve to have the 09:54 book thrown at her. 09:55 Now let's see how this story ends. 09:57 John 8, again we pick it up in verse 10. 10:22 Can you imagine how she felt?! 10:23 You know how good you felt when you got pulled up for 10:26 speeding and the police officer let you off with 10:27 just a warning, right? 10:29 And all you avoided was a $100 fine. 10:32 This woman escaped with her life. 10:35 Now why did Jesus do that? 10:38 Because that's whose side Jesus is on. 10:44 Do you remember the famous verse in John 3:16, but what 10:46 about John 3:17? It says this: 10:59 God is in the business of SAVING people. 11:02 In fact, God gives us an incredible illustration to 11:06 help us understand just whose side He is on today. 11:09 God had Israel build Him a dwelling place, a sanctuary. 11:14 In Exodus 25:8 it says: 11:27 God wanted to spend time with His people. 11:29 The sanctuary was mobile - it traveled with the Israelites 11:34 through the wilderness. 11:35 And it was magnificent - gold plated boards set 11:38 in sockets of silver, fine linen, beautiful curtains, 11:43 a golden candlestick with seven lamps giving light 11:47 day and night, gold-plated furniture and 11:49 items of pure gold. 12:00 And most magnificently, the Shekinah Glory was in there 12:05 the presence of God Himself. 12:07 Of course, in time the mobile sanctuary 12:10 was superseded by the temple. 12:13 Yet you'll remember that when Jesus died the veil in that 12:18 temple was torn in two by an act of God. 12:22 God was signifying that the temple services were now 12:25 obsolete - the True Lamb had come and died. 12:29 As such, it was redundant for God's people to offer animal 12:32 sacrifices anymore. 12:33 In fact, you could say it was offensive - to have faith in a 12:37 lamb sacrifice would be to fail to recognize the True 12:40 Lamb had died. 12:41 The temple had really served its purpose. 12:45 So what is the Bible talking about when it talks about 12:48 a sanctuary that is still important to us today? 12:51 In the book of Hebrews we discover a sanctuary 12:55 in heaven. 12:56 And according the book of Exodus, Moses was told to by 13:01 God to build the earthly sanctuary and pattern it after 13:04 the heavenly. 13:07 Now why is that important? 13:08 The simple existence of the building itself isn't the item 13:12 of most major importance. 13:15 What is most important is what is going on in that sanctuary. 13:20 What is going on there shows us where God's mind is towards 13:23 the sinners of this world. 13:26 I4ll tell you in a moment where Jesus is and 13:30 what he is doing. 13:30 And the answer will bless you incredibly. 13:34 Planning for your financial future is a vital aspect of 13:40 Christian Stewardship. 13:41 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free 13:43 planned giving and estate services. 13:46 For information on how we can help you, please call 13:48 1.800.992.2219. 13:52 Call today or visit our special website: 13:55 www.hislegacy.com 14:05 After Jesus died on the cross, we know where He went. 14:07 He went to the grave. 14:09 I know it says in the Apostles' Creed - "He descended 14:11 into hell, on the third day He rose again..." - 14:14 but that is true in the Biblical sense where the word 14:16 'hell' is often used to mean the grave. 14:19 Jesus descended into the grave. 14:21 When he died, he didn4t go to a hot place in the center 14:23 of the earth. 14:24 That is just fantasy with no biblical basis at all. 14:26 The wonderful news is, though, that the grave could 14:30 not hold Jesus! 14:32 He came forth triumphant. 14:33 Then where did He go? 14:35 He went to heaven. 14:37 And what did He go to heaven for? 14:39 Was it just to bide His time as He waited for 14:41 the Second Coming? 14:42 No, Jesus went to heaven to do far more than that. 14:46 According to the book of Hebrews, Jesus is performing 14:50 a specific role in heaven. 14:52 Hebrews 4:14 says, 15:05 Jesus went to heaven to be our High Priest. 15:08 Now let's look at Hebrews 8, verses 1 and 2. 15:30 Jesus has gone to heaven, to the heavenly sanctuary 15:32 that God made, so that He can be 15:35 our High Priest. 15:37 Now think about what that means for us. 15:40 The old sanctuary service was essentially the gospel in 15:44 types and shadows. 15:45 How could God help Israel understand what the plan of 15:48 salvation was really all about? 15:51 He taught them - it's like this, He said. 15:54 Sin causes death. 15:55 I want to show you how it will cause the death of my Son, 15:58 so I'll put that in the figure of 16:00 the death of a lamb. 16:01 Because of your sin the lamb dies. 16:05 Here's what they'd do. 16:06 The sinner would take a lamb to this sanctuary. 16:10 He'd confess his sins over the lamb, and his sins would 16:13 be transferred - figuratively, obviously 16:15 - to the lamb. 16:17 The Lamb would be killed, and the blood would be taken 16:20 inside the sanctuary, some of the blood. 16:24 In that way, the sin was transferred into 16:28 the sanctuary. 16:30 At the end of the year the entire sin record would 16:32 be dealt with, on the Day of Atonement. 16:34 The sanctuary would be cleansed, and the people would 16:38 rejoice that they stood before God absolutely pure and clean. 16:42 Does this relate to our salvation today? 16:44 You bet it does. 16:46 When we need cleansing from sin, we come to Jesus. 16:50 The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and then prompts 16:53 us to come to God. 16:55 We come - we are drawn to Him by God Himself. 16:58 We confess our sins. 17:00 Who takes our sins? 17:01 Jesus, the Lamb. 17:03 He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins 17:06 once and for all. 17:08 So we come to Christ, we profess faith 17:10 in the sacrifice of the Lamb when Jesus died on the cross, 17:14 and God takes our sins away. 17:16 Now, back in the OT time, when the sinner confessed, 17:20 there was a middle man - a priest, or a 17:23 high priest. 17:24 Today, there's a Middle Man - our High Priest, Jesus. 17:29 Look at what we read in 1 John 2:1 - The Bible says, 17:51 As our High Priest in heaven, Jesus intercedes for us. 17:54 We come to Him with our sins, repentant. 17:56 He takes our sins from us, appeals to God in our behalf, 18:01 and gives His own perfect righteousness in place 18:05 of our sins. 18:07 What this tells us is that in heaven there is a Saviour who 18:11 invites us to come to Him, just as we are, knowing that 18:15 He will have mercy on us. 18:18 Remember what it said back in Hebrews 4:14? 18:33 If you're a sinner who has faith in Jesus 18:36 and you've got your struggles, the answer is not to let go! 18:40 The knowledge that a holy, righteous Jesus is your High 18:43 Priest in heaven absolutely must inspire you 18:47 to hang on tight! 18:48 The Greek word that is translated into "hold fast" 18:52 means "to cling to tenaciously." That's like a 18:55 barnacle clinging to the side of a ship. 18:58 You can hardly pry those things off! 19:02 And when you know that Jesus is on your side in heaven, 19:04 that ought to give you confidence to live on in on 19:08 such a way that nothing can pry you off. 19:13 Continuing in Heb 4:16 19:30 We are to come with confidence, because Jesus is our High 19:32 Priest, and our intercessor. 19:35 I spoke to someone recently who said to me, 19:37 I hope I'm good enough to go to heaven. 19:40 And you know what I told this person? 19:41 I said, You'll never be good enough. 19:44 That's why we need Jesus! 19:46 And in fact, if you're hoping to ever be good enough for God 19:49 to save you, you need to stop hoping that right now. 19:53 Now, if what you mean is that you hope to be ready, 19:56 or you hope to see Jesus, well that's fine. 19:59 But if you're hoping to be good enough to go to heaven, 20:01 you've got another thing coming. 20:03 Now this might surprise you, but I've taught my children to 20:06 never pray that God will help them to be good. 20:10 Now why would I say that? 20:12 I'll tell you why in a moment. 20:22 It Is Written is sharing the gospel around the world. 20:25 Part of our mission is to bring the Word of God 20:29 to some of the most remote places on earth. 20:32 Right now we are providing audio Bibles to the people of 20:35 Papua New Guinea. 20:37 We call this audio Bible the Godpod. 20:40 Through this solar powered mp3 player, people can hear God's 20:43 word in their own language. 20:44 If you'd like to help It Is Written share the Word of God 20:51 by providing solar-powered Godpod Bibles, please call 20:54 our toll-free number 1 800 253 3000. 20:58 Call right now. 21:00 Just tell the operator you would like to help with the 21:02 Godpod project. 21:03 You can also participate by sending your gift to 21:06 It is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 21:09 California 91359. 21:11 And for your convenience you can also make a gift on line 21:14 at itiswritten.com. 21:17 This ministry uses every reasonable effort to fund its 21:20 projects as described. 21:21 Should the project become fully funded or should the 21:24 nature of the project change due to unexpected 21:26 circumstances, funds will be directed toward similar, 21:29 worthy projects. 21:31 Our toll-free number 1 800 253 3000 21:36 and our web address is itiswritten.com 21:41 You know, I4ve taught my children to never 21:44 pray to be good. 21:46 I remember my little boy praying that - "Dear Jesus, 21:48 help me to be good." 21:49 And I said, No, we are not going to pray that way. 21:52 Not that I want my children to pray to be bad, 21:55 you understand! 21:57 But what happens if you pray to be good? 22:00 You're doomed to fail. 22:01 In Romans chapter 3, Paul is quoting the Psalms when he 22:04 writes these words: 22:12 And then verse 12 adds. 22:18 So you're going to try to be good, 22:21 or pray to be good? 22:22 All you can do is FAIL! 22:25 The person who prays to be good is sooner or later going 22:27 to figure out that such an approach cannot work, 22:30 and before long one of a couple of things 22:32 is going to happen: they're either going to give 22:34 up on God, or just as bad, they're going to stay in the 22:38 church and be miserable and feel condemned. 22:41 But God didn't ever ask us to be good. 22:43 He asked us to be HOLY! 22:46 And where are you going to get holiness from? 22:49 Not from yourself, that's for sure! 22:51 I've encouraged my children to pray instead that Christ will 22:55 live in their hearts; that God would forgive them 22:59 and give them new hearts. 23:00 See, if you are praying to be good, it'll never work. 23:03 If you pray for Jesus to live in your heart, 23:06 it'll never fail! 23:07 When Jesus comes into your life He brings His goodness, 23:10 His righteousness, and His holiness. 23:14 And that's what we need. 23:15 And we can get that - sinners like us! 23:19 We can receive Christ's holiness freely when we come 23:23 confidently to the throne of grace. 23:26 So what's the worst thing that can happen if you admit to God 23:28 that you are a sinner? 23:30 Do you think God is going to be shocked to find that out? 23:32 I don't think so! 23:34 When Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, 23:41 He wasn't referring to just the holy folks! 23:43 If you are burdened, if you are weary, if you are feeling 23:46 crushed by the weight of the mess in your life, Come to 23:50 Jesus, just as you are!!! 23:54 Hebrews 9:24 is a powerful text. 23:57 It tells us that Jesus has gone... 24:12 Now I'm not attempting to minimize the seriousness 24:14 of the spiritual mess we find ourselves in, 24:17 but I'm telling you it4s impossible to overstate 24:20 the importance of the wonderful truth that Jesus is in heaven, 24:25 as our High Priest, FOR US! 24:28 Not against us, but FOR us! 24:32 That means He will give you spiritual help. 24:35 He will provide emotional help. 24:38 He will not cast you off the moment you make a mess. 24:41 Hebrews 7:25 says this 24:57 Jesus lives "to make intercession" for us. 24:59 You can know where Jesus is - He4s in heaven. 25:03 You can know what He is doing - He4s acting as your 25:05 High Priest. 25:06 And you can know that He is for you, 25:09 and not against you. 25:11 And that's good news. 25:13 I want to thank him for that right now. 25:16 Why don't as we pray, we commit ourselves to accepting 25:20 Christ, his ministry as our High Priest, and why don't we 25:26 ask God for help to trust that Jesus, through His ministry, 25:29 will do with our lives everything He wants to do. 25:32 Let's pray together. 25:36 Our Father in heaven, we thank you today that we have a High 25:38 Priest in heaven. 25:39 Jesus isn't AWOL. 25:40 He isn't missing. 25:41 We know where He is - in heaven's temple, 25:44 heaven's sanctuary. 25:46 And we know what he is doing. 25:46 He is not sitting around on a fluffy cloud eating grapes, 25:49 hanging out with angels, just waiting to return 25:53 to this earth. No. 25:55 He is actively engaged in our salvation, interceding for us 25:58 in Your presence and so we thank you. 26:02 We thank you for his blood, shed that we might be cleansed 26:05 from all of our sins. 26:07 Lord, give us grace to have faith in you. 26:10 Give us confidence knowing Jesus is in heaven for us 26:15 and not against us! 26:18 And we pray with thanks today, in Jesus' name, amen. 26:49 Perhaps our program today has touched your heart and 26:52 impressed you with a personal need for deeper Bible study. 26:55 If you desire to listen to God and follow where he leads, 26:58 we've got a wonderful resource that can help you do that 27:00 in a systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides. 27:02 These Bible guides are easy to use and can be yours 27:05 absolutely free. 27:08 If you live in North America, we'll send you these 27:10 full-color guides. 27:12 Or you can find them on our website, itiswritten.com 27:14 Request the Discover Bible Guides by calling our toll 27:19 free number 1 800 253 3000. 27:22 You may also request today's offer by writing to 27:24 It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 27:27 CA 91359. 27:28 Thank you for your letters and for your continued support. 27:33 Our toll free number is 1 800 253.3000 27:36 and our web address is itiswritten.com 27:41 Thanks for joining me today. 27:43 Look forward to seeing you next time. 27:46 And until then, be sure to remember: It Is Written: 27:50 man shall not live by bread alone, 27:53 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God |
Revised 2015-02-06